Roswell Fanatics

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback .

Alien_Friend -

Yay!!!! You're back updating this again!! Very exciting!! I'm so happy. I've missed it so.

Thanks . I'm not managing to write as often as I'd like, but I'm trying, slowly but surely .

It's good that Anna and Liz had that little talk. Liz deserved to clear the air. It's an awkward situation. Especially having to hang out with her without Max.

Yeah, it is an awkward situation, but Liz really shouldn't worry too much about Anna .

I'm wonder if Max has something special planned for Liz why he's being so distant.

Oops, my fault... he's not deliberately being distant, at least not with the sex thing - that was just him feeling that they should get some rest after the long flight (after all, they have 3 days in New York to be together) and also, it was partly because that I didn't feel like writing a love scene at the end of that part .

I forgot they will be separated again soon after Liz has to go back home. I hope they figure something out. Long distances can be so frustrating.

Yeah, only a few days left together before Liz leaves. Let's hope they figure something out .

I'm glad you had a great trip and flying all over worked out. It's is hard to believe it's April and also equally hard to believe it's almost over. lol

Thanks . I can't believe it's May in 2 days! The year's going by so quickly... it's actually been over 4 months since I last saw one of my best friends - one of us has been out of the country while the other has been at home since December!

dreambeliever - Thanks .

yayaliens - Thanks .

no nookie? boo max. you're supposed to be a guy and want sex all the time! thanks for the update come back soon with more! and maybe some "i love you's"

Lol... don't worry, there'll be plenty of loving soon . There may be some 'I love you's' on the horizon... just not quite yet .

Thanks .

keepsmiling7 - Thanks .

I'm not having a good feeling towards Anne Davis.......
Making this relationship work is going to be very difficult when Liz returns home.......and Max doesn't even tell the media the whole truth regarding the relationship.

Oh, I wouldn't worry too much about Anna... I just wanted to get the whole thing cleared up once and for all.

I can sense some real insecurites popping up in Liz......

Usually Liz wouldn't be that insecure in a relationship and I think she knows deep down that she has no reason to be insecure, but there's still this little voice in her head reminding her that Max is a film star, he's famous and lusted after across the world, but she's just an ordinary girl from England.

Lairabehr4 - Thanks, hun .

mary mary - Thanks .

Surely Max is joking...I mean that borders on a bit of conceit and so far he has been anything but. Wow, this is interesting.

Don't worry, he was joking about the beauty sleep thing , and Liz was mostly playing with him by arguing (I probably didn't do a great job at explaining it in the part). He just felt that they should get some rest that night... him because he had tro be up early the next morning and her because she hadn't slept on the plane. There is some M/L action coming right up though...

begonia9508 - Thanks .

Liz was right to talk clearly to Max's friend! I guess living in LA give the people another way of thinking than the rest of the world!
Waiting to know if Liz changed Max's mind about his beauty sleep!

.

I guess LA people do have another way of thinking !

sarammlover - Thanks .

awww poor sexually unsatisfied liz.....and max, really? turning down hotel sex? seriously? what's 20 minutes out of your beauty sleep...seriously. come one. anyway, glad you made it back safely and that you had a great trip! Can't wait for more. Hugs, Sara

Lol - never fear, they will be making the most they can out of the hotel room in the next few days ... and because they have a few days (and he had to be up early the next morning), Max thought it best for them to get some rest that night instead.


***

Part Twenty-One

It was only six-thirty in the morning when the sound of Max’s phone alarm woke Liz from her peaceful slumber. She snuggled up against his side, burying her face in his shoulder as he reached over to the bedside table to switch off the offending noise, one arm still cradling her to him. Once the room was shrouded in silence again, he relaxed back against the pillows and lowered his head towards hers.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you,” he whispered softly, tightening his arm around her.

“S’okay,” she murmured sleepily, her eyes still closed and her arm sliding around his waist, squeezing gently.

“I gotta get ready to go,” he added regretfully a moment later. “They’ll have my ass if I’m late.”

“Yeah, I know,” breathed Liz, as she started to drift off to sleep again.

“But I don’t want to go. I wanna stay here with you,” came his voice again, his petulant tone causing Liz to give a soft, sleepy chuckle.

“You have to,” she replied, lifting her head and opening her eyes to look up at him.

He made an adorable picture, all bleary-eyed and bed-mussed hair, and she couldn’t prevent a smile from sliding across her face as he gazed down at her with dark eyes, before lowering his mouth to hers in a long, slow kiss. Liz moaned involuntarily at the contact and her hand drifted up into his hair, her fingers winding through the soft strands, holding him close to her.

“Mmm,” murmured Max looking down at her with a lazy smile a moment later, before frowning slightly. “I have to go shower.”

Liz gave a small chuckle, “So go.”

“Only if you come with me,” he responded with a grin.

“Max, if I come with you, you’ll never be ready to leave on time,” she rolled her eyes.

“Well,” he whispered conspiratorially, tugging her close. “We’ll just have to make it a quickie then.”

“I guess we will,” agreed Liz with a grin of her own. “Okay, then. Race you there.”

In a shot, she was out of the bed and running for the bathroom, leaving Max to follow behind.

“Hey!” he called out in annoyance, causing Liz to smile widely as she turned on the double-headed shower in the large bathroom and tested the temperature.

It was only a matter of seconds before he appeared in the doorway and began to stalk towards her with a smirk on his face.

“Come here,” he murmured softly as he stopped in front of her and reached for her flimsy tank top, pulling it over her head.

Their eyes locked as the tank top fell from Max’s hands and fell to the floor; a beat passed, then two, and then as if being drawn together by an invisible force, they crashed together, tugging off the remainders of their clothes and stepping into the steamy shower.

Standing under the hot spray with Max’s hands roaming her naked body eagerly, Liz suddenly felt wide awake. She bit her lip in anticipation when his palms cupped her breasts, caressing them gently as his lips sucked and nibbled along the side of her neck.

“Max…” she gasped breathily, clutching at his hair as her body reacted to his ministrations.

Not wasting any time, Max let one hand slide down her stomach, his fingers brushing her clit gently, making Liz’s hips buck in response.

“Oh, God,” she muttered, her eyes sliding closed as her head fell back against the shower wall.

Max continued his foreplay on her sensitive skin for a few more seconds, before his hand shifted to her hips, urging her upwards. She jumped up, wrapping her legs around his waist eagerly as Max moved his mouth to her ear and whispered gently, “Sorry… wish we had time to go slow.”

“Don’t care,” was all she managed when she felt his length pressing into her. “Need you now.”

“Well, if you insist," he grinned slyly, before lowering his mouth to hers, kissing her heatedly as they began moving together as one.

After a very quick, but extremely enjoyable shower, Liz pulled one of the hotel’s luxury robes around her body as Max finally got dressed and ready for the day. She smiled as watched him style his hair in the bathroom mirror from her position perched on the marble counter beside him.

“What?” he asked, shooting her a grin.

“Nothing,” she returned. “I just like watching you.”

He smiled again, before turning back to the mirror to finish adjusting his hair.

“So, what are you going to do today?” he asked, stepping between her legs and placing his hands on her waist.

“Well, I thought I’d go and see the sights,” she replied, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair away from his forehead. “Maybe get some shopping done too.”

“Sounds good.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait.”

Max looked thoughtful for a moment, before reaching into his back pocket and pulling something out.

“Here,” he pressed a small, hard object into her hand. “You can use this.”

Liz looked down at what she was holding with a frown.

“Your credit card?” she shook her head. “Max, no. I can’t.”

“Why not?” he shrugged, obviously not getting what the problem was. “I don’t mind.”

Liz tried to give the card back to him, “No. I’m not spending your money, okay? I have my own. I’m not gonna let you treat me like a kept woman.”

“Come on, Liz,” Max rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not like that.”

She raised her eyebrows at him as if to say, ‘Do I?’

“Look,” he said, more softly this time as he pressed the card back into her hand. “I know you have your own money and I don’t want you to feel like you’re a ‘kept woman’ or anything, but I feel guilty that it’s my fault you have to spend it.”

Her expression softened slightly, “Your fault? Max, I’m the one who decided to come here.”

“I know,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t feel right you spending all your hard-earned money here, when I’m happy to share mine with you.” He rolled his eyes, muttering, “God knows I have more than I know what to do with.”

“Max…” murmured Liz, feeling oddly touched by his admission. “I can take care of myself.”

“You can,” he agreed with a nod. “I just want to help out a bit.”

“Well, in that case, thank you,” she smiled.

“So you’ll take the card?”

She nodded, looking down at it in her hand, “Yeah, I’ll take it.” Looking up at his again, she added, “But don’t expect me to use it, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” agreed Max reluctantly, before flashing her a grin and then giving her a grateful kiss. “Thank you.”

Liz looked up into his eyes and smiled gently.

“Okay, I really gotta go,” he admitted then. “Have a great day.”

“You too.”

They shared another kiss before Max pulled away and helped her down off the bathroom counter. Less than two minutes later, he was gone, leaving Liz staring after him, a bemused smile on her face.

***

It was after nine o’clock that morning by the time Liz finally emerged from the hotel. She walked out onto the busy Manhattan streets with a grin on her face, large sunglasses covering her eyes and a hat pulled down low on her head. She was ready for a day of sightseeing and shopping… in New York! When she’d woken up earlier, she had been ready to snuggle up in bed and get some more sleep, but after Max had left, she’d been full of energy and had spent the next two hours exploring the hotel suite and relaxing on the comfortable couches.

At around nine though, she decided she’d better get going as she only had a couple of days to explore Manhattan, so she got dressed and headed outside. She wasn’t sure if she needed to yet, but she’d opted to play it safe for now and wear the sunglasses and hat just in case anybody recognised her from the paparazzi photos. She was excited about exploring the city, even if it was without Max, and the first stop on her list was Times Square.

The next few hours passed quickly for Liz as she first headed down Eighth Avenue to Forty-Second Street, exploring some of the shops there and then took the subway down to Battery Park, where she took the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. She spent practically the whole day walking around with a large smile on her face… partly because she was excited to be in New York City and partly because it seemed that so far no one had recognised her as Max Evans’ new girlfriend.

However, all day she’d been very conscious of the fact that Max’s credit card was tucked inside her pocket, just begging to be used, and although she knew that he was only trying to help out and she was touched by his generosity, she just couldn’t bring herself to actually use it. She’d always been independent and had been earning her own money since she was a young teenager. She’d never relied on other people for money before and it felt wrong to spend someone else’s hard-earned cash on herself… even if they did have a lot of it to spare.

As if on cue, her phone rang and a quick glance at the caller ID showed that it was Max calling. With a grin, she pressed the answer button and brought the phone up to her ear.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” came Max’s warm timbre down the line. “It’s me.”

“Really?” she replied teasingly. “I’d never have guessed.”

“Very funny,” he returned, although she could hear the smile in his voice. “How are you getting on? Seen all the sights yet?”

“Not quite,” she chuckled. “I’ve been to Times Square, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island though.”

“Good time?”

“Yeah, definitely,” she nodded enthusiastically as she came to a stop at some traffic lights and waited for the ‘Walk’ sign to show.

“So, where are you now?” he wondered.

“I just got the subway back up to Times Square and I’m on my way to Rockefeller Center right now,” replied Liz, crossing Forty-Third Street and heading up Sixth Avenue. “How’s it going there?”

“Pretty good,” he told her. “The interviews this morning were kind of monotonous, but we’re about to start filming Letterman soon, which should be more interesting.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, the show’s usually pretty fun.”

“So, any, uh… awkward questions so far today?” asked Liz as she approached the Forty-Fourth street intersection.

“A couple,” admitted Max softly, with a tinge of regret in his tone. “But I fielded them the best I could.”

“Great,” she replied, as they lapsed into a short silence.

“So, um, I did actually have a reason for calling,” said Max, a few moments later. “I wanted to know if you wanted to meet me later, when I’m done with the show.”

“Of course,” returned Liz, as if it should be obvious. “Just let me know where and when.”

“Well, I should be done here in the next couple of hours, so… how about we say six o’clock back at the hotel and I’ll call you if I’m gonna be late.”

“Sounds great,” smiled Liz. “I’ll see you then.”

***

“Wow,” murmured Liz in awe as she glanced around the extremely posh restaurant Max had taken her to later that evening. “I can’t believe this place. I mean, I know it’s famous and everything, but I never expected it to be this impressive.”

Max grinned, leaning towards her to whisper softly, “It is pretty impressive, huh?”

“Yeah…” she agreed readily, before lowering her voice and speaking seriously. “You know you didn’t have to bring me here, though?”

He frowned, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you don’t need to try and impress me with fancy hotel suites and dinner at the Four Seasons, Max,” she smiled sadly. “I don’t care about all that stuff. You know, I’d be perfectly happy staying in a normal hotel and eating a takeaway dinner.”

“I know,” acknowledged Max. “That’s one of the things that drew me to you in the first place.” She smiled at his admission. “But maybe I want to spoil you a bit.”

“Well, when you put it that way…” mused Liz contemplatively. “Maybe I can suck it up and enjoy it.”

“And don’t forget,” he added with a smirk. “The press would have a field day if I checked into a cheap hotel and ate take-out in New York instead of staying and dining somewhere expensive.”

“Yeah, there is that,” she mused, before looking down at the menu thoughtfully. “So, what’s good to eat here?”

“Well, the Asparagus Soup is nice… and the Sweet Pea Agnolotti is pretty damn tasty,” he replied, glancing over the menu. “And for the main course, I highly recommend the Wild Striped Bass.”

“Ooh, sounds good.”

Just then, a waiter appeared at their table. He was a short, stout man with an upturned nose and a slightly patronizing smile.

“Good evening Mr. Evans,” he greeted with an overly sugary tone. “My name is Piers and I will be looking after you this evening. Are we ready to order?”

Liz hid a smile as Max gave her a discreet eye-roll before replying, “I think we’re gonna need a little more time, thanks.”

“Very well,” nodded the waiter, giving a nod of his head before retreating from the table.

“He seems, uh, nice,” commented Liz with a roll of her eyes.

“Yeah,” Max grinned and shook his head as he scanned the menu again.

Piers returned a few minutes later to take their orders and Liz and Max made casual conversation until the food arrived. The meal was absolutely delicious and for the next two hours, Liz was in heaven. She didn’t think any other restaurant she’d ever eaten at could compare and she told Max so as they exited the restaurant later that night. They walked down the street for a block or so, but Max spotted a photographer across the road and quickly hailed a cab, asking the driver to take them to Thirty-Fourth Street.

“But isn’t our hotel in the other direction?” questioned Liz when the driver pulled out into the traffic and began heading south on Park Avenue.

Max sent her a grin, “We’re not going to the hotel.”

“Oh… so where are we going?”

“You’ll have to wait and see,” he replied softly, pulling her towards him in the back seat of the cab and kissing her gently.

“Okay, then…” she murmured breathlessly when they broke apart several long seconds later. “I can do that.”

A few minutes later, the cab turned along Thirty-Fourth Street and pulled up halfway along the block. Max paid the driver and then helped Liz out of the car.

“Where are we?” she wondered, looking up and down the street trying to figure out what they were doing there.

“Look up,” murmured Max in her ear, standing just behind her.

She did, and when she realised what she was looking at, she let out a gasp, “Oh my God, this is the Empire State Building!”

“I know,” he grinned, stepping to the side and taking her hand, leading her towards a revolving door. “Everyone should see the view from the top at night. Come on, let’s go in.”

“Wow,” murmured Liz in awe as she took in the lobby, she eyes roaming the interior of the building eagerly as they walked to the back of the spacious area.

“Good evening, Mr. Evans,” greeted a smartly dressed concierge at the bottom of the small escalator in the corner. “Nice to see you again.”

“Evening,” nodded Max in return.

The concierge motioned towards the escalator and Liz followed Max as he stepped onto it.

“Do you think we have to worry about being seen here?” wondered Liz when they reached the top of the escalator and headed towards the ticket booths and security lines.

There were a few people milling around, some of whom turned to look at them as they passed through security, but the building didn’t seem too busy.

“I think we’ll be okay,” he smiled, as they headed towards a shiny gold elevator that would take them up to the observation desk. “It shouldn’t be too busy at this time of night, so I doubt we’ll get too much unwanted attention.”

Being fairly quiet visitor-wise, it only took a matter of minutes for them to reach the eightieth floor, switch to a second elevator and finally step out into the eighty-sixth floor observation area. Taking Liz’s hand, Max led her outside to the observation deck.

“Oh my God,” exclaimed Liz when her eyes fell upon the incredible view before her. “This is absolutely amazing!”

She quickly made her way to the corner of the deck and placed her hands on the wall, leaning forward towards the wire mesh to get a better view. The city was so pretty at night, the lights illuminating the tall skyscrapers perfectly. It was a scene she’d only ever seen in the movies.

“I love it up here,” agreed Max as he stepped up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her body back against him. “It’s so peaceful, yet almost overwhelming at the same time.”

Liz nodded in understanding.

“Do you come here often?” she found herself asking, realising belatedly that it sounded very much like a corny chat-up line.

Max seemed to have caught onto the alternate meaning and gave a small chuckle, before sobering and replying seriously, “Yeah, I try to visit whenever I’m in New York… circumstances permitting, of course.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Being up here, looking down at the city… it gives me perspective, I guess. It’s so easy to get caught up in all the superficial stuff in L.A.; you know, how much money you make, how much money everyone else makes, who’s attending whose parties, who’s had plastic surgery this month, etc… but up here, I can just forget about all the Hollywood shit and remember what the rest of the world is like.”

“Wow,” murmured Liz softly, her gaze still fixed on the city before her. “Heavy stuff.”

At that, Max laughed outright, tightening his arms around her for a moment, before lowering his lips to the side of her neck and kissing her softly.

“Yeah,” he murmured against her skin.

“Thank you for bringing me here, Max,” she said after a moment of contented silence.

“It was my pleasure.”

She turned in his arms so she could look into his eyes, hoping to fully convey her appreciation when she added, “Thank you for everything.”

He shook his head, his expression almost incredulous, “Really, Liz, you don’t have to thank me. I love having you here with me.”

“And I love being here with you,” she replied softly.

Max smiled too, as he lifted a hand to tuck a curl of her hair behind her ear, his finger brushing against her cheek as he moved.

“I know I have to, but I don’t want to go home on Friday,” she admitted, her voice just barely above a whisper.

“I don’t want you to go either,” he replied, his tone serious. “It feels like you’ve only just got here… and now we’ve only got four days left together.”

“Yeah, I know,” Liz nodded, her gaze dropping as she attempted to blink away the few tears that were threatening to fall.

“But,” came Max’s gentle voice then as he slid a finger below her chin and forced her to look up again, “We are going to make the most of those four days, okay? I only have a couple of appointments tomorrow afternoon, so I’m planning on spending the rest of the day as close to you as possible.”

“I can’t wait,” she replied, a grin starting to spread across her face.

“Me either,” murmured Max throatily as his gaze darkened and burned into hers.

Without further hesitation, he lowered his lips to hers, his kiss a mixture of passionate and needy. Liz felt her eyes slide closed as she wrapped her arms around his neck and sunk into the kiss, giving it everything she had.

She didn’t care that they were in public and that if they didn’t stop soon, their embrace would begin to border on indecent; she just wanted to savour this moment… kissing the most wonderful, amazing man she’d ever met at the top of the Empire State Building.

It was like a Hollywood movie or something.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

sarammlover - Thanks .

Alien_Friend - Thanks .

Aww that's so cool! I love picturing this stuff. How amazing would that be.

Too bad I didn't have a wonderful Max going up the Empire State Building with me in February. I was on my own and it was freezing cold... there was snow on the ledges at the top .

Liz is good to be able to not lose yourself amongst all the big high flying stuff. She's still so down to earth and still herself. I respect that. But I love how despite that Max wants to show her that she deserves all the luxuries.

Yeah, at this point, Liz is still trying to be normal... although who knows what will happen when she eventually gets thrust into the spotlight even more because she's with Max. Max, on the other hand, just wants to help her out. He's pretty down-to-Earth himself, not letting his celebrity status go to his head too much, but Liz is surviving on practically nothing in comparison to his large paycheques, so it doesn't seem right to for her to use the small amount she does have when he has all this money he can share with her.

Aww it's funny how that happens. I hope you get to see each other real soon. I was talking to a friend last night and she was like you know we haven't seen each other in 2 years. I was so shocked it really didn't seem that long. But we will see each other in June so I'm super excited for that. The years do go by so quickly though. Gosh.

I still haven't managed to see her yet... she was home for a few days and then flew off to Europe for a week ... hopefully soon though . It's crazy how fast it all goes... I've been home from South America for almost 7 weeks now!

mary mary - Thanks .

This was a great chapter and I loved the Empire State Bldg. scene...it is awesome.

Thanks... it was partly inspired by my own trip to the Empire State Building back in Feb (although I was on my own and it was 10 a.m. ).

As for time slipping by, you have no idea just how fast it does go. Wait until you're in your 70's, it's like flipping the pages of a book and when you have a good pain free day you wear yourself out doing all the things you didn't feel like doing on all the bad days. So make time for yourself and your friends and do things fun...but don't forget to update either.

Lol . I've just been feeling the time pass faster and faster lately... I'm gonna be 27 in a couple of weeks and it's making me wonder where the last few years went (mostly because I still haven't started my career yet (bloody recession - been trying to get a graduate job for almost 2 years now) and it feels a bit like I'm wasting the time away).

keepsmiling7 - Thanks .

I am worried about what will happen when Liz has to go home......

They'll find a way to work through it .

dreambeliever - Thanks .

Great update...those two are jsut so sweet and fun. I'm sensing bad vibes coming soon though.....hope i'm wrong.

We'll have to see...

begonia9508 - Thanks .

Oh yes! The Empire State Building at night is fascinating and with all these lights on the other side of the Hudson River: it's magic!

I'd like to see it at night... I've only been able to do it during the day so far though.

Paris and NY my preferate cities...

Yeah, I like them too... haven't been into Paris for a few years now though (I was about 13 years old the last time!). I like London too, although it's so busy that I can only handle a few hours at a time in the city.



***


Part Twenty-Two

“Okay,” murmured Liz softly, as she glanced over the open suitcase on Max’s bed before turning to him with sad eyes. “I think I’m just about done.”

“That’s great,” Max forced a smile onto his face as he stepped closer to her, slipping his arms around her waist from behind.

He exhaled heavily, his eyes sliding closed at the feel of her body pressed against him. It was a feeling he wanted to savour for as long as possible; he didn’t know when he was going to be able to see her again once she stepped onto that plane in a couple of hours. In fact, he couldn’t believe the last two weeks had flown by so quickly…it felt like he’d only just picked her up from the airport yesterday and now it was Friday… the day he’d been dreading.

He’d meant what he’d said on Monday night in New York; they were going to make the most of the four days they had left together… and make the most of them they did. The whole of Tuesday morning had been spent alone together in their hotel suite, laughing, talking, snuggling… making love. In the afternoon, Liz had accompanied him to his interviews, seemingly happy to sit back and observe him while he was working, and then he’d taken her out to a Knicks game in the evening. It was a perfect day, just hanging out and, for the most part, being a normal couple. Sure there had been paps hanging around at Madison Square Garden, just waiting to take their picture, but for once, he hadn’t cared all that much about he and Liz being seen together.

Wednesday had been a good day too. Liz had spent the morning visiting some of the city’s museums while he’d attended the last of his press and interview appointments, and then they’d spent the afternoon together wandering through Central Park, trying to avoid the paps when they inevitably caught up with them. The plane ride back to L.A. later that evening had been basically the opposite of the one to New York three days earlier… this time, Liz was the one sleeping through the journey, leaving Max to observe her, beautiful in slumber. He’d spent most of the long journey wondering what on Earth he was going to do with himself when she left L.A. in two days.

Now, more than ever, he knew they had to make it work… somehow. He hadn’t told her yet, not wanting to get her hopes up, but he’d been looking into the possibility of relocating to London to be closer to her. Sure, it wouldn’t be the most practical decision, with his agent, manager and publicist all in California, not to mention the majority of the work being based in Los Angeles, but at this point in time, he didn’t really care. Of course, then there was the issue of getting a visa to live in England. From what he had read on the immigration websites, he could get a temporary worker visa for creative and sports people, but it would only allow him to stay there for a few months and he would need to have work lined up in the UK beforehand, but if he wanted to stay in London on a long-term basis, there was only one real visa option: marriage. And at this point in their relationship, he didn’t think he and Liz were ready for that. So, for now, he had seen any other option than to say goodbye to her at the end of her stay and try to get through the next few months in a long-distance relationship.

“Yeah,” sighed Liz sadly, bringing Max back to the present. “All packed and ready to go.”

He tightened his arms around her, wanting to keep her as close as possible for as long as he could. He opened his mouth to speak, but he just couldn’t think of anything to say to lighten the mood.

“I’ve had such an amazing time here, Max,” she said then. “The best two weeks of my life.”

“Yeah?” he murmured, lowering his head and letting his lips trail along her neck. “Me, too.”

He smiled against her skin as her head fell to the side and a small moan escaped her lips. Her hand came up to cradle his jaw as he continued with his gentle kisses.

“God…” she sighed longingly. “I don’t want to go.”

“So don’t go,” he returned against her soft, warm skin. “Stay here with me.”

She shook her head and he saw a small smile grace her perfect features, “You know I can’t stay, Max. I really want to, but I can’t.”

“I know,” he replied, as his hands slid up over her stomach and cupped her breasts through the thin shirt she was wearing. “How much time do we have?”

Liz sucked in a breath as his fingers brushed across her nipples suggestively, before managing to say, “I have to be at the airport in two hours.”

“That’s plenty of time.”

With a wide smile, Max moved his hands back to her stomach again and tugged at the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head. She lifted her arms obligingly and he let the top fall to the floor. Her bra was the next to go, followed by his own shirt, leaving them standing together, the warm skin of her back pressed up against his bare chest. Returning to nuzzling her neck, he gently teased the sensitive skin of her breast with one hand as the other skimmed down over her abdomen to the waistband of her jeans. Deftly undoing the top button and sliding the zipper down, he slipped his fingers into her panties. As he came into contact with the hot flesh there and began to stroke gently, Liz gasped, her back arching in response, which in turn caused his own arousal to intensify.

“Yes… Max…” she whispered urgently. “I need…”

“God, what am I going to do when you’re gone?” he muttered raggedly, his own breathing becoming erratic as she rolled her hips back against him.

“Spend lots of time with your right hand?” she joked, her voice breathless and enticing.

“Liz!” he exclaimed, lifting his head from her neck and looking down at her in surprise.

“What?” she grinned wickedly.

He shook his head in amusement, “I can’t believe you just said that.”

She just rolled her eyes and tilted her head up, pulling his face towards her for a heated kiss. His mind was still reeling from her retort when they parted several moments later, but it was forgotten quickly with her next words.

“Make love to me, Max,” she implored softly. “I want to feel you…”

Max gave her a smile as he urged her towards the bed, “As if I could say no.”

***

Liz knew the exact moment that she fell back down to Earth with a bump. It was the second she stepped out of Heathrow airport on Saturday morning to a cold breeze and heavy, grey clouds that matched her sombre mood. She’d been sad to say goodbye to Max at his house last night, and even sadder that he wouldn’t be coming to the airport with her–they’d decided it best that she left as undetected as possible–and she’d even spent most of the flight holding back the tears that were threatening to fall the moment she let her guard down… but all of that was nothing compared to the overwhelming feeling of loss and sadness that bore down on her as soon as she stepped back onto English soil again.

She’d had to survive without Max before, during those two weeks after he’d flown back to L.A., but this was different. This time she didn’t have anything to look forward to; she wasn’t going to be flying to California to see him and he wasn’t going to be coming over to London anytime soon. She’d just left everything she’d come to love over the last few weeks and months back in Los Angeles and all she had left here was her job and her rented flat. Well, no, that wasn’t true; she still had Maria, Michael, her friends back home and her parents, yet right now none of them seemed to matter as much as the fact that she’d had to say goodbye to the man she loved just thirteen hours ago.

Yes, that’s right; she loved him. She supposed she had for a while now, but she’d only just admitted it to herself in the last few days. Only problem was, she hadn’t quite gathered up the courage to admit it to Max himself yet.

Liz sighed heavily as a gust of wind whipped around her suddenly, reminding her where she was. Dragging her bags over to the taxi rank, she hailed a cab and as the driver lifted her bags into the car, she got settled in for the hour-long journey back to her flat. Max had suggested she take a taxi from the airport instead of public transport, just in case the press discovered she was back in London before she made it home. At first, she had refused, knowing how expensive taxi fares between Heathrow and Central London were (over a hundred dollars!) and feeling that it was unnecessary, but he’d insisted and had even offered to pay the fare for her if it was going to be too expensive. As much as she really didn’t like the notion of being ‘taken care of’ financially, she had to admit that her money was running low and that she really couldn’t afford to pay more than the cheap train fare she had planned on and so she reluctantly accepted his offer.

Liz felt totally exhausted by the time the taxi pulled up outside her flat an hour later. She paid the driver and then lugged her bags up to the familiar apartment. Once inside, she simply dropped her things to the floor and made her way into the bedroom, collapsing on the bed and finally allowing her tears to fall. It had only been a few hours, but she missed Max so much, more than she ever imagined she would. She was aching to pick up the phone and call him, but it was still the middle of the night in California and he would still be sleeping.

Logically, she knew that if she wanted to get her body back to UK time and get over the jet lag, she needed to stay awake for as long as possible today, but right now, she really didn’t really care. Maybe if she shut her eyes and got some sleep, she could pretend that Max wasn’t really all those thousands of miles away.

It was late afternoon when she was woken from her heavy slumber by the sound of the phone ringing. With an annoyed groan, she pried her eyes open and dragged herself out of bed and into the living room to pick up the phone.

“’Lo?” she muttered sleepily into the receiver.

“Lizzie, darling, you’re home!”

“Mum, hi,” Liz perked up a little at the sound of her mother’s voice on the other end of the line. “Yeah, I just got in this morning.”

“So, how was the trip? Did you have a good time in L.A. with Max?”

“Oh, yeah, it was amazing,” Liz replied enthusiastically, her earlier exhaustion and sadness forgotten for the time being. “I had a great trip. We even went to New York for a few days last week.”

“Wow,” murmured Nancy in response. “You’re really living the high life now.”

“Yeah, I guess,” shrugged Liz; she didn’t really like to think of it that way though.

“So, now that you’re back, are you planning to come and see us soon?”

“Of course I will,” assured Liz with a smile. “Just give me a few days to adjust to being home again and I’ll come for a visit… how’s next weekend?”

“Sounds wonderful, honey.” Her mum sounded delighted. “But just to warn you that a few people have been talking about you and Max recently… after seeing you in the papers and magazines.”

Liz’s heart skipped a beat at that. Sure, she knew that there was no escaping media attention now that she and Max had gone public, but it didn’t seem so bad when she’d been out there in Tinsel Town. However, knowing that all the people she grew up with would now know all about her love life, she felt more than a bit overwhelmed.

“Oh, okay,” she managed softly. “Thanks for letting me know.”

“You sound a bit out of sorts,” Nancy sounded concerned. “Are you sure you’re okay with all this?”

“Yeah, yeah, I am,” sighed Liz. “It’s all just kind of strange, you know?”

“Well, I can imagine,” replied Nancy with a small laugh. “But the best advice I can give you is not to let it get to you and not to let it affect your relationship with Max. If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

“Thanks, Mum,” murmured Liz gratefully.

“It’s what I’m here for,” she joked. “So, how was your flight home? I bet you’re exhausted.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” agreed Liz. “I was actually asleep when you called.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, sweetie,” apologised Nancy quickly. “I’ll let you go now.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry,” she insisted. “I should be trying to stay awake anyway, otherwise I’ll never get over the jet lag.”

“Oh, okay, then. Why don’t you tell me all about your trip?”

***

Max woke up on Saturday morning feeling like shit. After Liz had left for the airport the evening before, he’d ended up just moping around the house, wishing she was still there. At around eight o’clock, his friends Joe and Tom had come round with beer and pizza and he’d hung out with them for a few hours. By the time he’d gotten to bed in the early hours of the morning, he was more than a little drunk and as a result, he’d barely gotten any sleep and was now suffering with a pounding hangover. But, hey, at least the alcohol took his mind off Liz for a while.

He dragged himself out of bed and slowly headed downstairs, only to find Tom and Joe still crashed out on the large sofas in the den. Nursing his sore head, he made his way into the kitchen and started the coffee machine, before reaching into one of the cupboards for some aspirin. As he poured a glass of water, his gaze fell upon the phone on the counter and his thoughts turned to Liz once again. He was tempted to reach for it and dial her number, but he knew it wasn’t a good idea right now, not when his head was pounding, he was in desperate need of a shower to freshen up and his friends were still here. No, he would wait a couple of hours until he was feeling more normal and was actually capable of holding a comprehensive conversation with her.

When the coffee was done, Max poured a mug for himself and, chancing a glance into the den on his way back to the stairs to see the guys still dead to the world, he carried it upstairs to his bedroom. Taking a sip of the strong, steaming coffee, he placed the mug down on his bedside table and began peeling off his clothes as he made his way into the en-suite bathroom and turned on the shower. As he reached for a towel, he caught a glimpse of himself in the wide mirror above the sink and rolled his eyes at the miserable bastard with bloodshot eyes and dark circles staring back at him. If this was what just a few hours away from Liz did to him, how was he gonna survive the next few weeks, maybe even months without seeing her?

Lifting a hand to massage the back of his aching neck, he stepped into the shower and let the hot spray cover him. Resting his hands against the wall, he let his head fall forward as the water flowed over his stiff, tired muscles. As he stood there, just letting his body relax, he thought about how much his life had changed in the past few months. Less than six months ago, he had been happy with his life, with just having a few fairly casual relationships and not really wanting to settle down just yet; but meeting Liz Parker at Christmas had changed all that. Last December, all he’d been thinking about was having a fun and enjoying the single life but now, he couldn’t imagine not having her in his life.

It was after midday by the time he managed to get rid of Joe and Tom and pick up the phone to call Liz. He winced as he glanced at the clock and realised it was getting late in London and he just hoped she was still awake.

“Hello?”

He couldn’t help but grin at the sound of her soft voice, “Hey, Liz, it’s me.”

“Max!” her voice brightened on the other end and he smiled widely. “Hi!”

“I didn’t wake you or anything, did I?” he asked, hoping he hadn’t disturbed her.

“No, I’m fine,” she replied. “Stupid me slept for three hours earlier so I’m not even tired now.”

“Oh, right,” he knew firsthand how bad jet lag could be, but was secretly relieved that they had some time to talk. “So, how was your flight?”

“Long and boring,” she sighed, before adding, “and lonely.”

“I know what you mean,” he sympathised. “God, it’s too quiet here without you.”

“Same here,” she murmured and Max’s chest tightened as her voice hitched. “I miss you, Max.”

“I miss you, too,” he admitted gently. “I wish I could have come back with you, but I have another project coming up soon and I’m needed here.”

“I know,” she replied. “And I have to go back to work on Monday.”

“It will get better, Liz,” he tried to be convincing although he wasn’t too sure about that himself; he didn’t see how it could get better if they were apart.

“How long do you think it will be before we can see each other again?” she sounded so lost and vulnerable that his heart went out to her.

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “But I promise you that the first chance I get, I will fly out there to see you.”

“Really?”

There was new excitement in her voice and he couldn’t help but smile in response.

“Yes, really,” he replied.

“I can’t wait.”

“Me either.”

There was a short pause in the conversation and Max could hear Liz moving something around. He closed his eyes briefly as he pictured her in her apartment, imagining that he was there with her too.

“So, do you have anything planned for the rest of the weekend?” he asked then.

“Apart from sleeping?” she joked. “Not really, but if I’m not too tired, I was thinking of maybe doing something with Maria tomorrow.”

“That sounds good,” he nodded, although he knew she couldn’t see him. “Tell Michael I said hi.”

“I will.”

They talked for almost two hours, until Liz finally gave into the tiredness and he had to let her go. He hung up the phone with a heavy sigh and glanced out of the window at the bright sunshine outside. It was funny how he’d always loved the sunshine before, but without Liz, the beautiful weather just didn’t seem worth enjoying anymore.

God, how pathetic was he?

No, not pathetic, he decided a moment later, just in love with the most amazing, kind and beautiful woman I’ve ever met.

TBC…

Hey guys, thank you for your feedback . Sorry it's been a long wait for this part... I've been suffering from writer's block over the last few weeks .

dreambeliever - Thanks

Ooohh he said the' L' word. These two are just too cute.

Lol - yeah, they are, but will they actually say the 'L' word to each soon?

begonia9508 - Thanks

The call was too sweet!.... and my economical sense is worried about their phon bills...
Waiting for more - EVE

Lol - well, Max shouldn't have to worry about the money side of things with the phone calls... and there's always Skype and things to make it cheaper .

mary mary - Thanks

Well, it looks like the two of them are going to have to make a decision soon. Who's going to do the moving?
I know this sounds horrible but I think it would be best if Liz started searching the internet for a job based in LA rather than Max moving to England since he'd be out of town most of the time and that sucks!

Yeah, it would be easier for Liz to do the moving instead of Max... as Max will get more work if he stays in the US (England doesn't have all that much opportunity for a movie star... well, unless Max wants to do TV or West End shows.

Alien_Friend - Thanks

Aww long distance is hard. It teaches you to be able to talk to though. You have to be wiling to communicate and feel confident to. It says a lot they can just talk about anything and express their fears and not be concerned about how it might be received.

Yeah, definitely... hopefully they can keep up the honesty and the communication .

Awesome part! I hope they get to see each other soon. I love that they are in love!

Let's hope so .

Marriage or a temporary work visa. Immigration is so complicated. They just wanna be together. There is so much to think about when you're from different countries.

Yeah, it's tough with all the visa requirements... a marriage visa for Liz to move to the US could take up to 2 years to be approved! One for the UK though, could be approved in as little as a couple of weeks to a couple of months.

Oh wow! Very cool. I can only imagine how cold it would be so high up. If only we could all have a Max.

Yeah, it was cold !

That's a long time. It never seems to feel it. Hopefully you two and get together soon.

Yeah, we finally made it... eventually .


sarammlover - Thanks

awwww, totally heart breaking. they are so in love and so far away from each other. sad......I hope they figure out something soon!! hugs, sara

Let's hope they do .

clueless - Thanks

zaneri1 - Thank you

I just read "Yule & Making" LOVE IT I love the fact that they talk and are open to each other. Now they just need to admit they love each other.

Yep, that's the next step for them, I think .

I like that Liz wants to have her own money and not use Max's all the time only when she needs to. It is important especially since they are not married yet.

Yeah, she still wants to be as independent as possible and for Max it's good, because it shows that she doesn't want him for his money .

Max should not move to the UK because it will still mean he will be out of the country most of the time anyways. Liz however can find a job in the US easily. Maybe teach or get an advanced degree at UCLA which would keep her occupy while Max is at work and have her own life apart from Hollywood.

Yeah, it wouldn't be a wise move for Max to come to the UK. However, I wouldn't say Liz could find a job in the US easily... I have two masters degrees in science and I doubt I would be able to get a job in the US - they only issue 65,000 work permits per year to the entire world (in comparison, last year the UK issued about 180,000) and they reserve 20,000 for people who have a postgraduate degree from a US university. A marriage visa for the US can take up to 2 years to be processed. I have lived in the US on 2 student visas in the past, so I know about US immigration and how hard it is to move there (almost impossible in some cases).

PS I read "Between the Cover" LOVE IT Any chance for a sequel?

Thank you . I'm glad you liked it. I was originally intending to write a sequel, but I keep wavering between leaving the story as it is and continuing in a sequel. Problem is, I'm having trouble coming up with a good storyline for one and I don't want to write a sequel just for the sake of it. We'll see what happens though.

***

Part Twenty-Three

Liz slept late the next morning, jetlag catching up with her, and it was almost midday when she finally opened her eyes. She gave a contented sigh as she stretched languidly and then sank back against the soft pillows beneath her head; she hadn’t felt this relaxed and rested in a long time. She smiled lazily and let herself simply lie there for a few more moments, her eyes sliding closed once more as she savoured the feeling of being back in her own bed again. It was only about ten seconds later, however, when the events of the past two weeks with Max came rushing back to her and her eyes shot open, her good mood suddenly evaporating. With a heavy sigh, she pulled herself out of bed and padded across her bedroom to the bathroom, where she turned on the shower and stepped into it, trying her best to take her mind off the fact that she was alone and the man she loved was six thousand miles away.

Despite the hot shower being just what she needed to start the day, it didn’t actually manage to distract her from thoughts of Max… in fact it only served to remind her of the amazing shower time they’d shared together in New York last week and instead of calming her down, the feeling of the water cascading over her naked body only served to turn her on. Letting out a frustrated groan, Liz shook her head, trying to clear away the inappropriate thoughts that were running through her mind at full speed now. She could be strong; she wouldn’t give in to the urges of her body… oh, what the hell, she thought, as she let her hands slide down over her stomach; it wasn’t like she would be getting any for a while anyway.

Thirty minutes and a very enjoyable shower later, Liz stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel, a sated smile playing on her lips. Of course, it wasn’t the same without Max here, but she would have to take what she could get from now on. Throwing on the first items of clothing she found in her dresser, she eyed the bulging suitcase in the corner of the room for a moment, knowing that it was full of laundry that needed doing, and then rolled her eyes as she left the bedroom. The laundry could wait until later. She made herself a cup of coffee and went to find something to eat, before quickly realising that there was no food in the flat at all. With a sigh, she carried the mug of steaming coffee back into her bedroom and reached for her phone to call Maria and ask if she wanted to grab some lunch.

Less than an hour later, Liz was sitting in one of her favourite little cafés waiting for her best friend to arrive. Hating sitting alone in public with nothing to do, she reached for a discarded magazine on a nearby table and began flicking through it. The front cover advertised an interesting-sounding real-life story regarding a cheating husband, but as she tried to find the right page, her gaze fell on a certain picture with an accompanying blurb that made her stop in her tracks.

It was a photo of her and Max in New York, his arms wrapped around her waist as he looked down into her eyes, a small smile gracing his features; but Liz’s eyes only lingered on his face for a second, as it was the picture of her, gazing up at him happily as if he was her entire world, that caught her attention instead. She couldn’t believe that the beautiful, love-struck girl in the photo was actually her. Her heart constricted in her chest slightly as she continued to gaze down at the photo, before flicking to the short article beside it.

Max Evans and his new love were spotted cosying up to each other in New York on several occasions this week. They were seen out and about in the city a number of times, including at the top of the Empire State Building, relaxing at a Knicks game Tuesday night and walking together in Central Park on Wednesday, seemingly so engrossed with each other that they hardly noticed anything going on around them. It is common knowledge that Max has preferred to keep his relationships casual in the past, but inside sources tell us this one is the real deal for him. “He’s completely in love with Liz,” our source tells us, “it’s so obvious; he can barely keep his eyes… or his hands… off her.” Well, then, Liz, it looks like you’ve got a keeper there… I’d hang on to him if I were you.

Oh, I’m planning on it, thought Liz to herself with a small smile as she finished reading the article and turned back to look at the photograph again.

“Oh my God, Lizzie!” screeched a familiar voice just then, causing Liz’s head to snap up in surprise. “You’re back!”

“Maria, hey,” she grinned happily, standing up to greet her friend as Maria barrelled forward and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Did you have a good time?” asked Maria excitedly when she finally let go of Liz and looked at her with an impish grin, before grabbing her by the hand and pulling her down to sit at the table as she rambled on. “Come on, you have to tell me everything. How was L.A? I bet it was amazing! Oh, and Max… I want all the gory details, girl!”

“Whoa, hang on a minute, ‘Ria,” chuckled Liz, holding her free hand up to halt her friend’s chatter. “Give me a chance to get settled down first! Why don’t we order the food and then we’ll talk properly, okay?”

“Spoilsport,” pouted Maria, although her expression was amused. “Fine, let’s order some lunch… but then you’re telling me everything.”

Quickly choosing their food, which was easy since they always ate exactly the same thing every time they came to this café – a jacket potato with tuna mayo and a side salad for Liz and a bowl of roast parsnip soup and French bread for Maria, plus a cappuccino each – they placed their order at the counter, paid and headed back to the table with their drinks.

“Right then,” announced Maria as she took a sip of her cappuccino. “You have to tell me all about your trip.”

“Well,” started Liz with a wide smile, resting her elbows on the table so she could lean in a little closer to Maria. “It was amazing! L.A. is totally incredible… I just wanted to stay there forever.” She let out a happy sigh, “God, Maria, he even came to pick me up from the airport in a limo!”

“Ooh, Lizzie,” Maria’s eyes lit up with excitement. “Please tell me you got some hot limo action!”

“Well…” hedged Liz, enjoying her friend’s enthusiasm. “Actually, no.”

“Aww, come on, Liz!” sighed Maria in exasperation. “You were all alone in a limo with Max Evans… how could you not have taken advantage of that?”

“Well, it’s not like the suggestion didn’t come up,” she hinted. “In fact, Max was pretty into the idea.”

“And you turned him down? Are you crazy?!”

“’Ria,” Liz rolled her eyes, “I’d just spent eleven hours on a plane and it was my first time in L.A. I didn’t want to miss out on seeing the city because I was shagging Max in back of the limo.” Suddenly she grinned, “Plus, I knew we had plenty of time for that later on.”

“Oh?” Maria’s expression became mischievous as she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Do tell.”

“God, Maria, is sex all you think about?” teased Liz with an amused grin.

“Only when my best friend is doing a movie star,” retorted Maria, sticking her tongue out in response.

Liz just rolled her eyes at that and chose to continue describing her time in Los Angeles, from the picnic she’d shared with Max up in the hills, the barbecue with his friends and the incredible restaurant they’d eaten at in her first couple of days there, to the film premiere, their day at Disneyland and finally their trip to New York a few days ago. By the end of it all, Maria’s eyes were practically bugging out of her head and she was moaning about how Michael never did anything special like that for her.

Liz just gave a sympathetic chuckle at that, before reassuring her, “Maria, you’re, like, Michael’s whole world. That man would do anything for you, you know that”–Maria gave a reluctant nod in agreement–“and anyway, it’s Max I love, not the things he does for me. I would love him even if he was just a regular guy.”

“Whoa, whoa, just hold on a minute there!” exclaimed Maria, her earlier disappointment forgotten now. “Did you just say you love Max? When did this happen.”

“Oh crap,” Liz closed her eyes in embarrassment when she realised what she’d let slip. “I wasn’t supposed to tell you that… I haven’t even told him yet.”

“But seriously, you love him?” probed Maria, leaning forward for the gossip.

“Yeah, yeah I do,” admitted Liz then with a happy grin, looking her friend in the eye. “But I only just admitted it to myself yesterday so don’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t want Max hearing it from anyone but me.”

“Oh, wow, this is so great!” squealed Maria, unable to hold in her excitement over Liz’s revelation. “Ooh, maybe we can have a double wedding or something? Once I persuade Michael to propose, that is.”

“Hey, hey, hold your horses for a minute, ‘Ria!” she held her hands up to halt the direction the conversation was taking. “I think it’s a bit early to be discussing marriage, don’t you? We’ve only been together for a few months!”

“Oh, don’t tell me you haven’t thought about it though, Lizzie,” said Maria knowingly. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Well…” she tried to stall, but soon realised it was pointless. “Okay, maybe the thought has crossed my mind once or twice–”

“I knew it!”

A wistful look entered Liz’s eye as her mind drifted to thoughts of a big white wedding in the California sunshine; Max looking extremely handsome in a tux, his eyes sparkling with love as she walked down the aisle towards him… but she quickly shook her head to clear it; this was reality, not some fantasy, and she and Max were nowhere near the marriage stage. Hell, she hadn’t even told him she loved him yet and she had no idea if he even felt the same way about her.

“Look, can we just drop the marriage talk for now, please?” Liz pleaded quietly. “Let’s talk about something else, okay? How’s everything been going with you the last couple of weeks?”

The conversation turned to Maria and her constant struggle to make it as a singer in London, while still holding down a job as a law firm secretary during the daytime hours. The two friends laughed together as the conversation steered away from the subject of Max and marriage and towards Maria describing a particularly embarrassing incident for a new performer at an open mic night the other night. Liz found that she was thoroughly enjoying herself laughing and joking with Maria and suddenly life didn’t seem so bad after all. She could do this; she could survive here without Max, at least for a little while… although she couldn’t help her mind from wandering back to that perfect wedding scene she’d envisaged earlier every now and then.

However, after the lovely Sunday afternoon spent catching up with Maria, the next few days passed so slowly for Liz that she felt like she was going to explode with frustration. Maria had helped take her mind off being miserable and missing Max, but as soon as Monday morning rolled around, the sadness she’d felt when she’d returned home from the airport returned in full force.

It didn’t help matters that when she arrived at work that morning, the office had been buzzing with excitement over her return… apparently one of the girls on reception had seen some pictures of Liz and Max together in a gossip magazine a few days earlier and had shown them to just about everyone in the company. Her secret was out and there was no way to avoid the attention that came with it. All day long, she had to deal with people looking in her direction and then whispering to each other, completely unsubtly, and also her colleague, Steve, the one who’d suggested she was in love all those weeks ago, kept sending her teasing jibes from his desk across the room.

As the week progressed, the attention died down a little, but Liz found she still couldn’t concentrate on her work and she ended up simply counting down the hours until she could head home and hopefully talk to Max on the phone… except that she’d barely had a chance to talk to him all week. They’d managed to speak a couple of times, but only for a few minutes at a time as the first time, Max had been in between errands and the second time Maria had knocked on her door during their phone call and dragged her out to a dance club for the night. At least she was going back home to see her parents and hopefully her other friends at the weekend though… that was at least something to look forward to and it might help take her mind off Max.

***

Max sighed heavily as he pulled into the parking lot of his manager’s office on Monday morning; now that Liz had gone, it was back to work as normal and his day was already filling up fast with meetings and phone calls. Apparently Sandy was anxious to talk with him about his new project – a small, independent film being directed by Philippe Benoît, an up-and-coming Frenchman, which was due to start filming in Paris in a few weeks’ time – and his publicist had something important she wanted to discuss with him. Getting out of his SUV and heading inside the modern building, he decided that his job wasn’t actually all that different from Liz’s… it could certainly be boring at times, especially when he was between projects and had to handle all the tedious behind-the-scenes stuff like signing contracts, sitting in long meetings with stuffy men in suits and dealing with his finances. Sure, the acting side was amazing, but in reality, he only spent a few weeks, maybe even a few months, of the year actually doing it.

“Good morning, Max,” smiled his manager when he entered her office a few minutes later.

“Morning, Sandy, “ he nodded in greeting, before noticing with slight surprise that his publicist was in the room too. “Adele, hey, what are you doing here?”

“Hi, Max,” nodded Adele, only briefly looking up from the folder of paperwork in her hand to greet him. “There have some changes to your upcoming press tour schedule, which look like they might to coincide with your trip to Paris, so I thought it would be easier for us to figure them out if I was here today too.”

“Oh, okay,” nodded Max, feeling slightly out of the loop as he took a seat next to Adele, getting comfortable as Sandy settled in behind her desk. “What’s up?”

“Well,” started Sandy, as she shuffled through some papers in front of her, “as you know, filming for your new project begins in Paris in a month. Now, your visa paperwork is being processed for you as we speak, so that won’t be a problem, but Adele informs me that, due to the success of Love’s Complication’s opening weekend, there have been some last minute adjustments to the film’s European premiere and release dates.”

“Oh?” he murmured, glancing between his manager and his publicist with interest.

“Yeah,” piped up Adele. “It seems the film exceeded expectations among US audiences this weekend and they want to move up the European premiere in London to next Wednesday and the official UK release date to the week after.”

“Really?” murmured Max, trying to not to show the sudden excitement he felt about the possibility of flying to London and seeing Liz again as soon as next week.

“Yep,” nodded Adele. “You’ll be flying out to London for the premiere Monday morning and returning to L.A. Thursday morning.”

“Okay, that’s fine,” said Max, taking that in, his mind running through all the possibilities of spending time with Liz during his time in London. “But what does this have to do with Sandy and my trip to Paris next month?”

“I was just getting to that,” Adele rolled her eyes at him affectionately as she sifted through her paperwork for a moment and Max fought back a smirk at her reaction. “Right, well, the film is now scheduled for release in several other European countries during the time that you’ll be in Paris. Which is why I’ve been conferring with Sandy to figure out how to fit the European press tour dates in with your Paris filming dates.”

“Oh, right,” nodded Max in understanding.

If he was honest though, he suddenly wasn’t looking forward to what was surely to be an extremely busy few weeks next month. It was hard enough trying to cope with the long days of filming in a foreign city, without adding in extra travel to other countries for interviews and TV spots.

“This is how it’s going to work, Max,” spoke up Sandy now, her tone authoritative. “You’ll be flying out to Europe a few days early for a quick-stop tour of Germany, Italy and Spain before filming begins in Paris.”

“I will?” he gulped; this whole Europe thing was starting to sound more and more like a bad idea as the conversation continued.

“You will,” confirmed his manager. “I just got off the phone with Philippe, the director, and he’s agreed to shuffle the filming schedule around a little to allow you to cover the remaining press events that will be taking place while you’re in France.”

“And he’s really okay with that?” wondered Max, for lack of anything else to say.

“Well, he’s willing to compromise, at least,” replied Sandy. “He knows how important you are to his film – with you on board, he’s hoping that the project will get international recognition.”

“Oh, so I’m just there to draw in audiences now, am I?” Max couldn’t stop the sarcastic retort from spilling from his lips. “That’s just great!”

“Max, come on, you’ve been in this industry long enough to know how things work,” said Sandy, sending him a disbelieving look.

“Well, in that case, I’m not sure I’m happy making movie anymore,” he frowned. “If I’m going to be putting myself through the stress of filming and doing all that press at the same, then I want to know it’s for a good reason.”

“Max, listen to me,” Sandy shook her head at him. “It’s not just that you’re a big name, okay? This director wants you specifically for your talent. He’s excited to work with you and doesn’t want to pass up this opportunity to have you star in his latest project.”

“Really?” he was sceptical.

“Yes, really. Look, this movie is going to be beneficial for both of you, okay? Philippe Benoît gets his big-name actor and you get a chance to showcase your talent and further your career without dealing with all that blockbuster, big-studio shit.”

“Well, when you put it that way… fine, put me down for the press stuff too,” shrugged Max in defeat, realising that he didn’t have a choice but to deal with the impending large workload.

He had to admit that he was excited about this new project and for the opportunity to work with the young director. He’d checked out a couple of the Frenchman’s earlier projects and had been very impressed with the quality of the acting and camera work in them… despite the films being entirely in French. The new movie, though, was going to be mostly English language, something Max was grateful for, as what little French he knew was rusty at best.

The meeting continued relatively smoothly, with Sandy and Adele discussing the finer points of the Paris arrangements and sorting out the dates between them while Max just sat back and left them to it. However, it wasn’t long before the conversation turned to the topic of his relationship with Liz and how they were going to handle the press interest that was inevitably only going to gain momentum the longer their relationship continued. Adele and Sandy managed to get into a heated discussion regarding the consequences of Max dating a ‘normal girl’, as they obviously had completely different opinions on the matter and by the end of the morning, he was feeling totally exhausted.

Once he finally managed to close the meeting and head outside to his car, he wasted no time in getting the hell out of there and heading for some food before his afternoon appointments: a meeting with his accountant, a conference call and a phone interview. What he really wanted to do instead however, was pick up the phone and call Liz with the good news that he would be coming to see her in a few days, but there was no time right now… and part of him kind of wanted to not tell her and let it to be a surprise when he turned up on her doorstep next week. Suddenly he couldn’t wait to board that flight on Monday morning.

TBC…

Hi everyone, thank you for your feedback :

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Alien_Friend wrote:Yay an update and they get to see each other soon! That's fantastic.

Yep .

Alien_Friend wrote:Max dating a 'normal girl'. I love that debate. There is definitely a broader adjustment I think for Liz than Max. Coming into work and having everyone know your business and anywhere else you might go would take some getting use to. Those girls, Adele and Sandy, are funny. Poor Max though, every detail of his life has to be analyzed with other people.

Yeah, it can’t be easy for Liz to adjust to life with Max… and they’ve had a pretty easy time of it so far with the attention from the press. I’m sure Max would prefer it if Adele and Sandy kept their noses out of his private life though .

Alien_Friend wrote:I'm glad Liz is able to take her mind of missing Max by hanging out with Maria and doing other things. It definitely helps to keep active.

Yeah, it would be awful for her if she didn’t have anything to take her mind off it.

Alien_Friend wrote:Great part! I'm glad you were able get over your writer's block. I hope you don't meet up with another any time soon.

I hope not – so far so good at the moment, although I still haven’t had a chance to work on your story again yet.

Alien_Friend wrote:That's interesting. So that means it could work if Max were to move to the UK and they got married.

Yeah, it could work – it’s easier for them to live in the UK together than in the US if they go the marriage route. However, the question is whether it would be the most practical solution for them.

dreambeliever – Thanks .

dreambeliever wrote:Great update! MAx surprising Liz.....

Yep, a surprise is on the way!

Lairabehr4 – Thanks, hun .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

keepmiling7 wrote:Wow......Liz will really be surprised!

Yes, she will!

begonia9508 – Thanks .

begonia9508 wrote: Thanks for the normal woman! ... when you see how actress sometimes act, he must be really happy to have a normal woman...

Yeah, it must be nice to have some normalcy like that in his life for once J.

begonia9508 wrote:Liz is busy enough with her job anyway and with the train between Paris and London, Max can still see his Liz when he wants!!!

Yeah, you can fly between Paris and London in just over an hour, or the train takes 2.5 hours… so they’ll be pretty close. Just depends if Max and Liz can coordinate their timing though!

begonia9508 wrote:Great new part and happy to have read a new part

Thanks .

zaneri1 – Thanks .

zaneri1 wrote:Nice part! It's great that Max will be able to see Liz soon. She is going to be so surprised.

Yep…she will be!

zaneri1 wrote:Hopefully on some weekends Liz will be able to see Max wherever he may be while in Europe. Maybe not a lot as traveling even within Europe could be expensive and Liz has limited funds.

It depends where you go and how you get there – it can be really cheap to fly in Europe (some of the cheap airlines have offered £1 ($1.50) fares to places like Prague in the past!), but sometimes it’s expensive to travel there. She could get the train to Paris in a couple of hours for only about £70 ($100) round trip, or she could fly there for as little as £56 ($80) round trip!

zaneri1 wrote:It is also good to see that Max care about his talent and willing to do a movie for other than the Blockbuster stuff. Who knows maybe with this independent movie Max may get an Oscar or nominated

Maybe he will . He’s definitely in it to make good movies rather than to star in all the blockbusters .

zaneri1 wrote:Thanks for the info on Immigration.

Np – I’m kind of a bit of a geek with immigration stuff at the moment, lol!

sarammlover – Thanks .

sarammlover wrote:WOOHOO!! Reunited and it feels so good.....circa 1970s love song....LOVED IT! I am so glad Max is going to be with Liz again. So happy. hugs, Sara

Lol – yep, they won’t have to be apart for too long since Liz went home .

katydid – Thanks .

katydid wrote: Well, he gets to surprise her...but will she be at her parents' house? Oh no...oh well, I'll have to wait until you decide to tell us with another update!

Don’t worry, Liz is only going to her parents’ house for the weekend and will be back to go to work on Monday morning… Max, meanwhile is flying out from L.A. on Monday, so won’t arrive in London until Tuesday .


Author's Note: This part is currently unbeta'd, so I apologise for any typos/mistakes.

***


Part Twenty-Four

Monday couldn’t come fast enough for Max. It had been hard enough talking to Liz on the phone almost every day for the past week without accidentally letting it slip that he would be coming to see her soon. He’d been slightly worried that she would hear about his presence at the upcoming London premiere via the press, but from what he had gathered from their conversations, she’d been too busy the last few days to bother paying attention to the news. He’d last spoken to her yesterday afternoon – late evening for her in London – and she’d just returned from spending the weekend back at home with her parents. He suppressed a smile as he thought about that call.

When she’d mentioned that her mum had been asking about him during her visit, his thoughts had gone back to the few days he’d spent at her home over Christmas… and exactly what he and Liz had got up to Christmas morning while Nancy and Jeff had been at church. That memory only served to make him even more wound up about seeing her again in a couple of days than he already was and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could last without touching her again.

Thankfully, it was finally Monday morning and he was in the VIP lounge at LAX, waiting to board his plane to Heathrow. Despite the fact that the plane was due to take off from Los Angeles at nine a.m., he wouldn’t actually arrive in London until about six o’clock tomorrow morning. Bloody eight-hour time difference, he thought to himself as he checked the flight information screen for his boarding time, which he was sure was supposed to be any minute, I’m going to be so jet-legged after this. Then he couldn’t help but smile to himself at his internal use of British slang; it seemed Liz was rubbing off on him, just as he was on her.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,” came a female voice over the PA system just then, interrupting his thoughts. “Welcome to Virgin Atlantic flight 762 with service to London Heathrow, we are now ready to begin boarding. We would like to welcome our First and Business Class passengers and any passengers requiring special assistance aboard. Thank you.”

With a smile, Max reached for his carry-on bag and headed for the boarding gate. The flight itself was fairly uneventful, although it was obvious that the airline staff were a little star-struck by his presence in their first class section. He had no idea why, though, since he was sure they saw many celebrities flying the route from L.A. to London. Despite the comfort of flying first class and the stewardesses efforts to ensure he had everything he needed for a relaxing overnight flight, Max found it difficult to sleep on the plane, his body full of anxiousness to hold Liz in his arms once again. He couldn’t wait for the plane to land in London.

Instead of letting his mind blank out and getting some rest, he found this thoughts turning to what he was going to say to her when he finally arrived. He’d spent a fair amount of time the last few days thinking about how he was going to admit his true feelings for her… and he’d come to the conclusion that when he did finally tell her he loved her it would have to be perfect – maybe he could arrange something special for her in Paris when he was filming there. Although she’d made it clear several times that she didn’t need extravagant gestures or lots of money spent on her, he couldn’t help but want to give her the best; God knows she deserved it.

The flight seemed to take forever; it felt like longest flight he’d ever been on, and that was saying something since he’d spent plenty of time on planes in the past few years, so it was a big relief when the captain announced that they would be landing soon. Full of nervous energy, Max ran a hand down over his face and rubbed the sleep from his eyes – he’d managed to nod off briefly a couple of hours ago, but he’d been abruptly woken when the attendants had turned the cabin lights back on and begun serving breakfast about half an hour ago. Although why they felt the need to serve breakfast at four-thirty a.m. London time, he had no clue… after all, it was only eight in the evening in Los Angeles!

The plane landed on time at just after six o’clock, and Max was quickly ushered off the plane by one of the stewards, so as not to draw the attention of the other passengers. As it was so early in the morning and his flight was one of the first to land, the immigration lines were almost empty and with just a quick, ‘How are you, Mr. Evans? What brings you to the UK today?’ from the immigration officer, he was stamped into the UK. He had to wait a few minutes for his baggage, but was through customs and greeted by his personal driver within half an hour of leaving the plane. He had his driver take him to his hotel first, so that he could freshen up before seeing Liz again, which actually turned out to be a good decision because he spotted the paps as soon as he got into the car and, had he gone straight to Liz’s flat, he was sure that they would have followed to find out where she lived.

After a quick shower and shave in his hotel room, Max called down to his driver and requested that he be picked up from the back of the building in a different car to the one he’d been in earlier, to ensure that the paps wouldn’t follow him. A grin spread across his face as he grabbed a few things from his suitcase and headed out to where his driver was waiting for him downstairs. He almost couldn’t believe he was so close to seeing Liz again after spending ten long, lonely days without her. Man, he couldn’t wait to see the look on her face when she opened the door to him this morning… now if only he could make it there before she left for work.

***

“Oh, bugger!” exclaimed Liz as her eyes flew open and she shot up in bed on Tuesday morning, taking a quick look at the clock. “Bollocks. Shit, shit, shit!”

It was eight-oh-five and the alarm on her phone was supposed to have gone off at seven … except when she reached for the phone to check it, she realised that the alarm hadn’t actually been set in the first place. Dammit, if only she hadn’t been moping around with a bottle of wine last night, wondering why Max hadn’t called her yet, she might have remembered to do it.

“Fuck, what am I gonna do now?” she muttered angrily, throwing off the covers and scrambling out of the bed, frantically searching the room for her work clothes.

There was no way she’d get to work on time now – every morning, like clockwork, she left the flat at seven forty-five to catch the tube into her office. She didn’t live all that far from her place of work – just a few miles – but in order to get there, she had to take both the Bakerloo and the Central lines, which could take ages in rush hour time. Giving up on finding any decent clothes to wear right now, Liz made her way out of her bedroom and went in search of the phone so she could call work and let them know she’d be late. However, just as she spotted it in the corner of the sofa, the doorbell rang. Thinking it was probably one of the neighbours, she let out a frustrated sigh and marched to the door, not caring in the slightest that she was still wearing her pyjamas – a small T-shirt and matching shorts… with cows on them. Just before she reached it, another knock sounded and she rolled her eyes in response.

“All right, all right, I’m coming,” she muttered, turning in the knob and pulling the door open, ready to confront whomever it was that was making her even more late for work. “What is–? Oh my God!”

Her eyes widened in shock and her hand flew to her mouth at the sight before her. There, standing in the doorway in all his glory, was Max!

“Hey,” he grinned, looking extremely delectable in a pair of designer jeans and a loose, button-down shirt, his hair in disarray and… slightly damp?

“Max! What are you doing here?!” she gasped excitedly, her hand falling from her mouth and reaching for his wrist to pull him inside. A wide grin spread across her face and she began stumbling over her words in her haste to get them out, “I thought… I mean, you said you couldn’t… why didn’t you…?”

“I wanted to surprise you,” he said in response to her unasked question, a wide smile gracing his handsome features as he stepped closer to her and slipped his arms around her waist.

“But… how?” she gasped out, still in shock at his sudden appearance.

Max chuckled softly before replying, “They moved up the date for the European premiere of Love’s Complication… it’s tomorrow night in Leicester Square. In fact, I’d love it if you’d come with me as my date.”

“Really? Wow” she breathed, looking up at him happily. “This is great! I mean, of course I’ll come with you… although I’m not sure I’ll be able to find something to wear at such short notice.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” he smirked. “I had Isabel sort something out for you. She called Caitlyn the other day and I have a selection of outfits in my hotel room for you to choose from.”

“Well, okay then,” grinned Liz excitedly. “I can’t wait to try them on. Tell Isabel thank you for me.”

“Will do.”

A moment later though, she frowned, her expression suspicious, “Hang on a minute, exactly how long have you known about all this?”

Max raised his eyebrows, looking sheepish, “Um, since last Monday?”

“You’ve known for a whole week that you were coming here and you didn’t tell me?” she admonished only half-seriously, lightly smacking his chest with the palm of her hand.

“I wanted to surprise you,” he repeated with a shrug, tightening his arms around her waist as he gave her his best puppy-dog expression. “I just landed at Heathrow this morning.”

At the adorable look in his eyes, Liz found herself melting and a grin tugged at her lips, “Well you’ve definitely surprised me.”

“That was the intention,” replied Max, responding with a grin of his own. “I was so glad when my manager told me I’d be flying out to London in a few days. I’ve barely been concentrate on anything all week, except the thought of being able to spend time with you again.”

His gaze bore down into hers and Liz found her prior shock dissipating and morphing into a mixture of anticipation and desire at his words and the feel of his body so close to hers after ten long days apart.

“So how long do we have until you have to leave again?” she murmured as she let her hand drift up over his chest, her fingers gently tracing the lines of his defined muscles through his shirt.

“I fly back out to L.A. Thursday morning,” he told her, before lowering his mouth to the sensitive spot on her neck that always made her knees turn to jelly when he kissed her there.

“Thursday? So soon?” she muttered in disappointment. “That’s barely even forty-eight hours. I thought we’d have longer than that.”

“I know, me too,” replied Max, his warm breath caressing her skin as he pulled her closer, his hands sliding up her back. “But you gotta take what you can get.”

As his mouth began moving upwards towards her jaw, Liz let her hands glide up over his shoulders to bury themselves in his hair, tugging him closer as she pressed the length of her body up against his. Her heart began thudding in her chest as his lips finally reached hers and captured them in an intense kiss, his tongue slipping inside her mouth, sending tingles of pleasure running down her spine.

“God, Max,” she breathed, between kisses as Max backed her towards the bedroom, obviously intent on making up for lost time.

It wasn’t until they’d passed through the door and had almost reached the bed that she remembered what she’d been doing just before he’d shown up a few minutes ago. She quickly broke the kiss and stepped out of Max’s embrace.

“Fuck!”

“What?” he frowned in confusion. “What is it?”

“I haven’t got time to do this now… I’m already late for work!” she exclaimed in annoyance, practically running out of the bedroom as she went to grab the phone from the living room.

“I overslept this morning,” she said in explanation when Max followed her out of the bedroom. “I was about to call to tell them I was going to be late, when you knocked on the door. And now I’m going to be extremely late.”

She started dialling the familiar number, but Max came up behind her and placed his hand over hers, halting her progress.

“Wait,” he murmured softly. “Stay home today… I want to have you all to myself.”

Liz turned to face him, raising an eyebrow at his insinuation, “Are you suggesting I pull a sickie from work today so you can have your wicked way with me?”

“Of course not,” he tried to look offended, but his smirk gave him away. “But I could do with you helping me stay awake so I’m not too jetlagged for the premiere tomorrow.”

“Sure, whatever you say, Max.” she nodded knowingly, pulling the phone out from under his hand and returning to the task at hand. “I don’t think that calling in sick so I can have sex with my boyfriend is considered a valid reason though.”

“Please, Liz,” he pouted comically, causing Liz to bite her lip to stop herself from chuckling. “It’s been ten whole days… what the hell am I going to do with myself while you’re at work all day?”

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll find something to do,” she smirked, before lifting the phone to her ear, holding his gaze while she spoke to the person on the other end. “Hi there, this is Liz Parker. I’m afraid that”–she looked up at Max’s pleading expression and made a snap decision –“that I’m going to have to call in sick today. I was up all night with food poisoning and I’m still not feeling well this morning. I’ll try my best to make it in tomorrow though. Yes… yes, okay. Thank you. Bye.”

She hung up, tossing the phone back onto the couch where she’d found it and turned to face Max, who was grinning widely at her.

“There you go… I just called in sick for you,” she announced, trying very hard to keep her expression serious while her body wanted nothing more than to fling itself into his arms and stay there forever. “Happy now?”

“Deliriously,” smirked Max as he reached for her again, pulling her against him. “Now where were we?”

His hands palmed her butt and a small sigh escaped her lips as he urged her to wrap her legs around his hips. Complying eagerly, Liz’s eyes slid closed at the feel of his hardness pressed up against her intimately and in response, she grabbed his neck and pressed her lips to his urgently. Repeating their earlier path, Max headed into the bedroom again and kicked the door closed behind them, before turning and pressing Liz up against the wall as he kissed her hard.

“God, Liz, I need you,” he muttered throatily, as his mouth began to travel along her jaw to her ear. “Been too long.”

“Only ten days,” she murmured softly, her fingers digging into his shoulders in response to the amazing things his mouth was doing to her sensitive skin. “Not that long.”

“No,” he denied, his voice just a whisper in her ear. “Definitely too long.”

At the heartfelt words, Liz’s eyes fluttered open and she lifted her head to look at him fully. His serious, intense expression just seemed to cut right through her and tug at her heart and in that moment she felt such a rush of emotion toward him that she couldn’t take it any longer; leaning forward to capture his mouth in hers, she kissed him fervently, before declaring determinedly, “Make love to me, Max. Right now.”

***

“You realise we’re gonna have to stay in here all day now?” murmured Liz dreamily as she relaxed back against Max’s bare chest in bed an hour later, while he traced gentle patterns across her stomach. “I can’t risk anyone seeing me with you when I’m supposed to be sick.”

“Hey, I’m not complaining,” returned Max, his smirk evident in his tone as he lowered his mouth to the side of her neck, placing a couple of soft kisses there. “In fact, I can think of nothing better to do than spend the day in bed with you.”

Liz let a lazy grin spread across her face when one of his hands slid up to cup her breast, “Me either.”

“God, you feel so good,” he mumbled into her hair, his fingers caressing her nipple, causing a shiver of anticipation to shoot down her spine.

“Mmm,” she managed, eyes sliding closed in response. “But… don’t you, um… don’t you have other things you should be doing today?”

“Nope,” he declared firmly, before hesitating slightly. “Well, yeah, actually there are a couple of things, but I don’t care; being here with you is more important than them.”

“Really?” wondered Liz, feeling flattered by his declaration.

“Of course,” he sounded surprised and his hands stilled against her skin. “Why wouldn’t I want to be here with you?”

“Oh,” she murmured softly, not really sure how to answer that. “Well, I…um, I don’t know. I guess it’s the same for me though, since I did blow off work to be with you today.”

He gave a small chuckle, presumably in response to her slightly lame reply, before changing the subject, “So, since we’re stuck in here all day, what do you want to do?”

“Well,” grinned Liz, shifting her body back against him, “I would have thought that was obvious.”

Max sucked in a breath in response to her movement and she couldn’t help but groan softly as his arousal pressed firmly against her lower back and his hand on her stomach began to creep lower.

“Seriously?” he asked in amusement. “You wanna spend the entire day having sex? And here I thought it was the guy who was supposed to be the horn-dog.”

“Hey, I haven’t had any in almost two weeks!” retorted Liz, turning her head to stick her tongue out at him playfully. “And we’ve got less than forty-eight hours left before you have to leave… I wanna make the most of it, mister.”

“Well, in that case, I’m definitely not complaining,” he smiled, repeating his earlier words, even as his fingers began stroking her intimately while his other hand caressed her breast. “I just thought maybe you’d want to, I dunno, talk or something.”

“We can still talk while we’re in bed,” she responded, although her voice was low, her breathing laboured, as Max’s fingers worked their magic between her legs and she gasped when he hit a particularly sensitive spot. “God, don’t stop.”

“Oh, I won’t,” he muttered, nuzzling her neck as he continued to arouse her further. “I’m just getting started.”

Liz let her head fall back against Max’s shoulder, her eyes sliding closed as he stroked and caressed her until she was arching up off the bed, her body shaking with intense pleasure. Despite what she’d said earlier, very little talking actually got done as she and Max made love for the second time in as many hours.

***

It was almost evening by the time they finally emerged from Liz’s bedroom; they had spent the entire morning and afternoon in bed, save for a quick run to the kitchen for sustenance around lunchtime and the odd bathroom trip. Being with Liz again felt so right to Max that he wasn’t sure how he was going to make himself board that plane home to L.A. on Thursday morning.

“Okay, so what do you want?” asked Liz, sticking her head inside the refrigerator in the kitchen, while he leant against the counter, his eyes roaming her shirt-clad body hungrily. “I have … leftover lasagne and there’s some salad bits… or maybe we could make omelettes… or I think there’s a pizza in the freezer.”

“I don’t care,” he shrugged, not really paying attention to what she was saying, his mind too preoccupied with thoughts of her and of their relationship. “Whatever you want.”

“Very helpful, Max,” she rolled her eyes at him, before shutting the fridge door and opening the freezer instead, pulling out the aforementioned frozen pizza. “Pepperoni all right?”

“Yeah, that’s great,” he murmured distractedly.

She shook her head slightly, apparently not all that pleased by his lack of response and moved past him to turn on the oven. While the pizza was cooking, he helped her make some salad to go with it, and they made small talk about what they’d been up to over the last week. Max wanted to discuss his upcoming filming and press schedule with her, but it didn’t seem like the right time just then. However, when they were sitting down at the kitchen table with a glass of wine each and the food in front of them, Liz brought up the subject before he even had a chance to broach it.

“So, what’s happening after you leave on Thursday?” she wondered, reaching for her glass and taking a sip of the smooth red wine. “Do you have much going on?”

“Well,” he started, putting down the slice of pizza in his hand and looking at her seriously, “I’ll be back in L.A. for a couple of weeks, but then I’m actually flying back over to Europe again for a couple of months.”

“Really?” a wide smile broke out onto her face, eradicating the previous frown that had been there. “Does that mean I’ll get to see you more often?”

He hesitated for a moment, before letting out a small sigh.

“I really don’t know, Liz. I’m going to be really busy,” he told her, wincing internally at the disappointment in her expression. “They’ve moved up the release date of the film across Europe, so I’m scheduled to do a three- day press tour in Germany, Italy and Spain, then I fly to Paris to film a new project, as well as fitting in extra press interviews while I’m there.”

“Oh,” murmured Liz in reply, looking down at her plate. “Okay. Well… never mind, then.”

“Wait,” he said urgently, reaching across the table and lifting her chin so she was looking at him directly. “I’ll do whatever I can to see you as much as possible while I’m there, but I can’t make any promises, okay?”

She didn’t reply, but simply nodded instead. He could see that she was trying to hold in her emotions and he hated to do this to her, but he honestly had no idea how much free time he would have for her over the next couple of months.

“For the record, I’m as disappointed as you are about being apart from you, but there’s nothing I can do about it, save for quitting my job.”

Liz’s eyes widened at this and shook her head quickly, “No, no, I don’t want you to quit, especially not for me! You love what you do and I don’t want to take that away from you… you just do what you have to do, okay?”

“Okay,” nodded Max, giving her a small smile and letting his hand drop back down to the table.

“And well,” she continued then, placing her fingers over his. “At least you’ll be nearby… Paris is so much closer than L.A.”

“You got that right,” he agreed adamantly. “Plus, the time difference will only be one hour instead of eight.”

“Thank God,” she nodded with a grin. “I’ll actually be able to talk to you at a reasonable hour again.”

Max just grinned at that, before glancing down at the food on his plate and changing the subject, “So, this food is great, by the way.”

“Well,” she shrugged with a smirk. “Pizza is always good, right?”

“Definitely.”

They turned their attention back to the food and ate in silence for a couple of minutes, before Liz looked up at him with a tender expression that made him grin happily back at her.

“So, tell me all about this new movie in Paris.”

TBC…

Hey guys, I'm really sorry about the wait for a new part. I just had two weeks vacation time off work and I had been planning to get lots and lots of writing done, but RL completely got in the way and I've just had the most stressful 2 weeks ever with no time to write . Anyway, I finally managed to get the next part written over the weekend, so here it is for you...

Thank you for all your feedback :

Natalie36 – Thanks .

sometimes work just sucks

Yep, you got that right!

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Yay an update!

What a terrific surprise! I'm glad it worked out. I love it when they just get to enjoy each other's company.

Thanks, yeah, it’s nice for them to just be together.

Traveling a lot can be great but when you have spend tons of time from people you love it's not as fun.[/quote]

No, I imagine it can be really exhausting to be on the move all the time.

Since it is the season, I have been inspired to reread All's Fair in Love and Tennis. I'm having so much fun.

Glad you had fun re-reading it… I’m missing Wimbledon now (and all that great weather we had for it… it’s been cold, windy and raining for the last few days .)

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Let's hurry up and get to Paris and Max's declaration........

It’s not quite here yet, I’m afraid.

mary mary – Thanks .

I am all caught up and feeling very happy with our young lovers...I am sure that Max will find the time to see Liz and finally make his declaration of love...this story is so sweet.

Thanks . Let’s hope they do manage to see each other (and admit their feelings) while Max is in Paris.

begonia9508 – Thanks .

Travelling through Europe is quite easy but his schedule is more than busy!
I hope she will make some trips too especially to Paris, lovers city by excellence I heard...
At least, knowing that he is on her continent makes things easier anyway!

Yeah, it will be easier with him close by… I just depends whether he’ll have to time to see her or not.

sarammlover – Thanks . Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t turn him away ! They’ve got at least some time together before he has to leave .

zaneri1 – Thanks - I’m glad you’re enjoying it .


***


Part Twenty-Five

“I’ll see you later, okay?” whispered Max softly in Liz’s ear the next morning.

It was barely dawn, but they’d agreed last night that it would be best if he left the flat as early as possible in the hope that he wouldn’t be seen by anyone. It had been incredibly difficult to untangle himself from Liz’s arms and leave the warm comfort of her bed a few minutes ago, but he knew he had to go. He’d tried not to wake her as he moved around the bedroom, pulling on his clothes and gathering up his belongings, knowing that she must be pretty exhausted after their activities yesterday, but as soon as he’d slipped out of the bed, he’d heard her breathing change and knew that she was no longer asleep.

“Mmm,” murmured Liz, nodding slightly in response to his whispered words,

Her eyes remained closed as she snuggled deeper under the covers and he bit his lip, wishing to God that he could stay there and curl up in bed with her again.

“Can’t wait until tonight,” he added softly, the mattress dipping slightly under his weight as he perched on the edge of the bed and leaned down over her. “You’re going to look amazing.”

He watched as Liz pried her eyes open and shifted to face him with a small, sleepy, alluring smile that had the blood rushing straight to his groin and he moaned slightly in response.

“I don’t even have anything to wear yet,” she teased gently, her hand reaching out to touch his arm. “All the dresses are in your hotel room.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he shrugged, his lips tugging up into a smirk as he gazed down at her lovely face. “You’re gonna look amazing whatever you wear.”

Her smile widened into a happy grin and she rolled her eyes self-consciously, causing Max to give a small chuckle, before he impulsively lowered his mouth to hers for a sweet kiss. Liz let out a low moan of disapproval when he pulled away and reluctantly stood up.

“Don’t go,” she pouted, reaching for him again and this time grabbing his wrist to hold him there.

“I have to,” he told her gently. “If I don’t go now, I’ll never leave and then we’ll end up having a repeat of yesterday.”

“Yeah, and?” she raised an eyebrow, giving him an expectant look. “I wouldn’t exactly be complaining about that.”

He just chuckled at her words and shook his head, “I’m going now. Have a good day at work, okay? I’ll see you later at the hotel.”

“Sure, I’ll head over there after work,” nodded Liz, before stretching languidly in the bed, exposing most of her chest to him as she did so. “Have fun.”

Max sighed as he forced himself to look away from the expanse of bare skin before him. She looked so tempting, but he had to be strong. He had to get out of there before he ended up back in bed with her.

“Bye,” he murmured, although it didn’t come out as firmly as he had been intending.

He leaned down to kiss her one last time before grabbing his jacket and heading out of the apartment. He’d already called ahead for his driver to pick him up from round the corner, so all he had to do now was get out of Liz’s building and into the car without being seen. Pulling a hat out of his jacket pocket, he shoved it onto his head. He thought about adding sunglasses to the ensemble as well, but it was still fairly dark outside and they probably weren’t necessary. As he reached the main door to the building, he took a quick glance out of the small window next to it and, seeing no one out there, he pulled it open. Head down, he made his way to the car that was waiting to take him back to his hotel and got in.

***

The day passed all too slowly for Liz. After Max had gone, she’d tried to get back to sleep, but she just couldn’t settle again all by herself in the big, empty bed, so she relented and got up instead. By seven a.m., she’d already showered, dressed and eaten her breakfast and was now sitting on the sofa, twiddling her thumbs and wracking her brains for something to keep her mind off the fact that max wasn’t here and she had to wait another eleven hours to see him again. In the end, she decided to leave for work early and as a result she was one of the first to arrive at the office that morning.

As nine a.m. approached, her colleagues began appearing one-by-one and she felt slightly guilty when they all asked how she was feeling and if she was over the food poisoning yet, but she couldn’t bring herself to regret staying at home with Max yesterday. Thankfully though, none of them seemed to twig that her absence could have possibly been related to the fact that Max Evans was in town for the premiere of his new movie tonight.

Liz tried to get stuck into her work, but she just couldn’t concentrate on what she was doing; her thoughts were too consumed by the knowledge that right now Max was only a couple of miles away from her. It was difficult enough to cope with being apart from him when he was in California, but knowing that he was so close, yet she wasn’t able to see or touch him, was almost unbearable. She was so relieved when five o’clock finally rolled around and she could get out of there and head over to his hotel to get ready for the premiere.

It was in typical fashion that after sitting through the longest day ever today, praying for the evening to come, the next few hours just flew by. From picking out the perfect ‘premiere’ dress from Isabel’s selection—a floaty, red garment that accentuated her curves perfectly without being too sexy—and walking the red carpet, to admiring Max’s performance in the movie (for the second time) and heading back to his hotel room afterwards for a ‘night cap’, it all went so quickly.

All too soon, it was early Thursday morning and Max had to leave for L.A. At first, he tried to persuade her that it would be better for her if he headed to Heathrow alone, but she insisted on coming with him to the airport, if only to spend as much time with him as possible.

She noticed that Max seemed tense as they pulled up outside the terminal, picked up his bags from the boot and headed inside to the check-in desks, but Liz didn’t care, she just wrapped arm around his forearm and entwined her fingers with his as they walked. She knew that there would be a few paps around and she also spied some teenagers pointing camera phones in their direction, but right now, they didn’t matter to her. She stood with Max as he checked in at the first class desk and then walked with him towards the security area. Just before they got to security, Max guided her towards a quiet corner and came to a stop in front of her.

“I’m sorry you can’t come any further with me,” he murmured, regret in his voice. “I guess this is where we say goodbye.”

“Yeah,” replied Liz, although it came out more as a sad sigh. She looked up into his eyes, seeing the same reluctant expression there as she was sure was mirrored in her own.

He exhaled heavily, “Liz, I…”

“I don’t want you to go,” she burst out suddenly, trying desperately to not to let the full extent of her emotions show. She didn’t want to burst into tears in public. “Stay. Please.”

“I wish I could,” he replied, with a sad shake of his head. “You don’t know how much I wish that.”

“I’m gonna miss you so much.”

“Me too,” he nodded.

“How long until you come back?”

“Well, I fly into Berlin in a couple of weeks and then I’ll be in Paris from the second week of May,” he told her. “But I don’t know when–”

“Max…” she cut him off with an understanding nod, her emotions bubbling to the surface now as a tear crept down her cheek. “I–”

“Hey, it’s okay, come here,” he said soothingly, pulling her into a tight hug. “We’ll get through this, all right? We will. I promise.”

Liz closed her eyes as she let herself relax against him, savouring the feel of his warm chest pressed against her.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured, pulling back slightly and lifting his hand to her cheek, wiping away the tears there.

In response, she opened her eyes again and turned her face towards him. He gave her a breathtaking smile before lowering his mouth to hers, caressing her lips with a meaningful kiss. Completely caught up in her emotions and forgetting where she was, Liz let herself sink into his embrace, kissing him with everything she had, as if she would never see him again.

“I have to go,” he murmured gently when they finally pulled apart. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

“Yeah,” whispered Liz, struggling to get the words out. “See you soon.”

Max took a step back, disentangling himself from her arms. He took a couple of backward steps towards the security area, his eyes locked with hers the whole time. She saw him suck in a deep breath and then exhale, before he mouthed the word ‘bye’ and then finally turned and made his way through the barrier. Liz struggled to keep her emotions in check as she watched him until he disappeared from view. She wouldn’t break down now, she couldn’t. She had to stay strong. No matter how much she just wanted to curl up in bed and wallow in her misery, she had to pick herself up and carry on with things, such as going to work… which she was going to be late for if she didn’t leave the airport very soon.

Sending one last, longing glance in the direction Max had just walked in, she turned towards the door and made her way outside to where Max’s driver was waiting to drive her back into London. Unfortunately though, the short walk was not uneventful, because the paparazzi that had previously just been snapping pictures from a distance suddenly descended on her. They shoved cameras in her face and started bombarding her with inane questions like, ‘Was that Max Evans you just saw off?’, ‘When will you see him again?’, ‘It looked like an emotional goodbye you were having’ and even, ‘Is it true the two of you are engaged now?’. Liz kept her head down and muttered a quick ‘No comment’ in response to each question, just wishing to be left alone. When she finally made it to the car, she climbed inside and let her head fall back against the expensive seats.

Did these people not understand the meaning of the word ‘privacy’?

***

The next few days were the most difficult so far and by the middle of the next week, Liz was getting very frustrated. Although it had been wonderful seeing Max again, if only for two days, his leaving had only reinforced what she’d known before: that she couldn’t keep doing this for much longer. She couldn’t keep saying goodbye. Then there were the issues with the paparazzi. First, it was only little things, like the cameras at the airport the week before or the odd person taking her picture in the street, but tonight they’d stepped it up a notch.

She was having dinner with Maria and Michael in her flat and when she went into the kitchen to retrieve dessert from the fridge, Maria let out a surprised exclamation.

“Oh my God, Liz!” she cried out suddenly. “Get in here.”

“What? What is it?” wondered Liz as she came into the living room, a bowl of homemade strawberry trifle in hand.

“Look at this,” said Maria, gesturing for her to join her at the window, where she was peering out through the curtains.

Frowning in confusion, Liz placed the trifle down on the coffee table in front of Michael who was sitting in the armchair beside the sofa, and moved to stand next to Maria.

“What’s going on?”

“There are tons of them out here, Liz,” Maria told her. “Paparazzi… look.”

Her heart suddenly began beating loudly in her chest as her friend’s words sank in and Liz stepped forward anxiously to take a peek outside. Sure enough, Maria was right. There were several cars parked in the street outside her house and she could make out a couple of people sitting in them, cameras lifted to their faces. Looking closer, she could also see one or two people crouching down next to some bushes.

“Damn it,” she muttered. “How did they find out where I live?”

Maria gave her an odd look, “Um, Liz, did you not read Heat magazine this week?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Why?”

Her friend rolled her eyes in frustration, “There was a picture in there of Max leaving your flat a few days ago. It was early in the morning and he had a hat pulled down over his forehead, but they knew it was him.”

“Shit,” hissed Liz. “They must have followed him from the airport.” She frowned. “Hang on, if they knew where I lived last week, then how come they haven’t been here until now?”

Maria shrugged, “I don’t know. Maybe they’ve been lurking around all along but you just didn’t notice until now?”

“Maybe…” she murmured, looking out of the window one last time before sighing, moving away and flopping down on the couch. “God, this is so hard.”

“What’s wrong, sweetie?” asked Maria softly as she perched beside her on the sofa.

“Nothing,” mumbled Liz. “Everything. I just can’t do this without him.”

“Oh, honey,” said Maria sympathetically as she rubbed Liz’s arm comfortingly. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t know what to do, Maria,” she admitted. “He lives in L.A. and I live here; we’re so far apart, but I just want to be with him all the time.”

“So, go be with him all the time,” said Maria, as if it were obvious.

“It’s not that simple,” protested Liz. “My life is here; my job, my flat, my friends and family, not to mention the fact that even if I wanted to move there we’d have to get married and it can take months to get a visa for that. God, I can’t just up and leave… and neither can Max.” She turned to Maria, “Anna told me she’d seen him looking at houses in London and visas to come to the UK, but he can’t move here, Maria. All the opportunities are there, in Los Angeles, it would harm his career if he came to live here.”

“Max is thinking of moving here?” exclaimed Maria, her eyes wide. “Wow, he’s really got it bad for you.”

“’Ria,” dismissed Liz, with an embarrassed smile. “He hasn’t even mentioned it to me… I only know because of what Anna said. And besides, I’m not gonna let him do that for me.”

“What about going back to school?” piped up Michael just then. “You could get a student visa and go to grad school in California. I mean, I did it when I came here – it’s not that hard.”

“Hmm,” Liz’s brow furrowed at his suggestion. “Well, I guess I did consider doing a masters before I got the job here in London… but isn’t it really expensive to go to university in the States though? I don’t know that I could afford it.”

“Doesn’t have to be,” shrugged Michael. “I mean, if you can get a TA assistantship the school will pay you and fund your studies. It would mean being an undergrad teaching assistant and grading papers and things, but at least you won’t have to pay to study there.”

“Yeah… a student visa…” mused Liz as she considered the possibility. “If I could study at a university in Los Angeles, I could be close to Max…”

“Sounds like a great idea to me, Lizzie,” nodded Maria with a grin.

“I guess I could look into it,” she murmured with a small smile. “I mean, I don’t even know if I could get in, but there’s no harm in doing a bit of research, right?”

“Of course not,” agreed Maria enthusiastically.

“Do you know anything about American student visas, Mike? Are they hard to get?”

“Not really,” he shook his head, “at least, I don’t think so. There’s a guy from Australia in one of my classes here who studied in the States before coming to London – I remember him saying it was pretty straightforward to get his US visa.”

“Okay, well that sounds good,” said Liz, her smile widening now as the thought of becoming a student in L.A. really began to sank in. “Well, it’s definitely something to think about.”

“I think it’s a great idea, Lizzie,” beamed Maria and Liz nodded in response. “But right now, I’m dying to try some of that delicious trifle you’ve got there.”

Liz sent Maria a grin as she stood up and went into the kitchen to grab some bowls and spoons. As she walked back into the living room again, she found herself seriously contemplating Michael’s suggestion. Maybe he was right and there really was a way for her to be with Max in L.A… maybe things were starting to look up for her again.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

begonia9508 – Thanks .

You're telling about my life! Not about Max, but by the way I met my ex-husband in school in Lee Green, London and the 4 years of travelling 500 km. each week-end to join him!... so I understand Liz's frustration really well...

Sorry to hear you had to do the long distance thing with your husband!

Hope for her it works bc getting in the USA is really difficult nowadays, even with the help of the school....

School is the easiest way to get into the USA – it’s only a temporary visa, but it would allow Liz to live there for as long as she is enrolled at the school (usually 2 years for a masters, 4-6 years for a PhD) and then once she has a postgraduate degree from a US university, it will be easier for her to get a work visa. Although, if at some point, she and Max were to get married, she could adjust her status to a marriage visa while still staying in the US .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

student visa......sounds like a plan....

Yeah, it’s certainly an idea .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

A student visa, I like it! She should definitely go for it. It's good to know there are lots of different options. I wish Michael and Maria could move too or go for a visit. I'm glad Liz has them.

Yeah, a student visa would definitely be a good option . It would be great if Maria and Michael could move too, but unfortunately they’re likely to stay in London… they could always visit though .

Max tries to be so careful with the Paparazzi. They are so sneaky though. How annoying that must be especially when she's missing Max so much.

It must be terrible to constantly be surrounded by cameras and reporters… I don’t know how they do it.

Love the moments between the two of them.

Awesome part! I'm glad you got to update.

That's too bad your vacation was so stressful. Hope things get better soon and the weather gets nice again.

Thanks . Well, it’s warm-ish, but still unsettled . I’m jealous because my parents are in Germany/Austria/Switzerland at the moment and I’m stuck at home, having to go to work every day.

mary mary – Thanks .

Student Visa sounds great and Universities are constantly looking for outstanding students to attend their schools...as a matter of fact they actually recruit them, just like athletes, so Liz should be a shoe-in!

Yeah, universities in the UK love international students, as they have to pay much higher fees than the UK students (when I was in school, tuition was just $1,600 per year for any university in the country… however, international students have to pay about $16,000 per year!).

Max will be so proud...as well as elated.

Yeah, I suspect he will .

zaneri1 – Thanks .

I would like for Max & Liz tell each other "I love you" before either one starts moving to another country and be certain of their respective feelings.

Yeah, that would probably be best .

Really enjoying this story come back soon

Sorry – this next part has taken a bit longer than I’d hoped to get finished.

sarammlover – Thanks .

HOPE!!! I see it! I just read it! What an amazing idea Maria! Wonderful. I can't wait to read more!! Hugs, Sara

Yeah, there’s some hope there for Liz .



***

Part Twenty-Six

Three days before he was due to fly out to Europe, Max found himself hanging out with Andy, Tom and Joe on the beach in Santa Monica. Earlier on they’d played a casual game of beach volleyball and now they were lounging on the sand, playing with a pack of cards.

“So, man, you’re flying out to Germany this weekend, right?” asked Joe, as he dealt the cards around for another game of Shithead.

“Yeah,” nodded Max with a roll of his eyes, picking up his cards and organising them in his hand. “It’s going to be a world of fun: three countries in four days, dozens of interviews and TV spots, no time to even think.”

“Never thought I’d say it, but I’m actually glad I haven’t made it big yet,” chuckled Tom. “I’ve seen how crazy the whole fame thing gets when you’re A-list and what it can do to you.”

“Yeah, it’s not ideal, but you learn to deal with it,” said Max, glancing around at their surroundings, before grinning and nodding towards the pier. “I mean, I can see a couple of paps over there right now, but I’m pretending they don’t exist.”

“Yeah, I guess,” murmured Tom, as he placed a card down, starting the game. “What about Liz though? How’s she handling the attention?”

“She’s doing okay with it, I think,” replied Max, taking his turn. “I mean, apparently they found out where she lives when I was in London and she told me there were a few photographers hanging around outside her flat last week, but apart from that, it doesn’t seem to be bothering her.”

“Good for her,” nodded Joe appreciatively. “Most normal girls would be freaked by that shit.”

“Yeah, I was worried about it being too much for her, but she keeps insisting that she can handle it,” he shrugged.

“You going to see her much while you’re in Europe this summer?” wondered Tom, before making a face at the cards in his hand and reluctantly picking a new one up from the pile in the middle.

“Yeah, I hope so,” said Max with a grin. “I’m planning on flying her out to Paris for a romantic weekend as soon as I can.”

“Really?” murmured Joe with a mischievous grin as he took his turn. “You gonna get down and dirty, French-style?”

“Ugh, man, I don’t even want to know what’s going through your head right now,” grimaced Max, as he gave his friend a shove on the shoulder. “No, actually, I’m gonna tell her I love her.”

“No, shit!” exclaimed Tom, his jaw dropping in response. “You love her? For real?”

“Of course, for real,” Max shot him a funny look. “What did you think, that she was just a piece on the side for me? A bit of fun?”

“Well, no,” his friend replied sheepishly. “I just didn’t realise you were that serious about her. You’ve never really been one to settle down, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” conceded Max with a nod. “I didn’t think I’d be settling down anytime soon either, but Liz is different. She’s everything I never knew I wanted.”

“Aww, true love!” exclaimed Joe, holding his hand to his heart dramatically.

“Shut up, dude,” retorted Tom with a snort. “At least he has someone… unlike you.”

“Whatever, man,” Joe dismissed with a snort. “I don’t need a woman hanging around, nagging me all the time.”

“You’ll change your mind one day,” Tom assured him. “Ain’t that right, Andy?”

Max turned to look at his friend, who’d been silent during the entire conversation, only moving to play his turn in the card game. He was looking down at his hand, ignoring everything else around him.

“Hey, Andy, you all right, man?” asked Max. “You’ve been spacing out.”

“Huh?” his friend muttered, finally glanced up to find that he was the centre of attention. “Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Max was concerned. “You seem distracted today.”

“Yeah… well, it’s all this love and relationship talk,” he responded with a shrug. “Not really my thing.”

“Right,” muttered Max disbelievingly. “Which is why you haven’t been on a casual date in weeks, yet every time I call you, you’re either out or you’re not picking up… I’ve been trying to figure out which one it is.”

Max watched Andy become increasingly uncomfortable under the gazes of his friends and he wondered what on earth could be bothering him.

“Okay, fine. You got me…” sighed Andy, finally sitting up and placing his cards face-down on the sand. “…I’ve kinda been seeing someone.”

“You have?” wondered Tom curiously. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Max frowned; had Andy finally gotten somewhere with Anna? She hadn’t mentioned anything to him about it, but then he hadn’t spent all that much time with her lately, what with Liz being here and him going to London and everything.

“It… I… well, I thought it might be awkward,” Andy muttered, glancing at Max before looking down at his hands again.

“Why? What would be awkward?” Tom looked confused now.

“Um, the person I’m seeing is kinda…” he looked up at Max again, who fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“It’s Anna, isn’t it?” Max couldn’t hold it in any longer. “You’re seeing Anna.”

“Anna Davies?” asked Tom with a frown. “Why would that be awkward?”

“Well, you know…” Andy hedged, shooting Max a look.

“He’s worried that I might take offence at him being with Anna,” he clarified, before turning to Andy again. “Hey, it’s okay, man. Go for it; it doesn’t bother me.”

“Really? But you guys were… you know, involved.”

Max chuckled, shaking his head, “No we weren’t, not really. We had a casual thing for a while, but that’s it. And it was over months ago anyway. Andy, man, you guys have my blessing.”

“Thanks,” Andy smiled gratefully, looking like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Max simply smiled at him, before turning his attention back to the card game again.

“Come on, guys, let’s dispense with the relationship talk and get stuck into this game of Shithead.”

***

Liz stomped around her bedroom, frantically searching for the new book she’d purchased a few days ago but was now nowhere to be seen. She was certain that yesterday morning it had been on the floor by her bed, but now there was nothing there.

“Goddamnit!” she ground out in frustration when she turned over the pile of clothes in the corner of her room for the third time to find nothing there either.

She let out a tired sigh and sank down onto the edge of her bed, trying to hold in her emotions, but failing miserable. A small sob escaped her lips and she lifted her hand to her mouth to muffle the sound, but it was too late now; her eyes were welling up with frustrated tears and her entire body felt heavy. Losing her new book was the last in a long line of things to go wrong for her this week and the stress of it all, as well as not having slept well at all lately, was really getting to her.

Why couldn’t things just go right for once?

At first, everything had been going well for her. After her conversation with Maria and Michael about student visas a couple of weeks ago, she’d spent several days researching the idea on the internet and after looking through the Biology graduate programs on the UCLA, CalTech, USC, CSU and a couple of other institutions known by three-letter abbreviations and sending them some emails, she was feeling pretty excited about the idea.

However, her hopes had been pretty much crushed a couple of days later when she started hearing back from the universities only to find out that it was now too late to apply for the upcoming academic year. Apparently, if you want to qualify for funding, you have to apply several months before you want to start the program, like back in January. It was May now and definitely too late to apply for the Fall semester. It looked like she wasn’t going to be able to be closer to Max anytime soon.

As if that news wasn’t bad enough, everything else seemed to go wrong at the same time too. First off, work had been crazy lately after one of the writers for the magazine had quit suddenly and now the rest of the team was left picking up the extra work they left behind, then she got a phone call from the police giving her some further information about the Jacob Nicholson case. It turned out that the rape trial would still be going ahead in the next few months, but that she wouldn’t be required to testify in court. Despite the good news, she’d still been on edge about it for the last few days.

On top of that, it also turned out that the paparazzi incident outside her flat the other week hadn’t been a one-off. In fact, it was only just the beginning. At first she’d tried to ignore the fact that there were cameras following her around all the time, hanging around outside her office building and her flat at all hours of the day, but when the paps had started harassing her with intrusive questions a few days ago, she realised it was getting out of hand. And of course, it would happen when Max was in the middle of his crazy whirlwind press of Europe and was so busy she couldn’t even get hold of him. He was supposed to arrive in Paris in two days an he’d promised her they’d have time to talk then, but right now those two days seemed like a lifetime away and she just wasn’t sure how much more crap she could take right now.

She couldn’t concentrate on work, just when she’d put the incident with Jacob out of her mind it came up again, she was being hounded by the press, and now it looked like her one hope of being able to move closer to Max was now only a dream. Maybe this whole ‘maintaining a relationship with an international celebrity’ thing was just not worth it.

***

Max couldn’t help grinning with relief when he finally made it to his hotel room in Paris on Friday afternoon and sank down on the plush sofa in the small living area. He was exhausted from the last few days of travel, and doing interviews and TV shows. It was great to know that he would be basically staying in the same place for the next few weeks… not to mention, he was now less than 300 miles from Liz and he couldn’t wait to see her again.

The last couple of days had been really stressful, mostly due to all the travelling between countries, but it also hadn’t helped that there had been three language barriers to deal with and a ton of interviewers whose knowledge of English had been minimal at best. Most of the questions he’d answered in the last few days were in regards to the new movie and his career, but of course there were the inevitable ‘personal life’ queries… especially involving his relationship with Liz. He’d fielded them as best as he could, but the more probing the interviews, the more frustrated he found himself getting with the process and by the time he left Spain for France this morning, he was longing for Liz and for the peace and quiet they’d shared in LA just a few weeks earlier.

So many times this week he’d been almost desperate to call Liz, if only just to hear her voice, but his days had been so full that he barely had any time to himself and when he did finally finish for the day, all he could think of was getting some sleep. Now, however, the busy tour of Europe was over and he had a couple of days to relax and recuperate before filming started… and he was eager to call Liz.

However, a quick glance over at the clock on the wall informed him that it was five o’clock, which meant it was only four in London and Liz would still be at work for another hour or so.

Crap.

Now he had to find something to do with himself for the next couple of hours.

He spent a few minutes debating his options: whether to take a much-needed nap or go in search of some nourishment. Eventually, his grumbling stomach won out and he headed down to the hotel dining room for dinner. The dining hall was plush and exclusive and the food was excellent. Max found himself seated close to an elderly French couple who recognised him because their granddaughter was a big fan. They spoke almost flawless English, having lived in the United States together when they were young and were so sweet that Max couldn’t help but smile and converse with them and even sign a couple of autographs for their granddaughter and her best friend.

Dinner was just winding down and Max was getting ready to go back upstairs to his room, when his cell phone rang. Pulling it out of his pocket, he grinned when he realised that the call was from Liz. Excusing himself from the French couple’s company, he headed out of the dining hall and towards the elevator.

“Hey,” he smiled into the phone.

“Max?” an upset-sounding Liz sniffled on the other end.

Max immediately grew concerned as he climbed into the elevator and pressed the button for his floor.

“Liz? What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“No, Max, I’m not,” she burst out suddenly. “I-I can’t do this anymore.”

It was obvious that she’d been crying and Max’s heart clenched painfully in response.

“Can’t do what?”

“This. Us,” she clarified. “It’s too much.”

“What?” he was shocked. “What’s too much?”

What was she talking about? Last time they’d spoken, she was fine. What had happened in the last few days to make her so upset?

“Everything,” she hiccupped. “Being apart, not being open about us, being constantly hounded by the press… I can’t do it anymore.”

“You’re being hounded by the press?” he asked in surprise.

How did he not know this?

“They’re everywhere, Max. They’re outside my flat right now… I even had to take a different route home from work tonight because they were all over the place.”

“Why didn’t you say something before?”

“I couldn’t get hold of you, could I?” she burst out suddenly. “You’ve been so busy with your perfect life that you haven’t even had time for me.”

“Liz, you know that’s not true,” he protested. “It’s going to be okay.”

He tried to sooth her, but inside, his heart was pounding in his chest as a feeling of dread overtook him.

“Whatever’s wrong we’ll get through it together, I promise.”

“No… no, you don’t understand,” she was openly crying now. “I mean it; I can’t do it anymore. I’m sorry; it’s over, Max.”

“No… Liz, wait–” Max tried to object, but he was met with the dial tone.

She’d hung up on him.

She’d broken up with him and just hung up without another word.

He tried to call her back, on both her mobile and her landline, but the former was now switched off and the latter was off the hook. Max groaned in frustration, fighting the urge to throw his phone against the wall. The elevator dinged to indicate he’d reached his floor, but that was the least of his worries right now. Stepping out of the lift and into the corridor towards his room, he began dialling a number on his phone.

“Bonjour, Pierre? This is Max Evans. Yes, hello. I need you to get me on the next plane to London. I don’t care what it takes or how much it costs; I need to be in London tonight.”

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

Lairabehr4 – Thanks .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Think it's time for Max to make his feelings known now.......if they are going to work anything out.
I was really looking forward to the Paris weekend....
Will they discuss the school idea in CA when he goes to London?

Let’s hope feelings get known soon . Keep reading to see what happens…

sarammlover – Thanks .

GO MAX GO!!!!! Go get Liz and bring her back from this brink of insanity she is teetering on!

Come on, Max, you can do it! .

I feel really bad for Liz though, that's a lot of shit to be going through right now and most of its alone. I can't wait to see what happens when Max gets there!!!

Yeah, she’s tried to be strong and not let it affect her, but being away from Max and dealing with it all on her own is taking its toll.

natalie36 – Thanks .

good i hope he fights hard for her, and i'll send a head smack her way

Lol!

mary mary – Thanks .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

It was really hard for Liz but being harrassed by paparazzis and with all the difficulties she has, it was too much for her....

Yeah, she tried to deal with it, but it got the better of her.

Never thought that she would loose control this way but things doesn't work the way we want all the time and probably she was never concerned by such problems in her life b4!

She’s having a bad week right now – everything’s just getting to her and she just doesn’t know how to handle it all. She’s angry and upset and is lashing out at Max because she doesn’t know what else to do.

I agree that Max has to make her clear what she means to him bc I guess she doesn't think he would care about her that much!

What she said about his perfect life and him not having time for her was just a reaction to the stress she’s been under lately and not being able to contact him easily… she wouldn’t normally react like that – she knows he cares about her, but I can also imagine that she might feel like she’s being left behind while he goes off around the world.


***


Part Twenty-Seven

“Come on, come on,” muttered Max impatiently, his fingers drumming anxiously on his thigh as he waited for the plane to land in London.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief when it finally did and he was out of his seat like a shot. The stewardesses kindly allowed him to exit the plane ahead of the other passengers and so his passage through immigration was quick. He hadn’t checked any bags, so it took only minutes to reach the airport exit. Unfortunately though, it seemed that his sudden departure from Paris had alerted the press and there was currently a crowd of reporters and photographers waiting for him outside the terminal. Anxious to get to Liz and not in the mood to deal with them, he steeled himself, put his head down and purposefully walked out of the door towards the car that he’d arranged to pick him up.

“Max! Hey, Max? Are you here visiting Liz?” called out one reporter as he strode through the throng of people.

“Is it true that you two are closer than ever?” shouted another, shoving a microphone in his face. “Rumour has it, there’s a going to be proposal on the horizon?”

Camera flashes were going off all around him, but Max did his best to ignore them as he tried to keep calm and not react to the probing questions. He managed quite well at first, but then an over-eager reporter took things too far and hit a nerve with his question.

“How’s Liz dealing with your hectic lifestyle?” his nasally voice sounded out above the others. “It can’t be easy for her.”

“Look, get out of my face, okay?” he snarled in the general direction of the guy.

“Aww, come on, Evans,” whined one of the photographers. “You gotta give us something.”

“No, I fucking well don’t,” he retorted angrily, not giving much thought to the words spilling from his mouth or the impact they would have on his image. “Now, get out of my way.”

He barged through them unceremoniously and made a beeline for the car that he could now see parked at the side of the road. All he could think about was getting to Liz before it was too late and try to make some sense of her phone call. What on Earth had happened to her in the last couple of weeks to make her change her mind about their relationship?

Max let out a heavy sigh when he finally sank into the backseat of the vehicle and closed his tired eyes. When he’d rushed to Charles de Gaulle airport just a couple of hours ago, he hadn’t really given any thought as to what he was doing, other than that he needed to see Liz in person, but now that he was in London, he was debating the wisdom of his decision. What if she wouldn’t talk to him? What if she never wanted to see him again? What if she wasn’t even home?

The journey to Liz’s flat seemed to take forever and he was desperate to get there quickly, but as the car pulled into her road, a feeling of dread suddenly washed over him and he swore aloud at the scene ahead of them.

There were paps everywhere.

Some were sitting in cars, camera lenses sticking out through the windows, others were crouching down by the bushes and walls and a few were even shamelessly standing in the middle of the street, aiming their cameras towards Liz’s windows and calling out to her.

Shit. No wonder she was so hysterical on the phone earlier, having to deal with all this. He felt a pang of sympathy towards her and what she was having to cope with due to her relationship with him. Her phone call earlier had been a shock to him though, because he’d been worried about how she would handle the press since the beginning, but she’d always assured him that the attention didn’t bother her. He supposed that he couldn’t blame her for the call though; no matter how many times she’d told him she could handle it, he’d been expecting something like this to happen eventually.

Giving another curse, Max asked the driver to pull up outside Liz’s building and, with a look of determination, he grabbed his carry-on bag and stepped out of the car. As he’d predicted, the paps were on him in a second, questioning him about Liz and why he was there, but he ignored them all and quickly got inside and away from them. With a frustrated roll of his eyes, he climbed the stairs to Liz’s floor and headed for her door. When he got there, he hesitated for a moment, taking a calming breath first before lifting his hand to knock. He couldn’t hear any sounds coming from inside, but he’d seen the lights on in the flat from down in the street, so he knew she was home. He knocked quickly on the door, three sharp raps, and didn’t wait for an answer before he knocked again.

“Liz, it’s Max,” he called through the door. “Can you let me in? Please? I have to talk to you.”

There were several long seconds of silence and he wasn’t sure she was even going to answer, but just as he was about to turn around and leave, there was a sound from the other side and the door opened to reveal a upset, dishevelled-looking Liz. She was dressed in a pair of sweats and an oversized T-shirt with some kind of cartoon on the front. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail and her eyes were red-rimmed and bloodshot. She looked so vulnerable and hurt that he just wanted to pull her into his arms and make everything okay. However, judging by the look on her face, he didn’t think that was such a good idea right now.

“Max?” she managed in a tired, raspy tone. “What are you doing here?”

Max rolled his eyes, “You didn’t think you could just drop a bombshell like that on me—on the phone, no less—and not expect me to come here, did you?” He shook his head as he stepped inside the flat and she closed the door behind her. “I had to see you.”

“I meant what I said, Max,” she told him softly, hugging her arms around her torso as she made her way further into the living room. “I can’t do this anymore, this whole relationship with you. I thought I could, but I just can’t handle it.”

“The paparazzi?” Max asked for clarification, following behind her. “Because I can try to get them to stop hassling you if that’s the problem.”

“Not just them,” she admitted, suddenly looking very small and delicate as she turned to face him. “It’s… everything.”

“What everything?” he asked gently, stepping closer to her, his eyes drinking her in.

“It’s so hard being apart from you, Max,” she admitted, sliding down onto the sofa as her breathing hitched and fresh tears leaked from her eyes. “I can’t live like this anymore, not knowing when I’ll see you next or how much time we’ll have together.”

She began sobbing then and Max’s heart clenched for her as he sank down beside her on the sofa. He felt so guilty; this was all his fault. God, she’d been having such a hard time lately and he hadn’t even known.

“Liz…” he reached out to touch her arm and she looked up at him with watery eyes. “Do you really want to break up?”

Her breath hitched again as she slowly shook her head, “No… but I don’t see any other option at this point.”

“Don’t say that,” Max shook his head.

“But it’s true,” muttered Liz, looking away from him and down at her hands which were now in her lap. “I can’t do the long-distance thing anymore, but we’ll never be together in the same place either. What else can we do?”

“We’ll think of something,” said Max determinedly.

“What, exactly, Max? You live in LA and I live here; you’re always travelling around the world, but I’m stuck here with my job. How on Earth could this possibly work?”

Max hesitated for a moment, before he started to speak, “I’ve, um, I’ve been looking into something recently. I’m not sure how feasible it is, but I was thinking of trying to relocate to London…”

“No!” Liz’s head shot up at that, panic evident in her eyes, which caused Max to recoil slightly in surprise. “No, Max, you can’t do that.”

“What?” he was taken aback by her vehement response; wasn’t she supposed to be happy about this news? “Why not?”

“Because I can’t be responsible for hindering your career,” she admitted softly. “Max, you need to be in L.A., okay? That’s where the work is, where the industry contacts are. I can’t ask you to leave all that behind.”

“I wouldn’t be leaving it behind, Liz,” he assured her, unable to prevent himself from reaching out and tucking a stray bit of hair behind her ear, his fingers brushing against her soft skin as he did so. “There are plenty of work opportunities and contacts here too.”

“But not as many as in California,” she stated. It wasn’t a question. “No, Max, I won’t let you do it.”

“Well what do you propose we do then?” he snapped in frustration, regretting the outburst immediately.

“Well, I’d been thinking about going back to university—in California,” she mumbled softly, not looking at him, but staring at something on the floor instead. “It’s not hard to get a student visa, you know.”

“Really?” Max’s eyes lit up at her words and a wide smile spread across his face at the thought of Liz moving to Los Angeles. “You want to come to California? To study? In L.A.?”

“Yeah,” she said, although tears began gathering in her eyes again. “I wanted to.”

“Wanted?” he questioned her use of the past tense.

She nodded, “Yeah. But it’s too late now. There’s no funding left for this year and there’s no way I can be a postgraduate student without funding. Now I’m going to have to wait until next year to apply, which means spending more than a year away from you.”

“Oh, Liz, I’m sorry,” he reached out a hand to comfort her, but she shrugged him off and stood up, walking away from him.

“Don’t, Max,” she muttered. “This is hard enough as it is.”

“What is?” he was confused.

“It’s just not going to work, okay?” she burst out, turning back to him, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t keep doing this, not for a whole year more. As much as I don’t want to, I think it’s best if we just go our separate ways.”

The defeat in her eyes, had Max angry and he jumped up off the couch.

“So, that’s it? You’re giving up?” he cried incredulously, stalking across the room and coming to a stop in front of her. “Don’t I even get a say in this? What about how I feel?”

She raised her chin defiantly, challenging him, “And how do you feel, Max?”

He gazed down at her, taking in her red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and his heart went out to her. She’d never looked more beautiful to him and he just wanted to take her into his arms and tell her it would all be okay. He reached out his hand to touch her arm, letting his fingers gently stroke her skin. She shuddered in response and exhaled heavily as his other hand came up to cup her cheek. He leaned forward and murmured his reply softly.

“I love you, Liz.”

She sucked in a gasp, her eyes widening slightly at his soft confession.

“I love you,” he repeated. “So much. I waited my whole life to find someone like you and now that I have, I can’t imagine not being with you. I’m sorry, but I’m not willing to give you up that easily.”

“Max…” she breathed, shaking her head slightly, as if she couldn’t believe what he was saying. “God…”

“We’ll work it out, Liz, I swear,” he insisted, reaching up to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks. “We have to. Because I can’t be without you.”

She was silent for a moment, before she met his gaze and admitted, “I love you, too, Max.”

A new smile spread across his face, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I do,” she nodded, before her expression fell. “I’m sorry… about tonight, about everything.”

“It’s okay, Liz,” he said soothingly. “Don’t worry about it.”

“I’ve just been so overwhelmed by it all lately,” she confessed. “It’s like everything’s going wrong and I don’t know how to fix it.”

“We’ll fix it together, Liz,” said Max determinedly. “We will make it work.”

“How?” she wondered.

“Well,” he smiled, wrapping his arms around her and looking down at her tenderly. “I was thinking I could start by putting in some calls to those California colleges you were looking at and see if I can’t pull some strings in their finance department.”

“Max,” Liz rolled her eyes. “You can’t do that. It’s wrong.”

“I can, and I will,” he grinned. “After all, what’s the point of having a movie-star boyfriend if he can’t call in a few favours for you?”

“Max…” Liz didn’t look convinced and he realised he would have to step it up a little.

“Well, okay, then,” he gave a mischievous smile. “If you won’t let me call them, then you’re just going to have to let me pay for your grad studies instead.”

“What?!” Liz cried out in shock. “No, Max! No way. I am not letting you pay for my studies. And that’s final.”

Max had to hold back a grin at her firm tone and no-nonsense expression. He’d known she wouldn’t go for that suggestion at all.

“Well, in that case, I think you’re gonna have to let me make some calls,” he replied with a grin. “It’s either that, or you’ll have to wait until next year to get your funding.”

She gave him an annoyed look before sighing in defeat, “Fine, Max. You win.”

He just grinned in response, “You giving in was kind of inevitable. You can’t resist me and you know it.”

Liz rolled her eyes, “Well, you certainly think a lot of yourself, don’t you?”

He chuckled, tightening his arms around her slightly and enjoying the feel of her body pressed up against him. His gaze locked with hers and suddenly the atmosphere between them sobered.

“I love you,” he murmured softly.

“Love you, too,” she replied in an equally soft tone, as she gave him a tender smile.

Just like that, Max couldn’t resist anymore. He lowered his head and captured her lips with his. They kissed slowly, expressing their feelings and savouring the moment.

“Thank you, Max,” Liz murmured when they broke apart a couple of minutes later.

“For what?”

Her fingers tangled in his hair, gently massaging his scalp and the action sent tingles down his spine. It felt so good to be this close to her again, especially after the events of the last couple of hours. He was extremely glad that they’d managed to talk it out.

“For being here, for calming me down, for understanding,” she clarified with a smile.

“You don’t need to thank me,” he insisted, before indicating towards the sofa. “Come on, let’s sit down.”

Liz nodded and allowed him to lead her to the couch. She snuggled up next to him, her head on his shoulder and her arm resting on his waist as he hugged her to him. They sat together in comfortable silence for a few minutes, just enjoying each other’s company, until an idea occurred to Max and he spoke up.

“Hey, you know, it’s only early afternoon in L.A. right now. Why don’t we get started on making some calls? Do you have the contact details of the colleges you were interested in?”

“Now? Max, I’m not sure if…”

“We don’t have to, but it’ll be the weekend soon and I have to start filming on Monday. We’ve got some time now, so why not?”

Liz looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding, “Okay. I’ll go get my laptop.”

She leaned over to give him a quick kiss, before heading into her bedroom to retrieve the computer.

***

“I’m so glad you came,” mumbled Liz into Max’s bare chest in the early hours of the morning as she snuggled up next to him in bed, savouring the feel of his body against hers, his arms around her. “Thank you for everything.”

“Really, Liz,” Max chuckled softly. “Stop thanking me. It’s not necessary.”

“Max,” she smiled against his skin, before kissing his chest tenderly. “You deserve it. Seven hours ago my life was a mess; I was a mess, but you came in here, you calmed me down, told me you loved me and then you managed to secure two years of graduate funding for me at the university of my choice! I want to thank you, so shut up, deal with it and let me do it properly.”

She emphasised her point by shifting beneath the bedcovers and moving to straddle his hips, leaning down and running her lips across his bare skin.

Max laughed outright this time, his hands coming up to wrap around her waist and tugging her closer to him, “Well, when you put it that way…”

Liz laughed along with him as she found herself pulled flush against him and he began placing loving kisses over her face and neck. It had been a really tough couple of weeks for her, but right here with Max, she really felt hopeful now that they would be able to work everything out.

“Come to Paris with me,” requested Max in between kisses. “In the morning; come back with me.”

Liz looked up and their eyes locked.

She gave him a soft smile, “Of course I will.”

“Great,” he grinned widely, before lifting his head to kiss her gently. “I can’t wait.”

“Me either,” she returned happily, staring down at Max and drinking in his perfect features in the dim light of the room.

“So, uh,” he started, as his hands caressed her back lovingly. “You’re really gonna do this grad school thing then?”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I am. I already started filling out a couple of application forms before the whole money issue happened, so I just have to finish them, get the documents together, and take some GRE test or something. Oh and apply for the visa and get everything organised and… shit, I’ve got so much to do!”

“You’ll get it all sorted out,” he assured her. “And of course I’ll help as much as I can.”

Liz scrunched her nose up and gave him a funny look, “Yeah, I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to read through graduate applications in between filming takes.”

Max rolled his eyes and just replied lightly, “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” she nodded. “And thank you.”

“Hey,” he retorted playfully. “I thought we agreed, no more thanking me?”

“No, actually, I thought we agreed that you would sit back and let me thank you properly,” she shot back, before pressing her body against him suggestively.

“Yeah,” he grinned. “But then you started talking about grad school applications and the thanking part got shot to hell.”

“Hang on a minute,” Liz narrowed her eyes. “I seem to remember that you were the one who started the ‘grad school’ conversation. That was nothing to do with me.”

“Okay, okay. You got me. I’m sorry,” he gave her a pout that made her weak in the knees. “I’ll just shut up now.”

“Good idea,” murmured Liz, bending her head and kissing him soundly, before pulling back and gazing down at him seriously. “I’m so happy you came here tonight, Max. You seem to have the ability to always make things all right again. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

TBC…

Hey everyone, so a couple of things happened lately that I thought tied into the idea of this story quite well… you know, the whole ‘average person meeting a Hollywood movie star’ thing:

- Just found out that Kelsey Grammar’s new (pregnant) girlfriend of a few weeks lives less than 20 miles away from me! She’s the daughter of a former local football (soccer) player.

- On Friday night, one of my brother’s friends here in England got a phone call from Will Smith! My brother is training to be a stuntman and his friend has already made it as a professional – Will Smith called him up to ask if he would train his son Jaden in tumbling skills!

Anyway, thank you for your feedback :

Dziumka – Thanks .

begonia9508 – Thanks .

I was already thinking "why doesn't he use his relations to help her with her plans?" and top! he did it! Being a wellknown actor has some vantages, eh???

Yep, definitely… he knew she wouldn’t agree to letting him pay for her studies, so using his influence was the next best thing .

Hope for them that it works!
At least, now Liz is happy bc he could help her!

Yep, things are looking up for them now .

Natalie36 – Thanks .

Lariabehr4 – Thanks .

All long-distance boyfriends should model themselves after Max.

Yes, they should .

dreambeliever – Thanks .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

Finally.....he admitted his feelings.
They will work out the grad. student situation together.....
Loved It!

Yeah, maybe things will finally start working out for them now.

zaneri1 – Thanks .

Ahhh So happy they worked it out. I love this story Thanks for not leaving us hanging for too long.

Thanks – luckily I managed to write part 27 in just a couple of days, so you got to read it quickly .

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

Part 26 -

Aww Liz, that sucks. I don't blame her for breaking a bit. That's a lot to handle. Boy am I glad I can read the next chapter right now. (It's a great advantage to being away for so long) That was so sad.

Yeah, it must have been really tough for her to handle it all.

Part 27 -

Yay!! Thank goodness that's sorted out. I hate it when they fight. But that fight was inevitable though I guess. They are only human and their situation is far from normal. I'm so glad they will have time together now and they now know they love each other.

Fantastic stuff!!! I love this story!

Thanks . Yeah, it was inevitable (I’ve been planning it since about 15 parts ago!) and I think it was probably needed .


***


Part Twenty-Eight

Evans in Lover’s Tiff

Max Evans caused a stir last night when he suddenly fled from his Paris hotel and jumped on a plane to London to see his girlfriend, Liz. Sources say he seemed agitated when he arrived in London and was rude to paparazzi and reporters outside Heathrow, barging past them and climbing straight into a black car, before storming inside her building looking frustrated. Is there trouble in paradise so soon? We think perhaps not, for everything seemed fine again early this morning when he and Liz were pictured leaving her flat for the airport with a couple of bags and big grins on their faces as they flew back to Paris together. We’re thinking perhaps this was just a lover’s tiff caught on camera and not something really serious...

“You okay?” asked Max, as Liz frowned at the article she was reading on the Daily Mail website.

She looked up from her laptop, which was resting on her knees, to see him watching her with concern from his position beside her on the couch in his hotel room. She gave him a small smile and nodded.

“Yeah, I’m just trying not to let this all get to me again.” She turned the computer screen so he could see the article. “It’s like the whole world knows what we’re doing right this second.”

“I’m sorry.” Max gave her a sympathetic smile, slipping his arm around her shoulder as they relaxed back against the cushions. “I wish I could shield you from all of the attention, but unfortunately it’s part of the celebrity package.”

“I know,” she sighed, letting her head rest on his shoulder. “I understand that… it’s just hard.”

“Yeah, it is…” Max frowned, hesitating slightly for a moment.

“What is it, Max?” Liz asked curiously, sitting up and quickly turning off the laptop, placing it on the seat beside her, before turning to face him fully.

“Nothing,” he shook his head. “It’s just…. you’ve always said that you didn’t care about the press attention and it hasn’t really bothered you before, so I was wondering why this was affecting you so much now?”

Liz sighed, not really wanted to think about the state she’d been in last night before he’d shown up at her door.

“It wasn’t just the press, Max, it just felt like everything was falling apart around me. Missing you, work problems, having trouble with the college applications, getting a phone call from the police about Jacob Nicholson… the paps and reporters were just the last straw for me after a horrible couple of weeks.”

“Jacob Nicholson?” Max repeated, focusing only on that part of her reply for a moment. “What’s happened?”

“Oh, not much; they just called to tell me that the court case was still going ahead, but that I didn’t need to testify,” she informed him. “It just brought back bad memories.”

“Why didn’t you call me?” he wondered softly, reaching out to gently stroke her cheek with his fingers.

Liz shook her head and shrugged, “It was last week when you were busy on your Europe tour. I didn’t want to bother you.”

Max smiled, one of those wonderful, tender smiles that always made her heart beat just that little bit faster, “You can bother me any time, Liz. I won’t mind. Next time, just call me.”

“Okay,” she nodded, suddenly feeling silly for getting so worked up about it all last night. “I will.”

“And you know, things aren’t always going to be this hard,” he added gently. “We’ve already got grad school funding sorted out for you and as long as the application and visa process goes smoothly, it won’t be long before you’ll be leaving your job and coming to L.A., plus, you don’t have to worry about the Nicholson trial anymore, so that’s almost all the problems you’ve been having sorted out right there.”

“Yeah,” she agreed softly. “I guess.”

“And remember that the paps and the tabloids weren’t as bad in L.A. as they have been here,” he continued, grinning with amusement as he saw Liz beginning to smile at his ramblings. “And you won’t have to go it alone anymore by then… I’ll be right there with you too.”

“Yeah, I know,” she smiled widely now, before leaning in and placing a soft kiss to his cheek. “I can’t wait.”

They shared an understanding look before Max shifted and sat up straighter.

“So, we’re in Paris now and we have almost the whole weekend together,” he started with a happy grin. “What shall we do?”

“Well, I know what I want to do,” replied Liz, “I want to go sightseeing with you, but I’m not sure it’s such a good idea. You know, being out in public and everything.”

“You know what? We can’t let the paps dictate our lives,” stated Max decisively. “If we want to spend some time together out and about in Paris, then that’s what we do.”

“Yeah,” Liz nodded, although she felt a little apprehensive at the thought of facing the outside world right now.

“You don’t sound convinced,” Max gave her a small smirk, before cupping her cheek in his palm. “Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll go out there together and I’ll protect you from the big, bad photographers. “

That earned him a small laugh from Liz and she found herself relaxing into his touch, “Aww, my hero.”

Max chuckled, leaning in to kiss her, softly at first, but then more deeply until they pulled away, gasping for breath. Liz grinned; God, it was so easy to get carried away when Max Evans was kissing you!

“Okay, then, shall we go?” he asked, running his hands up and down her arms a couple of times, before standing up and holding out his hand to her.

She took it and stood up as well, quickly reaching for her purse before following Max out of the hotel room and down to the lobby.

***

“I love Paris,” sighed Liz as she and Max walked along the streets of Montmartre together later that morning. “Can you believe I haven’t been here since a school trip when I was about thirteen?”

“Really?” Max tightened his grip on her waist as he manoeuvred her out of the way of a group of excited Japanese tourists heading towards them. “But you’re so close in England, I would have thought you’d come over here often.”

“Yeah, well,” Liz shrugged as she glanced around the square they were walking through. “Sometimes life just gets in the way and you don’t really get to travel around much. Before I moved to London, I’d only ever spent a few days there on shopping or sightseeing trips.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. It’s no biggie,” she dismissed with a wave of her hand, before pointing at the huge white-domed church up on the hill. “Come on, lets go up to the Sacré Coeur.”

They visited the famous Basilica, climbing all 230-odd steps to get up there, before taking in some more of the area, watching the artists painting portraits and street entertainers juggling and performing tricks, and then heading over to another area of the city for some food. They shared a delicious lunch in a quaint, out-of-the-way crêperie, before taking in the Champs-Élysées and the Arc de Triomphe and finally ending up at the Eiffel Tower.

At the top, Liz couldn’t help but sigh with delight at the amazing sight before her; the sun was shining and the sky was blue… it was perfect weather for visiting the tower.

“It’s amazing, isn’t it?” murmured Max in her ear as he slipped his arms around her from behind.

“Yeah,” she smiled happily, leaning back against him. “You know, I’m suddenly reminded of a certain trip up the Empire State Building a while ago.”

“Yeah,” agreed Max. “Same height, different city.”

“Uh huh,” she closed her eyes briefly as he nuzzled her neck. “Well, almost same height. The Empire State Building is higher.”

Max laughed against her skin, “Know it all.”

They spent a few minutes wandering around the observation deck, taking in the city view from all sides, before Max stopped walking and turned Liz to face him. Liz frowned slightly in confusion; he looked nervous.

“So, um, there’s something I should tell you…”

“There is?” Liz wasn’t sure what was going on here.

“Yeah, um,” he flashed her a quick grin, “before you called me last night, I kinda had something planned for us in a couple of weeks’ time.”

“Yeah?” Liz started smiling again now as she realised that this wasn’t anything bad.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I was going to whisk you away for a romantic weekend here in Paris—”

“Really?!” she interrupted, grinned excitedly. “Wow!”

“Uh huh. I was going to bring you up here and book a table in Jules Verne, the restaurant down on the second floor,” he nodded down to the level below as he took her hand. “And I was going to tell you I loved you.”

“You were?” whispered Liz, her eyes widening as her heart sped up in response. “Really?”

“Yeah,” he gave her a lopsided smile. “I was. I had it all planned out, but then you went and ruined it all by forcing me to get on a plane to London last night,” he flashed her a teasing grin, “and when I saw you, looking so lost and scared, I just couldn’t hold it in anymore and I had to tell you.”

“Max,” murmured Liz in awe. “I can’t believe… wow. You were gonna do all that for me?”

“Yeah,” he nodded again. “I guess the whole ‘telling you I love you for the first time in Paris’ idea is out now though.”

“Max,” Liz started with a soft smile, as she wrapped her arms around his waist and looked up into his eyes. “Maybe it would have been nice to have done it that way, but I wouldn’t take back last night for the world. It meant so much to me that you came. You made everything better and what we shared was so special. I don’t need big romantic gestures, I just need you.”

“I know,” he replied sheepishly. “But I wanted to do it for you anyway.”

“Max…” murmured Liz. “Thank you. I’m sure it would have been amazing.”

“Well, maybe we can dine at the restaurant down there another time.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she grinned. “That would be good.”

Max leaned down to kiss her soundly, before looking down into her eyes.

“I love you, Liz.”

“Love you, too, Max.”

***

The next morning, Liz got started on her college applications on her laptop while she relaxed in bed with Max and they discussed how she would apply for a visa if she got accepted and when she would come to L.A. She wasn’t sure yet which program she wanted to attend, so there were several possible arrival dates. Orientation at USC was in mid-August, but UCLA and Caltech orientation was mid-September. Going for UCLA or Caltech would give her more time to get the paperwork sorted out, but it would mean even more time away from Max.

Liz sighed, feeling confused as she glanced over the various college websites on the laptop screen. Which one should she go for?

“You okay?” asked Max from beside her, as he flicked through TV stations trying to find something broadcasting in English.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Just… this application stuff is draining.”

“You can always take a break, you know,” he smiled gently. “Maybe keep me company over here for a while?”

Liz looked over to see him smirking suggestively at her and she rolled her eyes with a reluctant smile.

”I’m sorry,” she apologised, shifting the laptop on her lap slightly. “It’s just that I want to get as much of this stuff done before I leave. It’s easier to tackle it while you’re here because you can help.”

“Fair enough,” he nodded, reaching over to lightly run his fingers down her arm, making her shiver in response. “But, you know, you don’t have to go back to London tonight. You could always stay here in Paris with me.”

Liz gave him a longing gaze as she seriously contemplated his suggestion… it really did sound inviting.

“As much as I’d love to, I still have a job to get back to tomorrow,” she sighed. “I can’t just leave without giving notice. Plus, you know, you’re going to be busy with filming and everything anyway.”

“Yeah, I guess,” murmured Max, although Liz could detect a slight note of disappointment in his tone.

“Hey,” she smiled as she set the laptop down on the floor and turned to face him, running her hand through his hair. “Come here. I’m sorry, I’m putting the college stuff away now and I’m all yours for the rest of the day.”

They spent the next few hours spending time together and taking in a bit more of Paris, going out for dinner in a small restaurant near Max’s hotel before Liz had to return to London later that night. She arrived back home with her heart feeling much lighter than it had in a few weeks. Her life was finally back on track again and things seemed to be moving forward for her and Max now. She actually had something concrete to look forward to and work towards now instead of sitting around waiting and wondering when she would get to see Max again.

By the end of the week, Liz had completed all the application forms for the colleges she had decided to apply for and had booked an appointment to take the GRE test that was required to get into the schools. Now she had just three weeks to study for it and get a good score! As soon as she’d taken it and gathered all the documents together, she could send the applications off and hope she got accepted.

She couldn’t help but grin with excitement and anticipation as she and Maria relaxed on her sofa on Friday night with a bottle of wine and a box of chocolate, as they watched a movie and gossiped about Max and Michael.

***

Max’s next week in Paris was almost as fruitful as Liz’s had been. On Monday morning, he’d met the director, cast and crew for the new film and they’d begun work on the movie. As he got stuck into the scenes, he was extremely glad he’d gone to see Liz on Friday, because it really felt like they’d taken a major step in their relationship and now he could concentrate on his job without spending all his time worrying about how they were going to make things work.

He was so happy that they’d managed to find a way to be together for longer than a few days. Liz’s decision to go to school in California was a perfect one and a much better solution than his previous thoughts of trying to get a visa to live in England with her… especially when that would most likely have involved the possibility of marriage and while that was something he’d love to do at some point, it wouldn’t be practical right now; possibly not even for a while longer.

On Thursday, filming had to be interrupted briefly for Max to attend a few press interviews, but luckily his schedule hadn’t caused too much of an issue as the director had simply chosen to film other scenes that day instead. However, it did mean that he would now be stuck filming on Saturday and probably some of Sunday as well to make up the time… therefore putting a halt to his original tentative plans of inviting Liz to visit again over the weekend. It didn’t matter too much now though, since they’d spent last weekend together and he’d told her how he felt then, so his planned romantic weekend wasn’t so urgent anymore. Of course, he was still going to take her to the restaurant in the Eiffel Tower, but maybe they could just do it next weekend instead.

“Hey, Max,” called out one of his co-stars, a British actress named Celia who was playing his love interest, at the end of filming on Friday night. “A few of us as hitting the town tonight. You in?”

“Sure,” he smiled with a nod. “Just give me a couple of minutes.”

He headed into his trailer and pulled out his phone, sending Liz a quick text message, before changing his clothes and joining his co-stars for a few drinks. He grinned to himself as they hit the Paris party scene; finally, after months of trying to figure out a more permanent way to keep Liz in his life without having to wonder when they would see each other next, the world was making sense again.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback and for being patient! I finally have the next part ready to post .

Alien_Friend

That is so cool!!! I love Will and Jaden. That's so neat your brother is training to be a stuntman.

Me too . It is pretty cool that he’s doing the stuntman stuff (his degree is in Industrial Design, but he’s also a gymnast) – to qualify, he has to train in 6 different sports, do 60 days of work in front of the camera (extra work for TV shows/films) and then 60 days of stunt work in front of the camera. He’s spent the last couple of months doing extra work for TV (UK shows like Casualty, Larkrise to Candleford and Sarah Jane Adventures (Doctor Who spin-off) and in a few weeks he’s off to Abu Dhabi for at least 3 months, to work in the stunt shows at the new Ferrari theme park there!

Awesome part!! I love seeing Liz and Max so settled.

The unplanned nature of it all made their trip to Paris that much more exciting. That was so sweet Max planned all of that just to tell Liz he loved her though.

Yeah, he definitely didn’t want to do things by halves!

I hope Liz gets into one of those schools and they can start seeing each other more often soon.

All your planning paid off. That fight was so intense.

Thanks – glad it worked well.

Congrats on the new job!! Thanks for the note. Looking forward to the new update.

Thanks . It’s taken me a while but I finally have the new part ready now.

mary mary – Thanks .

Well, it seems I missed a chapter while I was away...don't know how that happened but it was nice to have two of them to read this morning since I couldn't sleep. Great surprise and great updates.

So happy to see things shaping up for our two young lovers.

Glad you enjoyed reading two chapters at once . Yep, things are working themselves out now.

begonia9508

Great part!.... it was nice to see that they could smooth away their problems!

Yeah, they’re both determined to make things work .

Hope "his love interest in his film won't come between Max and Liz.... bc the paparazzis are really quick at writing what's not true!

They are, but hopefully Max and Liz can put up a united front from now on .

Thanks for the note and happy for you about the new job!

Thanks – now I can finally start my career!

Natalie36 – Thank you .

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

who wouldn't love Paris....??

My sentiments exactly .

sarammlover – Thanls .

I love that Max went and got his girl. He didn't let a little freak out deter him from what he really wanted. ANd I love that they are going to be together. All IS right with them in their world right now!! LOVED IT!!!

Thanks – yep, Max is determined that they will manage to work everything out and be together.

Hey that is fantastic news!!!! congratulations!

Thank you.

zaneri1 – Thanks .

Aaahhh I loved this chapted. I really liked that he sent Liz a message before going out in case the magsj/rags say something about him being out. Now that they know where their relationship stands it good that they can relax and be w/friends.
Again I so enjoy this story

Glad you like the story . Yeah, Max doesn’t want Liz getting the wrong idea about any stories that might appear in the media .

LairaBehr4 – Thanks

I'm sorry! I did send it with a note, but I'm just now seeing that it didn't go through. Check again!

Definitely got it this time… don’t know what happened before


***


Part Twenty-Nine

It had been seven weeks since Max had flown to London to see Liz and they’d spent that amazing weekend together in Paris, but despite not being able to spend much time with Max in the last few weeks, Liz was feeling pretty good. She’d taken the GRE test, her college applications had been sent in and already she’d had acceptances from two of them, Caltech and UCLA. Although the Biology program at Caltech was great, she had pretty much decided on UCLA because it was much closer to where Max lived.

Of course, that was assuming that she would actually be living with Max when she got there. They hadn’t discussed it explicitly, but it had definitely been implied in their conversations. She’d been so caught up with filling out the applications and collecting the necessary paperwork that she hadn’t yet given much thought as to what would actually happen once she arrived in California. Thinking about it now though, this move really was a pretty big deal and she really should discuss the details with Max properly… which she definitely would do soon, but right now she wanted to enjoy spending some time catching up with Maria and Michael at the pub.

It was already early July and summer was well underway now; although whether you could really call it summer in England was debatable. It wasn’t hot, sunny California weather by any means, but this was definitely Liz’s favourite time of year. The days were longer now, the sun not setting until after 9 p.m., and the air warmer… and on the occasional days that the clouds cleared to give a lovely sunny day, the temperature in London could actually be described as hot. Today was one of those days, and Liz was celebrating the beautiful weather with an evening sitting outside in a pub beer garden, drinking and chatting with her friends.

“So, Liz, everything’s getting underway now for the big L.A. move, huh?” asked Michael, as he set the latest round of drinks down on the wooden table they were currently occupying and then slid onto the bench beside Maria.

“Yep,” she nodded with a grin. “I’ve had offers from UCLA and Caltech so far. I applied to USC too, but I think I’m going to go with UCLA.”

“It that because it has a good academic program?” Michael wondered, taking a sip of his beer, before reaching for a nacho from the bowl in front of him.

“Well, yeah,” nodded Liz, “although it’s mostly because of its location.”

“And by that I’m guessing you mean that it’s close to Max’s place?” grinned Maria knowingly.

“Yeah,” nodded Liz again, this time with a sheepish grin. “Kinda.”

“Ooh, this is all so exciting!” exclaimed Maria suddenly. “You’re moving to L.A., Liz!”

“I know,” she couldn’t keep the wide smile off her face. “Only a few more weeks to go now… except I do still have to accept the offer from UCLA, then get the visa paperwork from them and apply for a visa.”

“Ahh, the fun part,” quipped Michael then. “Dealing with US immigration.”

“Yeah, tell me about it,” Liz rolled her eyes. “I’ve been reading up on applying for a student visa and there’s a lot of confusing stuff to get through.”

“It’s not too bad, from what I’ve heard,” said Michael. “As long as you fill out the application correctly and have all the required documents, I don’t think it’ll be too much of a problem.”

“I hope so.”

“So, Lizzie, do you know when you’ll leave yet?” Maria asked, taking a sip of wine.

“Well, the school year doesn’t start until 20th September and if I read it correctly, I can enter the country up to 30 days before that, so I guess I’ll fly out there around late August,” replied Liz thoughtfully. “Although I’ll have to check with Max about his schedule around then too.”

“He finishes filming sometime in August, right?” asked Maria. “Maybe he can help you move over.”

“Yeah, I think the film’s supposed to wrap up around the first week of August,” confirmed Liz. “And that’s what I’m hoping he’ll do, but I still need to talk to him about it.”

“With how close the two of you are these days, I’m surprised you haven’t gone through it all in detail already,” murmured Michael with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, well,” Liz looked a bit sheepish. “He hasn’t had much time to talk lately. Plus we’ve barely seen each other the last few weeks, and when we have seen each other…”

“Let me guess,” finished Maria with a smirk. “You’ve had other things on your minds?”

“Well… yeah, kinda,” responded Liz with a wicked grin. “Let’s just say that there hasn’t been all that much time to talk when I’ve been in Paris with him.”

“I can imagine,” chuckled her friend with a cheeky grin. “It must be amazing… romantic weekends in Paris with the guy you love… if only I could find someone who would do that for me.”

“Hey!” exclaimed Michael indignantly, looking rather put out at Maria’s words. “I take you places!”

Maria rolled her eyes playfully at him, “Michael, a weekend at Butlins in Bognor Regis doesn’t exactly scream romance and glamour… not like Paris does anyway.”

“Fine,” he put his beer glass down firmly on the table as he looked into Maria’s eyes with an intense gaze. “You want Paris? I’ll take you to Paris.”

“Really?” his girlfriend’s eyes lit up with excitement. “You would take me to Paris?”

“Well,” Michael’s expression faltered for a second. “I don’t have all that much money to spare, but I’ll see what I can do.”

“Mike…” grinned Maria, reaching across the wooden table to take his hand in hers. “That would be amazing. Really. Thank you.”

Liz smiled softly as the couple shared a tender moment. Michael and Maria were so great together. Sure, they argued quite a lot and often got on each other’s nerves, but it was obvious that they really loved each other. She felt a slight twinge of sadness that she was here all alone tonight – the third wheel, so to speak – but that feeling was quickly replaced with excitement over the fact that in just a few weeks, she would be moving to California to be with Max.

***

Back at home later that night, Liz was relaxing on the sofa, trying to watch reruns of Friends, but actually getting distracted by thoughts of Max instead, when the phone rang.

“Hey, Liz, it’s me,” came the warm tone of his voice on the other end of the line, causing a tingle to run down her spine. “It’s not too late to call, is it?”

“Hey,” Liz replied happily. “Of course it’s not, although shouldn’t I be saying that to you? It is an hour ahead in Paris, after all.”

“No such thing as ‘too late’ for me these days,” he replied with a soft sigh. “Filming’s been brutal this week – this is the earliest we’ve finished in days.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she murmured sympathetically. “You must be exhausted.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” he confirmed. “Or at least, I have been. I’m not as tired tonight as the rest of the week, mostly because one of my co-stars got sick this morning and so we had to postpone some of today’s scenes.”

“That’s…good, I guess,” said Liz. “I mean, that you’re not as tired. There are a couple of things I need to talk to you about.”

“There are?” his tone changed slightly in response. “Should I be worried?”

“Oh, no. No, definitely not,” she assured him quickly. “It’s just that there are some things we haven’t discussed yet… you know, about me coming to California.”

“Oh, okay,” he murmured in understanding. “Well, what do you want to talk about?”

“Well, first of all, I got two acceptance letters this week,” she told him excitedly. “From Caltech and UCLA.”

“Really? That’s great, Liz!” his response was enthusiastic and she could just imagine him grinning widely on the other end of the line. “Have you decided where you wanna go?”

She nodded, although he couldn’t see her, “Yeah, I think it’s going to be UCLA.”

“Really?” he sounded surprised. “Isn’t Caltech ranked in the Top Ten schools in the country though?”

“Well… yeah, I guess,” murmured Liz, trying to remember if she’d even looked up the college rankings when she’d applied. “But UCLA is so much closer to your place than Caltech.”

“Liz,” Max let out a small chuckle, “Please don’t base your decision entirely on the school’s proximity to my house, okay? Choose whichever school you think is best for you academically.”

“It’s not like UCLA has a bad reputation though,” countered Liz. “I mean, it’s still up there with the good colleges, right?”

“Well, yeah,” agreed Max, “But Caltech is one of the best schools in the country for science. I just don’t want you to make the wrong decision here.”

“I know,” she conceded, “but I was looking up driving directions between your house and the universities and UCLA is practically around the corner, but Caltech is almost thirty miles away. I’d have to spend hours commuting every day if I went to Caltech.”

“Well, maybe you should live closer to the campus instead?” he suggested and Liz frowned in response.

“Closer to campus? But… I thought…” she fumbled for a response, feeling slightly hurt by his suggestion. “Well, I kinda thought we would be living together… you know, at your place? Or do you not want to?”

“No, Liz, of course I want to,” he reassured her quickly and she breathed a sigh of relief. “I just don’t want you to feel that you have to base your college decisions around me and my life.”

Liz couldn’t help but chuckle at his words. “Max, by doing my masters there, I’m already basing my entire life around you and your life.”

“I know,” he agreed reluctantly. “It’s just… you’re already giving up so much by moving – your job, your life in London, living near your family – I don’t want you to sacrifice anything else because of me.”

“Aww, you’re sweet,” she sighed, touched by his thoughtfulness. “But, Max, the whole reason I’m coming to L.A. is to be closer to you, to spend more time with you. It’s not going to be easy to do that if I’m going to college thirty miles from where you live.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” he chuckled. “I know what I said just now about not choosing your college because of me, but if I’m being honest, I really want you close too.”

“Yeah,” agreed Liz. “So, I guess it’s gonna be UCLA then, huh?”

“As long as you’re happy with that.”

“I think I can live with it,” teased Liz, grinning down the phone.

“Great.”

There were a few moments of comfortable silence between them then as the decision sank in, before Liz remembered what else she’d wanted to talk to him about and she spoke again.

“So, I was thinking that we need to sort out when and how I’m going to leave. The school year starts in late September, which means that as long as I get the visa in time, I can enter the US in late August. What’s your schedule like in August?”

“Well, unless we’re delayed, filming wraps up on August 8th and I’ve arranged it so I don’t have any major commitments for a few weeks after that, so if you like, I can come over to London from Paris and we can get you organised.”

“That sounds great,” replied Liz with a smile as she absentmindedly picked up the TV remote and flicked through the channels. “I’d like that.”

“Me too,” replied Max, and she could hear the grin in his voice.

“I’m starting to get excited now,” she blurted out a moment later, as a feeling of happiness suddenly welled up in her chest. “I can’t wait.”

“I know,” Max responded. “It’s going to be great having you nearby all the time.”

“I miss you,” pouted Liz then, suddenly wishing he was right there with her instead of just on the other end of the phone line.

“Miss you too.”

“Is it August yet?”

“Not the last time I checked,” chuckled Max. “Don’t worry, I’m sure the time will fly by.”

“It’d better,” she replied with mock-severity, before her tone softened a little. “I’m not sure how much longer I can go without seeing you.”

“Well, you know, we can still have fun without actually being together in person,” he murmured suggestively, causing Liz’s face to heat up in response. “We can do…things.”

“Yeah?” she murmured softly. “Like what things?”

“I think you can guess.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure,” she teased. “Maybe you should tell me.”

“Maybe I will,” he chuckled. “But first, I think you should tell me what you’re wearing…”

Oh, yeah, this was going to be fun.

TBC…

Hey everyone, thank you for your feedback :

Alien_Friend – Thanks .

oh those two!! That was a great update.

Thanks .

This move is really coming a long nicely. I like it. I can't wait for them to be together in the same place too.

You won’t have to wait long…

Is the story going to end when she moves? I hope not. It sounds like there could be a fun adventure still a head.

It’s not going to end when she moves, but the story is coming to an end .

Wow that's a lot of hard work he has to get through. It sounds like it will be worth it though and a lot of fun.

It is a lot of fun, from what I can gather. He spent yesterday at Pinewood Studios in London, where he’s going to be an extra in the new X-Men film (he got paid £100 for a costume fitting and for them to cut his hair!). He also ran into two of his gymnastics friends who are doing sword-fighting stunts for the new Pirates of the Caribbean film – he got to see the X-Men, Pirates and James Bond sets too!

mary mary – Thanks .

Welllllll, time to turn the lights down huh? Anyway, great chapter but it seems like Max was a little hesitant about living arrangements, no? Maybe I just read it wrong.

Yeah, lol. Max isn’t necessarily hesitant about the living conditions, he just wants to make sure that Liz doesn’t sacrifice her place at a great school because of him and where he lives.

begonia9508 – Thanks .

She is taking a big step by going to live with Max but who doesn't try, regret it all his life!

Yeah, very true. It is a big step, but what will happen if she doesn’t take it?

But also so exciting: leaving in another country was always the most fascinating experience in life: I lived 6 months in London and there were the best times of my life...

Living in another country can be a great experience, but it can also be not so great too; the first time I lived in the US, it was the best experience of my life, but the second time I lived there it wasn’t good and I ended up moving back home again after a few months.

Chosing UCLA isn't so bad: Liz's plans were more to live and be near her love than to go to school!

Yeah, she’s mostly going there for Max, but at the same time, he doesn’t want her to base her decision entirely on him and to also make the right choice for her future.

Have a great time starting your new career and waiting for more - EVE

Thanks – it’s been a bit of a stressful week, getting all my employer references sorted and finding somewhere to live though!

zaneri1 – Thanks .

Max does not sound enthused about them living together. Is he really? If he isn't he should let her know since she is leaving her loved ones to be w/him.

Max does want them to live together, but he doesn’t want Liz to sacrifice or regret anything because of him and then find she regrets not going to a different school later on.

keepsmiling7 – Thanks .

I got a little concerned when Max suggested she live closer to the other campus.......they still have lots to work out in my opinion. She's getting ready to make a big step.......what does Max really want?

Max just wants to make sure that she’s not going to regret not going to the better school because she chose to go to one closer to where he lives. Of course, he would love for Liz to live with him, but not at the expense of her future and her education.

sarammlover – Thanks .

UCLA is an excellent school...no compromise there.

Good to know – I wasn’t sure, so I looked up the rankings, but I don’t really know what reputation each school really has.

And being with Max is going to be great for both of them. I am so excited things are starting to work out and look up for those two!!! And I do adore Michael and Maria (I'm not sarammlover for nothing!!).

Yep, they can finally start having a more normal relationship now – no more long-distance, at least not at the moment anyway.


***

Part Thirty

“Okay, I think this is all of it,” announced Max as he placed the last bag down on the floor of his large lobby. “At least everything that we brought on the plane.” He turned to glance over at Liz, who was stumbling through the front door with a large suitcase, “Are you okay?”

“I’m… fine,” she grunted, as the case slipped out of her hands and fell to the floor. “Great, in fact.”

Max gave a soft chuckle at her frustrated expression, “You know, you didn’t have to carry that one. I did offer to get it for you, remember?”

“I know,” shrugged Liz as she closed the door and looked around the foyer at the pile of bags and suitcases they’d brought with them on the plane from London. “But I guess I’m just used to doing things for myself.”

“Well,” grinned Max as he stepped over to her and slid his arms around her waist. “You don’t have to do everything for yourself anymore, you know. I’m right here to help out with any heavy lifting you might need to do.”

“Aww, that’s so sweet,” replied Liz teasingly. “My own personal lifter and carrier.”

Max chuckled softly as he leaned down to kiss her lips, before lifting his head to look down into her eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too,” she nodded. “It’s taken so long to get everything sorted out that I almost didn’t think I’d make it here.”

“It’s been a long few months,” he agreed. “But we made it.”

“Yep.”

“So, what do you want to do first?” he asked then, releasing his hold on her and slipping his hand in hers as he began to lead her towards the den.

“Well…” she murmured contemplatively, a twinkle in her eye. “I’m torn between sleeping, unpacking… and maybe having a little evening fun with you in the pool.”

“The pool, huh? Sounds inviting,” murmured Max, his pulse rate increasing suddenly at the memory of ‘having fun’ with Liz in the pool last time she was in L.A. “Come on, let’s go.”

“But the suitcases…” protested Liz as Max began leading her through the house. “We can’t just leave them here.”

“Yes, we can,” he insisted, continuing to walk towards the kitchen.

“But shouldn’t I get my bikini out or something?”

“Trust me, you won’t needing a bikini this evening,” murmured Max seductively as he tightened his grip on her hand.

“Max!” exclaimed Liz, widening her eyes as a half-playful, half-scandalised expression appeared on her face. “You’re not suggesting we go skinny-dipping are you?”

“Why not?” he grinned, enjoying her surprise. “It’s not like we wouldn’t end up naked in there anyway.”

“What about privacy though? You don’t know who might be out there, watching… taking pictures.”

“Liz,” Max shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, okay? No one’s gonna be out there. It’s almost dark now anyway and the pool’s pretty well hidden from view. We’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

She still looked a little apprehensive, so Max stopped and pressed his lips to hers once more, drawing her into a long, slow kiss, one that was filled with promises of what was to come.

“Come on,” he smiled down at her when they finally parted. “Let’s go have fun in the pool. I show you exactly how happy I am that you’re finally living here with me.”

***

When Liz woke up the next morning, she felt well-rested, content and rather sore… but definitely in a good way, you know, a ‘I just had the most amazing night of sex ever’ sort of way. Her eyes still closed, she grinned to herself as she felt the heat of Max’s large, naked body lying behind her and the weight of his heavy arm wrapped around her stomach. She almost couldn’t believe she was finally here in L.A. and living in his house. Well, almost living in his house… she didn’t really think she could call it ‘living’ just yet, considered she’d only been there for 12 hours and all of her stuff was still packed in suitcases downstairs, while the rest was on a boat somewhere and wouldn’t arrive for a few more weeks.

The last few weeks had been crazy for her, so it was nice to finally relax again. In general, everything had gone fairly smoothly, but there had been a couple of hiccups along the way. For some reason, it had taken UCLA ages to get the necessary immigration paperwork to her, so she hadn’t been able to book her student visa interview appointment until about three weeks ago… which meant that it was a last-minute rush to get packed and book the flights. Max had finished filming in Paris two weeks ago, but had had to attend a few promotional events in Switzerland and Austria, so he hadn’t been able to fly back to London to see her until last week.

He’d spent the last few days staying with her in her flat and helping her to pack up her things to move. It had been a pretty stressful week, with both packing and trying to move everything out of the flat ready for the new tenant to move in. She had arranged to store most of her furniture at her parent’s house in South Gloucestershire, so three days earlier, she and Max had rented a van and taken a quick trip home to drop all the stuff off and spend some time with her Mum and Dad, before she moved to California. It had been difficult to say goodbye to them, and to Michael and Maria, but she made sure that they all had an open invitation to come and visit her and Max L.A.

The last couple of days had been both tiring and emotional but now that she was back in Los Angeles, in Max’s house again, the excitement she’d initially felt regarding the move was starting to return. The school year at UCLA didn’t start for another month and while Max had a few commitments he had to attend to over the next couple of weeks, he would have the majority of his time free to spend with her.

“Good morning,” murmured Max sleepily just then, his rough voice bringing Liz out of her thoughts and causing her eyes to snap open.

“Mmm, morning,” she whispered back with a smile as she snuggled back against his chest, enjoying the feel of his warm skin against hers.

“Sleep well?” he asked, pressing a gentle kiss to her neck.

“Like a log,” she replied meaningfully. “You?”

“I slept amazingly well with you in my arms.”

“Aww,” her heart skipped a beat at his sweet words.

“It’s true,” he quipped, his mouth trailing a path down her neck to her shoulder as his hand slid up over her stomach to cup her bare breast. “I sleep so much better when you’re here.”

“Me too,” Liz said, her eyes sliding closed in response to his caresses.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he admitted. “I’m so glad you’re here and that you decided to go to UCLA.”

“Me too,” she repeated, before shifting in his arms and turning to face him, looking up into his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said seriously. “So, now that you’re finally here in California, what do you want to do?”

“Well,” she grinned, “my practical side is saying ‘unpack’, but–”

“We’ll have plenty of time to unpack later,” he reasoned. “Right now, I think we should just enjoy ourselves.”

“Aww,” pouted Liz, “but I won’t feel settled in until I’m all unpacked.”

”Fine,” huffed Max in mock-annoyance, although there was a playful glint in his eye. “Go unpack then. I’ll just go for a picnic up in the hills all by myself.”

“Picnic in the hills?” Liz’s interest was piqued now. “Like we had that afternoon back in March?”

“Maybe…” he hinted teasingly. “But if you’re too busy unpacking then I guess I’ll just have to go on my own.”

“Well, you know, maybe I don’t have to unpack right away…” she contemplated with a smile.

“Yeah?” Max’s face lit up in a grin.

“Yeah,” nodded Liz. “Come on then, let’s get out of bed and go picnicking in the hills.”

***

Liz’s first couple of weeks in L.A. were filled with getting organised and reacquainting herself with the city. To start with it was mostly an exciting adventure; being with Max all the time after so much time spent apart and realising that she was actually living the dream: sunshine, beaches, Hollywood. However, as the beginning of the school year approached, Liz found herself becoming more and more anxious about becoming a graduate student. Logically, she knew that she had nothing to be scared of – it was only university, after all; she’d done it before. If she was honest though, it was more the thought of not having as much free time to spend with Max anymore that was really bugging her. She’d heard stories about how tough grad school could be in America and she was worried that it was going to take up practically all of her time.

Well, now she was about to find out… it was the first day of orientation and Liz was suddenly feeling scared shitless about actually going there.

“You okay?” asked Max, from behind her as she stood in front of the large walk-in closet in his room, staring at the rail of clothes hanging inside.

“I don’t know what to wear,” she sighed, her eyes roaming the hangers indecisively.

“Just wear what you normally do,” he suggested. “It’s just college… it’s not like you have to wear business dress or anything.”

“Well, yeah, but suddenly nothing I have seems right,” she grumbled. “All my clothes are ‘British’ and everyone here is really causal. I don’t want to make a bad impression or anything.”

“You won’t,” he assured her. “Trust me.”

Liz nodded to herself before turning around to find him standing in the doorway of the en suite bathroom wearing nothing but a towel, water dripping down his chest and making him look like a swimsuit model or something.

“Nice outfit,” she murmured appreciatively.

He cocked an eyebrow, shooting her a shit-eating grin, “You like?”

“What do you think?” she grinned, moving across the room towards him. “Hmm, I wonder if we have time to–”

“No,” he cut her off, holding up a hand to stop her continuing. “As much as I’d love to, I’m not going to make you late for your orientation meetings this morning.” He shook his head. “I’m gonna get dressed; why don’t you go take a shower and then I’ll fix you some breakfast.”

“Okay,” nodded Liz reluctantly, coming to a stop in front of him and leaning up for a quick kiss before heading into the bathroom.

Just under an hour later, Liz was dressed and ready to go. Max had offered to drive her to the campus, but she really didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention to herself today or have their pictures end up in the tabloids again, so after a semi-heated discussion regarding her wanting to driving herself there and Max’s objections to that because of the rush hour traffic and because she didn’t know where she was going, she eventually agreed to let him arrange a driver for her.

However, once she arrived at the campus, the day actually ended up going much better than she’d expected and by the time she got home in the evening, Liz was feeling much better about being a grad student at UCLA. She’d met with the professors and other new students in the Biology department this afternoon and they’d all seemed very welcoming and encouraging about the work load. The classes she would be required to take this semester didn’t seem like they were going to be all that difficult, but she was slightly worried about the TA part of grad school. She hadn’t had any experience with teaching before and she honestly wasn’t sure if she could handle it.

Max, however, disagreed and he told her so at dinner that evening.

“You’ll do fine, Liz. I know you will,” he said, as he placed a steaming hot plate of lasagne down in front of her before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

“I guess,” she shrugged, glancing down at her food. “I just… I don’t know; I’m scared.”

He smiled warmly at her, reaching across the table to take her hand, before admitting, “My first acting job, I was completely terrified.”

“You were?” she was surprised; he always seemed so confident and sure of himself when it came to his career.

“Yeah, definitely,” he nodded emphatically, as he picked up his knife and fork and began digging into the lasagne. “I was a complete mess. I had no idea what the hell I was doing and I was so intimidated by the whole process that I almost turned the car around and hightailed it out of there before I’d even made it inside the studio gates.” He gave a small chuckle, “But I didn’t. Instead I bottled my fears and drove in. Those first few days were a bit of a nightmare, to be honest, but after a while I got more comfortable with being in front of the camera and I really started to enjoy it.”

“And you think it’ll be the same for me?”

“Yeah, I think it probably will,” he smiled reassuringly. “It might be tough and scary at first, but I’m sure once you get settled in, you’ll be great.”

“You’re right,” agreed Liz after a moment, taking a bite of her food. “Of course, you’re right. I’m just being stupid.”

“You’re not being stupid,” countered Max softly. “It’s totally normal to be nervous in anew situation.”

“I know,” she nodded, before reaching for her glass of wine and taking a sip. “Okay, I’m gonna try not to think about it anymore tonight.”

“Good idea,” he agreed, before grinning suddenly. “Hey, how do you feel about spending the evening watching some movies in the den with me? Or if you like I could call the guys and see if they want to come over and make it a group thing.”

“Well, it would be nice to catch up with them again – we haven’t seen them for a few days – but you know, I kind of fancy just snuggling up on the couch with you and a tub of ice cream.”

“A tub of ice cream, huh?” Max raised an eyebrow. “That has definite potential.”

Liz narrowed her eyes and tried unsuccessfully not to smirk, “Get your mind out of the gutter, Movie Star. I’m talking innocent ice-cream-eating here, not whatever your dirty mind is conjuring up.”

“Hey, I resent that! I do not have a dirty mind,” he protested then, although the amusement in his voice was obvious.

Liz just gave him a disbelieving look.

“Well, okay, maybe I do,” he backtracked then. “But no more than anyone else.”

“If you say so,” grinned Liz, before glancing down at their now empty plates. “Come on, let’s clear these dishes away and get started on those movies and some ice cream.”

TBC…