It pained Liz to see Max on Monday morning. He was pale, and had rings under his eyes as a testament to his lack of sleep. His eyes looked lost, and his whole appearance was haggard. Not that she looked a whole lot better. Maria and Alex descended on her the moment she walked into school, concerned looks on their faces.

"Liz!" "Hey chica, are you ok? You look…"

"I'm fine, just tired…honest."

Alex and Maria exchanged glances. They could tell something was bothering Liz, but they also knew that their friend wouldn't talk about it until she was ready. Liz missed their looks, her eyes too busy following Max worriedly to notice. Her friends noted her distraction, and followed her gaze. Discerning its object, they figured out the probable cause of Liz's distress. Something must have happened with her and Max.

Liz barely noticed her best friends' presence, as she was lost in thought. She knew that she needed to find a way to explain everything to Max, but she was sure it would be nigh on impossible to convince him to listen to her. He wouldn't even look at her!

Max wasn't sure how he made it to school on Monday morning. He had been living in a zombie-like state of pain and depression all weekend, barely eating or sleeping, speaking to people only to answer a direct question, his mind reliving the awful moment over and over again. His family had noticed his despondency, and Isabel had tried to question him about it, but he didn't really want to go through it again. He hoped that if he tried not to think about it, eventually he might be able to get his attention off it for a few minutes, and hopefully start to get with his life. At this moment that looked like a very far off, if not never occurring, event. When he actually made it to school, he kept his eyes on the ground. He didn't want to see anyone, especially not Liz or Kyle. It just hurt too much.
Liz walked home just as low as she had been all day. Not once had she managed to even catch Max's eye, let alone speak to him. If she had thought Friday night had been heartbreaking, this was worse. It wrenched another chunk out of her heart every time she saw him and how awful he looked. Every time he averted his gaze to avoid her. Every time she thought of everything that they'd never do again if she couldn't somehow find a way to explain.

The following day, feeling a little braver, Liz ventured to speak to Max in one of the several classes they shared. She still hadn't managed to catch his attention, but she knew she was close enough to him that he could hear her. She said his name several times, but at no point did he acknowledge that he had heard her, by word or action. She had expected as much, but it still stung.

That afternoon after school, she hit upon an idea. Walking up the Valentis' path, she hoped it would work. She rapped on the door, and a few moments later Kyle appeared. He looked surprised to see her, and it took him a few seconds to register that she had spoken, and asked for Tess.

"Hey Liz…sure…hang on," At this Kyle turned around and hollered for Tess as he ushered Liz through the door, shutting it firmly behind her. Tess appeared as Liz walked into the lounge.

"Hi Liz, what is it?"

"Can I speak to you?… Alone?" Liz glanced meaningfully at Kyle, not sure how much Tess might have told him.

"I, umm, I filled Kyle in. He knows…everything." Tess looked a little uncomfortable, as if she was unsure if Liz would be upset at this revelation.

"Ok then…I guess he can stay then," Liz flashed a weak smile at Kyle, "He might even be able to help."

"What do you need help with?"

"Well, you know how you told me to fight for Max? I, well, I just don't really know where to start. He won't even look at me, let alone listen to anything I might have to say for myself, listen to my explanation."

"Yeah, I noticed that he's kind of been shutting everyone out."

"He's hurting so much, I can see it," Liz said, her voice choked, "And he shouldn't have to be. If only I could explain everything, and maybe he wouldn't look so lost, so haunted anymore." A single tear trickled down Liz's cheek, showing Tess and Kyle just how much it was grieving Liz to see Max so dejected.

"Maybe there's some way I can help. Max and I aren't exactly best buddies, after all I put him through trying to split the two of you up, but he opened up to me just a little that night. Maybe I can get through to him."

"Yeah, that's what I hoped too. That's why I came to you. You two are the only ones who know the whole story, you're the only ones that can help."

"We'll do anything we can."

"Well, I thought up a vague plan before I came over here, I don't know for sure that it will work, but I can only hope…"

Less than ten minutes later, Liz had finished outlining what she hoped would get Max at least talking to her.

The following day, at lunchtime, Tess headed over to where Max had decided to sit alone to eat, with his back against a tree as he sat and stared at the ground. Sliding down to sit next to him, she cast a concerned gaze his way.

"How you doing?" Max just grunted dispiritedly in reply. "I can't say I know how you feel, exactly, because I don't, but what I can say is that it hurt me too." Max looked up, confused. "When you told me that night, what you had seen, I got a shooting pain in my chest. At first I didn't know why, but I couldn't stop thinking about it all night. I eventually realised that it was because I have umm… feelings…for Kyle." The baffled look in Max's eyes was replaced with one of downright shock.

"What?"

"Yeah, it surprised me too, but there it is. I've been so busy trying to fulfil the destiny I've been taught about all my life, that I didn't stop to think about if it was what I really wanted. What happened on Friday night forced me to take a good look at myself. How I was living, what I was doing."

"Wow."

"Yeah. I kinda confronted Kyle about it on Saturday morning. I'd just discovered a whole hell of a lot about my feelings, and I was pretty pissed at him for what had happened. He was kinda shocked that I even knew about it. He wouldn't say a lot about it, only that 'it wasn't how it looked', whatever that means. He was acting kinda weird about it though, like there was something going on that night completely different to what I accused him of."

"Like what? He and Liz have been seeing each other secretly for months or something?"

"No. Almost like it had been a hoax or something. He seemed a bit confused as to what had actually happened. I'm not entirely convinced that he actually slept with Liz."

"I am. I saw them remember?"

"Well, you saw what looked like the aftermath. You didn't see them actually doing 'IT'."

"Maybe not, but it was pretty damn obvious what had just happened."

"You could be right, but I'm still not convinced. I guess Liz is the only one who knows the whole story, what really happened and why." Max sighed. Barely minutes later, Liz walked past, just a few meters from them, her head down and her face pale. Before he could stop to consider what he was about to do, Max jumped up and grabbed her arm roughly. Liz turned towards him, her eyes angry at first before they softened slightly as she realised it was actually Max.

"Ok, if there's something weird going on here out with it. You need to tell me what the hell is going on!" Max's normally reserved voice was raised in a shout. Liz looked around at the people milling around them, some of whom had turned to see what had made quiet Max Evans yell.

We can't talk here. There are too many people about. Come with me." Max looked for a moment like he might resist, but he let her lead him towards the eraser room, the only place she could think of where they wouldn't be interrupted. As she closed the door behind them, he held his hand over the lock for a few seconds, using his powers to lock it. When he turned towards Liz, she was standing nervously at the other side of the room. He folded his arms and leaned against the wall next to the door. For several minutes, they just stood there, neither saying anything. Liz shifted uncomfortably.

"Well?" Max finally hissed impatiently. "Are you going to tell me something or not?"

"I…We…You…" Liz faltered, unsure now of how to begin. She had rehearsed this, but her carefully memorised explanation flew right out of her mind. She could see Max shifting edgily, and tried again. "Max, what you saw, I mean, what happened, it…it, well…" She tailed off again, her eyes dropping to the floor.

"Look, did you bloody sleep with Kyle or not?" Max demanded. Liz raised her eyes to lock with his, staring right at him to try and show him she was telling the truth.

"Not" she whispered. Max's eyes narrowed.

"How can you stand there and lie to me? I saw you. I know you slept with him."

"Max, please believe me. Nothing happened. It was a set up, alright? It was a hoax, a ruse, a deception. I knew you were coming over to see me, and I set up the thing with Kyle. I knew you would find us and jump to the obvious conclusion!" Max stared at her in disbelief. If you're telling me the truth, then you meant for me to find you? You wanted to cause me pain?" Tears started to trickle down Liz's cheeks.

"No, I didn't want to. But I had to."

"What?"

"I had to make you fall out of love with me. It was the only way. You told me to do it. Well, not you exactly, but a version of you." Max looked confused as Liz continued her tearful explanation. "it was you from 10 years into the future. You had come back to warn me, to make sure that what happened in his timeline didn't happen again." Liz shuffled a little closer to Max, her eyes entreating him to believe her. "In that timeline, they were all dead Max. Isabel, Michael, Alex, Maria…all of them. I couldn't let that happen. And the only way I could do that was to help prevent Tess from leaving town."

"Why?"

"The four of you are stronger together. In his timeline, we got back together, we were happy together. But it drove Tess away. And without her, you had no chance of stopping the skins when they attacked. They took over. The world was horrible, and they killed everyone we cared about. Don't you see? I had to do what I did, to make you reach out to Tess, to stop her leaving. To save the world." Liz was right in front of Max now, tears streaming freely down her face.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you're not just playing with my head?"

"Why would I want to? I don't want to hurt you Max, you have to believe that." Max looked unsure. "Maybe you could try connecting with me, like you did before. You might see what happened for yourself." Max transferred his weight from one foot to the other, deliberating what she had suggested. Eventually he looked up at her, and nodded slightly.

"I want to be able to believe you, I want to be able to take your word for it. But maybe connecting is a good idea." Liz nodded, and moved closer. Max placed his hands on her cheeks, and concentrated, staring into her eyes.

!!FLASH!!

A much older looking Max appearing before Liz, telling her what was about to happen.

!!FLASH!!

Liz and Kyle lying talking in bed, waiting for him to show up.

!!FLASH!!

A slightly older Liz and Max, as he carried her out of a wedding chapel in a wedding dress.

!!FLASH!!

Liz crying as she danced with Future Max.

!!FLASH!!

A much older Liz and Max in the Granolith chamber, kissing goodbye as he left to come back.

!!FLASH!!

Max pulled away from Liz slightly, stunned by all that he had just seen. His legs felt weak and they sank to the floor together, leaning against a wall. He knew now for sure that she had been telling the truth, and had gotten a glimpse of the future she had known about, and some of the things she had given up to try and save the world. His eyes filled with tears as he realised what she had put herself through. His voice was choked as he spoke.

"Liz, I can't believe, I just…" A thought hit him. "Why are you telling me now? Surely that defeats the point?"

"On Saturday morning, Tess came to see me." Liz began. "She told me she had heard from you about what had happened, and that it had hurt her. She had confronted Kyle with it, and," she paused, knowing she was about to reveal that Tess had known more than she had let on, "he admitted that he never slept with me." Max looked surprised.

"But she told me…"

"I know. She knows everything Max. But I wanted to be the one to tell you, so I asked her to downplay how much she knew. I needed to be the one to explain Max. It was just so awful to see you in pain."

"She said something about having feelings for Kyle."

"Yeah, she told me that too. He has feelings for her too. They came out when Tess confronted him about Friday night."

"Do you think they'll…?"

"I think they might. I know Tess was hopeful for it when we talked Saturday morning."

"Sounds like the two of you had quite a long chat."

"Yeah. Tess isn't as bad as I had been making out to myself. She's just been lost. She was raised to believe in one thing, and it's been hard on her to accept that it isn't going to work out like that. Although I think Kyle might be able to help her with that now." As they talked, Liz and Max had slowly, instinctively, inched closer to each other, and they were now no more than a hair breadth apart, and as Liz finished talking, their gazes met and held. Liz felt a familiar pulling sensation as she drowned in Max's eyes. Ever so gradually, they leaned towards each other, their gaze never breaking. When their lips finally met in a soft kiss, Liz felt her eyes flutter closed as she absorbed the wonderful sensation feeling Max's lips against her own gave her. His tongue gently traced the seam of her lips, and she opened to let him deepen the kiss. When Max finally managed to pull away, they were both breathing hard. After taking a few moments to catch his breath, Max spoke softly.

"We're gonna have to talk to everyone about the skins thing. Now that we know we can be better prepared for them."

"I know. We have to believe that all of us together can overcome them. They only won in that other frame of events because we weren't all together, all 8 of us working together."

"We will." Max whispered before his eyes dropped to her lips again and he leant in to capture her lips once more.

!!DRRRRRRNNNNGGGGG!!

They both cursed the bell as the pulled apart, and readied themselves to head to their classes.

To be continued…