~A/N~ Wow, a new chapter already. Go me! OK, done with that. HEY! Thanks
for the reviews! They make my day! If you guys like my story then read my
other one! It's called Mistakes. I think it is pretty good but hey, what do
I know? OK. enjoy and please review? We are almost done with this story.
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A smile stretched across his face as he got up and headed toward her. He stopped in front of her and she looked up at him.
"Oh God, Michael." She said again as she felt the tears rush to her eyes. She reached up and ran a shaky hand over his cheek. "You're really there," she laughed as she pulled his face down and his lips met hers in a long and much needed kiss. A kiss she had been waiting for- longing for while Michael was fighting in another galaxy, a kiss from the love she wasn't sure she would ever see again.
"Maria," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, "God Maria. I missed you so much. You have no idea."
"H- how did you get here? I mean, it has only been a half of a year. I thought you said it would be years."
He laughed slightly, "is that all it's been? Time is measured so differently up there I had almost forgotten. We overthrew Kivar and started a rebellion. He was found dead outside of a local civilization awhile ago. We had to get the country stabilized and Za- I mean Max put a new ruler in the throne." He smiled and took her hand leading her over to the table. They took a seat and he kept talking. "I'm so used to calling him Zan- it is going to take me so long to get out of the habit. We came as fast as we could Maria- we missed you all so much. Izzy, Max, and me- we just couldn't get here sooner."
As Maria listened her eyes clouded over and she looked at her hands.
"What Maria? What's wrong. They're ok aren't they? Liz, Kyle, your mom? Everyone is alright aren't they?"
Maria nodded slowly thinking of Liz. "Everyone OK Michael but things- things have changed since you left. A lot has changed."
*At the same time*
Liz sat on her bed flipping through the magazine carelessly- waiting for the thing she had waited for every night for the past few months. He came every night at the same time without fail and Liz couldn't wait to tell Sean that Maria was ok with everything that was going on.
She heard a noise out on her balcony and she smiled waiting. "Sean?" She called out when he didn't come and she heard another noise. She saw the curtains flutter and a hand pull them back. She felt her heart stop in her chest as the face peaked in through the window.
"Oh my God. Max?" She asked quietly as he stretched his legs through the window and walked toward her. His tall frame dominating the room in exactly the same way she had remembered it.
Instantly she was on her feet and standing in front of him. They didn't say anything- just stared at each other for the longest time, making Liz's knees go weak at the sight of him and making her realize why she had missed him so much. She shook her head in order to clear it and looked back up at him. "How- I mean, how are you back so soon? I thought you said the rebellion would take years at the least. I mean- I didn't think it would be this soon."
He smiled as he looked at her, "the people up on Antar were more eager to get rid of Kivar than we had thought. We had achieved the rebellion in a few months- earth time of course- and Kivar was dead soon after that. It was so much easier than anticipated."
The smile on his face grew and he took a step closer to her closing the gap between him. He leaned down and his lips brushed hers. Instantly Liz pulled away and when Max looked at her there was something in her eyes he hadn't seen before. Fear and- guilt.
"What's wrong with you Liz?" Max asked a hint of anger and a trace of fear seeping through his words.
"I- I have to tell you Max. You don't understand- you've just been gone for so long," she stuttered trying to get the words to come out of her mouth and trying not to think about the fact that Max had just kissed her.
"Well you-" he started but stopped abruptly when there was a thud outside her window and on the patio. His eyes shot over, "what the hell is going on Liz?" He asked as he threw back the curtains and saw who was out there.
"Evans?" Sean asked incredulously as he looked at Max. He glanced back at Liz with a look of confusion but she just closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to have to explain everything- not wanting to go on.
"Liz? What is going on here? Why is Sean on your patio? Why did you pull away when I tried to touch you? Please, just answer my questions." He paused as he looked at Sean and back at Liz and he whispered in a voice barely audible in the deafening silence of the room, "I'm not going to like what I hear am I?"
Liz paused before she reluctantly shook her head. "Max, when you left- when you left I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go- so few people understood exactly what was going on and exactly what I was feeling and-"
"And Sean understands EXACTLY how you felt Liz?" Max asked quickly darting his eyes toward Sean wanting to know how much Liz had told Sean about his secrets.
"Oh save it Max. I don't know where you went or what the hell was so important that you had to leave Liz here alone for so many months. Whatever your stupid problem was I don't really want to hear it," Sean spat out, his words biting coldly through Max as he climbed through the window.
Sean looked between the two and continued. "What you did to Liz wasn't fair Max- that's it, plain and simple. Liz shouldn't have to explain this to you so I will. You left and she was devastated- fucking dying over you Max. So I helped her- I treated her like she needed to be treated. Something you, obviously, were incapable of doing." He finished with his eyes fixed on Max in a cold glare.
Max looked around him at Liz who still looked stricken and guilty. Standing with a blank expression on her face and her hands trembling. "Is it true Liz? Did you- are you and Sean. I mean, are you two together?" He asked stressing the last word bitterly.
Liz looked between Max and Sean. The only two men she had ever loved- her first, who she thought was her obvious destiny. The second- who had showed her she could have plainly been wrong. She took a deep breath before answering him. "Yes Max. Everything Sean said is true."
Liz would never forget the look on Max's face at that exact moment. The look of hate, of sorrow, but mostly sadness. "I can't believe you would do this to me Liz. I mean we were supposed to be together. We were-"
"Oh, shut up Max!" Sean screamed and Max flinched drawing back as Sean took a step closer, his hands clenched and ready to spring. "Honestly! YOU LEFT! Are you forgetting that? I know you loved Liz and she loved you and you two were 'destined to be together' or whatever. I know she loved you first but what does that even mean? Does that mean that feelings can never change? Does that mean that she can't ever love anyone else? Because it sure as hell looked like you loved someone else when you were with that Harding girl. I watched as you broke Liz's heart- you broke it so easily and with no respect for how she felt. Did she yell at you? Did she say it 'wasn't fair'? Do you honestly not think you aren't being a complete hypocrite?" Sean's gaze never left Max's and he watched the expression on Max's face turn from one of complete hate and sorrow to one of guilt.
"Sean, I really think you should just can it. You have no idea why I left and no idea what went on between Tess, Liz, and me. Frankly, it was none of your business so I wish you would just stay out! And honestly-"
"You expected me to stay out when I saw the look of despair every day when she brought me my food in the Crashdown after you left? When I saw her crying in the back room when she didn't think I was watching? When I saw all the life, all the happiness she had once had just disappear? You expected me to just act like nothing was happening when the girl I love was in so much pain?"
The room fell silent. Liz watched as the two men stared at each other, their gazes never leaving the other's eyes.
In one swift movement Max's fist connected with Sean's face and Liz let out a scream as she watched Sean crumple to the floor briefly before jumping back up and punching Max in the jaw.
"STOP!" Liz screamed and instantly the fight ceased and the two men looked at her red, angry face. "Would you two just STOP? PLEASE? I mean look at you! You're both acting like you're five! A fist fight over a girl? I thought you guys had gotten over the middle school age. Honestly, you guys fighting isn't going to influence my decision. This isn't 1800! I don't fall to my knees when one man has more valor than the other! All you two are doing is proving to me how childish you are. You want me to make a decision right? Well don't act like babies in the process. I will make my 'decision' when I am good and ready and you two just have to wait. Now just leave. Go, I don't want to see either of you right now," she finished, the fury evident in her voice.
Guiltily the two men trudged out and she collapsed on her bed, listening to them climb down the ladder.
She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind- tried to think. Tried to figure out exactly what was going on in her heart. Max or Sean? Max or Sean? The question kept racing through her mind. The answer slithered through the back of her mind and Liz tried to grasp it but it was impossible. She had no idea what to do.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A smile stretched across his face as he got up and headed toward her. He stopped in front of her and she looked up at him.
"Oh God, Michael." She said again as she felt the tears rush to her eyes. She reached up and ran a shaky hand over his cheek. "You're really there," she laughed as she pulled his face down and his lips met hers in a long and much needed kiss. A kiss she had been waiting for- longing for while Michael was fighting in another galaxy, a kiss from the love she wasn't sure she would ever see again.
"Maria," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms, "God Maria. I missed you so much. You have no idea."
"H- how did you get here? I mean, it has only been a half of a year. I thought you said it would be years."
He laughed slightly, "is that all it's been? Time is measured so differently up there I had almost forgotten. We overthrew Kivar and started a rebellion. He was found dead outside of a local civilization awhile ago. We had to get the country stabilized and Za- I mean Max put a new ruler in the throne." He smiled and took her hand leading her over to the table. They took a seat and he kept talking. "I'm so used to calling him Zan- it is going to take me so long to get out of the habit. We came as fast as we could Maria- we missed you all so much. Izzy, Max, and me- we just couldn't get here sooner."
As Maria listened her eyes clouded over and she looked at her hands.
"What Maria? What's wrong. They're ok aren't they? Liz, Kyle, your mom? Everyone is alright aren't they?"
Maria nodded slowly thinking of Liz. "Everyone OK Michael but things- things have changed since you left. A lot has changed."
*At the same time*
Liz sat on her bed flipping through the magazine carelessly- waiting for the thing she had waited for every night for the past few months. He came every night at the same time without fail and Liz couldn't wait to tell Sean that Maria was ok with everything that was going on.
She heard a noise out on her balcony and she smiled waiting. "Sean?" She called out when he didn't come and she heard another noise. She saw the curtains flutter and a hand pull them back. She felt her heart stop in her chest as the face peaked in through the window.
"Oh my God. Max?" She asked quietly as he stretched his legs through the window and walked toward her. His tall frame dominating the room in exactly the same way she had remembered it.
Instantly she was on her feet and standing in front of him. They didn't say anything- just stared at each other for the longest time, making Liz's knees go weak at the sight of him and making her realize why she had missed him so much. She shook her head in order to clear it and looked back up at him. "How- I mean, how are you back so soon? I thought you said the rebellion would take years at the least. I mean- I didn't think it would be this soon."
He smiled as he looked at her, "the people up on Antar were more eager to get rid of Kivar than we had thought. We had achieved the rebellion in a few months- earth time of course- and Kivar was dead soon after that. It was so much easier than anticipated."
The smile on his face grew and he took a step closer to her closing the gap between him. He leaned down and his lips brushed hers. Instantly Liz pulled away and when Max looked at her there was something in her eyes he hadn't seen before. Fear and- guilt.
"What's wrong with you Liz?" Max asked a hint of anger and a trace of fear seeping through his words.
"I- I have to tell you Max. You don't understand- you've just been gone for so long," she stuttered trying to get the words to come out of her mouth and trying not to think about the fact that Max had just kissed her.
"Well you-" he started but stopped abruptly when there was a thud outside her window and on the patio. His eyes shot over, "what the hell is going on Liz?" He asked as he threw back the curtains and saw who was out there.
"Evans?" Sean asked incredulously as he looked at Max. He glanced back at Liz with a look of confusion but she just closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to have to explain everything- not wanting to go on.
"Liz? What is going on here? Why is Sean on your patio? Why did you pull away when I tried to touch you? Please, just answer my questions." He paused as he looked at Sean and back at Liz and he whispered in a voice barely audible in the deafening silence of the room, "I'm not going to like what I hear am I?"
Liz paused before she reluctantly shook her head. "Max, when you left- when you left I just didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go- so few people understood exactly what was going on and exactly what I was feeling and-"
"And Sean understands EXACTLY how you felt Liz?" Max asked quickly darting his eyes toward Sean wanting to know how much Liz had told Sean about his secrets.
"Oh save it Max. I don't know where you went or what the hell was so important that you had to leave Liz here alone for so many months. Whatever your stupid problem was I don't really want to hear it," Sean spat out, his words biting coldly through Max as he climbed through the window.
Sean looked between the two and continued. "What you did to Liz wasn't fair Max- that's it, plain and simple. Liz shouldn't have to explain this to you so I will. You left and she was devastated- fucking dying over you Max. So I helped her- I treated her like she needed to be treated. Something you, obviously, were incapable of doing." He finished with his eyes fixed on Max in a cold glare.
Max looked around him at Liz who still looked stricken and guilty. Standing with a blank expression on her face and her hands trembling. "Is it true Liz? Did you- are you and Sean. I mean, are you two together?" He asked stressing the last word bitterly.
Liz looked between Max and Sean. The only two men she had ever loved- her first, who she thought was her obvious destiny. The second- who had showed her she could have plainly been wrong. She took a deep breath before answering him. "Yes Max. Everything Sean said is true."
Liz would never forget the look on Max's face at that exact moment. The look of hate, of sorrow, but mostly sadness. "I can't believe you would do this to me Liz. I mean we were supposed to be together. We were-"
"Oh, shut up Max!" Sean screamed and Max flinched drawing back as Sean took a step closer, his hands clenched and ready to spring. "Honestly! YOU LEFT! Are you forgetting that? I know you loved Liz and she loved you and you two were 'destined to be together' or whatever. I know she loved you first but what does that even mean? Does that mean that feelings can never change? Does that mean that she can't ever love anyone else? Because it sure as hell looked like you loved someone else when you were with that Harding girl. I watched as you broke Liz's heart- you broke it so easily and with no respect for how she felt. Did she yell at you? Did she say it 'wasn't fair'? Do you honestly not think you aren't being a complete hypocrite?" Sean's gaze never left Max's and he watched the expression on Max's face turn from one of complete hate and sorrow to one of guilt.
"Sean, I really think you should just can it. You have no idea why I left and no idea what went on between Tess, Liz, and me. Frankly, it was none of your business so I wish you would just stay out! And honestly-"
"You expected me to stay out when I saw the look of despair every day when she brought me my food in the Crashdown after you left? When I saw her crying in the back room when she didn't think I was watching? When I saw all the life, all the happiness she had once had just disappear? You expected me to just act like nothing was happening when the girl I love was in so much pain?"
The room fell silent. Liz watched as the two men stared at each other, their gazes never leaving the other's eyes.
In one swift movement Max's fist connected with Sean's face and Liz let out a scream as she watched Sean crumple to the floor briefly before jumping back up and punching Max in the jaw.
"STOP!" Liz screamed and instantly the fight ceased and the two men looked at her red, angry face. "Would you two just STOP? PLEASE? I mean look at you! You're both acting like you're five! A fist fight over a girl? I thought you guys had gotten over the middle school age. Honestly, you guys fighting isn't going to influence my decision. This isn't 1800! I don't fall to my knees when one man has more valor than the other! All you two are doing is proving to me how childish you are. You want me to make a decision right? Well don't act like babies in the process. I will make my 'decision' when I am good and ready and you two just have to wait. Now just leave. Go, I don't want to see either of you right now," she finished, the fury evident in her voice.
Guiltily the two men trudged out and she collapsed on her bed, listening to them climb down the ladder.
She closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind- tried to think. Tried to figure out exactly what was going on in her heart. Max or Sean? Max or Sean? The question kept racing through her mind. The answer slithered through the back of her mind and Liz tried to grasp it but it was impossible. She had no idea what to do.