Maria opened her front door and set her keys on the counter. She had just come home from being with Kyle and Tess all day. They had rented movies and gotten to know one another and Maria had decided she liked Tess a lot. She walked into her bedroom and flicked on the light and was startled to see Max sitting on her bed.

"Max, what are you doing here?"Maria asked.

Max had been waiting for her for at least half an hour. "Where were you? I've been waiting here forever."

Maria looked at Max in disbelief. "So what, am I supposed to report to you on a daily basis or something??" She was mad, he had left this morning without saying anything to her, and now he expected to know her every whereabout? What a jerk!

Max was taken aback at her outburst. "Why didn't you tell me that Liz didn't sleep with Kyle?" he asked quietly.

Maria had sat down to take off her shoes and stopped what she was doing and turned around to face Max. "Did she tell you everything?"

"Yes, but why didn't you?"

Maria looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "I promised her I wouldn't say anything."

Max couldn't believe what he was hearing. "I don't understand how you could keep that from me, knowing how much I loved her! How could you lie to me like that?"

Maria stood up abruptly. "I didn't lie to you, I promised my best friend that I wouldn't say anything because she honestly felt that you had to follow your destiny, so I kept quiet and watched you suffer! Do you honestly think that I enjoyed lying to you?"

Max leaned against the wall and rested his head against it." What I really can't believe is that you slept with me knowing that I could have had a chance with her. How could you do that to me?"

Maria eyes filled with tears. He was making it seem as though she had deliberately set out to sleep with him and deceive him. "I can't believe you just said that."

Max felt ashamed now. He knew it was a cheap shot. "I'm sorry, I...I just don't know what to do now."

Maria looked at Max straight in the eyes. "I don't think you are sorry." she whispered.

Max didn't respond. He couldn't.

Maria's tears spilled over as she walked over to Max and stood in front of him. "Go home Max, forget what happened, forget me and go home. It was never meant to happen, and you love Liz so just forget what happened and go on with your life just as I'm going to." She turned on her heel and went into the bathroom and locked the door.

Max got up and walked to the bathroom door. He knew he'd hurt her yet again, but he was confused. Maybe it was better this way. Maybe him and Maria weren't meant to be together. He stared at the door longingly and then turned around and left.

Maria heard his footsteps fade away and wished he would come back but knew that they could never be together. It didn't matter anymore, nothing did.

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Tess walked up to Maria's house. She had been eating a late night snack when Maria had phoned her and asked her to come over. She knew something was wrong as soon as she had picked up the phone. She knocked on Maria's door and her thoughts were confirmed when she saw Maria's tear streaked face.

Maria was enveloped in a hug from Tess and felt momentarily comforted, and then drew Tess inside the house. Maria walked into her room with Tess following behind. When Maria closed the door she turned around to face her. "If I asked you something, would you answer with no questions asked?"

Tess looked Maria in the eyes. "Yes."

Maria opened her robe and stood in her underclothes, revealing to Tess the glowing handprints all over her body. "Can you get rid of them?"

Tess stared at Maria and couldn't believe what she was seeing. "How...Where...Maria, what happened?"

"I can't tell you" Maria whispered.

Tess stared at Maria. There was an awkward silence in the room as Maria waited to see what Tess would do.

Tess knew that the reason Maria had come to her was because she had trusted her, and she knew it must have been hard for her. So Tess decided to be worthy of that trust. She stepped towards Maria and waved her hand down Maria's body and the silver handprints disappeared.

"Thank you," Maria whispered as she closed her robe and sat on the bed.

Tess sat down next to Maria and gave her a hug. "I'm here if you need me."

Maria hugged her back and cried silently.

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3 Months Later

Liz thought of how lucky she was with Max and yet though she seemed happy on the outside, she was worried. Even though her and Max had gotten back together he seemed a little distant and she couldn't figure out why. Liz looked over at Max , who was waiting for her shift to end. She smiled at him and he smiled back. Liz turned to Maria, "Do you want a ride home after we're done?"

Maria glanced at Max and then back at Liz. "Nah, that's OK I'll walk, I need the fresh air, I haven't been feeling very well lately." She didn't really want to be anywhere near Max, and she had been feeling pretty bad lately.Even Tess had told her she looked like a skeleton, she had big bags under her eyes that she didn't even bother to cover up. Maria, hadn't been sleeping, and hadn't been eating either. She just didn't feel like it.

Liz stared at Maria and frowned. "It's not like you to pass up a ride, are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me I'm fine." Maria reached over and gave Liz a hug.

"Well if you feel better later, me, Max and Alex are going to a movie, you can come if you want."

Normally Maria would have said yes, but she really didn't feel up to watching a whole night of Max and Liz. "Isn't Isabel going?"

"She has to study for her Chem midterm and help Michael with something, so Alex is gonna be by himself with me and Max, so you've gotta come."

Maria smiled, as much as she would like to spend time with Alex, she didn't want to spend any with Max. "Nah, I think I'll just have a quiet night and hang out with Tess."

Liz felt hurt, lately Maria had been spending more time with Kyle and Tess and less and less time with her.

"Oh, OK."

Maria knew Liz was upset but she didn't really feel up to making polite conversation tonight. She was exhausted. Maria watched as Max stood up to stand behind Liz.

Max looked at Maria. She looked awful, she even had bags under her eyes. He ran his eyes down her body, and noticed she had lost a lot of weight too. "Hey Maria."

Maria glanced at the clock and wiped down her last table. "Hey, um...Liz I'll see you later, OK?"

Max knew she had deliberately left when he had come over and it was killing him. She had been avoiding him since the last time they talked, it had been over 3 months since they had been in the same room for longer than 2 minutes. He missed his best friend and he was worried about her, she hadn't been looking very well.

Liz watched Maria walk into the back and wished that they weren't drifting apart.

"So we still going to the movies tonight?" Max asked as her turned Liz to face him.

Liz glanced up at him, she was glad she at least had him."Yeah, I can't wait."

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Maria opened the door to her house and stepped in. She was still getting used to living in such a big house with so many more people. They had moved into their new house, with the Valentis and Tess one month ago. Her mom and the sheriff were getting married in 6 months.

Tess looked up from her cereal and saw Maria. "Hey babe!"

Maria smiled, her and Tess had gotten really close , and she thought of her as a sister. "Hey, what are we doing tonight?"

"Um...well we were gonna go out with Liz, Max and Alex tonight, to the movies. Do you wanna come?"

Maria's smile faltered. "Nah, Liz already asked, but I don't feel like it tonight."

Tess put her bowl in the sink followed Maria into her room. "What's wrong Ria? You haven't been eating or sleeping, have you looked at yourself in the mirror lately?? You like like hell!"

Maria would have laughed at Tess if it wasn't true, but it was." I just haven't been hungry lately and I've been studying late for my midterms." Maria pulled out a pair of sweats and undies for after her shower.

Tess frowned at Maria." So what's your explanation for staying home everyday for the past 2 and a half months?? You never spend anytime with the whole gang anymore."

"So what, I've just been feeling like staying at home lately and being by myself." Maria didn't feel like having this conversation right now. She stepped into the shower and heard Tess enter the bathroom.

"It seems like your avoiding everyone, Maria!" Tess couldn't get what was the matter with Maria. She didn't seem well, she looked...well defeated.

Maria began to sing, knowing Tess would get the hint and leave. She just couldn't deal with everyone right now.

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Kyle watched as Tess paced in front of him. "I think she's sick. She would tell us if something was wrong right?"

"Yes I'm sure she would." Kyle tried to reassure his girlfriend and becuase it didn't seem to be working, he pulled her into his lap and kissed her neck to distract her.

"Kyle, you can distract me all you want, it's not going to stop me from worrying about her. I can't figure out why..." Tess shut up as Kyle kissed her full on the lips.

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Isabel had just finished studying with Micheal and was about to get ready to join the gang at the movies. She was glad everyone was going out tonight, she hadn't spent time with them in the longest time. She hadn't really seen Maria around either. It kinda seemed like she was avoiding them , but that couldn't be, because she was best friends with Liz and she never missed a chance to see Micheal right?? Well she'd just phone her and make sure she was coming.

Isabel picked up her phone and dialed Maria's new number. "Hey Tess is Maria there?"

"Yeah, hold on..."

Isabel waited patiently until she heard Maria's unusually soft voice.

"Hello?"

"Hey Maria, It's Izzy. I was wondering if you were coming to the movies tonight?"

"No, sorry. I was just gonna chill at home, weren't you gonna study with Micheal tonight?"

"Yeah but we finished early. Maria you are coming to the movies tonight, I haven't seen you forever and don't argue! I'll be there to pick you up with Max in 10 minutes." Isabel hung up and called Max to tell him they were going to pick up Maria first.

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Maria swore as she hung up the phone. Isabel was always able to talk anyone into anything. Damn! She didn't want to be in the same room as Max and she especially didn't want to talk to him. She got up from the floor and began to get dressed. She yelled to Tess that Isabel was picking her up and she'd meet them there.

Max walked up to the front door and was about to ring the bell when Maria opened the door and stepped outside. She avoided his eyes and mumbled hi.

Max looked her up and down. "Hey."

Maria looked behind him and asked where Izzy was.

"Oh, Alex came to pick her up, so she sent me to pick you up."

"Well let's go then, or we'll be late." Maria brushed past Max and got inside the car.

Max watched her get inside the car and followed suit.

Max tried to think of something to say, but what do you say to the person who used to be your best friend before a one night stand that ended with you basically calling her a liar. God! What a mess. He missed her. There was something about her, that drew him to her.

They drove for 2 minutes in complete silence before Max couldn't take it anymore.He pulled the car over and turned to face her. She continued to look out the window.

Maria knew what Max was doing but refused to play along with him. "We're going to be late."

Max had never been so frustrated. He missed her friendship but he was so attracted to her it was killing him.

"We need to talk, Now!"

Maria didn't think they had anything to talk about. "No we don't."

"Look, Maria I miss you, I miss our friendship, can't we just go back to the way things were before?"

Maria looked at Max in disbelief. "You are something you know that? You sleep with me and now you expect us to just go back and be friends?? I mean, what, you wanna creep back into my bed in the middle of the night and 'hang out'? You make me sick!" Maria turned in her seat to face the window again.