Discalimer: I OWN NOTHING!

A/N: So here is the next chapter. Thanks to Magali for suggesting I post this on Candy is Dandy, which I did. I am planning on posting here first though, so if you really want to see the future chapters come here first!

Max knocked on Maria's door. From within he heard Maria croak "It's open", and he entered to find Maria in her living room with Counting Crows playing and a tub of ice cream sitting in front of her.

"Maria?" he went into the room cautiously. She looked up to him with red-rimmed eyes. "What happened?"

She sniffed and ran the heel of her hand under her eyes before answering "I just got off my first shift with Michael" and that was all the explanation Max needed. "I know I'm being girly crying over a tub of ice cream…" she began but Max interrupted.

"Hey Maria it's ok" he said, knowing that she used to do this with Liz, and the thought brought a pain to his heart but he pushed it aside when he saw another tear drop.

"Not to mention I'm breaking the Club's rules," she laughed dryly.

"We'll let it slide this time" Max offered, "Do you have an extra spoon?"

Surprised Maria looked up with a smile, "Yeah, in the kitchen"

He came back, spoon in hand, and sat on the couch facing Maria who turned to face him, the ice cream between them. "Counting Crows?"

"I thought I'd try it" she shrugged digging into the tub. They ate in silence for a while. "I miss him," she stated.

"I know" he spooned some ice cream into his mouth "I miss her too"

"What do you miss most?" she asked carefully, her tears subsided.

He didn't pause to think "Everything," she smiled as he continued "I miss watching her in science class. When she's in the lab and is completely focused, she gets a little crease in her brow. Or somehow no matter how much I wanted to know about my past, she wanted to know too because it was about me. Like when she went to River Dog," he grinned at the memory and Maria looked on with cloudy eyes. "If I had to name one thing, I miss touching her; holding her, kissing her and the flashes we used to get"

"You basically want to see into each other souls again don't cha?" she asked with a knowing grin.

He nodded, "Basically. How about you?"

She let out a laugh and echoed, "Everything, seemed to sum it up nicely" she trailed her spoon in the ice cream with reflection. "I miss sleeping with him"

"What?" he asked in shock.

"No," she protested, "not having sex with him, we never did that. I mean sleeping with him, like when we fall asleep when we're watching a movie or when we're supposed to be watching someone" she took in a deep breath, "It was nice and peaceful. We just relaxed completely…and he would hold me or I'd hold him" she sucked on the ice cream thoughtfully.

A soft smile crept to his lips and she continued with a wicked smirk "Though kissing him was very…very nice too" He chuckled in response.

She put the ice cream into the freezer and faced Max. "I'll walk you out" She went with him out onto her porch. "Thanks for being my girlfriend tonight"

"It was no problem" he smiled at her, "Come here" he held open his arms and she walked into his friendly embrace.

"Thank you" he whispered.

"For what?"

"Being my girlfriend"

She laughed against his chest and suddenly they heard a loud crack. They pulled apart and scanned the street looking for the source.

Once there was a gap in traffic they saw that across the street a ceramic planter lay in dozens of pieces on a house's walkway

"A car must've hit it" Maria offered.

Max nodded hesitantly in agreement "Yeah, a car".

"Ok," she began still looking at the broken pot, "I'll see you later Max"

"Um, right, bye" he went to his car and drove off.

Maria carefully crossed the street and crouched in front of the planter. She picked up one of the pieces and looked at the remains. 'That's weird' she thought 'all the pieces are about the same size. If a car had hit it from one side, the pieces would be different' she put down the bit of ceramic and stood up 'It's almost as if it exploded from the inside'. With her realization she worriedly looked around the yard and thought she saw a head full of brown hair with a body dressed all in black running down the street and turn a corner. She shook her head, 'I must be imagining things, he wouldn't be coming around here' she told herself before the hope could grow too much inside her.

"Strike!" she jumped into air as the ball smacked down all the pins and began to dance in the middle of the bowling alley.

"No need to rub it in Maria" Alex said with a smirk as he picked up a ball.

"Oh," Maria went and patted him on the arm "It's ok to be jealous Alex. Not everyone is blessed with a talent for bowling"

"Thanks" he scoffed sarcastically as he went and threw three gutter balls. He slumped back into the plastic chair. "Why did I agree to this? I knew that I have no athletic talent"

Max offered him a sympathetic look and got up to get all the pins down in two tries. He looked at Alex slightly apologetically and shrugged. He smiled in response.

Maria then went and threw another strike and continued with her victory dance. "That's it DeLuca," Alex pointed at her, "you," and pointed to himself "me in the arcade. I'll show you talent"

"Whatever Alex" she followed him into the arcade with Max following behind with a bemused look, "This'll just prove that I can beat you at any game"

"Oh we'll see" he stopped at a large pinball machine, "we'll see"

"You're going down Whitman"

"I wouldn't be so cocky, we've got Max here as a referee, so you can't cheat" he smirked putting a few coins into the pinball machine.

"How do I cheat at pinball?" she indignantly asked.

"I don't know, but you do" he laughed at the shocked, openmouthed look on her face, and the ball rolled past the flippers.

"Ha," she smiled triumphantly, "my turn. Step aside and I'll show you how it's really done"

In the end Max decided to join in and beat them both.

"Now he actually cheated," Alex stated as they left the bowling alley.

She nodded in agreement, "Yeah Max you can't use your intergalactic powers"

"I didn't," he protested with a laugh.

"Sure yah didn't" Maria said with skepticism.

"See you tomorrow" Maria called to Alex before he went into his house.

Her friends dropped off, she drove home humming along with the music softly coming from the car stereo. 'We're making progress' she thought to herself, 'it looked like there was no brooding tonight'. She smiled at the thought as she pulled into the driveway.

Skipping up the front steps she went into her house and to her room the smile still on her face. Closing the door she pulled off her jacket and went into the bathroom and turning on the tap she dropped a select few drops of oils into the tub before going back into her room and taking off her clothes.

She sunk into the bath with a sigh and cleared her mind. It lasted all of two seconds before a smirking, bed headed boy snuck into her head. His words floated around her mixing with the scented oils. Maybe I love you too much.

A small sob slipped out of her lips and she brought up her hands to hold her face. Soon she didn't know what was bathwater and what were tears. 'Maybe I love you too much to let you go Michael' she thought to herself.

Getting out of the bath she toweled herself off and patted her face dry, there was no more evidence of her crying and she let the bathwater and tears flow down the drain. She slipped on a pair of pajama shorts and tank top and exited the bathroom sullenly.

Lighting a select few of candles she sat on her bed taking cleansing breathes when she heard a tap at her window. Her eyes flew open as she looked to see that smirking, bed headed boy sitting outside of her window, without that smirk. In disbelief she blinked but he was still there.

Slowly, expected to wake up any second, she went to the window and opened it. He quietly slipped into the room.

They stood facing each other a foot apart each not quiet believing that they were standing there. He shoved his hands into his pockets and peered over at her. She was trembling slightly.

"Are you ok?" he whispered it but the words seemed to echo around her room.

She took a small step towards him but he took one back. Cocking her head slightly to the side she looked at him questioningly.

"I don't know," he ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know why I came" answering her unsaid question.

She balled her hands into fist trying to stop her quivering and steadied her voice, "Michael"

"I shouldn't have come," he said quickly before she could say anything else. He went to the window and began to climb out.

Rushing behind him she pleaded, "No, wait"

Once outside he turned to her "I shouldn't be around you" he got to his feat and jogged out of sight.

"Stay" she begged to an empty room as the scents of the bath and his words wafted around her.

A/N: Wow, I keep on making these so angsty…I didn't start this with that in mind…strange.