The warm water ran all over her body, washing the grit and residue away. She tilted her head up, enjoying it as the water splashed down her face and through her tangled hair.

Maria loved showers. She found the warmth of a warm shower calming. When they’d first moved in together a year ago Liz had been worried the first few times Maria had disappeared into the shower for a while, but Maria had told her she was fine and Liz was now okay with it.

The shower was her refuge. She never felt as safe as she did in the water. The transparent liquid which cascaded soothingly down her body was incredibly soothing. Especially now the dreams had returned...

Maria reluctantly turned the shower off, stopping the flow of water. Gingerly she stepped out into the cold. She dried herself, wrapping her body in a terry cloth robe, and wrapped her hair in a towel on her head turban style, before leaving the bathroom.

She and Liz had leased the apartment a year earlier, just before starting their second year of college. It wasn’t overly expensive, but Maria liked it. It was only a living area with an open kitchen attached, plus two bedrooms and a bathroom, but she and Liz had decorated the place so it had a nice comfortable and homely feel to it.

She’d met Liz on their first day of college. Both girls had arrived at the door to their economics class at the same moment, and had been friends ever since. The brown haired girl’s down to earth and calm personality was a perfect compliment to her own wacky and outgoing personality, and now the two of them felt like they had known each other for years.

“Liz?” Maria called, making her way to the kitchen. “Are you still here?”

Liz appeared from the bedroom, pulling on her jacket as she spoke. “Yep, but not for long, Mr Peterson’s lecture starts in quarter of an hour.” Liz ran her eyes up and down Maria,
taking in her bathrobe and wet hair. “You’re not even dressed yet! Don’t you have to be at your painting class, like, now?”

Maria nodded, rummaging through the bench drawer, looking for a hair clip she knew she’d stashed there not long before. “Guess I spent a bit too long in the shower,” she replied.

Liz gave her a sympathetic look. “The dreams?”

She nodded.

Liz rushed over her, giving her a quick hug. “Don’t worry babe,” she told her. “I’d stay and talk but if I’m late Peterson will kill me.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Maria replied, returning the hug. “Go. Shoo. Can’t be late for Peterson.”

“Catch ya later,” Liz called as exited the apartment.

***

Maria left their off campus apartment not much later, thanking God that the apartment was almost adjacent to the campus, not over the complete opposite side of the town. She’d never make it to class on time then.

“Maria!” she heard a guy call as she rushed out of the foyer of the building.

“I’m late.”

“Pity,” she heard the guy reply. Sam. Or maybe it was Steve? It started with an S anyway. He was probably used to it by now, she was always rushing bye calling ‘I’ll late’ whenever casual acquaintances greeted her when she was in a rush.

She managed a quick glance at her watch as she entered the arts building. Only five minutes late, that wasn’t too bad, considering she’d run the whole way.

***

He was sitting in his usual seat by the window when she raced in, late again. She looked slightly flustered as she glanced around the room before asserting that she hadn’t missed anything. He didn’t know why she would be flustered, he thought she would be used to it, it was a rare occasion when she actually made it on time to this class, and everyone knew it.

He wondered if she was always late to everything, or if she was just adjusting to her new schedule. After all, it was only the fourth week of semester.

She settled into her chair, dropping her belongings to the floor before fishing through them to find the supplies she needed. He had only known her for three weeks, but in that time he had discovered that although she always seemed rushed, she did it in a way that seemed always calm and in control. Purposeful.

Not that the girl was always calm. He felt a slight grin come across his face as he remembered the argument they’d had over something last week. For the life of him he couldn’t remember what exactly the argument was about, but he could still remember her passion. She was a very passionate girl. Maybe that’s why he felt so drawn to her. Passion.

He heard her laugh with a friend. A genuine, uncontrollable laugh that made you wish you could make her laugh that way. Maria. That was her name. That Maria girl. Always full of life and passion.

His hand was sketching those sparkling emerald eyes again. They seemed to do that of their own accord. But he couldn’t let his mind wander there. Not today. He didn’t even know this girl. Also that wasn’t what they were meant to be drawing. Today was landscapes, and he was fine with that. Just...

Why was he so drawn to this girl? This passionate, laughing, blond haired, emerald eyed girl.

***

Maria tilted her head to her side, examining the painting. It wasn’t great, but then no two hour landscape piece by a third year art student was supposed to be. And it wasn’t even if she wanted to be an artist, it was just an elective she took with her business studies.

But she liked it. The colours flowed together, the blues of the ocean melding with the green grass of the hills. Somehow she’d even managed to get the effect of the sun shimmering on the water, something she was sure she’d never manage to do again, no matter how she hard she tried.

“I like it,” Cathy told her as she gathered her supplies.

“You think?” Maria replied.

“Yep. You captured the light on the water really well,” her friend told her.

“Thanks,” she replied, peering over to see her friends painting. “Wow,” she told her, taking in the scene. It was a painting of a small cottage nestled in between some trees. How anyone could paint something that good that quickly was beyond her. “It’s amazing. You’ll make a great artist someday, you know.”

“I think I’ll try to make it through Journalism first,” Cathy replied with a laugh. “Well I gotta jet. See ya?”

“Sure,” Maria replied, lifting her hand in a slight wave.

Taking one last look at her painting she began clearing up her things. If she was lucky she could still make it across campus before the Macro Economics lecture started. Not that she really cared about Macro Economics, Marketing was more her thing, but she supposed that passing the compulsory subjects was probably something she needed to do if she wanted to graduate. Pity it was right on the other side of the campus though.

She gathered her things, rushing to the door.

“Maria!” she heard a voice say.

“I’m late,” she replied automatically.

“Aren’t you always.”

It was a statement. Maria didn’t know whether it was the words, the way he said it, who said it, or what, that made her stop. All she knew was that she did.
Maria turned to look at him. He had a smug smile on his face, as if he was satisfied that he’d made her stop. It was him. Of course. The guy she’d had an argument with only days before, over some unimportant trivial thing which, at the time, had felt so important.

Michael. That was his name. His short hair stood up slightly, defying gravity almost, and his jeans contained traces of paint. But his eyes.. they were brown with flecks of colour through them, almost as if someone had splattered paint on them. She liked those eyes, they were different, interesting.

“Got a problem with that?” she asked, referring to his earlier statement.

“Not at all,” he replied. “I, for one, have no problem with you, or any other person for that matter, being late. I was just commenting that you were.”

Maria surveyed him in silence for a few moments. “Oh.”

They stood there in silence for a few moments as time ticked by. The room had now emptied out, leaving them alone. She could feel the heat radiating out of his body, and tried to avoid the intense gaze of his eyes.

“So?” she asked.

“So?” he returned, confused.

She tilted her head impatiently. She was going to be late now, that was for sure. “Well, why did you stop me?”

He smirked. “Oh, right. I just wanted to tell you I liked your painting.”

She could feel anger rise in her. He’d made her late for her next class just to tell her he liked her painting? Couldn’t he have just waited until next time? “Is that all?” she asked, her anger apparent in her voice.

He stared at her silently for a few more moments, as Maria became very aware of her heartbeat, which was beating rather fast. Because of her anger, of course. That was it. No other reason.

“You dropped these,” he said, holding her keys in his outstretched hand.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Oh. Thanks,” she said, grabbing them from his hand. Her fingertips brushed his and she felt goosebumps break out all over her arms. She turned away. Why was he making her have this kind of reaction?

“See you around,” he called as she rushed out of the room, desperately hoping she wouldn’t be too late to the lecture. And wondering what it was about him that made her feel like that.

***

Max looked up from his book when Michael entered the apartment. “Hey,” he greeted his roommate.

“Hey,” was the grunted reply. Michael’s eyes ran over Max’s book and he lifted an eyebrow sceptically. “Already into the books? Maxwell you are such an over achiever.”

“Maybe I like science and astronomy,” he said. “You know, it could help us discover-”

“I know, I know. Cut the lecture.” Michael grabbed a bottle from the fridge and opened it before sitting down on the counter, his long legs hanging over the side.

“Date tonight?” Max asked curious.

Michael took a gulp of his drink. “Nope.”

“That’s good.”

Michael eyed him suspiciously for a moment and Max sighed. “Don’t give me that look. You know what Nasedo told us. We can’t get involved with anyone, no matter what. Okay? We have to wait for the TNI.”

“Whatever that is,” Michael muttered.

“Yes. But we can’t get involved, Michael. We’re aliens. We don’t belong in human relationships.”

Michael pulled himself off the bench, standing up. “I’m sick of having this conversation with you. If it was so important Nasedo would have stayed around to make sure we didn’t, instead of leaving as soon as he got in a few words of advice.”

“But he came just to tell us that, so it must be important. He wouldn’t come all that way to tell us that if it wasn’t. And whatever the TNI is must be important too.”

“Whatever Maxwell,” Michael said, heading towards his room.

Max watched him go. Michael had never liked Nasedo’s rule about not getting involved, and Max could honestly say he didn’t like it either, but what was he supposed to do? It was obviously important. Although Max had almost stopped worrying about Michael and that ‘rule’. Sure Michael was involved with girls, but it was never serious, just short casual flings which kept him unattached, which was pretty much all Nasedo wanted.

Max envied Michael sometimes, although he wouldn’t ever say it to his face. Michael was able to maintain casual, never-to-be-serious relationships with girls, whereas Max knew that if he got into one he would ultimately end up having feelings for the person and therefore becoming attached, which was why he completely avoided the dating scene.

Michael was passionate but closed off, and girls fell for him because of that, but didn’t mind that it wasn’t a serious thing. Whereas Max was serious and thoughtful, and he knew he’d want to be in a relationship with a girl who was the same. And unfortunately that meant feelings, something he could never be in a relationship involving.

He sighed. Sometimes he really disliked being an alien.

***

Liz was sitting in the chair by the window, staring out at the park below when Maria arrived home that evening. She closed the door, walking over to her friend.

“Hi babe. You okay?” she asked her.

Liz turned towards her. “Yeah. Just thinking.”

Maria gave her a sympathetic smile. “About Chris?”

Liz nodded, and Maria gave her a hug. “Don’t worry about what happened with him okay? He was a jerk and only after one thing, and you’re lucky you didn’t let it happen.”

Liz nodded again. “I know. He’s a jerk. It’s just- I thought- I thought he was really sweet you know. Turns out he only wanted in my pants. What’s the big deal about it anyway?”

Maria shook her head. “I have no idea. Although, as you know I’m not all that experienced, having only been with one guy. I mean, sure it was nice, but I could do without it, you know? I’m not so desperate that I’m going to jump the first guy I see.”

She and Kevin had been together almost a year before they slept together, and were inseparable throughout their first year of college, but at the end of that year, after being together two years, they’d realised that they were better off as friends. It was one of those mutual decisions to end a relationship that actually was mutual.

“Yeah,” Liz said quietly. “I’m pretty much over him. It was just, you know, having to return some of his things today that did it to me.”

“Yeah,” Maria agreed. “Well how about we put on some music and dance all our problems away,” Maria said, standing up and shaking her hips from side to side.

Liz laughed. “You always know how to make me feel better Maria.”

“Ditto,” she replied. “So what do you say?”

“Sure. Just first, how was your day? Anything exciting happen?”

“Hmm..” Maria tilted her head to her side, thinking. “Not really. I was late to painting, as you know. And then I would have made it to Macro Economics on time if Michael hadn’t stopped me, and then-”

“Wait a minute. Michael?”

“Yeah,” Maria said, sighing. “I told you about him. The guy who I ended up having an argument with over nothing last week? Well apparently I had dropped my keys. Only it took him, like, ten minutes to give them to me,” she told her friend, remembering the way Michael’s eyes had intensely gazed over her body. Just thinking about it gave her goosebumps.

“Oh. That Michael,” Liz said, watching her friend curiously for a few moments. “You like him.”

Maria looked at her friend in surprise. “I do not!”

Liz shook her head, sighing. “Maria, you so do.”

She groaned. “No I don’t, and Liz I am not having this conversation with you right now. Okay?”

Maria made her way over to the radio, hearing Liz walking behind her. “Time for dancing,” she told her friend.”

“You do,” was the reply.

Colours were swirling around her. Blues and greens and purples frothing in a sea of confusion. Through it she could make out some symbols and shapes. A square. A spiral. Three squiggles all heading off in random directions. More clusters of shapes and symbols swarming around her. The colours flickered to red and orange, then back again the blue, green and purple of earlier, before flicking back and forth a few times before finally resting on the red and orange haze. The symbols were spinning faster now. And then suddenly they stopped, falling on the sandy ground before her in a pattern. She was supposed to understand, to put one and two together and get three, only she didn’t know how. She reached towards the last spinning shape in front of her, her hand almost touching it...

And she woke up.

Maria sat up in her bed, blinking for a few moments before determining that she was awake. It was the dream again. It wasn’t scary or a nightmare so much as confusing and disorientating. She didn’t know why she dreamt of it. No one else she knew of dreamt of shapes and colours whirling around them, so why did she?

There was a hidden meaning in them, she knew. But what? Why did these dreams plague her?

She’d had them since she was about nine years old, over half her life now. Sometimes they’d disappear for a few weeks at a time, and other times they’d come back every night, but they never disappeared for more than a month.

She silently got out of bed, quietly making her way to the kitchen, where she got herself a glass of water. ‘2.47am’ glowed the clock on the microwave. Too early for a calming
shower. She knew Liz wouldn’t be too happy to be woken up by the shower running in the middle of the night, so hopefully a drink of water would do.

She padded back through the darkness to her room. She didn’t know why the dreams upset er so much. After all, they were just dreams. And colours and symbols were hardly scary.

But... there was just something about the dreams that unsettled her.

***

“There’s my favourite girls!”

Alex’s voice greeted Maria and Liz as they entered Starbuck’s the next day. They made heir way over to the table that Alex was sharing with his girlfriend Jennifer.

“Hey Alex,” they greeted him.

“So how are you guys?” he asked.

“Enjoying the single life,” Maria replied. “How’s it in coupledom?”

“Always good,” he replied, wrapping an arm around Jennifer’s shoulder, who smiled.

Maria grabbed a chair from the table that had just been vacated. “So what should I have? A Mochalatte? Or a Mango citrus tea frappachino?”

Liz gaze her a quick glance. “I say go for the one without the caffeine. You’re hyped up enough today as it is.”

Jennifer raised her eyebrows. “How come?”

“Oh, I dunno.” Maria replied. “Wednesday’s my free day. I only have a marketing tutorial in the morning and then art electives in the afternoon, so I get to sleep in,” she grinned.

“This girl loves to sleep in,” Alex told her.

Jennifer turned to look at him. “And you don’t?”

“Moving on,” he replied.

“Way to avoid the subject there Alex.”

“Trust me, the guy knows how to do that,” Jennifer told them.

The girls laughed at Alex’s expression. Alex was the only person Maria had kept in touch with from high school. Except for Kevin, but she barely ever saw him any more. Alex and Jennifer had hooked up towards the end of their first year here, and had been together ever since.

“So what’s happening in your life?” Alex asked. “Any guys?”

“Well..” Maria hedged.

“There is one guy,” Liz told them. Maria shot her friend a look.

“Who?” Jennifer asked.

“Michael.”

Maria glared at her friend. “I do not like Michael.”

“Whose Michael?” Alex asked.

“No one. Just some guy in my Art class. I got into an argument with him last week and now Liz thinks I like him.”

Alex raised his eyebrows at Liz, who silently mouthed something back to him. Maria didn’t know what.

“You’ve been single for quite a while though, haven’t you,” Alex said. “Maybe it would be good for you if you hooked up with him, or someone else for that matter. How long has it been anyway? You don’t want to end up celibate for the rest of your life do you?”

“Excuse me? I am not going to end up celibate,” she retorted, annoyed. “I am perfectly fine. I do not need a boyfriend right now, and for you information I did hook up with Trent for a few weeks not too long ago, or have you forgotten?”

The three of them exchanged amused expressions as she glared at them. She was perfectly fine without a boyfriend.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t necessarily want one. She would love to feel someone’s lips on hers, his hands caressing his face, his intense gaze boring into hers.

She was just worried who this someone was.

***

Liz was walking back towards the apartment after her afternoon lecture. Lunch had been great. She loved hanging out with those three. She laughed slightly remembering the face Maria had made when she brought up Michael, then glanced around to make sure no one had heard her. She didn’t want to be known as the girl who laughed to herself while walking.

Maria. There was obviously more to what was going on with Michael than she wanted to admit. Or at least Maria wanted there to be, that was for sure. Liz knew Maria’s moods and expressions quite well from the two years they’d been friends, and she knew Maria liked the guy, even if she didn’t want to admit it to herself yet.

So it seemed Maria had found a guy, and from the sound of it he didn’t sound like he was a major jerk or anything, unlike Chris. She sighed, running her hand through her hair as she waved to a couple of friends walking by in the opposite direction. Why did she always seem to fall for the jerks, or the nice guys who were afraid of commitment? Why couldn’t she meet a sweet guy who wasn’t scared of being serious?

She entered the building, stopping at the mail slot to check for mail. Not much. Only a flyer for some frat party and a letter for Maria.

“Hey Liz,” she heard a voice behind her.

“Kyle!” she said, turning round to give the guy a quick hug. “How have you been? I’ve barely seen you at all this semester.”

“Yeah, I was home for vacation and had to stay a bit longer. Family stuff. So how was your vacation?”

“Good,” she replied. Kyle, and Jake, his roommate, shared the apartment next to theirs, and luckily for them they didn’t mind that the girls sometimes blared the radio quite loud whenever Maria, or occasionally her, were in a dancing mood. That was one of the perks of having an apartment just off campus, most of the residents were university students.

“So doing anything exciting tonight?” she asked.

Kyle shrugged, reaching his hand into his own mail slot, searching for mail.

“You can join me and Maria for dinner if you want,” she told him. “Jake too if he wants.”

“I’m pretty sure Jake’s going out with his girlfriend, but I think I will. I’m sure your dinner will be nicer than any microwavable meal that’s lying around our apartment,” he said, grinning, as they walked up the stairs towards their apartments. “Wait a minute, is Maria cooking?”

Both of them laughed at that. “Nope,” Liz replied grinning. While some of Maria’s meals were delicious, quite often she forgot something or left them too long and they ended up ruined.

“That’s good,” he replied. They had reached their apartments.

“So, see you about six-thirty,” she said.

“Sure,” Kyle replied, entering his apartment.

Maria had just purchased a Frappachino to go at Starbuck’s the next day when she noticed Michael sitting in the booth in the corner. Great. Like it wasn’t annoying enough that her brain kept bringing him up for no reason, now he was invading her favourite hangout.

He was sipping a drink, his eyes on the piece of paper in front of him. He looked like he was sketching something.

She stood watching him for a few moments. Should she go over and say hi? She knew him, kinda, and she wasn’t running late, so she didn’t have an excuse. Besides, she had nothing better to do.

“Hey,” she said, standing in front of his table.

He looked up at her, surprised and slightly annoyed. “Hey,” he replied.

“What’s that you’re doing?” she asked, trying to get a look at the paper.

“Nothing,” he replied, flipping it over. “What do you want?” It came out sharply. She stared at him, feeling anger rise within her.

“I don’t want anything,” she told him angrily. “I just saw you sitting here and thought I’d say hello. People do that sometimes, you know? Or you too involved in your own world to realise that?” Damn him. She came over to be friendly to him and he bites her head off for no reason.

He ran his hand through his scruffy hair as she stood there watching him, hands on hips, foot tapping angrily.

He let out a breath. “Uh, sorry,” he mumbled. “I was just- Look, it doesn’t matter anyway.”

“You’re right. It doesn’t.” She glared at him for a few more moments before picking up her frappachino and stalking out of the cafe.

What was it with that guy? Why did he have to act like that? All annoying and jerkish.

And why couldn’t she stop thinking about him. The way she felt when his fingers brushed hers. And how sexy he looked in those paint splattered jeans.

***

He watched her storm out of the cafe. She was pissed at him, he knew it. He hadn’t meant to snap at her, she’d just flustered him. Waltzing up to him while he was in the middle of sketching her. Of course, it was a good thing she was mad it him. It reminded him that no matter how drawn to her he was, he couldn’t get involved with her. She was human. And he wasn’t. And as Max was always saying, the two species simply didn’t mix. In a dating way that was.

Not that he hadn’t dated humans. He had. Lots actually. Just there was something special about her that made him know that he couldn’t date her.

He flipped the sketch over again. It wasn’t that detailed, but he’d tried to capture the happy, carefree look that had been on her face when she’d laughed in class a couple of days ago. Her eyes had shone with happiness as her mouth opened in a wide smile.

She was gorgeous. No doubt about that.

And she could never be his.

***

Liz opened the door to their apartment, surprised to find Maria dancing around the room, singing to the radio. She was surprised she hadn’t heard the music from outside. Obviously the walls were more sound-proof than they realised, maybe that’s why they barely ever got complaints.

“Hey chica. What’s up?” Liz asked her friend, who had briefly paused dancing and was standing in front of her.

“Needed a mood boost. That stupid jerk from Art can be so annoying sometimes!”

“Michael?” Liz asked, not knowing of any other person in Art that Maria would get so worked up over.

“Of course!” she replied, throwing her hands in the air. “The guy has no manners. Geez, all I did was went over and said ‘hi’ and he decides to bite my head off!”

Liz nodded her head knowingly. There was definitely something there. Maria wouldn’t be so annoyed otherwise.

“So, are you going to join me?” Maria asked, resuming her dancing.

“Maria, are you ever going to grow out of this?” she asked her friend.

Maria shook her head at her. “Liz, we’re only twenty! We have the rest of our lives to be boring and serious. These are our carefree years where we’re supposed to being have the time of our lives! So. Are. You. Going. To. Dance?”

“I have work to do,” she said apologetically.

Maria stared at her. “Liz...”

“Fine,” she gave in. “But only for a few minutes.”

***

“I’m impressed,” Michael told Maria at the end of the painting workshop the next day. “You actually made it to class on time.” He took in her appearance - black top with flecks of paint all over it and tight, form-fitting jeans, which, miraculously, appeared free from paint.

“Who’d have guessed,” she replied with a wry grin.

Michael settled on the table next to her as most of the other students left. “Not in a rush today?”

She shook her head, stray pieces of her blonde hair falling from her ponytail as she did so. “Nope. Friday afternoon, no classes to get to.” She rummaged through her things for a moment before pulling out a hair clip. “How about you?” she asked, before putting the clip in her mouth, using her hands to twist her hair up before withdrawing the clip and sticking it through her hair. Amazing. How did she do that?

“No where to go,” he replied, taking in the slight wisps of golden hair framing her face. He wondered it they would be soft to touch.

He noticed that Maria had raised her eyes at the comment. “My roommates still in class for half an hour, we’re meeting then,” he explained.

He was surprised. This was the first time they’d made it through a conversation without her biting his head out. As pleasant as it was, he missed the passion. The girl was sexy when she was mad.

On second thought, maybe it was a good thing she wasn’t mad.

His eyes lingered on her creamy skin for a moment. His breathing became shallow as he wondered what it would be like to touch her. To run his hands all over her body.

His gaze wandered upwards further, resting on her eyes. Her beautiful, emerald eyes. So full of life. He wanted to make her laugh, to see those laughing eyes again. But he couldn’t. Couldn’t get attached. Not now. Not ever.

They stood there for a while, silent, the tension crackling in the air between them. Neither of them wanted to make the first move. Neither wanted to break eye contact.

Suddenly she turned away, and Michael blinked, surprised.

“Achoo!” she sneezed. She turned back to him, rubbing her face. “’Scuse me.”

Michael stared at her, a slight grin forming as he looked at her. She gave him a curious look. “What?”

He smiled. “It’s just, you have some,” he reached his hand out, smudging the paint from her forehead. “Paint.”

“Oh,” she replied quietly.

His hand was still lingering there, unwilling to leave her soft skin. Her eyes were staring up at him. Questioning. Hopeful. Her lips were parted slightly.

Unable to help himself, Michael leaned forward, catching her lips in his for a soft kiss.

It only lasted a few moments, before they parted slightly, only inches apart. Maria let out a soft moan, and he couldn’t help leaning in again.

Their lips met frantically, craving the contact of the others against theirs. Her hands wrapped around his neck and his around her waist, lifting her up and seating her on the table he had previously occupied. Their tongues explored each others mouths as her hands explored his hair, and his hands the soft skin of her back.

“Michael,” she moaned into his mouth.

He pulled her body even closer to his, revelling in the feel of her silky skin against his. The kiss was passionate, filled with desire. He never wanted to stop touching her.

His lips left hers, tracing a path down her neck and along her collarbone, as her hands left his hair a made their way to his back, tracing soft patterns on it. His fingers teased their way up her sides as his lips made their way to her shoulder.

“Michael. Oh God. Michael.”

Something crashed, and they pulled apart to see that the old art board sitting on the table they were now on had fallen to the floor. The sound broke through Michael’s mind long enough for him to realise that if he didn’t stop now, he wouldn’t be able to, and they would
both end up doing something they would regret.

He disentangled himself from her, ignoring her questioning gaze, her beautiful emerald eyes.

“I have to go,” he muttered, grabbing his things and leaving the room. He didn’t trust himself to look back.

Maria stared after Michael as he left. What had just happened. One second they were just standing there, then the next...

And then he ran away?

She touched her lips, remembering his kisses. They had gone from ice cold to burning hot in seconds. The passion was amazing. She never knew a kiss could feel like that. Kevin’s kisses hadn’t ever made her feel like that. No one had ever made her feel like that.

There was something about him. There was more to him than just a guy with hair that defied gravity. He was intense. Passionate. But also caring. The way he’d touched her... it wasn’t desperate groping. It was.. almost gentle.

And he was gorgeous. His arms were strong and tanned, and he was clearly built, you could see it through his shirt. And he when he lifted her... it felt like his whole body would be able to envelop her. God, she wanted it to.

No. This was bad. What kind of guy kissed a girl then ran away? A player. Of course he was a player. He was certainly good looking enough, he probably had girls falling all over him all the time.

Or maybe he had a girlfriend. That could be it. Maybe he couldn’t help but kissing her, and then as soon as he realised ran away.

Or maybe he was just scared. Although he didn’t look like the kind of guy who would be scared, but who knew.

After all, it was better for her to think that she wasn’t falling for a player.

***

Maria entered the apartment, shutting the door behind her and dropping her keys on the bench. She ran a hand through her shoulder length hair, too preoccupied to notice Liz sitting on the couch until she spoke.

“Hey.”

“Oh, hey,” Maria replied. “So what’s happening tonight?” she asked. “Are you doing anything, are we doing anything together, or just hanging ‘round here?”

Liz stood up, shrugging her shoulders as she walked over to the kitchen. “Well..” she said, grabbing a bottle from the fridge. “There’s a frat party tonight,” she said, waving the flyer.

Maria considered the option for a few moments. “I don’t really feel like hanging out with a bunch of drunk college guys,” Maria said.

“Me either,” Liz replied. “Kyle mentioned that him and a few of the guys were going to head down to Stix.” Stix was a bar that they often frequented.

“Sounds good,” Maria said. “You up for it?”

“Sure,” Liz replied.

“Cool. So that’s what we’ll do,” Maria said.

Liz took a sip of her drink, leaning back on the counter. “Are you okay?” she asked. “You looked a bit preoccupied when you arrived home.”

Maria shook her head, deciding not to tell Liz about what had happened with Michael. It was all too confusing right now. Besides Liz was still upset over the whole Chris thing.

“Are you sure?” Liz asked her.

Maria nodded. “I’m sure. Just the end of the week, you know?” she replied lamely, hoping Liz wouldn’t question her further. She loved Liz and usually told her everything, its just right now she didn’t know what she wanted or what to think, and all she wanted to do was have a fun night out without thinking about him.

She just hoped she would be able to.

***

He’d kissed her. He didn’t know what had come over him. One minute he was staring at her, wiping some paint from her face, and the next he was kissing her.

It shouldn’t matter. He’d been with many girls before, more than he could count. Kissed them and more. So why should it matter?

It did though. She was different. There was something about her... he couldn’t explain it. There was just something about her that he was just inexplicably drawn to. Her passion, her intensity, her love for life. The way she was always so rushed yet always seemed in control. And then of course there was the fact that she was breathtakingly beautiful.

But he couldn’t let himself get attached. Sleeping with different woman was fine, but if he got attached...

He couldn’t get attached. He couldn’t tell her he was an alien, yet he couldn’t keep it from her either. And then they was the whole thing about how they had to stay unattached for the TNI. Not that they had any idea what the TNI was.

He thought back to early. The way her lips had felt. The soft feel of her skin under his fingers. And then he’d run.

She probably hated him for that too. What guy kissed a girl and then ran away? Not a normal, human guy, that was for sure. And that was the problem.

He just had to avoid her until this feeling disappeared.

***

The colours were back. Blues and greens whirling around, with splotches of purple here and there, churning and tossing through space. In the distance some shapes appeared - a square and triangle spinning rapidly through the colour. More symbols appeared. Spirals and hashes, before the three squiggles once again disappeared off in different directions.

The colours changed, red to blue, to red, to blue, to red, flickering till they finally settled on the red and orange tint. Once again the symbols stopped spinning, falling to the sand below. She took a step forward, reaching her hand through the orange and red haze. For a moment everything stopped. And in that moment she saw something. A flicker. An image of a young girl with curly blonde hair.

Maria lay in bed, her heart beating furiously. What was that? Never in all her dreams had she ever seen any images apart from the symbols, shapes and colours. Never had there ever been a human image.

But there it was. It was only there for the briefest of moments, but she knew she’d seen it. A girl with her back to her. A girl with curly blonde hair. How in the world did that get into her dream? Nothing had ever managed to penetrate the strange, unsettling dream filled or shapes and symbols.

Sure, she had normal dreams as well, but in these dreams full of shapes and colours there had never been a person, or anything else that wasn’t a shape or symbol, before.

The girl seemed familiar too... she didn’t know why, but she just did - not that it was easy to tell who it was from the back, especially in the short flicker she had appeared in, but still, she was sure the girl was familiar.

She just didn’t know why.

***

The weekend passed uneventfully. As did Monday, which may have had something to do with the fact that it wasn’t one of the three days a week she had Art on.

Tuesday came and she, not very surprisingly, had arrived late, destroying her chances of talking to Michael before class. She’d hoped to talk to him after, after all he’d had no worries about making her late to her next class the week before, but he’d raced out of the classroom before she had a chance to talk to him.

She’d written if off as him being in a rush. He wouldn’t be ignoring her after what happened. But by Wednesday she wasn’t so sure.

She’d arrived early, hoping to talk to him beforehand, but he arrived right as class started and left as soon as it finished, so she had no chance to talk to him at all that day.

She sighed, leaning back on the couch as she glanced around her empty apartment. Liz was still in classes, giving Maria time to think in peace.

He was obviously ignoring her. As far as she knew she’d never seen the guy race out of Art before, and now he had two days in a row. There was no way it was coincidence. He was avoiding her.

Well, at least that ruled out the player theory. He would have realised that she was willing to hook up with him and would have come back for more. So that left the ‘he has a girlfriend’ theory.

Great. So Michael had a girlfriend. Either that or he was just avoiding her. Neither of the options were good.

She groaned, placing her head in her hands. Either way he wasn’t interested in her. And why should that matter? She barely knew the guy. All she knew was that he was sarcastic, very talented, interesting. Not to mention incredibly hot and a great kisser.

But no, she wasn’t going to think about it. She wasn’t going to think about him and gorgeous body and searing eyes. Nope. Not anymore.

Too bad she was falling for him.

***

He’d managed to avoid her for the past few days, fighting down the urge to talk to her when he’d arrived to discover she was actually early to class. Second time in a week. Must have been a record for her.

It was hard though. Staring at her twinkling emerald eyes and perfect lips knowing that he couldn’t touch them. Knowing what it felt like to touch them.

She was mad at him for ignoring her, he knew that. He’d seen her glaring at him when he’d watched her, capturing the detail of her face in his painting. They’d moved on to an optional project now, but unfortunately the only thing he could think of was her.

The girl was invading his mind, filling it with thoughts of her. But Maria was mad at him now, and if he ignored her enough she would probably begin to hate him. And if she hated him it would be easier for him to ignore her. And if he ignored her enough maybe he would be able to stop wanting to reach out to her every time she was near.

Thank god tomorrow wasn’t an Art day.

***

Max opened the door, surprised to see Michael lounging on the couch in the apartment, idly flicking channels on the TV.

“Don’t you have class?” he asked his friend.

Michael turned his head in Max’s direction, shutting the TV off. “Nuh, it ended a while ago. It’s just usually I hang around there longer before heading home.”

“Oh,” Max replied, taking in the sullen alien’s appearance. He looked more annoyed than usual. “Everything okay?” he asked.

Michael flicked his eyes in Max’s direction, obviously annoyed. He let out a quick breath. “Yes.”

Max just stared at his friend, knowing not to press the subject. “Okay. Well I’ll be out of your hair in a moment,” he told him. “I’m heading to the gym.”

Michael just grunted. Max watched him for a few more moments before heading to his room. The guy was obviously in a bad mood.

Maria was walking to her afternoon Art workshop on Friday with Cathy. The girl was babbling non-stop about something, but Maria’s wasn’t paying attention. Her mind was on other things. Michael to be exact. They hadn’t had Art yesterday, and she was worried that today would just be another day of him ignoring her. Well not if she could help it. She was going to make the guy talk to her if it killed her.

“Maria?” Cathy’s voice came through Maria’s thoughts. “Are you paying attention?”

She turned to look at her friend. “Oh, God, sorry,” she said. “I completely spaced out.”

Cathy smiled. “It’s okay. You probably don’t really care about the necklace David got me.”

Maria looked at her friend, feeling really guilty. “No, I do. He got you a necklace? What does it look like?”

Cathy pulled out the necklace that had become hidden under her top. It was a beautiful silver necklace with three blue stones encrusted in it. “Wow. It’s beautiful,” she told her. “He gave you that for your one year anniversary?”

Cathy nodded, a happy smile on her face. “Yes.”

Maria smiled. “That’s so amazing. I’d love to have him as a boyfriend,” she commented.

“Hands off,” Cathy replied grinning. “So, feel free to go back to your space out,” she told her.

Maria shook her head. “No, I’m sorry about that. The necklace really is gorgeous. And I don’t want to think about what I was thinking about anymore,” Maria said.

Well... not until she had the chance to speak to him anyway.

***

The class had ended and Maria was lingering behind most of the students, waiting to put her half finished painting away. Michael was hanging back too, she noticed. His painting in his hand, facing away from her.

Michael walked up to the front of the classroom towards the drying racks, and Maria followed suit, eager to catch a glimpse of his painting and to put her own away. Also, she wanted to talk to him.

She walked up behind him, peering around him to glance at his painting without him noticing her. She wanted to see the painting first, before confronting him. She started when she saw the painting. It was of her.

Happy surprise welled up in her, mixed with anger. The anger mixed with anger she felt over him ignoring her this past week.

“How dare you paint me,” she exclaimed, her anger apparent in her voice.

Michael turned around, obviously surprised to see her behind him, glaring at him. “Maria.”

“What gives you any right to paint me?” she asked, thankfully noticing that they were now the only people left in the room. “First you kiss me, then you ignore me all week, and now you think its okay to paint me?” he voice grew louder as she continued. “Well, listen to me. It’s not! I don’t know what you’re trying to do. I don’t know why you kissed me then ran away. Whether you have a girlfriend, or are a player, or just a jerk. And I don’t know why you avoided me all week. And I sure as hell don’t know why you’re painting me! So don’t!”

“Maria,” he said again, laying a hand on her arm. “Just listen to me.”

“No,” she said, pulling her arm away from his, ignoring the tingling feeling that went up it. “After the way you’ve ignored me all week now you think you have the right to talk?” she said angrily, knowing she was ranting, but he deserved it. “God. You kissed me. Not the other way around. And now you’re- you’re painting me! What is that about? I’d really like to know what all this is about.”

“Do you ever shut up?” he asked her.

She glared at him. “Look buddy you’re on real thin ice right now. If I were you I wouldn’t-”

She broke off as he roughly pulled her towards him, catching her lips in a kiss. She tried to pull back at first, but he wouldn’t let her, so she gave in and returned the kiss.

It was hot, intense, full of passion. She ran her hands through his hair, never wanting it to end.

They pulled apart, gasping for air.

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he murmured. “And I painted you because you’re beautiful.”

Maria stared into his eyes, amazed. “Really?”

Michael nodded. “Really.”

Their lips met again, tongues exploring each others mouths. His kissed her hotly, fervently, with so much passion that she could barely stand, so she wrapped her legs around his waist.

He pulled back from her slightly, navigating their way through the art stacks to a room with a desk and a couch that Maria never even knew existed.

“What is this place?” she asked breathlessly.

“Just some teacher’s room no one ever seems to use,” he replied, placing her down on the desk, his lips attacking her neck. marking her as his.

Maria moaned, her hands running up and down Michael’s muscular front. He unbuttoned the top buttons of her shirt to give his lips more access, his hands teasingly making their way up her sides.

She closed her eyes as his lips trailed over her shoulders, opening them only to see his buttons so she could undo his shirt, desperately longing the feel of his skin on hers. She pulled his shirt off, pausing a moment to take in his flat stomach and muscular abs. God, he was sexy.

He pulled off her top as she traced her lips across his front, before returning to his mouth. Their hands wandering each others bodies as they kissed passionately. After a while her hands travelled to the button on his jeans, wanting to feel all his skin on hers. He pulled back slightly.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked her.

She nodded, eyes full of desire, matching his. He lifted her up, crossing the room and settling her on the couch. She pulled him down after her.

“Maria,” he murmured, his hands tangled in her hair.

“Michael,” she replied. Closing her eyes, revelling in the feeling of his body against hers, losing herself in the feeling.

Maria was walking back to the apartment after reluctantly leaving Michael. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. She, Maria Deluca, had just had sex with a guy she barely knew.

But it wasn’t like that. There was something about him that made her do it. It wasn’t like he was just some random guy. It wasn’t about sex.

It was about him.

She didn’t know why, but there was something about him. Something she was attracted to, drawn too. When they’d kissed she hadn’t meant for this to happen. It just felt right, like it was meant to be or something. It just happened.

The feel of his lips on hers, his body against her. She felt as if she could still feel his rough hands as they caressed her bare skin, the way she felt when their bodies had joined together.

Nothing had ever felt like that. She didn’t even know it was possible to feel like that. With Kevin sex had been good, passionate. But nothing like what she had experienced with
Michael today.

It was amazing. She felt closer with Michael, a guy she barely even knew, than she’d ever felt with Kevin, a guy she had gone out with for two years.

And in the back room of their art class! Maria shook her head, surprised with herself. It was one thing for her to have had sex with Michael, but to have had sex with Michael in a place where anyone could walk in on them... She couldn’t believe it. There was just something about him that she was drawn to, that she couldn’t get enough of.

She was falling for him. Falling for him harder and faster than she had ever fallen for anyone else. She should have been scared, to have fallen so completely for a guy who may even be just using her for sex - although deep down Maria was positive he wasn’t.

But she didn’t care.

***

Liz looked up as her roommate entered the apartment. Her Art class had finished a while ago now. “Hey, where have you been?” Liz stopped, getting a better look at Maria. Her face was flushed, her hair a mess, and her lipstick had completely gone. “You look like you’ve been with a guy or something,” she told her.

Maria flopped down on the sofa next to her. “Liz I so need to talk to you.”

So it was a guy. She wondered if it was Michael. He was the only guy she’d seen her friend take any notice in lately. “So who is it?” she asked.

“Michael.”

Liz squealed. “I knew it. I knew you were totally hooked on him.”

Maria stared at her friend a few moments, surprised, before sighing happily. “Oh my God Liz it was amazing.”

“You kissed?” Liz asked.

Maria watched her friend for a few moments, and Liz gave her a questioning look. Okay, was she going to tell her?

“Just don’t freak out,” Maria told her.

Liz looked at her friend sceptically. “Okay?”

“Okay. I, um, after class today. God, I don’t know how to say this.”

“Well spill,” Liz said, getting impatient. Whatever it was must be big, and Liz wondered what it was.

“Right. After class today, I went up to Michael. Because he’s been avoiding me all week, you see. Anyway, he had painted this amazing picture of me. Liz, the guy is talented.”

“Go on,” Liz said.

“Yeah. Well anyway, I kinda went off at him,” she continued. “You know, you’ve been avoiding me all week and now you’re painting me? That kind of thing.”

Liz nodded, where was she going with this?

“Right. And then, I don’t know. He kissed me.”

Liz smiled. “Well, how was it.”

Maria gave her a strange look. “Oh, it was great. But there’s more.”

More? Liz wondered.

“Okay. So we were, um, kissing,” Maria continued. “And it got kind of, well, you know? And we ended up moving into this little teacher’s room that barely anyone ever uses and-” Maria took a deep breath. “Liz, I had sex with him.”

What? Liz stared at her friend in shock. “You had sex with Michael?”

“Yeah, I know. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it just, you know, happened.” Maria gave her friend a pleading look. “You know?”

“You had sex with him,” she repeated, her mind whirling. Maria had had sex with Michael? A guy she barely knew. The same Maria who had only ever slept with one guy in her life?

“Liz, I know its hard to believe but-”

“I thought the only guy you’d ever had sex with was Kevin.”

Maria stared at her friend. “Liz, this is me we’re talking about. Its not as if I make a habit out of sleeping with guys I’ve just met. I’ve only ever slept with two guys in my whole entire life. Kevin, and now Michael.”

Liz nodded, her friend was obviously telling the truth. “So why? Was it just a sex thing? I thought you were fine without it?”

“I am fine without it. It wasn’t just a sex thing. Liz, I’ve gone without it for a year. If I was that desperate for it I would have done it with some frat guy who was hitting on me at a party a year ago. I didn’t mean for it to happen, it just did. And Liz, it felt right. I can’t explain it, I don’t even know why it happened... but it just felt so right.”

Liz nodded. Okay, so it wasn’t just a sex thing. For Maria anyway. What about the guy? “So, you just, you know, had sex with a guy the first time you kissed him? Maria, are you sure he wasn’t just using you?” She hated to say it, but this guy had just jumped her friends bones and Maria barely knew him.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly the first time we’d kissed,” Maria said, glancing guiltily at her friend. Liz stared at her surprised. “He kissed me a week ago, and I would have told you, just, I wasn’t sure what was going on. I mean, he avoided me ever since.”

Liz bit her lip. “Okay. But you’re sure?”

Maria nodded. “I know what I’m doing. Liz, I know you’re just watching out for me, especially after what happened with you and Chris. It’s just, this is more than just sex. I know it, don’t ask me how, I just do.” She stared her friend in the eyes, begging her to believe her.

“I believe you Maria,” she told her friend. “So how was it?”

“You know how I told you that with Kevin it was nice? Well this was a hundred times better than that. Liz, it was amazing.”

***

Michael flopped down on his bed, staring at the ceiling above. What had just happened? Less than an hour ago he’d kissed her again. And not only that had he kissed her, they’d ended up sleeping together.

He groaned. Why did he have no self control when he was around her? He’d lasted almost a week avoiding her, suppressing the urge to pull her to him, and then he had to go and kiss her.

What was the big deal anyway? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t slept with other girls before. He had, plenty. Sex, no attachments, he was used to that. So why was she affecting him? Damn it, why was it that when he was near her all he wanted to do was be attached.

He’d known it the moment he’d first seen her. He’d known she was more than just a ditzy blonde who couldn’t even make it to class on time. He’d seen her passion, her love of life, and all he wanted to do was be around her - to be on the receiving end of her passion.

She was amazing. Even when she was yelling at him she was still drawing him to her, the passion in her anger only making him want her more. And she was hands down the best woman he had ever been with.

But now what was he supposed to do? He couldn’t help wanting to be with her, but he couldn’t get attached. Not to her, not to anyone. He shouldn’t have let it get so out of control as it had.

He wished she was like every other girl he’d been with, the ones who were in it for the same thing as he was. But he couldn’t use her and dump her. She was different. He knew he couldn’t be with her, yet he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

***

She was dreaming again. The colours were once again whirling and colliding around her - blues, greens and purples, moving in waves, mixing and changing. A square appeared, followed once again by the triangle, spiral and other symbols, all whirring in the colour. The squiggles pulsed together before splitting off in different tangents.

The familiar flickering then came, before finally settling on the orange-red haze. The symbols stopped spinning and dropped to the ground, except for one lone symbol. She began to move forward towards it, but it stopped.

And then it came. The flicker. It was gone as soon as it came, but then the image reappeared, this time remaining. She could see it clear as day.

It was the back of a young girl with blond girls, staring at the pavement below.

***

Maria’s eyes shot open. It was the girl again. And this time she was absolutely positive she had seen her.

Who was she? Why was this girl invading her dreams that, for the past eleven years, had consisted only of colours, shapes and symbols? It didn’t make any sense.

Not that she only dreamt of that, it was just these dreams were different from her others, they never overlapped. They was never any forms about from the shapes and symbols.

But she’d always known the dreams were supposed to mean something. She didn’t know how, but she just knew they did. It was just something she knew subconsciously. Maybe she was getting closer to figuring them out. Maybe this girl, whoever she was, had something to do with what they meant. After all the girl had seemed familiar.

Maria lay back in bed. Why was this girl appearing in her dreams? They were unsettling enough without her.

Maria sat on the couch Monday afternoon, the TV blaring in the background, but she wasn’t paying attention. She was too preoccupied thinking about Michael, wishing he’d call.

Not that it was realistic to want him to. He didn’t know her phone number or where she lived, so unless she bumped into him somewhere she had no chance of seeing him again until class. But she still wished he would call.

She wasn’t worried that he’d just used her for sex. It was more than that, she was sure of it. Still, a little reassurance wouldn’t hurt.

She glanced at the TV, rolling her eyes when she realised some cheesy soap was playing. Boring. She needed something to do. Something to think about.

At that moment the phone rang. Her heart leapt. Maybe it was Michael. Probably not, but maybe.

She picked up the phone, clicking it on. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s Trace. Is Liz there?” Not Michael.

“Sorry, she’s out. Can I take a message.”

“Yeah, just tell her that we’re organising a study group for tonight. Bye.”

“Bye,” Maria replied, clicking off the phone. She threw it onto the other couch, leaning back, her hands over her eyes. Okay, she had to get over this. She would see him tomorrow.

She picked up her diary, flicking through it. “Dammit!” She’d completely forgotten she had to write an essay on the new economic policies of... something.

She groaned. Great, just great.

But maybe it would keep her mind off Michael.

***

Unsurprisingly she had once again arrived late to Art. But Michael had smiled at her when she arrived, so that was good. Right? She hoped she would be able to catch him after class and that he wasn’t going to continue the brush off he had been giving her last week.

Of course, she could go over to talk to him right now if she wanted, but somehow it wasn’t the conversation she wanted to be having in the middle of a classful of people.

Amazingly she made her way through the two hour art workshop. She was just clearing up when Michael appeared next to her.

“Hey,” he said, grinning at her. God he was gorgeous.

“Hey,” she replied.

“I figured you’d probably be in a rush to get to your next class,” he said. “So I thought maybe we could meet up this afternoon. I know we need to talk.”

Maria smiled. “Sure,” she replied, surprised. He wanted to talk?

“Okay. Well, how ‘bout we meet at Starbuck’s? At least we both know where it is so there’s no excuse not to turn up.”

She grinned. She liked this almost joking Michael. “Okay. I have marketing ‘till three-thirty. So, four o’clock?”

Michael nodded. “Fine with me.”

“Great. So I’ll see you then.”

“’Kay. Bye,” Michael said, walking towards the door.

“Bye,” she replied, lifting her hand slightly in a wave.

So he hadn’t ignored her and wanted to meet her this afternoon. She smiled, things were beginning to look up.

***

Maria arrived at the entrance to Starbuck’s a few minutes after four, slightly out of breath. She’d just practically run over from the other side of campus, she hadn’t expected her marketing lecture to run late.

She opened the door, noticing Michael sitting in a booth in the corner. She walked over to him. “Hey,” she said, still panting slightly.

He raised his eyebrows as she sat down. “Hey. Should have known you wouldn’t be early.”

“Don’t say anything,” she warned him. “I just ran over from the other side of campus. Should have known today would be the one day my marketing lecture would run late.” She sank back into the both.

“Hey, I’m not complaining, just commenting,” he told her.

She nodded. “Right,” she said sarcastically. She stared at him a moment, taking in his brown-flecked eyes, his moist lower lip. Focus girl, focus. “So you wanted to talk?”

“Yeah.” They sat in silence for a few moments, staring at each other, both trying to find the will to speak.

“So, uh, what happened.” Maria began. “That wasn’t, you know, just a once off thing was it?” she asked, wanting to know for sure.

Michael stared at her. “Do you want it to be?”

Maria stared down at her hands, avoiding his intense gaze. She didn’t want to be looking at him when she said this in case she was terribly wrong about what he thought. “No,” she said quietly. She lifted her eyes to his.

“Me either,” he replied.

Maria sighed happily. “Good.”

“Did you think I was just using you?” he asked.

She shook her head. “No. I just, I wanted to make sure.”

He nodded. “Oh.”

They stared at each other again. She felt kind of uncomfortable, not knowing what to say now. She knew for sure he wasn’t just using her, and they had shared an amazing afternoon on Friday... But what happened now?

“So, uh,” Michael cleared his throat. “Do you want to go back to my place?”

“Where’ve you been?” Liz asked casually as Maria closed the door behind her. She made her way over to the couch where her friend was sitting, surrounded by text books and notes.

“Michael’s,” she replied.

Liz raised her eyebrows at her.

“Yes, we did,” Maria replied.

“Uh huh,” Liz replied knowingly.

“Liz, its not like that,” she told her friend. “It’s not all about sex.”

“So you guys talk?” Liz asked.

“Yes we talk. We actually had a really good conversation as we walked back to his place. And then afterwards too... Liz, you know me. I know what happened with Michael surprised you, but I’m not like that. It’s not like that. It’s not about sex. It’s more than that.”

Liz nodded. “Okay. I know that... it’s just... Look, I don’t really know what’s going on with you, and I know you know what you’re doing. It’s just.. the way it sounds you know? After what happened with me and Chris.”

Maria pulled her friend close in a hug. “I know what happened with Chris hurt you, and I know you’re just trying to make sure the same doesn’t happen to me. But I’m fine, Liz. I’m okay. Trust me, it’s not like that.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I’m not trying to ruin your happiness.”

Maria shrugged. Although Liz’s concern was annoying she knew her friend was only looking after her. “No problem. It’s good that you care.”

She leaned back, memories of that afternoon washing over her. Michael’s hands teasingly making their way up her back, his featherlight kisses on her stomach, the way had pulled her into the apartment, practically attacking her with his lips.

She sighed contentedly, barely realising that Liz was still in the room. In her mind she was still with Michael. Michael, who’d told her she was beautiful. Michael, who’d softly run his fingers through her hair afterwards, his eyes searing hers with that intensely passionate gaze. Michael, whose lips had teasingly kissed their way all over her body before making love to her.

God, she had just left him and she was already dying to see him again.

***

Max had just arrived home and was leaning against the counter eating a sandwich when Michael appeared out of his room. He hadn’t even realised the guy was home. He acknowledged him silently, focusing his attention back on the sandwich.

Wait a minute. Max looked back at his friend. Why was Michael only wearing jeans in the middle of the afternoon?

“Whose in there?” he asked.

Michael shot him a look. “No one,” he replied abruptly.

“So the reason you’re wandering around this evening not wearing a shirt is?”

“Felt like it.”

Max laughed slightly. “Yeah, sure. You often do that.” He paused a moment. “So whose the girl?”

For some reason Michael didn’t seem to like the question, which Max found strange. It wasn’t unusual for Michael to have a girl, or girls, and he’d never before refused to say anything to Max. Not that Michael told him the details of course, just that the girl was Sandy from the party last night or Karen from class or something like that.

“There is no girl,” Michael said, obviously annoyed. “I told you Maxwell, there’s no one in there.”

Max had already realised that when he’d glanced in the room a minute ago, but obviously one had been here earlier. “I know. But this is you we’re talking about, there’s always a girl. So who is she?”

Michael just shrugged and walked back to his room, shutting the door behind him. Max stared at the door perplexed. Since when did Michael refuse to say who the girl was?

Actually, when he thought about, Michael had been acting strange for the past week or so. Maybe he was still annoyed about Max pointing out that they weren’t supposed to be dating humans. But that wasn’t something new, Max was always telling him that, and Michael always just brushed it off.

So why was his roommate acting that way?

***

Maria’s lecture ended early the next day. Spotting Alex across the quad she decided to go over and try to convince him to have lunch with her. She was in a good mood and she needed someone to share it with.

Alex turned around startled when she tapped him on the back.

“Hi,” she said. “You busy?”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“Then do you want to have lunch?” she asked. “My lecture ended early and I can’t be bothered going home, plus I don’t feel like eating with anyone from the lecture I was just in so...”

“So I’m your last option?”

“Pretty much,” she said grinning.

Alex raised his eyebrows. “Yup, a guy always wants to hear that,” he said. “So where are we heading?”

Maria shrugged. “I dunno, there’s a few free tables here,” she said, gesturing at the quad cafe.

They made their way over to the cafe, buying their food and sitting down at an empty table.

“So I hear you’ve got a new man,” Alex said, taking a bite of his food.

Maria looked at him in shock. “What? Does Liz tell you everything I do?”

Alex laughed at the expression on her face. “Of course not. She just mentioned it in passing, plus I think she’s a bit worried about Michael turning out to be a jerk with what happened with her and Chris. But don’t worry, she’s just a bit wary of all relationships at the moment, nothing personal.”

“Wait,” Maria said, examining Alex’s face. “She told you she was worried about Michael turning out to be a jerk?”

Alex held up his hands. “No. Don’t take it personally, she’d be thinking the same about any guy you were going out with.” Alex grinned at her. “Hey, it’s not as if you’re already going to sleep with him, so you have nothing to worry about, right?”

Maria looked down at the table, feeling her cheeks heating up slightly. Luckily Alex didn’t seem to notice. “Yeah.” Was she the only person in the world who thought her already having sex with Michael wasn’t a bad thing? Of course she was pretty sure Michael didn’t think it was a bad thing either...

“So, what’s he like? I think I deserve to hear about the first guy our Maria’s been interested in in months.”

She scowled at him. “It hasn’t been months.”

Alex just shrugged, grinning. “So..?”

“So, he’s gorgeous, talented, interesting. What else do you need to know? You’ve never been one to gossip about who people are going out with.”

“I know, it’s just-” he paused. “You really like him Maria.”

His intense, probing gaze startled her. She brushed it off, shrugging nonchalantly. Or what she hoped was nonchalantly.. “I barely know him.”

“No, this is different, I can tell. You really like him don’t you.”

Maria just stared at him in shock. Okay, so she did, but how the hell did he know? Alex had never been this perceptive before. Or maybe she was just obvious.

“Just be careful okay,” Alex told her. “I don’t want you getting hurt.”

Maria smiled at her reflection on Friday night as she got ready for her date with Michael. Liz had already gone out with friends, leaving Maria alone to get ready. Their first official date! Maria could barely contain her excitement.

She’d seen Michael the past two evenings but this was the first time they were actually going out together, as opposed to just going back to his apartment. This was major. Although she knew he wasn’t just using her, the fact that they were going out on an actual date made her even happier. Even Liz, who, although believing Maria, was still sceptical about what was going on between them, seemed a lot happier about her and Michael when she found out they were going on an actual date.

She knew she should probably be careful, prevent herself for feeling so much for him, but she couldn’t help it. She was definitely falling hard for Michael and couldn’t help it. Alex’s warning to be careful worried her though. Why had he said that after realising that she really cared for Michael. He’d never said that before, knowing that she could take care of herself. Maybe he was just worried because of what happened to Liz...

There was a knock on the door and she pushed the thoughts out of her mind. She had no reason to worry, Michael had told her that he was in it for more than a one night stand, and she believed him.

She gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror, making sure everything was perfect, before going to answer the door. She was going to have no more worrying thoughts tonight, she was just going to concentrate on the gorgeous guy she was going on a date with.

***

They were standing outside her apartment after the date, his lips lightly kissing hers, her hands roaming his hair. She pulled back slightly.

“You want to come inside?” she whispered softly, her eyes pleading with his.

Michael hesitated for a moment. He’d never spent a night at a girl’s place. Staying meant attachments, and Michael never wanted attachments.

He looked down at her beautiful face. The face of the girl he was falling hard for. “Okay.”

Her fingers fumbled with her keys as he kissed her neck. Finally she got the door open and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind her. The apartment was in darkness. Either her roommate was in her room or out.

They made their way through the darkened room, hands roaming each others bodies, kicking off their shoes as they went. Maria reached behind herself for the door knob, opening the door and pulling Michael into the room after her, flicking on the light as she did so.

Michael surveyed the room in silence for a few moments. Photos and other trinkets littered the room, it was very feminine. “So this is your room,” he said. “I like it.”

Maria just smiled, dimming the lights. “I like that too,” he added.

She grinned. “Added bonus. All the lights in the apartment have dimmers.” She gazed at him for a few moments. “Anything else you like?”

He pulled her to him, his mouth finding hers, only parting when he pulled her top over her head. Her fingers were making quick work of the buttons of his shirt as his hands wandered down to her skirt.

“Michael,” she murmured, stepping backwards, pulling him with her.

The fell on the bed in a tangle of limbs, lips never leaving each others as their tongues explored each others mouths. Their clothes were fast disappearing.

“Michael,” she murmured again, her lips leaving his as they began to travel down his neck. He groaned as she began to place light kisses all over his chest. God, she was wonderful.

And he was worried that he was falling hopelessly in love with her.