"I need to talk to you!" he snarled at her. She looked to where his large hand was gripping her on the forearm and she pulled away.

"Forget it!!! Didn't I tell you to stay away from me? Go!" Maria said before she pulled in tighter to the jock in front of her and nuzzled at his neck.

"Yeah, get lost," Tommy said stepping away from Maria and getting in Michael's face. "The little lady said she didn't want to talk to you."

Michael looked the jock square in the eye. The gorilla had at least seventy-five pounds on him but Michael wasn't scared. "Who's gonna make me?" He asked evenly.

Tommy laughed and then pulled Michael in close by pulling on his black T-shirt. "You really don't think you can take me, do you?" Michael pushed him away.

"Stop it, both of you!" Maria cried out, disentangling herself from the arms of the other jock. "Michael, I don't want to talk to you right now so please go!" she got in his face instead and put her open palms on his chest. "We can talk later or something. Just go!!!" She said the last as she pushed him away.

"No," Michael yelled "We are going to talk right now!"

*****

Max looked around and found Michael and Maria facing off on the dance floor with two apes at her back. He glanced at Alex and said "Should we go over there? Those guys don't look too friendly,"

Alex sighed heavily and nodded. Then he bent down to help pull Max out of the pool when Isabel stopped them.

"Max, don't you remember what he did to Kyle when we went to Marathon? He can take care of himself. Besides I think him and Maria are overdue for a good argument by," she looked at her watch, "at least three hours. Just watch," she shrugged, tossed her head back and quietly added, "everyone else is." She rolled her eyes.

Max looked around and noticed it was true. Every person at that party was looking towards the dance floor. The music had even been turned down a little.

"This should be interesting," Liz muttered.

*****

"Fine Michael, what do you want to talk about then?!!" Maria yelled, stepping even closer. "What an asshole you are? I think that would be a good place to start!"

"No," he growled, " I think we should talk about why you are acting like such a god damn slut?!!!!" The watching crowd sucked in a collective breath.

"You son of a..." Maria smacked him across the face as hard as she could. His head snapped back and when he looked back at her, she could see a large red hand print.

"What the hell is your problem?!!"

Maria looked incredulous, "My problem? What the hell do you think my problem is? Could it be that you showed up at my door over two months ago, told me you loved me so you could get into my pants, and then disappeared the next day without even saying good-bye? And then you just show up here today expecting things to be okay?!!! Well, fuck you buddy! I spent all summer miserable and depressed and I refuse to be sucked into your trap again. So I'll tell you once again, LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!"

"No! Don't you get it? I couldn't say good-bye because if I told you I was leaving it would be too hard to go. I spent the last two months thinking about you and instead I return to see you dressed in a handkerchief and throwing yourself at all the guys at school like the town whore! Don't you get it, I'm never going to let you go! I love you and there is nothing worse than seeing you let all the guys put their hands all over you. YOU BELONG TO ME!!! And I'll be damned if I let these guys touch you like you're a piece of meat!"

Maria said nothing. She couldn't, her throat had closed over.

Michael continued, quieter this time. "I am sorry that I hurt you, but I do love you and that night was the best night of my life. I would never, ever, use you. I hope you know that." He grabbed her hand and kissed it lightly. "I'll see you around, Maria."

Maria stood helpless for a second, taking in what he just said, her eyes tearing up. He had turned away and was walking towards the gate when she jumped into action and ran after him. She swung him around to face her and then grabbed his face and kissed him hard. He held back for only a second before he returned the kiss and wrapped her in his arms. When they pulled back, they could hear applause and whistles and they looked to see that they were coming from Max, Alex, Isabel and Liz.

"It's about damn time!" Isabel called.

*****

"Isabel, Alex you should get in, the water feels great!" Liz called, still sitting on Max's lap.

"Thanks but no, I think I'm going to work on my tan," Isabel called. To Alex she smile and said, "You wouldn't mind rubbing some oil on my back would you?" Alex said shook his head no, and followed her to a chaise lounge.

Isabel had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing when she saw how wide his eyes went. She was determined that he was finally going to kiss her today and she was going to drive him wild until he did. She laid down flat on her stomach and then with one hand, maneuvered herself out of the top of her two-piece suit so that her back was bare. She didn't look his way but she could practically feel his eye bulging.

"Uh Alex...?" She called out when he still didn't rub the oil on to her back.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry Isabel," Alex said as he snapped back to reality. He poured a generous amount of the coconut smelling oil onto his hands and then rubbed them together. Once they were thoroughly covered, he began to massage the oil into her back.

Isabel began to moan as if she were in ecstasy. "Mmmmm. Oooh Alex, that feels so good. Mmmmm." She moaned more than the occasion deserved, but she figured that it would have some kind of affect on him.

"Oooooh Alex, don't stop!"

*****

Alex almost choked on the gum he had been chewing. *If that's the way she moans when I just rub oil on her, I'm dying to see how she'd act if we were being intimate.* Her moans and cries of pleasure were having an odd affect on his body and he was glad he was sitting down.

Most of the time when they were together, he felt like just another one of her surrogate brothers. They had fun together and Alex did well at hiding his true feelings for her. She had made it painfully clear a few months back that they couldn't get involved. He had accepted that and kept his desire at bay, finding enjoyment in just spending time with her.

But lately things had been different. They were spending so much time together, almost every day. Plus, she had been sending him different signals. She had gotten a little more touchy-feely with him, grabbing his hand when they walked down the street sometimes, and hugging him a lot. And that thing on the dance floor where she began to rub her hips into his and wrapped his arms around his neck, that had definitely taken him by surprise.

He could swear that she wanted him to make the first move, she was sending all the right signals, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't think he could face the humiliation if he were wrong, if it turned out that he was being too presumptuous.