Liz heard a light rapping at the window, and turned with wide eyes toward the door. She hugged her robe to her body and walked lightly into her bedroom.

Max was waiting for her, perched quietly outside her window. Liz felt a feeling of dread come upon her as she crept to the window, and his expression did nothing to dispel her fears. He looked resolute, determined, as though he was about to make an announcement. It occurred to Liz that perhaps she could just refuse to open the window, but she quickly pushed the thought from her mind. What was coming was coming, and it did no good to run away from it now.

Liz slid the window up and took a step back. Max climbed in, avoiding her eyes.

"Hi, Max," she said softly.

"Liz," Max replied, nodding distantly. His eyes traveled over her, stopping at the tie that held her robe together. He tried to convince himself that he had come in person because it was the honorable thing to do, but even in his utter state of denial, he did not believe it. He had come because he was anxious to see her again. He had come because he could not help himself.

Liz had been waiting for Max to say something, but he was silent. He was not going to make this easy on her. She sat on the edge of her bed and looked up at him.

"Do you want to sit down?" she asked.

"No, I can't stay long," Max said quickly. "I'm here because I have something to say to you."

"OK," Liz said. Max took a breath, then began.

"I know that you wanted us to try and become friends again, but...I've thought about it, and it's just not a possibility for me," he said.

"OK."

"Seeing you is...it's hard for me. It's not fair for you to expect me to pick up and forget everything that's happened," he said.

"I understand," she whispered, barely breathing.

"I know that I come and study in the Crashdown a lot, or sometimes I come to eat with Michael and Isabel," Max said, watching her. "But I'm not going to come anymore. Not when I know that you'll be there."

Liz had been staring at the floor, but Max's words brought her eyes to his face. She stared at him, her face a mixture of pain and confusion.

"And, if you see me in class or...or in the hall, just don't talk to me. Don't say anything. There's nothing really left to say, anyway," Max finished.

Liz felt her breath catch in her throat. She didn't want to ask the question that sprang to her lips, but she had to. She needed to know.

"Things will never be the same between us, will they?" she asked, feeling as though she had left her body and was now watching the scene from some remote corner of her room. Max shuffled, uncomfortable, but still the reply came.

"No."

Liz lowered her eyes, shaken. This was not Max. This was not her. They were both acting out their parts in this alternate reality, but neither of them was behaving like themselves. Liz had maintained this lie for so long, she almost didn't recognize herself. And she knew Max didn't recognize her anymore.

Out of the corner of her eye, Liz saw that Max had turned to leave. She could feel him slipping through her fingers, and her mind was flooded with a million thoughts all at once. But one question rushed to the forefront.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Because...I can't see you and not be with you," Max replied. He turned to leave again.

"Max," Liz cried, rising to meet him at the window. "I'm not doing this to hurt you. I'm asking you to save some part of us, some part of...what we were." Max turned around angrily to face Liz.

"I'm not the one who made the rules, Liz," he said, his eyes glittering. "You did. This is the world that you created. I loved you so much, and you just ripped my heart out and threw it on the floor. How did you expect me to react?"

Liz stood there, watching him. A tear fell from her eye and slipped down her cheek.

"No one has ever hurt me the way you did when I climbed your ladder and saw you in bed with Kyle. Can you honestly stand there and tell me that you didn't sleep with him?"

Liz closed her eyes. No matter what she said or did, it all came back to this. Everything rested on the one lie that she could not deny to Max. She could not reveal the truth. The future of his race depended on it.

"No," she said. There was a pause as Max pulled himself together.

"It's over, Liz," Max said quietly. The finality in Max's voice shattered her. Liz felt herself sag against the chair as Max climbed through the window. What else could she say to him? Anything short of the truth would not be enough. And the truth was the one thing she could not tell him.