[u]Part 16[/u]

Tess raised her hand, waved it over the rock face and then placed her palm firmly against the silver handprint that gleamed out. Because of the contrast with the bright sunlight of a desert mid-afternoon, the pod chamber was even darker than usual when she stepped through the opening. She blinked, trying to hurry the process of adjusting to the dimness.

She picked her way carefully through to the main cave, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground in order to make sure she didn't trip over anything. They hadn't exactly been the best housekeepers lately, Tess reflected wryly as she was forced to push aside a cobweb that dangled abruptly into her face. It was rare for any of them to ever come here. Secret meetings seemed to be a thing of the past after all. They'd never heard a peep out of their enemies after Nasedo's death, adding another to the long list of all the reasons that Tess should have questioned her future self's version of coming events.

The end of the world seemed pretty unlikely right about now, she mused, as she managed to catch a glimpse of what she was looking for. Her eyes narrowed as she passed a sleeping bag lying neatly rolled against the wall. She frowned, wondered where it had come from. She didn't remember ever seeing it there before. Obvously someone [I]had[/I] been here.

Tess crouched beside the blanket, ran her fingers over it, hoping for a flash of some sort. Nothing. She untied the cord holding it together and spread it out, plopping down on top of it. She picked up what had been placed beside it, the person who had brought the sleeping bag there obviously having had the same reading material in mind. They had kept it here ever since Tess had returned to Roswell with the translated copy. No one could get into the pod chamber but the four of them. It had seemed perfectly safe, likely still was. It had to have been Michael or Isabel or, more probably, Max who had been here.

Her hands felt chilled against the metal cover of the destiny book. She ran her fingertips lightly over the symbol engraved on the front, staring right through it. She had decided to come and look at the book again while she waited for Max to get off work. She might as well try and do something productive until she could start harassing him again. When he was at the UFO Center, he blew her off too easily. She fully intended to track him down at home later that day in order to make sure he wasn't planning something stupid when it came to Liz.

Tess shook her head, tried to rid herself of thoughts of Max. She had to stop worrying about him. She fully intended to help him get Liz back, but the best way for now was to get him all the ammunition he needed. And the most important thing was to find out how she had gotten her translation of the book so wrong. Because, in the end, it hadn't just been Future Tess who had convinced her that she and Max were destined to be together. This damn book had a lot to do with it too.

She [I]could[/I] read it. She hadn't always been able to, had been surpised that she could after Future Tess's visit. She imagined that her sudden literacy of Antarian had to do with the visit, and somewhere deep inside she was beginning to suspect that while the translation had been correct, she had missed something important. She had not truly suspected treachery from that other version of herself until very recently.

Now all she saw when she looked at the Destiny Book were treachery and lies.

She would read the damn thing from cover to cover as many times as it took to figure out exactly what she had gotten wrong.

Tess settled back against the wall of the cave, opened the book to the first page and started to read.

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

"You.you what?" Liz choked, staring at Sean in disbelief.

"You heard me," he said quietly. He was back on his feet, had started to pace again. "I think I might be gay."

"You think?" Liz repeated dumbly, feeling like she had been hit by a truck. "You don't know?"

He turned his head, his eyes meeting hers squarely. "I know."

Liz stood, her heart pounding. She was shocked, needless to say, mainly because she had been so totally self-absorbed during their relationship that this had never once even occurred to her. How could she, of all people, not have known?

But, inherently, she knew that her shock couldn't matter. He had said that she was the first person in the world that he had ever told about this. Her reaction was going to be the benchmark for all reactions that followed. She loved him. She would not disappoint him.

He trusted her.

And, yet, in the end, all she said was, "O-o-o-kay." It came out like a long sigh, not sounding particularly accusatory or angry, but certainly not accepting either.

"I know this is a shock." Sean started, trailing off. "It's a shock to me too." He stopped pacing, flopped back into a chair across the room. "It's like this weight has been lifted off my shoulders to actually tell you this." He trailed off, then sat up straight, squaring his shoulders. "You can ask me whatever you want." He grinned slightly, looking a little bemused. "I know you must have something you want to know."

"I just don't get it," Liz finally admitted. "Why did you ask me to marry you?"

Sean closed his eyes, abruptly weary. "I told you why. I love you. You are my best friend in the world and I thought we'd rub along well together."

"But." Liz was searching for the words. "Don't you want a.I mean, a [I]real[/I] relationship? Didn't you think I'd have questions eventually?"

There was a long silence. She watched his face as a thousand emotions whirled across its handsome lines. "My parents." He shrugged. "They're never going to accept this Liz. I've always known it. My mother has been driving me nuts for years about getting married. I just wanted to get it over with."

She felt a bit angry at that. "So I was just a means to get your mother off your back? To make sure you had to stay in the closet?" But Liz knew exactly what Sean was talking about. Mr. and Mrs. Deveraux were about as conservative as two people could be. They had once met her fellow fashion designer Jean-Paul, who was flamboyantly 'out', at one of her shows and their disdain had been very thinly veiled. Her anger faded. Like she had a right to be annoyed anyway. Her lies had been far worse than his. He had at least been planning to attempt a full marriage with her. Her own attempts would have been pathetically futile she realized now.

Because, in her heart, Max would still have been her husband. Even had she married Sean or anyone else. Even if they never could be together.

Liz certainly understood how easy it was to lie to yourself, how easy it was to pretend that you could always do it, that life [I]would[/I] go on, that it could be shaped how you wanted it.

Sean sighed. "Well, that's the simple way of putting it, yeah." He shook his head. "But, in my heart, no. I just wasn't ready to deal with any of this Liz. With the fact that if I really wanted a meaningful relationship, I was going to have to disappoint my parents. With you, I pretty much had it all."

"Except for the sex part," Liz said, deciding she might as well get right to the point.

"Yeah." He shrugged. "It seemed like a fair trade-off. And I wouldn't have been depriving you of anything, because you couldn't have kids anyway."

"And you didn't think I wouldn't notice that we never had sex?"

Sean met her eyes squarely. "Liz, really. Would you have minded? I didn't even know about Max and I [I]knew[/I] you wouldn't mind."

Liz grimaced. "God. Was I that frigid?" It saddened her, that she had not known herself at all, that she had still been so frozen by leaving Max that she hadn't even noticed that she was completely shut-off from everyone, including someone she really thought she could marry.

"Not frigid," Sean insisted. "Careful. Solitary."

She shook her head. "Pathetic."

"Not that," Sean replied firmly. "Never that. You are warm and funny and smart. You are just very physically reserved." He paused, grinned sheepishly. "I have to admit, I thought you might be gay too. A small-town girl lying to herself."

Liz smiled in spite of herself. "No." There was another long silence. Liz searched her mind for something to say to him, something to make him feel that telling her had not been a mistake. Because he had made such an incredibly brave first step today, whether he knew it or not. There had been no need for him to tell her any of this. He could have continued with his outrage, could have left her high and dry with her guilty conscience and he had chosen not to.

"Sean, I want you to know." She wrinkled her nose, wondered how best to say what she wanted him to hear. "None of this matters to me of course. I love you and I always will. And I want you to know that I'll be here for you if you decide to tell your parents."

He reached across the space dividing them. She lifted her hand and took his. He squeezed her fingers warmly. "I know that Liz. I never doubted that about you."

"But.why.I mean, why did you think you had to tell me this?" She asked in a rush. "Are you.are you ready to deal with it?"

"I don't know.I think, maybe."

"But [I]why?[/I]" Liz asked, perplexed. "Why now?"

"The way you talked about Max," Sean said quietly. "I want that. I really, really do. I want the whole package."

The whole package. Liz felt a dull ache in her heart. She had thought that she and Max had the whole package until she had found out the very pertinent fact that she couldn't give him the one thing he needed above all others. A child of his own. And no matter how much they loved each other, no matter how right they felt for each other, she could not risk the whole world for her own selfish desires.

She felt Sean's questioning gaze on her face, as though he was waiting for her to deny that she had shared something that significant with Max, something he could aspire to have for himself.

"I know that there's more to all of this then the fact that you couldn't have kids," Sean said abruptly.

"You do?" Liz asked, looking up. "There isn't, I swear."

"Liz, you worry too much about other people and you end up hurting them even more," Sean told her.

"I do?"

"You didn't tell me about Max at all. You must have some idea that had I really been in love with you, it would have devastated me. And, yet, I can't be mad at you about that. Because I feel like, somewhere inside that beautiful heart of yours, you felt that by not telling me about him - by not telling me that I could never have your whole heart - you thought that you were protecting me."

Liz stared at him dumbfounded, wondered how on Earth he had put all of her innermost thoughts so succinctly. She had been in turmoil for months, unable to explain even to herself why she couldn't just talk to Sean about Max. Because hadn't she believed that she was totally over her husband? It shouldn't have been so hard.

But she couldn't lie to him. Not anymore. "It wasn't just that," she admitted. "I didn't even know how I felt about him myself. I thought I could get over him. I thought I [I]was[/I] over him. When he didn't come after me."

"You were testing him?" Sean asked. "Was that it? Even though he had already passed every test you had ever given him?"

"What do you mean?"

"He still wanted you, even when you couldn't have a baby. And that wasn't enough. You thought he would start to resent you and so you ran. And then when he didn't show up in New York, you found your reason to start hating him, so that you could survive it."

Liz's mouth fell open. She had absolutely no words. Because he had said it all. Finally she managed to say, "It's not even true though." Her voice sounded strangled, even to her own ears and, yet, once she started talking, she couldn't stop. The words tumbled from her lips, one after the other like a floodgate had been released. "The one reason I had to hate him.it's not even true. He [I]did[/I] come. I just never knew. He saw me with you and he left again. We weren't even together yet and he left. He wanted me to be happy."

She felt tears fill her eyes. Sean jumped to his feet, joined her on the bed, putting his arm around her comfortingly. "What is it about you Liz Evans? Why don't you think you deserve to be happy?"

"Why don't you think [I]you[/I] do?" She countered swiftly, her heart in so much pain she had to stop thinking about it. Reflecting on how much she had hurt Max was almost unbearable. There was no way to make up for it. Even telling him the truth about everything.he was going to be devastated that she hadn't trusted him enough to tell him, hadn't trusted him enough to help her to figure out a way to fix things that didn't include stomping on both of their hearts.

"You aren't being fair to him you know."

Liz blinked, raised her eyes and stared at Sean. "What do you mean?"

"I know there's something else going on with you Liz. You can deny it all you want, but there is more to this than simply the fact that you can't have kids." Sean was pensive as he continued. "There are secrets in this town. I've felt it from the moment I set foot in it." He shrugged. "Maybe it's one of the reasons I wanted to start dealing with mine. I don't know. But the point is, secrets suck. No one has ever lived a full life by keeping secrets. Especially from the person they love." He paused, then continued quietly, "Liz, you're too good at keeping them. And it goes against your very nature. I may not have known about Max, but I think I know you will enough to know that. If you keep this up, you will kill yourself."

Liz sighed, leaned her head against her ex-fiancé's shoulder, wished he wasn't right. "I wish I could tell you Sean. I really do."

He squeezed her lightly. "It's not [I]me[/I] you need to tell. I know what I need to know now."

"I know. And I will. I.I've finally realized that I have to tell Max the truth, if only for his own good. I should have done it four years ago. He's been stuck Sean. He hasn't moved forward and it's only made things worse for both of us now."

Sean sighed heavily too. "So you don't want to get back together with him? Even though I pretty much know you still love him?"

"I love him too much to do that to him," Liz replied. "But I can at least tell him the real reason why."

Max would understand. He [I]had[/I] to. Because she refused to allow the misery of the last four years to have been for nothing. He [I]needed[/I] a child of his own blood and if he had to be told flat-out, she would do it. He was not a selfish person. She had underestimated how much he loved her, how long it would take him to move on, but once he knew.

He would do what had to be done. And she would go back to New York so that she wouldn't have to watch it happen. So that she wouldn't have to see someone else - not Tess, but [I]someone[/I] - bear the child that should have been hers.

There were tears welling in her eyes again, so she felt an overwhelming sense of relief when she heard the muffled sound of her cell phone from across the room. She stood, hurried to her purse near the door and answered it on the fourth ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Liz, it's me."

Her heart started to thunder in her chest at the sound of his voice. "Max?"

"Yeah. I got your number from Maria. Listen, I need to see you. Can you meet me at the Crashdown for dinner? You can bring Sean. I'd like to get to know him better." Liz started in surprise, didn't reply. What on Earth was he talking about? What game was he playing now? She knew that the last person in the world he wanted to get to know better was Sean.

"Liz? Are you there?" Max demanded, sounding impatient and in no way like someone who was trying to mend fences. She frowned slightly, wondering what he was up to.

She knew she would find out soon enough though. Trying to stay away from him, trying to ignore the way he baited her.she couldn't do it. It amazed her that she found the stranger he had become even more fascinating then the boy she had known so well. She [I]wanted[/I] to understand him, [I]needed[/I] to grasp how and why he had changed.

"Yeah," she said, knew her bewilderment was reflected in her voice. "Okay. How's six?"

"Six is fine. One of the kids from the school's working at the Center tonight."

"Okay. See you then."

"Yup." He hung up without further ado, leaving Liz to start down at her phone, a slight frown again on her face.

"What's wrong?" Sean asked, concerned.

"He wants to meet us for dinner. He wants to get to know [I]you[/I] better."

There was a long moment of silence and then Sean burst out laughing. Liz scowled at him. "This is [I]not[/I] funny Sean Deveraux! It's really weird is what it is. I don't understand Max at all anymore. This is the [I]last[/I] thing he should want!"

"Which is why he's doing it Liz," Sean replied, still sounding amused. "Don't you get it? But I guess you don't. It's so obvious, only another guy would understand."

"What?" She shook her head, still totally perplexed. "Get what?"

"He wants you to see us side-by-side and he wants you to have to compare us. And he thinks he's going to win. Your husband is declaring war on me."

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

"This is a [I]bad[/I] idea," Tess told Isabel as she followed her friend into the Crashdown. "I never did get a chance to talk to Max. We should call him again. He is totally avoiding me and he's also up to something. I don't trust him one bit."

"Tess, I'm hungry," Isabel snapped. "Max is a grown man. He can look after himself. End of discussion."

"But [I]why[/I] won't he talk to me? What is he planning?" Tess knew she was fretting, maybe over nothing, but she had the distinct impression that Max was deliberately staying away from her. He knew she wanted to talk to him about Liz and, yet, he had left work early and had not gone home. He [I]always[/I] went home when he wasn't at the four other places he frequented. Max had nowhere else to go except the Crashdown, Michael and Maria's, Isabel's or her apartment.

"Who knows?" Isabel waved her hand in the air. "All I care about is that he signed those damn divorce papers. Maybe now he'll move on and forget all about Liz. She never deserved him anyway."

"Isabel, you know he still loves her," Tess admonished. "And he fully intends to win her back. Which is what makes me nervous. I just know he's going to do something stupid. He promised Liz he wouldn't try to get back together with her again, which leads me to believe that he's about to go the completely opposite route to make Liz realize what she's missing."

Isabel slid into a booth, picking up a menu. "So? I say more power to him. That boy needs a date in the worst way. He's wound about as tight as."

"Isabel! Ew!" Tess shrieked.

"Hey, he's my brother, it's gross, but it's the truth," Isabel replied haughtily.

"Too much truth for the dinner table," Tess complained. "I mean, really! He's practically my brother too you know."

Isabel shot her a withering look. "You didn't have to witness Max and Liz in all their mooshy glory my friend. You have no idea what it's like. It cannot [I]possibly[/I] be worse with anyone else."

Tess grimaced and picked up a menu as well. She wasn't sure why, since she could practically recite it from memory, but she needed something to distract her from the entirely disturbing image of Max with Liz, or anyone. The irony of it was not lost on her. The fact was that she had once wanted to jump Max's bones herself, But since Kyle, the whole thought was just extremely off-putting.

Well, at least she [I]did[/I] have other things to think about. Or, rather, the absolute frustration of [I]knowing[/I] there were other things but not being able to understand them.

Her analysis of the Destiny Book had gotten her nowhere. It still read exactly what it had before, the basic gist being that Max needed to have a kid or the world would end. It said that only the one "made compatible" could mother it and she didn't see how anyone else in the world had been made for Max except her. Which was so [I]not[/I] the answer she was looking for.

Tess swallowed, flinched at the images that crossed her mind, the images Future Tess's visit had firmly implanted in her brain. Of death, destruction, the end of the world.

"Tess?" She heard the concern in Isabel's voice, raised her eyes to meet her friend's gaze. "Are you feeling okay? You look a little green." She trailed off, narrowed her gaze. "Wait a minute. You're not pregnant are you?"

Tess blinked. "What? What makes you ask that?" The sheer weirdness of Isabel's question in light of Tess's recent obsession with alien procreation did not escape her, in fact made her heart beat a little faster.

Isabel shrugged. "I don't know. It's just that you've been all over the map emotionally lately. Sort of worried and freaky. Maria was like that before Eliza. And the fact that you look like you want to throw up at the moment. It just makes me wonder." She trailed off, still suspicious.

Tess shook her head ruefully at Isabel's bluntness. She had ever been anything but shy. "Kyle and I are not having a baby," she repeated. Tess bit her lip, glanced around the restaurant, lowering her voice. "But you're right that I'm worried. Isabel, can you talk to you about something?"

"Of course!" Isabel replied, sounding offended that she had even asked such a question. There was a pause. "As long as it has nothing to do with Liz Parker."

"Liz [I]Evans[/I]," Tess reminded her pointedly. "Elizabeth Evans Isabel." Isabel snorted, tossed her head. "I know even you think it's a little weird that Liz kept Max's name and you suspect exactly what I know Isabel. Liz didn't want to leave Max."

"I know no such thing," Isabel snapped. "She finally realized that she wanted more than Roswell, New Mexico and she abandonned my brother. The lovely life she's made for herself in New York more than drives home the point. That's all there is to it."

Tess sighed, waited for Max's sister's anger to blow itself out, as it always did. She reflected yet again on the irony that Isabel was known as the ice queen of Roswell. She was the furthest thing from cold there was. When Isabel continued to sit fuming, Tess tried again. "Izzy, you haven't forbidden Alex to see her. In fact, you let him invite her to your wedding. Liz hurt [I]him[/I] too."

"Don't I know it," Isabel replied, crossing her arms in irritation. "Alex is too much of a softie sometimes, particularly where Maria and Liz are concerned. But Alex has me to pick up the pieces if and when Liz breaks his heart again. Max is all alone. And it's different anyway. You know it is."

"I know." Tess bit her lip again, staring at her best friend. She had to do something about Isabel's attitude. She just [I]had[/I] to. She knew it was only a matter of time before Max and Liz found their way back to each other. It was inevitable. She knew it inherently, particularly after her conversation with Liz, where the other woman had been hard-pressed to hide her emotional turmoil. There was only one answer for where that turmoil came from. Liz knew that divorcing Max was a mistake.

Oh yes. Unless Max did something crazy - which Tess was becoming more and more sure he was about to, being as, when it came to Liz, he was the most impatient alien in the universe - he and Liz would reunite.

The last thing they would need was interference from those who loved Max. He had enough to deal with without Isabel throwing up roadblocks. Maria would handle Michael, Tess did not doubt, but it was up to [I]her[/I] to handle Isabel.

Plus, she knew that she was going to have to tell them all the truth eventually. She had managed to keep it to herself for so long because she hadn't been certain that Liz had really been visited by Future Tess, but now that she knew she had been.Well, none of them had any right to judge Liz and the choices she had made. The only one who had that right was Max and Tess knew in her heart that he had already forgiven her, even if he hadn't gotten the whole story from Liz yet.

"Isabel, do you remember that when you and I finally became friends, you asked me why I decided to come back to Roswell?"

Isabel stared at her. Tess could see her friend's bewilderment at what seemed like an abrupt change of topic reflected on her face. "Yes. You told me that you had realized that you had been trying to make us accept you on [I]your[/I] terms. That you had realized while you were gone that it had to be on our terms. That you had to be patient."

"Well, that was true," Tess replied. "But I left out a little tidbit. When I came back to town, Liz was already gone. It made my life a heck of a lot easier, I'll tell you that much. Because the real reason I came back was to have a baby with Max."

She wrinkled her nose slightly at the way her friend's face paled. "Oh my God." Isabel swallowed, reached out and took Tess's hand in hers. "Are you telling me that you and [I]Max[/I] are having a baby?"

Tess stared at her in horror. "[I]What[/I]?" She screeched, after she realized that she had truly heard her friend correctly. "Are you insane?"

"Well, you said before that you and [I]Kyle[/I] weren't having a baby. And now you start spouting off about having come back to Roswell to have a baby with my brother." Isabel glared at her. "I don't think it's much of a leap Tess!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "Right. This after I just told you how gross the mere thought of Max with anyone makes me."

Isabel looked mildly embarrassed. "Oh. I forgot about that."

Tess glared at her. "Are you ready to listen to me now?" When Isabel nodded guiltily, she continued, "Okay, the reason I thought Max and I needed to have a baby was that." She trailed off in frustration when the door to the Crashdown opened and Max came through it. She felt a rush of relief. "This is going to have to wait," she told Isabel. "Max is here. He knows, but he can't know that I was about to tell you."

Isabel shrieked, "What? NO! That's not fair!"

"Jeez, what's wrong with you Izzy?" Max demanded as he came across the restaurant to join them. He slid into the booth beside Tess, staring at his sister.

"I just told her that Maria told [I]me[/I] that they're out of cherry syrup. She can't have an Alien Blast," Tess told him smoothly, earning a sneer from Isabel.

"Hmmm," Max said, sounding amused. Tess could hear in his tone that he knew she was lying, but he didn't seem to mind. Which only made Tess's suspicions that he was preoccupied with idiot plans more valid. "I didn't realize you loved them so much sister of mine," Max continued, obviously hoping to rub Tess's nose in her fib.

Tess decided to attack head-on. She turned her head and regarded him. "You've been avoiding me."

Max glanced at her, his expression perfectly innocent. "I have?"

"Yes, you have." Tess glowered at him in what she hoped was a threatening manner. He didn't seem particularly frightened though. "Since when do you leave work in the middle of the day?"

"Since never," Max replied, grinning mischieviously. "Today was special though. I had plans to make."

"Do these plans have something to do with Liz?" Tess demanded.

"What? Of course not," Max said, still smiling. "Whatever would make you think that?"

"Oh, just the fact that you told me earlier that you plan to win her back. And the fact that you wore that stupid vest today."

"The vest?" Max looked truly perplexed. "Tess, it's my uniform."

"You wanted Liz to see you in it," Tess shot back. "You wanted her to remember you back then."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Max replied. "Izzy, tell Tess that she's becoming entirely too suspicious in her old age."

Tess sighed. This was just what she had been afraid of - he was going completely off the deep end. "Max, you better not be about to do something stupid."

He was clearly now ignoring her though. His gaze was fixed on the door and she saw the exact moment who he had been expecting appeared. His face lit up, followed by a quick narrowing of his gaze. "Excellent. Let the games begin." He almost sounded evil, if Max had been capable of it. Which he so was not.

This was going to be incredibly bad. Tess closed her eyes and leaned her head against the booth. Because coming through the door were Liz and her fiancé.

She just hoped that she would be able to do damage control somehow. She could see now that because Liz had made him promise that he wouldn't try and win her back the above-board way, he was going the sneaky route. And, since Max's personality was just not sneaky, this was going to end in disaster.

Now, if she could only figure out what he was planning to do. She grimaced, watched in dismay as he rose and went to meet Liz and Sean. "I think we're in for a long night Isabel," Tess muttered.

Isabel followed her gaze worriedly. "He's going to get himself even more hurt, isn't he?"

"Oh yeah," Tess sighed, wishing she knew how to stop it.

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

Liz held onto Sean's arm more tightly then she meant to as they walked through the front doors of her parents' restaurant. She didn't know why she was nervous. She was ready for absolutely anything Max Evans was preparing for her. Now that she planned to tell him the truth, she was back in control of this situation. She would not let him gain the upper hand. He would not seduce her into giving in. She would [I]not[/I] allow it.

Max was coming towards them as Liz looked around to get her bearings. He had his hand out and took Sean's immediately. "Hey guys! I'm glad you came." He paused, looked from Liz to Sean. "I hope everything has been worked out between you two?"

Liz glared at him. She opened her mouth to snap that it was none of his business, but Sean beat her to it, nodding graciously and saying, "Of course," ending that line of questioning before it could get any further. He had told her earlier that it was up to her how and when she wanted to tell Max that they were no longer engaged.

She felt her heart begin to beat more quickly when Max's gaze narrowed slightly, but whatever disappointment she had seen there was instantly gone. She might have even imagined it.

"Well, that's great," Max said. "And since the better man obviously won, I've decided to let bygones be bygones. Liz and I were always friends first and I at least hope we can go back to that."

"That's very big of you." Sean was beginning to sound amused. "So dinner then?"

"Yeah." Max grinned. "I thought Liz might enjoy sharing a last meal in the place we first really met."

Liz flinched. Well, that had been a low blow. He was bitter all right. He might have signed the divorce papers but he was still angry about it. He had been quietly accepting of it last night, but apparently that was no longer true.

".waiting for someone else to join us." Liz blinked, tuned in to what Max was saying as he led she and Sean to a booth near the back. She smiled weakly at Tess, who was seated nearby, and who was also staring at her, her sympathy evident on her face, but also her disgust, likely that Liz had been stupid enough to agree to this. Liz didn't blame her one bit.

It took her a moment to realize who was seated with the blonde woman. Her hair was shorter, but there was no mistaking Isabel Evans. Particularly as the glare Liz was being treated to could only come from the ice queen of Roswell herself.

Oh dear lord. What had she gotten herself into?

Not that she didn't deserve it. Liz knew she did. But it still hurt. She and Isabel had started to become friends after she had married Max. Isabel had even once called her her sister before she realized what she had done and had quickly backtracked.

No, it hadn't been just her husband she had lost when she had walked out on Max.

Liz knew that she needed to confront Max immediately, needed to tell him that the only reason she had come was because she needed to talk to him - alone. But, somehow, this situation was already spinning wildly out of control. She knew she should have left Sean back at the motel, but he had been insistant that he would come to support her. Big mistake. His presence was only making the whole thing harder.

Her thoughts were in such turmoil, it took her that long to understand what Max had been saying. "Wait a minute." She interrupted whatever inane conversation Max and Sean were having as they waited for her to slide herself into the booth. "Did you say someone else was coming?"

Max met her gaze. It was only then that she understood the gleam she saw there. "Of course Liz. We're divorced now. You didn't think I was going to spend the rest of my life alone did you?"

Liz felt her blood pressure beginning to rise, her anger starting to overcome her sorrow and confusion. "Are you telling me that you invited a [I]date[/I]?"

"Sure," Max shrugged. The sound of the bell ringing above the restaurant door made Liz jump. Max's eyes lifted and his face lit up. "Ah! Here she is now!"

Liz turned her head, felt her mouth falling open, although she already knew it was going to be bad. She just [I]knew[/I] it, based on the entirely evil glint she had seen in Max's eyes.

It was far worse than she had imagined. "PAM TROY?" She screeched before she could stop herself, staring at the bottled, buxom blonde who had just entered and was looking around. Her eyes lit on Max a moment later and the predatory expression that crossed her face made Liz want to puke.

Max tilted his head. "Yeah. She works for me. She's grown into quite a lovely woman, hasn't she?" He paused, grinned again. "Of course, I never really noticed before today."

"MAX!" Liz grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him towards the back of the restaurant. "I need to talk to you. Right now!"

Enough was enough. She already understood what he was doing. He had promised not to try to get back together with her, so he was taking the alternate route. He was trying to drive her so mad, all she would be able to do was to tumble back into his arms in order to regain her sanity.

She would not allow it. She [I]refused[/I] to allow it.

He gently disentangled himself from her grasp. "Liz, I have to go say hi to her. I [I]did[/I] invite her. We can talk later." He patted her lightly on the cheek, then moved away. Liz gaped after him in astonishment. Her eyes fell on Tess as she stared after him. The small blonde was sitting with her face buried in her hands. Isabel looked shocked - too shocked to do anything but let her mouth hang open, much in the way Liz knew her own was.

Well, it was obvious that neither of Max's fellow aliens had any idea what he was doing either. Which could only mean one thing. [I]She[/I] wasn't the one who had gone crazy. [I]He[/I] was. She had literally driven him stark-raving mad.

He needed to know the truth. Because, until he did, he was going to continue to dream up these crazy schemes to win her back. And she couldn't take much more of it.

It was in that instant that she watched in horror as Pam threw her arms around Max's neck and kissed him full on the mouth in front of the entire restaurant.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Liz had barreled across the Crashdown, had grabbed Pam by the shoulder and hauled her off of Max. "Get away from my husband you trollop!"

The complete silence that fell over the restaurant as every head turned to stare at them made it so that she realized exactly what she had said in the next split second.

Oh no.

Pam blinked at her. "What are you talking about Liz?" She asked, glancing at Max in dismay. "Max told me you were divorced."

"We [I]are[/I] divorced," Max put in evenly, although he looked slightly shell-shocked that Pam had kissed him. That had obviously not been a part of his plan, much to Liz's relief.

"Aren't you divorced Liz?" Pam demanded again, glaring at her. Her beady eyes made Liz's fury ratchet up again.

"NO!" Liz shrieked. "We are [I]not[/I] divorced. Until I sign those papers, we are still married and he still belongs to me."

Well, so much for playing it cool. So much for making him think she didn't still want him. So much for not letting him find out she hadn't signed the papers. Liz felt tears beginning to fill her eyes. She stared around the room frantically, looking for an escape. She felt his eyes hot on her, knew that she was not going to be able to avoid his gaze.

When she finally met his eyes, he looked sorry. He really did. And also ashamed.

He actually felt ashamed of himself. When this was the only weapon she had left him. He had known that the only way to make her admit that she still wanted him was to make her jealous. The ease with which he had accomplished it made her want to cry even more.

How was she ever going to leave him again? How could she ever let him move on with someone else? Until this instant, she had never understood how completely she would be unable to handle it.

They were all doomed.

She couldn't take it another minute. She needed air.

Liz turned on her heel and ran.

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

"Well, I hope you're happy with yourself."

Tess had never been more furious in her life. She had stood up when Liz had come across the room, hoping to stop her, but had missed grabbing her by an inch. Now she moved over to Max, who was staring after Liz, his expression horrified.

"Well, she sure proved she still cares," Pam said quietly.

"Who asked you?" Tess glared at her. When Max had hired Pam, she had been revolted, although he had insisted that she wasn't as bad as everyone thought. Tess, Isabel and Maria had all been convinced that the blonde merely wanted to jump Max's bones though. Over the months, Tess's opinion had changed, as Pam worked diligently, not showing any romantic interest in Max at all. However, tonight had certainly proven Tess's original estimation right.

"Tess, don't blame Pam," Max snapped. "This is all my fault. She was only helping me out."

Tess snorted. "A likely story."

Pam shrugged. "Believe what you want Tess. Although I did take that a bit far. I just couldn't resist. Liz Parker is an idiot. She always was. She doesn't deserve you Max." She grinned, her delight evident. "But if you want her, you can obviously still have her. Because I sure got a reaction." She stood on her toes and kissed Max lightly on the cheek. "You better go after her boss. Good luck. I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, she sauntered out of the restaurant.

Tess knew her nostrils flared as she glared at Max again. If Kyle were there, he would be cringing. He knew it only happened when she was truly enraged. "You are a total idiot."

"I agree." Tess turned her head, saw Isabel standing nearby, her arms crossed. Whatever anger she still fostered towards Liz, she was obviously just as disgusted by her brother as Tess was.

"I [I]know[/I]," Max groaned. "It was idiotic. But I didn't know what else to do! She left me no choice!"

"He's right you know." All three of them turned their heads to stare at Sean. Tess blinked. She had totally forgotten about his presence. He had witnessed the whole thing.

Poor Liz. There was no way she was going to be able to explain what had just happened. Her engagement was as good as over.

"What do you mean?" Isabel asked.

"She loves you," Sean said to Max. "But she's stubborn. She thinks that you deserve better than her and she never would have given in on her own. You had to do this. It sucked, but she never would have caved. Trust me, I know her. She's ferocious about protecting the people she loves."

"I know," Max said, closing his eyes briefly. When he opened them, he met Tess's gaze again. "But I'm still sorry about it."

"Then go fix things," Sean ordered. "Go make her face the fact that she can't make all the decisions in your relationship. And make her smile again. She hasn't really smiled the entire time I've known her. She deserves that."

Tess watched dawning realization cross Max's face. She didn't fully grasp why until her friend asked, "She broke the engagement?"

"She did," Sean agreed. "But she still thinks that you're better off without her. You need to prove her wrong."

Max's expression hardened. "Don't worry. I have every intention of doing just that."

Tess watched her friend's determined stride as he left and, for the first time, she thought he might actually just succeed. Because he now had the proof he needed that Liz still loved him. She had given it herself and her former fiancé had confirmed it.

Tess just hoped that Liz was strong enough to accept the inevitable. She and Max were meant to be together. As hard as she tried to stop it, it was going to happen. Now it was up to Liz to decide how miserable she was going to make both of them before she gave in.

To be continued.