[u]Part 14[/u]

"Why are you still here?" Michael demanded, his annoyance clear.

Liz stared at him in dismay. It was the first time she was coming face to face with anyone who was actually [I]Max's[/I] friend, never really having been hers. Alex and Maria had been angry at her, but she was still amazed at the ease with which their relationship had been repaired. But Michael.

Well, he had never tried to hide his disdain for anyone, had he? And he certainly wasn't doing so now.

"Michael!" Maria exclaimed, slapping him lightly. She had come up behind her husband, obviously on a mission to do damage control. "Liz is a paying customer. Don't be rude!"

"I didn't mean in the restaurant Maria," Michael snapped. "I meant in Roswell. If she's so all-fired up about her life in New York, why hasn't she gone back? Maxwell signed the damn papers."

"I am going back," Liz replied, scowling at him. "But Roswell is still [I]my[/I] home too Michael. I can be here if I want to be. And this is [I]still[/I] my parent's café."

"Don't remind me." With that, Michael turned on his heel and stalked away, slamming into the kitchen through the swinging door.

"I'm sorry about that," Maria sighed, sliding into the booth across from Liz.

"Max must really be hurting," Liz said softly, not even acknowledging Maria's apology. Mainly because she knew Michael had every reason to hate her guts. "For Michael to even bother to hate me."

"Michael doesn't know anything about how Max is feeling," Maria assured her. "He hasn't talked to him since last night. Max signed those papers of his own free will Liz. He wants you to be happy."

Liz narrowed her gaze slightly. "He didn't sign them of his own free will Maria. I asked you to guilt him into it. Which you obviously did."

Maria closed her eyes and laid her head back against the bench. "Liz, Max doesn't do anything unless he wants to. Sure I reminded him of [I]why[/I] he was going to sign the papers. I kept him from torturing you both by dragging it out, but we all know he would have done it eventually. You have always been even more stubborn then him. He never would have won and he knows it."

"It's not about winning Maria," Liz said sadly. "There are no winners in this situation."

Their eyes met and locked. "Liz, I am getting the sneaking suspicion that, in spite of your so-called engagement and all your protestations about no longer loving Max, this divorce should not be happening." Maria was beginning to sound angry. "Do you know [I]why[/I] I know it?"

"Maria."

"I'll tell you why. You didn't sign the papers Chica."

"What?" Liz exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Of course I did!"

"You did not," Maria retorted. She stood as well, went behind the counter and produced the divorce papers, which were stashed there. "In fact, you also left last night without them."

"I didn't want Sean to see them," Liz argued, taking them from her best friend and starting in consternation when she saw that Maria was right. She had not signed the papers. There was Max's familiar signature on the appropriate line, but hers was nowhere in sight.

Her eyes widened. This meant that Max's copy hadn't been signed either! If he noticed that.

"Oh God! Maria, I have to go!" Liz whirled and hurried out of the Crashdown.

*******************************************

"I just don't understand any of this," Tess told Max as she lead him down the stairs into the UFO Museum. She waved her hand in the air, succesfully flicking on the lights. "What on Earth could Future Me possibly have told Liz that made her believe me?" She paused, wrinkled her nose at the lunacy of what she had just said. "Okay, I barely understood that. But you know what I mean."

"I know what you mean," Max replied, grinning at her.

Tess tilted her head, regarded him with interest. "You know, you really are in a surprisingly good mood for the day after signing your divorce papers."

"I'm fine now that I know you didn't lie to me," Max shrugged. "I'm even [I]better[/I] then fine now that I know Liz didn't leave me of her own free will. All we need to figure out now is [I]why[/I] she left. And then I can win her back."

"Max, she's engaged," Tess reminded him. "She's moved on. Even if she didn't leave you because willingly four years ago, she's in love with someone else now." She grimaced slightly, wondered if she should tell him what she knew - that Liz had forgotten to sign her own divorce papers. But she really didn't want him to get his hopes up. As much as she wanted to get to the bottom of this and figure out exactly what Future Tess had told Liz, she still wasn't entirely certain that Liz wasn't still going to break Max's heart.

Four years had passed. Liz had actually fallen in love with someone else. If Tess had gone to Liz three years ago, maybe they could have fixed things, but after this long? It was questionable. Tess didn't know Liz at all. She had no way of knowing if the lack of a signature had just been an oversight caused by frustration because Max was being so difficult. Would it hurt Max even more to know about this and then to have it shot down as any sort of proof that Liz didn't really want the divorce?

Max had plopped down on a stool next to the cash-register at Tess's words. He was frowning pensively, seemingly not at all upset by Tess's reminder. "I promised her I wouldn't pressure her any more," he told her firmly. "But I didn't promise I wouldn't pursue other avenues." There was a pause. And then, "I got some information about her fiancé," he admitted quietly, looking slightly uncomfortable and, yet, strangely pleased.

"How do you mean? In the paper?" Tess asked. "On the 'net? I mean, he is pretty famous. World's Most Eligible Bachelor and all that."

Max snorted. "Of course not. In the flashes Tess. Liz isn't into that sort of stuff by the way. I'm a bloody king after all."

"A deposed and poor one," Tess shot back, her eyes twinkling.

"She doesn't care, trust me," Max insisted. He raised his eyes, grinning again. "Of course, I made her think [I]I[/I] did now. Care I mean. It was fun."

"What?" Tess stared at him. "What are you even talking about?"

"I told Liz I would only sign her papers if she paid me off with her fiancé's money," Max explained, obviously quite pleased with himself. "It was brilliant at the time." He looked around at the shabby Museum, sighing. "Damn me for being too nice. I should have kept that up. I could really use the money."

"Max!"

"Kidding. Totally kidding. But at least I wouldn't have had to sign those papers until I found out what was going on. She never would have paid me." He sounded admiring.

"Max, I think you've gone insane," Tess stated firmly. "What does this have to do with Liz's fiancé?"

"Nothing I guess," Max shrugged again. "Anyway, what I was going to say was that." He was cut off by the ringing of the bell over the door above. "Damn. Customer. And we're not even really open." He hurriedly punched a code into the register. "Go say hi to whoever it is. I need to get the displays going."

Tess rolled her eyes. "One must question what kind of freak shows up at this stupid place at ten in the morning," she muttered as she marched over to the stairs and back up them to take the visitor's admission.

She stopped dead in her tracks as soon as the man above came into sight. She [I]knew[/I] this guy. Hadn't she just seen his picture in People's Most Beautiful issue last month?

It was Liz's fiancé. Sean Deveraux himself.

His dark eyes met hers. "Hi. Are you open?"

"Um." Tess glanced over her shoulder. She could feel panic beginning to set in. Max was going to freak. [I]She[/I]was going to freak! What the hell was Liz's husband-to-be doing in Roswell? Even worse, what the hell was he doing in Liz's present husband's cheezy tourist trap?

"I can come back," Sean said. "I was just hoping to kill some time while I waited for my fiancée." He smiled at her. It was so charming it sent a shiver down Tess's spine in spite of herself. "Thought I'd get a little bit of the flavour of the town." When Tess still didn't answer, he started to look uncomfortable. "I guess I better." He turned to leave, reaching the door just as someone pushed through it from the opposite direction.

"Tess, where's Max?" It was Kyle, in his uniform, looking entirely business- like. She felt her heart start to thump uncomfortably. It was the first time she had seen him since the night before. Everything they still had to talk about it passed through her mind, literally weakening her knees.

"Why?" She managed to say.

"Tess, what's taking so long?" Max appeared on the stairs, looking slightly irritated. He took in Kyle, then Sean. "Hi. Welcome. Did you want to look around?"

"I thought you weren't open?" Sean replied, turning again. He indicated Kyle. "Although, if you're Max, this officer seems to be looking for you."

"Of course we're open," Max assured him, glaring at Tess. "Come on in. And I [I]am[/I] Max - Evans that is and I own this place. Are you visiting Roswell?" He glanced at Kyle, who shrugged, as though he wasn't in a great hurry.

Sean was frowning slightly now. Tess grimaced, could see exactly where this was going. Did Max really [I]not[/I] know what Liz's fiancé looked like? She couldn't believe it. Trust a guy not to even try and find a picture of his rival.

"Evans?" Sean asked, obviously already making the connection. "You must be related to my."

"Okay then!" Tess exclaimed, grabbing Sean by the arm and hauling him towards the stairs. "Let me give you the grand deluxe tour!"

She could feel all three men staring at her like she had gone insane, but she didn't particularly care. Tess was pretty sure that Sean had absolutely no idea of Max's existence and was even more sure that when Max realized who this was, it would not be pretty. Not that Max would ever be anything but polite. But she really just did not want to see the look on her best friend's face when he understood that this was the man his wife planned to marry.

"Tess, you don't even work here!" Kyle called after her, his amusement now evident in his tone. He always knew when she was up to something. It was extremely annoying.

"So, how long are you staying in Roswell?" Tess asked in a rush, trying desperately to get Sean to forget that he even suspected Liz and Max were somehow connected. It would not be a good thing for Liz's fiancé to hear about Max from anyone but Liz.

"Not long," Sean replied. He was looking around the large room, an amused expression on his face. "Is this place for real?"

"Don't you believe in aliens?" Tess joked back, relaxing slightly.

There was a long pause. Sean smiled slightly. "Well, depends on what you call an alien. Do I think that people [I]feel[/I] like aliens sometimes? Yeah. Do I believe in little green men from outer space? No."

Tess wondered what he would think were she to tell him that he was presently talking to a little green woman from outer space. She almost giggled hysterically, but managed to control herself. "You can't tell me that [I]you've[/I] ever felt alientated?" She tried not to sound like she was scoffing, but this [I]was[/I] one of People's Most Eligible Bachelors. The guy was rich enough to burn money in his fireplace to warm up his big Manhatten penthouse if he wanted to. And he wasn't very hard on the eyes either. Even if he wasn't Max, Liz Parker had done very well for herself.

Sean met her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "So you know who I am?"

"I'm a woman," Tess teased. "I may be engaged, but I'm not dead."

"Engaged huh?" Sean asked. "To Mr. Evans upstairs?"

"No." Tess shook her head at the irony of his question. She was also slightly unnerved by the fact that he had deliberately used Max's last name. Apparently it had [I]not[/I] slipped his mind. But, of course it wouldn't. His fiancée's name was Elizabeth [I]Evans[/I] for God's sake. "To the deputy upstairs."

"Ah. Congratulations."

"Thanks," she paused, uncomfortable. "So you're marrying Liz huh?" Having admitted that she knew who he was, she couldn't very well deny that she knew he was engaged to Liz Evans. After all, it had been splashed all over the papers and Roswell of all places would have known that one of their own was marrying Sean Deveraux of all people.

"You know Liz?" Sean asked, sounding pleased. "You must be about the same age. Did you go to school together?"

"For a very short while," Tess admitted. "I left town at the beginning of our junior year. I moved back to Roswell after Liz had left for New York."

"So she must be related to Max." He was clearly fishing for information. "There can't be that many Evanses around a town this size."

"Er." Tess breathed a heavy sigh of relief when she heard Max and Kyle coming down the stairs. Of course, this was short-lived when she realized they weren't alone.

".ridiculous Kyle! How could I have been breaking into my own husband's house?"

"Liz!" Sean exclaimed. Tess followed his gaze to take in the trio standing on the staircase. Liz Parker Evans was standing between Max and Kyle, a horrified expression on her lovely face.

Tess saw Liz whiten and called out just in time. "Max! Catch her!"

Max did so, neatly sweeping Liz up into his arms. It was only then that Tess noticed that the petite brunette was wearing handcuffs.

**************************************************

"Liz! Liz? Are you okay?"

She didn't want to open her eyes. She couldn't remember [I]why[/I] exactly, but she knew it was true. And, yet, Max's voice was insistent. "Liz, drink this."

She felt a cool glass pressed against her lips, realized that her throat was parched. She sipped it carefully, the soothing wetness reviving her. "What.what happened?"

"You fainted."

The second voice was equally as familiar as Max's. Oh dear Lord. It wasn't a nightmare. She was actually [I]living[/I] this.

Sean.

"Liz, open your eyes." Max's voice was gentle, encouraging. "You don't need to be embarrassed. You're not used to the heat anymore."

"I was born and bred in Roswell Max Evans!" Liz's eyes snapped open and she glared at him. "I did [I]not[/I] faint because of the heat."

"So you [I]do[/I] know each other." This came from Sean. Liz reluctantly turned her head to regard her fiancé, who was crouching beside Max in front of her. She realized that she was sitting on a cot that was set up in one of the displays. She almost burst out laughing when she took in that it was the alien autopsy display. Someone had brushed the poor, dissected alien onto the floor and she had taken his place.

Well, the irony in that was not lost on her. Because her entire life was about to fall apart.

"Evans," Sean said, sounding pleased with himself that he had figured it out. "What are you? Cousins?"

She really wanted to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't a horrible dream. Of course, she couldn't, because she was still handcuffed. Stupid Kyle Valenti! This was all [I]his[/I] fault!

It [I]had[/I] to be a nightmare though. Because how else could things have gone so awry? She was going to tell Sean about Max this morning! She had just gone to Max's to retrieve the divorce papers first, before her ex- husband noticed that she hadn't signed them. How on Earth had Sean ended up in the UFO Museum with Max anyway?

This was all Kyle's fault, she thought again. If he hadn't arrested her and brought her here to make sure she had Max's permission to be in his house - which of course she didn't - none of this would have happened!

Of course, it was sort of her fault too. If she hadn't stopped and stared in dumbfounded amazement at the pile of pictures Max had of her in his bed- side table, which she had been rifling through to find the papers, she would have been in and out before Kyle even showed up. But how was she supposed to know that Max's neighbour was such a busy-body and had seen her climb in the window and had then called the police? And if Max hadn't left his bedroom window open in the first place, she never would have gotten herself into such a ridiculous position!

Those pictures..God. Had they ever been so happy? But they had more than proven that they had been. She had left all of her pictures behind when she had left Max, knowing that having any tangible reminders of him would only make things worse. She had been haunted by memories anyway. She didn't need the pictures.

But to actually see them.All of those good times spread out over the bed- spread. She had lost herself for a while.

She and Max at the beach on their honeymoon, slightly out of focus as the picture had been taken by a ten-year old, the only other person crazy enough to be out on that windy day. The picture Isabel had taken of Max carrying her over the threshold of their first apartment. Pictures of them dancing at their wedding. Too many happy times.

She had been laughing through her tears, a picture of the burnt casserole Max had made her for their six-month anniversary in her hands, when Kyle had appeared in the bedroom doorway, the outraged neighbour behind him. In order to shut her up, Kyle had cuffed her and promised Mrs. Newton that he would take her to Max to get his side of the story. Kyle had apologized in the truck, but Liz had still been too out of it to even care.

It was only when Max had burst out laughing at the sight of her that she had snapped out of it.

It was the day after she had broken his heart and he was in a good enough mood to think it was hilarious that she had been arrested for breaking into his house! It had been more than she could take. Which was why she had been screeching at both of them as they had descended the stairs, when suddenly there was Sean staring up at her, Tess at his side and her entire world had started to spin.

And, now, here she was staring at her past and her future at the same time and neither knew who the other was.

Liz realized that Max was looking at Sean strangely. "We're not cousins." She could see understanding dawning on his face as he began to put the pieces together. "You're Sean."

"Deveraux," Sean agreed, holding out his hand to Max. Max looked at it for a moment, but took it, the pause not long enough that anyone other than Liz would notice.

"Right." Max straightened, his eyes meeting Liz's again. "I think you two need to talk. I'll just leave you alone." He almost looked like he felt sorry for her. And, yet, she could not mistake the satisfied twinkle in his eye.

Okay, something was going on with Max. There was now no question. This was not the same person she had left in the Museum the night before. "Max!"

He turned. "Yes Liz?"

"I need to talk to [I]you[/I]!"

"I don't think so. Not right now," Max replied. "Sean probably has a lot of questions."

"MAX!"

"Oh by the way," Max continued, turning once more. "Tess needs to talk to you too."

Liz closed her eyes, took a deep breath in order to calm herself. When had he become so infuriating? He was driving her insane! Seriously. He was completely manic. Sad and loving one minute, dismissive and teasing the next.

"Liz, what the heck is going on here?" Sean was standing now too, a completely perplexed look on his face.

"I will explain everything, I swear," Liz told him hurriedly. "I just need to talk to Max first! And I need to get these damn handcuffs off."

"Why are you wearing handcuffs by the way?"

"I broke into Max's house. It's a long story. Kyle is just being a jerk. I swear this will all make sense soon." Liz stood on her tip-toes and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I'll be right back."

Liz stomped over to Kyle, who was lounging on the staircase, Tess seated a step above him. "Unlock me."

"Can't. I still don't have confirmation that you had permission to be on the premises," Kyle reminded her lazily.

"He's my husband," Liz hissed, glancing over her shoulder at Sean, who was watching her, a scowl on his face. "What's his is mine."

"You never lived there," Kyle shot back. "He moved in after you left town. Plus aren't you divorced now? And you climbed through the window. I somehow doubt that Max wanted you there. What were you doing anyway Liz?"

"Where [I]is[/I] Max?" Liz demanded in frustration. "MAX? Max Evans, get back here now!"

"I'm busy!" His voice came drifting back from the stockroom.

"What the heck is he doing?" Liz asked Tess. The blonde was eyeing her, obviously uncomfortable. Liz frowned slightly when she realized that she saw compassion in Tess's blue eyes. She felt a flash of anger. The last thing she wanted was for the blonde troll to feel sorry for her!

"He's waiting for you to admit to Sean that you're still married to someone else," Tess finally said. "He wants you to tell him, to admit it, to acknowledge that he exists."

"Of course he exists. How else could he be so successfully driving me insane?"

"Liz, don't you understand that the fact that you haven't even admitted that you were married before makes him feel like you're ashamed of him or something?" Tess's tone was kind, but it made Liz scowl anyway. "He'll never admit it, but I think that's what hurts him most of all. That you never even mentioned him."

"I [I]couldn't[/I]." Liz could feel a lump growing in her throat, forced the words past it. "I could [I]not[/I] talk about him to anyone but Serena. It hurt too much."

"I know that," Tess replied. "But [I]he[/I] doesn't. He went to New York and he saw you with Sean and he thought you had moved on.and the person you moved on with doesn't even know about him. Think about it from his perspective."

"All I can do is think about it from his perspective," Liz admitted softly. "And I have to stop. Because if I don't, I'll lose it. Tess, I'm pretty close right now. When I thought.when I was able to believe that he was with you.I could deal with it. But this.This is just [I]so[/I] messed up. Why can't he move on?"

Kyle, who had been listening quietly, got to his feet during the silence that followed this and used his key to remove Liz's handcuffs. She rubbed her wrists without even thinking about it, her eyes still locked with Tess's.

She was really asking her worst enemy to explain the person she used to know best. The irony was painful.

"He will move on Liz. If it's what you really want," Tess told her. "He signed the papers. But you didn't. You haven't even been honest with your fiancé. How can you build a relationship without honesty?"

"I can't believe you're lecturing [I]me[/I] about honesty," Liz said, laughing slightly. She wasn't mad, just completely spent. She just could [I]not[/I] deal with this anymore. "I guess maybe it was worth it. You're not the same person Tess."

"No," Tess acknowledged. "And now I know it's thanks to you Liz." She glanced at her fiancé, smiling slightly. "And Kyle of course."

"You didn't know before?"

"Not for sure," Tess replied. "But I suspected. I was scared to find out for sure."

Liz frowned slightly, finally just wanting to know once and for all. "She came to you too?"

"Yes."

"So that's why you came back."

"Yeah. I'm sorry. I really didn't know she'd been to see you until." Tess's eyes widened and she trailed off, looking towards the stock-room guiltily.

And, abruptly, Liz understood.

Max knew too. He knew exactly why she had left.

"Oh God." She collapsed on the step next to Tess. "He got flashes, didn't he?"

Tess just nodded, glanced towards Sean, who was still across the room, but obviously getting more impatient by the minute. "We can't talk about this right now."

"I know," Liz said, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "God Tess. I don't even know what's right anymore."

She realized that this was the whole truth. She had absolutely no idea what she was feeling, who she loved, or what she wanted. And, in the end, it didn't really matter anyway, did it?

Because even if Max still loved her, even if Max knew the truth about why she left, the reason was still in existance. She still could not bear his child and because of that, the world would end.

"Talk to Sean. Get that over with," Tess suggested. "And then follow your heart. The rest will sort itself out."

Liz stared at her. "What did you say?"

"Liz, all you can do is follow your heart. It's what I did and it just [I]can't[/I] be wrong." Tess looked at Kyle as she said this and Liz felt a pang of real happiness for both of them. No jealousy at all.

Because she knew what her heart wanted. She had known it since her grandmother had first told her to follow it all those years ago. She had ignored it since the visit from Future Tess, but her heart had never wavered.

Her heart had only ever wanted one person.

Because, even if she and Max could never be together, she couldn't do it to Sean. It wasn't fair. Seeing them together, side by side, her heart had not wavered. She had wanted to talk to Max, not Sean. Her instincts always took her back to him.

He was her husband. She hadn't signed those papers because she wanted him to stay her husband.

In the end, how could she be engaged and married at the same time? It was impossible.

She was still legally bound to Max. But apart from that, she was still emotionally attached to him as well. It was why this whole homecoming had been so difficult, why she had stayed away for so long in the first place.

By staying away, she had been able to stay married. She had been able to maintain the connection to him, even if she had been unable to be in his company.

He was still the only person she really wanted.

Which was why she was going to have to break her engagement.