Liz let her back drop against the headboard, reclining on the bed rather than sitting up like her previous position. She had just woken up a few minutes ago and was greeted with a terribly rumbly tummy. Since Adam wasn’t real big on leaving the motel during daytime, and she was desperately lacking food, she had to resort to the crappy chocolate bar. But hey, it was food nonetheless.

Adam was in the shower, but she had heard the water turn off just a moment ago so he was probably on his way out of the bathroom. Hurrah for company. Considering she had fallen asleep almost as soon as she had woken up the night before, she never got to interrogate Adam about his conversation with Ben. The connection with Alex and Maria had taken a lot more energy than she had thought it would. She was sure she had been sleeping for almost all of the evening, all of the night, and the better part of the morning.

Liz yawned, throwing her empty chocolate bar wrapper in the garbage basket. This whole hiding out thing was beginning to be silly. Ok, maybe not because of the whole imminent danger thing, but she was just so bored out of her mind. She missed everyone, Maria, Alex, Izzy, Max, and even her overbearing oaf of a brother, Michael. She was used to seeing them all everyday and at least getting one kiss a day from Max. It felt like her lips were on strike without her permission. It sucked.

As expected, Adam walked out of the bathroom, a mob of steam following him closely. He had a towel hanging around his neck and nothing but a pair of jeans on. His wet chest glistened nicely against the soft light emanating from the bathroom. If Liz was any other girl, she probably would have been drooling all over herself by now… but she isn’t and she wasn’t.

“You know, you look pretty studly like that. Maybe you should dress like that all the time,” Liz teased. She whistled at him, and he grinned at her.

“So, the Sleeping Beauty awakes,” replied Adam as he came over to lie down beside her. He turned his head towards hers and asked, “And how did the princess enjoy her slumber? Very well, I hope?” Liz smacked his arm, and rolled her eyes. She moved over to make more room for Adam, and shifted to lie on her side.

“So, girlfriend, you never shared the details with me,” Liz said. Adam raised an eyebrow and the smirk didn’t leave his face. Adam gained a high pitched voice and responded, “You know, Chiquita, a diva never kiss and tells!” Adam rolled his eyes in a dramatic gesture.

“Very funny, next time you audition for stand up comedy remind me to bring rotten tomatoes.”

“Ouch. You’re worse than me.”

“Uh huh, anyways, Ben. What happened?” Adam’s eyes instantly clouded over and he flung himself off the bed. He tottered a moment, before walking into the bathroom and closing the door, without a single word to Liz. She stared, stunned to say the least, at the shut door. Change in moods was not one of Adam’s fortes.

Liz stood up slowly, unsure of her footing or herself. That was… well, weird. She could tell Adam had shut down immediately but she didn’t know why. The only possible reason for him to shut her out that quickly was that his meeting with Ben had gone terribly, terribly wrong. And even that was surprising to her, because Adam had opened up a lot to her, especially since they arrived in Sunny Oaks, so wouldn’t he just confide in her? It made her wonder what was so bad that made Adam completely shut down.

Liz knocked lightly on the bathroom door. “Adam? What’s going on?” A silence implanted itself. “Adaaam, c’mon, let me in! Please? Pretty, pretty please?” Liz’s half joking tone made no difference to the continuous silence. “Adam, talk to me. What happened?” Liz continued on, softly this time. “Don’t close yourself off, especially when we’ve gotten so much closer. You’ve still got many years for me to bug the hell out of you, so shutting me out now is going to make it a lot harder for me to piss you off. And you can’t take that away from me… because then all I’d have is Michael to bug, and we all know that’s a lost cause. Maria does it enough for all of us.” Liz knew she heard a soft laugh behind the door. It was step in the right direction. She went to turn the knob so she could enter the bathroom but found out the door was locked.

Liz sat down beside the door, heaving a sigh. She certainly had no clue as to what upset Adam so much, but she was going to get it out of him even if she had to-

“We talked.” Liz’s ears perked up, and she leaned her head against the door, bringing her knees up to her chest. She was ready to listen. On the other side of the door, Adam too sat down and leaned against the door.

“What’d you talk about?” Liz asked softly.

“We didn’t really get to talk about a lot. He asked me why I left. I think he was still stunned to see me alive.”

“What’d you tell him?”

“That I was scared. I didn’t know what to do. My parents had died in a fire and I couldn’t keep living here, suffering with the pain. I told him that I had seen the house on fire and fled. I mean, it was partly true, the whole not wanting to be here. It hurts to remember. Even now.” Liz heard the heavy sigh that leaked from Adam, then a mocking laugh. “You know what he said? He told me ‘It’s ok to remember.’ Just like you did.”

“Adam, is that what’s upsetting you? Coming back here and being reminded of everything? Cause if it is-”

“No, it’s not. I’ve learned to take those feelings and shove them down. I never had time to think about that, and whenever I did, it hurt so much that I wouldn’t let them back up. I… I don’t even notice any more. Kind of sad, huh?

“ I told Ben I missed him and I wanted to call him everyday. And to this very day, I still consider him my best friend. I told him I was sorry for not being there every time he needed a friend, I was sorry for every birthday I missed, every girlfriend he had, every fight he had with his parents.

“He told me it was tough after I left, after my parent’s death. Sandy sort of lost it and thus her ice princess wall. It just got worse after…” The harsh silence cut through unexpectedly in the course of his speech. The ending of his sentence was left hanging lifelessly in the air, making Liz curious as to what he was holding back.

“What, Adam? After what?” A choked sob could be heard across the door, and Liz cursed the damn chunk of wood that stood between them.