Please review! It really means a lot to me! You can call it crap if you like, I don't care!
Max lay on his bed, with his arms behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He felt so bad for what he said to her, but it how he felt. He hadn't slept since the night of the concert, and all his energy was failing. He couldn't sleep. Every time he tried, the images of that night repeatedly played in his head. So much had happened in the past few months, and he had no one to talk to. Isabel was Isabel, his sister that could never really talk with about how he felt. Michael was the same. He had talked to Maria a few times, but this was far too complex to try and explain to her. Tess, well, she was just pissing him off! She didn't seem to get the message that he wasn't interested. He would never be. The only person he could talk to about this was the person he couldn't talk to about this. Liz.
He wanted so badly to just walk up to her and kiss her soft lips. He wanted to hold her and feel her silky soft skin against his. He wanted to whisper, "I love you" over and over in her ear, run his fingers through her thick black hair, and be happy. Most of all, he wanted her to be his, and only his, forever.
He couldn't stand this any longer. He stood up, reached for his jacket and his keys, and left.
She was hiding under her covers away from the cruel outside world. Her sheets were wet from the tears she had been crying since he muttered those malicious words to her. She had brought this on herself, she knew that, but it didn't stop the pain. Her stomached rumbled from eating for hours, but she ignored it, just as she was ignoring the ache in her head. She threw back the covers and stood up, feeling a sudden rush of cold. She reached out for her top drawer on her dresser and threw everything onto the floor. She raced downstairs into the storage room and grabbed a box. When she got back into her room, she sat down next to the pile and threw it all into the box.
The jumper of Max's that he lent her one night when she was cold was the first thing to be thrown at the cardboard. Followed by the pocket knife she gave him, the candles her had bought her for her birthday last year, all the notes he had sent her when they were still going out, the cd's that he lent her, the strip of pictures of them, and finally, her journal.
In a fit of rage, she opened her window and threw the box out onto the balcony. Climbing out after it, she picked it up and threw it. It landed below her balcony on the cold, wet concrete in the alleyway. She collapsed onto her knees, her face red from all the mixed emotions. She was out of breath from all of the rage and crying, and so so tired.
Max walked down the alleyway besides the Crashdown. He intended on just watching her sleep, nothing more, just watching her. He noticed a box that had a few possessions in it lying on its side. The one thing that stood out to him was a book. It had a brown leather cover and looked strangely familiar. He picked it up off the wet ground and opened the cover to reveal the thing that he expected, the name "Liz Parker" on the inside. He looked at the box and saw his pocket knife that she gave him, his jumper, and some cd's, but most importantly, a strip of photos. They were of Liz sitting on his lap in one of the quick passport photo boxes that you find at the shopping mall. He could understand why these were thrown out, at least he wanted to understand, but he could not come up with an explanation for her journal.
As he ascended the ladder that lead to her balcony, he expected to find her asleep in her bed, the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Instead he found her curled up asleep on the hard floor of the balcony. He was cautious at first, not knowing whether she was awake or not. He walked over to her and crouched down at her side. She was shivering, violently. He touched her shoulder and shook it gently, attempting to wake her.
"Liz? Liz wake up!"
There was no response. He lifted her up into his arms and held her close. She tried to snuggle into him and griped his shirt tight in her hands. Max could feel the coldness of her seeping through his clothes. He took her through her window and into her room. With a lot of difficulty, he moved the sheets back and placed her into her bed. He took her journal out of his back pocket and placed it on her bedside table.
Max lent over the still figure lying in bed and sighed. He kissed her gently on the lips, smelling her scent, and never wanting this moment to end. Perhaps the saddest thing was that she wouldn't remember this moment. Not wanting to leave, he sat down in the chair next to her table and just watched her sleep. What he didn't see was her eyes, opening slightly, then closing again.
She walked through the door only to find him sitting in his usual booth, staring at his cup of coffee. His head jolted up as he felt her approach. She sat down opposite him and looked down at her shoes. Liz could feel his eyes on her. He hadn't gotten up to leave yet, which was a good sign.
"Thank you!" She managed to squeak out, still looking at her feet.
"For what?"
"Last night. It was really kind of you."
"You were awake?"
"I woke up as you lifted me up. Thank you!"
"It's okay."
Liz stood up to leave, awkward silence getting the better of her. Max reached out and grabbed her arm, halting her from going any further.
"Sorry."
"For what?"
"The thing I said to you yesterday. I…I didn't mean it to come out like that. I really do want us to be friends, and I want to trust you, so sorry."
"How often do you sneak into my room and watch me sleep, just for legal purposes?"
Max's face turned bright red. Now he was the one staring at her feet. "Sorry for that too!"
A smile crept up on Liz's face. Max hadn't seen her smile for a long time, and it was refreshing.
"I should get back to work!"
Tess watched the two from outside the front window. She hated how it took so much effort to have a conversation with Max actually paying attention to her, but all Liz had to do was enter a room and he was focused. He was HER husband, not Liz's. Pure hatred struck every nerve in her body whenever she saw Max's emotions towards Liz. It made her sick just to see the way he looked at her. When he saw Kyle and Liz in bed together, she thought that it would be the break that would win him over, and it did, for a while. But Max wouldn't let go of Liz, and the idea that something was wrong with the picture imprinted in his mind, that haunted him wherever he went.
"Inventions. People experimenting with science invent things that can change the world. Like the light bulb. Where would we be if Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb? Most probably in the dark! Okay class. This assignment will make up 25% of your yearly result. With your partner, you must invent something that could change the world, in your eyes. Look at the person sitting next to you; they will be your soul mate for the duration of the 5 weeks this is taking place. All the information you need is on the sheet. You may begin!"
Liz looked over at the person sitting next to her. He was trying not to look at her, making it seem like he was reading the sheet, but she could tell he wasn't focusing on the paper in his hands.
"Got any ideas?"
"What?" Max snapped out of his own world into reality, into Liz's gaze.
"Any ideas? For the assignment?"
"Oh, um, no, not yet."
"Right…"
"Liz, are you in here?"
She opened her bedroom door opened slightly to find Liz lying with her bear in her arms. It looked like she had been crying.
"Sweetie, what's wrong? Tell aunty Maria all about it!"
A small smile crossed her face as she wiped away the tears. "Nothing, I'm fine really."
"Is this about Max?"
"What about Max?"
"It's just that you two have been acting strange lately. Almost like your afraid of each other."
"Maybe we're afraid of ourselves!"
"What?"
"I just want things to be the way they were before. I want to be with him Maria, but I can't! The only person in this whole world that I want to be with, and I can't, because it'll end the world!"
"Oh, honey! If you want, I'll go out with you!"
A smile crossed Liz's face at the thought of her dating Maria.
"Or what about Alex? I'm sure he would be willing to date you! I can even ask Michael if you want, considering nothing's happened between us lately!"
"Thanks Maria!"
"Any time. Now come on, let's go downstairs and pig out on extremely unhealthy pie!"
He watched from outside her window as the two girls left the room. This had become a ritual lately. The feeling of needing to protect her, needing to make sure she's all right growing stronger every time he saw her cry. He wanted her to be happy; he wanted to be swept up in her smile, to feel her warm touch.. But he couldn't get close enough, without her pulling away.
"Any ideas?"
They sat on Liz's bed, listening to the radio, trying to start their assignment. He felt uncomfortable on her bed, the images of Kyle and Her still fresh in his mind. She sensed his uneasiness and wished it wo8uld stop. She was just as uncomfortable as he was, maybe even more.
"Wouldn't it be so mush easier if we said that we invented the Granolith?"
There it was again. She mentioned the Granolith. How did she know anything about it? She hadn't even seen it? Something was going on, something she wasn't telling him. Liz realised her mistake as soon as she said it. Awkward silence filled the room, with only the background noise of Incubus, 11am coming from the radio.
"7 am, the garbage truck beeps as it backs up and i start my day thinking about what I've thrown away. Could I push rewind? All the credits traverse signifying the end but I've missed the best part could we please go back to the start? Forgive my indecision"
The lyrics rang through their bodies like ice, both relating deeply to the words. He wanted her so badly, and she felt it. Her eyes met his, and she noticed that the hate and pain was gone, replaced by lust and desire.
Before he realise what he was doing, the back of Max's hand was gently brushing her cheek, her skin so soft against his. He lent in closer and his lips brushed hers. Before long they were lost in the moment, exploring each others mouth, never wanting to let go. Liz was the first to pull away, realising what she was doing.
Max still had his hand on her cheek, feeling the warmth flow from her to him. She looked at him with horrified eyes, confused at why she would let herself do such a thing. Max was the first to speak.
"What? What's wrong?"
A tear fell down the side of her cheek; he brushed it away with his thumb, wondering what he had done wrong.
She whispered two small words in his ear before running out of her room.
They were not the words he longed to hear, far from it.
Her blubbering voice murmuring "I'm sorry" still fresh in his mind.