Pairings: M/L, some M/T, L/Other
Rating:Mature
Disclaimer: I own nothing just borrowing the characters for my own amusement.
Summary-Liz Parker and Max Evans have been the best of friends since childhood. At the age of seven Liz enlists Max’s help to ensure that they both meet their soul mates, so following guidelines given to Liz by her grandmother they make ‘Paper Soul mates’ and bury them in Max’s back yard. Sixteen years later their friendship is still strong but their respective romantic relationships are a disaster. When Tess Max’s long term girlfriend leaves him without explanation Max turns to his best friend for support completely oblivious of his feelings for her. When Max finally realizes that he loves Liz will he have the courage to tell her? And will she realize her own true feelings.
Note: Once again a heartfelt thanks to everyone who has left feedback, it means so much that you are enjoying the story enough to comment and a shout out to anyone lurking, I'd love to hear from you guys too
Part Eleven
Lunches, Punches and Revelations........
As Liz Parker watched the painkillers fizzle and zing in her water glass she knew that the throbbing in her temples and the churn in her belly was not alcohol induced.
'She'd kissed him....'
Her hand tightened around the glass with crushing force, her eyes fluttering closed.
'She'd kissed Max....'
If she concentrated she could conjure the shared warmth of their locked mouths, the sweet, moist press of his tongue as it glided against her own.
'God she was in trouble....'
Nancy Parker eyed her daughter curiously as she laid the final place setting for lunch "are you okay sweetheart?" the question was redundant, even before witnessing the tense posture and unusual silence she had known instinctively that something was weighing heavily on her youngest; she'd known as soon as she'd greeted Liz by the front door and looked in her eyes...
Liz sighed forlornly as her mother slipped into the seat beside her, her eyes roamed over the other two occupants at the table; her father was communicating his concern silently with her mother and Michael, well he was shoveling meat loaf into his mouth in blissful ignorance. Pushing her plate aside she looked between her parents "um I guess I should start by telling you that Sean and I broke up.."
Nancy rubbed her arm soothingly, while her father reached across the table, his large calloused hand closing around her fingertips.
"Oh honey bear we're sorry..." Nancy murmured, pressing a tender kiss to her daughters temple.
"Speak for yourselves" Michael grunted, his fork clattering noisily against his plate. There was no way in hell he was going to offer his baby sister false platitudes, Sean DeLuca was an S.O.B and Liz deserved a better man than him "he was a prick" he snapped harshly, eyes softening as they landed on Liz "you're better off without him..."
Nancy Parker's mouth twisted in displeasure "that may or may not be true Michael but your sister is hurting and she needs our support."
Liz shook her head "mom that's not it at all..." no Sean DeLuca was not the cause of her current distress, she had merely used that topic as an ice breaker "I'm not upset because of Sean, he's a two timing loser."
"What is it then sweetheart?" Jeff murmured softly as his thumb stroked absently against the back of her hand.
She didn't know where to start! as she looked at the expectant and weary faces of her family she knew that she couldn't prolong the misery and who knew maybe once the words where out there in the universe she'd be able to make some sense of the situation and her jumbled emotions. "Um Max and I shared a kiss last night..."
Nancy's eyes rounded almost imperceptibly. The only change in Jeff Parkers expression was a furrowing of his brow. Neither uttered a single word, that task fell to Michael....
"Say what?" he growled, the hand resting beside his plate curling into a tight fist. Michael's eyes narrowed on his sister "you swapped spit with Max Evans?"
"Michael..." Liz pleaded softly, she did not need him to go into a meltdown and act all protective older brother but she could see the tell tail signs.
Michael ignored her plea "so what you're saying is that Max Evans kissed you. You're telling us that Max Evans put his mouth on you" Michael's nostrils flared "I'm going to pound him!"
Liz shot her brother a death glare, she knew that he'd overreact and jump to conclusions "there will be no pounding of any sort" her words were slow and laced with command "besides Max wasn't the one who initiated the kiss- I was."
Nancy drew her daughter's eyes back to her with a touch to her arm. She had been stunned by Liz's admission, stunned but immensely pleased. Diane Evans and she had always harbored hopes that Max and Liz would fall for one another "and how do you feel about that honey?"
"Oh mom!" Liz's eyes clouded with tears, a lead weight settling in her stomach at the possible ramifications of her drunken actions "I think I've just destroyed one of the most important relationships in my life!" she buried her head in her mothers shoulder and wept silently. It was her greatest fear- losing Max Evans. She had always been afraid that age and life would tear them apart somehow, that the strength of their bond would weaken but up until this point in time their friendship and appreciation for one another had only grown. What if she had lost all that was between them with one, impulsive, drunken kiss?
Nancy smoothed back Liz's hair, her heart clenching as her daughter's body shook in her embrace, she gestured for Jeff to join them and only when she felt his arms lock around their daughter and herself did she find the strength to speak "oh baby" she murmured against Liz's ear "whatever is the matter?"
Liz lifted her tear sodden face from her mothers shoulder, her cheeks puffing as she forced out a frustrated breath "haven't you been listening to a word I said? I kissed Max and have possibly destroyed our friendship!"
Nancy shook her head at Liz, silly girl... placing a tender hand to either side of Liz's face she wiped at her tears "you think one little kiss is going to irreparably damage twenty six years of companionship?" her lips quirked slightly at the ridiculous thought "No honey..." she said assuredly.
Liz felt a twinge of anger at the dismissive nature of her mothers words, this was the biggest crisis she'd faced in her life to date and her mother, the one person in the world she looked to for wisdom was being completely flippant "you don't know that..." she whispered.
Nancy had to smile at that, hadn't her daughter ever heard the adage 'mother knows best...' "Well did Max reciprocate the kiss?" she asked knowingly. She knew with certainty that he had. Her daughter was a beautiful and intelligent young woman, if Max Evans had rejected her advance he was clearly dead inside.
Liz nodded in affirmation "but that's not the point..."
Jeff laughed gruffly and smoothed his hand against Liz's cheek in a loving gesture "well what's the point you're trying to make kiddo?" he smiled as he watched Liz chew her lip in frustration as she sought how best to articulate her thoughts.
"Of course Max returned my kiss, he's a guy. Kissing me back would have been a reflex."
Jeff Parker pressed his lips into a fine line "I don't think you're giving Max enough credit here sweetheart. I've known that boy all my life and he's not the kind to kiss a girl when he doesn't have feelings for her." Jeff was certain of his words, Max Evans was an honorable young man, he would not have kissed his daughter unless there was genuine feeling there, he just wondered why his daughter was so reluctant to acknowledge the fact: it was fear he supposed...
Nancy smiled warmly at her husband "Jeff I think the most pertinent question isn't how Max feels but how our daughter feels" she turned her soft motherly gaze on Liz "so how about it honey, how do you feel?"
Liz exhaled "how do I feel..." she paused momentarily "you mean about the kiss? or about Max?" she didn't know if she was
equipped to answer either question.
"How about we start with the kiss" Jeff said, he knew his daughter well enough to know that she wasn't quite ready to admit to any possible feelings for Max beyond the platonic...
A small smile touched her lips at the memory of the kiss, her mouth still tingled "it was lovely..." she whispered softly her eyes glazing.
Nancy sighed in disappointment, she could gleam nothing from 'lovely', trust you to be so evasive Liz.... "was it a french kiss?" her mother asked playfully.
"Mom..." Liz moaned, covering her face in embarrassment. She didn't know why she felt so awkward talking about the semantics of the kiss, she had always felt comfortable telling her parents anything "please don't make me answer that question guys..."
Michael who had been silent throughout grunted from his position across the table "yeah lets not discuss things like that at the dinner table" he stabbed at his meat loaf "anyway what do you two" he gestured between his parents "know about french kissing.." he knew he was going to regret challenging them, he knew for a fact that they would regale him of their knowledge in gory detail but it was the only thing he could think to say that would take the heat off of Liz.
Nancy laughed and Jeff looked wounded.
"Son how do you think you got here?" Jeff queried softly.
Oh God here we go, Michael bit the bullet for the sake of his sister "well it wasn't through french kissing that's for sure" he mumbled dryly.
Nancy laughed heartily she had such snarky children and she loved them dearly for it "well honey french kissing is a form of foreplay (one that your father and I have quite a bit of practice in) and foreplay leads to sex which in turn leads to babies.."
Michael choked on his meat loaf, he had expected that sort of banter from his father but his mother? Michael took a long gulp of soda "No. That may be how other people came into this world but as far as I'm concerned, foreplay and sex did not factor into our conception" he inclined his head toward Liz.
"Well then how did you and your sister get here exactly?" nancy asked.
Michael winked at Liz before looking to his parents "the stork, the stork is how we got here, okay! so I don't want to hear anymore about french kissing and sex, capiche?"
Liz giggled into her hand, feeling a little of her tension release. She mouthed a 'thank you' to Michael only too aware of what he had done, her brother really was a sweetheart when he wanted to be.
Nancy Parker was an astute woman, very little got past her. So she had seen and understood the exchange between her two children from the start. Smiling softly at Liz she handed her daughter into her husbands embrace and made her way around the table to her son, she patted his cheek softly and murmured "you're a good son Michael Guerin Parker" her eyes moved to Liz who was smiling softly at the exchange "and an even better brother...."
Michael blushed, squirming at his mothers words and his sisters soft loving eyes "enough with all this soppy ass shit, the game's about to start."
Tess barely had time to place a soft rap against the door before it was flung open, she lifted startled eyes to Max's face "I came as quick as I could" she moved past him into the apartment "I brought Kyle, I hope you don't mind" she gestured to Kyle, hesitantly loitering outside the door.
Max shook his head absently and beckoned Kyle to come in "not at all, I need all the help I can get" he muttered gravely.
Tess ran a shaky hand through her hair, her nerves frazzled from the S.O.S Max had text her. She had imagined all sorts of horrid things on the taxi ride over "what's going on? are you okay? is it something serious?" she fired the questions at him in rapid succession.
Max sank onto the couch, deflated "it's all gone to hell Tess" he murmured placing his head in his hands.
Tess moved to sit beside him, her hand resting lightly against his arm "what's going on Max?" she queried softly.
She heard him sigh into his hands before raising vulnerable, exposed eyes toward her. She gasped at the intensity of his gaze.
"I kissed Liz..."
Tess furrowed her brow "color me confused Max but isn't that a good thing?" She couldn't fathom why kissing Liz would turn out to be such a disaster, unless of course she hadn't reciprocated which in Tess's opinion was unlikely. All Liz needed to realize her true feelings was a gentle nudge and a kiss would certainly provide that.
Max wanted to weep at his stupidity, out of the two of them he had been the most sober. He shouldn't have let things get out of hand like they did, Liz was on the rebound, she was still vulnerable and hurt from Sean's betrayal; how could he have taken advantage of the situation like that? "It would have been a good thing if Liz hadn't been steaming drunk..." he brushed his fingers through his hair in frustration "I completely took advantage of her, she's never going to forgive me."
Tess's heart clenched, he looked so broken, so sure that all hope was lost "have you talked to Liz about any of this?" she queried, doubtingly that Max had actually been able to summon up the courage to face her.
Max shook his head, eyes trained on the wall across the room "no, she has lunch with her family every Sunday so I haven't had a chance to-" his words trailed off as his eyes snapped back to Tess "what the hell am I going to say to her? sorry I took advantage of your fragile emotional state but it's okay because I love you..."
Tess jerked back slightly as he sprang from the couch and started to pace back and forth. "Do you think that you might be overreacting Max?" she asked tentatively "after all it was just a kiss right?"
Max stopping pacing "you really think?" he asked hopefully. All night he had worked himself into a fever considering all the possible ways in which Liz would react and rationally he knew that she would not blame him for a moment of self indulgent weakness, she was a much better person than that "she did initiate the kiss so I guess-."
Tess held up a hand to silence him "she kissed you?" she stabbed her finger at him. When Max nodded 'yes' she smiled and shook her head, all of this drama was for nothing "so tell me this Max, if Liz was the one who kissed you how did you take advantage of the situation?"
Max closed his eyes against the memory of her warm lips "the kiss started out innocent but I misread the situation and got caught up in the moment" he groaned, remembering his tongue moving in sync with Liz's "before I could stop myself I'd deepened the kiss and then she was pulling away from me."
Kyle had been listening silently to their exchange feeling somewhat of an intruder. He couldn't help but feel for Max, he knew what it was like to be twisted up in knots over Liz Parker; he'd done it all through his senior year but Kyle knew better than anyone that Max was fretting over nothing. "Look Max" he paused until Max was facing him "not to butt my nose into your business or anything but you're worrying needlessly man."
Max smiled slightly "thanks for the balming words Kyle" he looked at him sincerely, remembering why they had been friends once "but you have no idea how Liz feels about this- I'm not even really sure" he sighed wearily "I know that she doesn't return my affections-"
Kyle cut him off "you really are clueless aren't you?" he asked in astonishment. Kyle shook his head at Max's blank look "do you have any idea, any idea in the slightest what it's like for a guy to date Liz Parker?"
"You know I don't..." Max murmured in exasperation, him not knowing what it was like to be with Liz in that way was the root cause of his heartache and distress.
Kyle placed a comforting hand on Max's shoulder "Max you're Liz's benchmark, every guy gets measured by your standard. Liz might not realize it yet but she's just as crazy about you as you are about her."
"You really mean that?" Max asked softly, his heart thudding at Kyle's honest disclosure.
Kyle nodded "I'm telling you man, all you need to do is tell the lady how you feel and everything else will fall into place..."
"I couldn't have put it better myself" Tess murmured as her and Kyle shared a tender smile "look we'll leave you to sort out what you're going to tell Liz." Tess and Kyle walked to the door as Max followed.
Max reached out his hand to Kyle "thanks man, don't be a stranger okay."
Kyle pumped his hand and smiled "okay."
Tess reached up and placed a soft kiss to Max's cheek "I mean it, you get it straightened out in your head what you're going to say to her" she pushed Kyle ahead of her out the door "oh and pablo" she tossed over her shoulder, grinning impishly at Max "if you can't wax lyrical 'I love you Liz' covers all the bases..."
Max closed the door softly and leaned his head back against it. Tess made it all sound so easy...
He made his practiced declarations to his empty apartment.
"I love you..." "I'm in Love with you..." "God I love you Liz Parker..."
Thump, thump, thump...
Max jumped back from the door, the pounding still persisted and thinking that it must just be Tess and Kyle he flung the door open,a smile and a greeting poised on his lips but before he had time to utter a word Michael Parkers swift jab to the jaw sent him sprawling across the floor.
Max's eyes snapped to Michael as he touched his jaw tentatively "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU MICHAEL?" in all of their years of friendship they had never once laid a hand on each other unless in a mock, playful fight. As Max watched Michael's fists bunch at his sides he knew that Liz had told him.
"YOU KISSED MY SISTER! WHAT THE FUCK MAXWELL?"
Max pushed to his feet and raised his hands in a placatory gesture "Michael it's not what you think."
"Not what I think!" Michael snarled "you took advantage of my sister when she was drunk. Don't you think she's had enough of guys screwing her over?" Michael stalked toward Max and grabbed him by the collar "my sister isn't goina be your rebound Maxwell."
Max's face twisted in anger, did Michael really think he could be so callous with Liz's emotions? or with anyone's for that matter? "Michael you know I'd die before intentionally hurting Liz" he watched as Michael's face softened but it was fleeting, his eyes glinting steele once more.
"Yeah well intentional or not, my baby sister was crying her eyes out over you this afternoon and no one, not even my best friend is going to get away with hurting her" Michael raised his fist and smiled "I hope you have good dental coverage Max..."
Max knocked Michael's hand away but Michael still had him firmly by the collar.
"Oh god" Max's face crumpled as he locked eyes with Michael "she was really crying?" he choked out.
Michael's brow furrowed in confusion at Max's distress, his choke hold loosening slightly. Max's face was a flood of emotion and Michael felt a stab of remorse "well it really wasn't the way I made it sound, she told us about the kiss... the crying part was about losing you...she didn't actually say you had taken advantage, I just assumed..."
Max's eyes slammed closed and he sighed in relief "she's afraid of losing me?" he whispered almost to himself, a smile twisting his lips. When Michael had told him that Liz had been crying over him, he had felt something tear in his heart. The thought of ever hurting Liz tore him in two.
"What am I missing here Maxwell?" Michael wasn't the most intuitive person in the world but he knew after seeing Max that it was more than just a drunken kiss that had transpired between his sister and best friend "what are your intentions toward my sister?"
The question startled him out of his revelry, his gaze flickered away from Michael's before returning to meet him head on "Michael I can't even begin to articulate what I've been feeling toward your sister for the past number of months, I-"
A soft feminine cough caused his words to die on his tongue, spinning around with dizzying speed his heart leapt in his chest as he saw her standing at the patio doors. "Liz.." he managed to choke out.
Liz looked from her brother to Max, her eyes softening as she whispered "you think maybe you could reveal you're feelings to me before you tell my brother...."
Before you get the sticks out to beat me with, just know that the big reveal is coming in the next chapter, so check back next Sunday
Kat
