Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Twenty-Seven Reunited

Michael Guerin ran across the school grounds after Maria.
"Maria, would you wait a minute!" he called as soon as he got into shouting range. "I can explain everything, just give me a chance!" Maria stopped and whirled around.
"Give you a chance!" she yelled. "Give you a chance?" She poked him in the chest with her index finger. "I've had it up to here with giving you chances. I am so sick and tired of giving you second chances, Michael." She stepped closer to him and whispered, "Just play along."

Michael blinked, but didn't show his amazement in any other way.
"Look, Maria," he said. "You don't know what you are talking about.
"I don't know what I'm talking about?" demanded Maria. "Fine, let's just see what I don't know. Did you, or did you not take Liz Parker to the third floor eraser room?"
"I did, but it's not what you're thinking."
"Damn it, Michael, of course it's what I'm thinking. I'm not stupid you know."
"I didn't say you were stupid, Maria. Please, just give me a chance to explain," pleaded Michael.
"The only thing I'm going to give you is this," said Maria as she leaned in and slapped him across the face. "Is Liz okay?" she whispered as her hand connected with his face.

"Jesus, Maria. You're supposed to be Liz's best friend. She's going through a really rough time right now, and she just needed someone to talk to. It took a while, but I got her calmed down, that's all it was."
"Well, I'm just so glad that you have Liz Parker's welfare at heart," said Maria, her voice sarcastic. "It really makes me happy to know that. What, just because she lost Max to Tess, she thinks she can move in and try and steal MY boyfriend? And from where I'm standing, it doesn't look as if she had to work very hard to do it."

Michael, Maria, stop!" said Max as he walked across the lawn, with Tess by his side. "You're making a spectacle of yourselves.
"But Max," said Maria. "Do you know where he was with Liz? The eraser room!"
"What Liz does or doesn't do isn't any of my concern, Maria. I'm with Tess now," he added, putting his arm around her. "I'm sorry if you and Michael are having problems, but we have to do everything we can to not make spectacles of ourselves. You are both failing miserably."

Why don't you just mind your own business, Max," snapped Michael "I'm sick and tired of you playing the king, and trying to decide how I should live my life!"
"Stop it, the two of you, stop it right now," said Tess. "Michael, in case you are forgetting, he is your king," she added in an undertone. "Now both of you calm down."
"Tess Harding, please report to the office," echoed a disembodied voice over a loud speaker. "Tess Harding, report to the office, immediately."
"Oh, God!" said Tess, dramatically. "I wonder what that's all about?"
"I don't know," said Max. "But you better go see. Low profile, remember?"
"Fine, I'll go. Will I see you later, Max?"
"Uh, I, uh have to go with Michael to pick something up," he said, referring to the destiny book Tess wanted. "And I'm scheduled to work at the UFO Museum tonight, so I probably won't see you until tomorrow."
"Oh, okay," said Tess, brightening visibly at the thought of getting her hands on the book. "I'll see you later then, Max." She lifted her face to his, and waited expectantly. Max grimaced and bent down kissed her quickly on the lips.
"Bye, Tess, I'll see you later." He waited and watched until Tess was out of view. Max turned to Maria and Michael. "Okay, explain everything, and make it quick."

"Don't ask me," said Michael, holding his hands up. "I'm so far out of the loop on this one. All I know is I bumped into Liz in the hall, and she was totally freaked, so I took her to the eraser room to calm down."
"Right, and Pam Troy, that bitch, saw them and made it a point to come running and tell me," said Maria. Tess happened to over hear her, and it seemed like a good opportunity to make her think that there was no chance of you and Liz reconciling."
"Okay, that was a good idea," conceded Max. "But what about this scene? What was that all about?"

"That was my idea," said Kyle, proudly, as he, Alex, Liz and Isabelle joined the small group. "Tess really doesn't like or trust any of us, and I figured if we could make her thing that you were all pushing us away, or we were pushing you away, it might come in handy."
"She certainly believed it," said Max. "Hell, I believed it."
"You actually thought that there could be anything between my Space Boy and Liz. Come here, girlfriend," she said to Liz. "Are you alright?"

"I wasn't," said Liz, stepping into Maria's embrace. "Until Isabelle told me what was going on. Maria, I couldn't believe that you thought that I, that Michael, that we," said Liz. "I mean he would, I would, we would never do that!"
"I know that Liz. Do you honestly think that I would believe anything that Pam Troy said? Besides I trust the both of you. But Liz, sweetie, what happened to set you off like that?"

"It's complicated," said Liz, looking at Max. "I can't go into it here, especially since I'm no longer with Max, or your friend. Can you guys come to my room, tonight? I'll explain everything then."
"Liz, I really think you ought to give them the highlights," said Michael. "Maybe one of them will have an idea about what happened."
"Okay," said Liz. "Max," she turned to him. "Did what happened in the hall this morning really happen, or was I imagining it?" she asked.
"It happened," he said. "I could hear you, as clear as I can hear you now."
"Has this ever happened to you before? Can you talk to Michael, or Isabelle, or even Tess that way?"
"No, I've never experienced anything like that," said Max.

"That's what I was afraid of," said Liz. "Okay, short version, this morning, I was higher than a kite. I didn't think anything could ever bother me again. Then I saw Max and Tess in the hallway, and even though I could tell he was unhappy being with her, it still bugged me. I remember thinking to myself that I loved Max. All of a sudden, I could here Max's voice in my head, telling me he loved me. I thought I was hearing things, but then I heard his voice, telling me I wasn't. I freaked, I mean completely, and totally freaked. I took off running down the hall and crashed into Michael. He saw what bad shape I was in, and he took me someplace where I could calm down, and relax."
"The eraser room?" asked Alex.
"Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time," said Michael.

"Excuse me," said Liz. "But did you want the long version or the short, because we're wasting time here."
"Sorry," said Alex.
"Anyhow, Michael let me rant and rave and basically cry my eyes out, until I calmed down. That was when Pam showed up. After she left, I freaked out again, only this time, instead of crying, I was laughing hysterically. Michael compared it to someone who was manic, and he's right. First I was higher than high, then I felt like my world was destroyed, then I was higher than a kite again."

"After I calmed down again, I tried to talk to Michael the way I did with Max, but it didn't work. It was time for lunch, so we grabbed some food and went to find you and tell you what was going on."
"That was when I went into my big number," interjected Maria. "Chica, I'm sorry I couldn't clue you into what was going on, but there wasn't any time."
"It's okay, Maria. I get it. It was a good idea. I'm not mad. Look, before we go back to class, I want to try something. I want all of you to concentrate, and I'm going to try and tell you something. Is that okay with all of you?"

After everyone gave their approval, Liz closed her eyes and concentrated hard.
I hate Tess with every fiber of my being, she thought to herself.
I know you do, Liz. We all do, but don't worry, I'll protect you, with my life if necessary, Liz heard Max's voice echo in her head. Her eyes snapped open, and she looked around the circle comprised of her friends.
"Did anybody besides Max hear me?" she asked. They all shook their head, and she sighed. "Well, that's something," she said. "At least we know it's only me and Max, so far."
"Okay, well, everybody knows what's going on so far, and we're all going to meet tonight. We'd better get going, we only have ten minutes more of lunch period," said Max.

The group started walking back towards class, breaking up into smaller groups before they reached the quad. Kyle and Michael walked off towards the gym, while Isabelle, Maria and Max made their way towards the library. Liz and Alex wandered aimlessly for several minutes, talking about inconsequential things, enjoying the feel of the warm sun on their backs. The warning bell rang, signaling the start of classes in five minutes. They made their way past groups of students, heading back inside the school, when Liz stopped and made an abrupt U-turn.
"Liz, where are you going?" asked Alex. "We have trig next. Your going in the wrong direction."
"I just want to grab something to eat Alex. I'm starving, and I didn't get to eat any lunch today." She kept walking, and then stopped and looked back. "Are you coming?"
"What? Uh, yeah, yeah, I'm coming," said Alex, absentmindedly. He walked next to Liz, ignoring her chatter while his mind reviewed a passage from the destiny book.