“Maria!”

Maria turned around to see Kyle calling her after class. She stood in place as he made his way to her. She studied him as he neared her. Hmm.. he didn’t look too mad anymore.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at him. “Heading back to the apartment?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. They walked in silence for a minute. “Hey, can we talk?” he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders, hoping this wasn’t a lecture. Kyle sat down, leaning back on a tree in the grassy area next to the quad. Maria followed suit, flopping down on the ground next to him, lying back on the ground, her arms behind her head. “Shoot,” she said.

“Look, I’m sorry about earlier,” he said.

She smiled, sitting up so she was facing him, waiting for him to continue.

“I shouldn’t have freaked out like that, I know its none of my business.”

“Damn right its not,” she told him.

“And I know you can take care of yourself, and I probably wouldn’t have been so mad if that hadn’t just happened to Liz.”

“You did know that we had been together for months though, so what if it got intimate quickly? It was kinda obvious that he hadn’t just used me and then dropped me, he would have dropped me months ago if that was the case,” she pointed out.

“I know, I’m sorry. I was a jerk, forgive me.” He gave her a pleading look.

She looked at him, sighing exaggeratedly. “Fine, I guess I can forgive you.” She smiled at him. “You don’t have to worry so much about me though, I can take care of myself.”

“I know that, I’m sorry. I don’t know what you see in him though.”

She tilted her head at him. “Didn’t you say you thought he was cool. Before you knew we were sleeping together of course.”

She almost laughed at the expression on his face. She had him there.

“Besides,” she continued. “He’s hot..” She laughed at his grimace. “And talented, and, I know you won’t believe this, but he can be really sweet sometimes.” She paused for a moment. “And he’s just amazing.”

“I hope you don’t mean..”

“No! God Kyle.” She noticed the relieved look on his face. “Although...” she said slowly, bursting out laughing his expression at that. “Oh, come on Kyle. It’s not as if you’re my brother. Trust me, if you were my brother you wouldn’t know any of this. And I know you’re not as innocent as you’re trying to make yourself out to be right now.” She pulled out some grass, chucking it at him. “So cut it out, okay?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “Okay. You can be so immature sometimes, you know that.”

She shrugged. “Rather be immature than annoyingly overprotective. Kyle, you liked Michael until you found out, so stop acting like an idiot.”

“I apologised. I just don’t want to hear the details.”

“And you’re never going to know the details, so don’t worry.”

She stood up, and Kyle followed suit. She pulled him into a hug. “You’re a great friend,” she told him. “You just gotta realise I can take care of myself.”

***

Michael opened the door, surprised to see both Tess and Isabel standing there. Tess smiled at him. “Hey. We thought we’d come over and get to know each other, seeing as we’re supposed to be destined together.” She rolled her eyes.

Michael managed a smile, turning to look at Isabel. She was watching him cautiously, obviously wary of a replay of the first time they met. “Hey,” he said, moving out of the doorway to let them into the apartment.

“Hi,” he could hear Isabel say behind him.

Max appeared out of his room, obviously hearing them out there. Michael saw Max look at Tess, his eyes scanning her. He knew Max thought the whole TNI destiny thing was going perfectly for him, after all, he had Tess. But Michael knew that Tess didn’t want to be with Max.

They sat down at the table, he and Tess on one side, and Max and Isabel on the other. “So, uh,” he heard Tess say, obviously trying to be cheerful. He knew she didn’t like this any more than he did, and he figured she’d probably organised this whole thing so that Max and Isabel would get over their hopes for destiny once they realised that they were completely wrong for them. He hoped it would work.

“Um,” Tess said. “Well, how’s school going?”

Michael rolled his eyes at the question and noticed Tess shrugging her shoulders slightly, giving him a weak grin.

“Good, actually,” Max was saying. “I’m studying astronomy actually.”

“Really?” Isabel asked. “Have you found much out about Antar?”

Max shook his head, “No, but-” Michael tuned out as Max went on about astronomy. Geez, only Max would actually want to continue a conversation about school, and manage to turn it into a conversation about aliens as well.

Michael knew Max wanted to find out more about what Nasedo had told them about their alien heritage. But Max hadn’t even tried to talk to any of them, except for now and when they first met him - well, maybe he had then, after Michael had left - and, in fact, Michael probably knew a lot more about them and their ‘special’ powers. Of course, Max didn’t know that, as Michael had decided not to tell him about Tess being against destiny too.

He looked up. When Tess noticed him looking at her she made a face, crossing her eyes for a moment and slightly sticking out her tongue. She shook her head at the other two, who were oblivious, involved in a conversation about astronomy and aliens.

He just wished everything was simple. That they could work through this whole thing so he could be with Maria again.

***

Tess knocked on the door to Nasedo’s apartment, both relieved and scared when he opened the door. But she had to do this. For Michael. And for herself also. She couldn’t spend her life with someone she didn’t love, especially now she knew what love felt like.

“What is it my Tess?” Nasedo asked.

She hated that he called them ‘my Tess’ and ‘my Isabel’, as if he owned them or something. Although she supposed it was good that he was calling her ‘my Tess’ again, it was more likely that he’d listen to what she had to say. After he’d found out about Scott he’d just called her ‘Tess’ or ignored her, and that had continued for a few months after Scott died. No matter how much she hated being called that it was preferable to Nasedo hating her. But still, it bugged her.

“Can we talk?” she asked.

“Sure,” Nasedo answered, letting her inside the apartment. She glanced around his apartment - it was the first time she’d been inside it. It was sparsely furnished, but that wasn’t surprising, Nasedo never had much furniture, for some reason she didn’t understand. But she noticed, through the doorway to his bedroom, that the floor was littered with papers. Weird.

She sat down in a chair at the table, waiting for Nasedo to sit down too before talking.

“Okay, um,” she began. She hated how talking to Nasedo about destiny made her so nervous. “About destiny...” she trailed off, noticing the dark look that crossed Nasedo’s face.

“Tess,” he said warningly.

“No, just let me speak,” she said, returning the glare. She was sick of having to follow everything he said. It wasn’t just her life and happiness at stake here, it was also Michael’s. And Maria’s.

“Look, Michael doesn’t want this, and neither do I,” she said, her voice firm, daring him to interrupt. Nasedo just stared at her, obviously surprised by her determination. “We don’t even know if we’re even meant to be together now, or if we just were back on Antar, so what’s the point in forcing us to be with people we don’t want to be with, especially if we’d rather be with someone else.”

“Tess, there’s no one else you want to be with,” Nasedo said, almost condescendingly.

She sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “That’s not the point. I don’t want to be with Max, and Michael doesn’t want to be with Isabel. Why force us to be with someone we don’t want to be with. Especially since you don’t even know for sure if we’re supposed to be together anyway? Why were we sent so far away if they just wanted us to do the same thing we did back on Antar? It makes no sense.”

“I don’t want to hear this,” Nasedo said. “I am in charge here and I-”

“God,” she said, standing up from the table. “This has nothing to do with you,” she said, raising her voice in anger. “These are our lives, not yours, and we should live them the way we want,” she said forcefully, turning and storming out of Nasedo’s apartment as soon as she said it. She didn’t want him to have the last word.

***

Max entered his apartment, noticing that Maria was leaning on the doorframe of Michael’s room, her back to him, apparently unaware he’d entered. He was about to say ‘hello’ when he heard her laugh.

“No!” she said. “I don’t care what you say, I know my black top is here,” she was saying to Michael. “I can specifically remember wearing it a few nights ago. And I can specifically remember it ending up on your floor later that night,” she continued. Max watched her for a moment as she flicked her hair over her shoulders, putting her hands on her hips in annoyance. He figured this probably wasn’t a good time to say hello.

“Yes, it does matter,” she continued as Max watched from his position by the door. “I am going out tonight with this guy - you wouldn’t know him, he doesn’t lose his girlfriend’s tops on his floor - and I want to wear that top.” She paused a moment, listening to Michael’s response, which Max couldn’t hear. She laughed. “And no, it won’t make up for it if this guy takes me out to an expensive place for dinner.”

Max raised his eyebrows in surprise. Michael said he’d take her out somewhere expensive? He’d never taken a girl out anywhere even remotely expensive. There was obviously more to this relationship than Max had realised.

He watched as she was pulled into the room. There was silence for a moment, before the laughter came again. “Don’t you ever listen? I know this top is somewhere under the mess on this floor.” There was silence again, and Max was about to move away from the door and go to his room without them noticing when he heard her again.

“No, I don’t think so, buddy. You’re not getting any ‘till you find my top.” She paused. “I mean it, I’m going to go wait in the living room.”

She reappeared in the doorway, and Michael’s arm grabbed her around her waist, trying to pull her back in. They both stopped when they saw him there.

“Oh, hey Max,” Maria said, obviously surprised. “Didn’t hear you come in.”

Max smiled at her, ignoring the looks Michael was giving him. He was obviously still mad at him about the whole destiny thing.

Maria turned back to Michael, giving him a quick smile before extracting herself from his arms. “You heard what I said. I’ll talk to Max while you look.” She walked to the couch, flopping down on it, completely oblivious to the angry stare Michael was giving him. Uh-oh, it seemed like he’d just made what was a friendly fight a lot worse by coming home. Well, not for Maria of course, but he knew he’d upset Michael.

He walked over to where Maria was, dropping down into the armchair, feeling Michael’s glare on him for a moment, before Michael went back into his room.

Max understood how Michael felt, Max would have probably felt the same if it had been the other way round. Especially seeing he had seen Michael with Maria again...

Of course, what Michael didn’t realise was that Max’s seeing them together, arguing playfully, had made him finally realise something. That Michael and Maria were good together, they suited each other. Being with Maria had made Michael a happier person. She was good for him.

And, Max realised suddenly, Isabel wasn’t. She was completely different to Maria. She wasn’t bubbly and cheerful, she was more subdued and wary. Michael didn’t need someone like that, he needed someone he wanted to be with, that he liked, not someone who he was forced to be with.

“Max?” Maria was waving her hand in front of his face. “Where did you go?”

He blinked. “Uh, sorry. What were you saying?”

She shrugged. “Nothing much. I just said Liz said to say ‘hi’ if I saw you. And then I asked how you’ve been, and all I got in response was a completely blank stare,” she grinned.

He smiled in return. Maria was definitely amazing, and he saw now that she was the only person Michael would be happy with.

“You don’t want to lose her,” Max said as soon as Maria left, Michael having eventually found her top.

Michael turned to Max, and he almost shivered when he saw the enraged look on Michael’s face. “Look, I’m sick of this. Can you stop talking about this destiny crap?”

Max shook his head. “No.” Michael glared at him, so he quickly continued. “You’re right.”

He watched as a confused look passed over Michael’s face. “What did you just say?”

“I’m sorry about the way I acted earlier. And I know you’re mad about Maria talking to me this afternoon.” Michael’s eyes narrowed, but Max kept talking, hoping he wouldn’t interrupt. “But that was actually a good thing, Michael. I realised that you shouldn’t be with Isabel.”

Michael raised his eyebrows. “Are you being serious?”

Max nodded. “Yeah, I am. I mean, Isabel seems nice but... You and Maria have something special Michael. Its obvious. I’d noticed it before, but just didn’t realise how amazing it is. I think the reason I got so mad was the fact that you could let go of the fact that we are alien, and you found someone who you were completely suited with. And I don’t have it. Not even with the person whose is supposed to be my destined mate. I mean, its obvious that she doesn’t want to be with me. And I just wish I had someone like you have Maria.”

“Yeah?” Michael said, looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Yeah,” Max agreed. “You’ve found the person you want to be with, and you’re lucky. You don’t need someone like Nasedo or Isabel to mess it up.”

What Max didn’t add was that he wished he had it too. With Tess, or maybe even with someone else.

***

Michael woke. He shifted his head to look down at the beautiful blonde whose head was lying on his chest, her legs intertwined with his.

She was amazing. So carefree, passionate, and caring. He wanted to tell her the truth, that he was an alien, that he was destined to be with someone else, but didn’t want to be.

He may never need to tell her that he was destined to be with Isabel. Tess had told him that she had spoken to Nasedo about it, and he might be coming around, realising that he shouldn’t be together. She’d said that she’d pointed out to Nasedo that there was no point in them being on earth if they were just going to pair up the same way they did back on their planet, and she’d said she thought Nasedo was actually considering that possibility, and probably would even more if they both talked to Nasedo about it together.

He trusted Tess.

He, the guy who was firmly against trusting strangers, trusted Tess.

Actually, when you came down to it, he trusted very few people in his life. Max, Maria, and when he thought about it, he probably trusted Liz too. But apart from that, there was no one else he could think of. Except Tess, of course.

But, despite the fact he barely knew her, and the fact that she had been raised by Nasedo, who he certainly didn’t trust, he trusted her.

He wasn’t exactly sure when it had happened, probably the day she had come to him to tell him the truth.

She was like him, she didn’t want destiny either, and, despite having lost Scott, she was willing to help him convince Nasedo.

It was the fact that Tess was so honest and friendly that Michael liked. Unlike Isabel, who was always looking at him like he was about to explode - which, of course, may have had something to do with his reaction when he first found out who they were.

Isabel was like Max in a way, consumed with doing what Nasedo did, following destiny, not want to have an actual life. She just wasn’t the kind of woman he liked. Unlike Maria...

He gazed down at her, lying beside him, almost on top of him. She shifted in her sleep, her eyes fluttering open. She smiled sleepily at him. “It’s not morning is it?”

“No,” he replied, kissing her lightly on the lips. She sighed happily when they parted, lying her head on his chest and shutting her eyes. “Night,” she murmured.

His arms wrapped loosely around her, and he watched as her hand lightly traced his chest for a few moments before stopping. Soon she was asleep again.

He continued to watch her, the thoughts still plaguing him.

How was he going to tell her? How was he going to tell the only girl who’d ever meant something to him that he was an alien?

***

“I have to tell her,” Michael said.

Tess nodded. He and Tess were alone in his apartment, talking about Nasedo, Isabel, Max and other related things.

“I can’t stand having to keep this from her,” he continued. “It’s not so much the fact I’m an alien, but the fact that I’m supposed to be with someone else.”

The thought that he was supposed to be with Isabel, and the fact that Maria had no idea what was going on, was killing him. He felt guilty just sleeping next to her in her bed - not because he felt guilty being with her, but because she had no idea he wasn’t supposed to be with her - that he was an alien. He had to tell her soon before his guilt destroyed their relationship.

“Do you think she’ll understand?” Tess asked.

Michael’s heart constricted at those words. “I think so. I hope so.”

Tess nodded.

“Would Scott have?” he asked.

“I’d like to think so,” she replied. “I wanted to tell him. I think if that hadn’t had happened, that I would have told him.”

Michael nodded.

“Can I meet her?” Tess asked. “Like, after you tell her maybe?”

“Sure,” he told her. He’d love if Maria and Tess were friends. He just hoped she’d want to stay with him after finding out. But she would, wouldn’t she?

He sighed. He wished he just had a normal life. One without the secrets that could send your girlfriend running from you in fear, or thinking you were insane. One where he wasn’t expected to get together with another alien just because he might have been with her in a past life.

He just wanted a life where he could be with Maria, no complications.

***

She had a date with Michael in an hour. Well, not exactly a date, he was just coming over here to hang out and eat chinese takeaways, but she was seeing him anyway.

She closed her eyes for a second, leaning back on the couch.

He’d been acting strange all week. Ever since that night when he said he’d had to do something with Max, and then showed up at her place. He was being... distant or something. Not in the way that he wasn’t there, they’d seen each other every day, or in the way that when he was with her it seemed like he wasn’t. But... he just seemed distant somehow. Unintentionally of course. But it was like he wanted to be with her, but didn’t.

Maybe he was getting sick of her. The thought scared her, she didn’t want to lose him. And if he was sick of her, he’d just break up with her, right? Unless he was planning to break up with her...

No. It couldn’t be. She was probably just imagining it. It wasn’t as if he had acted like he wanted to be around her any less, he’d been acting the same. She’d just sensed something.

But it was probably nothing at all.

She just had to make sure.

***

“Can we talk?” Michael asked after Art class that Friday.

Maria just nodded, worried. It might just be nothing, but when someone said ‘can we talk’ it usually meant something. And after the way he’d seemed distant all week...

“At my place?” Michael said, looking at her.

“Sure,” she said. He took her hand and they left the classroom. She took a deep breath, hoping that he wasn’t breaking up with her.

They walked in silence the whole way. She’d tried to start up a conversation a few times, but it hadn’t really worked. Michael had just looked at her, a worried expression on his face. He’d had that expression the whole way to his place.

He unlocked the door and she followed him inside. Max was there, and she expected Michael to ask him to leave, figuring he probably had something important to say, but he just nodded his head at Max, acknowledging him. And Max remained where he was on the couch, surrounded by books.

She walked into the kitchen area, leaning back on the bench. If this was something major she didn’t want to be told it only a few inches away from Max and his studying.

“You said you wanted to talk?” she asked nervously.

Michael darted a look at Max, and Maria noticed that Max nodded at him. Maria’s heart dropped. Oh no, he was breaking up with her wasn’t he? She knew that Max didn’t particularly approve of the relationship for some reason.

“Yeah,” Michael said. “I,” he paused. “God, this is so hard to say.”

Then don’t say it , she screamed internally.

“I, Maria, I’m-” he paused again, closing his eyes for a second and taking a deep breath.

“I’m an alien.”

She stared at him in shock for a few moments, then reality settled in. “Excuse me?” she said, rage boiling within her. “You’re an alien? ” She glared at him as he stared back wordlessly. “Great. You know what, I know what this is about,” she spat. “You’re sick of me, but you’re too much of a coward to dump me so you’re making up stupid stories so that I dump you so you don’t end up looking all heartless. Well guess what? It won’t work, okay?”

She glared at him, her anger growing even more as he stared at her. Silent. And through it all another emotion came too. Pain.

God, she had fallen for this guy. Completely and totally fallen. And it turned it he was even worse than the jerk Liz had gone out with.

She shook her head, feeling the tears begin to well up. She had to get out of there before the tears began to fall. There was no way she was going to let the jerk see how much he’d hurt her.

“No, Maria-” he grabbed her arm. She blinked as a flood of images of them when they were together appeared before her eyes.

She stared at him, stunned. And then she did the only thing she could do, she ran.

“Wait,” she could hear his voice behind her, but she wasn’t going to listen. He’d lost his chance. She ran out the door, slamming it behind her. She raced down the stairs and out of the building before letting the tears come.

***

“Wait,” Michael said, still speechless from what she was saying. How could she think that he... From that? It was mindboggling.

She was out the door and he was about to follow her when Max grabbed his arm. “Don’t.” he told him.

Michael shook his arm loose, racing towards the door.

“Don’t,” Max repeated. “Give her time to calm down. To let it sink in. Then go to her.”

Michael looked at him. “But...”

“Trust me. Think about when you found out about the TNI.” Michael rolled his eyes, like that wasn’t the cause of this whole mess. “You needed to be alone, to let it sink in. Let her do the same.”

Michael considered this. Max was right, he had needed time for the reality to sink in, maybe Maria needed the same. But still...

He looked towards the door again. Okay, he’d give her time. But he was going over there first thing tomorrow.

***

Liz looked up in surprise as the door burst open. Liz watched as Maria entered, slamming the door behind her, before leaning against it, her head in her hands.

“Maria?” Liz got up from the couch, walking over to her friend. Maria had slid down the door so that she was now sitting on the ground, her back against it, her head in her hands. It was obvious she was crying.

“Maria?” Liz asked softly, crouching beside her friend. Maria didn’t answer, just continued sobbing. Liz reached out, her hand softly massaging her friend’s back.

After a few minutes the sobs quietened, and Maria raised her head out of her hands, looking at Liz. Liz took in her face, her red-rimmed eyes and miserable expression. “What happened?” she asked.

“He, he dumped me,” Maria said brokenly, through tears.

Liz’s eyes widened in shock. “He what?”

“He dumped me,” Maria replied, her voice dull. “Or, at least, I think he did. I’m not really sure. All I remember was that he told me he was an alien, and then I yelled at him and ran.”

“An alien?” Liz asked, thoroughly confused. Michael had told Maria he was an alien? And did he actually say he was breaking up with her?

Maria nodded. “Yeah. I think-” she paused for a moment. “I think, I don’t think he actually said he was breaking up with me,” she said, her eyes drying slightly. “But I assumed he was just making up an excuse so I would dump him. I mean...” she trailed off.

“Yeah...” Liz said. That didn’t make sense. Why would Michael tell Maria he was an alien just so she would break up with him? He would just break up with her like a normal person, wouldn’t he? And from the way Michael acted around Maria it seemed as if breaking up with her was the last thing on his mind, although you never really knew with guys.

“But,” she said. “Why would he say that? Just to break up with you?”

“I don’t know,” Maria said, looking up at Liz, her eyes pleading for an explanation. “But... could he really be an alien?”

“I wouldn’t think so,” Liz replied. “But then, I don’t know why else he would tell you he was. Has he ever said or done anything alienish?” she asked.

Maria shook her head. “No. Well... except...” she stopped.

“Except what?” Liz asked.

“Well, when I was running out of the apartment he grabbed my hand, and - Liz it was so weird - I got these images in front of my eyes. Of me and him together.”

Liz raised her eyebrows at that. “You got images of you two together?” she asked sceptically.

“Yeah,” she said. “Sounds completely unbelievable, but I did.”

“Do you think?” Liz asked.

“I don’t know what to think. I mean, is it possible? Could my boyfriend actually be an alien?”

Michael knocked on Maria’s door the next morning. He figured that he’d given her enough time to let it sink in, and besides, he couldn’t stand not knowing whether she was mad at him or not for one more second.

The door opened and Liz appeared. She silently let him in, and he noticed Maria sitting on the couch. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Maria replied. Liz was looking at him intently.

“She knows?” he asked Maria, expecting that she would have told Liz.

“Yeah. I needed someone to talk to so I could convince myself that the idea wasn’t completely insane,” she replied, a half smile on her face.

So she believed he was an alien. That was good.

“So it’s true?” Liz asked.

Michael nodded. “’Fraid so.”

“Okay, um,” she paused for a moment. “Is Max too?”

He nodded again.

She nodded, biting her lip. “Oh.” She made her way to the door. “I’ll go now. Give you guys time to talk. See you later?” And with that Liz left the apartment, still biting her lip.

Maria sat on the couch, motioning for Michael to sit on the couch opposite. “So its really true. You are an alien.”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

She bit her lip. Must be a nervous girl thing, Michael decided. First Liz, and now her. “Look, I’m sorry for yesterday. It’s just- Well, I’ve lived an alien-free life. Or so I thought,” she added with a wry smile. “And just, you know, finding out your boyfriend’s an alien. It’s, well, weird.”

Michael nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.” He took her hand in his.

Maria looked at it before shutting her eyes for a moment. “Look, I know you’d had sex before me. And I just- I was wondering. Do you just do that? Sleep with girls and” she broke off.

He felt anger rise in him. She thought that he- God, how could she even think that. “Yeah, well, I don’t think that was your first time either,” he retorted.

She stared at him, her face both angry and upset at the same time. “No.” She bit her lip again. “But I’d only ever slept with one guy before. Having sex with some guy I barely know in an Art room is not something I do everyday.”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “It’s not something I do everyday either.”

Her lips formed an ‘o’, the anger disappearing from her face. “So its not something you do everyday?” she asked softly.

“No,” he replied. “I mean, yeah, I have slept with lots of girls,” he told her honestly, watching as she blinked and looked down. “But you and me, its different from that.”

She looked up at him, her eyes hopeful. “Really?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

She sighed, obviously relieved, wrapping her arms around him. He returned the hug, still feeling slightly guilty. He still had something to break to her, and it wasn’t good.

“Maria,” he said, wanting to put it off but knowing that was a bad idea. “I, um, I have something else I need to tell you.”

She stared at him, and he knew she was willing the news to be good. He sighed, unfortunately it wasn’t.

He took a deep breath. “I, uh,” he paused. He really didn’t want to say this. “I have a destined mate.”

She stared at him in shock, obviously too stunned to say anything. Then she threw her hands up in the air. “Oh God. Does this get any better?”

“I have powers,” he told her lamely.

She stood up, walking towards the bathroom, and then back again. Then she turned around and did it again, and again. Okay, so now she was pacing. This didn’t seem good.

“Okay, so what you’re telling me is that the whole time we’ve been together you’ve been destined to be with someone else? Great. So you were trying to break up with me?”

***

Maria paced back and forth. Could this get any worse. Okay, he was an alien. She could accept that. She could accept that he had powers too. But he was meant to be with another person, no wait a minute, alien? This was hurting her head.

“No, I was never trying to break up with you,” he told her. “And I never knew I was meant to be with Isabel until a week ago and I’ve been trying to work up the courage to tell you ever since.”

She stopped pacing, flopping down on the couch, her hand over her eyes. Okay, so he still wanted to be with her, right?

She sat up. “Isabel. So that’s her name?”

He nodded, his eyes wary. He was obviously scared she was going to blow up again.

She rubbed her face. God, she couldn’t believe she was about to say this, but she had to know. “So, um,” she squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, before opening them again. She had to look at him when she said this. “Do you want to be with her?” she asked, her voice soft.

Michael stared at her a few moments, disbelief and another expression, was it.. tenderness? on his face. He got up, sitting down next to her, pulling her to him. He pulled her face to his, looking her in the eyes. “I want to be with you,” he told her. “Only you.”

She sighed with pleasure and he pulled her lips to his. They kissed softly, sweetly, before pulling away. She rested her head on his shoulder and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

“So are we okay?” he asked.

“We’re okay,” she replied. “I just need some time to let this all sink in.”

Liz returned to find that Michael had left and Maria was alone in the apartment. “What happened?” she asked gently, sitting beside her friend on the couch.

Maria looked at her friend, running a hand through her hair. “It’s true, he’s definitely alien. No doubt about it.”

“But you and him, you’re okay?” Liz asked.

Maria nodded. “We’re okay. I just need some time to accept it.” She looked at Liz. “When did it get so complicated?” she asked. “I mean, one minute I’m with this really great guy, and the next I find out he’s an alien.” She sighed. “It’s just so unbelievable, you know?”

“I know,” Liz replied. She decided to ask the question she’d been dying to know since she found out. “What are they doing here? Are there any others?”

Maria nodded dejectedly. “Yeah, two others apparently. Tess and Isabel,” she sighed, dropping her head into her hands. “And apparently Michael’s ‘supposed to be’ with Isabel, and Max with Tess. Oh, and then there’s this Nasedo guy whose telling them what to do.”

Liz stared at her friend in shock, unaware that her mouth was hanging open in surprise as she stared at her.

Maria shrugged. “Yeah, I know. I’m going out with a guy whose meant to be with this other alien chick.” She rolled her eyes upward. “God, why can’t things just be simple?”

Liz hugged her friend quickly. “But, he’s not going to be with this other alien woman?” she asked. “Didn’t you say things were fine with you guys?”

“Yeah, kind of. I mean, no, he doesn’t want to be with her, but still, it just makes everything even more complicated. He said that this Tess person doesn’t want it either, but Nasedo won’t listen to her. And then both Isabel and Max want to follow this destiny thing so...”

Liz tried to ignore the hurt she felt at that comment. Max wanted to be with Tess? She’d thought, well, hoped, that he’d liked her.

“So, are you okay?” Liz asked, ignoring her feelings for a moment. She and Max had nothing, whereas Maria and Michael did, and she didn’t want to see her friend hurt.

Maria nodded. “Yeah, Michael said he’d give me some space to work things out. And I think once I do things will be okay.”

***

Michael was standing in Nasedo’s apartment, Tess beside him. His eyes were wandering the room, wondering why there was barely any future.

“We want to talk to you,” Tess said. Michael turned his attention to Nasedo, noticing the way Nasedo was looking at her curiously.

“Is that so?” he asked. “And what do you have to say that I would find so interesting?”

Michael took that as his cue. “Are you so sure we can’t be with humans? Why are we even here?”

Nasedo looked at him. “What?”

“Why are we here? On planet earth. Why did our planet want to send us here?”

Nasedo paused, and Michael tried to stop a small smile from appearing across his face. Maybe they were right, maybe not even Nasedo knew why they were here. “You know your destiny.”

“I know that on our previous planet Isabel and I were together, as were Max and Tess. But that’s not the reason we’re here, to get together again on another planet. So, why are we here?”

The silence that followed proved that Nasedo had no idea. Michael could see Tess grinning at him from behind Nasedo.

“Just as I thought, you have no idea,” he said, “Well then here’s an idea. So I was with Isabel on our home planet, you never actually told us that we were supposed to be together now, just that I was with her back home. So maybe the point of this mission - of which you obviously weren’t told anything - was to bring us to earth so we could mate with humans. Maybe the future of our planet depends on our children. Children who are half alien, half human.”

Nasedo shook his head. “This is very far fetched, you do realise this, don’t you?”

“No.” Tess’s voice sounded from behind Nasedo, and he turned to look at her.

“No?” he asked.

“No,” she repeated. “Think about it. Why, out of all the planets in the universe, did our people choose earth? Especially seeing as our planet is so far away from here. There was obviously a reason.”

He shook his head at her. “Tess,” he replied condescendingly. “You know you’re only doing this because you’re still upset over...”

“No, that’s not it at all. Nasedo, you don’t know the real reason we’re here, and your idea that its just so we can get back together with our partners in previous lives is just not very believable. But the idea that we were brought to Earth to mate with humans is.” She looked him up and down for a moment. “Just think about it okay?”

And with that she walked towards the door, pulling Michael out with her.

***

She watched him, looking away when he noticed her staring. She stared straight ahead, her mind a wash with feelings.

She missed him. She wanted him. But she wasn’t sure she could be with him just yet.

When did everything become so complicated? She wished she could go back a week, well two actually, to when everything was simple. To when she was dating an amazing guy who wasn’t meant to be with someone else. An alien.

“Did you have a fight?”

Cathy’s words interrupted her train of thought. “What? Oh, no, we didn’t.”

Cathy raised her eyebrows. “Well, its been have an hour and neither of you have spoken to one another, so I’d say that doesn’t sound normal. And then there’s the fact you both keep shooting longing looks at each other.”

Cathy was right, the fact that Michael hadn’t come over to talk to her was unusual. But that didn’t mean anything. She knew he was just giving her space to work things out.

“No, its not a fight. Its... well, its just complicated.”

“Oh,” Cathy paused, glancing quickly at Michael. “You didn’t catch him with someone else did you?”

“No,” she reassured her friend. “Nothing like that.” That was the truth, mostly. After all, Michael said he didn’t want to be with anyone but her.

“That’s good,” Cathy said. “Anyway,” she continued. “You both seem so unhappy at the moment. Whatever it is, its making you both miserable.”

“Michael’s not really a super happy person, you know,” she replied.

Cathy just looked at her, glancing at Michael for a moment. “He’s happy whenever he’s with you.”

***

He watched her back as she talked to Cathy. She’d been late to class again, which wasn’t surprising, but he wondered why. He preferred it when she was late to class because of him. Although it had earned them a few looks the first few times they’d arrived late together.

He’d caught her looking at him a few times, but she always looked away. He desperately wanted to go talk to her, but he knew she needed space to work it all out, and that if he rushed her it wouldn’t be good for their relationship. But...

He hated this. It was worse than the first week after they’d kissed her, when he’d wanted to do it again so badly but was worried what would happen if he did. Now he knew what would happen, and it was far worse this time, because this time it wasn’t his worries stopping them from being together. And this time he knew what it was really like to be with her.

He sighed, his gaze returning to the smiling, happy Maria that was on the paper in front of him.

It had only been a few days, but he missed her.

***

“I haven’t been with Michael, or even really touched him since I found out,” Maria told Liz. She sighed. “It’s driving me crazy, being near him and... And its not just sex, it feels so strange that he’s not lying next to me in bed at night. I miss him Liz. I don’t know what to do. I miss him and want to be with him, and then I don’t because I haven’t accepted the fact that he’s an alien.”

“Don’t you want to be with him?” Liz asked.

“Of course,” Maria answered. “Look, it’s hard, you know. I mean, I always thought there would be aliens out there, somewhere far away. I’m not self-centred enough to think the universe revolves around us. But I’ve never even contemplated the thought that they might be on earth. It’s hard to adjust to the fact your boyfriend’s an alien - that you’ve slept with an alien.”

Liz nodded. “I know.”

“And then there’s the fact he’s meant to be with someone else,” she continued, relieved to get her thoughts out in the open so she could sort through them. “I know he says he doesn’t want to be, and I so don’t want him to be, but that still doesn’t change the fact that he is.”

“But you love him, and he wants to be with you,” Liz pointed out. “So he’s an alien, but you two want to be together. What’s stopping you?”

Liz was right, they both wanted to be together. What was stopping her?

“I think I’m scared,” Maria admitted.

“Scared?” Liz asked confused. “Of Michael being an alien?”

“No,” Maria replied. She wasn’t scared of Michael being an alien, he’d been an alien the whole time she’d known him and he’d never harmed her. But she was scared of something. She just wasn’t exactly sure what.

“I think,” she said, trying to work out what exactly she was scared of. “I think I’m scared of... I can’t really explain. I think its this Nasedo Michael mentioned, what he’ll do. And what if something happens to Michael because of him being an alien?”

Liz looked at her sympathetically. “But if you’re not scared of Michael, why are you still acting strangely around him?”

Maria thought about it for a moment. Liz was right, she wasn’t scared of Michael, and she still wanted to be with him. She had just been so confused about all that had happened that she hadn’t realised it.

Maria arrived at the club with Liz. The two of them had organised a group get-together so that they could get to know the aliens better, and so the aliens could get to know them.

She sat down at the table with Kyle, Alex and Jennifer. As far as any of them knew the aliens hadn’t arrived them. Well, of course only she and Liz knew they were aliens, they had just told the others that they were friends of Michael and Max’s from out of town.

Her gaze was drawn to the door as soon as Michael entered. She almost drooled as she took in his faded jeans and black shirt, which clinged to his body in all the right places. God, she missed him so much. Tonight she was going to make up for it. She’d accepted that he was an alien, and that he had a destined mate. He’d told her he wanted to be with no one but her, and she believed him. Now she would show him that she felt the same way.

He appeared beside her at the table, leaning down to whisper in her ear. “Can we talk?” he asked.

She nodded, knowing that it was alien related and therefore couldn’t be mentioned with the others present. She stood up, following him to a semi-private corner of the club.

“Tess and I talked to Nasedo,” he said. “And he actually listened to us. He said that we’re probably right, and that we don’t have to be with our ‘destined mates’.” He grinned.

A large smile broke out on Maria’s face. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he said. He looked so happy, Maria couldn’t believe it.

“Well, we should probably go back to the others,” Michael said, turning to walk back in the direction of their table.

“Wait,” Maria said, wanting to tell him she was okay with the whole alien thing. Thinking about it for a moment she realised that now probably wasn’t a good time. If she told him now she’d want to jump him right there and then - like she did right now - and he wouldn’t stop her. And that wasn’t the point of the night. She wanted to hang out with her friends and meet these aliens as well. She could tell him later, and then they could spend the whole night together.

“What?” Michael asked, staring at her.

“Oh, um,” she said. “Will Tess be here soon? I want to meet her.”

“Yeah, I should think so,” Michael replied. “I think you’ll like her. She’s coming with Isabel.”

Maria glanced at Michael out of the corner of her eye as they walked. “Yeah, I don’t think I want to meet her so much,” she replied.

***

Tess entered the restaurant with Isabel, hoping they’d found the right place. Glancing around the restaurant she noticed a spiky-haired guy with his arm around a blonde girl, their backs to her. She made her way towards the table, thinking it might be them. He thought was confirmed when she noticed Max sitting at the opposite side of the table, facing her.

She waved at him, hearing Isabel’s footsteps behind her as she neared the table. She walked around the table, sitting down on the same side as Max, not next to him though, focusing her attention on the couple opposite.

“Hey,” she said, smiling at them. She noticed the casual way Michael’s arm was wrapped around the girl’s shoulder and how happy he looked, and knew, without a doubt, that the girl was Maria.

“Hey,” Michael replied, turning his gaze from the girl to Tess. “Maria, Tess,” he said, flicking his finger to point at Maria and then Tess.

“Hey,” Maria said, glancing down towards the other end of the table. “I heard. Thanks.”

Tess shrugged. “Oh, no problem. It was him too,” she said, gesturing at Michael. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Max was looking at her, and she was relieved when Isabel sat down in the seat between them.

“I’m Isabel,” she said, glancing around the table. Tess noticed the brown haired girl looking over at Maria with interest. Turning her head to look at Maria she noticed her face darken, but when she looked at Michael and saw he was barely even paying attention to Isabel her face visibly relaxed.

“So, how do you like Roswell?” Maria asked her.

Tess shrugged. “Oh, it seems pretty cool I guess. I’ve only been here a couple of weeks so I don’t really know.”

“Yeah, true. So do you-” Maria broke off, smiling at a guy who’d just arrived. “Hey, Kyle,” she said with a smile. She turned to Tess. “This is Kyle.” And, turning back to Kyle, she said, “Kyle, this is Tess.”

Tess turned to look at Kyle, her eyes widening when she saw him. The guy was hot. She smiled as he sat down next to her.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that Maria was shaking her head, smiling. She turned her attention to the conversation taking place at the other end of the table, but Tess barely noticed. She was too busy looking at Kyle.

***

Liz took her drink from the bartender, walking back to the table. She sat down next to Maria as Tess burst out laughing at something Maria had said.

She turned her head to look at one girl and then the other. The two of them seemed to be getting on really well, talking animatedly together while the guys talked at the other end of the table. Liz absentmindedly noticed that Isabel had disappeared while she was refilling her drink, and it seemed that Alex and Jennifer were off dancing.

“What?” she asked the two girls, who were both now trying to calm their giggles.

Tess just shook her head, her blonde curls bouncing. “Oh, she was just telling me about the time that her and Alex-” she broke off laughing again.

Liz just nodded, figuring she probably knew the story anyway. She was about to say something when she noticed Max getting up out of the corner of her eye. He walked a few steps, stopping opposite her. He smiled at her, and her heart flip flopped. She was about to smile back when he turned to Tess.

“Hey, wanna dance?” he asked.

She let out the breath she hadn’t realised she was holding as she watched Tess exchange a glance with Maria, rolling her eyes slightly. She watched as Tess got up and walked away with Max, feeling pangs of jealousy. Maria was right, he did like Tess.

“Tess is cool, don’t you think?” Maria said.

“Yeah,” Liz replied.

“It must be annoying for her how Max won’t give up on the destiny thing,” Maria commented.

“Probably,” Liz replied. Well, if she were Tess she wouldn’t mind it, she thought.

Maria looked at her friend, her mouth opening in realisation. “Oh god, I’m sorry. I forgot that you like him.”

“No, its okay,” she told her friend. “It’s nothing. I don’t really care. I’d rather a guy not like me than be a jerk whose only pretending to like me to use me.”

“Liz...” Maria said.

“No, I’m serious. I don’t care about Max, and Tess does seem cool.” She smiled at her friend. “So are you okay with the whole alien thing now?”

Maria nodded. “Yeah, I think so. I mean, Michael is great, obviously. And Tess seems really cool too. I’m not so sure about that Isabel though...”

“Have you even tried talking to her?” she asked.

Maria looked at her. “What am I supposed to talk to her about? I’m not going to go up to her and start a conversation about what Michael was like in their world where they were together you know?”

Liz shrugged, seeing Isabel making her way back to the table. “Well, you could always try. She is coming now.”

Maria made a face. “You know what, I love this song. Let’s dance,” she said, pulling Liz with her towards the dance floor.

***

Kyle smiled at Tess as he walked back from the bar. They’d talked a bit earlier and the girl had seemed quite cool. But she’d gone off to dance with Max a while back and Kyle hadn’t spoken to her since.

“Hey,” he said, his eyes roaming her body. The girl was gorgeous. And not in a blonde bimbo way either, but in a unconsciously beautiful way, like she wasn’t trying too hard to look good. Plus, she seemed to have a good personality.

She smiled at him. “Hey.”

“So, I never got round to asking earlier. You’re new, right? I haven’t seen you around before.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I had to transfer. Family reasons.”

“Uh huh,” Kyle said, waiting for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. He turned back to her, noticing that she was now watching something, a small smile on her face. Kyle followed her gaze to see that it was Michael and Maria.

Kyle watched the couple thoughtfully for a moment. Michael had seemed strange tonight, his attitude around Maria different than usual. It was like he was being cautious of her, trying to give her space or something.

But as they watched Maria walked over to Michael, and, seeing as the couple were making their way to the dance floor, it looked like Maria had asked Michael to dance.

Tess sighed, and Kyle turned to look at her. “What?” he asked.

She looked at him for a moment, confused. “What?”

“You sighed.”

“Oh,” she said, laughing slightly. “I’m just happy those two have worked things out. They’re so good together,” she said wistfully.

Kyle looked at her, now it was his turn to be confused. “Worked what out?” he asked.

Tess shrugged her shoulders, turning her full attention on him. “Oh, nothing.” She looked at him a moment, a smile slowly spreading across her face. “Do you want to dance?”

***

Michael wrapped his arms firmly around Maria, inhaling her hair as they moved slowly to the music. All week he had been trying to give her space to work things out, letting her come to terms with the fact that he was an alien. He knew she had accepted that he was, but she had still kept a slight distance from him all week.

Tonight was different though, Maria seemed more relaxed, happier, around him and the other aliens.

She tilted her head to look up at him, a smile on her face. He smiled back, leaning in to catch her lips with his, his arms tightening around her.

When they parted Maria continued to gaze up at him, breathing heavily. Her hands were running through his hair, her body rubbing slightly against his. He couldn’t help it, he moaned.

She kissed him softly for a moment, before pulling back slightly to look him in the eyes. “Come home with me.”

Finally they reached the apartment. Maria pulled him to her, kissing him fiercely while her fingers struggled to find her keys in her bag.

She was backed up against the door, her hand fumbling with the keys, trying to unlock the door. She knew it would be quicker if she detached herself from Michael and just opened the door, but at that moment she couldn’t bear for her lips to leave Michael’s, even for a moment.

Finally. The doorknob clicked and the door opened. Maria nearly fell back as it did so, but Michael caught her.

She pulled him into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind them. She dropped her keys and bag on the floor, too preoccupied to be bothered with turning the lights on to find the bench. His hands were round her waist, pulling her up, and she wrapped her legs tightly around him. Michael began to move in the general direction of her bedroom as his lips trailed their way across her neck. She wrapped one arm around his neck, drawing herself closer to him, the other trailing its way down his front, slowly undoing his shirt buttons.

Somehow Michael had successfully managed his way through the darkness and they were now in her bedroom. She unwrapped her legs from his waist so that she was now standing on the floor next to him. She flicked the light switch on, dimming the lights, shutting her bedroom door as she did so.

Her eyes roamed his body in the dim light. God, he was so incredibly sexy. Standing there in the semi-darkness, his hair slightly mussed, his shirt practically off, looking incredibly turned on.

They stood their silently for a moment, each taking in the other. Maria watched as Michael slowly licked his lips. She grabbed him, pulling his moist lips down to meet hers, not wanting to be apart from him one second longer.

They made their way over to the bed with her pulling his shirt completely off as they went. He sat down on the bed and she straddled him, her lips slightly grazing his chest, her hands tracing soft circles on his back. Michael groaned.

Maria looked at him, her own lust mirrored in his eyes. “I’ve missed this so much,” she murmured softly. “I’ve missed you so much.” Even though they were still together, for the past week it had felt like they weren’t.

“I’ve missed you too,” Michael replied, pulling her top over her head. He unhooked her bra and she leant in to kiss him, her hand wrapping around his neck as their mouths meshed together, their tongues dancing in each others mouth’s.

One hand wrapped around her waist as the other cupped her breast. She moaned into his mouth at the insistent pressure. She’d missed this. No one could ever be as passionate as he was.

Her hands made their way down his back, sliding into the back of his pants for a moment before she brought them to the front, her fingers playing with the buttons.

Michael groaned again, and she pulled back, wriggling slightly, watching as Michael closed his eyes for a moment, before opening them again, his gaze burning into her.

He unbuttoned her pants, lifting her out of them and placing her on the bed, following suit after he had pulled his own off. He sat down next to her on the bed and she pulled him to her immediately, both quickly losing their underwear so they were both naked.

His lips went to her neck, sucking and pulling on her skin, as she opened her legs to him. She moaned as he entered her, her fingers clutching his shoulders.

She missed him, she missed this, so much. She didn’t think she could stand being without him again.

***

Michael woke the next morning, a smile appearing on his face when he looked at the sleeping blonde next to him. Things were getting better again. Maria had accepted the whole alien thing, Nasedo had finally realised they didn’t need to be with their so called ‘destined mates’, and he had spent an amazing night with the woman he loved.

He felt her moving slightly beside him, and watched as her eyes slowly fluttered open. She blinked a couple of times before her gaze settled on his face.

“Morning,” she said, a slight smile on her lips.

He leant forward slightly, kissing her lightly on her lips. “Morning.”

Maria pouted when their lips parted, pulling him closer again she kissed him, her hands roaming his bare chest as she did. Michael returned the kiss with equal fervour, his hands wandering her body as well.

When they pulled apart Maria lay her head on Michael’s chest and he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed there for a while, lying silently together, enjoying each others company.

“Michael?” he heard Maria say softly.

He opened his eyes, looking at her. “Yeah?”

“Well, I was thinking that after putting up with all of this, I deserve breakfast in bed,” she looked pleadingly at him.

He raised his eyebrows. “You do?”

She pouted. “Well, yeah. I mean, how many girls have to cope with finding out that their boyfriend’s an alien?”

He laughed. “True, but what does that have to do with breakfast?” His eyes roamed her body for a moment before returning to her face. “Besides, I’m happy lying here with you. I’ve missed it.”

“I missed it too,” Maria replied, her face thoughtful for a moment. “Okay, well then don’t move. You have these alien powers right? Well, just zap us some breakfast here.” She smiled, running a hand down his side. “That way we don’t even have to get up.”

He shook his head, chuckling softly. He had to admit he was relieved that she could now joke about his alien powers. “I don’t have the powers to ‘just zap’ breakfast to us here.”

She frowned. “That’s not good,” she replied, her hand moving to trace patterns on his stomach.

“Yeah. I’m sure that when they were handing out powers they considered how useful it would be to be able to ‘zap’ yourself breakfast in bed,” he told her, dropping soft kisses on her forehead.

“They should have,” she replied. “Well.. so what are you going to do?”

“Me? What about you?” he asked her.

She laughed, pulling back slightly from him, her hands leaving his stomach. He frowned, he liked the feeling of her hands trailing on his stomach. She looked at him. “You want me to make something?”

He considered it for a moment. “True.”

“Hey!” she said, slapping him lightly.

“What did I say?” he asked innocently.

She raised her eyebrows. “Gee, I wonder.”

“Fine, I’ll make pancakes,” he conceded, getting out of the bed.

She glared at him for a moment. “You won’t make me breakfast but you’ll make yourself pancakes because you want them.”

He shrugged. “You didn’t complain last time I made pancakes.”

“Excuse me, but pancake mix all over my body does not constitute as pancakes.”

Michael grinned at the memory. “I don’t remember you complaining.”

***

Maria woke up next to Michael the next morning. Placing her head on his chest she lay there for a few moments, listening to his heartbeat.

It was strange. He was so completely human, she would have never suspected otherwise if he hadn’t told her. Of course, he was half-human, but he must have alien inside him somewhere right? But, apart from his powers, she’d never noticed anything else unusual
about him.

After a few moments she felt Michael shift under her, and his arms wrapped around her waist. She tilted her head up to look at him. “Hey.”

He grinned down at her, planting a light kiss on her forehead. “Hey yourself.”

“I need food,” she murmured, her hand lightly rubbing his stomach.

He raised his eyebrows at her. “You’re always hungry first thing in the morning.”

She sat up in the bed, shrugging her shoulders. “Maybe because of all the strenuous activity the night before,” she said, raising an eyebrow. She almost melted when she saw the intensely passionate look he gave her.

She got out of bed, picking up Michael’s shirt off the ground and buttoning it.

“Wait, you’re not wearing that are you?” he asked.

She turned to look at him, confused. “And you have a problem with that why?”

“Because its the weekend and Max will probably be home.”

“So,” she replied. “Not like he’s gonna care. And besides, he’s probably out anyway.”

“Maria...” he said. She could feel his eyes scanning her legs below where his shirt reached.

“Look, I’ll go out and see, and if Max is out there - which I sincerely doubt by the way - I’ll put something else on.”

“Fine,” Michael replied, getting out of bed and pulling his boxers on as she opened the door. She walked out a few stops before stopping, her gaze focused on the group of people on the couch. Oops. Wasn’t expecting that.

Embarrassed she backed into the room, wishing that she had listened to Michael. She shut the door, stripping off Michael’s shirt and grabbing for her clothes.

“What?” Michael asked, and she could tell he was amused. “Max out there?”

“Not exactly,” she replied, watching as he narrowed his eyes at her in confusion. “Your whole alien family I think actually,” she told him.

“What?” he asked, his voice had lost the amused quality and was now angry.

She nodded. “Yep. Tess, Isabel and this old guy - I’m assuming Nasedo. Oh, and you were right, Max was there.” She grinned, trying to lighten his mood.

“What? Nasedo?” He certainly didn’t look happy.

She walked over to him, wrapping his arms around him. “Don’t worry, its all okay now, remember? You said Nasedo agreed with you and Tess. Besides, it doesn’t matter what he thinks.”

She felt him return the embrace, and looking up at him she noticed he’d calmed slightly. “I know,” he murmured. “But I still don’t like the guy.”

***

A few minutes later the two of them left his bedroom, now fully clothed, to join the others in the living room. Maria noticed that Tess was smiling at them, while Isabel just raised her eyebrows, giving no indication of what she was thinking.

She turned her gaze to the man she figured was Nasedo, and almost recoiled when she realised he was staring at her intensely. She took a step back, bumping into Michael’s back, and his arms went around her immediately. She sighed, relieved in some protection from Nasedo’s stare.

“That’s Nasedo?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah,” was Michael’s soft reply.

The others smiled and nodded greetings from the couch, but the room was silent. She shivered, still feeling Nasedo’s eyes on her. She didn’t like this. She didn’t like him, he gave her an eerie feeling.

Nasedo stood, walking over to them. Maria shrank back further in Michael’s arms.

“Maria?” she heard Nasedo ask. She felt Michael nod.

Nasedo came closer still, stopping about a metre away from them, his eyes still on her face, staring at her intently. She felt Michael’s arms tighten around her.

“You’re evil.”

Maria raised her eyebrows, almost laughing at Nasedo’s comment. Yeah, whatever. Just because Michael would rather be with her than Isabel it didn’t make her evil. Besides, wasn’t he supposed to be fine with it?

“Just because I’m human it doesn’t make me evil,” she answered, meeting his gaze steadily.

Nasedo just shook his head, his eyes never leaving her face.

“You’re not human.”

The room was silent, Nasedo’s words lingering in the air. ‘You’re not human.’ What was that supposed to mean?

Michael stared at Maria, frozen to the spot, watching as she stared in shock at Nasedo. He watched as her mouth began moving, but no words came out. Finally she seemed to be able to say something.

“What?” she asked, glaring at Nasedo. “Of course I’m human! What else would I be?” She was waving her arms in the air as she spoke, obviously annoyed.

Nasedo took a step towards Maria, causing her to quickly step back. “I’m not stupid,” he said, his eyes fixated on hers. “I can tell you’re an alien.”

Michael watched as Maria’s mouth dropped open, his own following suit. Alien? Maria? He didn’t think so.

Nasedo turned to look at Michael, shaking his head disappointedly. “Mating with a human was bad enough,” he told him. “But with a Kahntra Alien... Are you insane? Do you not know they are our sworn enemies?”

Michael’s eyes were flicking from Maria to Nasedo and back again, his body still frozen to the spot.

“I am not an alien.” Maria’s voice was soft, but when she repeated it her words were strong. “I. Am. Not. An. Alien.”

Nasedo stared at her, shaking his head sadly. “But, my dear, you are.”

Maria just shook her head wordlessly, and Michael noticed the bewildered expression on her face.

Nasedo’s eyes scanned her body and Maria shivered. Michael wanted to grab her away from this man but his feet wouldn’t move. “I have to say I’m impressed,” he said, his gaze returning to her body. “I have never seen a Kahntra Alien who has been able to hide their scars.”

“I’m not a Kahntra Alien,” she said through clenched teeth.

Nasedo just shook his head, motioning at someone behind Michael. He was surprised to see Tess walk over to the group, he had forgotten that there was anyone else in the room. No one had said anything, probably too shocked to say anything, like he was.

Tess stopped a few metres from Nasedo, obviously wary to go closer. He smiled at her. "My mystical-loving alien,” he said. “Surely you can tell she’s an alien. Try one of your alien sensing spells.”

Tess slowly walked over to Maria, who was standing stock still, her eyes searching the room. Michael watched as Tess placed her hands on Maria’s shoulders, closing her eyes in concentration, quietly saying words he couldn’t understand.

After a moment Tess pulled back, stepping away from Maria. “No,” she said, shaking her head. “It can’t be true. She can’t be an alien.”

A satisfactory grin spread across Nasedo’s face. “Now do you believe me.”

Maria narrowed her eyes at him for a few moments. “No!” she said before running for the door.

Michael stood in place for a few moments, barely registering what had happened, before chasing after her. He finally caught up to her on the front steps on the building.

“Maria,” he said, grabbing her arm.

She turned to look at him, tears streaming down her face. “What is wrong with him?” she said. “I understand he’s mad, but why would he say that. Why would he say that I’m-” she sobbed. “That I’m an alien?”

Michael pulled her into his arms, leading her over to sit on a bench. She cried into his shirt for a few minutes before lifting her head to look at him.

“I’m not an alien,” she told him, staring into his eyes. “How could I be an alien? I would know if I was, wouldn’t I?” she asked him. Michael reached his hand up, running it through her hair, waiting for her to continue. “I was born,” she said. “I didn’t come out of a pod, I don’t have any special powers. How can I be an alien? How?” She was staring up at him, tear tracks running down her cheeks.

“I don’t know,” he murmured, moving his hand to wipe her face.

“I thought it was just him, you know,” she said. “That he just wanted me away from you. I mean, it’s ridiculous to even think it. But then Tess... Why would Tess agree with him? Tess doesn’t even like him after...” she trailed off. “I’m not an alien,” she told him, almost pleadingly.

Michael pulled her towards him, kissing her forehead. “I know.”

She pulled away from him after about a minute. “I should probably go,” she said. “I need to calm down.”

“Want me to come with you?” he asked, concerned.

She shook her head. “No, I’m fine. I just need to think. Plus I’m sure Nasedo wants to talk to you.” She sighed. “See you later?”

“Of course,” he replied, kissing her quickly.

Michael watched as she walked away. She couldn’t possibly be an alien. He’d seen her eyes when she’d said that and he knew she wasn’t lying. And she’d been so shocked and didn’t even believe him when he told her that he was actually an alien.

He shook his head. He didn’t know what Nasedo was doing, but there was no way Maria was an alien.

***

“Maria’s definitely an alien.”

Michael looked at Tess in shock. His eyes turned to look at Max and Isabel before he returned his eyes to Tess. Nasedo had left only a few minutes before.

“What?” He’d hoped she was just bluffing to keep Nasedo happy.

She nodded. “I’m sorry. I always did feel something funny about her, but I tried to ignore it. But its true, the spell was right, I did it twice to make sure. She’s an alien.” She bit her lip, her eyes meeting his. “I’m sorry.”

“But it makes no sense,” Michael said, desperately needing to know what was really going on. “If she really was a- what did he say?”

“Kahntra alien,” Tess supplied.

“Kahntra alien,” Michael continued. “Then why didn’t she do anything. And why didn’t she believe me and freak out the way she did when I told her what I was. And then, when Nasedo said that, it was obvious she was surprised and didn’t believe him.”

Tess nodded. “I know,” she said. She turned to look at the other two, who just shrugged at her, unwilling to take part in the conversation.

She sighed. “I don’t understand it, I don’t. She doesn’t look like a Kahntra’n - you heard what Nasedo said about her hhiding her scars. All Kahntra’n’s have scars, and she doesn’t. Well, not that I could see.” She looked at him questionably.

“She doesn’t,” he told her.

“See, that makes no sense. All Kahntra aliens have scars covering almost all their body. All of them.” He could hear the confusion and sadness in her voice. “It just makes no sense at all."

***

Once again the blues, greens and purples were swirling around her. The symbols and shapes danced before her eyes, before the red and orange appeared. As she watched the symbols stopped and disappeared. She blinked in amazement. They had never disappeared so fast before.

The girl appeared, and her perspective changed. It was like she was inside the girl’s head. As if she was the girl. She stopped, noticing something on the pavement. She gazed down at it for a moment, before crouching down to look at the symbols imbedded in the concrete. The same symbols from earlier in the dream.

As she stared at the symbols she heard footsteps behind her. She froze for a moment, before turning to look at the sound.

Her mouth dropped open in a silent gasp and she was frozen to the spot.

He walked towards her, slowly. One step after the other, until he was only inches from her.

She took in his body, the scars covering every viewable inch of skin. His pointed nose and dark, almost black eyes. She wanted to shut her eyes, to block out the image, but she couldn’t. She just stared at him, her mouth still open in shock.

He walked even closer, crouching down so he was level with her. She was still frozen in place as he reached out to her, placing his hands on either side of her face. There was a blinding light.

And then it all went black.

They were all still at his place when the phone rang. Figuring it wouldn’t be anything important, unlike their conversation, Michael decided to let the answering machine pick up, and obviously Max felt the same way.

After a few more rings the answering machine picked up, and Michael turned his head to look at it when he heard Maria’s voice.

“Michael, are you there?” her voice came through the speakers, and he stood up to pick up the phone when she continued. “I really need to talk to you. Please.” She hung up after that, leaving Michael still staring at the phone.

She sounded so upset. He had to go see her.

He looked at the others, and Max nodded.

“Good luck,” he heard Tess say as he left the room.

***

Liz opened the door, moving slightly to let him in. She tilted her head in the direction of the couch. “She’s been like that ever since I got home,” she told him. “She won’t tell me what’s wrong - she says she wants to talk to you. I’ll leave you two alone.” She left the apartment, shutting the door softly behind her.

Michael walked over to where Maria was on the couch. She was clutching a cushion, shivering slightly.

He sat down beside her, pulling her into his arms, murmuring comforting things like ‘It’s going to be okay.’

“He thinks I’m an alien.”

Michael looked down at her. “But he’s wrong.” He was surprised, she hadn’t seemed so distraught earlier.

She shook her head. Michael waited for her to explain, but she just remained silent in his arms for a few minutes.

“You know those dreams I have?” she said, once she had stopped shivering. “Well, I, um,” she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. “I think they’re true.” She paused. “No, I mean, I think they really happened. That what happens in them really happened to me.”

“The bad dreams?” Michael asked, concerned. And what did these have to do with what Nasedo had said?

Maria nodded, biting her lip. “They, I,” she paused. “I mean, he could be right,” she said. “About me.”

He just stared at her in shock. “Why would you say that?”

She blinked, her gaze moving from his for a moment, before she met his eyes again. “Okay, well, my dreams,” she began. “They’re, well, they’re hard to explain. Until I met you they were just a bunch of colours and symbols. And then they changed.”

“Changed?” he asked. And why did they change when she met him?

“Yeah, after we first kissed these images appeared. Images of me when I was about nine. Over time they kind of slowly progressed. And then tonight I saw the whole thing. I was walking along and saw something on the pavement, so I crouched down to look,” she gave him a semi-smile. “And they were these, well, symbols. The ones from my dream actually. It was weird.”

It sounded weird. “Go on,” he said, his arms tightening around her.

“Yeah, well, then I hear footsteps in my dream, and then tonight I turned around and saw this guy. He was,” she paused, shivering again. “He was covered in scars.”

Scars? Hadn’t Nasedo said something about scars?

“And a pointed nose and almost black eyes,” Maria continued. “I mean, normally I’d write it off as a nightmare. But..,” she said, snuggling closer and looking up at him with wide eyes. “I think it actually happened.”

“So... you think he was an alien?” he asked, still kind of confused by what this had to do with Nasedo thinking she was an alien. He ran one finger down the side of her face. He couldn’t believe she’d dealt with all this by herself.

She shook her head dismally. “I don’t know,” she said. “But he did something to me. He grabbed my head and I blacked out.” She looked up at him, her eyes desperate. “I don’t know what he did to me.” Her voice was low, upset, pleading.

“That doesn’t mean you’re an alien,” he told her. “Even if he was an alien, that doesn’t mean you were one.”

She shook her head, looking up at him. “Then what does it mean?”

He shook his head as well, his arms wrapped tightly around his poor Maria. “I don’t know.”

***

“So,” Tess was saying. Michael had called Tess, hoping that she would maybe be able to help figure out the dreams, and now she was talking to the two of them at Michael’s apartment. Maria had told Tess about her dreams, and now Tess was trying to figure it all out. “A Kahntra’n - that’s short for Kahntra Alien by the way - isn’t able to take on a proper human form when on earth. As far as anyone knows, they haven’t been able to perfect the human body, and they always end up with scars over most, if not all, of their body.”

“Like the man in my dream,” Maria murmured.

Tess nodded. “Most likely. Kahntra’n’s are our sworn enemies back on Antar. They inhabit the closest planet to ours, and the two species have been fighting as long as anyone can remember. That’s why Nasedo was so mad when he found out...” she trailed off.

“So I’m a Kahntra Alien?” Maria asked, worried. She didn’t want to be Michael’s sworn enemy. Besides, wouldn’t she know if she was an alien?

Tess shook her head. Maria could tell, out of the corner of her eye, that Michael was as confused as she was.

“I don’t think so,” Tess said. “Kahntra’n’s have the power to infect humans. I’m not exactly sure how they do it, but they do, and eventually the human becomes alien. Scars and all.”

“So I’m infected?” Maria asked, still thoroughly confused.

“It takes twenty years for the Kahntra’n to completely infect his host. And if you say you think it happened when you were nine - well then you still have at least eight more years. Although, the longer you stay infected before becoming the alien, the harder it is for you to become cured.”

“So she can be cured?” Michael asked.

“Yes, I think so.”

“But,” Maria said, biting her lip. “Why did the alien infect me?”

“There are a few reasons a Kahntra’n might choose to infect a human,” Tess explained. “You might have seen them, and they didn’t want you to remember seeing them so they infect you, because that erases all the memories of it. Or they might want more aliens, so they decide to infect worthy people. Or,” Tess continued. “You may have witnessed a ritual or signal-”

“There were symbols on the ground,” Maria interrupted.

Tess nodded thoughtfully. “That would be it. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time, so they wanted you to forget. And the only way they can make you forget is to infect you.”

“Oh,” Maria said, smiling weakly. “But you can cure me?”

Tess nodded. “I have to figure out the ritual and what we need for it, but I should be able to cure you.”

Maria nodded, letting out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

Tess stood up, walking over to her and giving her a quick hug. “Don’t worry,” she told her. “I’m going to try as hard as I can to cure you.”

***

Maria watched the door for a moment after Tess had left, before turning to look at Michael. She smiled when he wrapped his arms around her, inhaling his scent.

“So I’ll be fine?” she asked him.

Michael nodded. “Yes. I trust Tess. If she says she can cure you, then she can.”

“Good,” she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. “So, soon everything will be back to normal.” She gave him a quick grin. “Well, almost anyway.” She looked at him for a moment. “And if I’m a human I can be with you can’t I?”

“You can always be with me,” he murmured.

“No, but I mean, without getting you in trouble with Nasedo. I mean, he was fine with it until he found out I was an alien - well, infected.”

“Pretty much,” Michael said quietly, pulling her face towards his. “I don’t care anyway.”

She smiled, her mouth responding to his when their lips met. She sighed, deepening the kiss, pulling him closer to her. After a few moments she broke away.

“Look, I understand if you don’t wanna-” she began.

Michael looked at her, confusion floating in his eyes. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because I’m..., you know.”

“And I’m an alien,” he said. “You still slept with me.”

She flushed. “Yeah, not for a week after I found out,” she said, looking down at the floor.

Michael took her hand in his, using his other hand to tilt her face up towards his. “That’s understandable,” he said.

“It is?” she asked, confused.

“Yeah. You’d never even heard of aliens, you needed time to accept it. Whereas I’ve heard of aliens and I know you’re not really one.” He moved closer, his lips lightly grazing her neck. “You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

She closed her eyes as his kisses made their way towards her shoulder. She smiled. He didn’t care. Although that did make her feel guilty that she had cared so much when she found out about him, but he understood why, so that was good.

She smiled, her hands making their way to his shirt as he kissed her shoulder, pushing her top down slightly. She unbuttoned his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders and moving her hands all over his muscular tanned chest.

“Michael,” she murmured as he pulled her top over her head. She leaned forward, placing light kisses on his chest as he unhooked her bra.

“Maria,” she heard him groan as her fingers lightly trailed their way down his front towards his pants. He picked her up, walking a few steps to place her back down on the table, his fingers unbuttoning her jeans.

They had just gotten completely out of their clothes when they heard a sound at the door. They pulled apart, staring at the door for a moment. As they watched the door handle started to move. Maria gasped, watching as Michael raised his hand at the door. Whoever was there, Max most likely, was turning the handle, but the door wasn’t opening.

“See, these alien powers aren’t so bad are they?” Michael murmured, picking her up and carrying her to the bedroom, his hand still raised at the door. When the reached the bedroom he lowered his hand, unsticking the front door and shutting the bedroom door behind them.

“No,” Maria murmured as he lay her down on the bed. “Actually, I’m liking them.” She grinned at him. “Anything else you can do?”

They heard Max finally open the door and walk into the apartment. A few moments later they heard a distinct “Oh God!” followed by the door slamming.

Maria burst into laughter. “I think he saw our clothes,” she said through her giggles. She continued laughing, stopping suddenly when Michael pressed his lips to hers, kissing her.

***

Max slammed the door, leaving the apartment that he had just entered moments before. He didn’t want to think about what Michael and Maria had been doing in the living room to leave their clothes sprawled all over the room. And then their was the fact that the door had stuck...

Okay, he wasn’t going to think about that right now. Instead his thoughts returned to the TNI and destiny. It was obvious that there was no way Michael was planning to follow destiny, what with the way that he and Maria were inseparable. And doing god knows what in his apartment right now. How Isabel felt about all this he had no idea.

And then there was Tess. It was obvious that she didn’t want to be with him, although he didn’t know who else she wanted to be with, he still knew that she didn’t want to be with him.

So what was going to happen to him? Was he going to end up alone? He didn’t want that, and he wasn’t too sure he wanted destiny either anymore. Not that he really had much chance of following destiny anyway, seeing as the girl he was ‘destined’ to be with didn’t want to be with him. And besides, according to Michael and Tess, they probably weren’t even supposed to be with their mates from their past lives anyway. And even Nasedo had seemed to agree in the end so...

So what was he going to do? He’d spent the last few years of his life following Nasedo’s orders and staying unattached, and for what? Now he had no reason to stay unattached, and no one to be with because of it.

He sighed, stopping in front of an apartment building. Looking up he realised he had subconsciously made his way to Liz’s apartment block without even realising it.

Liz... She had been special. Different from any other girl he’d ever met. And he’d known she was, but hadn’t pursued it because of Nasedo’s warning. And for what? He may have screwed things up with her forever, and for nothing.

He entered the building, making the way up the stairs until he reached her apartment. Before he realised it he was knocking on the door.

Liz opened the door. “Hi,” she said, smiling at him.

“Hey,” he replied. “Can I come in?”

Maria was sitting on the bench in his kitchen the next morning, watching as Michael mixed the pancake mixture. She dipped a finger in. “So, what’s the big deal about this pancake mix anyway?” she asked. “Why do you like it raw so much?”

She noticed him watching as she slowly licked her finger. Swallowing, she gave him a puzzled look. “It’s not that great,” she said. “Personally I find cookie dough way better. Is it an alien thing? You know, like tabasco sauce?”

Michael shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied.

He took her hand, dipping it back into the pancake mix. She shook her head at him. “What are you doing? This is not going to make me like it more.”

Michael just smirked at her. “Who said it would?”

She watched, confused for a moment until Michael lifted her finger to his mouth, licking the mix off her finger. She grinned, pulling him towards her and wrapping her arms and legs around him, her lips crashing against his.

“Ahem.” They pulled apart upon hearing Max clearing his throat. She looked down, making sure Michael’s shirt was completely covering her.

“Do you two ever stop?” Max asked, his eyes flicking to the clothes littered around the apartment from the night before.

She just shrugged as Michael turned back to the pancakes.

“Tess told me about what happened,” Max said.

Oh. That got her attention. “Really?” Michael had turned around to look at Max too.

“Yeah,” Max said. “I’m sorry for what happened. And for the way I acted when I first met you,” he smiled at her weakly. “You’re really good for him,” he continued, gesturing at Michael. She blushed. “And I know I was a jerk about you two, its just, having been told by Nasedo that we couldn’t ever get attached to humans-”

Maria raised her eyebrows at that. Nasedo had told them that they couldn’t be with humans before they’d found out about Tess and Isabel?

“And you being a human,” Max was continuing. “I just thought that the whole thing was wrong.”

“Oh,” she said. She’d had to admit she’d wondered what Max had against her, whether he thought she wasn’t good enough for his friend or something. “That’s okay,” she said, shrugging it off. Max didn’t seem too bad when you got down to it. She probably could understand why Liz liked him, although she’d take Michael any day.

He smiled at her. “I hope you’re okay. Isabel and I are going to help Tess figure out the ritual this afternoon.”

“Really? How?” she asked. She thought Tess said that the memories of the rituals were contained in her head.

“Oh, no, not the actual ritual,” he explained. “But we’re going to be there to make sure she’s okay while searching for it.”

“Oh, right,” she said, nodding her head.

“Isabel’s okay with this now?” Michael asked. She turned her head to look at him, it was the first time he’d spoken during the whole conversation.

“I think so,” Max said. “She knows that she’ll have to be. I think she’s feeling kinda lonely right now though, but she’s fine with you and Maria being together, and in helping Maria.”

Maria smiled at that. At least she didn’t have to deal with the fact that this Isabel might want her boyfriend anymore.

***

“So,” Maria said, taking a bite of her pancake.

Michael looked up at her. “Yeah?” he replied, his mouth full.

“Nasedo told you that you could never be involved with humans?” She was looking at him curiously.

“Uh, yeah,” he replied, wondering where she was going with this. She knew that Nasedo had wanted he and Isabel to be together.

“When?” she asked, staring intently at him.

“Oh, I don’t know, a few years ago,” Michael replied casually.

“So, that’s why Max didn’t like me?”

He shrugged. What was with all the questions? “Well, not so much didn’t like you, just didn’t like you with me,” he replied.

“So he hated every girl you went out with?” she asked.

He shrugged. “Uh, not really.”

“But...” she began.

Damn, why was she so curious? “No, I mean, at first he was annoyed, but he got used to it, and said he didn’t really mind because I wasn’t attached.”

She smiled slowly. “But he minded with me.”

He sighed. “Yeah... I, uh, I think he kinda knew.”

“Knew what?” Her eyes were dancing.

Why was he telling her this? “You know...”

“Know what?” she asked innocently.

“Maria!”

She grinned at him, getting up from her seat at the table to sit on him, straddling his lap. Her arms went around his neck as she gazed down at him. “So, he knew that you were totally falling for me?” she asked.

He just shook his head, smiling.

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She stared at him for a second, suddenly serious. “But... if you knew you weren’t supposed to be attached, and you went against Nasedo anyway. Why?”

Because of her. Because she was amazing and carefree and happy. Not to mention beautiful. “Because of you,” he replied softly.

A gorgeous smile broke across her face. “Really? You went against him without even knowing why, all because of me?”

He nodded.

“Michael,” she murmured softly, her lips melding with his as she kissed him. She pulled away slightly. “Why did you think you couldn’t get attached?” she asked as her lips made their way down his chin and attached themselves to his neck.

“Um, well, I figured-” He paused, he couldn’t think while she was doing that.

“You figured what?” she asked, in between kisses.

“Um...” his voice trailed off as he closed his eyes, taking in the feel on her lips slightly sucking on his skin.

“Well?” Maria asked, pulling away from his neck and looking at him.

“What?” he asked. “You expect me to be able to talk why you do that?”

A smile broke out on her face. “True.” She looked at him expectantly.

“I didn’t say stop,” he told her.

She just grinned. “So what did you think?”

“Uh...” He gazed at her face, only inches from his. He wanted to kiss her again. “What were we talking about?”

She laughed slightly, shaking her head. “One track mind,” she murmured. “Why did you think you couldn’t get attached?” she asked again.

“Oh, yeah,” he replied, grinning at her. “Um, well, I guess I figured maybe Nasedo had something against humans or something. Or maybe we were going to go back to Antar or something.”

She raised her eyebrows. “But you were willing to risk that?”

For her, yes. “Um, well, I didn’t think that it actually would happen,” he said awkwardly. After all, that was also the truth.

“Oh,” she said. She slowly traced his face with her hand. “Do you think everything will work out okay?”

He nodded. “I trust Tess,” he told her. “If she says it will, I believe her.”

***

“Michael,” Nasedo said emotionlessly as he opened the door.

“Nasedo,” he replied, daring the alien to say something. Nasedo met his gaze unflinchingly, moving out of the way to let him in.

“Feel free to come in,” Nasedo said. “Don’t forget to close the door behind you.” Once Michael had done this Nasedo looked at him for a moment.

“We need to talk,” he said.

“Really?” was Nasedo’s reply. “What about? Is this about your little friend Maria?” he shook his head at him condescendingly. “Michael, what were you thinking? A Kahntra alien?”

“She’s not an alien.”

Nasedo just laughed. “Well, maybe you’d like to talk to her about that. Or how about Tess, she can sense these things you know?”

“I know,” Michael replied, leaning back against the counter. He really couldn’t stand this guy. “In fact, it was Tess who figured it all out.” He smirked.

Nasedo’s eyes narrowed. “Figured what out?”

He shrugged. “Oh, just the fact that Maria was infected with a Kahntra alien about eleven years ago, but is actually human. In fact, I think she’s working on figuring out the ritual right now.”

“What?” Nasedo’s eyes flashed with anger for a moment, but then it was gone, the expressionless look returning.

Michael nodded casually. “Yeah, she’s not alien.”

Nasedo stared at him for a moment. “Well, I guess that would explain the lack of scars, but-”

Michael cut him off. “But nothing,” he said angrily. “She’s not an alien, she never will be an alien, so I think you should get your sensing skills checked out.”

“Michael, you know I really thought she was one.”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “All I know is that you wanted me to be with Isabel, but you were wrong about that. And then you thought Maria was an alien, and you were wrong about that too.” He stared at him for a moment. “So, do you actually know anything?”

“Yes, I-”

“Well, I don’t care. I’ve been perfectly fine without you, and I don’t appreciate your meddling into my life. Hey, maybe the others might want you still around, but I don’t want to see you ever again.” He glared at Nasedo. “You upset Maria, you tried to wreck my life, I don’t need you in my life anymore.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly. “Not that you were really in it to begin with,” he said, turning to walk away from Nasedo.

“It’s foolish to invest everything in one person,” came Nasedo’s reply.

Michael just rolled his eyes, leaving the apartment. Nasedo had no idea what he was talking about, he just liked to tell people what to do. But it didn’t matter, hopefully he would never have to speak to or see that emotionless alien again.

***

Maria dropped her keys on the bench after returning to the apartment that afternoon. Liz appeared out of her room, taking in her face.

“You look happy,” Liz told her. “Especially considering...”

Maria winced, realising she hadn’t explained anything to her friend yet. “Oh, yeah, I kinda worked it all out.”

Liz gave her a puzzled expression. “You do realise I don’t even know what you were upset about?”

“Oh, oops,” Maria replied. “Okay, do you want the condensed version?”

Liz just shrugged, sitting down on the couch. “I guess.”

“Okay,” Maria said, sitting down on the couch opposite. “Well, the short version is I stayed the night at Michael’s, as you know, and the next morning Nasedo was there. And, well, he told me I wasn’t human.”

“What?” Liz asked, her voice angry. “How could he-”

“Can I continue?” Maria interrupted. “Anyway, I came home, and I was kinda tired so I went to sleep, and I had another one of those dreams-”

“That you’ve told me you have but won’t say what they’re about?” Liz interrupted.

“Yeah, those ones. Anyway, turns out the dreams are real, and according to the dreams I was infected by a Kahntra alien when I was nine.” She noticed Liz’s eyes widening and her mouth opening in shock. “Yeah, I know, unbelievable huh? Anyway, that’s the kind of alien Nasedo thought I was. So, I called Michael, we talked to Tess, and apparently I was infected by a Kahntra alien when I was nine but it takes twenty years to actually work, so right now she’s working on a ritual to uninfect me.” She looked at Liz. “So, yeah, basically that’s it.”

Liz just stared at her, her eyes wide. “You do realise this sounds completely unbelievable, don’t you?”

“Yep. But its true.”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “Are you sure that Nasedo person didn’t brainwash you or something?”

Maria laughed slightly. “Liz, no. I know its true, as soon as the dream played out I remembered it happening. The alien did it to make me forget, but somehow, being around Michael, it made me remember.”

Liz shook her head. “God, this is just so...”

Maria nodded. “I know.” She smiled, deciding to change the subject. She knew Liz needed time for it all to sink in, and she was sick of talking about it anyway. “Hey, you know, Max apologised for the way he was acting to me earlier. He’s actually seems quite nice.” She noticed Liz’s expression at that. “What? Did something happen?”

Liz looked surprised. “What? No.”

“Have you seen him again?” she asked.

“Yeah, actually,” Liz said. “He-”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Maria interrupted.

“Well, actually he came over last night. And I’m thinking that you were probably over at Michael’s at that time?” Liz raised her eyebrows.

“What did he tell you?” Maria asked.

Liz looked confused. “What? Max? Nothing, what would he tell me?”

“Nothing,” she replied quickly.

“Maria?” Liz questioned.

“Nothing,” she replied. “We just heard him come home and then leave again so...”

Liz raised her eyebrows. “Well he did say something about a door sticking, and that it probably had something to do with alien powers.”

Maria blushed. “Oh, okay,” she said, shrugging slightly. “Now about Max. What happened?”

Liz shrugged. “He had dinner here, we talked. That’s about it.”

Maria looked at her sceptically. “That’s all?”

Liz furrowed her brow. “Yeah...?”

“What? No see you tomorrow? No kiss? No nothing?”

“Well, he did say he’d see me tomorrow night.”

“But that’s all?” she asked. What was wrong with these people? Max no longer had destiny in his way, and it was obvious they both liked each other, and yet nothing happened.

“I did tell you he was the opposite of Michael,” Liz told her.

Yeah... But she would have thought seeing that they both liked each other something had to happen. After all, she couldn’t be around Michael for more than a second without wanting to jump him. She shrugged. Oh well, that was their problem.

Max glanced at Isabel for a moment, before returning his gaze to Tess, who was lying on her bed, her eyes closed. She was wriggling about a bit, but Isabel had explained that that was normal when Tess was searching her subconscious for a ritual or a spell. Not knowing anything about it, Max assumed she was right.

“Yosaama, kiantra, kana,” Tess mumbled. Max turned to Isabel. Was this supposed to be happening?

“It’s okay,” Isabel told him quietly, so not to disturb Tess. They were both there while she went into her trance to make sure she was okay.

Max sat down on the floor as Tess continued mumbling under her breath, still continuing to move. Ten minutes later she sat up, opening her eyes. Max was relieved, he had been worried about what was happening to her while in that trance.

“Did you figure it out?” Isabel asked.

Tess nodded, a grin appearing on her face. “Yes, I know the ritual. All I need is the healing stones.”

Healing stones? Max watched Tess, studying her to make sure she was okay. All of a sudden he heard Isabel gasp. He turned to look at her.

“What is it?” Tess asked.

“Nasedo has the stones!” Isabel replied. “We gave them to him to look after them a while back, remember?”

Tess sighed, slumping back on the bed. “I guess we’ll have to go get them from him,” she said.

“Um, back up a minute,” Max said. “What stones?”

Tess and Isabel exchanged a glance. “Oh,” Tess said. “We have these healing stones, which can be used in a ritual to heal one of the four of us.” She shrugged. “And if my subconscious is correct, with the correct chant it can be used to heal Maria too.”

Max nodded. Wow, they sure knew a lot about this alien stuff. He had always thought that he knew quite a lot about it all, what with studying astronomy and all, but compared to them he knew nothing but a few things about the stars - he hadn’t even discovered their planet yet.

“So,” he heard Tess ask Isabel. “Should we ask him?”

***

Tess knocked on Nasedo’s door, glancing at Isabel beside her. She had to admit she’d been surprised when Isabel had said she’d help. Isabel had been depressed ever since she’d found out that they didn’t have to be with their destined mate. Tess knew she was relieved that she didn’t have to be with a guy who didn’t want to be with her, and she didn’t really want to be with him either, but she knew Isabel was also unhappy. Isabel had spent her whole life waiting to met Michael, and now she had no one. Her life had been devoted to following Nasedo’s rules, and now she had nothing.

The door opened and Nasedo appeared. “To what do I owe this visit, my girls?” he asked.

Tess bristled at that. She wasn’t his and never would be.

“We want the healing stones,” she said.

Nasedo raised his eyebrows. “And why would that be?”

“To uninfect Maria. We know you have them, so give them to us,” Isabel said angrily. Tess was shocked, she knew Isabel was annoyed at Nasedo for making her believe one thing her whole life that turned out to be wrong, but she never thought Isabel would ever speak to Nasedo like that.

Nasedo also looked shocked. “You know, I don’t think Michael wants anything from me. He came by to tell me about Maria and made it clear that he didn’t want to hear from me again.”

Tess narrowed her eyes, shaking her head in exasperation. “I think that he’d want the stones that would save Maria’s life, no matter who they’re from,” she told him. “Besides, they’re our stones, you’re just looking after them for us. So come on, give them to us and we’ll be out of you’re hair forever.”

That got a reaction out of him. “Forever?” Nasedo asked. He looked at Isabel, who nodded.

Nasedo sighed, walking into his room, returning a few minutes later with the stones.

“Thank you,” Tess said, taking them from him.

Nasedo just looked at Isabel. “My Isabel, I raised you,” he said to her. “You have no one now. See how Tess has turned, and Michael doesn’t want you. But I do, you’re my Isabel. You need to stay with me.”

Isabel just stood there for a moment and Tess was worried that she was going to take Nasedo’s side, despite being mad at him. After all, he wanted her, and she had loyally followed him her whole life, unlike them.

Tess watched as Isabel slowly shock her head. “No,” she said, quietly but forcefully.

Tess grinned. Isabel had finally stood up to Nasedo. Wrapping an arm around Isabel’s shoulder she said, “Let’s go.”

They began to walk towards the door. “But my-” came Nasedo’s voice from behind them.

“By the way,” Tess said, turning around to face him one last time. “I’m not ‘your’ Tess, and I never was.”

***

Michael opened the door to Maria’s apartment, letting Tess in. She’d rung, telling them she’d figured out the ritual, so they’d invited her over to tell them.

Michael sat back on the couch next to Maria, noticing that she was fidgeting with her fingers. He placed a hand over them, slightly squeezing her hand. Maria smiled weakly at him. He knew she was nervous.

Tess sat down on the couch opposite. “So,” she began.

“Can you do it?” Maria asked before she could say anything.

Tess nodded. “Yes, I know what to do, and unless my subconscious has failed me I am sure it will work.”

He heard Maria let out a relieved breath and wrapped his arm around her.

“Okay, well,” she cleared her throat, and Michael realised that she was nervous also. “The ritual mainly consists of a group of chants which someone - me - has to say out loud.”

“Okay...” Michael said.

“Three people are needed for the ritual,” Tess continued. “Maria, obviously,” she smiled at Maria. “And then one person who knows the ritual chant - that’s me, and then someone close to the infected person, which is Michael,” she said, smiling at them both.

“And that’s all?” Maria asked. “Three people and a chant?”

Michael frowned, that did sound kind of simple.

“No, not exactly,” Tess said. “Michael and I both need to sit on opposite sides of you while holding a healing stone, and then we place two more healing stones down, one at your head and one at your feet. You’ll be lying on the ground when this takes place by the way,” she added.

“What’s a healing stone?” Maria asked. Michael had to admit he was wondering the same thing.

“Oh,” Tess said, smiling. “I forgot you didn’t know. They are these stones we have - there are four of them actually, one for each of us I think,” she said, gesturing at Michael. “And, combined with a simple ritual, they can be used to heal us if one of us is sick.”

“That’s handy,” Maria commented.

“Have you used them before?” Michael asked.

“Only once,” Tess replied. “One time when Isabel got really sick.”

Michael nodded, taking in the information. “So when can we do it?” he asked. He felt Maria moving closer to him.

“Well, how about tomorrow? I need to get prepared, make sure I know it exactly.”

Michael turned to Maria, who nodded silently. “Tomorrow’s fine,” he said.

Tess smiled at them. “Tomorrow it is,” she said. She looked at Maria. “Don’t worry, it’s going to be okay, I promise.”

“I know,” Maria replied quietly.

Tess nodded, giving them a quick smile before walking towards the door. “I’ll go now,” she said. “Let you guys talk or whatever.”

***

Tess had just left Maria’s apartment, shutting the door behind her, when she saw Kyle walking down the hallway in her direction.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hey,” he replied, smiling at her.

“Whatcha doing?” she asked. “Visiting Maria?”

“No, actually I live here,” he said, pointing at the apartment next door.

“Oh, okay,” she replied.

“Do you want to come in?”

She smiled regretfully at him. “I can’t, I have to go have a meeting with Professor Mitchells in, like, ten minutes,” she said, cursing the fact that today was the day that she had organised to go over what she may have missed by transferring mid-semester with Professor Mitchells.

“Oh, that’s okay,” Kyle said, turning towards the door.

“Wait,” she said. “I’ll be back here tomorrow to help Maria with this thing-”

“Thing?” he interrupted.

“Yeah,” she replied. “I could come over after that.” She smiled hopefully at him.

“Sure,” he replied. “I mean, if you want to.”

She looked at him. He was so uncocky and not full of himself like some guys were. Not to mention that fact that he was hot. “I want to,” she told him.

He grinned back. “So, see you then?”

“Sure,” she replied, smiling back at him. He was the first guy she’d been attracted to, really attracted to, since Scott died.

She stared at him a few more moments. What the hell, she thought.

She leaned in, pressing her lips against his in a soft kiss. His arms reached up, lightly cradling the back of her head.

After a few moments they pulled apart. She smiled at him, before turning to leave. “See you tomorrow,” she said, a smile still on her face from that amazing kiss.

Michael looked at Maria, hearing her sigh in relief. Tess had left the apartment not long before.

“It’s going to work, isn’t it?” she said, an almost excited smile on her face. “I mean, with the stones and the complicated ritual and everything, its got to.”

He nodded. “Of course it will,” he told her. It had to. There was no way he was going to let Maria become an alien.

She stood up, making her way over to the kitchen and pouring herself a glass of water. "This is great,” she said. “Now I won’t ever have any of those dreams again. I wonder why I had them, maybe my subconscious was trying to tell me or something? And I-” she was babbling, Michael could tell. Not that he could blame her, she’d been so upset and nervous once finding out that she was infected, and now she knew that there was definitely a cure it was a huge relief for her.

He got up from the couch, walking over to where she was, standing by the bench, still talking. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, burying his face in her hair, inhaling her scent.

“It’s okay,” he told her. “You don’t need to say anything.”

She wriggled in his arms, turning to face him, her face only millimetres from his. “Sorry. Was I babbling?” she asked.

He grinned down at her, feeling her breath on his face. “It’s okay. I think you’ve earned the right to babble.”

She gazed at him a few moments, before wrinkling her nose slightly. “Nah, I’d rather celebrate,” she told him. “I mean, in a day I will be completely alien-free,” she said. She looked at him for a moment. “Well, except for you of course,” she said, her hand tracing patterns on his t-shirt.

“I hope you’re not complaining,” he growled playfully.

She looked at him for a moment, her eyes twinkling. She pulled back slightly, grabbing his t-shirt and lifting it over his head. “Nope, definitely not complaining,” she murmured as she melted against him for a kiss.

***

Maria woke up, turning her head to look at Michael. Today was the day.

His eyes were open and he was propped up on his elbow, staring at her. She smiled at him. “Been doing that for long?” she asked.

“A while,” he replied, his finger slowly tracing her cheek.

“It’s going to be okay, right?” she asked him, knowing she’d already asked the question before, but she needed reassurance. Her relieved mood from the night before had dissipated as reality settled in, making her realise that the ritual might not work on her.

He nodded. “Tess says everything will be fine, and I trust her. Don’t worry, everything’s going to be okay,” he told her, his hand lightly caressing her cheek.

She bit her lip. “I know,” she told him. “I’m just...” she trailed off.

“Scared?” he asked, and she nodded. “That’s okay,” he told her. “It’s understandable.”

“Yeah?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he replied. “I can understand why you’d be scared, I mean, an alien did this to you-”

She shook her head. “That’s not why I’m scared,” she said, interrupting him. “Not the alien thing. I mean, you’re an alien and you’d never hurt me.”

“I wouldn’t,” Michael said softly. She smiled.

“And Tess is just like you, not at all like a Kahntra alien, so I’m not scared of her. It’s just,” she bit her lip, stopping.

“What is it?” he asked, his eyes probing hers.

“What if it doesn’t work?” she asked, biting her lip. “What if this Kahntra alien infected me and this ritual doesn’t work? I’ll always be infected. I’ll be your enemy.”

“Look, if it doesn’t work we still have at least eight years to figure out a ritual that will,” Michael told her. “And I don’t care if you’re infected or not, it won’t change the way I feel about you. And I’ll still want to be with you.”

She smiled, his words warming her heart. She loved him so much. “Me too,” she replied, pulling him close for a kiss.

***

There was a knock on the door and Maria opened it, letting Tess in. They walked over to the couch where Michael was already sitting. Maria sat next to him and Tess on the couch opposite.

He wrapped his arms around Maria, knowing she was nervous.

“So, are you guys ready?” Tess asked. She pulled four stones out of a bag and he knew immediately that they were the healing stones.

“Yeah, I think so,” came Maria’s reply.

“You think so?” Tess asked.

“I am,” Maria replied, grabbing his hand and squeezing it slightly. Michael nodded at Tess.

“Okay,” Tess said. “Well then, I guess we should get organised.”

Tess stood up, walking over to an area of the floor free of furniture. Maria looked at him, a worried expression on her face.

He leaned in, kissing her softly. “Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”

Maria nodded. “I know. But I’m still-”

“It’s okay,” he told her. They stood up, making their way over to where Tess was.

“Okay, well, Maria, you have to lie of the ground,” Tess said, gesturing at the floor.

Maria nodded, squeezing his hand again before she released it. “Okay,” she said quietly. He watched as she lay down on her back on the carpet.

Tess placed one stone above Maria’s head, and the other below her feet, before giving the third to Michael, keeping one for herself. She sat down on one side of Maria’s body, motioning to Michael to do the same opposite her.

“Yoga styles huh?” Maria joked weakly. He smiled at her.

“It’s okay to be nervous,” Tess told her. “But don’t worry, it’s going to work, I know it will.”

Maria smiled in response. “I know.”

Tess smiled back. “Okay. We have to hold our stone with both hands,” she told him. He nodded, picking up the stone.

“Are you ready?” Tess asked them.

“Yes,” came Maria’s reply. Michael nodded.

“Okay, close your eyes, and we’ll begin.”

Michael obeyed her, and within a few moments she began her chants.

“Yosaama, kiantra, kana...”

***

Maria lay on the floor between the two aliens, her eyes fluttering open. Michael watched as she first turned to look at Tess before resting her gaze on him.

He smiled at her and she smiled in return, still looking slightly dazed from what had just happened. He could feel Tess watching them in silence before speaking.

“It worked,” she told Maria, a huge smile on her face. “You have no more alien in you.”

Maria grinned in return. “Thank you,” she said softly. “You’ve saved my life.” She turned to look at Michael. “You too.”

Michael got up from his position on the floor, moving closer to her so that he was right next to her, taking her hand in his. He barely noticed Tess leaving the apartment.

“You okay,” he asked softly. He squeezed her hand, gazing down at the beautiful girl lying on the floor. He sighed in relief. Thank god the ritual had worked. He didn’t know what he would have done if he’d lost her.

“I’m fine,” she replied. “Just a little drained, but nothing permanent.” She tried to sit up, but she was still low on energy from the ritual so she remained lying on the ground.

Michael squeezed her hand again. “It’s okay. You don’t have to get up just yet.”

Maria nodded, her eyes moving to look at their intertwined hands before moving back to his face. “I’m sorry.”

Michael barely heard her. He looked at her confused. “You’re sorry?”

“Yeah. For all this. For pulling you into this mess.”

Michael stared at her in disbelief. He shook his head. “If anyone pulled anyone else into a mess it was me. You didn’t know you’d been infected, I knew I was an alien. You didn’t need that, especially after what happened when you were nine.”

Maria reached up a hand, softly stroking his cheek. “But I needed you,” she told him softly.

Michael leaned down, kissing her softly on the lips. He pulled back, his face still only inches away, his right hand running through her hair.

“Michael, if I hadn’t have met you I would never have known I was infected. I owe you and the others my life.”

He stared down at her, taking in her clear, green eyes, the softness of her skin. “I don’t know what I would do without you,” he told her hoarsely, staring into her eyes. “I love you Maria.”

The words just slipped out without him even realising it. Sure, he knew that he loved her, but he’d never told her before, too scared of what her reaction might be.

A smile spread across Maria’s face, and she pulled his lips down to meet hers. When the kiss ended they pulled apart, their foreheads touching, staring into each others eyes.

“I love you too Michael.”

The End

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