Unreachable AU (M/L) CC/UC *updated* Chapter 10 [4/13/24]

[LovelyPOM83]

Chapter 5: Vulnerable

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:30AM]
Max POV

“Good morning Max. Welcome to the team. I'm Dave and I'm the general manager. It's my job to make sure the doctors and nurses can do their jobs… mostly finance and logistics. If you have any questions, go to the head of the nursing staff. She’s going to be like, your number two on the floors and she works almost as much as you will. If you have any questions about anything... she’s the person to go to”, he says. He really has a lot of faith in one nurse… well, either that or a terrible lack of faith in all the other nurses. I wonder what he thinks about the other doctors… or this doctor. I can’t help but stifle a small laugh.

“You’re free to wander around until the staff meeting. Let’s just hope that she’s on time today…”, he says. "…I wouldn't hold my breath though", I hear him mumble as he turns and walks out. Wow, talk about getting straight to the point. No, 'how was your trip' or anything. Oh well, I'm not much for small talk anyway. I don't wanna just stand here in the middle of the ER, just watching people rush around me though so I walked outside to the courtyard, took my cell phone and dialled a number.

“Hey, how are you?”, I say

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:45AM]
Liz POV

“Elizabeth Claudia Parker… for the fiftieth time… get up, get up, get up!!", Maria hollers, "You know that we can’t be late for this employee meeting. Dave has been on all our asses for the past week about it. We cannot be late”

Ungh… since when does she care if we're late? Most of the times we were late, admittedly often, it's her fault. I wouldn’t be like this if we hadn’t come home at two in the morning last night. Wait a minute… how come she's not lying in a semi-coma like me? She's not that much of a morning person, believe me… I know.

“Wait, why are you up before me? Normally, I’m the one trying to get you up”, I say as I sit up in my bed.

“I took one of those Chaser pills… you know the ones that we saw on that commercial the other day and that we laughed and said that it was a sham? Well, I decided to test them out yesterday… who would have thought they would actually work?”, she says calmly, shrugging it off like it's nothing. The woman discovers the holy medicine to a hangover and she’s being casual about it. Me, I have a headache from drinking juice all night... that sweet stuff goes straight to my head.

“So you’re saying that you had alcohol and you made me drink virgin all night? …And don’t even think about pulling the work-card… you have the same shift as me”, I say, quickly adding what I’m sure she would have said. I wonder what excuse she has to say for herself.

“Liz, I have a higher tolerance for alcohol. You enter silly your drunken stage after three drinks… maybe four”, she says. I roll my eyes at this comment, but I can’t really argue with her… *sigh* she does have a point.

I look around and… no Maria. Where the hell did she go? “Come on Liz, get out of bed and get dressed before I drag you to the car in your underwear… and don’t think I won’t. “Come on, Liz! We only have fifteen minutes to get to work, and today they’re going to announce the new nurses’ manager”, she hollers. I actually applied for that position… too bad a dozen other people had done the same thing. I can’t begin to tell how much I want that position. Yeah, maybe I should get out of bed. I jump out of bed and run towards the shower. That should take care of my headache. After that, I quickly get dressed, fix my hair and walk downstairs. Somehow, I have the feeling we’re gonna be late.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 - 7:50AM]
Max POV

“Max, you’ve gotta help me out here, man... I know we’re supposed to care for each other but your sister is driving me insane. I’ve had to pack her clothes four times. First, she said that her clothes weren’t in the right order, then she complained that the whites and the colored were mixed and then she started bitching about the wrinkles in her clothes so they had to be ironed again before she would agree to go. I’ve had to deal with a lot in my life, but this takes the cake and I’ve only been here for a few hours. I have to endure an entire plane ride with her… I swear I don’t know how Alex does it”, rambled. Only through years of training can I hold back my laughs. He had a point; Isabel had her ways at making people go crazy.

“Michael, calm down man! She can smell your fear”, I laugh out. Sorry, but that one was so obvious, I just couldn’t hold it in.

“That’s not funny, man… if there’s anyone who knows what I’m going through right now, it’s you”, he says. Yeah, I guess I do.

“Which means that I’m used to it… more or less”, I say, mumbling that last part, “Look, I gotta go; there’s an important staff meeting before I start my shift and since it’s about me, I don’t think I should be late”.

Just as I’m about to hang up, I hear my sister yell into the phone. “Maxwell, Maxwell!”, she squeals.

Come on, Max hang up! Hang up, before it’s too late. I can’t hang up… she knows I heard her and if I hang up now, it would only piss her off… and in case you didn’t get it, she can be one scary woman, and the only thing more challenging than sharing a house with Isabel for a week is sharing a house with an angry Isabel for a week.

“Iz… what’s up?”, I ask as causally as I can before she could start barking her orders into the phone. You know, the usual stuff… what time I should be at the airport, what I should bring, what color shirt I should wear… you know, the usual. I swear she missed her calling as a drill sergeant.

“So, who are you bringing to the party? I’m sure Mom has brought it up”, she asks. Pfff, she’s even worse than my mom. I should have known that she would be incapable of letting this opportunity pass her by.

Shit, it’s eight am… the meeting is gonna start any moment now. I really don’t have time for this.
“Isabel, I know about the party, and you should really talk to Mom for details. I really have to go, but I’ll see all of you guys at the airport promptly at 7PM. Love you, bye”, I quickly say before she can protest against me hanging up on her.

I run back into the hospital and into the meeting room where Dave was already waiting for me. “There you are! I thought you ran back to Boston or something“, he said with a smirk on his face. Now there’s an idea. I try to laugh at his joke but since a part of me wishes I had stayed in Boston...it’s not easy. I think I’m gonna keep quiet during the meeting.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 – 8:15AM]
Liz POV

“Liz, we are fifteen minutes late… now if you would have gotten up when I told you to, we wouldn’t be this late”, she says as she hurries through the hallway towards the meeting room. She’s acting as if we’ve never been late before, when the truth is, we’ve been late so many times, our boss Dave would actually be suspicious if we were on time. It’s expected it from us to be late… wait a minute, that’s not good.

“Will you calm down, we’ll just sneak in...”, I say, smiling at Maria’s expression. “You don’t have to go all Chicken Little… the world is not going to fall on your head if you’re late”, I try to reassure her. As we walk into the meeting room, it’s completely packed with doctors, nurses and other hospital staff members… basically everyone who’s not in dire need elsewhere. I immediately curse myself for nor wearing heels today, everyone in the room is so tall that I can’t see squat of what’s happening. As a voice fills the room, I wonder who it is and why on earth it’s causing such frenzy.

“As the new chief of the ER, I will not only be your boss, but also your friend and mentor. I am a hands on doctor, and will be checking up on each and everyone one of you”, I hear. I know that I know that voice from somewhere but I haven’t got a clue who it is. I’ll never see anything with all those people here, so me and Maria just lean back against the back-wall.

“Who is he?”, I whisper to Ryan Devon; one of the ER doctors, who was leaning against the wall next to us, but who was significantly taller so he could look over the massive crowd… not to mention he could fill us in about the fifteen minutes we missed.

“He is the new hotshot doctor replacing Dave Johnsons, he’s like, half his age. I wonder how the hell he could get a ranking this high so fast”, he says. I know he wanted this job too but he doesn’t have to be so obviously jealous. Least he can do is be a good sport about it.

“What happened to Johnsons?” Maria asks him. Funny, I was thinking the exact same thing.

“Oh, He’s retired and this guy was transferred from another hospital. I heard he’s getting paid almost twice as much as Dave did”, Ryan says. Wow, I wonder who this great doctor is… for that much money, he must be a genius.

“He thinks he’s such a charmer”, Ryan continues the jealousy-train. He rolls his eyes and stifles a laugh.

“Why do you say that?”, I whisper, curious to know what dirt he has on him. And don’t call me a gossip; I’m still in denial about that one.

“I mean this guy walks into the room, and all the women just stop what they are doing and rush to the front of the room”, he says. Funny… wait a minute, it’s true! I glance around and, true enough, besides Maria and me, I didn’t see a single female. We were surrounded by all the male doctors and nurses.

“And this concludes the meeting”, I hear someone say and I quickly try to pull Maria out of the room with me in. If Dave caught us, he’d know we were late and we’d never hear the end of it. Not to my surprise, Dave catches us trying to leave and practically drags us back into the room. There were still countless women flocking around him asking him all kinds of questions so I still couldn’t get a good look at him. He really is quite the charmer.

“Liz. Maria. How many times have I told you not to be late for these meetings? You’d better be glad it wasn’t something of real importance”, Dave hollers, “I mean Liz, as the new manager of the nursing staff you are supposed to set an example for everyone now. You can’t just come in and out of your shift whenever you feel like it”. Shit, I knew he wasn’t gonna let it go; he’s…… oh my god! Did he just say that I was the new manager? I look at Maria who wasn’t paying any attention to the conversation, she was just glad that we didn’t get in trouble. I then look at Dave and he confirms what I heard with a small smile.

“I’m the new manager?! Oh my god!! Thank you so much!!”, I exclaim jumping up and down. I can’t believe that I actually got the promotion. Okay, calming down now… “Thank you so much Dave, I promise I will try my best not to be late anymore”, I grin as he tries to calm me down.

“Well, since I’m sure you missed your new boss’ introduction, I’ll introduce you guys”, Dave says. I smile but and I hear Maria say that she was gonna get ready for her shift. I tell her I would just be a few minutes. I look back over towards my new boss and I see the women around him leave one by one… don’t I know him?

“Parker, Meet your new boss”, Dave says. That’s… that’s… no, it can’t be! Why here? Why now? Why?”

I always imagined he was living the life I had wanted since I was eight years old. And he would be living it with the perfect all-American girl that I could never compare to. Is it possible for me to dissolve in the air or make the ground swallow me or something? I want to say something… anything… but I just can’t. I can almost feel the color drain away from my cheeks like I just saw a ghost. I did in a way. A ghost of my past.

“Liz, are you alright?”, Dave asked me with a comforting pat on the back, I nodded.

“Dr. Evans, this is Elizabeth Parker... the new manager of the nurses’ staff”, I can’t help it and I just smile at him like some idiot as I try to push the words through my mouth.

“H-Hi Max”, I whisper as he looks at me with equal surprise.

********************************************************************************************************************


Chapter 6: Hello Again

[Roswell New Mexico… August 28 2012 – 8:20AM]
Max POV

Parker? Parker! He can't be serious. I look at him and he can immediately tell he has my attention. I shift my attention from him to the women standing next to him, only a few feet away from me. It's… it's her. Damn, I'm even stuttering in my thoughts. I still find myself getting lost in those beautiful brown eyes of her. Those eyes are exactly as I remember, and yet her eyes show that she's more mature at the same time. I quickly glance over her features and she definitely matured well… not that she wasn't always beautiful. I know it must have hurt her that I didn't keep in touch after I kissed her and told her that I loved her. I know it must have hurt her that I never came back, never called… never looked back. I'm well aware that the rumor that Tessina was pregnant had gotten around and I'm sure that hurt her too. God, I hope she doesn't hate me. Then again, she never contacted me as well.

I can’t help but wonder why the smartest girl I ever knew and the valedictorian of West Roswell High was working as a nurse. I always pictured her as a well-respected scientist doing something important like curing cancer or something. How did a girl like Liz Parker end up here? As soon as I get a chance, I have to ask her that.

Oh right… she said something to me. I know I need to say something back… why is it so hard to say something? It takes a few seconds but I can finally feel my ability to speak come back to me. “Hey Liz”, I just say. Come on Max, pull yourself together and say something intelligent. I can't. I want to but I can’t get any other words out of my mouth so I instead I just stare at this beautiful woman in front of me. God, I love her… okay, where'd that come from? I haven't seen her in years… but I still do. Does she feel the same for me?

“You two already know each other?”, Dave asks, snapping me a out of it… just a little.

I can see Liz is trying to get the words out, but she's having no better luck with it than me. Alright Max, time to take the heat off Liz and answer his question. “Yeah, we went to highschool together”, I say, quickly pushing the words out of my mouth. Since when am I this pathetic? I see a pretty girl and I can barely say a single sentence.

“So, let me guess… you two were highschool sweethearts?”, he asks with a satisfied grin. For about a second there I had actual hope that he wasn’t going to ask questions about it. For heaven’s sake, just let me stare. I don't need a mirror to tell me that my cheeks are red from blushing… much like Liz’ actually. I, almost subconsciously, scratch behind my left ear. I do that when I’m nervous. When I notice myself doing it, I’m very nervous.

Wait a minute, did he just ask if me and Liz were sweethearts? I wish I could say yes. “No”, Liz and I say in unison. I actually sounded pretty funny, the two of us talking like one.

I can see Dave thinks it’s funny too. “What ever you guys say”, he says, grinning widely as he starts to walk away. Just before he walked out the door, he suddenly stops. “Max you’re going to be making your rounds with Elizabeth today, so I guess it’s good that you know at least one person on your first day”, he says. What?! Liz and me, together all day long… are you kidding me? I can’t handle this; the tension is just… it’s too much. Okay Max, you’re gonna have to pull yourself together.

“Moving from a big city like Boston to a small town like Roswell is a big change Max… don’t think I don’t get that. It’s gonna take time to fully adjust. Liz can help you; she’s the most qualified nurse we have at this moment. You two work together and you’ll be caught up in no time. We’re glad to have you on the team, Maxwell”, he says. Wow, quite the welcome. “Oh, and Liz… keep an eye on him”, he adds and I can already feel my ego deflate.

And with that he left the room, and I was left alone… alone with Liz. Damn, my heart is beating like crazy. As a doctor, I can say that’s generally not a good thing.

We stand he, looking to each other for several minutes. This is almost surreal. “So... what are you doing here?”, I finally manage to say, “I thought you’d be in some laboratory, battling cancer or something”

She smiles at me. Such a small action but it’s enough to take my breath away yet again. It’s like her smile literally lights up the room… her smiles have always lighted up the room, even when we were still in highschool. “Well um, that was the plan”, she says softly before she sits down in one of the chairs.

She’s no longer smiling. On her face is a look of pain and anguish. Max, you idiot, you upset her. “What happened, Liz?”, I find myself asking her. I really don’t mean to pry and I certainly don’t want to make her upset… but I have to know what kept Liz in Roswell when she had been itching to get out of this town that she called suffocating.

“My dad”. That’s all she says and I can see her beautiful brown eyes watering. She’s trying to fight it but I obviously hit a sore spot. Damn me for pushing this! I should have known to shut up sooner.

“Liz?”, I say in a calm and caring voice as I sit down next to her and lean towards her so she’s looking straight in my eyes. God, she’s so beautiful… even when she’s hurting.

“Maria left to Los Angles without me so she could get a jumpstart and look for an apartment. I was going to leave three days after that. Meanwhile I helped out in the café and I hired a few extra people so my parents wouldn’t be swamped”, she tells, trying desperately not to break down in front of me, “The day that I was going to leave for Berkeley… my dad had heart-failure and he died in the emergency room”. She’s still been able to keep her composure, and I can feel a tear stickling down my own face; she’s so much stronger than me. As she’s gathering the strength to continue, I can’t help but notice her eyes, it’s almost like the sparkle that was so apparent in her eyes has vanished and a cold wind passed over her… and that scares me more than anything ever did.

“Liz. I’m sorry. I-I should have been there for you. I didn’t mean to desert you”, I say in an almost begging tone. She gives me a small sympatethic smile before continuing.

“I had to stay here and take care of mom. A few days later, I found out that dad left me complete ownership of the Crashdown and I realized I couldn’t just pack up and leave. So, I gave up the dream I had about becoming a scientist and started taking over my father’s business. I couldn’t let my father’s life work go to ruin”, she says, ending in nothing more than a whisper. Well damn, she’s working as much hours as me here and then she’s got another job. Me, I can barely stand the amount of hours I’m making now

“So, how did you get to become a nurse?”, I say. I figure that I better ask all my questions now because I don’t think I’ll ever have the strength to bring this subject up again. I know that there’s a pretty big chance she’ll be annoyed with my prying and leave… but she doesn’t.

“Well, I went to nursing school. My mom didn’t want me to just work at the café for the rest of my life so she convinced me to go to school. Instead of going to a four year university, I chose something closer to home. I attended a nursing school just out side of Las Cruces… that way I commuted back and forth”, she explained and I can already see her expression getting a little better, “I decided that I wanted to help people. I couldn’t help my dad but, but I can help others now. And there’s something about that that fills me with a joy that science never did”. I watch with amazement as all the sadness wiped away from her face like a veil being removed, and she was left with a strange smile… not joy but something that I can’t quite place. But it’s a smile nonetheless.

“I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of that alone”, I say. I so much want to hold her and let her cry on my shoulder but that isn’t my place. Why can’t I come up with some words that are really going to cheer her up? Here she is, struggling with her past with braveness and determination and all I can say is apologize for not being here. She gave up her dreams and life’s passion for her family... and I can’t even say the same to her.

“I wasn’t alone”, she says. She has a boyfriend doesn’t she... a fiancée… a husband? I should have known that a girl like Liz couldn’t be single. How stupid can you be Maxwell? She’s as beautiful as ever… why on earth would she still be on the single? ...Idiot!

“No?”, I finally manage to ask. Oh God, please don’t let her say some guy’s name. Please!

“Maria came back from LA for the funeral, but she left after a few days while I stayed here. She tried to work with the record label, but she decided that she wasn’t happy and she came back to Roswell. She doesn’t talk about it at all, but she decided to enrol to nursing school with me”, she says. So she meant Maria when she said she wasn’t alone. There is a God!

I have so many more questions to ask her, the most important one concerning the men in her life… but I don’t want to upset her even more than I already did. But don’t worry, I’ll find out. I get to work with her all day long. I will find out. I silently watch her as she transforms back into the Liz Parker I knew as she flips her hair, and tucks a strand behind her ear. God I love it when she does that.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Liz POV

I can’t believe I just told him that. I haven't seen the guy in years and I told him my life's story within several minutes. God, I almost cried. He must think I'm such a baby. Looks like I still have fifteen minutes until we have to clock in… and since I told him about my life, it's only fair that he tells me the story of his life. Please let him tell me he's not with that horrible bottled blonde anymore. Oh, who are you kidding; she was pregnant and he probably married her years ago.

“So… how's everything going with you, Max? How's Tess?”, I say as friendly as I can. Wow, I almost believed myself there. It took great effort to say her name out loud with a straight face.

"Well, I followed the plan I had since junior year. I went to Yale to study medicine and you know the story", he says. I let out a small laugh; of course he studied medicine… him being a doctor and all.

“What's so funny?”, he asks, flashing me a small smile. God, he has such a gorgeous smile.

“Nothing”, I say, flashing a smile back. He doesn't seem satisfied with my answer though.

“Come on Parker. If I make you laugh, at least tell me what I said so I can say it again”, he says and I can't help but smile at that.

"It's nothing special…", I say as he stares at me intently, "…It's obvious that you studied medicine, Max". Ever noticed how something is not funny anymore when you have to explain it. He gives me an embarrassed laugh and I think he's actually blushing right now. He looks so cute doing that… too bad he's married to Tess.

“And as for Tessina…", he says, and for a second, I see his expression harden, "She and I are no longer together”. They… are… not? Oh, thank God! Oh, I think I'm gonna faint. No, don't even think about it Liz! Don't you dare faint! I know I shouldn't be jumping for joy when he tells me he and his long time girlfriend aren't together anymore… but I can't help it. I get promoted, I meet Max again and he's single… am I dreaming?

“Oh, I’m sorry Max”, I say in a sympathetic tone. You're way better off without that bimbo… but that's not something I'm gonna be saying out loud. I suddenly find my hand on his back, trying to comfort him. He's not over her… I can see it on his face.

“It’s okay, really. It’s not like it’s big news or anything”, he rationalizes but I don't buy it. He has this sad expression on his face… one you get from a bad break-up. I'm guessing they split up not so long ago… actually a lot like me and Kyle. Oh God, don't let him bring up Kyle. “So what about you? Are you still with Kyle?”, he asks after a few seconds of silence. Damn! That is something I really don't wanna talk about. Well, I suppose I have to tell him.

As I'm about to answer, my cell phone starts ringing. Talk about being saved by the bell. “Sorry”, I mutter to Max and I check who's calling.

“Sorry... I have to take this. Excuse me”, I say. I want to avoid the question about Kyle but that's not the main reason I'm taking this call. You see, it's my mother. I quickly glance at the clock; looks like I have about five minutes until my shift starts. “I’ll meet you at the front desk in seven minutes, okay?”, I say as I wink at him… huh, why am I winking at him? Well, let's just say my body has been taken over by a higher cosmic force because I'm never this weird.

I quickly jump into the next room and answer my phone. “Mom, what’s wrong? Are you alright?”, I shout into the phone. My mother's health is not what it used to be, and I'm a little bit worried every time she calls… add to that the fact that I'm already hyper because of Max and you get this kind of answer from me when I pick up the phone.

“Liz honey, please calm down. I haven’t really been feeling well lately but I'll be fine, really. Honey, I need you to do the inventory tonight”, she says and even though I'm not exactly looking forward to I sigh in a quick relief that nothing serious happened. Still, she said she wasn't feeling well lately…

“Do you have a cold or something? You know, I can set up an appointment for you if you’d like?”, I offered. I know she's going to say no but I have to ask. Maybe someday she'll get wiser.

“Elizabeth, there is no need for that really. And please don’t set one up behind my back”, she says. See? Don't tell me I don't know my mother.

“Fine, but if it gets any worse, please promise to tell me”, I pleaded

"Fine honey, I promise. Now, will you be able to make it tonight?", she asks.

“Of course. I’ll be there around seven when my shift is over, okay?”, I say.

“Alright honey. I’ll see you tonight. Don’t work too hard, okay?”, she says. Funny, she always says that and I never listen. Well, working two jobs does that with you.

“Bye”, I say before hanging up the phone. I better go to the front desk to pick up Max. God, that sounds so weird. I’m going to pick up Max… hmm, I can get used to that.

Okay, I’m at the front desk now and I’m thinking that Max is buried somewhere deep inside that group of nurses. Jeez, I can’t leave him alone for a few minutes. Is there a Max Evans fanclub or something? Oh great, he’s talking to Maria. If she tells him about Kyle I’m gonna… I’m gonna… well, I’m gonna look very sternly at her.

Time to break up this little party. “Come on ladies, stop bugging dr Evans. He’s with me”, I say with a smile. I can get used to this management position. “Ready?” I ask him as the nurses scatter and go to their jobs.

He smiles… ungh, he’s so cute when he does that. “Ready when you are”, he says. Well, I suppose I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. This is one day I’m hoping goes by slow. Well, time to check up on our first patient of the day.

TBC.....

[keepsmiling7]

LOL.......Iz made Michael repack her clothes 4 times........and Max said she could smell his fear!
Liz is head of the nursing staff.......Max surprised she ended up there.
Dave guessed they were high school sweethearts.......
Liz's plans changed when her dad died.
One happy thing......Max is no longer with Tess!

[LovelyPOM83]

Thank you to all the readers, lurkers and those who has commented (even those who wanted to comment, but haven't yet ) I'm making it my goal to continue and finish all my work that I haven't finished. Before I start anything new, I've been inspired by re reading old fictions on here and new fictions and just being reminded how much I love embracing my dreamer side. So here we are the next 2 chapters.

Chapter 7: The Doctor Will See You Now

[New York, August 28 2012... 12:15pm]
Alex POV

“Alex, did you pack everything? I want to get there early; you know that I don’t like to be rushed when it comes to flying. We have to leave here a quarter to three, and make sure that you’re on time. Oh, did you pack you good slacks, and not the ones that have the stain on the side?”, Isabel rants. Honestly, that woman never ceases to amaze me… how the hell did she manage to say so many things in one sentence. She didn't even stop to breathe. I always wondered how she was able to do that until I met her parents and then I finally understood; Diane Evans was the exact same way… maybe even more so.

“Alexander Charles Whitman, did you hear me or am I just talking to myself?”, she asks. Well, I guess a little of both but I’d better answer before I piss her off... and the plane ride is too long to be stuck with a pissed-off Isabel.

“Yes dear”, I say. Way to suck up, Alex

“Okay, just make sure you're ready to leave when Michael gets here. I really hope he didn't pack his college shirts. I mean what is with all of you guys... it’s like you, Michael and Max have been triplets separated at birth or something. You all act so alike, it's just freaky… and what's the thing with wearing those stupid college shirts anyway?”, she asks, poking her head into the room and waiting for me to answer.

Is she serious? Yeah, I guess she is. “Because, sweetie... they're comfortable and make us feel young again… like there's nothing we can't do”, I say. Yes, of course it's bull but I'm sure she'll buy it… uhm… is she laughing at me?

“That's gotta be the largest piece of bull I have ever heard", she laughs. Okay, what is that supposed to mean? “Honey... in case you didn't notice, the only time you ever even wear those stupid clothes is when everything else is dirty and you’re too lazy to wash anything on your own”, she notes. Okay, did she just make fun of me and call me lazy in one sentence? Well… maybe she does have a point.

“But if you already knew... why did you ask me?”, I ask… does she enjoy making me look like an idiot?

“To see what your excuse would be”, she says with a smile and a shrug. Apparently, she does.

I sigh deeply and as expected, she changes the subject before I can get upset… an art she mastered to perfection. “So, I went to the doctor's today for my check up… and I wanted to talk to you before we left; before Michael gets here”, she says. When I look at her I can see this spark in her eyes; a spark that's only there if she's really excited or happy about something.

I take her hand in mine and pull her against me. “And what did he say, Iz?”, I ask eagerly. Yeah, I know I'm whipped but I really wanna know. But just as she's about to say something, the doorbell rings. I fight back the six curses that immediately pop in my mind and instead, I just let out a sigh. I don't want to wait hearing this news that's undoubtedly big… but I guess I have no choice but to wait.

“Don’t worry, Alex. It can wait until we get to Roswell”, she assures me but that doesn’t really comfort me. I want to ask if she could at least give me a hint but she already went back to triple-check our luggage, so instead, I just answer the door. I wasn't surprised to see Michael, ready and waiting.

“Great timing Michael!”, I say sarcastically as I close the door behind him. Well, maybe I shouldn't be so hard on him; he'll have plenty to deal with soon. It's only a matter of time before Isabel gets on his nerves… she's good at that, you know… and he'll be pleading with me to find an escape route.

“What? It’s not enough that I was here this morning... and that I had to go back to my apartment to pack in a hurry just because you two wanted me to be on the same flight as us. You know, I already had a ticket for tomorrow… it took me almost half an hour to change it. And besides, there's a a reason to why I don’t travel with Isabel… well, you should know... you married her”, he hisses in a hushed tone. You know, with my luck, Isabel heard that. I swear that woman has ears like a dog. And when she hears this, it's not gonna be pretty… she's gonna get all emotional and me and Michael are gonna feel all guilty.

“What was that?”, Isabel asks, peeking through the partially opened door into the living room me and Michael just stepped in. Remember… ears like a dog.

“Nothing Dear... just getting Michaels things together that’s all”, I say, hoping against all odds that maybe she didn't hear what Michael said and she would buy what I said… but who am I kidding… I'm like, the most transparent person in the world. But still, one can hope.

“Right... just remember... there is a good chance neither one of you will have any fun on this trip”, she says with a serious expression before pulling her head back through the door. Damn, she heard it.

On instinct, I shove Michael into the wall. ”Thanks a lot, you dork!”, I whisper fiercely to him. Damn him, why did he have to do this... every time... it's always the same thing.

“Whatever”, is all he ever says before he drops his bags and plops on the couch, starting to watch the baseball game. That son of a bitch doesn't even care… he's so lucky

[Roswell New Mexico, August 28th 2012… 10:19 AM]
Max POV

It's already been two hours that me and Liz started doing our rounds. I try to concentrate on the charts, the patients, and on the information that Liz was feeding me prior to me making the important decisions. I really tried my best... I don’t want to look like a love-sick idiot while I listen to the girl that I loved since I was about ten years old. Every time, I had to pry my eyes away from her an actually pay attention to my patient. Now that is something that never happened to me, not even when Tessina was in the room..

“Okay, everything looks fine... just keep the ice package on your eye and we’ll be back when the swelling goes down”, I smile at a young girl; she's about thirteen years of age. And as we walk out the room, she bursts out in a fit of giggles.

I glance at Liz and she's shaking her head and tries not to laugh at what just happened. But what happened? “What?”, I ask.

“Nothing”, she says, biting back another response she was about to give, almost like she didn't want me to hear what she really wanted to say. Am I childish when I say that I definitely want to know it now? Don't answer that!

“C’mon Liz, what was that about?”, I say, flashing a smile at her now as we come to a stop next to the nurses’ station. I turn towards her so I could see entire expression when she answers me again.

“I guess, after all this time, you haven’t lost your charm. Even after all these years, you can still make any girl blush and giggle with only a wink and a smile”, she says. I look as she smiles briefly and she looks squarely into my eyes.

“You’ve haven’t yet”, I say, nervously scratching behind my ear as she nods and flushes a little before she started to gather some stuff and head into the main office to collect some data where I quickly follow.

“Well, the days not over yet”, she says. Maybe there still is something between us… or am I totally misreading her? Oh God, don't let it be a misreading. My eyes follow her as she went into another office and starts talking to another doctor… that lucky bastard.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I'm checking up on a few patients while Liz is away and I can suddenly feel someone else there. He's looking at me, maybe even studying me. Why does that make me feel really uneasy? I now see a dark-haired guy come around the corner, walking towards me. He's about my age, dark haired, tall and lanky… almost like Alex, but his nametag reads dr. Tom Brady.

“So you’re the new boss?”, he asks as he comes closer to me, and extends his hand for a friendly handshake.

“Yeah”, is all I can really say as I reach out and shake his hand. He seems like a nice guy.

“Oh sorry, I’m Tom Brady”, he introduces himself.

“Evans, Max Evans”, I say and for a second or two, we don't say anything. It's that awkward stage when two guys just meet. As we stand here in silence, Liz and Maria walk past us. Liz is talking to Maria and she immediately captures my attention… and I can sense that she captured Brady's attention as well.

“So, I see you’re making the rounds with Elizabeth”, he says with a smirk as I bring my attention back to him, which was hard, I can tell you that much.

“She is a real number isn’t she? The word is buzzing around that she just got out of a rocky relationship. Thank God, I tell you. I’d give anything to tap that little piece of ass, because God knows that I’ve tried. If you know what I’m saying”, he says as he smiles devilishly. I'm trying not to look too disgusted but that's really hard.

“Excuse me?”, I ask, probably with a little more venom than intended… no wait, exactly enough venom. Who the fuck does this guy think he is, talking about Liz like that?! Wait a minute… did he just say rocky relationship? I look towards Liz again and a smile creeps on my face as I see all the little things she did so many years ago, that she still does now. God, she's perfect.

“Yeah, I asked her out numerous times, and every time, I get shot down", Brady answers my question, obviously missing my apparent anger. "She is a hard one to break in, but trust me—it’s worth it once you do”, he says before walking off in the other direction. I do not like that guy and I don't like the way he looks at Liz… nope, not a bit.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell New Mexico, August 28th, 2012.... 10:23AM]
Liz POV

Maria pulls me aside… well, actually she more like jerked me away. I know she can’t wait to get the latest gossip on Max and I haven’t been able to talk to her all day long. I keep sneaking peeks at Max while we talk, and I just can't wipe off this stupid grin as Maria keeps trying to pry information out of me, like I had some dish to spill.

“Maria, I was actually close to literally jumping for joy when he said that he wasn’t with Tess anymore. What kind of person am I? I mean Kyle and I just broke up”, I say without thinking. I can already see her taking a breath and I know what she's gonna say so I interrupt her. "Don't! I know… I don't love Kyle anymore…but you forget that he was a huge part of my life for all these years, even though I didn’t know that he was screwing every girl in every state he was in. I thought he was someone; I thought we had something. And even though I was obviously wrong, I shouldn’t be jumping for joy for his misfortune”, I rant.

Maria takes me by both arms and vigorously shake me.

“Babe, stop rambling...and listen to me...”, she says as she still holds my shoulders in a tight grasp. Damn, she's got some grip. “I'm going to say this one more time… it is time to close the Kyle-chapter and move on. Kyle did that a long time ago. He's like a Rotweiler; don’t show him your weakness because he'll take advantage of it. I won’t let him hurt you anymore, don’t worry about it anymore Liz. I’ve got you’re back no matter what”, she says. I smile at her as I gently hug her. Thank God that I still have my best friend; a person to cling to when I want to give up and call it quits or when I freak out. Yeah, she's always the one to get me back to reality.

“Liz, Kyle is a jerk and will always be a jerk", she continues. "Nothing is going to stop that. But it’s time to move on, spread your wings, and learn how to fly“, she says. I hate to break up this little moment but no way… I won't let her do this again.

“Maria, can you please stop with the Kelly Clarkson lyrical advice”, I say as I roll my eyes.

"Shut up!", she squeals as I start to walk towards Max, ready to continue our rounds. Well, Maria does have a point; I really should forget about Kyle.

“Are you ready Max? Max?”, I shout to Max. He doesn't answer; talk about being in deep thought, "Max!"

~*~*~*~*~

Max POV

“Max...Max?”, I hear a faint voice calling just before I snap back to reality, and out of the dream state I was in. When I turn slightly, I find Liz staring up at me with at smile on her face. I can see she's trying not to laugh… she was never very good at pretending.

“Are you alright?”, she asks in a concerned and somewhat curious voice. Gosh, how long was I standing there? You're embarrassing yourself, Evans?

“Y-Yeah. Why? Did you say something?”, I attempt, somehow succeeding in saying something when all I want I want to be at this moment is be invisible.

“It’s just that I’ve been trying to get your attention for the past two minutes", she says. Why am I still visible?, "Where were you just then?” I feel my face redden; okay... if someone can actually die from embarrassment, it's a good thing I'm already in a hospital.

“Sorry, It was nothing... I was just… thinking that’s all”, I say with an undoubtedly sheepish smile. Please Liz, just let that one rest

“Thinking... hmmm... well, whatever you say, Evans”, she says with a smile. When she looks away, I sigh in relief as she looks at the next chart and motions me to follow her.

“Mrs. Johnson, she is a regular here. We keep checking up on her after her husband passed away. She's been complaining about several aches and pains. Just be gentle, like I know you can be… doctor” she smirks at me as we make our way to ward D-5.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz POV

“Good morning mrs Johnson”, I say as me and Max both enter the room. There is something about the way she's looking at me and Max… like she was inspecting us, instead of the other way around.

“What brings you back so soon?”, she asks, a little confused. As the elderly woman is getting situated, I look at Max who's looking through her chart.

“Oh...Elizabeth, dear how are you?”, she says. She just recognized me… she's a little slow on things like that but she's a sweet woman, sometimes even reminding me somewhat of my grandma, something that gives me peace on certain days.

“I’m just fine Mrs. Johnson”, I say as I smile at her reassuringly.

“Now mrs Johnsson… what is disturbing you today? Are you feeling well?”, I ask

“Oh no dear, I have a terrible pain in my side. It hurts when I stretch or take a deep breath. I feel a rather sharp pain at times”, she says, carefully explaining her aches.

I look at Max as he listens to her first before checking her over. He's in his serious mode right now… I can tell.

“Can you take a deep breath. mrs Johnson?”, Max asks as he checks her heart.

“Who’s the looker?”, she asks, much to my surprise. I'm actually kind of surprised that she would be so bold as to ask me who Max is when he's standing only a few inches away. I know he heard it because he's turning as pink as… well, something pink… in an instant. It's really cute how his ears perk up as he tries to hide this little fact.

“Miss... I’m doctor Evans. I'll make some X-rays of your side to make sure everything is in tip top shape”, he says, winking at me causing me to jump slightly. Oh hell, I can’t take it anymore.

I suddenly drop all the papers I have in my hands. I don't care about mrs Johnsson right about now. “Take me, Max... take me now. I’ve been holding this in for far too long”, I plead as I grab his shirt and push him against the door, jumping up and wrapping my legs around his waist. A second later, I can feel the warmth of his lips on mine.

“I missed you so much Max...”, I hiss as I continue to kiss him, and continue to feel his warm tongue wrestle with mine.

“I’ve always loved you Max... I’m sorry, I never got to tell you that... I always have”, I sigh as he leaves a trail of kisses on my neck and back up to my lips.

“Excuse me Liz. LIZ?!”, Max says, causing me to break out of my daydream… and a damn good daydream it was. Max asked me something… I wonder what. I quickly duck my head, remembering what my daydream was just about... and I literally feel like I'm going to pop with embarrassment. Thank God he's not a mind reader.

“Could you call to get one of the machines down here asap… no need to keep mrs Johnson waiting all day long. Are you alright? You look flushed, like you're blushing”, he smirks as I bend down to collect the papers I dropped. When he goes to check up on a patient we saw earlier, I finally have a chance to get a hold of myself.

“He’s really handsome don’t you think?”, mrs Johnsson asks. She almost scared me to death; I totally forgot that she was here. “Don’t you agree?”, she asks. I smile at her and nod. I then call upstairs, ask for the machine and wait for them to come with it… which took way too long by the way. Once it's wheeled down, Max makes his way back inside the room. But the visions I had in my day dream are just way too real for me.

Geez, I need a cold shower. Please don't let me say something stupid.

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

Chapter 8: There’s always room for seconds...

[Roswell, New Mexico… September 9th, 1998]
Max POV

If I think back to the time that I considered Liz Parker just a friend, I have to go way back in the day when she was scrawny and it was the last day of junior high. I was pretty nice to her in school and we only lived five minutes away from each other. When we were younger, I found that to be a downside, especially since anyone could tell that she was in love with me. But as I got older, I could see things starting to change... or at least I thought it did. She always used to bug me, but as I got more and more popular and she didn’t, I felt kind of bad for her in some way. I was still being nice to her; not only because my mom told me to do so, but also because she was what I considered an old friend. Hell, I’ve known her ever since kindergarten. In the fifth grade I was convinced I loved her, but that quickly changed in the sixth grade when Pam Troy came into the picture and took the attention away from most of girls in our grade. So when Liz and I lost touch over the summer of 98’, the last person I thought would talk to me was Liz. But she proved me wrong once again.

“Wow...dude look at the hottie that just walked in the classroom”, Kyle Valenti, the jock that just moved here earlier in the summer, said. His dad was Roswell's new sheriff. They just moved from Minnesota and lived down the street from me, so being the friendly guy that I was... no coughing please… we became friends and hit it off instantly.

Eager to see who this hottie was I turned around to see a petite brunette talking with a group of girls. From the backside she was cute... dressed in a short denim skirt with a red tank top, and white tennis shoe sandals.

When she turned around, I could swear that time stopped because I felt everything around me slow down until it was almost motionless. As she walked towards the table Kyle and I were at I looked into her eyes, and she smiled.

“Hi Max”, she said, with a shy smile as I tried to find my voice and get back into reality. I can tell you that wasn't easy.

“Liz hey... how was your summer?”, I asked. I remember exactly what I was thinking: 'Stupid question Evans... come on, you haven’t seen her all summer and that’s the question you ask. Man did she grow into her own or what? She has curves... I’ve never noticed that before. Maybe I wasn’t really looking... or she had a damn fine summer'.

“Oh, it was okay... the usual science camp... the girls were really sweet, as always. How did you hold up in Roswell?”, she asked. Now that I think of it, Roswell had been the same boring place as it's always been and I had been stuck there just like every year, while every year she went off to sunny California to either stay with her Aunt or go to camp.

“Good. Good. Just trying to keep from suffocating. I got a job at the UFO Museum”, I told her. I still don't know why did I told her that… she could have thought I was trying to stalk, her since she worked at the Crashdown which was located across the street from there.

“Good to hear...wow, so um...you got a job, so I can go bug you since you’re in close range of where I work huh? Tempting”, she said. Yes, that's right… she said tempting. I couldn’t wipe a stupid grin off my face. I could hear someone clearing his throat to get my attention but I was so captivated by Liz that I didn’t want to pay attention to anyone but her.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?”, Kyle asked as he pushed me to get my attention. I swear I forgot he was even next to me. Again... Liz... I still couldn’t believe how grownup she looked.

“Oh, right... Kyle, this is Liz Parker. Liz this is Kyle Valenti”, I said and right when I said this, Kyle got up and ran around the desk to stand in front of her and shake her hand. She blushed at the motion and right at that moment I regretted ever introducing them, and I just knew I would kick myself later that he would be the one to make her blush. I felt this strange feeling… this anger boiling up inside of me, and all I wanted to do was push him away from her. I was the only one who was allowed make her feel that way, but I didn’t because she wasn’t mine; she was my friend nothing more. Stupid me.

Right then the teacher walked in the room.

“Welcome to your homeroom... everyone please stand so you can be assigned your seats. Pam Troy... Kyle Valenti... Tessina Harding…”, he said and as the list went on... he came to the last row.

“…Liz Parker…”, he said and as she walked to her seat all the guys' diverted their attention to her and some jocks whistled while I on the other hand wanted to punch in the face them for even looking at her that way.

“Max Evans”, the teacher said and I looked around to see if I heard him correctly; some guys sneered at me so I probably heard correctly and I smiled as I took the seat next to Liz. I looked at her schedule and it turned out that we had almost every class together. Except p.e. I had football.

“So, can I walk you to class?”, I asked. I was hoping that she didn’t take a liking to Kyle and would let me, but I didn’t want to sound desperate or something if she said no. I still had some pride then.

“Sure I’d like that”, she smiled and brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. Before that moment, I never noticed all the small things she did before… and it looked incredibly cute and hot now.

While I put my books into my locker, Kyle came up behind me and patted me on the back.

“You lucky son of a bitch. I’ll give you a hundred dollars to trade seats with me”, he said and I smirked at how desperate he seemed to be.

“Not a chance in hell”, I answered with a smile. He looked really disappointed as he tried calling a higher price, but I didn’t listen to him. I walked over to Liz’s locker and she was just getting her books out.

“Ready?”, I asked her as she flashed me a bright smile.

“Sure”, I said, practically beaming with happiness. I knew then that it was going to be one hell of a year.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell, New Mexico… August 28th 2012]
Liz POV

“Max, Mrs Johnson’s lab results came back”, I say as I find him in the break room pouring himself a cup of coffee. He looks very professional. And to think that it took me all day to pry Maria off me and stop asking questions about him, more specifically me and him. Actually, after that day dream I had earlier, I'm surprised that he's not asking the exact same questions.

“Cool, what do we got?”, he asks eagerly. I can see he’s been waiting to see what the results would be... he cares for his patients; it's really great to see that in a doctor. Let's just say not all doctors are like that. It's refreshing to work with a doctor like him.

“Well, nothing seems to be broken... but I think she might be experiencing from some slight tenderness; maybe too much activity in her garden or something”, I suggest. Oh shit, maybe I'm overstepping my boundaries here; I’m not the doctor and I should let him to his job. On the other hand, she has been in here for the same reason several times and it’s his first day here, and I’d just thought I’d let him know my thoughts.

If follow him as he takes the X-rays to one of the empty exam rooms, and puts it against he light box. Funny how doctor's always assume you follow them when they walk away without saying something. He then turns it of again. ”I think you might be right. How many times has this been reported with her?”, he asks.

“She came in about three times before, always complaining about almost the exact same problem...do you think that they might be linked?”, I asked, almost doubtful for her. After all, linked mostly means bad and I didn’t want anything to happen to her. I hate seeing death, and even though it’s a hospital and it happens a lot more often than we would like; I still hate that part of my job.

He's not reacting. “Are you okay? You seem distant?”, I say and I can’t help but notice the glass glaze he's giving me.

“Yeah, I was just remembering our first day at Roswell high... do you remember?”, he says, giving me this sly glance as we make our way back to the exam room.

“Yeah… wow, that was a really long time ago... I was so nervous... I mean to see you again... it was the first time I ever felt that way”, I smile and I'm sure I'm blushing. I can’t believe I actually told him that, why am I being so straightforward?

“Yeah well, I realize my mistake after all this time...”, he says. Okay Liz, don't ask him what the mistake was. Don't ask him; you don't wanna know.

“Asking you out... I still regret that to this day... did you like me?”, he asks. Does he really have to ask? I’ve been in love with him since kindergarten… I mean who could resist those soulful eyes, dark hair...mysterious...what’s not to love?

“Max... you have no idea”, I say, giving him a confident smirk as we make our way into the examination room.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[At the same time in the air]
Isabel POV

“Michael if that pager beeps one more time I’m going to flush it down the toilet.” I exclaim... does he really have to work on a flight. All the cell phones in the world I can handle but not something that started beeping every ten seconds from the second we sat down... for goodness sake, I don’t know how people can have those and not be tormented by them.

“Isabel, if you don’t like it, just plug your ears. I’m not going to stop my work because you’re getting annoyed; I can’t just ignore every one of my clients just because I’m going home for the week", he says

“If you don’t turn that stupid thing on vibrate you are going to be sorry Michael”, I say. A little threat goes a long way, trust me… but I swear if he doesn’t listen to me he will regret it. Why do I have to sit next to him anyway? I know the stupid airline mixed up the tickets and placed him on the opposite side of the plane, but Alex and I always sit next to each other on flights. Oh my freaking God, there's that pager again. Okay, that's it!

“Hey what are you doing?", Michael shouts, "Isabel give that back… you can’t destroy it, that’s a violation of personal property. I can have you arrested for that”, Michael shouts as I grab the unholy pager from his hands and threaten to smash it. I automatically roll my eyes; there he goes again with that stupid lawyer crap. Did he forget that I’m married to a lawyer?

“You can have it back when we get to Roswell, but until then it’s mine”, I simply tell him as I drop it in my purse and quickly secure it before he can take it away from me again. Ah, finally, some quiet… finally, I can hear myself think again.

“Ahh...”, he shouts and I laugh. I'm sorry but at this point, I'm just amused by his actions

“Why are you like this?”, he demands to know in a stern tone

“Like what?”, I ask him in an innocent girlish tone. That tone works wonders on Alex too.

“Like you own the entire goddamn world… you know the whole world does not revolve around you”, he exclaims

"No, it revolves around the sun", I say back with a grin. Okay, no quick comeback? Okay, look at him, he's all hyper. He’s definitely nervous about something... he only gets this way when he’s nervous.

“Why are you nervous?”, I question him. I see him tense up… guess I was right… and I'm guessing he really doesn't wanna talk about it… well too bad for him.

“Nervous? I’m not nervous... what are you talking about?”, he says, trying to play the calm and collective part. Someone who doesn't know him might believe him, but I see right through that act.

“Michael, I’ve known you my entire life...I know how you get when you’re nervous. All high, paranoid and tense. Something is bothering you...what is it?”, I push. Okay sue me; I really wanna know... at this point I have to know. I'll find out one way or another… but I wanna know now… and he better tell me. Yes, that's another small threat.

“Isabel, what on earth are you talking about?”, he demands to know in that same stern tone. He doesn’t even admit he's nervous… it's gonna take me hours to get the information from him. What is it with guys and their so-called pride? I just don’t get it.

“Whatever. Don’t answer the question...”, I say as I sit back and pretend to let it go.

“Can I have my pager back?”, he asks cautiously.

No way on earth; my ears are just starting to adjust to hearing something other than just those annoying beeps. “No”, I simply say. He then gets and got up and makes his way to the back of the plane, towards Alex.

Blast! Now I'll never find out

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

[Roswell, New Mexico… August 28th 2012]
Liz POV

One hour to go until I have to start my shift at the Crashdown, and I'm really not looking forward to it… but I'm also a little worried about my mom. She didn't sound very well and she's all the family I have left and I don’t want to lose her. With a huff, me and Max started to make our way out of the exam room until I stopped Max.

“What?”, he asks. As I look back at Mrs. Johnson, I see she’s still sitting there. She hasn’t moved to put on her clothes to leave.

I can’t help but smirk as I pull him aside. This even funnier with Max than with Dougie.

“I forgot to tell you... she always has a physical when she comes in... and while you were seeing the other patients... she asked for you upon special request. So, you’d better get going, doctor”, I say with a smile as he rolls his eyes and makes his way back into the exam room.

I can’t help but laugh at his reaction. Looks like she has a new favorite; Dougie will be so happy. But I can’t say the same for Max. I shrug it off and make my way to the nurse’s station to mark off the patients we've already visited. Seems like everything was pretty much finished... some patients were waiting for their results, so nothing could really be done.

“Where are you going?”, I ask as Maria and Serena try to speed past the front desk. Nice try ladies.

“We’re going to go Jason Behr's new movie and drool over him… he’s supposed to look extra cute in this one… very promising”, Serena explains. I smile widely; that’s what she says about all his movies... the girl is obsessed, I tell you.

“You should come with us... you know you like him too”, Maria offers with a smile. Very crafty; trying to get on my non-boss side.

“Tempting...", I say honestly, "…but I can’t. After this I have to go to the Crashdown and do the monthly inventory. I promised my mom. But I know you’ll give me the reviews… over… and over…”, I say with a smirk. She knows what I'm getting at.

“You bet your ass I will. Maybe I’ll stop by to help you later”, Maria promises. I just smiled because I know for a fact that this is never going to happen. Maria plus Jason Behr does not exactly equal work.

“Yeah yeah”, I laugh as they make their way out of the hospital, leaving me alone... yet again.

“Help, I need help!”, someone comes in through the front door, his voice echoing through the hallway. It looks like someone has just been stabbed. I can already see Dougie rushing towards the man's side.

“Parker, some help here!”, He yells out and I quickly come to his aid.

We work for a good forty five minutes before the patient's pulse drops. It's like time stops at this moment. I can slowly see the life drain away from his face. Doug is determined not to let him die, and tries everything he can to bring the man back. For a second there, I could have sword I saw my father lying there for a moment before I blinked and saw the young man on the table. I literally have to shake the image from my head.

“Time of death, 17:30pm”, Dough sighs in frustration. I record the time I wonder if I should say something, but I don’t know what I should say... I can’t really get the right words out… even after several years, I still can't.

As we start to prepare the body for the family, if he had any, I finally find some words. “So young”, is all I say. And it's true; he looks about my age, maybe even younger. Images of my dad come flooding back to my mind. It's not your dad Liz! It's not! God, I hate days like this.

“You’re not gonna cry on me are you?”, Dougie asks and with some effort, I manage to roll my eyes at him, pretending like everything was fine as I start to pull the tubes out of the deceased patient's lifeless body and tend the cuts.

“No… why? Are you?”, I say and I actually manage to smirk… before he suddenly starts to laugh

“Well… it’s just that you always phase out when a patient dies… so what are you thinking about?”, he asks. That's kind of personal, so I just lie. I like to keep my personal life, well, personal.

“Nothing... I don’t think about anything... you know, I’m going to take off... I’ll see you later Dougie”, I say and I actually feel a little better when I see him cringe.

“I thought I asked you to stop calling me that”, he yelled at me.

“Sorry Dougie!”, I yell back and I softly laughed as I made my way to the nurse’s station to gather my things.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell, New Mexico… August 28th 2012]
Max POV

I stealthily peek my head into the exam room where one of the nurses saw Liz going in, but when I do, Liz is nowhere in sight. All I see is a doctor who seems to be rambling to himself. It’s actually a pretty funny sight.

“Oh... sure... you go on ahead... I’ve got this... what the hell did I say?”, he rambled, obviously to himself. I try not to laugh. I fail.

“Talking to yourself, are you?”, I say with a wide smile as I walk into the room. He makes it even funnier by half-jumping at my entrance.

“Um... yeah. I was”, he says with a nervous laugh as I scratch behind my ear with a smirk on my face that I can’t wipe off right away.

“I was looking for Parker... I was told she was assisting you... do you know where she went?”, I ask curiously, mainly because our shift wasn’t over for another eight minutes.

“Yeah, well she was here... but then she got all freaked out by something and she practically ran out of here… said something about leaving early...I think”, he says obviously a little confused. I wonder what upset her… and suddenly I’m very concerned about her.

“Thanks”, I nod as I head out and continue to look for her.

“No problem. That’s what I’m here for... I’m helpful Doug”, he shouts after me. I laughed at the gesture but then I see Liz walking out of the hospital and I run to catch up with her.

“Liz... wait up!”, I shout. Thankfully, she stops and allows me to catch up with her.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[At the same time in the air]
Alex POV

“Alex, trades places with me now!”, Michael shouts in my face. He was really pissed off and for just a second I wonder why… stupid question, Alex. Only one person can drive Michael this crazy and I’m married to her; Isabel.

“Michael it’s like, fifteen minutes, before we arrive in Roswell”, I say. I know what he’s going through. I really love my wife, trust me… but she can bring out the devil in people if she wants to, and she doesn’t even have to try hard. It’s like her second nature.

“Dammit, Alex! That Nazi is driving me crazy... she think I’m nervous about something”, he says and at this point, he’s looking quite desperate. I know he tries not to shout, but all the stares coming in our direction indicate he’s failing

“Well… you are”, I point out the blunt fact.

“Shut up... we talked about that in private”, he hisses.

“Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me”, I laugh

“Just trade spaces with me”, he tries again, looking even more desperate. Well alright then!

“Fine”, I say and I stand up and make my way to 34C, which is right besides 35C; Isabel’s seat.

“Hey honey...”, I say as I sit down. “…what did you say to him?” Now I know she won’t tell me… I know Isabel well enough for that, but a husband has the right to at least ask

“He’s mad because I took away his pager”, she says, smiling brightly. I wonder if it’s about seeing me or about what she did to. Before I can get settled, she leans over and kisses me. Wow, I never get tired of that.

“I missed you”, she beams at me.

“I missed you too Izzy”, I say, smiling at her. Hey, maybe this is a good time to find out the big news she didn’t want to tell yet. She’s in a good mood now.

“So, what’s the big news?”, I ask hopefully

She kissed again and then replied, “Nice try... I’ll tell you when we get settled in Roswell”. I knew it wasn’t gonna work.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell, New Mexico… August 28th 2012, 5:45 PM]
Max POV

“Oh hey Max. How did the examination go?”, she asks as she tries to hide her sudden amusement regarding the situation I just had to go through. She looks kinda cute as she hides a grin with her hand, trying express sympathy for me.

“Um, the exam went well but it was really uncomfortable. She grabbed my ass like three times and then claimed it was my imagination”, I say and I just know I’m turning a bright shade of pink as she bursts out in a fit of giggles.

“I… I’m sorry Max...I should’ve told you… she gets these crushes on her doctors”, she says, close to tears right about now. Does she not care that I was just hit on by a seventy year old woman? That’s like my grandma feeling me up… brr, I never want that thought to enter my head ever again. I shudder at the mere thought.

“Forgive me?”, she asks with one of those girlish pouts, and shows her cute bottom lip in hope that I will say yes, and how can I not if she looks so hot and adorable right now.

“Don’t worry about it”, I wave off, and flash her a smile, which turned wide she blushed at the gesture. I can still make her blush. “Well, it’s a typical first day at work; you know, meet up with a friend, and then get hit on by a seventy year old widow. I think my day is now complete”, I laugh and scratch behind my ear as she chuckles.

Once the awkward silence kicks in, I figure this is my chance before she’s able to get away. “I was just going to pick up Isabel, Alex, and Michael from the airport. The guys and I were going to go to The Eraser Room after they get settled in. I was wondering if maybe you would consider joining us for a drink”, I ask. Okay, why is my heart suddenly racing? I know I like Liz but it’s not like I never asked a girl out before.

“Hmm..tempting but Sorry, can't. Rain check?”, she asks.

“I’m going to hold you to that Ms. Parker”. Liz smiles sweetly as she gets into her car.

"I'll make it up to you Max, but I gotta go." With a wave, she's gone.

“You have no idea, Liz... you have no idea”, I sigh as I watch her drive away, and for the first time in a long time I feel that I had this second chance to change things and make everything right. For a second I imagine Liz and me together and…

I’m looking at my watch… and I’m late. “Shit! Isabel is going to kill me!”, I exclaim to no one in particular as I run back into the hospital, gather my belongings and make my way to the airport. I really hope their flight was delayed… please let it be delayed. Ever noticed how flights are only delayed are only delayed when you’re in a hurry?

Yeah, I know… flat chance in hell. “I’m so dead…”, I whisper

TBC...

[LovelyPOM83]

Chapter Nine: What Could Have Been

Max POV

The drive to the airport couldn't possibly have taken any longer than it did. A freeway filled with tired people trying to get home from work slowed my halted my efforts to get to the airport as fast as I could. It took me more than twenty-five minutes more than normal. I knew I should’ve taken the old highway, but I stupidly took the new freeway they built a few years back. Isabel is gonna flip and it's not like she will accept any excuses I make anyway. I'm forty five minutes late… I am so dead.

Pulling up to the side of the airport visitor’s parking lot; I quickly jump out of my car, almost forgetting to put the car in park. I quickly reach inside and pull the parking brake, already bracing myself to slam the door and sprint towards where Isabel is undoubtedly having an aneurism... metaphorically speaking, of course… hopefully… but just as I do, a security guard taps me on my shoulder, causing me to mumble a curse under my breath.

“Sir, you can’t park here”, he says sternly. I look around for a second. Damn, it's the pickup zone. Well, I am here to pick someone up so what is he stressing about? Doesn't that rent-a-cop realize that I'm risking the wrath of Isabel here? This calls for extreme measures.

I reach into my pocket and deposit a crisp fifty dollar bill into his hands. “Now can I park here?”, I ask hopefully. He's gonna take the bribe, after all, what security guard can refuse a bribe?

“Rules are rules, sir”, he says firmly. I can’t friggin believe this. Did he see how much I gave him? "But for another Benjamin Franklin you can stay as long as you’d like”, he adds with a sly smile.

I can’t believe this… I’m a well-respected doctor, or at least a doctor, and I'm being hassled by a wannabe-cop. Oh well, knowing how my sister is going to react if I'm any later, it's worth the extra fifty bucks.

“You're a hard man to buy”, I say glancing at his name tag, “…Ernie”, I tell him as I slap another fifty-dollar bill into his hand.

“Yeah, that’s what they all say”, he yells as I run into the building, hoping… no praying, that Izzy won’t kill me on the spot, and that she would at least have the decency to wait till we got to my house.

But now that I turn around the corner and see Isabel pacing back and forth, I know she's having a panic attack. I look at the scene in front of me and while I know I should be scared shitless, I can't help but smile at the sight in front of me. Iz is pacing back and forth like a crazywoman, Alex is trying to calm her, something that's not having the desired effect, and Michael is busy ranting on his cell phone. I’m seriously surprised they all came on the same plane and no one died.

Looks like I’ve stayed in the same spot for too long because my dear baby sister just spotted me, and is marching towards me with a not-so-pleased look on her face. Oh god here it comes... HELP!

I don't move; every step in her direction would speed my impending doom. Besides, she already looks pissed off as it is, and there's nothing I can do to change that.

“Where the hell have you been?”, she shouts and I'm actually amazed by the volume she gets on this one. Usually, she would wait until we were in a closed off location to shout out whatever is on her mind… but this time she didn’t. That can't be good.

“You’d better have a tremendous reason for being…”, she starts and stops to glance at her watch, “…almost an hour late to pick us up! Very well Maxwell, if it was a matter of live and death I will understand… and you had better not make up some bullshit excuse or so help me god...”

God, she's even more pissed off than I thought she would be. In the back of my head, I had thought of the possibility that she was gonna go easy on me because I’m a doctor and possibly saving lives while they were waiting. And no, I wasn’t busy saving lives, but she doesn’t know that!

“Izzy… baby”, Alex says as he comfortly puts his arms around her waist. Wow, I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am right now that Alex stepped into the picture. I love her, she’s my twin sister and all, but she’s downright scary when she’s like this and I’m ashamed to say that while she’s in this state, I’m no match for her.

“I need you to take some deep long breaths, okay?”, Alex says softly. To my surprise, she nods her head and I watch as she follows his instructions. I never knew that Alex had such a power over her; I’m impressed… and also grateful, I don’t think I mentioned that.

“Now Izzy, I’m sure that Max didn’t mean to be late. The last thing he probably wanted was for you to worry and have a panic attack”, he says soothingly.

“Iz, I’m sorry”, I say softly, “I really tried to be on time and I never intended to be late. Will you forgive me?”

Okay, I just gave her the most puppy dog-like smile I have. If this doesn’t work… I can always run. I hold my breath and watch closely as she looks back and forth between Alex and me and it’s not before her frown transforms to a smile that I relax and start breathing again.

“Okay, mister you’re off the hook just this once. I missed you so much”, Isabel says as she gives me a hug. I give a big thumbs-up to Alex as she continues to hug me.

You're welcome, he mouthed back at me. I am so thankful for having such an understanding brother-in-law. Lord knows, I would have been getting the silent treatment all day just for being late if it weren't for him.

We then quickly get their luggage together and haul it over to my car, and in case you're wondering, when I said we, I meant me and Alex. Now that we're done, I notice that Michael is still rambling on his cell phone. It’s been fifteen minutes and God knows how long before I got here… and he’s still at it.

“No sir, I didn’t get your page”, he says with a stern look to Isabel. Is it me or is something weird going on with the two of them. Oh well, she doesn’t seem to notice as she continues to talk to Alex like there's nothing wrong… or she noticed and just doesn't care… it's one of those two.

“I didn’t forget it, it was taken from me”, Michael said in a more stern voice. I'm getting the feeling that the person who took it was Isabel… I wonder what happened on the plane, they seem so distant. He hasn’t said one word to her.

“Are you crazy? No, I can’t come into work", Michael says. He looks a little frustrated. "I’m not in New York at the moment sir. I’m on vacation, remember?”, he continues as we drive away in my car. I look in the rear-view mirror and I catch his eye. He looks stressed and I guess I can relate. "No, I can’t come back. Look I asked for this time off four months in advance… look, if you don’t like it, then you can go to hell!”, he shouts into the phone. “Fine!”, he shouts again as he shuts his phone off and, literally, throws it out the window. You know, I think… I think that was not what he wanted to hear.

“What the hell was that about?”, Alex dares to ask. Michael is huffing and puffing with anger. I swear I almost see steam coming out of his nose and ears.

"That was mister Shallow; that stupid boss of ours. The bastard demanded that I fly right back because one of our biggest clients has an important case for me to work on… and when I told him to stick it, he fired me", Michael vented. Okay, I thought my old boss was a pain but he pales in comparison to Michael's.

“Sorry man...”, I say. I can relate to what it feels like to loose your job just like that. At least I got offered another job. What’s he gonna do… go back to New York… or stay here?

The rest of the way to Roswell was quiet; no one dared looked at Michael who calmed down a bit but was obviously still fuming. But once we pull in front of my two story house, the silence breaks.

“Nice house Maxwell, but don’t you think it’s kind of big? I mean there’s only you staying here”, Michael says with a small smirk. Way to be subtle, Michael

A few minutes later, me and Michael are busy hauling the bags out of the car and into my place. With Isabel and Alex already inside, he takes this opportunity to talk.

“So how was work?”, Michael asks as he slaps me on the back.

“Good… and surprising”, I say as I smirk at him. I quickly lock up the car and start to head towards the house carrying suitcases that feel like they’ve been filled with lead.

“Surprising? Why’s that?”, he asks, obviously intrigued by the smirk I had on my face. And of course, with Michael being… well, Michael… he just has to know.

“I work with Liz Parker”, I say and from the corner of my eye, I can see him stopping dead in his tracks, staring at me.

“You mean... mousy Liz Parker that you had a thing for and still do?”, he asks. That’s Michael; straightforward as always. Sometimes, I admire that about him… and there’s sometimes I wish he could have just that little bit of tact. I don’t say a word and walk right past him.

“She works at the hospital? As what… the cafeteria lady?”, he says as he runs after me and then softly chuckles at his own joke.

“Very funny Mike. No, she’s a nurse… the head-nurse to be exact”, I say. I suppose I sound a little proud there but it’s a lot that she has accomplished especially after all she’s been through.

“Well, look at her making a name for herself. But what about Harvard? I thought that was her dream”, he says. Yeah, that was her dream but life can be cruel… and dreams don’t always come true.

“Actually, it was Berkeley. I know that during the last four years in Roswell High, that’s all we ever heard about… but she didn’t go”, I say, leaving it open ended and I look at Michael with the silent plea for him not to prod any further, but he obviously has the same thoughts running through his head now as I did the moment I was standing right in front of her and she told me she stayed in Roswell.

“Why? She had everything sent out for her... why would she stay here?”, Michael asks.

“I know... I know...”, I say. I can see in his eyes that he’s already forming three or four weird scenarios as to why Liz would stay here. I guess he’s gonna find out sooner or later anyway. “Two days after we left for New York, Liz was supposed to head off to California… but her dad…”, I start

“What happened, man?”, Michael interrupts me.

I take a deep breath. “Her dad suffered from a heart attack… and that night, he had another heart failure and he died. She felt that she had to stay and help her mom, and since the café was left to her, she worked there. With college out the window, she went to nursing school and I think you get the picture from there”, I say in one breath. Now that’s a lot of information to obtain in a few minutes… imagine actually living it.

“Wow”, he mutters. I nod and lead the way into the house, where I toss him his bags and lead the way upstairs where I find Isabel and Alex already unpacking a few of their things.

Now that everyone is settled, I really need a drink. It’s been a long day… a very long day. “I was going to get a drink. Wanna come with?”, I ask aloud, looking at Michael who’s finishing putting his clothes away in the dresser. I know if anyone needs a drink right now, it’s him.

“Sure. But where? Roswell isn’t exactly stocked up with places to go”, he replies. I know what he means; Roswell is a lot, but a party town it isn’t.

“Well, I heard that they just opened a new bar last month. I think they called it the Eraser room. It’s supposed to be the new hotspot in town”, I say with a laugh, remembering how excited the nurse who told me about it this morning was when she told me.

“Yeah? Well, that makes it the only hotspot”, Michael laughs as he turns to make his way out of the room, “But you’re paying...I lost my job and you still have one. It’s only fair”.

Well, at least he kept his sense of humor. I walk after him and slap him on the back. “Whatever you say, man”, I smirk at him. Now all we have to do is tell Isabel and then get the hell out before she can object.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Crashdown Café: 7:30 PM]
Liz POV

Do you ever have this feeling of déjà vu? I have one now because I swear I have at least twenty memories of my mother walking back and forth through the Crashdown, telling me where everything is and how much we need for this week of inventory. I swear it’s like she first met me and I don’t know what I’m doing.

“Mom, it’s okay. I have done this before, you know? Are you sure you’re alright, you look kind of pale. Maybe you just need to get some sleep”, I say. Truthfully, I think she just misses my dad. When he died, a part of her died as well. It’s been hard for me; not being able to say goodbye and all, but I think it’s even worse for her. She doesn’t smile as much as she used to and when she does, it’s not the way it was before. But still, it could be more than just that.

“I know Lizzie, but I don’t want you to have to do on your own. It’s too much. You should be out having fun with Maria and the rest of your friends, I don’t like to put you in this situation, an…“, she says and here’s that déjà vu feeling again. When is she going to realize that I want to be here with her; I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. I’m much more worried about her.

I decide that the only way to stop her speech is to cut right through it. A little rude, I know, but necessary. “Mom. Mom. Look at me, I’m going to be okay. I’m going to be alright. I have everything under control so why don’t you go lay down. You look exhausted, you know what; I’m going to set up an appointment with your doctor. You don’t have a cold Mom, you’ve been sick for months and it’s not going away”, I say.

“Liz, I don’t need a doctor. I’m perfectly fine”, she says, just like the last ten times I said she has to see a doctor. Well, she’s going to see a doctor this time whether she wants to or not. I know that something is wrong I can see it in her eyes… and I just wanna be sure it’s nothing life-threatening.

“Please Mom… for me”, I ask using my sad-eye look. Ever since I was little, this look made my parents give in to everything I wanted… and I really want her to see that doctor right now. I’m not taking no for an answer. She’s always so stubborn… I really learned from the master there.

She looked at me once more before sighing. “ Okay, fine. If it will make you happy, I’ll go to the doctors”, she says. Sad-eyes does it again! She smiles at me as I hug her, relieved that she finally gave in. With that she excuses herself and I was left to finish the task at hand feeling just a little bit better. That’s one less thing to worry about.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell 8:30 PM]
Tess POV

Okay, this is it; the moment of truth… but how am I going to tell him? How do you tell a man you love, the man you gave up everything for, that you’re pregnant and you’re not even sure that the baby is his? Will he still want me after I tell him what I did? God, I hope so... I love him so much. But I’ll never know if I just stand here. Be bold Tess… you’ll never know unless you try. If he really loves you, he’ll see through anything. Maybe he’ll look past everything and stay with me. Then again, it’s almost as if trouble is following me in my footsteps and that’s always a pain in the ass. Here’s the moment of truth... don’t freeze up now.

I knock softly on the door. A few second’s later, I’m greeted by a familiar voice that always sends shivers down my spine and my heart bursting with emotion. Every time that happens, it still surprises me that I feel this much in just one beat of my heart. Not to mention that I haven’t seen him in nearly three months.

“Tess?”, he asks with a smile, which I copy with my own signature smile. I know he’s probably shocked to see me… but he seems just as happy to see me as I was to see him. If I’m not mistaken, his eyes reflected the same love that I had in mine.

How am I going to do this? Maybe I should have thought of what I was gonna say before I knocked. Well too late, say something! Don’t just stand there! Say something!

“Hey Sean”, is all that I can get out of my mouth at the moment. He quickly ushers me in but not without a light kiss on my lips, a sensation that I missed more than anything.

“I left Max. I love you so much“, I say as pull him in a tight embrace. He hugs me back and nozzles his face in my hair. I wanted to stay like this forever; I never want this to change.

“I love you too”, he says

I know, I know… I should have told him. It can wait.

~*~*~*~*~*~

[Roswell 9:00 PM]
Maria POV

“I don’t know Serena, I should really be getting back, I feel bad leaving Liz like that. I should be helping her; I always help her”, I say. Since the day that Liz dad died, she's been taking so much responsibility and even though it's not really my responsibility, I always feel bad when she's working extra shifts while I'm having fun or just hanging out at the house.

But Serena was quick to protest… as usual.

“Maria, It’s only nine o’clock. What are you, forty years old? My grandma goes to bed later than this. The night is still young, don’t quit on me now... we can go dancing, pick up a few guys, let them buy us some drinks… what do you say?”, she says, giving me that sad look. Damn Liz for teaching her that look! Oh, I’m such a sucker! No, Maria be strong… remember that you're older, more mature… just stand strong.

“ I promise once you're bored, you can leave and I won’t put up an argument”, she says. I glance at my watch and then back at her. I can practically feel myself giving in.

“Promise?”, I ask, needing to hear the golden word from her mouth. You might find it a childish thing to ask but knowing Serena, she'll use the 'I didn't promise'-argument if I don't make her promise. And that is the one thing that I don’t want, to be stuck in a situation that I don’t want to be in.

“Scouts honor”, she says with a smile holding up two fingers, and I roll my eyes in that action.

“You're not a scout. You can't say that”, I joke, trying to hide my laughter when an extremely puzzled look appears on her face.

“Why not?”, she asks puzzled.

“Everyone knows only scouts or people who were scouts can say that", I say as we head out towards the club, laughing together the entire way.

As me and Serena enter the Eraser Room, I stop dead in my tracks. There, at that table in the back… is that…? He's staring at me too. In the background, I hear Serena asking me something but I don’t hear a word she's saying, I only feel her as she's trying to pull me in the opposite direction.

“What are you looking at?”, she asks as snap out of it. Serena, curious as she is, follows my gaze to the table. She then giggles and tugs on my arm. “Let’s go say hi... they're total hotties!”, she says. I smirk and lead the way to this very familiar guy. This is going to be interesting.

“Hey spaceboy, looking good", I say casually. "Maxie, nice to see you again. Mind if we sit?”, I ask quickly, not waiting for an answer as I sit down next to Max and Serena sits down next to none other than Michael Guerin himself.

I call over the waitress, order another round and look at the boys. They look stunned.

“So, what were we talking about?”, I ask. Truthfully, I'm curious to know if maybe he was talking about me after all this time.

Ow! What the hell! Did Serena just kick me under the table? Oh… right. “Where are my manners?”, I say as I roll my eyes causing Michael and Max to smile, “Serena Twilight, these are good friends of Liz and me from High School. This is Michael Guerin and that is Maxwell Evans”. I smile at the uncomfortable expression Max makes when I use his full name.

“It's Max. No one calls me Maxwell except my parents or if I’m in some kind trouble”, he says with a sheepish smile. He then looks down at his drink as if it’s the most interesting thing in the world.

“You might know Max, Ser. He’s the new general at the E.R.”, I say, smiling as he seems to be a bit uncomfortable..

“Oh right… I thought I’d seen you before. You were making the rounds with Liz today”, Serena says. Max simply nods his head.

“So Mike… anything new happening with you?”, I ask as he leans back in his chair. A strange smirk then appears on his face and he takes a swipe of his beer.

“Reality is real bitch sometimes, but it’s not like you know anything about that… right, Princess?”, he sneers, that same annoying smirk on his face. Wait… did he just…

“What is that supposed to mean?”, I say in a somewhat angry voice. I know that I'm sounding icy right now but it's the best I can do without shouting and raising attention to ourselves.

He takes another swipe of his beer and I can tell that he is almost mocking me. I want to cry, I want to slap him, I want to run away… anything but this. But I won’t be the girl that can’t even handle her ex-boyfriend's ranting… I won't.

“I think you know exactly what it means”, he finally says. I can feel Serena and Max staring at us like we have some sort of unfinished business.

“No, why don’t you tell me!”, I demand from him, speaking a lot louder this time.

He finally puts down his bottle of beer. “ Listen, miss Hollywood. I don’t know how life is like for you in sunny California… but no one is going to bend over backward for you here. You’re probably always getting what you want, when you want, whether that includes the people you chose to have in your life, or even who you fuck. I don’t want to hear your drama stories… it’s not reality”, he bites out.

… That son of a bitch! He's lucky I can't kill him with my thoughts right now. I stand up and slam my fist on the table, hot with anger.

“Shut up, you stupid son of a bitch! You know nothing about my life! You think I don’t know about reality… you don’t know shit!”, I shout and I can feel a few tears running down my face. Dammit, I promised myself I wasn't gonna cry. “Fuck you Michael!”, I shout and I don’t care one rat's ass who heard it, and with that I run out of the club, heading… I don't know. I just have to get away from him. I don't care where.

[Back inside the club...]
Max POV

Whoa, I don’t know how things ended all those years ago... but there was obviously something that they didn’t cement down. Why is he still sitting here? Maria just ran out of here crying and he’s just drinking his beer like nothing happened. What the fuck is wrong with him? Hello!!? Earth to Michael! He needs me to knock some sense into him.

“Ow!", Michael shouts as he darted his glance at me. No, I wasn't talking metaphorically when I talked about knocking some sense into him.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? Go after her!”, I say loudly, emphasising my words with another kick against his leg, causing him to jump to his feet.

“Okay, okay… I’m going!”, he shouts as he heads towards the exit; after Maria. I look up to see a very confused… Serena, I believe it is. With all honesty, I totally forgot she was here.

“What was that all about?”, she asks, sounding very confused. Now, what can I say that will make her understand this entire situation without going into a two hour conversation?

“They have a history... a history that was forced closed a long time ago, and looks like it’s reopened again”, I say with a smile and a shrug. She sends me a small smile back indicating that she understood.

“Well, it looks like coming here was a really bad idea…“, she says with a small laugh as I dig in my wallet, pull out some cash and place it on the table. We both get up, intending to leave when we both notice that Maria left her bag.

“I’ll take it to her”, I say… maybe a little too much desperately while I grab it. Serena’s eyes have a hint of laughter in them. She's onto me.

“Are you sure?”, she questions with a grin on her face. You see, it's just my only excuse to see Liz tonight. I know I just saw her today… I can’t help the way I’m drawn to her.

“I insist… besides it’s on my way”, I say with a smile as she nods. We then both leave the club and go our separate ways from there.

I then make a small and silent plea that Michael doesn’t do anything else tonight. Anything stupid... but that's probably just wishful thinking.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Max's house]
Alex POV

It’s been awhile since the guys left. I didn’t even consider coming with them, mainly because I didn't want to leave Isabel alone… and partially because Isabel would never stand for it. But even though Isabel has her scary moments, there's nowhere I'd rather be. Everything was going smoothly for awhile with Isabel unpacking and me watching some TV in the living room until she decided to not only unpack her own things, but mine as well. It’s like she's psychic or something; she never unpacks my suitcases.

she really freaks me out sometimes—and I mean that in the best possible way.

“Honey, why do you have like ten college shirts in here?”, she asks with a hot and definitely slightly angry look. Sometimes she really freaks me out, and I mean that in the best possible way. Best thing to do is ignore that question so I just continue to read the newspaper. I mean, I'm and adult and I can wear what I want… right? I don't need her consent, do I? Oh, who am I kidding? Oh damn, she's looking around the corner with a questioning look. Fine, I'll answer her… but I won’t look at her.

She then continues to unpack my clothes. Damn, she looks pissed… and she doesn't even know…

“These are the only shirts you brought! What about for the reunion?! You can’t go in just a pair of jeans and a shirt!", she shouts. Okay, now she knows. Speak. Speak man, before she bursts in anger or has another attack.

“No silly, my suit is hanging in the closet”, I say in the most convincing voice I have. She rolls her eyes and obviously wants more of an explanation. Oh shit, this is never gonna work. Why do I even try?

“Well, and um... all my other shirts were dirty and I… uh…“, I say and like I thought, this is not going well, “And I didn’t want you to be stressed about having to wash more clothes when it was so close to leaving. So if you think about it, I was really thinking of you, dear”. This is such a bunch of crap and she knows it… oh God, she knows it.

Dear god... don’t look at her... don't look at the evil eye… don’t look at her, man!

“Since when do I get stressed from doing laundry?”, she asks, lifting an eyebrow. Good question… I honestly don’t know how to defend myself any more.

“Luckily for you mister...”, she says as she smiles brightly, “…I had a feeling you would do this, so I came prepared”. She then takes out her small carrying bag and takes out a stack of regular shirts. What is she… psychic? I already said that, didn’t I?

I can’t suppress rolling my eyes behind her back as she replaces all my shirts and puts the ones I brought in her bag. I won’t be seeing those shirts again any time soon; not before we get back home at least.

“Thank you dear”, I mumble as she puts away the bag. At my words, she turns towards me and gives me a coy smile. She then walks into the restroom to get ready for bed. I’m pathetic, I know.

I sigh and mumbled to myself, “I knew I should’ve gone with the guys”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Crashdown]
Liz POV

At this moment, I’m busy trying to make the best of my work while still trying to get it done as fast as possible. If I hurry, I can spend the rest of the night curled up in front of the television and maybe catch the new Hallmark movie. Oh hell, I didn’t just think that! I’m not an eighty-year-old, am I?

I walk towards the stereo in the back and I take a cd from one of the cases. It’s a mixed cd that Maria made for me to kind of make time go faster for me. Well, at the moment I’m really thankful for it as I skip ahead a few songs, put my favorite song on and start to softly sing along.

When I made up my mind
And my heart along with that
To live not for myself
But yet for God, somebody said
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

Slowly moving to the songs beats and rhythm, I sink further into the melody and start singing above the music, but working all the while. I totally love this song.

When I finally ironed out
All of my priorities
And asked God to remove the doubt
That makes me so unsure of these
Things I ask myself, I ask myself
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

Suddenly I hear that weird throat-noise you hear when someone is trying to make himself known. Oh shit! I think I just literally jumped a few feet up. I quickly press pause on the CD-player, thinking that it’s just my mom coming down to see how things are going, but when I turn around… I see someone I really didn’t expect.

“Max?”, I ask. He’s about the last person I expected to see tonight. Wait a minute, that means he heard… Oh god! I just know my face just got as crimson as a tomato.

~*~*~*~*~~*

[Roswell]
Michael POV

I walk slowly as I remember the last time I saw Maria before today. Every time we used to have a fight, I knew what I could say and I knew that even though we had our differences, she would be there. There was no doubt in my mind about it… until that fatal day

*flashback*

“Do you know what a great opportunity this is for me? It’s what I’ve always dreamed of, Michael. They want to sign me to their label, can you believe that? Me, of all people! This is my one big shot, Michael. Don’t you want me to be happy?”, she said excitedly as I stood there staring at the ground listening to her rambling on and on about her big chance to make it.

“Yes, I do Ria. I want you to be happy more than anything else in the world, but I don’t understand why it can’t be with me. I want to marry you and I can give you a good life… don’t you want that for us?”, I pleaded. I then looked at her and realized she was crying. I hated to see her cry, but only then did I realize I was crying too.

“Don’t, please don’t make me chose, it’s not fair. I don’t want to loose you, but this is something I have to see through. I don’t want to spend my entire life thinking of what could’ve been. I can’t live my life like that… I won’t. Please don’t be mad at me, but I have to”, she said as I continued to look at the ground. She then came closer to me and forced me to look at her.

She kissed me with as much passion and love that she could muster… but when she let go, I couldn’t. “Maria, please don’t... I love you”, I tried again. She looked at me, the plea in my voice more than just a little obvious, and struggled to reply.

“I love you more than you’ll ever know”, she said and with that, she gave me a weak smile and turned to walk away.

“Then why are you leaving me?”, I ask with tears in my eyes. My voice cracked as she stopped dead in her tracks and turned back towards me.

“Michael”, she sighed before taking my face in her hands. “I have to do this... besides, you won’t even have time for me with your college life in New York and Law school. That’s something I can’t compete with”, she said. Was she kidding me... she was never supposed to compete! I know she only wanted the best for me, but broke my heart into a thousand pieces there.

“You’re going to be busy with everything... I’m just trying to save us the heartbreak of a long distance relationship. It won’t work”, she said and I could tell that she struggled to get that last part out. I didn’t want it to end... I had planned to propose to her and ask her to come with me to NYU. They had record companies in New York, didn’t they?

“Bullshit!”, I shouted as I ran a frustrated hand over my face.

“Excuse me?”, she questioned as I stood my ground. This time I was angry.

“You’re just scared… scared of being loved… scared that I’m going to be everything you never thought you could imagine for yourself. Whenever things get too serious, you run! Why is that? When are you going to grow up Maria? I love you, but I’m not going to wait for you if you’re still acting like an immature little brat. Selfish... that’s what you are here, and you don’t care about anyone but yourself. If you want to run, then go... I don’t give a shit!”, I shout out as I turned and started to walk away. But within seconds, I could hear her footsteps closing in behind me.

“No, I’m not running away from anything. I am going to California and you are going to New York to make something of yourself, and I couldn’t be happier for you. You’re going to be the best lawyer in New York, just watch...”, she said. As I turn back towards her, I see she’s standing right in front of me again. She’s trying to be strong; trying not to cry, but she’s failing miserably at it.

She then hugged me and pulled me into a tight embrace as I breathed in her perfume. And at that moment I knew there was nothing I could say to her that would make her stay. No matter how many times I had tried, I lost her.

“Goodbye spaceboy”, she whispered as she kissed me and ran to her car, driving off without another word.

I watched as the car drove to the end of the street and turned around the corner, It wasn’t until the car was completely out of sight when I whispered, “Bye Maria”

*end of flashback*

As I walk into the park, I snap out of my daydream of the past. I know I’d never admit it to anyone but all those years, her laughter, her smiles and her beautiful eyed had haunted me. It was her who visited me in my dreams at night.

“What do you want?”, a voice sounds. I look in the direction of the sound and spot Maria sitting on a small bench. I can tell that she was just crying as the moonlight shines off her beautiful face.

“I’m sorry for what I said back there. It wasn’t my place to say those things”, I apologize… but she doesn’t answer; she just sits there looking off into the distance.

“Um... I graduated at the top of my class”, I say. She was the only one who ever really believed in me… ever since junior high. When we first met, she was trip. But I knew she was the one for me.

A small smile breaks through her expression but she doesn’t say anything and looks at her hands in her lap as she continues to sit there in silence.

“So, you came back for the reunion huh?”, I ask.

She slowly shakes her head at this, her smile disappears and looks straight at me. “I live here”, she says softly. Okay, I’m confused.

“What about Hollywood?”, I ask. She smirks at the question but I see a hint of fear flash through her eyes.

“I finished three weeks into the contract. I had a bad experience; they wanted me to be someone that I wasn’t. So, I split”, she says, trying to sound casual. Now, it may have been ten years ago, but I still know here. There’s something she’s not telling me; there’s something else behind this... but I don’t want to push her.

“Mind if I sit?”, I ask and we start to have our first conversation in 10 years.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

[Crashdown]
Max POV

Wow, what an amazing voice. Is there anything she can’t do? There’s obviously so much I don’t know about her; so many more hidden talents… and more than anything, I want to know about them all.

Now for almost half a minute, I just stand here, staring at her like some stupid idiot. Suddenly, the music stops and she’s staring right at me. “Max?”, she asks softly

“Hey”, I say. That’s right, I just witnessed the most beautiful woman on Earth singing like a siren and all I say is ‘hey’. That’s all I can come up with, or what I allow to leave my mouth. She must think I’m pathetic. Stop thinking...stop talking to yourself, STOP!

“What are you doing here?”, she asks. I can’t find any words to reply. I feel like a fish being plucked from a bowl of water.

“Um...”, I stammer. Oh yeah, that’s the phrase that’s gonna win her over! Oh my god, does she have a hold on me or something? Say something else.

I stare at the purse in my hand. “Um... Michael and I bumped into Maria and Serena tonight, caught up a bit. Maria left it behind, Serena offered to drop it off… but I insisted”, I say and I smile when Liz face flushes a light pink at my last comment.

I watch as she walks back to her cd-player and turns the music back on. She then starts to hum to the familiar tune. She is a Siren! I feel like she’s hypnotising me, both with her beautiful voice and the way her hips were moving at the music at the same time.

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

“Why did you insist?”, she asks with a smile that makes my heart beat two times over the normal heart beat rate. Now, the doctor in me knows that’s not good, but everything else in me likes this feeling.

“I wanted to see you”, I say honestly. I missed her since the moment she drove away, but I don’t think it’s time to be that honest.

“You wanted to see me? Didn’t we just spend the whole day together?”, she asks with a grin.

I simply nod as she her blushing just increased two shades of pink. “Yeah. But that’s work... I wanted to see you and get to know you better; Liz Parker the woman, and not the nurse that has all the doctors chasing after her”

When he looked at me and said
I kind of view you as a son
And for a second our eyes met
And I met that with a question
Do you know what you are getting yourself into

“Now, that’s one thing you don’t have to worry about. I have a rule. I don’t date doctors”, she says. WHAT?! Maybe she doesn’t like me that much after all.

I take a step towards her, minimizing the distance between us. “So I can’t take you out?”, I ask in all seriousness, looking straight into her eyes, making sure that she looks back into mine.

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

“Well, to me you’re more like a good friend that happens to be a doctor. I think I can make an exception for you”, she smirks as I come even closer to her. I like what I’m hearing there. I just want to be near her now; the closer the better.

I've been a liar and I'll never amount to
The kind of person you deserve to worship you
You say you will not dwell on what I did but rather what I do you say
I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

“A good friend, huh?”, I say, smiling down at her and I steadily close the remaining distance between us. I reach out and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear and looked down at her angelic face.

I'm getting into you
Because you got to me, in a way words can't describe
I'm getting into you
Because I've got to be
You're essential to survive
I'm going to love you with my life

“Maybe more than good friends?”, I suggest and she smiles… she smiles.

“Maybe…”, she says before her sweet soft lips meet mine in a tangling embrace of warm passion, tasting just as good and right as it did all those years ago.

I never want this moment to end but before I can deepen the kiss, Maria’s voice fills the room and the backdoor slams shut… and that alone is enough to send us flying to opposite sides of the room.

He said, I love you and that's what you are getting yourself into

“Liz, you’ll never guess who wants back in my life...”, she says and for a second, she doesn’t even notice me.

When she finally did, she turned towards me. “Max, I didn’t know you made house calls”, she says, standing there with her arms crossed, waiting to hear my excuse.

“Um, you left this at the club”, I say as I raise the purse off the table, and she smiled, finally realizing that she left it behind.

“Thanks”, she nods and I take that as my cue to leave.

“I’d better go. I’ll see you later Maria”, I say to Maria.

I then turn towards Liz. “I’ll see you around, Liz”, I say with as much emotion as possible. I then smile at her and leave as she gave me a small goodbye-wave. It’s not until I’m in my car that I realize that I had kissed her… I kissed Liz!

Tbc

Song: Getting into you by: Relient K

[Stefuh]

I'm finally up to date! I'm so glad that both Max and Liz left Tess and Kyle behind... Kyle is such a douche, when he told Liz that he was with her just for the sex, I can't believe him, poor him. And he wants them to be friends! I hate Kyle. Also, I wasn't expecting Tess to go see Sean! Anyway, what I meant is I hope Liz and Max are going to get together! They kissed again!!! I wish Maria hadn't interrupted them. I'm glad that she got to talk with Michael, they really need to work things out about what happened when she left for LA. Also, Isabel is really strict, lmao, poor Alex!

Can't wait to read more.

[LovelyPOM83]

I'm finally up to date! I'm so glad that both Max and Liz left Tess and Kyle behind... Kyle is such a douche, when he told Liz that he was with her just for the sex, I can't believe him, poor him. And he wants them to be friends! I hate Kyle. Also, I wasn't expecting Tess to go see Sean! Anyway, what I meant is I hope Liz and Max are going to get together! They kissed again!!! I wish Maria hadn't interrupted them. I'm glad that she got to talk with Michael, they really need to work things out about what happened when she left for LA. Also, Isabel is really strict, lmao, poor Alex!

Can't wait to read more.

Yes, yes, yes and then some. I'm in the same boat and I'm having to re read all of this to get back in the groove of re writing this story, I've seem to have forgotten how good this story was.
Thank you Stefuh!! Much love!!

And may the story continue...


Chapter 10: Surprise—I cannot believe you!

[Liz’s House 6:30AM]
LIZ POV

My heart is still buzzing after that kiss. That kiss will go down in history, let me tell you that. It’s been over twenty-four hours and I’m still all excited like it just happened two minutes ago. After Max left last night, Maria spent the better part of the evening begging me to tell her what exactly happened and for once, I didn’t want to tell her; I want this moment to be mine and I really don’t want Maria telling me what she thinks of this whole situation.

Today is going to be a good day. I’m not sure how I know, but I know it will be. The second I open my eyes, I feel great; like every miserable piece of my life has dissolved and my life is finally getting back on track.

“Lizzie?”, a voice sounds. I nearly jump two inches from the mattress when my Mom peeks her head through the door. I really have to stop with the daydreaming. When you’re in deep thought, you’re easily scared.

“Mom, hi”, I say and the guilty expression on her face shows that she knows she startled me quite bad.

“Honey, I know it’s your day off from the hospital… but can you do me a favor and keep an eye on the diner until Agnes comes in later this afternoon? I’m going to run some errands and then I have a doctor’s appointment”, she asks. She’s actually going to the doctor... usually she makes up some lame excuse to try and get out of it. I must have finally gotten through to her.

“Sure Mom, no problem. I think Maria said something about us going out around five, so I’ll be able to keep an eye on things until then”, I say, not failing to notice the sigh of relief my mother lets out. She knows I’d be happy to help her out with anything; she certainly doesn’t need more stress.

“Thank you”, she replies as she bends down and kisses me on the forehead. I guess some old habits never die. When I hear the door closing behind her, I slump back down under the covers. I still have an hour until the café is supposed to open. Thoughts of Max flood back into my mind. Hmmmm.

[Max’s House 6AM]
Isabel’s POV

I awoke promptly at six am like I do every morning. Alex on the other hand is a completely different story; he likes to sleep in. Hell, I would be lucky to get him out of bed before noon.

Well, everyone keeps saying that opposites attract, right? I guess there can’t be a more solid statement than that, right now, at this very moment.

I know that I’ve been hard on him lately; him and everyone who crosses in my path actually, but I honestly don’t mean to be. Yesterday, Michael officially dubbed me ‘The Wrath’ which I think was really uncalled for… and no one seemed to even be offended by it; not even Alex. I can’t really be that bad, can I?

“You’re staring”, Alex says with his eyes still closed. Did I mention he knows it when I do that… but that has never stopped me before.

“Well, I can’t help it; you’re so hot that I can’t help but stare at you. It’s either me staring at you or attacking you”, I half laugh as he smirks at the attacking part and tries to pry his eyes open.

“What time is it?”, he asks. I’m sorry, I know I’m not supposed to be amused by this but when I think of the expression on his face when he finds out what time it is, I can’t help but giggle. He’s not going to like it, I tell you that.

“It’s six”, I say, trying to keep my face in check

“AM?”, he asks incredulously. I laugh at his comment, and nod my head as he moans and tries to hide his face under the pillow. Come on, it’s a bright, clear day. We’re in the desert now; 6am feels like high noon here.

“Max said something about going to the Crashdown for breakfast. Do you want to come with?”, he asks. Should I be surprised that he wants to break the long tradition of me making him breakfast? Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt to have at a day off from it.

“I’d love to”, he says as he leans over and plants a small kiss on my cheek. He then starts to get up, just as I remember there was something I wanted to tell him.

“Wait, Alex, wait...”, I say as I pull his arm, until he was lying next to me once more.

“Yes, my love”, he says with a smile. I loved it when he called me that.

“I was thinking, that when we go back to New York, that we should start looking for another place”, I say. I know it’s really cryptic but I just love the confused look on his face right now.

“Is what are you were talking about earlier? It’s the perfect size for us... we looked through dozens and dozens of apartments in the area that we wanted and it took us weeks to find that place, and now you want to move? I’m sorry Izzy but I don’t exactly feel the need to move right now”, he reasons. He starts to get up again, but once again, I pull him back down to me. I then give him the saddest look I can until I see his expression softening.

“I know Alex, I know… but it doesn’t have a nursery”, I say, trying to hold back a smile when he looks at me with confusion

“Nursery... why do we need a nursery?”, he asks. I roll my eyes and stare at him; waiting for him to put two and two together. It’s four, genius!

“Isabel, are you…“, he asks, leaving the question half-finished when I simply nod. Then finally, the confused look on his face makes room for a large smile that filled his, and he picks me up off the bed and hugs me with all his might.

“Oh, I’m sorry... am I hurting you?”, he asks. That’s so sweet; he thinks he’s going to break me in half, now that I’m having his child.

“No, honey... I’m not made out of glass. I think I’ll be okay”, I say as I smile brightly before kissing him.

“Baby… we’re having a baby”, he says with an excited looks and he kissed me once more before falling back on the bed, in a tangle of hugs and kisses of the pure joy of the moment.


[Seans House]
Tess POV

“What do you mean; you’re pregnant and you don’t know if it’s mine? Is it Max’s?”, he says loudly. He’s so angry; I don’t think I have ever seen him like this. This isn’t exactly easy for me either; I broke up with someone I’ve been with for ten years to be with him… and now I have to tell him that the child I’m carrying might not be his.

“No, it’s not Max’s”, I say, looking down at the floor. I can’t look at him right now… I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this. I’m actually afraid of what he might do if I tell him.

“Help me out here, Tess. If it’s not Max’s and it’s not mine then whose is it?”, he asks, or more demands to know. I don’t have a choice now; I have to tell him; I need to tell him.

“Well, the night that you went back to the base here in Roswell, I bumped into an old friend and we talked and about twelve drinks later, we went back to his hotel, and I think you get the just from there”, I say softly. My face feels cold and wet; God, I’m not crying, am I? Sean probably doesn’t care at this point and I can’t say I really blame him

“What’s his name? If you can remember”, he says sarcastically. That hurts… even though I probably had it coming.

“Kyle”, I whisper. No sense in beating around the bush now.

“Kyle Valenti?”, he questions as I look up at him.

“You know him?”, I ask. What are the odds of that happening?

“He is in my platoon; same ranking. We never really meet but I heard that he’s a real jackass”, he says. Honestly, I don’t know if he’s just saying this to hurt me or because it’s true. Believe it or not, but it’s not the first time I hear someone say that about him, and it probably won’t be the last. Kyle has a tendency to be a real jerk when he doesn’t get what he wants.

I looked at the man that I love with all my heart, and I know that I’ve just destroyed everything. With a final huff, I slump down back on the bed just as Sean walks towards the door.

“Where are you going?”, I ask, and I’m surprised how desperate I sound.

“Out!”, he yells at me and grabs his coat before storming out the door.

Yeah, I can see now why honesty never really worked for me. Please God, let him forgive me; that is all I really want. Now all I have to do is tell Kyle. He’s not gonna like this. In fact, he’s gonna flip out

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~**~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~*~**~*~

[Hospital 2:30PM]
Nancy POV

Sitting in this doctor’s office can almost make a person claustrophobic. The white walls, every thing sterile and quiet, and it has this eerie feeling to it which is just unbearable at times. I can’t believe I’ve been here for this long, nurses keep coming in and out checking my pulse, my heart rate, and taking blood tests.

This was just supposed to be a quick checkup, but a quick checkup lead to tests, which in turn lead to even more tests and had me moving from one side of the hospital to the other and back for hours. If I don’t get some answers quick, I’m going to scream.

I called Liz an hour ago and told her not to worry; Liz has a tendency to worry too much and because believe me, she was worried. Whatever results I get, I’m truly afraid to tell her. I’m afraid that it’s really bad; and somehow, I just know that it is. But the last thing Liz needs is more bad news; I don’t know how much more she can take. But maybe I’m wrong about all this and it’s just a silly virus or something.

“Nancy Parker?”, a male voice sounds, interrupting thoughts and sending me back to reality. I look up to see a young man who seems to be in his early thirties. “I’m doctor Shellow, dr. Fickles asked me to take some MRI scans of your entire body to make sure every thing is working as it should be. So, if you’ll follow me”, he says politely. As I start to stand to follow him out of the exam room, I loose my balance and I fall right back on the chair.

It takes me all my might to get back up and stay up and continue to follow him as if nothing has happened.

This is going to be a very long day.


[Sitting in Maria’s Car 2:00PM]
Liz POV

“Where are we going?”, I ask, a little confused. This is so not the way to the restaurant that she told me that we were going to. Actually, come to think of it, she didn’t exactly say where we were going. Oh dear God, she’s up to something again.

“Out”, she says. And that’s all she has to say. I would ask if she was kidding, but I know Maria; she’s up to something again.

“Maria, I’m serious. C’mon just tell me”, I plead. I know I sound like a five-year-old here but I don’t really care. I don’t like really like these kind of surprises.

“I did”, she says and then closes her mouth again. There has to be a reason she won’t tell me; we’ve known each other since we were six years old and she’s never been this distant.

“I thought we were going to lunch?”, I try again.

She keeps her eyes on the road and continued with the one-phrase comebacks. “We are”

“Then why are out in the middle of the suburbs? The city is in the opposite direction, you know the town square with the people, stores, and the food”, I say, putting special emphasis on the food part. I’m starving; I haven’t eaten all day and the call from my mom didn’t help me much either.

“I never told you that we were going to an actual restaurant Liz, it’s not my fault if you assumed it”, she says and an evil smirk. I swear I can almost see horns forming on her forehead.

“Then where are we going?”, I ask again in a calm tone. For a second there, I believed I could get her to talk, but the glares she’s now shooting my way tell me otherwise.

“It’s a surprise”, she simply states as if it’s nothing. I don’t like the sound of this.

“...a surprise?”, I question myself as the car comes to a stop and I take the opportunity to look out the passenger window. Oh My God! Is that…? I glance back at Maria who has that evil grin on her face again. I got in the car with the devil; I’m sure of it.

“No”, I say. No way!

Maria ignores my comment and gets out of the car, walking around it and opens the passenger door. “Yes”, she just says. I cannot believe her.

“Maria”, I say sternly, not that I think it will do any good.

“Liz”, she replies, mimicking my tone.

“C’mon there expecting us...”, she says. I guess I don’t really have a choice here; Maria has put on her I-mean-business look and that’s the look she uses when she doesn’t accept a no.
I roll my eyes and get out of the car.

“I cannot believe you”, I mumble in a feeble attempt to protest as we walk towards the door.

“What did I do? They sent us an invitation... what was I suppose to say, ‘I’m sorry but Liz and I can’t go. Sorry, goodbye.’ I was just being nice—what’s the harm in that?”, she rambles.

“There’s no harm in any of this Maria. I wish you would’ve told me for good—“, I say, abruptly cutting my sentence off when the door opens and a pleasant voice greets us.

“Maria, Liz... I’m glad you could make it”, she says. Maria and I both smile at her, and I’m the first to reply.

“Nice seeing you again Mrs. Evans. Thank you for inviting us”, I say as Maria grabs my arm

-------------------------------------------------------------------

[Roswell Memorial Hospital]
Nancy POV

Now that all those scans and tests are complete, I find myself waiting in my doctor's office. I look around and I can see all his diplomas and special achievements plastered to the walls, but all I can think about at this moment is Lizzie and the day Jeff passed away.

**Flashback to July 2, 2001**

“Jeff will you get that order to table thirty? I have to wake up Liz; she’s leaving today and I want to make sure she’s up and has a good meal before she heads off”, I said as I kissed him before heading up stairs. He was a really great and very devoted husband and I always wondered how I got so lucky.

“Liz. Honey, C’mon wake up... you wanted to get a head start and beat the traffic out there”, I said as I whizzed across the room and opened up the curtains, watching her shrink back underneath the blankets for some more sleep.

“Mom, do I have to? Just five more minutes please”, she said. I smiled at that and almost gave in, when I never did. Mainly because this was the last time I was going to see her like this for almost four years, and by the time that is over who knows, she might be married.

“Elizabeth Claudia Parker—get up this instant, you’re the one that told me to—“, I begun but she cut me off as she tossed the covers off of herself.

“Mom, I’m sorry—I’m up okay, I’m up”, she said as she smiled at me before heading off to take a shower.

It works every time; I smirked at myself before leaving the room. I walked downstairs to continue helping my husband with the morning rush.

*** End flash back**

“Ms. Parker?”, a voice sounded. I look up to see the doctor sitting right in front of me. I shake my head in an attempt to get the memory out of my thoughts.

“Sorry… and it's mrs. Parker actually”, I say. He nods in understanding. I wonder what he wants to discuss with me.

“Okay mrs Parker, I'm just going to get to the point. We found a cancerous tumor growing at a very rapid pace on your liver. Now, your chances are good, but we have to take action now", he says and then takes a short pause, "…I know it’s a lot of information to take in but it recommend you start chemotherapy right away. After a few weeks of treatment we'll see if it’s effective”

Oh my god… “Is this why I haven’t been able to eat and keep losing my balance?”, I ask.

“I’m afraid so, your liver is a very important organ. I’m really sorry to just jump you with this, but I need an answer from you now; time really is not an option we have right now”, he says. What am I supposed to say to that really? There are plenty of words running through my head but none come out.

“What if the Chemo doesn’t work?”, I find myself asking.

“If the Chemo doesn’t kill off the disease then we will have to perform surgery to remove the tumor, but if it spreads much further than it already has by then, we will have to turn to more radical treatment”, he explains

Okay, well that answers that question. I stay seated and look at my wedding band, thinking of my husband Jeff and how he was taken from us far too soon. Maybe this is my time, but I can't just leave Liz.

“Mrs Parker?”, he asks in a comforting tone.

I look up at the doctor. “I um... I want to start out with the Chemo; but I don’t want to worry my daughter, so if you could please not tell her”, I ask. I'll tell her later but right now, I really don't want her to know.

“Of course. What we discuss is completely confidential”, he says. That sounds okay. I hope she won’t kill me herself when she finds out. Well, I'll worry about that then.

“Thank you”, I mutter

[The Evans House 1:00PM]
Max POV

This morning, I awoke bright and early. It's kind of a routine of mine that I did every morning, even when I didn't have to go to work. The only exception is when I'm sick; but that happens almost never. I like the routine in it; wake up, eat, shower, take a run, shower, eat more more, read paper…

But this morning was different I didn’t do half of those things. I couldn’t keep my mind from drifting off to some particular person.

“What are you smiling about?”, a voice sounds. I turn around to find Michael (who else?) staring at me with a smirk on his face as he got a beer out of the cooler.

“Nothing”, I say with a shrug before he can say anything more.

“What’s that?”, I ask, pointing to a piece of paper he's holding in his hands. The second I ask, his face falls into a grimace so I think I already know. You see, we're all already at my parents house and that means that Mom and Isabel are going to be in the same room. I can stand one, but both… there’s no chance of survival.

“It’s a list Isabel just handed to me... it’s all the things I need to get done before the hour is over, because that’s when the ‘Guests’ are coming over”, he says, making a quote-gesture when he says the word 'guest'. But then Isabel comes in and I smile when I see Michael putting up a fake smile.

“Michael, why aren’t you helping Alex? He can’t do everything on his own”, Isabel says.

“Your dad is outside helping him”, Michael explained as he takes another drink of his beer.

“I know, but we have to set up a lot of things; will you please go outside?”, she insists. I can tell he doesn’t feel like arguing with her, something took away the edge that he’s had since we moved away from Roswell. I can’t help but think of a girl named Maria, but I won’t be stupid enough to say anything.

“Max'll help you. Relax”, Isabel says. Yes, Max will… wait, I'm Max! I didn’t sign on to be Isabel's personal assistant today. I have bigger problems to worry about; like who my mother is trying to set me up with.

“You heard the lady... c’mon Maxwell”, Michael says, immediately dragging me outside where I was forced into helping all the men setting up the and the sound system. I see dad is working on the grill so I'll just help out Michael and Alex with the tables. This is gonna be a long day.

[The Evans House 2:30PM]
Liz POV

“Mrs. Evans it’s very nice to see you as well. Thank you so much for inviting us, really. Isabel hey how are you?”, I ask as she made her way over to us.

“Liz Parker, you haven't changed a bit... it’s so nice to see you”, she says, hugging me as if she really missed me. We were close but never this close.

“It's nice to see you too, Isabel”, I say, smiling when she continues to hug Maria as well; who has an even more shocked expression on her face.

They show us the way outside. Maria is the first one to see Alex, and with a high pitched scream, she runs to him, leaving everyone to cover their ears, including myself.

“Lizzie, you’re looking good. How’s your Mom?”, Alex says as the two of them walk my way. I don’t know if I should answer that question truthfully, because I really don’t know.

“She okay”, I nod with a smile. Time to change the subject.

“But look at you! Married life is treating you good I can see”, I say, watching him blush slightly as we take turns hugging him once more.

“Sorry, we weren’t able to attend your guys wedding... our boss wouldn’t let us have the day off, and I had to keep an eye on the Crashdown. I hope there are no hard feelings”, I say. He nods and shrugs it off as if it's nothing. I'm surprised... I was always kicking myself for missing his wedding, but I knew that Max is going to be there… and while the working part was true, the other half was that I couldn't face Max yet. But I’m definitely not going to tell him that.

“It’s okay, really it is... but we got your guys' present and it was great, just not your run of the mill wedding gift”, he says with an amused expression. I smiled at that; Maria and I pitched in to get him a gift that screamed Alex in every way; a new sound system, amplifier and guitar. He's a very talented singer and we wanted him to give that.

We both laugh, knowing perfectly well what he meant, “We know”, we both said in unison.

“We’re sorry about your dad Liz”, he says as he comes up behind me and pulls me into a tight hug and looks around at Isabel, Alex, Mrs. and Mr. Evans. They all have that ‘I’m so sorry’-look plastered on their faces. I hate that look.

“It’s okay guys; it was a long time ago”, I say, trying to smile but I know Maria can sense my uneasiness a mile away. I hate it when people try to make me feel better about my dad's passing, it’s not like it's going to make him come back or anything.

“Wait a minute; you guys all knew about this... why didn’t anyone tell me?”, a voice shoots out from behind me. He's really upset.

“Max...I—“, Isabel muttered as I looked at him as everyone stayed quiet.

“It’s because I didn’t want them to”, I say. Boy, do I have some explaining to do. This is going to be a really pleasant party, remind me to thank Maria later.

TBC...

[Stefuh]

Oh my God, Isabel is pregnant, what a great news!! Stargazer is my second favorite couple, so I'm always happy when they're in a fic!
And poor Nancy, I hope the chemo will help her. Liz is going to be so heartbroken when she'll hear the news...
Also, she didn't want Max to know about her father... is it because she didn't want him to worry?
I hope for Tess that Sean is the father, since Kyle looks so unreliable.

Loved the chapter, can't wait for the next one!

[totallizfan]

I like this.