Disclaimer: Yo tengo nada - soy muy pobre - no demando (I think that's sue ;)) por favor!

Rating: ummm I guess R for language

***

His knuckles were white. Bone white. They clutched the steering wheel of her mother’s car. His jaw was clenched as he stared straight ahead. He wouldn’t look at her. He wouldn’t talk to her. Maria stared out the window trying to stop crying, trying to get over the shock of the whole night, the shock of what Max had done to Michael, and the gut wrenching fear she had felt when the car had pulled up and they had stood frozen like deer caught in its headlights.

She hadn’t been afraid for herself then. Her only thought had been that this was it. This was the end. They were coming to take Max and Isabel. They were coming to take Michael away from her just when she was beginning to realize how much he meant to her, how much she needed him in her life.

"Fuck!" He pounded on the wheel, suddenly breaking the painful silence. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!" They almost swerved off the road and his foot slammed down on the break. The jeep sailed past them, not stopping to find out what was wrong. Which was a good thing.

The second she got a hold of Max Evans he was a dead man.

She looked over at him. His hands were covering his face and he was breathing hard. She reached out slowly, her hand finding his shoulder and he jerked away from her.

"Michael..."

"Don’t touch me. Don’t...don’t say anything...please...just don’t." She pressed her knuckles to her lips, unable to hold back any longer, sobbing until she felt like she was going to be sick.

"Don’t do this...don’t block me out...Michael..."she moaned his name and turned away from him, pressing her burning face against the cool glass of the window, holding her tear stained hands to her heart, trying to keep it from falling out of her chest, knowing it was no use.

After a moment he started up the car again and continued down the road. He stopped in front of his apartment and got out of the car. She knew he wanted her to just go home. She knew he wanted her to leave him alone. She stumbled out of the car and ran after him up the rickety staircase to his apartment and shoved open the door. His apartment was trashed - furniture over turned, posters hanging half off the wall. What meager possessions he had were strewn about carelessly across the dingy carpet. He sat in the middle of it on the floor with his head in his hands.

She fell to her knees behind him and wrapped her arms around him, intending to hold on even tighter if he tried to shake her off. But he didn’t, he let her try and make it better. She felt his tears drip onto her arm and curled her body around his until she was facing him. She pulled his hands away from his face, and gently touched his cheek, where Max had hit him. He flinched at her touch but didn’t push her away. It hurt she knew, more than just physically. Max had betrayed him.

"Someone had to knock some sense into him"

Bastard.

"She was crazy."

"Yeah." She whispered, stroking his face.

"But she knew things...what she was saying made sense...you didn’t see her...she knew something...she said she had the missing piece, the piece that would take us home...she said..."

"Michael stop...stop...it was a mistake..." she said gently. "She didn’t know anything...you heard the doctor...she was in a mental institution..."

"I wanted to believe her. I wanted it to be true."

"I know you did."

"I couldn’t not go..."

"I know..."

"And now Valenti has the orb. It’s all my fault..."

"No it’s not. If Max hadn’t-"

"I deserved it."

"No" She took his face in her hands, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Don’t you ever think that. Ever." They were quiet for a moment, looking at each other, both trying not to cry, both trying to be strong for the other’s sake.

"What did you mean?" He asked softly.

"When?"

"In the woods...when I said I’ve been waiting for this my whole life...you said 'So have I'...what did you mean by that?"

Maria bit her lip, feeling her eyes start to fill for the hundredth time that night. "I meant you...I meant...I’ve been waiting my whole life to feel the way I do when I’m with you..."

"But I’m not-"

"You’re you. That’s enough for me. I was being stupid the other night, trying to make us into Max and Liz, into the perfect couple. I’m not Liz, I’ll never be Liz and you’re not Max. I don’t want you to be."

He shook his head at her in disbelief, pain filling his dark eyes as he asked, almost afraid of her answer, "Why do you want to be with me?"

"Because I love you." He stared at her, stunned. He’d never expected anyone to say those words to him. Not ever. He wanted to say them back, wanted to say what he almost had yesterday when they had stood alone together at the edge of the cliff. But she knew. She knew he loved her. She wasn’t going to make him say it. He was afraid. She knew that too.

"I love you." She repeated, nodding, not expecting him to say it back, just saying it again so he would believe it.

"Then you’re the crazy one." He smirked, and she smiled at him, and leaned forward slowly, kissing the bruise coloring the skin over his cheekbone, careful not to hurt him. She felt his hands slide up her shoulders, over the sides of her neck until they were cradling her face gently, and guiding her lips down to his. She felt his tears touch her eyelashes and held him a little tighter as he buried his face in her neck.

"Everything’s going to be okay..." she murmured into his hair, rocking him gently. As dark as everything looked at the moment, a part of her believed that. A part of her honestly believed that as long as he was here with her nothing could hurt him. Nothing could hurt her.

"Don’t leave..." He whispered.

"Never." She whispered back, resting her head on his strong shoulder and closing her eyes.

"Maria?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

She just held him tighter.

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