"Maria?" He said.

She turned and looked up to him. They were less than a block away from her house. "It's right up here." She said, point towards her house.

"That's not what I was going to ask." He said, half annoyed. Maybe he shouldn't say it. He would be better off. It would be exposing too much about himself to her. He had to keep some of his "stonewall" exterior.

"I'm sorry, Michael." She said, noticing the expression on his face. "What did you want?"

"Nothing." He said, looking down the street. "Let's just go."

Maria looked at him. "No. I am tired of you playing these games with me. One minute I begin to think your changing and the next you're back to your old Michael self. I'm confused; you can be so sweet and caring at times and then BOOM!, out pops your alternate personality. You shut me and the rest of the world out and it kills me every time you do that. It hurts so much when you won't talk to me. I keep thinking that if I am with you long enough, you'll come around, you'll trust me more. But I'm beginning to think it's all a lost cause. Not matter how much I love you, I can't get you to change. And it's not so much I even want you to change. I love you because of who you are. Well not because you are an alien, but because of the strong, independent guy you are. But I just wish you'd trust me, open up. It wouldn't kill you, ya know?"

Michael smiled. It wasn't funny, but when Maria got on one of her soapboxes it could be days.

"What?!?" She asked.

"I do trust you." He said, moving his hand to the side of her face. "Don't you see that? God, you are about the only person I will talk to. This wall I have built around me, it comes tumbling down when you're around me. At times I'm afraid to even be around you because of what I might say. The part of you that is human makes me feel human. It's a scary thought to me. I didn't realize it until I thought we'd never see each other again. I knew I couldn't live the rest of my life without you. I'm just another alien in the crowd without you, Maria. I've struggled so much, trying to avoid this human side. I thought I needed to remain loyal to my "other" side. But I know now that they only side that matters to me, is the one that's with you."

Maria's mouth fell open. In all her life, she never expected to hear those words come out of Michael Guerin's mouth.

He took a step closer to her. "This is my home." He began. "Right here, right now, with you. Whatever happens after today, the only way I'll be happy is to be with you." He closed the gap between them by pulling her to him and kissing her passionately on the lips. Everything he'd just told Maria he'd meant with all his heart. He slowly pulled away.

"Now stand over there and pretend this didn't happen." He said smiling. "I can't let everyone know that I'm as vulnerable as a puppy when it comes to you."

Maria laughed. "Or a bird."

"Shut-up!" Michael laughed. "That wasn't funny."

"Com 'ere Spaceboy." Maria said, pulling him to her. She lightly kissed his lips. "I love you."

"Me too." He said and smiled. "I've always thought I was the greatest."

Maria slugged him in the shoulder, then grabbed his hand. They continued towards her house. Maria knew her mom would be excited to see her. But they only had an hour before they had to meet at the Crashdown with the rest of the group.

As they walked up to the door, Michael looked over at Maria. "You know what?" He asked, acting like he was thinking.

"What?" She asked, putting her hand on the doorknob.

"I love you." He said, planting a kiss on her forehead.