Tbehr was nice enough to make both of these for me. Since I couldn't choose between them, I decided to post both.
Title: My Favorite Brunette
Author: Alysia
Category: Alternate Universe, no aliens.
Couple(s): M/L, mention of Ma/Ma, I/A, Mi/M
Summery: In high school, Max and Maria were the ‘it’ couple. Before going away to college, Maria ended things, but it was far from over for Max. He went away to school, but he vowed that he’d get her back sooner or later. After coming home for Christmas and meeting her new boyfriend, his resolve only strengthens. Liz Parker is Max’s closest friend at college, he has no idea that she is in love with him.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters familiar to Roswell.
Prologue
Walking into his room, Max Evans threw himself dejectedly onto his bed. Dinner had been a horrible affair. Everything was going fine, until he had come face to face with Maria Deluca. Then again, it wasn’t so much that seeing his ex-girlfriend had set off the bad mood, more like...it was the person attached to her. Michael Guerin.
Making a face, Max immaturely punched his pillow. What the hell kind of name was Michael, anyway? And didn’t the guy even have enough money for a haircut?! What the hell kind of guy wore his hair long?! Self consciously, Max ran his hand through his shortly groomed hair cut. She’d never been one for guys with longer hair...then again, she always wore her hair so short during high school, it probably wouldn’t have looked right if he had longer hair then her. And light brown hair? Didn’t Maria realize the Michael’s hair was only a shade darker then hers? Between her green eyes and his hazel ones, they looked as though they could have been related.
Turning over, he grumpily grabbed the picture frame from his night table. Reverently, he ran his fingers over the glass above her figure. She was so beautiful. While he always thought she was the most gorgeous girl he’d ever laid eyes on, he had to admit that he liked her with the long hair extensions. It only served to increase the beauty of her features. Her magnetic green eyes became so electric, her large pouty lips only stood out even more so for him.
She had been his every first. Growing up, he’d always had a crush on Maria Deluca. Where she was out going and nice to everyone she came across, he was shy and preferred to keep to himself. The door was opened for him the night of their homecoming dance their freshman year. At the time, he wasn’t the social butterfly that he evolved into. The night that his twin sister and his friends went to the dance, he opted to stay close to the house. He’d gone out to grab a movie to bring home, when he came across Maria. Apparently, her older date had left her when she refused to take things further that night with him. That was it, their beginning. Max spent the rest of the night cheering her up. From that night on, they were together for the rest of their high school career.
He’d been heartbroken when college got in the way of their relationship. Both had received scholarships for separate colleges. Max would have gladly agreed to a long distance relationship, but soon he realized that it wasn’t an option. Maria had refused to send him away while in a steady commitment, in a way, he understood her reasoning behind it. On the other hand, he was in love with her. He couldn’t imagine meeting anyone who could make his heart flutter the way she did whenever she was around.
Getting over Maria. The idea was a foreign concept to him. While he knew that he was still young, he had yet to feel for anyone else what he felt for his first love. After their breakup, he tried to look up to the fact that he would be introduced to an entire new wave of girls, and while he found them attractive, it never felt anything more. It was only after their first phone conversation during the new school year that he vowed to get her back sooner or later.
How hard could it prove to be? He still found himself feeling the same things he felt for Maria when they were together. Surely he couldn’t be the only one... Of course, he hadn’t anticipated on her returning home with a boyfriend. She was essentially introducing her new boyfriend to her old life, a large commitment, or so Max figured. He just hadn’t realized that she moved on so quickly.
A familiar jingle of his cell phone pulled him out of his thoughts. Looking to the id, he rolled his eyes. He’d expected Liz to call, and she never disappointed him. He really wasn’t in the mood to talk to her though, but he knew that if he didn’t answer, she would just continue calling him.
“Hello?”
“Merry Christmas Eve,” Liz Parker greeted in a sin song voice.
Max winced at the cheeriness of her tone. He wasn’t in the mood for her happiness. “Whatever...”
“Ooh, someone’s in a mood,” she clucked, his words not affecting her in the least. “Better be careful Max, or you might find yourself getting nothing but coal tomorrow morning.”
“Aren’t we a little old to be believing in Santa Clause?” He shot back. At this point, the last thing on his mind was presents.
“You’re never too old for a little Christmas spirit,” she chastised simply.
On his end, Max rolled his eyes. Liz Parker and his sister would get along swimmingly. Hell, they already did. Somehow, Liz had managed to worm her way into his life and had developed a nice little friendship with his sister through phone conversations and emails.
“Now...tell me what has you so down.”
“I saw Maria,” Max confessed in a small voice.
“Oh.” Liz paused. She had expected it was something like that. From what she understood, Max and Maria only lived a few miles from one another, the chances that he would bump into her were pretty good.
“Yeah...and she wasn’t alone,” he tossed out.
Liz’s brows furrowed together. “Not alone?” He couldn’t possibly mean that she’d brought someone home to meet the family...wasn’t it too soon? From what Max had told her, they had been together up until that very last day when Max had to leave for college.
“She...has a...” Max couldn’t even force himself to say the words. He had never felt so betrayed in all his life.
“Oh, Max...” she wished she was there to help him feel better. “I’m sorry.” And she really was. From the first moment that she laid eyes on him, she knew that she wanted him in her life. Of course, she would have preferred to have a more prominent role in his life. Although, she had to admit...it wasn’t so bad being left in best friend territory. It could have been worse. He could have...been involved with lots of girls.
“Me too,” he sighed. Not wanting to dwell on the subject, he chose to ask her about her trip home.
Liz snickered. “We’ve been spending time with close friends of the family.”
“That must be fun.”
“Sure...except for the fact that it’s not.” She had yet to divulge her family’s status. More importantly, her reason for going away to college. Her father was trying to secure a business deal, of course...a marriage between herself and said business partner’s son was part of it.
“We’re a pair aren’t we?” Max asked over the phone.
“I’m sorry that Maria managed to rip your heart out and stomp on it once again,” Liz apologized after a pause. She wished more then anything that Max wasn’t so hung up on the girl. She had yet to meet the young woman, but from what she knew, she had grown to hate the name Maria Deluca.
“I’m sorry that your parents are driving you crazy,” he replied sympathetically. Hearing a knock on his door, Max sighed. “I have to go.”
“Okay,” Liz replied on the other side of the line. “In case I don’t have a chance to talk to you tomorrow...have a Merry Christmas.”
“You too,” he wished. “And Liz...thanks for calling.” He hung up without another word. “Come in!” Of all the people that could have walked through the bedroom door, Maria was the last person he suspected to see. He jumped up nervously. “Maria! What are you doing here?” Jerkily, he moved to place a pillow over the picture frame of them.
Self consciously, his former girlfriend stepped further into the room. “I thought that we could...talk.” Briefly, her eyes scanned the room, taking in the differences. Most of it was the way she remembered it being. With a mind of their own, her eyes trained on the might table where Max used to keep a picture of them. When she noticed that it was no longer there, she tried to ignore the sting in her heart. She hadn’t been prepared for the feelings that came rushing back when she saw him that night.
“O...kay,” Max trailed off, not understanding why she was there.
“I...I’m sorry about tonight,” she apologized. “I guess tonight was a bit of a shock,” Maria surmised, referring back to the moment that she and Michael had run into Max. “I want you to know...I didn’t plan on...this thing with Michael, kind of snuck up on me and -”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Max interrupted. “You and I aren’t together anymore, you don’t owe me any explanations.” As far as he was concerned, his night was already ruined. He really didn’t want to dwell on the subject of his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend.
Maria stopped immediately. “Still, I’m sorry that you had to see us,” she replied demurely.
“Eh,” Max played off with a shrug of his shoulders.
“And when you’re single...I can see how callous it looks,” Maria voiced, finding her hands very interesting.
At her words, Max’s head shot up. “Single?” He asked. How would she know his status...unless she was looking him up.
After Max’s call, Maria blushed in embarrassment. “Sorry, I just assumed,” she excused, positive that he was still hung up on her.
“Well, I’m not,” he cried out indignantly. “I have someone back at school, I didn’t invite her home because it’s still kind of new and I didn’t think it was appropriate.”
Maria frowned at his words. “Oh.” She was shocked that she hadn’t heard about this girlfriend. Even though she and Max had been broken up for a few months, she and Isabel kept in contact. She was sure that Isabel would have mentioned it at least once. “What’s her name?”
What was her name? Max looked around his room, his eyes landing on his phone. “Liz,” he answered without thought.
Maria followed his gaze, her frown deepening at the picture of Max and a small brunette on the wall paper of his phone. “Oh, is that her?”
Max nodded.
Maria looked more closely at it. She was sitting his lap, the two of them laughing at something someone had said. Liz was a brunette, Maria pouted. Max had never been one for brunettes. “She’s very pretty.”
Smirking at the look on her face, Max looked down the picture of him and Liz. It was by far his favorite picture. “She is.”
Standing up, Maia pasted a smile on her face. “Well, I should go...” she hedged. “I just wanted to make sure that there were no hard feelings.”
When I started posting this, I didn't think that I'd get this far. I'm really hoping to stick to this and get it out sooner rather than later. This story is actually based off a challenge at RH and the deadline is for the end of July. *Snorts* For some reason, I don't think it'll be finished by then. Story of my life. Oh well, at least you are all enjoying it.