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valentinebaby:

Can't wait for Valentine's Day chapter cause it's the best holiday ever!!! I'm totally bias though.

lol, yeah, you might be a little biased towards Valentine's Day, valentinebaby. Michael and Maria are definitely going to have a Valentine's Day to remember.

emadaps:

Kyle is actually looking forward to their one month anniversary. how weird is that. most guys won't even remember it. so i think it's really sweet that he remembered, and has something planned.

Kyle is the rare type of guy who both remembers and looks forward to anniversaries.

Mag: I'm glad you thought the last part was funny! Yeah, Amy barging in on M+M . . . funny, but mortifying at the same time!

Zoya:

Hm, I'm kinda iffy on K/T. She hasn't really showed much interest in their relationship. I know she likes him but how much is the question.

Hmm . . . well, clearly Kyle has been in love with Tess for awhile now. There is definitely a little more ambiguity as to how exactly she feels.

Nicola: Thanks for reading!

chinkyeyes45:

I love that Kyle is so gung-ho about his relationship with Tess, but maybe he should pump his brakes a little. Making comments about maybe putting a ring on it can be a little overwhelming so early in a relationship.

I agree. Kyle's so thrilled to finally be with Tess, but like you said, he needs to put on the brakes a little. They've been together for one month, not one year.



Thanks for the feedback. I'm getting this update out earlier than I thought I would today!








Part 46

The limo ran over something on the road, waking Max up from his slumber. He sat up and looked around. His father was sitting on the other side of the limo, talking on his phone while the driver drove them . . . well, he was supposed to be driving them to the office, but when Max looked out the window, he saw only residential streets. High-class residential streets, of course. He knew immediately that they were headed towards home. Even in this neighborhood, their limo must have stuck out like a sore thumb. New Mexico had few limos and even fewer people who could afford to ride in them.

When his father put away his phone, he asked, "What're we stopping at home for?"

"Your mother said she fell, thinks she broke her ankle," Phillip replied, rolling his eyes. "She probably just sprained it."

"Way to give her the benefit of the doubt."

"You know how dramatic women can be. I promised her we'd stop in and check in on her just so she'd stop screeching at me."

He doesn't even like her, Max thought. His parents were married, but they didn't even like each other. "We'll be late for the meeting," he pointed out.

"It's my meeting. It doesn't start until I get there," Phillip said as their driver pulled the limo into their driveway. He climbed out, and Max followed him into the house. "Diane, sweetheart?" Phillip called. When she didn't answer him, he rolled his eyes again.

"You treat her like she's a nuisance," Max remarked.

"She is," Phillip said as he and Max walked up the stairs. "But you know what they say: Behind every great man is a surgery-enhanced woman willing to sleep with him." He grinned.

"How poetic," Max grunted. He'd said the same thing many times. He remembered his father saying that to him even back when he was still in kindergarten.

"Diane?" Phillip called again as they walked past the ballroom towards their home gym. He pushed open the door to the gym and said, "There you are."

"Phillip." Diane was sitting on the bench press machine, her leg outstretched in front of her resting on a giant yoga ball. Her personal trainer, Carlos, was sitting next to her, close to her. He didn't have his shoes on, or his shirt.

"Hi, Mom," Max greeted.

"Hi, honey," she said, scooting away from Carlos. She stood up, careful not to put weight onto her sore ankle, and hobbled towards him to hug him. "I missed you."

He hugged her back and cast a glance at Carlos over her shoulder. He was just sitting there with his head down, probably to avoid the daggers Phillip Evans was staring at him.

"How's your ankle?" Phillip asked his wife, but his tone indicated no sympathy.

"It's better," she replied. "Carlos and I were exercising when I fell."

"Oh, really, is that what you were doing?"

"Yes." Max's mother looked uncomfortable. Extremely uncomfortable and nervous. "Max, you remember Carlos, don't you?" she said.

Max nodded mutely. Sure, he remembered Carlos. He also remembered that Carlos was only a year older than him.

"You can go now," Phillip bit out at Carlos. Carlos obediently left with his shoes, socks, and shirt in hand. Then Phillip turned to Max and said, "Son, give us a moment, would you?"

"Sure." Max met his mother's eyes for a moment, and he saw how worried she was. Because she'd just been caught. It didn't matter that she and Carlos hadn't been doing anything. It was obvious. He knew the expression of a cheater. He'd worn it while with Liz.

He slowly made his way down the hallway and stopped at the top of the stairs. He stood and listened to his father's angry bellows.

"I give you everything you want, and how do you repay me? By sleeping around with that Mexican?"

Diane whimpered and tried to explain. "Phil, I--" A shrill slap cut her short, though. Max flinched as he heard the contact of his father's hand on his mother's cheek. The only sound that followed was silence. Terrified, unhappy silence.

His father stalked out of the gymnasium a moment later. "Let's go, Max," he said, leading the way down the stairs.

Max didn't move. He'd known his dad to hit his mom before, never too often, but once in awhile, whenever she did something that especially upset him. It was nothing new. But he felt differently about it now.

His mother slipped out of the gym, crying. When she saw him looking at her, she tried to act as though everything were fine and push back her tears. "Max, sweetie, do you want me to get the cook to make you a sandwich?" she asked. "Or I could make you one myself."

"That's okay," he said. "You don't need to."

"Oh, but honey, I can--"

"It's okay, Mom," he assured her, not just talking about the sandwich anymore. He wanted to assure her that it-everything-was really okay. But it wasn't. Nothing about that slap was okay, and somewhere inside, he knew that.

He wanted to stay and talk to her, try to listen, because he wasn't a very good son, but he knew he could try to be better. He also knew that he had a meeting to get to, though, and if he didn't make it out to that car in a minute, his father would leave without him. "Goodbye, Mom," he said, heading downstairs to rejoin his dad.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Amy and Ed sat at Galeotti's Sandwich Shop, having a very enjoyable lunch and conversation. As far as Amy was concerned, at least.

"I have a confession to make," she said. "I don't know how to be a good parent."

"That's not true," Ed assured her immediately.

"I think it is. All I ever wanted was for my daughter to live a safe, sheltered life, and she's lived just the opposite. She lived the life I lived in college, and look how I wound up. A single mother."

"And a good one."

Amy smiled at the compliment. He was just such a nice man, always had been, and he'd been a perfect gentleman in the hotel room the other night. She'd been thinking about him since. She'd even called in sick to work because she didn't want to go back home just yet. Maybe if they stayed in Santa Fe and were away from their jobs and the household chores and the bills in the mailbox that needed to paid, they would stand a fighting chance.

"All a parent can really do is love their child to the fullest," Ed went on, "and I know you love Maria, even if you don't approve of some of the things she's done."

"Oh, I do love her," Amy said. "I just think she hates me."

"I'm sure she doesn't. When Tess's mother . . . passed . . ." Ed swallowed hard. "Tess was very mad at me. She was so young; she didn't understand. And she wanted me to bring her back. When I couldn't do that, she locked herself in her room and cried for a week. But things got better over time, and now we're very, very close."

Amy smiled at him again, reassured by that. "It's strange," she said, "I always thought Tess was a bad influence on Maria. Little did I know . . ." She laughed lightly and shook her head. "Oh, it was just horrible, Ed. Just horrible. I walked in on her and that boy in bed. In bed. And they were . . ." She shuddered. "I literally walked in on them."

Ed nodded in understanding. "I did that once. When Tess was eighteen."

"Oh my goodness." Amy couldn't even imagine having to deal with that situation. Although, now she did know that Maria had been sexually active since the ripe old age of fourteen. "How did you handle it?" she asked.

"I talked to her, made sure she was being safe. And I reminded myself that she's perfectly capable of making her own decisions and learning from her own mistakes. I had to get into the mindset of viewing her as an adult and not a kid."

It sounded easy, but Amy was struggling with it. "I just don't want Maria to get hurt."

"None of us want our kids to get hurt, Amy. But sometimes they do. For what it's worth, though . . . I've never met Michael, but Tess has told me all about him. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Oh, I hope you're right." Amy took a sip of her water and asked, "So how do you feel about Tess's boyfriend? Do you like him?"

"Yes, very much," Ed answered. "He reminds me a lot of myself at that age."

She laughed. "Then he must be wonderful, because you . . . you were a really great guy, Ed. You always have been."

He shrugged. "Well, I try."

He succeeded.

"You know, she was with a guy named Max for a long time," Ed went on.

"Oh, that's right. The hotel boy."

"Yeah, him." Ed shook his head sadly. "I don't think he ever treated her right."

"That's too bad. He wasn't ever abusive, was he?"

"No, I don't think so. At least not physically. But emotionally . . ." He sighed. "I don't know. All I know is that now she's with Kyle, and I can tell she really wants to be with him. And I swear, when he looks at her, it's clear how much he loves her."

"Hmm." Must be nice, Amy thought longingly. "You know, I've never had anyone look at me that way before," she admitted. "Not even Maria's father."

Ed frowned, seemingly surprised to hear that.

"I kind of wish that weren't the case," she said in a moment of honesty. "I don't know, maybe I'm jealous. I'm jealous that my daughter fell in love and I can't manage to. How's that sound?"

"Defeated," Ed replied.

"Maybe I'm just a bad parent and an even worse date." She grunted.

"I don't think you're a bad date at all," he told her.

Her heart skipped a beat at that. She needed clarification at once. "Did you just . . . is that what we're on, a date?"

"Well . . ." He looked around the sandwich shop, at the people all around them, then looked right back at her. "I was kind of hoping we were."

Oh my goodness! Inside, she was freaking out. Outside, she tried her best not to show it. "I was kind of hoping we were, too," she confessed.

He reached across the table and placed his hand atop hers. It felt good to have someone touch her. It felt really good.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria climbed out of the shower, dripping wet, and wrapped a towel around herself, tucking it in beneath her arms. Her cell phone was ringing wildly, so she rushed into the kitchen, picked it up from the counter, and answered, "Hello?"

"Girl, you're never gonna believe what happened to me today," Marty started in.

"What?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Actually, I'm fantastic."

"Oh my god, did you and Francis run into Josh Holloway and convince him to have a threesome?"

He laughed. "Better. Mom came by."

Maria made a face. "How is that better?" Josh Holloway or Amy DeLuca . . . no contest. Ever!

"We talked, Maria."

Suddenly, the significance started to dawn on her. Amy hadn't acknowledged Marty's presence for years. "Wait a minute, you talked?" she said. "As in face to face? As in peacefully? With Mom?"

"I know, it's shocking."

Michael padded out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, and she told him, "My mom talked to Marty! Like, with words."

"Really?"

She nodded excitedly.

"Hey, little sista, you still there?" Marty said. "So anyway, do you know what she said? She said she's sorry for hanging me out to dry all these years, and she's decided to accept my lifestyle from here on out no matter what. Because-get this-she loves me. Can you believe it?"

"No," Maria said. "That's good, though."

"I'm a gay man. I'm a gay, gay man . . . and Mom's okay with that."

"Crazy." Maria shook her head in disbelief, and suddenly the door swung open and Amy bounded inside.

"Maria!"

"Oh god, not again!" Michael wailed, almost losing his towel.

"Gotta go, bye." Maria hung up the phone and tightened her towel around her otherwise naked body. "Mom, what're you doing here?"

"I'm sorry," Amy apologized, smiling. Actually smiling. "I really should learn to knock. Or you two could learn to lock your door. How about we all make an effort, meet in the middle, huh? How's that sound?"

She was so . . . chipper. Maria wasn't even sure how to react. "Okay, so far so creepy."

"Maria, I need to tell you something." Her mother stepped right up in front of her and placed her hands on her shoulders. The fact that she was still wet and only wearing a towel and had clearly just finished showering with her boyfriend didn't seem to be a concern, oddly enough.

"I love you," Amy said.

"You do? Still?"

"Yes, of course. I have always loved you. And I know I don't know you very well, but that's going to change. From now on, you can tell me anything, and I'll never hold it against you. I won't judge you. I promise."

It was a nice thought, a very nice thought, but Maria wasn't sure whether she could believe it or not. As she stood there, narrowing her eyes at her mother and studying her skeptically, it dawned on her why she was in such an unusually kind and forgiving mood. "Oh my god," she said, her mouth gaping. "You just had sex."

Amy blushed and didn't deny it. "And Michael," she said, side-stepping to the left to stand in front of Michael. "Dear, sweet, Michael."

He shot Maria a wide-eyed, confused look.

"I was wrong about you," Amy said. "You care about my daughter. You care about her more than anything in the world, and I can see that. You've been very good to her, Michael. I also love you."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, taking a few steps back. "I'm confused."

"Oh, someday a few years from now, you two will give me grandchildren," Amy imagined. "Beautiful, wonderful grandchildren with curly hair and big, bright eyes." She sighed wistfully. "And I will spoil them rotten."

"Mom, this is . . . a very different you," Maria cut in, losing some of her skepticism. Sex could work wonders-of that much she was certain. Was that really all Amy had needed to be less of an uptight bitch?

"See, I can be cool." Her mother smiled.

"Well, I wouldn't go that far, but . . ." She shook her head in astonishment. "Man, Ed Harding must have some ticks up his sleeve. Or in his pants." An unwanted mental image of her mother in bed with Tess's father popped into her head and made her want to heave. "Ew, parent sex." She cringed. "Trying not to visualize."

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry I made you feel like you had to lie to me and pretend," Amy apologized. She sounded absolutely sincere. "From now on, I just want you to be who you are, okay?"

Maria nodded slowly, liking this. Liking this a lot. "Okay," she agreed. "Thanks, Mom."

Amy smiled a big smile and opened up her arms to hug her. "I love you, sweetie."

"I love you, too." It felt strange to say, but Maria didn't mind saying it.

"I just don't want to see any intercourse."

"Oh, ditto." The mental representation was bad enough.

"Well, come here, Michael," Amy said, motioning for Michael to come join them in the hug.

"Um . . . okay." He neared them, still holding his towel up around his waist, and Amy wrapped one arm around him, practically forcing him to join the group hug. "Okay," he said again. "This is awkward."

Maria laughed a little. It was awkward, but that was fine. She'd rather have things be awkward than dishonest.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle rolled over onto his side, and even though he was still asleep, he could sense that there was a light on in the room. He slowly opened his eyes and found Tess sitting up beside him. Her knees were curled up. She had a pencil in her hand and a notebook pressed up against her legs, and she was drawing something.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked.

"No, not really." Her eyes never left her paper. "I thought I might as well sketch something."

"See, you're artistic," he said, nudging her leg with his hand.

"Not like you. See this?" She showed him a sketch of what appeared to be a living room. "Not exactly DaVinci."

He propped himself up on his forearm and surveyed the drawing. "Who's apartment is that?" he asked, secretly hoping that it was her plans for this apartment when she moved in someday.

She shrugged. "I don't know. Anyone's, I guess." She flipped back a few pages in her notebook and said, "And here's the bathroom. See the little flames I put on the tiles?"

He frowned. "Is this a rocker's apartment or--"

She laughed. "No, I just put them there to represent heated tiles. There aren't actually gonna be flames there. God no, how nineties."

"Oh, I see."

"And this . . ." She flipped to another page. "This is the bedroom."

He nodded his head in approval. It looked like a hotel, only comfier. If that was what she had in mind for their bedroom, that was fine by him.

"They're not very good," she said. "They'd look better if I was using colored pencil."

"No, they're amazing, Tess," he told her in all sincerity. "You're amazing."

She smiled, set her notebook down and leaned towards him to kiss him. But of course they couldn't stop there. She leaned in closer and kept kissing him, and he brought his free hand up to tangle in her hair. He lay back and she crawled on top of him, straddling his midsection. She sat straight up, already naked from having done this once earlier. Sometimes he had to just take a moment to lay there and gaze at her and remind himself how amazing this was. (Not that he ever forgot.) Things like this didn't happen to guys like him. Not usually.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and gave him a soft, small smile with a glint of mischief to it, and all coherent thought vanished from his mind. He reached over into the drawer of his bedside table to pull out the box of condoms they had exhausted that week, happy to see that there were still a few left.

Ten minutes later, Tess lay underneath him, her right leg hiked up so far that it was nearly resting up on his shoulder as he moved within her. She kept grazing her left leg along his side, a small but electrifying maneuver that almost made him lose his cool. Not that he had much cool to lose.

"Kyle," she moaned, digging her head back into the pillow. "Oh . . ."

He had his face buried in the side of her neck, loving the feel of being so close to her. Knowing that she loved this just as much as he did was the greatest thrill, though. Nearly a month of exploration had let him know exactly how she liked to be touched, kissed, looked at; and nowadays, he felt as though he knew her body better than his own. He felt more confident than he ever had in his life before. He could make someone feel good. He could make someone feel really good.

"Kyle," she said again, snaking one of her arms underneath his to wrap around his back. She stroked his sweat-soaked skin and continued to reassure him of his ministrations with verbal praise. "Oh god. Yes. Yes."

She's going to have a religious orgasm, he thought, and a positive one. He remembered all the orgasm classifications Maria had given him once. He'd proudly and happily given Tess all of them. Except the fake one. If she didn't . . . get there, then she didn't bother to fake it. But she rarely didn't get there.

Feeling that he himself was on the brink, he lowered one hand between them to massage her clit with his thumb. (Yeah, he'd learned how to do that really well, too.) Before he even touched her, though, he felt something bad happen. Very bad. Bad because it was . . . something good followed by something bad.

He stilled his entire body and lifted his head up.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him disappointedly.

He didn't say anything for a moment. He was afraid to move a muscle, even a muscle in his mouth. Finally, he managed to choke out, "Um . . . Tess?"

"What?" she asked again, concern sweeping her face now. "Kyle, what's wrong?"

"I think I might've . . . it might've . . ."

"What?"

"It . . . I think it broke," he stammered nervously.

"Oh." She suddenly looked as worried as he felt, but she was much better at trying to keep it together. "Well, did you . . .?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, yeah."

"Just now?"

"Uh-huh." He was panicked as hell.

"Oh," she said again. "You should probably . . ." She motioned with her head for him to . . . get out of there.

"Right." He slid out of her and shook his head at the broken condom, grabbing a tissue of the nightstand to remove it. "This is bad, isn't it?"

"It's okay," she assured him. "I think it's okay. Michael and Maria do it like that all the time."

"And the mood is killed." He dropped the faulty condom into the trash can and sat on his knees beside her.

She laughed a little. "Sorry."

"No, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. Cheap rubbers." She stroked his hair with her hand and reiterated, "It's okay, Kyle."

"No, it's not." He sighed. "You didn't even . . . you didn't get to . . ."

"Well, like you said, the mood's kinda ruined now," she said. "I should probably go jump in the shower."

"Yeah," he agreed. He would have joined her, but after what had just happened . . . it was probably best for him to give her a little space. That was probably what she wanted. He lay down and she crawled out of bed and slipped into the bathroom, smiling at him sweetly. He placed his hands beneath his head and sighed heavily. His first broken condom. Luckily she was on the pill, because knowing his luck . . .

"Hey, Kyle?" Tess called from the bathroom. "Come join me."

He smiled and shot up from the bed to do just that when he heard the water start to run. He didn't have much luck, but he was a lucky guy. Because he had her. And that was all that mattered.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael stood knee-deep in the water of the fountain outside the Student Union, squinting as the sunlight reflected off the water. Maria had convinced him to 'go swimming,' even though it wasn't technically a swimming pool, and even though it was February. There was even a sign in front of the fountain that specifically stated that wading was prohibited. But whatever. What Maria wanted Maria got.

"We're gonna get in trouble," he said, shifting from side to side.

"So?" There were several large rocks in the middle of the fountain. They jutted upward and outward. She was climbing on top of one of them as the water sprayed her.

"Be careful up there," he cautioned, worried she would fall.

"I got good balance," she proclaimed, standing up straight and peering down at him. "Okay, I'm gonna jump."

Michael looked around. "Where?" It wasn't as though there were a deep end of this fountain.

"Into your arms, lover boy," she replied excitedly. "You ready?"

"No. Maria!"

It was too late. She squealed and jumped down off the rock. He caught her, of course, and fell backward in the water, landing in a sitting position with her in his lap. The water went up to his shoulders. She just laughed, and he couldn't help but laugh at her laughing. She looked like she'd gone halfway swimming. She looked ridiculous. And beautiful. "That hurt my ass," he told her.

"Sorry."

He shook his head and looked around. Everyone who was hanging around outside the Union was giving them a strange look. "What're we doin'?" he asked her.

She shrugged, hooked her arms around his neck, and gave him a big kiss on the lips. Everyone watched that, too.

They walked hand-in-hand towards the parking lot five minutes later after a campus grounds man shooed them away from the fountain. It was so sunny outside that their clothes dried quickly. Michael still felt a little embarrassed at looking such a mess, but since he was with Maria, he didn't mind.

"Oh, that was fun," she said.

"Complete waste of time," he corrected. "But fun." He squeezed her hand and noted, "You're in a really good mood."

"Aren't I always?"

"Yeah."

"I'm happy. I'm a happy person." She swung their arms back and forth animatedly and smiled at him.

"Well, if it's possible," he said, slowing to a halt, "I'm gonna make you even happier."

She stood before him and grinned mischievously. "Really?"

"Yeah." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out two airline tickets. "They got soaked," he said. "I'll have to print off some new ones." He handed them to her and pointed out the destination. It was all smudged now. The ink had run and it was hard to read. "See that H?" he said.

"Uh-huh."

"You know what that stands for?"

Her face lit up once again. "Hawaii?"

"Yeah."

"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, what're you tellin' me to shut up for?"

"Oh my god, Michael." She stared at the tickets in amazement. "We're really going. We're really, really going. It's, like, official now. Oh my god, you're right; this does make me happier."

"Thank my mom and dad," he told her. "They got us half price on a beachfront hotel. Otherwise we wouldn't be able to afford it."

"Beachfront?" she echoed enthusiastically.

"Yeah. And I'm paying for you and Kyle's paying for Tess."

"Oh, you're a god!" she raved. "You're a god among men. I'm so excited! I have to call Tess." She reached into her purse to dig around for her phone.

"No, no, don't call her," he said, stopping her. "Kyle wants to surprise her."

"Oh, okay." She quit rummaging and exclaimed, "Hawaii!"

"Hawaii." He grinned.

She threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. He hoisted her up off her feet and swung her around in a circle. She was most definitely a happy person, and when he was around her, he was a happy person, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Max sat down behind his desk. Always behind his desk. He was starting to hate it there. Stacks of papers littered every surface. He didn't even know what any of them said. He didn't even care. He had never in his entire life felt so detached.

He had the second nicest office in the building. He had his hands firmly on the grasp of that company. He had money and the power and prestige that accompanied money. He had all the things he'd always wanted, but he knew something was missing. He knew it.

He flinched as he remembered the sound of his father's hand against his mother's face. He turned on his computer and tried to concentrate, but the sound kept ringing out again and again. It was too much.

He pushed his chair back and stood up. He should have stayed there. He should have stayed there and worked. But he didn't feel like it.

He stormed out of the office, knowing exactly where he was going.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess came out of the bathroom when she heard a knocking on her door. "Kyle," she said as she snapped an earring into place. As she was pulling open the door, she asked, "What took you so . . ." She trailed off abruptly when she came face to face with the person on the other side. Not Kyle. "Long," she finished finally, tensing at her ex's presence. "Max." She waited for him to say something, but he was silent. "What're you doing here?" she asked, afraid of his motives. He'd barely ever shown up at her place even when they had been dating.

"Can I come inside?" he asked.

"No." She wasn't exactly sure what he meant by that. Coming inside could easily be skewed to mean cumming inside, and that was the last thing she wanted from him.

"I just need somebody to talk to," he said.

"Then talk to Liz. Oh, wait, she wised up. Talk to your dad. He is, like, your only friend."

"I can't talk to him," Max mumbled. "Not about this."

"Well, you can't talk to me." She tried to push the door shut, but he pressed one hand against it, keeping it open.

"Tess, please," he begged. "Just give me a chance to . . ." He sighed heavily and licked his lips. "Just give me a chance."

She stared at him in astonishment. Could this really be the arrogant, over-confident, in-control Max Evans she'd always known? Because he seemed more like a lost kid in that moment. She didn't feel bad for him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"So he hit her?"

Max nodded. Why Tess had agreed to let him in after all the crap he'd pulled on her, he would never know. But he was glad she had. He sat on her bed as she walked back and forth in front of him, taking in everything he'd just told her.

"It's probably not the first time," she said.

"But it was the first time I noticed. Or cared," he explained.

She grunted. "God, you really are a chip off your father's block, Max."

"That's what I'm afraid of. Don't you see?"

"No, I don't see, Max. I don't even believe you," she informed him.

"Why not?"

She practically laughed. "Why should I? After everything you've done to me . . ."

And they were back to that again. Always were. "Good point."

"I can't stand you, Max, but I do know you," she said, stopping right in front in front of him. "As much as you mention Donald Trump, I know who your real role model is."

"My dad?" he guessed.

"Exactly."

He shook his head, hating that man quite a lot in that moment. "Doesn't mean he's a good one."

Tess rolled her eyes. "You can't seriously expect me to feel sorry for you."

"No, I don't." He was feeling sorry for himself enough for the both of them.

Tess frowned and stared at him skeptically. "You don't . . . sound like yourself."

"Maybe I don't like myself."

"Oh, please," she scoffed. "You love yourself. And Liz Parker, of course." She only sounded a little bitter.

"I don't know if it's love," he admitted. It wasn't as though he had anything to compare to. "But the fact that I feel anything at all scares the living hell out of me."

Tess shook her head. "It's not that bad."

"It is to me." She didn't understand. How could she? She'd hadn't grown up the way he had. "I wasn't raised to have these doubts. I was raised to be ruthless and never question it. And for a long time, I didn't."

"And you are now?" She crossed her arms over her chest and said, "Look, Max, there are people who've had way worse childhoods than you had, and they've turned out just fine. I mean, look at me. I grew up without a mom. Maria grew up without a dad."

"And she's the model of psychological health," he bit out sarcastically.

"Don't even start in on her," Tess cautioned, glaring at him. "You have no right."

He cowered under her angry gaze and let up on it. Insulting Tess's best friend, the girl he'd forcibly had sex with while she was under the influence . . . probably not a good idea. He was usually smarter than this. "Who knows what I would've been like I had grown up in Kyle's shoes, or Michael's," he pondered. "Maybe I'd be one of the good guys. Maybe a geek or an artist or a chump."

"Oh, you should be so lucky."

"I didn't ask for this, you know," he persisted, growing agitated, "this whole mindset, this whole lifestyle. I inherited it; and I never had the chance to be anyone else. My father gave me this one option and expected me to adhere to it."

"Right, and not only did you adhere to it, but you mastered it."

"I did," he agreed, "and now I'm almost as bad as he is."

"You are as bad as he is, Max."

"I never hit you," he protested.

"But you hurt me," she pointed out. "And you hurt Liz. And sadly, that's just about the nicest thing you've ever done." She shook her head furiously. "You hurt the people I care about, Max, and you had fun. Kyle and Maria . . ." She kept shaking her head, blinking back tears now. "I'll never forgive you for that."

He swallowed hard, never one to admit that he had regrets. But he did regret some of the things he had done. "I've made mistakes," he acknowledged. "Somewhere along the way, I got caught up with manipulating people, playing people against each other, having all the control."

"You've made choices, Max," she corrected, "none of them good."

"Well, what if I chose to start over?" he asked. "Huh? What would happen then?"

She frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I never made Liz happy," he admitted. "I definitely never made you happy. And I've never actually been happy myself. I've been rich and powerful and in control, but I've never been . . ." He trailed off and shook his head. The closest he had come to happiness was when he'd been with Liz, not the affair, but the real, true, out-in-the-open relationship. She'd given him a chance. And he'd blown it. "Maybe if I gave up some things, I'd get something a whole lot better."

"Like what?" she asked.

"Like . . ." He refused to say it out loud. Love? Way too pathetic. "I don't know," he mumbled. "Just something."

"So . . . what, you're just gonna . . . quit?" she asked.

"Maybe." The thought had definitely crossed his mind on numerous occasions, especially since Liz had left.

She sighed and sat down beside him, surprising him with her willingness to be in his proximity. "No, you won't," she said.

"I will," he insisted. "Or at least I'll try. Maybe if I got away from that damn company and that damn lifestyle, I'd be better off."

She looked as though she wanted to believe him, but she couldn't hide her skepticism. "Oh, I hear you say that, but I know you don't mean it."

"You're not being very supportive," he told her.

"I'm just trying to help you. God knows why." She rolled her eyes. "Look, your dream is to run that company someday and make millions. And there's nothing wrong with that. If that's what you want, have at it. But if you want something else, too, like a relationship . . . like a relationship with Liz . . . you gotta stop being such a jerk, Max. And I know that's way easier said than done, and jerk doesn't even begin to describe you; it's way too nice. But you're not gonna quit that job, so don't delude yourself. Be realistic."

He stared at her, somewhat awed by her in that moment. The Tess Harding he'd known, dated, and fucked would have never had this conversation with him. She hadn't been capable of it. "You think for yourself nowadays, don't you?" he remarked. "Instead of letting your man think for you."

She nodded. "Yeah."

He kept staring at her, impressed. Liz always thought for herself. Even when she had dirty thoughts or sinful thoughts or contradictory thoughts . . . they all belonged to her. "I like it," he said. Tess wasn't Liz by any means . . . but maybe she would do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle tapped his knuckles against his girlfriend's door, knocking even though he didn't have to. "Tess?" He pushed open the door and strolled inside, knowing for a fact that she wouldn't mind him just walking in like that. She never did. "Happy one-month anniversary." It was a big day for him, for both of them, hopefully, but definitely for him. The only other person he'd had an anniversary with was Liz, and that hadn't really been a serious thing. This was serious.

He heard voices coming from her bedroom, and he frowned. At first he thought that Maria was over, but as he made his way down the hallway, he slowed his pace. The sounds were just mumbles, but they were mumbles belonging to a male. Maria was definitely not a male. He hoped it was Michael, but it didn't take him long to recognize the voice. And hate it. Max.

He stood outside her bedroom door and peered inside. The door was only open a crack, but it was a large enough crack for him to see that they were sitting on her bed, and even though they weren't sitting close to each other, they weren't sitting far away, either. Kyle's muscles immediately tightened. What was that asshole doing there? He shouldn't have been there.

"You've really moved on," Max remarked.

"Yeah, I guess," Tess replied, still completely oblivious to the presence outside the bedroom door.

"Good for you." Max grinned slightly and asked, "Would Kyle be pissed if he knew we were having this conversation?"

Yes, Kyle thought. He would.

"Well . . . he doesn't know," Tess replied slowly.

"Are you gonna tell him?"

"Probably not."

Max chuckled lightly, and Kyle frowned again. Why wouldn't she tell him? Why would she keep a secret from him? They were close.

"It's not like we've done anything wrong," Max pointed out. "Unless talking's wrong."

Kyle breathed a silent sigh of relief. So nothing had happened. Good. Not that he'd been concerned. He knew Tess wouldn't do anything like that. She wouldn't.

"Yeah, but . . . it's weird," Tess went on. "And we're not friends, Max. I just wanna clarify that."

He nodded once. "It's clarified. I got it. We're not friends. Neither were Liz and I."

Kyle bristled, laying one hand against the door, ready to push it open if he had to. Max and Liz definitely hadn't been friends, but . . . they hadn't needed to be.

"Oh, yeah, you really wanna change," Tess remarked sarcastically.

"I do," he insisted. "Somewhat."

Kyle lowered his hand again, content to just let the conversation play out. He knew he was eavesdropping, but . . . he didn't really care. His girlfriend was sitting in her bedroom with her ex-boyfriend. Her ex-boyfriend the rapist and womanizer. Why would she even talk to him? He didn't understand.

"So how serious are you and Valenti?" Max asked, causing Kyle to relax a little. This would be good. This would be nice to hear. And Max would hate it. Bonus.

"I don't know," Tess muttered in response.

Kyle stared at her in disbelief. What?

"You don't know?" Max echoed questioningly. "How do you not know?"

"I just don't."

Kyle made a face. Since when? Since when did she not know? It was their one-month anniversary. Of course it was serious.

"Haven't you been together for awhile now?" Max went on to ask.

"Well . . . yeah. I don't know, not really." She sighed in frustration as she tried to explain. "I mean, we're not really . . . together. It's not like that."

It wasn't?

"We're not dating," she explained. "We're just . . . having fun. And I'm sure Kyle knows that."

Kyle didn't. Until that very moment. He stood on the other side of that door in astonishment, thinking he couldn't possibly have heard her right. Because there was no way . . .

"So this isn't some epic romance," Max concluded. "It's friends with benefits."

She made a face. "I hate calling it that."

"But that's what it is. He's not your boyfriend."

Kyle stood still as a statue, all his nerves on end as he waited for her answer. He was her boyfriend. He had to be.

"No," she answered softly, looking right at Max as she said it. "He's not my boyfriend."

Kyle couldn't believe it. He just . . . couldn't believe it. It had to be some horrible nightmare. It couldn't really be happening. She couldn't really have just said that. Because she was Tess Harding. He loved her.

He thought about barging in and saying something, but he stopped himself when he saw Max start to lean inwards, closer to Tess. Tess didn't move away or even turn her head. She just sat there as he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her. That did it for Kyle. He spun around and practically ran out of her apartment. He shut the door quietly and stood out in the hallway, trying to make sense of what he'd just seen, trying to breathe. But he couldn't do either of those things.

What the hell?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It took Tess a moment to realize exactly what was happening, took her a moment longer to react to it. "What're you doing?" she said, pushing Max away from her. So he thought he could just plant one on her after everything he'd done to her over the years? Fat chance.

"I'm kissing you," he replied simply.

"I don't want you to." She was going to have to brush her teeth at least a thousand times now.

"Yes, you do," he said, leaning in again.

She pressed one hand against his shoulder, making him keep his distance. "I'm not Liz," she said, suspecting that girl was still the only thing on his mind. He didn't want to be kissing her; he wanted to be kissing Liz. And nobody wanted to be kissing him.

Tess stood up and walked towards her bedroom door, pushing it wide open. "You should go," she said, regretting ever letting him in there in the first place. She should have known their entire conversation had been a decoy, a way to hide his ulterior motives. "Don't come back."

He grunted, seemingly shocked by her unwillingness to submit, and shuffled past her out into the hallway. "I wouldn't dream of it," he growled angrily.

She stood in the bedroom and watched him leave. Once he had shut the front door, she went up to it and locked it into place. There had been a time not long ago when she gladly would have kissed Max Evans, not so much out of desire, but rather out of obligation. But nowadays, that was the last thing she wanted.

She sighed. Where was Kyle? He should have been there by now.








TBC . . .

-April

emadaps:

i can't believe Tess. after everything that's happened how can she say they're nothing. and poor Kyle, he had to be there to hear that and on their one month anniversary too. i guess in a way it's good, cos now he knows what she thinks of them.

It's a really bad situation for both of them to be in. This is a K/T-heavy part that is going to address what the hell Tess is thinking and how Kyle's feeling. Poor Kyle.

Luluzita: Yeah, Michael's happy with Maria. But when Tess and Kyle and sad, Michael and Maria will be a little sad, too.

Nicola: I know you hope K/T fix things soon, but . . . remember who this fic's author is. I haven't forgotten how to torture you guys.

emza: Max is an ass. Yes, it's the one constant thing about this fic.

tanzachick: Tess has made a serious blunder here.

valentinebaby:

Oh wow I really hate Tess atm.

I don't think you're alone in that regard. My personal feeling is that, no, she's not a monster like Max is, obviously, but she did do something very Max-like here with Kyle, and that's not good at all.

Mag:

The Evans, what a nice family, huh? And Max knew that his father hit his mother but he didn't do anything? Pfff.

I know, they're a horrible bunch, aren't they? I don't think it's a stretch to say that people like them are the reason why hate and evil exist in the world.

chinkyeyes45:

Tess cannot be this stupid! There is no way that she doesn't know that Kyle thinks that they're in a relationship. She sucks right now. He has to be crushed. Hopefully they can sort this out, because I love them together, and I get that she just came off of a relationship, but if she wasn't ready for something, then she should have made that clear to Kyle. She knows him. She has to know that he wouldn't be capable of a friends with benefits relationship. The boy is hardwired to get attached.

You're so right with everything you said here, and it's something that hopefully gets addressed in this part. If Tess wants to believe that Kyle knows they're just "having fun," then she's trying to fool herself. She knows the truth.

Lume:

I feel kind of sad for Kyle, but at the same time I think he was going way too fast. Especially since Tess had just got out of a very long and tiring relationship.

Kyle was definitely going fast. I think the majority of the blame here lies with Tess, but Kyle didn't bother to communicate the seriousness of their relationship, either. He just went full-steam ahead and never looked back.

I hope that the problem with Kyle and Tess solves quickly, so that it doesn't ruin Michael and Maria's vacation!

Well, Hawaii might get disrupted now.



Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

It's been awhile since I brought by any tunes, so here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UmYgOiKgh8 It's called "I'll Catch You" by The Get Up Kids, and it's a really great song. The lyrics seemed super appropriate. Try giving it a listen when you see








Part 47

"I gotta admit, your new car drives pretty well," Michael said as he and Maria walked down the hallway and stopped in front of their door.

"It's a nice ride, isn't it?" she agreed, grinning proudly.

He rummaged around in his back pocket for his keys and shrugged. "Well, you're a better ride, but . . ."

She gasped. "That . . . was dirty. And oh-so-true." She giggled and squeezed his arm as he unlocked and opened the door. Before either of them could step inside, though, the doors to the elevator flew open and Kyle stomped out into the hallway. He walked right by them, his eyes focused on his feet, barely even acknowledging their presence.

"Hey, Kyle," Maria said. "What're you doing here? I thought you and Tess were celebrating your anniversary today." Then it dawned on her that the celebrating could be (and most likely was) sexual in nature. Therefore, Kyle's apartment was the perfect venue. "Oh, I get it. It's that kind of celebrating," she said. "Right?"

He said nothing in response, just shoved open the door to his apartment and disappeared inside. He slammed it shut, and Maria flinched.

"What the hell?" she said. "He's so bad moody. What's wrong with him?"

"I don't know," Michael replied. "Maybe he and Tess had a fight."

"But they don't have fights. They're like us. They have fun and sex and an underlying emotional connection. And they have an unhealthy obsession with Britney Spears, but no fights." She frowned, not liking this, not liking this one bit.

"We've fought before," he pointed out.

"Uh-uh."

"Yeah, we have."

"Just, like, spats." There was a definite difference in magnitude when it came to a fight and a spat. Spats were much easier to overcome. Much easier.

"Maybe that's all they're having," Michael said, leaning back against the doorframe, jingling his keys in his hand.

"On their one-month anniversary?" She doubted it.

"Should we go talk to him?"

She glanced back over her shoulder at Kyle's closed door. "No," she decided, walking inside their apartment. "He looked like he wanted to be alone."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Having waited for Kyle for what seemed like more than enough time, Tess finally decided to take matters into her own hands and go over to his place. She would have just called him to see where he was at, but he wasn't answering his phone. She hoped nothing was wrong.

"Kyle?" she called, letting herself into his place. "You home?"

He sauntered out of the bedroom, not smiling at her. Which was weird. He was wearing paint-covered sweatpants and a t-shirt, and that was also weird. They had planned on going out to see a movie, something he generally would have looked a little nicer for. Maybe he wasn't feeling well?

"Hey," she said. "What're you still doing here? I thought we were meeting up an hour ago."

"Yeah," he muttered, scuffing his foot against the kitchen floor.

"And I tried calling you, but you didn't answer," she went on. "Are you running behind schedule?"

"Ahead of schedule."

"Oh. Okay." He sure didn't look to be running ahead of schedule. If he'd been ahead of schedule, he would have shown up earlier. Judging by his appearance and demeanor, he hadn't left the house yet. He might have even just woken up. Everyone could be a little grumpy when they first got out of bed. "Is everything okay?" she asked, just to make sure.

"Why wouldn't it be?" he asked in return.

"I don't know. You just seem kind of . . ." She paused for a moment, trying to come up with the right word. The only word she could think of was "Mad. Are you mad at me? Did I do something?"

"What could you have possibly done?"

She didn't understand why he kept answering questions with questions of his own. He wasn't giving her any solid, reliable answers, and that wasn't like him. "Okay, well, if nothing's wrong, we should skip lunch and go to the movie, 'cause it's gonna start in, like, twenty minutes, and we'll have to buy food first." She was really eager to just get to the movie and have things feel normal. Because this, whatever they were doing . . . it didn't feel normal.

He stood with one hand on the kitchen counter, staring at the floor. He looked completely out of it.

"Kyle?"

"I've just got one question for you," he said, lifting his head to look her in the eyes for the first time since she'd walked through that door. "How can we have an anniversary if we're not even dating?"

The question took her aback. She wasn't even sure how to process it. "What?"

"You heard me."

She'd most definitely heard him. He was confusing her. "Kyle, what's going on?" she asked, slightly panicked now. She could feel her heart beating just a little bit quicker, like it knew something bad was going to happen. "What's wrong with you?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" he said, once again giving a question as an answer. "What's wrong with me, Tess? I'm a good guy. I care about you; I respect you. Why isn't that enough?"

"It is," Tess insisted, wondering where all this was coming from. Kyle had never been mad at her before. Why would he be mad at her now? She hadn't done anything.

"No, it's not," he said, laughing angrily. "I, uh . . ." He raked one hand through his hair and plodded into the living room, once again averting his eyes from her. "I stopped by your place earlier . . . awhile ago. I was ahead of schedule."

Awhile ago, Tess thought, immediately beginning to connect the dots. Oh, no.

"I just couldn't wait to give you this." Kyle picked up a small object from his kitchen table and held it up in front of her. It was a key, probably to his apartment. "I thought it was romantic," he said, "'cause . . . 'cause it showed I trusted you. And I wanted you around."

"What's with the past tense?" she cut in quickly. "Kyle . . . you're scaring me."

He made a face of derision. "Oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"I don't know what you're talking about." And that was true. She didn't know . . . for certain.

"Yes, you do. You were there. And so was I. And so was he. I saw you with him."

And now she knew. Kyle had probably heard Max talking or seen him there . . . he'd probably gotten the total wrong idea. "He kind of . . . invited himself in," she explained.

"Oh, really?"

"Of course." That wasn't necessarily true, though. She had been ready to slam that door in his face. No one had held a gun to her head and forced her to open it again. "Look, he was just feeling confused and . . . I-I don't know missing Liz. He just needed somebody to listen to him."

"And you wanted to be that person."

"No, I didn't want to be that person; I just was. We talked. It didn't mean anything." She couldn't even believe they were having this conversation. They were supposed to be on their way to the movie.

"Then how come you weren't gonna tell me?" he asked.

"Because I . . ." She quickly realized she didn't have a good answer for that. She wished she would have told him right away, because not telling him made it look like she had something to hide. "I didn't think it was a big deal, alright? And I told you, it didn't mean anything."

"It didn't?"

"Of course not." The fact that he was doubting her just killed her. Kyle was the one person who never doubted her. "The guy's a monster, Kyle ,and I hate him. I hate him more than anyone in the world."

"Is that why you kissed him?"

Her rapidly beating heart came to a screeching stop. Her facial expression betrayed her. The guilt was there, as was the feel of Max's lips on hers. Neither one was a particularly good feeling.

"Yeah," Kyle said, "I saw that, too."

"Kyle . . ." She lowered her eyes, ashamed to look at him now. She hadn't known. She hadn't known he'd been there. "I'm sorry." Apologizing was all she could do. She couldn't turn back time and erase it, but if she could have, she would have.

"You should be," he muttered, curling his hand into a fist, the key inside.

"But he kissed me," she made sure to remind him. If he'd seen it, he knew. "I didn't kiss him."

"You didn't exactly push him away, either."

"Yes, I did! Kyle!" She took a few steps toward him, grabbing onto his shoulders and pleading him to believe her. "I promise, Kyle, I promise. Didn't you see?"

"I saw more than I wanted to, trust me. I got the hell out of there."

"And I pushed him away," she persisted. "Because I didn't want him to kiss me, Kyle. I wanted you to kiss me."

"Hmm." He nodded, but the tightness in his mouth was evidence of his still-prevailing anger. "But you don't want me to date you, right? 'Cause we're not really together. I'm not your boyfriend. We're just having fun."

Oh god. The guilt overtook her again as her facial expression turned to one of sadness and regret. He'd heard all that? "Kyle--"

He shrugged her hands off him and backed away from her. "Would you quit saying my name like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like you care about me."

Now that was just ridiculous. That insinuation was something that had no basis in fact, and she wasn't going to stand for it. "I do care about you. Kyle!" She felt tears stinging her eyes, so unaccustomed to this. Kyle was a happy guy, always smiling and laughing and making jokes. He didn't get mad. He especially didn't get mad at her.

"Clearly you don't, 'cause you lied to me," he roared. "You led me on. I thought-God, I thought we had something great. I thought it meant just as much to you as it did to me; 'cause there was no way . . . there was no way you'd be playing me."

"Playing you?" She couldn't believe he was saying this.

"I thought we were gonna be together for years to come. I thought we had a future together."

"I . . ." Honestly, the future wasn't something she'd given much thought to. Ever since she and Max and split up, she'd tried very hard to live in the now and not get her hopes up on anything. "I don't even know what to say right now."

"How about the truth, for once?" he suggested harshly. "What was I to you, huh? Just a substitute for Max?"

"Oh, come on, you're nothing like Max."

"That's right, I actually don't wanna hurt you. I actually don't wanna see you cry. But apparently that's not enough for you."

"No, it's . . . Kyle . . ." She couldn't even get a sentence out. She felt like a blubbering idiot. She'd been completely unprepared for this. He didn't want to see her cry, but she felt very close to crying in that moment. "Look, I didn't know--"

"That was I out there?"

"What? No. I mean, yes, that, too. I just . . . I didn't know . . . I thought we were on the same . . . wavelength or whatever." She cringed at her own stammering.

"Obviously we weren't!" he yelled. He actually yelled. At her. "What the hell are you talking about? Of course you knew. You had to know this wasn't just a good time for me. 'Cause-look around-I don't have girls lining up outside my door wanting to date me. And you're the only person I've ever . . ." He trailed off and shook his head in contempt. "It doesn't make any sense. You had to know."

She was in too much of an emotional frenzy to consider the possibility, but it wasn't a totally unfounded assumption. Kyle wasn't the type of guy to have a physically intimate relationship or any kind of relationship at all if he wasn't serious about it. And there had never been a doubt in her mind about that. "I just . . ." She blinked back tears, trying to keep it together long enough to explain her position. "We never said we were dating, Kyle."

"And we never said we weren't, either!"

"Okay, so we just . . . assumed different things, and now we need to calm down and talk and--"

"Well, what's there to talk about, huh?" he interrupted loudly. "Really. It's simple: My feelings for you are stronger than your feelings for me. And I should've known that all along." He said that last part as though he were angry with himself.

"No, Kyle . . ."

"I'm a good friend, but I don't make you miserable; therefore, how could you possibly like me?"

So he thought she wanted to be with someone who made her miserable? If that were the case, she never would've hooked up with him in the first place. "No. No, don't do this. Don't make me out to be the bad guy here."

"But that's what you are, Tess. That's your role in this whole scenario. What you did to me is hardly different than what Max did to you. The only difference is, I never saw it coming."

"No, it's completely different," she insisted. She wasn't like Max.

"He used you and you used me. What's so different about that?"

"I didn't use you, Kyle!"

"Sure you did. To make yourself feel better about your crappy life. You hopped into bed with me just to feel something good . . . oh, and I was all too happy to oblige. Little virgin boy and the girl of his dreams."

A few tears spilled over onto her cheeks as the gravity of the situation began to settle in. This wasn't a small fight they were having. This was the kind of fight that threatened to destroy everything. And it often succeeded. "Look, Kyle, I . . . I didn't mean to . . ." She started to cry harder, and all she wanted was for him to put his arms around her and tell her everything was going to be okay. "God, I just . . . after what happened with Max, I . . . I just felt like I was on this downward spiral-all this drinking and crying. And I just . . . God, and you caught me. I was falling, Kyle, and you caught me. You always catch me."

"Because I'm in love with you, Tess!" he shouted suddenly, alarmingly. "Don't you get it? I'm in love with you!"

Her mouth parted slightly, but no words came out. Plenty of men had said that to her before, but Kyle was the only who had meant it. There was no mistaking his seriousness.

"From the moment I first laid eyes on you, I knew you were the girl for me," he went on adamantly. "I knew it. And no one else mattered. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you . . . and you couldn't even remember my name." He shook his head and laughed bitterly. "And what, I thought a couple games of Whack-a-Mole and some sex would change that? I'm so stupid."

"Kyle--"

"You don't love me. You never will."

She was still at a loss for words. Love was such a huge thing. She knew that she did love Kyle. She did. But to say that she was in love with him . . . she didn't even know if she was capable of that kind of love anymore, or if she ever had been. "It's just . . . I've been going through something. And you made me feel better. And I do care about you so much. So much, Kyle."

He grunted. "I find that hard to believe."

"No, it's true. Come on, Kyle, we're friends."

"With benefits."

"Oh, god." She grimaced as the knowledge that she had in fact been using him sank in. "Kyle . . ."

"You know what? Why don't you just . . . here, take these." He stepped up in front of her and shoved two small papers at her. They looked like airline tickets. "'Cause we were gonna . . . I don't know, just give one to Max."

She stomped her foot in frustration and sorrow. "Kyle!"

"It doesn't matter. What I feel for you, what you don't feel for me . . . none of it matters. It's all over."

"No . . ."

"It's all over Tess," he repeated, trudging over to his sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. He slid it open and stepped outside into the sunlight. "We're done."

"Kyle!"

He uncurled his fist and hurled the key out into the atmosphere.

"Kyle, stop!"

He came back inside and slid the door shut again. "I loved you, Tess," he said, nearing her. As he walked past her, he glared and said, "Get out of my house."

She stood completely still, feeling as though someone had just swung a sledgehammer at her ribs. Or her head. Or her heart. All of her limbs felt weak and useless, and she couldn't even say anything to change his mind. Nothing could change it. "Kyle . . ."

"I said get out!"

She choked back sobs and laid the plane tickets down on the arm of the couch. With tears cascading down her cheeks, she headed for the door. She reached for the doorknob and started to turn it, glancing back at him one more time. He had tears in his eyes, too, mixed in with determination. For a split second, he looked as though he, too, felt bad about all this, and she thought that maybe he would ask her to stay. But deep down inside, she knew he wouldn't. So she turned the doorknob to the right and left the apartment the way she had come in: alone. She shut the door behind her and stifled the sounds of her own crying as sobs overtook her and shook her. It took everything she had to stagger down to the end of the hallway, and once she was down there, all she could do was sink down in the stairwell and cry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kyle stood still from the moment the door shut, trying to convince himself that he would wake up any minute now. He had to.

But he didn't.

When he regained mobility, he ran his hands through his hair and tried to take a few deep breaths to steady himself. But nothing helped. Everything in his life had just come crashing down, his perfect Tess Harding ideology, ideas of spending the rest of his life with her, loving her and having her love him back . . . he'd never stood a chance. He'd never ever stood a chance.

He circled around his dining room table a couple of times before stopping in front of the wall, curling his hand into a fist, and swinging at nothing in particular. His hand slammed right through the wall, furious, and he sort of felt bad. It wasn't that particular wall he hated; it was the one between him and Tess, the one that had always been there and always would be there now. That damn wall . . .

He stood there with his hand encased in plaster. He just stood there.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria and Michael sat at the computer that afternoon looking up their hotel in Hawaii online. It looked pretty extravagant, and there was a lot to do there and in the surrounding area. They had agreed that scuba diving was a must. Neither one of them had ever been scuba diving before.

"Hey, look, this place opens at 9:00, and it's closer to the hotel," Maria said. "That other place doesn't open 'til 10:00. Doesn't 9:00 come before 10:00?"

"Where I grew up, yeah," Michael answered.

Maria laughed a little. "Okay, then we should just scuba dive here. That way we'll for sure have time to make our lunch reservations."

"Sounds good," Michael said, jotting down the phone number on a Post-It note. "I'll call and arrange it."

Just as he said that, Maria's cell phone rang out. "Ooh, speaking of calling, who's calling me?" she said, going over to the couch to pick up her phone and answer it. She saw Tess's name on the Caller ID. "Oh, of course." She flipped open her phone and said, "Hey, best friend. Guess what? We're going scuba diving in Hawaii. Michael's gonna make the reservations. Isn't that great?"

Tess sniffled and said, "Maria?"

Maria frowned. Tess didn't sound very happy, not even about the scuba diving.

"Could you come over here for awhile?"

Oh no, Maria thought, thinking of Kyle's sullen mood. This couldn't be good. "Sure," she replied without even hesitating. "Is everything okay?"

"No," Tess whimpered, her voice coming out high-pitched and squeaky.

"I'll be right there," Maria promised, closing her phone. She stuck it in her pocket and said to Michael, "That was Tess. She was crying. I'm gonna head over there for awhile."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Michael offered.

"No. Maybe you should go talk to Kyle, though."

"Alright." He got up and headed for the door. "Good luck," he said, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before he left.

She sighed heavily, worried that she was going to need it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Maria sat on the bathroom floor with Tess, completely shell-shocked. "Oh my god," was all she could say after Tess told her everything that had happened. Her poor friend could barely get any words out. She was crying so hard and kept having to stop, grab a Kleenex, and let it all out. There were a pile of tissues on the floor beside her, most of them speckled with mascara and eyeliner.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Tess choked out.

"It doesn't sound good," Maria admitted. She was just as baffled about all of this as Tess was. She hadn't seen it coming.

"I don't understand," Tess cried. "We were fine. I woke up this morning, and we were fine. And now . . . I just don't know how things can change so fast."

"So . . . you guys really broke up?" There had been a time when Maria had thought that Tess and Kyle would never even get together, but now she couldn't picture them apart. "Or . . . wait, you didn't break up, because you were never really together. Right? I'm confused."

"We had some miscommunication," Tess confessed. "Or no communication, actually. He thought . . . he assumed we were dating, and I didn't."

"Yeah, but . . . you guys went out on dates and stuff, and slept together and spent all this time together. I thought you were dating, too."

Tess shrugged helplessly. "I don't know; it's complicated. But he was so mad, Maria. He was so mad. I've never seen him that mad before."

"I've never seen him mad at all."

"I know. And so to see him like this today . . ." Tess grabbed another Kleenex out of the nearly empty box and blew her nose. "Oh god, Maria. He said I used him."

Maria was sort of afraid to ask the obvious question, but she had to. "Did you?"

Tess didn't say anything at first, and that said a lot. "I didn't meant to," she practically whispered finally. "I just felt so bad for awhile there, and he made me feel better. A lot better. And I didn't stop to think, and we didn't stop to talk. And now he hates me."

"He doesn't hate you, Tess," Maria assured her readily. She knew Kyle Valenti pretty well, and she knew that wasn't an option for him. "He . . ."

"Loves me?" Tess filled in. "I know. He told me. And I wish he didn't, 'cause right now, I don't deserve it."

"He told you?" And the shock just kept on coming. For Kyle to work up the nerve to say that . . . although he'd probably said it in anger . . . whatever. It was still a big deal. Michael had never even said that to her before.

"You knew?" Tess asked.

Maria grunted. "You didn't? It was so obvious."

"Yeah, well, I haven't been seeing things too clearly lately." Tess dabbed at the corners of her eyes with the tissue and admitted, "But I knew. Deep down, I knew Kyle would never enter into a relationship without being fully committed. So I guess I did use him. God, what kind of person does that make me? He was right. I am like Max."

"You're nothing like Max," Maria assured her. For her to even think that was crazy. "Max hurts people on purpose, for fun. You never meant to hurt Kyle. You're going through something, and he got caught in the crossfire. It's not your fault." She wasn't sure if she totally believed what she was saying, but she was obligated to say it. She was the best friend.

"It is totally my fault," Tess said.

"Okay, it's partially your fault. But it takes two people to be in a relationship, any relationship. And sure, you may not have communicated just the greatest with Kyle, but he didn't communicate with you, either."

"Yeah." Tess hugged her knees against her chest and rested her chin atop them, looking completely and utterly blue. "But friends with benefits seems so low. I didn't think I could sink that low."

"Hey. I've sunk that low before," Maria reminded her. In all actuality, she'd never seen anything wrong with it, and she still didn't . . . as long as both parties involved knew it wasn't anything more than that.

"No, you haven't," Tess said. "You've had casual relationships, but you've never let them go on this long, and you've never put a friendship on the line."

That much was true. She never would have entered into a casual relationship with Michael, someone she'd had such a good, solid friendship with for over two years now. Sometimes it was just all or nothing, and with her and Michael, it was all. Apparently for Tess and Kyle it was . . . nothing.

"Just tell me one thing," Maria said, needing some clarification on some of the details. "Do you still have feelings for Max? Because it's okay if you do. That doesn't make you a bad person."

"No," Tess replied emphatically. "Seriously, no. I could never have feelings for him after what he did to you. Not positive feelings, anyway."

"But you guys kissed," Maria reminded her.

"But it didn't mean anything."

Maria gave her a look. "A kiss always means something." Even if it wasn't something profound, there was always a reason.

"Yeah, and this one meant that it's never gonna happen again."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! And . . . okay, I know I kind of let it happen . . ." Tess rolled her eyes, seemingly annoyed with herself for that. "But I was just . . . I was surprised, and I didn't know how to react. But I did react eventually. It was just a delayed reaction. God, I just screwed things up, Maria. Big-time. But I could tell Max didn't want me; he wanted Liz. And I didn't want him, either. I want . . ."

"Kyle?" Maria filled in. "Or just the way Kyle makes you feel?" There was a big difference between just wanting the feeling and/or wanting the person that evoked that feeling.

"I don't know," Tess mumbled. "Honestly, I didn't plan on getting involved with another guy so soon after Max. And Kyle wanted to take things so fast. Maybe I wasn't ready."

"So . . . so this means you guys are really over now?" Maria asked. "Like really?" It was kind of sad. More than kind of, really. Kyle treated Tess really well, the way she deserved.

"I screwed things up," Tess repeated.

"But is there hope for . . . reconciliation?"

Tess shook her head sadly. "I don't think so. We can't just go back to being friends, but . . . I mean, we can't be anything more . . . anymore." She sighed loudly, unhappily. "He got so mad. He was yelling."

"But he still loves you."

"Loved," Tess corrected. "The exact word he used was loved. Past tense."

"Oh." Maria wanted to sound more encouraging, but the whole situation was just bad. Just awful. "Well, he was just angry. I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Maybe. It doesn't matter, though. I ruined everything. Nothing's gonna be the way it was ever again."

"Ever?" Maria didn't even want to think about that. She liked the way things were. They were all friends and the romance was evenly distributed and . . . she didn't want things to change.

"It doesn't matter how many times I apologize or try to make it right," Tess went on. "He's never gonna forget this, and he's never gonna forgive me. And he shouldn't."

Oh god, Maria thought, feeling bad for both her friends. And herself and Michael, because it affected them, too. "Come here," she said, scooting closer to her best friend to give her a much-needed, supportive hug. Tess cried heavily, not holding anything back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Michael took Kyle to the emergency room that day to get his hand stitched up. He spent the majority of his day in the waiting room, trying to picture Kyle punching his hand through a wall. He wasn't the type. But from what he had shared about his and Tess's sudden break-up, he had plenty of wall-punching motivation.

"How's your hand?" Michael asked as they walked through the door to Kyle's apartment.

"It's been better," Kyle mumbled, already scratching at the stitches on his knuckles. "Thanks for helpin' me out today."

"Yeah, no problem." Michael wasn't sure how much help he had been, or how much help he could be in a situation like this. He felt weird about leaving Kyle alone, though. "You gonna be okay?"

"I'm just gonna go to bed," Kyle replied, sulking towards his bedroom.

"Alright." Michael stood with his hand on the door, still reluctant to leave. Maybe punching a hole through the wall was just the first step. He didn't want Kyle to do anything stupid.

Maria walked in the open door just as Michael was about to walk out and ran into him. "Oh, hey, you guys are . . ." She trailed off as she caught sight of Kyle's unsightly hand. "Oh my god, what happened to your hand?" she asked.

"Kyle decided he hates the wall," Michael explained, gesturing to the gigantic hole Kyle had made.

Maria gasped in astonishment and said, "Well, the wall hates you back."

Kyle came back out into the living room with complete and utter defeat in his eyes. He and Maria weren't even making fun of each other. That was telling. "Let me guess," he said. "You were with Tess all afternoon."

"Yeah," Maria said. "She said she's really sorry . . ."

Kyle just shook his head and walked off into his bedroom, shutting the door. Apparently he didn't want an apology.

"Well, that attempt was futile," Maria realized.

"I don't think anything's gonna make him feel better right now," Michael said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. "How's Tess?"

"Not good," Maria answered sadly. "She sat on her bathroom floor crying all afternoon."

"Hmm. It's pretty bad when you're the sane one."

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes. "Oh my god, you're totally right, though. This is bad."

He nodded in agreement.

She groaned and stared helplessly at the closed door to Kyle's bedroom. "I don't understand. How does this happen? How do two people who are perfectly happy together get torn apart?"

Michael shrugged, remembering it well. "It's easy. A little lying, a little secrecy, an Evans in the mix . . ." It actually wasn't that hard.

"But I want them to be together," she said, letting go of his hand.

He leaned back against the couch and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, if they're meant to be, then they will be."

She stepped up to his side and leaned back against the couch with him. "And if they're not?" she asked, peering up at him with questioning eyes.

Before he could formulate an answer, Kyle strode back out of his bedroom, this time with two plane tickets in his uninjured hand. "Here," he said, handing them to Maria. "Give these to Marty and Francis. I don't need them anymore." He turned around again and sulked back into his bedroom, and Maria looked at Michael pleadingly. He wished he could magically make the situation all better for everyone involved. But there was nothing either of them could do.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Another day at work, Max thought as he stepped off the elevator and headed towards his office. He had the newspaper in his hand and was reading through the business pages. The Evans company wasn't even mentioned. It was a boring newspaper.

He had just walked into his office and set the paper down on his desk when he heard someone coming up behind him. He spun around just in time to see Kyle Valenti charging towards him. Kyle grabbed him by his shoulders and swung him around with surprising strength, pushing him back against the wall, growling low in his throat, angry. He pinned him up against the wall, his forearm against Max's throat.

"Well, well, well," Max choked out, quickly realizing that Tess and Kyle were kaput. Why else would he be there with such a vengeance? Why else would he be there at all? "Look who's a big boy now."

"Shut the hell up," Kyle snapped, slamming his fist against the wall right next to Max's head.

"What're you gonna do, huh, kill me?" Max chuckled. "Go ahead." He waited for Kyle to take a swing and hit him as hard as he could, but he just stood there looking pissed. "See? You don't have what it takes," he taunted. "You're weak. That's why Tess didn't keep you. That bitch wants to be hurt."

"Don't you ever call her that!" Kyle roared.

"Ooh, I'm so scared. Save me, Grandma, it's the big, bad wolf." Max laughed some more, well aware that he was egging Kyle on. It had been awhile since he'd just plain made someone miserable. It was like riding a bike, though. You never forgot how.

Kyle let go of Max and took a step back. Max hunched forward to catch his breath, but before he could do that, Kyle curled his hand into a fist and hit him hard, knocking him backward. "You don't deserve Tess, or Liz, or any of these girls who fall for your lies," he said, punching him repeatedly. Max fell backward due to the impacts and landed in a heap in the corner of his office. Damn, this hurt.

"You deserve to be alone." Kyle was starting to let loose on his face. He could taste blood in his mouth. "You're gonna be alone." That much was probably true.

Better late than never, the security staff on duty rushed into the room yelling, "Freeze! Security!"

Kyle hit him one last time, then stepped back with his hands in the air. The guards grabbed him pushed him towards the door.

"No, let him stay," Max said, struggling to his feet. "It's not so bad. He needs to blame me. Let him." He wiped a streak of blood off his lower lip and urged his adversary to continue. "Go on, Kyle. Beat me up. But know this: You're only hitting yourself. Because I may have brought your issues with your lover girl to the surface, but I couldn't have done that if you hadn't kept 'em buried so long." He grinned, and that priceless look on Kyle's face was evidence enough that he believed him.

"Come on," one of the guards grumbled gruffly, shoving Kyle towards the door again.

"Just let him go," Max said, staggering over towards his desk. "He's no threat."

The guards looked at each other skeptically, then again at Max. "Sir?"

"Just let him go," Max repeated, more forcefully this time. He'd already made Kyle miserable enough for one day. Anything else was just overkill.

The guards let go of Kyle, and with one last glare, Kyle headed out. Everyone sitting out in their cubicles cowered and watched him go. Max sat down behind his desk and saw his father out there, too, looking unhappy.

"Are you okay, sir?" one of the guards asked.

"I'm fine," Max replied, locking eyes with his dad. Phillip shook his head, clearly disappointed in what had just happened. Fighting over a girl? It was very collegiate, not professional, and Max was well aware of that. But it had already happened. There was nothing he could do about it now. "I'm just fine," he repeated, hoping Kyle's little stunt hadn't just cost him his inheritance of the company. Because if it had . . . Kyle could definitely be more miserable than he was now.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tess lay on the couch watching television, but not really watching. When she heard a knock on the door, she sat up and turned the TV off. "Kyle?" She so wanted to talk to him, apologize, make things right . . . if that was possible. She shot up from the couch and ran to the door, tearing it open without even looking out the peephole. Unfortunately, it wasn't Kyle standing on the other side. Rather, a horrid sense of déjà vu overtook her when she saw Max standing there. "Oh, no, not again," she said, trying to shut the door in his face.

"Wait, Tess," he said, pushing back on the door so she couldn't close it.

She frowned when she got a closer look at him. He had a black eye, a swollen lip, and a bruise on the left side of his jaw. "What happened to your face?" she asked. She'd never seen Max look like that before.

"Your friend," Max replied. "You know, the one with benefits."

"Kyle did this?" She'd never ever known Kyle to even throw a punch.

"Yeah," Max said. "I didn't know he had it in him, either. So I assume he overhead us talking yesterday."

Tess shifted uncomfortably, still ready to close the door in his face if he tried to invite himself in again. "And he saw us kiss," she added abashedly.

"Nice."

She made a face of contempt.

"Well, not nice for him, I suppose." Max cleared his throat and asked, "So are you two really over now?"

"I'm not running back to you, if that's what you're thinking."

"I know you're not." Max stared at her and nodded. "Good for you. I was just curious."

"It's none of your business."

"It is." He pointed at his battered face. "See?"

She shook her head. "No, Max. That's just karma."

"Well, as hard as this may be to believe, I actually am sorry you couldn't make things work with the little boy," Max said, much to her surprise. "And I hope you get a second chance." The most surprising thing of all was that he sounded genuine. "However . . ." he made sure to add. "I refuse to accept any blame for what happened, because just this once, it wasn't my fault."

As much as she hated to admit it . . . he was right. It wasn't. It was hers.

"Have a nice life, Tess," her ex-boyfriend said, sauntering down the hallway. Some of that confidence from his swagger was gone, but not all of it.

"Have a sucky life, Max," she muttered as she shut the door, seriously doubting at this point whether either of them had anything to look forward to.








TBC . . .

-April