"I love you, so much."
"Not as much as I love you, you can't believe how much I've missed you."
Liz sat listening to the young couple sat behind her. 'How come everywhere she went she saw couples? Was it some sort of conspiracy to make her feel ten times worse than she did? Liz thought angrily to herself as she went to get a drink from the aging vending machine. "Great," she mumbled when the stupid piece of junk gave her cherry coke, instead of 7UP. "I hate cherry coke!"
Picking up her bag, Liz made her way over to the information desk. "Excuse me, could you tell me when the 10:15 bus to Las Cruces is due to arrive, it's already 10:40," she asked politely.
"There was a tire blowout, it'll be here in bout 20minutes," the desk clerk told her popping her gum.
"OK, thanks," Liz said tiredly, sitting back down on the cold hard seats.
"Get to the bus station, now. Liz is leaving Roswell," Maria shouted down the telephone as soon as Max picked up the receiver.
"Maria? Slow down and stop yelling! Liz is leaving? Where? Why?" Max asked sternly, shivers running down his spine.
"Don't tell me to stop yelling. It's your fault I'm losing my best friend anyway. She's going to California, to stay and she's not coming back! Now go and get her," Maria ordered before carrying on, "And if you don't get there in time and she leaves, there'll be a hell of a lot of trouble waiting for you when you get back! Now go!"
Max stared at the receiver for all of two seconds before grabbing the keys to his brand spanking new jeep and running out of the door, it closing with a hard and almost finalised slam.
'He couldn't let Liz leave, he had to make it right, he thought anxiously as he sped away towards the bus station.
"The 10:15 bus to Las Cruces will be arriving in approximately ten minutes, we apologise for the delay, which was caused by a blown tyre. Thank you."
Liz heard over the intercom, picking up her bag, she walked outside, needing some fresh air before the journey that would eventually end in California where there wouldn't be any memory of a certain alien or his mate.
'What if I've missed her?' Max thought worriedly to himself. 'I don't even know what time she's leaving.' Max opened the window hoping that the fresh air would help him think more clearly. 'OK Max, this is it! If you haven't missed her, you are going to let her know how much you love her. She cannot leave you again,' he told himself resolvedly as he pulled up to the bus station. He got out and ran towards the waiting room.
Liz stood with her bag waiting for the bus to turn up, she was staring at the road that led towards town, feeling a bit home sick already. "You are making the right decision," she whispered almost inaudibly, before turning her back and walking in the opposite direction towards the bus that had just arrived.
"'Scuze me, have you seen this girl, she's been here sometime this morning," Max asked desperately pulling out a picture of Liz from four years ago. Luckily he still kept a picture of her hidden in his wallet, he didn't even care if Tess found it. She had never been his priority.
"I think I've seen her, she looks really familiar. Oh yeah, there was a girl who looked a lot like her, maybe an older sister or something. She should be getting on the Las Cruces bus now." Max was out of the door as soon as she had finished her sentence.
Racing towards the bus he saw Liz getting on it, right in front of his eyes. He was going to lose her. That was all that flashed through his mind. All his time apart from her in Roswell, even when he had got engaged to Tess, he somehow still imagined that he and Liz would be together eventually. But he knew that if she got on that bus, she was lost to him forever.
"LIZ. LIZ. WAIT LIZ!" he yelled from the bottom of his heart and soul. He saw her pause. She had heard him.
She heard someone shout her name. Not needing to turn around she knew instantly that it was Max.
Liz' heart leapt. He had come for her. Just as she had been wishing for years. She almost turned to run into his arms. Almost. She didn't know why but she held back. Tess! That one word, even just the thought was enough to change her mind. Stepping up the last step she showed her ticket to the driver, before walking to an empty double seat in the middle of the bus.
With her bag safely in the overhead compartment, Liz sat, feeling her cheeks wet with tears that had been threatening to fall since she had arrived at the station earlier this morning.
"NO." A single word escaped Max, she had left. Gotten on the bus without even turning. She had heard him, knew she had. He couldn't believe it. He felt completely numb. But seeing the bus starting to drive away, he felt a new resolution take over him. "She's not getting away that easily," he mumbled before quickly jumping back into the jeep and speeding after the bus. He didn't care how far it drove before stopping. He would be there when she stepped off that bus and it would be right into his arms and his life. This time she was going to stay there for good.