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sonia62: Thank you for reviewing my story! Hopefully, Michael and Maria will get the justice they deserve through this fic from Season 3!

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Chapter 2

I had always been impressed by Michael's hands, and something about the way he cooked was sensual, in an assertive way. Oddly it turned me on, and I think he secretly knew. He'd catch me staring at him cooking away in the kitchen of the Crashdown and all of a sudden when I'd see the golden flecks in his eyes sparkle as he smirked looking back at me with that "what are you looking at?" look? (Even though he knew what I was looking at) it brought me back to the present. At first I felt a bit bashful about it, but now it just is what it is, and I knew Michael secretly liked me getting lost and staring at him while he went about his business. It was a pastime him and I both enjoyed to its fullest.

Michael came in that morning and set his tired, worn out self at the dining table, while Maria was making pancakes at the stove. It was a ritual they did time to time: making and having breakfast together in their own homes. It was one of Maria's favorite things to do with him, and though she never told him he knew. Ever since Michael found another job, working at Meta-Chem, making breakfast together didn't cease, but sadly the sleepovers did. He would be working the graveyard shift leaving Maria alone in the night, the other side of her bed left cold and desolate.

"What? Can't get a hot meal at the Crashdown?" Maria joked as she poured him a cup of coffee.

"Now why would I go to the Crashdown when there are better pancakes here?" he said with a smirk as he kissed Maria firmly on the lips taking the mug from her hand. "Besides, Liz is covering breakfast today which means she's doing all the prep work, including making the pancake batter," he said as he took a sip of his coffee.

Maria smiled, knowing that Michael always preferred making pancakes out of the batter she prepared before openings at the Crashdown. He said Liz's batter was too watery, and he hated hovering over the stove waiting longer than usual for the batter to develop. Plus she knew hers tasted better as well.

Maria slid him a plate of pancakes and a bottle of syrup knowing how exhausted he must have been working the graveyard shift at Meta-Chem. As she began to take her place across from him, she immediately noticed his meal was missing a bottle of tabasco sauce and pulled one from the shelf to place next to him. The gesture brought a smile to Michael's tired face, his eyes thanking her for the attentiveness she had shown. Maria always showed immediate attentiveness. That's what Michael loved about her. After years of being neglected and abused by Hank Maria filled his void with the exact opposite of what he was used to. Even Maria's mother had even become more attentive to Michael's dietary needs since he came every so often to have dinner with them. She always made sure she had two full bottles of tabasco and one of her specialty pies for him. It was a gesture that warmed Maria to the core as well. Michael getting her mother's approval over the three years was no easy feat, but he persevered and managed to acquire it.

Maria always admired her mother's stance with Michael. She wasn't afraid to tell him the boundaries, yet she let him into their little world more than any of her other friends. Maria was missing her presence more and more these days since her long trips out to Las Cruces began. It was the start to her senior year and she had so many questions to ask her with college applications and senior events. Maria knew she could handle it on her own though. Heck! She'd been handling a lot on her own since she was little! But it just would've been nice to have shared the moments with her. Maria started eating as she noticed he had already devoured his breakfast, more than halfway done while here she was just beginning.

"Hungry?" Maria said cocking an eyebrow up.

"Always!" he replied as he belched.

"Michael?" I exclaimed laughingly laced with a hint of disgust.

"Sorry," he smirked as he sipped his coffee.

'You're not really sorry!" she thought to herself but chose to ignore it. He knew while his bad manners drove her up the wall he'd get a reaction and because he got a kick out of Maria's reactions bad manners and intentionally trying to piss her of were done purposely by Michael time to time. She knew she needed to be better in hiding her reactions. No need to feed the beast's entertainment!

Michael began to unbutton his shirt exposing his undershirt, trying to relax from the long hours he had been up and working. She couldn't help but stare at his chest. Though it was covered by a black undershirt you could tell where the muscles of his body started and ended. He had the body of a man, correction - the body of an Antarian soldier, yet he was only 18 years old. He was the handsomest person she had ever come across in her life, and though he had his stone wall ways, he had broken a couple of them down just for Maria. Slowly but surely, as his soldier-like exterior came down it unveiled a much deeper side to him. One that Maria cherished and loved.

Contrary to belief Michael does have emotions. He's not the best at controlling them, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have them. Unfortunately, I think the lack of control he has on them in conjunction with his powers going out of hand mask the fact that he has any feelings. It took Maria some time to understand that, but not as long as it did for the others. She was not afraid to put him in his place, but she was always patient with him. Sometimes I felt like even Max and Isabel would get caught up in chastising his impulsiveness and forget that they needed to take the time understand the triggers and reasons behind his knew that but also empathized with Max and Isabelle, for it does get tiring to put up with so much 'Volatile Michael', but all in all, Michael hasn't led the most safest and wholesome of lives. Maria always reminded herself of that when he became too much, and it didn't even take any effort at this point. The patience in Maria became innate around him more and more as she began to see Michael's tough exterior fall down leaving a more vulnerable Michael with fears, sadness, and despair.

Michael putting his feet up on the chair vacant next to Maria broke Maria's train of thought from his hot body. "Down boy!" she said as she patted his shoes signaling to keep them off the chair.

"Maria!" he groaned. "I'm just trying to relax!" he whined.

"Go sulk on the couch," she said as she pointed to the living room behind her.

"But I'm still hungry. Hey got any bacon I can whip up?"

"Yeah check the fridge," she told him.

"Want any?" he asked as he opened the fridge peaking inside the little drawers in there.

"No thanks," I replied as I saw him work the kitchen.

Now, Michael Guerin knew how to work a kitchen. Though he had a rough start as the cook at the Crashdown, he gradually became better and better. Pretty soon, Maria figured the customers were really taking a liking to the food Michael would whip up as opposed to the other cooks' so it was great for her. She would personally go up to him to make the food for my customers which guaranteed a better tip for her as well in the end.

She saw him then as he put the pan on a very low heat, putting just a smidge of butter in the pan, letting it cascade inside slowly and smoothly as it melted. Michael always insisted bacon had to be cooked slow and low and at the very end on high for the perfect crisp. As he finished laying the bacon in the pan ever so meticulously, he began breaking the eggs one by one with just one hand into another bowl. The whole scene looked like as if it was living art to Maria, as she looked on in wonderment.

"Eggs?" he hollered from across the kitchen

"Fine. Scrambled?"

He simply nodded as he started to vigorously whisk the bowl of eggs, letting it break down as it created thick foam and finally emptied the contents into another clean pan.

"Half and Half?"

"Always check the fridge door. By the way why don't you just whisk that into the eggs before adding the whole thing to the pan in the first place?"

"Do I really need to explain the way I cook all the time?" Michael simply answered sharply as he diverted his attention back to the stove.

Maria rolled her eyes and smirked. He added a few dashes of half and half straight into the pan of the egg mixture already cooking on the fire.

"So Fly asked me a really interesting question today," Michael began as he started to crisp the bacon up.

"Yeah?"

"He said if he thought we would ever get married."

"You told them about me? About us?" Maria asked a little flabbergasted yet flattered. He could totally sense the perkiness in the tone of her voice. She didn't really know if Michael talked about her or them for that matter. She knew when it even came to Max and Isabel he wasn't always forthcoming to them about the way he felt about Maria though she knew he cared for me immensely. He was never the "show and tell" type. But seeing him making small talk with others was a novice side to him Maria had never experienced before.

"Yeah, I told them about you," he said as he brought two plates to the table.

"I'll clean," she offered as thanks for making more breakfast. "Ok now continue what did you say about me?" she said in a very giddy voice. It couldn't be helped! The thought of him talking about Maria and their relationship excited her.

"Nothing much I just said that was a thought that needed to be considered a little down the road," he replied as he began to devour his breakfast part two.

"Oh."

Michael looked up getting the hint of disappointment in her voice. "I mean we're only like 18! Right?"

"Yeah of course. "She couldn't help it. she knew that they were 18, but was it not something he even considered now? 'How could he stay on the planet for me and not have any intent to one day marry me? Not saying we had to get married right now but consideration could at least be accounted for!'

"Yeah, so that's all I said."

"Did you say anything specifically about me to them?"

"Yeah, I mean we were all talking about our girls."

"Really?" she asked getting more and more interested into this conversation he had with his fellow Meta-Chem workers.

"Yeah, like George he actually has a long steady girlfriend. They've' known each other since middle school believe it or not. He goes to community college I think the same one as Isabel's and then Fly well, Fly's kind of a player which is why I guess he has the name Fly, you know? Flies from one chick to the other?" he said smirking as he took a bite of his bacon.

"Uh-huh, don't starting getting ideas now," she warned as she took a bite of her eggs. "What did you say about me?" she pressed. Maria began to daydream what his answers were. She just knew he must have told them about her love for music. How she loved to compose and perform songs even though she hadn't done it in a while. Or perhaps since it was with other guys that were the macho type, he talked about her legs. 'He's always said that I've been blessed with a nice pair!' she thought.

"I just said her name is Maria and I met her in high school," he said in a manner as if what else was there to say.

"That's it?" Maria asked bewildered that he couldn't' find the words to elaborate more about her.

"What? Do you want me to tell them about how you're great in the eraser room or something?" he snickered as he gulped down the remaining cup of coffee.

Maria crossed my arms and darted a look of disappointment in his direction.

"Don't do that!" he warned as he ate his eggs.

"Don't do what? What am I doing?" she challenged as she refused to take her glare away from him.

"Don't look at me all like that," he simply said circling a fork in the air directed towards Maria, "like you're disappointed."

"What if it's not just a look? What if I am disappointed?" she said insistently.

"Maria! I don't tell everything to everyone. Some things I like to keep just between me and you!" he said a matter of factly. She couldn't help but be pleased about that. One thing she admired about Michael was how exclusive he made them out to be. He didn't tell their business to everyone and with that came a respect to their own personal affairs ...but it also meant he didn't really want to relish or brag about Maria to everyone either. At least that's how he made it seem. 'But sometimes it would be nice knowing if Michael bragged about me to others. It would just be flattering.' Maria thought to herself.

Michael's fork fell to the plate as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. He went over to the sink and he set his plate inside.

"I'm going to go catch up on some sleep. I'm exhausted! It's been such a crazy week," he said as he stretched, flexing his beautiful muscles.

"You're welcome to sleep here you know," Maria said coyly.

His eyes lit up smiling as he scratched above his eyebrow. "Yeah but will you lay down with me or have you slept enough?" he asked grinningly standing up from his chair.

"I could lie down next to you," she said coming towards him urging him to stay as she circled my arms around his neck. "And there's no Max here," she reminded trying to lure him away from going to his apartment. Maria began to realize how much she really missed his scent that usually lingered in the sheets. It was now getting more and more diffused since they hadn't slept together in the same bed as of late.

"Someone seems well rested," he observed as he brushed his thumb on her cheek.

"So you'll stay with me?"

"Maria, it's not that I want to stay, but when you and I lay on the bed we don't just lay in the bed."

"I wouldn't mind, "she giggled as she brushed her lips into the crevice of his neck and shoulder breathing in his scent.

A faint growl from Michael came from inside his throat. He smirked and kissed Maria's forehead as he headed to get his jacket and motorcycle helmet from the table.

"I envy about the amount of energy you've seemed to have gotten from a good sleep. I could use that too," he stated tiredly.

Of course Maria understood. He must have been terribly exhausted and he was right. If the slept together it wouldn't be just be sleeping! Something that neither of them had self-control on. Maria placed a long kiss on his lips. She missed him immensely these past couple of days. Finding herself waking alone more and more now since he found the second job left her lingering for more and more Michael.

"Fine buck-o! Go ahead leave me all here to my lonesome self as I clean this horrible mess in the kitchen!" she exclaimed in her usual dramatic flair that would bring a grin to his face. As she looked up from her eyelashes to Michael's face she noted the act had done the trick.

"Do you want to do something tonight then?" she asked as she combed my hands through his hair.

"Alright! After I catch up a few Z's I should be good to go. Something low key?" he asked as he wrapped his arm tightly around Maria's waist as if he could read her mind. They both had just experienced the end to a long hard week with school and work. She nodded as she rested her forehead on his chin.

"Sounds good. I'll come over later. Go, go get some rest," she replied as she patted his back.

As Maria looked out the screen door, she saw him speed away on his motorcycle back to his apartment. 'I already miss him.'