A/N: Hi everyone, thank you for reading and leaving feedback. I want to let you know a head of time that i wont be concentrating on the issue of the parents suing, i decided to follow Max and Liz's pending departure from each other soon. Hope you guys don't mind, and enjoy the upcoming part.
Part 30
“You ok?” Zan asked Liz as they drove towards their destination. It was Liz’s last night in Roswell so the gang was taking her to a fair just outside of town that they knew she would love. Liz had been quiet the whole drive though and Zan was worried.
“Yeah,” she tried to smile.
Liz was looking forward to starting school, and Harvard was her dream but she was surprised at how sad she was about leaving Roswell, and she dreaded leaving behind her brother.
“It’s just that tomorrow I’ll be in Cambridge and you’ll be in New Mexico,” she pointed out. “It’s the first time since we were born that we’ll be apart.”
“I know,” he nodded. He was going to miss her like crazy and he hated the thought of her being in a strange city all by herself. “I’m going to miss you,” he told her as he looked over at her with a smile. Liz and Zan travelled to the fair together while the others were in two other vehicles.
When they arrived they all piled out and headed in. There were rides and games everywhere and Liz took it all in.
“Do you know what you want to do first?” Max asked her.
In a way this was Max’s send off too. He was due to leave for New Haven a few days after Liz.
Liz shook her head. “No there’s too much to choose,” she told him.
“Well as long as you save a ferris wheel ride for me, that’s ok,” he smiled.
“Of course,” she told him.
The group hit the arcade games first and Zan won Liz a giant sized alien, which everyone found amusing but Liz insisted that she was going to take it with her to Harvard to remind her of Zan. Zan wasn’t so amused.
They all took turns going on rides together. Liz went with Serena on the teacups, with Zan on a rollercoaster and Isabel convinced her to have a game of bumper cars too.
“Well we need to leave soon so you can do one more thing,” Zan told her at the end of then night.
Liz turned and looked at the giant ferris wheel. “Max is taking me on that,” she smiled at everyone.
Happy that she hadn’t forgotten him, Max took Liz’s hand and led her towards the ride. He bought them each a ticket and they were seated in their cage by the ride conductor. The others also piled onto the ride with their significant other except for Zan who watched on from the bottom with a smile.
Once in the air Max took Liz’s hand again and entwined their fingers.
There was silence between them because they both knew nothing needed to be said. After prom Liz and Max reluctantly went back to just being friends. It was difficult but in some ways easier than before because they had a bit of closure. Graduation came and went and their friendship only grew stronger. Neither wanted to think about what would happen once they went their separate ways for college and thankfully their friends just accepted what they were now, friends who would always be so much more to each other.
The ferris wheel spun around and around and Max and Liz watched transfixed at all the surrounded lights in the towns below. It was a beautiful sight and Liz knew that she would miss it.
How do I
get through one night without you?
If I had to live without you
what kind of life would that be?
Oh I need you in my arms
Need you to hold
Your my world my heart my soul
If you ever leave
Baby you'd take away everything good in my Life.
Max pulled her closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulder and Liz sunk her head into Max’s neck and inhaled deeply. She never wanted to forget what Max smelt like.
“I love you,” Max whispered. It hung in the air and caused Liz to pull back and smile sadly.
“I love you too,” she said simply.
Max kissed her forehead then, he resisted the urge to kiss her lips he knew that it would lead to something that just couldn’t be. Liz though had others ideas and leaned up until her mouth was mere centimetres from Max and closed her eyes and waited.
“I can’t,” he whispered. He had sat there and stared at her face and though he knew he would break her heart he couldn’t kiss her. He just couldn’t go through it again.
Without you
There'd be no sun in my sky
There would be no love in my life
There would be no world left for me
And I
Baby I don't know what I would do
I would be lost if I lost you
If you ever leave
Baby you would take away everything real in My life
Liz opened her eyes when she heard his anguished words.
“If I kiss you right now, I’ll never want to stop,” he admitted.
“Then don’t,” she pleaded.
“Liz…” he pleaded back. “ Please don’t make this harder, baby,” he whispered.
Liz’s dropped her head and nodded slowly.
And tell me now
How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breathe without you
If you ever go
How do I ever ever survive?
How do I
How do I
O how do I live?...
Please tell me baby..
The ferris wheel began to spin then before it slowly came to a stop at the top.
“I’m not going to come to the airport tomorrow,” Max informed her.
Liz looked up shocked. “Why?”
“Because if I come, then I think I’ll end up doing something like begging you to stay or kissing the life out of you and I don’t think our parents would like that much,” he told her.
Liz couldn’t believe that it could get any more painful then it already was. But it did. Each day they were apart, but still so close it was painful. Now each morning she would wake up and they wouldn’t be five minutes away, she wouldn’t be able to innocently touch him; they would both be living separate lives. Liz wondered sometimes if she would survive.
If you ever leave
Well baby you would take away everything
Need you with me
Baby don't you know your everything good in My life
“I’m sorry,” he apologised knowing he had upset her again.
“It’s fine,” she lied.
“You’re a bad liar, Liz,” Max chuckled.
Liz shrugged not knowing what else to say.
And tell me now
How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breathe without you
If you ever go
How do I ever, ever survive?
How do I
How do I
O how do I live
How do I live without you
How do I live without you baby.......
How do I live....
The ferris wheel began moving again then and before either knew what was happening the ride conductor had opened the cage and held out a hand to help Liz out.
Once out Liz turned to Max. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Max reached out and caressed her face “You’re welcome, beautiful,” he whispered.
They waited for the others to hop off their ride and when Zan approached with one look from Liz he knew they were leaving.
Liz turned to look at the group with tears in her eyes.
“Thanks guys,” he told them.
“Oh no tears,” Isabel tried to laugh. “We’re all seeing you off tomorrow remember,” Liz nodded.
“Well, lets jet,” Zan said. He wrapped his arm around Liz and with a sorrowful look over his shoulder at his twin they began walking towards the car park.
Once they were safely in the car and on their way back towards Roswell, Liz let her silent tears fall.
***
“Ok so you have your laptop, your photo album, your address book and your mobile phone?” Serena asked Liz.
Liz smiled at her sister. Serena was certainly doing a good job at making sure she had the necessities.
“Yeah,” she told her. “I’ll call you as soon as I get there,” she added.
Serena stopped her fussing and looked at her twin, the tear glistening her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” she apologised.
“Don’t be,” Liz told her as she stood up.
“I love you and we’ll talk all the time,” she promised.
Zan smirked at he watched from his spot leant up against the wall.
“It’s almost time,” he told them. “Everyone is downstairs.”
Jeff, Nancy, Serena, and Zan were taking Liz to the airport. Liz nodded and with a final look at her bedroom she followed Zan and Serena down the stairs.
Zan and Jeff took the last of Liz’s things to the car to pack them in.
“Well I guess this is it,” Liz tried to smile despite all the teary faces that stared back at her.
Dianne and Phillip stepped forward first. “Good luck, sweetie,” they said. “We’ll see you at Christmas.”
Liz nodded and hugged them back.
“Knock ‘em dead,” Michael grinned.
“Oh, chica, we’re going to miss you,” Maria cried and hugged her close.
“Me too,” Liz whispered.
“Don’t forget to call and email,” a teary Isabel ordered and Liz smiled. “You’re family, it’s a requirement,” she told her.
“I will, love you, Iz,” she whispered as they hugged.
“Me too,” Isabel smiled.
Alex engulfed her into a big bear hug and Liz laughed. “Talk to you soon,” was all he said with a bright smile and Liz smiled back.
“You better email and call all the time or Serena’s going to be pissed, and a pissed girlfriend equals a pissed Kyle Valenti,” Kyle mock lectured.
“I will,” Liz chuckled glad that not everyone was crying because she knew that if they were she would be bawling by now.
“Bye, Parker,” Kyle said and hugged her.
Liz looked around the room after hugging Kyle and noticed that Max was gone.
She looked around more before she felt Isabel’s hand on her shoulder. “He left,” she whispered.
Liz’s eyes filled with tears. She couldn’t believe that he didn’t come to say good-bye. It was bad enough he wouldn’t be at the airport with her.
“Um ok, well can you tell him I said goodbye and good luck?” she asked.
“Of course,” Isabel whispered. It was obvious that Liz was hanging on by a bare thread and Isabel wanted to throttle her brother.
“It’s time, Liz,” Zan’s soft voice spoke up again.
He wrapped his hand around his sister and pulled her towards the door.
Everyone followed out the door where they planned on waving until the car disappeared.
Zan led Liz to the car but her eyes didn’t stop scanning the front lawns for Max.
Nancy, Jeff, and Serena were already in the car and Zan opened the door for Liz. With one final look and a smile Liz slid into the seat and closed the door.
Zan walked around the car and slid in and Jeff began reversing the car out of the driveway.
Liz waved at everyone as they began moving, they were out of the driveway when Liz finally spotted him. He was leant against the jeep watching her every move with tears streaming down his face.
“STOP!” Liz shouted.
Jeff barely had time to stop the car before Liz was out the door and running.
Max spotted her the second her feet hit the ground and pulled himself to his feet.
Liz launched herself into his arms without hesitation and her small hands pounded against his chest.
“How could you?” she cried.
Max pulled her tighter to him and kissed her cheek. “I love you.”
Liz’s fists fell limp to her side at his words.
“I just love you,” he whispered again.
Liz nodded against his chest. “I love you too,” she whispered. “I’ll call you when I get there,” she told him.
Max released her slowly when he looked up and realised everyone was staring at him. Zan had gotten out of the car and approached them.
“Lizzie, sweetie, we have to go,” he said.
Liz nodded and pushed back. “Bye, Max,” she whispered.
“Bye, Liz,” Max smiled despite his tears.
He sunk back to the ground against the jeep as he watched her walk away again, he knew he had been a coward for hiding from her and not saying goodbye but it just hurt too much.
Liz didn’t look back this time as they walked back to the car and this time when she hopped into the car, her head faced forward. She knew that this time she needed to be strong for both of them.
“Look out world,” Max whispered as Isabel and the others joined him. “Here comes Liz Parker.”
Mixed Up (M/L AU ADULT) -(Complete)
Moderators: Itzstacie, Forum Moderators
A/N: Hello everyone. Thank you so much for your feedback and for reading. Some of you are right, this will jump periods now but you'll understand why. I am a dreamer at heart but Max and Liz are on a journey and like any journey (and any angsty fic) it's not always smooth, so this is a warning that the next few parts will be rough for our dreamers. Will continue at the end of the post so i don't give anything away 
Part 31
Three and a half years later
“Aren’t you leaving soon?” Liz’s roommate Simone asked as she entered their room and found Liz seated in front of her laptop.
“An hour,” Liz replied without looking up.
Liz was in her fourth year at Harvard and although it was hard and challenging, Liz loved it. Sure she missed her family but it had gotten easier everyday being away, it helped that she went home every year for Christmas and part of the summer break.
After arriving at Harvard Liz was introduced to her roommate, Simone, and they had hit it off straight away. Now Simone was one of Liz’s best friends.
“Who’s that from?” Simone asked about the email Liz was reading.
“Max.” Liz grinned.
Over the last three and a half years Max and Liz had kept in close contact. At first it had been hard, every time she sent or received an email or call she was near tears but now it was easier. It helped that she knew she would be seeing him over the Christmas break.
“Ah what’s lover boy up to?” Simone asked all too familiar with the story that was Max and Liz.
At first Simone had thought it was a waste that Liz didn’t get involved with all the guys that chased her but she understood now. Sure Liz dated whilst at Harvard but she compared every one of them to Max and in the end they always came up short.
Liz frowned at her question. “He’s not my lover boy,” she reminded her.
It was quite the opposite in fact. Liz remembered it like it was yesterday. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that Max wasn’t dating, in fact he had been very honest with her from the start and told her about all the girls he took out, and she was the same. That was until six months ago when she received the email that rocked her world to the core.
Hey Beautiful,
Sorry I’ve been slacking at replying to your emails. I’ve been busy. I know that isn’t an excuse but you know how RL can get.
Sorry about what’s his name but I’m sure he wasn’t good enough for you anyway.
School is great, loving it.
My love life? Well its funny you should ask about that, remember the girl from my classes that I was telling you about, Tess? Well we’re still dating…. Yeah I know a surprise hey. I thought you should know.
Gotta go but I’ll call you this week.
Xx
Max
Liz had been utterly devastated. Not only had Max lied to her for months by not telling her about this Tess women but it was obvious if he had been dating her that it was serious. Whilst both of them dated no one ever lasted more than a few weeks or a couple of dates and Liz always felt safe in the knowledge that she was still that person for Max like he was for her.
So six months later Tess was still around and Liz was hurting. Simone had tried to convince her to move on but Liz knew it was pointless. If her countless dates had taught her anything it was that Liz had already found her Mr. Right.
“What does he have to say?” Simone asked.
“Oh just telling me when he’s flying out,” Liz replied absentmindedly as she scanned another email from her sister.
Liz realised the time then and began to pack up. “You sure I can’t convince you to come?” she asked. Simone’s family was away for the holidays and she planned to stay at school.
“No you don’t need me around interrupting your time with Max and your family,” she replied.
“You wouldn’t. I’ll introduce you to my brother,” she teased. Liz knew that Simone considered both Max and Zan major hotties and often caught her checking out latest photos she had hanging up.
“As appealing as that sounds I’ll pass this time,” Simone said.
“Ok well love you, Merry Christmas,” she told her.
“You too,” Simone smiled and hugged her.
“Don’t let Max and what’s her face get you down,” she told Liz.
Liz frowned. “I’ll try but it will be hard.”
Simone nodded in understanding.
“Bye,” Liz waved as she headed out the door to hail a cab.
An hour later, Liz was in the air and on her way towards Roswell, New Mexico.
***
Liz looked around the airport for a familiar face when she got off the plane. Max had gotten home a few days earlier and although she was anxious to see her bother and sister she hoped that he might be the one to pick her up.
Liz was surprised when her cell rang to life.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sis,” Zan greeted her on the other end.
“This place is mad and I can’t get a parking spot so do you mind meeting me out the front?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Liz replied.
After she got her luggage, Liz walked outside and spotted their SUV instantly. Zan pulled up and raced out of the car to engulf Liz into a hug.
“God, it’s good to see you,” he told her.
“You too,” she smiled, talking over the phone or via email just wasn’t enough.
Liz looked at her brother more closely then and noticed that he had lost some weight and his face look tired.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked him.
Zan smiled weakly at her. “We’ll talk about it when we get home,” he told her as he helped her into the car.
“No, tell me now,” Liz objected as he hopped in.
Zan sighed. “I haven’t been feeling the best, I have an appointment after Christmas,” he informed her. The truth was though Zan already knew what was wrong; the cancer was back he could already feel it.
Liz gasped. “How long?” she asked.
“I haven’t been feeling great for a couple of months but I dismissed it as stress,” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“I’m coming with you,” he told her.
Zan grinned. “Of course,” he said.
They caught up on the drive home to Roswell and Liz couldn’t believe how good it felt to be back with her brother, to feel at home again.
“I can’t wait to see everyone,” she told him.
Zan sighed. “Liz, before we go in I should tell you something.”
Liz looked at him surprised. “What?”
“Max bought someone home for Christmas,” he told her.
“He did, who?” Liz asked wondering why he wouldn’t have mentioned it in the email he sent.
“Tess,” Zan answered and waited for her reaction.
Liz frowned as her heart fell. “Oh,” she said.
“It was last minute, her parents got stuck in Europe and she had no other plans so he asked her to come home with him,” he informed her.
Everyone had been shocked when he had showed up with Tess, so far everyone no one seemed to like her except for their parents who were happy to meet someone that Max was dating.
Even though they stilled email regularly since Max had admitted that he had been dating Tess things had become strained. For the first time in their relationship Liz wasn’t the most important person in his life, and it showed through his emails and the fact he barely returned her calls anymore. For Liz it was hard to admit in her heart that Max had been able to move on. He had been dating Tess for six months now and it was obvious things were serious, that they were intimate and Liz wondered how he could move on while she was still in limbo unable to.
“Lets go in” Liz finally told him and Zan nodded.
Serena was waiting when they entered the house and quickly engulfed Liz into her arms. Liz spent the remainder of the night catching up with her parents, Serena and Zan before she sunk into her bed. She had promised Serena that she would spend the day with her, Isabel and Maria the next day and she couldn’t wait.
***
Liz was up early the next morning, had breakfast with her parents and Zan before she headed out with Serena. Liz waited in the house until Serena beeped before rushing towards the jeep. Deep down Liz knew what she was doing. She hadn’t been near the Evanses because she didn’t want to see Max, she didn’t want to meet Tess. But most of all she didn’t want to see how much Max and Tess loved each other.
“Oh my God, Liz,” Isabel squealed when she hopped into the car. “You look fantastic.”
“Thank you,” Liz blushed.
They hugged awkwardly over the seat before Serena headed off to pick up Maria.
It was a similar sight when Maria hopped into the car. “So did you have to sneak out of the house?” Maria asked Isabel and Serena.
Serena turned and glared at Maria.
“What?” she asked.
“I know,” Liz told them she knew they were referring to Tess.
“Oh ok,” Serena nodded. “And yes, Maria, we did. Mum mentioned it at dinner last night so of course she just invited herself along,” Serena replied scrunching her nose up.
“Is she that bad?” Liz asked Isabel.
“Lets just say she tries a little too hard,” Isabel shrugged.
“She’s such a bimbo,” Maria snorted.
“Guys you don’t have to not like her because of me,” Liz spoke up.
Serena burst out laughing. “Oh sweetie of course we do, but the thing is we don’t even have to use you as an excuse, she makes people dislike her all on her own.”
“Yep,” Maria agreed.
Liz didn’t say anything else. She knew that there had be something nice about Tess if Max chose to date her.
The girls spent a wonderful day at the mall doing their last minute shopping. Liz hadn’t picked up presents for everyone so she was glad to get it all done, the last thing she wanted to have to do was go shopping on Christmas Eve.
When they returned they all went to the Parkers and slumped exhausted into the couch.
Zan walked in and smirked at them all. “Good shopping trip?” he asked.
“Yep,” they all smiled.
“Did you girls forget something this morning, or rather someone?” Zan smirked.
“No, not at all,” Serena smiled innocently.
“Well lets just say that Max is pissed, apparently Tess got rather upset when she found out that you guys left without her, and you two,” he pointed at Serna and Isabel, “are in for it.”
Serena shrugged. “Like I give a shit. Max is the one dating her not me. If she wants to go to the mall he should take her.”
“Well you were warned,” Zan told her.
Liz was sad that it appeared Max hadn’t even come to visit her. She knew it was stupid since she was avoiding him but it wasn’t like he didn’t know that was coming home the night before.
“What are we doing tonight?” Maria asked the girls.
“Crashdown?” Isabel suggested.
Maria groaned. “No way I work there, I don’t want to hang out there. How about we go bowling?”
“Sounds cool,” Serena agreed.
“Yeah I’ll call the guys,” Isabel suggested.
Liz smiled; it was just like old times. Almost.
So right now some of you are probably aiming your tomatoes at me, or at Max but remember it has been three years, that is a long time!
Part 31
Three and a half years later
“Aren’t you leaving soon?” Liz’s roommate Simone asked as she entered their room and found Liz seated in front of her laptop.
“An hour,” Liz replied without looking up.
Liz was in her fourth year at Harvard and although it was hard and challenging, Liz loved it. Sure she missed her family but it had gotten easier everyday being away, it helped that she went home every year for Christmas and part of the summer break.
After arriving at Harvard Liz was introduced to her roommate, Simone, and they had hit it off straight away. Now Simone was one of Liz’s best friends.
“Who’s that from?” Simone asked about the email Liz was reading.
“Max.” Liz grinned.
Over the last three and a half years Max and Liz had kept in close contact. At first it had been hard, every time she sent or received an email or call she was near tears but now it was easier. It helped that she knew she would be seeing him over the Christmas break.
“Ah what’s lover boy up to?” Simone asked all too familiar with the story that was Max and Liz.
At first Simone had thought it was a waste that Liz didn’t get involved with all the guys that chased her but she understood now. Sure Liz dated whilst at Harvard but she compared every one of them to Max and in the end they always came up short.
Liz frowned at her question. “He’s not my lover boy,” she reminded her.
It was quite the opposite in fact. Liz remembered it like it was yesterday. She wasn’t naive enough to believe that Max wasn’t dating, in fact he had been very honest with her from the start and told her about all the girls he took out, and she was the same. That was until six months ago when she received the email that rocked her world to the core.
Hey Beautiful,
Sorry I’ve been slacking at replying to your emails. I’ve been busy. I know that isn’t an excuse but you know how RL can get.
Sorry about what’s his name but I’m sure he wasn’t good enough for you anyway.
School is great, loving it.
My love life? Well its funny you should ask about that, remember the girl from my classes that I was telling you about, Tess? Well we’re still dating…. Yeah I know a surprise hey. I thought you should know.
Gotta go but I’ll call you this week.
Xx
Max
Liz had been utterly devastated. Not only had Max lied to her for months by not telling her about this Tess women but it was obvious if he had been dating her that it was serious. Whilst both of them dated no one ever lasted more than a few weeks or a couple of dates and Liz always felt safe in the knowledge that she was still that person for Max like he was for her.
So six months later Tess was still around and Liz was hurting. Simone had tried to convince her to move on but Liz knew it was pointless. If her countless dates had taught her anything it was that Liz had already found her Mr. Right.
“What does he have to say?” Simone asked.
“Oh just telling me when he’s flying out,” Liz replied absentmindedly as she scanned another email from her sister.
Liz realised the time then and began to pack up. “You sure I can’t convince you to come?” she asked. Simone’s family was away for the holidays and she planned to stay at school.
“No you don’t need me around interrupting your time with Max and your family,” she replied.
“You wouldn’t. I’ll introduce you to my brother,” she teased. Liz knew that Simone considered both Max and Zan major hotties and often caught her checking out latest photos she had hanging up.
“As appealing as that sounds I’ll pass this time,” Simone said.
“Ok well love you, Merry Christmas,” she told her.
“You too,” Simone smiled and hugged her.
“Don’t let Max and what’s her face get you down,” she told Liz.
Liz frowned. “I’ll try but it will be hard.”
Simone nodded in understanding.
“Bye,” Liz waved as she headed out the door to hail a cab.
An hour later, Liz was in the air and on her way towards Roswell, New Mexico.
***
Liz looked around the airport for a familiar face when she got off the plane. Max had gotten home a few days earlier and although she was anxious to see her bother and sister she hoped that he might be the one to pick her up.
Liz was surprised when her cell rang to life.
“Hello?”
“Hey, sis,” Zan greeted her on the other end.
“This place is mad and I can’t get a parking spot so do you mind meeting me out the front?” he asked.
“Not at all,” Liz replied.
After she got her luggage, Liz walked outside and spotted their SUV instantly. Zan pulled up and raced out of the car to engulf Liz into a hug.
“God, it’s good to see you,” he told her.
“You too,” she smiled, talking over the phone or via email just wasn’t enough.
Liz looked at her brother more closely then and noticed that he had lost some weight and his face look tired.
“Are you feeling alright?” she asked him.
Zan smiled weakly at her. “We’ll talk about it when we get home,” he told her as he helped her into the car.
“No, tell me now,” Liz objected as he hopped in.
Zan sighed. “I haven’t been feeling the best, I have an appointment after Christmas,” he informed her. The truth was though Zan already knew what was wrong; the cancer was back he could already feel it.
Liz gasped. “How long?” she asked.
“I haven’t been feeling great for a couple of months but I dismissed it as stress,” he shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal.
“I’m coming with you,” he told her.
Zan grinned. “Of course,” he said.
They caught up on the drive home to Roswell and Liz couldn’t believe how good it felt to be back with her brother, to feel at home again.
“I can’t wait to see everyone,” she told him.
Zan sighed. “Liz, before we go in I should tell you something.”
Liz looked at him surprised. “What?”
“Max bought someone home for Christmas,” he told her.
“He did, who?” Liz asked wondering why he wouldn’t have mentioned it in the email he sent.
“Tess,” Zan answered and waited for her reaction.
Liz frowned as her heart fell. “Oh,” she said.
“It was last minute, her parents got stuck in Europe and she had no other plans so he asked her to come home with him,” he informed her.
Everyone had been shocked when he had showed up with Tess, so far everyone no one seemed to like her except for their parents who were happy to meet someone that Max was dating.
Even though they stilled email regularly since Max had admitted that he had been dating Tess things had become strained. For the first time in their relationship Liz wasn’t the most important person in his life, and it showed through his emails and the fact he barely returned her calls anymore. For Liz it was hard to admit in her heart that Max had been able to move on. He had been dating Tess for six months now and it was obvious things were serious, that they were intimate and Liz wondered how he could move on while she was still in limbo unable to.
“Lets go in” Liz finally told him and Zan nodded.
Serena was waiting when they entered the house and quickly engulfed Liz into her arms. Liz spent the remainder of the night catching up with her parents, Serena and Zan before she sunk into her bed. She had promised Serena that she would spend the day with her, Isabel and Maria the next day and she couldn’t wait.
***
Liz was up early the next morning, had breakfast with her parents and Zan before she headed out with Serena. Liz waited in the house until Serena beeped before rushing towards the jeep. Deep down Liz knew what she was doing. She hadn’t been near the Evanses because she didn’t want to see Max, she didn’t want to meet Tess. But most of all she didn’t want to see how much Max and Tess loved each other.
“Oh my God, Liz,” Isabel squealed when she hopped into the car. “You look fantastic.”
“Thank you,” Liz blushed.
They hugged awkwardly over the seat before Serena headed off to pick up Maria.
It was a similar sight when Maria hopped into the car. “So did you have to sneak out of the house?” Maria asked Isabel and Serena.
Serena turned and glared at Maria.
“What?” she asked.
“I know,” Liz told them she knew they were referring to Tess.
“Oh ok,” Serena nodded. “And yes, Maria, we did. Mum mentioned it at dinner last night so of course she just invited herself along,” Serena replied scrunching her nose up.
“Is she that bad?” Liz asked Isabel.
“Lets just say she tries a little too hard,” Isabel shrugged.
“She’s such a bimbo,” Maria snorted.
“Guys you don’t have to not like her because of me,” Liz spoke up.
Serena burst out laughing. “Oh sweetie of course we do, but the thing is we don’t even have to use you as an excuse, she makes people dislike her all on her own.”
“Yep,” Maria agreed.
Liz didn’t say anything else. She knew that there had be something nice about Tess if Max chose to date her.
The girls spent a wonderful day at the mall doing their last minute shopping. Liz hadn’t picked up presents for everyone so she was glad to get it all done, the last thing she wanted to have to do was go shopping on Christmas Eve.
When they returned they all went to the Parkers and slumped exhausted into the couch.
Zan walked in and smirked at them all. “Good shopping trip?” he asked.
“Yep,” they all smiled.
“Did you girls forget something this morning, or rather someone?” Zan smirked.
“No, not at all,” Serena smiled innocently.
“Well lets just say that Max is pissed, apparently Tess got rather upset when she found out that you guys left without her, and you two,” he pointed at Serna and Isabel, “are in for it.”
Serena shrugged. “Like I give a shit. Max is the one dating her not me. If she wants to go to the mall he should take her.”
“Well you were warned,” Zan told her.
Liz was sad that it appeared Max hadn’t even come to visit her. She knew it was stupid since she was avoiding him but it wasn’t like he didn’t know that was coming home the night before.
“What are we doing tonight?” Maria asked the girls.
“Crashdown?” Isabel suggested.
Maria groaned. “No way I work there, I don’t want to hang out there. How about we go bowling?”
“Sounds cool,” Serena agreed.
“Yeah I’ll call the guys,” Isabel suggested.
Liz smiled; it was just like old times. Almost.
So right now some of you are probably aiming your tomatoes at me, or at Max but remember it has been three years, that is a long time!
Um ok....
Not really sure what to say to tell you the truth
I was shocked to see like 5 pages of feedback, and I think it took me a half an hour to read it all but now I have this feeling that I've utterly disappointed everyone so...
Anyway here is the next part, its worse so I'll start ducking and hope you're all bad shots.
I will say however when writing this that it was my feeling that there is really nothing wrong with people growing, changing and subsequently moving on. It came to a point where Max and Liz became too much, especially to each other and maybe someone like Tess is what Max needs to realise what it was he loved about Liz, and why they were so right to begin with. I also will warn you that I think Liz starts behaving as a bit of a brat in future parts.
Anyway here it is the good and the bad
Part 32
Liz looked in the mirror and examined her appearance. She knew they were just going bowling but she wanted to look nice, she figured if she felt good then other people might think the same. So far she hadn’t heard if Max and Tess were coming bowling but she assumed they would be.
She was wearing a tight pair of hipster jeans and a red fluffy jumper. It wasn’t as cold in New Mexico as it was in Cambridge but she loved the feel of the wool against her skin. Liz left her hair out, wore next to no makeup except some lip-gloss, and opted for a pair of chunky boots.
Liz looked up when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called out.
“You ready?” Zan asked her.
Zan was single at the moment and Liz was glad, at least this way she didn’t feel like an odd wheel.
“Yep,” she answered as she shoved some money and her ID into her pocket.
Liz followed Zan out of the room; they were halfway down the stairs when they met Max, who was on his way up.
“Hey, man,” Zan greeted and they punched hands.
“Hey.”
Max’s amber eyes fixed on Liz then and she shifted on her feet nervously. Liz knew he was studying her, taking her in like she desperately wanted to do to him but refused to.
“I’ll see you downstairs,” he told her.
“Hi,” Max greeted with a small smile.
“Hi, Max,” Liz replied slightly cold.
“You been avoiding me, beautiful?” he asked, his tone playful.
“No,” Liz shook her head. “I’ve been here, you could have come over at any time,” she replied taking a step and attempting to move past Max.
“Hey,” he said grabbing her arm to stop her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Liz shook her head. “Nothing, Max. We better go, everyone is waiting for us,” she told him before pulling free from his grasp.
When Liz made it into the living room where everyone was waiting she stopped short when she saw the blonde for the first time. Her hair was almost white, obviously bleached. She was beautiful though and Liz couldn’t help but gulp at her womanly figure.
“Liz, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Max said from behind her.
Liz looked up at him and frowned at his smile. He led her over to Tess and wrapped his arm around the girl who smiled.
“Liz, this is Tess. Tess, this is Liz,” he introduced.
Everyone in the room watched with bated breath. No one new exactly what to expect from Liz so when she burst out laughing they were all speechless.
“Hi, Liz, it’s so nice to meet you. Max has told me so much about you,” she said confused as to what Liz was laughing about.
Liz knew the second she stood in front of the girl that if she didn’t laugh then she would cry. Tess was gorgeous; it was no wonder Max dated her.
“Hi, Tess,” Liz finally calmed down and said before she promptly turned her back on her and marched towards her brother.
“Should we go?” she asked the group.
They all eagerly nodded and began to walk out of the room. Liz followed Zan, ignoring the look of her hurt that flashed in Max’s eyes.
***
Bowling was agony for Liz. Everyone was paired in couples, which left Liz with Zan. She didn’t mind that so much, but she did mind the way Tess was all over Max all night.
“I’m going to get a drink, do you want something?” Liz asked Zan.
“Nah I’m fine,” he smiled worried about her. “You ok?” he asked.
Liz shrugged and shook her head but Zan understood and he allowed her to quickly flee before someone else noticed how upset she was.
Liz didn’t realise that Max had watched the whole exchange and had followed her.
“You ok?”
Liz jumped, startled by his voice.
“Did you have to do that?” she snapped.
Max frowned. “Geez, Liz, what’s up your ass tonight?” he replied his anger reacting to hers.
“Just leave me alone,” Liz whispered and took a few more steps out into the cold night.
“Come back inside it’s cold out here,” he told her.
“Look, Max, why don’t you worry about your little girlfriend and I’ll worry about me ok?” Liz whirled on him and shouted angrily.
“Is that what this is about?” he asked shocked. “You’re jealous?”
“Jealous?” Liz snorted. “In your dreams,” she added.
“Then what’s the problem?” Max all but shouted. “God, I spent months looking forward to seeing you and you’re acting like a bitch.”
“You think I didn’t look forward to seeing you?” Liz shouted back. “You barely return my calls or my emails anymore. I’ve been home two days, Max, and you didn’t even come near me,” she reminded him.
Max sighed. “I’m sorry, I was busy with Tess,” he admitted.
Liz snorted. “Yeah that’s pretty much the standard excuse these days, isn’t it?” she said thinking about all the email and phone calls where he apologised for the delay because he’d been away with Tess for the weekend or he hadn’t been staying at the dorm for a few nights.
Max’s mouth opened with shock. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” he admitted.
“Nothing,” Liz shook her head. “I don’t want you to say anything,” she told him as she walked past him and back into the bowling alley.
***
Liz was almost relieved that she didn’t see Max or Tess on Christmas Eve. She spent the day with her mother, which was wonderful, they went to the spa and then Liz had her hair cut. Her mother had gasped when she emerged with her hair cut short.
“Why did you do that?” she asked.
Liz shrugged. “I needed a change,” she admitted.
They went for ice cream then. “You don’t seem like yourself, I’m worried about you,” Nancy told her.
Liz smiled. “Thank you. You’re right I don’t feel like myself. I’m worried about Zan and I have no idea what I’m going to do if he’s sick again.”
Nancy took her daughters hand understanding her pain better then anyone. “He’ll be fine” she assured her.
“I hope so, but if he’s sick again I’m not going back to school,” Liz informed her mother.
“Liz…”
“No please don’t. I’ve been away from him enough, if he’s sick he’ll need me and I won’t be going anywhere.”
Nancy had never been more proud of her daughter and although she hated the idea of Liz leaving Harvard and knew Jeff and Zan would too she wasn’t going to argue with her.
“Ok,” she agreed.
***
That night both families went to church together. Everyone had been shocked by Liz’s haircut but the girls all loved it. Zan kept messing it up and her father told her he hated it, he preferred his little girl in pigtails.
After dinner they all went back to the Evanses for drinks and supper. They all sat around the fire laughing and sharing stories about Christmases when they were little.
It was a little before midnight when Tess and Max disappeared to bed and Zan followed not long after leaving Liz with the parents. This year Christmas morning would be at the Parkers and Liz was dreading having to deal with Max and Tess.
“Liz?”
Liz had just stood up after deciding to call it a night. Max was standing on the staircase watching her.
“Yeah?” she asked.
She noticed that he was holding a beautifully wrapped package then. “Can we talk?” he asked.
Liz sighed and nodded. “Let me go grab a jacket and we can go outside,” she told him.
Max nodded and waited for her to come back. Once she did they walked into the Parkers backyard and sat on the swing seat her parents had installed the Christmas before.
“Here,” Max whispered and handed Liz the gift.
Liz hesitated before she reached in and pulled out the small present from her jacket. When she had bought it she hadn’t expected to be confronted by the fact that Max was with Tess. But now she had nothing else to give him so she handed it too him.
Liz opened the box carefully she didn’t want to ruin the paper. She gasped when she opened the box and found the most beautiful beaded jewellery. The beads were a bright turquoise and Liz knew they would look gorgeous on.
She picked up the card that accompanied it then and read it.
To My Liz,
Merry Christmas.
Your Best Friend Always,
Max
As beautiful as the words were, they were devastating at the same time.
Her eyes filled with tears “Thank you,” she said and her voice was genuine.
Max smiled happy that she loved her gift. “You’re welcome. Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” she assured him.
“Good. Tess helped me pick it,” he informed her then. Even though that piece of information was meant to help Liz see what a truly amazing person Tess was or something, it was like a bucket of ice on an already frozen friendship.
With shaky hands Liz closed the box, she knew that she would never wear it now, it had been tarnished to her after those words.
Max was a little disappointed when she set the gift aside and didn’t say another word but he chose to concentrate on opening his own gift. Inside was a chain; it was white gold, and thick with hanging dog tags on it. Liz had one of them engraved already.
25.12.2005
xx 4eva
Liz
“Wow,” he whispered awed as he examined the gift.
Liz shrugged. She had seen it in a store in Cambridge and despite its hefty price tag had bought it on the spot.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Welcome,” Liz smiled.
Liz watched as he placed the chain around his neck before he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
They sat together in silence then until they heard the beep on Max’s watch.
“It’s midnight,” he said.
Liz smiled. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered and looked at him.
Max took her small hand in his own and smiled back. “Merry Christmas, Liz.”
***
The next morning the Parker house was full and there were presents and wrapping paper everywhere.
The Parkers had bought Liz and Zan a trip to Europe in the summer so they could go together, as well as some new clothes.
Liz bought Zan a new camera, a hobby that he had picked up in recent months.
Liz and Isabel exchanged perfumes with a laugh and a smile.
Serena bought Liz a new leather coat, which she adored. While Liz bought Serena a beautiful set of earrings.
Liz watched with her heart in her hand as Max handed Tess her present, it was also a new camera, and Tess seemed surprised and unenthusiastic as Max explained it’s impressive features.
Afterwards Tess handed Max a small present and Liz watched as Max unwrapped it and revealed a chain, similar but not the same as hers. It had a Chinese symbol hanging off it and Tess explained to Max that it meant “forever.” Liz closed her eyes as Max lent in and kissed Tess in thanks but what he did next Liz knew would forever be burned into her mind. She watched as though it was slow motion as Max reached up, unhooked the necklace she gave him the night before and shoved it into his pocket like it meant nothing, and replaced it with Tess’s.
Liz would later describe the situation as though someone took a baseball bat to her throat. The utter humiliation and rejection she felt in that moment was more than anyone deserved to feel in one life.
She leapt off the couch before a sob escaped her throat. Her eyes met Max’s and they said every thing that she felt before she turned and fled up the stairs.
Max immediately stood up prepared to follow her but Tess reached out and grabbed him.
“Max, what…?” she asked confused as to where he was going.
“I’ll go,” Serena whispered and quickly rushed after Liz.
Not really sure what to say to tell you the truth
I was shocked to see like 5 pages of feedback, and I think it took me a half an hour to read it all but now I have this feeling that I've utterly disappointed everyone so...
Anyway here is the next part, its worse so I'll start ducking and hope you're all bad shots.
I will say however when writing this that it was my feeling that there is really nothing wrong with people growing, changing and subsequently moving on. It came to a point where Max and Liz became too much, especially to each other and maybe someone like Tess is what Max needs to realise what it was he loved about Liz, and why they were so right to begin with. I also will warn you that I think Liz starts behaving as a bit of a brat in future parts.
Anyway here it is the good and the bad
Part 32
Liz looked in the mirror and examined her appearance. She knew they were just going bowling but she wanted to look nice, she figured if she felt good then other people might think the same. So far she hadn’t heard if Max and Tess were coming bowling but she assumed they would be.
She was wearing a tight pair of hipster jeans and a red fluffy jumper. It wasn’t as cold in New Mexico as it was in Cambridge but she loved the feel of the wool against her skin. Liz left her hair out, wore next to no makeup except some lip-gloss, and opted for a pair of chunky boots.
Liz looked up when there was a knock on the door.
“Come in,” she called out.
“You ready?” Zan asked her.
Zan was single at the moment and Liz was glad, at least this way she didn’t feel like an odd wheel.
“Yep,” she answered as she shoved some money and her ID into her pocket.
Liz followed Zan out of the room; they were halfway down the stairs when they met Max, who was on his way up.
“Hey, man,” Zan greeted and they punched hands.
“Hey.”
Max’s amber eyes fixed on Liz then and she shifted on her feet nervously. Liz knew he was studying her, taking her in like she desperately wanted to do to him but refused to.
“I’ll see you downstairs,” he told her.
“Hi,” Max greeted with a small smile.
“Hi, Max,” Liz replied slightly cold.
“You been avoiding me, beautiful?” he asked, his tone playful.
“No,” Liz shook her head. “I’ve been here, you could have come over at any time,” she replied taking a step and attempting to move past Max.
“Hey,” he said grabbing her arm to stop her. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
Liz shook her head. “Nothing, Max. We better go, everyone is waiting for us,” she told him before pulling free from his grasp.
When Liz made it into the living room where everyone was waiting she stopped short when she saw the blonde for the first time. Her hair was almost white, obviously bleached. She was beautiful though and Liz couldn’t help but gulp at her womanly figure.
“Liz, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Max said from behind her.
Liz looked up at him and frowned at his smile. He led her over to Tess and wrapped his arm around the girl who smiled.
“Liz, this is Tess. Tess, this is Liz,” he introduced.
Everyone in the room watched with bated breath. No one new exactly what to expect from Liz so when she burst out laughing they were all speechless.
“Hi, Liz, it’s so nice to meet you. Max has told me so much about you,” she said confused as to what Liz was laughing about.
Liz knew the second she stood in front of the girl that if she didn’t laugh then she would cry. Tess was gorgeous; it was no wonder Max dated her.
“Hi, Tess,” Liz finally calmed down and said before she promptly turned her back on her and marched towards her brother.
“Should we go?” she asked the group.
They all eagerly nodded and began to walk out of the room. Liz followed Zan, ignoring the look of her hurt that flashed in Max’s eyes.
***
Bowling was agony for Liz. Everyone was paired in couples, which left Liz with Zan. She didn’t mind that so much, but she did mind the way Tess was all over Max all night.
“I’m going to get a drink, do you want something?” Liz asked Zan.
“Nah I’m fine,” he smiled worried about her. “You ok?” he asked.
Liz shrugged and shook her head but Zan understood and he allowed her to quickly flee before someone else noticed how upset she was.
Liz didn’t realise that Max had watched the whole exchange and had followed her.
“You ok?”
Liz jumped, startled by his voice.
“Did you have to do that?” she snapped.
Max frowned. “Geez, Liz, what’s up your ass tonight?” he replied his anger reacting to hers.
“Just leave me alone,” Liz whispered and took a few more steps out into the cold night.
“Come back inside it’s cold out here,” he told her.
“Look, Max, why don’t you worry about your little girlfriend and I’ll worry about me ok?” Liz whirled on him and shouted angrily.
“Is that what this is about?” he asked shocked. “You’re jealous?”
“Jealous?” Liz snorted. “In your dreams,” she added.
“Then what’s the problem?” Max all but shouted. “God, I spent months looking forward to seeing you and you’re acting like a bitch.”
“You think I didn’t look forward to seeing you?” Liz shouted back. “You barely return my calls or my emails anymore. I’ve been home two days, Max, and you didn’t even come near me,” she reminded him.
Max sighed. “I’m sorry, I was busy with Tess,” he admitted.
Liz snorted. “Yeah that’s pretty much the standard excuse these days, isn’t it?” she said thinking about all the email and phone calls where he apologised for the delay because he’d been away with Tess for the weekend or he hadn’t been staying at the dorm for a few nights.
Max’s mouth opened with shock. “I don’t know what you want me to say,” he admitted.
“Nothing,” Liz shook her head. “I don’t want you to say anything,” she told him as she walked past him and back into the bowling alley.
***
Liz was almost relieved that she didn’t see Max or Tess on Christmas Eve. She spent the day with her mother, which was wonderful, they went to the spa and then Liz had her hair cut. Her mother had gasped when she emerged with her hair cut short.
“Why did you do that?” she asked.
Liz shrugged. “I needed a change,” she admitted.
They went for ice cream then. “You don’t seem like yourself, I’m worried about you,” Nancy told her.
Liz smiled. “Thank you. You’re right I don’t feel like myself. I’m worried about Zan and I have no idea what I’m going to do if he’s sick again.”
Nancy took her daughters hand understanding her pain better then anyone. “He’ll be fine” she assured her.
“I hope so, but if he’s sick again I’m not going back to school,” Liz informed her mother.
“Liz…”
“No please don’t. I’ve been away from him enough, if he’s sick he’ll need me and I won’t be going anywhere.”
Nancy had never been more proud of her daughter and although she hated the idea of Liz leaving Harvard and knew Jeff and Zan would too she wasn’t going to argue with her.
“Ok,” she agreed.
***
That night both families went to church together. Everyone had been shocked by Liz’s haircut but the girls all loved it. Zan kept messing it up and her father told her he hated it, he preferred his little girl in pigtails.
After dinner they all went back to the Evanses for drinks and supper. They all sat around the fire laughing and sharing stories about Christmases when they were little.
It was a little before midnight when Tess and Max disappeared to bed and Zan followed not long after leaving Liz with the parents. This year Christmas morning would be at the Parkers and Liz was dreading having to deal with Max and Tess.
“Liz?”
Liz had just stood up after deciding to call it a night. Max was standing on the staircase watching her.
“Yeah?” she asked.
She noticed that he was holding a beautifully wrapped package then. “Can we talk?” he asked.
Liz sighed and nodded. “Let me go grab a jacket and we can go outside,” she told him.
Max nodded and waited for her to come back. Once she did they walked into the Parkers backyard and sat on the swing seat her parents had installed the Christmas before.
“Here,” Max whispered and handed Liz the gift.
Liz hesitated before she reached in and pulled out the small present from her jacket. When she had bought it she hadn’t expected to be confronted by the fact that Max was with Tess. But now she had nothing else to give him so she handed it too him.
Liz opened the box carefully she didn’t want to ruin the paper. She gasped when she opened the box and found the most beautiful beaded jewellery. The beads were a bright turquoise and Liz knew they would look gorgeous on.
She picked up the card that accompanied it then and read it.
To My Liz,
Merry Christmas.
Your Best Friend Always,
Max
As beautiful as the words were, they were devastating at the same time.
Her eyes filled with tears “Thank you,” she said and her voice was genuine.
Max smiled happy that she loved her gift. “You’re welcome. Do you like it?” he asked.
“I love it,” she assured him.
“Good. Tess helped me pick it,” he informed her then. Even though that piece of information was meant to help Liz see what a truly amazing person Tess was or something, it was like a bucket of ice on an already frozen friendship.
With shaky hands Liz closed the box, she knew that she would never wear it now, it had been tarnished to her after those words.
Max was a little disappointed when she set the gift aside and didn’t say another word but he chose to concentrate on opening his own gift. Inside was a chain; it was white gold, and thick with hanging dog tags on it. Liz had one of them engraved already.
25.12.2005
xx 4eva
Liz
“Wow,” he whispered awed as he examined the gift.
Liz shrugged. She had seen it in a store in Cambridge and despite its hefty price tag had bought it on the spot.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Welcome,” Liz smiled.
Liz watched as he placed the chain around his neck before he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
They sat together in silence then until they heard the beep on Max’s watch.
“It’s midnight,” he said.
Liz smiled. “Merry Christmas,” she whispered and looked at him.
Max took her small hand in his own and smiled back. “Merry Christmas, Liz.”
***
The next morning the Parker house was full and there were presents and wrapping paper everywhere.
The Parkers had bought Liz and Zan a trip to Europe in the summer so they could go together, as well as some new clothes.
Liz bought Zan a new camera, a hobby that he had picked up in recent months.
Liz and Isabel exchanged perfumes with a laugh and a smile.
Serena bought Liz a new leather coat, which she adored. While Liz bought Serena a beautiful set of earrings.
Liz watched with her heart in her hand as Max handed Tess her present, it was also a new camera, and Tess seemed surprised and unenthusiastic as Max explained it’s impressive features.
Afterwards Tess handed Max a small present and Liz watched as Max unwrapped it and revealed a chain, similar but not the same as hers. It had a Chinese symbol hanging off it and Tess explained to Max that it meant “forever.” Liz closed her eyes as Max lent in and kissed Tess in thanks but what he did next Liz knew would forever be burned into her mind. She watched as though it was slow motion as Max reached up, unhooked the necklace she gave him the night before and shoved it into his pocket like it meant nothing, and replaced it with Tess’s.
Liz would later describe the situation as though someone took a baseball bat to her throat. The utter humiliation and rejection she felt in that moment was more than anyone deserved to feel in one life.
She leapt off the couch before a sob escaped her throat. Her eyes met Max’s and they said every thing that she felt before she turned and fled up the stairs.
Max immediately stood up prepared to follow her but Tess reached out and grabbed him.
“Max, what…?” she asked confused as to where he was going.
“I’ll go,” Serena whispered and quickly rushed after Liz.
A/N: Hi everyone. Thank you so much to everyone for reading, leaving feedback, good and bad for the last part. Hi to the lurkers too.
I hope you enjoy this next part
Part 33
Serena found Liz sobbing in her room and laid down beside her and hugged her close until her tears stopped.
“Shh, sweetie,” she soothed.
“I made a fool out of myself didn’t I?” Liz asked as she wiped her eyes.
“No,” Serena assured her.
Luckily Dianne and Nancy had been in the kitchen and Jeff and Phillip weren’t paying attention.
“How could he, Serena?” she sobbed then. “I gave him that last night for Christmas and he just took it off like it meant nothing.”
Zan and Serena had watched the scene unfold but unlike Liz they didn’t know the significance of what Max was doing when he removed the necklace he was wearing to replace it with the one that Tess had bought.
“I’m sure he didn’t realise,” Serena said, hoping that Max wasn’t that insensitive.
Liz wanted to believe Serena but she just couldn’t. Dealing with Max had been one disappointment after another lately and she finally understood that the only one that continued to get hurt was her.
Sure she was being selfish. Her inability to let Max go, to get over her feelings for him were what was getting in the way of them being friends, but Max’s disrespect for her feelings was also a mounting problem
Liz waited for a little while and washed her face before she headed downstairs.
Max looked up as she entered the room, he pleaded with his eyes for her to understand, but she just couldn’t so instead she ignored him.
***
“Are you going to ignore me the rest of your trip?” Max asked.
After tea that night Liz had escaped out the back with a blanket to enjoy one of her new books. She should have realised that someone would come looking for her eventually; in a way she had she just hoped it wouldn’t be Max especially since Tess barely let him out of her sight.
“Just leave me alone, Max,” she whispered.
“I can’t,” he replied and sat down beside her.
“Can’t or wont?” she asked.
“Both I guess,” he smiled sadly.
He noticed that she hadn’t worn his gift today and he wondered again if she didn’t like it.
“You didn’t wear your necklace today?” he commented oblivious to the reason why.
Liz gritted her teeth.
“If you don’t like it I could take it back,” he offered as he tried to hide his disappointment.
“What and get Tess to pick me something new out?” she asked sarcastically.
Max sighed. “If you took the time to get to know her you’d probably really like Tess,” Max informed her.
Liz’s eyes were like ice when she looked up. “I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll give you back the present you gave me and you can just give it to Tess, and I’ll take my gift back and keep it until I meet someone that likes it and deserves it.”
Max’s eyes went wide at her comment and the coldness of her voice.
“I don’t understand. What’s happened to us?” he whispered hurt.
“You’re kidding right?” Liz cried. “Do you realise how much it hurt this morning watching you remove my necklace?” she asked him, tears in her eyes. “You probably haven’t even bothered to take it out of your pocket and put it back in the box,” Liz told him.
Max’s face immediately filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, I love the necklace you bought me,” he told her.
“Just not enough to keep it on,” she whispered.
“What did you want me to do, Liz? She’s my girlfriend I couldn’t not put it on,” he argued.
“I expected you to respect me enough to not treat something that I bought you, something that I considered so special like it was worthless. I don’t give a shit who she is, from now on both of you just stay away from me”
“I can’t” Max shook his head. “So please don’t ask me to” He pleaded.
“You can’t?” Liz sobbed. “Why? I obviously mean very little to you now.”
“How can you think that? You’re everything to me,” Max told her, his own tears falling now.
“No, Max, I’m not. That’s your girlfriend,” I remind him.
“God, Liz, I thought we were friends, best friends?” Max cried. “I thought you of all people would understand how hard it is for me to balance my life. Do you think it’s easy for Tess knowing how much you mean to me?”
“I don’t care about Tess,” Liz told him honestly. “I only care about me, and right now my heart is broken,” she admitted.
“Why?” Max cried.
“Because I can’t let go,” she admitted with a sob. “It’s not over for me, it’s never been over for me,” she stood up and yelled.
Her words shocked Max who was unable to move.
“It wasn’t over for me,” she whispered again.
Max moved to instantly engulf her in his arms. He was still in shock at Liz’s words and wondered how she had managed to hide her feelings from him so well. Was she really right, had he been so blind and so involved in Tess that he hadn’t realised what he’d lost? Because he knew then, in that very moment, that he had lost Liz and that things between them were never going to be the same again and all of a sudden his own heart felt very broken.
***
Tess studied Liz as she moved around the room. For months all she had heard about was Liz this and Liz that and now that she was standing in the same room as her. She wondered what the big deal was. Sure, Tess wasn’t stupid, she knew that there was more between Max and Liz than Max had been honest about, and she didn’t like it. Since Liz had showed up in Roswell Max had been distant and vague and she didn’t like it at all.
“Liz,” she called.
Liz turned and looked at her, her eyes were dull, void of emotion.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I was wondering if we could talk?”
“About?” Liz asked.
Tess has been trying her last nerve for days. After their talk the other night Max had done pretty much what Liz had asked, he had stayed away much to her heartbreak. But Tess had gone out of her way to be in Liz’s face, but the fact that she was in her house was the final straw.
“What are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
“Oh well the door was open,” Tess blushed.
“Rude much?” Liz asked.
“Sorry,” Tess told her.
“Look, Tess, I’d prefer it if you just left me alone. I’m not in the mood for you and Max and your crap today, ok?”
Liz didn’t know what Tess knew and she didn’t care. Zan’s doctor’s appointment was in a few hours and she just wanted to concentrate on him.
“Well I think we need to talk about Max,” Tess replied.
“I have nothing to say,” Liz replied.
“Well I do,” Tess replied her anger rising.
“I don’t care. This is my house, my home and you are merely an unwelcomed guest. Just because you’re Max’s girlfriend doesn’t mean you’re part of my family. Now if you’ll excuse me I have things to do,” Liz told her.
“No wonder Max doesn’t want anything to do with you. You’re a jealous, vicious bitch. I bet he’s never seen this side of you, has he?” Tess called out, a smirk on her face.
“Max has seen many sides of me, Tess, and frankly I don’t care what you think of me,” Liz replied unaffected by her words.
Tess frowned. “I came here to tell you to stay away from him. I don’t know what happened the other night but you upset him and he doesn’t deserve that. He’s my boyfriend not yours so keep your paws off him.”
“Wow, so impassioned. I wonder what Max would think if he knew about your little visit. Look around you, Tess. I’m not after Max. If I was, I’d have him already,” Liz assured her before she turned her back on her and walked out of the room.
Once out of the room Liz stopped and tried to control her anger. Once again she felt like she was that 17-year-old girl who had first fallen in love with Max and lost herself. What had happened to the strong women who had survived almost four years in Cambridge by herself?
***
Liz was surprised that it was only Zan and her at the doctor’s the next day.
“I told Dad,” Zan admitted. “But I asked him to keep quiet ‘til after Christmas, I didn’t want to ruin it for Mum.”
Liz nodded, she understood. Once Nancy Parker found out though she would be furious, and rightly so.
“Hi Zan, Hi Liz,” Dr. Watson greeted.
“Hi Doc,” Zan smiled as they followed him into his office.
“I was concerned when I saw your name on my patient list. You’re not due for your six month check up,” he commented as they all took a seat.
“Yeah I know,” Zan sighed. “Something’s up.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Tired, losing weight for no reason, headaches,” Zan started to inform him.
“Ok,” John nodded. “Lets get you in for some tests.”
“Is it bad?” Liz asked.
“Lets not think the worst ok?” John told them. “We’ll get you some blood tests, check your red and white blood cells first.”
Zan and Liz both nodded.
“How long have you been feeling off?” John asked then.
“A few months,” Zan admitted.
John Watson cursed under his breath. He knew that the chances are good that the cancer is back and he knew just as well that this time it would be harder for Zan to fight it. 4 years of remission wasn’t enough as far as he was concerned, sickness had already consumed too much of Zan Parkers life.
“We’ll get you in today,” he informed them as he picked up the phone to make the calls so that it could happen.
A few hours later Zan and Liz left the hospital in a sombre mood. It had been a long time since they had been in a hospital for that period of time and neither missed it.
“So I guess you just wait now,” Liz stated as they hopped in the SUV.
They had been informed the tests wouldn’t be back until after New Year’s, it would be an excruciating wait.
“Yeah, lets just enjoy New Year’s,” Zan suggested.
Liz sighed. “Ok,” but it was easier said then done.
I hope you enjoy this next part
Part 33
Serena found Liz sobbing in her room and laid down beside her and hugged her close until her tears stopped.
“Shh, sweetie,” she soothed.
“I made a fool out of myself didn’t I?” Liz asked as she wiped her eyes.
“No,” Serena assured her.
Luckily Dianne and Nancy had been in the kitchen and Jeff and Phillip weren’t paying attention.
“How could he, Serena?” she sobbed then. “I gave him that last night for Christmas and he just took it off like it meant nothing.”
Zan and Serena had watched the scene unfold but unlike Liz they didn’t know the significance of what Max was doing when he removed the necklace he was wearing to replace it with the one that Tess had bought.
“I’m sure he didn’t realise,” Serena said, hoping that Max wasn’t that insensitive.
Liz wanted to believe Serena but she just couldn’t. Dealing with Max had been one disappointment after another lately and she finally understood that the only one that continued to get hurt was her.
Sure she was being selfish. Her inability to let Max go, to get over her feelings for him were what was getting in the way of them being friends, but Max’s disrespect for her feelings was also a mounting problem
Liz waited for a little while and washed her face before she headed downstairs.
Max looked up as she entered the room, he pleaded with his eyes for her to understand, but she just couldn’t so instead she ignored him.
***
“Are you going to ignore me the rest of your trip?” Max asked.
After tea that night Liz had escaped out the back with a blanket to enjoy one of her new books. She should have realised that someone would come looking for her eventually; in a way she had she just hoped it wouldn’t be Max especially since Tess barely let him out of her sight.
“Just leave me alone, Max,” she whispered.
“I can’t,” he replied and sat down beside her.
“Can’t or wont?” she asked.
“Both I guess,” he smiled sadly.
He noticed that she hadn’t worn his gift today and he wondered again if she didn’t like it.
“You didn’t wear your necklace today?” he commented oblivious to the reason why.
Liz gritted her teeth.
“If you don’t like it I could take it back,” he offered as he tried to hide his disappointment.
“What and get Tess to pick me something new out?” she asked sarcastically.
Max sighed. “If you took the time to get to know her you’d probably really like Tess,” Max informed her.
Liz’s eyes were like ice when she looked up. “I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll give you back the present you gave me and you can just give it to Tess, and I’ll take my gift back and keep it until I meet someone that likes it and deserves it.”
Max’s eyes went wide at her comment and the coldness of her voice.
“I don’t understand. What’s happened to us?” he whispered hurt.
“You’re kidding right?” Liz cried. “Do you realise how much it hurt this morning watching you remove my necklace?” she asked him, tears in her eyes. “You probably haven’t even bothered to take it out of your pocket and put it back in the box,” Liz told him.
Max’s face immediately filled with guilt. “I’m sorry, I love the necklace you bought me,” he told her.
“Just not enough to keep it on,” she whispered.
“What did you want me to do, Liz? She’s my girlfriend I couldn’t not put it on,” he argued.
“I expected you to respect me enough to not treat something that I bought you, something that I considered so special like it was worthless. I don’t give a shit who she is, from now on both of you just stay away from me”
“I can’t” Max shook his head. “So please don’t ask me to” He pleaded.
“You can’t?” Liz sobbed. “Why? I obviously mean very little to you now.”
“How can you think that? You’re everything to me,” Max told her, his own tears falling now.
“No, Max, I’m not. That’s your girlfriend,” I remind him.
“God, Liz, I thought we were friends, best friends?” Max cried. “I thought you of all people would understand how hard it is for me to balance my life. Do you think it’s easy for Tess knowing how much you mean to me?”
“I don’t care about Tess,” Liz told him honestly. “I only care about me, and right now my heart is broken,” she admitted.
“Why?” Max cried.
“Because I can’t let go,” she admitted with a sob. “It’s not over for me, it’s never been over for me,” she stood up and yelled.
Her words shocked Max who was unable to move.
“It wasn’t over for me,” she whispered again.
Max moved to instantly engulf her in his arms. He was still in shock at Liz’s words and wondered how she had managed to hide her feelings from him so well. Was she really right, had he been so blind and so involved in Tess that he hadn’t realised what he’d lost? Because he knew then, in that very moment, that he had lost Liz and that things between them were never going to be the same again and all of a sudden his own heart felt very broken.
***
Tess studied Liz as she moved around the room. For months all she had heard about was Liz this and Liz that and now that she was standing in the same room as her. She wondered what the big deal was. Sure, Tess wasn’t stupid, she knew that there was more between Max and Liz than Max had been honest about, and she didn’t like it. Since Liz had showed up in Roswell Max had been distant and vague and she didn’t like it at all.
“Liz,” she called.
Liz turned and looked at her, her eyes were dull, void of emotion.
“What?” Liz asked.
“I was wondering if we could talk?”
“About?” Liz asked.
Tess has been trying her last nerve for days. After their talk the other night Max had done pretty much what Liz had asked, he had stayed away much to her heartbreak. But Tess had gone out of her way to be in Liz’s face, but the fact that she was in her house was the final straw.
“What are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “I didn’t hear you knock.”
“Oh well the door was open,” Tess blushed.
“Rude much?” Liz asked.
“Sorry,” Tess told her.
“Look, Tess, I’d prefer it if you just left me alone. I’m not in the mood for you and Max and your crap today, ok?”
Liz didn’t know what Tess knew and she didn’t care. Zan’s doctor’s appointment was in a few hours and she just wanted to concentrate on him.
“Well I think we need to talk about Max,” Tess replied.
“I have nothing to say,” Liz replied.
“Well I do,” Tess replied her anger rising.
“I don’t care. This is my house, my home and you are merely an unwelcomed guest. Just because you’re Max’s girlfriend doesn’t mean you’re part of my family. Now if you’ll excuse me I have things to do,” Liz told her.
“No wonder Max doesn’t want anything to do with you. You’re a jealous, vicious bitch. I bet he’s never seen this side of you, has he?” Tess called out, a smirk on her face.
“Max has seen many sides of me, Tess, and frankly I don’t care what you think of me,” Liz replied unaffected by her words.
Tess frowned. “I came here to tell you to stay away from him. I don’t know what happened the other night but you upset him and he doesn’t deserve that. He’s my boyfriend not yours so keep your paws off him.”
“Wow, so impassioned. I wonder what Max would think if he knew about your little visit. Look around you, Tess. I’m not after Max. If I was, I’d have him already,” Liz assured her before she turned her back on her and walked out of the room.
Once out of the room Liz stopped and tried to control her anger. Once again she felt like she was that 17-year-old girl who had first fallen in love with Max and lost herself. What had happened to the strong women who had survived almost four years in Cambridge by herself?
***
Liz was surprised that it was only Zan and her at the doctor’s the next day.
“I told Dad,” Zan admitted. “But I asked him to keep quiet ‘til after Christmas, I didn’t want to ruin it for Mum.”
Liz nodded, she understood. Once Nancy Parker found out though she would be furious, and rightly so.
“Hi Zan, Hi Liz,” Dr. Watson greeted.
“Hi Doc,” Zan smiled as they followed him into his office.
“I was concerned when I saw your name on my patient list. You’re not due for your six month check up,” he commented as they all took a seat.
“Yeah I know,” Zan sighed. “Something’s up.”
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“Tired, losing weight for no reason, headaches,” Zan started to inform him.
“Ok,” John nodded. “Lets get you in for some tests.”
“Is it bad?” Liz asked.
“Lets not think the worst ok?” John told them. “We’ll get you some blood tests, check your red and white blood cells first.”
Zan and Liz both nodded.
“How long have you been feeling off?” John asked then.
“A few months,” Zan admitted.
John Watson cursed under his breath. He knew that the chances are good that the cancer is back and he knew just as well that this time it would be harder for Zan to fight it. 4 years of remission wasn’t enough as far as he was concerned, sickness had already consumed too much of Zan Parkers life.
“We’ll get you in today,” he informed them as he picked up the phone to make the calls so that it could happen.
A few hours later Zan and Liz left the hospital in a sombre mood. It had been a long time since they had been in a hospital for that period of time and neither missed it.
“So I guess you just wait now,” Liz stated as they hopped in the SUV.
They had been informed the tests wouldn’t be back until after New Year’s, it would be an excruciating wait.
“Yeah, lets just enjoy New Year’s,” Zan suggested.
Liz sighed. “Ok,” but it was easier said then done.
A/N: Hi everyone. Thank you once again for your passionate and intersting feedback, i do appreciate that your taking the time to leave it. I do however try not to read too much into it, (as i stated on Write On) because i don't want feedback to effect my writing or alter the outline i have for this fic since it isn't yet finished. I am several parts in front but the power of feedback is amazing some times lol.
Anyway on with story, and hence the Max bashing
Part 34
Liz wasn’t sure how it happened but the group decided to go camping on New Years Eve. Most of them had never been camping in their lives, Liz and Zan included and Liz was dreading it. In fact she was already trying to come up with a plausible excuse to get out of it.
“Your coming” a voice said from the door.
Liz looked up rolled her eyes at her brother. “Look, just because camping isn’t my thing doesn’t mean the rest of you can’t go. I’ll be fine here,” Liz told him.
“What are you going to do?” Zan asked.
The Parker and Evan’s parents were going to a ball at the Country Club and Zan knew that Liz hadn’t kept in contact with any of her other friends from school.
“I have some much needed reading and sleeping to catch up on” Liz smiled.
“Look there will be heaps of us, plus Kyle said a bunch of his jock buddies from school were planning on heading out there too” Zan told her.
Liz sighed. It wasn’t just the camping that she was against it was also having to hang out with Max and Tess. Liz knew that she would have to talk to Max sooner or later but for the moment it was easier to avoid and ignore him because it meant she could ignore Tess and her very existence too.
Liz was embarrassed about her breakdown on Christmas night. She hated that Max thought of her now as the ex who couldn’t move on. What hurt more was that he was respecting her wishes and kept out of her way, didn’t he realise that wasn’t what she wanted? But she hated how on top of everything else she felt about Max that she missed her best friend.
“I’d rather not,” Liz said again.
Zan sighed and sat down next to her. “I’m not sure what's going on with you and Max, truthfully I thought it was over between you but ever since you came home you’ve been upset and depressed. I hate seeing you this way”
“I hate feeling this way but I can’t help it” Liz tried to smile.
“You knew about him and Tess though didn’t you?” Zan asked.
Liz nodded. “It was easier to deal with a faceless person, seeing them together…”
Zan wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder and hugged her close. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Not your fault. I’ve told myself a thousand times since I left for Cambridge that I needed to move on, find someone else but everyone else just pales in comparison” she admitted. “And the thing I’m scared the most about is that its always going to be this way, that I’m never going to find someone I love as much as him, or who understands me the way I thought he did” she cried.
“Shh munchkin” Zan soothed. “I’m sure you will, one day you’ll meet him. There is no way you were put on this earth to be alone, somewhere out there is the perfect guy for you”
Liz wiped her eyes and tried to smile at her brother “What happens if I’ve already met Mr Perfect and I’m not Mrs Perfect?” she cried.
Unbeknownst to Liz and Zan, Max stood outside the door and had heard every word, his heart breaking more by the second.
***
“Everyone’s looking for you man”
Max turned around from his spot where he had been shooting hoops for the past hour and attempted to smile.
“Well they’re not looking too hard” he informed them.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked as he accepted the ball Max threw at him.
“Needed some space, some time to think” he replied.
“About?” Michael grunted as he swooped past him and made a shot.
“Tess, Liz” Max shrugged.
“What’s the go with the Blondie anyway? She really knows how to get up the girls noses,” Michael asked.
“Yeah well that isn’t hard considering they had it out for her the minute she walked through the door”
“Why?” Michael shrugged. He apparently didn’t understand women as well as Max did.
“Great minds think alike Guerin” Alex grinned as he approached Max and Michael.
“Whitman” Michael greeted.
“What are we talking about?” Alex asked as he joined the game, which was now a shooting game only.
“Tess and Liz” Michael replied.
“Ahh” Alex grinned knowingly.
“So you were saying Maxwell?” Michael asked.
“They have it out for her because she’s not Liz” Max informed him.
Alex shook his head. “Bullshit”
“What?” Max asked.
“You know Isabel isn’t like that, in fact she’s tried very hard to like Tess” Alex defended his girlfriend. “But Tess is a little self centred and I think they’re having a hard time working out what you see in her” he added.
Max huffed.
“I don’t see the problem here,” Michael said then. “You and Liz were like over in high school” he pointed out.
“Yeah but everyone expected us to get back together” Max told him.
“I didn’t” Michael said. “I thought the whole thing was a bad idea from the start”
“I don’t buy that either” Alex said.
“What do you mean you don’t buy it?” Max asked annoyed.
“I think the only people that thought you and Liz were going to get back together were you and Liz. Now three years has passed and nothing happened and you’ve started to date and you realise there are other chicks out there that you like. But you didn’t count on seeing Liz again while you had Tess with you”
Max was ready to snap at Alex and tell him that he was wrong but deep down he knew he was right on the mark. He had feelings for Tess, he thought he might even be able to love her, they had a great time together, and she was the first girl that he hadn’t compared to Liz in his three and a half years of dating. But being back in Roswell, with Liz, and finding out that she still had feelings for him was hard. He had expected to come home and find Liz the best friend that had been there for him the past three years, not Liz the potential love of his life. It had been easy to move on with Tess when Max thought that Liz was also moving on.
“It’s obvious that Liz isn’t dealing with the whole you and Tess thing very well” Alex added then. “But you need to separate the issues man. You can’t not date Tess because Liz doesn’t like it. You need to work out who it is that you want to be with or not be with”
“Easier said then done” Max grunted as he threw the ball and scored a perfect three pointer.
“No its not” Alex said.
“Firstly, you and Liz still have a semester of school left, do you know what either of your plans are when you graduate? Are you ready to face your parents? I know that the two of you have this soul mate thing going on but you have to remember that the same issues that faced you back in high school are still there” Alex pointed out.
“I thought you were over Liz” Michael said.
Max stopped and looked at Michael. “I don’t think I’ll ever be over, Liz but I thought I was honestly at a place where I was ready to move on” Max admitted.
It had been hard at first but eventually he had talked himself into accepting a date and after that it got easier. Sure most of the time he didn’t like the girls or he would end up not calling them because he’d find some petty excuse about why they weren’t good enough until one day he realised he wasn’t trying to get over Liz he was trying to find another Liz. So when Tess asked him out with her blonde hair and blue eyes all he could think of was that she was the polar opposite to Liz. He never expected to like her so much, but he had enough to ask her out again and after that it got easier. They were both studying law and Tess was fun and easy going so they’re relationship was easy and angst free.
“Are you saying your not?” Alex asked.
“I don’t anymore” Max admitted. “I feel like I’m being pulled in two different directions. Whilst I love being with Tess I feel guilty because I know I’ve neglected Liz lately. I hate seeing her upset and I want to spend time with her but I know I can’t because it will upset Tess and she’s my girlfriend. But the other night when she told me it wasn’t over for her, I can’t even tell you how that felt”
“You love her” Alex nodded.
“I do” Max agreed “But I think I care for Tess too”
“Oh Man” Michael laughed.
“I think you’re a smart guy Max and I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” Alex told him as they began to walk back towards the house.
“I’m not sure if there is even a decision left to make. Liz made it pretty clear that she wants me to stay away from her” Max sighed.
There was so much Max wanted to say to her, and he knew that there were things on her mind too. Her words the other night had shocked him and he hadn’t responded but now every time he thought about approaching her she would send him a look that screamed steer clear or Tess would suddenly appear and sweep him away. To make matters worse Tess had been clinging to him since the incident and he had barely got a moment to himself, in the end he had taken off and ended up at the basketball courts.
“Oh my god where have you been?” Tess cried as she ran into his arms.
Max sighed and pushed her back slightly, Isabel, Serena, and Zan were all staring at him.
“I just needed some space” Max told Tess and moved past her to head up the stairs to take a shower.
***
“Ok, what’s the go?” Zan asked the small group gathered in his bedroom. He had called an emergency meeting over the Max, Tess, and Liz situation.
“He’s confused” Alex spoke up. “He still loves Liz but he thought it was over for her too and he was shocked to find out she still loves him, at the same time he has strong feelings for Tess and I’m not sure if he’s ready to give her up. Liz is acting like a bit of a brat and that’s not helping”
Trust Alex to tell it like he saw it, Serena glared at him.
“What?” he said. “I’m just telling you the truth, and Liz is acting like a brat” Alex didn’t care what the girls thought, he personally thought that Liz could have dealt with the situation a lot better than she had. She didn’t’ seem to care how her behaviour was affecting everyone else.
“Great” Zan mumbled. “Now Liz doesn’t want to go camping with us for New Years” he told them.
“What!” Michael objected.
“You can hardly blame her Michael, it isn’t fun being the third wheel” Maria spoke up.
“Maybe we could do something else?” Isabel suggested. It hadn’t been her vote to go camping.
“But we already planned it, Kyle’s meeting us” Serena pointed out, loathed at the idea of having to choose between spending the New Year with her sister and boyfriend.
“Besides it won’t matter what we do Max and Tess will be involved” Alex pointed out.
Zan sighed, he couldn’t see a way out of this. Why did Max have to bring Tess home for Christmas.
“Leave it with me, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to convince her.” he told them.
They all nodded and slowly the meeting came to a close and they broke up.
***
Zan prepared himself as he knocked on his sister’s door.
“Come in” she called out.
“Hey” he greeted.
”Hi” she replied.
Zan sat down on the bed and took a deep breath, he knew what he was about to do was low but he didn’t see another way around it.
“So here’s the thing” he told her. “Camping probably isn’t my ideal choice to bring in the New Year, it’s being with you and everyone else,” he explained and Liz nodded. “and this year I just don’t think I’m up to some smoky club” he added.
“Oh Zan I’m sorry” Liz instantly apologised.
“If you’re not going camping then either am I” he told her.
“No!” Liz objected.
“Well that’s what’s happening” he told her.
Liz smirked “That’s low” she told him. “you know I can’t say no to you”
Zan grinned and stood up. “I know” he told her. “So should I get your sleeping bag out for you?”
“Brat” she cried and threw a pillow at him.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Ok” she whispered and smiled. The truth was she would do anything for Zan.
Anyway on with story, and hence the Max bashing
Part 34
Liz wasn’t sure how it happened but the group decided to go camping on New Years Eve. Most of them had never been camping in their lives, Liz and Zan included and Liz was dreading it. In fact she was already trying to come up with a plausible excuse to get out of it.
“Your coming” a voice said from the door.
Liz looked up rolled her eyes at her brother. “Look, just because camping isn’t my thing doesn’t mean the rest of you can’t go. I’ll be fine here,” Liz told him.
“What are you going to do?” Zan asked.
The Parker and Evan’s parents were going to a ball at the Country Club and Zan knew that Liz hadn’t kept in contact with any of her other friends from school.
“I have some much needed reading and sleeping to catch up on” Liz smiled.
“Look there will be heaps of us, plus Kyle said a bunch of his jock buddies from school were planning on heading out there too” Zan told her.
Liz sighed. It wasn’t just the camping that she was against it was also having to hang out with Max and Tess. Liz knew that she would have to talk to Max sooner or later but for the moment it was easier to avoid and ignore him because it meant she could ignore Tess and her very existence too.
Liz was embarrassed about her breakdown on Christmas night. She hated that Max thought of her now as the ex who couldn’t move on. What hurt more was that he was respecting her wishes and kept out of her way, didn’t he realise that wasn’t what she wanted? But she hated how on top of everything else she felt about Max that she missed her best friend.
“I’d rather not,” Liz said again.
Zan sighed and sat down next to her. “I’m not sure what's going on with you and Max, truthfully I thought it was over between you but ever since you came home you’ve been upset and depressed. I hate seeing you this way”
“I hate feeling this way but I can’t help it” Liz tried to smile.
“You knew about him and Tess though didn’t you?” Zan asked.
Liz nodded. “It was easier to deal with a faceless person, seeing them together…”
Zan wrapped his arm around his sister’s shoulder and hugged her close. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Not your fault. I’ve told myself a thousand times since I left for Cambridge that I needed to move on, find someone else but everyone else just pales in comparison” she admitted. “And the thing I’m scared the most about is that its always going to be this way, that I’m never going to find someone I love as much as him, or who understands me the way I thought he did” she cried.
“Shh munchkin” Zan soothed. “I’m sure you will, one day you’ll meet him. There is no way you were put on this earth to be alone, somewhere out there is the perfect guy for you”
Liz wiped her eyes and tried to smile at her brother “What happens if I’ve already met Mr Perfect and I’m not Mrs Perfect?” she cried.
Unbeknownst to Liz and Zan, Max stood outside the door and had heard every word, his heart breaking more by the second.
***
“Everyone’s looking for you man”
Max turned around from his spot where he had been shooting hoops for the past hour and attempted to smile.
“Well they’re not looking too hard” he informed them.
“What are you doing?” Michael asked as he accepted the ball Max threw at him.
“Needed some space, some time to think” he replied.
“About?” Michael grunted as he swooped past him and made a shot.
“Tess, Liz” Max shrugged.
“What’s the go with the Blondie anyway? She really knows how to get up the girls noses,” Michael asked.
“Yeah well that isn’t hard considering they had it out for her the minute she walked through the door”
“Why?” Michael shrugged. He apparently didn’t understand women as well as Max did.
“Great minds think alike Guerin” Alex grinned as he approached Max and Michael.
“Whitman” Michael greeted.
“What are we talking about?” Alex asked as he joined the game, which was now a shooting game only.
“Tess and Liz” Michael replied.
“Ahh” Alex grinned knowingly.
“So you were saying Maxwell?” Michael asked.
“They have it out for her because she’s not Liz” Max informed him.
Alex shook his head. “Bullshit”
“What?” Max asked.
“You know Isabel isn’t like that, in fact she’s tried very hard to like Tess” Alex defended his girlfriend. “But Tess is a little self centred and I think they’re having a hard time working out what you see in her” he added.
Max huffed.
“I don’t see the problem here,” Michael said then. “You and Liz were like over in high school” he pointed out.
“Yeah but everyone expected us to get back together” Max told him.
“I didn’t” Michael said. “I thought the whole thing was a bad idea from the start”
“I don’t buy that either” Alex said.
“What do you mean you don’t buy it?” Max asked annoyed.
“I think the only people that thought you and Liz were going to get back together were you and Liz. Now three years has passed and nothing happened and you’ve started to date and you realise there are other chicks out there that you like. But you didn’t count on seeing Liz again while you had Tess with you”
Max was ready to snap at Alex and tell him that he was wrong but deep down he knew he was right on the mark. He had feelings for Tess, he thought he might even be able to love her, they had a great time together, and she was the first girl that he hadn’t compared to Liz in his three and a half years of dating. But being back in Roswell, with Liz, and finding out that she still had feelings for him was hard. He had expected to come home and find Liz the best friend that had been there for him the past three years, not Liz the potential love of his life. It had been easy to move on with Tess when Max thought that Liz was also moving on.
“It’s obvious that Liz isn’t dealing with the whole you and Tess thing very well” Alex added then. “But you need to separate the issues man. You can’t not date Tess because Liz doesn’t like it. You need to work out who it is that you want to be with or not be with”
“Easier said then done” Max grunted as he threw the ball and scored a perfect three pointer.
“No its not” Alex said.
“Firstly, you and Liz still have a semester of school left, do you know what either of your plans are when you graduate? Are you ready to face your parents? I know that the two of you have this soul mate thing going on but you have to remember that the same issues that faced you back in high school are still there” Alex pointed out.
“I thought you were over Liz” Michael said.
Max stopped and looked at Michael. “I don’t think I’ll ever be over, Liz but I thought I was honestly at a place where I was ready to move on” Max admitted.
It had been hard at first but eventually he had talked himself into accepting a date and after that it got easier. Sure most of the time he didn’t like the girls or he would end up not calling them because he’d find some petty excuse about why they weren’t good enough until one day he realised he wasn’t trying to get over Liz he was trying to find another Liz. So when Tess asked him out with her blonde hair and blue eyes all he could think of was that she was the polar opposite to Liz. He never expected to like her so much, but he had enough to ask her out again and after that it got easier. They were both studying law and Tess was fun and easy going so they’re relationship was easy and angst free.
“Are you saying your not?” Alex asked.
“I don’t anymore” Max admitted. “I feel like I’m being pulled in two different directions. Whilst I love being with Tess I feel guilty because I know I’ve neglected Liz lately. I hate seeing her upset and I want to spend time with her but I know I can’t because it will upset Tess and she’s my girlfriend. But the other night when she told me it wasn’t over for her, I can’t even tell you how that felt”
“You love her” Alex nodded.
“I do” Max agreed “But I think I care for Tess too”
“Oh Man” Michael laughed.
“I think you’re a smart guy Max and I’m sure you’ll make the right decision,” Alex told him as they began to walk back towards the house.
“I’m not sure if there is even a decision left to make. Liz made it pretty clear that she wants me to stay away from her” Max sighed.
There was so much Max wanted to say to her, and he knew that there were things on her mind too. Her words the other night had shocked him and he hadn’t responded but now every time he thought about approaching her she would send him a look that screamed steer clear or Tess would suddenly appear and sweep him away. To make matters worse Tess had been clinging to him since the incident and he had barely got a moment to himself, in the end he had taken off and ended up at the basketball courts.
“Oh my god where have you been?” Tess cried as she ran into his arms.
Max sighed and pushed her back slightly, Isabel, Serena, and Zan were all staring at him.
“I just needed some space” Max told Tess and moved past her to head up the stairs to take a shower.
***
“Ok, what’s the go?” Zan asked the small group gathered in his bedroom. He had called an emergency meeting over the Max, Tess, and Liz situation.
“He’s confused” Alex spoke up. “He still loves Liz but he thought it was over for her too and he was shocked to find out she still loves him, at the same time he has strong feelings for Tess and I’m not sure if he’s ready to give her up. Liz is acting like a bit of a brat and that’s not helping”
Trust Alex to tell it like he saw it, Serena glared at him.
“What?” he said. “I’m just telling you the truth, and Liz is acting like a brat” Alex didn’t care what the girls thought, he personally thought that Liz could have dealt with the situation a lot better than she had. She didn’t’ seem to care how her behaviour was affecting everyone else.
“Great” Zan mumbled. “Now Liz doesn’t want to go camping with us for New Years” he told them.
“What!” Michael objected.
“You can hardly blame her Michael, it isn’t fun being the third wheel” Maria spoke up.
“Maybe we could do something else?” Isabel suggested. It hadn’t been her vote to go camping.
“But we already planned it, Kyle’s meeting us” Serena pointed out, loathed at the idea of having to choose between spending the New Year with her sister and boyfriend.
“Besides it won’t matter what we do Max and Tess will be involved” Alex pointed out.
Zan sighed, he couldn’t see a way out of this. Why did Max have to bring Tess home for Christmas.
“Leave it with me, I have a few tricks up my sleeve to convince her.” he told them.
They all nodded and slowly the meeting came to a close and they broke up.
***
Zan prepared himself as he knocked on his sister’s door.
“Come in” she called out.
“Hey” he greeted.
”Hi” she replied.
Zan sat down on the bed and took a deep breath, he knew what he was about to do was low but he didn’t see another way around it.
“So here’s the thing” he told her. “Camping probably isn’t my ideal choice to bring in the New Year, it’s being with you and everyone else,” he explained and Liz nodded. “and this year I just don’t think I’m up to some smoky club” he added.
“Oh Zan I’m sorry” Liz instantly apologised.
“If you’re not going camping then either am I” he told her.
“No!” Liz objected.
“Well that’s what’s happening” he told her.
Liz smirked “That’s low” she told him. “you know I can’t say no to you”
Zan grinned and stood up. “I know” he told her. “So should I get your sleeping bag out for you?”
“Brat” she cried and threw a pillow at him.
“Seriously?” he asked.
“Ok” she whispered and smiled. The truth was she would do anything for Zan.
A/N: Hi everyone! thank you so much for reading and leaving your comments. I hope you enjoy this next part
Part 35
In a similar fashion to what they would do when they were children Liz and Zan decided to share a tent. They set it up away from the other couples and had their own little area for a fire. They laid their sleeping bags together knowing they would probably talk long into the night.
“This is nice,” Liz smiled as she sipped on her glass of wine.
They had arrived at midday to get a good camping spot but the grounds were almost full so it was lucky Kyle and his friends were already there and had saved them some spots.
The others were all sitting together a little further over and as Liz sat with Zan she observed them.
Isabel and Alex were seated close together, whispering and smiling. Alex would stop talking every few minutes and kiss Isabel’s forehead or cheek tenderly.
Serena was sitting with Kyle and a bunch of his jock friends from school laughing and Liz smiled when she saw how happy her sister was. It sometimes surprised her that they had lasted four years but Liz knew that Serena was completely happy and content for the first time in her life and that was because of Kyle.
Then there was Maria and Michael and as usual one second they were making out or joining in the group conversation and the next they were bickering. Everyone was used to it by now and Liz knew that if they weren’t fighting she’d probably find it strange.
Liz noticed then that Tess rounded out the group. She was sitting near Isabel and Alex who were making an effort to talk to her but other than that she was sitting by herself as she looked around the surrounding area and Liz assumed she was looking for Max.
“I’m going to go join the others,” Zan said then. “Coming?” he asked.
“Yeah in a minute, first I’m going to find a toilet,” Liz replied.
Liz walked off in the direction of the toilets and showers but soon her feet had turned her around and she headed towards the lake. She hesitated when she saw Max sitting on the wharf, his feet dangled in the water.
Max looked up and caught sight of her and the corners of his lips turned up for a second before he remembered what had happened between them over the past few days and he dropped his gaze.
Liz sighed and walked towards him knowing that this might be the last chance she had to talk to him before they left for school in a few days.
She didn’t say anything as she sat down beside him and for a few seconds the once lovers and best friends sat in silence.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Liz finally breathed.
The sun was setting and soon the party would be in full swing but neither Liz nor Max was in a partying mood.
“Yeah it is,” Max whispered.
Max lifted his gaze and turned to stare at Liz then until she turned and met his gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like eternity until Liz finally looked away.
“That’s the first time since you’ve been home that you’ve looked me in the eye,” Max commented.
“Don’t,” Liz said.
“Don’t what?” Max asked.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” Liz said as she looked at him again.
“I don’t want to fight either but the fact is we can’t keep doing this,” he told her.
Liz sighed, she knew he was right. She had her issues with Max and they were her own to deal with but somewhere through the week she had started pulling their friends into those issues and she knew that was selfish.
“Before we came home everything was fine with us wasn’t it? I mean I thought it was,” Max asked confused.
“It was,” Liz admitted with a nod.
“What changed?” Max asked then.
Liz closed hers eyes and tried to ward off the tears pooling.
“N-Nothing,” she finally whispered.
Max sighed. They were going in circles it was obvious that Liz wasn’t being honest with him.
“Something obviously has,” he persisted. “Because I thought we could talk about anything, come to each other about anything and now I feel like you’ve been lying to me.”
“What?” Liz gulped.
“Why can’t you tell me the truth?” Max asked.
“Don’t turn this around on me, Max,” Liz told him. “This is not my fault,” she added.
“What’s not your fault?” Max cried. “I’m so confused here, Liz, it’s not funny.”
“You’re confused?” Liz said. “How do you think I feel then?” she fired back.
“That’s it! I have no idea because you won’t be honest with me. I asked you if you were jealous you told me you weren’t. You hate Tess even though you’ve made no effort to get to know her and you’re angry with me for what I can only assume is moving on and you’ve let me believe you’ve been ok with it for six months!” Max cried.
“I was ok with it,” Liz lied.
“Then what changed?” Max begged. “Because I feel like the biggest asshole. Every time you look at me I can see how much I’m hurting you and I’m not doing it on purpose, I would never do it on purpose. I never would have brought Tess home, family or no family for the holidays, if I thought you would be anything less that ok with it. And now I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and hard place, you don’t want to be with me but you don’t want me to be with anyone else either”
Liz didn’t know what to say. Well she did but she didn’t know how to say it. Did Max really think that she didn’t want to be with him?
“It’s been three and a half years Liz and I waited for some type of sign for most of that time from you but I didn’t see it.”
“What type of sign?” Liz asked.
“We emailed and called every week and never once did I hear anything in your voice that told me you wanted something more from me, even when I started dating Tess you were just…”
“Just what?” Liz whispered.
“Oh that’s great, Max!” Max mimicked Liz. “I hope you’re happy,” he added.
“Were you trying to make me jealous?” Liz asked confused.
Max froze when he heard the words from her mouth. He had wondered a thousand times the same thing when he had started dating Tess but then he got to know her, he had fun with her and soon all the woes with Liz began to fade into the background. He was sad that it appeared things were over for good but at the same time it was relief to give up.
Max debated whether to be honest with Liz; it had taken a lot to be honest with himself.
“It took six months for me to accept that first date. I don’t think I thought it would come to that. When you left I thought we’d moved forward somehow,” he admitted.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked as she remembered the day she left, his declaration of love to her. It had been what she had held onto for so many years.
“I thought once you got to Cambridge and I got to New Haven that things would be different than they were in Roswell, instead I got shoved into the best friend role,” he explained as he thought about all the nights he spent on the phone with Liz talking about class loads and people they were meeting instead of the things he really wanted to talk about.
“Eventually I realised that nothing had changed, we were still two people in love but unable to take that step forward and so I accepted the first date. Deep down I hoped when I told you that you would beg me not to go out with her and then you started dating and I guess I just eventually lost hope. You seemed happy and when I saw you, you always looked happy…”
“Max…”
“I don’t know what you want from me anymore, Liz,” Max admitted. He turned and stared at her, willed her to tell him but Liz stayed quiet.
When Liz didn’t answer him Max pulled his legs out of the water and shoved his jeans down as he prepared to stand up.
“Where are you going?” Liz asked.
“I have always tried to be truthful with you, when you’re ready to be truthful with me you know where I am,” he whispered hurt before he walked away.
“Max!” Liz cried.
Her cry went unheard as Max continued to walk back towards the camp.
***
Liz enjoyed the slight buzz she got from downing her fifth shooter of the night. She wasn’t normally a drinker but after returning to the camp to find Max sitting with Tess she had found herself drawn to the esky full of beer.
“Liz, maybe you should slow down,” Zan suggested.
Most of the people at the party were three sheets to the wind including Zan himself but he didn’t think it was a good idea for Liz to get drunk in her emotional state.
“Nah lets get wasted, bro,” Liz squealed as she handed him another shooter and shot it together.
“I don’t remember you being this fun, Parker,” one of Kyle’s buddies commented later that night.
One of the guys had brought a portable stereo and they were dancing around the fire now.
“That’s me, fun loving Parker,” Liz giggled.
Liz looked around through her slightly blurry vision for her friends.
Zan was stumbling around with some guys she didn’t know. Isabel and Alex had taken off to do some stargazing, Maria and Michael were God knows where doing God knows what, and Serena was at Kyle’s side and seemed to be having a good time too. Liz’s gaze collided with a heated amber one then. Max was seated at the fire, beer in hand as he watched her. Liz didn’t know where Tess was and she took a step towards Max when she felt her stomach shift.
“Oh God,” she mumbled before she turned and fled into the bushes to empty her stomach.
Liz only just made it into the bushes before she fell to her hands and knees and brought up the contents of her night of sorrow.
“Oh God,” she cried as she continued to vomit.
“Shh it’s ok,” she heard the soothing voice before she felt the hand on her back rubbing in circles.
“Good thing you got all that beautiful hair cut off otherwise it would be a mess right now,” he commented.
When she thought she had finished Liz pulled back and leaned against Max’s hard chest. He handed her a bottle of water and she took a few sips before handing it back.
“I’m so sorry,” she heard him whisper and his words were enough to break her. The tears fell silently for a few minutes before the sob broke through.
Max pulled her away from the tree and into his arms and cried with her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered over and over again.
Part 35
In a similar fashion to what they would do when they were children Liz and Zan decided to share a tent. They set it up away from the other couples and had their own little area for a fire. They laid their sleeping bags together knowing they would probably talk long into the night.
“This is nice,” Liz smiled as she sipped on her glass of wine.
They had arrived at midday to get a good camping spot but the grounds were almost full so it was lucky Kyle and his friends were already there and had saved them some spots.
The others were all sitting together a little further over and as Liz sat with Zan she observed them.
Isabel and Alex were seated close together, whispering and smiling. Alex would stop talking every few minutes and kiss Isabel’s forehead or cheek tenderly.
Serena was sitting with Kyle and a bunch of his jock friends from school laughing and Liz smiled when she saw how happy her sister was. It sometimes surprised her that they had lasted four years but Liz knew that Serena was completely happy and content for the first time in her life and that was because of Kyle.
Then there was Maria and Michael and as usual one second they were making out or joining in the group conversation and the next they were bickering. Everyone was used to it by now and Liz knew that if they weren’t fighting she’d probably find it strange.
Liz noticed then that Tess rounded out the group. She was sitting near Isabel and Alex who were making an effort to talk to her but other than that she was sitting by herself as she looked around the surrounding area and Liz assumed she was looking for Max.
“I’m going to go join the others,” Zan said then. “Coming?” he asked.
“Yeah in a minute, first I’m going to find a toilet,” Liz replied.
Liz walked off in the direction of the toilets and showers but soon her feet had turned her around and she headed towards the lake. She hesitated when she saw Max sitting on the wharf, his feet dangled in the water.
Max looked up and caught sight of her and the corners of his lips turned up for a second before he remembered what had happened between them over the past few days and he dropped his gaze.
Liz sighed and walked towards him knowing that this might be the last chance she had to talk to him before they left for school in a few days.
She didn’t say anything as she sat down beside him and for a few seconds the once lovers and best friends sat in silence.
“It’s beautiful out here,” Liz finally breathed.
The sun was setting and soon the party would be in full swing but neither Liz nor Max was in a partying mood.
“Yeah it is,” Max whispered.
Max lifted his gaze and turned to stare at Liz then until she turned and met his gaze. They stared into each other’s eyes for what felt like eternity until Liz finally looked away.
“That’s the first time since you’ve been home that you’ve looked me in the eye,” Max commented.
“Don’t,” Liz said.
“Don’t what?” Max asked.
“I don’t want to fight with you,” Liz said as she looked at him again.
“I don’t want to fight either but the fact is we can’t keep doing this,” he told her.
Liz sighed, she knew he was right. She had her issues with Max and they were her own to deal with but somewhere through the week she had started pulling their friends into those issues and she knew that was selfish.
“Before we came home everything was fine with us wasn’t it? I mean I thought it was,” Max asked confused.
“It was,” Liz admitted with a nod.
“What changed?” Max asked then.
Liz closed hers eyes and tried to ward off the tears pooling.
“N-Nothing,” she finally whispered.
Max sighed. They were going in circles it was obvious that Liz wasn’t being honest with him.
“Something obviously has,” he persisted. “Because I thought we could talk about anything, come to each other about anything and now I feel like you’ve been lying to me.”
“What?” Liz gulped.
“Why can’t you tell me the truth?” Max asked.
“Don’t turn this around on me, Max,” Liz told him. “This is not my fault,” she added.
“What’s not your fault?” Max cried. “I’m so confused here, Liz, it’s not funny.”
“You’re confused?” Liz said. “How do you think I feel then?” she fired back.
“That’s it! I have no idea because you won’t be honest with me. I asked you if you were jealous you told me you weren’t. You hate Tess even though you’ve made no effort to get to know her and you’re angry with me for what I can only assume is moving on and you’ve let me believe you’ve been ok with it for six months!” Max cried.
“I was ok with it,” Liz lied.
“Then what changed?” Max begged. “Because I feel like the biggest asshole. Every time you look at me I can see how much I’m hurting you and I’m not doing it on purpose, I would never do it on purpose. I never would have brought Tess home, family or no family for the holidays, if I thought you would be anything less that ok with it. And now I feel like I’m stuck between a rock and hard place, you don’t want to be with me but you don’t want me to be with anyone else either”
Liz didn’t know what to say. Well she did but she didn’t know how to say it. Did Max really think that she didn’t want to be with him?
“It’s been three and a half years Liz and I waited for some type of sign for most of that time from you but I didn’t see it.”
“What type of sign?” Liz asked.
“We emailed and called every week and never once did I hear anything in your voice that told me you wanted something more from me, even when I started dating Tess you were just…”
“Just what?” Liz whispered.
“Oh that’s great, Max!” Max mimicked Liz. “I hope you’re happy,” he added.
“Were you trying to make me jealous?” Liz asked confused.
Max froze when he heard the words from her mouth. He had wondered a thousand times the same thing when he had started dating Tess but then he got to know her, he had fun with her and soon all the woes with Liz began to fade into the background. He was sad that it appeared things were over for good but at the same time it was relief to give up.
Max debated whether to be honest with Liz; it had taken a lot to be honest with himself.
“It took six months for me to accept that first date. I don’t think I thought it would come to that. When you left I thought we’d moved forward somehow,” he admitted.
“What do you mean?” Liz asked as she remembered the day she left, his declaration of love to her. It had been what she had held onto for so many years.
“I thought once you got to Cambridge and I got to New Haven that things would be different than they were in Roswell, instead I got shoved into the best friend role,” he explained as he thought about all the nights he spent on the phone with Liz talking about class loads and people they were meeting instead of the things he really wanted to talk about.
“Eventually I realised that nothing had changed, we were still two people in love but unable to take that step forward and so I accepted the first date. Deep down I hoped when I told you that you would beg me not to go out with her and then you started dating and I guess I just eventually lost hope. You seemed happy and when I saw you, you always looked happy…”
“Max…”
“I don’t know what you want from me anymore, Liz,” Max admitted. He turned and stared at her, willed her to tell him but Liz stayed quiet.
When Liz didn’t answer him Max pulled his legs out of the water and shoved his jeans down as he prepared to stand up.
“Where are you going?” Liz asked.
“I have always tried to be truthful with you, when you’re ready to be truthful with me you know where I am,” he whispered hurt before he walked away.
“Max!” Liz cried.
Her cry went unheard as Max continued to walk back towards the camp.
***
Liz enjoyed the slight buzz she got from downing her fifth shooter of the night. She wasn’t normally a drinker but after returning to the camp to find Max sitting with Tess she had found herself drawn to the esky full of beer.
“Liz, maybe you should slow down,” Zan suggested.
Most of the people at the party were three sheets to the wind including Zan himself but he didn’t think it was a good idea for Liz to get drunk in her emotional state.
“Nah lets get wasted, bro,” Liz squealed as she handed him another shooter and shot it together.
“I don’t remember you being this fun, Parker,” one of Kyle’s buddies commented later that night.
One of the guys had brought a portable stereo and they were dancing around the fire now.
“That’s me, fun loving Parker,” Liz giggled.
Liz looked around through her slightly blurry vision for her friends.
Zan was stumbling around with some guys she didn’t know. Isabel and Alex had taken off to do some stargazing, Maria and Michael were God knows where doing God knows what, and Serena was at Kyle’s side and seemed to be having a good time too. Liz’s gaze collided with a heated amber one then. Max was seated at the fire, beer in hand as he watched her. Liz didn’t know where Tess was and she took a step towards Max when she felt her stomach shift.
“Oh God,” she mumbled before she turned and fled into the bushes to empty her stomach.
Liz only just made it into the bushes before she fell to her hands and knees and brought up the contents of her night of sorrow.
“Oh God,” she cried as she continued to vomit.
“Shh it’s ok,” she heard the soothing voice before she felt the hand on her back rubbing in circles.
“Good thing you got all that beautiful hair cut off otherwise it would be a mess right now,” he commented.
When she thought she had finished Liz pulled back and leaned against Max’s hard chest. He handed her a bottle of water and she took a few sips before handing it back.
“I’m so sorry,” she heard him whisper and his words were enough to break her. The tears fell silently for a few minutes before the sob broke through.
Max pulled her away from the tree and into his arms and cried with her. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered over and over again.
Last edited by Emz80m on Mon Mar 13, 2006 6:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
A/N: Hello everyone, thank you to everyone who read the last part and took the time to leave feedback, i really appreciate it. I hope you all like this next part!!
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Part 36
Maybe I was wrong
Maybe I’m to blame
I thought I’d see you
and it’d be the same
Max and Liz didn’t know how long they sat together in each other’s embrace but they didn’t move until Liz felt that she could stand without being sick.
when I look at you
don’t know who I see
is it someone new or just a memory
“We should go back,” she whispered. She didn’t want to leave Max’s arms but she knew they needed to.
“Liz,” Max began.
“I’m sorry too,” Liz blurted out.
days drift by
sometimes I cry
I never really understood
I always thought that you’d be there
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
Max’s mouth opened and closed, that was the last thing he had expected her to say.
“You were right, I wasn’t completely honest with you. I’m not over us and it hurt like hell that you moved on without me,” she whispered. “Because I still love you,” she cried.
“Liz…” Max tried to speak again but Liz covered his lips with a finger to silence him.
Don’t know where I am
Don’t know where is home
Don’t know much at all but it ain’t much fun alone
“Don’t. I’m really hurt and some of that is my fault but some of it is yours. Because you just didn’t move on, it felt like you forgot about me,” she cried. “I know you expected some type of sign from me but what about you? You never once told me how you felt, and I can’t even believe that you would try to use other girls to make me jealous,” she said. “But you’re right I did try to deal with the you and Tess thing which was a lot easier when I didn’t have to deal with it face to face, I guess I kind of got in my head that you’d see me at Christmas and you’d realise that Tess was just like the rest of those girls, because you still love me.”
Guess I’ll work it out
What else can you do
Maybe likfe goes on with one instead of two
Days drift by
Sometimes I cry
I never really understood
I always that you’d be there
Despite her struggle Max pulled Liz against his chest.
“But you didn’t,” Liz cried.
Liz cried against Max’s chest for a few minutes. “Why couldn’t we have had this conversation three years ago, Liz?” Max asked in a whisper.
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
“I don’t know,” Liz sighed.
“Do you think you can ever forgive me for the way I’ve been acting the past week, hell the past six months?” Max asked as they walked slowly back towards the camp.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. “But I need some time,” she admitted.
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
They were almost at the tents when Max stopped.
“Liz?”
“Yeah?”
“I know you think that I forgot about you but you should know that’s not possible,” he admitted. “I still love you,” he whispered.
“You do?” Liz asked shocked.
“Yeah,” he smiled sadly.
“What about Tess?” Liz gulped. “Do you love her?”
“I care a lot for her,” he admitted. “I’m not sure where that leaves us but I just couldn’t let you think for a second longer that I ever stopped loving you.”
Liz nodded. Max’s words were like a balm for her heart but at the same time she knew they hadn’t really resolved anything. Max was still with Tess, and hadn’t mentioned anything about breaking up with her, and Liz was still hurt. Also, Liz wasn’t sure if she could be with Max now after everything that happened. She had some things to work through and apparently so did he.
Liz slowly started to walk again and Max fell into step beside her. She was still slightly drunk but she wasn’t as bad as before but she was still relying on Max to guide her back the right way so when he stopped Liz ended up tripping over a log.
“What? Max?” she questioned. When she turned around she found that Max had stopped a couple of steps behind her and was staring at something in shock.
Liz straightened herself up and walked towards Max. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Liz turned and followed his line of sight, she was confused at first until she finally spotted the blonde curls that belonged to Tess, blonde curls that were all over her brother.
“Oh God,” Liz whispered.
“I-I have to go,” Max stammered
“Max, wait,” Liz cried. It had to be a mistake. There was no way that Zan would do that to Max.
Max didn’t listen though and before Liz could blink he had disappeared. Soon she heard the familiar sound of the jeep and she took off in the direction where she knew it was parked. By the time she got there Max had already sped out of the car park.
“Shit,” she cursed before she stumbled again.
Liz didn’t know how long it took her to find her way back to the camp but by the time she got there everyone was gathered around the fire and the count down to 2006 begun.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,” Liz wasn’t sure if it was the enormity of the night that affected her or the fact that she was about to spend the New Year completely and utterly alone.
“4, 3, 2, 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Everyone screamed.
The tears feel freely down Liz’s face and she begun to sink to the ground in defeat when strong arms lifted her up.
“Happy New Year’s, Beautiful,” he whispered.
“Max,” she gasped and turned in his arms. “I thought you left,” she told him.
“I did but then I saw the time and I came back,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I have a lot to be sorry for in 2005, a lot to make up to you and I didn’t want to start 2006 the same way.” he told her.
Liz reached trembling hands up to cup his face. “Happy new year,” she whispered.
“Happy new year,” Max replied.
***
Liz woke with a throbbing headache and Zan passed out beside her. She frowned at her brother and wondered how he actually found their tent.
Liz stood with Max the night before for about ten minutes before she tried to convince him to stay. In the end he refused, he said he was too angry to face either Zan or Tess at the moment and he knew he would do or say something stupid if he stayed. Reluctantly Liz let him go, she knew she had too.
Pulling on a jumper and running a hand through her hair Liz crawled out of the tent.
Nearly everyone was up and Liz immediately noticed that some of them had started packing up already.
“Morning,” she greeted throatily.
“Morning,” Isabel and Alex replied.
“Liz, do you know where Max is?” Isabel asked concerned. “The jeep’s gone,” she pointed out.
“Um yeah,” Liz nodded. “He decided to leave last night.”
“What happened?” Isabel asked.
“I’m not sure exactly and until I am I think it would be if I don’t say anything,” she said. “Where’s Tess?” Liz asked.
“Michael helped her into the tent just after midnight,” Alex said.
“Is that how Zan got to our tent?” Liz asked.
“Yeah,” Michael replied as he approached, he wore a frown, which told Liz that Michael apparently already knew why Max had left. “He was totally wasted, don’t think he would have been able to tell me his name,” he told her.
“Thought so,” Liz said.
“How are you feeling? At one stage you were pretty wasted,” Isabel asked.
“Um I feel like a train wreck but I stopped early,” Liz replied as she remembered why she stopped.
“Good. Well we should get out of here so lets wake up the sleepy heads and get home,” Isabel ordered.
Two hours later and with a lot of trouble they were eventually on the road. Luckily for Liz and Zan, Alex and Isabel drove them home. So far Zan and Tess hadn’t gone near each other and Liz actually wondered if either of them remembered a thing. She knew that she would certainly ask Zan the minute she got a chance.
Once they reached the house Isabel and Alex pulled their stuff, along with Max and Tess’s stuff out of the car and carried it to the Evanses. Liz pulled their sleeping bags out of the back of the RAV and threw them at Zan.
“God, Liz, would you quit it,” he groaned not in the mood for her games.
“You’re as asshole” Liz hissed.
“What?” Zan frowned.
“Firstly, you’re not feeling well and you’re on strong medication so why did you get so drunk to begin with, and secondly how could you do that to Max?” she asked angrily.
“I needed a night off ok, I don’t get one very often. You of all people should understand that,” he replied.
“I do, but what you did to Max? There is no excuse for that,” Liz yelled as they walked into the house.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Zan stopped and asked.
“You and Tess,” Liz told him.
“Me and Tess?” Zan asked confused.
“Oh God,” Liz gasped. “You don’t even remember.”
“Remember what?” Zan cried.
“You and Tess were making out and Max saw you!!” Liz cried.
“What!” Zan cried. “Why would I do that?”
“I saw you,” Liz argued.
One look at the seriousness on Liz’s face and Zan sunk down onto the stair. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding?” he pleaded.
“Can’t, Max and I saw you. He was pretty angry he took off home,” Liz told him.
“Shit,” Zan screamed and kicked the wall. “Nothing else happened right?” he asked almost desperately.
“I think Michael might have found you guys and put you to bed separately before it could,” Liz explained.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he cried again. “What am I going to do?”
Liz sighed and sat down beside her brother. “Tell Max the truth. You don’t remember shit. It might not make much difference but I think he’ll forgive you eventually.”
Zan nodded. “I’ll grab a shower and head over there,” he told her.
Liz nodded and watched him go. “Good luck,” she said.
Liz prayed that Max would hear Zan out. It was obvious that Zan wasn’t in control of his actions and Liz wondered what Tess’s excuse was.
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Part 36
Maybe I was wrong
Maybe I’m to blame
I thought I’d see you
and it’d be the same
Max and Liz didn’t know how long they sat together in each other’s embrace but they didn’t move until Liz felt that she could stand without being sick.
when I look at you
don’t know who I see
is it someone new or just a memory
“We should go back,” she whispered. She didn’t want to leave Max’s arms but she knew they needed to.
“Liz,” Max began.
“I’m sorry too,” Liz blurted out.
days drift by
sometimes I cry
I never really understood
I always thought that you’d be there
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
Max’s mouth opened and closed, that was the last thing he had expected her to say.
“You were right, I wasn’t completely honest with you. I’m not over us and it hurt like hell that you moved on without me,” she whispered. “Because I still love you,” she cried.
“Liz…” Max tried to speak again but Liz covered his lips with a finger to silence him.
Don’t know where I am
Don’t know where is home
Don’t know much at all but it ain’t much fun alone
“Don’t. I’m really hurt and some of that is my fault but some of it is yours. Because you just didn’t move on, it felt like you forgot about me,” she cried. “I know you expected some type of sign from me but what about you? You never once told me how you felt, and I can’t even believe that you would try to use other girls to make me jealous,” she said. “But you’re right I did try to deal with the you and Tess thing which was a lot easier when I didn’t have to deal with it face to face, I guess I kind of got in my head that you’d see me at Christmas and you’d realise that Tess was just like the rest of those girls, because you still love me.”
Guess I’ll work it out
What else can you do
Maybe likfe goes on with one instead of two
Days drift by
Sometimes I cry
I never really understood
I always that you’d be there
Despite her struggle Max pulled Liz against his chest.
“But you didn’t,” Liz cried.
Liz cried against Max’s chest for a few minutes. “Why couldn’t we have had this conversation three years ago, Liz?” Max asked in a whisper.
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
“I don’t know,” Liz sighed.
“Do you think you can ever forgive me for the way I’ve been acting the past week, hell the past six months?” Max asked as they walked slowly back towards the camp.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded. “But I need some time,” she admitted.
Was I crazy?
Crazy?
Sometimes, its so unfair.
They were almost at the tents when Max stopped.
“Liz?”
“Yeah?”
“I know you think that I forgot about you but you should know that’s not possible,” he admitted. “I still love you,” he whispered.
“You do?” Liz asked shocked.
“Yeah,” he smiled sadly.
“What about Tess?” Liz gulped. “Do you love her?”
“I care a lot for her,” he admitted. “I’m not sure where that leaves us but I just couldn’t let you think for a second longer that I ever stopped loving you.”
Liz nodded. Max’s words were like a balm for her heart but at the same time she knew they hadn’t really resolved anything. Max was still with Tess, and hadn’t mentioned anything about breaking up with her, and Liz was still hurt. Also, Liz wasn’t sure if she could be with Max now after everything that happened. She had some things to work through and apparently so did he.
Liz slowly started to walk again and Max fell into step beside her. She was still slightly drunk but she wasn’t as bad as before but she was still relying on Max to guide her back the right way so when he stopped Liz ended up tripping over a log.
“What? Max?” she questioned. When she turned around she found that Max had stopped a couple of steps behind her and was staring at something in shock.
Liz straightened herself up and walked towards Max. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Liz turned and followed his line of sight, she was confused at first until she finally spotted the blonde curls that belonged to Tess, blonde curls that were all over her brother.
“Oh God,” Liz whispered.
“I-I have to go,” Max stammered
“Max, wait,” Liz cried. It had to be a mistake. There was no way that Zan would do that to Max.
Max didn’t listen though and before Liz could blink he had disappeared. Soon she heard the familiar sound of the jeep and she took off in the direction where she knew it was parked. By the time she got there Max had already sped out of the car park.
“Shit,” she cursed before she stumbled again.
Liz didn’t know how long it took her to find her way back to the camp but by the time she got there everyone was gathered around the fire and the count down to 2006 begun.
“10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5,” Liz wasn’t sure if it was the enormity of the night that affected her or the fact that she was about to spend the New Year completely and utterly alone.
“4, 3, 2, 1! HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Everyone screamed.
The tears feel freely down Liz’s face and she begun to sink to the ground in defeat when strong arms lifted her up.
“Happy New Year’s, Beautiful,” he whispered.
“Max,” she gasped and turned in his arms. “I thought you left,” she told him.
“I did but then I saw the time and I came back,” he whispered as he pressed his forehead against hers. “I have a lot to be sorry for in 2005, a lot to make up to you and I didn’t want to start 2006 the same way.” he told her.
Liz reached trembling hands up to cup his face. “Happy new year,” she whispered.
“Happy new year,” Max replied.
***
Liz woke with a throbbing headache and Zan passed out beside her. She frowned at her brother and wondered how he actually found their tent.
Liz stood with Max the night before for about ten minutes before she tried to convince him to stay. In the end he refused, he said he was too angry to face either Zan or Tess at the moment and he knew he would do or say something stupid if he stayed. Reluctantly Liz let him go, she knew she had too.
Pulling on a jumper and running a hand through her hair Liz crawled out of the tent.
Nearly everyone was up and Liz immediately noticed that some of them had started packing up already.
“Morning,” she greeted throatily.
“Morning,” Isabel and Alex replied.
“Liz, do you know where Max is?” Isabel asked concerned. “The jeep’s gone,” she pointed out.
“Um yeah,” Liz nodded. “He decided to leave last night.”
“What happened?” Isabel asked.
“I’m not sure exactly and until I am I think it would be if I don’t say anything,” she said. “Where’s Tess?” Liz asked.
“Michael helped her into the tent just after midnight,” Alex said.
“Is that how Zan got to our tent?” Liz asked.
“Yeah,” Michael replied as he approached, he wore a frown, which told Liz that Michael apparently already knew why Max had left. “He was totally wasted, don’t think he would have been able to tell me his name,” he told her.
“Thought so,” Liz said.
“How are you feeling? At one stage you were pretty wasted,” Isabel asked.
“Um I feel like a train wreck but I stopped early,” Liz replied as she remembered why she stopped.
“Good. Well we should get out of here so lets wake up the sleepy heads and get home,” Isabel ordered.
Two hours later and with a lot of trouble they were eventually on the road. Luckily for Liz and Zan, Alex and Isabel drove them home. So far Zan and Tess hadn’t gone near each other and Liz actually wondered if either of them remembered a thing. She knew that she would certainly ask Zan the minute she got a chance.
Once they reached the house Isabel and Alex pulled their stuff, along with Max and Tess’s stuff out of the car and carried it to the Evanses. Liz pulled their sleeping bags out of the back of the RAV and threw them at Zan.
“God, Liz, would you quit it,” he groaned not in the mood for her games.
“You’re as asshole” Liz hissed.
“What?” Zan frowned.
“Firstly, you’re not feeling well and you’re on strong medication so why did you get so drunk to begin with, and secondly how could you do that to Max?” she asked angrily.
“I needed a night off ok, I don’t get one very often. You of all people should understand that,” he replied.
“I do, but what you did to Max? There is no excuse for that,” Liz yelled as they walked into the house.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Zan stopped and asked.
“You and Tess,” Liz told him.
“Me and Tess?” Zan asked confused.
“Oh God,” Liz gasped. “You don’t even remember.”
“Remember what?” Zan cried.
“You and Tess were making out and Max saw you!!” Liz cried.
“What!” Zan cried. “Why would I do that?”
“I saw you,” Liz argued.
One look at the seriousness on Liz’s face and Zan sunk down onto the stair. “Tell me you’re fucking kidding?” he pleaded.
“Can’t, Max and I saw you. He was pretty angry he took off home,” Liz told him.
“Shit,” Zan screamed and kicked the wall. “Nothing else happened right?” he asked almost desperately.
“I think Michael might have found you guys and put you to bed separately before it could,” Liz explained.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he cried again. “What am I going to do?”
Liz sighed and sat down beside her brother. “Tell Max the truth. You don’t remember shit. It might not make much difference but I think he’ll forgive you eventually.”
Zan nodded. “I’ll grab a shower and head over there,” he told her.
Liz nodded and watched him go. “Good luck,” she said.
Liz prayed that Max would hear Zan out. It was obvious that Zan wasn’t in control of his actions and Liz wondered what Tess’s excuse was.
A/N: Hi everyone. Thank you for your feedback, i hope you also enjoy this part.
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Part 37
As soon as Michael and Maria dropped her off at the Evanses, Tess went straight to the guest room. She had been shocked and angry when she woke up in the morning and found out that Max had taken off the night before. She’d had a lot to drink the night before and she had no idea how she got to bed but she assumed Max had taken her, but as soon as she saw Zan it all clicked. He was still dressed in his clothes from the night before and Tess remembered those clothes very well. One look from Zan and Tess knew he didn’t remember so right now she was hoping no one else knew either.
“Have a nice night last night?” Max startled Tess.
“God, Max, you scared me,” she said her hand on her heart.
Max leaned against the doorframe and studied her, the look in his eyes was unfamiliar, and it unnerved Tess.
“Why did you leave?” she asked. “I was so worried about you,” she added a frown marring her beautiful features.
Max chuckled bitterly. “It really looked that way when I saw you last, you know with your tongue down my brother’s throat and I’m pretty sure your hand was cupping him.”
Any hope Tess had that she hadn’t been caught was gone. “What?”
“I saw you,” Max told her.
Tess sunk onto the bed. “I thought it was you,” she whispered. Although it was true, the excuse sounded weak, even to her own ears.
“Nice but that’s not going to fly with me,” he replied coldly.
“Max, please,” Tess pleaded. “I made a mistake, I’m so sorry.”
Max shook his head at her and walked to the window to gaze out of it. “Saying sorry isn’t going to make it better,” he told her.
“I know that, I don’t expect it too. I love you though, Max,” Tess declared.
Max was momentarily shocked by Tess’s words. He knew she cared about him, like he did her but he never once thought she loved him, and as much as he cared for her and enjoyed spending time with her he knew he wasn’t in love with her.
Tess waited for Max to say something, anything about her words but Max remained quiet, and it was during that silence that Tess realised Max didn’t love her. Not the way she loved him. Sure he cared for her, he treated her well, but he was never going to love her with the same passion that she knew he loved Liz and that she saw in his eyes every time he looked at Liz.
Max had told her about Liz, and their relationship prior to coming home with him to Roswell and Tess admitted that she had played it down as insignificant. She figured that if there was anything still between Max and Liz that they would be together and she thought she would be able to deal with Liz “the best friend”.
Even Max’s family’s dislike for her hadn’t worried her but when she had met Liz and the girl had laughed in her face Tess knew that things would go down hill fast, she just hadn’t expected it to be this fast.
Her confrontation with Liz a few days earlier had been a last ditched effort to hold onto Max she realised now.
“This was never going to work was it?” she whispered then.
“What?” Max asked not sure if he heard her.
“You and me,” she told him. “It didn’t matter how much I loved you it was never going to work, was it?” she asked tears in her eyes.
“We were fine until you cheated on me with my brother,” Max pointed out.
“No, we weren’t,” she whispered. “It was only a matter of time. But I stupidly believed that if I fought for you, showed you how much I loved you that it would make a difference but it didn’t.”
“What are you talking about, Tess?” Max asked. “Are you blaming me for what happened last night?” he asked shocked.
“This isn’t just about what happened last night,” she whispered hurt. Sure she had made a mistake, she could admit that, but she was only human.
“It isn’t? Then what is it about?” he said.
“It’s about Liz,” she told him.
“Liz didn’t make you get drunk and make out with my brother,” Max told her instantly on the defensive.
Tess shook her head. “You jump to her defence so quickly,” she whispered envious of Liz and wondered if she knew how lucky she was.
“No she didn’t,” Tess agreed. “But ever since we’ve been in Roswell and around Liz you’ve been distant. I know something happened between the two of you at Christmas but you wouldn’t talk to me about it. Maybe if you hadn’t been so distracted by her and concentrating on me I wouldn’t have had the chance to mistake Zan for you.”
“You’re blaming this on me?” Max asked shocked.
Tess sighed. “No,” she admitted. “I just miss the Max that I met and fell in love with and I haven’t seen him since we got here.”
Max looked at Tess for a moment before looking away. He knew she was right and he instantly felt guilty.
“You’re right, and for that I’m sorry. The truth is it wasn’t a very good idea on my part to bring you home for Christmas. I don’t think I was ready for it and what I would have to deal with,” Max told her.
“You mean Liz,” she said unhappily.
Max nodded. “I thought balancing you and her in my life was hard in New Haven. Well it’s twice as hard in Rowell face to face,” he admitted.
“You still have feelings for her don’t you?” Tess asked sadly. She knew it was pretty much a given that things were over, she had done a very good job at stuffing them up but Max was responsible too. Tess wondered if they would have made it regardless of her mistake with Zan.
“Yes,” Max told her honestly.
Tess nodded sadly.
“And me?” she asked.
“I care for you...” Max told her. “But not enough to let Liz go,” he surmised.
Max hesitated in answering.
“I see the way you look at her,” Tess whispered, “at first I tried to ignore it but I could tell that you were still in love with her. You tried to hide it, but in the end you just couldn’t. She got to you,” she said.
Max nodded.
“Tess, to tell you the truth I had never thought twice about having to choose between the two of you. I thought things were over between Liz and I, I thought Liz had moved on,” Max told her.
Tess snorted. “How on earth did you come to that conclusion, Max?” she asked. It was obvious from the very first moment she met Liz that she was still head over heels in love with Max. Everyone could see it and she wondered how Max couldn’t.
Max sighed. “Everything is so messed up.”
“What happens now Max, with us?” Tess asked. She knew the answer to the question before she even asked it. Even if Max didn’t end things she knew she would. She couldn’t be with him when his heart was somewhere else, even if he hadn’t yet realised it. No Tess Harding would not compete for Max's love.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future but I do know that right now I can’t be with you, and not just because of Liz but because I don’t think I can trust you.”
“Oh,” Tess whispered.
They stood in silence for a few minutes.
“I think I’ll ring the airport and get an early flight back,” she told him.
Max nodded, that was probably a good idea. “Let me know and I’ll drive you,” he said before he turned and walked out of the room.
***
After he left the guest room he returned to his own room but stopped a couple of steps into the room when he noticed Zan seated on his bed, head in his hands.
When Zan heard him he looked up and when he saw the angry look he stood up to face Max.
“Hit me,” he told him.
“What?” Max asked.
“Let it all out, hit me,” Zan said.
Max shook his head.
“Come on you’ll feel better, and besides, I deserve it,” Zan said.
Max laughed bitterly. “Yeah well that’s true,” he said. “But I’m still not going to hit you.”
Feeling sick Zan took a seat again. “I don’t know what happened man,” he admitted.
Max looked at him and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I had no idea about anything until Liz told me this morning,” he replied.
“Oh, so you can’t remember?” Max asked.
“Not a thing, most of the night is blank,” he blew out.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Max asked concerned. He didn’t know anything about Zan feeling sick again. Zan had insisted on keeping it between the Parker family for the time being.
“Um I was sitting with Kyle’s friend, Tommy?” Zan guessed.
Max thought back and his frown deepened, “Zan, that was really early in the night”, he told him because Max remembered Tommy taking off with his girlfriend later on.
Zan shrugged. “Guess I should have taken my own advice, and slowed down,” he said.
“Yeah,” Max nodded.
“I’m really sorry, bro,” Zan whispered. “I hope I haven’t ruined things between the two of you,” he said. Zan didn’t know if he would ever know what happened and he wondered if Tess did but was reluctant to ask.
“We broke up, she’s heading back to New Haven as soon as she can get a flight,” Max replied.
“Shit,” Zan cursed. “I’m so sorry.”
“It takes two,” Max shrugged.
“Did Tess remember?” Zan asked.
Max nodded. “She thought you were me,” he said.
“Oh,” Zan frowned.
“So it probably wasn’t anything you did, I think it was probably more me.”
“How do you figure that?” Zan asked.
“Things had been tense between us since we got here.”
“You two looked fine every time I saw you,” Zan pointed out.
Max smiled. “Kissing and holding hands is the easy part, anyone can do that.”
“So what will you do now?” Zan asked. He noticed that earlier in the night yesterday that Liz and Max had talked and he wondered if they had sorted things out.
“I go back to New Haven,” Max shrugged. “I’ve got one more semester and then hello big bad world.”
“What about Liz?” Zan asked.
Max sighed. “Hopefully we can try and rebuild our friendship. We’ve spent a lot of time keeping things from each other hopefully that will stop now.”
Zan nodded. “For what its worth I’m really sorry, bro, you know I would never have done that in a million years if I had realised,” he told him.
Max nodded.
“Are we cool?” he asked him.
“I’m still pissed but yeah we’re cool,” Max told him.
As much as he would like to be angry with Zan it was obvious that he had no idea what had happened the night before. Although he was upset he knew that there was no point dwelling on it.
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Part 37
As soon as Michael and Maria dropped her off at the Evanses, Tess went straight to the guest room. She had been shocked and angry when she woke up in the morning and found out that Max had taken off the night before. She’d had a lot to drink the night before and she had no idea how she got to bed but she assumed Max had taken her, but as soon as she saw Zan it all clicked. He was still dressed in his clothes from the night before and Tess remembered those clothes very well. One look from Zan and Tess knew he didn’t remember so right now she was hoping no one else knew either.
“Have a nice night last night?” Max startled Tess.
“God, Max, you scared me,” she said her hand on her heart.
Max leaned against the doorframe and studied her, the look in his eyes was unfamiliar, and it unnerved Tess.
“Why did you leave?” she asked. “I was so worried about you,” she added a frown marring her beautiful features.
Max chuckled bitterly. “It really looked that way when I saw you last, you know with your tongue down my brother’s throat and I’m pretty sure your hand was cupping him.”
Any hope Tess had that she hadn’t been caught was gone. “What?”
“I saw you,” Max told her.
Tess sunk onto the bed. “I thought it was you,” she whispered. Although it was true, the excuse sounded weak, even to her own ears.
“Nice but that’s not going to fly with me,” he replied coldly.
“Max, please,” Tess pleaded. “I made a mistake, I’m so sorry.”
Max shook his head at her and walked to the window to gaze out of it. “Saying sorry isn’t going to make it better,” he told her.
“I know that, I don’t expect it too. I love you though, Max,” Tess declared.
Max was momentarily shocked by Tess’s words. He knew she cared about him, like he did her but he never once thought she loved him, and as much as he cared for her and enjoyed spending time with her he knew he wasn’t in love with her.
Tess waited for Max to say something, anything about her words but Max remained quiet, and it was during that silence that Tess realised Max didn’t love her. Not the way she loved him. Sure he cared for her, he treated her well, but he was never going to love her with the same passion that she knew he loved Liz and that she saw in his eyes every time he looked at Liz.
Max had told her about Liz, and their relationship prior to coming home with him to Roswell and Tess admitted that she had played it down as insignificant. She figured that if there was anything still between Max and Liz that they would be together and she thought she would be able to deal with Liz “the best friend”.
Even Max’s family’s dislike for her hadn’t worried her but when she had met Liz and the girl had laughed in her face Tess knew that things would go down hill fast, she just hadn’t expected it to be this fast.
Her confrontation with Liz a few days earlier had been a last ditched effort to hold onto Max she realised now.
“This was never going to work was it?” she whispered then.
“What?” Max asked not sure if he heard her.
“You and me,” she told him. “It didn’t matter how much I loved you it was never going to work, was it?” she asked tears in her eyes.
“We were fine until you cheated on me with my brother,” Max pointed out.
“No, we weren’t,” she whispered. “It was only a matter of time. But I stupidly believed that if I fought for you, showed you how much I loved you that it would make a difference but it didn’t.”
“What are you talking about, Tess?” Max asked. “Are you blaming me for what happened last night?” he asked shocked.
“This isn’t just about what happened last night,” she whispered hurt. Sure she had made a mistake, she could admit that, but she was only human.
“It isn’t? Then what is it about?” he said.
“It’s about Liz,” she told him.
“Liz didn’t make you get drunk and make out with my brother,” Max told her instantly on the defensive.
Tess shook her head. “You jump to her defence so quickly,” she whispered envious of Liz and wondered if she knew how lucky she was.
“No she didn’t,” Tess agreed. “But ever since we’ve been in Roswell and around Liz you’ve been distant. I know something happened between the two of you at Christmas but you wouldn’t talk to me about it. Maybe if you hadn’t been so distracted by her and concentrating on me I wouldn’t have had the chance to mistake Zan for you.”
“You’re blaming this on me?” Max asked shocked.
Tess sighed. “No,” she admitted. “I just miss the Max that I met and fell in love with and I haven’t seen him since we got here.”
Max looked at Tess for a moment before looking away. He knew she was right and he instantly felt guilty.
“You’re right, and for that I’m sorry. The truth is it wasn’t a very good idea on my part to bring you home for Christmas. I don’t think I was ready for it and what I would have to deal with,” Max told her.
“You mean Liz,” she said unhappily.
Max nodded. “I thought balancing you and her in my life was hard in New Haven. Well it’s twice as hard in Rowell face to face,” he admitted.
“You still have feelings for her don’t you?” Tess asked sadly. She knew it was pretty much a given that things were over, she had done a very good job at stuffing them up but Max was responsible too. Tess wondered if they would have made it regardless of her mistake with Zan.
“Yes,” Max told her honestly.
Tess nodded sadly.
“And me?” she asked.
“I care for you...” Max told her. “But not enough to let Liz go,” he surmised.
Max hesitated in answering.
“I see the way you look at her,” Tess whispered, “at first I tried to ignore it but I could tell that you were still in love with her. You tried to hide it, but in the end you just couldn’t. She got to you,” she said.
Max nodded.
“Tess, to tell you the truth I had never thought twice about having to choose between the two of you. I thought things were over between Liz and I, I thought Liz had moved on,” Max told her.
Tess snorted. “How on earth did you come to that conclusion, Max?” she asked. It was obvious from the very first moment she met Liz that she was still head over heels in love with Max. Everyone could see it and she wondered how Max couldn’t.
Max sighed. “Everything is so messed up.”
“What happens now Max, with us?” Tess asked. She knew the answer to the question before she even asked it. Even if Max didn’t end things she knew she would. She couldn’t be with him when his heart was somewhere else, even if he hadn’t yet realised it. No Tess Harding would not compete for Max's love.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future but I do know that right now I can’t be with you, and not just because of Liz but because I don’t think I can trust you.”
“Oh,” Tess whispered.
They stood in silence for a few minutes.
“I think I’ll ring the airport and get an early flight back,” she told him.
Max nodded, that was probably a good idea. “Let me know and I’ll drive you,” he said before he turned and walked out of the room.
***
After he left the guest room he returned to his own room but stopped a couple of steps into the room when he noticed Zan seated on his bed, head in his hands.
When Zan heard him he looked up and when he saw the angry look he stood up to face Max.
“Hit me,” he told him.
“What?” Max asked.
“Let it all out, hit me,” Zan said.
Max shook his head.
“Come on you’ll feel better, and besides, I deserve it,” Zan said.
Max laughed bitterly. “Yeah well that’s true,” he said. “But I’m still not going to hit you.”
Feeling sick Zan took a seat again. “I don’t know what happened man,” he admitted.
Max looked at him and frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I had no idea about anything until Liz told me this morning,” he replied.
“Oh, so you can’t remember?” Max asked.
“Not a thing, most of the night is blank,” he blew out.
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Max asked concerned. He didn’t know anything about Zan feeling sick again. Zan had insisted on keeping it between the Parker family for the time being.
“Um I was sitting with Kyle’s friend, Tommy?” Zan guessed.
Max thought back and his frown deepened, “Zan, that was really early in the night”, he told him because Max remembered Tommy taking off with his girlfriend later on.
Zan shrugged. “Guess I should have taken my own advice, and slowed down,” he said.
“Yeah,” Max nodded.
“I’m really sorry, bro,” Zan whispered. “I hope I haven’t ruined things between the two of you,” he said. Zan didn’t know if he would ever know what happened and he wondered if Tess did but was reluctant to ask.
“We broke up, she’s heading back to New Haven as soon as she can get a flight,” Max replied.
“Shit,” Zan cursed. “I’m so sorry.”
“It takes two,” Max shrugged.
“Did Tess remember?” Zan asked.
Max nodded. “She thought you were me,” he said.
“Oh,” Zan frowned.
“So it probably wasn’t anything you did, I think it was probably more me.”
“How do you figure that?” Zan asked.
“Things had been tense between us since we got here.”
“You two looked fine every time I saw you,” Zan pointed out.
Max smiled. “Kissing and holding hands is the easy part, anyone can do that.”
“So what will you do now?” Zan asked. He noticed that earlier in the night yesterday that Liz and Max had talked and he wondered if they had sorted things out.
“I go back to New Haven,” Max shrugged. “I’ve got one more semester and then hello big bad world.”
“What about Liz?” Zan asked.
Max sighed. “Hopefully we can try and rebuild our friendship. We’ve spent a lot of time keeping things from each other hopefully that will stop now.”
Zan nodded. “For what its worth I’m really sorry, bro, you know I would never have done that in a million years if I had realised,” he told him.
Max nodded.
“Are we cool?” he asked him.
“I’m still pissed but yeah we’re cool,” Max told him.
As much as he would like to be angry with Zan it was obvious that he had no idea what had happened the night before. Although he was upset he knew that there was no point dwelling on it.
A/N: HI everyone, thank you for your feedback for the last part, i am running a little late so i'm posting and running. I hope you enjoy this
Part 38
Tess left Roswell on New Year’s Night. After dropping her off at the airport Max drove the jeep into the desert, the place he had been with Liz so many times during high school, and sat there. He needed to think without interruption and this was always a good place to do that.
He wondered to himself when his life got so out of control. He would return to New Haven in a few days and for the first time since he got his acceptance to Yale he wasn’t looking forward to it. Max knew he would have to face Tess again, they shared classes, and over the six months they had dated they had developed a group of friends they both liked to hang out with.
Max knew he should be angry with Tess for cheating on him, he should be angry with Zan too, but the truth is he couldn’t be. Tess had been right when she said that Max had been distracted and not paying attention to her. It didn’t excuse what she did but it didn’t make it any less true.
Liz. Max knew he had hurt her, he could see it every time he looked at her and he knew there was no easy fix to their problems. He loved Liz, she was his best friend, but they failed to talk about the important things in their lives.
Max thought about the consequences of his actions then. He knew it would take time for Liz to forgive him for moving on. He knew that his actions at Christmas had hurt her and he wasn’t quite sure how to fix that. But Liz also hurt him too. She was angry, and in some ways punishing him for something unfairly.
True they loved each other but it had been three and half years since they had been together, and even then it had only been briefly. Had Liz really expected him to moon after her forever? He had waited for years for some type of sign from her; he thought he had made his feelings clear to her the day she left for Boston.
Max sighed. It was getting late and he knew his mother would be getting worried so he hopped into the jeep and headed back to Roswell knowing that he hadn’t really resolved anything in his head.
Max pulled the jeep up in the driveway and got out quietly. He was halfway up the path when she caught sight of her in the moonlight.
“Hi,” she whispered.
Max fiddled with his keys. “Hey,” he replied. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Zan told me what happened with Tess and I wanted to come over and see if you were ok,” she said.
It was stupid really. Liz was angry with and hurt by Max, and she hated Tess but she couldn’t help but be worried about him.
“Oh thanks, I’m ok,” Max told her. He didn’t think she would really want to hear the truth even if he wasn’t.
“Did Tess leave?” she asked.
“Yeah I dropped her off at the airport few hours ago,” Max told her.
“Oh,” she frowned wondering where he had been all this time.
“I went out to the dessert, I needed to think,” Max admitted reading her mind before she could voice the question.
“What about?” Liz asked curious.
“Tess, you, me,” Max replied.
“Come up with anything good?” she wondered.
“Not really,” Max shrugged. “Tess and I are over, I know that but everything else…”
“Are you ok with that?” Liz asked him.
Max nodded slowly. “I know you don’t want to hear this but Tess, she was a nice person and I cared for her. It will be strange when I go back to New Haven.”
Liz nodded. “Can I ask you something?”
“Ok, Max agreed and took a seat on the porch beside her.
“What was it about Tess?” Liz asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you dated a lot of girls before Tess. I guess I’m just wondering why she was different from the others?” she asked.
What Liz really meant was; why did you date her for six months?
It had been on Liz’s mind for a while. Max had admitted he only dated most of those girls to make Liz jealous and Liz knew that most of them were one date wonders, but she needed to know what made Tess different. Was it the way she looked, her voluptuous figure or was it something else?
“Most of the girls I dated I either agreed to go out with them because they asked me, or because they reminded me of you,” Max admitted his head down in shame. “So I guess it didn’t come as a surprise when I found they weren’t as interesting or smart as you, or that they were really after one thing.”
“So instead of dating me you dated people like me?” Liz asked hurt.
Max sighed. “I didn’t think you wanted to date me, Liz,” he said.
“So what was it about Tess?” Liz prompted.
“It got to a stage where I asked myself ‘What am I doing?’ These chicks are never going to be you. Tess had asked me out a couple of times and I had turned her down, one day she asked me again, she said ‘Max this is the last time I’m going to embarrass myself by doing this.’ So I decided to take a chance and I said yes. She’s studying law so we had some common interests and I found the more time I spent with her the more I liked her,” he explained.
“I guess I missed that side of her,” Liz snorted.
“Yeah,” Max agreed.
“And the two of you were intimate?” she asked.
“Liz…”
“I need to know,” she whispered. Liz thought that maybe hearing it out of his mouth would be the final step she needed to let him go.
“Yes,” Max nodded.
Liz let the silent tears fall.
Max looked at her and saw her shoulders shaking, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but he knew she wouldn’t want that.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Liz stood up and wiped her eyes.
“Can we ever move past this?” Max asked her.
Liz turned and looked away at Max’s question before she turned back to him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I really don’t know anymore, Max.”
Max dropped his gaze and then shook his head. “So here we go once again,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s always like this with you, Liz. Why can’t you make up your mind instead of twisting me up in knots? You’re punishing me because I moved on but lets face it you can’t make up your mind,” Max said angrily.
“That’s not fair,” Liz cried.
Max stood up then. “News flash, Liz, life isn’t fair,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Liz told him.
“Me either,” Max agreed. “Look it’s late, I’m going to head in. Thanks for checking up on me,” Max said.
Liz nodded and watched as Max walked towards the door. She waited until he had disappeared through the front door before she turned and headed back to her own house.
***
Liz placed her hand over Zan’s as they waited for Dr. Watson to call them in.
“It’s going to be ok,” she assured him. Zan was nervous as hell and Liz was feeling the same way.
“Zan, Liz, you can come in now.” They both looked up at the receptionist and nodded before they stood up and walked into the Dr Watson’s room. He was sitting behind a large desk studying what they could only assume were Zan’s test results.
“Hey, Doc,” Zan greeted.
“Zan, Liz,” he smiled and greeted.
“So what’s the verdict?” Zan asked.
John Watson sighed. “Well good news, the leukaemia hasn’t returned.”
Zan let out a sob of relief and Liz instantly pulled him into a tight hug. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” he chanted not sure if he could actually believe what he had just heard, it seemed too good to be true.
John Watson smiled, he couldn’t remember being as happy for any patient when he reads Zan’s test results. The kid deserved a break.
“But that doesn’t mean your off the hook,” he informed Zan.
“Nothing you can tell could have been as bad as that,” he said.
Liz returned to her seat and waited for him to explain what was going on with Zan’s health.
“You’re anaemic,” he informed him. “To most healthy people that isn’t a big deal but for you it can be very serious, Zan.”
“Is that why he’s tired and losing weight?” Liz asked.
“Yes, well partly,” John answered. “Diet is also a contributing factor. Normally patients who have chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants are prone to anaemia and you may have been suffering from it for a while Zan and we haven’t picked up on it” he said.
“So what do we do?” Zan asked.
John nodded. “Firstly we have to do some blood work and then we will get you some different medications,” he explained.
“He should start feeling better though, right?” Liz asked relieved.
“Sure, it will take some time but eventually once we get your blood count back up, talk about your diet then things should definitely start to improve,” John replied.
“The headaches?” Liz asked.
“Unusual symptom but could be from fatigue, diet or maybe you just need your eyes checked, Zan.”
Liz waited until her and Zan were in the car park before she let out a squeal and leaped into her brother’s arms.
Zan collapsed into Liz easily and after the excitement died down he let the tears of relief fall.
“You’re ok,” Liz assured him. “You’re ok,” she said again but this time it was to remind herself.
***
“What’s going on?” Max asked Isabel as he entered the kitchen to find Isabel helping his mother.
“We’re having a family dinner,” Isabel informed him.
“Why?” he asked.
“Do we need a reason?” Dianne Evans asked.
Max eyed his sister who was acting too suspicious as far as he was concerned. She hated the kitchen and Max knew that there had to be a good reason for her to be in there helping his mother.
“So who’s coming?” he asked Isabel.
“It just us, Zan, and I invited Alex and his parents,” she said.
Max was surprised the whole Parker family wasn’t invited.
“Actually, sweetie, I invited Jeff, Nancy and Liz too,” Dianne spoke up and Max rolled his eyes at his surprised sister.
“What time?” Max asked then.
“Seven,” she replied.
True to Isabel’s work at seven o’clock the entire Evans family, the Parker family and Whitman family were all seated at the formal dinning table where a roast and other fillings were laid out in front of them.
“Wow this looks great,” Zan grinned, all of a sudden extremely hungry. Liz smiled in understanding next to him.
They’re lively chatter around the table until Isabel gently tapped her wine glass to get everyone’s attention.
Alex cleared his throat when everything went quiet and nervously stood up, Isabel stood up beside him, there hands clasped.
It was then that Liz finally noticed it and she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Zan asked from beside her.
Liz shook her head and turned her attention back to Isabel and Alex.
“Thank you all for coming,” Isabel said. “Alex and I have an announcement to make,” she told them all.
“We wanted to share it with you all sooner but there have been other things going on,” Isabel acknowledged shooting a meaningful look at Max.
“On New Year’s Eve I asked Isabel to marry me, and she said yes,” Alex told the group.
A loud gasp was heard before Dianne Evans and Helen Whitman both squealed in delight.
For the next half an hour hugs were exchanged, families were united and Zan sat back and took everything in with a smile.
“What are you thinking about?” Liz asked him.
“It was a day for good news, I think things are looking up for our families,” he told Liz.
Liz smiled back before she leant in and kissed his cheek.
“I love you, bro,” she whispered.
“Love you too, munchkin,” he replied.
Just posting the same note i did at Write On. I didn't concentrate too much on Zan's illness which i could have, there is a lot of detail on it and the type but i didn't think it was the most important thing. If you are interested however i can give you an email address where i did my research.
Part 38
Tess left Roswell on New Year’s Night. After dropping her off at the airport Max drove the jeep into the desert, the place he had been with Liz so many times during high school, and sat there. He needed to think without interruption and this was always a good place to do that.
He wondered to himself when his life got so out of control. He would return to New Haven in a few days and for the first time since he got his acceptance to Yale he wasn’t looking forward to it. Max knew he would have to face Tess again, they shared classes, and over the six months they had dated they had developed a group of friends they both liked to hang out with.
Max knew he should be angry with Tess for cheating on him, he should be angry with Zan too, but the truth is he couldn’t be. Tess had been right when she said that Max had been distracted and not paying attention to her. It didn’t excuse what she did but it didn’t make it any less true.
Liz. Max knew he had hurt her, he could see it every time he looked at her and he knew there was no easy fix to their problems. He loved Liz, she was his best friend, but they failed to talk about the important things in their lives.
Max thought about the consequences of his actions then. He knew it would take time for Liz to forgive him for moving on. He knew that his actions at Christmas had hurt her and he wasn’t quite sure how to fix that. But Liz also hurt him too. She was angry, and in some ways punishing him for something unfairly.
True they loved each other but it had been three and half years since they had been together, and even then it had only been briefly. Had Liz really expected him to moon after her forever? He had waited for years for some type of sign from her; he thought he had made his feelings clear to her the day she left for Boston.
Max sighed. It was getting late and he knew his mother would be getting worried so he hopped into the jeep and headed back to Roswell knowing that he hadn’t really resolved anything in his head.
Max pulled the jeep up in the driveway and got out quietly. He was halfway up the path when she caught sight of her in the moonlight.
“Hi,” she whispered.
Max fiddled with his keys. “Hey,” he replied. “What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Zan told me what happened with Tess and I wanted to come over and see if you were ok,” she said.
It was stupid really. Liz was angry with and hurt by Max, and she hated Tess but she couldn’t help but be worried about him.
“Oh thanks, I’m ok,” Max told her. He didn’t think she would really want to hear the truth even if he wasn’t.
“Did Tess leave?” she asked.
“Yeah I dropped her off at the airport few hours ago,” Max told her.
“Oh,” she frowned wondering where he had been all this time.
“I went out to the dessert, I needed to think,” Max admitted reading her mind before she could voice the question.
“What about?” Liz asked curious.
“Tess, you, me,” Max replied.
“Come up with anything good?” she wondered.
“Not really,” Max shrugged. “Tess and I are over, I know that but everything else…”
“Are you ok with that?” Liz asked him.
Max nodded slowly. “I know you don’t want to hear this but Tess, she was a nice person and I cared for her. It will be strange when I go back to New Haven.”
Liz nodded. “Can I ask you something?”
“Ok, Max agreed and took a seat on the porch beside her.
“What was it about Tess?” Liz asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean you dated a lot of girls before Tess. I guess I’m just wondering why she was different from the others?” she asked.
What Liz really meant was; why did you date her for six months?
It had been on Liz’s mind for a while. Max had admitted he only dated most of those girls to make Liz jealous and Liz knew that most of them were one date wonders, but she needed to know what made Tess different. Was it the way she looked, her voluptuous figure or was it something else?
“Most of the girls I dated I either agreed to go out with them because they asked me, or because they reminded me of you,” Max admitted his head down in shame. “So I guess it didn’t come as a surprise when I found they weren’t as interesting or smart as you, or that they were really after one thing.”
“So instead of dating me you dated people like me?” Liz asked hurt.
Max sighed. “I didn’t think you wanted to date me, Liz,” he said.
“So what was it about Tess?” Liz prompted.
“It got to a stage where I asked myself ‘What am I doing?’ These chicks are never going to be you. Tess had asked me out a couple of times and I had turned her down, one day she asked me again, she said ‘Max this is the last time I’m going to embarrass myself by doing this.’ So I decided to take a chance and I said yes. She’s studying law so we had some common interests and I found the more time I spent with her the more I liked her,” he explained.
“I guess I missed that side of her,” Liz snorted.
“Yeah,” Max agreed.
“And the two of you were intimate?” she asked.
“Liz…”
“I need to know,” she whispered. Liz thought that maybe hearing it out of his mouth would be the final step she needed to let him go.
“Yes,” Max nodded.
Liz let the silent tears fall.
Max looked at her and saw her shoulders shaking, he wanted to reach out and pull her into his arms, but he knew she wouldn’t want that.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes before Liz stood up and wiped her eyes.
“Can we ever move past this?” Max asked her.
Liz turned and looked away at Max’s question before she turned back to him.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I really don’t know anymore, Max.”
Max dropped his gaze and then shook his head. “So here we go once again,” he said.
“What?”
“It’s always like this with you, Liz. Why can’t you make up your mind instead of twisting me up in knots? You’re punishing me because I moved on but lets face it you can’t make up your mind,” Max said angrily.
“That’s not fair,” Liz cried.
Max stood up then. “News flash, Liz, life isn’t fair,” he whispered.
“I don’t want to fight anymore,” Liz told him.
“Me either,” Max agreed. “Look it’s late, I’m going to head in. Thanks for checking up on me,” Max said.
Liz nodded and watched as Max walked towards the door. She waited until he had disappeared through the front door before she turned and headed back to her own house.
***
Liz placed her hand over Zan’s as they waited for Dr. Watson to call them in.
“It’s going to be ok,” she assured him. Zan was nervous as hell and Liz was feeling the same way.
“Zan, Liz, you can come in now.” They both looked up at the receptionist and nodded before they stood up and walked into the Dr Watson’s room. He was sitting behind a large desk studying what they could only assume were Zan’s test results.
“Hey, Doc,” Zan greeted.
“Zan, Liz,” he smiled and greeted.
“So what’s the verdict?” Zan asked.
John Watson sighed. “Well good news, the leukaemia hasn’t returned.”
Zan let out a sob of relief and Liz instantly pulled him into a tight hug. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” he chanted not sure if he could actually believe what he had just heard, it seemed too good to be true.
John Watson smiled, he couldn’t remember being as happy for any patient when he reads Zan’s test results. The kid deserved a break.
“But that doesn’t mean your off the hook,” he informed Zan.
“Nothing you can tell could have been as bad as that,” he said.
Liz returned to her seat and waited for him to explain what was going on with Zan’s health.
“You’re anaemic,” he informed him. “To most healthy people that isn’t a big deal but for you it can be very serious, Zan.”
“Is that why he’s tired and losing weight?” Liz asked.
“Yes, well partly,” John answered. “Diet is also a contributing factor. Normally patients who have chemotherapy and bone marrow transplants are prone to anaemia and you may have been suffering from it for a while Zan and we haven’t picked up on it” he said.
“So what do we do?” Zan asked.
John nodded. “Firstly we have to do some blood work and then we will get you some different medications,” he explained.
“He should start feeling better though, right?” Liz asked relieved.
“Sure, it will take some time but eventually once we get your blood count back up, talk about your diet then things should definitely start to improve,” John replied.
“The headaches?” Liz asked.
“Unusual symptom but could be from fatigue, diet or maybe you just need your eyes checked, Zan.”
Liz waited until her and Zan were in the car park before she let out a squeal and leaped into her brother’s arms.
Zan collapsed into Liz easily and after the excitement died down he let the tears of relief fall.
“You’re ok,” Liz assured him. “You’re ok,” she said again but this time it was to remind herself.
***
“What’s going on?” Max asked Isabel as he entered the kitchen to find Isabel helping his mother.
“We’re having a family dinner,” Isabel informed him.
“Why?” he asked.
“Do we need a reason?” Dianne Evans asked.
Max eyed his sister who was acting too suspicious as far as he was concerned. She hated the kitchen and Max knew that there had to be a good reason for her to be in there helping his mother.
“So who’s coming?” he asked Isabel.
“It just us, Zan, and I invited Alex and his parents,” she said.
Max was surprised the whole Parker family wasn’t invited.
“Actually, sweetie, I invited Jeff, Nancy and Liz too,” Dianne spoke up and Max rolled his eyes at his surprised sister.
“What time?” Max asked then.
“Seven,” she replied.
True to Isabel’s work at seven o’clock the entire Evans family, the Parker family and Whitman family were all seated at the formal dinning table where a roast and other fillings were laid out in front of them.
“Wow this looks great,” Zan grinned, all of a sudden extremely hungry. Liz smiled in understanding next to him.
They’re lively chatter around the table until Isabel gently tapped her wine glass to get everyone’s attention.
Alex cleared his throat when everything went quiet and nervously stood up, Isabel stood up beside him, there hands clasped.
It was then that Liz finally noticed it and she gasped.
“What’s wrong?” Zan asked from beside her.
Liz shook her head and turned her attention back to Isabel and Alex.
“Thank you all for coming,” Isabel said. “Alex and I have an announcement to make,” she told them all.
“We wanted to share it with you all sooner but there have been other things going on,” Isabel acknowledged shooting a meaningful look at Max.
“On New Year’s Eve I asked Isabel to marry me, and she said yes,” Alex told the group.
A loud gasp was heard before Dianne Evans and Helen Whitman both squealed in delight.
For the next half an hour hugs were exchanged, families were united and Zan sat back and took everything in with a smile.
“What are you thinking about?” Liz asked him.
“It was a day for good news, I think things are looking up for our families,” he told Liz.
Liz smiled back before she leant in and kissed his cheek.
“I love you, bro,” she whispered.
“Love you too, munchkin,” he replied.
Just posting the same note i did at Write On. I didn't concentrate too much on Zan's illness which i could have, there is a lot of detail on it and the type but i didn't think it was the most important thing. If you are interested however i can give you an email address where i did my research.
Thanx for being patient
Part 39
Max took a deep breath before he knocked on the closed bedroom door. Tonight was his last night in Roswell, the next day he would be flying back to New Haven.
“Come in,” he heard.
He opened the door hesitantly. “Hi,” he greeted.
Liz looked up from her book, surprised to find Max standing in her door way.
“Hi,” she smiled back.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
Liz blushed and held up the trashing romance novel that Maria had given her for Christmas insisting that it was a must read. Unfortunately she had been right, it had completely sucked Liz in and she’d be reading it every spare chance she got.
Max raised his eyebrows at the title ‘Hard love’
“What’s up?” Liz asked him in a bid to change the subject.
“Actually I was wondering if you were busy tonight?” Max asked.
Liz shook her head no. “Why?”
“Well I was hoping I might be able to convince you to spend the night with me,” he said.
“Don’t you want to spend it with your family?” she asked.
“I convinced Mum that a family breakfast tomorrow would be fine after the big feast the other night.”
Since the announcement that Isabel and Alex were getting married things had been crazy at the Evanses. Isabel had already decided she wanted a June wedding and Serena, Maria, and Liz were all set to be bridesmaids.
Liz had been shocked and flattered when Isabel asked her, and had agreed after Isabel had promised there would be nothing pink and fluffy in sight.
“Um ok then,” Liz agreed. “What did you have in mind?”
Max shrugged. “I thought we could catch a movie or maybe a picnic out in the desert?” he suggested.
Liz smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“Great, well I’ll come get you at seven?”
“I’ll be ready,” Liz agreed.
***
“So you’re going out tonight?” Serena asked.
“Yeah,” Liz replied from the midst of her closet.
Since the weather was so different in Cambridge and Roswell Liz had a wardrobe in both places, which meant she could travel light for the most part.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” a reluctant Serena asked.
Liz pulled back from the closet with a red black jumper in hand. “Why?”
Serena sighed. “It’s just that the past couple of days things have been better,” she admitted.
“Of course they have,” Liz thought silently. “That’s because Max and I had been keeping out of each other’s way and concentrating on Isabel, which is what we should have been doing.”
“Max and I know better than anyone that we can’t just turn a blind eye to things anymore,” Liz explained. “Sure there have been no arguments or tears for the past 2 days but that’s because we’ve both been busy with other things, and that’s nice but eventually we were going to have to deal with this and I for one am glad that we’re doing it now instead of over the phone when we’re back at school.
On top of that, Max made the first move here, Serena. Do you know how long I’ve waited for that?”
“I know,” Serena sighed. “I just don’t want to see you get your hopes up to get hurt again,” she admitted.
Liz sat down and smiled at her sister. “I can’t get any lower than what I’ve been lately,” she said. “I’m in love with Max, Serena, and that’s not something that’s going to change over night and Max he loves me back. Maybe this whole mess is what we both needed to realise what it is that we’ve been missing out on lately.”
“Or maybe it’s a sign that the two of you are meant to be together,” she argued.
“I just want to be happy like you, Sere,” Liz told her. “Don’t you want that for me?”
“Of course I do, but, Liz, what about everything that’s happened?” Serena objected.
Liz patted Serena’s hand before standing up. “Believe me I have forgotten and I doubt I will any time soon. Max and I aren’t going to fix things over night but hopefully eventually we will.”
Serena couldn’t deny the sparkle she saw in Liz’s eye every time she mentioned Max or how much she loved him. It was obvious that she did and Serena just prayed that Liz was right and that this was the beginning of the healing process, finally, for Max and Liz.
***
Dianne was in the living room with Nancy Parker when Liz walked down the stairs to meet Max later that night. She was dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and a soft black jumper.
“You look nice, honey,” Nancy commented.
Liz’s face with bright and her short hair was messy around her face.
“Thank you,” Liz smiled.
“Where are you off to tonight?” Dianne asked.
“Not sure, I think the movies.”
“Oh are you going out, sweetie?” Nancy asked.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded as she gathered her bag and slipped her leather jacket on.
“Who’s the lucky boy?” Dianne asked.
“Max,” Liz grinned.
“Oh I assumed you had a date,” Dianne said.
Max chose that moment to walk through the front door and his face lit up at the sight of Liz.
“Hey,” he greeted everyone.
“You look nice,” he told Liz.
“Thank you,” she blushed.
“Liz said your going to catch a movie,” Dianne smiled.
“Actually,” Max scratched his ear, “I decided on the picnic, is that ok?” he checked with Liz.
“Sounds great,” she grinned.
Dianne and Nancy exchanged glances.
“Sounds nice,” Nancy spoke up.
“Well we’ll see you later,” Max told them as he placed his hand on the small of Liz’s back and led her gently out of the house.
***
Max drove them out to their place in the dessert and set up some blankets before he laid out the picnic basket he had packed. It was filled with leftovers from his mother’s kitchen along with the rich chocolate cake he had bought especially from Liz.
They made small talk as they ate and when they were finished Max wrapped a blanket around them to ward off the cold as they sat and watched the stars.
“We haven’t done this in forever,” Liz commented.
“I know,” Max agreed.
“We kind of forgot about all the small things somewhere along the way, didn’t we?” she turned to look at him.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I guess we did.”
Liz wasn’t sure when she realised it but most of her relationship with Max had been filled with angst and confusion. She hoped that it would come to an end tonight, one way or another.
“I feel like we’ve been going around in circles for the past few weeks,” she admitted then.
“Me too,” he nodded. “Maybe we should take turns at telling the other what we want to say and how we feel?” he suggested hoping it might be a good way to clear the air.
“Good idea, why don’t you go first?” Liz suggested.
“Ok, I guess firstly,” he said as he reached for her hand under the blanket. “Is that I do love you, Liz,” his voice was husky and full of emotion and it brought tears to Liz’s eyes. “I know that I’ve caused you to doubt that, and I also know that I’ve hurt you, but I swear to you that I won’t stop until I make it up to you this time,” he admitted.
“Max…” Liz whispered.
“Let me finish,” he stopped her.
“Tomorrow I’m going back to New Haven, and the day after you’ll be back in Cambridge,” he reminded her. “I want us to get to know each other again, Liz.”
Max could tell that Liz was about to object so he placed a finger to her lips to stop her. “I know that it isn’t what you expected me to say but can you honestly say that you’re ready to forgive me and to have a relationship with me yet?” he asked her. “I think we need to build our friendship back up, to give our wounds some time to heal so that this time we get things right.”
Max took his hands away then. “It’s your turn.”
“Ok,” Liz took a deep breath. “Your right, I’m not exactly ready to forgive and forget,” she told him. “But I want to, because I want you, I want us” she said passionately. “I can deal with the friends thing, you’re right about us healing and getting to know each other again but I swear to God, Max Evans, that if you don’t come for me soon….”
Max pulled Liz to his body before she could finish her sentence and fused their mouths together it what Liz thought would surely be remembered at the most passionate kiss of her life.
When he pulled back Liz was dazed and her eyes were filled with tears, as were Max’s.
“I will never stop coming for you this time, Liz. I swear I won’t,” he promised.
And for Liz that was enough.
“So we give each other some space, work on our friendship,” Liz stated trying to process the thoughts.
“For now,” Max agreed. “Just for now.”
***
“So,” Zan shifted nervously as he faced Max. Although Max had assured him that things between them were fine Zan still felt guilty as hell.
Max smiled and stepped forward and hugged Zan. “Take care, bro,” he said.
“You too,” he told him.
Max looked at Zan then. “Everything’s ok isn’t it?” he asked.
“What?” Zan questioned.
“I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if you wanted me too but… you’re not sick again are you?” he asked worried.
Zan chuckled.
“You’d tell me if you were, right?” Max asked.
“It’s all ok,” Zan smiled.
“Really?” Max asked again. There was no way he was going anywhere if Zan was sick again.
“I promise. I just have to change some medications and diet, nothing for you to worry about.”
Max grinned. “Good.”
“How about you?” Zan asked. “You going to be ok facing Tess?” he asked.
Max had called Tess earlier that morning and asked could they get together in the next few days for a talk.
Max’s thoughts turned to Liz then. “Things are going to be great,” he grinned.
Zan shook his head, “You know a certain sister of mine has been wearing a grin like that all morning too, what gives?” he asked.
“Lets just say that I think we might finally be on the right track,” Max informed him.
“I hope so, man, because the two of you deserve to be happy.”
Max nodded. “Thanks, and believe me I’m going to do my best to make sure she is this time.”
“Good because I sear to God, bro, if you make her cry again you and I are going to be talking,” Zan warned.
“We still have some things to work out, and for now we’re going t be friends but…”
Zan snorted. “I give you a month,” he told him.
Max shrugged and reached down for his duffel bag and threw it over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you at the wedding,” he told him knowing it would probably be June before he made it back to Roswell this time.
“Yep, or I might see you sooner if I come to visit,” he told him. “I’ve been promising Liz that I’d visit for the past four years, if I don’t do it soon then I never will,” he snorted.
“Good, well then I’ll see the both of you in New Haven soon,” he smiled and with one final hand punch Max was gone.
Part 39
Max took a deep breath before he knocked on the closed bedroom door. Tonight was his last night in Roswell, the next day he would be flying back to New Haven.
“Come in,” he heard.
He opened the door hesitantly. “Hi,” he greeted.
Liz looked up from her book, surprised to find Max standing in her door way.
“Hi,” she smiled back.
“What are you reading?” he asked.
Liz blushed and held up the trashing romance novel that Maria had given her for Christmas insisting that it was a must read. Unfortunately she had been right, it had completely sucked Liz in and she’d be reading it every spare chance she got.
Max raised his eyebrows at the title ‘Hard love’
“What’s up?” Liz asked him in a bid to change the subject.
“Actually I was wondering if you were busy tonight?” Max asked.
Liz shook her head no. “Why?”
“Well I was hoping I might be able to convince you to spend the night with me,” he said.
“Don’t you want to spend it with your family?” she asked.
“I convinced Mum that a family breakfast tomorrow would be fine after the big feast the other night.”
Since the announcement that Isabel and Alex were getting married things had been crazy at the Evanses. Isabel had already decided she wanted a June wedding and Serena, Maria, and Liz were all set to be bridesmaids.
Liz had been shocked and flattered when Isabel asked her, and had agreed after Isabel had promised there would be nothing pink and fluffy in sight.
“Um ok then,” Liz agreed. “What did you have in mind?”
Max shrugged. “I thought we could catch a movie or maybe a picnic out in the desert?” he suggested.
Liz smiled. “That sounds nice.”
“Great, well I’ll come get you at seven?”
“I’ll be ready,” Liz agreed.
***
“So you’re going out tonight?” Serena asked.
“Yeah,” Liz replied from the midst of her closet.
Since the weather was so different in Cambridge and Roswell Liz had a wardrobe in both places, which meant she could travel light for the most part.
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” a reluctant Serena asked.
Liz pulled back from the closet with a red black jumper in hand. “Why?”
Serena sighed. “It’s just that the past couple of days things have been better,” she admitted.
“Of course they have,” Liz thought silently. “That’s because Max and I had been keeping out of each other’s way and concentrating on Isabel, which is what we should have been doing.”
“Max and I know better than anyone that we can’t just turn a blind eye to things anymore,” Liz explained. “Sure there have been no arguments or tears for the past 2 days but that’s because we’ve both been busy with other things, and that’s nice but eventually we were going to have to deal with this and I for one am glad that we’re doing it now instead of over the phone when we’re back at school.
On top of that, Max made the first move here, Serena. Do you know how long I’ve waited for that?”
“I know,” Serena sighed. “I just don’t want to see you get your hopes up to get hurt again,” she admitted.
Liz sat down and smiled at her sister. “I can’t get any lower than what I’ve been lately,” she said. “I’m in love with Max, Serena, and that’s not something that’s going to change over night and Max he loves me back. Maybe this whole mess is what we both needed to realise what it is that we’ve been missing out on lately.”
“Or maybe it’s a sign that the two of you are meant to be together,” she argued.
“I just want to be happy like you, Sere,” Liz told her. “Don’t you want that for me?”
“Of course I do, but, Liz, what about everything that’s happened?” Serena objected.
Liz patted Serena’s hand before standing up. “Believe me I have forgotten and I doubt I will any time soon. Max and I aren’t going to fix things over night but hopefully eventually we will.”
Serena couldn’t deny the sparkle she saw in Liz’s eye every time she mentioned Max or how much she loved him. It was obvious that she did and Serena just prayed that Liz was right and that this was the beginning of the healing process, finally, for Max and Liz.
***
Dianne was in the living room with Nancy Parker when Liz walked down the stairs to meet Max later that night. She was dressed casually in a pair of dark blue jeans and a soft black jumper.
“You look nice, honey,” Nancy commented.
Liz’s face with bright and her short hair was messy around her face.
“Thank you,” Liz smiled.
“Where are you off to tonight?” Dianne asked.
“Not sure, I think the movies.”
“Oh are you going out, sweetie?” Nancy asked.
“Yeah,” Liz nodded as she gathered her bag and slipped her leather jacket on.
“Who’s the lucky boy?” Dianne asked.
“Max,” Liz grinned.
“Oh I assumed you had a date,” Dianne said.
Max chose that moment to walk through the front door and his face lit up at the sight of Liz.
“Hey,” he greeted everyone.
“You look nice,” he told Liz.
“Thank you,” she blushed.
“Liz said your going to catch a movie,” Dianne smiled.
“Actually,” Max scratched his ear, “I decided on the picnic, is that ok?” he checked with Liz.
“Sounds great,” she grinned.
Dianne and Nancy exchanged glances.
“Sounds nice,” Nancy spoke up.
“Well we’ll see you later,” Max told them as he placed his hand on the small of Liz’s back and led her gently out of the house.
***
Max drove them out to their place in the dessert and set up some blankets before he laid out the picnic basket he had packed. It was filled with leftovers from his mother’s kitchen along with the rich chocolate cake he had bought especially from Liz.
They made small talk as they ate and when they were finished Max wrapped a blanket around them to ward off the cold as they sat and watched the stars.
“We haven’t done this in forever,” Liz commented.
“I know,” Max agreed.
“We kind of forgot about all the small things somewhere along the way, didn’t we?” she turned to look at him.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “I guess we did.”
Liz wasn’t sure when she realised it but most of her relationship with Max had been filled with angst and confusion. She hoped that it would come to an end tonight, one way or another.
“I feel like we’ve been going around in circles for the past few weeks,” she admitted then.
“Me too,” he nodded. “Maybe we should take turns at telling the other what we want to say and how we feel?” he suggested hoping it might be a good way to clear the air.
“Good idea, why don’t you go first?” Liz suggested.
“Ok, I guess firstly,” he said as he reached for her hand under the blanket. “Is that I do love you, Liz,” his voice was husky and full of emotion and it brought tears to Liz’s eyes. “I know that I’ve caused you to doubt that, and I also know that I’ve hurt you, but I swear to you that I won’t stop until I make it up to you this time,” he admitted.
“Max…” Liz whispered.
“Let me finish,” he stopped her.
“Tomorrow I’m going back to New Haven, and the day after you’ll be back in Cambridge,” he reminded her. “I want us to get to know each other again, Liz.”
Max could tell that Liz was about to object so he placed a finger to her lips to stop her. “I know that it isn’t what you expected me to say but can you honestly say that you’re ready to forgive me and to have a relationship with me yet?” he asked her. “I think we need to build our friendship back up, to give our wounds some time to heal so that this time we get things right.”
Max took his hands away then. “It’s your turn.”
“Ok,” Liz took a deep breath. “Your right, I’m not exactly ready to forgive and forget,” she told him. “But I want to, because I want you, I want us” she said passionately. “I can deal with the friends thing, you’re right about us healing and getting to know each other again but I swear to God, Max Evans, that if you don’t come for me soon….”
Max pulled Liz to his body before she could finish her sentence and fused their mouths together it what Liz thought would surely be remembered at the most passionate kiss of her life.
When he pulled back Liz was dazed and her eyes were filled with tears, as were Max’s.
“I will never stop coming for you this time, Liz. I swear I won’t,” he promised.
And for Liz that was enough.
“So we give each other some space, work on our friendship,” Liz stated trying to process the thoughts.
“For now,” Max agreed. “Just for now.”
***
“So,” Zan shifted nervously as he faced Max. Although Max had assured him that things between them were fine Zan still felt guilty as hell.
Max smiled and stepped forward and hugged Zan. “Take care, bro,” he said.
“You too,” he told him.
Max looked at Zan then. “Everything’s ok isn’t it?” he asked.
“What?” Zan questioned.
“I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if you wanted me too but… you’re not sick again are you?” he asked worried.
Zan chuckled.
“You’d tell me if you were, right?” Max asked.
“It’s all ok,” Zan smiled.
“Really?” Max asked again. There was no way he was going anywhere if Zan was sick again.
“I promise. I just have to change some medications and diet, nothing for you to worry about.”
Max grinned. “Good.”
“How about you?” Zan asked. “You going to be ok facing Tess?” he asked.
Max had called Tess earlier that morning and asked could they get together in the next few days for a talk.
Max’s thoughts turned to Liz then. “Things are going to be great,” he grinned.
Zan shook his head, “You know a certain sister of mine has been wearing a grin like that all morning too, what gives?” he asked.
“Lets just say that I think we might finally be on the right track,” Max informed him.
“I hope so, man, because the two of you deserve to be happy.”
Max nodded. “Thanks, and believe me I’m going to do my best to make sure she is this time.”
“Good because I sear to God, bro, if you make her cry again you and I are going to be talking,” Zan warned.
“We still have some things to work out, and for now we’re going t be friends but…”
Zan snorted. “I give you a month,” he told him.
Max shrugged and reached down for his duffel bag and threw it over his shoulder.
“I’ll see you at the wedding,” he told him knowing it would probably be June before he made it back to Roswell this time.
“Yep, or I might see you sooner if I come to visit,” he told him. “I’ve been promising Liz that I’d visit for the past four years, if I don’t do it soon then I never will,” he snorted.
“Good, well then I’ll see the both of you in New Haven soon,” he smiled and with one final hand punch Max was gone.