He turned around to see the one person he despised most in the world. "Where is she?"

"How did you…?"

"Where's my little girl?"

"Mr Parker, Liz is fine and…"

"Tell me where she is Max!"

He was standing right in front of Max, getting ready to use force if he had to. Max needed an excuse, and he needed it fast.

"She's sleeping!" He looked at the closed door of her room, making sure you couldn't see through to where she was. The man followed his line of vision. He saw the closed door and started walking right towards it. His feet were pounding the floor with every step he took, making a large noise every time his shoe hit the tiles. Max stepped in front of the man, not wanting him to get to the door.

"Get out of my way Max!"

"No! Mr Parker, I don't think it's a good idea for you to…"

"I don't care what you think! That's my daughter in there!"

"No, that's the person who used to be your daughter!"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You made your feelings towards her quite clear that day in the Crashdown!"

"I…"

"You really shouldn't be here!" Max turned around and walked into her room, remembering to lock the door behind him.

Liz looked up at the man leaning against the door. He was breathing heavily, and she could tell he was angry. She had heard all of it, as the hospital walls were extremely thin, but she still wanted to know what had happened from Max's perspective.

"What did he say?" She sat, looking at her thumbs as he walked around to the chair and sat down, sighing heavily.

"He really wants to see you!"

"How did he find out what had happened?"

"I don't know…"

Max placed his hand on Liz's, needing her to help him calm down. They both jumped when the door was opened, clearly remembering that Max had locked it. A nurse walked in carrying a tray of food, and she placed it on the small table next to the bed.

"Is everything alright in here?"

"Yes, thank you!"

The nurse walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. Max took the lid off the food, wondering what it was.

"Meatloaf and veggies! And for desert, we have red jelly!"

Liz rolled over onto her side, looking away from Max as a tear fell down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and pulled the sheets up around her shoulders.

"Liz? Are you okay?"

She had to hold back another tear as she spoke, not wanting to alert him that something was wrong. "Yeah, I'm just not very hungry, that's all!"

"Liz…?"

"I'm fine Max!"

"You have to eat something!"

"I'll have it later!"

"It won't be here later! Either the nurse will come back and take it or Michael will eat it! Please eat something!"

"I'm kind of tired Max!"

"Liz…"

When he got no response, Max figured that she was pretending to sleep so he would leave. Obeying her silent wishes, he stood up and left the room. He walked over to where Michael and Isabel were and sat down, stretching out his legs in front of him whilst sighing.

"Bad day?"

"How am I going to tell her?"

"About what?" Isabel looked up from her magazine, confused about what was going on.

"Zan!"

Michael looked up at Max, surprise in his eyes. "You mean you still haven't told her? Maxwell, we've talked about this! We need to do something about Zan!"

"Where is he?"

"Cafeteria!"

Max looked around, noticing an empty space where someone should have been. "I thought Maria was here?"

"She's trying to calm down Liz's dad! Man he has a lot of anger! I'm surprised he didn't hit you before!"

"You heard that?"

"Max, everyone heard that! And from the sound of the conversation, you ended up as the bad guy!"

He stood up, brushing a hand through his hair. "I'm going to go talk to him! Can you keep watch on Liz?"

"Remember to duck!" Michael was being serious, which was a rare thing these days.

"I meant Zan! Maybe, if I talk to him first, it'll make it easier for when I have to talk to Liz!"

"Maxwell, you already 'have' to talk to her, you just don't want to! Maybe I should do it!"

Max turned around and walked down the corridor, out of sight. They watched him walk, seeing the dreariness in his step. Michael turned to Isabel, a confused yet playful look on his face.

"Was that a yes?"



He walked up to the lone boy and sat opposite him. Max stared at his hands, not quite sure of what to say. Zan swallowed the bite of his burger and looked at Max, waiting for something to happen.

"…hi?"

Max's voice was nervous, like he really didn't want to be there.

"What's up?"

"Nothing much…"

"How's Liz? Do you know when she can go home yet?"

"She great! A little tired, but really well! As for home, well that's the thing…our lives, well, we don't exactly have a home! As soon as she can leave, so will we. We can't stay in Roswell Zan, and, I don't think you should stay with us!"

His face was expressionless, staring at the man sitting across from him.

"What? Did I do something?"

"No, not at all! It's just that, you have the chance to lead a normal life Zan, that's why I gave you up, so you could be normal, without having to deal with everything else that we have to!"

"Oh…" He looked down at his plate, trying to avoid eye contact with Max.

"Zan, I promise, that when it's safe we can go and visit you, but I really don't want to put you in any more danger!"

"So you're doing this to protect me? That's extremely rich of you!"

"Zan, I'm really sorry! But Liz and I…"

"Does she even know about me yet?"

Max looked up with pleading eyes, but only met cold, hurt ones. He didn't have to speak, Zan already knew the answer.

"You didn't tell her?" Zan stood up, pushing the chair behind him to the side. Zan was getting really angry now, staring into Max's eyes without any fear. The only other person who could do this was Liz; even Michael had trouble looking him strait in the eyes.

"Zan, I'm sorry! I just needed to…"

"No! You know what, maybe it would have been better if you were dead!" Zan stormed out of the cafeteria, not looking back to see Max covering his face with his hands, trying to cover up the tears streaming down his cheeks.



Liz felt a shadow towering over her as she opened her eyes. She looked up at the person standing over her through hazy eyes.

"Max?"

The body spoke, sounding small and scared as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry! I…I just wanted to meet you! I'm sorry!"

He ran out of her room before she had a chance to reply. He ran out of the hospital and towards the desert, not ever wanting to come back to Roswell.