As she drifted back to consciousness, Liz could feel something warm up against her. He was breathing softly, and his arms were tightly clamped around her waist. She opened her eyes to figure out where she was. She didn't have to look at his face; she could feel that it was Max. His eyes opened and he looked at her. He watched her attempting to sit up, but falling back down as the pain in her head was too strong. She hadn't yet realised he was awake, so he lay silently next to her, as a smile crept up on his face. A hand went to her forehead, as if by some miracle it would suppress the pain. She had no memory of last night, but waking up next to Max meant that it was probably not good. She rolled over to find him smiling goofily at her.
"Oh god!" was all that came out of her mouth. His smile now turned to laughter as she attempted to hide under the blankets. A muffled voice was saying something, but he couldn't understand it.
"What?"
She crawled out of the blanket and threw herself onto the pillow, wanting answers, but afraid of what the boy next to her had to say.
"Was I really that bad last night that you had to put me to bed?"
"Well, I have definitely seen you dance better!"
"Oh god!" She was back under the covers again, trying to hide from the outside world.
"Liz, you have to get up. Have a shower and some breakfast and you'll feel better!"
"Would that involve natural light?"
"Possibly!"
"No, it burns, it burns!"
He pulled the cover off her and threw them to the end of the bed. "Liz, you have to get up and open the Crashdown!"
"Can't you do it? Please?"
"Fine, but you have to have a shower and breakfast!"
"I didn't do anything last night that I should regret this morning, did I?"
"Not that I'm aware of!"
"Thanks."
"Sure, now get up!"
"Sweetie, what the hell happened to you last night?"
Liz was coming down the stairs as Maria was walking out of the kitchen. She had a hand on her forehead and wasn't walking entirely straight.
"Vodka, Wild Turkey and possibly some Jack Daniels!"
"You got drunk?"
"Either that or a piano was dropped on my head!"
"You got drunk without me?"
"It was more of a lone, drowning my sorrows kind of drunk, not a party drunk!"
"So, I would have helped you!"
"I had enough help!"
"What?"
Maria followed Liz's gaze out the door and to the booth with Max and Michael. Max looked like he hadn't slept for days, and Michael as well, but this was natural with him.
"I'm missing something here!" She pulled Liz over to the couch and sat down, eager for more.
"I don't remember, and he wouldn't tell me what I did, but I woke up this morning and I had been using him as a pillow!"
"Oh my God! You two didn't!"
"No, don't worry, nothing happened!"
"How can you be so sure? You just said that you couldn't remember any of it!"
"We had our clothes on when we woke up Maria!"
"Okay, this whole Max just 'happening' to be in the area every time something happens to you is a little too coincidental if you ask me!"
"Maria, my head hurts! Please don't force me to think about this!"
She walked over to her locker, picked up some pills and handed them to Liz.
"Here, take these, you should feel better by lunch time!"
"You're a goddess Maria, thank you!"
They walked out into the restaurant area and Maria headed strait for the booth they were previously staring at.
"Max, can I talk to you for a moment?"
"I'm late for work."
"Please, it'll just be a few minutes?"
"How about lunch time?"
"Fine!"
"Thanks, bye guys!"
He exited the café as Maria sat down next to Michael. He was looking at her curiously, wanting to know what was going on.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Why do you have to talk to him so urgently?"
"Um, sorry but its private!"
"God, first Liz, then Tess, and now you. How does he do it?"
"Excuse me?"
"Max kissed Tess!"
"WHAT? WHEN?"
"Yesterday, now focus on me, what is so important?!"
"I can't believe him! And just when Liz was starting to…Agh!"
"Is this about my birthday?"
"No!"
"You do know that it's coming up in a few weeks right?"
"Doesn't mean this is about you!"
"Whoa, what's wrong?"
"Nothing!" She stormed out of the booth and into the employee lounge. There was brief silence, then a sudden growl that ricocheted through the café.
"Hey Brodie!"
"Maria, hi!"
"Here's your lunch!"
"Oh, thanks! Listen, I was wondering if some time you would want to…"
"Is Max around?"
"What, oh yeah, he's in the storage room!"
"Thanks!"
"Yeah, sure!"
Max was sorting through files as Maria stormed into the room. He went to take a sip of his coffee when she hit him in the head, causing him to gulp down the boiling liquid.
"Ouch!"
"How could you do this to Liz?"
"What?"
"Your supposed to be some alien king fighting for a dieing race, but as soon as it becomes too much work to fight to get Liz back, you turn straight to Tess!"
"Maria, what are you talking about?"
"You kissed Tess!"
"What, who told you that?"
"My non boyfriend Michael, also known as Spaceboy!"
"I did not kiss Tess!"
"Yes you did!"
"She kissed me, I pulled away then ran, which led to me finding a drunk Liz!"
"Sure she did, you just couldn't wait for Liz to come around so you settled on something that was far from the next best thing! President Bush would have been better than Tess! God, Alex would have been better than Tess, and easier to explain!"
"Maria, she kissed me! I promise you! I love Liz! Why do u think I stayed there all last night?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
"Thank God! I thought the world was upside down!"
"Does Liz know?"
"No, I wanted her to hear it from you!"
"I went to tell her last night, but she was too drunk, she wouldn't of remembered it!"
"What happened last night?"
"Long story!"
"I got an hour off, entertain me!"
"Liz, I just thought of something?"
"What?"
"This whole future Max thing, you said he disappeared when he no longer existed in the future right?"
"Alex, I don't really want to talk about it!"
She collected her books and started for her room, with him following like a shadow.
"Well, I was just thinking that, maybe because he came and got you to pretend to sleep with Kyle, it changed the future on its own, so if you and Max did get back together, it may not end the world now!"
"Or maybe it still will, but just sooner! I really don't want to talk about this; I have heaps of studying to do."
"Hey yeah, or maybe it will take longer, so we'll all get like two more years or something!"
"Alex! Please, I don't…"
"Want to talk about it, yeah I know. I just don't like seeing you this miserable. And you being miserable leads to Maria being miserable which then leads to me being miserable! It's all a vicious circle!"
"Yep, the worlds out to get you!"
"Liz, I know that he loves you just as much as you love him, and drowning your feelings in tequila isn't the best way to solve all your problems!"
Tears started to stream down her face. He looked at her in concern, soon his arms were around her waist, holding her close. He was warm and strong, but they were not the arms she wished to be comforted in.
"Alex, what have I done?"