Deliver Me -[AU M/L] ~{COMPLETE}~

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: DON'T HATE ME. REMEMBER I'M A DREAMER. AND I HATE THE THOUGHT OF MAX and TESS. I WILL ASSURE YOU THAT MAX AND TESS DO NOT HAVE SEX. That's the only thing I'll tell you. And that things might get worse before they get better....but just bear with me!!! I promise my assurance that I'm a DREAMER is all I can give you, even though I don't want to assure you about anything in the story. ENJOY... and be nice! lol. But you can be Honest.

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Part Thirty - Max POV

“Max, are you okay?”

I rolled over on my bed to look at my door, where Maria and Michael were standing. They both looked really concerned, and I’m not surprised. Other than for school and football, I hadn’t left my house in almost a week. I just couldn’t get myself to get out of bed.

“No,” I groaned, my voice muffled by my covers.

I really wasn’t. Liz was lying to me, and I just couldn’t take it. Well, I didn’t know if she was lying for sure, but I still couldn’t believe 100% that she would do something like sleep with Sean. I’m not an idiot, and I wasn’t confused in my feelings for her, and I know that hers at been sincere as well. But how do you deny what someone is yelling in your face?

I hadn’t talked to Liz since Sunday, when I had gone to her house. Maybe I didn’t believe that she had slept with Sean, but I could believe what she had said before I left her house. This wasn’t worth it to her. How could it be? I mean could I really blame her for not wanting to be threatened and yelled at every day. She had been kicked off the cheerleading squad and the only people who even talked to her anymore were Alex, Kyle, and Serena.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted to talk to her, but I knew that was a bad idea. She didn’t seem to want to talk to me and I wasn’t going to do something she didn’t want. Plus, Maria and Michael were being really helpful and telling me that they were going to fix everything that happened.

“This isn’t the end of the world, you know?” Maria asked sympathetically. “We can get everything back to normal. It’ll just take some cooperation on your part.”

Cooperation. Maria wanted me to go out to a party tonight and meet some new people. Maybe I could find a girl that I liked and just have a little fun for once. If the people of the West side saw me like normal, and then if we were to win the Championship Game against the East Side that was in two weeks, they might go back to the way things were before.

The title and leadership didn’t really mean anything to me anymore, but right now I felt really alone. I needed my friends back, and the only way to do that would be to get everyone back on my side. I just hoped it worked. I hated feeling as alone as I felt. Things needed to change and it needed to happen now.

“What do you want me to do, Maria?”

She smiled, and pulled me from my bed. “First of all, go shower! You smell so bad. When you’re done put on the outfit I’m going to lay on your bed and then you, my friend, are coming out with us to Stacey Trueborn’s party.”

Maria had her don’t mess with me look on her face, so I agreed and walked to my bathroom. I heard them talking outside the door, but just ignored their common bickering and jumped in the shower. It felt really good to sort of wash away everything that had happened in the past few days, and when I was finished I didn’t even feel like climbing out.

Maria and Michael waited patiently while I got dressed and then they force-fed me some of the Crashdown’s food because I also hadn’t eaten much in the past few days and I wasn’t looking so hot. I still didn’t feel completely right, but I didn’t want to disappoint Maria especially after what a good friend she had been lately. She had sat me down and talked to me about Liz, and how maybe things were just to hard. I didn’t like listening to it, but she made some good points, that was another reason I was out tonight.

“Ready to go?” she asked impatiently, pushing me out of the door.

“Well, if I said no, would you listen?”

She smiled and continued pushing me out of the door. Michael followed, hopping into the driver’s seat and waiting as Maria and I climbed in. We started driving, but turned left on Main Street instead of right, which is where the party was.

“Where are we going?” I asked, staring out of my window.

“We just need to make a quick stop to pick someone up,” Maria replied nonchalantly but I wondered whom she could be talking about.

We pulled up to the house and Michael honked the horn. After a few minutes, Tess ran out, a huge smile on her face as she waved hi to the three of us. She jumped into the back with Maria and they immediately began giggling and talking in the back seat. Michael and I rolled our eyes at each other.

We pulled up to Stacey’s and walked in. I looked around for people I recognized, but really I was looking for Liz. Just because we weren’t talking and she had basically broken my heart, even though I didn’t really believe what had happened, I still wanted to see her. I spotted Stacey and said a quick hello to be polite.

“Max! I'm so glad you could make it!” she said over the music. She pulled me into a quick hug and then pulled away, making her way back to the crowd.

I stood there for a second, thinking about how weird that was. People were acknowledging me, which was a change from what had been happening before. Had people heard about what happened with Liz? The only people who knew about it were Michael, Tess, and Maria, and I don’t think they would’ve told anybody.

I grabbed a beer from the cooler and walked around the house, finding Michael. We took up a spot on the wall together and continued to scan the party. Maria and Tess had disappeared, and I still hadn’t seen Liz. Some more people said hi to me, and I looked at Michael who was avoiding my gaze.

“Is it just me, or are people being really friendly tonight?”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

I turned to look at him. “What do you know that I don’t?”

He didn’t say anything at first, but then turned to face me. “People know, Max.”

“People know what?”

“They know about what Liz did to you. So, Maria had to spin the truth and tell them that you were cheating on her with Tess and setting her up to be embarrassed.”

I was shocked. People knew? I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want people to know anything. It wasn’t their business. I wanted to scream, and find something really hard to punch at the same time, but Michael tried his best to get me to stop seeing red and actually take a breath.

“It’s okay, man. I mean, people are accepting you again. That’s what you wanted, right?”

He didn’t understand though. No one could understand, and I hated this whole situation. I hated Liz for doing this, whatever her reasons were. People thought I was with Tess, too, which was something else entirely. I didn’t want people to link me with Tess. I didn’t like Tess that way and I had no intention of being with Tess in that way.

As if on cue, Maria and Tess showed up. Maria took one look at me and immediately knew something was wrong. She looked to Michael, who just gave her a look. She knew what he was talking about without another word.

“I’m sorry, Max. We had to do it, and it was the only way. Once people started asking us about what happened with you and Liz we figured the best way to get you back where you need to be was with that rumor.” She pulled me away from Michael and Tess, holding onto my elbow and whispering so only I could hear. “I know you don’t think about Tess in that way, but maybe it’s just what you need. Relieve a little stress, have a good time…I don’t know. You just seem so sad and I hate it. I thought by getting people to accept you again you would be happy.”

I looked at her, and I felt that she had my best interests at heart, so I pulled her into a quick hug. “Thanks, Maria.”

“I’m not saying you should go out with her or something, but maybe a dance or something. Maybe make Liz realize what she lost, considering she just walked in with Sean…” Maria trailed off and I looked around the room to find Liz. I didn’t see her at first, but what Maria had said made me mad. Liz had to have known that I would be here. She didn’t need to rub her relationship with Sean in my face.

I turned around, and found Michael and Tess talking. My hand closed around her arm and I led her to where people were dancing at the center of the party.

“Max!” she exclaimed, surprised by my sudden change in attitude. “What’s gotten into you?”

I pulled her closer to me and she began moving in time with the music, her hips pressing against my own. “I just want to dance.”

She smiled and didn’t say anything else. I looked past her to the entrance of the room and finally saw Liz for the first time that night. She was with Serena, and Alex, but Kyle was nowhere to be found. I didn’t see Sean at first either, but then I saw him come to stand behind her.

Not wanting to watch them together, I turned Tess around so that she was facing them instead of me, trying my hardest to concentrate on the blond in front of me, when all I could think about was the brunette behind me.

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TBC...

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: I tried to make this a little lighter for everyone, but the story is still going to go EXACTLY as I planned. Thank you to everyone for all the support for this story, especially with what happened recently. I really appreciate all of it and all the great feedback!!

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Part Thirty-One - Liz POV

Seeing Max at the party with Tess was anything but easy. Having to deal with Sean was even worse. He kept following me around, trying to make Max see me with him, until finally I got so annoyed that I pushed him away from me and hid in a bathroom for most of the night.

Sean was an ass. I had done what they wanted. Max was heartbroken. I was heartbroken, and I didn’t see the need to make it worse. Pam hated me even more now because Sean was chasing after me instead of her, and that was about the only sliver of satisfaction that I got from the whole thing. I had seen Maria, who shot me a menacing look, but I tried to ignore that too. Michael’s encouraging smile made things a little better.

It actually kind of confused me. Obviously Michael knew that I had “slept” with Todd, because Max surely would’ve told him best friend. That would make me think that Michael would hate me, and look at me the way everyone else had been looking at me while he was smiling. He should’ve called me names, and threatened me for hurting his best friend. Obviously, Michael knew a little something more.

But did he know that it was a lie? Was he in on it too? I had no idea who I could trust anymore in this world, other than Serena, Kyle, and Alex. I heard a knock on the door of the bathroom I was hiding in and looked up. Serena’s head was poking through the door. I don’t know how she had found me, and I had been pretty sure that door had been locked.

“What’s up, babe? Why are you in here all alone?” she asked, taking a seat next to me on the floor.

I wiped my eyes, noticing only then that I had been crying. “Max was dancing with Tess.”

“Max thinks you slept with Sean,” she countered gently.

I looked at her angrily. “And that’s my fault?”

“Well, no, it’s Maria and those creeps’ fault. They made you do what you did, but you’re the one who isn’t telling him the truth.”

“So, you’d rather me tell him and just get you or Kyle or Alex killed?” I demanded. Did she not understand what was at stake? Did she not understand after the guy had held a knife to her that Todd was willing to do anything to give their side the upper hand, that Maria and Isabel would too?

“No, of course I’m not saying that,” she said calmly, trying to keep her cool so the two of us didn’t start to argue. “The truth is, Liz, you aren’t happy. You’re in love with Max, and there’s nothing wrong with that. You should be able to be with him and no stupid conflict should be able to tear the two of you apart. That’s why I don’t understand why you’re letting it.”

I sat and thought about it for a minute. I knew the reason, but I was still confused because what I wanted contradicted with what I thought I should do. “I’m just scared,” I said honestly.

“I would be, too. But you and Max have made it this far by working together and getting through everything together. Why would you break up a winning team, as Kyle, my loving boyfriend who isn’t talking to me, would say?”

“Kyle isn’t talking to you?” That was news to me. I wondered why she hadn’t said anything yet.

She shrugged, scooting closer to me on the tile floor. “He knows I’m keeping something from him, and he doesn’t like it, but I can’t tell him so he’s a little mad.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Great, now I was causing arguments between my two best friends, the perfect couple who never fought. This was just perfect, and I realized why she didn’t want to tell me in the first place.

“I didn’t want you to blame yourself,” she said simply.

I looked at her and rolled my eyes. “I already blame myself.”

“Well, more than you already do, then.”

We sat in silence for a few seconds, thinking about things. I started to think about what she said before I asked her about Kyle. She was right. Max and I had made it through a lot before by working together and just being together. We trusted in our relationship, in what we felt for each other, to make sure everything would turn out the way it was supposed to.

I didn’t know why I was letting fear rule my life. I knew that Max and I could solve this problem together, and I knew that that’s how I wanted it to be done, but I didn’t know where to go from there. What if Maria or Todd really did go after one of my friends? What if they went after Max? I was sure that Todd wouldn’t have a problem doing that, but I would hope that Maria cared about Max just enough that she wouldn’t let that happen.

It was at that moment that the reality of what I was thinking set it. We were seventeen years old; almost eighteen, and these kids were desperate enough to commit murder. All of it over something as stupid as pride. Murder was a crime; they would go to jail for that, and what they did at my house, breaking and entering, and holding Serena hostage basically, that was all illegal too. They could go to jail, or at least be severely punished; they could be stopped.

“What if we told Kyle’s dad?” I asked suddenly.

Serena looked at me, confusion on her face, but it cleared and her eyes practically lit up. “They wouldn’t be able to hurt us if he had them.”

I nodded, but there was the nagging fear of what might happen if they were released. Would they come after everyone then? This was all crazy to be thinking about at seventeen, but it was a reality. This was happening right in front of me and I couldn’t get out of it. It was up to me to make the right decision, and figure out what to do.

“I have to think about this,” I said finally. “I think I have to talk to Max.”

That nagging fear stopped me from really considering turning them in. Sure, I was going to talk to Max. I was going to be honest, but I was too scared that if Valenti brought them in they would just get even angrier and do something even worse. I thought before that I knew what they were capable of, but I really had no idea what the extent of what they would do really was.

“When are you going to talk to him?” Serena asked, getting up from the floor and helping me to my feet.

I thought about this for a second. “There’s a game tomorrow,” I said finally. “I’ll talk to him then.”

I brushed off the back of my pants, and made my way for the door but Serena stopped me. I looked at her in question, but she just pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back with a smile. I had no idea what I would do without her. She was definitely my strength in this world. After everything I still had her as my best friend, and she had helped me through the hardest times in my life, this being one of them. I knew that she would be there for all the rest as well.

We walked out of the bathroom, and made our way back to the party. I spotted Max sitting with Tess on a couch, but I ignored it. He was just trying to prove to me or to himself that he had moved on and I wasn’t going to let it bother me. I had some things to think about, but tomorrow everything would be okay.

Serena, who had gone to find Kyle, walked up beside me and we waited at the front door for Kyle, who had gone to find Alex, to show up. When the four of us were together, we said goodbye to Stacey, who was making out with her boyfriend on the front porch, and hopped into Serena’s Cabrio so we could drive away.

We pulled up to Steak and Shake, the burger and milkshake place on our side of town, and hopped out, getting our usual booth and ordering our food. I always ordered an Oreo milkshake and Serena always took the cookie that came with it. It was our Steak and Shake tradition.

Kyle and Alex ordered Cheese fries, with extra cheese, and started taking shots of cheese, which Serena and I found completely disgusting. Serena had obviously smoothed things over slightly with Kyle because he was talking and laughing with all of us, including her.

“You guys are gross!” Serena exclaimed as Kyle poured a glob of cheese into his mouth and swallowed it with a loud smacking of his lips.

He came at her with his lips yellow from the gooey substance. “You know you love it,” he told her, planting a big and cheesy kiss on her lips.

She laughed and kissed him back, trying to keep him somewhat away from her, but then eventually giving in. Alex and I rolled are eyes and them and started making kissing faces at each other.

“Oh, Alex, you’re so hot right now! Kiss me, please!”

“Oh, Liz. I need you. I want you. Oh, baby. Oh baby!” He planted a big cheesy kiss on my cheeks just as a fry connected with both of our foreheads.

We looked at our two friends, who were looking away innocently, in shock. And then we all broke out in laughter, and as we sat there, the people in the restaurant staring at us, I realized something. It didn’t get any better then this, and this would always be something I would always remember, how even when everything else was falling apart, they could make everything in the world seem right.

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TBC...

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: Thanks for all the feedback! Enjoy.

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Part Thirty-Two - Max POV

“Max! Let’s go, we’re going to be late!”

I tossed my shoes for after the game into my duffel bag and zipped it closed, looking around my room to see what else I needed. I didn’t notice anything, so I pulled the bag onto my shoulder and left my room, making sure to shut the door.

Our last game had been cancelled because of rain, so it had been moved to this week. I had been ready to play the team on last Saturday, but now we had to play them on a Friday. Stacey was going to have another party but she had to cancel it. We were playing the Weston Warriors, from upstate New Mexico, and everyone was going to be there. They were a tough team.

Michael was waiting for me downstairs, and we hopped into his jeep and drove towards the field. Going there always made me think about Liz, which isn’t something I really liked to do, just because it still hurt. I still hadn’t talked to her, but I had seen her plenty of times, though after Stacey’s party I didn’t see her with Sean anymore. She always looked at me like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t because I was always either with Michael or Maria, sometimes even Tess.

I didn’t like Tess. I couldn’t care about her as much as I cared about Liz, but she was a nice girl, and she had made this whole thing a lot easier to get through. She was always there when I needed to talk, which was good, because I couldn’t really talk to Michael about it, and I didn’t really feel like telling Maria I was still hung up on the girl.

“We better win today,” Michael commented out of nowhere.

“Yeah, the East side lost to this team. If we beat them that’d be awesome.”

“Do you think they’re going to show up?” he asked. We were turning towards the field, and I could see some of the other players driving up, as well as the bus for the other team.

“Most likely.”

Michael parked and we jumped out of the car, grabbing our bags and heading towards the locker rooms. We still had an hour and a half before the game started but we hurried inside anyway. Our coach hated it when we were late.

The team had been pretty cool lately. Each of them had kind of accepted me in their own time after they had been convinced that I had been with Liz for our own side’s benefit. Todd was the only person who still hated me, but I didn’t really care about him. He didn’t really pose a threat to me as far as I could see. If he wanted to hate me that was up to him, but I wasn’t going to waste my time as far as he was concerned.

“You’re late!” our coach scolded, knocking us both on the shoulder as we walked to our lockers.

“Sorry,” we replied simultaneously.

As I got dressed, I kept thinking about Liz. Well, I was thinking about everything, but Liz was somehow connected to everything that was on my mind. First of all, where Tess was concerned. I wondered if I should go out with Tess, to try to make Liz jealous. I didn’t even know if it was possible to make Liz jealous at this point, but if she did get jealous would that make her come back to me? God, I sounded pathetic. She slept with another guy; she didn’t want to be with me, and here I still want her.

I decided not to think that again. Maybe I didn’t need to go out with Tess to make Liz jealous. Maybe I should just move on. I didn’t like that idea. Secondly, there was Isabel, who still refused to talk to me. She was one of the people who knew the truth about the Liz situation, and so I couldn’t lie to her and pretend I had done that for the goodness of our side. She felt betrayed by me, and had refused to even say hi to me when she passed by me.

A part of me was bother by that, just because it was making my mom so upset, but Isabel and I had never really had a great relationship, so I didn’t really feel the effect of her not talking to me.

“Ok, team. Let’s get out there and get warmed up. Max, you lead the team in warm-ups.”

I looked at my coach in shock. Last week I hadn’t been allowed to lead the team, that’s how involved the whole town was in this rivalry. I don’t know who had talked to the coach, or what he had heard, but I was grateful that he was accepting me too, because now the whole team didn’t really have a choice. I led them out onto the field, and together we all got ready for the game, just like we had always done before.

Eventually, when we were finished warming up, the stands started to fill up. I looked around as Coach Lawson called us to circle up and began to talk. I could see Maria, cheering on the sidelines, and Tess right next to her, who turned around to find me. She waved quickly and smiled before turning back around to where Maria was talking to everyone.

Then I looked up in the stands and saw Liz. She was with her friends, the people I had considered my own friends for a short time, and she was looking for me in the huddle. What she couldn’t see but I could, was that Sean was walking right towards her. I watched as he reached her, and sat down next to her, flinging his arm over her shoulder.

I looked away, concentrating on what my coach was saying. I needed to get focused again. I couldn’t keep letting Liz distract me. I felt myself look up at her one last time, and noticed her staring right at me. Sean was watching her, and looking at me too, but once I caught Liz’s eye I couldn’t look away. She was looking at me differently. The need to talk to me was evident from her gaze, even though we were far away.

“Break!”

I clapped awkwardly, having been a little late, and followed Michael towards the field. He was staring at me with that look on his face, the look I remembered from the first game of the season.

“Stop staring,” he scolded happily. He was proud of himself for catching me. He had been pressuring me to talk about Liz for the past week but I had refused to give in.

“I wasn’t staring,” I replied guiltily. “I was glancing.”

“When you glance for more than five minutes, it becomes staring. We’ve already been over this.”

“Shut up,” I threw back at him.

“You’re going to tell me what’s up eventually. You know you are.” He was right, but I wasn’t going to admit that. I just felt like he would think I was being stupid for still pining after someone who didn’t want me.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s just play the game.”

We walked on to the field with the rest of the team, and the game began. It was a tough one. The Warriors were a strong opponent, but we wanted this win more than they did. We needed it. So, we played our game, throwing passes, catching them. We blocked, tackled, and kicked our best, and at the end of the game it showed.

“We won!” number 19 Nathan Bradley shouted as the whistle blew. We had beat them 24 to 21, by a field goal in the last fifteen minutes of the game.

The stadium erupted into screams and cheers. Everyone was on their feet. We ran into meet the rest of our team, which immediately jumped on top of us. Everyone knew what this meant, too. We could brag over the East side at least until the next time we played them, because we had beaten a team they had lost too.

We all went into the lockers to change, wanting to get out to celebrate our victory, but when we walked out of the locker room we realized the East side had other ideas. They were standing by the place where the last fight had been, arms crossed across their chests, and menacing stares on their faces. Liz was there, looking at Sean with a desperate look on her face, like she didn’t want this to happen.

He looked down at her and smiled, and I felt my blood boil. I had been wrong about the looks; Liz was on their side. She was an east-ie. She wasn’t secretly fighting for the west side, or fighting to be with me or something tragic like that. She was against me. And so was Sean. I could take my hatred for Sean and do something about it. I looked at the people behind me, and Michael who was on my right. He nodded at me, silently telling me to do what I had to do.

I walked closer to Sean, staring at Liz for a second, looking at her wondering who she was, and I could see something flash in her eyes. I ignored it and moved to Sean, who was staring at me while I looked at Liz.

“What are you going to do, Max?”

I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to kick the shit out of this kid, but something held me back. I looked down, and saw a small hand on my arm. It was Liz’s. She was looking at me the way I had seen all week.

“Don’t do this, Max,” she said quietly so only Sean and I could hear. “I need to talk to you first.” She looked around nervously to see who had seen her talking to me and then took a step back as Sean’s arm came in front of her to move her behind him. I had a feeling something was up, like something wasn’t what it seemed.

I stared at his arm, at his face, at hers, and I couldn’t stop myself. “You’re going to pay for what you did,” I said simply.

Sean laughed. “Oh, yeah? What are you going to do, Max?”

For Liz, for my side, but mostly for me, I pulled my arm back and swung, hitting Sean directly in the nose. I heard a crack and saw blood, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. I watched the two sides swarm at each other, as another fight began.

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TBC...

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: Thanks for all the feedback, and to all the new readers and the ones who have stayed with me!! I dont know what the reaction to this is going to be, but Everything happens for a reason. Just remember that.

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Part Thirty-Three - Liz POV

When Max threw that first punch, I got a feeling in my stomach that I can’t even really explain. It was something like dread, mixed with a lot of fear, but there was a hint of feeling like something really bad was going to happen. I tried to shake it, as people swarmed at each other, fists flying. I tried to get out of the way too. I had been in the middle of a fight like this and I didn’t want things to turn out that way again.

I looked at Max, as he moved me out of the way and went after Sean, and couldn’t help but wonder what he was thinking. I had wanted to talk to him last week at the football game, but since it was cancelled I had to wait. I didn’t want to go to his house, or go up to him where people could see because I didn’t want Maria to find out and do something. I figured that if I talked to him at the game I could make it look less suspicious, or even make it so no one would see, but then the fight happened.

I wanted to find Serena so we could all get out of here. Sean had heard me tell Max I wanted to talk to him, and I didn’t know if he was going to do something about it. I didn’t want to take my chances, so I wanted my friends out of here. I knew Kyle and Alex would be with Serena, so I started looking for them.

“Serena? Alex?” I called over the crowd of people. “Kyle!”

Kyle was walking in the other direction that I was, trying to look for someone too, but he stopped when he heard my voice.

“Liz!” he yelled back, waving me over to him. “Get over here!”

I made my way toward him, noticing that he wasn’t with Serena or Alex. My need to find both of them increased. I could tell he was thinking the same thing, and had obviously been hoping that Serena or Alex had been with me.

“Maybe they’re together?” he suggested hopefully, practically reading my mind.

I nodded and we started to make our way through the punches and tackles so we could find our friends. Two girls rolled in front of me, pulling each other’s hair and screaming insults. I saw another boy punch a kid directly in his face while someone held his arms back.

There was something different about this fight, just because I remembered how I felt during the last one, how shocked I had been that people could act the way they were acting. It was different now because none of this surprised me anymore. The things that I had experienced recently had erased all the naiveté from my life. I didn’t believe that people were good anymore.

It was funny that I had spent so much of my time believing something, when really it all turned out to be different. Sure, there were people out there who were good and did nice things and didn’t try to ruin other people’s lives for the sake of something as stupid as a town’s rivalry, but there were some people who were like that.

Kyle and I were side by side for the most part throughout the fight. I got knocked down at one point, but he was right there to pick me up so we could keep moving. We still hadn’t seen Serena or Alex, and the feeling in my stomach had yet to disappear.

“Do you see them?” Kyle asked again, his neck straining as he tried to look above the crowd. I thought I saw Alex, for a second, but then he was gone.

“Wait! Let’s go this way. I think I saw Alex.”

We moved in the direction I had spotted him in, and tried to make our way through the fighting people, but it was somewhat hopeless because we were in the center of the fight at that point. I saw Max and Sean. Max had a cut above his eye and Sean’s nose was bleeding, but both of them refused to stop fighting.

I had to do something. I had to stop this. If I could get the two of them to stop fighting everything would be okay. I wished the cops would show up like the last time, but they had yet to make an appearance.

“Kyle, you look for Alex and Serena. I have to stop Max.”

He looked at me curiously, but nodded. I made my way from him and towards the two dueling leaders. They weren’t even conscious of anything that was going on around them, and I was scared that I might get hit or knocked over, but I approached them carefully.

“Max! Sean!” I called trying to get their attention. They both looked at me, caught off guard by my approach. Max’s look lingered for a second longer, and Sean took advantage of it, landing a blow right below his eye. I watched as Max stumbled and fell. Sean moved to do something else, but I stood between them.

“Move out of the way, Liz!” he commanded loudly, blood pouring from his nose. I could already see his eye beginning to swell.

“Just stop it, Sean!” I yelled back, trying to lift Max up, but he refused to let me help him. I was on my knees beside him, pulling at his arm to get him to stand, but he yanked his arm from my grasp.

“I don’t need your help, Liz,” he said softly. It wasn’t a gentle softness this time, like how he used to talk to me. There was something behind it, something I didn’t recognize.

“Max, please. You’re bleeding!” I tried to reason with him. “Please just let me help you.”

He pulled his arm away from me again, and stood by himself. “I don’t need your help,” he said slowly. Each word was said as a hit, trying to make it clear to me that he didn’t need me. I backed away from him.

I looked at both Max and Sean, both staring at each other with hatred in their eyes. “Please, stop this before someone else gets hurt,” I pleaded desperately, the fear in my stomach pushing me on.

“This is personal, Liz. You wouldn’t understand.” Sean replied, his eyes not moving from Max’s.

“He’s right, Liz. You need to get out of the way. This has nothing to do with you,” Max said through gritted teeth, only his eyes came to mine.

“That’s a lie,” I replied helplessly. Tears were filling my eyes at what he was doing. He was going to get himself seriously hurt if he kept fighting like this and it was partly over me. I knew that. I wasn’t an idiot. “There are things you don’t know, Max! Things that if you knew them you wouldn’t be doing what you’re doing right now.”

He looked at me strangely, and Sean shot me a threatening look. This was it. This was when I would come clean. Everything would be revealed, and Max would know the truth. All I had to do was say it. I had to get over my fear that something would happen and just say it.

“Liz, what are you talking about?” Max asked, his voice tight and distraught as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

I stared at him, and his eyes left Sean’s to look at me. People were running around all over the place, punches were still flying and people were falling to the ground around us but all I could see was him.

I could see the pain behind his eyes, pain I had put there with the lies. I felt my need to take the pain away, my relief that all I had to do was say a few words and it would be gone. I remembered what my best friend had said to me. Max and I were a team; we would work this out together.

Just as I moved to open my mouth and let everything else come out, something happened. Something happened that I had been dreading ever since the day Maria and Isabel had threatened Serena and I in my room. Kyle and Alex ran up to me, fear in their eyes as they told me the words that made the feeling in my stomach double.

“We can’t find her!” Kyle told me frantically. “We can’t find Serena!”

“We’ve looked everywhere, Liz. This needs to stop now, so we can find her,” Alex said in agreement.

I looked at Max, who looked from me to Sean, Alex, and Kyle, and back again. Our main concern wasn’t what I had to tell him, but it was finding my best friend. Sean nodded and walked away, and Max started to yell at the West Side to stop fighting, but his voice caught in his throat at what we saw next.

“Todd, no!” I screamed, running at him at full speed. I saw Maria out of the corner of my eye but she disappeared into the crowd as Todd held my best friend in his arms.

He was staring at her like he couldn’t believe what he had just done, and that was when the lights came. Blue and red swirling around us, sirens blaring as the police pulled up. Todd was still holding Serena in his arms.

Kyle ran at him, reaching them before I got there, and grabbing Serena from Todd. Her eyes were open, but they weren’t staying that way. I looked at her, feeling the tears form behind my eyes as I shut them and prayed that this wasn’t happening. My hands were shaking, but I moved them over her body until I found what I knew would be there. Right below her ribcage, where mine would’ve been, I could feel blood seeping from her body onto her clothes and onto my hands.

Kyle sank to his knees, still holding her. Alex and Max were holding Todd and I vaguely saw Sheriff Valenti running up to us. He pulled Kyle to his feet, and started talking to me, but I couldn’t hear it. Everything was going dark, and I looked at Todd before it all went away.

“How could you?” I demanded, looking from my blood soaked hands and back at Todd's face. I showed him my hands, making him see what he had done. He closed his eyes and mine fell shut too, as my entire world went black and everything fell around me.

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TBC....Don't Hate me...

[Hopeless Romantic]

I wanted to Post this LOVELY banner that JasonBehrsChick made for the story!!



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Part Thirty-Four - Liz POV

Serena’s funeral took place two days after the fight. Two days after Sheriff Valenti had pronounced her dead at the scene. Two days since Todd was thrown into the town cell to await a criminal case, and criminal charges, but he was alone. Maria, the conspirator of this whole thing, was nowhere to be found. She was probably off comforting Max, and feeding him more of her lies.

I hadn’t eaten since it happened. Kyle and I had been lying on my bed for the past two days, and Alex had been there too, only he left a little before the funeral so he could get ready. Kyle’s clothes were being brought over with his dad.

I think Kyle was the worst part of all of this. Of course, Serena dying was probably the most horrible thing that had happened in my life, and I still didn’t know how I was going to survive, but there was something about watching Kyle sit there all stony and unaffected, when I knew deep down he wanted to let everything out. When he thought I was asleep the past two nights, he let it out, and that’s what hurt so bad. Seeing how torn my best friend was over this was killing me.

I turned to him, so I was lying on my side, but he remained on his back. “Kyle?” I asked softly, hoping to get a reaction from him.

He didn’t move at first, but then his head tilted to the side and I looked at his face. There were huge bags under his eyes, like he hadn’t slept in days. I wondered if I had the same bags under my eyes, because I knew for a fact I hadn’t slept either. I waited as he turned to me, his body now resting on his side, and I grabbed his hand.

“This all feels like a bad dream,” I whispered, feeling the tears well up in my eyes again. I knew he wasn’t going to cry. He was trying to be strong for me, but I couldn’t help it. Even though I wanted to be strong for him, I couldn’t.

“It’s going to be okay, Liz,” he replied half-heartedly. His voice was hoarse, like he hadn’t used it in the past two days, which was probably the truth.

His arms wrapped around me and pulled me closer to him. I buried my face in his shirt and tried to stop my tears. We lay there for I don’t even know how long, before there was a knock at my door. Looking up, I saw the sheriff standing above us, with tears and compassion in his eyes.

“Are you okay?” he asked us both. It was a stupid question, but what do you say in a time like this?

He came over and sat down at the edge of my bed. His cowboy hat was in his hands, and he was looking at it, probably because he couldn’t look at either of us. That was the thing about Valenti men; they had to be strong for everyone else.

“What’s going to happen sheriff?”

He sighed, and finally looked at me. “Todd is going to be charge with murder in the first degree. He’s eighteen and they’re trying him as an adult,” he began. “Serena’s dad, as mayor, is working hard to do something drastic about this. He hasn’t stopped for days. I don’t think he’s given himself time to even process what’s happened.”

Serena’s family was probably one of the nicest families I ever met. Next to Max’s mom and Kyle’s dad, Serena’s father had always been a big help to me. The thought of him going through the death of his only daughter made my tears come faster than anything had.

“What time is it?”

Valenti looked at his watch. “It’s almost time to go. I brought over your clothes, Kyle.”

Kyle just nodded, but didn’t move. He hadn’t said a word since his father had been here. I was the only one he had actually talked to throughout this whole thing. Valenti looked at me, and I just shrugged and kind of shook my head. He understood though. He already knew what it was like to lose the person you loved the most. His wife had died when Kyle was six, and now, for his son to lose Serena, I knew it had to be tough on him. I knew he probably wanted to comfort Kyle, but didn’t really know how, just because of how inconsolable he had been when it had happened to his own wife.

“Well, I’m going to go downstairs. I’ll come get you in a couple minutes for breakfast and so we can head over to the church.”

I nodded, and Kyle did too, so Valenti left. I didn’t want to get up, but I had to get ready. I had to get ready to say goodbye. Maybe that was why we had been in bed for the past two days. We didn’t want to accept what was happening. We didn’t want to have to let go of her.

I pulled my black dress from my closet. The one Serena used to tell me I looked like a hot babe in, even though it was probably the most unattractive thing I had ever seen. I had other black dresses, but there was something about this one. Serena had been a part of this dress. She had become part if it by making that memory; the one that I think of every time I see it, and that’s why I had to wear it.

I could hear Kyle rustling from the bed, and as he started to get dressed I pulled my dress over my head, tying it in the back like it was supposed to be. I had to look for my nice black shoes, because they were shoved into the back of my closet. That should show how much I got dressed up. I hated that the occasion that I actually did get into a dress, was for something like this. But then it made sense. I hated wearing dresses, and high heels. Serena was the only one who I would wear them for.

I turned back to find Kyle buttoning his shirt. He already had his dress pants on, and so I went into the bathroom and finished getting ready. When we were both done, we walked downstairs together. My mom was sitting with Kyle’s dad, talking quietly. Breakfast was waiting on the tables. We ate, and drove in one car to the funeral.

I don’t really know how to describe it. I can’t even begin to explain how it felt to see my best friend break down into gut-wrenching sobs on his father’s shoulder. I just sat there the entire time and cried. Kyle got up, because he wanted to say something for Serena, but when he stood at the podium all he could say was “I loved her…” before the tears came again. This time Alex went up to him, and Alex said something while Kyle stood there, and then he called me up.

“Serena was our best friend. She was the best part of us, and now because of something as stupid as a town’s rivalry, she’s gone. Gone. It sounds like we lost her or something, like she was misplaced. Well she wasn’t. She was taken from us, taken too early. I hope you all can finally realize how stupid you’ve been. Fighting never solves anything, and now Serena has to be the example for it. But you know what? I think she would’ve been happy. She would’ve liked the fact that she has the chance to make a difference in this town. Serena was just that good.”

Alex’s anger from the beginning of his speech trickled away until his voice was soft and lost. I held onto him, my eyes scanning the crowd to see who had come. It was packed, and I recognized people from both sides of the town. It was there in the back, that I saw Max.

The three of us left the podium, each stopping to touch the casket. It was closed, which had been my idea. I had remembered Serena telling me at Ava’s funeral that the idea of seeing someone dead was too much for her. She didn’t like the idea of it, and so I had made sure they had closed her own.

We sat and waited as the service finished, and then Kyle, Jim, Alex, and three of Serena’s uncles went up to be the pallbearers. We all went to the cemetery, and my best friend was laid to rest, right next to where Ava had been buried. Deep down I smiled at the fact that they would be together, and that one day I would be right there next to them.

When it was done, I walked away from everyone else, wanting to be alone for a second. I heard footsteps behind me, and turned to find someone I hadn’t even expected to be here. Max was standing in front of me, his hands shoved into his pockets, and he had the bags under his eyes too. I wondered when the last time he slept was.

“What are you doing here, Max?”

He cleared his throat. “I came to see you. I wanted to make sure you were okay…” He spoke slowly, and softly, like he was scared that loud words might hurt me, like I was that fragile right now.

Tears came. “Of course I’m not okay. My best friend is dead,” I stated obviously. “I just hope you’re planning on doing something about it.”

It was something I had tried not to think about, but standing here talking to him made it come back full force. The guilt I felt for Serena’s death was overwhelming. I had shut it off over the past two days so I could survive, but I couldn’t deny it anymore.

“What could I do, Liz? I'm just a kid.”

“You’re the leader!”

He shuffled his feet. “I can’t do it,” he whispered finally, and I could see tears in his eyes too.

I felt fury at his words. “What are you scared of, Max?” I asked almost violently, taking a step closer to him. “That things will be worse, that life without your friends and popularity and sports will be worse after you do what’s right?”

He didn’t say anything, but I could tell that he felt as guilty as I did. Good, I thought horribly. Feel guilty. Feel the way I feel, because deep down I know we did this.

“My best friend is DEAD,” I said again. “She was killed because of all of this. So, let me tell you something, Max. Nothing could be worse than this.” I looked at him for a second longer, but neither of us spoke, so I turned around and walked away from him, guilt and anger driving us farther apart.

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TBC...

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: Sorry this is late. I didnt have a computer yesterday so I had to get it out today.

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Part Thirty-Five - Max POV

“Max? Where are you going?”

I turned to look at Maria. She was sitting at the edge of my bed, her arms crossed in front of her chest, but she had sympathy in her eyes. She knew I had been close to Serena at one time, and she knew that I was affected by her death, even though we hadn’t been on close terms.

I still couldn’t believe it. I had been sitting in my room for hours trying to figure out how it had happened. One second Liz and I had been standing there with Sean, and the next Liz was running at Todd, who was holding Serena in his arms. Liz blacked out, and I caught her before she hit the ground, but I don’t know how I even managed to do that. I had been in shock the second I had seen the blood pouring from her body, the blood that was on Liz’s hands as she touched Serena.

It was all so surreal. The fact that this conflict, this stupid rivalry, had caused the death of an innocent girl, I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t want to believe that it had happened because deep down I felt responsible for it. Why had I gotten so mad? Why did I have to start that stupid fight?

“I’m going to the funeral, Maria,” I said slowly. I felt like everything I said lately was coming out slow, like I wasn’t really talking and this was all a bad dream.

She just looked at me for a second and then started shaking her head. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, Max?”

“I don’t care if it’s a good idea. I’m going.”

She looked taken aback. Lately I had been pretty much going along with whatever she wanted, mostly because I had been so lost after what happened with Liz, but it was nice to prove I was still thinking for myself.

“What if someone sees you there?” she tried to reason.

I stared at her in disbelief. “Serena is dead, Maria. I don’t give a shit about what other people think right now.”

“Are you going to talk to Liz?”

Liz. I hadn’t thought about that yet. I wanted to talk to her, but the last time we talked it hadn’t turned out so well. There was something pulling in my mind though. She had told me the night of the fight that there was something I needed to know. If anything I wanted to talk to her just to find out what that was.

I didn’t know if talking to her right now would be a good idea though. I knew she was probably feeling the death of her best friend harder than anyone, except for maybe Kyle. I didn’t want to put more on her mind, or make her have to deal with something else.

“I don’t know,” I said finally.

“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea,” she replied half-heartedly, hopefully realizing her attempts to persuade me into doing anything right now were useless.

I got up, put on my suit, and made myself look somewhat presentable before I left my room. She was still sitting on my bed when I left, but I didn’t care. The only thing that mattered at that point was Serena.

The funeral was really hard. I couldn’t bear seeing Liz the way she was. When her, Alex, and Kyle went up to say a few words about their best friend, I felt myself start to cry. I know that it’s not a manly thing to do, crying in public, but there’s something about seeing people break down that just pulls at you.

I wanted so badly to run up there and take Liz into my arms and make everything go away, but I kept myself rooted in one spot, just watching her. I saw her look at me once, and knew now that she had seen me I would probably have to talk to her, which I didn’t mind at all.

The funeral ended, and I walked outside with everyone else. I noticed that Liz left at one point, to be alone, and I figured this would be my time to talk to her. I found her, crying softly away from the eyes of everyone else. I shoved my hands into my pockets, worried that she would get mad that I was here, but she heard my footsteps and turned around.

“What are you doing here, Max?”

“I came to see you. I wanted to make sure you were okay…” I know it’s a stupid thing to ask. I know she’s not doing okay, but what am I supposed to say. I just wanted to get her to talk to me.

She started to cry, and my heart clenched. “Of course I’m not okay. My best friend is dead,” she whispered, but there was a tone in her voice that I couldn’t ignore. “I just hope you’re planning on doing something about it.”

She said it simply, like she had been thinking about it and had in her mind accepted that I was going to do something, but what did she want me to do?

“What could I do, Liz? I’m just a kid.”

“You’re the leader!” she shot back helplessly.

Did she really think that I could stop something that had been going on for years and years before me? Was I really supposed to? I thought about it, shuffling my feet a little as I stood there. I would lose everyone. I would lose my friends. I would be alone. Liz didn’t want to be with me, and if she did want to then I would do it because I would have her, but she didn’t think it was worth it to be with me.

I knew this was selfish, and I knew it was wrong, but I was scared. I was scared of being alone. When the towns had been against Liz and I before it hadn’t been a big deal to me just because I had her. She was enough to make anything I could go through worth it. The thought of going through what I had, with her not on my side…

“I can’t do it,” I said softly, regretfully. I wanted to do it, but there was something holding me back. The fact that she wouldn’t be by my side was keeping me from doing what I knew I should.

She had fury in her eyes when she looked at me now. “What are you scared of, Max? That things will be worse, that life without your friends and popularity and sports will be worse after you do what’s right?”

Deep down, I was scared that things would be worse. If it didn’t work out and nothing changed then I would be alone. I wouldn’t have Liz because I would’ve failed her, and I wouldn’t have anything else because I would’ve betrayed all of them. She was right, and I couldn’t say anything in response.

“My best friend is DEAD,” she said furiously. “She was killed because of all of this. So, let me tell you something, Max. Nothing could be worse than this.”

She looked at me for a second more before turning and walking away from me. I didn’t know what to do. I sank to the floor for a second, hating myself for being so weak. I didn’t believe in myself that I could make a difference and because of it, Liz was farther away from me than ever.

I finally forced myself to get up and left the funeral. I needed to talk to someone, but I didn’t know who. I didn’t want to go to Maria, because I didn’t really need her trying to tell me what to do anymore. Michael probably would be helpful, but I had a feeling he was with Maria. I went to the only other person I had really been able to talk to.

When I pulled up at Tess’s house she was surprised to see me but let me in so we could talk. I told her what was going on, and she listened, but I could tell that she didn’t really know what to tell me.

“Max, sometimes things are meant to be a certain way. Maybe this town fights like this because it has to. Everything happens for a reason, Max,” she reasoned gently.

She was speaking to me like I had been speaking to Liz, like big loud words would hurt. I looked at her, and then put my head into my hands.

“I just hate this. I hate that I can’t do anything even when I know I should.”

“You’re just a boy, Max. You can’t be expected to do these things right now. It’s normal that you’re scared to lose your friends because all of that is important at this age. Maybe it you were older or more mature, like you will be someday, you’d be able to realize it’s not what’s important, but right now you can’t help it.”

I didn’t really like that, because it made me feel like a child. Was that what I was being? Should I prove that I was mature and could do what was needed of me?

“If everything happens for a reason, then why did Serena die?” I asked her, turning to look at her.

She thought about it for a second. “Serena probably wasn’t meant to die, I mean I don’t think Maria meant for things to get so out of control—,” she stopped abruptly and my eyes, which had been staring around the room, snapped back to her.

“What did you just say?” I demanded.

Tess’s eyes were wide, like she was scared. She had just said something that I know I wasn’t supposed to find out. “Nothing, Max. It was nothing.”

Something was going on. There was something behind everything that had been happening and it was just like Liz had said, something I needed to know. It was something that would change the way I was thinking about things. I was determined to find out.

“Tess, tell me what’s going on RIGHT now.”

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TBC....

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: Sorry the posting has been a little off. Hope this is what you guys were waiting for! The next part will be out soon! I already started writing it!! It's actually kinda sad...I don't want it to end...

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Part Thirty-Six - Max POV

“Max, it didn’t mean anything!”

My hands were clenched around her arms so tightly I knew I had to be hurting her, but I couldn’t even force myself to loosen my grip. Tess knew something. She knew something that I should know, should’ve found out a long time ago, and she was going to tell me what it was.

“Tell me, Tess!” I bellowed forcefully. “Tell me what you know!”

Her eyes were looking for some kind of escape from me, but I refused to let her look away. Grabbing her chin roughly, I forced her eyes to meet mine. This could be easy or hard. It was her decision.

“I don’t know anything, Max.”

“You’re lying!” My grip tightened, and she winced. I checked my actions and loosened my hands, but still did not let her go. “One way or another, I will find out, Tess.”

Tess sobbed, but remained defiant for a moment. Then I saw her cave in front of me, as her eyes filled with tears and her head dropped to my chest. “She killed her!” Tess screamed violently, pushing me away from her. The shock of her words made my hands fall from where they had held her, and Tess backed away from me.

“W-What?” I choked out, not expecting that.

There was fury in her eyes as she answered me, hating me for forcing it from her. “Maria killed Serena. She threatened Liz, and set up the whole scene with Sean. Isabel helped her, but it was all Maria’s plan,” Tess shrieked at me, her blue eyes dark with anger. “I only agreed to help because all they said I had to do was distract you. We never meant for it to get this far.”

I sank back onto my bed. Maria had done this? Somehow it seemed so unbelievable and yet extremely possible at the same time, but to kill another person?

“Tell me everything, Tess.”

She moved to sit in front of me. “It started with Liz and Sean. They never slept together. It was all a set up to make you hate her. It also gave Maria control over your poor broken heart.”

I couldn’t believe it. Liz hadn’t slept with Sean. “But why did Liz go along with that? Why didn’t she tell me what happened?”

Tess looked down shamefully, but then answered. “Todd was holding Serena against her will. And Maria threatened that if Liz told you what was going on someone she loved dearly would pay the price.”

“So, Liz was trying to protect everyone?”

Everything was becoming clear. The things Liz had said, the way she had looked all those times, like she desperately needed to tell me something but couldn’t. I was relieved that she hadn’t slept with Sean, but this affirmed something else as well.

“She still loves me,” I said aloud, not really pay attention to the fact that Tess was in the room. “She loves me.”

But then another realization came to me. Serena was dead. She was killed because Liz had tried to talk to me. Liz probably felt so guilty for the death of her best friend that I ached for her. I wanted to go to her now, and comfort her, let her know that it wasn’t her fault, but then I was hit with the guilt myself.

Maria was my friend, well I no longer considered her a friend, but it was because of me that Serena was even connected to Maria. I had put them in this position simply by knowing them. I was responsible too.

I looked to Tess, and the anger had faded from her eyes, replaced with compassion. “I’m sorry, Max. If I would’ve known that it would get this far…”

I nodded; truly believing that Maria had simply used Tess’ desire to be with me to her own advantage. The person to blame in this situation was Maria, and I planned on focusing all my energy on her when the time was right.

“And Todd? Did he have anything to do with Serena’s death?” I asked, trying to figure out everything I could.

Tess shivered involuntarily, and I wondered why. “He stabbed her, but it was Maria who made him.”

At that moment I was filled with such hate beyond anything I had ever felt in my life. Maria was the one responsible for all the pain that everyone had been through in the past few days. It was because of her that Liz and I weren’t together. An innocent girl was dead because of her malicious intent on domination of the West Side. She only cared for one thing: power, and she had done everything she could to make sure she obtained it.

All I knew was that she was going to pay.

I stood up quickly, gathering what I might need and pulling Tess out with me. “Don’t tell anyone that I know of all this, Tess. Do you understand?”

“Yeah, right, Max. Do you think I want that crazy bitch coming after me?”

We climbed into her car, seeing as how I had been left without due to Isabel’s absence. I needed to go to one place before I could really make everything all right. “Take me to Michael’s.”

Tess drove off quickly, and we arrived at my friend’s house in record time. I was surprised to see Maria’s red jetta in front of his place, but figured that would make this easier.

I barged inside after saying goodbye to Tess. I wasted no time knocking on the door and wished that I would’ve for a split second when I found Maria dressed scantily and atop my best friend’s lap. They sprung apart, and I looked away for a second as they scrambled to make themselves decent. I was glad to have embarrassed Maria though, and relished in the fact that her life was about to get a lot worse.

“Max, have you heard of knocking?” she asked with a laugh.

“Shut up, Maria.”

She looked taken aback, and rightfully so. Her mouth dropped as she stared at me in shock. “What’s wrong with you?”

I ignored her, instead turning to my best friend. “Did you know?” I demanded. Michael stared at me like I was crazy, so I repeated myself. “Did you know the entire time?”

Maria’s expression had changed, from one of playfulness and shock to one of dread. She knew exactly what I was talking about.

“Did I know what, Max?” Michael asked in confusion, looking from me to Maria in completely obliviousness. He obviously had no idea what I was talking about and from the look on Maria’s face I could tell that she didn’t want him to find out. I was relieved, thankful that my best friend had not betrayed me.

I looked back to Maria, who had tears in her eyes. I felt disgusted by them. “Do you want to tell him, or should I?”

Maria obviously assuming that Liz had been the one to tell me everything began with a lie. “I didn’t know Todd was going to kill Serena, Max.”

“You’re a liar.”

“What’s going on here, Maxwell?” Michael asked from beside Maria, staring at both of us incredulously.

I looked at him, sorry to be the one that had to enlighten him as far as Maria was concerned, but it was time he knew the truth. “Maria hasn’t been a hundred percent honest about some things, Michael.”

Michael looked at Maria. “What’s he talking about, babe?”

Maria looked trapped, and I smiled inwardly, but remained threatening on the outside. She looked ready to run from both of us, but I was blocking her only exit. I waited patiently, arms crossed in front of my chest, for her answer. She took a step back and Michael turned to face her, placing him next to me. I looked between the two of them, and knew that it was all over from this point.

Maria’s tears came along with her answer. “I told Todd to kill Serena,” she confessed quietly.

“What?” I asked her. She looked up at me, her tear stained face a mess of different emotions.

“I told Todd to kill Serena,” she repeated loudly. “I had her killed!”

I had heard it. Michael had heard it. She had confessed to killing, or assisting in the killing of an innocent girl, and now she was really going to pay. I had Liz, who I knew now really did love me and always had. I had my best friend, who was staring at Maria in shock and confused rage, and I had Tess, which made me believe that I would have the support of many more people from our side, who were just like her, once they too were confronted with accepting the truth.

I was going to make Liz proud.

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TBC....

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: I was going to make this the 2nd to last chapter but I decided to make the story a little longer. Enjoy!!

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Part Thirty-Seven - Liz POV

It had been almost a week since I last talked to Max, but the feelings from our discussion were still hot in my mind. I hadn’t seen him since the funeral, but I was sure to see him in a couple days. The championship game was that night, and both East Roswell and West Roswell would be coming together to witness what our entire rivalry came down too.

It made me feel sick, and I had spent the better part of the morning lying in bed because of it. The fact that these two sides of town could still find it in them to compete was incomprehensible to me. Did they not realize that a girl had died because of it?

I felt they were waiting for someone to take action. Someone they could and would all follow needed to step up and end this thing once and for all. I had believed that Max could do that. Something Maria had said to me once I actually agreed with. Max was born to be a leader. He was the kind of person who could appeal to everyone, and get them to listen or rally together.

Yet he refused to move.

His refusal to take action puzzled me, because I knew he grieved over the death of Serena just like any of us had. I knew he wanted to do something to make it right. I just didn’t know what was holding him back.

“So, we’re going to meet here at 6:30 on Friday, ok girls?”

I looked up to find Cameron, the cheerleading squad’s captain, calling our team meeting to a close. I hadn’t really been paying attention to her, but I knew what the meeting was about. We were wearing black ribbons in our hair, and each of us would have a small blue and gold heart with the letter “S” in it to honor Serena during the game.

No one had mentioned that black was one of the west side’s colors, and I was glad, probably because I would’ve had to stop myself from smacking them into getting over this stupid rivalry.

Cameron was next to me as I pulled myself to my feet. “How are you doing, Liz?”

I smiled at her, knowing she was trying to be sincere, but I felt the loss of Serena even harder here, because this is where we had been a team. We had only done this the past two years because of each other.

“I’m fine, Cameron. Thanks,” I replied sincerely.

“Well if you ever need anything, I’m here for you, ok?”

I nodded, and she gave me a quick hug before we went our separate ways. I walked to my car, and drove home, wondering if my mom was going to be there. She had been acting weird the last few days, well, ever since Serena’s funeral to be exact, and I still didn’t know why. She hardly talked to me, which was somewhat of a blessing, and avoided me at every chance she had.

I pulled into my driveway. Looking up at the house I could tell that my mom was home. When I walked into the house I could tell that things were a little bit different from how they’d been the past week.

“Mom!” I called into the house, shutting the door behind me.

She came down the steps slowly, trying not to stumble as she laughed drunkenly. I groaned, knowing that another night of her bullshit was about to happen. Tears sprang to my eyes when I remembered Serena and I walking into the house predicting this same situation, moments before everything changed.

“Lizzzzzz,” she drawled slowly. She took more steps toward me and I felt myself moving back.

“What are you doing?” I asked warily, feeling my back come into contact with the wall behind me. It was cold, and I felt shivers creep up my spine.

She didn’t say anything at first, but she continued to move closer. I hated this. I hated when she was drunk. I just wanted to get out of the house. I needed to get away from her. So much had happened lately and I just couldn’t deal with something else happening.

The guilt that I still felt from Serena’s death was fresh in my mind, and I knew what my mom was about to do. She was going to confront me with something else I could blame on myself, another death that I had been involved in causing. I couldn’t hear it. I knew that if I thought about Anna and my father, combined that with what I felt over Serena, I wouldn’t be able to deal with it. I needed to get out.

Sliding my body along the wall as she came towards me, I felt salvation touch my hands and jab into my back. Turning it quickly, I looked at my mom one last time before moving to open the door.

“I’m not going to let you do this,” I said bravely, staring at her hard and refusing to back down.

I pulled the door open, moving quickly to get out of there. The light of day was bright, even though I had been in it a few minutes before. The darkness of my house, my life, made it so illuminated, made it so hard to handle. Blinking rapidly, I started to walk away.

“Oh no you don’t.” I heard from behind me seconds before feeling something pull at my hair. My body felt like it was flying through the air as I fell backwards. I screamed as I lost my footing and hit the floor hard, but I was pulled into the house before I could register anything.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked frantically as I scrambled to get to my feet.

Sharp pain flew through my body as her hand connected with my face and I was knocked back down. My head hit the floor with a sickening thud and I felt my vision blur slightly. I didn’t know what to do. She had never been this bad before, but now she was looking at me with a hate in her eyes that told me she might not know when to stop.

“I’m going to stop you before you kill someone else,” she declared madly.

I tried to move away from her again, and slid across the tile floor towards the front door again. Didn’t she understand that she what she was doing was crazy? I hadn’t killed anyone on purpose. I wasn’t a murderer.

“I didn’t kill anyone!” I yelled at her, but she wasn’t listening.

“First Anna, and your father. I thought that was enough for you but obviously it wasn’t. Why did you kill Serena? I know somehow it was your fault, so tell me why!” she demanded crazily.

“You’re insane!” I screamed back, tears streaming down my face. “I didn’t kill my best friend!”

Her hand flew again. “Liar!”

I grabbed my cheek as it throbbed with pain, and looked up at her. “I’m not.” A sob escaped my lips, as I tasted blood. She had cut me with her last blow, but she had been cutting me in a different way ever since the accident when we had lost Anna and dad.

At that moment, something inside me snapped. She had been doing this to me for long enough, making me think I was responsible for things I had no control over. Yes, I did partly blame myself for things that had happened, and though it wasn’t logical, it was the reality. But I wasn’t a killer. I hadn’t murdered anyone or done something purposefully to lead them to their deaths, and I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my life living with the guilt and pain that she insisted on forcing me to bear.

Standing up, I saw her hand come at me again, but I was ready for her. “You’re not going to do this anymore,” I said simply, wiping the blood from my lip and wincing as it stung in pain.

I grabbed her wrist, pushing it away from me. She took a step back, the alcohol in her system stopping her from reacting. She hadn’t been expecting me to fight back. That was when I realized that something was different, because I hadn’t been expecting me to fight back either.

This scenario occurring between us was nothing new, and before I had never stood up for myself and done what I wanted. But I was sick of living that way.

I refused to let someone else rule my life and make my decisions. Maria had done it the second she entered my room. My mom had been doing it for the past few years, and I was sick of it. My life was my own. I was going to fight for what I wanted. If Max didn’t want to help make a difference in the town then I would do it myself.

“Don’t EVER touch me again or I’ll call the police and tell them every single bruise and cut you’ve ever put on my body. I didn’t kill Anna or dad, and if you want to point the finger of blame then who’s the one who called dad’s cell phone and told him to pick me up?” She didn’t say a word, but I could tell she was finally listening.

I saw her eyes fill with tears of regret and I watched as she reached out to me, but suddenly things became different. My vision blurred and my head started to pound. Reaching up, I touched the back of my head and felt my fingers tangle in something cold and sticky. I pulled my hand from my hair and looked at the blood as it ran down my fingers.

Just like I had that night, as I stared at my hands covered with someone else’s blood, my world went black around me, and everything slipped away as I fell to the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
TBC....

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: The end is so soon!!! I dunno if I can take it! It's hard to write because I don't want it to end!
ENJOY

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Part Thirty-Eight - Max POV

“Where are we going, Max?”

I looked at Michael, who didn’t seem to be doing too well. He had just found out that his girlfriend was responsible for the murder of an innocent girl and had been the reason why all of us had been so miserable the past few days. I hadn’t even gotten into the thing with Liz, but I had a feeling he would ask.

“The sheriff’s house,” I said simply, turning my wheel to take the left towards the sheriff’s street when I saw that Michael was looking at me.

“You’re going to go back to her, aren’t you?” he asked finally and I knew he was talking about Liz. I nodded. He didn’t understand but he nodded too. “Even after everything?”

I looked over at him and smiled, happy that I was able to say this to him now. “Nothing happened,” I stated cheerfully. “Liz never slept with Sean. It was all a set up.”

I didn’t really want to include that Maria had been responsible for it just yet because I didn’t want to hurt Michael anymore than he already probably was. They had been together for a really long time, and Michael had been in love with her. Now, to find out all these things about her and be faced with the truth, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how he felt.

On the other hand I did know, because I had felt that betrayal when I thought Liz had slept with Sean. When a person thinks they know someone so well and are convinced that they aren’t hiding anything, to be faced with a betrayal like cheating or murder is a pretty heavy blow.

I wanted to do something to dull what I was sure Michael was feeling, but I didn’t know what to do that would help. Maria was a murderer, plain and simple. She had done things that couldn’t be forgiven or dulled to any extent. I just didn’t want to make it any worse by telling Michael that there was more to it.

“It was her, wasn’t it?” Michael asked quietly, staring out the window as the streets flew by.

His gaze came to meet mine and I nodded. “Yeah.”

He just nodded, resigned to finding out these horrible things about Maria. I felt so strongly for him, because she had betrayed us both, but I knew almost how bad his betrayal actually was.

We pulled up in front of the sheriff’s house and I turned off the car and turned to him. “If it makes you feel any better, she fooled all of us. You’re weren’t blind to anything that the rest of us could see.”

I didn’t want him to feel stupid or blame himself for not noticing these things about her when maybe he should’ve. I didn’t expect him to have been able to see it, but I knew that he might be thinking he should’ve. It wasn’t fair to him though.

“I know that. I just feel like if anyone should’ve been able to stop this it was me. I kind of feel responsible for Serena’s death in a way, because if I would’ve known Maria was up to something I could’ve stopped it…and saved her.”

“If I had never saved Liz’s life Serena would be here today too, but I did. Things happened for a reason, and you can’t blame yourself because we could all be responsible. Maybe things were supposed to happen like this. Maybe now we can stop something like this from happening again.” It was hopeful and a little out of reach, but I refused to give up on the fact that Serena had died for a reason. I couldn’t believe that she would be taken from everyone, from Liz, for no reason.

I was going to show Liz that she hadn’t died for nothing. I was going to make it worth something and stop this from ever happening again. I wanted to make her proud, because I knew all she wanted was for the conflict to end.

That’s why I was standing in front of the sheriff’s house. I was going to find a way to put an end to it.

“Do you want to come with me?” I asked Michael as I opened my door and climbed out of the car.

He took a deep breath and nodded, opening his door and joining me on the sidewalk. “I want to help you do this,” he said resolutely.

I clapped him on the back before heading up to the house. He followed right behind me and after I knocked on the door we waited patiently for the sheriff to open it. Kyle stood there as it swung open and I didn’t really know what to say to him.

“Max.”

“Kyle. Is your dad home?”

He nodded, moving aside so we could walk into the house. “What are you doing here?” he asked us as he left the room to find his dad.

When he came back he was still alone. “We just need to tell you’re dad something we found out. You might want to hear it…but I’m not sure.” I didn’t know if hearing about Serena would be too hard for Kyle or if he would want to know what happened so he could be a part of bringing Maria down. I knew that if it were me I would probably want to be involved in making sure she paid for what she did.

“I’ll stay,” he said just as his dad walked into the room.

“Max. Michael. What brings you two here?”

I could tell that he had been through a lot the past couple of days, just like we all had. His son had been in love with Serena and he had been close to her as well. He was in charge of a town that was torn in two and now taking lives. He was probably being pulled in all these different directions and was just as lost as we all were.

I wanted to make Liz proud by doing the right thing, but a big part of me wanted to do it just so I could help Valenti. The sheer desperation on his face was enough to make me want to hug Todd and make up even after all he had done. I knew that wasn’t happening though, not that I really wanted it to.

“We need to tell you something,” I told him, taking a seat across from him as he sat on the couch. Kyle was next to him, and Michael stood by where I was seated. “There’s more to Serena’s death than we’ve all known.”

Kyle flinched from beside his dad at the mention of Serena’s name, but he didn’t say anything.

“What is it?” Valenti asked, looking at us both seriously. His hands were clasped together in front of him, and his tired eyes were shifting back and forth between us, finally coming to rest on my own when he realized Michael didn’t plan on saying much.

I hesitated for a second, not really knowing how to say it, and Valenti looked at me sharply.

“If you know something, you have to tell me.”

I nodded, looked to Michael and sighed. This was it. She was going to pay for what she had done.

“Maria DeLuca told Todd to kill Serena. She was behind the entire thing,” I said finally. The whole thing came out in one long breath, and once I said it I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulder.

The looks on Kyle and Valenti’s faces were nothing but shock. Kyle looked at me in anger.

“You’re friend?” he accused furiously. “You’re best friend is the reason she’s dead?”

“Kyle, it’s not like that…”

“Well, then you better tell me the whole truth RIGHT now.”

“She lied to all of us, Kyle,” Michael spoke finally. Kyle stared at him, anger still in his eyes, but it slowly diminished. I looked at Michael and could tell why. The look on his face was enough to make anyone believe that we hadn’t known anything of her deception.

“The only thing left for us to do is to figure out a way to set—,” I started to get to the part where we solved the conflict between the two sides of town, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.

It was frantic, and Valenti got up from the couch to answer it. A small part of me wished it would be Liz just so I could see her. I wasn’t ready to tell her what I knew yet, because I wanted everything to be resolved first, but that didn’t mean I didn’t miss just the sight of her. What we got instead was not what we expected.

Liz’s mom was standing at the doorway, her eyes red and wet with tears that seemed to just keep coming. She looked desperate and my heart immediately clenched. Looking down at her hands I felt everything around me fade away.

“Liz needs help!” she cried hurriedly, turning and running back towards her house, the sheriff fast on her heels. My heart stopped.

Smeared on her hands was Liz’s blood.

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TBC...

[Hopeless Romantic]

A/N: Enjoy! Thanks for all the feedback. Oh yeah! I wanted to say THANK YOU to Anya because she nominated the fic on the Crossover Board for Most Imaginative Fic and I'm very Happy! So, Thank You.

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Part Thirty-Nine - Liz POV

The first thing I remember when I woke up in the hospital was the fact that my head was hurting really bad. I didn’t even know where I was at first but I recognized the surroundings and then the reason why I was confined to a hospital bed became clear too.

I remembered the fight with my mom. I was proud of myself for sticking up for what I wanted. As much as my head hurt, remembering what I had done made me feel a sense of pride in myself. I was glad that I hadn’t backed down from her, especially since everything she had been saying was something I had been thinking at one point.

I had blamed myself for Serena’s death ever since it happened. I blamed myself for the pain that everyone had been caused. I realized now that it wasn’t fair for me to blame myself. I would always feel slightly responsible, but I knew it wasn’t my fault in a way that I should punish myself for it.

I felt the back of my head throb in pain as I lifted my neck slightly and then layback down, the pressure was overwhelming. I cried out softly, and no one heard. I was alone. I wondered if anyone was in the waiting room, or if I really was by myself. The door opened slightly and a young nurse walked in.

“Well hi there,” she said happily, her southern accent ringing clearly as she came into the room and opened my shades. “We were wondering when you were going to wake up.”

“We?” I asked, pushing the words from my throat. I had to clear my throat because it was so dry.

“Oh, yeah! You’ve just got a whole bunch of people waiting for you. You had more earlier but some of them had to leave.” As if she could read my mind she came to my bedside with a glass of water. Setting it on the table next to me, she adjusted the bed so I could sit up instead of lie down. “Drink up,” she ordered nicely.

I leaned forward, taking the cup from her as she offered it to me, and taking several gulps to quench my thirst. My throat immediately relaxed and I felt much better.

It was then that I started to wonder about who had come to visit me. But I had a more important question on my mind. “How did I get here?”

She looked at me sympathetically. “Your mother brought you in.”

“My mother?”

“Yeah, she was awful worried about you.” Her hands were pushing the hair on my forehead back gently and I looked up at her, unfamiliar with the nurturing gesture. “What’s wrong, hunnie?” she asked, confused by the look on my face.

I didn’t know what to say. How was I supposed to explain that my mother had never brushed the hair from my face? My mother had never done anything motherly towards me in my entire life. How could I tell a complete stranger that the most my mom had done for me was land me in a hospital bed the day before one of the biggest days of my life.

“I was just wondering if a boy was here…” I trailed off in response to her question.

She smiled. “You’re a lucky lady. There were quite a few good lookin’ men in here for you.” She moved to the other side of my bed to check my I.V. and other charts. “There was one boy…kind of quiet. He stayed after everyone left, even when his friend Michael left too. Michael asked me the most questions about you, but I had a feelin’ he was asking for his friend.”

Max had been here! Max and Michael had both come to see me. For some reason the news made me feel like I didn’t have any pain at all. My heart was so happy it outweighed the physical damage my mother had done. I didn’t know why he had come, well I did, but I hadn’t expected it because of everything that had happened between us.

I had been pretty mean about him doing something to stop the town fighting, but the death of Serena had hurt me really badly, and since I had been blaming myself, I guess it felt easier to blame someone else too. It was wrong though, and I wanted a chance to tell Max that in person.

He wasn’t responsible for what happened with this town. The rivalry had been around a lot longer than he had, and maybe we were forced to live with it. As much as that scared me, for fear that someone else would be hurt, I didn’t know what else to think. Maybe there wasn’t anything that we could do.

“He someone special?” she asked with a smile, her eyebrows raised.

I smiled at the thought of Max, at the thought of him being here. “Yeah,” I said happily. “He is.”

“Well, you hold on to that boy, then, you hear me? Those special guys don’t come around all too often.” She was headed towards the door, but looked back at me, giving me another bright smile.

“I will,” I told her truthfully.

She left then, and I was alone for a few minutes before Alex and Kyle came in. The sheriff followed them, and told me about my mom and what had happened. The weird thing was none of them said anything about Max and Michael, or the fact that they had been here.

“Did you talk to Max?” I asked the sheriff finally.

“We talked for a little in the waiting room, but not about anything important. They’ve got a big game coming up tonight. He was here from the second you were brought in until a little while ago when he had to leave to get ready for the game,” he told me. I was expecting something more but he said nothing. “It’s a big night for him tonight.”

I felt a double meaning under that, but I didn’t say anything and he didn’t either. I thought of the game, and how much I wanted to be there. As the hours ticked by, my mom came to visit, or apologize, but I only talked to her for a few minutes before saying I was tired and asking her to let me sleep, and Kyle stayed and chatted with me for a little after his dad and Alex had to go too.

The visitor that surprised me the most had to be the one who came around six, just an hour before the Championship game was scheduled to start. He came in quietly, thinking I was sleeping, and took a seat in the chair beside my bed. Kyle had been there almost ten minutes before, and he hadn’t moved it back to its original spot. He reached out, touched my hand and I turned to look at him.

“Hi Liz,” he said quietly.

Thinking about it now, the thing I can remember most clearly was how sad he looked. His heart had obviously been put through a lot in the past few days. I wanted to reach out to him, to help him make the pain go away, but my shock at him being here rendered me unmovable. I stared at him, until finally I forced myself to speak.

“What are you doing here, Michael?” I asked softly, tilting my head to look at him more closely.

“I need to talk to you,” he replied, his hand leaving where it had been next to mine so it could clasp with his other.

“Don’t you have a game to be at?”

He smiled at me. “I’ll get there,” he assured me. “But right now this is more important than the game.”

I was still at a loss. Michael and I had known each other for quite some time now. He had been involved in a lot of the rendezvous between Max and I because he actually knew about us before everyone else did. I had to admit that a lot of the times and memories I have of Max had to do with all the help Michael had done.

However the two of us had never really become close. Max had bonded with Serena, Alex, and Kyle over the weeks that we had been together and had hung out with them either at Kyle’s house or Alex’s garage, and he readily considered them his friends. He had been affected strongly by Serena’s murder, but Michael and I had never formed that bond; we had never gotten close to the point where I would consider him my good friend. It was one thing that I had always wished to change.

And now here he was, sitting before me while I was about to miss the game, and he looked dangerously close to missing it himself.

“I need to know something, Liz,” he began. “Things have happened over the past few days. I’ve found out some things that have surprised me, shocked me to the point where I don’t know what’s true anymore.”

He seemed to be selecting his words carefully, like he didn’t know what to say without saying too much.

“Look, I’ve had all these things happen, but no matter what, one thing has stayed the same…Max. I’ve heard about what’s happened between you, and I saw what it did to him, but I know what it’s like to be betrayed by the person you love the most and I know what it’s like to feel that love diminish because of that betrayal.” His voice was choked and I could see tears in his eyes for a second before he brushed them away hastily. “Never once did I see what Max felt for you diminish. Since the day he stepped off that bus in third grade all the way till now his feelings for you have been the same. If anything they’re stronger now. I guess I just wanted to make sure you deserved that…”

I looked up at him, fresh tears in my eyes at his admission. “I love him, Michael,” I said fiercely. “I love him more than anything.”

He smiled. “Well, then I guess I have a game to get you to.”

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TBC....