~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part I

March 6, 2004

I'm Liz Parker, and it's been 2 months, 7 weeks, 48 days, 1152 hours, and however many minutes and seconds since Max Evans left me forever, but who's counting? Oh Lord, I miss him so much! I keep remembering our last night together, that terrific, glorious, magnificent night on January 18 when Max proclaimed that he loved me and would never love anyone else. What I can't help thinking is, what if he meets a great alien girl on his planet and forgets all about me? I know it's irrational, but in my state, irrational is safe. I am so miserable without him here. I want to feel his arms around me again. He came to me every night for a week in my dreams, telling me how much he loved me. Then, suddenly, he stopped. I haven't seen him for six weeks. I'm going stir-crazy! What am I going to do? I will never love another guy as long as I live.

"Liz!" A male voice called from in front of the Crashdown. Liz's heart pounded in her chest. Max? Her heart screamed out desperately. She peered over the edge and tried to swallow her disappointment. It was only Alex Whitman, her best friend and trusted male adviser. She put a smile on her face so as not to disappoint him. She climbed down the ladder. She didn't want him climbing up it. That was she and Max's special tradition. She didn't want anyone to spoil that. She got to the last rung of the ladder and jumped to the ground. She hugged Alex hard, partly because she was glad to see him, but mostly because she missed Max. She just wanted to have someone's arms around her, and Alex was as good as Max. Almost. Actually, not really. No one was as good as Max. Before she knew it, she was crying against Alex's chest. Alex must have noticed this, because he just tightened his arms around her body and hugged her close. She cried against his shirt, enjoying the smell of peppermint on his plaid shirt. He ran his fingers through her hair, whispering soothing words in her ear. She wasn't really listening; she just liked the feeling of his breath against her skin. Suddenly something he said jumped out at her.

"I love you Liz. I've always loved you." She gasped, then looked up at him. There was no teasing in his brown eyes. All she saw was burning intensity for her. Before she knew what was happening, his lips were on hers in a searing kiss. She found herself kissing him back. She wasn't sure if she was doing it out of loneliness, or if she actually had some feelings for him. His tongue pressed against her lips, urging them apart. She allowed them to open so his tongue could meet hers. Their tongues intertwined, making their kiss deeper. She sighed into his open mouth, and allowed him to lift her up. She wrapped her legs around his waist and giggled as he walked to the door of the Crashdown. Her parents weren't home, so they were in no danger of getting caught. Plus, she coincided with herself, she was in college and her parents didn't control her life anymore. He freed a hand from her hair and opened the door, then walked in and lay Liz down on the nearest table. She smiled at him, allowing herself to squint her eyes. If she did this, the image blurred and she could almost believe that it was Max that was there with her, not Alex. But when she relaxed them, she realized that it was Alex, and she didn't know what to do. She was happy that Alex was here, but not like this. She decided to let it go a little further to see if she liked it. She sat up on the table and allowed Alex to pull her shirt over her head. His hand grazed the lacy material of her black bra, then he cupped her breast with his hand and kissed her. His hand moved up and he ran it over the swell of her breast. He moved it down into her bra and rubbed hand over her nipple. She suddenly couldn't take it anymore and sat up sobbing.

"I'm sorry Alex. I'm sorry."

"I know. I'm sorry too. I was imagining that you were Isabel. I know I shouldn't have, but I miss her so much." He started to cry, and Liz suddenly understood.

"Shhhh. I know. I was pretending I was with Max. I just miss him so much." They were both sobbing against each other.

"God, I can't do this anymore! I can't..." Alex trailed off as another round of racking sobs consumed his body. "I can't pretend she's just going to come back from some long vacation. It's been to long." Liz looked away wistfully as she spoke.

"2 months, 7 weeks, 48 days, and 1152 hours. Sorry, I had a lot of free time." She responded to his "look" with a look of her own, sending them both into helpless gales of giggles. They started to wrestle around on the floor when the bells on the door rang and Liz looked up. She looked at the bedraggled girl in the doorway and immediately stood up and took her in her arms.

"Maria, you haven't slept for weeks." She had the sympathy in her voice that was so genuine because she had only gone through it herself for the last 2 months, 7 weeks-

"48 days, 1152 hours!" Maria was chanting just what Liz had figured out. Liz looked at her with astonishment as Maria kept repeating it over and over.

"Maria?" Liz's voice came out as a frightened whisper in the dark. She looked over at Alex, who shrugged his shoulders as he stared at Maria.

"2 months, 7 weeks, 48 days, 1152 hours. 2 months, 7 weeks.." She kept repeating it as if she was in a trance that she could not snap out of.

"Maria? Maria, snap out of it!" Liz's voice was hoarse with fear as it gripped at her heart. "Maria!" Her voice cracked as the fear climbed higher and higher as Maria lost her balance- and her consciousness- and fell into Liz's arms.

*********

Maria was in a parallel universe, stuck somewhere between Earth and somewhere else. Michael's planet, she realized. Wait, what's happening to me? Why am I here?

"Because I wanted to check on you." Maria whirled around at the sudden sound of Michael's deep, self-confident voice. She smiled as she stepped into his arms for a kiss.

"But how-?" Her words were broken off by Michael's lips, those full, sensuous lips.

"I can read your mind," he whispered into her hair. "And I know your every thought." The words were threatening, but the tone in his voice made it all sound more playful. He took her hand and turned her towards the astonishing scenery before her. A red meadow of grass covered with a rainbow of flowers. A breathtaking sunset of red, orange, blue, purple, and green covered the sky. A rainbow looked as if it was painted in front of it. Acid green clouds covered the sky behind the sunset. People- at least they looked like people to Maria- milled around the grassy area. "We look like people up here. Don't ask me why, because I couldn't tell you. Come on, I want you to see someone." He led her towards a cluster of "people" where Max Evans stood standing. With his arm around another "girl." Oh God, what am I going to tell Liz?

"You'll tell Liz nothing. Please Maria, don't say anything to her." Max's pleading voice broke into her thoughts. That's right, they can read my thoughts. "Maria?" She looked up into Max's deep brown eyes and reluctantly nodded her head. He reached out and pulled her tight against his chest. "Hey, how's life on Earth?" There was no teasing, patronizing tone in his voice. He was genuinely interested.

"Not so good. I hate to be the one to tell you, but none of us have been very good. Liz is probably the best." She saw the hurt in Max's eyes and felt her heart break for him. "It's probably because she focuses on making sure me and Alex are okay. She acts like she doesn't care. But I know she does. She cries for no reason. She won't eat, she barely sleeps. Max, you have to at least go to her in her dreams. Just do it less violently than Michael did to me." She rubbed her head and smiled at Michael, then turned her attention back to Max. "Max, there's also something else you should know. Liz-" She hesitated, not wanting to tell him.

"What about Liz?" His voice was urgent. Maria looked up into those eyes and choked out the words.