strangetrip | Log - Maria and Liz

Liz was on her way back to her room for the evening, feeling more tired than she probably should. She always felt tired lately and she couldn't say why, exactly. She chalked it up to some of the long days she'd been pulling helping Mr. Stark with his project.

When she turned the corner and saw the familiar blonde, Liz almost thought she was seeing things. She froze and forgot how to speak. Stunned, Liz stood there forgetting to breathe.

Maria was lost. How are you supposed to find anything in this place?. She was getting frustrated. She thought about knocking on some random door for help when she heard someone turn the corner.

"Liz?" She asked with eyes wide.

Liz's expression suddenly matched Maria's. The swell of emotion threatened to buckle her knees and there was instant tears. "Maria?" It couldn't be, could it?

Liz took a few staggered steps in her friends direction and then she did a full-on run until she was hugging her best friend desperately and crying.

Maria let out an 'oof' and quickly hugged Liz back.

"Liz, are you okay?" She asked. "Liz?"

She shook her head against Maria's shoulder. Was she okay? "No. No I'm not. I'm not okay." And she cried some more.

Maria frowned as she held onto Liz. This can't just be about Max. She's been here long, right?. She rested a hand on the back of Liz's head and just held her friend.

Several minutes passed before Liz stopped crying. A few more before Liz found enough breath to steady herself. Finally, she pulled back. Her eyes were puffy and face was red, but she didn't care. "Maria, I've missed you so much."

"Oh Liz," Maria said warmly. "I'm sorry. I don't even know how long you've been here, but I should have totally came to find you like, right away. What kind of a best friend am I?"

Her lips pressed together and Liz couldn't decide if she wanted to frown or smile. Leave it to Maria to be so... Maria. "You're the best kind." She paused, then reached for Maria's hand. "Come on. My room's close by."

Maria followed dutifully. She wanted to know where Liz's room was anyways.

"Liz, how long have you been here?" She asked. "Have you been alone all this time? Well, not alone, alone. Obviously. But do you have friends here and stuff? Have you been okay?"

She rolled her eyes teasingly.

"Please tell me you've been treating this place like vacation and not some super intense study time." She joked.

Maria wasn't that far off on her joke. Liz was doing a lot of learning here. Still, it drew a small smile from her lips as they arrived to her room. She opened the door and let her inside. It still felt surreal that Maria was here. How was she going to explain everything? Liz paused and headed for where she hid her journal.

"Nice digs," Maria said, looking around. "Not as colorful as mine. Mines pretty awesome."

She looked around the room and was unaware of what Liz was doing.

Liz retrieved her journal and opened it. This was probably her best bet to explain most of it. With a deep breath, she headed over to Maria and held out the book to her. "Here. I've been writing in this since I got here. Read it all, and then we'll talk, ok?"

Maria took the journal.

"Okay," she said.

She pulled herself on to the bed and sat cross-legged. As she read, Maria was animated. There were a lot of "oh my God!" and "oh Liz" and gasps with wide eyes. When she was done, she closed the book. Maria looked stunned. She reached out for her friend.

"Oh Liz, I'm so sorry " she said.

Liz had to work hard not to cry again. She pressed her lips together and laid down with her head in Maria's lap. "I don't know what to do anymore, Maria."

Maria pet her friend's head. Liz has gone through so much here.

"Okay. We can figure this out," she said. "Let's start with the basics. And be honest. No lying Liz Parker. So question: what makes you happy here?"

That was a good question. She paused. "Learning. Helping people. Peter... Now you." She had friends of course, but if you stripped it all down, that was what it came to.

"Okay. And hopefully you're not lying because you know I'm fragile." Maria joked. "So.. you have a boy - who I'm so going to have to meet like asap by the way. And me. I'm obviously fantastic. And you help people and learn... But you're not happy, are you? What steps you afraid of?"

Liz laughed just a little at her first comment, then paused and looked across the room quietly. She thought for a while, not feeling the need to fill in the empty space or talk just for the sake of it.

"I think... I think I'm worried none of this matters."

"What do you mean?" Maria asked. "Like, in general?"

"Maybe... Like what we're doing here isn't real. But maybe...maybe I just feel like." Liz sighed. She couldn't even figure it out. It was frustrating. "With Mr. Stark here and Annie and Thor and everyone else... How do I even compete? How do I matter? I feel like... Like maybe I'm trying too hard and it's just all really one sided. Like maybe I'm trying to hold onto something that's not really there."

Maria played with her friend's hair quietly.

"Do you actually really like this guy?" She asked.

Liz nodded. "More than anyone. More than Max."

Maria felt suddenly angry.

"Forget Max. He's a jerk." She said. So glad I don't have to drop the prom bombshell on her "but this Peter guy sounds kind of nice. Have you told him this stuff?"

Liz shook her head.

"Liz." Maria sighed. "Boys are dumb, okay? They don't pick up on things. Look at Michael. Dumb as bricks. He means well, but he's a mess most of the time. You need to spell it out for him."

Liz nodded in Maria's lap. She knew Maria was right, but somehow it still felt dangerous to bring it up. "What if he doesn't want to be together anymore? What if it's too much?"

"Then... Screw him." She said. "You have me now."

Liz felt the swell of new tears. She didn't want to think that way. She didn't want to have to harden herself, but she knew she felt like Peter was drifting away. She closed her eyes and cried.

Maria frowned again.

"Oh Liz." She said and bent to kiss her friend's head. "Don't worry. We'll figure it out, okay?"

Liz nodded. Maybe if she had Maria's help, she could be stronger.