Maria stumbled into the Crashdown as Liz rearranged the salt and pepper shakers on the tables. They had just opened and Maria was slightly late for her shift but Liz wasn't surprised; after all it was Saturday, the end of a long week at school. And their shift was extremely early for a Saturday. A few people straggled in for an early Saturday breakfast and Liz got to work. Smiling, she approached her first table. "Hi, what can I get you?" Liz asked pulling out her order booklet. The aging man stared at the menu. "Um." While Liz waited for the man to make up his mind, Max and Isabel entered the Crashdown. They headed for their usual booth. Max caught Liz's eyes and they stared into each others eyes until Isabel nudged Max with her elbow and sat down. Max and Liz tore their eyes away from each other as Max sat down across from Isabel and grabbed a menu. Liz turned back to her customer but could feel Max's eyes still on her. She could always tell because it sent a tingling feeling down her spine. After taking the man's order Liz walked over to Max and Isabel. She glanced at Isabel and then Max to whom she smiled shyly at. He returned the smile. "So what can I get you? You know, with your Tabasco sauce." "I'll have whatever cute little name you came up with for an omelet," Isabel said placing her menu back on the table. Max looked up at Liz and said, "I'll have, have," "He'll have a kiss; go on I know you two want to," Isabel said smirking. Liz blushed and Max said, "Um, I'll have the same as Isabel." "Okay then, two omelets, I'll be back," Liz said and then walked back to place the order. Maria stood leaning against the counter on her elbows looking at her hands. Liz glanced at her and asked her, "Are you okay?" Maria looked up at Liz, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine." Liz looked a little closer at Maria. Normally her best friend was a bubbly talkative bundle of happiness but today she seemed preoccupied and even quiet. Liz knew something was up if Maria was quiet - that rarely happened. "Are you sure?" Liz pressed. "Yes, really. Don't worry about me," she said and turned to head for her next table. Liz decided to talk to her again later. She hoped that Maria would let her in on what was up then. Finally, Maria and Liz reached the end of their shift. Isabel had left earlier but Liz changed quickly and ran out to meet Max. "Hey," Liz said placing her arms around Max's neck and giving him a quick kiss. "Hey. So you're off now?" Max asked wrapping his arms around Liz's waist. "That's right, all yours," Liz said with a smile. They shared a sweet kiss and then slid into the booth. Liz lay against Max's chest with his arms still around her waist. Liz noticed Maria hadn't come out yet so she took this opportunity to question Max. "Did you notice anything weird about Maria this morning?" "No, not really, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her. Why, something up with her?" "I thought so. She wasn't herself this morning." "Well did you talk to her about it?" "I asked if she was doing okay and she said she was fine. But she wasn't very convincing," Liz said biting her lip. "Well maybe she was just tired. I'm sure if it was really serious she'd talk to you about it." "Yeah," Liz said sighing. Max looked at her and could tell she was concerned. He softly kissed the top of her head. Max knew Liz and Maria were close though and if Maria needed to talk, she'd talk to Liz. And if not Liz, Michael. It probably wasn't that serious anyway. Or so he thought. Michael ran into the Crashdown not too long after Liz and Maria's shift ended. He looked around quickly and after spotting Max and Liz he approached them. "Hey Maxwell. Liz," he said as he sat down across from them. He barely gave them any time to respond; it was obvious he was only concerned with one thing. "Have you seen Maria?" he asked. "She just finished her shift, she's probably still in the back," Liz said. Michael nodded, "Okay, good. I'm a little late and I wanted to be sure I didn't miss her. She told me I'd be a dead alien if I didn't meet her before my shift." Liz looked from Max to Michael wondering whether she should tell Michael that Maria was acting strange this morning. Before she had a chance to though, Maria appeared and Michael turned towards her. "Wow, look who showed up on time," Maria said in an impassive tone. "I don't plan on making it a habit," Michael responded. Michael stood up and began walking towards the back of the Crashdown with Maria following. "So, my mom's out of town, something to do with some convention. I was wondering if you'd come over and maybe watch a movie with me tonight." Michael turned his head and glanced at Maria as he threw his jacket out of the way. "And I promise no chick flicks?" Maria added. "Okay then," Michael said. He then took a step towards the kitchen but Maria intercepted. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair and kissed him lightly. Curious, Michael asked, "Are you okay?" Maria nodded and Michael leaned down and kissed her again. They stayed lip-locked until Maria pulled away slowly. "You'd better get to work spaceboy," she said Michael sighed, "Yeah, you're right. See you tonight." He turned and headed towards the kitchen yet again. Maria called after him, "At eight!" At five minutes to eight that night, Michael dragged his feet to Maria's door. He rang the doorbell and almost immediately, Maria swung the door open. "I should have known then to expect you to be on time for a second time today," Maria said with a hand on her hip. Michael straightened up and teased, "I can go home if you'd like." "I don't think so," Maria said sticking out her lip and pulling Michael inside. Michael smiled; if there was one thing that he was cute -even though he'd never admit it - was Maria's lips and the way they looked when she pouted. Maria slipped the tape in the VCR and bounced onto the couch next to Michael. "I promise, it's not a chick flick. It's The Mummy. I wasn't sure what you wanted to see." "Well at least it's not a chick flick." "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Maria giggled. She lay her head on Michael's shoulder and he wrapped his arm around her. Not ten minutes into the movie they were already preoccupied with another activity, kissing each other, neither remembering that they had a movie playing. Michael's lips were fixed on Maria's neck as Maria's fingers ran furiously through Michael's hair. Michael's lips moved lower to the tender skin of Maria's shoulder. Maria felt a shiver run up her spine; Michael's lips always had that effect on her. Maria lowered her own head and Michael's lips lifted from her shoulder to capture them. Maria sucked lightly on his lower lip and they continued to kiss. They began to slow down from heavy passionate kisses to slow sweet ones, eventually ending up in each other's arms. Maria sat in Michael's lap, leaning against him. They watched the rest of the movie and even put in another tape after the first one ended. As the credits scrolled marking the end of the second movie, Michael looked down at Maria. Her eyelids were fluttering and it looked like she was going to fall asleep any minute. "I think I'm gonna go," he said getting up and displacing Maria on the couch. Before he took a step away from the couch she grabbed his hand. "Wait! Would you stay? Please?" Michael tilted his head to the side as he took another look at Maria. He figured he'd sneak out once she fell asleep so he nodded. He sat back down at the end of the couch and Maria laid her head down on his thigh. As she fell asleep he stroked her blonde hair. Once he was positive she was asleep he laid her down on the couch and threw a blanket over her. Afterwards he sneaked out the door and walked back down the street looking back only once. Getting ready to open the last day of the weekend at the Crashdown, Liz wondered where Maria was. Maria usually wasn't late and this was the second day she hadn't been on time like usual. Just as Liz was about to find the phone to call her, she showed up. Liz looked up to see her entering and expected to see an improvement from how she looked yesterday but instead she didn't look any better; Liz was beginning to believe she looked worse. There were bags under her eyes and her walk was energized like it used to be, it was a dragging slow pace. Liz waved and Maria said hi but headed straight to the back as she tied her apron. So when Michael rushed in Liz pulled him aside. "Have you talked to Maria this morning?" she whispered. Michael gave Liz a weird look and told her, "No I just got here, why? Is she here?" Liz nodded. "Yeah she's here. But she doesn't seem like herself." "Well did you ask her about it?" "I did yesterday," Liz answered, "but she said she was fine." "Well then maybe she is. Maybe she's just tired. But I'll talk to her too, maybe something's up." "Okay," Liz said. "I mean I'm probably overreacting but it's just that she'll usually tell me." "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll tell one of us, after all, she can't stay quiet for long." Liz just hoped Michael wasn't taking it too lightly. TBC

Part 1