[u]Part 11[/u]
Once Alex had Liz out of the motel, he managed to control his thundering heart long enough to try and formulate a plan. His first instinct was to call in Max, Michael and the others, but it didn't take him long to realize that handing his friends over to their enemies was not the soundest idea. He had not lied when he told Kate that he didn't believe she was evil, but it was also clear that she didn't believe him when he said that Max and the others weren't either.
There was only one other person he felt safe calling at this point. He still had Liz firmly by the hand as they stood at the side of the highway. He was beginning to get his bearings, realized that they were on 285 South, likely about ten miles out of Roswell. Since he didn't want to stay close to Will and Kate if he didn't have to, in case they changed their minds about letting he and Liz go, Alex started to pull Liz after him towards town.
He was becoming more concerned for Liz the longer she went without speaking, which she hadn't since she had begged him to get her out of the motel. Instead, she stumbled after him, her eyes slightly glassy. More than anything, Alex wanted to know what Will had said to her. Whatever it was, it had obviously freaked her out on a level Alex couldn't even grasp. He felt a flash of anger. Liz certainly had not needed more bad news - not after what she'd been going through over the past couple of weeks. Being told by a future version of your soul mate that you had to push the present incarnation of said soul mate towards your biggest rival or you would be responsible for the end of the world was about all one person should have to handle at one time.
"Do you have your phone?" Alex asked her now, hoping she would answer, so that at least he would know her brain hadn't been fried somehow. He wondered briefly why he was so preoccupied with alien brain frying today. It wasn't like he had ever witnessed such a thing before. It was the second time he had thought of it, but, for some reason, it was really weighing him down.
Liz blinked, nodded. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him. Alex was relieved to see that her eyes were clear. "Don't call Max. I don't want him anywhere near here."
Okay, brain intact. Check, Alex thought with relief. Liz's brain would always think of Max first. "I'm going to call Valenti," Alex reassured her. "He needs to know about this Liz. We have to tell [I]someone[/I]."
Liz sighed. "Okay."
Alex quickly dialed the sheriff's station, was relieved when Deputy Hanson didn't think it was weird that a teenager would call and demand to be connected to the sheriff. But, then, Alex reflected wryly, he was likely used to it by now. Moments later, Valenti's once terrifying, but now reassuring voice, sounded in his ear. "Kyle, is that you? I told you I'd pick you up in time for the game. If we leave by three, we'll be in Phoenix in plenty of time."
"Sorry Sheriff, it's Alex." Alex grimaced when he realized that it was likely that another father/son bonding session was about to be tossed into the alien abyss.
"Mr. Whitman?" The sheriff was instantly on alert. "What can I do for you?"
"Can you pick Liz and me up? We're sort of stranded and we don't want to call the others."
"May I ask why?"
"I promise we'll tell you everything, but we just really need a ride."
"Fine. Give me the details."
Alex did so and hung up, handing the phone back to Liz. She was watching him anxiously. "He's coming?"
"Yup." Alex shrugged in the direction of town. "Let's walk though. I don't feel like having them show up suddenly again."
"Okay."
They walked in tense silence for close to five minutes before Alex finally blurted impatiently, "Well?"
He saw Liz glance at him warily out of the corner of her eye. "Well, what?"
"Liz."
She sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you, but he was lying anyway so it doesn't really matter."
"Will?"
"Yeah." There was a long pause and then she said quietly, "He told me that I'm an alien too."
Alex stopped walking abruptly and stared at the back of Liz's head. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn't help it. If he had thought that the time-traveling story was mind-blowing, this was beyond even that. "Why would he do that? We know that's not true!" Alex finally managed to stutter.
"I know," Liz grimaced. But from the tone of her voice.
"Liz, you don't actually believe him?" Alex demanded, astounded. "What about the whole human DNA thing? Isn't that how you found out about Max in the first place? By comparing your DNA? That's what you told me!"
"I know all that Alex!" Liz snapped. "I know it's not true, but he reminded me about something, and it freaked me out a bit."
"What?"
"The way Max and I connect," Liz replied. "I know that Michael has gotten flashes from Maria, but she hasn't gotten them from him. I've always thought it was a consequence of Max healing me but when I asked Kyle about it, even though he told me that he got them from Max, I think he was kidding." She smiled slightly at the memory. "I'm pretty sure he was kidding actually." Alex frowned, wondering what Kyle had said. "Anyway, I've gotten them from Max - so many times - the last time being only a couple of weeks ago." Her voice softened slightly. "When he was trying to convince me that we belong together." Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed it, knew that what Liz had done two weeks ago had been the most difficult thing she had ever faced. He didn't want her thinking about Future Max at the moment.
"So what's the point?" He asked, trying to bring her back to the topic at hand.
Liz shook her head, apparently trying to rid herself of a painful memory. "Will told me that was my gift," she continued. "That I could always connect with people, that I read their true intentions by doing so. His cousin can apparently read essences too and he recognized mine in Copper Summit." She trailed off, obviously thinking hard about what she had been told.
Alex narrowed his eyes. "What else did he say?" He could tell that Liz was holding something back, that there was something else particularly awful.
"He told me that my name was Rowena and that I was his wife."
"Whoa. He pulled out all the big cards, didn't he?" Alex rolled his eyes. "Liz, I think that, more than anything, has to prove that he's lying."
"Why?" Liz asked, hopeful.
"He must have known how much you mean to Max. He's trying to get at them through you. Maybe he's trying to get Max's allies on his side."
"But he seemed really hurt when I told him that I loved Max," Liz sounded unsure. "Like it was the first time he'd heard it."
Alex reflected on the fact that Kate had seemed equally as shocked by the news that Max and Liz had been together. "I don't know what to say," he finally shrugged.
"Alex, there's something else." Liz trailed off again, sounding scared. "You know how I told you before that it seemed like Will knew me when I met him?"
Alex nodded, wondering where she was headed with this.
"I didn't tell you this." Liz swallowed, looked right at him. "I knew him too. From the first moment I laid eyes on him. And that's why, even though I don't want to, I think I believe him."
****************************************************
When he and Michael entered the Crashdown, Max's eyes lit immediately on his friends, who were all gathered around a table at the back of the restaurant.
He was not at all surprised to see that they were arguing. Maria was actually shrieking in frustration, but Max was pleased to see that, for once, it wasn't directed at Tess, who was sitting quietly, listening. Max was shocked to see who it was that was taking her abuse, but was relieved that besides that, Alex seemed perfectly healthy. Max sighed and hurried towards them, Michael on his heels. "You guys! What's wrong? Everyone's staring at you!" Max quickly scanned the table, felt his relief at the sight of Alex evaporate. "Where's Liz?" He looked at Isabel accusingly. "You said they were both back!
"She's upstairs." This came from Alex, who sounded extremely weary. "She's looking for something."
Max barely had time to take this in before Maria pounced on him. "Max, make Alex tell us what happened. He won't! I think they did some sort of silencing spell on him."
"Maria! They did not do a silencing spell on me," Alex retorted impatiently. "I told you, it's not my story to tell and even if it were, this is certainly not the place." He looked around meaningfully. "You should know that by now."
Maria's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I've just been worried sick," she said. Michael moved forward and pulled her up into his arms, running a comforting hand down her back.
Alex sighed again, looked at Max. "Liz is okay. Physically anyway."
Now what was that supposed to mean? Max wondered. "I'm going to find her," he said quickly, moving away before anyone could stop him, although that didn't mean he didn't hear Alex calling after him, telling him it was a bad idea.
He pushed his way through to the back of the Crashdown, just in time to meet Liz coming down the stairs. She stopped abruptly at the sight of him, her dark eyes widening. For one instant he thought she was going to turn on her heel and run away from him, but was pleased when she took a deep breath and stayed where she was.
Max ran his eyes over her, breathed a sigh of relief to see that Alex had not been lying that she was okay. But he asked, just to be sure. "Are you hurt?" He barely resisted the urge to rush up the stairs and pull her into his arms so that he could check for himself.
Liz managed the shadow of a smile, but it was quickly gone. "No."
"Thank God." He took a step towards her. He saw her bite her lip, but she continued down the stairs, in spite of her obvious discomfort. "Liz, what happened?" For the first time he noticed that she was carrying something in her hands. He frowned slightly when he realized that it was a photo album.
"They let us go," Liz said simply. "They didn't hurt us. We just left and called Valenti and he came and picked us up." Max nodded, now understanding why the sheriff had been sitting quietly at the counter, not part of the group, but obviously in the restaurant for some specific reason. He felt a pang of misery that she had not wanted him to come for her.
"Why didn't you call me?" He tried not to sound hurt, but knew he didn't succeed.
"Because they're not dangerous to me, but I can't say the same about you," she replied. "Max, I think I can keep them away from you, but you need to stay away too."
He stared at her. "What do you mean?" How could Liz keep their enemies away from them? If Courtney had been right and Will was his enemy Khivar, then there was no way that he would stop before he killed Max and everyone he loved. It was why he was on Earth after all.
Liz looked at him steadily. "He's wrong about something, but I think he truly believes it. He cares about me Max and he won't hurt me. If I make it clear to him that I won't tolerate anything happening to you, I think he'll listen."
"I don't understand," Max told her. He felt the pain of it right in his heart though, because really he did understand. Something significant had obviously taken place between Will and Liz while she had been gone. Something that he was not going to like if the tone of her voice was any indication.
Liz looked torn for a long moment. Finally, she stepped forward and took his hand. His heart started to pound more quickly, instantly aware that this was the first time she had willingly touched him since he had caught her in bed with Kyle. "I think you have to know Max and I just realized that I have to tell you first. Alone. Because this is going to be hard for you to hear." She glanced down at the photo album in her hands and said, "I just need to give this to Alex. I'll be right back." She moved towards the swinging door that led into the dining room, glanced over her shoulder. "Actually, you might want to go out back and climb up to my balcony. We can be by ourselves there."
"Okay." He watched her go, totally confused. Liz seemed almost too calm. It was a little scary actually. She had just been abducted by strange aliens and she didn't seem even fazed by the fact. It told him more than sheer panic on her part would have. Something was horribly wrong.
He went out back and used the ladder against the brick wall to climb quickly to Liz's balcony. He closed his eyes briefly after hoisting himself over the wall. The last time he had been up here.
A flash of Liz and Kyle on Liz's bed, naked and laughing, ran through his mind, but he quickly thrust it aside and leaned back against the wall. He forced his gaze away from the window and, instead, focused it on the place where he had drawn the heart with his and Liz's initials inside on the night he had accidentally gotten drunk. Memories of that night had slowly started to return over the months and, thinking about it at the moment, Max wondered how different things might have been if Liz had simply agreed to run away with him then.
If she had, there would have been no Tess, no Pierce, no stupid destiny. It would have meant no Skins and, now, no Will Spencer.
He tried not to feel ashamed that he really wanted to ask her to do it again - run away - even after everything that had happened, even though he knew he couldn't just escape from all of his responsibilities. But, somehow, he just knew that if they could get away from the mess their lives had become, everything would be okay again. He and Liz had been happy once. They could be again, if only they didn't have the weight of his world resting on their shoulders. He could pretend to be normal and he could keep her safe and give her the life she had told him she wanted when she had come to his room a couple of weeks before. It would just be the two of them and he knew they would be happy.
But, even as he daydreamed about it, he knew that she would never agree. Liz would never let him do it. She was the one who knew that he couldn't just turn his back on who he really was. It was why she had walked away from him at the pod chamber and it was also why she had slept with Kyle - or so he was beginning to suspect. He wondered if he should confront her about that again. Maybe now that it was clear that just because she wanted it broken, their bond could not just be forgotten - at least it wouldn't be by their enemies - maybe now she would tell him the truth about why she had done it.
He was going to tell her again that he didn't believe that she had slept with Kyle. It was the only thing to do. And, if she still insisted she had, he was going to ask her to prove it the only way he knew how. He would ask to connect with her. Because she could not hide from him when they did - they had never been able to hide from each other when the bond they shared was open between them.
As Max sat down on Liz's lawn-chair, his elbows resting on his knees, he decided not to think about what he would do if they connected and he found out, once and for all, that Liz and Kyle had made love. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. At this point, he was so sure that it hadn't happened, he couldn't even bear to imagine dealing with it again if it had. He hoped he wasn't setting himself up for a fall.
Max frowned slightly, wondered what was taking Liz so long. He stood, paced over to the edge of the balcony and stared up at the V constellation that he knew marked where his home planet was found. His thoughts drifted to what his life might have been like there. Had he really been as irresponsible and self-absorbed as Courtney said? Why had he been so against marrying Tess? Frustration was mounting now that he was starting to learn bits and pieces of his past life.
Why couldn't he just remember? It would solve everything. He didn't understand why he and the others had been sent to Earth with no memories and with no real information about the path they were supposed to take. How were they supposed to help their planet without them? It all seemed like a gigantic waste of time. If they couldn't be bothered to give him the information he needed, why should he bother with them either? Even Nasedo had been little help. What was his point if not to give them the guidance they so desperately needed? Shouldn't he have told them more before he died? There had months after all.
Max thought about Tess, wondered if she knew more than she was letting on. It seemed likely. She had been very eager to jump on the fact that Will had called him Zan. It was almost as if she had known that was his name before.
There was no further time to pursue this line of thought though because he heard movement behind him. Turning, he saw Liz standing in her window, staring out at him. Their eyes met and held.
"Is everything okay?" Max asked quietly. Her expression was still too calm - almost mask-like - like she if didn't stay that way, her entire world would come crashing down around her. He realized abruptly that she had been like this ever since he had caught her with Kyle. It was why, when she sometimes couldn't hide her real feelings, he suspected that she was lying. Liz's natural expressiveness was one of the things he loved about her. If she was trying to control it, she was hiding something.
"Yes," Liz replied. "I gave the book to Alex. The pictures in there prove I'm not crazy."
"What was in there?" Max didn't really understand what she was getting at, but he was willing to go at her pace. Whatever it was she had to tell him was obviously difficult for her.
Liz pulled herself out onto the balcony. He tried not to feel hurt that she stayed close to the window, keeping as much distance between them as possible.
"My baby pictures," Liz told him, her eyes shadowed.
"Why did Alex want to see your baby pictures?" His confusion was mounting with every word out of her mouth.
"Max, can I just ask you something?"
Max frowned, wondered why she didn't answer him, but nodded. He took a step towards her. "Liz, you can ask me anything.
There was a long pause and then Liz blurted out, "Do you still love me? And, if so, I want to know why."
To be continued.
Once Alex had Liz out of the motel, he managed to control his thundering heart long enough to try and formulate a plan. His first instinct was to call in Max, Michael and the others, but it didn't take him long to realize that handing his friends over to their enemies was not the soundest idea. He had not lied when he told Kate that he didn't believe she was evil, but it was also clear that she didn't believe him when he said that Max and the others weren't either.
There was only one other person he felt safe calling at this point. He still had Liz firmly by the hand as they stood at the side of the highway. He was beginning to get his bearings, realized that they were on 285 South, likely about ten miles out of Roswell. Since he didn't want to stay close to Will and Kate if he didn't have to, in case they changed their minds about letting he and Liz go, Alex started to pull Liz after him towards town.
He was becoming more concerned for Liz the longer she went without speaking, which she hadn't since she had begged him to get her out of the motel. Instead, she stumbled after him, her eyes slightly glassy. More than anything, Alex wanted to know what Will had said to her. Whatever it was, it had obviously freaked her out on a level Alex couldn't even grasp. He felt a flash of anger. Liz certainly had not needed more bad news - not after what she'd been going through over the past couple of weeks. Being told by a future version of your soul mate that you had to push the present incarnation of said soul mate towards your biggest rival or you would be responsible for the end of the world was about all one person should have to handle at one time.
"Do you have your phone?" Alex asked her now, hoping she would answer, so that at least he would know her brain hadn't been fried somehow. He wondered briefly why he was so preoccupied with alien brain frying today. It wasn't like he had ever witnessed such a thing before. It was the second time he had thought of it, but, for some reason, it was really weighing him down.
Liz blinked, nodded. She pulled it out of her pocket and handed it to him. Alex was relieved to see that her eyes were clear. "Don't call Max. I don't want him anywhere near here."
Okay, brain intact. Check, Alex thought with relief. Liz's brain would always think of Max first. "I'm going to call Valenti," Alex reassured her. "He needs to know about this Liz. We have to tell [I]someone[/I]."
Liz sighed. "Okay."
Alex quickly dialed the sheriff's station, was relieved when Deputy Hanson didn't think it was weird that a teenager would call and demand to be connected to the sheriff. But, then, Alex reflected wryly, he was likely used to it by now. Moments later, Valenti's once terrifying, but now reassuring voice, sounded in his ear. "Kyle, is that you? I told you I'd pick you up in time for the game. If we leave by three, we'll be in Phoenix in plenty of time."
"Sorry Sheriff, it's Alex." Alex grimaced when he realized that it was likely that another father/son bonding session was about to be tossed into the alien abyss.
"Mr. Whitman?" The sheriff was instantly on alert. "What can I do for you?"
"Can you pick Liz and me up? We're sort of stranded and we don't want to call the others."
"May I ask why?"
"I promise we'll tell you everything, but we just really need a ride."
"Fine. Give me the details."
Alex did so and hung up, handing the phone back to Liz. She was watching him anxiously. "He's coming?"
"Yup." Alex shrugged in the direction of town. "Let's walk though. I don't feel like having them show up suddenly again."
"Okay."
They walked in tense silence for close to five minutes before Alex finally blurted impatiently, "Well?"
He saw Liz glance at him warily out of the corner of her eye. "Well, what?"
"Liz."
She sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you, but he was lying anyway so it doesn't really matter."
"Will?"
"Yeah." There was a long pause and then she said quietly, "He told me that I'm an alien too."
Alex stopped walking abruptly and stared at the back of Liz's head. He knew his mouth was hanging open but he couldn't help it. If he had thought that the time-traveling story was mind-blowing, this was beyond even that. "Why would he do that? We know that's not true!" Alex finally managed to stutter.
"I know," Liz grimaced. But from the tone of her voice.
"Liz, you don't actually believe him?" Alex demanded, astounded. "What about the whole human DNA thing? Isn't that how you found out about Max in the first place? By comparing your DNA? That's what you told me!"
"I know all that Alex!" Liz snapped. "I know it's not true, but he reminded me about something, and it freaked me out a bit."
"What?"
"The way Max and I connect," Liz replied. "I know that Michael has gotten flashes from Maria, but she hasn't gotten them from him. I've always thought it was a consequence of Max healing me but when I asked Kyle about it, even though he told me that he got them from Max, I think he was kidding." She smiled slightly at the memory. "I'm pretty sure he was kidding actually." Alex frowned, wondering what Kyle had said. "Anyway, I've gotten them from Max - so many times - the last time being only a couple of weeks ago." Her voice softened slightly. "When he was trying to convince me that we belong together." Alex grabbed her hand and squeezed it, knew that what Liz had done two weeks ago had been the most difficult thing she had ever faced. He didn't want her thinking about Future Max at the moment.
"So what's the point?" He asked, trying to bring her back to the topic at hand.
Liz shook her head, apparently trying to rid herself of a painful memory. "Will told me that was my gift," she continued. "That I could always connect with people, that I read their true intentions by doing so. His cousin can apparently read essences too and he recognized mine in Copper Summit." She trailed off, obviously thinking hard about what she had been told.
Alex narrowed his eyes. "What else did he say?" He could tell that Liz was holding something back, that there was something else particularly awful.
"He told me that my name was Rowena and that I was his wife."
"Whoa. He pulled out all the big cards, didn't he?" Alex rolled his eyes. "Liz, I think that, more than anything, has to prove that he's lying."
"Why?" Liz asked, hopeful.
"He must have known how much you mean to Max. He's trying to get at them through you. Maybe he's trying to get Max's allies on his side."
"But he seemed really hurt when I told him that I loved Max," Liz sounded unsure. "Like it was the first time he'd heard it."
Alex reflected on the fact that Kate had seemed equally as shocked by the news that Max and Liz had been together. "I don't know what to say," he finally shrugged.
"Alex, there's something else." Liz trailed off again, sounding scared. "You know how I told you before that it seemed like Will knew me when I met him?"
Alex nodded, wondering where she was headed with this.
"I didn't tell you this." Liz swallowed, looked right at him. "I knew him too. From the first moment I laid eyes on him. And that's why, even though I don't want to, I think I believe him."
****************************************************
When he and Michael entered the Crashdown, Max's eyes lit immediately on his friends, who were all gathered around a table at the back of the restaurant.
He was not at all surprised to see that they were arguing. Maria was actually shrieking in frustration, but Max was pleased to see that, for once, it wasn't directed at Tess, who was sitting quietly, listening. Max was shocked to see who it was that was taking her abuse, but was relieved that besides that, Alex seemed perfectly healthy. Max sighed and hurried towards them, Michael on his heels. "You guys! What's wrong? Everyone's staring at you!" Max quickly scanned the table, felt his relief at the sight of Alex evaporate. "Where's Liz?" He looked at Isabel accusingly. "You said they were both back!
"She's upstairs." This came from Alex, who sounded extremely weary. "She's looking for something."
Max barely had time to take this in before Maria pounced on him. "Max, make Alex tell us what happened. He won't! I think they did some sort of silencing spell on him."
"Maria! They did not do a silencing spell on me," Alex retorted impatiently. "I told you, it's not my story to tell and even if it were, this is certainly not the place." He looked around meaningfully. "You should know that by now."
Maria's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry. I've just been worried sick," she said. Michael moved forward and pulled her up into his arms, running a comforting hand down her back.
Alex sighed again, looked at Max. "Liz is okay. Physically anyway."
Now what was that supposed to mean? Max wondered. "I'm going to find her," he said quickly, moving away before anyone could stop him, although that didn't mean he didn't hear Alex calling after him, telling him it was a bad idea.
He pushed his way through to the back of the Crashdown, just in time to meet Liz coming down the stairs. She stopped abruptly at the sight of him, her dark eyes widening. For one instant he thought she was going to turn on her heel and run away from him, but was pleased when she took a deep breath and stayed where she was.
Max ran his eyes over her, breathed a sigh of relief to see that Alex had not been lying that she was okay. But he asked, just to be sure. "Are you hurt?" He barely resisted the urge to rush up the stairs and pull her into his arms so that he could check for himself.
Liz managed the shadow of a smile, but it was quickly gone. "No."
"Thank God." He took a step towards her. He saw her bite her lip, but she continued down the stairs, in spite of her obvious discomfort. "Liz, what happened?" For the first time he noticed that she was carrying something in her hands. He frowned slightly when he realized that it was a photo album.
"They let us go," Liz said simply. "They didn't hurt us. We just left and called Valenti and he came and picked us up." Max nodded, now understanding why the sheriff had been sitting quietly at the counter, not part of the group, but obviously in the restaurant for some specific reason. He felt a pang of misery that she had not wanted him to come for her.
"Why didn't you call me?" He tried not to sound hurt, but knew he didn't succeed.
"Because they're not dangerous to me, but I can't say the same about you," she replied. "Max, I think I can keep them away from you, but you need to stay away too."
He stared at her. "What do you mean?" How could Liz keep their enemies away from them? If Courtney had been right and Will was his enemy Khivar, then there was no way that he would stop before he killed Max and everyone he loved. It was why he was on Earth after all.
Liz looked at him steadily. "He's wrong about something, but I think he truly believes it. He cares about me Max and he won't hurt me. If I make it clear to him that I won't tolerate anything happening to you, I think he'll listen."
"I don't understand," Max told her. He felt the pain of it right in his heart though, because really he did understand. Something significant had obviously taken place between Will and Liz while she had been gone. Something that he was not going to like if the tone of her voice was any indication.
Liz looked torn for a long moment. Finally, she stepped forward and took his hand. His heart started to pound more quickly, instantly aware that this was the first time she had willingly touched him since he had caught her in bed with Kyle. "I think you have to know Max and I just realized that I have to tell you first. Alone. Because this is going to be hard for you to hear." She glanced down at the photo album in her hands and said, "I just need to give this to Alex. I'll be right back." She moved towards the swinging door that led into the dining room, glanced over her shoulder. "Actually, you might want to go out back and climb up to my balcony. We can be by ourselves there."
"Okay." He watched her go, totally confused. Liz seemed almost too calm. It was a little scary actually. She had just been abducted by strange aliens and she didn't seem even fazed by the fact. It told him more than sheer panic on her part would have. Something was horribly wrong.
He went out back and used the ladder against the brick wall to climb quickly to Liz's balcony. He closed his eyes briefly after hoisting himself over the wall. The last time he had been up here.
A flash of Liz and Kyle on Liz's bed, naked and laughing, ran through his mind, but he quickly thrust it aside and leaned back against the wall. He forced his gaze away from the window and, instead, focused it on the place where he had drawn the heart with his and Liz's initials inside on the night he had accidentally gotten drunk. Memories of that night had slowly started to return over the months and, thinking about it at the moment, Max wondered how different things might have been if Liz had simply agreed to run away with him then.
If she had, there would have been no Tess, no Pierce, no stupid destiny. It would have meant no Skins and, now, no Will Spencer.
He tried not to feel ashamed that he really wanted to ask her to do it again - run away - even after everything that had happened, even though he knew he couldn't just escape from all of his responsibilities. But, somehow, he just knew that if they could get away from the mess their lives had become, everything would be okay again. He and Liz had been happy once. They could be again, if only they didn't have the weight of his world resting on their shoulders. He could pretend to be normal and he could keep her safe and give her the life she had told him she wanted when she had come to his room a couple of weeks before. It would just be the two of them and he knew they would be happy.
But, even as he daydreamed about it, he knew that she would never agree. Liz would never let him do it. She was the one who knew that he couldn't just turn his back on who he really was. It was why she had walked away from him at the pod chamber and it was also why she had slept with Kyle - or so he was beginning to suspect. He wondered if he should confront her about that again. Maybe now that it was clear that just because she wanted it broken, their bond could not just be forgotten - at least it wouldn't be by their enemies - maybe now she would tell him the truth about why she had done it.
He was going to tell her again that he didn't believe that she had slept with Kyle. It was the only thing to do. And, if she still insisted she had, he was going to ask her to prove it the only way he knew how. He would ask to connect with her. Because she could not hide from him when they did - they had never been able to hide from each other when the bond they shared was open between them.
As Max sat down on Liz's lawn-chair, his elbows resting on his knees, he decided not to think about what he would do if they connected and he found out, once and for all, that Liz and Kyle had made love. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. At this point, he was so sure that it hadn't happened, he couldn't even bear to imagine dealing with it again if it had. He hoped he wasn't setting himself up for a fall.
Max frowned slightly, wondered what was taking Liz so long. He stood, paced over to the edge of the balcony and stared up at the V constellation that he knew marked where his home planet was found. His thoughts drifted to what his life might have been like there. Had he really been as irresponsible and self-absorbed as Courtney said? Why had he been so against marrying Tess? Frustration was mounting now that he was starting to learn bits and pieces of his past life.
Why couldn't he just remember? It would solve everything. He didn't understand why he and the others had been sent to Earth with no memories and with no real information about the path they were supposed to take. How were they supposed to help their planet without them? It all seemed like a gigantic waste of time. If they couldn't be bothered to give him the information he needed, why should he bother with them either? Even Nasedo had been little help. What was his point if not to give them the guidance they so desperately needed? Shouldn't he have told them more before he died? There had months after all.
Max thought about Tess, wondered if she knew more than she was letting on. It seemed likely. She had been very eager to jump on the fact that Will had called him Zan. It was almost as if she had known that was his name before.
There was no further time to pursue this line of thought though because he heard movement behind him. Turning, he saw Liz standing in her window, staring out at him. Their eyes met and held.
"Is everything okay?" Max asked quietly. Her expression was still too calm - almost mask-like - like she if didn't stay that way, her entire world would come crashing down around her. He realized abruptly that she had been like this ever since he had caught her with Kyle. It was why, when she sometimes couldn't hide her real feelings, he suspected that she was lying. Liz's natural expressiveness was one of the things he loved about her. If she was trying to control it, she was hiding something.
"Yes," Liz replied. "I gave the book to Alex. The pictures in there prove I'm not crazy."
"What was in there?" Max didn't really understand what she was getting at, but he was willing to go at her pace. Whatever it was she had to tell him was obviously difficult for her.
Liz pulled herself out onto the balcony. He tried not to feel hurt that she stayed close to the window, keeping as much distance between them as possible.
"My baby pictures," Liz told him, her eyes shadowed.
"Why did Alex want to see your baby pictures?" His confusion was mounting with every word out of her mouth.
"Max, can I just ask you something?"
Max frowned, wondered why she didn't answer him, but nodded. He took a step towards her. "Liz, you can ask me anything.
There was a long pause and then Liz blurted out, "Do you still love me? And, if so, I want to know why."
To be continued.