[u]Part 9[/u]

"You want to [i]play[/i] me for it?" Max asked, his eyebrows raised in slight irritation.

"That's what I said Max," Liz replied, nodding her head shortly to emphasize her point.

She was trying not to, but she could still remember the first time she and Max had ever played pool. It had been on their first date. Right in this exact spot. It had been a magical evening to say the least. She closed her eyes as voices from the past echoed once more in her mind

[i]"Ok, this is my favorite part. It says, 'This is the best night of your life.'"

"Is that really what it says?"

" Well, it's better than 'A broken clock is still right twice a day.'"

"You're right. I like yours better."[/i]

Shaking her head in a, by now, useless attempt to force Max's voice from her head, Liz leaned against the pool table as she felt her body waver slightly.

"Liz?" Max asked, concerned, his hands shooting out to steady her.

As he came into contact with Liz's arm, she was hit with another image. But this time it was different. This one was a flash.

Of the [I]last[/I] time they had played pool together.

Mr. Parker had put the pool table in the back room of the Crashdown as a surprise for Liz, for she and her friends to use. Liz had become quite fond of the game, and the table had been a present to her. She and Max had played many a game at the same table, and on this particular night, they had played quite a bit. Of course, it hadn't been just the brightly colored balls that ended up rolling around on the table that night.

[i] "Is this how I do it?" Liz asked, feigning innocence they both knew was false, being as she was the one who had first taught [/I]him[I] how to play.

"I can show you, but I'd have to put my arms around you," Max replied, a hint of a wicked smile turning up the corners of his mouth.

"Well, as long as you promise to behave," Liz shot back coyly, batting her eyelashes wildly.

"Sure thing," he said innocently.

Max stepped behind Liz and put his arms out, letting them slide from her shoulders all the way down to her wrists. His grip on her hands tightened as he felt her relax against him. With purely innocent intentions, he placed a small kiss on the back of her neck, and the pool game was suddenly unimportant.[/i]

Blinking her eyes, Liz jerked her arm from Max's grasp.

"I can stand on my own," she snapped. "Don't touch me."

Looking into his eyes, Liz saw hurt flicker across his face, at her having pulled away from him, as if she was afraid of him touching her. But just as fast as it had come, it was gone.

"Liz, I'm sorry..I.didn't mean to," he said softly, so only she could hear.

Liz looked at him and knew he had seen the flash too. He must have been thinking about it, and reaching out so fast to grab her, he had caused her to have a flash.

The more she looked at Max, the more she wanted to blurt out the truth. To help ease the hurt that he could no longer hide from her. She couldn't quite believe she had bought his act earlier in the day. Maria was totally right. He had not changed one bit.

More than anything, she wanted to explain things. Maybe even attempt to be friends.with the boy who had been her first love. Her realization earlier that day that Max had been nothing but a victim had haunted her thoughts. She could only imagine the heartbreak Max must have experienced at coming to New York to find her, but leaving without ever having made his presence known. Maria had told her that it had been three years ago when Max had come after her. That meant it had been a year after she had gotten to New York. And right around the time she had met Sean. Had Max seen them together? Had he seen them and assumed she'd forgotten her life in Roswell?

If only he'd known. At that point in time, she was still trying to forget all about Max. She'd cut all ties with her former life, but Max had stayed in her thoughts constantly. Meeting Sean had been the final push she needed to forget Max.

But it was turning out that she hadn't forgotten him at all, wasn't it?

Since finding out Max had come after her, Liz had been plagued with one question over and over in her mind. [i]Had[/i] this changed anything like Serena said? Max hadn't given up on her. What would have happened had he confronted her in New York? It had been the hardest thing she'd ever done, walking away from a life that had made her happy, despite the reason why, despite knowing that she was doing the right thing. But if Max had come to her one last time, professed his love for her, begged her to come with him, would she have still been strong enough to resist? The question had rolled around in her mind, and she still hadn't been able to come up with an answer.

And that made her angry.

Why did this have to happen to her? She had a life she was happy with. Back in New York. Waiting for her return. A life which was the only reason she had come back to Roswell - so she could take the next step and make her new life permanent. But why was being back here, and back in touch with her friends, suddenly making her second guess herself? She had been prepared to come, to talk to Maria and Alex, demand Max sign the papers, and leave. She hadn't been prepared for the myriad of emotions churning within her since the moment she'd passed Mile Marker 285. And it frustrated the heck out of her.

Right then, staring Max down over a grungy pool table amidst the smell of stale beer and cigarette smoke, Liz decided that the only thing that ever got her anywhere was attitude. And she was going to use it.

"So, you game for this, Mr. Evans?" Liz asked sarcastically. "Or are you afraid you might actually have to sign those papers?" she demanded, casting him an angry look.

She wondered if Max would play against her after what had just happened, after the emotions she had sensed in his soft voice. Had his anger suddenly disappeared? Would he be up to fighting her?

"Of course not. Let's get this show on the road, [i]Mrs.[/i] Evans," he replied, turning Liz's own attempt at spiteful words back on her.

Fifteen minutes later, the only ball left on the table was the eight ball. It had been the only ball for the last five minutes, but neither Liz nor Max seemed able to sink it, even with seemingly easy shots.

Taking her shot and missing yet again, Liz sighed loudly. Then an idea came to her. Powers! How come it hadn't occurred to her before? She wasn't thinking clearly. Obviously the alcohol was affecting her, even if it hadn't affected the ease with which she played the game. Could she us her powers to swerve the ball in the right direction? Could she do it without Max seeing her, without him knowing?

He would [I]never[/I]suspect. He didn't even know she had inherited some of his gifts. It was the perfect plan.

It would provide her with an easy out. She could win the game, get her divorce papers, and leave town. But there would still be Maria, Alex and Serena. They would hound her until she broke down and told her secret anyway. And she knew with those three teaming up, it wouldn't be long until her defenses crumbled.

Sneaking a look at Max, she saw him poised, ready to take his shot. Silently, he closed his eyes, as if he were asking for help.

He sighed, opened his eyes, and sunk the eight ball with a clean shot in the corner pocket he had called.

Standing up straight, Max stared at the pool table for a moment, then turned slowly, and Liz saw him raise his eyes to meet hers.

She'd lost. She'd made a bet with Max, and she'd lost. She never lost at pool! Sean had bought her a pool table for her studio and she was as good as a pro at the game now. She thought betting on a game of pool would be safe for her.

She wasn't ready for this. Telling Max her secret would no doubt open up all the emotions she had shut up inside herself four years ago when she'd made her agonizing decision. She couldn't handle those emotions right now.

Looking anywhere but at Max, Liz saw faces from her past staring back at her. They looked just as anxious as Max did to learn the secret she'd withheld from them for so long.

Michael was staring - no wait, glaring - at her, daring her to tell Max what she'd promised him if he won.

Tess was fidgeting nervously in her seat, wringing her hands together, and switching looks between Liz and Max every few seconds. When her eyes locked with Liz's for a moment, Liz almost thought she recognized sympathy in her greatest rival's gaze.

And Alex was staring at Liz with a deer in the headlights look, stuck somewhere between being as anxious as his friends to hear the secret, and being loyal to Liz and wanting to offer her comfort for the obvious distress she was feeling.

Making a split minute decision, Liz turned on her heel and ran for the door, passing a very befuddled and surprised Maria and Serena on the way out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Blinking her eyes, Tess watched as Liz ran from the smoky bar. She saw Michael get up to go after her, but Max held out his arm to stop him.

"What are you doing, Max? She promised! She owes you an explanation!" Michael said, his voice raising in anger. "Let me go!" He hollered as Max gripped his forearm.

"Don't Michael," Max said warningly. "This is none of your business."

Tess got up from her stool and put one hand on Max's arm, one on Michael's.

"She'll be back Michael," Tess said quietly.

"How do you know Tess? It won't be the first promise she's broken!"

"Don't ask me how I know. I just do," Tess replied. "Liz won't break this promise."

"Max!" Michael said, turning to his friend.

"She'll be back," Max said in a monotone voice, echoing Tess's words.

Michael let out a breath and glared, then turned to the bar, picked up Ellie's seat, and walked out the door.

Tess saw him pass Maria and stop briefly at the door, then walk to his car.

She noticed another girl walking with Maria. She was certain she wasn't one of Maria's friends. She knew all of Maria's friends. But the girl did look very familiar.

Then she remembered. This was the girl with Liz yesterday in front of the UFO Center. This must be one of Liz's friends from New York.

She groaned inwardly as Maria pointed a finger at her, all the time not missing a step in making her way to where she and Max were standing.

"You, missy, I will talk to later. I can't believe you would let these two bring my baby here! To a bar! I thought you were the sensible one," she complained.

She pointed next at Max, without waiting for Tess to defend herself.

"Max, Serena. Serena, Max," she said.

Serena. So that was her name, Tess thought. Serena must have come to Roswell with Liz. She obviously knew why Liz was here. And somewhere deep down, Tess understood that Serena knew a lot more too. The fact that she would come all the way across the country with someone so she could get a divorce from her first husband in order to marry her second seemed to indicate as much. She knew Liz must have told her about her past in Roswell. And the way the girl seemed to be sizing Max up, Tess supposed Liz had told her [I]everything.[/I]

But, oddly enough, it wasn't upsetting to Tess. She wondered why she instinctively trusted this girl, guessed it was how Liz had felt when she'd first met her too. It just made Tess more curious about the person who had stepped into Liz's life when she'd left her friends behind.

"Here," Maria said, handing Max the envelope she had brought with her.

"What's this?" Max asked, still somewhat distracted by the fact that Liz had run out on him.

"The divorce papers Max. Sign them."

Tess felt her heart drop as Max turned and looked at her, a hurt expression clearly evident in his face. She shrugged her shoulders slightly when Max seemed to be asking her what to do.

Max turned around and Tess could tell by the heavy rise and fall of his shoulders that he was taking a deep breath.

"Well, I'm sorry, Maria," Max said, thrusting the envelope back at her. "But I'm not signing these. I want to talk to Liz."

"Oh, for crying out loud, Max," Serena said, raising her hands in the air. "How long are you going to drag this out? Can't you see how it's upsetting everyone?"

"I don't even know you. What right do you have to tell me what to do?" Max demanded, clenching his teeth. Tess could see that he was starting to lose his cool. She didn't blame him. He was being asked to deal with an awful lot.

"I have every right in the world," Serena replied, not backing down from Max's menacing stare. "Liz is my best friend. I came here to support her and that is exactly what I intend to do. She needs those papers signed Max."

"I'm not signing them. I told Liz my conditions. She made me a bet tonight. And [i]lost[/i]. I'm not signing those papers until I get what I was promised."

"Look Max," Serena said, her voice softening just a bit. "If you're refusing to sign those papers because you still love her, then do her a favor. Sign them. Make her happy. She needs them to move on with her life and she can't do that without your signature."

Tess looked back and forth from Serena to Max. She was able to see where each of them was coming from. Serena was Liz's best friend. She loved Liz. She had been there for Liz when she had no one else and now all she could see was that her friend was suffering. The only answer she could see to that problem started with a pen and piece of paper and ended with a broken marriage.

But just the fact that Serena was arguing for a divorce, on Liz's behalf, told Tess that maybe Serena didn't know exactly what it was she was fighting against. She hadn't been there from the beginning to witness any part of the magic that had once been Max and Liz. Even Tess, while she had thought that with Max was where she wanted to be, wasn't able to deny the unearthly connection between Max and Liz the first time she had laid eyes on them together. Serena hadn't been around when Max and Liz had fought so hard to stay together and she hadn't been there when the fairy tale had come to an abrupt end.

Max, on the other hand, thought that he knew what was best for his wife. He thought the love he felt for her was enough to keep her loving him. He couldn't find it within himself to sign away all rights he had to the only girl he'd ever wanted. He was more than willing to put up a strong argument for her. In his mind, he couldn't accept the fact that maybe Liz was happy. With her new life and her new love. Without [I]him[/I]. He'd been nothing but heartbroken since she'd left and he wasn't able to see how she could be any less hurt by their broken relationship.

Tess saw Max turn slightly to face Maria.

"How could you do this? How could you ask me this? You know how I feel about her. I thought you were my friend!" he asked angrily.

"I am your friend Max," Maria said, taking a step toward him. She reached her hand out in attempt to lay it on his arm, but Max flinched and jerked away from her. "Look Max, I care about you. You know I do. I care about Liz too though. With things like they are right now, you two will stay stuck where you are forever. Neither one of you is willing to budge. But I know you Max. And I [i]do[/i] know how much you love her. That's why I know you'll sign these papers. If you love her enough, you'll let her go," Maria said softly, compassion flowing with her words.

Tess stepped up to stand even with Max and she offered her hand on his shoulder in a show of support. Because she could see that Maria's words were getting to him. He was actually considering it.

"I can't, Maria, I just, I."

"Look, Max," Serena said, her voice gentler than it had been before. "Liz is through with the part of her life that includes you. She's engaged to someone else. She loves [i]him[/i]. She doesn't want to be married to you anymore. She doesn't love you," Serena said.

Tess looked at the girl, with wide eyes, at her having so bluntly told Max the truth she had been trying to prepare him for. That if Liz ever came back, she might not want to pick things up where she had left them.

Max turned to Tess and she could see his golden eyes pooling with hurt. Anger. Frustration. Realization. She saw his eyes water with unshed tears as he finally accepted the fact that love of his life didn't love him back.

He bowed his head, but not before Tess saw that he had accepted that it was really over. He had lost her.

Tess squeezed Max's arm in support as he took the envelope from Maria, opened it, and took a pen out of his pocket.

With a heavy heart, she watched as her best friend lifted a shaking hand and signed the papers that would make his wife a free woman.

After he'd put his signature on the dotted line, Max stared at it for a second, then laid the pen down and stormed out of the bar.

"Aren't you going after him?"

Tess looked at Serena in surprise. The expression on the other woman's face was full of disdain.

"He needs to be alone," Tess replied simply. "There's nothing I can do for him right now." Tess turned to Maria, anger that she felt so helpless at the moment igniting within her. "How could you do this, Maria? You know how hurt he was when she left. Why didn't you leave it up to her to get these papers signed?" She demanded.

"Because I had a long talk with Liz. She [i]needs[/i] this Tess." Tess could see that Maria still felt guilty though. She had tears in her blue eyes too.

"But why couldn't [I]she[/I] get them? Max trusts you. You're practically his sister-in-law! How could you just turn your back on his pain and ask him to do this?"

"Because," Serena said, interjecting. "Liz isn't strong enough to argue back."

"Excuse me?" Alex asked, speaking for the first time.

"I've seen a different side to Liz since we've been in Roswell. It's not the same Liz I've spent the last four years getting to know. And the Liz that I know now isn't strong enough to fight for what she came for."

Tess nodded, understanding. She glanced down at the papers, wished that she could burn them up with her alien death ray eyes - if she had them of course. She blinked as her gaze came in contact with the legal document though. She couldn't help it as the corners of her mouth turned up into a small smile. "Well then," she said. "Max still has hope. If Liz isn't strong enough to fight him, then there's something there she isn't telling you."

"What do you mean?" Alex asked.

"Did any of you actually look at the papers?" Tess asked.

Maria, Alex, and Serena all shook their heads, matching looks of confusion on their faces.

"I saw Max sign them," Tess said. "But the line next to his signature is blank. Liz hasn't signed her own divorce papers."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Sitting in the shadows of the alleyway outside the Crashdown, Liz was lost deep in thought. She had promised Max she'd tell him why she left if he beat her at pool And he had done just that. The fact that she'd run out on him didn't change her promise. She knew she needed to tell Max the truth. He deserved that much, at least. Then maybe, just maybe, he'd stop putting up a fight, and he'd sign the divorce papers she so desperately wanted signed.

But the swirling whirl of emotions she felt rumbling inside of her was begging her to run and leave again, never to look back. She hadn't been prepared for anything she'd felt since coming back to Roswell. Least of all, she hadn't been prepared for the way Max had haunted her every thought. With every street, or building, or corner she passed, she was assaulted with memories of a happier time. When she and Max were hopelessly in love and still believed in happily ever after. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get away from him. As long as she was in Roswell, Liz was surrounded by Max Evans.

She wondered if guilt was part of it. Maybe if she went to Max and told him everything and answered his questions, then she too could rid herself of the guilt she felt at having left them without even so much as a good-bye. As hard as she knew it would be for her, she knew that she had to do it. Even if facing Max would bring to the surface emotions she had fought hard to keep under control. If she didn't, she'd never be able to truly forget Roswell.

Or Max, for that matter.

Hearing a noise across the street, she looked up to see Max unlocking the door of the UFO center. She watched him walk inside.

She continued staring for a minute and when she didn't see any lights come on and no one else follow him, she knew this was as good a time as any. Fate was intervening. She was [I]supposed[/I] to talk to him.

Liz stood up, smoothed her rumpled jeans, and walked across the street.

Trying the door first and finding it locked, Liz knocked softly. After she got no answer, she looked around to make sure the street was empty, put her hand on the doorknob and concentrated until she heard the click of the lock on the other side of the door.

Walking into the lobby, she stopped and inhaled the familiar scent. It was intoxicating, just like the smell of old grease and coffee that always emanated from the Crashdown. They were smells that she was sick of and couldn't stand as a child growing up, having had to be around them everyday. But now, she realized that it was the little things, like the smell of plastic and disinfectant and old books that was the UFO Center reminded her of one thing.

That she was home. In spite of all attempts she had made to forget it, Roswell was in her blood. This would [I]always[/I] be her home.

Stepping into the lobby, Liz called softly for Max, and got no answer. When she walked into the main exhibit hall, she gasped in surprise, then held back the urge to giggle at a large alien head balloon hanging from the rafters, its features in shadow.

Stepping around the main display, Liz's eyes came to rest on a small replica of the crash site, complete with an alien space ship embedded into the ground to resemble the famous event. She and Max had sat on the fake desert floor the night they had decided to get married, talking and reminiscing about their past, how they'd come to be together, and what their future might hold.

They had talked about everything and Liz had laughed when Max told her that he had once used mud as a distraction to keep himself from thinking of her. He told her how during the Convention the year their lives had become connected, Michael had convinced him that thinking of mud would keep Liz far from his thoughts. But how, no matter what, every time he thought of mud, it reminded him of her.

"I still think of mud every time I pass that display."

Still smiling slightly at the memory, Liz turned around when she heard Max's voice from the doorway behind her. She saw him leaning against the door-frame, the light from the next room illuminating him from behind, hiding her view of his face.

But Liz heard the underlying meaning.

[i]I still think of [I]you[/I] every time I pass that display.[/i]

"I saw you come in." Liz explained quickly. "I'm sorry, I knocked, but no one came. I let myself in."

"I locked the door," he said.

"I unlocked it."

Liz saw Max's confused expression, as he had taken a step towards her and his face was not completely visible, but when he started to speak, she cut him off. She knew that he'd have questions about her powers. But they could wait.

"I came here to pay you off for winning the bet, Max. I want to tell you why I left Roswell. And you."