Liz picked up a new candleholder and smiled. "This is the exact candleholder that Maria had in her room when we were in high school!"

"Wow," Morgan said, looking at it. "Retro-kitsch. Making a comeback, I like it." She smiled.

"Retro?" Liz asked, grinning. "Ok, come on, Morgan, we're not that old!"

"Have you talked to Maria lately?" Morgan asked.

Liz paused, a sudden pain stinging her. Talking about Maria made her think about high school and all the horrible things that happened there. "No," She managed to spit out finally. "I guess I should call her or something."

"She was your best friend for like 18 years, I think that would be a good idea!"

"It's just so hard to talk to her about things, cause Michael and Max are on such bad terms right now. Last I heard, Michael wasn't even coming to our wedding." Liz said, a tear coming to her eye.

"And since when do you let guys get in between you and your best friend?" Morgan asked. She walked over to the phone that was on the store room wall and picked it up. "Call her."

Liz smiled at Morgan's forcefulness. It was refreshing. Liz had a hard time standing up for herself, let alone motivating herself to do something as sad and awkward as calling up Maria out of the blue. She admired Morgan's strong attitude. The two of them had met their freshman year when they were randomly assigned to be roommates. They got along so well that they decided to live together their sophomore year too. Morgan's boyfriend of two years, Owen, had also gotten to be a good friend of Liz and Max's. They double dated a lot and went to parties together. Morgan and Owen had no idea that they were in the presence of an otherworldly creature every time they were in the same room with Max.

"I can't." Liz said. "What am I supposed to say to her?"

"How about…'Hello'?" Morgan asked, swinging the receiver.

Liz paused. "I will talk to her. But not here…we've got too much work to do."

Morgan sighed. "Ok, Lizzie. You're off the hook for now. But If I find out you didn't call her, you're in big trouble, pally."

Liz smiled.

* * * * * *

Max was sitting on the couch in his apartment, listening to his Dave Matthews Band CD and working on an anatomy lab. Anatomy was his favorite subject because it caused him to want to learn more about his own body. He ran his fingers over his bare, well-defined stomach, fingering the muscle formations that were indented in the skin. Were the diagrams of the human abdomen the same as his insides? As far as they knew, their cells were the only things that were different than humans. Was the composition of his organs different than Liz's? If they were, would they ever be able to make a baby together? One that would have a normal life? These were all questions that had no easy answers. His mind raced as the phone rang. His eyes traveled back into the text book as he absentmindedly reached over and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Max answered.

There was a paused. Max rolled his eyes and groaned.

"HELLO?" He said forcefully.

"Hello, Max."

His heart stopped. His blood ran cold. He knew that voice.

It was Tess.

"What in the-" He began.

"Yes, my love. It's me." She replied in that sultry voice as sugary as ever. Max paused. His voice got angrier as his blood began to pump fervently.

"What do you want?" He screamed into the receiver.

"Oh, you don't know Max? You feel it when you sleep at night. You feel it when you wake up in the morning. You feel it when you look in the mirror-and see my face." Tess said sweetly, her finger wrapping around the phone cord.

"You're delusional, Tess."

Tess chuckled. "I'm not delusional, Maxy. I've come to claim what's rightfully mine…"

"…and that would be…?" Max asked.

"You, of course." Tess said.

"I don't belong to you! I'm with Liz! We're in love. We're getting…married! She's the ONLY one for me! Do you hear that Tess? The ONLY one!" Max cried, his voice hot with rage.

Tess laughed again. "That's fine, Max. Keep on playing house with your puppy love. You know I'm the only one who drives you, Max, I'm a part of you. You're a part of me. You can't deny that. When you make love to her, you're thinking of me."

"No! That's not true!" Max screamed. He punched his fist into the couch in anger. "You are crazy!"

"Oh, Max. You're the crazy one. Keep on fooling yourself with Liz. You'll see soon enough- that you belong to me. We'll see you on June 22nd. Or maybe sooner…" Tess said ominously, hanging up the phone.

"Tess-" He said, his voice choked with rage and tears, muffled completely by the sound of dead air on the line, and then a dial tone. He screamed with frustration, slamming the phone into its cradle with such force that it was knocked over on the floor. The caller I.D. box fell beside it. Max picked it up and looked with horror at what it displayed.

"HARDING-EVANS, TESS (617) 290-0666."

She'd changed her last name to Evans! Max's stomach got weak as he had another flash about making love to Tess. He reeled. "Why is this all happening to us? Why now? Everything's perfect!"

He heard Tess's voice echoing through his brain. "You'll see soon enough- you belong to me."

He tried to fight it. Tess was nothing to him. Liz was his world, his heart, his soul, he didn't want anyone but her.

"We'll see you June 22nd."

How did she know he and Liz's wedding date? And the last part really shocked him.

"Who's we?" He screamed out loud.

Max felt stained, dirty. He needed to see Liz. To hold her, touch her, kiss her. Breathe her in. He needed her. Like a drug.

* * * * * *

Santa Monica, California
One Week Later
March 31, 2005.

Michael Guerin looked out of the window of the apartment he shared with his girlfriend of five years, Maria DeLuca. It was extremely small, only a bedroom, a kitchenette, and a small living area, but it was cozy, and it was theirs, so they loved it. He watched the rain as it fell down outside in the darkness. He watched as it fogged up the windows, making it increasingly difficult to see outside.

Maria was still asleep. It was early, he didn't want to wake her. She hadn't been sleeping much lately. Her best friend from childhood, Liz Parker, had called her a couple of weeks before and they got in yet another argument. It was tearing Maria apart but she couldn't allow herself to show weakness.

Michael looked over at her then, watching her chest rise and fall in the moonlight. She always slept in the nude and he loved this time of night, her lying still and restful on her back; the moonlight dancing on her silky skin. He would often sit up at night, thinking, watching her. He wasn't much of a spiritual person, but he thanked whoever or whatever that created him for bringing him together with this beautiful creature. Part of him hated Liz for taking Max away from him all those years ago, but he loved her for delivering this perfect sleeping angel to him, so completely and effortlessly.

Her arm moved in her sleep just then, draping it across her stomach. "Michael…" She whispered in her sleep. He smiled. It made him feel like such a bad ass whenever she called out his name. At that moment, she was his, and nothing else mattered. The past, the future- nothing. He only saw her.

Until tonight.

"Michael," The voice whispered in his head, echoing through his brain and shaking him to the core. "Michael, I've missed you so much."

It continued to haunt him. That voice he hadn't heard in so long- the voice of his sister, Tess. "Michael, I need your help. Michael, you need to see him. I named him after you."

Michael tried to shake that last thought out of his brain. He could feel Tess reaching out to him. He got a flash just then, of Tess, Max, and a young boy. They were playing in a park, the boy was pushing a toy truck through a sandbox. Tess and Max were looking at each other with loving eyes. The boy looked exactly like his best friend, his surrogate brother, their leader, with the brown hair, doe eyes, long eyelashes, and prominent ears.

Tess and Max had a child?

It couldn't be. Maria had just talked to Liz, and she and Max were as happy as ever. They were even getting married in less than three months. Why, after all these years, is he finally getting visions of Tess? Why can he feel her presence with him?

"Michael, come to Boston. Please, Michael, I need your help. She has to be stopped." Tess seemed to be pleading to him.

"Boston?" He thought to himself. He felt a wave of terror wash over him- like he knew that something awful was going to happen. "They're in danger." He said, looking over at the snapshot of Max and Liz from years ago that still hung on Maria's mirror. He ran over to Maria and shook her out of her dreams.

"What?" She cried, her eyes sealed tight with tiredness.

He paused, looking at her. He seemed to be drowning in her for a moment.

"Michael, WHAT?" She cried. "What's wrong?"

"Get up, we're going to Boston."

"Boston? What?" She sat up in bed like a rocket. "Are Liz and Max okay? Oh God!" She screamed. "Tell me! What's happened to them?"

"Nothing- yet. But I think my sister might be after Liz."

"Tess? What the hell…you don't hear from her for almost five years and now all of the sudden you're getting visions about her? God, she's such a bitch!" Maria cried.

"Hey, calm down, she's the only family I have, all right?"

"What about Max, Isabel? You have me!"

Michael shook his head. "It's not the same, blondie."

"Fine, Michael, I'll bite. How do you know that psycho hose-beast is going after Liz, huh?" Maria asked.

"I just know ok? Don't ask so many questions!" Michael cried, grabbing two suitcases out of the closet and throwing them on the bed. He scared her when he got like this. Something must really be wrong.

Maria stood up, her body twinkling in the moonlight. She shuddered as she thought of Liz and Tess coming face to face again. She knew Liz might do something crazy. And if Liz didn't stand up against Tess, she sure as hell would do anything to protect her Lizzie! Michael looked over and saw her then, his glorious distraction. He could feel that she was in pain. He walked over behind her, wrapping his arms around her back. He placed his lips lightly on her neck.

"Don't worry, ok?" He said quietly. "Liz is going to be okay. So is Max. I won't let Tess hurt them." Michael could feel Maria's worry.

"I just wish this would be over with… I mean, Max and Liz have been through so much. They're good people, why can't they just be happy? Why does this always have to happen to them? When will they be happy? When will we be happy?"

"I thought we were happy." Michael said, looking into her eyes with hurt. He looked like a wounded puppy dog- she looked at him and frowned.

"Nice one, DeLuca." She thought to herself.

"Michael Guerin, I've never been so happy in my whole life than I am right now with you. I'm just scared. As long as your sister and Nasedo and God knows who else are out there lurking around, I just can't feel safe."

"Maria, You don't have to feel scared. I won't ever let anyone hurt you." He replied, lacing his fingers with hers.

"I'm not worried about me. But I would die if…they took you from me." Maria said, her eyes welling up with tears. He moved his hands through her soft blonde hair.

"I love you." Michael said, kissing her soundly.

"I love you too." Maria replied. "Come on, let's go find Sissy Dearest."

* * * * * * *

Boston, Massachusetts.
Later That Afternoon.

Max never told Liz that Tess had called him that night. Liz felt him changing, acting strangely. Everytime the phone rang, Max would jump ten feet, like he was expecting something. She didn't want to say anything to him because they'd both been going through a lot of stress with school, work, and wedding preparations. They had barely had time to stop and breathe, let alone just relax together in those precious moments of the day that made her want to wake up and live the next one.

Liz hadn't seen Tess since that day in her bioethics class. Tess never showed up to class again. It had been almost three weeks since she had appeared out of nowhere and she seemed to have disappeared just as effortlessly as she'd disrupted their rosy existence.

General Hospital was on, but as usual, Max wasn't paying much attention. He was focused on Liz, who was watching the screen intently. They were lying in bed under the covers, his bare chest pressed firmly up against her soft back, that skin to skin contact that drove him insane. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her intoxicating scent, and closed his eyes. He tried to forget that every vision of Tess was pushing him closer into his own private hell.

"Max, it won't be long now. We've been waiting for this day so patiently." He heard Tess's voice echo through his brain, awakening hatred he never thought existed.

His eyes flew open. This has to stop! He thought to himself. But her voice and images kept flooding his brain.

"You won't be able to deny it anymore. We belong together. You and I. Not Liz."

No! Max kept repeating in his brain, holding Liz closer to him. She wrapped her left arm around him, stroking his skin and soothing him. He seemed to be upset. She turned herself around in his arms. He opened up his soulful brown eyes, his beautiful eyelashes fluttering with each staggered breath, and looked deep into his lover's own.

"Max, what's wrong?" She asked him. "You seem upset."

Without answering, he pulled her close to him then, kissing her with need and urgency. He continued to attack her with a million kisses all over her body. He didn't leave any part of her neglected. She moaned his name as the kisses became stronger, kisses full of desire, longing, fear… His lips continued to travel lower until they reached their desired destination. She grabbed his hair then, pushing him closer into her. She threw her head back as a million sensations washed over her. She felt his name cross her lips over and over again, without thought, sensation, meaning… She closed her eyes and had a vision of Max playing with a young boy in a sandbox. He pushed a toy truck through the sand and laughed as Max helped him build a small sandcastle. He looked so much like Max that she shuddered. Liz felt like she was seeing her future, their future- their son. Liz gasped with horror when Tess showed up then, picking up the young boy and kissing him. Max then took the two of them in his arms and they embraced.

"Oh my God!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face.

"Liz, Liz, I know baby…" He said, his face buried in her stomach, his eyes sealed with passion. He kissed her fiercely around her navel, working his way back up to her neck. She sat up like a rocket.

"No, Max, I saw her! I saw her in my vision!" Liz screamed, her eyes filling up with tears.

"You saw Tess?" Max asked with alarm. "What was she doing?"

Liz looked in his eyes. The pain she felt was too great to tell him about. "She was playing with a little boy- you were there too. He looked exactly like you, Max."

Max was stunned- a child? He had had lots of visions of Tess over the past few weeks, but none involving a child. Was Tess somehow getting messages to Liz's brain too? He shuddered at the thought. "Liz…" He said, moaning her name. He tried to push Tess out of his brain as he took Liz's face in her hands, kissing her with passion and intensity. They broke away and looked into each other's eyes.

"Max…" She whispered. "I want to have your baby." She placed her hand on his chest, letting it travel further down to the center of him that had always fascinated her. "Make love to me."

"Oh, God, Liz…" He said, the words filled with desire. He kissed her and lowered her down onto the bed. "You're my world, Liz, there's no one else…" He made love to her with such force and intensity that the feeling frightened Liz. Making love with him had never been this way before. She felt him pushing into her with such need that it almost hurt her.

"Max," She moaned. He laced their fingers together, pressing her hands into the bed. He continued this quest for something- anything- salvation- to return to that feeling of safeness- complete and utter bliss he had while making love to Liz.

He looked into Liz's eyes to try to gage her response at what was happening to them. And to his horror, Tess's face gazed back at him.

"I told you, Max. You belong to me."

Max screamed, pulling himself away from the image that shocked him so much. When he came back to reality, he saw Liz staring back at him with horror.

"Max…" She whispered. "What is happening to us?"

"I don't know." He said, shaking his head. "God, I'm so sorry, Liz, I'm so sorry." He burst into tears then. Liz was shocked to see him cry. She'd only seen him cry twice in her life- when he and Michael got in a huge fight years ago and Michael told him that they were no longer brothers, and after she accepted his marriage proposal.

"Max…" She continued to whisper. Her lover was crumbling right in front of her eyes. She stretched out her arms to him and he crawled into her warm embrace. They buried themselves under the covers as he rested his head on her chest, needing to hear her beating heart. Needing to feel that closeness.

"I'm sorry," He kept repeating. She just shushed him and kissed the top of his head.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about. You're mine." Liz said.

"You're mine." Tess repeated in Max's brain. He squinted his eyes in pain.

"I love you." Max said, lifting his head up to meet Liz's. "I'll never stop loving you."

"I love you too, angel." She said, kissing him. "I'll always love you."

The phone rang then, and Max's eyes lit up with terror. It was her, he knew it. What were they going to do? Liz looked over at the caller I.D. box.

"UNKNOWN CALLER."

She looked at Max for a second, both having the same thought. Would it be Tess? "I'll let the machine get it." She said, smoothing his hair.

The ringing stopped and she heard the sound of her own voice. "Hi! You've reached Max and Liz's! We're not in right now, but leave a message and we'll get back to you!"

"Liz! Max! If you're there, pick up the phone, it's Michael." Max and Liz were both shocked. Max grabbed the phone quickly.

"Michael, Michael, we're here." Max said. "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, but can you do me a favor?"

"Anything." Max said.

"Come pick Maria and me up from the airport? We're in Boston." Michael said.

Max's jaw dropped. "You're here?" He looked at Liz. "He and Maria are in Boston."

"What are they doing here?" Liz asked.

"Tell Liz we're here to save her ass." Michael said. Max's eyes lit up with fear. Maria smacked Michael's arm for making such a rude comment.

"She's in danger?" Max asked, squeezing Liz's hand. "From what? Who?"

"Listen, if you could just pick us up, we're in terminal B. Gate 8. We'll explain everything when we get back to your place. It's not safe to talk about it here." Michael said.

"Michael, tell me what's going on!" Max demanded.

"I will, Maxwell, just chill, all right?" Michael cried. Maria rolled her eyes.

"Give me the phone, genius. You obviously failed diplomatic relations last semester." Maria grabbed the phone from Michael's ear. "Hi, Max. It's Maria. If you could please just come pick us up, we'd greatly appreciate it. I'm sorry my boyfriend can be such an asshole sometimes."

Max nodded. "We're on our way. Give us twenty minutes." They hung up. Max looked at Liz. He cupped his hand in her face. She turned her face to kiss his open palm.

"I'm in danger?" She asked, looking into his eyes. They were both on the verge of tears.