Roswell Fanatics

I love you feedbackers! So very much! Hugs!
Yeah, I know. The title for this part sucks, but Max and Liz never really say anything that interesting, at least not the dialogue I’ve given them here.
And I happen to think that this part isn’t particularly good, but you’re getting what you want, even if it is short .
Next part, I guarantee some M&M action!

Erina- They’re just in the early stages, give them time. Plus, Liz is still quite shy, it’s not like she can just turn it off.
Jessibelle47
Natz
Behralicious87- Thank you! Glad you like it.
Eve
Steph
Spray-

Hey, I’m allowed mind reading powers, too!!

No you’re not. I’ve decreed it. You won’t have to wait too long for your prediction though, sometime in the near future. Hint, hint, *cough*Next Part*cough* And it's probably not as bad as you're thinking.
Natalie36- Lol, feel free
Clue
Addicted2AmberEyes
Cassie- I’m afraid you may have to make your own hat and badge. I’m too lazy you see.
Roswell4life
Alien_Friend
Aruwin
Emz80m
Aussietrueblue
Stars at Night10
Mica
Blink1lit
Katydid
Tequathisy
Elci




The week went quickly despite Max’s illness, when Liz couldn’t come over they’d talk on the phone and during one of these conversations she’d awkwardly reaffirmed their plans for the weekend. Max was feeling much better; his cold completely gone after enforced bed rest, and the thrill of a date coming up had helped him get rid of his sickness. Saturday came and Max couldn’t wipe the grin off of his face, Isabel had commented not so kindly on it, but was secretly thrilled to see her brother so happy.

As soon as her shift finished Liz raced upstairs and threw on what Maria had picked out for her last night. It was a little more revealing than what she was used to wearing but if it made Max want to kiss her more, then she was all for it.

As she made her way downstairs at six she found her Mom talking to Max this time. By reading all of her mother’s signals, she could see that her Mom was very impressed by him.

A creaky step heralded her arrival and as Max looked at her his mouth went dry and his head went blank. Liz didn’t often wear a skirt, but when she did Max couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

Her legs drove him to distraction and that top she was wearing didn’t reveal much, but suggested everything. She was so beautiful.

“Hey Max. Hey Mom. Hope you weren’t interrogating him too hard.”

Nancy faked an innocent look and replied, “Moi? Never!”

“Well that’s good to know. We should be home by twelve. I’ll see you later!” called Liz as she hurried Max out the door.

They reached their picnic destination and spent most of their time talking about their friends and family. Max spent a lot of time listening to Liz discuss Maria’s and Michael’s relationship all the while thinking about how sexy her legs were.

He used half of his attention on Liz and her topic of conversation and the other half was imagining what her legs would feel like.

Liz sat up from her position where she had been lying down but as she put her hand down to steady herself, she accidentally grabbed Max’s hand.

‘Sor-’

Liz’s apology was cut off as Max clasped her hand, pulled her towards him and kissed her.

Liz responded quickly and losing her balance, she fell slightly forward.
Grasping her head between his two hands, gently but firmly, Max steadied her and kissed her far harder than he had on their last date.

Liz’s senses went on the fritz and she grabbed one of his shoulders to stop the head whirling, dizzying feeling that was coursing through her. It felt like she was about to fall over.

Max knew he was acting like a crazy man, but he couldn’t help it. She had made him crazy. Her legs and her hair and the way her nose scrunched when she laughed. The accidental touch of her hand when she had almost fallen had driven him over the edge.

He had to kiss her, right then and there. Good manners be damned.

Max’s thoughts slowly caught up with his actions. He eased off the pressure and ended the kiss.

Panting slightly, he apologised.

“I’m sorry Liz. I’m certain I have more control than that usually.”

Liz frowned slightly in her dazed state and answered, “Don’t be sorry. I’m not sorry that it happened.”

Max smiled at her shyly with a boyish grin, “Really?”

Still dazed, Liz didn’t consider her next words too well. “Well, I’ve liked you for a long time and have been wishing that you’d kiss me like that for ages, so I don’t see why I’d object now.”

Max stared at her in disbelief and Liz gasped as she realised what she’d said.

“You’ve liked me for ages and have thought about me kissing you?!”

Liz looked at him sheepishly. “I suppose it would be too late to for me to take that back now?”

Max nodded. “You suppose correctly. Are you telling me, that you liked me and I liked you and we’ve only gotten together now?!”

“Pretty much… wait! You liked me?”

Max looked at her like she was insane. “Of course I like you! You’d have to be insane not to! Why do you think all those jocks asked you out? You’re perfect, Liz Parker, completely perfect in every way.”

Liz sat silent for a second then launched herself at Max, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him wildly.

Max kissed back, after a moments astonishment, with equal fervour and then breaking off the kiss gasped out, “Liz, I know this is moving really fast, but I really like you and I think we could make this work. Will you be my girlfriend?”

Liz stopped her feverous kisses that she had been dropping all over Max’s face and neck, long enough to gasp out “Yes!” before attacking him again.

Max dropped her off at her house five minutes before her due time and spent the next four minutes making out with her by her back door.

Realising the time Liz pulled herself free from Max’s embrace and giggled out a “Goodbye!”

Max watched her disappear inside her door and groaned at the speed they were travelling. He had meant to take things slowly with her but it just seemed so impossible to go slow when he was with her.

He grinned as he thought of Monday at school. He hoped things wouldn’t change, that she’d still be as affectionate towards him in public as she was by herself. Obviously he didn’t expect her to make out with him against the lockers, but hand-holding would be good.

He thought of all the guys at school who were going to be jealous of him and almost laughed for joy. He had somehow, out of all the guys that were interested in her, wormed his way into her affections. He still wasn’t sure how he did it but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He was dating Liz Parker. His dream girl was his girlfriend.

Life couldn’t be better.

Hey! I’m back!
Did you miss me?

*Crickets chirping*

Oh-kaaaay, maybe not. Thank you for all your support, I love all of you feedbackers!

Anywho, you’ve all been so patient, so here’s the next instalment! It’s been three weeks since my last update and really, things haven’t slowed down at all. This is just an update to tide you over till I can fully come back. Maybe by the end of June. Wouldn’t that be nice…

As usual I’m up late again. My sleeping patterns are totally boned, but hey, it makes life interesting.

I'm posting a shortish A/I story in the Alien Abyss soon. It's only UC in the first part, but it's very dark. If you want to read it, but can't handle physical and emotional abuse, I'd suggest you skip the first part. It's called Absolution and should be six parts or so.

Behralicious87
Clue- Thanks for the bump!
Alien_Friend
Tequathisy
LoveIsForever
Spray- Once an angst whore… Sorry to disappoint Spray. It’s not gonna be that cool.
Mica
Aussietrueblue
Natalie36
Addicted2AmberEyes
Eve
Cassie- Fret not, nothing gets ruined. By the way, our super secret Australian takeover meeting is scheduled for Saturday. The password is “Chicken Fillets” and we’ll meet at Melbourne Central on the bottom level near the train station at Krispy Kremes. Man I want a Krispy Kreme right now...
Emz80m
Natz
Steph
Stars at Night10
Lockheart- Exactly, and wasn’t it so much better because of that?
Lauren- I’m quite well aware that you’re cool. Anybody who wants to say otherwise will have to take both of us on.
Veronica- Perhaps it was just the way my year eleven English teacher taught it, but I could see Holden’s breakdown coming. He was just too fixated on stopping the inevitable and turning it into his cause that he couldn’t see the futility of it. Max isn’t that innocent, you should see his thoughts about Liz Definitely not G rated. Glad you like my story!






Max walked down the hall of West Roswell High looking for Liz, anxious to see her after the past weekend. Michael was also looking for Liz because she often got lifts from Maria to school and he really wanted to see Maria.

Tommy stopped in front of Max, forcing him to stop too as the human traffic was thick in the hallway.

“So Max, how was your ‘date?’ I’ll bet Liz will be begging for me to take her out now that you’ve bored her to tears.”

Usually this type of insulting comment from Tommy made Max’s blood boil, but as he thought of the past week he’d had with Liz, his anger turned into laughter at how pathetic Tommy was. He really believed he was fantastic. Max just shook his head and edged around him. Tommy, who wasn’t used to being ignored, came back around Max to continue his interrogation.

Max saw Liz come around the corner and Tommy’s voice faded away. She was so beautiful. He smiled at her and she beamed back at him. Ignoring Tommy, he pushed past him and walked up to Liz.

“Hi,” Liz said softly with a sweet smile as she pushed up against his hard body, wrapping her arms around his middle and angling her head for a kiss.

“Hi.”

Max took her face gently between his hands and kissed her, causing the entire schooling population to stop and stare at them with astounded disbelief and then point and loudly exclaim.

Maria, who had been walking with Liz up until the kissing began, rolled her eyes and strode over to Michael.

“Looks like it’s just you and me now, Mikey G. All of our friends have abandoned us.”

Michael grinned wickedly at her. “Can’t say that I’m unhappy about it. You know, I kinda like that name when you call me it. You give it a nice ring. Is there any way that I could get you to scream it out for me?”

Maria stood shocked into silence for a split second then broke into a grin which she tried to smother. “You haven’t got what it takes to make Maria DeLuca scream. Or even moan slightly, Mikey G.”

Michael didn’t bat an eyelid. “They say practice makes perfect and I’m willing to try over and over again until I get you screaming.”

Maria shook her head repressing her laughter and then snorted in disgust. “Are they still at it? HEY! You two! Get a room!”

Max and Liz broke apart at Maria’s yell and turned hand in hand to walk to over to them. Liz grasped Max’s hand a little tighter as she saw all the people staring at them. Sensing her distress, Max soothingly rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb until her grip loosened and she relaxed.

“So… how are things going, Maria?”

Maria smiled at Max’s attempt to bore the people who had gathered in the hallway to watch him and Liz.

“Not as great as things seem to be going for you there, Maxie! Poor Maria is single and now friendless seeing as you stole my last available buddy.”

Max’s face tinged a slight red and he coughed to cover his embarrassment. Michael slanted a grin at Maria who was smiling smugly at Max and Liz’s embarrassment.

“I can fix half of your problem for you Maria.”

“Really? You want to be my friend?”

“No. But I can personally see to it that you are no longer single.”

“Thinking of hooking me up with one of your friends, Mikey G? How thoughtful of you.”

Smiling at her own wit, Maria missed Michael’s dangerous glance at her and was therefore completely taken by surprise when he hauled her to him and kissed her. Breaking the kiss, Michael grinned at the stunned look on her face and prayed that she couldn’t tell how fast his heart was beating.

“I may be a thoughtful guy Maria, but there is no way in hell that I’d ever set you up with anyone but me. See you guys later.”

Pleased with Maria’s silence and stunned acceptance, he moved off to home room whistling with a smile on his face.

Before Maria had time to recover sufficiently and before Michael was even out of earshot, Courtney stormed up to Maria with an angry glint in her eye.

“How dare you kiss my man?! You absolute slut!”

Maria blinked out of her dazed state and rapidly regained her voice as complete anger overwhelmed her. Max and Liz looked on in interest as Maria drew herself up to stamp Courtney back down into her place.

“First off, Michael is most certainly not your man. He can’t stand you and has tried on many occasions to get that through to you. Secondly, ME? A slut? Besides the fact that I’m a virgin, isn’t this really the slutty pot calling the kettle black? You are such a dense, vapid, hypocritical whore! Stay away from me and stay away from Michael Guerin!”

Courtney narrowed her eyes to slits and drew herself up despite the embarrassment that she felt over Maria’s insults which could be heard down the other end of the hall. Michael grinned from his hiding spot around the corner where the exchange could be heard quite clearly.

“And if I don’t stay away from him?”

Maria lowered her voice to a deadly whisper and got threateningly close to Courtney.

“Then you and I will have a smack down. Michael Guerin is mine. Do you understand me?”

Courtney stepped back from Maria, genuinely frightened and fled down the corridor before calling from a safe distance, “This isn’t over!”

Maria shook her head and muttered something inaudible under her breath about “sluts”.

Liz still grasping Max’s hand stared at Maria and lowering her voice whispered incredulously, ““Michael Guerin is mine”?! My god, you must really like him!”

Maria tossed her hair carelessly over her shoulder and retorted sarcastically, “And you’re publicly making a spectacle of yourself by holding hands and kissing Max. You must really like him!”

Max smiled and kissed the side of Liz’s head just above her ear as she shyly cringed at Maria’s words.

“Later, lovebirds. Contrary to popular belief I come here to learn, not annihilate skanks. See you guys.”

Left alone Max and Liz walked close together to Liz’s locker. Liz turned and faced him reluctantly withdrawing her hand from his grasp. Max smiled down at her and rubbed his thumb against her cheek. Kissing her gently he then stepped back slinging his hands in his pockets.

“See you in Biology, partner.”

Liz smiled and waved dopily then sighed as soon as he was out of listening range. She was such a goner when Max smiled at her.

“So Liz… how much did Max pay you for that little act in the hallway?”

Liz turned, barely resisting the urge to slap Tommy in his smug face.

“For your information, Tommy, I’m not a prostitute who can be bought. Which would explain why you’d never stand a chance with me. I’m with Max because I want to be with Max. End of story.”

“I don’t buy it. No way would anyone pick Evans over me. I think you just need a little persuasion.”

Tommy stepped forward to try and grab Liz, but as she expected this, she curled her right fist tightly into a ball and socked him cleanly on the jaw causing him to stumble backwards grabbing his face in shock.

Despite the fact that the hall was now nearly empty she knew from the stunned looks on the remaining stragglers’ faces that this encounter would be all over the school by lunchtime.

“Never touch me. Never assume that women can be forced into anything and NEVER, EVER assume that just because I’m willing to kiss Max that I’ll put out for you. Max is a thousand times more man than you will ever be! So leave me the hell alone!”

Liz’s heels were the only sound that could be heard down that hallway as she strode hurriedly into the bathroom where locked herself in a cubicle and tried to control her tears. She heard the loud rush of conversation that started up as soon as she turned into the bathroom.

She hated confrontation and more than anything she hated Tommy for attracting so much attention to her. Why couldn’t people just let her be invisible? The warning bell rang and she hurried off before she got into trouble hurriedly checking her make up to make sure that it didn’t smear and that she didn’t look like she’d been crying.


A/N: Back by the end of June or so!

Ok… um… *prepares herself for onslaught of projectiles by bringing out her trusty, dented cooking pan* you see… well… due to unforeseen technological difficulties, my laptop died and I only have so many parts that I have had beta’ed and available to me. So basically… until my cruddy computer power cord arrives to replace the old broken one… I won’t be able to produce anymore parts. The people at the computer place said that it would come in last Tuesday and today is Saturday and… no dice. So unfortunately my hiatus seems to have extended. Which frankly just yanks my chain. Technology hates me.

Thankyou all for being so darn patient, I hate this as much as you do. I do not like being on hiatus and I hate not being able to write. I’m hoping it will come by next Tuesday, otherwise, I may just explode because it died around three weeks ago. I am very pissed off about this.

I promised I’d be back by the end of June and I felt I should deliver at least one part if I can’t post once a week like I want to. So here you go. Hope you enjoy!

Steph- Hope you washed whilst sitting at your computer, filthy little scaly monkey. Lol The computer place guys are useless as tits on a bull, but hopefully, I’ll get my power cord sometime this year. If not I’ll come crying to you to see if you can get me my cord. Be prepared, I might be wailing.
Blink1lit
tequathisy
Spray- Happy birthday for the middle of June! Don’t you just love late salutations?
behrluv32
Eve
Clue
Mica
Natalie36
Lauren- You know me, don’t I always come through with the M/L moments?
Pandas2001
Emz80m
Kittens
Cassie- You caught me. I’m delusional
behraliciou87
Alien_Friend
Lockheart
Aussietrueblue
Raemac
Michelle In Yonkers- You still think Liz needs protection after the punch she gave Tommy? What happened to girl power??!
Stars at night10- It’s self defence, not violence. A girl should be allowed to protect herself when she feels threatened. And frankly, nothing else is going to get through to Tommy. Thanks for the feedback!
Kitten88- Thank you, I’m very flattered!
ShatteredDreamer




“I can’t believe I missed it! Are you seriously telling me that Max and Liz and Michael and Maria made out in the hallway and then Maria fought Courtney and Liz beat the crap out of Tommy for attacking Max?”

Isabel nodded her head with a bemused smile.

“That’s the word on the street, Alex.”

Alex groaned and ran his hand through his hair as he and Izzy sat down for lunch together. “Where was I when this all happened?”

Isabel smirked and gently reminded him.

“WE, were in the eraser room if I recall correctly.”

“Oh.”

Alex and Izzy smiled at each other, but were interrupted as Liz sat across from them with a weary expression on her face. Alex took one look and guessed what was wrong with her.

“I take it that your fight with Tommy was a little less cool than people make it out to be?”

Liz couldn’t trust herself to hold in her tears that sprung up at Alex’s gentle sympathy and concern so she simply nodded while staring at her food that she couldn’t bring herself to eat.

Izzy looked at Liz’s pale face with concern and was shocked by how vulnerable she looked. Alex reached across the table and held Liz’s hands with his own.

“I know it’s hard Liz, but try not to let them get to you. Don’t let them ruin your happiness, the rumours will lessen. Believe me, from experience I know that they will in time go away.”

Liz pulled in a breath and was about to reply when she heard Max’s voice call to her from across the quad.

“Liz?!”

Pulling away from Alex’s hands, Liz forced herself to smile and turned to face Max who was rushing towards her, worry etched on his face. Reaching her, he straddled the bench she was sitting on and frowned slightly as he looked at the tension in her face.

“I just heard from Nick what happened. Are you ok?”

Liz nearly broke as she heard the concern in Max’s voice. She pulled herself harshly together and attempted to reply nonchalantly. She had promised herself to be strong for Max’s sake. She couldn’t let him see how many problems their relationship was causing her. He might end it and she couldn’t let that happen

“Yeah, I’m fine. Nothing to worry about.” Liz’s voice quavered on the last word and Max wordlessly pulled her into his arms. After a momentary resistance, Liz leant her head on Max’s shoulder and sank into his embrace. Of their own accord, Liz’s arms came up and around onto Max’s back and she clutched him to her.

The combination of Max’s nearness and his hands soothingly rubbing her back eased her tension and lulled her back into happiness. Taking advantage of her proximity to his neck, Liz inhaled his unique scent deeply and then resisted the urge to bury her face into the enticing curve of his neck.

Realising that Liz had relaxed and wasn’t crying on his shoulder; Max felt brave enough to ask her what had happened.

“Liz? Nick told me that Tommy attacked you in the hallway and that you beat him up and he also said you, uh… defended me or something. Can you tell me what really happened?”

Liz leant back and looked directly at Max with a half smile.

“A bit of an exaggeration. Tommy wouldn’t believe that I would like you and not him. He said he was going to persuade me, so when he went to grab me I, uh, punched him. In the jaw. And then I told him some stuff and then fled into the bathroom.”

Isabel smiled and ventured a question to Liz.

“What did you tell him?”

Liz shrugged and looked around uneasily, scratching at the back of her neck.

“I just told him that he could never touch me or try to force me to do anything and that I was with Max and that he was a thousand times the man Tommy would ever be.”

Isabel resisted the urge to jump up and throw her arms around Liz for both punching Tommy and for making her brother so happy. She did, however, decide to make a very determined effort to get to know Liz Parker better.

Because from what she had just witnessed, she obviously knew very little about her.

“Lizzy!”

Tearing across the quad and ignoring Michael’s attempts to get her attention, Maria skidded to a halt and threw her arms around Liz’s neck from behind.

“Are you okay, sweetie? I almost went berserk last period when I heard and I sat there so agitated that I’m sure that anyone watching me would have thought that I had A.D.D.”

Liz began to laugh softly at Maria’s declaration and spun to the side so she could hug Maria back.

“I’m fine now. It just really sucked when it happened. Thank god Kyle taught me how to punch properly. “You gotta put your weight behind it, Lizbian!””

“Lizbian?!”

Liz sheepishly laughed as Michael caught the tail end of her speech. “Kyle thought he was really funny when he gave me that nickname. All in all, it’s actually quite smart and witty for him.”

Maria rolled her eyes in aggravation.

“Never mind Kyle! I heard that you beat Tommy up. Or is that an exaggerated rumour?”

“Exaggerated rumour. One punch to the jaw, an angry tirade and then a storming off into the bathroom.”

Michael grinned knowingly at Maria.

“Speaking of rumours… I heard that a one Ms. DeLuca told a certain cheerleader to stay away from her man and attempted to fight her.”

Maria froze momentarily and then shrugged, displaying no real concern.

“Exaggerated rumours seem to be the order of the day. As I recall, this cheerleader accosted Ms. DeLuca over the vain footballer’s interest in her and Ms. DeLuca was forced to defend herself. I also heard that Ms. DeLuca seriously regrets ever having met this footballer as he is more trouble than he is worth.”

Michael only grinned wider.

“Liar.”

“Arrogant jock.”

Maria paused and took a bite out of her sandwich before turning back to Liz who was resting her head on Max’s shoulder watching the exchange between her and Michael with interest.

“Are you sure that you’re fine?”

“Completely. Nothing to worry about. All better now.” Liz turned to Max and gazed at him as she spoke the last sentence which caused Maria to huff out a breath of annoyance before muttering ‘Couples!’ and then turn her attention back onto Michael who had seated himself beside her.

Yay! Cord’s back! My laptop is functional! I no longer have writer’s block! I’m going to update all my fics very soon!

Happy, happy days!

Thank you guys for your feedback or for just reading it!

Alien_Friend- It’s ok, my laptop cord came back, so now I’ve got my stories back. It was just so frustrating not having backed anything up. My laptop is the only computer I have written anything on. But I’ve got Gilbert (my laptop) functioning again and I’ve sent everything I’ve written to myself.
Spray- Combine powers you say? Hmmm, I do love insanity and I have written a scene where… getting ahead of myself again. Gotta stop doing that. You can just wait I guess.
Eve
Lauren- Ebsy came, she yelled, she conquered. Power cord has arrived. Take a bow Ebs.
I just realised how confusing those three sentences would be for other people. Oh well.
Cassie- Nope, only took half a month. Aren’t I good to you?
Aussietrueblue
Natalie36
Steph- No need for the tissues or the IT guys. Ebsy conquered over the evil computer place guys and I conquered my writer’s block. Yay for the women of my family.
Tequathisy
Clue- The very same. It’s still dented from all the rocks and other projectiles hurled at me during Wasted Time, but we’ve been through too much together to replace it. My cooking pan has sentimental value.
Lockheart- I’m very flattered you like this so much. No need to wait forever and a day. How’s two weeks for you?
Emz80m
Nibbles2- Ahh, Maria, I have a whole part coming up that is just dedicated to the candy couple. And the next part’s ok for them too I guess.
Blink1lit
Stargrl678



The rest of the day passed without dilemma and as Liz worked her shift that night her attention kept wandering back to Max. She would often find herself wondering what he was doing and whether he was thinking about her.

Her first question was soon answered as he wandered through the Crashdown doors with Izzy and Alex. She turned and met his gaze returning his wide smile as he seated himself in his usual booth.

Her grin slowly faded as Tess got up from where she was sitting and joined Max and began flirting heavily with him. Biting back an urge to give in to her violent urges twice in one day, she wandered over to them and glared at Tess.

“Hey guys, what can I get you to drink?”

Max looked at Liz and shifted away from Tess uncomfortably and replied. “A cherry coke thanks, Liz.”

Without bothering to look at Liz, Tess stroked Max’s arm before replying, “Me too. I’ll have whatever Max is having.”

Isabel shot Tess a disbelieving glance which Tess failed to see and scathingly muttered, “I’ll bet.”

Giving Liz a sympathetic glance, Iz asked for a cherry coke and Alex requested a blood of alien smoothie while shaking his head in disgust at Tess. Liz walked off in distaste to get their drinks all the while battling to maintain her rage.

How dare that skank move in on her man? She had only just got him, like, two days ago and had already had to fight off two people who wanted to break them up.

Max, who had had just about all he could take of Tess’ aggressive possessiveness, excused himself from the booth claiming that he needed to use the bathroom. Shaking his head in disbelief at Tess’ boldness, he wandered into the bathroom and washed his face and waited for awhile before wandering out hoping against hope that Tess would be gone.

He sighed when he spotted her waiting eagerly for his return. This was not his day. Steering away from the booth he wandered over to the counter where Liz was angrily waiting for the drinks to fill.

Spotting him, her smile returned slightly. Max grimaced and sent her an apologetic half smile.

“I am so sorry about that Liz. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get her to leave me alone. It just doesn’t work.”

Liz cocked her head to the side and decided to make Max uncomfortable by delaying her response. Max shuffled his feet and looked at the ground while he waited anxiously for her to reply. He had only had her for two days and already he’d screwed things up. Mentally, he was kicking himself. He was such a moron!

“You want to eat at the counter?”

Max looked up at Liz and felt all the tension and dread he’d been experiencing drain away. She was smiling at him! Good sign. Great sign!

“That’d be awesome.”

Before Liz could reply her father called her over. Wondering what he could want Liz strolled over to him. “Yeah Dad?” she asked.

“Liz it’s a quiet night, why don’t you and Maria clock off now? We’ve got two more waitresses, way more than we need. Go spend some time with your boyfriend.”

Liz blushed and hugged her dad. Discarding her apron and annoying antennae, she rejoined Max at the counter after explaining to Maria that she was off duty.

“Sorry Max, but the counter is closed. However, we do have a lovely booth for two in the corner of the restaurant. There is a catch to this deal, though.”

Max looked at her warily. “Oh yeah? What’s the catch?”

Liz smiled at him brightly.

“You have to share the booth with one of the waitresses of this fine establishment.”

Max looked at her with a wicked gleam in his eye.

“Is the waitress, Agnes?”

Repressing a smile, Liz answered him as seriously as she could.

“No. Unfortunately the waitress is not Agnes. Better luck next time.”

Max faked a sad sigh and then smiled at her as he stood up.

“I guess you’ll have to do. Where is this booth?”

“Back right hand side. Come on, if you’re quick you may get a kiss.”

Max paused momentarily then grabbed Liz’s hand and towed her towards the back of the restaurant. He was going so quickly that Liz had to run to keep up. Laughing as he towed her along, Liz spied Tess out of the corner of her eye glaring at her.

Max reached the booth and sat down heavily on the seat and looked up at Liz expectantly. Liz raised her eyebrows questioningly.

“Well? Was I quick enough for a kiss?”

Liz rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Sorry, no. But, you do get a consolation prize.”

Max brightened. “Is it Agnes?”

Laughing, Liz sat herself on Max’s lap and was gratified by his hiss of surprise.

“Nope. I’m afraid that this is your consolation prize. Me for the entire evening. Are you extremely disappointed?”

Max struggled to regain his breath.

“I’ll survive.”

He winced at the breathless quality his voice held. Liz grinned and placed a kiss under his jaw.

“Good. You’d be no fun dead. And you wouldn’t be able to do half of what I’ve got in store for you.”

Max’s heart rate raced at the implication in Liz’s words.

“You have things in store for me?”

Liz shook her finger at him and put on a sing-song voice.

“I’ll never tell.”

Max groaned and ran his hands up her bare arms noting her shiver at his touch. Ha, ha! So she reacted to his touch as well. Well, two could play at that game. If she was bold enough to sit in his lap then he was bold enough to lightly trace his finger up her calf muscle.

Liz jumped when she felt Max stroke his finger up her leg and glared accusingly at him while he innocently gazed back at her.

Their stare was broken by the arrival of Tess who stood before them with her hands on her hips. Iz and Alex came up behind quickly as soon as they realised what was going on.

“Well, well. This looks cosy. Mind if I join you?”

Without waiting for an answer, Tess parked herself in the seat across from them. Looking at Iz and Alex for help, Max was relieved when they joined them at the booth.

Staring balefully down at Tess, Liz remained in Max’s lap. She had planned to move beforehand, but now that Tess was so determinedly trying to ruin her night, she played up her position by lacing her fingers through Max’s and leaning back and resting her head next to his neck.

“Planning on giving Max a lap dance Liz, or have they run out of seats?”

Liz smiled at Tess’ spiteful words. “When I have a private moment, maybe.”

At Tess’ speechlessness, Alex cut in with a paternal warning, “That better be a river dance you perform on Max’s lap, Liz. As your surrogate brother I won’t stand for anything else.”

“Ouch, Alex. I get the distinct impression from Max’s wince that that would hurt quite a lot.”

Liz and Izzy then struck up a conversation about their English literary class. Prompted by Iz, Liz marvelled at her genius. It was the only class that all four of them, minus Tess, took together. By bringing it up and refusing to stray to any other topic, Izzy was effectively shutting Tess out of the conversation.

After ten minutes of listening with growing anger Tess couldn’t take it any more and left. As the door swung shut behind her, all four let out a collective breath.

“Thank god she’s gone! I thought she’d never leave.”

Liz smiled appreciatively at Izzy.

“You are a complete genius, Isabel. That was extremely well done.”

Izzy smiled in gratitude and thanked Liz.

Max slipped his arm around Liz’s waist and then suddenly stiffened as he remembered something.

“Oh, Iz. Did you find somewhere to stay?”

Iz frowned.

“No. It completely slipped my mind.”

Liz looked between the two of them wondering what was happening.

“What’s going on?” she asked with curiosity.

“Mom and Dad are going away for the weekend and while they’re gone they want us to stay somewhere because they’re having the house fumigated. I’m staying at Michael’s but Iz can’t stay there because she’s a girl.”

Iz nodded in frustration.

“Why is it that Max can stay wherever he wants, unsupervised, but I have to stay at girl’s house who has responsible parents? It’s not like I even have any real girl friends. I guess I’ll just have to ask Tess.”

Izzy shook her head and almost groaned at the thought of staying with Tess.

“You can stay at my house Izzy.”

Isabel looked up and met Liz’s eyes across the table with hope.

“Really?”

“Sure. But just to warn you, the apartment’s pretty small, you’d have to bunk on a mattress on the floor of my bedroom.”

Iz smiled happily and eagerly reassured Liz. “No, that’d be completely fine. Are you sure your parents won’t mind?”

Liz scoffed and gestured to Alex.

“Not at all. Maria and Alex stay over all the time without warning. You’ve given them four days notice. How long do you need to stay for?”

Izzy thought for a second then replied hesitantly, not wanting to trespass too long on Liz’s parent’s hospitality.

“From Friday night till Monday morning.”

“Absolutely no drama. Just bring whatever you need to school with you on Friday and we can head back to my place. Although I will have to work on Friday night. My weekend’s free though.”

Izzy grinned as the worry she’d been harbouring over the weekend slipped away. Her grin grew as she realised that not only did she not have to go to Tess’ house, but she also had the chance to get to know Liz better.

Alex looked at Izzy with curiosity.

“Are the cockroaches really that bad in your house that you have to fumigate?”

Izzy shook her head while Max rolled his eyes.

“No, Mom’s just completely anal. She saw one cockroach and completely flipped. I’ll tell her that I’ve got a place to stay once you’ve asked your parents. She’ll be thrilled.”

Liz leapt from Max’s lap as her dad came through the door from the back room. She approached him and after a short conversation, Liz turned back and gave them all the thumbs up.

“Dad’s completely ok with it. In fact I think he’s a little relieved that I’m ‘branching out’ and making new friends. I’ve only ever had Alex and Maria over to stay before.”

Iz smiled at her and thanked her profusely.

“You have no idea how much you’ve saved me. I won’t have to beg Tess to let me stay at her house and then listen to her not-so-subtle attempts to dig up dirt on Max.”

Liz looked at her and then glanced back at Max warily.

“You don’t mind if I try to dig up dirt on Max, do you?”

Izzy laughed heartily and Max looked scandalized. Liz smiled with Izzy and looked forward to the weekend. Maybe it was the way she looked out for Max or maybe it was her love for Alex, or maybe it was just because she was a good person. Whatever the reason, Liz’s defensive shield was certainly slipping when it came to Isabel Evans.

Poor old Tess, everyone hates her. Perhaps we should wonder why she’s doing it…

I hope that I’ll be able to update weekly, but with school coming up, it’s gonna be a little tricky. I start again tomorrow so we’ll see what my workload’s like.

Candy part coming up!

Lauren- Ebsy’s tops isn’t she? I think you are alone on that one, but you’ll just have to wait till Kyle shows up to be vindicated. Now if I could only write it…
I love Alex. He’s so fun to write, even in Absolution (which wasn’t funny), he was fun to write.
Natalie36
Eve- Very good point, Eve. No she doesn’t have any self esteem.
Nibbles2- You’re on the ball!
Lockheart- I’m loving Izzy right now too.
Confusedfool
Emz80m
Clue
Chula- Thank you, I kinda like my sense of humour too.
Behrluv32
Steph
Erina
ShatteredDreamer
Alien_Friend
Cass- Yeah! Long live the Ice Queen. Hope you’re having a blast in Europe if you’ve already gone.
Raemac- Nope, not the last of sleazy Tommy.




Liz hung around until closing time. Her father had retreated an hour beforehand to watch his favourite TV show so it was just Liz, Michael and Maria who were closing up. Alex, Izzy and Max all helped Liz clean up the front while Maria and Michael cleaned the kitchen and storeroom.

Liz waved goodbye to Izzy and Alex and kissed Max before locking the door and turning to check on Michael and Maria.

Liz strode through the back room door and stopped as she viewed the scene before her. Her hand flew to her mouth and she distantly wondered if she should leave. Michael and Maria were making out heavily on the couch completely oblivious to her presence.

As Maria’s hands balled into fists clutching Michael’s shirt and Michael ran his hand down Maria’s almost bare leg, Liz felt like a dirty voyeur. Coughing softly, Liz attempted to alert them to her presence.

When that didn’t work Liz coughed louder and kicked the door behind her. Both broke apart at the noise, then scrambled to their feet as they realised that they weren’t alone.

“Liz! What are you doing here?”

Liz smiled and squashed the urge to laugh at Maria’s flustered state and Michael’s pointless attempts to covertly tuck his shirt in.

“I live here, Maria.”

“Oh. Right. Well, Michael was just leaving. Weren’t you Michael?”

Michael stopped struggling with his shirt and turned to look at Maria.

“What? I think we should talk about this Mari-”

“Nothing to talk about, really. Bye Michael.” Pushing a protesting Michael out the door, Maria sank against it once he was gone and groaned into her hands.

“How much did you see?”

“Not much really. Just ten seconds of pretty serious making out.”

Maria hit her head against the back of the door and groaned again.

“This is SO bad. I never meant to do that, and then he was there, and I was there, and what if your dad had walked in? OH MY GOD! I would never have lived that down! I can’t believe how thoughtless Michael was!”

Liz stopped her mid rant with a confused look.

“Maria! You’re rambling again. And it takes two to tango. He wasn’t the only one being thoughtless.”

“Liz! You’re meant to be on my side! And it is his fault. The foul temptress.”

Liz couldn’t contain her laughter anymore and burst into hysterics. She stopped once she noticed Maria’s distressed expression.

“I never really would have thought of Michael as a foul temptress.” Liz said still chuckling occasionally.

Maria shook her head slowly.

“You have no idea what that man is capable of. He bewitched me with his stupid hair and corny jokes and his refusal to be insulted by anything I said. The man is dangerous, Liz.”

Liz nodded, biting back a smile before replying glibly, “Yeah, he sounds totally evil.”

“Right. Well, I’d better get home. I’d better start planning out my day tomorrow to see if I can avoid him.”

Liz blinked in confusion and then asked Maria what the hell was going on.

“I thought you liked Michael? It certainly seemed like you did a couple minutes ago.”

Maria rolled her eyes and patted Liz’s arm.

“Liz, Liz, Liz. You have so much to learn about the ways of men. Michael Guerin needs to know that despite what went on here tonight, I am not easy. He’s got to work hard to win my favours. I am NOT another Courtney.”

Liz groaned.

“Maria! Don’t play with his head! He’s a nice guy that doesn’t think you’re Courtney at all. You’ve already won his respect and he’s crazy about you! What more do you want?”

Maria just shook her head at Liz’s comments and brushed them aside with a condescending look.

“So young and so naïve. Liz, let me handle Michael Guerin. I know what needs to be done. You’ll see.”
As soon as Liz arrived at school, Michael rushed over to her.

“Liz, do you know why Maria won’t return my phone calls? I thought after last night that maybe we’d finally get together but it seems like she’s avoiding me. When I called her house I could hear her in the background whispering to her Mom that she didn’t want to talk to me. What’s going on?”

Liz winced and weighed up the two sides and decided that Michael could use her help more.

“She’s just a bit confused as to where she stands with you. She wants to make sure that you’re actually interested in her and not just in it to get in her pants. She figures that if she avoids you and makes you work for her time then you’ll be forced to take her seriously and not think that she’s easy.”

“What? Why would she think that I- Oh, god that is so annoying!”

Liz patted his shoulder.

“Welcome to Maria-ville. Population: confused. Try not to feel too upset about it. She does like you. She admitted it to me.”

Michael nodded mopily.

“Thanks Liz.”

“Any time.”

Liz stowed her books in her locker and peered down the hallway trying to spot Max.

“Looking for someone?”

Liz spun and smiled at Max as he leant on the locker to her right.

“Maybe. He’s tall, dark haired, good-looking, great kisser. Have you seen him?”

Max’s eyes widened and a smile grew over his face.

“I’ll have a look around now. Does he play football as well?”

Liz nodded sadly.

“Everyone’s got to have one flaw right?”

Max laughed and tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear before moving in to kiss her good morning.

Once again, this out of character romantic activity from Liz Parker drew stares from those around in the hall, but this time Liz didn’t mind so much. She didn’t care if everyone knew that she was attracted to Max. Let them see. It would only reinforce in people’s minds that they were together.

After breaking off from the kiss Liz glanced around and noticed a bunch of girls glaring at her.

Fair enough, she surmised. She’d be tempted to glare at any girl who had stolen the affections of Max, the most eligible bachelor in the school. Max’s attributes made him stand out clearly from the pack of hormonal males in the school and there were probably quite a few very distressed and heartbroken girls in her school right now.

Noticing Liz’s lapse of attention Max waved his hand in front of her face and looked at her with a slightly worried look on his face.

“Liz, are you ok? If you’re not comfortable with public affection I can back off-”

Blinking rapidly Liz hurried to reassure him by silencing him with a kiss.
Liz pulled away and ran her fingers through Max’s hair lightly.

“No, I was just distracted by an errant thought. Nothing to worry about. I’m not fussed with public affection Max, I’m too happy to be worried about other people right now.”

Max smiled at her, reassured that she wasn’t distancing herself from him.

“So… what was this “errant thought” that stole you away from me? I’ll have you know that I’m extremely jealous of anything that runs through your mind that’s not connected to me,” he teased sternly with a goofy grin on his face.

Liz smiled at his light teasing.

“I was just thinking about how much it must suck for the other girls in this school and how much they must hate me right now.”

Max frowned, not following her at all.

“What do you mean? Why would anyone hate you?”

Liz smiled at Max’s obliviousness. He was so cute when he had no idea what was going on.

“That is so adorable, Max. You seriously have no idea how many girls in this school live to see you smile? I’m a pretty hated girl right now. Just like Jenny was back in freshman year.”

Max looked at with even more confusion.

“Are you saying that girls hate you because you’re dating me and they like me? That’s ludicrous! And why would you bring up Jenny? I’m trying to forget that episode of my life.”

Liz’s brows knitted together as she considered his last statement. As much as she had hated him dating another girl, she couldn’t fault his choice. Jenny was a lovely person, what was so wrong with her that had made Max despise her?

“Why would you want to forget your time with Jenny? She’s not that bad!”

Max shrugged and looked away uneasily.

“I’m not ashamed of being with Jenny; I’m ashamed of my reasons for being with Jenny.”

Liz looked at him expectantly and Max knew that he wouldn’t be getting away with saying nothing. He sighed and resigned himself to being honest with her. She deserved it, even if it would freak her out.

“I went out with Jenny to make another girl notice me and hopefully become jealous. It was really rude of me to use Jenny that way and it really hurt her when I broke up with her for seemingly no real reason at all.”

Taken aback, Liz tried to figure out who he possibly could have liked back then. She hadn’t seen any preference and she had watched him fairly closely.

“Which girl did you try and make jealous?”

Max coughed uncomfortably and scratched his ear while staring at the ground.

“You.”

Liz stared at Max who steadfastly stared at the ground. Shock coursed through her. She had heard Max tell her before that he had liked her for a long time. But she had always translated that into months, not years. Joy speared through her and she felt like cart wheeling down the hall cheering.

Lifting Max’s head with her hand she softly spoke to him.

“Your plan worked.”

Max's chin raised higher of its own accord as he sharply lifted his head to gape at Liz. She was jealous? Of him and Jenny?

“There were moments when I sincerely hated both of you in that month when you were dating. I’d freak out thinking of all the stories I’d heard of all the couples who had dated in high school and had ended up getting married. Maria really hated you that month because she had to put up with me.”

Max who had been silent from shock managed to find words after her startling revelation.

“You liked me in freshman year?”

“Well, apparently you liked me too. What’s the big deal?”

Max looked stricken at her last question.

“The big deal is that I had absolutely no idea that the girl of my dreams liked me back! Do you know what it’s like to stay awake almost all night pining for someone you think doesn’t even notice you? Do you know what it’s like to look forward to Biology, even though you hate it, because you say to yourself that maybe this time the person you can’t even look at without gasping for air might actually start a conversation with you?”

“Yes. I know exactly what that’s like. Besides the whole hating Biology thing. It’s my favourite subject.”

Max’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.

“Y-you… pined for me?”

Liz smiled, liking the shock that she was causing Max.

“Constantly. Ask Maria. Listen, I have to go. Class calls.”

And with a swift kiss, Liz left Max standing stunned in the middle of the hall until Michael came up and punched him on the shoulder and asked what the hell he was doing staring off into space.

The line, “Welcome to Maria-ville. Population: confused.” Seems to have gone down a treat with you all. I’m pleased. I liked it too.

Okay! Candy part! Sorry dreamers, the M&M’ers need this. Anyway, hope you enjoy, Liz and Max’ll be back in the next bit. Along with everyone’s favourite: Alex!
I love Alex.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll be able to crank some more out before school gets really nuts. I go on placement for two weeks soon and have to devise lesson plans and the thought of being judged on how I teach kids is just giving me hives. So, we’ll see how I get on.

Alien_Friend
Eve
Emz80m
Queen Fee- Fee! How’s it going? Glad to hear from you and thrilled you’re liking it!
Behrluv32
Raemac
Zanity- They are oblivious, aren’t they? They're fun to write that way.
Clue
Cass- Dang, I thought you’d have gone by then. Oh, well. Guess I can’t win ‘em all.
Steph- You are great at predicting what people will love. I bow down to your greatness, oh lovely beta.
Addicted2AmberEyes
Lockheart
Nibbles2- I was worried that it would seem too sappy, I do strive for them to seem innocent rather than saccharine and goopy, so I’m very pleased you think I’ve achieved it. And to your other point: It’s not jocks perse that Maria hates (although with freaks like Tommy around you can understand her dislike of them), it’s more her emotional background. The most influential man in her life skipped out on her and that’s why she’s pushing him away. The jock thing is just an excuse. Hopefully this next part makes that clearer.
Shattered Dreamer- Um… what did you think his reason would be? So that he could get laid? That’s the only one I could think of that would inspire that reaction.
Michelle In Yonkers- Since when am I revered? Thank you! I like my take on them too. They’re fun to write.

Any chance he'll just move to a different school?

Gee, um… Ah… let me see…
NO!!! ‘Fraid not. Sorry to disappoint.



Max turned to Michael in the hallway and relayed the startling information Liz had just given him, which caused Michael’s eyes to bug out of his head. After a moment’s silence Michael patted him on the back and said with awe, “Well… damn, Max! Way to go,” Michael’s mood dropped back to sombre as he added, “at least one of us is having luck in the love department.”

Max frowned sympathetically and asked, “Maria still won’t give in?”

“No, we…uh, made out last night and now she won’t talk to me. Liz said it was something about her wanting me to think she wasn’t easy like Courtney,” Michael let out a frustrated roar and rhetorically asked, “God! Can’t she see how much I like her? I don’t think she’s easy at all! In fact, I’ve never worked this hard for a girl before in my life! I’m crazy about her but she’s just so irrational!”

Max let out a low whistle of amazement. Sometimes girls were insane. He was so relieved that Liz wasn’t as flighty as Maria; he didn’t think he could deal with the drama of dating someone like DeLuca. But funnily enough, she suited Michael down to the ground.

“Maybe she’s just scared, Michael. She may just be using this as an excuse to push you away because she’s scared of her own feelings for you.” Max suggested lightly, hoping to help ease Michael’s frustration.

His suggestion however had the opposite effect. Michael’s face fell and he shook his head despondently. “Or maybe she doesn’t feel anything for me at all. Who am I kidding? What would she want with a dumb jock whose own parents didn’t even want him?”

“Michael-” Max began, desperate to stop him from even considering that possibility. Michael cut him off before he could begin, though.

“No, Max, I get it. My parents didn’t want me, she doesn’t want me and Hank only kept me around for the monthly cheque. It was stupid of me to think I could ever actually mean something to her.”

The bell to go to class rang and Michael turned and headed out the front doors of the school out to his motorbike, leaving Max at a loss as to what to do. He knew that he should go after him, but he also knew that Michael wouldn’t appreciate it. What he was going to do when he had the next opportunity was to have a long talk with Maria DeLuca about playing with his friend’s feelings.

Unbeknownst to Max, he didn’t need to. Maria had heard every word from her position around the corner. She had started to head down the corridor they were in, but upon seeing Michael had fled back around the corner to wait until he’d left. She hadn’t meant to eavesdrop but she couldn’t help overhearing from where she was, and once the conversation had turned to her, she couldn’t stop even if she’d wanted to.

Maria leant her back against the lockers and slid down to the ground, tears spilling onto her cheeks. Max was right. She was scared of how Michael made her feel. She had kept her distance because she was certain that he was playing with her. She was wary of his motives for chasing her; her father had left when she was seven and she was subsequently convinced that the male gender were out to hurt her. And deep down, Maria wondered if she was worthy of love.

She had never considered that Michael might actually be hurt from her actions. She hadn’t even considered the possibility that he was in as deep as her. It awed her that she had invoked such strong feelings in him. She brushed away the tears from her eyes and tried to stop them from flowing down her cheeks. She had ruined it now; he’d never want to be with her after she’d played him around so much. She’d hurt him too deeply for any sort of trust on his part. She’d brought up old wounds, wounds that were surprisingly similar to hers, and she knew the ache they caused.

Maria rose from her position on the floor wiping off the few straggling tears that remained and headed out the door to her Jetta. She needed to fix this. She had to take the chance. Even if it did mean rejection. After all, how many times had Michael opened himself up to her only to feel the cold sting of rejection? It was her turn now. Even though it terrified her, she had to make the next step.
Maria arrived at Michael’s apartment and could hear the loud thump of Metallica from the bottom of the stairwell. Swallowing her doubts, she climbed the stairs and paused at the door. It was ajar and she supposed she should knock, but she doubted he’d hear it over his music.

Sucking in a large breath, Maria prepared herself for the scariest thing she’d ever have to do in her life; open up to someone.

She pushed through the door and her eyes came to land on the couch, where Michael was sitting. His head raised slightly in shock as he looked at her with a crease between his eyebrows. What on earth was she doing here?

Wordlessly he raised the remote and shut off the cd player and watched her with wary eyes.

“I didn’t hear you knock,” he said finally after a moment’s silence. Maria gestured to his cd player awkwardly and replied, “I didn’t bother. You wouldn’t have heard me anyway.”

Michael nodded and then sat there motionless waiting for her to talk. When it was clear she wasn’t going to he asked impatiently, “Well?”

“Well, what?” volleyed Maria, wanting him to ask her so that she didn’t have to bring it up.

“What are you doing here? I thought that avoiding people meant that you stayed away from them, not trespassed on their property,” replied Michael coldly, as Maria winced.

This wasn’t going to be easy. He was making sure of that.

Maria cleared her throat, “I wanted to apologise,” she stated brusquely, not liking how defensive she sounded.

“For?” asked Michael with a slight raising of his eyebrows. He didn’t want to be antagonistic to her. God knew that the last thing he wanted to do was drive her away, but she’d hurt him. And if he’d learnt anything from Hank, it was that you don’t let people hurt you twice. He had to shut her out or she’d continue to hurt him. It was the only way he knew how to be safe.

“For avoiding you and pretending that I don’t…” Maria’s voice trailed off and she pulled in a steadying breath. This was harder than she thought it’d be. She wasn’t an open person. She knew that. She kept her emotions close to her chest and never revealed her true self to anyone. Not Liz, not Alex, not her Mom, no one. She was at heart a vibrant, animated person, but no one truly saw the real her. No one saw the deeply hurt, vulnerable, loving side of Maria DeLuca. Sure, she cared about her friends and family. She cared for them deeply, no one could deny that. But there was still a part of her that remained untouched, a part that had frozen the day that her father had walked out the door leaving her and her mother to fend for themselves.

And now she had to slice open her chest, pull open the incision and invite Michael Guerin to have a deep, hard inspection. Maria was terrified. No, terrified was an understatement. This was a situation that she had avoided for a large portion of her life and here it was, staring her in the face, mocking her and taunting her with her inability to open up.

“Pretending you don’t what?” asked Michael dully, hoping that she’d just leave. He didn’t want her pity. He didn’t need it. He was doing fine. He had his own apartment, he had his own life, he had friends, and he was standing on his own two feet. He didn’t need some girl in his life to make him complete.

So why did he feel so hollow when he thought of never seeing Maria again? Or talking with her again? Why did that quick grope on the couch mean so much to him? Why, when he lay in bed at night, did he look back on the moments that he spent with Maria as the best parts of his day?

God, why was she doing this to him?

“Care for you,” replied Maria, her voice barely above a whisper. Silence reigned in the apartment as Maria studied her shoes. When she finally looked up, she was surprised to see anger and hurt etched on his face.

“Get out,” he commanded, his voice pulsing with the anger he felt. Maria’s head snapped up and her eyes brimmed with unshed tears.

“What? Michael-” she began only to be cut off by him.

“You don’t want to be with me, that’s fine. I’ll get over it. But don’t come around here and treat me like some fucking charity case, ok? I’m doing fine, I don’t need your pity!” he growled as he stood up, obviously waiting for her to leave.

“Michael that’s not true! I don’t see you as a charity case, that’s not why I’m here!” cried Maria, unable to stand the hurt that she’d caused him. She must really have struck deep with her previous rejection of him. With a rush of terror and desperation, Maria realised that she might not be able to fix what she’d done. That a simple apology and an explanation might not be enough to repair the damage. The thought chilled her to the bone and it was in that moment that Maria came to realise just how much she had come to care for Michael.

“Then why are you here?”

“Because I don’t want to lose you, but I’m terrified you’ll leave me!” blurted out Maria, unaware of how much of her M.O. she’d unwittingly revealed. That was her life wrapped up in a nutshell. She craved closeness, but distanced herself from other people for fear of getting hurt again.

Michael’s eyes narrowed as he saw the unshed tears in her wild eyes begin to brim over and spill onto her cheeks. Ignoring his own pain, he cautiously reached out and pulled Maria into an embrace. After a moment’s resistance, she started to shake with suppressed sobs. She knew that opening up would be hard, but she never dreamed that it would be this sharp and painful. It was as if by admitting her own faults that she had made them real, and with that came all the hurt that she hadn’t allowed herself to feel.

Michael swore softly and held her tighter as she cried into his chest, her arms coming around to hold onto him. She gripped him to her and prayed that he wouldn’t leave her. She had taken a big risk in revealing this much to him.

Michael Guerin knew her, he knew her better than anyone else in the world now and if he rejected her after that… Maria didn’t know if she’d survive such a vicious blow to her self esteem.

Her cries slowed until they were just shuddering intakes of breath that she was trying to control. She pulled back and in a rebellious act of unladylikeness, she wiped her nose on her sleeve.

Michael repressed a smile and asked gently, “Better now?”

Maria kept her eyes downcast and muttered rather petulantly, “uh huh.”

“So… you avoided me because you’re afraid of what you feel for me, because you think that I’ll leave you and you’ll get hurt?” he asked, summing up the drift of what Maria had been trying to say.

She nodded again and Michael rolled his eyes and laughed, much to Maria’s horror.

“God, woman. You are so nuts. A guy’d have to be crazy to get involved with a girl like you.”

Maria stared at him in dismay as he metaphorically ripped her heart out of her chest and crushed it beneath his boot. She went to leave, to run away and never ever venture near Michael Guerin ever again, but he banded his arm around her waist crushing him to her, leaving no room for her to escape.

“But, luckily for you I happen to be certifiably insane,” he intoned gently. Maria glanced up at him, a wild hope soaring in her chest as he smiled gently down on her, “and I have to say, going mad never looked so good.”

Michael stared down at her wide, wet eyes that were practically shining with hesitant hope and wondered how the hell they managed to convey so much emotion. He studied the tear tracks on her face, the red, puffiness of her eyes and the almost imperceptible quivering of her lip and decided that Maria DeLuca, in all her glorious vulnerability, had never looked more beautiful.

He couldn’t control his reaction to her. He had to kiss her. Leaning down, he pressed the gentlest, softest of kisses to her mouth and sighed with relief when she wound her arms around his neck and pressed her lips more firmly against his. This is what he’d been waiting for, for Maria to give in, to just let go and feel. It was mutual surrender and one of the most perfect moments either of them had ever experienced.

Skipping school had never been so beneficial.

Ok… I didn’t make up dickbag the insult. My brother did… or one of his friends did. I’m not sure. Anyway, I unfortunately made up the insult “slut butt” and used it because I couldn’t think up anything better.

Alien_Friend-

I just wanna hug both of them

Feel free. Hug away.
Fee- Eavesdropping is so underrated… Thanks for the bump!
Eve
Aussietrueblue
Zanity
Nibbles2- it does make them seem a little silly doesn’t it? But people are rarely sensible creatures when it comes to matters of the heart.
Clue
Steph
Lockheart
Zanandrathslvr
Raemac
Michelle In Yonkers




“Wow,” repeated Liz for the third time as she tried to take in Maria’s tale.

“You may have mentioned that already,” remarked Maria dryly as she hoed into the ice cream sitting precariously on Liz’s bunched up doona.

“I’m sorry… it’s just… wow,” stated Liz inanely trying to grasp what Maria had told her.

“I know! Who’da thunk that lil’ old DeLukes here could actually reveal something personal to someone she cares about,” declared Maria breezily, scooping up more ice cream as Liz sat stunned.

“DeLukes? Wha- Maria! Don’t turn this whole thing into a joke or try to pretend that it doesn’t matter, ok? You had a serious revelation today!”

“I did? What was this “revelation”? Did I find God? Was he behind the couch like I suspected?”

Despite her irritation at Maria’s refusal to take her seriously, Liz laughed.

“Maria! You are so annoying! I’m trying to be serious here!”

Maria sighed and lowered her spoon, “I know Liz. I get it. It’s big. I just had a really heavy day and I’d like to not think about what “progress” I made or anything, ok? I understand better than anyone how huge this was for me. But, you know, it’s kinda private and personal. It’s… what happened it’s… it’s between me and Michael.”

Liz blinked in surprise and then she frowned, “Oh yeah, then why’d you bring it up if you didn’t want me to know?” she asked with an affectionate pinch to Maria’s upper arm.

“Because, I had to tell you so you understood why Michael and I were together and… and…” Maria scowled when she realised that Liz was laughing at her, “aw, shut up you dickbag!”

Liz put on a mock offended air and shot back, “Oh whatever, slut butt!”

The two girls stared at each other, with their best angry faces on, trying hard not to be the first to break. In the end they both snorted simultaneously and then laughed, upsetting the ice cream container.

“Did you… did you m-make up D-dickbag… on your own?” asked Liz over her laughter.

“No! I heard Sean say it. It stuck with me,” replied Maria as she picked up the ice cream carton before it leaked on the bed spread. She paused in her mission, holding the carton up in the air and frowned as she asked, “What’s with slut butt?”

Liz shrugged.

“It rhymed.”
“Do you ever get the feeling that you’re constantly behind the eight ball when it comes to gossip?” asked Alex to Isabel on Wednesday morning as they walked down the hall together hand in hand.

“No. Why?”

“Because, last I checked, they were barely in the friends stage,” replied Alex pointing down the hall with his free hand, towards Michael and Maria who were publicly making out against the lockers.

Isabel gaped at the scene and sputtered, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

“Is? You ok?” asked Max as he arrived with Liz in tow. He glanced down the hall following Isabel’s gaze and blinked in surprise.

“Oh-kaaay… is anyone else feeling a little confused?” he asked glancing around at Liz, Isabel and Alex. He heard confirmation from Alex and Isabel and stared at Liz when she replied, “No.”

“What do you mean? I mean, yesterday, she was avoiding him because they made out and he was pissed off and hurt, and now…”

“Wait! She was avoiding him? They made out? I ask again, where was I when all these things happened?!” cried Alex, feeling very left out of the loop.

Liz clapped him on the back and shrugged, “She would have told you eventually Alex, but it all happened rather quickly. She probably wouldn’t have told me if I hadn’t busted her making out with him on the couch two days ago. And yesterday she overheard Michael talking and went to apologise after she realised how much she’d hurt him. That’s when this development occurred.”

“How did you find out?” asked Alex, unable to look away from the heavily making out couple.

“She told me last night after work. Alex, if you want to know the goss, you have to get a job at the Crashdown with us.”

Liz paused and glanced at her friends whose eyes were all firmly trained on Maria and Michael.

“Uh, guys? Don’t you all have better things to do? You’re acting like perverts.”

The three of them jumped out their daze with a start and looked at each other sheepishly while Liz smirked.

“Peeping Toms,” she snickered as they all blushed and looked ashamedly down at the ground.

Liz laughed and glanced around, noticing the stares that Michael and Maria were pulling. They certainly knew how to make spectacles of themselves, that was for sure. Liz’s eyes raked down the hallway and stopped as she noticed Courtney appear around the corner.

“Oh crap,” she whispered as she saw Courtney’s eyes widen with rage as she spotted Michael and Maria. This was not going to be good.

“Liz? What’s wrong…” Max began, before turning to see what she was looking at, “Oh boy, this is not going to be pretty,” muttered Max as he watched Courtney begin to stalk down the hallway towards Michael and Maria.

Alex grinned and fished around in his bag before pulling out a digital camera.

“I knew that this would come in handy!” he crowed, switching it on just in time to catch Courtney pull Maria off Michael by her hair.

Liz gasped and dropped Max’s hand, running to back Maria up as Courtney turned on her. Liz reached her just in time to hear Courtney call Maria a whore and accuse her of carrying STD’s.

Michael grasped Maria around the waist and held her back from ‘snapping the dumb slut in the face’ like she threatened loudly to do. Liz placed herself in front of Courtney, while Michael struggled with an enraged Maria, and advised her to walk away before she made a bigger fool of herself.

“The only fools here are you and that dumb skank. If you think that that either Max or Michael are in it for anything more than an easy lay, then you’re kidding yourselves,” she spat, causing Liz’s blood to boil.

“Oh, this is viewing gold!” yelled Alex ecstatically as he taped Max entering the fray to knock Courtney back down into her place.

“Alex!” cried Isabel, disgusted with his lack of concern, “Those are your friends in there!”

Alex sighed, “Fine,” and handed her the camera, “here. You tape,” he said, before running down to hold Courtney back as she and Liz got into a fairly heated verbal fight.

“What? Alex!”

Isabel looked down at the camera in her hands and shook her head sadly. Her boyfriend…

“You’re nothing but a cheap hooker, Courtney!” yelled Maria as she tried to claw her way out of Michael’s arms. Michael winced as her nails dug into his arms but his grip didn’t lessen. He was not letting his girlfriend get suspended for fighting in school over him.

“At least I’m not a frigid bitch! Tell me, does Liz give you frostbite, Max?” asked Courtney trying to pull away from Alex who had her securely by the arm. Liz sucked in an angry breath and replied, “Oh, you are so going down, you evil trollop…” and stepped towards her, completely oblivious to the large crowd that had gathered around to watch with avid interest.

“Liz! It’s not worth it!” pleaded Max as he pinioned her arms to her sides and lifted her away from Courtney.

Isabel watched in amazement for a moment and then, struck by a brilliant idea, called out, “The principal’s coming!”

Courtney jumped in fear and wrenched herself free of Alex’s grip and pelted down the hall, afraid of gaining another suspension for fighting. Her mom would kill her.

Max and Michael cautiously let Liz and Maria go and watched them warily as they stood, panting and angry, looking for Courtney.

“Figures she’d run. Cowardly bitch,” muttered Maria, “What? What are you all looking at? Disperse,” demanded Maria with a dismissive wave of her hand towards the crowd that had gathered.

As the crowd slowly shuffled off, Alex ran up to Isabel and asked with the enthusiasm of a little boy, “Did you get it all?”

Wordlessly, Isabel handed his camera back to him and with a bemused shake of her head, stepped around him to assess the damage that had happened.

“Hey Maria, your head ok? Hair still intact?” she asked, peering at Maria’s curly locks with concern.

“Who cares about her hair? I’m the one that’s hurt here!” cried Michael, looking at the long red scratches on his forearms, “Cut your frigging fingernails woman!”

Maria rolled her eyes in sync with Isabel and Liz.

“What a wussy. Go have a cry, you big girl.”

“What?! I save you from getting suspended from fighting, you injure me in the process and that’s what you have to say to me?! I don’t believe this…” huffed Michael throwing his hands up in the air.

Maria wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled seductively at him.

“Aww, poor Mikey G! Want me to kiss your boo boo’s better?” she asked sweetly, with a condescending smile on her face.

“No,” returned Michael gruffly, still angered over her flippant dismissal of his scratches, “but you can kiss my ass.”

Maria laughed and pulled his head down by his spiky hair to plant a kiss to his lips in apology. The kiss quickly turned heated and everyone had to look away again.

“Gee, what a sweet couple,” stated Alex sarcastically with a dramatic sigh.

“If they don’t kill each other before the week is out, it’ll be a miracle,” muttered Max as he watched Liz in concern.

“Liz? You ok?”

“I just made a spectacle of myself again, didn’t I?” she asked in horror of what she’d done in the heat of the moment.

“Yep,” replied Alex unsympathetically, clapping his hand on her shoulder, “common theme for you lately, Lizzy. How bout you sell tickets next time? At least that way you can earn money while you make a fool of out of yourself.”

“Alex!” cried Liz and Isabel simultaneously, horrified by what he’d just said. He winced in pain as Izzy slapped him upside the head.

“Kidding! Geez… It wasn’t that bad Liz, you just convinced everyone that you’re tough and not to mess with you again. This fight was probably a good thing in terms of your reputation. Now everyone will be too scared to approach you lest you beat them up. How many fights have you gotten into in the past week? We’re up to our second one aren’t we?”

“Lest? Who the fuck says lest?” asked Michael, wrenching free from Maria momentarily to stare at Alex before being pulled back down onto Maria’s waiting lips.

Liz winced as the bell rang and pulled Max off down the hall towards Biology as Maria and Michael came up for air.

They all headed off but stopped momentarily to laugh as they heard Alex cry, “Isabel! You didn’t tape it!”

Thank you to all who left feedback, bumps or congratulations for my nomination, you all rock!

This part was going to be longer, but I went to write the next bit and it has taken on a life of its own and is now nearly the length of a part. So I’ll have that as a separate part when I finish it. As a result, this part doesn’t really have a point, but hey, it amused me when I wrote it! So here you go!

Zanity- Well, no one ever accused Courtney of being smart.
Eve
A_F
Natalie36
Nibbles2-

The girls in this fic are horrible. All of them. They're either sluts, aggressive, violent, say the most horrible things about each other and to each others faces or all of the above.

What did Isabel do?
Aside from calling Tess a slut in earlier chapters…
Oh Crap! You’re right. They’re all beyond redemption. I’m abandoning this fic now.
I like to think of Liz as more of a loyal friend with a hot temper, and in the case of Tommy, just very defensive. And Maria… uh… is awesome. So there.
Fee
Confused fool
Aussietrueblue
Clue
Lockheart
Emz80m
Stars at Night 10
Raemac
Steph
Spray- Aww, thanks!Why is everyone so eager for Max to fight? I’ll see what I can do. Shouldn’t be too hard with a character like Tommy…
Dreamer19- Uh, pray? Actually, it's a bit late now to pray for a new part, but I guess you could pray for the next one...
Elci
ShatteredDreamer
Carolina Moon
OrangeSky- Thanks Alli! I wish I knew cool stuff like that. I really need to start reading the encyclopaedia more often.
Jessibelle47- Thank you!



Liz hummed and softly sang to herself as she opened her locker, her life suddenly seeming a lot brighter since Max Evans had entered it.

“Baby I need your loving, Got to have all your loving…”

Isabel stood behind Liz smothering her laughter as Liz sang softly with a goofy grin on her face. It was Friday and Isabel had arranged to meet Liz here after having Max drop her stuff off at the Crashdown earlier that morning. While he usually hated running errands for Izzy, this one gave him an excuse to see Liz, so he was glad to do it.

Liz turned, still bopping her head to the music in her head and swore, clutching at her heart in surprise when she noticed Isabel.

“Shit! Isabel, you scared the crap out of me!” cried Liz, still clutching at her heart, laughing slightly at the ridiculous nature of what she’d been caught doing.

Isabel raised her eyebrows in surprise over Liz’s use of profanity, but held her tongue.

“So I see,” she remarked glibly biting back her amusement. “Oh, thanks again for letting me stay over this weekend.”

Liz smiled but her response was cut short by a wave of disgust that rolled through her body as Tommy stopped behind them and interrupted them.

“My two girls having a sleep over. Well, this is a nice thought. Am I invited?”

Tommy slung his arms around Liz and Isabel’s necks and was promptly flung off with snorts of disgust from both girls who immediately switched on their ice personas.

“That would be a definite NO Tommy. You. Are. Repulsive. Say it with me now. I’ll break it up for you Re-pul-sive. Also known as sickening, vomit inducing. Am I being clear enough?”

Tommy smirked at Isabel then ran his eyes slowly up and down her body in a way that made her feel dirty and cheap.

“When you gonna quit fighting the attraction you feel for me, Izzy?”

“When are you going to buy a clue?” retorted Izzy coldly with a disdainful glance at him.

“Just walk away before you embarrass yourself further, Tommy,” grated Liz, completely not in the mood to deal with Tommy’s arrogance. Not that she was ever in the mood, but she had actually been in a great mood before his arrival and the longer he stayed, the longer he was ruining it for her.

“Whoa, you know why you’re so angry, Liz?” he asked, completely oblivious to the glance exchanged by the girls over his rather obvious question.

“I can think of one large reason.”

Tommy flicked his eyebrows up and smirked at her. “Sexual tension. Obviously Max isn’t doing it for you, so you need to step on up to a real man. When you’re ready Liz, I’ll be here.”

Tommy turned and walked away before either Liz or Isabel could come up with a suitable response. They were both too dumbfounded to speak.

“Right…” drawled Isabel after a moment, trying to hide the small smile that was forming. “So Liz… when you gonna step on up and try Tommy on for size, huh? Get you a little summin’ summin’?”

Liz gagged and scowled at Isabel, trying not to laugh at the obscene gestures she was making as she spoke. “Don’t make me sick.”

“Oh come on Liz. You know you wanna, Pam Troy says he’s hung like a parrot.”

“What? Invisible to the naked eye, but he talks about it all the time?” asked Liz, trying not to laugh at Isabel’s suggestive winking and over the top lip licking motions.

“Exactly. She said the condom was so loose it looked like a wind sock, just flapping in the breeze-”

“Isabel! I’m trying to keep my lunch in my stomach thank you very much!” Liz groaned and sank her head in her hands as Isabel laughed uproariously. “Oh Christ! Now I have a visual! Thanks a lot.” Liz slammed her locker door shut and shuddered in repulsion.

“What are we thanking Isabel for?” asked Maria as she swanned over to them in curiosity. She’d never seen Isabel this open before, at least not without Alex present. And here she was, laughing hysterically while Liz tried valiantly not to laugh as she grimaced.

“For giving me perhaps the dirtiest visual I’ve had all year,” replied Liz with a good natured scowl in her direction.

“Oh, don’t lie to me Liz, I know you’ve thought dirtier things about my brother,” teased Isabel, expecting her to quickly deny everything.

“Yeah, but those thoughts didn’t make me sick,” answered Liz automatically, without even thinking of what she was saying. It was only when Isabel and Maria gasped that she reflected on what she’d just unwittingly revealed.

“Oh God! I mean… I didn’t mean… what I meant was… oh God!” stuttered Liz as they both gaped at her.

“Lizzy, I didn’t know you had it in you,” stated Maria with awe. “You sexual deviant, you! Go you bad girl!”

Isabel’s mouth snapped shut when she realised that it had been hanging open since Liz’s shocking statement.

“Shut up, Maria!” was the only response Liz could think of at that point in time. She was absolutely mortified. She’d just admitted to having sexual thoughts about Max to his sister. God, Isabel must think she’s a brazen slut.

“Freudian slip Lizzy, can’t take that back.” Maria continued to tease Liz as Isabel stood silent from shock.

“Well I’ll be damned…” whispered Isabel, trying to come to terms with what she’d just heard. It was so hard to connect the previous image she’d had of Liz with the Liz who just moments ago admitted to fantasising about a member of the opposite sex. Pushing aside the disturbing thought that that member of the opposite sex happened to be her brother, Isabel focused on the fact that the so-called “Ice Vagina” had openly admitted that she felt sexual attraction just like the rest of them.

From that moment on, Isabel decided to throw away every misconception and preconceived notion she’d ever had about Liz and start afresh. It was time she got to know Liz, the real Liz.

Meanwhile, Liz was absolutely dying of shame. Her horror was increasing with every moment Isabel stayed silent. Would she decide to stay at Tess’ house now that Liz had revealed that embarrassing secret? She wouldn’t blame her. Not when she had acted so shamelessly.

“Well,” said Isabel, speaking audibly for the first time since Liz’s startling declaration. “That was a shock.”

“I know! Who knew Lizzy had it in her?” asked Maria throwing her arm around Liz’s shoulders and squeezing. “Welcome to the world of sexual gratification and attraction Liz.”

Liz shrugged Maria off in embarrassment and rolled her eyes at her.

“Wait till Max hears about this!” exclaimed Isabel in delight, knowing that it would make Max’s year if he heard that Liz had fantasised about him.

“What? No! No, no, no, no, no! Max can’t ever know! Never ever!” cried Liz, burning with shame and terror. “How would you like it if I told Alex that you fantasised about him?” asked Liz, totally unprepared for Isabel’s answer.

“Oh believe me, he knows.” She replied salaciously with a wink that caused Maria to double over with laughter and Liz to gasp and almost hyperventilate.

“Dude! That’s my surrogate brother you’re talking about there! Sick!”

Isabel only laughed harder at Maria’s declaration of disgust.

“Like you haven’t thought about Michael that way,” exclaimed Liz haughtily, unwilling to believe that if she and Isabel –the biggest ice queens in the school- could feel that way about their men, that outspoken, open Maria wouldn’t be able to.

Maria paused in her laughter and inclined her head to the side letting a slow smile cross over her face. “Maybe…” she drawled, with a sly waggle of her eyebrows that set the girls laughing again.

“What are we laughing at?”

Liz spun, and choked as she came face to face with Alex, Michael and Max. She turned to the girls beside her who were in the same predicament.

“Nothing,” they all replied simultaneously before looking at each other and bursting into loud laughter that had the three guys exchange confused looks that spoke volumes. Women…

“Oh-kaaaay… Maria, what are you doing tonight?” Asked Michael, hoping to get some alone time in with his girlfriend.

“Working, just like you. Duh.” The look on Maria’s face spoke of how stupid she deemed that question.

“Oh, right,” returned Michael sheepishly, forgetting that he had a shift on tonight. “How about after that?”

“Sleeping, probably. Why? Have anything in mind?”

“I thought we could hang out at my place for a while…”

Maria snorted and shook her head. “Not if you want to retain your balls. If my mom hears that I’ve been over at my boyfriend’s apartment unchaperoned, she’ll kill me and castrate you.”

Michael’s face paled and he immediately grasped his crotch area to reassure himself that his crown jewels were still intact.

“Ow…”

Maria laughed and rolled her eyes at the almost identical looks of sympathetic pain on the guys’ faces.

“Boys and their… uh, toys,” she said sadly with a shake of her head. “You’d think the state of the world rested upon them with the importance they place on their bits.”

“They are important, Maria. Don’t you want me to feel manly?” asked Michael.

“Manly is a state of mind. You don’t need your testicles to feel manly. Just spit on the ground a bunch of times and talk about cars. That seems to do it.”

Alex rolled his eyes and clapped his hand over Maria’s mouth. “Stop talking blasphemy woman!”

“Whatever. You guys are idiots,” stated Isabel with a condescension fairly dripping from her words. She’d grown bored with the conversation and wanted to get settled at Liz’s house.

“Liz…” asked Max cautiously as he approached her.

“Yeah?” replied Liz, grasping his hands in hers and rubbing her thumb over the back of his hands.

“Your mom isn’t handy with a knife is she? I’d like to retain my uh…” Max trailed off

“Wedding tackle?” Liz supplied innocently, knowing the effect her words would have on him and anyone (besides Maria and Alex) in hearing distance.

Max’s mouth fell open, Michael burst into raucous laughter and Isabel couldn’t hold back the amazed laugh that fell out of her mouth. The more she learnt about Liz, the more she realised she didn’t really know anything about her.

Liz rolled her eyes and continued over the top of Michael’s guffawing. “My Mom is slightly different from Maria’s. She wouldn’t go for your uh… well… anyway, she wouldn’t castrate you. Even if she caught us having sex, she’d probably just get really embarrassed and tell me to use protection.”

Liz continued talking, unbeknownst to Max who had drifted off into his own little dream world when Liz had said “us having sex”. He had never thought he’d hear her say those words like it was a sure thing. Like it was inevitable. It was no wonder he was having trouble breathing and concentrating on her words.

“… so you have nothing to worry about. Ok, Max?” Liz noticed his faraway expression and her forehead creased in confusion.

“Max?” She waved her hand in front of his face. “Max? Hello… are you in there?”

Max blinked as her hand waved furiously in front of his face, then shook his head to clear the fog.

“Sorry, I got um… distracted.”

Liz glanced around to see what could have distracted him in the now almost empty corridor. She spotted Pam Troy down the far end of the corridor where Max had been looking and frowned. She knew Max was a guy, and that meant he was a fairly visual creature, but did he have to check out another girl and fantasize about said girl right in front of her?

“Right,” said Liz frostily, attempting to disentangle her hands from his. Max tightened his grip and looked at her distressed state in confusion.

“Liz? What’s wrong? Are you ok?”

Liz flicked her eyebrows up angrily and stared at him with disbelief. Did he honestly think that she wouldn’t care that he had just daydreamed about another girl whilst she was talking to him?

“Nothing’s fine… I mean, wrong! Nothing’s wrong. So could you please let go of me?”

Max tightened his grasp on her hands even further and held her there. “No. Not till you tell me what’s wrong.” His voice held the faint stirrings of panic he was beginning to feel deep down in his stomach. What could he have done wrong in the past minute that would make her act like this?

Liz stopped struggling and angrily glared at him, jealousy and hurt rolling through her in waves. “Let go of me Max,” she ordered stonily, her furious expression finally causing Max to release her as he came to realise just how pissed off and hurt she was. “I wouldn’t want to keep you from your ‘distraction’ down there.”

Max’s brow creased as he looked at her. “What?”

“Your distraction?” she muttered scathingly. “The fantasy you were enjoying just a minute ago?” she prompted when he continued to look confused.

His brows creased even further as he considered what she was saying. “You’re pissed off because you oh-so-casually mentioned us having sex and sent me off into my own little dreamland?”

Liz blinked and the emotions on her face went from confused to relieved to horrified in three seconds flat, which was very amusing for the other two couples to watch.

“And what were you talking about down the hall? The only thing down there is Pam Troy. And I really feel that the word ‘thing’ does apply there…” Max looked at Liz’s sheepish face and it suddenly came to him.

“You thought I was fantasising about Pam Troy!” he accused, not sure whether he should be repulsed or amused. In the end he went for a mixture of the two.

“Well… I…” stuttered Liz, not quite sure how to take his anger. She couldn’t blame him, she’d be pissed off too if she was accused of having the hots for Pam Troy.

“At least give me some credit, Liz! Yuck! Seriously.” Max’s repulsion grew as Pam sauntered towards them, her fake breasts rigidly bouncing with each step.

“Hi Max…” she giggled breathily as she walked past, completely oblivious to the disgusted look on Max’s face and the smothered amusement on the others.

“Pam Troy?” he asked once she was out of earshot. “PAM TROY?”

Liz winced as she realised how stupid and pettily jealous she had been. She had acted like a complete tool and now Max was going to think she was mentally unstable. Liz’s gaze dropped to the floor and she waited for him to leave in disgust.

Instead she found herself drawn into his arms. Looking up, she tried to figure out what was going on and caught his eye and saw the amusement. “Although… your jealousy was pretty cute.”

“My jealousy was cute?” asked Liz incredulously. She was pretty sure she had acted like a heinous troll.

“What can I say? I like to be appreciated.”

Isabel rolled her eyes and tapped her foot against the floor impatiently. Liz and her dopey brother could be at it all day like this. She coughed loudly and broke the moment between the two.

“Oh, Isabel… I guess we should probably get going now, huh?” Liz muttered sheepishly whilst looking at her watch. She only had an hour before her shift started and she wanted to get Izzy as settled in as possible.

Liz drew away from Max, but retained hold of his left hand as they walked down the hall towards the car park, the rest of the gang following behind.

Thank you guys for all the feedback! Yay for holidays! Although I do really miss being on placement. Those kids cracked me up! Anyway, here you go! M/L interaction in the next part.

Raemac
Erina
Queen Fee
Spray
Clueless
Carolina Moon- I’ll let it go… this time. No, it’s fine. I make up words all the time to suit my purposes.
Steph
Emz80m
Nibbles2-

But who would tell her?

I like the way you think… but it’s a pretty small town. A prying neighbour perhaps? Best for Maria to err on the side of caution. At least until she’s been dating him for a little while longer.
Zanity
Alien_Friend
Michelle In Yonkers- I think that seeing as Isabel has been at school with Liz for three years and seen her ice queen persona quite regularly, that it would be hard for her to connect the two sides of Liz. It’s not like she only met Liz last week and has no preconceived notion of who she is.
And I wouldn’t dare be a stranger. I like you guys too much.
Sunrise102
Xmag
Katydid
Aussietrueblue- Funnily enough, I had almost finished a part when you bumped me! I just had to wait for Steph’s computer issues to get it beta’ed. Thanks for reading!




“No way! You’re kidding me!” screeched Isabel as she and Liz sat in their pyjamas on Liz’s bed swapping stories about Alex and Max. With Isabel being Max’s sister and Alex being Liz’s best friend, they were both in unique positions to trade embarrassing tales about the other’s boyfriend.

“I shit you not! Maria and I walked in on Alex prancing about in his bedroom singing “I Touch Myself.”

“You’re not serious.”

Liz lowered her voice conspiratorially and leaned in closer to Isabel. “If you think my dancing in the kitchen was amusing, then Alex’s would have blown your mind. I’m talking hip thrusting, gyrating and hands running down his body in what can only be described as an indecent way. I went in to Alex’s bedroom a naïve fourteen year old girl, but I came out many years older. My eyes have seen things you just wouldn’t want to believe.”

Isabel nearly toppled off the bed as Liz began imitating Alex’s strange movements whilst singing the song loudly and purposefully out of tune.

As Liz sang and danced crazily on her bed, her father passed the door and took in the spectacle. His heart swelled till it reached bursting point as he saw his little girl allow another person to see who she really was without reservations. Jeff had always known that his Lizzy had always found it hard to let anyone in, so it was balm to his worried soul to see her at ease around someone other than his family and Maria and Alex. He had lost countless hours of sleep when the opportunity to move to Roswell had come up. He instinctively knew that Lizzy would find the move hardest to cope with and he’d been right. He and Nancy had settled in beautifully, but if it hadn’t been for Alex and Maria, he would have moved back to Albuquerque years ago. Even after Liz had made friends with them, he had still worried because her friendship group was so small, with Liz never expressing any interest in making friends with anyone else. But recently her group had doubled in size with the addition of Michael, Isabel and Max. He had thought that nothing could have made him prouder than the day he saw her goofing around with Michael on their break a couple of weeks ago, but this really took the cake. Liz was just so open and carefree with Isabel it was astounding.

Jeff moved away from the door, not wanting to be spotted by the two girls who were in the midst of what appeared to be a very successful bonding session. He wouldn’t break that up for the world.

“Stop! Please! My eyes! They burn!” gasped Isabel as she vainly tried to reign in her laughter.

Liz flopped onto her back on the bed, puffing slightly as she laughed. Who knew Alex’s moves were that intense? Dancing like a spaz sure would burn some fat if you did it for a while, she thought irreverently as tried to catch her breath.

“Oh my god… my boyfriend is so embarrassing…” moaned Isabel as she held her face in her hands. “Some days, I don’t know why I bother,” she quipped, chuckling slightly.

Liz sat up on the bed and gazed at Isabel, a thoughtful look crossing her face.

“What?” asked Isabel as Liz peered at her intently.

Liz pulled in a breath and exhaled, searching for the right words to say.

“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… I mean, why did you bother with Alex? Ugh, that came out so wrong! What I meant to say is; why did you go out with Alex when you knew it would be looked down on by the rest of the “cool” group?”

Isabel looked at Liz with a small reflective smile and replied softly, “Because I knew he’d be worth it.”

Liz grinned widely, her heart melting at the soft, secret smile that was gracing Isabel’s face and removing any trace of that famous ice queen demeanour she was famous for.

“It must have been hard, having the rumours and trying to deal with them whilst starting a new relationship.”

Isabel nodded her head and rolled her eyes. “It was hard. I had to be so sure in our relationship and we hadn’t really begun it yet. I was putting myself out on a limb not sure what my so-called friends would do and not even sure if Alex and I would even last a week! I was so certain that he’d wake up one morning and think, ‘Hey, what am I doing with that vapid ice princess?’”

Liz nodded giving Isabel a bashful smile. “I know exactly what you mean. Minus the whole ‘so-called friends’ part. Alex and Maria were very supportive… that is, once Maria got over her shock.”

Isabel smiled at Liz, thinking back to when Liz and Max had gotten together. It seemed like years had passed since then, not just a couple of weeks.

“You really like him, don’t you? Max, I mean.”

Liz smiled at the question. ‘Like’ was definitely too small a definition for how she felt about Max.

“Since the moment I saw him,” she replied honestly, causing Isabel’s mouth to drop open.

“That long? That’s… years!” Isabel cried, not quite sure how to take that new piece of information. Liz just nodded and smiled as Isabel stared at her in shock. If someone had told her.

“So,” began Liz after giving Isabel a moment to absorb what she’d just said. “You and Alex look pretty close; dare I mention the ‘L’ word?”

Isabel laughed softly as she and Liz sat cross legged facing each other on the bed, both amazed at how comfortable they felt with each other. Being the schools most prominent ice queens helped them to relate to each other in a way that Liz had never encountered before.

“The ‘L’ word might have been mentioned…” declared Isabel breezily. Her unaffected statement was betrayed by her 1000 watt smile she couldn’t seem to help but break into whenever she thought of the adorable vulnerability Alex had shown when telling her he loved her. His relief and amazement at finding that she loved him back were just too cute.

“Really? That’s so wonderful!” Liz was so happy for Alex, especially given that she and Isabel were getting closer. It would certainly be a weight off of Alex’s mind to know that his girlfriend and one of his best friends were getting along well. Liz wasn’t so sure if Isabel and Maria would ever become bosom buddies, but from the way the three of them were getting along at school today, it looked possible that they could all get along reasonably well even if Maria and Isabel weren’t that close.

As Liz exclaimed her delight, Isabel fiddled with her bracelet in a fit of nervous indecision. She wanted to talk to somebody about it, but she wasn’t sure if she were overstepping her bounds in their newly formed friendship. She knew she needed to talk to someone about it and Liz seemed like the only possible candidate. She was the only person really that Isabel felt comfortable discussing this with.

Liz caught Isabel’s conflicted look and wondered what it could possibly be about.

“Isabel?” she prompted softly, watching Isabel’s creased brow with concern. “Is something wrong?”

Isabel snapped her head up to look at Liz and hesitated momentarily before reluctantly drawing out her question.

“Liz… you have girl talks with Maria… don’t you?”

Liz nodded uncertainly at Isabel’s strange question. She wasn’t sure what Isabel was getting at but she would go along with it for now and see where she was leading them.

“Yes. We have girl talks. We talk about boys, relationships, family… things like that. Isabel, why-”

Isabel rushed ahead and cut Liz off, needing to do this before she lost her nerve. “Because I don’t. I don’t have anyone to do the girl talks with. And- and I think I might need to have one because I’m not sure what to do. And I can’t talk to anyone about this, not my Mom, not Max, not the girls on my squad and definitely not Michael. I just- ”

“Isabel!” Liz cut her off and effectively stopped her rambling. “Whatever it is, you can just say it.”

“Alex and I are thinking of having sex.” Isabel dropped her eyes to the bedspread after that declaration and waited for the reaction. When all she got was silence, she tentatively raised her head to see Liz looking at her seriously. Isabel was relieved by the lack of amusement or disgust on Liz’s face. She was still worried by the lack of expression, as she couldn’t tell what Liz was thinking.

“And you’re not sure if you should or not?” asked Liz, noting the relief on Isabel’s face as Liz treated her concern seriously.

“I’m just not sure if I’m ready,” replied Isabel, feeling foolish at the concession.

Liz looked at her with compassion and replied, “Well, if you’re not sure, then you probably aren’t ready to have sex, Isabel.”

Isabel nodded glumly and then prepared herself to reveal her biggest fear to Liz. She wasn’t sure how it would be received, but she had come this far, why not go the full distance.

“But… but what if he gets tired of waiting? What if he gets bored? What- ”

Liz could take no more. She had to interrupt.

“Isabel. This is Alex we’re talking about. Alex. You know, the guy who worships the ground you walk on? He’s not going to get bored and he’s not going to get tired of you if you need a little more time before you get really intimate. And I think I know my best friend well enough to say that he would want you to be ready for your first time. What pleasure could he get out of it knowing that you were uncomfortable and not ready? He loves you Izzy, he’s not going anywhere. I’m sure if you talked to him about it he’d understand.”

The smile returned to Isabel’s face and she relaxed, her muscles releasing from their tensed positions. She was surprised to learn that talking to Liz like this had relieved her and she wasn’t worried about it anymore.

“Thank you for listening to me, Liz. There’s just no one else that…” she trailed off, searching for the right words.

“Would treat it seriously?” supplied Liz.

“Yeah. I don’t even wanna tell you what Pam Troy said. And there’s no way I’m talking to a guy about it and while I love my Mom- ”

Liz interrupted again, her mind stuck on what Isabel had said. “Wait. What did Pam Troy have to say about it? And why would you talk to her?” Liz’s voice was filled with contempt as she thought of Pam Troy. There were no words to describe how much of a vulgar bitch that girl was.

“Oh, I didn’t. Believe me, she is the last person I would ever talk to about Alex. She just casually asked whether Alex and I had had sex yet one day after cheerleading practice. I told her it was none of her business and she said that if she were me that she’d have humped him and dumped him ages ago and moved on to bigger and better things. I swear, if she makes one more comment, I’m going to…” Isabel left that threat hanging, but punched her fist into her open palm sharply.

“I hate that chick,” announced Liz without ceremony. “I hate her with a fiery passion.”

Isabel nodded with fierce agreement just as Maria walked through the door, exhausted by her late night shift.

“Hello ladies, what are we chattin’ about?” she asked as she threw herself onto the bed content to remain there for the rest of her life. Waiting tables was a bitch and a total strain on the back. No wonder Agnes was almost a hunchback, she’d been doing it for like, thirty years now.

Isabel stiffened as Liz prepared to answer the question. While she liked Maria, she still didn’t feel as comfortable around her as she did Liz. It may have been the fact that Maria had once thought her vapid, or that she had made more of an effort to get to know Liz, but whatever the reason, Isabel wasn’t quite ready to share details of her sex life with Maria.

“Your Mom,” replied Liz cheekily waggling her eyebrows at Isabel who let out a bark of laughter that was tinged with relief and shock at Liz’s sexual innuendo. “She’s hot.”

Maria rolled her eyes in disgust at Liz and tried to smother her laughter. “Dude, Sean makes ‘your Mom’ jokes. And he’s got the maturity of an eleven year old boy.”

Liz looked to Isabel for help and Isabel quickly rose to the occasion. “I agree Liz, she’s totally hot. She’s sure got a great set of legs.”

Maria nearly lost it at Isabel’s statement, but managed to keep her disapproving countenance. That is until Liz remarked, “I’d so hit that.”

Maria and Isabel both burst into disbelieving laughter that echoed down the hall all the way to the laundry where Nancy was folding the washing.

Once she’d calmed down enough, Maria turned to Liz, ready to fight fire with fire. “Don’t get me started on what I’d like to do to your mom, Liz.”

“And what would that be, Maria?” asked Nancy from the doorway of Liz’s bedroom. She’d come to investigate the girls after hearing the loud outburst.

Maria paled visibly when she heard Nancy. She hurriedly got herself up off the bed and turned to look at her, but not before throwing an angry glare at Liz and Isabel who were trying valiantly not to laugh.

“Uh, to… give you a hug and some flowers and tell you how much I appreciate you,” rattled off Maria nervously, as Nancy looked at her with a smirk on her face.

“Yeah, I’m sure. You girls try to be quieter now, ok? We do have neighbours, you know.”

As soon as Nancy was out of the room, both Isabel and Liz fell onto the bed, muffling their laughter into the comforter. Maria scowled at them both before picking up a pillow that had been unceremoniously dumped on the floor by Liz when she was mimicking Alex’s moves earlier on.

“Oh, you think that’s funny do you?” she asked, a dangerous edge to her voice. She clambered over to them, pillow clutched in hand and raised it above her head. “How about this?” she cried as she hit them both repeatedly. “You like that? Having a good laugh now?”

Liz wrested the pillow off of her and threw it across the room. “Geez, Maria! Take your sexual frustrations out on my Mom, not me!”

“Ugh!” Maria stood up in disgust and turned haughtily to Liz and Isabel who were busy amusing themselves at her expense. “You guys suck. I’m going home.”

As Maria flounced from the room blowing them both a kiss Liz called out, “Tell your Mom I said hi!” which prompted Maria to pause at the doorway to give her the finger and poke her tongue out before leaving.

Isabel contemplated as she giggled, that she had really missed out if this was what having girl friends was like.

Thank you guys! I'm so pleased you like it!

**Warning ‘The Ring’ Spoilers Ahead**

Wow, I never thought I’d ever have to write that.

Ok, so I may have based Liz on myself just a tad in this next part. I was the one who couldn’t sleep for two weeks after watching ‘Thirteen Ghosts’ and the whole phone ringing thing happened. A whole bunch of hammered sixteen year olds at a birthday party and someone decided to play a prank and hide a mobile phone under the couch. Needless to say there was much screaming and hysteria.

If anyone doesn't get the whole movie reference, PM me and I'll give you a synopsis of the plot so that you understand.

Chanks_girl
Natalie36
Clueless
Steph
Alien_Friend- Ha ha! That’s so funny! ‘I’d tap that’ was a regular saying in my house because my parents are fairly cool (I got my sense of humour from my dad). For example, we’d sit down to tea and someone would remark that they hate snow peas (me. I hate them) and someone else would reply ‘I’d tap that’. But now, ‘Your Mum’ jokes are a stable in our house. And since we’re all related, my mum seems to get most of the insults directed towards her. My brother and I even have ‘your mum’ fights. I’ll call him a douche or something and he’ll respond with ‘your mum is’ and I’ll reply ‘No, she’s a hooker’ and we’ll go on from there, usually with my mum in hearing distance. Yeah, we’re stupid.
Carolina_Moon- Your update? Right here.
Eve
Emz
Sunrise102
Nibbles2
Dreamer19
Katydid- I’m not sure that she’d be considered goofy in this part, more of a sissy.
Synera
Maigu- Thanks for taking a chance on a dreamer fic, I hope I put enough M&M action in for you. I love pretty much all the couples so I try to incorporate the others as much as possible.
ShatteredDreamer
“I can’t believe I’m doing this,” muttered Liz as she lay down on her stomach, leaning on her elbows with her feet in the air. Isabel placed the DVD in the tray, pressed play, turned off the lights and then joined Liz on the bed, mimicking her position.

“Liz, it’ll be fine. It’s just a movie and you’ll be here and I’ll be here and we can stop each other from freaking out too much,” replied Isabel, propping a pillow under her chest as the disclaimers began to play.

“Isabel, I couldn’t sleep for two weeks after I saw ‘Thirteen Ghosts.’ How the hell am I going to survive ‘The Ring’?”

Isabel stared at her in amazement. “Seriously? Two weeks?”

“I’m the biggest pansy, I know. This is going to wreak havoc on my sleeping patterns. I can just tell.”

Isabel tried to stifle the laugh she felt coming. “Liz… it’s just a movie.”

“I know that!” cried Liz petulantly. “But fear isn’t rational! I keep thinking, ‘but what if it is real?’ and I freak myself out! I hate scary movies.”

Isabel slung her arm across Liz’s shoulders and hugged her lightly as the movie began to play. “You’ll be fine Liz. Don’t worry.”

Liz groaned and hung her head. Maria and Alex both knew not to rent out scary movies when they knew Liz would be watching it with them, but when she and Isabel had gone to the video store, she didn’t have the heart to tell Isabel that she couldn’t handle them. Especially when Isabel was so excited about watching it. She had always wanted to see it, but never had the opportunity before, and this seemed like the perfect one to her. So Liz had simply bit her lip and agreed, an action she was now seriously regretting.

Throughout the movie, Isabel kept sneaking glances at Liz to see how she was faring. Liz hadn’t been exaggerating when she said she hated scary movies. She had screamed out loud when they revealed the grotesque face of the girl who had died in the closet, which brought her Dad running into the room to see what had happened. He left laughing and promised not to come back in unless he was summoned. He knew Liz’s difficulty with scary movies and wouldn’t be surprised if she screamed many more times before it was over.

They were about halfway through the movie when the loud, shrill ringing of Liz’s phone broke the tense silence. Both girls screamed wildly in response, jerking back on the bed. Liz clung to Isabel, still screaming until Isabel snapped out of it and shook Liz. “Stop it! Just go answer to see who it is!”

Liz sat up, panting slightly in fear and made her way over to the phone. Her hand trembled as she reached for the receiver. She picked it up and placed it to her ear, half expecting to hear the creepy whisper of ‘seven days.’

“H-hello?” Liz answered shakily, waiting in terrified suspense to see who was on the other end.

“Hey Liz, it’s Max. Just calling to make sure everything’s alright.”

Liz felt the air she’d been holding in her lungs whoosh out of her in relief. Her relief was quickly replaced by anger as she recalled how frightened she’d been because he’d called.

“No! Everything’s not alright, Max! Jesus Christ!” she yelled into the phone, letting her weak legs have a reprieve as she sat down on the bed. She glanced across and saw Isabel place her hand on her heart and attempt to steady her breathing.

Across town at Michael’s apartment, Max felt his heart seize. Where things really that bad between Liz and Isabel? How was he going to fix that if they’d come to hate each other? He looked across at Michael and Alex who were listening intently to Liz who was on speaker. Alex looked worried as well but Michael was more taken aback than anything.

“Why? What happened?” he asked, a touch of panic in his voice.

“I’ll tell you what happened, Max!” snapped Liz sarcastically. “There we were, sitting in the dark, watching ‘The Ring’, and you decided to call us. To call us. Do you know how much we freaked out?”

Max’s brow furrowed as he tried to understand what she was saying and then let out a bark of laughter as he finally grasped what she meant. Michael cracked up as well once he got it, whereas Alex looked more stunned. Why on earth was Liz watching a scary movie?

“You know what? I just… I can’t talk to you right now.” She passed the phone to Isabel and collapsed onto the bed holding her head in her hands.

“Oh, Max. You have no idea how much I hate you right now. Absolutely no idea.” She half laughed into the phone as Liz groaned on the bed, trying to get the adrenaline out of her system.

“Izzy,” Alex called out, yanking the phone from Max’s hands. “How on earth did you get Parker to watch a scary movie? I’ve tried and failed so many times.”

“Alex?” asked Isabel with a trace of confusion in her voice. Liz sat up at the mention of Alex’s name and stared at Isabel with a questioning look in her eyes. “What are you doing with my brother? I thought that he was at Michael’s?”

“He is,” answered Alex cheerfully. “I got invited to come over and do manly things like watch sports and action movies.”

“Oh, ok.” Isabel smiled along with Liz who had pressed her ear up to the side of the phone to hear Alex’s answer. They silently high fived each other, both thrilled beyond belief that Alex was being accepted into ‘the boys club.’ Liz knew that Alex loved her and Maria like sisters, but it wasn’t the same as having male friends.

“So spill! How’d you get Liz to watch a scary movie? The girl’s the biggest wussbag I’ve ever met and I can never get her to watch scary movies with me.”

Isabel glanced at Liz before replying. “I dunno. I guess I just asked her and she said yes. Nothing too special.”

Alex’s eyebrows raised at that flippant reply. “Wow, Isabel. She must really like you if she’s willing to watch a scary movie for you.”

Isabel grinned at notion and then stifled her laugh when she saw Liz throwing a sock at the TV screen and proclaiming it to be the work of the devil.

Max yanked the phone back from Alex who’d successfully been holding him at bay by twisting out of his way whenever he tried to reclaim the phone. Alex scowled at Max but let it be as he began to talk to his sister.

“Izzy? How are things going at Liz’s anyway? Despite being scared shitless by me, are you having a good time?”

“Oh, the best! I love girl talk. I’m so going to need one at least every week from now on. And to think of what I’ve been missing out on. I wish you’d been born a girl, Max.”

Isabel laughed as Liz chimed in. “I don’t.”

Max smiled as they engaged in light banter for a moment that went way over his head.

“Anyway Max, we’re going to go finish the rest of the movie right now. We’ll see you later.”

“Wait, don’t-” Max grimaced at the sound of the dial tone in his ear. “Hang up.” He turned to the two guys standing on either side of him and a wicked smile grew across his face.

“What’s that look for, Maxwell?” asked Michael suspiciously, his own smile growing in return.

“We’re going for a drive.”
“Don’t you understand Rachel? She doesn’t sleep.”

“That kid’s a freak,” remarked Isabel to Liz as Aidan’s nose began to bleed while he freakily chastised his mother for helping Samara out of the well.

“Scariest. Child. Ever,” replied Liz her eyes intent on the screen as the film changed location to Noah’s apartment.

Liz sat in absolute terror as the TV flicked on in Noah’s apartment filling the loft with the sound of white noise.

“Run, you freaking idiot! Run!” she whispered at the screen as Noah turned and flicked the TV off with the remote.

She bit her lip as the TV flicked on again showing the well. She had to physically stop her reaction of horror as Samara appeared suddenly, clambering out of the well. She was so engrossed that she neglected to see the shadows moving outside her bedroom window.

Samara lurched towards the screen jolting as she went as Noah stupidly sat watching her approach. The warm New Mexico breeze filtered in through her open window and both girls failed to see two figures preparing for their attack, just outside on her balcony.

Just as Samara popped through the TV screen, both boys stuck their head inside the window into the dark room and boomed out, “Seven days!”

In later recollection of what will always be referred to as “The Ring Incident,” Liz will try and convince herself that she and Isabel weren’t that scared and they didn’t scream that loudly at the boys’ sudden appearance.

However, both girls were very lucky that the volume of their screaming didn’t bring either of Liz’s parents running into their room. And they were also lucky that neither parent could hear either Alex or Max practically wetting themselves with laughter. It was only when Liz switched on the light that both girls realised just what had happened.

“Ugh… you…” Isabel practically shook with rage as she tried to come up with an insult that would encapsulate just how pissed off she was with them. “PIGS!” She stormed over to where Alex was lying and started to kick him as he clutched his stomach, in pain from how hard he was laughing.

Liz slid down the door, holding her head in her hands, trying to lower her heartbeat. While Isabel was able to regain her composure rather quickly, Liz was the complete opposite. She was easily scared and when she was, she stayed scared for a long time. She knew tonight and many nights afterwards she would be unable to sleep. It was a feeling she detested and avoided as much as she could.

Max regained his composure slightly and crawled his way over to Liz, still laughing heartily. He was even more amused by Isabel and the manner in which she was berating her boyfriend. She was clearly not amused.

“Liz,” he managed to get out over the top of his laughter. “You okay?”

Liz didn’t answer, so Max reached out to rub her arm and get her attention, only to have his hand slapped away.

“It was just a joke, Liz,” Max rationalised, unsure of how to proceed. He couldn’t tell how she was because she had hidden her face in her hands, but he could see her chest rising and falling rapidly and that her body was trembling despite her best endeavours to keep that under control

“Not. Funny.”

Max looked around at Alex for help not able to understand why Liz was reacting this way to a fairly simple joke. Isabel stopped beating up Alex when she saw how Liz was faring and rushed over to give her a hug.

“Liz, it’s okay, they’re just idiots.” Isabel soothed, glaring at both boys as she rubbed Liz’s back. Max gulped and felt a wave of remorse flow through him as he saw how much this was affecting her. Alex rose to his feet and cautiously staggered over to them, feeling guilt over how the prank had affected his best friend.

“I’m sorry, Liz, I didn’t realise…” Max trailed off, feeling both guilt and a remarkable amount of tenderness as he saw quite clearly Liz’s vulnerability. And to think how so many people saw her as a cold, ice bitch with a heart of stone. And Isabel too, for that matter. And now look at her; he’d never seen Isabel so caring towards another girl before.

“You didn’t know, Max,” mumbled Liz from underneath her arms. “Alex, however, had an extremely good idea about what this would do to me.”

“Liz, I’m sor-” Alex’s apology was cut short as Liz peeked out from under her arms and aimed a hefty kick at his ankle, sweeping his leg out from under him. Alex fell to the ground with a large thud, stopping mid-sentence.

“Lizzy, everything okay in there?”

“Yeah, dad, we’re fine!” Liz called back cheerily, ignoring the amazed stares of the three in her bedroom.

“How’s the scary movie?” Jeff called through the door, not wanting to intrude on the girls.

“Scary,” replied Liz glibly, coaxing a chuckle from Jeff.

“Good to know. You girls have fun now.” And with that, Jeff wandered back into the living room.

“Well,” said Liz brightly, clapping her hands together once Jeff disappeared from ear shot. “I don’t know about you, but I feel better now. Who wants ice cream?”

Silence was her only answer. Liz tried again, trying in vain not to laugh at the dumb struck expressions on their faces. “Izzy? You want some ice cream?”

“Liz Parker,” Isabel paused and shook her head, “You are simply diabolical.” She grinned. “I love it!”

Liz glanced at Alex down on the floor and smiled smugly at him. “Payback’s a bitch, isn’t it Alex?”

“You mean to tell me that that was all an act?” Max stared at Liz, wondering if he was ever going to be able to predict her actions.

“No,” replied Liz, as she stood up, pulling down her t shirt which had ridden up when she had slid down the door. “At least half of it wasn’t. I calmed down sometime after I slid down the door. But I couldn’t just let Alex get away with it.”

Alex pulled himself up into sitting position. “In my defence, it was Max’s idea.”

“What defence? You don’t have a defence! You could have explained to Max what scaring me would do and he wouldn’t have done it.”

Alex groaned, when he saw the look on both girls’ faces. “I’m never ever going to live this one down am I?”

“Nope.”

Liz looked across at the credits rolling across the screen and shuddered. “I suppose I should finish watching that so that I have closure.” She looked at Isabel, begging her to disagree. “Right?”

Isabel nodded sadly, causing Liz to shudder. “Yeah, you probably should, otherwise you’re always going to wonder what happened.”

Liz grabbed the DVD remote and patted the bed, beckoning to Max and Isabel. “Alex, you can stay on the floor.”

Alex scowled, turned off the light and hopped on the bed, ignoring the pointed glare from Isabel as he settled in next to her.

Max swallowed audibly gazing at Liz’s bed. Up until that moment, he hadn’t even realised that that he was in Liz’s bedroom. The place where she did all of her… Liz things. This is where she slept and she calmly wanted him to clamber on like it wasn’t a big deal. And she was sitting there, all cute and sexy in her pyjamas and beckoning him onto her bed with the crook of her finger. He’d always thought that if this moment ever occurred, the circumstances would be a little bit different. For one, he thought that they wouldn’t have an audience of his sister and her boyfriend. Max cautiously crawled to the back of the bed and leant against the wall watching Liz sit up on her knees to fiddle with the remote.

Liz reached the spot they had gotten up to and pressed play, turning back towards the head of the bed and smiling when she saw Max sitting on her bed, his legs spread. Without even thinking, Liz crawled and settled in between his legs and leant against his chest, his arms coming around her in an automatic response. Liz snuggled in and winced as once again Samara crawled out of the TV screen.

Liz decided that if she was ever going to watch a scary movie again, it would have to be in Max’s arms. While it didn’t seem likely that she would ever watch a scary movie again, there was no denying that Max was an excellent balm to her fears. He made her feel safe with his strong arms cradling her, his chest was also an excellent place to press her face into when she saw Noah’s distorted face when Rachel swung the chair around.

The credits rolled again and Liz frowned, switching on the lamp next to her bed. “You know,” Liz turned to Isabel. “I don’t think I did get any closure from that. In fact, I think that I’m just as scared.”

Isabel inclined her head. “Yeah, it wasn’t exactly a feel good film.” Glancing at both boys, Isabel came to realise something. “Hey guys, where’s Michael?”

“Oh, Maria called him. Something about her Mom being out of town for the weekend and her having the place to herself. I think he nearly pulled something in his race to his bike.” Max and Alex both laughed at how Michael had hauled ass after getting a call from Maria just moments after they planned to go scare the girls.

“That’s funny, Maria didn’t mention anything to us about her Mom being away,” mused Liz.

“I think it was fairly short notice. Her gross Uncle Bob had a heart attack and no one wanted to go take care of him in hospital, so their family is taking shifts and Maria’s Mom got the first one,” explained Alex, snagging a handful of chips from the forgotten bowl beside the bed.

“Oh, ok.”

“Or maybe she just wanted a break from you hitting on her Liz,” remarked Isabel wickedly with a wink, whilst stealing the bowl from Alex and placing it on the middle of the bed so that they could all share.

“Nah, she loves it!” replied Liz assuredly as both girls began giggling.

“What?!” Max looked from both Isabel and Liz in complete confusion.

“Oh, I forgot, you weren’t here. We were teasing Maria about how hot her Mom is and how we’d both tap that,” remarked Isabel, grinning when Alex laughed. She loved this sort of camaraderie, because she sure as hell didn’t get it from the cheer squad.

Max laughed and then added, “Well, at least you’ve got good taste. Ms Deluca sure has a great set of legs.”

Both girls stopped laughing and stared open mouthed at him. Max looked at them both and wondered what he’d said wrong.

“What? Why aren’t I allowed to join in on the joke? Is it because I’m a guy? Because I’ve gotta say, that’s just sexist.”

Liz slapped his chest and rolled her eyes. “No, you idiot! You and Isabel both said pretty much the same thing. That whole twin thing is just freaky.”

“Really? High five!”

Isabel rolled her eyes but indulged him anyway.

“Some people go for boobs and butts, but Evans’...we’re leg people.” Stated Max proudly, gently patting Liz’s calf.

“Oh, apparently I don’t go for good legs, I go for retards,” stated Isabel snootily, still pissed off about the prank she was now solely blaming on Alex.

“So,” Alex asked over a mouthful of potato chips. “Where’s this ice cream you promised us, Liz?”

The only response he got was a pillow to the face.