Roswell Fanatics

One Song Glory


banner by Anniepoo98!

by Chione
Category: Max/Liz
Rating: MATURE

Disclaimer: I don't own Roswell.
AN: This takes place during Departure. Pretend Alex died in November, and so that would make this December, and Future Max still appeared in October. Everything in Season Two happened as it did in the show, except for the obvious, only it took place in those three months.

I guess most of you by now realize that I tend to give song titles to my stories. And I know I shouldn’t start another story while working on one already, but I couldn’t resist. This idea was driving me nuts. And this is just the prologue. I’ll hopefully have chapter 7 of Children of Eden up before the weekend, or Friday night.


Prologue: One Blaze of Glory

As the door closed behind her, Liz Parker felt the strength drain from her legs, her feet stopping just inside the small cafe her parents ran with the tacky alien theme their desert town seemed permanently attached to. Not that it wasn’t good for business, not that there wasn’t some truth to the rumors. The dark haired boy she’d just left, still sitting in his familiar, battered jeep and drudging up the courage to drive away, was proof enough. The simple fact that she knew he still sat there, felt his dark, brooding gaze through the door, the glass, and the blinds, the fact that he was just as aware that she’d stopped, of the tears stuck on her cheeks, was proof enough.

The cool metal pendant in her hand weighed her thoughts.

Going back.

Everything they’d been through in the past year rushed back, suddenly too real.

She’d never see him again. Because he was leaving with her. His blonde, young bride and their unborn child who couldn’t survive in Earth’s atmosphere.

His presence moved away; he was leaving.

Panic. Tears forgotten, anger forgotten, grief forgotten. How could she just let him go without telling him? If she hurried, she could just catch him before he got to the Valenti’s. She shook her head viciously. Even if he believed her, there was no time to explain everything. And there was so much at stake. Her feet showed more restraint than her heart, staying firmly planted on the floor.

There was so much she’d kept from him since Alex’s death but the rift between them had been too large to bridge with secrets and her own doubts. He’d been the one to end their friendship! she wanted to scream. He was the one to lose faith in her!

She snapped her head back and forth, dragging her toes as she walked to the counter, fingers strumming the smooth surface. I betrayed him first, in his mind, she mused, and now he knew the truth about Kyle. But the future was irrevocably changed now, Future Max never had a child with Tess. Future Max never left Earth or her.

She froze, half standing, half sinking to the floor.

No, it wasn’t possible, she shouted internally, not possible! She was just grasping at invisible straws, she assured herself, hand sliding down to rest against her stomach. Invisible hopes.

Things don’t add up, the treacherous voice in her head, the one that got her into this mess in the first place, piped up. Max is half-human and perfectly capable of surviving on Earth; Tess, the same. And the child, the child you’re carrying, the child with Max’s genetics as much as your own, is thriving on Earth. A different, older Max, but still Max.

So why was the child of Tess and Max dying?

There were only two explanations for the discrepancy that she could see: one, Tess was lying somehow, or two, because Tess was a hybrid herself, their child was different. Too alien.

She shook her head, chasing the thoughts from her consciousness. She’d stew over them later, once Max was gone and her parents had thrown their fit over having a pregnant, teenage daughter. If she ever got around to telling them. Sometimes the idea of running away was only too tempting. She could start over, no aliens, no disappointed parents, no dead best friends, no end of the world. Just Liz. And her little baby who’d look just like her father, but have her mother’s hair or face or manner. The perfect Max and Liz mesh.

While her half-brother was born and raised on another planet, father perfectly unaware of her existence.

Her fist closed, pressing lightly against the slight hardness of her belly. She was only three months along, three months since she’d found Future Max on her balcony, been warned of the end of the world, broken the man she loved, and lost her virginity to the future version of himself after pretending to lose it to Kyle. What kind of a person was she? She insisted she wasn’t ready, when he’d first told her what would happen on the night of the concert. And it hadn’t happened that way, not after she messed with time. But it had happened anyway with Max’s older self, and now she was pregnant with a child that shouldn’t exist.

Maria. She needed her best friend right now. Desperately. She’d hidden her pregnancy for too long, and it was killing her. Maria wouldn’t tell anyone. She’d be supportive, if not overjoyed. Together, the two of them would figure everything out. They didn’t need the Czechs, they’d survive and be happy without them!

Mind made up, Liz packed an overnight bag and tossed it over her shoulder, making her way down the silent streets to the DeLuca household. She’d face her parents in the morning.

--------------------------

The alarm blared in her ear, upsetting the delicate balance she’d achieved in sleep that kept her stomach from rebelling during the night. With every agonizing bleeeeeeep of the clock, her stomach lurched, sending waves of nausea up and down her throat. She clenched her eyes shut, praying the feeling would subside shortly so she could get on with things. It was a futile effort, she knew, as the past four mornings had ended the same way: her hunched over the toilet, looking pale and drawn, her already empty stomach heaving.

She hadn’t been this sick since she’d had the flu in fourth grade. Except then, she mused, throat tightening involuntarily against the rising bile, then she’d been so sick it didn’t matter if she threw up or not, she couldn’t possibly have felt worse. Now it seemed the only thing wrong was her stomach, and she would attribute it to bad food if it weren’t for the fact that she had hardly eaten in a week. Nothing appealed to her taste, and nothing would stay down if it did.

Something was seriously wrong, and as everyday passed the feeling grew.

She was late, too.

Late.

And not just for school.

The only thing that filled the gaps was a condition she couldn’t fathom much less test her theory.

He was supposed to disappear! He was supposed to cease existing, which meant all of him! But some little piece of him had stayed behind, and she feared it was currently growing within her, ready to enter the world in nine months.

“Oh god,” she groaned, choking back a sob and her body’s feeble attempt to retch as she lay on her stomach. Her head shook back and forth as she cried, rubbing her forehead raw against her pillow. “No, no, no, no, please, God, no!”

----------------------------

It was a good thing Max was in New York, Liz realized as she slouched down the isle, careful to avoid being seen. Her hood was pulled up and around her ears, hanging over the sides of her face to cover them from passerbys. The last thing she needed was some do-good neighbor alerting her parents that she was in the drugstore buying a pregnancy test.

Pregnancy test. She shivered, eyeing the row of pink and blue boxes, all colored in light pastels and situated right next to the condoms. Wonderful. Rub it in, why don’t they?

She grabbed one at random, knowing that despite the packaging they were all essentially the same. As long as it served its purpose, she didn’t give a damn what the box looked like.

Avoiding the eyes of the cashier, she placed the money on the counter and waited to be handed her change and the bag. Of all the things she never thought she’d do, it was this. And alone, it was so much worse. She was so stupid! Of course everything in her life that can go wrong, does! She should know that! She should never have seduced Future Max, because that’s exactly what she’d done. She’d taken advantage of his guilt and her hurt and put her life on a permanent spin cycle. If only her life would come out all soft and fluffy like the blankets her mom used to pull from the dryer.

Oh, what were her parents going to think?

One thing at a time, she told herself. Make sure you’re pregnant first, then you can worry about people’s reactions. Get step one over with first.

An hour later, she found herself wishing step one would never come. The timer blinked at her, informing her that time was up and her answer was an arm length away. It was her hand that refused to follow commands and pick up the little stick. One glance and everything she knew as her life would change. Her dreams of Harvard, of Molecular Biology, and of patching things with Max would vanish at one tiny sign.

Max. Just his name weighed on her thoughts. He would think the baby was Kyle’s. After all, the dates matched with what he knew as the night she betrayed him. She would never be able to tell him it was his child. His genetics, at least.

Alien genetics. Another fear gripped her heart, tugging on everything inside of her until she was sure her body would come apart at the seams. God, she’d screwed everything up! What if her child had alien powers? What if the pregnancy wasn’t normal? What if Max was able to tell it was his? What if she wasn’t capable of carrying an alien baby? She’d gotten herself into a mess way over even Max’s head. None of them had any experience with what would happen, and she’d be facing it all alone.

Deep, full breaths served to calm her immediate panic, and she scolded herself mentally. One at a time, Liz, one thing at a time. Find out if you’re pregnant at all. Everything else can wait.

Trembling fingers closed around the white stick, her eyes closing automatically as she brought it into her eyesight. One blink, and she’d know.

Her eyes wouldn’t budge.

Oh, for crying out loud, if you’re really pregnant, you’ll still be pregnant even if you don’t look at the test. Get it over with. It isn’t changing anything, just confirming it.

Liz opened her eyes.

------------------

As she stared at her friend’s ceiling, Liz stroked her rounding belly with her thumb absently. She was entering the second trimester, and she would be showing soon. The world would know that Perfect, Straight-A Lizzie Parker got herself knocked up at seventeen.

Max was gone.

“I can’t believe this is really happening.” Maria murmured, startling Liz and coming to lay beside her. “I can’t believe they’re really leaving.”

Liz looked over at her, sympathetic. “I know.” She took in Maria’s rumbled clothes, mused hair and vanishing make-up and knew where her friend had been all evening. They were a hopeless pair. Turning her eyes back to the ceiling, she held back tears and tried valiantly to come up with the single, simple sentence that would make everything so much worse, but so much easier to handle. “Maria--” she began, pausing to wet her lips and swallow. “Maria--”

“I slept with Michael.” Maria blurted.

Liz nodded, grateful and annoyed at being interrupted. She’d known, but was glad Maria was able to tell her. That meant she wasn’t ashamed. She wasn’t hiding anything.

“Maria, I think I could tell by the look in your eyes and the fact that you’re missing your bra.” Liz said with a small grin and a giggle. “But Maria, there’s something I really have to tell you, now, before anything else happens.”

The blonde narrowed her eyes, turning serious and reaching over to hold Liz’s hand. “Whatever it is, you can tell me. I got your back, chica. You know that.”

“I know, I--”

“Larek! He says his name is Larek, and he’s an alien!” Amy DeLuca’s voice filled the room, a hysterical note stirring both girls from their bed. “He’s threatening my daughter! He’s pointing a gun at my daughter!”

The girls shared a look, bolting from the room in unison.

Wow. So this took a long time to get out, but what can I say, I got distracted?

Chapter One

Pulling her jacket tight, Liz buried her face in Max’s chest, letting him wrap her in his arms and draw her protectively closer. The ground rattled around them, and then the air exploded in sound, dust and chunks of rock raining from the sky. For the moment it didn’t matter that they’d both given their virginity to someone else, it didn’t matter that she was pregnant and he didn’t know, and she could almost pretend that the past few months hadn’t occurred at all. His hands would their way through her hair as if to bind her to him deeper than she already was.

Everything in her life that could’ve gone wrong in the past several months had, yet as she felt Max’s pounding heart against her chest, through his ribs, his shirt and hers, everything was suddenly right. Nothing had felt remotely like this since the message from his birth mother. An alien queen from another planet telling them he was created to love, to be with someone that wasn’t her. Shattering both their lives with a single word.

Destiny.

“I’ve been really wrong about a lot. But I was right about one thing: to have you in my life, to love you.” he breathed against her hair. Kissing the top of her head reverently, he pulled back just enough to catch her gaze, his arms locked around her. Glowing amber depths became familiar and safe once more when for weeks they’d instilled fear of confrontation, fear of his anger that rushed to the surface near her too often recently.

It was a stranger who’d gone to New York with the dupes, and a stranger who’d driven her home from Las Cruces the night before, given her a last, drowning kiss as they clawed at each other to keep themselves in the moment where neither would ever have to leave. But it was Max who held her now.

She let her tears fill her eyes as she rested her head against his shoulder. Max or not Max, he’d still slept with Tess. He’d forgotten her too quickly, moved on too easily. The heart of the child snuggled within her beat now for the both of them while her own lay in tatters on the desert sand. It was not fair of her to blame Max, to resent him as she did, and she cursed her hormones. Rationally, their situation was more on her than him: she pushed him relentlessly away, exploited his every weakness in the process, but couldn’t help the selfish desire to keep him, if only a future, dying version and if only for one, short night. And now no matter where they went from there, part of him would always be in her arms.

She swallowed, mute, not having the strength to leapt across the gap breaking the ground between them.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Maria and Michael hanging desperately to each other, an intimacy and gentle love that made it clear why Michael had left the pod chamber. She smiled, estatic for her friend and ferociously jealous and broken with the realization: Max, her soulmate, the one love of her life, had been willing and able to never see her again. And she knew that even with the fate of the world at stake, she couldn’t ever bring herself to never see him again. No matter the consequences. Hatred from his eyes was more welcome than their absence entirely.

God, she was pathetic.

“So what do we do now, Max?” Isabel asked, the echo dying in the desert air. Her eyes were red, cheeks smeared with make-up and dust, Alex’s death ploughing its way through her heart once more. He was dead for knowing her. It wasn’t an accident that killed him, it was one of her best friends.

Max pulled away from Liz, squinting as he faced his sister. “I have to save my son.”

Maria snorted. “What makes you think that wasn’t a mindwarp too? She seemed to be doing that a lot to us.”

He shook his head. “I connected with him.”

“What makes you think that wasn’t a mindwarp too?” Liz asked. The thought of a child of Tess and Max made her bitter, but then, she really had no room to complain. Her child was that of a future Max, not her Max. And that made all the difference.

“Liz--” he started, stopped, and started again. “Liz, I can feel him. There’s a connection there, I can feel my child somewhere. That can’t be a mindwarp, because Tess is gone. I know that this isn’t just an illusion.” He shook his head helplessly. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, hoarse.

Maria tossed her hair, not letting go of Michael’s hand as she began a halting walk down the hill. “Come on, Liz. You said you had something to tell me. Kyle, you and Isabel too. Max, you’ll have to find your own way back, there’s only so much room in the Jetta.”

--------------------

Liz folded her uniform, stuffing it in her locker with a shove. Soon it wouldn’t fit anymore, she mused. Because she was so small, her pregnancy was becoming blaringly obvious, and only the use of baggy shirts and sweatpants had continued to keep it a secret.

It had been a day since Tess had blasted off to space, and with the threat of some random, alien killer gone, her impending parenthood was taking its toll. God, how could she ever explain to her parents? They trusted her. And Maria. Liz groaned, resting a hand on her back. She still hadn’t told Maria.

She’d solved one problem, the question of Alex’s murder, and it was time to start planning a new future. One that involved diapers, midnight feedings and baby clothes, not Harvard and Molecular Biology. Nothing in her life would ever be the same again, but first, she had to say goodbye.

The graveyard was silent, and the evening light held back by thick, gray clouds that promised to make her walk home a wet one. That, at least, suited her mood just fine. This farewell was one she was never meant to say.

“Alex,” her voice cracked, so she cleared her throat and started again. “Alex, god, I’m sorry. This is all so wrong. None of this--none of this was supposed to happen.” She slid her hand to clutch the gentle curving of her abdomen, wondering if Alex, wherever he was, knew. Whether he was disappointed in her. “Alex, I swear to you now, I won’t let this happen again. I won’t let anyone else get hurt and I won’t let the world end. And-and I hope you don’t mind if I name him or her after you. Alexander or Alexandria. What do you think?” She choked on her tears, forcing a smile at how she imagined Alex would react. “God, I wish you were here. I need your help through this. How do I tell Maria? How do I tell Max?”

“Tell Max what? Why you wanted to break him?”

Liz risked a glance at the irrate blonde behind her. “No.”

“He told me you never really slept with Kyle. But he saw you in bed together, which means you set it up for him to think that. And I want to know why the hell you thought you had the right to do that to my brother.”

“It doesn’t matter Isabel. He never really loved me in the first place, and I did what I had to do to get him to realize that.” she answered, looking down. Admitting aloud her doubts made everything seem so real, and at the same time, so trivial.

Isabel’s mouth dropped open. “Never loved you? He risked his life, Michael’s and mine, for you! He survived the white room for you, was willing to give up his family, his destiny for you! How dare you say he never loved you?!”

She shook her head, staying calm. “No, he was only infatuated with me. I’m what he’s always wanted, the epitome of normal. He’s said himself, being with me makes him feel human, normal, but the truth is that he isn’t. None of you are, and the longer you pretend you’re normal, the tougher things are going to be. I just made him face the fact that what he loves about me isn’t me at all, but simply the fact that I’m human, have always been, and the only secrets I’ve got have come from knowing you. So I let him go.”

“Liz--”

“Don’t you think that if he really loved me, it’d take him more than three months to move on to the next girl, sleep with her, and get her pregnant? No, Isabel, Max never really loved me at all.” And his future self had been so desperate to get away from her, to be with Tess. He’d lived fourteen years as her husband, and in the end, he wanted out. He hadn’t tried to come up with another solution. Hadn’t tried to convince Tess to stay, or set her up with Kyle, or talk things out. He wanted to fall out of love with her, Liz. He made love to her, because he--the future version--did love her. Had grown to love her over the years, but knew that at seventeen, he didn’t really know love yet.

Of course, this was all speculation on her part. Maybe she was paranoid. But it hurt. He’d slept with Tess. And not only that, but she’d killed Alex! How could he’ve not known? Hadn’t they gotten flashes, like she and Max always did? When she’d been with Future Max, she’d seen so much of his life, through his eyes, because of the flashes.

“Liz, what’s really going on with you?” she asked, kneeling down beside the brunette.

Liz glanced up at her, even sitting Isabel towered over her. She shook her head. This wasn’t a discussion she wanted to have with Isabel.

“Okay, then I’ll talk.” Isabel brushed hair out of her eyes, lifting her chin regally. “Did you know Max threatened me? He said if I tried to leave Roswell, even to go to college, he’d tell the admistrators that I’d cheated on every test I’d taken, he’d tell our parents I was into drugs.” She laughed bitterly, giving Liz a sideways glance. “Doesn’t sound like my brother, huh? Whatever happened between the two of you, it fucked him up. I love my brother. But right now, he isn’t my favorite person by a long shot, and so whatever you tell me won’t go back to him. I give you my word. Now, are you going to tell me what the hell happened, and what the hell you’re still hiding, or am I gonna have to dreamwalk you to find out, because either way, I will.”

“All right.” Liz narrowed her eyes. Maybe Isabel could help her, but that didn’t mean she liked being cornered. “I’m pregnant.”

Isabel choked on air, her coughing changing over to laughter after several moments. “What?”

“I’m pregnant with an alien baby. Three months, give or take.”

“You’re serious.” Isabel stared at her. “Max slept with you, then went and fucked Tess? Does he know you’re pregnant?”

“No, on both accounts. I didn’t sleep with Max. At least, not this Max.” Liz confided, twisting her hands in her lap. The first person she told, and it figured it was Isabel. Maria didn’t know yet. She’d be pissed when she found out, but Liz had been trying to get her alone all day, and she’d been too busy reconciling with Michael.

“This Max?”

And Liz spilled everything. Madame Vivian all the way through the morning after. She wasn’t sure if Isabel believed her because she hadn’t the courage to look as she spoke. Finally, she stopped. Her stomach was rumbling from lack of food, but she stayed still until Isabel said something. Anything.

“Let me get this straight: you’re pregnant with Max’s child--” Liz started to protest, and Isabel raised a hand to silence her. “You’re pregnant with Max’s child, and it’s surviving on Earth, just fine? Have you been to a doctor?”

“No. I haven’t even told anyone yet. Not Maria, not my parents, no one. But the child is fine. I don’t have any medical proof or anything, but I just, I know.”

“Then Tess lied.”

Liz nodded. “I think so. That’s why I was suspicious of her in the first place.”

Staring off into space, Isabel nodded. “Wow. So, the end of the world, huh?”

“Yeah.” Liz said, glancing at Isabel from the corner of her eyes. She blushed, knowing Isabel now knew way too much about her sex life. And her brother’s.

“Well, it’s a good thing you told me, at least. We have no idea what to expect with this baby.” Isabel smiled slightly. “I’ll help, as long as I get to be the baby’s godmother. Speaking of which, do you want me to find out whether it’s a boy or girl?”

“Can you?”

“I think so. Just connect. That’s what Max did with--” she stopped, somewhat sheepishly. Instead she put her hands on the hard lump in Liz’s stomach, still relatively flat. Concentrating, she couldn’t contain the grin when she was successful. Looking up, she met Liz’s eyes and squealed.

“It’s a girl!”

Swallowing, Liz broke out into a broad smile, the first in many months. She was having a baby girl.

Thanks for all the FB! Helps to get new parts out.

Thanks for reading, to all the lurkers too!

Here's chapter two. And there are things that happened differently, only slightly, than the show. You'll see.

One Song Glory
Chapter Two

"One song, glory, one song, before I go
Glory, one song to leave behind
Find one song, one last refrain
From the pretty boy, front man
Who wasted opportunity
One song, he had the world at his feet
Glory in the eyes of a young girl, a young girl
Find glory, beyond the cheap colored lights
One song, before the sun sets
On another empty life
Time flies,
Time dies"
-Rent

The nights in Copper Summit were just as scorching as the days, especially for the fall. Still, Liz rubbed her arms, unable to get warm no matter what she tried. Something wasn’t right with the whole town, and she had no desire to stay and find out what. Only twenty-four hours before, her soulmate had caught her in bed with her ex-boyfriend, and whatever relationship they were going to have had ended permanently. And a little less than twenty-four hours before, she’d lost her virginity to the future version of her soulmate, before he disappeared from existence entirely because his future had never occurred. If she stepped just right, the soreness left over would shoot through her in reminder. Which was fine, because it was enough to snap her out of temptation every time she saw Max and wanted to cave. How could a seventeen-year-old young man manage to look so boyish, lost, and hurt? His expression throughout the day mirrored a newborn puppy abandoned by its mother. And as the hours of their trip worn on, it’d faded to anger and resentment.

Being cooped in a house with Congressman Whittaker’s family, Max, Isabel and Tess was stifling. She needed air, and despite Max’s instructions not to wander alone, she hadn’t had a choice. One more minute and she’d have screamed, tearing out every strand of hair. Her hair that Max loved.

She had to stop thinking of him. It was the only way to prevent the horrible future she’d only glimpsed, but some other version of her had lived. She couldn’t be responsible for those things.

“Liz!” his voice broke her trance, and she whirled around to reassure herself he was really there. She wouldn’t put it past her imagination to conjure up his voice purely to torture her a little more. “Liz! I told you none of us should wander alone, we don’t know who our enemies are, or where.”

“Max, just go away.” You’re only making this harder, she begged silently. “I’ll be fine, I had to get out of there.”

Their eyes met across the gloom and mist of the night, and locked. He swallowed, and she followed the movement of his Adam’s apple sorrowfully. Things would never be comfortable between them again, she realized.

He finally cleared his throat, fighting back the hoarse whisper of tears. “Why, Liz? Why?”

No, she pleaded, no it’s too much! I can’t do this anymore! You can’t ask this of me!

Then Future Max’s eyes, so similar in color to her own Max’s, flashed in her mind: haunted, darker, and filled with the memory of blood and fire.

An older, Future Maria’s screams echoed in her ears.

Isabel’s broken, scarred body clutched to her brother’s chest as he sobbed into her blood-matted hair.

Her own desperate plead for him to try.

She shook her head. “Why are you doing this, Max? You know the answer. I told you why. I can’t be with you anymore. And maybe I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did. Kyle and I made a mistake. We made love, and I’m sorry you had to see us, but we weren’t together, we haven’t been since May. Don’t--” she choked, and started again. “Don’t try to pin me with guilt, because I didn’t cheat on you, or betray you. I’m sorry, but please, just leave me alone!” The wind bit at the tears in her eyes, drying them even as more took their place. She stopped where she was, because the strength of her voice had broken on the last word. Alone. She would be, for the rest of her life. There’d never be another love like Max, not for her.

His fists clenched. He swallowed again, hard. “No. No, you didn’t make love to him! You don’t love him! You told me yourself! You said you still loved me, just that you didn’t want to die. People don’t change that quickly, Liz. What are you hiding? What aren’t you telling me? I know there’s more to this--”

“No, there’s not! Stop trying to see something that isn’t there! Maybe,” she was yelling, but then let go of the volume, knowing if she continued there was no going back. But she didn’t have a choice. There was never a going back. “Maybe I didn’t know what love was. I’m seventeen, Max. A girl in high school. Maybe I was just--maybe I was just infatuated with you. You saved my life. I’m grateful. But I-I can’t do this anymore. I don’t--”

“Liz,” he whispered, reaching out his hand toward her.

“I don’t--” she ignored him, pushing the words out despite her palms, bleeding from her nails digging too deeply, despite her sobbing, and the shaking of her shoulders. “I don’t-I don’t love you.” Whatever else she planned to say was drowned out by her cries, however muffled.

She turned from him and ran.

Max watched her leave, a hand running through his hair, gripping the roots as if to ground him in a swiftly tilting world.

-------------------------

Arms laden with bags, Liz and Isabel opened the door of her bedroom spewing giggles. They deposited the clothing bags on the bed, ignoring it when they tipped over, spilling out the maternity clothes Isabel had insisted Liz buy. And she had to admit, the shopping was a nice escape from real life, though Isabel’s company was hardly what she expected. Liz wasn’t as ignorant as most, knowing that beyond the Ice Queen façade was an actual girl, but it was shocking to finally meet her.

“Alright, now I have to get home before Max freaks.” Isabel rolled her eyes, tossing her hair over her shoulder. Eyeing Liz speculatively, she continued, “When are you gonna tell your parents?”

Liz shrugged. It would be obvious should her mother come in her room and discover the pile of maternity clothes. “I guess today. Good as any.”

“Who are you going to say is the father, because they’re going to ask. Not only are they going to ask, if they’re anything like my parents, they’ll, well, your father at least, will go after him.” Isabel said, lowering her voice. “Obviously you can’t say it was the future version of my ass of a brother.”

The brunette sighed. “I know that. I just, I figured I’d just say I don’t know.” She winced at the thought. “Or I can just refuse to answer. It’s not like they can force it out of me.”

Isabel shook her head, hands on her hips. “No, but they’ll be pissed, and refusing to answer will only make them more angry. I’m not suggesting you tell Max, because right now he still doesn’t deserve to know, but Kyle, maybe? He’s actually not that bad of a guy. Just for a little while he could pretend--”

Liz cut her off. “No. I’ve already asked too much of Kyle, and with what Tess did to him. . . I can’t. And can you imagine how Mr. Valenti would react? We’d have to tell him the truth or he’d never trust us again. But I can’t do that to Kyle, he suffered enough crap in school when the rumors were spread about us sleeping together.”

Her lips curled in irritation, Isabel stared Liz down for several moments. “Fine. Not Kyle. Then maybe you should tell Max. He has to take responsibility for his mistakes sometime, and since Tess is gone, and was probably not even pregnant in the first place, he needs to make it up to you.”

Liz narrowed her eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Scoffing, Isabel threw her arms out, exasperated. “Okay, look, I’m just saying that Max is doing the Counting Crows thing and the brooding jerk thing again, and it’s driving everyone in my house crazy. I’m not happy with him, don’t misunderstand that, but honestly you’re partially to blame too, and I can openly admit now that you’re good for each other.” Her voice softened. “That daughter of yours is going to need a father, and Max may be a jerk right now, but he’d be a wonderful father. You know that too. He wouldn’t turn away from his own child.” She rolled her eyes. “This whole thing with Tess is proof enough.”

“I can’t.” Liz croaked, suddenly unable to resist tears. “I can’t, Isabel, and you can’t either. Please, just don’t tell him.” Her shoulders shook, and she begged Isabel with large, damp eyes.

After a few minutes, Isabel deflated. “I won’t. But you have to at least tell him you’re pregnant. Before you tell your parents, because we both know they’ll assume it’s his, and he’ll find out the hard and unfair way that you’re expecting. Even if you don’t tell him he’s the father. Technically, at least.”

Liz nodded, choking. “I know. I’ll talk to him tonight.” Laughing, she wiped at the tears. “God, I’m sorry. My hormones must be catching up with me, I’ve had a relatively calm pregnancy this far.”

“Alright, well, you need to figure out how and when to talk to your parents, and I’ll make sure Max is alone tonight. Or at least, undisturbed. And then you rest, because that’s my niece you’re carrying.” Isabel joked, pointing a manicured finger at Liz’s unnoticeable stomach. “Eat something too. I’ll see you later.”

She shut the door behind her, and Liz fell back on the bed. She gazed at the ceiling, face melancholy. Only six more months and she’d have to worry about midnight feedings, diapers, cradles and baby-sitters. It’d be June or early July before the baby was born--if everything went according to the human schedule, of course--, but she’d be too large to hide the pregnancy from public eye. How was she going to deal with school? Everyone would talk, people would avoid her, Maria would be furious at being left out, and her teachers would all be disappointed, perhaps more so than her parents. Kyle would think it was Max’s, actually, nearly everyone would think it was Max’s, and Max would know it wasn’t his. Not present his.

A gentle knock on the door startled her from her thoughts, and she sat up, calling out, “Come in!” Thankfully, she’d already stowed away her shopping bags under her bed. The door creaked as it swung inward, Maria’s face peaking from behind the wood.

“Liz?” she asked, hesitant. Her brow furrowed as she stepped further in the room. “Liz, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

Lifting a hand to her cheeks, Liz marveled at the tears under her fingertips. “What? I hadn’t realized. Sorry, Maria. I’m just really stressed right now, with Alex, and school, and the whole Max and Tess thing.”

Maria nodded her head sympathetically. “Yeah, I know you are, chica. I’m sorry I was a bit busy today, but--” Her mouth thinned to a sharp line, eyes focusing on Liz’s face. “What are you hiding from me? Because I know you, and you’re not being very Liz about this. You’re keeping something from me, and I want to know what. I’ve known you since first grade, it’s impossible for you to lie to me. So spill, and don’t feed me this bullshit about being stressed. I don’t doubt you are, but you’re a hell of a lot more than stressed.”

Liz had underestimated Maria’s determination, but to see her best friend standing, arms folded stubbornly, she caved. Helpless gestures tried to express what she couldn’t find the words for. She’d been ready to tell Maria earlier, why couldn’t she now? Isabel knew, and she’d been shopping for maternity clothes, been thinking of names, and what her little girl would look like. She wasn’t denying the pregnancy anymore, what was making this so hard? “Maria--Maria, I tried to tell you the other night, you know, before we figured out what Tess had done. But I made a big mistake, Maria. I’m pregnant.”

There was silence as Maria blinked, still preparing to force answers out of Liz when the word pregnant slammed into her ears. She stumbled, falling backwards, catching herself, and flapping her mouth for a moment or two. “Could you repeat that, please?”

“I’m pregnant, Maria.”

The blonde slide to the floor, knees drawn up to her chest. Nodding slowly, she cleared her throat. “Wow. So, uh, who’s the father? Max or,” she made a face, “Kyle?”

Liz waited a breath. “Future Max.” she whispered.

But Maria was already nodding, chewing on her lips thoughtfully. “Oh. You know, that was the last thing I was expecting, but I’m really--I’m not surprised. You were too hesitant that night when you explained everything. And you avoided my eyes when we shook on still being virgins. I do know you, Liz.” She quieted. “I guess neither of us are virgins anymore.”

Liz shook her head. “I guess not. So, you and Michael, huh?”

Maria was nodding, green eyes fixed on her friend. “Yup. Me and the Spaceboy. You know, Liz, we haven’t really hung out unless it was a Czech crisis since-well, since Alex died.” she said, voice hitching at Alex’s name. “I think we could both use it. What say we call up our reliable, older men, Ben and his friend Jerry? I’ll tell Michael I’ve got a hot date today and can’t make it.”

Liz smiled, blinking rapidly against tears. “Sure Maria. Just, it can’t last all night, because I’ve got two very hard, very important conversations to have tonight and neither will be pleasant, nor can they wait any longer.”

“The parents and Max?”

She nodded. “Yes. I’m already three months along and--”

“Three months? God, Liz!” Maria exclaimed. She stared down her friend until her eyes softened at the brunette resting against her pillows, hands clasped over her stomach. “This is really happening, isn’t it?”

Turning her head to gaze out the window, Liz sighed. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess it is.”

--------------------

Christmas had been so far from her mind that she’d forgotten about it until she saw the spectacle of lights as she passed through the park. The evening was aglow with the pure, white lights that showered the world with snow-tipped merriment. From a certain distance, she could swear they were icicles, sparkling and glittering and laughing in the reflection of the street lamps. If only she could stay there on the sidewalk, basking in the holiday peace, and not cross the road to where she knew conflict was waiting. But she had to be home before too late, to rehash the impending conversation, only with her parents the second time.

Isabel was right. Max deserved to be told first, though he’d waited until everyone around her knew of Tess’s pregnancy to inform her--he probably wouldn’t have at all if he hadn’t been leaving the planet the next day. Still, she was determined to do the right thing, and now that their lives had settled, she was going to tell him. Warn him, because she knew how much it would hurt to see her pregnant with someone else’s child. After all, she’d felt the same thing. It had never been her intention to impose on him the same pain as he’d done to her, but that was how things were working out. She felt like she was getting revenge. Or at least that the rest of the world would view it like that.

If Max’s cold, overprotective sister had understood, surely Max himself, the sweet, gentle Max she loved, would too. But from the new Max, she didn’t have a clue what to expect. What to prepare for. So she straightened her spine, settling the growing weight of her abdomen more evenly on her legs, and stepped forward down the street. As she approached the backside of the Evans’ house, the lighting from Max’s window cast a warm glow on her skin.

Only three months ago, she’d stood in the same spot, tears in her eyes and words on her lips ready to tear him apart with every weakness he’d allowed her to see, never suspecting she’d one day use it against him. Now she’d be icing the cake that had long since burned. But this time, they were on equal footing, the memory of Tess in his arms through the window, making her stomach churn.

She knocked once, twice. Music on the other side of the glass dimmed, and a shadow grew larger on the curtain. Then the fabric was drawn aside and she came face to face with the man of her dreams, both good and bad.

Max turned the latch, pulling the window inward. “Liz?”

She smiled shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She pretended not to notice his eyes trailing the movement. “Hi.” Shifting on her toes slightly, “Um, can we talk?”

He seemed stunned, which she expected, but nodded, stepping out of the way for her to enter.

Because I only have the first part edited, Chapter Three will be posted in two sections. I didn't want to go much longer without an update on this, so here's part A of Ch. 3.

Thank you for your feedback! And thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this brief part. I'll be back with more as soon as my beta finishes with it.

And here's my lovely new banner:

banner by Anniepoo98!


One Song Glory
Chapter Three
Part A

“Liz, is everything alright?” Max asked, reaching out a hand to steady her as she climbed over the window ledge.

She shook her head, biting her lower lip. “No, not it’s not alright. We have to talk. There’s something I have to tell you, before anyone else finds out, so please don’t say anything until I’m through, because it’s only going to make this harder.”

His expression did nothing to calm her heart. He too vividly remembered the last time she’d come to his room in the night, preaching a similar tune. She shrugged it off, focusing, bearing down on what she had to say.

“Max,” she began, clearing her throat. The next few words would change her life forever; they couldn’t crack. “Max, I’m three months pregnant.”

His reaction occurred too quickly for her to follow, the knuckles on his hands straining, muscles tense in his neck. He swallowed, the movement accenting the stiff, taut muscles in his face. “What?” he spat out through clenched teeth. “So you lied, again? Why? Why bother? Did you want to make me feel like shit? Were you trying to make me blame myself for whatever happened between us? For us falling apart?”

“No!” she shouted, tears building in her eyes because it was going exactly as she expected. He was never going to believe her now. “No, I didn’t lie! I never slept with Kyle!”

“Then how are you pregnant? Are you going to tell me your the next fucking Virgin Mary? I don’t think so. Get out.” He turned his back to her, returning to his bed and laying so he faced the opposite wall.

Liz backed toward the window slowly, begging him internally to take it back. To turn around and apologize and hold her while she cried. She stared at him desperately, for several minutes, hoping. Instead, he continued to ignore her, ignore her sobs as she climbed back through the window and out into the cold, winter night.

“You unbelievable asshole.” Isabel slammed the door of his room open, stalking toward the bed with fists clenched. “You unbelievable asshole. I hope you’re fucking happy now. If you wanted to make her feel even worse than you are, you succeeded. You wouldn’t even let her explain! Or for that matter, listen! How hard was it for you to tell her you knocked Tess up? I wish she’d responded the same way you just did, so you’d know how it feels, but I know she didn’t, because she’s too good for that. That’s only something you would do. Kick the love of your life out of your room when she needs you the most. Fucking unbelievable. I can’t believe you’re my brother.”

He leapt from the bed, a scowl on his face. “She slept with him! She lied to me, she told me she hadn’t! And she has the nerve to come in here, and expects me to, what? Jump for joy? Play father? I don’t fucking think so. That’s Kyle’s job.”

“She never slept with him, but you’d know that if you listened! I wanted her to tell you the truth, but now I’m glad she didn’t, because you don’t deserve it! And when you find out just how much you’ve fucked up, I hope to God she doesn’t accept your apologies. Because you will be giving them. You have no idea what you’ve just done. And it’s not like you have any right to be angry, or hurt, if you are at all. You went, slept with Tess, got her pregnant and what? Expected Liz to forgive you and take you back! Hypocritical asshole. I can’t even look at you right now.” Isabel shook her head. “I’ll talk to you once you put your head somewhere other than up your ass.”

“Isabel--”

“Maybe I wasn’t clear enough. Brother or not, I won’t talk to you until you figure out what the hell is wrong with you. I know we’ve put a lot of pressure on you, but you threatened me! The one person I thought I could always trust to be on my side, or at least, let me have a side, and you threaten me! And Liz! God, if that’s how you treat the people you love, I can’t imagine how you’d treat us if you didn’t. So she hurt you? Grow up. You’ve hurt her too! Did you ever bother to think that maybe, just maybe, she did what she did to help you? For your own good? The good of everyone?” She shook her head again. “I can’t talk to you right now.”

The door slammed behind her, shaking the walls and knickknacks on his shelves.

He sat back on the bed heavily, hands on his face. His life was crumbling, and he didn’t have enough hands to catch all the pieces.

------------------------

Liz ran. She knew she needed to go back home, to tell her parents next, but the reality of the situation was weighing too heavily for anything other than running. If Max had reacted like that, what would her parents do? She couldn’t handle another rejection tonight. She couldn’t handle it if her own parents hated her.

When she’d told Isabel he’d never really loved her, there was a part of her that never doubted.

That part was lying dead on the floor of his bedroom. Along with what was left of her heart, and her hope. What had she honestly thought he’d do? Take her back anyway? She went in there knowing he’d get angry, toss her out, but to have it actually happen. . .

Maybe she deserved it. Who was she to mess with time? Or Future Max? And she’d known it was wrong to make love to Future Max. What had she ever been thinking, that she could and not feel the repercussions? She knew she was tearing Max apart, and when he’d finally stopped pushing her, she thought hurting him was over. Then he started hurting her, getting back at her, and just when they’d been making progress, this had happened. He’d never trust her again. Not about cryptic warnings about the Granolith or the truth about Kyle.

Maybe this was her punishment for getting pregnant at seventeen, for lying to Max for so long, for killing Alex. Because she had. Killed Alex. Not as directly as Tess, maybe, but indirectly. He’d still be alive, laughing, loving Isabel, teasing her and Maria, and calling them his girls. Tess never would’ve destroyed his mind, his privacy, because she wouldn’t have been in Roswell to have the chance. There would be no potential son of Max and Tess, no baby of her own. It was hard to regret the last one, but she and Max could’ve had a family, together, raised their daughter, together, if she hadn’t messed everything up. Or if she’d stood up to Future Max, thought of another plan, any other way.

How could Isabel stand to look at her, knowing she’d killed Alex? She’d seen flashes of the future. Alex could’ve had fourteen more years, happy and full of life, and she’d ruined it. The fate of the world wasn’t worth losing Alex. Not to her. But then, it hadn’t been her choice. It wasn’t up to her, little Lizzie Parker, to decide that one life, one precious life, was worth letting the world end.

Why hadn’t they tried harder? Fought harder? Would the world still have come to an end?

She shook her head, finally slowing down and wiping at her tears. Thinking like that would get her nowhere but depressed, and she had a child to think about. As trite as that sounded, she loved her daughter already, simply because she was part of her and Max, something innocent, and so dependent on her. Her daughter wouldn’t care about all the problems of the alien abyss, or Max and Tess, or the fact that her father didn’t exist anymore because he’d been from a different, future world. Her daughter would need a mother, and would love her unconditionally, trust in her to look after her and protect her and love her back.

And so Liz would do just that, parents and Max aside. Isabel, at least, was on her side, even if only for the sake of her niece. But honestly, Liz was beginning to think Isabel needed this baby as much as Liz herself did. To heal. To finally feel love and safety and all those positive emotions after the past few months. After Alex’s death. Nothing and no one would ever replace him, but her daughter could help them both move on from the loss.

She looked around, noting for the first time where she’d ended up. At least she wasn’t too far from home. Her parents went to bed early to get up in the morning to open the restaurant, but if she hurried, she’d make it back in time to catch them awake. Her heart wanted to wait, to recover, to let her parents have plenty of time to adjust, but this had to end tonight. She couldn’t keep hiding, and she couldn’t wait. Get it all over with.

Taking a deep breath, she set off for home, and the wrath of her parents.

Sorry this took so long. Things haven't been going my way this week, and I've been sick for a lot of it. Ugh. But all better now, and almost done with school, so I'm hoping to have more time to write. Thanks for your patience with this!

Enjoy! And I'm apologizing in advance!

Previously:

Taking a deep breath, she set off for home, and the wrath of her parents.

Chapter Three
Part B

Streetlights flared to life around her, and though she welcomed the light over the shadows, it did little to calm her nerves. Two years ago, she’d have been fine walking alone in Roswell at any time of night or day. Now, after the FBI, kidnapping shapeshifters, and murdering alien queens, she knew better. Every place, every area she couldn’t see posed a threat, and even those she could had reason to make her cautious. She was just a human in a larger, more dangerous world that she had been exposed to. And there was a little girl inside her who needed protection above all else.

The flashing lights above the Crashdown were off, and the stairwell to her apartment was dark. Why didn’t they have a front light? she wondered suddenly. Didn’t her parents know how dangerous that was? Someone could easily hide in the shadows, or someone could lose their footing and fall. Before her daughter was born, she’d have to remedy that.

If her parents even let her live at home anymore.

Those thoughts weren’t helping her gather the peace-of-mind to talk to her parents. She closed her eyes, breathing deeply. Her parents loved her. They’d be upset, disappointed, but they’d help her. They’d be there for her.

She stuck her keys in the door, twisting the knob and pushing open the heavy wood. The lights were off, only a soft glow from down the hall lighting the space. Were her parents already in bed? After all the gearing up she’d done to face them, and they’d unknowingly postponed it a day?

Sighing, she hung up her coat by the door and trudged to her room. Her back was killing her, probably a combination of the pregnancy and being on her feet too long. At least she was young, she couldn’t imagine feeling like this at forty. Or even thirty. And she’d had relatively calm pregnancy so far. Only that first bout of horrid morning sickness, some aches and pains, tiredness, but otherwise perfectly fine. No wonder she’d gone so long without being revealed.

But no more. Three of the most important people in her life already knew, it was too late to keep anything quiet. Max surely wouldn’t.

She shook her head. Thinking about Max only made things worse, and her stomach was feeling rebellious anyway. Max could wait until the light of day, and a calmer stomach.

The window of her bedroom was open. It was the first thing she noticed as she pushed open her door, the breath catching in her throat. Instinctively, she raised her hands in front of her abdomen, eyes darting to every corner and shadow. She’d left her window shut, so who could’ve--

“Liz?” Maria popped her head through the window, startling Liz from her scanning.

“Maria?” she hissed, stomping to the window, hands on her hips. “What are you doing? Are you the one who opened the window. You scared me half to death!”

“What? Oh, that! Sorry, I just figured you’d need--” Maria reached behind her, fishing for a moment, then pulled out a box of vanilla Ben&Jerry’s ice cream. “--Ta da! Ice cream and a best friend! So here I am! And, okay, part of it may have to do with the fact that Mom freaked on me for spending the night at Michaels, she’s positive we’ve been having sex for, like, years, which is just--not true. But I figured it wouldn’t go well with you-know-who, and I--”

“Maria,” Liz interrupted. “Thank you. You’re right. It didn’t go well with Max. He kicked me out.”

“What? Max-Fuck-The-Gerbil-Evans? He kicked you out?” Maria didn’t wait for Liz’s nod. “I’ll kill him! And Michael will destroy the body!”

Liz put her hands out to pacify her friend. “Maria, he thinks she’s Kyle’s. He thinks I lied to him--”

“Oh, really? Then that makes everything okay. He’s got every right to sleep with Tess, get her pregnant, then expect you to take him back as soon as she’s gone, totally ignoring the fact that that stupid bitch killed Alex! But for you to sleep with Kyle, get pregnant, and expect him to take you back or even understand, and he kicks you out? Stop defending him, Liz! He’s not worth it.” Maria calmed, climbing through the window and placing a hand on Liz’s. “Liz, sweetie, once upon a time I wished Michael would be more like Max. But I swear to God, not anymore. I’d rather have Michael anyday. Max doesn’t deserve you.”

Maybe, Liz thought privately. But maybe it was her fault more than Max’s. After all, why would he even want to take her back, before he found out about her pregnancy, when she’d done everything in her power to destroy him? To use her intimate knowledge of his loves, his fears, to make him into someone else entirely? It was like the only way to make Max fall out of love with her was to make him not Max anymore.

And she succeeded. She didn’t have the right to play with him like that, push and push at him until he broke, then expect him to accept her back without an explanation. Especially when she was pregnant, and he knew it wasn’t his.

“So, how ‘bout that ice cream?” Liz said instead of what she really thought, hoping to cheer herself up.

Maria grinned. “Don’t you need sleep? I mean, help yourself, but--”

Liz waved a hand. “I can’t sleep anyway. All my books say that’s relatively normal, though.”

Reaching into her purse, Maria pulled out a mini bottle of Tabasco. “Strange cravings?”

Liz’s lips twitched upwards. “Yeah. Thanks Maria.” And proceeded to douse her bowl of vanilla in the orange, spicy sauce.

The blonde laughed. “God, girl. That’s gross.”

-------------------------

Liz awoke to the glaring light of her clock and the knowledge that she was going to be sick. Her stomach rolled and she followed it’s motion out of bed, stumbling to the bathroom in her darkened room. Tears were already falling down her cheeks as she fought back the heaving in her stomach.

Being pregnant sucked.

All the ice cream she’d consumed so happily before came tumbling back up, and she let it, laying back against the cool tiles when it was over.

She hugged herself around the middle, curling around her arms.

Being pregnant sucked.

And tomorrow was Christmas Eve, and she was scheduled to work. With no sleep and an uncooperating stomach, she was in for a rough day. She groaned.

“Lizzie? Is everything alright?” Her father’s voice filled her room as the click of the door signified his entrance. “Lizzie?” He rounded the corner of the bed, the bathroom floor and Liz’s huddled form coming in his line of sight. “Oh my God, Liz, are you okay? Are you sick?” He rushed forward, dropping to his knees with hands outstretched to stroke her forehead. His face showed his concern.

“Dad?” she asked, peeking up at him from tired eyes. “I”m sorry for waking you. I just-I don’t feel very well.”

“Not feeling well? Lizzie, why didn’t you say anything?” he asked softly, sliding down to sit beside her on the tile. His hands pushed the hair out of her eyes, wiping away the dampness of her skin and praying color returned to her cheeks soon. He couldn’t stand to see his baby girl looking so pained.

Eyes trailing over her huddled form to assure himself that she was alright, Jeff Parker felt the moment his lungs ceased functioning. Hand stilling against her forehead, he knew he was gawking, his mouth dropped open in shock and horror, but he didn’t care. God, please let it all be a bad dream, let him wake up and have his daughter safe, well, in bed, and not pregnant.

Her frame was so small, and though he could tell she wasn’t terribly far along, only a few months, he’d wager, the slight swell of her abdomen was impossible to miss. How had he, for so long, not noticed?

He didn’t give any thought to the father. That was one question he knew the answer to without being told. Since the moment he’d first met the Evans’ boy, he’d known Max felt something for his daughter. It was even okay that she started to feel something back. But they’d been broken up for months, he knew that. He also knew the boy had made his daughter cry. But there was no doubt his Lizzie would ever give herself to someone other than Max Evans. Not a the moment, anyway. A father he may be, and thus selectively blinded when it came to his daughter, he still knew young love, and young lust, when he saw it.

“Oh, Lizzie,” he murmured, eyes tearing at the knowledge of what she’d gotten herself into. “Oh, Liz, when were you going to tell us?”

She sobbed, knowing he knew, and not knowing how he’d take it. He must be so disappointed in her, probably wishing for another daughter, one who was less of a hassle. And she couldn’t blame him. It had never even been a faint possibility that she’d end up pregnant at seventeen, but she had.

Oh god, she realized, eyes squeezing shut around her tears, Max hated her!

Jeff picked his daughter up for the first time in years, grunting at the twinge in his back that warned him he wasn’t as young as he used to be, and Liz wasn’t a little girl he could swing around and carry on his shoulders. He wanted to cry with her, but he was the parent, and he had to be strong for her now.

“It’s alright, Liz. Everything’s gonna be alright, I promise.” he whispered, laying her back on her bed and wiping her tears. “Everything’s gonna be fine.”

Sniffling, she blinked up at him, curious. “Wh-what? You’re not mad at me? I mean-I can’t imagine how disappointed you must be, I never-I never wanted this to happen! I didn’t mean to--”

He cut her off. “It’s alright, Lizzie, I know you didn’t.” He sighed. This was a conversation he never wanted to have. “It’s alright. I won’t lie and say I’m not angry at all, because I am. At you and at Max.” She started to protest and he gave her a look, continuing. “Yes, I know the father is Max. Who else would it be? But I am mad at you and Max. You should’ve been more careful. Or better yet, waited, but it’s too late for thinking like that. But I can’t be disappointed in you, because I can’t hold you to expectations and standards that I didn’t have.”

“Dad?” she asked, tilting her head in confusion. What was he saying? Was he implying what she thought he was?

He stared off through the window, remembering. “I had a girlfriend in high school, long before I met your mother and realized she was the one for me. I had a girlfriend, and we got too serious, too fast. And we were stupid, careless teenagers who thought it could never happen to us. But it did, and she got pregnant. So, you see, you’re my daughter, and I want to rip Max Evans apart piece by piece for coming anywhere near you. But I did the same thing, to someone else’s little girl, and I can’t-I can’t blame him. Because I remember what it was like, believe it or not, I remember being young, and restless, and wanting to be grown up, and feeling like I was in love, and I remember what it was like. That doesn’t make it right, or justify it, but it means I understand. I don’t want history repeating itself.”

If it had been under normal circumstances, Liz might’ve been angry to hear her father had gotten another woman pregnant, someone who wasn’t her mother even if it was before they’d met. Because all children like to think of their parents as a unit, never separated, and thus, never with anyone else. But she was curious. She had no half-sibling, she knew that. So what had happened? Would it happen to her? Instinctively, her hands covered the bulge of her stomach protectively.

He watched her response, smiling thinly. “We were driving. I don’t remember where, or why, but we were driving. I had been drinking, and we--we crashed. Sara and the baby died.”

Liz felt her tears return, hugging her stomach tighter. God, she couldn’t imagine losing her child, not now. Not knowing the little daughter inside of her was part Max, part both of them. Someone left over from a world that no longer existed.

“What about Mom? She’s going to be furious--”

“Yes.” Jeff nodded, grinning ruefully while running his hands through her hair, picking apart the tangles left over from sleep. “Yeah, I bet she will. But I’ll talk to her. We’ll face this together, Liz, as a family. You won’t be alone.” His gaze hardened. “But I expect Max to be a part of all this too. In fact, I think we should all get together for a family dinner and discuss this, you, your mother and I along with the Evanses.”

Liz paled, eyes wide.

“Liz?” Jeff narrowed his eyes at his daughter’s panic. “Liz, Max does know, right?"

--


Find glory
In a song that rings true
Truth like a blazing fire
An eternal flame

Find one song
A song about love
Glory
From the soul of a young man,
A young man

One song to redeem this empty life. . .

Here you go! Thanks for your patience! Tomorrow's my birthday, so I'll probably not be updating at all until sometime on Saturday. I've got another week of too much work until I'm free to write to my heart's content. Luckily, chapter Five of this is already half-way done.

And thanks again for all my nominations, as Favorite Newcomer and for my other stories!

Chapter Four

Liz rolled over at eight am, the gentle tapping on her shoulder chasing away the dreams. She moaned, digging her feet deeper into the covers. “What?” she croaked, throat sore from throwing up all night, and voice groggy from sleep.

“Time to get up, Liz. You and I are going out for the day, so dress comfortably.” Isabel instructed, already bustling about the room, opening the curtains and turning on lights. She dug through Liz’s closet, tossing an outfit on the bed before plopping down on the mattress with an extra, forced bounce. “Up, sleepy. You need to have some fun, and I need to get the hell away from my brother. I can’t believe that asshole. Really, I’m so sorry for making you tell him. He’s a prick.”

Liz rolled over, burying her face in the pillow. “Go away, Isabel. I know he’s a prick. Maria had plenty to say about him last night. I’m not in the mood.”

Isabel raised her eyebrow. “Apparently not. Grouch.”

Sighing, Liz lifted her head slightly. “Sorry. I’m just tired and cranky. I didn’t mean to take it out on you.”

“Noted.”

“So do I still have to get up?”

“Yup.”

Isabel poked and prodded until Liz was ready, using a little alien magic on her hair to make things simple. Finally as they were walking out the door, Liz spoke up. “My dad knows. He found me throwing up last night.”

Isabel glanced over, an eyebrow raised. “Really? How’d he take it?”

“Better than I expected. But still not good.” Liz shook her head. “He said he understood. But he also said he wanted to sit down and discuss this with your parents and Max. He wouldn’t even acknowledge that someone else could be the father.”

Isabel nodded. “But you already told Max and he was an asshole.”

“He thinks it’s Kyle’s.” Liz defended, knowing it didn’t make any difference in her heart. Max had proven for the final time that all her theories were correct. Last year, she’d been so certain what they had was forever. Soulmates, Maria called them. Now, she knew better. Max only loved the part of her that was normal. The part of her that didn’t exist anymore. He wanted the idea of normal.

Sighing, she let her hand fall to rest against the growing bulge of her stomach. A baby. She wasn’t ready for that. Not when she still couldn’t figure out her own life. And there was so much to consider, beyond what was normal. Her daughter would be part alien. There was so much she hadn’t allowed herself to think of until now.

She shook her head. “Just let me tell my dad I’m leaving. If he even lets me go anywhere.” she muttered quietly.

“Dad?” she called hesitantly. Would his opinion of things have changed over night? Had he thought it over and decided--

“Lizzie? There you are. I was looking for you. Your mother and I are going to sit down this afternoon and have a chat. After that, I have a feeling we’ll need to talk to you.” Jeff said, wiping his hands on a rag as he exited the kitchen.

She forced a smile. “Of course. Um, is it okay if I go shopping with Isabel? I just, you know, my clothes don’t fit as well right now.” It was a lie, of course, like so many other things she’d said to her parents in the past two years. She had no idea what Isabel had planned, but she had the bags and extra clothes in her room already. No one would know that she’d already bought them.

His eyes seemed to glaze for a moment, then he shook his head, clearing it. “Of course. Just be back shortly. Nancy’s--” he sighed. “She’s not going to be very happy about this. I’m not either, but you know your mother.”

Her smile fell. “Yeah, I do.” she whispered, subdued. Pursing her lips, she nodded to him in thanks and turned back out the swinging door. Isabel sat waiting at the counter, standing as Liz approached.

“Ready to go?”

Liz grinned sheepishly. “Where exactly are we going?”

“You’ll see.” Isabel’s smirk remained on her face as they climbed in Mrs. Evans’ borrowed car.

* * * * *

Mrs. Evans’ mini van sped down the highway, Liz gazing out the window as her fingers tapped against the plastic absently. They were going out into the desert, and it didn’t take a genius to know where. She hadn’t been back there since finding out Tess killed Alex. The only other time she’d ever been there had been when she’d discovered the truth about destiny. That Max was meant, was made, to be with Tess.

The pod chamber didn’t have any good memories for her.

“Why are we going to the pod chamber, Isabel? I’m pregnant, remember? It isn’t good for me to be stressed.” she asked, glancing over at the blonde in the driver’s seat.

“Because I have a theory. And you’re the best at solving mysteries.”

Finally, they arrived and Isabel pulled the van off the side of the road. They both sat quietly, staring at the rocky cliffs for some time. Remembering.

“I honestly thought I’d never see this place again.” Isabel said after awhile. “I thought I’d said goodbye to my parents, to my home, to my friends. I was preparing myself to fight a war, to live among complete strangers who were all like Nasedo, Tess, Rath, and Lonnie, and all those the other aliens we’ve ever met. When Michael left, I wanted so badly to go to. To just walk away from Max, and Tess, and the goddamn Granolith, and go home to my mom and dad.” She turned to look at Liz, tears spilling from her eyes. “But I felt so guilty. I love Max. He’s my brother, and I didn’t want to just let him go to this strange, dangerous world all alone. I mean, even then I didn’t really consider Tess a friend, or someone to just talk to and hang out with. Someone to depend on. Max said he needed me, and I need him, so I was going to go.”

Liz waited for her to finish. She’d known a little of what had transpired between Max and his sister, but never had she heard it from Isabel. The princess wasn’t one to open up, to anyone other than her brothers.

Isabel smiled slightly, eyes lighting up despite her tears. “But then you walked in, and you told us Tess had killed Alex, and then suddenly I didn’t have to go anywhere. I didn’t have to leave. I wanted to kill her, for what she did to Alex, to all of us, and I thought Max would take care of it. I thought leaving them alone meant he was going to kill her. I should’ve known.” She shook her head, looking back out at the rocks. “Let’s go.”

The rocks leading up to the entrance hadn’t changed, weren’t damaged by the launching of the Granolith, Liz observed as she climbed behind Isabel. In fact, nothing looked any different. At all. What had happened to all that silver stuff that’d poured out of the chamber? Had it left nothing behind? Not a trace?

Isabel waved her hand over the hand print, and Liz held her breath as the door crept open.

The inside of the chamber was glowing a soft green as they climbed through. The pods were still hanging on the wall, the long-dried membranes torn and dangling as they always had. Isabel paused, tossed a glance to Liz, and slipped behind Max’s pod, into the darkness where the Granolith used to reside.

And apparently still did, Liz noted, not as surprised as she thought she should be. The Granolith was exactly as it had always been before Tess’s supposed departure, softly glowing and suspended in the air above a white crystalline floor. Its presence meant a lot of things, but she held no feelings of gratefulness at the sight. The Granolith had been the start of too many of her troubles. Of course, without it, she wouldn’t have her daughter. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. On one hand, her daughter had suddenly become her whole world, repaired her heart and filled it to the brim with love, but it was not a convenient time to have a child. And the father was not a convenient person to have a child with. Everyone’s lives were going to be so much more difficult from now on.

If only she hadn’t been so selfish that night. If only he hadn’t been so desperate to make it better, in any way he could.

Liz shook her head. Thoughts like that weren’t helping.

“I was right.” Isabel said, breaking the silence. “I was right. That bitch mindwarped us. She never left Earth at all. She’s still here.” She pivoted, hands on her hips as she faced off with Liz. “Which means she lied about the pregnancy. Either she isn’t pregnant, or the baby can survive perfectly well on Earth.”

* * * * *

Michael opened the door to his apartment, eyeing Liz and Isabel wearily. The two of them were rarely together, and when they were, it usually meant something alien. Which as of recently, meant something he didn’t like.

“What?” he barked, running a hand through his hair.

“We have to talk. Move.” Isabel stated, pushing past him and seating herself on his couch. She wrinkled her nose, glaring at him. “Ew. Do you ever clean this place?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask for you to come here. You did that on your own. Deal with it.” he replied. His arms were crossed against his chest, defensive. He was ready for whatever they could throw at him.

Isabel raised an eyebrow, motioning for Liz to step inside and shut the door. She did, smiling at Isabel’s attitude. What had happened to the crying girl of before, who didn’t want to leave home anytime soon?

“Alright, Michael. Liz and I have somethings to tell you, and don’t worry, they’re not life-threatening.” Isabel paused, thinking. “Yet.”

“Okay, shoot.”

“Well, for starters, Max is an asshole.” Isabel raised her hand before Michael could reply. “Yes, I know you know. Just reiterating that fact. Now, Liz is pregnant.”

Michael blinked. “That isn’t funny, Isabel.”

“No, it isn’t. It’s true.” Isabel cursed when he didn’t respond, simply staring back at her in challenge. “Liz, show him!”

Whirling around, Michael narrowed his eyes at Liz. “She’s joking, Liz. You’re not pregnant.”

Liz smiled tolerantly. “Yes, I am, Michael. See?” She lifted the hem of her shirt, revealing the soft roundness of her abdomen. Her only regret was that Maria missed his expression.

“Holy shit.” Michael stared. “What’s Maxwell got, supersperm?! Every girl he fucks gets pregnant!”

“Ew! Michael, I don’t need to hear about my brother’s sperm!”

Bowing her head, Liz placed a hand over her growing daughter. “It’s not Max’s.”

“Bullshit.” Michael said flatly.

Liz flushed. “It’s not!”

“And I said that’s bullshit!”

“Michael, I’m telling you, I haven’t had sex with Max. Hence, this is not his child!”

“I don’t care what you’re telling me, that kid is Max’s!”

“Michael, shut up!” Isabel hollered, standing and waving her arms between them. “Both of you, stop it! Michael, Max is not that child’s father. Liz, calm down, that’s my godchild you’re carrying. God, you people are giving me a headache!”

Michael glared at her. “Isabel, we don’t get sick. And why the hell do you care so much about Liz’s kid if it ain’t Max’s?”

“Am I not allowed to have friends? Am I not allowed to fawn over her baby? I’m a woman, Michael. I like babies.” Isabel explained, head tilted to stare down her nose at him.

“Then who’s the father? Kyle? I don’t fucking think so.”

“Kyle isn’t the father either. Drop it, Michael.” Liz demanded, knowing she needed to think of a father for her child soon. Or more aptly, before her father tried to talk to the Evanses. God, she couldn’t imagine how Max would react to that.

He shook his head. “Whatever. Why are you telling me?”

Isabel straightened. This was where she came in. “Because you’re going to find out eventually. Better sooner than later. That isn’t why we came thought.” She waited until he gestured impatiently for her to go on. She smirked. “We came to inform you that Tess never left Earth. The Granolith is intact and back at the pod chamber. It never left. The bitch mindwarped us.”

Michael’s response was immediate. “Does Maxwell know?”

“Of course not. I’m not speaking to him. If you see him, you’ll have to be the one to tell him.” she bit back. Why the hell was he so fixated on Max? Why was he of all people defending Max? They didn’t need him. Not if he was going to shove his head up his ass and act like a king in his ignorance.

“Can we please get past this ‘Max is an asshole’ thing? I agree, I’ve been saying that for years. But this grudge you girls have isn’t helping matters.” Michael said, eyeing Liz and running a hand through his hair. Then again, he thought wryly, if Max knew Liz was pregnant, and it wasn’t his kid, he wasn’t going to be much of a help. More like a hindrance.

A knock on the door interrupted them. “Michael? Heeeeello-o! Anyone home?” Maria called cheerfully, opening the door with her key. Micheal’d given her a spare after Alex’s death. “Whoa, party. Why wasn’t I invited?”

Michael turned to her, impatient. “Tess never left Earth. The Granolith is still in the pod chamber, untouched.”

Maria’s purse thudded on the ground. “What? You mean that bitch screwed with my mind?”

“With all our minds.” Isabel corrected, trying not to hate her heritage. Hadn’t Vilandra been just like Tess? A traitor?

“So where is she?” Liz asked, quietly meeting the gaze of each of them. Tess was a threat. And she was running around free somewhere on Earth.

Michael punched his palm with his other fist. “Wait a minute. We put the crystal in the Granolith. According to the translation, once it’s started, it can’t be stopped. How the hell did she un-start the thing?”

“Un-start? Michael, please.” Maria commented.

Shaking her head at Maria, Liz frowned. “We found the translation already printed on that computer. No one was waiting for it. Maybe Tess wanted us to find it. Maybe she rewrote the translation to say what she wanted it to. It is pretty convenient that just when you needed way home and Tess needed a way to lock you guys into a one-way trip, the translation points to the Granolith which is exactly the thing to do it.”

Isabel moved across the apartment, waving a hand over the blank wall until a hand print appeared. Reaching in, she pulled out a thin, silver book. The Destiny Book.

Turning back to face them, Isabel held it up. “What do you want to bet Tess made this thing say what she wanted it to? I’m beginning to doubt anything and everything she said.”

“So open it!” Maria encouraged.

Isabel pulled the cover back, ignoring the squeaking of the metal rings that bound it together. She flipped each page delicately, careful not to clank them too loud. The others watched in silence, breaths held for a reaction. Whatever they found, it didn’t change the fact that the translation had more than likely been tampered with.

“Oh my god.” Isabel murmured, hand raised to her mouth. Eyes wide, she looked up at the assembled group. “Oh my god. It’s all gone. The pictures, our faces, the pregnancies, it’s all gone. It’s just writing.”

* * * * *

Liz closed the door behind her, locking it and praying her parents were out for the evening. A peaceful dinner and bed was all she wanted at the moment. Her thoughts were loud, and centered too much on things she had no answers for. She wasn’t sure she liked being alone, though, with the idea of Tess still out there hovering in her mind.

“Elizabeth.” Her mother’s voice cut through the quiet of their apartment. Liz shivered. Why did her mother always have to be so cold? So aloof?

She swallowed, facing her mother. “Mom?”

“Have I not given you everything you’ve ever needed? Wanted?” Nancy pursed her lips. “Have we spoiled you, so that you think you can go and do this and we will help you?”

“Mom, I--”

“I’m not finished speaking, Elizabeth. I don’t want to hear excuses. I want to hear your plans. Adoption? Abortion? It isn’t too late, there are still some doctors who will perform an abortion this late in the pregnancy.” Her arms were crossed. Her words were final.

“Mom, I’m not getting an abortion! How can you ask that? I’m trying to take responsibility for my actions, not shove them off on someone else!” Liz argued, knowing her mother would never understand the love she had for her daughter already. A love Nancy obviously didn’t share for Liz.

“I’m not asking. I’m telling. This is unacceptable. I thought we were finally getting somewhere but apparently, I was wrong. You lied to me, Elizabeth Claudia. You told me you weren’t having sex with that boy, and you were. I should’ve ended this last year, but I allowed it to go on because I thought you were a responsible girl. I thought I’d raised you properly.” Nancy kept her voice carefully low. Liz wished she’d just yell and get it over with. Anger seemed so much more powerful when subdued. Disappointment so much more blatant when spoken matter-of-factly.

Shaking her head, Liz bit back her tears. Nothing she could say would make her mother understand. She knew it would be like this. Nancy and Liz had never been close, never spoken seriously. She couldn’t remember a time when her mother hadn’t been distant.

“You will have an abortion, Elizabeth. It can be discreet. No one will have to know, and you’ll go on with your life. You’ll go to Harvard next year.”

That’s where she put her foot down. It was far too late for abortion. “No. No abortion, and no adoption. I’ll deal with this, but I won’t do either of those. I can’t.”

Nancy closed her eyes slowly. Taking a deep breath, she opened them again. “Then you will get out of my house. I will not have a pregnant teenage daughter. Until you realize what it is you’ve done, you’ll have to deal with it on your own. See how far you get.”

It’s what she’d feared from the moment she’d realized she was pregnant, but never had she truly imagined standing in her own home and being told to leave. By her own mother. Where would she go? Isabel’s? No, Max was there. Maria’s? No, Amy would be just as furious. Michael’s? Would he let her stay there? There wasn’t anywhere else. She had money saved up from years of working, but nowhere near enough to survive, and raise a child.

“Nancy, enough.” Jeff stepped in from the stairwell. “She’s not leaving.”

“Jeff--”

“No. We discussed this already. I know you’re disappointed, I am too, but this won’t solve anything. She’s still our daughter, Nance.” Turning to Liz, he smiled as gently as he could manage. “Liz, go to your room. Your mother and I need to talk.”

“No, Jeff, we can’t allow this! She’s ruining her future! She might not realize it now, but she’ll regret this for the rest of her life!”

“The only thing I’d regret would be listening to you! I’m not giving up this child!” Liz shouted, interrupting anything her father said in response.

Jeff sighed as Nancy rounded on their daughter once more. “Enough. Both of you. Liz, room, now. Nancy, cool down for awhile. Decide this when you’ve had a chance to really think about what you’re doing. I’ve had a long day, and I’m going to bed. I expect you both to behave like adults here.”

Looking away, Liz started down the hall. She had a lot to think about, and a lot of sleep to catch up on.

Yet again I come with a new part and an apology. I'm so sorry this took so very long. I was really unhappy with part of it and had to rewrite it a bunch. I'll probably revise it again sometime, but I just wanted to get the new part out.

I now have a definite plan of what's going to happen, and it's next on my list to finish as soon as TWHMM is done.

And don't be too hard on Max. Liz and Isabel aren't saints. I know Isabel was a bitch to Alex, but then, she was also a good friend to Michael during the first season. And while it may seem like I'm making Liz the victim, I'm not. It's just, the story's from her POV, so you get Liz's thoughts on things, instead of Max's. She's gonna make plenty of mistakes. Already has, actually.

Thank you for all the feeback, and I hope some of you have stuck with me through the long absence.

For those who have been waiting for it: a pure Max/Liz chapter at last.

Chapter Five

Liz collapsed as soon as her door was shut. Ever since she’d been shot that day, her life had been filled with questions. Lately, they’d been multiplying again and again until her entire world had become a series of questions. As a scientist, when she had a question, she found an answer no matter what or how long it took. But these questions she couldn’t answer, so beyond the scope of a seventeen-year-old girl.

To have her mother so blatantly pull her support, Liz didn’t know what to do, where to go next. There was always an optimistic hope that said everything would work out, had been saying so for the past year, and it continued to be wrong. A murdering alien with more hatred for her than anyone else was loose in the world, could be anywhere, and she, Liz, was pregnant with an alien baby who had no father. Her parents didn’t believe the child wasn’t Max’s, and her mother, her own mother, had tried to throw her out. Might still. Her life was crumbling, not even a year after it had been so perfect.

Or maybe it only seemed perfect in comparison.

A shuffling on her balcony jerked her attention away from her looming problems to her immediate ones. There was someone on her balcony and there were more enemies she could name than friends at the moment. Back stiffened, she reached as quietly as she could for her alarm clock on her desk. It was heavy and it was metal. It was a start.

“Liz!” A voice pierced the tense silence. Her shoulders slumped, heart clenching.

It was Max.

“Max?” she called hesitantly. She sounded resigned and hopeless, she knew, but she didn’t have the strength to care. “What are you doing here?”

Max stepped out of the shadows, looking down at her through the window. “Can we talk? I--I’m sorry about before. I don’t-I don’t have an excuse, I just--I’m not having a good year.” his voice choked at the end, and she knew if she looked at him she’d break. Start sobbing and never stop.

Glancing over at her door, she made sure it was locked before slipping out the window. “We have to be quiet. And you can’t stay long, my mom’s about to kick me out as it is.”

He put his hands in his pockets. “She’s that angry?” he asked.

“She’s angry enough. I think if Dad hadn’t been here tonight she’d have really kicked me out.”

“Oh.” He looked away. “Does Kyle know?”

Liz resisted screaming at him. It wouldn’t help matters and she didn’t have the energy even if it would make her feel better. Her hormones had been going crazy all night.

She took a deep breath. Being with Max Evans used to be the most natural thing in the world, now there was so much tension she thought she might drown in it.

“Max, stop. Just stop, okay? I never slept with Kyle. This baby isn’t Kyle’s.” she stated finally, sick of explaining. Was the rest of her pregnancy going to be spent making excuses about who the father was?

“You never slept with Kyle?” he repeated, eyeing her with something indescribable in his eyes. “Okay.”

“Okay?”

He nodded. “I didn’t come here to argue. I’m just going to trust you, and. . .” he cleared his throat, trailing off.

Her responding smile was strained, but genuine. “I guess you haven’t been told yet, but Isabel and I went out to the Pod Chamber today.”

He glanced at her, eyes sharp. “What? Why would--”

“Isabel’s idea.” she cut in. “I had no desire to return there. But we did find the Granolith. It was never gone. We’re pretty sure Tess is still on Earth.”

She didn’t want to tell him. She didn’t want to see him run after Tess and his son. She didn’t want to lie either.

Max swore, running a hand through his hair roughly. “God! And we fell for it! We should’ve checked, something!”

“Why would we have? We thought she had to leave. Apparently, she mindwarped us about the Destiny Book. It’s different now. And she probably changed the translation too.” Liz frowned, her thoughts running in all directions. “Maybe that’s not what the Granolith was for at all, except she really wanted to go home and would’ve had no way of explaining why you weren’t going to Antar if her plans had gone her way. More likely is that the Granolith does serve as a ship, only it didn’t work for some reason. Isabel and I figured the whole thing about your son not being able to survive was a mindwarp. She was just using that to force all of you back to Antar.”

Stunned, Max rubbed a hand down his face. Suddenly, his eyes lit. “Let’s go. If we leave now, we can get there and back before morning. Maybe there’ll be some clues as to where she’s gone.” He was already reaching for her hand as he turned to the fire escape.

Liz planted her feet on the cement. “Wait, Max! You can’t go tonight, you’re in enough trouble over the Jeep anyway. And when you find Tess, and bring your son home, you’ll be in even more trouble. Wait until tomorrow to stay on your parents’ good side.” She quieted, tugging her hand free, suddenly shy under the intensity of his gaze. “I can’t go either. My parents--I can’t do anything out-of-line for a long time. It’s bad enough they’ll have to help me with my daughter, they don’t need to be thinking I’m too irresponsible to be raising a child.”

He shoved his hands back into his pockets, head tilted down to stare at the street below. She waited for his reply, enjoying just staring at his silhouette. For so long, she’d kept her eyes on anything but him, and she missed the sight of him.

Finally, he glanced up at her. The usual glowing amber in his eyes was dulled. Hesitant, he licked his lips and straightened. “Liz, who is the father?”

The question she’d been expecting and no one had directly asked just yet. Everyone assumed first.

It wasn’t Max, at least not the one in front of her.

The words were on the tip of her tongue. The truth about Future Max. About her baby. About Everything.

She was afraid.

She met his eyes, answering as honestly as she could. “I don’t know.” Guilt slammed into her, for lying again, for not telling him the truth when she’d promised herself she would. But, God help her, she was afraid. They were only just talking again, how would he react? Would he yell at her again?

He blinked, swallowing hard to dispel growing lump in his stomach. Furrowing his brow, he stepped forward, hand outstretched to brush her arm. “Liz, were you--were you,” he stopped, shaking his head as his voice broke over the words, “were you--taken advantage of?”

It would be so easy to say yes. Say yes, and be the innocent in all this. Say yes, and have all the questions answered without hassle and lies.

“N-no.” She shook her head. “No, I wasn’t.”

He looked down, trying to hide his obvious frustration. “Oh. Okay. You’re right, of course. I’ll wait 'til tomorrow.” Flitting his gaze from hers to the ground, he pursed his lips and nodded his head resolutely. “Okay, well, I’ll see you later.”

They gazed at one another even as Max climbed over the ledge and down the ladder. Walking off, he looked back once more before turning the corner, and out of sight.

* * * * *

Liz flopped back on her bed. Having him on her balcony, talking, really talking, with him hurt her more than she could handle. In only three months, he’d already changed so drastically from the Max who he could have been. A change that was her fault. She’d had no right to deliberately target the parts of him she knew she could destroy. But she had.

Doing it on purpose was worse than having hurt him unintentionally. Than having simply moved on with her life, and her heart. If he didn’t already hate her, he would when she told him. All his fears of growing close to someone would’ve come true, his trust betrayed.

That’s not true, a little voice whispered. You didn’t destroy him, you never had that power. Less than a month, and he’d moved on to Tess. And after only a month dating her, he’d fucked her when he had such control with Liz herself.

He cared for her, she surmised,, but he never loved her.

With that thought, she went to sleep, hiding the tears in her eyes.

* * * * *

“I guess you were wrong.” she mumbled, head buried in her arms. Her knees, bare and lightly trembling, were drawn up to her chest.

“About what?” he asked. He kept his hands at his side, staying put just outside the bathroom. Seeing her so distraught was dangerous to his control. He never had any around her.

“Being jealous of Kyle. You were very jealous of Kyle just then.”

“You know me too well.” He tried to smile. It was true, and he loved it, but it would end. She’d move on and he’d cease to exist. His past self would never know what they could’ve had. He risked a step closer. “Is he gone?”

She peered at him tearfully. “Kyle? Yeah, he’s gone.”

“How are you?”

She wanted to scream at him for making her do this and for taking away her dreams. She’d never marry Max now. He’d marry Tess, and they’d live happily ever after, just like Future Max wanted.

“How do you think I am?” she answered instead. “God, the look on your--on his face.” She buried her head in her arms, crossed over her knees. The sobs she’d held in since she’d first learned of what she had to do came rushing to the surface. She cried, knowing after this night she wouldn’t be able to. Because to the outside world, nothing was wrong.

A large hand on her shoulder sent warmth to the hollow places left behind when her Max turned away, pain and mounting anger in his eyes. She knew if she looked, there’d be a trail of brilliant white across her skin. It didn’t matter that she was glowing on the outside, because she wasn’t glowing on the inside, not anymore.

Max was the only one to have that power, to stir that reaction even without alien abilities. Squeezing her eyes shut, she sobbed harder in to her hands. She’d never feel it again, because her Max hated her, would never touch her now. Only the weight of a hand on her shoulder kept her sane. As long as Future Max existed, her Max still loved her. As long as Future Max existed, there was hope.

“I’m sorry.” he whispered, hoarse, sharing her tears. “I’m so sorry. I never wanted to do this. I never wanted to put this on you. We had no choice.”

She didn’t need to see his face to know the look on it. His words were as desperate as they had been after the White Room; his life shattered in two distinct moments, one out of his control, one of his own making.

Until recently, she’d always believed that despite destiny, despite everything between them, she and Max would find a way. Love had to be enough, right? But it wasn’t. Love wouldn’t save the world, it’d destroy it.

“I know.” she assured him, sniffing and laughing at the wreck she’d become. She tried in vain to smile. “Tell me about the future. I know you can’t tell me much just--were we happy? What was it like, being married?”

“Liz,” he begged, because he knew he’d give in. “You’ll find out yourself, one day. Just because you and I will never--it doesn’t mean you won’t find someone else, someone human.”

“God damn it, Max! Don’t you get it?” She was angry. She ran a hand through her hair, glancing up at him. “You’re the love of my life! They’ll never be another you!”

He hung his head, the hand on her shoulder tightening. It would be easier, safer, to lie. But he couldn’t pretend as if his life with Liz was miserable, as if they hadn’t been happy.

He nodded. “We were happy. For a long, long time. And it was wonderful, even when we fought, argued over little things, it was--” his eyes glazed, and she knew he was thinking of her other self. The future one he left behind at the end of the world. Shaking his head free, he cleared his throat, voice no longer soft. “I can’t do this. It will only make things harder on you.”

“It’s already the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” She turned away from him, shrugging her shoulder from his grasp. It hurt to be reminded of what she’d never have. “Aren’t you supposed to be disappearing now?” she asked, bitterly.

He sank down to the bed beside her, careful to maintain a barrier of space between them. “I will. If this worked, I’ll cease to exist.”

Her head shot up. “What do you mean, if this worked? I can’t--I can’t do anything else! I can’t hurt him anymore! Not--not after this. Not anymore. Please.”

Hesitating as long as he was able, he gave in, wrapping his arms around her and dragging her closer. He kept his eyes trained on the far wall as his fingers pressed into her hair. In that moment there was nothing he wouldn’t do for her, wouldn’t give her, if only to assuage the pain he’d imposed. Damn the world, let it end, if only so she never had to cry again. He’d see it done.

But these tears would save her pain in the long run. She’d never know the grief of watching her world fall apart around her. As all those she loved fell, one by one. Slaughtered, tortured, beaten by their enemies.

This was a new world. A new Liz. She wouldn’t know those things.

He knew better than to let himself look down at her, sobbing and clinging to the shirt beneath his jacket. His memories of this night were so much better than this. In the distant parts of his mind, he could feel the despair of his younger self, could see him sitting, hunched over, in the park. Waiting for something, anything, to take away his pain.

Liz let herself fall apart in his arms, knowing he’d hold her together as long as he was able. Then she’d be on her own. She missed Max already, but it was hard to completely miss someone who still held her in his embrace. It wouldn’t hit her until later, she realized bitterly. Later she’d cry, alone, without any Max to comfort her.

She’d never get to kiss him again.

There wasn’t any thought or hesitation behind the movement as she leaned up to capture his lips in hers. He was the only Max who loved her, and he’d soon be gone. Her lips moved over his, desperately, begging him to respond. To still love her despite what she’d done. She shifted on to his lap, her tongue seeking entrance to his mouth, her arms winding their way around his neck, hands gripping his hair to keep him as close as possible. She wanted to feel again, something other than pain and guilt.

The rigid stance of his body softened under her persuasion, unable to resist Liz in any lifetime, unable to comprehend not loving her. He was a fool to think he ever could.

He knew it was wrong. She wasn’t his Liz. She belonged to a different Max.

Losing herself to sensation, she straddled his hips, rubbing her warm, wet center against the tight leather of his pants. Reminding him how little she wore under the robe.

He fell back against the already rumpled sheets, arguments of wrongness failing. Nothing with Liz had ever felt anything but right.

* * * * *

The dry, caking feeling behind her eyes was washed away with fresh tears as she awoke, alone. That night, she’d never have imagined she’d end up where she was. Neither she, nor future Max, had ever imagined Tess would be their downfall. Would betray them and kill Alex.

Three months. Only three short months that changed so much.

Liz glanced at the glowing numbers of her clock. Two o’clock in the morning. It was Christmas Eve, and next week, a new year.

What new threat would come along with it?

Hey! I can't believe I haven't updated this in so long! I'm so sorry! I'll try to do better from now on. Now that I'm done with TWHMM - aside from the Epilogue, anyway - this story is next on my list to get finished.

I know this is short. Especially after the long wait, but I promise it won’t take me two months to get the next part out. I had some severe writers block with this, and even though I had an outline and what I wanted to happen, it just wouldn’t get down on paper right.

Thanks a bunch to those who left feedback:

taressa05
Alyshia
frenchkiss70
Ellie
orphyfets
just_breathe
~Drea~
Topy458
hazz
Eliz
Beautiful86
Roswell 10/2/00
Catalyst
Arianneleigh

And another big thank you to all of you who have stuck with me and are still reading this.

Warning: Some language that really hasn't been used much previously

PS: Remember, everything in S2 took place over three months, so Max and Tess went to NYC in early November. Tess was home for Thanksgiving, not Christmas, in this.

Enjoy!

One Song Glory
Chapter Six

It was a Christmas Eve Liz would recall for the rest of her life, and it was a Christmas Eve that passed by almost without her knowledge. She hadn’t been able to go back to sleep after her dream, and laid awake into the morning. By noon, the restaurant below was up and running, and she hadn’t so much as blinked. She should’ve expected her mother to go about business as usual, and she couldn’t say she was surprised. But it hurt.

Closing her eyes, she swore to herself to never treat her daughter as she had been - was still being - treated by her own mother.

Around one, her dad stuck his head in the door, saw her sprawled on the bed, and left, thinking she needed sleep.

She was too pregnant to sleep. Every part of her screamed for it, but hormones or something else inside her that came along with pregnancy, kept her wide-eyed and blinking at the ceiling.

Next Christmas Eve, she’d have a child nearly six months old. But no clue if she’d even be home in her own room, or if she’d be fending for herself and her daughter. Would Max know the truth, next Christmas? She hoped so. If only she had the strength to tell him.

“Elizabeth!” her mother’s voice pierced the wood of the door, a quick, pounding knock accompanying the sound. “Elizabeth! You have closing shift and if you ever expect to raise your child, you’ll have to get used to what working pregnant feels like!”

“I’ve been working pregnant for the past three months!” Liz called back. She ran a hand over her face, having forgotten all about work. Closing on Christmas Eve was early in the evening, and she’d always worked it, but recent events had taken all of her focus.

Of course, her mother remembered. She always remembered.

“Don’t take that tone with me, Liz. You’ve brought this on yourself.” Liz could almost hear her mother settle her hands on her hips, could almost see the frown of distaste. She rolled over, burying her face in the pillow as her mother’s footsteps echoed angrily through the outside hallway.

* * * * *

When Liz made her way into the kitchen, she was careful to watch for her mother, not feeling up to another confrontation. Particularly not in her pajamas. But all she saw as she entered was the huddled form of her father over the table, head in hands. She’d torn herself out of Max’s life, and at the same time, torn apart her family.

“I’m sorry.” she whispered inaudibly to the hunched figure. “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t hear, and it wouldn’t change anything, but it made her feel slightly less horrible.

Her mother was still nowhere in sight.

Her socked feet whispering on the tile, she moved across the kitchen, taking a seat beside her father. “Morning.”

He lifted his head, tilting it downward immediately in a vain attempt to cover the red of his eyes. “Hi honey.” He smiled at the table. “Merry Christmas Eve. Looking forward to Santa’s presents?”

“I haven’t been a very good girl this year,” she tried to joke.

His eyebrows lifted as he finally straightened. Eyes red and solemn, he pronounced with certainty. “You’re a good girl, Liz. Your mother’s just taking a little longer to remember that, is all.”

She looked away. “Sure.”

“Your mother and I are people too, Liz. Nance hasn’t had the easiest life, and her parents were very into perfection. It isn’t easy for her to accept her own mistakes, much less someone else’s. She wants so much for you, Liz. A wonderful future. This is going to be a major roadblock, no matter how much you love your child, or how well you handle this situation at such a young age.” He took her chin in his hand, forcing her to look him in the eye. “And I know you will handle it just fine. I’m proud of you, Liz. I’m not happy you’re pregnant, but I’m proud of the woman you’re becoming, despite that. Your mother and I just want what’s best for you. We love you.”

“I know.” It didn’t make it any easier. She knew she’d screwed up. She knew she wasn’t perfect. She just wanted everything to go back to normal. Normal for them, at least. Before Tess came along and ruined everything. Before Future Max came back and changed everything.

* * * * *

Liz approached the booth, order pad in hand and determination in her spine. She hadn’t seen him in a few days, but he of all people deserved an explanation. Especially if the expression on his face was any indication as to why he’d dropped by.

“Kyle.”

“Liz.” His blue eyes trailed down her uniform. Not taking them from her still mostly flat stomach, he continued. “Please tell me my little buddies didn’t jump through the air and impregnate you.”

She slid into the seat across from him, slumping down. “No, Kyle. They didn’t. She isn’t yours.”

“She?”

“Isabel connected with me and found out.”

“Oh.” Kyle narrowed his eyes. “So why doesn’t Evans know it’s his? You’d think he’d remember sleeping with you like he did Tess.”

“Kyle--” she stopped, sighing. Tired of being torn with the decision. “He doesn’t remember it because I never slept with him.” She ignored his snort. “How did you find out about this, anyway?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I might have figured it out somewhere between Max’s fist hitting my face and tolerating his lecture about taking responsibility for my actions.” He leaned back, resting his arms behind his head as a cushion. “Imagine my surprise when I found out our night of mad, passionate would-be sex produced a child. Were you ever going to tell me? Or did you just assume I’d do you another favor?”

Wincing, she stretched across the table to grab his wildly gesturing hand. “Kyle, I’m so sorry. I told him it wasn’t yours. I told him we never slept together. I should’ve told you before, but I just didn’t know how to tell anyone. I’ll tell him to leave you alone. I never intended for you to keep up this charade now.” Her eyes watered, and she willed him to look at her directly. He’d been avoiding her eyes since he sat down. “I’m so sorry.”

“Yeah,” he nodded, finally looking up. “Yeah, I suppose you are. This can’t be a very merry Christmas for you. How are your parents taking the prospect of being grandparents?”

“My mom walked out this morning after we had another fight. I don’t know when she’ll be back. Dad’s being pretty cool about all this though. He wouldn’t let her kick me out.”

Kyle grimaced. “Ouch. She really wanted to kick you out?”

Liz nodded. It felt wonderful to talk to someone about it. Maybe she could explain everything to Kyle. He wasn’t as directly involved as Max, or as emotionally involved as Isabel or Maria. And there were things she could never tell her father.

“So if Evans isn’t the papa - which I don’t believe for a minute, but I’ll humor you - who is?” he said, stirring her from her thoughts.

She made a choice.

Taking a deep breath, she licked her lips and began. “Kyle, can we talk upstairs? There’s something I have to tell you, and I really just need someone to listen.”

His face turned solemn, and he nodded. Both rose to their feet before Liz remembered she was still working.

“Oh, wait, you can go on up. I’ll just finish down here, and meet you there, okay?”

“Sure.”

Kyle ignored Jeff Parker’s glare from the kitchen as he headed up the stairs. He’d chose irate fathers over evil alien killers any day.

* * * * *

“So you slept with this Future Max, and now you’re pregnant with his kid, when all of him was supposed to disappear when you changed the timelines? And you haven’t told present Max this, why?” He slapped his hands on his knees. “This is way outta your league, Liz. This is out of all our leagues, there’s no way you can do this on your own. Tell Evans. You know I’m not the guy’s biggest fan, and I don’t say that lightly. But you need to tell him.”

She shook her head, clenching her eyes shut. He didn’t understand either, but if she couldn’t even explain it to herself, how was she supposed to make everyone else see? “I tried, Kyle! When I told him I was pregnant, I was going to tell him, and he kicked me out! He yelled at me, and cursed at me, and I didn’t get the chance to explain! I want to tell him, I want to so badly, and I keep trying, but I just can’t. I used to know him, Kyle. A year ago, I could tell you exactly how he’d react. But now? I don’t know anything anymore. I don’t know if he’ll even believe me!” She forced herself on. “I thought I was doing the right thing in by pushing him away. I thought I was doing the right thing, maybe not the best thing, but the right thing, when I slept with Future Max. I was wrong then, how do I know I’m not wrong now? How do I know that telling him won’t make things worse? But then, what if by not telling him, I’m making things worse? What am I supposed to do? I can’t live the rest of my life like this! I can’t keep questioning everything I do, or don’t do!”

Liz was losing it with every word, but she couldn’t stop herself. She couldn’t make sense of everything in her head, and it was steadily killing her. Kyle was right, this was all so far above their heads. They were seventeen. They couldn’t even vote.

Tears made their way down her cheeks, and she closed her eyes to keep them at bay. She hadn’t intended to fall apart in front of Kyle. He didn’t need to be worrying about her mental state, or reassuring her of things that would probably never be all right again. He had his own problems to deal with. Tess had been mindwarping him too. And he’d considered her to be a sister.

“Kyle, I’m sorry, I haven’t even asked how you are. I mean, with Tess--”

He cut her off. “Oh, I’m fine. What’s a little screwing with my brain? It’s not like anyone has died from it or anything.” he muttered bitterly. Shaking his head, he frowned and apologized. “I’m sorry. Evans healed it after he tried to break my jaw earlier. I’m all good now. I don’t think this week has been very good for anyone, but you know me, I don’t deal well with this shit.”

“You deal with it as well as any of us.” she reasoned.

Rubbing his jaw, he looked off to the side of the room. “Yeah. Maybe. I just--goddamn it!” His free hand slammed into the coffee table between them. “I want to hate her! I do hate her! I trusted her, I honestly thought she gave a damn about me and my dad! I honestly thought she was a decent person! Shows how fucking blind I am, doesn’t it?” He snorted. “I’m pissed at Max because he fell for her tricks, and I did the same thing. She’s good. Playing the little abandoned damsel in distress, getting into the Thanksgiving spirit my ass. She was killing Alex as she baked our fucking turkey.”

Liz frowned, brushing away her tears with yet another reason to hate Tess. “I’m sorry, Kyle.”

The muscle leapt in his jaw. “You didn’t do anything. And you know what the worst part of this is? I can’t even blame Evans. I feel bad for the asshole. I’m grateful as shit that bitch messed with him and not me. I just wish it hadn’t hurt you in the process. With all this on top of it? You gotta tell him, Liz. He deserves that much. You both do. You can’t take this on yourself, and he needs something that’s fixable. So much is going on that’s out of both of your control, but whatever it is the two of you have, that’s not. You have the power to fix your relationship with him, and it’s something both of you need. You of all people know I hate saying this, but you and Evans don’t make the best decisions when you’re apart. You balance each other out.”

“Kyle--”

“Liz!” Isabel’s voice broke through the air in the apartment as she stepped in the front door. “Liz, I thought you might--oh. Kyle.”

The tension in the air flew to explosive heights, and Liz sighed under its weight. She could see Isabel’s Ice Queen layer slide into place.

“Isabel.” Kyle nodded at her.

Without acknowledging him, she rounded on Liz. “What’s he doing here? Max said you were having trouble with your parents, so I figured I’d better come help. This doesn’t look like trouble with your parents.”

“We were just talking.” Kyle defended himself, looking indignant and tired of it. Liz didn’t blame him. She’d thought Isabel had made progress, but the cold ice princess had come out in a matter of seconds.

“Hm. Just talking. Fine, well, you’re done now, and you’re not needed here. You’re free to leave at any time.” the blonde hinted, not very subtly. Liz wanted to protest, but Kyle beat her to it.

“Fine, you know what? If you’re hanging around, I have no desire to stay. I know the way out. Not to inconvenience you, princess, but you are in my way.” He stood, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring across at her, standing eye to eye.

Isabel stepped around him as if avoiding a spot of gum on the floor. “So, Liz, how are you and my niece doing? Max told me you were upset.”

The door slammed in the background, and Isabel’s smile immediately gained its warmth.

“Isabel--”

“What? Kyle doesn’t need to be involved in this. He’s human, and he has no ties to us. You’re pregnant with Max’s child, and Maria is in love with Michael. Kyle isn’t in love with one of us, and so our lives don’t concern him anymore.” she justified.

Liz pursed her lips. She knew that attitude. “He’s a friend. If you were a little nicer, you might realize that.”

“I don’t need him as a friend!” Isabel snapped. “And he should’ve learned his lesson from Tess, he’ll only get hurt if he’s involved with us!”

Nodding, Liz sat back, satisfied. “That’s your problem. Your afraid he’ll get hurt, aren’t you?” She hurried on when Isabel looked like she was going to interrupt. “You were afraid of letting Alex in at first, and then you were afraid of dating him because of Grant, and now you’re afraid for Kyle, because of everything that’s happened. That’s why you’re being such a bitch.”

“I didn’t come here to be psychoanalyzed!” Letting her shoulders fall, Isabel fell back on the couch beside Liz, as ungraceful as Liz had ever seen her. “I’m sorry. I just--I’m scared all the time now, and I hate it.”

Liz nodded. “I know.”

Isabel’s voice was hushed. “I wish Alex were here. He’d know what to do. And if he didn’t, he’d know what to do to make me feel better.” She sniffed, swallowing back her tears and pretending her eyes weren’t red. “Why didn’t I realize what I had? Why am I just learning to appreciate him now that he’s gone?!”

Stoically, Liz recited the old saying, “You don’t know what you have 'til it’s gone.”

“Well that’s stupid!” Isabel exploded, her hair flinging out behind her as she sat forward abruptly. “It makes no sense at all! What’s the point of appreciating something that’s gone? Why do we have to lose anything? Why can’t we just appreciate what we have, when we have it?”

Liz shrugged. She didn’t know. After all, she’d given up Max twice, and neither time did she realize how important Max was to her happiness, to her life, until he was out of it. She never understood how good she had it, until it wasn’t so good anymore.

The somber silence took control of the room for several long minutes before Isabel had enough.

Turning to Liz, she plastered a smile on her face and forced herself to cheer up. “So, have you thought of a name?”

Liz blushed. She had. Ever since she was a little girl, she’d had a name picked out for her future daughter. It seemed childish now. “Well, I was thinking I’d name her Mia. Mia Alexandra. For Alex.”

A thoughtful expression crossed Isabel’s face, and Liz continued. “Mia Alexandra Parker. I think it has a nice ring to it.”

“Evans. She’s an Evans.” Isabel injected instantly. “Mia Alexandra Evans.”

* * * * *

Next chapter things pick up: Tess returns.

AND a secret comes out. . .

*A note about Mia having the last name Evans. That was just Isabel’s wishful thinking. Not practical, and Liz knows it won’t happen. It’s just Isabel has already accepted Mia as her niece, and thinks of her as Max’s daughter, no matter the circumstances. To Liz, it’s a nice fantasy, but she knows at that point, Mia will be a Parker.*

As for Isabel’s attitude toward Kyle, you’ll find out why later

All I have to say is, after reading this, don’t lose hope.

Oh, and remember, this is all Liz’s POV, so there’s stuff you’re not gonna find out about for awhile. . . or stuff that you won’t see. . .

One Song Glory
Chapter Seven

“Your mother and I have decided it’s time we sat down and talked with the Evanses.” Jeff Parker told his daughter, standing in the doorway of her bedroom. She was bustling about, picking up the clothes from the floor and straightening books and pictures on the shelves. Anything to keep busy.

It was Christmas. A time for family. Yet her mother had disappeared the day before, and hadn’t been seen since. All the presents she’d gotten had been returned, the money put in a special account for the baby. It had been her father’s idea, and she wasn’t going to argue. What did she need with more clothes anyway? They were all bought before her parents found out about her pregnancy. Even if they kept them, she was just going to get fat, and then they wouldn’t fit. Might as well start saving up as much as she could. With her salary and savings from working all those years at the Crashdown, she had a decent head start. Compared to other teenage mothers, she was lucky.

“Dad.” she stated, dropping the picture frame she’d had in her hands. It clattered on the desk. “I still haven’t gotten the chance to tell him yet, with the holidays and everything. Please, just give me a little more time. I- I promise I’ll talk to him soon.”

Jeff sighed. “Tomorrow, Liz. Tomorrow, or I go to his parents.”

As he closed the door, Liz turned back to the desk, picking up the picture frame and examining the newly made crack in the glass. She’d have to get it mended soon; having broken glass in a room with a baby wasn’t a good idea. If she was even allowed to live at home with a baby. That was still up in the air, as far as her mother was concerned.

It was the picture of her in her uniform, surrounded by Maria and Alex; only, Max had taken out their heads and replaced them with his own, one Max on either side. The crack hadn’t touched either image of him, just her, splitting her smiling face in two.

* * * * *

She wrung her hands, checking and double checking that the window was locked and the curtains closed. Even if it meant she had to come and go from the fire escape, she couldn’t risk someone coming into her room or out on the balcony, and disturb them.

She’d finally called Max. He was on his way, and there, on her balcony, she was going to tell him the truth. If someone interrupted them, she’d lose her nerve, and she wasn’t certain she could find it again. That was a risk she couldn’t afford to take.

Max had to know the truth. Now. For better or for worse, he not only needed to know the end of the world could come, but that her parents - well, everyone, really - believed he was the father of her child. And when she was born, there’d be no denying it. They needed a plan, he needed to be warned, and she needed something to change.

No matter how much she convinced herself it was necessary, it didn’t quiet her thoughts and her doubts, didn’t stop her feet from pacing.

Whatever happened, it was out of her control, and into Max’s.

The sound of shoes hitting the metal rungs of the ladder broke her thoughts, and quickened her heart. She didn’t analyze the feeling, whirling around to face Max as he gradually appeared over the ledge. Like it had been every time she’d seen him since October, his expression was tense, jaw clenched and every muscle carefully controlled.

It did nothing for her doubts.

Before he could speak, she hurried into her speech. It’s been running through her head since earlier that morning, and was begging to be spoken. Words that desperately needed saying.

“Max, please, just let me talk. I kind of have some things I need to say, and I know that if you start speaking, I’ll lose my nerve, and I really can’t do that now. You and I both know I’ve been lying to you for awhile now. I should’ve just told you, and it might’ve prevented all this, but I didn’t. First it was because I’d made a promise not to, and then it was because I was afraid. I can’t deal with this. I’m terrified that you’ll wind up hating me forever, and I know I’d deserve it, but I really don’t have a choice anymore, and what I have to say affects everyone. Isabel, Maria, and Kyle already know. Please, don’t be mad at them. I made them promise not to tell you. I wanted you to know so badly, but I needed to be the one to do it. I just didn’t know how.”

“Liz,” he shifted his weight, bracing for what was to come. “Just say it.”

A deep, full breath. “In October, the night you sang to me, just before you showed up, there was a flash of light on my balcony.”

His eyes snapped to hers. “What?”

“A man appeared in the window, I recognized him immediately, but I didn’t want to believe he was who he said, because it wasn’t possible. I mean, it went against every law of physics, of science, I’ve ever known. But, I knew who he was. And he proved it, so I--”

“Who was he, Liz?” Max stepped closer, staring down at her for an answer, face tight, eyes intense.

She hesitated, unconsciously her hands splayed across her abdomen. Now or never. Max had to know. “He was you, Max, from fourteen years in the future.”

His eyes had fallen to her hands, still protectively cradling the small lump under her shirt. For a long while - only a few minutes, but each instant a century as she waited - Max stood silently, his golden gaze piercing her flesh and bone, seeing something she couldn’t. He’d piece it together, she knew, she’d given him too much information, too many signs, for him not to.

Swallowing, she refused to close her eyes and pray as she furiously wished to.

Without shifting his focus, he spoke. “It could’ve easily been a skin, or a shapeshifter. Time travel isn’t possible. You should’ve told -- you shouldn’t have just believe -- why would you --” his voice cracked, “Why would you sleep with him? Why? Why was it okay for you to be with him, and not me?! What, you couldn’t be with me, so you slept with an older version who’d already fulfilled his destiny?” He spat the word. He was shouting before he finished.

It was the reaction she’d been expecting, she’d been prepared for it. It helped with the hurt, a little. Despite what he said, Max didn’t honestly believe she was capable of sleeping with Kyle, someone she didn’t love. She didn’t even have to explain, he’d known who was the real father as soon as she’d mentioned Future Max. He still knew her, better than he thought.

“He was you, Max. I’m not stupid. I wouldn’t have just believed whatever he said. I know how it feels when you walk into a room, I know what this thing, this connection, between us feels like, and it was there. He came back to warn me what would happen if we got back together. In his future, we’d gotten married at 19, we’d-we’d made love the night of the Gomez concert. But it drove Tess away, our being together, and she left for good. When our enemies came to earth, without Tess the foursquare was incomplete, and we lost. The world ended because of us. Because of me. In that timeline, they’d never learned that Tess was a traitor. Alex hadn’t been killed. And I’m the one who changed things.” She hadn’t meant to go off on her guilt trip, only explain the differences but she couldn’t help it. Realizing what she had changed, and why, made everything bad that had happened her fault. And it hit home every time she said it. What right did she have to resent Max in any way for sleeping with Tess, for turning to Tess? What right did she have to be angry at Max for not realizing what Tess had been doing? She and Tess were responsible for everything that had occurred, and no one else.

Not daring to open her mouth again, she kept quiet, waiting, and allowing Max to speak. But he didn’t. He said nothing, glaring down at her, arms tense and hands fisted at his side. She couldn’t decipher his expression, but his eyes spoke volumes: anger, fear, frustration, love and hate. For who, about what, she had no clue.

Finally, when Liz had almost given up on getting a response before he simply walked away, Max raised his eyes from her growing pregnancy. “So what now? What do you want from me? I can’t undo what’s been done. Some other version of me may have known how to play with time, but I don’t. Looks like Tess is gone anyway, and the foursquare is still incomplete.”

“I just wanted to warn you,” she started, “Not only about the end of the world, but about my daughter. No matter what I’ve said, no one believes she isn’t yours. I don’t expect anything from you, because I know that really she isn’t yours, and - and you have your own son to worry about, but I know that my dad is determined to speak to your parents. He won’t listen when I say she isn’t yours. And when she’s born, there’s no doubt she’ll look like you even a little bit, and I don’t know what to do. I’m not even sure she’ll be human. Isabel said she probably wouldn’t be. From what she can tell, already Mia is, well, Isabel says there’s definitely something alien about her.”

Some muscle in his jaw twitched. “You should’ve thought of that before you slept with him.”

“Did you think when you slept with Tess?” she whispered. She wanted to hurt him for hurting her, and hated herself.

He looked away. “I can’t do this right now, Liz. First you drop this future end of the world thing in my lap, and you expect me to suddenly accept it, move on, and help you figure out how to explain your kid? I’m having a hard time getting past the fact that my future self came back in time, much less that he’s the father! But that’s just it, Liz, he’s the father. Not me. Tell your dad it was someone else. I don’t care. I have to go.”

As he was crawling back over the wall, down the fire escape, she made one last attempt. For anything. Even if it was just to make him understand. “Wait, Max!” His eyes rose to meet hers, challenging. “I’m sorry, Max. I never meant for any of this--I never wanted this. I-I never meant what I said in Copper Summit. Or that night, in your room. I do love you. I never stopped.”

Nothing in his expression softened, or changed. Stoic.

“I’m sorry too, Liz.”

And he was gone.

She sank to her knees, eyes trailing up to the stars, and cried.

All she knew was that something had come to an end.

* * * * *

Her mother returned the day after Christmas, as frosty as the weather, and twice as biting. It was a bleak few days before New Years, and Liz’s indefinite grounding made nothing worth looking forward to. Her resolution for the new year was simple: love her daughter, provide for her as best as she was able, and learn to live without Max. That part of her life had to be over, because a child came first and foremost. Both Max’s son, and her daughter.

But thinking about a lifetime without Max was impossible to fathom. She shelved it deep in the corners of her mind, for a later day. Maybe, one day, she’d be strong enough to live without him completely.

She didn’t think it’d be anytime in this life.

And at every turn, her father would stare at her, frowning. She’d been adamant about the father, stating quite clearly that Max wasn’t it, and Jeff wasn’t under any circumstances to go to the Evanses. He knew his daughter. He didn’t buy it. But until she was willing to come forward with the truth, or until the baby was born and bore resemblance to its father, he had no choice but to believe her.

Liz just wanted everything resolved and over with. More than anything, she wanted a stable environment for Mia.

Her feet hurt, her back hurt, she was putting on weight, and she was always tired.

It was the day before school was to start back up, early January, when Kyle showed up on her doorstep, arms crossed and fists clenched in the sleeves of his jacket. His eyes were shadowed, head tilted down to the floor.

She opened the door wider, to let him in.

“Don’t bother,” He mumbled, finally bringing his eyes up to glare past her at the wall. “I can’t stay. I’m on my way to the Evanses to get Max. I just thought you should know too.”

Her stomach churned, and it wasn’t from the pregnancy. “What, Kyle?”

He growled, the air from his mouth hot with anger. “Tess. She’s back. Showed up on my doorstep at four am, begging for a place to stay, and definitely pregnant.”

And the world kept spinning even after the door had closed behind him.

* * * * * * * * *

Tell me what you think.