Kyle opened the front door. "Max," he said in his normal sarcastic tone, "I should have known it was you. You must have sensed I was having a good day so you had to rush right over to ruin it."

Max stared at Kyle. Maybe this wasn't a good idea. How was he ever going to get a straight answer from Kyle? They’d never been close or even on friendly terms. Why would Kyle help him out now?

"So are you here to see Tess or my dad?" Kyle asked. "Well, actually it doesn't matter, neither are here right now, so why don't you just go on your merry way."

Kyle started to close the door, but Max reached out with his arm and stopped him. "I'm here to see you," Max said and then proceeded to step into the house. Max could tell Kyle thought about stopping him, but for some reason he decided against it and let him in. When Max stepped into the house, he saw that there were several candles lit and a soft music playing in the background. "What is that?" Max asked, indicating the music.

Kyle slammed the door shut and walked over to the stereo and turned it off. "None of your business." Kyle then flipped the light switch and turned to Max. "I doubt you have anything to say that I want to hear Evans, but go ahead."

"I want to know what happened between you and Liz," Max started, watching Kyle carefully. Max thought it would be better to get straight to the point. There was no use beating around the bush. Kyle had to realize why he was here. It wasn’t likely that Kyle would tell him what he wanted to hear, but maybe he could get something from the way Kyle reacted to his questions.

Kyle walked over to one of the candles and blew it out. "I think you know what happened."

"I know what I saw, but that doesn't mean I know what happened," Max said carefully.

Kyle looked at Max and asked, "Haven't you already talked to Liz about this?" When Max didn’t reply, Kyle continued, “What? She didn’t give you the answers you wanted so now you are coming to me? Max, I don’t have anything to tell you. Things happen, it’s that simple.”

"I want to know the truth Kyle. What happened?" Max said simply.

Kyle stared at Max and asked, "You want to know what happened?” Kyle paused watching Max, then finally said, “Liz and I slept together Max. Now if you don't mind, I'm busy, so could you please leave?"

Hearing the words was like a knife in his heart, but Max continued to watch Kyle. He wasn't about to budge. He wasn’t ready to give up yet. "That's it, you slept together. Did it mean anything to you? I know for a fact it was her first time."

Kyle had started toward the door, but he stopped and turned back to Max. "It meant a lot to me Max. That's not something I take lightly,” Kyle said carefully, “and now I really think you should leave. There’s nothing more I want to say to you." Kyle went to the door and started to open it.

"So are you in love with her?" Max asked hesitantly. Max didn’t want to hear more, but he couldn’t stop himself. None of it seemed right. If Liz deceived him, why would Kyle go along with it? Kyle did not seem like the type of guy who would do something like that.

Kyle stepped back from the door and turned to Max. "Max, why are you doing this? It's obvious Liz doesn't want to be with you. Can't you just leave it alone?"

"No, I can't. I need to know how you feel about her," Max continued trying very hard to hold it together. He couldn’t believe he was asking Kyle how he felt about Liz, his Liz. He and Liz were supposed to share their first time together. Kyle was not supposed to be Liz’s first. It just had to be a lie.

Kyle sighed and stared at Max for a moment until he finally said, "I care a great deal for Liz, Evans, and I always have. She is one of the most amazing people I have ever known. I would do anything for her."

Max looked at Kyle carefully. Was he mistaken about the deception? It was obvious Kyle cared for Liz and he didn't flinch when he said they slept together. Maybe Liz needed to be with someone like Kyle, someone human, someone who didn’t have a complicated past and an unsure future. Max felt despair growing inside him. It was probably too much to hope that Liz deceived him intentionally. He just had to accept Liz didn’t want to be with him. Even if she was Arya in her previous life, in this life Liz didn't want him. In this life Liz wanted to love someone normal, someone who didn’t have the responsibilities of a king.

“Sorry,” Max muttered and started toward the door. Before he got too far, something caught his attention. He glanced down and saw a book on the floor. He knelt down to pick it up, but Kyle snatched it away before he could get to it.

"Buddhism?" Max asked as he stood up.

Max could tell Kyle was immediately getting defensive. He tensed up and put the book behind his back so Max couldn't see it. Max racked his brain for something he could use. "So do you believe in Karma and reincarnation?" Max asked. He needed to better understand why and maybe the only way to do that would be through Kyle.

Kyle shook his head. "Look I don't want to talk about my religious beliefs with you Max and they have nothing to do with what happened between me and Liz, so I think you should go now."

Max nodded. “You’re right, your beliefs have nothing to do with what happened between you and Liz. I was just curious.”

Kyle sighed and placed the book onto a nearby table. “I’m living proof that death isn’t necessarily final. You should know that. You brought me back.”

Max nodded in agreement. He brought both Liz and Kyle back, Liz because he knew deep down that it wasn’t her time and Kyle because it was partly his fault he was shot.

Maybe he should confide in Kyle. Max almost laughed out loud at the thought. Max needed to talk to someone about what he just learned and Kyle wasn’t the obvious choice, but maybe Kyle could help him understand. He was never close to Kyle and probably never would be, but he didn’t want to talk to Isabel about it. Max felt he had been relying on her too much lately. Michael wasn’t an option and Maria wasn’t a good idea. She wasn’t impartial enough. Anyway, Kyle was obviously closer to Liz than Maria was right now, and Max wanted to know why Liz pushed him away. What was going through Liz’s mind? “What if I told you that I think I knew Liz in my previous life? Would you think I was crazy?" Max asked, waiting for some reaction from Kyle.

“Your previous life?” Kyle finally asked. “You mean on your home planet?”

“Yeah,” Max nodded and continued, "In that previous life, Liz sacrificed her happiness so that I could fulfill my duty to my family and my people. Then she went on and sacrificed her life to help me."

Max could tell Kyle was thinking about something, so Max waited and watched. "So what are you trying to say Max?"

"I've been remembering things, Kyle. Things from my last life, things that lead me to believe that maybe Liz is deceiving me in this one."

“Max you are crazy. Liz is human. She didn’t live before like you, Tess, Michael, and Isabel.”

“I know Liz is human and she didn’t live before, but what about her soul, Kyle? Is it possible her soul lived before?” Max waited for Kyle to respond.

“So you think you knew Liz’s soul in your last life? That souls not only transcend time, but also space. Why are you telling me this Max?”

Max turned around and walked to the couch and sat down. “I don’t know Kyle. I need to tell someone.”

“So you’re telling me?” Kyle said as he sat on the footstool near the TV.

“We’ve never been friends, I know, but I’m so lost and confused right now. I guess I just needed to tell someone.” Max paused and looked at Kyle. “Tess and I were married in our last life, but I wasn’t in love with her. I was in love someone else, someone who I think had Liz's soul. I’ve always been in love with Liz, Kyle, from the first moment I saw her” Max explained. He couldn’t believe he was saying all this stuff to Kyle. The guy hated him. First Max stole his girl, then Max involved him and his father in the mess that was Max’s life. But Max couldn’t stop himself. He was tired and confused and he wanted answers and Kyle was one of the two people in this world that could give him the answers he needed.

“You and Tess were married?”

“We aren’t the same people we were then. Tess was very young and naïve when we were married. I was older. I married her out of duty to my family and my people.”

“Tess, naïve?” Kyle laughed. “I would never use that word in relation to Tess.”

“Me either. We were different then. I was a king, the beloved ruler of my people,” Max said lightly then paused. He was a king, and a good one and maybe someday he would be a king again, but he wasn’t a king now. He was a kid struggling to find himself and struggling to understand what he needed to do next. “I’m not a king, Kyle, I haven’t even graduated high school. I can’t lead anybody.”

Kyle stood up. “Evans, I’m not good at this heart to heart stuff. I think you need to talk to Liz.”

Max looked up at Kyle and sighed. “Don’t you think I know that? I need Liz, I’ve always needed her. She gives me strength. She gave it to me even in my last life. It was because of her love that I was able to go on after I thought she was gone.”

"Go talk to her then. Tell her what you told me."

"I need the truth first, Kyle," Max said. “What happened between you and Liz? Why did she betray me like that?”

Kyle looked at Max then sat back down. “I suspect you know the truth about what happened, but I can’t tell you what I don’t know, Max, I can't tell you why,” Kyle said carefully. “I can tell you that it hurt her more than anything to see you come to her window that night.”

“She knew I was coming?” Max asked. The only way she could have set it up for him to see her and Kyle in bed together was if she knew he was coming. But how could she? She had said no to the concert. He showed up at her place on a whim hoping he could change her mind.

Kyle nodded. “She knew. I thought you two might have had a date.”

Max shook his head no and stood up. What was going on? How did she know? “Thanks, Kyle,” Max muttered as he headed toward the front door.

“I’m sorry I can’t tell you more Max.”

Max turned to Kyle who had stood up and was watching Max. “It's okay. Thanks.” Kyle nodded and Max went to the front door and let himself out. Looks like Liz was the only person with the answers he wanted. He actually already knew that, but Max was avoiding that conversation. He thought back to the strange flash he got from her in the Crashdown earlier. What could it mean? And why would she keep it from him? Max probably should have gone to Liz in the first place, but he was hoping Kyle would know more.