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

FIFTY-SEVEN

A soft knock ripped me from my sleep, but by the time I managed to pry my lead-lined eyelids open, Max was already crawling out of bed and I sleepily watched him as he - butt-naked - pulled a pair of sweatpants out of a drawer.

Even with the heavy fatigue weighing down on my barely awoken mind, my body didn't fail to respond to the sight of his naked body.

Goosebumps of pleasure spread across my own naked body and my heart fluttered with tempted longing. Unfortunately, (only the fraction of a second later) the voice of Max's father seeped through the locked door, effectively smothering any smoldering feelings that had been tempted into ignition.

"Max?"

Mr. Evans' voice was surprisingly gentle, and I met Max's eyes as he glanced over at me.

Max gave me a brief smile that failed to brighten his eyes and called through the door, "I'll be right there, Dad," before he told me quietly, "Stay here."

I pulled the duvet up to my chin, completely covering my naked body, feeling utterly exposed and vulnerable about being naked with Mr. Evans so close by. Max put his hand over the lock and it unlocked in the same manner as Isabel had gotten the school bathroom door locked and unlocked earlier. I wondered why Max preferred to do it that way. It was not difficult to understand why Isabel would, since she didn't exactly have a key to the girls' bathroom, but for Max to do it in his own home to his own door was...odd.

Max surprised me by answering telepathically, just before he pulled the door open, Using energy, I can lock it with a signature. Kinda like a password.

While I considered his brief explanation, I watched him pull the door open just enough so that he could slip through it, avoiding to let the door reveal too much of me in his bed.

Of course. If all aliens could lock and unlock doors with their powers, there hadn't been any use for Max to lock his door in his own house earlier. Anyone (anyone alien that is) would still be able to get through. But to have it password protected...

I smiled softly to myself as Max gently closed the door behind him. Alien powers were actually kinda cool.

I could vaguely trace Max's feelings as I slowly woke myself up from my latest nap. He was - probably intentionally - dimming his feelings and thoughts. Like he had turned the volume button down. I found myself looking forward to the day when he wouldn't feel the need to protect me from information.

But at the moment, I was actually kinda relieved that he did. It was exhausting to feel too much of his feelings and hear too many of his thoughts. Your mind became very busy, which occasionally lead to a feeling of me losing my footing on reality.

I could see how one might go insane from sharing too much of someone else's mind. How in the end, all the stimulation - all the mind activity - would become too much. Would become too overwhelming.

I now had an answer as to why Max seemed to know almost instinctively when to shield me from him; when to pull back. He had been practicing since he was three (!) years old to work around a connection; block and diminish. To him, it was probably easier to sort through someone's mind to find relevant information and block out the background noise. Almost like how someone could, amongst the buzzing of multiple voices at a party, block all those voices - except one - in order to concentrate on a specific conversation.

As of yet, I still had difficulty doing this. I still had trouble sorting through Max's head and figuring out what was relevant for me to know. He seemed to guide me in this, sending his direct answers and questions more strongly so that I could more easily pick them up. Just like he would if he were having a verbal conversation with me. But outside of the 'conversations' he had with me, it was tiring to listen in on his mind because I didn't know where to focus.