"I never did quite trust him," Liz admitted.

"He's been fired, needless to say," Maris told her. "So I'm afraid we won't have a job for you this summer, Liz. The scholarship money is still yours, of course."

"That's a relief," Jeff said.

"Oh, Mr. Parker, I have news for you, too," Maris went on, turning to him. "Since this virus was created at Meta-chem, I've spoken to the CDC on your behalf. We take full responsibility for what happened; your restaurant can hardly be blamed for Liz spreading a disease she didn't know she had. The Board of Health will want to do a routine inspection, but after that you should be free to open again."

Liz watched her father's face break into a huge grin.

"Thank you, Ms. Wheeler," he said. "I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

"It's the least I can do," Maris said. "I'll let you all get back to your celebration."

"Wow." Liz watched her go with a smile. "She must be the most honest CEO ever."

Isabel locked the front door behind her and started down the sidewalk. She was supposed to meet up with her friends at the Crashdown. It was a show of support for the Parkers, because everyone was blaming them for the recent epidemic. It was common knowledge that the virus had been spread through the Crashdown.

Just another example of our human friends having to take the blame for something alien, she thought guiltily.

A car slowed down in the street next to her. Isabel ignored it.

Someone whistled at her from the car. She ignored that, too. Why were men always such pigs?

"Hey, Isabel!"

She stopped and turned toward the car. Jesse was at the wheel. "Jesse!" she cried. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"One hundred percent," he replied. "Get in before someone sees us together."

She got in. "Thank God you're feeling better," Isabel said as Jesse drove around the block. "When I saw you at the hospital… "

"I know, it was freaky," he said. "I mean, I knew heart disease ran in my family, but I'm too young to have a heart attack!"

Isabel looked down at her hands. "But you're too old to be with me. Right?"

"That's why I came to find you," Jesse said. He pulled over to the curb and parked. Then he turned in his seat to look at Isabel. "Being sick like that got me thinking. Life's too short to care about stupid things like a little age difference."

Isabel smiled hopefully. "You mean… "

"I mean I think I'm falling in love with you, Isabel," he said, taking her hand. "And if you want to take things slow and not tell your family about us yet, that's fine with me. In fact, I think it's kind of fun sneaking around with you."

Isabel felt the blood rush to her cheeks. She threw her arms around his neck. "Oh, Jesse, I was so miserable. You were sick and I couldn't even comfort you."

"You can comfort me now," he murmured. Then he kissed her, and Isabel forgot all about their problems.

"There's still one thing I don't understand," Max said into Liz's hair. They lay cuddled together on her bed that evening.

"What?"

"Kyle said you found alien cells in Dr. Sosa's lab, before there was any chemical spill or any virus."

He felt Liz stiffen. '"That's right. I'd forgotten about that," she said.

"You didn't tell me about it," Max added softly.

Liz sat up and looked him in the eye. "I was avoiding you."

"I know," he said. "Why?"

"Because you're still hung up on finding your son. I thought I wasn't your top priority."

Max didn't know what to say. Liz was definitely his top priority here on Earth. But he did have to find his son; that was his responsibility as a parent. "Do you mean I have to choose between you and my son?"

"It's hard for me to get used to the fact that you have a son," Liz said. "But now I know it doesn't mean that you don't love me. When you were healing me at Meta-chem, I could feel how strong your love was. I don't know how to handle all this stuff with your son, Max. I'm going to have to think about that some more."

"But you're going to stop avoiding me?" he asked.

She pressed her lips to his. "Oh, yes," she answered.

Max held her silently for a moment. There was something else he wanted to ask her, but he wasn't sure if he should.

"What are you thinking about?" Liz asked.

Max smiled. She could always tell when something was bothering him. "Something you said before I healed you," he replied. "I was wondering what you meant. But I think you were just delirious."

Liz sat up and looked at him. "I told you I love you."

"Yes. But you also said something about getting married and making me fall out of love with you."

Liz paled. "I guess I was delirious. I shouldn't have told you about that. I don't know if I can talk to you about it."

"About what?"

She searched his face. "About this… thing that happened last year. An alien thing."

Now Max sat up too. "You have to tell me," he said simply

"Okay." Liz bit her lip. "Well, one day you came to me. But it wasn't you. I mean, it was you… from the future."

Maybe she's still delirious, Max thought. "Um, what?" he said aloud.

"Max, just hear me out. You came back from the future. You said the Granilith could be used for time travel."

Max didn't know what to think. The Granilith was gone, and he'd never known much about how it worked.

"You said we were happy and we were married, but it made Tess feel abandoned, so she left. But you needed her… all four of you needed to be together. There was a threat to Earth, and you needed Tess but she wasn't there."

Max was doubtful. He hated Tess so much lately that he couldn't imagine ever needing her.

"You told me I had to change what happened," Liz went on. "You said I had to make sure you fell out of love with me so that you would turn to Tess. That way, she'd never leave. You said I had to change the future."

Suddenly Max understood. He felt as if all the air had left his lungs. "Kyle," he whispered. "You pretended to sleep with him. You knew I'd catch you."

Liz's eyes were brimming with tears. "I had to make you stop loving me," she said sadly. "It was the only way I could think of."

Max was stunned. He couldn't get his mind around what Liz was telling him. Well, except for one part. "I didn't stop loving you," he said, tears pricking at his own eyes. "There is no way I ever could stop, no matter what you did. You're in my blood, Liz, you're part of me. I will love you forever." He pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, pressing her against him. "I thought you didn't care

about me anymore. I thought you wanted me to be with Tess," he said. "And all that time you were just trying to help me?"

Liz nodded. "You said it would mean the end of the world if Tess left. I was only trying to do the right thing."

Max closed his eyes and just breathed in the scent of her hair. "Of course you were," he whispered. "That's who you are. That's why I love you."

He hated to think of how she must have felt all those months while he was dating Tess. He'd thought Liz had moved on first, that she didn't love him at all. But in reality her heart must have been breaking every time she'd seen them together. "How can you even be here with me when all I do is hurt you?" Max asked. "I don't mean to, but I always seem to end up causing you pain."

Liz pulled back so that she could look him in the eye. "You do hurt me," she agreed. "But you also heal me. You saved my life at the Crashdown two years ago. And you just saved my life again. When you were healing me, Max, I felt how afraid you were to lose me. I know how much I mean to you."

He kissed her softly, just taking in the amazing feel of her in his arms. "I can't believe you loved me all that time," he said. "But what about Tess?"

Liz stiffened. "What about her?"

"Well, she's gone," Max pointed out. "Didn't you say we had to keep her from leaving or something horrible would happen?"