"Max, what's all this about?" she finally said, not sounding all that sympathetic.

"What's what?"

"You shutting yourself in your room," Isabel walked towards his stereo, "and quit playing the same stupid song," she quickly hit the stop button as she knew the lyrics were all too fitting to Max. "Listen to something else," Isabel quickly popped in the first cd she could find.

"I'm...tired," he was slow to get the words out as he laid back down on his bed, glaring at his sister and her sudden authoritarian manner over him. Max had always been the leader.

"Maxwell, Isabel was telling me what's going on with Liz. Between the both of you." Michael suddenly interfered and Max shot his sister a look. He hoped Isabel hadn't told Michael about the whole Liz/Isabel foot incident. That would really humiliate poor Liz. "She's right - I mean...you can't let your guard down completely," he hesitated for a moment. "You can't get..."

"Attached," Isabel suddenly cut in, "like I know you're getting. You can get involved to a certain extent...I mean - Max, you can't - you have to stop the relationship somewhere. You can't just...can't just expect that somewhere along the line the matter's not going to come up." Max knew what she was referring to. "You can't.." Isabel continued, but Max just blocked out his ears. You can't, you can't, you can't. That was all he ever heard. Isabel and Michael telling him not to get in too deep.

*Stuck to a chair, watchin' this story about me. Everything goes by so fast, making my head spin. Used up all of my friends, but who needs them when you mean everything. I love the things that we should fear. I'm not afraid of being here.* Listening to the lyrics Max couldn't help but think of his situation with Liz. It only made him more depressed. Nice going Isabel. Great selection. Max remember the track title, it was by Lit, a song called "Miserable". Exactly how he felt. The cd player was still on repeat and the more the song played, the more stirred up Max's emotions got. The more frustrated he got and the more his mind drifted back to all the moments he and Liz had had. All the things he felt and all the things he knew that she felt. With the music still blaring out of the speakers and the clock on the wall reading 10:30, Max quickly leaped off the bed and ran out the door. He was on a mission.

Max hadn't even bothered to get in his jeep, all he had known was that he wanted to go to Liz. So he'd headed out of the house at a dead run, not bothering what any of the neighbors or passerbys on the street thought. If he didn't go now he never would.

Second thoughts crossed his mind as he sprinted down the road in the pouring rain to the Crashdown, but the song lyrics kept ringing in his head. *I love the things that we should fear. I'm not afraid of being here* And the rain continued to pour. He ran furiously down the sidewalk, the lyrics driving him as he almost chanted the phrase in his head. *I'm not afriad of being here*. He barely saw any lights on in the Crashdown and he nearly stopped in his tracks with the thought that Liz wouldn't be there. He sprinted across the street, the rain pelting his body. He saw Liz putting chairs up on the tables, cleaning up the restaurant before she closed and as she looked up at Max she slowly walked to the door to unlock it. He looked tired, as if he'd been up for days, his hair was plastered to his head and he had a look in his eye. A confident look. One that she'd never seen before. Max looked through the door anxiously. He knew what he wanted. And every cell in his body was telling him to go for it. To go for what he wanted. His mind drifted back to Isabel and Michael for a brief moment, but then his mind went completely blank. The worries and fears all disappeared. He looked fervently through the door to Liz and then the lyrics - his oath - filled his head. *I love the things that we should fear and I’m not afraid of being here*.

It seemed to take an eternity for Liz to turn the key and unlock the door. It was as if each second was taking an hour and Max was in agony. Liz was utterly confused as to why Max was here as she slowly pushed the door open. Max knew exactly why he was here. He looked at her once, his eyes nearly burning holes into her head, cupped her face in his hands and then his mouth was on hers. Liz didn't know how to react.

He was kissing her with such force and such passion, she was overwhelmed that it could come from someone as shy and quiet as Max. He was kissing her as if his life depended on it and Liz suddenly felt something run through her body. It was like an electric charge and she finally kissed Max back. She slipped both her arms around his head and tangled her hands up in his short dark hair - pressing his mouth harder against hers. This was what she had been waiting for since she'd first gone out with Max that night in the Crashdown. That night that he'd asked so shyly for Space Fries and a cherry coke. And suddenly images of that night flashed into Liz's mind. Images of that night, of the first day of school, the first day Max had ever seen her. That feeling she'd had when their feet had met underneath the table earlier that night overtook her again. Images that she had no recollection of began to flood her mind. Two small children wandering through the desert, a small boy of six crying into his pillow, a V formation of stars in the desert. She felt emotions she knew could never belong to her. A loneliness she never knew could exist, a desperate longing she never imagined was possible. Then she saw quick flashes of Max staring at her from across the classroom, in third grade, fifth grade, seventh grade, last year, last week, yesterday and then the images began to blend with pictures of her. The last image she saw was as if she was hurtling to the ground from above and at that she'd suddenly pulled away from him in fear.