Author's Note: This is extremely AU. Nothing that has occurred on the show has happened in this fic. The characters are pretty much the same but the history that has happened on the show is completely different.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot.

Part 2

Some days he felt her slipping away. Today was one of those days. Everything was going fine until lunch. He and Tess were standing on line to get their food when Alex Whitman showed up. Max hated Alex. He was one of those dumb jocks who though they were god's gift to the world and such a fake person. Max didn't hate all jocks – after all he played varsity soccer – just the senseless kind like Alex.

“So you're going on the trip to Roswell?" Alex asked Tess.

Tess looked up surprised. She and Alex hung with similar crowds but they weren't really friends.

"Yeah. Are you looking forward to it?" she asked him.

Max wished she had ignored him. He thought she knew how much distain he had for people like Alex.

“Totally. Anything to get out of this town. And it's Roswell. There has to be a lot of things to do," Alex replied.

"Actually I heard that Roswell is a smaller town than Las Cruces," Max commented.

Alex frowned. "Really?" he said in an uninterested tone. "Well, I guess I'll see you around later."

"Yeah, later," she said. Tess turned to Max. "What was that?" she said once Alex left.

"What? Roswell is a small town," he said innocently.

"You know what I mean."

"That guy's a bonehead. I was just saving you from an awkward situation."

"Potatoes or rice?" the lunch lady asked her.

"Rice," she answered as they advance down the line.

"Right," she said sarcastically. "As if that had any shred of truth."

Then Max said the words he wished he hadn't.

"It's not like you like him," he countered. She blushed. "Right?" he added slowly.

"Why should you care?" she retorted.

"Why should I care?" he repeated.

"It's none of your business."

"What are you talking about?" he said hurt. "It is my business because this affects me too."

She raised an eyebrow. This is gonna be good, she thought sarcastically.

"The two of us have to stick together. You can't let anyone else in. You can't see him," he told her.

She was quiet. He wanted her to say something. Anything. Finally she spoke.

"You can't tell me what to do, Max," she said dangerously low tone and walked away from him. The rest of the day never fully recovered.

* * *

Tess opened the door.

"Wait, don't close the door Tess," he said. She didn't.

"Can I come in?"

She shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

"I sorry about earlier today," he started.

She snorted. He gritted his teeth and continued.

"I am. Tomorrow we're going on a trip that's very important to us. I don't want to start it off like this," he said earnestly.

Tess looked at him. She wanted to make amends too. Today they had the worst argument they ever had. She wanted to put it behind her.

"Okay," she said softly.

"What?" Max said.

"I said okay," she repeated louder.

"Huh? I can't hear you?" he teased. She threw a pillow at him.

"Don't push your luck!" she warned him.

To Be Continued..