Making It Work (Sequel M/L AU ADULT) Pt32 10/22 COMPLETE

Finished stories that feature the characters from the show, but there are no aliens. All fics completed on the main AU without Aliens board will eventually be moved here.

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Heavenli24
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:41 am

Re: Making It Work (Sequel, M/L, AU, ADULT) - Pt 30, pg 9, 9/28

Post by Heavenli24 »

Hey, everyone, thanks for your feedback :).

Sorry, I guess I caused some confusion with Liz’s ‘British clothes’ comment. I just meant that clothing styles in London are different from clothing styles in California, so Liz might feel out of place at UCLA. In my experience (and in talking to Americans who have studied abroad in the UK), it seems that British women tend to get much more dressed-up for simple things like going to class or going shopping than US women, who are more casual... so in England, think 4- or 5-inch heels, trendy tops and leggings, dresses, lots of make-up/fake tan/hair extensions… and that’s just in the daytime! If you look at what the celebrities are wearing in the magazines (not the red carpet dresses, but the designer fashions), that’s pretty much what a lot of UK women will be wearing to the mall or even just to the supermarket on a Sunday morning :P.

Lairabehr4 – Thanks :).

keepsmiling7 – Thanks :).
Looks like Liz is getting settled in......
Yep, she is :).
Just curious.....what are "British clothes"..???
See my note at the top :).

Alien_Friend – Thanks :).
Awesome part! It was very pleasant. I'm glad Liz is settling in well in L.A. I would be nervous too. That's lots of big changes at once. Max is really sweet, being the supportive loving boyfriend he is.
Yeah, it looks like things are going well for them at the moment :).
I can't say I won't be sad to see this end though. It's such a joy to read.
Yeah, I sort of don’t want to end it, but at the same time, it’s naturally coming to an end.
Wow that's so cool!!! That's definitely a lot of fun. I didn't know there was going to be a new X-men movie. I was hoping there would be. I can't wait to see it.
Yeah, I didn’t know either, until he told me about it! Anyway, there was a surprise twist from him at the end of last week… he managed to bag himself a stuntman part in the new Pirates of the Caribbean film too! He spent Friday and Saturday dressed up in the soldier costumes they wear in the films and chasing Jack Sparrow’s carriage down a muddy road in the middle of London. He said he was mostly working with the 3 stunt doubles for Jack, but Johnny Depp was in the carriage they were chasing and at one point on Friday my brother was standing about 15 metres away from him!

begonia9508 – Thanks :).
Yeah, I wonder too!!! Do you mean by that f.e. jeans with another label than the ones in the USA? bc it never really entlisted my attention in the USA!
Not so much the labels, but just the style of clothes that people wear in general – in my experience US styles are more casual and laidback than some of the UK styles.
Anyway, loved how well they started their new life together! always exciting such an experience but also complicated... two different caracters and more!


Thanks :). Yeah, it’s not easy moving to a new country and getting used to everything there, but they have each other :).

sarammlover – Thanks :).
Lasagna.....mmmm, that sounds so good. Its almost lunchtime and I am starving. I am glad Liz is finally in LA. It seems things are going really well for those two. I am so happy for them!!!
I love lasagne :). Yeah, things are going well for them now – they’re finally starting a life together and are able to maintain a more normal relationship now.

mary mary – Thanks :).
Well, it looks like things are moving right along here...hope they continue that way, but I don't trust you guys any farther than I can throw you so I'm sure that something will happen before too long.


Don’t worry, we're coming towards the end, so there won’t be too much in their way now :).


***


Part Thirty-One

It took a good couple of weeks for it to happen, but if she was honest, Liz had been expecting it earlier. She’d known it would only be a matter of time before the secret was out and it looked like her nine a.m. Biology lab in the third week of the semester was going to be the inevitable day. She had put some finishing touches to that day’s topic up on the blackboard while her class worked on the lab task and now she was making the rounds of the room, checking that no one had any problems with the assignment. All was going smoothly until she passed a table occupied by two young freshman girls, Josie and Sam, who more often than not, seemed much more interested in gossiping about boys than actually getting on with their class work.

“I’m telling you, it’s her,” whispered Josie urgently as she pointed to something on her lap. “Look, it’s so obvious.”

“It is not,” whispered Sam back. “No way.”

“It is!” insisted Josie. “She even has the same name.”

“Everything okay here, girls?” inquired Liz just then, keeping her voice neutral and focused although her ears were burning with curiosity over what the two girls had been discussing. “Any trouble with the lab today?”

“Oh no, Liz, not at all,” claimed Josie with put-on wide-eyed innocence. “We’re just fine.”

“So, there’s nothing you need help with, then?”

“No, it’s all good,” added Sam.

“Well, okay, then.”

Liz started to turn away towards the next table, but then she heard another whisper from Josie.

“Go on, ask her.”

“Um, Liz?” came Sam’s timid voice a moment later.

“Yep?” she turned back to face the two girls with a smile pasted onto her face. She had an awful feeling that she knew what Sam was about to say.

“I… well, Josie and I were just wondering…” Sam started hesitantly. “Um, is this you?”

The young girl held up a magazine, open to a page containing a picture of Max… and herself… dining at a restaurant in Santa Monica. The picture must have been taken a couple of days ago when they’d spent the day together at the pier.

“Um,” Liz gave a nervous laugh, wracking her brains for a way to answer that without giving too much away. “W-why would you think that?”

“Well, for a start, that woman looks just like you,” cut in Josie eagerly. “Plus, her name is Liz too. That can’t just be a coincidence. So come on, you gotta spill, Liz; how do you know Max Evans?”

“You know Max Evans?” came a shocked gasp from another girl, Carly, sitting a couple of tables away. “Oh my God, that’s so cool!”

“You’re friends with a movie star?” wondered one of the guys. “But you’re from England; how did that happen?”

Liz groaned internally as suddenly the entire class came to life, having overheard the tail end of the conversation and now wanting to know the gossip.

“Okay, okay, everyone. Just calm down and I’ll explain.” Liz held up her hands and walked back to the front of the room. “Okay, yes, I know Max Evans. He’s my boyfriend. We live together here in L.A.”

“Your boyfriend?” Josie’s jaw dropped in shock. “Oh my God, how did you manage that one?”

Liz couldn’t help but try to hide a smile at the starstruck look on the girl’s face, a look that was also now present on the majority of the faces in the room.

“I don’t think you guys need all the details, okay,” she said firmly. “All I can tell you is that we met when he was filming in England earlier this year and now we live here in L.A.”

“Spoilsport,” muttered Sam, as she and Josie exchanged rolls of their eyes.

“Maybe so,” replied Liz, with a stern gaze. “But that’s all you’re getting out of me. Now get on with your assignments, or you’ll have extra homework to contend with this week.”

Thankfully the class started to settle down a couple of minutes later, and Liz let out a sigh of relief as the fascination over her and Max died down. She might have known the questions about their relationship would come eventually, but that didn’t make it any easier to know how to deal with them when they actually arose. She just hoped she hadn’t just opened a whole can of worms by discussing it with her class.

When she got home from school that night, she mentioned the situation to Max, but he didn’t seem too worried about it. In fact, he was barely fazed by the incident at all, which was something that puzzled Liz slightly.

“Look, Liz, something like this was bound to happen eventually,” he reasoned, as they relaxed outside on the patio after dinner, curled up on one of his large sun loungers, enjoying the evening sunshine. “We both knew that.”

“I know,” she sighed, leaning her head back against his T-shirt-clad chest. “It’s just… I guess I’m just not used to so much attention yet. It would be nice to keep some things private, you know?”

“Yeah, it would be nice,” agreed Max, with a hint of sadness in his tone, one that made Liz’s heart ache slightly. “But that’s not how it works when you’re, well, me. Nothing’s private anymore when you’re in the media, you know that.”

“I know,” she repeated. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it though.”

“Look,” he murmured, lowering his mouth to her ear, his warm breath against her skin sending shivers down her spine. “It kills me that you have to be involved in the craziness that is my life and I wish I could keep you out of it, but if we’re going to be together, it’s something that you’re going to have to learn how to deal with too.”

“Yeah,” sighed Liz in resignation. “I get it. I just don’t want to be seen as just ‘Max Evan’s girlfriend’, you know?”

“I’m sorry,” he replied, brushing his lips across her neck. “I know it’s hard; but we’ll handle it, okay? We can’t let things like this come between us.”

“Okay,” she nodded, although she still felt a little hesitant about the whole thing.

“Look, there are plenty of celebrity couples who manage to stay out of the spotlight,” reasoned Max. “We’ll just have to try extra hard not to end up in the papers, okay?”

“Sure.” Liz couldn’t help but smile. “Although, I have a feeling that you’re going to be considered hot gossip for quite a while longer… so really I don’t have a choice but to suck it up and deal with the attention, now do I?”

Max chuckled at that, “I suppose not.”

“I guess I just have to keep going to class every day and not let it affect me, huh?”

“Looks like,” agreed Max.

“So, anyway, enough about me,” Liz changed the subject then. “How was your day?”

“Not much to report,” he admitted. “A couple of meetings with my agent, a long, boring phone call to my accountant… oh, and my mom called this afternoon.”

“Yeah? How is she?”

“She’s great,” he replied with a smile. “Looking forward to meeting you, by the way.”

“Really?” Liz shot him an apprehensive look. “I’m not sure if I’m ready to ‘meet the parents’ yet.”

“What are you talking about? Of course you’re ready,” he countered. “With everything Mom’s heard about you from your parents and from me, she’s eager to get to know you in person.”

“Right, okay.”

“She’s invited us down to Roswell for Thanksgiving,” he revealed then. “What do you think? You up for it?”

“Well, apart from the all-encompassing terror I’m feeling at the thought of meeting your family, I’d say it sounds like a great idea.”

“Come on,” scoffed Max. “It’s not like they’re going to bite your head off or anything. I’ll have you know that my mom and dad are very nice people. You don’t have anything to be scared of, I promise.”

“Well, okay then,” grinned Liz, rolling her eyes at herself in embarrassment. “Let’s go to Roswell for Thanksgiving.”

***

“Are you okay?” asked Max with an amused smile as he and Liz disembarked from the small private plane that had carried them from the Albuquerque Sunport down to the small airport located just outside Roswell. “You look a little… tense.”

“I’m fine,” murmured Liz so softly he barely heard it, as she clasped his hand in hers suddenly.

He frowned suspiciously, “You sure? You’re not worried about this, are you? Because you know that there’s nothing to be worried about. It’s just Thanksgiving.”

“I know that… logically,” she sighed, “but that still doesn’t stop me from being nervous.”

“They’re gonna love you,” he smiled, releasing his hand from hers so he could slip it around her shoulders and hug her to him, as he pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head.

Max was aware that there were a few photographers lurking around – they weren’t doing as good a job of hiding themselves as they obviously thought – but at this point, he didn’t care. He’d been away on a press tour on the east coast for the last couple of weeks and, as Liz couldn’t take any time off from school, he’d had to leave her behind at home while he was away. It had been a tough two weeks on his part, and apparently so on hers too, from what she’d told him, so now that he was back, he was determined to spend as much time with her as possible.

“I hope so,” murmured Liz, her tone apprehensive as they made their way through the small airport building and out to where a car was meeting them.

Max shot a small, sympathetic smile in her direction; he understood her uneasiness over meeting his parents. He would probably have felt the same way had he not met Liz’s family before he’d met Liz herself. He also knew that while she was happy to be here in the US with him, she was also missing home quite a bit right now.

The first few weeks of the school year had been quite stressful for her as she adjusted to an unfamiliar education system and tried to juggle her classes and teaching responsibilities alongside her relationship with him, and sometimes all her emotions would just build up and spill over, causing her to break down in tears. He had tried to do his best to be there for her and help her through the adjustment and homesickness, but sometimes, like the last couple of weeks, that just hadn’t been possible and although she hadn’t admitted it to him, he knew that she’d had a bit of a tough time while he’d been out of state.

“Come on,” he said to her as they approached the shiny black car that was waiting for them outside the terminal. “Let’s go celebrate your first ever Thanksgiving.”

***

The large car came to a stop in the driveway of a relatively normal-looking home in the suburbs of Roswell and Liz let out a shaky sigh as Max thanked their driver and then opened his door and climbed out, shooting her a quick grin as he did so. He made his way around to her side of the car and opened her door in a very gentlemanly-like fashion.

“Why, thank you, Mr. Evans,” she couldn’t help but tease as he held out his hand to her and helped her out of the plush vehicle. “To what do I owe this sudden display of old-fashioned manners?”

“Well,” he shrugged. “My mom raised me to be a gentleman… and well, I don’t want to get into her bad books on my first visit back home in almost a year and a half.”

“A year and a half? Really?” She was surprised that he could go that long without seeing his family.

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, as he took their bags from the driver and gave him a generous tip. “I’ve been busy with a lot of new projects lately.”

“Yeah, I suppose you don’t get much time off,” she agreed with a nod.

“Exactly,” he replied. “I’ve been working pretty much non-stop for months; it doesn’t exactly leave a lot of time for family gatherings. That’s why I decided not to take on another project right after Paris – I wanted to be able to spend more time with you on a regular basis.”

“And I really appreciate that, Max,” she told him sincerely. “I’ve loved being able to see you every day… well, except for the last two weeks, of course.”

“I know,” he told her as he began carrying their bags towards the front door of the house. “But I don’t have any other trips planned in the next few weeks and I’m not filming again until the New Year, and even then, the majority of the shooting will be in L.A., so we’ll have plenty of time to be together.”

“Yeah,” she grinned happily at him. “We will.”

They came to a stop outside the Evans’ door and Max reached out to ring the doorbell.

“You ready?”

She nodded, “I think so.”

“Good. Here goes,” he replied as the door opened to reveal an elegant-looking blonde woman in her late-50s, wearing a large, welcoming smile on her face.

“Max, you’re here!” she exclaimed happily, before reaching out to give him a warm hug. “It’s so good to see you.” Turning her head slightly, her gaze fell on Liz, who shifted uncomfortably beside Max, “Oh, and this must be Liz! It’s wonderful to finally meet you, dear. I’m Diane. Your mom has told me so much about you over the years… oh, and Max has spoken of you quite a bit, of course.”

Liz managed a small, self-conscious smile as Diane Evans pulled her into a tight hug, before gesturing for them to step inside the house.

“Come in, come in,” she insisted, “we can’t have you standing out there in the cold all day.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans,” murmured Liz softly as Max ushered her inside ahead of himself.

“Oh, please, it’s Diane,” insisted Mrs. Evans, placing a motherly arm around Liz’s shoulders and guiding her towards the living room. “‘Mrs. Evans’ makes me sound old!”

Feeling slightly overwhelmed, Liz shot Max a panicked look back over her shoulder, but he simply shrugged and grinned, before nodding towards the stairs and heading up with their bags.

“So, sweetie, how are Nancy and Jeff doing?” continued Diane. “I haven’t spoken to your mom in a few weeks.”

“Oh, they’re great, thanks, Diane,” replied Liz nervously as Max’s mum gestured towards a large comfortable couch in the comfortable living room and she took a seat.

“Nancy and I were so pleased when you two kids got together,” said Diane with a warm, motherly smile. “A match made in heaven.”

“I don’t know that I’d go that far,” murmured Liz, “but, yeah, we definitely hit it off.”

“You make a lovely couple,” Diane assured her. “Anyway, can I get you something to drink? Tea, coffee, orange juice?”

“Tea would be great, thanks,” nodded Liz.

“Lovely,” she smiled. “I’ll just go and put a pot on. Make yourself comfortable; I’m sure Max will be back downstairs in a minute and I’m sure my husband, Phillip, is around here somewhere too.”

“Okay, thanks.”

Diane left the room and Liz took the opportunity to take in her surroundings more fully. The Evans’ home was just like any other family home really, nothing out of the ordinary at all. Liz wasn’t sure exactly what she’d been expecting, to be honest, but judging by the size and splendour of Max’s house in L.A., she’d imagined that his parents might live in a similar sort of luxury. Obviously this was not the case though, but Liz actually found she was glad of that. After the months of expensive hotels, restaurants and cars that she’d experienced with Max, it was nice just to be in a normal setting. It reminded her that Max had once been just a normal kid, like everyone else.

She smiled when she made her way over to the mantelpiece and noticed the photographs placed there. One was a picture of Max, Michael and Isabel Ramirez together on a beach of some kind. Liz couldn’t tell where it was taken, but she was guessing it was a few years old. The next photo was family portrait of Max with his parents at his high school graduation. He looked so much younger in it and she had to grin. Obviously he hadn’t started working out or got a stylist until after he’d moved to L.A.; the Max in the photo was tall and lanky, with black-rimmed glasses and an unflattering side-part in his hair.

“Uh, yeah, not one of my best photos,” came his voice behind her suddenly and Liz jumped in surprise, twirling around to see him standing just a couple of feet away.

“Shit, you scared me!” she exclaimed breathlessly, feeling like she’d just been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

“You okay?” he asked in amusement. “Sorry to leave you alone with her just now.”

“Yeah, I bet you are,” Liz narrowed her eyes suspiciously; he didn’t look all that apologetic. “But I’m fine. She seems nice.”

“She’s great,” he smiled softly. “So, what do you think of my humble abode? Fancy taking the grand tour?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Come on, then,” he said, holding out his hand.

Pending cup of tea forgotten, she took it and he led her out of the living room to show her around the rest of the house.

The ‘grand tour’ only took a total of about ten minutes, but Liz learned a lot about Max and his upbringing in that time. The most interesting part was the tour of his old bedroom… the room that they would be occupying for the next few days. It looked like it had barely been touched since he was a teenager and Liz was pleased to find that his interests back then had been surprisingly similar to hers when she was in high school. In fact, they probably could have been good friends if they’d known each other back then.

“Wow, I just had a random thought,” she murmured as they exited his bedroom and started to head back down to the living room. “If my parents had never moved back to England, we probably would have grown up here together.”

Max stopped walking, looking taken aback for a second, but then his expression relaxed and he grinned, “Yeah, we probably would have.”

“Do you think we would have been friends?”

“Yeah, I do,” he smiled, reaching out to run his thumb down over her cheek, before moving closer and murmuring, “In fact, I think we would have eventually been more than just friends.”

“Really?” Liz smiled, feeling her cheeks heat up in response to Max’s proximity to her.

“Yeah,” he whispered, his lips moving closer and closer to hers and eventually capturing them in a slow, gentle kiss. “Come on, let’s go find my parents.”

By the time they made it back downstairs, they could hear Diane and Phillip talking in the kitchen and so they headed that way instead of into the living room. After introductions were made again, the four of them settled into an easy conversation. Liz offered to help Diane with the cooking, while Max and Phillip sat at the kitchen table, discussing Max’s investments and a situation he was working through with his lawyers.

“Okay,” announced Diane about twenty minutes later, “I think we’re almost set for dinner. We just have to wait for our guests to arrive and then we can eat.”

“Guests?” wondered Max, averting his attention from the conversation with his father to focus on Diane. “You didn’t mention any guests.”

“Just some old friends,” she assured him with a smile. “No need to worry.”

As if on cue, the doorbell rang and Diane left the room to answer it. Liz could hear muffled voices coming from the hallway, but she couldn’t make out anything more. A couple of minutes later though, Diane re-entered the kitchen, with three guests in tow. Liz’s eyes widened when she recognised the first one.

“Isabel?” Max spoke first, standing from the table and giving the newcomers a wide smile. “I didn’t know you were coming home for Thanksgiving. It’s lovely to see you again, Mr. And Mrs. Ramirez.”

“Hey, Max,” nodded Isabel with a smile. “Hi, Liz. Yeah, I didn’t know myself until yesterday. I was supposed to be flying up to San Francisco this weekend, but the trip got cancelled at the last minute, so here I am instead.”

“It’s good to see you again, Isabel,” greeted Phillip, standing up to shake her hand. “Glad you could make it, Sophia, Ben.”

“Liz, I’d like you to meet my parents,” announced Isabel then. “My mom, Sophia and my dad, Ben.” She gestured to each of them in turn. “Mom, Dad, this is Liz Parker, Max’s girlfriend.”

“It’s lovely to meet you, Liz,” Sophia Ramirez smiled warmly, reaching out to shake Liz’s hand. “We’ve heard a lot about you from Diane and Phillip.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

“So, is this everyone? Can we eat now?” wondered Max then. “’Cause I’m getting’ hungry.”

“Patience, Max,” Diane rolled her eyes at Liz, and Liz giggled in response. “Honestly, you’re just the same as in high school: controlled by your appetite. And no, this isn’t everyone; there are still four more to arrive.”

The doorbell didn’t ring again for several more minutes, by which time the seven of them were seated in the living room with glasses of wine. This time, Phillip got up to answer the door, as Diane was engaged in conversation with Isabel and Sophia about the wardrobe for her latest film and Liz and Max were chatting to Ben about the differences between US and UK food. However, Liz’s attention was immediately diverted towards the hallway when she heard an unmistakably familiar voice coming from the front door. Her eyes widened in shock and her gaze snapped to Max’s who had apparently heard the voice as well.

“It can’t be,” she murmured softly, almost to herself and she stood up as Phillip returned to the living room.

“Lizzie! Oh my God!” came the excited voice of her best friend as she barrelled into the room, followed closely by Michael and two older people, who she could only assume were his parents. “It’s so good to see you again.”

“Maria?!” managed Liz as she found herself swept up into a tight hug. “I can’t believe… what are you doing here?”

“Well,” grinned Maria, when she finally pulled away. “Michael’s parents wanted us to come home for Thanksgiving, but he didn’t think he could take the time off from uni to fly out here. Then, when Diane called him too and told him that you and Max would be visiting for the holiday too, I kind of persuaded him to come. So, anyway, how are you? How’s L.A. life been treating you?”

“It’s good, Maria; it really is,” replied Liz, shooting Max a smile, which he returned briefly before turning to greet Michael. “It’s great being with Max again.”

“Yeah, I bet it is,” muttered Maria, with a smirk.

“And UCLA is good too. Well, it’s hard work, but it’s good. My students all know about Max now though,” she chuckled softly. “For the first couple of weeks after they found out, they could hardly stop asking me about him, but it’s settled down a bit now.”

“Well, I would just like to say that I think California is definitely agreeing with you,” declared Maria. “You look really healthy, all tanned and everything.”

“Thanks, Maria,” grinned Liz. “You don’t look too shabby yourself though. Is that a new haircut?”

“Yeah, you like?”

Liz and Maria continued to catch up until Diane announced that it was time for dinner. Everyone filed into the dining room and took their seats, while Diane and Phillip began bringing in various plates of food. Thanksgiving dinner certainly was a special event, decided Liz, as she tucked into the delicious meal. The atmosphere in the Evans’ house was warm and welcoming and she felt right at home with Max and his family and friends. Despite the absence of her own parents, the whole day was a wonderful experience; one that she definitely wanted to repeat in the future.

TBC…
User avatar
Heavenli24
Obsessed Roswellian
Posts: 587
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:41 am

Re: Making It Work (Sequel, M/L, AU, ADULT) - Pt 31, pg 10, 10/6

Post by Heavenli24 »

Okay, so this is it: the end of the road… this part is the last one of the story! It’s been a long journey since I started writing it (almost 3 years ago!) – I’ve been through a move to a different country, a move back again, a job offer, the job being withdrawn, 2 months of travelling, the job being offered to me again and finally starting the job this week! It was originally my plan to get this finished back in January before I went travelling, but obviously that didn’t happen… so my latest goal was to get it finished before I started the new job – I did manage to finish writing it last week, but wasn’t able to post until now :).

I’m hoping to get started on writing something new soon (there’s a Christmas story in the works, if I have time to write it), but it looks like the job is going to be pretty intense for the next few months as it’s a training course, so I’ll have to see how it goes (I’ve already had 2 exams just in the first week)!

Anyway, thank you for all your feedback and for being patient when I wasn’t able to update regularly and I hope you enjoy the final part:

mary mary – Thanks :).
Great chapter and so appropriate...those damned, I mean, those holidays are almost here again. You do reach a point in your life when you just wish they wouldn't happen anymore. It's just so much nicer to visit without all of that work!!! Semi kidding here.
Lol – no Thanksgiving for me here in England… since we don’t celebrate it here, so the only holiday we have to worry about is Christmas!

Lairabehr4 – Thanks :).
I like you and your British clothes. And I'll see them in Italy soon!
:) – not sure about Italy at the moment, but hopefully :).

Alien_Friend – Thanks :).
What a great surprise. They all make a great family. I'm glad Maria and Michael got to come for a visit.

What a good first thanksgiving moment.
Yeah, I thought it would be nice for them all to be together on Thanksgiving :).
Very cool twist! That's awesome he got the opportunity to do that.
Yeah, it was really cool :). He’s finished with the filming for a while now though, as right now he’s on his way to Abu Dhabi for 4 months (he’ll be performing in stunt shows at the new Ferrari theme park there)!

keepsmiling7 – Thanks :).
Nice holiday gathering.....glad Max didn't take another project yet.
Yeah, he’s going to be sticking around in L.A. for a while, although he might take on some work closer to home in the meantime.

Natalie36 – Thanks :).
great new part. are there any curves to come into play with max and liz or is this happy ville?
I’d say no more curves and happy ville now, since this is the last part :).

begonia9508 – Thanks :).
Nice Thanksgiving day for them! ... and especially for Liz with Maria and Michael arrivals!
Yeah, I figured they should all get to spend the holiday together… especially as Michael is from Roswell too and grew up with Max and Isabel :).
It's normal that people are curious knowing that she is Max's girlfriend: the balance is to know what to tell and what not!
Yeah, and that must be a difficult thing to decide!

sarammlover – Thanks :).
FUN!! I love all the surprise guests that came to dinner. I loved it!! hugs, Sara
Thanks :).

zaneri1 – Thanks :).
Hi I'm briefly back. I just need it something light & happy to read and thought of this story right away. I really enjoyed these two chapters. It's good to see everybody together for Thanksgiving. Hopefully Max & Liz will continue to enjoy and be open w/eachother.
I’m glad you thought of this story :) – it was my intention to make it a fairly light, angst-free story. Yeah, I think Max and Liz have a good future ahead of them.

Rowedog – Thanks :).
I just finished reading Yule Log and quickly read all the existing chapters of this one and I have to say that they're both totally adorable fics.
Thank you, I’m glad you’ve enjoyed reading them :).
Max is so sweet with Liz and I'm glad that they've really tried to give it a go, as opposed to just giving up because of the distance.
Yeah, I can imagine that dealing with the distance as well as with Max’s movie star status must be difficult, so the fact that they made it through it all is pretty amazing :).
I'm also pleased that Liz can catch up with Maria for a bit, because it must be hard to make friends in a new town, especially when your boyfriend is so high profile.
It was a great surprise for Liz to see Maria again and to be able to catch up with her :).


***


Part Thirty-Two

After the trip to Roswell for Thanksgiving, the weeks running up to Christmas passed quickly for Liz, as she tried to juggle her own school work with organising finals and grading homework assignments for her students. Some days she had found herself staying in her office in the Biology department until gone seven o’clock in the evening, something that Max hadn’t been too happy about, considering that he didn’t have any projects to work on at the moment and had tried to make himself as available as possible to spend time with her. With him complaining about the lack of time they’d managed to spend together lately and all the pressure on her to get good grades and keep up with the demands of being a TA, the closer it got to the end of the semester, the more stressed Liz became, until one Friday night in early December, just before finals were due to begin, she couldn’t take it anymore.

The day had started off badly, due to her alarm not going off on time, which made her late getting to campus, and it only got worse when her professors piled on the study materials and revision sessions, and by the time Liz was able to leave her office and head home, she was exhausted.

“Hey, I’m home,” she called to Max, as she let herself in through the front door and placed her bags down in the foyer.

“In the kitchen,” came his muffled voice from down the corridor.

With a smile, Liz made her way through the large house, walking in the direction of his voice, but she stopped dead in the kitchen doorway when she saw him sitting at the table, his arms folded across his chest and an impatient frown marring his normally open and friendly features.

“Hey,” she murmured in puzzlement. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re home late,” he stated, his expression remaining unchanged. “Again.”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Liz sighed, shaking her head as she made her way over to him. “Long day.”

She moved to loop her arms around his neck from behind, but her fingers barely touched the fabric of his shirt before he shrugged off the gesture and stood up, turning to face her. Liz couldn’t stop the feeling of hurt that spread through her at his rejection and she was sure that it showed on her face.

“What’s going on, Max?”

He sighed heavily, his expression serious, “You said you’d be home by six tonight, Liz, and now it’s almost eight o’clock.”

“I know I did,” she replied, “but it was one thing after another today and I couldn’t get away any sooner.”

“That’s what you said last night, and the night before,” he reminded her.

“Well, it’s the truth,” she told him. “I have work that has to be done and studying I have to do for finals, and sometimes I have to stay late. I don’t like it any more than you do, but I don’t really have a choice.”

“I understand that,” he nodded tersely, “but you promised that today you’d be home earlier.”

“I know I did,” she sighed heavily. “And I tried my best, I really did, but if I want to pass my finals next week, I need to put some extra time in.” She frowned then, “I know it’s not the best scenario, but you’ve been okay about this every other night; what’s so special about this one?”

“Because, Liz,” he closed his eyes briefly as he exhaled slowly, “tonight I booked us a table at Cicada. You know, the restaurant you’ve been dying to go to ever since you read that review in the LA Times?”

“Really?” Liz’s eyes widened in surprise. “We’re going to Cicada?”

“No, we were going to Cicada,” he corrected. “I know you’ve been stressed lately and I wanted us to have a nice, relaxing, romantic evenings; but the table was booked for seven-thirty and now we’ve missed it because you weren’t here.”

“Oh, God, I’m sorry, Max!” she exclaimed apologetically, her hand coming up to cover her mouth. “Why didn’t you tell me? I would have tried to get home earlier.”

“It was supposed to be a surprise,” he responded pointedly. “And since you said you’d be home early today, I didn’t think it would be a problem.”

“Shit, Max,” sighed Liz, taking a step closer to him. “I’m really sorry.”

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged noncommittally. “It’s done now.”

“It’s just…” she exhaled heavily, sinking down onto the chair he’d vacated a few moments ago. “…well, everything’s so hard at the moment. I’m getting kinda swamped with all this school work and it feels like there aren’t enough hours in the day to get everything done.” She looked up at him; his stance was still tense with annoyance, but his expression had softened slightly. “I want to spend more time with you, I really do, but this grad school thing is turning out to be much harder than I thought it would be and I’m struggling to cope with it all.”

“Oh, Lizzie,” murmured Max softly, as he took a seat beside her at the table and reached out to take her hand in his. “I’m sorry for getting pissed off just now. I guess when you came over here, I just didn’t realise how much of your time was going to be taken up with school.”

Liz just nodded, as she felt a lump in her throat and tears beginning to swell up in her eyes.

Max looked at her in concern, “Is it really that bad?”

She shook her head, trying to compose herself before the tears started to fall, but it was no good; all of the emotions that had been building up inside her for the last few days came tumbling out.

“I don’t know what to do, Max,” she cried, a small sob escaping her lips. “There’s so much pressure to do well and not enough time to get all the work done. I don’t know if I can do it much longer.”

“Hey, hey, come here,” he said gently, moving closer and pulling her into his arms. “It’s gonna be okay.”

His soothing words were all it took for Liz to let go. She collapsed against his chest, giving into her tears as she let out all the bottled-up emotions that had been building inside her the last couple of weeks.

“I don’t want to do this anymore, Max,” she murmured, between sobs. “I want to be with you, but it’s hard to adjust to everything; grad school isn’t how I thought it would be, and apart from you, I don’t really have anyone here.”

“Oh, Liz…” said Max gently, his grip tightening around her. “I’m sorry.”

“I miss home,” she admitted then, fresh tears sliding down her face. “I miss London, I miss my family, and Maria and Michael.”

“I know,” he comforted. “I know it must be hard for you, but I’m here to help you. You’ll get through this, okay?”

“I just… I feel wrong, Max. Like my world has gone all off-balance and I can’t quite make it right.”

“Look,” said Max, pulling back and lifting his hand to her cheek as he looked down into her eyes. “What you’re feeling is normal, okay? It’s a big adjustment to move so far from home, especially to a new country. I felt the same way when I first moved out here to L.A. and even though I’ve been here for several years now, the only place that really feels like home to me is Roswell.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded, giving her a gentle smile. “Look, I have an idea. After you’ve finished your finals and school lets out, how would you feel about spending Christmas in England?”

“What?” Liz wondered in surprise, her heart skipping a beat at his words. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, really,” Max nodded, smiling widely. “You can go home, see your parents, catch up with your friends… whatever you want to do.”

“I’d love that,” she replied, straightening quickly and wrapping her arms around his neck. “It would mean so much to me. Thank you.”

She pressed her lips to his, pouring all of her emotions into the kiss as she held onto him tightly.

“No need to thank me,” he told her softly when they parted. “I would do anything to make you happy.”

“Don’t,” she shook her head, giving him a watery smile. “You’re gonna make me cry all over again.”

“But they’d be happy tears, right?” he looked down at her for confirmation, an eyebrow raised in question.

Liz simply nodded in response, not trusting her voice to remain steady right now and Max shot her a grin.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too, Max.”

***

So, just two and a half weeks later, Liz found herself on a plane with Max, flying first-class from Los Angeles to London. It was only three days before Christmas now and the closer she got to home, the more festive she started feeling. Despite all the decorations and the carols playing everywhere, she’d found it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit in California and she blamed it on the weather… to Liz, Christmas was about cold, frosty mornings, seeing your breath in front of you when you went outside in your thick coat, gloves and scarf and curling up in front of the fire with a cup of hot chocolate. However, Christmas time in Southern California was pretty much lacking in all of these things; for one, the temperature was still in the 60’s in L.A. – a good 25 degrees warmer than London would be when they landed in a few hours and there. You couldn’t really do the ‘snuggling up in front of the fire with a mug of hot chocolate’ thing very well when outside it was as warm as London in August!

Unfortunately, though, Liz had a slightly different opinion of the cold English weather when they finally landed at Heathrow and made their way out to their car, through the crowd of reporters and paparazzi who had congregated in the terminal when they heard that ‘Max Evans and his girlfriend’ were arriving that morning. The air outside was bitingly cold and Liz began shivering as soon as she stepped out of the warm building, suddenly wishing she’d worn a thicker jacket today. Beside her, she saw Max glance at her in concern, but she just shook her head and, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm, she headed straight for the car that was waiting for them and climbed inside. Max followed shortly afterwards, having helped the driver load their luggage into the back, and he immediately pulled her to his side as they relaxed back against the comfortable seats.

“Tired?” he murmured when Liz yawned loudly and let her head rest against his chest.

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, her eyes drifting closed, despite the fact that she knew she should try to stay awake to get over the jetlag. “Glad to be home too, though.”

“Yeah.”

The journey to their London hotel was spent in comfortable silence as both Max and Liz tried not to give in to exhaustion. Originally, Nancy and Jeff had offered to pick them up from the airport and Liz had been keen on that idea; however, Max had pointed out that it would be best for them to arrive in as low-key a fashion as possible, due to the media attention they were bound to accumulate on their trip and instead he’d suggested that they spend the night in London first, before travelling over to her parent’s house South Gloucestershire the next day. Plus, he’d reasoned, it would give her a chance to catch up with Maria and Michael again before they left London.

When they reached the hotel, Liz’s first priority was to hop onto the large, comfortable bed in their room and call Maria from her UK mobile phone. She could see Max playfully rolling his eyes at her as she chatted to her friend and arranged to meet with her and Michael for lunch tomorrow, before he headed towards the bathroom to freshen up. Liz’s eyes followed him as he gave her a grin and then disappeared through the bathroom door, and as soon as she could, she got off the phone with Maria and then headed after him.

“Hey,” she murmured, leaning against the doorframe as she watched him remove his shirt to reveal the taught, defined muscles of his torso. Her hungry gaze involuntarily drifted down his chest and over his stomach, and it would have gone lower if his low chuckle hadn’t snapped her out of her daze.

“I thought you were tired,” grinned Max, as she licked her lips and moved towards him.

“And I thought we were supposed to stay awake for as possible,” she countered. “What better way to stay awake than to, I don’t know… share a shower?”

“A shower, huh?” Max raised an eyebrow as he glanced at the pristine walk-in shower in the corner of the room. “I think I could just about manage a shower.”

“Well, all right then,” grinned Liz as she pulled her shirt over her head and stepped closer to him. “Come on, let’s go.”

She couldn’t help but let out a small giggle as his now-heated gaze dropped from her face and skimmed down over her bra-clad chest. His hands came up to rest on her hips and he pulled her close to kiss her deeply, as Liz reached for the button on his jeans. They undressed each other eagerly as Max backed her towards the shower and then reached out to turn the water on. Liz slid her arms around his neck, tugging him to her and kissing him hungrily as they stepped under the hot spray of water. Pressing her against the cool tiles of the shower walls, Max explored her body with his hands, cupping her breasts in his palms and then running his thumbs across her nipples, before tracing gentle patterns down over her ribs and stomach. His right hand came down to the back of her thigh and hiked her leg up over his hip, his mouth swallowing her aroused gasp as she felt his arousal pressing against her intimately. Breaking their kiss for a moment, Max lifted his head, his smoldering gaze boring down into her eyes as he gave her a small smile.

”I love you,” he murmured roughly, before pushing into her, making her gasp with pleasure in response.

“Love… you… too,” she managed between small sighs and moans as he moved within her.

Liz let her hands roam across Max wet, naked skin, savouring everything about this moment as they made love in the steamy shower. Suddenly, all the worry and stress that she’d been trying to deal with over the last few weeks didn’t matter anymore. Everything she was going through now really was worth it to be with Max on a more permanent basis. Over the last few months, he’d gone from being a guy she loved spending time with–who just happened to be great in bed too–to being completely and totally in love with the most amazing man on the planet, and she wished she could just stay with him like this forever.

***

Max couldn’t help but grin with contentment as he glanced over at Liz, who was asleep in the passenger seat of the rental car they’d hired to drive to her parents’ house. Despite each of them getting over twelve hours of sleep the night before, he knew that the pressure of finals and all her schoolwork had really taken it out of her lately, so it wasn’t surprising that she was still exhausted. He didn’t really mind that she was asleep right now though, as the quiet gave him some time to think.

They had almost reached the Parkers’ house when Liz eventually woke, stretching lazily and letting out a loud yawn before opening her eyes to look at Max with a sleepy smile.

“Good evening, sleepyhead,” he grinned. “Good sleep?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, before wincing and lifting a hand to the back of her neck. “Except my neck is really sore now.”

“Come here,” suggested Max, holding the wheel with one hand as he raised the other to her neck and began kneading her stiff muscles.

“That feels good,” she murmured in response, her eyes sliding closed as she relaxed into his touch.

“We’re almost there,” he told her a few minutes later. “You can relax properly soon.”

“Mmm,” she sighed. “Looking forward to it.”

He shot her a smile, before sliding his hand from her neck and placing it back on the steering wheel again as he exited the motorway and began navigating the car towards Liz’s home town.

“So, remind me again what our plans are for the next few days?” he asked.

Liz moved her head from side to side a couple of times, as she replied, “Well, tonight, I said I’d meet everyone at the pub–you’re welcome to join us too, if you’d like–then tomorrow it’ll be the usual preparations for Christmas…. I’ve got to bake the Yule Log again.” She smirked and Max grinned, remembering last year’s Yule Log baking experience very well. “Then we’re heading to the outdoor ice rink again in the evening.”

“Sounds great,” agreed Max. “Very reminiscent of last Christmas, huh?”

“Yep,” nodded Liz enthusiastically, her sore neck apparently forgotten for the moment. “I like to stick to tradition at Christmas.”

“Well, I’m looking forward to it,” he decided, grinning inwardly as he thought about what the next couple of days would entail.

“Me too.”

They reached Liz’s family home a few minutes later and as he parked the car outside, Max looked up at the familiar house with a feeling of nostalgia as he recalled that it had been exactly a year ago that he’d first met Nancy and Jeff… and Liz.

***

The next twenty-four hours pretty much flew by as Liz found herself overwhelmed by being back home – first her parents pulled her into a huge three-way hug and then insisted she tell them all about life in L.A. over dinner. After dinner, she and Max headed out to the pub to catch up with Serena, Kyle and Alex over a few drinks. She’d been slightly worried that Max might attract too much attention, but it turned out that hardly anyone even batted an eyelid. He was approached by a couple of teenagers having dinner with their parents at the pub, but luckily they had been placated with an autograph and a photo with him and after that they left him alone.

The next morning, Nancy and Jeff headed out to do some last minute Christmas shopping, leaving Max and Liz alone in the house. They started off the day with a lazy lie-in, still trying to sleep off the rest of their jetlag, before Max headed to the bathroom to shower, while Liz made him a traditional English breakfast, which they ate in front of the TV in the living room. After breakfast, Liz took the opportunity to shower as well, before heading back down to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the Yule Log. Max joined her in the kitchen a few minutes later and offered to help her out with the baking… needless to say though, it took much longer than it should have to finish, and by the time it was in the oven, the kitchen was a complete mess and Max and Liz weren’t much cleaner either!

They spent the afternoon relaxing around the house, before heading upstairs to get ready for ice skating around 7 p.m. As they walked to the rink together thirty minutes later, Liz found herself glancing over at Max curiously on more than one occasion; something was off with him tonight: he seemed quieter than usual, almost jittery, as they walked.

“What?” he questioned, somewhat uncomfortably when he caught her watching him on one of those times.

”Nothing,” she denied. “It’s just… are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” he said quickly. “Why wouldn’t I be fine?”

Liz frowned, “I don’t know – you tell me.”

“I’m great, Liz. Honest,” he smiled, slipping his arm around her shoulder as they walked. “Come on, we’re almost there.”

Liz still felt a little confused by his behaviour, but she shrugged it off and continued walking with him. It was only when they rounded the corner and reached the location of the rink that she knew for sure that something was up. For a start, there was no one on the ice at all, despite the fact that the rink was brightly lit and definitely open. Then, a glance towards the ticket booth showed a large sign stating ‘Rink Closed for Private Party’, which confused Liz even more: it was Christmas Eve and the rink should be heaving, so why would they close it for a private party and risk losing out on all that money?

“Max?” she turned to him questioningly. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” he claimed innocently, although she wasn’t entirely convinced. “Come on, let’s go get some skates on.”

“But… it says they’re closed for a private party,” she protested, as he started leading her towards the skate hire area.

“I know,” he shot her a grin. “We’re the private party.”

“What? No,” she shook her head in denial. “We can’t be.”

“We are,” he chuckled as they reached the skate booth and began removing their shoes.

“But… how?” she wondered in amazement, handing her shoes to the clerk and requesting her size in skating boots.

“I called in a favour,” he confessed with a shrug. “You know, it’s amazing what people will do for you when you’re a movie star.”

Liz couldn’t help but give an amused scoff, “I can’t believe you did this.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, I do,” she said quickly, taking her skates from the clerk and sitting down to put them on. “It just seems a bit… much, that’s all.”

“Liz,” smiled Max, grabbing his skates too and taking a seat beside her. “Just relax and accept that I wanted to do this for you, okay?”

“Okay,” she rolled her eyes at herself and shot him a smile.

She quickly laced up her skates and stood up as she waited for Max to finish his. When he stood up too, he took her hand and led her over to the empty ice rink. The ice was smooth and clean, having not been used yet this evening, and Liz couldn’t help the excited smile that spread across her face at the thought of having the entire rink all to themselves this evening.

“You ready?” Max asked from beside her.

“Yep.”

They stepped out onto the ice and almost immediately Liz let her hand slip out of his and, letting her instincts take over, began skating across the slightly slippery ice. It was only when she heard Max clear his throat from behind her and she turned to see him standing unsteadily at the side of the rink, his hand grasping the barrier tightly, that she realised she’d abandoned him. Quickly, she skated back over to him with an apologetic smile.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to leave you here.”

“S’okay,” he smiled. “I’m just not that great on ice skates.”

“I remember,” she smiled, remembering how he’d practically crashed right into her on the rink last Christmas, before holding out her hand to him. “Come on, we’ll go round together.”

Max took her hand and she carefully led him further onto the rink, allowing him to adjust to the unfamiliar feeling of balancing on just two thin blades. It took a few minutes, but soon Max was moving across the ice with a little more ease and a lot more confidence. They skated for about twenty minutes, mostly together, but a couple of times Liz skated a couple of laps on her own, just enjoying the feel of the cold wind flowing through her hair as she moved faster than skating with Max would allow. After one of her laps though, Max motioned for her to join him in the centre of the rink. With a nod, she headed towards him, but misjudged the distance slightly and instead of coming to a graceful stop in front of Max, she went ploughing into him, knocking both of them to the floor.

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she gasped apologetically as she scrambled to stand up again, before reaching out her hand to help him up too.

“Don’t,” he shook his head, not taking her hand, as he shot a quick glance towards the ticket booth area.

“What?” Liz frowned in puzzlement; didn’t he want her to help him up?

She saw him open his mouth, but before he could say anything, the rink’s glaring floodlights suddenly shut off and several strings of Christmas lights lit up instead, bathing them both in a multitude of soft colours.

“Max?” she wondered curiously, gazing around her at the breathtaking display. “What’s going on?”

He just gave her a soft smile, before clambering slightly ungracefully to his knees and reaching for her hand.

“Liz, it’s been exactly a year since I first laid eyes on you and my life hasn’t been the same since,” he started softly, his thumb gently grazing her hand, sending shivers down her spine. “The last thing I ever expected was to fall in love with you, but I did, and now I can’t imagine what my life would be without you in it.”

“Oh my God,” murmured Liz, her eyes widening in realisation at what he was about to say to her.

“I love you so much, more than I ever thought it was possible to love one person,” he told her earnestly, reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a small, black box, opening it up to reveal the most beautiful diamond ring she’d even seen in her life. “Liz Parker, will you marry me?”

“Max…” she breathed in awe. “I… um… wow! I don’t know what to say.”

“Well, you know, a ‘yes’ would be nice,” he gave her a nervous half-smile.

“Oh my God, yes!” she exclaimed suddenly. “Definitely yes.”

“Really?” His small smile widened into a grin as she nodded and he exhaled in relief. “Oh, thank God.”

Liz grinned happily as she kneeled down on the ice in front of him, flinging her arms around his neck and kissing him deeply. She felt his arms come around her and he hugged her to him tightly. However, just a few moments later, they were interrupted by the sound of clapping and Liz lifted her head to find the ice rink staff watching them from the side of the rink.

“Um,” she whispered, embarrassed. “We have company.”

“I don’t care,” he grinned, moving to kiss her again.

“I do,” she responded. “Maybe we should get out of here… go somewhere more private?”

“Sounds like a plan,” he replied after a moment. “But first, I need to give you this.”

He removed his arms from her waist and reached into the small jewellery box, extracting the sparkling ring. With a grin, Liz held out her left hand and watched in a slight state of shock as he slid it onto her finger and kissed her again.

As they walked home arm-in-arm a few minutes later, Liz couldn’t keep the wide smile off her face. It was Christmas, she was at home with her family and friends, and she was engaged to the most gorgeous man on the planet.

Life was perfect.

End
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