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

Love Changes Everything

Chapter Fifty-Two – Viva Las Vegas – Part Two

Tess peered in the window of the CrashDown and watched the group of friends laughing and joking together. She could feel the anger and rage build up inside her. She wanted to hurt someone, and hurt them badly. How could Max do this to her? How could he betray her this way? They were destined to be together. He knew that. She could feel his love growing for her, more and more each day. What was he doing with that evil bitch Liz Parker, anyhow? What was it about her that kept pulling Max away? Tess vowed that she'd never get the chance to do it again.

Ava stiffened and looked out the door.

"Don't look," she said softly, but Tess is outside right now, watching us."

"What do we do now, Max?" asked Isabelle, her voice pensive.

"Panic?" said Max, his voice faint. "I don't know."

"Well, I do," said Kyle. "Ave, can you," he paused.

"Yeah, I'm invisible girl," said Ava with a sigh. "I'd really just rather, like blow her up or something."

"That may happen," said Kyle under his breath as he jogged towards the door. He pulled it open and stuck his head out into the cool spring air.

"Tess, is that you?" he asked. "Where have you been? I've been calling your cell phone all day. Did Dad give you the news?"

"Oh, hi, Kyle," said Tess, her voice dripping with scorn. "I've had my phone with me all day, so obviously you couldn't have tried to hard to call me."

"No, really, I did," said Kyle. "So did Max. We have some awesome news. Come on in, we'll tell you about it."

"Kyle, I'm telling you, I've had my phone on all day, and it didn't ring once," said Tess as the two walked through the doors of the CrashDown.

"Well, maybe the battery's dead or something," said Kyle as he led Tess over towards the table where the group was sitting. "Let me see it."

Tess reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, and Kyle surreptitiously directed a small jolt of energy towards the phone. Tess looked at the display, and her face flushed with anger and embarrassment.

"You were right," she said grudgingly. "The battery's dead. So what was your big news, what's so important?"

Max stood up and swept Tess into his arms and spun her around.

"How would you like an all expenses paid vacation to Las Vegas?" he asked. "Kyle entered an essay contest and first prize was a trip to Las Vegas for the winner and a group of friends. Nine friends to be exact. That's all of us, and the Sheriff and Maria's mom to act as chaperons.

"Oh," said Tess, looking slightly mollified. "What about her?" she asked, glaring at Liz.

"Liz helped me write the essay," said Kyle, slipping his arm around her shoulder. She's coming." He pressed a kiss on her cheek and brushed a strand of hair off her face. Liz giggled nervously and tried to relax her body against him.

"Uh, yeah, and I guess this is a good time to tell you all that Kyle and I got back together." She shot an apologetic look at Ava, who smothered a laugh with her hand, and then shot Liz a thumbs up sign.

"Whatever," said Tess, glaring at Liz, her eyes burning with hate. "So, Max, when do we leave?"

"The day after tomorrow," said Max, slipping Tess's hand into his. "The limo is picking us up at school, and then it's….

"Viva Las Vegas," the group sang out together.


They settled into the suites at the Stratosphere Hotel, and Jim and Amy left the kids to enjoy the casino. Michael took charge as soon as the adults left the room and transformed everybody's id's; to make them all appear legal.

""You all can do what you want," said Michael. "But Max and I are going to do some serious male bonding type activities. Anybody has any problem with that," he said, glaring at Tess. "Too bad. Now get out of here, and have a good time!"

Max and Michael headed out the door to try their luck at the casinos, followed closely by Kyle and Alex and Ava, who was still using her mind warping abilities on Tess. Maria scurried out the door almost immediately after them, muttering something about auditions and agents.

"Well, I'm going to go look for some excitement," said Isabelle. She and Alex had already made plans to meet up once they were out of the room, and she didn't want Liz and Tess tagging along. Liz and Tess looked at each other and shrugged, and headed out the door together to the casino.

After several hours of walking around together, trying to make polite small talk, Liz made an excuse to Tess and hurried away. The smoke in the casino was thick and was really making her feel nauseous. Liz waited until Tess was out of sight and then made her way to the elevators that would take her to the top of the Stratosphere.

After a long elevator ride, Liz emerged from the elevator and made her way out onto the observation deck. She was shocked to find that it was dark. She had lost all track of time while she was in the casino. With a sigh, she leaned against the railing and looked out across the sea of sparking lights that made up the Las Vegas Strip.

"What's a nice girl like you doing in a place like this," a voice said.

"Max," said Liz. "How did you know I was up here?"

"Junior told me," he said, placing his hand on her stomach.

"What?" she asked, confused. "Now the baby is talking to you?"

"No," Max said with a laugh. "I'm just kidding. I saw you head up here, so I followed you."

"But what about Tess?" Liz asked with concern. "What if she sees us?"

"Relax, I found Alex and Isabelle with Ava and Kyle. They were just coming back from seeing the water show at the Bellagio. Ava volunteered to track Tess down and convince her that we were having an intimate moonlit swim."

"Great," said Liz, sinking against Max. "I really needed to be with you right now. I was missing you so much."

"I love you, Liz," said Max softly.

"And I love you," said Liz. "And I always will."

"Liz, lets get married."

"We are," answered Liz."

"No, I mean now, right here. Everyone is here. Let's get them and go find a wedding chapel and get married. Right now."

"Max, I, I don't know what to say," said Liz.

"Say yes," urged Max "Say yes."

"I, yes," said Liz, her mind filled with the images of the Elvis wedding that Tess had put in her mind. "As long as it's not an Elvis chapel, I say yes!"

Max kissed her, then took her by the hand and led her to the elevator so they could find their friends and tell them their news.