“Max! What are you doing here?” Tess was surprised but not displeased to see him, but one look in his eyes and she could tell he wasn’t there for her. She sighed resignedly, wishing she had never even heard the word destiny.

“Where’s Kyle?” Max was in no mood for small talk.

“What’s up Evans?” Kyle asked as he rounded the corner from the hall.

Kyle's nonchalant attitude in light of all that had happened in the last few days was Max’s undoing. His eyes blazed with hatred as he seized Kyle by the scruff of the neck and rammed him into the wall behind them.

“You’re what’s up,” Max hissed. “I want to know what made you think you had the right.”

“Max, stop it, put him down! You’re going to strangle him for God’s sake!’ Tess had Max by the arms and finally got him to loosen his hold on Kyle whose feet came back down to the floor.

Max was belligerent now. “Why’d you do it Kyle? Why? Did you think you could get her back that way?” His tone was taunting, but one look in Max’s eyes stopped any sarcastic comment that Kyle had been saving up for this very moment cold. Max look defeated. Like his very life had been sucked out of him. He looked like Liz had looked after she and Kyle had completed their little charade and unbelievably Kyle felt his heart going out to this guy who had once been his enemy. ‘Must be all that time spent with Buddha’ he thought to himself. He looked Max in the eye and answered his question. “Because she said she needed me.”

Kyle prepared himself for the blow he was expecting from Max, but it never came. He just released what sounded like his last breath and was about to turn to leave. Kyle suddenly realized just how much Max obviously needed Liz and decided that things had gone on long enough.

“Look, Max wait. I have to tell you something man.” Kyle called after him.

“I don’t want to hear your gloating Kyle.” Max mumbled.

“No, it’s not that, you need to know the truth.”

Max’s head shot up at Kyle’s last words. He slowly turned around, fixing Kyle with a look of ‘you’d better not be playing me’ and moved toward the living room. Tess followed, anxious to hear what really happened. Despite her dislike for Liz, she had a hard time believing she’d do something so rash as give her virginity to Kyle.