A/N: Characters are not mine. Just the ideas. This is the second and final chapter. Bittersweet for all the Candy fans.

Turmoil

"Billy!"

"Hey, Ria. What the hell are you doing here?"

"Just passing through," she replied evasively and then changed the subject, "You playing tonight?"

"Yep."

Emma decided to but in, "You guys know each other?"

Billy answered her. "We went to band camp together."

"It was a songwriters' workshop." Maria interrupted.

"Cool."

Turning toward Maria, Billy asked, "Hey, are you sticking around?"

"Yeah, why?" Billy smiled. "You'll see."

"For our last song," Billy said to the audience, "I need a little help from a friend."

The audience cheered and Emma squealed in Maria's ear. "Maria, could you come out here."

"What the hell?"

"Get out there!" Emma said as she pushed Maria toward the stage.

"There she is everybody."

Maria walked on stage and whispered to Billy, "I'm going to kill you." Billy just smiled and handed her a microphone as the band began to play.

As the band played the final notes of the song, Maria couldn't stop smiling. She didn't know if it was the song, the crowd, the alcohol, or Billy but she was genuinely happy for the first time in a long time. The rest of the night is kind of fuzzy because Maria, Billy, and her new friends went out to a couple bars. She remembers going back to Billy's place and calling Liz and telling her that she would be back in the morning but she doesn't remember much else. She knows that she and Billy stayed up and talked for a long time and that they sang a few songs together. She knows that she fell asleep on Billy's couch and that Billy fell asleep on the floor. And she knows that when she woke up she was happy despite her hangover. Billy made her breakfast and then he gave her his phone number and told her to stay in touch and that if she was serious about her music, she should come back and he could introduce her to a few people. Maria smiled and said good bye. She was pretty sure that she would never see him again and her happiness left her as she walked back to the motel. She knew that she was probably in trouble. She wasn't supposed to go out by herself let alone stay out all night. It was dangerous. She was an easy target and she had no way to protect herself. Michael would be furious. Maria sighed. She was so sick of the alien drama.

Back at the motel, Michael was angry, angrier than Max had seen him in a long time. "Tell me exactly what she said again, Liz."

"She said that she was at a friend's place and that she'd be back in the morning. When I tried to get more information from her, she hung up. I'm pretty sure that she was drunk but she didn't sound scared or sad. She actually sounded happy."

"Did she say anything else?"

"I told you everything already, Michael. I'm getting sick of repeating myself."

Max broke in before Michael could respond. "We'll give her another hour before we start searching."

"Uh, guys . . . ," Kyle said from the window, "That won't be necessary. Maria just got out of a cab."

Michael flung the door open and demanded angrily, "Where were you?"

Maria sighed. "I went out with Emma from the coffee shop last night. We went to a concert."

"Maria, you don't even know her. She could be a spy or something."

"God, Michael. It's not an alien thing, alright."

"It's still dangerous to stay with strangers." Max said reasonably.

Maria looked away guiltily before she said, "I didn't stay with a stranger last night." The group was stunned.

Michael looked like he had swallowed something sour. "Then who did you stay with, Maria?"

She didn't answer and Kyle cleared his throat. "Well, umm, I have to go do, umm, something in the other room." He left quickly sensing that Maria's answer would lead to another argument.

Isabel and Max followed his lead but Liz lingered. She didn't want Maria and Michael to have this confrontation. She knew that it would end badly. She knew that it would change things forever. Max grabbed her arm and gently pulled her from the room. "This is between them," he whispered. Liz looked at her best friend one last time before she left the room.

"What happened, Maria?" Michael demanded.

"Nothing happened, Michael. I just . . . ."

"What?"

"I ran into Billy at the concert."

"Billy! Billy from band camp, Billy?"

"Yes."

"I can't believe this!"

"All I did was sing with him! There's no reason for you to get so upset."

"Maria you got drunk and you slept at your old boyfriend's apartment instead of coming back here!"

"So, what?" Maria yelled as she threw her hands up in the air. "Nothing happened!"

"He's in love with you!"

"That was two and a half years ago. He's over it."

"You're not an easy person to forget, Maria."

She was near tears now. "I just want to be happy, Michael."

"Billy makes you happy?"

"I don't know but last night was the best night I've had since high school. I sang onstage again. I made new friends. I didn't have to worry about anything alien related."

"Maria."

"I can't do this anymore."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you leave New York, I can't go with you."

"You can't be by yourself. Don't you remember what happened to Jesse?"

"I remember."

"Then you see why you can't leave us."

"I have to, Michael."

"You'll die."

"If I stay with you, I'll die anyway. At least here, I'll have a chance to be happy. I wasn't meant to live a life on the run."

He didn't know what to say. "Maria, I . . . ."

"I know, Space Boy, I know."

For her safety, Isabel changed Maria's hair and eye color. She was no longer a green eyed blonde. Maria now had dark brown hair and grey eyes. Maria took on a new identity. She became Victoria Lucas. Isabel managed to change Maria's old driver's license and social security card to match her new identity and her new look. She and Liz cried as they said goodbye. Michael didn't say a word. Isabel promised to dream walk her every week to update her on their journey and to check up on her. Again Michael said nothing. Max told her that they would probably never see each other again and that he hoped she had a great life. Kyle told her that he'd tell her mom that she was ok the next time the gang passed through Roswell. Maria hugged them all one last time and left.

If Billy was surprised to find Maria at his door with a duffle bag, his expression didn't betray it. All he said was, "I like the hair."

She just laughed and said, "It's different."