Roswell Fanatics

A/N - I'm here with a new part! Are you all happy?! I hope so, it took a lot out of me to write this part.

Sarah and I want to say a BIG HELLO to all the new readers, welcome and glad to know you are enjoying the story! And thanks to everyone for the great feedback we love it!

Now...ahem...I have to give a special shout out to the one the only Queen Bee (for those of you who don't know who that is, it's our very own Kara ) And if you still don't know who she is...you best figure it out cause she can make your life a living hell here on RF...just kidding

Anyway...QB was so gracious to beta this part for me since I finished it at 12:30 AM this morning and she cracked the whip to get this part done and out of me! So thanks QB love ya!!

Alright that was long enough dont'cha think? We hope you enjoy!


Chapter 10


Twenty minutes.

Forty-Five seconds.

That was the exact amount of time Liz had been pacing the hospital corridor. They took Max back to get some x-rays done on his knee and as Liz had promised she didn’t leave his side until the doctors made her.

She he knew was terrified; this could mean the end of his career if the damage was bad enough. Liz didn’t want to think about that. She needed to focus on one thing at a time. Like for instance, what was taking so long? She couldn’t stand the wait. It would have been better if someone was there with her, but the others hadn’t made it to the hospital yet.

So many thoughts raced through her mind. The one at the forefront, however, was what happens now? Does Max decide he wants her and they get back together? Does she even want to go back to him? As much as she wanted to convince herself she was unaffected by him, Liz knew she was deluding herself. She wanted to be with Max more than anything, but there was so much left unresolved between them. In addition to which they were two completely different people now. Could they overcome that as well as everything else and be together?

“Liz!” She turned on her heels and sighed in relief when she heard Drew’s voice coming from down the hall.

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. They took him for x-rays and…” Liz was trying hard to keep herself together but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Drew noticed and pulled her into a friendly embrace.

“He’ll be okay, Liz. He’s strong. You know that. So we’ll just wait to hear from the doctors.” Liz nodded against his chest and pulled away swiping her tears. She smiled up at him gratefully.

“Don’t mention it,” Drew smirked and pulled Liz down to sit in one of the seats in the waiting room.

“Where’s everyone else?” After a few moments of silence, Liz found her voice again.

“Probably stuck in the traffic. There was some kind of accident a few minutes ago.”

“Then how the hell did you get here?” Liz asked somewhat confused.

“Motorcycle.” He smiled and they both shared a laugh. A few minutes later Liz’s attention was drawn to the doctor approaching them. Before the doctor could reach them, both Liz and Drew were in front of the doctor.

“Is it bad? Is he going to be okay?” They both fired off questions and the doctor simply waited until they were done before continuing. Liz thought that if he didn’t start saying something…anything she might have to scream.

“It’s bad. We are prepping him for surgery and we’ll know more once he’s out.” The doctor finished and began to turn but Liz stopped him.

“Wait! Can I…I want to see him before surgery.” Liz swallowed past the lump of tears in her throat. She needed to be strong for him but it was becoming increasingly difficult.

“Just for a minute and then you have to leave.” The doctor pinned her with a knowing glare. Liz dropped her head trying to hide her burning cheeks.

“I promise.” She then turned to Drew for support. “You can do it champ. Tell him he’s not getting off that easy and that I expect his ass up and out of that bed soon.” Liz smiled gratefully at him before making her way down the hall.

Liz stopped right before reaching for the doorknob. She prayed for the strength to not breakdown in front of him, that was the last thing he needed and she knew it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening his door.

Her heart broke for him at that moment. There he was lying down on his hospital bed while two nurses surrounded him sticking all kinds of things into his arm and on his chest.

As soon as he saw her he fought against urge to beg her to get him the hell out of there. Max hated that this was happening, now of all times. Just when he was on his way of trying to rectify his mistakes, this had to happen. He didn’t want her taking pity on him but he was forever grateful that she was there with him.

She looked so small and fragile to him. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her forever, but that wouldn’t fix anything. It would feel great though, he thought. Max watched under heavy lids as she crossed the room and came to stand by his bedside.

“Hi.” Max watched under heavy lids as she crossed the room and came to stand by his bedside. The nurses were just about finished and said that they would be back in a few minutes to wheel him into the operating room.

“Hey. You okay?” he asked softly.

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Liz lifted the corners of her mouth into a small smile.

“I guess.” He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to tell her that he was beyond terrified that this surgery wouldn’t work.

“Drew said that you’re not getting off that easy and that he expects your ass back on the court soon.” Liz decided to take the comical approach. Anything less would kill her.

“Yeah well I’ll try. Liz…” Max saw the tears in her eyes, he saw how hard she was fighting for control and so he decided to make it easier on her. He opened his arms and waited for her to come to him. And she did quickly; she threw herself into his welcoming arms and sobbed softly.

Max reveled in the feel of her being in his arms again. He ran his hands through her soft hair and breathed in its scent. After a few minutes Liz pulled away and sat down on the bed. “It’s going to be fine, Max. You are going to be just fine.” Liz said with such conviction in her voice that Max believed her.

“I know. Liz, I just want…need to tell you that I know I have a lot to make up for and I know it’s going to be hard. And I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. So I’m sorry for saying this, because the last thing I want to do is hurt you more than I already have,” Max finished in an apologetic tone.

Liz wasn’t sure what to expect from him. What could he want to say to her? Moreover why was he apologizing? She looked up at him, her silent tears falling and she watched as he reached out and swiped them gently from her eyes.

“I love you, Liz. I just wanted you to know that incase anything happ—”

“No! Don’t even say that, Max. You’re going to be fine.” Liz reached out and cupped his face between the palms of her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Don’t act like this is goodbye, because it’s not. Do you hear me?” Max simply nodded but that wasn’t good enough for Liz.

“Max, tell me.” She pleaded with him desperately. Finally he raised his eyes to hers. “It’s not goodbye, Liz. It’s I’ll see you later.” He tried to smile past the fear that was taking a permanent place in his heart.

“Much better.” Liz was about to say something else when the doctor entered the room.

“Time to go Mr. Evans. You too, Miss Parker.” Liz slid off the bed and released her hold on him, but at the last minute she framed his face once again and kissed him softly, then pulled away as they began to wheel him out of the room.

The next few hours were going to try the better part of her nerves and shake the worst of her fears. She hoped she survived it.


****

“Liz!” Isabel said as soon as she spotted Liz in the far corner of the waiting room. Maria, Michael and Alex all rushed into the waiting room behind her.

“Isabel,” Liz cried out as soon as she saw Max’s sister. They held each other tightly before pulling away and allowing Maria to comfort her best friend.

“Where is he? Why are you out here?” Isabel shot out the questions.

“You guys want to give Liz some breathing room?” Drew spoke up when he saw everyone surround Liz. He knew they were all worried about Max, but Liz looked about ready to crack and he knew Max wouldn’t want anything to happen to her.

“Thanks, Drew,” Liz smiled past her tears and then followed him over to one of the chairs in the corner of the room so she could gather herself together. A few minutes later she was ready and asked everyone to come over. Drew sat protectively next to her and waited until she explained what was happening to everyone.

“They said that it was bad. They don’t know how bad until they go in. They just wheeled him into surgery and when he comes out he is going to be fine,” Liz stated firmly.

“But what if they can’t fix it?”

“Did they say what the chances were?”

“What if he can’t play ball anymore?” Everyone fired off their questions and Liz closed her eyes and took a deep breath. They were being negative and she had no room in her heart for that right now.

“First of all, don’t ask me questions you know I can’t answer. And secondly, Max will be fine!” Liz stood and pushed through everyone angrily.

“Liz, just tell me, was he okay? You know how he hates hospitals.” Isabel approached Liz cautiously, knowing that Liz was at the end of her rope and it wouldn’t take much more to push her over the edge.

“I know he hates them ever since he was little and had to have his tonsils taken out. He was terrified. He didn’t want me to know it, but he was…and…I couldn’t do anything.” Liz looked up at Isabel wearily and then stepped into her embrace.

“Liz?” Maria stepped closer not wanting to upset Liz, but felt like she had to do something.

“Yeah?” Liz pulled away and swiped the endless tears from her eyes. “Do you want something to drink? Coffee?” Maria offered softly.

“Coffee would be great. Thank you.” Maria simply nodded before walking off with Michael to find the cafeteria.

Liz was completely restless. She tried to sit but found it frustrating. Pacing, that was what was working for her. She found a quiet spot at the other end of the hall a few minutes ago and was trying to find something think about that didn’t involve Max. She tried to think of what she needed to do when she got back home, but then her thoughts drifted to Max once again. What if he needed her here? Would she stay if he asked? Would he even ask? It was useless. Time was against her and she hated it more than anything else. Her thoughts were interrupted by Drew’s voice from behind her.

“Liz, why don’t you sit down? You’ve been pacing for an hour.” Drew tried once again to get Liz to relax as much as possible; she looked dead on her feet. It had been over two hours and Max was still in surgery.

“I know…I just don’t know what to do with myself. What’s taking so long?” Liz asked wildly while running a frustrated hand through her hair. Drew chuckled slightly to himself. She did still love Max, more than Max even realized. Max had told Drew the whole story about him and Liz, from when they first met until they day she arrived for the game that day. With Michael not being around as much, there were just times Max needed to talk to someone and Drew was glad that he could be there for him. Like Max was there for him so many times.

“I’m sure everything is fine. Besides it’s only been two hours. It takes a little longer than that.” He tried to reassure her and finally he saw her relax a little.

“Why are you being so…I don’t know what word I’m looking for is, but you don’t even know me?” Drew smiled when he saw the confusion etched across her face. She was beautiful that much he couldn’t deny. Boy, Evans better get his shit together. This girl is definitely worth it, he thought to himself.

“I know you, Liz. Well, I mean I know you through Max’s eyes.” Liz blushed and ducked her head shyly.

“So you must be a really good friend to Max then? He doesn’t share his personal life with strangers.”

“Yeah, I am. He’s helped me a lot with my girlfriend, and so one day I asked him how he got so girl smart.” Drew waited for Liz to ask the next question. He knew it was coming. He could tell by the look in her eyes.

“What…what did he tell you?” Liz wasn’t sure she wanted to hear his answer but a part of her ached to know that he never forgot about her and that he truly regretted what he did. She let out a loud sigh awaiting Drew’s response.

“He told me that if I cared about my girlfriend, that I should see it through ‘til the end. Otherwise I’ll live with the regret of never knowing what could have been.” Drew finished looking Liz right in the eyes, willing her to understand Max’s words. And by the look on her face and the tears streaming down her face, he knew she did.

Liz was speechless. He never forgot her. He never stopped loving her and he did regret what happened. She didn’t have answers, but a small part of her heart began to heal at the truth in his words. She looked back up to Drew. She needed to know one last thing before she let the subject drop. “Does he talk about me? I mean…not like on a daily basis or anything like that…but does he?” Liz questioned softly.

“Everyday Liz…everyday.” Drew smiled and was about to say something else, but was stopped by the sound of Max’s sister’s voice.

“He’s out!” Liz jumped to her feet and ran down the hall back into the waiting room.

Liz approached the doctor, and he could tell by the look on everyone’s face he needed to be brief and to the point with his remarks. “He did excellent. The surgery went well and…”

“Doctor?” Liz was about to pounce on the nurse that just interrupted them. Why did everything have to be so difficult for her? Wasn’t she suffering enough?

“Can I see him?” Liz immediately asked the doctor. He placed his hands on her shoulders and shook his head. “You will have to give him a few minutes. They are taking him to recovery. He’ll be there for a little while and then when they bring him back to his room, you may see him.” The doctor walked away after that leaving Liz relieved and unsettled. The surgery went well. That could mean a million things.

“Liz, relax. Max is fine just like you said. We will get to see him soon.” Isabel reached out her hand and placed it on Liz’s shoulder for support. Alex had been supporting her the entire time. However, she knew that if Liz felt that Max would be okay, then she had nothing to worry about. The main thing was; how was her brother doing? Isabel could only imagine what Liz was going through. If Max couldn’t play ball anymore, what did it mean for them?

“I know. I just…I need to see him. I need to see with my own eyes that he’s okay.” Everyone gathered around her weary form nodding their agreement. The room grew quite. That was until the nurse entered the room a few minutes later. They all turned their attention to her.

“He’s just waking up and he’s very groggy. So he may be in and out of it for a little while. But you can go and see him.” They all went to move but the nurse halted their movements explaining that not everyone could enter the room at the same time.

“You go first Liz,” Isabel said. Liz just shook her head.

“I want to go last. I…I’m not leaving him so you all before me.” Liz smiled softly and took a seat in the far corner of the room. She was trying to get her heartbeat under control. She knew Max was fine, but how bad was the damage? Would he have to give up his career? A small part of her wished that he did, maybe then he’d realize what he’d lost. Liz knew he may have regretted it, but that didn’t mean that he honestly cherished what they had to begin with. The other part, the part that loved him wanted him to be perfectly okay. She wanted him to continue on his career, because no matter what that meant she would always be proud of him. How many people got to live out their dreams, she thought.

I was supposed to be his dream. That was what the little jealousy demon sitting on her shoulder was whispering in her ear. Why couldn’t he have chosen them both? Why didn’t she matter enough to him to include her? Why couldn’t he have loved her enough? Tears once again cascades endlessly down her cheeks, she never knew it was possible to cry as much as she had.

She sat with a heavy heart as she watched everyone walk down the hall to Max’s room. She was beginning to question her actions. Should she have gone in first? No. Her heart told her that she made the right decision. Deciding that she could do nothing more than to sit around and wait, she closed her eyes and rested.

****

“Max?” He could hear the voices surrounding him, but his eyelids felt like lead. And if that wasn’t bad enough he felt sick to his stomach. He tried to clear the heavy drug induced fog in his head but decided it took too much energy to do so.

“Is?”

“Yes! Max it’s me. I’m so glad you’re…” Isabel finally broke down and wrapped her arms around her brother as best as possible. Alex stood beside her, rubbing her back gently.

“Y-yeah I’m good.” Max tried to smile but found himself dosing off. He had never felt this tired in his entire life.

“I’m happy. I was so worried and I’m just…” Isabel tried to express her feelings but the only one that she felt above all was relief. It didn’t matter if he could play or not. The only thing that mattered was that her brother was safe.

“We’re going to get going now. Everyone else wants to see you.” Isabel kissed her brother’s cheek softly before leaving the room.

Maria and Michael were next. Maria was hesitant at first but the second she saw Max she broke down just as Isabel did. Michael suspected that Maria had finally let go because Liz was no longer around. Everyone was trying to be so supportive for Liz’s sake.

“Hey don’t cry on my account.” Max tried to joke. He was slowly coming to full consciousness.

“Maxwell, she’s a girl. She can’t handle hard shit like this and you know it.”

“Ow! What was that for?” Michael whined out when Maria elbowed him in the ribs.

“You are just so insensitive. Anyway, Max we just wanted to make sure you were all good before we headed home. We’ll be back in the morning.” Max nodded and watched as they left.

Where was Liz? That was his first question when he realized that everyone was coming in a few at a time. Did she not want to see him? Did he scare her off by telling her that he loved her? Max had the sudden urge to rise to his feet and find her. He ached to see her beautiful face. He caught sight of his hospital room door opening and hoped that it was her…but it wasn’t.

“Hey Drew.” Max greeted him, sitting up a little higher against his pillows.

“There’s the champ.” Drew comes to stand at the foot of Max’s bed. And as much as Max is happy to see him here, he needed to see her. It must’ve been clearly evident in his eyes because Drew starts talking.

“She’s outside waiting to see you. She wants to see you, man. She’s been going crazy for the last couple of hours, but she’s okay.” Max nodded, not really sure what to say. He didn’t even know what happened with the surgery. All he knew was that he would go crazy if he didn’t see her in the next few minutes.

“The rest of the team is here too, but I sent them away a few minutes ago. I told them you were okay and I’ll give them a detailed report later.” Drew tried to lighten the mood. He could tell Max was on edge.

“Good…that’s good,” Max began but stopped mid sentence when the door opened once again. His heart was in his throat. It had to be her this time, he thought.

But it wasn’t. His shoulders sagged in defeat. The world was against him today.

“Mr. Evans. I’m glad to see you’re awake. I wanted to let you know before I left for the day that…”

“No! I don’t want to know anything until Liz is here.” Max shook his head fiercely. Drew was outside the room retrieving Liz a second later.

****

“Liz, wake up.” Drew whispered softly trying not to startle Liz. She had apparently fallen asleep in the past few minutes.

“What?! What’s wrong?” Liz bolted from the chair and almost tripped over Drew. He reached out his arms to steady her.

“Nothing. He wants to see you. The doctor is with him now.” Liz nodded her head and tried to straighten out her extremely disheveled appearance.

She practically ran to his room and swung the door open. Their eyes connected instantly and they both tried their best not to break down in front of the doctor. Liz was by his side in an instant. Max shifted over as best as possible giving her room to sit beside him. She looked into his eyes and smiled brightly at him, her eyes full of the complete and utter happiness and relief that he was okay. Max reached out his hand to Liz and she quickly gathered it in hers.

“Now as I was saying, the surgery went great! We couldn’t have asked for anything better.” The doctor smiled and waited for some kind of reaction. When he received none he continued on.

They both sighed in relief at the doctors words, but Max had questions that he needed answers to.

“Wait. When you say great, do you mean I’m going to be able to play again? Or great as in, I survived?” Liz couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped past her lips. The reality was anything less than funny, but the way Max delivered the question made her giggle…just a little.

“You will be able to play Mr. Evans. But you will need a lot of physical therapy. Over all this was a success and with the proper treatment you’ll be back on the court in no time.” The doctor smiled and decided it was getting increasingly difficult to watch the two of them staring at each other. He asked if they had any further questions before leaving the room.

****

They sat in silence for a good ten minutes. Liz hadn’t moved from his side and she was still grasping his hand.

“Liz, thank you for being here with me. I know how hard it must be but I appreciate it so…” His speech was cut short by her index finger against his lips. Her eyes were so red and bloodshot; she looked so tired and weary. Nevertheless, she was still breathtaking to him. She would always be.

“I wanted to be here. Don’t think anything less, Max. I could never not be here for you.” Max tried to smile past the lump in his throat. It wasn’t just a lump of gratefulness. It was also his guilt, threatening to eat him alive.

She was right; she was always there for him. But where was he? Living the dream, he scoffed to himself. That was a joke. The dream everyone talked about so vividly was her. And he was too stubborn to realize it until it was too late. And because of that he was left his guilt. He knew he shouldn’t be with her. She deserved so much more than him. And he was terrified that if he let the moment slip by, he would never be able to reclaim it.

“Liz, stay with me?” His voice was stripped of every dignity he had. His emotions were raw and his heart lay on the line. She could easily turn him away. He was going to be fine. She could walk away and never look back. He deserved it and so he didn’t hope. He simply waited for her response.

What should she do? She didn’t want to leave him, but what would that mean? It didn’t have to mean anything, right? Liz tried to convince herself and when she looked back at Max she knew it would be hard to hold onto her heart, but she needed to do this. Not for him, but for herself.

“I told you I’m not going anywhere, Max.” She then stood, crossed the room to turn the light off and returned to his side. She watched him closely as he scooted further over on his bed making room for her to lie down. Without hesitation she removed her shoes and climbed in next to him, being extra careful not to hit his knee.

She leaned her head on his chest and waited for sleep to overcome, but it didn’t happen. She was next to Max, lying in bed with Max and she couldn’t touch him like she ached to. After a few minutes, she thought he may have fallen asleep, so she adjusted herself and tilted her head so that her chin rested on his chest.

“Hey, can’t sleep?” he asked softly. He wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her but he couldn’t. It wasn’t his place and she wasn’t his to touch any longer.

“Not really. How about you?”

Max just shrugged and she knew something was wrong. “What is it? Do you hurt? I can get a nurse?” Liz went to move but Max quickly wrapped his arms around her stopping her movements.

“No, I’m fine. I’m just…”

“What? Tell me Max.” She pleaded softly.

“I’m scared. What if they’re wrong, Liz? What if I can’t play again like I used to?” Liz could hear the anxiety in his voice and was quick to soothe his worries. She didn’t have to but again she wanted to.

“Don’t worry, Max. Everything will be fine.” Liz reached out and caressed his cheek softly, trying to calm his nerves. And then she heard it, the desperate tone in his voice.

“It’s all I have, Liz. It’s all I have and if I don’t have that…then…” He swallowed thickly and she could feel the tears slip down his cheeks. She leaned up and waited until their eyes connected before speaking.

“No, Max you have so much more than that,” Liz whispered out, begging him with her voice to understand what she meant.

“I do?” He asked hopefully, not really sure how far he should read into her words.

Liz leaned in closer. Their lips a mere breath away, she whispered out, “yes,” before pressing her lips softly against his.

That one moment, the moment she placed her lips against his, Max Evans felt hope begin to flutter once again in his heart. And in that moment, another piece of Liz Parker’s heart began to heal.

TBC…

Hey guys! I'm back with the next part. Sorry it took me so long to post today, but I had to wait until Tanya got online so she could read over the end of this, because I was certain it sucked. *lol* But, she read it and said it was good, so I'm posting.

Hope you guys enjoy!! Oh, and don't forget to go nominate! Noms end the 31st!!!

On with the show!

Chapter 11

Max bit down on his lower lip to prevent from screaming. He would be getting released from the hospital shortly, and the girls were running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. They would alternate between fussing over him, and running down the hallways, screeching at any doctor that they came across, verifying that letting Max go home was really going to be ok.

Alex and Michael sat in the uncomfortable hospital chairs on the opposite side of the room, amused smiles on their faces as they watched the scene playing out before them.

“You think he’s gonna freak out on them?” Alex whispered to Michael, leaning over slightly so he could be heard.

“Oh, no doubt.” Michael nodded. “Look at him. He’s about to chew his lip off. He’s ready to flip out, and we got front row seats.”

The guys snickered slightly, tapping their fists together in celebration of the fact that they would be able to witness it.

Liz finished putting the rest of Max’s stuff in a bag the hospital gave her. She glanced around the room quickly, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Her eyes landed on Max, and she immediately ran to his side, concerned. He was biting his lower lip, his head dropped back onto the pillows, and he had his hands over his eyes.

“Are you ok?” Liz asked as she came to the side of his bed. “Does your knee hurt? Let me go get the doctor.”

As she turned to leave the room, Max’s hand encircled her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She turned back to look at him, concerned he was hurt and wasn’t going to let the doctor check him out, for fear he wouldn’t be able to go home.

“I’m fine, Liz.” Max finally said, looking her deep in the eyes, trying desperately to convey to her that he was being honest. “I’d be a lot better if you girls would stop hovering over me and freaking out about this. I’m not completely disabled, you know?”

Liz crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, excuse me for caring!” Liz yelled at him, trying to cover up her hurt with anger. She knew good and well he wasn’t disabled, and that he hated them making a big deal about everything, but he DID have surgery not long before.

“Liz, don’t be like that.” Max pleaded, scooting himself up higher against his pillows. “I’m sorry. I know you’re just concerned, but you don’t need to worry so much. If they thought I was wasn’t well enough, they wouldn’t be letting me go home.”

“Just the same, I’m staying at your house to watch you.” Liz said before breezing out of the room.

“You’re what? To watch me?! I’m not twelve, I don’t need a babysitter!” Max yelled, sitting up even further, craning his neck to try to see where she went. “Liz! Liz Parker, get back here!”

“Screaming is really unnecessary, Max. We are in a hospital you know. People are trying to get well here, they don’t need to listen to that.” Isabel scolded, walking back into the room with Maria.

“Where’s Liz?” Max asked, not bothering to mask the annoyance in his tone.

“She went to go find your doctor, make sure that she knows exactly what you’re allowed to do, and what you’re not allowed to do... all that stuff.” Maria answered, plopping down on Michael’s lap.

“So you guys collectively decided that Liz was going to stay with me? Without even talking to me about it?” Max questioned, looking at all of them. They, in turn, stared at their shoes, or hands, or whistled innocently, as if they didn’t hear him ask a question. “You guys are ridiculous.” He sighed, dropping his head back onto his pillows again.

“Well, it just worked out best that way.” Isabel finally spoke up. “We all have to get back to Roswell, and get back to work. We actually need to be at the airport in, like, half an hour. Liz is already cleared for being MIA for awhile since she was in Roswell working, and she has all of her stuff here with her anyway, since she was going straight back to Atlanta after this.”

Isabel sat down on the side of Max’s bed. “It’ll only be for a few days. The doctors even said they wouldn’t let you go unless they knew that someone would be there with you to help you out. So you either deal with this, or you stay here. Knowing you, I’m betting that you’d give anything to get outta here, so please start dealing with it.”

“Ok.” Liz came back into the room. “We’re all set to go. Isabel and Maria, you two will go out through the front doors and get into the limo that we have out there as a decoy, and it’ll take you to the airport. Michael and Alex will be taking the rental car back to the airport, and you guys have already decided on where you’re going to meet up?” When they all nodded, she continued. “Alright, Max and I are going out through a back entrance, our limo is already back there, I went out and checked. Is everyone clear on what’s going on here?”

“I’m not. No one tells me anything.” Max pouted.

“All you need to know if that you’re getting into a wheelchair, and we’re taking you to a limo, which you will get into and it will take you home. That’s it. Can you handle that?” Liz quirked an eyebrow at him. Max responded by sticking his tongue out at her and crossing his arms over his chest. She rolled her eyes. “Sticking your tongue out? That’s how you’re going to handle this? Don’t act five, Max. It’s not cute.”

“I’ve never heard you complain about my tongue before.” Max flippantly responded.

In return, Liz turned an interestingly bright shade of red. The reply that was on the tip of her tongue was hushed as the doctor and a nurse with a wheelchair came into the room. She glanced at them, then back to Max. “You’re so in for it later.” She promised.

“Can’t wait.” Max replied, puckering his lips and making a smooching noise.

Liz growled at him before turning to talk to the doctor.

Max smiled in satisfaction, feeling as if he’d won that battle. Max turned when he felt someone come up to the side of the bed. He looked up at Michael, who didn’t try to hide his amusement of the whole thing. Michael bent down to whisper in Max’s ear. “She’s gonna kill you for that. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.” Max nodded, pulling the covers back from him so he could get up. Michael helped him out of the bed, and over to the wheelchair, despite Max’s complaints that he could do it by himself.

Once Max was all situated, and Liz had the bag with his jersey and shoes and everything in it, the doctor told Max that he was officially free to go home. Max let out a huge sigh of relief, thanking the doctor for everything.

After the doctor excused himself to go tend to another patient, the nurse wheeled him into the hallway, then waited until Max and Liz said goodbye to everyone.

After Isabel promised to call and check up on him all the time, and Liz promised to take good care of Max, they split off in separate directions. Michael, Alex, Isabel and Maria went out the front, as Liz and Max headed towards the back.

“Was there a lot of paparazzi outside?” Max asked, looking up at Liz, who was walking next to him.

“The girls said there was, but I didn’t go out there.” Liz replied, opening the back door and looking around. Once it was confirmed that there were no photographers out there, she opened the door wider so that the nurse could make it outside.

The driver opened the door for them, then took Max’s crutched, and the bag from Liz and put them in the trunk. Liz slid into the car first and then Max dropped into the seat next to her. The nurse told him to take care of himself, and wished him luck with his physical therapy before closing the car door and making her way back into the hospital.

They sat in silence as the driver got back into the limo, and began his drive to Max’s house. Liz started out the windows for a few minutes, before turning her attention to the inside of the car. She rolled the windows up and down, opened and closed the moon roof and raised the lowered the partition separating them from the driver before turning her attention to the radio.

She flipped through the channels before settling on a Kelly Clarkson song. She bopped her head along with the music, looking out the windows as the scenery went by.

She turned to look at Max when Kelly was rudely cut off and some rock song started playing. “Did you just change the station?” Liz asked.

“No.” Max fibbed, shrugging his shoulders as if he were indifferent to the situation.

“Then you won’t mind if I change it back.” Liz sweetly smiled before turning the station.

Max sighed, reaching forward and switching the station back. Liz raised her eyebrows at him. “Ok, so I lied. I did change it. I’m not listening to that girly music.”

“I’m not listening to this boy music.” Liz shot back.

“There’s a big difference in the two songs though.” Max tried to explain. “This is good. That shit you were listening to is not.”

“It is too!” Liz yelled, turning the station.

“Liz, seriously. I’m not listening to this.” Max turned the station back.

“Max, seriously. Stop fucking with the radio!” Liz switched the radio back, then slapped at his hands when they tried to get back to the radio. “Stop!”

“We’re not listening to this!” Max tried his hardest to get to the radio but Liz kept slapping his hands. “Stop doing that!”

“Doing what?” Liz asked innocently, right before she slapped at his hands again.

They were broken out of their bickering match by the partition between them and the driver being raised. They knew they hadn’t done it, which meant that he had. They looked at each other and started laughing.

“Look, its not even Kelly Clarkson anymore!” Liz pointed out as another song came on. “Please, just leave it here.” Liz pleaded.

“Whatever, we’re almost to my house anyway.” Max said, giving up the fight. He looked out the window, and listened to the song playing.

One more kiss could be the best thing
But one more lie could be the worst
And all these thoughts are never resting
And you're not something I deserve

In my head there's only you now
This world falls on me
In this world there's real and make believe
And this seems real to me

You love me but you don't know who I am
I'm torn between this life I lead and where I stand
And you love me but you don't know who I am
So let me go
Let me go

The words of the song struck a cord in Max. He glanced over at Liz, who had rolled down her window. He couldn’t help the phantom smile that appeared on his lips over the picture she presented. She was looking out the window, unseeing as she sang along with the song. He turned back to look out his window as the chorus faded and the second verse started.

I dream ahead to what I hope for
And I turn my back on loving you
How can this love be a good thing
When I know what I'm goin through

In my head there's only you now
This world falls on me
In this world there's real and make believe
And this seems real to me

Max took a deep breath as the lyrics of the second verse registered to him. He’d done exactly that: turned his back on loving Liz. He glanced back over at her, just as she glanced back over at him.

They both seemed to be thinking the same thing about the song. The song continued, but neither of them heard it as they got lost in each others eyes. Max and Liz had always been able to talk without uttering a sound, just by looking each other in the eyes.

Liz was the first to break eye contact, looking back out the window and tucking a piece of hair behind her ears. Max opened his mouth to speak, but the driver opened his door, already holding his crutches. Max looked around for a few seconds before realizing that they had already made it to his house.

He glanced over at Liz one last time before she opened her door and got out. Max sighed before scooting towards the door and standing up. He got steady on the crutches before he started making his way to the front door.

Liz came up next to him, holding onto his bag of stuff from the hospital. She stood close to him so she could grab onto his easily if she started to fall. When he looked over at her, she immediately glanced towards the house, stopping in her tracks. Max stopped as well, looking at her, concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“...You live here?” She asked, pointing to his house.

“Uhm, yeah.” He said, glancing at the house, then at her. “Why?”

“It’s fucking huge!” Liz blurted out before thinking. She cleared her throat. “I mean..”

“No, you’re right.” Max agreed. “It is huge, but I love it. Or, I love it when I’m actually here long enough to enjoy it.”

Liz nodded slightly. “Right, well, we better get you inside.” She reached into the bag and rifled around in it until she found his keys.

“It’s open.” Max said when she pulled the keys out of the bag. “I called earlier to make sure the cook was here, so its unlocked.”

“You have a cook?” Liz’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline.

“Yeah...” Max answered.

Liz walked in front of him, trying the front door. It was indeed unlocked, so she helped him inside, closing the door behind him. She took a minute to look around once she got inside. The house was even bigger than the outside looked. She made herself stop gawking and turned to Max. “Ok, where do you want to go? Your room? The livingroom?”

“The game room.” Max answered, already making his way down the first floor hallway. Liz walked behind him, taking in the house. Once they made it to the end of the hallway, Max opened the last door on the left, which lead to a room that Liz knew had to be at least the size of her whole apartment, if not bigger. There were arcade games, a fooseball table, an air hockey table and a huge wrap around couch that had to seat at least twenty people.

Max dropped down on the couch, and Liz took his crutches, setting them off to the side. Max grabbed a remote off the cushion next to him that was the size of a Game boy, and after pushing a few buttons, a screen lowered from the ceiling and a projector turned on. Liz glanced from the TV screen, which was actually a movie screen to Max. “Are you serious?”

“What?” Max asked, having no idea what she was freaking out about this time.

“This room is insane! Its huge! You have a fucking movie screen falling out of the ceiling!” Liz screeched, before reeling in her emotions. “It just seems like it’s a little much.”

“C’mon, Liz. Tell me that you don’t design houses that are three times as big as mine.” Max reasoned with her.

“Even with that, this room alone is probably as big as my whole apartment.” Liz tried to get him to understand where she was coming from.

It took a minute for Max to respond. “You live in an apartment?”

“Yeah, a little two bedroom.” Liz nodded. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my apartment and it’s a pretty good sized one... its just a lot different from this.” Liz gestured around her. When Max didn’t respond, she grew slightly uncomfortable. “Ok, so... I’m gonna go make some lunch. What do you want?”

“You don’t have to make anything, Liz. I have a cook, remember? You can go tell her what we want, but she won’t let you cook anything. As far as she’s concerned, that’s her kitchen. You could loose a finger.” Max told her.

“Fine, then I’ll go tell her what we want. Either way... what do you want?” Liz asked, slightly annoyed. There went her reason for getting the hell out of that room for a little while.

Max told her what he wanted, and she began trying to find her way to the kitchen. Once she had, and she’d relayed their orders, she ran in search of the front door, since the doorbell was ringing.

She finally found it, throwing it open. She took a step back at the fact that there were seven guys standing there, at least four of them over a foot taller than her, and only one she knew. “Hi.” She said, giving them a smile. “Looking for Max?”

“I like what we already found better.” One of them said, looking her up and down.

“Dude, stop.” Drew said, sending him a menacing look. He turned back to Liz and stepped inside, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing good. Happy to be home.” Liz opened the door further, inviting the rest of the guys in. “He’s in the game room, I’ll take you guys back there.” Liz walked in front of them towards the room, thankful that she knew where it was so she didn’t look like a total idiot. “Max, you have some visitors.” Liz announced as she walked into the room.

Max turned his attention from whatever he was watching to the door of the room. A smile instantly spread across his face. “Hey guys.”

The guys made their way into the room, saying their hellos and dropping down on the couch to chat with Max. Max quickly introduced Liz to all of them before she excused herself to give them a chance to talk and a chance for her to go look around a little, and grab Max’s lunch.

As she was shutting the door, she heard Drew’s voice. “You’re really lucky to have her, dude.”

“Trust me, man. I know that.” She heard Max reply. Liz couldn’t help the giddy feeling that rose in her stomach as she skipped down the hall to check out the rest of the house.

****

Liz buried her head further into the pillow before opening her eyes. She looked around the room for a moment before it registered to her that she was at Max’s house. It seemed to her that every time she woke up, she was in a different place, she couldn’t wait to get home.

She sat up, trying to detangle her legs from the comforter. She stopped when a woman walked into the room, and began picking things up, as if Liz weren’t there. The woman finally turned to the bed and let out a surprised squeal. “Oh, goodness! I didn’t know anyone was in here! I’m sorry, I can come back to this room.”

Liz quickly shook her head. “Oh, no. You’re fine, I was just getting up.” Liz finally stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “If you don’t mind my asking... who are you?”

“Cynthia” She replied, before moving to fix the blankets on the bed. “I’m Mr. Evans’ maid.”

“He has a cook and a maid?” Liz asked, shocked.

“And a gardener.” Cynthia replied before making her way into the adjoining bathroom to tidy up in there.

“Right. Of course.” Liz said to herself. “Because everyone does.”

She sighed, turning to look at the clock. She’d slept for about three hours, since it was now 4:07 PM. She made her way out of the room, trying to figure out where the staircase was so she could go back downstairs and check on Max. She’d left him in Drew’s care, so she was sure he was fine. She, however, was slightly hungry, so she imagined Max was as well. Boys are always hungry, she told herself.

She opened the door to the game room, once she found her way downstairs, and found all the guys still there, every single one of them entranced in a game of Halo.

“Who just shot me?” Max asked, furiously pushing buttons on the controller.

All the guys started blaming someone else for it, and Liz couldn’t help but smile as she made her way into the room. She leaned over the back of the couch so her face was right next to Max’s. “It was me.” She whispered, causing him to jump, and the controller to fall from his hands.

“Don’t do that!” Max sighed, running his hands through his hair. “You can’t just sneak up on people that way.”

“Well, don’t get so sucked into the video game that you’re oblivious to whats going on around you.” Liz shrugged. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes.” All the guys chorused, none of them looking away from the TV.

“O...k. What do we want to eat?” Liz asked, dreading the answer. As expected, they all blurted out what they wanted, none of them agreeing on anything. “God, you guys are like children.” She shook her head. “Ok, Max. What do you want?”

“Pizza Hut.” Max responded, grabbing his controller back from the guy sitting next to him. “Just tell Margo we want the usual. Don’t worry, one of the pizzas in ‘the usual’ is cheese, so you’ll eat it.” Max told her, already knowing she’d protest to anything but a cheese pizza.

“Ok, the usual it is.” Liz turned and made her way to the kitchen, once again relaying the order. Margo seemed pleased that all she had to do was order pizza, instead of cook a huge meal for a ton of people.

Liz grabbed a soda out of the refrigerator before she made her way back to the game room. In the short time she was gone, the guys had managed to give up on Halo, and four of them were yelling and screaming over fooseball, while the others were sitting on the couch, talking and listening to music.

Liz hopped over the back of the couch, dropping onto the cushion next to Max. All the guys looked over at her as she made herself comfortable. She looked at them for a minute before looking back at Max. “What?”

“Nothing.” Max replied. “Just don’t touch the damn radio.”

Liz sighed. “I’m not gonna touch your damn radio.”

“You look familiar.” Jake blurted out, causing Liz to look over at him.

“Well, I was at the game the other night...” Liz shrugged slightly.

“Yeah, I know that, I saw you there. I really think I’ve seen you somewhere before, though.” Jake’s eyebrows drew together as he thought about it. “Dammit, that’s gonna bother me.”

Max looked at Liz and just shrugged. The people he hung out with never claimed to be rocket scientists, after all. “Pizza getting ordered?” Max asked.

Liz nodded, taking a sip of her soda. “Yup, should be on the way shortly.”

“I know where I’ve seen you before!” Jake practically yelled.

“Where?” Liz asked, actually wondering herself.

“The pictures.” He said, pointing to the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Liz glanced over, seeing a bunch of picture frames hanging all over the wall. “What pictures?” She wondered out loud, as she got up and walked over there. She stopped in front of the wall and couldn’t stop her jaw from dropping. She brought her hand up to her mouth as tears began welling in her eyes.

She glanced through the photos of memories long since forgotten. There was prom pictures of the two of them, pictures from when they won Homecoming King and Queen their senior year, pictures of Liz and Max before his basketball games. There were some from Christmases, birthdays and Thanksgivings. The was a picture of Liz that Diane had taken, she was laying on the livingroom floor, playing with a little Maltese puppy that Diane had fallen in love with at the pet store and brought home. Two of Liz’s senior pictures were up there. One of just her, and one that she’d drug Max into. He had his arms around her waist and was smiling down at her, as she smiled up at him. Liz couldn’t help feeling sad at how happy they used to be.

The picture that effected her the most was a little four by six picture in a little black frame. Before Max had left for NBA training camp, He had gotten him and Liz matching Celtics t-shirts and hats. Isabel thought it was the cutest thing ever and immediately made them put them on and take a picture.

Liz reached out to trace her finger over their smiling faces. She turned to Max as he came up next to her, leaning on his crutches. “That seems like an eternity ago.” Liz whispered, looking back at the pictures.

“Almost like it was another lifetime.” Max agreed. “I still have that shirt and hat.” Max smiled slightly.

“I don’t.” Liz whispered, looking down.

“Seriously?” Max asked.

Liz nodded sadly. “When you left, I took everything you’d ever given me and put it in a box and told Maria and Isabel to throw it away. I was so mad at you, I couldn’t stand looking at any of that stuff. It hurt me too much.” Liz paused, looking back up at the picture. “Now, though... I wish I would have kept it.”

Max watched Liz as she turned around and walked out of the room. He hung his head, taking a deep breath before making his way back to the couch.

****

“We’re never going to agree on a movie.” Liz said, browsing through the stacks of movies Max had. Geez, Blockbuster doesn’t have this many movies!, she thought.

The guys had left about an hour ago, after eating and hanging out a little longer. Max and Liz had decided to just chill out and watch a movie. They’d relocated to Max’s room because Liz knew he would probably be going to sleep soon anyway.

“Then you pick a movie.” Max finally relented, propping up the pillows against the headboard.

“You’re going to let me pick the movie?” Liz turned to him. “Wow, Hell just froze over.”

“Such a comedian.” Max commented, laying in the bed and getting himself comfortable. “Just pick a movie. Sometime this year, would be preferable.” He teased.

A smile spread across Liz’s face as she picked a DVD from the collection, taking the DVD from the case and sticking it in the player before Max could see what it was. She skipped over to the bed and hopped up into the bed, grabbing the remote from Max.

“I’m not gonna like the movie if you’re taking away the remote control.” Max commented, looking at the screen as the main menu came up. “Ah, come on, Liz!” Max groaned, pointing at the screen. “You can’t be serious with this!”

“I’m totally serious. You said it was my choice, and I choose this. So now you have to watch it.” She answered smugly. “Besides, you like... most of this movie.”

“Box office disappointment is what this movie was. Michael agrees with me, too. It starts off as a good movie, then they kill it with all this girly bullshit at the end.” Max complained.

“Max, this is ConAir. It doesn’t have a bunch of girly bullshit at the end.”

“No man should be that attached to a teddy bear.” Max threw back.

“Its for his daughter!” Liz argued. “Besides, if you don’t like this movie, why do you own it?!” When Max didn’t answer she looked over at him. “Well?”

“Because it was your favorite.” He finally said. He reached over and grabbed the remote. “Lets just watch the movie.”

Liz watched him for a minute before turning her attention to the screen as the movie started. This is gonna be a long movie, she thought.

****

Liz tried to hide the fact that she was crying, knowing Max was going to make fun of her. She always cried at the end of ConAir. Between Nicholas Cage finally meeting his daughter, and that damn LeAnn Rimes song, it was just too much.

Max looked over at Liz as the credits started rolling. He sighed, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into his chest. “Don’t cry.” He murmered into her hair as she ran his fingers up and down her back. “Its ok. Nick got to meet his daughter, she got her teddy bear... all is good.”

“Its so sad!” Liz wailed, burying her head in his chest.

“Shh.” He soothed her, twirling a strand of her hair in his fingers. “Its ok, baby. Please stop crying, you know I hate it when you cry.”

There was something in the tone of his voice that made Liz lift her head. It was only after she did that she realized how dangerously close their lips were. Max lifted his hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks, letting his hand linger a little longer then necessary.

They slowly moved into each other, as if pulled by an invisible string. Just before their lips touched, Liz cleared her throat, moving away and sitting up. She took a deep breath, wiping away the last of her tears. “You’re right. Its just a movie.” She laughed slightly at herself.

She got up from the bed, turning off the TV and DVD player, not wanting to make eye contact with Max. “You need to get some rest.” She finally said, looking up at him briefly. “I’m gonna go find a guest room.” She hitched her thumb over her shoulder towards the bedroom door. “Yell if you need anything.”

“Liz, wait.” Max stopped her before she could make it out the door. “Stay in here with me? Please?”

She slowly turned to look at him. Once she made eye contact, she knew there was no way she could say no. She slowly nodded her head. “I’m just gonna go find my suitcases and see if I have any clean pajamas.”

“First drawer in the dresser behind you, you can wear a pair of my boxers. Drawer right under that is t-shirts.” Max told her.

She turned and grabbed a pair of his boxers before grabbing a t-shirt and making her way into the bathroom. Once she was all changed, she looked at herself in the mirror. “You’re an idiot.” She mumbled to her reflection.

She took a deep breath before emerging from the bathroom and crawling into the bed with Max. He scooted down and rearranged his pillows before turning off the bedside lamp, bathing the room in darkness.

He turned over as best he could, wrapping an arm around Liz’s stomach and pulling her across the bed and into his arms.

Liz didn’t fight him, because it felt too good being there. She let herself relax as she put her hand over his, which was still resting on her stomach. “Goodnight, Max.” She whispered, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it.

Max brought her hand back to his lips, leaving a soft lingering kiss there. “Goodnight, Liz.” He whispered back.

He buried his face in her hair for a moment before kissing her temple and settling down to fall asleep.

It didn’t take long for Liz’s breathing to even out, and Max knew she’d fallen asleep. He couldn’t stop his mind from thinking over everything that had happened since Liz came back into his life.

He knew, without a shadow of a doubt that this was what his life was missing. This was why, no matter how many points he scored, or how many games the team won, or how much money he made, that he was never completely happy.

Before he let sleep claim him, Max made a vow to himself that he was going to do everything in his power to win back Liz’s heart, and keep her in his life forever.

TBC...

Tanya will be back next Saturday with a new part.

P.S. The song in this chapter was 'Let Me Go' by 3 Doors Down. Amazing song, I highly recommend it.

A/N - Boy talk about taking forever to write a part. I'm so sorry it took me this long. Sarah and I want to thank you guys so much for the feedback *hugs* Also, Sarah has not read over this part...so yeah hopefully it's not that bad.

Now...onto the part.



Chapter 12


“Liz, what are you doing?” Max entered the kitchen on his crutches the next morning only to find Liz in the kitchen.

“What does it look like?” Liz turned to the side to watch him cross the room and take a seat on one of the stools at the counter.

“Well, it looks like you’re cooking. Why I ask? Because you know I have someone to do that for us.” He watched as she moved around his kitchen like a seasoned pro. He loved to watch her in the kitchen, hell he loved to watch her read. So long as he could drink in her site, Max didn’t care what she was doing.

“I know that, but I figured there are some things your cook couldn’t make.” Liz said teasingly as she opened up the oven to check on breakfast. She was keeping it warm until Max awoke.

“Oh really? And what’s that Parker?” Max loved how they were able hold a conversation now without everything being so tense. It felt great just to be around her again.

“My French toast!” Liz smiled knowingly and just waited for Max’s reaction.

She made him French toast? The significance of French toast to Max and Liz was deep. It was the very first thing she cooked for him the morning after the first time they made love. Ever since then it was something they had always shared together.

“Really?” He didn’t try and hide his enthusiasm.

“Yes! I knew it would make your day.” Being with you makes it, is what he wanted to say but didn’t.

“I haven’t had French toast in six years.” He whispered out as he looked at the plates she served up for the both of them. He hadn’t realized he even said it aloud.

Liz heard him however and she stopped to look at him in shock. Did she hear him right? Had he really not eaten this in six years? She couldn’t lie, and figured it was time for a confession of her own.

“Me either.” She stated softly and then carried the plates to the table at the other side of the room. Max watched her and he couldn’t hide how elated he felt that she had also kept that part of her sacred. It was something they shared, something that was special between the both of them. As small of a factor it was in the big picture, it gave Max a little more confidence to move forward with his plan.

“Thank you, Liz. I know it’s going to be great.” Max smiled as he lifted the syrup bottle and poured a generous amount over the toast. Liz watched as he lifted the fork to his mouth and watched as he savored the taste of it. And it made her all giddy inside, just like it always used to.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Max asked not trying to hide the amusement on his face when he caught her watching him.

“Y-yes. Of course!” Liz tried to recover but it was futile. She knew she was busted and Max had caught her staring. She was allowed to right? He was a good-looking guy there was no harm in it. She tried to convince herself; the only problem with that thought was that there was a lot of harm in it. She wasn’t trying to give him mixed signals or false hopes, but how could she fight it? She did still love him, but she hadn’t forgiven him and she may never. That thought alone was enough to cause Liz to crumble. Was this time going to be the last time she and Max spent together? Would it be the last time she even saw him? Talked to him? Would it all end in friendship? Or in the end would they never speak again? So many questions and no answers for any of them.

After a few minutes of silence, Max decided to take the plunge and see if Liz wanted to spend the day with him.

“Liz, did you have plans for today?” What kind of dumb question was that? She was in a new state by herself, what did he expect? He was about to retract his statement, but stopped when she answered.

“I thought maybe you could show me around. I know I’m not going to be here for long but I kind of figured you’d want to do that.” Liz shrugged. She was unsure of herself and she hated that Max made her that way. Even after everything his opinion of her meant more than she wanted to admit.

“That’s exactly want I wanted to do. How about we finish up here, get dressed and head out?”

“Sounds great, Max. But…”

“But what?”

“Do we have to take the limo? It’s too flashy for me and besides it’s just…” She couldn’t find the right words. She wasn’t used to the life of the rich and fabulous, it wasn’t her.

Max chuckled to himself when she scrunched her nose up in distaste and nibbled her bottom lip. He missed that about her. All the things that made him fall even more in love with her. He loved her mannerisms and had seen that she hadn’t lost any of them. She was still the Liz he always knew. The Liz he fell in love with. The only difference was that now she was also the Liz who’s heart he broke.

“Whatever you want, Liz. But you have to drive.” They both shared a soft smile as they finished up.

****

“God! Do you think you have enough cars? You are only one person Max. You can’t possibly drive all of these.” Liz stood in Max’s garage looking at the seven cars and SUV’s as well as the three motorcycles he owned.

“Hey, a man has to get around doesn’t he?” Max blushed. He really did have a lot of cars.

“Whatever, superstar. You really shouldn’t spend all your money all on this frivolous stuff.” Liz huffed and crossed the large expanse of the garage to stand next to his convertible.

“Would you stop calling me that?” Max asked somewhat sadly and came to stand beside her resting on his crutches.

“Sorry. I didn’t say it to be mean, I…”

“I know you didn’t.” Max pulled out his keys and handed them to her and then made his way over to the passenger’s side. Liz watched as he placed his crutches one at a time in the back seat before closing the door behind him.

“Are you okay? Did you take your pain medication?” Liz asked as she placed the key in the ignition.

“I’m fine Liz. Don’t worry.” She was worried. She didn’t want him to injure himself further and…

“Liz. Stop worrying.” Max knew her and when he saw her eyes go wild, he knew she was going through different scenarios of what could happen to him.

“Do you still drive as crazy as you used to?” Max tried to lighten the mood and it worked because she swatted his arm jokingly.

“Shut up! I can drive, Max. I just used to be nervous with you in the car.” Liz pulled the car out of the driveway and waited until Max hit the button to close the garage door before pulling out onto the street. Max gave her a few directions and they were on their way.

“Nervous, why?” He asked very intrigued. He never knew this.

“Because, I didn’t want to let you down.” Max was confused, what did she mean by that?

“How did you think you would let me down? You drove perfectly fine, it was your road rage that got a little frightening.” He chuckled to himself remembering how she was.

“You thought I was perfect and I didn’t want you to find out that I wasn’t.” Liz shrugged and concentrated harder on the road in front of her. The conversation was getting a little intense and she wasn’t ready for it.

“You still are perfect, Liz. Everyone has flaws. Besides, you were the most adorable thing I’d ever seen the day you told off that big burly guy on the way to school.”

“Oh my God! I forgot about that. I was going to beat him with my boot!”

“I know! Too bad the guy wanted to beat my ass and he was huge!” Max laughed and Liz couldn’t hold back any longer and joined him.

They shared a few more stories and then there was a blanket of silence. It was almost unbearable for the both of them. Max didn’t know what to say and they were still a good fifteen minutes from the stadium. Liz was just as uncomfortable, even the sound of the music wasn’t enough to break the silence. So she finally decided to speak up.

“I’m sorry about before. You know, about calling you a superstar?” Liz spoke so softly that Max had to strain to hear her.

“It’s okay, Liz. I deserve it.” He stated flatly.

“Why do you keep saying that?” Liz turned to him quickly. Locking eyes with him before turning her attention back to the road.

Max just shrugged and looked out his window. “I left you, Liz. I left you for basketball. I left you to become a big star. It’s all true. I can’t deny it anymore than you can.” Liz was silent after he spoke. She honestly didn’t know what to say to all of that. Did he mean it? Did he mean that he left her because he wanted to play basketball and become a big star? Or did he mean something else?

The conversation was dropped, but Liz knew that she couldn’t go on much longer without knowing the whole truth.

****

“Hey Max!” They entered the stadium where the team was in the middle of practice. When they saw Max and Liz enter they stopped and rushed over to them. Liz felt a little overwhelmed. They were all so tall and there were just staring. How rude, she thought.

“What’s up fellas? I just wanted to come by and introduce Liz to all of you and I had to talk to coach for a minute.” After a few minutes, Liz was introduced to everyone on the team. She wasn’t going to remember all their names and hoped that she wasn’t expected to.

“Liz!” Drew came up behind her, he was still in the locker room when they first arrived, and lifted her up off her feet.

“Oh God! Let me down!” Liz squealed out. And as soon as she was on her feet, she wrapped her arms around Drew allowing him to give her a quick kiss on the cheek.

“How are you?” Liz asked and Max stood watching her interact with him. He bit back the bile that threatened to rise. That’s how they used to be, so carefree and so interested in one another. Not that he felt threatened by Drew, he trusted Drew with his life. But it hurt all the same. He craved that with Liz, but every step it seemed they took forward. They took three steps back.

“I’m good! Just trying to keep Max from dumping the crutches and running to the court.” Liz joked and much to Max’s surprise she gave him a quick wink. Maybe it’s not as bad as he thought.

“Ahem! Did you forget I was still standing here?” Max asked playfully.

“Yeah, man. How you feeling?” Drew gave Max a pat on the back before he caught the coach heading over.

“I’m doing much better. Thanks.” Liz then stood watching Max with Drew. How they got along so well, she was thankful that Max had someone while he was on the road. It must have been lonely.

Just thinking about that made Liz feel sick. If he was lonely, who was there at night by his side? Was there anyone? Obviously he didn’t have a girlfriend if he was trying to work things out with her. But did he fall in love? Did it end badly?

“Liz?” Max placed an arm on her shoulder shaking her from her thoughts.

“Sorry. What did you say?”

“I was just introducing you to coach O’Neal.” After the introductions, Liz and Max took a seat on the benches and watched the guys practice. Every now and again Liz would ask Max a question, but it was all related to the game or one of the guys. Nothing too meaningful.

“You hungry, Liz?”

“Yeah, I am.”

“Let’s go. And then after we eat I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?”

“Yes. And you are not getting it out of me.” Max threw her a knowing smirk before they exited the stadium.

****

“Wow! This is so beautiful, Max. I’ve never seen anything like it before. I love it!” Liz was practically skipping over to the center attraction in a nearby park. It was filled with people but she didn’t care.

“I love fountains!” She stated staring up at a massive stone fountain as Max reached her side.

“I know you do, that’s why I figured we could eat our lunch here.”

“Oh really? That sounds perfect.” Liz smiled and they found a spot in the grass nearby to sit and eat.

Max was so nervous. This wasn’t her surprise and now he had to tell her that. He just hoped that when she saw it she didn’t slap him silly.

“Liz?”

“Yeah?” They had finished their lunch and now were just sitting near the statue. Liz loved how the water cascaded all around and created a soothing sound. She could almost fall asleep to it. It was so relaxing, that’s why she loved them so much.

“This…this isn’t your surprise. I wanted to show you something else.”

“Okay. Well what is it?”

“We have to go back to my house for it.” Liz didn’t know why, but she felt a little unsettled by Max’s words. However, there was nothing she could do because eventually they would go back to the house. So she couldn’t avoid it.

“Let’s go then.” Liz smiled and helped Max to his feet. A few minutes later they were headed back to his house.

For Max, it would mean a turning point in their reconciliation or the destruction of everything they’ve established thus far. For Liz, it meant the potential to loose her heart again. She vowed she’d never let Max Evans hurt her again, never let him close to her heart. Yet every moment she spent with him, she felt that determination slipping from her grasps. She hoped she could hold onto it a little longer.


****

They were both quite for entire the ride home. Max was trying to prepare himself for what lied ahead. Liz was deep in her thoughts. She was trying to guess what Max’s surprise was. She also couldn’t help but let her mind wander to the great time they had today. It felt like for a moment if she shut out everything else, it was only her and Max. The way it should have been, she thought.

“We’re here!” Liz announced excitedly. Max knew immediately that she was nervous. He reached out his hand and waited until she turned to face him.

“It’s nothing bad. I just want to show you something. It’s something that I had made and…I just wanted you to see it.” Max finished softly begging Liz with his eyes to try and trust him. He could only imagine how hard it was for her to do that.

“Okay. Let’s get inside then.” Liz smiled genuinely at him and Max knew that she was letting her walls down a little.

After putting their things down, Liz helped Max out to the backyard. It was huge and Max suggested they take the golf cart he had.

“It will take less time for me to take my debilitated ass over there.” Max joked and Liz couldn’t help but smile.

“Sounds good!”

“I’ve never driven one of these things before.”

“Oh God! Okay Liz just don’t injure my other leg and we’ll be good.” That earned Max a slap on his arm.

“Damn, I never knew how violent you were. I thought you gave that up after we went camping.”

“Ha ha, Max. You’re not funny. Now tell me how to get this puppy rolling.” After a few tries Liz was able to get the cart going. He directed her clear across the property and they only stopped when they reached a wall of tall bushes.

“This is it?” Liz asked somewhat disappointed. Granted she wasn’t looking for the gold pot at the end of the rainbow, but surely she was looking for something more than bushes.

“No, Einstein. Just get out of the cart.” Liz had to help him of course. Then he led her through an opening on the side. Once they cleared the opening, Liz was able to see what exactly Max wanted to show her.

The bushes had a purpose; they hid this from the outside world. In the enclosed area was a large fountain. It was by far the most beautiful and unique of fountains she had ever laid her eyes on. In the center was a stone statue of a woman, with long flowing hair and surrounded by flowers that varied in color, shape and size. Liz stepped a little closer, she needed to see it better.

Max watched her with bated breath. Did she like it? Did she notice who exactly it was? He didn’t dare speak or move for that matter.

When Liz came to stand in front of the statue, she gasped softly. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned a teary gaze back to Max.

“Liz…I…” He messed up. She was crying. That was the last thing he wanted. He couldn’t do anything right.

“Don’t Max. Just…don’t. I…it’s so beautiful. It’s perfect and…”

“It’s you.” A small smiled formed on his lips. He breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t upset.

“It’s me,” she stated in awe. “I know. But why?”

“Read it Liz.” Max pointed to the writing carved into the fountain. Liz walked to the side and stepped a little closer to read.

For the dreams I wished had come true

“Max,” Before she could finish he was standing directly behind her. “I had it made when I bought the house. I always remembered you, Liz. You would always be perfect in my eyes. You would always be my dream come true.” He whispered softly into her ear.

“You…said that you left me to play basketball. You said that, you left me to be a big star. What did you mean by that? Did you want to leave me? Did you think we couldn’t both be your dream?” Liz couldn’t help the desperation in her voice. She needed to know, she ached for it. Max saw the tears threatening to fall, she was so strong and he knew she wouldn’t let them go. She wouldn’t shed another tear for him and the situation he caused between them.

“It was the truth. I left you to pursue this thing I called a dream. That was my biggest mistake because I had my dream. I had it in you. You were all that I ever needed. I should have cherished you Liz. I should have held onto you and never let you go. But I didn’t,” he adverted his eyes to stare at some insignificant spot behind her.

“Why? Why didn’t you? Why was it so easy to walk away? Why didn’t you love me more?” Liz finished and finally her emotions took over and the tears began to cascade down her soft cheeks. Max reached out and pulled her against his chest. His tears now mixing with hers. He pulled her away gently after a few minutes and swiped the tears from her eyes.

“It broke my heart to walk away from you. I know you don’t believe me, but it’s true. And I never stopped loving you Liz. I loved you to the point that it hurt, and doing what I did wasn’t easy.” Liz could tell how sincere he was, that didn’t stop it from hurting.

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of Liz’s cell phone.

“Hello?”

“Yes, okay. I’ll be there. Thanks.” Liz hug up and Max wanted nothing more than to continue their conversation, but it seemed as though she regained some of her composure.

“That was my boss. I have to head back to Atlanta tomorrow.” Max nodded his head and knew that this conversation wasn’t going any further tonight.

“Okay.” Max answered flatly.

“We better get packed.”

“Right.” Liz then turned to leave and Max followed her wordlessly. When the reached the house, Liz turned to him and waited until their eyes met.

“Thank you, Max.” Liz gave him a small smile before helping him out.

****

The next day they left early in the afternoon to head back to Atlanta. They charted Max’s private jet and were in the air for a few minutes before Liz spoke up.

“Max?”

“Yeah?”

“I liked being able to see your life in Boston. It’s definitely different and bigger than my world. But I did have a good time.”

“I’m glad, Liz. I had a great time too. But now we get to do it all over again in Atlanta.” They both shared a small smile before focusing there attention elsewhere.

There was so much left unsaid but Max was hopeful that he would be able to find the right words to explain to Liz, why he did what he did. He wanted her back, he needed her and he wasn’t ready to let go. At least not without a fight.

TBC…

Back with the next chapter. Althought I don't like it, Tanya said she did, so I'm posting it anyway. *lol*

As always, thank you all for your wonderful FB, and of course, thank you to La'Shon for the Saturday bump. *lol*

One last thing: to anyone who nominated Tanya or I for the awards, we want to thank you. Round One voting is now open, so be sure to go and vote!

Onward we go:

Chapter 13

Max watched, with wide eyes, as Liz flew around her bedroom, talking a mile a minute into her cell phone. From his spot on her bed, he watched as she’d run into the closet, emerge, run into the bathroom, emerge, then go back into the closet, and come out with a completely different outfit on. Max lost count of the number of outfits she went through around seven or eight.

The two of them had taken a flight out of Boston the night before as soon as Liz had gotten the call from her boss. Max had chartered a private plane to take them to Atlanta, which should have meant that they would have landed around 2 AM, giving Liz a little time to sleep, get up, get ready and get to work. Unfortunately for them, Mother Nature was working against them. Due to a bad storm, they’d been forced to land for a few hours. They weren’t even sure where they’d landed at, because they’d both fallen asleep on the plane, and when they were woken up, they were in Atlanta and it was 6 AM.

“No. No, I had that fabric ordered three weeks ago!” Liz yelled from inside the closet. “I don’t care that it’s only 7:30 AM and you’re just getting to work. I need that fabric here by tomorrow!”

Max glanced around her bedroom, taking everything in. If someone would have told him that Liz were living in an apartment like this, he would have called them crazy. An apartment with brick walls and cement floors just didn’t seem like a place Liz would be living in. Now that he’d seen it, it seemed to fit her. He glanced around at all her stuff in the bedroom, recognizing some of the stuff from back when they were together.

He turned back to the closet as Liz emerged again, snapping her cell phone closed. “I swear, some people just don’t know how to run a business. You can’t do that to people. You can’t promise them fabric by a certain date, and then just not deliver it. You just can’t.” Liz ranted, dropping down on the edge of the bed to put on her shoes.

Max tilted his head to the side, regarding the high heeled black shoes she was putting on her feet. He couldn’t imagine that someone could walk in those, and if the ten minutes of working he’d seen her do this morning was any indication... she walked around a lot.

“I’m really sorry that I have to run into work already. I thought I’d have time to get you all settled and everything before I took off.” Liz apologized, standing up after securing her shoes to her feet. He watched her walk, with absolutely no trouble, into the bathroom. He watched as she sprayed on her perfume, and gave her hair one final fluff.

She looked over at him. “Did you go mute all of a sudden? You haven’t said anything yet.” She commented, grabbing her earrings off the vanity and beginning the task of putting them on.

“I’m not mute. I can talk.” Max informed her. “I’m just marveling at your ability to walk in those shoes, but that’s not important.” He shrugged. “I’m going to be fine, Liz. Really, I am.” He assured her.

“I’m not saying that you’re an invalid and you need a babysitter, I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable before I left.” She clasped on a necklace before turning to look at him. “I have to ask this one more time, and then I’ll stop. Are you sure you’re going to be ok?”

Max groaned, dropping his head back onto the pillows. “Yes. Yes. A millions times, yes!” He lifted his head up, leveling her with an exasperated look. “As I already said, please stop freaking out about this. I’m going to be fine. I’m probably going to sleep most of the day, and if I don’t, I can manage to hobble to your couch without someone there to watch me.”

“Ok, fine.” Liz held her hands up in surrender before grabbing her purse and briefcase from near the front door. “I really have to go, I’m going to be late as it is.”

“Have a good day at work, honey.” Max called from the bed as she stepped out the front door.

She stuck her head back inside to glare at him. “Haha. You’re funny.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “If you need me, I wrote my cell phone number on the dry erase board on the refrigerator. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“Bye.” Max gave her a little wave before she disappeared out the front door once again. It closed behind her and Max was suddenly overwhelmed by how loud the silence was. He sighed, reaching over to turn on the fan next to the bed before scooting down and getting comfortable. Before long, he dozed off.

****

Max had woken up around noon, hobbled into the kitchen to get some food, and had been camped out on the couch for the past three hours watching TV.

He couldn’t find anything on the television worth watching, so he finally turned it off. He sat for a few minutes, bored out of his mind before he decided to get up and look around. He wasn’t sure what time Liz would be home, but he hoped it would be soon.

He grabbed his crutches and pulled himself up off the couch. Once he was steady, he made his way into her office. He dropped down into the chair in front of her workspace, setting his crutches off to the side.

He picked up various things, paint palettes, fabric samples, and sketches of rooms. He couldn’t imagine doing this for a living. He couldn’t even decorate his own house! He’d had someone come in and do it for him.

He picked up a notebook that was off to the side, trailing his fingers over Liz’s delicate handwriting that covered the page. He flipped through it, finding list after list of things that needs to be accomplished. He’d never imagined that this much went into decorating a house.

“Well, if your employee hadn’t screwed up my fabric order, I wouldn’t have had to call her at 7:30 AM, I wouldn’t have had to yell and she wouldn’t have cried.” Max turned at the sound of Liz’s voice as she walked into the diningroom and set her stuff down on the table. Max had no idea how she managed to stay on that damn phone as much as she did. “I don’t care. If the fabric isn’t here by tomorrow, then my boss will be calling you, and trust me, you’d really rather deal with me, than her.”

Liz walked into her office, pinching Max on the cheek before she reached over and grabbed the notebook he’d been looking through a few moments before. She grabbed a pen off the desk and started writing furiously on the pages.

He leaned back in the chair, taking in the whole scene. Liz walked around to the other side of the desk, picking up the fabric samples. “No, that’s not the fabric I ordered! If I get the wrong fabric, I’m screwed! What do you mean its not your fault! Of course it is! I have, written down, in my notes in front of me the EXACT fabric I ordered, and what you’re telling me you sent me is not right! Well, you better figure it out! Yeah, whatever. Bye.”

Liz snapped her cell phone closed, tossing it onto the desk and letting out an angry sigh. She glanced up at Max, who was looking at her with his eyebrows raised. “Tough day at work, dear?”

“Please don’t be cute.” Liz whined, bracing an arm on her desk to reach down and pull of her shoes, letting them fall to the floor. “Nothing went right today. I swear to you, everyone is out to make my life hell.” She reached into her purse, pulling out a hair tie and securing her hair on top of her head in a knot. “What are you doin in here?”

“There was nothing on TV, I was bored out of my skull and I hadn’t explored in here yet.” Max told her. He picked up some of the stuff littering her desk. “How the hell do you manage to do this?”

“I honestly don’t know.” Liz shook her head. “In a few years, they’re going to have to have me committed, because the way things are going, I’ll be insane by then.” She glared at her cell phone as it started ringing. She reached across the desk to recover it from where it had landed a few moments before. “Hello? Yeah. Hey, what’re you doin? Nothing, I just got home from work. It was hell. Yeah, pretty much. Ok. Yeah. Ok. Hold on.” Liz moved the phone away from her ear and covered up the mouthpiece before she turned to Max. “Are you hungry?” He nodded. “What do you want?”

Max shrugged. “I dunno. What’s in there to eat?” He asked, hitching his thumb over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

“Nothing. I haven’t been shopping since I got home.” Liz sighed. “Pizza sound ok?” When Max nodded, she moved to leave the room, stopping at his side. “I’m going to go order it on the house phone. Here.” She held out her cell towards him. “Its Isabel.”

Max smothered a groan as he took the phone from Liz. He knew Isabel was just going to nag him about not doing too much, taking all his medication and all that kind of stuff. He really wondered sometimes if Isabel didn’t think that she was his mother. Sure, his mom had called him, making sure he was ok and all that... but Isabel called everyday. It was getting ridiculous.

He put the phone up to his ear, after he sighed. “Hey Isabel.” He hoped that she believed he was as happy to talk to her as he was trying to pretend to be.

“Hi Max. Are you ok? You’re not doing too much are you? Have you taken your medication today?” She immediately started firing off questions.

Max bit down hard on his lower lip to refrain from freaking out. This was going to be a long phone call.

****

Max finally managed to get off the phone with Isabel, just as the pizza was arriving. Max and Liz ate in the livingroom, watching Will and Grace, despite Max’s protests.

After they’d finished eating, Liz took the dishes into the kitchen. As she was rinsing them off and putting them in the dishwasher, she heard the front door open. She glanced over her shoulder to Max, who was still sitting on the couch.

The intruder finally came around the corner, giving her a big smile as he made his way over to her. “Hey Lizzie. Welcome back.” He said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. He looked at the dishes in her hand. “You already ate? It’s Friday. Its our weekly dinner date night.”

Liz was so flustered to see David, she could do little more than move her mouth like a fish out of water. She glanced over to where Max was pulling himself off the couch, with the help of his crutches before making his way into the kitchen.

David pulled back from Liz slightly when he saw Max approaching. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company.” He held his hand out to Max. “David Jones.”

“Max Evans.” Max replied, shaking his head.

David’s eyes narrowed. “Oh my god, I totally didn’t recognize you. Its really nice to meet you, I’m a big Celtics fan. Sorry to hear about the injury dude, that’s rough.”

Despite wanting to hate this guy who had walked in unannounced, and kissed Liz, Max couldn’t. There was just something about him that you had to like. Max snorted a laugh. “Tell me about it.” Max glanced down at his crutches. “I’m dyin to get back on the court.”

Liz’s head turned sharply in Max’s direction. “You know what the doctor said. Absolutely not. Not until you’ve been in physical therepy for awhile.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mommy.”

Liz stuck her tongue out at him, but went back to putting the dishes in the dishwasher.

“Alright, well, I’m gonna head out.” David said, walking over to give Liz another kiss on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re back, babe. I missed ya.”

“I missed you too, David. I’ll see you next Friday for dinner?” She asked.

“If you’re free. Just gimme a call later in the week, ok?” Liz nodded, so David turned back to Max. “It was really nice to meet you, man. Sorry I didn’t recognize you, Liz never mentioned that she knew you... caught me a little off guard.”

Max glanced over at Liz, who was avoiding looking at him. He decided to let it slide until they were alone, instead of making a scene. “Yeah, nice to meet you, too.”

“Bye guys.” David turned and walked back out of the apartment.

Max opened his mouth to question her, but he heard David say ‘go on in.’ so he stopped himself.

“Liz! Where are you?” A girls voice drifted towards the kitchen. Liz whirled around to face the hallway coming from the front door, a look of terror on her face.

Steph, Chelsea, Crystal and Renae all came around the corner. They looked at Liz, glanced at Max and did a double take before they all stopped in their tracks, their mouths gaped open. “Oh... my god.” Renae finally said, her hand coming up to cover her mouth.

“You... You’re Max Evans.” Chelsea told him. “Liz, that’s Max Evans.”

“Yes, I realize that, Chels.” Liz laughed nervously, brushing a tendril of hair out of her face. Before she could open her mouth to ask them to talk to her in her bedroom, away from Max, Crystal blew the whole thing.

“How is this happening? Do you know him?! How could you not tell us that you know him?!” She went on.

“Hey, girls. Lets all go in the bedroom for a minute and talk, shall we?” Liz hinted, giving them a look that said ‘go now and shut up’. They gave one last look at Max before they turned and walked towards her bedroom.

Liz sighed, knowing she was going to be in big trouble with Max when the girls finally left. “Liz...” Max started.

Liz held up her hand. “Just... before you go off, let me get rid of them ok?”

Max didn’t say anything, instead just turning around and making his way into the livingroom. Liz turned, walking down the hallway towards her bedroom. She really wished that her apartment didn’t have such a modern floor plan... a floor plan that didn’t include doors. There was a front door, and a door to both of the bathrooms, but that was it. Everything else was open. Not to mention that the minute you came in the front door, if you looked immediately to your left, you saw right into the bedroom. Liz had bought a Chinese changing screen and put it up in the opening into the bedroom, but it only did so much.

She stood in the doorway, leaning against the wall and crossing her arms over her chest. “Hey guys.” She started.

“What the hell is going on?” Steph asked from her seat on Liz’s bed. “What is Max Evans doing in your apartment?”

“Ohmigod.” Renae suddenly said. “That WAS you that we saw run onto the court after Max got hurt.” She gave the other girls a light shove. “I TOLD you that was Liz! You guys are all ‘No, it wasn’t.’ Well, HA! I was right!” She looked proud of herself, then turned to Liz. “I was right, right?”

Liz nodded. “Yeah, that was me.”

“Ok, so explain this to us.” Chelsea said. “How did all of this happen?”

“Cliff notes version?” Liz sighed. “I met Max right after I moved to Roswell during our freshman year in high school and we started dating. We dated all through college, and right up until he got drafted. During training camp, he realized that he wouldn’t be around all that much, so when he got home, he broke up with me. I hadn’t seen him for six years, until a few weeks ago when he showed up at a camping thing I did with my friends when I was back home.”

They all looked at her with wide eyes. “You’ve known him that long?” Crystal balked. “So... all those times that we’d sit and we’d go on and on about how hot we thought he was and all that... you went out with him?” Liz nodded. “You’ve made out with him?” Liz nodded again. “You’ve seen him naked?” Liz nodded. “What’s that like?”

“Crystal!” Liz sighed. “Guys, I hate to do this to you, but... I’m going to have to kick you out. I’m sure Max is probably got his boxers all up in a bunch about the fact that I ‘kept him a secret’ from all my friends... I have to go deal with that.”

“He wears boxers?” Steph couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“Out.” Liz replied. She gave them all hugs at the front door as they left. The minute she shut the door behind them, she contimplated pulling them back inside, just so she could escape the inevitable confrontation with Max.

Knowing that she couldn’t put it off forever, Liz finally walked back into the livingroom, sitting down on the couch with him.

They both sat for a few minutes, neither of them really sure what to say. Max finally spoke up. “So, those are your friends, huh?” He didn’t turn to look at her, instead, he focused his attention on the wall on the other side of the room.

“Yup.” Liz answered.

“Why would you do that, Liz?” Max finally got straight to the heart of the matter. “Hiding me like I’m your little dirty secret or something?”

Liz knew, just by the tone of his voice, that he was pissed. “No, of course not!”

“I told all my friends about you. You know that. I have pictures of you up in my house! I haven’t seen one single picture of us in here!” His voice got louder as he continued.

“I already told you that I got rid of everything that reminded me of you back when you left! It hurt too much to even look at a picture of you! Why don’t I have any up in here? Because I don’t have one!” She started yelling back at him.

“Its not about the pictures, Liz! I can’t believe you did that.” He shook his head.

Liz jumped up off the couch. “Don’t even play the victim in all this, Max!” She stood over him, pointing her finger at him. “It was your decision for us to break up in the first place! We wouldn’t be in this predicament right now if you hadn’t walked out on me!”

Max pushed himself up off the couch, grimacing slightly as he put weight on his knee. He was sick of screwing around with the crutches, and right now, he was too pissed to care about the pain. “Oh, that’s right. Everything is all my fault!” Max threw back sarcastically.

“Pretty fuckin much!” Liz screamed at him. “Did I break up with you? No! Did I walk away from our relationship without giving you a say in the matter? No, Max, I didn’t!”

“Fine, if that’s how you wanna play it, go right ahead, Liz. Ya know what? That hole in the ozone layer? That’s my fault too. Osama BinLadin? Yeah, I’m the one who told him to be a jackass and start a war. Its just all my fault.” He rambled on.

“You’re freakin ridiculous!” Liz screeched, pulling at her hair. She let out a frustrated scream as the phone started ringing. She snatched it up off the couch. “Hello?!” She yelled into the receiver.

“Are you fighting with Max?” Maria instantly asked. “Because you don’t need to take it out on the person on the other end of the line.”

“I’m not even in the mood right now, I’ll talk to you later.” Liz responded, ending the call and tossing the phone back on the couch.

“Is it my fault the phone rang too?” Max quipped.
“Oh, shut up!” Liz yelled, getting up in his face. “If I wasn’t in the mood for that, I’m not in the mood for you, so do both of us a favor and just shut–!”

Max effectively shut both of them up by grabbing her face in his hands and crashing his lips against hers.

As soon as she felt her lips responding to his, of their own accord, she pushed herself away from him. Her hand came up to touch her lips, and she looked at Max with wide eyes.

Max’s eyes darkened as he stared at her. Her cheeks were red from yelling, and she was breathing heavy. The look in her eye told him he just fucked up, badly.

He was unprepared when she grabbed the front of his shirt and yanked his lips down to meet hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting her fingers tunnel through his hair.

His arms immediately went out to wrap around her and pull her flush against his body. He ran his hands down her back, toying with the hem of the t-shirt she’d changed into before the pizza arrived.

Max’s tongue swept out across Liz’s bottom lip, and her lips instantly parted to grant him access. They both groaned as their tongues met, and began dancing together.

Max pulled at the back of her shirt, his hand moving up to touch the silky soft skin of her back. He was shocked when she pulled away from him. He stared at her, confused as she turned to walk away. Before she got even a step away from him, his hand reached out and grabbed onto her wrist. “No way, sugar. You’re not bailin on me like that.”

He pulled her back to him, his lips seeking out hers. Before their lips could meet again, Liz put her hand over his lips, taking a step backwards. “We can’t do this, Max.”

“Why not?” Max threw his arms up in the air. “I didn’t hear you complaining a few seconds ago when you were kissing me. Oh, sorry. I guess your lips were otherwise occupied.”

“We were just caught up in the moment. We were mad and things just happened...”

“No.” Max shook his head. “I call bullshit. That’s not what that was. Why are you fighting me? Fighting us?” He asked.

“Fighting us?! Max, we aren’t even together! There is no us! Things are different now.” She told him. “I’m a different person and...”

“No, Liz.” He interuptted her again. “You’re the same person I fell in love with all those years ago. You might have changed, but you still have the same heart.”

“It’s not that simple, Max!” She yelled. “I gave you my heart once, and you shattered it without a second thought. You just walked away.”
“How can you say that? I loved you more than you can even imagine and my decision wasn’t an easy one.”

“Oh, here we go again.” Liz crossed her arms in front of her. “Yeah, Max. It was your decesion. You made it by yourself. We’ve already been through this tonight! Been here, done this, and ya know what? Deja vu just isn’t what it used to be, so lets not, ok?”

“There’s more to it then you think there is!” Max hollered back. “What was I supposed to do? Drag you to every game? Drag you to every city? You would have hated me, Liz!”

“What makes you so damn sure I don’t hate you now?!” Liz screamed. “Look at us!” She gestured between them. “All we’ve done since we’ve seen each other again is argue, fight and scream! I don’t want that!”

“What do you want, Liz? Do you even know?” Max asked.

“I wanted forever!” Liz yelled, her eyes getting misty. “I wanted forever with you.”

“We can still have that, Liz.” He took a step towards her. “I can give you that.”

Liz fought desperately against the lump rising in her throat, and the tears threatening to spill down her cheeks. She shook her head at him, backing away. “No, Max. I thought we could have that, but we can’t. You’ve made it abundantly clear once before.” She stopped, her voice cracking. She sniffled against her tears, as they began trailing down her cheeks. “Forever fades away, Max.” She whispered, finally turning around and walking back to her room.

Max watched her go, his lower lip trembling despite his best efforts to not fall apart. He ran his hand down his face and dropped back onto the couch. He stared out the window, Liz’s words echoing loudly in his head, as if on repeat.

Forever fades away.

TBC...

A/N - Okay it's my turn *sigh* Sarah hasn't read this part so I'm a little iffy about it. She said go ahead post it! So I did lol! Oh and sorry it's so freakin' long...I couldn't get my mind to shut up obviously

We just want to thank you all so much for your incredible feedback!! One last thing...Alex...hope you enjoy your five seconds of fame *lol*

*hugs*


Chapter 14

One Week Later

“You kissed him?” Liz rolled her eyes. She loved Maria but sometimes she just wished she would back off with the interrogations.

“No, well yes. He kissed me and pulled away and then I pulled him back. Then I said some things and he left.” She couldn’t stand it anymore. She felt so divided. On one hand she wanted to be with Max more than she wanted her next breath. On the other, she never wanted to see him again. It wasn’t so much that she hated him; like she had thought. It was more of the fact that she was terrified of being left again.

“He left?” Maria was trying to figure out why she didn’t know this information. She had thought Max was still in Atlanta with Liz. She would surely strangle Michael for keeping that secret.

“Yes. I thought you knew.” Liz rolled over on the couch trying to get a little more comfortable. It was Friday night and she didn’t have a damn thing to do. She could easily find someone to hang out with, but she wasn’t in the mood. In all the years she and Max were apart she tried to date. It was like a foreign feeling. She didn’t know how to act and then when she finally found someone she liked, she wouldn’t let it go any further than a kiss or a heated make out session. Liz still held onto the fact that she would open her front door one day and Max would be on the other side. She dreamed that he would tell her that he gave everything up to be with her because he loved her. And now he was telling her that he broke up with her because he felt it was the best thing for her? That just pissed her off even more. Why couldn’t he understand how she was feeling? How she felt when he walked away?

“No, I didn’t. That’s not important. What is important is that you kissed, again. Does this mean that you are going to give him another chance?” Maria asked hopeful. She knew how bad Max hurt Liz by breaking up with her years ago, but the love they had then is the same now. No, Maria thought, it was stronger because she knew without a doubt Max would never break Liz’s heart again.

“Do you think I should forgive him? Hell he was pissed off that I didn’t tell my friends that I dated him. How childish is that?! He wasn’t here! He wrote me off like I was nothing, so why should I relive that moment with my friends? He wanted a separate life from me, so I lived it. Now, it’s my problem that he was hurt by it? I don’t think so!” Liz hadn’t realized how upset she was about Max’s reaction to her friends not knowing about their past relationship.

“Liz, think about it. You love him and he loves you the rest can be sorted out later. Don’t you want to grow old with him?” Liz thought about Maria’s words but she wasn’t still so pissed off that he left when they fought last time. He said that he didn’t want to upset her and decided to stay with a friend before leaving the following day. She wanted him to fight for her, and he didn’t. She buried her head in one of the throw pillows and decided that why should she sit around waiting for him?

“You know what? Maybe I wanted to at one point, but right now I have a date and I have to get ready,” she didn’t really have a date but Maria didn’t need to know that. It was fine time she got her ass out of the house and stopped moping.

“A date?! With who?” Maria’s interest was piqued. She knew Liz wasn’t dating anyone exclusively. But a date now, just when things were starting to progress between her and Max? Maria knew what Liz was trying to do, and it was her job to talk her out of it.

“This guy,” Liz sucked at lying and she knew it. Worse than that, Maria knew her better than anyone, which meant Maria knew she was lying.

“Ah, huh a guy. Liz, stop lying girlfriend. Even if you had a date he couldn’t make you as happy as Max does, so give it up.” Maria called Liz’s bluff but never expected the answer she got.

“You know what? You’re right maybe he won’t make me as happy as I was with Max but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a great time. And maybe just maybe this guy will teach me how to be happy again.” Liz didn’t know where that came from, but she figured it was some left over courage she was saving when she faced Max.

“Liz, I know you’re hurt but this is just pathetic. You don’t have to lie to me, I…”

“Lie? You think I’m lying? Well how about this, Miss I know everything? I’m going out on a date with a hot ass guy I work with named Tim, and at about eight give my cell a call and I’ll let you talk to him.” Liz sat up from the couch trying to decide what the fuck she just talked herself into. Either way she was going to prove Maria wrong.

“Liz, I was only kidding…Liz? Liz?!” And then the phone went dead. Maria wasn’t sure if she should believe Liz or not. But she couldn’t keep this to herself. She hung up the phone and then called Isabel.

****

“What do you mean, she’s going out on a date? What the hell did you tell her, Maria?” Isabel had just gotten home from shopping, she placed her bags down and that’s when her cell phone went off.

“I didn’t tell her anything! I simply asked if she and Max were getting back together since they kissed again.” Kissed? Isabel was not aware of this breaking news.

“Really when? I mean why wouldn’t he tell me, actually don’t answer that. I know why he wouldn’t tell me but…”

“Isabel, could you focus on the problem here?” Maria let out a long sigh and waited for Isabel to stop her rant.

“Oh right! Date. Who is this guy? And what is it that she wants you to do again?” Isabel laid back against the couch, this was going to be a long day.

“I don’t know. Some guy she works with, whom she says is hot! This is serious! She wants me to call her at about eight to talk to the guy, so that I’d know she wasn’t lying. What should we do?” Isabel already had a plan forming in her head. She would light a fire under her brother’s ass if it were the last thing she did.

“Don’t worry I’ll handle it. I’ll call you back.” Isabel snapped the phone shut and decided before she made her phone call she needed to put her groceries away.

****

“Damn Max, I thought you were smart. Were you just pretending to sound cool and shit?” Max wanted to pounce on Drew, but he knew he was right. Max was explaining what happened in Atlanta the week before.

“I know, man. This shit with Liz just gets worse by the minute. I don’t know what the fuck to do to fix it either.” Max continued to mindlessly flip through the television stations. He was trying to get a plan together, a plan of attack. He need to get Liz back but everyway he’d thought of so far wasn’t good enough. He had to be spontaneous. He had to make it count because it would be his final shot with her and he knew it.

“Listen, you gave me some great advice throughout the years. Alex and I are doing great now. She understands what I need from her, but most importantly I understand what she needs from me,” Drew leaned back further into the couch. He had to get Max to figure this thing out with Liz. God knew that they were perfect together, but Liz was stubborn and Max hadn’t exaggerated about that.

“I wish I had some great advice for myself,” Max sighed. Then he watched Drew snatch the remote from his hand and turn the television off. And then in true Drew fashion, he pulled Max to his feet, handing him one crutch to lean on and began circling him like a criminal facing the toughest interrogation of their lives.

“Stop being a pussy! Get your shit together and make her listen to you. You have to put one hundred and ten percent into this or it will never work. You aren’t trying to convince her to give you another chance. You’re trying to make her realize that deep down she wants to give you another chance,” Drew had just given him the exact same speech Max had given him not too long ago. It saved his relationship with Alex and that’s why he was as happy as he’d ever been in his entire life. Max was his best friend and he needed him. But Drew had a feeling that, that speech was not going to work for Max. He needed to approach it a little differently or rather a little unorthodox. Which just happened to be his style.

Max tried to stifle the laugh treating to break free. He had to give Drew serious points for using that speech. Hell, Max was surprised that he’d even remembered it, but it didn’t help. He knew Drew though; he would take his own path to get at what he was trying to say.

“It’s your final shot. It’s the last quarter and the fucking score is tied! There are five seconds on the clock. You can feel the pressure begin to creep up your spine. You have to choose the perfect position, otherwise the game is shot and it’d be all your fault. Finally you find that perfect spot on the court and you release the ball. Silence. The crowd watches and they wait. You closed your eyes because you couldn’t watch it all go to hell. And then! Nothing but net baby! That’s what you need, Max.” Drew was done with his pep talk and was damn proud of himself. At first Max thought Drew had finally lost his mind, but somewhere between the clock and net Max figured out exactly what he needed to do.

“Shit! You’re so fucking right, man! Damn I should have come up with that! Thanks.” Max punched Drew in the arm. “No problem, someone had to knock some sense into that thick fucking skull of yours.” Drew retorted sarcastically, which earned him a harder hit.

“Hey! Watch the bod!” Max shook his head before telling Drew he’d see him later, he had plans to make.

****

Max arrived home and he was filled with a great clarity. Things were going to work out. As soon as he made it to his living room, he tried to adjust his crutches so he could take a seat in the living room. As soon as he was adjusted comfortably his cell phone rang.

“Hey Is,”

“Hi Max. What are you up to?” Isabel asked trying to sound indifferent.

“I just got home and I was about to make some plans, why?” Max’s brows furrowed in suspicion. There was something going on, he just knew it.

“Oh. I just wondered. Hey, have you talked to Liz?” Isabel figured the fast way to the finish line was the most direct route.

“No, why? Have you?” Now he knew something was up.

“No. I just figured you’d call her or something.”

“Isabel, just tell me what’s going on. I’m so tired and I just have so much to get done today.” Max leaned his head back, he wasn’t sure he wanted an answer to his question.

“Lizisgoingoutonadatetonight.” Isabel mumbled out quickly. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, she thought.

“What?! Fuck! Are you serious?” Max jumped from the couch, hobbling around his living room on one leg. This was not happening, not now!

“Yes, Maria called me and told me. Liz said it herself and to prove it Liz told Maria to call her at eight to speak to the guy.”

“Oh fuck that! You are going to have Maria call me first and then we’re going to call Liz on a three way.” Max wasn’t going to let some guy just take her away from him. Not when he was trying to win her back.

“Max, I can’t do that! Don’t ask me too. Look, this was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have called you. I didn’t call to upset you,” Isabel rushed out but Max wasn’t having any of it and she knew it.

“Upset? Well what the fuck did you think I would do when you told me Liz was going out on a date?! You wanted to call me and start shit. Well, you got it. Now tell Maria to call me at ten to eight.” Max hung up the phone purposefully. He’d have to speed up his plans now.

“Forever fades away, my ass!” Max reached for his crutches and made his way upstairs, it was going to be a long day.

****

Liz was having the worst night of her life. Not only did she not want to be there, but the guy was totally gawking at her. It was not only distracting but it was incredibly rude. Why had she agreed to this? That’s right because she was pissed off and wanted to deny her feelings for Max once again. She rolled her eyes at her dates failed attempt to make yet another joke.

She looked at her watch. It was seven thirty. Only thirty more minutes and Maria would call, which meant that Liz could finally go the hell home.

****

“Max, I’m telling you. I’m only doing this for you because I love you and I know that you want Liz back. But I swear to God I will kick your ass if you fuck this up. You can’t say anything. She can’t know you’re on the phone.” Maria whispered out from her balcony. Michael would kick her ass if he knew what she was about to do. She had promised him that she would stay out of Max and Liz’s business, but what would it hurt to let him listen to her phone conversation with Liz?

“I’m not five, Maria. I know what 'be quiet' means. Now, let’s get this over with.” Max waited very impatiently as Maria called Liz.

“Hey Maria!” Liz tried to sound as upbeat as possible. She needed this to be believable.

“Hey. So how’s the date going?” Maria tried to calm her nerves. A part of her knew it was wrong, but Max was just going to listen and in less than five minutes the conversation would be over. No big deal.

“It’s going great. God, he’s so perfect. And he looks amazing.” Liz was trying to hold back the bile rising to her throat, at that moment her date was trying to feed her chocolate frosting. She hoped she didn’t have to keep up the charade much longer.

“Oh well that’s great. So let me talk to him.” Maria could almost feel Max’s tension through the phone line so she knew she needed to end the conversation quick.

“Oh! Sure, hold on,” she giggled. “He’s feeding me dessert.” Max was fuming. His poor defenseless pillow was being ripped in half. This was so much worse than he thought, but he kept his mouth shut.

“What’s up baby?” Baby?! Who the hell did he think he was talking to, both Maria and Max thought simultaneously.

“Yeah, hi. So what’s your name?”

“Tim, what’s yours sweet thing?” Maria wanted to gag and Max wanted to rip this guy to shreds. First of all he was on a date with Liz, and he was disrespecting her to her face. And secondly he was practically hitting on Maria over the phone. This bastard will die!

“Sweet thing? Listen buddy. I just called to make sure you were a real person and…”

“Oh I’m real. And tonight Liz is going to find out how real I am.”

“You fucking bastard! I’m going to come there and kick your fucking ass! You better stay the fuck away from, Liz!” Max roared into the phone loudly. So loud that Liz could hear him and snatched the phone from Tim.

“Maria? Who was that? Was that Max? Please tell me it wasn’t.” Oh shit! They were caught. Maria tried to play it off, but it didn’t work.

“Okay, it’s not Max.” Max was beating his head against his headboard. He couldn’t believe he just did that. Even though the guy deserved it, now Liz would be seriously pissed.

“Bullshit! You are my friend Maria! Why would you do that? I'm going...don't call me back!"

“Wait! Liz, just don’t do anything stupid.” Maria said quickly.

“If you mean like sleeping with him. I wasn’t even thinking about it until I got this phone call. But right now it sounds like a great idea. I’ll give you a call with explicit details tomorrow, love ya!” Liz hung up quickly and turned her phone off. She couldn’t believe it! She was so angry and hurt.

****

“I don’t believe you did that!” Maria screeched into the phone.

“I know. I’m so sorry. But when he said that I just flipped the fuck out. If he touches her Maria I’ll kill him.” Max said seriously and Maria had no doubt about that.

“He sounded like such an asshole.”

“Yeah, Maria what do I do now?”

“I don’t know Max. But you said you had plans right?”

“Yeah.”

“I suggest you push them even further up.”

“Right.” Max’s mind was still reeling and he knew that there would be no sleep for him tonight.

****

Once Liz arrived home she quickly undressed and showered. She wanted to erase the entire day away. After her shower she saw that she had at least ten messages and she could almost guess whom they were from.

Maria and Max.

Instead of listening to them she threw herself on her bed and tried to fall asleep. Unfortunately her phone would not stop ringing, for the past twenty minutes Maria’s number popped up on her caller ID, but Liz didn’t answer. She would call her tomorrow, but maybe she should answer it, she thought.

“Next time it rings I’ll get it,” Liz mumbled to herself in the dark. And not unexpectedly her phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID she answered it, figuring it was Maria.

“Is he there?” Shit! It was Max. She was not ready to talk to him. But decided that he needed payback.

“Yeah he is, did you want to talk to him?”

“Fuck Liz! Are you trying to kill me? I know I was an asshole to you but…” Max trailed off. What could he say? He couldn’t get upset with her sleeping with someone else; they weren’t together so she had every right. That didn’t mean he had to like it.

“But what Max? You can’t stand the thought of me sleeping with someone else? Or the thought of me kissing and sharing myself with someone other than you? Because that’s not good enough, Max. I deserve more than that from you,” Liz whispered out softly. She didn’t want to fight with him.

“I know you do, Liz. But you won’t give me a chance,” his voice faltered and he knew that it was now or never.

“Did you ever think that, maybe I waited for you Max. I was willing to give you another chance, but you never came. That I laid in bed alone for months…years waiting for you to show up at my doorstep?” Liz couldn’t help her voice from cracking. Her tears were falling steadily.

“I…” Max tried to say something but was cut off.

“But you never did. You promised me that you would always love me, always be there for me, but you weren’t. I don’t know how to go back, Max. I don’t know how to let go of the pain.” What could he say? She was right, there was no denying it but was she prepared for everything he had to say to her?

“Liz, I…”

“I have to go, Max.”

“I need to talk to you,” he started.

“Please Max. Not today.” He had no response because the next sound was that of the dial tone. She had hung up. This was going to be so much harder than he thought.

****

The next evening, Liz was still lying in bed. She had ordered take out and watched old movies, the really sappy ones. She figured if she was crying she should have more of a purpose than to cry over Max. She thought she was done with that.

At about seven thirty her phone rang and she figured it was him. It was now or never. They needed to talk and they couldn’t keep up the fighting any longer. She was so tired of fighting with him.

“Hello?"

“Hi, Liz. Is this a good time?” Max started softly. He didn’t want to fight with her, but he needed to talk to her.

“You left me Max,” she whimpered out. He was not prepared for the conversation to get that deep that fast, but he was ready. It was now or never, he thought.

“I know that Liz, but I want to make it up to you. I just need a chance.” Max pleaded with her softly.

“Max, despite the fact that yeah maybe I think you might deserve another chance. My heart won’t let me forget. My mind might but my heart is terrified that you’ll just turn your back and walk away.”

“I won’t Liz not ever again.” Max swore.

“I wish so bad that I could believe you. You don’t know how bad I want to believe you. I just…” she sighed and buried her head in her pillows. She ached for him but how did she just let it all go?

“I let you go once and it nearly killed me. I practiced longer. I went to bed earlier. I did everything I could think of to help the days go by quicker. God Liz, there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about you. There wasn’t a day that I didn’t imagine that we got married and maybe we’d even have a kid. I regret it Liz, but I know in my heart it was the best thing for you,” Max confessed desperately.

“Maybe it was, Max. But my heart doesn’t see it that way,” she continued to try and muffle her cries.

“I know. Baby, please just give me this chance. Let me prove that I love you. That you mean more to me than anything.” He couldn’t loose her.

“Max…” Liz sighed in agony.

“Please,” he pleaded with tears evident in his voice.

“I want forever Liz. I want forever with you.”

“What if I don’t, Max? What if I let go of forever?” Liz’s stubbornness was rearing it’s ugly head and he knew that if he let it get out of control the conversation would be over quick.

“Don’t say that Liz. God please don’t say that. Tell me that you still love me. Tell me that you can let me back in. Tell me that I haven’t lost you…I tried so hard to live without you. I really thought what I was doing was good. I know now it was wrong and I should have given you the choice. But I already knew what or rather whom you would’ve chose.”

“You,” she whispered out.

“Yes. I didn’t want you giving up everything you’d worked for, for me.” Max knew he was getting somewhere with her finally. He knew he had to tell her everything otherwise it wouldn’t work. It would never work without honesty.

“Why? Because you weren’t willing to give up basketball?” Liz bit out sarcastically.

“No, just the opposite. If you’d asked me I would have given it all up. A part of me wished that you did before I went away to training. You didn’t…”

“How could I Max? It was all you ever talked about since as long as I’ve known you. You may have loved me but I wasn’t willing to let you give up your dreams for me.” Liz defended empathetically.

“Exactly. You had dreams Liz. And yeah you would have followed me around and eventually I’m sure we would have gotten married, but deep down I would have always felt like the person that took your future way. The man that was too selfish to let you go to be the person you are today. I’m not saying that I had the ability to see the future or some crazy shit like that, but I know Liz. You wanted to go to school. You wanted to make something of your life. I didn’t want you waking up ten years from then and looking at me and realizing that you wasted your life.” This was it, the truth. It was how he really felt. It was what he’d always feared.

“Max, being with you would never and could never be a waste.” Then it dawned on her.

“Wait! Max, you didn’t honestly think that me being with you was a waste?” she asked not sounding a little hurt.

“God, no! Liz every moment with you was amazing. I would never trade what we had for anything.”

“But you didn’t think that you deserved me?” He was quite. He didn’t answer the question. It was something he always felt. It was his deepest insecurity.

“The day I met you was the best day of my life.” He evaded the question.

“So how did you just walk away?” she asked hurtfully.

“I guess deep down I wanted to make you proud, Liz. I wanted to be successful and I blindly thought that once I was successful. Once I had enough money then I could come for you. I stupidly thought you would be there. I thought that our love would still be there. I knew I was taking a big risk in you not wanting me and forgiving me, but I wanted you to have everything you ever wanted. I could have broken up with you ten different ways, but I needed to make sure that you hated me Liz.”

“Why? We could have worked it out Max. You didn’t even try; you didn’t even…” her tears clogged her words.

“I know. You asked me why I could just walk away. Because I made sure that you would hate me when I left. I knew there wouldn’t be anything to come back to. I thought I was doing what you didn’t have the strength to do. I needed you to let me go and have the great life you’ve obviously lived. It’s all I ever wanted for you.”

“I could have had that Max. I could have had that with you! You didn’t even let me decide! I hated you for that more than anything. Like my feelings never meant anything,” she confessed angrily.

“I know. And I could say I’m sorry until I’m blue in the face, but it won’t take it back. And I wish to God I could, Liz. I would’ve never let you go. I would’ve told the scouts to fuck off and I would've followed you around the world if you asked. I don’t deserve it, but I would love a chance, Liz. I would love the chance to show you how much I love you, how much I missed you and how very sorry I am that I broke your heart.” Max declared, his voice full of the pain he’d been holding in for years. He needed her in his life.

“I don’t know Max…I…” He cut off her words. He wasn’t ready to loose her forever.

“Liz, I’ll fight for you until my last breath. I promise you I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stop playing. I’ll move to Atlanta. I’ll do anything to be with you Liz. I love you more than you’ll ever know, and I thought walking away that day was the hardest thing I’d ever done. But I was wrong.”

“You were?” Liz asked somewhat puzzled by his words.

“Yes. This moment, Liz. This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I am asking you to forgive me and give me another chance. If you don’t I’d understand, but I want you to know that I’ll only ever love you. My heart and soul survive only for you. I want to prove to you that forever doesn’t fade away. Not for us, Liz. Never for us.” He was in complete tears. As was she. They were both silent the only sound was their mutual tears and sniffling. After a few minutes, which felt like a lifetime for Max, she spoke.

“Max?”

”Yes?” he held his breath. Would she give him the chance or would she cut him loose from her life forever?

“I would love it if you would prove to me that forever doesn’t fade away.” That was it, the last wall she had been holding up around her for so long, finally fell. She believed him. And that was huge step for her.

“Liz…God I love you. Thank you.” Max sighed in relief. She was going to give him a chance to love her that way he should have.

“I love you too, Max. I never stopped. No matter how hard I tried. I never could. I wish you were here right now.” She knew things between them would move quickly…too quickly if she didn’t control it. But it felt so good and she needed that in her life.

He was hoping she would say that, “Open the door baby.” Max smiled into the phone.

“Wha—?” The sound of the doorbell could be heard echoing through the apartment. Liz jumped off the bed and ran to the door. She swung open the door and there standing wearing a pair of faded jeans, white t-shirt and sporting very untamed hair was,

“Max!”

“Surprise!” Max reached out his arms and she lunged at him. He held her so close running his hands through her hair. He had only dreamed of the moment he would get to hold her, but even better than that she was holding him just as tight. After a moment they pulled away slightly, foreheads now resting against one another. Liz looked up at him curiously.

“How did you know I would give you a chance?”

He shrugged, “I didn’t. But I decided that if I was going to win you back I needed to get my ass here. And if hung up the phone I would’ve just banged on your door all night.”

“You’re serious aren’t you,” she asked somewhat awed. He came to her. He was going to fight for her. Her heart soared.

“Liz Parker, I’ve never been more serious. I love you.” He breathed out in a whisper and she smiled. Slowly their eyes began to drift downwards until they connected with their lips. Max longed for a kiss from her, he felt like he needed some kind of proof that this wasn’t all a figment of his imagination. Liz yearned to feel his arms wrapped around her again and to feel his soft lips caress hers.

As if drawn by some unknown force, their bodies drifted back together and their lips connected. Gently at first and then it grew more demanding. Max pulled her flush against him and wrapped one arm around her slim waist. The other cupped the back of her head and drew her in deep. He tasted the sweetness that was Liz. His Liz. He wouldn’t let her down this time. This time around Max Evans was here to stay.

As he kissed her she felt his relief, fear and more importantly, love. He really did love her. He never stopped. Her heart was opening up once again. And for the first time in six long years, Liz Parker started to believe that she would have her happy ending after all.

TBC…

*looks around* Hey guys? Remember me?? I'm finally back with a new part!!! I hope you guys like it. Tanya has read it, she likes it, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume ya'll will too. *lol*

Just so you know, Tanya will be back this Saturday with her update.

One final note: Special thank you to Raychel! This chapter is dedicated to her, not only for her help with the poster board, but for saving my life! And, the life of Herbie. Poor guy was about to get his ass beat, and she was there. We are eternally indebted to her. Love you, Raych! *lol*

Chapter Fifteen

Liz hung up her work phone, sighing as she reached across the desk for the fabric samples she was in the middle of fiddling with when the phone rang. For the better part of the morning, Liz had been working on a rough sketch of the livingroom she envisioned for her latest client. She would have been done hours ago, if her phone hadn’t kept ringing. It seemed that suddenly, everyone wanted to talk to her.

She picked up her stapler, stapling the fabric samples to the corner of the piece of poster board she was using.

Liz groaned as the phone began ringing again. She squelched the urge to pick the phone up off her desk and hurl it across the room. She was never going to get any work done.

“Castle Interior Designs, Liz speaking.” Liz professionally announced into the phone.

“Hey girlfriend.” Maria replied. “How’s everything going?”

Liz almost groaned again when she heard Maria on the other end of the line. Liz had been avoiding calls from anyone from Roswell since Max had shown up on her doorstep two weeks ago. She was so happy that her and Max were back together, half of the time she felt like calling every single person she had ever come into contact with to tell them the great news. The other half of the time, she wanted to keep everything that was going on between her and Max a secret, too scared that letting the outside world know about it would somehow ruin it. The latter had won out, and everyone from back home was practically itching to talk to either Max or Liz, desperate to know what was going on.

“Hey Maria,” Liz started. “I can’t really talk right now, ok? I’m in the middle of putting together something for a client, and my phone has been ringing all day, and I haven’t gotten anything done. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to call you back.”

Maria laughed into the phone. “Yeah, I’m not hanging up until you talk to me.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do if I hang up on you?” She asked.

“I’ll keep calling until you finally talk to me.” Maria replied. “Now, just put down whatever it is that you were working on and give me five minutes. After I know what I need to know, I’ll let you get back to work.”
“You don’t NEED to know anything, Maria.” Liz couldn’t help laughing. “You’re just nosey and you want to know.”

Maria gasped. “I am not nosey!” She declared.

“Yes, you are!” Liz heard Michael yell in the background.

“Shut up, mind your business.” Maria threw back, tossing a pillow at Michael, who was wandering through the livingroom. “Pay no mind to him, he’s PMSing.” Maria said into the phone.

“Don’t castrate the man for speaking the truth.” Liz smiled at two of them.

“I would never do that!” Maria shook her head. “Not only is he pretty fond of that particular piece of his anatomy, but I am too.”

Liz grimaced. “Over share of information, Thank you.”

“Sorry.” Maria shrugged, not really sounding too sincere. “Now, down to business. What the hell is going on with you and Max? All any of us know is that he’s there.”

Liz finally set aside her poster board, sighing. She was never going to get Maria off the phone until she started talking, so she might as well just get it over with. She leaned back in her chair, cradling the phone between her ear and her shoulder. “And how do you know that?” Liz asked.

“Few reasons. One being that Max isn’t at home. Michael and Isabel have been calling his house for, like, two weeks, and he’s never there. Another reason being that you’ve been avoiding phone calls from all of us for about the same amount of time. However, the main reason we know that is because his housekeeper answered the phone one time when Michael called over there, and she told Michael that Max had her that he was going to Atlanta, and wasn’t sure when he would be back.” Maria rambled. “So, as soon as she said Atlanta, we knew that he’d finally grown a pair and gone after you.”

“Poetic, Ria. Really, you should get a job with Hallmark.” Liz replied.

“Seriously, Liz. Why won’t you talk to me about this?” Maria whined. “I’m your best friend since forever! You have to tell me things like this! To keep things from me is to break a major rule! That rule being... never keep things from your best friend!”

“Fine, ok!” Liz relented. “I’ll tell you”

“Good.” Maria plopped down onto her couch, setting her feet up on the coffee table. “Spill.”

“It’s really not all that exciting. He called me one night, he wanted to talk to me, I tried talking to him, but it didn’t get us anywhere. I only managed to get myself all worked up to the point where I couldn’t talk to him anymore, so I told him I had to go and I hung up.” Liz explained. “So, the next night, he calls again, asks if it’s a good time to talk. So we start talking, somewhere in there I finally decide that I’ll give it another chance, and that I’ll let him back into my life. Next thing I know, he’s telling me to open up the door, and he’s standing on my doorstep. I, of course, threw myself into his arms and asked him what the hell he was doing there and how he knew I’d even give him another chance.”

“What’d he say?” Maria immediately asked, on the edge of her seat as the story went on.

“He said that he didn’t, but he was going to have to be in the same state as me to win me back.” Liz couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “He also said that if I would have hung up on him, he would have banged on my door all night until I talked to him.”

“Aww!” Maria crooned into the phone. “That’s so sweet!”

“I know!” Liz excitedly replied. “Of course, then he kissed me.”

“Do what?!” Maria shrieked. “Details!”

“What can I say?” Liz asked. “He just kissed me, and it was amazing.”

“Of course it was. All you need to do is look at the man to know that anything sexual with him would be freakin mind-blowing.” Maria announced.

“I can hear you talking about my best friend like that!” Michael yelled.

Liz burst out laughing, as Maria blushed. “Baby, you know you’re the only one I want! Don’t get all jealous! If you’re good, Mama’ll come show you how much I want you when I get off the phone!”

“Maria!” Liz started blushing. “God!”

“Sorry!” Maria sighed. “God, a woman can’t say anything right today!”

“That’s because you’re saying all the wrong things.” Liz told her, unable to stop from laughing.

“Yeah, well.” Maria grumbled, then shook her head. “So you guys are back together?”

“Yes, we’re back together.” Liz confirmed.

“What are you guys gonna do?”

Liz’s eyebrows drew together. “Uhm... be boyfriend and girlfriend. What kind of question is that?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean that... he lives in Boston, Liz. He’ll eventually finish his physical therepy, and for all we know, he’ll go back to being a super star Boston Celtics guy. You live in Atlanta.” Maria told her. “What happens if he decides to start playing again? Or, even if he doesn’t... are you going to move to Boston? Is he going to move to Atlanta?”

“We, uhm...” Liz cleared her throat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

After a moment of pause, Maria spoke up again. “You haven’t talked about it yet, have you?” She asked.

“No.” Liz finally answered.

“Well, if he wanted to move to Boston, would you go with him?” Maria asked, trying to get a feel for exactly how deep Liz already was.

Liz didn’t hesitate in her answer. “Of course.”

“You’re head over heels again, aren’t you?”

“Of course.” Liz repeated, giggling a little. “I never stopped being in love with him, Maria. I tried not to be, but I couldn’t stop. I can’t stop. I’ll never be able to. I love Max with all my heart and there’ll never be another person in the world for me.”

“I think you’re the one who needs to get a job at Hallmark.” Maria laughed slightly. “All that love is making you all cutesy and shit.”

“Yeah, well.” Liz smiled, straightening out a paper clip, for lack of something better to do with her hands. “I can’t help it.”

“I know you can’t.” Maria said. She paused for a minute before she finally spoke again. “I’m so happy for you, Lizzie.”

“Thank you, Maria. I’m happy for me too.”

Liz noticed that the usually loud conversations in her office slowly, but surely got quieter and quieter. After a few seconds, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop. Liz glanced up from her lap, where she was playing with the paperclip. A huge smile spread across her face as she watched Max stride across the room, straight for her.

“Hey, Maria. I’m gonna let you go, ok? Max is walking in right now.” Liz told her.

“Ok, fine. I’ll let you get to lover boy. Call me later tonight, ok?”

“I will.” Liz promised, sitting up straighter in her seat.

“And tell Max to call Isabel, she’s been freaking out.” Maria continued with her instructions.

“I will, Maria.” Liz told her.

“Ok, Love you.” Maria said.

“Love you, too. Bye.” Liz said quickly, then hung up the phone just as Max walked around her desk.

He bent down, giving her a quick kiss before he leaned his elbows onto her desk. “I hope you were talking to one of your parents, and not telling some other guy that you love him.” Max smiled at her.

Liz laughed slightly, tossing the remains of her paperclip in a nearby garbage can. “Actually, that was my other boyfriend. He was very upset that I was hanging up with him to hang out with you.” Liz teased. “I tried telling him ‘Hey, look, man. We said we weren’t going to get attached.’ but does he ever listen? No.”

“Shouldn’t you be standing up when you tell jokes like that?” Max teased back.

“How do you know I’m joking?” Liz raised an eyebrow at him.

“Please, baby. I look too damn good. No one could match this.” He stood up all the way, doing a little a turn for her.

She laughed at his act, glancing around her office at all the other girls, who were drooling all their desks. “You’re distracting my co-workers, stop that.” Liz reprimanded him.

“See? I told you I look good.” Max winked at her.

“Yeah, yeah.” Liz rolled her eyes at him. “What’re you doing here?”

“I came to take you to lunch.” He explained, already grabbing her purse from under her desk and plopping it into her lap. “Let’s go.” He held out his hand to her.

She took it, allowing him to pull her up from her chair. Just as he was about to start walking away, she gave his arm a tug. “Where are your crutches?” She pulled her hand out of his, crossing her arms over her chest. “You know what the doctor said. Yes, you’re much, MUCH better now, but you still have to take it easy, and not do too much too soon. Knowing you, you didn’t even bring them with you. They’re probably still in my apartment, aren’t they?”

Max nervously scratched behind his ear. After a moment, he let his eyes slide slowly down her body, before slowly sliding back up, stopping on a few certain areas to allow for a longer look. When his eyes finally met hers again, he gave her a little smirk, knowing that she thought that was sexy. “You look so hot today.” He practically growled at her.
Liz felt her stomach flutter at the way he was looking at her, and at his words. She hated that he knew exactly what to do to get out of trouble. “Thank you.” She finally replied. “You’re not totally off the hook though, mister.”

Max reached back out, grabbing onto her hand and pulling her with him as he began making his way out of her office. He leaned in close, to whisper in her ear. “You can punish me later, then.”

<center>****</center>

“I just don’t get it.” Max threw his hands up in there air, causing Liz to groan from the other side of the table.

“Why are you still talking about this?” Liz asked. “You’ve been obsessing about this all lunch. It started when the waitress took our drink order, and now, as you’re waiting for her to bring you back change from the bill you paid, you’re still going. What’s not to get, Max? It’s sweet tea! Its tea, with sugar in it. It’s not that deep.” Liz tried to explain.

“Yeah, but why?” Max went on. “We don’t have that in Boston.”

“It’s a Southern thing.” Liz shrugged. “You Yankees just don’t know anything.”

Max couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “Did you really just call me a Yankee?”

Liz dropped her chin down to her chest, trying to keep from laughing at herself. Finally, she looked back up at him, as he continued laughing at her. “Shut up.” Was the only retort she had.

“We really need to get you out of the South.” Max shook his head. He took his change back from the waitress when she walked over, oblivious to the fact that she was practically drooling on his shoes.

“Speaking of that...” Liz started. “Are we?”

Max’s eyebrows drew together as he regarded her with a confused expression. “I’m sorry, but I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about.”

“You said I needed to get out of the South. I was just wondering if you were planning on taking me back to Boston with you when you left.” Liz said.

“Whoa, back up. Who the hell said I was going back to Boston?” Max asked.

“Y-you’re not going back?”

“I hadn’t planned on it.” Max admitted, crossing his arms on top of the table. “Unless you want me to go.”

“No!” Liz shouted, then calmed herself down. “That’s not what I’m saying at all.”

“Then what are you trying to say, baby? Cause I’m really not following all that well.” He said.

“When you walked into the office today, I was on the phone, right?” Max nodded his head, picking up his glass of sweet tea, and taking a drink. “I was finally talking to Maria, you’re supposed to call Isabel, by the way.” She finally remembered to tell him. “So, she asked me what we were going to do. Ya know, you live in Boston, I live here. I told her I didn’t know... but I want to know.”

“Well, what do you want to do?” Max asked. “Do you want to stay down here? Or do you want to move to Boston with me?”

“What about basketball?” Liz brought up. “Are you going back to play again?”

“I talked to Coach Rivers a few days ago.” Max admitted. “He says that he wants me back on the team as soon as I think I’m ready, and as soon as all the doctors on this side of the Mississippi River say that it’s ok.”

“So, you’re going back to basketball?” Liz hedged, unable to keep the apprehension out of her voice.

“No.” Max shook his head.

“No?” Liz’s eyebrows shot up. “You’re not going back to basketball?” Max simply shook his head again. “Why?” Liz couldn’t stop herself from asking.

“Basketball is up there. You’re down here. Despite the way I made it look the first time around, basketball isn’t that important, Liz.” He told her.

“You love basketball, Max. I’ve known you for too long for you to try to convince me any differently.” She said.

“Not important enough for me to leave you ever again. I’m sorry, Liz, but you’re not getting rid of me. You’re stuck with me.” He smiled at her. “I’ve made up my mind, and I’m staying here with you. Where I should have been this entire time.”

“You really mean that?” Liz asked, hopefully.

“More than I’ve ever meant anything in my entire life.” He reassured her.

“Good.” She whispered, smiling at him. “So, ok. That’s one major problem solved.”

“We have another major problem?” He asked. “You gotta tell me shit like this, Liz.”

She laughed a little. “Ok, I take it back. Its not a MAJOR problem, or... really a problem at all. Just something we need to figure out.” She explained.

“And that would be...?” Max trailed off.

“Well, One: What are you going to do with your house?”

“Sell it.” He shrugged. “Next question.”

“What are you going to do with all your stuff?” She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm.

“Have it all shipped down here.” He stated. “Anything else?”

“Yeah.” Liz nodded. “You’re having all your stuff sent down here... and I already have all my stuff here. We both have A LOT of stuff. There’s no way in hell even half of it is going to fit in my apartment. Not if we both want to be able to fit in there too.” She went on.

Max just smiled at her before he stood up. “Let’s go.”

“Whoa, wait. Are we done with that conversation? Did it just end? What just happened?” Liz asked, totally confused.

“Just come with me.” He said, grabbing her hand and pulling her up out of her chair.

He walked outside with her, insisting that he drive her to where ever it was that he was taking her. He refused to tell her, insisting that she’d know soon enough anyway.

After a few minutes, Liz finally caved in, tossing him the keys to her car. She slid into the passenger seat as he took his place behind the wheel. He started the car and soon enough, they were driving off.

Liz said nothing as they drove, trying her best to just let him have his secret, and not ask a million questions. She did nothing but get more and more confused as they drove into Buckhead, the ‘wealthy’ part of Atlanta.

Instead of asking questions, she settled for looking at the windows as they drove further and further into a neighborhood. It never ceased to amaze her the preposterous size of some of the houses over in Buckhead.

“Close your eyes.” Max said, speaking so suddenly, and out of the blue that she nearly jumped.

“Excuse me?” Liz glanced over at him.

“Close your eyes.” Max urged. “C’mon, it’s a surprise! You have to close your eyes, it’s a rule or something, somewhere... I’m sure.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “What is it with people and rules today?” She muttered, but finally went ahead and complied with Max’s demand.

After a minute or two, she felt the car slow down before it finally came to a complete stop. “Don’t look yet.” Max said.

“I won’t.” She replied with a sigh.

She heard his door open and close, and a few seconds later, her door opened. “Gimme your hand.” Max requested. She held out her hand to him as he helped her out of the car, and walked her a few feet. “Ok, you ready?”

“Max, just let me open my eyes.” She whined.

“Ok, open them.” He finally told her.

She opened her eyes, giving them time to adjust to the bright Georgia sun as she took in what she was looking at. Her confusion only grew. “What is that?” She asked, pointing at what Max had brought them to.

“What do you think it is?” He asked, enjoying this little game far too much.

“It looks like the frame of a house.” She said, looking at it. “Is that what it is?”

“Well, yeah.” Max nodded. “But, its not just the frame to any old house.” A big smile spread across his face as he looked down at her. “It’s the frame of our new house.”

Liz’s mouth dropped open, her hands quickly coming up to cover it. She glanced from Max, to the house, then back to Max again. “Our house?” She repeated. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m having it built for us.” He told her. “Everyday, when you go to work, I go talk to contractors, and construction workers.” He admitted. “I’m having it built, and then I want you to decorate it for us.”

Liz was unable to stop the tears that welled up in her eyes. “You really are staying here with me, aren’t you?” She whispered, fearful that if she tried to speak at a normal volume, her voice would crack.

“Yeah, I really am.”

Max was caught slightly off guard when she suddenly launched herself into his arms. He staggered back a few steps before he regained his composure and his footing. He wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him as he breathed in the sweet scent of her hair. He dropped a kiss on her temple before he pulled back to look at her. “Are you ok with all this?” He finally asked.

Liz nodded enthusiastically. She looked back at the frame of the house again. “I can’t believe we have a house... and I get to decorate it.”

Max laughed, amused that she seemed more excited about being able to decorate a house for herself, then she was about anything else. “Yup. You’re going to decorate it, then we’re going to live in it, and its going to be one of those ‘happily ever after’ deals. Ok?”

Liz smiled up at him, pressing her lips firmly against his before pulling back and resting her head against his chest.

He felt her nod against his chest as they both looked back at the house. “Ok.”

TBC...

A/N - Okay guys I'm back with a new part, by the way it's long as hell (lol). Sarah has looked it over and gave me the okay I spent the greater part of today working on this...so with that said, hope you enjoy. And we both want to thank each of you for your always entertaining feedback...


Chapter 16

“How could you not tell me? I thought I was important to you and now I see that I don’t mean shit! Seriously, Max what were you thinking?” Max wanted to bang his head against the nearest wall in Liz’s apartment.

“I know, I should have told you. It just all happened so fast and I got caught up in the moment,” he tried to reason but he should’ve known better.

“Moment? Max, it was more than a moment don’t you think? This is a life altering decision and you don’t think to tell me? Hell, at this point a message on my cell phone would have been better than what I got!” The sound of her voice screeching was enough for Max to want to fling his cell phone out…

“Are you even listening to me?!” Max took a seat near the window and rested his head against the cool glass.

“Yes, Isabel. I hear you. And I said I was sorry,” he grumbled out. He was having such a good day and then his sister called. He forgot to call her and he was going to pay for it.

“I don’t want to hear it. All I ask is that before you get married send me an invitation,” Isabel quipped coolly.

“Isabel, come on. I’ve now told you everything that happened between Liz and I so can you just forgive me?” Max gave her the best pleading voice he could muster. Considering at that point he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face with a stick of dynamite.

“Fine, but just remember if Maria and I hadn’t put our two cents into this you may not have gotten as far as you did so fast.” Isabel made sure that her brother knew that even though at times she knew her and Maria should not have interfered, they did get the ball rolling.

“Two cents? I would say that was at least a whole dollars worth,” Max joked and knew that his sister was happy for him nevertheless.

“Max, I just want to tell you how proud I am of you. I knew you weren’t a total asshole.”

“Wow! Was that supposed to be a compliment?” Max teased her.

“Shut up. Now where is Liz? I want to talk to her.”

“She’s getting ready. We’re leaving for the airport in ten minutes.”

“Airport? Did I miss something?” Max sighed heavily because he knew that he’d left something out of the conversation up until now.

“We’re heading to Boston. I’m going to get all my affairs in order and then Liz and I are heading back here.” He rushed out hoping that Liz would get out of the bathroom already so they could leave and he’d have an excuse to hang up the phone.

“I’m really happy for you, Max,” Isabel started and Max thought that he was off the hook.

“Tha—”

“But I’m still pissed! Call me when you get to Boston, if you still remember who I am by then.” The sound of the dial tone signified that, that was the end of the conversation.

“Liz! Seriously, what the hell are you doing in there?” Max placed his phone on the table and walked across the apartment in search of Liz.

“I’ll be right out! Stop rushing me!” she yelled through the closed door. She was nervous. In fact, she felt faint. It’s not like her and Max hadn’t been sleeping together over the past two weeks, but now it seemed like their relationship had progressed to the next level. She wasn’t sure if she was ready, or if he was even. Was he expecting it? Or was she just reading into her own feelings too much?

They hadn’t approached the subject of sex yet. Would they when they returned to Boston? Liz stood staring at herself in the mirror. She had taken longer than she’d ever to get ready this morning. Yes, Max had seen her rolling out of bed, hair a mess. And he’d seen her dressed for work and looking neat and sharp. Which is why she couldn’t figure out why it took her so long today. Finally, though she decided on a pair of hip hugger blue jeans and a black v-neck tank top. She figured she’d need to be comfortable but still look pretty. Liz sighed in defeat, what was she thinking? This was Max he loved her right?

“Liz, baby seriously. We’re gonna miss the flight. Now get your sexy ass out here so we can leave,” Max teased.

Liz couldn’t help the smile that formed on her lips. She loved him so much and was so happy to have him back in her life. She turned, flung open the door and jumped into his arms. When she opened the door, he saw the look of pure happiness across her face and Max was ready to catch her.

He stood their holding her for a few seconds, and he couldn’t help how his heart raced just being near her. It felt how it did so long ago. Max closed his eyes in that instant and thanked God for her. Slowly, determinately their lips sought out each other’s. Max reached one arm up her back to cup the back of her head as his tongue caressed every part of her warm mouth.

It didn’t matter how many times he’d been able to kiss her up until this point, each time for him was like the first time. He memorized it…her. Everything he lived and breathed was Liz.

Liz couldn’t help moaning softly as Max began to devour her mouth. It was as if he was making love to her with his mouth. She ran her fingers through his thick hair and reveled in the feel of being in his arms again. There was no other place she’d rather be at that moment, or any moment for that matter.

They pulled away panting for air minutes later. “I love you, Liz,” Max said and kissed the tip of her nose softly while helping her down to her feet. Liz smiled brightly and then leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips, “I love you, too.”

A few minutes later, with bags in hand they were on their way to Boston.

****

“Max! Good you see you, man.” Drew arrived at the airport to pick up Max and Liz. He had insisted that he do it, because he wanted to greet the happy couple.

“You too, man.”

“Oh and there is my favorite girl,” Drew announced as he lifted Liz in his arms and gave her a kiss on the cheek before planting her back onto her feet.

“Really? And what would Alex have to say about that?” Liz joked with him. She loved being around Drew, he was just so full of energy and always had a come back for everything.

“Please, she knows she’s my girl, but you my dear are my side dish,” he winked and watched as his best friend practically swooped Liz off her feet.

“Stop trying to be a cock blocker,” Max retorted jokingly as he pulled Liz to his side and they exited the airport.

“Cock blocker?” Liz was confused, what did he mean by that?

“Liz, it’s just a long standing joke. We try and get each other riled up enough and then…”

“Hey! Don’t be jealous cause I’m better looking than you,” Drew jogged up behind them and Liz couldn’t help but giggle at their childish banter.

“Dude, you wish you looked better than me! Shit, tell him Liz.” Max crossed his arms and looked down at her. Liz tried to act as serious as possible, but was failing. She was standing between two very tall, very built men but her heart only belonged to one of them. Now, she couldn’t deny how good-looking Drew was, with his green eyes and sandy brown hair, but Max was perfect. With his almost amber colored eyes, perfect lips, chiseled body, a voice that was a smooth silk and a look that would melt her heart on the spot.

“Sorry, Drew but Max is my kind of man,” Liz smiled sweetly at Drew as Max pulled her into his arms and kissed her hard.

“That’s my girl,” Max smiled into her lips.

“Traitor,” Drew mumbled out before reaching opening the trunk of the car.

“I hope I didn’t rough up your ego too much,” Liz quipped lightly once they were inside the car.

“Please! Me?” Drew just laughed it off.

“Max, I hope you have food in your house, cause I’m starving,” Drew called out over the song playing on the radio.

“I probably don’t. Besides, I can’t remember the last time I even bought food,” Max muddled over his words. It was true. He didn’t go to the grocery store. His maid did, so how the hell should he know. He wondered if Liz would want a maid and a cook? Or would she want to do it for them? Either way he couldn’t care less, he just wanted her to be happy.

“Max, you are going to have to start learning to grocery shop, and wash clothes and,”

“Whoa! Wait a minute, why the hell do I need to learn?” Max spun around in his seat to face Liz.

“Well I hope you don’t think I’m doing it all. Cause if you do, then you’ve got one hell of a wake up call coming to you,” Liz shook her head and crossed her arms over her chest. Surely he didn’t think she was going to be busting her ass doing everything?

“Baby, that’s why I hire people to do things like that,” Max answered nonchalantly.

“Hire people? Max I don’t want a bunch of strangers in our house. I’ll teach you, surely you haven’t forgotten how to cook have you?” Liz asked and saw the smirk on Drew’s face in the rear-view mirror. Obviously, he did.

“Liz, I just didn’t have time. But now that I won’t be playing then…” Max’s words were halted when Drew’s car came to a screeching halt.

“Jesus! I love Max but I don’t want to share the front seat with him and the windshield!” Liz screeched out nervously.

“Sorry…I’m sorry. I didn’t…”

“Fuck Drew! Liz, are you okay?” Max turned in his seat to check on her.

“I’m fine…it’s okay. But what’s wrong?” They both turned worried eyes to Drew, who was completely silent and completely still.

“W-what did you just say?” Drew asked trying to regain control of himself. He must have heard wrong.

“Who?” They both asked simultaneously.

Drew turned his head slowly looking at his best friend, trying to search his face for the truth. It couldn’t be true.

“I said that, I’ll have time to learn to cook since I won’t be playing,” Max finally realized why Drew was reacting the way he was. He hadn’t told him of his plans yet.

“I’m sorry, man. I should have told you,” Max started apologetically. Liz however, just sat and watched from the backseat both of their reactions.

“So, you’re going to quit? Give it all up?” Drew asked confusingly. Max simply shrugged and said, “I don’t look at it as giving up. All I ever wanted was to be with Liz, and now that I am, everything else seems so superficial. It’s what I want and I hope you’re happy for me,” Max finished flatly. Yes, he did still love the game, but not more than Liz. He would never make the same mistake twice.

“But…we’re going to the championships this year,” Drew started but Max cut him off.

“You don’t know that for sure and…”

“Bullshit! We worked our asses off and you know we are in. I just, I didn’t think you would leave.” Drew wasn’t an emotional type of guy, but Max was the heart of the team and losing him was going to be devastating.

Liz watched closely the emotions that crossed both men’s faces. She knew that what she had been thinking about last night was the best decision for everyone involved. Now she just needed to get Max to see it her way.

****

“God woman! Please decide! My stomach feels like it’s eating itself!” Drew dropped to his knees in front of Liz on the couch. Liz couldn’t help but giggle and roll her eyes, he was just so dramatic.

All the guys started laughing hard at Drew and his drama routine. Max was used to Liz taking time to order anything, she could just never make up her mind. Most of the team had stopped by as soon as they heard Max was back in town.

She just couldn’t decide what to eat. Did she want Italian, Mexican, Chinese…hmm they were all excellent choices but…

“Liz! Seriously, I’m a grown man but I will cry soon,” Drew rested his hands on her shoulders shaking her from her thoughts.

“Back off! I’m trying to decide. I feel all this pressure and I think I might make a choice based on impulse rather than what I really feel like having.” Liz tried to explain and the only person in the room that understood her was Max. He knew the guys were all hungry and things could get ugly pretty soon if he didn’t step in.

“Liz, baby how about a big juicy bacon cheeseburger, fries and a strawberry milkshake?” Max instantly saw Liz’s eyes light up.

“Yes! That is exactly what I want!” Liz jumped to her feet.

“Thank fucking God!” Drew answered and began ushering everyone out of the room.

“Jesus, Evans. Does your girl always think about every decision like that before giving an answer?” Jake asked coming to stand beside Max.

“Yeah she does, but that’s what’s so great about her,” Max smiled but it fell from his face as he heard a chorus of, “whipped” from the guys.

“Shut the fuck up! Either that or you starve,” Max passed them all and stepped out into his garage.

“So, what are we taking?”

“We?” Max looked at the guys and gave them a yeah-right look.

“I love you guys, but not that much. Take your own cars. Liz, come on I need you to drive for me.” Liz just laughed. They were all so crazy but she loved it. It was so much different than she was used to.

“Hey! What about me? You just gonna dog me like that?” Drew asked trying to act like he was broken up about it, but in reality could care less.

“Get in the car asshole!” Max barked out as he slipped behind the passenger seat of his convertible.

“Max, be nice!” Liz reprimanded him.

“See, told you she has the hots for me,” Drew started but was stopped by the fist Max landed on his shoulder from the front seat.

“Ow! Damn Max! You ain’t gotta be so rough. I’m a sensitive guy and I…”

“Shut up!” Both Liz and Max said and watched as Drew jumped into the back seat without another word, except.

“Tough crowd.”

****

Lunch was extremely eventful, as Liz suspected. She had a chance to really see Max look relaxed and having a great time. They guys were all sweethearts and she found it surprising that most of them were married with families. A small part of her was jealous. But when she looked at Max and he smiled at her, she knew everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

Most of the guys headed home after lunch and now just, Drew, Jake and Brian remained. Liz decided she wanted a quick shower, besides it seemed like the guys wanted to talk to Max in private. Liz knew she had to talk to Max before the night was over.

****

“Is it true?” Brian asked as he took a seat at the bar in Max’s game room. Max already knew what he was referring too. In a way he felt like he was letting them down, but his choice was made.

“Yeah, it is. As soon as this season is over, so am I.” Max didn’t want to deny that leaving the world of basketball behind wasn’t going to be hard. But he was looking forward to living with Liz and maybe starting a family with her; he would give up his next breath of air for that.

“Ah shit! Don’t look like I ran over your puppy or something, you guys will be great without me.” Max tried to lift their sprits. Damn, it shouldn’t be this hard, he thought.

“That’s right! Besides, maybe it won’t be forever right, Max?” Drew asked hopeful.

“There is always a chance you’ll make your comeback,” he continued trying to get his brain to register that Max was not going to be apart of the team.

“Yeah…maybe…” Max trailed off. He wouldn’t say it aloud. They guys were already distraught over the fact that he was not returning next year.

****
Liz happened to walk into the conversation at that moment. She had of course heard the entire thing from outside the door, but thought better of walking in.

“Hey Liz!” Max cleared his throat and welcomed her with open arms.

“Please, no PDA’s. I haven’t seen Alex all day,” Drew finished rolling his eyes heavenward.

“Fuck off!” Max tossed over his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around Liz and kissed her lips roughly.

“I missed you,” Max whispered out into her ear.

“You did?” Liz asked surprisingly.

“Yeah, I want to take you out tonight,” Max finished pulling away slowly. Liz just nodded and smiled brightly at him.

“Liz, you better make sure he keeps in shape. We don’t want an out of shape captain,” Jake tossed out to break the awkwardness of Max and Liz. The room seemed to heat up when they were together.

“Oh, you bet your ass he’s gonna keep in shape,” Liz winked and smiled seductively at Max. Was it getting hot in the room, or was it just him?

“Liz!”

All the guys whistle and Max just growls. Was she trying to turn him on? Cause it was working, but that didn’t mean he wanted to lose control in front of the guys.

“What? I can't have that sexy body of yours going to waste. I have to make sure you work out daily.” She winks and saunters out of the room.

“Damn Max, you are one lucky guy!” Jake assessed quickly.

“Don't I know it? Now if you keep looking at my girlfriend like that you are gonna wish you hadn't,” Max warned them.

“Got it. Well Max we’re out. We’ll catch up before you leave right?” Brian asked.

“Of course!”

Max saw both Brian and Jake out before returning to the game room, where he just knew
Drew was waiting to talk to him in private.

“Hey, don’t you need to go see Alex or something,” Max joked lightly seeing the seriousness on Drew’s face. Max crossed the room and took a seat on one of the recliners.

“Max, I think this is the happiest I’ve ever seen you and I want you to know that I’m really happy for you and Liz. But…”

“You don’t think I should quit?” Max finished the sentence.

“No, I don’t. But I can understand why you would. Just think about it,” Drew started but Max was quick to rebut him.

“I have and maybe later on I’ll come back, but right now my priority is Liz and her feelings. I’ll do whatever she wants me to do.” Max was dead serious and Drew could see it in his eyes.

“Have you talked about it?” Drew asked.

“Yeah, she’s tried but we’re just starting out again. I don’t want to bring that down on her. I don’t want her to decide. It’s the reason why I left her before and…”

“Who said she had to choose?” Drew questioned and it made both Max and Liz, who had been eavesdropping on the entire conversation, really think about that question.

****

“There you are,” Max wrapped his arms around her from behind.

“Here I am,” Liz turned and tilted her head up to brush as kiss across his lips.

““I’m happy, Liz. Really and truly happy,” Max smiled and held her against him tighter.

“Me too, Max.”

“Now, let’s get some packing done before dinner,” Liz brushed passed him. And he felt faint. She was trying to kill him slowly, of that he was convinced. How could she not be? She was wearing a short denim skirt and tank top and she smelt incredible. It was too much for him, he’d been sleeping next to her every night for two weeks and he thought he’d explode soon.

He wondered when she’d be ready for him to make love to her.

****

“Max come on and be serious!” Liz scolded as Max laid on the bed over the clothes she was preparing to pack for him.

“I can’t! You’re wearing that skirt and you keep bending over. How the hell can I be serious?!” He did have a good point, but Liz was not giving in.

“Max, it’s not like you haven’t seen that before,” Liz rolled her eyes and began rummaging through his closet.

“True, but it’s been a long time, Liz. A really long time, like years and years and…” Max sighed dramatically and then laughed when he saw her whip her head around at him.

“That’s not what I meant, Max. I meant that you’ve seen girls naked before and,” Liz started but Max sat up on the bed. He knew this conversation would come up soon enough.

“And?” Max queried lightly. Liz just blushed, she didn’t want to talk about his other ‘women’ but now that the subject was brought up, she wondered…

“And,” she drawled, “You aren’t hard up. That’s all I’m saying.” Liz was in full-embarrassed mode. So much so that she got down on her knees in his closet and began counting his sneakers.

“Do you really need this many sneakers? I mean seriously, is it possible for you to…”

“Liz?”

“Yeah?” Liz asked hesitantly.

“Come here,” Max called out for her and saw her shoulders sag, before she stood up.

“I’m here.” Liz said standing at the foot of the bed, that’s when she noticed that he cleared off the bed completely.

“No, here,” Max patted the side of the bed next to him, and watched as she crawled over next to him.

“What?” she asked softly.

“I have to tell you something,” he started and watched as she tensed up. She wasn’t ready to hear the number he was sure to give her. She swallowed thickly before nodding.

“I’m not going to say that I was completely innocent while we were apart, but I want you to know that I never slept with anyone other than you.” Liz was sulking, how could she think he would have…wait? Did he say what she thought he said? Liz turned her hopeful eyes towards him.

“Really?” Max just nodded, he hoped she wasn’t too upset with him.

“Max, look at me.” Liz tilted his chin towards her. His unsure eyes met her tearful ones.

“I waited for you, too.” Liz smiled and slowly crawled into his lap. She rested her forehead against his and he quickly wrapped his arms around her.

“Why did you wait?” she asked softly.

Max looked into her eyes and told her the truth. “I hoped that we’d have this moment and I didn’t want to let you down again. You are the only one I’ve ever loved…the only one I’ll ever love.” Max leaned in and drew her in for a long, deep kiss.

He ran his hands up under her shirt and came into contact with her warm, soft skin. Their tongues dueling and their bodies heating up as the moments passed. He wanted to be with her, but he would never rush her.

She wanted to be with him, but was terrified that she wouldn’t live up to the expectation. Then she thought, they were both obviously out of practice and that meant they would get to explore one another’s bodies for the first time in years. She would get to touch him the way no one else had. They would be together with no limitations, and she couldn’t wait.

“Max,” Liz moaned out as Max slid his hands up her legs and under her skirt, caressing her soft skin.

“Liz…God, I want you so bad…but I don’t want you to do something you’re not ready for,” Max panted out as Liz began to nip and suck on his neck. It was all too much. His senses were on overload. Her perfect body grinding against his growing erection was enough to make him loose it at that very moment.

“Max…I want you too, please.” That was all it took, he lifted her shirt over her head and removed her silky white bra before tossing it to the floor. He took a moment to take in her appearance, “You’re so beautiful, I almost forgot,” he whispered in awe before leaning his head down and taking one of her pert nipples into his mouth. Liz arched her back at the first touch of Max’s warm breath on her sensitive skin. She reached her hand around and cupped the back of his head, bringing him that much closer to her.

Max couldn’t get enough of her, she tasted amazing and he didn’t realize how much he’d missed being with her. He gently slipped her from his lap and removed her skirt. His eyes wandered up her body; from her ten perfect little toes, up her long trim legs, over the flat expanse of her stomach, up over the roundness of her breasts and landed on her swollen lips. God, she was amazing, he thought.

Liz couldn’t help but squirm a little under his intense gaze. He was undoing her with every look, every swipe of his pink tongue across his smooth flawless lips. She couldn’t wait any longer.

“Max, please…” she begged breathlessly. At her pleading words, Max stood and removed his clothing and then crawled into bed next to her. Liz couldn’t help but gasp slightly at the view of him fully exposed to her for the very first time in six years.

“I forgot,” Liz blushed when Max titled her chin up from his body to his eyes. He just smiled at her and then things became serious once again.

“I love you, Liz. I’ve waited for this moment for a long time,” Max breathed out and kissed her lips softly as he hooked his fingers in her panties. Liz raised her hips gently and allowed him to slip them down her trim legs.

He settled above her, kissing every piece of exposed skin he could reach. Max dragged his lips desperately over Liz’s absorbing every touch, every kiss and every moan elicited from her sweet lips.

“Are you sure, we…don’t have to do anything?” Max panted out. He wanted Liz more than anything, but if she weren’t ready, he would stop.

Liz gasped for air as Max pulled away from her to ask his question. She could already feel the ever growing hardness of him settle against her moist center.

“I’m positive, Max. I want to feel you inside me,” she answered honestly and Max simply drew in a deep breath before settling himself between her legs. He reached in between their heated bodies and guided himself into her. At the first plunge of his thickness into her body, they both gasped at the feeling.

“Are you okay?” Max asked worriedly. It had been a long time and he didn’t want to hurt her.

Liz simply closed her eyes, and nodded. It was almost like the first time for her. Max leaned in and kissed her lips softly, waiting until he felt her body relax a little more, before he began to move inside of her.

After a few minutes, their bodies were in sync. Liz reached her arms up encircling Max’s neck, bringing him down for another wet opened mouthed kiss. His body glided inside of hers over and over, bringing them closer to the brink with each passing minute. It was too much for them, and Max quickly reached for Liz’s hands and entwined their fingers. He watched her under hooded eyes; her parted lips, her heavy breathing, her flushed features and closed eyes. Which to Max signified the most beautiful creature he’d ever laid his eyes on.

Liz finally opened her eyes and the passion burning between them was beyond intense, they rushed towards their goal. Their bodies were slick with sweat and their breathing ragged and hoarse. Knowing she was as close to the edge as he was, Max quickly brought their hands over her head. He then laid his forehead against hers and their eyes met. With their eyes locked on one another, their bodies reached that pinnacle moment of pure ecstasy and they both cried out in pleasure.

Max rolled onto his side, taking Liz with him and holding her close.

“I love you, and that was…amazing,” Max kissed to top of Liz’s head softly.

“I love you too, Max.” Liz smiled and placed a kiss on his chest.

“That’s it? No amazing?” Max leaned up and waited until she looked up to him.

“It was perfect.” Liz leaned up and kissed his lips quickly before nestling herself against his hard body.

They laid in silence for a few minutes, only the sound of their breathing filling the air. Finally, Max realized that Liz had fallen asleep and so he watched her, memorized every feature he came so close to never seeing again. It was in that moment, that Max realized he could never live without her. And if it took to his last breath, he would be sure to never let that happen.

****

Liz rolled over and she felt every bone in her body protest. Her body still hummed with the feeling of Max surrounding her, filling her and loving her. She turned her head to see the alarm clock beside the bed. It was only eight at night, but it might as well have been midnight, with how tired she was.

She felt Max stir beside her and in that moment, their eyes locked. They exchanged an awkward smile, but that completely dissipated when Max pulled her to him and kissed her breathless.

“Hey sleepyhead,” Max teased.

“Sleepyhead? I wasn’t the only one that passed out,” Liz retorted with a roll of her eyes.

Max simply laughed and reveled in the feel of her soft body against his. This was the way it was always supposed to be, he thought.

“Max, can we talk about something?” Liz queried lightly.

“If it’s nothing serious, then yes,” he answered sleepily. Boy that seriously wore him out, he needed more practice and was just about to roll over and do so, but Liz’s palm against his chest stopped him.

“It’s serious, and we need to talk about it.” He sighed and decided he wasn’t getting anywhere until they talked.

“I know you said that you would give it all up and you’ve shown me that you would, but what about basketball?” Liz asked.

“Liz, we went over this already. I told you it's still important to me but not as important as you.” Max kissed her cheek softly before looking back at her.

“I know that, but I don’t' want to you give it up.”

“What are you talking about?” He pulled away confused. Was she pushing him away now? God, he would die if she did. He now knew what the sinking feeling inside the pit of your stomach felt like.

“I'm saying that I would be okay if you went back to play. I would go with you when I could and stay home when I can't,” Liz began to explain.

“No, Liz. I'm going to finish out this year's contract and then I'm taking an extended vacation.” Max finished quickly.

“Extended? And how long is that?” Liz leaned up on her elbow and eyed him suspiciously.

“Liz, let's just not talk about that. We could be doing other things,” he began to roll her back down but she stopped him once again.

“We have to Max. I don't want you to give it up. Not for me, not for anyone.” Liz pleaded with him to understand her.

“But...I thought you wanted to try again. I want to do this, Liz. I'm not just saying for the hell of it.” Max explained honestly.

“I know that. And I mean it. I love Atlanta, but I love you more. So, how about a compromise?” Liz began.

“Compromise?”

“Yeah.”

“What does that involve? But I’m telling you Liz, if it means that I have to be away from you. I'm not doing it and...” Liz silenced him with a fingertip against his lips.

“Max, shut up and listen.” She smiled coyly at him.

“Boy since when did you get so bossy?” he teased and she rolled her eyes.

“I'm saying you're going to finish out your contract. So during that time, you'll come to see me or I'll come to see you.”

“Liz,” he began to protest.

“Let me finish. Then Max, I'm going to go with you. I can do my job on the road, besides I've been thinking of opening my own business. I want to be with you...but I've seen you Max. I've seen your face and I can't let you throw it all away. We can do it together this time. I'll get to sit on the sidelines and be your cheerleader like I wanted to for years. I want you to come home with me, or to the hotel. Wherever you are I want to be.” Liz finished with tears slipping down the corners of her eyes.

He couldn't believe it she was just so amazing. His love for her grew at that moment and he felt as though he was living a dream. It was his dream come true, but he wouldn’t let her sacrifice hers. He would make sure that she was happy every single day of her life. He swore he would.

“So, this is what it would have been like then,” he finished sadly.

“Don't Max. That's the past and I'm done living in it.” He pulled her into his arms and they kissed. Their mutual tears mingling and their hearts healing.

Max felt the moment her kisses began to change, they grew more demanding. The next thing he knew she was straddling his waist and kissing his exposed chest. But there was something he needed to say, something he wanted to tell her.

“I meant what I said,” he started and waited until her eyes met him.

“And what’s that Max?” she asked softly, leaning her forehead against his.

“You're my forever, Liz.” She smiled and fresh tears stung her eyes.

“And I'm yours, Max.” In that moment their lips touched and their bodies joined. They loved each other that night, making up for all the moments they missed. Silently vowing to one another, that they would never be apart again.

TBC…

Sit back, relax, and prepare for the freakin longest authors note EVER! *LOL* Hey, don't say I didn't warn ya!!!!

First of all:



Uhm... Wow. Tanya and I were literally shocked into speechlessness last night in the LoD chat when we found out about this!!! (And if you've ever been in that chat... you know that hard to accomplish! *LOL*) We can't thank you all enough for your kind words, your wonderful feedback, your noms, and your votes. You made our year. Really.

Next on the list: This is my last part for FFA. Yes, people, it really is true. FFA is coming to an end. After this, Tanya will have one final chapter then the epilogue, then we're done.

I hope you all have enjoyed the ride. We've had a blast doing this fic from day one... back when it was nothing more than a catchy little title that I couldn't find a plot for. *LOL*

I was really nervous about this chapter. I was scared it would turn out crap, dissapoint you guys, and I'd ruin the end of the fic. Tanya has read it over, fixed a few minor things, and she told me it was funny... of course, we're both delusional from lack of sleep(We're both SO in bed after this!)... so it may just be us, but whatever. *LOL*

One last thing: Tanya. *lol* Just a few words for you. I love you. You're my *twin*.. and God only knows what I would do without you. You've been there for me through alot of stuff, and I know that no matter what, I can always count on you, and you always have my back. I hope you know that it goes both ways. I'm so proud of what we've done here together, and so incredibly honored to be able to call you one of my best friends. You're one of the best people I've ever met. I love you, *twin*!!!!!!

Ok, now. Let's all stop crying, and lets get down to some business. Here it is. My final installment of "Forever Fades Away."... Hope you enjoy it. I know I have.

Hugs to you all,

Sarah Marie

Chapter Seventeen

Liz peaked around the corner into the arena and paused to take everything in. She let her eyes scan the court until they came to rest on Max. A smile involuntarily tugged at her lips as she watched him dribble the ball between his legs, then take a shot past the three-point line. The ball sailed effortlessly through the air before swishing through the hoop and bouncing onto the floor.

She leaned against the doorway and watched him for a few seconds. She still couldn’t believe that he was already back on the court. It had been a little over a month since they’d finally reached the conclusion that Max would go back to the Celtics as soon as his knee was healed, and Liz would go with him.

During that time, a lot had gone on. Liz had gone back to Atlanta, and not only put in her two weeks notice, but had finished them out, as well. Since the lease on her apartment was going to be up in a month anyway, she went ahead and had all of her stuff moved out of her apartment, and had it put in storage.

Now, she was back in Boston, with Max. To the surprise of everyone, Max’s knee was healing up a lot faster than anyone had anticipated, and next week would be his first game back. Liz had all of her clothes and stuff moved into Max’s house, and had also acquired a new set of wheels, despite her protests.

As much as she’d hated to do it, she had to leave her Mazda back in Atlanta. She could have driven it back up to Boston, but she hadn’t wanted to make that particular drive. It was just too far. So, when she got back from getting all her affairs in order in Georgia, she found a brand new BMW Z4 Roadster 3.0i in Max’s driveway. He’d handed her the keys, gave her a kiss and told her it was all hers. They’d fought for two days about that damn car. Liz had fallen in love with it the second she’d laid eyes on it, but she protested that it was too much. Her and Max had yelled back and forth before Drew finally ran an interference and told Liz that either she was taking the car, or he was. So, she took it, and that was the end of that.

The house in Atlanta was still being built and Liz and Max had plans of living it in, still. Max knew how much Liz loved the South, and truth was, the little time he’d spent down there, he’d fallen in love with it too. So, they’d made a compromise that on the off-season, they’d live in Atlanta.

She pushed herself off the doorway, holding onto the railing as she took the steps down closer to the floor so she could sit and watch Max practice. One she’d reached her desired distance from the court, which was only a few rows back, she walked into the row, choosing a chair a few seats from the aisle. She slipped the strap of her purse off her shoulder and set the bag down on the seat next to her.

She watched, enthralled, as the guys on the court got into a formation and began working on their lay-ups. She felt a smile appear when Max grabbed the ball, dribbled to the net, and made his lay-up shot. She internally rolled her eyes at herself for thinking that the simple act of Max dribbling a basketball was sexy.
As Max made his way to the back of the formation, his eyes landed on Liz, and a smile instantly spread across his face. He gave her a little wave and puckered up his lips, as if to kiss her despite the distance between them.

Liz giggled at him, but returned his gesture. She leaned back in her chair, crossing one leg over the other and giving her skirt a quick tug, hoping that from their vantage point, the guys couldn’t see anything they weren’t supposed to.

She glanced up to see Drew looking at her. She was slightly surprised when he didn’t wave, but instead, turned his attention to Jake, who was standing in front of him. Jake glanced over, then whispered something to the guy in front of him.

She didn’t pay them any attention, instead she reached down to adjust the strap on her high heels. Once she was satisfied that the straps were not longer pinching her ankle, she leaned back in her seat, returning her attention to the court.

“HEY LIZ!” All the guys on the court, minus Max, yelled at her not five seconds after she’d returned her attention to the court.

A blush immediately colored Liz’s cheeks as they all smiled at her. She glanced at Max, who was glaring at each member of the team and she started laughing. She put her hand over her mouth to try to keep her laughter in, but since her shoulders were shaking, the attempt was pointless. She gave them a quick wave as Coach Rivers started screaming at them to ‘practice more, drool over pretty girls less.’, even though he gave her a little wave as he went back to studying his play book.

“Wow, they all really like you already.”

Upon hearing that, Liz glanced towards the aisle where the voice had originated from. Her eyes landed on a girl with long, layered brown hair, brown eyes, and an infectious smile. Liz guess that they were about the same height, and appeared to be about the same age.

Liz smiled back at her, then glanced back onto the court. “Yeah, I guess they do, huh?”

“Yeah, they do. That’s pretty rare, you know?”

“Is it?” Liz asked. “Why’s that?”

“Well, because to these guys, they’re more than just team mates. They’re a family.” She explained. “They look out for each other, watch each other’s backs. Try to keep each other from getting hurt.” She glanced out onto the court, then back to Liz. “Although, I’m sure that with the change they’ve seen in Max since you came back into the picture, they realize that you’re here to stay.” Before Liz could say anything else, she spoke again. “Do you mind?” She asked, gesturing to the seat next to Liz.

“Oh, not at all.” Liz replied, picking up her purse and setting in the chair on the other side of her. Once the girl had sat down, and had set her purse down, Liz held out her hand. “Hi, I’m...”

“Liz Parker.” The girl replied, her eyes sparkling, that big infectious smile still in place. She put her hand in Liz’s and shook it. “I know.” She nodded. “I’ve heard a lot about you for a very long time, its an honor to finally meet you. I’ve been wondering if I ever would. I’ve been trying to get Max to introduce you to me since you two got back together.” She rambled, then blushed in realization. “I’m sorry, I’m talking too much. I’m just so glad to finally meet you.”

Liz glanced away self-consciously. “Depending on who you’ve been hearing things from, I deny everything.” Liz laughed. “I’m sorry, you are...?”

“Oh, sorry.” She laughed at herself. “I’m Alexandra Wilson, but you can call me Alex, everyone else does.”

“You’re Drew’s girlfriend, aren’t you?” Liz asked, instantly putting two and two together.

“When I bother claiming him, I am.” Alex giggled, looking back onto the court and blowing Drew a kiss. He stopped, mid-exercise to flash her a sappy smile and wave. “Yeah, see that look on his face, right there?” Alex glanced back at Liz. “I don’t know if I wanna claim that.”

“He loves you.” Liz nudged Alex with her shoulder, but couldn’t help laughing. “Although, that if a pretty goofy expression.”

“Yeah, and that’s mine.” Alex rolled her eyes.

“Well, Drew’s a great guy. I’ve gotten to know him pretty well and you’re a very lucky girl.” Liz said, honestly.

“Aww. Thanks. It’s nice to hear that when I’m not around, he doesn’t act like the total numbnuts that I thought he did.” Alex glanced over at Liz. “He... doesn’t act like a numbnuts, does he?”

“Every now and then.” Liz nodded. “But that’s expected. He’s a guy. He can’t help his stupidity most of the time.”

“Don’t I know it?” Alex replied.

Both girls turned their attention back to the court, content to sit in comfortable silence and watch their boys play ball.

<center>****</center>

Max jogged over to the sidelines and grabbed a water bottle out of his gym bag before hoisting the bag onto his shoulder and making his way over to where Coach was talking about the good work he was seeing during practice.

Max’s eyes wandered over to where Liz and Alex were sitting together, both animatedly talking about something and laughing. He couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

“Max!” Coach barked, causing Max’s head to pivot back to Coach Rivers.

“Yeah?” Max asked, having no idea what was said before his name.

“I was saying...” Rivers drew out, obviously annoyed with Max’s lack of concentration. “That it was good having you back. You’d know that if you’d stop drooling for just a minute.” Rivers raised an eyebrow at Max, making him feel sufficiently reprimanded.

“Sorry, Coach.” Max replied, scratching nervously behind his ear.

After a minute or so, Coach dismissed practice, and Max immediately turned to make a bee-line for Liz.

“Hey Max, wait up!” Drew called from behind him. Max turned just as Drew scooped up his bag off the floor and trotted over to Max. “Seems like they’re getting along pretty well.” Drew commented as they walked towards their girls.

“Yeah.” Max agreed, smiling as Liz looked over at him.

“Hey, Alex and I were gonna go out to dinner tonight, you and Liz wanna go?”

“Sounds good.” Max nodded.

Liz grabbed her purse off the chair and stood up, just as Alex did. The two girls made their way to the aisle and walked down a few stairs to step onto the court. Drew’s arms were immediately around Alex, as Max’s were immediately around Liz.

“Hey there, boyfriend.” Liz greeted, giving Max a kiss.

“Hi baby.” He replied, before trying to pull away from her. “I’m sweaty.”

“I like it.” Liz whispered, holding onto his tightly, and pulling his body against hers.

“Eww! Drew! You’re sweaty, get off me!” Alex swatted at Drew as he tried pulling her against him.

“You love it, Alex. You just don’t know it.” Drew replied, trying to keep a hold of Alex.

“See? That’s what normal girls do.” Max commented, looking down at Liz.

“When have I ever been normal, Max?” Liz asked, tilting her head to the side.

“Point taken.” Max nodded, dipping his head to cover her lips with hers. After a moment, he pulled back and took a deep breath. “How is it that it only takes a kiss to make me to want you so badly?”

“Because I’m sexy.” Liz shrugged, laughing at herself. Max simply nodded, dipping his head again to give her a kiss.

“Alright, alright.” Drew’s voice stopped them, their lips a mere breath apart. “Enough with all the canoodling, you can do that when you two get home.”

Liz couldn’t hold in her laughter as Max growled slightly, turning to glare at Drew. “What do you want?” Max asked between clenched teeth.

“Whoa, there.” Drew held his hands up in surrender. “Note to self: Don’t interrupt Max when he’s layin his mack down.” Drew nodded to Max. “Got it. Message received. I just wanted to make sure about dinner tonight? We on?”

Max looked down at Liz. “Its up to you. You wanna go, or not?”

“Yeah, sounds like fun.” She nodded.

“Alright. That Japanese place we like, at six?” Drew asked.

Everyone agreed and began making their way out of the arena and towards the parking lot.

<center>****</center>

Liz’s back collided hard with the wall of the hallway, but she barely noticed. Max’s hands were yanking her shirt up over her head as hers were pulling down his gym shorts.

They stumbled away from the wall, their lips fusing back together and their hands roamed each others bodies as they tripped over their own feet trying to make it down the hallway to their bedroom.

They finally made it inside as Max freed his ankles of his shorts and began kicking off his shoes, the whole time backing Liz to the bed.

As soon as her back came into contact with the mattress, they moved up the bed until they were leaning against the pillows, hands still roaming. Max reached behind Liz, and with an expert flick of his fingers, the hooks on her bra came undone and he peeled the offending garment from her body.

His lips quickly made their way from hers, down her throat and towards her breasts. His lips closed around a nipple as his fingers made their way under her skirt to pull her underwear down her legs.

Liz moaned at the wonderful things Max’s mouth was doing to her body, her fingers tugging at his hair. After her underwear had been kicked onto the floor, she untangled her hand from his hair and moved to undo the button on her jean skirt.

Max’s hand covered hers as he released her hardened nipple from his mouth. Liz’s breath caught in her throat at the raw, passionate hunger that shown in his eyes when they met hers. “Leave it on.” Max said, his voice low.

“L-leave it- it on?” Liz stammered over her words, sucked into the depth less abyss of his eyes, that were many shades darker than normal.

A smirk slowly came across his lips as he nodded. He rolled onto his back, his large hands grabbing her hips and bringing her with him. He settled comfortably on his back, with her straddling his lap. His hips lifted slightly, grinding his erection into her center. Her head fell back as a soft sigh escaped her parted lips. “Leave the shoes on, too.” He commanded, his hands sliding upwards along her rib cage until he held both of her breasts in his hands. “I want you.” He growled, lifting his hips up again.

Liz didn’t reply. She simply leaned up slightly, reaching down and taking Max into her hand. His eyes immediately fluttered shut and Liz couldn’t help but smile at the effect she still had on him. After running her hands up and down his length a few times, she aligned their bodies and slowly began sinking down onto him.

They simultaneously moaned as she took him in, inch by inch, until he filled her completely. It only took a second for Liz to begin moving on top of him, bracing her hands on his chest.

Max opened to eyes to gaze up at Liz, head thrown back, eyes closed, mouth open. It still awed him, every time he looked at her, how beautiful she was, how sexy. It was baffling to him to know that she belonged to him again. She was his girl. She was going to be there when he came home from a rough practice, or a great game.

Sensing his eyes on her, Liz dropped her chin down and opened her eyes, her gaze immediately locking with him. They held eye contact as they continued to rock together, reveling in the sensations the other was causing.

Their moans and labored breathing were the only sounds filling the room, mingling together, pushing the other closer and closer to the point of no return.

Max sat up suddenly, leaning his weight on his hands, stopping his face only inches from hers, never once breaking eye contact. “I love you.” He whispered, unable to keep a smile from flitting across his lips, even as his eyes threatened to close in the blissful feel of Liz Parker on top of him.

“I love you.” She whispered back, a smile also ghosting her lips.

They came together, pulled by an invisible string. Their lips fused, their mouths slanting over each others again, and again. Their tongues massaging and exploring everything the other persons mouth had to offer, all the while muffling the moans and pants as they got louder and louder.

Max knew Liz was close, he could feel her beginning to contract around him. He leaned his weight to one arm, the other hand leaving the mattress and his palm cupped her cheek before his fingers tangled into her hair and he pulled her back gently from his mouth.

The second their contact broke, she fully vocalized just how close she was. “Come for me.” Max growled, his tongue coming out to slowly swipe across her lips.

“Oh, God.” She cried, her arms going around Max’s neck, and her nails digging into the flesh of his back. “Oh, God.” She repeated the mantra over and over as her orgasm took hold of her, triggering Max’s. They both cried out as the feelings of ecstasy coursed through them.

Exhausted, they fell back onto the bed, a tangle of sweaty limbs, although neither of them cared. Liz pushed herself off Max to slide in close next to him, as apposed to straddling him, and risking pulling a muscle or something.

Max pulled Liz into his side as tight as he could, both his arms around her, and his cheek resting on the top of her head. Liz had her head resting on his shoulder, listening to his racing heartbeat begin to even back out again.

“Wow.” Max finally said, causing Liz to giggle.

“I whole-heartedly concur.” She replied, letting out a content sigh, one that always follows such strenuous, yet pleasurable, bedroom activities. After a minute or two of silence, she lifted her head, resting her chin on his chest so she could look at him. “I love you.” She stretched herself forward to give him a kiss.

Max leaned his head up as far off the pillow as it would go, then let out a little whine when they seemed to be too far apart. Finally, he grabbed her face in his hands and pulled her up his body until their lips met. “Mm...” He replied against her lips. When they broke apart, he smiled at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love you, too.”

“You sure you’re not gonna get sick of me?” Liz asked, taking off her shoes and dropping them onto the floor next to the bed.

“Get sick of you?” Max’s eyebrows drew together. “I can’t even comprehend such a thing.” He teased.

“You won’t miss your harem of cheerleaders, and other random girls?” She raised an eyebrow at him, as she unbuttoned her skirt and slipped it down her legs, tossing it onto the floor by her shoes. Once she was free of all clothing, she went back to her original position: laying on her stomach, with her chin on Max’s chest, looking into his beautiful face.
Max appeared deep in thought for a minute. “Nope.” He replied. “Oh, wait... I had a date with Candi set for next week... dammit. You’ll leave for a few hours, right?” He winked at her. His comment earned him a light slap on the chest, and a giggle. “Seriously.” He finally said after the jokes were over. “I don’t want anyone but you. You’re my forever, Liz Parker. I promise.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” Liz beamed at him, giving him another kiss. She glanced over at the clock. “What time are we supposed to meet Alex and Drew?”

Max pulled his head away from the pillow to regard the alarm clock on the nightstand. “We still have an hour and a half. We’re fine.” He reassured her, pulling her back down to lay with him. “I had an idea that I wanted to run by you.” Max said.

“Yeah? What’s that?” She traced nonsensical patterns on his chest and abdomen.

“I was thinking about flying out Michael, Maria, Alex and Isabel for the game next week.” He played with a strand of her hair. “I just thought it’d be nice to have a full cheering section for my first game back on the court.”

He could feel Liz smile against his chest. “I think that’s a great idea.”

“Yeah? You didn’t get sick of all them when you were out in Roswell for two months?” Max asked, skeptical that it was possible for her to say no to that question.

“A little.” She admitted. “But it was nice.” She paused for a minute, trying to find the words to explain it. “Its like... I spent so much time running away from all that, ya know? It was nice to be back home, and back with the people who really knew me. I miss Maria.” After a beat, she tacked on a last thought. “I don’t miss her waking me up at the butt-crack of dawn being chipper as ever, but I miss her.”

Max chuckled a little. “Yeah, that woman has way too much energy. It’s unhealthy.”

“It really is.” Liz agreed.

“So, I guess I’ll call Michael and have him ask Maria, then call Alex, and have him ask Isabel, and we’ll see where we stand after that.” Max began plotting a strategy.

“And while you’re doing that...” Liz filled in, already removing herself from his arms, despite his whines of protest. “I’m going to get in the shower, and start getting ready for dinner.”

“Fine.” Max pouted.

“You have phone calls to make. You’re a big boy. You can do that without me here.” Liz reasoned. As he continued to pout, she crawled back up the bed and placed a long, lingering kiss on his lips. “I’ll be right in the other room if you need me.” She batted her eyelashes innocently before crawling off the bed and heading towards the bathroom, naked as the day she was born.

He watched her go, barely restraining himself from running after her. He snatched up his phone from the nightstand, quickly punching in Michael’s number. He started getting impatient the minute he heard the shower in the bedroom turn on “Come on, Michael...” Max muttered to himself.

“Hello?” Michael’s voice sounded over the other end of the line.

“Hey dude, its me. Listen, I’m in a hurry, but basically, I’m gonna fly you, Maria, Isabel and Alex out to see my first game back. Sound good?” Max hurried out, already inching himself off the bed.

“I’ll have to talk to Maria about it...” Michael trailed off, wondering why Max was acting so weird.

“Ok, yeah. You do that. Call and leave me a voice mail on my cell phone and let me know. Don’t call the house! I’m going to be occupied, and I swear if you interrupt, I’ll kick you in the face.” Max continued rushing the conversation.

Michael’s laughter boomed into Max’s ear. “Message received.” Michael replied, before getting his laughter under control. “Ok, how about this? I’ll talk to Maria, have her call Isabel, and then once Maria knows if Isabel’s cool with it, I’ll have Maria tell me, then I’ll call your cell phone and leave you a message letting you know. That way, you can get to your... uhm... you can begin being occupied.”

“Yes!” Max practically screeched into the phone. “Yeah. Do that. I’ll talk to you later.”

Without waiting for a reply, Max ended the call, throwing the phone onto the bed before sprinting in the direction of the bathroom.

TBC...

That's all she wrote, folks. Well, at least all I wrote. Stay tuned for the thrilling conclusion. *lol*... Yeah, I need sleep. Ok, Enjoy!!!!!

BAH! One last thing! Alex got to pick her fanfic boyfriend from a group of hotties... friends of mine from back home... heres the winner... *LOL* Everyone, I'd like you to meet Drew: On The Left

A/N - Okay guys...Sarah is out of town which means she has not read this over I just finished working on it. This is the final chapter before the Epilogue, which I haven't written yet. So as soon as I'm done with it, I'll post it for you guys

I will post my final author's note with the Epilogue. I did, however, just want to say, we are both so very happy you guys have enjoyed this story and stuck with us through the drama of it all and seen it through to the end. Which is what this is...I hope you enjoy!


Chapter 18

Max had finally found his favorite pastime, watching Liz Parker. It didn’t matter what she was doing. He was completely captivated by her.

As he watched her sleeping, he couldn’t help letting his eyes wander down her soft, supple and very naked body. Max raised his hand and gently let his fingers glide down the curve of her spine and over the soft swell of her hip. She was perfect.

He didn’t want to wake her, it was still very early in the morning and today was going to be a big day. He rolled onto his back and placed his hands behind his head. Max stared at the ceiling letting the enormity of what today meant seep in. Suddenly he felt completely panicked. He sat up quickly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and resting his hands in his head.

Today was his first game back. What if something went wrong again? What if he got hurt and this time he didn’t recover, or couldn’t play basketball again? He was broken from his revere when he felt the bed dip behind him. Throwing a look over his shoulder he saw that his beautiful girlfriend shifted onto her back. Max smiled at the sight of her. Lips still swollen, cheeks still flushed and hair a complete mess, he sighed. She was really his. Forever he hoped.

Max felt the rush of fear creep up his spine. If he honestly thought about what today meant and why he was so scared, he’d realize that today would determine the rest of his life. He let out a ragged breath and ran a hand through his tousled bed hair.

These past few months with Liz were the best of his life. He just wondered how she felt about…

“Max?” Liz whispered out softly. She could see the silhouette of his body. His back was to her and elbows resting on his knees. Liz was quick to crawl over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head against his back.

“What are you doing up?” she asked as she cuddled closer to his warm body. Max turned slightly and pulled her into his lap. He pulled her naked body against his equally naked one. Liz reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and closed her eyes as his lips began to devour her mouth, gently at first and then Max plunged his tongue into her warm mouth roughly. He brought one arm around her waist to hold her firmly against him; the other tangled in her hair pushing her lips that much closer to his.

They broke away panting moments later, eyes still locked and with a small smirk on her lips, Max knew that Liz wanted exactly the same thing as him. He cupped the back of her head and their lips crashed together. Slowly Liz lifted herself up onto her knees, taking his thickness and wrapping her palm around him, she began to slide her hand up and down his long, rigid length.

“Liz…I can’t wait,” Max panted out and dropped his hands to her slim waist raising her high enough until he was poised at her slick entrance and before he had the chance, Liz sank down on him hard.

“Max…”

“Liz…”

Mutual moans of complete satisfaction echoed off the bedroom walls. They moved at a feverish pace, knowing that it would be quick, yet utterly satisfying.

They’re lips moist and their bodies slick with perspiration, bodies grinding against one another. In and out. Over and over until it became too much. Max gripped her hips harder. Liz dug her nails into his back as her end approached. Max was trying to hold on a little longer, but the feel of her slick, throbbing walls was too much for him. He closed his eyes and sank his teeth, gently, into her shoulder and emptied himself into her. The feel of him filling her completely was enough for Liz to tumble over the edge, her body shaking from the intense pleasure of it.

“Oh God.” They both cried out as they fell back against the mattress, bone tired and completely sated. Liz sprawled on top of Max and kissed his heaving chest gently. Max pulled her up higher against his chest and ran his hands through her silky hair.

“I love you and that was by far the best good morning I’ve received in a long ass time,” Max smiled into her hair and waited for her comeback.

“Oh really? What was yesterday? Okay morning sex?” Liz lifted up and rested her cheek against his chest to regard him. She knew he was joking with her.

“Nah, that was good morning sex…it just wasn’t the best good morning sex,” Max replied lazily.

“You’re a moron,” Liz mumbled out against his chest.

“Yes, but you love this moron.” Max smirked knowingly at her.

“Whatever. So, today is the big day. Are you nervous?” Liz asked hesitantly. She knew he had a lot on his mind, but she would be there for him if he needed her. Max quickly pulled her flush against his body and kissed her lips. “I am, but I feel better knowing you’ll be there.” Liz smiled and placed a chastised kiss on his lips before lifting off of him.

“Where are you going?” Max pouted.

“I need to take a shower, you do realize that we have people coming in on a plane today. In just a few hours and I need to get ready,” she turned her back and began rummaging through her closet.

“Yeah, I guess. I have to get ready for practice anyway.” Max rose to his feet and made his way across the room and entered the bathroom.

“Oh no, you are going to eat breakfast first. I know your game Evans.” Liz turned placing her hands on her hips for emphasis, standing in front of the bathroom door.

“Liz, my stomach is a wreck,” Max tried to get out of it, but he knew better.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t need you collapsing from hunger during practice. You are going to eat. I’m going to go make you breakfast, and after you leave I’ll take my shower and pick everyone up.” She saw he was trying to find a way to get out of eating so she just reached into the bathroom and closed the door for him.

“Liz!”

“Light a fire under your ass Max! We have things to do!” Liz said and marched away from the door. Max knew better than to fight with her on this one. He hopped in the shower shortly thereafter.

****

After they finished a big breakfast, complete with pancakes, sausages, bacon, toast and orange juice, Liz waited for Max to pack up his gear. He was driving himself to the arena, while Liz and the others took the limo. That way Liz and Max could leave together afterwards.

Max made his way down the stairs and waiting at the bottom was Liz. She just made everything better, he thought. He knew everything would be okay so long as she was by his side.

“All set?” Liz asked when she saw his shoulders relax. Max stopped in front of her, dropped his bag and lifted her in his arms. He rested his forehead against hers, staring into her big brown eyes.

“I am. Today is going to be a great day, Liz.” Max said enthusiastically as he kissed her lips.

“I know, Max. It's your first big game back and everything. I know you're excited.” Liz smiled up at him as Max placed her back on her feet.

“Very excited.” Liz noticed that he had a glint of something in his eyes that she couldn't quite figure out. He was probably just happy to be playing again, she thought.

“I’ll see you later, sexy.” Liz blushed and allowed Max to love her mouth for a few minutes. When it felt like he was taking the kiss further than they had time for, she placed her palms against his hard chest and pushed him away gently.

“Later.” Max slapped her ass on the way out.

“Love you!” Liz called out from the doorstep. Max stopped, looked up at her and then just smiled. Today was definitely going to be a great day, he thought.

****

A few hours later, Liz was dressed and getting ready to head to the airport to pick up Maria, Michael, Isabel and Alex.

On her way there though, she felt some hesitation about tonight and Max playing. What if it was too soon? What if he gets injured again and… No. Liz mentally chastised herself. Max was perfectly fine, she knew it without a doubt. She shook those bad thoughts off and continued in route to the airport. The plane was scheduled to land in about a half hour. Perfect, she thought.

****

“Liz!” Maria ran up to her best friend and hugged her tightly. The two girls stood there for a few minutes before Isabel yanked them apart, “Stop hogging her Maria,” Isabel smiled down at Liz and then wrapped her arms around her.

“Okay enough of this feminine, ‘oh I missed you, tears and all that other girlie shit,’ Liz it’s great to see you. Now we require food.” Michael said as he picked Liz up in his arms and giving her a smacking kiss on her cheek.

“That’s right Liz, we missed you but we are starving,” Alex came up beside them and pulled Liz into a tight embrace and kissed her cheek softly.

“Damn! If only you guys were here earlier. I cooked a monster breakfast for Max and I.”

“Oh quit the teasing, the belly is rumbling now.” Alex pouted and they all laughed before making their way to the baggage claim area.

“So what do you guys want to eat?” Liz asked once they were all loaded into the truck.

“Anything!” Maria spoke up first, prematurely of course.

“Except, Mexican, Italian, Chinese and…uhm….” They all sighed dramatically.

“Maria, seriously how many times do I have to tell you? You are never allowed to choose what we eat, we’d starve to death if we waited for you to decide,” Michael and Alex both laughed and then gave each other high fives for good measure.

“Grow up!” Isabel and Maria screeched out.

“Fuck it, I’m not waiting forever. You guys are getting burgers and fries and you’ll smile and be very happy about it. Got it!” Liz said not really in the mood for them to go back and forth all day.

“Yes mom.” They all mumbled out and Liz turned and squinted her eyes at them, but ended up laughing at their innocent faces.

“Let’s get this show on the road! We got a game to watch!” Michael piped in after a few minutes.

****

After lunch they went back to Max and Liz’s place. Michael and Alex made themselves comfortable on the couch, while Isabel and Maria were upstairs helping Liz decide what to wear.

“I have nothing to wear!” Liz yelled out in frustration. Isabel and Maria looked at one another in confusion. They were after all standing in a room that was Liz’s closet. Not a small room either. It was filled to the max with clothes, shoes, handbags and jackets. They chalked it up to Liz being nervous for tonight, which was understandable.

“Liz you have a closet bigger than my bedroom at home full of clothes. Now, how about you have a seat on the bed and Maria and I will find you something perfect, okay?” Isabel asked softly.

“Yes! That’s a perfect idea. But I don’t want to wear a shirt, make it jeans, but a cute pair. And a shirt, without sleeves…no with…no without…I…” Maria had to cut her off.

“Liz! Calm down, we’ll take care of it,” Liz just nodded and stepped out of the room.

Why the hell was she so nervous? It was crazy. It was just another game. Somehow though it felt like so much more than that. Liz closed her eyes and waited for Maria and Isabel to come out with her outfit.

“Here you go!” Isabel said holding up a pair of faded hip hugger jeans, a tank top with the words ‘Basketball Star Girlfriend…Jealous?’ written across the front in red cursive letters.

“It’s perfect! Thank you!” Liz jumped up and snatched the clothes from her friends and ran into the bathroom to change.

A few minutes later, Liz was dressed, hair brushed, light makeup in place and shiny red tint lip gloss across her lips. She opened up the bathroom door and was greeted by her enthusiastic friends.

“Don’t you look hot?!” Maria said with a smile across her face.

“Thanks guys so much for everything.” Liz smiled and looked around for her sneakers.

“Ah Liz?” Isabel asked as she took a seat on the edge of the bed.

“Yeah?”

“Where did you get that shirt from anyway? I think it’s hilarious but so fitting for you.” Isabel watched as a smile crept up on Liz’s lips.

“Max got it made for me. We were out somewhere and I was joking about how no one knew who I was and the next day he came home with it.” Liz laughed at the memory.

“That’s cute. So Liz, how is everything going?” Isabel asked. She just wanted to make sure everything was good between them still.

“Isabel, don’t worry. Max and I are in it for the long haul.” Liz clapped her hands together when she finally found her sneakers; they matched perfectly with her shirt, a little bit of red and a lot of white.

“Good to hear. We were just worried that we got too involved and,” Isabel began to explain but Liz cut her off immediately.

“It’s over now. Max and I are together so it’s okay,” Liz smiled at her two friends motioning for them to follow her out of the room.

“Besides,” Liz started as they made their way down the hall. “I couldn’t be upset about it. I’m happier than I've ever been. Even when I was with Max before we broke up I was so happy with him, but this is different. I guess in the back of my mind I was always afraid something would come between us. I was just waiting for it so I wasn't truly enjoying the experience of being in love with him.” Liz tried to explain how she felt to the two girls.

“Now though, I know that this is forever with him. I know that no matter what he'll always be there for me. Yeah, a small part of me panics in the middle of the night and reaches out for him. But he's always there. My heart knows it. It's my mind that needs to catch up.” Liz smiled and the two girls nodded their heads in understanding.

“Do you guys have plans for the future?” Maria asked.

“Sure the house is being built and well I'm starting my own business.”

“No, Liz we mean like marriage, kids, minivans and all that good stuff.” Maria smiled. Liz just blushed.

“Uh, no we haven't talked about it. I mean we just got together a few months ago. I'm not sure if I'm ready for that or if he is,” she trailed off. She didn’t want to think about that right now. They had Max’s big game to get to.

“Cut the bullshit, if he asked you, you know you'd say yes.” Maria smirked knowingly. A small smile turned into a big one as Liz nodded her head in complete affirmation. She would love nothing more than to marry Max and have his children. But it was too soon still. He hadn’t even brought it up. It didn't matter to Liz, she would wait forever for him.

“Finally! What the hell, weren’t you already dressed Liz?” Michael asked coming to stand in front of the three girls.

“Yes. Do you have a point?” Liz challenged.

“Nope. Ready?” Michael asked as he made his way towards the front door.

****

As soon as they arrived, someone was waiting for them to show them to their seats. Liz however was asked to follow the young man to the locker rooms. When Liz entered she heard all the guys whistle and she just rolled her eyes.

“Grow up!” Max growled at his teammates.

“Hey baby,” he smiled down at her and kissed her lips. Earning him some hoot and hollers from the guys.

“Seriously, don’t you guys have to go warm up or something?” Max asked delibertably pulling Liz closer to his side.

“Hey Liz?” Drew called out and Liz turned to face him.

“Nice shirt,” he smirked and Liz smiled and pulled Max against her lips roughly.

“Well damn, maybe you guys want to use the showers or something,” Drew called out as the rest of the guys left the room. Liz and Max didn’t realize it though, their lips were still locked together in a fierce kiss.

“Hi.” Liz smiled.

“So, don’t you look sexy as hell?” Max asked eyeing his girlfriend from head to toe.

“But seriously, don’t I?” Liz teased as she plucked at the collar of his jersey.

“So, everyone is here and good?” Max asked tieing his sneakers.

“Yes! They are fed and dress, and ready for an amazing game,” Liz smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist.

“Excellent. Okay I just wanted to see you before I went out there. Jake will bring you back out and onto the court.” Max leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose before taking her hand. Liz could tell he was still nervous, she pulled on his hand, stopping his movements.

“What?” he asked.

“I want you to know that no matter what happens out there. I have never been more proud of you.” Liz smiled sweetly and walked out passed him without another word.

“Liz!” he called out as she made her way out of the locker room to stand next to Jake.

“Yeah?”

“You know you may very well be my number one fan,” Max smirked, arms crossed and his side resting against the doorframe.

“You know Evans, I think you’re right,” Liz winked and allowed Jake to escort her down the hall towards the arena.

Max stood there however for a few more minutes. He knew this was it. He’d waited his whole life for this moment.

Finally closing the door behind him he ran up the ramp toward the arena.

****

Liz took her seat and was waiting for the announcer to call out the team. Once that was done the game was underway. Liz couldn’t help her heart from racing as she watched Max run up and down the court. His body was pure perfection and she just couldn’t get enough of it or him.

She couldn’t help her mind from wandering back to Maria’s question about marriage. Was she ready for it? Yes. That was the only answer she could give, but was Max? That was something she knew they’d have to talk about, soon.

****

During the start of half time, Max called Drew to the side. “Did you do it?”

“Yeah, man. I did it. I’m not a total imbecile,” Drew crossed his arms in defense. Max simply raised his eyebrow in question.

“Shut up! And go get your woman!” Drew ground out and pushed Max in Liz’s direction.

Liz watched as Max approached her with a strange look on his face, what was going on? “Hey, I need you to do something for me, no questions asked.” Max whispered into her ear. He gave the others a smile and they knew what was coming.

“Of course. What do you need me to do?” Liz asked hesitantly.

“I need for you to close your beautiful brown eyes. I have a surprise for you.” Max smiled and watched as she nibbled on her bottom lip before closing her eyes. Max kissed her lips softly and told her not to open them until he said so.

“Okay Max. I won’t.” Liz held onto his arm, grasping it tightly. She couldn’t see and didn’t want to make a fool of herself by tripping over something.

After a few minutes Max told her to let go of him and just keep her eyes closed, to which she agreed. Liz had no idea of where she was. It was quiet all of a sudden around her and she thought maybe he’d taken her off the court. She was growing a little impatient when he didn’t return right away. She shifted from one leg to the other, waiting for her ‘surprise’.

“Okay baby. Open your eyes,” Max whispered out into her ear. His warm breath against her neck sent chills up her spine. Nevertheless she opened her eyes and they were standing in complete darkness, she gripped his arms.

“Don’t worry. I just needed to talk to you for a minute,” Max started but she cut him off.

“Max we’re in the middle of the arena filled with people, couldn’t you pick a more private area?” Liz hissed out. Even though they were in the dark she could still make out people’s faces in the crowd.

“Actually, since you’re dating a basketball star, you’re going to have to get used to people always watching us. So I felt it was appropriate for the occasion.”

“What occasion?” Liz asked softly. She was intrigued now.

“I’m so very glad you asked,” Max said and Liz heard him call over his shoulder to someone. A second later a spotlight was on them and before she knew what was happening Max was kneeling down on one knee.

“Oh my God!” Liz whispered out and covered her mouth fighting back her tears. This was not happening! Max was proposing! Oh my God! That was all Liz could think about, over and over again.

“Liz, you were the first girl I ever loved. You were the first girl that ever made me want to try and be a better person. Your heart is beautiful and so forgiving. I know that without that I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do this today. I’ve thought about asking you a thousand times, but no way seemed fitting enough. And so I figured, what better place then where it all began again for us. I love you, Liz. I will love you for the rest of my life and if you’ll have me I want to…” The lights went out again and they were in complete darkness.

“Max! What’s wrong? The lights…” Liz started but her words were caught in her through when the spotlight came back on. Because this time Max was kneeling before her with a diamond ring in his hand. He reached for her hand and positioned the ring at her finger. Max looked up at her tear stained face and took a deep breath before asking his question.

“Liz Parker will you marry me?” Liz took in a deep breath. Her shoulders began to shake but she answered him.

“Yes! I’ll marry you! Yes! Yes! Yes!” Max quickly slipped the ring on her finger and stood up to kiss her. Liz jumped up into his arms and wrapped her arms around him tightly. Their lips still fused, they could hear the crowd in the background cheering them on.

After a few minutes, Liz slid down back to the floor with a smile still plastered across her face. Max reached up and swiped her tears away from her eyes. “You happy?” he asked hesitantly. What if she felt pressured to say yes?

“I couldn’t be happier, Max. I can’t wait to marry you!” Liz leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed his lips once again before pulling away and turning to her friends, and the audience.

“I’m getting married! Oh my God!” Liz jumped up and down and Max couldn’t help but pull her into his arms again. It was definitely turning out to be the great day he predicted it would.

****

The winning three point shot came from Max. The crowd went crazy and his teammates carried him across the court, but Max didn’t even notice or care for that matter. All he cared about was taking his beautiful fiancé home with him.

It was hours later and they both lay tangled in the sheets, sweaty bodies pressed against one another.

“I can’t believe it, still.” Liz said in awe. She was staring at her very impressive engagement ring, with Max lying beside her. He turned and rested his head in his hand and began to trace circles across her exposed stomach.

“Well believe it. I let you go once, I will never do that again,” Max smiled and kissed her cheek softly.

“How long have you been planning this?” she asked curiously

“Liz, I bought that ring one year to the day that I broke up with you. I always wanted to give it to you but I knew I had a lot to make up for,” Max began to explain with a shaky voice.

“You had it this long? What if…what if I didn’t take you back?” Liz asked turning to her side to face him. She reached out for his hand, intertwining it with hers.

“Then I would have kept it as a reminder of how I let something so beautiful, so perfect and precious go. I’m going to give you forever Liz.” Max promised as he pulled her against him and sealed their lips.

Liz pulled away gently and waited until he opened his eyes, “I thought you were going to show me how forever doesn’t fade away,” Liz teased and Max rolled his eyes and pulled her on top of him. He kissed her shoulder, her neck and finally the tip of her nose, “I’m going to show you that whoever came up with the concept that forever fades away, didn’t know anything about you and me.”

<center>THE END</center>

LONG A/N - Hello readers...I've been seriously working on this part since 7:30 am this morning. I'm still not happy with it, but if I changed it anymore I would have deleted the whole thing. And Sarah is not home yet to even read it...she left me 2 instructions, 1). Go with what we had and 2). Drew has to make his final appearance.

Now, since I'm a slacker I couldn't remember what we *had* so I decided to throw a little extra Drew in and cross my fingers LOL!

So I just wanted to say to everyone that Sarah and I had such as great time writing this. It's funny to think back that this story started with her telling me she had a title for a fic that she wanted to write with me. I thought that sounded like a great idea, she gave me the title and I loved it, then I asked what is it going to be about and her response, "I don't know, that's your part." LOL! After about a day or so, I came up with no more than ten lines of an idea for what it could be about and together her and I worked long hours on developing an outline, and I have to say she was just brilliant (cig breaks are the shit!). Of course I was the first to deviate from the outline (such a rebel)*lol*

Anyway, to sum this up before you guys pass out, thank you. Your words and thoughts are at times what kept us going.

Last note to Sarah my *twin* - I honestly don't know if I have the capability to express to you how great of a friend you've been to me. Especially this year, I had to face one of the hardest losses of my life, and you were there for me from the first phone call. I can never tell you how much that meant to me. I can honestly say there is no one like you, and I wouldn't change that for anything. You have become one of my best friends, a friend I know I'll keep for the rest of my life. I love you!! *muah*

Hope you enjoy...


Epilogue

7 months later

The argument for the last several months between Max and Liz was, when to get married. Max didn’t want to wait longer than a month. Surprisingly enough though, Liz wanted to wait until the house was built in Atlanta. In addition to which, Liz wanted a real honeymoon and since Max could deny her nothing, they decided to wait until the season was over and Max had free time.

Now though it was the night before the wedding and their friends thought it was best that the soon-to-be bride and groom not see each other until they were at the alter.

Max grumbled about that for days but finally Liz had said that she would want it to be as traditional as possible, so of course Max then agreed.

They were both in Boston, which is where they were getting married. Liz was home with all the girls and Max was at a local hotel with the guys.

“Max, why are you calling me? You’re supposed to be having your bachelor party or whatever,” Liz sighed. She wanted him to have this time and what was he doing with it? Calling her.

“Liz, I already told you that I’ve been a bachelor for six very long years and I never strayed that far. So I see no reason for me to have a party to celebrate something I’m supposed to be leaving behind. Because I’ve already given up the bachelor life the day I met you,” Max retorted.

“Smooth Evans, so who taught you what to say to girls to get them to marry you?” Liz teased. She was lying across their bed in her pajamas, which was one of Max’s basketball jerseys.

“I’m a natural baby. So Liz, what are you wearing?” Max edged on. He had been dying to see her all day, but no such luck. He’d even gone home but Maria opened the door and then proceeded to slam it in his face. She had mumbled something under her breath about bad luck. Max, didn’t care about tradition, he and Liz were far from holding up to traditions.

“Max, can’t you be serious for just a minute? It’s only one night that we aren’t together.” Liz was trying to play it off as if it didn’t bother her that much, but she ached to be near him.

“I know. I can’t help it. I want to press up against you, and kiss you and fu— ”

“Max!” Liz reprimanded him.

“What? I was just being honest. See you can’t cut a man a break even when he’s being truthful. I see how you work, Liz. Now what are you wearing?” he edged on once again. He needed her and if he couldn’t have her, then phone sex was going to have to suffice.

“How about we talk about something else?”

“Like what?” Max asked disinterested.

“Like, I think we should do the master bathroom in white. Nice white and…”

“Liiz,” Max rolled his eyes and threw himself back on the bed.

“What?” Liz asked innocently.

“Seriously, can we talk about something else? I love you but please,” he begged.

“Oh all right! What do you want to talk about?” Max chuckled into the phone, he knew her too well. She was probably rolling her eyes and blushing, because Liz knew Max well enough to know where his line of questioning would lead.

“Are you naked?”

“Max!”

“Liz!”

“I’m not answering that,”

“Yes you will. Now are you naked under our sheets or are you laying on top of them?” Max made himself comfortable and turned the lights off. He wanted to focus solely on her voice and breathing.

“Fine! I’m wearing one of your jerseys.”

“You got anything under there?” Max whispered huskily into the phone and almost instantly he heard his fiancée gasp.

“N-no,” Liz blushed and decided she could only do this with the lights off. She reached up and turned the lamp off before returning to her position on the bed.

“Hmm, I think I like that…a lot,” he started but she cut him off.

“Max, I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can baby, because we used to do it all the time.”

“I know, but that was years ago.”

“It was wasn’t it?” Max questioned in remembrance.

“Yes, so why don’t we,” she was now cut off.

“Let’s see if you’re rusty baby. I wouldn’t mind breaking you in again,” Max smiled against the phone when heard her bite back a moan.

“Okay, but let’s make it quick.” Liz hedged on softly.

“Oh trust me, it will be quick. I fucking miss you, baby,” was his husky response.

“So, what do I do again?” Liz asked unsure of herself.

“God, all you have to do is breathe right now,” Max slowly let his hand creep into his boxers. His erection strained against the cotton material and his eyes crossed at her next words.

“Hmm, do you want me to breathe, or just moan your name?” Liz purred into the phone. Obviously, her memory was coming back to her.

“Moaning would be great, but you need to touch yourself for that to happen. So do it baby, don’t be shy,” Max hissed into the phone as he wrapped hand around his thickness.

“Max…” Liz moaned into the phone.

“God, baby are you touching yourself?” he asked as he stroked himself, up and down.

“Y-yes,” Liz moaned out.

“I…”

“Max! You in there man?!” Max growled into the phone and tried to ignore the pounding on his hotel room door. It was pointless.

“Liz,” he began to apologize.

“It’s okay Max. I love you. I’ll let you go, and I’ll see you tomorrow. I’ll be the one in white,” Liz smiled into the phone. Yes, she was disappointed to be interrupted but this way it made him even hotter for her tomorrow, she thought wickedly.

“I love you too, and I can’t wait to marry you.” They finished their conversation shortly thereafter. Max threw on a pair of jeans and swung open the door roughly, he was pissed.

“Hey man, you sleeping or some shit?”

“Drew, what the fuck do you want?” Max growled out. He was in the middle of a very pleasing conversation, only to be interrupted to get interrogated by his best friend?

“Woah! Did I interrupt something? You don’t have Liz in there do you? Seriously, cause Alex will kick my ass!” Drew tried to peek around Max’s shoulder, but the room was dark.

“No! I was on the phone with her though,” Max gave Drew a pointed look and finally he caught on.

“Shit! My bad. Well since you seem to be done, you wanna grab something to eat with the fellas?” Drew really did feel back, but it was funny at the same time. He did try to hide the smirk, but Max saw it.

“Fuck you!” Max slammed the door shut and then second later opened it back up with smile on his face.

“That’s fucked up man! I would never do that shit to you,” Drew feigned innocence.

“Keep shoveling it, Drew.” Max retorted, switching on the light and grabbing a shirt and his sneakers.

“Shoveling?” Drew asked confused.

“Shit, Drew. What the fuck is wrong with you anyway?” Max asked, because honestly he couldn’t figure out how Drew didn’t get the ‘shoveling’ bit.

“Nothing,” Drew turned and waited for Max in the hall. Now Max knew for sure that something was wrong.

Max grabbed his wallet, cell phone and keys before leaving the room.

“So what’s going on?” Max asked as he and Drew walked down the hall.

“It’s Alex,”

“Oh shit, you didn’t fuck up did you?”

“No! I’m not a moron. What I’m saying is, you and Liz are getting married,”

“Yes Einstein we are, you want to move the conversation along a little?”

“What if she wants to get married? I’m not ready, at least I don’t think I am,” Drew rushed out and Max patted him no the back.

“Don’t worry, you’ll know when you’re ready,” Max said just as they reached Michael and Alex.

“Hey, so did you call Liz?” Alex asked and Max nodded.

“So did you do all the kissy, kissy shit? Or what?” Michael asked with a smirk on his face.

“Fuck all of you,” Max grumbled out and pressed the button for the elevator.

“I interrupted,” Drew mumbled out as Max reached out to punch Drew’s arm and stepped into the open elevator. He then pressed the button to close the doors.

“Sexually frustrated much?” Alex piped in.

“Hey!” All three guys yelled as Max gave them a finger as the doors closed. That’ll fix them, Max thought. He couldn’t wait to see Liz. He couldn’t wait to make her his bride.

Max wasn’t in a bad mood; it was more like he was afraid that Liz would change her mind. Maybe she would think it was a mistake.

****

“Liz, would you relax?” Maria huffed and blew a strand of hair away from her face. Liz was in her dress but she was pacing.

“What if he changes his mind? He wanted to get married a month after he proposed, what if he realizes that we’re rushing this now?” Liz nibbled on her bottom lip and resisted the urge to call Max and make sure he didn’t skip town. She knew she was thinking crazy, but this was a life-changing event.

“You’re kidding right?” Isabel asked as she sprayed some perfume on her neck.

“No,” Liz answered as if it was the most absurd question in the world.

Isabel turned and framed Liz’s face in her hands, “Liz, my brother has wanted to marry you for a very long time. Just the fact that he bought your ring so long ago, should be enough proof of just how much he wants this day to happen.” Liz took a deep breath and smiled.

“You’re right! Thank you.” Both girls hugged Liz, but Liz’s mood changed quickly as she pulled away.

“Oh no! What’s wrong?” Maria asked. And she thought she overreacted, Liz was a basket case today.

“It’s because of the both of you meddling in my life, and Max’s life that I’m here today.” Liz began getting choked up.

“No, honey. We just love to push the envelope. My brother always had plans for getting you back. It might have taken longer, but you were always part of his life plan. Even if he was a total moron,” Isabel rolled her eyes and all three girls nodded their agreement before laughing.

There was a knock on the door; it was Liz’s mother, “You ready baby?”

“Yes. I am.” Liz smiled brightly and grabbed her bouquet exiting the room.


****

“What time is it?” Max paced the room for the tenth time.

“Chill! Seriously, the rug is getting worn out.” Michael tried to calm his friend down, but nothing was working.

“You think she bailed?” Max asked seriously.

“NO!” Drew, Alex and Michael all yelled simultaneously.

“Did you see her?” Max began to pace again. He’d never been this nervous in his entire life.

“Max, have a seat my friend.” Michael coaxed him with a pat on the back. He waited until Max was seated.

“You need to get a grip. Liz wants to marry you,”

“How…”

“Ah! Don’t speak. Let me finish.” Max just nodded.

“I know because there is no way she would go through all the trouble to leave you at the alter, find another guy who dumps her right in the middle of their romance, then begs for her to take him back. No chic has that much patience to do that twice in one lifetime.” Michael shrugged.

“Wow! You know that really didn’t help me out,” Max stood and resisted the urge to run down the hall to her room.

“Max! He’s kidding, sort of.” Drew grabbed Max by the shoulders to calm him down.

“Just listen for a minute,” Drew tried to reason with him. It was the only thing he knew would work at this point.

“What?”

“Liz is a strong girl who speaks her mind. If she didn’t want to marry you, you’d be the first to know it. So, stop the pansy ass bullshit and get ready to marry the girl of your dreams.” Drew punched him in the arm as payback for last night.

Realization dawned on Max. In a way, both Michael and Drew were right; more so Drew than Michael, of course.

“You’re right! Let’s get me married,” Max clapped his hands together and made his way out the door.

The other three guys looked at each other and shook their heads, “He’s totally whipped!”

****

The ceremony was behind them and thankfully it went off without a glitch. They were now in the limo on their way to take pictures before the reception.

“So Mrs. Evans, how do you feel?” Max asked his new bride.

“I feel great! I’m so happy Max. This is one of the happiest days of my life, thank you.” Liz smiled and kissed Max’s lips gently. Max pulled her in his lap, making sure to not rip her wedding dress.

“Thank you, Liz. I love you and I’ll always love you,” Max leaned in, framed her face with his hands and kissed her deeply. He slid his tongue along her bottom lip, wanting to taste every part of her, but just as the kiss was heating up, Liz pulled away.

“Liz, don’t tease. Now is not the time to tease your husband,” Max tickled her sides gently.

“I don’t mean it honey, but I have a surprise for you,” Liz stated.

“A surprise? Does it involve skipping the reception so that I can ravish you all night?” Max winked and it earned him a slap on the arm.

“Actually you have part of it right. Do you trust me?” Liz whispered into his ear.

“With my life,” Max answered.

“Good, then let me put this on,” Liz held out a blindfold she pulled from her purse.

“Are we going to get kinky in the limo?” Max asked hopeful.

“Mind out of the gutter for like ten minutes,” Max laughed and allowed Liz to place the blindfold over his eyes.

“How long do I have to keep this on?” Max asked after what felt like fifteen minutes.

“Just a few minutes longer, now hush!”

“I love it when you get all demanding, baby.” Liz slapped his arm but then leaned in and kissed his lips.

****

They arrived at their destination a few minutes later. Liz helped Max out of the limo and into the entrance of her surprise location.

“Liz, how long do we have to walk while I have this thing on?”

“Until I tell you to take it off.” Liz smiled. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face. She walked over and pressed the play button on the CD player she brought.

I don't know what brought us here
Something in the stars said you and me
I don't know where this feeling comes from
Surely it was meant to be
For I have known you even in my dreams
My eyes are open, my heart can see

Once she was standing in front of him, she told him to take off the blindfold. Max didn’t even take in his surroundings long enough to see where he was or to decipher the music playing in the background. Instead he pulled her into his arms and kissed her breathless.

He leaned his forehead against hers and opened his eyes slowly, and he smiled. “You look beautiful.” He loved to see her blush. At that moment though, Max realized where they were.

Heaven must be holding on
To all the love I'm feeling now
Here we are this is a moment
I believe it's our turn somehow
Hearts together, hands across the night
One forever, finally in sight
I was born to give my love to you

“Liz, why are we at the arena?” he looked around and saw they were alone, but he didn’t understand why. Liz didn’t answer though.

Max watched her completely mesmerized by how beautiful she looked. She was his, forever.

“Max, I wanted to have our first dance as husband and wife right here. I wanted to give you the best of both worlds, but more importantly I want you to know that I’ll never leave you and I’ll always love you,” she finished with tears slipping down the corners of her eyes. Max couldn’t help the tears from stinging his own eyes, obviously someone told Liz about his pre-wedding freak out, he thought.

Max was speechless, so he did the only thing he could. He pulled his wife into his arms and they danced their first dance together as husband and wife.

<CENTER> ~THE END~ </CENTER>

~~~~~~


Song excerpt from: Born To Give My Love To You (by Martina McBride) (thanks to Kara for some major help this morning with the song. And to Tiffany for helping me decide)

One last thing I swear! Sarah and I are always up for writing together in the future, just don't expect the near future as we both have several things we are currently working on. You can check our Work By Author pages for more info!