Roswell Fanatics

Title: Recollections
Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Roswell, or any of the characters. They are the property of Jason Katims, Melinda Metz, UPN, the WB. No infringement intended.
Pairings: M/L centric.
Rating: Teen
Summary: Bad coffee, boring text books and even worse lighting leads Max and Liz on a walk down memory lane....light, fluffy one shot written solely for the purpose of celebration a beaten bout of writer’s block.
Author's Note: Remember an author called ‘Comet’? I’m her....except I couldn’t remember the password to that account..... I guess it has been that damn long since I came here. I hope you guys enjoy, let me know what you think. Apologies if the story seems strained...I’m a little rusty!

Burning the midnight oil...

“ Do you remember when we first met?”

Over a table piled high with books, strewn with scrap paper and pencil stubs, half completed diagrams and drafts, two pairs of dark eyes met and held.

The speaker was a young man, and even in the dim light provided by the single low lamp hovering over their table, you could see the sparkle in his eyes. He was about 28 years old, very handsome, with black hair and a mouth that seemed to always be on the verge of a smile. Max Evans, from Roswell, New Mexico, now a law student at Yale University sat back in his chair, and waited for a reply.

Across the table, his companion raised a single slender eyebrow. One year younger, her face had the much coveted youthful look, that always made her seem one or two years younger than her actual age. Unquestionably pretty, her movements were fluid and graceful, even if her only action was to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. Liz Parker had come a long way from home, and an even longer way in terms of personality. Studying medicine was not for the faint of heart after all.

“ Of course I do.” A beat as she took a sip of the noxious brew that was keeping them both awake. “ I seem to recall…you were an arrogant prick even then.”

A hint of a smile touched the corners of her lips, a fact that he didn’t miss. He smirked and turned a page in the book he was reading.

“ I prefer the word ‘confident’.”

“ Don’t you mean conceited?”

He glanced back up at her, immediately catching the mirth in the eyes that were even darker than his own.

“ Confident.” He reiterated. “ So I’m assuming you do remember that day then?”

Tired.

Fearful. Angry. She hoped she wouldn’t run into him today. She wasn’t prepared, wasn’t anywhere near ready to face him. Not yet.

Three people approach, one of which is her best friend. Relief. Safe haven at last. She says hello to Alex first, he who has been with her through the darkest of times, her brother, her best friend. She says hello to Christopher too; he’s always been nice. And then there he is. Max Evans, an acquaintance not seen since the beginning of last year…

“ Hi Max. You look good.”

Slow smile. She’s struck by how much she likes it. Brown eyes glitter with mischief.

“ I know.”

She raises an eyebrow, surprise causing her to murmur,

“ Damn. Whatever happened to thank you?”

He shrugs.

And their first encounter ends.

…

With a slight grin, she pulled the diagram she had been studying closer to her tired eyes and nodded. “ I’m not likely to forget that day. It was both one of the best and worst days of my life.”

A cloud momentarily obscured the twinkle in his eyes as he nodded his understanding. “ He really hurt you didn’t he?”

For a brief moment, a pensive look stole over her face, matching the mood that overtook her heart. “ Yes. He really did.” In a moment, everything she had shared with one who she had once thought was the love of her life came flashing past in a dizzying whirl that both saddened and made her smile. Liz knew now that he had not been the love of her life, but he would always be her first true love…and that in itself was enough.

Dark brown eyes came back into focus and she smiled at the man who was in front of her.

“ I’m glad for it though. It taught me many things. Like how to recognize the good from the not so good...and how to be more careful.” Tilting her head to the side, she sent a questioning look at Max, smiling a little. “ Why did you ask if I remembered that?”

Relieved that she was back in the present and smiling again in the way that always made his heart beat slightly fast, Max responded with a smile of his own.

“ I just…it suddenly struck me that we’ve been together for a long time. A really long time.”

In her head, Liz mentally counted the years…from their undergraduate days, right till smack in the middle of graduate school. “ Six years.” Mirroring his earlier action, she sat back too. “ Wow. That is…a really long time.”

“ It doesn’t really seem that way though.” Max picked up the heavy weighted fountain pen, a graduation gift from his aunt. “ I look at you…and it seems like only yesterday you refused to kiss me.” He laughed, his eyes crinkling in amusement at the memory of Liz scooting away from him on a couch, holding a blanket between them.

‘ Max, what are you doing?’

Darker brown eyes uncertainly met the lighter hazel shade of his own as she battled her internal demons. Normally, he wasn’t the most insightful of guys...but when it came to this girl, he suddenly wanted to know everything that made her tick, everything that went through that incredibly complicated brain of hers. Right now, he could hazard a guess as to what was troubling her. She was attracted to him, of that he was 95% sure...but the pull this other one still had on her... there was no telling how much it still held.

So he jumped right in anyway.

‘ I want to kiss you Liz.’

A nervous squeak. A scurry backward. A blanket flying up between them.

‘Don’t kiss me…’

A light blush suffused over Liz’s cheeks and she lobbed a discarded paper ball at him.

“ You’re never going to let me forget that are you?”

“ Not as long as we live,” he fired back mischievously. “ And remember that day, when you asked me what I wanted?”

Electricity sparked between them. They sat close enough for him to smell her shampoo, and for her to know that the gleam in his eyes was far more appealing up close and yet the distance between them seemed miles. That damned barrier in her eyes and heart was still up. Slowly, bit by bit, he was crumbling it....but it still stood, too strong for his liking. He was making progress though; their current conversation had turned from light and flirty to something of a more serious nature.

That seemed to happen a lot these days.

‘What do you want from me, Max?’

Hazel eyes met dark brown. Earnest and sincere, with a touch of frustration in his tone, he gave his honest answer.

‘You. I want to date you.’

Pleasure bloomed in her eyes first, before confusion and then fear.

‘ No you don’t. You don’t want to date me. Don’t date me…’

“ You sure used the word ‘don’t’ a lot those days.”

Slightly disgruntled, Liz lowered her eyes back to her book, more out of embarrassment than anger. “ I was confused and you were overwhelming me. Give me a break.”

“ Hey, I did give you a break. You asked me, remember?”

“ And that lasted all of two seconds.”

“ Well what can I say? I’d already made my decision…I knew we’d be good together…and don’t say you didn’t like it.”

Liz smiled and another memory overtook her...

She tossed her book aside with a huff of frustration. It was no good. Studying seemed like a monumental feat that as much as she tried, she couldn’t accomplish.

It was a weird feeling, the one that was rolling through her at the moment. She felt restless and out of place, even in the corner of the room she had lived in for a year already. She had turned it into a homey, cozy resting place, but still, she could find no peace.

She needed distraction.

As if they had a mind of their own, her hands reached for the phone and though it took five tries before she hit on the correct combination of numbers that made up his extension, the ringing of the phone steadied her frazzled nerves.

“ Hello?”

Low and smooth, the sound of his voice caused an immediate grin to cross her face.

“ I’m bored,” She announced almost petulantly. There was no need to introduce herself; she was hoping that he would recognize her voice. From the way he laughed, she could tell that she had not hoped in vain.

“ Bored, huh?”

“ Bored.” She reiterated. “ Entertain me.”

He laughed and the sound sent a small, unexplainable shiver up her spine.

“ So come over then...and I promise, I’ll fix it.”

Liz grinned impishly. “ Are you going to come down and get me? Or will I have to stand under your window like some demented Romeo?”

“ I’m coming to get you.” He paused. “ I will get you.”

When she hung up, it occurred to her that he had been much too serious when he said these last words to simply be talking about coming down three flights of stairs to pick her up...but then again...she could just be reading too much into it....

Or was she?

“ Of course I liked it. I’d flirted relentlessly with you almost from the get go. Why would I do that if I didn’t like it?” Liz smiled. “ If I didn’t like you?”

“ Of course you did. Its me we’re talking about after all.”

“ And there’s the arrogant prick I know and adore.”

They went on for hours. Winding their way slowly down the memory lane that chronicled their time together. Books forgotten, they soon found themselves snuggled together on the couch, with Liz tucked securely under Max’s arm, her head on his chest and under his chin.

“ I think it was the hair thing that did it,” Liz said decisively, drumming her fingers on his chest. “ Remember that?”

Max sighed in reminiscence, picking up silky smooth stands of said hair. He has admitted to himself many times over that his fascination with Liz’s hair is bordering almost on unearthly…but then again, his fascination with anything related to Liz Parker matched that level too.

“ Oh yeah. I remember…”

He sighed contentedly as he made himself comfortable on the couch, his head on her lap. She was laughing again, a sound that never failed to make him smile, even if it was only on the inside. Outwardly, he pretended to be miffed as she continued to express her amusement. She was telling him now, of her day, and the many odd little situations she had managed to get herself into, which always seemed to involve some obvious admirer and an equally oblivious Liz. As he listened to her though, his fingers wound their way lazily into her hair and she halted mid-story to stare down at him with some amusement.

“ You really do have a thing for my hair, don’t you?”

He smirked, letting a sly smile creep across his face. “ Noticed, huh?”

Liz glanced at the fingers that were playfully twisting and twining her hair. “ Well at least getting you a Christmas present is going to be easy. How does a lock of my hair sound?”

“ Nah. Not enough.”

“ So what do you want then?” She grinned down at him. “ I’ll ask Santa to help me get it for you.”

Max smiled. “ No need. I’ll get what I want by myself.”

“ Well you sound awfully certain of yourself...what exactly is it that you want?”

“ Isn’t it obvious yet?” He stared her right in the eye. “ I want you.”


“ You blushed so much,” He teased gently, watching a light flush cover her cheeks once more.

“ You were being too charming for your own good,” Liz informed him.

“ But you like it when I’m charming. Its one of my more redeeming qualities.”

“ And those are way too few,” She pretended to scowl at him. “One of your major shortcomings however, is that tendency to weasel kisses out of poor unsuspecting girls.”

Max smirked. “ Ah. You mean the night I ambushed you?”

“ How could I forget?”

Her eyelids felt like they weighed a ton. Each. She shifted, restless and cold, her eyes slowly fluttering open to behold an unfamiliar ceiling. The blue comforter she was sleeping on only reinforced the fact that she was not in her own bed, but before panic could set in, a soft voice, heavy with sleep, broke into her thoughts.

“ Hey.”

Liz glanced up. At the head of the bed, Max’s dark head was lifted slightly from his pillow, hair mussed in a surprisingly appealing way. His eyes were half open and even through the drowsiness, she could still see his concern.

“ You alright?”

Liz nodded, ignoring the fact that her hair was a tangled mess. Even in her half awake state, she was aware that he was staring at her in that way again, the way that was equal parts awe and affection, and....something else that made heat rise up in her cheeks. Slightly discomfited, she moved her gaze from his, focusing instead on the couch where they had been studying a couple of hours earlier. At about the same point, they had mutually decided that further study wasn’t possible, and a 15-minute nap had been proposed.

Liz had agreed to share his bed only under the condition that he sleep under the blankets, and that she occupy the top of the blankets and the foot of his bed. Max had hidden his amusement well and acquiesced to all her demands. Liz soon found that getting all you want wasn’t really all its cracked up to be, as she had become cold...

Which was why she had woken up in the first place.

“ Cold,” she mumbled, attempting to curl up in a little ball and fall back asleep.

Max immediately reached for her arm.

“ Move up.” He commanded softly.

Liz began to shake her head sleepily, but Max tugged gently on her arm, and then drew back the comforter so she could slide in next to him. Slowly, she started to crawl towards him, and glanced up to say something about how this didn’t change anything between them, when something happened that did.

Soft, warm lips gently captured her own.

And an electric shock went through Liz....

Instantly, her half lidded eyes flew open and she jerked back, right to the end of the bed.

“ Oh my God! What did you...why did you...I mean...you....you kissed me! I can’t believe you just did that!”

Max regarded her rather frenzied movements with a veneer of calm, and if Liz had been just a tad more composed, she would have seen the uncertainty and trepidation in his eyes as he waited for her shock to subside.

It didn’t take long.

Liz leaned back against the wall, and stared at him for a long moment.

“ I-”

Words died as she watched him shift closer, watched him lean in, watched as he clearly, blatantly made his intentions clear. With this encounter, he was giving her the opportunity to finally draw the line between them. His movements were exaggeratedly slow; all it would take was a single word from her, a single flinch away from him, and he would be sure of where exactly they stood. Now was the time to see just how much this other still held sway over her.

If she pulled away now, he would know, and he would withdraw.

But if she let him kiss her...

For her part, Liz was still watching in fascination as Max came closer. She knew all too well what this meant. With every inch he drew closer, her previous relationship was swept further and further away. In the split second before Max once more captured her lips with his own, the girl she used to be spared one last final thought for that other...

Damn you.

And the person she was now, the person she was becoming, stepped in.

She kissed him back.

Max’s heart soared, his gamble had paid off, and he knew that that although they had still not defined what exactly they were, ‘just friends’ was most certainly not one of those things.

He pulled back briefly to search her eyes and what he saw there made him smile. In answer, she grinned back.

“ What?”

“ You couldn’t believe I kissed you?” He barely gave her time to respond before he moved back in. “ Believe it...”

“ You have to admit, it was a genius move on my part,” Max said, continuing to play with her hair.

Liz rolled her eyes in amusement. “ Like you weren’t scared out of your mind.” She smirked when he didn’t have a ready comeback to her assertion. “ You know it’s true.”

Max chose to not reply to this, his silence doing all the confirming that was required. In all honesty though, he could recall several times that Liz Parker had scared him out of his mind. Most of the time, these events had come about because of his better half’s alarming tendency to disregard her health when she was completely absorbed in something. Others, however, had come solely because just by the sheer vibrancy and strength of her being, she forced Max to confront the fact that the feelings she invoked in him were on a level he had never even dreamed was possible....

The cafeteria emitted a low buzz, courtesy of the large number of people eating their fill. Max shifted impatiently in line, well aware that Liz had said she would be in the cafeteria at two....and it was now 12 minutes past.

Coming from the two busiest majors in school meant that free time was almost an impossibility; that was the main reason that friendships between the two departments were so rare, and dating rarer still. On this, his busiest day, lunch was the only bright spot and it had everything to do with the fact that even if it was only for an hour, he got to see Liz.

Or he would, if the damned line would move.

Beside him, Tess was saying something, and though Max was listening with only half an ear, the calm tones of his best friend’s voice was having its usual soothing effect on him. Sighing, he almost sagged with relief when they were finally swiped through. The minute they were inside, Max automatically began scanning the room, looking for the now familiar flash of dark hair.

“ Hey.”

The hand on his arm stopped his search, and he stared down into the bright blue gaze that had gotten him through many a dark time. Tess looked concerned, a slight frown on her pretty face.

“ Everything all right? You’re in an awful hurry. Is the food here better today and someone forgot to tell me?”

Max smiled, giving the hand on his arm a quick squeeze before letting it go and starting forward.

“ Hey, we can hope, right?”

Tess laughed and followed him.

“ Right.”

“ I’m fine,” He answered, briefly turning so that he glanced at her over his shoulder. “ Just...” Max looked to the front.

And words died.

Liz Parker had just crossed his line of vision and the sun hit her hair in a way that made a kaleidoscope of color appear on the dark strands. She was completely unaware of his presence, headed towards the trays in that easy, graceful saunter of hers that always seemed to hypnotize him.

Max wasn’t even aware he had stopped walking, and was even less aware that Tess had bumped into him.

“ Max? What-”

“ Liz!” He called, unable to stop himself.

Hearing her name, Liz glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes met his and a bright smile, spectacular in the sense that it literally stole his breath away, came his direction.

“ Hey Max, Tess! I grabbed a table. Everyone’s waiting, see you guys there!”

She walked away, and Max started to breathe.

It was at this point that Max realized that he had lost. No matter what he had told his friends, Tess, and himself, if one smile from Liz could stop him dead in his tracks like that, there was no doubt about it...

“ Max?”

Tess’s voice came softly from his side. Mechanically, he looked over at her. Sapphire blue met golden hazel as she searched his face.

And gave a small, peculiar smile.

“ You’re in love...”

Soft laughter reached them, and he glanced up immediately. Liz stood with Alex and Maria, obviously amused by whatever she was hearing.

Max experienced a searing feeling in his heart, quite alike the one he’d had when he’d ridden alone on his bike for the first time. Only this was better. More intense.

And infinitely more frightening.

Coming back to the present, he shook his head had her victorious expression and tugged on the ends of her hair. “Brat.”

“ Egomaniac.” Liz shot back.

“ Only with good reason.”

He looked so smug and sure of his appeal that she couldn’t help but start to giggle. He huffed in mock anger.

“ Giggling again! You’re always giggling.”

“ That’s because you’re funny.”

“ Oh yeah?” Reaching down, he tweaked her nose, causing her to scrunch it cutely. “ Well you’re funny looking.”

“ Ha!” Liz turned until she was facing him, propped up on his stomach. “ We all know I’m prettier than you.”

Max looked like he was ready to argue but then he smiled good naturedly, settling for wrapping his arms more securely around Liz and running a hand through her long dark tresses.

“ You’re right. I can’t argue with that. You’re also sweeter, kinder and more selfless than anyone I’ve ever met.”

She smiled, leaned forward and a curtain of her hair fell over his face. Breathing in the scent of her hair as she whispered words in his ear, he felt his heart swell.

“ I love you, you know.”

Liz pulled back, the truth of her words reflected in her eyes.

Max captured her face in both his hands running his fingers absently through her hair, the hair that had started them down this path in the first place.

“ I know.”

He smiled and Liz tilted her head to one side questioningly once more.

“ What is it?”

“ Just…you know you’re going to have to marry me, right?”

Surprise bloomed in her eyes, as well as happiness and gratefulness.

“ Oh I am, am I?”

“ Yes. You are. You want to know why?”

“ Go ahead and enlighten me.”

“ Because I love you. I’m in love with you. No one will ever love you like I do. I think of you, and everything that is right and good with my life just comes up. You are in every smile I give, in every good thing I’ve done and want to do. I want to be there when you’re happy and when you’re sad, and when we fight and make up. I want to be the one to take care of you, to be the one who will wipe away your tears even though I pray to God I’ll never make you cry. I want to be there when our first son opens his eyes, when our daughter says her first word. I want to wake up every morning with you next to me and go to sleep at night the same way; I want to spend the rest of my life with you, because I’ve been without you once, and I’ve got to tell you, life just doesn’t make much sense that way.”

Stunned. Liz could only stare at him in awe.

“ So you’re going to have to marry me, Liz Parker, because you’ve ingrained yourself so deeply in me, that without you, I’m never going to be whole. You’re the other part of my soul…and without you…there’s just no me.”

Tears shimmered at the end of her lashes.

“ So what do you say, Liz? Care to save me from my horrible fate?”

They were very close now, her forehead resting on his own. He could see every emotion play out in her expressive eyes, see every tear on her lashes. And he waited, as once more, he gave her the opportunity to draw the line.

And this time, it was she who moved slowly, she who was making her intentions clear.

In the split second before she could press her lips to his, Max got his answer.

“Yes.” She murmured. “ Always yes.”

He decided he liked this word much better than ‘don’t’.

THE END.