Complications (CC,M/L,mature) A/N - 05/08/06[WIP]

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Title: The Right Way: Complications
Author: hoLLy BEHRy
Rating: MATURE
Category: Conventional Couples- Mostly Max and Liz
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I claim to own nothing. I’m borrowing from the great minds of Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, and the people behind the amazing show that is Roswwell.
Summary:

Sequel to Simplicity/Beginnings. It's been two years since Max and Liz got married. Things were great for the newlyweds...in the beginning. Now it's time for the next step. Are they ready? Certainly complications will arise.

I strongly recommend that you check out Previously on Roswell. There you’ll get the gist of the first story without having to actually read the first story. It’ll get you caught up.

This is the second installment in my series, The Right Way. You don’t have to read the first story, Simplicity/Beginnings, which took place after S3's "Interruptus", but by checking out that link above, you'll be able to understand everything in this story.

Each story of the series is like a season of Roswell. So a lot of things happen in each installment; there will be different storylines, new characters, and so on. There was going to be four installments in my series, but I’ve decided to combine two and three.

Feedback always wanted and appreciated.

Author's Note: You can also check out this story by clicking, [url=htp://www.xanga.com/TRW_Complications]Complications[/url]. It's a site where I'm posting this story with music.


Book 1
Chapter 1

{Max}

“You and your damn Tabasco-frosted cupcakes,” Michael sighed. He walked into the kitchen and bent down to take a peek into the oven.

Michael always made fun of me for baking too much. I can’t help it, I love baked goods. My specialty was cupcakes, especially with my concoction of Tabasco frosting. Maria, Jesse, and Liz never liked my cupcakes topped off with the hot sauce, but Michael, Iz, and I did. I don’t know how I ever ate cupcakes without them, the frosting that is.

Currently, I was baking a whole cake. Like a bun, roast, turkey, or loaf of bread, timing is not a necessity, unless you’re off by several minutes, but timing does not have to be exact.

The cookbook says 36-38 minutes. So sometime after the 36th minute and before the 38th minute, the cake can be taken out of the oven. If you take it out a little before the 36th minute, then it’s slightly underdeveloped, but still edible. You take the cake out a little after the 38th minute and it’s slightly burnt, we’ll call it crisp. It’s still edible. I, personally, will love the cake whether it comes out early or late.

“It’s a regular cake,” I corrected, kicking the door shut in his face. “And shut up, you know you like those ‘damn Tabasco-frosted cupcakes’.”

He hopped up on the counter and laughed. “Actually, I’m not cursing your cupcakes, ‘cause you’re right, I do like ‘em, but ease up on the baking, Betty Crocker. As much as I do like finding a cupcake in my lunchbox everyday, you need to lay off the baking…for the sake of Liz,” he laughed.

“Are you insinuating that baking is just a female thing?” I asked.

“I’m just saying…” Michael chuckled.

I shook my head while wearing a grin. “Well, don’t,” I replied. “A lot of guys bake.”

Michael gave a hearty laugh and launched a baby carrot stick my way. “I’m just messing around with you, Maxwell.”

I snapped my arm in the direction the carrot was coming and caught it in my hand.

“Look,” Michael went on, “you’re falling behind on the books and inventory. I keep coming up short on cherries.”

I gave a little chuckle and hopped onto an opposite counter myself. “Maybe you should stop eating them,” I told Michael. “You’re supposed to be serving them in the drinks.”

He gave a little nod. “Yeah, you’re probably right. When are you going to stop by the club? You need to voice your opinion of the renovations.”

Whits. It was the club that Michael and I started about a year ago. Michael had tried his hand at community college but dropped out a few months short of completing his first year. He said something about not being able to stand more school.

So, for a month or two, Michael moped around the house doing absolutely nothing. If Maria hadn’t threatened to leave him if he didn’t start to do anything with his life, Michael would still be sitting on his lazy ass.

According to him, he had absolutely no skills that he enjoyed. Maria had suggested woodworking, but Michael hated the idea. Michael didn’t want to work as a security guard again because he knew that he’d get stuck with graveyard shifts like at Meta-Chem. So, then came the idea of Whits.

I had remembered Michael telling me about how Hank had always made him mix up drinks. Bartending was the one skill that Michael had forgotten about and enjoyed somewhat. So, bartending was what Michael was going to look into.

For a few weeks, Michael worked at the bars (keyword being bars) near the several universities in Boston, but things didn’t sit too well since Michael hated working under someone’s hand. So, he thought of opening up his own club, some place where people could just hang out, like a Crashdown Café for people over 18 where alcohol was being served, for those over 21, of course.

Michael had intended to name the club ’47, but then he decided not to and went a different route, deciding to dub the bar Whits, an obvious tribute to Alex. While it is a painful reminder of a brother that we all lost, his memory lives on, and it’s become not so painful anymore. I know that it was a tribute to Alex, but I think Michael also named the bar after our friend for Maria, and Isabel and Liz.

A sensitive and thoughtful Michael? It was definitely a new turn, and it was all thanks to Maria. Michael denies any connection, but it really has been Maria’s patience and love for the man that changed Michael into…well, into a human.

Back to the club…Michael had come to me with a whole proposal set up. He even had poster boards with charts and pictures and everything. He had scouted possible locations, estimated costs, designed the interior and exterior, and more. Honestly, it was a damn good proposal.

So, in early 2003, I became Michael’s business partner. We found a perfect location in downtown Boston where all the college kids hung out. I bought the property and started our little business with the money that I had saved from working at Behr&Appleby. I’m glad that I made the investment; Whits was raking in more than enough money to support Maria, Michael, Liz, and me. The club’s profits were keeping us afloat.

Liz and I purchased a four bedroom home here in Cambridge a good five minutes from Harvard University where Liz was currently in the second semester of her sophomore year. Our house was only—when there was no traffic—a half an hour from B&A and maybe twenty minutes from the New England Conservatory of Music where Maria continued to attend.

Liz and I bought the home and made it the foundation of our family. As of now, our family only consisted of Michael, Maria, Liz, and I, but sometime in the future, we would have the addition of little tots. Yet, Liz and I agreed (after many arguments) that right now wasn’t the time to have those certain “additions”. She was striving at Harvard and I was still putting money into a nest egg in the bank by working at B&A, and doing my residency at Boston General Hospital.

I only had another year of residency left, but it was going to be a struggle. It was a struggle now because balancing Boston General, B&A, and Whits while spending time with Liz was hard work. To be honest, there wasn’t much “spending time with Liz” at all. I had been working too much and so had she. However, we were going to find ways to spend time with other; soon it would be our 2nd wedding anniversary.

I smiled at the thought. They had been a glorious two years with Liz, and I was excited to remember that that was how life was going to be for the rest of my life. We learned to cope with each other’s stubbornness. We found pros in each other’s cons. We acted like we were still newlyweds or those teenagers in Roswell who went out to Senor Chow’s with Michael and Maria for an always disastrous double date. And I would like to think that we’re more in love now than we were before, even despite the lack of each other due to the busy schedules we had, and I hate to admit, the arguing and fighting too.

“Well?” Michael wondered.

He woke me from my thoughts, causing me to literally wake from my daze. “What?” I asked.

“Whits, when are you going to check out how the remodeling’s going?” Michael reiterated. “I’d like some input from someone other than Maria. She won’t shut up with the pink. ‘Pink’s the new black,’ she says. I mean, come on, what the hell is that?”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. Michael and Maria were still the same Michael and Maria. The constant arguing between the two kept the household alive and always brought amusement to Liz and I whenever we felt down.

Maria still wore the promise ring Michael gave her two years ago on her right ring finger while her left ring finger remains bare. Michael’s not ready to commit, but in my opinion, he’s already committed to her and vice versa. When we all signed up for our lives as this big family, we were bound to each other, committed to each other. Still, Michael doesn’t see it or choose to see it. He won’t even room with her, but actually, that was a mutual decision between the two. So, down the hall from Liz’s and my bedroom, Michael and Maria occupy their own rooms for most of the time. At the end of the day, they usually end in one or the other’s room, but they still chose to store their clothes in different closets in different rooms.

I continued to chuckle as I hopped off the counter to check on the cake. The light in the oven reflected off the golden brown texture of the cake. Its sweet aroma filled my nose as the warm heat from the oven caused sweat to lightly blanket my forehead.

“Is it done?” Michael asked.

I reached for the oven mitt on the counter and slid the cake out and placed it on a cooling rack on the stove.

“Nice,” Michael said delightfully. “Very nice.”

I lifted my chin and gave a little nod. “Thanks,” I replied. “Would you mind setting the table?”

“Sure,” Michael said. He turned to a cupboard and started pulling out plates. “Should I set the table for three again?”

I looked at the clock on the microwave and shook my head. “No, four.”

“Are you sure?” Michael asked. “Maria said she’s working late at the library again.”

Liz was busy working on yet another paper and to make her father proud, Liz made sure that her papers got the A’s her father expected, and they did, at the expense of Liz’s free time, and time with me, specifically.

She was working damn hard. I tried my best to make it home in the evenings in the hopes that Liz would be home from class, but for a long time now, she never was. Michael or I would make dinner, and every night, Michael would set the table wondering if he should set it for three or four and I always told him four, in the off chance that Liz might make it to dinner, and for a long time now, she never would.

“I’m sure,” I replied anyway.

Michael gave me a disapproving stare and sighed heavily. “Whatever,” he grumbled under his breath as he left the room with plates and utensils in hand.

I knew that somewhere in the back of his mind, Michael believed that no one could spend as much time at the library as Liz did. He believed that maybe Liz was doing more than just writing a paper or studying.

The thought never crossed my mind. If Michael wanted to think that, then fine, but I trust my wife completely. I love her, but I’m just not exactly happy with her.

All the nights spent at the library. All the dinner’s I spent staring at an empty plate in front of an empty chair. I didn’t want to ask her to just stop working hard. Liz has worked this hard all her life to get to this point. So I was just going to have to grin and bear it. Yet, it seemed like that’s all I had been doing for the past three months.

“Something smells good,” Maria shouted. The glass door to the veranda shut and Maria made her way to the kitchen doorway. “What’s for dinner?” she asked.

“Baked ziti, garlic bread, garden salad, and cake for dessert,” I replied, pointing to each item of food laid out on the counter.

Maria rose an eyebrow. “Tabasco frosting?”

I shook my head and started carrying the food to the dining room with Maria following close behind.

“Good,” she sighed in relief.

Michael placed the last plate down and then greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. “Can we eat?”

I looked to Maria, wondering whether or not Liz would come home anytime soon. She shook her head and took a seat. I knew that was going to be the answer, but I had to have some hope, right?

I sighed heavily as I took a seat.

“So, what’d you do today?” Maria asked Michael.

Michael gave a little shrug as I let my eyes drift to the empty plate.

<center>*~*</center>

“Maxwell…? Hey, Maxwell…”

I slowly blinked my eyes all the way open and found myself staring Michael in the face. “What?” I grumbled slowly pushing myself up off the couch.

“Go to bed,” Michael replied.

I gave my eyes a little rub and looked out the windows and saw nothing but the darkness. “What time is it?” I wondered.

“A little after midnight. Go to bed.”

I gave an exhausted sigh and looked at the ceiling. “Is Liz home?”

When I looked back at Michael, he stared down at the floor and shook his head. “Not yet,” he said softly.

I brushed past Michael and headed up the circular staircase in the family room that led upstairs to the back hallway/gallery. The hallway/gallery was a walkway that ran along the walls, and so it was open to the family room below.

Our home was the first house we looked at. The moment we stepped through the front door, Liz knew that this was the one. Pricey, but absolutely perfect. She’s the one who coined the term, “the foundation of our family” and she, Maria, and Isabel would talk about raising kids together.

While Maria still lived with us, Isabel and Jesse bought the house just across the street. No kids for them yet, but they were trying. We didn’t want to believe that their inability to have children was due to the fact that one part of the couple was human and the other part was half-human, half-alien. So we all just believed that the two of them were trying at the wrong time. We all had to be optimistic.

Liz always talked about kids with Maria and Isabel, especially since Valenti and the former Ms. DeLuca had a beautiful little girl, but the moment the issue was brought up between her and me, she wanted to drop it. Nearly three months ago we had a huge blow up about children and when to have them. It was the source of most of our fights. We haven’t had many, but I’m not saying we’re the perfect couple.

Nearly three months ago we had a huge blow up about children and when to have them. It was the biggest fight we had. She had said that right now wasn’t the right time while I had to disagree. Eventually, I just caved in and let her have the last word, and thus, we both agreed that we wouldn't make any additions to the family quite yet, and we haven't talked about it since.

Three months ago…That’s about the same time she had started working late nights at the library. Maybe there was some truth to what Michael believed.

I sat up in bed pondering the possibility when I heard a car door slam shut. The heavy, wooden front door slid open and keys jingled. I could tell they were Liz’s keys because I knew the song that her keys made when they hit each other.

The front door was closed and locked as quietly as possibly. Hardwood flooring covered most of downstairs, yet, I could not hear steps made. Liz must have taken off her shoes. I could picture her journey up to our room. Up the carpeted main staircase she went and then past Maria’s bedroom, and then Michael’s. I could hear her feet shuffle when she got closer to our room, and soon, she was at the door, carefully trying to open it without making a noise. I was already awake and so there really was no point of her trying.

“Hi,” I said succinctly.

The door froze for a brief moment and then was pushed all the way open so that Liz could walk in. “I didn’t mean to wake you,” she replied.

“I was already awake,” I told her. “I couldn’t sleep.”

I watched as she walked into the bedroom. Though she was in the darkness, she knew her way around, narrowly missing a chair, an ottoman, my dresser, and my desk.

After emerging from her closet, Liz climbed into bed and curled up against me, resting her head on my chest. “Well, you can sleep now,” she said. “I’m home and you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

I gave a little nod and kissed the top of her head. “How’s the paper coming along?”

“What?” Liz wondered.

“Your paper,” I repeated. “You’ve been at the library a lot lately, working on another paper. You were at the library, right?”

Liz quietly yawned. “Oh, right,” she replied. “Yeah, I was at the library. I worked until it closed.”

“You must have,” I said. “You smell like coffee.”

Liz nodded. “Yup, drank lots of coffee. I think I might as well own stock in Starbucks or something.”

“You shouldn’t work too hard,” I told her.

There was no reply.

“Liz?” I said. “Liz…?”

I peered over her head to find her fast asleep.

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Thank you so much for the great FB and for your interest in this story, especially you, extingman. You made some very excellent points and I'd love to answer your questions, but I don't want to give anything away, but like I said, you made some very excellent points. Thank you, and everyone, for the FB.

-hoLLy


Chapter 2

[Maria]

“Maria, if you suggest pink one more time…” Michael began to threaten, “I’m not going to let you play here anymore.”

I rolled my eyes and hopped off the bar stool. “You should be begging me to play here, Michael. I’m the only one who offers to play here for free.”

“That’s because you’re my girlfriend,” Michael quickly replied. “Damn it, Jerry!” he shouted. “Come back here and clean these glasses like I asked.”

Michael was too good at being someone’s boss. It’s like he was always meant to be one, and aside from the actually bossing around, Michael’s a good boss, even if he was younger than all of his employees. He runs a tight ship. Employees always arrive on time, customers are always satisfied, and business is always great. So great that after the first year of business Michael and Max had enough money to give Whits a giant face lift.

It was near done and the re-opening would happen soon. Only a few final touches and Whits was going to be perfect.

I sure as hell wish Alex was around to see it, but then again, the club wouldn’t be called Whits. Well, from wherever he was watching, I know that he was be proud. It’s kind of ironic, though, since Alex was Mr. Innocence, never having a drop of alcohol touch his tongue. Although, if I wanted to talk about really ironic, then I’d talk about Michael, the owner of a bar who can’t have a drop of alcohol touch his tongue. We’re all under 21, except for Isabel and Jesse. It’s not like we can drink what we serve, anyway. Come to think of it, I’m wondering why the hell Michael decided to open a bar.

“I’m sorry, boss,” Jerry said upon arrival. “We ran these glasses through the dishwasher twice, it must be busted.”

“Well see if you can find out what the problem is and call someone about it,” Michael said.

The wiry bartender nodded and lifted the tray of glasses off the counter and attempted to leave, struggling, though, as he turned away.

“Wait,” Michael ordered.

Jerry turned back around, still holding on for dear life as the tray didn’t get any lighter. “Yeah, boss?”

“Max didn’t call or anything, did he?”

Jerry shook his head. “Nope, sorry, boss. No word.”

Michael nodded and sent Jerry on his way. I sat back on the bar stool as Michael grabbed the rag from his back pocket and started wiping down the counter. He worked hard at the surface, attempting to remove a smudge when there was no smudge.

“Is there something wrong, Michael?” I asked.

He was concentrating so hard, Michael hadn’t heard a word I had said. “What?” he questioned.

“You’re going to rub a hole in that counter,” I warned him. “What’s wrong?”

Michael sighed heavily as he stuffed the towel back into his pocket. He started to moved around the circular bar, pretending to occupy himself by straightening out liquor bottles, making sure the labels faced forward.

I followed him around on the other side of the bar, waiting for him to reply. “Well?” I wondered.

“It’s not like Maxwell,” Michael finally said. “This is the third time he’s stood me up.”

“Aw…you two had a hot date?”

Michael stared me down with a raised eyebrow and then went back to the liquor bottles. “As much as I love you,” he began, “I’m tired of hearing the word ‘pink’ come out of your mouth. Max was supposed to help me with the final decisions and work on the books.”

My eyes squinted. “And you say this is the third time?”

Michael gave a little nod as he stared at the front doors, hoping that Max would walk in.

It’s almost been two years since Tess disappeared. Max was positive that she left the planet because of the evidence left behind, but we would never know for sure. We didn’t even know if Tess was behind “the conscience” or not. It was mere speculation, but once Tess left, Max was never taken by the conscience in the two years since she’s been gone. Thus, there was support behind the speculation.

But now, Max missing “dates” with Michael? Maybe the conscience was back. Maybe Tess was back. I shuddered at the thought.

“Michael…” I warned.

“I know what you’re thinking,” he replied. “You think it’s the conscience, but it isn’t. It’s been two years since anything’s happened to him.”

I rolled my eyes. Michael could be so naïve at times.

“Maybe you should call the beeper,” I suggested.

Michael gave his head a little shake. “No, Max is probably stuck at B&A or the hospital, which is why he didn’t make it here before when I asked him. He hates it when we bother him at work.”

“What if he’s not at work?”

Michael rolled his eyes and reached down and pulled out a cordless phone from behind the counter. He punched in a few numbers and listened to the other line ring. After a few rings, Michael hung up and tossed the phone back down below. “You happy?” he sniped. “If the conscience took him and he broke out of it, he would have told us, you know that.”

I couldn’t disagree. “You’re right,” I nodded. “But what if this is the first time? Michael, we should tell Liz right away.”

He responded with a little scoff and started to walk to the other side of the bar. I quickly followed and then glared him down. Michael missed my stares by looking down, pretending to organize things below the bar.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded to know.

“What?” Michael wondered innocently. “I sighed. Am I not allowed to sigh?”

I launched a cherry at his chest, which he caught and then ate. “That wasn’t a regular, spontaneous, ‘I took a deep breath and now I’m just exhaling’ sigh,” I informed him. “It was an exaggerated, ‘Ha, you go ahead and think that’ sigh. The ones where you think you know better.”

“You read too much into things.”

My patience was quickly diminishing. “Michael…”

He hated it when I used the scolding mother tone. He rose from his crouched position and leaned on the bar like I did and was mere inches away from my face. “What’s the point of telling Liz?” he began. “Her nose is too buried into her books and her papers and just all that bullshit.”

I stared at him in disbelief and awe. “What are you saying, Michael?”

“I’m saying there’s no way she can spend every single day at the library. She’s barely home and she neglects Maxwell. I doubt that she would be fazed by any of this conscience crap anymore.”

Instead of throwing a cherry at him, I threw my hands into his chest. “Michael, how could you think like that?!?”

“Oh come on, Maria!” Michael cried out. “We all live under the same roof! You hear the same things I’m hearing! You hear their arguing and their fights and then their lack of actual conversation! Now I know it’s not Max's fault. He’s been trying like hell to see Liz, to actually be with her, work their problems out. Where is she, Maria? At the library? That’s a load of garbage.”

I rolled my eyes. “Michael, they don’t fight,” I told him. “They just had that one disagreement, which was three months ago. Things have been quiet since then.”

Michael laughed as he bobbed his head in agreement. “Yeah, too quiet.”

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Thank you for the FB. I always appreciate it!


Chapter 3

[Kyle]

“When’s practice?” Katie wondered.

I glanced at my watch, realized the time, and jumped right off the couch. “Shit…I’m late.”

“This is the second time, Kyle,” Katie scolded. “Your coach is going to kill you.”

“If coach kills me, he can say goodbye to a second championship.”

My beautiful girlfriend rolled her pretty blue eyes and laughed. “You’re too damn cocky, Kyle Valenti.”

I quickly scrambled around our apartment throwing my towel, glove, and hat into a gym bag before kissing Katie on the forehead. “No, not cocky,” I smiled. “Confident.”

I sprinted out of the small, two bedroom apartment and started leaping down the steps of our apartment complex. Katie and I lived only about fifteen minutes from the campus and ten minutes from the athletic field, but Coach Collins went by the saying, “If you’re early, you’re on time. If you’re on time, you’re late. And if you’re late, don’t bother showing up.”

Practice was in ten minutes, and so by the time I arrived on the field, I would be “late”. Katie was right, Coach was going to kill me.

Katie Stone. I met her in my Lit class. She was a big shot know-it-all. When the professor asked a question, her hand was the first one up, and when she was always called on, she stood up and then answered the question. The professor never asked her to stand up, but she did voluntarily, like she wanted to attract attention, and that’s exactly what she did.

It wasn’t her vibrantly flowing red hair or her amazingly blue eyes that caught my attention, it was her intelligence, her sass. I guess that’s what I like in a woman. It’d definitely explain my attraction towards Liz and Isabel back in high school. The two are my sisters now, and they’re sisters to my step-sister.

About two months after Max and Liz were married, Ms. DeLuca and my father decided to get hitched. They jumped right into it and were married in the court house. I was best man, Maria was maid-of-honor, and all our friends were there to witness the occasion.

And about a month after they were married, my father and new mom conceived my little sister, and nine months later, Jamie Alexandra DeLuca Valenti was born on February 23, 2003. Us kids were already off at college and what not, but we had a little reunion to welcome the newest addition days before she even arrived. I flew in from California with Katie while Michael, Maria, Max, and Liz flew in from Massachusetts.

None of us changed a bit in the five or six months that we were apart. I went to pick the four of them up at the airport with Katie, Isabel, and Jesse and as soon as Michael walked out of the boarding tunnel, Maria was right behind him, nagging him about something. I’m not quite sure what it was. I learned how to zone out Maria. And although the two of them were arguing, Maria and Michael’s relationship was still as strong as the stonewall Michael used to put up when we were in high school.

And of course, there was Max and Liz. They had walked out of the boarding tunnel hand-in-hand, like they were still in high school. It was so good to see them happy and in love. We all knew that it was long overdue for them.

We were all together for four or so days. The gang got to meet Katie and as with any new person involved with one of us, Max and Michael made sure she was completely human, which she was. The two of them always had to make sure, and when they were sure, they let Katie in, but not all the way in, if you know what I mean. They got to know her, and they actually really liked her.

Once Jamie was born, it was time to get back to our everyday lives. Michael and Maria boarded the plane the same way they had departed a plane just days earlier, they were arguing, yet again. Jesse had quit Mr. Evans’s law firm and found a job in Boston. So this time, Jesse and Isabel were joining the other four on the plane. They had bought a house across the street from Max and Liz.

And as for Max and Liz…over the four days they were in Roswell, things seemed off. I don’t know what it was, but I just had this feeling that things weren’t right with the two of them. They were still all lovey-dovey just like how they were when they got off the plane, but I knew that something was going to happen between the two of them, I just wasn’t sure what.

Of course that was all a year ago. I talk to them sometimes, mostly Isabel, and the only thing that’s really changed in that year is Isabel’s hair color. She went back to blonde, and that’s about all that’s been happening on the east coast.

I miss my friends, the little gang we banded, like a gang of cowboys, cowgirls, and aliens, but I love living my own life in California with Katie, because it’s my own life, and I’m doing well. I’m actually doing well in school, baseball’s been great, and I’m in love. I’ve branched out and took back my life, but when the time comes, I know I’m going to have to give my life back to Max Evans to protect because soon enough I’m going to become one of them, like Liz did.

I’m scared of the change, I never wanted to become one of them, but I’m ready. I’ve accepted it and I’m ready to take whatever comes at me.

“Valenti! Get your ass over here!”

I reached into my bag and quickly pulled out my glove and hat and put them on as I ran towards home plate where Coach Collins was leaning against the fence.

“Coach, I know I’m late, but there was this—”

“Save the excuse, Valenti,” Coach Collins said. “Actually, practice is running a little behind. You see those people over there?” He pointed to a small group of people near first base. There was a man in a suit, holding a microphone and a few papers and another man holding a camera.

“Yeah,” I replied. “It looks like a news crew.”

Coach Collins gave a little laugh and patted me on the back. “You’re a smart one, Valenti. They’re talking to Charles right now, but they really came for you.”

“For me?”

Coach laughed again and playfully shoved me in their direction. “Talk to them and I won’t get on your ass for being late.”

I looked over my shoulder and gave a goofy, dumfounded nod, and then jogged over to the news crew with the sweat already forming below my baseball hat.

“Ah, here he is!” Charles smiled. He was the captain of our team. Not the brightest guy, but the best damn shortstop I had ever seen. “This is the man you’re looking for,” he said when I arrived. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and squeezed like hell. “Meet Kyle Valenti.”

“Hi,” I managed to squeak.

The man in the business suit gave a little laugh. “I’m Tony Burnette. I work for Channel 51 news.”

“Channel 51?” I wondered. "I've never—"

“It’s a public access channel,” Tony replied. “We’re doing a little piece on you. You’ve been big news since that homerun in the 13th inning last year, and since then, you’ve been averaging a homerun a game. You’ve got a .365 batting average and you’re on record breaking pace with all your RBIs this season. What’s your secret?”

I gave a little shrug. “I dunno,” I replied. “I’ve just been lucky, I guess.”

“No, it ain’t luck,” Charles laughed. “This man…he’s like some superhero, like an alien superhero.”

I faked a laugh and a smile and shrugged innocently.

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Ok, the Max/Liz tension thing has been going on for a year? I thought Michael said that Liz had only been going to the library like mad, recently, not for a whole year.

Before I post the chapter, I wanted to clear this up. A year prior to now, Kyle sensed something wrong between Max and Liz. It wasn't until three months ago did they start drifting apart. Hope that clears that up for you, Brina, and others who may have wondered.

Thank you all for the feedback. It means a lot to me.


Chapter 4

{Michael}

“Hey, boss!”

I dropped my pencil in frustration and looked up. “WHAT?!” I cried out.

Jerry appeared in the doorway. “There’s a delivery.”

“Of what?” I replied harshly.

“I think bourbon.”

I stared down at the numbers in the accounting books and rolled my eyes. “Well, go sign for it, Jerry! Can’t you see that I’m busy?”

Jerry nervously ran his hand over his head. I would say that he ran his hand through his hair, but the kid’s got so much damn product in his crew cut that he can’t get through his helmet of hair, it was like a plastic helmet with sideburns down to Jerry’s jaw line. The guy belonged on an episode of 90210. “S—Sorry, boss,” he stuttered.

I sighed heavily and gave a little nod. “It’s ok. Just go sign for it, will ya?”

Jerry bobbed his head and ran back into the club while I went back to the books. Damn numbers. I know how to do the math, it’s just there are so many damn numbers and lines and columns. Honestly, I don’t care about the books, I don’t care about whether or not I’ve made money or lost money.

And while Maxwell takes care of the numbers, he doesn’t care about the money either. He’s got more than enough of it. Max works at B&A where he makes a shitload of dough, and he’s making even more money as a resident at Boston General. He’s got one year of residency left and then he’ll be an actual physician. Sure, technically, he’s a doctor now, but only a resident doctor. In one year, he’ll be Dr. Maxwell Evans, emergency pediatrician. A regular, normal doctor, no hocus pocus involved. It’s probably why I was stuck here doing the books, because Maxwell was off saving lives.

I looked to the bright computer screen and stared at the spreadsheet displayed in front of me, then I brought my gaze down to the books, ready to transfer numbers from one to the other, but damn were my eyelids feeling heavy.

“Stimulating enough for ya?”

My eyelids shot open, allowing me to find Maxwell standing in my office. “You finally decided to show up,” I laughed, rubbing my eyes.

Max gave a little smirk and picked up the accounting book off the desk. “I’ve been a little busy,” he sighed. After briefly glancing over the pages, he placed the book back down on my desk and sat on the couch. He sighed once more, more heavily, and wearily rubbed his forehead.

“What’s up?” I wondered.

Max shook his head. “Nothing, I’m just a little tired.” He definitely looked it. I’m not sure if he came straight from B&A or Boston General. He was wearing his white lab coat with his stethoscope shoved in the pocket and his hospital badge clipped to the lapel of the coat. Underneath the lab coat, Max was wearing black slacks, a dress shirt, and a neck tie. It’s possible that he started the day at B&A and then headed to the hospital or vice versa, but then again, it’s only three in the afternoon. Max could have spent the whole day at the hospital or B&A, come here, only for a break. He might still have to go to the hospital or B&A.

“Well, maybe you should go home and get some rest,” I suggested.

Max bobbed his head. “Yeah, I actually got off from B&A early again.”

I guess that means he went to the hospital and then to B&A.

“I figured that I’d stop by here first,” Max continued. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t show up the other day, and I’m sorry that I keep standing you up. It’s just things are busy at the hospital and B&A.”

“That’s what I figured, and that’s what I told Maria, but she didn’t believe me.”

Max was suddenly interested in the conversation. “Why didn’t she believe you? What did she think?” he asked.

I got up from my chair and walked to the front of the desk where I sat on the edge. I looked to Maxwell, shaking my head and giving a quick little laugh. “She thought it was the conscience.”

Max looked to me and then looked forward at my desk and stared at it for a while. I sat wondering whether or not Maria was right. Maybe the conscience did return and Max never told us about it. This wouldn’t be the first time Max has withheld vital information from us. He was always hiding things from us, thinking he was protecting us when in actuality, he scared and worried the crap out of us.

Max finally gave a little chuckle and shook his head. “It’s not the conscience,” he claimed. “The reason I haven’t been around is just because I’ve been really busy, and you know that I would have talked to you about all this, but I’m either working or sleeping and we didn’t have a family dinner last night. Sorry about that, by the way.”

I nodded, accepting Max's apology.

“But yeah, I really am just swamped with work. So…—”

“Good,” I sighed in relief. “I mean, it’s not good that you’re swamped with work. I meant good that it’s not the con—”

“I know what you meant,” Max interrupted, saving me from rambling on like an idiot.

I gave a solid nod of thanks as the lingering silence crept between Max and I. There was a ton of things that I wanted to discuss with Maxwell but it didn’t look like he was up for a conversation about prices, drinks, and light fixtures. He was instantly distracted by something else. He looked tired, but I knew it was more than that. He had been bothering himself about something—someone.

“So how is she?” I asked him. “Liz. You talk lately?”

Max chuckled. “God knows I see her more than you and Maria do, and I should be thankful for that, but I don’t know, Michael.”

“You guys sleep in the same bed, right? You must talk then.”

Our fearless leader worriedly shook his head. “Yeah, we talk and it seems normal, she acts normal, but I know that there’s more going on, Michael.”

I shook my head, not understanding. “What do you mean?” I asked.

Max exhaled sharply and shook his head. “It might be nothing,” he replied, “but something’s changed between the two of us.”

Max and Liz. They were the poster children for true love and soul mates while also being the poster children for relationship problems, both alien and human. I’m worried about their relationship and the lack of actual relation, but I have faith in their love. If Max and Liz failed, then there’d be no hope for the rest of us, but Max and Liz, they’re strong. I know they are.

“So what’s the deal?” I asked Max.

He stared at the armrest of the chair and started running the tip of his thumb in circles on it. “You live in the same house, you tell me.”

“It’s a big house, Maxwell. I’m not so sure what’s going on.”

“Ditto,” he laughed. His laughing came to a quick halt. Max tossed his head to the side and then he shook his head. “Michael, I don’t know,” he said again. “There’s reason to believe she’s cheating on me, but everything I feel in my heart and soul is giving me a reason to believe that she’s not cheating on me.”

That was good enough for me. Max and Liz have a strong connection. I’m not sure what that entails, but I know that it’s real. So it was a good enough explanation for me.

“Got it, Maxwell,” I nodded. “Look, it’s my fault that there’s ‘reason to believe she’s cheating on you’. I implied it, and I shouldn’t have. Liz is my friend, one of my best friends, and she’s your wife, and I just shouldn’t—”

“It’s ok, Michael. The thought would have crossed my mind sooner or later, but I know that Liz isn’t cheating on me.”


Sorry it's short.

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Thank you for all the feedback! I apologize for the short chapter and I have to apologize again for this part of the next chapter, it's pretty short also, but I promise, the next update will definitely be longer.


Chapter 5: Part 1

{Isabel}

“Thanks for coming to dinner, Iz.”

I let go of the embrace that Michael and I were in and nodded. “Hopefully it’ll make him feel better.”

“Yeah, he hasn’t seen you guys in days, we haven’t seen you guys in days.”

Again, I nodded. This time it was more of a regretful kind of nod. We all led our own lives now. We used to be this little family of Roswellians who ran from the law and the FBI while trying to discover who we were. Well, we found out who we were and we got older in the process of self-discovery. We’re still that little family, but we’ve grown and we all have our own lives. We’re not as bound to each other as we once were.

Maria and Liz are my best friends, but with school and work and Jesse, I’ve found it hard to spend time with them. The same goes for Michael and Max, my brothers. I love them all dearly, but we’re all just so busy, wrapped up in our own selves, our own lives. Everything’s just so complicated and not as simple as it once used to be.

Michael led Jesse and I into the dining room where the large wooden table draped in cloth was covered in dishes of food. Maria sat at the table already and jumped in surprise to see us.

“Isabel!” she smiled. “Jesse! Hey I didn’t know you guys were coming. How are you guys?”

I wrapped my arms around my friend and shrugged. “We’re good, how about you?”

Maria laughed and shook her head. “God, look at us. We talk like we haven’t seen each other in the longest time.”

“We haven’t,” Jesse confirmed. “I guess we’re all a little too busy, huh?”

We all nodded disappointedly and took our seats at the table as Max walked out of the kitchen with a few bottles of Tabasco in his hands. When he saw Jesse and I sitting at the table, he nearly tossed the bottles in the air.

“What are you guys doing here?” he questioned.

“It’s nice to see you too, little brother,” I replied.

Max gave a chuckle and walked towards me and greeted me with a little cheek rub since his hands were full. “Oh, it’s definitely great to see you, Iz. I’m just surprised to see you guys. I haven’t seen you guys in—”

“Weeks,” Jesse sighed. “Michael invited us, I hope that’s alright.”

Max finally put down the bottles of Tabasco sauce on the table and shook my husband’s hand. “Yeah, it’s fine. It’s great. I’m glad you guys could make it.”

I guess our presence was cheering him up somewhat, but Michael was right when he talked to me on the phone. He had said that yesterday Max had come to the club, the first time in a long time, and seemed depressed, like he was beating himself up over something. Michael had gone on to say that Max was really busy at work and that there were problems with Liz.

I’m not sure to what extent the problems with Liz were, but we had all noticed it. We all knew that Max and Liz barely saw each other. She was busy with school and research projects and my brother had two extensive jobs and a club to watch over.

When Jesse and I had moved to Boston, we spent nearly every day in this house. Jesse and I would stop by in the morning, sometimes come by for lunch, and eat dinner here. In the morning, we’d see everyone; Michael, Maria, Max, and Liz. During lunch, I’d catch either one or two of them, sometimes all four, and at dinner, we all sat down and had a family dinner, not just a once a week family dinner, an everyday dinner. Jesse and I spent more time in this house than we did in our own home. For a long while, we were that close, tight knit Roswellian family again.

But then Jesse’s caseload got heavier, I started classes, Michael became enveloped in the club, Maria was composing music, Liz got accepted into research group after research group, and Max went to work at the hospital and continued as a director at Behr&Appleby. We all drifted apart, not just Max from Liz or Liz from Max.

“Liz is out again?” Jesse asked.

Max gave a little nod. “She called me and told me she was at the lab.”

I finished chewing a mouthful of extra spicy chicken and smiled. “She called you, that’s good.”

“It’s an improvement,” Max shrugged.

“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “You’ve got to open up those communication lines again. I mean, communication is the basis of a great relationship.”

We all froze and took a moment to stare at Michael in disbelief.

He looked up from his plate and shook his head. “What?”

“Nothing,” Maria smiled, shaking her head also. “It’s just I’ve never met you before, and it’s definitely a pleasure to meet you, Oprah.”

“Shut up,” Michael grumbled. He went back to hovering over his plate and shoveling food into his mouth. “You guys suck,” he laughed.

We all grinned from ear to ear as we went back to our food. We all kind of just concentrated on our own plates. It was like we had all just met each other for the first time and there was that awkward silence.

I looked up from my plate and looked straight to Max. He tiresomely rested his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. With his free hand, Max poked around his plate, pushing around rice and chicken and making them do a little dance. Now, I know my brother, and he wasn’t just exhausted, like he was letting on, he was worrying, thinking, about his wife, about their relationship.

*~*

“So how’s Kyle doing?” Maria asked me.

I lowered my eyebrows and laughed. “I don’t know. He’s your step-brother, Maria.”

“Which is exactly why I don’t talk to him.”

I rolled my eyes and went back to my pie. “I haven’t talked to him in a while,” I replied, “but last time I talked to him, he and Katie were doing fine. They had just moved in together.”

“Yeah, that’s what I heard from my mother,” Maria nodded.

“How’s Jamie?” Jesse wondered.

I smiled at my husband and his interest in Maria and Kyle’s baby sister. Jesse’s turning 28 in July. He’s getting older and he’s waiting for the family he’s wanted, and we’ve tried. Jesse and I have been trying for a year now. At first, I was worried about being pregnant and the actual labor, but I didn’t care about that anymore. I just want to be pregnant. I want to carry a child. I want a family to call my own. I mean, I’ve got Michael, Maria, Max, and Liz, and yes, they’re my family, but they don’t suffice to my desire to be a mother. God, I’m not even sure how long my pregnancy term would last, but I don’t even care about that. I just want to be able to have a child; and I knew Max thought that way too, for himself and Liz.

“She’ll be one in a little more than month,” Maria smiled. “My mother said she’s giving her and Valenti hell.”

Jesse chuckled. “She’s waking them up in the middle of the night?”

Maria shook her head with a little devious smile on her face. “No, she doesn’t even let them sleep period.”

My husband laughed again. “I bet she’s pretty big now,” he smiled.

“Yeah,” Maria nodded. “I think so.”

“You guys still trying?” Michael looked to both Jesse and I and pointed at us with a carrot stick while he smacked on the end of the carrot he had bitten off.

Jesse and I exchanged looks, both solemn and hopeful ones, and then nodded.

“It’ll happen for you guys,” Maria assured us. “Patience.”

We all nodded in agreement and as my head bobbed, I caught glance of Max sending piercing stares to no one and nothing in particular. He sat like a stone statue with his eyes narrowed and his jaw muscle bulged out. He was so still that his chest barely moved when he breathed.

He was deep in thought and this time not only about Liz and his relationship, but Liz, his relationship, and a family.

TBC

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Thank for the FB. I'm always grateful, and as promised, a longer chapter.


Chapter 5: Part 2

[Maria]

“I think we better go,” Isabel said. “It’s getting late and I’ve got an early class tomorrow.”

She stood up and like some cue, we all got on our feet and started walking Isabel and Jesse to the front door. It was near midnight and we had spent a good fives hours chatting with Jesse and Isabel.

“Thanks for having us over,” Jesse smiled. He helped Isabel with her coat and then opened the door for her.

“It was our pleasure having you guys,” I told them. “Don’t let too much time pass until we see you guys again. Stop by any time.”

Max nodded and finished hugging his sister. “She’s right,” he said, agreeing with me. “It’s been good seeing you guys.”

“We live right across the street!” Isabel laughed.

“And you’d figure that means we see each other all the time,” Michael grinned, “but it’s been a while since we’ve gotten together like this.” And he was right, we’ve all been busy. “Hey, you’ll be at the club opening, right? It’s in a few days.”

Jesse bobbed his head. “Yeah, of course. I think we should start spending time together again.”

It was pitiful that we were having this conversation.

“Ok, how ‘bout this?” Isabel began to propose. “Weekly brunches on Sundays? No excuses.”

We all looked at and studied the expressions on each other’s faces and nodded.

“Sounds like a plan,” Max nodded.

I agreed. “It’s a great idea.”

Isabel smiled proudly. “Good,” she said. “Well, we really better get going. We’ll see you soon. Max, tell Liz we said hi and that we’ll see her on Sunday,”

I watched as Max smiled and nodded. “I will,” he replied. Isabel and Jesse walked out of the door, which shut behind them, and Max scoffed. “I’ll tell her if I get a chance to talk to her.”

Both Michael and I looked to each other in shock that Max had actually said that.

“Max, things will get better,” I assured him. “At least she called you to let you know where she was, and you know, you can pick up a phone and call her too.”

“I’ve tried,” Max quickly replied. We had reached the family room where Max immediately went to picking up dirty dishes and coffee cups. “She’s either at the library and can’t talk or in the middle of something with her research and won’t talk.”

“Sorry,” Michael sympathized.

Max shook his head and gave a little smirk. “It’s ok,” he said with a hopeful tone and air. “I’m going to talk to her tonight.”

“Good!” I smiled. For so long I have sitting back with Liz’s secret, watching her and her husband drift apart. She made me swear on our friendship that I wouldn’t butt in and that I wouldn’t tell Max. For so long I’ve been feeling partly responsible for the growing rift between Max and Liz. I had been contemplating for so long to just break the promise I made with Liz and tell Max, but I’ve had the secret for so long that it’d just hurt them both if I told Max.

“Can you take care of these?” Michael asked Max, looking at the sink full of dishes.

Max gave a little nod and placed a few more plates on the stack of kitchen ware. “Yeah, you guys go ahead. It’ll pass the time while I wait for Liz.”

Michael quickly grabbed my hand and led the way to the stairs as I looked over my shoulder giving Max a friendly smiled. He gave a little smirk back and turned to the sink and turned on the faucet.

“My room or yours?”

“What?” I wondered.

Michael continued up the main staircase with me following close behind. “Where do you want to sleep?” he asked me. “My room or yours?”

“Mine!” I quickly answered. “You never wash your sheets, and waving your hand doing the little Bewitched thing isn’t considered washing.”

“Hey! It gets out 99.9% of the germs!”

I rolled my eyes and shoved Michael into my room. “Well how come you don’t do it more often?”

Michael took a moment to find the answer, but I already knew it.

“Because you’re lazy!” I told him.

My boyfriend rolled his eyes and plopped onto my bed. “Whatever,” he sighed. He patted the bed and made his eyebrows dance. “Come on, sugar, gimme some lovin’.”

“God, you make me wanna just rip that stained t-shirt right off of you,” I said sarcastically followed by a scoff. I turned away rolling my eyes and headed for the door.

“Hey, where are you going?!”

“I’m thirsty,” I answered, and before Michael could comeback with a dirty joke, I held up my hand to shut him up. “I’m going downstairs to grab a Snapple.”

“Fine!” Michael shouted after me. I was halfway down the stairs when he called out to me again. “Do you think you could warm me up some tea?!”

Scary thing is, Michael was serious. For some reason, he liked tea, like, English tea. I’m not sure if it’s a weird alien dietary quirk like the Tabasco sauce, but I’m hoping it is.

I jogged down the steps and right into the kitchen where Max was continuing with the dishes.

“I thought you were going to bed,” he said. He didn’t even stop washing the plate he was holding or look over his shoulder.

“Um, yeah,” I replied, going straight to the stainless steel fridge. “I was kinda thirsty. I was just going to grab a Snapple and warm up some tea for Michael.”

Max's head bobbed as he started rinsing the plate with water.

“Why don’t you just wave your hands over everything?” I wondered. “You’ll be done in a second.”

Max gave a little chuckle. “I kind of don’t want to be done in a second,” he replied.

I quickly realized why. “Oh, right,” I said. “’Cause you’re waiting for Liz. Look, Max, I just want to say that I’m really sorry for what’s been happening to you two.”

He finally stopped lathering another plate with soap and looked over his shoulder at me. “It’s not your fault,” he said, shaking his head and giving a gracious grin.

I looked away feeling guilty. I couldn’t stand to look into Max's forgiving eyes. Damn him for being such a nice guy.

“What’s going on between her and I is her fault and mine,” he continued.

He went back to the dishes as I grabbed a mug from the cupboard and moved to the water dispenser in the fridge door. The only sound prominent in the kitchen was running water, both from the fridge and the sink. Whoever said falling water was calming was obviously never in my position.

Max never really liked using his powers, so instead of bothering him to warm up the water, like I intended, I poured the water from the mug into a tea kettle and added a little more water before placing the kettle on the stove. This way it’d take a little longer for the water to warm up and I’d have a chance to talk to Max, and bother him anyway.

I hopped up onto the counter and took a seat, right next to the sink, and just stared at my friend. Max just continued washing the dishes, looking out the corner of his eyes once in a while to find me still staring at him.

“What?” he laughed.

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then fine, I’ll just grab the water and my Snapple and I’ll go back upstairs, but if you do want to talk, I’m right here.”

Max nodded and went back to the dishes. “I do want to talk about it, Maria,” he sighed. “I’m just not sure what’s going on.”

I took the sponge from Max's hand and dropped it into the sink and handed Max a towel to dry off his hands. “Let me break it down for you,” I told him.

He rolled his eyes, giving a little laugh, and turned around to lean against the counter as he started wiping the suds and water from his hands.

“Next month you’ve got your 2nd wedding anniversary,” I began. “Three months ago you and Liz have this huge fight about kids, and that must have been one big fight because you two are no longer the Max&Liz that we all know, and that affected us all. The holidays were hell. Thanksgiving? Just Michael and me. Christmas? Just Michael, me and Liz. New Years? Michael, me and you. How’s Valentine’s going to be, Max? You two have drifted apart.”

“You don’t think I know that?!” Max snapped. “God, Maria. I don’t see her anymore! We don’t talk. The only quality time I spend with her is when she’s asleep, and I just lie beside her, watching her.” He turned back around and threw the dish towel aside and placed his hands on the edge of the counter and hung his head low. “Maria, it’s all so complicated. She’s busy, I’m busy. This thing between Liz and I—whatever it is—there’s so much more to it.”

“Try to work things out, Max,” I pleaded. “Talk to Liz. Get involved in her life again. Get un-busy.”

Max slowly looked up and looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Maria, are you trying to tell me something?”

“I’m trying to help you figure things out,” I sighed. “Max, you’ve got to give Liz some of your time.”

This time Max looked at me with wide eyes and a hiked up eyebrow. The look that said, “What the hell are you talking about?”

I rolled my eyes in frustration. “Look, before that fight you had three months ago,” I began to explain, “you did your residency one day and then worked at B&A another day, never on the same day. When you and Liz had that blow up, you started working both jobs on the same day. You don’t see her anymore now. Well, she never saw you when you started working at the hospital and B&A on the same day. Max, you pushed her away.”

Max lowered his head again and exhaled sharply. “I pushed her away,” he restated. “Where did I push her, Maria?” He looked to me for the answer.

But he was so close. Max was a smart guy. He was going to figure it out for himself and I wouldn’t need to tell him and break my promise to Liz.

“You’ll find that out for yourself, Max,” I smiled, then I shook my head and tried to get back on track. “Look, you need to make the first step to finding that answer by quitting B&A.”

“What?”

I rolled my eyes. “Max, you don’t need that job. You’ve already got one, as a doctor. That takes up most of your time as it is.”

He shook his head. “Maria, I try to give Liz time, but she’s never here. I can’t quit B&A, Maria. B&A’s an obligation and I can’t just turn my back on it.”

“Liz is an obligation, isn’t she? You’ve turned your back on her and now you’ve got to give her more of your time. Let her know that you’re trying here.”

Max dropped his head again and sighed. “Just tell me, Maria, is she chea—”

The whistle of the tea kettle prevented Max from finishing his question. I patted Max on the back and got Michael’s tea ready. I left Max in the kitchen as he looked out the window, staring at the darkness of night.

When I stepped into my room, I found Michael sitting on my bed, reading his copy of Ulysses. I swear, he’s read that thing a million times.

“Here,” I said, shoving the mug in his face.

Michael snapped the book shut and grabbed the cup from my hands. “Damn, what took you so long?”

“You’re welcome,” I replied.

Michael just shook his head with that air of ignorance. “I thought you were getting a Snapple?”

I looked down at my empty hands and realized that I held no bottle of Iced Tea flavored Snapple. “I must’ve left it. I’ll be back.”

As I started down the stairs, I could hear Michael sigh heavily. “Fine, I’ll get started without you!” he cried out.

“Fine, you might as well finish without me, too,” I said to myself, smiling.

If he was going to continue to have attitude with me, that’s how it was going to be. He amused me, nonetheless. Michael was a jackass, but I loved him.

I reached the landing of the main staircase and froze.

“Max! What are you still doing up?” then I heard the veranda door shut. It was Liz.

“Dishes,” Max replied. “Jesse and Isabel came over and—” He stopped mid-sentence and then picked up again. “Look, Liz, we need to talk—”

“How are they?” Liz interrupted.

Did she have to shoot him down so quickly? Damn, Liz, give Max a chance, I thought. Now I was no longer frozen. I was rolling my eyes and shaking my head in disappointment.

Max embarrassedly cleared his throat. “They’re ok,” he said nervously. He spoke as if he was talking to Liz for the very first time. “You know, they’re still trying for a baby.”

NO! I said to myself. Stay away from the topic of kids, Max! I quickly crouched to the floor and leaned against the banister, pointing my ear towards the kitchen.

“Please don’t bring that up,” Liz begged.

I imagined Max shaking his head in confusion. “What? I was just saying—”

“Well don’t!” Liz snapped, she had suddenly raised her voice. “I know where this conversation is going to go, and I’m just not ready, Max!”

“What the hell are you talking about?!” he shouted back. “You asked about Jesse and Isabel, and I’m just letting you know! What the hell is your problem?!”

Liz scoffed. “I don’t have a problem, Max. You’re the one always finding a way to talk about kids!”

“This isn’t even about that!”

“Bullshit, Max!”

This time Max was the one to scoff. “You’re blowing this way out of proportion!!! I just wanted to talk to you!”

“About what?” Liz immediately retorted.

From my view on the landing of the staircase, I could see only part of the kitchen, and I spotted Max pacing around, rubbing his hands over his head.

“About anything!” he replied, throwing his hands down to his sides. “I just want to be able to talk to you again, but it looks like I’m reaching for straws here because we’re just yelling at each other!”

“We talk!” Liz shouted.

Max laughed. “For no more than a second. You’re always sneaking into bed at midnight. After I get a few words out of you, you fall asleep! Or maybe you pretend to sleep, I don’t know.”

“What?!” Liz demanded to know

I could hear Max's sigh. “Liz, we never talk,” he said softly. “I know that I’ve pushed you away, but I’ve tried reaching out to you, but you’ve pushed me away.”

“Max—”

“Liz, what’s happened to us? We’re having problems. We’ve drifted apart, and this is not how I imagined being married to you would be. We need to talk and work things out.”

I pictured Liz staring away, off to the side, slightly pouting when she was probably biting the inside of her bottom lip. “Ok,” she agreed. “Let’s talk things out.”

“Good,” Max sighed. “Good. Let’s see…I don’t know where to start…”

“Maybe we should start at the beginning,” Liz suggested.

I saw Max bob his head, but the doorframe cut off his face and I wasn’t able to see his expression, only the back of him. “Ok, I think it was three months ago,” he started.

The fight about kids, I remembered. Before that fight, Max and Liz were happily in love. After that fight, Max and Liz were happily avoiding each other. Lately, Max started regretting all the time spent away from Liz. He had been trying to get home to see Liz, to be with her, but she had started spending time away from home.

“Liz, I know that you may not want to talk about it,” Max continued, “but we have to. That fight we had started all this. That fight we had was about kids.”

Liz sighed heavily. “Max, please,” she begged. “I do not want to talk about it.” She stressed each word, making sure she emphasized her point.

“You just agreed that we were going to talk things out,” Max argued. “You said we should start at the beginning, and that was the beginning.”

“No!” Liz quickly replied. “The beginning of this—whatever it is—is you working all day, everyday.”

Max laughed and shook his head. “I started working all day because of the argument! I didn’t know that I would be doing this for three months. I didn’t know that my lack of being around would push you away. I just needed time to think. I needed to figure out why you didn’t want to discuss our future. Why don’t you want to discuss our future, Liz?”

“Max—” she started to protest. “Max…it’s not just that. I think about our future, but it’s…it’s complicated!”

Damn that word, I thought. “Complicated”. It was synonymous with us, especially Max and Liz.

“How is it complicated?” Max questioned. “Why is it complicated?”

“Max, just leave it alone!” Liz ordered.

A few moments of silence proceeded and then hurried steps up the circular staircase in the family room and then the doors of Max and Liz’s bedroom slamming shut. Max stood still in the kitchen with his head slightly raised to watch as Liz ran away from him. He lowered his head a little after the door was shut and turned around walking towards the main staircase, where I had been the whole time, eavesdropping.

But Max passed the staircase and started heading towards the door. I stood up quickly, not sure if I wanted to draw attention to myself or if I thought I would be hiding by standing up, but I did the former and watched as Max looked up the staircase and spotted me. My mouth hung open in embarrassment, humility, and surprise. Max had barely raised his head. He scowled, which was pure torture to receive, because he was probably feeling just as embarrassed and humiliated.

“Snapple,” I stupidly smiled. It was the only thing running through my mind. I was shell-shocked.

Max continued to glare and then continued on his way to the front door, snatching his jacket from the coat rack. I shuddered as Max slammed the front door shut. It shook the glass in the door and it nearly shook the whole house.

The fight three months ago and their other fights were longer but they weren’t as bad as this one, Max never walked out, but this time he did.

I looked up the stairs and found Michael at the top, just standing still like I was. It was evident he was there the whole time. He subtly shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

He didn’t know and I didn’t know. What was going to happen?

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Reposting these. Thanks so much for the feedback! I really appreciate it because it means a lot.

-hoLLy


Chapter 6: Part 1

{Michael}

I didn’t know what to do. I was too scared to move, too scared to say anything. I just stood at the top of the steps, eavesdropping on the latest argument between Max and Liz.

There was yelling and cursing and doors slamming and I just didn’t know what to do. The voices in my head were yelling at me to go after Max, but the message wasn’t getting to my feet, they remained glued to the carpet. Maria was the same way, and I knew because of her stupid reaction. “Snapple,” she said. What the hell was that?

Once Max stormed out of the house, Maria and I stared at each other for a while, letting our imagination and worries get the best of us. Finally she did the only thing that she could think of doing and started her way up the steps. We knew that Max and Liz needed their space. So Maria walked past me without a word, and for the first time in a long time she and I slept in our own rooms. Well, I don’t know if she slept, but I know that I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Liz never ran away from Max like that and Max never walked out of the house like that. Yet, there was nothing that Maria and I could do. It was obvious that they wanted to be alone, but really, they needed each other. They so desperately needed each other.

Now, I know that I shouldn’t meddle in other people’s business, but Maria’s rubbed off on me. She’s always poking her nose into places where it doesn’t belong, but she does so because she wants to help and a lot of the time, she does. The people who need the most help are Max and Liz. Max can be a son ofa bitch, but I can’t my back on him. I don’t know if it was encoded in my genes or what, but I just can’t turn my back on my brother. And Liz…she didn’t deserve to be unhappy. If it wasn’t for her, I don’t know where I’d be right now. Yet, I couldn’t help but point most of the blame at her.

Three hours had passed since Max left the house, slamming the front door shut behind him, and he hasn’t been back since. For those three hours, I lied back in bed, staring at my white ceiling in the darkness, counting the seconds that turned into minutes that turned into hours, and I waited, and listened, for either the front door or the veranda door to open, but neither did. Max needed space, that’s it, and that’s understandable, but space for three hours late at night/early morning? No, there was something wrong, Maxwell should’ve come home by now.

I wasn’t the only one who thought that way. Maria barged into my room, the light from the hallway silhouetting her gracious figure.

“Three hours!” she said. I guess she was as restless as I was.

“Couldn’t sleep?” I replied with a grin as I sat up in bed.

Maria flicked the light switch and took a seat next to me on my bed. We sat close to each other, but it was awkward and silent.

“Liz is asleep,” Maria informed me. “I didn’t want to wake her up.”

I shook my head in disbelief. “I can’t believe she’s the one that could sleep.”

“She’s had a hard day.”

I slowly turned to Maria with my eyebrows frowning. “You know what’s going on with her, don’t you?”

The love of my life, the person who I knew I would spend the rest of my life with, turned away, unable to look me in the eyes.

“You do!” I exclaimed. “Maria, you have to tell me!”

She jumped off my bed and started pacing around in front of me. “I want to, Michael, but I can’t,” she said.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s something you wouldn’t understand and you would think that it’s stupid and—”

“I don’t care!” I shouted at her. Now I was on my feet, outraged that Maria was holding pertinent information about Max and Liz’s problems in her head. “You have to tell me so I can tell Max, that way all of this can end.”

Maria sighed in frustration and started rubbing her head. “It’s not that simple, Michael. It’s complicated,” she said, and for some reason, she cringed as she said “complicated”.

I rolled my eyes. This was stupid. Here we were, Maria and I, dancing in stupid little circles again. “Maria, you have to tell me,” I ordered. “If you don’t—”

“Do you trust me?” she interrupted.

“Not at this moment.”

Maria slapped at my chest, making my left pectoral sting. “I’m serious!” she scowled.

“And so am I! Maria, look, I need you to tell me what’s going on with Liz.”

But Maria shook her head without hesitation. “Michael, I can’t. What’s going on with Liz is a secret. When she’s ready, she’ll tell Max, but right now, she’s not ready. You have to respect her decision. I know that things aren’t looking too well for them, but I’m hoping that it’ll work out. Nothing can break Max and Liz up, right?”

I had to agree, and did so, but slightly bobbing my head. I hated it when Maria was right.

“You know that I would tell you if I could,” she went on, “but it’s something that you’ll never understand.”

I kind of stared at Maria for while, contemplating whether or not to leave it alone, and whether or not Maria was telling the truth. It was the only explanation given to me, ever, so I guess I was going to have to leave it alone and believe that Maria was telling the truth.

“Ok,” I nodded. “I’ll leave it alone, for now. Things are pretty bad now, but if I judge that things are getting worse between them, then I’m stepping in, and I’m coming to you for answers.”

Maria nodded her head also. “Ok,” she seceded.

I exhaled sharply. Arguing with Maria always took a lot out of me. I was finally feeling tired, but then I realized just why I couldn’t sleep in the first place. The fight. The exits.

“But that fight they just had,” I brought up, “it was a bad one, Maria.”

Maria slowly eased her way back onto my bed, staring at the carpet and nodding. “I know,” she agreed. “But this is their first huge fight, and they’ll get through this. They’re going to have to.”

I took a seat and wrapped my arm around Maria. They would definitely get through whatever this was.

“God…” Maria sighed. “I feel like a little kid again.”

How random.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Maria took a deep breath and leaned into me, placing her head against my neck. “When I was kid, all my parents did was fight. Max and Liz are not my parents, but it feels that way again with them fighting like they are.”

I placed a kiss on Maria’s hand and continued to hold her. “Hey, it’s like you said, they’ll get through this,” I told her.

She nodded her head and sighed. “I remember always waking up in the middle of the night to hear my mother shouting at my father at the top of her lungs,” Maria continued on. “The last fight my parents had…It was late at night. My mother had just tucked me in with Wolfman—that was the name of my Dalmatian. You’ve seen him, remember?”

I smiled to myself and remembered Maria’s memory flash of her dog. “Yeah,” I nodded. “I remember.”

“Yeah, well, that fight reminded me so much of tonight,” Maria sighed. “I remember not sleeping at all. I couldn’t fall asleep, because I didn’t want to be, you know? I knew that something was going to happen that night. I was awake before the yelling and during the yelling and I was awake after the yelling because my dad had stormed out of the house and I stayed up, wondering when he was coming home, but I was wasting my time because that was the night he left—” Maria quickly pushed herself away with her mouth hanging open.

My eyes widened. “You don’t think…?”

Maria’s mouth gradually closed. She shook her head, closing her eyes, disbelieving our implications. “No, he wouldn’t…” she told herself and me, but then she started doubting herself. “He wouldn’t, right?”

I stood up and grabbed a jacket. “If he did, we can’t let it happen.”

“What are we going to do?” Maria wondered. “He already left.”

I tugged the lapels of my jacket, popping the collar out, as I shrugged. “We’re going to find him, bring him home.”

TBC

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Chapter 6: Part 2

{Michael}

I popped my head into Maria’s room to find her still changing. “Hey! Will you hurry up?” I told her.

She only rolled her eyes. The time she was wasting changing into commando gear, Maxwell was getting farther and farther away.

I stepped back into the hall and started for the master bedroom. I already called Isabel and Jesse and I let them know what was going on. They were getting changed and were probably already crossing the street to get here. I wasn’t sure if I should even bother waking up Liz, but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself for leaving her out. Well, that, and Maria ordered me to make sure Liz was part of our crusade.

I opened the double doors to the master suite and immediately turned on the lights. Looking at the bed, I noticed that Liz didn’t ever stir. She was sleeping like a baby when her husband was…I don’t know if you could consider it missing, but Max was. He was missing from this house.

Well, I would hate to wake Liz up, but I was going to have to. Five heads were better than four. Cambridge was a big town and we all needed to look for him, and besides that, Maria and I couldn’t let Liz play the worried wife who sits at home, waiting for good or bad news.

“Liz, get up,” I ordered.

She didn’t wake.

“Liz!” This time I used more force in my tone.

But again, Liz didn’t stir. How I wish I had a frying pan and a metal spoon. Shame I didn’t. So, instead, I leaned over Liz and grabbed her by the arms and gave her a little shake.

It happened in one quick motion, I didn’t even realize what was happening. After I shook Liz slightly, she opened her eyes in fright and reflexively forced her hands towards my chest. She didn’t touch me, yet I flew across the room, slamming into the wall, narrowly missing the large window.

“Michael!” Liz gasped. “Are you ok?”

The pain of being slammed into the wall was hell. I tried to grab for air after having the wind knocked out of me. “It’s ok, I’m fine,” I coughed as I struggled to get on my feet.

“I’m sorry,” Liz sighed. “I didn’t know it was you.”

“I should’ve knocked.”

I caught Liz rolling her eyes as she helped me into a chair. “What the hell were trying to do?” she wondered.

After catching my breath, I ran my hands over my head to put my hair back into place. “I was trying to wake you up,” I replied. “But damn, you sleep like a log, Liz.”

“I’m sorry. I had a—”

“Hard day,” I finished for her, bobbing my head. “Yeah, I know. Look, I’m sorry to wake you, but you’ve got to get dressed.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s 3AM, do you know where your husband is?”

Liz shook her head in confusion. “What? He should be downstairs. We had a fight. I figure he’s asleep on the couch.”

“You didn’t hear the front door shut? Maxwell slammed the thing so hard I though it’d take the whole house down.”

Liz was still puzzled. “What are you talking about?”

I stared at her in disbelief. How tired was she? Was she not understanding what was going on?

“Liz,” I started to explain. “Max lef—”

The doorbell rang and both out heads turned to the sound.

“It’s a quarter after three,” Liz said. “Who could that be?”

I looked back down at her. “Get dressed,” I told her again. “That should be Jesse and Isabel. Meet us downstairs.”

I left Liz without waiting for a response from her. I started heading down the stairs with Maria following close behind me and glared over my shoulder at her as she nipped at my heels. Through the stain glass window of the door, I could make out the figures of Isabel and Jesse. I quickly opened the door and let them in.

“Did you try his cell?” was the way Isabel greeted us.

“Hi,” Maria and I smiled.

Both Isabel and Jesse headed straight for the family room and Maria went with them while I shut the front door. When I reached the back of the house where the family room was, Liz was there, standing in the center of the room, waiting for information on what the hell was going on.

“Where’s Max?” she questioned.

I took a deep breath and exhaled sharply. “After your fight, Liz, Max stormed out of the house. It’s been three hours and we don’t know where he is and Maria and I are worried about him.”

“Did you try his cell?” Isabel asked again.

“If you and Jesse had gotten into a fight,” Maria began, “and you left the house, would you answer your cell?”

Isabel couldn’t give an answer.

“He’s not going to answer any of us until he’s ready.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and prepared to say the next few words. “And he can’t answer us if he’s hurt.”

I glanced over at Liz, to see her reaction, and the one she wore was the one I expected to see. Her mouth slightly hung open and she stared away as her eyes became glazed over with tears as she knew she was the guilty party.

“Ok, what do we do?” Jesse wondered.

Maria and I looked to each other. “We’re going to go out and look for him,” I replied.

“Michael, it’s three in the morning,” Isabel said. “Where the hell could he be?”

I shook my head doubtfully. “I don’t know,” I sighed. “It’s going to be hard finding him but that’s why I woke you all up. Listen,” I started to propose, “Liz, you hit B&A. Since you’re Max's wife, you’ll be able to get on the corporate grounds. Look for him there. Maria’s going to check Boston General ER. Isabel, there’s an outdoor basketball court at the Y, he may be moping around there. You should check that out, and Jesse, scout the park. He goes there during breaks. He might be roaming around there. I’m going to check out Whits. Once you check out your assigned areas, just drive around and hope that you find him.”

The girls all looked down and swallowed their tears.

“It’s only been three hours,” I told them. “I’m sure nothing’s happened.”

Jesse cleared his throat to clear the air. “What if he comes here?” he asked.

“I’ll come back here after I go to the club,” I replied. “Take your cell phones and make sure you call me when you’ve found him.” I was about to clap as if I was adjourning a football huddle, but I prevented myself from doing so. “Ok, let’s get out there,” I said instead.

I let the others go ahead in front of me as we started heading out. As we moved through the foyer, Liz and Maria walked close together. At one point, Liz huddled close to her best friend and the two of them conversed for a quick moment.

We reached the front lawn where Jesse took Isabel’s hand and started running across the street. They gave each other a quick kiss before taking off in separate cars. Maria waited for me at my bike and shoved my helmet into my stomach.

“Be safe,” she ordered. She was always scared I was going to crash right into the asphalt.

“You too,” I told her. I gave a little smile and kissed Maria before stuffing my head into the helmet.

She walked into the garage to her Jetta parked inside. I honestly don’t know why the hell she chose to get another Jetta. I remember the day we went to buy her a car.

“Don’t you remember what a tin can these things are?” I had asked her.

“My mother’s Jetta was a tin can only because it had been through numerous car chases and shootouts with the FBI,” was her reply.

I laughed to myself at the memory. Maria wasn’t going to be persuaded. We bought her the brand new Volkswagen Jetta, red just like her mother’s, and I do have to admit, it’s not so bad.

I watched Maria climb into the car and waited until she pulled out and drove off before getting on my bike. I swung my leg over and straddled my bike, and as I did, I lifted my chin to make sure my helmet was securely latched. When I looked up, I caught a glimpse of Liz.

She had just pulled out of the garage, but stopped in the driveway. The car was turned off and she was just sitting there, staring at her lap. For a while, I just sat on my bike, watching Liz, wondering what she was thinking about. I finally started my bike and drove to the driver side of her BMW.

“ARE YOU GOING TO HEAD OUT OR WHAT?” I shouted over the rumble of my bike’s engine.

“YEAH,” Liz nodded, shouting back.

I turned off my bike to prevent strain on our throats, but I did so as Liz continued speaking, or should I say, shouting.

“I JUST—” Liz realized her volume and embarrassedly stopped and started again. “I just wanted to get myself together,” she said.

My head bobbed as I looked at my watch. “You think you could get yourself together a little faster? Maxwell’s out there somewhere.”

Liz nodded obediently and started her car back up. She let the engine warm up a little and while she waited, she looked up at me with pleading eyes. “Michael, I want to be the first to know when you find him,” she said.

I nodded with the same intention of obedience while reading the earnestness in Liz’s eyes. “First one to know,” I replied. “I promise.”

TBC

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone! I always appreciate it greatly.

Thanks,
hoLLy


Chapter 6: Part 3

[Maria]

“Hey, where are you?”

I could hear Isabel’s increased breathing over the phone, telling me that she was now on foot. “I’m at the park,” she said. “I checked the Y and I’ve driven around, and nothing. The park’s pretty big. I thought I’d help Jesse out, I’m trying to find him right now.”

“Ok,” I said into my cell. “I’ll keep driving. Make sure you call Michael and let him know where you are.”

Without any goodbyes, the both of us hung up.

Nearly two hours and still no sign of Max. I went to Boston General like I was ordered and no one there had seen him since his shift ended, twelve hours earlier. I made sure I didn’t cause alarm. I was aloof and breezy. No one suspected a thing.

As I was leaving Boston General, I made sure to call Michael. He was on top of things, and thank God he was. Now we knew that if King Max were ever to secede, we’d have a good backup, but right now wasn’t the time to think that way.

I left the hospital an hour and a half ago, and I’ve been driving nonstop since then. I drove around, hitting diners, restaurants, and clubs near the hospital, and again, no sign of Max.

Michael was at the house when I called and he had reported back to me that Max hadn’t shown up. I have to admit that I was getting really worried, but it was only five hours since he left and five hours is nothing, right? Well, it’s nothing if it’s during the day and not near dawn. What the hell was Max thinking walking out like that in the middle of the night?

I called Liz once in the two hours we had been searching for her husband. She had just left B&A, and no one had seen him there, either. We spoke briefly because she didn’t want to tie up her line, she was waiting to hear from Michael.

Ok, so maybe I’ve been judging this thing between Max and Liz all wrong. This current situation is pretty bad. It’s so bad that it’s in the category of “worse”. I should’ve stepped in, I should’ve told Michael, but then I remembered what Liz told me as we walked out of the house.

“It’ll be ok,” she assured me. “I’ll take care of it.”

So I believe her, because Liz is my sister, and I trust her. But if this situation goes from worse to catastrophic, then I’m definitely stepping in. No matter what Liz says.

I glanced at the clock on the dashboard and grabbed my phone off the passenger seat and was about to make my check-in call to Michael, but he was calling me.

“Is he there?” I immediately answered.

“No,” Michael replied.

I closed my eyes in disappointment but then quickly opened them since I was still driving. “Well, why are you calling?”

“You’ve got to come here.”

My eyebrows frowned. “What? Why?”

“I can’t sit and wait here any longer,” Michael said hastily. “I need to get out there and find him myself, Maria.”

I wanted to find Max just as bad as the next guy, but it was a little after five in the morning and I was dead tired. I titled my head to the side so that I held my phone between my ear and shoulder, freeing my hand, which I used to pinch the bridge of my nose. “Ok,” I replied. “I’ll be there in ten.”

Again, I hung up without saying goodbye and tossed my phone onto the passenger seat. When I came to our street, I could already see Michael in the driveway just waiting to leave. He leaned against his bike, looking up and down the street, looking for me.

He walked towards me as I drove towards him and then onto the driveway. “Thank you,” he said.

I nodded my head and got out of my car. “You’re welcome. Now go and be careful.” I gave him a kiss and left his lips yawning.

“There’s a pot of coffee on, just brewed,” Michael said as he ran off to his bike. “You might want to play hooky today. I’m not letting you go to class without a good night’s rest.”

I swatted at him as if I could shoo him away, which I actually ended up doing. He quickly sped off, leaving a skid mark in the middle of the driveway. It was nothing to worry about, one of the ETs could take care of it and zap it away. It was the last of our worries.

I got back into my car and parked inside the three-car garage. We always managed to fit our vehicles in the garage. Michael only had his bike, my Jetta fit perfectly, Liz’s Beamer sat alongside my car, and Max's Chevelle, driven up a month after we had moved here, needed to be pulled into the garage as deep as it could be since it was such a tank of a car. It was a tight fit, but we were managing well.

I strolled on into the house with coffee on my mind, hot, steaming, black as night coffee. Michael must have underestimated just how long he was waiting for me because the coffee had gone cold. I guess I was going to have to wait for hot, steaming, black as night coffee.

I let the coffee pot warm up again and started walking around the kitchen aimlessly. As each second passed, I got more and more worried. Inevitably, the sun began to rise and there was still no sign of Max. The sky went from midnight black to dawn blue and I hadn’t heard from any of the others.

I took a seat in the breakfast nook booth and let my knee nervously bounce while I propped my elbows on the table and let my head find a resting spot in my hands. I tried my best to not look at the clock and watch as the minutes passed, but I couldn’t help it. So I stared at the clock, taking notice that the small hand was slightly past the five, the long hand was a little past the three, and the second hand was ticking away. Tick, tick, tick, it went.

I let my eyelids fall. I’ll rest for a few seconds, I told myself. I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming about…well, that’s private. Those few seconds were heaven.

My eyes shot open as the loud crash of shattering glass woke me up faster than I fell asleep. My heart raced and sped up when the sound of the doorknob began to rattle and shake. I slowly eased down to the other end of the circular booth and found that it was Max trying to break in and enter his own home.

I rolled my eyes and rushed to the door. “What the hell are you trying to do?” I said.

Max stumbled into the house and into my arms as I opened the door. I instantly caught a whiff of the strong liquor odor and coughed at the horrible smell.

“I take it you’re drunk,” I managed to grumble, trying to drag Max to the booth.

“Ow!” he whined. “Ease up on the kung-fu grip, Maria!”

I squinted in confusion and looked down. Max was stinking drunk. I wasn’t even holding onto him. My arms were straight out and served as parallel bars. I shook my head and finally dumped Max into the booth. He slowly pulled himself up to sit upright and that’s when I caught sight of the disaster that was once Max's face.

A nice shiner was forming around Max's left eye and a cut surround by dried blood rested on his left cheek. His nose seemed a little crooked while a trail of blood began at his right nostril and trickled down his face. On his swollen bottom lip was a deep cut, nice and red.

“What the hell happened?!” I gasped.

Max grimaced fiercely. “God, Maria, I’m sitting right here, there’s no need to shout.”

My eyebrows frowned as I looked at Max in confusion. I apologized anyway saying a simple, “Sorry,” very softly. “What happened to you?” I wondered.

“I got into a fight,” Max succinctly replied.

“Well no shit,” I laughed. Max winced again and I just shook my head and grabbed my phone from my pocket. “I’ve got to call Michael and let him know that you’re…ok, I guess. Everyone can come home. I’ll be right back.” I stood up and turned away but was stopped when Max grabbed a good hold of my arm.

“Don’t,” he urged. He quickly eased up his death grip and went back to pitying himself. “Don’t call them yet.”

I looked at Max with interest. “And why not?” I questioned.

Max glared at me with an air of sass. “Because I want to powder my nose and freshen up a bit before they get here.”

“I don’t like you drunk,” I said, shaking my head in disapproval. What ever happened to drunk people wearing lampshades on their heads and thinking bed sheets were togas? “Quit the ‘tude, dude, or I call them now.”

Max sighed heavily and used the back of his hand to wipe blood from his lip. “I don’t want you to call them yet because I don’t want Isabel to see me drunk,” he caved. “She’ll start yelling and I won’t be able to handle it.”

I stared at him with a raised brow.

He sighed heavily again. “Apparently my senses are heightened because of the alcohol. I’m hung over and drunk at the same time.”

I gave a laugh. “That must suck.”

“Yes,” Max admitted. “So, please, keep your voice down.” He reached up to feel his cheek and winced almost immediately.

“I’ll get some ice,” I whispered, “and some towels, bandages, and ointment from the First-Aid kit. I might as well see if I can find a doctor in there too.” I hurried off to the bathroom to retrieve the kit and then over to the kitchen for ice and towels. “So are you going to tell me what happened or what?” I shouted as I scavenged. From the bathroom I could hear Max inhale sharply in pain at the sound of my voice. I, myself, cringed at the mistake of raising my voice.

“I got into a fight,” Max said again.

“Yeah, we’ve established that,” I replied. I reached the breakfast nook and placed a bowl of hot water, towels, bandages, ice bag, and ointment on the table. I dipped a towel into the water and realized I was preparing to mend an alien’s wounds. “You know what? Save us both the trouble and just work your magic, Merlin.”

Max exhaled sharply and hid his face. “I can’t,” he said. “My powers are little off.”

My eyebrows rose as I brought my attention to the shards of glass on the floor to my right. “Are you sure about that?” I laughed.

Max glared at me once more and snatched the towel from my hands. “Shut up, Maria.” He helped himself to his wounds and flinched instantly when he brought the towel to his lip.

“God, Max, you’re an angry drunk,” I told him in total dismay.

“Don’t lecture me, Maria. I don’t care to hear it.”

“Well, you’re gunna!” I demanded. Max winced at my volume, but I didn’t care that he was in agonizing pain. “What the hell were you thinking going to a bar?!” I shouted. “You had us worried! Isabel, Liz, and I are missing a whole day of classes today because we won’t be able to stay awake if we do go! You know why?! Because we’ve been up since three trying to look for you! I didn’t go to sleep, period, and neither did Michael! So you’re going to tell me what the hell you were thinking going to a bar!”

As I shouted, Max had closed his eyes tight and clenched his jaw shut. The muscles in his jaw tensed up while the sweat began to run down his temple. When I stopped scolding him, Max took a few deep breaths. “I was hurting, Maria,” he said softly. “So I left to clear my head. I drove around Boston and hit Campus Road and there they were, bars and clubs. I went in, sat at the bar for a while, and drank the shot of whatever that woman bought me.”

“A WOMAN BOUGHT YOU A SHOT?!!”

Max collapsed into the booth, cowering and covering his ears. He lifted himself back up with his hands over his ears and stared me in the face. “VOLUME!!!” he shouted back, dropping his hands after he yelled.

“A woman bought you a shot?” I whispered loudly. “It better not have been a body shot, mister!”

“Relax,” Max sighed. “There was a woman who sat down at the other end of the bar. She saw me sulking, sent me a shot of something, I don’t know what, and the bartender served it to me. I smiled and, to be polite, I drank the drink. I was drunk immediately and when the woman came over to talk to me, I was slurring and talking about Liz, and the woman left.”

“Good!”

“Maria!”

“Sorry,” I whispered. “So what’s the deal? You didn’t have to go into the bar, Max, and you definitely didn’t have to take that shot. Why?”

“Pain.” Max sighed heavily as I took the towel back from his hand and started helping him with his wounds. Again, he winced and grimaced as I tended. “One of the reasons why people drink is to make their troubles and pain go away,” he said. “So I drank and I wanted to drink more.” Max pushed my hand away from his face and hung his head low. “That one shot of liquor did me in, but the pain didn’t go away, because I’m still hurting, and I’m hurting even more. It’s not because I’m drunk out of my mind or insanely hung over or because I got into a fight. Maria, my marriage is falling apart.”

“Max…”

“No, it is,” he said softly, then he started shaking his head with little turns to the left and right. He gradually stopped and then quickly slammed his fist hard on the table, making me jump. Max seemed unfazed, just emotionally hurt. “Damn it! I’m so angry at her, Maria! And I’ve realized that I’ve been angry at her for awhile now.”

I rubbed at my temples and shook my head. I made a promise to Liz that I wouldn’t intervene and I did so because I believed that she would take care of everything, she just needed time. So I gave her space, knowing that it would take some time to get herself together. She’s had enough time. “I’ll talk to her,” I told Max. “She’ll listen to me.”

“Are you sure?” Max questioned.

I nodded my head and patted him on the back. “I’ll make her listen if I have to.”

TBC

[hoLLyBEHRy]

Finally!!! The new part is done. Hopefully, I'm past this writer block. Off to work on my other story. (Hope you guys read that one too. ) Thank you for the FB. I love you guys!!!

-hoLLy


Chapter 6: Part 4

{Max}

Sober, the leaking faucet in the kitchen was just plan irritating. Drunk and extremely hung over, each drop was like a deafening crash of thunder. Clash after clash caused my head to throb in agonizing pain. All my senses were out of control, in overdrive. My nose was picking up the pure alcohol in Maria’s perfume, everything I touched pricked my skin, the faint light of early morning was near blinding, and I could still taste the liquor I drank almost two hours ago.

Maria walked back into the kitchen snapping her phone shut. I closed my eyes to try and withstand the pain.

“Sorry,” she whispered looking at her phone.

I shook my head and gave a little smirk. “It’s ok, it’s not that bad anymore,” I lied.

Maria bobbed her head up and down as she took a seat. “That’s good,” she continued to whisper. She was being so great with me, aside from all the yelling, but it was well-deserved. “They’ll be here in a minute,” she said softly, then she started studying my face, staring at it.

“What? Is there something on my face?” I joked.

“Ha-ha,” Maria mock laughed. “I’m looking at your nose.”

I tried looking down at my own nose and noticed that it was bigger than usual.

“It’s stopped swelling, but now you’re bruising a little under your eyes,” Maria informed me.

“Really?” I wondered.

She nodded her head. “And it’s a little crooked. I think it’s—”

“WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN???”

My hands slammed over my ears but then the ringing started and I couldn’t escape the pain. I opened my eyes to find Isabel, Jesse, and Michael marching into the kitchen. Needless to say, they were less than pleased to see me.

Maria got up from her chair and blocked the three of them off. I watched her mouth move, no doubt that she was explaining my current situation. Isabel, Jesse, and Michael paid close attention but stole away a few glances to glare angrily at me.

I took a sip of coffee that Maria had fixed for me minutes ago as the whole gang made their way over. I quickly prepared for more yelling, but instead I got a bullet to the back of my head. I fell back into the booth, holding the back of my head to stop the bleeding, but I felt no blood.

“Isabel!” Maria cried out.

My hands moved to my ears as Isabel dropped her hand back to her hip. “What?” she asked nonchalantly.

“I just told you that Max is sensitive to everything!” I could hear Maria scold Isabel.

My sister shrugged her shoulders feeling no remorse. “If he was stupid enough to go to a bar, then he deserves punishment.”

“Each word you speak is punishment enough,” I replied. “So if you want to hurt me, then just talk regularly.”

“You might want to expect a little more than that,” Michael smirked. Then he squinted and sent examining stares to my face. “Man, there is seriously something wrong with your nose.”

Maria bobbed her head. “Yeah, I noticed it too,” she said. “He’s got a nose like a boxer’s. I think it’s broken.”

“Broken?!” I exclaimed. “Well, fix—”

As I was about to demand someone to repair my broken nose, Liz came skidding into the kitchen. All our heads turned to her as she started to pant to catch her breath.

“Are you ok?” she asked.

Everyone then turned their heads to me and waited for my reply.

“I’m fine,” I replied succinctly.

“Not by the looks of your nose,” Jesse laughed.

I glared up angrily at my brother-in-law who backed away with his hands midway up in the air. “I’m fine,” I repeated to Liz. “You don’t need to worry about me. Not like you have, anyway,” I grumbled. I could feel Liz’s eyes boring into me like a drill.

“Can you guys leave?” she said to the others.

But I shook my head and stood up. “They stay.”

“Actually,” Michael said upbeat. He and the others started to head away from the breakfast nook. “We’ll go. We don’t want to interrupt. Besides, we’ve all—”

“STAY!!!” I growled. They froze still as I continually glared at Liz. I didn’t care that my own voice was burning my eardrums. I didn’t care because my anger towards Liz was the only thing on my mind. “Whatever you have to say, will be said in front of them.”

Liz looked at me with distaste and shook her head. “Max, you’re drunk.”

“I may be drunk,” I replied quickly, “but I know what I’m saying and I know what I’m thinking.”

Liz made a quick motion and pulled me onto her lips. It had been so long since I felt the soft, sweet flesh. Her body’s own warmth covered me like a security blanket, one that had been stored away for a long time. I accepted her invitation of a kiss and closed my lips around hers, clinging onto her bottom lip delicately with my teeth as we both pulled away for air. Her tongue briefly touched the corner of my mouth, which then glided over my own tongue. My nose nudged Liz’s, but I didn’t feel any pain, only the kiss. I savored it, wanting only to kiss her some more, but this wasn’t going to fix anything.

I pushed Liz away, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “What do you think you’re doing?” I questioned. “You can’t just kiss me and make things better.”

Liz glared at me smugly. “Actually,” she began, “yeah I can.”

“What?”

“Sober?” she said simply.

I realized that my hearing was fine and so were the rest of my senses. I don’t know how stupid I looked, but I know that I must’ve looked embarrassed. I shook it off though, literally shaking my head. “Don’t do me any favors,” I said.

“Are you sure?” Liz asked arrogantly. “Because it looks like your nose—”

“I’ll take care of it myself,” I snapped. “Stop helping me.”

Liz shook her head in disbelief. “Why are you being like this?”

I looked at her and her stupidity, and then turned away slightly to feel my nose. How could she not know why I was being like this? I winced in pain as I pinched and felt the bridge of my nose softly. She’s the reason why I’m being this way. It’s her fault. I healed my own nose and scrunched it up in disgust.

Liz might have taken it as a scrunch of pain. “Can I help?” she wondered.

The words just shot out of my mouth like a bullet. “Just get the hell out of my face,” I said. I didn’t even know where the words came from, but there they were.

You could hear the audible gasps and the jaws hitting the tile floor of the breakfast nook. I didn’t want to look around me. I didn’t want to see everyone’s shocked expressions and I sure as hell wouldn’t have been able to bear Liz’s expression, but I was curious. I tried to look out the corner of my eyes at Liz, and through my own tears, I could see hers. She looked around the room, at our family, and I could feel their confusion and astonishment. The tension just continued collapsing on me.

As I continued to have myself turned away with my head slightly down, I could hear the sound of Liz’s footsteps fade away. A door slammed and I finally found the courage to bring my head up, but found myself at the bull’s eye of a target. Everyone sent their disappointed, angry, confused, or shocked stares my way. I tried to pretend that I meant every word and that I was the victor in this stupid battle.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Isabel wondered. She wore a disappointed look.

Meanwhile, Maria was the owner of the angry glare. “I can’t believe you just did that,” she said.

And Michael and Jesse stood silently with looks of shock and confusion, respectively. I couldn’t give anyone an answer, so I just marched out of the breakfast nook and to the back porch, stepping over the broken glass on the floor to get to the door.

I made my way out to the back, onto the veranda. It was a nice little porch area of serenity. When we had just moved into the house, Liz and I would spend a lot of time out on the hammock off to the side, just staring out into the spacious backyard that belonged to us. We wouldn’t say anything. We’d just lay out and watched the sun set behind the trees. I don’t know what Liz thought about while we were out there, but I remembered thinking where the swing set was going to go and if I was going to install a little sand box for our kids.

I looked at the idle hammock and wondered if it still swung.

“Maria’s going to talk Liz,” Michael said.

I glanced over my shoulder as Michael joined my on the deck. He rested his hand on my shoulder and joined me. For a few minutes, we just stood in silence, watching the sun continue rising up into the sky, becoming visible as it rose from behind the trees.

Michael cleared his throat. “Look, I’m not exactly sure what the hell just happened back there. Do you want to clue me?”

But I didn’t even know. “I’m just…I don’t know what I am.”

“Well, what are you feeling?”

I turned to Michael with my eyebrow up near my hair line. “Has Maria brainwashed you?” I chuckled. “Since when do you take interest in anyone else’s problems and feelings?”

Michael shoved at my arm as I laughed. “Shut up,” he grinned. “I’m trying to help you out.”

My smile died away. “I don’t need any help,” I replied, returning my attention to the backyard.

“Yes, you do,” Michael disagreed. “So let me help.”

“I don’t know how you’re going to help me out.” I couldn’t even help myself and my marriage. How was Michael going to help me out?

“Use me to vent out,” he answered. “Maybe I can help you sort everything out.”

I again turned to Michael with the most bewildered look on my face. I shook my head, rolling my eyes. I guess I’d give it a shot and figure everything out. “I’ve got nothing, Michael,” I said. “I’m a sitting duck. There’s nothing I can do. She’s hiding something from me and she won’t tell me what it is.”

“Confront her.”

I shook my head at the suggestion. “I did,” I told him. “She’d just turn it around on me and bring up children again. I get that she’s not ready. I get that. I don’t get why she’s pushing herself away.”

Michael rubbed his forehead while shaking his head, already he was exhausted from listening to me “vent”.

“You still want to help me sort everything out?” I asked him.

Michael sighed heavily and took a deep breath. “Yes,” he replied dutifully. “I’m here to help. What else is on your mind?”

I gave a little grin because Michael’s eagerness to help me amused me. “She’s out everyday and comes home late at night,” I continued on. “I ask her where she goes, what she does. She tells me it’s some research project or some paper, and she’s got evidence to back it all up.”

“Maybe she’s just a work-aholic and she’s just ignorant to that fact,” Michael suggested.

I shook my head. “There’s something else, because there’s all this fighting about children still.”

“Well, why the hell did you have to bring it up?” Michael wondered.

“So all of this is my fault because I’m thinking about the future?”

“No,” Michael quickly replied. “Maxwell, you’re 20. You’ve got plenty of time to become a father.”

He was right, but I just felt the need to be a father. I felt that it was time. I was married for nearly two years now, I had two successful jobs, and I just felt like having a kid was the next step.

“So what are you saying?” I asked Michael.

My loyal second-in-command took a deep breath, exhaling sharply and quickly. “I’m saying give up your stand on this children thing. Right now, you’re for it and she’s against it. I know to end the initial fight that started all of this you guys agreed that you would wait, but I can see why Liz still feels that you are still pro baby. We can all see the void in your eyes. But it’s not easy for her, Maxwell. You have to understand where she’s coming from. You’re not going to have to carry a kid around for nine months. Just tell Liz what she wants to hear. Tell her that she’s right.”



“I’ve just started my second year at Harvard, Max!”

“I know that, but you could always—”

For some reason, her eyes began to well up. “I’m not going to put my life on hold!”

“Liz—”

“No, Max! I don’t want kids right now! Don’t urge me to have a baby because Tess lost your son!”



Her words had cut into me like a knife. That was not the incentive for me to start a family with Liz. I wasn’t trying to start a family to make it up to myself for having lost my son, but maybe deep down inside, that’s what I felt.

“Do you still love her?”

I was disturbed from my thoughts. “What?” I wondered.

“Are you still in love with your wife?” Michael asked, emphasizing each word.

I looked at the idle hammock and wondered if it still swung.