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A/N: Thank you to my beta Dreamerlaure for her lovely work!

Chapter 2

Maria lay in the bath soaking it all in. Not wanting to leave the warmth of the bathroom she unplugged the drain, released the cool water, and plugged it again to refill with hot water. Forty-five minutes later when she realized that she couldn't hide in her bathroom forever, she reluctantly pulled the plug, stood up and stepped out, wrapping a towel around her slim figure.

She went into her bedroom and she grabbed her pyjama bottoms and a tank top. Putting a comb through her long wet hair, she made her way to the kitchen. With five hours to go before she had to go to work again, Maria decided to relax. The nightclub didn't open its doors until 9pm but since she had no experience with tending the bar, the manager told her to come in a couple of hours earlier for her training.

She walked over to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and a sandwich filler. She took out a few slices of bread from the bread bin, and a glass from the cupboard. Then she poured the milk into the glass, and sat down, ready to prepare and devour her lunch.

Just as she was about to take a bite, there was a knock on the door. Surprised, she looked up at the door. No one came over. Amy didn't really have any friends.… Roswell is a small town where everyone knew each other's business. They all believed that she wasn't a good parent due to her addiction, so they looked down on her. Nobody wanted to be seen with her just incase they were to be seen by another and have the town gossiping about them too. Sean was in jail, so none of his friends came over, and her, she didn't really have that many. What with school and constantly working she didn't have the time to invest in good friends. Also, their were parents who forbade their children from associating with 'that Maria girl,' assuming that because her mother was a drug addict and her cousin a criminal, she was bound for trouble too. All of these things didn't really give her much of a social life.

It was kind of funny how her life had turned out. The only people she could trust, to some extent, were the three aliens, Michael Guerin, and Isabel and Max Evans, and the three humans Liz, Kyle and Sheriff Valenti.

Pushing away her thoughts of Michael before she broke down again, she willed herself to repeat the mantra she had almost come to believe. Almost, being the operative word. 'Michael has his own problems. He doesn't need any more. Pushing him away was the best thing. I'm protecting him.'

From the moment Max saved Liz after the shooting at 'The Crashdown' two years ago, he had virtually exposed them all. Ever since that day they had become hunted. It was bad enough with all the rumours of the 47' alien crash that made some people believe in aliens that they had unwanted attention into their heritage, but when the government officials started taking interest too, they knew they were in trouble.

When the knock came again, Maria forced herself to stand, walk over to the door and pull it open. Once the door opened to reveal the person on the other side, Maria froze.

"Sean?" she hesitantly whispered. Wow, she thought, he looks good. It had been three years since she last saw him, but prison somehow had been good to him. At the age of twenty-one, Sean had grown into a handsome man with his light blond curls, his toned but lean body and his strong jaw.

"Hey M," he replied smiling at his sister-like cousin. Sean stared at her, and decided she was more beautiful than he remembered. Her blond hair had grown out and was now long and straight. Her lips were full and naturally coloured. Her once beautiful breathtaking green eyes were red and puffy; she looked like she had been crying.

Before either said another word, Sean moved and engulfed his cousin in a bear hug, holding her tightly.

"I've missed you M," he whispered hoarsely, his voice full of emotion.

"I've missed you too," Maria replied without missing a beat as she held on to him.

'Maybe everything will be fine now,' she thought as she closed her eyes tightly and revelled in the feeling of being loved and held again.

TBC

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