Max-
I know my parents told me to stay away from you, but I need to see you. Meet me in the Eraser Room at lunch. Make sure no one sees you, my dad actually told the teachers to report to him if they saw us together. I love you.
Liz
Max sat in his government class, reading and rereading Liz's note. It had been in his locker that morning when he went to get his books. Liz had been nowhere in sight. Max had looked.
Now he sat in class, staring at Liz's handwriting. He even loved that. He hadn't been able to concentrate on any of his classes that morning. All he'd done was read the note. Especially the last sentence.
I love you.
Max knew it was true, but every time he heard it, he still felt amazed. Especially after everything that had come between them. From his birth mother's misguided attempt at writing Max's destiny, to Tess, to getting arrested, she still loved him. Max hung his head. He knew he didn't deserve Liz, but he was sure as hell glad she loved him anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max glanced around the nearly empty hallway. Most of the students were either in class or in the cafeteria. When the nearest hall monitor's head was turned, Max slipped into the Eraser Room.
"Max!" Liz launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "Oh my God, Max, I am so happy to see you! I miss you so much!"
"God, I miss you too, Liz!"
Liz tilted her face up to kiss Max. She loved kissing him. She thought he was the best kisser in the universe.
Max couldn't believe they were together. He'd seen the dirty looks Liz's father had been directing his way while he escorted Liz out of jail, and he had begun losing hope when Mr Parker told him about the boarding school. But now he was there in the Eraser Room with Liz, their mouths fused together in the longest, sweetest kiss they'd ever shared. Max began to see flashes of Liz.
*flash* Liz weeping because she couldn't see Max
*flash* Liz writing him the note and giving it to Maria to put in his locker
*flash* Liz waiting impatiently for him in the Eraser Room, thinking about the last time they'd been there and he'd told her she should be allowed to grow.
Suddenly Liz broke the kiss with a look of outrage.
"Liz?" Max voice was worried. "Liz, what's wrong?"
"Boarding school? My father threatened to send me to boarding school?" Liz fought to keep her voice down. "He threatened you! He…I can't believe him!"
"Liz, shh…it's all right, I'm here with you anyway." Max soothed, realizing she must have seen a flash of Mr Parker chewing him out after their midnight hangliding outing.
"No, Max. It is not all right. Boarding school! Like boarding school would make me fall out of love with you. Like me being sent away would make you fall out of love with me. I couldn't even do that when I tried!" Max held back a wince at the reference to the Future Max fiasco that Liz had explained to him the night after Tess left.
"Liz, shh! If someone finds us in here…"
"I know. Boarding school."
Max's heart broke to see the seething fury in Liz's eyes. He didn't want to be the wedge that drove Liz and her parents apart. He reached out and softly touched Liz's cheek.
"Liz…I don't want to come between you and your family."
Liz interrupted him sharply.
"Max, you wouldn't accept it when I said that I couldn't come between you and your destiny. I won't accept you feeling guilty for coming between me and my family. They have no right to keep us apart like this."
"Liz…I don't deserve you."
Liz kissed Max tenderly on the forehead then on the lips.
"And I don't deserve you, but we have each other anyway." Liz breathed the words with her lips a heartbeat away from Max's. Then she kissed him again.
Their passionate kiss was rudely interrupted a few moments later by the harsh ringing of the bell, signalling the end of their lunch period. They regretfully parted and left the Eraser Room, headed in opposite directions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look, Liz. You need to calm down." Maria grabbed Liz's hand as she paced past where Maria was sitting on her bed and pulled her down.
"Calm down? Calm down? You expect me to calm down when my parents are ready to ship me off to some all-girls boarding school in Vermont if Max so much as looks in the windows of the Crashdown! I'd like to see you calm down if your mother forbid you to see Michael!" Liz tried to get up off Maria's bed, but Maria grabbed her shoulders.
"Liz, you can't even be sure that your dad really would send you away."
"Maria, I saw him chewing out Max!"
"In a flash while you were making out. Maybe you made a mountain out of a molehill."
"Just because I was making out at the time doesn't mean that I couldn't tell what was going on in the flash. I was able to lead Max straight to that communicator thingy that I got a flash of being buried." Maria looked at Liz thoughtfully.
"That's true…"
"Anyway, Maria, you have to help me see Max!"
"But Liz, if your parents find out…"
"I know, boarding school. But Maria, it's Max. I love him. We spent most of the past year apart because of some murdering alien hussy. I'm not going to let my parents keep us apart for the next year!"
"Okay, I know that, and I respect that. But Liz, maybe you should wait a little bit. Maybe after a month or so, your parents will loosen up if you aren't trying to break the rules all the time!"
"Maria, whose side are you on?"
"Yours, Liz. I'm just trying to keep you in Roswell so it's possible for you to secretly meet with Max."
"Maria, with yours and Michael's help, we can meet without anyone finding out. I will still be in Roswell, my parents will think I'm following the rules, and I'll get to see Max on a regular basis."
Maria was silent for a moment, obviously weighing the pros and cons.
"Okay, Liz. I'll help you, and I'm sure Michael will too."
"Thank you so much, Maria! You are the best friend ever!"
"I know. Now here's the plan…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael and Max were sitting in companionable silence in Michael's apartment. Max was working on some history homework, and Michael was working on a lab report for biology. When a knock on his door sounded, Michael was out of his seat and halfway to the door before Max had even pushed away from the table.
"Alleluia, a distraction!" Michael pulled open the door. Maria and Liz stood there.
"Well don't just stand there looking like an idiot, Spaceboy! It would not exactly be good for Liz to be seen here. After all Max is living here right now as well!" Maria slipped around Michael as she spoke, pulling Liz in after her. Michael shut the door behind them.
"Liz!" Max was out of his chair faster than Michael, and pulled Liz into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in the scent of her perfume and shampoo. They stood there, completely wrapped up in holding each other, not paying attention to Michael and Maria at all.
Michael was looking confusedly at Maria.
"I thought we were going to stay out of this, Maria."
"Michael, this is Liz and Max. We can't just stand by and watch while her father tears them apart! She's my best friend and he's practically your brother!"
"I know." Michael pulled Maria against his side, and they watched Liz and Max just standing there holding each other for a few moments. Then Maria got down to business.
"Okay you two. This is the plan. Liz, my mom and your parents think you and I are at the movies. Michael's friends think he and I are at the movies, so you don't need to answer the phone here at all. Max, you're parents haven't been calling you anyway, right?"
"Uh, yeah Maria. They haven't. Izzy does occasionally, but she's…preoccupied with Jesse these days."
"Okay, good. So don't answer the phone. Liz, if your mom or dad calls the cell phone, after 10:45ish tell them we went out to the desert for girl talk after the movie and you'll be in soon. Then give me a call and I'll come take you home. Otherwise, Michael and I should be home by 11 and I'll take you home then."
"Okay, Maria. Thank you."
"No problem, Liz. Michael, lets leave the lovebirds alone now, eh?"
"Uh, yeah. There goes my bio report."
"It's for a good cause. Now move it!"
Maria hurried Michael out the door, leaving Max and Liz alone. They continued to stand as they had before for a few minutes. Then Max spoke.
"God, Liz, I needed to see you. You always know when I need to see you."
"Max, I miss you so much. I just saw you today but I miss you."
"Today was ten minutes in the Eraser Room. Last week we had a grand total of three hours alone together, and that was in bits and snatches of time. It's okay to miss me."
"I love you, Max. Why do we have to live like this? Why can't my parents see?"
"Because I am dangerous, Liz. You know I am. And I did talk you into using the gun. I am everything they say I am, but worse because they don't know the truth."
"No, Max. You are better than all of the things they say about you. You are the best of us, Max." Max looked deeply into Liz's eyes. He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and wound his fingers through her hair the way he liked best.
"No, Liz. You are the best of us. Without you I would be nothing." Liz stretched upwards to place a kiss on Max's lips.
"You know, Max, it occurs to me that we have hours alone in this apartment and we are doing nothing but standing here talking." She pressed her body closer to his.
"The thought occurs to me as well." Liz kissed Max again, deeper and longer this time.
"Well then, we'll have to, uh, figure out a better way to use up the time." Max grinned rakishly down at Liz.
"I believe I can think of something," he assured her.
Max bent down and covered Liz's mouth with his own. She twined her arms around his neck and took the kiss deeper. Max ran his hands down Liz's sides, caressing her hips. Then he moved his hands under her shirt, one hand skimming up and down her back, the other resting over the spot where he had healed her so long ago. Liz tugged at Max's sweater. He pulled it over his head and tossed it over the back of a chair. Liz ran her hands over Max's chest and down his arms, loving the feel of his skin and muscles under her hands. She pulled out of Max's embrace and pulled her own shirt off, dropping it carelessly on top of his sweater.
"Liz…are you sure?"
"Max. I love you. I want to be with you."
Liz stepped back into Max's arms and plastered her mouth to his.
"Okay," Max managed between heated kisses. He backed her slowly towards the couch and lowered her down.
I know my parents told me to stay away from you, but I need to see you. Meet me in the Eraser Room at lunch. Make sure no one sees you, my dad actually told the teachers to report to him if they saw us together. I love you.
Liz
Max sat in his government class, reading and rereading Liz's note. It had been in his locker that morning when he went to get his books. Liz had been nowhere in sight. Max had looked.
Now he sat in class, staring at Liz's handwriting. He even loved that. He hadn't been able to concentrate on any of his classes that morning. All he'd done was read the note. Especially the last sentence.
I love you.
Max knew it was true, but every time he heard it, he still felt amazed. Especially after everything that had come between them. From his birth mother's misguided attempt at writing Max's destiny, to Tess, to getting arrested, she still loved him. Max hung his head. He knew he didn't deserve Liz, but he was sure as hell glad she loved him anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max glanced around the nearly empty hallway. Most of the students were either in class or in the cafeteria. When the nearest hall monitor's head was turned, Max slipped into the Eraser Room.
"Max!" Liz launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "Oh my God, Max, I am so happy to see you! I miss you so much!"
"God, I miss you too, Liz!"
Liz tilted her face up to kiss Max. She loved kissing him. She thought he was the best kisser in the universe.
Max couldn't believe they were together. He'd seen the dirty looks Liz's father had been directing his way while he escorted Liz out of jail, and he had begun losing hope when Mr Parker told him about the boarding school. But now he was there in the Eraser Room with Liz, their mouths fused together in the longest, sweetest kiss they'd ever shared. Max began to see flashes of Liz.
*flash* Liz weeping because she couldn't see Max
*flash* Liz writing him the note and giving it to Maria to put in his locker
*flash* Liz waiting impatiently for him in the Eraser Room, thinking about the last time they'd been there and he'd told her she should be allowed to grow.
Suddenly Liz broke the kiss with a look of outrage.
"Liz?" Max voice was worried. "Liz, what's wrong?"
"Boarding school? My father threatened to send me to boarding school?" Liz fought to keep her voice down. "He threatened you! He…I can't believe him!"
"Liz, shh…it's all right, I'm here with you anyway." Max soothed, realizing she must have seen a flash of Mr Parker chewing him out after their midnight hangliding outing.
"No, Max. It is not all right. Boarding school! Like boarding school would make me fall out of love with you. Like me being sent away would make you fall out of love with me. I couldn't even do that when I tried!" Max held back a wince at the reference to the Future Max fiasco that Liz had explained to him the night after Tess left.
"Liz, shh! If someone finds us in here…"
"I know. Boarding school."
Max's heart broke to see the seething fury in Liz's eyes. He didn't want to be the wedge that drove Liz and her parents apart. He reached out and softly touched Liz's cheek.
"Liz…I don't want to come between you and your family."
Liz interrupted him sharply.
"Max, you wouldn't accept it when I said that I couldn't come between you and your destiny. I won't accept you feeling guilty for coming between me and my family. They have no right to keep us apart like this."
"Liz…I don't deserve you."
Liz kissed Max tenderly on the forehead then on the lips.
"And I don't deserve you, but we have each other anyway." Liz breathed the words with her lips a heartbeat away from Max's. Then she kissed him again.
Their passionate kiss was rudely interrupted a few moments later by the harsh ringing of the bell, signalling the end of their lunch period. They regretfully parted and left the Eraser Room, headed in opposite directions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Look, Liz. You need to calm down." Maria grabbed Liz's hand as she paced past where Maria was sitting on her bed and pulled her down.
"Calm down? Calm down? You expect me to calm down when my parents are ready to ship me off to some all-girls boarding school in Vermont if Max so much as looks in the windows of the Crashdown! I'd like to see you calm down if your mother forbid you to see Michael!" Liz tried to get up off Maria's bed, but Maria grabbed her shoulders.
"Liz, you can't even be sure that your dad really would send you away."
"Maria, I saw him chewing out Max!"
"In a flash while you were making out. Maybe you made a mountain out of a molehill."
"Just because I was making out at the time doesn't mean that I couldn't tell what was going on in the flash. I was able to lead Max straight to that communicator thingy that I got a flash of being buried." Maria looked at Liz thoughtfully.
"That's true…"
"Anyway, Maria, you have to help me see Max!"
"But Liz, if your parents find out…"
"I know, boarding school. But Maria, it's Max. I love him. We spent most of the past year apart because of some murdering alien hussy. I'm not going to let my parents keep us apart for the next year!"
"Okay, I know that, and I respect that. But Liz, maybe you should wait a little bit. Maybe after a month or so, your parents will loosen up if you aren't trying to break the rules all the time!"
"Maria, whose side are you on?"
"Yours, Liz. I'm just trying to keep you in Roswell so it's possible for you to secretly meet with Max."
"Maria, with yours and Michael's help, we can meet without anyone finding out. I will still be in Roswell, my parents will think I'm following the rules, and I'll get to see Max on a regular basis."
Maria was silent for a moment, obviously weighing the pros and cons.
"Okay, Liz. I'll help you, and I'm sure Michael will too."
"Thank you so much, Maria! You are the best friend ever!"
"I know. Now here's the plan…"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Michael and Max were sitting in companionable silence in Michael's apartment. Max was working on some history homework, and Michael was working on a lab report for biology. When a knock on his door sounded, Michael was out of his seat and halfway to the door before Max had even pushed away from the table.
"Alleluia, a distraction!" Michael pulled open the door. Maria and Liz stood there.
"Well don't just stand there looking like an idiot, Spaceboy! It would not exactly be good for Liz to be seen here. After all Max is living here right now as well!" Maria slipped around Michael as she spoke, pulling Liz in after her. Michael shut the door behind them.
"Liz!" Max was out of his chair faster than Michael, and pulled Liz into his arms. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. He buried his face in her hair and breathed in the scent of her perfume and shampoo. They stood there, completely wrapped up in holding each other, not paying attention to Michael and Maria at all.
Michael was looking confusedly at Maria.
"I thought we were going to stay out of this, Maria."
"Michael, this is Liz and Max. We can't just stand by and watch while her father tears them apart! She's my best friend and he's practically your brother!"
"I know." Michael pulled Maria against his side, and they watched Liz and Max just standing there holding each other for a few moments. Then Maria got down to business.
"Okay you two. This is the plan. Liz, my mom and your parents think you and I are at the movies. Michael's friends think he and I are at the movies, so you don't need to answer the phone here at all. Max, you're parents haven't been calling you anyway, right?"
"Uh, yeah Maria. They haven't. Izzy does occasionally, but she's…preoccupied with Jesse these days."
"Okay, good. So don't answer the phone. Liz, if your mom or dad calls the cell phone, after 10:45ish tell them we went out to the desert for girl talk after the movie and you'll be in soon. Then give me a call and I'll come take you home. Otherwise, Michael and I should be home by 11 and I'll take you home then."
"Okay, Maria. Thank you."
"No problem, Liz. Michael, lets leave the lovebirds alone now, eh?"
"Uh, yeah. There goes my bio report."
"It's for a good cause. Now move it!"
Maria hurried Michael out the door, leaving Max and Liz alone. They continued to stand as they had before for a few minutes. Then Max spoke.
"God, Liz, I needed to see you. You always know when I need to see you."
"Max, I miss you so much. I just saw you today but I miss you."
"Today was ten minutes in the Eraser Room. Last week we had a grand total of three hours alone together, and that was in bits and snatches of time. It's okay to miss me."
"I love you, Max. Why do we have to live like this? Why can't my parents see?"
"Because I am dangerous, Liz. You know I am. And I did talk you into using the gun. I am everything they say I am, but worse because they don't know the truth."
"No, Max. You are better than all of the things they say about you. You are the best of us, Max." Max looked deeply into Liz's eyes. He stroked her cheeks with his thumbs and wound his fingers through her hair the way he liked best.
"No, Liz. You are the best of us. Without you I would be nothing." Liz stretched upwards to place a kiss on Max's lips.
"You know, Max, it occurs to me that we have hours alone in this apartment and we are doing nothing but standing here talking." She pressed her body closer to his.
"The thought occurs to me as well." Liz kissed Max again, deeper and longer this time.
"Well then, we'll have to, uh, figure out a better way to use up the time." Max grinned rakishly down at Liz.
"I believe I can think of something," he assured her.
Max bent down and covered Liz's mouth with his own. She twined her arms around his neck and took the kiss deeper. Max ran his hands down Liz's sides, caressing her hips. Then he moved his hands under her shirt, one hand skimming up and down her back, the other resting over the spot where he had healed her so long ago. Liz tugged at Max's sweater. He pulled it over his head and tossed it over the back of a chair. Liz ran her hands over Max's chest and down his arms, loving the feel of his skin and muscles under her hands. She pulled out of Max's embrace and pulled her own shirt off, dropping it carelessly on top of his sweater.
"Liz…are you sure?"
"Max. I love you. I want to be with you."
Liz stepped back into Max's arms and plastered her mouth to his.
"Okay," Max managed between heated kisses. He backed her slowly towards the couch and lowered her down.
