35.
A White Knight in Disguise Michael's birthday
The
Crashdown
(2002) Max is 17, Liz is 16
Max grinned as Michael looked at him with a grim expression, specifically telling Max that Michael was going to kill his best friend for this.
"Hi Max," someone said quietly at his side and Max looked down into the dark blue eyes of Lindsey, a girl in his class.
He smiled at her. Since their surnames started with the same letter they had been put together on more than one group assignment. Max liked Lindsey. She was a really sweet girl. She was endearingly shy but the few words that came out of her mouth told of a sharp brain.
"Hey Linds," Max said. "Enjoying yourself?"
"This is great," she smiled. "Michael doesn't look too happy though."
Her eyes twinkled at him in amusement and he nodded, his words those of mock nonchalance. "No, he hates surprises."
She laughed softly. "Then why did you throw him a surprise party?"
Max gleamed at her mischievously. "Why not?"
Amused, she shook her head. "For what it's worth, you did a good job."
"I had help," Max said.
She nodded and he failed to notice as her eyes stopped glittering. She donned an easy-going expression while her smile tightened ever so slightly. "Oh. Liz helped you?"
"Yeah, it was her idea," Max said.
Her smile softened. "I'm having troubles believing that."
He laughed quietly. "I can't fool you, Linds."
She smiled at him shyly and docked her head slightly. "Don't you forget it."
"Have you gotten something to eat?" Max asked and pointed towards the buffet that was being ravaged by ravished teenage boys. "If not, I suggest you hurry."
"Good idea," Lindsey agreed and turned her body slightly away from his. "See you around, Max."
"Yeah," Max smiled, his smile turning distracted as he caught an eyeful of familiar brown hair on the other side of the glass door.
Lindsey noticed his attention waver and a longing of the unattainable kind poured into her eyes as she turned towards the busy buffet table.
Max had his hand on the door, about to push it open, when Liz took a step to the side and revealed that she was not alone.
Billy.
Billy was Liz Parker's first boyfriend. She wouldn't call him that yet, but she had been on several dates with the guy and just a week earlier Liz Parker had, in her first drunken daze, revealed that Billy wanted to take their relationship to the next level.
They say that ignorance is bliss, and Max had fully realized this as Liz had let him in on this fact. Because prior to Liz deciding to share her fears of losing her virginity, he was able to happily tell himself that his little Lizzie wasn't even considering doing anything as grown-up as having sex. He kept telling himself that he just didn't want her to enter a world he had been part of for about two years already because he would never admit to himself that there might be another reason to him not wanting her to enter that part of the adult world.
He pulled slightly backwards, into the shadows, as a discussion mute to him unfolded between the couple.
Billy moved closer to Liz as she discreetly moved backwards; his arms searching for contact with her body as she subtly dodged his hands.
Max tensed and immediately reached for the door as Billy placed one hand on Liz's breast. Before Max had time to push on the door, Liz pushed Billy, her face turning red with anger and humiliation.
"Don't ever do that again," she warned, her loud voice breaking through the closed door and reaching Max's ears.
"Why are you such a prude?!" Billy said harshly and Max's hands clenched into cold hard fists.
Liz's face flushed with chagrin, flinching like Billy had just hit her. The hurt in her eyes sent a sharp current through Max's body and he inhaled deeply against the onslaught of dividing emotions.
"A prude?" she spat out, her voice prickled with hurt and laced with anger.
"I get to kiss you but nothing more?" he asked and Max vision was starting to blur. His heart rate was racing and his thoughts were becoming drowned in the swooshing sound of increased blood flow to his head.
"I won't have sex with you just because you feel like it," Liz said and her voice broke through to Max with crystal clarity, making him loosen his iron grip on the door handle.
Good girl, Parker, he thought.
"Aren't you the slightest curious?" Billy asked and took a step closer to Liz.
She looked up at him stubbornly, her face as hard as stone, as he towered above her.
Max could see Billy's lips moving, as he said something quietly to Liz, but none of the words reached Max's ears.
But Max didn't need to hear. He watched with throbbing anger Billy's hand drift between his and Liz's body, slide down the front of her tank top and into her skirt.
It all happened very fast after that.
Liz's hands came up and tried to push him away, but Billy pulled her protesting body closer with his free hand, his other hand somewhere down her skirt, and Max stormed through the door.
"Max," Liz gasped in shocked surprise, something akin to relief in her voice as the sound of the door opening behind them announced Max's added presence.
Billy, having missed out on Liz's gasped announcement, jumped slightly as Max laid a hard hand on his shoulder.
"Billy, my man," Max said evenly while he with one strong tug on Billy's shoulder pulled the boyfriend away from Liz.
Liz took a step back, whatever she had been meaning to say stuck to her lips as Max looked at her over Billy's shoulder with dark fiery eyes. There was nothing cool about the energy he was emitting, except the coldness of his voice.
"I've been looking for you."
Billy looked up at Max in surprise. Max Evans had been looking for him? Max Evans was like one of the gods in school. Captain of the football team, worshipped by the girls and idolized by the guys… And he had been looking for him?
Billy swallowed in surprised awe and turned to face Max…and immediately wished he hadn't. There was nothing friendly about his idol's face. Unfortunately for Billy, he didn't know that Max and Liz went way back. Even though their relationship was based on arguments, there was no mistaken at that point that Max was furious about the way Billy had just treated Liz.
"How're you doin'?" Max asked casually, looking at Billy as if he was asking him about the weather. But the way Max's grip on Billy's shoulder was leaving a bruise contradicted the casualty of the question.
"F-f-fine," Billy stuttered.
"I see you're getting on with the ladies," Max said and lifted an eyebrow as a smile fluttered across his lips.
"Y-yes," Billy answered and tried to smile at something that was obviously meant to be a joke between to virile men, but something about Max's body language had Billy's smile strain across his mouth.
Max looked over at Liz and smirked, a look meant only for her. "She is one fine specimen."
Liz's eyes darkened as his smirk dissolve whatever gratitude she had lined up for him for rescuing her from Billy's inappropriate hands.
Her voice was dark and almost menacing as she bit out, "Shut up."
Max raised an eyebrow as he spoke, his eyes trained on Liz's face, "Whoa…man. You picked a feisty one."
That seemed to lighten the tension and Billy laughed, albeit still nervously, "Tell me about it."
"Have you gotten into her pants yet?"
Liz's mouth dropped open and her eyes glistened with tears of hurt, which had Max lose his footing on the conversation for a second.
"Actually," Billy voiced, unaware of the wordless exchange between Max and Liz, "she's a bit unwilling."
Max chuckled and pulled his eyes away from Liz's flushed face to look straight at Billy. The expression in Max's eyes had Billy take an automatic step backwards, unease spreading throughout his body. "Are you doing it right, Billy?"
"Uhm…" Billy hesitated. "What do you mean?"
Max released his angry grip on the freshman boy's shoulder, leaving the tissue numb in its wake, and slowly reduced the distance between him and Liz.
Liz looked up at him with angry eyes as he got closer and tried to straighten herself up even though Max had forced her back against the wall.
"Get away from me," she whispered thickly, her eyes burning with warning.
He merely smiled at her and brought his hand up to her face, whispering fingers down her cheek. He ignored the softness and heat of her skin, focusing on the task at hand.
Her breathing was shallow and harsh as she squeezed her lips together and hissed, "Don't touch me."
"She is a feisty one," Max murmured and Billy's nervous cackle had Max momentarily halting his ministrations of Liz's flustered skin. Her skin was inflamed with anger, making her look particularly stunning.
Max swallowed and unknowingly clenched the hand that was hanging along the side of his body in an attempt at self-control.
His fingers fluttered along the well-defined line of her jaw and she looked ready to kill him when his thumb gentle brushed across her bottom lip.
"Are you paying attention, Billy?" Max asked and felt more than saw Liz's body tense in front of him.
Billy walked around them, not sure what to make of the display, and came to a stop on Max's left, where he had a good view of what was going on.
"You have to show them that you love them," Max said softly, lacing his every word with the tempting hint of seduction as his index finger traced her upper lip, trying not to reveal in the softness of her red lips.
Max vaguely noted Billy's nod and further closed the distance between his body and hers. His hand slowly moved down the whiteness of the winter skin of her throat, softly sliding his fingers underneath her bra strap at the edge of the overlying strap of her green top.
There was still murder in her eyes, but something else was mixed with her expression. Something that had Max's eyes trained on her face to not miss a single shift of the emotions in her brown depths.
"You have to worship them," he continued huskily and adrenaline rushed through his body as he could feel the strong beating of her heart where his fingers were resting below her collarbone underneath the fabric.
He leaned in closer and got a hint of satisfaction in seeing her eyes widen.
"Evans," she warned, her voice sounding dry.
His softly pressed his lips against the skin of her neck and felt a tremble move through her body. "You have to make them," he moved his lips up her neck, placing a trail of slow open-mouthed kisses in his wake, "desire you," his kissed along her jaw, "as much as you," he pulled back and looked into her half-closed eyes, "desire them."
She took a deep breath and then pushed him away.
He was not prepared for the power behind her push and slightly stumbled.
Her hands were shaking with anger as she pointed at him. "I fucking hate you. You're worst than him!" She pointed to Billy, who was frozen in the same position as before, wondering what was actually going on.
"Hey sweetheart, you know you liked it," Max murmured, a teasing glint in his eyes.
She inhaled sharply with indignation and said darkly, "You're an asshole."
"Then explain it to Billy and me," Max shrugged, casual against the onslaught of Liz's turbulent emotions, "because we've both warmed you up to the idea, so why don't you want to take it to the next level?"
She tried to control her thoughts through the blazing anger, tried to control her breathing and to stop her hands from folding around his neck and strangling that smirk off his face. "All of you are the same. You just want one thing; sex sex sex sex. Why does it always have to come down to that? Why can't we just have fun? Huh?"
She turned away from Max and aimed upset eyes at Billy. "I thought we had something-"
"Me too," Billy interrupted, irritation in his voice.
"Something more than sex," she said, knowing what he was trying to get at. Guys were apparently not thinking with the head on their shoulders. "You should wait for me."
"You want me, Lizzie," Billy huffed, pushing his chest out. "I could tell from your kisses, your wandering hands-"
"Fuck you!" she burst out, tears of betrayal running down her cheeks. It was worse enough as it was to be called a tease, but to be called a tease in front of Max Evans…
She turned to look at Max, "And what's the purpose of this whole display? Why are you on his side?"
Before Max could answer, Billy interrupted, "Because we guys have to stick together."
Her chest heaving with hard breaths, she looked back and forth between the two guys and then said, "Screw you. Screw you both."
With that she ripped the door open and disappeared inside.
Billy turned with an attempted smile to face Max, but before he had made the full turn he was pressed up against the tiled wall.
"Hey, what's-?!" he spluttered in shock as Max bunched Billy's shirt between his fists, dark eyes very close to Billy's.
"Stay away from her," Max pressed out.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Billy asked, confusion marring his irritation. "You just-"
"Whatever I just did is between Liz and me," Max spit out, "And I'm expecting it to stay that way."
"What?" Billy was confused. Max Evans obviously had some split personality disorder.
"If you ever touch her like that again," Max warned quietly, "If you ever touch any woman like that again without her permission…you're dead."
"You just…what? You just…" Billy spluttered. He had just watched Max Evans do exactly the same thing to Liz as he was now telling Billy to never do. He was confused.
"Consider it a helpful demonstration," Max said. "She didn't want me to touch her. She specifically told me from the start to get away from her. But I didn't listen, just like you didn't listen."
"But she wanted it-"
Max grimaced, his eyes getting even darker. "See, that's where you're wrong, Billy." He slammed him up against the wall again for effect before continuing, "When did she want it?"
He was getting scared now. Max Evans was one year older, was about three inches taller and was a lot stronger than Billy. Plus, he looked really pissed.
"When…when she…She didn't push you away. She let you touch her, she let you kiss her."
"But she said from the beginning that she didn't want me to touch her," Max said. "Which is the point. That's when you should've listened. That's when you should've stopped."
Billy frowned. "Hey man, I think you're confusing what you just did with what I did."
"No," Max said casually, "No confusion. I was just repeating what you just did so that you could see it without being a part of it. I was foolish enough, I guess, to assume that you might see the errors if you were an observer instead of being part of it."
"Come on, man," Billy said, trying another tactic. "Let's be honest. She wanted it. She would've walked away otherwise."
"Like she tried to walk away when you held on to her tighter before?" Max mused.
"I didn't-"
"You know, rape is a very serious thing."
Billy's eyes widened in shock. "I wasn't going to rape her!"
"With me… her body betrayed her. She got lost in the sensations I could make her feel. So she didn't push me away. But even then, she said 'no' to start with." Max grip tightened anew on Billy's shoulders and his voice grew darker, "With you…her body didn't betray her. She didn't want you. She tried to get away and you tried to force her."
"You're twisted, man," Billy spit out.
"I could smash you to pieces," Max warned and watched the fear dilute the hostility in Billy's eyes. "I should've already. But I figured that maybe you wouldn't learn anything from that and you would just go on hurting someone else one day."
"I thought you were cool," Billy said slowly.
Max narrowed his eyes. "Cool as in raping young women?"
"Come on! That bitch was asking-"
He didn't have the chance to finish the sentence before Max's fist drove into the unexercised muscles of Billy's abdomen, having Billy sink to his knees with a groan.
"You need to learn some respect for women, Billy Boy," Max said.
"Oh, like you have," Billy gasped, clutching his stomach while he slowly pulled himself into a fetal position. "How many girls did you screw last week, Evans?"
Max bent down and took a hold of Billy's collar, pulling his face close before telling him hotly, "They all said 'yes'."
He left Billy in a pile on the floor, the guilt of how he had just treated Liz drumming through his conscience. It had been a game. Just another game between them. He couldn't deny that he had gotten some enjoyment out of seeing how far he could push her. But he wasn't really happy about how he must've made her feel in the end; completely humiliated.
But he still felt like he needed to teach Billy a lesson. He wasn't if sure he had actually gotten through to the guy. The only result from the whole encounter might've been hurting Liz.
But she hated Max anyway. Maybe now she could direct her anger at him instead of trying to confront Billy and get herself into more trouble.
Maybe he should've just let her sort it out herself. Maybe she would've been able to push him away. Maybe he should've given her that small victory.
But there was just something about Elizabeth Parker that made him go all caveman and evidently brought out the worst in him. Oddly, it always seemed to end the same way.
With her getting hurt and him walking away with his guilt-ridden head hanging low.
TBC...