Max rolled them over so that he was on top again, and began smothering Liz with soft romantic kisses all over, on her neck, her shoulders, her jaw, her lips… Liz moaned softly as she silently wondered how Max knew all the perfect ways to drive her crazy.

“Because we’re meant to be together.” Came Max’s silent response to her thought.

He slowly began to move within her again, initiating a surge of pleasure that ran between them both. The pleasure was short lived though, because as desperately as Liz wanted this, her logical mind took in their surroundings, and the sun threatening to claim the sky any moment, and it was a school day. They couldn’t do this now. Plus, her parents would be waking up soon…they couldn’t get caught like this.

Max felt all of this through the connection, and sighed knowing that it was all true. He reluctantly slowed.

“I don’t want you to go either.” Liz whispered aloud to him. “But you have to. It’s only a few hours. We’ll see each other at school.”

“It’s still too long.” Max replied softly, deeply kissing her to emphasize his point. He slipped out of Liz, and she grunted as if she was punched in the gut, as their connection broke.

Max looked down at her longingly. “God, this feels so lonely.”

Liz nodded. “Things will never be the same again.”

The stood and began searching around for their clothes, which were strewn all over the balcony. Max slipped into his boxers and jeans, and Liz helped him pull his shirt back over his head. They embraced each other one last time, and Max pressed a firm kiss on her forehead before turning away.

“I’ll see you at school, Liz.”

“Bye…Max…”

Liz watched as Max climbed down the ladder, before collecting her clothes and heading to the shower. As she cleansed herself of the evidence of her night with Max, Liz let her mind go, as she began to adjust to the changes she was feeling inside of her.

She was relieved to discover that Max wasn’t completely gone from her mind. The initial connection had been so deep, so intense, that this one seemed almost nonexistent in comparison…but it was something, and as Liz focused on it, she began to feel less alone. It was in the back of her head, at a place where she might not have felt it right away if she hadn’t been looking for it. It was a whisper of Max’s presence, and when she focused on it, Liz realized that she could feel his emotional state. It was easy to ignore at first, because his emotions were so reminiscent of her own. But it was there.

Liz clung to the connection, reveling in it for a few moments, before moving on to study the rest of herself.

She felt different…older perhaps…more in tune with her womanhood. She was no longer a little girl.

She also felt an intense protectiveness towards Max, almost fierce and primal. Also a loyalty and desire for him unlike she had ever felt before. Her heart no longer questioned the depths of his love towards her.

Liz found herself wondering: how much of these changes were due to their engagement, and how many were from their lovemaking?

All Liz knew for certain was that their souls were connected now. Max was hers, and she was his…forever.

Liz stood around in her first period Geometry class, talking and laughing with a group of girls in the class, but her mind was somewhere else entirely as she anxiously waited for Max to arrive. She desperately wanted to see him, wanted to talk to him about the changes inside her.

She smiled, as she felt his familiar, warm arms slip around her waist from behind, and he kissed her neck softly in greeting before nodding at her friends.

Liz’s eyes widened as she felt a thought emerge from Max’s mind: “God, I’ve been waiting for this all morning.”

“Me too.” She mentally replied.

“Wait, you can hear me?” He marveled.

“Yeah, it just started when you touched me. The connection’s probably stronger when we’re together like this.”

Liz desperately wanted to pull Max to the side and have a long talk about everything she was feeling, but she knew she needed to save it for later, when they could be alone and ensure complete privacy. So Max just held her, while Liz smiled and laughed with her friends over the latest gossip at school.

It seemed like an eternity before lunch finally came, and Max and Liz were able to retire to their private corner of the field to talk.

“How are you doing?” Max asked her gently as they sat together beneath their tree. “I mean…are you in pain or anything?”

“No…I’m okay. I’m incredible actually.”

“Good.”

“Max…everything changed between us last night, and I’m not just talking about the engagement, or…what we did, or even the connection. Something changed inside of me too. I feel…different. In some ways that I could try to explain, and other ways that I could never even hope to describe.

“Tell me.” Max pushed softly.

“I feel…you, Max. More keenly than I ever have before. What I feel for you…it’s less of a desire now. It’s more like a need. I need to be with you Max. And there’s other things too…I feel more in tune with myself than I ever have before…it’s like I found peace, like I found home. And I feel like I’ve changed physically too…I can’t explain how…it’s just a feeling deep inside of me.”

Max nodded. “I understand exactly how you feel. I’ve been feeling a lot of similar things. And…I have a theory about all of this Liz…I’ve been thinking about it ever since I left your house this morning. I think….I think my people mate for life, Liz. I think that’s why we’re both feeling all these changed. I think that by doing what we did…we gave each other our souls. These changes…I think they’re permanent Liz.”

“Yeah, that would explain a lot of the things I’m feeling.” Liz agreed.

“I know one thing for certain, Liz. I know that every bone in my body is screaming that you’re mine…forever.”

“Maybe by your people’s standards we’re already married.” Liz suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.”

Their lips met in a fierce kiss, and as their lips connected, so did their minds. They silently screamed in unison to one another: “I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you…”

Michael and Isabel stood to the side of the gym, watching Max and Liz passionately make out. They had been concerned when Max and Liz hadn’t showed up for lunch again…it was becoming a regular habit for the couple, so they went looking for them. They found them sitting under their tree, talking softly to one another, serious expressions plastered across their faces, before they started kissing.

“You ever wonder what they’re always talking about?” Michael asked Isabel.

“Yeah…” Isabel replied coldly. “I’m starting to.”