Maggie Declares her Love for Bianca (Soap Opera Digest - June 22, 2004) It's the moment BAM fans have been waiting for on All My Children, but thought would never come: Maggie finally 'fesses up to Bianca about her true feelings for her "best friend". "It's about time!" exults Elizabeth Hendrickson (Maggie), who almost couldn't believe her eyes when she received the fateful script. "When I read the scene where Maggie tells Bianca she loves her, I was sure that the next day, Maggie would backpedal like she always does, like, 'I meant, "I love you as a friend,"'" she admits. "I was so excited to get the next script and find out that she doesn't backpedal. She's honest, forward and open about her feelings. It took her two-and-a-half years, but she does it!" Exactly how does she do it? At the beginning of the week, Maggie comes dangerously close to wearing her heart on her sleeve when Bianca asks to crash at Maggie's pad. "Bianca says, 'I'll just sleep on the couch.' And Maggie's like, 'Screw the couch! Sleep in my bed.' And it comes out sounding like an invitation to...cuddle," Hendrickson giggles. Maggie, of course, covers her near-slip. "She's like, 'Uh, I mean, you sleep in my bed and I'll sleep in Jamie's'." But the close quarters lead to another close call when the gals join Babe and Jamie for a drinking game. ("It's like a PG version of 'I Never,'" explains Hendrickson.) During the game, Maggie reveals that she has lied to Bianca, which earns her a grilling. "Bianca asks, 'What did you lie to me about?" Maggie doesn't want to tell her, so Bianca backs off. But then Maggie says, 'No, you deserve to know. It's about time I told you.'" So Maggie comes clean about that lip lock she planted on Bianca back in February - namely, that it wasn't as innocent as Maggie had pretended it to be. "And then," previews Hendrickson, "she just flat-out says it: 'I think I'm in love with you.'" But, sighs the actress, Bianca "doesn't really give Maggie the response she was hoping for. She turns her down and says she's still in love with Lena; that even though Lena is in Poland, they're committed to each other." Maggie is disappointed, but tries not to show it. "She says to Bianca, 'Look, I'm confused. I don't know if I'm gay or straight or if I'm just in love with you. But my feelings are very strong; can you help me understand them?'" Bianca, true to form, pledges her support. And that's enough for Maggie, at least for now. "The last thing Maggie wants to do is lose Bianca," Hendrickson observes. "She knows that by jumping into something with Bianca, that would become a major possibility. She's not going to use Bianca as her guinea pig. Maggie is going through something a lot of women and men her age are going through; she's questioning her sexuality. And she wants to sit with her feelings and figure them out better so she doesn't risk the friendship." It's a development Hendrickson welcomes - and hopes viewers will, as well. " I know the story is a little controversial, but i hope everyone accepts and embraces it," she declares. "And," she laughs, "I hope they don't say, 'It took her too long; we don't care anymore!'" What is at the root of Maggie's feelings for Bianca? Elizabeth Hendrickson says: "They're soul mates. They have an emotional bond that is stronger than Maggie has ever had with anyone."