Irony
Chapter 3
Author: Margarita
Email: margarita782@hotmail.com
Category: Liz angst, slight M/L romance.
Rating: R
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Roswell and all of the characters from the show do not belong to me. "In the End" is by Linkin Park, and all lyrics belong to them.
Author's Note: The first part of this is taken directly from the episode "Harvest." All lyrics are in italics. Parts of this piece take place in the future; note the dates at the beginning of the chapters.
Spoilers: "The End of the World," "Harvest," "Max in the City."
Summary: Liz deals with the aftershocks of her promise to future Max.
Warning: Character death.
*Keep that in mind.
I designed this rhyme to explain in due time all I know…*
February 2001
Max still believes that I slept with Kyle. I suppose that's a good thing, although it still hurts to know that I'm lying to him. My chest aches every time I look at him and although it's cliché, I swear I can actually feel my heart ripping in two.
Tess has been infuriatingly cheerful, trying to make him feel better, although I think she actually likes Kyle. I know that he loves her. I can see it in his eyes. He looks at her the way that Max used to look at me.
Max's eyes haunt me. He never smiles or laughs. He's empty. It hurts to look at him – his eyes always seem to be pleading for me to tell him the truth. Either that, or for that night to have never happened. He doesn't know how often I wish for the same thing.
Kyle acts differently around me now. He hugs me a lot. His eyes are sympathetic, but also questioning. Kyle has never asked me why I wanted to convince Max that I slept with him, and I'm grateful for that. He has also helped me to convince Max entirely, although I know it's against his nature. Kyle doesn't like to be lied to.
I think Isabel knows the truth. She's not positive, of course, but she's the only one who hasn't accepted our story. Of course, Maria didn't either, but I told her the truth a long time ago. She's the only one who knows exactly what future Max told me.
"What are you hiding, Liz?" Isabel cornered me yesterday in the break room of the Crashdown. I never even heard her coming. Damn aliens.
"What are you talking about?" I feigned innocence, something that has become second nature to me in the past few months.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," she countered. Her eyes glittered and I shivered. She looked like a cat hunting down a cornered mouse. I backed up a few steps.
"I'm sorry, but I don't." I looked at my watch. "Was there something you wanted? I should really be getting back to work. It's almost time for the lunch crowd." I stood up, hiding my shaking hands behind my back.
Isabel's face changed as I walked towards her. "Please, Liz," she whispered as I walked by her. "It's killing him. I know you didn't sleep with Kyle, and I hate what you're doing to Max. Why are you hurting him? What did he do?" A tear slid down her cheek and she brushed it away angrily.
I tried to think of something to say, but there was nothing that hadn't already been said.
Her face became cold again at my silence. "I hope you enjoyed fucking Kyle," she spat. "You're certainly giving up everything for it." She turned and walked away quickly.
As soon as she left the room, I burst into tears. She was right; I was giving up everything for that one night. But what she didn't understand was that I had known that before going to Kyle. That was the plan. I was to give up everything – my marriage to Max, our children, and our future – to keep Tess in Roswell. Isabel didn't know how right she was or how much it hurt to know that I had succeeded.
