This day had probably been the weirdest and most confusing day ever of Max's life. He had waited all day long to talk to Liz, feeling so happy and hopeful. And then once she had told him the truth, the feelings of hope had hightened even more.

And then every ounce of hope that Max had been building up had just disentegrated at Liz's next statement. It wasn't that she had refused him; she had only spoken the truth, which they both knew even before she spoke it. But, as Max knew all too well, sometimes the truth was worse.

And since that afternoon, his mind had been searching. Searching for a way to make things right. The way that he knew they should be. His mind had found nothing yet.

"Maybe there's never a truly right thing to do in any situation...maybe there are just options. And none of them are necessarily better than the other ones. They're just choices. Maybe sometimes you just have to pick what works best for whoever you care about. Yourself, your friends, your family, or the one you love. And maybe sometimes not everyone's going to be happy or benefit from your decision..." Max didn't realize he was now talking to himself in the dark room.

And then, out of nowhere, in the dark room, Max knew exactly what he was going to do. And there wasn't a doubt in his mind about it.

With that, he turned over on his side to go to sleep.

~~~~~~~

The next day at school, Max immediately began putting his plan into action. At lunch, Max gathered Isabel, Michael, and Tess together outside.

"So Max, what's up?" Tess asked, patiently waiting for whatever Max had to say.

"Yeah, what's this about?" Michael said in his usual irritated tone.

"We need to talk. All of us. This afternoon," Max tried to sound casual, but he knew the anticipation was evident in his voice.

"What's going on, Max? What are you so jumpy?" Isabel questioned him, looking at him suspiciously.

"Um, no reason," Max looked away, avoiding Isabel's eyes.

"So where are we meeting, Max?" Michael ignored Max's nervous attitude.

"The Crashdown, you're not working are you, Michael?" Max said authoritatively. Michael mumbled a no and looked away, pretending to only be half listening to Max.

"Tess you can ride with me and Is," Tess nodded at Max's direction.

Isabel, still suspicious, continued her banter. "So, Max, let me get this straight. You had us meet you outside for a thirty second meeting saying that we are having another meeting this afternoon?"

"Yeah, why?" Max was clueless.

"Whatever, Max. Fine. Meeting. Crashdown. After school. Bye," Isabel turned and began walking away with Tess.

As they headed for the school doors, Isabel looked at Tess, "I can't wait to find out what's got him to antsy..."

~~~~~

For Max, the day couldn't have passed by slower. Isabel had read him like a book. He was ecstatic about the meeting and what he was going to tell them that afternoon, now if he could only make it through school without seeing Liz he would be fine.

Not that he didn't want to see Liz. He always wanted to see Liz. He couldn't remember a time ever in his life when he even slightly groaned at the thought of seeing her. But after everything that had gone on the day before, Liz would know something was up if she saw Max with a huge smile on his face.

The only class they shared together was at the end of the day, and when Max walked in the room, he had immediately saw her. She looked up at him for a second, but turned her head quickly down and began flipping through her book.

Max knew she was in pain. And her strength amazed him. How could someone love another person so much that they would sacrafice that very relationship and their own happiness just for the other person's benefit. It really was beyond him. He had thought it over in his mind a thousand times since yesterday and tried to feel how Liz might have felt when she had lied to him, but Max couldn't even begin to imagine the hurt. He couldn't comprehend making that kind of decision, and the fact that Liz had, was incredible to Max.

He sat in class thinking about what she had done, and the very thought brought a smile to his face. Max glanced sideways at where Liz sat. She seemed to be in a daze, staring at the teacher but not fully grasping what they were saying.

The last bell of the day wrang and Max was out of his seat in a second, rushing to meet Isabel and Tess at the Jeep.

Thirty minutes later, Max was sitting in a booth at the Crashdown with Isabel beside him, and Tess and Michael across from him. Liz and Maria were both working but Liz had hardly even looked their way and Maria had taken their order.

"So, Max, why are we here?" Isabel asked with a plainly bored look on her face.

"Okay, I've been thinking. A lot. And none of us are happy right now," Max looked at the faces around him. They were all expressionless, trying to figure out where Max was going with his statement.

"I mean, we're letting this destiny thing run our lives," Max glanced around, making sure he was not being overly obvious.

"No, Max, you are letting the destiny thing run your life," Michael said accusingly. "If you want to be with Liz, be with her and stop calling meetings to tell us about it," Michael rolled his eyes and sat back.

"That's not what this is about, Michael, and you know it. You can't tell me that you haven't taken your position as a soldier and Isabel's mate as an exuse to push Maria away," Max challenged back. Michael looked at him, speechless.

"And Isabel you're doing the same thing," Max looked to his sister who now looked confused. "You're using your destiny against Alex, just because you're too scared too open up to anyone." No one spoke for a moment.

"Even you, Tess. We both know we aren't in love with each other, but I know you're attracted to Kyle, and you don't even let him near you because you're so afraid of stepping outside of these boundaries that some pre-ordained destiny gave us," Max continued on, still trying to convince his friends. "Don't you see? We're hybrids; our happiness on earth is just as vital as our happiness on our planet."

"What are you getting at, Max?" Isabel broke in.

"What I'm getting at is this: I think it's time we made a decision," Max paused, waiting for a reaction.

"To do what, Max?" Michael was growing more irritated by the moment.

"To step out from some destiny that people millions of miles away told us we are supposed to have."

"No meaning to sound like the bitter ex here, Max, but haven't you done that already?" Tess said, glancing at Liz on the other side of the room. Max looked at Liz for a moment. She was serving a table of football players. He turned his attention back to Tess.

"Yeah, I guess I have, but this needs to be final," Max said.

"So what do you want from us, Max?" Michael asked, still annoyed.

"I want your agreement," Max ventured.

"To do what, Max? No one's going to care if you and Liz do whatever it is you and Liz want to do!" Isabel rolled her eyes.

"I know that. But there's one other thing." They turned their attention solely to Max now and waited for what he had to say.

"Regardless of who we're in love with, it's vital to our planet that we stay together," Max felt his confidence as their leader return. Surpringly, Tess nodded her head in agreement with Max.

He continued on, "If we don't stay together, if we don't work together to defeat our enemies on earth, not only will our people die but so will we."

"Max, how do you know all of this?" Isabel now sounded intrigued instead of annoyed.

"It's not important. But I know it's true. I'm certain of it. None of us will make it back to our planet if we don't stay together; the four of us." Max thought back to everything that Liz had said the day before, and then back even farther to what the image of his mother had said that day in the cave.

Max waited and prayed that they would agree. Isabel glanced at Michael, and Tess looked at Isabel.

"So, Max, what exactly is the agreement here?" Isabel asked him slowly.

"That we'll stay together. That no matter what we do, whether it's in our planet's destiny for us or not, we won't seperate."

No one spoke or moved for several minutes. This was the moment of truth, and Max knew it. Whatever they said now would decide the rest of his life.

To Max's extreme shock and surprise, Tess was the first one to speak. "Agreed." Tess put her hand on the table to signify her word.

Isabel looked at Max, amazed at his leadership, and smiled. "Agreed," Isabel said softly as she put her hand on Tess'.

Michael still hadn't moved or spoken. He looked at Max for another moment, and cracked a small smile. "Yeah, what the hell....agreed," he mumbled sheepishly.