A/N- I love my reviewers- you guys ROCK! Because I got all the reviews, this chapter is a lot longer than was previously intended. Please keep it up- reviews inspire me to go quicker and write better. Thank you again!

I sat in silence on my bed, my back leaning against the wall with my eyes closed. Liz's face appeared in the darkness and shadows of my mind. Happy and alive, she laughed, so vivid and real. I could still picture her as if it were just yesterday. Her picture still loomed in my mind, growing only slightly dimmer around the edges as the days got longer and the weeks passed from the time she'd left us.

We hadn't realized how much of a platform each one of us was for our group. With the absence of Liz and Alex, we seemed hollow. I knew it was why we'd broken apart so easily. We didn't have the glue of their love to cement us together anymore. They became empty gaps in our lives. Without Alex and Liz, it grew impossible for us to face each other anymore.

There was a knock on my door and my eyes flew open, turning my head toward the door. "Come in," I said reluctantly, already missing the silence of seclusion I'd had alone in my room.

The door pushed open and Tess's blonde head poked in, smiling before she pulled herself through the door and closed it behind her. She turned toward me, still smiling, standing awkwardly in the doorway with her hands in her pockets.

"Hey Max," she greeted. I could tell she wanted me to invite her in. She tried so hard and I often wondered exactly why.

"You can sit if you'd like," I said, motioning toward the vacant spot on the edge of my bed. A relieved look flooded her face. She walked over, kicked off her shoes, and sat cross-legged on the bed next to me. "So, what's up?" I asked.

She shrugged, the smile still etched on her face. "Not much, I just wanted to come and see how you're doing. Your mom let me up." She explained, looking down at her hands. "I've been kind of worried about you, Max. You've become so distant lately."

I looked at her sitting next to me, her frail form hunched over, and her blonde hair falling in her face. For a split second, I remembered what it had been like the night of Prom when she'd found me sitting in the dark hallway and we'd kissed. We'd been so close for that short time, and she'd completed me. I'd truly felt what I was destined to feel. With Liz's death, the feeling had been ripped away. I knew that she could see this, and at that moment I knew that she understood I was distant because of Liz.

Nevertheless, I shrugged my shoulders casually and shook my head. "Nothing is wrong. Just stress with school and all. You know how it goes." I reached over and turned on the CD player by my bed, grateful to fill up the silence with music.

"You've just been so quiet lately," she said, raising her eyes toward mine. "I don't know; I've just been worried."

"Well I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. I'm completely fine." I felt the smile stretching on my face. With one look at her I could tell she didn't believe the front that I put up.

"Look Max, you don't have to hide from me, you know. I'm here if you need me," she said, placing her hand over mine. I looked down at her small hand covering my own and sighed, feeling the warmth from her seeping into me.

I sensed the familiar twinge, rather than feeling it. My head quickly shot up and looked into her determined gaze. The memories began to flow and I wrenched my hand away, standing up from the bed. "Don't do that, Tess." I said, my eyes turning cold as I looked down at her. "Don't you ever do that again without my permission." I could see in her eyes the desperation. I knew she'd been looking for memories in order to find a way to break through to me.

Her face faltered slightly as she looked up at me, the fear from my hard tone obvious only for a split second before being masked. "I'm not doing ANYTHING, Max! Why are you so defensive with me? You used to let me in- I didn't have to ask for permission! Ever since she died, ever since then you've just been so guarded. Why won't you let me in? I'm trying so hard to get into you in any way possible. I'm sorry for doing that, but it's the only way I can connect to you anymore. We sure as hell aren't doing it on an emotional level."

Her voice sounded hurt, and for a moment I felt remorse for my hard words. I turned away. With my back to her I sighed. "Like you said, Tess, that was before. This is now."

"Why can't you just forget about her, Max?" Her voice pleaded, desperation seeping through her words. "Why must you constantly question the past?"

I spun around to look at her. "What?" I suddenly realized that in my memories she must have picked up on my hope of finding Liz once again.

"She's gone, Max. Why can't you just come to terms with that, let her be, and be with me? I've tried so hard and you just push me away. She's dead, Max. She's not coming back." Tess's eyes were dark and determined.

Her words tore through me but I wouldn't let her see that. I walked toward the door and opened it quickly, waving my hand in the direction of the hall. "You need to leave."

She stood from the bed, grabbing her shoes as she walked out into the hall. "You can push me out, Max, but it won't change the truth. Liz is gone. Sooner or later you're going to have to face the facts and accept your future... your destiny, Max." Her eyes stayed on mine as I slowly shut the door.

I leaned my weight against the door and let out the deep breath of air I'd been holding in my lungs. I closed my eyes, Liz's face appearing again. She had to be wrong. Liz couldn't be dead... not when I could still feel her so.

The next day

I walked up the path to the small, one level house. I knew I shouldn't be here, but I couldn't keep myself away. The shrubs around the house were overgrown and browned with the desert heat. Flowers lined the edge of the path, their petals wilting and dying. Weeds had overtaken the small garden that stood, suffocating the flowers and making the garden look shoddy and old. A passerby could have told that someone had once cared for them, but they'd been neglected with the passing of time. The love that had once been put into the exterior of the house was slowly fading away.

I reached the doorway and reached up, pressing the doorbell and waiting. I was nervous, but kept my head high. It was for Liz- everything was for Liz.

I heard the sound of locks being undone and the door swung open. Sean looked at me with surprised eyes. His look of surprise faded into annoyance as he stood staring at me, not saying a word.

"Hey... Sean," I said slowly. I hadn't expected the possibility that Maria wouldn't answer the door.

"What do you want, Evans?" Sean asked, the scorn evident in his words. Before Liz died, I knew that Sean had liked her. I knew that she may have told him things about me in the days when I didn't yearn for her. I knew that for a brief moment, he'd taken my place in her eyes. As he looked on me now, I was certain that he blamed me for a lot more than I could even comprehend.

"Uh, is Maria here?" I asked, my voice coming out weaker than I would have liked it to. I shoved my hands in my pocket as he stood glaring at me without a word.

"Let me just tell you something, Max," Sean said. He opened the screen door and stepped out onto the porch with me. He stood for a moment, the anger in his eyes before continuing. "If this were all about me, I would kick your ass right now and send you on your way. If this were about me, you'd have been six feet under a long time ago, that's for sure. But, this isn't about me. This is about Maria..." he paused, "and Liz." He opened the door and stepped in, "So, I guess it's not my decision." He held the door open and motioned for me to step inside. I didn't blame Sean for his words. I could see the sadness etched in his facial features and feel the sorrow in his soul.

I walked in and found the living room dark. Sean disappeared down a hallway and I heard him knock on Maria's door. I looked around the room as my eyes began to adjust. I'd been in the DeLuca house a few times in the past, but things had changed, somehow. There was such sadness in the house. I looked over on the mantle and saw a framed picture of Liz, Alex, and Maria. It was the same one that had been in the newspaper article the day of their deaths. The happiness in their eyes sent warmth into my heart.

I heard the rise and fall of voices from down the hall. Maria sounded upset and Sean sounded resigned and apologetic. The voices ceased and a few moments later, Maria appeared in the room. Her face was masked from any emotion as she looked at me.

"Hello Max," she said, her voice low as she looked at me. I hadn't spoken to Maria for months. She sighed and looked back at Sean with a glare before turning back toward me. "Come on," she said and began to walk toward the back door. I followed her out the door and slid it shut behind me.

She leaned her back against the railing of the deck and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, looking up at me. "You don't mind, do you?" She asked as she pulled out a cigarette. I shook my head and she quickly lit it, taking a deep drag. She turned, leaning her elbows on the railing. "God, I can't stand him constantly watching over me like that. I thought my mom was bad before, but Sean won't leave me the hell alone." She sighed, the smoke floating slowly up from her lips.

We stood in silence for a minute before I walked over and stood beside her, leaning my elbows on the railing and looking out at the backyard. "How have you been?" I asked, looking over at her. She too turned her head and our eyes were mere centimeters from each other. Up close, I could fully take in what Maria had become over the months. Her eyes had dulled with the sadness of loss and her hair looked limp and lifeless- nothing near the beauty it had held years before. Her skin held a pale, sad hue darkened only by the deep circles of sleepless nights under her eyes. I looked at her standing next to me and she looked... sad.

"Oh you know," she let out a low laugh and looked down at her hands, fiddling with her rings and tapping the cigarette on the edge of the deck. "You know how it goes." She looked into my eyes, knowing I would understand. She looked me over, considering my appearance. "Are you OK? You look tired."

I knew that "tired" was the nicest way she could regard my appearance. In the past days I'd slept very little, tossing and turning with thoughts of Liz. In the few moments I slept I dreamt only of her face, dark and masked, staring at me but speaking no words. I would wake up with chills running down my spine at the sadness and reserved look in her eyes. She looked alive but so isolated that it frightened me.

"Yeah," I nodded, "well I am tired, that's for sure." I closed my eyes, scrubbing them with my fingers before opening them again to look at her.

"It's Liz, isn't it?" She asked, reading my features. I nodded and she looked away. "I knew that's why you'd come. I've been waiting."

I paused, considering my words. Michael had asked me not to involve Maria, not to get her hopes up. I needed Maria on my side, though. If anyone could help me, it would be Maria- the person who cared deepest about Liz and Alex. I knew that if anyone would understand my need to hold onto hope, it would be Maria. "She comes to me at night, Maria." I said slowly.

She nodded. "Liz," she laughed, "Liz has haunted me since that night."

I continued, urging her on. "She comes to me in my dreams."

She turned toward me. "Look Max, I've dreamt about Liz too, but it doesn't mean anything. They're just dreams and dreams can never be reality. I can't even hope for what I want, because hoping and dreaming will never bring Liz and Alex back. I've had to face that and I'm finally getting used to the idea that they won't be back. We can't dream them back into reality, no matter how much we loved them." She shook her head, "it's just not possible. Dreams aren't real; God only knows how I wish they were."

"Maria, I've never dreamed about Liz before last week. She came to me, she spoke to me. She wants me to reconsider. She needs me to do this for her."

Maria looked into my eyes. Something unveiled and I saw a glimmer in her eyes for the first time. "Max, do you think..." her words trailed off. The cigarette had died down but she still held it in her hand, her eyes locked on mine. "Do you think it could be real?"

I took a breath and nodded. "I think it could be real."

I saw a tear form slowly in Maria's eye as she looked at me. As quick as the glimmer had appeared, it faded and she threw the cigarette down and wiped away her tear. She looked at me, the hardness again in her eyes. "Give it up, Max! Liz is dead. It's taken me so long to understand this. I wish you'd just leave me alone!" She walked quickly toward the door and slid it open but I caught her arm.

"How do you know, Maria? How do you know?" I asked quickly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sean coming toward us and I knew I didn't have much time.

"How do I know?" Maria exclaimed and laughed. "Liz always talks to me Max. She talks about all these places she's been bound to, places she's been stuck. Don't you get it? She wants us to let her go! Liz speaks to me so I'll forget her so please Max, please just let me forget her." The tears fell freely down her face and her words came out in choked and choppy syllables.

Suddenly the words clicked in my mind and I tightened my grip around her arm as she tried to pull away. I spoke slowly and firmly. "Bound with all the weight of all the words he tried to say, chained to all the places that he never wished to stay… as he faced the sun he cast no shadow."

Her arm became limp in my hands and she stopped, turning toward me slowly. Her eyes were wide, the tears still falling down her cheeks. "How do you know that?" She whispered, looking at me.

I ran my finger over her cheek as Sean looked at the two of us standing in the doorway. I smiled, wiping away her tears. "Because, Maria, Liz doesn't want to get lost in the shadows."