Author: X_tremeroswellian

Email: X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Rating: R for language, adult situations, and sexual content

Spoilers: Up through "Blood Brothers" and some for the book series.

Author's Note: This is the 7th part of an 11 part series. If you haven't read the first 6 parts, I would do so before reading this part, because otherwise everything will be very confusing.

Matters of Trust (Part Seven)

Liz waited on Michael's door step impatiently, anger building deep inside her. He opened the door and stared at her in surprise.

She didn't give him a chance to speak. "How could you tell Maria? You promised you wouldn't say anything, Michael!"

"I didn't tell Maria anything. I thought you told her."

"Well, I didn't, and neither did Alex. That leaves you."

"Liz, I promised I wouldn't tell anyone, and I haven't," he said honestly.

"Then if you didn't say anything, and I didn't say anything and Alex didn't say anything, how did Maria find out?"

Michael's eyes narrowed. "Isabel." He set his jaw. "She must have walked into one of our dreams."

Liz burst into tears and covered her face with her hands. Michael stared at her for a moment and then placed a hand on her shoulder. He lead her inside his trailer and over to the couch. When she was sitting, he went and grabbed a handful of tissues and handed them to her.

"Thank you," she said, wiping her eyes.

"You're welcome." He didn't know what else to say to her, but he felt another wave of sympathy for her rush over him.

"You don't think she'll tell Max, do you?" Liz asked fearfully.

Michael sat down next to her. "I don't think so. I don't know." He bit his lip. "Why are you so afraid of him finding out, anyway?"

Liz looked away. "When Max told me about you, and I told Maria, weren't you ever afraid that we might see you guys as freaks?"

Michael felt the breath catch in the back of his throat. "But you didn't. And that's not how I see you now. And neither would Max if you'd just give him the chance."

She shook her head. "I can't tell him."

"Why not?"

She stood up. "When Max healed me, we formed this connection. When I found out he got flashes of my life, it kind of scared me. So Max reversed the connection so I could see flashes of his life. And that's why I can't tell him. You didn't see what I saw, Michael." Liz walked to the door.

"Liz, I've known Max for a really long time. The guy's been crazy about you for as long as I can remember. Nothing's going to change that."

Liz remembered the feel of Max's strong arms holding her protectively last night. Would he even want to touch me if he knew the truth? she wondered. I can't take that chance. She turned to leave. "I have to go."

Michael sighed and watched her leave.

Isabel opened the front door and blinked in surprise. "Michael. Why are you using the door?"

"We need to talk." His eyes darkened with anger. "Are your parents here?"

"No, they're away for the weekend. Why?"

He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "You can't just go walking into people's dreams for fun."

"That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I didn't do it for fun, Isabel. I thought Liz was going to turn us in. She wasn't. End of story. Or at least it should have been," he said angrily.

"I didn't walk into Liz's dream," she said honestly.

"No, but you walked into Alex's to find out what was going on with her. That's just as bad, if not worse."

"Wait, how did you know I walked into Alex's dream?"

"Because Maria confronted Liz."

"Maria told Liz?" she demanded.

"Of course not. Maria wouldn't break her promises," Michael snapped. "Liz and I figured it out."

"She knows?"

"Yeah, she knows. And don't be surprised if Liz tells Alex!"

"But-she can't! Alex doesn't know about us!"

"Yes, he does. Max told him."

"What?"

"You're going to have to get control over your recreational powers, Isabel, before one of them decides to turn on us because of you!"

"Well, what about you, Michael? Since when do you care about Liz or Maria or Alex, or any human for that matter?"

"I don't have to answer to you, Isabel."

"You do, Michael! We've been friends forever. You, me, and Max--we've always stuck together and now all of a sudden, you're keeping secrets from us!"

"Because it didn't have anything to do with you or Max, or me, for that matter! And maybe because these humans have the opportunity to destroy us if we mess up!"

Isabel saw right through that one. "Uh-uh. No way. There's something else you're not saying."

Michael glared at her. He hated that she could tell so easily when he was lying. "Don't you ever feel like you need someone else besides me and Max in your life? Maybe I'm tired of only going to the two of you when you don't understand me."

"And suddenly Liz, Maria and Alex understand you?"

"Let's just say maybe I have more in common with them than I thought, all right?"

"What are you not saying, Michael?"

"What's going on?" Max asked, coming down the stairs in a t-shirt and sweatpants, rubbing his eyes.

Isabel and Michael glared at one another.

"Michael, what are you doing here?" Max asked in confusion.

"Leaving," he answered shortly. He stormed out the front door.

Max looked at Isabel. "What was that all about?"

"That was just Michael being Michael," she answered. She ran up the stairs to her room, and slammed the door.

Max stood at the stairs, unable to decide what to do. The doorbell rang. Max walked over and answered it.

Alex Whitman stood in front of him, looking more angry than Max had ever seen him. "Is Isabel here?"

"She's in her room--" Max started.

Alex walked inside the house without waiting for an invitation and headed for the stairs. "Which door?"

"Second on the left," Max replied. Alex took the steps two at a time.

Alex knocked on her door hard. "Max, go away!" she shouted. He flung the door open and glared at her.

She stared at him in shock. "Alex!"

He closed the door behind him. "Liz told me what you did." His face was beet red.

Isabel stood up. "Alex, let me explain."

"Save it, Isabel! I don't care what your reasons were! You invaded my privacy! You invaded Liz's privacy! It was none of your damned business!"

Isabel swallowed hard. Alex was actually yelling at her. She'd never seen him so angry. "Alex--"

"Shut up! What the hell gives you the right? Just because you're not human, you think you have the right to mess with people's minds? That being an alien makes you God? Well, you're wrong!"

Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to--"

"Save it for someone who gives a damn, Isabel. Because I sure as hell don't!" he shouted. He left the room, slamming the door behind him. Isabel burst into tears.

Liz carried two orders to her table when she looked up and saw her uncle staring at her, a strange smile on his face. She swallowed hard and forced herself to focus on her job.

"Lizzie, when you get a minute, we need to talk," he said. He disappeared into the kitchen.

Liz felt dread build within her as the front door bell tinkled. She turned to look. Kyle waved at her and slid into a booth. She walked over to him. "Hi. Can I get you something?"

He watched her for a moment. "You busy?"

She glanced around the nearly empty diner, then shook her head. She slid into the booth across from him. "What's up?"

"I'm worried about you, Liz."

"Why?"

"Well, for one, you're trembling," he said.

Liz gazed down at the table.

"And you look like you're about to cry," he added softly, reaching across the table and taking her hand. He squeezed it gently. "Did Max do something to you?"

She met his eyes. "Of course not. Kyle, Max would never hurt me."

"I didn't really think so, but I had to make sure. Because if he had, I'd have to kill him." He squeezed her hand. "So, if it's not Max, then what's going on?"

Liz pulled her hand away from him. "I just haven't been sleeping well, Kyle. That's all. I have to get back to work, okay?"

He nodded and Liz stood up.

"Lizzie, I really need to talk to you," her uncle called from the back.

Kyle stood up to go, just as the other customers were leaving. If he left, Liz would be there, alone, with her uncle.

She grabbed his arm. "Kyle, wait. Let me get you your usual, okay? On the house for being such a good friend."

Had she not sounded so desperate, Kyle would have left. Instead, he sat back down. "Okay. I never turn down free food."

She smiled in relief. "If I'm not back in two minutes, come back and get me, okay?"

Kyle looked into her eyes. Something had her terrified. He nodded. "Two minutes. Got it."

"Thank you," Liz whispered. She walked slowly to the back. Her uncle was nowhere in sight. She turned to go back out front when suddenly, he jumped out from behind the door. "Boo!"

She gasped. "You scared me!"

"I know." He grinned and stepped towards her. She backed up until she was against the wall with no where else to go. Uncle Charlie put his hands on the wall on both sides of her and brought his face close to hers. "How's my special niece? We haven't seen much of each other since I came back. Haven't had a chance to catch up."

Liz shrunk away. "Nothing to catch up on."

"Oh, really? Who's that boy you've been spending so much time with? What's his name? Max?" he asked huskily. "Hope he hasn't replaced me. You guys seem awfully serious."

"Max is a friend. A good friend," Liz said, trembling as her uncle stepped closer to her.

"So you two haven't-?" he asked, pressing his body against hers. She felt his hardness pressing against her stomach and suddenly she felt like she was going to be sick. "Do you remember what to do when a man says he wants you, Lizzie?" He lowered his hand to her leg, brushing against the inside of her thigh.

Liz shoved him away with all her strength and he stared at her in surprise. "Don't touch me!" she said shrilly.

"That's no way to treat your uncle. Your parents wouldn't think so, either."

"I doubt they'd care if they found out what you did!"

"What did I do?" he asked innocently. "I'm just showing my niece how much I love her. Nothing wrong with that. Besides, your parents love me. They wouldn't believe you even if you told them."

"Don't be so sure," she warned.

"So what? You've got a boyfriend and now you can't let any other man touch you?" he demanded. "I have news for you, Lizzie. That Max kid only wants your body."

"You're wrong," she said shakily. "Max doesn't see me that way."

He laughed, his eyes flashing. "Of course that's how he sees you. That's how every man sees you. He sees you just like everyone else, for the little whore that you are!"

"That's enough! Who the hell are you?" Kyle demanded, stepping into the back, and glaring at her uncle.

Uncle Charlie glared at him. "Who the hell are you?" he retorted.

"Liz, are you all right?" Kyle asked, stepping over to her. She nodded, unable to speak. Kyle took her hand and lead her back to the door. "I don't know who you are, but if you don't get the hell out of here, I'm calling my dad."

"Ooh, your dad. I'm so worried."

Kyle let go of Liz's hand and stepped up to him. "Liz is a good friend of mine," he said evenly. "And I just witnessed you harassing her. My dad is the sheriff. You do the math."

Her uncle took a step away from him and remained silent.

Kyle glared at him for a full thirty seconds, his eyes never leaving her uncle's. Then he turned, grabbed Liz's hand, and pulled her out into the front of the resturaunt.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Kyle asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks," Liz said, her voice shaky.

"Liz, who was that guy?"

"My uncle," she whispered.

Kyle stared at her. "Your uncle?"

She nodded. "Kyle, I really hate to ask you this, but could you stay here until I'm off work? I don't want to be here alone."

"Liz, that's not a problem," he said.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." He took a seat at the counter.

"All right, Izzy, spill it. First you and Michael are fighting, and then Alex storms in here and storms back out within five minutes. I want to know what's going on," Max said, looking at Isabel, and folding his arms across his chest.

"Nothing," she lied.

"Isabel," he warned, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," she repeated.

The doorbell rang. "You're not off the hook," Max said as he hurried downstairs and answered the door. "Maria," he said in surprise.

"Hey. Is Isabel here?" Maria asked nervously, shifting uncomfortably.

"She's in her room," Max answered, stepping aside to let her in. Maria headed for the stairs.

"Maria, wait a minute," he said suddenly.

She froze in her tracks. "Yeah?"

"Is everything all right with Liz? I mean, she's been kind of upset lately."

"I-uh-Liz-she's, um, she's...uh..."

"She's not been talking to Maria, either," Isabel said quickly, standing on the stairs.

"Right," Maria agreed. Isabel grabbed her arm and they ran up the stairs.

Max stared after them. "All right. Enough games," he said aloud. He picked up the telephone and dialed a number.

"Kyle, can you grab the phone?" Liz called as she carried a plate of food to a customer.

"Yeah, sure," he called back. Kyle snatched up the reciever. "Crashdown Cafe. Can I help you?"

"Uh, yeah, is Liz there?" the voice asked.

"Yeah, but she's with some customers right now. Is this Max?" Kyle asked.

"Uh, yes."

"This is Kyle Valenti."

"Oh. Uh..."

"I'm worried about Liz."

Max sighed. "Yeah, so is everyone else."

"She won't talk to you about it?" Kyle asked in surprise.

"She won't talk to anyone."

Kyle bit his lip and glanced over at her. She was taking some more orders. "Listen, Max, are you going to be home for awhile?"

"Yeah."

"Liz gets off at 3. If it's all right, I'm going to drive her over to your place after her shift, okay? I don't think it's a good idea for her to be alone right now."

There was a pause. "Kyle, why are you doing this?" Max asked hesitantly.

"Because I care for her. I don't want to see her hurt."

Another long pause. "Yeah, it's fine if you want to drive her over here. I was calling to see if I could pick her up after work, anyway."

"Good." Kyle paused. "Max, I just want you to know that I had nothing to do with what happened to you a few weeks ago. You know, with Paulie and Tommy and those guys. I didn't set that up or anything."

"I didn't think so," Max replied.

"Okay. So I'll drop her off at your place after work."

"Okay. Thanks, Kyle."

"Yep." Kyle hung up the telephone and his gaze trailed back to Liz. "Anything for you, Liz," he whispered to himself. "Anything for you."

Alex ran into Michael on the sidewalk on the way to Max and Isabel's.

"You headed to Max's?" Michael asked, frowning.

Alex frowned back. "You too?" Alex figured Max was just mad at him for upsetting Isabel.

"Yeah, he said it was important. I thought it was going to be about our past. Apparently not if he invited-" he cut himself off.

"Outsiders?" Alex finished tensely.

"You," Michael responded.

They didn't say anything else as they walked up to the house. Alex rang the bell and Max opened the door promptly, and stepped aside to let them in.

"Maxwell," Michael greeted him. His gaze was immediatly drawn to Maria, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor. Her eyes darkened when she saw him and she looked away. He glanced at Isabel, sitting to Maria's left, on the couch. She wouldn't meet his gaze, either.

Michael suddenly had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. The only one not there was Liz, but he had a feeling she'd be there soon, too, and that she was the reason for this meeting. He looked at Max and pulled him aside. "What is this? Sabotage?"

Max blinked in surprise. "No. It's we've all lost communication with one another and we need to re-establish it before something bad happens."

Michael glanced at Maria, who was glaring at Alex. Alex was glaring back. The tension in the room was so volatile, Michael feared there'd be an explosion.

The doorbell rang. Max opened the door for Liz, who stepped inside. "So, what's going on, Max?" she asked, looking into his dark eyes. She suddenly realized that they weren't alone and her gaze swept around the room, looking over at each person one at a time.

A wave of panic hit her. She met Michael's eyes and he shook his head slightly. Max doesn't know, she realized as short-term relief washed over her. Then she noticed how all of her friends were glaring at one another.

Alex looked ready to kill Isabel. Isabel glared back. Maria glared at Michael, who glared at Isabel. Max had a look of total confusion on his face.

"All right. I want to know what's going on here," Max said, glancing from one person to the next. His gaze landed on his sister. "Isabel?"

She met Alex's icy stare with one of her own. "Some people just need to be more understanding about why we do the things we do under the circumstances."

"Yeah, so instead of just asking, you think it's okay to just invade someone's privacy?" Alex shot back.

"Maybe it wouldn't have mattered because maybe someone did ask!" Maria said, jumping to Isabel's defense.

"Maybe it was none of your busines," Michael said, glaring at Maria and Isabel.

"Coming from you that's a bit hypocritical, don't you think?" Isabel demanded.

"It all comes down to matters of trust," he answered darkly.

"I asked you what was going on. You refused to tell me!" Isabel cried, jumping to her feet.

"Because it had nothing to do with you!" he said, raising his voice.

"But it does! If one of our friends is in trouble, some of us would like to know!" Maria said angrily. Michael could almost feel daggers shooting from her eyes.

"It wasn't up to you to know," Alex said, glaring at Maria. "If that person wanted you to know, that person would have told you! But obviously some people don't think some of us are trustworthy enough to be honest with, so now how does it feel?"

"When did you turn into such a jerk?" Isabel demanded. "I thought you were a nice guy."

"I am a nice guy, Isabel. But I won't allow myself to be used by you anymore!"

"I wasn't trying to use you, Alex. I was trying to find out what was wrong!"

"Oh, innocent little Isabel," Alex mocked.

"That's enough," Michael said sharply.

"Okay. What about you?" Maria said suddenly. She locked eyes with him. "You've known since the beginning! You used the same tactics Isabel did, but that's okay?"

"It's completly different."

"Oh, really? How?" she demanded.

"I was doing it because I was afraid of us getting caught by Valenti!"

"So much for trust," Maria shot at him.

"You know what? You're right. I don't trust anyone here anymore," he said, glaring at her. A quick flash of pain passed over her eyes, but then quickly disappeared.

"Well, that makes two of us. Because I don't trust anyone here now, either. Least of all you," she said cooly.

Her words stung, but Michael didn't let it show.

"So, what, Michael? You don't trust Max and I either?" Isabel demanded.

Michael remained silent.

"Well, great, Michael! Wonderful!" Isabel said. She burst into tears for the second time that day.

Maria tried to put an arm around her to comfort her, but Isabel pushed her away.

"I am doing my best here, okay? Isabel, I'm sorry," Michael said.

"Well, you should be," Maria said darkly. "You're the one who started all this."

"Me? What about you, Maria? You've never screwed up before? You think you're so perfect?"

"Newsflash, no one here is perfect," Alex cut in.

"Oh, that's the statement of the century," Isabel said sarcastically, wiping away her tears.

"Hey, you don't have to be rude," Maria said quickly, looking at the hurt on Alex's face.

"Stay out of it," Isabel answered, glaring at her.

Suddenly, Liz plunged herself in the middle of the four of them. "Stop it! Everyone stop fighting!" she cried, tears springing to her eyes.

The room fell dead silent and everyone stared at her.

"Don't you see what's happening? Look at you guys. You're ready to kill one another!" Her voice dropped. "And it's my fault." She turned to look at Max, her heart sinking. She brushed a tear off her cheek. "Max, I need to talk to you alone."

He nodded silently and he reached his hand out to her. Liz reached her hand out and held onto his tightly. And as they left the room, no one moved. No one said a word. They wouldn't even look at each other.

Go to Part 8