Thanks for reviewing Kirstills, rainrose, and Ashley! :)

Ashley- Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story, I thought it would be good to get both ponts of view instead of just one. :)

rainrose- Don't worry, Max and Liz will end up together- I'm a total Max/Liz fan too. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story. :) Thanks for your comments!

Kirstills- I love Friends and Will and Grace too. :) I only watched Young Americans a couple of times, but I thought it was good too. :) Thanks for the feedback!

Anyways, I finally updated. :) I tried to make it longer since I hadn't written in a while. I hope you guys all enjoy the next part!

Maria and Isabel exchanged looks, not knowing what to say.

"Max..." Isabel tried. "It's just going to hurt you. Why don't you forget this happened and move on?" Max glanced at his sister briefly, considered what she said for a minute, then returned his gaze to Maria.

"Who's the guy?" He repeated. Isabel frowned.

"Fine, don't listen to me." She said and stood up. "You're just going to hurt yourself." As she walked away, Alex quickly stood to follow her.

"I'm just going to... leave you two alone." He said and hastily made his exit. Maria frowned lightly, it figured that Isabel and Alex would leave her alone to do the hard stuff. Max watched her intently.

"Well...?" He prompted.

"Oh, right." Maria attempted to smile, but failed. "So, um, Liz has been, you know, in Capeside for how long now? About 3 weeks I guess, almost a month...." Maria paused to think.

"She's been gone for 3 weeks and 4 days exactly." Max put in. Maria looked up at him, surprised.

"Wow, Max! You've been counting!" She exclaimed in awe. "I didn't think you would... I mean not that you wouldn't, I just figured that... I dunno, I guess that you'd have something better to do with your time." Max's eyes narrowed slightly, as if hurt by that statement. Maria quickly realized her mistake. "Oh, not that you have no life!" She blurted. "But you're just so busy worrying about Liz..." She winced. "I mean, about how she's doing and stuff, not like you're worrying about her as in obsessed with her..." 'Although it does seem to get close to stalker-dom.' She thought to herself.

"Maria." Max sighed. "Get back to the point."

"Right." Maria took a deep breath. "Well, Liz has been gone for, 3 weeks and 4 days," She smiled slightly at Max, in an attempt to ease the tension. "And it's only natural that she makes some friends, right? I mean, she has a cousin and her cousin has friends and so she met them and they all became friends." Max nodded. "So, one of these friends is named Pacey, and he's been really nice to Liz." Max frowned. "She says that..." Maria hesitated. "She says that they've become pretty close, as friends." At this Max felt slightly relieved. 'They're friends.' He thought to himself. 'Just friends. And hopefully that doesn't change at all.'

"Is that all?" Max asked. Maria seemed surprised.

"Is that all?" She repeated. "You're not like, jealous or anything?" Max shrugged.

"Why should I be? They're just friends." He said.

"Yeah, for now!" Maria blurted. "I mean, it's just that Pacey is so hot...." She winced. "To some people." She added. Max raised his eyebrows.

"I'm going over there." He decided.

"What?" Maria asked, wanting to make sure she had heard him correctly.

"I'm driving to Capeside so I can see Liz and explain everything to her."

"Max! That's crazy!" Isabel stated. She had wandered back to the table.

"Romantic," thought Maria. "But crazy!" She added at Isabel's glare.

"I don't care." Max declared. "I need to see Liz, there's a part of me that's just been dead since she left... I need to see her. I know you guys probably think I'm a psycho or something, but she left before she really knew the truth... Tess and I aren't together, we never will be." He paused. "I love Liz, and that will never change, no matter what." Everyone was silent for a minute.

"Max..." Isabel sighed. Max turned to look at her, his face clearly showing that his mind was made up. "Don't go alone." She advised. "I'll go with you." Max smiled, glad that she was supporting him.

"Hey!" Alex cried out. "You can't just leave me and Maria here... we're Liz's best friends!" Maria nodded in agreement.

"That's right. We deserve to go see her, after all we miss her too." Max sighed and nodded.

"Fine. You can come. But we're leaving tonight, I don't want to wait any longer than I already have."

"Leaving to go where?" Michael asked as he and Tess approached the group.

"Capeside." Maria answered. Michael remembered hearing about Capeside, but he couldn't remember why... "We're going to visit Liz." Maria told him.

"Liz?" Tess asked. She glanced at Max and could see the determination written all over his face. "So I guess that means that you..." She trailed off. "Have fun." She replied and stalked out of the cafe.

"Max?" Michael interrupted the following silence. "Do you know what you're doing?" Max nodded.

"Michael, I have to see her. I have to talk to her, to explain everything..." Michael waved his hands.

"All right, all right. I get that, but it wasn't what I was talking about." Michael paused, waiting. Max just looked at him, clueless. "Aw, c'mon man! You're not even going to invite me?" Max smiled at this.

"You're free to come if you want to." He added. "Besides, everybody else just invited themselves." Michael grinned.

"Well, thank you for the invitation Max... I'll go. When are we leaving?"

"Half an hour." Max decided. Isabelle and Maria's eyes widened in protest.

"Max!" Maria exclaimed.

"How can you expect us to pack and be ready in half an hour?" Isabelle cried.

"As much as I hate to, I have to agree with the girls... that is kinda short." Alex agreed. Max shrugged.

"Then you'd better hurry." Was all he said as he walked out the door, everyone but Michael scrambling after him. Michael grinned.

"Road trip!" He exclaimed before joining the others.

Joey Potter sat down on the couch to think. Finally she had some peace and quiet, not to mention alone time, which was all too rare in the house/bed and breakfast. Bessie and Liz had gone grocery shopping, taking Alex along with them, and Bodie was off working. The last few weeks, with Liz living there, had been slightly different. That wasn't to say that Joey disliked her cousin's presence, but she did find herself feeling slightly bothered by her cousin's sudden interest in her friends- OK that wasn't the whole truth, it wasn't all her friends, for the most part it was Pacey. Joey sighed. Pacey, Pacey was an enigma to her. Sometimes he could be the sweetest guy in the world, other times he could exchange barbs with her as if it was nothing, sometimes he could be a jerk, and sometimes he almost seemed to show his true emotions, as if what he felt for Joey was more than friendship. Of course since Liz's arrival he hadn't spent much time around Joey, or anybody but Liz really. Joey felt slightly jealous, but she couldn't help it. She convinced herself that she missed talking to Pacey. She missed their close friendship- that was all. Joey also reminded herself that Pacey was just being friendly to Liz, especially since they seemed to have developed a strong friendship. However none of this could stop her from occasionally glancing in their direction during movie night and feeling a twinge of jealousy.

Suddenly someone knocked on the door. Joey sighed and slowly stood to go answer it. She opened the door to reveal Pacey.

"Pacey!" Joey smiled. "What are you doing here?" Pacey smiled in return.

"Uh, I just thought I'd stop by... see how you were all doing." He paused and looked at Joey. "Can I come in?" Joey blushed slightly.

"Of course." She stepped back to allow him to enter. "Um, Bessie took Liz and Alex out grocery shopping." She told him. Pacey nodded.

"So you're home alone?" He concluded. Joey nodded, wondering if that meant he'd want to leave. "So..." He began, trying to think of something to say. Joey beat him to it.

"Why don't we talk anymore, Pace?" She blurted out. Pacey seemed taken aback by her abruptness.

"What?"

"I mean, we talk... I guess we always talk, but not like we used to. You're always hanging around Liz, not that I resent it or anything because she needs a friend and I'm glad that you're her friend because at least then I know she's got a good one, but..." Joey paused to collect her thoughts. "I guess I just mean, I miss us hanging out. Talking, bickering, everything. It just seems like you're not around anymore, Pace."

"I'm always around, Potter." Pacey said seriously. "And you know that if you ever want to talk, I'll be there for you." Joey nodded, smiling slightly.

"I know. But we haven't truly conversed in a good while. We need to hang out more often, like we used to." Pacey nodded in total agreement.

"Yeah." He paused. "You know, I kinda missed hanging around you too, Potter." He said affectionately. "I guess I've just been hanging around Liz a lot, not to mention the jam packed movie nights... Is it me or is Dawson getting even more obsessed with Spielberg?" Joey grinned.

"It's not just you." She plopped herself down on the couch, Pacey took the seat next to her. "He's been rearranging his room to make room for new additions to the Spielberg Shrine." Pacey snickered.

"The Spielberg Shrine? Honestly, Jo, sometimes I am amazed at how deep his fixation is." Joey nodded in agreement.

"He even talked about having a movie night the night of the Capeside Cotillion." Pacey shook his head.

"Now if that's not blasphemy, I don't know what is." He said sarcastically. Joey smiled, and was hesitant before continuing.

"If he doesn't go, Pace... I won't have a date." She said, a slight hinting tone in her voice. Pacey understood her.

"Ah, and what a crime that would be." He quipped. Joey frowned somewhat.

"Pacey..."

"I know." He paused. "I guess the polite thing would be for you to go with a friend then." Joey nodded, looking at him imploringly. "Joey, would you like..." The doorbell rang, interrupting him mid-sentence. They looked at each other for a second before Pacey stood. "I'll get that." He offered. Joey nodded.

"It might be Bessie and Liz!" She shouted as he opened the door to uncover a group of 5 people who appeared to be around his age.