Homecoming (ML / KT Teen) (Complete)

[Kath7]

Part 13

"Sean? What are you doing here?" Liz asked, turning her reddened eyes up towards him.

"Well, it’s great to see you too, Liz," Sean said a bit hesitantly.

Liz took a deep breath and tried to ignore the slight sense of panic welling up in her chest. How could this happen to her? She’d been careful not to leave any word behind at work about where she’d be. She’d told Sean she wanted to do something for the wedding, and that it was a surprise, which wasn’t totally a lie. She’d planned to think of something she could get for Sean to bring home to him, planned on telling him it was an early wedding present. She did need an excuse to get out of town after all. So, she’d covered all her tracks. How had Sean known where to find her?

He was only going to complicate things. She’d never told Sean she’d been married before, the right time having never presented itself. He was bound to have some questions she wasn’t sure she could answer at the moment.

Liz shook her head, mentally berating herself for greeting Sean so rudely. After all, it wasn’t his fault that she was going to have some heavy explaining to do. That one was all hers. "I’m sorry, Sean, I’m just exhausted," Liz said as she stood up from the stool and crossed the room to where he was standing. She hugged him, and a soft smile fluttered to her features when she felt his arms tighten around her shoulders.

"How did you know I was here?" Liz asked against Sean’s chest.

"Well, I called your studio, and no one knew anything. When I couldn’t get a hold of Serena, I figured she was with you, so I contacted her office. They said she’d gone to New Mexico. I remembered you were from Roswell, so I figured you’d come back to tell your parents, see some old friends or something."

Liz kept her eyes closed, all but sensing one of the questions she knew Sean would have was coming.

"Liz, honey, I looked everywhere for a Jefferey and Nancy Evans listed in Roswell. I was going to come to your house and surprise you. There’s no listing anywhere in New Mexico, much less Roswell. How come your parents don’t seem to exist?"

"Sean, I know I have some explaining to do, and I know you have some questions that need to be asked. I can give you answers. But I’m afraid if I don’t get some sleep, I’ll be a dead woman walking. Can we talk tomorrow?" Liz asked. She turned her face towards Sean, trying with every bone in her body to make herself look as tired and exhausted as she felt. Relief flooded through her body when Sean’s face softened and his shoulders slumped slightly.

"Sure, darling. You look tired." He kissed her on the forehead. "Let’s go back to the hotel. I’m booked at the same place you and Serena are staying."

Liz nodded, and turned back to Maria. "Maria, I’ll see you tomorrow, all right?" Liz said, giving her friend a quick hug.

Liz turned, following Sean and Serena out of the Crashdown’s front doors. And as she followed them to the car, she couldn’t help but glance over at the UFO Center. And for a split moment, Liz Evans wanted nothing more than to run back inside and fix what had gone so wrong between her and Max. But as quickly as the thought had come, it vanished. Because Liz Evans was not a selfish person. She wouldn’t risk the end of the world because she wasn’t strong enough to do the right thing.

Thirty minutes later, after arriving at the motel, Liz said good night to Sean, and headed towards the room she shared with Serena as he headed into the room he’d rented for himself.

Taking a moment to relax against the door to her room, she watched as Sean made his way across the parking lot, and smiled when he turned and waved at her before heading into his own room.

Closing her eyes and breathing a deep sigh of relief, Liz was glad that she and Sean had made the decision long ago not to share a bed until after they were married. If things between them had crossed that line, it would have made things much more complicated than she was willing to let them get.

When she’d met Sean four years ago, they’d been nothing more than friends, despite his relentless pursual of her. It wasn’t until almost two years later she’d broken down on the side of the road and been rescued by Sean. Since then, they’d been happy together, but when the issue of sex had come up, she’d made the suggestion that they wait until marriage. She’d never expected Sean to agree so quickly, but when he had, she didn’t ask questions. She guessed he assumed she was a virgin and that she wanted to wait until marriage. But only Liz knew the real reasons.

What would sleeping with Sean do to him, given the status of her still developing powers? What if something happened that she couldn’t control? She didn’t even know if her powers could harm Sean, or if she could control them well enough to make sure they’d stay hidden.

That, and despite the fact that she had left him behind and didn’t love him anymore, Liz had only shared a bed with one other person, and still couldn’t imagine sharing one with anyone else. She had never expected things between she and Sean to get as serious as they had, and she knew she’d have to get over her qualms about sleeping with Sean. If she refused to sleep with him on the honeymoon, it would certainly mean he’d have questions. And she wasn’t sure how she would answer them.

She undressed and collapsed into bed, turning on her side, and hugging the extra pillow close to her stomach.

Liz closed her eyes, as the dam behind them broke, causing her tears to soak the soft pillow beneath her head.

They were tears of relief. Max had signed her divorce papers.

They were tears of joy. She could marry Sean, and move on with the life she’d spent four years building for herself.

They were tears of anxiety. She wondered how Sean was going to react when he found out she had been married before.

But most of all, perhaps more than anything, they were tears of heartbreak. Because it wasn’t until she’d left him standing there at the UFO center, broken and battered emotionally, that Liz Evans realized exactly how much she still loved the man who had given her his name.

All the years she had spent building a new life for herself without Max had been for nothing. All the time spent pretending he didn’t still matter had been a wast. None of it was true.

She knew now that there was no point in pretending to herself any longer. She was still in love with him and always would be.

But even if she could no longer lie to herself, she would continue to lie to everyone else. Because, in the end, there was no other choice.

***

Tess stepped up onto the small porch, knocked softly at the door. She waited for a moment, contemplated using her powers to unlock the door herself, but decided not to risk giving Isabel a heart attack. Thinking of a better idea, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the familiar number.

After four rings, Isabel answered.

"This better be good," she said groggily.

"Isabel?" Tess asked softly.

"Tess? Is something wrong?" Isabel asked, suddenly concerned.

"Nothing’s wrong, Iz, I just…I was wondering if I could crash on your couch tonight? I’m out front, and I just…I really need somewhere to go."

"Honey, sure. I’ll be right there."

Tess closed her phone, and waited, sighing in relief when she saw the living room light come on, and Isabel’s form appear at the suddenly open door.

"Tess, what’s going on?" Isabel demanded, rushing Tess inside and shutting the door behind them. "Is something wrong?"

Tess took a deep breath, and shook her head, fighting a losing battle with the tears that were fighting their way out of her crystal blue eyes. "Nothing that a pint of ice cream and a big bottle of Tabasco won’t cure," she joked lamely, her voice breaking slightly.

Isabel hugged Tess tightly around the shoulders. "What’s this all about?" She asked, her voice full of concern.

"It’s Kyle. We had this long over due conversation tonight, and…"

"I’ll kill him," Isabel interrupted. "Tess, if he broke up with you, I swear, I’ll blast him from here to…"

Tess watched Isabel’s voice change from concerned and upset to impatient and angry, as her friend put her hands on her hips and started to rant about a problem she’d made up in her mind. Isabel was standing in front of her, in a night gown and fluffy leopard print sneakers, with her usually long silky locks rolled into tight pink foam curlers hanging at odd intervals from her head. She’d obviously gone to bed without washing off her makeup, because sleep had caused her mascara and eyeshadow to form a ruddy blue-gray circle around her eyes, and her lipstick had smudged around her lips, giving her flawless complexion a comical look. Tess couldn’t stop the hysterical laughter that made her double over in giggles. Dropping her purse to the floor, she grabbed her sides in an effort to keep her composure. Through the tears her laughing fit had caused, Tess glimpsed Isabel staring at her in shock.

"I’m-sorry-Isabel-I-just…" Tess tried to explain, but she realized that laughing right now was exactly what she needed to do. She’d had way too much on her mind lately and, right now, laughing just felt good. She looked at Isabel and burst into another fit of uncontrollable giggles upon seeing her with her mouth open wide in astonishment.

After what seemed like hours, Tess was finally able to stop giggling. As her laughter died down, she reached up to wipe the tears that her hysterics had caused. She took a deep breath, and leaned back against the couch, where she had slouched to the floor during her laughing fit. She threw her head back against the couch cushions, sighing deeply.

"Tess, you want to explain what’s wrong?" Isabel asked after giving Tess a chance to catch her breath.

Tess smiled again, her somber mood considerably lighter than it had been when she’d arrived. "Isabel, I’m just…sometimes I’m so overwhelmed, you know? I try to be strong. For you guys. For Max. For Kyle. But it’s just that right now, there’s so much going on. It’s a lot to take in at once. Especially now that Liz is back in town. I’ve always heard that things get harder before they can get better. They’ve already gotten harder. I just can’t wait for the better."

"Liz coming back has made things…awkward, to say the least," Isabel agreed quietly, easing herself down into the floor to sit cross legged across from Tess. "You want to talk about it?"

"It’s just that, you know, before, I thought I had everything planned out. What my future held, how things were supposed to be, how I felt about the people around me, the way my life’s turned out. And now, I’m just not sure of anything."

"Tess, are you having second thoughts about Kyle?"

Tess turned her face abruptly towards Isabel, her eyes wide with emotion. "No, Isabel. Of course not. Kyle is the one constant in my life. The one thing I know that’s good for me. I just want to make sure that I’m good for him. That he knows exactly what he means to me and how I feel about him."

Tess closed her eyes, dropped her head, knowing Isabel would listen until she knew it was time to talk. She knew that Kyle knew she loved him. But what hurt was that it had taken a life-altering explanation of something that happened in the past for him to believe it. Would he ever fully understand how much he meant to her? Would he ever be able to fully grasp the magnitude of the love she felt for the man who had snuck up on her and stolen her heart out of nowhere? Somewhere deep down, she knew. She just supposed that maybe it was her own insecurities and unresolved issues causing her to doubt the first true thing she’d ever found in life.

Her soulmate. Her other half. Kyle was the person that she’d spend the rest of her life with. Tess didn’t doubt that for a second. But she knew that there were some things that she needed to get out, problems she needed to solve, answers she needed to find before she’d truly be ready to move forward with her life, no baggage attached. And every single one of those answers in some way or another had to do with Liz Parker Evans.

"What are you going to do, Tess?" Isabel asked softly.

"I have to talk to Liz, Isabel. I have to talk to Liz and Max. They need to know the truth."

***

Getting up early, Liz showered quietly, and scribbled a quick note to Serena, should she happen to wake up. She got in the car, and drove to the Crashdown, knowing Maria would already be there preparing for the breakfast crowd. She walked up to the glass doors, and cupped her hands around her face, searching the small café for Maria’s bustling form. As she spotted her inside, she reached for the door handle and was momentarily sidetracked as she was hit with a flash from the past.

I look at you, and I know you're the person I'm supposed to be with. I've always known it… You're the one, Liz...the only one. I could never be with anyone else.

Despite her gloomy mood, Liz found herself smiling at a memory of she and Max for the first time since she’d been in Roswell. Actually, this was the first time since she’d left Roswell four years ago, she could remember even smiling at a memory of Max at all. It seemed a bit easier to remember him now. How could that be? How could things have gotten so much easier, yet so much harder and more complicated all at once?

She wondered if it was because she had finally accepted that she did love him still. Maybe denying it was what had made this whole homecoming so difficult. It didn’t change that they couldn’t be together, but it certainly felt like a load had been lifted off her shoulders that she was no longer lying to herself.

Once again, as this thought passed through her mind, she heard Max’s voice from the past. She saw his gentle eyes, filled with hurt and confusion. This time, he was answering the question she’d silently asked herself.

I think that’s what being in love is.

How had Max Evans, at sixteen, been so insightful? He had been lying to himself at the time, that they could go back to just being friends, but he had been right. Falling in love with him was the easiest thing she had ever done. Trying to pretend she no longer was had been the hardest. And, damn, if it wasn’t always complicated.

Shaking her head out of her reverie, Liz pulled open the door and walked inside, smiling at Maria as she turned around to see who had entered.

"Liz! Oh my gosh! What happened last night? Did you tell Sean? Does he know about Max? What did he say? Is he mad?"

Liz held up her hands, beckoning for Maria to stop. "Whoa, slow down, Maria. One thing at a time. I’m in a fragile state here. It’s not likely I could even walk and chew gum at the same time. So, first things first. Breakfast. For two."

Maria raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot on the floor. "Are you hungry, Liz?"

"It’s to go. I’m taking some back for Sean. I have to talk to him. Soon."

"Liz, how come you never told him?" Maria asked. "I know he doesn’t know. Serena told me. How could you not tell him, Liz? I mean, he’s your fiancé!"

Liz slid into the nearest booth, shaking her head. "I don’t have any explanation. Except that it hurt. To talk about Max and being married, and why I left. What would I tell him, Maria? I’m married to a former alien king, but I had to leave him so he could have a baby with his former queen to fulfill a prophecy and save the world? That one would go over like a lead balloon."

Realizing what she’d said, and that Maria still didn’t know the real reason she’d left, Liz looked up for Maria’s reaction and saw her staring back at her, with wide eyes and a befuddled expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but once again, Liz held up her hands to stop her. "I owe you an explanation, Maria, I know I do. But please, trust me, I can’t tell you right now. I just…can you just trust me that I’ll tell you, and let me do it on my own time? Please?" Liz could feel her hands shaking, and knew that Maria would back off. She needed time to think, and if anyone would understand, it would be the person who’d been there for her when her ride on the alien express had begun.

She was going to tell Maria eventually. But right now, she needed to handle Sean. He was innocent, and didn’t know what was going on. He deserved the truth. Well, as much of it as she could tell him, at least.

"Sure, Liz. Take your time. I trust you," Maria said, reaching over to grab Liz’s hand and squeeze them softly. "I’ll go make that breakfast."

Liz nodded and let her head drop to the table. She closed her eyes and groaned, trying to figure out exactly what she was going to tell Sean. Hearing the door open behind her, Liz heard heavy footsteps, and assumed it was one of the other waitresses coming in to help Maria. She realized that the steps had stopped right in front of her table, and raised her eyes.

She gasped slightly when she found herself staring into the eyes of a very angry Michael Guerin.

"Ummm…hey, Michael, long time no see," Liz said, laughing nervously.

The nervous smile faded from her features when Michael spoke his first words to her in over four years.

***

Tess opened her eyes and found herself staring straight at the gray and black striped pattern of Isabel Evan’s living room couch. Blinking twice to adjust to her surroundings, she groaned out loud when the previous night’s events came crashing back full force. Tess had done some heavy soul searching as she lie awake on Isabel’s couch, and she could think of nothing else she wanted to do other than to go to Kyle. She needed to talk to Kyle.

Tess turned over, and swung her legs over the side of the couch. She stood up, stretched her arms, and jumped a foot off the ground when she heard someone clear their throat from the other side of the room.

She spun around, and was surpised to see Max sitting in the chair across from her. He was watching at her, his face blank, emotionless, in a Max Evan’s trademark stare.

And, yet, she saw through him, as always. He was mad. Really mad.

"Max, what are you doing here?"

"You lied to me, Tess. All this time, you’ve been lying to me. And you say you care about me."

The gears in Tess’s mind started spinning. What was she lying to him about? She racked her brain, trying to remember if she’d told Max anything that hadn’t been true. But before she could remember, Max proved to her once more just how well he knew her.

"You didn’t say anything, Tess. It’s what you didn’t say."

Tess shook her head, still unaware of what Max was talking about. "Max, I don’t know what you mean, what are you talking about?"

"You know why Liz left Roswell, Tess. You know because you went to see her."

Tess’s eyes widened as realization dawned on her. He’d talked to Liz. She’d made good on her promise to tell him why she left if he beat her in pool, and now he wanted Tess’s version. He wanted to know what had happened in those last few days before Liz left, and he’d come to her for answers. But as the answer she knew Max would be seeking came to her, Tess knew that her own fears had been confirmed. She had lied to herself. Rather, Future Tess had lied to her. She had gone to see Liz. Despite the fact that it wasn’t actually her who had gone to see Liz, it was a version of her. And Tess couldn’t help but feel a tad bit guilty for the hurt she had caused in the lives of everyone she loved.

"What did she tell you, Max?" Tess asked. Because I want to know what really happened, too.

"It wasn’t what she told me, so much as what she showed me. She didn’t tell me everything."

"She showed you?" Tess asked. "You mean, you…"

"I kissed her. She was holding back and I knew it, so I did the only thing I could think of. I thought if I kissed her, I’d get flashes. I thought all of my questions would be answered."

"Did you get them? Did you get your answers?" Tess asked. Do you have my answers? she wanted to add. Tess waited for Max to speak, her heart thudding in her chest.

She wanted answers. She wanted Max to tell her what the other Tess had told Liz. She wanted to know what Liz had been told that had made her run out on her happy marriage. But more than anything, Tess wanted to know what lies she was responsible for. Because, the way things were playing out, someone somewhere was lying. And she was ninety-nine percent sure it wasn’t Liz.

On the other hand, Tess was afraid of what would happen if the truth did come out. How would Max see her, if he knew what really happened? How would he react when he found out that Tess Harding from the future had come back to the past to gain her destiny, and what she thought was rightfully hers? What would Max do when he realized that Tess had once been so evil and so hard hearted that she would lie to her own self to get what she really wanted?

"What did you see, Max?" Tess asked again, rephrasing her question after Max failed to answer her.

"I saw you, Tess. I saw you telling Liz that you and I were meant to be together. I saw you tell her that you and I were destined to be together."

"Max, I can explain-"

"No!" Max snapped. "Don’t explain. Don’t tell me your side. Don’t lie to me again, Tess. I don’t deserve that."

"I won’t lie to you, Max."

"You have been lying to me for the past four years, Tess. Don’t you think it’s a bit late to say you won’t?"

Tess cringed at the sarcasm dripping in Max’s voice. How could he think this of her? She was his best friend. She loved him like a brother. How could he think that she would have broken his heart by running the love of his life out of town, and then proceeded to lie to him about it for four years? Sure, she had come to Roswell to break up his marriage, although when she’d arrived she’d found Liz already gone, and Max still not the least bit interested in being with her. But the first few months after she’d come back were the last few months she had ever believed she wanted to be with Max. He knew that. She’d told him before.

So why would he hold it against her, thinking that all this time she’d been lying to him? The only thing she’d ever lied to Max about was Future Tess. And even then, she didn’t lie outright. She lied by omission. Because Max had no idea about Future Tess, and she had never told him. But surely he wasn’t this angry at her for that.

"That wasn’t me, Max." It was a lame answer, but she couldn’t think of any other.

"What do you mean that wasn’t you, Tess? I saw you! I would know you anywhere. You changed your clothes, and fixed your hair different, but it was you!"

"Max, it was me," Tess agreed, pleading with her voice for Max to listen to her. "But it wasn’t me. It was a version of me. From 14 years in the future."

"Tess, stop lying to me! Now you just sound crazy!"

"I thought I was too. The day I came home and found myself sitting in my bedroom."

"Do you know how ridiculous you sound?" Max demanded, snorting in disbelief.

"It was the granolith. She modified it for time travel. And she came back to bring me the destiny book. The real one. Max, the one we had wasn’t the whole thing. The one she gave me was the full version. It told of things to come that I had to try and prevent."

Tess watched Max’s face, knew a million thoughts were running rampant in his mind. She knew that he was trying hard to decide whether or not to believe her, that he was running the unanswered questions over and over in his mind. She also knew that he was rethinking what she’d just told him. Wondering if it was true that the Granolith had more uses than they thought.

"Why should I believe you, Tess? Why?"

"She showed me, Max. She showed me things. Horrible things that I couldn’t bear to see happen. I can’t begin to tell you what I saw."

Tess watched as Max’s expression changed. Was that…realization? Recognition? Had she said something that struck a chord with him somewhere?

"So after you saw her, you came here?"

"I came to you, Max. When I came here, I believed that the only way to save the world was for you to have a child. I believed I was the only one who could have that child. I believed it with my whole heart and soul, and I would have done anything to make sure it came to pass."

"Well, now you know that’s not true, don’t you? Because of Ellie. So why didn’t you tell me, Tess? She ran out on me for goodness sake! And you knew why! I had no idea! How could you just let me hurt like that, Tess!"

"Because I was hurting too!" Tess said angrily, tears filling her eyes. "At first because I believed I belonged with you. It hurt that you wouldn’t even give me the time of day. It hurt that the one person in the world I believed I belonged with didn’t want me! That you only wanted the girl who ran away from you!"

"And then?" Max questioned. "After you fell in love with Kyle? After Ellie? What stopped you from telling me then?"

"The truth, Max? I didn’t want to face it. I’d believed that you had to have a child, and that because I was a hybrid, that we were the only two capable of having that child. But I was wrong, Max! And you know why? Because in the end, I’m gonna turn out to be a horrible person! I’m going to turn out to be someone so cruel and evil that I would lie to myself just to be happy, with no thoughts about how many lives I wrecked along the way! So that’s why I didn’t tell you, Max," Tess replied tearfully. She took a deep breath, lowered her voice. "Because if what I thought was true, then I was a heartless person, Max. And I couldn’t bear the thought of being that person. I thought if maybe I didn’t say it out loud, that it wasn’t true. That it was just my imagination. But it wasn’t, was it?"

Tess turned her eyes up to Max’s, searching for some sort of comfort as she felt the tears running down her cheek. The hard look in his eyes softened.

"I had no idea, Tess. I had no idea things were this complicated," he said, moving over to the couch. He put an arm around Tess’s shoulders, and she laid her head on his shoulder as he talked. "I believe you, Tess. I’m sorry I jumped to conclusions. I should have known you would never lie to me."

Tess sniffled a bit, lifted her head, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sleepshirt. "Thank you, Max," she said. "Why? Why do you believe me?"

"Because you said the same thing Liz said. You said you’d seen things that could have happened. That’s what she said. You can’t both be lying. So you must be telling the truth."

"What are we going to do, Max? Something still isn’t right here. Something doesn’t click. I don’t know if it’s the prophecy, or the destiny book, or what. But I don’t think we know the whole story."

"I think you need to talk to Liz," Max said.

"What did she say?" Tess asked turning to look at Max again.

"When?"

"When you told her about the flashes. That you knew. What did she say?"

Tess narrowed her eyes as Max began to shift uncomfortably. "What, Max?" Tess prodded.

"Liz didn’t say anything, Tess. She doesn’t know."

"She doesn’t know? Max, you got a flash from her that revealed to you part of the reason why she left and you didn’t tell her? Why?" Tess demanded, disbelieving.

"Because there was a reason she didn’t tell me everything," Max said. "She’ll tell me when she’s ready. I know she will. But in the meantime, maybe you could answer me something," he continued.

Tess shrugged her shoulders. "Sure, Max. What is it?"

"I got flashes from Liz about you…er…the other you going to see her. But she didn’t tell me that it was you who gave her all that information. In fact, she was very careful not to mention you. For all she knows, you’re the one that ran her out of town, after coming back to claim your destiny with me."

"Yeah?" Tess said, trying to figure out exactly what he was getting at. After all, she and Liz weren’t exactly friends. Come to think of it, she wouldn’t even consider them acquaintances. They had nothing in common, and nothing to talk about. But Max’s next question made Tess realize that maybe things had changed. Maybe she and Liz did have something to talk about.

"If Liz has every reason to hate you, then why is she trying so hard to [/i]protect[/i] you?"

[Kath7]

Part 14

"Why are you still here?" Michael demanded, his annoyance clear.

Liz stared at him in dismay. It was the first time she was coming face to face with anyone who was actually Max’s friend, never really having been hers. Alex and Maria had been angry at her, but she was still amazed at the ease with which their relationship had been repaired. But Michael…

Well, he had never tried to hide his disdain for anyone, had he? And he certainly wasn’t doing so now.

"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, slapping him lightly. She had come up behind her husband, obviously on a mission to do damage control. "Liz is a paying customer. Don’t be rude!"

"I didn’t mean in the restaurant Maria," Michael snapped. "I meant in Roswell. If she’s so all-fired up about her life in New York, why hasn’t she gone back? Maxwell signed the damn papers."

"I am going back," Liz replied, scowling at him. "But Roswell is still my home too Michael. I can be here if I want to be. And this is still my parent’s café."

"Don’t remind me." With that, Michael turned on his heel and stalked away, slamming into the kitchen through the swinging door.

"I’m sorry about that," Maria sighed, sliding into the booth across from Liz.

"Max must really be hurting," Liz said softly, not even acknowledging Maria’s apology. Mainly because she knew Michael had every reason to hate her guts. "For Michael to even bother to hate me…"

"Michael doesn’t know anything about how Max is feeling," Maria assured her. "He hasn’t talked to him since last night. Max signed those papers of his own free will Liz. He wants you to be happy."

Liz narrowed her gaze slightly. "He didn’t sign them of his own free will Maria. I asked you to guilt him into it. Which you obviously did."

Maria closed her eyes and laid her head back against the bench. "Liz, Max doesn’t do anything unless he wants to. Sure I reminded him of why he was going to sign the papers. I kept him from torturing you both by dragging it out, but we all know he would have done it eventually. You have always been even more stubborn then him. He never would have won and he knows it."

"It’s not about winning Maria," Liz said sadly. "There are no winners in this situation."

Their eyes met and locked. "Liz, I am getting the sneaking suspicion that, in spite of your so-called engagement and all your protestations about no longer loving Max, this divorce should not be happening." Maria was beginning to sound angry. "Do you know why I know it?"

"Maria…"

"I’ll tell you why. You didn’t sign the papers Chica."

"What?" Liz exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Of course I did!"

"You did not," Maria retorted. She stood as well, went behind the counter and produced the divorce papers, which were stashed there. "In fact, you also left last night without them."

"I didn’t want Sean to see them," Liz argued, taking them from her best friend and starting in consternation when she saw that Maria was right. She had not signed the papers. There was Max’s familiar signature on the appropriate line, but hers was nowhere in sight.

Her eyes widened. This meant that Max’s copy hadn’t been signed either! If he noticed that…

"Oh God! Maria, I have to go!" Liz whirled and hurried out of the Crashdown.

***

"I just don’t understand any of this," Tess told Max as she lead him down the stairs into the UFO Museum. She waved her hand in the air, succesfully flicking on the lights. "What on Earth could Future Me possibly have told Liz that made her believe me?" She paused, wrinkled her nose at the lunacy of what she had just said. "Okay, I barely understood that. But you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean," Max replied, grinning at her.

Tess tilted her head, regarded him with interest. "You know, you really are in a surprisingly good mood for the day after signing your divorce papers."

"I’m fine now that I know you didn’t lie to me," Max shrugged. "I’m even better then fine now that I know Liz didn’t leave me of her own free will. All we need to figure out now is why she left. And then I can win her back."

"Max, she’s engaged," Tess reminded him. "She’s moved on. Even if she didn’t leave you because willingly four years ago, she’s in love with someone else now." She grimaced slightly, wondered if she should tell him what she knew - that Liz had forgotten to sign her own divorce papers. But she really didn’t want him to get his hopes up. As much as she wanted to get to the bottom of this and figure out exactly what Future Tess had told Liz, she still wasn’t entirely certain that Liz wasn’t still going to break Max’s heart.

Four years had passed. Liz had actually fallen in love with someone else. If Tess had gone to Liz three years ago, maybe they could have fixed things, but after this long? It was questionable. Tess didn’t know Liz at all. She had no way of knowing if the lack of a signature had just been an oversight caused by frustration because Max was being so difficult. Would it hurt Max even more to know about this and then to have it shot down as any sort of proof that Liz didn’t really want the divorce?

Max had plopped down on a stool next to the cash-register at Tess’s words. He was frowning pensively, seemingly not at all upset by Tess’s reminder. "I promised her I wouldn’t pressure her any more," he told her firmly. "But I didn’t promise I wouldn’t pursue other avenues." There was a pause. And then, "I got some information about her fiancé," he admitted quietly, looking slightly uncomfortable and, yet, strangely pleased.

"How do you mean? In the paper?" Tess asked. "On the ‘net? I mean, he is pretty famous. World’s Most Eligible Bachelor and all that…"

Max snorted. "Of course not. In the flashes Tess. Liz isn’t into that sort of stuff by the way. I’m a bloody king after all."

"A deposed and poor one," Tess shot back, her eyes twinkling.

"She doesn’t care, trust me," Max insisted. He raised his eyes, grinning again. "Of course, I made her think I did now. Care I mean. It was fun."

"What?" Tess stared at him. "What are you even talking about?"

"I told Liz I would only sign her papers if she paid me off with her fiancé’s money," Max explained, obviously quite pleased with himself. "It was brilliant at the time." He looked around at the shabby Museum, sighing. "Damn me for being too nice. I should have kept that up. I could really use the money."

"Max!"

"Kidding. Totally kidding. But at least I wouldn’t have had to sign those papers until I found out what was going on. She never would have paid me." He sounded admiring.

"Max, I think you’ve gone insane," Tess stated firmly. "What does this have to do with Liz’s fiancé?"

"Nothing I guess," Max shrugged again. "Anyway, what I was going to say was that…" He was cut off by the ringing of the bell over the door above. "Damn. Customer. And we’re not even really open." He hurriedly punched a code into the register. "Go say hi to whoever it is. I need to get the displays going."

Tess rolled her eyes. "One must question what kind of freak shows up at this stupid place at ten in the morning," she muttered as she marched over to the stairs and back up them to take the visitor’s admission.

She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as the man above came into sight. She knew this guy. Hadn’t she just seen his picture in People’s Most Beautiful issue last month?

It was Liz’s fiancé. Sean Deveraux himself.

His dark eyes met hers. "Hi. Are you open?"

"Um…" Tess glanced over her shoulder. She could feel panic beginning to set in. Max was going to freak. Shewas going to freak! What the hell was Liz’s husband-to-be doing in Roswell? Even worse, what the hell was he doing in Liz’s present husband’s cheezy tourist trap?

"I can come back," Sean said. "I was just hoping to kill some time while I waited for my fiancée." He smiled at her. It was so charming it sent a shiver down Tess’s spine in spite of herself. "Thought I’d get a little bit of the flavour of the town." When Tess still didn’t answer, he started to look uncomfortable. "I guess I better…" He turned to leave, reaching the door just as someone pushed through it from the opposite direction.

"Tess, where’s Max?" It was Kyle, in his uniform, looking entirely business-like. She felt her heart start to thump uncomfortably. It was the first time she had seen him since the night before. Everything they still had to talk about it passed through her mind, literally weakening her knees.

"Why?" She managed to say.

"Tess, what’s taking so long?" Max appeared on the stairs, looking slightly irritated. He took in Kyle, then Sean. "Hi. Welcome. Did you want to look around?"

"I thought you weren’t open?" Sean replied, turning again. He indicated Kyle. "Although, if you’re Max, this officer seems to be looking for you."

"Of course we’re open," Max assured him, glaring at Tess. "Come on in. And I am Max - Evans that is and I own this place. Are you visiting Roswell?" He glanced at Kyle, who shrugged, as though he wasn’t in a great hurry.

Sean was frowning slightly now. Tess grimaced, could see exactly where this was going. Did Max really not know what Liz’s fiancé looked like? She couldn’t believe it. Trust a guy not to even try and find a picture of his rival.

"Evans?" Sean asked, obviously already making the connection. "You must be related to my…"

"Okay then!" Tess exclaimed, grabbing Sean by the arm and hauling him towards the stairs. "Let me give you the grand deluxe tour!"

She could feel all three men staring at her like she had gone insane, but she didn’t particularly care. Tess was pretty sure that Sean had absolutely no idea of Max’s existence and was even more sure that when Max realized who this was, it would not be pretty. Not that Max would ever be anything but polite. But she really just did not want to see the look on her best friend’s face when he understood that this was the man his wife planned to marry.

"Tess, you don’t even work here!" Kyle called after her, his amusement now evident in his tone. He always knew when she was up to something. It was extremely annoying.

"So, how long are you staying in Roswell?" Tess asked in a rush, trying desperately to get Sean to forget that he even suspected Liz and Max were somehow connected. It would not be a good thing for Liz’s fiancé to hear about Max from anyone but Liz.

"Not long," Sean replied. He was looking around the large room, an amused expression on his face. "Is this place for real?"

"Don’t you believe in aliens?" Tess joked back, relaxing slightly.

There was a long pause. Sean smiled slightly. "Well, depends on what you call an alien. Do I think that people feel like aliens sometimes? Yeah. Do I believe in little green men from outer space? No."

Tess wondered what he would think were she to tell him that he was presently talking to a little green woman from outer space. She almost giggled hysterically, but managed to control herself. "You can’t tell me that you’ve ever felt alientated?" She tried not to sound like she was scoffing, but this was one of People’s Most Eligible Bachelors. The guy was rich enough to burn money in his fireplace to warm up his big Manhatten penthouse if he wanted to. And he wasn’t very hard on the eyes either. Even if he wasn’t Max, Liz Parker had done very well for herself.

Sean met her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "So you know who I am?"

"I’m a woman," Tess teased. "I may be engaged, but I’m not dead."

"Engaged huh?" Sean asked. "To Mr. Evans upstairs?"

"No." Tess shook her head at the irony of his question. She was also slightly unnerved by the fact that he had deliberately used Max’s last name. Apparently it had not slipped his mind. But, of course it wouldn’t. His fiancée’s name was Elizabeth Evans for God’s sake. "To the deputy upstairs."

"Ah. Congratulations."

"Thanks," she paused, uncomfortable. "So you’re marrying Liz huh?" Having admitted that she knew who he was, she couldn’t very well deny that she knew he was engaged to Liz Evans. After all, it had been splashed all over the papers and Roswell of all places would have known that one of their own was marrying Sean Deveraux of all people.

"You know Liz?" Sean asked, sounding pleased. "You must be about the same age. Did you go to school together?"

"For a very short while," Tess admitted. "I left town at the beginning of our junior year. I moved back to Roswell after Liz had left for New York."

"So she must be related to Max." He was clearly fishing for information. "There can’t be that many Evanses around a town this size."

"Er…" Tess breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she heard Max and Kyle coming down the stairs. Of course, this was short-lived when she realized they weren’t alone.

"…ridiculous Kyle! How could I have been breaking into my own husband’s house?"

"Liz!" Sean exclaimed. Tess followed his gaze to take in the trio standing on the staircase. Liz Parker Evans was standing between Max and Kyle, a horrified expression on her lovely face.

Tess saw Liz whiten and called out just in time. "Max! Catch her!"

Max did so, neatly sweeping Liz up into his arms. It was only then that Tess noticed that the petite brunette was wearing handcuffs.

***

"Liz! Liz? Are you okay?"

She didn’t want to open her eyes. She couldn’t remember why exactly, but she knew it was true. And, yet, Max’s voice was insistent. "Liz, drink this."

She felt a cool glass pressed against her lips, realized that her throat was parched. She sipped it carefully, the soothing wetness reviving her. "What…what happened?"

"You fainted."

The second voice was equally as familiar as Max’s. Oh dear Lord. It wasn’t a nightmare. She was actually living this.

Sean.

"Liz, open your eyes." Max’s voice was gentle, encouraging. "You don’t need to be embarrassed. You’re not used to the heat anymore."

"I was born and bred in Roswell Max Evans!" Liz’s eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "I did not faint because of the heat."

"So you do know each other." This came from Sean. Liz reluctantly turned her head to regard her fiancé, who was crouching beside Max in front of her. She realized that she was sitting on a cot that was set up in one of the displays. She almost burst out laughing when she took in that it was the alien autopsy display. Someone had brushed the poor, dissected alien onto the floor and she had taken his place.

Well, the irony in that was not lost on her. Because her entire life was about to fall apart.

"Evans," Sean said, sounding pleased with himself that he had figured it out. "What are you? Cousins?"

She really wanted to pinch herself to make sure this wasn’t a horrible dream. Of course, she couldn’t, because she was still handcuffed. Stupid Kyle Valenti! This was all his fault!

It had to be a nightmare though. Because how else could things have gone so awry? She was going to tell Sean about Max this morning! She had just gone to Max’s to retrieve the divorce papers first, before her ex-husband noticed that she hadn’t signed them. How on Earth had Sean ended up in the UFO Museum with Max anyway?

This was all Kyle’s fault, she thought again. If he hadn’t arrested her and brought her here to make sure she had Max’s permission to be in his house - which of course she didn’t - none of this would have happened!

Of course, it was sort of her fault too. If she hadn’t stopped and stared in dumbfounded amazement at the pile of pictures Max had of her in his bed-side table, which she had been rifling through to find the papers, she would have been in and out before Kyle even showed up. But how was she supposed to know that Max’s neighbour was such a busy-body and had seen her climb in the window and had then called the police? And if Max hadn’t left his bedroom window open in the first place, she never would have gotten herself into such a ridiculous position!

Those pictures….God. Had they ever been so happy? But they had more than proven that they had been. She had left all of her pictures behind when she had left Max, knowing that having any tangible reminders of him would only make things worse. She had been haunted by memories anyway. She didn’t need the pictures.

But to actually see them…All of those good times spread out over the bed-spread. She had lost herself for a while.

She and Max at the beach on their honeymoon, slightly out of focus as the picture had been taken by a ten-year old, the only other person crazy enough to be out on that windy day. The picture Isabel had taken of Max carrying her over the threshold of their first apartment. Pictures of them dancing at their wedding. Too many happy times.

She had been laughing through her tears, a picture of the burnt casserole Max had made her for their six-month anniversary in her hands, when Kyle had appeared in the bedroom doorway, the outraged neighbour behind him. In order to shut her up, Kyle had cuffed her and promised Mrs. Newton that he would take her to Max to get his side of the story. Kyle had apologized in the truck, but Liz had still been too out of it to even care.

It was only when Max had burst out laughing at the sight of her that she had snapped out of it.

It was the day after she had broken his heart and he was in a good enough mood to think it was hilarious that she had been arrested for breaking into his house! It had been more than she could take. Which was why she had been screeching at both of them as they had descended the stairs, when suddenly there was Sean staring up at her, Tess at his side and her entire world had started to spin.

And, now, here she was staring at her past and her future at the same time and neither knew who the other was.

Liz realized that Max was looking at Sean strangely. "We’re not cousins." She could see understanding dawning on his face as he began to put the pieces together. "You’re Sean."

"Deveraux," Sean agreed, holding out his hand to Max. Max looked at it for a moment, but took it, the pause not long enough that anyone other than Liz would notice.

"Right." Max straightened, his eyes meeting Liz’s again. "I think you two need to talk. I’ll just leave you alone." He almost looked like he felt sorry for her. And, yet, she could not mistake the satisfied twinkle in his eye.

Okay, something was going on with Max. There was now no question. This was not the same person she had left in the Museum the night before. "Max!"

He turned. "Yes Liz?"

"I need to talk to you!"

"I don’t think so. Not right now," Max replied. "Sean probably has a lot of questions."

"MAX!"

"Oh by the way," Max continued, turning once more. "Tess needs to talk to you too."

Liz closed her eyes, took a deep breath in order to calm herself. When had he become so infuriating? He was driving her insane! Seriously. He was completely manic. Sad and loving one minute, dismissive and teasing the next.

"Liz, what the heck is going on here?" Sean was standing now too, a completely perplexed look on his face.

"I will explain everything, I swear," Liz told him hurriedly. "I just need to talk to Max first! And I need to get these damn handcuffs off."

"Why are you wearing handcuffs by the way?"

"I broke into Max’s house. It’s a long story. Kyle is just being a jerk. I swear this will all make sense soon." Liz stood on her tip-toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I’ll be right back."

Liz stomped over to Kyle, who was lounging on the staircase, Tess seated a step above him. "Unlock me."

"Can’t. I still don’t have confirmation that you had permission to be on the premises," Kyle reminded her lazily.

"He’s my husband," Liz hissed, glancing over her shoulder at Sean, who was watching her, a scowl on his face. "What’s his is mine."

"You never lived there," Kyle shot back. "He moved in after you left town. Plus aren’t you divorced now? And you climbed through the window. I somehow doubt that Max wanted you there. What were you doing anyway Liz?"

"Where is Max?" Liz demanded in frustration. "MAX? Max Evans, get back here now!"

"I’m busy!" His voice came drifting back from the stockroom.

"What the heck is he doing?" Liz asked Tess. The blonde was eyeing her, obviously uncomfortable. Liz frowned slightly when she realized that she saw compassion in Tess’s blue eyes. She felt a flash of anger. The last thing she wanted was for the blonde troll to feel sorry for her!

"He’s waiting for you to admit to Sean that you’re still married to someone else," Tess finally said. "He wants you to tell him, to admit it, to acknowledge that he exists."

"Of course he exists. How else could he be so successfully driving me insane?"

"Liz, don’t you understand that the fact that you haven’t even admitted that you were married before makes him feel like you’re ashamed of him or something?" Tess’s tone was kind, but it made Liz scowl anyway. "He’ll never admit it, but I think that’s what hurts him most of all. That you never even mentioned him."

"I couldn’t." Liz could feel a lump growing in her throat, forced the words past it. "I could not talk about him to anyone but Serena. It hurt too much."

"I know that," Tess replied. "But he doesn’t. He went to New York and he saw you with Sean and he thought you had moved on…and the person you moved on with doesn’t even know about him. Think about it from his perspective."

"All I can do is think about it from his perspective," Liz admitted softly. "And I have to stop. Because if I don’t, I’ll lose it. Tess, I’m pretty close right now. When I thought…when I was able to believe that he was with you…I could deal with it. But this…This is just so messed up. Why can’t he move on?"

Kyle, who had been listening quietly, got to his feet during the silence that followed this and used his key to remove Liz’s handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists without even thinking about it, her eyes still locked with Tess’s.

She was really asking her worst enemy to explain the person she used to know best. The irony was painful.

"He will move on Liz. If it’s what you really want," Tess told her. "He signed the papers. But you didn’t. You haven’t even been honest with your fiancé. How can you build a relationship without honesty?"

"I can’t believe you’re lecturing me about honesty," Liz said, laughing slightly. She wasn’t mad, just completely spent. She just could not deal with this anymore. "I guess maybe it was worth it. You’re not the same person Tess."

"No," Tess acknowledged. "And now I know it’s thanks to you Liz." She glanced at her fiancé, smiling slightly. "And Kyle of course."

"You didn’t know before?"

"Not for sure," Tess replied. "But I suspected. I was scared to find out for sure."

Liz frowned slightly, finally just wanting to know once and for all. "She came to you too?"

"Yes."

"So that’s why you came back."

"Yeah. I’m sorry. I really didn’t know she’d been to see you until…" Tess’s eyes widened and she trailed off, looking towards the stock-room guiltily.

And, abruptly, Liz understood.

Max knew too. He knew exactly why she had left.

"Oh God." She collapsed on the step next to Tess. "He got flashes, didn’t he?"

Tess just nodded, glanced towards Sean, who was still across the room, but obviously getting more impatient by the minute. "We can’t talk about this right now."

"I know," Liz said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "God Tess. I don’t even know what’s right anymore."

She realized that this was the whole truth. She had absolutely no idea what she was feeling, who she loved, or what she wanted. And, in the end, it didn’t really matter anyway, did it?

Because even if Max still loved her, even if Max knew the truth about why she left, the reason was still in existance. She still could not bear his child and because of that, the world would end.

"Talk to Sean. Get that over with," Tess suggested. "And then follow your heart. The rest will sort itself out."

Liz stared at her. "What did you say?"

"Liz, all you can do is follow your heart. It’s what I did and it just can’t be wrong." Tess looked at Kyle as she said this and Liz felt a pang of real happiness for both of them. No jealousy at all.

Because she knew what her heart wanted. She had known it since her grandmother had first told her to follow it all those years ago. She had ignored it since the visit from Future Tess, but her heart had never wavered.

Her heart had only ever wanted one person.

Because, even if she and Max could never be together, she couldn’t do it to Sean. It wasn’t fair. Seeing them together, side by side, her heart had not wavered. She had wanted to talk to Max, not Sean. Her instincts always took her back to him.

He was her husband. She hadn’t signed those papers because she wanted him to stay her husband.

In the end, how could she be engaged and married at the same time? It was impossible.

She was still legally bound to Max. But apart from that, she was still emotionally attached to him as well. It was why this whole homecoming had been so difficult, why she had stayed away for so long in the first place.

By staying away, she had been able to stay married. She had been able to maintain the connection to him, even if she had been unable to be in his company.

He was still the only person she really wanted.

Which was why she was going to have to break her engagement.

[Kath7]

Part 15

"I can’t marry him, Tess," Liz whispered, panic evident in her voice. "What am I going to do?"

Tess looked at Liz, and shook her head. "I can’t tell you what to do, Liz. All I know is that you should go with what you feel."

"What I feel is a panic attack coming on! What am I going to say to him? ‘Sorry, I can’t marry you, because I’m still in love with my husband. Surprise! Bet you didn’t know I had one of those did you’?" Liz demanded, talking without taking a breath. She stared at Tess, her eyes wide with anxiety, silently pleading with her for an answer.

"You’ll figure out what to say, Liz. Just start talking. You’ll know how to do it when the time comes."

Liz groaned, and then wailed, "Why me, Tess? Why do I always hurt the people I love? Why do people get hurt just by being a part of my life? It’s not fair. People should have to sign a waiver just to love me!"

It wasn’t fair. It seemed everyone she’d ever loved had been hurt by her in some way or other. Maria. Alex. Max. Now Sean. Why couldn’t anyone just be happy for once? Why did hurt always have to be part of the package?

Watching Liz, Tess fought hard to suppress a giggle. If someone had told her two days ago that she’d be sitting next to an hysterical Liz Parker, offering her advice on her love life, she’d have laughed in their face. But, now, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. Because sitting next to the one person in the world she thought she’d never be friends with, Tess felt nothing but compassion, and an odd sense of companionship for the other woman.

"Love is always a risk, Liz. But it’s a risk people are willing to take and it’s worth it. Hurt is part of that risk. But it’s not what matters. Love is what matters. In the end, love is stronger than anything. Hurt, heartbreak, broken trust, none of it matters. Love is the one thing that’s stronger than it all."

And Tess knew it was true. Four years ago, when Liz Evans had left town, she’d left nothing but shattered hearts and broken trust behind. But when she’d come back home they’d opened their hearts and their lives to her once again. The hurt and suffering had been forgiven. Because they loved her.

Well, maybe not Isabel, Tess amended with a slight grimace, then suppressed another giggle.

Liz was stifling a laugh too, when she turned towards Tess. "I never thought I’d be asking you for advice," she said flatly, explaining it.

"Well, that makes two of us," Tess replied. "Cause I’d never thought I’d be giving it to you."

Liz moaned, putting her head between her hands.

After a minute of silence, Tess leaned in closer to Liz. Liz was scared. She needed some motivation. "You love him, that’s clear enough. And he still loves you, you know. He always will."

"Why?" Liz asked. "All I’ve ever done is hurt him. Why does he still love me?"

Tess shrugged. The answer was simple. "Because you’re Liz."

Liz heard Max’s voice echoing Tess words in her ears. It was you.

It seemed like an eternity had passed since she’d heard him say that. Things had been so easy for them back then, in spite of the sheriff and the questions about who should be let in on the secret.

But when it came to the two of them, they’d never needed any other explanation. How could she have forgotten?

Liz raised her head, and looked at Tess through watery eyes. "Where did things go so wrong, Tess? Why did things have to turn out this way? Why do they have to be so…so complicated?"

"That’s what we’d all like to know, Liz. We’ll find the answers. But right now I think you have other problems to resolve," Tess said, tilting her head in the direction of Liz’s obviously angry fiancé.

"Right," Liz said reluctantly. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes to gain her composure, stood up from the step where she was sitting, and brushed her hands down the front of her jeans. She started to walk away, but as an afterthought, turned around to offer Tess a small smile of gratitude. She was surprised that she felt no hate or animosity towards the girl who’d all but taken her place when she’d left Roswell. "Thanks, Tess. For giving me advice. You know, even though I’m your worst enemy and all." Liz stopped briefly and waited for a response, but got nothing but a shocked look from Tess’s icy blue eyes. She offered another small smile, and turned to walk towards Sean.

"Liz?"

Liz spun around to see Tess standing up on the steps, a cautious look guarding her features. "You were her enemy. I don’t consider you mine."

Liz smiled again, nodded her head, and headed back to Sean, feeling as if part of the weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Tess’s words seemed so…right. She had once considered Tess her enemy, when the blonde had first arrived in Roswell and had tried to steal Max away from her. Her opinion had not been revised when the future version of Tess had visited her four years ago. But it was clearly obvious that the Tess she’d come to hate for causing her to leave behind everything she loved was not the same Tess that she’d found when she’d arrived back in Roswell. And for some strange reason it was natural to feel an odd sense of companionship to her.

Liz Evans couldn’t help but smile again, in spite of the trial in front of her. Because for the first time since she’d arrived back home, something had gone right.

***

Tess stood watched Liz walk towards Sean, a smile gracing her features. Was it possible that she and Liz Evans would be friends in the future? When she’d almost been run down by Liz in the middle of the street a couple of days ago, Tess had been flooded with feelings of panic, anxiety, curiousity, and even hatred. But now, she couldn’t help but feel something akin to friendship for the wife of her best friend. This was definitely a jumping off point to resolving the questions that had plagued her mind for the last four years. And she knew that Liz would be more than happy to help her find her answers.

She turned and headed up the stairs, where she knew Kyle would be waiting for her. She reached the top step, and saw him leaning against the wall outside, his deputy’s hat tilted back, as he watched two small children play around the tables arranged outside the Crashdown across the street.

"Hey you," she said, pushing through the glass doors.

"Hey yourself," Kyle replied, pulling his hat off, and taking a step towards her. "So that’s Liz’s fiancé, huh?"

"Afraid so," Tess said. "Looks like she’s got a full day ahead of her. He’s gonna ask about Max."

"You told him?" Kyle asked incredulously.

"Of course not, Kyle. He asked me if they were related. The fact that they had the same last name didn’t slip by him."

"Oh."

Kyle and Tess stood staring at each other, each shifting from foot to foot in the awkward silence.

After a minute, Kyle took a deep breath, and fiddled with the silver star pinned on the brim of his hat. "Sooo…is everything…I mean…are we…all right?" he asked, watching her uncertainly.

Tess smiled, and walked up to Kyle, taking one of his hands. "We’re good, Kyle," she said. "I’m sorry about last night. I just…I needed time to think."

"And did you?" Kyle asked, taking Tess’s free hand into his other one.

"Think?" She nodded her head. "Yeah. And I came to the same conclusion I always come to. I love you. You love me. As long as that’s true, we’ll always be okay. No matter what."

Tess looked at Kyle and saw relief flood his features. She had known that walking out on him, even though she told him she just needed some space, would be hard on him. She knew that as she walked out the door, Kyle would be kicking himself, running the night’s events through his head time and time again. Last night she had been sure that it served him right. He’d said and done some things that made her want to think about where she stood and where her life was going. Wasn’t it only fair that he did the same thing? But now, watching his shoulders relax, and his eyes reflect his smile, she wanted nothing more than to make sure he knew just how much she loved him.

"I love you, Tess. You know I always will," he said, leaning down to give her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Kyle Valenti, I don’t care about that ‘not while I’m in uniform stuff’. If you don’t give me a proper kiss right this minute, you’ll be sleeping outside tonight!" Tess chided lightly, a sly smile on her lips.

Kyle chuckled, and reached up to tip up the brim of his hat. "Yes ma’m," he said. "Your wish is my command."

Tess smiled, and brought her mouth up to meet his. She closed her eyes, and reveled in the familiarity of the action, knowing she’d never get tired of feeling Kyle’s lips on her own. It didn’t matter what else came their way, what other problems life would throw at them, what unforeseen circumstances fate would force them to deal with. It would always come to this. To Tess and Kyle. This was where she belonged. And all the time in the world would always bring her back here.

Breaking apart, Kyle pulled her against his chest, stroking her hair. "So, you and Liz survived your little moment in there all in one piece?" he asked, beginning to sound amused.

Tess took a deep breath. "It’s weird, Kyle. I have every right in the world to think of her as my enemy. And she has every right in the world to hate me. But I don’t. And she doesn’t either. We’re like, the same, me and Liz. We’ve both been through this traumatic experience, and it’s made us…different. Then we would have been I mean."

She wondered briefly whether this was what Future Tess had wanted all along. Maybe she didn’t have to hate herself quite as much as she had over the past two days. Because maybe this was exactly what was supposed to have happened when that other version of herself had changed the future. And even if Future Tess hadn’t known it, it had still turned out okay.

Tess and Kyle together, Max and Tess close. And Max and Liz reunited. Hopefully. Tess grimaced slightly, thought about how strangely Max had been acting earlier. Her best friend was up to something. She was so glad that he wasn’t giving up, even if he had told Liz he was. He deserved his happiness.

"You and Liz? You guys are like friends now or something?" Kyle asked, sounding surprised.

Tess let the feel of Kyle’s words sink in.

Friends

They were still far from friends. But Tess knew that the things she had in common with Liz would prove to be a sturdy stepping stone towards building some sort of civil relationship between them. And if it wasn’t enough of a stepping stone, the fact that they both loved Max would be enough to urge them forward.

"I’m not sure what you’d call it, Kyle. But we’re definitely not enemies. In fact, I think we’ll be able to help each other. There’s some things in the past that don’t make sense. Things we both thought to be true that don’t agree with what we now know is true. I think that Liz and I will be able to find the answers. "

"I’m glad you don’t hate her, Tess. She’s still my friend."

Tess looked at Kyle and couldn’t help but ask. "You aren’t mad at her? For leaving? For hurting you guys?"

She knew that Kyle hadn’t had a chance to talk things over with Liz. After all, their first encounter since she’d been back had centered around other…issues. She’d never talked with Kyle about Liz. It seemed that Liz was the one subject no one ever talked to anyone about. She had often wondered how Kyle felt about her. She knew he’d been hurt by her, and had naturally assumed that like the others, he didn’t talk about her because it hurt. Because he still held it against her. But now, she wasn’t so sure.

Kyle shrugged, and put his hat back on, after running a hand through his hair. "I’ve forgiven her for running away. I’ve forgiven her for hurting me. Forgiveness sets you free from the bonds of hatred, anger and resentment."

Tess raised an eyebrow. "Buddha?"

"No," Kyle said. "Dr. Phil. But he’s just as good."

Tess looked at Kyle and couldn’t help but laugh.

"What?" Kyle demanded, putting up his hands. "I can’t help it. He’s on Oprah all the time.

Tess laughed again, and covered her mouth with her hand. "You do not watch Oprah," she accused.

"What?" Kyle said, holding out his arms. "Michael watches The View!"

"Oh, this is classic," Tess exclaimed, stepping up on her tip-toes to kiss Kyle on the cheek. "If I ever need to blackmail you or Michael, I know what to use."

Kyle growled and kissed her again. All thoughts of Dr. Phil flew from her mind. "You won’t tell Michael I told you," he whispered against her lips a few moments later.

"Okay," Tess agreed. "If you promise me more of that later." But in her mind she was already devising some way to tease Michael about The View. She wondered if Maria knew what her husband did when she wasn’t home.

"I better go before they send another unit out here to see what’s holding me up," Kyle said, as he slipped on his sunglasses, backing away from the UFO Center to his waiting truck "See you tonight?"

"Yes. I’ll be at Isabel’s for a while doing wedding stuff, but then, I’m all yours," Tess replied.

"Tonight it is," he said. He smiled one last time, blew her a kiss, and got into his car, driving off down the street.

"Well," Tess said to herself as she turned back around and pulled open the door behind her. "One down, one to go."

She walked down the stairs, calling out to Max, wondering where he’d gone. "Max, where are you?"

"In the back, Tess, at the souvenir counter," came his muffled reply.

Tess headed towards the opposite corner of the room, and stopped along the way to pick up a small plastic "I Believe" button that Max must have dropped. Max had acted strange around Liz and Sean earlier, and she knew something was up. He was acting odd, to say the least.

"What’s gotten into you?" Tess asked, as she turned the corner and saw Max standing behind the counter.

"I have no idea what you’re talking about," Max retorted as he placed handfuls of the small buttons into a plastic container near the cash register.

"You’re…different. What was up with you back there?"

Max shrugged his shoulders. "Back where?"

"Don’t play dumb with me, Max. What’s going on?"

"Tess, listen," Max said, glancing up towards the stairs when he heard the front door open, signaling that he had customers. "I can’t talk right now. I’m working."

Max put the cardboard box under the desk and slipped on his UFO Center vest.

Tess looked at Max strangely when he donned the familiar orangey yellow vest. Max hated that vest. He only made the employees wear it at convention time, so people would know who to ask for information. He never wore his. Something was definitely up.

"Max," Tess said firmly. "I want to talk to you. You have some explaining to do, and we will finish this talk."

"Okey dokey!" Max said, stepping from behind the counter and towards the front of the center.

"Okay dokey?" Tess asked amusedly. "Where is the Max Evans that I know and love? The Max Evans that hates that vest and laughs at people who use words like okey dokey?"

Max turned and smiled at Tess, as he walked backwards. "He’s gone, abducted by aliens" he replied, tossing Tess a small blow up alien doll and laughing out loud. "This Max Evans is a new man," he said.

Tess let out a sigh, putting the doll on the counter behind her. Max was losing it. And she was determined to get an explanation.

***

"Liz, do you mind telling me what is going on here?" Sean asked, taking Liz by the arm.

"I don’t mind, Sean, but now is not the time."

"Who’s that Max guy? Why do I get the feeling that I’m missing out on something here?"

"Sean, please, we need to do this someplace else. Let’s just go back to the hotel, okay?"

"Fine, let’s go," he said hurriedly, walking towards the stairs.

Just as Liz and Sean reached the bottom of the steps, Max came around the corner, a blow up alien doll hanging from one hand, and a small cardboard box in the other. He stopped when he saw Liz and Sean.

Liz stared at Max, felt her blood beginning to boil again. "Max Evans, this is not over!" she huffed.

"Of course not, Liz. But it looks like you’ve got another discussion to tend to. So we’ll finish later." He winked at her, and turned his attention to Sean. "It was nice meeting you, Sean. I’ve heard so much about you."

"Right," Sean said, narrowing his eyes. "Wish I could say the same about you."

Liz was sure her face flushed a hundred shades of crimson. Could this get any worse?

On her left was a very angry, confused fiancé who just wanted to know what was going on. He’d come to Roswell simply to find her, and had unwillingly placed himself smack dab right into the middle of what Liz could only classify as a soap opera.

On her right was her very annoying, hardheaded husband who only wanted to…wait a minute. What the heck did he want anyway? He was being way too nice and way too charming to someone who he’d done nothing but insult since she had seen him again.

Liz put on hand on her hip and narrowed her eyes at Max. He was definitely up to something.

"Oh, I’m sure Liz will tell you all about me," he was saying to Sean, sounding like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

"I will," Liz flared. "As soon as we leave." She glared at Max once more before turning on her heel and stalking away.

"Oh, Sean," Max called after them, causing Sean to turn around to look at him. "Ask her about that time we went to Vegas. You ought to get a real kick out of that."

Flabbergasted, Liz’s mouth fell open, but she couldn’t think of anything to say.

Las Vegas? Max told Sean to ask about Las Vegas? She and Max had only been to Vegas once. They’d returned no longer Liz Parker and Max Evans, but, rather Mr. and Mrs. Max Evans. They’d run away, followed their hearts, and had made the ultimate commitment to one another.

What right did Max have to tell Sean about that? Sean was her fiancé, and she would tell him about Vegas when she was good and ready to tell him.

"Aggghh!" She cried, stomping her foot angrily. She picked up a small, pin-on button that had fallen out of the box in Max’s arm and threw it at his retreating figure, becoming even move angry when the small plastic object widely missed its intended target. Huffing once more, she turned on her heels, and pulled a surprised Sean along behind her.

Forty minutes later, Liz and Sean were back at the hotel. They were in Sean’s room, and he was sitting on the bed, watching Liz pace back and forth in front of him.

"Liz, you’ve been pacing for the last 5 minutes. I want to know what’s going on. And I want to know now!"

Liz flinched at Sean’s raised voice and angry demeanor.

"Fine." Liz stopped pacing and pulled a chair from next to the night stand, sitting down so that she was face to face with Sean. She grabbed his hands in hers, and took a minute to gain her composure. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, willing herself to do this without crying.

"You know, when I came to New York four years ago, I had no idea as to what life held for me. I didn’t know where I was going, what I was going to do, or how I was going to do it. I had a few hundred bucks in my pocket and some clothes. For hours I walked around, tears running down my cheeks, and my heart thudding in my chest. I started to think that maybe life wasn’t such a good idea. You know, that it was over-rated. That all it had to offer was lost love and broken hearts. But then I stumbled into Serena, and she gave me a new lease on life. And then I met you. You were so patient with me and you were everything I’d left behind when I left home. You were someone to share things with, someone to love, someone I’d thought I could build a new life with. In you, I saw my chance to start over," Liz said quietly.

"Someone you thought you could build a new life with?" Sean asked disbelievingly. "That…that’s changed?"

Liz shook her head as she felt her tears slip past her eyelids to roll down her cheeks.

This was the worst part of it all. Telling the people you love that you’re sorry, but it’s going to hurt. She’d never understood her mother all those years ago when she’d used the same words on her, when she was going to punish her for some childhood transgression.

This is gonna hurt me worse than it’s going to hurt you.

She’d heard those words countless times, when she was getting in trouble, being reprimanded, grounded, or spanked by her parents after getting into trouble. And she’d never believed her mother when she’d said them.

She’d heard those words as a little girl. When she was Liz Parker, lover of science and of discovering the world. When she was just the little girl with the braids, who lived at the Crashdown. When she’d thought of herself as nothing more then best friend to Alex and Maria, 1/3 owner of the clubhouse in the Whitman back yard.

But now she was Elizabeth Evans. Famous New York fashion designer, and fiancé to one Sean Deveraux, admired by millions of adoring fans. She was Liz Evans, long lost friend and beloved daughter to the residents of Roswell.

But, in the end, the way she thought of herself was the way that mattered most. She had pushed it aside for too long. Because she was Elizabeth Parker Evans, all of those things, but also wife to one Max Evans, King of Antar, and captor of her heart.

She was all grown up and she had to stop running. And she now knew all too well exactly how true her mother’s words had been all those years ago.

As she stared at the face of the man that just a few days ago she’d thought she wanted to marry, she knew she was going to hurt him. She could only hope that he knew how much this was going to hurt her too.

He didn’t deserve this. But she had to do it anyway. Because he also deserved more than she could give him.

"I can’t marry you, Sean," Liz blurted. "I’m already married." She spat the sentence out, before she lost her nerve.

Liz flinched when she felt Sean pull his hands from her grasp. She held her breath as she watched the emotions play across his face.

"You’re kidding me, right?" He scoffed, looking desperate for her to say she was, so they could both have a good laugh.

She shook her head sadly. "That’s why I’m here. I came to get Max to sign the divorce papers."

"Max? That guy from the UFO Center? No wonder that Tess friend of yours acted so weird when I tried to ask about him. How could you lie to me, Liz?" Sean demanded. He stared at Liz, waiting for a response, and after not getting one, he stood up and went across the room, to pace the stretch of carpet Liz had abandoned only minutes ago.

"Tess and I have never been friends," Liz said. At least we never were before, she heard a voice in her head say.

"Liz! That should be the last thing on your mind right now! I can’t believe this is happening," Sean muttered to himself.

"Sean, let me ex-"

"You must think I’m some kind of fool! What, do you and your friends laugh at me behind my back? Huh? Snicker because because Sean Deveraux is about to be taken for the ride of his life?" Sean stopped pacing, and threw his arms out to his sides, his breathing heavy in his angry excitement.

"No! Sean! It was never like that!" Liz pleaded desperately.

She had to make him understand. She had to make him see that when she’d begun a relationship with him, she’d had nothing but purely good intentions. She had thought she was ready to move on with her life. And she had wanted to do it with him. She hoped that after she explained things as best as she could, that he wouldn’t hate her. After all, she did love Sean. It was only a few hours ago though that she had realized that she wasn’t in love with him. She’d been tricking herself into believing it, but she wouldn’t do it any longer.

"Tell me what it was like then, Liz. You have some big plan to take me for all I’m worth? You decide you’d make me love you, and offer you my heart, then turn around leave me high and dry? You wanted to sell your story to the tabloids?" Sean shouted angrily, clearly about to completely lose control.

Liz wasn’t scared though. Sean was probably the most gentle person she knew. It was one of the reasons she had thought herself in love with him in the first place. He was so wonderful, so caring, so…

Oh Lord. The truth hit her so squarely, she flinched. He was so much like Max. Or at least like the Max she used to know.

This was bad. Very bad. How could she not have seen this before?

She realized that now was not the time though. Sean was staring at her still, his face red, waiting for her to expain herself.

"Sean, please, calm down. I need you to understand where I’m coming from." Liz stood up and walked towards Sean, reaching a hesitant hand out to touch his arm. "Sean, please, if you care anything about me, you’ll hear me out."

"Sure," Sean said sarcastically. "Play on my emotions. After all that is what you’ve been doing the last couple years, isn’t it? Why stop now?" Sean stomped over to the bed, and sat down on it, crossing his arms and looking at Liz to continue.

"I never meant to hurt you, Sean," Liz said quietly. "Things, they’re just…complicated. There are things in my past that you don’t know about. Things I can’t ever tell you about," she said. Liz paused for a moment, and sat back down in the chair she’d pulled up earlier. "I thought I was through with that. I thought I wanted a clean slate. I was ready to be a new person. I thought I was ready to put everything behind me. I thought I was ready to put Max behind me.

"I never expected things between you and I to go this far. When you asked me to marry you, I accepted, because that’s what I though I wanted. I thought I could come here, get the divorce papers signed, and go back to New York, with no strings attached." Liz stopped talking, and chuckled to herself. "But I should have known things aren’t that simple. Things for me are never simple. Especially when it comes to Max.

"The minute I passed the Roswell city limits sign, I knew I’d made a mistake. I knew that leaving here again wasn’t going to be easy for me. All the feelings I thought I’d left behind came rushing back to me. Everywhere I turned, I saw Max. There isn’t one single place in Roswell that doesn’t hold a memory of our time together." Liz smiled softly, letting her mind drift back through her remembrances.

"Tell me about him," Sean said softly.

Liz was too caught up in her emotions at the time to realize that the tone in Sean’s voice had changed. She didn’t notice the way he’d suddenly forgotten that he was angry at her. But by the end of the night, she’d realize that it should have tipped her off. That if she’d only caught the wistful look in his eyes, she would have known that she wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been entirely honest.

Liz sighed dreamily and formed her story in her mind, careful to leave out any of the otherworldy details. "Max and I, we started out like any normal teenage couple does. Shy, unsure, anxious. We were nervous around each other and didn’t know how to act, or what to do. But the first time he ever kissed me, I knew that what we had wasn’t normal. What Max and I had was deeply passionate, and real, and…magical. It was amazing. It was the kind of stuff people write about. I mean, sure we had our share of ups and downs. We’ve traveled our share of rocky road. But our trials only made us stronger. We always ended up where we started. Together.

"When noone but our friends believed in us, we never lost hope. Our parents didn’t approve, but we didn’t let that get to us. And when things started to get bad, we decided to show them all that we were serious. After we graduated, we just up and left one day. We eloped."

"Vegas?" Sean asked, realization dawning in his eyes.

Liz giggled softly. "Congratulations, kids," she said, snarling her lip to imitate the Elvis impersonator that had married them. "Married by Elvis. We had our wedding picture taken by Marilyn Monroe. People laughed about it at the time. But that night, Max and I, we stopped at some little roadside bar, and danced all night long. Max’s sister Isabel and our best friends Michael, Maria and Alex came to meet us. Then we came back to Roswell and broke the news. Our parents were furious, but it made them realize we were serious.

"We were so happy. We got our own apartment and built a life for ourselves. We loved each other and even the simple little things about our life. We didn’t have a lot, and our parents helped us out here and there, despite their reluctance. But Max and I, we were too proud to accept their assistance very often. There were times when we didn’t know how we’d make it from one week to the next. Sometimes all we had was a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread. But we couldn’t have been happier. We had each other. And to us, that was all that mattered."

"What happened?" Sean asked.

"Max and I, we had a lot of dreams. But one shone a bit brighter than the others. We wanted a family. You know, a boy, a girl, maybe two. We loved each other so much. What more ultimate way to express our love than to have a child together? We’d look through catalogues and pick out baby furniture. We’d go shopping, and Max would stare at the baby clothes, whispering how he couldn’t wait until we had a reason to buy some."

Liz stopped talking, lowering her head, as she felt her chest constrict. She let out a soft sob, and clasped her hands together. "We thought we were invincible. We were wrong."

Sean reached out and took Liz’s hands in his own, pulling her up out of her chair, and onto the bed next to him. He put his arm around her shoulder. "What happened?"

This is where it all gets fuzzy, Liz wanted to say. "I found out one day that I couldn’t have Max’s children. You already know that about me. I was heartbroken. All our dreams about having a family wouldn’t come true. I couldn’t bear the thought."

"And Max just let you leave?" Sean sounded outraged. "What kind of bastard…"

Liz wiped a tear from her cheek and shook her head. "No! No! Max fought tooth and nail for me. But in the end, I had to leave. I wouldn’t tie him down. He tried to tell me that we could adopt, but it didn’t change things. I’d seen him talk about having children of his own. I’d seen the sparkle in his eyes and I loved him too much to deny him that. So I just left. I took some money from my parents, packed a few clothes, and headed off to New York. You know the rest."

"So many things make sense now," Sean said, nodding his head. "God." They sat in silence for several moments, as Sean seemed to process this information.

And, then, he did the absolutely last thing Liz had ever expected he would. Her fiancé started to laugh.

Liz pulled away, stared at him. "You think this is funny?" She demanded in shock.

"NO!" Sean exclaimed, still laughing softly to himself. "I’m just reflecting on the complete lunacy of this whole situation. I think the gods are trying to tell me something." He didn’t really seem to be talking to her at all anymore though, instead was obviously thinking about something else.

"What?" Liz could feel herself starting to get angry.

"Liz," Sean said, framing her face with his hands. " I’m so sorry things happened like that for you. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be with the person you love. You deserve Max."

Hearing these words, Liz realized that Sean was being way too calm now. She’d just told him that she couldn’t marry him, had spent the better part of the time telling him about her husband and the life she’d had that he knew nothing about. And he wasn’t even mad. Something was wrong with this picture.

Liz looked at him suspiciously. "Why aren’t you mad?" she asked.

Sean looked surprised by her question, then tried to cover it up. "I’m furious," he said nervously, his eyes looking anywhere but at Liz.

"Sean, you’re acting weird. I know you. Something’s up with you. You were apopolectic when we first got here. Why are you being so nice?" Liz persisted.

Sean stared at her. "I lied about not wanting children," he said quickly, looking away again.

"What?" Liz demanded again.

"I want kids. I just never thought I could have them either." He sighed heavily. "The reason I barely spend any time with my brother and his family is because it just makes me jealous. I’m never going to have that."

Liz stared at him. "I have no idea what you’re talking about," she finally admitted. "Sean, you can have that! Why on Earth are you with me if that’s what you want?"

Sean took a deep breath, and fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling above him. "I have a confession to make too. I never intended to tell you this Liz. I never intended to tell anyone.

"I can’t be mad at you, Liz. I have no right. When you talk about Max, your eyes light up. Your face glows. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to feel that way about someone?"

Liz turned sideways, to look down at Sean through narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about, Sean?"

"I have secrets too, Liz. Things that no one knows about me. Not my friends, not even my parents. Certainly not you. I promised myself I would be a good husband, that if I made this move, you would never know. You were so reserved when we first met that I didn’t think you’d really care anyway. I thought we could find companionship together and you could help me to get my mother off my back about marriage too. You’re everything she wants for me after all." He said this last part with an underlying bitterness that made Liz even more confused.

Her heart was starting to thump in her chest. "What was I never supposed to know about?" she asked.

"Why did you never question the fact that I didn’t want to have a sexual relationship with you?" Sean asked abruptly, completely changing the subject.

"Maybe because I was the one that suggested it?" Liz replied, even more confused. She had absolutely no idea where he was headed with this.

"Right, right, I forgot," Sean said, sitting up. "Well, why didn’t you question me when I agreed so readily?" He asked. "I mean, didn’t you think that was kind of weird? I’m a thirty year old guy. Not that I care about this, but I could have any woman I wanted. Didn’t you think it was a little strange?"

"I guess I was just so relieved that you agreed. I couldn’t bear the thought of sharing a bed with anyone but Max, and in this day and time, a relationship with no sex is almost unheard of. I just…when you agreed, I didn’t want to push. We’ve been engaged for such a short time, I guess I haven’t really thought in any great detail about how things would have changed." She paused, shaking her head. "Sean, where are you going with this?"

"I’m just going to say it," he said. "Before I lose my courage. When I’m done, you can ask all the questions you want. I’ll give you all the answers." He paused, shook his head. "God, this so hard to say. I mean, I can’t believe I’m telling you this. But now that you’ve been so honest with me, I feel like I owe you this. So you won’t feel like you’re absolutely murdering my heart or something." He again seemed to be talking more to himself than to her. But at last he looked up and stared right into her eyes. "Plus, I trust you. I know that you’ll keep this to yourself until I figure out what I want to do about it."

"Sean, what?" Liz demanded, drawing the word out. "Whatever it is, it can’t be as bad as what you have swirling through my brain right now." My first husband is an alien. Nothing can shock me now, Liz reflected a bit hysterically. I mean, unless he’s a murderer or something. Oh my God! What if he’s a murderer! She was momentarily worried that she’d said that out loud, but even if she had, she didn’t think Sean would have noticed. He was really sweating now. He looked about ready to pass out.

"Liz, this is going to come as a shock, considering everything. You know, the Most Eligible Bachelor thing and so forth…"

Liz cut him off impatiently. "Sean!"

He took a deep breath. "Okay. Here it is. I think…I think that I might be gay."

[Kath7]

Part 16

Tess raised her hand, waved it over the rock face and then placed her palm firmly against the silver handprint that gleamed out. Because of the contrast with the bright sunlight of a desert mid-afternoon, the pod chamber was even darker than usual when she stepped through the opening. She blinked, trying to hurry the process of adjusting to the dimness.

She picked her way carefully through to the main cave, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground in order to make sure she didn’t trip over anything. They hadn’t exactly been the best housekeepers lately, Tess reflected wryly as she was forced to push aside a cobweb that dangled abruptly into her face. It was rare for any of them to ever come here. Secret meetings seemed to be a thing of the past after all. They’d never heard a peep out of their enemies after Nasedo’s death, adding another to the long list of all the reasons that Tess should have questioned her future self’s version of coming events.

The end of the world seemed pretty unlikely right about now, she mused, as she managed to catch a glimpse of what she was looking for. Her eyes narrowed as she passed a sleeping bag lying neatly rolled against the wall. She frowned, wondered where it had come from. She didn’t remember ever seeing it there before. Obvously someone had been here…

Tess crouched beside the blanket, ran her fingers over it, hoping for a flash of some sort. Nothing. She untied the cord holding it together and spread it out, plopping down on top of it. She picked up what had been placed beside it, the person who had brought the sleeping bag there obviously having had the same reading material in mind. They had kept it here ever since Tess had returned to Roswell with the translated copy. No one could get into the pod chamber but the four of them. It had seemed perfectly safe, likely still was. It had to have been Michael or Isabel or, more probably, Max who had been here.

Her hands felt chilled against the metal cover of the destiny book. She ran her fingertips lightly over the symbol engraved on the front, staring right through it. She had decided to come and look at the book again while she waited for Max to get off work. She might as well try and do something productive until she could start harassing him again. When he was at the UFO Center, he blew her off too easily. She fully intended to track him down at home later that day in order to make sure he wasn’t planning something stupid when it came to Liz.

Tess shook her head, tried to rid herself of thoughts of Max. She had to stop worrying about him. She fully intended to help him get Liz back, but the best way for now was to get him all the ammunition he needed. And the most important thing was to find out how she had gotten her translation of the book so wrong. Because, in the end, it hadn’t just been Future Tess who had convinced her that she and Max were destined to be together. This damn book had a lot to do with it too.

She could read it. She hadn’t always been able to, had been surpised that she could after Future Tess’s visit. She imagined that her sudden literacy of Antarian had to do with the visit, and somewhere deep inside she was beginning to suspect that while the translation had been correct, she had missed something important. She had not truly suspected treachery from that other version of herself until very recently.

Now all she saw when she looked at the Destiny Book were treachery and lies.

She would read the damn thing from cover to cover as many times as it took to figure out exactly what she had gotten wrong.

Tess settled back against the wall of the cave, opened the book to the first page and started to read.

***

"You…you what?" Liz choked, staring at Sean in disbelief.

"You heard me," he said quietly. He was back on his feet, had started to pace again. "I think I might be gay."

"You think?" Liz repeated dumbly, feeling like she had been hit by a truck. "You don’t know?"

He turned his head, his eyes meeting hers squarely. "I know."

Liz stood, her heart pounding. She was shocked, needless to say, mainly because she had been so totally self-absorbed during their relationship that this had never once even occurred to her. How could she, of all people, not have known?

But, inherently, she knew that her shock couldn’t matter. He had said that she was the first person in the world that he had ever told about this. Her reaction was going to be the benchmark for all reactions that followed. She loved him. She would not disappoint him.

He trusted her.

And, yet, in the end, all she said was, "O-o-o-kay…" It came out like a long sigh, not sounding particularly accusatory or angry, but certainly not accepting either.

"I know this is a shock…" Sean started, trailing off. "It’s a shock to me too." He stopped pacing, flopped back into a chair across the room. "It’s like this weight has been lifted off my shoulders to actually tell you this…" He trailed off, then sat up straight, squaring his shoulders. "You can ask me whatever you want." He grinned slightly, looking a little bemused. "I know you must have something you want to know."

"I just don’t get it," Liz finally admitted. "Why did you ask me to marry you?"

Sean closed his eyes, abruptly weary. "I told you why. I love you. You are my best friend in the world and I thought we’d rub along well together."

"But…" Liz was searching for the words. "Don’t you want a…I mean, a real relationship? Didn’t you think I’d have questions eventually?"

There was a long silence. She watched his face as a thousand emotions whirled across its handsome lines. "My parents…" He shrugged. "They’re never going to accept this Liz. I’ve always known it. My mother has been driving me nuts for years about getting married. I just wanted to get it over with."

She felt a bit angry at that. "So I was just a means to get your mother off your back? To make sure you had to stay in the closet?" But Liz knew exactly what Sean was talking about. Mr. and Mrs. Deveraux were about as conservative as two people could be. They had once met her fellow fashion designer Jean-Paul, who was flamboyantly ‘out’, at one of her shows and their disdain had been very thinly veiled. Her anger faded. Like she had a right to be annoyed anyway. Her lies had been far worse than his. He had at least been planning to attempt a full marriage with her. Her own attempts would have been pathetically futile she realized now.

Because, in her heart, Max would still have been her husband. Even had she married Sean or anyone else. Even if they never could be together.

Liz certainly understood how easy it was to lie to yourself, how easy it was to pretend that you could always do it, that life would go on, that it could be shaped how you wanted it.

Sean sighed. "Well, that’s the simple way of putting it, yeah." He shook his head. "But, in my heart, no. I just wasn’t ready to deal with any of this Liz. With the fact that if I really wanted a meaningful relationship, I was going to have to disappoint my parents. With you, I pretty much had it all."

"Except for the sex part," Liz said, deciding she might as well get right to the point.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "It seemed like a fair trade-off. And I wouldn’t have been depriving you of anything, because you couldn’t have kids anyway."

"And you didn’t think I wouldn’t notice that we never had sex?"

Sean met her eyes squarely. "Liz, really. Would you have minded? I didn’t even know about Max and I knew you wouldn’t mind."

Liz grimaced. "God. Was I that frigid?" It saddened her, that she had not known herself at all, that she had still been so frozen by leaving Max that she hadn’t even noticed that she was completely shut-off from everyone, including someone she really thought she could marry.

"Not frigid," Sean insisted. "Careful. Solitary."

She shook her head. "Pathetic."

"Not that," Sean replied firmly. "Never that. You are warm and funny and smart. You are just very physically reserved." He paused, grinned sheepishly. "I have to admit, I thought you might be gay too. A small-town girl lying to herself."

Liz smiled in spite of herself. "No." There was another long silence. Liz searched her mind for something to say to him, something to make him feel that telling her had not been a mistake. Because he had made such an incredibly brave first step today, whether he knew it or not. There had been no need for him to tell her any of this. He could have continued with his outrage, could have left her high and dry with her guilty conscience and he had chosen not to.

"Sean, I want you to know…" She wrinkled her nose, wondered how best to say what she wanted him to hear. "None of this matters to me of course. I love you and I always will. And I want you to know that I’ll be here for you if you decide to tell your parents."

He reached across the space dividing them. She lifted her hand and took his. He squeezed her fingers warmly. "I know that Liz. I never doubted that about you."

"But…why…I mean, why did you think you had to tell me this?" She asked in a rush. "Are you…are you ready to deal with it?"

"I don’t know…I think, maybe."

"But why?" Liz asked, perplexed. "Why now?"

"The way you talked about Max," Sean said quietly. "I want that. I really, really do. I want the whole package."

The whole package. Liz felt a dull ache in her heart. She had thought that she and Max had the whole package until she had found out the very pertinent fact that she couldn’t give him the one thing he needed above all others. A child of his own. And no matter how much they loved each other, no matter how right they felt for each other, she could not risk the whole world for her own selfish desires.

She felt Sean’s questioning gaze on her face, as though he was waiting for her to deny that she had shared something that significant with Max, something he could aspire to have for himself.

"I know that there’s more to all of this then the fact that you couldn’t have kids," Sean said abruptly.

"You do?" Liz asked, looking up. "There isn’t, I swear."

"Liz, you worry too much about other people and you end up hurting them even more," Sean told her.

"I do?"

"You didn’t tell me about Max at all. You must have some idea that had I really been in love with you, it would have devastated me. And, yet, I can’t be mad at you about that. Because I feel like, somewhere inside that beautiful heart of yours, you felt that by not telling me about him - by not telling me that I could never have your whole heart - you thought that you were protecting me."

Liz stared at him dumbfounded, wondered how on Earth he had put all of her innermost thoughts so succinctly. She had been in turmoil for months, unable to explain even to herself why she couldn’t just talk to Sean about Max. Because hadn’t she believed that she was totally over her husband? It shouldn’t have been so hard.

But she couldn’t lie to him. Not anymore. "It wasn’t just that," she admitted. "I didn’t even know how I felt about him myself. I thought I could get over him. I thought I was over him. When he didn’t come after me…"

"You were testing him?" Sean asked. "Was that it? Even though he had already passed every test you had ever given him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He still wanted you, even when you couldn’t have a baby. And that wasn’t enough. You thought he would start to resent you and so you ran. And then when he didn’t show up in New York, you found your reason to start hating him, so that you could survive it."

Liz’s mouth fell open. She had absolutely no words. Because he had said it all. Finally she managed to say, "It’s not even true though." Her voice sounded strangled, even to her own ears and, yet, once she started talking, she couldn’t stop. The words tumbled from her lips, one after the other like a floodgate had been released. "The one reason I had to hate him…it’s not even true. He did come. I just never knew. He saw me with you and he left again. We weren’t even together yet and he left. He wanted me to be happy."

She felt tears fill her eyes. Sean jumped to his feet, joined her on the bed, putting his arm around her comfortingly. "What is it about you Liz Evans? Why don’t you think you deserve to be happy?"

"Why don’t you think you do?" She countered swiftly, her heart in so much pain she had to stop thinking about it. Reflecting on how much she had hurt Max was almost unbearable. There was no way to make up for it. Even telling him the truth about everything…he was going to be devastated that she hadn’t trusted him enough to tell him, hadn’t trusted him enough to help her to figure out a way to fix things that didn’t include stomping on both of their hearts.

"You aren’t being fair to him you know."

Liz blinked, raised her eyes and stared at Sean. "What do you mean?"

"I know there’s something else going on with you Liz. You can deny it all you want, but there is more to this than simply the fact that you can’t have kids." Sean was pensive as he continued. "There are secrets in this town. I’ve felt it from the moment I set foot in it." He shrugged. "Maybe it’s one of the reasons I wanted to start dealing with mine. I don’t know. But the point is, secrets suck. No one has ever lived a full life by keeping secrets. Especially from the person they love." He paused, then continued quietly, "Liz, you’re too good at keeping them. And it goes against your very nature. I may not have known about Max, but I think I know you will enough to know that. If you keep this up, you will kill yourself."

Liz sighed, leaned her head against her ex-fiancé’s shoulder, wished he wasn’t right. "I wish I could tell you Sean. I really do."

He squeezed her lightly. "It’s not me you need to tell. I know what I need to know now."

"I know. And I will. I…I’ve finally realized that I have to tell Max the truth, if only for his own good. I should have done it four years ago. He’s been stuck Sean. He hasn’t moved forward and it’s only made things worse for both of us now."

Sean sighed heavily too. "So you don’t want to get back together with him? Even though I pretty much know you still love him?"

"I love him too much to do that to him," Liz replied. "But I can at least tell him the real reason why."

Max would understand. He had to. Because she refused to allow the misery of the last four years to have been for nothing. He needed a child of his own blood and if he had to be told flat-out, she would do it. He was not a selfish person. She had underestimated how much he loved her, how long it would take him to move on, but once he knew…

He would do what had to be done. And she would go back to New York so that she wouldn’t have to watch it happen. So that she wouldn’t have to see someone else - not Tess, but someone - bear the child that should have been hers.

There were tears welling in her eyes again, so she felt an overwhelming sense of relief when she heard the muffled sound of her cell phone from across the room. She stood, hurried to her purse near the door and answered it on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Liz, it’s me."

Her heart started to thunder in her chest at the sound of his voice. "Max?"

"Yeah. I got your number from Maria. Listen, I need to see you. Can you meet me at the Crashdown for dinner? You can bring Sean. I’d like to get to know him better." Liz started in surprise, didn’t reply. What on Earth was he talking about? What game was he playing now? She knew that the last person in the world he wanted to get to know better was Sean.

"Liz? Are you there?" Max demanded, sounding impatient and in no way like someone who was trying to mend fences. She frowned slightly, wondering what he was up to.

She knew she would find out soon enough though. Trying to stay away from him, trying to ignore the way he baited her…she couldn’t do it. It amazed her that she found the stranger he had become even more fascinating then the boy she had known so well. She wanted to understand him, needed to grasp how and why he had changed.

"Yeah," she said, knew her bewilderment was reflected in her voice. "Okay. How’s six?"

"Six is fine. One of the kids from the school’s working at the Center tonight."

"Okay. See you then."

"Yup." He hung up without further ado, leaving Liz to start down at her phone, a slight frown again on her face.

"What’s wrong?" Sean asked, concerned.

"He wants to meet us for dinner. He wants to get to know you better."

There was a long moment of silence and then Sean burst out laughing. Liz scowled at him. "This is not funny Sean Deveraux! It’s really weird is what it is. I don’t understand Max at all anymore. This is the last thing he should want!"

"Which is why he’s doing it Liz," Sean replied, still sounding amused. "Don’t you get it? But I guess you don’t. It’s so obvious, only another guy would understand."

"What?" She shook her head, still totally perplexed. "Get what?"

"He wants you to see us side-by-side and he wants you to have to compare us. And he thinks he’s going to win. Your husband is declaring war on me."

***

"This is a bad idea," Tess told Isabel as she followed her friend into the Crashdown. "I never did get a chance to talk to Max. We should call him again. He is totally avoiding me and he’s also up to something. I don’t trust him one bit."

"Tess, I’m hungry," Isabel snapped. "Max is a grown man. He can look after himself. End of discussion."

"But why won’t he talk to me? What is he planning?" Tess knew she was fretting, maybe over nothing, but she had the distinct impression that Max was deliberately staying away from her. He knew she wanted to talk to him about Liz and, yet, he had left work early and had not gone home. He always went home when he wasn’t at the four other places he frequented. Max had nowhere else to go except the Crashdown, Michael and Maria’s, Isabel’s or her apartment.

"Who knows?" Isabel waved her hand in the air. "All I care about is that he signed those damn divorce papers. Maybe now he’ll move on and forget all about Liz. She never deserved him anyway."

"Isabel, you know he still loves her," Tess admonished. "And he fully intends to win her back. Which is what makes me nervous. I just know he’s going to do something stupid. He promised Liz he wouldn’t try to get back together with her again, which leads me to believe that he’s about to go the completely opposite route to make Liz realize what she’s missing."

Isabel slid into a booth, picking up a menu. "So? I say more power to him. That boy needs a date in the worst way. He’s wound about as tight as…"

"Isabel! Ew!" Tess shrieked.

"Hey, he’s my brother, it’s gross, but it’s the truth," Isabel replied haughtily.

"Too much truth for the dinner table," Tess complained. "I mean, really! He’s practically my brother too you know."

Isabel shot her a withering look. "You didn’t have to witness Max and Liz in all their mooshy glory my friend. You have no idea what it’s like. It cannot possibly be worse with anyone else."

Tess grimaced and picked up a menu as well. She wasn’t sure why, since she could practically recite it from memory, but she needed something to distract her from the entirely disturbing image of Max with Liz, or anyone. The irony of it was not lost on her. The fact was that she had once wanted to jump Max’s bones herself, But since Kyle, the whole thought was just extremely off-putting.

Well, at least she did have other things to think about. Or, rather, the absolute frustration of knowing there were other things but not being able to understand them.

Her analysis of the Destiny Book had gotten her nowhere. It still read exactly what it had before, the basic gist being that Max needed to have a kid or the world would end. It said that only the one "made compatible" could mother it and she didn’t see how anyone else in the world had been made for Max except her. Which was so not the answer she was looking for.

Tess swallowed, flinched at the images that crossed her mind, the images Future Tess’s visit had firmly implanted in her brain. Of death, destruction, the end of the world…

"Tess?" She heard the concern in Isabel’s voice, raised her eyes to meet her friend’s gaze. "Are you feeling okay? You look a little green…" She trailed off, narrowed her gaze. "Wait a minute. You’re not pregnant are you?"

Tess blinked. "What? What makes you ask that?" The sheer weirdness of Isabel’s question in light of Tess’s recent obsession with alien procreation did not escape her, in fact made her heart beat a little faster.

Isabel shrugged. "I don’t know. It’s just that you’ve been all over the map emotionally lately. Sort of worried and freaky. Maria was like that before Eliza. And the fact that you look like you want to throw up at the moment. It just makes me wonder…" She trailed off, still suspicious.

Tess shook her head ruefully at Isabel’s bluntness. She had ever been anything but shy. "Kyle and I are not having a baby," she repeated. Tess bit her lip, glanced around the restaurant, lowering her voice. "But you’re right that I’m worried. Isabel, can you talk to you about something?"

"Of course!" Isabel replied, sounding offended that she had even asked such a question. There was a pause. "As long as it has nothing to do with Liz Parker."

"Liz Evans," Tess reminded her pointedly. "Elizabeth Evans Isabel." Isabel snorted, tossed her head. "I know even you think it’s a little weird that Liz kept Max’s name and you suspect exactly what I know Isabel. Liz didn’t want to leave Max."

"I know no such thing," Isabel snapped. "She finally realized that she wanted more than Roswell, New Mexico and she abandonned my brother. The lovely life she’s made for herself in New York more than drives home the point. That’s all there is to it."

Tess sighed, waited for Max’s sister’s anger to blow itself out, as it always did. She reflected yet again on the irony that Isabel was known as the ice queen of Roswell. She was the furthest thing from cold there was. When Isabel continued to sit fuming, Tess tried again. "Izzy, you haven’t forbidden Alex to see her. In fact, you let him invite her to your wedding. Liz hurt him too."

"Don’t I know it," Isabel replied, crossing her arms in irritation. "Alex is too much of a softie sometimes, particularly where Maria and Liz are concerned. But Alex has me to pick up the pieces if and when Liz breaks his heart again. Max is all alone. And it’s different anyway. You know it is."

"I know." Tess bit her lip again, staring at her best friend. She had to do something about Isabel’s attitude. She just had to. She knew it was only a matter of time before Max and Liz found their way back to each other. It was inevitable. She knew it inherently, particularly after her conversation with Liz, where the other woman had been hard-pressed to hide her emotional turmoil. There was only one answer for where that turmoil came from. Liz knew that divorcing Max was a mistake.

Oh yes. Unless Max did something crazy - which Tess was becoming more and more sure he was about to, being as, when it came to Liz, he was the most impatient alien in the universe - he and Liz would reunite.

The last thing they would need was interference from those who loved Max. He had enough to deal with without Isabel throwing up roadblocks. Maria would handle Michael, Tess did not doubt, but it was up to her to handle Isabel.

Plus, she knew that she was going to have to tell them all the truth eventually. She had managed to keep it to herself for so long because she hadn’t been certain that Liz had really been visited by Future Tess, but now that she knew she had been…Well, none of them had any right to judge Liz and the choices she had made. The only one who had that right was Max and Tess knew in her heart that he had already forgiven her, even if he hadn’t gotten the whole story from Liz yet.

"Isabel, do you remember that when you and I finally became friends, you asked me why I decided to come back to Roswell?"

Isabel stared at her. Tess could see her friend’s bewilderment at what seemed like an abrupt change of topic reflected on her face. "Yes. You told me that you had realized that you had been trying to make us accept you on your terms. That you had realized while you were gone that it had to be on our terms. That you had to be patient."

"Well, that was true," Tess replied. "But I left out a little tidbit. When I came back to town, Liz was already gone. It made my life a heck of a lot easier, I’ll tell you that much. Because the real reason I came back was to have a baby with Max."

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the way her friend’s face paled. "Oh my God…" Isabel swallowed, reached out and took Tess’s hand in hers. "Are you telling me that you and Max are having a baby?"

Tess stared at her in horror. "What?" She screeched, after she realized that she had truly heard her friend correctly. "Are you insane?"

"Well, you said before that you and Kyle weren’t having a baby. And now you start spouting off about having come back to Roswell to have a baby with my brother." Isabel glared at her. "I don’t think it’s much of a leap Tess!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "Right. This after I just told you how gross the mere thought of Max with anyone makes me."

Isabel looked mildly embarrassed. "Oh. I forgot about that."

Tess glared at her. "Are you ready to listen to me now?" When Isabel nodded guiltily, she continued, "Okay, the reason I thought Max and I needed to have a baby was that…" She trailed off in frustration when the door to the Crashdown opened and Max came through it. She felt a rush of relief. "This is going to have to wait," she told Isabel. "Max is here. He knows, but he can’t know that I was about to tell you."

Isabel shrieked, "What? NO! That’s not fair!"

"Jeez, what’s wrong with you Izzy?" Max demanded as he came across the restaurant to join them. He slid into the booth beside Tess, staring at his sister.

"I just told her that Maria told me that they’re out of cherry syrup. She can’t have an Alien Blast," Tess told him smoothly, earning a sneer from Isabel.

"Hmmm," Max said, sounding amused. Tess could hear in his tone that he knew she was lying, but he didn’t seem to mind. Which only made Tess’s suspicions that he was preoccupied with idiot plans more valid. "I didn’t realize you loved them so much sister of mine," Max continued, obviously hoping to rub Tess’s nose in her fib.

Tess decided to attack head-on. She turned her head and regarded him. "You’ve been avoiding me."

Max glanced at her, his expression perfectly innocent. "I have?"

"Yes, you have." Tess glowered at him in what she hoped was a threatening manner. He didn’t seem particularly frightened though. "Since when do you leave work in the middle of the day?"

"Since never," Max replied, grinning mischieviously. "Today was special though. I had plans to make."

"Do these plans have something to do with Liz?" Tess demanded.

"What? Of course not," Max said, still smiling. "Whatever would make you think that?"

"Oh, just the fact that you told me earlier that you plan to win her back. And the fact that you wore that stupid vest today."

"The vest?" Max looked truly perplexed. "Tess, it’s my uniform."

"You wanted Liz to see you in it," Tess shot back. "You wanted her to remember you back then."

"I have no idea what you’re talking about," Max replied. "Izzy, tell Tess that she’s becoming entirely too suspicious in her old age."

Tess sighed. This was just what she had been afraid of - he was going completely off the deep end. "Max, you better not be about to do something stupid…"

He was clearly now ignoring her though. His gaze was fixed on the door and she saw the exact moment who he had been expecting appeared. His face lit up, followed by a quick narrowing of his gaze. "Excellent. Let the games begin." He almost sounded evil, if Max had been capable of it. Which he so was not.

This was going to be incredibly bad. Tess closed her eyes and leaned her head against the booth. Because coming through the door were Liz and her fiancé.

She just hoped that she would be able to do damage control somehow. She could see now that because Liz had made him promise that he wouldn’t try and win her back the above-board way, he was going the sneaky route. And, since Max’s personality was just not sneaky, this was going to end in disaster.

Now, if she could only figure out what he was planning to do. She grimaced, watched in dismay as he rose and went to meet Liz and Sean. "I think we’re in for a long night Isabel," Tess muttered.

Isabel followed her gaze worriedly. "He’s going to get himself even more hurt, isn’t he?"

"Oh yeah," Tess sighed, wishing she knew how to stop it.

***

Liz held onto Sean’s arm more tightly then she meant to as they walked through the front doors of her parents’ restaurant. She didn’t know why she was nervous. She was ready for absolutely anything Max Evans was preparing for her. Now that she planned to tell him the truth, she was back in control of this situation. She would not let him gain the upper hand. He would not seduce her into giving in. She would not allow it.

Max was coming towards them as Liz looked around to get her bearings. He had his hand out and took Sean’s immediately. "Hey guys! I’m glad you came." He paused, looked from Liz to Sean. "I hope everything has been worked out between you two?"

Liz glared at him. She opened her mouth to snap that it was none of his business, but Sean beat her to it, nodding graciously and saying, "Of course," ending that line of questioning before it could get any further. He had told her earlier that it was up to her how and when she wanted to tell Max that they were no longer engaged.

She felt her heart begin to beat more quickly when Max’s gaze narrowed slightly, but whatever disappointment she had seen there was instantly gone. She might have even imagined it.

"Well, that’s great," Max said. "And since the better man obviously won, I decided to let bygones be bygones. Liz and I were always friends first and I at least hope we can go back to that."

"That’s very big of you." Sean was beginning to sound amused. "So dinner then?"

"Yeah." Max grinned. "I thought Liz might enjoy sharing a last meal in the place we first really met."

Liz flinched. Well, that had been a low blow. He was bitter all right. He might have signed the divorce papers but he was still angry about it. He had been quietly accepting of it last night, but apparently that was no longer true.

"…waiting for someone else to join us." Liz blinked, tuned in to what Max was saying as he led she and Sean to a booth near the back. She smiled weakly at Tess, who was seated nearby, and who was also staring at her, her sympathy evident on her face, but also her disgust, likely that Liz had been stupid enough to agree to this. Liz didn’t blame her one bit.

It took her a moment to realize who was seated with the blonde woman. Her hair was shorter, but there was no mistaking Isabel Evans. Particularly as the glare Liz was being treated to could only come from the ice queen of Roswell herself.

Oh dear lord. What had she gotten herself into?

Not that she didn’t deserve it. Liz knew she did. But it still hurt. She and Isabel had started to become friends after she had married Max. Isabel had even once called her her sister before she realized what she had done and had quickly backtracked.

No, it hadn’t been just her husband she had lost when she had walked out on Max.

Liz knew that she needed to confront Max immediately, needed to tell him that the only reason she had come was because she needed to talk to him - alone. But, somehow, this situation was already spinning wildly out of control. She knew she should have left Sean back at the motel, but he had been insistant that he would come to support her. Big mistake. His presence was only making the whole thing harder.

Her thoughts were in such turmoil, it took her that long to understand what Max had been saying. "Wait a minute." She interrupted whatever inane conversation Max and Sean were having as they waited for her to slide herself into the booth. "Did you say someone else was coming?"

Max met her gaze. It was only then that she understood the gleam she saw there. "Of course Liz. We’re divorced now. You didn’t think I was going to spend the rest of my life alone did you?"

Liz felt her blood pressure beginning to rise, her anger starting to overcome her sorrow and confusion. "Are you telling me that you invited a date?"

"Sure," Max shrugged. The sound of the bell ringing above the restaurant door made Liz jump. Max’s eyes lifted and his face lit up. "Ah! Here she is now!"

Liz turned her head, felt her mouth falling open, although she already knew it was going to be bad. She just knew it, based on the entirely evil glint she had seen in Max’s eyes.

It was far worse than she had imagined. "PAM TROY?" She screeched before she could stop herself, staring at the bottled, buxom blonde who had just entered and was looking around. Her eyes lit on Max a moment later and the predatory expression that crossed her face made Liz want to puke.

Max tilted his head. "Yeah. She works for me. She’s grown into quite a lovely woman, hasn’t she?" He paused, grinned again. "Of course, I never really noticed before today."

"MAX!" Liz grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him towards the back of the restaurant. "I need to talk to you. Right now!"

Enough was enough. She already understood what he was doing. He had promised not to try to get back together with her, so he was taking the alternate route. He was trying to drive her so mad, all she would be able to do was to tumble back into his arms in order to regain her sanity.

She would not allow it. She refused to allow it.

He gently disentangled himself from her grasp. "Liz, I have to go say hi to her. I did invite her. We can talk later." He patted her lightly on the cheek, then moved away. Liz gaped after him in astonishment. Her eyes fell on Tess as she stared after him. The small blonde was sitting with her face buried in her hands. Isabel looked shocked - too shocked to do anything but let her mouth hang open, much in the way Liz knew her own was.

Well, it was obvious that neither of Max’s fellow aliens had any idea what he was doing either. Which could only mean one thing. She wasn’t the one who had gone crazy. He was. She had literally driven him stark-raving mad.

He needed to know the truth. Because, until he did, he was going to continue to dream up these crazy schemes to win her back. And she couldn’t take much more of it…

It was in that instant that she watched in horror as Pam threw her arms around Max’s neck and kissed him full on the mouth in front of the entire restaurant.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Liz had barreled across the Crashdown, had grabbed Pam by the shoulder and hauled her off of Max. "Get away from my husband you trollop!"

The complete silence that fell over the restaurant as every head turned to stare at them made it so that she realized exactly what she had said in the next split second.

Oh no.

Pam blinked at her. "What are you talking about Liz?" She asked, glancing at Max in dismay. "Max told me you were divorced."

"We are divorced," Max put in evenly, although he still looked slightly shell-shocked that Pam had kissed him. That had obviously not been a part of his plan, much to Liz’s relief.

"Aren’t you divorced Liz?" Pam demanded again, glaring at her. Her beady eyes made Liz’s fury ratchet up again.

"NO!" Liz shrieked. "We are not divorced. Until I sign those papers, we are still married and he still belongs to me."

Well, so much for playing it cool. So much for making him think she didn’t still want him. So much for not letting him find out she hadn’t signed the papers. Liz felt tears beginning to fill her eyes. She stared around the room frantically, looking for an escape. She felt his eyes hot on her, knew that she was not going to be able to avoid his gaze.

When she finally met his eyes, he looked sorry. He really did. And also ashamed.

He actually felt ashamed of himself. When this was the only weapon she had left him. He had known that the only way to make her admit that she still wanted him was to make her jealous. The ease with which he had accomplished it made her want to cry even more.

How was she ever going to leave him again? How could she ever let him move on with someone else? Until this instant, she had never understood how completely she would be unable to handle it.

They were all doomed.

She couldn’t take it another minute. She needed air.

Liz turned on her heel and ran.

***

"Well, I hope you’re happy with yourself."

Tess had never been more furious in her life. She had stood up when Liz had come across the room, hoping to stop her, but had missed grabbing her by an inch. Now she moved over to Max, who was staring after Liz, his expression horrified.

"Well, she sure proved she still cares," Pam said quietly.

"Who asked you?" Tess glared at her. When Max had hired Pam, she had been revolted, although he had insisted that she wasn’t as bad as everyone thought. Tess, Isabel and Maria had all been convinced that the blonde merely wanted to jump Max’s bones though. Over the months, Tess’s opinion had changed, as Pam worked diligently, not showing any romantic interest in Max at all. However, tonight had certainly proven Tess’s original estimation right.

"Tess, don’t blame Pam," Max snapped. "This is all my fault. She was only helping me out."

Tess snorted. "A likely story."

Pam shrugged. "Believe what you want Tess. Although I did take that a bit far. I just couldn’t resist. Liz Parker is an idiot. She always was. She doesn’t deserve you Max." She grinned, her delight evident. "But if you want her, you can obviously still have her. Because I sure got a reaction." She stood on her toes and kissed Max lightly on the cheek. "You better go after her boss. Good luck. I’ll see you tomorrow."

With that, she sauntered out of the restaurant.

Tess knew her nostrils flared as she glared at Max again. If Kyle were there, he would be cringing. She knew it only happened when she was truly enraged. "You are a total idiot."

"I agree." Tess turned her head, saw Isabel standing nearby, her arms crossed. Whatever anger she still fostered towards Liz, she was obviously just as disgusted by her brother as Tess was.

"I know," Max groaned. "It was idiotic. But I didn’t know what else to do! She left me no choice!"

"He’s right you know." All three of them turned their heads to stare at Sean. Tess blinked. She had totally forgotten about his presence. He had witnessed the whole thing.

Poor Liz. There was no way she was going to be able to explain what had just happened. Her engagement was as good as over.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

"She loves you," Sean said to Max. "But she’s stubborn. She thinks that you deserve better than her and she never would have given in on her own. You had to do this. It sucked, but she never would have caved. Trust me, I know her. She’s ferocious about protecting the people she loves."

"I know," Max said, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he met Tess’s gaze again. "But I’m still sorry about it."

"Then go fix things," Sean ordered. "Go make her face the fact that she can’t make all the decisions in your relationship. And make her smile again. She hasn’t really smiled the entire time I’ve known her. She deserves that."

Tess watched dawning realization cross Max’s face. She didn’t fully grasp why until her friend asked, "She broke the engagement?"

"She did," Sean agreed. "But she still thinks that you’re better off without her. You need to prove her wrong."

Max’s expression hardened. "Don’t worry. I have every intention of doing just that."

Tess watched her friend’s determined stride as he left and, for the first time, she thought he might actually just succeed. Because he now had the proof he needed that Liz still loved him. She had given it herself and her former fiancé had confirmed it.

Tess just hoped that Liz was strong enough to accept the inevitable. She and Max were meant to be together. As hard as she tried to stop it, it was going to happen. Now it was up to Liz to decide how miserable she was going to make both of them before she gave in.

[Kath7]

Part 17

Liz rounded a corner and kept running, pushing herself to her physical limit. Beginning to feel the burn in her lungs from sheer exhaustion, she looked around for a place to hide. She wanted somewhere to be alone. To think. To just cry. And the old abandoned sheriff’s station across the street seemed like the perfect place.

Forcing her legs to work, urging them on, one in front of the other, Liz ran across the street, and in through what had once been the front doors to the Roswell Sheriff’s Office. Now there was nothing but the old frames, the glass having long been broken out. Heading towards the back, where she knew the jail cells were, Liz felt the tears brimming in her eyes, just as she felt her lungs would collapse on her. Heading into the nearest cell, Liz sprawled out onto what had once been a cot, the mattress now gone, and nothing but the metal slats that had once held it in place to hold her up. Despite the fact that they were hard and not the least bit comfortable, Liz was extremely grateful to have someplace to sit.

When she’d seen Pam kiss Max at the Crashdown, she’d been furious. She’d reacted brashly and hadn’t thought before jumping into action. When she’d realized what she’d done, she’d not been the least bit embarrassed or ashamed of her actions. She had, however been utterly stupefied, as she’d been hit by a hard dose of reality. And so she’d run, all the while, her mind a jumbled mess of frantic thoughts.

She’d thought she could do it, had thought she was strong enough, courageous enough to do what she knew she had to do. She’d thought so four years ago and had even thought so as recently as two days ago, when she’d arrived in Roswell. She’d thought that she could walk away, leave behind everything she’d ever wanted in a desperate attempt to escape the unthinkable. But as she’d stood in the Crashdown café and watched her husband moving on, just as she’d asked him to do, Liz realized it wasn’t strength or courage that she lacked. No, Liz Evans had all the strength and the courage she would need to save the world. What she didn’t have was the heart. Liz knew that she didn’t have the heart to walk away from the only man she now knew she’d ever marry and never look back. She didn’t have the heart to forget the brief, but happy life she’d made with him. But mostly, above all, she didn’t have the heart to stop loving him.

The way things were going, the way her life was turning out, there was little doubt she was being driven her mad. So how would she do this? How could she leave him again, knowing that how hard she tried, or how fiercely she fought, she’d never be able to stop loving him? How could she go on, without the love of her life, knowing that she’d spend life alone? She could do it to save the world from an untimely destruction. But would she be able to do it and save herself in the process? Because, in the end, that was all the engagement to Sean had been meant to do. She had thought that pretending she didn’t love Max anymore could save her, but that was proving to be a big, fat lie.

Giving in to the pent up emotions she’d been keeping in check, Liz closed her eyes, and pulled her arms tightly around her middle as her body shook with loud, heaving sobs.

She was tired of being strong. She was tired of being the one that suffered. And she was tired of doing it alone. She needed someone. Deserved someone. It wasn’t fair that she had to do this alone.

Why should she anyway? She’d made a promise to Future Tess four years ago, that she would tell no one what she’d been told. What she’d seen. But that was before she’d known it would be so hard. That was before she realized that she’d never be able to get over Max. And it was before she’d started to doubt that Tess had been telling the truth, that her intentions had been anything but good.

Future Tess had told her. Told her that if she left Roswell, that things would fall into their natural places. That if she left, Max and Tess would fall into the roles that destiny had set aside for them. Future Tess had told her that once she was out of Max’s life, he could carry on with what he had been meant to do, that he could do it with the younger Tess and save the world. But Future Tess been wrong.

Liz had left. But Max and Tess hadn’t fallen into the roles that had been set aside for them. In fact, they had rewritten the script altogether. They’d become friends, close friends at that. Tess had fallen in love with another man and Max was still clinging hopelessly to the love he’d shared with Liz. Nothing that Future Tess had said had come true. The child that was supposedly supposed to prevent those horrible things from happening hadn’t even been conceived, much less born. It just didn’t make sense. So why should she keep her promise? Future Tess had obviously been untruthful about some of the things she’d said, if not everything. It wasn’t fair that she should have to keep her promise too.

There had to be some way for her to find out. To separate fact from fiction, and sort out the truth from the lies she knew were entangled in the story she’d been told. She needed to see Tess. Maybe there was something they could do. Together.

Turning on her side and pulling her knees up to her chest, Liz cried for herself. She cried for the heartache and pain she’d had to endure, and for the heartache and pain she knew was yet to come. She cried for Max. For the hurt and pain she’d put him through. She cried for the devastation she knew he’d had to endure when she walked out on him. And even still, she cried for Max and Liz. She cried for what they had been once, how magical their lives once were. She cried for the way things had been, and the way she knew they would never be again.

Lying in the dark room, Liz cried softly, her body shaking with intense emotion for several minutes, until her tears faded away, and all that was left was an empty hole. Taking a deep breath, Liz sighed and swung her legs over the side of the cot, and for the first time, took a good look around at her surroundings. Rubbing her tear streaked face, she realized she knew this place. Not just the sheriff’s office, but this place. She’d been here, in this exact spot before. And suddenly, before her eyes, the walls became cleaner, the floor a bit less dirty, and the metal slats beneath her become a bit softer as she found herself recalling a time when her biggest problems seemed to be a nosy sheriff and an overbearing school guidance counselor.

This was the cell she’d been in when she and Alex had been put in jail after the party at the soap factory all those years ago. And all she could think about was how scared she had been. Not for herself, not for Alex, but for Max. Everywhere she looked, she was reminded of the paralyzing fear she’d felt for Max in those few hours. The steel bars, the wall of the cell across from her where Alex had been, the small window through which the moon’s soft light filtered in.

Liz couldn’t help but laugh wryly at the irony of the situation. She’d run from Max, leaving him behind in the Crashdown, with Pam. But she found herself at one of the few places in Roswell she’d never been with Max, and even now, everywhere she looked, she was reminded of him.

Because everythingreminded her of Max.

The more Liz looked around at her surroundings, the more she thought of Max. And the more she thought of Max, the angrier she got. Why did she do this? Why did she let him get to her? Even after all this time, Max was her strongest weakness. He was still the only one who could see past all her facades, and see the truth at which she’d made an unsuccessful attempt to hide.

Now Max knew she still cared. He’d known all the right buttons to push and his timing had been precise. He’d taken all the right steps and had been rewarded by Liz’s angry and jealous outburst. Now that he knew she cared, Liz knew he’d fight harder than ever to keep her from leaving him again. And he’d do it because he knew it would make it harder for her to leave. Max had known exactly what to do to make her all but admit it.

Liz narrowed her eyes. Max had planned this and had gotten the reaction out of Liz that he’d been hoping for. Which made her even angrier. She’d stepped right into his trap, and despite her valiant efforts, she’d all but admitted in front of everyone that she still loved Max. And that made her angrier than anything. She’d worked so hard and sacrificed so much in a futile attempt to give him up, and she’d let him ruin it all in matter of seconds with his well hatched plan to make her jealous.

"Aggggggh!" Liz cried out. Lifting her hand, she sent a bolt of bright green light towards the chair in the opposite cell, sending it flying against the wall, then shattering across the floor in a pile of broken wood.

That felt better. She’d always been able to quench her anger by using energy. More often than not, she’d be unable to use her powers, so she’d have to settle for throwing around some dishes, or kicking a nearby doorframe or a piece of furniture.

Standing up and raising her hand at the pile of cans in the corner of the small space, she smiled with satisfaction as they crackled and popped, disapearing amidst a shower of green fireworks. The room might be in almost total complete darkness, but she could see well enough to find something to take her frustration out on.

"Hmpf," she muttered triumphantly. Turning once more, she spotted a door across the hall that she knew led to what used to be the Sheriff’s office. She raised her hand, and amidst a fury of bright jade light, the door was reduced to a pile of wooden scraps, much like the one that used to be a wooden chair in the next cell.

"Hey, you wanna stop throwing those things around before someone gets hurt?"

Liz whirled around in surprise, and lifted her hand, poised and ready to fire at the unwelcome intruder. How dare he follow her here! After the stunt he’d just pulled, how dare he come after her. Couldn’t he just let her wallow in private? Drown in her misery in peace? He had no right. "What are you doing here, Max?" Liz demanded, still not lowering her hand.

"I came after you. I tried to catch you, but you were already too far away. Where did you learn how to run like that anyway?" he asked, leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

"Go away," she said.

Max shook his head and smirked at her. "No can do, Liz."

"I can hurt you, Max," Liz said, her voice even and flat. She stared at him, her, expression menacing and unwavering.

Max stood up straight, and raised an eyebrow at her. Raising his hand, Liz watched as a bright green shield surrounded him, engulfing the room in its radiant glow, and Max grinned in satisfaction. "No, you can’t, Liz."

Huffing angrily, albeit reluctantly, Liz lowered her hand and crossed her arms, glaring at Max through angry eyes. "What do you want?" she asked.

"We need to talk," Max said quietly, lowering his arm and plunging the room into almost darkness once again.

"We’ve done all the talking there is to do," Liz replied non-chalantly, trying to keep her voice free of emotion. The feelings stirring within her body were almost too much to handle. She could see Max, could faintly make out the outline of his features in the dull light. His tight cheekbones, his sharp jaw, his depthless tawny eyes. But the feel of him was the most overwhelming part. She could feel him all around her, in her breath, in her senses, in her blood. The room was oozing Max, and the air was getting thick and heavy. It was almost too much to take in. She needed to get out of here. Quickly. Taking a step back, Liz felt the roughness of the brick behind her as she hit the back wall. Liz groaned as she realized that there was nowhere to go, that Max stood between she and the only way out of the small cell. Shaking her head, Liz stepped to her right, and sat down on the edge of the cot’s metal frame, and put her head in her hands, leaning her elbows on her knees.

Things would never be easy for her. First, she’d had to come to terms with the fact Max had someone else, then had to endure the intense feelings she’d felt after finding out it was Pam. And if that weren’t enough, she’d had to deal with the fact that because she was jealous, she’d almost compromised her plan to leave town and never come back.

It was her place to make sure that the world never had to face the fate she had seen when Tess had visited her four years ago. It was her destiny to live life alone, so that the rest of the world could go on with life around her. And Max’s destiny was to somehow produce the heir, with Tess, that would save the world from an untimely destruction. That was the way it had to be. There simply was no other choice. She was willing to accept that. But clearly, just by coming here tonight, Max had shown her that he wasn’t.

Now, on top of everything, she was going to have to fight him back.

Breathing heavily, Liz slumped her shoulders, and sighed in resignation. She flinched, and her body stiffened in response when she felt the cot shift slightly beneath her as Max sat down next to her.

"Why can’t you just leave me alone, Max?" Liz asked, her voice shaky with emotion.

"I’m sorry, Liz. What just happened was a big mistake. My mistake," Max said softly, fidgeting with his fingers as he spoke. "I just….I had to do something. I guess I just went about it the wrong way."

"Why are you doing this?" Liz could hear the weariness in her tone, sighed again.

"Liz, why do you keep running from me?" Max asked. "I don’t understand it. You love me. I know you do. And you have to know I love you. So why do you keep running? Why can’t you just give in, and stay here, with me, where you belong."

"I’m with Sean, Max. That won’t change. I love him, and we’re…we’re getting married." Liz closed her eyes, hoping against hope that she sounded more convinced than she felt.

Max shook his head. "That’s not how you really feel about him, Liz. I know that for a fact."

"How do you…" Liz started to ask how he thought he knew, but when she brought her head up to look at him, she already knew by the guilty look on his face. He’d seen it in the flashes. He knew she’d never slept with Sean, and chances are, he probably knew why. That she’d never even considered sharing a bed with anyone but him. But, if he’d seen that, then how much more had he seen? It was possible he’d seen it all. Future Tess, the flashes, the truth about the prophecy, everything. If that was the case then he knew it all. And she was too tired to fight him. "It’s not what you think, Max….I…."

"You haven’t slept with him."

Liz sighed at Max’s statement. It wasn’t a question. He did know. "I don’t know what to say to you," she said.

"Just tell me why, Liz. Why have you never taken that step in your relationship with him. You were going to marry him!" Max paused, but after Liz said nothing, he tried again. "I know why, Liz. I saw it in the flashes. I see it in your eyes. But I want to hear you say it. Please, I need to hear you say it."

I love you, Max. I love you with all my heart, and I always have. I don’t want to leave you! She couldn’t say it out loud, but stared at him, her lips pressed together, willing him not to read it in her eyes.

"Shhhh," Max said, pressing a finger to her lips, as though he could tell how much she was struggling against herself. "It’s okay, you don’t have to say anything. I’m not mad at you Liz. I’m hurt. Everytime I look at you, I remember how much I missed you, and how completely devastated I was when you left. And then I want to be angry until I realize that you loved me too. That you still do. I know it hurt you to leave. So why, Liz? Why can’t we take that and run with it? We deserve it. Don’t leave me again," he pleaded.

Liz watched Max with glazed eyes. What did she do to deserve him? What kind of person loved someone so unconditionally that they’d be willing to forgive the wrongs done in the past in order to proceed with a better future? Who in this world, or any other for that matter, possessed a heart so strong and so devoted that not even in the face of such miserable pain would the feelings it held falter?

Liz’s eyes misted over with the intense wave of emotion she felt coursing through her body and from the equally intense swirls of emotion she saw glimmering in Max’s eyes. He loved her. In spite of her faults, all of her shortcomings, and all her misgivings. He’d never given up on her, likely never would.

And it just wasn’t fair that she couldn’t ever give in.

"Max," Liz began, the pain and defeat evidence in her voice. She tore her eyes away from his piercing gaze and settled them on the concrete beneath her feet. "Please, I can’t fight you. Just leave. You have to go. For me, for you, for Tess, for everyone. You don’t understand what’s at stake here."

Max sighed deeply, and eased off the side of the cot, moving quietly to his knees in front of Liz. He took his finger and tipped her chin up to look him straight in the eyes. "Maybe I don’t, Liz. But if I don’t fight for you, I know what I’ll be giving up. And I’m not willing to do that. Not again. Whatever this is, the reason you’re running from me, we can handle it. Me and you. We can overcome it, I promise."

Liz choked out a sob as her eyes frantically searched Max’s face. Max had made promises to her before, heartfelt and filled with love. And he’d never broken even one of them. But this time, she knew it was one he’d never be able to keep.

"It’s not possible, Max, it’s just not," Liz cried through her tears.

"Tell my why?"

"Don’t you see? It’s because of you and me, Max. Four years ago, I had a visitor from the future. It was Tess. A future version of her that had traveled back in time to ask me to help her save the world. She knew the future. In the timeline she lived in, we never broke up. Our marriage lasted and we were happy. But because of that, because you didn’t follow your destiny, everyone suffered. Everyone."

Max shook his head, wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "How is that possible, Liz?"

"It’s in the Destiny Book. A prophecy, that only a child of your blood can fulfill. A prophecy that can save the world. In her timeline, we never had kids. And the destined child was never conceived. All because we never had kids."

Max smiled and settled more comfortably on to the floor, easing between Liz’s legs to look up at her tear streaked face and swollen eyes. "Well then, we’ll just have to try harder this time around, won’t we?"

Liz felt her heart shatter yet again at the thought of Max wanting to have a baby with her. It had been his dream for as long as she could remember. It had been her dream. It had been their dream and he still didn’t know it wasn’t possible. "We can’t Max. It’s my fault. I’m the one who kept that baby from being born. I can’t conceive, Max. I’ll never be able to have your child, or any children. Ever. I’m the reason the world ended."

And with that, Liz melted into Max’s arms, falling to the floor with him, her body convulsing with heavy, anguished sobs. That was the real thing she’d never been able to admit. It was her fault that everyone she’d loved had died in the other timeline. And it was her fault that she and Max would never be happy. All because her body wasn’t capable of conceiving a child. The child that was written of in Max’s destiny.

She allowed herself to enjoy the feeling of his arms wrapped his arms around her, allowed him to comfort her, rocking her back and forth, running his fingers through her long, dark hair. She couldn’t resist it any longer. She needed this, if only to give herself the strength to try once more.

Liz threw her arms around Max’s shoulders, grabbing the thick fabric of his shirt in her fists, bunching it up between her fingers, causing it to go taut around his back. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, and sobbed against the warm skin of his throat, barely registering the fact that her tears were soaking the collar of his shirt.

As Liz’s sobs quieted down, she let go, let her arms rest across his back, her palms out spread, wanting to touch as much of him as possible. She closed her eyes, breathing in the unique scent that was only Max. She all but cried out in joy, remembering the intimate way her body fit to his, like they had been meant to hold each other close. She rubbed her forehead across his chin, reminiscing about the way it felt to feel the slight tickle of the stubble on his jaw. Her body was alive, relishing in the fact that once more, Max held her tightly in the warmth of his strong arms. She was memorizing everything about him all over again, knowing this fleeting moment of pure bliss couldn’t last.

"Liz?" Max said softly after Liz’s sobbed had completely subsided.

Liz closed her eyes, taking one more deep breath, inhaling as much of him as she could. She lifted her head, and brought her wide eyes into contact with his. She watched, her heartbeat accelerating more, if possible, as Max’s eyes frantically searched her face. She felt his breathing against her chest, as his heart beat doubled in time with hers. When he raised a hand and wiped a loose strand of hair off of her temple, he trailed his finger downward, and cupped her cheek in his palm. Without thinking, Liz closed her eyes, and leaned into his touch, wanting to burn the feel of it into her mind. But the minute she did, she knew it was a mistake.

She felt Max shift his body slightly, and before she opened her eyes, her senses went into overload as she felt his mouth on her own. Groaning at the contact, Liz moved her lips against his, feeling his grip tighten around her waist.

"I love you, Liz. I’ve always loved you, and I always will," he said against her lips.

"I love you, Max, always," she whispered.

Liz’s eyes flew open as she felt Max go rigid against her. She saw his eyes open wide, staring straight back at her. She’d said it without thinking. She’d had no intention of voicing her feelings for Max out loud, having done enough already with her actions because of Pam. But with Max’s mouth on hers, and her senses going haywire, it had come naturally. And now Max had all the proof he needed to use against her. Straight from the horse’s mouth.

Liz jumped up, wrenching herself from Max’s grasp. She saw his startled look, and knew that she had to go, before she lost every bit of resolve she had, and gave into everything her heart and soul were telling her to do. She was at the exit to the cell before she turned around briefly to catch the shocked look on Max’s face.

"I’m sorry, I can’t do this." she said, tears streaming down her face. "I won’t let them die because of me. I won’t!"

And with one last longing glance, Liz Evans left her husband sitting in the floor staring after her.

***

Tess’ heart dropped to the floor as she watched Max run after Liz. This had gone on too long. Someone had to do something. If she knew Liz Parker at all, she knew that her stay in Roswell was going to come to an end - and soon.

Things were spiraling out of control. Liz had broken her engagement to Sean, but clearly, still had every intention of leaving town again. Without Max. And Max, well, he had just gone straight off the deep end. He was making hasty decisions in his desperation and had become someone she wasn’t sure she knew anymore.

Earlier in the day, she herself had tried the only thing she could think of. She’d gone to the Pod Chamber, and had read the Destiny book again, cover to cover. Nothing there. Nothing that jumped out at her. No hidden words providing any clues, no misunderstood sentences offering any answers.

But somehow, Tess couldn’t shake the fact that everything hinged on that book. Something inside of her was telling her to read it again. She tried to listen to each word, rather than read, tried to figure out any double meanings, any hidden agendas. She knew the answer was right in front of her face. She just couldn’t find it.

"What’s happening?" Tess muttered to herself. "Things have gotten so out of control."

"They’re crazy," Isabel said, shrugging her shoulders, although Tess hadn’t really been addressing her. "Both of them. I don’t know who to blame more. Liz for ever leaving or Max for ever falling in love with her in the first place."

Tess took a deep breath, listened to Isabel talk her feelings out. This was her fault. It wasn’t fair that she let Isabel, or Michael, or anyone else blame Liz any longer. It was Tess Harding who had visited Liz four years ago and all but pushed her out of town. It was Tess Harding that had told Liz something that had made her leave. And as badly as she wanted to deny it, she knew that it hadn’t all been true. Things just didn’t click. Nothing made sense, except for the fact that the pieces of the puzzle didn’t fit. And deep down, she knew it was her fault.

"Don’t blame either one of them," Tess pleaded quietly.

Isabel scoffed at her, then turned and plopped back down into the booth they’d been in when Liz and Sean had arrived. "Then who should I blame?"

"How about the person at fault?" Tess asked hesitantly.

"You aren’t making any sense, Tess." Isabel was glancing at her watch. "I thought Michael was meeting us here," she said, glancing towards the door.

Tess looked at Isabel, the gears in her mind slowly starting to turn. She couldn’t ask Max for help. He was part of the problem, after all. Maybe, just maybe, Isabel was the answer. Tess had read the book over and over again. But Isabel and Michael had only seen it once and it had been before even she knew how to read it. She’d long ago translated it into English, had changed the words on the pages so that they could all decipher it. But maybe she was missing something. Maybe there weresome hidden words or double meanings.

Maybe she was looking at it through biased eyes, having already heard what it said from her future self without ever having actually read it. Trying a fresh set of eyes couldn’t hurt. Isabel and Michael could help her. They ould help her. They had to help her. But she knew that they’d only help if they knew the truth. If they knew about her future self, and what she had done, was going to do…Whatever! Tess almost screeched in her frustration.

She was going to have to tell them the truth about why Liz left town, and what Future Tess had told her. About the future, about their destiny, and about the prophecy.

Taking a deep breath, Tess closed her eyes, conjuring up an image of Kyle in mind. Drawing strength from his lazy smile, and his echoed "I love you" in her ear, she moved suddenly towards Isabel before she changed her mind. Isabel jumped slightly. "Isabel," Tess said softly, "What I’m about to say might not make any sense at all. But I need you to trust me, and I need your help. I’ll explain everything."

"Ooookkaaay," Isabel said slowly, giving Tess an odd look. "Are you okay? Are you in trouble? You aren’t pregnant, but it’s something else, isn’t it?" Isabel’s eyes widened in horror as she leaned across the table, close enough to Tess to voice her thoughts without anyone else overhearing. "Are you having an affair!?" Isabel whispered incredulously.

Tess shrank back, opening her mouth wide in horrified shock. "Isabel, how could you ask that?"

Isabel shook her head, confusion evident across her furrowed brow. "Tess, you’re worrying me. Something’s wrong, I know it. Tell me, please," she pleaded with her friend.

Tess turned around as she heard the front door open. Michael walked in and stopped briefly to look around. He nodded in their direction as he spotted them in the back of the restaurant.

"Just come on," Tess said, grabbing her purse, reaching across the table to pull Isabel along with her. "We’re leaving. I’ll answer all your questions on the way."

"Hey, where’s the fire?" Michael demanded as Tess grabbed his arm with her free hand and ushered him out the door along with Isabel.

"You guys have to know the truth," Tess said stepping up to her car and putting the key in the door. "About Liz, and Max, and about why she left. We have to go the pod chamber."

"You know?" Isabel asked loudly.

"I know everything," Tess said. "And now you need to know too."

"Wait a minute," Michael said crossing his arms over his chest. "You mean to tell me this whole time, you’ve known why Liz left, why we all went through what we did, and you never said a word? Tess! We trusted you!"

"Michael…"

"Tell me why we should go anywhere with you?" Michael asked defiantly, his temper and broody nature quickly bringing itself to the surface.

Tess turned and looked at Michael and Isabel, pleading with them. "Liz is innocent, Michael, and Max too," she added, casting a glance in Isabel’s direction. "I think we can fix this. Nothing here has been the same since Liz left. I know you don’t trust her, but I know you still trust me. I need your help. Our future depends on it."

And somehow, Tess knew it did. Max and Liz belonged together. No matter how hard they tried, or what obstacles had been thrown their way, their feelings never changed. They still loved each other, and that had to count for something. It just had to.

"Fine," Isabel sighed, walking around and opening the passenger side door. "But I swear, Tess. You better tell us everything. And I do mean everything."

Tess took a deep breath, waited for Michael to follow suit and get in the back seat, then she sat inside and turned the key in the ignition.

"So," she said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes to herself. She was really going to have to find a better operning line. She pulled the car into the street before continuing. "What do you know about time travel?"

***

Twenty minutes later, Tess brought her car to a stop beside the rock formation that she’d come to know so well.

Michael and Isabel had been eerily quiet while she gave her side of the story, only asking minimal questions. She’d told them everything, and their persistent silence was causing her to doubt she’d done the right thing.

"Guys?" Tess asked, turning in her seat to face Isabel, sneaking a quick look at Michael in the back seat.

Tess was surprised when Isabel turned towards her, eyes filled with tears, her face contorted in a mixture of emotions.

"She left to save us?" Isabel’s voice was shaky with emotion. "She left because she knew that we would die, and the only way to stop it was to give Max up?"

Tess nodded slightly, realization dawning on her. Isabel believed her. After she’d told them the truth, niether Michael or Isabel had voiced any opposition to her story. They believed her. Just as Kyle had. Because they did love her.

As she watched the emotions play across Isabel’s face, she realized something else. That despite everything, Isabel still loved Liz too. There was hope after all.

"Liz knew that Max would never agree to letting her go. She also knew that if she didn’t leave, that Max’s child would never be born. We need that child, Isabel. And Liz believed that only another hybrid could produce that baby."

"Are you telling me that you and Maxwell have to have a baby?" Michael asked, piping in from the back seat.

Tess shook her head. "That’s where it all gets fuzzy. According to the future me, our enemies should be here by now. We should already be experienced soldiers. That’s what happened at this time in her timeline, because there was no baby. But nothing that she said would happen has. She lied. I don’t know why, or about what just yet. But I have to find out. Something doesn’t make sense."

Tess took another deep breath, turned back to Isabel. "I don’t belong with Max. I never have. My place is with Kyle. Liz belongs with Max. He’s always known it, and deep down, I think we have too. Everything she told me was based on this prophecy, and her only source of information was the Destiny Book. Something about this prophecy is funny," she said. "We have to read the destiny book and find out what before Max and Liz hit the point of no return. Neither one of them deserve that."

"I hated her," Isabel said suddenly, a lone tear slipping down her cheek. "When Liz left, I couldn’t stand her. The thoughts I had about her. Everytime I saw Max, and how much he was hurting, I just wanted to track Liz down. And Tess, if I had, I would have killed her. I know I would have. And all because she’d left to protect us. I’m a terrible person!" Isabel brought her hands to her face and cried softly.

Tess watched with a heavy heart as Isabel accepted the truth. All this time, she’d been hurt. She’d taken out her hurt and anger by turning against Liz. But now, she was realizing that she’d had no right to hate her sister in law at all.

"Hey," Michael said. "We all thought things I’m sure we didn’t mean. But we know the truth now, Iz," he said, leaning into the front seat, and taking Isabel’s hand from her face. "Liz is part of us. Part of our family. She always has been. And she’s Max’s world. We love them both. Now is our chance to redeem ourselves. So let’s go help Tess," he said with determination. "We trust her and she needs us. Liz and Max need us. Heck, even the whole world needs us. We’re gonna be superheroes!"

Isabel smiled at Michael’s attempt to lighten her mood.

Tess smiled too, in spite of herself. She’d done the unthinkable. She’d turned big, bad, Michael Guerin into a big softie, eager to forgive his best friend’s wife and to help fix the wrongs they’d all done in the past.

"So, are you guys in?" she asked, looking back and forth between the two.

Michael nodded, then turned to Isabel, waving his hand over her face. Her tears had been wiped away, including make-up smudges. Tess almost giggled. Isabel would never change, even in a crisis. "So, you game?"

Isabel nodded firmly, grabbing Tess’s hand. "Let’s go get that book," she said.

Tess flew across the seat, hugging Isabel tightly, and released her only to lean back to pull Michael close so she could kiss him on the cheek. "I knew I could count on you two."

Tess got out of the car. Michael and Isabel followed her up the side of the cliff to the entrance to the pod chamber. She waved her hand over the hiding place, placed her hand on the silver handprint, and led the way inside.

Just inside the door, Isabel stopped and stooped at the sleeping bag Tess had noticed earlier.

"This is Max’s," she said. "When was he here?"

So that’s who had been here, Tess reflected. It made sense now, knowing what he’d been through. She’d found the Destiny Book next to the bag and knew that’s why he’d come. She could picture him lying in the small room, the book in his hands, searching it from cover to cover for the answers to his questions. But also, just as she had, she could also see him leaving, feeling lost and defeated after coming up empty handed. She wondered if he’d left the sleeping bag there with the intentions of coming back to try again.

"He’s been reading the book," Tess said quietly. "He came here for the same reason we did. He got flashes from Liz last night. He knows all about Future Tess from me too. He’s trying to figure it out."

"He’s hurting so much," Isabel said softly, sitting down and leaning back against the soft blue bag.

"Well then," Michael said, sitting down beside her and picking up the book. "We’ll just have to help him with that, won’t we?" Isabel smiled, reached over to hold the part of the book closest to her, and made herself comfortable. Both she and Michael bent their heads over it, matching frowns on concentration on their faces. Tess wondered briefly if Michael had ever looked at a book so intently in his life.

Tess was still amazed with the ease at which Isabel and Michael had forgiven Liz. She’d been prepared for a long, lengthy battle of wits with Roswell’s resdent ice queen and her brooding, rebellious almost-brother. She’d even gone above and beyond at the Crashdown, ushering them out quickly and not answering questions until they were on their way, having been afraid she’d lose her nerve. But once she started explaining what was going on, she’d been surprised at the ease with which they’d believed her. They’d only asked a few simple questions and neither one of them had voiced any hostile feelings towards Liz.

In fact, they’d been more than surprised at the fact that Tess had forgiven her, and was readily trying to find a way to help her get back together with Max. Isabel had asked Tess what had made her change her mind. Tess hadn’t had to think of the answer. It was simple, really, and she told them she didn’t know why they couldn’t see it. It was because Max loved Liz. For reasons that only he knew, he still trusted her, and didn’t blame her for leaving him behind.

And Tess trusted Max. That was enough reason for her.

In the end, after they’d arrived at the pod chamber, Isabel’s remorseful guilt and Michael’s comforting words had given her the reason for their hasty approval of a girl they’d both despised just hours earlier. They loved her too. They’d loved her just as Max had, but in a different way. She was their family too. If there had been no Liz Parker for Max, there never would have been a Maria Deluca for Michael or an Alex Whitman for Isabel. It was because of this love, because of all that she’d given them, that they’d felt so betrayed and hurt when she’d left. But, in a most fascinating turn of events, it was also this fundamental love that pushed them to find a way to help bring her back.

Tess opened her purse and took out a stick of gum, popping it into her mouth. Looking around, she took a seat against the opposite wall, and waited for her friends to finish reading.

***

"This is hopeless!" Michael exclaimed an hour later. He threw the book completely into Isabel’s lap and jumped up, running his hands through his hair. "We’ve read this thing through over and over and nothing! Why can’t we find anything?"

Michael started pacing back and forth, in between Tess and Isabel, still muttering to himself and clearly upset.

"Michael, calm down," Tess urged, standing up to face him.

"But you said, Tess! You said we’d find an answer!"

Tess shook her head. Maybe this was a bad idea. She’d brought them here, and convinced them that they could find an answer. But so far, all they had done was almost memorize the Destiny Book, having read it through, cover to cover, at least three times. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe she’d just given them false hope.

"Michael, I didn’t say for sure. I hoped that we’d-"

"Tess, Michael, come here for a minute," Isabel interrupted abruptly.

Tess turned around to see Isabel looking hard at the page in front of her, her brow furrowed in concentration. She walked over and knelt next to her, Michael right behind her.

"What?" Tess demanded, trying not to get excited. Her heart was thundering anyway. "Did you find something?"

"I’m not sure," Isabel replied. She handed the book to Tess, and turned it so that she could read it. "Look at this."

Tess followed Isabel’s finger, and read the lines she’d indicated.

The fate of the world rests in the hands of a child of a bonded love.

The hybrid king and hybrid queen, no others, must mate.

Blood of another will strengthen the line,

But only from one chosen by fate.

The child of this union will save the King and, thus, the world.



"It’s the prophecy," Tess said. "That’s the prophecy that my child with Max is supposed to fulfill. "

"We already know about that, Isabel," Michael said, sounding impatient and not a little mad. Tess could see that Isabel’s exclamation had excited him too and now he was annoyed that he was disappointed.

"Right. So now, read this." Isabel shifted slightly, and pointed at a passage a little further down on the page.

This has been, and only by destiny will it be once more.

The King’s child will be born,

Only by she who is made compatible to carry the life in her own.

"What, Isabel?" Tess asked. "I don’t see anything. I’m the one who was made compatible. Engineered? Reborn to be with Max?"

"Tess, what if this doesn’t really mean what we think it means? What if you were just reading it wrong? Interpreting it’s meaning differently than it was meant to be interpreted?"

"How do you think it was meant to be interpreted?" Tess asked wearily. This is what she’d hoped for - that Isabel or Michael could pull out something she’d missed. But she didn’t want to get excited over nothing.

"We’ve just assumed that the queen is you, right?" Isabel asked, her excitement evident in her agitated movements and fast talking.

Tess shook her head. "The queen was me," Tess said, trying to remain patient.

Isabel waved her hands and shook her head. "That’s not what I meant. We know you’re the queen. What I meant was, that we’ve all just assumed that the ‘she’ that’s talked about in this prophecy is you, right? What if we’re wrong?"

"Wrong, how?" Michael asked, his confused expression mirroring Tess’s equally perplexed one.

"It says that this child has to be chosen by fate, that it’s destined to be. That only one made compatible can carry Max’s baby. What if Max made Liz compatible?" Isabel demanded.

"What would he have to do to do that?" Michael asked.

"He already has," Tess said, felt her eyes widening. How could she have been so stupid? Of course. It was perfectly obvious!

Michael was still staring at Tess questioningly, but Isabel had turned to her with hopeful eyes. "That day at the Crashdown." Tess continued, could hear her mounting excitement in her voice. "He changed her. Kyle’s got powers - we’ve seen him use them guys, although he tries not too - so I’ll bet you anything Liz has them too. Max has always said that that day was the day he wrote his own destiny. I can’t believe it. He’s been right all along."

Tess picked up the book, and looked at it, marveling at the fact that she’d never seen it before. The hidden meaning. The underlying words that she had never picked out.

"Max and I were destined to be together. But neither one of us feels it. He’s never felt it. What if healing her that day wasn’t the only thing he did. What if he made her his destiny? Like - by taking that huge risk - what if he changed her so that she was capable of carrying his child?" Tess asked.

"But I don’t understand," Michael said. "Max and Liz were married before she left. They lived together before. How come she can’t get pregnant?"

Isabel took the book back from Tess. "I think it has something to do with the missing page."

"What missing page?" Tess asked, blinking.

Isabel held the book up. "Look at the last two pages. They don’t go together. Don’t make sense. It goes right from talking about the baby in the prophecy to talking about a marriage. The first line on the next page starts with ‘and this marriage will be legal and binding’ I think we’re missing a page."

"Well that’s not going to help. We don’t know where the page is!" Michael exclaimed in frustration.

"I know," Tess said standing up, her mind racing with questions that could only be answered by one person. "I know where it is. And I can get it back."

[Kath7]

Part 18

"Liz, this is a mistake."

Liz ignored Serena as she hurried around the motel room, throwing her various pieces of clothing scattered around onto the bed so at to make it easier to pack it all. She had no idea how she had managed to make such a mess in such a short amount of time. The disarray in the room more than matched her emotional turmoil though. Her entire life was presently a disaster. The messy motel room was just the physical embodiment of it.

"Staying here this long was the mistake Serena," Liz retorted. "I should have left town as soon as Max signed those papers. I’ve only hurt him more by trying to fix things between us. We can’t be friends. That’s more than obvious now. Which also means that I can’t be friends with anyone else in Roswell. The least I can do is leave him them."

Her heart ached at the thought of shutting Alex and Maria out of her life again, but she had no choice. Maintaining any sort of contact with Max - even the mostly antagonistic relationship they had developped over the past few days - was impossible. She was on the verge of completely giving in. She could not see him again. Her willpower would not stand having to walk out on him even once more. It was an impossibility.

"I just don’t understand why you’re being so stubborn about this," Serena complained. "Maria’s told me all about you two and from what I’ve seen…Liz, you still love him, he obviously wants you. What is the problem here?"

"You wouldn’t understand," Liz sighed. "It’s too long a story. I can’t get into it now." And she couldn’t. She couldn’t even think about it anymore. She just had to leave. Now. There was a plane leaving the small Roswell airstrip for Albuquerque in two hours and she fully intended to be on it.

"I wouldn’t understand?" Serena demanded. "Liz, I understood when you told me your ex-husband was an alien. What makes you think I wouldn’t understand this time?"

"You just wouldn’t. No one can really understand Serena. I’m the only one who really gets it because I’m the only one who saw what’s going to happen if Max and I stay together. And I won’t be responsible for it! I won’t allow how much I love him to destroy the world. I just won’t!" Liz screamed this last bit, practically throwing the clothes in her arms at her best friend. She saw Serena’s eyes widen with fear. It was only then that Liz realized that her fingertips were crackling with green electricity again.

Damn. She was losing her mind. There was now no question.

Liz collapsed on the bed, closed her eyes. She took deep breaths, trying to bring her emotions back under control. "I’m sorry," she finally ground out. "I just need to be alone for a while ‘Rena. Come back in half an hour and we’ll leave for the airport."

"Fine," Serena snapped, straightening her spine and striding to the door, trying to mask how much Liz had frightened her. Before she stormed out though, she turned back and continued, "If you are so determined to be miserable, there’s nothing I can do to stop you. You know what Liz? As much as I was prepared to hate this Max of yours, because I love you, I don’t hate him. And I’ll tell you why. He’s willing to face anything to be with you. You’re not being fair to him and I’m beginning to realize that you probably don’t deserve him. Why you can’t see that two people are stronger standing together than one, I don’t know. But I’m tired of trying to understand. I have never seen anyone throw happiness away with such sheer stupidity."

Liz simply turned her head away, lifting her chin stubbornly. Shutting Serena out was easy. The fact that she had managed to do it to Max again, even after all he had said to her at the old sheriff’s station, anything else seemed like a piece of cake. She heard Serena huff in irritation, pull open the door and then exclaim, "What the heck are you doing here?"

Liz whipped around and blinked at the sight of Tess standing in the doorway. The small blonde was staring at Serena in surprise, then looked past her at Liz. "Am I interrupting something?"

"I was just leaving," Serena told her. "And you know what? I really don’t care why you’re here after all. It’s probably to help her wallow in her own misery, so go to it. I won’t stand in the way." With that she disappeared out the door, slamming it behind her.

Liz sighed, shaking her head. She was pretty sure that after she went back to New York, she and Serena would no longer be friends. She regretted it, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. She just couldn’t think about anything but getting away from Roswell. If Serena didn’t trust her enough to think she had a valid reason, then she didn’t want to have to explain it to her. She was tired of having to justify herself. She was trying to save the stupid world for Pete’s sake. And, yet, it had somehow all become about poor Max and how he was hurting.

Screw that.

It was also probably why Tess was here, to try and convince her to fix things.

Double screw that.

Liz glared at the woman who had been responsible for all her problems, whether in this form or in some future version. She didn’t hate her, but she certainly didn’t think that they could be friends any longer. Not after that last scene in the sheriff’s station with Max. It was all just too hard. It was easier to just shut them all out. "What are you doing here Tess?" She demanded, refusing to beat around the bush any longer. "I’m getting ready to leave."

"I know," Tess replied, moving forward. "I’m sorry about it."

Liz narrowed her eyes. "You better not be here to try and convince me to give Max another chance."

"Do you want me to be?" Tess inquired gently, sitting down on the bed beside her.

"What do you think?" Liz shot back, although she could already tell that being a bitch was not going to drive Tess away.

"I haven’t even talked to Max since the Crashdown," Tess told her firmly. "What he did to you there was rotten. Especially because he has a pretty good idea why you’re doing all of this now."

"Right. So why don’t you two just get busy and get it over with?" Liz snapped.

Tess just stared at her. "I’m with Kyle Liz."

"I know that Tess. But it seems to me that the end of the world might be a little more pressing then love. I’ve made some sacrifices. The least you and Max could do is fulfill that damn prophecy. It doesn’t mean you have to be together forever."

"If that’s the case," Tess retorted, "Then why can’t you stay? Max and I will have the baby and then we can all raise it together!"

Liz just stared at her in horror. "You must be joking!" She practically screeched.

Tess glared at her. "Well of course I am. You know you wouldn’t be able to handle it! What makes you think that I would expect Kyle to? I would never do that to him!"

"Typical," Liz muttered. "I’m the only one who has to make any sacrifices it seems. Why are you all so stubborn?"

There was a long silence until Tess finally said quietly, "Max and I don’t love each other Liz. We just don’t. It’s never going to happen."

"Then the world is going to end," Liz replied. "We both know it is. But I won’t stay here and watch you all skip joyfully in the direction. I won’t Tess. This isn’t going to make me go back to him. We saw what happened when there was no baby of Max’s blood…"

"There might still be," Tess said carefully. "I’ve been doing some investigating…"

Liz looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?" Her eyes widened in horror as something dawned on her. "Oh my God. Max doesn’t really like Pam Troy, does he?" The thought was enough to make her literally ill. If Max had to be with anyone other than Tess, she just did not want to know about it. The least they could all do was wait until she had left town again.

Tess grimaced. "Are you crazy? Of course he doesn’t! I’m talking about for you and Max Liz. There might still be a way."

Liz felt her heart drop. "Tess, it’s impossible. After she - you - came to see me, don’t you think the first thing I did was go to a doctor and get myself checked out?" She heard her voice catch slightly as she thought about that horrible time. "I went to several in fact. I even went as far as Santa Fe and they all told me the same thing. My womb will not carry a baby to term. It’s impossible. It just won’t."

She could barely see straight, her eyes blurry with tears. It wasn’t true. None of it was true. It wasn’t she who had gone to all those doctors. It was another Liz, one Future Tess had told her all about, one who had suffered for years trying to conceive a child. She hadn’t told Max any of this when she had informed him that she knew she couldn’t bear his children. She had told him that it was because she somehow knew they were incompatible, but it had been a lie. She couldn’t tell him the truth - the truth that Future Tess had made only too real. He wouldn’t have believed her after all.

At least not then. Now he might believe Tess - any Tess. They were friends. At least her plan had succeeded that far.

But Liz had to believe Tess. After all, she had seen it. She knew the arguments Max would have given her if she had told him: Liz, Tess is a mindwarper. You can’t believe anything she says.

She wouldn’t have either. If it had just been about Tess. It hadn’t been though. It had been so much more.

"Liz, you have to listen to me," Tess was saying now, her words echoing that future version’s eerily.

You have to do this Liz. The fate of the world depends on you.

"I can’t Tess! I just can’t anymore. I need to leave," Liz told her firmly, standing up and moving away. "Please just go. Help Max. He’s going to need you. But you also need to convince him, somehow. I don’t care if it is Pam Troy. I’d prefer you, but if it can’t be, find someone. Make him do it so that all of this pain won’t be for no reason."

"Liz, listen to me," Tess insisted, having stood up as well. Liz blinked when the blonde grabbed her by the arm and shook her. "Can you please stop being so selfish for one minute and listen?"

Liz stared at her. "Did you just call me selfish?" She asked, not even angry, simply amazed. She just couldn’t believe it. It was incomprehensible to her that Tess of all people would call her selfish. Tess was the one who was encouraging Max in his rebellion against desting after all. It was Tess’s relationship with Kyle that was making this even harder.

"You are being selfish," Tess told her. "You are so wrapped up in your own pain and your feeling of purity about giving everything up, you’re not thinking straight anymore. I need you to listen to me."

Liz could not even frame a reply. She just continued to gape at Tess. The other woman seemed to take this as a sign that she was ready to listen. "Okay, you’ve got powers, right?"

"Huh?"

"Do you or do you not have powers?" Tess repeated, frustrated. "Kyle does. I’m assuming you do too. I’m also assuming that yours are the same, being as you were both healed by Max. He can get flashes from people sometimes when he touches them - like what’s going to happen in the future. It’s why he’s such a good deputy." Liz could hear the pride in Tess’s voice as she explained. "He really just knows what some people are going to do before they do it."

"I do," Liz admitted, shaking her head. "Wait a minute. If Kyle has powers, why was Maria surprised that I do too? Max seemed a little shocked too."

"Kyle has barely told anyone. It creeps him out a bit," Tess replied, sighing. "Max shouldn’t have been surprised. All the aliens know. We had to try and figure out what it meant."

Liz frowned, reflected back on when Max had confronted her about her powers at the UFO Museum the night before. He hadn’t seemed that surprised actually. "What does it mean?" Liz asked now.

"We don’t think it means much. It’s something that you both would have been born in a few generations anyway." Tess shrugged. "We figure that connecting so intimately with one of us results in the activation of the genes all humans possess. Our gifts are part of our human make-up Liz. Nasedo told us that once. You and Kyle, because Max interfered in the natural order of your life…He changed you sooner than was humanly possible." She paused, narrowed her eyes. "And that’s where my theory comes in."

"What theory?"

"I took Isabel and Michael to the pod chamber today," Tess replied. "I made them sit down and try and read the Destiny Book, to find anything I was missing."

Liz rolled her eyes. "You can’t tell me anything about that book I don’t know Tess," she snapped. "It’s that book that ruined my life."

Liz realized that Tess’s eyes had lit up at this comment. "So you do have it!" She crowed. "I knew it!"

"Have what?" Liz asked carefully, although she knew exactly what Tess was getting at.

"Don’t lie to me Parker. I know you have it. She gave it to you, didn’t she?"

"What?"

"LIZ! Do you or do you not have the missing page?"

"Fine," Liz finally muttered, realizing there was no point in hiding it any longer. "I have it. What does it matter though? The only reason she gave it to me was so that I would believe her, so that I wouldn’t think she was mindwarping me with those flashes."

"She gave you flashes?" Tess asked, sounding pensive. "Of what was going to happen?"

"Not just her," Liz replied. "The book did too." She paused, then whispered. "And Max…I got them from Max too."

Tess seemed perplexed for a moment. "We have to be right," she murmured. "We just have to be… But if Max gave her flashes…"

"Tess? What the hell are you talking about?" Liz demanded, beginning to get impatient. She glanced at her watch. She really needed to get going if she was going to make the plane. She could not stay in Roswell a day longer. It was impossible.

"Liz, I need to see that page. Where is it?" Tess asked. "Is it in New York?"

Liz pressed her lips together. "Why? What can that page possibly tell you that I haven’t already? I saw the future Tess. The page only confirms it. It’s a full recounting of what will happen to this planet if Max’s child isn’t born."

Tess sighed. "Liz, can you read the page?" She asked, sounding long-suffering and annoying Liz even more.

"Of course not," Liz retorted. "I’m not an alien."

"So it was only the flashes it gave you that made you think you knew what it said."

"Yes," Liz admitted reluctantly. "I still don’t see that it matters though. We’re all in agreement that Max needs to have a kid. You’ve read the rest of that book too Tess. And you can understand it, can’t you?"

"I can," Tess agreed. "But that missing page…Liz, I don’t think it says what she told you it said. I need to see it. Where is it?"

Liz didn’t reply for a long moment. She didn’t know if she wanted Tess to see it. Because she realized that she was beginning to feel a small amount of hope and she could not afford that. Tess was only making this harder. She knew what that page said. She knew. She had seen it.

Tess seemed to understand Liz’s turmoil. "Liz, how can you be so sure that what that future me showed you wasn’t a mindwarp?" She asked gently. "I knew her too. She was a liar. The fact that I came back here and Max wanted nothing to do with me…She knew nothing. She was a bitter and twisted version of who I am. I’m ashamed to admit it, but if I’d never come back her, it’s extremely likely she’s exactly who I would have ended up. And I did in that lifetime. You cannot believe her. You just can’t."

"But Tess…the Destiny Book…it says it," Liz argued weakly.

"You didn’t answer my question," Tess reminded her. "How did you know it wasn’t a mindwarp?"

"It was the first time I ever had flashes like that," Liz explained. "But I started getting them all the time after she left. And I know she was gone Tess. The instant I decided to leave Max, she faded away right in front of me."

Tess raised her eyebrows. "Mindwarp?"

"I really don’t think so," Liz replied. "She was gone. I know she was. Besides, she told both of us that she never went back to Roswell after she left. How could she have known that I was going to develp the power to get flashes of the future? How would she know to use it?"

"It doesn’t matter how she knew," Tess said quietly. "She did. And I think she mindwarped you. I know she didn’t mindwarp me. I think that some of what she told you did happen, but not how you saw it. I’m convinced."

"We’ll never know that for sure Tess," Liz shot back, beginning to get angry again. She could not have these doubts again. She had spent a full year following her flight to New York trying to come up with excuses for why she should return to Max, for how and why Future Tess would have lied to her. "I know what I saw and I know that until then I’d never had them before and I’ve had them since."

"There’s only one way to find out," Tess muttered, again to herself.

"Tess, what are you talking about?"

"Liz, I know for a fact that I’ve never mindwarped you," Tess said. "I have never done that to you, not even when I was trying to get Max way back at the beginning. I only used it on him."

Liz frowned. "I know that Tess."

"So then you really have no idea what it feels like," Tess elaborated. "And you can feel it Liz. Max certainly did way back then. That’s why you believed him when he told you that he wasn’t cheating on you on purpose. He wasn’t either. I was making him do it."

"Tess, I don’t understand your point in dragging up all this old history," Liz sighed, feeling a stabbing pain at the memory of Max kissing Tess in the rain. It still made her physically ill just thinking about it. How she could have thought that she’d be able to handle the two of them having a baby together…or that Kyle would have been able to handle it. She was clearly insane.

"I’m trying to make a point Liz. You may just not recognize a mindwarp. I can understand why you got confused. Your powers chose a really bad time to start manifesting themselves. Maybe it’s why Future Me came back to that point. Maybe she knew it was when you’d start to develop the flashes more concretely. Anyway, it’s entirely possible that she came exactly when she did to make you think that the mindwarps were just early flashes of your abilities."

Liz felt her heart skip a beat. "But how can we know that for sure?"

Tess didn’t reply, simply looked towards the door. Liz blinked when someone knocked. She looked back at Tess, who seemed just as surprised as she did. "Who the heck can that be?" Liz groaned. "I don’t have time for this. I need to be on a plane in an hour."

"I don’t know who it is," Tess told her.

Liz stomped to the door, pulled it open and stared at Max, who was standing there peering in at her. "Good, you’re still here."

He marched past her, didn’t even seem to see Tess. "I’m not letting you run away from me again Liz. I refuse to allow it. I don’t care what arguments you give me. I love you, I will always love you and I’ll never be with anyone else."

"Max…" Liz looked at Tess uncomfortably. The blonde was just staring at Max, no expression on her face.

Max held his hand up. "Don’t even say it," he snapped. "It’s not fair that you get to make all the decisions. It’s just not."

Liz started when he advanced on her. "I’m going to prove to you once and for all that we belong together."

Liz’s eyes widened. She felt a flash of desire run through her veins at the expression in his eyes. "Max, Tess is standing right here!" She exclaimed, trying to twist away from him. He grabbed her firmly by the wrist, tugging until she fell against him. She stopped struggling, her breath coming in short gasps.

Oh God. She was going to give in. She couldn’t turn him away again. She wasn’t strong enough…Already she felt her traitourous body straining up so that her lips were mere inches away from his. "Max…" She moaned, felt the exact instant when she knew she couldn’t fight him anymore.

Her lashes fluttered against her cheeks and she felt the light brush of his mouth against hers. And, then, nothing.

Liz opened her eyes in astonishment. The entire world had shifted briefly on its axis, she shook her head quickly and blinked.

No Max.

The only other person in the room was Tess, who was eyeing her, a slightly smug expression on her face. "Familiar?"

"You bitch," Liz ground out. "How could you do that to me?"

"We have to know for sure," Tess replied, not sounding the least bit guilty. "Have you felt that before?"

"Have I felt what before," Liz almost yelled. "Completely betrayed and violated?"

Tess shrugged. "Kind of. What I meant was, the little blip at the end, when I shut it off. I saw you shake your head. You felt it, didn’t you? Everyone always does. They just have no idea what it is, so they don’t really notice." She sighed, obviously seeing that it was taking all of Liz’s self-control not to strangle her. "Oh Liz, untwist your panties. I picked the one thing guaranteed to shock you. I needed you totally unaware of what I was doing. I knew that Max was the only one who would distract you sufficiently."

Liz snorted, trying to hide the fact that she was slightly embarrassed that Tess was onto her. Because the truth of the matter was, she had been about to let Max make love to her, everything that had come before be damned, the fact that Tess was in the bloody room with them be damned. And Tess knew it. The bitch.

And it hadn’t even really been him. She was a lost cause, obviously.

"I haven’t felt it before," Liz finally snapped. "She didn’t mindwarp me."

Liz was startled when Tess collapsed abruptly on the bed. "What’s wrong?" She felt all her anger fade away at the sight of the tears on Tess’s cheeks. "Tess, what is it?"

"She didn’t lie," Tess said, sniffling. "She didn’t completely lie."

"What?" Liz stared at her in amazement. "What are you talking about?"

"I didn’t turn into a completely selfish, psycho bitch!" Tess wailed. "She wasn’t just here to drive you away!"

Liz sat down next to her, put her arm around Tess’s shoulders. For the first time she understood that a lot of this was just as hard on Tess as it was on Liz. "God. You must have felt terrible Tess." Liz shook her head. "I can’t even imagine."

"I did," Tess admitted. "Why else do you think I’ve avoided dealing with this for so long? When I fell for Kyle and when Max became my friend, I couldn’t understand how I had ended up that way…so twisted and bitter. I was still sort of glad she’d come back though - because I’d found my place, a place she’d never had. But when you came back here and I found out for sure that she’d also been to see you…I didn’t want to believe it. Because that was evil. Before she was just selfish, but to haul you into it - to destroy you…"

"She wasn’t lying," Liz said softly. "I always knew it Tess. I never hated you you know. Her or you. I knew she was telling the truth."

"You’ve always seen things so clearly Liz," Tess replied. "How could you even see that about me?"

"I don’t know," Liz shrugged. "I guess I just thought that anyone who had to be with Max…who was made for him…couldn’t be all bad, as much as I was jealous. Because he is so good Tess. And so are Michael and Isabel, even if they hate me now. I guess I knew, even if I never admitted it to myself, that you couldn’t be all bad. I wouldn’t have given Max up to someone I truly thought was evil."

Tess stared at her. "Have you ever even really thought about this before?"

Liz laughed slightly. "Actually, no. I don’t understand why I’m suddenly seeing all of this with such clarity, but it doesn’t make it any less true."

They sat in companionable silence for a while longer, until Liz finally said, "This doesn’t change anything though Tess. It actually makes it worse you know. Because those flashes were real. The end of the world did happen."

"I know," Tess said. "But I don’t agree that it doesn’t change things. I still need to see that page Liz."

"Why?"

"Because while I’m glad to hear I wasn’t totally psycho, I do think Future Me lied a little bit about what it says."

"Tess, I got a flash from it."

"Liz, I know," the blonde said patiently. "I believe you. But I think the flash was trying to tell you something different then you think. I think that Future Me did want a crack at Max, if not enough to totally make up the end of the world. I think she was using the end of the world to her advantage."

"Um, what?"

"That version of me never had Kyle. She still wanted Max. She probably still believed that she was the one made for him," Tess explained, as though it made perfect sense. Liz wondered if she was a big dolt because she had no clue what Tess was talking about. Of course Tess was talking about herself. No one would understand Future Tess better than Present Tess. Liz almost giggled at the sheer lunacy of that thought.

"And you don’t?"

"Nope," Tess grinned at her. "I think Max made you exactly who he needed you to be. And I think that page says exactly that. That you can have his baby. That, in fact, you’re the only one who can."

Liz froze. "I don’t understand," she whispered.

Tess grimaced. "Liz, you know what? While I think I’m right about this - both Michael and Isabel think I’m right too by the way…"

Liz wrinkled her nose. The thought of Michael and Isabel was enough to send a shiver down her spine. "I’m sure."

"Liz, they do. Once I explained to them why you really left…They are totally grateful. They want you back with Max just as much as any of us now too."

Liz would believe that when she saw it. But she didn’t argue with Tess again. "Okay."

"Anyway," Tess continued. "I don’t want to go into too much detail about what I think that page might say. I need to read it for sure first."

Liz frowned. "You don’t want to get Max’s hopes up?"

"Something like that," Tess replied. "Although he doesn’t even know about this."

"Then what?" Liz asked, confused.

Tess reached out, took her hand and squeezed. "Liz, I know how hard all of this has been on you. Maybe I just don’t want you to get your hopes up too high until I know for sure."

"You care about that?" Liz demanded, shocked.

"Liz, of course I do. I’m not a monster you know." Tess sounded hurt.

Liz smiled at her - her first real smile in days. "I know you’re not Tess." She was serious again though when she continued, "You know what? I don’t think I even want to know what you think you know until you know it for sure anyway." She shook her head, sighing. "If that makes any sense."

"It does," Tess replied, smiling slightly. "So is the page in New York? Please tell me it’s not in New York."

"It’s not," Liz assured her. "But I won’t tell you until you make a deal with me. I trust you Tess. I trust that you’ll help me with this."

Tess was now suspicious as she asked, "With what?"

"If that page doesn’t say what you think it does…" Liz trailed off, then went for broke. "If it doesn’t, you need to promise me that you’ll make Max embrace his destiny."

"What?" Tess whispered, shocked.

"You know what I’m getting at Tess," Liz said firmly. "You have to promise me. If it doesn’t change anything, that page, then you need to promise me that you and Max will have a baby."

"Liz…"

"Promise."

Liz could see the internal struggle Tess was undergoing, felt bad about it. She felt particularly bad about Kyle, but she knew that she had to do this. She could no longer fight this battle all by herself. Max needed to have a child. She hoped that Tess was right about whatever she thought was on that page, but if she wasn’t, it was time for everyone to sacrifice something of themselves for the good of humankind.

She could no longer do it alone. And she did trust Tess.

Tess swallowed, took a deep breath then said, "I know I’m right about this Liz. And because I know, I’ll promise."

Liz stared at her, then nodded. "Okay then. The page is hidden with my journal behind my old bed at my parent’s house."

Their eyes met and held. Liz could see the fear that now existed in Tess’s blue-eyed gaze. The blonde’s stake in this had just risen to new heights. Her own happiness now depended on what that page said just as much as Liz’s did. Liz saw Tess’s spine straighten, her respect for the woman who had once been her greatest enemy, rising another notch.

"What are we waiting for?" Tess finally asked, standing up. "Let’s go face our destiny once and for all."

[Kath7]

Part 19

Liz took a deep breath and reached out her hand, placing it against the cool metal of the door knob on the Crashdown’s back door. Taking a quick glance around and seeing no one, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the small locking mechanism, letting out a sigh of relief when she heard it click. Looking around once more, Liz opened the door and stepped inside.

She stopped abruptly, as a hand was thrust in her face. She hadn’t been expecting anyone to be in here, and had hoped she could make it to the living area upstairs without anyone coming upon her.

Before they’d left the hotel, Tess and Liz had decided exactly what it was they were going to do. They knew that their friends would have a lot of questions if they both came waltzing through the door together. With all that was on their plates, neither girl wanted to sit through a question and answer session, even if it was for the benefit of well meaning friends. There was too much at stake to waste precious time in their search for answers. Both women wanted to get things done quickly, their futures hinging on the next few hours of their lives. So they’d decided that Liz would go inside and walk through, letting Tess in through the balcony window, figuring there was less chance of Liz being cornered in her parents’ own restaurant.

"Liz! What do you think you’re doing? I could have blasted you to Kingdom come for sneaking in like that!" Michael said as he lowered his hand and stepped around Liz to shut the door and click the lock back into place.

"I’m sorry Michael. I don’t have a key to this door anymore. I needed to get in," Liz said.

"Why didn’t you just use the front door?" Michael asked. "It’s open, you know."

"I didn’t want to see anyone, OK," Liz replied shortly.

"Oookaaaaaay," Michael said, drawing his word out, and giving Liz a weird look.

"Listen, Michael, I didn’t mean to snap. I just, I have a lot on my mind, and there are some things I need to do, okay?" Liz said.

"I know," Michael said quietly. "So, you’ve talked to Tess?"

Liz nodded, and shifted nervously from foot to foot. "She’s waiting for me to let her in the balcony window."

Liz watched as Michael’s eyes widen. Realization passed over his face, and a moment later, his expression softened. He reached out to touch Liz’s arm. "Liz, look, I just want to say-"

"Michael," Liz interrupted, grabbing his hand. "You and I have a lot to talk about. I have a lot to say to all of you. And I will. But right now, it’s just really not a good time. It’s actually a terrible time. Tess and I…we’re kind of in the middle of something."

"Right." Michael nodded his head. He turned to walk away, but looked back over his shoulder at Liz. "Good luck, Liz. I hope you guys find what you’re looking for."

Liz offered Michael a hopeful smile. "Me too, Michael. Me too."

After Michael walked out into the front of the restaurant, Liz climbed the stairs, two at a time, to the home where she’d grown up. She was grateful for the fact that her parents were out of town and the apartment would be empty. She just really didn’t have time to deal with them right now. Using her powers to unlock the door, she pushed it open. The lights were off, but Liz didn’t need them. Even in the dark, she had the apartment memorized and was at her bedroom door in a matter of seconds. Opening it, she reached her hand in and flipped on the light. Stepping across to the window, she unlocked it, slid it up, and helped Tess inside.

"You know," Tess commented as she climbed in, "When Kyle and I first started dating, I climbed in his window a few times in the middle of the night. I bet he’d get a real kick out of the fact that this time, I’m sneaking in a girl’s window." The smile she gave Liz was small, but genuine.

Liz smiled back at her. "We’ll have to fill him in on all the details. He’ll be able to picture it perfectly by the way. Remind me to tell you someday about the time Kyle and Max came through this window together."

Tess’s eyes widened. "That’s one story I won’t forget to ask for."

Liz stepped over to her bed and sat down on the corner of it, Tess following and sitting down next to her.

"So, this is it, huh?" Liz asked shakily, reflecting on how strange it was to be here with Tess, to be joking with Tess. The person she had blamed for all her problems over the years. But that had just been a means of escaping from the mess she had made of her own life.

Tess smiled nervously. "This is it," she agreed.

Tess turned to Liz and watched as the other woman stared at her hands, fiddling with her fingernails. She couldn’t blame Liz for being nervous. They both had a lot riding on the missing destiny book page hidden in the wall behind the very bed they were sitting on. And for more reasons than one, Tess prayed silently that she was right. That the page held the information they needed to ensure that Max and Liz did indeed have a future together.

Liz took a deep breath and stood up, turned to face the bed. "Well, here goes." Moving towards the wall at the head of the bed, Liz stopped and turned abruptly. "Tess, whatever the outcome of this, you know, whatever it is we find, I just…I want to thank you. You know, for being my…friend."

Tess felt her eyes welling up. The tension and anxiety she’d felt over the last couple of hours had been building up her emotions and at Liz’s expression of gratitude, Tess couldn’t hold them back any longer. They’d come so far in the last two days. She and Liz had gone from being enemies to friends. She’d gone from hating Liz Evans with a passion, to admiring her with the utmost respect. And she’d gone from not caring whether or not her best friend’s wife ever showed up again to hoping against hope that she never left. Now, face to face with Liz Evans, Tess knew that the other woman felt the same.

Liz smiled once more at Tess, then turned to the wall and placed an unsteady hand on the brick she knew would move at the slightest push. Pausing a second to gain her composure, she put pressure on the corner of the brick, easing her fingers into the crack and pulling the piece of wall out. Crouching down so that she could see into the small dark hole, she squinted her eyes. She wasn’t surprised when she saw a faint glow shining from beneath her journal. And without warning, she stood up suddenly and turned around.

"I can’t do it," she said breathlessly, her eyes wide with fear.

"Can’t do what?" Tess asked, slightly confused.

Liz held up her hands, trembling with fright.

Tess’s eyes widened when she saw Liz’s hands. Streaks of brilliant jade were crackling from her fingertips, running down her hand and disappearing beneath the sleeves of her shirt. "Liz, wha-"

"It’s my powers. When my emotions are heightened, or intense, or sometimes, when I get really stressed I can’t control them. Like Michael used to be. Except I’ve still never completely learned to handle them. I can’t touch that page again, Tess. I can’t. If I get those flashes again, I won’t be able to handle it. Y…you… have to do it."

Tess watched with odd fascination as Liz’s façade began to crumble in front of her. Liz had played the part of a woman who would be able to sacrifice herself for a greater cause without ever looking back. But Tess saw that she’d played her part to a T. Because the person standing in front of her was far from the strong, self sacrificing woman she’d led everyone to believe she was. In fact, underneath Liz Evans tough exterior was a woman scared to death that she was losing everything she’d ever wanted.

Tess knew that she would have to be the one to be strong. Liz had held the weight on her shoulders for far too long, and it was about to break her. She, herself, would have to reach into that hole and pull out the page they were seeking. For herself, for Max, for Liz, and even for Kyle. There simply was no other choice. Tess shook her head, and got up from the bed. "Okay," she said hesitantly. "I’ll do it."

Tess walked over to the wall, knelt down, and before she had time to think about it, reached inside and pulled out the shiny page. She stepped away from the wall and sat back down on the bed, her eyes glued to the piece of metal, skimming it as fast as she could, reading it from top to bottom, front to back.

Liz watched Tess’s face, her heart all but beating out of her chest, for any sign of emotion. The hint of a smile. The beginnings of a frown. Anything to let her know what the page said.

"What does it say?" Liz asked cautiously when she saw Tess look up, her face pensive and unreadable.

Tess said nothing, merely looked up at Liz, her eyes still wet with tears. Without breaking contact, she lifted her hand, swiped it over the page, and thrust it towards Liz.

Liz reached out reluctantly and took the page. She turned it around so that she could read the words now written in English, and as she did so, her knees gave out beneath her and the world spun into darkness.

***

"Liz? Liz, c’mon, Liz. I need you to wake up."

Liz opened her eyes and squinted, raising her head to look at her surroundings. She was about to ask what she was doing in her old room, but when she saw Tess’s worried expression and glimpsed the shiny silver Destiny Book page sitting on the floor next to her, it all came rushing back.

With a sob, Liz closed her eyes again and leaned her head against the wall, lifting her arm and throwing it across her eyes.

"Liz, what’s wrong? I thought this was the answer you wanted? This is everything we were looking for. Don’t you see? You and Max can be together now. Why does that upset you?" Tess asked anxiously.

"It doesn’t upset me, Tess. I’m overjoyed. But, it breaks my heart," Liz said, opening her eyes. "Because I did it all for nothing. I broke Max’s heart and put him through 4 years of misery for nothing!"

It couldn’t be true, Liz thought, that it had all been for nothing. That her fruitless attempts to leave Max and Roswell behind had been all because she was trying to prevent something that was nothing but an intricately woven lie. Coming to terms with the fact that there had been another way might just push her over the edge.

Tess watched Liz’s face and shook her head sadly. She was sorry that Max had been hurt. She was sorry that Liz had been hurt. But Liz was wrong. It hadn’t been for nothing. "You’re wrong, Liz. It wasn’t for nothing. There was a purpose to this, and one that in the long run, helps everyone out."

Liz shook her head. How could this have helped things? How could this have made anything better for any of them? Tess was clearly losing it just as fast as she was. "That’s not possible, Tess."

Tess sighed deeply. "Liz, in the other…timeline, you never left. I never came back. You and Max were happy, and stayed together. But the world ended. You know why? Because of this." Tess picked up the page from the floor and waved it in front of Liz’s face. "In the other timeline, you never knew about this. You, Max, no one. And because of that, you two were never able to have the child that Max is destined to have. But all that changed Liz. Can’t you see? When you left town, it changed things. It changed us. We grew up. We matured. We developed emotions and bonds and feelings for each other. And when you came back to get your divorce, those same feelings are what pushed us to find a way. For you and Max, and me and Kyle, and even for that baby that you’ll carry someday," she said, gently touching Liz’s abdomen. "If you’d never left, we would have never had a reason to look for this page. And the world would have ended," Tess finished.

"But why, Tess? Why did I have to hurt everyone?" Liz looked down at her hands, then back up at Tess with tortured eyes. "Why did I have to hurt him?"

"So you could save the world. So you could save him," Tess said simply, placing her hand on Liz’s arm. "And I know you, Liz. I know Max. What you did, what you two went through, was a small sacrifice. You two went through four years of heartbreak and emotional turmoil. But in return, you got the world. Every single person alive owes you and Max more than they’ll ever know. Because you’ve saved them. You’ve saved them from a horrible future that was never meant to be in the first place."

"But, what if this isn’t the way it’s supposed to be?" Liz asked. "What if what happened the last time is how it’s supposed to be? What if we’re playing with fire here, Tess?"

Liz’s mind was reeling. She felt everything she’d ever felt in her life, all mixed up in her head, but intensified to the nth degree. She felt the happiest she’d ever been, save for the day she married Max. She felt the most confused she’d ever felt, with all the questions and what ifs running through her mind. She felt more hurt coursing through her veins than she’d ever felt before, the events of the last two days finally taking their toll on her. Everything she’d ever wanted to know she’d just read and her mind couldn’t comprehend the reality of the situation. She glanced back at the page, still in Tess’s hands, and saw the words in her mind again, already burned into her memory, despite the fact that she’d only read them once, just minutes ago.

The destined mate is predetermined, but not chosen.
She who is chosen by the King will be changed, by his own hand,
When he chooses to be responsible for her life. And thus she will become his destiny.
Then it will be she, and only she, who can bear the child spoken of, and only from a love that no other will rival…
…the Granolith holds the answers to the Bonding Ceremony that will make this come to pass.
The ceremony must be performed by a member of the royal party, for the King and his chosen queen.

"No, don’t say that, Liz!" Tess’s firm tone brought Liz’s eyes back up to meet hers. "That isn’t the way it’s supposed to be. If it was, then this book wouldn’t tell us a way to change it. It wouldn’t give us instructions on how to ensure that it wouldn’t happen."

"But what if…I mean, how can we….what I mean is, where do we…"

Liz’s words faded out as she realized that she didn’t have any room to argue. Tess was right. This was right. This was how things were supposed to go. It was always supposed to be she and Max. She’d always known that with him was where she belonged. She’d known it from the first breath she’d taken after he healed her in the Crashdown. There was no use in arguing over it anymore. She’d even known it the minute she watched Tess pull that page out of the wall, that it would say there was a way for she and Max. She’d known it with ever fiber of her being.

But when she saw it in print, when she saw the truth, it scared her to death. Because now there was nothing stopping them. No obstacles in the way, no ridiculous destinies, no mistranslated books. And that fact alone frightened her more than anything. The path was clear for her to follow every dream she’d ever had and make it come true. A life. A husband. A family.

The real problem was that, with everything she was ever meant to be within her grasp, Liz Evans didn’t know where to start. How did she even begin to repair the damage she had done to her marriage by abandoning Max?

"What am I going to do, Tess? There’s so much I need to do. So many people I have to explain things to. I don’t know where to begin," she said.

Tess grinned a small grin and stood up. "That’s the easy part, Liz. You do know where to begin. The same place you’ll finish. With Max."

Liz felt her heart beating once again at a double pace. "I can’t believe this is happening. Max and I can be together. And no one’s going to die because of it. We can save the world, and be happy," Liz said, the beginnings of a smile starting to turn up the corners of her mouth.

Tess looked at Liz, smiling, and gazing across the room with a far off look in her eyes when a thought occurred to her that made her chest constrict.

She’d lied.

The other version of herself had come back from the future and lied. She’d told them it wasn’t possible for Max and Liz to have a baby. She’d told them that there was nothing Max and Liz could do if they stayed together. But she’d known it wasn’t true. She’d know there was a way. And the fact that she’d given Liz the page that told them so was proof. She’d taken it out of the Destiny Book before she gave it to her so that it would never be found. She had been a terrible person. She had been willing to wreck happy homes in order to get what she wanted.

Turning towards the wall, and falling against it with a dull thud, Tess sighed in resignation. "She lied. She came back here, and lied to you. She lied to me, which really means to herself, right to my face. This is all my fault."

Liz turned to Tess, shocked. Tess blamed herself? All this time she’d thought it was her fault that everyone had had to endure such pain and loss. And all this time, Tess had felt the same way. If only she’d handled things differently. Maybe if she had talked to Max, or even Tess, then maybe things could have been different. If she’d only told them why she was leaving, maybe they could have fixed things four years ago. They’d both felt it was their fault, but was it possible that a little communication could have fixed the problem before it had even begun?

But it couldn’t be helped now. Asking the what ifs wasn’t going to help any of them. Really and truly, not a one of them was to blame. Not her, not Tess, not Max. This was all Future Tess’s fault. The blame was completely hers. Liz shook her head. "None of this is your fault, Tess."

"I should have known. I should have seen through her façade. I mean, she’s me for cryin’ out loud! But I didn’t. I let her trick me. Why, Liz, why did I believe her?" Tess cried, her guilt hitting her full force as the tears began to flow down her cheeks.

Liz shook her head. "Tess, I won’t let you blame yourself. You’re not her. I believed her too. She was an evil, cruel person, who’d known nothing but unhappiness and loneliness in her lifetime. She had a hard life. It made her a hard person. A person who was willing to do anything if it meant she’d have the chance to live a better life, even if it was in another timeline. But you, Tess, you’re good. You’re not the tormented person she was. You’re happy, a..and…you’re loved. People love you, and you love them back. That alone is enough to prove that you are different than she was."

Tess sniffled, and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

"You know," Liz continued quietly. "She lied to us. She…she manipulated us to get us to do what she wanted. And we did it. We hurt people, and we changed the future. But you know what, I think, in some, weird, sick way, we owe her our thanks."

Tess whipped her head around to face Liz. "What? How can you say that? She was a con artist, and she fooled us both!"

Liz shrugged. "You’re happy, Tess. You have Kyle and friends and a family, something you didn’t have last time. That she didn’t have. I have a great job that I love, a friend to cherish in Serena, and the chance to be happy with Max and save the world at the same time. She gave that to us. She made it possible. She could have done it a different way, but she didn’t. We can’t change that now. But everything we have, is because of her. She wanted to change the future. And she did."

Tess listened in fascination as Liz Evans told her all the reasons she could think of to thank the one person that could have ruined her life. Even after everything she’d had to endure, everything she’d had to give up, Liz still didn’t hold it against the woman that had run her out of town.

Tess felt her admiration for Liz Evans grow tenfold. Here she was, convincing the very person that drove her out of town to forgive herself. She’d been lied to and manipulated more than anyone, and had had to sacrifice more than anyone, and she still didn’t hate the person that had caused it. Liz truly was a one of kind woman, special in ways that were just becoming evident. There was no longer any question in her mind as to why Max was so devoted to her, even after all this time. "I wish I could be more like you Liz. It’s no wonder they all love you so much."

"Hey," Liz said, standing up and holding out her hand to help Tess up. "They love you too. For the exact same reasons they love me. Because we love them back."

Tess smiled, reached out, and took Liz’s hand in her own. "We could have been great friends, Liz Evans," Tess said.

"Yeah, well, the way I see it, we still can be," Liz replied. "I just got everything I’ve wished for the past four years. I plan on using it."

"You’re going to Max?" Tess asked.

"Yes. But not tonight. I’m worn out and I have a lot to think about." Liz almost grimaced as she saw Max’s face flash through her mind. The hurt and confusion she’d seen on his face had just about done her in when she’d left him in the old jail cell. But now, knowing that she had no valid reason whatsoever for leaving him there, devastated again, she felt sick to her stomach. She had a lot to say to him, a lot to apologize for and even more to explain. And not just for what had happened in the last two days. She’d been gone for four years. Max deserved to know every reason why, every question she’d had, and every emotion she’d felt. She could only hope that he’d still be willing to listen.

Tess saw Liz’s downcast look and knew instinctively she was thinking about Max. "It’s going to be okay," Tess reassured her as she headed towards Liz’s window. "Things will work out Liz. I have no doubt. He loves you. He always has, beyond question, and without condition. You know what the book says," Tess reminded her, turning around to face Liz, one leg slung over the windowsill. "From a love that no other will rival. That’s you and Max."

Liz sighed and walked to the window. On impulse she grabbed Tess’s shoulders and hugged her awkwardly. She smiled softly to herself when she felt Tess’s arms come up around her. How ironic it was that just two days ago she could have cared less if she never saw Tess Harding again, but now, she knew that somewhere down the line, she truly did want to be friends with the girl who had once been her nemesis.

"Thank you, Tess," Liz said, pulling away.

"Actually," Tess replied, pausing long enough to swing her other leg over the windowsill, then turning to peer inside, "I think I should be thanking you."

Liz almost giggled at the wave of relief written over Tess’s features. She remembered Tess’s expression of unmistakable dread when she’d made her promise to force Max to embrace his destiny. "What made you make that promise anyway?"

Tess shrugged her shoulders. "I had faith. I knew that book would give us a way."

With that, Tess waved goodbye, turned to the balcony ladder, and climbed down.

Shutting the window, Liz turned around and grabbed the telephone on the bedside table. She dialed the hotel and asked for her room number, smiling when she heard Serena’s groggy voice answer the phone.

"Hello? It’s after midnight. This better be good."

Liz rolled her eyes good-naturedly at Serena’s snappy tone. "Hey, it’s me. I just want to let you know I won’t be sleeping there tonight."

"Are you with Max?"

Liz squinted here eyes at the opposite wall, obviously hearing the uncertainty in Serena’s voice. "No, I’m not with Max. I’m at home. I’m tired, so I’m just going to crash here tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah, Liz. Tomorrow." Serena’s tone was still slightly frosty.

"Rena…" Liz swallowed. "I’m really sorry about before. I…I guess it just made me mad that knew exactly what was going through my head. You were right you know. I was being selfish and a chicken. But everything’s different now."

Serena’s voice had softened when she asked, "Different how?"

"It’s too long to get into on the phone," Liz replied. "But suffice it to say, I won’t be leaving Roswell until I get everything straightened out once and for all."

There was a long pause and then Serena sighed. "Well okay then. I forgive you. I have to. You’ve been so manic nuts the last few days, I can’t blame you."

"Thanks Rena." Liz breathed a sigh of relief. "I owe you one."

"The way I see it, you owe me about three hundred," Serena joked. "But we’ll let it slide, shall we. Sleep well."

"I will. For the first time in a long time, I know I will," Liz replied.

"I can’t wait to hear what brought on this epiphany," Serena grumbled. "Don’t wait too long. Come back here first thing tomorrow."

"I’ll come back as soon as I can. Why don’t you do something touristy?" Liz suggested. "Check out the UFO Centre or something."

"Maybe…" Serena trailed off, not sounding convinced. "Night."

"Good night."

Liz sighed as she hung the phone back up on its cradle and lay back on the bed. She turned on her side, staring at the room she’d grown up in. Still standing in the corner was the mirror she’d used to try on the simple white dress in which she’d married Max. On the dresser was the dried up rose he’d given her the night they’d decided to elope. Hanging in the closet was the Crashdown uniform she’d worn as a teenager to work in the restaurant where her life with Max had begun. Everywhere she looked made Liz think of Max. And for the first time in four years, she was able to smile at her memories.

There was still a small smile playing on her lips when she drifted off to sleep.

***

Tess jumped when a hand landed on her shoulder. "What are you doing out this late by yourself?"

She spun around and lifted her arm, hitting Max squarely in the chest with her fist. "Max Evans, If you ever scare me like that again, I swear I’ll blast you to kingdom come!"

Max raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry. Didn’t mean to, really. But it is a valid question."

"Oh please," Tess said, rolling her eyes. "Like I can’t protect myself."

"It’s a dangerous world, Tess."

Tess snorted, but her mood quickly sobered when she noticed for the first time the redness in his eyes and the taut look on his face. "Max, are you okay?"

"Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?" Max asked. "I’m always fine." He paused, then muttered, half to himself. "Nothing a cold beer won’t fix."

Tess narrowed her eyes. Something was wrong. "Max you don’t drink. You and alcohol don’t mix, remember?"

"Yeah, well, apparently, neither do me and Liz," he said, his voice laced with sarcasm. He scowled. "Why would anything be wrong? It’s not like it’s new or anything."

Tess stared at Max, noticing a change in him that sent a shiver down her spine. He seemed…weak. Rejected. Defeated. Whatever Liz had done to him this time had definitely struck a chord. His nonchalant attitude was sending up alarm bells. "What’s that supposed to mean?" Tess asked.

Max sighed deeply. "Nothing, okay? I just…when I ran after her tonight, I found her. We talked a bit. I know now that she was right. We’ll never be together. I’m over it."

"Don’t lie to me, Max. What happened?"

"I don’t want to talk about it."

"Max," Tess said, placing her hand on his shoulder. "Everything’s going to turn out fine, okay?"

Max laughed bitterly. "Yeah. For you. You’ve got the person you’ll love. I’ll never be with the person I love again."

Tess shifted uncomfortably from one foot to another. She hated seeing him like this, hated watching him hurt know she could do something about it. But was it really her place to tell him? Making a split moment decision, Tess decided to tell Max a little bit, leaving the most of it for Liz to reveal.

"Max, Liz is coming to see you. There’s some things she needs to explain," she blurted quickly.

Max fixed his gaze on Tess’s face. "I don’t want to see her."

"Max, don’t say that! She really needs to talk to you. It’s extremely important that you hear her out."

There was a long pause. Max’s expression remained closed, angry. "Tess, do you know what she just did to me? She kissed me and told me she loved me. She made every dream I’ve had since she left come true, then she turned around and left me again. I’m through with Liz. I’m done."

Tess’s concern was turning into full-fledged panic. What was going on here? Just yesterday, Max had been ready to fight tooth and nail to win Liz back. Hell, just a few hours ago he had played just about the dirtiest trick in the book to make her admit she still loved him. Now he was giving up, letting her go. Tess couldn’t even imagine what Liz must have said to him to do this..

But as she remembered Liz’s despair earlier, her guilt, her absolute gut-driven belief that she and Max could not be together, Tess frowned. It had been bad, perhaps unforgivable. And, yet, Liz deserved one more chance. None of it had been her fault!

"Max, we found something, Liz and I," Tess tried desperately. "Something that changes everything."

Max snorted, kicking at a stone near his feet. "It doesn’t matter anymore Tess. Nothing can make me care anymore."

"Max, you do care. I know you do. Listen to me. We found a way for you and Liz to be together. We found the answers to all your problems. You can be happy, with Liz, and she’s going to come see you. She wants to talk to you, Max."

Max glared at her for a full minute. "I thought you were my friend," he finally said suspiciously. "Why are you suddenly playing defense attorney for Liz?"

"I am your friend Max. Of course I am." Tess was beginning to get annoyed. When had she ever steered him wrong? "You just need to give Liz a chance. She regrets everything and I know for a fact that she wants you back."

Max threw his arms out to the side. "What if I don’t want her back, Tess? What if I’ve given up? I’ve spent four years of my life chasing after a dream that I’ve realized I lost a long time ago. I can’t do this anymore. If I don’t start living a life of my own and if I don’t learn to do it without Liz, I’ll go crazy, Tess. These past years, I’ve been living for Liz, on the hope that she’ll come back to me. She’s made it perfectly clear she doesn’t want that. I’m dealing with it."

"Max, you may be able to fool everyone else, but you can’t fool me. I’m your best friend, remember? I know you better than anyone. And I know you haven’t given up on Liz. Look, Max. This is your destiny. Liz and the future you are going to have with her. We’ve seen it. There’s a missing page to the Destiny Book and it gives us all the answers. It’s going to be fine. Liz is coming back to you. You can be together."

Max shook his head. "So what does that mean, Tess? You found a missing page in a book from another planet. And all of a sudden, things are going to be okay because now that you’ve read it, I’m allowed to love Liz? All this time, I’ve been told to give her up, that it’s not possible, and when I finally decide to do it, you convince me not too? Make up your mind!"

"Max, that’s not how I meant it, and you know it. I only ever wanted you to be happy. I didn’t know why Liz left. Now that I do, she deserves another chance," Tess argued. "Everything I’ve ever said was for you. And I’m saying this for your own good this time too. Don’t throw away your chance at happiness now that you finally have it."

"Save it, Tess. Just save it for…oh, how about Liz? She’ll need someone to talk to after I tell her to get lost. I just can’t do this anymore."

Tess watched with an open mouth as Max turned on his heel and walked away from her.

***

"Kyle, honey, are you home?" Tess hollered as she opened the front door to their apartment.

"Hey," Kyle said, looking up sleepily from the couch. He’d obviously tried to wait up for her with little to no success. Tess smiled slightly to herself, in spite of her bad mood.

"I didn’t see your car outside. I thought you were still working," Tess said as she plopped down next to him. She snuggled into his side when she felt his arms wrap around her shoulders.

"Yeah, my patrol car had a flat and my truck is still in the shop. I got one of the other deputies to drop me off. One of the perks of being Jim Valenti’s son. They do what I tell ‘em."

Tess giggled and closed her eyes when she felt Kyle press his lips to her temple.

"Have a rough day?" He asked, tipping her chin up so she could meet his gaze.

"Not exactly rough. Just…full. Michael, Isabel and I went to the pod chamber today. I wanted to find a way to help Max and Liz. They’ve gotten so out of control."

"What did you find?"

"Answers. After that, I went to talk to Liz, and we found out what really happened when she left here. And we found a way to fix things between she and Max."

"Why don’t you sound as happy as I think you should? I thought you wanted them back together?"

"I do," Tess said. "Except I don’t think things are going to be able to just go back like they were, you know? A lot has happened. Max and Liz are both changed. She’s got this whole other life in New York, and he’s got one here in Roswell. They’ve been on their own for four years. As much as we all wish it would happen, I have a feeling they won’t just be able to just kiss and make up."

"They’re Liz and Max. They’ll find a way. You’ve always believed it, and now that I’ve seen her here and the way they are around each other, I believe it too. It’ll happen. Give it time."

"I hope you’re right," Tess said softly, frowning slightly when she thought of Max’s temper tantrum earlier. She was going to have to be up bright and early again to try and reason with him some more. She hoped he would be in a better mood after a good night’s sleep.

She couldn’t be angry at him though. Tess had learned first hand today how stubborn Liz Evans could be. She had obviously really hurt Max earlier. She considered getting up and calling Liz to warn her, but Kyle was raining little kisses down her neck, finally distracting her sufficiently that she turned her full attention back to her fiancé.

"Aren’t I always? Right I mean?" He whispered against her ear.

Tess turned to smile at Kyle, found herself getting lost in his intense gaze. It had been days since they’d spent any real time together and she realized how much she’d missed just being alone with him. "Why don’t we forget about Liz and Max for tonight," Tess suggested breathlessly, her friends’ soap operatic lives already flying from her mind.

Kyle grinned devilishly, sending a delicious thrill through Tess’s veins. It was the last thing she saw as he reached out his hand to flick off the lamp. "Can’t think of anything I’d rather do."

[Kath7]

Part 20

Liz woke with a gasp, sitting up and staring at the wall before she even realized she was awake. Her heart was still pounding from some nightmare that was slipping out of her memory already. She frowned slightly, forced herself to take deep breaths to calm down.

She had no idea what she had been dreaming about, but she knew somehow that it had to do with Max. Something was wrong. Either he was in danger or something else had happened. Concentrating now she understood abruptly that the turmoil she was feeling had absolutely nothing to do with any bad dream and everything to do with Max.

Liz felt tears fill her eyes, felt a lump enter her throat as she understood what it meant. She felt a smile of pure joy break out across her face.

The connection had reopened. She had opened her heart to him again and suddenly, without warning she could feel him, just like in the old days.

Blinking away the moisture, she glanced out her bedroom window, almost expecting Max to be waiting for her there, peering in her window like he used to do when they were in high school. He would always look slightly uncomfortable until he was certain she was there, had always relaxed visibly when their eyes had met. He had told her once that he had always feared accidentally running into her father or mother. She giggled slightly now, amused still that he could find her parents so terrifying. Of course, based on her mother’s reaction when they had eloped to Vegas, she couldn’t say that she blamed him. Her parents had almost seemed relieved when she had run away from Max. She knew it was why they hadn’t told anyone where she was for such a long time. They had always believed that she had thrown away her life for Max Evans.

But that had never been it of course. She had thrown away her life by running away from him. She had been a martyr long enough. It was time to go get things back on track, time to make herself happy for once.

They were meant to be. The fact that he was with her now, after so long, when he wasn’t even anywhere in the vicinity…it was the last proof she needed that this was the right thing.

Jumping to her feet, Liz glanced at the clock, realized that it was still extremely early, barely six o’clock. But she wanted to catch Max before he went to work and there was no way she would be able to get back to sleep anyway. Her vision of their reunion involved far too much emotion for it to occur in a public place.

They needed to be alone for what she had in mind.

Grinning to herself in the shower moments later, Liz shook her head when she realized that she was actually humming - off key, yes, but humming nonetheless.

You’re lucky you’re so cute wife of mine. Now that she was allowing her happy memories to return, they were coming back full force. She could almost picture Max pulling back the shower curtain and running his eyes up and down her body appreciatively. You have the worst voice I’ve ever heard.

She could hear her own sultry voice replying, twirled under the stream of water in anticipation Well then husband dear, come make me really sing.

Less than half an hour later, Liz was out of her parent’s apartment and driving to Max’s house. He actually lived very close to the Crashdown, likely because of the convenience of walking to work at the UFO Center every day. It was only as she drew nearer to her husband’s small home the Liz felt her good mood draining a bit. Because she was beginning to remember the bad feeling with which she had awoken.

The connection she shared with Max had jerked her out of a sound sleep. It had disappeared almost immediately, and she had ignored what he had been feeling through it, because of her joy at his sudden presence back in her soul. It was the only excuse that she could come up with for why she had ignored the bad feeling she was now getting as she drew closer to Max.

She frowned, concentrated again. She realized that she must have known right off that he wasn’t in any physical danger. She could tell that now too. It was maybe another little excuse for ignoring what was now so blatantly clear to her, it was almost painful.

He wasn’t happy. At all. Something was wrong, but she couldn’t quite get enough of a read to figure out what. But he was definitely awake. And, somehow, she knew that he was waiting for her.

Liz was beginning to feel a little trepidation as she turned onto Max’s quiet street. She passed an early morning jogger, nodded hello, but bit her lip as she stopped in front of her husband’s house.

She rolled her eyes slightly when she realized that she was hoping that he was going to throw open the front door and make this easy for her. She couldn’t imagine that Tess hadn’t told him something last night. In spite of their new, friendlier status, Liz knew that Tess was, and always would be, Max’s friend first. She would have done the same thing.

Of course, if Tess had spoken to Max, shouldn’t he be in a better frame of mind? Liz wrinkled her nose, realized that she could almost feel his black mood descending over her like a physical mass. She sighed heavily, understood that he wasn’t going to make this easy on her. He was still upset about what had happened at the jail - rightfully - but it was going to make this all harder than she had anticipated.

Well, she wasn’t leaving without telling him exactly what she wanted from him. They had been apart long enough. He had spent the last three days trying to convince her that she still loved him. She wasn’t going to let him turn his back on that now. Not when they could finally be together!

Steeling herself, Liz marched up the front walk, onto the porch and knocked on the door. She smiled nervously when Max’s dog - had she ever known it’s name? Heck, had she ever even known that Max liked dogs? - started barking.

"Be quiet Lou!" Liz frowned slightly, recognizing Tess’s voice through the door. It opened a moment later to reveal the small blonde. She stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her so Lou couldn’t get out. "Sorry Liz. He only shuts up when Max tells him to," she sighed as the dog continued to bark.

"That’s okay," Liz replied. "Um, where’s Max?" She asked, her dread becoming a small knot on the pit of her stomach. "I…I thought he was here."

Tess shook her head in annoyance. "He was here. He left about five minutes ago. I think he knew you were coming."

"Why are you here Tess?" Liz asked. She was desperately trying to control the panic that was threatening to take over. This was bad. Really bad. Her premonition earlier had not been a figment of her imagination it seemed. In spite of the fact that all she wanted was to see him, it seemed that he was feeling exactly the opposite at the moment. "Did you tell him?"

"Some of it," Tess admitted. "Liz, I won’t lie to you. He’s not himself. I can’t figure out what the heck is wrong with him. I ran into him last night and he was acting really strange. What did you say to him yesterday? Because whatever it was, it worked."

Liz closed her eyes, swallowed. "Does it really matter?" She finally asked, her heart breaking over how much she had hurt Max the day before. She hadn’t allowed herself to really think about it until now, but the image of him on the floor of that jail-cell watching her walk away from him again…it was starting to haunt her.

"I guess not," Tess replied. "I came over first thing, tried to talk to him Liz, tried to get him to give you a chance to explain once and for all. I just don’t know why he’s finally pissed. It’s so weird."

"Tess, we need to find him," Liz said firmly, forcing herself to remain calm. Now was not the time to freak out. She needed to find Max and they needed to work this out once and for all.

"I think you can find him Liz," Tess told her. "He said that you’d know where he was if you really thought about it. That he would be in the one place where you’ve always been totally honest with each other?" She shrugged helplessly. "Do you have any idea where that is?"

Liz felt momentarily perplexed. She closed her eyes again, reached out with her senses, trying to understand what Max was doing, where he was. The one place where they had always been honest with each other? What the heck was he talking about?

And suddenly she knew.

It was the night of their graduation and they had come out to the radio tower near Pohlman Ranch to be alone after dropping Michael and Maria off at home. Liz had been sure that they were in for a lengthy make-out session, but Max had become increasingly quiet and pensive. Now, they were stretched out on a blanket, staring up at the star-filled sky, their hands linked, neither having said anything for a long time. It was a comfortable silence, but Liz also knew that Max had something on his mind that he wanted to talk about. She had tried to wait patiently, but her nerves were getting the better of her.

"What are you thinking about?" She finally whispered, tempted to sit up so that she could look at his face, but resisting, knowing somehow that he needed her to stay where she was.

There was a long pause. Liz concentrated on the feeling of Max’s thumb rubbing gently against the back of her hand, tried to stay calm. She was nervous for some reason she didn’t understand, but not in a bad way.

"I was just thinking about how I used to look at these stars and wonder what my future held, if someone out there was going to come back for us one day," Max finally replied quietly. "I was thinking that it was weird to look at them and know now for sure that I don’t want them to."

"You don’t?" Liz asked, her heart beating more quickly against her rib-cage.

"No. I belong here." He moved slightly, propped his head up on his hand and stared down into her face. It was dark, but the stars provided enough light that she could see the way his eyes were shining, their beauty taking her breath away. She reached up and gently traced the contours of his face, marveling again that he was really hers. "I was also thinking that I wanted to be brutally honest with you about something, but I’m scared to be."

Liz frowned slightly. "Why? Don’t you know by now that you can say anything to me?"

"Of course. It’s not that. I’m just worried that you’re not ready. That I might screw this up somehow." He paused, sighed. "Liz, you have so many dreams. I don’t want to stand in your way - ever."

"You couldn’t ever stand in my way Max!" Liz insisted. "I love you. You are my dream come true. Everything else comes second. It’s my decision to love you, to want to be with you, no matter what."

He grinned. "Yeah, you can be pretty stubborn, can’t you?" He was obviously referring to how she had chased him during their sophomore year until he had finally given in. She frowned at him for teasing her, but he only bent his head, kissed her gently on the lips. "Thank God for that," he added.

"So, tell me," Liz sighed happily, sitting up and crossing her legs to listen.

Max stared at her for a long moment, then finally he continued, "Liz, I once told you that whether I did tomorrow or fifty years from now, my destiny is the same – it’s you. It’s always been you Liz. There could never be anyone else. I love you. We belong together. I know that we’re too young and I know it’s crazy, but I just don’t see the point in waiting. I want our official life together to have started yesterday. Say you’ll be my wife. Please, marry me Liz."

She blinked at him in astonishment. She knew her mouth was hanging open, but she couldn’t help it. She had always known that this day would come, but it had never once crossed her mind that it would be so soon.

And, yet, she knew it was right. There was no doubt in her mind. She didn’t even answer him, simply threw her arms around his neck and started kissing him. After a long moment, he pulled back, laughing. "Is that a yes?"

"What do you think?" Liz replied, her tone sultry. She kissed him again, in her heart sealing their bond for all time. They made love under the stars, then drove to Vegas early in the morning to make it official.

"I know where he is," Liz whispered, tears filling her eyes, as she understood exactly what he was trying to do. "He wants to erase it all. He wants to end it permanently in the place where it all started."

Tess frowned at her. "Liz, what’s going on? What are you talking about?"

"Tess, I don’t know if I can fix this. I really don’t," Liz admitted. "I can’t believe it’s true, but I might be too late."

"You’re not giving up are you?" Tess sounded horrified. "You haven’t even talked to him!"

Liz met Tess’s eyes, could see the outrage beginning to appear on the pretty blonde’s face. "Why are you mad?" She asked, feeling a little shocked that fate could be so cruel, that this could all be going so badly, and not understanding why Tess was mad at her.

"I can’t believe you’re giving up on him! He’s never given up on you." Tess was almost shaking in her fury. "Whatever it takes Liz - you have to do it. He deserves that much from you. You deserve to be happy too. You are both such idiots. I can’t believe I can’t make either of you see it."

Liz stared at her. "I never said I was giving up Tess," she finally said. "It’s too important. I won’t give up."

The relief that appeared on Tess’s face was almost comical. Liz smiled…almost. She couldn’t quite manage it. It was still a little upsetting that her reunion with Max was not going to go as smoothly as she’d hoped.

"Well, then what are you waiting for?" Tess demanded. "Go find him!"

Liz impulsively reached out and hugged the other woman. "I will. But stick close your phone. He may need a shoulder to cry on when I’m through with him."

Tess began to look slightly worried again. "Liz, what are you planning?"

"I’m planning to let him say whatever he has to say to me," Liz shrugged, pretending a nonchalance and confidence she did not feel. She refused to allow herself to think about what she was going to have to get through over the next few hours. But it needed to be done. He was stubborn, but if there was one thing she had proven over the past few days - over the past few years - she was more so. "And then I’m going to win him back," she finished firmly.

***
He was waiting for her exactly where she knew he would be. He was leaning against the radio tower, watched her drive up. She couldn’t see his expression from where she was, but the practiced casualness of his pose indicated that it would be perfectly unreadable, just like it always was when he was being stubborn.

Unfortunately for him, she didn’t need to read his face. She could read his mood just fine, thanks to the connection. And it was not pretty. He wasn’t angry exactly, but he wasn’t particularly glad to see her either. In fact, he was sort of giving off the vibes of eagerly anticipating getting a dreaded chore over with.

Liz pulled her rental car to a stop next to his old Jeep, which she was amazed to see he was still driving. How the heck was that thing still running? It had to be alien voodoo. There was no other explanation.

She climbed out of the car, walked slowly towards him. "Hi." She hadn’t thought about exactly how she was going to start the conversation, but this seemed safe. She was going to allow him to lead the way, at least for the moment. She looked around, felt a small smile cross her face as the familiar smell and sights of the desert made her blood sing. How she had missed this place - their place. It was so liberating to be able to allow herself to feel it. "It’s been so long since I’ve been out here."

Max didn’t answer her, simply crossed his arms and waited. Liz grimaced. She had no idea what he wanted from her.

After a long moment of silence he finally said, "Well?"

"Well what?" Liz asked patiently.

"Tess tells me you have something to say," Max replied. "I’m listening."

"That’s true," Liz admitted. "We found something…something that eradicates everything I’ve known to be true for the past four years."

"Interesting." He didn’t sound the least bit interested. In fact, he was beginning to sound angry. "And what would that be? Something to do with this miracle child I’m supposed to father?"

"Well, yes. It turns out that I’m supposed to be its mother," Liz told him wryly. "We just have to undergo a little alien ceremony thing and I’ll be able to…" Liz felt a lump enter her throat. For the first time, she allowed herself to feel the joy that she was actually going to be able to bear a child. Max’s child. "You know," she trailed off, meeting his eyes uncertainly.

"So that is what this is about," Max muttered. "I knew it. I cannot believe this."

"Believe what? It’s good news Max. The reason we were apart no longer exists." Liz moved forward a step, reached out her hand. He eyed it for a moment but didn’t take it. Liz slowly lowered it again, continued, "I know that we can’t just go back to the way things were, but I want you to know that I never stopped loving you. You saw what I was trying to avoid by leaving you. I know that when you kissed me, you got the flashes. I had no choice."

"You always have a choice Liz," Max snapped. She had seen his eyes flicker slightly when she had said that she loved him, like he believed it, but it didn’t matter one single bit. "I never do. And that’s the real problem here, isn’t it?"

"What?"

"While I can admire why you did what you did, I don’t know if I can forgive you for it. All this time, I thought I could. I thought that if you’d only come back, we could fix things because we belonged together. And, of course, all along I was right. But you ran at the first sign of trouble and didn’t even tell mewhy."

"I did so tell you Max!" Liz exclaimed. "You knew I couldn’t have kids!"

"Fine, you told me that," Max conceded. "But you didn’t tell me why it was so important. You made the decision all by yourself that I was just going to have to let you go. Well, you know what Liz? As much as you want to, you don’t control my heart. I can’t just turn it off and on like you can."

"Max, that’s not true! This whole time, I’ve been miserable."

"Liz, you got engaged to someone else for Pete’s sake! That does not scream misery to me," Max reminded her angrily.

"It was to try and forget you. It had nothing to do with not loving you."

"And therein lies the problem. You have never believed in us as much as I have. And I just don’t know if I’m able to keep believing enough for the both of us. It’s just so damn tiring." Max scraped his hands through his hair, making it stand up on end. Liz felt a shiver descend her spine at how truly angry he was. "How am I supposed to ever trust you again? You can tell me you love me one minute and then you run away from me the next! I just would not survive it again Liz. I wouldn’t."

"You won’t have to Max. I’ll never leave you again. I know now that we belong together." Liz reached out, touched his arm. He stared down at her hand for a long moment, then flinched away.

"It took a stupid book to tell you that Liz. I’m sorry that I have issues with that fact, but I do."

He turned his back on her, stared out across the desert. "I want a divorce. I want you to sign those papers and then I want you to go back to New York, to your new life, and just leave me alone."

She felt another shiver descend her spine. She had never in a million years expected him to just come out and say it. But why not? She had done it to him enough times over the past few days.

"Max, I can’t," she whispered. "Don’t you know that?"

"Oh right. The miracle kid. Fine. I’m sure we can manage that first."

The cold tone of his voice made her blood freeze in her veins. "That’s not what I meant Max and you know it," she said firmly, desperately trying to hold onto her composure. She had known that this was going to be bad, but she hadn’t imagined it quite like this.

He did not trust her. He did not know if he could ever trust her again. And she could not blame him one single bit.

"I don’t particularly care what you meant Liz."

"Max, you’re being ridiculous!" Liz flared, suddenly angry. "Are you trying to tell me that you would allow me to take your child out of Roswell? You would never in a million years agree to that."

He frowned, obviously not having considered this point. It was pretty clear by now that he wasn’t thinking straight at all. He was just too upset. Well, she was just going to have to fix that. And there was only one way. She was going to have to make him trust her again.

"No," he agreed. "Fine. I’ll move to New York to be near it. But it doesn’t mean that we can be together anymore."

"Why not?" Liz demanded. "You love me, I love you. The math isn’t that difficult Max."

"Liz, don’t you get it?" He asked, his voice suddenly so raw, she glanced up at his face in astonishment. All of his anger was gone, replaced by a despair so deep, she felt her heart crack into little pieces and then shatter in her chest. "How…How can I ever believe that you really want to be with me? You ran so quickly, didn’t even try and let me help you. I always thought that we could do anything together, but then at the first test, you left. You proved that you never believed it. And now, if we’re together, I’ll always wonder deep down if it’s only because of the baby…because all you care about is saving the world. You left me because of it, and now it’s brought you back."

"Max, that makes no sense," Liz said quietly. "We are meant to create a child to save the world because we love each other. The love came first Max. The baby will just be the symbol of it."

"Maybe that would have been true once Liz," Max acknowledged. "There’s just no way that I can ever know that for sure now." He swallowed, brushed impatiently at his shining eyes. "I’m sorry I’m not as brave as you are. But I just can’t do it. I can’t risk you leaving me again. Because whose to say some future version of someone won’t come to you at some point in the future and make you do it again? They’ll always come to you Liz, because they’ll always know that you’re the strong one. And you’ll always believe them and you’ll always do what’s best for everyone else. It’s why I love you, it’s who you are, but it’s also why I have to be the one to walk away this time."

And he did exactly that.

Liz watched him drive off in the Jeep several moments later, tears streaming down her face. The mess she had made of their relationship was only now becoming clear to her. She had made Max think that she didn’t trust him to help make the major decisions in their lives. And, really, wasn’t that what she had done by running away without telling him the truth? Because hadn’t she known that somehow he would convince her to stay in Roswell? That his eternal hope and optimism would have defeated her in the end?

The sheer irony was that she had done the right thing. Tess never would have returned to Roswell and stayed had Liz still been here and they needed her. They never would have found out about the real prophecy if Tess hadn’t stayed. But, to make all that happen, Liz’s marriage had been almost irreparably destroyed and there was no question that Max’s faith in her had suffered.

He had never felt that he was worthy of her and by running away, she had made his worst fear a reality - that she felt the same way. She had not trusted him enough to help her do the right thing and she had proven him right, even though it had been the last thing she intended to do.

But he still loved her. That was clear. All was not lost. Love was still the most important thing. It could heal everything. It was only going to take longer than Liz had hoped. He had been patient for so long. She could certainly do the same for him.

She had told Tess that she was not giving up and she wasn’t. She would make him trust her again if it was the last thing she ever did. And she knew exactly how to go about doing it too. If he wanted her to stop thinking about everyone else first, well, that’s exactly what she would do.

For the first time in a long time, she knew exactly what she wanted and she wasn’t giving up until she got it.

Straightening her spine, Liz marched to her rental car, ready to set her plan into motion.

***

Tess hurried across the Roswell main drag towards the UFO Centre, two cups of coffee from the Crashdown in her hands. She frowned when she reached the double doors, staring at them in consternation and then down at the drinks in her grasp. Now what?

She raised her head in surprise when the doors opened from the inside. Max was leaning against the door-frame, one eyebrow raised as he glanced down at his watch. "You’re two hours late."

"What?" Tess asked in annoyance, thrusting one of the cups towards him. He took it, turned around and walked back inside.

"I was expecting you to come yell at me by noon. Liz’s friend Serena has already been here. She was pretending to look around, but she kept shooting me evil glances, so I know she wanted to make me feel guilty. Maria called me earlier to tell me she was coming over later. I’m shocked and appalled that both of them beat you Tess. You’re losing your touch."

Tess grimaced at the sarcasm in his tone. But she was more angry than anything, so she just snapped, "So you really did it then? You really told Liz you didn’t want to get back together?" She followed him down the stairs, shaking her head in disbelief at his unbelievable self-sabotage. "Why Max? Why on Earth would you do that to yourself? Are you really so bound and determined to punish Liz that you’re willing to live in misery for the rest of your life?"

Max sighed heavily as he took a sip of his coffee. "I’m not trying to punish Liz," he told her firmly. "I’m trying to protect myself. There’s only so much torture a guy can take Tess."

"A guy? Since when are you a guy?" Tess demanded. "You’re Max. She’s Liz. What the heck does being a guy have to do with any of it? You’re above being a guy Max. You live for torturing yourself over her. That’s really the truth isn’t it? You’re scared because there really and truly isn’t anything standing in your way anymore."

"I have no idea what you’re talking about," Max replied evenly. His controlled stubbornness was enough to make Tess want to belt him. "But you might as well just say it all Tess. Because I’m warning you. I don’t want to ever talk about this again. I’ve made my decision. You get one shot and this is it. After this, if you intend for our friendship to continue, Liz Parker will no longer be a topic open for conversation."

"You know exactly what I’m talking about," Tess replied. "And you can’t threaten to end this friendship Max. That’s bull and you know it. We were always meant to be friends. Why else did you and Liz have to go through all this? So you can try and shut it off if you want to, but I won’t ever leave you alone. Because friends don’t allow their friends to deliberately mess up their lives. The end."

"I’m so glad I have the resident expert on friendship in my life." Max plopped down on the bench behind the counter, a scowl on his face.

"Stop pouting and tell me what you did you big idiot!"

"You know what I did. Half the town seems to know what I did," Max retorted. "Did Liz put a bulletin in the newspaper or something?"

"What?" Tess wondered what the hell he was talking about.

It all became clear a moment later when Pam came out from the back room, brushed past without saying a single flirtatious thing to Max. In fact, the chill coming off of her was enough to send a shiver down Tess’s back. "What the heck was that about?" Tess whispered when Pam stomped up the stairs towards the entrance. Moments later the sound of her slamming things around on the admissions desk came floating down. When Tess turned back towards Max, he was glowering after his employee.

"Apparently Pam knows too. She’s mad at me for standing up for myself. Who knew she could be turned so easily? Women."

Tess felt a pang of sympathy. "So Serena was here too huh?"

Max nodded glumly. "That woman hates my guts."

"Can you blame her Max? Your wife left you to save the world and now that you can be together, you tell her no? After practically making her insane trying to get her back over the past week? Serena has every right to dislike you."

"I’m so glad I have you to tell me these things Tess," Max replied. He rolled his eyes. "I really need to hang out with more guys. Michael would understand."

"Michael is whipped and you know it." Tess modified her tone. "Max, you can’t leave things like this. You know you can’t. You love her. Hasn’t she been through enough? Just give in gracefully, be happy. Why is this so difficult for you?"

"I can’t trust her," Max said stubbornly. "I just can’t. It’s impossible."

"There is no way?" Tess asked quietly. "Absolutely no way, ever?"

"No."

"That’s crap." Max blinked at her, obviously slightly surprised at the tone of her voice. "Excuse my language, but it is. I was right before. You’re just scared. You’re scared of screwing this up again."

"You keep saying that," Max almost yelled. "I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I didn’t screw up before. I wasn’t the one who left!"

Tess didn’t reply for a long moment, just felt her heart break for him. "No Max, you didn’t. But you blame yourself that she couldn’t tell l you what was going on. You blame yourself for her leaving you. "

"What? Why would I do that?" But his eyes had widened, as though he was a little frightened by her words.

"You blame yourself for loving her too much. Because you know that you wouldn’t have let her leave. You know that even if there was no other way, you would have let the world end rather than lose her." Tess reached out, took his hand and squeezed. "You’re not scared of her leaving you again. You’re scared because you know that she won’t. And you still don’t feel worthy of her. You never have, isn’t that really it?"

"No." But his voice cracked as he said it.

"Oh Max. You weren’t surprised at all when she left. It was what you expected all along, wasn’t it? And now that she’s really back, you have to accept that you’re worth this. You and Liz belong together Max and you do deserve to be happy." Tess felt tears filling her eyes at the naked pain on his face. "What are we going to do with you?"

She reached out and hugged him. He was shaking, apparently incapable of saying anything. Tess wondered if she had finally made him recognize something even he hadn’t seen in himself. She couldn’t understand why. Tess had known the truth ever since he had come back from New York alone that first time. He hadn’t fought for Liz because all this time, he really hadn’t believed that he deserved her.

"I’m taking you home," Tess finally said, pulling away and taking him by the hand. He just nodded, looking shell-shocked. "Pam?" She yelled up the stairs.

The bottled blonde appeared a moment later, obviously surprised that Tess was deigning to speak to her. She felt a flash of guilt. "Yeah?"

"Man the fort. I’m taking Max home."

Tess could see Pam’s annoyance fading as she took in Max’s abrupt disarray. She understood that the blonde had been more angry on Liz’s behalf at Max’s steely control than anything, probably mad that he was giving up something he obviously still wanted. For the first time, Tess actually liked Pam. She wasn’t that bad at all.

"Okay," Pam replied.

A quarter of an hour later, Tess was pulling her car up in front of Max’s house. He hadn’t said a word. Tess had glanced at him several times in concern but he didn’t seem upset any longer, just thoughtful.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly as they both sat in the driveway, staring out the front windshield at Max’s small, lonely house.

"I will be. You’ve given me some stuff to think about," Max admitted.

"Do you want me to come in?"

"If you want to," Max replied. "I’m just going to sit staring at the wall." He laughed, sounding slightly bitter. "I was so sure that this was all going to finally be behind me. Like that can ever happen. Like I want that to happen." He rubbed a hand wearily across his face. "God Tess. What am I going to do?"

"What your heart wants you to do," she replied quietly as they walked up the front path.

"My heart’s not the problem," Max sighed. "My heart is ready to be trampled again. It’s my brain that refuses to shut off. I just can’t seem to get past the fact that she came here to divorce me. And now she wants to suddenly get back together because it turns out we can have kids. It’s hard not to feel like I’m the secondary concern to this potential baby."

"But Max you wanted kids with Liz. You would have had them if it wasn’t for the fact that you guys didn’t know that you had to be bonded."

"That’s not the point Tess. The point is that she never would have agreed to get back together if she hadn’t found that out. That’s what’s bothering me so much about this. What she said to me last night…I just finally recognized that it wasn’t going to happen. Ever. And, then, suddenly, it is possible. It’s all a bit much, you know?"

"I know Max," Tess said sympathetically. "But now you have to really think about this. Are you going to let that little fact stand in the way? Because you love her. She loves you. She doesn’t have to stay away anymore. You can be together. It doesn’t have to be this difficult."

Max didn’t reply. Tess realized that he was staring at his front door, as slight frown on his face.

"Max?" Tess waved a hand in front of his face.

"Tess, why is my front door open?"

Tess turned her head, blinked. Max’s door was indeed open. "Um…I have no idea."

"It can’t be a robber. Lou would have killed him," Max said, sounding suspicious.

They both stood on the porch, staring at the front door. The inner door was wide open, only the screen door shut.

"Isabel?" Tess asked.

"I don’t think so," Max replied, his eyes narrowed.

An instant later Liz appeared in the doorway, a wide smile on her face. "Nope! It’s me!" She exclaimed cheerfully. She was holding a dishtowel in her hands, as though she had just been in the kitchen. Lou the dog was panting at her side, gazing up at her adoringly.

"I knew it," Max muttered. Tess glanced at him sharply. He sounded slightly angry, but also a little amazed.

"Knew what?" Tess asked.

She looked back at Liz, who was smiling serenely at Max. "I wondered how long it would take you to notice it was back." Tess frowned. Max’s wife sounded minutely smug if she wasn’t mistaken.

"What’s back?" She asked, confused.

"Never mind," Max snapped. He moved past Liz and into the house, glaring at the dog as he passed. "Traitor! Don’t you know she doesn’t belong here?" He didn’t sound extremely upset though, much to Tess’s relief. He then looked at Liz again, his expression stony. "What are you doing here Liz?"

"I live here now Max."

"WHAT?" The roar was so sudden, Tess actually jumped. Well, so much for Max not being upset.

She saw Liz flinch too, but she didn’t back down. She just continued to gaze innocently at Max. "We’re married aren’t we? Your house is my house." She narrowed her eyes. "In spite of what the Roswell Police Department might think."

"Oh for…" Max ran his hands through his hair in complete frustration. "I can’t do this right now." He stomped past Liz and through the living room. Tess jumped again when his bedroom door slammed moments later.

Tess met Liz’s gaze. "What are you doing?" She whispered urgently. "I got the impression from Max that he had pretty much ended things permanently. And now you’re moving in?"

Liz sobered. "He doesn’t think he can trust me. Well, I’m going to prove he can. I’m not going anywhere until I show him that I want to be with him, that this isn’t about some stupid prophecy."

Tess shook her head, admiration running through her. "I don’t think it’s going to be very long Liz. He’s crumbling already. And it’s not all just about you either. I finally got him to at least sort of admit that he feels partially to blame for you leaving."

"I knew it." Liz sighed heavily. "Thanks for the head’s up though." She was grim as she continued, "I have my work cut out for me, but I love him. I’m not going anywhere. Not ever again."

The determined expression on Liz’s face made Tess believe her.

[Kath7]

Part 21

For the ninth time in three days, Liz walked down the hall to Max’s bedroom and frowned at the closed door. The tray of food she’d left there hours ago was still sitting outside his doorway, its contents untouched. For the last few days, Liz hadn’t seen or talked to Max. She’d heard him padding around in his room and had heard his shower running, but he’d yet to come out.

Not that she hadn’t tried to persuade him to do so. Liz cooked three times a day, and never once failed to take a tray for Max, leaving at his bedroom door, hoping he’d at least open it and take the tray to have a hot meal. And three times a day, she’d come back an hour later to find the tray still there, the food cold and clammy. She persevered, however, figuring he’d have to come out eventually and, when he did, she’d make him talk to her.

This time she’d gone overboard. She’d fixed his favorite meal and had even made a whole Men-In-Blackberry pie, from scratch. She’d put a white rose in a small vase and set it on the corner of his tray with a copy of the day’s newspaper. She’d sat outside his door, pleading with him to open it, finally conceding to leaving the tray there for him, like she had the previous times. And just like before, she’d come back to find the tray untouched.

It was making her mad. She knew it would take Max some time to warm up to her being there. She’d been fully prepared to handle him not talking to her, throwing her silent glances, or even being rude. But this was taking it overboard. He’d yet to come out of the room to acknowledge her presence at all, and even after she’d tried to make this meal extra special, he still refused to come and eat.

It had been three days since she’d seen Max at all. If he didn’t eat soon, he was going to be really sick.

Stomping up to the doorway, Liz balled her fist and pounded three heavy knocks, then stepped back and waited for a response. After several seconds of silence, she stepped up to the door and pressed her ear against it, straining for any noise coming from the other side. Any sign to let her know Max was listening. She waited, a frown on her face, when a thought suddenly occurred to her.

What if he’d passed out in there? What if he’d gotten weak from lack of sustenance, his body unable to function without some sort of nourishment?

Fearing the worst, Liz raised her hand to the doorknob and concentrated, pushing the door open when she heard the click of the lock on the other side. Hesitantly, she stepped into the room, and was shocked to find it empty. Running to his bathroom door, she threw it open, half expecting to see him sprawled out across the floor. But, once again, nothing.

Her heart pounding in her chest, she frantically searched the room for any sign of her missing husband. As she looked around, as she realized that this was where her husband spent his nights, she couldn’t help but feel a bit awestruck at her surroundings. She’d busted into the room, fully prepared to give Max Evans a piece of her mind. However, the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind that he wouldn’t be in there. Now, faced with no Max, she was astounded by the fact that, even so, she could feel him all around her.

Liz had been in here before of course - when she had climbed through the window to try and find the divorce papers and Kyle had ended up arresting her. But she hadn’t had time to look around then. She noticed the dark gray bedspread, remembering that gray had always been his favorite color. Spanning the length of one wall was a neatly organized desk, a stereo system and several stacks of CD’s, a computer work station, and several photographs of faces she recognized scattered in between.

Feeling tears pricking the back of her eyelids, Liz sat down on the bed and took in the room that Max called home. Putting her hand at the head of the bed, she felt something soft and fluffy sitting there, was more than surprised when she turned to find a bright red afghan, folded neatly and sitting on top of the pillows.

Max held up an orange and white afghan and showed it to Liz. She shook her head in disgust, so he turned around and picked up another one, this time holding a blue and red one up for her perusal. After trying four more afghans, and not getting a vote of approval on any of them, Max picked up a bright red blanket from the shelf, unfolded it and wrapped it around his shoulders, walking to Liz and turning in a full circle, clearly impatient.

"How about this one?"

"Max, it’s ugly!"

"Liz, it’s like the twentieth one I’ve tried! You don’t like any of them, because you think they’re ugly. But I can tell you this, Liz. I don’t care if it’s orange with green polka dots and purple stripes. It won’t be ugly. It’ll be perfect. You know why? Because it’ll be ours. It’ll be the first thing we buy, as husband and wife. In my eyes, whatever it looks like, it could not possibly be nicer."

Liz smiled, unable to resist the little boy excitement in Max’s twinkling eyes. She grabbed the afghan from the shelf and placed it in the cart, unaware that it would be the only thing on the bed their first night in the apartment they’d rented.

Sighing softly, Liz picked up the afghan and unfolded it, laying it across her lap. Looking up towards the nightstand, she almost stopped breathing when she caught sight of the photograph sitting next to the bedside lamp. She swallowed, reached out to pick up the frame - the one that had not been there four days ago. She remembered how she had left all those pictures of the two of them scattered on his bed. He had obviously kept the one she was staring at out when he cleaned up.

It was a picture of a raven haired boy, his eyes sparkling with the radiance of love, his arms tucked securely around the waist of a young girl, her long dark hair flowing gently in the wind. They were both entangled in the lacy wisps of white that had been her wedding veil.

Smiling sadly, Liz stared down at it. She could only imagine what Max must have felt like, day after day, night after night, upon staring at his own wedding picture. He had been left with all the memories. She had taken nothing with her when she had gone. He had been left with the good and bad memories, but above all, the photographs reminded her of the promise of the life they’d created together. They had become a grim reminder of the future they’d never had the chance to make a reality, but, now, hopefully were an indication of what they could be again.

As she fingered the edge of the small silver frame, Liz Evans knew one thing for certain. There was still hope. Max hadn’t given up on her, even in the three days he’d spent holed up in his room while she lived in his home. That much was obvious by the fact that he still kept precious mementos of the life they’d shared. Because he wanted to remember. Somewhere deep down, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Max Evans wanted his life back.

Pushing the afghan aside, and setting the picture back down with one last longing glance, Liz got up and walked across the room, where a flutter of movement from the flowing curtains caught her eye. She pulled them aside and peered over the edge of the windowsill.

Tucked underneath the neat wood trim, reaching all the way down to the ground was a white wooden trellis, its criss-crossing bars covered with fragrant white rose blooms - the same trellis she had climbed up a few days before. Momentarily forgetting what she was doing, Liz reached out over the windowsill and gingerly fingered the petals of the nearest bloom. As she grabbed the flower, intending to pull it off the trellis, Liz suddenly remembered why she was there.

As realization dawned on her, Liz’s panicked sense of worry turned quickly to anger. Max had been sneaking out! For three days, she’d made him breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and he’d touched none of it. She’d been worried about him getting food, and worried that he would get ill from malnutrition, and all that time, he’d been eating elsewhere. Taking a look at the small trash can in the corner of the room, her suspicions were confirmed by the pile of crumpled up Crashdown take-out bags collected there.

All this time Liz thought Max needed time to get used to her being there, that he was sitting in his room sulking, but that he’d come out eventually, still emotionally guarded, yet ready to talk. She and Max had never been able to not resolve a problem between them when they talked about it, and she’d mistakenly believed that this time was no different. But as she briefly wondered if he’d had any intention at all of ever coming out to face her, Liz knew she was wrong.

This was bigger than she thought. As his words from days before at the old radio tower ran through her head, she realized that Max really was scared of her. He was terrified of her hurting him again, frightened beyond words that history would repeat itself and that falling right back into a marriage with Liz would only leave him in heartbreak. He’d even gone so far as to sneak out for food in an effort to avoid her at all costs.

As every cell in her body began to tingle, Liz knew she wasn’t just assuming Max’s thoughts. She was feeling them, thinking them. Because she felt him. He was home.

Making her way as quickly as she could to the opposite corner of the room, Liz turned around just in time to see Max’s hand grab the windowsill. His dark head followed his hands over the top seconds later. Liz watched as Max effortlessly drew his body over the windowsill. He started to take his jacket off, then froze, spotting the red afghan spread out across one side of the bed. Obviously remembering he’d left it folded, Max suddenly looked straight at Liz. She gasped slightly when his eyes narrowed at her.

"What are you doing here Liz?"

At Max’s indifferent tone, the underlying anger in his voice, Liz almost lost it. "Well, you know, Max, I came in here because I wasn’t sure if you were okay. As far as I could tell, you hadn’t eaten in three days. I haven’t heard anything from in here all day and I got worried. I thought you could be in here passed out, or worse, from malnutrition. So what did I do? I let myself in, only to find a trash can full of takeout wrappers. Then I realized I didn’t have to be angry, or worried, or scared for you, because you had other resources." The sharp tone in Liz’s voice was cracking, not coming out as strong or as angry as she’d intended She’d kept up a façade for the last week, but the harder she fought for Max, and the more she was turned down, the weaker she got. She knew any minute now, she would break down and not be able to fight back at all. But if she was going down, she was sure as heck going to do it in a blaze of glory.

She had Max right where she wanted him. Unprepared, and forced to talk. It was now or never.

Max shrugged his shoulders. "Had to eat somewhere."

"What in heaven’s sake were you thinking, climbing up and down that trellis anyway? You don’t know how strong that thing is! You could have fallen and gotten hurt!" Liz shrieked, deliberately ignoring the fact that she had used that exact trellis a few days before.

"Yeah, well, it wouldn’t be the first time falling has gotten me hurt, would it?"

Liz closed her eyes, unprepared for the harsh sting of the underlying meaning in Max’s words. She knew what he was doing. He was doing what he’d always done. He was hurting, and he was scared, and he was lashing out in anger to cover it up. Well, it wasn’t going to work this time.

"Max, I’m not leaving here until we talk about this."

"We did talk about it, Liz. You talked and I said no. End of story."

Liz shook her head. "I’m sorry, Max. I won’t let you give up that easily. It isn’t fair. What we’ve got between us, it’s too important to just let go."

Max laughed, the sound of it chilling. "Well, it didn’t seem that important four years ago, when you felt you had to give it up without telling me why, did it?" Max started to move, as if to walk away, then put his finger up in the air as if he’d just remembered something. "Oh, unless, you know...this thing between us that you just can’t let go, is the end of world, cause that’s what matters to you, right?"

Liz shook her head, searching for a way to make Max see what she was trying so desperately to say. "This isn’t about the end of the world, Max. I don’t give a flip if the end of the world comes right now. You know why? Because I’ve done my part. I’ve done what I’m supposed to do. And now, I’m trying to get back what I deserve. I’m trying to get back you, us, this!" she said, grabbing the picture of their wedding day off the nightstand and thrusting it in his face.

"You would have made a great actress, Liz. You’ve almost got me convinced that the next time there’s an earth shattering emergency, you won’t run. You’ve almost got me convinced that this is about being together, not about saving the world," Max said angrily, snatching the picture from Liz’s grasp.

Liz’s first thought was that he was going to throw it to the ground, but he surprised her by gingerly setting it back on the nightstand from where she’d picked it up.

Liz’s throat closed up, the emotions she was trying to hold back choking up in the back of her throat. "Max, do we have to go through this again? I don’t know what I have to say to you, or what I have to do to you to make you trust me again! I’m here, Max! Right here in front of your face. I’m more sorry than anything about the mistakes made in the past. But it can’t be helped. I’ve learned from them, Max and I know now what’s important. Doesn’t that matter the least bit to you?"

"Sure it does, Liz. It matters more than anything. You know why? Because of the way I feel right here," he said, raw pain and emotion plastered across his face as he came to within inches of Liz’s face, his hand tapping his heart heavily. "Right here, I want nothing more than to grab you and kiss you and tell you everything’s going to be all right, because I love you and you love me. But right here, right here," he said, pausing to lift a finger to the side of his head to tap his temple gently, "I know that there will always be something else. You aren’t the same person that left here, Liz. You have a life waiting for you back in New York. You have a career that made Elizabeth Evans a household name. And as much as I want to believe it, I can’t trust my heart. Because my head knows better. Somewhere, whether it be here or New York, whether it be a career or the end of the world, there will always be a reason why you can’t stay."

Staring at him, seeing his eyes watery with tears of frustration and anger, Liz realized there was only one way she was going to get Max to trust her again. There was only one thing she could do to show Max once and for all that she wasn’t giving up. "You’re right, Max. There is a reason I can’t stay. But it’s not the end of the world. If the end of the world comes now, I’ll know I did everything in my power to stop it. It won’t be my fault if the inevitable happens now. And there is my career. My design firm means everything to me. It was the one thing I had to throw myself into when I thought I’d lost everything, and I’m darn proud of the successful business it’s become. But I meant what I said. Nothing, and I do mean nothing is going to take me away from you or Roswell."

Leaving Max behind to ponder the meaning of her words, Liz stomped out of his room, her face flushed with anger, yet the tears falling down her face were of pain, of regret, and of loss.

Going down the hall to the telephone in the kitchen, Liz picked up the receiver and dialed the New York number quickly before she had a chance to change her mind. It was a last resort. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She loved her career, almost more than anything in this world. But she loved Max more. If she had to choose one of them, then there simply was no contest.

Twenty minutes later Liz put the receiver down and put her head in her hands. Taking several deep breaths in order to fight back her tears did nothing. She felt her chest constrict as one heaving sob escaped.

"What did you just do?"

Liz jerked her head up from the table and frantically wiped her tears across her cheeks, trying to hide how much she had just devastated herself. She turned around to face Max, pulling together all the dignity she had to hold her head up high and look him in the eye. He looked absolutely dumbfounded, like he had been listening the whole time.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were on the phone. With New York. What did you just do?"

"I told you that you could trust me, Max, and I thought I’d done everything I could to make sure you knew I wasn’t going anywhere. But there was one last thing I hadn’t thought of."

"Liz, what did you do?"

Liz took a deep breath, not missing the suddenly horrified tone of his voice or the disbelieving look on his face. "I just put Elizabeth Evans Designs up for sale. By this time tomorrow, it will have gone to the highest bidder."

***

Tess sat on the stool at the end of the Crashdown counter, watching idly as Michael and Maria cleaned up after the usual dinner rush crowd. She’d had plans with Kyle for the evening, but when he’d come home, she’d been too depressed to go anywhere and had convinced him to take her to the Crashdown for a big bowl of the most fattening ice cream she could find.

It had been three days since Liz had moved into Max’s home uninvited. Tess thought that it wouldn’t take her that long, but judging by the way Max acted when he came in, Tess wasn’t sure Liz was going to break through that thick skull of his at all. She’d fully expected Max and Liz to have at least already agreed to give things another go, to try and make their marriage work again.

But for the last three days, Max had been coming to the Crashdown for every meal, still ordering take out for one, and still taking it with him. He came in the front, making sure he sat in the section that didn’t belong to Maria, and when Isabel was helping out, he steered clear of her section as well. Years of practice had made him an expert at determining each meal’s busiest times, and he always made sure he came in during the rush so that none of his friends would have a spare minute to make their way over to him.

Tess had promised herself that she wouldn’t call or go to Max’s house until she was sure Liz had accomplished what she’d set out to do. But Max’s icy behavior combined with the fact that each and every one of them was dying to know what was going in inside the Evans household was slowly chipping away at her resolve.

"Tess, c’mon! Call him! I mean, we don’t even know what’s going on over there! What if something’s happened to Liz?" Maria exclaimed, shaking a broom in Tess’s face.

Tess shot Maria a look underneath her heaping spoon of double fudge ice cream and scoffed, "Maria, please, it’s Max and Liz. You know as well as I do they’re probably knee deep in tension and waist high in sexual frustration being that close to each other for this long. If anything’s happened to her, it’s nothing a few nights alone with Max post-makeup won’t cure."

"Yeah, well, I for one have made a decision. If I don’t at least hear from Liz by tomorrow night, I’m going over there. Alien powers or not, if Max Evans hasn’t accepted Liz after spending four days locked up with her, I’ll wring his neck."

Tess couldn’t help but giggle at Serena’s fierce tone. It had only taken a day, and within no time, Serena had been accepted as part of the group. Her loyalty to Liz and her determination to make sure Liz got everything she deserved had broken down any hesitancy anyone in the group held against making the girl a friend. And when she’d been accepted wholly by Isabel, it had made the rest of the group’s skepticism fade without a doubt. Tonight she was helping Maria and Michael close the restaurant, being as the new parents had plans for a late night dinner and night out after work. Serena had even been given the honoured role of taking care of Eliza for the evening.

"Serena, darling," Maria said, stopping in front of Tess and Serena. "Stand in line."

"You guys, go easy on him. Max has been hurt. He’s had his heart ripped out and stomped on by the one person he thought would never hurt him. He knows Liz loves him. He knows he loves her. He’s just having a hard time convincing himself that this time, their chance at happiness is real. I don’t know how long it’ll take. But I know without a shadow of a doubt that Max will eventually come around."

"Yeah, well, if I’m old and gray by the time it happens, and I have to see them kiss and make up while they’re using walkers, I’ll wring his neck," Maria said.

Tess giggled at her friends, amazed at the sound. It had been a long time since she’d found something funny enough to laugh at. Heck, it had been a long time since any of them had found anything funny at all. But, here they were, after hours in an empty restaurant making jokes and laughing like a bunch of schoolgirls.

And it was because of one reason and one reason only. Liz Evans.

Without having done anything directly, Liz had had given them all hope again. She’d come back to town, albeit with different intentions then they would have liked, and had turned their lives upside down. Now she was offering them a chance to help make things right again, to make them better than they had been before. She had put herself on the line, put her heart at risk again, in hopes of getting what truly belonged to her in the first place.

Her happily ever after.

Liz’s joy at having realized she and Max could be together again was infectious. Only Serena and Tess had talked to her, but they had both been so overwhelmingly ecstatic at the prospect of seeing Max and Liz back together, their good spirits had rubbed off on the rest of the group.

Tess almost giggled again as she watched Michael washing dishes. It wasn’t that which made her want to laugh though. It was the fact that he was humming. Michael Guerin didn’t hum. The fact that he was not only humming, but swaying slightly to a rhythm only he could hear in his head was definitely a sight to see. It was the little things like this that made it blatantly obvious how important Liz was to the lives of the people she’d left behind.

They hadn’t wanted to admit it at first, and Tess had been there to witness their rants, their anger, frustration, and eventually their heartbreak at having been deserted by the one person that had brought them all together in the first place. It had been because of Liz’s intense feelings for Max and her determination to make him hers in their sophomore year that had caused the group to be thrown together time after time. It had been those forced meetings and encounters that had made them friends, that had caused them to develop deep bonds of trust and love. And it was partly for this reason that it had hurt them so much when she’d run off.

Oddly enough, it was also the bonds that she’d created that had helped them through the difficult time following her abrupt departure from Roswell. Although life had gone back to being as normal as possible without Liz around, there were still everyday reminders that always put a damper on the happy lives they’d all made for themselves.
But since Liz had come back, the proverbial gray cloud had been blown away and all that was left was its silver lining. Liz had left without explanation, but when she’d come back, they’d all found the answers to the questions that had plagued them since she’d left. The extra weight they’d all been forced to carry had been lifted from their shoulders in one fell swoop.

Max and Liz were going to be together. It was unavoidable. They were fated to happen, destined to be. And now that it was obvious no obstacles stood in their way, their friends were all eagerly awaiting their happy reunion.

Tess put her spoon down and looked at Serena inquisitively when the girl sat down on the stool next to her and turned to stare.

"So. You probably know Max better than anyone. Do you really thing he’s going to give in?" Serena asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Let’s put it this way. You probably know Liz better than anyone." Tess paused slightly as Maria walked by with a tray full of clean glasses. "Well, at least the Liz she is now anyway. Do you really think she’s going to let him get away with not giving in?"

Tess watched as Serena pondered her question, then grinned broadly. "You’re right. She won’t. But tell me this, she’s got her work cut out for her, am I right?"

Tess nodded her head and took another bite of her ice cream. "That’s probably an understatement. Max and Liz are the two most stubborn people I know. Max thinks that he loves Liz enough to not let her go, but he doesn’t think he’s strong enough to trust her to stay. Liz thinks she loves Max enough to make him forget the pain and heartbreak he’s suffered over the past four years, but doesn’t trust him enough to know that no matter how hard he tries, he’ll never truly be able to get her out of his system, and that he’ll eventually come around. I think they’re both headed towards the same goal here, they’re just taking two different paths."

Tess sat back and watched with a crooked grin as Serena grabbed a spoon from the counter and dug into her bowl of ice cream.

"Is anything ever easy with those two?" Serena asked.

Tess shook her head and laughed. "If it was, they wouldn’t be Max and Liz."

Tess and Serena both spun towards the bar when Maria stopped on the other side, propping her chin up on her knuckles. "You know, I’m beginning to think we’ve stepped into some kind of wormhole, and I’m wondering if we’ll ever make it out."

"What’s that supposed to mean?" Tess asked, handing Maria a spoon and pushing the bowl of ice cream towards her.

"Well, first off, Happy Gilmore over there," Maria said, pointing in Michael’s direction, "Is humming songs that I’ve never even been happy enough to hum. And Isabel actually served lunch on the house to Pam Troy and Vicky Delaney. Then there’s our sweet, humble, quiet Max, who’s walked around with a major stick up his butt and a scowl on his face for the last three days. Not to mention the fact that Liz and Max are fighting and they’ve never gone this long without making up - at least not when they were in the same state. Something is wrong here."

"It’s because Liz and Max are fighting that everyone’s in such a good mood," Tess replied nonchalantly.

"Oh, great, now you too?" Maria asked. "You think it’s a good thing that they’re fighting?"

Tess rolled her eyes. "No, of course not. But it’s the reason they’re fighting that makes us all happier, whether we realize it or not. We all know that this fight is going to end with a reconciliation. Max and Liz are going to get back together. They’re fighting right now and are extremely miserable. But that’s why we’re so happy!"

Maria nodded and took a bite of the ice cream. Tess gave her a funny look when Maria waved the spoon in her face and narrowed her eyes.

"You know," Maria said, "What you said just now sounded absolutely ridiculous and was kind of confusing. But the funny thing is, I actually understood it."

Maria, Serena and Tess giggled some more and got quiet as they all ate ice cream out of the huge bowl that Tess had scooped out. They were talking and laughing again, then all jumped, surprised momentarily by the shrill ringing of Serena’s cell phone.

"Hello? Liz?" Serena said, flipping the phone open and pressing it to her ear.

Tess and Maria watched as Serena’s expression changed and she hopped off of the stool to stand up with one hand in the air.

"Whoa, whoa, Casey, calm down. Calm down. Take a deep breath, and speak slower. What did Liz do?" Pause. "She what?!"

Tess jumped to her feet at Serena’s outburst. What was wrong with Liz? What did she do?

As Tess’s mind began to race with a million possibilities, the worst thought came to her. What if Liz had given up? What if she’d gone back to New York, had not stuck around to wait Max out? Or even worse, what if she’d done something to herself? The possibilities were too horrible to imagine and as she listened to Serena talk, she prayed silently that her imagination was only overacting.

Tess was practically jumping out of her skin with nervousness, alternating between confused looks in Serena’s direction, and worried looks shared with Maria as both girls listened to Serena’s side of the conversation.

"Right. When did you talk to her? And she wouldn’t tell you why? She just up and called? Was everything all right, has anything happened since we’ve been gone?" Pause. "Well, don’t do it just yet. If she calls again, tell her it’s done." Pause again. Tess and Maria exchanged increasingly frustrated looks. "Right. No, you won’t. She won’t. I’ll take full responsibility. No, Casey trust me. I know exactly what she’s doing. You know what? Hold on a second…"

Serena covered the mouthpiece of the phone and spoke hurriedly to Tess. "Does Max have a fax machine at his house?"

Tess nodded quickly and gave Serena the number, confusing her even more. She watched as Serena continued the conversation with the person on the other end of the line. "Draw up a proposal. Send it to this fax number. Send it all, but do not, and I repeat, do not make it official. No one knows about this, and whatever you do, don’t contact any buyers. I’m sure, Casey. Trust me on this. Right. Okay. Okay, I’ll be in touch. Bye."

"What was that all about?" Maria asked, beating Tess to the punch.

"He must really be getting to her," Serena said. "Because Liz is breaking out the big guns this time. That was the attorney for EE Designs. Liz just put it up for sale."

"You’re kidding me?!" Tess asked incredulously. "Well, what did you need the fax number for?"

Serena shrugged. "Liz is obviously pulling out all the stops. I’m just sending her a little more ammunition."

"I still don’t understand," Maria interjected with a puzzled tone.

"I do," Tess said. "Max doesn’t trust Liz not to stay. The one thing she has in the world that means almost as much to her as Max is her career. She wants Max to know that she’s not playing around. She just chose him over her own design firm."

Tess couldn’t help but smile at the possibilities this news held. There was no way in the world Max would ever let Liz give up something she’d worked so hard for because of him. Max knew how much her career meant to her and Tess knew he’d never allow her to let that go just to prove something to him, something that deep down he already knew, but was too afraid to admit.

Whether she realized it or not, Liz Evans was going to be victorious. She’d just made the winning move that was bound to push Max over the edge.

[Kath7]

Part 22

The kitchen was so quiet, Liz could hear Lou’s toenails clicking against the linoleum as he came towards her and laid his head in her lap. The dog had been lying in his basket in the corner of the room when Liz had come in to use the phone. Since Max had collapsed into one of the chairs at the kitchen table, the dog had been on his feet, staring from Max to Liz, obviously trying to decide which of them was more upset, so that he, in typical dog fashion, could comfort them.

The fact that the animal had chosen her made tears well in her eyes again. She had been sitting stonily, refusing to look at Max, who had not said a word since she had told him that she was selling her company. She had not missed the absolutely shocked expression on his face though. And, yet, he had not spoken since. He was just sitting there, staring at the wall.

Liz placed her hand gently on Lou’s head, scratched him behind the ears. What if it didn’t work? What if she gave up the only other thing in her life that really meant anything and Max still told her to get lost? What on Earth would she do?

She knew she was making the right choice though. He needed to know how important he was to her and this was the only way of really proving it. If he didn’t cave…Well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

Sneaking a peek at him out of the corner of her eye, she could tell that she had gotten to him. There was no question. Now the only problem was what it meant. Was it a good sign or a bad one?

Liz nearly jumped out of her skin when the phone rang behind her. Her head jerked to the right and her eyes met Max’s. He was apparently back from whatever planet he had been visiting, because he reached past her and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?…Oh hey Pam. Is something wrong?" His voice sounded tight to Liz’s ears, like he wasn’t really paying attention to the woman on the other end of the line. She watched him straighten abruptly as he listened to whatever his employee was saying. "Okay, thanks."

Max hung up and then looked at Liz. "There’s a fax for you at the Museum. There’s been an offer for your business." He sounded tentative, unsure.

Liz felt her stomach clench. Already? God. But she shouldn’t be surprised. There had been several chains aching to get their hands on her patented designs. "Great," she chirped, trying to sound happy about it.

"Liz…"

She got to her feet, moved to the phone again. "I’ll just call my lawyer back and tell him to accept it. I don’t care who it is. I just want it over with."

Max grabbed her as she moved past him. "Liz, you can’t do this."

"Of course I can Max," Liz replied. "I’m not leaving here. There’s no point in holding onto EE Designs. It’ll just fall apart without someone to run it. It’s best to do it quick."

"Liz, that’s not what I meant," Max told her. He pulled on her arm, gently forcing her to sit down again. "You can’t sell your business. This is craziness."

"It doesn’t mean anything Max. I want to stay here." She met his eyes squarely. "I want to stay with you."

Max was shaking his head. "Liz, I know how much it means to you. You can’t do this."

Liz smiled. "I know you know Max. Just like I know how much you’re suffering right now. We’ll always know." She touched his face. He frowned slightly, but didn’t move away from her as she half-expected him to do. "I know you Max. I feel you. All the time again since I let myself recognize that I can’t run away anymore. I need to do this. For us. I have to stay here so that you’ll trust me again."

"Liz, you don’t need to give up your entire career," Max insisted firmly. "I refuse to allow it."

"It’s my choice to make Max."

He grimaced, raked his hands through his hair in frustration. She could feel his confusion, his absolute disbelief that she was really ready to give up everything she had worked for over the past four years for him. It only reinforced to her how little he truly felt like he deserved it - deserved her.

The sheer irony of it was enough to make her want to laugh hysterically. It wasn’t Max who should be doubting his worth after all. It was she who had doubted the importance and rightness of what they had meant to each other. He was right not to trust her. Because she had proven by her disappearance that she didn’t trust him - that she hadn’t trusted him to do the right thing. When she thought of all the time they had wasted, of all the time they might have spent trying to solve the problem of her inability to conceive together…it brought tears to her eyes.

And, now, again, they were separated, moving apart when they should have been moving forward together, trying to regain what they had lost.

Now all she could do was place all her faith - all her trust - in the fact that she truly didn’t believe he was capable of throwing away all that they could be together just out of bitterness and fear.

"I didn’t even know you were interested in fashion," Max said into the silence that had sprung up again. He sounded a little sad.

"I didn’t know I was either," Liz replied, tentatively sitting back down. He abruptly seemed disposed to having a civil conversation. She wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity. "I sort of fell into it," she continued. "Serena worked for a designer when I met her. I got a job helping out at the studio and just started doing some drawings in my spare time. Larry - he was the designer - really liked what I was doing and he used a couple of my sketches in one of his collections. After that, he helped me go out on my own." She smiled, a little bitterly. "It was the first time since Future Tess came to visit me that I actually felt like maybe I had a future on my own." She paused, then admitted quietly, "From the moment you healed me that day…I just never really imagined a life without you. And, then, suddenly it was possible."

He frowned slightly, but didn’t seem upset by what she had said. She knew that she couldn’t lie to him about this, couldn’t make him believe that all of the last four years had been bad. Because they hadn’t. She had met Serena, she had met Sean and she had created a life for herself. Maybe not the life she really wanted, but enough of one that she had been somewhat happy.

Of course, that had been because she had refused to allow herself to think at all about what life might have been like had she stayed with Max.

"I always imagined you at Harvard," Max commented. "That was always your dream."

"I was really young. Kids have lots of dreams. People change with new experiences," Liz shrugged carelessly, then could have kicked herself. He had raised his eyes, was staring at her, his expression unreadable.

She could almost see the wheels turning in his head as Max formed a response. Now was when he was going to say that she was right, that they had both changed too much to go back. She had just completely sabotaged herself.

"They do," Max allowed. He leaned back. "What…" He paused, then sighed. "Liz, I’ve changed too you know. How can you be sure that you’d even be interested in me now?" He motioned towards her. "I mean, look at you. You’re not a small town girl anymore. Maybe we just don’t fit anymore."

Liz could feel her heart in her throat. She knew that how she responded now might make or break their relationship. "I know you’ve changed Max. But, at heart, you’re still the same person." She leaned forward slightly, touched his hand where it lay on the table. "Max, the connection we share…It goes beyond growing up or career changes or even the possible end of the world." She moved closer, could feel her breath hitching at the proximity to him. He was so warm, so exactly how she remembered, even when he was trying to be cold. Liz met his eyes. "We haven’t changed that much Max," she whispered. "I’m still Liz. I’m still the same in every way that matters. I still know that you are the only person I’m meant to be with. I knew it all along, even when I thought that you weren’t meant to be with me. I always knew that there was no one else."

Max’s eyes narrowed. "What about your fiancé Liz? You came back here to divorce me. Do you really expect me to believe that you were thinking about me the whole time?"

Liz sat back. She decided she had to continue to be completely honest. "Max, I was ready to marry Sean. I admit it. I wasn’t thinking about you at all though then. I couldn’t. I had to stop. Because if I didn’t, I just wouldn’t have survived it." She lowered her eyes. "I feel…I feel like I betrayed what we meant to each other by getting engaged to him, but I knew deep inside that he couldn’t ever touch my memory of you, of what it felt like to be your wife." She shook her head. "We were using each other, Sean and I. Me to try and stop hurting so much, him to hide from who he really was." Liz looked up again. "I’m not sure why I thought it was a good idea. Maybe it was just an excuse to have to come back here again. I don’t know. I can’t explain it. All I know is that it did bring me back and it made me face the fact that there just really won’t ever be anyone for me but you."

She felt her heart give a little thud when he actually smiled slightly at that. "I don’t know Liz. I’m not nearly as amenable as I used to be. And you haven’t exactly liked me either."

"I’ve noticed the changes," she replied wryly. "And I may not have liked you, but I’ve always loved you. I’m pretty sure you haven’t liked me much either, but because I know you haven’t really changed - not in the way that really counts - I know that you love me too. Why else would you have known exactly how to drive me insane?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Maybe that’s just who I am now," he suggested. "I drive Tess insane on a regular basis."

Liz smiled slightly. "Well, if that’s true, I want to know why. I want to know who you are now. This world is different than the one that other Tess showed me. Knowing your Tess, keeping her around…letting her into your heart…It’s changed you - for the better. We were both a little too focused on each other before I think."

Max seemed a little sad when he answered, "I always thought you gave up too much to be with me - all those dreams you had. You said that you were the selfish one. That wasn’t true. I was Liz. I never should have asked you to marry me so soon."

Liz laughed a little. "That’s like saying I was wrong to say yes. We both did it. Max, it’s neither of our fault that we found each other at sixteen. I think the big mistake was that we didn’t try and grow together. There was no reason that we had to just stop everything because we were married."

"Which is why you can’t sell your business," Max said firmly. "Liz, it’s part of who you are now. I won’t let you give up one of the good things that has come out of this whole mess." He grimaced. "This is going to sound like a really weird comparison, but it would be like you asking me to give up Tess."

"I would never do that Max." She shook her head. "I can’t believe how much she’s changed from that horrible girl who first came to Roswell."

"So then you understand how you can’t give up your company either. If we are going to try this again…" Liz felt her heart start to pound more quickly. Was he really saying it? Was he really going to give her a second chance? "We can’t change who we’ve become. And I don’t think I really want to."

"Are you saying…" She trailed off, barely daring to breathe. "Can we? I mean, can we try and fix this?"

"We can try to get to know each other again," Max allowed carefully. "I think I owe you that much at least."

Her spirits deflated a bit. "Oh." He sure sounded thrilled.

He flinched at what he must have perceived as her disappointment. "That didn’t come out the way I meant it to," he sighed, shaking his head. "Why does this have to be so hard?"

"It doesn’t Max," Liz insisted. "If we love each other enough, it doesn’t have to be hard." It was then that she realized that he hadn’t said it. He had not admitted that he still loved her once during this conversation.

But he had said it that jail cell a few nights ago, when she had finally crumbled and had cried in his arms, for all the innocent children they had been, for all they had lost. He has said very plainly that he would always love her. It had to be enough for now, had to keep her strong.

Max sounded perplexed when he said, "I guess the real problem now is, I just don’t know where we start."

"By getting to know each other again," Liz suggested. "I mean, it’s not that hard Max. We can just be like any other couple starting out."

"What do you mean?" Max asked, a bit suspicious.

Liz swallowed. This wasn’t exactly how she had hoped things would turn out. Taking things slow…She could understand Max’s need to do so and, yet, it was frustrating too. Particularly as since the connection had reopened between them, a certain part of her just really wanted to jump his bones.

She knew that she could do it too. She knew that if she kissed him, he wouldn’t resist. He was just as attracted to her as she was to him, was just as aware of her. But she wanted him emotionally with her when it happened, didn’t want them to simply give into lust and then regret it later.

The ties that bound them were fragile, just barely reforming. They needed to start at the beginning.

And, so, she forced herself to sound cheerful when she said, "Max Evans, would you like to go out on a date with me?"

He didn’t reply for so long, she wondered if he was actually going to turn her down. Was even something as simple as a date going too fast? When he finally replied, his voice didn’t betray what he was thinking. "On two conditions."

Liz stared at him. A condition? What could he possibly want? "Okay," she said, a bit unsure. "One?"

"That we go slow," Max said firmly.

She hesitated for only a minute. She could do that - she thought. "Okay. And two?"

Max reached past her, making her skin tingle. For one brief moment, she thought he was going to touch her. Maybe he had changed his mind! Maybe he didn’t want to take things slowly! She barely resisted throwing her arms around him, was glad that she did though, because she was a little embarrassed when he picked up the phone receiver and handed it to her. "Call your lawyer and tell him that you’re not selling."

Liz knew that the smile that broke across her face must have been blinding, but Max seemed unfazed. How he managed to maintain his self-control…It was one of the changes in him that she was going to have to work on. Not that he hadn’t been controlled before - but certainly not around her.

And, yet, she refused to allow her spirits to drop. Not when she was so close. "You’ve got yourself a deal."

***

Tess flopped back on the couch in the apartment she shared with Kyle, eyed the phone. Kyle was working the night shift, so she was alone.

In the past, it was right around this time of night that she’d dial Max up and invite him over for a movie or even just a blabathon. No one listened quite like Max and when he was around, she never felt lonely or bored.

Not to mention, her curiosity was about killing her. She knew Liz was winning the battle of wills over there, but she was interested to know how quickly. From the evidence, it seemed that it was more quickly than even Tess had anticipated. Serena had gotten that phone call from lawyer Casey before Tess had left the Crashdown after all.

Liz had changed her mind about selling. No surprise there. Like Max ever would have allowed that. He wasn’t that big an ass.

Of course, Tess was interested in finding out just how long Max and Liz had argued before she’d called off the sale.

She tapped her fingers against the arm of the couch. Damn her concern! Why did she have to care so much that this worked out?

The question was merely rhetorical of course. She knew exactly why she cared. In spite of the fact that she knew neither Max, nor Liz blamed her for their break up, she still blamed herself. It had been the responsibility of that horrible Future Tess after all. It was her fault. And until Max and Liz were well on the road to reconciliation, she couldn’t even try to forget it.

Which was why she wanted to call.

She had given Maria so much grief about wanting her to call Max that she almost felt guilty that she was considering doing so right now. But not guilty enough to refrain.

Tess picked up the portable receiver, dialed Max’s number quickly, her fingers flying automatically over the familiar keys.

Liz answered on the third ring. "Hello?"

Tess blinked. She hadn’t expected Liz to answer. What had she been thinking? Of course Liz might answer. She was there. "Oh. Hi."

"Tess, is that you?" Liz asked.

"Yes."

Liz sounded amused when she said, "I’m assuming you want to talk to Max."

"Um…"

"Are you checking up on us?"

"No," Tess exclaimed. "Of course not!" She paused, then decided to just admit it. "Fine, I am." She grimaced. "So, how’s it going?"

"Very well I think," Liz replied. "We’re going on a date."

"You are" Tess replied. "Yaay! That’s great! When?"

"Right now."

Tess glanced at the clock. "Liz, it’s ten o’clock at night."

"And?" Liz inquired. "Who cares? I’ve gotten him this far. Like I’m waiting."

"Good point," Tess allowed. "So what are you doing? Are you going to visit all your old haunts?"

"I don’t think so," Liz said. "We’re going with the ‘new beginnings’ theme. I think we’re going to try and do something we’ve never done before."

"What on Earth could you possibly do in this one horse town that you’ve never done before?" Tess inquired, already frantically searching her mind for a suggestion. Anything to push them forward.

"Well, it’s a little embarrassing," Liz said.

"What is it?" Tess demanded, unable to contain her excitement any longer.

"We’re going bowling."

Tess started. "Liz, the bowling alley is closed. And why on Earth would you want to go bowling?"

"For fun Tess. I know it’s a new concept for Max and I, but we’re going to try it," Liz replied. "Plus, Max knows Galaxy Lanes’ owner from the Roswell Chamber of Commerce. He’s called in a favour."

"Max called in a favour to bowl," Tess stated, knowing she sounded disbelieving. She grinned. "Liz, maybe you better take him back to New York. You two clearly need a bigger pool of options."

"I think I like Roswell’s options just fine," Liz said. Tess could hear the smile in her voice.

"Well, have fun," Tess said. She paused, then went for broke. "Um, you could call me when you get back. Tell me how it went."

There was a long silence and then Liz replied, "I’d like that Tess. Thanks."

"Well, whatever," Tess said in a rush, embarrassed. "I mean, I know you have other people to call. But you can call me too. If you want to, I mean."

"I do. Thanks. Do you still want to talk to Max? He’s in the shower. I can get him to call you back."

"No, it’s okay," Tess said, feeling a little pang. As much as she wanted Max and Liz back together, the intimacy of Liz’s comment reminded her that soon she wasn’t going to be the number one woman in Max’s life anymore. It was going to take some adjustment.

"Okay. Bye Tess."

"See ya Liz. Have fun."

Tess rang off and then stared at the phone for a long moment. She was pleased that things were going so well and, yet, mildly unsettled. It was the first time that she had truly realized that her relationship with Max was going to change forever.

It wasn’t that she wasn’t happy for him. She was. Of course she was. She was just kind of sad for herself. It was going to be hard to let go. She knew she wasn’t losing him, but it still kind of felt that way. Like how she had hesitated about calling him earlier. Three days ago, she would have picked up the phone without a second thought.

Tess shook her head firmly. What was wrong with her? She had no right to feel this way. He was still going to be her friend. Things might change, but she would never lose him. In fact, she was going to have a new friend in Liz.

And, yet, she allowed herself to still be a bit upset when she went to bed a few minutes later. She knew it would pass, but change was always hard, even when it was for the best.

Tomorrow she would go right back to being ecstatic that her best friend was going to get his heart’s desire. That he was about ready to stop being a stubborn mule and take what he deserved.

But, for now, she was going to allow herself to miss him. Just a little bit.

***

"I think there’s a reason we’ve never bowled before Liz," Max said as he backed away from the alley and stared at the pins, his chagrin obvious. They were all still standing firmly in the distance. "I suck."

Liz giggled as she marked a big fat zero in the little box beside his name. "Oh who cares? It’s fun to throw really heavy balls as hard as you can. Plus, you suck at pool too and that never stopped us."

When she looked up, Max was glaring at her, although his eyes were twinkling. "You are taking far too much pleasure in rubbing my nose in this," he complained as he sat down beside her. He reached out to take the pencil from her hand. She felt a tingle run up her arm as their fingers brushed against each other. It ended far too soon.

She got to her feet and went to take her turn. She could feel his eyes following her, making her heart thump more quickly in her chest. She sighed as she watched her ball roll down the alley and take down a few pins. She wished she could do what she really wanted to do. She wished she could just turn around right now and throw herself into his arms.

It was going well. Almost too well. They had been laughing, having fun. And, yet, Liz couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps they were both trying a little too hard. They were trying to pretend that there wasn’t a mountain of history between them, that they didn’t have anything serious to talk about, but there was and they did and all she really wanted to do was talk about it.

As the night progressed, she simply became more antsy, rather than less. And Max, while obviously enjoying himself, was refusing to talk about anything more serious than his pathetic bowling technique.

She had a feeling that it was why he had suggested the activity in the first place. Earlier she had been just as agape as Tess had sounded on the phone, but she had agreed, just thrilled that he wanted to spend any time with her at all. And they would be alone after all. The alley was closed and the owner had agreed to lend Max his keys after her husband had offered to allow the owner’s daughter to have her birthday party at the UFO Centre for free.

It hadn’t dawned on her when she’d accepted that bowling meant they were going to spend most of their time ten feet away from each other, not being able to talk except by yelling because of the smashing pins and the racket the balls made.

Not that Max was smashing many pins, but he sure was making a lot of noise. Just none of it was directed at her in the form of conversation.

How were they supposed to get to know each other again if they didn’t speak?

"Good one," Max told her as she came back to join him. He sounded suspicious. "Are you sure you’re not using your powers? I mean, really. Where did you learn to bowl like this? Certainly not in the world of high fashion in New York."

"Just talented I guess," Liz joked, trying to keep her tone light, although it was becoming more of a struggle as the evening wore on. She glanced behind her meaningfully. "I mean, I’ve always kicked your ass Evans. It’s not like it’s anything new."

Max followed her gaze, took in the pool table she was indication. His expression darkened slightly. "I beat you the other night," he reminded her quietly.

Liz frowned. "You did," she admitted. She looked down. "I sort of didn’t live up to my end of the bargain, did I? I was supposed to tell you the truth about why I left."

Max didn’t answer. He just moved behind the bench gracing the alley and towards the pool table. She followed him, wondering what he was doing. He lined up the balls sitting on the table, picked up a pool cue and started idly hitting the balls. "I guess you didn’t," he finally said. "But that’s okay. I understand why now."

"Yeah," Liz replied uncertainly. He seemed more amenable to actually having a serious conversation now, so she asked quickly, "Are you scared?"

Max looked up, quirked an eyebrow at her. "Of what?"

"Of the end of the world," she elaborated.

He straightened, placing the cue on the floor in front of him and leaning on it slightly. "Are you?"

"Yes," Liz admitted. "Max, I saw it." She rushed on. "You said a couple of days ago that you couldn’t ever be sure that I wanted to get back together for us or just so I’d have the kid that could stop it."

Max was quiet for a moment, eyeing her, his expression unreadable. "I did say that," he finally agreed. "But I’m not really convinced about it anyway."

"You’re not?" Liz asked, surprised. "Max, I saw it. It’s going to happen. We’re going to be stronger because your four square is all together, but the prophecy says that we need our child."

Max scratched his neck, shrugged. "I don’t believe in destiny Liz. You know that. I can’t believe in that book and what it says is going to happen because any little difference in any event could change that future. We’ve probably already changed it. Destiny can’t be written down anywhere. You have to make your own." He met her eyes squarely. "If I ever choose to have a child with you, it’s not going to be about saving the planet. It’s going to be about the fact that I love you and that I want to share the joy of bringing a new life into this world with you."

Liz felt a lump rise in her throat. "You just said you love me," she whispered.

"Of course I love you Liz," Max replied, sounding surprised. "That was never in question. I’ve loved you since the minute I set eyes on you when I was a kid. What is in question is whether I can ever convince you that we have to choose to be together. I can’t get back together with you just because of something that might happen and I won’t bring a child into this world with all those expectations on his or her head. I know what it feels like to have a destiny thrust upon you that you don’t want. I just won’t do that."

"But Max, I do choose you," Liz told him. "I want you so much. Even if we never have a child, I still want to be with you."

He sighed, looked away. She could see that he was still unconvinced. How could she make him see that he was not a means to an end for her - that he was the end. And the beginning. He was everything.

Liz pressed her lips together. There was only one way. Now that the connection was open between them again, now that she wasn’t surppressing it, she had to make him see her. He had to really see into her soul, not just listen to her words.

But if she did what she knew she had to do, she was going against his wish to go slow. It had only been a few hours after all. Couldn’t she wait a while longer, let him work through his demons?

As she stared at him though, she knew that she couldn’t. They just could not go slowly. If she didn’t show him exactly what he meant to her, how he was her very soul, he wouldn’t be able to ever let those very same demons go. Because his demons were his inability to trust that she wouldn’t leave him again and that he had always wondered if he was worthy of her.

It had been so long. He had forgotten what it was like, had forgotten what they were together when they opened up completely.

Max was watching her, a slightly suspicious expression on his face. "What are you thinking?" He asked.

"I’m thinking that you’re going to be really mad at me in a minute," Liz replied, moving towards him with more assurance than she felt. He blinked, backed away, but didn’t have far to go because the pool table was right behind him.

"Liz, what are you doing?" Max asked, his panic evident.

"The only thing I can think of to get us past this wall," Liz replied firmly. She was standing only inches from him now. For a brief moment she wondered if he might actually jump up on the table and scamper away from her, but he narrowed his eyes instead.

"I thought we were going to take this slow," he complained weakly. She saw him swallow convulsively, could feel his heart racing as she placed one hand firmly on his toned chest.

"Max, is that really what you want?" Liz breathed. She snaked her other arm up and around his neck, so he was forced to lower his head.

"I don’t know," he admitted, his voice husky. "I’m not really thinking very clearly at the moment."

"And why is that?" Liz murmured, her lips barely a breath away from his.

He didn’t answer. She decided to take advantage of his silence. Raising herself on her tip-toes, she firmly pressed her mouth to his.

The instant they connected physically, she felt desire shoot through her veins. Her entire body was on fire. It wasn’t the first time he had kissed her since she’d been back, but it was the first time she had allowed herself to do enjoy it.

Not that he was entirely participating at the moment. But she could feel him weakening. She was completely open to him, allowing their otherworldly bond to tease him, just as it had tortured her since the day he had healed her.

Bend Max. Give in! You want this as much as I do. She pleaded with him in her mind, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

And, almost as if he actually heard her, he did. She felt her heart quite simply melt when his lips softened and he actually started to participate in the kiss.

See me Max. Know how much I love you. Please!

It was then, and only then, that she opened herself to him completely, knowing that this might very well be her last chance.