Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. They are not mine. I am not making any money off of them.

Rating: I guess PG.

Category: Will have all the characters in it.

Summary: How would Max, Michael, and Isabel feel if their secret was not known by the three humans they have grown so close to?

***

Max was lying in his bed, unable to sleep. Ever since he broke up with Liz he hadn't got any sleep. All he could think about was Liz and how much he missed her. It killed him when he had to leave Liz on that rooftop. He wanted to kiss her back so badly but he knew he wouldn't be able to leave if he did.

But tonight was different. He had a feeling that something big was about to happen. He couldn't figure out what or when, but he just had this feeling.

"Max." He heard a whisper coming from his window.

Max looked over at his window and saw Michael already on his way into the room.

"Hey, Michael. Couldn't sleep?"

"Max. I think something bad is going to happen. I have a feeling."

Max sat up. "Really? I have the same feeling. That's why I'm not asleep."

"Oh, yeah right. You can't sleep because you are torturing yourself over Liz. Just go back to her, man. I mean, I didn't approve at first, but you are a mess without her. Plus, now I see how... uh... great it can be to have..."

"Human, alien relationships?" Max finished, smiling.

"All I am saying is now I don't think it is all that bad of an idea," Michael said, grinning.

Max could tell a change in Michael ever since they all saved his life in the cave that night. He could especially see a change in his attitude toward Maria.

"What's going on between you and Maria these days anyway?"

"Nothing, Maxwell. Just taking it slow. You know, talking and stuff. Enough about me, why don't you go to Liz and talk to her? You know she's hurting as much as you are."

"I already told you, it is dangerous. Which gets us back to why we aren't asleep. What do you think these feelings mean?"

"I don't know..."

Before Michael could finish, Isabel burst in.

"Max. I have a bad feeling... Oh, hi, Michael, what are you doing here?"

"The same reason you just barged in here. All three of us feel like something bad is about to happen, " Michael said.

"What could this mean, Max?" Isabel said.

"I don't know."

"I'm scared. What if someone is after us? What if we are about to be caught? What if..."

"Isabel," Max cut her off, "we are going to be fine."

"Max, you don't know that! Why else would we all be having these feelings?" Isabel practically yelled.

"I don't know, but I think we should check to make sure Liz, Maria and Alex are okay," Max said.

"Do you think they are in danger?" Isabel said.

"I don't know, but they are a part of this too and they need to know that we all have a feeling something bad is going to happen," Max said.

"Yeah, they deserve to know," Michael said.

"Well, lets call them then."

Max reached for his phone and called Liz's cell phone.

"Hello?" Liz answered sleepily.

"Hi, Liz. It's Max. I was just calling to see if you were okay."

"Uh... Okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well, me, Isabel, and Michael have this feeling that something bad is going to happen and we thought you should know."

"What? Max, what are you talking about?"

Max was confused by the sound of her voice. She sounded like she had no idea what was going on. Which she didn't, but it didn't sound like she was confused by him feeling like something was going to happen, but by the fact that he called her.

"Liz, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just want to know why you called me. You have a feeling that something bad is going to happen to me?"

Max was getting more confused because of her confusion.

"Liz, I'm going to let you go now. Sorry I bothered you."

He hung up before she had a chance to say anything else.

"What was that all about?" Michael asked.

"I don't know. She seemed like she didn't know what I was talking about. She acted like she didn't really know why I was calling her."

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, let me call Maria and see if she knows what's wrong with Liz."

Michael then got the phone and called Maria.

"Hello."

"Hey, Maria. It's me, Michael."

"Michael who?"

Michael just sat there, shocked. He couldn't say a word.

"Hello? Hello?" Maria said.

"Uh... sorry, got the wrong number."

With that, he quickly hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Isabel asked.

"She didn't know who I was."

"WHAT?" Isabel screamed.

"Shhhhhh. You're going to wake up mom and dad," Max said.

"What do you mean she didn't know who you were?" Max said.

"I mean, she didn't know who I was."

"Oh my God," Max said. "That's what was wrong with Liz. Well, no. She knew who I was but it's like, she didn't."

Suddenly they heard a low, strong voice. "Well, nothing gets by you three."

Max, Michael and Isabel jumped straight up and looked toward the window to find a big, mean looking man.

"Who are you?" Michael asked.

"Someone here to fix your mistakes."

The mean looking man walked closer to the three aliens. "Well, well, well. We finally meet."

"Who are you?" Michael asked again, but with more force.

"I am who you have been searching for. I can tell you everything that you want to know. Everything that you have wondered. I am from your home planet."

"You mean you can tell us..."

Michael who was skeptical, cut off Isabel. "What are you talking about?"

"Ah, the young man wants proof."

The man put his hands out and made a bright light in them. "Is that enough proof?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"You can tell us everything we have always wondered about," Isabel said.

"The only thing I want to know at the moment is what he did to Liz and Maria," Max said in an angry tone.

"Well, that figures. All the answers you have been searching for are staring you in the face and you wonder about your little human friends. How cute. That is the mistake I was talking about."

"Didn't you tell humans? How about River Dog and Atherton?" Max said.

"Yes, I have made mistakes too, but we are not talking about me. We are talking about you. You do not know whether these humans can be trusted with such a secret to keep. You..."

"They saved my life," Michael interrupted.

"I know this. That is why I came back. I kept some of the stones and felt them being used. I went to River Dog and he told me what happened. Ever since I have been following you all around, trying to figure out what to do."

"Nothing has to be done. Nothing is wrong." Michael said.

"That is where you are wrong. You three, especially you two," he pointed at Michael and Max, "have grown attached to these humans. I have been watching you and I know how much you care for these people. Your biggest mistake wass not in telling them; you had to do that. Your biggest mistake was trusting them with your lives and caring about them so deeply that you would risk everything to keep them safe."

"But they have helped us. They have kept our secret and saved our lives," Isabel said, almost in tears.

"I know they have, but I am still not sure. I don't completely trust them. So... I erased their memory."

"WHAT?" all three of them yelled.

"We can't erase memories," Max said.

"Correction. YOU can't erase memories. I can," the man said. "I decided that it would be better off if they had no recollection of anything that has happened since the day that you saved your little lady friend. Nobody remembers anything that happened that day or since."

"So, you made it where it never happened. Went back in time?" Max asked.

"No, it happened. But the only people who remember are you three."

"So, everything that has happened didn't really happen?" Max asked.

"No, I just said it happened but nobody remembers it, but you."

"Why would you do that? They can be trusted!" Michael said, after keeping quiet and trying to let it sink in.

"I knew this is how you all would react. I was wondering, would they be happy that their secret isn't out in the open anymore, or would they be sad that their human friends, who they have grown so close to, didn't even see them as important anymore? I thought you would be happy that they could have a normal life again. Especially you," he pointed at Max. "You are the one who pulled away from the woman you love because you were afraid. Aren't you happy that now she isn't hurt? Now she can get on with her life not knowing what could have been with you if you would have just let it be. Aren't you glad she doesn't have that pain in her heart anymore?"

"Yeah, I guess it is better this way." Max said, looking down at the floor.

"No, Maximillian. It's not. I want you to change it back the way it was!" Michael said.

"Me too," Isabel agreed.

"Don't you understand? You are safe again. No more worries," the man said. "But... they don't even remember us. Everything we have been through. They accepted us. It was nice to have someone to completely be free with, who knew your deepest secret and still accepted you and cared," Isabel said, crying.

"Even if it meant that on a day-to-day basis, you have people searching for the truth about you?" the man said. "Is your life better with them knowing and having the constant fear of being caught, or without them knowing and you being safe again? These are questions that need to be answered."

Max, finally realizing what was important, spoke up again, "My life began when I saved Liz. I love her more than anything. She is everything to me." Max started to cry. "Not having her in my life and her not remembering anything we have went through is like me dying anyway."

Isabel went over to hug Max. "They are important to us and we are important to them. Please change it back," Isabel said, crying.

"Do you feel the same way?" the man asked Michael.

"Yes, I do." Michael couldn't believe that he had a chance to have his secret actually be a secret again and he couldn't think of anything besides Maria. How hard it would be for him if she didn't remember him. For her to not even acknowledge him. He finally realized that Max healing Liz that day in the diner was the best thing that has ever happened to him.

"Well. That's good. I didn't want to get your hopes up," the man said.

They all three looked at the man confused, wondering why he just said that.

"Well, I figured that is what you all would decide. That's good because I can't make people forget forever. If I could then I wouldn't have had to... well, that is not important. Now that I know how you truly feel about these humans, I am going to tell you why I really did this."

"What are you talking about?" Michael said, getting frustrated.

"Okay, I now know that you love these humans. They are important to you and they obviously care for you. But there is one detail that I am curious about and I know you have to be too. Yes, they saved your lives and they would do anything for you, but is it just because of the novelty that you are, you know, not of this Earth? When the novelty wears off, will they still be there for you? Now it may same like that is not the case, but in the future, will they come to realize that they really don't care for you?"

"No, they..." Max started.

"No, you don't know! You were hardly even friends before you saved her life. Does she genuinely care for you or is it just the fact that you saved her life? I mean, any girl is going to fall in love with the person who saves her life. Don't you ever wonder if in different circumstances, would she still want to be with you? And you," he looked at Michael, "what if the only reason your girl cares for you is because you are an alien? The excitement of it, not you, might be what she really cares about. And Isabel, what if the only reason they are friends with you is because your powers come in handy?"

"They aren't like that" Isabel said.

"Well, you just don't know, but now you will. Now you are back to the beginning. A blank slate. For 24 hours, your human friends will not know anything about what has happened. It is up to you what you do with this opportunity. You can try to see if they will give you the time of day or you can waste it. To be safe, they will not remember this 24 hours at all. You can tell them if you want, I don't care, but they will not remember for your safety."

“So, to them, everything is like it was before the shooting?" Max asked.

"Yes, everything. Nothing has changed. For 24 hours, they will be living like they did 5 months ago. It is up to you to find out what you need to."

With that, the man started to leave.

"WAIT!" Isabel yelled. "You can't just leave. You can give us answers about..."

"No, I will not answer any questions. I will only say three things. One: If there were any way I could get home, I would be there, so you know you can't go home. Two: There is no need for you to know about something that you can't have. Three: You will realize in time what is really important. I am sorry."

With that, he went out the window and left before they could stop him.

"But...” Isabel started, but the man was long gone.

"I can't believe he was standing right here and now he is gone. All of our answers, gone," Isabel said.

"No, I think he is letting us find our own answers," Max said.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

"Maybe what we have been looking for has been right in front of us," Max said.

"Maria, Liz and Alex," Michael said, realizing what the man meant by saying they would realize what was really important.

"Do you think we should really do this? Find out if they would give us the time of day?" Isabel said.

"Well, it would just be a waste if we didn't," Max said.

Max had wondered before what would have happened if he asked Liz out before all of this happened. If he hadn't been so shy. Yeah, she was with Kyle, but maybe she would have said yes anyway.

"Wait a minute," Max said, finally realizing what he had just thought, "this means that Liz thinks she's still with Kyle."

"Well, I guess you are going to have to work around that," Isabel said.

"I can't believe we are actually going to do this," Michael said.

"If we do it, should we tell them? They won't remember, but I know I would feel bad about it. Do you think they would be really mad at us for doubting them?" Isabel said.

"I don't know, but it would be a waste to not use this time." Max couldn't believe he actually wanted to do this, but he couldn't help himself. "This is an opportunity to see how it would be if they didn't know our secret. How it could have been when they still thought we were human."

He couldn't stop thinking about whether or not Liz would give him the time of day. He felt bad for wondering, but with this chance, what would be the harm? Unless he found out she would have rather been with Kyle.

"Maria and I weren't even friends before all of this. I didn't even know who she was. How am I supposed to see if she would go out with me before all of this if we never even talked?" Michael said.

He knew that Maria cared about him now, but he also wondered if it was only because of the thrill of him being an alien.

"Just start a conversation with her. I guess that's how I am going to have to see if they would be friends with me. Just try to talk to them and see if they blow me off," Isabel said.

"They would never blow anybody off that tried to be friends with them," Max said. "They aren't that way."

"Yeah, I know. You are right. But I'll try just to make sure, I guess. My job is easy, but you and Michael have your work cut out for you," Isabel said.

Isabel knew she wasn't kidding. Max had the Kyle factor and Michael had the fact that him and Maria never even talked before all of this. At least Max and Liz were "class friends". The kind of friend that just talked a little during the classes they had together and said "hey" in the halls sometimes when they saw each other. Michael had nothing to work with.

Well, they are going to have fun, Isabel thought to herself sarcastically.

"So... we're going to do this?" Max asked, already knowing the answer.

"I guess so, which means that I need to get home and try to figure out what the heck I need to do," Michael said, leaving through the window.

"Well, Max, good luck!" Isabel said going to her room.

Luck? I need more than luck, Max thought. I need a miracle. Why would Liz even consider me when she has Kyle? Maybe this isn't such a good idea. If she turns me down, it will break my heart and I wouldn't be able to forget it when the 24 hours were up. But it was such a great opportunity. What if I had made my move before I saved her? What if I hadn't been so shy?

Then Max realized that he had to seize this opportunity if not only just to ease his mind.

***

"What does this mean?"

"Maria, it doesn't mean anything. It's just a weird coincidence."

"Okay, Liz. It is a coincidence that a guy who is totally in love with you calls..."

"Maria! That is your imagination."

"Anyway! That a guy who is... might be... in love with you, calls you to see if you are okay and his best friend calls me on the same night, but tries to say he had the wrong number. Liz, something weird is going on."

"Maria, I am sure that you are making a big deal out of nothing. I'll ask Max about it in biology."

"Okay, give me a full report. Oh, and the guy who is supposedly not in love with you is staring at you again."

Liz turned around to find Max staring at her.

They locked eyes for about 3 seconds when Kyle came up. "Hey! How's my girl?"

***

Max turned the corner and saw Liz talking to Maria. He was determined to let her catch him staring at her this time.

Before the shooting, he would always look away. Never making eye contact.

Suddenly, she turned around and they made eye contact. He started to give her a little smile when Kyle came up and hugged her.

Max kept on walking, a little hurt, but he had to keep reminding himself that, to her, things were back to the way they were before the shooting.

***

"Hey Kyle! I'm fine."

All Liz could think about was what just happened. Was Max Evans really staring at her? She watched him go down the hall, wondering why he called her last night and wondering why he looked at her the way he just did.

Could he really be interested in me? No, not possible. Besides, I am with Kyle and there is no way Max would even look at me in that way. I was just imagining it.

"Liz? Liz?" Kyle said.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kyle. I was just... thinking."

"About what you want to do tonight?"

"Um... yeah. What do you want to do?"

"Well, I was thinking that we could catch a movie."

"Okay, that's fine with me. We got to get to class. See you later."

When Kyle was out of earshot, Maria asked Li,. "Now, what was that about?"

"What?"

"You and Max's little staring contest."

"I don't know what you are talking about, Maria. He probably just had something to tell me. I mean, he did call me last night. He was probably just going to explain."

"Well, see you after class. One more tardy and it's Saturday detention for me!" Maria said, heading to class.

Yeah, that's what it was. He was probably just looking for me to tell me why he called, Liz was told herself.

Liz walked into biology and took her seat next to Max. She looked over at him and he was looking at her again. Yeah, he just has something to tell me, Liz thought.

"So... um... What was with that call last night?"

Max froze; he had been thinking so much about how to ask her out that he forgot to make up a cover story for calling her.

"Um... I just... I wanted to... it was a dare." He said quickly.

"A dare?"

"Yeah, me and Michael were daring each other to do stuff and he wanted me to make a complete fool of myself and... he had me call you and say all that stuff and I had him call Maria.. Yeah... We were just being stupid." Max was going to have to remember to tell Michael his cover story before he talked to Maria.

"Okay," Liz said, trying hard not to laugh. "Well, that explains that then."

"Yeah, I'm sorry for waking you up. We didn't realize how late it was."

"That's okay. As long as everything is okay," Liz said.

Max figured it was now or never, because he knew it would be harder to get up the nerve to ask her out the longer he waited. "Um... Liz... I was just wondering..."

"What?"

"Uh... Would you want to go... Nevermind." He couldn't do this. There was no way he could do this.

"Want to go where?"

"Never mind." "No, what were you going to say?" Liz couldn't believe it. It sounded like Max Evans was going to ask her out. Max Evans. She had to know what he was going to say. "Max?"

Max knew there was no way out of it now. "Uh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go out with me sometime?" Then he added really quickly, "Never mind. I can completely understand if you said no because you are dating Kyle and..."

Liz interrupted him, "Max, slow down."

Max looked down. "Sorry."

"No, it's okay."

Liz could not believe it. Max Evans had just asked her out. Oh, My God. She wanted to go out with him so badly. She has liked him since elementary school, but thought he wasn't the least bit interested in her and now he was asking her out. And she was with Kyle. They were just a casual thing, but she knew Kyle wouldn't like it if she went out with other guys. But how could she turn down Max Evans? She was going to have to talk to Kyle.

Max could see that Liz was thinking something. Oh, great, he thought, she's trying to think of a way to let me down easily. I knew this wasn't a good idea.

"Liz, just never mind, okay?"

"No Max... Uh, can I tell you my answer later?"

"Liz, it's okay. I completely understand that you can't..."

"Max, please? I just have to do something first. Can I tell you tomorrow?"

Tomorrow, Max thought. Tomorrow would be too late. Well, it's official, we are definitely not meant to be.

"Okay, sure. Tomorrow," he said, not looking at her.

"Okay, I'll tell you tomorrow."

***

"So, did you two do it yet?" Isabel asked Max and Michael.

"Well, how about you?" Michael asked.

"I have come to the conclusion that I don't have to be sure. I know that they would let me be their friends and I figured that they are going to have enough to worry about with you two then to be distracted by wondering why I suddenly want to be friends with them," Isabel said matter of factly.

"Well, how considerate of you," Michael said a little sarcastically.

"Well, have you?" Isabel persisted.

"I haven't even seen Maria." Max was still quiet.

"Max? Did you?" she asked.

Max still didn't say anything.

"Max I am so sorry," she said.

"I asked her and she told me she would tell me tomorrow, which of course will be too late."

"Tomorrow? " Isabel asked, confused.

"Yeah, I figure she just didn't want to hurt me and was going to try to think of a good excuse by then," Max said sadly. "Well, at least I won't have to hear whatever excuse she comes up with."

"Max, I am sorry. I never would have thought that she would turn you down," Isabel said.

"Well, Iz, it is back like it was and before the shooting she never would have given me a second look."

"I'm sorry, Max. I was sure that she would say yes," Michael said.

I can't believe she turned him down, he thought. If Liz turned Max down then I'm sure that means Maria will turn me down too.

"Well, maybe it's for the best. It just proves that I was right. We don't belong together," Max said.

With that, Max got up and left to go to his next class.

"Well, I guess it's my turn," Michael said.

***

Michael never did find Maria at school, so he decided to go to the Crashdown to talk to her. He still couldn't believe Max told Liz that he called Maria on a dare.

How lame is that? he thought.

***

At the Crashdown, Maria was talking to Liz before she went to the movies with Kyle.

"A dare? They called us on dares?" Maria asked.

"That's what he said."

"How lame is that?" Maria said.

"Maria, what am I going to do?"

"Liz, just go out with Max. You know you have had a crush on him forever. Just go."

"But what about Kyle?"

"Just tell him tonight that you know that you two are just casual and tell him you want to see other people. But right now, I have to get back to serving food to the hungry wolves we call customers."

"Okay, I'll talk to him tonight."

With that, Liz left the Crashdown to meet Kyle at the movies as Michael was coming in.

Michael sat down at his usual booth and spotted Maria. How am I supposed to start a conversation with her?

Maria saw Michael as soon as he came in. I wonder what he is doing here by himself. He usually comes with Max. Well, I guess I better go get his order.

"Hey, what would you like?"

"You." Well, that was subtle, he thought to himself.

Maria was speechless. All she could get out was: "Excuse me?"

"Well, you asked me what I wanted and I want you."

This was the only way he could think of to just get it out there.

"Uh...well... What I meant was... What do you want that's on the menu?" Maria had no idea how to react to this. Normally she would have a snappy comment, but for some reason, she couldn't think of one at the moment.

"Actually, I am not that hungry." Michael what are you doing? This is never going to work.

"Okay... well... I am just going to go... Uh... go."What the heck is going on? First he calls me on a lame dare and now he is sitting here saying he wants me.

Way to go, Michael. You blew it.

Maria didn't know how to act, so she just went on working like nothing had happened, but all she could think about was what just happened. What the heck is in the water he has been drinking?

She kept sneaking little glances over at Michael and every time she did, she caught him staring at her. She decided she would go back over to him and make sure he didn't want anything, since he kept sitting there.

"Uh... Are you sure you don't want to order anything?"

Well, Michael, here's your chance to not screw up. "Listen, I'm sorry for being forward before. I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang out sometime."

"Hang out?" "Yeah, just hang out."

Maria didn't know what to say. This was just too weird. She had never even talked to this guy before and then one night he called her and the next day, he was asking her to hang out. There is definitely something in the water. "Uh, what exactly is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you call me and then..."

"How exactly did you know it was me?"

"Well, I know 5 different Michaels and none of them sound like you, so by process of elimination, I knew it was you."

"Oh, well, nothing is going on. I just thought it would be cool to hang out, that's all."

"Oh, okay, well... uh... Sure, why not?"

He couldn't believe it. "Really?"

"Sure. Do you wanna hang out after my shift?"

"Yeah, that would be... great."

"I get off at 9:00."

With that she walked off, smiling. She had noticed Michael before, on the days he actually came to school, but she never really even talked to him.

This should be cool, she thought. Getting to know him.

***

Max was lying on his bed, pitying himself. I should have known. How could I ever think that I even could have had a chance with her before all of this happened? But should this matter? She cares about me now, so it shouldn't matter to me. Plus, I broke up with her, so it's better this way.

Max was trying to convince himself that Liz turning him down didn't matter. Except he was going to use this opportunity to finally decide if it was meant to be. If she said yes then it was meant to be, if she said no, then it wasn't.

He had been trying to convince himself that him and Liz weren't meant to be together for a while, but everything seemed to point in the other direction.

But not anymore. This proved it to him. The thing he realized though was that he didn't want to be proven right. He wanted to be wrong. He wanted her to say yes more than he had ever wanted anything else in his entire life.

***

Liz had no idea how to tell Kyle she wanted to go out with someone else. Sure, Kyle was a nice guy and all of that, but he just didn't do it for her. She liked hanging out with him, but she didn't want anything serious. She just didn't want to hurt him.

But she could not pass up this opportunity to go out with Max Evans. She still couldn't believe he asked her out. Max Evans had asked her out. She had liked him for years, but he has always been so quiet and he never showed an interest in her.

"Okay, what's wrong, Liz?" Kyle asked.

Liz was brought out of her thoughts. "What?"

"Well, you didn't really pay attention to the movie and you haven't hardly said two words to me on the way home."

"I'm sorry, Kyle. I just... Have something to tell you."

"What?"

"Well, you know that we left things casual and I... want to see other people."

"You want to see other people?" Kyle repeated slowly.

"I'm sorry Kyle. I..."

"Like who?" Kyle couldn't believe it. Well, yeah, he could. Him and Liz were just casual and he knew the day would come where she wanted to date other people. So many guys had a thing for her. He was surprised that it took this long.

"That's not important, I just... We are not exclusive, so..."

"Liz, that's fine. I understand. I'm just glad that I had you for a little while." With that, he left.

Liz suddenly just felt this need to talk to Max, to tell him that her answer was yes. She had wanted him to ask her out for so long that she couldn't wait another minute to tell him yes.

She ran up to her room and found his number. She had got it from him when they became lab partners just in case she had questions about class.

She dialed his number.

***

Who could be calling me at a time like this, a time when my entire world has crumbled around me? Max thought.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Max. It's Liz."

"Oh... hey." I guess she came up with her excuse earlier than she thought.

"Um... Yeah, well, you know that question you asked me in class today?"

Oh great, here goes. "Yeah, Liz I..."

Before he could finish, she cut him off. "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I would love to go out with you some time."

Max couldn't believe it. Was he dreaming? Did Liz Parker really call him and just say that she would love to go out with him? "But what about Kyle?"

"Well, that's why I waited so long to tell you my answer. I didn't wanna agree to go out with you before I told Kyle that I wanted to see other people. It wouldn't have been right."

She broke up with Kyle for me. Just to go out with me. He couldn't believe it. Liz would have went out with him before the shooting happened. She really did have feelings for him before the shooting. Maybe they were really meant to be.

"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Just making sure you were still there."

"Yeah, so..."

Now what? It was too late to go out tonight, but tomorrow she would remember everything.

Well, I guess I still have to make plans just so I don't throw her off. "So, do you want to go out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'll be great."

"Okay, well, see you tomorrow."

"Good night."

"Good night."

They both hung up, smiling. Max because now he knew his Liz had noticed him before he saved her life and Liz because her crush had finally asked her out.

***

Shortly after Max had gotten off the phone with Liz, Michael crawled in his window. "What are you smiling about?" he questioned Max.

"I just got off the phone with Liz. She said yes," Max said in a dreamy tone of voice.

"She said yes?" Isabel said, coming into the room.

"Really? Way to go, Maxwell. I'm happy for you. But what are you going to do tomorrow when everything is normal?" Michael asked.

"You mean am I going to tell her about this?"

"We all have to decide that together. I'm talking about your relationship with her."

"I'm ready to take a step forward. But what about you and Maria? What did you find out?"

"Yeah, Michael. What's the verdict?" Isabel asked.

"Well, we hung out after her shift and just talked about things and we have a date on Saturday," he said, smiling.

"So, she didn't turn you down?" Max said.

"That's right. So now I know," Michael said.

He couldn't believe that Maria had actually said yes either. But they talked and got along really well and he asked her out on a date and she said yes.

"Well, I am glad that you two can ease your minds now."

"Did you do anything to make use of this day, Iz?" Max asked.

"Yeah, I acted out a little fantasy of mine," she said, smiling.

She had done something that she knew that she wouldn't be able to do for real. But since they wouldn't remember anything about this day, she had grabbed Alex, dragged him up to the eraser room and made out with him all during fifth period. She had been thinking about him nonstop since she entered his dream and wanted to know what it was like to kiss him.

If they decided to tell them the truth, she wouldn't tell him about that little detail, but she already missed his lips on hers.

"What kind of fantasy?" Max and Michael both asked, curious as to what she did.

"Nothing... Nothing that concerns you two. Anyway, so are we going to tell them?"

"I think we should. I don't think there should be any secrets between us," Max said.

"I agree," Michael said.

"Well, then we'll tell them. I think we should tell them together. Like have a meeting here," Isabel said.

"Yeah, we should meet here tomorrow night," Max said.

He was worried though. Would Liz be mad that he doubted her? Would she even want him back after she found out? It was a risk he was going to have to take. He needed to be completely honest with her.

***

The next day Max, Michael, and Isabel told Liz, Maria, and Alex that they had to meet at Max and Isabel's house for a little meeting after school.

They were all worried how the three of them were going to take the news. Would they understand or would they never want to speak with them again? They were scared that they were going to lose these people that meant so much to them. That had grown to mean everything.

"Okay, now I bet you three are wondering what we have gathered you here to tell you. Well, we are going to get to that, but first I have to say something. When Max first healed you, Liz, I was mad. I was beyond mad. I could have killed Max, but now I am glad he did it. I have never really had any girl friends, none that were really close to me. I never let anybody in, never let anybody see the real me. I always had my guard up, but these past few months, I have grown to see you all as friends. Best friends. Your acceptance and friendship mean a lot to me, and I just wanted you to know that. Michael, your turn," Isabel sat down while Michael stood up.

"Well, I'm not good at these type of things, but I just want to say that Max saving you has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. It brought me Maria, and that is something I will be eternally grateful for. Okay, Maxwell, your turn."

Max just sat there, shocked. Everybody just sat there, shocked. But nobody was as shocked as Maria. Michael was not one to just share his feelings like that.

Suddenly she got up and ran over to kiss him, but he stopped her. "No, wait until we tell you everything. Max, your turn."

Max stood where Michael previously was. "I don't think you three will ever know just how important your help and acceptance mean to us. You have kept our secret and saved our lives numerous times. But besides that, you have been our friends. You care about us and knowing you has enriched our lives greatly.

"Maria, you freaked out at first, but you accepted us and helped us and that is something we will never forget.

"Alex, we should have told you sooner and we are sorry that we didn't. You didn't even know us that well, but you helped to save Michael's life and you saved mine that day at the hospital. Thank you.

"And Liz. Liz, saving you that day at the Crashdown was the smartest thing I have ever done. I started living the day that I saved you. I am so sorry that I hurt you. I never had any intention of hurting you. I just wanted you to be safe.

"Now I realize I was wrong, because you are more important to me than myself. You complete me. Liz, I love you and I always have and I can only hope that after I tell you what I am about to tell you that you can forgive me."

Liz was crying by now and she didn't know what to say. So, she stood up and went over to Max and hugged him. She tried to kiss him, but he wouldn't let her.

She whispered in his ear, "I love you, too. Nothing could ever change that."

When she said that, Max felt so guilty. He felt tears coming to his eyes and he pushed her away. "Go sit down, I'm not done."

Liz went to go sit down and waited to find out exactly what this little meeting was about.

"Ummm... Do you want me to tell them?"

Isabel and Michael nodded their heads yes.

"Okay. Well, um... A man came here the night before last and told us he was from our home planet."

"Max, the fourth one?" Liz asked excitedly.

"Yes, he said he came because he felt the stones being used. He said he came..."

"Did you three get all of your answers?" Maria asked, unable to contain herself.

"No. Uh... Could you try not to interrupt me? Because I won't be able to get this out if you don't," Max asked gently.

"Okay, sorry," Maria and Liz both said at the same time.

"Okay, he said he came to fix our mistakes. He thought we were trusting you guys too much, so he erased everyone's memories for a day. He erased everything from the day I saved you until the present and told us to find out if you would give us the time of day before the shooting.

"We decided that it would be a waste to not at least try to see what would happen. We... dubted you and we are sorry. You just have to understand how it is for us.

"e know now that it was stupid for us to doubt you, but we couldn't let the opportunity slip by us, and he had already erased your memories anyway, so we tested you. We then decided that we couldn't keep it from you, so here we are."

Max looked down at the floor during his whole speech and to his surprise, he didn't hear any yelling when he was done. He looked up and they were just sitting there with stunned looks on their faces.

Alex was the first one to speak. "What exactly did you do to test us?"

"Well... Actually we didn't test you in any way, we just tested Liz and Maria," Max answered.

Liz and Maria both looked even more stunned when they heard this, until Isabel piped up.

"Well, actually I did test him a little bit," she said, while turning red.

"What... what did you do?" Alex asked getting nervous.

"I'll tell you later," was all she managed to say.

"What did you do to test us?" Maria asked with a hint of hurt in her voice.

"Maria, I just talked with you and asked you out to see what you would say," Michael answered.

"And I asked you out to see what you would say," Max added.

"Well, what did we say?" Liz asked.

"Well, what would you have said back then?" Max asked.

Liz looked at Max and said, "Is that the only reason you just said all those things to me? Did you need that kind of proof of my feelings before you decided to get back with me?" Liz asked, crying.

"Please don't cry, Liz. I'm sorry. I know that you care about me. It's just when he told us what he had done, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I would have got up the nerve to ask you out before I saved your life. I just had to know if...." He trailed off.

"You had to know if the only reason I was interested in you in the first place was because you were my hero," Liz said in a statement, not a question.

Max looked at her with sad eyes and said, "Liz, I am so sorry."

Liz looked away from him. She completely understood why he had to do it, but it still hurt that he doubted her feelings.

As if knowing what she was thinking, he added, "Liz, I didn't doubt that you care about me, I just didn't know if you would have had these feelings for me in different circumstances."

Liz knew what he meant and she knew why he had to find out. She stood up and walked over to him and looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Now do you believe that we are meant to be?" and smiled one her Liz smiles that she only gave him.

Max smiled back, grabbed her up in his arms and kissed her. " Liz Parker, you are amazing."

Maria looked at Michael and smiled. "So spaceboy, were you surprised that I accepted a date with you?"

"Yes, actually, I was." Michael said, smiling.

"Well, I guess that's understandable. We never really talked before all of this happened, so I guess I'll let this slide." She walked over to him, climbed onto his lap and gave him a kiss.

"Oh, and we have a date on Saturday," Michael told Maria, smiling.

Maria just laughed and kissed him some more.

Alex felt a little left out. "Man, everybody's getting kissed here, but me."

With that, Isabel grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and gave him the most intense kiss he has ever gotten in his entire life.

"Uh, well, ok. I didn't mean, I mean, I didn't say that to mean for you to, not that I didn't like it, I just, you didn't..."

"Alex, this is how I tested you yesterday." Then she started kissing him again.

Everyone looked at Alex and Isabel kissing with their jaws practically on the floor.

Isabel finally realized everybody was watching them and stopped. She started blushing and said, "What? Are you two the only ones who can have relations with humans?"

They all started to laugh at that last comment while Alex stood there still stunned by Isabel.

"Wait a minute. Didn't you guys get all your answers? I mean, the man was from where you three are from. Did he not answer your questions?" Liz suddenly asked.

"No, he said there was no use in us knowing about something we couldn't have," Max answered for the three of them.

"Oh Max, I am so sorry."

Max just looked at Liz and said, "Don't be sorry. We realized that we were searching for something that has already found us."

Then he whispered in her ear, "All the answers I have ever wanted are standing right in front of me."

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