Roswell Fanatics

Okay guys. I'm new at this whole fic writing thing, so cut me some slack. I hope you enjoy this. This part is really short but it's all that I'm ready to post so far. Please reply constructive FB. I'll need some pointers, I'm sure. I have yet to create a banner for it. I might call on Beautiful86 to help me with that. Okay here it goes:

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Title: I'm Sorry

Author: newbie_843040

Category: CC, M/L, Mi/M

Rating: TEEN/MATURE for language.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline. Oh what I wouldn’t give to own Max or Michael… "Everytime" lyrics by Britney Spears

Summary: Set after Destiny. Liz deals with her anger and resentment by lashing out against everyone around her, guilty or not. Things get especially rough with Max. Okay, just a forewarning: there is some major Tess bashing going on here so any Tess fans, I don’t recommend you read this.

*Italics indicate a thought or stressed word.*

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The group is standing outside of the pod chamber. Liz walks away from Max. She stops to look back. Seeing that Tess has already moved closer to Max, Liz turns back around and keeps walking while her heart breaks with every step she takes.


Notice me, take my hand
Why are we strangers when
Our love is strong
Why carry on without me

Everytime I try to fly, I fall
Without my wings, I feel so small
I guess I need you, baby
And everytime I see you in my dreams
I see your face, it's haunting me
I guess I need you, baby

I make believe that you are here
It's the only way I see clear
What have I done
You seem to move on easy

And everytime I try to fly, I fall
Without my wings, I feel so small
I guess I need you, baby
And everytime I see you in my dreams
I see your face, you're haunting me
I guess I need you, baby

I may have made it rain
Please forgive me
My weakness caused you pain
And this song's my sorry

At night I pray
That soon your face will fade away

And everytime I try to fly, I fall
Without my wings, I feel so small
I guess I need you, baby
And everytime I see you in my dreams
I see your face, you're haunting me
I guess I need you, baby

*****

One week later…

“Maria!” Liz yelled from behind the counter. “What is with you?! Could you be moving any slower? Your order is still sitting up here! You better get it together.”

“Liz, I don’t know why you are treating me like this.” Maria threw her pad and pen down on the counter. “This is how I always am, and up until now, you’ve had no problem with it.” She couldn’t believe the way her best friend was acting. Ever since revelations about Max’s destiny were revealed that day at the pod chamber, Liz had been getting on everyone’s case. Maria was down right tired of it. It was going to stop. Soon.

“Well, I’ve just been noticing your so-called ‘work habits’ recently. They suck. You suck!”

Liz’s seemingly simple words cut Maria deep.

“Screw this. Find someone to cover for me. I’m out.” Maria was pissed. Liz had no right to talk to her like that.

“If you walk out of here, you’re fired.” Liz was as cold as stone.

“Oh well. I wasn’t that good anyway, according to you.” Maria took off her antennas and apron and threw them in Liz’s face. “Maybe you will do better.”

Liz stood there, antennas and apron in hand, jaw on the floor. She couldn’t believe that her best friend just walked out on her.

Finally, the last costumers left. Liz locked up and headed to her room. She kicked off her shoes and plopped down on her bed. Reaching underneath for her diary and pen, she decided to sit out on her balcony. She grabbed the items and turned in that direction. This had to be the first cool summer breeze in the history of Roswell. Liz took off her sweater and sat down on the folding chair to her right. Opening her diary, she couldn’t help but re-read her previous entries. As she read the emotion filled pages, tears came to her eyes. She had loved Max Evans so much. She still did. But it was impossible for the two to be together. He had a destiny, and it wasn’t her. Tess Harding. Liz quivered at the name. That stupid blonde home-wrecker had waltzed into town and taken the only ray of hope Liz had for a promising future in Roswell. Why couldn’t it have been Michael? She hated the fact that it had to be her knight-in-shining-armor that was destined to be with Tess.

Just then, a picture of Liz, Alex and Maria fell out of one of the pages. Oh God! Liz thought. Maria! She had hurt her best friend so much earlier that night. Should I call her? She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t even mean to hurt Maria, but she couldn’t help it. Liz was experiencing the worst case of verbal diarrhea known to man. And she couldn’t shake this nasty little habit that she had developed lately. She was cruel and cold to all of her friends. She didn’t mean to be, it just happened. Maria had tried to shake her of it, but Liz was a rock. She was containing all this anger and anyone around her was in her line of fire. She could tell that people were on egg shells around her. And when she was feeling nice, no one wanted to talk to her in fear of being decapitated. Everyone, that is, except for Michael. But that was a given.

By the time she was done with all of her thinking, she didn’t want to write anymore. She closed her diary, reached for her sweater and walked back inside.

“Max.”

“Hi.”

“How did you get in here? I didn’t even hear-”

“It’s amazingly easy to get into your house from the Crashdown.”

“But I-”

“Not the back doors. That could be dangerous you know.”

She sat there, speechless. She hadn’t talked to the love of her life for a week, and now he was standing here in her room. She found herself gazing into his eyes the way she used to. She snapped out of it and suddenly became enraged.

“Why are you in my room?! You have no right to be here! I could call the cops, you know!”

“Liz, liste-”

“NO!!” She screamed. “You listen, okay?” Her voice shook. “I don’t want to have anything to do with you! You are supposed to be in love with Tess, not me!” As she yelled, tears greeted her once again. “I’m not supposed to be in love with you! You’re not supposed to be in love with me! We don’t belong together!”

Max waited for her to finish. When he saw that she was done, he walked over to her and cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. He had waited a week for this moment. Without, Liz Parker, Max Evans couldn’t exist.

**FLASH**

Max on the playground looking at Liz as she laughed and played with her friends.

**FLASH**

Liz lying on the Crashdown floor as Max healed her.

**FLASH**

Their first kiss on the balcony.

**FLASH**

A visit to the eraser room.

**FLASHES END**

Liz couldn’t hold back. She had secretly wanted this to happen. Even thought she knew that they weren’t meant to be, she still loved him with all of her heart and soul. Against her own will, she pulled away.

“I can’t do this.” She shook her head.

“But Liz…” Max reached out for her as she moved back.

“No. Uh-uh. I’m not gonna do it.”

“If you don’t want to be officially together, no one has to know.”

“Hell no. I refuse to be a dirty little secret.”

“But Liz…I love you. So much!”

“I’m sorry. Please leave.”

Max dropped his eyes. He turned and walked out onto the balcony and down the ladder.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered once more.

*****

Okay guys, what did you think? Please reply.

okay, here's the next part. It's kinda short but I tried to develop it more than the last one. I hope it's good.

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Chapter 2

Turning back to her bed, she opened her diary and this time, she wrote.

I just don’t understand anything anymore. I thought I had things under control but I guess I thought wrong. I try to refocus my energy, but nothing ever works. I still find myself blowing up at people without warning. I know it’s not Max’s fault that his life was predetermined. It’s just not fair that he keeps leading me on fully aware of the fact that we’re not supposed to be together. It just angers me that everyone can be so content and I’m over here in the third dimension of Hell! I can’t stand the way Michael and Isabel can just blow off their “destiny”, but Tess has to seize Max. What’s even worse is that he makes no effort to push her away. It’s only behind her back that he does and says what he wants to. He just bows down to her when she’s there. If anything, it looks like they’ve been getting closer these past few days. And where am I? Left in his wake. It’s like I never had an important enough impact on him to fight for me. I know that he loves me, but he makes me feel like I wasn’t enough. And I hate the way that I still get carried away by the butterflies in my stomach when I look at him. I know that I could never be with anyone else. I was born to be his, but he can’t be mine…

“Lizzie?”

At the sound of her father’s voice, she shut the book, dropped the pen and rushed to see what he wanted.

“Yeah Dad?”

“You didn’t take the trash out to the back of the restaurant.”

Can I do anything right ?

“Be there in a minute.”

She put on her shoes and sweater and took off downstairs.

As she tied the bags up, Liz thought about what had happened earlier with Maria. She herself couldn’t believe how she acted. She gave the heavy back door a good shove and tossed the bags into the dumpster.

Upon entering the back doors, she was greeted by her best friend sitting on the counter, eating strawberries dipped in sugar.

“That’s bad for your teeth you know.” Liz tried to sound friendly without being overbearing. She was fully aware of the fact she had a tendency to sound motherly.

“I know. But Michael is bad for me too. You tried to get me to snap out of that and look at where I am now.”

Liz could hear the stress in Maria’s voice.

“Look Mar-”

“You don’t have to apologize. I understand.”

Liz yanked Maria to her side and gave her a hug.

“I love you sweetie.”

“I love you too Liz.”

“Now,” Liz continued. “Tell me what happened.”

Once she started, Maria couldn’t stop. She went into a full-on tirade about had happened. She had gone over to Michael’s after she walked out of the Crashdown. She was crying hysterically. Michael, being who he is, told her that she needs to just “get over it” and will probably blow over. Maria had tried to explain to him Liz’s actions ever since that day at the pod chamber. Michael just assumed that Maria was making a big deal out of nothing. He was fully convinced that Liz was just going through PMS. He had told her that if Liz was going to be petty and childish, Maria didn’t need to be her friend in the first place. Michael went on to insult Liz, and when Maria defended her, Michael started to yell. Eventually, Maria walked out.

“Oh, I’m so sorry to be causing all of this.” Liz was heartbroken. She never meant to do any of this.

“Liz?” Maria wanted to get to the bottom of this once and for all.

“Yeah?” Liz responded while turning to get more strawberries.

“Can you tell me what’s going on?” Maria approached the subject timidly for fear of upsetting Liz.

“I’m not quite sure.” Liz set the bowl down and sat back up on the counter, eyes downcast. “But I know it’s hurting you and everyone else.”

Liz proceeded to tell Maria about what had happened in her room with Max. She explained to her the feelings of regret and sadness that he had been harboring throughout the past week.

“Maybe I could help.” Maria hated to see her best friend like this. She was determined to do whatever she could to help.

“I can’t even help myself. How is someone else going to help me if I don’t even know what the problem is?”

“Sometimes it takes another person to see what you can’t.”

Maria’s words stuck a nerve.

“Okay,” Liz agreed. “But I guarantee that it will be fun.”

“Sometimes love isn’t, no matter what kind it is.”

“Thank you, Maria.”

“For what?”

“Being my friend. My sister.”

“My pleasure. Besides, where would you be without me?” She teased.

“In a world of hurt. Worse than this.” Liz smiled at her friend.

“So,” Maria said, changing the subject. “What are we gonna do about this Max Evans kid?”

Liz thought hard.

“I have no idea.”

*****

okay guys. what did you think? Be gentle.

I would like to thank excitingman for the pointers.!!

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Chapter 3

The next day at school, Liz walked in like she owned it.

The previous night, she and Maria had stayed up talking until 2:30. Maria had racked her brain trying to dig through Liz’s emotions. She knew that it was something bad because Liz is not the type of person to just be mean and hateful for no reason. Finally, Maria found it. Liz broke down and bawled out everything. Her resentment towards Max, her loathing for Tess (although that was a given), and how Michael and Isabel ignored their so-called destiny but Max refused. Maria assured her that it would all work itself out in the end.

Everything’s okay in the end. If it’s not okay, then it’s not the end.

Those words kept replaying in Liz’s head. She knew Maria was good at counseling, but she had no idea that she was that deep.

“So, how are we today?”

Liz rolled her eyes. “Maria, you know I hate it when you use ‘we’ in reference to ‘me’.”

“I know I know, but it makes me feel smart.”

“And God knows that you need all the help you can get with that.”

Maria punched Liz playfully on the arm.

“Why are you talking to her?” Michael glared at Liz while talking to his girlfriend.

It figures that Michael has to walk up and ruin every good moment. Liz couldn’t stand the way he put a damper on everything.

“Is it any of your concern?” Maria snapped.

Liz’s eyes widened as Maria put him in his place.

“Well yeah, she hurt you.”

If looks could kill, Liz would have been dead and buried a long time ago.

“Reconciling with her is a piece of cake compared to the shit you give me. Come Liz, if we keep talking here, we’re gonna be late for class…for no good reason.” Maria slammed her locker in Michael’s face, locked arms with Liz and took off. After a few paces, Liz turned around and gave Michael a victory smile.

Michael turned and was suddenly face to face with Alex.

“If you do one more thing to Maria, you’ll be sorry.”

“You do realize that by saying that, you’re signing your death warrant?”

“I don’t care. Maria is way too good for you and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve to be treated like that. If you think her words were harsh, you have barely scratched the surface of the shit that she feels because of you. Maybe one of these days you’ll realize what a blessing you have right in front of your eyes. Wake up and smell the perfume.”

Michael couldn’t believe this. He hadn’t even been at school for ten minutes and already he had been shot down by two people. Damn tag-teamers, he thought.

“Hi Alex.” The sound of Isabel’s sweet voice flooded Alex’s mind and he whipped around. She looked beautiful today. Her hair was put up in a stylish messy bun and she had strands of curls hanging down from the side. She was wearing only a dab of make up, but the glitter around her eyes made them hypnotic.

“H-h-hi,” he stuttered.

Isabel could feel the dissipating tension between the two boys. “Wanna walk me to class?”

Alex wasted no time in readjusting his bag on his shoulder, and they took off.

Michael was getting books from his locker when Max and Tess came storming down the hallway arguing.

“Max, I could feel her!” The rage in Tess’s eyes was easily visible, even to a blind man.

“Tess, don’t be stupid.” Max had never called a girl stupid. First time for everything.

“I saw her in your eyes the minute you walked over to me this morning! I’m not the average dumb blonde you know.”

“Are you sure?” Max was being mean but she was overreacting.

“Max-”

“Just get out of my face,” Max yelled. Fear flashed in Tess’s eyes and she stormed off to the restroom.

“Trouble in paradise?” Michael asked as Max unloaded his bag into his locker and grabbed two books and a spiral.

“It was, and never will be paradise,” Max snapped.

“Easy there, Sparky,” Michael quipped.

Max apologized. “Sorry. Michael, there’s something you should see. I knew she was up to something.” He pulled a sheet of paper from the spiral. It was Tess’s. Michael’s eyes were wider than the Grand Canyon.

It was a plan for the demise of the relationships between the aliens and humans.

Max, Liz, Michael, Maria, Isabel and Alex. A separate plan for each pairing and friendship.

It was all there. The fight between Maria and Liz, and both fights between Maria and Michael. Everything was well thought out and it seemed as if everything was going according to her plan.

“She’s one crazy bitch.” Michael knew she seemed fake. “Well, there’s only one thing we can do.”

“What’s that?” Max cocked an eyebrow.

Michael handed the paper back to Max and he shoved it back into the spiral. He shut the locker and motioned for Michael to continue.

Michael smiled slyly.

“Beat her at her own game.”

*****

Okay guys, its not as long as I had expected but I hope you enjoy. Lyrics by Avril Lavigne

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Chapter 4


Max, Isabel, Michael, Liz, Maria and Alex all sat in the Crashdown. Tess’s paper was placed in the middle of the bar.

“My question is why would she be stupid enough to actually right it down on paper?” Someone’s missing her marbles, Alex thought.

Maria shook her head. “It’s like she wanted to get caught.”

“Well, whatever her reason may be,” Max interjected. “Something has to be done. She’s tearing us all apart. And if she hasn’t yet, it’s coming.”

Michael glanced at Maria. “Been there, done that,” he mumbled.

She rolled her eyes.

“Well, I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but she needs to be done away with.”

“Liz, don’t be so harsh,” Max scolded her.

“What?! She is ruining years of friendship and newfound relationships. It’s going to stop…right here, right now.”

Michael waited for the bickering to stop. “Well, I was thinking…”

“You know how to do that?” Alex laughed sarcastically.

“Hey!”

“Guys stop!” Alex immediately obeyed Isabel and dropped his head.

“As I was saying,” Michael continued. “Well, apparently she has no idea that Max has found this, right? For all she knows, we’re still under her twisted mind warps. According to this, Max is the only one that she hasn’t screwed with. I guess she wants Max to have nowhere else to go…except to her.”

Liz’s eyes flickered to Max. He couldn’t read her expression.

“Why don’t we overload her?” Michael proposed.

“You mean, like, all of us go to her with our problems?” Liz questioned.

“Exactly. She’ll have no idea what’s going on. She’ll see that her plan is backfiring to an extent.”

“And what’s that supposed to do? Make her think?” Maria doubted this entire plan.

“No, Smart Ass. She will have to keep strengthening the warps. That’ll drain her. Yeah, she’s strong, but not strong enough to keep it up. But in the meantime, we all have to keep up the charade. She still has to think that we are all mad at each other. We have to fight the urge to really hate each other.”

“Well then, that was doomed from the minute you set foot, or tentacle, in Roswell.” Alex couldn’t help himself. Michael set himself up for that one.

“Hey watch it little man. Don’t make me come over there.”

“What? You wanna go?!” Alex stood up and the stool fell from under him. He charged at Michael, fists locked tightly.

No one around them could believe this. It’s like they were 12 again.

Max stood up between them but Alex kept coming. Max raised his hand and a green shield rose in between them.

“This has got to stop.” Max’s booming voice filled the room. “If this is going to work, we have to cooperate. ALL of us. That means we have to put aside any differences we may have and work together.”

“I can’t stand this bastard and the way he treats my best friend!” Alex had never yelled so loud.

“Guys!” Liz stood up. “The way I see it, we all have two options. One: we can work together and crush this bitch. Or two: we can act like pre-pubescent 12 year olds and watch our relationships fall apart right in front of our eyes. You choose.”

Michael and Alex dropped their heads and trotted back to their seats. No one had ever seen Liz take command like that before, and it was kind of a scary sight.

“Liz, tomorrow, approach Tess at school and ask her to go out with you to lunch. Tell her you need to talk to her or something. Maria, after those two come back, find Tess and ask her to meet you in the bathroom and then make up something. Tonight, I want Isabel to dream walk Tess and see what’s going on. As for everyone else, try to keep up our little act until Tess cracks. We’ll meet here again tomorrow at the same time, if possible.” Max seemed to suddenly jump into his role as king.

Everyone dismissed themselves. Before she had a chance to join the rest, Max grabbed Liz’s arm.

“Liz,” Maria said.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in a minute.”

Maria turned out the door and immediately started to bicker with Michael.

“Liz,” Max started. “To really make her tick, she has to see me and you together.”

“Why?”

“Because this morning when we went to pick her up, she could feel your presence all over me. She got really pissed and threw a fit. I have a feeling that she’s gonna set an even stronger warp on you. That seems to be where all of her energy is going”

“Do you mean together, or just hanging out?”

“At first, the latter. Then as she weakens, and if you are comfortable with it of course, maybe we can rebuild our…what ever we had.”

Liz’s eyes lit up.

Max just sat there staring at them. For the first time in a while, he stopped to take in her beauty. Her brown silky hair flowing as she walked, the way she wore her heart on her sleeve, her eyes conveyed every emotion that she was feeling. He especially loved those eyes. The way they danced when she laughed, glowed with happiness and they way they used to look at him. He missed that. What he wouldn’t give to feel her body against his once more. It had been so long since they had shared a moment together. Even if she was miles away from him, it was still close enough for him to feel her.

“Max, I’m sorry about the other night. I guess I was just a victim of that evil whore. I didn’t mean what I said. I know that somewhere, deep inside of me, I wanted to kiss you. I still love you so much.” Her voice started to quiver with the arrival of tears in her eyes.

Those beautiful eyes.

“I…would give anything to be with you. To see you this past week with Tess just about killed me. I was getting to the point that I just couldn’t stand it. I wanted to be sick every time I saw you two together. I…don’t know why…you felt the need to be around her. And you…don’t have…to explain.”

“You shut me out Liz. That day that you walked away from me, I died. My heart shattered into a million pieces. And I jus-”

“It’s…okay.” Liz took a deep breath in an effort to collect herself. It didn’t work. “I just…want you to know that no…matter what happens, I…will always and…for…ever…love you. With all of my heart. And I am so…sorry.”

Max couldn’t take it anymore. She had been standing within kissing distance for the past five minutes. He was not going to pass this up. At that moment, he pulled her toward him and kissed her fiercely. In an instant, he found himself crying. He loved Liz so much. Never in his life did he think that he would be graced by her presence. He was glad that he didn’t let Michael coerce him out of the Crashdown that day. If he hadn’t healed her, she might not be here right now, kissing him. He loved the way her body felt against him. Her tiny fragile figure felt like a feather. She was so light and he held her tightly against him, as if any minute she would fade away. But she wasn’t. She was right there, in his arms, kissing him with the same heated passion he felt.

Liz couldn’t believe that she was finally kissing him. It had seemed like she had waited an eternity to once again be in the arms of her beloved. She wished that she could stay here forever. His arms always offered her so much comfort, no matter how much she turned him down. She always knew there was something different about him. And it wasn’t that he was an alien, it was that he loved her…unconditionally. It didn’t matter if she had just gotten out of bed and looked like crap, or if she looked her best…he didn’t care. He saw her. The real her. And it amazed her how he could still love her after everything they had gone through. She had been cruel and cold to him, but he didn’t care. He forgave her. Every time.

The two of them were totally oblivious to the fact that the entire group was standing outside, pasted to the windows.

“See?!” Maria smacked Michael on the arm. “Why can’t we be like them?”

“What, dysfunctional?”

“No,” Her voice softened. “In love.”

Maria’s words hit Michael like a big yellow school bus. He realized how he had been treating her. He really did love her, he just didn’t know how to show it the way she wanted him to. So many things had happened to him. He had learned how to become numb to emotions. Virtually all of them. He looked at her distant eyes. Tears formed in his own. He did the only thing he was good at…he left.


And I Wanna Believe You
When You Tell Me That It Will Be Okay
Yeah, I Try To Believe You
But I Don't

When you say that it's gonna be
It always turns out to be a different way
I try to believe you
Not today

I don't know how I'll feel
Tomorrow
Tomorrow
I don't know what to say
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a different day

Its always been up to you
It's turning around, it's up to me
I'm gonna do what I have to do
Just don't

Give me a little time
Leave me alone a little while
Maybe its not too late
Not today

And I know I'm not ready
Maybe tomorrow
I'm not ready
Maybe tomorrow

And I wanna believe you
When you tell me that it will be okay
Yeah, I try to believe you
Not today, today, today, today, today
Tomorrow it may change…


Once Maria got home, she was mauled by Amy DeLuca who gave her the third degree about where she’d been all night. Maria walked into her room and slammed the door behind her. She undressed and then redressed into her night clothes. As she laid there on her bed, she stared at a picture of Michael. The longer she looked at it, the more she cried. Her tears hit the pillow silently for the rest of the night. She ended up crying herself to sleep.

If only…

*****

ok guys. here it is:


*****
Chapter 5

The next day at school, everything seemed to be following through, according to Tess. Max had called her the previous night to “apologize”. She knew he would come running back to her. After all, his friends were turning on him and the one girl he truly loved was pushing him away. Everything was going according to plan.

Tess swallowed hard. There Max and Liz were walking together in the hallway.

Laughing.

“Oh…my…gosh!” Liz managed to get out in between laughs.

Max blushed. “I know. It was so embarrassing!”

He continued walking, almost running Tess over.

They collided. “Ow! Max, are you blind? I’m standing right here!”

“Oh,” he replied absent-mindedly. “My bad.” He patted her on the head and continued walking with Liz.

Tess watched them walk off, jaw on the floor. She couldn’t believe her eyes. There they were, walking down the hallway, having a good time. My bad? What did I do wrong?

“Close your mouth. God only knows what you’ve already inhaled.” Michael passed her up, laughing to himself.

Tess shook her head in disbelief.

Maria turned from her locker and saw Michael coming her way. She quickly gathered her books and took off in the opposite direction.

“Maria!” He ran down the hallway to catch up with her.

“I can’t talk to you. I’m gonna be late for class.” As her speed increased, so did his.

“No you’re not.” He finally got close enough to grab her arm.

“Maria, the very first bell hasn’t even rung. We still have twenty minutes. Can we talk?”

“That’s a shocker.”

“Maria, I’m serious. Please?” Michael was giving her puppy-dog eyes. This had to be serious. He never gave puppy-dog eyes.

They walked outside to the picnic tables and sat down. Michael could sense Maria’s disposition. She sat as far away from him as she could, held her books tightly and never once made eye contact.

“I know that we left off-”

“No Michael. You were the one that left, if my memory serves me correctly.”

“Can I please finish?”

“Oh, you know how to finish things? I thought that you only knew how to walk out during confrontational situations.”

He glared at her. She was making this harder than it had to be. Then again, this is Maria I’m dealing with here, Michael thought. “As I was saying, things didn’t end too well between us last night.”

“Do they ever?”

“Maria, please. I’m really trying here. And you know me, I don’t apologize easy.”

“Well, I wouldn’t know.”

“MARIA!”

After he realized that he had just screamed in her face, he snapped back into reality and saw the scared expression of the face of the woman he loved. She jumped up and took off.

“Wh-wait! Maria! No, don’t go!”

She swung back around and dropped her books on his feet.

“WHY NOT? YOU DO IT ALL THE TIME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I’VE GONE THROUGH FOR YOU?! I HAVE SACRIFICED SO MANY THINGS! YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE I LOVE YOU! I KNOW WHAT LOVE IS AND HOW TO SHOW IT! UNTIL YOU FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THAT, I CAN’T BE AROUND YOU! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE MICHAEL! GOD KNOWS I LOVE YOU BUT I CAN’T TAKE ANYMORE OF YOU! GIVE ME MY SPACE! AND DON’T WORRY, THIS ISN’T TESS’S DOING. I JUST DON’T WANT TO BE AROUND YOU FOR A LONG WHILE! GOOD-BYE, MICHAEL!”

She picked up her things and took off in a rage. Michael was left there with his mouth wide open. He watched her storm off campus, get in her mom’s Jetta, and speed off into the distance. He knew how unfocused Maria was when she drove while angry. Figuring that Amy Deluca would be mad if her daughter wrecked her car, he ran into the school to find Max.

As Michael ransacked Max’s pockets, Max asked, “You know I’m feeling rather violated at the moment. Can I help you with something, by any chance?”

“Damage control,” Michael spit out as he found the keys to Max’s Jeep.

“Wait!” Liz called out. “Where’s Maria?”

“I just said that I’m going to damage control, didn’t I? What do you think that means?!” Michael sprinted down the hallway.

“I’ll bet you fifty bucks that by the end of the day, they’ll have been in the eraser room at least twice.” Max found Michael and Maria’s relationship interestingly dysfunctional. And Michael has the nerve to call me and Liz dysfunctional.

As they continued walking aimlessly down the hallway, Liz debated in her head whether or not to approach a controversial subject. “Um…so…”

“What is it?”

“What do you mean? I can’t just make small talk?”

“Liz…” Max looked at her with knowing eyes.

She couldn’t take it any longer. She had to know.

“Did you and Tess…um…how do I say this…did you gu-”

Max grabbed her by the shoulders and spun her toward him. “Never,” he said sincerely.

Liz let out a breath of relief. “So, what are we?”

“A boy and a girl…I hope.”

She slugged him in the arm playfully. “No! You know what I mean.”

He paused. He didn’t want to jeopardize what was re-growing by rushing it. “I-I don’t know. Do you?”

She had a feeling that he would turn it around on her. After last week’s devastatingly ironic reaction to his kiss, she knew that Max wouldn’t be taking any chances like that, at least not anytime soon. “Well, I was hoping that we…”

She turned to see his eyes glowing with anticipation.

“…could be…together.”

Max was using all of his strength to contain his emotions. It was like the grand finale of a fireworks display in his heart. “YES!!” He picked her up and spun her around in his arms. He didn’t realize how loud he had been until he put Liz down and saw her holding her ears. “Oh,” he said shyly. “Oops. I mean, yes.”

Liz smiled. He grabbed her hand as they continued down the seemingly paved path to happiness.

Tess came out of the bathroom just in time to see Max and Liz walk not even a foot from her. Hands interlocked.

She had a coronary, followed by a fit of rage that she took back into the bathroom.

“UUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!” Tess threw her books against the wall. “NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, THEY JUST KEEP GOING BACK TO EACH OTHER! You try to make her hate him, next thing you know…they’re kissing. You try to keep him from being around her, next thing you know…they’re laughing together in the hallway. And once you think you’ve succeeded…THEY’RE HOLDING HANDS RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU!!” When she was done with her little screaming fest, she walked over to the wall behind her and slid down until she was sitting against it. “I just want to fulfill my destiny,” she said disappointedly. “I am starting to think that crap doesn’t even exist. I just want to feel like I have a place in this stupid town. Everyone else is paired up. Where the hell do I belong? How the hell am I supposed to get back to Antar without everyone else? I could always just leave in the Granolith. No one would notice.”

Tess sat in the bathroom for a while mustering up another plan for destruction. She pulled out a notebook and started to think. “Well, Max and Liz have some how found each other again. How am I gonna deal with that? What’s the one thing that would really make Liz tick? Well let’s see.” She started scribbling names of the people Liz was closest to. Maria’s name stuck out at her.

“Maria…” Tess struggled to come up with something. “I’ve got it!” she exclaimed. “If Max and Maria go head to head drastically…Liz will be forced to choose…” Tess’s head was now reeling with ideas. She kept scribbling while she kept coming up with things, unknowingly saying them aloud.

Ten minutes later, fully collected, she emerged from the restroom.

Alex exited right after.

He ran outside and yanked Liz and Max inside to a deserted corner.

“Oh my God, you guys!” His eyes were wider than when he had first laid eyes on Isabel.

“What Alex?! What is it?” She was wondering why he had a tape recorder.

“You guys have to hear this!”

*****
Once again, they were sitting in the Crashdown. No one had seen or heard from Michael or Maria since their little “incident” this morning. It had a tendency to happen all the time so no one thought anything of it.

The tape had been played countless times. No one had come up with a solution yet.

“I’m just curious as to why you were in the girl’s restroom with a tape recorder.” Isabel cocked an eyebrow at Alex. He blushed and hung his head.

“Wh-well, I had-” He hurried to scrounge up an excuse. “I had seen her go in and I thought that maybe I could get some information.”

“Right,” Isabel replied skeptically.

“That’s all beside the point,” Max interjected. “We have to figure out a way to bring her down. She can’t keep doing this to everyone. Look what she’s already done to Michael and Maria.”

Just then, the said couple came bursting through the doors. Michael was dragging Maria by the arm into the restaurant.

“Let me go, Michael! I can walk on my own, you know!”

“Yes I know. But it won’t be in this direction.”

“Hey you two! Trouble in paradise?” Alex asked sarcastically.

“Don’t even get me started.” Maria glared at Michael who didn’t let her go until she was sitting next to Liz. “What’s going on?”

At Maria’s inquiry, the replayed the tape…again.

“Okay so what the hell are we gonna do about this bitch? I’m tired of her shit,” Maria snapped.

“It’s not that easy,” Max answered.

“Yes it is. All we need to do is tell her that we know about the shit that she trying to pull and then knock the hell out of her. It’s not that hard.”

“We can’t just jump on her like that. We have to do this her way.” Max didn’t know why she couldn’t understand.

“Maybe you guys can’t but I will. I’m not gonna stand around and just watch everyone fall apart. She started this, and if no one else will, I’ll finish it.” Maria stormed out of the Crashdown and Liz quickly followed.

“Maria wait!”

“Why, Liz?” Maria whipped back around and came face to face with her friend. “So we can give her more time to fuck up all of our relationships?! Or maybe so she can come up with another plan to try and steal your boyfriend? Which sounds better?” By now, Maria was fuming and screaming in her best friend’s face.

“Maria? Maria, stop!” Liz cupped Maria’s face. “You need to just calm down and think about what you’re saying.”

“Liz, I know what has to be done. No one else will do it, so I will.”

“I won’t solve anything. It’ll just give her more motivation to destroy what we have.”

“As if things could get any worse?! Michael and I can’t stand to be around each other, you and Max never know what’s gonna happen next, and Alex and Isabel’s ‘thing’ is still non-existent. How could things get worse?”

“They could get a lot worse. Michael could hate you, Max and I could stop being together, Alex and Isabel could hate each other…EVERYONE COULD DIE! That’s how much worse things could get. But it’s not that bad. You can still rebuild, Max and I can still be together, and Alex and Isabel still have a chance. Things are actually okay. Stop thinking that the world is out to get you and just live. I know you love Michael. I understand that you want to be with him. I get all that. But we have to fight this. Tess can’t just be ‘done away with’. It doesn’t work that way with these aliens. All four of them are crucial to each other existence. My advice is that you and Michael either try and work things out or just let it go until all of this is over and done with. Take your pick.”

Maria had never looked at things like this. “Can I just—um—have sometime alone please?”

Liz nodded her head. She walked back inside and over to Michael. Without asking, she ripped Maria’s keys out of his hand and went back outside. She tossed the keys and threw her friend a smile.

Maria laughed to herself. I don’t know what I would do without you, Liz. My sister. She got into her car and started the engine. She looked back at the door of the restaurant only to see Michael’s face. He walked over to her.

“Where are you going?” he asked somberly.

“I don’t know, actually. Just…away. For now,” she said while staring at the black sky.

“Can I…go with you?” he asked with his eyes directed at the ground.

“Michael…” Maria was about to protest but she saw the conviction in his eyes as he looked at her. “Of course.”

He fought back a smile and got into the car. As they drove away into the night, Michael looked over at her. He realized just how much he loved her.

*****
Back at the Crashdown, their little meeting was adjourned. Alex offered to drive Isabel home. “I can take Max’s Jeep. But you can drive,” she said with a flirty smile.

“What-how is he gonna get home?” Alex asked Isabel.

“Oh Max? He has…other plans.”

Max led Liz out the back door. “Max, what are we doing?”

“I have a surprise.” Max gave her a sly smile and led her over to her balcony. As they approached the side, he blindfolded her.

“How am I supposed to make it up the ladder with a blindfold on?”

“Carefully,” he chuckled.

About five minutes later, they were both standing on Liz’s balcony. Max slowly removed the handkerchief from her eyes.

Liz gasped. It was beautiful.

The entire thing was covered with candles. In between each candle was a thin vase with two red roses. He had set up a table and two chairs in the middle. A vase with five roses was in the center next to a platter. Plates, silverware and glasses were placed in front of each chair. Liz looked over to her bedroom and saw her parents standing in her doorway, smiling. They gave her a knowing nod and walked off. She turned back to face Max and smiled. He held his hand out to a radio. Liz’s favorite song started to play. “I Shall Believe” by Sheryl Crow. She shook her head in amazement.

“I figured that a night like this was in order. Your parents helped me set it up. I thought we could use a night like this, together.”

“Max…” Liz said. She didn’t know what else to say. “I love you.”

“I don’t ever want you to forget this. What we have.” Max walked over to Liz and held her hands as she looked into his eyes. “No matter what happens, no matter who’s controlling us, I want you to know that deep within me…I will always love you.”

“I know,” Liz whispered.

“Always.”

*****

Liz was awakened by the buzzing of her alarm clock. She slapped the “snooze” button and rolled back over.

*THUNK*

“Ow!!!” Liz had rolled off of her bed. As she was getting up, she realized that she was naked. Totally naked. She reached around for cover and wrapped herself in a robe. She got up and started to get dressed, wondering why she had to in the first place. As she turned back toward her bed, her heart rose into her throat.

Max.

Naked.

Uh-oh...

*****

yeah so I'm having some difficulty. this is my first fic so I'm not that great. bear with me.