Michael and Liz were practically inseparable. They weren't lovey-dovey, but they hung out a lot and seemed to have this connection that no one could touch. She was actually smiling and laughing again. *And it wasn't because of him,* he thought sadly. And she was trying so hard to be nice to Tess. Sure she had started to recently, but now, well, now it was different, more protective. She, Michael and Alex were acting like her guards. If anyone at school said something bad about Tess, they would go off on them, something not uncommon with Michael, but extremely so with Alex and Liz.

And Liz had Ava living at her house, in her room, now that Tess was back and living at the Valenti's again. He had seen that the other night when he went over to visit her. He had climbed up her balcony when he heard Liz's laugh. He had to stop himself from crying out in pain as he remembered seeing Kyle and Liz in bed together. But then he heard Tess' laugh, but it was different. He peeked in and saw Liz and Ava on the bed eating ice cream with something red over it, laughing and talking.

He couldn't figure it out. Everyone said that they would talk about it when they could get away to the quarry because things were really complicated and they didn't want to have to stop in the middle of it. He told them that the summit was a set up and that he learned a lot from it, but hadn't been able to say more than that before the lunch bell had rung and they had to go back to class. And everyone knew that they couldn't get in trouble for skipping class, especially with Max's parents flipped out over him leaving over Thanksgiving and coming back happy and more talkative. They wanted to make sure it wasn't a fluke.

But honestly, Max was getting a little pissed off at not knowing what had happened while he had been gone. And Tess wasn't helping matters either. Ever since The Emissary and then Lady Raine had told Tess a little bit of her actual status in their other life, she had been depressed and sullen. And no matter how much everyone tried to cheer her up, she pushed them away. But no one more than Liz, and it hurt her so much, Max's faced winced as he remembered some of the more hurtful rejections that Liz had gotten from Tess. Every time that Tess would push Liz away, her face would contort in pain. But she never gave up.

Tess would only allow Max to comfort her, actually, she demanded it. She didn't come over to the house now because Max had told her he had to make his parents believe that he was out of his depression in order to get off of restriction and her tears and depression were not going to help him do that. So she stayed away, but latched onto him at school. He didn't know who she turned to when she wasn't with him, but from what Isabel had hinted that it wasn't anyone.

Isabel was also getting annoyed with Tess. She had tried to be there for her but she kept being pushed away. Strangely enough she was becoming very close to Ava. They all were, but especially Alex. Alex and Ava had a bond similar to Michael and Liz's. All of this was confusing Max. Just then Max heard a knock on his door and quickly pulled himself from his thoughts and went back to his homework as he called out a quick "come in." He looked up to see his mom and dad coming in his door. "Hey. What's up?" he asked as he sat up on his bed and began to close his text books. He had a feeling that they wanted to talk.

"Max," Phillip began. "We know that you've been kind of upset that we've wanted you home these last couple of days since you and Sheriff Valenti came back from our cabin, but we have been worried about you."

"I know, Dad. And I'm sorry that I have been so distant and depressed this summer, but I'm better now. Valenti helped me come to terms with a lot of things that I had been upset about. And my friends have been great too. I realized that I was pushing away those who were really just trying to help me and the only one who could help me," Max said.

"Oh, Max. I wish you would tell us what you're going through or were going through. But I'm glad that you found someone like Sheriff Valenti to trust and help you with whatever has been bothering you. I know that Liz missed you a lot while you were gone to the cabin," Diane said with hope in her face. She hoped that if the two of them got together again, things would be a little easier for everyone.

"Why do you say that, Mom?" Max asked with a mix of hope and confusion on his face that he tried to mask.

"Well, in the days that you were gone, Isabel spent a lot of time with Liz. I think a lot of it was because Isabel was so upset that you were gone, but she spent the first two nights over at Liz's house. And then Liz, Michael and Maria spent Thanksgiving over here since they didn't have family in town. And Liz and Maria stayed the night. She was so eager to hear any story about you. But that night, I couldn't sleep very well. In the middle of the night I thought that I heard voices in your room. I thought that maybe you had come back early, but when I went in there it was Isabel and Liz holding each other on your bed. They were each wearing one of your shirts and crying their eyes out. I couldn't figure out what they were saying, they weren't really talking out loud, but I could tell that they were talking to each other. it's like their grief made it so that they didn't have to speak out loud, but they missed you." Diane laughed softly as felt her husband's arms around her. "So the three of us spent the night in your bed crying and talking about you. She really loves you, so much. I hope that you can figure out what is keeping you two apart."

Max looked up at his mother with tears in his eyes. "Thank you for telling me that, Mom. I thought.....I believed that she had given up on us, but I guess that I was wrong. And we will figure it out. I won't lose her."

Both Diane and Phillip nodded their approval. "It's a Saturday, why don't you call up your friends spend the day together, I know that you've been dying to." Phillip said.

"Really?" Max asked. "You guys are cool with it?"

His parents laughed. "Yeah, we're cool with it. Go on...call them. Go out and have fun," Diane said.

Max laughed. "Alright. ISABEL!!" he screamed and then chuckled when his parents covered their ears at the loud sound of his voice.

"What? Max, what's wrong?" Isabel asked as she came tearing into his room with the cordless phone still attached to her ear. She saw her parents and was extremely confused. "What's going on?"

"Call everybody. We're going out," Max said with a smile on his face.