WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS

Summary: Three years after graduation and the gang have done a lot of travelling and seen many places. But three weeks ago, Michael stole a very large amount of cash and long discussions led to the agreeing that it was safe enough to find a place to live... Pairings: MichaelxMaria, LizxMax, Isabel is still married to Jesse.. This fanfic is actually very much about Michael and Maria as the show never really showed their future (evil stare). It's rated mature, for "just in case" and has adult themes i guess...i suck at this kinda stuff...oh and i don't own anything but my imagination so if you want to sue me...I ain't got nothing!!

p.s How do you get rid of the double spacing!? Grah! Oh and all feedback is hugged and replied to! I will put the next chappy up soon ;)

Chapter One: A home at last

'This is our house?' Kyle asked, pointing to a huge house questionably. It was massive and had room for four cars as well. It was fenced and not too close to the road. It was also a quiet neighbourhood with decent spacing between the other houses.

'Yep' Michael replied as he carried a bag inside with Max doing the same.

'Wow, how much money did you take Michael?' Maria asked him as she got out of the van.

'Can you shut up about that already?' he rolled his eyes and grabbed some more luggage from the back.

'Come on sleepyhead' Liz smiled and carried her toddler son Alan inside.

'There are six rooms altogether' Max informed them once all their stuff had been brought inside. 'Four of the rooms have furniture already while the other two are empty. There is plenty of room for all of us. There is also a basement, attic and a fancy pool out the back'

'So we go from public showers and hotels to luxury?' Isabel smiled. 'I like it'

While unpacking and rearranging was underway, Michael and Maria used a homes magazine to work on wallpaper.

'Brown?' Maria pulled a face.

'You don't like yellow, blue, red, black or brown!' He snapped.

'Well I would do it if I could do the "magic-hand" thing' She said and threw the magazine at him.

'What is wrong with you?' he asked angrily.

'Me? What's wrong with you?' She yelled back.

'Guys…guys!' Isabel interrupted and raised her hand. The wall turned a nice caramel colour.

'Done' she smiled at them and went upstairs.

Maria stormed into the kitchen to help Liz while Michael coloured the rest of the house.

Max and Liz had one of the doubled bedrooms and plan to turn one of the empty rooms into a room for Alan. Isabel and Kyle each got a room with a single bed. Michael and Maria had the last furnitured room.

'Great' Michael sighed sarcastically as he glanced at the double bed.

'There's a couch downstairs' Maria reminded him.

'Noted' He replied.

'Come on guys' Kyle said. 'You were getting along great just last week'

'Yeah, that was before Michael-'

'Me? Why is it my fault?' He asked her.

'Who else's fault was it then?' She snapped back.

It took everyone until nightfall to get settled down in their new home. Liz, Max and Alan were already asleep by ten.

Kyle was on the couch watching tv when Michael soon joined him.

'She kick you out?'

'I kicked myself out' Michael sighed.

'Sure' Isabel smiled from the kitchen. She grabbed a large bowl and a packed of uncooked popcorn. She placed half of packet in the bowl and held her hand over it. The popcorn popped and filled the bowl.

'I'm out' she yawned and handed Kyle the bowl. 'Don't you boys stay up too late' She said and headed upstairs.

'So what did you do exactly? To Maria I mean' Kyle asked curiously.

'That's the thing…I don't know' Michael replied angrily and grabbed the bowl of popcorn.

Isabel was pleased with her eavesdropping and knew what to do. She headed up to her room for real this time. She lay in bed with a picture of the group. Isabel touched the image of Maria and closed her eyes…

Isabel walked into Maria's dreams and saw something slightly unexpected as the pair had been bickering all week:

Maria and Michael were dancing, all dressed up. Isabel had to admit how great they looked together. She walked over to a dinner table and sat down to watch as the pair kissed. Michael got down on one knee and smiled.

'Will you marry me?' he asked a shocked Maria and held up a box containing a very beautiful, silver ring with a blue diamond.

'Oh of course Michael!' Maria kissed him and the scene changed to them kissing at their wedding in a lovely, decorated park. Everyone was clapping and cheering as they got into a car and drove off into the sunset.

The next scene was more surprising as Maria was hugging Michael while he happily held a newborn baby in his arms.

'This is weird' Isabel muttered to herself when she saw the pair entertaining a ten-year-old girl, a six-year-old boy and a toddler.

Then suddenly, the scene faded to black and Maria was sitting on the steps of a house, crying in the rain.

Lighting flashed violently and both Maria and Isabel jerked awake.

Maria crept downstairs to see it as lit up by the TV. Kyle had gone to bed, but Michael was still wide-awake.

He spotted her reflection as she headed to the kitchen. He turned around to watch her getting a glass of water.

'Bad dream?' he asked casually as she switched the kitchen light back off.

'Maybe' she told him and went outside to sit on the concrete.

Michael glanced back to the TV until she didn't return after awhile. He muted the TV and got up.

Maria looked up as the door slid open and Michael looked down at her in concern.

'You okay?'

'Like you said, bad dream' she turned back to starring at the star-filled sky.

'You wanna talk about it?' He asked and sat beside her.

'It's nothing' she lied.

He knew she wasn't telling the truth, but just held her close as she leaned against him.

Maria wondered if things between them will ever change.

'Great, right back where we started' Maria complained miserably as she and Liz looked at their new waitress uniforms. 'I always knew I was going to be stuck a waitress all my life'

'Aw, come on Maria. It'll be great' Liz smiled as she led her doubtful friend into the Cafalon Café.

'Yeah, fantastic' Maria sighed at the sight of the crowd eager to be served.

After only a few weeks of settling in and things were going good. Liz and Maria got jobs as waitresses and Kyle retreated back to being a mechanic assistant.

'They're all following suits' Isabel sighed.

'What?' Max asked, picking Alan up so he wasn't lost in the crowd.

'Nothing' Isabel replied.

She and Max were at a mall shopping while Michael stayed at home to watch TV.

'I'll be right back' Isabel said and headed into a clothes store that was having a sale.

'No…no!' A man was saying nearby as Isabel smiled at the wedding dress she'd seen in Maria's dream. She glanced to her right at a group of people that a salesman was unsuccessfully trying to assist.

'She's going to be on a float with strawberries! We can't have her in red' the man snapped and tossed another dress aside.

'Then how about green??' Isabel suggested, not being able to help herself. 'It's not too out of place and it suits the surroundings. There are may shades to try, then a little red make-up won't hurt' She added.

The man grinned in joy and ordered the salesman to gather green dresses to try.

'What's your name?' He asked.

'Ah, Isabel' she replied, not giving her full name.

'I'm Barry Valenteano, director of StarMagazine. I like your style and we would love to have you on board as our designer…what do you say?' he smiled.

Michael saw Max and Alan, so he walked over as Isabel came out of a store with a bag and a handful of papers.

'Michael?' Max almost laughed, as he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Michael at a mall…willingly.

'TV was giving me a hard time' he shrugged. 'What's up?' he then asked an excited Isabel.

'I just got offered a job with StarMagazine!'

'Please tell me you said no' Max sighed.

'Of course not; Opportunities like this are rare. But don't worry, I'm just a designer…nothing too public'

'Yeah, why don't you join the FBI while you're at it? Better yet, send them a postcard. I'm, sure they'll be happy to hear from you' Michael said sarcastically.

'He respects my privacy' she frowned.

'What'd that supposed to mean?' Max asked worriedly and picked Alan's toy up as he'd dropped it.

'They will only ever publish my first name' She replied. 'Trust me…it's no big deal'