Chapter Text
Alex sat on the low retaining wall around the corner from Maria's house, Green Day’s American Idiot album playing too loudly through the headphones connected to his iPod. Michael should be picking him up soon, and then they were heading out to the desert for a few hours. Alex was pretty sure Michael would show up tonight, even though he'd been unreliable lately. If he didn’t, Alex could always go spend the evening with Maria instead. That’s what he’d told his dad he was doing, and Maria had agreed to cover for him even though he could tell she was disappointed when he wouldn’t give her any details about his real plans.
The air was beginning to cool as the sun set, so he tugged the hood of his sweatshirt down around his face a bit more and let the next few tracks play. He was just about to give up on Michael and head back to the DeLucas’ when a familiar pair of beat up sneakers entered his line of sight. When he raised his head, it was to see Michael standing in front of him looking uncertain. His right hand was jammed into the pocket of his jeans, and his left…really should be healing better than it was. But Michael had flat-out refused to see a doctor, and after more than one discussion-turned-argument, Alex had reluctantly let it go. He hadn’t wanted to spend any more of their time together fighting what was apparently a losing battle.
Michael looked rough, and not just because of his mangled hand. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked like he’d lost a little weight. Alex was pretty sure Michael was sleeping in his truck again, but he hadn't wanted to ask. He wasn't sure that was a conversation he was ready to have, not since he didn't have any other options for Michael. Not after the way his offer to stay in the shed had turned out.
"Hey," Alex said, sliding his headphones down around his neck and turning off the iPod as he stood. "You okay? I was starting to think you weren't gonna come."
Michael scuffed his foot in the dirt. "Yeah, sorry. Had something I needed to take care of and it took longer than I thought."
"Do you still wanna go? If you have somewhere else you need to be, we can try another night," he offered.
Michael hesitated before shaking his head. "No, they can figure it out without me for one night. Let's go."
Alex followed him back to the truck, deep in thought. He didn't know what was going on with Michael, or how to get him to talk about it if he didn't want to. He didn't even know who he was tangled up with, or how much trouble he was in. Alex sighed to himself. It wasn't like he could do much to help, even if he did know what the problem was.
He climbed in the old Chevy and fiddled with the radio until it was tuned in to a classic rock station as Michael pulled away from the curb and turned down the road that led out of town. They didn't talk, instead letting the music fill the silence. It wasn’t until the houses had thinned out and most of Roswell was behind them that Michael said, “There's a meteor shower tonight. The Perseids. Can you stay out a bit later to watch it?"
Alex picked at the seam of his jeans while he considered. He didn’t get enough time with Michael as it was, and didn’t want to miss this opportunity to spend a few uninterrupted hours with him under the stars. His dad was on base overnight tonight, and unless he called the house to check, he wouldn’t know whether Alex made it home before curfew or not. If he stayed out too late and missed a call from his dad, he could always lie and say he’d had his music turned up and hadn’t heard the phone. He’d probably still get in trouble, but hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad. Either way, Michael was worth the risk.
Mind made up, he replied, “Yeah, I can stay.”
“Good, I know just the place,” Michael said with a smile. “Hopefully, we’ll get to see some of the meteor shower. Usually, it peaks just before dawn, but sometimes you can catch them starting at around ten. At the high point, there can be like a hundred meteors visible per hour. They come from Comet Swift-Tuttle and the radiant–that’s what they call where it looks like the meteors originate–is the Perseus constellation. That’s how they got their name.”
Alex suppressed a smile as Michael continued his enthusiastic description of the meteor shower. He wasn’t really absorbing any of the details–astronomy was definitely more Michael’s thing–but he loved hearing the passion in his voice. Alex slid across the bench seat, content to sit thigh-to-thigh with Michael and let his words flow over him as they turned off the highway and drove out into the desert.
They went about a mile in, behind a rise and well out of sight of the road, before Michael threw the truck in park. Alex was just about to climb out of the cab when Michael leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. He paused, hand still on the door, and turned so he could catch Michael’s lips. After a moment, Michael pulled away with a small smile.
“I’ve still got a bunch of blankets and sleeping bags in the bed of the truck. I bet we can get pretty comfortable,” Michael said.
“Okay,” Alex agreed. “I’m sure we can find something to do until the meteor shower starts.”
Michael didn’t reply, but he also didn’t waste any time hopping out of the truck. Between the two of them, they got the pickup bed arranged and soon enough, they were tangled together under the blankets trading kisses. Occasionally, they’d take a breather, and Michael would point out the various constellations and even a couple of planets.
Alex tried to pay attention–really, he did–but Michael was so animated when he was talking about the stars that Alex couldn’t help but to lie on his side watching him instead of the sky.
“Alex,” Michael said, voice filled with fond exasperation that told Alex it wasn’t the first time Michael had tried to get his attention.
“Hmm?” he asked, ducking down to nose along the line of Michael’s jaw.
“You’re going to miss the meteor shower if you keep watching me,” Michael teased.
“You’re the better view,” Alex replied with utter sincerity. He grinned when Michael blushed at the compliment.
“You tryin’ to get in my pants, Alex?” Michael tried to deflect.
“I mean, if you’re offering…” Alex trailed off as he skimmed his hand down Michael’s stomach to finger the button on his jeans.
“Fuck, yes,” Michael breathed as Alex worked his pants open.
Alex leaned in to kiss Michael as he arched up into his touch, and for a long while, they both forgot about the stars.