*****

"Michael, come here!"

Michael smiled as Maria motioned at him with her free arm, as in the other hand she held an ice cream cone. He savored the look of her in her red sarong and bikini, wondering how long it would take to get it off. As he approached her, she licked the ice cream off her lips, taunting him. Within seconds, the bikini was off and the ice cream all but forgotten as they melted into one another in the sand.

*****

"But now they only block the sun
They rain and they snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way"

*****

"Michael!" Maria was screaming at the top of her lungs, but it was doing no good. Michael was gone and he wasn't coming back. She ran down street after street, covered in darkness and rain, to no avail. She was lost and confused. Her shoe slipped on the wet pavement and she felt herself falling, coming closer to the pain that she was sure to endure.

*****

"I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all"

*****

"Oh!" Maria DeLuca landed with a thump on the floor. She pushed the blankets off her body, wishing that this jarring wake-up call would have erased the memory of her dream.

But as she sat there, she remembered. It was hardly a dream, anyway. It was her life now. She was lost and confused because he loved her too much.

Meanwhile, across town, Michael Guerin woke with a smile on his face, the taste of ice cream and Maria still fresh in his mind.

*****

"Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing that you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way"

*****

Michael watched in silent wonder as Maria refilled the ketchup bottles. His dream played over again in his mind, only this time he substituted ketchup for the ice cream. He needed to stop this. But he didn't want to. If only he could have known a few months ago, he would have given her the moon. All of the bubble bath and roses and whatever else he could find. But now he had to keep her at arm's length. It was for her own good. He had hurt her terribly in the past with only words. He wasn't about to hurt her now, especially when he didn't know what he was capable of.

*****

"But now it's just another show
And you leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away"

*****

Maria wished that he would stop staring at her. It was hard enough to come to work with him everyday without having to think about him watching her every move. Why did he do it? Whenever she caught him, he was staring with such intensity. He was the one who had pushed her away. Somehow he always had a way of making her feel like she was the one who was causing this separation, when she knew very well that she would have stayed forever if he only would have let her.

"Earth to Maria," Liz said, cupping her hands around her mouth and smiling. Maria snapped her head up.

"Well, you certainly are in a good mood," Maria said.

"Max asked me to the karaoke thing," Liz said shyly. Maria nodded. The "Karaoke Crashdown Night" had been Mr. Parker's idea. He thought that it would be good for business. He had hired someone to bring in a karaoke machine, and then he had decided that it should be a costume deal. Sad though she thought it was, Maria knew that it would be one of the social events in Roswell this year.

Maria tried to feel happy for her friend. Liz and Max had been through a rough couple of months after that day at the cave. The day that they had all learned their true destiny-their purpose. It had taken some time, but Max had finally managed to convince Liz that his purpose here on Earth-his destiny-involved her too. He had never attempted to have a relationship with Tess, he had refused to pretend to love someone that he had no feelings for. He loved Liz, and so he tried to show her that without her, he wasn't complete. He was a stronger leader when they were together. And so, just as slowly and cautiously as they had gotten together the first time, they came back together again. Only now their bond was stronger than ever.

But that wasn't true for Michael. It didn't matter to him that Isabel had never even broken up with Alex. Or that Max had decided that they could have it both ways. Michael wasn't like Max, he couldn't just decide that he was half human and go with that. To Michael, he was half alien, and that meant that he had to push her away.

"So then," Maria said, attempting to smile for Liz's benefit, "have you decided on a costume?"

"I was thinking about maybe Romeo and Juliet," she answered. Maria struggled not to roll her eyes.

"Why not Elliot and E.T.?" she suggested.

Liz laughed. "I don't really think that I could pass for a ten-year-old boy."

"Who says that you would be Elliot?"

"Is anyone working here today?" Michael yelled from the kitchen. Liz turned to grab her order. Maria let out a deep breath. She could do this.

It had been easier when Liz and Max had been apart. They had each other then. Damn all alien beings. But now Liz and Max were returning to what they were before. And she was left with memories of Michael and his version of too much love. She shook her head. Once, she had thought that love was wonderful. Now she knew that love was just pain. For her anyway. Love was keeping him from her and so she hated love more with every passing day.

*****

"I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love
Really don't know love at all"

*****

"So, have you decided on a costume yet?" Isabel asked her brother, sitting down in the booth across from him, next to her boyfriend. She placed her hand on Alex's leg and felt him jump. She smiled.

"No, I thought that I would let Liz take care of that," Max replied. He was beaming, but he couldn't help it. He and Liz Parker were happily in love once more and he didn't care if the whole world knew it. "How about you?"

"Well, we're still thinking," Isabel said slyly. She knew what she wanted to go as, but she was keeping it a secret for the time being.

"Here you go, Alex," Maria said, setting down a can of Coca Cola.

He opened it immediately. "Ah, hits the spot," he said. "It's the real thing."

"I think that I'll have a Coke too," Isabel said. "A diet Coke, though. Just for the taste of it."

Maria turned and headed back to the kitchen. Michael moved his eyes away from her as she came into view.

"So, Guerin, are you going to this karaoke thing?"

He shrugged. "Are you?"

"Maybe," she answered. She felt his eyes follow her as she turned to leave. She was going to go, all right, and she was going to make him regret the day that he ever pushed her away.

*****

"Tears and fears and feeling proud
To say 'I love you' right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way"

*****

"So, Michael, are you going to go to the karaoke night?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Michael replied. If Maria was going to be there, then he certainly was going.

Max stared hard at him for a while. "Michael, I don't think that she is going to wait forever."

Michael looked up, startled. "Who?"

"Maria," Max answered. "You can't expect her to."

"I don't want her to," Michael said. "I want her to move on. I want her to find someone who will protect her and keep her safe. She deserves that."

Max tried to think of how to word what he wanted to say. He needed for Michael to understand. "Michael, look at Liz and me. She accepts that I have things that I have to do, that there is a part of me that she will never truly understand. But we are together because there is a part of me that only she understands."

Michael shook his head. "You aren't a killer, Max. You have no idea what it is like to look at someone and be so angry and scared that you want to kill them, and then you actually do."

"You have control over these powers, Michael. You do not just randomly kill people. Think about Hank. I was there that night. I saw you. You were angry and hurt and you wanted to kill him. But you didn't. Don't you see that, Michael? You have a conscience. You have only ever killed out of self defense."

Michael was silent, so Max continued. "You talk about wanting to protect Maria. I want to protect Liz. And I may not completely understand this mission, but I do know that if something bad is going to happen, and Liz is there, then I will feel safer if you are there to help me protect her. Michael, you are a protecter-not a killer. That is your role in all of this. Maria needs you for that. And I think that you need her too."

"Max, I cannot take the chance that I could hurt her. I can't."

"Michael, think about it. You have far better control of your powers when Maria is around you. Maybe this was all a part of the plan. They help us, and we help them."

He and Michael sat in silence for a long time. Finally, Michael spoke. "I just want her to be happy."

Max smiled. "I'm pretty sure that you play a big part in her being happy. I want both of you to be happy."

Michael nodded and stood up. "Thanks, Maxwell."

"That's fearless leader to you," Max grinned.

*****

"Liz, come help me into this thing," Maria shouted from her bedroom. Liz appeared in the doorway, her Juliet costume flowing around her. She looked like a vision.

Maria, on the other hand, was struggling with the outfit that she had chosen. It was supposed to be a princess. However, when it had arrived at her door this morning, she found inside a rather see-through outfit of white, with some sort of sparkles sewn into the fabric. It tended to flow all around her and so she couldn't help but get caught in the material as she attempted to put it on. It did have a crown, so she supposed that it was intended to be a princess, though no princess she had ever seen.

"Maria, stop moving or you'll rip it," Liz said, trying to straighten the fabric. "There." She reached for the crown and placed it on her friends head.

Maria felt ridiculous. "This was not a good idea," she said, staring at this getup in the mirror. Her eyes caught the box of Snackwell's cookies on her dresser. She had used them last night in an attempt to have good dreams. Something about filling her stomach with sweet things, and therefore dreaming sweet things. It hadn't worked.

"Maria, you look fine," Liz said. "Now, we need to get to the Crashdown to help set up."

*****

"Does this guy have anything besides Joni Mitchell?" Michael asked, looking over the song selections.

"Some of us like Joni Mitchell," Maria said, coming up behind him. He turned to find her standing like a vision wrapped in white. Did she make herself look so enticing on purpose?

"What are you supposed to be?" she asked. He was dressed just as he normally would be, tight black jeans and a white T-shirt.

"An alien," he answered. "But don't tell."

She smiled in spite of herself. She turned at the sound of the door opening. She stood face to face with Catwoman and Spiderman.

"Can you believe this?" Isabel asked incredulously. "I specifically said Catwoman and Batman. Why on earth would anyone put a Catwoman costume with Spiderman?"

Alex blushed under his costume. Maria tried to contain her laugher. He did look a little absurd, dressed head to foot in red spandex. But Isabel looked stunning in her very revealing Catwoman costume. They certainly made an interesting couple.

She turned her head and caught Michael's eye. He smiled slightly. She saw that look in his eyes, the one that said that they had a secret that no one else could share. She felt her heart leap and immediately sink. He was the only person who made her miserable when he made her happy.

*****

"Oh but now old friends they're acting strange
And they shake their heads
And they tell me I've changed
Well something's lost but something's gained
In living everyday"

*****

"So, um, what do you think that guy with the bicycle helmet on is supposed to be?" Michael asked.

Maria shook her head. "No idea." Michael hadn't left her side all evening. Ordinarily, she would be thrilled with this turn of events. But she knew that he would just run away again like always the second she got too close.

She turned her attention to Max and Liz, and Isabel and Alex. They were dancing together. "I hate this song," she said.

"I thought you liked Joni Mitchell."

"I do, just not this song. It's too depressing."

"It's not depressing. It's about seeing love in a different light, that's all."

"It's love's illusions I recall, I've never really known love at all? That's depressing, Michael."

Kyle and Tess danced by them just then. They had come as Frankenstein and his bride. Very appropriate, she thought. Standing behind them, she caught sight of her mother and Jim Valenti. She also caught sight of the cigarette in her mother's hand.

"Mother," she yelled, storming across the room. "Put that out." She grabbed her mother's purse and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. She threw them in the trash.

"Oh, Maria, lighten up," Amy said, but she obliged her daughter. Jim just smiled. Maria shook her head and turned away.

"I didn't know that your mother smoked," Michael said, rejoining her against the wall.

"She doesn't usually," Maria said sighing. "I've driven her to it."

Michael looked confused, so she continued. "She used to smoke when I was little. She quit a long time ago. But sometimes, when she's really stressed out, she smokes. And so recently, while she's been trying to deal with all of my problems, she's been smoking every now and then."

"What problems?" Michael asked. Maria stared at him in wonder. Could the boy be so blind?

"Well, let's see," she said. "My boyfriend dumped me, I'm in a constant state of panic that some race of evil aliens is coming to kill him, my best friend was a basket case for several months. Not to mention things like my grades. So, you see, I've been a little stressed."

Michael stared at the ground. "I'm sorry," he whispered. Then he turned and walked away. Maria sighed and slammed her head against the wall.

*****

"I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life
I really don't know life at all."

*****

Maria made her way over to where Max and Liz were sitting.

"Where's Michael?" Max shouted. Maria shrugged and looked away. Max's face fell. He thought that he had gotten through to Michael earlier.

"Are you going to sing?" Liz asked.

Maria nodded. "I'm not sure what yet." She looked around the room. "Where are Alex and Isabel?"

"I'm pretty sure that they are hiding in a corner," Max answered. "She's really upset about their costumes."

Maria smiled. "Well, she looks good in hers. Of course, she would probably look good in the Spiderman outfit. Who am I kidding, she would look good in a garbage bag. That's Isabel Evans, practically perfect in every way."

"I'm glad that you've admitted it," Isabel said, sitting down beside her. Alex sunk into the seat next to her.

"This thing is so hot," he said.

Just then, Kyle stumbled up to the microphone. "This is for my lovely lady," he said, breaking into a rendition of "Bitch."

"I've never really thought of Kyle as a Rolling Stones fan," Max said.

"Oh, yeah," Liz replied. "If he had me listen to "Sticky Fingers" once, he had me listen to it a thousand times."

Well, at least it's a fitting song, Maria thought.

"Yeah when you call my name
I salivate like a Pavlov dog
Yeah when you lay me out
My heart starts beating like a big brass drum."

Tess beamed from her seat. Maria was glad that they had found each other. Anyone who would take someone singing "Bitch" as a compliment deserved Kyle.

"Maria, I think that you had better get up there before he starts singing 'Brown Sugar,'" Alex said. She was just about to stand up when Michael took the microphone from Kyle.

She couldn't believe her eyes. He stared directly at her as the music began to play. Tears formed in her eyes as he sang.

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Traveling, traveling, traveling
Looking for something, what can it be
Oh I hate you some, I hate you some
I love you some
I love you when I forget about me..."

"Oh my God," Liz whispered. She could not believe that Michael was singing. That he was singing Joni Mitchell. And that he was being serious.

"All I really really want our love to do
Is bring out the best in me and in you
I want to talk to you, I want to shampoo you
I want to renew you again and again..."

Max smiled. Maybe he had gotten through to Michael after all. He hadn't expected Michael to declare his love in song, but he didn't care. And looking at Maria, he could see that she didn't care either.

"I am on a lonely road and I am traveling
Looking for the key to set me free..."

Maria was stunned. Why did he do stuff like this? Again he made seem like she was the one pushing. He had finally started declaring his love in public places, which was all that she had ever really wanted him to do. But this song made it look like she was the one who was moving on, when he was the one insisting that she stay away.

He finished his song. She couldn't take it anymore. She stood up and ran to the bathroom. Liz followed.

"Maria," she called, walking into the deserted bathroom. She saw Maria sitting in the corner, her face buried in her hands.

Liz sat down beside her and put her arms around her.

"Why does he do this, Liz? He makes me the bad guy. And it's him, he's the one doing this."

"Is he?" Liz asked. Maria looked at her in surprise. "I just mean, is he the only one who is scared?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You have been living in fear since the day that Pierce was killed, Maria. I know, I see it in your eyes. Maybe even before that. You are scared to death that he's going to leave. And you keep him at arm's length because of it."

"You don't understand. You have Max, you can't know what it's like-"

"But I do, Maria. I know exactly what it's like. I know what it's like to love someone who has powers that he doesn't quite understand. I know what it's like to love someone who only wants to keep me safe, at any cost. I know what it's like to love someone who might have to leave one day."

Maria wiped the tears from her eyes. Liz continued, "I think that Michael is scared that he might hurt you, but I think that you are too. You think that people who love you, leave you. But he isn't going anywhere right now, Maria. You need to tell him, to make him understand that you love him. You need to make him see that you aren't afraid of him."

*****

"Hey, fearless leader," Michael said, sitting down in Liz's empty chair. Max raised his eyebrows. "I know, I know, it was corny. But it was all that I could think of."

Max smiled. Just then, a familiar voice filled the room.

"Michael wakes you up with sweets
He takes you up streets and the rain comes down..."

Isabel rolled her eyes. She would never be able to listen to Joni Mitchell in the same way again after this night.

"Michael from mountains
Go where you will go to
Know that I will know you
Someday I may know you very well..."

Maria caught Michael eye. She hoped that he understood what she meant.

"Michael leads you up the stairs
He needs you to care and you know you do
Cats come crying to the key
And dry you will be in a towel or two
There's rain in the window
There's sun in the painting that smiles on the wall
You want to know all
But his mountains have called so you never do-"

Liz smiled as she sat down beside Isabel. Maybe her words had had the desired effect. She hoped so.

"Michael from mountains
Go where you will go to
Know that I will know you
Someday I may know you very well."

Maria quickly handed the microphone to the next person in line and walked to the back of the Crashdown. She felt him come up behind her.

"So, Blondie," he began.

"Maria," she said, turning around. "Please, say Maria."

"Maria," he said, watching her flinch at the sound of it.

"Michael, I have to tell you something, okay? I love you. I just think that you should know."

He nodded slowly. She continued, "And I'm sorry that you think that you will hurt me. I'm sorry that I'm scared that you will. But Michael, this fear that we both have, we shouldn't allow it to control us."

"You're scared that I will hurt you?"

She nodded. "Not physically. I'm just afraid that you will leave and never come back. I'm so afraid for you, Michael."

"I'm not going anywhere, Maria," he said.

She reached out her hands to him. "Please, Michael, don't let the fear control you. Don't let it decide your fate-our fate."

He shook his head. "If there was even the slightest chance that you could get hurt-"

"I can't," she said. "If these past few months haven't broken me, then nothing will. I trust you with my life. Trust me with yours."

He looked into her beautiful green eyes. "I already do," he answered. She smiled and brought her lips to his.

"I've missed you, Spaceboy," she whispered as she pulled away.

"Me too, princess," he replied, pulling her toward him once again.