Simplicity/Beginnings-M/L**[COMPLETE]**

Finished Canon/Conventional Couple Fics. These stories pick up from events in the show. All complete stories from the main Canon/CC board will eventually be moved here.

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hoLLyBEHRy
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Simplicity/Beginnings-M/L**[COMPLETE]**

Post by hoLLyBEHRy »

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Title: The Right Way: Simplicity/Beginnings
Author: hoLLy BEHRy
Rating: MATURE
Category: Conventional Couple- Max and Liz
Disclaimer: Of course I do not own Roswell the book series or the television series. Sure wish I did, though. ;)
Author’s Note/ Summary:

So...this story takes place a little after "Interruptus". Let me give you the gist of it all. Liz's father still forbids Liz to see Max. They see each other anyway. Liz wants to move in with Max and Max agrees that they should. On one condition: the two of them discuss it with the Parkers. When they do, Jeff gives Liz an ultimatum--move in with Max, she's no longer his daughter and if she decides to stay her father's daughter, then she's off to boarding school in Vermont. Max can't let any of that happen. So he asks Liz to marry him. They'd be able to be together and stay in Roswell and Mr. Parker would have to accept the two of them together, and that's just the beginning of the story. Will they get married? And if they do? Will they really be happy especially when the past comes to haunt them? Read the whole story to find out how it goes.

If you've got something to say, please, give me the FB.

-hoLLy


The Right Way: Simplicity/Beginnings

Chapter 1

{Max}

These past couple weeks, I had completely forgotten how cold it was in the desert. After living in the same small town for twelve years, you’d think that I would have remembered that a desert breeze at midnight was nearly enough to freeze boiling water at an instant.

Ok, so maybe it wasn’t that cold, but it was near close enough. I ran back into Michael’s apartment and grabbed my leather jacket off the couch. I was in California twice in the past few weeks and I had gotten used to not grabbing something to keep me warm.

It was Michael’s and my first night back from La Jolla to save Isabel from Khivar. We didn’t think we could do it, but we got rid of Khivar—well, Isabel got rid of Khivar. But anyway, it was so easy. If he ever came back, we knew that we could defeat him and even Isabel warned him that she would kill him herself. For now, I had to be happy with knowing that my family and friends were safe. However, there was that FBI agent that approached me in Salina, but as long as we didn’t look for trouble, trouble wasn’t going to look for us.

I threw my jacket on and jogged back over to the door before Michael called to stop me.

“Maxwell, we just got back fifteen minutes ago,” he said. “Where you off to?”

I looked over my shoulder, gave small grin, and I could tell that Michael already knew. I told him anyway. “I’m going out with Liz.”

“One of these days,” Michael sighed, “you and Liz are going to get caught and her father’ll ship her off to the boarding school.”

“Mr. Parker’s warming up to us,” I smiled. “I’m going to show him how much I love her.”

Michael shook his head. “How will you do that?”

I shrugged my shoulders and headed out to my car. I grabbed the brims of my jacket and tugged them closer together to protect me from the cold. It really wasn’t that cold, I guess maybe I was nervous for some reason. Maybe it was because I hadn’t had a decent moment alone with Liz. When I got back from LA, where I managed to ruin the life of one of the most famous producers in the country, I didn’t get to spend a lot of time with Liz. I was too busy worrying about Isabel’s marriage and Jesse. Then she and Jesse got married and they were off to La Jolla with Khivar on the loose. And so there I was, back in California, without Liz. I just got home to Roswell, home to Liz.

I didn’t even realize that I was doing 60 in a 30 mile per hour zone. There were no other cars in the street anyway, and there would be none for the rest of the night. Roswell was that small of a town. Sheriff Hanson and Deputy Valenti (that’s right, Valenti started over at the police department as a deputy) wouldn’t even be patrolling around. Roswell was a safe town, despite what’s happened to my friends and me these past few years.

I turned into the plaza just behind the Crashdown building with my headlights turned off. I wasn’t going to risk getting caught. I didn’t want to lose Liz. Her father was still threatening to send her away to boarding school if he ever saw us together again. But I think we had been doing a good job so far, she’s been sneaking out of her room almost every night, and, luckily, we haven’t been caught.

Like every night when I’d come in the darkness to pick up Liz, I sat in my car, controlling the motor with my special gifts so that the roar of my classic Chevelle didn’t wake anyone. Then I would wait patiently, but not too long. Liz always knew when I was waiting here. She was intuitive like that. Tonight was no different, I stared at the ladder that led to Liz’s balcony and saw that Liz appeared. She cautiously climbed over the ledge and maneuvered down the ladder as I ran out of the car to meet her at the bottom. I was standing right under the ladder and while Liz climbed down, she looked beneath her and smiled. At first, she stepped down slowly but when she saw me grinning at her so giddily, she started skipping a few rungs and rushed down, falling into my arms.

“Look what happened, an angel fell from Heaven and into my arms,” I smiled.

Liz rolled her eyes. “Max,” she scolded.

“I know, I know, corny.”

Liz nodded in utter agreement and then grabbed my jacket, dragging me back to my car. “Where we off to this time?” she asked.

I was behind the wheel and wrapped my free arm around her. “To the desert,” I whispered.



[Liz]
We drove on a route all too familiar to me. Max steered us down an open stretch of highway, and all of sudden, he ran off the road and turned into the desert. He knew exactly where to veer off. Even though we’ve driven through the desert so many times, we haven’t done it enough to have worn a path. So the car jumped at every bump and it forced me to grab hold of Max's jacket. I knew he smiled every time I gripped tightly.

Max had driven deep into the desert and stopped at the foot of the Pod Chamber. He helped me out of the car and walked to the trunk. I leaned against the door and looked up at Max's birthplace while Max rummaged through his trunk.

We had all been to the desert at night and to the Pod Chamber several times. The only thing to be scared of were the coyotes, and I hadn’t seen one in all the years I’ve lived in Roswell.

The Granilith destroyed much of the Pod Chamber and none of us have been in there ever since Tess left. For some reason the rock formation scared me, and I jumped at Max's touch.

“Sorry,” he apologized. “I didn’t mean—”

I nodded. “I just—it was nothing. What are we doing here, Max?”

Max just nodded his head away from the car and walked in that direction. He stopped a few feet away and held his palm over the desert floor. Using his powers, Max swept the dirt away, creating a little pit and then he threw in a few branches and started a fire. He carried a blanket under his arm and tossed it on the ground, offering a seat to me first.

“Thank you,” I said kindly.

I sat down and then Max sat behind me. He pulled me back, and I ended up lounging in his arms. There was no feeling better than this. He smelt so good and he felt so comfortable. The fire was so bright, and I could feel the warmth touch my face. I don’t think that I needed a fire. Max was enough to keep me warm. I just wanted to relax in his arms forever.

“How are things with your parents?” Max finally asked me.

I guess relaxation time was over. “At Isabel’s wedding, my father was somewhat great, but he still doesn’t want me near you. We talk and stuff, but, like I said, he doesn’t want me to see you.”

“Liz, I’m so sorry that things are this way. I wish that I could show up at your front door instead of you sneaking down that ladder. I—I screwed things up.”

I shook my head and grabbed a hold of his hands. He was always blaming himself. I couldn’t let him.

“I didn’t have to walk into the convenience store with that gun,” I said, “but I did because I wanted to. I wanted to because I wanted to help you.”

“But I’ve screwed up everything,” he replied, looking down. “I messed up your family, I’ve totally screwed up mine, and now I’m pissing off Michael. You have to sneak out of your room every night. I walked out on my parents, and Michael and I don’t know how to go a day without arguing about something stupid.”

I gave a sigh. “Max, you’re going to have to start resolving these issues. You should start with your parents.”

I still hadn’t told him about the board in his father’s office. Maybe I was being selfish. I know I was, because Max and I had spent so many weeks apart from each other. For at least one night I wanted to be with him, just him. If I told Max about that board, I knew that he would want to check it out right away.

Max retreated his arms from around me. “Liz, no. If you’re implying what I think you’re implying, the answer is ‘no’. We’re not going to tell them about Michael, Isabel, and I. We let anyone else in, they’re at risk.”

“Max, if they keep prying into your life they way they are,” I warned, “they’ll end up hurting themselves.”

He didn’t respond in any way, and I got scared. Maybe I offended him. I was just glad that I had my back to him. I wouldn’t be able to bear the sight of his anguished or angered face.

“Liz, we’re dropping this.”

No argument there. His voice was harsh. He was irritated and angered, and I couldn’t help but feel stupid. But he made me feel better when he forgivingly pulled me back into his arms.

“Ok, well, maybe we can at least solve this Michael problem,” I suggested. “Let’s move in together.”

Max sighed. “Liz, we’ve been over this. Your parents—”

“My father’s grown even more suspicious of you, and he’s joined your father on inquisition. This will put my father in his place.”

Max shook his head. “If we move in together, I want to do it for the right reasons.” He’s said that before. “Not to spite your dad.” He was silent for a moment and then he sighed. “And I don’t want to have to rent an apartment.”

Ever since I learned about Max, Isabel, Michael, and what they were, I’ve had a whole list of curiosities. Hopefully I was going to get the answer to one of those right now.

“I know it’s not ethical,” I began, “but have you transformed bills? Say like morphing a one-dollar bill into a twenty-dollar bill?”

I hope I wasn’t being more selfish and putting myself out there. But Max answered almost at an instant.

“Yes,” he said, almost ashamed. “While I was in LA I needed some money.”

“Then you can afford your own apartment, Max.”

But Max shook his head. “Right now, it’s not a necessity. I piss Michael off, but he’s not kicking me out. I just don’t think it’s right to do it, Liz. It’s not my hard earned money.”

“What about Brody?” I kept on suggesting. “You haven’t worked there in ages, but Brody still has that job for you. He’s a millionaire; he must pay you enough to support yourself.”

Max was silent. He must’ve been thinking about something. I could feel it. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t want to seem eager, even though I was. Even if Max wouldn’t let me move in with him, his apartment would provide me with a place to escape from my parents.

“Liz, I can afford an apartment,” Max assured me. “Money’s not an issue.”

My eyes narrowed. “One,” I started, “how is money not an issue? Second if money’s not an issue, then why don’t you just get your own apartment?,” I turned around and stared at Max, eagerly awaiting an answer.

“Liz, what I’m about to tell you is going to be a little farfetched and a little hard to believe, but I promise you, it’s all true.”

I worriedly stared into his eyes. “What are you talking about?”

“Money’s not an issue,” he said, “because I’ve got enough of it.”

“What?” I laughed. “Your dad’s a lawyer, I know that, but you moved out willingly. I don’t think that he’ll get you an apart—”

Max shook his head. “No, not like that. I’ve got my own money.”

I shook my head in confusion. “How—how is that possible?”

“Like I said, this is going to be hard to believe, but it’s true.”

“Just tell me, Max.”

I watched his Adam’s apple shift. “I was never really in high school. I was just there for elective classes.”

My eyes widened. “What are you talking about?”

Again, he swallowed the lump in his throat, making his Adam’s apple dance. “Humans use only a percentage of their brain. Humans could be much smarter if they only could use their whole brain…”

“Ok, you’re supposed to be explaining the money issue and not insulting my race.”

“Sorry,” Max laughed nervously. The he took a moment to himself to think of the right words. “Being what I am, I can use my brain to its fullest capacity, and I have.”

“What does that mean?” I asked him.

Max cleared his throat. “Liz, I can do things from reciting country capitals in alphabetical order to explaining Dalton’s atomic theory to playing Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, and, Liz, I’ve never played an instrument in my life.”

“What are you saying?” I scoffed. “You’re talking in riddles here. Are you some kind of genius?”

Max lowered his head. “I prefer the term, ‘not of—” I stared at him with a raised eyebrow and Max gave an apologetic smirk. “Sorry,” he laughed. “Not the time to joke.”

I rolled my eyes in a playful manner. “Ok, so you’re a genius. Why are you still going to high school?”

“I’m not,” Max said. “Kind of. It’s all really hard to explain.”

“Well, start explaining.”

Max nodded obediently. “I showed signs of being exceptional a few years before middle school. My parents took me to some specialists and they told me that I was some sort of…” He searched for the right word.

“Prodigy?” I guessed.

“Yes, that’s what they said. Anyway,” Max continued, “I got bored with elementary school and my educational level was way past high school, so my parents signed me up to take some college courses. I have been ever since.”

I sat absolutely exhausted, and I wasn’t even the one explaining. It was so much to take in. “Where?”

“Roswell Community and online courses, both.”

“So, where are you in your educational career?”

He gave a sly grin. “I’m in medical school, Liz.”

My eyes had to have jumped out of their sockets. “What?! You want to be doctor?”

Max nodded.

“Talk to me, Max,” I told him.

He chuckled and kissed my forehead and then pulled me on top of him as he lied down. “Last Christmas,” he began, “when I healed those children, I did it ‘miraculously’, and that was wrong. But I had given them a whole life to look forward to, cancer-free. I won’t do it again, but I wanted to do something to help them and others. I want to become a doctor.”

“This is where the money issue comes in,” I realized.

Max bobbed his head. “When I healed those children in that cancer ward, I knew that I wanted to help others like them. So, I started to focus my studies on cancer, oncology, radiology, and all that sort of stuff. I did my own research and found out that one of the leading cancer research corporations happens to have a branch in Roswell.”

“Behr&Appleby,” I said.

“That’s right,” Max replied. “So, I went to check it out. I took the tour, answered all the questions the tour guide threw at my tour group, and a scientist there took notice of me. I was offered a job on the spot, part time of course.”

“As what?” I wondered.

“Assistant director of medical affairs and clinical research,” Max answered simply.

I laughed. “What does that mean?”

“I just manage the work in one of the labs and create the lab reports for the director of medical affairs and clinical research and the manuscripts.”

“Oh,” I said like I understood. “How does it pay?”

Max shrugged and stared up into the dark sky, calculating the numbers. “Um…I think it’s about $60—”

“Per week?” I laughed. “Max, that’s noth—”

“Per hour,” Max finished.

My eyes bugled out. “$60 per hour,” I repeated, shocked beyond belief.

Max chuckled.

“That’s $115,000 a year if you were to work full time,” I told him.

“I know,” Max nodded. “But I don’t since I only work 15-20 hours.”

“You’re incredible, you know that?” I smiled.

His cheeks turned red as he boyishly shrugged his shoulders.

I shook my head, still confused by everything. “Where the hell are you finding the time to go to medical school, and where?”

“B&A’s an instructional corporation,” Max answered, “meaning that they also offer classes. They have a program where the interns who wish to pursue a career in the medical field can take classes at B&A that count as medical school credit. It’ll be like going to a regular medical school, except you’re also working there. When it’s time to start working at the hospital, they’ll limit our hours at B&A and send us to Roswell Memorial. It’s great, easy and quick, and convenient.”

“How did you find time to go to those classes?”

“I ditched classes at West Roswell,” Max grinned.

“Those times you missed classes or were late for others,” I realized. “Just to think, all those times you ‘needed’ help in biology, you knew what you were doing the whole time.”

Max smirked. “I loved all the attention you gave me.”

I kissed his chest and sighed. “Max, what are you doing wasting your time at West Roswell? You should be at John Hopkins or somewhere great.”

Max shook his head and wore that serious expression on his face as he stared into my eyes. “It’s not wasting time if I get to see your face or hear your voice everyday.”

My cheeks turned redder than Max's had. We went silent as I rested my head on Max's chest. But then I got to thinking about much of Max's life I didn’t know about and how I was looking forward to still getting to know him. And I got to thinking about Michael and Isabel.

“Max, how come Michael’s still in high school and Isabel’s taking community college classes? Aren’t they geniuses like you?” I wondered.

“They chose not to be,” Max told me. “Michael’s just lazy. He doesn’t want to do all the learning stuff and Isabel…she…she didn’t want to be some sort of freak.”

I nodded in understanding, rubbing my cheek against Max's pectorals. I could hear his heart rhythmically beating. “Max, what about the apartment? You can afford it.”

“Liz, getting my own apartment,” he began, “really isn’t a necessity. I have a place to stay. Michael’s not kicking me out. And besides, getting my own apartment,…I don’t know how that’ll look. Everyone is going to know who I am and—”

“Max, everyone already knows who you are,” I smiled.

How could they not? As quiet and shy as Max was, people knew the Evanses and the children they adopted and the story behind them. Max was also infamous for the stint we pulled in Salina. The town of Roswell knew Max.

“Still,” Max sighed, “I don’t want to draw anymore attention.”

I rolled my eyes. “You have to stop being so paranoid and quit looking over your shoulder, giving people a reason to be suspicious of you,” I told Max. “Dare to be great, Max, because you are.”

His face lit up and a smile appeared. “Thank you for saying that, Liz.”

“It’s all true, Max. So, start looking for an apartment,” I told him.

Max nodded. “I’ll start looking for my own apartment.”

I smiled, grabbed his face, and kissed his lips.

*~*

After Max hit me with surprise after surprise, we relaxed in front of the fire and got a little comfortable. Max lied on his back and I rested my head on his stomach. You’d think that because his abs were well defined that they weren’t soft and comfortable, but they were. Max was well built, his muscles were toned and he was in great shape. Yet, he was the perfect candidate to lie against. It was harder to lie against his leather jacket than probably his bare skin.

“Have you started applying to colleges?” Max asked me. He continued to stare up at the starry sky with his arms crossed behind his head.

I shrugged and rolled onto my back. “I’ve requested an application from Harvard, but my grades have been slipping.”

“Liz, you’ll get in.”

I shrugged again. “I’m bound to get into one of the school’s I’ve applied to. There’s Boston College, Brandeis University, and Tafts University.”

Max gave a little laugh and cranked his head upward slightly. “You’re really set on Massachusetts, aren’t you?”

“Not necessarily,” I playfully sassed. “If I don’t get in there, I’ll attend whichever school will take me, and then just transfer into Harvard later on when my grades get better. So, why not just attend a school in Massachusetts? But I have applied to other schools too.”

“Care to share?” Max asked.

“Pepperdine University, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Santa Barbara.”

“So, it’s either one side of the United States or the other. I like California, but I bet I could grow to love Massachusetts.”

A smile came across my face, and I tried my best not to grin. I’m pretty sure I wanted Max to follow me to school, but maybe we were thinking too far ahead.

“Max, I think we’re planning ahead too fast.”

“This is coming from you?” Max questioned. “You, who suggested we move in together?”

I blushed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

We went silent, and let the cold desert breeze blanket us. A cold chill ran up my spine and I remembered that there was yet another important issue that we didn’t cover tonight.

“Max?” I said.

He hummed a reply. “Hmmm?”

“What are we going to do about your dad and his questions about Tess’s disappearance? He’s gotten to my dad.” It was such an important issue. I don’t know how I let it slip my mind.

I could hear Max swallow a lump in his throat as he sat up and gently moved me away. “I’ll take care of that. You figure out how your dad’s involved and avoid my parents.”

“Do you think this could be dangerous, Max?” I wondered.

Max glared at the fire, and the image of flames reflected in his eyes. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid.

“If my father continues to investigate, he might bump into the wrong person. I don’t want to think about it.”

“Max, maybe you should just tell them.”

His jaw clenched tight and the muscles in his jaw bulged. “I can’t, Liz. It’s too dangerous. I don’t want to risk their lives. I’m already doing that with yours.”

“You’re capable of protecting us, Max. You’ve protected all of us so far.”

“Some job I did,” he laughed sadly. “Alex was murdered and I slept with the enemy. I only get us into more danger. You shouldn’t even be with me, Liz.”

I turned around again, like earlier, and looked fiercely at Max. “Don’t say that. You can’t push me away. Haven’t you learned that by now?” I grinned.

Max exhaled heavily and then leaned forward to give me a kiss. “Let’s go. It’s getting late.”

He had extinguished the fire with his powers and we headed back to the Crashdown. It was nearly four o’clock in the morning, and Max and I had spent a good four or five hours out at the desert. It was just so good to be with him.

He stopped the car in the plaza and looked up at my balcony, and then me. I was curled up against his chest with a tight hold of his jacket.

“I don’t want to, Max,” I said childishly. “Let’s just run away.”

“I think you’re a little too tired,” he laughed at me. “Listen, I’ll start looking for an apartment tomorrow, and I’ll think about this moving in together thing. Ok?”

I was tired, but Max gave me energy to smile. “Alright. I better go in. My father’s probably getting ready to open up the diner.”

He nodded and lowered his lips to mine. “Do you want me to help you up to your room?”

I gave a little grin. “No, I’m fine,” I insisted. “And you don’t need to ask me every time.”

“I just want to make sure you’ll be ok.”

I kissed him again and got out of the car. It was instinct for Max to look out for me and the others. He was always putting us before himself, and he always felt ashamed when he thought about himself. I love him so much, but we were going to have to change that attitude of him. I’ d have to teach him to stop beating himself up, which was going to be hard, because Max would always find a way to blame anything on himself.

I had reached the ladder and looked over my shoulder at Max, who was still sitting in his parked car, waiting until I was safely up in my room. So I climbed up the ladder as quick as I could so that Max would go home to bed. I jumped over the ledge and looked down at the street. I waved and the corners of his lips stretched up to his cheeks. His half smile was enough to melt me into a puddle of mush.


*and that was the first part, please, tell me what y'all think! thanks!*
Last edited by hoLLyBEHRy on Wed Jul 07, 2004 11:46 pm, edited 131 times in total.
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hoLLyBEHRy
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Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2004 12:00 am

The Right Way: Simplicity/Beginnings (M/L; PG; Ch.2)

Post by hoLLyBEHRy »

*thanks for the feeback so far everybody!*

Chapter 2
{Max}
Looking for an apartment in Roswell was harder than I thought. I spent the last three days looking in three different classified newspapers. There weren’t many vacant apartments in Roswell. Well…there were a few, but those were in the Reino complex. Only people who were part of the Roswell Elite lived there. “The Roswell Elite” consisted of people who were Roswell’s upper class, people like Mayor Higgins, Brody, my father and his lawyer cohorts, and people who worked at Behr&Appleby, like my boss. Those types of people.

“You might as well take one of those apartments,” Michael said.

I looked up from the newspaper I was staring at and looked at Michael. He was hovering over a bowl of Apple Jacks, and he gave a laugh when he saw my expression. I could tell that my own head was tilted to the side.

“You look like a puppy when you do that,” Michael informed me.

I shook my head and woke from my stupor. “What are you talking about?”

“You know, sometimes dogs cock their heads to the side, much like you’re doing now—”

“Not that. What were you saying about the apartments?”

Michael shoved a few spoonfuls in his mouth and put the bowl to his mouth and started drinking. When he was finished, he walked around me and to the kitchen sink.

“You’re looking at those apartments at Reino, right?” he checked.

I nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well, you might as well take one of those apartments,” he repeated. “You’re practically the newest member of the Roswell Elite.”

“Michael, what are you talking about?”

My best friend rolled his eyes. “Come on, Maxwell, you know it. You’ve got a high level job at Behr&Appleby. Tell someone you’re living here with me on this side of Roswell, and they’ll tell you you’re crazy. I should be living with you on the seventh floor at the Reino.”

I stared at the newspaper in my hands and saw a few ads from the Reino that I had circled with a pencil. I did have the money to afford the smallest apartment in the Reino, and even the smallest apartment in the Reino was pretty large. The only reason that I didn’t want to purchase one of these apartments was because I didn’t want to be different.

Too late for that. I was an eighteen year old taking medical school courses at Behr&Appleby where I worked as an assistant director of medical affairs and clinical research for $60 an hour. I was different, I admit that. Quite a few other people knew that I was different, now that I was part of the Roswell Elite. So, why not go for it? I was going to go for it. I was daring to be great.

“Maybe I’ll check it out today,” I finally said.

“Atta boy, Maxwell. Flaunt your success.”

I gave a little laugh and folded the newspaper up to put away. “I can’t believe you’re saying this, Michael. You out of all people.”

He sighed and patted me on the back. “Maxwell, you deserve better. We all do, but see, you actually can achieve whatever’s better.”

“Michael, you can too,” I told him. “Why are you in high school? You can totally bypass that all and be where I am.”

“Nah,” he replied, shaking his head. “You’re better in the limelight, King. I’m more of a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. But I have to admit, we’d be one hell of a team if we were both at the stage where you’re at in life, Maxwell.”

“Then come on, Michael.”

“It’s a little too late for me. I think I’ll stay at human pace.”

I laughed. “Whatever you say. Listen, things are good with you and Maria, right?”

“Yeah,” Michael grinned. “She’s coming over tonight.” His eyebrows danced up twice, indicating to me that maybe I should see a movie or two tonight at the theater.

“How is it?” I asked. “I mean…sex?”

“With a human?” he asked, and I nodded in reply. “Are you wanting to do it with Liz finally?”

I shrugged my shoulders and boyishly played with my fingers. “I dunno. I want to take things slow with Liz. I want our first time to be special, and I want to do it when we’re both ready.”

“And you’re not ready? I mean, you jumped the gun with Tess. You love Liz and not Tess, right? Why not show it?

“One,” I sighed, “I don’t think Liz is ready. Two, what I did with Tess was stupid. I didn’t love her. It was stupid, casual sex. A mistake I don’t want to make with Liz.”

“Liz loves you,” Michael argued. “She won’t think that it’s casual sex. She’s waiting for you, Maxwell. No matter when you do it, she’ll definitely think it’s special.”

“I just hate myself for doing what I did to Liz. She’s waiting for me, and I should have continued to wait for her.”

Michael sighed. “Maxwell, she understands it all. If I were you, I wouldn’t bring all of this up in front of her. She’s put it behind her, you should too. There’s nothing to look forward to but yours and Liz’s future.”

I bobbed my head up and down in understanding, and then raised an eyebrow at Michael. “Who are you?” I joked. “Suddenly you’re understanding and giving me advice, good advice?”

Michael just shrugged his shoulders. “I dunno, Maxwell. Ever since the incarceration in Utah, you’ve forced me step up to the plate.”

“At least me getting arrested influenced someone.”

“Oh,” Michael remembered. “And about the sex thing? I’ve never had ‘hot alien sex’, but I assume it’s much better than that, especially because you’re doing it with someone you love.”

*~*

I looked at the newspaper in my hand to check the hours of operation, and then tossed it to the passenger seat. In my free hand, I held my phone up to my ear and listened to Liz’s sweet voice.

“The Reino, huh?” she asked.

I gave a little grin. “Yeah, I’m checking it out now. Do you want to meet me there?”

“I’d love to,” she said. “But I can’t. My dad’s got me working around the clock.”

I could hear the sound of plates being dumped into the busboy’s tub and Maria barking orders at Raymond, the Crashdown’s other fry cook. Liz’s father kept Liz working to limit her free time.

“Oh,” I said disappointedly. “Um…I guess I’ll check it out by myself then.”

“I’m sorry, Max. You know I wish I could.”

I nodded as I continued to keep my eyes on the road. “Yeah, I know. I just wanted you to be there to help me pick out our apartment.”

There was a long pause. It might not have actually been that long. Maybe two or three seconds tops, but it felt like an eternity.

“Our apartment?” she finally said. She spoke with a whisper.

“Yeah,” I said. “I was thinking about it, and I want us to be together, Liz. I’ve forgotten what you look like when the sun hits your face. I love cuddling you to keep you warm from the cold desert breeze, but I’m finding sand in my shoes every time. I’d rather cuddle you in the confines of our own bed.”

Again there was another pause before Liz spoke. “Are you serious?” she asked me.

“I’m ready to make that step…but there is one condition,” I warned.

“Alright, give it to me.”

I sighed. “Both of us discuss this with your parents.”

“Max, they’ll never let me move in with you.”

“What, you thought I’d let you just move out?” I asked her.

I could picture her nodding. “Yes. I thought that maybe I’d leave a note.”

“Liz…” I scolded.

“I’m serious, Max. They won’t have it, and you’ll be giving a reason for my mother to hate you too.”

“And you don’t think that would’ve happened if you left without a word?” I rhetorically asked. “They would have called for a search party when they found you missing.”

I heard Liz sigh. “Max, I really want to do this.”

“I know,” I nodded. “I want to do this too. I want us to be together so much. But I just think that it’d be best if we talk to them.”

“Ok,” she said. “We’ll talk to them. Come by after closing time?”

“I’ll be there.”

“I love you, Max.”

She always knew how to bring a smile to my face. “I know, I love you too.”

*~*

I pulled into the open parking lot of the Reino and got nervous. My hand shook as I buttoned up the jacket of my suit. It was the same suit I wore when I showed up to Langley’s mansion in LA. It was the only other suit I had with me at Michael’s place. The ones I used to wear to work at B&A were still at my parents’ home. I didn’t want them to know I was buying my own place. They’d want to purchase it for me.

I started walking under the canopy over the entrance of the building and noticed the doorman. I had clearly seen him, but I reached for the door anyway. He got to it before I could. I looked at him and he nodded with a smile on his face.

“Uh…thank you,” I said, embarrassed.

I wouldn’t be able to get used to that. My dad was part of the Roswell Elite, but my parents raised me to do things for myself. I considered turning around, and had convinced myself to do so, but a man in the lobby stopped me before I could.

“Mr. Evans?” he wondered.

I nodded and stuck out my hand for the man to shake. He was a man in his late 30s, and the suit he wore made it clear that he was the owner of the complex.

“Max,” I answered. “Max Evans…”

“You wouldn’t happen to be Philip Evans’s son, would you?”

I nodded again and put my hand back into my pocket after I shook his hand.

“Your father’s stepped in as my lawyer a couple of times,” the man said. “Good man he is. I’m Kevin Donovan. Call me Kevin, please.”

“Call me Max,” I replied.

Kevin gave a little chuckle and started walking towards the elevators. I instinctively followed. “I don’t mean to intrude, Max,” the short man said, “but, I know that you’re only eighteen, I’m a little curious as to why you’re looking for your own apartment.”

We stepped into an elevator and I cleared my throat. “I…uh…chose to move out.”

“Was it that incident in Utah?” Kevin wondered.

I nodded, ashamed.

“Just a teenage thrill, huh?” Kevin grinned.

“Yeah,” I lied.

Kevin shook his head. “Sure wish I did something like that when I was younger. Life’s too short. We’ve got to start living outside of the box.”

Now I wasn’t sure if this guy was a business man or some kind of a hippie. The rest of the elevator ride was silent. Kevin held a clipboard, and was flipping through the pages. I didn’t want to disturb him, so I kept silent. Then on the seventh floor, the metallic doors of the elevator parted and we got off.

“Max, you’re going to love this place,” Kevin told me. “A little under 1000 square feet. Only been lived in once.”

“Why’d the previous tenant move out?” I wondered.

Kevin pulled a set of keys out from his pockets and started to open the door. “His girlfriend made him move into a bigger place,” he said. “You got a girlfriend, Max?”

I goofily smiled. “Yes, sir.”

“Hope she isn’t like the last guy’s girlfriend. Had him wrapped around her finger…”

I’m pretty sure that Kevin kept on talking but I was distracted by two things. One, the apartment was amazing. Two, I couldn’t stop thinking of Liz and how I was anticipating living here with her.


[Liz]
“$5.70 is your change,” I said to a customer. “Thank you. Come back soon.”

Another night of smelling like Orbit Rings and Spaced Out Soup. At least tomorrow I had the day off, but right now, even when the Crashdown was closed, I still had more work to do.

Every Sunday night, my parents and I would sit at the table behind the cash register and work on the books. My mom was already behind me, organizing the receipts. I looked at her for a moment, thinking that she’s been so great with everything that’s gone on these past couple months. Moving in with Max and out of her home would break her heart, but she would understand. She would have to.

I looked at my watch and knew that Max would be here any second, but I decided to start tonight’s presentation earlier. My father walked past me and joined his wife. It was my turn now. There was one seat open at the three person table, but I didn’t take the free seat. I stood in front of them, but they were oblivious of my presence. They probably assumed that I was about to take my seat, but I cleared my throat and got my mother’s attention.

“Aren’t you going to help us, Lizzie?” she asked.

“Not right now,” I answered. “I actually wanted to talk to you guys about something.”

My father had kept his head in the books, busily writing in numbers, or pretending to. I love my father, I really do. But I hate that he’s keeping Max and I apart. At Isabel’s wedding, my father acted like a saint by allowing me to dance with Max. Actually, he didn’t really grant me permission, he just didn’t object.

“About what?” he asked. He seemed tired, and maybe after a long day’s work wasn’t the best time to discuss this.

I could feel my heart pounding, wanting to jump out of my chest and run away. No, wait, that was me. I just wanted to turn around and bolt. But right now, my feet seemed glued to the floor.

“I—I wanted to talk about—” My phone rang, and I was forced to step aside to take the call. The screen said it was Max. I was relieved to get word from him but wondered why he wasn’t here. “Max,” I whispered. “Where are you?”

“I had to come into work,” he replied. “I’m sorry, Liz. I can still come over, but it won’t be until eleven.”

By then, my parents would be too tired. My father would start throwing punches. My eyes shut in disappointment, but I couldn’t blame Max.

“It’s ok,” I assured him. “I think it’d be best if I talk to them by myself anyway.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah. Did you find an apartment?”

“Seventh floor,” Max replied. “Great view of Roswell.”

I smiled. “That’s great. I shouldn’t keep you. We’ll try to talk tomorrow at school.”

He said goodbye and we exchanged “I love yous” before I went back to my parents. They were back to doing the books, and I gathered my courage.

“Sorry,” I apologized. “Anyway, I wanted to talk about Max.”

My father placed his pencil down firmly and sighed heavily. “Yes, I let you dance with him at his sister’s wedding. That doesn’t mean it’s ok for you to see him.”

I took a deep breath. “Well, I see him anyway.”

“I wasn’t kidding about boarding school in Vermont,” my dad said, glaring up at me. “You stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”

My eyes rolled. “It’s not like he’s part of the Mob. We
screwed up, and we made a huge mistake. But we’re not stupid kids; we’re not going to do it again. We want to move in together.”

“Liz!” my mother gasped.

But my dad seemed calm. I knew he really wasn’t. I watched him swallow hard as he continued to stare at a spot on the table. He didn’t bother to look at me.

“Liz, you’re pushing me to go somewhere I don’t want to go,” he said.

“He’s bought an apartment at the Reino,” I said, ignoring my father. “I want to move in with him.”

I watched my mother as she kept her hand over her mouth in shock and as my father continued to stare at that damn spot.

“Liz,” my father finally said. “You move in with Max Evans, you won’t have to worry about my opinion. As far as I’m concerned, I won’t have a daughter.”

My heart went straight from “beating so fast I thought I’d die” to “I’m going to die because my heart just stopped”. “What?” I asked.

My mother asked the same. Obviously, they didn’t agree. “Jeff, what are you talking about?” she asked him.

“You’re going to disown me?” I asked. My eyes were burning from the tears that were gathering.

But my father didn’t say any more. He picked his pencil back up and started scribbling down numbers from receipts. I looked from him to my mother who I knew was just dying inside. She was about to cry and so was I. Finally my feet became unglued, and I bolted to my room.
Last edited by hoLLyBEHRy on Thu Mar 18, 2004 1:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Chapter 3
{Max}
“So, how was the date last night?” I asked Michael.

He grabbed a few books out of his locker and shrugged. “Just like every other night.”

“You’re such a romantic,” I sighed bleakly.

“Hey, that’s you, not me. I’m the ‘jackass’, remember?” he laughed. “What about you? Is Liz going to move in with you?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know. I didn’t get to talk to her last night,” I said.

I had worked later than I thought last night. I didn’t get home until midnight, and I didn’t want to call Liz and wake her up. Now, it was the next morning and I was wondering how it went. I didn’t have to wonder much longer. Liz marched right over towards Michael and me, and grabbed my arm.

“Hey, Liz,” Michael greeted.

“Hi, Michael,” she quickly replied, and then looked up at me. “We need to talk.”

Michael patted me on the back, waved bye to Liz, and left the two of us alone. By the sound and eagerness in Liz’s voice, I would have left too if I could.

“A teacher might see us,” I said.

Liz shook her head. “I really don’t care.”

“I’m guessing the talk didn’t go so well.”

She stood directly in front of me with her head slightly lowered. It must’ve gone bad. If I only knew, I would’ve skipped out of having to work.

“Max,” Liz finally said. “My father said he’d disown me if I move in with you. And I can’t let that happen, Max. I—I can’t.”

“What?” I gasped.

Liz only stared at the floor with her head down low.

I reached down and grabbed Liz’s hands, giving them a little squeeze. “I won’t let that happen.”

“He’s sending me to Vermont indefinitely.”

I crouched down slightly and moved an arms length away to look into Liz’s eyes. They were almost full of tears. I could understand why she looked away.

“What? Why?” I asked.

“It’s one choice or the other,” she told me. “I move in with you, they disown me. I continue to live with my parents, they take me away from you. It’s a lose-lose situation.”

I shook my head. “No, he can’t do this.”

“He’s already bought me a ticket and informed the school that I’ll be there this Sunday.”

I dropped Liz’s hands to run my hands through my hair. “Liz, I can’t lose you. I’ll go with you.”

“Max, what about B&A?”

I shook my head. I really didn’t give a damn about my job at Behr&Appleby. “I can’t lose you,” I repeated.

Liz leaned to the side and looked past me. “Dr. Forrester,” she said, spotting the school principal. “I better go.”

She started to turn around, but I grabbed her arm. “Wait, we need to talk about this.”

“I’m done talking.”


{Isabel}
“Back in Roswell,” I said, looking over at my husband, Jesse Ramirez. He was my husband. I was married.

“Yes, Mrs. Ramirez,” he replied. “The honeymoon’s over. Our life together starts.”

We walked up the two steps to our two bedroom home where Jesse searched in his pocket for our keys. He unlocked the door and dropped our bags.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

Jesse reached over and took the bags from my hands, placing them on the floor. I wondered why we weren’t going in. But before I could say anything about it, Jesse swept me in his arms.

“Jesse!” I laughed. “You don’t have to!”

He kicked the door open and proceeded anyway. “It’s tradition,” he said. Then Jesse put me back on my feet as I stared in awe at our new apartment. “I know…it’s a little small, but—”

“No,” I interrupted, shaking my head. “It’s perfect, absolutely perfect.” I placed my arms around him and gave him a kiss. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re very welcome. I’ll get the rest of our things. Why don’t you look around?”

I nodded and kissed him once more. I’ve only known him for four months, but I loved him so much. He’s good to me, and he loves me back. So, why did I hate myself for marrying him? Was it because I had just forced him into a life I know he wouldn’t want to be a part of?


{Max}
I spent the first hour of school attending my art history class at West Roswell. After that, I commuted over to B&A for my pathology class. I usually look forward to that class along with pharmacology and immunology, but today, I wanted to skip all my classes and talk to Liz.

What did she mean when she said that she was done talking? Was the matter closed? Was that it? Was she going to go to boarding school and leave me? I couldn’t let that happen.

Right now, I had the perfect opportunity to talk to Liz. She was probably up in her room right now doing homework. But she wasn’t picking up her phone, and I had left at least a dozen voicemail messages.

“You need help with that?” Michael said.

I picked up a box of my things and nodded. “Yeah.” Maybe it was best that Liz and I didn’t talk now. I had to go move into the new apartment, but I still wanted to clear the air. “There’s another box by the door,” I told Michael.

“Do you want me to help you move all this stuff in?”

“If you’re not busy.”

The two of us walked out to my Chevelle with the large boxes in our hands. I had already filled the trunk with all the clothes I had and a few of my other things. So, Michael and I put the boxes we carried into my backseat and got in the front seat.

“Oh,” Michael said. “Forgot to tell you, Isabel and Jesse are back.”

“Why didn’t she call me?” I wondered, hurt.

Michael shrugged his shoulders and buckled his seatbelt. “Maybe you were on your phone.”

That was probably it. I spent the whole afternoon trying to get a hold of Liz.

“She’s at her new home. Maybe we should drop by,” Michael said.

I nodded and drove while Michael directed me to my sister’s new house. I was excited to see her. I still wasn’t sure about her marriage to Jesse, but she was still my sister. I spotted hers and Jesse’s silver Civic in a driveway of a quaint little home. I pulled over and Michael and I approached the house.

“Listen,” I said to Michael, “let’s not bring up this whole alien thing and how bringing Jesse into our world was not the brightest decision. I don’t think I’d be able to stand Liz and Isabel not talking to me.”

“I understand, Maxwell. I’ve been there.”

I rolled my eyes and pounded on the door.

“Max! Michael!” Isabel greeted. She immediately threw her arms around both of us. “I’m so glad you guys are here. Jesse’s out finding a U-Haul truck to rent.” She let us into her empty home and hugged us once more.

“Is there something wrong?” Michael asked.

Isabel shook her head. “No, why?”

“Well, you keep on hugging us.”

“I’m just in a hugging mood.”

I gave a smirk and looked around her home. “Love the new place, Iz.”

“Thanks,” she replied. “I hear you’ve got a new place of your own. The Reino?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Actually, Michael and I were on our way to moving my things in, but we thought we should stop by.”

“I’m glad you guys did,” Isabel said. “We’ve got some things to talk about. What’s the deal with you and Liz?”

I looked to Michael, but he couldn’t help me out, and he raised his hands in defense. “She’s going to boarding school,” I answered. “We tried to move in together, but her parents threatened to disown her.”

“Max, whatever happened to taking things slow?” Isabel asked me.

Michael laughed. “I know, Maxwell. That last time you two said that, you were robbing Sam’s Quick Shop in Utah.”

“We’re trying to take it slow,” I sighed. “I don’t know what happens. We just want to be together.”

“Bunch of horn dogs,” Michael grunted.

Isabel shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe you two want to move in together. Max, she still lives with her parents and they have a somewhat decent relationship,” my sister began to reason. “There’s no need for you two to move in together. She can’t just leave her parents.”

“But we want to be together,” I sighed. “I love her.”

“Then why don’t you marry her?” Michael chuckled. It was a second grader’s response to anything that had to do with love. Of course, Michael acted like a second grader.

He and Isabel laughed a little bit while I stared off to the side. I heard their laughter subside and I assumed they saw my pondering expression.

“Maxwell?” Michael chimed. “Earth to—”

I shook my head. “Yeah?” I asked.

“What were you just thinking about?” Michael asked me. “’Cause I was just joking.”

“It was a good joke,” I replied.

“Max, no,” Isabel pleaded.

But I stared at my sister and shook my head. “Why not? I can’t let Liz go to Vermont. Isabel, I can’t lose her.”

“It’ll just be until she graduates,” Isabel said. “She’ll probably visit at Thanksgiving, Christmas, and in the spring—”

“Vermont’s too far away, and I can’t wait that long,” I replied. “I’m going to ask her.”

“Max, you can’t do this,” Michael urged. “I won’t let it.”

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “You ‘won’t let it’?” I asked. “Are you King, Michael? Last time I checked, I was.”

From the corner of my eye, I could see Isabel staring down at me. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I snapped out of my tyrannical position and shook my head. “I apologize. But you’re right, Michael. I should marry her.”

Michael sighed while he did that thing where he scratched his eyebrow. “Are you sure you can make that commitment?”

I gave a little grin. “I’ve known since the first kiss. I love Liz.” I pushed myself off Isabel’s couch and kissed Isabel on the cheek before I headed for the door. Suddenly, I wished I left earlier when the thought of asking Liz to marry me first entered my mind.

“Hey, Max.”

My father stood right in front of me in the doorway with a fern in his hand. A gift for Isabel’s new home. He blocked my only way out, and he was about a foot away from me. There was no avoiding him, obviously. I was hesitant, mostly at the thought of calling him “dad”, because what dad would do what he was doing to me? I did anyway.

“Hi…Dad,” I finally said. My head was lowered and I barely looked up at him. That damn smile of his was on his face, and I couldn’t help but feel angry at him. I needed to leave. “Michael…come on. Let’s go.”

Michael nodded obediently and kissed Isabel’s cheek like I had done just moments earlier. I started to move towards the door when my father finally decided to step out of the way.

“Hi, Mr. E,” Michael said politely.

My father replied kindly. “Hey, Michael.”

They stood in front of each other, wondering if they should continue the small talk, but I grabbed Michael’s shoulder and pulled him out of Isabel’s new home.

*~*

As soon as I set foot outside Isabel’s house, I jogged over to my car and jumped in. I started the car and urged Michael to hurry up. He even jogged over, and Michael hates running. As he jumped into my car I pressed hard on the gas, probably scaring the daylights out of him, because I know the car started its acceleration as he was midair.

“You’re seriously trying to kill me,” he concluded.

“I just want to hurry.”

Michael buckled his seatbelt and glared at the speedometer. “Still doesn’t give you the right to go 50 miles per hour in a residential zone, Maxwell.”

“I need to get to Liz,” I said urgently.

“I can’t believe you’re really going through with this.”

“Why?” I started to argue. “Is it because we’re too young? Look at Isabel, Michael.”

Michael nodded. “Yeah, but Jesse’s 26.”

“Michael, it doesn’t matter how old Liz and I are. I can support her. We love each other. I think I’m ready for this. I know I am.”

I heard my best friend heave a heavy sigh. “Whatever you say. You’re the boss. Hey, things between you and your dad are that bad?” he decided to bring up.

He and Isabel didn’t know about my father’s interrogation. It’s probably a big concern right now, but I didn’t want to worry about that when I was about to ask Liz to marry me.


{Michael}
I guess Maxwell was pretty determined to ask Liz to marry him right that second. He didn’t seem to care that he and his father were barely on speaking terms. I wasn’t going to intrude in that part of his life, but on this current matter, I was. However, I didn’t do too good of a job intruding enough to convince him not ask Liz to marry him. I thought it’d be too soon for them to get hitched. They’re soul mates, sure, but why couldn’t he wait until they were older?

But I didn’t voice my opinion soon enough, ‘cause here I was, sitting in his Chevelle, alone, while he was off playing Romeo, and I was playing with the radio. His damn AM/FM radio. That was all that was in his car. No CD player or tape deck. Nothing. I swear, I’m going to need to introduce Maxwell to the wonderful world of technology. He’s more of a book man when it comes to entertainment.

Anyway, I was just trying my best to find a clear station on the radio when I realized the antenna was bent out of shape. I hopped out of the car and stood in front of the antenna with both my hand on the thin metal pole. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard. I could feel the cool metal moving in my hands. When I opened my eyes, the antenna was as straight as…well, let’s just say it wasn’t crooked anymore. I hopped back into the car and was finally about to dial into a station—I think it was the country station—but realized I wasn’t going to need music. I really wasn’t going to care if it was on the country station. I just hated the silence, but I didn’t have to listen to it much longer, like I said.

I looked up at the ladder on the side of the building and saw Maxwell sliding down. Damn, his hands must’ve hurt like hell the way he was coming down that thing. When he dropped onto the ground, he didn’t seem to care if his hands were burning in pain. I watched him jog around the car to the driver’s side where he got in without saying a word.

“So, what happened?” I asked.

Max wore no expression on his face, and I believed I knew the answer. He stared ahead for a while, catching his breath, and started the engine. I didn’t ask him twice, and I don’t think he needed to be asked twice either.

He turned to me and sighed.
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Chapter 4
[Liz]
I only saw Max once today. I knew that he had first period at West Roswell and then class at B&A, but then I also knew that he had to come back to West Roswell for humanities class. I usually would see him on the way to my class since I passed right by his, but today I didn’t. I have to admit that I was glad that I didn’t. I couldn’t deal with him then.

And right now, I couldn’t deal with him either. I had to deal with packing my things. It was only Monday, and I wasn’t leaving until Sunday evening, but my dad wanted me to get a box of my things to send over there. He was going to come to my room to help me in a few minutes. Until then, I lied on my back in bed, staring up at my empty ceiling.

“Liz,” someone whispered.

I shot up and immediately saw Max crouched at my window. “Max? What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I needed to see you.”

I shook my head. “You shouldn’t be here, my father might come up any minute.”

He was still trying to catch his breath from rushing up the ladder I assumed. I watched his Adam’s apple shift as he gulped for air while looking at my door. “I’m going to need to do this quick,” he said.

I approached him. “Do what?”

Max reached inside my room and grabbed my hands, pulling me out of my room and onto my balcony. “Liz, I love you…so much,” he said.

I nodded. “I know. I love you, too.”

“Then you know that I can’t lose you, that I can’t live a day without seeing you or hearing your voice.”

“Max, what’s going on?”

But Max didn’t answer my question. “Liz,” he went on, hurriedly, “Isabel and Jesse have loved each other for one summer. I’ve loved you for ten, and I won’t ever stop loving you. It’ll only grow. Liz, the only thing that matters to me in this world and any other world is you.”

I got the answer to my question. I knew where Max was heading, and he knew that I knew, because now he was holding my hands tight enough to hold me up. I thought I was going to faint. He stared at me, looking for some sort of response, but I couldn’t give him one. Right now, I couldn’t even breathe. Max breathed out a laugh and went on, getting down on one knee first.

“Elizabeth Natalie Parker,” he said nervously. “Will you marry me?”

My mouth dropped open, and I swear, I tried to speak, but my jaw moved up and down processing no audible response. He stared up at me eagerly with that adorable smile of his, and I melted.

“Liz, I know that right now we’re kind of rocky with this thing with your father and us trying to be together. This will solve our problem. I can’t let you go to Vermont. But don’t think that I’m asking you just because I want you to stay here, I’m asking you to be my wife because I love you, and I want to love you and be with you for the rest of our lives.”

I knew that I was going to, eventually, in the future, marry Max. I couldn’t picture my future without him. I just never realized Max would ask me this soon in life.

“When? Where?” I finally blurted out without thinking.

His face lit up. “Is that a ‘yes’?”

I bobbed my head up and down rapidly as I pulled Max up off his knee. “Yes!” I told him. “Of course!”

Max smiled and kissed me hard on the lips. “Ok,” he grinned. “I’m sorry I don’t have a ring, but when we get married I’ll have one for you. I’ll get in touch with you later. You better go back in.”

I nodded obediently while he kissed my lips again. “Mmm,” I hummed. “Tabasco.”

Max blushed in embarrassment and jogged to the ladder. He gripped the railing, hoped over, and landed on the first or second step, smiling at me.

“This is going to happen, Liz,” he said. “I promise.”
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A/N: some of valenti's lines are from and similar to his lines in "a tale of two parties". i give full credit to the writers and to the show. :D

also...did you guys catch my banner on the very first part? i'm not so sure about it. i made it myself. it's the first one i ever made. i'm going to touch it up and stuff. so yeah...enjoy the next part.

Chapter 5
[Maria]
“Alright,” I said to Jimmy Bishop. “That’s a slice of Men in Blackberry Pie and a Blood of Martian Smoothie. Anything else?”

Jimmy handed me back his menu and shook his head. “That’s all. Thanks, Maria.”

I was just about to tuck the menu under my arm when Liz came out of no where and grabbed my arm first, dragging me as she continued marching to the bathroom. “Liz!” I exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing?”

She threw me inside the restaurant’s bathroom, and then locked the door once we were both safely in. Liz tossed her bag to the ground and started pacing in front of me. As I waited for her to speak, I put the toilet seat cover down and took a seat.

“Do you care to share this—I assume—life changing news, or are you going to wear a path in the linoleum floor?” I wondered.

She stopped and then looked down at me. “Where were you today?”

“At school?” I guessed. I didn’t know if it was a trick question.

“No, you weren’t,” Liz objected. “American Lit? You weren’t there. At lunch? You weren’t there either.”

Every other day, American Literature with Mrs. Reyes was the only class Liz and I shared. We only saw each other two periods on those days, American Lit and lunch. On those days, it’d be really hard to see each other unless we were both at our lockers which were right next to each other.

“I’m sorry?” Again, I wasn’t sure what I should say.

Liz started pacing in front of me again. “I mean, today I needed to see you, and you just weren’t there.”

“I had a dentist appointment, sorry,” I apologized again. “What’s wrong?” She lunged at me, forcing me to instinctively back up where I hit the toilet flusher with my elbow, in the process, hitting my funny bone. Stupid thing wasn’t even funny. Hurt like hell. “Ok,” I said shortly, “in about three seconds, when I get some feeling back in my arm, I am going tackle you down if you don’t tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Max and I are getting married.”

I think my eyes jumped out of their sockets just then. “Are kidding me?”

Liz shook her head excessively. “He asked me yesterday. I wanted to tell you in person, but I didn’t see you at school.”

I jumped up, wrapping my arms around Liz, and we almost fell to the floor. “Ah! I’m so happy for you!!!” I said to her. “God, this is so Romeo and Juliet.”

Liz smiled. “No, this is Max and Liz, and you are cordially invited to our wedding at Town Hall Thursday.”

“Liz, that’s in two days.”

“Day and a half,” Liz corrected. “We have to do it before Sunday. Before I leave for Vermont.”

I gave a little sigh. “You know, if you just told your dad, then you and Max wouldn’t have to rush this marriage, and you guys could have an actual wedding.”

Liz couldn’t agree. “If we tell my father before we do get married, then he’ll just disapprove, threaten to disown me again, and drag me off to Vermont himself, maybe even some place farther. We have to do it Thursday, and then tell my dad that I can’t go to Vermont because I’m married to Max.”

“You’re going to give your father a heart attack, you know that right?” I grinned.

“He already knows that Max and I will do anything to be together.”

I hugged Liz again, and left her with a peck on the cheek. “You better head up to your room before he flips.”

Liz gave me one of her adorable, bashful smiles and walked towards the bathroom door that led into the break room

“Liz?” I called after her. She turned around. “I’m so happy for you.”

*~*

“Here you go, Deputy Valenti,” I said, placing his order of a Grilled Mooncheese Sandwich and Orbit Rings in front of him on the counter. “How are you liking that? I mean, being called ‘deputy’.”

Valenti laughed. “We all have to start somewhere, Maria. It’s not like I wasn’t a deputy before.”

I left Kyle’s father to eat his meal and started cleaning up the soda fountain. Mr. Parker was already wiping down the counter for me.

“So, how’s Kyle doing, Jim?” I heard him ask.

I watched Valenti bob his head, trying to choke down his mouthful of sandwich. “He’s doing ok. Why you ask?”

“Well, I was just—I think that maybe Liz should occupy herself with a different boy. That Max Evans—”

“Jeff, Liz and Kyle already went down that road,” Valenti grinned. “They’re nothing more than friends. My boy’s friends with Max Evans too, you know? They’ve all gotten close.”

I looked over my shoulder slightly and glanced out of the corner of my eye to watch Mr. Parker nod as if in a defeated manner. I saw Valenti look over at me spying at to which he grinned, and I turned back to direct my attention to the soda fountain.

“I know,” Mr. Parker sighed. “It’s just—well, since Max is Kyle’s friend, you must see Max a lot.”

“Yes,” Valenti nodded. “I’ve gotten pretty close with the kid.”

“What do you think of him?”

I looked out of the corner of my eye once again and watched Valenti sip some water. “Honestly?” he wondered. “I think highly of Max. He’s a special kid.”

I quietly laughed to myself and continued to listen.

“Yeah,” Mr. Parker sighed. “I used to think so too. He seemed like a responsible kid with a straight head on his shoulders, but—”

“Listen,” Valenti interrupted. “Max screwed up. Big time. He put your daughter in danger. There’s no excuse for that.”

I stopped wiping down the soda fountain for the fiftieth time, and listened intently to Valenti speak. I waited eagerly for him to get to his point, unless that was his point. But he did prove me wrong and continued speaking.

“But you asked for my honest opinion,” Valenti said, “and I think that Max…I think that he’s a great kid who just made a big mistake. And I truly believe that he’s learned from it. We make mistakes to learn from them, Jeff. Yes, he did put Liz’s life in danger, but there was nothing Max wouldn’t do to protect her. I really believe that Max loves your daughter, and I know for a fact that he’d keep her safe, no matter what danger they might be in. Jeff, we do live in a dangerous world. Max would protect her and take care of her. There’s nothing he wouldn’t do for her.”

Man, even I couldn’t give a more convincing speech. Valenti was good, real good. Thank God he was on our side.


{Michael}
“As your best man,” I said to Max, “I suggest that we throw a bachelor party.”

He rolled his eyes as he passed me a take-out bucket of Chinese food. “There is no way you can throw a party in a day. Besides, I don’t want one, Michael.”

“Oh, come on, Maxwell. I’d want you to throw one for me when I get married.”

“Well, then I’ll throw you one when you get married.”

That was if I ever got married. I loved Maria, everyone knew it. But if I wasn’t ready for the commitment, I knew that Maria would be, just like she always was. If that was the case, I’d want Maria to move on and find someone who was ready for the commitment. I’d want her to be happy, and if that meant that she was going to leave me because she needed to find someone who was ready for the commitment, then I’d urge her to.

If Maria did find that somebody, I don’t think I would be able to love anyone like I loved Maria. So, I probably wouldn’t get married. You’d think that because I love Maria so much that I’d actually make that commitment, but I just wasn’t, that’s how I was.

“Fine, whatever,” I sighed. “Run the whole plan by me one more time.”

He sighed just as irritated. “Not that hard to remember, Michael. Thursday after school we’ll all meet at Town Hall, and a judge will marry us.”

“One question: are you going to tell your parents?” I wondered.

Max looked away and seemed to take a moment to really ponder the question. “No,” he finally said. “There’s no need to tell them.”

“Max, they’re your parents. I think that maybe you should tell them.”

He exhaled heavily. “I’ll tell them when Liz and I are already married. My mother dislikes Liz because she was withholding information from my mom to protect me, and I don’t think that they’ll approve.”

“It’s practically like two opposing families, except that it’s not like the Parkers dislike your parents, but more like the Parkers dislike you, and your parents dislike Liz.”

“Thank you for that insight, Michael. You know, you sound more like Maria everyday.”

“Hey,” I said. “Not funny.”
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*thanks everyone for such great feedback! enjoy the next part.*

Chapter 6
[Liz]
I looked at my watch and realized what time it was. In an hour, I was going to be standing with Max in front of a judge. I wanted to rush, but knew that I’d have so much extra time before Max and I actually get married. And I’d probably spend that extra time freaking out. So, I casually walked through the halls of West Roswell just minutes after school bell rang.

I turned into Senior Hall. You would probably tell, by the name, that it was a hallway in the school allotted for seniors. It consisted of a lounge, like the one in the main lobby, but smaller, and all the seniors had their lockers along the walls. So, there I was, heading towards my locker.

Ten feet away from my locker and I could already smell something sweet. I rushed right over and quickly opened my locker to find a blue-colored rose sitting on top of my books. Attached to the rose was a small note.

I looked around the empty hallway before opening it. Everyone had left for the day. I took a whiff of the rose as I opened the small card. “Thought you might need something blue,” the note said, and it was signed, “Forever yours, Max.”

One of the hallway doors opened and I quickly tried my best to return my cheeks to their normal color, but I was too late, and Kyle walked up next to me. I hid my head in my locker, pretending to search for something.

“Parker,” Kyle sighed. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing in there. I know that your cheeks are as red as a fire truck and that you’re grinning from ear to ear because of that simple little rose Max put in there.”

I threw my head out of the locker and stared at Kyle. “How’d you know?”

“Ah-ha!” he exclaimed. “The cheeks are red, and that smile was wider than the Nile.”

I rolled my eyes and finished putting a few books into my bag. “How’d you know about the rose?”

“I saw him breaking into your locker last period. Have you seen him today?”

I shook my head as we walked out to the parking lot. “No, he had the first half of the day at B&A, and I didn’t catch him at lunch.” We stepped out onto the parking lot and I could see it already, a rusting truck sitting in the spot where Kyle used to park his red Mustang. “The tow truck?”

“I know, I know,” he sighed. “I thought I was going to be able to borrow a car that we’re fixing up in the garage, but turns out, you’re not really allowed to do that.”

“Kyle, didn’t I tell you that?” I wondered.

“Yeah, but you know me, memory span of a goldfish.”

I gave a little laugh as Kyle opened the door to the tow truck open for me. We drove about five minutes when we reached Main Street. Town Hall was down one end. I could feel my heart pounding. It was pounding so hard, I think Kyle heard it too.

“Just breathe,” he suggested.

I nodded and took a deep breath while my grip on my backpack tightened. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

“By the looks of the tow truck, you’d think I’d let you just go on ahead and ralph, but Toby’s a stickler on interiors of cars, even this rusty-ass tow truck. So, if you can, please wait until we get there.”

I nodded obediently while Kyle pulled up to the front steps of
Town Hall. “You’re not coming in?” I asked.

He shook his head. “I’ll be in the judge’s chamber at three on the dot, but I need to get dressed for the occasion.”

“Maybe I should go with you.”

He laughed a little and reached over me to open the door. “I mean this in the nicest way possible, but, get out. Liz, you should practically be running up those steps.”

“You’re right,” I nodded. “Absolutely. Ok…here I go.” I remained in the truck, staring up at the huge building.

“Liz,” Kyle sighed. “If you don’t start running up those steps, I’m going to drop you off at the Crashdown.”

I glared at him in an evil, yet playful manner, and kissed him on the cheek as a thanks. “Three o’clock. Don’t be late,” I warned.

“I would never be late for the marriage of my ex-girlfriend and my ex-rival, especially when those two people are Liz Parker and Max Evans. I mean, come on, now, it’s the event of the century.”



[Maria]
I parked my mom’s Jetta in front of the Crashdown, left the
engine running, and ran into the restaurant. I frantically searched the busy diner for Mr. Parker, wondering why he paged me. I spotted him rush out of the kitchen with his arms full of plates.

“Mr. P!” I shouted. I grabbed his attention and jogged over. “Hey, why’d you page me?”

He pulled at the towel hanging from his back pocket and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Do you not notice the dozens of people here today, Maria? I need you to work.”

My eyes widened as I searched for a clock. I was supposed to be at Town Hall ten minutes ago to help Liz get ready. “No, no, no,” I said to Mr. Parker. “I can’t. I told you yesterday that I needed today off.”

“Maria, you can always reschedule a doctor’s appointment.”

This was just not happening. Mr. Parker started walking around the diner taking orders, and I followed him around, trying to think of an excuse.

“Mr. Parker,” I said. “I just can’t work today. I have somewhere I have to be. I’ll call people to come in.”

Liz’s father finished taking one table’s order and turned to me. “Fine you can go, but you have to be back as soon as you’re done with whatever you’re doing.”

I got on my tiptoes and kissed Mr. Parker’s cheek. He was like a father to me. I hate it that I had to lie to him. I quickly ran out of the diner and into my mother’s Jetta.

I backed out of the parking lot and quickly drove down the street. I think I parked in a handicapped spot. If I got a ticket, at least I didn’t have to go far to pay the fine, but right now, I needed to be in the women’s bathroom of that huge government building, helping Liz get ready.

I ran up the twenty some steps, which was definitely enough to get me winded. I really hated gym class. Why couldn’t I be athletic? I should’ve started getting in shape years ago when we had to literally run from the FBI. Man, I hated gym class. Why didn’t Coach Morrow push me harder? It really didn’t help that I was already dressed in heels and a dress. This really sucked.

I threw open the entrance doors and found myself in a high ceiling lobby. The woman behind the large front desk gave me a little look. I patted my hair down and ironed out my dress with what sophistication I had left and walked towards the bathroom. I held out my arm to push the swinging door open but ended up running into the locked door. What sophistication I had left went straight out the window.

“Liz,” I said, knocking on the door. “It’s me, open up.”

The lock on the door clicked and Liz pulled open the door already dressed in her wedding outfit. Her white skirt flowed against the air conditioner breeze and her white peasant top hung just below her shoulders and left her stomach bare. She looked gorgeous and beautiful and…and Max was one lucky guy.

“Where have you been?” she asked, tugging me into the bathroom and locking it shut again. “You’re twenty minutes late.”

“I know, I know,” I sighed. “But your dad tried to get me to work today.”

“What did you say?” she asked, slightly panicked.

I started to pace around the room and sighed. “He wanted me to reschedule the doctor’s appointment that didn’t exist, so I just had to say that there was somewhere else I needed to be.”

“He wasn’t suspicious, was he?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “The diner was busy, he was taking orders, and I’ve been praying that he forgot.”

“Ok,” Liz sighed. “That’ll have to do.” She looked at her watch and her eyes widened. “Three o’clock. It’s three.”

“Yes,” I laughed. “At least we know that you remembered how to tell time. Nervous?”

“Just a little. Is it obvious?”

I gave a little grin. “No, you’re fine. You look absolutely gorgeous.”

I gave her a little hug and together we walked out of the bathroom. The door led straight to the lobby and we encountered the Evans-Parker wedding party. Three heads turned towards us; Michael’s, Isabel’s, and Jesse’s. Michael dressed in an actual suit for the fourth time in his whole life, and Isabel looked stunning in one of her dresses that just happened to be hanging in her closet. She was greatly complimented by the presence of her husband also dressed in a suit.

“Max,” I heard Michael say.

The groom was standing behind the group when Michael tapped his shoulder. Then Michael stepped to one side and Isabel and Jesse to the other. Max turned around, like when Leonardo DiCaprio turned around at the end of Titanic, and revealed himself. As he turned, his eyes went straight to Liz and his smile lit up the large hall.

Jesse and Michael kept the traditional dress by wearing a tie, but Max wore a suit with a white collared shirt. The best thing that he wore was the huge smile on his face.

Max was adopted, but his smile was almost identical to Mr. Evans’s. It consisted of a grin from ear to ear revealing all Max's pearly white teeth and those adorable dimples he had.

I was about to nudge Liz in the arm and point out the whole Evans Smile, but she was enthralled by the appearance of her soon-to-be-husband just like he was enthralled with her. Their eyes were glued to each other and nothing around them could take their gaze away, except for the arrival of Kyle.

Max started to approach Liz and I but stopped before he could make the first step. Kyle rushed into the building with his tie undone, and the need for an oxygen tank.

“Hey, how you guys doing?” he panted.

“Kyle!” Isabel gasped. “Are you ok?”

He started pointing outside while his mouth moved profusely. “Those are a lot of steps!”

“Tell me about it,” I grinned.

“Kyle, there really was no need to rush,” Liz told him.

“There is when your father’s coming up those steps,” he interrupted.

Michael jogged over to the doors and peered outside. He looked back at us and confirmed the threat.

“What do we do?” Jesse asked.

Isabel grabbed her husband and forced him towards Michael and Max, and forced the group of men towards the men’s bathroom.

“Wait!” Michael pleaded. “You can’t go in there.”

“Do you want Mr. Parker to find all of us out here?” Isabel rhetorically replied. “I don’t think so.”

She pushed the three men past us, and I grinned because Max and Liz had their eyes on each other once again. My eyes led me to Liz and I realized she was dressed in white in Town Hall.

“You might want to change,” I said.

She looked down at her outfit and nodded. “I almost forgot. I guess Max and I aren’t getting married today,” she said, disappointed.

“There’s always tomorrow,” I grinned. “Now go.”

She ran back into the women’s bathroom just as her father entered the building. Kyle gathered his cool in the millisecond it took for Mr. Parker to take off his sunglasses, and I quickly stood next to him.

“Hey, Mr. P,” I smiled nervously. “What are you doing here?”

He looked around the lobby before he answered us. “I came to visit Judge Walsh.”

I completely forgot that Mr. Parker and Judge Walsh were childhood friends. They’d have lunch once in a while and they always kept in touch. Now if I remembered correctly, Max told me to meet him in Judge Walsh’s chamber if they weren’t in the lobby at three.

“What are you kids doing here?” Liz’s father asked. “Maria, I thought you were at a doctor’s apartment.”

Kyle and I shot each other glances. Kyle was still bright red from running up Town Hall’s steps in a hurry, but he answered anyway. “School project. We were supposed to meet with Judge Morales," he lied.

“That’s why we’re dressed like this,” I explained.

Mr. Parker bobbed his head. “I see. You guys haven’t seen Liz, have you? She didn’t come home right after school, I thought you dropped her off when you came by, Maria, but—”

Liz stumbled out of the bathroom and jogged over towards her friends. “Dad,” she said, “hi.”

“Hey, Liz,” he replied. “Whatever happened to coming home right after school or calling?”

“It was last minute, and I was just about to call,” Liz lied.

Mr. Parker bobbed his head and continued to look around the lobby. “So, what’s this school project on?”

I panicked when I saw Liz’s eyes widened. “Laws,” Kyle finally blurted. “The marital laws of our town.”

I nudged Kyle in the ribs.

“Sounds good,” Mr. Parker sighed. “Listen, I can meet with Judge Walsh another time. Are you all finished here? Let me take you home, Liz.”

Liz looked over at me, and I couldn’t help her out. If we tried to object, he’d become more suspicious. It was best that Liz went home today with her father. She could see what I was thinking and nodded.

“Ok,” she told her father. “I need a minute with Kyle and Maria first. I’ll see you at the car.”

Mr. Parker left the three of us alone, and we were left to discuss what was going to happen next.

“I better go with him,” Liz told Kyle and me. “When Max comes out, tell him I’ll call him later.”

Kyle was distracted, and then pointed at the distraction. “Tell him yourself.”

Liz whipped around and saw a group of people emerge from the men’s bathroom. Max was in the front, leading the group that approached us.

“Close one, huh?” he smiled.

Liz let him wrap his arms around her. “Yeah. I need to leave in, like, a second. My father’s waiting for me.”

I watched them press their foreheads together. They loved each other so much, and it must've been so hard for them to love each other the way they do. I mean, look at all the obstacles they’ve had. Suddenly, I felt guilty for being able to love Michael so freely.

“So, what do we do now?” I heard Max ask.

“Um…” I chimed in. “What we do is not have you guys married here since Liz’s father knows the judge.”

Liz gave a little grin. “Maria’s right.”

“I’ll think of something,” Max sighed. He kissed the tip of her nose and smiled. “You better go. I’ll call you later.” Liz nodded and kissed Max on the lips. “This will happen, Liz,” he said, as she walked away. “I promise.”
Last edited by hoLLyBEHRy on Fri Mar 19, 2004 11:36 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Chapter 7
{Michael}
I pulled out a box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch from Maxwell’s cupboard, a bowl, the milk carton from the fridge, and a bottle of Tabasco off the counter, and took a seat on his leather couch. Dinner.

After our less than successful day today, I decided to go home with Maxwell just in case he needed some pepping up. Not like I, myself, could do it, but I could always find something on tv to cheer him up. I took a seat on his new, leather, Sharper Image reclining chair (very primo), and turned on the tv. I looked over at Maxwell on his tan leather couch. He was stretched out across the long piece of furniture, but his feet still hung slightly over the edge. He stared up at the ceiling and didn’t seem to care that The Simpsons was on, even though it was his favorite show.

“Alright, Maxwell,” I sighed. “The doctor’s in. Tell me what’s on your mind.”

He put his arms behind his head and continued to stare up at the bare, white ceiling. “Am I doing the right thing, Michael? I’m pretty sure that I’m right about asking Liz to marry me, I love her, but should we rush getting married?”

I shook a few drops of Tabasco into my cereal and took a few bites before giving my insight. “To tell you the truth, Maxwell…I think you’re nuts for doing this.” I hit a nerve, and Maxwell was up in his seat. I nervously cleared my throat and went on. “But you know that whatever you decide to do in life, I’m there for you, even if I disagree. This is one of those things. Max, I know you love Liz. Everyone knows it. Everyone’s jealous of the love you two have. But you are rushing into this, and I think you’re doing this so that she won’t go to Vermont.” I couldn’t help but feel awkward as Maxwell stared at me fiercely. Maybe I should shut up right about now. “I think you should wait a while until you two get married.” Whatever happened to shutting up, Michael? Now you’ve got to explain yourself, good going.

“You and Liz were supposed to take things slow to begin with,” I said. “Now, I’m not saying that you should break off the engagement. I think you should just wait a while until you two get married. Things between her parents and her suck, and things between your parents and you also suck. It’s you and Liz against them. It’s not right, Max. Nothing’s the way it’s supposed to be right now. Maybe you should wait until everything blows over. Work on the relationships between you, Liz, and both sets of parents.”

I stopped right there. I think I was done. I covered all the bases. Yeah…yeah, I was done. This is how I felt about the situation. I love Maxwell, and I’ve grown to love Liz, but it just wasn’t right for them to get married right now.

Maxwell cleared his throat. “Thanks, Michael,” he said, shocking me and making my eyes as wide as hockey pucks. “But I think you’re wrong.” My eyes returned to normal size as Max went on. “What’s the point of waiting? You said it yourself, I love Liz.”

“And she loves you too,” I replied quickly. “So, don’t you think that she would still love you even though you were miles apart? Wouldn’t you love her the same? What are you so scared of?”

“I just can’t go a year without seeing her,” Max sighed. “Holidays are too short. I need her close by.”

I put down my bowl of cereal on Max's glass coffee table, because I needed both of my hands to rub my temples. “Max,” I sighed, “just listen to yourself for one minute, a second even. The first thing that comes out of your mouth is ‘I’. Liz follows wherever you go. She does what you want to do. Did you ever stop and think that maybe Liz wants an actual wedding? Did you even bother to ask? She might not want a wedding, but maybe you should ask. You and Liz deserve better than standing in a small judge’s chamber being married in front of five people. Five people that don’t even consist of either set of parents.”

Max stared away for a while, and I was nervous about what he was going to say to me. He stood up from the couch, and now I was nervous about what he was going to do. But Max just took a deep breath and walked towards his room.

“You better get some sleep. We need to get up early tomorrow morning. There’s a blanket in the closet. You can crash here tonight.”

Swing and a miss. What was the point of Maxwell asking for my opinion when he wasn’t going to take it into consideration? I hated it when people asked me for an opinion. Obviously my opinions didn’t matter.

“Wait. Why are we getting up early tomorrow?” I wondered.

Max reached for the phone and started dialing. “Tomorrow, Liz and I are getting married. We’re going to Santa Fe.”
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*Max is a jerk quite a few times in this story. I think it's because he just got Liz back and that's all that he sees, is Liz. She's all that matters. So, he gets pretty careless and goes to extremes to keep Liz and to show her that he loves her because he feels that he has to because of what he...did with Tess. hey! wow, i just realized all that stuff. haha, thanks. and yes, Michael does have his moments with Max to wake him up.*

and here's chapter 8...

Chapter 8
{Max}
I sat on the trunk of my car, anxiously awaiting my wedding party. Whenever my friends decided to show up, we were heading to Santa Fe so that Liz and I could get married. I called Liz and the others late last night and told them what I had thought of in a split second. It was so sudden. Liz and I were going to try to get married the day after our first attempt failed, but we needed to hurry.

The sky was still dark; the sun wouldn’t rise for another hour or two. I’d been outside almost all morning, just sitting on my car, waiting for my friends. Michael was sitting in the passenger seat of my Chevelle, asleep. I valued what he said last night, but he was wrong.

Before I knew it, a silver Civic and a beat down, red Jetta stopped in front of me. From the Civic, Isabel, Jesse, and Kyle stepped out, and from the Jetta, Maria and my bride appeared before my eyes. I went straight to Liz and greeted her with a kiss.

“Hey, save some of that action for the wedding kiss,” Maria smiled.

I let Liz go but kept my eyes staring deep into hers. “Are we ready to go?”

“I really think that’s a question appropriate from someone other than the man who is gazing into his fiancée’s eyes,” Kyle sighed.

Liz got on her tiptoes, kissed me, and then looked to everyone. “Let’s go.”

I didn’t want to let go of Liz, but if we wanted to keep as much tradition as we could, then Liz was going to have to make the four hour trip in Isabel and Jesse’s car. I knew it was going to be the longest four hours of my life.

Liz left my grasp and got into Isabel’s car, followed by Maria. Kyle moved from the silver Civic and into my Chevelle. I stood outside, supervising everything, wanting to make sure that we were all going to be safe.

“Congratulations,” Isabel said to me, wrapping her arms around my neck. “You know, five months ago, I would have told you that you were crazy, but you’re doing the same thing I just did. So, congratulations, Max. I don’t think I told you that.”

I sighed heavily and held my sister in my arms. “Thanks, Isabel. I’m sorry I couldn’t have been this way when you told me about you and Jesse.”

“It’s ok,” she smiled. “I understand your position. I don’t like it, but I understand it.”

She playfully pushed me away and got into the passenger seat of her car, leaving me alone outside with her husband. He wearily walked over to me with his hand out. I gave a small smile and shook my new brother-in-law’s hand.

“I know that you don’t like me all that much,” Jesse started, “but I just wanted you to know that it means a great deal to me that you’re letting me be a part of this. It’s making me feel like a part of this crazy family of yours.”

If he only knew how crazy it really was. Jesse still had no idea about what Michael, Isabel, and I are. Maybe some time in the future we’d tell him, along with my parents, that we were special. Or maybe we wouldn’t tell them at all because it’d be for their own good.

“Thanks for coming,” I said to Jesse. “And thanks for not telling my dad.”

Jesse chuckled a bit. “I do have to warn you, though. He did think it was suspicious that I needed the day off on short notice.”

“Don’t worry about it. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

*~*

We had been on the road for an hour, the sun was rising, and all I had seen for miles was desert. Every so often, I’d look into the rear view mirror and see a silver Civic behind me. I could picture Liz in the backseat with her head on Maria’s shoulder. I was going to marry her today and we were going to be husband and wife. There were nights when I dreamed of that and mornings sometimes realizing that that could never be. Today, we were going to make it possible. Practically everything we faced was defying us, defying our true love. Today, Liz and I were going to go against everything and everyone.

“Max,” a voice said. It was Kyle.

I looked in the rear view mirror at him in the backseat. “What is it, Kyle?”

“Do you mind if we stop?” he asked. “I need to use the little boys’ room.”

“Why don’t you just call it the restroom?” Michael sighed. His eyes were barely open even though his head slammed against the window every time the car hit a little bump, which was often.

“There’s a diner just ahead,” I informed Kyle. “I’ll call Jesse and let him know.”

I pulled my phone out of my back pocket while continuing to steer my car. I pressed a few buttons and got a hold of Jesse. I got back a positive response and we drove the next five miles until we saw the diner. The desert floor served as the diner’s parking lot and I stopped a foot away from the small building. Jesse stopped next to me and all of us emerged from the cars.

I immediately spotted Liz and walked over to her with my hands out welcoming her. “Good morning,” I smiled.

She looked up at me with an even bigger smile on her face. “Hi. Is this our pre-wedding breakfast?”

“It’ll have to do.”

From the corner of my eye I could see the others staring at us groggily. It was still early and we had been in some uncomfortable positions for the last hour.

“I think I’m going to be sick,” Maria informed us.

Everyone dragged themselves up the stairs and into the diner.

“We better go in,” Liz said to me.

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry. Are you?”

She nodded her head and kissed my lips. “Come on, Max.”

“Go ahead. I’ll be in in a minute.”

Liz nodded and followed the others. I watched her jog up the steps and waited until she was safely in the diner. I shivered at the cold morning breeze and went back into my car for my jacket. Even if I wasn’t cold, I needed my jacket. Right now, it was holding two of the most important things in the world.

I threw on the leather jacket and searched its pocket for a small box. It was a little bigger than a normal ring box since it was holding both Liz’s and my wedding ring. I bought them yesterday at old Mr. Jenkins’s jewelry store on the end of Main Street just before going to Town Hall when I thought I was going to get married that day. They were the most expensive rings he had, and I bought them with the money I had saved from working for Brody.

When I had the security of knowing that our rings were still in my possession, I started to back out of the car, but not before I looked over my shoulder and saw a patrol car pull up next to mine. I tried my best not to look at the two officers who were glancing at me as they stepped out of the government issued car. I quickly shut the door to my Chevelle and locked it. Then as coolly as I could, I walked up the few steps into the diner and met my friends who were sitting in a circular booth that accommodated everyone except Michael and Kyle who had grabbed chairs from a table and sat at the end of the booth.

“What took you so long?” Isabel asked.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took the free space next to Liz which I assumed was for me. “I just needed some air.”

The bells on the door rang and the two police officers walked in, saying hello to some truckers that were probably regulars in the diner. Another trucker walked in and sat by himself a few seats away from the group of truckers. I looked over my shoulder and watched them. Suddenly, a cold chill ran up my spine and I became nervous. The others seemed calm, but maybe they were just tired.

I watched as the police officers made their way over to our side of the diner, and I was almost positive that they were going to come talk to us. But they took a seat at the counter instead, and ordered some coffee from the waitress.

“We already ordered you some bacon, sausage, and eggs,” Michael said.

I blinked a few times and looked at Michael. “What?” I don’t think I heard him the first time.

“Bacon, sausage, and eggs,” Michael said again. “We already ordered for you.”

“Oh,” I replied, and at an instant, everyone knew I was preoccupied by something else.

“Something wrong?” Maria asked me.

I looked over at her and gave a weak smile. “No, I—I’m fine.”

“Might be cold feet,” I heard Jesse laugh. “Don’t worry about it, Max. I admit I got them too.”

Isabel gave him grief about that but I wasn’t paying attention. I looked out of the corner of my eye, continuing to watch the officers. They were big men and could easily take Michael, Kyle, Jesse, and I out. We were in a small town, smaller than Roswell, so I could understand why they looked at us suspiciously. Even we looked at the strangers that came into our town with suspicion. But that was my group of people, which included people “not of this Earth”.

“Max, what’s wrong?” Liz whispered. My arms were folded on the table and Liz was wrapped around my arm closest to hers, and her cute chin rested on my tricep.

I shook my head and kissed her forehead. “Nothing. It’s nothing.”

“Are you getting cold feet, Max? ‘Cause we could always wait and—”

“No,” I said firmly. “I want to marry you today. I don’t think I can wait.”

I brought a smile to her face, and there was nothing more rewarding than her smile. I kissed her forehead again and joined the conversation at hand. Well, I listened to it, anyway. But then our food came and no one spoke. The diner was pretty silent. The four truckers at the opposite end of the diner were focused on their soup and coffee, except for the one who constantly looked over his shoulder at us. Other than that, the diner was quiet, everyone keeping to themselves. That was until the police dispatcher radioed in, breaking the silence.

I tried my best to make sense of what the person on the other end of the radio was saying, but it was so muffled that I couldn’t make out one word. After about a minute, the radio went silent and the officers started to discuss something. One of the police officers got off his stool and left the diner. The other officer remained in his seat, discreetly looking over his shoulder at us. Again, none of my friends noticed.

“Max, are you going to eat your food?” Kyle asked me.

I looked down, shook my head, and slid my plate to Kyle. He pushed his empty plate away and hovered over mine like a starved man, forcing spoonfuls of bacon and eggs into his mouth.

“I need to use the bathroom,” I announced, and excused myself from the table. I needed to wash my face and cool off.

I slid out of the booth and saw the officer looking at me. He was in between me and the bathroom, and in order for to get there, I’d have to pass by the large policeman. And he wouldn’t let me go. The man in the tan uniform got up from his seat and stood in front of me.

“You going somewhere, son?” he asked me.

He was barely older than me. He really had no right to call me “son”. When he did, everyone at the booth looked up and saw the confrontation between the officer and I.

“I—I was just trying to get to the...uh...bathroom, sir,” I said nervously.

“Maybe you should just take a seat back in the booth with your friends,” the officer replied.

He had put his hands on me as if I was still trying to push on through. I really didn’t like being touched. I knew there was something wrong from the beginning, and right now I just wanted grab the guy and throw him over the counter. I knew that I could, with the help of my powers. But instead, I stuck my burning hands into my pockets.

“Is there something wrong, officer?” I heard Jesse ask.

He took on a lawyer tone and seemed to step into his alter ego. He got out of the booth and stood next to the officer and me.

“Yes,” the officer replied. “There actually is something wrong. I’m wondering what a bunch of kids are doing in this small town at four in the morning, on a school day.”

I didn’t know that by putting on a tan uniform with a deputy badge over the breast pocket gave someone the ability to believe that they were older. This guy was probably twenty, and here he was calling us kids. Jesse was clearly older than the guy.

“We’re not kids,” Michael defensively replied. “And we’re just passing through.”

“From where and to where are y’all heading?” the man asked.

“Roswell and we’re heading to Santa Fe,” Kyle answered.

The officer bobbed his head up and down as he ran his tongue over his teeth. He smacked his lips and placed his hands on his belt. “Y’all aren’t planning on skipping to another state, are you?”

“Officer, what is this about?” Jesse asked, once again in his lawyer tone. “Last time I checked, it wasn’t against the law for people to eat at a diner at four in the morning. Otherwise, you should be confronting those truck drivers over there also.”

The officer sighed a little laugh, and I just wanted to knock that smug smile of his face. “My partner’s checking out those cars y’all came in here with. We just got a radio about some stolen cars in Roswell.”

“You think we stole them,” Isabel assumed.

The girls had pretty much remained quiet, and that’s how I wanted them to be. I didn’t want them involved even though I knew it was imminent that we were all going to be involved.

“Those are our cars,” Jesse argued. “Check our licenses and registrations.”

As the officer was about to reply, his partner opened the glass door and stood at the doorway. All of us watched him nod, and before I knew it, the other officer grabbed firmly onto my arm. I threw that arm over my head, freeing myself from the man’s grasp, but he was too quick and he shoved me into the counter. I took the edge of the counter into my stomach and had the wind knocked out of me. It hurt real bad. There was no fighting him now. My hands were behind my back and I heard the sound of cuffs being pulled from the officer’s belt. I had heard that sound before.

“Jesse!” Liz pleaded. “Do something.”

“What the hell are you doing?” Jesse asked the officer. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted him to say, but I guess it was enough.

The other policeman jogged over and helped his partner pull me up off the counter. The commotion alerted the truckers and the waitress who ran out of the kitchen when she heard the napkin holder and condiments on the counter crash onto the floor. They all remained still, shocked by what was going on, but they couldn’t do anything. They didn’t know who I or my friends were, but they knew the two officers.

In handcuffs once again and there Liz was to see it happen all over again. They were on too tight, and I could already feel them cutting my skin.

“This young man may be a threat,” the officer who cuffed me smugly replied.

“That was the first time he appeared to be a threat,” Jesse argued. “He was only trying to get your hand off of him.”

“Then what would he have done?” one of the officer’s asked.

All my friends were already out of their seats just as shocked as the other people in the room. But I knew that there was going to be trouble, and my expressionless face let my friends know that.

“We need to take y’all in,” one officer said. “Take those cars and follow us to the station.”

No one stirred.

“Now!”

“You’ve got the keys to the Chevelle, Maxwell,” Michael said.

But right now I couldn’t really get them since they were in my pocket. I looked over at Liz who had been watching me the whole time. She knew that I was asking her to get them from me. She slowly walked over to me and reached into my jean pocket. She looked up at me, scared.

“I don't know what's going," I told her. "But it’ll be ok, Liz.”

She didn’t say a word, but nodded. God, I hated her seeing me like this. Twice. Twice I’ve been in handcuffs. Liz was there both times. And now it’s been twice that I’ve been forced away from her like this

Liz handed Michael the keys and the officer pushed me towards the door. I stumbled and almost tripped over my own feet. Then the officer grabbed hold of my arm and started to lead me out.

“Max!” Jesse shouted after me. “Don’t say anything unless I’m present.”

I didn’t even look at him. I only stared down and at the fluorescent light that was reflected in the floor.
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hoLLyBEHRy
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Post by hoLLyBEHRy »

Chapter 9: Part 1

[Liz]
We didn’t wait for the policemen to leave the diner completely. When the one officer shoved Max, we threw some money down and followed behind them and that’s when Jesse warned Max to keep silent.

We rushed to the cars, and instead of riding with Maria, Isabel and Jesse, I climbed into the covered convertible with Michael and Kyle. We followed close behind the patrol car and I could see Max in the backseat. He didn’t look over his shoulder at us.

What the hell was going on? Why were we being brought in so harshly? How come the officers never checked to make sure that our cars were really ours? And why was only Max handcuffed and in the back of the patrol car? I didn’t buy that lame excuse the officer threw at us.

It was a horrible, silent fifteen minute drive into the town’s police station. I had driven past this town every time I went to the Santa Fe Municipal Airport, and I never realized how small it was. It was a lot like being back in Salina. Maybe the town here needed some criminals to catch also. But this time, the crime was completely fabricated.

When we parked at the police station, Max was already being brought inside by the two police officers. We quickly got out and followed in after them. It was unfair that we got to walk in freely. It frightened me. But I couldn’t be frightened; Max wouldn’t want me to be. So, I remained calm even though inside I was a disaster.

The six of us walked in. It was quiet and only a few other people were there. All of which were police officers. They sat at desks not doing much of anything, except for processing Max. The two officers that brought all of us in, walked right past us without a word and out of the station.

Jesse stepped forward and spoke to the clerk at the front desk. “I’m Jesse Ramirez,” he said. “I represent Max Evans.”

The woman behind the desk took a good look at all of us and shook her head. “I’m afraid all of you were ordered to be brought in. Follow me please.”

She held the swinging door back and all of us walked through. Maria clung to my arm tightly as we walked through the police department. The few police officers there had their eyes glued on us. We passed by Max as they asked him for a statement for a crime that we didn’t even commit. It was like being back in Salina. The woman officer led us all the way into the back, through a small hallway, and finally to a few cells that were all empty.

“Girls in one and boys in the other, she ordered.

The burly woman unlocked the door to one cell and then the other one, and Maria, Isabel, and I separated from the guys. A bunk bed and single bed were in each cell, along with a metallic toilet and sink. I’m ashamed to admit that this jail cell was nicer than the one in Salina.



{Max}
The officer handed me a tissue to wipe off the ink on my fingers. I politely grabbed it from him and started wiping my fingers clean while he asked me questions. All the while, I was still in handcuffs. Maybe they did things differently at each police station because I remember in Salina they un-cuffed me once my prints were taken. But here, I had given them my prints nearly ten minutes ago, and I was still handcuffed, trying to clean off my fingers with my hands behind my back. It was the most uncomfortable position imaginable.

“Why were you all heading to Santa Fe, Max?” the officer asked me.

But like Jesse said, I shouldn’t say anything without him present. “I want my lawyer,” I told the officer.

“Mr. Ramirez?” the man asked me. “Well, for your information, Max, he’s locked up with the rest of your friends. You all are facing grand theft auto for two cars. Chevelles are pretty hard to find nowadays. Still don’t want to explain?” I bit down hard and looked away. “Alright, then. Come with me.”

He grabbed my arm and pulled me off the chair. He led me to the backroom which was where they had the cells. I turned the corner and instantly saw Liz. She was sitting on the bottom bunk but jumped to her feet when she saw me.

“Max!” she cried. “Are you ok?”

Everyone jumped to their feet also. They watched me like a goldfish as the officer that led me in pushed me into a cell of my own. I couldn’t give Liz a reply yet. I wanted to be able to see her face when I told her that I was perfectly fine. Until then, the guard turned me around and undid the handcuffs. My hands went to my wrists to soothe the pain. Then after the guard took the cuffs off, he leaned for a tub on the bed and stood in front of me.

“I need all your personal belongings,” he ordered.

I reached into my pockets, pulling out my cell phone and wallet, and dropped the items into the tub.

“Is there anything else?” the officer questioned.

I had been holding onto the box in my leather jacket pocket for security once I was done soothing my wrists. This whole time I was scared that the officers had manhandled me too much that the box might have jumped out of my pocket. But now that it was firmly in my hand, I didn’t want to let it go. I had to, though. I hesitantly slid my hand out of my pocket with my hand still grasping the box. I discreetly placed it into the tub and glared into the officer’s eyes.

“Please do not lose that,” I said in a hoarse whisper.

The officer gave a little grin and left my cell, locking the metal bar door behind him. I took a seat on one of the beds and ran my hands through my hair.

“Max,” I heard Liz say.

I looked to my right, and everyone was still looking to me for something. If you asked any of them, they would say that I was the natural leader. I hated that being a leader was encoded in my genes.

“Are you ok?” Liz asked.

I stood up and walked to the bars. “I’m fine,” I told everyone. “I’m fine.”

“Max, you didn’t say anything, did you?” Jesse asked me. I shook my head. “Good,” he said, relieved. “Good. Listen, all of you, I don’t know what’s going on, but I will get us out of this.”

But I shook my head. “We’ll just wait it out. I don’t want us to cause anymore conflict.”

“Something weird is going on,” Liz suggested, and I watched a few of the others agree.

“We’ll be out of here in no time,” Kyle said, hopeful. “They’ll let us have our phone calls and my dad will get us out. I’ve seen this happen on tv all the time. It’s just a big misunderstanding.”

I sighed. “This isn’t tv, Kyle.”

*~*

I sat on the cold floor up against the bars so that my distance from Liz wasn’t very large. She did the same, leaning against the bars, and even hugging one. The others were all lying on the beds. Isabel and Jesse lied on the beds that were next to each other even though there was a wall of metal bars dividing them. I wanted so bad to be able to do that, but there was a whole aisle dividing Liz and I.

“There’s something weird going on,” Liz said. “We’ve been here for an hour and no one’s come back to check on us. We haven’t had our phone calls either.”

“Who would you call?” I wondered. “Your father? He’ll send you farther away.”

“That wouldn’t happen if we got married.”

She was so hopeful. I wanted to smile and tell her that what she just said was true, but then I remembered what Michael said to me last night, just hours earlier.

“Liz, I’ve been thinking about this a lot,” I said, and I saw Michael sit up on his squeaky bed in the cell next to Liz’s, everyone else continued to sleep. “Last night, I couldn’t get to sleep,” I told Liz, “because I realized that I was doing all of this for myself, Liz. I realized how I selfish I am. I knew that eventually I was going to ask you to marry me, but I asked you this soon because I didn’t want you to leave me. I wanted you to myself. I was ok with us getting married in some crammed office.

“But now,” I continued, “I want you to have the wedding you’ve dreamt of. I want your father to walk you down the aisle. You deserve the absolute best.”

All the while I spoke, Liz listened patiently. She didn’t even barge in to interrupt or argue. I think Michael was right.

“You think we should wait a while,” Liz realized. “If we do that, I’ll be on a plane for Vermont Sunday night.”

I looked at the space between us and nodded. “I—I know.”

“Eight months is a long time,” Liz sighed.

“I—I know,” I stuttered again. “But we can write, send emails, and I’ll call everyday. I’ll see you at Thanksgiving. That’s only little more than a month away, and then there’s winter break. Maybe I’ll fly over once or twice a month and stay for the weekend. We’ll make it work. Eight months will pass by in no time, and we can get married in the summer. Liz, I just want everything and everyone to be ok with this, with us.”
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hoLLyBEHRy
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Post by hoLLyBEHRy »

*thanks again for the feedback!*

Chapter 9: Part 2
[Maria]

From the tiny window in Max's cell, the sun was already up and there was no more pink or orange in the sky. We must’ve been in these small jail cells for a few hours now, and still, no one came back to offer us our phone calls. We didn’t complain about it either. We were all too tired.

But I wasn’t tired enough to listen to Max and Liz’s conversation. I know, it is eavesdropping, but it’s hard to not overhear when you’re in a ten by ten jail cell. Today was another failed attempt of their marriage. Two failed attempts in two days. Max was right to hold off the marriage. I had to admit that I was feeling selfish like Max was, and I was hoping that the two of them would get married today because I couldn’t let Liz leave either. However, there was that great invention called the telephone.

After they discussed it, Max told Liz to climb into bed and get some sleep. He said that she should get some rest since we were all going to school today. Michael needed to get to class so he could graduate, and Max figured that we all might as well go to school.

So, Liz climbed into the bunk underneath mine and went to sleep. I knew she fell asleep almost instantly. Liz and I have had enough sleepovers to know each other’s sleeping sounds. Isabel and Jesse were still asleep, and so was Kyle. Michael sat up once, but then lied back down in bed. Max continued to sit on the floor with his back pressed against the metal bars. It had to hurt, but it was probably keeping him awake, which was how he wanted to be. He wanted to watch us, because his #2 priority was to protect us. #1 was Liz, of course.

The police department was pretty silent, and had been for a long time. I let my eyelids slowly fall, and I knew I was just about to fall asleep when two sets of footsteps I heard in the distance started growing louder.

“Dad?” I heard Max gasp.

I quickly rolled on my stomach and peered over the bed railing. I had a good bird’s eye view of Philip Evans standing before his son on the outside of the jail cell. I could tell that the kind of surprise Max felt in seeing his father was not an ecstatic one.

“What are you doing here?” Max whispered. I bet he was whispering so that he wouldn’t wake any of us. Too late. I knew that the others were awake just like I was, or would be soon. “I didn’t—I didn’t call you,” Max continued to speak.

“The policemen here called the house, Max.”

I watched him stand a fair distance away from his father, about a foot or two away, and everyone could tell he wasn’t eager to see his father.

“They never told us that,” he said. “They didn’t even let us have a phone call.”

“Well, they saved you the trouble,” Philip said. “Max…this is the second time I’ve seen you in jail, but it isn’t just you and Liz, now it’s everyone.”

“We didn’t do anything,” Max pleaded. “They’ve got us in here for supposedly stealing our own cars. Aren’t you going to help us? They denied our right to have a phone call, and they didn’t listen to Jesse argue our case.”

Philip let his head drop. “This isn’t a courtroom,” he laughed.

“Are you going to help us get out of here or not?”

“In a minute,” Max's father replied. “I want to know why you were heading to Santa Fe.”

“What?” Max asked, surprised.

“I know you all were heading to Santa Fe, now I want to know why.”

I looked at Max glare angrily at his father. “How did you…”

“At the diner, Kyle told the officer that you all were heading to Santa Fe.”

Max took a moment to think, and I knew he caught his father’s slip up. “How did you know it was Kyle who told the officer, and how did you know Kyle told the officer while we were at the diner?”

Philip shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Just stick to what I-”

“NO!” Max shouted.

Now everyone couldn’t fake sleeping because Max's cry was loud enough to open everyone’s eyes.

“How did you know about the diner?” Max asked. His words were slow and heavily stressed.

“Max, don’t question me,” his father replied. “You are—”

“No!” Max refused again. “You set this up,” he realized. “You’re the one that reported the ‘stolen’ cars.”

“Max—”

“Isn’t that against the law?” Max interrupted. He looked over in the cell next to mine. “Am I right, Jesse?” He knew that we were all awake now. “You reported stolen cars that aren’t even stolen, Dad. You can’t legally do that. I mean, we’re wasting valuable tax dollars here. You’re the lawyer, ‘Dad’. Give me an answer here.”

“Don’t get smart!” Philip shouted. His face grew red and his teeth were clenched.

It became a shouting match between the two. Max's father was interrogating his own son, and Max was doing the same. We were completely oblivious to them.

“Max, fine! I had the police find you. I had them lock you up so I could get a chance to find some answers! We don’t talk anymore! I don’t even know who you are! Who are you, Max?!”

Max stared at his father in shock. “I’m your son,” he replied, his voice shaky.

I almost cried the way he pleaded.

“Then tell me, son, what’s going on with you?” Philip said. “Why are you in jail?”

Max looked off to the side, which he did a lot when he took a minute to think. But then I watched Max turn his back to his father, which was something I rarely saw Max ever do. I knew his hurt was building inside of him. His own father would lock him up. His own father would question him like a criminal. Max continued to keep his back to his father.

“Why were you going to Santa Fe, Max? What were you going to do there?” Mr. Evans continued to pester.

Max retaliated back. He lunged back towards the metal bars and grabbed a tight hold of them, shaking them fiercely, wanting to break free. He shook them so hard that the bars down the wall rattled also and it echoed loudly in the room. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!?” he shouted in his father’s face. Max's own face was so red and his eyes were so piercing. He stared at his father in the face, letting his father see the tears in his eyes that he caused. He shoved at the bars once more, pushing himself away. He walked to the opposite end of the cell to the cement wall and fell back against it. Slowly, Max slid down to the floor. He forced the balls of his palms into his eyes and dried the tears.

“I just want to know,” Philip replied calmly. “What’s in Santa Fe? Why are you guys driving there so early in the morning?”

A long pause permeated the room. We all waited for Max to give some sort of response since Philip wasn’t pushing it too much. Instead, Max continued to sit on the floor silently while we all watched him.

“City Hall,” he had finally murmured.

“What?” Philip asked, wanting to hear the mumble much clearer.

Max looked up from his palms and sighed, defeated. “City Hall.”

“City Hall?” his father wondered. “What the hell would you guys do at Santa Fe City Hall?”

“Do you really want to know?” Max asked crudely.

Philip nodded as his son stood up and approached him. “Yes,” Philip said. “I think I have a right to know.”

“You really want to know…” Max said, then he tilted his head to the side and looked past his father into our cell. “I’m sorry, Liz.” I realized later that he apologized for revealing the secret that they wanted to keep from their parents until they were ready. “Ok, fine,” Max sighed. “I’m giving in. We were going to Santa Fe City Hall so that Liz and I could get married.”

Philip’s eyes darted as he tried to look into both Max's eyes at once. Max stood firm and swallowed the lump in his throat and made it known that he was no longer afraid. Philip shook his head.

“To get married?” he said softly, and mostly to himself just to let it sink in.

“Yes,” Max nodded. “Liz and I wanted to get married, so we were going to go to Santa Fe’s City Hall to get married because Mr. Parker knew the judge at Roswell. We wanted it to be a secret.”

“I don’t understand,” Philip said. “Why get married at 18? You guys are so young…unless Liz is preg—”

Max shook his head calmly. “She’s not. Liz and I just wanted to get married. We love each other.”

I watched Mr. Evans shake his head. “I still don’t understand.”

“Then stop trying to figure it out,” Max snapped. “Stop trying to figure me out. Some things are meant to be left untouched.”

“So, what are you going to do now?” Philip wondered.

“We were going to go back to Roswell once we got out of here.”

Philip shook his head.

“No, I mean you and Liz.”

“Oh, we’re still getting married,” Max assured his father. “We’re just going to wait a while.”

Philip sighed. “Max, I’m sorry. I’m beginning to understand. This was the only way for you and Liz to be together since her father was
so disapproving of this relationship. I haven’t made it any easier, have I?”

Max shook his head, and Philip continued.

“I just wanted to know what was going on with you, Max. We haven’t talked since Salina,” Max's father explained. “You moved out and then that was the end of it. I didn’t want it to be that way.”

Max nodded. “I know, Dad.”

“I thought you were into something else.”

“Like what?” Max asked, a little shocked.

“I don’t know…drugs?”

“Why don’t you trust me?” Max wondered, but realized how stupid the question was.

“Maybe because you brought a gun into a convenience store wearing a ski mask and you didn’t even rob the place. That puts questions into my head,” Philip said. “It really makes me think about you. I don’t want to have to, but I always have to worry about you and whether or not you’re telling the truth.”

His father was right. What Max and Liz did that day made everyone in the small town of Roswell look at them in a different light.

Max nodded in agreement. “I understand. Dad, I can’t explain to you about why Liz and I did that. I don’t think I ever can without putting you and Mom in danger, but know that something like that won’t ever happen again.”

Philip sighed and nodded. “I want to believe that, Max. I really do. I guess we’ll just give it time.”

Max nodded. “Of course.”

“I’ll see that they let you out of here,” Philip told his son.

Max nodded and followed his father with his eyes as he walked out of the hallway and into the station.

Liz caught Max's eye. “Max, we should—”

“No,” Max said firmly.

“He would understand,” Liz replied back.

Isabel looked over at Jesse who still didn’t know the secret. So she walked over to Liz and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Give it up, Liz,” I heard her whisper. “Max won’t ever give in.”
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