Disclaimer: You know the drill…the characters aren't mine. A lot of stuff in the beginning is taken from End of the World. God knows THAT'S not mine. Anything that makes sense and makes it all better, now that's mine. Seriously, Roswell and all characters belong to Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox etc. I'm just borrowing them.

Rating: PG-13 – possibly to R

Chapter Thirty-Two Under the Stars

Liz grabbed her work, and climbed out the window. She sat, leaning against the wall, so that the light from her bedroom shined out the window and onto the computer printout Alex gave her. She had just started to read when Max climbed out the window and sat down beside her.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi."
"So."
"Yeah," said Liz.
"Liz, we can't do this, we have to talk about this," said Max. "That non-verbal communication thing works great. I heard you loud in clear when you ran into the bathroom. You wanted me to leave you alone, and I respected that, but Liz, we have to talk about this. We're having a baby. That isn't something we can ignore, and hope that it will go away. We have to deal with it."
"Believe me, Max, I'm well aware of the fact that we have to deal with this. I'm the one who has this baby growing in side of me. Not you, not Isabelle, not anybody in that room. It's me. I'm the one who is whole life is going to change!"

Max sat in silence, letting Liz's fear and rage wash over him. He waited until her anger ran out, and he drew her into his arms.
"Liz, don't, please don't be like this," said Max. "You're not alone. It's not just your life that's going to change. Our lives will change. Us, you and me, together, we're a team. We didn't expect this to happen, but it did, and we'll get through it, together."

"How Max, explain to me how we're going to get through this, because I sure as hell don't know. Max, I'm a junior in high school, and I'm sure as hell not ready for this. I love you; Max, and I love the idea of marrying you, someday, in the future. But not now; and not because I'm going to have a baby. Oh God, Max, what are we going to do?" Liz began to sob, the tears burst forth like water exploding from a damn. She cried for herself, and for Max, and for their friends, all of them living in fear. But most of all, she cried for the baby that she carried. A baby that was being born into a world that wasn't ready to accept it. A baby that carried the fate of not one, but two planets on it's shoulders.

Liz's sobs subsided, and she lay, cradled in Max's arms. She felt as weak as a newborn kitten.
"Feel better?" Max asked.
"I don't know if better is the word I would use, but I do feel a little more in control than I had before," said Liz.
"Well, that's something," Max said with a laugh
"Max, how did it happen? I mean, we used protection, right?"
"Yeah, we did, but like they said told us in health class…."
"The only full proof method is abstinence," they finished together.

"How do you want to handle this, Max?" asked Liz.
"I don't know yet," Max admitted. "I suppose we can't really do anything until we finish researching the book, and see what answers we can find in there."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Liz said. "We'd better find out all we can before we do anything else. I mean, it's going to be hard enough having to tell our parents about this. Imagine having to tell them the baby is going to come out green, and three feet high, with seventeen eyes, or something."
"Real funny, Liz," said Max, smacking her lightly on the hand. "Well if that's the case, then we know there's no chance that you cheated on me, is there?"
"Shows you what you know," said Liz, smartly. "You never suspected a thing about me and that guy from Venus, did you?" The young couple laughed together, and then settled back to look up at the stars.

"Do you want to go back?" Liz asked, looking at the starry night sky. "I don't think so," said Max. "Maybe at one time in my life, I would have liked to go back, but now, there is no other place that I'd rather be than right here with you."
"I wouldn't stop you, you know," said Liz.
"You wouldn't have to," said Max. "Liz, I would never willingly leave you. Everything I ever wanted, I've found here, with you."
"I love you, Max."
"And I love you," Max replied, placing a kiss on her lips."


Liz and Max worked diligently on their chapters for the next hour before the cool night air drove them back inside. When the climbed back into Liz's room, the found Michael and Maria asleep in the bean bag chair. Isabelle and Alex sat on the floor, on a pile of overstuffed pillows that Liz kept for just such a purpose. The whispered back and forth to each other as the read passages from the book and scribbled notes madly. Kyle and Ava were on one end of Liz's bed, both of them half asleep.
"Hey," said Alex, his voice low. "You guys okay?"
"Yeah, I think so," said Max. "We've decided not to make any decisions until we've gathered all the information we can."
"That makes sense," said Isabelle. "And you know that no matter what, you can count on us. We'll do whatever we can to help."
"Thanks Isabelle, that means a lot," said Liz. She moved over to her bed, and sat on the end opposite Kyle and Ava, careful not to disturb them.

"Liz, Max?" Alex said. "I want to apologize. I shouldn't have told you my suspicions that way, in front of everyone. I should have told you and Max alone."
"Alex, don't worry about it. I know you were rattled by the whole situation. I mean, when you take into consideration everything that happened to you today, it's perfectly understandable," said Liz.
"No, it wasn't, I handled it all wrong, and I'm sorry."
"Alex, think about last year, before you knew what was going on. How many things did I handle wrong with you?" asked Liz.

"Liz is right," said Max. "We all make mistakes. None of us are perfect. We need to just put it behind us, and concentrate on the future. We have to get going with this book, and there is still the whole thing with Tess we have to deal with. We haven't even given that any thought at all," said Max.
"I have," said Ava, from her place on the bed.
"You've what?" asked Isabelle.
"Tess, I think I know what to do about her," said Ava. "I think we should mind warp her ourselves."