| Here's To The Night He came to her during the night while she was cleaning the Crashdown. She didn't even hear him come in. It was because he came in through the back door instead of the front door. Hell, she didn't even know he had feelings for her! But he was always so closed off - kept his feelings hidden. All she knew was that he came up behind her, turned her around and kissed her harder than she had ever been kissed before! And then, the next thing they knew, they were both upstairs in her bedroom, making love. No, he didn't scream out Maria's name - he screamed out hers. And she didn't scream out Max's name - she screamed out his. But the next morning, he was gone. She should have figured that. He was just being...him. ***The Next Day*** "Liz?" Michael asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He couldn't help but picture her without that uniform. "Yeah?" Liz asked, not turning to him. "Are you okay?" he asked, concern filling his voice. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" she replied, turning to him. He looked indignant but she could see the worry in his eyes. "Liz, I'm not an idiot. I know that I was your first and I know that some women have some pain the next day. I just wanted to see how you were doing," he said, putting his head down a little bit. "That's sweet Michael but I'm fine. I was a little sore this morning and it stung when I went to the bathroom but other than that I'm fine. You were really sweet last night so that helped," she smiled as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his cheek. "But I really need to get back to work." "I need to ask you something else. When are you going on your next break?" Michael asked, taking his hands out of his pockets and crossed them on his chest. "In the next thirty minutes. You can sit back here on the couch if you want," Liz suggested. "Okay, thanks," he said, sitting down. He watched her over the next thirty minutes. She ran from the kitchen to serving ignorant customers. She looks so cute, he thought with a small - tiny even - grin. She looked so different today than she had last night. Last night, she looked so happy - he'd never seen her that happy. It made his pride grow, knowing that he had made a girl that happy over being with him. After thirty minutes had passed, Liz went into the back room and sat down on the couch next to Michael. "Okay, so what was it that you wanted to ask me?" she asked, taking off her apron. "What are we going to do about Max and . . . and Maria?" he asked, looking at his hands. Liz hadn't even thought of them. Maria was her best friend and Max was her boyfriend - the two most important people in her life and she had betrayed them both in one night, at the same time. She couldn't believe it. "I hadn't even thought of either of them," she said in disbelief. "Neither had I. I hadn't thought of either of them until this morning when I left you," Michael said, looking at her finally. "Michael, I never would have thought that I would betray either of them at the same time, much less at all," Liz said, looking at the floor even though she wasn't seeing it. "Well, we're going to have to figure out something," Michael said, playing with his hands. "No kidding," Liz said, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Why don't we just keep it a secret?" Michael asked even though he didn't particularly like the idea. "'Keep it a secret'?? Michael Guerin! Last night meant a lot to me and there's no way I'm keeping it a secret," Liz said, standing up with her hands on her hips. "It was just a suggestion. Calm down. It meant a lot to me too and I'm never going to forget it," Michael said, putting his hands in hers and pulling her down onto the couch next to him. He kept his hands in hers. "If it meant so much to you then why did you want to forget it?" she asked, hurt filling her eyes. "I didn't know how much it meant to you. You have no idea how much I've stressed over last night. I kept worrying about whether or not you knew it was me that you were making love with," Michael said, taking his hands away. "Oh Michael," Liz said, lightly kissing his cheek. "I knew it was you. Max never entered my mind until you mentioned him today." "Really?" Michael asked, not believing what she said. "I wouldn't lie to you," she smiled. "But what to do about it - that's our problem." "Liz, there's no way we can hide our feelings for each other any more. Maybe one of us . . . I should leave," he said, looking at the wall but not seeing it. "No Michael! If you told everyone then Maria would stop you and besides, I don't *want* you to go," Liz admitted. "I like having you around. I always feel safe around you." Michael thought he was going to cry. No one had ever told him that they enjoyed having him around. Hank, his dead-beat foster dad told him that wasn't worth the space he occuried in the universe. Not even Maria ever told him that she even enjoyed his company. "Thank you Liz," he said, lightly kissing her on the mouth. He wanted to continue the kiss but he knew that he couldn't. "Why don't I break up with Maria? We aren't even a real couple - never have been really. So breaking up won't be hard to do." "But I'll have to listen to her cry over you for another week but in another week or so, she'll be back to normal and wearing her aqua-bra again," Liz smiled and laughed. Seeing Liz laugh, made him laugh. An actual laugh. He remembered the day Maria wore that aqua-bra and how he thought it looked so silly. "I remember that. But on a serious note, what do you think?" Michael asked. "It's up to you. I'll think of something to do with Max," Liz said, with she hoped, some confidence. "That's what I'll probably do. I can't think of anything better to do. Max is what I'm worried about," Michael said. "I really want to be with you but there's no way I will let you cheat on Max with me. So that's out of the question. Why don't we see each other in private? Like we sneak around with each other," Michael asked with hope in his eyes. "Someone would find out about us and it would be even worse then rather than if we'd told them in the first place. Michael, this a very complicated thing. Why don't we let it rest for some time rather than try to decide it right off the bat. I don't think we should see each other in way, shape, or form except maybe at night," she said with a wink. "That sounds good enough for me," he said with a real smile - more of a grin than a smile however. "Are you going to come the 'meeting' tonight?" Liz asked, needing a change in the subject before the smile he gave her caused her to lose all resolve and have sex with him right there on the sofa. "Yeah, I sorta have to," Michael said. "You have to?" Liz asked, becoming confused. "Yeah, don't ask why. You'll find out," he said before placing a light kiss on her cheek and leaving. ***Later That Night*** "So does anybody else have anything to say before we dive into the pizza?" Maria asked, throwing her hands into motion as she said 'dive'. "I have something," Michael said, standing up, glass in hand. "Okay," Maria said, sitting down with a smile. "Here's to the night," he toasted, looking at Liz with a secretive grin. Liz smiled back and raised her glass and said, "To the night." The others shrugged and, with a confused look on their faces, raised their glasses and said in unison, "To the night." Eve 6 - Here's To The Night So denied So I lied Are you the now or never kind? In a day And a day love love I'm gonna be gone for good againAre you willing To be had Are you cool with just tonight? Here's a toast To all those who hear me all too well Chorus: Here's to the nights we felt alive Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry Here's to goodbye Tomorrow's gonna come too soon Put your name On the line Along with place and time Wanna stay Not to go I wanna ditch the logical Here's a toast To all those Who hear me all too well Here's to the nights we felt alive Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry Here's to goodbye Tomorrow's gonna come too soon Bridge: All my time is froze in motion Can't I stay an hour or two or more Don't let me let you go Here's a toast To all those who know me all too well Here's to the nights we felt alive Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry Here's to goodbye Tomorrow's gonna come too soon Here's to the nights we felt alive Here's to the tears you knew you'd cry Here's to goodbye Tomorrow's gonna come too soon |