Liz was alternating between kissing Max and helping him get her underwear off. But finally, he was where she wanted him, inside her, and she bit her lip to keep quiet. Keeping quiet was a must in school and even at home, where her parents slept a floor above them. She wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his hips, clutching him to her tightly.

Max whirled them around and pressed Liz’s back to the wall for leverage. Oh, how he loved this! Making love to Liz was the best thing in his life. Heck, Liz was the best thing in his life, period. He kept watching her face as they moved together. Seeing all her emotions flashing in her eyes. Her emotions and her ecstasy. As he watched, her eyes widened and then fluttered closed in response to her impending orgasm. And he heard her moan in his head: Maaaax! It was always worth holding off on his own pleasure to watch hers. And to know that he did that to her. Him. Max Evans. Alien. So he held her and watched her, changing their rhythm to please her more.

Her eyes opened unexpectedly. She looked at him languidly and clenched her inner muscles around him while whispering: "One day I’m going to drive you so crazy that you’ll forget to worry about my pleasure first…" She moved again, breaking Max’s control and hurling him into that dark void of sensations where only she could join him. Holding on tightly, she whispered in his ear: "Say my name."

"Liz! Ah god, Liz…" It was breathless and hoarse. Said between gasping breaths. But oh so worth it.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The silence at the table following Tess’ question about Max and Liz was deafening. The four friends were all looking down at the table, trying to avoid Tess’ searching gaze.

"Uhm… Probably around somewhere," Isabel eventually said vaguely.

"So where have you been, Tess?" Michael asked abruptly. Finesse was not in his vocabulary.

She wavered a second. "I went to Nacedo. I stayed in an apartment there and went to school. He looked after me."

"Are you insane? We don’t want the FBI to get suspicious of us again!" Isabel was angry.

"Don’t worry, he changed into someone else when he was with me. He’s got things under control at his side." Tess was still cheerful and… nice. What is up with her? Maria wondered.

Max and Liz chose that moment to come strolling out, looking for all the world like a very happy couple. Max had had to use some of his "magic" again to ensure that what they had been up to in the Eraser Room was not immediately obvious to everyone else. But he left Liz’s teeth marks in his shoulder, so he could remember later.

Liz felt Max tense up beside her and knew immediately what had caused it. In all the excitement about her course and the ecstasy of their little tryst, she had forgotten to warn him that Tess was back. And of course she would be the first person they ran into!

Max took Liz’s hand and gripped it tightly. He always felt wary around Tess. Never in his life would he forget his complete fear and panic when Liz didn’t wake up one morning out in the camp. And when he found out it had been Tess meddling with Liz’s mind, he was close to physically hurting the girl. So, from then on, he kept Liz away from her as far as possible and although he never said anything out loud, he had been relieved when Tess disappeared last year. It left him to concentrate on what he wanted to concentrate on - him and Liz.

Maria watched Tess closely when they saw Max and Liz approach. She had never trusted the other girl and wasn’t about to start now. There was a flicker of something in Tess’ eyes that Maria couldn’t quite place. It seemed to be a mixture between anger and fear. It made no sense to Maria. She turned towards Max and Liz and saw the possessive way Max was treating Liz. Maria smiled. Good boy, Max! Show her where your loyalties lie.

Moving around so he and Liz could sit on the opposite side of the table from Tess, Max tucked Liz into his side closely before acknowledging the other girl. "Hi Tess," he said mildly, "this is a surprise."

Smiling brilliantly at Max, Tess replied: "Yeah, I felt too alone out in Washington. No one of… my kind around, if you know what I mean."

Yeah right, Maria thought, you mean no one like Max around!

"Hi Tess," Liz spoke up, trying to cover for the fact that Max’s face had darkened in anger at the mention of Washington. She rubbed her hand over his thigh comfortingly under the table, trying to calm him down. "How have you been?"

"I’ve been good actually," she turned her eyes back to Max, "just lonely as I said."

Liz felt like laughing out loud. What was Tess thinking? That she would get Max back? Because that was never going to happen. Not only would Liz not allow it, but Max was also not remotely interested in her. And Liz would know, because Max was getting angrier with every word coming our of Tess’ mouth. She slid her hand higher on the clenched muscles of his thigh, stopping just short of actually groping him.

Max grabbed her hand and gave her a mock glare. Did he not just make love to her? And now she was getting to him again! She was going to be in soo much trouble when they got home! He glanced back at Tess, who was watching this little interlude with an unreadable expression, and decided suddenly that she should under no circumstances find out about their living arrangements. He looked back at Liz, staring into her eyes and willing her to hear him. Don’t tell her that we live together, please honey!

Giving a small nod, Liz indicated that she had heard him. However, she was not the problem, their friends were. They needed to talk to the other four soon.

~*~*~*~*~*~

After lunch, which was a strained affair to say the least, they all went their separate ways to class with Tess running to catch up to Max as he strode down the hallway.

"Max!"

He turned around reluctantly, waiting for her to reach him. "Yeah?"

Tess faltered a bit at his unaccommodating tone. "I really need to talk to you. About Nacedo. Can I come see you at your house after school?"

His first impulse was to say NO WAY! But he tamped down on that, reminding himself that Tess could just give them more trouble if they treated her in the wrong way. "Uhm… yeah, I guess." He would have to go home early to prepare his parents for the shock that he would actually be in his room for a change. He and Liz went there for supper regularly, but now he had to make it look like he lived there again. Max sighed. Great! Here we go with the sneaking around again.

She smiled at him, a nice bright smile that made him even more suspicious. What had happened to the sullen girl that ranted about how useless Liz was? Something was up and he needed to be vigilant. Especially about Liz. If something happened to her…

When Max turned away and walked off to his class, Tess frowned. She had tried to get into his mind again, only to be confronted with images of Liz in the throes of ecstasy. Apparently the fact that Max was now "getting some" regularly was making him a useless target for mind games….

~*~*~*~*~*~

Max had phoned his mom from school and explained everything. It was easy to get her to help him. She loved Liz and also still remembered the incident with Tess. So when he got home, he found clothes on the floor in his room, and some of his books on his desk. In short, he found your normal teenage room. He could hug his mom.

Arriving not long after Max, Tess was surprised to find Mrs Evans home. Diane opened the door for Tess and let her in. "Max is in his room, I’ll bring you some sodas."

Max got up when Tess entered the room out of habit. His mother had drilled manners into him and that was not something you just forget. He indicated the chair and waited until she sat down. "Okay, what about Nacedo?"

"First let me say that I feel terrible about how I acted last year. You know… about Liz. I was hurt…"

Max’s jaw was tight. "Well, Liz was hurt about us kissing, and she didn’t go around hurting you, did she? Anyway, what were you doing in Washington with Nacedo?"

She turned huge hurt eyes on him. "Well, I needed to get away and he was the only person I could think of to go to."

"You do realize that you put all of us in danger again by doing it, don’t you?" Max was still struggling to keep his anger in check. He felt flickers at the edge of his mind every now and again, making him think that Tess was trying her mind warp powers on him again. Whatever, he only wanted Liz now and that was so not going to work!

"I’m sorry Max, but I didn’t know what else to do! No one else wanted me…" Her lip trembled.

Max sighed. "What about Nacedo? Is there a problem?"

She looked away. "I don’t really know how to tell you this. You’re going to be… hurt."

"Just tell me." Max suppressed the urge to shake it out of her. Please not anything about Liz!