The Prettiest Thing (M/L, MATURE) AN 5/2 [WIP]

[DreamerLaure]

Rowedog - I like happy too Happy dreamer just has such a ring to it. I won't make any promises nor confirm or deny ALSO Al, go to bed!

Natalie36 - Thanks!

guelbebek - You read my mind There's 2 more chapters in Roswell, then back to school

clueless - Thanks!

thetvgeneral - I concur, but happy just carries such a punch

Begonia9508 - That he is And thank you

LoveisForever - You'll be missed *hugs*

Jbehr's Chica - Aw, thank you By the way, I'm reading Punchline and it's amazing. I'll stop by once I'm caught up

Flamehair - Thanks!

behrluv32 - Not yet

Also, I've asked for this to be moved to AU with Aliens because it's become 100% Dreamer-centric, not that the last couple of parts haven't made that perfectly clear

Chapter 21

When she was outside of the Evans’ home front door, Liz hesitated. She could ring the doorbell to let him know she was here, or she could simply knock. Over these past few weeks, she’d been here often enough to know the ring of their doorbell almost as intimately as her own. While her family’s doorbell was a straight ringer, giving one simple sound when you pressed it, Max’s had an accompanying song, an assortment of high tones and low tones of three different bells that when strung together sounded really beautiful. She settled on knocking instead of ringing though, figuring it’d be okay to do that.

She was outside waiting for the door to be open for all of three minutes. It was one of the hottest days of August, and she knew it was only going to get worse from here on out before it got any better.

Liz had discarded her uniform as soon as her shift was over. First she put her headband and her work sneakers in her locker. Then she went upstairs to change into something else for the afternoon. She settled on a jeans skirt and a tank top before grabbing her keys and driving over to Max’s.

Her Mom, who was at the sink when Liz breezed through the apartment, hadn’t even gotten a word in edgewise. She hadn’t seen her daughter come in because since she was at the sink and her back was to the front door, but she did look up when she heard the door slam. No less than six minutes later, Liz closed her bedroom door, thwapped into the hallway, and chorused out an “I’ll see you later, Mom.” By the time Nancy turned around, she only saw a whisper of her daughter - the long brown hair cascading over her bare shoulders, her flip-flops as they disappeared behind the front door, and a quick glimmer of the length of her skirt.

Max heard her soft knock on the door as clearly as he would have heard the doorbell ring, in fact he had been listening for it all day. He put the Ray Bradbury book he picked up a few days before face down to mark which page he was on, then stood and went to the door.

“Hey,” said Liz breathily, and he said hello too before stepping aside so she could come in more. Then they embraced, his arms going around her waist and hers around his neck.

They were so practiced at hugging like this that it was very easy to replicate, Max leaning in towards her at an angle and Liz rising up onto the balls of her feet. Then their lips met in a passionate kiss. After the kiss ended, Max watched with veiled amusement as her hand reached out to brush back his hair. His hair was getting a little bit long, which was something she didn’t want to change, but as her fingertips pushed the long strands back so she could see his entire forehead, she smiled.

“Don’t tell me you’re getting ideas,” he teased.

“Well, I am,” began Liz, “but I promise, I only have really good intentions.” Her hand traveled from his hair down to his jaw and she smiled, “I just want to see more of your face.”

Max inhaled sharply. She was a couple of inches shorter than he was, and whenever they were as close as they were now, he could lower his eyes and see every expression that graced her face perfectly. She didn’t seem to realize the simplicity of what she had just said, but it took him aback.

Liz bit her lip in earnest, studying his face. “At least I wouldn’t have to go through the chore of coming this close to you and brushing back your hair if you did,” she said. Her voice sounded so serious though that it brought Max right back to the topic at hand, but when he looked into her eyes, all he saw was a hint of a smile that promised to break free at any second.

“A chore, huh?” he asked. He had a determined look on his face when he leaned in again. Max unwound one hand from around her waist and threaded his fingers through her hair. The kiss was briefer than their first one but it left them both craving more. He mingled his breaths with hers as she pressed her forehead against his, and when he bent his head for more, she interrupted him by continuing, with the smile he’d been looking for, “It’s a really good chore, though,” and Max smiled against her lips.

He was the first to pull away a moment later, and then she took his hand as he led her to the couch. Their plan had been to watch a movie that afternoon at his house, and order a pizza a little later. His Dad was working on a case that required that he proceed with all of the hearings in Albuquerque, so he would be away from home for a couple of days. When Max first suggested the afternoon, Liz had asked about his Mom and he explained that she’d be home later, because she was doing some shopping errands that afternoon, which was fine. A mischievous thought that they could work around that floated through Liz’s mind, and that would most likely happen again tonight. Anytime that they were at either his or her houses, one of their parental units were there, so they always had to work around it.

It was probably just a coincidence that their parents happened to be around like that, but Liz wasn’t particularly unhappy with the situation. Of course, both she and Max would be frustrated if they were interrupted, but overall, she was happy with how everyone got along. Liz could only look back fondly though at the first time her parents had met Max’s. It had been very casual, and both sets of parents had met when the Evans came in for breakfast with Max one morning about two weeks after they started dating again. It happened to be one of the days that Liz’s mother had off from the bank, where she worked as a receptionist, and her Dad had been taking inventory.

Neither Max nor Liz had planned it, or even given much thought to when something like this would happen. In Liz’s mind, his parents accepting her and her parents accepting him seemed like something even more special, so then imagine her surprise when the Evans came in and her Mom motioned for her to come over.

Liz had been working for about an hour so far, but she had worked the night before and honestly, one of the things that was getting her through her shift at that moment was the thought that the weekend was just around the corner, and that later that night she’d be going out with Max.

She’d been glowing though ever since Max stepped into the restaurant. He had the day off from the Convention Center, and he hadn’t had breakfast there in more than three days. The jangle of the bells on the Crashdown door had pulled Liz’s attention away from the couple she was serving, and once she regained her awareness of everything outside of Max as he walked in with a sly smile, she gave her divided attention to the couple; every few seconds she’d look up and find Max with her eyes.

Then Liz saw his parents come in a couple of minutes later. It was the first time she was seeing them in the Crashdown since she had come back home, and surprisingly, as she made her way over to their table to take their orders, she realized that she wasn’t nervous at all. The realization came to her out of the blue, and it was something she had been slowly working towards, and now that she was heading over to them, her usual feelings of worry and anxiety, and thoughts that they wouldn’t like her weren’t present in her mind at all. Maybe all of that had gradually gone away, because now she was confident that they liked her as much as she liked them, and that was a really good feeling.

Most of the times she had come over to the Evans’s home, Diane had been home, and had greeted Liz enthusiastically, and Philip was just as nice too. If Liz called to speak to Max, sometimes Diane kept her on the phone for ten to twenty minutes, talking about everything under the sun and it was only when she overheard a grumpy Max in the background that she knew for certain she’d finally get to talk to him. Sometimes Diane would even tell her that Max just stepped outside and would be right back, when he was in fact in the living room or in his room. Liz thought it was wonderful though; she wouldn’t wish it any other way.

On their way to Roswell at the beginning of the summer, she had worried that Max might have told them something about her that was really positive, only to have to call a few months later and explain something else entirely.

“I didn’t tell them,” Max had said after they had passed the New Mexico state line.

She didn’t have to ask how he knew what she was thinking about since they had just discussed, briefly, the phone calls to home they placed at the gas station a quarter of a mile back.

“Oh,” was all she had said at the time, and for the next few minutes, she pondered why he hadn’t. It’s not that she thought she really merited telling his parents about, especially after what they had decided to do after she found out about who he was, but it still took her by surprise.

Max’s voice had been much softer later when he quietly admitted, “They don’t know what I am either.”

“Oh, Max,” she said quickly, and when Max glanced at her he saw how sympathetic she was.

Liz didn’t know what to say. Even though she had just what he needed in her heart – comfort – she couldn’t find words to give him right then.

“It’s okay,” Max said quietly. “I’m used to it…”

She looked up at him and said, “You shouldn’t have to hide who you are from everyone, Max.”

“I always have had to, Liz, it’s just a part of my life, and who I am. Isabel, Michael and I didn’t know what we were when we were younger, we just knew that we were different and that something was standing in the way of us being normal, like everyone else. And then when we started to realize what we were, there was something so personal about it that we knew no one would understand. So, we couldn’t tell anyone for the longest time, and it was easier that way.”

He saw the skepticism painted clearly on her face as she said, “It’s never easy to have to lie about who you are or hide who you are.”

“It’s easier because it’s safer,” he said gently.

Both Max and Liz had fallen into their own thoughts after, the car ride strangely quiet on the next stretch on the highway road. She hadn’t known what to expect at the beginning of the summer, but Diane and Philip had been nothing short of welcoming, always treating her the same. They hadn’t been unfriendly the first time they met her nor when less than a few weeks later Philip came home to a darkened house one evening and when he flicked on the lights, startled Liz out of Max’s lap and onto the living room floor.

So, as Liz walked over to them with the menus, she was genuinely not just smiling at Max. She laughed when Philip set up an obvious layout for a joke at all the appropriate moments, and she received the compliments that Diane gave her about the Crashdown politely, even adding little anecdotes about the history of it. Max was the only one who was really quiet when she came over, but each time she looked at him, he was watching her intently.

While Liz was taking down their orders, her Mom had been watching them, and as soon as Liz came over to the counter, she asked, “Are those Max’s parents, the Evans?”

Liz looked up at her Mom and nodded, “Yeah, they came in for breakfast today, too.”

Nancy stole a glance at them again when she thought Liz wasn’t looking but when she turned her attention back to Liz, she saw her smile. “What?”

“Where’s Dad?” Liz asked. “Maybe you can meet them.”

Her Dad wasn’t too far from her Mother but he hadn’t been paying much attention until Liz’s suggestion. Yes, he had seen Max come into the Crashdown, and while he was crunching numbers and looking heavenwards, praying that he could get through this inventory list sooner, his gaze had fallen on the goofy grin Max sported as his eyes followed her. He had seen maybe once or twice how much Liz was smiling too, or just looking back at Max, and maybe he could no longer deny that Liz wasn’t just happier than she had been at Thanksgiving; she was happier in a way he had never seen before.

However, he wasn’t sure yet. This was happening a little too quickly for Jeff. At Liz’s suggestion, he quickly looked up and then back down. He overheard his wife agreeing to go over and without having to look up again, he knew his daughter was looking at him expectantly.

“Dad?” Liz came over to his side of the counter and placed her hands on the counter. “They’re really nice.”

Liz watched the gamut of emotions and thoughts that played out on her father’s face. Some were as familiar as old fishing trips from when she was younger, ones like pride, and others were as young as the start of this summer, ones like worry and the ones he seemed to reserve for every time that she mentioned Max. The strongest thing she recognized was that he was about to give in.

Jeff put his pen down on his cliff board and Liz stood with him and tugged him over to the table.

Max had told her once that her Dad made him nervous, and she’d only smiled. How could that be possible? She knew her Dad as perfectly nice and a great guy to be around, so she didn’t know where this was coming from. Max claimed that Jeff hadn’t smiled at him once all summer, and although that thought made Liz observe her father and Max while they were in the same room a little more carefully, she was pleased that her Mom and her grandmother loved Max.

It was clear how much the Evans liked Liz and how much Nancy liked Max while they were all talking, but Liz couldn’t get a good feel of whether or not her Dad liked Max. It still remained a mystery to her, but still, it was more than enough that he was at least trying.

So, when Max and Liz found themselves at Max’s house all alone without any real interruptions, while the movie tape was in the rewinder, they found a way to make the time pass a little quicker. By placing one of her hands on his back just under his shoulder and another on the small of his back, she hugged him close, while deepening one of the best kisses of her life. She nearly whimpered when he started to pull away to take out the tape, but before he stood, he kissed her softly and quickly on the lips.

As Max was moving away from her, Liz became aware of how disheveled she actually was, so she stood along with him but squeezed his hand so he wouldn’t move away so fast.. She wound one hand around his neck, rose up on her toes, and kissed him deeply. “I’ll be right back,” she mumbled against his lips before moving away. She tucked several loose strands of her hair behind her ear as she went off in search of a mirror. Her legs felt like jelly as she walked away, and once she was in the hallway, she breathed in shakily.

When she rounded the corner, Max ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation, and his next breath was shallow as he breathed in like the air in the room was in very short supply and he needed it all. It was going to be a long night.

[DreamerLaure]

Rowedog Ha, I remember that, but then I also told you to go bed, again after that.

thetvgeneral Thanks for the thumbs-up!

clueless Thank you

Begonia9508 Thank you - yes, Diane is missing Isabel

Flamehair Aw, thank you I just looked at your ticker again, you're close, right? How exciting

Natalie36 Thank you

behrluv32 Here you go, this one's all about the "tonight"

dreamonThank you

Loveisforever Hi! That is great!

dreamerfrvrp3 Thanks for the bump

Yipes, we've been pruned I think though, that's a really good thing. Again, thanks so much for the feedback. I can’t say it’s helping me write anymore (that's happening on its own!) but it is helping me post, which is more than I could have ever hoped for


Chapter 22

When the ending credits of Jerry Maguire began to stream down the screen, Max found himself reluctant to end the night just yet. While she was in the bathroom, Max had put in the video only to let the previews play while he waited for her, and when she came back they started the movie together. Then she sat beside him on the couch, and halfway during the movie, she opted to settle between his legs, her back against his chest.

Max lazily drew circles on her wrist while they watched the credits, the circles becoming smaller and smaller and the touch of his finger lighter and lighter until she even thought he might not be touching her. When she was certain that he wasn’t, she tilted her head up to look at him, instantly getting lost in a heated staring match with him.

“So my parents drove my grandmother out to the reservation to meet an archaeologist she used to know,” Liz said. “He’s doing all of this interesting research with the rocks from the caves up there.”

She felt Max nod and she continued, “and they said they weren’t coming back until the morning.”

Liz swore she felt him breathing heavier now, but she wasn’t sure yet. She sat up and placing a hand on his chest, told him, “So, I don’t have to go home yet.”

Though her words sounded bold and were filled with meanings that made Max long to touch her, he noticed she seemed really alert now, when just two seconds ago she’d been as listless as he was.

Turning to him suddenly, “Max, do you remember back in June, when we were coming home and we were talking in the car?”

“What were we talking about?” he asked, wanting to grasp her frame of reference. “We talked a lot on our way down.”

As soon as he said the words, he did regret it, because looking back, he was a fool to have wasted all of the time he had with her in the car not talking. Their drive home had been tense then. The both of them had needed to talk about something and everything, but they hadn’t been able to get there. The both of them also wanted more, and in their own ways had come to the conclusion that they couldn’t have it all.

Liz wouldn’t meet his eyes. “We didn’t really,” she said gently.

“Do you remember when we were crossing the state border, how you told me that you were used to hiding who you were and telling no one about it?”

Max nodded. He was uncertain about why this meant so much to her, but also curious where she was headed with this.

“I’ve been wondering why you told me.”

Max was surprised that she asked him that. A part of him half expected that would be the one question of hers he wouldn’t really have to answer. Looking back to when they had been together the first time around, he had always felt as if he were holding a part of himself back when he was around her.

His sister had been surprised when he told her that Liz knew everything. It’d only been a week after he told Liz that Isabel had called and somehow wrangled the truth out of him.

“So you told her,” Isabel sighed, her words coming out more like a statement after his rambled retelling than as a question.

Max waited with baited breath, he was half expecting her to yell or just hang up on him. He caught himself, no that would be too dramatic – she wouldn’t, couldn’t be angry with him for exposing their identity to someone else, someone she could barely remember. Nearly every time that he brought up Liz on the phone, Isabel had to try to picture the slight brunette in her mind. One day, she’d even asked Max to open up his yearbook simultaneously with her so he could point her to this girl’s picture. It took all of one second before it all clicked into place and for Isabel over the phone to emit an, “Oh.”

She remembered Liz Parker in high school – bright, intelligent, somewhat shy, but really wholesome; she fit the mold of the all American girl so naturally, while Isabel had to resort to climbing the ladder of popularity to even appear to have that same ease.

And Max had been talking about her a lot this semester. He must really love her, Isabel thought to herself.

She didn’t tell her brother this though. Instead, she said softly into the receiver, “What’d she say?”

Max hesitated, “She said she wanted to get to know the real me.”

“Oh,” Isabel said. She hadn’t been expecting more or less, and really, although her awareness that this girl meant so much to her brother had been growing stronger, she hadn’t anticipated thinking beyond what were to happen once he did tell her. She’d thought about what could compel him to tell her, but she hadn’t even given a second thought to how Liz would react.

Isabel then added, “Max that sounds okay.”

Liz interpreted his silence for deep pondering thoughts, so she began thinking too. She hoped he hadn’t told her because he felt like he should have. She knew he had been worried about that though, that the way they were then and how she felt about him would be altered once she knew everything about him and there were no bars between them.

Instead of answering her question though, he said, “I didn’t plan to,” and she looked at him, her eyes flashing with a dash of mischief. He really hadn’t been expecting not to tell her, right?

Max rushed to add, “or at least not like that.”

“Right,” Liz said. She chewed her lip thoughtfully.

“But you were the first person I wanted to tell,” Max said softly, his breath falling on her cheek.

She turned her face and smiled. His face was mere inches away from hers now. Even though she hadn’t noticed when he came so close, she was appreciative of the lack of distance between them.

Max covered her lips with his in a soft kiss that was so light and feathery that she was the one seeking out his lips for more. And he gave her more until their mouths were attached the way she loved best. Liz reached her hand up to curl her fingers around his neck, pulling him down over her.

“Max,” she whispered into his mouth. He smiled down at her lazily. “I’m glad you told me like that,” and his smile widened considerably.

Liz fit her fingers over his chest as the kiss deepened and it was only the light of Diane Evans’s car that shone through the living room that broke their kiss.

However dazed Max might have been, he saw the light too. Liz blushed furiously, antsy at the prospect of meeting Diane Evans in her state of undress, and when Max nuzzled his face into her neck, she was the one pushing his chest. “Max,” she giggled, “no, we can’t…we have to s-s-stop.”

Her giggle became a solid laugh as he bit her playfully. She rolled her eyes. “You’re incorr – er, you’re…”

She was having a hard time remembering the word when Max suddenly offered, “Incorrigible?”

“Yeah, that’s it,” Liz sighed with a smile.

They heard the distinct sputter of the engine as Diane turned the car off and Liz began to pull away.

“No, wait.” Max stood quickly and grabbing her arm, he brought her right up to him, “C’me here,” he whispered.

The two clamored up the stairs together, Max’s hand on the small of her back, and her hand looped around his waist. Climbing the stairs at once instead of one after the other proved even more difficult as they were clinging to each other and trying to suppress their laughter as they made their way upstairs.

A few seconds later, Diane opened the front door with her key, somehow having managed to bring in four bags with her.

“Max!” she called out, but there was no reply.

The house seemed silent.

Oh, he must have gone out, she thought to herself, and taken Liz somewhere.

* * * * *

Weightless.

That was the only word Liz could think of to describe the way she was feeling right now as Max closed his mouth over hers again and again. He would only pull back to suck in a ragged breath every now and then, and the seconds that went by before he needed to breathe in again always coincided with her need to do so. His right hand cupped the side of her jaw, holding her face as his tongue brushed against hers fervently, and his left palm was sprawled out on the wall behind her.

She was trapped between his bedroom wall and the solid body of Max Evans, and as it would turn out, this is exactly where she wanted to be.

He was just as dazed, driven, and caught up as she was, blinded by this need to feel her too. Max brought his right hand down over face and past her hair until it came to settle on her hips. His fingers went over the top of her skirt, right over the belt hoop, in a gesture that meant he wanted to feel her waist, but couldn’t because of the clothes between them. Though, as soon as his hands slid down around her sides and he rested his hands around her waist, Liz was amazed to realize was that his palms fit around her perfectly.

The only reason she hadn’t been reduced to a spasm of giggles yet as she often was whenever he touched her where she was ticklish was because she was as into the moment as he was.

But when his hand began the familiar trek up her shirt, she shivered, and instantly Max stilled. He stopped his invasive exploration of her mouth for a more deeper and personal exploration as he peered down into her brown eyes.

He was bemused to see the smile that was slowly fading away from her lips, but he feigned ignorance and nuzzling his face by her ear, “What are you smiling at?” he asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” she laughed as he let out a puff of air on her neck while she replied. She gripped his shoulders as he found her ears and tickled them with his breath then his tongue.

“Ah, Max.”

He knew all about her ticklish nature already, but tonight, he was very curious about how far and where it extended to.

“Are you ticklish here?”

Liz was sure that something was wrong with her knees because when he tentatively licked the spot behind her earlobe, she sank even more into his arms. Max felt her slipping and he clutched her waist.

“N-n-n-no,” she managed.

Max darted his eyes to her flushed face at the angle afforded him as he caressed her neck with his nose. Though her eyes were closed, he saw a pleased and satisfied smile grace her lips.

“Then why are you still smiling?”

She wiped the smile off quickly as best she could and then scrunched up her face. “I’m not ticklish there,” she challenged, sounding like she was going to stick by that for all that she was worth.

Max smiled at the pout that rumpled her features. She was so beautiful without even realizing it or flaunting it. He moved in to kiss her cheek, but whispered first, his voice low and husky, “Are you sure?”

She nodded jerkily. When Liz lifted her arms to wrap them around his neck, Max brought his lips down on hers. As their kiss became more heated, the hand Max had previously resting on the wall beside her he brought up behind her hair to gently coax her to lean away so he could have better access.

Once she did, Max began by pressing slow, gentle kisses up the length of her neck. The passion contained in each of these kisses made Liz catch her breath in between them and exhale sharply as he placed one after another. He meandered longer than was necessary as he made his way up, pausing as he pressed his lips against her skin and in response, Liz gripped his shoulder and waist even tighter.

When their lips met again, he pulled back a second later to mumble, “Are you ticklish here?”

His hands had slid up the back of her shirt again, his palms curving around her waist and her upper back. When before she had shivered, right now all she felt was satisfied by the way he was holding her. She rested her chin on his neck and let her breath graze his ear as she whispered, “Nope.”

Then Max slid his right hand up under the arm she had draped around his neck and at the slightest brush of his skin against hers, Liz squirmed in an effort to get away. She pried his hand off of her waist and spun around only to be faced with even more of Max Evans than she’d intended to. He held his arms around her in a loose hug while her giggles subsided. Max didn’t know what was prompting the slowing of her breath while he was holding her close, he thought it was just the effect of her calming down, but she was more than aware of how attracted he was to her in that moment.

She pressed back into him and feeling bold, she slipped her hand behind her and between them. His chin fell heavily on her shoulder and she caressed his cheek with hers. The sudden loud footfall as someone made their way down the stairs made her practically jump out of his arms. “Max,” she whispered, “I thought you said she left.”

“I thought she did, but I wasn’t 100% positive…”

“Max!” she cried, blushing crimson now.

He kissed her neck again, making her anger subside for a second and then he whispered by her ear, “Listen,” and she stilled in his arms again.

Sure enough they heard the car start up again and even pull out of the driveway, too. “See?” Max said gently, “She’s gone.”

Liz snorted, “You said she left like ten minutes ago. If I’d known your mother was still here, I’d never have let you kiss me like that,” she scolded.

Max grinned. He was still holding her but now she was facing him and she noticed right away. “Max!”

He didn’t hesitate from leaning forward and capturing her lips with his. “You know you would have.”

Though her lips were occupied, Liz nodded her head.

The house was empty, and it was just Max and Liz in it alone. His mother thought he had taken Liz out somewhere, his father thought this was just any other ordinary date, and her parents thought she would be ending the date in a matter of hours, and going home to sleep in her own bed.

So, it confused him when she broke their heated kissing a few seconds later by pressing a chaste kiss to his lips and untangling herself from his arms.

“Liz?” Max whispered as she slipped away.

She held his hand in hers and guided him towards the bed with her. Then she let go and moved her hands to the edge of her tank top and slowly lifted it up and over her head. When it was off, she shook her hair so that it freely spread out over her shoulders and she looked up at Max. His palm felt cool around her waist when she took his arm and put it there.

Max hesitated when she resumed kissing him as before. Something felt more charged about it now. He lifted his mouth from hers, “Liz, are you sure?”

She ducked her head for a moment before looking up at him again and smiling, “Max, this is exactly what I want.”

She took his hand and pulled him towards her gently. “I’m sure,” and their lips met in a hungry kiss, one that promised to last well into the morning.

[DreamerLaure]

AN Thanks guys!
Rowedog
clueless
guelbebek
behrluv32

Chapter 23

The kiss grew heated and each time Max wanted to break the kiss, something as simple as her tongue sliding over his or her fingers curling around the hair at the nape of his neck made him not want to stop. He was the first to pull away though.

She looked up at him uncertainly, confused by him stopping, but then he said, “I want this too; there’s nothing I want more,” admitting it easily. And this was true; he’d never wanted anything more before. He had never felt this way about anyone ever before and somehow he knew he never would again.

She finally chanced looking up at him then and satisfied with what she saw there, she continued touching him.

Liz started sliding her hands up the front of his chest heading towards his collar, but he held her hands away from him. It was much easier to think this way now, and even form a coherent thought if she wasn’t touching him. The cloud of doubt that had been only growing bigger in his mind ever since he’d started falling for Liz was back at the forefront now. He was finding it hard to tell her this, but he knew he had to say it. “Liz, I don’t know everything there is to know about me and if something were to happen – ”

“You’re worried about me,” she finished softly, stating it instead of asking for she understood. When she pulled back from him, Max could see the disappointment in her features. That smile of hers that he made happen just a moment ago, the one that he had been so confident he would never forget was replaced so easily. But above all of that he also saw understanding in her eyes.

He found it difficult at that moment to say anything more about it because right then he would have given anything to be normal and be able to express how much he cared about her in every way that he wanted. And care for her he did. His heart went triple time just about every time he even saw her.

That hadn’t changed since the very first time he saw her playing in the Roswell Elementary playground just as he was coming off the bus to the first time he saw her at school in the café all the way up to a simple day at the Crashdown last week. And sometimes he’d be so at a loss for exactly what to say that he’d worry, for that’s how great his fear was that she wouldn’t feel the same about him or wouldn’t accept him. And still, she had been nothing but loving in return, and Max felt incredibly lucky to even be around her.

He nodded stiffly, but he also made an effort not to push her away at that moment. Max pulled her back into his arms and wrapped his arms around her, enveloping her small body into everything that was him, hoping she’d find comfort. Liz tucked her head under his chin, splayed her hands across his back, and pressed her chest into his. The nature of the hug and where it could lead was anything but chaste but what both Max and Liz needed they drew from that hug, from just being near each other: strength.

Liz suddenly lifted her head away and she looked up at him, her eyes filled with hope. “Max, I don’t care,” she said suddenly.

She stepped back just enough so he could look into her eyes and see everything she was feeling. “I want you, Max,” she said. “I want to be with you.”

Max’s voice felt caught in his throat; he knew he should say something. He didn’t want her to risk all of this for him.

But Liz rose up on her toes and kissed his earlobe softly. Max swallowed hard and holding the back of her head while she kissed her way down to his jaw, he tried to find his voice. He really shouldn’t let this go any further tonight; there were a million reasons not to, the first and most important of which was that he didn’t know what could happen, and there was only one reason to keep going, but… that felt so good.

“L-L-Liz,” he stuttered shakily; already his knees were already starting to give out, apparently she had found a really sensitive spot.

He couldn’t see it but Liz was smiling while she nibbled his ear. She would gently bite and lick, and the switching between the two was making Max very weak in his knees. And her hands had even found their way to the top button of his shirt as she started to undo his shirt.

She turned her head away from him so she could look down at the last remaining buttons, and her fingers skimmed the top of his jeans when she neared the end. She hesitated for a second but then decided to first pull off his shirt.

“If something were to happen to you, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself,” he said sadly but he was hoping this would dissuade her a little.

“And what about you?” she said back.

“Huh?” Max stuttered.

She had one hand resting over his heart. “What if something were to happen to you?”

Max blinked. He had never even thought about that, his first thought had always concerned her: what would happen to Liz when they made love (and the question had always been when and not if), and what he would do to help her if that happened.

“There’s no way to know that either,” Max said slowly.

Liz nodded. “I know. I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself either.” She looked up at him gently, waiting for him.

She didn’t have to wait long though because his answer to her unvoiced question of in spite of knowing all of the risks whether or not he wanted this was yes. He put his hands around her waist and kissed her softly. The kiss gave way to their desires, and when he knew she needed air probably just as much as he did, he settled his mouth over her neck.

When his mouth covered hers again, she broke the kiss first and then hugged him to her body again. “You think I could – Max, could I get sick?” she asked.

He could tell she was scared. “No,” he said quickly. Liz nodded, but being realistic, he also added, “I don’t think you can, but Liz, I don’t know.”

His voice was muffled once she found her way back to his mouth, and he gave up on talking, losing himself completely in their kiss. Only when she broke the kiss could Max remember what he had been talking about, but she spoke first.

“Max, I know you’re worried and that you think it,” she hesitated and looking down at their entwined hands, “this, us isn’t safe, but there’s no way of us knowing anything for certain. This is all new for me too, and the only way we can know is if we find out together.”

Liz caressed the side of his face. “And, if you really want to stop, I’ll stop,” she added and Max’s eyes darkened. Liz noticed, but she continued anyway as if she had never stopped. “Actually, it’s even getting late, so maybe you could take me home?” she asked innocently.

She was about to turn around and spin away from him when his arm came to rest around her waist. She heard the sharp intake of air just inches above her, and finally she looked up at him. He said earnestly, “Liz, I don’t want to stop,” and then he cupped her face and initiated their next kiss. Max held her in his arms and together they started to discard more clothing.

When he felt the feather light touch of her fingers as she trailed her hands down his chest, he helped her by shrugging out of his shirt. Then Max slid his hands up her back to undo the clasp to her bra. She even buried her head in his chest while he reached around her, making it possible for him to even look over her shoulder, which he did. Then together they took small steps back to his bed, and slowly lowered down to sitting, all the while never pulling away. She slid one arm up from around his waist to around his shoulders and neck as she sat, and Max leaned in towards her before placing one hand down on the bed beside her.

When they paused, Max looked into her eyes and he only saw love reflected back at him, a love so powerful that it stunned him. He never believed anyone could ever love him this way or even this much. Love from his family, the one he’d managed to make out of the Evans and Isabel and Michael, he had come to expect. This, however, what was happening between him and Liz, was something extraordinary. He had never felt more accepted and cherished in his life.

On her end, she felt it too, something strong and indescribable washing over her. She couldn’t place what it was yet. But once he said it she knew.

Max whispered her name twice, bringing her out of her daze, and she focused on his gentle eyes. He stroked her cheek and said reverently, “Liz, I love you.”

That’s when she knew, and she didn’t hesitate from responding with, “I love you, Max.”

And in the morning she would remember how his nose brushed over her collarbone, how the pad of his thumb pressed into her hip, and how his palm encircled her waist. She’d remember how the strands of his hair, the ones she had always thought needed to be trimmed, tickled her stomach. She’d remember his lips languidly kissing the expanse of skin right under her navel, and his hands holding her instep before he edged back up and entered her. Her favorite memory of her first time would be how his chest was pressed against hers…and the moment that followed. She would never forget how she saw a hundred and one bright colors, and the sky and stars hurtling fast all around her to a destination unknown.

The flashes that came as soon as they joined were quick and fleeting, yet somehow Max and Liz held onto a piece of each, a piece of the other.

What Liz would also never forget was how after she felt so complete, like nothing could ever come between them. He was just as much hers as she was his.

[DreamerLaure]

Alison – thanks, and cemented they are *sigh* I owe you a pm right?

Clueless - Oh, so that’s how it works? Well, looks like you beat me again. And, good tradition

Steph - sorry for the confusion, and thank you!

Flamehair - Thanks! I’m sorry, this was pruned and moved to AU with Aliens in the same week, it was pretty easy to miss, and wow, that’s soon

Behrluv32 - Lol Yeah, they need one of those smilies, I know exactly what you mean. Thanks!

Natalie - Thanks!

Loveisforever - Hi! Here’s more!

Tamashii - Hi! Yeah, she hasn’t yet. Have faith though

Eve - You’re sweet! I’ll take them all! I can’t choose either

Kate - Thank you so much! What a nice thing to say, and it’s my pleasure to be sharing this story with all of you

Guel - Should I post earlier so you can actually read on Sunday? I’ll try for next time, okay. Though, Alison always has to wait until Monday night lol

Alien614 - Thank you!


Chapter 24
Hand in hand, Max and Liz made their way up to the second floor of the Crashdown, slowly. Her front door represented an end to the night, and their last kiss for the night, too. When they reached it, Liz took out her key, unlocked it, and stepped inside. Holding her hand, still, Max followed her.

Liz let go of his hand for a second to find some sort of lighting. She felt a bit disoriented once she had come in because since her Grandmother had come to stay, little things were rearranged, and often. It seemed as if Nancy and Claudia were waging some private war of décor – Claudia wanted the framed picture of her and her second husband on the first table that faced people as they entered the apartment while Nancy wanted that picture with all of the other pictures on the mantelpiece, and if Claudia won that battle for that day, the mantelpiece would have a gap in its arrangement. Nancy wanted the rug in the living room to be horizontal to the couches, and Claudia thought it should be right underneath the coffee table in the center of the room. And, even the lamp they couldn’t decide on.

She knew it’d either be on the right side of the apartment, Claudia’s favorite side, or on the left, so when her hand grasped air she knew it was on the other, the right indeed. Maybe her Grandmother had won that round, or maybe her Mom just hadn’t seen it yet. The switch went on with a soft click, punctuating a silence she hadn’t realized had sprung up between her and Max.

“Hey,” she said quietly as she came over to where he was and stood in front of him. Max turned and looked down at her, and smiled a lopsided grin.

He suddenly wanted to tell her something and holding her in his arms gave him all the courage he’d ever need. “Liz, tonight was incredible,” he said, while his arms slid up her arms and came to rest around her frame, his hands finding the soft curve at the small of her back and fitting to her body like a missing puzzle piece.

She wouldn’t let her hands be idle, either, and she returned with just as much enthusiasm, “Yes it was, Max, and it meant so much to me!” He looked down into her shining eyes, and angled his head down towards hers before sealing their lips with what he intended to be just a quick kiss. On the other hand, the kiss was just what they needed to get started again.

There was never any more proof that either of them needed that one kiss was never enough than just experiencing the first contact on any given day. At the first brush of his lips against hers, Max framed her face in his hands and continued kissing her until she parted her lips so he could slip his tongue inside of her mouth. The kiss became more heated until the need to breathe in for real pried them apart.

He molded his hands around her waist; Liz anchored him, but once he’d breathed in, the fog hadn’t cleared yet. He still wanted her. The back of his hand felt soft and warm on her cheek and she believed that if her breathing slowed any more, her thoughts would fall back down the line like her senses had. Then she’d really be far gone. Even breathing in though wasn’t safe. One of his arms fell to her waist with both of her hands on his chest, there was very little space between them. So, each time she breathed in, she inhaled not only a mouthful of air, but also a mouthful of Max, and well, he smelled delicious.

“I should go,” Max breathed. An end to the night…he could pull himself together and end what had been one of the best nights of his life. Still, it felt like it was ending too soon.

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, you should go.” She rubbed his chest in an up and down motion, waiting for him to take the first step.

The way her lips were parted made him want to put his mouth against hers once more, and he knew without a doubt as he watched her chest rise and fall even less that she wanted one more kiss just as much as he did. “Good night, Liz,” he said, and he turned his hand over so he was cupping her face.

She swallowed, her heart slowing down. Liz turned her face even more into his hand, and she felt him breathe in sharply. As soon as she looked up and her eyes met his, without preamble he bent and captured her lips with his in a languid kiss. As the moments ticked by, Liz fell even more into his embrace. He was just ending the kiss when she slid one arm up his chest to come around his neck, and burrowing her fingers into the hair at the very back of his head, tugged him and their lips met once more.

Then Max stroked the side of her face, whispered, “Good night, love,” before stepping away and fumbling with the door, all the while, maintaining eye contact with her.

“Max,” she giggled, when he seemed reluctant to just turn around. “Max, you have to twist,” and she crossed the room until she was right in front of him, and reaching around his waist, twisted the doorknob for him and edged the door open.

Liz noticed how he was looking at her, and she wasn’t one to let a good moment go by. She reached up and briefly pressed her mouth against his. “Night.”

It was a heady and disheveled Max that stumbled out of her doorway and into the hallway. And it wasn’t even until he had reached his car and taken a couple of minutes, did the world stop spinning.

On his car ride home, the turn of events of the night began to hit him, and when he came into his house, and closed the door, his huge smile didn’t go unnoticed by his Mom. She however, went unnoticed by him, and it was only when she said, loudly, “Max!” that he realized she was home.

“Mom!”

She frowned. “Max, why are you shouting?”

He looked down, embarrassed, and mumbled, “I didn’t know you were here. You surprised me.”

“I just got home a couple of minutes ago. Good thing you missed me, you might have had to help me with the groceries,” she said lightheartedly, breaking the ice, and Max grinned. “How was your date, where did you two go?” she asked.

“Huh?” It wasn’t so much the first half of her question that’d surprised him, but the last part certainly had. Max frowned; they’d been home all night, what’d she mean?

“You and Liz,” Diane clarified. Now she was frowning too, but she persisted. “I forgot something at the grocery store, but I came home first around eight and it was only when I started unpacking everything that I realized that I’d left something there. Hmm, come to think of it, I wanted to grab a sweater from my room. I think I’m running low on laundry, which is surprising because I did a load a few days ago.”

Max was still frowning; he loved when his Mom went off on tangents, but he didn’t really see what this had to do with where he and Liz had been or more importantly what they’d been doing…wait, she couldn’t tell, right?!

Max’s eyes widened in alarm, was he glowing, was his shirt lopsided – he loved when Liz pulled at his shirt and as of tonight, he loved her even more because her unbuttoning or buttoning his shirt for him had been so sensual. Max started yanking at his shirt collar, and tugging on his shirt, all at once, in a desperate effort to not look disheveled while Diane was busy contemplating what day she had actually done the laundry. When her gaze returned to Max, she frowned again.

“Max? What’s wrong?”

“I-I-I’m just tired,” he said. Max started to back up to the stairs. …if he could just get there, he could finally get up to the second floor, and reach his bedroom, home plate! He couldn’t take the scrutiny anymore!

“Oh,” Diane surveyed him under lowered eyes, but she continued, “Well, I had to go back, I really need some EVO…”

“EVO?” Max scratched his forehead. He just wanted to go and here she was confusing him.

“Extra Virgin Olive Oil,” she clarified, causing Max to become even more flustered. How could she possibly know! “Max, don’t you remember,” she paused. “I gave you a cooking lesson last week.”

He nodded, mistrustful of even being able to use his voice right now.

“Well, I need some for the pasta recipe I’m making for our dinner tomorrow.” Diane was aware that Max was backing up to the stairs, but instead of ending the conversation like he wanted her to, she stepped forward and rested her elbow on the banister. Smiling up at Max, “So, how was tonight?”

Honestly, she was so happy for her son. She’d never seen him happier, and she really couldn’t ask for a better girlfriend than Liz. The countless times she’d spoken to her this summer had assured her of what she was starting to believe in her heart too, that Liz was a terrific girl.

“It was … good,” Max colored a little. “Great, actually.”

Diane smiled and nodded. Max was about to take the first step up, when she jumped in, “When I left the house this afternoon, you were here waiting for her to come over. What’d you two end up doing?”

“Umm, we just watched a movie…we went to the movies.” Yeah, that sounded better to his ears.

“Oh, great. Good time to go. Well, how’d you like the new theater?”

“Huh?” Max did a double take. Why were there so many holes in his alibi!

“The new theater…the one on third, remember they were reconstructing.”

“Oh…umm, we went to the one in East Roswell.”

Diane frowned. “Hmm, I don’t think I know that one.” She smiled wistfully, “Well, I’ll bet that one is nicer too. There’s something wonderful about seeing an untouched side of things, something that you know that’s been around and seen all kinds of changes.”

She looked back at Max and noticed how pale he was. Studying Max carefully, she asked, “Max, is everything alright?”

“Uh, it’s great. I’m good.”

“Okay,” Diane said. As she was leaving the living room to go back into the kitchen, she glanced at him once more, saying, “Oh, I washed that shirt in the last load, where’d you find it?”

Max tried to wipe away the grin that was forming on his face because just thinking about this shirt that he was wearing was making him laugh. Liz had gotten up to find a shirt for him to wear and to put on her clothes, too. She wrapped his fitted sheet around her body like a toga as she scooped her clothes up into a bundle and went into his bathroom. She’d disappeared for all but a moment, and when she came back, she was wearing his blue striped shirt and nothing else. Max had been sitting on the edge of his bed, starting to pull on his shoes when her feet came into his line of sight. As his eyes climbed up her perfect legs to the slimmer of her hip he could spy to the shirt itself to the seductive smile on her face, he groaned playfully.

“Liz! You’re supposed to be getting dressed,” he said seriously.

She bit her lip, and pressing her hands on the bed, lowered herself to sitting. Max adjusted his legs so she’d have more of a lap to sit on, thinking she just wanted him to hold her, but he should have known from the way she smiled at him that her intentions were anything but.

Liz buried her face in his neck, then proceeded to kiss her way up the side of his neck and jaw. He groaned when she didn’t come to his mouth for the kiss he was waiting for. Instead she kissed his neck, which only made him weaker. And if there was any doubt as to what she wanted or if she could be dissuaded, it all went out of the window when he felt her small fingers sliding down on his bare chest.

“Liz,” he whispered as she rubbed against him and pressed him back so he was lying on the bed and she was on top of him. When he nudged her cheek with his nose, she smiled before finding his lips again at the precise moment that he found hers and she wriggled her hips so she could unsnap his jeans and pull down his boxers in one swift motion with one hand.

“We have time,” was the last thing he really heard her say before she covered his mouth with hers.

Diane continued talking about the laundry, and what day she could probably do it next, not noticing Max wasn’t really paying attention or that he was blushing bright red. That’s how fresh the memory of the second time he and Liz had made love tonight was in his mind, that even thinking about the shirt he was wearing now could conjure up a vivid flashback.

When Diane looked at Max, hoping to turn to him and ask his opinion about the fabric softener she’d added last week, she saw his back as he nearly ran up the stairs. Hmm, that was odd, she thought. She couldn’t help thinking though that something else was different. But what it was, she couldn’t place yet. He just seemed different.

[DreamerLaure]

Chapter 25

Max unexpectedly opening the door with such force was what surprised Liz when she reached to open the door.

“Liz,” he breathed out.

“Hi,” she said, quirking her eyebrows as she appraised his flushed face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Max said, but a frown still marred his features. Truth was he had been relieved when he opened the door to find Liz at that exact moment. Liz’s Mom had only asked Liz to get her recipe for raspberry cheesecake from the car five minutes ago, a simple chore, really. However, Liz leaving the house left Max alone with not only his parents but also hers.

The summer had progressed quickly, and for the last night Max and Liz would be spending in Roswell before they departed for school again, Diane had initiated a dinner between all of them, his parents as well as hers. Although the night was just starting, Max was already feeling the stress of it.

He framed his hands around her face and swept in for a quick kiss. Then Liz reached up to smooth back his hair and in doing so, she ran her thumb over the creases in his forehead, flattening them. “Nothing’s wrong now that you’re here.”

She smiled gently at him and their lips met again. There was no time to linger in the kiss though because no sooner had their lips met were they interrupted.

“Max! Is that Liz?” Diane shouted louder than necessary from the kitchen.

Liz bit back a laugh when she saw what she recognized now as complete frustration on Max’s face.

“Yes, Mom!” he called back, and for a moment it was quiet, so he turned back to face Liz head on.

Max’s whispered “sorry,” warmed her face and her smile faded when he gently caressed her cheek with the back of his hand before turning over his hand and leaned in, hoping to make this kiss last. He had even less luck this time because as he was angling in, Nancy called out, “Liz, did you find the card?”

She didn’t leave his arms yet, and instead she snuggled even closer. When met with silence, Nancy clarified, “the recipe card? Was it on the backseat?”

Liz rested her head on Max’s chest, and she called out, “No, Mom it wasn’t there. It was under your seat.”

Both Nancy and Diane seemed satisfied with that response. Max looked down at Liz to see her smiling at him. “What?”

At the door, he had seemed so relieved to see her. Liz slid her hands up his chest then pressed her hands against him. “Everything was okay while I was gone, right?”

Max frowned. “Yeah, it was fine.”

Liz grinned, and she lowered her hands. Max jumped not even a second later when he felt her hands on his butt and he looked down at her playful face. “Liz,” he groaned, and kissing her soundly, he murmured. “You’re driving me crazy.”

He paused for a second and added, “They’re driving me crazy,” while glancing at the kitchen.

“Hey,” Liz reached for his hand, and she squeezed it gently. “We’ll get through this, I promise.” Then she clasped his hand and gently guided him back to the kitchen. “Come on.”

Liz glanced at him once more with a look that made him certain that maybe he could get through this.

* * * * *

The table had every inch of it covered with plates for the main course, and at the center of it was the blueberry cheesecake, topped with three inches of cream and a strawberry.

Mrs. Parker reached forward, passed the bowl with the potatoes to Max, and gave him a smile. But other than that quick interaction, so far dinner had been just about enjoying good food and good company. So far, Max couldn’t help but be happy because his expectations were falling flat. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all, he thought, as he reached for his glass of water and brought the rim to his mouth.

Max and Liz were on opposite sides of the round table, and both of their parents were on either side of them. Jeff Parker was just opposite of Max, but from where he was, he had a clear view of Max and he didn’t particularly like what he was seeing. He watched Max lower his eyes, and Jeff quickly glanced at Liz and saw that she was blushing and smiling shyly.

Jeff cleared his throat, getting the attention of everyone at the table inadvertently when he had only wanted Max’s attention. Max swallowed a gulp of his water and shakily put down his class. He couldn’t explain what it was but Jeff Parker made him extremely uneasy.

“So, what’s the plan for the drive up?”

“Well, we’re just going to take the Northeast route up. It should only be about four days,” Max said. He glanced at Liz and she shook her head as subtly as she could.

“I mean three days,” Max said, clearing his throat.

“I really wish you two would take a plane ride up,” Diane said, voicing a concern she had been mulling over the past few weeks. She stood and started to take up the plates and Nancy stood too to help her. “Anything could happen on a road trip.”

The two women walked over to the kitchen together. There was a cutaway in the wall, allowing the conversation carry on as Nancy pointed out, “They drove down here for the summer, and that went okay.” Turning to Liz and Max with a worried look on her face, she checked with them, “It was okay, right?” Both of them nodded quickly and simultaneously with choruses of “yeah,” “nice,” and “great.”

Diane had an amused expression on her face as she glanced at the overly bright faces of her son and his girlfriend. Philip wasn’t paying as much attention to the conversation as he could have been; he was already eyeing the pie, figuring the time to dig in was overdue. However her Dad persisted. Jeff saw this dinner as the perfect opportunity to get to know Max. He still didn’t trust him, and he was perhaps the most apprehensive about them making this trip back to school together, and more importantly, alone.

“I don’t know,” Jeff dragged. “It’s a long way to go; I think a plane ride would be much better.”

Jeff noticed Philip motioning to the knife he had in front of him, and Jeff handed it to him. Then without preamble, Philip sliced into the pie.

Max glanced at Liz and when he saw how much she didn’t want to go on her face, he winced; he could just tell that Jeff Parker had his mind set on them not driving across country together.

Diane and Nancy rejoined the table a minute later and Nancy covered Jeff’s hand with hers. “They’ll be fine,” she said, and she gave him a look.

All eyes were on Jeff for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Okay, just as long as you two check in when you get there on Wednesday.”

“Of course,” Max said, and Liz chimed in, “I’ll call you myself,” before smiling at her Dad gratefully.

* * * * *

He had only one box left to take down to the car, yet somehow Max found himself delaying bringing it down. He wasn’t taking as much stuff as he had taken his first year. Experience had taught him that he didn’t need half of the stuff he’d ended up bringing last year, and because of that packing for the upcoming year had been less stressful. He bounced the roll of tape on his knee, letting it slide from side to side. There was something harder about leaving this summer, something that made him all the more reluctant. On the other hand there was a part of him that was excited and eager for this coming year, and what it would mean for him and her.

Of all of his conflicting feelings though, one stood out, one that had been bothering him all summer. He had really wanted to tell Isabel and Michael. This was the first time any of them had even been in a relationship. Accepting that they were different was something they’d been struggling with from childhood, but both Isabel and Michael would think that trying to be normal too wasn’t an option. They’d probably think that he had to choose.

Max closed his eyes tiredly. The thing was he didn’t want to choose. Why did he have to choose, why couldn’t he have both? Max had discovered something about himself last year. He realized that what he wanted to be happy, and this summer he became happy. Liz made him happy. She made him happy just as much as he made her happy. He never thought he’d be one to fall in love, and when it’d happened, it blew him away. He loved and cared about her so much. There was something even greater though that he’d learned this year. The greatest thing to have happened to him was to be loved in return.

Max unrolled a long piece of tape and stretched it over the box from one end to the other, before bring it down to the car.

His parents were waiting for him by his car outside. His father helped him put in the last box. He asked, “Is there enough space in there for Liz’s boxes?”

Max glanced down at the arrangement, and he nodded. “Yeah, and if there isn’t, I’ve also cleared out the backseat of the Jeep. We should be okay.”

“Alright,” Diane said. She hugged him and kissed him quickly on his cheek. “I hope you have a good trip, and call us once you’re up there.”

“I will,” he promised for what felt like the tenth time that morning alone. She heard the frustration in his voice and she smiled at him for a moment. “I will,” Max repeated, this time more sincerely earning an even bigger smile from both his mother and father.

Ten minutes later Max pulled up to the Crashdown and honked once. He glanced at the side view mirror and saw Liz coming out of the Crashdown with her mother and grandmother in tow. Her long brown hair cascaded down over her shoulders, but the ends were swinging freely and he watched with a smile as she tried in vain to tuck the loose strands behind her ears. Her mother suddenly stepped back from the trio to open the door of the Crashdown for Jeff as he came out with what Max thought was the last of the boxes.

Max got out and headed for Liz. Her grandmother was hugging her tightly and telling her something quietly. But, over her shoulder, Liz had a clear view of Max and she let go as soon as she could, seeking out the warm embrace of Max’s arms.

“Hi,” he whispered into her hair.

“Hey, you,” she said, and once she’d hugged him as innocently as she could, she pulled back. Max gave her a quick peck on the lips, and she admired that he wasn’t embarrassed that her parents were watching. She was seeing firsthand how scary her father could be around any guy that she wanted to give her heart to. Max glanced at her boxes. “Is that everything?”

She nodded. Everyone loaded the boxes into the Jeep, and then Max opened up Liz’s door for her. For their second year of college, they were taking his Jeep; Liz had wanted to sell her old Toyota, and she took her father to the second hand dealer for negotiation. Jeff made a good offer to the dealer, and it was more than enough money for her to spend later on in the year.

Max pulled out of the parking lot with Liz sitting beside him. As they neared the first mile marker, they both eyed their first sign that said ‘You are now leaving “blank”’ and the words, ‘You are now leaving Roswell,’ made them both look at each other and smile. They were leaving Roswell together. Life could be anything and it was all theirs now.

TBC

[DreamerLaure]

I’m back thanks for your patience!!

I know you guys are curious about Michael and Isabel, but part of the challenge is Max and Liz being out of the loop of the alien stuff. They get the rare chance to love each other completely without having to worry about anything else. Let’s see what ways they’ll take advantage of that I’ll clarify what’s going on with ‘them’ in a few parts.

Oh! If you’ve read the challenge, there’s something that’s supposed to “happen” during this roadtrip. But that’s the part I’ve asked to change; it comes later in the story. Please, don’t say what it is on this thread, but you are more than welcome to discuss your, er, “speculations” with me (via pm!)

Michelle in Yonkers first of all, you made me laugh so hard!! There is a true phantasm somewhere in there though…the thunderclouds on the horizon part But for now…it’s all sunshine:


Chapter 26

Max drove, one hand listlessly on the wheel, and once she reached over and clasped his hand over the gearshift while his other was much more secure, his fingers laced with hers. Liz looked out the window at the scenery, appreciating the landscape they drove by. Her attention to the landscape outside of the car made her unaware of Max’s open appreciation of what was inside of the car; she wasn’t conscious of how often Max would turn his attention away from the road ahead of them to look at her. The traffic was light—most of the people that were taking the interstate had started to diverge off the highway in search of arrangements for the night.

Nights during the summer seemed to latch on to the best daytime qualities until the last possible moment. The sun was starting its descent though, sinking low and disappearing behind the v the hills before them made. As the sun moved away, the hills became as dark as the night that was coming on, but still, Max kept driving. He wasn’t all too worried about night settling in just yet; the way the light fell over all of her features at this time of day captivated him. So his attention was split two ways now. It was a straight drive, and the speed he was driving at allowed him to look over at her. She bunched her hair up into her fists about an hour ago and made a quick ponytail. Now Max could see wisps of her hair escaping and dancing in the light breeze. Under the soft twilight, her dark brown hair took on a lighter, auburn tone.

The returning trip was going by quicker than either Max or Liz would have liked. From the route that they were taking, there were still two days left on their road trip. Their parents expected the trip to take three days, and if they had followed every direction the map gave and taken every appropriate detour, it would have. But they opted for something else instead, finding ways to stretch out the trip and letting their instincts guide where they went. They took many detours into small towns that were accessible from the highway exits mentioned only in passing on the map, ones they were meant to pass. Once there they would stop at little dives to eat, take plenty of pictures at the memorials and landmarks that were each town’s shining crown, and choose motels and inns deep inside of the towns to spend their nights. As a result, every moment on the way back was leisurely, instead of hurried, as they were spending the time together because they wanted to and neither wanted it to go by too quickly.

It was so different from where and how they had been at the beginning of the summer when neither Liz nor Max could count the other as any more than a friend. That trip had been more planned out; whenever they had stopped, it had only been to look at the map and decide where they were going next. But there had been something extraordinary about their friendship. Liz had known things that Max had kept secret from everyone else. True Michael and Isabel were in on the secret too, but that was purely from circumstance; they were a part of it. He had always been afraid to let people in ever since he was young, knowing instinctively that being different was something bad and that what he could do could be seen as scary, and when what he could do was misunderstood, it could be seen as dangerous.

And that’s why he had dreaded telling her, knowing that things between them would change once she knew. Sometimes when he got past imagining how he would tell her, he would dream about what it would be like being around her in the days after she knew the truth. But he was so uncertain that his dreams would waver between fantasy, nightmares, and something of course, in between.

Then once he had told her, their relationship was replaced by a friendship that was even more tentative than the beginning of their relationship for both Max and Liz had more reservations about trusting the other person with their heart. Liz had wondered if things would ever be the same between them again, and she’d long for things to go back to the way they once were. Then there were days when she was relieved that she did know, and that Max didn’t have to hide any part of himself from her.

It wasn’t everyday that Max used his powers. He had almost trained himself not to use them often as a measure of caution because you could never be sure just who was watching and if that person would feel threatened. And the first time he’d done something in front of her after she found out had been a day that they’d been studying together as usual, but outside on one of the lawns halfway between their dorms. It’d been an early afternoon, and while most of the other students had classes, he did express enough caution though to look up to see if anyone was around, and it had been all clear.

One glance at Liz confirmed that her nose was deeply buried in her textbook. Max wanted to rewrite a good portion of his paper that he’d used a ballpoint pen on, but he had a sudden thought: he could just take it away instead. So he put his outstretched palm over the paper and slowly moved it down the page. Liz glanced up in mid thought, and the light she saw under his hand held her attention. Then, as he slowly moved his hand down, the words began to disappear. She had stared for a second too long, enough for him to look up and see her staring at what he’d done.

Her eyes met his after a second, and there was a moment of complete silence. He looked away first, the mixture of embarrassment and uncertainty at being seen making his cheeks burn. Then she’d murmured, “Can you do that again?” and she inched closer to him, the foot of space they always left between them disappearing, too. And when he did it again for her, she breathed, “Amazing.” All of this and all of what Liz had said and done since she found out made him feel more okay with who he was. Her gentle acceptance taught Max that you didn’t have to hide everything from someone you cared about, that you could let them in.

And because of all of this, their returning trip to school had a much lighter feel. Max’s heart was lighter. The silences and tension from the beginning of the summer were far behind them.

This next part of their relationship was so natural then, and if the love he felt in his heart for her everyday weren’t enough of an indicator, he could be even surer of their love by the way she would look back at him. It was as if she was seeing all of him and loving everything she found.

Liz suddenly stilled and turned to meet Max’s heated stare, as if she had felt him. She grinned. “What?” She lowered her eyes. “Were you watching me?”

“No…of course not.” Max made it a sudden point of interest of his to look back out at the road very seriously.

“Well, I hope I’m not distracting or anything.” She cleared her throat softly, and raised her eyebrows playfully when Max glanced at her. He insisted that she wasn’t though, so Liz thought it was time for part two. She grasped her chair and moved so that she was sitting on her left ankle and her other foot was still on the floor of the jeep; this position was about to come in handy in a few minutes. Then she undid her jeans jacket, and peeled it off one arm at a time. This feeling of knowing when Max Evans was watching her had only been building since their first kiss, and now she could even be far from him and know he was thinking of and seeing her. And right now, this made her feel bolder. She knew that even though he was facing the open road that he was watching her out of the corner of his eye because she could feel it. It was unexplainable really, but she also thought it was incredible that she was so aware of him, and he, obviously of her.

She slid her hand out of his, and rested it on his thigh, and she watched as he darted his eyes quickly to her hands then back to the road again. Liz pushed her hair back behind her ears with her other hand, and then she placed her other hand on the edge of his chair, and slowly moved her hands up.

“Liz…” Max muttered. “You can’t…we can’t get started right now.”

“What?” she asked innocently just as the hand she’d had on his thigh brushed over his groin.

Max’s breathing sounded labored and though he was trying very hard to keep a straight face, when she unbuckled her seatbelt and shifted again so that she was sitting on her knees, he got a whiff of her hair and he closed his eyes for a second…a second too long. He snapped out of it quickly, and blinked to regain his focus. “Liz, we’re almost…”

“We’re not there yet,” she whispered in his ear. “How can we be when we don’t know where there is?” she added teasingly before she covered his ear with her mouth. When she let go her mouth made a satisfying pop from the suction, she kissed his jaw softly once, her lips lingering there too. She pulled back, to see if he was going to resist, but he seemed incapable of even forming the words right then. The sky had darkened quickly and the sun was sliding down behind the hills, but Max didn’t want to pull over when they could find somewhere to stay instead.

But it took all of his strength to unwrap her hands. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and sat back in her seat again, but every once in a while, when she’d decide to steal a glance at him, he’d choose that moment too and he’d give her a knowing smile. Because he knew she wanted more. Because he couldn’t wait until they were alone. Because this was turning out to be the best four days his life. And he was also smiling because she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

* * * * *

They passed by two motels before they finally stopped, deciding on a third because it looked the most friendly and didn’t have a huge neon sign on the outside, which Liz claimed was a sure sign that they “expected something to happen there.”

Max grinned. “It’s probably just to attract people’s attention when it’s dark,” he said, trying to give those places the benefit of the doubt. However as they drove by, they realized that the places looked dark and not very inviting for the night. At one motel, motorcycles were gathered in the lot in a tight ring, and well, neither Max nor Liz were in the mood for either going to sleep to or waking up to that.

But the third place was quieter, a small distance from the highway, but not too far—certainly enough for them to explore more of the town in the morning, but for tonight, they were eager to get inside.

He pulled the jeep into a spot near the entrance, and he took the key out while Liz flicked off the radio. Then Liz took off her seatbelt and sat up. She started to stand and Max, seeing her intention, stood so that he could go alongside the jeep and hold her hand to help her climb into the backseat.

She bent at her waist and half kneeled and stood so that she was hovering over the luggage in the back. First, she pulled out the canvas bag, and started to pull things from her boxes and bags to add to it. They’d gotten into the routine of whenever they stayed overnight somewhere, they would pack a bag together and in the morning they’d take out what they used the night before and just replace it with other clothes the following evening, that way the bag was never empty. Once she thought she was finished packing what she needed, she scooted over to the other side where Max was getting his things ready. Max was tall enough that he could stand outside of the jeep and grab what he needed, while she was petite and doing that would have put her in the awkward position of reaching for what was just out of her reach. As soon as she was by him, she widened the bag enough for him to put in his things too.

Then Max took the bag out, placed it on the floor and extended both of his hands to Liz. She grasped his hands so he could help her out, and once she was grounded again, she slipped one arm loosely around his waist and they headed inside of the inn together.

The bell rang once they opened the door and the receptionist was just replacing the phone and she looked up. Liz noticed how her pen was poised in the air carelessly, and Liz looked up at Max uncertainly. He spied a pay phone in the back, and he squeezed her hand. “I’m going to try Isabel again,” he said meaningfully, and Liz nodded.

Apparently the day after they left, Isabel had finally called home and left a number. His Mom passed the number on to them, and when Max replaced the receiver in the room they had for the night, he sat on the bed quietly, and Liz came over to him and sat with him for a while.

He asked her something she knew she could neither answer nor truly respond to, as it was up to him.

“I should call her right?” and she only held his hand tighter. But he didn’t work up the courage until an hour later, and by then, the phone had rung endlessly before Max hung up. And he called again, sometimes two or three times a day, hoping to get an answer, but instead the phone always rang and no one ever picked up. Still she realized that he needed to try.

Max went over to the pay phone then and Liz went over to the front desk. The receptionist was a lot younger than she expected any owner of the place to be, and Liz asked pointedly, “Are you the owner?” and the receptionist behind the desk, whose nameplate said Caroline, explained that she wasn’t; her uncle owned the place. And that was warning number one. Then she slipped in that she turned nineteen next month and was taking a year off to learn about business from home, something else Liz didn’t care to know, but yet the girl told her, and her voice carried until it even reached Max, from where he was a few feet away. Liz turned over her shoulder to see if he had noticed. But even though the receptionist didn’t know what he was doing, she knew from the way he was frowning that he wasn’t getting through.

Liz turned back to the receptionist and smiled tightly. “We need a room for two, please.” Her second warning was the way that she looked at them. It was Liz who was standing at the desk, waiting to make arrangements, yet the receptionist looked past her as if she was invisible. She was tactless enough to look pointedly at Max first. She took in Max, giving him a long once over, her eyes traveling down first then back up again. A once over would never do Max justice, Liz thought angrily.

“Name and proof of id, please,” she asked, not even bothering to look at Liz.

Liz slid her driver’s license across the table face down, making her turn it over. The tapping of the keyboard filled about less than a minute, and she kept her eyes locked on the screen. “And…your friend?” the receptionist said, curiously.

Liz was about to correct her when Max came over and pushed his license across the counter towards her, too, facing up. His face was creased with worry, and behind the counter, Liz held his hand.

The receptionist noticed that no one had corrected her. She bit her lip and placed the tip of her pen down on the register, and in her hasty scrawl began making the rest of the arrangements. “We’ve got two on the second floor; one, has even got a terrific view of the sunrise, in the morning,” she added flirtatiously, with a grin at Max.

“Sounds great,” Max said distractedly, and he was already reaching inside of his wallet for his credit card.

As if the sun could come up at any other time; Liz rolled her eyes not too discreetly. She bit her lip and glared at the other girl, willing her to make eye contact, but she was watching Max. Finally, after a second too long, she looked at Liz and her appraisal of the worn but comfortable t-shirt Liz was wearing was evident in her eyes. Then she noticed Liz’s disheveled ponytail and the shiny lip-gloss she was wearing, and made even more assumptions. “Oh no,” she said insincerely, mock horror filling her voice and she looked down at the register much too quickly to even read anything. “206 which is across from your room,” she explained, smiling at Max, “is taken, but 209, right down the hall from it is available.”

Liz glared at her angrily, now, but before she could say anything, Max slipped his hand around her waist, drawing her body closer to him. Then he kissed the side of her forehead, and murmured, “What do you think baby? Do we need two rooms? Are you tired of me yet?”

And Liz had never felt more grateful in her life. She smiled up at him. “No, and I could never be.” Liz pressed her lips against his.

Then Max turned towards the receptionist impatiently, eager to get out of there now. “That room you were telling us about with the sun would be really nice. We’ll take it,” Max said.

Liz bit her lip to keep from laughing when she saw the frozen expression on her face. “Okay…one room it is,” she said haltingly and she slid the room key to 205 across the counter towards them.

“She was flirting with you,” Liz murmured once they were inside of their room. She buried her face in his neck while Max hugged her close.

“Really?” Max was frowning when she looked up, and she rolled her eyes.

“She wanted to eat you for dinner,” earning her a laugh from Max from deep down where his chest hummed against her body.

Max slid his arms up from around her waist to the small of her back then to her shoulders before he cupped her face. Then he leaned down and covered her lips with his, and he began his assault by gently kissing and nipping her bottom lip. Liz reciprocated the kiss, and wrapped her arms around as much of him as she could reach. His kisses always left her weak and dizzy, and she was faintly aware that she was no longer on the ground when her flip-flops made a soft plop on the ground and he held her close to his body.

He moved them to the bed and sat down, with her still locked around him. Then his fingers crept up her back more deliberately, and each touch tickled her, but she settled on just smiling. He knew. Of course, he knew. Max sunk his fingers into her hair and when they were lost inside of the knot of her ponytail, she realized that he was starting to undo it.

She remembered the first time he tried to undo her ponytail, how it had befuddled him for so long that she’d spent the time wondering what he was trying to do. He always paused when he reached her hair, uncertain how to make what he wanted to happen real. And when she asked him, he admitted, shamefaced, that he couldn’t undo it. So she had taken his hands in hers and they undid it together. Obviously, he’d been practicing since then because her hair fell like a soft curtain quickly on her shoulders.

She pushed his chest, and made him lie down, so that she was straddling his hips.

“You’re so beautiful.” He reached and pulled her down so he could kiss her again.

“You better stop, Max, otherwise I’m going to start believing you,” she panted when he started to kiss under her chin.

His jaw moved against her face and she knew instantly that he was smiling. “You should because it’s true.”

Then he touched the bottom of her shirt. “Now, I’m going to undress you,” and he rolled her over so she could be pinned under him so suddenly she lost her breath for a second. And when he covered her mouth with his, she found it again. The thing is, she wouldn’t have it any other way. There was nowhere else she’d rather be.

[DreamerLaure]

I'm really sorry I wasn't satisfied with what I was writing, and a weekend became a month, and more...I'll post the next installment later this week. Thanks!


Lauren

[DreamerLaure]

I made a new banner. Only appropriate since I'm finishing this in a new year

Thank you for all of the incredible support! Let's see if I can still do this. Enjoy xx

Chapter 27

The following morning, a thought came to Liz so forcefully she didn’t know how she hadn’t been aware of it before. It started long before she even opened her eyes. The very first thought that flitted through her mind was how happy she felt, and by the time she gazed at his sleeping face, awareness swelled in her chest to tenfold what it was before and she became incredibly, mind-numbingly happy.

The motel room’s curtains were pulled together in a way that allowed the sun to push light into their room through the gap. The curtains had probably been like that since Max and Liz stepped into the room, but accommodations had been further than sleep in their minds as they tumbled onto the bed in a tangle of legs and arms and anything else but each other had completely faded away. Liz slept closest to the window so the light danced across her body, starting by her crossed ankles and finally settling on her back and shoulders.

The soft warmth of the light was what woke her, but it wasn’t nearly as soft as the way he molded his palm around her waist. She recognized it was his right hand when unconsciously he shifted his thumb against her skin. The sensation made that small patch of skin tingle.

I’m definitely not dreaming, she thought wryly with a smile when she opened her eyes and her gaze locked on Max’s rising chest. It was the first time they’d ever spent the night together in its entirety. Waking up so near to him and in his arms was nothing short of wonderful. She may have been happy before but now she was so happy she thought she would burst.

They didn’t have the option of staying together like this at either of their childhood homes over the summer. She could only count a handful of times her parents had gone out of town during the summer. Most of their trips had only lasted from the morning of one day to that same night. Every year they spent two weekends in Albuquerque and she’d been eagerly anticipating it happening again this year. They went to attend a small-town business convention towards the beginning of the summer, and they went to consult the Crashdown’s finances with their lawyer towards the end of it.

This year though they combined the trips and only left town once. Liz would have been eager to tempt Max to come to her room, but her Grandma Claudia was staying with them and was her unofficial chaperone while her parents were away. While Claudia was liberal with Liz’s curfew, adhering to her own sleep schedule and going to bed hours before Liz was supposed to come home, Liz valued the trust her grandmother had in her. Max did too, but he kissed her goodnight so thoroughly that night that her knees were shaking when his arm slackened around her waist. Even under the dim porch light, as she struggled to piece together a sentence, she could see the amusement dancing in his eyes.

Max’s parents only went away once to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Both instances that the Parkers and Evans were out of town had not coincided. Liz hadn’t ruled out the possibility that the Evans’ anniversary had come up during a phone call and that her Mom had made sure they hadn’t left town while they were away also. Both Max and Liz had requested time off from work when his parents left so they could spend most of the night together, but her Mom had pushed her curfew up a little bit, limiting their night to a date that had to end all too quickly.

So waking up beside Max like this made Liz’s heart race. It was a new first for them, one that was easily becoming her favorite. Already the delicious way his calf was plastered against hers was seared into her memory. Liz studied him carefully, and as she did, she quickly fell in love with the way he slept on his side, his lips slightly parted, one hand tucked under her pillow, the other holding her close. It made something inside of her melt as she saw him like this; he was absolutely incredible, he loved her, and he was with her! Liz couldn’t help the way her smile exploded in that second for it was completely understandable. She’d honestly never been happier.

And suddenly, she couldn’t wait for him to wake up. She was only sliding her gaze down from his chin to his chest again when she was distracted by how most of her hair fanned out on the sheets between them. Liz came up with a fun, teasing way to wake up Max that was guaranteed to work.

Liz twirled a few locks of her hair around her fingers, and glanced up at him again. She smiled when she felt his soft breaths dancing across her face, knowing that it’d be her constant in what she was about to do next. Emboldened by her certainty that he was still sleeping, Liz inched her elbow closer and guided the ends of her hair towards his face. She swept her hair from one side of his nose to the other, and gently brushed the pad of her pinky on the same path. Max tensed his nose his sleep, but continued to sleep. It wasn’t enough to pull him out of his dreams and back to her, but she’d only been trying to elicit a reaction; it was time to be bolder.

She lifted her hair higher and swept it down the bridge of his nose, and no sooner had the final wispiest strands of her hair slid off the side of his nose did Max scrunch his entire nose. She didn’t think it was possible for noses to squirm but it seemed as if Max’s had, and she had to bite her lip to keep from laughing.

When she tickled his ears with her hair he shivered. When she swept her hair across his forehead, his entire face transformed and he snuggled his cheek deeper into his pillow. She was about to continue her torture when his grip on her waist tightened and before she knew it, he’d hauled her closer so there was barely a breath between their bodies. She brought her eyes back to his face, questioning if he was asleep or not, but his features were still relaxed and his eyes were closed.

Liz relaxed in his embrace for a second before she realized he was breathing differently. She looked down at his chest and watched it rise and fall unsteadily, and she mischievously looked back up at him, just in time to see his eyelashes fluttering closed. He was faking it, and not doing a great job at it either. Liz licked her lips as a wicked way to tease him came to mind. She brought the ends of her hair up to his mouth and painstakingly slowly, with the lightest touch she could control, tickled his lips with the ends of her hair. Then she let her hair tumble free from her fingertips in a whisper down the slope of his cheek. With her smallest finger, she followed the same path here too, and as she reached the stubble on his chin the corners of his mouth quirked.

She was so focused on watching his mouth that she gasped when the hand he held her waist with tensed. Without hesitation, she looked up to find his warm amber brown eyes studying her intently. “Good morning,” she said as she playfully tapped his chin with her pinky. Max’s eyes crinkled as he grinned. “Morning,” he said back. He slid his free hand out from under her pillow, cupped her chin, and angled down to meet her lips for the sweetest of kisses.

Max licked his lips when she moved against his mouth and pressed several soft lingering kisses that she ended just as they got heated. Whenever his mouth softened she halted that kiss and gave him another. “Come on,” Max mumbled good naturedly just as she pulled back for what felt like the hundredth time. Liz’s laugh started deep from inside of her chest and she did it one more time, and said, “What are you asking for?”

He stilled her face with both of his hands, instantly making the teasing glint in her eyes disappear. “I’m looking for something like this,” he said intensely as he crushed his mouth against hers. The kiss made her dizzy and only when he pulled back could she see the world wasn’t spinning after all. Max smiled down at her flushed face, and brought his lips back down to hers. His, “Or this,” was lost when Liz opened her mouth to inhale, and he slipped his tongue in and licked the inside of her mouth. Max had only just closed his eyes when he had several quick flashes of a few of the other times they’d kissed, and it only made him want to kiss her even more.

When he slid one of his thighs between hers and pulled her flush against him so they really were chest-to-chest, her answering moan was lost in his mouth. He slid his tongue over and around hers until her hands were limp around his shoulders. Then Max tantalizingly kissed the side of her mouth, and pulled back. He looked up at her gorgeous shining face and gave her a lopsided grin. His warm breath tickled her face when he said, “Promise you’ll wake me up like that every single day.”

She sighed as she pressed her lips to his chest and rested her face against his skin. “I’ll see what I can do,” she sad gamely and his answering chuckle made his chest buzz underneath her skin. As Max slid his gaze away from hers, he noticed a freckle on her shoulder he’d never really noticed before. Leaning in, on impulse, he pressed his lips to his latest discovery and if possible, she snuggled into his embrace even more.

“Time?” she mumbled against his skin.

Max turned and gave the clock on the nightstand a once-over before groaning, “Almost ten.” No sooner had Max kissed the top of her head that Liz started to shake her head from side to side and pout at him.

“Already?” Liz looked radiant and flushed as she turned her saddest eyes on him. He couldn’t decide what was cuter – the way her hair was tousled in every which direction or the way her eyebrows were creased together in denial.

Max put one of his hands in her hair and pushed some of it behind her ear. “I think I saw a diner on our way over here.”

He wrapped his arms around her tighter and leaned in for a kiss. “We could have pancakes,” he continued. He gave her more kisses in between each suggestion. “Or eggs, or waffles…”

“That sounds so good,” Liz murmured against his mouth when their lips met again. Her eyes lit up suddenly as she blurted, “And home fries.”

Max smiled and he nodded seriously. “That’s implied. We can’t go to a diner without having those.”

Liz laughed heartily. Home fries were a Max Evans’ Sunday morning staple. As far back as she could remember, he’d been ordering them. He used to come in with his sister and Michael on Sundays during high school, and they were always sitting in her section, and he was always ordering home fries.

“Sometimes,” she said quietly, “I feel like I’ve known you my entire life.” It may have scared her before, but it only humbled her now.

Liz fought her instinct to look away, because for the smallest second, she thought he’d be put off by what she said, but what thudded in her heart was so much louder than the doubts in her head. What lay in between her heartbeats was something she knew with every fiber of her being and every inch of her soul – Max loved her and nothing else mattered. So she found that looking him in the eye during this moment was easy because she trusted him with her entire heart.

Max looked into her shining brown eyes and felt warm all over. His heart was no longer thudding triple time. Instead it was at a steady pace that matched hers perfectly. “I feel like that, too. I love you so much,” he kissed the tip of her nose, and a fierce blush spread across her cheeks. “Sometimes, I feel like I’ve known you longer.” Max wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and Liz bit her lip.

She frowned and gave him her most serious glare. “Max Evans, if you ever bring up your not-of-this-earth status to win something as serious as how much you love me ever again, I’ll….ahh!” she squealed as Max rolled her over and pinned her into the mattress.

“I’ll always get to play that card,” he scolded, a mischievous glint in his eyes challenging her. “It’s mine to play.”

Max sealed his laugh against her skin when he buried his face in her neck and made her laugh and shake uncontrollably. God, would Liz Parker ever stop surprising him?

* * * * *

Max heard his phone ring just as he was snapping the top button of his jeans in place and Liz turned off her blow dryer. He slung his damp towel over his shoulder and fished it out of his backpack. Glancing at the screen, he realized that the sooner he answered the less anxious his caller would be. He walked in front of the bathroom door, and Liz flashed him a wide generous smile. Max mouthed that it was his Mom, and she gently closed the door because she was heading into a second round with her dryer.

Max sat down on the edge of the bed and flipped his phone open. Cradling it between his ear and his neck, he gave an upbeat, “Hi, Mom.”

“Hi, honey,” Diane said cheerfully. “Your Dad had to go into the office today, but he said that he’ll call you later.”

Max could tell from his Mom’s hurried confession that she’d either agreed to wait until Philip came home so they could make the call together or agreed to wait to call after 12. Max suddenly glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost five past noon, later than he’d realized. He had to admit it was impressive that she’d been able to resist calling him right at 12.

“How was the drive up there? You didn’t have any trouble, right? Where are you now?” Diane expelled anxiously in one breath. Her tone was light, but Max could hear the concern laced all around her words.

“It was good. There wasn’t too much traffic, and we made good time last night.” Max scooted up the bed and stretched out. He glanced at the map on the nightstand beside him. “We’re still in Texas,” he said.

“Oh that’s not bad at all,” she said. “Did you find a motel easily?” Max crossed his ankles and put one of his hands behind his head. As he did so, he noticed with wide-eyes that his tee shirt was draped over the lampshade. Max couldn’t remember how it’d gotten there, but he sat up and yanked it off. He’d been just about to put on a fresh one.

“Max?” his Mom said suddenly, and he heard a loud scratching noise through the speakers. Diane was tapping the speaker on her phone with her fingernails, wondering anxiously if the call had been dropped.

“Hmmm. Yeah…we found a motel about a mile away from the freeway, so it’ll be an easy drive back later.”

“Later?” she asked questioningly. “Aren’t you on the road - Oh, don’t tell me you’ve just woken up…” Diane admonished. She didn’t like when Max and Isabel slept late into the morning and afternoon because then most of the day had been lost.

Max scratched his eyebrow, and grinned sheepishly. He was grateful his mom couldn’t see his every facial expression for she wouldn’t be able to keep up to where his thoughts were. He was thinking about exactly what had kept them from getting back on the road earlier. He was back in the thick of what’d happened as he fisted the bedspread and had a quick intense flash. He closed his eyes as he slipped back in the moment when Liz slid her hands down his neck, splayed them across his back, and held him to her chest while he tugged hard, pulling her cool skin into his mouth…

“No, no, we haven’t just woken up,” he said indignantly, the words tumbling out of his mouth.

Liz stepped into the room just then looking absolutely radiant. He didn’t know what she’d done with her hair but he wanted to bury his face in the soft curls she’d spun. The skirt she was wearing skimmed the middle of her thighs, inches above her knees, but Max had enough imagination that he didn’t need to see anymore. Her simple white tank top hugged her chest and the fabric flared out by her hips. She raised one eyebrow at him when his eyes finally rose to meet hers, and she flicked her gaze between his face and the phone in his hands. Max suddenly grimaced as he realized how that might have sounded.

“I-I-I mean, I’ve been up for a while, but Liz has been up longer. She’s probably wasted much less of the day than I have. She just came in to visit me actually. Do you want to say hello?” Liz shook her head as she watched Max’s cheeks color, but she didn’t hide the smile that was on her face.

“Oh, Max that’s fine. You can tell her hello for me,” Diane said.

Max nodded furiously, in spite of the fact that she was unable to see him. “Okay, I will…I’ll tell her you said hello.” Liz let out a sigh as she climbed between his crossed legs and rested her chin on his chest. Max re-crossed one of his legs around hers and threaded his free hand through the hair around her face.

“Have you eaten yet?” Diane clucked, slipping back into concerned parent mode.

“Nope, not yet. This is the first time I’m seeing Liz all morning,” Max said, going along with his cover.

Liz groaned. She mouthed, “Clothed,” and whispered, “This is the first time you’re seeing me cl—“ Max clapped his hand around her mouth before she could finish, but he couldn’t be upset with her if he tried. Instead he placed on of his hands on the back of her arm and skated his fingers back and forth across her skin.

“Hmmm,” Diane said in a detached tone. “It’s too bad these motels don’t offer food. Does yours?”

“They do,” Max said, deliberately brightening his voice. He waited a beat. “They’ve got two large shiny boxes that light up in the dark. You slide a dollar in and watch while your bag of chips gets stuck.”

Liz snorted softly from where she was, and placed her ear against Max’s chest. She closed her eyes when he placed his warm hand on her head.

“Max have you learned nothing from when you were eleven years old and ate that huge bag of salt and vineg—”

“I remember,” Max cut her off suddenly, with the hope Liz hadn’t heard but he felt her chest quaking against his as she giggled. She raked her fingers across his stomach. “So that’s why you don’t have a stomach of steel,” she murmured against his skin.

Max took his hand away from her head suddenly but then laced her fingers with his. “We’ve just got to find somewhere to eat because they don’t serve breakfast here,” he said noncommittally. “We did that on our first trip and we ended up finding some cool off-the-map places to eat.”

“Oh, I’m sure you will find something nearby,” she said off-handedly. She wasn’t too concerned about that for there was always something to eat when you were traveling, but sometimes it was harder finding somewhere to rest your head.

“How much did the room cost?” she asked innocently, but Max caught on.

“It was eighty for each,” he said slowly, and Liz poked his side with her free hand. Moments later, goodbyes were exchanged, along with the promise that his father would be calling later.

He was relieved when he heard silence on the other end. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head, and as he nudged her chin up to angle in for a kiss, the insistent ring of Liz’s cell phone sounded from the other side of the room. Her phone was ringing from the backpack she’d put into one of the hotel provided chairs the night before. Max stopped sifting his fingers through her hair and chuckled when she groaned. Burying her face into his chest, she muttered, “Do you think they timed this?” and Max knew perfectly well who the only person the second caller could be.

“You give them too little credit. I bet they’re both in the same room.”

Liz clapped her hands over her mouth but her giggle slipped through her fingers anyway. “That’s a possibility,” she said.

Max squeezed her arm and nudged her elbow with his hips and she responded easily, rolling out of his arms and onto the bed. She groaned again when he said, “Let’s not keep her waiting,” as he stood and strode across the room. He sifted through her bag quickly finding her phone before it could ring three times and then he walked back to her and put it in her hands.

Liz opened it resentfully and chewed out, “Hello,” as cheerfully as she could. Max bent to kiss her forehead. “That’s my girl,” he whispered with a cheeky smile and Liz couldn’t resist playfully swatting him as he turned towards the bathroom.

“I didn’t realize a surly daughter was on the menu today?” Nancy said as soon as she heard Liz’s voice. “Why’d you take so long to answer?” She wondered aloud.

Liz bit her lip and apologized, explaining her phone had been on the other side of the room. By the time she was finished, her Mom had let it go and was ready to move on. “What time did you get off the road last night?”

“I think around nine,” Liz said easily. It hadn’t been too much longer after the sun had set and when they’d pulled over, they’d decided silently that it was time to find somewhere for the night. She knew how easily her Mom worried about trips like this. Her first time driving across country to school at the beginning of freshman year, her Mom had expressed concern about being on the road and driving through unfamiliar towns at night, calling her almost four or five times a day.

“That’s good time,” Nancy said, and Liz caught the relieved tone in her voice. “I hope finding somewhere to stay for the night wasn’t too hard.”

“Nope, not at all. We found a motel about half a mile off the highway route. It wasn’t crowded at all and it was really easy to book.”

Nancy carefully ventured, “Easy to book one room?”

Liz cringed and bleated her Mom’s name helplessly. “Mom…please don’t…”

Max was brushing his teeth in the bathroom and humming a song he played for her on the radio yesterday, so at least the upcoming embarrassment she was about to receive on the phone wouldn’t be shared just yet.

“Did you?” Nancy asked more tentatively as she picked up that Liz hadn’t truly answered her question.

“Yeah,” Liz admitted quietly.

She expected the third degree at some point before the road trip but maybe her parents had avoided mentioning it because it hadn’t even entered their minds. She was pretty much the perfect child in their eyes, she thought ruefully. But apparently it’d been on her Mom’s mind.

“Mom?” Liz said gently. She had a hundred questions she wanted to ask, that she was testing on the tip of her tongue. Are you disappointed in me? Are you upset?

“Liz, you know I trust you and that I love you. I just want you to be careful, hon,” Nancy said honestly. She paused and drew in a breath that Liz heard as she curled her fingers around the cell phone even tighter and sank back into the mattress. “I know you’re in love and I know he’s the love of your life, but…the last thing I’d ever want is to see you hurt. And that’s what can happen sometimes when you love someone as much as, well, you love him…”

Liz let out the breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding because she’d just heard just what she needed to hear. “Mom, thank you. You’re right, I love him a lot, and this has felt right like nothing in my life has before. And....we’re being careful,” Liz added because she knew her Mom had been asking more than if she was being careful with her heart.

“You’re still in Texas, right?” Nancy asked after a long pause.

“Yeah, we should be out of it in a few hours. I think it’s my turn to drive.”

“Okay,” Nancy said. She paused again and said, “Call me when you reach.”

“When I reach?” Liz asked wrinkling her eyebrows as she did.

“When you reach school. I trust you’re in good hands,” she said, and Liz bit back a smile. She knew this wasn’t easy for her Mom.

“I’ll call you tomorrow. I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too… And I meant what I said about trusting you,” she added.

“I know you did. It was nice to hear it,” Liz couldn’t help but laugh a little bit and she heard her Mom on the other end doing the same thing, too.

Liz murmured goodbye a few seconds later and when she’d closed her phone into her fist, she felt Max’s phone vibrating under her back. She yanked it out with every intention of teasing Max that it was his Mom calling again. She had the perfect words on the tip of her tongue that would make him squirm, but what she didn’t count on was gasping as she read the name on the flashing screen.

“Max!” she croaked. He was washing his hands and the gushing faucet managed to cover her small voice. Realizing he couldn’t hear her, she bounced off the bed and stepped into the bathroom. He was rinsing with mouthwash when she was before him. “Max!” she said excitedly, and that made him spit it out and whisk his forearm across his mouth. She held out the phone to him screen up and his eyes lit up with happiness and a tiny bit of confusion. His palm closed over her other hand as he answered. “Is?”

A glimmer of Isabel’s confident personality shined through as she said, “Hi, Max! How’s it going?”

Max barely felt Liz’s gentle pull as she guided him to sit back on the bed. He answered easily, “I’m okay. You?”

“Good. I’m good,” Isabel said quickly. “Everything’s fine.”

“Are you still in Florida?” Max hedged uncertainly.

“Yeah. I’m actually flying back to California next week.”

“Oh, okay.” It was a few seconds before either of them could say anything; on one end, Isabel was biting her lip, and on the other end, Max was looking at Liz, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. Finally, Liz bounced her leg into his and Max sighed. “Isabel, what happened?”

“What happened this summer, Is?” he repeated seriously.

“Max…it’s complicated. It’s like really complicated.”

“Isabel, when has it ever been too complicated for me to understand? You can tell me anything.”

The bare honesty in her brother’s voice weakened her resolve, and Isabel realized how painful her lack of contact had been for him. The funny thing was all she’d been trying to do was protect her brother and keep her promise to Michael. The last thing she’d wanted was to hurt him. She’d only wanted to protect him.

“Michael wanted to look for some clues to our...past,” she sighed, “He found our writing – “

“Our writing?” Max parroted back.

“Our writing from home,” she offered. “He found it out in a cave on one of the Indian reservations.”

Max relaxed his fists. “It’s not like he can even read it though.”

Isabel was about to spill everything when the apartment door opened and two people stepped inside. She visibly bristled and her skin prickled like it was on fire. It turned out she hadn’t had as much time as she thought she would. She leveled her gaze with Michael and swallowed. “Nope, he couldn’t. It was just another dead end. He brought the book out here to Florida with us and he was trying to translate it, but it didn’t work.” She didn’t miss the way Michael’s eyes darkened with anger.

“Oh. Gosh, I’m sorry, Is. I know how great it would have been to finally have some answers.”

“Yeah, it would have been.” The tears in Isabel’s eyes were real. She wished she could tell him everything. She wished that she never made this promise, and that she’d never agreed to this at all. It was causing her more grief than anything else. “It would have been really nice,” she agreed gamely. “Hey, Max, I’ve got to go.”

“Okay, I’ll let you go, but can we talk about this some more later?”

Isabel hesitated. There were four eyes on her, and she had no doubt that they could hear everything. She shrugged her shoulders casually and looked the person beside Michael directly in his eyes. “There’s nothing else to discuss, Max. That’s pretty much everything that happened this summer,” and for extra measure, Isabel let out a nervous chuckle.

Max closed his eyes tiredly. “Okay, call me when you get back to school.”

“I will,” she promised, and before Max could even form any other words, she had lowered the phone back into its cradle.

“Did you tell him anything else?” Michael hissed as soon as she put down the phone.

“No,” Isabel shook her head emphatically. “I didn’t tell my brother, Max, anything,” she smarted, emphasizing his name strongly.

“God, why did you call him?”

“I had to! He was getting suspicious! Do you know how awful it would look if I spent the entire summer in Florida without ever calling my brother?”

“I didn’t call him,” Michael bit back angrily. “I follow orders.”

Isabel bit the inside of her lip. She knew what was coming.

Michael stepped closer and scoffed, “I keep promises.”

“That’s enough.”

Isabel struggled to look past Michael’s sad accusing brown eyes into the blue eyes of the man behind him. It didn’t take much for her to know exactly who he was. It didn’t matter who he’d shape-shifted into, and it didn’t matter whose identity he had stolen. He could have chosen the kindest and most gentle soul and taken their body, yet still his eyes would be hollow and dead. She met his gaze coolly. “He knows nothing.”

“That’s how it should be…for now,” he sneered.

Michael frowned at Isabel before he turned around, and asked, “What are we going to do?”

“Nothing…everything’s going to continue as planned. Isabel’s going back to California and you’re going to New York.”

Isabel swallowed hard as she forced the words out at the same time as Michael, “Yes, Nasedo.”
* * * * *

Max swallowed hard when he heard the firm click of Isabel’s hang-up. Liz glanced surreptitiously at Max to see him looking straight ahead dazed. Liz squeezed his hand, and that shook Max. “Sorry,” he blinked twice. “She said that Michael wanted to look for some clues to our…past, and who we really are, down in Florida.”

Liz nodded. “Oh, okay. That makes sense.” She stood and began folding up some of his shirts. “Why’d they have to keep it a secret from you?” she wondered aloud.

He smiled, “Michael’s always been headstrong, and one to keep secrets. If he found something, I’m only surprised he didn’t pursue it sooner.”

Once she’d folded away the last of their clothes, she walked back to the bed and stood between Max’s legs. She cupped his chin in her hands and forced his gaze up to hers. “So everything’s okay?”

Max smiled at her and this time the smile reached his eyes. “Yeah, of course.”

He folded his arms around her waist and pressed his face into her chest. Liz rested the top of her head on his and whispered, “Then everything’s going to be okay,” hoping that her words would soothe him. It did to some extent. For one thing he was finally able to close his eyes when he leaned into her embrace. But Max couldn’t let go of the niggling feeling that something was wrong.

See you next Sunday....

[DreamerLaure]

Rowedog - No your eyes aren't deceiving you...I did. Glad you liked it, and as for your conspiracy theories, you haven't mentioned a hide to me yet It was gorgeous, huh?

Flamehair - Thank you! So it would seem... How's your baby Leo?

mezz - Oh, thank you so much, your thoughts about Nas(c)edo made me smile - how does one spell his name anyway?

Begonia9508 - I know! It was nice You'll meet her in a few parts.

Timelord31, Natalie36,Alien614 & thetvgeneral - Thanks

paper Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it Haha, yeah it doesn't bode well at all...

Loveisforever - Thank you, the words finally came out just *right* after so long

Tamashii - It'd be nice if she did, but on some level, Michael is just as much her brother as Max is, which is the heart of her dilemma and is what led to the promises she made

behrluv32 - I hope it was clearer the second time around!

destinyc Yep it does I think you'll enjoy this part though because it's worry-free.

And lurkers (I know the board reset, so I'm sorry if I missed you!)

Thanks guys!

I'd like to bring this over from Roswellian Chronicles





Chapter 28

As soon as one of Liz’s favorite songs faded out on the radio, Max glanced over at his adorable girlfriend expecting to see her looking out the window with a smile on her face, her head tilted towards the radio. He liked to call that kind of pose her “listening to the radio and liking what I hear.” He’d seen it so much in the past few days that he would never forget it.

He wasn’t entirely surprised though to see that she wasn’t doing that at all. Two hours ago when they checked out of the motel and left the last town of their road trip, she pulled out this book and ever since Max hadn’t heard anything but a few appreciative hums and longing sighs from her lips. This burning desire to read this book started the day before when they stopped at a used bookstore and Liz found the biography of one of her favorite biologists, and ever since she placed her hands on the book, she couldn’t stop beaming.

“Oh my God,” Liz squealed as she tugged him down the aisle. On her way she glided past four other shoppers in the store while he, on the other hand, had to apologize when he brushed past them in his haste to keep up with her. She yanked him close to her side when she stopped in front of the table of biographies. When she finally let go of his hand and reached forward reverently for the book in front of her, she sucked in a huge audible gulp of air as she curled her fingertips around the book.

“Do you know what this is?” she implored as she suddenly turned around to face him. She seemed perfectly oblivious to the fact that Max was still trying to shake off the iron grip she had on his hand just a few seconds ago.

“This man,” she said as she tapped his photograph, “practically pioneered the way we look at cells on the microscopic level. He lectured at Harvard a few years ago, and he’s been one of my heroes ever since.”

She closed her eyes in silent remembrance as she hugged the book to her chest. Liz opened her eyes to find Max looking at her with a mix of amusement and teasing in his brown eyes.

“Okay…” she hesitantly admitted, “It wasn’t a few years ago. It was about twelve years ago when my Dad saved these backorders of National Geographic for when I got older and as it turned out, I used to spend hours reading them in my room after school.”

She blushed self-consciously and tucked her head as she read the inside cover. “Gosh, I must sound like a total nerd.”

Max kissed her cheek swiftly, “You don’t, and if anyone says otherwise, just tell them you’re my really hot nerd,” he joked, fully expecting to elicit a giggle from her. Instead Liz spun out of his grasp and purposefully strode toward the cashier. “I have to have this…”

The night before Max had a hard time convincing Liz to relax and watch a movie with him on the TV. When they entered the room, Liz flopped onto the bed with every intention of reading the biography from cover to cover, and her excitement for the book would have eclipsed her fatigue if Max hadn’t played his cards right. After their trip to the bookstore, they made a stop at an apple barn and spent the rest of the afternoon apple picking and had a light dinner afterwards, so it was the first time all day she’d really had to relax. Max gently closed his fingers around the arches of her feet and massaged her feet, and before long he had stretched out along the bed and molded her small frame to his body and they were watching the movie together.

That morning, however, she woke up and declared it a day for reading, and so far it looked as if she was going to stick to that plan no matter what. Max glanced over at Liz and saw that she was without a doubt nose deep in her book and he realized there was no chance he would see her listening to anything. He cleared his throat softly, and…nothing happened. When Liz didn’t even blink, he was convinced she wasn’t about to glance in his direction.

When one song on the radio ended, Max heard the DJ announce the time and he decided there was no time like the present. Besides it was almost her turn to drive, and since she didn’t want to drive, she wouldn’t have to. He slid his left hand under the steering wheel so his palm faced the engine and he concentrated hard. Less than a minute later, he heard the telltale clunking from the front of the Jeep he’d been hoping for.

It was time to up the ante. He shifted his hand so it was parallel to the engine again and concentrated even harder, and the rattling grew louder and the Jeep wobbled unsteadily. Without turning away from the road, Max saw her finally lower her book to her lap. As she turned her head, he faced her and met her concerned eyes with wide-eyed innocent confusion.

Liz squeaked, “Max, what’s going on?” when a spring creaked loudly for a few seconds and snapped.

“Max?” she asked as she pressed her palm on the seat, leaned forward, and peered at the hood of the Jeep.

“I have no clue,” Max hedged. He flicked on his turn signal and cringed as both lights switched on. Maybe he was going a little bit over the top, but as he glanced at Liz’s worried face and the tense way she was sitting forward, he dismissed that possibility. “We can’t have our only ride bailing on us now when we’ve come so far,” he muttered.

He gingerly switched lanes and brought the Jeep to a stop in front of a crowded row of cars that were parked at an acute angle to the curb.

“Hey, can you take a look under the hood and tell me what you see?”

Liz paused in her detached inspection of the front of the car through the windshield, and searched his face doubtfully. Max didn’t seem preoccupied with what she was thinking at all since she was really the last person he’d want to do that. She didn’t know enough about cars to save the day at any given time, and her old second hand car that she had last year was only so well taken care of because she always south out her Dad or a mechanic when something did go wrong. Liz was forgetting that Max knew only a little more than she did as she unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped outside.

Max asked a handful of semi-related questions that he crafted using words that he’d heard over the years whenever Michael or his Dad had discussed cars. Cars had never really been all that interesting to Max, but he had an impeccable memory that was serving him so well right now.

Liz took her time answering his questions, trying to remember which parts were where. Whenever she asked Max where something he just asked her about was, he’d answer her vaguely that it was under the large donut shaped wedge or under the pipe. She only lasted three minutes under his thorough questioning before she rolled her eyes and slammed the hood down. She came back over to the passenger side and teased, “Max, you’re not fooling me.”

He took a deep breath and thought, Stay cool. He quirked one eyebrow and waited to hear her grand conclusion.

“I think you know even less about where things are than I do.” She looked away from his face just as he realized she hadn’t figured out exactly what was going on yet. Her fingertips barely grazed the handle of the door when he exclaimed, “I saw an auto shop about two minutes back. I should bring it – I should bring the Jeep in right now.”

Liz looked at him uncertainly. “Are you sure you can make it back, Max? It might be too risky.”

“Nah, it should be fine. It’s just a few minutes away,” Max said reassuringly. She had a truly blank look on her face so he added, “You know, near the huge Home Depot, the gingerbread house, and the bakery back there.”

“Oh?” Liz said while she nodded convincingly. She had no idea what he was talking about, but he seemed convinced that the whole way here she’d been paying attention. Max had done all of the driving today so far, it was almost her turn, and she had no idea what their surroundings were. Whenever the other person was at the wheel, the person who was about to take the wheel was supposed to focus on where they were and where they were headed, and she felt that now she had let him down when Max had never ever let her down. She was so lost in her own flurry of self-pity that she only heard the tail end of what Max said, which was: “…and I’ll be back in a little while.”

Liz met his eyes and blinked several times. “You’ll be back in a little while,” she repeated slowly.

“I hope it’s just something small that needs to be straightened out and won’t take long. If it is, then I’ll come right back and we’ll try to rent a car before the car rental place down on Third closes for the night.” Max paused and glanced at Liz, and her entire face flushed as she started nodding quickly.

Max handed her pocketbook to her through the window, and gave her a brief smile as he put his hand on the gearshift. “In the meantime, why don’t you go inside?” Max suggested. “No need for the both of us to go. And I know how much you hate shoptalk,” he added before he pulled off, made a slightly jerky U-turn, and carefully sped off. He chuckled as he made a right at the end of the street and headed back to the highway. She has no idea what just hit her, he thought wryly.

Liz pushed a few stray strands of her hair behind her ear and watched semi-awestruck as Max drove the Jeep away. At the precise moment that the Jeep made a sharp right turn at the end of the road and disappeared, she finished processing what Max just said.

“Gingerbread house?” she groaned. “Who builds a gingerbread house in the middle of the summer?”

Liz grinded her teeth together when she saw the huge building behind her that shaded her from the sun. Max had conveniently deposited her in front of a mall…in the middle of nowhere. She had no clue where she was. “I’ve definitely just been had by Max Evans,” she muttered to herself, “but the question is why…”

She opened her handbag with every intention of pulling out her book and it was when she couldn’t find it that she remembered she left it on her seat.

* * * * *

Liz shifted the handles of her shopping bags to one hand and put everything onto the backseats. When she brought her eyes up, she was faced with Max studying her intently. He looked away as soon as he became aware that she saw he was watching her, and once she was in the passenger seat, he moved to kiss her cheek.

“Did they say what went wrong?” she asked while she was putting on her seatbelt.

Max cleared his throat and shrugged. “A couple of things were loose under the hood,” he said, “And they figured it was bound to happen since we’ve been driving the Jeep so hard this summer.”

Liz watched with lowered eyes as Max slipped the key into the engine and turned on the car. He was so nervous that his hands were shaking and he’d even been bouncing one of his knees since she sat down. The only thing that wasn’t betraying his nerves was his steady, practiced voice.

“Max,” she drawled. “You’re like the worst liar I’ve ever known.”

“What?” Max looked puzzled when he turned his eyes away from the road and met hers. “I’m n-n-not,” he spluttered. He swallowed and blurted, “Why would you say that? And how did you know?”

“Why would I say that,” she offered, and Max inclined his head in her direction. Liz couldn’t really resist smiling, “I think the fact that you haven’t been able to sit still since I got into the car means you’re incredibly nervous. So nervous in fact that you’re trying to remember every word you planned to say on the drive over here at the same time that you’re trying to remember what you’ve just told me,” she paused and winked at him. “And so far everything you’ve said is pretty consistent so you’re doing a really good job.”

“Actually,” Liz continued as a thought came to her. She smirked knowingly, “I don’t think I’ve seen you this nervous since the night we went to that restaurant, Catherine’s, and you told me everything.”

Max cringed and glanced back at the road. “And how I know you’re lying is a little bit harder to answer,” Liz said as she reached down for her book and fiddled with the edge of the cover.

“See it occurred to me as you left me curbside and I watched you drive off,” she murmured and rolled her eyes, “that the Jeep looked perfectly fine, and that you were driving it comfortably when less than five minutes before it could barely function five inches without everything under the hood quivering.”

She peered over at Max and studied his face. “Once I was inside the mall, I asked a around and I learned that not only is there not a car rental place within 20 miles south of here, the nearest car repair shop is over an hour away in an infamous cell phone dead zone. So there were only two possible conclusions I could accept,” she said. “Either your sense of direction in unfamiliar places is even more flawed than my own, or you were lying to me and engineered your absence for the past, oh,” she squinted at her watch and continued, “five hours.”

She stared at him for a few seconds before adding, “So tell me Max, which is it?”

“My sense of direction isn’t flawed at all,” Max began as he shook his head. “I’m curious though why you asked someone if there was a car rental place south from here…”

Liz rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, “Because that’s the direction we came from.”

“…When we’re less than twenty minutes from Chicago and we came from the west when we passed over state lines yesterday.”

She gasped and pressed her hand over her mouth. “Really, no way!” she exclaimed. “We’re that close?”

“Yeah, we’re less than two hours from school and the end of our road trip,” Max said. He changed lanes just as Liz looked up at the sign by the exit ramp.

“Max?” she said uncertainly as he drove towards the exit.

“We probably should keep driving so we can reach school by the time it gets dark. Then we could spend all night unpacking and meet up tomorrow morning over coffee. But I kind of have something else in mind for our last night,” he said as he winked at her.

Liz gaped at him and opened and closed her mouth a few times with every intention of getting several answers from him; she finally settled on saying, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Max repeated uncertainly.

“Okay, show me what you’ve got, Evans,” she said flirtatiously as she winked at him.

He smiled back at her, relieved she wasn’t upset, and thrilled for the night that was ahead of them.

“Though, I have to know, Max. Was there actually something wrong with the car? And where exactly did you go?”

“That’s two questions,” he warned.

“I’m only allowed one? No fair,” she pouted.

“No, but with the second you’re asking for me to spoil what’s about to happen next.”

Liz tore her eyes away from his face and looked around where he was parking the Jeep. There was a huge ivory gate in front of them that was…locked.

She frowned at the imposing park entrance and turned back around half-expecting Max to have a witty retort for her doubts and skepticism. Instead he unbuckled his seatbelt and angled his body towards hers.

“Unless there’s an amazing view in there, I’d like for you to know I am so over sneaking into playgrounds.”

Max’s sweet eyes crinkled as he eyed her lips. The only thing that was preventing her from glancing down to see whether or not he was smiling was because she was not about to look at his scrumptious lips. She simply had to resist. This wasn’t the right time to swoon for his charms. He had some serious time to make up to her. So she decided to peer into his eyes, which was definitely a lot safer.

“That impulse died right after I outgrew my Velcro Polly Pocket sneakers, turned six, and realized leaving the playground wasn’t so terrible after all.”

“Oh? Did you trade up for sneakers with real shoelaces?”

She nodded, weakened for about a half a second, and looked down. Damn, his mouth looked too good. She was just going to have to kiss him. Liz scooted out of her seatbelt and subtly adjusted her body in her seat so she was two inches closer.

“I traded Superman in for Spiderman.”

Liz rolled her eyes. “I’m glad I had something in common with you even then.” She felt two of his fingers brush her temple and linger before he went on to tickle the back of her ear. Max finally looked back into her eyes and she was a little surprised by how much her heart sped up.

“We’re not going to sneak in,” he said quietly. “Or at least not technically.”

She bit back a laugh. “Which is it? It has to be one or the other.”

Max slipped his fingers into her hair and gently pulled her to him. The sweetest part of their kiss happened in the split-second before their lips met when he placed his forehead on hers and she breathed in his exhale.

She was kissing the corner of his mouth when he pulled back a little and whispered, “Just trust me, Liz.” She leaned in and fastened her mouth to his. “I already do with my whole heart, so trusting you tonight won’t be too hard,” she murmured.

[DreamerLaure]

Favorite AU with aliens

*shock* Thank you so much! Y'all just made my week!

Good luck to the other nominees! (and now I really, really have to go to sleep)