Michael was taking a long time to come to the door. Just as Isabel was about to use her powers on the lock, they heard a fumbling behind the closed door, which soon opened to reveal their friend, rubbing sleep out of his eyes, his hair even more tousled than usual.

“What’s up?” he yawned, letting them in. Still groggy, he walked to the kitchen to splash his face with water.

“We were just wondering if you wanted to---” Max stopped as he felt Isabel jerk his arm. He followed her eyes to the bed in the bedroom beyond, and caught sight - just barely - of a blonde head and a bare shoulder peeking through the disheveled sheets.

Michael had to smile as he came in that moment and caught the look on their faces. And he had thought nothing, save the threat of exposure of their otherworldly identities, could ruffle the Evans siblings. They were his closest friends this side of the galaxy and there wasn’t a thing he wouldn’t do for them. He stood for a moment at the kitchen door, in his grey tank top and boxers, and silently looked at them, wondering what he would - could - tell them. He considered sprinting for the bedroom door and shutting her sleeping form away from prying eyes, but that would appear that he had something to hide, that he was ashamed of her somehow. So he stayed where he was.

Yes, Maria had spent the night, but it wasn’t what he was sure they were thinking.

Since that day when Maria had come to his apartment, asking that he “not be cold or mean”, that day when he had put his arm around her and planted a soft kiss on her head, since that day, the sometimes infuriating, but always fiery, Maria De Luca had become a semi-stable fixture in his life, given a place which he denied even Max and Isabel. Yesterday, she had come over to his apartment, as she does two or three times a week now, after school to do their homework together. That was all. He took comfort in the domestic familiarity of their routine, even as he marveled at how different his life had become in a few short weeks.

So that’s what they had been doing last night - at least, when the evening began. Geometry wasn’t exactly Maria’s best subject and she had sat there, hunched over her books at the coffee table, her face screwed up in deep concentration. At these moments Michael enjoyed watching her, unnoticed. Last night, she had looked up, caught his eye and returned his gaze with a shy smile.

“It’ll take me a while to get used to this,” he had said wryly, rubbing the muscles in his neck that had stiffened.

“Studying, I mean,” when her brows furrowed quizzically. He had a lot of catching up to do if he wanted to get through this term.

What she did next took him completely by surprise. Maria got up from the floor where they were seated and descended on the couch he had been leaning on. Before he could turn around, she said: “C’mere, it’s time for a break anyway,” placed both hands on his shoulders and proceeded to knead the stiffness out of his tired muscles. The soft, insistent pressure of her fingers on his shoulders and neck produced a sigh from Michael’s lips, as his shoulders visibly relaxed. He couldn’t decide if this girl with the magic fingers behind him had singlehandedly brought the stonewall down, or simply that his resolve hadn’t been as fortified as he once thought it was.