"Hold still," Max commanded. "I can't believe you didn't know how to tie one of these things."

"Well, Maxwell, it's not like Hank drug me to church every Sunday or anything."

Max had to give him that one. He slid the knot up, then pushed through the tie tack. He had to admit that Michael looked presentable tonight.

"Alright," Max began. "Do you have the flowers?"

Michael went to the refrigerator and pulled out a bouquet of pink roses. "Flowers, check."

"Gift?"

He picked up a small, perfectly wrapped present from the counter. Liz, even after all of his rudeness toward her, had agreed to go shopping with him. She'd picked out a new perfume Maria had wanted to try - it had cost Michael a whole night's pay, but he didn't care.

"Gift, check."

"Okay, now do you remember what I told you?"

Michael drew in a breath. "Hold her door for her, pull out her chair for her, tell her she looks nice. Act like she is the only girl in the room, kiss her on the cheek until she allows me to kiss her, well, elsewhere."

"Good, good. Ready?"

The boys drove over to the Crashdown in Max's jeep. The girls had agreed to get ready at Liz's and the boys could pick then up there. Michael shifted in his seat, and Max had to force himself not to grin at his uneasiness.

They hopped out of the jeep, and for the second time in recent memory rang the doorbell.

Mr. Parker answered the door again, a bemused expression on his face. That expression changed to surprise when he saw how nicely Michael had cleaned up. "Good evening, gentlemen," he said, letting them in.

Shortly, the girls appeared at the top of the stairs. Both Max's and Michael's mouths dropped open. Liz was wearing a red slip of a dress, her hair was piled onto the top of her head and fell in soft curls around her face. Maria had on a skin-tight, strapless black sheath. Max thought he heard Michael groan.

The girls descended the stairs, smiling. Max held out his hand for Liz and kissed her gently on the lips. He handed her some flowers and a small gift bag.

Michael felt like his feet were glued to the floor. He couldn't remember anything Max had quizzed him on not ten minutes before. The only thing that came out of his mouth was, "Wow."

Maria smiled, knowing how hard he was trying.

"Uh, Maria, this is Michael," Max joked, breaking Michael from his trance.

"Um, flowers," Michael stammered, handing her the roses.

"Michael, they're beautiful," Maria said, taking them from him.

What was next? Oh, yes! "Gift," Michael blurted, handing her the package. "I mean, this is for you."

"Thank you, Michael. Should I open it now?"

"Sure, sure. Please."

Liz and Max watched as Maria gently tore the paper from the box. Her eyes widened, and she looked at Michael in surprise. "This is wonderful," she said, kissing him lightly on the cheek. "Thank you."

Max thought he saw Michael blush. Then he held out his arm, which Maria took, and led her outside to the jeep.

"Aren't you going to open your present?" Max asked Liz.

"Oh, of course. I just got so wrapped up in what was going on with them." Liz reached into the bag and pulled out a pair of leather gloves. She looked questioningly at Max.

"Driving gloves," he explained.

Liz shrieked again. "My God, I am never going to live that down!" she laughed as they walked to the jeep.

When they started on their way, Michael and Maria exchanged startled glances when Max and Liz shared shifting responsibilities. For some strange reason, it seemed like it was a something they did all of the time.

Michael followed all of Max's directions -he pulled out Maria's chair for her, held open doors for her, tried to not make any crude remarks. She seemed to be appreciating it. Michael even remembered Max's warning about dancing - even if he didn't want to do it, do it anyway if she wanted to. But Maria, being aware of his need to not bring attention to himself, didn't ask him until a slow song started. The opportunity to hold her close had presented itself, and Michael nearly knocked over his chair when he stood up.

Max had to laugh to himself as he pulled Liz easily into his arms. Why did it seem like they fit together so well? He rested his chin on top of her head and pulled her as close as he could. He knew she was having trouble inhaling, but she'd told him before she like the feel of him holding her so close she couldn't breathe. He'd loosen up...in a bit.

Michael held Maria almost at arm's length. She frowned, then put her arms around his neck, forcing him to put his around her waist. She lay her head on his shoulder and he had to swallow at their closeness. It had been so long.

"Thank you, Michael," she whispered.

Michael couldn't think of a comeback, so he resorted to kissing her on the cheek. Before he could pull entirely away, she turned her head so that their lips touched. For a moment neither of them moved, then Maria parted her lips slightly, inviting him. He took her up on that invitation.

"Look," Max said, releasing the strangle hold he had on Liz.

Liz looked toward her friends, then laughed. "They need to get a room!" she screamed.

Max laughed. "We did a good job, Mrs. Evans."

"Not too bad, Mr. Parker." Liz bit her lip. "But when is it my turn?"

Max swept her into his arms and kissed her so hard she lost more breath than when he'd been squeezing her.

On the way home, Michael and Maria sat soundlessly in the back of the jeep - Michael had his hand between Maria's knees where no one could see, and Maria had her arm around his waist, her hand in his pocket. The anticipation was killing them.

"Why don't you just drop us off at my place?" Michael finally said to Max. "Is that okay with you?" he asked Maria, who nodded eagerly.

Max flipped on the windshield wipers - it had started to rain. He wanted to rib Michael on what was about to happen, but both of them had such silly grins of happiness on their faces that he couldn't bring himself to spoil it for them. "Of course."

"Can I tell my mom I'm at your place?" Maria asked Liz.

"Of course."

Liz exchanged a sideways grin with Max.

"Unless you weren't planning on going home," Maria backtracked quickly.

"I'm going home...eventually."

"MAX! LOOK OUT!!"

Michael's shout interrupted anything Maria was about to say. A car was headed right for them. Max jerked the wheel to the right, but the tires slid on the wet pavement. His foot slammed down on the brake, the other on the clutch. The jeep skidded sideways into the ditch.

Then all was quiet.

Max shook the cobwebs from his head and reached for Liz. She was already stirring.

"Are you okay?" he asked, frightened.

She nodded. "Yeah, just a little shaken, I think."

"Are you sure?" Max was reaching for her, ready to connect. He never connected to her without asking her permission - otherwise it seemed like a violation of her privacy.

Liz gently pushed his hand away. "I'm all right, Max."

"Max, help me."

Both Max and Liz whirled at Michael's words. He was holding Maria in his lap, and there was a heavy line of blood down the side of her face. Liz inhaled sharply, her hand going to her mouth.

"She hit her head on the roll bar, I think," Michael explained, in shock. "Please help her, Max."

Max reached for Maria, but then he withdrew his hand.

"Max, what are you doing?" Liz demanded in horror.

Max met Michael's eye. "You do it, Michael."

Michael suddenly looked spooked. "I can't, Max. I'll hurt her."

"No, you won't. You can do this."

Michael started to protest, but then he felt the dead weight of the only woman he'd ever loved - who'd ever loved him - in his arms and he stopped short. Max was right - if he couldn't do this for her, he didn't deserve her.

Michael placed his hands on either side of her face and concentrated. Only on Maria. On the way she smelled, the way she laughed, the way she kissed him with her whole body. The wrinkle that appeared between her eyes when she was pissed, the way she could talk forever about nothing. The way he loved her.

And he was in. He received a rush of emotions from her - the pain of her mom's latest loser boyfriend, the pain of not having a father, the love she felt for Liz since they were children, her love for him, which nearly bowled him over in spite of the pain that accompanied it. He could feel her heart - strong and steady - in his own body, could feel every breath she took, could feel the pain her wound had caused. He searched with his mind to find the damage and carefully pushed the blood vessels together, healing the abrasion. He checked her brain - only a bruise, nothing serious but certain to give her a killer of a headache. He healed that, too, being extremely careful. Now all she needed was a little jump-start back into consciousness. He mentally whispered to her, "Wake up, Maria. You're okay."

Maria's eyes popped open, she looked around in fright, then started to scream. Michael grabbed her arms and held her tight against his warm body.

"It's okay," he whispered. "You're okay now."

There were tears in Liz's eyes as she watched them hold each other. She reached back and touched Maria's arm. "Maria," she said softly.

Maria lifted her head enough to look at her.

"Michael healed you."

Maria stopped sobbing and looked at Max. Michael had healed her? Not Max? Max nodded in response to her unasked question. She turned to Michael, who looked almost embarrassed.

"You healed me?" she asked.

Michael nodded. Maria's response was to straddle him and start kissing him madly.

Max laughed. "Hey, slow down back there - someone has to help me push this jeep out of the ditch!"

Max and Liz were naked again, sitting on a blanket on their cliff under the stars. Liz chuckled at the free feeling it gave her, and the fact that it felt perfectly natural to be this way with Max. Max was stretched out on his stomach, while Liz was sitting up looking out onto the lake. She glanced down at his muscular bottom, and sighed in contentment.

"Max, you asleep?" she whispered.

Max turned his head to her. "No. Just enjoying the silence. Do you feel better?" He knew that Liz had been shaken up after the wreck, even though she wouldn't admit it. He and Michael had been able to easily remove the jeep from the ditch, and the damage had been minimal. It had stopped raining right before they'd decided to drive to the lake.

"I'm fine," she smiled. She looked at his butt again, bit her lip. "You know, you have a wonderful ass."

Max smiled against the ground. "So do you."

"No, I mean it. It's so...muscular."

He laughed.

"How did you get it that way?"

Max shrugged. "Running. A good gene pool, I guess."

Liz thought about this, wondering if all aliens were so attractive, briefly thought of Michael's butt. Nope, Max was definitely special.

"Can I touch it?"

Max rolled over onto his side to face her.

"I guess that means no, since you turned it away from me," Liz laughed.

Max reached up and touched her face with the back of his hand. Her skin was so soft. When his fingers passed her mouth, she kissed them. Max put his hand behind her neck, and pulled her down beside him on the blanket. Wordlessly, he slid underneath her so that she was lying on top of him. He loved the feel of her soft skin touching almost the full length of his body, the way her hair brushed against his shoulder, the way he could feel her heart beating steadily beside his. His expression was serious as he looked into her eyes.

"I'm the luckiest guy in the word," he told her sincerely, brushing her hair away from her face. "I never thought I could have what I have with you, Liz. You mean everything to me."

Liz kissed him passionately. "You will always have me, Max," she assured him, a little breathless. She could feel his arousal pushing into her stomach. "Don't ever doubt that."

Max took her by the shoulders and gently pushed her to a sitting position. He let his hands drift from her shoulders to her perfect little breasts. She drew in a breath, then leaned into his hands, sighing. She rotated her hips against his erection. Max groaned, then positioned himself to enter her. Just as he was sinking into her warmth, the first of the raindrops hit him.

Liz looked toward the sky as the raindrops pelted her face, slowly at first then harder. She looked down at Max, her hair wet and clinging to her head. She began to move her hips in response to the question he hadn't asked. As the storm climaxed, so did they.

Maria DeLuca caught her breath when she saw Michael Guerin walk through the cafe door - he was all black jeans, all spiked hair and all sexy. And he was walking straight for her. She didn't even try to hide her delight at seeing him.

"What are you going here?" she demanded playfully.

"This," Michael said simply, grabbing her behind the neck and pulling her mouth to his.