Roswell Fanatics

AN: Just a warning before you read further. Max and Michael do have sex.

Success

The second I see Max's broad smile, I'm glad I took the day off. He must have aced his exam and he's ready to celebrate. We kiss and the fire is scorching. We tear our clothes off and somehow make it to bed. His hard body against mine is the closest to heaven that I've ever been. I taste every inch that he allows me. His mouth, tongue, wisdom teeth, the mole on his pec, his nipples, every ridge on his stomach, the delineation of his muscled thighs, the skin under his balls, the veins in his cock… god, how is it humanly possible for someone to taste this good?

His hands pull at my hair and I want to kiss him but I know if I kiss him, I'll hand over all the control and that's not what I want right this second. Kneeling on the bed, I straighten and look him over. Head to toe. Wild amber eyes to squirming hips. Today is the day. I run my hands up this thighs and slide my fingers from his hipbones to the back of his balls and then, behind.

"Shit!" He screams and spreads his legs wider, letting me see what I want and will touch. I caress the ring of tissue and watch him squirm. Then he's off across the bed and digging through a nightstand drawer. When he hands me the tube, I realize how long he's been wanting this too. At first, he starts to turn over but I stop him. I've been doing my research and rather than have a repeat of last time, I want to do this right. I'm going to have to see his face, watch him when I take him.

Quickly, I slick myself up and then work at getting him ready. As soon as my fingers are inside him, working slowly, he's forgotten all about his confusion. Leaning down, I kiss his erection, sucking just a bit before I rise up to position myself to enter him. I push just the tip in and he gasps… loud. "Ah! Whoa!"

"What?" It's taking all my control not to just ram into him and he's gotta slam on the brakes? His hands clutch at my chest and he arches in front of me. He shifts a little and I slide further in and he stops, breathing hard. Then I realize what he's doing. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" He asks.

"Stop taking control. I'm the one with the control here, Max." I pull out and he's reaching for me, pleading with me. I take his cock in my mouth and suck, hard. Before he can cum, I pull off and lift his hips so I can try again. I move slowly and he's going insane. I work myself in an inch at a time because he is just so damn tight. My hands grip his legs tightly as I go deeper, listening to the litany of curses streaming from his lips, watching his face contort and his body writhe, feeling his body around mine.

Once I'm finally all the way in, I have to stop or risk losing it right then. Max pleads with me to move. He's begging but I have to stay still for just a moment. I've pushed him to the edge and I want to keep him there for awhile. The first thrust makes him bark out a harsh cry. The next succession of thrusts makes him arch and hiss. A few more thrusts and I've lost any control I had.

I cum in a blind heat that blocks my vision until it's over. I lean over him trembling and I don't realize that I cried out until I feel that my throat is hoarse. Max is taking deep breaths and rubbing my stomach. I look down at him and his eyes are closed, his chest heaving, his stomach coated with his own cum. God, if I wasn't so spent, I'd take him again. Gently, I pull out and he makes a little cry.

I lie next to him and he's got his eyes shut still. I watch him carefully and he hisses when he straightens his legs. I can't stop the stab of pride. I did that.

"Shit," he mutters. He turns his head to me. "Was it this uncomfortable for you… afterward?"

I laugh. "You bet it was. That's not a pencil you got there." He actually has the nerve to blush. Just then the door opens and we're blinded by afternoon light.

"Well, I guess I'm not in a bad mood anymore." Liz's voice reaches us as she shuts the door. "Look at the two of you. All naked, hot and sweaty, did I mention naked?" Then she takes a really good look. "Messy and naked."

"I was going to clean it up but if you're still on your protein kick—" She hits me and then leans over me for the wipes in the nightstand. She cleans him up and then looks at me, looking for something to clean up. "I'm just sweaty, Liz."

"Huh." She stares at me, then I see her head tilt as she pulls another wipe from the package. I gasp when the cold wipe hits my cock. "Just cleaning everything up." She weasels her way between us and practically begs for attention.

Max picks up on his cue and curls around her, head against her shoulder. "So, why the bad mood?"

"I failed today's final, too." Liz pouts and I have to kiss her pretty lips. She pushes me away. "mm. As tempting as this is… I have another test today."

"You did fine on your finals." Max hugs her tightly and I try to offer her a little comfort but she doesn't let me. I look at Max and he shrugs slightly. This is a strange development. Max sits up. "I actually have one in about an hour. I should shower and go."

"I see how it is." I tell him. "You come home feeling good, use the stud for some good times and then you're off again."

"Cut it out, stud. I have one more test and then I'm all yours." Max laughs and kisses me. "I'll be back."

After he disappears into the bathroom, I turn to Liz. "So, what's wrong?" She stares at her hands. "Liz. You were in a good mood when you walked in. What's the deal?" More silence. "Liz." Silence. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No." But I heard the 'not yet' in her voice. It feels like a stab in the chest. I have to get out of that bed and put some clothes on. "Michael." I pull on my jeans and a shirt. It's uncomfortable because the sweat hasn't really dried yet. "Michael."

"Liz, what is it?" I bark at her. I can't help it. I do that when I'm scared. I sit on the edge of the bed and then I feel her arms come around me.

"Michael." She sighs. "I'm sorry."

"If this is about the protein crack, I'm sorry."

"It's not that." That knife twists a little deeper. I know what this is about. She squeezes me hard. "He won't be able to take it if you stop talking to him."

"I'm not going to stop talking to him." I tell her. "I promise."

"Do you really promise?" I turn to her to look her in the eyes and she just kisses me. "I'm sorry for the attitude. I guess my mood didn't improve as much as I thought it did."

"Don't start taking your bad days out on me. I don't mix well with displaced anger. Did you really think I was going to take off?" I can't help it. She's made me just a little mad.

"I'm sorry." She slips around me and into my lap, pressing kiss to my neck in that spot and it's just not fair. I try to stick to my guns but she's playing dirty now. And when her hand slides into my pants, that's just plain cheating.

"You're leaving in a little while to take a test. I'm going to be really mad when you leave me hanging." And I will be. It's not fair. She apologizes with her feminine wiles and I get stuck with a hard on when she takes off. She'll only laugh and promise to make it up to me but that's not good enough.

"Ah, look. You made up." Max throws his towel at me. "And I can't walk straight, thank you."

"No problem." I tell him with a grin.

"Oh!" Liz exclaims, bouncing on my lap a little harder than she should. "Is that what I had just missed. Congratulations."

"Thanks?" I shoot Max a look and he just shakes his head. "Go to school. Both of you. You're both teases."

"But I always follow through." Liz takes that opportunity to shove her tongue into my mouth.

"Eventually, you do." I tell her when I catch my breath. "Meanwhile, the two of you go off and you're all intellectual and I'm waiting, alone, thinking of you… and what I'm going to do to you when you get back."

"What's that?" She's excited.

"Unlike you, I don't tease… so I'm not talking." She's not going to like that.

"Fine." She climbs off my lap and stomps over to gather her books. "I'll see you later."

When she slams the door, Max turns to me. "You know she's going to come home hornier than ever, don't you?"

"Yep." I have to smile. I love pushing her buttons. When Max leaves, I change the sheets on the bed and head off to shower. I figure I'll clean up and take a nap and be supercharged for the Tempest Liz when she gets back. I drift to sleep on the clean sheets and realize why Liz insists on it. It feels good.

Doorbell.

Just in my boxers I go to answer it and wish I had checked the peephole first. My eyes widen for a second but then I recover. "Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker. How's it going?"

TBC

One Year

"Michael?" Nancy blinks at me. "What are you doing here?" I can see the cogs in her head working. "Where's Liz?"

"She's taking a test, I think." I tell her without moving from the doorway.

"Nice to see you, Michael." Jeff tells me and then looks at my shorts. "There a reason you're in your underwear in my daughter's apartment?"

"Oh." I pretend to have just noticed my state. "Right. Liz's place is closer than mine and Max's to where I work. She lets me shower here, take a nap when I have two shifts real close together." I finally step back and let them in. "Just hang on a minute."

I grab the clothes I had been planning to wear from the table and grab the phone. I duck into the bathroom and dial quickly while I jump into my pants. "Liz, your folks are here. When you get this message, they'll have been here for a while. Hurry."

I leave the same message on Max's phone and then step out into the apartment. Nancy is inspecting for dust and Jeff is hunkered down in front of the TV. "Michael, does she get any channels?"

"She only cares about PBS." I shrug and help him adjust the rabbit ears. "If I fiddle with this stuff, I get hockey once in a while. Our set sucks."

"Were you sleeping?" Nancy asks casually.

"Yeah, I was. Early shift at the diner." I lie and rake a hand through my hair. "I've got a shift at the body shop down the street in about two hours."

"Have you eaten?" Jeff turns to me. "We were going to take Liz to lunch. We're in town for a convention. Don't think we'll stick around though. How far is the campus from here?"

"Not far, actually. There's a bus down the street. Every hour on the half hour. She takes that straight to the college and back." I nod and pretend this stuff is common knowledge.

"Was that Max's jeep in the parking lot?" Nancy crosses her arms.

"He parks it here during the day, parking on campus is killer. They're obsessed. His last class is after hers. They do the lovebird thing for a while and then he heads home to study. Like I said, this place is closer than ours." Where is this stuff coming from? I am totally pulling it out of my ass. The stuff about the parking being killer and the bus route is true but everything else is really hot air.

"Isn't Liz a sweetie?" Jeff smiles broadly.

"Oh yeah." I'm going to be sick. Half an hour later, Liz waltzes into the apartment about to say something monumentally stupid, so I prevent it. "Humanoid, the parental units have been waiting."

"Shut up." She glares, immediately stepping into role. We don't have this choreographed or anything but we do have a code. Liz is Humanoid. Max is Studmuffin. Hey, Mr. Evans thought that was a riot when Max's ears turned pink. I… well I have no one to answer to but assuming Maria pops up and Liz is the one who's home, I am Static Klingon. I can't even remember who made that one up… or why but later someone's getting an ass kicking for it.

Max must have gotten the message because here we go, off for lunch, without him. It's not really comfortable. Mrs. Parker keeps giving me this look that says she hasn't forgotten that kiss last spring. Liz and I are irritating each other for her parents' benefit. Thing is, it's getting to me. Bickering with Liz turns me on and I can't take much more of this. I'm never so glad when my 'shift' rolls around and I take off. So much for my day off. I can't even chill by myself at home. I don't know what Max is doing but I'm doomed to wander the neighborhood in search of something to do.

I visit the music store, Liz is always trying to get me to expand my musical tastes but the guy behind the counter annoys me and I can only take so much before I gotta leave. I head to the library but I've got too many overdue books to even think about checking anything out. I go to that stupid pizza place near campus to get something to drink and those assholes that Max knows are there and they want to chat. I knew I didn't like those guys. I know that finals are officially over or whatever but it's four in the afternoon and they are all drunk.

"Mikey!" They yell. "Come on over. I gotta ask you something." One of those guys that was at the apartment before.

"What?" I ask, refusing their beer and sticking to my coke.

"You gotta tell me the deal with the hottie you live with." What was his name? Steve?

"What about her?" I don't like this. I already know that I don't like this.

"So uh… she the free-lovin' type or what?" See. I knew I didn't like this. But I didn't foresee my fist meeting his nose either.

"What the fuck you do that for?" His nose is spurting blood into his beer but I am beyond caring.

"You know what. You aren't welcome in my apartment anymore. Max invites you over again and you politely decline. You are not to look at Liz, speak to her or even think of her, you got that?" I'm pissed. I hate these fucking college preppies.

"God, you don't gotta punch me because the girl is a slut." You think the guy would learn. Gave him a black eye to match his nose. I love it when the manager pretends he doesn't see anything. Max said the guy was cool but this is awesome. "Fuck!"

"I don't know where you were raised but I was raised to treat and talk about the ladies a little different. If you call her a slut again… I'll blacken the other eye."

"Fag." He thought he muttered it, didn't he? I hit him again.

"Two black eyes and a broken nose. You want a busted lip to go with that?" I ask him. I really hate this guy. His buddies are just watching in stunned silence. "I think you're going to keep your mouth shut from now on. You'll realize you deserved this."

--

I make my way home after nightfall and just pray that Liz's parents are gone. Max and Liz are lying on the bed, barely clothed. They're doing that thing where just being is good. "Where are the parents?"

"Hotel." Liz answers and rolls to face me. I feel her eyes on my body and I gotta admit, I like it. I sit on the bed and touch her face. Then I realize my mistake. "Michael? What happened to your knuckles?"

"Nothing." Then Max joins in. He looks my hand over and then looks up at me. "Ran into a couple of your friends from school." He nods. I knew he knew they were jerks. "No big deal."

"Did you get into a fight?" Liz glares.

"Is there something wrong with defending a lady's honor?" Then she gets it. She kisses my bruised knuckles. "And a man's…" I look at Max and he looks away. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking it'd be nice not to hide. Steve is just…"

"So you knew it was Steve." I can't believe Max sometimes. Yeah, it was kinda nice the other night to be with both of them and not worry about hiding it. He just didn't pick the right guys to out us to.

"He was not so subtle about it at last session." Max shrugs a little. He reaches over and tugs on my jeans. "Too many clothes. Come to bed."

"It's early. I was gonna watch the game." They groan. "What?"

"Come on. Lay with us." Liz pleads. "One rule. Underwear only."

I don't know what they're up to but I do as told. I just want to watch the game until I fall asleep. The way we just lay there reminds me of that motel so long ago… but was it really? A year. It's only been a year that the three of us have been together. Liz is between me and Max, her hand curled around my thigh, leaning against me. Her other hand is intertwined with Max's and he's just staring at us. It feels good. Better than I have words for. I guess this is how we spend our anniversary. Just being. No worries about jerks like Steve, rent, tuition or what to do tomorrow to dodge the Parkers. Here's to Year One.

The End

I think this is the last part I got up before I vanished for a while. Next week is all new everywhere. '-)

Author: DMartinez
EMail: shockerdm@icqmail.com
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Metz, Katims and UPN. No infringement intended.
Rating: ADULT
Category: Max/Michael/Liz
Series: Beloved Unloved

Stage Fright

Sex is really frustrating. Not the waiting for it or anticipation or doing it. It's deciding to do it in a threesome. You can't really just flow and let things happen. One on one is simpler. Max and I get busy and sometimes he's on top, sometimes I'm on top. Sometimes we both get off, sometimes just one of us. With Liz, it's pretty much a guarantee that I'm going to get off and then work my ass off to get her off. Still, there's flow. Things can just happen. Right now… nothing's flowing and nothing can just happen.

"Michael, relax." Max prompts me. Yeah, I'd like to see him relax. We have to have a game plan every time the three of us get it on at once. It's like a sandwich. Ham sandwich… ham goes in the middle. There is always something between the two slices of bread. Someone always has to be the meat and I'm not comfortable being the meat. It's too much attention and I can't stand it. "Michael."

"No." I get up and find my shorts. It's not working.

"Michael…" Liz pouts. I hate it when she pouts like that. I just want make her stop and I'll do anything she wants. Damn the pout. "Come on, Michael… come back to bed… We'll make you feel really good."

Damn the pout. Damn it to hell. I turn with a glass of water and just… glare at the two of them. It's hell. I've died and I'm in hell. Gorgeous naked people are trying to get me into bed to have their wicked ways with me and I can't stand all the attention. When the hell did sex get all emotional on me?

"Michael? What's wrong?" God, Max is pleading. Don't make that tone. I have to turn away. I'm hard. I am turned on because the last time the three of us got it on, Max was the meat. He was inside Liz and I was inside Max. To tell the truth, it was some kind of twisted fight over him. No feelings got hurt but it was like we were trying to best each other as we simultaneously made love to him. The two of us put him out of commission for days to follow.

The time before that it was Liz. She's still working her way through her sexual exploration but she doesn't need two cocks to be the center of attention. She just needs the four hands strategically placed. One mouth here, one mouth there. Hell, she can fall apart without actually having sex. That's usually good enough for me, too.

Silence fills the air and it's a little disturbing. I can feel what they're thinking and it, this, has nothing to do with them or how much I love them. It's hard enough to have one insecure significant other but to have two… Hell. All they want to do is please me and I just can't be the object of any intense scrutiny. It's different when I watch them fall apart in my arms… I can't be the one to fall apart. I can't come unglued for any reason. I just… I can't.

I'm the protector. I take care of them in ways they don't think about. They take care of me in ways I wouldn't care about. I could live in a cardboard box if it pointed to a window with a view of a hockey game. Liz washes my clothes and feeds me well. Max makes sure the bills are paid and money is well invested. I look after their reps. I reconnoiter well. They make sure we live in the style they're used to. I could care less so long as we're together.

I can't be the one that gets the limelight. Maybe I'm not programmed that way. Max will be a great doctor and Liz will be a famous scientist and I will be their loser friend that makes sure those egos don't fly away. When I peer over my shoulder, Liz is staring at the wall and Max is spooning her. I didn't mean to cool the air like that but I can't do that yet. Seeing them so despondent really gets under my skin. I set down the glass and find my clothes. I don't even look up when I feel Max's eyes on me. I opened the door and call over my shoulder. "I need air."

I walk and take a bus. I'm in Las Cruces by the time I really realize what I've done. I'm tired and it's four in the morning. There is only one thing for me to do. I call Maria.

--

Maria is less than happy when I finally show up at the dorm. She shoves a pillow and blanket at me and points to the couch. So, here I am listening to her bitch to Liz about what an inconsiderate asshole I am. It's just after dawn when she sits on my feet. It's half an hour before she speaks to me and my feet have said goodnight a good while ago. "You got into a fight with your girlfriend?"

"Not really."

"Liz said maybe it was because the person you've been seeing… that something happened between you."

"It's not her. It's me." I cover my face with the pillow and she yanks it off.

"Why'd you come here?"

"I don't know." I listen for her roommate but apparently she didn't need to be anywhere early. "I can't talk about it with Max and Liz. They don't understand."

"Why?"

"Because they have no shame. They love being lavished with attention. I'd rather blend and protect. It's what I do."

"You ran away because you're getting lavished with attention?" Maria laughs and it stings a little. "Deal with it, Spaceboy. People, especially girls, like to make their significant others feel special and loved. Normal people like to feel special and loved."

"Look, I'll get some rest and be out of your hair." I can't sleep until she gets off my feet. "I don't have anyplace to go in Santa Fe."

"Okay. I’m gonna get ready. I've got an early class. Stick around for however long. Number to the bus station is by the phone. Feel free to use my student discount and credit card. You can pay me back later."

I pretend to be asleep when she rushes out of the dorm. I pretend to be asleep when her roommate finally wanders out of her room. I pretend to not notice the phone ringing. I am bored out of my mind by the time Maria comes back. She picks up the phone on the tenth ring. "Hey… no, no. He's still here…" Maria puts the phone down. "Liz wants to talk to you. She sounds really upset."

"I don't want to talk to her right now."

"She said it's important. I can't understand a word she said. Something about static and tribbles…"

"Klingons?" I sit up. When Maria shrugs I leap up to get the phone. "Liz? What’s wrong?"

"Michael, come home."

"What happened?"

"I've been trying to call all day. My parents decided to make the trip again only this time… we were still in bed when they came."

"Still asleep or…"

"Or."

I shut my eyes. This is bad. Liz is crying, so her parents must have raked her over the coals… or Max and Mr. Parker got into it. If they had, Max was still in a rage and Liz would be calling because she couldn't talk to anyone. "I'm coming."

"Hurry."

"Be about 5 hours, Liz."

"Just get here." I hang up the phone and pick it up again to call the bus station. While I'm waiting, Maria comes at me with a furrowed brow. "Liz's folks showed up this morning. They walked in on them doing it."

"Oh no."

"Yeah. There's a bomb to diffuse." I took a breath and made my deal for the next bus. I wouldn't be home for another 6 hours. "Thanks for the couch. I gotta get back."

"Michael, why do they need you?"

"Liz and I got close. She needs a friend."

"So… why didn't she ask me?"

"You ain't been there. You don't know." I shrug. It's mean but it's kinda the truth. "Thanks for all the stuff. Talk to you, sometime." She watches me leave with arms crossed and I feel guilty for running. It makes everything worse.

--

"He's still gone. I don't know where he went." Liz bombards me as soon as I make it in the door. Her parents are nowhere to be seen. "Michael…"

"Sh. It's okay." I ache for her. "How long has he been gone?"

"Since my dad chased him out." She clings to me, so I guide her to the bed to sit. "Mom and Dad left a couple of hours ago for the hotel. Michael… I'm worried… I don't know what's going on."

I hold her for a long time. When the door opens, we expect to see Max with his head hanging but he's got a bright smile on his face. "Liz, it's all okay. I was just talking to your dad…"

"Did he threaten you?" Liz gasps out. She's shaking and I try my best to warm her up.

Max is glowing. "I went over to the hotel and we had a talk. I asked him permission to ask you to marry me."

Liz and I are both stunned. I feel a little sucker-punched but it doesn't even occur to Max to feel like he's put his foot in his mouth. Liz looks at me and I feel as if she's asking my permission to accept.

"I know we haven't talked about it but… it would make things so much easier." Max is bouncing off the walls and I want to slap the smile off his face.

"It's sudden, Max." Is all she can say.

"It's okay." Max and that damn smile. "He made me promise to wait a year. He still doesn't like the living arrangement but as long as I swear that I'll make an honorable woman of you, he's willing to overlook."

"Congratulations." I whisper and head off to the bathroom. I should be happy, right? My best friends, my lovers are getting engaged to be engaged and it should be happy, happy time… so why do I feel like I've been stabbed in the gut?

TBC later this week

Mending Fences

So, it's my turn to be a bitch. Max has no clue what's going on and I think Liz has tried to talk to him but Max's ears are not as open as they are big. I can't eat, or sleep. I've got three jobs now to keep myself busy. Between the shop, the café and the gym… I don't have time for Max. Liz is pulled tight in the middle but I can't even overcome my anger to talk to him.

"Hey handsome. Fries come with that shake?" Liz. Cornball, what can I say?

"You gotta pay for the fries but the shake is free." I drop a kiss on her lips and hold up my pen. "We're short today. I get to work both."

"Poor baby." She pouts and reluctantly orders. "Soup, sandwich. You know what I like… and Max will be here in twenty."

"Liz." The woman is infuriating.

"Michael, he doesn't know what he's done wrong and you have to tell him. I can't do it for you." She's damn annoying when she's right. "Stop avoiding him."

"Yeah, yeah. What soup did you want?"

--

When Max walks in, I'm in the kitchen fixing an order. He and Liz talk and then he's shaking his head and arguing with her. Obviously, we're not seeing eye to eye with anyone these days. It's been a couple of weeks but I can't calm down and apparently neither can he. I fix his lunch and mine before taking my break to join them. We eat in silence for a few minutes before Max explodes. "You know, I don't see where you should be the one that's angry. It wasn't you got left in bed so I could cross the state to see my ex."

That's it. It's done. I turn to Liz. "This is the bullshit I can't deal with."

--

Walking in the door, Max is the one still awake. "I didn't know, Michael."

"Bout what?" There's no telling what he thinks he knows.

"You just left and when I found out you were at Maria's…" Of course, that's what Max worrying himself about. Maria's a non-issue but Center-of-the-Universe is worried that I’m still being flighty.

"So, now we know why you're mad." I'm bitter and bitchy… shut up.

"Liz said something about what I talked to her dad about. Why are you so pissed?"

"Think about it, genius. You and Liz get married and where does that leave me? You think your parents or her parents aren't going to get suspicious when I move into the newlywed home? Thanks for your brilliant idea, Maxwell."

“It’s supposed to make things easier.” Max protests but I can see that the holes in his logic have just been laid out like a minefield. “Less sneaking around, less stress…”

“For you and Liz. Not for me. It makes everything harder for me.” I lower my voice when Liz starts to wake up. I’m angry but I can’t remember what exactly I’m angry for… so, I make it about everything. “You go and do shit like this and it affects more than just you and Liz. Yeah, I took off. I ran to Maria but just to get away for a moment. I slept on her couch and had to put up with her abuse because she thinks I still want her. Maybe I can’t just let go of everything the way you have but that’s what protects us and now you’ve gone and screwed it up with this engagement business.”

“It’s not supposed to.”

“This is a partnership and how is that going to stay equal if you two get married? If the two of you get benefits that I don’t, how is that going to work?” Max is scared. He’s afraid that I’m going to leave for good. I’ve considered it but that’s not what I’m telling him. I can’t live with the pressure anymore. There’s too much pressure to perform a certain way and you don’t pile a VW Beetle like you would a Mack truck and expect it to run the same way. This is entering serious territory and I don’t think Max has taken anything seriously up to this point.

“Are you forbidding us to get married?”

“No.” I back away. “That is entirely up to you and Liz. I’m just saying that I’m odd man out again and I hate it.” Max clams up and calms down. “I’m always on the outside looking in, Maxwell. I fuck up. I do. I know that but… this… this is going to change everything and I don’t think I can cope.”

Max just sits on the bed nodding his head. I have to go clean up. I smell like cooked flesh and I don’t feel like getting yelled at by Liz for stinking up the bed.

--

When I wake up, Liz is laying on top of me. I hold her to me and she sighs. The rest of the bed is empty but Max was probably a bed hog again and that's how she ended up here. "You don't have class?"

"Not today. Not leaving you today." She murmurs. She nuzzles my chest, which of course starts my motor revving. "Happy Birthday."

Damn. It is. "Yeah. Thanks."

She sits up and pulls off the little tank she always wears to bed. I got into this for Max but now it's the sight of her body that drives me crazy. The mole over her left breast, the way her nipples stand out when she's aroused. The way her stomach curves. If she knew that the sight of her belly button drove me crazy, I'd be a dead man. Those shirts would get shorter and I'd die of exhaustion in this bed. "Do you love me?"

"Yeah." I nod, eyes drinking in every inch of soft flesh sitting on my stomach. "Do I get a present?"

"Uh. Yeah." She smiles and points to the ribbons on her panties. "These are functional. You have to unwrap your present. It's one of those annoying human rituals."

"This is one I can get behind."

"Behind?" She arches an eyebrow at me. "Is that how the birthday boy wants it? I was planning on saving you the work." Her hips thrust against me suggestively.

"Well, you are the gift giver. Who am I to argue?" I pull at the ribbons and the panties fall off. I laugh. She's trimmed herself for me. "M for Michael?"

"Good boy."

"I appreciate that but… I'm not…" I can't have sex with her with that there. M is for Michael but M is also for Max and I'm not speaking to Max.

"It's too late, buddy. It's done." She pulls away to get rid of my shorts. "I worked hard on that."

"Effort appreciated." I reach down and do a little fixing. "I don’t need that. Just you." When she sinks down on me, I can't breathe for a minute. She takes her time, adjusting to me. She moves so slow. Her hips moving, her thighs sliding. She barely looks like she's moving but I can feel every slight move. She squeezes me inside her. My mouth goes dry watching her. She can see right through me, I'm certain of it. I'm about to come, not from what she's physically doing to me so much as what I'm feeling as she's looking down on me.

My breathing picks up and suddenly I feel as if I've just climaxed… except that I'm still hard and Liz never stopped moving. I hold her still for a moment. "What?" She tilts her head, eyes full of concern. "Michael?"

I catch my breath and guide her. This time she's not as gentle and that is just fine too. "Yes." Did I say that out loud? She bends over me, her hair falling all around us. I let my hands fall down around her ass, just feeling the flesh move under my hands. Up her back, her ribs… She's so thin these days. I grip her shoulders. Her eyes close and by the expression on her face, I know she's close. I arch to get just that much closer. We come together, hard. In the middle of that, I hear the door open and I can't give it another thought. I'm busy. Finally, she kisses me. It's almost enough to get me hard again.

"I thought you had class."

She groans into my mouth. My birthday. I'm priority number one today. "She's busy."

"Yeah, I can see that."

I know why I'm irate but Liz is pissed off. She gets off me and throws a pillow at Max. He barely has time to duck but it hits a shelf and five books land on his head. "God, Max! Do you even know what today is?" I can't look. I don't want to know. There's a long silence but my eyes are on the ceiling. I hear rustling and then it's a hard body that's next to me and I hate myself for loving it when I'm still so pissed at him. "See, that's better. Today… the rink is closed for a private party."

"What?" I open my eyes and have to look over Max's head to see Liz. "You mean?"

"How does an evening alone on the ice sound?" She pulls a hockey stick out of the closet. How did she keep me from seeing it in there? She eyes us. "If you need company… I'm sure Max will hit the puck with you… maybe the two of you can work out some of this tension."

--

Liz cooks me lunch. I eat. I share some with Max. I'm just excited about the rink. Fresh ice just for me. I think I'm in heaven. The smell of the ice gets me high. I can't be angry because this is mine. I push off and just listen to the scraping for a minute. When I turn, Max is wobbling on his skates. "Ankles straight, Maxwell. You control the skates, the skates do not control you."

It takes him a moment but he gets the hang of it. Liz is sitting this one out. She's bundled up in my sweatshirt, sipping hot chocolate. She smiles at me and throws a puck over the glass, I speed toward it and shoot it toward my goal. "Score one for the birthday boy."

"Doesn't count. I didn't know we were playing." Max tosses back at me, his eyes twinkling.

"Consider it my birthday freebie." I skate circles around him. "Are we playing or what?"

TBC in a couple of days.

Exploring

I can still taste Max in my mouth when he's going down on me. Liz's teeth scrape my nipples. We've been rolling around in bed, teasing each other and not letting one another come. I don't know who started this demented game but they'll be the last ones to come tonight. I pull her up against me, taking her mouth, moaning when Max pulls hard on me. I have to taste everything. Her neck, her breasts, those tight, hard little nipples. I barely feel Max move so I can push Liz onto her back. All I can feel are her hands in my hair pushing me down. She so thin I can count her ribs with my tongue.

I slide down, my tongue dragging across her flesh. I dip into her belly button and she moans, arches. I lave my tongue all over that little feminine bump before I move down to her curls, which thankfully she hasn’t thought to trim into anything interesting lately. I dive in. I lick from bottom to top, slide between those soft folds, swirl around her little nub. I have to hold her hips down. I love the way she moans when she feels good. She spreads wide for me, her feet bracing on my shoulders. Listening to her respond makes me so hard I buck into the mattress. Then I feel Max's hands on my back.

I feel Liz stretch but I'm busy. It hits me like a truck. This is the first time one of us has gone down on Liz and intended to finish the job. I attack her with new ferocity, which she appreciates. How can she taste so good? I can't describe the taste except as Liz. Her cries grow even as I feel Max lubing me up. When did he get that? I never felt him move. I can feel him throbbing against me. Then oh… I love that first push. Max always just lingers there, pumping until I'm ready. Then he's inside. My breathing picks up and I have to stop for just a second. Her nails in my hair get me back on track.

My tongue dips inside, circles around that inner ring that she squeezes. Max pulls out and pushes back in. Liz bucks against my face. "Yes! Michael!"

I try to concentrate on Liz. I manage to get my fingers into play. I tease her hard nub with my teeth. Then Max gets a good rhythm going. Shit. Shit. He's got my cock in his hand. Shit. Come, Liz, come now. Good, she's trembling, she's close and so am I.

"Oh God." She's crying. I suck, I lick, I bite. I suck harder. She comes with a low moan. I keep it up until she comes down. Then I break for much needed air as Max sends me there. My eyes crack open and all I see is Liz's heaving body. I come all over Max's hand, he comes a beat later. Max releases me. Liz cleans me up. They tricked me, the bastards. Liz smiles up at me before she kisses me. Screw it. They're forgiven. We let Max into the kiss. They push me onto the bed. Liz breaks for air first. "See, it can feel good to be in the middle."

"Shut up." I tell her around Max's mouth. I know what he's doing. He's tasting Liz and getting turned on again.

"Thank you for that." Liz whispers in my ear. My heart actually swells. I did good… and I did it for someone else. "How did it feel?"

"Good. Full. Really good." I tell her.

"I meant… everything." She smiles at me. How can a revealing of teeth make my heart beat like this?

"Like… silk… like honey… like… fire." I watch her eyes dilate and I feel a stirring again. Max is funny. You'd think he didn’t just screw my brains out. He sitting there, staring at us with a hard on, waiting for us to finish like the polite boy he is.

"We're going home for Christmas." Max tells us. "I'm trying to get in as much time as possible before we're three weeks pretending we're not this."

That's a sore spot. Liz kicks him for it. "Shush." Good girl.

"Am I even going?" I ask. "Where am I going to stay? What excuse do we have for me going?"

"Michael…" Liz starts.

"You're coming with me. Mom wants you to come." Max tells me and falls practically on top of me.

"Mom know about the sleeping arrangement?"

"Not as such but she wouldn't bat an eye if you crashed in my room."

"It's the sleeping in the same bed that I bet will cause her concern."

Max looks to Liz and shrugs. "We're two young men, secure in our manhood…"

"Who are actually sleeping together." Liz points out. "She might get a little concerned about it."

"We'll just have to keep our hands off each other."

"Hey, at least you two can be in the same house. I'm going to be at my parents and you know they haven't let go of the fact Max asked them for my hand."

"Hey, we'll find some place to be alone." I reassure them. "We managed before."

"When we had your place as fall back." Max points out.

“It’ll be fine.” Liz tells us. She’s good at making me feel good. We just lay there, ignoring our raging desires for a while. It feels really good.

“Isabel will know. Maybe I shouldn’t stay there.” I say finally.

“She won’t know.” Max shakes his head.

“She will.” Liz and I say at the same time.

Liz snuggles up next to me. “I’ll ask dad if you can crash on the couch. He loves you.”

“Your mom hates me. She’ll want to know why I’m not staying with Max.”

“All of Max’s family is going to be there. My folks will welcome another face. I promise.” Liz does it again. She makes me feel good. We’ll figure it out. I can’t not go with them for Christmas. The idea of staying in this apartment all by myself is not as appealing as it seems when these two are in study mode. I nod to her and she squeals. “So… what to do with this day without responsibilities.”

I can think of a few things.

The END.

All new parts are posted. I'm proud of me. No promises on Section 6. '-)

Hehe... I almost forgot to post this. I'm sorry.

Author: DMartinez
Email: shockerdm@icqmail.com
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Metz, Katims and UPN. No infringement intended.
Rating: ADULT
Category: Mi/M/L

Bells Will Be Ringing…

Isabel. She's the Christmas Nazi. Hilter would have loved to have Isabel in the Third Reich. They may have won the war with her on their side. She's got me and Max hanging extra Christmas lights around her parents' house, not to mention stapling fake snow on the roof. "I don't know what they were thinking. We have a reputation for our lights. Every year without fail."

"You didn't enter the contest… you never do but you always do this." Max grumbles from the other side of the house where he's stapling fake snow to the shingles.

"I heard you." She calls up.

"Maybe they were thinking… 'Hey, the Nazi went to college, we don't have to do the lights this year.'" I glare at her but she ignores me. Max and I are toiling away on the roof in the bitter desert cold and she's on the ground with a thermos of hot chocolate. It's not fair and I don't know how she does this to me every time.

"Maria said you were seeing someone."

I look at Max, who looks back. We're too tired to manage even a smirk at that. "When did you talk to Maria?"

"That girl needs to broaden her circle of friends." Isabel makes a face at us. "She calls me at least once a week to 'catch up'. I thought that once you broke it off with her she would… I don't know… disappear… stop considering me a friend or something. I don't like her. I don't know what you ever saw in her."

"Yeah. What's up with that?" Max taunts me. He's still bitter about my indiscretion and I can't blame him. It was a really dick move on my part.

"Hey. I've dropped her. I'm not the one who brought her up."

"Liz isn't here. I can't blame her unless I do it to her face. She should really call Maria more often… then maybe she'd stop calling me. If I change my number… you guys are not obligated to give it to her… understand?"

"Yes, ma'am." Max nods.

"Hey, she doesn't call me." I mutter under my breath.

"Michael… you're uneven on your side. Straighten it out… about 15 degrees."

"Heil." I groan.

"I heard that."

"You're gonna piss her off." Max warns. Too late for that. I can feel her fuming. Her foot is tapping just enough to make that annoying noise in the grass.

"Hey! You changed the subject. I asked if you were seeing someone." Dammit.

"Can't we talk about this when I'm not sitting on the top of a two story building?"

"No." That foot gets going faster. "Max… is it serious?"

"Yes. It's very serious." He answers. "He's very much in love. He's going to propose in the Rose Garden on their next weekend in D.C. The diamond's huge. Looks like an iceberg. They're planning on having seven kids."

"You're not funny." Isabel gripes and sips her cocoa. I can feel her eyes boring into my back. "I'm gonna find out. You might as well tell me."

"She's hot. Poses for Playboy… but she reads to sick children at the hospital in her free time." Max goes on. He punctuates his sentences with staples to the roof. I love him. "Michael promised to buy her a pony for their ranch in Arizona."

"Michael, are you going to tell me or not?"

"My silence should have been taken as not." I tell her and make my way to the ladder. Max and I are done. Isabel can throw her fit. I'm cold. My knees hurt and I miss Liz. When I look at Max, he's got the same look in his eyes. We've got to get away.

"Oh… I'm sorry…" Isabel bursts in, throwing her arms around me. "Did she just break up with you? I didn't know. Maria just blabbed it out…"

"No big." I shrug. "I'm not looking to get… involved with anyone new." I phrase it as well as I can and it seems like Max appreciates the effort. "Gonna go take a nap."

I leave them to clean up the mess. I feel bad about it but Isabel is still talking. "Max, was it really serious? I mean… he didn't even say anything to me about someone new in his life."

"You know Michael… he didn't even really mean to say anything to Maria."

"I got that. She griped on and on about how he couldn't open up to her but he's dating someone over there who doesn't even know… I mean… is he really just playing the field?"

"Michael doesn't play the field. He finds someone and he tries to do right…"

"Is that what that was about? He broke up with her? To… spare her?"

"He's got… intimacy issues. He's working on it. Don't worry about him. Liz and I are watching out for him."

"It's good that he went with you guys… Mom and Dad talked to the Parkers." Isabel laughs at him. "Did they really walk in on you guys?"

"We didn't hear the knock and they heard Liz… calling out. We… forgot to lock the door."

"Okay. I get it."

I feel bad and walk back over to pick up the box they just loaded up. I drop it off in the garage on my way into the house. When I meet them in the kitchen for juice, Isabel is just staring at me. "What?"

"Who reprogrammed you? You're helpful and even though you complain, you still help. You never used to do that. The helping part, I mean."

"I do a lot of things I never used to do." I tell her and Max loses a mouthful of orange juice all over the counter.

"Max! I just washed those." Isabel scoffs at him and waves her hand to get rid of the freshly spewed oranges.

"Sorry." Max tries to calm down but he wants to look at me and if he does, we'll both lose it. "I… have to change my shirt."

Isabel inspects the counter for more juice and eyes me. "I thought you were going to take a nap."

"I'm getting there." I tell her.

"Hey Michael…" She's got an expression on her face. One I'm not used to seeing. Isabel is nervous, which has never been a good thing. This kind of nervous has me wanting to find a quick way out of the kitchen. "I uh… met this guy…"

"And… I'm sure you meet them everywhere… guys being about half the population of the earth." She looks afraid. "Spit it out, Iz." She glances at the hallway to the staircase and motions for me to sit with her. "Iz?"

"I really like him… a lot."

"And?"

"A lot, Michael."

"How long have you known him?"

"Met him the first day there. We kind of flirted for a month but we've been dating and I… I think he's special." She smiles but it's careful, like she doesn't want me to know how much she likes him or how special he is to her. "It feels right."

"And?" I can't think. I'm afraid for her. I'm happy for her. I'm… I don't know what I am. "Iz?"

"Come to San Francisco?" She pleads. "Meet him. Tell me what you think?"

Dammit. Dammit. "When do you want us to come?"

"Not Max. Just you. Once I get your approval, then I'll work on Max." Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit! I don't want that kind of responsibility. "Please? Michael." Don't make those eyes at me, dammit! "Michael…"

"Fine. I'll go. I'll think of something to tell him after we get back. He's not gonna like it."

"Good. Thank you…" She's still got that look on her face. "There's just this one other thing. If Max finds out… I'm not even sure what he's going to think and I don't know what you're going to think but I have to talk to someone and I already know Maria is not the person to talk to about this." I wait. She's scared. What can I do? "Can I ask you a question? Do you promise that you won't take any insult by it?"

"Insult?"

"To your manhood…" She lowers her voice even more, eyes darting again to the doorway.

"Ask your question. I make no promises on anything."

"I think I love Jamie… I do…" She takes a deep breath. "But sometimes… I…"

I'm scared now. She's scaring me by being so upset over whatever it is. It's freaking me out. "Just… tell me."

"Sometimes I feel this… pull to other people… like I could have the same kind of connection to them that I know I have with Jamie… Have you ever had that?"

"I guess…"

"I mean… it's not just like… I meet a guy and we hit it off and go off to make out… it's like… I feel this attraction to these… people… girls, too." She stops there and her eyes get big and I don't know what to do with the information. When it's me having my own sexual crisis, I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to tell Isabel? She doesn't know about us and I don't know if she suspects.

"You mean you're like… attracted to women? Like… lesbian or something?"

"It's not women… like all women. Just… this girl I met… who happens to be a lesbian… and thinks she might really love me…" Isabel stutters over the information, playing with one earring. "It's… happened before… here, the attraction part, but I didn't let myself because words gets around and… But over there… at college… I don't have to worry about Max seeing me or someone telling Mom… I don't even know what my dad would do… Sometimes it just… feels so right that I feel it on another level… in another part of me… Like maybe I'm supposed to be this way. That I was like… built… this way… like back Home." She stresses that word so we both know exactly where she means at it's not this little house on Murray Lane. "Things were different… up there."

"What?" That thought scares me. It's one thing to be a bisexual human being but to be a bisexual alien is a whole other ball park and… I don't know.

"When I think about the memories that I do have of… Home… I get this idea that maybe there weren't definite sexes up there and maybe we got kind of… screwed when we were forced into human female and male bodies. Think about it, Michael… in his alien form… did Nasedo have any genitalia?"

"No." I shake my head at that. I never thought about it. I just assumed they were built differently, not that things worked differently. It would explain a lot. It really would. I look to the doorway and wonder for a bit why Max hasn't come back yet but I'm a little glad he hasn't.

"Michael." She waves her hand in front of my face. "I mean, tell me I'm crazy if you want. I almost want you to. I know you're all macho and I don't want to insult your manhood or disgust you like I did Maria when I tried… I just…"

"No… it's okay. I mean… I'm okay… I… know what you're talking about." The words are coming out and I feel like I should stop them but I really, really need to tell someone. Like Max did at school. I think I understand now why he did it.

"You do?" She does that thing where it looks like she's going to cry and laugh at the same time. "Don't play with me, Michael. I'm… dead serious about this. Can you… I mean… it would really help if you could find out if Max… never mind. Don't ask him."

"I don't have to ask him. I know." He's going to kill me but this is more important.

"Why didn't he tell me?" She bursts out. "I've been struggling with this on my own. It's taken me forever to build up the courage to talk to you. This has been going on since… my God! Forever and you two have discussed this? Were you going to talk to me about it?" She's actually crying now and I can't undo this. "Has he forbidden us to act on it? Has he gone and ordered you to keep it in your pants if you're attracted to a man? Is that why you looked at him that way in the driveway? Did he break you and your guy up?"

"Hold on!" I bark. She's hysterical and she's so upset that she can't see straight. I can tell her eyes aren't focusing anymore. "Look… we didn't say anything because we thought it was just us… alright?"

"Okay. Fine." She takes a few deep breaths and wipes at her eyes. "Did he tell Liz?"

"She knows." I nod.

"Is she okay with it?" The test. Do I go all the way with this or only as far as will make her stop asking me about this. "Michael? If Max is keeping us from being happy because she doesn't like it…"

"It's not that."

"Then tell me something. Why… I mean… Tell me. How did she take it?"

"Pretty well. It was hard at first but… it was really weird but she's completely fine with it now."

"What?" Isabel stares at me. "Completely fine as in… she's okay with Max dating guys on the side or… completely fine as in Max is not to act on those urges if he wants her in his life?"

"Max doesn't… date guys… plural. You know him better than that."

"Then, tell me Michael… tell me everything. You're there. I'm not."

"Like I said. It was weird at first and it took a lot of work to get her to loosen up around me but it's working out pretty okay." I did it. I said it. I confided in someone that I'm not sleeping with. It feels damn good.

A myriad of emotions float across her face. Maybe I shouldn't have gone that far. She was just getting used to the idea of Max having bisexual ideas. I shouldn't have painted a picture for her. "You… and Max?"

"And Liz." I nod.

"You and Max and Liz… the three of you… together?"

"Yeah… pretty much… for over a year now."

"Michael." She clears her face. She's serious and no longer crying. I'm not even sure if she's upset anymore. "Over a year? What about Maria?"

"It was never about Maria… She actually… I'm in enough trouble about Maria. I don't want to talk about it but… I think you kind of know or can figure out that I'm on the tight rope with them because of her." It feels good. A weight has been lifted because I confided. "We kind of thought that we couldn't stay here for break because you might figure it out and we didn't want your parents to know…"

"I didn't even suspect… so that look… in the driveway. It's not because you're dating a girl or a guy or that he or she dumped you… it's because the someone you're with is… the two of them."

"Yeah."

"So are you… I mean… what's it like? I don't need the carnal details but how do you guys do it?"

"It was hard work, Iz. It still is because when I do something… I don't just have to think about how Max will react. I have to think about Liz, too." God, when did I get to sounding so mature. "I'm trying, you know. Liz and me… are getting closer all the time to the point where sometimes she gets me better than Max does, which is good because of the things that happen and set me off."

"You and Max never could see eye to eye." She wipes at her eyes and gives me a smile.

"It's great, Iz." I smile at her and it feels good. "Max is responsible and uses our money the right way. Liz is Liz and takes care of us. Makes sure laundry is done and the grocery list is kept on top of."

"And what do you do?"

"I protect them."

"How do you do that?" She watches me with those big brown eyes.

"You'll understand when you see Liz." I tell her. "She's lost like… fifteen pounds at least… which would be more if I didn't trick her into eating when she needs to. She studies so hard she forgets to go to bed. Max wants to be so open with who we are that he forgets people won't understand and I do the damage control."

"Max?" She shakes her head. "He tells people about you three?"

"A few guys. One of them didn't… take it well. Said things about Liz… about Max… about me, which I can let slide but no one is going to think Liz is an easy lay. Not when it took us six months to be comfortable enough…"

"Michael, you should see the look on your face. You look so… content."

"I always feel like my insides are going to revolt." I laugh to myself. "Sometimes I don't even think about it. Sometimes it's all I think about… and then it's us… lying in bed together… just… laying there, not doing anything and it just feels right like… nothing I've ever felt before." I see Max peeking into the kitchen but I don't tell Isabel that he's there. He's curious about what we're talking about but I don't want him to freak out. "It started out with him and her, you know how disgusting they were. Then it was me and him and we didn't act on it for months…"

"Then it was you and her… Max was okay with it?"

"It was his idea. So feelings don't get hurt and no one feels left out."

"Trisha won't go for that. She's possessive… and she hates men… especially Chris because she knows I'm just exploring right now."

The expressions on Max's face go through many phases. There's anger. Horror. Understanding. Then he steps into the room. Isabel's frightened when she turns. "As long as you're happy."

"I try to be."

He sits beside me and Isabel stares at us. I shake my head at her. "What?"

"The two of you are so controlling… I don't know who the bitch is."

I burst out laughing and Max blushes. We know who the bitch is. I just look at her. "Liz is the one in control at our place. We might as well be wearing dresses." Max's thigh presses against my thigh and I know it's as close as we're going to get this trip but I can deal because it feels good. "Trish and Chris, huh?"

"Just… be careful, Iz." Max warns her. "Be sure before you pull them into something that will be complicated. Eventually you'd have to tell them about you. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Max…" She protests. She doesn't get what he's saying.

"We love you, Iz." I say. That feels good too. "If they make you cry, we'll kill them. Just be sure. We agonized for three months and we already knew each other."

"I'll be careful." She nods. I think she understands. "Can you do me a favor? While I'll cover for you guys if you go somewhere, just please don't kiss in front of me. This is enough of a mind jolt… that it might kill me if I see that before I'm ready."

"Do you want to tell Liz?" His hand sits on my thigh under the table.

"You know you're dying to." I shake my head. He jumps up to get the phone.

"You guys aren't going to tell Maria, are you?" Isabel stares at me hard. "I mean, she really, really will not understand. Even given that you're broken up. She doesn't get the impulses. She acts like the whole gay thing doesn't bother her. She makes jokes but she doesn't get it. She doesn't want it."

"I know. Me and Liz kind of have an understanding about her and what she should know about us."

"Good."

TBC

The Glad, Glad News…

I frantically pace up and down Liz's bedroom. She's distraught and Max is sitting in the chair, stunned. "I don't understand. How can they just mix up records like that?"

"It was a mistake." Liz says from where she's sitting on the bed, unmoving since we got here to hear her news.

"But this is important. They can't just make a mistake like this." I say, like if I say it louder it will be any less happening. "How could they do this? It's important."

"When I went in last year…" Liz begins. "I thought I might have been pregnant. I went in, they gave me an exam, I took the tests and then they did a whole bunch of other tests. They told me I was barren."

"So how is it you're not, now?"

"There was another woman there at the same time. Our charts got mixed up, wrong results went to the wrong ladies… I'm waiting on the results of the tests they did today. To set the records straight."

"How do they know they mixed the records up?"

"Because I'm not 43 years old."

"You mean to tell me that you could have gotten pregnant all this time?" My heart almost stops beating at the look on her face. The panic, the hope. One side good, one side bad. I have to stop talking. The last time I weighed in on this, I got in trouble.

Max buries his face in his hands and takes a deep breath. Mr. Cool isn't keeping it together so well. I know this has to terrify him. I'm scared out of my mind. She's not pregnant now. That's not what this is about. We got careless and comfortable. When he looks up at me, his eyes are red. We're on the same page. It's Liz we're worried about.

She's full of hope and… I don't want to crush it but I don't want complications either and she just looks like… Like this is her day. She's worried about getting the same news again. I didn't see her the first time. I don't know what it was like for her… but I'm starting to see how important the idea of children is for her.

I've never really thought about it. I don't want to think about it because… well, my foster father made a huge impression on me. Liz would be a good mother. Max would be a great father. I'm not sure what I'd be. "I'm going for a walk."

They stare at me like I'm an alien… well, I am but like I just sprouted a second evil head. Liz gets that look in her eyes and I stop myself before I hit the door. I backtrack to the bed to hug her and kiss her soundly. "Michael, you're coming back?"

"Just need to clear my head. Order my thoughts… not piss you off."

--

I find myself in the park with my hands between my knees, staring at the ice pond they put out every Christmas. There are kids everywhere, screaming, hollering, kicking up a fuss. Some of them are even cute. Maybe if I had a less complicated life I could maybe see myself with kids. The first thing is I'm an alien. My kids would never have a normal life and even with them having me as a parent to lead and to guide them… well… I'm not usually so good at stuff. Being in a relationship with Liz could secure the kid's rights to a semi-normal existence. Being in a relationship with Max could secure that too in a less conventional way. Being in a relationship with both Max and Liz, the kid could turn out okay but how confused would it be with Mom and Dad and Dad… I can't in good conscience bring a child into our lives.

I want Liz to be happy and I'm sure she'd love to have a whole bunch of kids but… when we chose to choose each other, we had to make sacrifices. I can almost guarantee that the rest of our friends will never find out the truth about us. I will guarantee that Liz and Max's parents will never learn the truth. So maybe Max and Liz getting married eventually will help keep the suspicions from rising too high but they'll always wonder why I'm there. Why I'm always there.

I don't know how long I stayed there watching those kids skate but eventually Maria finds me. She just sits next to me. Too close but I don't move. "Merry Christmas, Spaceboy."

"Merry Christmas, Maria." That's all I can say. I'm not ready to deal with people… but I'm not really sure I should be alone.

"When did you get in?"

"A few days ago. Staying with Max and his folks." I shift my gaze to my hands.

"So Liz is in town?" She puts her hand on my arm and I just stare at it. It feels weird. Not like it used to when I thought I was in love with her. Not like when I used her to confuse myself. I just nod. "She isn't answering her phone."

"She's with Max."

"Oh." She sits there with her hand on my arm and I'm more and more uncomfortable with it but I don't know how to tell her to take it away. "Michael… what's wrong?"

"I… don't know."

"Is it… what's-her-face?"

"I guess."

"Are you okay?"

"Entertaining prospects of fatherhood." I tell her. I'm not even sure why. She's not my girlfriend. I don't have to talk to her. When I look at her… it's nice to recognize her. That even though we've both changed that we're still who we are… to one degree or another.

"Oh… you're kidding." Her eyes go wide and her hand falls off my arm. "Is she sure?"

"No."

"Well, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be back home with her?"

"I didn't find out until I was here." I bite out the words.

"You should have turned and gone back when you found out."

I start to say something but shut my mouth. It does no good. Maria is Maria and she's offended by my actions. I can't tell her the truth because she'd either think I was lying or screwing up Liz's life. "Forget it. It's none of your business what's going on between me and… whoever."

"Just take it from me. A girl likes it when her man stands by her through the hard times."

I'm sure she's right about that but I could be in that room with Liz and Max and pissing them off or I can be here, pondering on it all. It wouldn't really be so bad. Her eyes and Max's hair. Maybe likes hockey and has a tendency to blow shit up. I could deal with that. Smart like her, strong like me and charismatic like Max. A little prince for us. We could make it work. The kid would already have to keep his powers a secret… what's one more.

"Did you even tell her the truth?"

"That's none of your business." I tell her. "Can I be alone now? I have a lot to think about." The more I think about it, the more I think it could work. We could make it work. At the very least, I could be Uncle Michael… that guy who helps out while Liz is a famous scientist and Max is a brilliant doctor.

"Do right by her, Michael."

"I plan to."

--

When I get back to Liz's, the lights are off in her room but I can see her door is open and she's on the phone in the hallway. I let myself in and ignore looks from her parents as she listens to whoever just called. Max must have been called home. Shit. Her mother stares at Liz as her face falls. I rush in and catch her as she crumples. She sobs into my chest and that little piece of me that hoped has shattered right with her. She had been holding on so tight to the possibility and now what? "Liz?"

She only sobs harder, so I pick her up and carry her to her room to lay on her bed. She won't let go of me and her parents are trying to figure out what's going on. Finally, she calms down and she whispers so only I can hear. "I'm not… infertile but… the chances of ever conceiving are so small, Michael. My body will reject the egg even if I manage to conceive."

I hold her tighter to me and let her cry some more. "It's okay. You'll see. We'll make it okay." Eventually she falls asleep and her mother helps me to get her tucked in. I have to tell them because Liz is in no condition to do so. I walk with them into the kitchen and I take the cup of coffee when Mr. Parker offers it. I'm numb and it warms me a little. "Liz spoke to her… woman doctor…"

"Is she pregnant?" Mrs. Parker blurts out.

"No. She's not." I manage and I see all those visions I had created of little boys and girls go swirling away into the drain and away forever. "She can't be. It's not possible… or… it's highly unlikely that Liz will ever…"

Mr. Parker sits down and when I meet his eyes, the same thing is happening to him. All the grandchildren he thought he'd spoil have been torn away from his imagination. He wasn't ready for her to have them but now they're not even going to appear when he is. "Oh."

"She waited all day for that news and she just wanted to know that…" I sigh. "I have to go tell Max."

"Is he going to leave her?" Mrs. Parker blurts out.

"If you think that… you don't know a thing about him." I bite out and leave through the front door for once. I don't have to go far to find Max. He and his family are in a booth having dinner and his eyes are dark. He didn't want to leave her but what was he going to tell his folks? He meets my eyes and I hope he can read them because I can't say it again, not even to him. I stand at the end of the booth and look at him then I look at the employee door. His eyes got darker if that's possible. Isabel lets him out of the booth and I hug him. I can feel his grief over this. We had all let ourselves hope. "Yeah, she heard back from them."

"It was bad." He just knows.

"Yeah." I feel cold when he leaves me to go to Liz. It felt like hours that I was up there but the Evans have just received their food. They hadn't been there long and Max had probably just left her. They stare at me. They wonder what I said to Max. What it means. I don't even really know what it means. I sit and pick at Max's food but don't explain what happened but I can tell Isabel knows something.

"Something wrong, Michael?" Mr. Evans finally asks when Mrs. Evans goes to powder her nose.

"Just some bad news Liz got… that kind of affects the man in her life…"

TBC

Oh What a Christmas…

I watch Mrs. Evans unwrap the birdhouse I made her with a little sense of pride. She always wanted one the birds could nest in. I made Mr. Evans a rack for his retired putters that he just can't get rid of. I guess I really have become part of the family. Everyone's trying to have a good time but the fact that Max is visibly subdued gives everyone just a little pause. I pretend I'm like everyone else but I know what he's feeling. He already got the pep talks from his parents about adoption when they're settled. They know him well enough that he won't leave Liz over this. It's better this way. This way there's no kid to screw up with our life.

Isabel opens her present from me and just throws her arms around me. I saved up just for her gift. I got her a scarf that she had told Liz all about. Inside the scarf is a perfume that I always thought smelled of her.

While Isabel and I made breakfast, I could feel Mrs. Evans' eyes on me. I know what she's thinking but it's not true. I am interested in one of her children just not the one she's hoping. Max has been quiet all week. We've left him alone. I try to spend time with him but he hasn't let me. I eat alternating meals with Liz just to make sure she knows I'm there.

There's been a huge damper on the works this year and it can't be helped. Liz's body rejects our sperm. Literally kills it before it can reach her eggs, which it's not fond of releasing so regularly to begin with. Our minds are on it. I hear the stupid Christmas songs and they're supposed to be full of hope and joy and I don't have much of that because Liz's heart is broken.

--

Max and I are taking a walk when we run into Liz doing the same. She looks through us and keeps walking. We follow. She shouldn't be alone right now. The streets are empty so it's only us sad people. I have no idea where to go from here and I'm trying to take my lead from Max but he doesn't know any more than I do.

"I'm sure you're happy." Liz says and I know that comment is directed at me.

"I'm not." I tell her. "Not either of us."

She whirls on us and the anger is clear on her face. "I have a sperm-zapper in my uterus." She points to her abdomen. "Do you know what that means? My body is so good at its job that it can kill the sperm of two men without even breaking a sweat. If I can do that, there's a pretty good chance that the only way I can have a baby is if I take out the egg and inject it by hand with one of your swimmers and hope to God my body won't kill that too." She takes a deep breath and glares at us. "You're supposed to be aliens with ways of adapting to your environment. Well… friggin' adapt and get your boys to withstand my body's hostile intentions!"

Max reaches for her first and nearly gets his hand slapped off. I'm not going to take that so I grab her and hold her so tight, she can't move. "Is that what you want? I'm sure we can arrange it. We'll screw you senseless, day in and day out, taking turns until we overwhelm your supply of anti-sperm anti-bodies and hope that we hit pay dirt on the exact moment you ovulate." She falls limp in my arms because that last part, neither I nor Max can control or even hope to help. Even without her hostile uterus, we can't fertilize something that rarely appears. "Or, we can take you to a hotel tonight and spend all night loving you and showing you that this kid thing… is just a thing for us. We'll get over it and we'll still love you." She leans on me and I can't stop talking. "We could be infertile, too, you know. Or maybe cross-species pollination isn't even possible…"

"Mom and Dad said that once we're settled and we're ready for a family, they'll help us through the process… if that's what you want." Max takes her face in his hands to make her look at him. "This isn't over, Liz… and frankly, we're not ready right this second."

"You're right but…"

"We know. We've thought about it and we're not going anywhere. Neither of us." He looks at me. He speaks for both of us and he knows it. I nod and kiss her head. "So… Michael's idea sounds good. You need us tonight?"

"No… I'll go home. We can… do that other stuff when we get home." Liz shakes her head. "My mom and dad are worried… Thank you, Michael, for telling them. I couldn't."

"What do you say to some ice-skating? Rink is empty today." Max rubs her arms and I loosen my hold.

"I need to go see Maria. I've been avoiding her." Liz shook her head. "Her uterus works and I was jealous."

"Come on. We'll take you by." I mumble. It'll be too obvious, I fear. Maria will know I lied the second Liz tells her what happened. As it turns now, I needn't have worried. I'm relegated to second-class citizen so I sit with Sean to watch A Christmas Story while the girls gab and Max listens.

--

"It's like I lost something I didn't even have to begin with." Max says from where he's lying beside me. It's late and we're just lying next to each other, he under the covers, and me on top in case his parents are up still. "Does it feel that way to you?"

"I don’t know. I never figured them in and when she said maybe… I started to think maybe and then my maybe flew out the window." I don't even think that makes sense but then, what does.

"You thought maybe?"

"I mean yeah… If she could… there's like… a fifty percent chance that it'd be mine. I mean, it'd be ours but a piece of me and I don't know… It's like those dreams we had. I liked that kid a whole hell of a lot more than I liked myself. With you guys around, I'd probably like the kid more." We lay in silence for a long time and the house gets darker around us. A pretty dismal Christmas but the Evans understand… I think they went through the same thing… or else there would be other Evans children besides the aliens they got. "Maybe it was just for three seconds but… I got used to the idea of a little girl. Looked just like Liz and acted just like her. Some little smarty pants that would drive us crazy with worry and love…"

"Yeah, me too." Max whispers. "You know… I was a little terrified that she would be able to… does that make me a bad person?"

"Then I'm one too. I… my first thought was that she shouldn't be… but… if she was…"

"Yeah…" He nods and pulls the covers to his chest the way he always does when he feels naked, which is funny because when he’s actually naked he hates to be covered. "It would just complicate things… and things are complicated enough."

"Is that what you told her?"

"It's what she told Maria."

"Let her justify it to herself, Max. She has to be able to deal with it or she's going to be upset for months or years. She needs to find a reason."

"I'm the insightful one. Stop taking my job." He mutters. When I look at him, he looks about as numb as I feel. "Merry Fuckin' Christmas." He scoffs and sits up. "You should have heard her at her parents'… she rationalized it all away without our crap to help her. 'We're still in school, we're not married. It's something we can wait on…' She's far from okay, Michael."

"I know that."

"I know but…"

"You want me to take out the power with a tantrum or blow up a lamp because I'm frustrated?"

"Yes! Because I can't feel anything from you right now. You talk and your words describe me but they don't… They don’t make me… You don't show it and it's not like you." He turns to face me and his eyes are pleading. "If you're feeling what I feel… I feel relieved, Michael, and I shouldn't. I should be just as upset as Liz. I should be in denial with her."

"You can only feel what you feel. You can't make yourself feel something you don't. She'll break down next week or when she walks past a nursery or a baby store." I tell him and I feel strange because he's right. I'm not usually the insightful one. I'm grateful for the knock when it comes. It's late but Isabel opens the door and Liz is there, bundled up and her eyes are red. Isabel doesn't say anything but shuts the door behind Liz as she pulls off her cold-wear. I want to say something but everything seems lame. She crawls onto the bed between us and closes her eyes. She's not sleeping. She's fighting tears for the millionth time in a week.

"A woman has one duty as a woman… to bring children into this world. What does she do when she can't do that?" She asks us. Like we’re going to know what to say to make it all right.

"You aren't just a woman and I never thought of you as a baby-making machine." Max tells her. "You are my love and my light. I need you. You will be the best scientist to walk the earth and maybe you'll find a way to make your dream come true through your career."

"I should become a fertility expert because I'm not fertile? I'm not sure I'm adjusted enough to do that." She scoffs at him and turns her back to him. Her eyes are on me. "Your turn. Make me feel better."

"I can't. I want to but… nothing I say is going to you feel better or make it go away."

"Then make me forget."

"Not tonight and not here."

She scoffs and lays flat on her back to stare at the ceiling. Her hands slide into ours as the tears slide down her face. "All I wanted for Christmas was for someone to tell me the results were false but it didn't happen and there are only five minutes left. Is someone going to come through for me?" Then after a moment she clears her throat. "If I ever find out for a fact that either of you are fertile, I'll castrate you."

"Okay." Max says, his eyes on her. "It'll be okay. You'll see. One day we'll wake up when we're all set. Careers launched, home well paid for and then there will be some innovation, some hormone you can take and we'll have that family you dream of."

"What if that hormone never comes into creation? What if it doesn't work?"

"We'll apply for adoption."

"What if we get turned down?"

"I'll steal a plane and go buy you a couple of Cambodian children who need a good home." Finally, she lets Max hold her. "They'll love you more than the world and you'll love them with every ounce in you, I know it. They'll call Michael and me, Daddy… and they'll call you Mommy. You'll see. It'll all work out."

I knew it was the biggest lie in the world. I didn't honestly believe that we would ever actually do any of that stuff but… it made her feel better and she stopped crying and we slept in some manner of peace. Merry Christmas to the Roswell Misfits.

The End of section 6

Sorry the part was such a downer but that's my Christmas contribution. I don't envision another part this year... good thing it's almost over.

Author: DMartinez
Email: shockerdm@icqmail.com
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Metz, Katims and UPN. No infringement intended.
Rating: ADULT
Category: Mi/M/L
Summary: 192021

Lie on Lie

I've got to be honest. We've had happier times. Liz would have everyone believing that she's dealing somewhat better. Max and I are trying to be supportive but it is kind of hard. I find myself forgetting in my hectic schedule. I ask her what's wrong and I get this look that makes my balls shrivel. Needless to say, no one's had sex in two months. My dick's gonna explode.

Liz is sitting by the window, painting her toes. Her grades have never been better but it's all a lie. She's broken inside. She's not eating. I've seen her eat but… it's like her body isn't accepting the nourishment. She's a twig and if she goes home for spring break like that, her parents are going to know how messed up she is. "Stop staring at me."

"Why?"

"It's disconcerting."

"I like looking at you." I stare harder. The curve of her leg disappears into her shorts and… "Are you wearing underwear?"

"They're in the wash." Yeah, she's a good student but our apartment is a mess now. Max tries but it's like she doesn't care enough to keep up anymore.

"You didn't answer the question." She ignores me. "Come here." She still ignores me. "Hot stuff. Come here."

"You're being an ass." She scoffs and blows on her toes.

I stand and move over to be next to her, she starts to turn away but I grasp her feet, kneel and blow on her toes for her. She withdraws at first but as I rub the tops of her feet, she relaxes and I let out a sigh that I must have been holding for two months. She lets me drop kisses on her knees but I can feel the wall, just as strong as ever between us. I'm allowed to touch the wall but not my Liz.

"Stop." She breathes out a little heavier than I realized her breathing could get these days. I stop, let go of her feet and she grabs the basket to collect her laundry.

"It's not…" I don't get my sentence out but I don't think she cares. The laundry won't be done for another twenty minutes.

--

Max and I cook dinner together. It's Max's birthday and both of us forgot until his biology lab group surprised him with a cake. I need to get him something but realize it's too late to think of anything so I asked if he'd settle for dinner. He insisted on being my sous-chef. We start to actually have fun for the first time since Christmas. It felt good. Damn good. Moving around each other, getting in each other's way. Somewhere between setting the pasta to boil, getting the chicken in the oven and letting the sauce simmer, Max and I got into more fun.

Max tastes like the habanero he'd been chopping for me, his tongue sliding against mine. His hands sliding up my neck, holding me close. I back him into the counter, devouring his sinewy mouth. When I finally get my hands under his shirt, I realize that Liz hasn't been the only one forgoing meals. His abs are taut, his ribs standing out to greet my fingers. The dimples at the base of his spine let my fingers catch for a moment before my hands go into his pants. I just need to have him against me.

My back feels drafty before the heat from the stove warms it, then his hands are sliding up to my shoulders, pushing my shirt ahead of them. I pull back and let him pull my shirt off and then yank on his buttons; I just hope they don't land in my sauce. Keeping his back to the counter, I return to run my tongue over his throat. Max lets out breathy pants when I slide down to his nipples. His skin is salty and tastes vaguely of his cologne. Before I realize what I'm doing, I'm on my knees and pulling at his pants.

"Wait, Michael." He begs but I need to taste him. I need to feel that hard cock in my mouth. Wrapping my hand around his erection, I give it a few firm strokes that have him clinging to the counter for dear life. Then I suck just the tip into my mouth. He bucks but I hold on, just sucking that swollen head. Dipping my head, I take in half his length, stroking the remainder in time. His hand spears into my hair and then he comes in my mouth. It didn't take long but I guess he'd been needing that as much as I have.

I hear her heels click from the front door to the bathroom but I'm still trying to catch my breath and Max is watching her. Somehow, he manages to kiss me and reassure me that he appreciated and would reciprocate later before following her to check on her. Max and I have been too concerned to attempt any closeness with each other that Liz was unwilling to accept from us. We broke our first rule… but it's Max's birthday and if she can't get over herself for today, that's just tough. I adjust myself and get to my feet to wash up and finish dinner.

Somehow, he gets her to the table and I serve her a heaping plate. Every bit as big as the ones I set in front of Max and myself. Silence settles over the table and right when I'm about to blurt out something mean, Max stomps on my foot.

"Did you have fun at the party?" Liz pretends that everything is okay but she is hunched in her seat, picking at her plate half-heartedly.

"Yeah." Max nodded and then regales us with the tale of the bio-major who started drinking at 10 am. It was disgusting. I loved it and even Liz cracked a small smile. Max mentions a show he wants to go see, forgetting about studying for the night because of the occasion. Liz shakes her head but I nod. Then Max's face falls. I see it in his eyes. He's afraid to leave her alone. "We don't have to go."

"No, go. Have fun." I tell him and flick my head to Liz. "Liz can't leave the table until she finishes her dinner anyway." She scoffs and points to the mountain still on her plate. "Sleep here if you want, you're having that for breakfast too."

She pouts and my erection starts to make its reemergence. I stare at her because I need her. I need her to be better. To be sexual again. To be happy. To smile at something. I need her to care.

Max takes my mouth, not caring about Liz's feelings for once, and just lays the best kiss on me. "You don't want to come?"

"Later." I flick my head at her again. "Have fun and maybe I'll get you again when you get back. Go blow out your eardrums. The guys gonna be there?"

"Yeah, probably." He nods, pecks my lips again and drops a kiss on Liz's head before he's out the door, ready to have fun and cut loose on his 20th birthday.

Silence falls once more while Liz picks at her dinner. She eats small bites and chews the hell out of them. I feel tears in my eyes as I contemplate my words. I don't want to push her away. I don't want her to feel attacked but I have to know. "Don't throw up anymore, Liz."

The way her head snaps up, confirms my fears. "What?"

"I… wondered how you could lose so much weight when I watched you eat every night but you're throwing up, aren't you? That's why it takes so long for you to run errands… why you won't let us kiss you…" I wipe at my eyes and look at her. Her eyes are wide and her face is bloodless. "You deserve to eat. I need for you to eat."

"Does Max know?"

"If he's got even half a brain, I think he suspects. If he asks me, I won't lie for you." I tell her. All my fears are being realized. Liz is hurting far more than I realized. She's started hurting herself. "We shouldn't be here. We should be with Max, having fun on his birthday. How selfish can you be?"

Before she can open her mouth, I move forward. I've been wanting to say all this for weeks. "I know that you're hurting. I can't say I know what it feels like but I know you hurt. Max and I have been bending over backward to accommodate you but today is his birthday. We should be with him. Tomorrow you can go back to moaning and bitching about something you can't change but today is Max's… you told him pretty much the same thing on my birthday. I need you to go shower and put on something sexy. We're going to go find Max at the show."

"Will you help me get out of the hole I dug for myself?" She whispers and I nod, barely. "I don't want to be like this."

"I know. Come on."

--

The first band is over by the time Liz and I make it to the show. I faked VIP bracelets to get us in. It takes us six songs to find Max and his friends. Max and I don't kiss in front of his friends but they all remember, I'm sure. Liz lays one on him though and it's the happiest I've seen Max since before Christmas.

He beams down into her face until his hand slips down her bare back and the smile freezes but he doesn't say anything. I give him a look and point to the stage. "It's not Metallica but these guys don't suck."

"Right?" Max nods at me and pulls Liz close to return his gaze to the show. He's so happy jumping up and down with his friends that he hardly notices Liz slipping away to lean on me because she's already tired herself out. I want to join in but it's Max's day and if I leave Liz alone, she'll disappear on us. I find us a table and we always have a cherry coke ready for Max when he needs a break. Liz makes an effort to be enthused when he rushes back to us with a huge smile.

I don't think either of us have ever seen Max this way. He's happy and excited and he's having a blast and not really with us. With his friends. Max has his own friends. He's not even thinking anymore. He kisses Liz with open desire and he grasps my hand on her chair before bounding away again. Roswell kept us inside ourselves and it's amazing to see him break out of himself. He's becoming. I wonder if I'll ever do that.

TBC

I Refuse

It's my fault. I got used to not knocking. I walk into the bathroom to find Liz staring at her reflection. She runs her fingers from her scrawny neck, down her knobby collarbone to her modest breasts and then down those twin xylophones she calls a rib cage. Down her nearly concave belly and to her hipbones where they stick out. I ignore her and move passed to get into the shower. I'm running cool water through my fingers when she touches me. An innocent touch but to have her voluntarily touching me again feels good, even on my back.

"I made love to Max this morning." She says. "I didn't tell him." She swallows down a lump when I turn to look at her. "But I saw it in his eyes. Do I look disgusting?"

"You look sick." I cup her face and pull her toward me. The rim of the tub is cool on my ass but Liz and I need to have a talk. "You're beautiful. You know that… but you are too thin." I gulp down a breath when I realize my hands could almost fit around her waist. "It's not healthy." I look up into her face and press a kiss to her solar plexus. "Do I need to find a program?"

"I started talking to the campus counselor the other day… you know, after your little intervention. We discussed it but… I know why I did it. I just can't keep doing it. You know how I like to have control of things… I have to break the cycle myself or else I'm never going to get better in here." She taps her head.

"Can I feed you? I mean… make your menus? I can pack the pounds on anyone."

"I think…"

"I think that… you need to lean on us sometimes." I feel tears pricking my eyes. "Max and I never said it but you hurt us by pulling away. I could feel his heart breaking every time he looked at you and looked away. When you flinch at my touch, I ache." I slide my hands down and cup her ass. “If this shrinks, I’ll kill you myself because I love this ass.”

“Michael, I’m going to try.”

“I know.”

“Let me tell who I need to when I need to?”

“If… Max gets pissed off…”

“I know… you told me so.”

--

When Max gets home, he's animated because he's had an excellent day. He's going to pass his tests he thinks and Liz is eating a very fattening dinner that I made. She eats it slowly and I know she won't finish it, but that's why I weighed it down with so many extra calories. Max learned a few tricks from his own family. They pretend that nothing's wrong too.

"So, Spring Break, I want to go visit Izzy." I blurt out. "You two can go on ahead to Roswell, but I have to catch up with her."

"Okay." Liz nods. "But promise me that you and I get some alone time before we go."

"Will do."

"Hey Michael, this girl in my history class got a scholarship because she applied for this bizarre scholarship…." Max cuts in and I glare at him. "What? You said you'd go if you found a way. This could be a way."

"On his own time, Max." Liz whispers.

"I'm not going to the university." I tell him and he frowns. "I'm going to take a class here and there but I can't do it the way you do it, Max."

"Community college, then?" He offers as if there's any negotiating on the subject.

"That was my plan." I look up to watch him. He looks at me. He understands what I'm saying so I go back to my meal. They chatter for a bit. Liz picks at her dinner but pushes it away before she's eaten half. I let Max take my plate when we're done. I wrap up Liz's for later consumption. When we all hit the bed, Liz lays between us. She lays her head on my chest and I can feel Max running his fingers up and down her back. He wants to ask. I can see in his eyes, even through the dark. He wants to know why it's been different in the apartment. Why Liz has stopped pushing us away… but I promised her that I wouldn't tell him before she could… and he hasn't come out and asked me anything yet.

--

Liz wakes me up with her cries. I look up and watch Max's hips jerk, his ass clench, Liz's legs bob in the air. I missed that. Watching them. Liz's cries are high and full of passion. Max's border on desperate. I watch her hands grab at the skin on his back, sliding down to grip that tight ass. One of them had better have some energy left to give me after this show. Her moans go deep right before Max picks up speed. I've seen Max be rough before but never this rough. He quivers all over when he comes and the second he gets over it, he's apologizing. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She sounds it.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No, I'm fine." Liz waves to me and then pats his arm. "You have that thing. You should go."

"Right. Are you really okay?"

"No. I'm not. You sawed me in half. Don't you see the pieces?" She pecks him on the mouth before she shoves him away. Glaring at her, he gets up to get dressed and go. Liz returns to me in bed. She snuggles up under me, making my situation worse in the process. Max waves to us as he leaves in what I call his 'interview attire'. He looks good and he leaves us wanting him. Liz looks up at me. "Is he mad at me or something?"

"No… I don't know what that was about but it was hot."

"It was, right?" She smiles that shy smile even though I know her thoughts are anything but modest.

"Well, you tell me, you were on the receiving end of some pretty powerful displays. I was just a bystander but I thought it was hot." I nuzzle her neck to see if I can get her riled up enough for another round.

"Is this what you keep me around for? To relieve wood?"

I laugh because I cannot recall her having said that before. "No, definitely not. Though, that is a plus."

"Are you really going to make love to me, Michael?" She looks up at me and I am humbled. I haven't approached her for sex because I didn't think she was ready. "Please?"

"I was waiting for you." She leans up to take my mouth. She tastes like Max. I cover her body with mine and then I'm slipping inside her. She's so tight. She makes me wait. Makes me suffer while she squirms and squeezes me inside her. I watch her face as we grind and thrust against each other. Her mouth hangs open, so I take her bottom lip in my mouth and lave my tongue all over it. She lets out a strangled moan. She squeezes me like a vice and I let go. "Shit… shit… shit…"

"Oh…" she gasps, "Michael… can we try something new?"

"New?" I stop and wait for her to elaborate. "Do you not like this?"

"Oh, I like this but… um… you know that thing I sometimes talk about…"

I smile. "You're going to have to be more specific than that."

"I want to try… being with you the way you're with Max…"

"Oh…" I stare down at her, I think about my current condition. "Now?"

"Yes, now."

"You want me to stop what I'm doing and do that… you might not like that but I know you like this."

"Michael." She pouts and damn the pout, it works every time.

I remove myself from her body and get up to retrieve the lube. I'm slick from her wet cunt but I'm determined to make her feel as good as possible. I squirt some into my hands to warm it up some before I slide my hand between her ass cheeks. I find the small, tight ring and massage gently, slicking her up as I go. When I press the first finger in, she resists a little. I take her mouth with mine and when she starts to relax, I try again. I slip in one finger and she tenses but doesn't stop kissing me. I reach down with both hands and spread her cheeks wide, massaging harder, giving her just a taste of how I can get. "Are you sure?"

"Uh-huh." She breathes into my mouth, panting in that aroused way she sometimes gets when she can no longer string words together. I add a second finger and she grunts as she struggles to stay relaxed. Then we're rolling. Liz rolls onto her stomach so she can grip the edge of the mattress. I roll on top of her, slipping one hand beneath her to tease her clit. I slowly pump two fingers in and out of her ass and strum her hard clit in time. When I reach for my cock, it's throbbing. She's writhing and I'm just poised here, waiting for the right moment.

I press in and she whimpers. I brace my hand on the bed, still flicking her nub and stroking her folds. Her breath comes in deep pants. When my hips touch her ass, I stay still. She's burning me. She's tight. I buck once and she grunts. I pull back slightly and push back in, burying my face in her hair. "Liz?"

"Don’t stop." She breathes out the plead and I keep going. The rhythm slow and even. She clenches me and releases. I brush her hair out of the way so I can see her face. See her tongue running over her lips, her forehead furrowed, her eyelashes fluttering on her cheekbones. "Harder."

I shut my eyes at the request but buck hard as I dare. Her gasps begin to pick up. I rub my fingers around her soaked clit. Then her voice starts hitting pitches I've never heard before. I'm too far gone. I can't stop myself. I thrust harder, faster. I keep thinking that I should stop but I can't. She's so frail looking but she's so tight that I suddenly don’t care. I come hard. A body-seizing, all encompassing, coma inducing orgasm.

When I pull out, Liz doesn't move. She lays there, clutching the mattress. Slowly, she straightens her legs, wincing. I kiss her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"And I thought Max was going to saw me in half." She smiles a bit but I can see she's only half joking. "Were you mad at me?"

"That's the second time I've heard that out of your mouth today." I pull her to lay on top of me.

"Because I feel like maybe you should be." She lays her head on my chest. "Maybe he was mad at me."

"Maybe. You still haven't told him."

"No. I haven't."

--

When I get home from work, Max looks cowed. He's studying but he keeps glancing at Liz. He looks guilty. I ignore it because I need a shower badly. Liz is sitting on the kitchen counter eating some weird green thing. She blows me a kiss and I'm under the hot spray. I'd just gotten my hair washed free of oil when the door opens. "Hey Michael?"

"Yeah man?" This is unheard of. Max has never come to me like this away from Liz. I hear the clink of the toilet seat lid but I don’t hear him talking. "What's up? I am a little busy."

"I think I hurt Liz this morning."

"What did you say to her?" I pause with the soap against my chest. She didn't look too upset when I had passed through the kitchen.

"No… We didn't have words… I mean… this morning when we were…"

"Screwing?"

"Yeah."

"No, I don't think so. She's looks happy to me."

"She's been… limping around. I think I was too rough."

"You're going to take credit for that?" I snort and continue my shower.

"Why?"

"Liz and I did some experimenting after you left. I'm not letting you take credit if she's limping around. Go ask her." After a moment, I heard the door open and shut. When I finally finish my shower and head out there, Liz's face is bright red and Max is waiting on her answer. "Why is this a big deal?"

They look up at me. I just shake my head and start fixing my dinner. Liz clears her throat. "Because Max doesn't consider that sex."

I go stock-still. I had jumped over some boundary I didn't know they had.

"What?" Max blurts out. His face is turning red. "What are you talking about?"

"We watched that movie and you said that you didn't think that was sexy and it wasn't something you would be interested in doing with me. So I went to Michael."

"Whoa! Hold on!" I shout. "Since when are there rules? How come I didn't know about them?"

"What exactly are you talking about, Liz?" Max leans on the counter.

"Did he say he wouldn’t like it or he just wouldn't do that with you?" I ask her.

"Neither." She deflates a little.

"Well, he does it to me and seems to like it just fine. This shouldn't be an issue." I turn to Max. "I fucked her up the ass this morning. She's a little sore. It's cool. Next time, you'll know."

"This isn't all you, Michael." She slaps my shoulder. "Max was apparently punishing me for something."

"What's the secret, Liz?" Max whispers. "Why can't I know?"

Oh shit. We're getting into that now and I'm not in the mood.

"Why can't I know what's going on with you?" Max throws his hands up in the air. "You're acting like a lunatic. You're not talking to anyone and you're hardly around and now you're always here and you're all over me and Michael. Why? What's… And when did you start eating this shit?" He throws a disgusted look to her dinner. Healthy stuff. Spinach, avocados, tofu, pita bread. Filling. Looks good to me. "You hardly eat anything for months and all of a sudden you're eating everything in…"

He trails off and I have to look away. I promised her I wouldn’t say anything to him but I also said I wouldn’t lie if asked.

"Today it's healthy stuff. Tomorrow it's going to be whatever grease magnet, Michael puts on the table and the day after that, it'll be a steak or something heavy. Then it's back to the greens to start over. What's wrong? Why are you on this twisted diet?" His mouth is running but he's not even thinking about the words because I know he's putting it all together in his head.

"Max… I…" I hear her words but I can't look up to see her face. I can't lie for her anymore. "I'm sick."

"With what?" His voice is hard. "What were you doing to yourself, Liz?"

My stomach twists. I said it for her when I confronted her but to hear her say it out loud in her own voice… it just kills me. "I was throwing up."

"God, Liz." That's all he says. His voice is empty.

"I'm getting help. Michael's helping."

"Why did you tell him and not me?"

"I didn't tell him. He figured it out. I didn't want to ruin your night so I put it off…"

"What?" Then the deafening silence fills the room. All the pieces are falling together for Max… and right before break… but I think they'll need the space. We'll all need the space.

TBC