Part 2

Alex sat down on Liz's bed and was soon joined by Maria and Liz. He looked at them and felt like crying, but he held it inside. He didn't want to upset them anymore than they already were.

Maria's face was all covered in tears and she looked like Alex worst nightmare. And he didn't mean that she looked bad, just that he never wanted to see either Maria or Liz look that sad. He remembered the time when Maria was upset with Michael because of the whole Courtney-thing.

That time Alex had acted before thinking when he punched Michael. But he didn't regret it. Nobody hurt Maria without punishment. Fortunately it wasn't as bad as he thought and it worked out okay…this time it wouldn't.

He was going back and leaving his girls behind.

Alex looked at Liz and smiled. She was trying not to look so sad. But Alex knew better. He could see that she too was not so happy about him leaving. Liz always tried to be strong, and that was, according to Alex, what made Liz and Maria's friendship so strong. They were not especially alike. Maria always showed and said what she felt, while Liz calmed her down and tried to think logical. Maria was kind of a free-spiritual girl and Liz was more of a down-to-earth girl. That's what made them work together so perfectly.

Somewhere in there Alex fit in into their little trio. They were best friends forever and Alex would miss that so much. He had lived without it for a time so he knew what he was talking about.

And now he was going back.

Alex felt a tear slide down his cheek and he didn't stop it. Instead he reached out and pulled Liz and Maria in to a hug. He kissed them on their foreheads and whispered softly: "I'll miss you both so much. Remember that."

"We will Alex," Maria whispered back. "We will miss you too. More than you think."

Liz suddenly let go of Alex and Maria and went to her desk. She pulled out the top drawer and dug for a while before a camera became visible.

Alex smiled.

"Picture-time," Maria said. "I better wipe away these tears then huh?" she continued and smiled.

Liz joined them on the bed again and held the camera in front of them.

"Everybody ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Alex and Maria said in unison.

"Say cheese," Liz said.

"Cheese!" the three friends said together and smiled.

In that moment Alex knew that this wasn't the last time they would all be together. They would meet again somewhere.

He dried away another tear and said: "I love you guys. I will see you both someday and take care of each other until then."

Then Alex took one last look at his girls before he let go of them and left them alone…

Michael, Max and Isabel had stayed at the Crashdown, while Alex talked to Maria and Liz.

Michael knew how close the three of them were, so he was glad that they got to say a real goodbye this time. He knew how hard it had been for Maria when Alex had just died so abruptly. Maria had told him that she wished that she could have had the chance to tell him how much Alex meant to her. And now she could.

Michael looked at Max and Isabel but quickly looked away again.

Isabel's face was all covered up in tears and Max looked just like Michael felt. Which was not good.

They all sat away from each other, deep in their own thoughts. They sat like that for a while before they were interrupted by a sound of footsteps.

They all looked up and saw Alex coming into the room.

"Is everything alright?" Max asked worriedly.

"As alright as it could be, considering the consequences," Alex answered and tried to crack a smile. "I think maybe they need some alien-love though," he said, looking at Michael and Max.

"Yeah. Maybe we should go up there," Michael said.

Before Max had time to answer, Maria appeared in the room.

Michael took a step towards her and lightly touched her arm. To his surprise she pulled away from him and said quietly: "Would you just take me home, please?"

"Of course," Michael answered. He took her arm again and this time she didn't pull away. They took a few steps towards the exit before Maria turned around and flung herself into Alex's arms.

She apparently took him by surprise but Alex recovered quickly.

They hugged for a long time before they let go of each other. Michael couldn't stand to see the pain in Maria's eyes when she turned his way again.

Alex leaned in and whispered something in Maria's ear that Michael couldn't hear and then she came back to him.

She walked out of the Crashdown with fast steps and didn't even look back to see if Michael was following. But he was…

The drive to Maria's house was quiet and in some weird way that Michael couldn't describe, ucomfortable.

When they reached the house they got out of the car, but Maria stopped when they stood by the front door.

"If you don't mind I would like to be alone right now," she said, clearly avoiding looking him in the eyes.

"Of course," Michael said. "If that's what you want."

Maria fumbled with the lock on the door for a while before opening the door.

"Just remember that I'm here for you when you need me," Michael said pulling her into a hug. "You don't have to go through this alone you know," he continued. "And besides. I'm going to need you too, earthgirl."

"Yeah." That's all the response Michael got from Maria. One yeah.

But then what did he expect? She would let him help eventually, right?

Michael started the walk back to his place, and tried to shake of the feeling inside him. The feeling that said that things were never going to be the same again…

TBC...  If you want me to?