Roswell Fanatics

*Aw, shux...you guys are the greatest. I'm really glad that you enjoyed it all. *


Chapter 73

{Max}

With a grin on my face, I put my hands on Liz’s waist and brought myself closer to her. “I love you,” I told her.

Liz smiled and grabbed my face, sandwiching it with her hands. “I love you.”

I planted my lips on hers, receiving flash after flash. Liz in the park, Liz dancing in the Crashdown, Liz doing Maria’s hair, Liz smiling, Liz and I kissing for the very first time, Liz waking up in my arms, Liz dancing with me, but with long hair dressed in leather, Liz and I driving together in my Jeep, Liz and I in Utah, and Liz and I in bed together, making love for the first time.

“Alright, you two,” Valenti laughed.

I reluctantly pulled away from Liz’s lips with a smile on my face, and her strawberry lip gloss on my lips. With her hands still sandwiching my face, she wiped the tears from my eyes with her thumbs. I laughed as she did, embarrassed of my breakdown. We stared into each other’s eyes while Valenti looked back out at the congregation.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” he shouted over the applause, which had erupted the moment our lips touched. The loudest part of the applause came from our wedding party. “It is of great privilege and honor,” Valenti began to announce, “to present to you for the very first time, the newly married, Mr. and Mrs. Max Evans!!!”

My smile grew wider and I didn’t even care that my face began to hurt because of all the straining and smiling. The applause grew louder, but I couldn’t hear it. Liz’s beauty blocked it out. I was just so happy, ecstatic, and drawn into staring at Liz, I couldn’t hear anything.

“Get out of here,” Valenti laughed.

I looked up at him and smiled. When I went to look back at Liz, she was pulling me down the aisle, looking over her shoulder at me.

“We did it,” I smiled when I caught up with her.

“You and I need to talk,” she said through her teeth. She was smiling at the guests, hiding the fact that there was something wrong that I wasn’t aware of.

While Liz continued to walk down the aisle with a smile on her face, I thought to myself, wondering what went wrong. What did we need to talk about?

We were alone once we were in the vestibule, but that wasn’t for long. Maria and Michael were close behind us. Once they exited the church, they ran right over us.

“HEY!!!” Michael laughed. “Congratulations, you two!” He gave Liz a hug first and then practically tackled me.

Though Liz and I still had an issue to discuss, I laughed as Michael held on tight. “Thank you, Michael.”

Then my happiness subsided as I stared at Liz over Michael’s shoulder. She was getting her hug and congratulations from Maria. Michael sidestepped in front of me and snapped his fingers to snap me out of my daze.

“You ok?” he wondered. “Please tell me that—”

I shook my head. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Michael gave a little chuckle and looked over his shoulder at the object of my affection. “I’m really happy for you, Maxwell,” he sighed. “I think—No, I know that you’ve got everything you deserve.”

I gave a little smirk.

*~*

After taking about a million photos, Liz and I walked down the steps hand in hand under a shower of rose petals. I looked over at Liz. She was nothing but smiles and she had been since the moment I saw her. So, I continued to wonder what we needed to talk about.

Liz and I made our way through the crowd to get to the limo that was waiting for us. Holding the door open was Michael while the rest of our wedding party and our parents huddled around it the open door.

“Congratulations!” they all shouted.

Liz climbed in first as I shook Michael’s hand. “We’ll see you at the Crashdown in a few,” he told me.

“You’re going to love it,” Maria added.

The Crashdown had supposedly gone under an amazing transformation and it was the best kept secret Maria had. I knew that Liz couldn’t wait to se it, and I felt the same way. It would be half an hour, however, until we would be actually see it.

Michael closed the door and Liz and I were finally alone. The limo started its momentum while I sat in awkward silence. Liz stared out the tinted window.

“What happened back there?” she asked, not turning to look at me.

I shook my head in confusion. “When?” I wondered.

Slowly, Liz turned in her seat and grabbed my hands. “Max, why’d it take you so long to answer Valenti?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed. I knew I had hesitated too long during the ceremony, but the words just couldn’t come out. I was just too weak. I was trying to hold my tears back and talk at the same time. It was a battle. I was a bumbling idiot, crying like a little baby. “I—I couldn’t speak,” I told her. “It wasn’t because I was having second thoughts. I was just so happy and nervous and…and…it was just a mixed bowl of things. None of which were regret, Liz. You were just so beautiful and the vows really got to me. I—I…I was just speechless.”

“I believe you,” she nodded. “But Max, you were shaking so hard and you were crying. Max, you were crying. I’ve never seen you actually cry.”

I scratched my cheek and tried to act macho. “Well, that’s the last time you’re going to see me cry,” I told her.

Liz shook her head and grabbed my face. “You don’t have to act so tough.”

“But I do,” I replied, shaking my head also. “I do. You told me before that I shouldn’t put everything on my shoulders, but now I have to, because it’s my job to provide for you, to support you, to protect you.”

“But I’m safe,” Liz smiled.

For the first time since the wedding started, I thought about Tess. She was lingering around somewhere. I knew that she was close by, but Tess wouldn’t come anywhere near me or Liz or the wedding reception. I vowed to myself that I would protect everyone from going to the White Room, but now Tess was back and I was thinking differently. I thought about the pain she caused all of us. She was evil, the farthest thing from sainthood. Now that she was back from a planet I had no idea about, she was even more dangerous.

I shook my head. “No, Liz, you’re not safe.”

Hey all,

Thanks for the feedback. SAFIRE and Izzy, I'll hlep you out if you need a hand with the bimbo beating. Thanks to jason's lover, roswellluver, scarlettlily, and cherie, I'm glad you guys enjoyed the wedding. Matchew and all of you guys, thank you for reading and posting FB. Very much appreciated. Thanks so much! And Matchew, thanks for enjoying the vows.

-hoLLy

Chapter 74

{Liz}

My heart started to beat a little faster. “What—what are you talking about?”

Max moved my hands away from his face and held them in my lap. “Liz, we will never/i] be safe ever again,” he said. “But I promise, I will protect you, because you are my wife.”

“We’ll protect each other,” I smiled.

He kissed my lips and nodded. “That’s right, ‘cause we’re married now,” he told me.

I grinned happily at the thought of being able to call Max my husband. “Yes,” I sighed, pleased, “we are.”

“Are you happy?” Max asked, not in a condescending tone.

I lifted my hand to Max's cheek and he nuzzled his face in my palm. “I’m more than happy.”

*~*

Our driver took us on a drive around Roswell, it didn’t take more than thirty minutes so we had to drive around our small town two or three times. The whole ride, Max and I sat in silence, just resting our eyes as we rested in each other’s arms. We had finally made it.

The black limo came into the halt in front of what was formerly my father’s diner. The outside dining area was stripped of all its alien memorabilia and the broad windows were covered by gently flowing white sheets.

“Are we ready?” Max asked.

I continued to stare at the restaurant. “I’m a little scared,” I admitted.

“Maria said we were going to love it,” Max smiled. “I think we’ll be ok.”

“If you say so,” I nervously breathed out.

The limo door was finally opened by our chauffeur and Max grabbed my hand, holding it tight. He stepped out first, gently pulling me along behind him.

Once we were outside, we could hear that the party had already started. Our driver shut the limo door once we stepped foot onto the sidewalk, then he ran to the doors of the Crashdown and waited for us to take our positions in front of them. He knocked five times on the glass. Each knock distinct and firm. The noise inside quieted down.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Evans,” the driver smiled. “You two have a great time.”

Max and I smiled thankfully as the driver went back to his limo. We were left standing in front of the doors when we heard a voice come onto speakers.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” someone announced, “I present to you…”

The doors slowly opened.

“Mr. and Mrs. Max Evans!”

And my father’s former alien-themed diner was revealed, and revamped. It definitely wasn’t the Crashdown Café that I had lived over my whole life. White sheets, like the ones covering the windows, blanketed all the walls, hiding the alien mural on the right wall and the alien photos on the others. It gave the large restaurant sophistication. I looked up and noticed more white cloth, which created a tent effect. And in between the ceiling and all that material were white Christmas lights, creating clusters of stars indoors. In the middle of the floor was a temporary wooden dance floor. Large enough to occupy the guests. Surrounding it were circular tables covered in even more white cloth. Bouquets similar to mine donned the centers and the place holders lit the tables beautifully. Maria designed the place holders herself. They were wine glasses filled with water with the names of our guests gold leafed onto them and in them, floating on the water, were candles. Maria was absolutely brilliant. Everything was white. The counter was covered with a white-fitted sheet. It held all the food, and at one end was Max's and my five-tier wedding cake. Desert was a long ways away. The whole place was gorgeous.

All our guests were standing and applauding our arrival. Where the circular booths were was now one long, white table where Ms. DeLuca, Isabel, Maria, Michael, Kyle, and Jess stood with two empty chairs in the center.

I turned to look at Max. He was absolutely taken aback by the spectacle. His eyes glowed and his smile shined.

Michael held the mic up to his mouth. “Welcome to your reception!” he smiled.

Max held onto my hand tight and started to walk into the diner. Everyone had risen to their feet and applauded our arrival. It gave me so much satisfaction, and to Max too. The smile on his face told me so.

We walked across the dance floor as everyone watched us. After making it through the maze of tables, we stepped onto a little platform where our table was. As we made our way to the center of the table, Jesse, Kyle, and Michael gave us congratulatory smiles and quick hugs as we walked past them. Max took his seat next to Michael and I took my seat next to Maria after Max and I greeted Maria, Isabel, and Ms. DeLuca down the table.

Once we were seated, everyone took their seats and the caterers walked out with the appetizers. After the appetizers, our guests would get their own food at the buffet table. But right now, the caterers came out of the kitchen with trays full of small dishes.

Once all the appetizers were served, Michael stood back up, holding his water glass in one hand and his butter knife in the other. He grabbed everyone’s attention by lightly tapping the glass with the knife, and then the mic was passed back down to him. “Hi,” he said. “I don’t think that a lot of you know me, but my name’s Michael Guerin. Aside from being tonight’s emcee, I’m also Max's best man.” Michael was nervous. He wasn’t as confident as he usually was and he stared down at the table a lot. “Um…” he sighed. “I don’t know if everyone knows the deal between Maxwell and I, but we’ve been friends a very, very long time.”

I laughed to myself and looked down the table. Maria, Isabel, Max, Kyle, and Jesse also gave little snickers.

“He and I were both orphans,” Michael continued. “But when I met him for the very first time in third grade, I knew he was my brother.”

I gave a quick glance to Max to see his reaction. He dropped his head and smiled to himself.

Michael cleared his throat once more. “We have this bond,” he said. “It’s not just a brotherly bond. It’s more than that. He’s a few months older than me, but Max is like a father to me. He looks out for me, protects me. But I’m a big boy now, and Max doesn’t have to look out for me anymore. Now, he can give all his attention to Liz, because that’s what she deserves.”

Now I was bowing my head, hiding my smile, and my red cheeks.

“I have to be honest,” Michael announced. “At first, I didn’t think that Max and Liz were good for each other. I didn’t think they belonged together. How wrong I was,” he laughed. “She’s a great girl. He’s the best thing that ever happened him.

“I—I don’t know what else to say about them. Max and Liz aren’t just good for each other, they’re perfect for each other. I’m so amazed at how happy Max is when Liz’s name is merely mentioned,” Michael chuckled. “It’s just…them together…it’s perfect…it’s…right…it makes sense. Max and Liz were destined to be together. That’s how simple it is.” Throughout his speech, Michael had gradually raised his head and looked down only to see our reactions; Max and I both wore grateful grins. “So…to Max and Liz Evans, I wish them a happily ever after ending, and a safe, happy life that they have more than earned. To Max and Liz,” he said raising his glass.

I looked out at the guests and they all rose their glasses up and cheered. “To Max and Liz!” they repeated.

Max stood up and grabbed a hold of Michael, hugging him tight. Max's jacket wrinkled from behind. Then Max sat down, and Michael leaned across him to kiss my cheek.

“Thank you so much, Michael,” I told him.

His cheeks turned red as he gave a dutiful nod. Behind me, I could hear Maria get out of her seat, which she did. She walked over to Michael as he sat down and took the mic from his hands, after giving him a kiss on the cheek of course.

“Hi,” she said, cheerily. “I’m Maria DeLuca, Liz’s maid-of-honor.” Maria knew that she was great in the limelight. She attracted it. “I’ve known Liz since we were four and there are no signs of us ever being torn apart. Go ahead and try, Max,” she said.

I turned to Max, who gave a little chuckle and continued looking up at my best friend.

“All I want to say is,” Maria said, “is that what Michael said about Max, goes for me and Liz. She is my sister and I love her so much.”

My cheeks turned red, and Max grabbed my hand, squeezing it tight.

“And so,” Maria continued, “I want to wish my two best friends the best that the world has to offer. Congratulations. I love you two. And I’m so happy for you two. Let them live happily ever after!”

Again, everyone rose up their glasses. “Happily ever after!”

Thanks, everyone. I'm glad you liked the part. Keep posting that feedback. Let me know what you think about this next chapter especially because...Well, I'll just let you read and find out

Chapter 75: Part 1

{Max}

I smiled happily as I watched my wife eat her dinner. I looked down at my own plate and noticed that there was still a whole steak and a mound of mashed potato sitting there. I couldn’t eat, Liz was distracting me, but she wasn’t the only thing distracting me. There was one important issue still left unsolved.

I glanced around the restaurant, at all our guests busy eating. Without attracting attention, I leaned to the side and near Michael’s ear. “Any sightings?” I whispered.

He seemed too focused into cutting his ten ounce steak into bite-size pieces and making sure that the pieces had just the right amount of Tabasco.

“Michael,” I whispered, getting slightly impatient.

“What?” he snapped.

I rolled my eyes in frustration. “Have you seen Tess?”

He placed his knife down and stared at me. “Please do not tell me that’s what you’ve been thinking about since we first saw her.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. “No, I haven’t,” I told him. “I…uh…just remembered.”

“She’s one bad thing to remember,” Michael laughed, then went back to cutting his steak and soaking it in hot sauce. He still hadn’t answered my question.

“Well?” I wondered. “Have you seen her?”

“I would have told you if I did,” he replied, agitated.

I nodded. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Go back to your dinner.”

Michael waved his fork in thanks.

Even though I hadn’t seen her since the alley, and Michael hadn’t seen her either, I couldn’t help but have this feeling that Tess was lurking around somewhere close. It was like a sixth sense. It was like a chill.

Busboys and busgirls roamed the restaurant floor, gathering dirty plates and refilling water and iced tea glasses. I looked down at my still untouched meal and shook my head. I wouldn’t be able to eat.

“What’s wrong?” Liz asked.

My head snapped in her direction. “Huh?”

“You’re not eating your dinner,” she clarified as she dabbed her lips clean.

“Oh,” I replied. “Yeah, I’m…um…not hungry.”

Liz nodded in reply and kissed my lips. “Max, I understand. This big wedding and reception isn’t your thing, but you went through it because of me. Thank—”

My eyes stared inside of me for a brief second. As the last busboy on the floor picked up one more dish and walked towards the kitchen door, my eyes followed him. He maneuvered between the tables and reached the swinging door. With ease, the busboy pushed through the blue door. It swung back and forth, and through the gap, I saw her.

Tess was standing in the back room looking through the gaps when the door swung open and close. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me or wanting food. I wasn’t going to wait for her to walk out here to tell me. All I wanted to do was get her out of the restaurant and out of Roswell, away from me.

“You’re welcome,” I told Liz, not remembering why she had said thank you to me. I kissed her cheek and quickly stood up.

“Wait,” Liz called. “Where are you going?”

I looked down at Liz and then at the back room. My heart began to beat harder and I could feel the sweat seeping through my pours. Yet, it was a cool day and the Crashdown’s a/c was doing a great job of keeping the restaurant at a moderate temperature. “To the bathroom,” I lied. “I’m going to use the one upstairs.”

Liz smiled innocently and went back to her food. Great. Married all of one hour and I’ve already lied to my wife, I thought to myself. I hated having to lie to her, but I was deceiving her to protect her.

I stepped behind all the chairs and started walking towards the kitchen door, looking over my shoulder after every other step. When I would look back ahead, I smiled at the guests, giving little waves and nods of acknowledgment. I tried my best to remain calm and cool, but how could I when there was a cold-blooded murderer in the back room?

I reached the door and rested my hand on it. I looked back over my shoulder. Everyone was glued to their food and each other. Even Michael was still hovering over his plate. Yeah, some bodyguard he was. I brought my focus onto Liz as she innocently continued to eat.

I gave a nervous sigh and pushed on through. The room was empty except for the busboys and girls in the kitchen. Other than that, Tess was no where in sight. I moved towards the stairs and leaned forward, trying to listen for her up there. But she wasn’t. I knew I saw here. It wasn’t a dream. One more look around and I finally noticed the back door ajar.

Before I could head to the alley, I returned back to the swinging door and poked my head through. After staring at him for a while, I caught Michael’s eye. We stared at each other for a while, and then my eyes wandered to Liz, then back to Michael. He caught my drift and when I was sure that he would look after Liz, I pushed away from the doorway and headed for the backdoor.

I took a deep breath and pulled the door open.

“It’s about time you got out here,” Tess said, appearing from behind one of the dumpsters.

I quickly shut the door. “Don’t talk to me like I’m your friend,” I told her. “‘Cause I’m not. You’re not a friend, you’re not an acquaintance, you’re not even an enemy…you’re nothing.”

Tess nodded. “Ok, no disagreement, no argument. I deserve that.”

I shook my head. “You deserve more than that.”

I stared her down with all the hatred I felt towards her. All she could do was look back at me, like she hadn’t ever done anything wrong. I couldn’t stand another minute of her.

“I’ll give you to money to leave town,” I told her. “It’s not an offer, it’s a bribe. I want you out of this town. I don’t care where you go, just as long as it’s away from here and away from Liz and I.”

Tess stared down at the floor and I stared at her, waiting for her response. “I can’t do that,” she finally said.

“Why the hell not?”

She avoided looking at me and started to stare down the alleyway. “I can’t leave, because I need you.”

My eyes narrowed.

TBC

Chapter 75: Part 2

{Liz}

I glanced at the empty chair beside me. Just what the hell was Max doing in the bathroom? I looked over at Michael as he finished off his plate. “Michael?” I called.

He stuffed a few forkfuls of mashed potatoes in his mouth. “Yeah?”

“Would you mind checking up on Max?” I asked him. “He’s been in the bathroom for a while.”

Suddenly, and oddly, Michael’s eyes widened. He quickly put his fork down and got out of his seat. “Yeah, sure.”

I watched him as he quickly made his way for the kitchen. Before he could reach the end of the table, I put my own fork down. “Wait up,” I told him. “I’ll go with you. I need to use the bathroom, too.”

Michael snapped back around and quickly speed-walked back over to me. “You just stay put,” he told me. “Use the one down here. You don’t need to scale all those steps with your dress on and everything.”

I looked at him with narrowed eyes. “Is everything ok?” I wondered.

Sweat formed on Michael’s forehead. His face was slightly red and he was breathing a little too hard. “Yeah,” he quickly replied. “Let me go get, Maxwell.”

I nodded in reply. “Ok, well, let me use the bathroom.”

Michael gave a little laugh because at my play of his words. He stepped to the side and let me walk ahead first. Kyle was right; Maria did something to Michael. We reached the diner bathroom and Michael forged ahead and opened the door for me.

“Thank you,” I giggled.

Michael nodded dutifully as I stepped in. I quickly shut the door behind me, waited a few seconds, and moved to the door that led to the back room. Slowly, I pulled it opened and peaked through the opening.

Michael passed by, and when he was out of my range, I opened the door a little more. Instead of heading for the stairs, Michael had walked to the backdoor and out to the alley.



{Michael}

Once Liz closed the door, I rushed into the back room and straight for the back door. It was just instinct to head to the alley.

I turned the doorknob and barely pulled the door open when I heard Max conversing with Tess.

“What do you mean you need me?” I heard Max ask.

The door came open a little more.

“You can’t deny who you were…are,” Tess replied.

When you talk about past lives, it pertains me too. So I stepped out into the alley and immediately spotted Max and Tess.

“What the hell are you talking about?” I asked Tess.

Max whipped around, his eyes wide with fear, fear that it might’ve been Liz where I was standing. “Michael, who’s keeping an eye on Liz?” he asked.

“She’s using the bathroom in the restaurant,” I told him. “I’m supposed to come and get you."

Max stared at me for awhile and then turned back to Tess. I walked over to him and stood by his side. “Answer him,” Max ordered.

Tess looked at Max and then to me, but I turned away, not being able to look into her eyes.

“ANSWER HIM” Max shouted.

Tess jumped at his cry. “We all didn’t just receive powers from our former selves,” she started to explain. “Whatever we used to feel when we were Zan, Ava, Rath, and Vilandra is still inside of us. It’s not as strong as we used to feel, but those past feelings are still there, in us.”

I stared at Tess as she spoke, not understanding a damn word she said. I looked at Maxwell as he shook his head in denial.

“No, you’re wrong,” he replied. “Or maybe those feelings came out when we slept together, but that’s it, just that fling. I’m not Zan. Believe all you want that you’re Ava, but I’m not Zan, and I will never love you. Never. Don’t hold your breath, don’t wish on a star, don’t think about it, don’t even want it.”



{Liz}

I waited in the bathroom, peeking out the door, for Michael to return from the alley, but he never did. After minutes of watching the closed door, I finally decided to see what was in the alley.

I unlocked the bathroom door that led to the diner and walked into the back room. Looking around to check that the coast was clear, I moved to the back door and pried it open slightly.

Three voices. Two men and then a woman. The men—I could tell—were Max and Michael. And I stood absolutely baffled as to why Max was in the alley. Then the third voice spoke. It was a little unclear, but I’m sure I had heard the voice before.

I pulled the door open a little more.

“You’re always going to have feelings for me,” the voice said.

I strained my face trying to pinpoint whose voice that was and just who that voice was talking to, Max or Michael. I soon figured out that it was Max the woman was talking to.

“Ok, fine!” he replied. “I loved you, Tess…”

My jaw dropped to the floor, taking my heart down with it. The world was spinning around and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I closed my eyes tight and shut the door, pushing myself away from it.

TBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey all,

I know, I know...What the hell just happened? I can't answer that yet...You're just going to have to wait for the conclusion of that chapter.

Zans Desire and extingman, it's good to see your guys' feedback again.

Zans, you were right!!! Good job!

And you're right too, extingman, Max really should blast her and leave her in the dumpsters, but I won't tell you all if he does or doesn't.

scarlettlily, love your uses of the word "fuck". LoL. Just relax...Calm down...Breathe...In through the nose...Out through the mouth...It'll all be ok...

SAFIRE, yes, I think it's all agreed: the witch should suffer...but, once again, I can't let you in on the fate of Tess (Mainly because I don't know what her fate is yet and because she's going to be...well, I'm just giving away too much now. So, I'm just going to have to leave it at that. )

roswellluver, I totally agree with you. Max talking to Tess is the biggest mistake ever, but it's Max and he does what he wants. I can't control him!!! LoL .

*Man...so much anger, as you all should be.

SAFIRE, LoL. She's already been kicked to the curb. Now she's been kicked to the dumpster.

Zans Desire, I'm so sorry. I'm back to fix it. And haha, yes, Max is a dumbass.

scarlettlily, let the relaxation techniques work. Count to ten or maybe restrain yourself. LoL. jk. We can't kill Max, it's a really good idea, but I don't think he wants to die, again.

PinkDove, oooh, don't think i've seen you before. Maybe I have, I can't remember. I have bad memory. So, if you have left FB and I can't remember, I'm sorry. You do have a point, tho. He does hurt her and she's felt so much pain already, but that'll be discussed later on.

extingman, Michael should have taken care of Tess. I really don't even know why I sent Max out there to deal with her. I don't think he's doing things the "Right Way". Max has got some messed up mind because he goes about the "Right Way" in the wrong way. (Weird how I'm bashing him, since I've written him this way. LoL.) But yes, extingman, you're right Liz has been hurt too many times, but keep on reading and all of her pain and how she feels will be discussed later on.

roswellluver, it's always good to see you. I'm sorry. I just had to stop there. But I'm back now...stalling you all from reading...

Ok, here's the conclusion to the chapter...


Chapter 75: Part 3

{Michael}

My head snapped towards the back door. I could’ve sworn that it shut closed, but why had it been opened? I’m pretty sure that I closed it behind me.

“See?” Tess said arrogantly. “You feel it, Max, I know you do, because you and I are meant to be together.”

I turned back to Max. I had been shocked by his response just moments earlier, but this time, Max slowly shook his head.

“You didn’t let me finish,” he laughed. “I loved you only because those were Zan’s feelings for Ava. I loved you when I was Zan and you were Ava. But we’re not those beings anymore. The feelings I, Max, have for you, Tess…are nothing but hatred. You and I were never meant to be together. My destiny is Liz, it always has been. You, were a mistake, a waste of space.”

I was so proud of Maxwell.

“If I do have feelings for you, because of the Zan in me,” he continued on, “I will do everything to kill those feelings and bury them in the dirt. You mean nothing to me, you never did mean anything to me, and you will never mean anything to me.”

Realizing that the door was way too heavy to shut on it’s own, I suddenly figured it out. “Max,” I said, looking over my shoulder at the door.

“What?” he snapped.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, still staring at the door. Slowly, my hand rose and my index finger pointed outward towards the door. “I think…”

Max grew panicked as his eyes widened and as his muscles in his cheeks bulged. “Liz?” he asked.

I hesitantly nodded.

“Shit!” Max shouted through his teeth. “How do you know?”

My jaw just bounced up and down.

Max grabbed onto the lapels of my coat and gripped tightly. “HOW DO YOU KNOW?!” he growled.

My eyes widened in fear. “I—I heard the door shut and I’m pretty sure someone pushed it shut.”

“You were supposed to be watching her!” Max shouted, then he pushed me away and ran to the door.

I watched as Maxwell threw the it open and rushed inside.

“Are you happy?” I asked Tess.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled.



{Liz}

With my dress bundled back into my hands, I quickly marched through the reception. I didn’t even care that our guests were looking at me baffled looks on their faces.

“You’re going to have feelings for me.”

“Ok, fine! I love you, Tess.”

My tears stung my eyes as I reached the street and walked farther and farther away from the Crashdown. Why would he say those things?, I thought. Why would he do that?

I had no idea where I was heading, but I didn’t care. I just couldn’t be at my wedding reception at the moment.

I froze and closed my eyes in disappointment.

God, he was right, I thought to myself. I was running away. I was always running away, and Max was right.

But instantly, I shook those thoughts out of my head and continued walking. Max may have been right, but this was an exception. He told Tess he loved her. He grabbed my heart and gave it a hard squeeze, because that’s what it felt like hearing those words. And he said those words, I heard him.

So this time, I had the right to run away.



{Max}

Once I opened the back door, I saw the swinging door swing close. I ran forward, but was forced to lunge back as the door swung open and close once more. Then the door went still and I looked through the diamond-shaped window and watched Liz head to the main entrance.

I pushed the door open and watched Liz’s trail. My eyes glanced to the guests who had noticed Liz marching through the restaurant. So instead of running after her, I had to coolly walk after her.

She made it to the front doors but I wasn’t far behind. Luckily for me, her dress was weighing her down.

I found Liz in the street, still walking away. It was near dark; the street lamps were already on. With the doors shut behind me, I picked up into a jog.

“Liz!” I shouted. “Liz, please stop!”

I ran to the middle of the street where she was and nearly caught up to her when she stopped abruptly and whipped around.

“How could you?!” she shouted. She held up her dress as she marched towards me, making me step back. Her eyes were already filled with tears. “How could you not tell me Tess was here?! And how can you tell her that you have feelings for her?”

I watched her tears gather in her eyes and twinkle with the light.

“THIS IS OUR WEDDING DAY!!!” she shouted.

I stuck my hand out to her. “Liz…” I pleaded. “I—I don’t. I don’t have feelings for her.”

Liz looked at me in disbelief and hurt. “So you’re lying now? I heard you, Max.”

“I’m not lying to you,” I said defensively. “You must’ve stopped listening to the conversation. How much did you hear?”

Liz shook her head in disgust. “There was more to the conversation after ‘I love you, Tess’?”

“Liz, yes, there was more—”

She continued to stare at me in disgust, but her facial expression changed as she brought her gaze down to my hip where a little girl was standing, pulling on my jacket. I looked down and found an adorable little girl at my side. My eyes went back to Liz who turned away to wipe her tears.

I kneeled down to the little girl. “Hi, Kendall,” I smiled. “I can’t talk right now, ok?”

I tucked some of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear as she grinned. “The Peanuts and I wanted to meet your new wife, Uncle Max,” Kendall replied.

She looked over her shoulder and looked back at the Crashdown doors. One girl about two years older than Kendall, and three boys, around the ages of 8, 5, and 3, were standing waiting for me or Kendall to invite them over to meet Liz.

I looked over my shoulder at Liz who had noticed the group of kids at the door. She slowly walked over.

“You all have to wait,” I said to Kendall. “Your new Aunt Liz and I are talking.”

That was if Liz was still going to be their Aunt Liz.

“No, it’s fine,” Liz interrupted. She crouched down and held out her hand for Kendall. “Hi,” she smiled, shaking the little girl’s hand. “I’m Liz.”

Kendall gave a wide grin and finished shaking Liz’s hand. Then she looked over her shoulder and waved the little kids over. “I’m Kendall Farraday,” she said to Liz while the others arrived.

I gave a little laugh and wrapped my arm around Kendall’s small waist. “This is my cousin Madelyn’s daughter,” I told Liz. Grabbing the shoulders of a little boy with matching dirty blonde hair, I smiled. “This is her little brother, Holden. How’s kindergarten, Hold?”

Holden’s cheeks blushed. “Great, Uncle Max!” he smiled.

“Dylan, come here,” I said. A ten-year-old girl rushed right over and climbed onto my back. “This is Dylan Monroe; oldest Peanut and my cousin Cutter’s daughter and Del’s older sister.” I pointed to an eight-year-old boy with dark brown hair.

The look on Liz’s face made me forget that we were fighting. All the Peanuts that were introduced had shaken Liz’s hand and then stepped to the side. They all exposed the smallest one of them all, a little boy with a little round face and light brown hair, wearing a tux almost identical to mine. Once he was out in the open, he ran to me, almost knocking me over, and hid his face in my chest.

I gave a little chuckle and adjusted myself to get on one knee. I raised my other knee and put the little boy onto my thigh. I continued to chuckle as the little boy kept his face hidden by using his hands to cover it. I pried them away and smiled.

“This little guy,” I laughed, “is Ethan Evans the third. This is my cousin Ethan Jr.’s oldest son. Beau—Ethan’s brother—is only 11 months, so Ethan, here, is still the baby,” I looked up at Liz who was trying to get a look at the cute little boy. “He’s a little shy,” I explained.

“I’m not a baby,” Ethan pouted.

Liz laughed and grabbed Ethan’s little hand, shaking it lightly. “You’re right,” she told him. “You’re a big boy. So you don’t have to be so shy. I’m Liz.”

The little boy stopped hiding and looked at Liz with a smile on his face. “Yur weawy pwetty,” he slurred and the rest of the Peanuts agreed by bobbing their heads.

Liz grabbed Ethan’s hand, gave it a little shake and kissed the back of it. “Thank you,” she smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you all.”

I grinned happily. Liz was so great with kids and she loved to be around them. I had no doubt that she would be an excellent mother.

I gathered all the little Peanuts together. “It’s getting dark,” I told them. “I want you to go inside. Your new Aunt Liz and I will be in soon, ok?”

All of them nodded and then each of them walked up to me and wrapped their arms around my neck. Liz was still crouched down beside me and the Peanuts went down the line and hugged her too. I admired Liz as her face glowed every time a little pair of arms went around her neck.

The five of them walked back down the street to the Crashdown. Both of Ethan’s hands held by the two girls. The three of them stopped when Dylan turned around.

“Uncle Max?” she called out.

I stood up, dusting off my pants. “Yeah?”

“Aunt Isabel said that you’re supposed to have your first dance with Aunt Liz,” she started. “Can I have the second dance?”

Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a little smirk on Liz’s face. I turned back to Dylan and nodded. “Of course.”

She turned to Kendall and stuck her tongue out. I chuckled as I watched them all get into the diner safely. I turned back to Liz and sighed.

“They’re good kids,” I smirked. I stared at the asphalt for a while as I felt Liz’s eyes on me. I continued to stare down, trying to remember where we were before the Peanuts showed up. After a moment, I finally looked up. “Liz, you have to believe—”

“You’re right,” she interrupted.

My eyebrow rose. “I am?”

Liz nodded. “It’s getting dark. We should head back in.”

She walked past me and quickly headed back to the Crashdown, gathering up her dress as she rushed back. I whipped around, watching her hurry off. What happens next?

SAFIRE, I think it's safe to say that we all hate Tess.

Hey, Matchew, good to see you again. Thanks for the FB.

sare, yay!!! You left FB. I've missed you. Yes, that stupid one letter. I'm telling you, it's communication!!! They have no communication. But what am I telling you all for? I need to tell myself that and fix these two. LoL.

roswellluver, Liz does give Max a chance, but later on...

out of this world, hey, it's a lurker!!! Thanks for leaving some FB! Wait no more. Here's the next part, after all these shoutouts. Any other lurkers out there? LoL.

scarlettlily and others, I'm sorry you guys. I didn't mean to torture you all.

Zans Desire, I would never stop you from bitch slapping her. So be my guest.


Chapter 76

[Maria]

My eyes followed Liz as she walked through her father’s restaurant and out the doors. Not far behind her was Max, following her every step. He walked out the door too.

“Isabel,” I whispered.

Max's sister looked over her shoulder at me and then scooted down the seats between us. “What is it?”

I stared at the main doors as they closed and then looked back at Isabel. We exchanged looks and I knew she was reading my mind. The two of us rushed out of our seats and rushed to the doors, trying our best not to draw attention.

“What do you think is wrong?” Isabel asked as we neared the doors.

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders, then moved to open the door. Michael’s hand grabbed mine before I could touch it.

“Don’t,” he ordered.

Isabel and I turned around. “What’s going on?” we both asked.

Michael leaned between us and looked out the windows. “They’re dealing with it,” he answered. “Leave ‘em alone.”

I rolled my eyes. Not this “it” deal again. “Michael,” I said angrily, “what is ‘it’? And you better not answer with another ‘it’ in your reply.”

Michael grabbed Isabel’s arm and then mine. He started to walk back to the wedding party table, dragging Isabel and me behind him. “I can’t discuss…this thing with you guys right now,” he said, watching his words, making sure that he didn’t say “it”. “There are a few difficulties, but nothing Max can’t handle. He’ll tell you about…this…thing…when he wants to.”



{Isabel}

Michael sat us down and watched us as he kept on slowly backing away and towards Kyle. He leaned down towards Kyle and whispered something into his ear before going back to the break room. Maria was right, there was something going on and now Michael wasn’t going to let us figure out with “it” was.

“What are we going to do?” I asked Maria.

She had continued to stare out the windows in the doors. There was nothing we could see from where we were standing. I wondered why she continued to stare at nothing.

“Isabel, something’s going on,” she restated. “Something’s not right.”

I nodded in agreement and looked over my shoulder at Kyle, he was now Michael’s very own watch dog. “There’s nothing we can do about it. Michael’s not going to let us find out.”

“Because he doesn’t want us to draw more attention.”

Maria had a point. I looked around the room. Guests leaned towards other guests and whispered. The whispering grew louder and as each second passed, everyone got suspicious. My father stood up from seat at his table near ours and walked over.

“Izzy,” he smiled. “Where’d Max and Liz go?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and glanced at Maria. She could only shrug her shoulders and wear the same panicked expression that I wore.

“They just went to get some alone time,” I lied. Well, it might not have been a lie, but it wasn’t the truth, either.

My father nodded his head skeptically. “Alright,” he sighed, then he took a double take. “It isn’t anything…um…’you know’-related, is it?”

I gave a little laugh. My father was still a little new to the whole alien concept. “I don’t think so,” I told my father. “Max or someone would have told us if it was.”

*~*

I kneeled down in front of my little niece, Kendall. “Can you do me a huge favor, Ken?” I asked.

She nodded as she still had her arms wrapped around my neck.

“Uncle Max and your Aunt Liz are outside,” I began. “Bring all the Peanuts out there and introduce yourselves. Then what’ll Max do?” I asked, looking outside at the darkening sky.

Kendall looked outside too and nodded. “Uncle Max will tell us to come back inside because it’s getting dark.”

I bobbed my head. “That’s right,” I replied. If Max found his little boy, he would’ve made a great father. “Ok, so, when he does,” I continued, “come back inside and then tell me what was going on between the two of them, ok?”

Kendall stared out the windows. “Is there something wrong, Aunt Izzy?”

I kissed the little girl’s cheek and shook my head, sending Kendall away. “I hope not,” I said under my breath.

*~*

A minute or two later and Kendall came back with the rest of the Peanuts. As soon as I saw her at the door, Maria and I rushed right over.

“What was going on?” Maria asked.

Kendall’s sad face said it all. “Is everything ok?” she wondered.

Maria and I exchanged indescribable looks of worry.

I shook my head and grabbed Kendall’s hands. “Why do you ask?”

“Uncle Max and Aunt Liz were fighting.”

*Ok, everyone. Now we're in transition of getting the Max and Liz thing fixed!!!*

Chapter 77

{Max}

I jogged after Liz who had already made it to the Crashdown doors. When I came up to her side, the spotlight was on us, literally.

I looked at the corner where the DJ was. Michael was standing near our source of entertainment, holding a mic. “Um…it’s that time of the night,” Michael said with no enthusiasm whatsoever. “Max and Liz…would you…uh…open up the dance floor?”

Liz and I stood side-by-side, staring into the spotlight. Everyone’s eyes on us, piercing us like darts.

Liz sighed heavily and grabbed my hand. I grinned happily until she spoke. “Let’s get this over with,” she whispered.

I felt that punch in my stomach and my smile immediately died away as I stepped towards the dance floor. There was nothing I could do to contest it. I could only agree with her suggestion.

I walked Liz to the middle of the dance floor as “I Shall Believe” came on. The lights had been dimmed and the spotlight remained on Liz and me. I put one hand into Liz’s and my other on her waist. She held my hand and placed the other on my shoulder. We practically stood arms length apart and started moving in small circles.

“If we keep dancing this far apart,” I started to tell her, “Maria, Isabel or someone else is going to figure out that something’s up.”

Liz knew that I had a point. So she stepped forward a bit. After that, we didn’t talk for a while. The two of us just looked around, anywhere but into each other’s eyes. I knew that Liz couldn’t look into my eyes without seeing betrayal and I knew that I would have been able to stand the hurt in Liz’s eyes. The music played, but it was still silent.

“Liz, we never finished talking out there,” I told her. “You just ran away again.”

She bowed her head down and scoffed. “Don’t even go there, Max,” she warned.

I knew that it was a low blow. Running away would always be a good arguing point, but it shouldn’t even be an arguing point because it wasn’t fair, and Liz was right. I shouldn’t have gone there.

“Well, we still need to talk about this,” I replied.

“Not now,” Liz said, shaking her head, but she wore a smile on her face to keep the guests calm.

I cleared my throat and put the same fake smile. “I actually think that we should talk about it now. When do you think would be good?”

She sighed. “Ok, fine,” she said, irritated. “Let’s talk about it. How long has she been here?”

When I said we should talk about it, I didn’t think that it was going to be an interrogation. I had to be happy that at least there was some communication.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. “I don’t know. I first saw her after I went to you see you today.”

Liz snapped her head up and looked into my eyes. I was staring into a pool of hurt and pain. “She was here during our wedding?” Liz asked. The pools grew larger.

I looked away, only making me more guilty.

“So were you thinking of her when you were saying your vows to love me and only me?” Liz questioned.

“Liz,” I sighed, “this is not what I meant when I said we needed to talk about this.”

“You said you wanted to talk about it,” Liz said, attacking me. “‘It’ referring to Tess. So I’m talking about Tess. Were you or were you not?”

I stared back into Liz’s eyes. “You know I wasn’t.”

“Do I?” she replied defensively. “Max, you went through most of this day knowing that Tess was here and you didn’t tell me.”

“I didn’t want you to get worried.”

Liz rolled her eyes and scoffed again. “God, Max!” she whispered loudly. “I had to find out by listening to your conversation with her!” She had raised her voice and then quickly realized that we were surrounded by family and friends. “I had to hear that you have feelings for her?” she questioned. This time her voice was back to a whisper.

My heart was beating in my throat. “Liz, you’ve got to listen to me.”

But instead of me telling and Liz waiting for my side of the story, both our heads shot to Mr. Parker standing right next to us. He had just tapped my shoulder and was waiting patiently.

“May I cut in?” he asked.



{Michael}

The shock on Maxwell’s face when Mr. Parker interrupted them definitely told me that things were not going so well. I sat at the wedding party table watching and observing Max and Liz.

Liz had walked into the diner first and stopped dead in her tracks. Max followed after her and stopped just the same. The two of them were shocked and dumbfounded.

They took the dance floor and for the first half of the dance, Liz kept a good distance between them, then they moved in closer, but not enough. They were still a good distance apart for Max and Liz, and while they danced, they argued through their whispers. Yeah, things were not going so well.

Out in the alley when I had heard the door close, it was right about the time where Max said that he had feelings for Tess and then explained what type of feelings they were. My guess is that Liz came to the door at the wrong time and left at the wrong time.

Today was supposed to be a day of nothing but happiness and bliss, but it turned out to be just another day in our lives here in Roswell, New Mexico where we were anything but lucky and fortunate.

“Hey,” Maria said gruffly. “You and I. Dance floor. Now.” She grabbed me by the arm and pulled me to the center of the room.

Liz was continuing her dance with her father and Mr. Evans was about to cut in. Max helped his niece, Dylan, off his feet and his other niece, Kendall, took her place.

“Michael, what’s going on?” Maria asked as we started to dance.

I brought my attention to Maria and shook my head. “Nothing,” I lied.

It wasn’t my decision whether or not the others should know about Tess right now, because it would ruin everything. Later we would tell them, but this was Max and Liz’s wedding day. Granted, Liz already knew about Tess, and so her day was practically ruined with the bitch coming back, but Max and I still had to try to keep the peace. So we decided to keep Tess locked in the dumpster, both literally and metaphorically.

Maria stared into my eyes and made sure she glared at me hard. “Michael,” she said again. Did she have to keep saying my name? “You can’t keep secrets from me, from all of us. If something caused a sudden rift between Max and—”

“Whoa!” I interrupted. “Who said there was a rift between the two?” I definitely knew there was a rift between Max and Liz, but I had to pretend that there wasn’t.

“Did you not watch them dancing?”

Damn. I didn’t think it was that obvious. I knew that Liz raised her voice, but I figured that the music was loud enough for no one to hear. I was wrong. And speaking of Maxwell, he eased his way over with Kendall still on his toes.

“Hey, Maria,” he said, then looked to me. “Michael, is everything taken care of?”

I gave a nod and from the corner of my eye, I could see Maria glancing at both Max and I.

“The rat’s in the cage,” I finally answered.

Maria squinted her eyes. “Rat?”

“It’s going to stay put?” Max wondered.

I nodded again. “It’s got no where else to go.”

“Good,” Max sighed. “Good.”

“What about the queen?” I asked.

He looked over his shoulder at Liz and shook his head. “Not so much luck.”

“Hey, Kendall,” Maria smiled. “Do you mind if I cut in?”

Max and I both shot our heads down to the little girl on Max's shoes who nodded. “Sure,” she smiled. “My feet hurt anyway.”

Maria escaped my arms and when Kendall left to find Grandpa Clark, Maria went into the arms of Max. Immediately, I could hear her interrogating him. I stood on the dance floor, looking around. There Liz was on the dance floor and all the while Maria pestered him, Max kept his eyes on her.

I rushed over to Liz and tapped Mr. Evans on the shoulder. “Hi,” I smiled. “Do you mind?” I asked Max's father.

“Thank you, Liz,” Mr. Evans smiled who gave me her hands.

She looked away as I took her hands in mine and started dancing. “Liz…” I sighed. “You’ve got to give him a chance.”

Liz continued to stare at the floor. “Michael, I’m just as mad at you as I am at Max.”

“Now that can’t be,” I laughed, “‘cause I wasn’t stupid enough to—” I found Liz glaring at me and my smile died away. “I’m sorry,” I apologized. “Look, be mad at me and be mad at Maxwell for not telling you that Tess was here.”

“Oh, I am,” Liz assured me.

“I’m thinking that you had perfect timing during the conversation with Tess, and I’m thinking that because you did have that perfect timing during Max's convo with her, you must hate Max right now. But you’ve got to believe me,” I chuckled, “you completely misunderstood what Max said to Tess. If you just heard—”

“I don’t want to have to hear Tess and Max talk,” Liz said, “I don’t. Michael, this is my wedding day. This was supposed to be about Max and I, but now it’s about Max and I and Tess. You would be just as angry as I am if you were in my shoes, Michael.”

She had a point, but I couldn’t imagine myself in Liz’s shoes, because honestly, that would be the last place I would want to be. I don’t think that I could handle being in her shoes. Though Max and Liz were not together when Max slept with Tess, I understood that Liz felt betrayed. I sympathized with her. Maria never slept with someone else and Maria didn’t have a kid, and so I would never really be able to empathize with Liz. No one would, no one could. So automatically, Liz was secluded into a group by herself, and so she didn’t have anybody to relate to or talk to about this.

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat and nodded. “I bet I would be,” I answered Liz.

“Every time I think about her,” she continued, “I honestly get sick to my stomach. It’s my wedding day, Michael, and all I want to do right now is hang over the toilet.”

Gruesome picture.

“Liz, listen to me,” I told her. “You have to talk to Max, you have to listen to what he has to say. Give him a chance.”

“Do you know how many chances I’ve given him?” Liz asked defensively. “And think about everything he’s put me through with Tess and his son and the engagements? A lot, Michael.”

“Then give him another one,” I requested. “Liz, without you, Maxwell is nothing. He needs you more than he needs air. You are the air he breathes.”

It was the truth. Max went to great lengths to satisfy Liz, even if that meant making sacrifices. She was always on his mind. She was the only thing on his mind. I wonder how he gets his school work done.

Liz stared at the dance floor between our toes for a while and sighed heavily. “Michael, I really hate having to do this.”

A smile appeared on my face. “I know you do, but please, just talk to him, listen to him…for the sake of the marriage. Like I said, be mad at me and be mad at Max for not telling you that Tess was here, but don’t be mad at Max for loving you.”

She glared up at me and my smile hid away.

*Hey, I'm posting two chapters. Well, a chapter and a half 'cause I haven't done that in a while and these are pretty short. Thanks for the feedback you guys!*

Chapter 78

{Liz}

Max was lucky to have a friend like Michael.

I hated appearing like the damsel in distress or the kind, gentle, understanding Liz who would always forgive and forget. Apparently, it was the role I played.

“Does Maria know?” I asked Michael.

“Know what?”

“Tess; does Maria know that she’s here?” I glanced over at Max who continued to watch me.

Michael shook his head as we continued to slightly sway from side to side. “No, nobody else knows. We didn’t want anyone to get upset.”

“Too late,” I laughed.

Having her here, on my wedding day, it ruined it for me. I’ll always remember the my wedding day was the day that Tess decided to show up. God! My wedding day was a nightmare. Why did she have to come on my wedding day? Why did she have to be alive? Why?

“What is she doing here?” I asked calmly.

Michael shook his head once more and shrugged his shoulders. “We don’t know. We didn’t talk to her long enough to find out.”

“What about Max's son?” I continued to question.

This time, when Michael shook his head, he had slowly lowered it. “She…um…said that…uh…he didn’t make it.”

I slowly nodded, not realizing that I was lowering my head too. “I’m sorry to hear about that,” I replied.

“Yeah. So listen,” Michael started to propose, “I don’t think Max can take the news of him losing his son and then him losing his new wife all in one day. He loves you, Liz, only you.”

I sighed heavily. “That’s not what I heard.”

Michael rolled his eyes.



[Maria]

“Ok,” I sighed, trying to think of more questions to ask Max. “Does it have anything to do with Mr. Parker?”

Max shook his head and I knew that I was just irritating him more and more, but that was the plan. “No, Maria, it has nothing to do with Mr. Parker.”

It was like playing a game of 20 Questions with Max, and I was losing. At least I knew there was an “it”. I just had to find out what that “it” was.

I hogged Max for a long while, but I wasn’t going to leave him until I got the information I needed. I had to admit that I was getting tired, from both the dancing and my excessive questioning, but I had to find out.

I searched my mind, thinking of possible questions. A light bulb in my brain came on. “Is it something dangerous?” I continued to question.

This time, Max wasn’t so quick to answer. He nervously stared into my eyes, and I knew I got something. “Right now, no,” he hesitantly answered. Max couldn’t lie to me. No one could. I would always find a way to wriggle out the truth.

It should have been the first question I asked. It would’ve definitely saved both of us from all the pointless questions I annoyingly asked. But since “it” was dangerous, I definitely needed to know the specifics.

“Max, if whatever’s going on is potentially dangerous,” I started, “we need to know. All of us.”

He uneasily swallowed the lump in his throat. “Maria, you know that we would tell you if it was a serious danger. Right now, it’s not, so we didn’t tell you, and we won’t tell you until the day’s over. Michael and I didn’t want to ruin anyone’s day.”

I looked over my shoulder at my best friend and Michael dancing to the music. Liz hadn’t smiled—genuinely smiled—since before she went to use the bathroom during dinner. It had almost been an hour since then and Liz still looked unhappy.

“Max, Liz’s day is already ruined.” I just didn’t know by what. Remembering that our current situation was “potentially dangerous”, I looked back up at Max. “How damaging is this issue?” I asked him.

Max sighed heavily and swallowed the lump in his throat all while continuing to admire Liz. “I’m not sure.”



Chapter 79

{Liz}

“Max talked about you all the time at the reunions,” Jake smiled. He was Max's 14-year-old cousin. They looked somewhat alike. It might have been the hair. Jake’s hair resembled Max's. It was dark brown, combed forward, and the bangs curved at the top of his forehead, just like how Max used to wear his hair before he cut it. Isabel and Riley, Jake’s older sister, had told me that Jake really looked up to Max.

“All the time, huh?” I smiled back.

We danced in the center of the dance floor just moving in one complete circle. Max's youngest cousin was the ninth or tenth guy I danced with tonight. I wasn’t really sure, I lost count after Kyle.

My…er…new counterpart was off around the edge of the dance floor dancing with Riley. Once my father cut in, Max and I never got a chance to talk, which was fine with me; I still couldn’t talk to him.

“Yeah,” Jake replied. “He was always talking about some girl named Liz, how she beautiful she was or how smart she was.”

I couldn’t stop my cheeks from turning rosy red. “I’m flattered.”

“Oh, don’t tell me,” Jake laughed. “Tell that to Max.”

I glanced over my shoulder and immediately found him switching dance partners. Just looking at him made me angry. He made me think of her. My blood started to boil.

“Liz? Are you ok?”

I looked up at Jake. “I’m fine,” I replied. “Why?”

He looked at my hand that he held and shrugged. “You just got really warm.”

I could feel the electricity coming. I quickly let go of Jake’s hand and took my other hand off his shoulder. “Excuse me, Jake. Thank you for the dance.” I rushed off the dance floor and headed for the door.



{Isabel}

Max lunged in the direction that Liz was going, but I refused to let him go by not releasing his hand. It would’ve worried the guests if Max went chasing after Liz. We had to avoid as much conflict and chaos as possible, but I knew that that would be near impossible by the looks of the way the night was going.

I just started my dance with Max where I hoped I would have gotten more out of him than Maria did. I guess my part of the inquisition would have to wait.

“I’ll go,” I told Max. “You stay put. Go dance with Mom.”

Max nodded and stood still as I started to walk away. I rushed over to Jake Little, because of the fact that he was my Uncle Jake’s son who wasn’t so little. For a 14-year-old he was too damn tall. I think he was somewhere around 6’6”.

“Jake,” I said hurriedly. “What’s wrong with Liz?”

He shrugged his shoulders and looked to the kitchen door. “I dunno. She was feeling a little warm, but I—”

I walked away and made my way to the back room. It was completely empty, but I could hear someone up the stairs. Hiking up my skirt, I scaled the steps quickly and rushed to Liz’s room where I found her. She nervously paced around her bed, cracking her knuckles over and over again.

“Hey,” I smiled. “Are you ok?”

Liz didn’t look to the door. She just walked around, continuing to crack her fingers. “I don’t think so.”

I let myself into her room and stopped Liz and sat her down. “What’s going on?”

“I got a little heated and my powers started to act up.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

She shook her head and I watched as her knees bounced nervously. “I don’t know,” she said tearfully.

God, what the hell was going on tonight?

“Isabel, I—” she stopped right there.

“What?” I wondered. “Liz, what is going on?”

She stared into my eyes and she contemplated whether or not she should answer me truthfully. I could see it in her eyes, but there were so much more revealed. I didn’t want to see it, or believe it, but I could see the fear.

“Liz, what are you scared of?”

Her eyes continued to fill with tears. “I’m scared of losing him, Isabel.”

TBC

*Hey all,

First, as always, thanks for the feedback. Second, you guys are all right, Max should fix it all, but I don't think that there's anything for him to do. It's all up to Liz and deciding whether or not she loves Max enough. He's done enough damage and so it's up to Liz to forgive him.

Anyway, on to the story. There is a music selection in here, near the end of the chapter, and if you haven't heard of the song before, you can listen to it while you read at http://www.xanga.com/hollybehry.

Thanks everyone for everything!


Chapter 79: Part 2

{Liz}

“He’s not the same Max,” I cried.

The Max I loved was the quiet boy in my geometry class during our sophomore year; the one who always looked away when I caught him staring at me; or the one who boyishly smiled at me; or the one who nervously talked to me; all because he liked me so much. The Max I loved would never have slept with Tess.

People change. I understand that, but Max had changed into someone completely different. I still loved him because somewhere inside of him, he was still that sophomore, and I couldn’t stop loving that guy. Yet, I had to learn to love the evolved Max, the Max he had become as a consequence of our separation during that one year I wanted to forget, the Max he had become as a consequence of Tess’s pregnancy. I can’t stop loving him, I didn’t want to.

“What do you mean?” Isabel wondered. “How would you lose him?”

I rubbed the sweat off my hands by running them over my white dress. I let out a shaken sigh. “I’m scared that I might let him go.”

The three years that I loved Max felt like the three longest years of my life. So much had gone on and I honestly didn’t know if I could handle a lifetime of loving Max if the last three years were so tumultuous. It would be so easy to just give up.

“Then just don’t let him go,” Isabel laughed lightly.

“It’s not the simple.”

My new sister-in-law sighed heavily. “It should be, Liz.”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “I wish it was.”

Isabel shook her head in confusion. “Where is this coming from, Liz? How did this come up?”

Isabel and Maria had been calm through the whole night. I don’t think they knew that Tess was here. Michael had said that he and Max didn’t tell anyone.

“Something just reminded me of what he did to me,” I told her.

“The thing with Tess?” Isabel replied in disbelief. “Liz, I thought you were over it!”

“Would you be over it if Jesse was supposed to be destined with Tess and if he actually slept with her and impregnated her?”

Isabel was speechless. Anyone would be.

“Exactly,” I said. “It’s not something you can just get over.”

Isabel sighed. “Liz, you’re going to have to,” she told me. “If not, then you might actually lose him. This grudge over Tess is going to catch up with you and it’s going to consume you. You’ll want to let Max go. You can’t do that. I don’t want you to.”

*~*

“Thank you, Isabel,” I smiled.

The two of us walked down the stairs and started our way back to the reception.

“So you’re going to get over it?” Isabel wondered.

I shook my head. I honestly didn’t know if I could. “We’ll see,” I told her.

We reached the kitchen door, but before we could push on through, Isabel stopped. “Ok, now when we go back out there, you’re not going to heat up and accidentally burn someone are you?”

I playfully rolled my eyes and moved Isabel aside. “I’ll try my best,” I said.

I pushed open the door and Isabel followed behind me. Maria quickly rushed over from the sideline. “Where have you been?”

I looked over my shoulder at Isabel who smiled. “Just getting some air,” I replied.

“Look,” Maria sighed, “I don’t know what’s going on with you and Max, but you two haven’t talked to each other since the first dance half an hour ago.”

“She’s right,” Isabel agreed.

I stared at Max as he still moved on the dance floor. Now he was dancing with Amy DeLuca and seemed to be enjoying himself, but then he caught me, Isabel, and Maria off to the side and the smile he wore vanished.

Hesitantly, I stepped forward and the smile on Max's face reappeared. On my face I knew there no expression except for apprehension. I continued to walk towards him, though, as he thanked Maria’s mother for the dance.

Max met me midway and smiled. “Hi,” he said.

I gave a small nod and grabbed his right hand and then put my free hand on his shoulder. “Maria, thought we should dance.”

“She doesn’t know, does she?”

I rolled me eyes in disbelief. She was the first thing he thought about.

“I can’t believe you,” I scoffed. I slid my hand off his shoulder and attempted to walk away. I could feel the tears already coming, and they sure as hell weren’t tears of happiness.

“I love you, Liz,” Max said. “I wouldn’t be here, married to you, if I didn’t. You know that, and don’t say that you don’t.”

But I shook my head and closed my eyes tight to hold in the tears, stopping in the middle of the dance floor with my back to him. We no longer cared about everyone at our reception. Right now, to us, they didn’t exist.

“I heard what you said to her,” I told him.

“Liz, please,” he begged. “Give me a chance. Hear me out.”

I turned around and opened my eyes while keeping my tears inside. Max was the opposite. He let his tears flow down his red cheeks.

“Please, don’t walk away, Liz,” he pleaded with me through his tears. “I love you.”

I turned away, but Max snatched my wrist and pulled me back towards him. He grabbed my other hand and held both of them to his chest. He forced our foreheads together as we danced. We both closed our eyes.

Around us, I could hear the dance floor clear off. The lights dimmed and the spotlight was directed at us. The warmth of the bright light touched my cheeks. Max slid one of my hands up to his neck and dropped one of his hands to my hip. He continued to hold my other hand to his heart.

“Do you feel that?” he asked.

Beneath my hand, I felt a strong rhythm in his chest. It was consistent and fervent.

Not wanting an answer, Max went on. “That’s my heart, Liz. It beats for you and it beats because of you.” He sighed heavily and leaned forward, pressing his forehead against mine a little more. “You’re…you’re the only one that keeps my heart alive. You keep me alive. You’re the only one for me.”

Yet, the words that I had heard nearly an hour ago continued to ring in my ears. “You said you loved her,” I shut my eyes even tighter, excreting my tears. I slowly started to break down. “I heard you, Max.”

We stopped dancing and stood in the middle of the dance floor while everyone around us continued to dance and celebrate. Max crouched down slightly and looked into my eyes.

“‘Loved’,” he admitted. “I loved her, Liz. I won’t lie. But I loved her as Zan, and I’m not Zan, not anymore. It’s difficult to understand, I know, but you have to believe me. I don’t love Tess, I love you.

“That’s present tense, not past tense, because I love you now, Liz, and for the rest of my life and any other life after that. Believe me when I say that I love only you, because it’s all true. I know it’s hard to accept, especially after what you might have heard or might not have heard. But I’m begging you, Liz, have faith in us.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced it down. “You know, Max, I’ve forgiven you so many times and you may think that it’s easy to do, but it’s not,” I told him. “Saying ‘I love you’ isn’t always going to make me forgive you.”

He nodded. “I know.”

“It’s so hard to just forgive,” I continued. “It is, and every time I have to, there’s a part of me that grows larger with distrust of you. I try to suppress that part of me, you know, ‘feed the faith and starve the doubt’, but the things that you do and say, it’s a struggle to keep faith when there is all that doubt hanging above my head.”

Max sighed. “I understand how you feel, and you say those things and I just hate it that I’m the one that makes you feel that way because I’m the one that screwed up. I—I can’t…I can’t believe that I’m the one that makes you work to make this relationship work. I’ve screwed up, Liz. I definitely have…several times.

“I sometimes think that people are right when they say that we shouldn’t be together because I’ve hurt you so many times.” Max looked down as we danced. Slowly, he shook his head. “No…” he sighed. “I don’t think that they’re right. I know that they’re right. And, you shouldn’t be with me because I don’t deserve you. You’re too good for me, Liz.” He continued to stare down at the floor, but I saw him give a little laugh and smile. “You’re to good for me,” he repeated softly.

Then Max took a deep breath and looked up, into my eyes. “But that’s why I can’t lose you,” he confessed, “because you’re good for me; you make me stronger and…and you make me want to be better. You, Liz…” Max sighed again, “you feed my faith in me,” he breathed out. “I love you.”

I loved him so much. I loved him. And great thing was, Max loved me back. He risked his life to save me. Everyday I wanted to feel his lips touch mine and I wanted to see his beautiful face. I still do. He and I were meant to be with each other for eternity.

Isabel was right. I was going to have to get over him and Tess. If I didn’t, I really was going to let it consume me, forcing me to let Max go to protect myself. I didn’t want to do that. I had done it before, that day in the desert. Now, I wanted him and I to start our life together. In order to do that, I had to keep my vow of letting the past be the past.

“Max, I love you too,” I told him. “I love you so much.”

He smiled happily, but listened to the tone of my voice more closely. “I’m sensing a ‘but’.”

I shook my head. “No, no ‘but’,” I replied. “I love you. I hate I us fighting I hate being angry at you. We just have to have more faith in each other.”

“Not a problem.”

I gave a little sigh and then grabbed his face, kissing him hard on the lips. “Then we have to stop doing this. We have to stop doing everything wrong,” I told him. “We’re married, and our life together starts, and we have to work together.”

Max shook his head. “No,” he replied.

“No?”

“No,” Max repeated. “You’ve worked enough. You deserve to be treated like a queen, because, Liz, you are my queen.”

My cheeks blushed as Ginuwine’s “Differences” came on. Max took notice. He looked up and around as if he could see the music flowing through the air. Then he brought his forehead back to mine and we both closed our eyes once more. Slowly, we swayed from side to side in rhythm with the music.

I opened my eyes, waking myself from my dream of happiness with Max when I could feel his warm breath grace my lips. I smelt his naturally good breath and hummed in delight. His lips danced as he whispered softly. I found Max singing along with the song, in a whisper, and a smile on his face.

“My whole life has changed/ Since you came in/ I knew back then/ You were that special one/ I’m so in love, so deep in love/ You made my life complete/ You are so sweet/ No one can beat/ Glad you came into my life/ You blind me with your love/ With you I am in sight.”

I laughed quietly.

“What?” he chuckled.

I shook my head and kissed him again. “Nothing,” I grinned.

Max smiled as we went back to dancing. We closed our eyes again and we listened to the song continue playing.

“Do you remember that day in the eraser room?” Max suddenly asked.

I gave a little laugh. “Which day?” I grinned.

“The very first time,” Max replied in a serious tone. “We were waiting for Topolsky and we were talking. You said that sometimes you wish that you could be invisible and I told you that I wish I didn’t have to be so invisible.”

I nodded and finally opened my eyes. Max still had his closed so he didn’t see me bob my head, but he felt my forehead push slightly against his when I nodded.

“‘With you I am in sight’,” he recited. “That’s how it is with you and I. When I’m with you, I don’t feel invisible. I don’t even care what other people think. I feel invincible. That’s why I need you in my life. You’re so important to me. You give me life, and you are my life. Thank you, Liz Evans."

Ok, I wasn't going to post the next chapter until I finished the whole story, which is almost done, but it's been a while and so I decided to post just because I feel like it.

cherie, I was glad to make your "dreamer heart happy".

Kel1227, thanks for enjoying my story!

SAFIRE, I don't think that Liz will ever really get over the Tess thing. I think that she's just going to look past it all, she's going to have to. And you're right, I do have more up my sleeve. Just wait for the sequel. You can breathe a sigh of relief for now...

scarlettlily and others, because all you have asked, I'm going to throw in a little catfight. Well, it'll be more like Liz kicking Tess's ass more than anything, nut much of a fight on Tess's part.

roswellluver, I really wish I could vote. I'd vote you best feedbacker, along with the rest of you.

Izzy, thank you so much. I bet you get tired of me thanking you so much. I'll post this chapter at my xanga site, but I'm at school right now and they blocked the xanga site. So, I'll post this chapter there later today.

sare, with the help of you and the others, I've got my motivation to finish my story. It was going to be 100 chapters long, but it looks like it won't even reach 90 chapters. I just want to hurry up and get it done so I can continue writing the sequel and post that up. So, hopefully, it'll get done soon.

lovalien, haven't talk to you in a while. I'll be sending you the next few chapters soon!

On to the story...

Chapter 80

[Michael]

Maria and Isabel sighed in relief as Max and Liz smiled at each other. Finally Liz had listened to Max. She was just as stubborn as he was. They were definitely made for each other.

With that problem down, we only had to worry about the source that caused the problem, Tess. I checked on her every once in a while. She had stayed put and waited out in the alley. Maxwell and I still needed to discuss what we were going to do with her.

I guess now was the time to do so. When enough people gathered on the dance floor, Max and Liz walked off and in my direction.

“You guys are ok?” Maria wondered.

Liz put her hand over hers and Max's and nodded. “For now we are.”

Max nodded in agreement and looked my way. “Would you ladies excuse us? We need to talk to Michael.”

The girls looked to me. I knew full well what Max wanted to talk about, but I shrugged my shoulders, pretending that I didn’t. Maria and Isabel started to leave, and Liz was ready to kiss Max and follow her friends, but Max shook his head.

“No, you stay,” he told her. “I want you to be in on everything.”

Liz only nodded as Max started walking towards the backroom. He held Liz’s hand and I followed the two upstairs. We found ourselves in Liz’s room.

“I’m guessing we’re going to discuss Tess,” Liz said.

Max nodded. “We needed to do it sometime. The sooner the better.”

I sighed heavily and sadly agreed. “Well, what do you guys think we should do about her?”

“Where is she?” Liz wondered.

Max looked to me for an answer also and I gave him one. “In the alley,” I said.

Max laughed. “She’s been there the whole time?”

“She said it herself, she’s got no where else to go.”

Max took a seat on Liz’s bed and rubbed over his lips with his palm. I glanced over at Liz who nervously stared at her husband.

“Well, she has to go,” she said.

I nodded in utter agreement as Max continued to stare at the floor and rub over his mouth.

“She’s not going to come inside and she won’t come near any of you,” he finally said.

Liz shook her head in confusion. “What makes you so sure?”

“’Cause Max said he’d turn her in,” I quickly answered.

“In? In where?” Liz wondered, then as soon as she asked, the answer came to her. “The FBI? They’ll put her in the White Room. Max, you can’t—”

“Why? Why not?” Max argued. “Liz, if we turn her in, we won’t have to worry about her. She said she was turned away from Antar. So she’s stuck here. If we turn her in, we won’t have to worry about what she’s doing in some other town. We won’t have to worry about whether or not she’s killing another innocent human being! We won’t have to worry about her hurting us!”

“Do you remember what they did to you in there?” Liz questioned.

I just stood back and watched as they battled, yet again.

“Do you really want that kind of torture brought onto another person as evil as they may be?”

Max bobbed his head up and down. “Tess deserves torture. Why—why are you defending her?!”

“I’m not,” Liz replied. “Look, you’re not like her, so don’t resort to what she would do in your position.”

I remained silent and leaned against the door just watching the two discuss it. The two of them were in charge. I was just the muscle that would do whatever was decided.

Then Max and Liz went silent. For a moment they just started at each other and then gradually they looked away to ponder the situation. I knew exactly what we needed to discuss, so I wondered why Max and Liz were taking this long to think.

“She can’t stay out in the alley all night,” I finally said.

Max turned his head to me and shrugged. “What do you suppose we do?”

I had thought about it all night. Tess was roaming around freely, and we couldn’t just let that stand. So I thought about all the possible ways to lock her up. None of them stuck since she had powers and could easily get out of cuffs, rope, cord, a jail cell, and etc., but then I had remembered one important tool that worked against us aliens.

“The trithium amplification generator,” I simply replied.

Max and Liz stared at me with narrowed eyes. “What?” they said in unison.

I scratched my eyebrow and rolled my eyes. “Remember when Brody held a bunch of you guys hostage in the UFO Center?”

Both Max and Liz nodded without taking their eyes off of me.

“You told me that he had this pentagon thing,” I was saying to Max. “He said it was called a trithium amplification generator. Brody told you that you wouldn’t be able to use your powers if it was turned on, and could you?”

Max shook his head as he remembered the day. “No. Michael, where is this going?”

I stood before Max and Liz, prepared to give my proposal. “We can’t just let Tess stay out in the dumpster,” I began to explain. “We need to lock her up. Now, we lock her up, she’ll use her powers to get out. So there’s no way to lock her up without her escaping, but if we put her in somewhere with the trithium amplification generator, we can,” I grinned.

Liz shook her head. “We can’t just stick her in a room. She’ll just turn the doorknob or pick the lock. Besides, I don’t think anybody would want to house her.”

I gave a little laugh. “That’s why I didn’t say we should put her in a room,” I replied. I knew exactly where to put her. “The pod chamber,” I grinned again. Thinking of this plan had to be the most fun I had in years. “We’ll open it up, stick her inside, and then we’ll step out while Kyle or Valenti or Jesse turns the pentagon thing on. We’ll give them a second or so and open the chamber back up, and let whoever turned the thing on out. Tess won't be able to open the chamber up if we lock her in. Look, it’s a full proof plan.”

Max and Liz exchanged contemplative looks.

I sighed heavily. “We’ll leave her food. She’ll be fine in the pod chamber.”

“Most of it’s destroyed,” Liz remembered.

I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. “Nothing we can’t fix.”

Liz slowly eased herself onto the bed, staring at the floor, pondering. “I don’t know about this,” she finally said, skeptically.

Max, however, didn’t seem to agree. “We’re going to do it,” he decided. “We’ll take care of it after the reception. He stared at the floor, not even bothering to look at the expression that Liz had. I don’t think her opinion would have mattered to Max in this matter anyway.

“I can take care of it now,” I offered for the good of the cause and to break the silence. “”I’ll take Kyle with me.”

But Max shook his head. “No, I want to be there and make sure that she’s locked up.”

“But you’ve got to leave for Albuquerque right after the reception,” I reminded him. “You’ll miss your flight if you don’t.”

Once again, Max shook his head. “We’re not going to Santa Barbara. We’re staying.” Then he grabbed Liz’s hand as she and I exchanged dumbfounded looks.


{Max}

“Max, wait,” Liz pleaded.

I continued to drag her back down to the reception downstairs. I stopped and looked over my shoulder. “What is it?”

She walked up to me and looked at me with her brown doe-like eyes. They were just so beautiful and magical. I suddenly calmed down and smiled.

“Tess,” Liz replied.

My frown came back.

“Why is she here, Max?” Liz asked.

In my conversation with Tess, we never did get to the reason why she needed me. She had told us that Khivar sent her back down because she didn’t have an heir to offer him. She also said that she had nowhere else to go, but when Tess said she needed me, it seemed like she needed more than just a place to stay.

I shook my head. “I don’t know and I don’t care. Liz, forget about her, ok? This is our wedding day. We’re at our reception. Let’s have fun.”