The weeks passed by in a happy blur. Maria felt like her life was almost perfect. She had a wonderful and gorgeous boyfriend, great friends, and in general life was going great. The only bad thing was the dreams.

They had kept coming, quite often too. They were changing slightly. The colours and symbols always remained, but the images that appeared after the last symbol dropped were
changing.

It was still the same girl, her back always to Maria, her curls hanging loose down her back. It seemed as if she was staring at something, but Maria didn’t know what. As the weeks progressed the girl had moved closer to what it was she was staring at. And then tonight the girl had bent down to get a closer look. Unfortunately the dream ended before Maria could see what it was.

The dream was the reason why she’d ended up in the shower right now, calming her nerves, instead of still lying in bed with Michael.

She tilted her head back savouring the warmth of the water running down her body. She stood there a few moments, letting the water calm her, allowing it to wash away the residue of the dream.

Shutting the water off she quickly dried herself before returning to her bedroom. She crept in, towel wrapped snugly around her, walking over to the bed. Noticing he was awake she lay down next to him, face level with his.

“Hey baby,” she said.

“Hey,” he replied, kissing her softly. “Where did you go?”

“Shower,” she told him. He looked at her questionably, obviously wondering why she’d decided to shower so early on a Saturday morning and then returned to bed. “I had a bad dream,” she explained. “I know its stupid, but warm showers help calm me down.”

“That’s not stupid,” he replied, kissing her neck. “You’re amazing,” he told her as he continued to kiss her neck. “And beautiful, smart, talented,” he continued, his kisses making their way down her front as he pulled the towel away from her body. “And totally want me,” he said as he reached her belly button, tracing soft kisses around it.

She grinned at him, enjoying the sensation of his lips on her bare skin. “Whatever.”

He crawled back up her body so he was level with her face. “Oh yeah?”

She stared at him a few moments, pretending to consider the question. “Okay, so maybe I do,” she told him, capturing his lips in a kiss.

***

“So you’ve been going out with him for a few months now,” Jennifer said. The group of them - Maria, Liz, Alex, Jennifer and Kyle - had decided to go out for lunch on Saturday. But, unfortunately for Maria, the main topic of conversation seemed to be her relationship with Michael. Not that she minded talking about him, she just didn’t want to tell her friends every single detail of her relationship with Michael.

“Mmm-hmm,” she replied, nodding.

“I’m impressed,” Kyle said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

She shrugged away from him. “You should be. What’s the longest relationship you’ve had? A couple of months?”

“Or less?” Liz added.

Kyle narrowed his eyes at them. “So? Besides, we’re not talking about me, we’re talking about Maria.”

“Yes. And as much as I’d love to share every single detail of my life with you guys I’d rather not. You should get a relationship of your own, instead of living vicariously through me.”

“Ahem,” Alex cleared his throat, wrapping an arm around Jennifer.

“Sorry,” she rolled her eyes, relieved that the conversation had finally moved from her relationship. “You guys - except for Alex and Jennifer who’ve been going out for how many years now - should get relationships of your own instead of living vicariously through me. I mean, I know I’m great and all..”

“Whatever Maria,” Liz said, chucking a french fry at her.

Maria widened her eyes in shock. “What?” She grabbed the fry, pointing it menacingly - well as menacingly as you can with a french fry - at her friend. “Are you saying that you don’t worship me? That you-”

“See why we don’t hang out with them more often,” Alex said to his girlfriend. Maria scowled at him.

“You’re this close to getting a french fry in your face,” Liz said.

Alex gasped in horror, his hands grabbing his neck. “Oh no.”

Maria shook her head, unable to contain her laughter, despite trying to pretend she was mad at him. “Alex, you’re insane.”

He just grinned at her. “And you’re not?”

***

Max closed the door behind him as he entered their apartment.

"Michael?” he called out, wondering if the other alien was home.

There was no reply, but Max could hear laughter from Michael’s bedroom. Girl’s laughter. A few moments later a blonde haired woman appeared in the doorway of Michael’s room wearing nothing but one of Michael’s shirts, which reached her mid thigh. Max eyed her appreciatively. She was gorgeous. Michael sure knew how to pick them.

She looked surprised to see him. She ran her hand through her hair before speaking. “Hi. I’m Maria.”

“Max,” he replied. He’d been surprised when he hadn’t seen any of Michael’s random girlfriend’s in the apartment for a while. Looked like the drought was over.

“You must be his roommate.”

“Yup,” he replied.

“Nice to meet you.”

Max nodded. “You too.”

Just then Michael appeared in the doorway behind Maria, wrapping his arms securely around her waist. He lifted his head in acknowledgement. “Hey Max.”

Maria turned her head to look at Michael. “I have to-” she tilted her head in the direction of the bathroom.

Michael gave her a quick kiss, and then released her from his arms. She entered the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind her.

Max tilted his head in the direction of the bathroom. “You never mentioned her.”

He shrugged. “Knew what you’d say.”

“You know I don’t have really have a problem with this. It’s just we can’t get attached.”

Michael’s eyes dropped to the ground. “I know.”

Max stared at his friend, surprised. “You’re not... are you?”

Michael’s gaze returned to his friend. “No,” he replied forcefully.

Max regarded his friend in silence for a few moments, not completely convinced. He opened his mouth to speak.

The door of the bathroom opened, and Maria reappeared. “Hey guys,” she said, making her way back to Michael’s arms. “You better not be talking about me.” She raised one eyebrow at Michael, who shook his head. “Good,” she said.

Max watched the couple for a moment, noticing how protectively Michael’s arms were wrapped around Maria’s waist, and the way she smiled contentedly as she leant back against his chest. And Max could almost detect a smile on Michael’s face as he watched her.

“Look, you guys go back to.. whatever you were doing. I’m going head over to the library,” he told them.

Michael smiled thankfully at him, and Maria lifted a hand in a wave. “Bye,” she said.

“See you,” he returned, turning towards the door. Noticing that Michael had pulled Maria back into his room as he did so.

He opened the door, walked out it, and shut it behind him, leaning on it for a few moments. There was something about the way those two were together. Michael may have denied it, but Max had a feeling that he was getting attached to that girl.

And he had a feeling that it was a bad time for Michael to get attached.

“He seems nice,” Maria commented as Michael sat down on the bed, pulling her with him.

“Mmm-hmm,” he said, shrugging slightly, smiling when she straddled his legs, wrapping her arms around his neck.

“Why haven’t I seen him before?” Maria was saying casually, although she did look slightly confused. “I mean, we have been going out for a while.”

Michael cringed mentally. He couldn’t tell her the real reason - that he didn’t want Max to meet her. But not for the reason she would think, it was the opposite actually. He hadn’t wanted Max to meet Maria because he knew Max would know, especially if they were together a while. He had a feeling Max already suspected something.

“He’s not around much,” Michael told her. Which was true, whenever Maria was over there Max seemed to be out, or it was night and Max was in his room.

She tilted her head at him, examining his eyes, and he knew she was trying to determine whether he was telling the truth, or whether he had kept her from Max because he was ashamed of her. She smiled, and obviously she had found the reassurance she was looking for.

“Besides, we’re around at your place more anyway,” he told her.

“Uh huh,” she said distractedly, leaning in to him, catching his lips in a kiss.

He tightened his arms around her waist, his hands sliding up under his shirt. He deepened the kiss, pulling her tongue into his mouth. When they pulled apart they were both gasping for breath.

They stared at each other for a moment, their eyes communicating what they were both too scared to say. He ran his hand down her face, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

Her hands made their way to the waistband of his boxers, lightly tracing patterns on his stomach as they did so. “I want you,” she murmured.

He lifted her up, shifting her so she was lying back on the bed, before settling on top of her. He repeated her words. “I want you.”

So Max was right, he was attached. But honestly, he didn’t care.

***

“Hey Kyle,” Kyle heard a voice say as he entered his apartment building on Monday evening. Turning around he could see Liz walking behind him.

“Hey,” he replied.

“Whatcha doing?” she asked as they made their way up the stairs.

He shrugged. “Going home.”

She turned to look at him. “You can come over for dinner if you want. I’m sure Maria’s probably out with Michael or something.” She smiled.

Kyle nodded. “Probably.” He considered the offer, choosing the obvious answer that most twenty year old males would choose. “Sure.” Liz’s meals were far better than any he or his roommate made.

Liz opened the door to her apartment, walking in first. Kyle vaguely noticed that she paused for a second before continuing into the apartment.

He followed, pausing completely when he saw them. Glancing at Liz it was obvious she was used to it. She was loudly clearing her throat, obviously trying to get their attention. And when that didn’t work she said loudly, “Maria!”

Kyle’s gaze returned to the couch where Maria was sitting in Michael’s lap, her lips attached to his. The couple didn’t stir.

“Maria!” Liz said louder.

They heard it this time. Maria pulled her face away from Michael’s, looking surprised to see both Liz and Kyle there. “Uh, hi,” she said.

“Are they always like this?” he asked Liz quietly as the couple adjusted their clothes, disentangling themselves from each other.

She nodded. Kyle looked at her in shock. “And you put up with it?”

“No, its not like they’re always at it in the living room,” she explained. “And anyway I understand, I mean, I have seen the guy shirtless after all. Besides, I’m sure if you had a girlfriend you’d be the same.” She was talking quietly, so that Maria and Michael wouldn’t hear.

Wait, back up a second. “You’ve seen him shirtless?”

“Yeah,” she grinned. “You know, the first time I saw him he was shirtless actually.”

What? “Haven’t you known him from the beginning?”

He watched as she glanced at Maria and Michael before turning back to him, realisation dawning in her eyes. “Umm...”

At that moment the other two walked over to them. “So, what you talking about?” Maria asked casually.

“How long you’ve been sleeping with Michael,” he replied.

Maria stared at him for a few moments in shock. Then she looked angry. Oops. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that, but he needed her to know he was mad at her for sleeping with him so soon.

She glanced at Liz for a second, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Liz shake her head. Then she returned her gaze to him. “That’s none of your business.”

“Yes it is,” he replied. She knew he was always looking out for her, especially since what had almost happened to Liz. “I think I should know if this guy’s just using you.”

Maria’s eyes flared with anger, and she was about to retort when Michael beat her to it.

“You’re just jealous,” he said, the anger apparent in his voice.

Ew. Kyle didn’t even want to go there, Maria was like his sister. “No. I just don’t want a guy like you breaking her heart.”

“Kyle, this is none of your business,” Maria said, placing herself in between him and Michael. “You know nothing about this.”

Yes, he did. He knew that she’d been sleeping with Michael from the beginning at that he was probably just using her.

“Kyle,” Liz was pulling on his arm. “Maybe we should go have dinner at your place.”

***

Michael’s eyes narrowed after Kyle as he left the room. What right did that guy have, coming in, questioning his reasons for being with Maria. And to think he’d thought he was a pretty cool guy the other times he’d met him.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asked.

Maria sighed, placing her hand on his arm. “Don’t worry about him, okay?” she said. “He’s just protective of me. You know he and Alex think of me as a sister, they can just be overly protective sometimes.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Besides, you can understand can’t you? I mean, we did sleep together rather fast. It’s logical he might think you were using me.”

What? “Wait, you thought I was using you?”

“No.” She stood in front of him, shaking her head, her eyes searching his. “But its understandable he might. Come on, I know Max’s probably giving you a hard time about our relationship and that’s why you haven’t mentioned him since.”

Perceptive girl. “No.”

“No?” she asked, withdrawing her hand from his arm and backing up a few steps. Michael reached to grab her but she dodged his hand. “Really?” she said, sounding surprised. “Well... then why don’t you prove it. Why don’t the four of us - me, you, Liz and Max - go out for dinner then.”

Make that annoying perceptive girl. “What?”

“Unless there’s a reason you don’t want me and Max to be in the same room?” she said, her eyes dancing.

He knew what she wanted him to do. She wanted him to back down, to admit that Max was giving him a hard time about their relationship so she could say that the whole thing with Kyle was the same. He sighed. “Fine then, we’ll go out to dinner.”

Maria smiled. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” he replied, staring at her for a few seconds before grabbing her and carrying her into her room.

***

The orange-red haze of her dream had now appeared, following the blue, green and purple that always came before it. The shapes stopped spinning and fell, the last remaining one only stopping a second before the now familiar image appeared.

The curly haired blonde was staring at the ground below her. Maria watched as she bent down, peering closer at the ground, looking at something the dreams had never shown her. Only this time it was different.

The dream changed focus slightly, almost as if she was in the girls eyes, and a view of the pavement came. The vision flickered back and forth between the view of the girl’s back and the pavement. Quickly, but not quickly enough that she couldn’t see what the girl was looking at on the pavement.

It was symbols. Symbols from her dream to be exact. One spiral, and three squiggles apart from each other at different angles, as if paused in the middle of their separating into three directions.

The symbols were red and sticking out from the pavement, but it was as if they were embedded in it too.

The flickering stopped and the view was once again back to the young girl’s back. But at that moment she heard a sound - the first sound to ever break through the dream. It was footsteps, coming towards the girl.

Maria watched as the girl began to turn towards her...

Maria woke, hearing Michael softly saying her name. As her senses cleared she also realised he was lightly stroking her hair.

“Maria? Are you okay?”

Maria turned her head towards his. “I was having a bad dream,” she told him. “Strange, bad dream. Sorry, did I wake you?”

“It’s okay,” he murmured, bringing his lips to her hair. “You okay?”

She nodded, sighing contentedly as his arms wrapped snugly around her. She snuggled towards him, resting her head on his chest. “Better now,” she told him honestly.

***

Michael smiled, his hand still stroking her hair as her eyes closed. He watched her face as her features relaxed and her breathing deepened - she had gone back to sleep.

He was glad, hoping she hadn’t returned to the same dream as before. Her twitching movements had woken him, and he had been worried when he had seen the contorted expression on her face. Whatever it was she was dreaming about it hadn’t been good.

He stopped stroking her hair, not wanting to disturb her sleep. Her head was still resting on his chest, and her legs were curled up at his side, making her body a small ball, as if protecting her from the dream.

Why were these disturbing dreams plaguing his Maria? He didn’t like seeing her like this. She was far too amazing to ever need to feel any pain.

***

Michael returned home after being at Maria’s to find Nasedo sitting on the couch with Max. Michael raised his eyebrows, surprised. They’d had no warning that Nasedo was coming to visit - although the few times he had dropped by it was often unannounced.

He walked over to them, grabbing a chair to sit on as he did. “So what’s this all about?” he asked.

“Hello Michael,” Nasedo said emotionlessly.

Michael just nodded his head in return, Nasedo was obviously here for a reason, unless he was here to issue another warning about staying unattached. Michael stared down at his hands for a moment. Nasedo wouldn’t know about that, would he?

“You’re probably wondering why I’m here.”

“Yes,” Max said, answering for them both.

Nasedo nodded, his face carefully blank. Michael wondered why the man never seemed to have any expression. “I just came to let you know that next week I’m bringing the TNI.”

Michael and Max looked at each other in shock. The TNI? He was actually bringing the TNI? Michael had been beginning to wonder if there was even such a thing as the TNI, seeing as Nasedo seemed to have no interest in telling them what it was.

Nasedo was watching the two of them thoughtfully. “Next week,” he said. “I’ll see you then.” And with that he left.

“The TNI?” Max murmured, more to himself than to Michael.

“You’d think that at least he’d tell us what it was,” Michael said. “I mean, so he’s bringing it next week, but can’t he at least tell us what it is now?”

Max just shrugged his shoulders, and Michael could see he was excited to find out what the TNI was. Michael may have been more excited about finding out what the TNI was a few years ago, but now, after Nasedo’s telling them there was a TNI and then avoiding the subject for years it didn’t seem that important.

“Uh, anyway,” Michael began, thinking that he might as well ask now. “Maria. She was wondering if you wanted to come out with us and her roommate.”

Max raised his eyebrows at him. “And you say you’re not attached?”

Michael choose to ignore that comment. Unfortunately Max seemed to want to press it.

“Michael, didn’t you listen to Nasedo. He’s bringing the TNI next week. The same TNI he said had something to do with the reason we have to stay unattached.

Michael just shrugged. “So are you coming?”

He could feel Max glaring at him, obviously annoyed at his lack of interest in the TNI. “Sure.”

It was Sunday night, two days after Nasedo had visited them to tell them that he was bringing the TNI in a week, and Max was sitting at a restaurant with Michael, waiting for Maria and her roommate.

He sighed. He didn’t know what had happened to his friend over the years. Originally Michael had been as interested in their alien heritage as he was, if not more so, but over the years his interest had lessened. Max hadn’t worried about it too much, even when Michael had started seeing girls. After all, as Max had realised early on, Michael never seemed to want anything more than casual with anyone.

But now Michael’s interest in anything alien was gone completely. He knew it had something to do with the girls and the fact Nasedo seemed unwilling to tell them anything, but he knew the complete disinterest had something to do with Maria - the girl he claimed he wasn’t attached too. Max mentally shook his head in disbelief. Yeah sure, Michael didn’t care about the girl but now they were here meeting her roommate. Whatever.

Max felt his friend nudge him, and he turned his head in the direction Michael was looking. There, walking towards them, were Maria and a pretty brunette.

Max just stared at the brunette for a moment, barely noticing his friend as he walked over to Maria, kissing her. He’d thought Maria was beautiful, but her roommate was completely stunning. Her long brown hair hung loose, and she was wearing a light red dress which accentuated her figure.

“Hi,” the girl said, smiling at him. “I’m Liz, Maria’s roommate.”

Max could barely form the words to speak. “Max,” he said.

She smiled, sitting opposite him at the table. As he took in her sparkling eyes and perfect lips he suddenly realised what Michael had been going on about all these years.

He was jolted out of his thoughts when Michael sat down beside him, apparently he and Maria had finally disentangled themselves from each other and had decided to join them.

“So,” he heard Michael say. “Liz, this is Max, my roommate.”

Liz smiled, flicking her hair over her shoulders. “Yeah,” she said, a grin on her face. “We introduced ourselves while you were too busy to notice.” Max almost laughed at the expression on Michael’s face.

Wait. How did Liz know Michael so well? She was talking to him in a familiar way that you don’t usually do with someone you barely know. He knew Michael had been spending a lot of time with Maria, but with her roommate as well? This was just surreal.

***

Michael grinned at Maria as she struggled with her pasta. God, she was gorgeous. It was amazing how sexy she could look even when all she was doing was trying to stop her meal from falling off its fork.

“Are you laughing at me?” Maria’s eyes flashed warningly, but he could tell she was only joking.

“No, of course not,” he replied. “Would I ever laugh at you?”

She scowled at him, lightly kicking him under the table. “I should hope not.” She turned to look at Max and Liz, who were now deeply involved in a conversation about science.

When she turned back to him he was surprised to see her grin. “They like each other,” she mouthed.

What? Michael stared at her in shock. No, she couldn’t be right. Max actually liking a human, that couldn’t be possible, especially after all the lectures Max had given him.

Maria was tilting her head at him, giving him a confused look. He drew his eyes away from her for a moment to look at the other two. He blinked in surprise seeing the look at Max’s face. She was right, Max was staring at Liz with a rapt expression on his face, taking in her every word.

This was amazing. The guy who, throughout their whole lives, had gone on and on about how they had to do what Nasedo said and not get involved with humans was now completely infatuated with Liz. Michael smiled, maybe the guy would finally shut up about it.

He heard a mumbled curse and looked back at Maria, who was still struggling with her meal. He raised an eyebrow at her, smirking. “Did you just swear at your pasta?” he asked her.

She looked up at him looking slightly embarrassed. “No.”

He laughed. “Yes, you did.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “Okay fine, maybe I did. You try eating this stupid food. It keeps falling off!” She waved her hands in exasperation.

He just smiled at her. How was it possible that she always managed to look so irresistible? He sighed, wishing that it was just him and Maria. Alone.

“Why are you sighing?” she asked, and he looked at her in surprise, he hadn’t realised it was so loud.

He leaned in closer, speaking quietly so that the others couldn’t hear him. Not that they would be able to being to wrapped up in their own conversation. “Can’t we ditch them?”

“Michael!” she hissed, glancing in their direction. “We can’t just ditch them.”

He stared at her pleadingly, hoping to get her to change her mind. He wanted to be alone with her.

“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly at him.

He scowled at her and she wiggled her finger at him.

“But I will make up for it later.”

***

The four of them had finished dinner and Max was wondering what was going to happen next, he didn’t see Michael and Maria wanting to hang out with them all night long. He didn’t have to wonder long, as soon as they received the bill Maria turned to them.

“I know you guys probably want to talk more with each other, so I was thinking that Michael and I could leave now and let you two talk.”

“Sure,” Max replied, knowing full well that she wasn’t doing this for them. But he didn’t care, he was going to get to spend time with Liz alone. He smiled, ignoring his brain telling him that he shouldn’t be wanting to spend so much time with a human. Especially with the TNI coming in less than a week.

Michael and Maria stood up. “My place?” he heard Michael say as they walked away from the table. Max watched as Maria stopped, lightly kissing Michael on the lips before gazing up at him. “Mine’s closer.”

Max saw Michael nod and heard Liz laughing. “God, they’re terrible aren’t they,” Liz was saying. “Do they spend any time apart?”

Max looked at her. Okay, he knew she was joking, but there must be a reason behind the joke. “Yeah, well, I guess they haven’t been going out that long,” he said, trying to get Liz to spill more. The fact that Michael was actually going out with someone was still a foreign concept to him. But the idea that Michael spent most of his time with her... he could barely contemplate that. Although he had seen the expression on Michael’s face and knew it was possible.

Liz laughed. “Yeah, only since like the fifth week of semester or something.”

What did she just say? Fifth week of semester? Michael had been going out with Maria for months and Max only just recently knew about it! This was serious. Obviously Michael had totally fallen for Maria, and Nasedo was bringing the TNI this week!

Liz was staring at him curiously. “You knew that didn’t you?”

“Not exactly.” This was bad. This was really bad. Michael knew they couldn’t get attached, he’d claimed he’d never get attached to a girl, and now he had been dating Maria for months! Michael had never even dated a girl for a week!

She looked surprised. “Oh. I just thought... I mean, he’s always spending so much time around at our place, I just figured Maria was probably always around there too.”

Yeah, behind closed doors most likely. And Michael was always spending time around at their place? Man, how whipped was he?

“Look, I’m sorry. I just didn’t realise that you didn’t know... Why don’t you know?” Liz was giving him a confused look, obviously wondering why he hadn’t known that his roommate was going out with Maria.

He had to admit he was wondering the same thing. He sighed, if he wasn’t so annoyed he would have been grateful for this distraction from Liz, but now he was just annoyed at Michael. Annoyed and worried about what was going to happen when the TNI arrived. He pulled himself out of his thoughts long enough to realise that Liz was staring at him, obviously expecting an answer.

“Oh, uh, I-” Max paused for a moment, trying to figure out a plausible excuse. He was sure the real reason was that Michael had completely fallen for Maria and didn’t want Max to get mad at him for at. As Max should be. Michael had completely kept this from him, and it was at the absolute worst time for it to happen. But Max knew that he couldn’t exactly say that.

“It’s just that I’ve been really busy and haven’t been around the apartment much, so I really haven’t seen much of Michael for a while,” he said, inwardly grimacing at how pathetic the excuse was.

Surprisingly Liz seemed to be buying it. “Oh, okay,” she was saying. “That makes sense. I guess guys don’t talk about that stuff very much anyway.”

“Yeah,” Max said, nodding emphatically. She’d bought the excuse! “They’re really serious aren’t they,” he commented, hoping to get more information.

“Definitely,” Liz agreed. “I’ve never seen Maria this serious with a guy before. And from what I’ve seen Michael seems to care about her a lot.”

Max smiled, trying to appear as happy about this fact as Liz was. But inwardly he was worried. What was going to happen when Nasedo returned?

Maria reluctantly detached her mouth from Michael’s. She looked down at his hands, which were making their way up under her top. “Uh, I think we should probably head home,” she told him. They’d stopped for a moment while walking home, their passion taking control of them, but she was worried that if they didn’t stop soon it might end up out of control, and she didn’t want to do it with Michael against a tree on the side of the road.

Michael pulled back, taking his hands out from under her top. “Yeah,” he replied, his voice husky.

She grabbed his hand, pulling him towards the road so they would get home quicker. He withdrew his hand from her grasp, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. They walked in silence for a few moments.

“How do you know him?” she asked, curious.

Michael turned to look at her. “Who?”

“Max. How do you know him? You seem so different from him.”

“And you and Liz aren’t?” he asked, smiling.

She returned the smile. “Yes... but not so much. We’re similar as well.” She watched him for a few moments as he decided what to say.

“I’ve known him most of my life actually,” he told her. “We’re those kind of people who’re not actually related, but like to think they are.”

She nodded. Like her and Alex. Or Kyle for that matter, but she hadn’t known him as long. “So, family friends or something?”

“You could say that.”

She nodded. “Okay.” They continued walking, but she had to ask another question. She couldn’t help it if she was curious. “Why don’t you ever say much about yourself?”

He stopped, grabbing Maria by the shoulders and turning her to face him. “In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t really seem to talk much,” he told her, his face close to hers. His lips only millimetres from hers.

She laughed, dodging out of his grasp. “Not here. And yes I have noticed.” She grinned. “And I’m not complaining either. It’s just, I don’t really know much about you. Just the trivial stuff like the fact that your favourite band is Metallica, or that you’re terrific at art.” She shrugged, walking down the road ahead of him. He began walking again, trying to catch up. “It’s just, I dunno, you seem to know more about me that’s all.” She said it lightly, but whilst saying it she realised it was true. She really didn’t know that much about her - she didn’t even know where his parentss were.

“What do you want to know?” he asked her.

“Oh, um,” she said, trying to think of a really good question to ask, but coming up with none. “Where are your parents?”

He looked away for a moment, his eyes darkening. “Dead.”

Maria stopped walking. Okay, she wasn’t expecting that. “Sorry.”

Michael shrugged. “I didn’t know them, I was adopted.” He watched her closely for a few moments. “He’s dead too.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured.

“Don’t be.” She turned to look at him. “Hank, he wasn’t a good person. I’m a better person because I’m no longer stuck with him.”

“Oh,” she said, the honesty of that comment was unsettling. He’d obviously had a bad childhood. She leaned up to give him a quick kiss. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.” She pulled back from him and began walking.

He grabbed her, pulling her to him. “No. You’re right. You tell me so much and I barely tell you anything.” A pained expression came over his face, and she reached up to stroke it.

“I don’t care,” she told him truthfully, staring into his brown flecked eyes.

They stood there for a few moments before Michael wrapped his arm around her and they resumed their walking.

***

Michael’s arms were wrapped around Maria. He watched her sleep, smiling as her lips curled into a small smile and she snuggled closer into him. He hadn’t meant to tell her about Hank. There were too many bad memories there, memories he wanted to forget, it had been over three years now.

But her face as she looked at him, the sympathy on her face as she realised he had no parents, made him tell her.

He wondered what she would say if she knew the real story. That when he was sixteen he’d used his powers against Hank, and then Hank had just disappeared. It was no surprise to either him or Max when Nasedo had reappeared the next day - they knew that Nasedo must have done ssomething to him.

That was the first time Nasedo had seen them after issuing the statement ‘You can’t get attached to anyone because of the TNI’ two years earlier.

Staring down at the amazing woman in his arms he wondered what she would do if she knew. Would she run away from him in disgust that he was an alien? Or would she accept him the way she was? The thought had been plaguing him more and more the longer he was with her.

He hated keeping it a secret from her, but he didn’t know what else to do. He’d never seen a guide to telling your girlfriend you were an alien anywhere, and he was sure that if he did it he’d probably mess it up and scare her off. But could he hide it from her forever?

She shifted slightly in his arms, mumbling something in her sleep. He closed his eyes, forcing thoughts of anything alien from his mind. He was here with her and that was all that mattered, he could worry about it tomorrow.

***

She was dreaming again. The dreams had become for frequent now, appearing more often than they had ever before. She waited patiently for the symbols to drop then disappear, for the girl with blonde curls to appear.

She was there, looking at the ground in front of her. The image of the pavement appeared, as if she was inside the girls head. She could see the symbols, their image ingrained in her mind.

The image flickered away, and she was back were she normally was, behind the girl. She held her breath as she heard the footsteps, and the girl turned around slowly. So slowly. Almost as if she was in slow motion.

Maria gasped. The image flickered and disappeared and she was left in darkness. Her mind was spinning. How could it be? How could it possibly be?

It was her.

She was sitting on the couch, hugging her knees to her chest, all alone in the apartment. Michael had left not long before. As soon as he’d left she’d locked herself in the bathroom, letting the warm water run over her, calm her. It hadn’t really worked.

She hadn’t told him. She hadn’t told him she’d had the dream again. What was she supposed to say? That she had a feeling that what she’d seen in the dreams had actually happened? It sounded way too farfetched.

But was it?

It was only a dream, but deep down Maria had always known it meant something. And then, when she’d seen the girl’s face and realised it was her when she was nine years old, Maria knew it was more than that.

She had a feeling that she had actually been there, heard the footsteps. But what happened after that she had no idea. Her mind was a blank. It was as if she hadn’t wanted herself to remember.

She was being irrational. She knew it. There was no way the dream was real. She would have remembered, wouldn’t she?

But she couldn’t shake the feeling that she had deep down. That it had actually happened.

***


Max was there when Michael arrived home the next day. When he stood up and walked towards him as soon as he entered, Michael was surprised to realise he’d been waiting for him.

“Hey,” he said, greeting his friend.

“You’ve been going out with Maria for months.”

Michael stared at his friend. It was a statement, not a question, and obviously Max was annoyed. “So?”

“So?” Max asked. “So? What about the TNI? It’s coming in less than a week! And you obviously knew it was bad if you kept the fact that you’ve been seeing Maria since the beginning of semester a secret from me this whole time. You know you’re attached to her Michael. God, even Liz knows it!”

Michael stood there in shock a few moments. He couldn’t believe this. He couldn’t believe how mad Max was at him. Although, he had to admit Max was telling the truth. He knew he was attached to Maria, and he knew he shouldn’t be, that’s why he’d kept it from Max. But still it shouldn’t be such a big deal.

“Does it even matter?” Michael asked. “What could the TNI possibly be that would need us to be unattached? And it can’t even be that important, Nasedo hasn’t even mentioned bringing it until now. If it was something like a spaceship that would make us have to leave people and therefore he didn’t want us to be attached, why did he kept it from us all this time and not try to use it earlier?”

“Michael-”

“Look, Nasedo’s barely around, I really don’t think he cares what we do. You know what I think, I don’t think it even matters whether we’re attached or not, Nasedo just wants us to stay away from humans. You’ve seen the guy, he’s completely emotionless. He’s probably just jealous that we are actually half human, unlike him, and wants to keep us from becoming more human.”

“Okay, so maybe that’s it,” Max replied. “But it mightn’t be. Michael, don’t you realise this could be important? We might seriously need to be unattached for this TNI thing to work.”

“Never said I was attached.” Of course, he’d never said he wasn’t either.

Max narrowed his eyes at him. It was obvious he was annoyed, but Michael didn’t care. He wasn’t going to spend his whole life doing whatever some alien they barely ever saw told him to do.

Michael noticed Max opening his mouth as if to speak, but he wasn’t going to let him. “God, Max. You don’t have to spend your whole life following the rules, you know. Maybe you wouldn’t be so uptight if you just lived a little. Maybe you’re right, maybe we need to be unattached, but we’re never going to know until it happens, so why not just live your life?”

***

Maria looked up as Liz flew in the door. “Hey, “she said, flopping on the couch opposite.

“Hey,” Maria replied. “What’s up with you?”

Liz just shrugged, staring at the ceiling above. Maria knew that look.

“You like someone,” she sing-songed. “Is it Max?”

Liz turned to look at her sharply. “What?”

“Oh, come on. I saw the way you two were looking at each other last night.”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “Really? I’m surprised you moved your gaze from Michael for a second.”

“Excuse me?” Maria said, throwing a cushion at her friend. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“What do you think it means? Not that I blame you,” Liz added. “So spill, what do you know about Max?”

Maria considered the question for a moment. “Not much actually. I know that he and Michael have been friends pretty much their whole lives, and that he’s a major science geek,” she looked at her friend. “You’d like that.”

“I’m not a geek,” Liz protested.

“Lizzie,” she said slowly. “I didn’t say that. And that’s pretty much it. Oh, and he’s the opposite of Michael by the looks of things. But, you know, we don’t really spend most of our time talking about Max.”

Liz snorted. “Somehow I don’t doubt that. So... if he’s the completely opposite of Michael I’m assuming that he’s not going to expect me to jump him the first time we kiss.”

She narrowed her eyes at her friend, chucking a couple more cushions at her.

“You know, Kyle is still annoyed with you about that,” Liz commented.

Maria sighed. “Great, I don’t have any real brothers so I get stuck with two guys for friends who are even more protective of me than a brother would be.” She groaned. “It’s none of his business anyway.”

“I know, I’m sorry. I already apologised for that. It didn’t actually tell him anything. All I said was that the first time I’d seen Michael he was shirtless, and Kyle figured it out.”

Maria stared at her friend, confused. “Why were you talking about Michael being shirtless?”

“Oh, um,” Liz laughed slightly. “I was just saying that I understood why you would... you know.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Mmm-hmm.”

“Anyway, not the point. Just letting you know Kyle is still kinda annoyed, so you might need to talk to him about that.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Thanks Liz. Have you told Alex any information that I should know about?”

Liz shook her head. “No, he likes the fact that you’ve hooked up with Michael. He thinks he seems like a nice guy who wouldn’t pressure you for sex.”

Maria laughed. “Yeah, this from the guy who didn’t sleep with his girlfriend until they moved in together. He’d die if he knew we were sleeping together already, claiming Michael corrupted his ‘poor sweet little Maria’.” She leaned forward, looking Liz directly in the eyes. “Which is why you’re not telling him.”

Liz raised her hands in mock surrender. “I won’t. I won’t. Geez, one accidental slip and you hate me forever.”

Maria laughed again. She loved hanging out with Liz, she always made her feel better, even when she wasn’t trying to. “So, tell me what happened with Max?”

“Well..,” Liz said. “We hung out there a bit longer. Okay, a while longer, to give you guys time.” Liz looked at her and she blushed. “Then he walked me home.” She paused. “You were right about them being opposites. He didn’t even try to kiss me, let alone sleep with me.” She sighed, a mock disappointed look on her face.

Maria laughed, although she knew, even through her friend’s joking, that Liz had wanted Max to kiss her. Maybe she was getting over her ‘all guys are jerks’ phase.

The atmosphere in the Guerin-Evans apartment the past few days had not been good. Although the two of them had been getting along with no mention of the TNI since their argument, it was obvious that it was still hanging in the air. Michael was relieved that he had a date to hang out with Maria at her place that night, he needed to get away from Max’s annoyed stare.

Michael left his room, noticing that Max was sitting at the table surrounded by astronomy books as he did so. He sighed. The guy needed to find something in his life that wasn’t about being alien. He’d hoped that maybe Maria was right, that Max did like Liz. And although he had seemed to when they were out together, Michael wasn’t sure he did anymore. Max had been trying to ignore anything non-alien ever since. Maybe he had actually liked Liz and felt guilty about it? He rolled his eyes as he left his apartment, just his luck he got stuck with the guy who refused to have a normal life.

It was Thursday. Tomorrow was the day that Nasedo was bringing the TNI, and Michael didn’t know whether that was a good thing or not. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted his life to change. He was perfectly fine with the way it was going right now, and the arrival of the TNI might change all that. He might even have to leave...

But no, he wasn’t going to think about that possibility at all. He somehow doubted that after all of this time Nasedo had been hiding a way to get home, so it was stupid thinking about it.

He was going to spend his evening with Maria and completely remove any alien thoughts from his mind.

***

It turned out that his girlfriend wanted him to go out dancing with her, Liz and some other friends of hers. He’d repeatedly said ‘no’, until finally caving because she looked disappointed. And besides, he felt guilty about having to keep the fact he was an alien from her.

So that’s where they were now, at some dance club that Maria and her friends often frequented. He was sitting at their table with Alex, watching as Maria danced with Liz and Cathy, but now she stopped dancing, walking over to him.

“Do you want to dance?” Maria asked him.

He shook his head. “No. I don’t dance, remember? Trust me, you won’t catch me dancing my living room singing along to the radio,” he said, referring to earlier that week when he’d opened the door to her bathroom after having a shower to find her dancing around her living room.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you said you’d just opened the door.”

“I lied,” he replied with a smirk.

She raised her eyebrows, a smile on her face. “Well then,” she said. “I think you should make it up to me.”

Michael watched her warily as she got to her feet. She stood looking at him for a few moments. “Well?”

“What?” he asked blankly. Then he realised. “No, no, no. I don’t dance. And I definitely don’t dance to this pop crap they’ve got playing.”

She grinned, before turning around and heading through the crowd. His eyes followed her until she got swallowed up by the mass of people. Now what was she doing?

She returned about a minute later, a smug smile on her face. She stood there a few moments, and her smile widened as a slow song came on. “It’s not pop anymore,” she told him.

“So?”

She sat down in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “So,” she said. “You saw me dance, I think I deserve to see you dance.” She pouted. “I got them to change the music and everything!”

He sighed, knowing he was weak. But he doubted any man would be able to withstand her pouted lips and gorgeous green eyes. “Fine, okay,” he told her.

She grinned, jumping up off his lap and pulling him with her. He followed her onto the dance floor, smiling as her arms wrapped around him as soon as they stopped. He pulled her close, his arms circling her back, as they moved slowly with the music.

Maria looked up at him, a smile on her face. “See, its not too bad.”

He gazed down at her, using a hand to tilt her face up to his. “No,” he murmured, before catching her lips in a kiss.

***

Michael had kissed Maria goodbye after class Friday afternoon, telling her he couldn’t see her that night - he had to do something with Max. He sighed. He was sure that spending the night with Maria would be more interesting than some pointless evening with Nasedo. Although he had told them he would tell them what the TNI was tonight, so maybe it would be good.

He arrived at his apartment building, making his way up the stairs until he reached his apartment. Opening the door he was surprised to see that along with Max and Nasedo there were two beautiful blondes sitting in the apartment. Not that either of them was as beautiful as Maria.

He shut the door behind him. “Hey.”

Nasedo looked up. “Good, you’re here,” he said in the emotionless voice of his.

“Yup,” he said, walking over to them, pulling over a chair which he flipped around, and sat down straddling it. “So what’s going on. Who are they?” he asked, gesturing in the direction of the blondes.

“We’ve been waiting for you to get home. I haven’t told Max anything yet.”

“Not even their names?” Wasn’t that kind of rude?

“No,” Nasedo replied.

“Right,” Michael said, glancing at the women. They just stared back at him.

Nasedo gave him a strange look, one which Michael had no idea what it meant. “Okay, well I guess I should get to the point,” Nasedo said. “Meet the TNI - Tess and Isabel. Your destined mates."

TNI. Tess and Isabel. Tess ‘n Isabel.

Max stared at the two girls in shock. Destined mates? What was that supposed to mean. Glancing at Michael he could tell the guy wasn’t impressed.

“Destined mates?” Michael was saying. “What the hell do we need destined mates for? And if we’ve been destined all along why haven’t you told us until now?”

Nasedo looked surprised at the outburst, and Max noticed him glancing in Tess’s direction for a moment. “Well... I had to make sure you were ready. I’ve raised them,” he said, gesturing at the two woman. “And they’ve been brought up knowing all about it, whereas with you two I didn’t find you for a few years, and then, not being around you all the time, I thought it probably wasn’t a good thing to spring on you.”

“And who says its a good thing to spring on us now?” Michael asked, his voice raised in anger. “We’ve spent our whole lives growing up never knowing we were meant to be with another alien. God, I didn’t even know there were other aliens besides us. And now you come and spring this news on us and expect us to be happy about it? What if we’ve already got a girlfriend?”

“I thought you said you weren’t attached,” Max interrupted.

“That’s not the point. And you know what? This is not fair,” Michael told Nasedo, angry. “They’ve known their whole lives they’re destined to be with us, and now you come here to
tell us that and you expect us to accept it? We’ve barely ever seen you, you’re always with them. And then you come and tell us we can’t get attached because of the TNI and then disappear for a few more years, not explaining what on earth the TNI is. For all we knew we couldn’t get attached because we couldn’t mate with humans, or because some TNI spaceship was coming to get us and you didn’t want us to get attached so we wouldn’t want to go. And now you expect us to be happy that we are destined to spend our lives with some alien we don’t even know?”

“Michael,” Max said softly, trying to get his friend to calm down. Sure, he understood how he felt, he wasn’t happy that this had just been sprung on them, Nasedo should have told him earlier. But Michael should have realised that Nasedo had told them to stay unattached for a reason. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Tess watching in interest, while Isabel looked unimpressed with the whole thing.

He saw Michael glance at him for a moment, before his gaze scanned the room, before returning to Nasedo. Max watched as Michael took a deep breath, then let it out, heading towards the door.

“I need some time to think,” he told them as he left the apartment.

***

Michael had been walking around campus for the past few hours, the memory of what had happened only hours earlier still burning in his mind.

What had just happened? How could he have a destined mate? God, as if dealing with the fact that he was one of the only aliens in a planet full of humans and having to hide it from everyone wasn’t bad enough, now he had to find out that he was destined to be with some blonde alien who had just sat there staring at him like he had two heads the entire time.

Okay, obviously he hadn’t made a good first impression, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care about her. He didn’t want to be with her. The only woman he wanted to be with was Maria.

He continued walking, his mind whirling with the memory. How was it possible that his life had been screwed up so completely in such a short time?

Eventually he found his way to Maria’s apartment. She opened the door, obviously surprised to see him.

“I thought you were busy tonight?” she said.

Michael didn’t reply, just pulled her towards him, kissing her passionately, all his pent up rage transferring into passion for the only girl he wanted.

He walked her into the room, kicking the door shut behind him with his foot. He knew he shouldn’t be here, and that Max would kill him. But right now he just needed to be with the one person who made him feel human.

***

Maria returned his kisses, pulling him into her room as she did so. She could sense something was wrong, but knew he didn’t want to talk about it. It was obvious that what he wanted right now wasn’t to talk about it.

She pulled back slightly. “Are you okay?” she asked, just to make sure.

He stared back at her, his eyes darkened with lust. He nodded. “I want you.”

Her pulse raced even faster at the conviction in his voice. “Ditto,” she replied, pulling him back into another kiss. He didn’t want to talk about it, and she was fine with that. For the moment anyway.

They collapsed on her bed in a tangle of limbs. Michael pulled back slightly for a moment, pulling off her top, and then his.

Her hands made their way over his stomach and chest as they kissed. When they parted his lips went to her neck, marking her as his. Her hands went to his back, pulling him closer.

He was so intensely passionate, and she loved him for it.

She just plain loved him.

Max looked up when Michael arrived home the next morning. “Where have you been?” he asked. Michael just shrugged. Max stared at his friend for a few moments, angry. “You went to her didn’t you? You found out you were destined to be with Isabel and you went to her. I thought you weren’t attached.”

“I’m not in the mood for this Maxwell.”

“I don’t care,” Max said. Sure, he wasn’t thrilled with it either, but it was their destiny - they had to follow it. “You’re only thinking about yourself here, Michael,” he told him. “What about Isabel? How do you think she’s going to feel when she finds out that as soon as you found out you two were meant to be together you spent the night with another woman.”

Michael narrowed his eyes at him. “There’s never going to be a me and Isabel,” he said angrily.

“God, open your eyes Michael!” Max exclaimed, starting to feel annoyed at his friend’s refusal to see things clearly. “You’re an alien! Maria’s not. You can’t ever be together. What? You think that she’s going to still want to be with you once she finds out the truth?” He knew it was harsh, but it was the only way to get through to him.

Michael glared at him coldly. “What goes on with me and Maria is none of your business,” he growled. “And why are you so happy all of a sudden? I thought you were beginning to like the idea of humans. What about Liz? Or is it just now that you’ve found you’ve got your own little alien hussy waiting for you whenever you want that you’ve forgotten about her.”

Max held his gaze as Michael glared at him a few more moments before stalking into his room, slamming the door behind him.

***

Max was pacing the living room of their apartment, waiting for Michael to come home. He regretted what he’d said that morning. He knew Michael was attached to Maria, but he hadn’t realised just how much he cared for her. He’d figured that saying what he’d said would make Michael realise the reality of what was going on, but the only thing it had accomplished was making Michael pissed off at him.

He knew Michael was just mad, so he didn’t hold what he’d said against him. He had thought about Liz a couple of times since he’d found out - he had liked her, she was different from any other girl he’d met.

But he was destined to be with Tess, and he could accept that. Liz knew nothing about who he really was, and he barely knew her, so despite his liking her he wasn’t going to jump into a relationship with her if they couldn’t be together. Besides, Tess seemed nice too.

He was cautious, careful, unlike his roommate. He wasn’t going to disobey Nasedo’s orders - and his destiny - for a girl.

And he hoped Michael wasn’t going to give up on their destiny - their reason for being on this planet, for a girl, but Max had no idea how to get through to him.

***

Michael returned to his apartment, thankful that Max was out. His friend had apologised for what he’d said, saying he was overreacting because he didn’t understand why Michael wanted to throw their destiny away. He’d accepted Max’s apology, but he wasn’t in the mood for any more alien things.

There was a knock at the door and Michael moved to answer it. He groaned when he saw who it was.

“Can we talk?” Tess asked.

“Not now,” Michael said, closing the door in her face. He didn’t want to hear any more about this so called destiny.

Tess stopped the door with her hand. “Please,” she said. “Look, it was hard enough to get away from the others without them noticing, I don’t need any crap from you.”

Michael looked at her surprised. “They don’t know you’re here?”

She shook her head. “No. If they knew the reason I was here they’d kill me.”

Curious, Michael opened the door, allowing her to enter the apartment. They sat down on the couch.

“So why are you here?” he asked.

“I needed to clear a few things up,” she said. “Look, I know what you’re going through.”

Michael snorted. “Hardly.”

Tess shot him a look. “I do. It isn’t what you think. We haven’t spent out whole lives waiting to meet you so we could hook up with you.” She paused for a moment. “Well, maybe Isabel has, and I used to, but not any more. Okay, this is hard to explain.” She looked down at her hands for a moment.

“I know it is different. Isabel and I, we were raised by Nasedo. We were brought up our whole lives knowing that one day we would meet our destined mates. But that still doesn’t make this any easier. We haven’t spent our lives waiting around for you. We’ve gone out, well at least I have, Isabel was always more worried about betraying Nasedo, and our lives are probably very similar to yours. And I know you don’t want us to be here.”

Michael stared at her wordlessly, not knowing what to say. She was right, he didn’t want them here.

“But I don’t want to be here either,” she said. “I don’t want this destiny. I mean, Max seems nice and all, and when I was younger I always used to dream of what he would be like, knowing that I’d always end up with him, but now...” she trailed off, watching him for a few moments. “I just wanted you to know that we didn’t come here to wreck your lives.”

Michael was silent. Did she really dislike this as much as he did?

“Who is she?”

What? How did she...?

Tess watched him for a few moments before speaking softly. “I was in love with a human once too.”

What? Did she just say what he thought she just said? She was in love with a human?

She nodded. “I was.” She looked down at her hands for a few moments before continuing. “His name was Scott, and I loved him deeply. More deeply than I could ever love anyone else. Max included.”

He nodded, silently urging her to continue.

“Well, anyway, I kept it from Nasedo for a while. It wasn’t that hard to do actually, he was always away on ‘business’ anyway.” She paused. “We’d been going out for about four months when Nasedo found out. And my God was he mad. I’ve never seen him that mad before, not even when he was worried that we’d accidentally spilled that we were aliens when we were about ten. I’ve never seen anyone that mad in my entire life.”

Michael could tell that this was hurting her, that just telling him about this was hurting her. But he also knew that she wanted him to know, so he just remained quiet, waiting for her to continue.

“He told me that I couldn’t continue seeing Scott. That it would ruin everything. That I was destined to be with Max. That I was stupid, naive. That no eighteen year old girl knew the true meaning of love. That Scott wouldn’t want to be near me if he knew the truth.” She looked up at Michael, tears shining in her eyes. “That hurt,” she told him. “He wouldn’t have done that. I know he wouldn’t.”

“Then what happened?” he asked softly.

“Fate,” she said, almost emotionlessly. “Obviously someone up there knew we weren’t supposed to be together and-” her breath caught in her throat. He watched as she sat there a few moments, willing herself to say the words. “He died.”

She began to cry then. Deep wracking sobs which penetrated his whole body. He reached for her, pulling her into his arms and hugging her, hoping to give her some comfort.

It was strange how much things could change. A day ago she was one of the people he most despised in the world, and now he was holding her as she sobbed her heart out.

At first, deep down, he’d considered the possibility that this was a trick. But after looking at her, seeing the pain in her eyes as she told him, he knew every word was true.

“He died in my arms, Michael,” she told him through sobs. “It wasn’t alien related. Nasedo had nothing to do with it if that’s what you’re thinking.” Michael was relieved at that, he had to admit he’d thought it might have been a possibility, especially seeing the way Hank had just disappeared. “It was just a huge coincidence,” she continued. “Nasedo hated him and wanted him out of my life, and then he died.”

“What happened?” he asked.

She took a deep breath. “Cancer. It happened so fast. He barely knew he had it before he died. I was there with him, I watched him take his last breath, hoping against hope I could save him... but I couldn’t. Nothing could.”

Michael held her, letting her cry. After a few minutes she stood up, wiping the tears from her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to break down in front of you. I just wanted to let you know you weren’t alone, that we’re not here to wreck your life. That I don’t want ‘destiny’ either. But thank you, I really needed to talk to someone about it. Isabel tried, but it doesn’t help that she thought it was wrong to begin with.”

She made her way to the door of his apartment. Michael stood, watching her silently for a moment.

“Her name’s Maria,” he told her.

***

Tess turned towards him, surprised that he’d told her, and still embarrassed over completely breaking down in front of him - after all she barely knew him. She’d never even broken down like that in front of Isabel. “Maria?”

Michael nodded, and Tess walked over to him.

“And you don’t want to lose her?” she asked softly.

He shook his head slightly, and she looked up into his eyes. His beautiful eyes full with love for Maria. She couldn’t let the same thing happen to him, she couldn’t let Nasedo wreck his life just like he’d wrecked hers. She couldn’t let him lose her without even being able to tell Maria that he loved her. Scott’s dying words had been that he loved her, and he’d died before she’d had the chance to return them.

“You don’t have to,” she told him. “Nowhere does it say that we have to be with our alien mate now. All we were told is that we were together in our past lives, and Nasedo now thinks we should be together now too.” She looked at him, wondering how he was taking this. She shook her head. “But we don’t have to be together now. I mean, have you ever thought why we are on earth to begin with?” she said, getting out all her feelings to him. She’d told Isabel this before, but it was different to say it to someone who was actually listening. Who actually cared.

“There’s obviously a reason we’re here,” she continued. “I doubt that we were sent galaxies away so that we could pair up the same way as we did back on Antar, we could have done that on a closer planet. There must a reason we’re here - and I think it’s to mate with humans.”

Michael was staring at her, confusion and hope in his eyes. “Really?”

“Well, think about it, it does make sense doesn’t it?”

He considered it for a second, before nodding. “It does.”

“And I know for a fact that Nasedo doesn’t know for sure why we’re here, he was never told the point of the mission, so he’s just trying to find a reason so he can control us.”

Michael nodded again. “You know a lot about this don’t you?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she told him. “We were raised by Nasedo ever since we came out of the pods. He taught us about what we were, and how to tap into our powers, and our memories of our powers. Isabel knows how to enter other people’s dreams, and I can perform ancient Antarian spells and rituals - for some reason I just remember them. They’re not right on the surface, I have to search my subconscious for them, but they’re there. I can also sense other aliens and can perform a spell to confirm that they are actually alien. Not that I get much practice at doing that of course,” she laughed. “And we can do the basic manipulating of molecular structures, which I’m sure you can do. You probably haven’t taped into your individual powers though, have you?”

“Uh, no,” Michael replied. She gave him a sympathetic smile. Poor guy, not only had he just found out that some alien he barely knew wanted him to be with Isabel, but now he was finding out about more powers as well.

“Okay, well, I can tell you a bit about them if you want,” she said.

***

“Where have you been?” Isabel asked the moment she walked through the door of the apartment Nasedo had rented for them.

Tess shrugged. “I just went for a walk around the campus. If we’re going to be here a while I thought I might as well see what its like.”

“Oh,” Isabel said, buying the lie. “I was worried that maybe you’d gone to see them. You know, if you tell them anything Nasedo will be so mad at you. That Michael one’s already against destiny as it is.” Isabel looked at her. She just grabbed an apple from the counter, biting into it as she sat down on the couch.

“He’s strange isn’t he?” Isabel said.

“Michael?” she asked, her mouth full.

Isabel nodded. “Yeah. He just seems so, I don’t know, weird. And he was totally against us the moment we found out who we were, I could see the way he was looking at me with contempt. God, and we’re supposed to be with each other. I don’t know if I can stand it if he’s always like that.”

But she still wanted to be with him, Tess noticed. She sighed, despite Michael’s behaviour Isabel was still believing in destiny. She couldn’t believe it, the guy had completely rejected her and now she was going on about how she didn’t think she could put up with his attitude.

“So, you still want to be with him?” Tess asked.

Isabel shot her a look. “We have no choice. You know that.” Her voice was hard.

“Yeah, but-”

“We can’t go against destiny Tess.”

She sighed. “I know, I know,” she said. “But even if he always had that attitude you’d put up with him?”

Isabel shrugged. “I guess I’d have to, but hopefully he’s not always like that. The guy was so rude, I mean, storming out on Nasedo like that. No one storms out on Nasedo-” she broke off, glancing at Tess for a moment, realising what she’d said. “Well, I mean,” she paused. “He doesn’t know Nasedo. And who says destiny’s so wrong?” She sighed. “I guess he’s probably not too bad if you get to know him.”

“You sure didn’t look impressed though,” Tess replied, taking another bite of her apple.

“Would you be?” She shook her head. “And of course you lucked out and got the guy who doesn’t complain about destiny. That should be good for you. Not that I’d want to be with Max, I mean, the guy’s my brother, so no way.”

“He seemed kinda boring,” Tess commented.

“Really? Well, I still wish that maybe Michael did have his personality. You know, instead of the confrontational jerk personality. I mean, did you see the look he gave me before he stormed out? Like its my fault he didn’t know.”

“I can understand how he felt,” Tess said quietly.

Isabel looked at her for a moment, then she sighed. “Tess, its been two years.”

She just shrugged. Like two years could take away the memory of him, the way she felt about him.

“See, that’s exactly why its a bad idea to go against destiny. You get hurt. Let’s hope that that Michael guy isn’t too pigheaded to realise that.”

Tess just sighed. What if Michael didn’t want his destiny. And what if she didn’t want her destiny either.