6 am day after Christmas
I throw some clothes on in the dark
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping
I am numb

"Alex, can you drive me somewhere?" she asks. She looks so small and scared, her arms wrapped around herself.

"Yeah, sure. But what about your car?" I ask.

"I don't think I'm stable enough to drive," she replies. So I get dressed, and grab the keys to my car. I lead Maria to the passenger seat and help her in. I have this feeling she couldn't do it by herself.

I start the car. "Where to?" I ask. She says nothing. Just hands me a slip of paper. A clinic two towns over. A doctor's clinic.

"Maria, why are we going two towns away to see some doctor?" I asks, dreading her answer.

Up the stairs to her apartment
She is balled up on the couch
Her mom and dad went down to Charlotte
they're not home to find us out
And we drive

"Because I think I'm pregnant." Her words don't shock me. I had already received the shock when she gave me the paper. As soon as I saw the address, I knew. When my mother thought she was pregnant and didn't want my dad to know, she had me drive her the same place. She wasn't though, and I could only pray it'd be the case for Maria.

"Have you told Michael?" The idea it wasn't Michael's never crossed my mind. She'd never be unfaithful to him, even though they weren't together at the moment. She wasn't the type.

"No." Her answer is a whisper. "I thought about asking him to drive me, but he wouldn't do it. Liz would just yell at me, and my mother," Maria heaves a huge shudder. She had begun crying.

Now that I have found someone
I'm feeling more alone
Than I ever have before
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

"I came to you because I knew you wouldn't judge me," she says. She looks at me. I'm keeping my eyes on the road. But I can see the pain in her eyes.

"I am sure glad I didn't do what Liz said," she says, turning her gaze out the window. She says it so softly I almost miss it. I'm already thinking of how much this is going to affect us all. Michael and Max and Isabel.

But I don't miss it. "What?"

"Liz said to move on, and forget him. I was actually tempted to you know," Maria whispers. I'm still confused.

"What does this have to do with the current situation?"

"I don't know. I'm just rambling. He's going to hate me," she says suddenly. She's switched subjects so quickly it takes a few minutes for me to catch this.

"Who? Michael?" I ask. She nods. "He could never hate you. Why would you think that?"

"Because this is another debt. That's how he'll see it. Another entanglement. Another chip in his wall."

"No, he wouldn't." And, I actually believe these words. I honestly believe Michael cares about Maria. She doesn't see it, but the way he looks at her when he thinks no one else is looking...it's like the way Max used to look at Liz, or the way I'm sure I look at Isabel. No, he might not be too happy, but he could never hate her.

"Do you think so?" she asks.

"Of course."

------

We arrive, and since it's early, she goes right in. I go across the street, and grab some breakfast for us both.

I pace around the parking lot
then I walk down to buy her flowers
And sell some gifts that I got

It's a half later when they come out. The doctor is following her. Her face looks grim. I'm already dreading the weeks and months to come. Because other than this being a teen pregnancy, it's also half alien.

Can't you see
It's not me you're dying for
Now she's feeling more alone
Than she ever has before

"Are you the father?" the doctor asks. The father. She is pregnant. I shake my head, not able to form words.

"He's a friend," Maria says.

"Are you planning on telling the father?" he asks. I look at Maria. She has no choice. She takes a breath.

"I don't know yet." My face falls. She can't be thinking...no not what I know she's considering.

"You should discuss this decision with the father before you make the appointment," he says. And that's all he says. He goes back into the doorway, and looks back at her once. He shakes his head, like he's disappointed, and disappears through the door. She looks at me.

"Alex, I...." she begins, but can't finish. I put my arm around her shoulder, and hand her the bagel I bought. She just holds it, not eating it. We walk out into the car, and get in.

She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly
off the coast and I'm headed nowhere
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly

"Maria, you can't have an abortion." I can see my words sting her, but I have to be blunt.

"Yes, I can. It's better for everyone this way," she replies softly.

"No, it's not. It's not even an option. Maria, the baby you're carrying? It's only half human." I hate to talk about a child like that. A hybrid. A half-human and half-alien.

"So?"

"An abortion would mean...a doctor seeing...we don't know what it could look like." I can see that it's finally occuring to her.

"Oh, God, you're right. I wasn't even thinking." She turns to me, tears already streaming down her face. "What am I going to do?"

-------

It was a few weeks later. I know Maria hasn't told Michael yet. Hell would have broken loose. He's still keeping his distance, but Maria's beginning to show. She's going to have to say something soon.

As weeks went by
It showed that she was not fine
They told me son it's time to tell the truth
She broke down and I broke down
Cause I was tired of lying

"Maria, you have to tell him. He needs to know," I tell her after school. I've taken to driving her home every day, just to make sure she's okay.

"I know. I just don't how to tell him. He's probably forgotten we ever...you know," she says, uncomfortably. She's already revealed they only had sex once. That day at the Crashdown in December during the heatwave.

"Maria, if you don't tell him, I will," I threaten. My words are empty. She knows and I do. It's her secret to tell, not mine. I could never betray her.

Driving home to her apartment
For the moment we're alone
She's alone
I'm alone
Now I know it

"I know. I will. I'll go to his apartment tonight," she whispers softly. I've done all I can do. "Alex?" she says.

"Yeah?"

"They're going to be mad at you. I know the way they work. Because Michael's going to find out I've known almost a month, and never said anything. It's going to come out that you knew, too. And, all three of them are going to be mad you never said anything."