"I know this is a lot to drop on you right now, but you're doing me a huge favor," Alan tells me as we drive to Roswell Sweets, which was not only his place of employment but the building I had nearly destroyed after crashing my ship into the roof. "Besides, it's only for a week or two. At least until I can hire someone who's not at risk of licking the frosting off the cakes."

I was extremely nervous at this point, but Alan didn't seem to notice my anxiousness as he carried on a whole conversation by himself in the seat beside me. It was strange, but he had a habit of talking quickly and making erratic hand gestures when he was enthusiastic about something. It was all very interesting to observe, but I was not sure if it was solely a human thing or a characteristic unique to Alan.

"We probably have five or six cakes to frost, not counting the orders for today," Alan continues. "I'm usually in charge of making the dough for the rolls and bread. Kiki bakes all the cakes and cookies, but sometimes we'll switch depending on how busy it is."

I am a bundle of nerves and sweat and still haven't said a word by the time we arrive at Roswell Sweets. The look on my face finally catches Alan's attention when he starts to unbuckle himself and glances over at me, noticing the look of nervousness in my eyes.

"Alan?" I squeak finally, completely frozen in my seat, "I am not sure whether I can bring honor to your business. I've never done anything like this before."

"Actually, not many people have frosted a cake before," Alan admits. "Breathe. It's going to be okay. You're going to have me and Kiki there to help within yelling distance. And if you don't like what you're doing at any point or get tired, then I promise you can go upstairs and chill, and I won't be upset about it. Okay, I might be a little upset, but mostly at myself for hiring a cute extraterrestrial boy to frost my cakes at the last minute."

I blush at that, feeling slightly better now, and quickly unbuckle myself when Alan starts to get out of the car. 

It seemed strange to be standing in front of the spot where I had crashed and toppled Alan's wall the day before. Embarrassingly enough, the enormous hole in the side of the building was still visible upon walking up to the front doors, and the shining curve of my ship protruded from the roof, the remnants of tangled metal sticking out like legs.

"Good morning, my most lovely, most adoring sister in the world!" Alan shouts at the top of his lungs when we step into the bakery for the first time. "Wow! I can't believe you didn't set the place on fire while I was gone! Where you hiding at, bitch?"

Bitch?

I peer up at Alan curiously and then look over and actually take a step back when I see his place of work in all its glory. It had been decorated to resemble the cosmos, with a beautiful back wall behind the counter full of stars and swirling nebulas. Everything was either pink, green, or purple, and there was a large glass case to our left full of delicious treats for humans to choose from, none of which I knew the names of.

Above us, someone had hung tiny alien spaceships and little green humanoid figures hung from strings, puffy and floating around in the air current. It was all so cleverly decorated that I didn't know where to look first or what to do with myself. Stars, the smell of the place was similarly incredible—buttery and sweet from every corner.

"Alan, darling!" A pair of silver doors open behind the counter, and I quickly pull up my pink mask to conceal my face when Alan's sister comes into view. "You total jackass!" She shouts, "How come you weren't answering my calls last night?" 

"Um, you called last night?" Alan rubs the back of his neck. "I must have had my ringer off."

I peek out from behind Alan at Kiki, in complete awe, when I gaze upon her face. She had two large puffy hair pieces protruding from both sides of her head like furry balls. Her face, unlike Alan's, was decorated with neon colors, particularly around her eyes, a vivid shade of bright green. The obvious markings of a young female on his world!

I note that, in a way, Kiki was like Alan, but her facial features were more narrow. Alan had wider eyes; his sister's eyes tilted upwards, and her lips were smaller but fuller.

"So where's this big secret weapon you mentioned earlier?" Kiki asks Alan, her lips pursing when she cocks her head to one side. "Because if your plan fell through, I have Dave the Cake Licker on speed dial right now. You know he had a huge crush on you, right?"

"If you so much as think about calling him, I swear to God I'm moving across the country and changing my name," Alan replies, and then turns a little so I come into view from behind him. "Anyway, I want you to meet Luna—I mean, Honey. He's kind of new to Roswell. And he has circulation issues, so he wears a mask to keep him from getting sick."

Shyly, with hands clenched in front of my waist, I emerge from behind Alan at the mention of my name. "Ah'lan, Alan's sister," I tell her, and I resist the urge to give her a proper Tau greeting since the cab driver the day before had not appreciated it very much. "May the stars align in our favor."

"Oh my God," Kiki says, looking from me and then back to Alan. "You leveled up big time, dude. Noah can go die in a fire, for all I care. I'm on whatever team this is." She gestures around me and Alan with one hand.

"We're not dating," Alan replies awkwardly. "Luna's just a friend who I'm helping out until he gets settled in."

"Is that why you weren't answering your phone last night?" Kiki's eyebrows bounce up and down, but Alan just rolls his eyes and walks behind the counter, grumbling.

"I'm just messing with you guys," Kiki tells me, and she smiles, revealing a gap between her two front teeth. "I hope you can frost cakes better than Alan. He spreads frosting like he's laying pavement for a concrete driveway."

"Honey!" Alan shouts from somewhere deep behind the counter, "Come here!"

"Hold on," Kiki says before I can go to Alan. "You're the alien who crashed into our attic yesterday, aren't you?"

I freeze in place at that and look back at her, dread filling me in an instant.