Liz waited for Kyle to walk around the car and open her door. She was trying to remember if he had ever done stuff like that when they first dated. She didn't think he had. Either he really had changed, or he was trying desperately to impress her, she wasn't sure which. One thing was for certain, the changes were definitely welcome. She had a wonderful time earlier with Kyle and Maria. Though she had been overwhelmingly pleased that Kyle had invited her best friend out with them, she began having reservations about the entire thing while getting dressed. Her concern was more for Maria than Kyle or herself. She didn't want the fact that she and Kyle were a couple to remind Maria that she was alone.

As it turned out, Liz had nothing to worry about. Kyle had gone out of his way to make Maria feel welcome in their bizarre little threesome. At dinner he had chosen to sit across from both of them in the booth claiming that he wanted to be able to see both his beautiful dates as he dined. He held the door open for them both, walking between the two of them when he got the chance. During the movie, where he again positioned himself between them, he casually draped an arm around both their shoulders with an exaggerated yawn and reach technique that made the girls laugh. He had even taken them out for ice cream after the show, chatting animatedly and doing goofy impressions to keep the mood between them light.

When they dropped Maria off at home, he walked her to the door and Liz watched as they stood talking for a moment before Maria burst into laughter. The blonde leaned over and kissed a smiling Kyle before waving to Liz and heading into her house. When Kyle returned to the car, Liz asked what they had been talking about to which he responded, "I asked her if there was anyway we could talk you into that threesome." Liz giggled and playfully swatted his arm.

All in all, it had been a great night. She had a lot of fun with Maria and Kyle and laughed more in that one night than she had in the last week. Maria seemed like her old self tonight and Liz hadn't thought of Max at all.

Well, not as much as normal, anyway.

Saying that she had not thought of him would be like saying she hadn't breathed that day. Her thoughts of him were constant, though tonight they had gone from a screaming in her brain to a soft din behind her ears. She had been able, for a few short hours, to ignore the nagging pain of her distance from him, her doubts over the decision that was responsible for that distance. She couldn't help but wonder, for the millionth time since their separation, how he was coping. Had he moved on to Tess and fulfilled his destiny as he should or was he as miserable without her as she was without him?

She was pulled from her thoughts as Kyle opened the car door for her. Taking his hand, they walked together through the Crashdown to the backstairs, which led to her family's apartment. This is typically where they said their goodnights, in the break-room at the base of the stairs. Liz, however, wasn't quite ready for the night to be over. She knew that as soon as Kyle left there would be nothing to prevent her thoughts from straying to Max, no distraction to prevent the tears that fell nightly.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight." Kyle stood before her with his hands sticking into his back pockets, waiting for her to say something. He never would have predicted the words that came out of her mouth.

"It doesn't have to be. You can come up if you want," she didn't quite make eye contact as she said it, but she reached out to take one of his hands in hers. "My parents are out of town for the weekend so I have the place to myself, yknow, if you want to hang-out for a while."

She could have just told him that she really had two heads, the look on his face probably would have been the same. She had never invited him up after a date before. Normally, they would go out, have fun, share a couple of heated kisses and then part ways. A couple times they had gotten into somewhat heavy make-out sessions in his car, but those instances were few and far between.

"Umm, yeah, sure. That, that would be great."

He was stumbling over his words and she could tell she had surprised him. He was probably waiting for her to come to her senses, giving him a kiss before telling him goodnight and disappearing. With his hand still held in hers, she turned and walked up the stairs, tugging him along behind her.

As she led him up the stairs, she wondered what exactly she was doing. She knew that he had to be expecting something physical from her if she was inviting him into her empty, parent-free home. The question was, what was she willing to do? She knew Kyle would never force her to do anything she wasn't ready for, she just didn't know what exactly she was ready for. It wasn't as if she was debating whether or not to have sex. That was one thing she was certain she wasn't prepared to do. Even though she and Max were no longer together and couldn't be together, she still imagined her first time with him.

She quickly shifted gears. It wasn't right to be thinking about the possibility of sex with Max, ever. Especially not when she was inviting Kyle upstairs to be alone with her. She still hadn't figured out what precisely she was offering Kyle, but there were several steps between kisses and sex. Maybe tonight they could take one or two.

"Would you like something to drink or eat or anything?" As always, when nervous revert to perfect hostess. At least that was a role she was comfortable in. She knew exactly what it entailed and didn't have to think twice about how much hostessing she wanted to do.

"Uh, no thanks. I'm good."

An uneasy silence settled as both waited for the other to take the initiative. Liz finally realized she was going to have to make the first move or else they would stand there staring nervously at each other for the rest of the night. Crossing the space between them, she ran her hands down his arms, interlocking their fingers when she reached his hands.

"I had a really great time tonight, Kyle." She leaned forward to place a lingering closed mouth kiss to his lips before continuing. "It was really sweet of you to invite Maria out with us." She kissed him again, letting the kiss last a bit longer, her lips parting slightly against his. "And the way you made sure she didn't get left out of anything and made sure she was having a great time…" This time, when she tilted in towards him, his arms twisted around her waist and he pulled her firmly into his embrace, kissing her passionately. She grinned under his kiss, her arms going around his neck, cradling his head as the kiss deepened.

After several long moments, she pulled away from him, smiling as they both gasped for air. He quickly pressed a light kiss to her lips before saying, "Y'know, if being nice to Maria is what got me invited up here tonight, I have to admit to you that the motivation behind inviting her wasn't entirely selfless. In fact, it really had nothing to do with her happiness."

"Oh really?" her voice teased as she started leading him towards her bedroom. She decided she wasn't going to question herself anymore. She was just going to let things happen, understanding that she could stop if stuff got too intense. She felt powerful, realizing Kyle was completely under her control, that she got to decide what would and wouldn't happen tonight. He wanted her, she knew this. Even though she knew she wasn't ready to have sex, she was pretty sure Kyle would jump at the opportunity.

"Yeah. I have to admit, my motives were entirely selfish." He yanked her to him, stopping their movements and kissing her yet again. Her hands fell onto his chest, rubbing across the muscles there before working her way up and playing with the sensitive flesh at the nape of his neck. He groaned at the stimulation of her nails against his flesh, pulling away from her kiss.

"So did your 'motives' have anything to do with a possible reward from a grateful girlfriend?" She started walking backwards again, pausing briefly to fling open the door to her bedroom before leading them into it. She flipped on the radio beside the bed, then turned back to smile at him.

"Actually, no. It, uh, it had more to do with me being sick of seeing Maria mope. She was bringing me down and we couldn't have that."

Liz laughed at his teasing tone, sitting on the bed and scooting back to the center of it. "Well, as selfish motives go, that one isn't so bad." She tugged on his arm until he was looming over her, one knee on the bed, one foot on the floor. As she stretched up closer to him, he leaned in, meeting her lips as he hovered over her bed. Once their lips were joined, she began a slow decent, until she was lying on her back with Kyle hovering over her. He quickly adjusted his position so he was lying beside her on the bed, propped onto his elbow for support.

Their kisses slowly went from light and gentle to something deeper. Liz's hands strayed to the buttons of his solid blue shirt and started working them free. As per Maria's request, Kyle had gone without plaid tonight. She worked her way down the length of his shirt, jerking the ends from the waistband of his jeans and pushing the material away from him. Her eyes drifted shut as her hands skimmed along his well-defined chest, tight muscle under smooth, bronze skin. He felt so warm and strong against the tips of her fingers. With her eyes closed, she could swear that she was touching Max.