Maria's eyes flew open and she looked around confused for a moment, as to why the connection had been broken so soon. Her panic that something bad had happened was soon fading as she felt Michael caress her face while he looked into her eyes. She gave out a soft, relieved sigh, but her confusion was up again at his words, "Meant what Michael?" She questioned quietly. She knew that whatever feelings, or images, whatever he got from her would be the truth, there was no hiding when someone was in her head, she just didn't know what he saw and that was what scared her.

Michael shook his head, staring down at Maria quietly. "Nothing.." he answered softly, tilting her face up to meet his eyes. "Maria," Michael asked, his voice barely audible, "what did you see? When we connected?"

Maria eyes pained suddenly as she remembered every single picture that had been thrown at her, the emotions she had felt from him were still jumbled together. She had felt anger and pain, sadness, the need to run away from everything, everyone...her, to not get attached to pull anyone into his life, the hint of excitement of becoming a father, then the downside, doubting that he would make a good one. "I saw...you..." She started quietly, sighing as she closed her eyes. The bent of the images that had hit her were of Isabel and Max, a few of her, working, laying in bed and him watching her...of Courtney, she just knew that Courtney was like him, just from everything from the image...but most of all she had seen Hank, "He hit you..."

Michael stared at her quietly for a moment, surprised. She could only mean Hank.. he was the only person who had ever hit Michael regularly. "Only a couple of times." he lied. Reaching one hand out, Michael gently caressed Maria's curls, staring at his hand to avoid her eyes. "You were thinking about me.. and the baby." he whispered. Surprisingly good thoughts about him, considering how much he had hurt her before. "And the baby could feel how much you loved him.. did you feel that?" he asked, knowing that he had felt how much their child already loved them...

Maria shook her head, angry at him for covering, letting Hank hit him, "No..not only a couple of times, he still.." She cut herself off as she touched his face softly, sighing lightly when his hand moved to her curls. She let him go on, not even caring...minding whatever he saw from her, she really had nothing to hide, she had basically already spilt everything to him. "Yes..." She answered quietly, feeling only a little of her worry go away, "I can still...feel it." She told him as her other hand moved to rest on her stomach, "You can't?"

"Only a little.." Michael admitted quietly. It was sometimes really hard for him to hang onto good thoughts or feelings.. they kept getting lost, buried amongst the fear and pain that was always with him. "Sometimes I feel it clearly, but sometimes..." Michael's voice trailed off as he stretched out along the bed, pulling Maria down beside him. He tried to smile, seeing Maria's anger. "It's really not that big a deal." he muttered, thinking about Hank."Sometimes he drinks too much, that's all."

Maria sighed, shaking her head a little as she squeezed her eyes shut, letting out a deep breath, "It is a big deal Michael, he hits you....don't make excuses for him, he's not your father, so don't." She stated, a hint of anger still in her voice. How someone could ever hit Michael was beyond her. "I could kill him.." She whispered quietly, her eyes still shut.

Michael reached out to cup Maria's face, surprised by the venom in her voice. "Maria.. baby.. don't get upset. Hank's a jerk, I admit. But..." Michael's voice trailed of as he realized what he was about to say.. but he's all I have. Even if Hank made a crappy father, he was the only one Michael had. That he had ever had... "But I can handle it.." he finished quietly, propping up on his elbow to look down at Maria.

Maria let her eyes open slightly, not surprised to find him looking down at her, "How can I not get upset Michael? You were little and he hit you for nothing and now...he continues to hit you and you live with it? He's a monster." She whispered the last part, her eyes pained that he was going through that, "I don't want you to handle it....I want you out of it."

Michael shook his head sadly. "How?" he whispered. "You don't understand Maria. Hank is.. He's the closest I have to a family." He settled back against the pillow, closing his eyes quietly. "He's all I have. Except for Max and Iz, but they're just my friends because.." Michael broke off, shrugging his shoulders, before he added, "Sometimes he's not so bad."

Maria frowned, absently noting that she wasn't any where on that list and that hurt, "You have me.." She whispered quietly as she watched him shrug his shoulders, his eyes closed and laying back against her pillows. Her eyes slowly went down to settle on his chest, slowly letting one of her arms stretch out across him, touching his other arm lightly. "Even if you don't want to admit it, you have me, Michael." She told him firmly as she moved up some so they were face level with each other, "Please don't do that...say it..he's not so bad...because anyone who hits you is bad, no matter how light the tap, it's wrong, you don't deserve that."

Michael opened his eyes, smiling slightly as he stared into Maria's eyes. "Do I have you?" he whispered, only half-teasing. His hand dropped down, caressing her stomach, slightly above the silver handprint. "Both of you?"

Maria nodded slightly, serious with what she was saying, "You me...us, you have us." She told him quietly, "But only if you want us. We're a packaged deal, you can't have one with out the other.." She told him lightly with a small smile, forcing her eyes open, even if they wanted to fall shut with his soft caress against her stomach.

Michael nodded, his voice quiet. "I do. I want you both." It was the first time he had admitted it to himself, much less to Maria, and he felt as surprised as she looked. "I really do.." he whispered, his voice full of awe.

"Then you have us Michael." Maria answered softly as she touched his face gently, "We're yours." She told him as a statement, sighing lightly as her eyes gave into temptation and closed, letting her body snuggle up to his, "we're yours.." She repeated as her hand that had been still on his chest began to stroke him lightly, "Your mine?"

Michael pulled Maria's body against his gently as she snuggled to him. "If you want me.." he offered uncertainly. He didn't understand why she would.. why anyone would really. He had stopped defending Hank against her, for much the same reason. Maria said it wasn't his fault that Hank beat him.. but Michael wasn't so sure. Almost everyone in his life had hurt him, when given the chance. The only possible conclusions were either that there was something wrong with Michael, that he deserved it.. or that there was something wrong with the others. He knew well which explanation was more likely..

Maria nodded against him, sighing softly when he pulled her body against his gently, "Yes...I want you. I'll always want you.." She whispered quietly, knowing it was the truth. No matter how many he would probably unintentionally hurt her a few more times, or he would piss her off, anything...she would always want him for some strange reason. "It's not your fault." She told him softly, somehow sensing his thoughts, "That Hank...that he hurt you, that anyone hurt you...it's not your fault, you did nothing to deserve it. Trust me."

Michael hugged Maria tightly, shaking his head to deny her words. "You don't know me,Maria." he explained softly. "You don't know what I'm really like." She didn't know how much he could hurt her... and when she found out... Michael sighed softly, reaching one hand up to stroke the golden curls that had always captivated him. "Besides, Hank is.. he's getting better. It doesn't happen as often now as it used to."

Maria shook her head against him, "I know you Michael...your not a horrible person. You may do things wrong, and you may screw up occasionally, but no ones perfect and no one deserves to be hit." She sighed softly, "Your this...incrediably annoying boy who doesn't know how to show his emotions, who's afraid of hurting people, of people hurting him, of loving him...you don't think you deserve someone's love...anyone's love, but you do, you deserve so much more. It's not better until he stops hitting you completely."

Michael shook his head, afraid to believe her words. "It doesn't matter. That's never going to happen." he answered. He used to wish for that.. one day Hank would come home, and apologize. Hank would become the kind of father he had always wanted.. he would stop drinking. 'That's what one too many after school specials does to you..' Michael thought grimly. He had grown up though, realizing that things would never change with Hank. If anything, he drank more now, not less.. and he had been through at least 6 or 7 jobs that Michael could remember. "Just try not to worry about me, okay?" he requested, spanning Maria's tiny back with his hands.

"I'll never hurt you Michael." Maria promised quietly, not sure why she felt the need to assure him that she would never hurt him, never dream of hurting him. She slightly smirked when he told her to try not to worry about him, "When are you going to learn, Spaceboy, I'm always gonna worry about what's mine, and your mine."

"But there's nothing you can do about it." Michael protested quietly. His fingertips began tracing patterns on her stomach, drawing circles and other shapes around the tiny handprint.
"Besides, you need to worry about this little guy.. he really needs all your attention now." Michael pointed out, his voice full of wonder.. and a new touch of fatherly pride.

Maria smiled at the sound in his voice, her eyes opening to gaze down at his hand that was drawing circles around the tiny handprint, "I have enough to go around for the both of you...my guys."

"Okay." Michael conceded quietly, shaking his head. She was so determined to care about him, he thought grinning. And he liked it, though he couldn't begin to understand why she wanted him. "You're forgetting one important detail.." he teased quietly. "We still need a name for our son."

Maria smiled as her hand cmae down to cover his, her eyes focused on his fingers. "Yes we do." She agreed quietly, never bothering to look up at him, knowing she fine just feeling his body pressed softly against hers. "Do you have an suggestions?"

"I've never really thought about it.." Michael answered, shrugging. "As long as it isn't Hank or Michael... or anything stupid like Fenton or Marcus..." he teased, rubbing her hair softly.

Maria smiled, "Hey now, I happen to like Michael." She protested softly, then grew silent in thought. Now that she thought about it, she had never actually thought about names, she had never thought about having children...she probably would have in a couple of years, but everything was happening know and her mind was slowly begining to realize that, "What do you think of Gabriel..Gabe? It's the name of an Angel ya know...just like Michael."

"Gabriel.." Michael repeated, testing the name on his tongue. "It's nice." he answered, nodding. Smiling suddenly, he leaned down, whispering in Maria's ear, "2 angels and a pixie... what a combo." He settled back, relaxing against the pillow, muttering the name aloud. "And it sounds good with either of our last names.." he added, not quite realizing why he had mentioned that, but unsure as to which last name Maria planned to give their child.

Maria laughed softly at his '2 angels and a pixie' comment. "Guerin...that'll be his last name. It's only right that he have his father's last name..." *Even if I don't* That little thought startled her, at that been a hint towards...marrage or something..nah, just a slip of the mind. "Gabriel Guerin....you don't mind Gabriel? I mean, the name? It was the first thing that popped into my head..."

Michael smiled, somehow relieved that Gabriel would have his last name. Gabriel Guerin. Maria Gue-- no wait, Michael realized, it doesn't affect the mother's name. For some reason, that thought bothered him. "You don't mind?" he asked. "That the baby would have my name instead of yours, I mean?" Suddenly he processed the rest of her words.. her question. Michael smiled slightly, thinking of angels. "No.. I like it, actually." he admitted quietly, a thought occuring to him. "What about a middle name? Granted, I don't know much about them.. I don't have one. Do you?"

Maria smiled, shaking her head, "No, I'd actually like it best if he had your last name, it just seems right that way." She gave him a smaller, half smile and shrugged at his middle name question, "Umm...yeah I have one, I just always thought everyone had one, but we're not talking about me here....okay, I picked the first name, it's only right for you to pick the middle name, it came be any name at all......just something you like."

Michael shrugged. "Nah.. they gave me Hank's last name when I was placed there. And someone at the home started calling me Mike.. so Michael Guerin.. no middle name." Thinking about his son, Michael smiled, but shook his head. "It doesn't really matter.. we could use Michael if you want. Or Alexander. Matthew.." Trailing off, he grinned. "I don't know cheesehead, you choose." Suddenly realizing that she hadn't dropped the info before, he tickled her softly, shaking his head. "What's YOUR middle name?"

Maria smiled at the names he mentioned, "Michael...that's what we'll use, I don't know if it would be weird or anything, but I like it. Gabriel Michael Guerin, sorta has a ring to it, doesn't it?" She asked softly, then went into a small fit of laugher as he tickled her, "Why?" She asked in between small gulps of air, but when he still wouldn't give up, she finally gave in, "Rose...my middle name is Rose."

"Gabriel Michael Guerin..." Michael repeated, quietly, a small smile on his lips. "Sounds perfect. What do you think, little one?" he teased, reaching one hand down to caress her stomach lightly. Looking up, catching Maria's eyes, he grinned, admitting quietly, "I like roses.. they're beautiful. And they smell sweet."

Maria smiled softly, making a mental snapshot of Michael caressing her stomach and teasingly talking to it...to the baby..to Gabriel. "Oh ya know...mom gave it to me an everything, it's nothing special." She shrugged gently, then giggled lightly. She was pleasantly surprised as she felt a kick, "Wow...I think..I think that means he likes it." She whispered, talking about the baby's name, her voice filled with awe, "Did you feel that?" She asked quickly, pressing her hand over his to press against her stomach.

Michael froze for a moment, feeling his child move beneath his hand. Looking up at Maria, his face full of wonder, he whispered quietly, "There's a baby in there.." Seeing her expression, he blushed slightly. "Yeah, I knew it.. but to feel him, to actually feel him move..." He shook his head in amazement, noticing that her stomach was already slightly rounded, growing to provide a home for their baby. "You know, we're going to have to tell everyone pretty soon... before you start showing."

"I kinda liked having this little secret to ourselves." Maria whispered, then frowned at she looked at her stomach a little, "I'm going to get fat." She stated, like it was the first time she had thought about it. But then again, if the baby was already growing and kicking, then maybe she wouldn't even show...maybe it was some weird alien thing that kept you slim until the actual birth day. She shook her head slightly as she looked back at him and soft smile made it's way across her lips, "I think it's worth it...despite our age's Michael...despite how young we are, and the complications we may encounter, I'm happy...to be having this
baby." She admitted, *To be having your baby.* She added silently, but sighed again knowing they were going to have to tell the others, "When do you want to tell them?" She asked, then shook her head again, "Maybe we should talk to Courtney first, she may know something about all of this that we don't." She shrugged a little at his surprised look, "I was kinda in your head, I already know she's like you, why she asked you not to tell anyone is beyond me." She said as she looked away, she was a little jealous at the images of Courtney kissing him, and he hadn't nessicarily pushed her away either.

Michael shook his head, confused. "I don't get it either." Hurridly he added, "That's why I brought her... I wanted everyone to get to know one another. There's nothing going on between us." He suddenly had a strange urge to convince her of that.. to prove to her that he wasn't interested in Courtney. "I mean, she likes me.. she said so. And uh... we kinda kissed." he admitted, looking to Maria for her reaction. "But it didn't mean anything, she was just 'feeling me out' I guess."

"I know." Maria stated easily, "I saw it in here." She tapped his temple softly, letting her fingers glide down her face. "Michael...I don't want there to be secrets between us, secrets get in the way, make things more complicated then how they may already be." She told him quietly, glad that he had admitted it meant nothing, although she hadn't really felt that during the connection, she had just seen the brief images of Courtney and only a few meanings to them. "So Michael, do we go back to Alex's to spill the big secret, or pull Courtney aside and demand answers.....what?"

Michael shrugged, his mind stuck on secrets. "Why didn't you mention it?" he asked, confused. "That you knew I kissed Courtney?" He shook his head, thinking about what she had said. It made sense, he knew, that secrets kept people apart. His secrets had always kept him distanced from everyone else... but she already knew most of his secrets. Not all, but a lot. She knew what he was.. and she knew about Hank, something not even Max and Izzy knew. Looking up at Maria uncertainly, Michael asked quietly, "What if there are things
you wouldn't want to know?" Things he wouldn't want anyone to know.. his fears, his insecurities.. the reasons he sometimes cried himself to sleep, even now.

Maria shrugged lightly, "I don't know, I just didn't, it looked pretty innocent to me, why make waves with something so little?" She told him, other the main reason she hadn't said anything because she was afraid that it HAD meant something to him. She frowned for a moment as she saw the uncertain look he was giving her. "I want to know everything about you Michael, good and bad, things you may think I don't want to know, but I do. You already know so much about me, I have like...no secrets here, they're all laid on the line, you want to know something, ask and I'll answer honestly, I just want that same honesty from you." She told him softly, her voice nothing but sincerity.

Michael paused, almost at a loss for words. No one had ever expressed a desire to know about him. "No secrets.." he repeated quietly, trying to imagine how it would feel for her, for anyone to know everything about him.. and still care. Glancing up at Maria, he cocked his head, a serious expression on his face. "You'll answer anything?" he demanded. At her nod, Michael pulled back, biting his lip nervously, as he searched her eyes. "Okay, I have a question..." He already knew the answer.. had seen the truth when they connected.. but still, he had to ask. "Do you love me?"

Maria had every intention to go into a babbling fit about how she didn't love him and blah blah blah, but she saw the look in his eyes, needing to know the truth, wanting to make sure that they could be secretless with each other. She took a deep breath before slowly nodding, "Yes..." She whispered quietly, waiting for the freak out, waiting for him to run away. He hadn't wanted anyone to love him, to get close to him, yet in the few hours..the few days they'd spent together, she had fallen in love with him, there was no turning back now.

Michael nodded slowly, his gaze dropping to their hands on her stomach. "So that is what I felt.." he whispered quietly. "When we connected.. all the emotions I got from you.. I didn't know if... I wasn't sure that was the word." Gathering what little courage he could muster under the circumstances, he looked up at Maria, catching her eyes. "Does it scare you?"

Maria watched him closely for a moment, not sure what he was asking, "Does it scare me? Me loving you?" She slowly shook her head as she kept eye contact, giving him a small smile, "No...It actually feels pretty good to love someone, I guess I'm scared you won't return it....the love, but that's it." She told him truthfully. "Are you afraid of Love Michael?"

Michael started to shake his head in instant denial, but stopped, considering her words. "I don't know." he admitted honestly. He dropped the eye contact, staring at the blanket beneath them. "I'm not sure I know what it is."

Maria frowned at his words, shaking her head, "You've never felt love for anyone, not even Isabel or Max, given their love would probably be sibling, but still..." She looked painfully at him, how could someone not be sure what love was. "I love you Michael. I don't care if you don't feel it back, but I want you to feel me, my love." She said quickly, not sure how to assure him of anything. She grabbed his hand quickly, pressing their palms together, trying to send him everything she felt, the confusion, the fear, the happiness...the love, everything love.

Michael stared down at their hands quietly. "I felt you." he admitted softly. "When we connected, I felt everything you're sending out now. And I thought, 'maybe that's what love feels like'... but I wasn't sure." Turning his hands over beneath hers, he braided their fingers together, tracing her knuckles with his thumb. "There's never been anyone to love.." he whispered, not looking at Maria. "Not really... Maxwell and Isabel, they're great. But they only care about me because I'm like them. If I were a human, I probably wouldn't even know them." Michael shrugged suddenly, another thought occuring to him. "They've never said it, if they do. You're the second person to actually say it.."

Maria quietly listened to him talk, taking in the words he spoke. She wanted to tell him that she was there, that he could love her, but she knew that wasn't the way things worked. "Second person?" She asked suddenly with interest. If she was the second, then who was the first. "You have some other girl stashed somewhere that I don't know about Spaceboy?" She asked only half serious.

"No." Michael answered seriously, his voice suddenly grim. "The first person.. the only person who ever said they loved me was.. Hank." Micheael trailed his fingers along their knuckes, his eyes watching the slow movements as he explained. "When I was younger.. he said it a lot." Usually he said it in way of apology, telling his foster son he loved him when he was drunk.. usually after a beating of one sort or another. Love equals pain... a natural connection for a 7 year old to make.

Maria shook her head softly, "You can't say 'only' anymore, I said I love you and I mean it." Her free hand curled under his chin, pulling his head up gently to meet her gaze, "I love you, Michael. I don't expect you to say it back and I don't expect you to take any pain for it. I love you...plain, simple, love." She told him quietly, pressing a tender kiss to his lips, then pulling back to look at him. Somehow she could sense where his feelings for heading, where his thoughts were...his whole mood. "The baby...Our son loves you, think of that...he may not be able to say it..*yet* but he will one day, and he already showed it you, you can't say only anymore."

Michael slid down Maria's body, resting his head against her stomach, his fingers drawing circles around the tiny, silver handprint. He felt... strange. On the one hand, he felt miserable, unable to drag his thoughts away from Hank, their home, and the fact that he had to go back there soon. On the other hand, he felt elated.. both from the thought of Gabriel and the words Maria whispered. Love.. the foreign and frightening concept.. was it possible that love wasn't
supposed to hurt? That is wasn't something to fear.. to avoid? Michael pondered this new hope, feeling the pinprick of tears behind his closed eyelids.. tears that had never fallen in front of another being since he was eight years old.. Breathing deeply, trying to blink back the betraying tears, Michael leaned forward, placing a soft kiss against his son's tiny handprint.

Maria leaned back again, sighing softly as Michael pressed a kiss to the tiny handprint, her eyes falling closed. One of her hands slowly, unsurely smoothed back his hair, running through his spikes, a sign of comfort. She felt something wet hit her stomach and she didn't need to open her eyes to realize what it was, "It's okay..." She whispered quietly, she had never seen anyone cry that wasn't a girl, so okay she wasn't actually seeing him cry, but it still felt different, it made her sadden quickly, "It's okay Michael, you don't have to hide anything from me..."

Michael smiled quietly, ignoring Maria's words. It wasn't true, he knew better than that... but if she wanted to believe it, who was he to dissuade her? He worked on getting his emotions under control, pulling them back behind that wall he had built so many years ago. He enjoyed her gentle movements through his hair, her tiny hands caressing his ever unruly spikes.

Maria could feel him withdrawing again, putting up that wall, it was written in the quietness. She sighed, leting out a deep breath with it, her hand not slowing any as he moved softly through his hair. She was not going to tell him not to hide anything from her when he felt the need to, she didn't want to pry into anything, she wanted him to want to tell her things, to not keep secrets, be open, but that obviously wasn't happening anytime soon. Her sigh turned into a small giggle as the baby kicked again, "God...that feels so weird." She whispered softly.

Michael grinned, wiping his eyes before he turned to face her. "I think YOUR son just kicked me in the head..." he pretended to complain, sitting up to face her. Really, he was amazed. He could hardly believe his son was there, safe and protected inside Maria's body. "That's so cool.." he whispered, his voice full of awe as he stared into her eyes, seeing his wonder and amazement reflected there.

Maria laughed softly, nodding her head in agreement,"And if you felt anything just by...resting your head on my stomach, just think of how it feels to be me." She told him with a small grin, "I actually feel like a punching bag." She said with a twinkle of amusement mixed in with her amazement, happiness, giddiness...wonder, all seen in her eyes. "That just feels...it feels amazing.." She whispered, closing her eyes as she felt another kick. "He obviously gets that from you." She teased lightly.

Michael grinned, stretching out beside Maria. "I don't think so..." he protested. "I'm not that active." Gathering Maria in his arms, he smiled down at her, their shared wonder at their baby drawing him closer to her. It was hard to maintain a safe distance, Micheal noted wryly, when you felt so connected to someone else. He glanced down at her, using the opportunity to ask something he had wondered before, "Maria, are you ever afraid of me?"

Maria sighed softly as he pulled her into his arms, her body instantly molding to his. She looked up at him with a small frown, then shook her head, "No....I'm not afraid of you, I never was." She told him quietly, slightly confused and put off by his question, "What's with all these questions, Michael?"

Michael shrugged slightly. "You said you would answer anything honestly, if I gave you the same. So it's just some things I wondered, that's all." Looking up at her, he smiled. "I can stop asking, if you prefer." He was relieved, though, to hear that she didn't fear him. Michael was often reprimanded for his temper.. but that didn't bother him much. What scared him was the thought that he might end up being more like Hank than anyone knew.. and that was
something he never wanted to happen.

Maria smiled lightly, "No, it's alright, just wondering where all the questions were coming from. Is there anything else you'd like to know, to have my opinion on?" She asked quietly, feeling the waves of relief pouring off him, but she said nothing. She was silent for a moment before she softly began to talk, "My turn to ask a question, are you going to run?" She asked, wanting..needing an honest answer, "Are you going to run from me and the baby?"

Michael sighed softly, staring at the little handprint on her tummy. "I feel like I should..." he admitted quitely. Looking up at her, he shook his head quietly. "I don't think I'm cut out to be a dad, Maria. I don't think I'm what YOU need either..." Smiling sarcastically at himself, he shrugged. "But I don't think I'm strong enough to leave either of you. I don't think I could stay away from you."

Maria let out a soft sigh, smiling lightly at him, "Don't think about what I need, I know what I want, what I need and I want you, bad and good." She told him quietly as she slowly laced their fingers together, "And you..you will make a great father, despite how yours..how Hank is to you, you'll be ten times better, just to give your son a father you never had." She whispered quietly to him, reasuring him. "I'm glad your not strong, I'm glad your weak, because I don't want you to stay away from me...from us, I want you around always."

Michael laughed softly, a serious glint in his eyes as he teased, "Be careful what you wish for..." Reaching down to silently caress her hair, he grinned, somewhat shyly. "Any other silly questions?"

Maria was quiet for a moment, trying to think of something she wanted to know, but really...she didn't want to know anything, she already knew enough to like. "Nope...how about you? Would you like to pry more into my secrets?" She teased quietly.

Michael grinned softly. "Do you have any?" he asked, looking at her curiously. He shrugged, shaking his head. "I'm satisfied for the moment.. but if you have any other questions, there are easier ways to answer them." Michael pointed out quietly, reaching down the trace the silver handprint, the way they had made the connection earlier. Even though making a connection to Maria, to anyone really, scared him, it was a lot easier than him trying to explain. And more pure, when his defenses weren't able to get in the way.

Maria let out a small sigh, her eyes drifting shut as a pleasurable shiver washed over her body, at the simple touch of his fingers. "I'm pretty much an open book here, Michael, no real secrets of any kind." She said quietly. "We won't be able to hide in here forever, ya know. We're going to have to go tell the others sooner or later." She murmured, although she had no intentions of moving.

Michael sighed quietly. "I know.." he agreed, his voice soft. "But that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to it." Pulling away from her slightly, he frowned. "Do you think everyone's still at Alex's? Maybe we should go ahead and get it over with.. tell them all at once."

"Probably..." Maria said quietly, her eyes opening to look at him, "How bad do you think they would take it?" She asked, touching his arm softly, trying to urge him to pull back to her.

Michael sighed softly. "I don't know... probably not well, is my guess." Smiling quietly, Michael allowed himself to be tugged down, burying his face against her abdomen. "You know," he teased, whispering against her skin. "If we're going to tell them, we actually have to get out of the bed." Going against his own advice, Michael closed his eyes, making no move to leave her.

Maria smiled lightly, biting back the giggle as his breath tickled her stomach, "Yep.." She agreed quietly, although she refused to move for the moment. After a second she sighed again, "After we tell them, we can come back and just hide again, right?" She asked, only half teasing as she slowly shifted beneath him.

Michael nodded softly, his spikes tickling the underside of her breasts. "We can come back and hide here anytime.." he assured her. "Well, until your mom gets home.. then we have to find some other place to hide."

Maria sighed again before she began to move, forcing him to sit up, "We need to get this over with, the sooner the better." She said quietly as slid her legs over the side of the bed. She gave him an apologetic look from making him move and slowly walked towards her dresser, quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and a light long sleeved shirt.

Michael smiled gently, sliding out of the bed, dressing quickly. Once they were ready to leave, Michael walked over, stopping to face Maria. Gathering her against him for a quick hug, he whispered quietly, "It's going to be okay, Maria. No matter how everyone reacts.. I'm here, and it's going to work out."

Maria nodded against his chest, glad to have his reasurance, "Thank you..." She whispered softly, beginging to pull back, looking up into his face, "I believe you." She smiled lightly at him, touching his face as she leaned up, kissing his lips tenderly. "Let's go.." She grabbed his hand and slowly pulled him our her bedroom and towards the front door, "Walking or the car?"

Michael smiled slightly, following Maria from the room. "Car.." he decided easily. "Less opportunities for us to change our mind." And less temptation.. he added silently, knowing that if they walked the 10 minutes to Alex's house, one of the other would try to stop... put it off for later. And this was something that had to be done soon...

TBC
Part 15
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