Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

TWENTY-SEVEN

But apparently, Max wouldn't let himself be carefree too long. Without any prompt from me, he turned serious and said, "Um... We can bond with humans."

I practically rolled my eyes at him. No shit, Sherlock.

He smiled at me, the gesture wobbling with insecurity. "Right. You already knew that."

I curled my arms around my middle, my voice matching his smile in insecurity, "How do you bond?"

"Usually, through..." he winced, his tongue moving out over his lips before replying, "copulation."

I seemed to have no control over my body this close to Max. My cheeks heated and my eyes dropped to my hands. I was suddenly very nervous. And incredibly aware of Max's presence in my small room. I could hear every breath he took and felt his eyes burn into the side of my face.

I could only guess why he would use such an underused term for sex. He was trying to dissociate himself to the act; trying to separate it from what he considered was 'normal sex'.

I licked my dry lips, my voice raspy in my dry throat as I whispered - without looking at him, "But we- we haven't-"

"Usually through copulation," Max repeated, sounding just as uncomfortable with the subject as I felt. "A bonding like that can be broken, if the human female changes partner- um, changes sexual partner."

"Right," I mumbled, wanting to sink through my bed.

Why was I talking about sex with Max Evans in the middle of the night in my bedroom wearing only a T-shirt again?

"We're bonded because I-"

I remembered what his father had insinuated just before he had wanted to rattle though my mind, "Because you healed me."

"Minor injuries don't require a connection to the healer," Max continued, as means of explanation.

"Like how you removed my headache." With just your palm against my forehead.

"Yeah."

"But I didn't have minor injuries..."

He didn't reply, didn't fill in my open question, making me look up and glance over at him. He was fisting the edge of my duvet in his right hand while staring out at the room with a distant look. His mouth was set into a grim line and he looked...pained.

My heart struck an extra beat in trepidation. "Are you okay?"

He shook his head slowly and blinked. Once. Twice. His gaze slanted over my face briefly, before he looked away again. "Your injuries..."

He licked his lips again. There had been a strain in his voice. My whole body tightened in longing, of needing to assure him. Of something. I wasn't sure of what. What was running through his head right now?

I was starting to feel guilty (guilty about what?) on top of sharp emotional pain and distress.

The frown between my eyebrows deepened. Wait? Why?

I looked at him closely and it hit me. "That!"

He looked up at me, his eyes widening in a surprised wordless question. Slowly, carefully, he asked, "What?"

I straightened, a small jump in my body. I felt oddly excited. "Those are your feelings, aren't they?" Excited because things were starting to make sense. "All this time, it's been real. I can really feel you."

He was staring at me like I was the one who just announced I was an alien.

"But..." my body calmed down in confusion and slumped. "You said you couldn't read my thoughts..."