It was strange...Claudia had never seen Liz so...miserable as she was this summer, and none of the usual methods were pulling her out of her misery. It seemed as though Liz felt trapped, stuck somewhere where she didn't want to be. She seemed lonely too, another emotion Claudia rarely saw in Liz.

Usually when she visited, Liz was so energetic and enthusiastic about being there with her, but this time, Liz acted like she was trapped in a prison, that she desperately wanted to escape from.

Liz hadn't opened up much in the 3 weeks that she'd been staying with Claudia. It was so unusual...normally Liz could talk to Claudia about ANYTHING. Claudia could tell that Liz had something bottled up inside of her that she didn't want to talk about, and she guessed that it had something to do with this new boyfriend of hers...

Liz looked up, acknowledging her grandmother with her dull eyes. "Yeah grandma?"

"Can I talk to you for a sec?" Claudia heard a soft sigh, as Liz closed up her journal and turned to face her.

"Sure."

"I'm worried about you, Lizzie. You've been here for 3 weeks now, and to be blunt, you've been dead to the world. You and I always have so much fun together, but this time it seems like you're not all here. Did you even want to come to stay with me? I understand if you didn't, but you should have said something. You're here now, why can't we just make the most of the time we have together?"

Liz listened to her grandmother's words, and knew them to be true. She had been wandering around like a shell of her normal self, depressed and alone. And she knew why too...

When had she grown so reliant on Max? Since they had started going out, she had felt...complete...when she was with him. Now that they were separated though, she just felt...empty. She missed him so much, desperate to see his face, hear his voice. She ached for his touch.

Max called her every night, and Liz was living for those few minutes when she could hear his voice.

Liz hated feeling this way as much as she loved it. Being with Max was such an important part of her life, but so was her grandmother, and Liz knew that she was neglecting her.

“I’m sorry grandma, I really am. I just…”

“Miss your boyfriend.” Claudia finished for her.

“Yeah…” Liz sighed.

“It sounds like he’s had a really strong effect on your life, Lizzie.”

“Max is the most incredible person, grandma! I’ve known him for years, and I never even had a clue! He’s so good and so kind. He really cares about things. And…he makes me feel so special.”

Claudia watched as Liz came to life, just talking about Max. She was glowing; her face lit up in a smile for the first time in days.

“Are you in love with him?” Claudia ventured carefully.

“Yeah…I think so.”

“Really? You’ve found him already? Your soulmate?”

“If this isn’t love, then I can’t imagine what the real thing is like, because this is the most amazing feeling that I’ve ever had…” Liz admitted softly.

“That’s wonderful, Lizzie!”

“I wish you could meet him, grandma.”

“I wish I could meet him too…in fact, why don’t you invite him out here?”

Liz’s head shot up at her grandmother’s suggestion. Did she mean it?

“Really grandma?”

“Sure, for a weekend.”

“Thank you so much!”

“Under one condition, Liz. After he leaves, you have to stop moping around this room, and have some fun with me, okay?”

“I promise!”

Liz leapt up and hugged her grandmother. Her heart began to pound in anticipation. She was going to get to see Max!

“There he is!” Liz squealed out the moment that she saw Max emerge from the airport terminal. She ran at him, flinging herself into his arms.

“Hey.” He greeted her softly, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

“I’ve missed you so much.” Liz whispered.

“Me too.” Max responded, searching out her lips, and gently sealing their reunion with a soft, sweet kiss.

“Come on. I want you to meet my grandmother.”

They turned together to see Grandma Claudia watching them from a few feet away, a strange smile plastered across her face. She was staring at them almost wistfully, longingly…

Liz took Max’s hand and led him to her.

“Grandma, meet my boyfriend, Max Evans. Max, this is Grandma Claudia.”

“Hi!” Claudia greeted. “It’s nice to finally meet you. Liz talks about nothing else.”

Max dropped his gaze shyly. “Thanks for letting me come see her.”

He reached out to shake her hand…

FLASH

Claudia holding a dusty artifact.

FLASH

Max shook his head slightly, trying to shake the image from his head.

What was that? He didn’t usually get images from people, unless he was kissing Liz, or if things were getting intense. This was completely random. He had never even met Claudia before! He had no previous connections with her. Usually he had to have interacted with someone a few times before he could even hope to get a flash from them. It was strange.

“Max, are you okay?” Liz asked, noting his actions.

“Yeah…I just got dizzy for a sec…no big deal.”

“Max is probably just tired from his flight, am I right? Why don’t we go home and get some dinner, and Max can rest up. We have a big day tomorrow!” Claudia decided, leading the couple towards the exit.