Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything related to Roswell or the WB.

***

"Max! Max can you come here for a second? Please?" Liz shouted from behind the steamy bathroom door.

Max jumped up quickly and headed for the door. Michael and Maria sat on the couch and looked on at the scene.

"What can I get for you, baby?" Max asked her.

She poked her head out the door and smiled at him, water dripping down from her hair. Max smiled and caught a drop falling off her nose.

"I need some clothes, mine are all stained. Do you have any for me?" She asked.

"Sure, I'll be right back. Just a minute." He ran towards his dresser in the small bedroom, and pulled out a pair of pajama pants and an old, faded jersey from an old team. He opened the bathroom door and gave them to the awaiting pink hand. Then he shut the door and sat back down.

"Ahhh. I see what is going on. Some girl is down, and you are playing care it all, big shot, and protector all in one to get more brownie points with her, perhaps a little bit more." Maria teased Max.

He looked her straight in the eye, and told her, "No. I love Liz. I would never want to use her, or be someone that I am not."

Max was about to lecture Maria some more, when Liz stepped out of the bathroom door. She pulled some of her dark hair behind her ear, and turned around to see Michael and Maria cuddled up on the couch.

"Oh! Michael, Maria! You scared me. I am so sorry Maria, I didn't mean to miss lunch, but something came up and I-"

"It's ok Liz. Max told us. We want to help." Maria said, arising to hug her friend.

"Thank you for coming, Maria. It's really important for me, and this is a tough time. Thank you." She whispered in her best friend's ear.

"No problem. Any time." She embraced Liz, and then let her go.

Maria returned to her spot beside Michael, and she rested her head on his chest. Liz glanced at them, and then sat down by Max, laying her head between the couch and his arm. He could feel the outline of her small back as it etched a line across his chest. They intertwined feet, and Liz rested her right foot on Max's. Max looked down at Liz, and kissed her head. Then he glanced down farther, and noticed a huge gap between her and the outline of her pants, revealing a pink lace edge. ((God, she is so sexy, in whatever she wears.)) He took his muscular hand and draped it over her stomach, covering the space between the over-sized blue jersey, and the plaid pants. Liz slid her hand across Max's larger hand, stroking it gently.

"So what do we do now. Just wait for Kyle to come and find us?" Michael asked.

"Well whatever we do, we have to be ready. But I don't think that calling the sheriff's office will work for us, especially since his father works there. Our best bet is to get Isabel and Alex over here, and to be ready for when he comes, maybe strike up a plan" Max explained.

"You're right. Kyle will be looking for you, and we just can't outrun him. We have to be ready." Maria commented.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's call Isabel and Alex." Liz said to everyone as she grabbed the portable phone on the table across from her.

***

((Where are they? And where is Max? That . What he did to me. I'll get him back. And taking Liz too. They'll both get it. When I get to Evan's house, he'll pay.)) Kyle thought as he jogged tipsily down the street, cocking the gun in his hand that belonged to his father.

He turned the corner and came up to Max's apartment. He sat outside the corner for a minute, pausing to rest himself and regain his breath.

***

"Isabel? Hey this is Liz. Yeah... Say could you come to Max's, stat? There's something important happening, and we need you here. Thanks. Oh wait- is Alex over there? Okay, could you bring him too. Okay... See you in five." Liz pushed the power button on the sleek black phone and tossed it on the table. Max bent down and kissed the top of her head.

Liz smiled, bearing her white teeth. "Max, save it for later." ((I am just so glad that he is back here, with me. Safe. I can't believe Kyle did that to me, and after knowing him for so long. Well, Max is here. I'm okay.))

They saw the window open, and Isabel climbed in, guided by Alex.

Liz jumped up and ran and hugged Isabel.

"Isabel, it was horrible. It was horrible. I can't believe he did it to me." Liz told her as she hugged her friend.

"Whoa, slow down. What happened? Are you okay, Liz? Who did this to you?" Isabel asked as she examined the scar on Liz's head.

"Kyle. Kyle did it. But it's okay. Max saved me. Otherwise I would've been dead. But he saved me, Isabel." Liz said, as she retraced the wound on her head, letting Isabel examine it for herself.

Alex ran towards Liz and picked her up. He hugged her, a friendly, brotherly hug. "Liz. Thank god you're okay. What did Kyle do to you?" He asked.

"You guys might want to have a seat. It's a pretty long story." Michael said.

"Sure. Alex?" Isabel motioned him over to the big chair, and he sat down, letting her sit half way on top of him, her legs draping over the edge and her head resting on his shoulder. Liz walked back over to Max and he pulled her gently back to their comfy, original position.

"Liz, why don't you tell them?" Maria asked her.

"I'll tell the whole story, not just what you all heard. I was supposedly giving off signals to Kyle, at least that's what he said. He started to flirt with me more, and more. I told him to knock it off, that Max was the only one for me. He told me I was wrong. That was a week ago. Then I was just sitting in my room, reading a book, and he came in. I asked him what he was doing, and he had this look of anger in his eyes. I saw it, and then he started to hit me on my back. I tried to get out of the window, but he grabbed my shoulders, hard, and pulled me back in, onto my bed. He started to kiss me, all over, and he was sitting on top of me, literally. He was going to start to pull off my shirt, but I told him to knock it off, and get out. He got off of me and told me that this was enough of me. He said I had to go out with him, and not Max. I said I would never do that, I love Max, and Max only. So he grabbed me by my shirt, picked me up, and threw me onto the floor. He grabbed a vase off of my table, and hit me over the head with it. I was unconscious after that."

Liz started to cry, and shake. Max tightened his grip around her, and kissed the top of her head. "It's okay. It's okay. No one's going to hurt you." He looked over at the others.

***

Kyle sat outside Max's apartment, and looked at the gun. ((Do I really want to go through with this? I can't really kill them. That would be too inhumane. But I am so angry at Liz and Max. I just can't let them get away with what they did to me.

He got up slowly and walked towards the entrance he was going

to use, Max's window. After tucking the gun in his pants, he slowly started up towards the window, seeing what would await him.

***

"Well what do we do? Anybody got any ideas?" Maria asked.

"We wait for Kyle here. If he tries to hurt us, then we take him out and we'll either have to lock him up, or report him to the police. There's no other way." Max said.

"Okay. Okay. That sounds good. But are we all going to sit here like a bunch of ducks just waiting to get shot?" Isabel commented.

"Isabel's right. Since it's me and Liz he's after, I'll sit out here with Liz. The rest of you wait in the other room. Listen to what's going on. If you feel that you should come in, go ahead. But otherwise stay in there. Maria, you stay near the phone. If things start to get serious, call Valenti." Max commanded.

"Okay. That'll work. Let's go guys." Alex nodded as he started to get up.

They all arose except for Liz and Max and headed into Max's bedroom. Maria picked up the portable phone on her way out, and gave a reassuring smile to Liz. Liz kissed Max's hand and they sat there waiting, waiting for Kyle, a threat who was ready for them, ready to come.

TBC