Michael laughed and pushed him away a bit, doing the typical male bonding thing. "Yeah well, no one better figure it out."

A voice echoed behind them. "And why is that?"

Michael and Max spun to see Kyle standing behind them, hands on hips, obviously mad about something. "Kyle." Max stated the name with dread.

Kyle walked forward. "Stay out of this Evans. This is between me and Guerin."

Michael feigned innocence. "What's between us, Kyle? What's the problem?"

"The problem? The problem is Maria."

"What about her?"

The shorter male had continued to approach Michael, and was now about a foot away. "Are you going to stand there and pretend that it wasn't you I saw sneaking out of her window this morning?"

Michael held his hands up in defeat. "Kyle, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't lie to me, Guerin. I saw you. Are you or are you not fooling around with Maria?"

Michael's defenses snapped. "Yeah, so? What business is it of yours if I am? You don't have any claim on her."

"Claim on her?" Kyle spat out incredulously. "She's my damn sister! And she deserves better than you!"

"She's not your sister, Kyle, she's your step-sister. And how the hell do you know what she deserves?"

"I know that she can do a hell of a lot better than some guy who won't even let her admit they're a couple. Like you have a right to be ashamed to be seen with anyone. She's too good for you- you should be kissing the dirt under her feet."

Michael's features grew hard, his fist clenching involuntarily. "Is that right?"

"Damn straight. Who the hell do you think you are? You just some loser trailer park kid who thinks the world owes him because he got a raw deal. Well you know what? The world may owe you, but it owes Maria, too. And it owes her something way better than you."

Max had been silent up to this point, figuring it was best to let them get their aggression out, but looking at Michael, he knew this was about to come to blows. "Hey, Kyle, listen, I think that Maria is a big girl and she can make the decision of who she does and doesn't want to be with."

Kyle's finger shot out, pointing at Max. "You shut up Evans! I told you to stay out of this. It's none of your business."

Michael moved toward Kyle, but Max stepped between them. "It is my business. Maria is my friend, and so is Michael. So if you've got a problem with them then you have a problem with me."

"Oh well isn't that sweet. You going to let him fight your battles for you Guerin?"

Michael's arms crossed over his chest. "I don't have to. I'm not discussing this anymore with you Kyle. What goes on between Maria and me is between us. You have no right to..."

"To what? To watch out for her? Put a stop to things when you're obviously using her? You can't stand there and tell me you actually care about her. You don't care about anybody but yourself."

He gritted his teeth as he replied, "Kyle. I'm telling you to drop this."

"Oh yeah?" He reached out and shoved Michael. "What are you going to do about it if I don't? C'mon Mikey, let's take care of this once and for all." He pushed Michael again.

"Don't do that."

"Oh yeah? Why not?"

"Cause I don't want to fight you Kyle."

"Why not? Don't care about her enough to fight for her? I think she's worth it, don't you? C'mon Michael, show me how much you care about her." He shoved Michael hard, and Michael simply reacted. His fist balled up and he reached back to let Kyle have it, but Max stepped between them, grabbing Michael's arm.

"Cut it out, both of you! Maria wouldn't want this."

"Max, I told you to back off. You're as bad as he is! I loved Liz, you jerk. And you stole her from me. What is it about the two of you that's so special, anyway? You know what? I think you deserve this as much as he does!" Kyle swung out his right arm and slammed Max in the face with a hard hook. Off balance from holding Michael back, Max stumbled backwards, falling against the side of the brick building. He bounced off, falling forward, and cracking his head against the base of a lightpost.