Maria was rudely awakened Monday morning by some extremely daring person shaking her shoulder. Squinting an eye no more than necessary, she saw the hateful perpetrator. "Michael, what do you want? It's six A.M.!"
He grinned at her grumpy attitude but immediately sobered. "Maria, I need your car! Please don't ask me any questions, I swear I'll tell you what I can, but I need to leave right now!"
"What! Do I have any say so in this!? If I want to ask questions, I think I should be able to since I'm so graciously allowing you the grace of borrowing my car!"
He grinned again, a full toothy grin with a twinkle in his eye. "Great! Thanks Maria. You're the best. Now hop in, you're coming, too!"
"Oh, My, God! I think I'm gonna faint. You, Michael Guerin, just thanked me for something. And since I'm coming with you, can I get a change of clothes first?"
"Baby, I'm sorry, but no. We have to go now. But hey, later if you want, we can trade clothes." He stopped and winked at her. "I think I might like wearing your gorgeous panties."
"Michael, you are so sick! I think I'd rather not." she exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "So anyway, where are we going, how long will we be gone, and for what reason are you taking me there?"
"We're going to New York. I don't know how long we'll be gone. You can call Liz when we get there. Max knows I'm going somewhere but he probably will think I kidnapped you! Liz will worry."
"I'll do it when we get there. If I call her now she'll try to convince me to stay away from you and long car trips. She still thinks we had sex the last time!"
"Maybe we did and you don't know it." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her.
"Yeah, you used your superior alien intelligence to brainwash me so that now I can only have very detailed dreams about wild-buck-naked-animal-love-sex with you! Oh baby! Oh baby!"
"Hon, the dreams had to come from somewhere!"
They settled into a companionable silence for the next few hours. They listened to radio stations all over the country and around lunch, they stopped in Kansas.
"I can't believe we're in Kansas! Michael, you drive like a lunatic! We must have been going over 100 mph the whole way! How have we not gotten pulled over yet?!"
"You know you're my good luck charm."
"I'd better be. We all know that you have terrible luck."
"Hey, just because I'm always the one to get caught doesn't mean anything! Circumstances just always happen to be in Valenti's favor!"
"Jeez, I'm sorry I said anything!" She turned and sulked, facing the window, pretending to be extremely pissed.
******
They pulled into a McDonald's around Kansas City and had lunch then took off.
All through the day, Maria wondered what Michael was hiding from her. She had noticed how well the trip had been going compared to the road trip to Marathon and didn't really want to say anything that would make Michael angry and ruin the stress free attitude of the car. Finally she opened her mouth.
"Michael, do we already have sleeping arrangements planned or is this just an impromptu kinda-with-the-flow thing?"
"Ah, we, ah, just kinda have to find some place cheap to stay the night. We can't stop until we get to New York though, so we'll get in really late."
"So, are we going to see anything or anything important?"
Maria said this, trying to be casual but Michael caught her trying to sneak several glances at him.
"No one you know." Michael admitted reluctantly.
"Do you at least know them?" Maria was a hair's length away from freaking out.
"Not… exactly."
"Not exactly!! What the hell does that mean?! How can you 'not exactly' know someone that you're traveling thousands of miles to meet?!!"
Maria paused for a second, gathering her thoughts and hypothesized. Finally she had a revelation.
"Michael, are you looking for Nasedo?"
"Truthfully?"
"Um yeah!"
"Okay, truthfully…no. I'm looking for my sister."
"Sister, you have another sister? What about Tess? I thought she was your sister?"
"Tess? No! Well at least I don't think so. I think she's hiding something. Way too much for me to just believe that she's been living with Nasedo all this time and suddenly she has to desperately find Max and turn our whole existence upside down! Also, that whole thing about Isabel and me has got to be a lie. She has been my sister my whole life and I can't just believe that now she's got to be my lover. It's just got a whole 'Alabama Style' touch to it that I don't want to go near. Very vile! Inbreeding is not the way I want to reproduce, thank you very much!"
"Why didn't you tell me this sooner? When you walked away from me that last time, you said you loved me. Why didn't you say it then?"
"Maria, I loved you with everything that was in me! I just realized that there's got to be something inside me that's good enough for you to love, so I take that part of me and love you right back."
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? You knew I loved you. I had for a long time. It hurt so much when you said nothing mattered but Isabel when you thought she was pregnant. If I had known then, it would have been so much easier to deal with."
"This feeling in me…love…has always been there for you. Since I met you. I just didn't know how to tell you so I didn't. Plus I had to be ready to leave at anytime. Now…I just think that there are too many different versions to make sense of it all."
"You don't think anyone's coming for you, do you?"
"I'm not so sure anymore. I don't think we'll ever be with other's like us. All I can do now is be as happy as I can here. And that means you."
"Me?"
"Yeah you. You make me so happy. Thank you?"
"Oh, Michael. You're welcome."
Maria leaned over to kiss Michael. He looked over at her and almost lost control of the car. They pulled over to the side of the road and just stared at each other for a few moments.
"We're in a hurry."
"I know"
"I don't care!"
"Me either."
Quick as time, the two lovers jumped at each other as if dying of a thirst only the other could quench. Mouths fused, tongues clashed, and empty hands suddenly found themselves under clothing, groping flesh.
Just the barest touch of each other's skin sent gasps of extreme pleasure from their mouths. Pulling apart, they stared at each other in wonder. Hesitantly, Michael reached out a hand to Maria's shoulder, now bare of any clothing. Gently, he placed his fingertips to her skin.
Maria's body reacted almost instantly. She arched into his palm and sparks of electricity jumped from her body to his. Michael stared in amazement at his hand. Maria was so focused on the ecstasy his touch brought her that she didn't even notice the sparks.
Maria moved as if under a spell and, with her eyes now wide open, placed both of her hands on Michael's bare chest. As both their gazes gravitated towards their touching bodies, the pulses of energy shooting from their mutual forms shocked both.
The beams hit everywhere, bouncing all around the car and back into the frenzied teens. They both cried out as one as the pleasure escalated until neither could control themselves.
Pouncing, they tore at each other's clothes, shredding material until they were skin to skin, heart to heart, soul to soul. With fireworks exploding all around them, they stared down into each other's eyes. As Michael entered Maria's humming body, their gazes became locked in something more primitive, more ancient, than time itself. All Michael was, all he knew, entered Maria, consumed her, integrated within her. All Maria was, all she knew, intertwined with Michael, creating one soul between the two of them, making them one forever.
The union was so complete, so deep within their essence, that Michael couldn't control himself any longer. With Maria thrashing and bucking beneath him, he thrust and hammered himself into her. With a joined cry from the both of them, he emptied himself into her as she exploded into a million pieces.