Roswell Fanatics

begonia1508, isabelle and roswellluver, thanks for reading you gys, I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Again, it's been longer than I would have liked between updates, but thanks for sticking with me. I am trying to get more regular again, just keep getting stuck part way through a chapter... .

begonia1508 - thanks, and yeah, mom's do tend to be over protective at times, I can't somehow see Liz and Max letting her get between them though can you...? Maybe a sign for trouble ahead do you think ?

isabelle - so glad you're still reading, and delighted to know that you liked the latest part. Also nice to know that the conversation at the counter worked, it was something that I expanded rather more than was present in the original rough copy just on impulse but I had to say I liked the result . As far as her father being on their side...ever get the feeling they should maybe make the most of that while it's there...?

roswellluver - glad you liked the part, thanks for reading.

Anyone else who's been reading, I hope you're still enjoying it too.

Anyway, I'm not going to go making promises about the next part being out very soon, because I probably won't be able to keep to them, but what I will say is that a new part will be coming, and I'm hoping that will by the beginning of next month or there abouts.

Okay, so appologies and thanks over, on with the next chapter, I hope that you'll all enjoy it.

Chapter 11

~Dream~

The dance was long gone and the only people present were the two of them. Both had eyes for no one else as they kissed and their embrace deepened. Max had his hand resting behind her head to stop it touching the sharp rock behind. Dipping his head, he kissed her again and her lips met his, pressing back without any hint of hesitation or second thoughts. Her arms slipped round his neck, her fingers playing with the tips of his hair and her head rocked back, pressing back against his hand as he began to kiss her neck. Backing up further against the rock, her body became more complexly intertwined with his. His fingers flowed through her hair and hers did similar with his. One of her legs hooked round his a little and they continued kissing. And then…

~End Dream~

Liz woke up suddenly in a cold sweat. She shivered in the open air, having apparently pushed her covers down at some point, and wrapped her arms round herself suddenly feeling very self-conscious. There was just something about these dreams… She had dreamt about Max before, even about being with him, but this just wasn’t the same. These dreams were like nothing she had experienced before.

They had started the night after they had been in the cave. Mere hours after she had received those strange flashes, and she couldn’t help but wonder if they were connected.

Every night it was the same, except that they got longer… Each night it started with the dance but night-by-night the story was progressing. Originally she had wondered where it was all leading, but after that last she didn’t think there was much doubt anymore.

Sliding out of bed, she grabbed a bathrobe that lay at the bottom of her bed and pulled it on before going into her bathroom. Running a bowl of water, she splashed her face and shivered as the cold impacted with her skin. ‘I have to snap out of this…it’s getting silly!’ She thought to herself, pushing her long dark tresses back from her face.

It would have been so much easier to simply believe that her imagination was playing, but something inside her said that wasn’t it. There was something familiar about the setting…she was certain that she knew the place, only she couldn’t put her finger on it. Of course it would help if the setting didn’t begin to fade from her mind as soon as she woke up. The content stayed with her, but the surroundings simply faded into a pale mist through which she couldn’t see any distinguishing features.

Until now she had told no one about the dreams… Not Maria, not Alex, not Max… she had wanted to believe that they were nothing, just a case of her imagination having full play and given this she felt awkward about discussing something so personal, even with her close friends. So that explained Maria and Alex, but what about Max…? Well the simple fact, if she were to admit it, was that she had been afraid that Max would think it was SOMETHING, and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face that possibility…

After that evening, she knew she couldn’t wait any longer though…she needed to swallow her fear and talk to Max about them… Breathing hard, she bit her lip for a moment, not feeling the pain as she broke the skin, but needing something to ‘hold’ onto. ‘I can do this…there’s nothing wrong, whatever it is I’m sure we’ve faced worse and gotten through, and we’ll do exactly that again, we’ll get through…’ She told herself as she walked back into her bedroom and sank down on the bed. Reaching out, her hand closed on the handset of the phone that sat on her bedside table and without even looking at the keypad, she dialled a number. Raising the handset to her ear, she listened as it rung on the other end and once she was certain the right person had picked up she finally spoke. “Max…I need to talk to you…I need to tell you something…”

**********

About ten minutes later Liz was sat on her bed when she heard a gentle tapping on her window. Knowing that Max was coming over, she had pulled on a pair of trousers and a t-shirt and no matter how irrelevant it seemed she couldn’t stop herself taking a quick glance in the mirror to make sure she looked ok. It wasn’t that her appearance was important really…they had far more important things to talk about and discuss, and it wasn’t as though it was a date or anything, but still, she wanted to look nice for him.

Smiling as she saw her reflection in the mirror, she went over to the window quickly and pulled up the sash.

Outside waiting was Max of course, and he climbed in through the window quickly.

Liz slipped over to her door, turning a key in the lock which had been a recent addition for exactly this purpose…at least they knew there was no danger of being interrupted and found by her father. It wasn’t as though they were doing anything wrong really, they didn’t intend to DO anything, but she guessed that wouldn’t concern her father and didn’t want to risk it. After the incident the previous summer when they ended up finding the orb, he tended to jump to conclusions…not that she could blame him, and it had taken them both a long time to regain the trust of their parents…

Max saw what she was doing and waited until she had finished before walking over and taking her in his arms as they both sat down on the bed.

Liz relaxed into his arms and rested her head against his chest, allowing Max to pull her closer, wrapping his arms around her tightly.

Max smiled, enjoying the sensation, but at the same time she just couldn’t forget the tone of her voice earlier. When she had called, she had been worried and he wanted to know what this was about. “Hey…are you ok…?” He asked her, the concern clear in his tone.

Liz nodded, although the tone of her voice didn’t echo this reassurance. “Yeah, I guess so…I’m just…” She trailed off.

Max didn’t like seeing her like this and took advantage of her trailing off to dip his head and capture her lips with his, kissing her and hoping by doing so to bring a smile to her face.

It worked, for a second, but then Liz remembered why he was here and her tone became serious. “Max…I’ve been having some dreams recently…” She began quickly, knowing that if she waited she might change her mind about telling him. Besides, she didn’t know how long they would have and felt it important to get to the point. Surprised to find that he had no immediate response, she looked up and was a little shaken to see the look on his face. Something was most definitely wrong. “Max…what is it…?” She asked softly, her hand reaching out to touch his.

Max didn’t answer at first, but as Liz touched his hand he looked at her. “What were they about…?” He asked her. There was an urgent tone to his voice, showing his concern and also pointing to the importance of the answer she would give.

“Us…” Liz answered simply. A moment before she would have been elaborating far more but now she just needed to see how he would react. The fact that he didn’t appear surprised told her everything she needed to know, there was definitely something else going on here. “Max…?”

Her boyfriend turned to her suddenly, almost as though he had forgotten she was there and shook his head. “I’m sorry Liz…” He apologised to her, realising that she might think he had been rude.

Liz had more on her mind than that though. She could see that something was wrong and she was determined to find out what. “Max…what is it…?” She repeated her earlier question and the look in her eyes told him she wasn’t likely to let it go.

He forced himself to meet her eyes. “I’ve been having dreams too…” He admitted softly. “I didn’t want to tell anyone because I thought they were just normal ones…” He shifted position on the bed slightly, feeling rather awkward thanks to his virtual admission of the nature of his dreams.

Liz was shocked, and worried, but she tried not to show this, instead concentrating on the fact they might be reacting over nothing… There was always the possibility that their two lots of dreams were completely unrelated. “We were at the prom dancing, then suddenly in the desert. We end up kissing…” She trailed off part way through her explanation seeing the look on Max’s face. “It’s the same for you isn’t it…?”

Max nodded slightly. “We walk up a path and then stop under some rocks…” He continued the story but stopped at that point, not sure either of them wanted to hear the next bit.

His continuation was enough for Liz though, and she felt a shiver go through her spine. “Ok…this is definitely starting to weird me out…” She commented, her voice shaking. “This definitely is not normal…”

“It’ll be ok…” Max pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her and trying to comfort her.

For a moment, Liz fell silent, resting against him and allowing herself to get lost in his embrace. Finally, she looked up though, knowing that there was something else she needed to say. “Max…”

Liz looked down. “Yeah…?”

Liz bit her lower lip nervously. “There’s something about the dreams…something familiar about the setting, it seems almost real…” She admitted.

Max nodded slowly. “I know what you mean, I’ve been thinking the same thing…” He was silent for a moment. “Can you remember what the scenery was like…?”

She shook her head. “No…not really, its all a blur…” To be honest that was one of the things which had made it possible for her to convince herself that it they had just indeed been dreams, that there was nothing wrong…because they had that dream-like way of fading in her mind. Well the surroundings did anyway, the content of the dreams never seemed to dim in her recollection much…

Max nodded; it was the same for him. He dipped his head and kissed her gently on the lips. “It’s going to be ok Liz, we’ll get to the bottom this, I promise…”

Liz didn’t say anything at first but nodded silently. She knew it wouldn’t be as simple he made it sound… “So…what do we do next…?” She asked nervously.

Her boyfriend shook his head, “Honestly, I don’t know…maybe we don’t need to do anything, maybe we’re just blowing this all up way out of proportion…maybe this really is nothing more than a co-incidence…”

Liz could knew that he didn’t really think that…he was just trying to reassure her… Unfortunately, it wasn’t working… “Don’t Max…don’t lie… You know as well as I do that this is no co-incidence… One, maybe even two nights, maybe, but this has been for over a fortnight…” She looked at him.

Max could see that she was scared and didn’t want to make it any worse but he knew that she was right. He shouldn’t have tried to say it was, Liz wasn’t stupid… “You’re right…” He admitted reluctantly. “Maybe we should tell the others about them… It could be that some of them have had something similar, or even if not, they might be able to help…” He suggested. Of course he wasn’t delighted with the idea of having to open up and explain the contents of the dreams to the others… They had been private, and he wished that they could stay that way, but whatever his feelings, he knew that it was probably the best idea and right now they need to try anything they could which could provide some answers…

Liz was no keener on the idea but like Max she knew that it was probably the only thing they could do at the moment and nodded. “You’re probably right… I’m just a bit scared…” Her voice was a bit wobbly and it was clear that the whole thing was worrying her. She swallowed nervously and looked up at her boyfriend. “When…?” She asked softly.

Max squeezed her hand in what he hoped was a reassuring manner and pulled her further into his arms. “I’ll ask them to all meet tomorrow, given the circumstances I can’t see any point in contacting them tonight, but at the same time, the sooner we sort all this out, the better it’ll be…” Reluctantly he pulled away and got up off the bed. “I guess I should go…” He commented although didn’t move at first. He just didn’t want to leave her, particularly not when he could see she was upset. His hand lingered on her arm and although he knew he should, he didn’t move away.

Liz nodded reluctantly. She didn’t want him to go any more than he did.

“I really should…” Max trailed off, dipping his head and pressing his lips against hers.

Liz pressed her lips back against his, deepening the kiss, but after a few minutes she forced herself to pull away. If it continued any longer, who knew what could happen…where it could lead…

Max looked down awkwardly as he felt her pull away. He knew that he had nearly lost control again. “I’m sorry…”

Shaking her head, Liz met his gaze. “It’s not your fault…we both…” She broke off, lapsing into silence for a moment.

“I should go…” This time he began to back away at the same time, sure that if he did not, he would never leave.

“Yeah…” Liz bit her lip and swallowed. She walked with him to the window, brushing her lips against his cheek before he climbed out onto the balcony. She wanted to do so much more, but the way they were at the moment, she didn’t trust herself… “Be careful…” She whispered after him seeing him nod and closing the sash after him. Even when he had disappeared from her sight, she didn’t move from the window until she heard the engine of the jeep start up and fade into the distance. Only when she could no longer hear it, did she finally close her curtains and return to her bed. Even then, she didn’t think that she would sleep though, there was too much going through her head, and if she was honest she had to admit she was slightly scared about what might happen if she did.... She had underestimated how tired she was however, and almost as soon as she pulled up the covers, and her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep.

**********

The next morning Liz woke up with a start as her alarm went off. I guess I slept after all… Covering her mouth with her hand, she tried to stifle a yawn. She was still very tired, but that wasn’t surprising really…after all she hadn’t exactly had much sleep that night, her dreams hadn’t exactly been restful.... Usually the dreams were limited to one a night, or so she had thought, but then again how many times she had managed to get back to sleep after one she wasn’t sure… It was getting to the stage where one dream a night would last the whole night, so when she woke up, it would be time to get up anyway.

Struggling to keep her eyes open, she yawned and seriously considered going back to sleep but in the end decided against it. There was nothing she wanted more than to stay in bed and tell her mother she wasn’t feeling well… Well no…I suppose that’s not completely true…I want to see Max… She would have given anything not to have to face the others though…not to have to explain about the dreams and face the discussion that would follow… She had told Max that she was fine with his powers, his unique abilities…they were all part of who he was, and she meant that… But at the same time, other than the fact that he had saved her life, she had never thought too much about just how they could affect her… He was just Max, the guy she loved, and everything that came with him was just stuff that she would deal with…all of which was still true, but it didn’t stop her being scared about what might be about to come…

Shaking her head, she forced herself to get up though. It wasn’t as though there was any point in putting this off any longer, they had to talk to the others…maybe one of them would have some answers…

Moving about her room, she had a wash and got dressed. She was moving slower than usual however, and by the time she got downstairs, Max was already waiting. With a simple ‘see you later…’ to her mother, she headed over to him and the two of them started towards the door.

Her mother had other ideas though and moved to intercept them. “What are you doing…?” Come and sit down, you have to have something to eat!” She told her daughter.

Liz shook her head. “I’m fine, see you later…”

“Honey please, you can’t leave without having something to eat, you have to have some breakfast!” Nancy insisted.

Her daughter sighed. “Mom…” She looked at her. “I just don’t have time, we have to get to school…” Mrs Parker was clearly still not happy and opened her mouth to object further but Liz cut her off, waving her purse at her mother. “I’ll get something at school, promise…” Without waiting to see how her mother would respond, she turned to Max. “We’d better go…”

He nodded in agreement and the two of them continued quickly out of the door.

Liz opened the passenger door of the jeep in silence and got in. Max did the same on the driver’s side and once both were safely settled, he turned the key in the ignition to start the engine. Pulling away from the curb, he headed towards school.

For the first few blocks, the two of them sat in silence. Eventually Liz could wait no longer though, and opened her mouth to speak. “I-“

At the same time, Max did the same but stopped as he saw she wanted to speak. “You first…”

Liz shook her head. “No, it’s ok, I can wait…” She wanted to hear what he was going to say.

Max looked as though he was going to object again, but then nodded, accepting what she said and looking over at her briefly before returning his eyes to the road. Fighting to keep his tone level, he took a breath. “I had another dream last night, when I got home…” His eyes darted to her once more, searching her expression. “You did too…didn’t you…?”

Although it was phrased as a question, the way it came out was more a statement and Liz simply nodded. She wondered for a moment whether or not to mention what it had contained, but in the end decided against it. If truth were to be told, she had a feeling that he would already know, that the one he had mentioned, and the one she remembered having would be exactly the same…and she wasn’t sure she was ready to face what that could mean.

Max could see that she had been shaken by his comment and knew that his ‘question’ had been answered. She had had a dream last night after he had left, and there was no doubt in his mind that it would be the same one he would have had. Although he had to direct his attention back at the road, his right hand reached over and slipped over hers. “I’m here Liz…whatever happens, that’s not going to change…” He told her softly. “Whatever this means, we’ll face it together…”

Eve, roswellluver, Isabelle and Emarald, thanks so much for the feedback, I'm glad you're all enjoying the chapter.

Eve - if you thought the last part was long I'm kinda worried to think what your opinion will be on this one . Honestly, I didn't realise it was getting to be this long as I typed it up, but I think for the first time I'm going to have to split it into two posts (or maybe not quite, but this is definitely the longest I've done so far anyway). As far as the dreams, all I can say is that all will be revealed...maybe not soon, I'm afraid I can't promise that, but eventually it will all come out. I hope you'll continue to enjoy and read and bare with me when I'm not posting much .

roswellluver - glad you liked it, thanks for reading

Isabelle - sorry, didn't realise you thought that about the title, I could have put you right straight away had you mentioned it lol. Took long enough to come up with too, I'm just not good with names, as you know from having helped me with naming FC Anyway, moving onto more important matters, as far as telling the others, I believe this chapter gives you all that you're wanting. I'm glad you like the way I'm writing the connection between them though and am delighted you're enjoying the story.

Emarald - thanks

Okay, so here's the deal, this is being updated much more quickly than is usual now, and the same with FC, the reason for this is that I seem to be in a real writing mood at the moment so thought I might as well take advantage of that. I'm not going to make promises about returning to posting this often though, cos I know I won't stick to them. I do hope to have the next chapter out before chistmas though. Anyway, enough of me rabbiting on, I guess it's time for the new chapter. Usual thing about feedback stands, I love to hear what people think and I hope you'll all enjoy it.


Chapter 12

“Hi Michael…”

Michael turned round, surprised by the greeting, and found himself face to face with Max. As much as he would usually be happy to talk to his friend, he was stood by Maria’s locker for a reason… waiting for her to show so that he could sort out final details for their date that night. Maria had said he could surprise her, but at the moment he was still working out what sort of surprises women liked, and he didn’t want to risk ruining the evening by arranging something she was completely uninterested in. So far he had come up with two ideas, taking her out for a meal, which could be rather expensive, or asking her over to watch movies and cooking for her himself. Personally he liked the second option. His reasoning for this was not only that it would do less damage to his bank account, but that he always felt uncomfortable at restaurants and, from past experience, was worried about embarrassing his girlfriend. Still, if the first option were the one that Maria went for, he’d just have to manage… Of course to find out which they were going to do, he had to talk to Maria though, which brought him back to the fact he was standing by her locker…

“Michael…” Max looked at his friend, trying to get his attention. It was like he wasn’t there… He frowned and tried again. “Michael…”

Finally Michael snapped out of his contemplations, again registering Max’s presence. Somehow he just knew this wasn’t going to be good… “Hey Maxwell…what’s the nine one one?” He hoped that he had misread the situation, but somehow he doubted it.

Max looked surprised. “What do you mean…?” He asked. His greeting had given no indication as to why he wanted to talk to him about, that he was sure…so how did he know something was wrong…?

Michael waved it away. “Look, it’s the middle of the day, lunch time, and you’re not with Liz, you’re looking for me…” He looked at his friend. “Now what is wrong with this picture…?”

Max nodded. He hadn’t realised it was so transparent… “Who says that I’m looking for you though…I could just be on my way to meet Liz and saying hi because I saw you…” He pointed out. He didn’t know why, but it kinda unnerved him, the way Michael had just known. If that was an indication of the amount of time he and Liz had been spending together, and as he thought about it he realised it probably was, something definitely needed doing about it… He loved spending time with Liz…but they had both said it; over the last few weeks everything else had been forgotten… Nothing mattered to them except for spending time together, not work, not school…it was definitely not normal…

Michael rolled his eyes. “Look Maxwell, you look relieved to have found me, now are you going to tell me what’s going on or not, cos I have other things to do than stand around with you debating the ins and outs of your lunch time habits…” He tapped his foot impatiently, wondering if he had missed Maria and if she had already gone on to the picnic benches outside. He supposed it’d be worth checking them out…assuming Max ever told him what was going on.

His friend smiled at Michael’s first answer, and wondered about making an observation that he seemed just as eager to see Maria, but in the end decided against it. It was probably best not to delay any longer, not least because Michael was getting impatient, but also that he still needed to talk to his sister and given that it was already a good half hour into the lunch hour, it was looking less and less likely he was going to get any time with Liz as he had hoped when he had finished. “Ok, busted…” His tone immediately turned serious. “We need to have another meeting, the six of us…” He hesitated for a moment before adding. “It’s important…”

There was no way that Michael was complaining now… Max had his full attention and it would stay that way. “Ok, when…?” He asked immediately.

“Tonight, and it could be a long one…” Max responded.

The fact that he had been planning a date with Maria was completely forgotten by Michael. Not in a bad way…it wasn’t that he forgot about her, but just he knew that if Max was asking for a meeting it would be important and things like this definitely took priority over fun jaunts and dates… He nodded curtly. “Sure, what’s so serious…?” Although he knew he’d find out that evening anyway, he wanted to know now… Whatever it was had got Max seriously worked up if his expression was anything to go by and Michael really wanted to know what it was all about.

Max shook his head, unwilling to say anything more about it without Liz being there too. It affected both of them, and was too private to think of speaking of it alone.

Although he wanted to protest, Michael didn’t push any further. He wanted to find out more, sure, but from the look on Max’s face he knew his friend wasn’t going to give anymore, so what was the point in arguing. Better just to accept, and leave it at that. That evening he would find out, and he guessed that would have to be soon enough. Nodding, he looked at his friend. “So, you wanting me to tell Maria about this.

Max shrugged. “You can do if you want, or alternatively Liz could tell her when she sees her in class this afternoon…doesn’t really matter which, as long as someone tells her…” He was never sure what the state of play regarding Michael and Maria’s relationship was, so it was always best to leave it up to them to decide when it came to matters such as this.

Michael nodded. “I’ll tell her!” He answered decisively. Given that this meeting was going to mean that they couldn’t go on their date, it was the least he could do to explain it to her himself…

Accepting this, Max nodded back in response. “Fine, if that’s what you w-“ He agreed but broke off, finding that he was talking to himself.

Michael had spotted Maria just coming up the corridor and without waiting for Max to finish, he simply gave his friend a nod heading off down the corridor, throwing, “I’ll see you later, we’ll be there” over his shoulder.

Realising that he wasn’t going to get anything more from Michael, Max simply shrugged and headed off down the corridor. If he could find Isabel quickly, maybe he’d still be able to salvage a little time with Liz before the hour was up…

**********

“Max, I thought you’d be with Liz…” Isabel was clearly surprised to see her brother.

Max sighed. “Why does everyone seem to think I’m joined at the hip to Liz…?”

Isabel laughed softy. “Well it could have something to do with the fact that from the moment you guys got back together all you want to do is be together…and even if you’re not with her, generally you want to talk about her…” She shook her head. “Seriously Max, you guys have got it bad…”

If he hadn’t realised how much time he had been spending with Liz before, Max’s conversation with Michael, and now Isabel confirmed it. Sure he wanted to spend time with her, but this just wasn’t normal…

His sister could see that he had something on his mind. “Want to talk about it…?” She asked softly.

Max nodded his head. “Well yeah…” Then shook it after. “Although no…not here…”

Isabel laughed as his apparent indecision. “Well tell me when you make your mind up…ok…?” She requested.

Her brother shook his head again. “Sorry…my answer is yes, I want to talk about it, but not here…” He looked at her. “Some stuff’s been happening and I think we need to have a meeting…”

All playfulness disappeared from Isabel’s demeanour. “When…?” She asked, practically reproducing Michael’s response.

If he hadn’t been too busy thinking about what was happening, Max might have laughed at this. His sister and Michael were so different…and yet from those responses, they could practically have been the same person. The tone, the expression…everything was the same… As it was though, he barely registered the similarity and simply responded with a one-word answer. “Tonight…”

Rather than asking any further questions, Isabel simply nodded, saying that she would tell Alex and heading off down the corridor. Now wasn’t the time to talk about it…but it soon would be…

Max smiled gratefully at his sister as she said she would tell Alex about the meeting. Given she had taken on that, and Michael had taken on Maria, it meant he was done… Everyone that needed to know about the meeting did. Quickly he looked at his watch, checking the time. Another quarter of an hour before the end of lunch…just enough time to find Liz… This thought brought another smile to his face and he hurried through the corridors to the bio lab. He knew she’d be there. Their teacher had offered her some extra credit work and Liz had jumped at it.

Of course that had been over a month ago. At first the extra time she had to spend in the lab hadn’t been a problem, but that had been before they were back together properly. Max knew only too well that she had been using it as an excuse to avoid him at lunch. As soon as they got together all that changed though… Liz had been reluctant to give up time she could spend with Max, in order to go and work in the lab. She had fallen behind with what she was supposed to be doing, and this week had realised she had less than a fortnight to get it finished.

Baring this in mind, Max knew he probably shouldn’t call on her in there, but he just couldn’t resist it… He needed to see her; he needed to be close to her…

His body was growing tense and the longer he was away from her, the worse it got. As he neared the lab, he slowed from his jog, to a more reasonable walking pace. He walked up to the door, knocked and went inside.

**********

Liz had been working hard in the lab all lunchtime. She had been alone, and had risked putting on two more samples than the maximum supposedly allowed. She needed to make up time, and without giving up all her lunch periods for the next two weeks, this was the only other solution she could come up with. Of course the alternative would have her finishing only a day before she had to hand in the work too, which wasn’t exactly ideal. This was the reason she gave herself to explain the fact that was doing something way out of character. Usually she wouldn’t even consider breaking the rules, but she was desperate… Now had she been honest of course, the major reason would have been slightly different…she couldn’t imagine spending so many lunch hours away from Max…

She had just finished taking samples from the first two tubes, when she heard the door open. Although it was still early, she imagined it was the teacher and desperately tried to come up with explanations as to why she was doing the extra samples. Swallowing, she came to the conclusion it would probably be better just to hope that he didn’t notice…

“Liz…”

The voice made her spin round, only narrowly avoiding knocking her samples. As soon as she realised who it was, all thought of the samples was forgotten as she saw him approaching. “Max…”

Her boyfriend grinned. “Yeah, how are you doing…?”

She shrugged. “Not too bad…” Her interest in her project was minimal now that Max had arrived.

Max’s eyes twinkled mischievously. “Not bad as in you’ve almost finished…?” He asked hopefully.

Liz smiled softly. “Give me five minutes and yeah…

Five minutes…it was so little time, and yet it brought them so close to the time they were supposed to be back in class for the afternoon session. “Okay…” He could see their chance of some alone time fast evaporating…

Liz wasn’t any happier than him, but what she did know was that if she was going to finish this work, she needed that next five minutes to finish everything off. “Sorry…”

Max nodded. “Yeah…well I’ll see you in Bio later anyway…”

His girlfriend nodded. “Yeah…I guess so…” She knew she should turn back to her work, but she just didn’t want to.

He stood there, just inside the door, knowing that he should go, and yet not moving. Finally, he looked at Liz. “How about I keep you company…?” He suggested softly.

A small smile played on Liz’s lips. “Yeah…I’d like that…”

Her boyfriend nodded and stepped further into the room, sitting down on a stool on the other side of the bench she was working at.

Now that she knew that he wasn’t leaving, Liz forced herself to continue what she was doing. She didn’t want to, all she wanted to do was throw herself into his arms, but she knew she couldn’t. She had to concentrate.

Max could see she was distracted. “Maybe I should go…?” He suggested awkwardly. He knew neither of them really wanted that, but if he was delaying her…

“NO!” Liz’s response was quick and immediate. “No…please, don’t go Max…”

“But If I’m stopping you from concentrating…” Without thinking about it, Max stepped forward, closing the distance between them.

Liz shook her head. “It’s worse when you’re not here…” She told him softly. She bit her lip. She didn’t have to be told this wasn’t normal…

Watching her, Max could have sworn he saw a tear in the corner of her eye. Automatically he took her into his arms, pulling her close.

Although Liz knew she should, she didn’t resist this, melting into his arms. Another tear began to snake down her cheek and as she felt Max’s finger wiping it away, she looked up at him.

“What’s wrong Liz…?” His voice was so tender, so caring and full of love.

Liz shook her head. “I’m just scared Max…what’s happening…?”

“I don’t know…I don’t know…”

**********

That night, they all met outside the Crashdown. Everyone agreed that the meeting should be held elsewhere though…somewhere where no one would overhear them. For this reason, it was decided that they should drive out to the cave to talk.

The group travelled in two groups, Liz and Max with Isabel in the jeep, and Alex, Maria and Michael in the Jetta. Alex and Isabel would have preferred to travel together of course, but the purpose of the groupings were to stop the parents thinking they were going on a date…

Perhaps surprisingly, the journey to the cave was conduced in silence. It might have been that everyone was nervous about the coming meeting, with Max and Liz trying to work out how they would tell the others what they needed to know, and the others trying to figure out what could be going on… Whatever the reason though, no one spoke from leaving the Crashdown, until they reached the cave.

It was Max who finally broke the silence, looking round at the group who had gathered in the cave. “How long have we got…?” The last thing they needed was for people to get into trouble for being out later than their curfew so he felt this was an important thing to ask before they started.

“As long as we need…” Alex’s answer was swift and to the point. Maria nodded her head. “We’ve told out parents we’re sleeping over at a friend’s, so they’re not expecting us back tonight…” She explained.

Max looked at Liz, silently repeating the question. She swallowed nervously, her mind obviously already drifting to what the meeting would involve. “Liz…?”

His girlfriend looked up sharply. “Sorry…w-hat?”

He stepped over to her, pulling her into his arms and holding her close before repeating the question. Liz’s response was that she had done the same as Maria and Alex so there was no problem. Hearing this, Max nodded. He supposed that they were lucky it was a Friday. None of their parents would have been likely to agree to something like that during the week. “We’re in the same position, well sort of… Our parents are out, they had to go to a conference and they won’t be back until late so it shouldn’t be a problem…”

No one bothered to ask Michael, since he was an emancipated minor, he basically could do what he liked…

Looking round at the group once more, Max found that although he was nervous and hesitant about telling them such personal things as would follow, he was glad they were all there. They were like a family to him and he felt very lucky to have such friends. Mentally shaking his head, he forced himself back to business mode. “Okay, well since we could be here a while, we might as well be comfy…” Quickly he retrieved two sleeping bags from a corner of the cave and spread them out on the floor for everyone to sit down.

So far they had been using a torch to provide a little light, but one they were settled, Isabel used her powers to provide some light. It didn’t make that much difference, but at least everyone could see each other’s faces and that counted for a lot.

Max sat down with Liz who was still enclosed in his arms. Neither wanted to part, that much was obvious. The other couples sat down together, but more ‘next to’ each other, than ‘with’ each other. Isabel leant her head against Alex’s shoulder, but this was the most contact the other two couples made for now.

When everyone was settled, Max looked down at Liz again. Their eyes met and an unspoken agreement was shared. This was it; it was time to come clean. He looked round at their friends. “There’s something Liz and I need to tell you about…” He began.

“You and Liz…?” Michael looked surprised. “What’s going on Maxwell?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Well if you let him finish, maybe he’ll be able to tell you Spaceboy!”

Max sighed. This wasn’t an easy thing to talk about anyway; he could do without the interruptions. Taking a deep breath, he waited a few moments to see if any of the others would say anything, and then continued. “We’ve been having a dream…the same one each night…and we’ve both been having it…”

Somehow Isabel knew, just from looking at her brother, that this was what had been worrying him, what he had nearly told her about that night… She had thought over the conversation she had with him so many times since then, she had tried to work out what it could be that was bothering him, but of course something like this hadn’t even entered her head. She looked at the couple. “How long have you been having these dreams..?”

“Since that day we got the flashes in the cave…” Liz answered in almost a whisper.

Max nodded. “Coming up to three weeks I think…” He looked round at the others, searching for some sign that he was right. To be honest he had lost track of the time somewhat since then…

Isabel nodded. “That sounds about right…” She looked at both of them. “And these dreams you’ve had since then, they’re the same for both of you…?”

The couple both nodded quickly. “Yeah…”

“You’re sure…?” Isabel pressed.

Max could sense something at the back of her tone, a hidden aspect, but for now, he simply nodded again in response to her question. “We’re sure…” He confirmed.

Having been silent until then, Maria looked at her friend. “What’re they about…?” She asked, directing the question mainly at Liz.

Looking down at his girlfriend, Max could see that Liz was embarrassed though, and he guessed she wasn’t exactly in the best state to answer the question so he decided to take over. “They’re about us Maria…”

“What happens in them?” Michael’s question was swift and to the point.

As he heard the question, Max almost objected, but something stopped him. Michael seemed to be a lot more interested than he had expected…he would have expected his friend to brush it off as nothing… Instead, Michael looked almost worried, as though he thought he knew what they were going to say… Max shook his head, telling himself he was being silly. It was probably just his imagination…why would Michael know anything about it… Brushing away these thoughts, he turned his attention back to the meeting, he could see the others were waiting for him to answer, and he opened his mouth to do so. “Not a lot…” ‘as yet’ He added the last bit silently, in his head, and as he looked down at Liz he could see she knew what he was thinking…in fact, he guessed that she was thinking the exact same thing. From the way the dreams were going, it was only a matter of time… “We just dance and kiss…and stuff…” He trailed off, keeping the descriptions purposely vague and not wanting to give any more detail.

Michael’s expression evened out. “So why are you worked up…?”

If Max hadn’t known better he would have said he sounded relieved, but instead he assumed he was a bit bored and impatient… A little annoyed at his friend’s insensitivity, he frowned. “We’re worked up because we don’t think it’s normal to have the same dream over and over night after night…especially not when we’re both having the same one!” Looking round at the rest of the group, he couldn’t help noticing that Isabel looked thoughtful. He half expected her to say something, but instead remained silent. “Isabel…have you got something to say…?” He asked her softly.

His sister shook her head. “NO! I mean, no…I was just thinking…” She said hurriedly, looking over at Michael for the briefest of moments. The truth was she did have something to say; both she and Michael did…but not in front of Maria and Alex…

Michael caught Isabel’s glance as he waited to see if she would say anything. It wasn’t that he wanted to lie to Max, but from everything that had been said, the dreams Max was talking about were different, and as such, he didn’t want to ruin things between he and Maria when they were going so well, not for nothing… When Isabel declined to say anything, he breathed a small sigh of relief and felt himself relax again. He hoped that Maria hadn’t noticed him tense up, but luckily he thought it was unlikely she had, she was probably more interested in Liz at that moment in time.

As though confirming this, Maria chose that moment to ask Liz if she was ok. Liz smiled at the concern her friend was showing and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I’m just tired, I haven’t really been getting a lot of sleep recently…” She tried to reassure Maria.

The other girl got up and walked over to Liz. Max released his girlfriend from his arms as he realised what Maria wanted to do, and watched as the two of them hugged. However much he didn’t want to let her go, he knew that friendship was important for them all, and Liz’s friendship with Maria was vital for his girlfriend. They had known each other so long, and he knew they’d never let one another down.

Michael smiled as he watched Maria with Liz. She had such a huge heart; he knew he was so lucky to have her. She loved him…she’d accepted him knowing exactly what he was, and she hadn’t turned away when he had tried to hide his feelings. She had broken down his walls, and he was so glad it had been her. He knew that Max needed to be told, but he didn’t want to risk losing Maria, he didn’t know what he’d do without her… yes, Max would have to be told, but it could be done later, when Maria wasn’t there…

Max didn’t miss the looks exchanged by his sister and friend. He couldn’t explain it, but he felt sure that the both knew something… Looking at Isabel he could have sworn she looked as though she wanted to say something, but at the last minute didn’t. From the way she had answered when he had asked her about it, he got the feeling that whatever it was, she didn’t want to talk about it here so didn’t push any further, instead making a note to ask when they got home and were alone.

“So what’s next…?”

Max looked over at Alex, suddenly realising that until now he had been silent. He shook his head. “I don’t know…have you had any luck in translating the text at all…?”

He shook his head, looking most apologetic. “Sorry no…it’s not easy, I think I’ve managed one little bit, but it’s from the middle and makes no sense without the rest…”

Knowing that Alex would have been doing his best, Max nodded. “Ok, thanks…will you keep trying…?”

“Sure, I’ll do what I can of course, but I’m afraid it’s going to take time…” He paused a moment and tried to explain. “You see the problem is I don’t have a primer…I’ve searched through it and can’t find anything even resembling one s-“

Before he could finish, Michael interrupted looking confused. “What do you mean a ‘primer’?” He asked, clearly lost.

Alex didn’t answer immediately, trying to figure out the best way to explain but before he had a chance to answer Max took over for a moment. “It’s like a key, an alphabet which makes it easy to translate the rest of the text…” He explained a little impatiently before looking back at Alex. “Go on…”

His friend nodded. “Alright, well since I can’t find a primer, that kinda means that the computer is just guessing… Extrapolating possible primers based on the positions of the symbols, so even if we do get a translation, there’s no way we can know for certain it’s right, it’s all going to be based on probabilities…”

As much as he didn’t like the way that sounded, Max knew that if Alex was saying that was the best he could do, then that was the best he could do… He nodded. “Just do your best, you can’t do anymore…”

Alex looked relieved that his friend had taken this news so well. He wanted to be able to hand over a complete translation and be able to say it was 100% correct so much, and yet he knew that he couldn’t. It just wasn’t that simple. He had expected to find a primer somewhere in among the symbols…been counting on it even…and now it was obvious that wasn’t going to happen, he wasn’t at all sure that he’d ever be able to come up with anything usable… Not that he had admitted that to the others, he knew that Max for one, was counting on his being able to come up with something, so he had kept a positive outlook, although he had gone as far as to stress the limitations of course…

Max looked round at his group of friends again, trying to decide what to do next. He was glad they were all here, he just wished they had been able to shed a little more light on what was going on… He took a breath, about to say something when Liz spoke up.

“Max…” She looked up at him. “Those visions…I was able to show you, is there any way we could show everyone…” He tone was hesitant and she wasn’t too sure if what she was suggesting was even possible put she had a feeling it could be a good idea. “I was just thinking that something might seem familiar to one of you…” She tried to explain her thinking.

Max nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah, I guess it could be a good thing to show everyone…someone might have an idea as to what it all means…” He scratched his head, trying to figure out how it might work. “I don’t know if it would work, but I suppose we might be able to show everyone if we all made a connection…” He looked at Liz, his concern obvious. “It wouldn’t be easy though, and I’d need your help, the visions are in your head, not mine… I have the memory, but to have them intact it needs to come from you…” He paused a moment. “Are you sure you’re up to it…?”

Liz nodded. “I’ll be ok…” She told him softly, giving a small smile as an attempt at reassuring him.

Max nodded. The six of them formed a circle, alternating alien and human, with the aliens forming a connection that encompassed the whole group. Max had to admit it was surprisingly easy…perhaps it was to do with the level of trust and existing connections, but creating the link hardly seemed to require any effort at all. Instantly, a circle of bright while light appeared around them, an outward sign of the connection that existed between their minds. With a little help from Max, Liz located the visions in her mind and concentrating, she was able to project them to the whole group. One by one, the images that she had received were viewed by the whole group…

**********

Some time later, they all sat back down in silence as the images ended. At first, no one knew what to say, but eventually Maria broke the silence. “That was intense…I had no idea they were like that…” She moved closer to Michael who put his arms around her, pulling her close. She leant against his body, her head on his chest, grateful for the support.

“Oooh…I don’t feel so great…” Liz murmured softly. The sound of her voice caused everyone to look over. Her skin went pale, all colour draining from her cheeks, before she collapsed. Max dived, just managing to catch her before she banged her head. Supporting her with his arm, he laid her down gently on the sleeping bag. The others didn’t need to ask to know that he was worried, his expression, and the way he was now trying to make a connection, told them enough.

Maria knelt down at the side immediately asking if she was all right. Her tone was high and her speech somewhat gabbled which showed she was beginning to panic. “LIZ!” She grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently in the hopes of getting some response. When she didn’t, no one said anything. Silence had once again prevailed over the group, no one wanting to voice the fears they harboured.

“Liz…” Max felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders when his girlfriend’s eyelids began to flutter and she began to come again to finally. He knew that it would only have been a few minutes, but that didn’t change the fact that it felt like it had been an eternity… “Are you ok…?” He asked her softly as he leant over her. His arm slipped round the small of her back, helping her into a more upright, and hopefully more comfortable position.

“Oh Liz, you have us all so worried…” Maria sobbed, throwing her arms around her friend.

Liz took a deep breath of air and after returning the hug leant back against Max once more. “I’m sorry…” She apologised in a weak whisper. “I don’t know what happened…”

Max looked down at her, still worried about her condition but he could see that the colour was coming back into her cheeks and the small smile she sent his way went some way to reassuring him. “I think it was just that it’s not the best thing to have such a strong connection, particularly not when it lasts so long… It’s drained all of us, and I think it just drained you too much…” He told her softly. The connection had indeed been easy enough to initiate, but maintaining it was another matter entirely… The run of images had been long, and he was sure that both Isabel and Michael were also feeling drained.

Liz nodded weakly. “Ok…”

Her boyfriend swept her hair back from her face with his hand and dipped his head, giving her a gentle kiss as he laid her back down. “Get some rest…” He told her as he stood up. “Isabel…we should go…” Leaving Liz was in fact the last thing he really wanted to do, but he knew that Isabel wasn’t going to speak with the others there and he wanted to know what she was hiding. There was no guarantee that it would help, but right at that moment in time he welcomed anything with even the slightest possibility of helping.

The attempt with the images had been a complete waste, for now at least… No one recognised anything or anyone, it was just as though the images had been taken from some part of his brain that was locked away tightly. Liz received them through their connection, so he knew they had to have come through him in some way, but he didn’t have a clue as to what they meant… Perhaps in the future they would be pleased they showed the others, maybe something would come of it at a later date, but for now all Max could think about was the fact that making that connection had drained Liz so much. He berated himself for allowing it to go on so long, for not realising how much it would affect her, but there was nothing he could do about it now. However much he wanted to stay and make sure she was all right, he knew there was something else that he needed to do…

“We’ll be back tomorrow…” He told the rest of the group. Looking over at Michael, he silently asked for his friend to make sure they were all ok. He could see that he had understood from the small, almost imperceptive nod he received.

“We’ll be fine Maxwell…” Michael told him in a low voice as he pulled out a two more sleeping bags from where they had been stored. Rolling them out, he laid down on one of them as Max and Isabel left.

**********

As soon as Isabel was strapped into her seat, Max turned the key in the ignition and drove the jeep back onto the road, heading back into town. After a few moments he glanced over at her before turning his eyes back to the road. “Ok Isabel, spill!” He demanded without looking at her.

Isabel looked at her brother. She hadn’t realised it was quite so obvious and she hoped that neither Alex nor Maria had noticed. “W-what do you mean…?” She didn’t feel quite ready to tell him somehow.

Max wasn’t impressed and wasn’t in the mood for stalling. “You know what I mean, I could tell that you had something that you wanted to say…”

His sister hesitated. This whole thing still unnerved her and she wasn’t at all comfortable talking about it. However much she and Michael had talked it over and decided that it just didn’t matter, she didn’t like the fact that it had happened. It just wasn’t right… Looking at her brother, she could see her hesitation was making it worse for him. He was worried about Liz anyway, the last thing he needed was for her to be keeping things from him… She took a breath and looked at him. “A couple of months ago, I was having some dreams…” She paused and shook her head. “Well no, that’s not completely right…we were…me and Michael…”

Max nodded. That explained the looks his sister and friend had exchanged then… Another question needed to be asked of course. “What sort of dreams…?”

Isabel shrugged, trying to make it seem like she didn’t think of it as a big deal. “The same as you and Liz, we were together…”

“WHAT?” Max’s eyes were wide and he was obviously surprised.

Not that Isabel could say that she hadn’t been when she’d had them… Michael had always been like a brother to her; the idea of ‘being’ with him just wasn’t something that had hung well at all. She swallowed, attempting to keep an even tone. “I know…it wasn’t something either of us expected…” She shook her head. “They seriously freaked us out, I can tell you that…”

Her brother didn’t comment, simply nodding and waiting for her to continue.

Isabel took another breath. She knew Max needed to know more, but how to put this next bit was a concern. From what Max had said earlier, his dreams with Liz hadn’t reached the point she was going to mention, but then if she knew her brother, she wasn’t sure he’d say even if they had… “The dreams…they continued for some time, getting more and more intense… The content progressed from kissing, to much more…” She stopped, chewing her lower lip for a moment before continuing. “At one point I even thought I might be pregnant…” She finally admitted, holding her breath as she waited for her brother’s reaction. This was the bit she had been worried about voicing, the bit that had worried her…

Max looked at her stunned. “WHAT?” The apprehension in his voice was almost palatable and it was obvious he was worried about Liz.

Isabel realised she had just received confirmation that the dreams he and Liz had experienced so far had gone a bit further than they had owned up to. She didn’t blame him for keeping quiet though, simply set about reassuring him. “It’s ok Max, I wasn’t…It was a stupid thing to even consider, but they just seemed so realistic, I didn’t know what to think…”

Max realised what she was trying to do and gave his sister a weak smile. “Thanks for telling me…” He told her softly. Parking up outside the house, he turned off the engine and they got out quietly, making their way to the front door. Their parent’s car was already parked in the driveway, showing that they had arrived home early, and Max pulled a face.

Isabel put her finger to her mouth, slipping her key into the lock and turning it. The door slid open slowly, creaking. The noise seemed to Max and Isabel as though it were announcing their late-night escapade to their parents, and both prayed that their parents wouldn’t be woken by it. Luckily the lights in the front room were all off, showing that their parents were indeed already in bed, and when no sound came from upstairs, they assumed they had been lucky.

Together, they made their way upstairs and slipped into Isabel’s room. Isabel could see that Max was still shaken by her revelation about the dreams she had had. She looked at him. “Max…I don’t know why Michael and I had those dreams, but that’s exactly what they were, dreams… They didn’t mean anything, they had no consequences… Nothing will ever happen between Michael and I because we’re happy as we are. I love Alex, and Michael loves Maria… Whatever the reason for us receiving those dreams, to us it’s not that important, what is important is the here and now, the reality, our relationships with Maria and Alex…”

Max nodded. “That’s why you didn’t tell anyone…?” He deduced.

His sister nodded. “Yeah…we didn’t want to worry anyone, and I have to admit, we didn’t want Maria or Alex to know… We didn’t want to risk them getting the wrong idea…” She admitted softly. She knew that relationships should be based on trust, and truth, but somehow every time she had tried to get herself to tell Alex about this, something had stopped her. She didn’t want to admit to having these dreams…it was as though by keeping them secret both could pretend that nothing had happened… She looked at her brother. “Max…are you going to tell the others…?”

He shook his head. “Not if you don’t want me to…” He looked at her. “But you don’t think there’s anything to worry about anyway…with the dreams Liz and I have been having…?”

Isabel shrugged. “I can’t see that they will be…although I would be interested in finding out how, and why we have been getting them… I mean Michael and I was weird enough…but we’re both the same, but Liz…she’s normal…” She shook her head. “I just can’t make sense of it…”

Max nodded. “Neither can I…but as long as everything’s ok, that’s what’s important…” He looked down. “I’d never forgive myself if something happened to Liz because of what I am…”

Isabel reached out to take her brother’s hand. “I’m sure everything will be fine…” She told him softly.

Her brother nodded again as he got up. “Yeah, you’re probably right… Night Iz…”

“Night…” Isabel leaned over and gave her brother a hug.

Smiling again at his sister, Max turned and slipped out the door, walking along the landing and back to his room. He knew that he’d sleep; question was whether the dreams would continue…?

roswellluver, begonia9508 and Isabelle, thanks for reading guys, glad you're enjoying the story.

Isabelle and roswellluver - I'm glad you both seem to approve of Isabel's little revealing session.

Isabelle - I'm really glad you thought that the meeting in the cave worked, and I'm delighted you like my writing of Michael. He and Maria are the two characters I have the most trouble with and it's a relief to know it's coming off ok. As for Maria and Alex, I get the feeling they might have been more concerned about Liz to be noticing their repective boyfriend and girlfriend's looks .

Begonia - does sound like a nice kind of date doesn't it hehe. I thought it was appropriate though, and hopefully it'll go some way to showing Maria what she means to him do you think?

Anyway, still a long way to go, but I'm glad everyone's been enjoying the story so far. I know that this is a LONG time after I said I would post, but RL has been a little hectic recently, I haven't been as busy as I have since Christmas for a long time, and what with keep trying to get back up to date with RPs constantly it seems, pretty much all my writing time has been acounted for :S.

Originally this chapter was going to be longer, but I decided to split it, then I'd be able to post this now, and more hopefully pretty soon. Therefore this part is a little shorter than the last have been, but I do hope you'll enjoy it non-the-less.

Ok, well I guess it's time to shut up and let you get on with reading. Love to hear what you think as always.

~Kat~

Chapter 13

“Miss Parker…”

“What…? Uh…” Liz scanned around the room, searching for any sign of help. Had the teacher just asked her a question…or was she supposed to be doing something…? – Basically she hadn’t got a clue. She had completely spaced.

Unfortunately, Maria sat some rows behind, the class being in alphabetical order, so as Liz looked round, she found no one. Taking a risk, and hoping it would come off, she looked up at her teacher awkwardly. ” Oh sorry Miss Strang…could you repeat the question…?”

She looked unimpressed and a little disappointed. “Miss Parker…you may be one of the best students in this class as far as your grades go, but your behaviour has left a lot to be desired more recently. She looked down at Liz. “I would appreciate it if you would pay attention to the lesson, rather than going off into some sort of daydream… I might remind you that you haven’t passed this class yet…”

Liz felt her cheeks flushing and wished that she could just sink into the ground. She hadn’t realised that her lack of attention the last few weeks had been noticed by any of her teachers… Certainly her work hadn’t suffered too much, but the way she was going, it seemed it could be only a matter of time… “I’m sorry Miss Strang…it won’t happen again…” She murmured in response.

Her teacher nodded. “See that it doesn’t…” She turned back to her lesson, going through the work on the board and asking if anyone had any questions before setting them off on it.

Liz forced herself to concentrate, giving full attention to the lesson in an attempt to make up for her earlier distraction. When told to work on the questions for the rest of the lesson, she pulled out her file and took out a clean sheet of paper, dating it at the top and beginning to note down each question in turn before then turning her attention to actually answer them. She was in the middle of this when she suddenly became aware of the fact someone was watching her. Looking up, she saw that Miss Strang was indeed stood in front of her desk.

“Liz…can I talk to you please…?”

Liz dreaded to think what she might be going to say. She had always prided herself on the fact she didn’t get into trouble at school… She had been in detention exactly once, and that was when it was the whole class… She turned in her assignments in time, and generally had them completed a good week before they were even due… Well, that was normally…she knew that she had been falling behind compared to normal recently, she’d just been hooping that the teachers hadn’t… She looked up awkwardly. “O-of course…”

Miss Strang nodded. “Nothing to worry about, but I’d just like a little chat…do you want to leave that for now and come outside a moment…”

Nodding, Liz felt her chest tighten and she swallowed nervously as she followed her teacher out of the room.

A number of the students looked up, amazed to see who it was that was being taken outside, but within moments they had other things on their minds, as general chatter exploded throughout the room as they were left unsurpervised…

**********

Outside the room, Liz looked down awkwardly. “I…uh…want to apologise…I know that I’ve been a little distracted…”

She nodded. “I’ve noticed…and a number of other teachers have commented too… And you’re not the only one…though I can’t name names, and I don’t know whether it’s related…” She looked at her student. “Liz, you’re a very talented young woman, and if you put your mind to it, I know you will fly through this course…” She sighed and shook her head. “I would hate to see you throw all your hard work away at this late stage…you have less than a year left until you graduate…”

“I know…”

“Is there something wrong at home, some reason for all this…” She looked at her. “If there is, please do say…we might be your teachers, and we might expect you to work, but we’re also here to help if we can…”

Liz shook her head. “N-no…everything’s fine…” She couldn’t exactly explain that she had been having erotic dreams about her boyfriend that were worrying her now could she…?

Miss Strang nodded. “Alright, well I’ve said what I needed to say. You have a great future ahead of you…assuming that you don’t throw it away…” She paused a moment. “I’m going to give out the last lot of essays I sent when I go back in…and yours will be an A as usual…”

Liz smiled for a moment, releieved to hear that, but that smile dropped from her face somewhat as she realised there was a but.

“…It is still the standard of an A – make no mistake, I am not playing favourites – BUT, it is NOT the usual standard of your work…” She looked at the young girl in front of her who looked down. It was obvious that she knew that herself anyway. She nodded. “I’m not going to say any more about it at the moment, but I hope your next essay will be back to your usual higher standard…”

Liz nodded, biting her lip and breathing deeply. She knew one thing…she couldn’t go on like this… Miss Strang was right, the last essay she had done was far from her best… And it wasn’t because the subject was difficult, or she had been struggling, it was because it had been knocked off in a single night, and by the time she had finished, she had already been completely worn out. That essay had been left at the stage where usually she made small additions and changed when she read through it… “Yes Miss…” She responded softly.

Watching her, Miss Strang hoped that she had got the message. From the look of the girl she had… She hadn’t wanted to take her on one side like this, but when it came down to it, the standard of work she was producing, simply wasn’t her best, and given that she knew what Liz was capable of producing, she had seen it as her responsibility to say something… She nodded. “Alright, you’d better be going back in…” She motioned to the door.

In silence, Liz did as she said, opening the door and walking back inside in front of the teacher, going back to her desk and slipping into her seat. If she knew one thing, it was that things were going to have to change…

For the rest of the lesson, Liz tried to concentrate on the work which had been set. She answered each question in turn, and when it came to discussing some of the answers, attempted to participate fully, volunteering views and explanations freely.

Miss Strang was pleased to see Liz contributing so well to the lesson once more. She hoped that this signalled a change in her student, a return to her previous work. As the bell rang, she heard a number of chairs scrape back and looked up sharply. “Did I say you could go?” She asked flatly. A number of groans came from the class but the culprits sat back down quickly. Miss Strang looked around, checking the room and then nodded. “Alright, you can pack away your things…and don’t forget your essays on Monday!”

The class needed little encouragement, and even as she said this, pencil cases were being packed away into bags. The moment they received the go-ahead, the majority stood and hurried out of the room.

Usually Liz would take her time, and end up being one of the last out of class, but instead she was one of the first, picking up her books quickly and grabbing her bag, before scooting out of the door. It wasn’t that she was in a hurry to get away from the classroom, but more than she was eager to get outside. Towards the end of the lesson she had begun to feel a little hot and dizzy. Under normal circumstances she would have asked to be allowed a bathroom pass, but given the fact she had been in trouble at the beginning of the lesson, and considering it was in fact the final lesson of the day, she had thought that ill advisable and instead decided to manage until the end of the lesson. As she hurried along the corridor now though, she was feeling worse and worse. Her pace quickened, emphasising her need to get outside into the fresh air…

Pushing open the main doors, she hurried down the steps and practically collapsed onto a bench which stood to one side.

Maria had seen her friend make a quick exit and had a feeling something wasn’t right. With this in mind, she had followed after her quickly and moments after Liz sat down, she came over. “Hey, are you ok…?” She asked Liz, her concern evident from the tone of her voice.

Her friend nodded, although the lack of colour in her cheeks belied this. “Yeah…I just needed some air…” She told Maria, sounding almost as though she were struggling for breath.

Maria frowned, clearly not convinced. She leant over, rubbing Liz’s back gently. “Easy…deep breaths…” She told her softly.

Liz nodded, doing as she said, and after a short while she began to feel better. “Ok, thanks…now are we going to get off…?” She asked as she stood up and made to walk towards the student parking lot.

Maria shook her head, reaching for her friend’s arm and motioning for her to sit back down. “I don’t think so Liz…” She looked at her. “What just happened there…?”

Liz shrugged. “I don’t know, but I feel fine now, so let’s get going…”

“I think you should sit back down and I should go see if I can find Max…” Maria commented. She didn’t know what was going on, but something sure didn’t seem right…”

Shaking her head immediately in response to this suggestion, Liz looked back up her friend. “No!” She insisted. “I don’t want to bother him…he’s got a load of work to do tonight, and he said that it would be occupy practically his whole evening…”

Maria sighed,. “Look, if you’re not well, he’s going to want to know about it… He won’t mind being disturbed…”

Liz knew that she was right, and she couldn’t deny that she herself would feel better to some extent just for the fact he was there, but she also knew that if Maria contacted Max, he would insist on staying with her as long as he could, the end result of which would be that the work he had would be virtually untouched. Especially given the way they had been the last few weeks, that was something that she just wouldn’t allow to happen and again she shook her head. “I’m fine now Maria…I’ll tell him about it in the morning…”

Shaking her head, Maria began pacing up and down nervously. “What if it’s not normal…Liz, what if this is Czechoslovakian related…?”

Her eyes widening, Liz shook her head at the mention of the code word. “Maria, stop panicking… I just felt a bit woozy, nothing major, and I’m fine now… You don’t need to call Max, and I don’t need to sit down… What we do need to do is get out of here though…are you still ok giving me a lift…?”

Realising that Liz was probably right, Maria pulled out her vial of oil from her bag, took a few sniffs, and then nodded as she turned to Liz. “Sure, of course I am…”

Liz smiled. “Great…”

Together the two girls made their way over to where Maria had parked the Jetta earlier that day. Maria pulled out her keys, unlocked the doors, and the two of them get in.

Sitting back in the chair, Liz waited until her friend had driven out of the school gates, and was on the road home, before she looked at her. She knew only too well that if she remained silent, questions about Max, or what had happened that afternoon, would come sooner or later. Not really have any answers, she thought she would beat Maria too it, directing the conversation away from herself and hoping that Maria wouldn’t persist. “So, how are things with you and Michael…?”

Her friend didn’t seem to object to the change in focus and simply smiled brightly. “Really good…everything’s going really well…” She told Liz enthusiastically. She had waited so long for Michael to actually admit to his feelings, but now he had…well all the waiting had been worth it… She continued to chatter, telling Liz about the date she had been on the last Friday, and the one that was planned for the end of the current week, until they pulled up outside the Crashdown. “Ok, well I guess this is your stop…”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, thanks Maria…”

“No problem Chica, but are you sure you’re ok now…?” As much as she wanted to, Maria just couldn’t throw the feeling that something wasn’t quite right… She knew that Liz was probably right, and she was simply over-reacting as usual, but try as she might, she just couldn’t stop…

Laughing softly, Liz nodded again. “I’m fine Maria…” She repeated her earlier statement over again as she looked at her friend.

“Okay…if you say so…” She gave an uncertain smile.

“I do…thanks for the lift…”

“Oh any time, you know that by now…” Maria waved away her appreciation. “I’ll see you in school tomorrow ok…? Assuming you’re well enough that is…”

Rolling her eyes, her friend laughed again. “Yes I’ll be well enough, and yes you’ll see me in school tomorrow…” She gave a quick wave and climbed out of the car, heading across the road and slipping into the Crashdown through the main entrance. She looked back once and gave another wave as she saw her friend set off, then continued through the restaurant, through the back, and up the stairs to her room. Once here, she dropped down onto the bed, kicking off her shoes, and curling up on top of the covers.

Maria watched carefully as she crossed the road, then waited until she saw Liz step inside the restaurant, before turning her key in the ignition, turning the engine back on, and pulling out onto the road to head off down the street towards her own home. She hoped that she was wrong, and that Liz was ok, but somehow she had a really bad feeling about it all…

**********

“Liz HONEY, come into the kitchen for some dinner…”

Liz sighed as she heard her mother calling from a little way down the corridor. She turned over in bed, still curled up tightly for a moment. The plain fact was that she still wasn’t feeling too good, but at the same time, she didn’t want to cause her mother to worry and decided that she had to make an effort.

Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and, slipping her feet into some shoes which lay to one side, she stood up. Walking over to the mirror, she grabbed a comb, running it through her hair quickly, and checking her appearance, before wandering out of the room and down the corridor to the kitchen.

Her parents were busy talking, but as she entered they stopped, turning to look at her as she sat down. Liz gave a small smile. “Hey…”

Nancy couldn’t help noticing that her daughter looked rather pale. It wasn’t that she wanted to be a nagging mother, but she didn’t like to think that there could be something wrong. “Are you ok honey…?” She asked her softly as she watched her for a moment.

Her daughter nodded. “Yeah, I’m just a bit tired that’s all…” She told her mother, hoping that she wouldn’t push it any further. She couldn’t explain it, she hadn’t had any late nights really that week, but she felt like she had barely had a wink of sleep… Of course that could have something to do with the dreams she and Max still appeared to be sharing…she supposed, but it wasn’t like she was going to tell her parents about those…

She couldn’t deny that the fact that they were continuing un-nerved her to some extent… As they had said before, it definitely wasn’t normal, and she just couldn’t shake the feeling that they meant something… Max had told her it was ok, nothing to worry about, but there was just something about then…

She sighed and shook her head inwardly, realising that speculating about such matters, was in fact pretty pointless… Alex was doing what he could with regards to a translation, and that was all that could be done for now…

Jeff nodded silently, apparently accepting what she said, although he did wonder if there was something more than Liz was willing to admit… He noted that his daughter looked a little distracted… “Alright, well if that’s all it is, maybe an early night would do you good…” He suggested gently.

Liz nodded. “Yeah, I think it probably would…” She agreed. It came as somewhat of a relief to know that she was up to date with her work again… In truth she wasn’t really certain if she would have been able to manage another late night. Even just sat here, she felt absolutely exhausted and could very easily have gone without dinner in preference of going to bed…

As it was, she knew that if she had done that, her parents would have worried though, and that was the last thing she wanted. She ate a little of her dinner in silence, not really tasting it, nor really listening to what her mother and father were talking about. When she had eaten all that she could, she looked over at her mother. “May I be excused…?”

Nancy was surprised. “You haven’t finished honey…”

“I know…” Liz nodded softly. “But I’ve had all I want…” She rubbed her eyes slightly. “I’m just really tired mom…”

Mrs Parker nodded. “Alright, if you’re sure you’re just tired…” She reached over to kiss her daughter’s forehead as Mr Parker did the same. “Sleep well sweetheart…”

Liz nodded, wishing them both goodnight, and heading back to her room. Once there, her eye was caught by the notepad which held her English coursework, knowing that she needed to get moving on it. Sighing, she went over and picked it up, reading through with the intention of just putting in another half hour. By the time she had finished re-reading though, she found that her eye-lids felt too heavy and she shook her head, abandoning the idea. Anything I product in this state isn’t going to be in any good anyway…I’ll just have to work on it tomorrow…

Setting the pad down on her desk, she switched off her lamp and started to get ready for bed. She knew it was still incredibly early, but she just couldn’t stay awake any longer… It didn’t take her too long to slip off her clothes, folding them on the seat in front of her desk, and grabbing her night-dress which she then dropped over her head.

A short time later, she was crawling into bed, curling up and pulling the covers high. She was exhausted…

Begonia9508, Isabelle and roswellluver, thanks for reading, glad you're all enjoying the story. Your feedback means a lot, it's wonderful to know you're enjoying it.

Begonia - well no L/M in this part - I know unusual for me lol but then this was originally part of the last chapter which I split so that I could post sooner. As for the 'symptoms', I guess you'll have to keep reading if you want to find out more.

Isabelle - glad you're enjoying, and you're right, definitely more than dreams...exactly what though, I guess only time will tell hehe

roswellluver - thanks, glad you enjoyed it.

Ok, so it's very late at night, or rather early in the morning for me...past two in fact, and I have to be up at seven - look what you guys make me do, I'll been up this late finishing a chapter for you . Anyway, I hope that you'll all like it and as always I'd love to hear what you think.

~Kat~

Chapter 14

“Maria…are you ok…?” Michael looked at his girlfriend with concern as he leant over and gave her a gentle kiss. She had barely said two words since she had arrived, and hadn’t even complained when he had turned on the sports channel. He shook his head. Something just wasn’t right.

Maria looked up. Her expression was one that almost suggested she had forgotten that he was even there… Which given that they were in his apartment could definitely be thought of as odd. “What? Oh I’m sorry Michael…” She apologised quickly, leaning towards him again and pressing her lips against his.

Michael kissed her back, but as he pulled away couldn’t help frowning. This just wasn’t Maria…something was definitely wrong… “I said are you okay Maria…?” He asked her softly, reaching to touch her arm. “Maria…?”

His girlfriend gave a quick nod. “Of course I’m okay…I’m fine Michael…” She gave him another quick kiss and sat back.

Her boyfriend looked at her, clearly not convinced. This wasn’t the Maria he knew and loved…something was obviously worrying her. “What’s the matter…?”

Maria swallowed and shook her head. “It’s ok, I’m just a little worried about Liz, that’s all…” She chewed her lip for a moment. “She just didn’t look, or sound too good today…”

Nodding, Michael slipped his arm around her. “It’s probably just that cold that’s going round you know… Bad colds can be awful…you know that…” He personally couldn’t say he had experience, but it didn’t take much to gather from everyone at school, or even Hank in the past, that a bad cold could easily knock you flat on your back…especially if it was anything like proper flu.

“Yeah, I suppose…” She gave a little smile of amusement at how practical Michael sounded. In the past he was the one who had flown off the handle at the slightest thing… she sighed. “I don’t know, my mind just keeps saying that something is wrong…” She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back from her face as she buried her head in Michael’s chest.

Her boyfriend sighed, wrapping his arms further round her and hugging her tightly as he dipped his head to press his lips against the top of her head. “I’m sure she’ll be fine…” He tried once more to reassure her.

Maria made no verbal answer but nodded. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his shoulder. Michael was right; this worry she felt was irrational… Liz just had a bad cold or something… It had made her feel rotten sure, but there was nothing more serious about it. She was simply a little under the weather… An early night and a good sleep would likely clear it up, and if not a little TLC would probably do the rest. After all, what else could it be…?

**********

Later that evening, Michael looked down at his girlfriend. Maria had fallen asleep some hours ago, her head resting against his shoulder. She looked so beautiful, so peaceful…he didn’t want to wake her but he knew it was getting late and if she didn’t get home soon she was likely to get into trouble. It was no secret that her mother didn’t really like him anyway, although that could of course have something to do with the time she had found him in Maria’s bed the morning after his last encounter with Hank. That wasn’t exactly the best memory to give to your girlfriend’s mother…not to mention the number of times that Czechoslovakian business had resulted in unexplained absences… “Maria…” He nudged her gently calling softly in her ear.

“Huh…what…just another few minutes…” His girlfriend moaned softly, trying to turn over as though in bed and almost fell off the sofa, only being stopped by the strong arms that remained wrapped firmly around her. Her eyes shot open; she squealed and grabbed hold of Michael.

He laughed. “Don’t worry…I’ve got you…”

Maria sat up and looked back at him, taking in her surroundings. She couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep. She was always complaining to Michael about him not paying her enough attention on their dates, and now what had she done, fallen asleep while watching a film with him… She pulled a face and looked rather sheepish. “Sorry…I guess I fell asleep…”

Her boyfriend looked amused and nodded slightly. “Yeah, looks like it…”

She rubbed her eyes with her fists. “I’m so sorry Michael…it’s not anything personal…”

“I know that…” He nodded again. “And I don’t mind…you were obviously tired…”

His girlfriend nodded. “Just a little…I guess I’ve had a few late nights recently what with the meetings and such…”

“That’s true…” He smiled at her. “You went out like a light you know…”

Maria made no comment, simply snuggling up closer to him and leaning her head against his chest. “Well it’s comfortable here…” She commented with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

Michael shook his head. “Look, I would love to let you go back to sleep, just as I would have loved to leave you… You really did look peaceful, but somehow I don’t think you staying over here for the night would go down too well with your mom…”

His words caused Maria to look down at her watch sleepily, resulting in her shooting bolt upright in a second. “OMG, my curfew is in about ten minutes…”

“I thought as much…” Michael nodded slightly, standing and holding out a hand to help her do the same.

Maria smiled and allowed him to pull her up before leaning over and kissing him gently. Quickly she pulled away and grabbed her coat from the back of the sofa where she had left it when she arrived. “I’m really sorry about this Michael…I really didn’t mean for this to happen…” She told him in a somewhat high-pitched babble as she straightened her clothes and put on her coat.

Michael waved away her concerns. “Honestly Maria, there’s no problem…you needed sleep…there’ll be plenty of times to watch a movie…” He assured her softly.

“Okay, if you’re sure…thank you…” She scrambled to retrieve her bag from the floor. “Right, well I really have to go…I’ll see you at school tomorrow…?”

“Sure…drive safely pixie…” Stopping her as she was about to head out the door, Michael drew her back into his arms for a moment before releasing her and opening the door.

Maria was in such a rush that she didn’t have time to make any comment to the nickname he had used and simply sent a mock glare in his direction before running out the door. She was never going to be home in time…her only hope would be that her mother was otherwise occupied… Otherwise occupied…was she really thinking that? She shook her head at the desperation of her thoughts as she climbed into the Jetta and pulled onto the road.

Michael stood and watched from his window, not moving from his position until the Jetta was out of sight. What a wonderfully perfect woman… It might have taken him some time to realise it, but Maria was basically like the light of his life. He had teased Max mercilessly for the way he spoke about Liz, both before and after they got together, but now that he had finally opened up, and let Maria in, he could totally see what his friend had been about. He honestly didn’t know what he’d do without her…and that was what was worrying him.

They hadn’t meant anything, but what if she found out about the dreams he and Isabel has shared…what if she got the wrong idea, or even just hated him because he had kept it from her for so long… If he had told her immediately it probably wouldn’t have been so much of a problem, but that hadn’t happened…

Neither he nor Isabel had wanted to advertise what they were dreaming about. It had them both embarrassed and they really didn’t want to let anyone else in. As the dreams had gone further, they weren’t just embarrassed, but also now freaked. Had they continued, and the two of them not been able to deduce that they were exactly what they seemed, dreams, Max would of course have been let in, but at the time there was no thought of telling any of the others.

It wasn’t like he and Maria were a proper item back then…they went out, and argued, broke up and yelled at each other before kissing a few times and allowing the cycle to start over again. It was a complicated relationship, but it wasn’t like he would have felt willing to open up to her about personal things…

He could rationalise the reasoning for not telling anyone, and to him it sounded fine, but somehow he had a feeling Maria wouldn’t take it quite so calmly. If she ever found out he had kept this secret from her, he knew she would be mad, and he was worried it might just cause him to lose her…

That was the reason she couldn’t ever know… He knew that Isabel wasn’t likely to tell Alex, so maybe it really wasn’t such a problem… He shook his head. He could rationalise this all he wanted, and brush it away, but there was still something that had to be addressed…

Both he and Isabel had known immediately the other night what Liz and Max were talking about… The dreams they had described, most reluctantly, matched almost completely those the two of them had shared. Even if they were only dreams, and that was exactly what he believed, he knew that Max and Liz deserved to know that… The two of them were obviously worrying, and it wasn’t like the fact they were simple dreams explained why max was sharing them with Liz, who was a human, but hopefully the knowledge that someone else had been through them would help reassure the couple.

This was the reason he was so worried about Maria finding out… Reassurance would require explanation, and not only to Max… If it were just to him, there probably wouldn’t be a problem, but it would also include Liz…and he knew she and Maria didn’t tend to have any secrets between one another. He could ask her to keep quiet about it, but he was worried she would feel it was her duty to tell her friend…

I just wanted to keep from hurting her…that’s all… He told himself over and over, still staring out the window, at the parking spot that had been occupied by the Jetta a few minutes earlier. He couldn’t lose her…he just couldn’t…

Shaking his head, he walked back over to his couch, sat down and picked up the phone handset from the base that sat on his coffee table. Dialling a familiar number, he pressed call and then waited…

Hello this is Isabel Evans… I’m either not here right now, or otherwise occupied, but if you leave a message after the tone I’ll try and get back to you…

D*mn… Michael tried hard to control his frustration as he heard the bright voice on the other end. Isabel’s answer phone message was just so… He shook his head as he pressed to end the call. It was ten at night, where the heck was she if she wasn’t in…? G*D he needed to talk to her….

Dropping the phone back onto its base, he ran his fingers through his hair quickly, trying hard to calm down. Unfortunately his energy was surging and an instant later he heard his radio explode. He wasn’t even looking at it, much less touching it, but he guessed that was a sign of just how frustrated he had been. He punched one of the cushions on his sofa. Great, so now he either needed a new radio, or he’d have to get Max or Isabel to fix it… He hated being like this… The two of them had so much more control over their powers…why couldn’t he…?

**********

The following day after School, Max was just putting the finishing touches to an essay when he heard a knock at the door. He knew his parents were still at work, and Isabel was out with Alex. He was the only one in the house. Realising this, he put down his pen and headed downstairs to answer the door. To say he was surprised when he found himself facing Michael would have been an understatement. “Michael…what are you doing here…?”

“I…uh…” Michael shifted his feet uncomfortably. “Could be talk a moment…?”

Max looked at him, wondering what all this was about but nodded. “Sure…come in…” He stepped back to allow his friend to enter and then closed the door behind him. “You want something to drink…?” He asked, heading through to the kitchen.

Michael shook his head. “No…I’m ok…”

“Okay, suit yourself…” Max shrugged and headed over to the fridge, opening the door and pulling out a can of cherry-coke. Grabbing a glass from the cupboard, he emptied the can into it and then added a good dose of hot sauce, pulling said bottle from it’s hiding place in his school bag which was lying on the floor under the table.

Replacing it when he was done, he picked up his glass and again faced his friend. “So, what’s all this about…?” He asked, noting that Michael had fallen silent again.

“Well Maxwell…it’s uh…kinda awkward…” He swallowed and looked down at his feet.

Max frowned. Something about this sure didn’t look good… He looked back at Michael. “Go on…”

His friend nodded, although lapsed into another awkward silence for a few moments before speaking. “It’s something I need to tell you…about me and Isabel…” He paused a moment before adding quickly. “Nothing ever happened though, I mean this didn’t mean anything, I promise you man…” He was obviously uncomfortable talking about this and as much as he tried, he just couldn’t stop himself from sounding like he was babbling.

Listening to what he was saying, it took Max less than a minute to put it all together. His brow creased and he frowned slightly, remaining silent for a few moments before nodding. “I know…”

Those two words stopped Michael dead in his tracks. He looked up at Max stunned. “Y-you know…?”

Max nodded. “Yeah…Isabel told me last week, right after the meeting actually…” He made an effort to keep an even tone but even so, his displeasure was evident.

Michael paled. “Oh…so I guess you told Liz…”

His friend shook his head, he wasn’t exactly sure were that had come from. “No…I didn’t think I needed to…” He shrugged. “It’s your business, no one else’s…I was just pleased she came to see me so soon…”

Michael didn’t miss the pointed nature of this comment. He looked at his friend apologetically. “Look, I’m sorry… I just didn’t want Maria to and out, and I was worried that if Liz found out, she’d tell her…” He sighed and ran his finger through his hair. “I didn’t know that Isabel had told you, but as I saw you and Liz worrying I knew I needed to tell you…”

Max looked unimpressed by this. “Okay, so you needed to tell me… That would be why it took you a whole week to come to me…” He shook his head. “Michael, had Isabel not come to me, do you know how much worry there might have been that could have been avoided…”

Nodding, Michael looked down, leaning against the wall and then forcing himself to face Max again. “Look, I’m sorry, I said that before… It took me a whole week to talk about it because to be honest, it had me completely freaked… I don’t want to talk about this stuff…I didn’t at the time, and I don’t now, and right now, what I’m doing is far from easy…” He walked over to table and dropped down onto one of the seats. “I knew you needed to know Maxwell, and I’m sorry for keeping quiet, but me having erotic dreams with your sister is not exactly the sort of thing I wanted to broadcast to the group… He shook his head. “Maria doesn’t know about it, and if she finds out, I don’t know what she’ll do…”

Max nodded, slowly realising that Michael was serious. He’d never seen his friend so worked up about something like this… He took a breath, working to calm himself down and nodded again. “Okay, well the important thing is that you did come and tell me, and for that I thank you…even if it could have been a bit sooner…”

“I’m sorry Maxwell…” Michael just didn’t know what else he could say… It sounded so weak, so insufficient…and yet it was all he could say…

His friend held up his hand. “Okay Michael…I believe you…” He looked at him. “And…I won’t tell anyone else…you can trust me…” He wasn’t going to say that he approved of Isabel and Michael keeping this from Alex and Maria like that…and in the long run he couldn’t help feeling that when they found out it would probably be worse, but then it wasn’t his secret to tell…

“Thanks Maxwell…I owe you one…” Michael looked so relieved. He gave Max a friendly slap on the back as he changed the focus just slightly. “Besides, what’s more important is that the dreams are just that…. You and Liz, me and Isabel, they’re just dreams…it’s not like they mean anything…”

Max listened and nodded. “Sure, Isabel said the same thing…” Of course convincing Liz of that without the evidence of what had happened to Isabel and Michael hadn’t been so easy… The dreams had obviously freaked Liz and she was having a hard time dealing with them. All Max could do was be there for her he knew, and he just hoped he had finally managed to convince her they weren’t important… He hadn’t felt able to tell Liz about Michael and Isabel before, and he felt no more able now…he’d been forced to find another way…

Michael stood up as his friend finished. “And she’s right Maxwell…you guys have nothing to worry about I’m sure…” He trailed off and looked at the clock awkwardly. “Look, I’d like to stay longer, and I know it was me that came to see you, but I have said about all I have to say, and I’m supposed to be meeting Maria…if you want we can talk later…okay…?”

Max couldn’t help smiling as he nodded. “Sure, get out of here, I’ll see you tomorrow at school…” He saw Michael to the door and after seeing his friend out, he glanced at his watch. Almost six…he hadn’t quite finished that essay, but it was well on the way, and he had told Liz he’d try and pop into the Crashdown towards the end of her shift to see if she’d be free afterwards.

He thought about his options for a few moments, but seeing Liz soon won out. The essay only needed a few more sentences, and he could easily do them later… Quickly, he picked up his coat, pulling it on and grabbing his keys from the small table, in the hallway, where he had left them earlier.

Leaving a quick note for his parents, to tell them where he was, he slipped out of the house, locking the door behind him and getting into the jeep. A couple of minutes later he was driving down the road in the direction of the Crashdown and looking forward to seeing his girlfriend again.

roswellluver, isabelle, tequathisy, DestinyDreamer, cwm_ and Ellie, thanks so much for reading guys, it means a lot that you're sticking with me. I know I don't update as regularly as most people on here by a long way, but I am doing my best. Recently I've had a lot of trouble writing, both from a busy work schedule, and also getting into what I need to do. Honestly, I'm so glad that you're all enjoying the story though, that makes it all worth while .

roswellluver - thanks, glad you're still enjoying the story

Isabelle - you think I got inside Michael's head? Wow, from you that's a compliment lol. I'm so glad you think I'm doing a good job with him though, he's not exactly my best character to write, and to know you think I'm keeping him in character is great. As for Max - well do you blame him for being angry really - Michael didn't know that Isabel had said anything, so basically he left them worrying to the best of his knowledge...

tequathisy - you may be right, although I think Liz's mind is rather less focused on the worry at the moment ...

DestinyDreamer - no, definitely that wasn't the last chapter lol - I have plenty more to come.

cwm_ - thanks for the bump, hope you're enjoying the story

Ellie - a new reader yay . Welcome to the story. All will be revealed in good time I promise, but that could be a little while let. For now though, I hope you enjoy the story

Okay so now I know another general apology is in order. It's been a long time since I updated I know... I didn't mean for it to be this long, but things just kinda happened and as I mentioned before RL has been hectic. I am trying to get back into writing, but it's taking some time so I just hope this chapter is okay.

I also have a little confession to make lol - followed by a plug . I've been struggling so much with my writing that I became so desperate last week that I gave in... I started a new fic on the AU board (the link's in my sig if you're interested - When Love and Loss Collide). It's got aliens, and is CC for information lol.

Right, so plug over, and I know that I'm babbling on as usual. Sorry about that . Just want to say thanks again for all the feedback, every little bit is wonderful and so appreciated, it honestly does help so much. Anyway, hope you guys like the new chapter, and as always I'd love to hear what you think.

Chapter 15

“…and that’s ten dollars fifty change…” Liz said as she counted the money out into the hand of the woman stood at the till.

“Thank you darling…” The elderly lady smiled brightly and then took a moment to place the change in her purse.

“Such a nice young girl…” She commented to the man she was leaving with as they headed out the door.

Liz, who had overheard her comment, smiled and shook her head. Mrs Milton was sweet…she came to the Crashdown once a week and ordered exactly the same thing every time. Sometimes old Mr Davis joined her, and she couldn’t help smiling at the sight of the two of them together. Both had lost their partners many years ago, and if asked, both would insist they had no want for anyone else, but their actions told otherwise… Personally Liz thought that they would make a lovely couple…

“I got an order here for table nine and it’s not getting warmer!”

Turning sharply as she was torn away from her thoughts, Liz hurried over to the serving hatch, muttering an apology and quickly juggling the plates as she made her way over to deliver it to the correct table.

As she returned to the counter after doing this, Liz spotted her mother come through the door from the back. Her brow wrinkled in confusion, and her confusion only grew as she realised her mother was heading straight for her. “H-hey mom…I wasn’t expecting you here just now…”

Nancy nodded, smiling at her daughter. “Sweetheart, I know that you’re due to be finishing shortly, but your father and I have to pop out for a while…is there any chance you could cover for a little longer…” She didn’t like to ask, because she knew her daughter had put in a lot of hours, particularly recently, but really it was rather difficult to find cover at short notice…

Although she felt like doing so, Liz refrained from groaning. Extra shifts at short notice were a regular occurence given she was the daughter of the owners of the diner, but really, she didn’t know if her mother could have chosen a worst time. Max was supposed to be calling by soon, and after working hard to get her work up to date again, she had been looking forward to taking him up on his offer to go out.

Nancy was not oblivious to her daughter’s displeasure. “I’m sorry honey…I wouldn’t ask if it weren’t important…” She assured her gently. “I know you’ve been working very hard recently, only I don’t know who else to ask…”

Sighing, Liz nodded as she looked back at her mother. She might not want to, but she didn’t really see any alternative. “No…it’s fine mom…it’s not like I had any plans…” She responded. It didn’t seem advisable to mention her plans with Max, given that her mother recently had certainly picked up on the fact they were spending more time together…

“Alright, thank you honey…” Her mother smiled and nodded, accepting her response at face value and turning quickly to head back the way she had come.

Watching her mother disappear through the doors at the back, Liz sighed, dropping down onto one of the empty stools at the counter and burying her head in her arms for a moment. “Why today…?” She mumbled to herself.

Maria, who was just coming heading out having finished a few minutes before walked over as she noticed her friend. “Hey…are you okay…?” She asked gently.

Liz sighed as she looked up and shook her head. “It’s nothing Ria… Just mom and dad apparently have to go out, so I’m stuck pulling an extra shift…”

Maria smiled sympathetically. She knew that her friend had been doing a lot of extra hours recently as it was. “Isn’t there someone else that could cover…?”

She shook her head. “Apparently not at such short notice… Of course given I live here, I’m always available aren’t I…?” She pulled a face and gave a wry smile. “Sorry Maria…I know I sound like a real grouch…just I guess I’m tired…”

Her friend nodded. “Okay, well how about I stay to keep you company…?” She suggested lightly. She knew she had plans to see Michael, but they could change them…it wasn’t fair that Liz was expected to do this all the time and the least she could do was help. “Give me a minute and I can go get changed back into my uniform…”

That suggestion got an immediate, and negative, answer. “No Maria…I can’t ask you to do that…you’re supposed to be meeting Michael…” She pointed to the door. “GO, have fun!”

Maria laughed and sighed, looking at her questioningly. “Are you sure…because I don’t mind…”

“Maria…”

She held up her hands in mock defeat. “Okay, I’m going, I’m going…”

“Good!” Liz smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry about me Maria…I can handle it really, I just like to grouch…”

Although not really convinced, Maria nodded. “Alright…if you say so…”

“I do!” She waved her away. “Have a good evening…”

Maria nodded. “Okay…you too, well as much as you can… See you tomorrow Chica, and don’t work too hard!”

“Waitress…”

Liz pulled a face. “Well I’ll see what I can do…but I guess that’s my cue…see you later Maria…” She stood up and waved, pulling her order book from the front of her apron quickly as she headed over to see what the customer that had called wanted.

*********

Max smiled as he headed into the Crashdown, immediately spotting his girlfriend’s shiny brown hair as she sat at one of the stools in front of the counter. He couldn’t help noting that it was already after her knock-off time though, and he couldn’t see any other waitress around… A little puzzled, he headed over quickly to join her.

Liz had her back to the door, and considering how tired she was, sound of the bell above the door ringing hardly even registered in her mind. Nor did she hear the approach of someone behind her, and in fact, she didn’t actually realise anyone was there until suddenly she found two hands slipping over her eyes.

“Guess who…?” Max whispered, leaning down to nibble her ear. He just hadn’t been able to resist it…

A smile spread over Liz’s face as she reached up, removing the hands and turning in her seat. “Max…” She grinned and slipped her arms around his neck, looking up at him through her lashes and begging for a kiss.

Max smiled and gave her a quick peck on the lips, not wanting to risk anything more for now.

His girlfriend pretended to pout. “Is that all I get…?” She asked coyly.

He shook his head, a little surprised and looked around, looking a little nervous.

Liz giggled in amusement as she saw the look on his face. “They’re out…” She informed him softly.

Max’s brow creased in confusion. “I thought your dad dealt this evening…?”

She nodded giving a wry smile and sighing. “Yeah…usually he does… But he and mom had to go somewhere, so little old me got left keeping the fort.” She looked up at him. “I’m sorry…I know we had plans…well sort of…”

Max nodded and shrugged. “Plans can change… We can always spend time together anyway, and besides…no parents, means I can do this…” He grinned and leant forward, his lips capturing hers this time in a deep, passionate kiss.

Liz couldn’t help smiling. She knew really they shouldn’t do this, but really, it was so much fun… Her lips pressed back against his, and when they pulled back shortly after, traced the outline of her lips with her tongue. “Hmmmmm…nice…”

Max felt his ears grow hot and as she saw the way they were flushing, Liz laughed softly. She reached up, running her fingers around the edges. “You know you really are going to have to work on that… Maria’s begun to pick up on it too…”

Her boyfriend groaned. He hated how his ears did that, but if Maria had picked up on it, Liz was perfectly right. The last thing they needed was all the teasing which would come from that… “Can you maybe tone down your seductive charms then…?” He teased her back.

This resulted in her blushing, the new colour of her cheeks almost matching the colour of his ears.

Max laughed and reached forward to kiss her briefly again. Then, reluctantly, he pulled back. “Well, as much as I would like to continue, I guess this really isn’t the place…”

Liz sighed and shook her head. “Not really…I-“ She broke off as a call came from the kitchen announcing another order was ready. “Be right back okay…?” She told him softly as she stood and headed over to pick it up.

**********

A short while later, after another brief rush, Liz found that things had slowed down enough to sit down again. She headed over to where Max had been sat patiently and slipped onto the stool next to him.

Max turned, almost sensing her approach. He smiled. Usually he chose to sit in one of the booths when in the Crashdown, but today he had taken a seat at the counter given that allowed maximum contact and conversation with his girlfriend. It wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly better than a suggestion of going back home. “All sorted…?” He asked softly, reaching out for her hand and running his ringer along the back of it.

Liz smiled at the way her skin tingled from his touch and nodded. “Yeah…for now…” She sighed and reached up, removing her antennae headband for a moment. “Why did mom and dad have to choose today…?” She muttered, mainly to herself…

Max’s lips turned up at the edges in amusement. “And tomorrow would have been better…or the next day…?” He asked her. His tone as playful, but at the same time, there was a serious edge to what he was saying…

Liz sighed and shook her head. He was right… “No…I guess not…” She conceded… At the moment, anything which stopped her from seeing Max seemed like a complete and utter bug. She had even grumbled about her usual shifts from time to time, much to Maria’s amusement. She never complained about work usually…but she was at the moment…

Max nodded. He stood up, slipping down from his stool and closing the distance between them. Slipping his arms around her waist, he gently pulled her down from her own seat and into his arms. “Look…we’ll have plenty of time…maybe later, or maybe tomorrow…its okay though…we’ll find time…” He smiled and dipped his head to press his lips against hers. Since speaking to Michael and Isabel, he was feeling much more relaxed about everything. He had to admit for a time that he had been worried about the dreams…but when all was said and done, whatever the reason, they were just that – dreams… What was important was reality, and when it came down to it, was it really so strange to want to spend as much time as he could with his girlfriend…?

A whistle from the back of the diner caused the two of them to break apart sharply. Liz looked over at grimaced inwardly as she recognised the guys.

“What do we have to do for some service around here…?” One of them called out to her rudely.

Max’s gaze hardened and Liz glared at them. Personally if she had her way they wouldn’t be anywhere near the Crashdown given what they did to Max that night, but her father refused to bar them so she was stuck with them unfortunately. She sighed and buried her head in Max’s chest for a moment. “Ohhh…I don’t want to have to go to them…” She commented, speaking into his chest.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her frame, Max pulled her close into his body. “Well don’t then…” He responded softly.

She looked up surprised.

Max chuckled. “What…? Even if you’re working you’re entitled to a bit of a break aren’t you…?” He pointed out slyly.

Her eyes twinkled in amusement and Liz seemed to think a moment. “You know what…you might just have a point there…” She replied eventually. She grinned and winked at him. “Watch this…” Extracting herself from his arms, she walked over to the table of jocks. “I’m sorry gentlemen, working regulations mean that I have to take a fifteen minute break – right now! If you would like to wait I will come and get your order when you’re done, but if not I’m afraid you will have to go elsewhere this evening…” She delivered the speech in a polished fashion, giving no impression at all that she was in fact ad-libbing.

The boys looked surprised. “Oh come on Liz, what’s another three drinks…we only want some sodas…” They complained.

She shook her head. “Well that’s as may be, but if I do it for you, I have to do it for everyone…I’m awfully sorry…if you are still here I will be back to take your order shortly!” With that, she turned on her heel, returning to the counter before any of them had a chance to make a further response.

Max smiled as she came back to him, walking straight into his arms with no hesitation this time. “Nicely done…”

She nodded. “I thought so…” Smiling, she reached down and removed her apron, setting it down on the counter as a way of indicating that she was currently not serving.

Watching her, Max smiled and then reached out as she set it down to take her hands in his. He drew first one, and then the other, up to his lips, kissing her palms gently. “Beautiful…” He whispered softly. Looking round, he pulled a face though, he wanted to do so much more than this... “I don’t suppose we can get away with some privacy…?”

Liz sighed and shook her head reluctantly. “Unfortunately no…sorry…I still need to watch the register…”

He nodded, having guessed that would be her answer anyway. “Okay, I guess we’ll just have to make the most of what we have then…” Smiling, he pulled her into his arms again, his fingers winding round hers and kissing the top of her head. “I love you Liz Parker…” He whispered, reaching up to release her hair from it’s band and then sweeping it forward in front of her shoulders as he dropped his head to gently kiss her the back of her neck.

**********

It was much later that evening when Mr and Mrs Parker returned. They pushed open the door and walked inside, blinking in surprise at the unexpected sight that met them.

Liz was just closing up, emptying the register and such. That was pretty much to be expected though… What surprised them, was the young man who was also present.

Nancy frowned slightly, not really sure what to think. “Max…I didn’t know you were coming over tonight…?”

The young man in question had his back to her and in all honestly hadn’t realised Liz’s parents were back. He had just wiped down the tables for Liz, and was now waiting for her to finish before they headed upstairs to her bedroom. He turned in surprise, smiling awkwardly. “Oh hi Mrs Parker…uh yeah, I just thought I’d come over and see if Liz was free to come out…”

Liz looked round at her parents, offering a small nod to show this was correct. “Right…but when I wasn’t, he decided he’d stay and keep me company…wasn’t that nice…?” She kept a smile on her face, although in truth she was somewhat disappointed… Her parent’s return right at this time pretty much put paid to her plans of some time with Max ‘alone’…

Mr Parker nodded. “Certainly it is…although I’m sure you have better things to do than hang around here now we’re back Max…” He commented rather pointedly. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the boy, he thought he was probably a pretty good guy, but he wasn’t certain he was completely comfortable with the fact of him being with his daughter when they were alone so late at night in the ‘house’. Taking her out on a date was one thing, but staying in…unsupervised… Well, that was another… It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Liz, but he just didn’t want to see her get hurt…

Max nodded. It didn’t take much to understand what Mr Parker meant. “Of course…I should probably be getting home…just didn’t want to leave her alone…”

Nancy nodded slowly. “I’m sure you didn’t…”

Liz saw the telling took her mother gave her boyfriend and she winced. Why did things have to happen like this…?

“Okay, well I’ll be off…see you tomorrow morning okay Liz?” Max leant over, giving her a chaste kiss.

She sighed and nodded. “Yeah, usual time…?” She didn’t really need to ask, but she didn’t want him to go just yet…

Max smiled and nodded. “Sure…usual time…” He echoed. Reluctantly, he slid down from his seat, grabbing his jacket and heading out of the door.

Mrs Parker frowned as she saw the way her daughter’s gaze followed him out the door. She just hoped Liz wasn’t getting in too deep…

kittens, Isabelle, Liz8600, tequathisy, Ellie, Timelord31, L-J-L 76, thanks so much for reading guys, and for the feedback of course. It means a lot to know that you're enjoying the story. Hope anyone else who's reading is also enjoying.

kittens -

The dreams don't explain the need to be together or the fainting and exhaustion

Explanations will come...eventually I promise, but for now all I can do is ask you to be patient...

Isabelle - a 'normal' date yes, but you note they were together throughout it... I'm sure both of them would have liked it if Max could have suggested that walk, but somehow I don't think it would have gone down too well with her parents. As you say of course, the concern is maybe a little late, but if they're anything like my parents, they just won't want her to be growing up I guess.

Ellie - I'm sorry if you're not too happy with Maria at the moment, although I can understand. Sexual healing could certainly have led the show in a completely different direction had there been less interruptions though. In her defense though, this is Michael we're talking about who she's going out with... I'm pretty sure it's not such a normal occurance for them to be going out, and if you were her, knowing that Liz can be stubborn when she wants to as well, would you be so eager to give up that date...?

I'm just grumpy that Max and Liz didn't get their date

Anyway, I don't think that Max and Liz were too deprived - it seems that spending time with each other is the most important thing at the moment, and they still got that.

Timelord31 -

Maybe kicking Mr and & Mrs Parker in the pants letting them know that there little girl isn't such a little girl any more might help

LOL well, somehow I don't think that would help Max too much, but I'm sure it would be fun

L-J-L 76 - Thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying it. I promise that all your questions will be answered, eventually, although I can't promise aboout Mrs Parker at the moment sorry.

Okay guys, so I'm back, finally. I'm really sorry that it's taken so long, but on the bright side, you do get a pretty long chapter this time . I will be trying to update on a more regular basis from here on, but with Uni I can't guarantee obviously. My writer's block is sort of clearing though, so hopefully that's a good sign.

Anyway, here's the new chapter, hope you enjoy and as always I'd love to hear what you think of it.



Chapter 16

“Come on Liz, ready for doge-ball?” Alex grinned, falling into step with the two girls as they walked past his locker.

Maria pulled a face. “Oh yeah…an hour of sweaty exercise which must be specifically designed to show that I have absolutely no hand-eye co-ordination at all…” She sighed and shook her head. Phys-ed at school had to be about the closest thing she could imagine to hell… She completely sucked at any type of sport, and given that they weren’t actually grouped according to ability for this particular class, there were always some smart-alec jocks or cheerleaders to top the whole thing off…

Usually her comments would provoke sympathy from Liz, followed by a bit of amusement given the way she was acting… When the second girl remained silent, she gained both Alex and Maria’s full attention.

“Liz…?” Alex looked over at his friend, suddenly noticing how pale she looked…

“Chica, what’s wrong…?” Maria had suspected something wasn’t quite right all day, but now she was certain about it… Liz had gone practically white as a sheet…

Liz swallowed and shook her head. She hadn’t been feeling hundred percent ever since she got up that morning… She couldn’t put her finger on it and give an exact explanation, but something wasn’t right… It had been getting progressively worse throughout the last period, and now she just knew she wasn’t going to be able to get through the next class. “Uh…I don’t feel too good…I think I’m going to have to go to the nurse…” She admitted softly. “I really don’t know if I can get through the usual fun-filled hour…”

Even her voice didn’t really sound right, and Maria frowned, clearly worried. She tried to keep a light tone giving the impression of teasing, but deep down she was concerned. “You’re going to leave me on my own Chica…what could be so bad that was necessary…?”

Liz shook her head, hardly even cracking a smile. “I don’t know Maria…I’m sorry I ju-“ She trailed off, her eyes almost appearing to glaze over as what little colour remained now drained from her cheeks.

Noticing that she now looked rather unsteady on her feet, Maria grabbed her arm and made her sit down on the bench. It looked like if she didn’t, she was about to collapse…

Liz raised her hand to her head, covering her eyes for a moment. “Whoa…not liking this at all…” She murmured softly.

Maria looked at her. “Liz…what’s going on…?” She asked. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head. “You know as much as I do…” She admitted as she finally spoke, trying to stand back up.

Immediately Maria shook her head, sticking out her hand to stop her. “Liz no…sit…” She instructed firmly.

“I’m okay…” Liz responded, pushing away her hand. She bit her lip and forced herself into a standing position. “I just went a bit woozy you know… I’m feeling better now though…” She still didn’t feel great, and bench ball was the last thing she felt ready for, but hopefully she could reassure Maria enough that she would then go on to class and just let her go onto the nurse alone…

Her friend was far from convinced though, studying her carefully and coming to the conclusion that she was far from okay. “I don’t believe you…” She stated firmly.

Liz groaned. The last thing she needed was to get into an argument… She sighed and closed her eyes a moment. “Look, I still don’t feel brilliant Maria, I’m not trying to make out I do… I’m going to go to the nurse and see about going home…” She admitted with some reluctance.

Maria nodded. “Fine, well I’ll come with you then, to make sure you’re okay!” She informed her friend as she moved to her side.

She shook her head. “Honestly Maria, you don’t need to…” Liz protested. “I can manage, I’ll be okay…”

Her pleas fell on dead ears. “I don’t care; I want to make sure…” Maria insisted firmly, a half smile breaking onto her face despite her concern. “Besides, it does give me an excuse to miss Phys-ed…”

Liz sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine…whatever…” She didn’t really have the energy to argue anymore. All she wanted to do was get home…

Maria smiled softly, slipping her arms round her waist and taking Liz’s bag from her hands. “Come on…let’s get you sorted…” She told her friend softly as she guided her back towards the building.

Releasing her hold on her bag with some reluctance, Liz let her take it as she looked back at Alex once more. “Alex…?”

Knowing that Maria would have it under control, Alex had been about to head off to class, knowing there wasn’t much he could do. As soon as he heard Liz’s voice however, he turned back. “Yeah…?”

Liz took a breath, trying to keep steady. “C-can y-ou not tell Max about this…?” She requested softly.

This came as a shock to both of her friends. Their eyes opened wide. “You know he would want to know though Liz…” Maria tried to coax her friend. Personally she thought that Max should definitely be told… What if this was something Czechoslovakian?

Liz simply shook her head in response. “No…I don’t want to worry him…” She insisted in a soft voice… She looked up at Alex. “Please…promise me…?”

Despite his feeling that she was probably doing the wrong thing, as he looked into her eyes and saw that pleading expression, Alex caved. He nodded slightly. “Okay…if that’s what you want… But I know he would want to know Lizzy…”

**********

A short while later, having been given permission to leave early from school, Maria pulled the Jetta up outside the Crashdown. She looked over at her friend. “Liz…”

She smiled, waving away her concerned tone. “Thanks for the Lift Maria…”

“Are you going to be okay…?” Her friend wasn’t happy with the idea of dropping her off.

Liz nodded, opening her door and stepping out. “Honestly Maria, I’ll be fine… I think I’m just a bit tired…” She shrugged. “I guess I just need a good night sleep…”

“If you’re sure…”

She nodded again. “Maria…go home…I’ll be okay… I’ll see you later…” Liz smiled and waved as she closed the door behind her, trying not to show her friend just how bad she still felt. She didn’t want her to worry…

Although still uncertain, Maria nodded reluctantly, although she didn’t drive off until she saw Liz enter the building safely, at which point she pulled back onto the road and continued on home. Despite her best efforts, she couldn’t shake the worry she felt though. Something was just not right…

**********

“Honey…what are you doing home early…are you okay…?” Mrs Parker asked, immediately moving towards her daughter as she saw her come through the door. It wasn’t yet three, so she certainly shouldn’t be out of school yet, but she was far more concerned about the way she looked. Her face was so pale…

Liz swallowed and took a deep breath, leaning against the wall for a moment before looking towards her mother and shaking her head. “I’m not feeling too well…it was Phys Ed the last lesson, so I got sent home…” She explained in a small voice.

Nancy immediately reached for her forehead, feeling it and shaking her head. “You feel rather hot…”

Her daughter made no attempt to move away, not really having the energy. Her eyes were drooping, and she felt just about ready to fall into bed. “Would you mind if I didn’t work tonight…? I really don’t feel too good, and I think I’m just going to lie down and go to bed early…”

Her mother nodded earnestly. “Of course that’s okay…” She assured her softly, pulling her daughter into her arms briefly and giving her a quick hug. “You go on up, I’ll come and check on you in a little bit and see if there’s anything you need okay…?”

Liz offered her a small smile. “Thanks mom…” However much she sometimes was too much, when she felt ill, there was nothing like having her mother around.

“You look tired…” Nancy commented as she looked down at her. She noted that her eyes looked heavy, almost as though she hadn’t been getting enough sleep. “Have you been up late working on stuff for school again…?” She couldn’t help questioning. In the past Liz had never seemed to struggle with keeping up, but recently, particularly over the last few weeks, she had noticed a couple of nights she had been up late working. She wasn’t sure if it was the work, or if Max Evans was occupying her time otherwise during the evenings, but she couldn’t deny she was a little worried, and she wasn’t going to try and hide her concern.

Liz shook her head wearily. For the first time that month pretty much, she was actually virtually up to date with her work. She and Max had stuck to their resolution to put work first, however hard that might seem, and both seemed to be back on an even keel for school. “No mom…it’s nothing like that…” She shook her head. “I don’t know what it is really, but I just want to go to bed and try and sleep it off…if that’s okay…?” She repeated her earlier request, although in different words, and looked up at her mother, hoping that she would agree.

After a moment, she nodded again. “Alright, I’m sorry sweetheart, you go sleep…” She dipped her head to kiss her daughter on the head and then watched as she turned and headed through into the back.

Heading up the stairs now, Liz turned at the top, walking into her room and closing the door behind her. A new wave of dizziness washed over her, and she had to lean back, closing her eyes and relying on the support of the door behind her. “Oooh….” She waited a moment until the feeling had passed, and then went quickly over to the bed, kicking off her shoes and curling up on top of the covers.

Staying there for some time, she didn’t do anything, just laying silently and still…

It seemed like an age before she felt able, but finally she sat up once more, pulling back the covers and crawling into bed without even getting undressed. She was tired, her body exhausted, and as soon as her head hit the pillow, she went out like a light…

**********

“BRRRRRRRRRRR!”

Liz opened her eyes slowly and groaned as she looked at the clock. Her hand reached out, shutting off the alarm, and as she did so, she suddenly became aware she was still dressed in her clothes from the day before. “Ooooh…” She yawned and reached up to push her hair back from her face. Rubbing her eyes, she sat up, only to find herself going dizzy again much as she had done the night before.

She stayed where she was, letting it pass, and then forced herself to get up and go into the bathroom. She was determined that she was going to get to school… Whatever this was, some virus or cold, it wasn’t going to keep her off when she had important things to do… She had a major essay due in English last thing in the afternoon, and of course she had bio first period after lunch. There was no way she was going to skip school...

Getting ready did take a little longer than usual, but with a little effort she did manage it and grabbing her bag, she headed downstairs to find Max already waiting for her.

“Morning…” He greeted her smiling, stepping forward to give a chaste kiss on the cheek given the presence of Mrs Parker.

“Hey…” She greeted him softly, offering a small smile.

“Are you okay…?” As soon as he saw her Max could see that something wasn’t right. Concern brimmed from his eyes as he looked down at his girlfriend.

Liz nodded slightly. “Yeah…I’m just a little tired, that’s all…” She assured him.

“Honey you look ready to drop!” Nancy was horrified by her daughter’s pale face. “Come and have something to eat please…” She pleaded with Liz, motioning to one of the free booths. Liz hadn’t had anything to eat the night before, she noted, having gone straight to bed, and she wasn’t about to allow her to go out to school without rectifying that.

Liz groaned as she heard her mother and shook her head. “Honestly mom, I’m fine…really I’m not hungry…” She protested weakly.

After a few minutes of this, it was more than clear that Mrs Parker wasn’t going to accept no as an answer though, and reluctantly Liz took a seat and requested some toast. That she should be able to just about manage, and it was quick and easy…or so she hoped…

In truth even that was a struggle, but she did manage, and once she had finished, she stood up, grabbing her bag, and rebuffing her mother’s concern. “I’ll be fine!” She assured her again, trying desperately to hide how she was really feeling, and looking over at Max. “We should be going…”

Her boyfriend quickly picked up her hint, and nodded. “Sure… Have a good day Mrs Parker…” He told his girlfriend’s mother as he guided her towards the door.

Once outside, the couple made their way slowly towards the jeep which was parked across the road. Liz tried not to lean on Max, knowing that her mother was likely to be watching, and not wanting to give her any cause to worry, but she had to admit she was relieved as she felt him slip an arm around her waist. “Thanks…” She murmured softly, grateful for the support he was offering.

Her boyfriend nodded, releasing her only for a moment as they neared the jeep, in order to open the door, after which he then moved to help her in. “Are you sure you’re well enough for school…?” He asked her in a concerned tone. The more he looked at her, the more he thought things were far from fine…

Liz swallowed and shook her head reluctantly. “To be honest, I’m probably not no…but I want to go in!” Liz insisted despite her admission. She saw him about to open his mouth in objection and jumped in before he could say anything. “Honestly Max, I don’t think I could cope with a whole day of mom fussing if I stayed at home…”

“But if you’re not well…” Max wasn’t convinced as he held back from closing the door now she was in.

His girlfriend looked up with pleading eyes. “Please Max…I want to go…”

Upon seeing those dark doe eyes, Max knew he wouldn’t be able to deny her anything. He nodded slowly, simply deciding that he would have to keep a close eye on her, and in the occasion that he wasn’t able to, he would recruit Maria… “Alright…come on then…” He shut the door and went round to the other side, climbing into the driver’s seat and starting the engine.

The journey to school passed in pretty much silence. Max made no attempt to speak, feeling that it was better that Liz rest, and in truth Liz felt too tired to do anything for the moment…

As he pulled up in the student parking lot, Max looked over, seeing that she was almost asleep. He would have liked to leave her, feeling that the sleep would have done her a lot of good, but if they were going to school… He sighed and looked over. “Okay, can you get out on your own, or do you need me to come round…?” He asked softly, not bothering to repeat his question about whether she was sure she wanted to be here, aware that she would already know that question was still there…

Sitting up, Liz shook her head and was about to open her door to get out as Maria suddenly appeared beside the vehicle.

“You don’t look well enough to be here…” Her friend stated firmly.

Max nodded in agreement. “I already told her that…” He commented.

Various comments regarding the fact of her having gone home early the night before came to mind, but respecting Liz’s wish not to tell him, Maria kept mum and instead simply rolled her eyes. “Let me guess…she took no notice…”

“Something like that…”

Liz looked from one to the other in frustration. “Will you two stop talking about me as if I’m not here?” She complained weakly. “I already told Max, I couldn’t face a whole day with my mom fussing around…even school has to beat that right…?” In actual fact, she was beginning to feel a lot better anyway…

Maria couldn’t deny she was probably right… She wasn’t Nancy’s daughter, and still Mrs Parker fussed if she was ill… If she was that bad with her, well…maybe coming to school wasn’t such a bad idea… She nodded. “Okay you’ve made your point… Are you okay to get out on your own or do you need some help…?”

As she received the offer for the second time, Liz gave an amused smile as she again shook her head. “no, I’ll be okay…” She insisted once more, reaching for the handle and pushing the door open before she stood up and turned round to pick up her bag.

The backseat was already empty though. “What happened to my-“ She broke off, seeing Max with one bag on each shoulder.

He smiled. “Looking for something…?”

She shook her head. “Yeah…thanks…” She considered asking for it back, but decided against it as he slipped his hand into hers. The three friends walked into school, stopping off at the girls’ lockers and then continuing down the corridor until they reached the maths rooms.

Just as he opened the door for the girls, Max remembered that he’d left something he needed in his locker the previous day. “I’ll catch you two up okay…” He told the two of them, about to head back down to corridor.

“Uh Max…” Maria giggled a little as she called to him.

He looked round. “Yeah…?”

Liz shook her head, smiling in amusement as Maria indicated something. “Haven’t you forgotten something…?” She asked her boyfriend softly.

Max looked blank. “Huh…?”

Maria burst into laughter and pointed to his shoulder. “Well much as it suits you, I thought that was Liz’s bag there…” She commented by way of explanation.

Liz smiled as she saw the tell-tale sign of her boyfriend’s embarrassment as his ears went bright red. “Aww, I didn’t mean to embarrass you, just it would be useful to have my bag you know…” She reached up and kissed his cheek. “Although it was very gentlemanly of you to carry it for me of course…

Max smiled and nodded, although he didn’t release his hold on the bag. “Are you sure you’re okay carrying it…?” He asked, concern brimming from his eyes as he looked at his girlfriend seriously.

She rolled her eyes and nodded. “I’ll be fine!” She insisted. “Now you go get yourself sorted otherwise you’re going to be late!.”

Maria smirked and held out her hand. “Here lover boy…give it to me, I’ll see that she gets sat down okay…” She told him with a smile.

Max nodded, ignoring the frustrated look on his girlfriend’s face as he handed over the bag to their friend.

Maria grinned and looked over at Liz. “Come on Chica, let’s go and sit down…”

Max motioned for her to go inside and Liz rolled her eyes again. “Okay…I’m going…see you shortly…”

**********

“Thank goodness that’s over…” Liz murmured as she let out a sigh of relief when the bell rang. All around the classroom, the students rushed to pack away their stuff before leaving through the door in a mass exodus. She thought better of trying to get involved in that crowd considering how she had been feeling, and waited a few minutes for it to die down before heading out of the classroom quickly and making her way over to the lockers where she had arranged to meet Maria.

“Chica, are you okay…do you want me to take your bag…?” As soon as she came within sight it seemed, Maria was at her side, her eyes full of concern as she picked up the fussing routine she and Max had been sharing for the day.

Liz shook her head. “No, I’m fine Maria…really; I’m feeling a lot better…” She told her friend with a small smile. She couldn’t be mad really; she knew her friend was only trying to help.

Maria pointed a finger accusingly at her. “You know you definitely shouldn’t have been in school today…” She commented.

Liz sighed. There seemed little point in denying it since she knew it was true. The fact remained that had she stayed at home, she would have had a whole day with her mom and, perhaps more importantly at the moment, a whole day without Max… She knew it was silly, but that prospect wasn’t something she wanted to contemplate. “Maybe I shouldn’t Maria…but I did, and I survived didn’t I…?” She grinned as she gestured to herself. “Like I say, I really am feeling a whole lot better at the moment…”

Her friend didn’t look convinced. She raised her eyebrows, appearing to study the brunette carefully. “You said you were feeling a whole lot better just after lunch too…right before you nearly collapsed again…” She reached out to touch her arm. “Seriously Liz, I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m not trying to be a pain, I’m concerned, worried, whatever you like to say, but that’s why I’m asking, no other reason…I just want to make sure you’re okay…”

Unable to keep from smiling, Liz nodded. “I know that Maria…and I am serious, I feel like ten times better than I did after lunch, if not more…”

Maria nodded and smiled. “Okay then, that’s good…just make sure you stay that way, we were all getting a bit worried about you there for a moment…”

Liz smiled back. “I’ll do my best…” She assured her the blond quickly.

“Right then, are we going to get going…?” Maria gestured to the exit.

“You know, if you don’t mind, I’m going to wait for Max and get a lift from him if you don’t mind… You go on without me…” She responded, her eyes shining at the prospect of seeing her boyfriend. It was only about an hour since she last did so, but still, that last hour had seemed like an age without him…

Maria shook her head in amusement. “Anyone would think he’d been away for years the way you two are at the moment…” She shrugged though, not seeing any reason to object. “Alright, well I’ll leave you two love-birds to it…”

“Thanks Maria…” Liz smiled as she leant against her locker, knowing that Max always swung by his own before leaving school.

She didn’t have long to wait, and in a few minutes, she spotted the familiar figure of her boyfriend heading down the corridor towards him. She grinned and ran over. “Hey Max…”

He smiled, pleased to see her looking so much better. While that morning her skin had been pale and sallow, now she had much more colour. Her eyes twinkled, and she looked far more like the healthy, fun-loving teenager he loved than she had earlier in the day. “Hey yourself…you’re obviously feeling better…” He commented as he slipped her arms around her waist, closing them around her back and pulling her close before dipping his head and kissing her softly on the lips.

Liz smiled, kissing him back briefly and then pulling back, slipping her hand into his as they continued, hand in hand, out of the school and towards the parking lot. “I couldn’t get a lift with you today could I…?” Liz asked coyly, knowing exactly what the response would be.

Her boyfriend’ smile widened as he looked down at her, his eyes serious as he met her gaze. “Well what do you think…?” He grinned. “Of course you can… Do you want to go straight home…?” He asked as they approached the jeep and he opened the door for her. Heading round the other side while she got in, he climbed into the driver’s side, waiting until she was buckled in and leaning over to steal another kiss before starting the engine and waiting for her answer.

She shook her head. “No, if you feel like it we could go for a bit of a drive…assuming that you’re not giving Isabel a lift too…” She presumed she was right in her assumption given that his sister wasn’t around, and he had already started the engine.

Max smiled and nodded. “No, I don’t have to give Izzy a lift, and okay then, a drive it is!” He pulled the vehicle out of his spot and manoeuvred it over to the gate from where he pulled out onto the road carefully. He felt a shiver run down his spine as he felt his girlfriend move closer, even going as far as to lean her head against his shoulder. Throughout though, he was careful to keep his eyes, and concentration, fixed firmly on the road.

They drove in silence, neither having much to say for the moment, just enjoying being in one another’s company, and a short while later, upon reaching one of the lay-bys, Max pulled the jeep over and off the road to park. After switching the engine off, he released his seatbelt and turned in his seat so that he was almost sideways. “I’ve missed you…”

Liz smiled, positioning herself a little like a mirror imagine, but unable to resist moving a little closer and closing some of the distance between the two of them. “It hasn’t ben hat long you know…a couple of hours maximum…” She reminded him, a warm feeling spreading right through her body as her boyfriend pulled her into his arms.

Max shrugged. “You know what I mean…”

She did… She didn’t know why, but recently, when they were apart, it was like there was a part of her missing… Almost as though she and Max were one being rather than two, and when they were apart she was torn in two. It might have sounded extreme, but she felt somehow ‘empty’ when he was away… Liz nodded softly. “I know…” She admitted, a smile playing on her lips as he took her hand in his and began running his finger over the back or it.

“I love you…” Max whispered as he lowered his lips and captured hers, kissing passionately not bothering about who might be around to see. All he cared about right now was himself and Liz, and the fact that they were together.

He received no response from his girlfriend as her lips responded in like, pressing back firmly and opening her mouth just slightly now as their kiss deepened. The couple were oblivious to their surroundings. Anyone could have come along, and they wouldn’t have heard. They were just lost in each other, unaware of anything else… Their feelings just seemed to intensify the day, and it was like nothing either of them had ever experienced before. Neither of them stopped to think about how strange this all was now though… Once together, all they could think about was how right that felt…

**********

“JUST A MINUTE…” Isabel called out as there came a knock on the door. Knowing that she was expecting a visitor, she paused a moment just to check her appearance before hurrying downstairs to open the door. “Michael!” She couldn’t hide her surprise as she found her friend waiting on the doorstep. This was not who she was expecting…

Michael smiled and nodded. “Hey Iz…”

She smiled back. “Hey…Max isn’t around you know…I don’t really know where he is, but my best bet would be with Liz somewhere, as usual…”

As she mentioned the intense couple, the smile slipped from Michael’s face. He really didn’t like the way things were going there…but now, with the strange dreams too… Getting involved with Liz had been bad enough, but the last few weeks, all Max seemed to care about was Liz. He seemed to have a complete disregard for their safety, and he just didn’t understand it. It wasn’t like his ‘brother’ at all… He shook his head mentally. Still, that wasn’t why he was here, he reminded himself, replacing the smile as he shook his head. “Actually, I wasn’t looking for Max…” He shifted awkwardly from side to side. “I…uh…was wondering if I could speak to you a bit Isabel…?” He asked when he finally spoke.

Isabel looked surprised. “Me…?” She looked at him curiously. “Since when do you want to talk to me…?” She teased, unable to deny the fact she was intrigued by the whole thing. It just wasn’t like Michael to turn up like this. “I thought that you usually went to Max when you needed to talk…”

Michael shrugged. “Well yeah…I guess I usually do…” He paused a moment. “…but see, he’s a guy, and you’re a girl…”

She laughed. “Well yeah, that I am, I’m glad you noticed…” She teased her friend but stifled her laughs as she realised how difficult this apparently was for him. “What do you need…?” She asked him softly in a serious tone.

“Some advice…” He sighed and shook his head. “I’m sorry Izzy, I just didn’t really know where else to go…”

She nodded and stepped to one side in order to allow him entry. “Okay, I guess you’d better come in then…”

“Thanks…” He followed her inside gratefully and sat down on the sofa in the living room.

Isabel took a seat on the chair opposite, looking at him. “No problem…so what’s this all about…?”

Michael shifted awkwardly in his seat, not quite sure how to start. He never was good with things like this… “Well…I…uh…I need some advice…from a girl…”

“Well I think that I satisfy that criteria, so…?” Isabel watched him carefully, waiting for further information.

“I-I want to get Maria a present…” Michael finally admitted.

“And…?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know, whatever I get is always the wrong thing…she always hates it… I’m stupid when it comes to things like this…”

Isabel nodded, reaching out to touch his hand reassuringly. “It’s not that Michael…” She tried to reassure him. “It’s just that girls like to feel special…”

“Isn’t it special enough that I want to buy something for her anyway…?”

Isabel smiled. “Well…yeah…but something romantic, frivolous, it creates a completely different picture… We love to be pampered, to be treated…” She shook her head. “Stick to that, and I’m sure that Maria will love whatever you get…”

Michael still looked blank. He obviously didn’t get it. “Huh…?”

Shaking her head, Isabel couldn’t help laughing softly. She quietened as she saw him glaring at her. “Sorry…” She apologised awkwardly, pausing a moment before explaining further. “Get her some flowers, or chocolates dufus, some bubble bath or something like that…” She looked at him. “Just not shampoo…shampoo does not fall within the boundaries of romantic…” She stated firmly, referring to one of his latest attempts.

Michael glared but seemed to think about what she had said. “Okay…right, so flowers…” He trailed off and looked at her questioningly. “Where do I get them…?”

She rolled her eyes. “A florist stupid!”

“Oh…right…” A confused look fell over his eyes again as he was about to stand and he looked back at her. “What’s the point of giving someone dead flowers…?”

Isabel shook her head. “You really are hopeless… Flowers don’t look dead when you buy them, they’re pretty and receiving flowers from your boyfriend seems very romantic, trust me, I should know!” She winked at him.

Although he still looked a little uncertain, Michael nodded. “Okay…I guess…” He looked over at her again as he stood up. “Thanks Izzy..”

She smiled and nodded. “No problem, I’m happy to help…” She walked with him towards the door to let him out.

The two of them said goodnight stood outside, and Michael looked back at Isabel as he noticed someone approaching. “I thought that you looked nice… Have a good evening…” He told her in an unusually pleasant manner.

Isabel was taken by surprise somewhat, and nearly didn’t know what to say. “O-oh…thanks…” She waved to her boyfriend who was coming up the road before looking back at Michael. “Good luck…”

He nodded. “Thanks…I think I might need it…” He stepped down, walking down the path and out onto the street.

L-J-L 76, Ellie, Timelord31, Isabelle and nibbles2, thanks for reading my story, and all the wonderful feedback, it really does help knowing that people are enjoying it.

L-J-L 76 - Glad you liked the chapter. At the risk of being annoying, I'm not going to answer your question as to what is wrong with Liz, but I do promise it will be answered in due course.

Ellie - Glad you're enjoying the story, I'm afraid this chapter doesn't give the answers you're seeking, but maybe there's a few nice scenes to keep you going.

Timelord31 - Thanks

Isabelle - You make me want to spill all sweetie, but I'm going to resist and say you're going to have to stick around to see what the explanation is.

nibbles2 - thanks, I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

I hope any lurkers are also enjoying the story and thanks to anyone who's reading.

Okay, so I should have posted this chapter earlier, but my Nano fic kinda took over everything, and to pair with that I've had a lot of work to do for uni as well which meant just didn't get the chance. Nano was difficult at times, but was worth it though, considering that I completed it successfully and have over 100 extra pages of writing of a prequel to L+L to show for it . I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this, but now that's over I am going to try and do better this month.

Another little snippet of info if anyone is interested, I'm kinda nervous about it, but I'm going to be doing an Author's chat later this month on http://p196.ezboard.com/bdreamingamongstars. It's going to be at 8pm EST, on the 19th December, and if anyone wants to come, I'd love to see you.

Anyway, I'm done with my plugging now, sorry. Sorry that it's taken so long to come out, but I hope you'll enjoy the new chapter.

~Kat~

Chapter 17

“Hey you…” Alex grinned as he stopped in front of his girlfriend as she stood at the front door of the house.

“Hey…” She smiled. “I was beginning to wonder where you were...”

He chuckled. “What, you thought I’d got lost…?”

His girlfriend’s silence told him that wasn’t the case and he looked at her. “Isabel…?”

She swallowed and shook her head. “Oh you know me, I’m silly sometimes…I was beginning to think about what might have happened to you…” To most it would seem absolutely ridiculous, but considering everything they had been through in the last two years, she didn’t think so…

Alex reached out and squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think…I should have called to tell you…” He apologised softly. “My mom just needed me to do an errand for her…” He smiled, sliding his arm around her waist as they stepped inside a moment. “I didn’t mean to worry you…”

Isabel shook her head. “Oh, you didn’t worry me…not really…just I…” She trailed off, blushing. “Okay, yeah, I was worried, I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t do…”

“It’s fine…” Alex leant over, kissing her gently on the lips.

Isabel said nothing more, instead pulling away and deciding to move along. “So, what do you want to do anyway…now that you’re here…?”

Alex looked uncertain. “Well…I was thinking maybe we’d go see the new movie that’s just come in at the cinema…but we can always stay in and just hang around the house if you prefer…?” He added the second suggestion quickly, looking down at her, obviously leaving the decision in her hands. He didn’t want her to think he was trying to push, making her do something she didn’t want to. In truth, as far as he was concerned anything they could do would be good, as long as they got to spend the time together…

Isabel gave a little smile of amusement as she heard him backpeddle. She shook her head in response to the latter suggestion, while agreeing that the movie sounded like a good idea. “As long as it’s not horror that is…” She added as an afterthought. “I hate horror…”

Alex smirked. “This is me we’re talking about…do you honestly think that I would suggest a horror movie – you know I’m probably even more squeamish than you...oh, and no it’s not sci-fi either.” He assured her, remembering that was one of her other dislikes. You couldn’t blame her really, it had to be pretty creepy living in roswell under the circumstances, to go and watch little green aliens, or even star-trek type aliens was hardly going to be an enjoyable experience…

Smiling, at the realisation that he had remembered, Isabel nodded in acceptance. “Okay, so what is it, an action or a comedy…?” She asked, knowing full well that Alex would never choose a romance.

“Action I think…you’ve got all the comedy you need here M’Lady…” He pretended to remove an imaginary hat, lowering it and presenting his hand to her with a flourish. “So, what do you say M’Lady…game on…?”

Isabel shook her head and laughed at his antics. “Sure, sounds great!” She responded enthusiastically. “I’ll just go get my coat from upstairs, be right back…” She slipped away, heading up the stairs and disappearing into her room for a moment.

Alex watched her and smiled with satisfaction, noting that he had achieved his aim of putting a smile back on her face. Seeing her disappear into her room, he waited patiently for her to return, and when she did so, reached for her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers as she locked up and they headed out of the house.

After telling her parents where they were going, Isabel relaxed further, enjoying the company of her boyfriend as they headed down the street together. She struggled to think of how she could be happier right at that moment in time… It was strange, she thought, how she felt so safe when she was with Alex now. It wasn’t like he had powers or anything like Max or Michael, but she knew that he would never allow anyone to hurt her if it were within his ability to stop them. She trusted him implicitly, and her feelings for him grew by the day.

When Max had first started going out with Liz, she hadn’t understood what he was doing, how he could risk everything for a girl… That was because she had never felt like that about anyone though, except her brother of course. She had boyfriends, and had gone out on plenty of dates, but in the end it was all on the surface, she never let them see her inside, the real, surprisingly vulnerable girl…

Somehow Alex had brought that girl out though… He had known who she was, and shown that it didn’t matter… He had worn her down, ignoring that icy façade she put on and persisting in his efforts to make her open up to him. When she finally did so, she didn’t regret it for a moment…

It was funny, how things could change so much in such a short time… Two years ago, she had been terrified to find that someone else knew about them… And now…? Well now, she struggled to imagine what it would be like to go back to how it was before. Having a group of friends as loyal and close as those who knew their secret was a special thing, and not something she would want to give up after having experienced it… Before she had three people she would have trusted without hesitation, now, she had six…

**********

“Maria, are you ready yet?” Michael called from the bottom of the steps as he waited for her. He didn’t want to sound impatient, and the last thing that he wanted to do was annoy her, but he really did want to get going… Not least because her mother kept staring at him – it was making him feel very uncomfortable and he couldn’t help remembering how she had practically attacked him that night he had come to Maria and ended to sleeping over.

His girlfriend had told him that her mother seemed to have forgiven the incident, and not to bring it up, but that didn’t stop him thinking about it and he had to wonder, if she were right and what would happen if Ms. DeLuca happened to change her mind…

Certainly staying in her company any longer than absolutely necessary seemed like a bad idea, and he just wanted to get out of the house as soon as possible.

“I’ll be down in a little bit!” Maria yelled back as she had done over ten minutes ago already.

Michael rolled his eyes, biting back the response which he felt tempted to deliver at this and instead turning back to Amy, albeit reluctantly.

“Why don’t you come into the living room…?” Ms. DeLuca suggested, making a special effort to be welcoming. She still wasn’t certain about this boy, but she wasn’t blind, and she knew that her daughter had fallen hard. Looking at Michael, too, she had to say he seemed to genuinely care about Maria…

Feeling like a rabbit caught in the headlights of a car, Michael nodded reluctantly. It wasn’t as though he had much choice… “Sure Ms. DeLuca…thanks…”

She smiled and nodded, opening the door and sitting down on the sofa, motioning for him to join her. “So Michael…how are you doing at school…?” She asked pleasantly, deciding to try and get to know the boy a little better.

“Um…okay…” Michael mumbled vaguely. He didn’t want to admit that he had hardly been to class over the last few weeks, somehow he didn’t think that would go down too well with this Amy. Luckily, he found he was saved from the further questions which seemed sure to come, as his girlfriend walked into the room. Jumping up to greet her, he complimented her on her appearance and then immediately asked if she was ready to go.

“Anyone would think you wanted to get away from me…” Amy commented in a joking manner as she watched the young man with her daughter.

“Uh no…not at all, just I have something planned, and I don’t want us to be late…” Michael responded, adding a smile for good measure.

Maria watched with some amusement the interaction between her mother and boyfriend. Really, it was quite funny at times… Seeing Michael look over at her as though asking to be saved though, she smiled brightly, her interest sparked by his comments of ‘plans’. “Oh really, well if you’ve got plans definitely we should be going…” She agreed eagerly.

“Great!”

Picking up her bag, and reaching for her jacket, Maria looked over at her mother. “I won’t be back too late…”

Ms. DeLuca made no response at first. Part of her wanted to wish them a good evening, but after the incident ‘in bed’, she wasn’t sure she much liked the idea of ‘something planned’… Michael seemed all too eager to leave, and she would have liked the opportunity to talk a little longer. As she saw her daughter moving towards the door though, she stood up, walking over and giving her daughter a quick kiss. “Have a good evening, but be careful…” She whispered in her ear, deciding to go for middle ground.

Maria looked at her mother in surprise, but bit back a response, knowing that Michael didn’t know what had been said and not wanting to make a scene. She simply smiled and nodded. “Thanks mom…” She responded as though the last hadn’t been said.

Amy pursed her lips and nodded, watching as her daughter headed out of the house and down the path, hand in hand with her boyfriend.

***

“Close your eyes…” Michael instructed, placing his hands over Maria’s face as soon as they were out of sight of the house.

Maria tried to turn. “Why, Michael what are you doing?” She asked, her voice full of confusion.

“It’s a surprise, just you wait and see!” Michael told her with a hint of amusement. He lowered his hands, checking repeatedly with her that her eyes were closed.

His girlfriend nodded, her tone making her sound as though she was rolling her eyes. “Yes, they’re closed, now would you like to tell me what is going on?” She asked in exasperation, feeling about in front of her with a hand.

Michael shook his head. “Not right now…just keep them closed, you’ll find out in a little bit…” He reached for her hand. “Here, let me help you…”

She tightened her grip on his hand, apparently accepting this willingly, but as she opened an eye just slightly, her boyfriend scolded her.

“Maria, keep them closed!”

“Michael, where are we going!” Maria asked again, reclosing her eyes and gripping his hand tightly as he led her along what she presumed was the pavement. She tried to keep track of the direction they were heading, trying to work out where they were going for herself, but she found it wasn’t as easy as it sounded. She could keep track of the direction just fine given that they were weren’t turning much, but she had little idea of distance, and picturing where they were by that point seemed like something of an impossibility.

Finally, she opened her eyes once more, deciding that this ‘game’ was no fun.

“Maria…”

She ignored the exasperation in his tone, looking round and turned back to hr boyfriend after a moment. “You can’t be serious…you told me to dress up specially just to eat at your place…” She wasn’t impressed.

Michael looked a little hurt at her words. “Hey, don’t make assumptions!” He told her sternly. Stopping in front of the apartment building, he told her to stay there and that he’d be right back.

Maria nodded I surprise, watching as her boyfriend disappeared inside, and trying to work out what was going on. This wasn’t like him…

A few minutes later, Michael re-emerged, hiding something behind his back.

“What’ve you got there?” His girlfriend pressed, her anticipation growing. Maybe she was hoping for too much, but this certainly looked promising…

Michael smiled, withdrawing a small bunch of flowers from behind his back. “These are for you…” He told her, offering the bunch to her.

“Michael…” Maria’s mouth dropped a little in surprise, not really sure what to say. “They’re beautiful…thank you…” She took them from him and then leant over, stretching up to kiss him on the lips.

Her boyfriend smiled with something that looked a little like relief. Thanks Izzy, he thought silently to himself, looking over at Maria. “So I haven’t messed up this time…?” He asked hopefully.

Maria shook her head in amusement. “No, you didn’t… Usually it is more usual to just give the flowers when you pick me up and do without the clock and dagger stuff, but it’s very sweet of you…thank you…” She told him softly, her words showing that she wasn’t complaining, just making a observation.

Shrugging, Michael looked back at her. “Yeah, well I’m not much of one for usual…” He responded gruffly, slipping his arm around her waist. “I do hope you’re hungry though, I’ve booked a table at the Italian and I’ve borrowed Max’s jeep…this is just the start of what I hope is going to be a great evening…” Dipping his head, he captured her lips in his.

Maria smiled, kissing him back before pulling away. “Not that I’m complaining, but what is this all in aid of…?” She asked curiously in a somewhat amused tone.

“Because I love you…” There was no hint of joke in Michael’s response. He was serious about this, it wasn’t a laughing matter…

She swallowed, a little taken aback. “Oh Michael…” She smiled, looking up at him. “I love you too…”

Michael grinned, saying nothing more for the moment as he lead her over to where the jeep was parked, even going as far as to open her door to allow her to get in before climbing into the driver’s side himself. “I know this isn’t much…” He motioned to the vehicle. “…but it’s more than I’ve got…”

Reaching up, Maria pressed her finger against his lips, silencing her boyfriend as she shook her head. “Don’t think like that…it’s perfect…” She assured him softly, a dreamy tone in her voice. She didn’t think that anything could spoil this, it was everything she had dreamed of, and so much more…

**********

“So, you had a good time then?” Liz asked her friend, trying to keep the tiredness out of her tone as she listened to Maria on the other end of the phone later that night. She was sat, perched on the side of her bed, half undressed as she cradelled the phone against her ear. It was almost eleven, and she had been past ready for bed when the other girl rang. Liz had stayed up to get some work done, but having finished that was just getting ready for bed when the phone had rung. It had turned out to be Maria, and for the last five minutes, Maria had been full of how wonderful her night had been. Not that she begrudged her friend her bubbly attitude, she was pleased to hear her friend had enjoyed herself, but she had to admit she was a little tired to be talking about it now.

Earlier in the day, straight after school, she had been feeling much better, even going as far as to spend some time with Max before coming home, but now she was paying for it… As the night had gone on, she had grown more and more tired, and had it not been for the essay she had wanted to get finished – to ensure that she would be able to spend some time with Max that weekend if his and her work schedules allowed – she would have been in bed over an hour before.

“Fantastic!” Maria confirmed to her friend without hesitation, not seeming to notice the tired edge to her voice. “I don’t now what’s happened to him lately, I’ve never known him say or do things like this…”

Liz smiled as she read between the lines of Maria’s words. Her friend was obviously loving every bit of the attention he was getting, and she was pleased the couple were getting on so well. “That’s great Maria!” She responded genuinely, blinking rapidly in order to try and keep from dozing.

“Yeah, but what’s going on with him, I mean why’s he being this way…?” Maria didn’t want to complain, but she couldn’t deny that she was confused. It was such a complete and utter turn around from the attitude she had become used to over the last year or so.

Liz didn’t answer at first, needing to phrase her answer right as she drew on what Max had told her a while ago. “Well…maybe he’s realised that showing emotions isn’t a weakness, and maybe you’re the one that has helped break down the walls he had built up to hide himself…” She suggested.

There was silence on the side of the line, indicating that Maria was chewing this over. “Maybe…” Her voice finally came again, before going on to say how beautiful the flowers were, having been her favourite colours and such.

Liz clamped her hand over her mouth as she yawned, feeling terrible for doing so. It wasn’t that she was bored, or wanted to get rid of her friend, she was just so tired though…

“Liz, are you okay?” Maria asked her friend as the line went quiet.

“OOOOhhhh” Liz tried to stifle another yawn and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine…just a little tired…” She assured the other girl, rubbing her eyes with her free hand in an attempt to wake up a little. It didn’t work…it seemed she was fighting a losing battle…

There was a silence, and then Maria’s voice sounded again, this time in an apologetic manner. “Oh I’m sorry Chica, I didn’t think…I shouldn’t have called… What was I thinking, you having been feeling ill recently, of course you need your sleep…” She openly chastised herself.

Liz found herself laughing at her babbling. “Honestly Maria, it’s fine…and I’d love to hear more about this, but maybe not tonight…?” She suggested when she was finally able to get a word in.

“Sure Chica, I’ll fill you at school tomorrow, you make sure you get plenty of sleep, feel better…”

She smiled. “Thanks Maria, I’ll try…see you tomorrow…night…” Setting down the phone as the call ended, she quickly finished getting changed. Less than five minutes later she was sorted and climbed into bed into bed, curling up under the covers, pulling them up high. Her eyelids heavy, they closed as soon as her head hit the pillow and about ten minutes later, when Mrs Parker stuck her head around the door to check on her daughter, she found her fast asleep.

tequathisy - In some ways I feel sorry for Michael you know, seems like he can never win...first he's not romantic enough, then he's so romantic it's suspicious... I know he hasn't told her about the dreams, but in some ways he is being honest...about his feelings...isn't he...?
Sternbetrachter - how will they react? - wouldn't that be telling
Ellie - Maybe you're right, Maria is always wanting Michael to be more romantic isn't she...?
a7065 - thanks for reading, glad you're enjoying it
Timelord31 - thanks, glad you're enjoying the story
Isabelle - LOL well I thought it was good for Isabel to be clear hehe. Glad to see you enjoyed the cloak-and-dagger stuff too, I was a little uncertain about it, but it was so tempting when the idea came up, so I just ran with it. Relieved to know you thought it worked
Lazza - yay, thanks for reading, I'm glad you're enjoying it.

Okay I know it's been a long time since I last updated this, and I'm sorry. This update isn't the longest, but I decided it was better to leave it like this, than shove in another scene which really didn't have much purpose. Thanks for all the feedback, always love to hear what you think and glad you're enjoying the story. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

Hello to any lurkers out there, thanks for reading and hope you're enjoying the story.

~Kat~

Chapter 18

Could it be…? Alex scolled back up the screen, studying the letters which had replaced the symbols which had been there originally. He had been sat here like this for hours, pretty much ever since he got home from seeing Isabel. He had told his mom he was going to get an early night of course, but sleep just wouldn’t come at the moment. He, like Maria was worried about the way Liz had been feeling recently, and this was the only way he knew to try and help…

It might be a red-herring of course, this text might have nothing to do with what was going on, but it was somewhere to start, and it was better than just sitting there doing nothing…

Unfortunately, without a primer, the decoding was all based on probabilities, and there was always an element of uncertainty… He didn’t know if the individual symbols stood for full words, or single letters, although he was hoping for the latter since that gave the biggest chance for success…

On the whole, he had to say it was looking promising this time – the decoding had gone further than it ever had before, and as yet he hadn’t seen anything that seemed particularly out of place. Previous attempts he had halted upon seeing letter combinations that just didn’t work, but this one actually seemed to be viable…

Of course the only way to be certain was to wait, to let the decoding program continue, and then see if the document produced made any sense… It was still going to take time, but he felt more confident about this than he had before, and reaching over, he grabbed his cell phone, flipping it open and preparing to dial a number.

The time flashing at the top of the screen made him think twice however, not having realised until now just how late it was. Max and Isabel would probably still be up of course, he knew they didn’t need as much sleep as humans, but there was still the problem of a ringing phone late at night, and the possibility of Mr or Mrs Evans hearing… Deciding against making the call, he turned back to the computer, suddenly finding that he felt rather tired, and stuck a disk into his drive. Much as he would like to, he wasn’t going to be able to stay awake much longer, and this was far too important to risk letting the programme continue to run while he slept for fear of someone walking in. It was unlikely he knew, but it wasn’t impossible, and if this got into the wrong hands, whatever it contained within the test, he was certain it could do a lot of damage and put him and his friends in a lot of danger…

Pressing to pause, and save the programme at the current stage, he closed down the computer and packed away, slipping the disk behind some books on his shelf to try for lack of a better hiding place. There was still a lot to do, but he was making progress it seemed, and that was the important thing.

Covering his hand with his mouth to stifle a yawn, he ran a hand through his head, stretching and checking for anything else he needed to do, before getting changed for bed and climbing in, curling up under the covers and closing his eyes, falling asleep immediately from exhaustion after what had been a long day…

**********

“Max!” Alex called to his friend, trying to get his attention as he ran across the school yard towards him.

Hearing someone call his voice, Max turned slightly, stopping as he recognised Alex and waving. “Hey, sorry I didn’t realise you were there, guess I was a bit distracted…”

“Thinking about Liz…?” Alex guessed.

“Yeah…” Shaking his head, Max shrugged. “I know it’s probably just a stomach bug or something like she says, but she really doesn’t seem to have been well recently, and this morning, well she must have been feeling ill to stay home as she has…”

This Alex couldn’t argue with, knowing only too well that it was indeed highly unusual for the studious brunette to take time off school. “Well I guess there’s always something going round school…” He commented evenly. “It’s probably just some twenty-four hour thing or something, she’ll probably be right as rain by next week…”

“Thanks…” Max gave a small smile as he recognised the reassurance his friend was offering. He knew he was probably right of course, it was just that recently, with the stuff at the cave and such, he was just worrying… He shrugged and looked over at Alex. “So, how’s the translation going…if you don’t mind me asking…?” He asked as the two of them continued walking about.

Waiting while they past a number of kids who were messing around, Alex held his tongue until he was sure no one would overhear, before nodding slightly. “Actually, it’s not going badly at all…” He paused a moment before continuing. “I nearly gave you a call last night, but I realised how late it was and thought better of it…”

“Last night…?” His eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. “I thought you went out with Isabel…?” Of course he trusted Alex, he was a good friend, but he couldn’t help worrying about who might have seen something if he had left the computer on while he was out…

“I was…just I went on the computer after I got back…didn’t finish until after twelve, but it’s looking pretty good… I don’t know what it says, or even if it will make sense in the end, but certainly I’m not ending up with the crazy combinations I have done in my attempts so far…” The skinnier of the two guys shrugged.

“After twelve…? Alex I know it’s important, but your health is too…we’ve already got Liz who seems to be off it, I don’t want you collapsing from exhaustion you know…” Max told him with concern. Being something of a leader to the group, he had always felt a sense of responsibility to them, feeling concern if one of them was ill, and guilt if he might be the cause of that however indirectly… Alex was trying to help, which was great, but he didn’t want him to become ill because of it…

Waving off his concerns, Alex shook his head. “I’ll be fine Max, I’ve stayed up later before, and right now I just want to know if this text does have anything to do with those flashes Liz had.

Max nodded silently in response to this; he wanted to know as well… It was possible there was no connection, but for now they just had to work with what they had… “I know, just make sure you look after yourself too won’t you…?” He requested seriously, looking into his eyes.

“I will…”

“So, what do you think it’s going to be anyway…?” Curious to get another viewpoint, Max looked to his friend.

Alex shook his head. “Honestly, I don’t really know…maybe some sort of instructions as to how the mechanism for the incubation worked, or something about who was contained inside…” He shrugged. “Really it could be pretty much anything, but those would seem the most logical to me…”

Thinking this over, Max nodded. “Makes sense to me…” He sighed and blew out a long breath. “I just wish we could understand what it says… I mean we should surely…”

“Why…? Because it should be inbred…?” Alex looked over at the other guy. “Think about it, if someone with American parents is born in France and grows up there, they’re likely to be fluent, but if someone with French parents is born and grows up in America and then goes back at the age of ten to France, unless their parents have taught them, they’re unlikely to be able to speak the language instantly…”

“I know…” He couldn’t disagree. Alex’s points were excellent, and made perfect sense, it didn’t rid him of a feeling that he should be able to understand it though… He should know what was had caused those flashes, he should be able to explain it all to Liz…

“Don’t beat yourself up over something you can’t help…” Alex advised him. “I’ll try and work some more on it tonight before I pick up Isabel, and I’ll call you when I’ve got something solid… Maybe you should go see Liz after school though, see how she is…?”

“Yeah…” Max nodded as he heard the five minute warning bell sound. “Well, I’d better get to class, another late mark wouldn’t be a good thing…” He looked over at his friend. “Have a good time tonight okay, and don’t worry too much about the text. I know it’s important, but don’t kill yourself over it okay…?”

“Sure man, tell Liz I hope she’s feeling better soon when you see her…?”

“You bet!”

**********

“Hey Liz…” After checking it was okay to go up with the Parkers, Max knocked gently on the doorframe as he found himself outside her room. Gingerly, he stuck his head into the room, not wanting to wake her if she was sleeping.

The sound of his voice brought a weak smile to Liz’s face as she rolled over in bed, inviting him into the room with a smile. “Hey…” Reaching out from under her covers, her hand closed over her robe, preparing to put it on as she tried to sit up.

Her boyfriend however had other ideas as he shook his head, moving over to the bed and sitting down at her side, taking the robe from her and laying it back down. “It’s okay, you don’t need to sit up…” He assured her softly, reaching for her hand and rubbing up and down the back gently with his thumb. “How are you feeling anyway…”

Falling back down into the pillows, Liz sighed and shook her head. “Sick…” She pulled a face. “I couldn’t keep anything down this morning… It’s a bit better now, but still not great…”

Max nodded. “I heard there’s been a stomach bug going round, I know there have been a couple of people off this week with similar symptoms…”

His girlfriend smiled weakly. “Yeah, my mom said that was what it sounded like…” She agreed softly, sighing. “Sorry, I know we had plans for this evening…”

Placing a finger to her lips, Max shook his head. “Don’t even think about apologising…you can’t help it if you’re ill… What’s important is that you rest up and get well…” Leaning over, he kissed her forehead gently, pushing some hair back from her face.

Marvelling over how such a small thing could feel so wonderful, Liz gave a small smile. “How was school anyway…?” She asked curiously.

Max laughed. Only Liz would think of asking about school when she was off sick. “It was school…” He answered simply. “Everyone was asking after you though, and saying hope you’re feeling better soon…” He winked at her. “Maria said to tell you to get well soon and then you can help her puzzle out what’s happened to Michael…apparently she says he’s been taken over by aliens or something…” He smirked at his little joke, looking down and watching his girlfriend carefully. He couldn’t believe how pale she looked…

“Sounds to me like Michael’s finally let those walls fall actually…” Liz commented softly, remembering the phone call from her friend the previous night.

“Not completely, but I think he’s getting there yeah…” Max responded.

“Well, I think he made a good start with last n-“ Breaking off as her words were enveloped by a big yawn, Liz covered her mouth with an apologetic look. “Sorry…”

Her boyfriend shook his head. “No, it’s fine; you should probably try and get some more sleep… I’ll come and see you again tomorrow okay…?”

As she felt the weight begin to lift from the mattress though, Liz reached out, her hand closing over his arm. “Stay a little longer…? Please…” She looked at him. “I’ll try and sleep, I promise, just…stay…?”

With a small smile, Max nodded at her request, settling back down on the side of the bed. “Okay, if you want me to…” He cradled her cheek in his hand gently, before placing another kiss on her forehead. “Now, you try and sleep okay…?”

“I will…” The brunette closed her eyes, curling up under the covers and letting her head sink far down into the pillows as she finally gave into the sleep which had been threatening to take her.

It wasn’t long until she was sleeping soundly, but Max waited a little longer, watching the beautiful figure she made as she slept. Those lovely lip and long lashes, the way she smiled… An image sprang to mind of her the previous day after school, her cheeks glowing as she laughed and chatted, apparently completely over what had been troubling her earlier in the day. She was beautiful…

“Max…?”

How long he had been sat there he didn’t know, but as he heard Mrs Parker’s voice calling, Max looked round to where she was stood in the doorway.

“I’m not trying to get rid of you, but it’s coming up to six… you’re welcome to stay and have tea with Jeff and I if you like, but maybe you should call your mom and tell her if you are…?”

His eyes widening as he realised how much time must have passed, Max shook his head awkwardly, apologising to Nancy as he got up from the bed, looking over to check he hadn’t disturbed Liz in doing so, and smiling as he saw that she seemed unaffected. Leaning over the bed, he kissed her gently one last time, whispering ‘I love you’, before straightening back up and thanking Mrs Parker for allowing him to come up on his way out of the room as he headed down to the diner, and out to the jeep, from where he headed straight home.

Thanks for all the feedback

tequathisy
isabelle
Ellie
Timelord31
Lazza

I have to admit, that this chapter is more of a filler than anything, I've had some major writer's block on this, but I know that a chapter is way overdue. Thank you to everyone reading, and for your patience, I know that my updating of this story leaves a lot to be desired, I started it a long time ago now as you know, and I think maybe that's resulted in me losing the direction in which I intended it to go somewhat. I am trying to find it again though, and I hope that while not containing anything major, you'll all enjoy this new chapter.

~Kat~

Chapter 19

"Hey mom…" Max walked into the kitchen to greet his mother, who was just finishing off dinner.

"Hey honey, you're just in time, if you want to go wash up, dinner will be on the table in about five minutes…" She told him with a smile.

Nodding, he left her to it and headed upstairs, poking his head into Isabel's room on the way to find his sister obviously dressed for going out. "Hey Izzy…looking good…"

Isabel turned as she heard his voice and smiled. "Thanks… Alex is due to pick me up right about now…" Reaching for some dangly earrings, she threaded them through her lobes and peered into the mirror for a moment before shaking her head, removing them and picking out another pair which she began to put through her ears as she turned back to her brother. "How's Liz…?"

Max blinked, a little surprised by the question before shaking his head and frowning. "Not great…it seems like it's probably the stomach bug that's been going round school…she obviously feels rotten…" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, hating the feeling of being unable to help her. Strictly speaking of course he could probably - his powers would make short work of the sickness in all likelihood, but they couldn't afford for him to do that, and he knew Liz wouldn't want it… Still, it didn't stop him wishing…he just hated to see Liz like that and just wanted her to feel better…

Isabel gave a small smile as she read the look on his face. "It's not your fault you know…" She told him softly, crossing the room towards him as she finished what she was doing. "…and I bet she loved seeing you this afternoon when you went to see her…" She looked at her brother. "I know you hate not being in control of things, it's the same with both of you, but sometimes life is like that…she'll be better soon I'm sure…"

In the background a doorbell sounded downstairs, followed closely by the sound of Mrs Evans' voice calling up the stairs. "ISABEL, ALEX IS HERE!"

"OKAY MOM, I'LL BE RIGHT DOWN!" After calling back to her mom, Isabel looked over at her brother again. "She'll be okay you know…might be horrible being sick - not that I've had experience of it - but it's normal you know…" She squeezed his hand again as she stood up. "I'm gonna have to get going…"

Max nodded. "Okay…have a nice evening…" He told her with smile as he followed her out of the room.

"Hey Alex…" Isabel smiled as she descended the stairs to find her boyfriend talking to her mother.

He looked up and grinned. "Hey, and may I say that you look fantastic?" He greeted his girlfriend, holding his hand out towards her.

"What this old' thing…?" She smiled back at him, threading her fingers through his and swinging their joined hands lightly.

"Okay, I'm going to let you two get going I have to go put out dinner…" Diane told the couple, calling up the stairs to tell Max dinner was ready, and then disappearing through the door which led into the kitchen.

"Okay, thanks mom…"

She turned back and nodded. "Have a good time, but just don't be out too late okay…"

"Don't worry Mrs Evans; I'll have her back at a reasonable time…" Alex assured Diane with a grin as he slid his arm around his girlfriend's waist as they headed towards the door.

**********

"So, how's Liz…"

Isabel looked over at her boyfriend as they sat in the cinema, waiting for the movie to start.

Alex gave a small smile as he read the question in her eyes. "Max said he was going to drop in on her, see how she was going…" He supplied in a low voice.

She nodded and shrugged. "From what I can gather, she's feeling rotten, but it's nothing too serious, just a stomach bug or something like that…"

"You okay…?" Alex couldn't help thinking that she was too quiet today. Usually they'd have been talking, or more likely he'd have been listening, the whole of the journey over here, while today…

His girlfriend nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine…why wouldn't I be…?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, but you seem really quiet today, as though you're thinking about something, although I don't know what…

Sighing, she nodded, resting her head against his shoulder. "I'm fine, honest…just I guess a little bit of Max's concern is rubbing off on me…" She closed her eyes a moment. "It's just been really weird recently…you know…?" She commented, finding herself thinking about the dreams again. She knew it was nothing, just like she had told Max, but…

Shaking her head to try and get rid of the images which began to replay through her own mind, she looked back at Alex. "You know what, it's nothing… Horrible as it is, it's just a stomach bug, and she'll be fine soon right…?"

Her boyfriend nodded, sliding his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close. "Yeah, sure she will…" He kissed the top of her head gently and the two of them fell into silence as the trailers began to run and they settled down to watch the movie.

**********

"Liz, are you sure you should be working today…?" Maria eyed her friend sceptically as she tied the apron around her waist.

"Yeah, I'm fine Maria…" The brunette sighed, leaning against the wall for a moment and hoping that the other girl wouldn't realise she had just gone dizzy again. "You know it's always difficult to call in cover on a Sunday, and I can't ask you to cope with the whole diner…"

"That wasn't what I asked…" Her friend pointed out sternly, pointing her finger at the other waitress accusingly. "You're still not well; in fact, I would say you should probably be in bed right about now…"

Liz shook her head. "Honestly, no, I'm fine!" She repeated her earlier claim, all the while thinking that bed sounded like a wonderful proposition. When she had got up this morning, she had indeed been feeling a lot better, but now, well…let's just say she was suffering a little.

"Liz, you are not well enough to be serving… In fact, if you try and go out there to serve, I'm pretty sure you'll chase away the customers…" Wagging her finger in a scolding manner, Maria shook her head again and positioned herself between the door into the diner and her friend. "Now, no way am I going to let you go out there, so you can just go on back up to bed okay…?"

"Maria…"

"Go-back-to-bed!" The curly haired waitress refused to budge. "I'm serious here Liz, if you really think that I'm going to let you out there, you have another thing coming… You need to sleep… You look pale, and sallow, and sick!"

"Gee thanks Maria…you really know how to make a girl feel good about herself…" Liz commented, trying to make light of the situation.

Maria sighed, stepping forward to pull her into a hug. "Oh Lizzy, I just want you well again, and waitressing in your state really isn't going to do that…" She pulled back to look at her. "Seriously hun, you look like you need some rest, especially if you're wanting to come back to school tomorrow, which I'm assuming you do…"

"I guess you're right…" The response she gained was far from enthusiastic, but that could have been something to do with the girl in question feeling just about ready to fall off her feet if appearances were anything to go by. "Are you sure you're going to be okay though…?"

"She's going to be fine, because I'm going to help!" Isabel, who had come in this way wanting to talk to Michael for a moment made a split second decision, looking over at Liz. "I'm assuming that would meet with your approval…?"

She couldn't help but smile. "Y-yeah, I guess…are you sure…?"

"Yes, she's sure… Now, how about we get you up to bed…?" Maria looked over at Isabel. "I don't suppose that brother of yours is sitting out there too is he…?"

She smiled and nodded. "I'll go see if he is…" Disappearing out into the diner, she returned a few minutes later with her brother, who immediately moved over to the side of his girlfriend having been filled in on the situation by his sister. "Alright, I think you need to go back to bed…come on, I'll help you up…" He told her softly, slipping an arm around her shoulder as she leant in towards him and kissing the top of her head. He looked back at Isabel. "Thanks sis…"

She nodded to his whispered thanks. "No problem, now Maria, how about you get me kitted out…" She suggested as the couple disappeared on up the stairs.

**********

"Uh…am I in an alternate reality or something…?" Alex questioned, blinking in surprise as his girlfriend greeted him complete with alien antennae headband and order pad.

She pulled a face. "Liz isn't well and she was insisting on doing her shift unless cover was found for her to help Maria, so here I am…" Shrugging, she gave a small smile. "It's really not so bad…"

Her boyfriend nodded slightly. It certainly showed how much Isabel had changed over the last few years… The only other time he remembered her covering for Liz was after her Grandmother died, and that certainly wasn't without a fight. To hear her claim that it wasn't so bad…

Of course the fact that she had offered in the first place in some ways wasn't exactly a good sign… He had been hoping that whatever bug their friend had come down with would have cleared by this time, but apparently not. He sighed and looked up at Isabel. "Well, I think that Liz will really appreciate what you're doing…"

She smiled and nodded. "Yeah, well she's a friend, you know…"

"TABLE FOUR!"

As Michael's voice sounded out, Isabel sighed and looked down at Alex. "I'll be right back okay…?"

He nodded. "Sure…"

***

"I'm so sorry…" Liz murmured softly, opening her eyes to find Max still sat by the bed and trying to sit up.

He shook his head, pressing her back. "It's fine, you just lay down…"

"How long was I out…?"

He looked over at the clock. "About an hour maybe… It's still pretty early…"

She nodded silently, sighing and reaching up to run a hand through her hair. "I felt much better this morning…"

"Yeah, well that's the way these sorts of bugs go I guess - not that I've had to experience it first hand…" Her boyfriend commented, reaching out to take her hand in his and rubbing it gently with his thumb. "I wish I could do something to help you know…"

Liz smiled. He was so sweet. "It's fine…" She shrugged. "Just a bit of a bug, I'll get over it soon enough…"

"I hope so…"

An amused smile settled on her face as she shook her head at him. "Don't worry so much, it's perfectly normal you know…"

"I guess…"

***

"Max still upstairs…?" Maria asked as she came to sit with Alex on her break.

He chucked and nodded. "What do you think…?"

She gave a small smile. "They make quite a couple don't they…?"

Alex nodded. "That they do, but so do you and Michael…" He pointed out with a smile.

"And you and Isabel…" She grinned and winked.

"Yeah, well I hope so, but couldn't say that myself could I…" He responded with a chuckle, looking over to where his girlfriend was taking an order a few tables down. "Who would have thought; the princess and a geek…?"

Maria laughed and shook her head. "Yeah, well nothing could be more unlikely than me and Spaceboy over there…" She turned and nodded her head towards the kitchen where she knew her boyfriend was working. Sometimes she still wondered if she was crazy getting involved with him, but then…well…he had his days…

"Oh come on Maria, no one could fight as much as you two if you didn't have an underlying attraction…" He held up his hand quickly. "Which incidentally isn't something I want to hear any more about, 'nuff said okay…?"

She smiled and nodded. "Okay…" The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence for a few minutes, before she spoke again, her tone lower now as she looked around first to make sure there was no one too close. "So, how's the translation going…?"

"It's getting there…" Alex responded vaguely, knowing better than to talk about it in any more than general terms while they were in the middle of a crowded restaurant. "Another few days and hopefully…" He trailed off and sighed. That was another thing he had been hoping would happen sooner… He knew it was unlikely, but there was still this part of him that hoped that whatever this text contained would help to explain what was going on with Liz and Max, and sitting around night after night, just waiting for his computer to complete the programme really felt like doing nothing…

Maria nodded with a reassuring smile. "Okay, well you're doing great…" She responded, placing a hand over his and squeezing it as she stood up. "Anyway, I should be getting back to work; I'll go tell Isabel to take her break. See you later…" She gave him a small wave as she headed down to where the other girl was busy clearing some tables.

*Peeks out nervously from behind my computer and waves*

Hi guys...

Okay, so I'm back, and I know again it's way overdue, but with my final project, and exams all to deal with I have basically been allowing myself to write what I feel like when I feel like, on the rare occassions that I'm taking a break.

This fic was of course the first I started, and I promise you it will be finished, but more often than not, my muse prefers working on the others I'm afriad, so this one gets stuck at the bottom of the pile. It's not the way I want it, but that's the way it goes and at the moment, I don't have the time or energy to fight it.

You probably think I'm giving the impression of not caring, but nothing could be further from the truth, I do, just some things have to come first, and right at this moment in time, much as I want it to be, writing can't be a real priority for me.

All that said, I do finally have a new chapter thanks to the short breaks I've been taking from my revision last week, and I'm hoping that it's okay. I have read through it, checked with spelling and such, but I had my first exam today, and didn't get back until after six, so if it's not as well checked as usual I apologise in advance.

Having got all that out of the way, I must say a huge thanks for the feedback you guys have been leaving, and for sticking with me, because I know my frequency of updating leaves a LOT to be desired

Timelord31 - Thanks, glad you enjoyed the chapter.
Lazza - don't we all wonder that lol.
tequathisy - Thanks for sticking with me
isabelle - Thanks hun, I'm glad it came over okay and if you like Maria and Alex, here's a little more, along with my favourite couple - you'll never guess who that is will you hehe
Flamehair - YAY, well welcome to the story, I'm glad you found it, and of course that you like it. Not many answers here I'm afraid, but hopefully some fun non-the-less
83 AlienAngel - Another new reader . Hi, welcome to the story. I'm glad you're enjoying it, here's more.
Asbetha - Back to work? - don't I know it... Unfortunately work at the moment is exams and revision... I did manage to get a little something though...hope you like it

Again, I apologise for the length of time you've been waiting, but finally here's the new chapter.

Thanks

~Kat~

Chapter 20

I don't know chica....you still look a little pale, maybe you shouldn't go back so early..." Maria commented, holding off on pulling away from the kerb as she looked over at her friend who was sat in the passenger seat.

Liz groaned and gave a pained look as she shook her head. "Maria! Will you please quit pecking around me like a mother hen?" Her mom had been bad enough that morning when she had said she wanted to go to school, having this same discussion with Maria was not on her 'to do' list… She knew that both of them meant well of course, and that her mother, or for that matter her friend, were only concerned, but after all she was the one who could say how she felt; and right at this moment in time, she was in fact feeling better than she had in a couple of weeks.

Unfortunately, it seemed that Maria was not to be discouraged that day. "I saw you at yesterday chica! You said you were feeling better in the morning then, and look how you ended up…" She pointed out, wagging her finger at the brunette in an almost scolding manner as she her curly hair bounced on her shoulders.

"Maria..." Closing her eyes, Liz rocked her head back, pressing against the back of the seat before looking back at her friend once more. "Please, I promise that I'll try not to overdo it, but seriously, another day stuck in bed with my mum fussing around me and I think I'm going to lose my mind..."

Try as she might, the other girl couldn't keep from giggling at that comment. Liz never had been a very good patient from what she remembered... Shaking her head again, she looked back and nodded with a small smile. "Alright, but I'm registering my disagreement here..." She teased, still harbouring the hope, albeit a weak one, that she might be able to make the petite girl see it her way. "I'm just saying that maybe another day off would be good for you - it would give you a chance to rest up some more, and regain your strength...because you know whatever you've had, it was pretty nasty from what I saw..."

"Maria…"

She other girl sighed and held up her hands in resignation as she recognised the tone of her voice and that determined look in her eyes. She had done her best, and failed... "Okay, okay, I'm dropping it… But it's only because I care that I worry you know…"

"I know…" Liz couldn't help giving a small smile as she looked back at her best friend. Of course she knew that, and she knew it was the same with her mother...just there was only so much she could manage of this... "And I'm sorry Maria…I know I'm being sharp…it's just everyone is fussing…" She shook her head and pulled a face to show her distaste. "My mom and dad are both determined that I should take at least another day off school, and Max was treating me like I was made of cotton wool the other day... It's just a bit much you know…?"

Maria laughed. "Oh chica, I think that you are about the only person I know who would actually object to the thought of taking a little bit more time off school. So you say that you're feeling better, why not take another day off to pacify everyone and use the time to catch up on some reading or something? I'm sure you'd be able to work out some way to occupy yourself, and is missing another day really going to cause such huge problems?

Liz gave a wry smile. "Well maybe most people would love the chance, but as you've so rightly said, I'm not most people. Besides, if I stay off today, that's another day's worth of class work that I have to catch up on... The sooner I go back, the less work I have to do, and the sooner I'm all caught up!" She pointed out logically.

"Hmm... And the motivation to be all caught up wouldn't have anything to do with a certain guy we both know would it...?"

Swallowing as she felt her cheeks flush, Liz did her best to try and hide her embarrassment, turning her reply into something of a joke. "Who...Michael?" She questioned, faking a blank look and then collapsing into giggles as her friend looked back with such a look.

"Oh yes...Michael... Not the amber eyed, green blooded lover boy who saved your life..." She shook her head; conceding defeat and checking her mirror before pulling the Jetta back out onto the road. "Seriously, you should have seen the look on his face on Friday when he found out you were sick...that guy has it so bad..."

"Uh-huh..." The brunette had her head turned away, looking out the window.

"Liz, are you even listening to me?" Her brow furrowing in frustration, Maria glanced over at her friend for a moment, returning her eyes to the road a split second later as the cars in front braked and she did the same. "Elizabeth Parker! When I started talking about lover boy that was not a free invitation to leave me on my lonesome while you go and do your day dreaming..." Rolling her eyes, she shook her head again. "You do realise it's only going to be about five minutes tops before you actually see him...? I suppose it's too much to ask to actually get those five minutes as attention which is aimed at me?"

Whether it was her words, or simply the tone of her voice which had gotten through to the other girl, Liz blinked and looked over apologetically. "W-what...? Oh sorry Maria, I guess I spaced again..." Pushing her hair back from her face, she let out a long sigh, already beginning to wonder if everyone else had been right and she was going back too soon. She had been sick rather a lot, and that did tend to wipe you out completely... She had barely eaten anything over the last week, and there was a part of her that didn't really want to do anything but sleep.

But she had said that she was ready to go back to school, and that was true too... Whether it was true physically had yet to be seen, but emotionally she had experienced as much of her mother's 'caring' as she could manage in a week.

Taking in the sight of her friend, Maria couldn't help but think that there something that wasn't quite right. She hadn't been daydreaming it seemed... In fact, she might be wrong, but to her it seemed as though Liz's description was spot on...she had spaced...into nothingness... "Are you sure you're okay chica..." She questioned again despite her earlier promise.

Blinking again, Liz nodded, insisting that she was fine, just a little tired. "It's probably just because I went without my cup of coffee this morning..." She theorised before falling silent again.

It was a poor excuse in truth, which Maria recognised although she didn't call her about it for the moment as they continued the trip to school in silence.

**********

"Before you ask, yes I'm fine, and no I don't need another day off school!" Liz snapped.

Alex's eyes widened in surprise at the 'greeting' as he looked in bemusement from the face of one girl to the other. "Hello to you too Lizzy..."

The brunette shook her head and flashed an apologetic look. "I'm sorry Alex, it's just I've been getting it from everyone today...I just thought that maybe it would be a good way to get the whole thing over and done with..." Already she was feeling guilty, knowing that she shouldn't have taken it out on him, or anyone else for that matter. So she was finding the concern people were showing annoying...but after all, wasn't it just a sign of caring...?

"Oh Lizzy..." Opening his arms, the tall, gangly young man reached out to hug his friend. "You're right of course, I was about to ask if you were okay, but only because I care you know..." He pulled back to look down at her. "It's good to see you feeling better of course...we just don't want you to overdo it too soon..."

His words caused a small smile to form on the lips of the petite brunette he still held in his arms. She nodded and sighed, leaning her head against his chest before pulling back and looking over at Maria. "I know I've been grouchy this morning...and I'm sorry...I just..."

"It's okay chica, I can forget about it..." Maria assured her softly, a twinkle appearing in her eyes as she thought of something and paused a moment before continuing, "That is....assuming you wouldn't mind swapping my shift this Friday with one of yours...?"

Liz laughed genuinely at this, raising an eyebrow. "I see, so this is what I get after being sick - blackmail....?"

"Oh get out of here...you know I'm joking!" Waving away her words, Maria stuck out her tongue at that last.

"Of course I do...and I can also see that you really want this Friday off..."

Now it was the second girl's turn to blush as Liz read her so effectively. "It's nothing, really, not important..." She insisted. It had truly been a joke, even if there had been a very real desire behind it., but she should have known better...

"Come on, spill!" Alex grinned as he hooked an arm around each girl led them down the corridor together.

"There's nothing to spill...it's just...well...Michael asked me to go out and..." She trailed off awkwardly, pulling away and stepping back. "Really, it's not important, it's fine..."

"Maria, go, I'll sort it!" Grinning, Liz shook her head. No way was she going to stand in the way of something which obviously made her feel so happy... It had taken Maria and Michael a long time to get together, but they were just so perfect together... Kind of like the way she felt about Max she guessed, and she wished her friend all the happiness in the world...

"W-what....I mean, thanks, but it's fine, I don't want you to--"

Rolling her eyes and holding her hand up to interrupt, her friend sighed. "Go have a good time!" She repeated slowly, pausing a moment before adding, "I'll find someone else to cover, I promise that I won't do it...but I want you guys to go have a good time...can you do that?"

The smile which lit up the face into which she was looking seemed to give all the reply necessary. It was followed by a murmured 'thanks' and a huge grin.

"Well I guess that we all know who puts the smile on your face in the morning...."

"Yeah, pretty much the same as you and lover boy!" Maria retorted playfully, returning in the same teasing manner.

"Right, you and he do seem to be spending a lot of time together recently...some of which I do believe you were in bed during too..." Alex winked as he joined in, grinning at the sight of his two friends having such a discussion. Both were great girls, and they deserved all the happiness they could get.

"It wasn't like that and you know it!" Came the retort as she glared playfully at the other two. "You do realise that if anyone heard you, I could be in big trouble don't you, I mean if my parents thought I--"

"Chica, you've been sick, something which your parents are well aware of - I don't think either of them are going to think that Max has been doing anything more than sitting by your bedside, being an incredibly wonderful and sweet boyfriend..."

The simple comment was so incredibly wonderful, and correct. Sighing, she gave a happy, sappy smile, her eyes glistening brightly.

"Oh boy chica, you have got it so bad..."

She nodded and smiled, making no attempt to deny what she knew, in her heart, was true. "Yeah, and I wouldn't have it any other way....

**********

"Liz?" Max's amber eyes lit up in delight as he pushed open the door and walked into his classroom to find a familiar figure sat at their usual desk. His pace quickened as he crossed the room, closing the distance between them.

"Hey Max...." The brunette turned, to display a matching smile on her face as she stood up.

"Hey yourself...I didn't know you were going to be back today...are you su-" Breaking off mid sentence as he caught sight of the look on his girlfriend's face, Max offered her a smile as he opened his arms, reaching out to pull her into his chest.

Letting out a contented sigh, Liz allowed herself lean her head against his chest for a moment, revelling in the mere fact of being with him.

Not that it had been a long time since they had been together. In fact, it was possible in fact that Max had actually spent more time over at the Crashdown than he would have done otherwise...if that was possible.

Despite the time they had spent together though, it seemed as though, at the moment, it could never be enough and she always wanted more... Just being with him, to her, this was heaven...

A loud cough sounded, causing the couple to break apart awkwardly as they looked forward to the door through which their teacher had just walked.

"Mr Evans, while I am share your pleasure in seeing Miss Parker back, and presumably fully recovered, I would ask that you remember where you are..." Mr Lake's tone was even, but had an edge of warning as he looked towards the two teenagers.

His comments were followed by a snigger of amusement to sound from the back of the room, which caused Mr Lake to raise an eyebrow. "Did I say something funny....?"

Taking advantage of the distraction, the two now red-faced students who had been the subject of his original comments sat down quickly in their seats with murmured apologies, although as they sat there, neither could resist reaching out for the other with one hand, threading their fingers through those of the other out of sight under the table.

As Mr Lake looked around, and began to take attendance the class seemed to settle quickly and any talking subsided.

Communication between Liz and Max hadn't terminated however... While neither spoke, every couple of minutes one would look over at the other, or squeeze the hand which they held, eliciting a smile from their girlfriend or boyfriend who would return the gesture in like.

Once the lesson started properly, their interaction was further limited, both forced to at least put on an act of concentrating as Mr Lake droned on and began to write on the board. Liz in particular, tried to concentrate, knowing that it was important to do so, but even she couldn't help glancing over at the guy next to her occasionally, and more often than not when she did, she found him doing the exact same thing.

Their teacher was by no means oblivious to what was going on. It was pretty obvious that he didn't have the couple's full attention but, despite this, both had succeeded in answering any questions he fired at them, and he couldn't in all honesty find a good reason to complain. Incomplete attention might be undesirable, but really, what could he do and would the students in question be any better off academically...?

Liz for her part did try to tone things down. She had forgotten for a moment as Max walked through the door just where they were, and had been mortified by the way their teacher had spoken. She couldn't believe that she had been so open in the middle of a classroom, and yet, when she thought about Max, she struggled to regret anything.

There were other people in the class surprised too of course, never having expected something like that from the two students in question. It wasn't as though they were known for things like this... Everyone knew the two of them were crazy about one another of course, and the couple had been together for over two years now, but nothing like this... Both were quiet, gentle...unassuming... The initial greeting caused a certain amount of attention to be focussed on them, perhaps in the hopes of a repeat, but if that was what they were hoping for, they were to be disappointed it seemed as at the end of the session, Liz and Max left quickly and quietly, holding hands, but nothing more...

That was only until they got as far as the corridor of course... As they passed the eraser room, Max tugged on Liz's arm, glancing around cautiously before pushing open the door and pulling her inside after him.

Looking up at him with amusement, Liz smile as she watched him close the door, using his hand to seal it carefully to avoid a repeat of the scene half the school had witnessed a few days before, when one of the teachers had walked in one some rather less than innocent seniors in a somewhat compromising situation... None of their group had been involved luckily, but it had certainly made them extra careful about precautions and Max was taking no risks it seemed. "Hmm...you know I do seem to remember my telling Maria that I can't afford to miss anymore classes..." She teased softly, despite making no move to leave.

Max raised an eyebrow in question. "Really...and I don't suppose I might be able to change your mind...just for a little while...?" He suggested, leaning over and whispering in her ear.

"Ooooh...you are so bad..." Liz made no attempt to resist as he pulled her into his arms, resting her head against his chest as she closed her eyes and let out a contented sigh. She knew they should go to class of course, but it was so tempting just to stay here...with him...

Closing his arms around her small frame, Max drew her closer, pressing his lips to the top of her head as he whispered, "I love you..."

Those three words caused his girlfriend to send a wonderful smile in his direction. "I love you too...and I'm sorry about Friday, I--"

he held up a hand sharply as she began to apologise, shaking his head. "You have nothing to apologise Liz...nothing... You were sick, and I'm just so pleased you're feeling all better now..."

"Uh...yeah..."

Max looked at her. "Liz...?"

She swallowed and bit her lip, forcing a smile. "I'm fine - as you say, all better..." Before he could query her claims, she rose up on the balls of her feet, slipping her arms around his neck as she leant forward and closed the distance between them, pressing her lips against his and then, as they pulled away, falling back against his chest once more.

All coherent thought left his head as they kissed, even in a relatively chaste manner. She was like an addiction it seemed, one taste of her and nothing else mattered... One taste of her, and all he wanted was more. Forgetting his worries about her lack of response regarding her health for the moment, Max's concentration was focused on the more immediate situation as he kissed the top of her head again, causing her to look up before he dipped his head and captured her lips in his, deepening the kiss this time as he began to caress her gently..