Part 1

Bring on the Heartache

Present day

"Wow, your friends really don't like me!" Serena said sounding more amused then upset. She pushed a stray curl behind her ear and grinned "That Maria chick looked ready to do some serious damage to my person."

"You're just being paranoid. Of course they liked you." Max said automatically. He was too preoccupied trying not to think about Liz to take too much notice of Serena's ramblings. He collapsed onto the bed and buried his head into a pillow to conceal his sigh of unmistakable dismay. Coming back to Roswell had been a huge mistake.

Serena snorted in disbelief as she joined him on the bed. "I'm just glad that we didn't tell them that I know that you have more in common with E.T then just being absolutely adorable. I bet Isabel is already planning to turn to me into a frog or something. I swear….Max? Are you listening to me?" Serena gave his shoulder a shove to make sure that he hadn't fallen a sleep.

"Serena, Isabel couldn't turn you into a frog even if she wanted to." Came Max's muffled replied.

"That's so reassuring," Serena muttered sarcastically. "But enough about that. Are you okay? Do you want to talk about anything? Anything at all? Maybe a certain Liz?"

He groaned in defeat, knowing that the only way to shut Serena up now would be to gag her but since that option was only saved for extreme cases, he decided to go with plan B.

"I'm fine," He deadpanned. He rolled off the bed, ready to make his escape. "I think I might take a shower actually." He started to move towards the bathroom when Serena caught his arm. Max cursed himself for not moving faster as he turned around to face his best friend. He recognized instantly the stubborn look on her face and knew that there was no way she was going to let him get out of this conversation.

"I don't think so buddy. You are not going to avoid this conversation. Now do you want to elaborate on what 'I'm fine' means?"

"It means I'm fine although I would be a lot better if I could have a shower and then get some sleep." Max said before asking her pleadingly "Can we please talk about this tomorrow?"

Serena's expression softened, "Tomorrow it is then but Max, just remember you're not going to be able to run forever."

"But I can try!"

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Maria asked for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Liz tried not to roll her eyes, after all Maria was just being an concerned friend, perhaps a extremely concerned best friend would be a more fitting title for Maria but still Liz loved her.

"She said she was fine already!" Sean Deluca, Liz's temporary houseguest, said much to the great annoyance of Maria. This time Liz did roll her eyes, knowing that the two Delucas would now spend the next ten minutes bickering like a pair of 4th graders.

"Just because she said she was fine doesn't mean that she is fine!" Maria stated, sending her cousin a death glare. "Max Evans is married! The love of her life is married to some jezebel hussy. How can she be fine?" Maria turned her attention to Liz, "How can you be fine? How can you be okay with this?"

Liz opened her mouth to answer but Sean beat her to it.

"She's fine because she moved on with her life. It's not like she spent the last three years moping around. She dated that Matt guy…"

"Mark," Liz corrected although neither Deluca seemed to hear her. She looked at her bedroom door longingly and wondered if they would even notice if she disappeared for a few hours.

"She went on three dates with him! Three dates don't count as dating!"

Sean rolled his eyes, "The point is she moved on with her life! She got over Evans and you should just shut your mouth! Liz, back me up here!"

"You don't just get over someone like Max Evans. Especially after everything they went through together!"

"Sounds like you're the one in love with Evans!"

"Oh shut up!" Maria threw the closest object (which happened to be a book) at Sean's head. Luckily, or not so luckily depending on how you are feeling, Sean managed to duck out of the way in the nick of time.

"Bitch!"

Ignoring Sean's comment, Maria turned to Liz and once again attempted to make her best friend talk, "Liz, how can you be okay about this? Talk to me."

Liz searched for the right words to describe the calmness she felt. She hadn't wanted to admit it before now but she had always known that Max would move on. She had spent the last three years lying to herself and now felt stupid for hoping that he would come back to her. He thought that she had betrayed him, why wouldn't he move on?

"I want Max to be happy," Liz said simply and it was the truth, even if it meant that he wasn't with her.

Maria frowned, "Liz…"

Liz lifted her hand to silence Maria, "Its not going to be easy seeing Max with someone else but Roswell is a big enough place and they are only here two weeks."

"So that's it? You want Max to be happy but you're going to spend the next two weeks avoiding him and the Jezebel?" Maria said in disbelief. "You're just going to bury your head in the sand and pretend that none of this is happening?"

"Actually, I'm going to have a shower and then go to bed,"

"You can run but you can't hide," Maria called out as Liz rushed to her room. "Roswell isn't that big!"

"But its big enough," Liz mumbled to herself.

Max (my beloved, oh so wonderful husband),

Have gone shopping, will be back in a few hours.

Love,

Serena (your most gorgeous and intelligent wife)

xxx

Serena was on a mission, she was going to help Max get over this Liz thing once and for all. She had just under two weeks to convince her best friend to talk to the woman that had broken his heart. Some might say that it was mission impossible but Serena was determined to make everything okay again for Max.

There was only one tiny little problem. She had no idea what to do, she had hoped that her shopping trip would give her some ideas but so far nothing, not even a bad idea.

She was aimlessly walking around the mall when an idea finally hit her. Actually to be more precise when the idea power walked pass her and it wasn't only a blur of an idea. Serena followed in hot pursuit without a second thought, knowing that Liz Parker was going to help her fix what she had broken.

'Please God, don't let her follow me!' Liz prayed silently as she ducked into the bookshop. Why did the fates hate her so much? And how had Roswell become to small?

"Liz?"

'Oh crap,' Liz weaved her way deeper into the shop, pretending that she hadn't heard her name called and then grabbed the nearest book so that she could hide as best as she could. Damn, she hated it when Maria was right. She buried her head in the book, hoping to appear absorbed in what she was reading. Wait, what the hell was she reading?

"Liz? Liz? It is Liz right?"

Liz looked up, hoping against hope that it wouldn't be Serena staring back at her but of course it was. But there she was, Mrs Serena Evans, looking all radiant and perfect. Liz suddenly felt exceedingly plain and ordinary compared to Max's wife.

"Oh hi," Liz smiled weakly before returning her gaze back to the book in her hands. Maybe Serena just wanted to say hi, maybe she would go away now and leave Liz in peace.

"Are you busy?"

"Excuse me?" Liz asked reluctantly looking up from the book in her hands.

"Its just that, I don't know anyone in Roswell and well you're the only one of Max's friends who surprisingly didn't act hostile to me, I could really use a coffee and I wondering if you would like to maybe join me?"

Liz tried to ignore the pleading look in Serena's eyes. She couldn't think of anything worse then having to spend time alone with this woman and listen to her talk about Max or God knows what else.

"Sure, I would like that," Liz gasped, she hadn't meant to say that but the words had been out of her mouth before she could stop them.

Serena smiled brightly, "Excellent! Did you want to buy that book before we leave?"

Liz glanced down to the book in her hands and for the first time since she had picked it up, her eyes focused on the title, 'The Complete Book of Running for Women'

"Um no, I already have this one." Liz replied placing the book back. She smiled weakly at Serena before following her out of the bookshop in a awkward silence. What was she meant to say to the woman who was living the life she had always dreamed for herself?

Liz was finding it extremely hard not to like the brunette sat across from her, in fact it was practically impossible not to like her. Serena was smart, funny and easy going, she loved life and was content with being herself. It was another thing that Liz was starting to envy about her as she listened enraptured as Serena told her amusing anecdotes of Life in California.

"Max, karaoke, need I say more? It would have been funny if it hadn't been so scarring. I swear every time that I hear Loser by 3 Doors Down, I can't help but cringe. He has single-handedly ruined that song for me. Although I shouldn't blame Max since Jonathan…"

"Jonathan?" Liz interrupted curiously.

"Oh Jonathan is our best friend, he plays on the same soccer team as Max and moved in with us three months ago. He's a blast!" She rummaged around her purse and finally pulled out a crumpled photograph, which she passed to Liz. "That was taken at Max's birthday party 4 months ago."

Liz tried to ignore the sharp twinge in her stomach as she stared at the photograph, her eyes briefly fluttering over the attractive blonde who was obviously Jonathan before her sole attention rested on Max, he had his arm casually wrapped around Serena's shoulders and was laughing at something that would be forever unknown to her. And suddenly it hurt. Max had a whole different life, a whole different set of friends. Neither of which included her. She swallowed the lump that had begun to form in her throat and passed the photo back to Serena.

"You all look like you were having so fun," Liz said, somehow managing to sound normal.

Serena nodded, "We were. It was a great night. Max hadn't wanted to have a party but me and Jonathan talked him into it. It was…"

Serena's next sentence was cut of by the shrill ringing of her cell phone. Serena fumbled through her purse, searching for the cell.

"Its Max." Serena stated before answering the phone.

Liz took advantage of interruption by trying to calm her turmoil feelings. She couldn't deny that she liked Serena, that she could even see them becoming friends if there was more time but still she also couldn't deny the fact that she was still in love Max. There was no point in lying to herself on the matter.

"I have to get going but I was wondering if you wanted to come running with me and Max this afternoon. We normally go in the mornings but since Max was so exhausted I decided to let him sleep in."

Liz snapped to attention. Spending time alone with Serena was one thing but to have to spend time with the newlyweds together was unbearable thought. And running? Liz hadn't done any running since she left High School. In fact the nearest thing she got to running was power walking to the latest shoe sale. No, there was absolutely no way she was going to agree to it. She was going to say no, maybe even hell no because there was no way she was going to agree to it.

"Sure!"

"Great! You can meet us outside our hotel around 3ish." Serena said with a bright smile as she placed Liz a piece of paper, which had the hotel details jotted down on it. "I'll see you then!"

"Yeah, bye." Liz mumbled, still in a state of shock. What was up with her today? She didn't want to go running, she didn't want to do anything that involved her spending time with Max and his wife. Maybe she was being possessed by something alien related. Maybe Serena was that something alien related. Liz shook her head in dismay, she was being absurd.

She made her way back to the bookshop, suddenly buying 'The Complete Book of Running for Women' seemed like an excellent idea.

"You did what?" Max stared at Serena in horror and disbelieve. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. How could Serena of spent the morning with Liz as if it was the most natural thing in the world?

"What? What was I suppose to?" Serena asked, her hands were placed on her hips as she glared at Max in annoyance. Max glared back, unable to even begin to understand what had been going on in his best friend's head.

"You could have said no!" Max pointed out in frustration.

"I didn't want to be rude and she asked if she could join us on our run so I agreed." Serena fibbed. It was only a small white lie, in fact it wasn't a even a lie when you thought about. Liz had been reading that book about running when Serena had met her in the bookshop and it was obviously a sign from God that Liz was meant to come running with them. "I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of this!"

"Because I don't want to have to spend anymore time then necessary with her" Max said running a hand through his hair. He couldn't believe that this was happening to him. What the hell had Serena been thinking? "Cancel it. Tell her there's been a change of plans."

"Its too late now, she going to be here in five minutes." Serena said as she scraped her hair back into a ponytail. "What's the worse that could happen? I mean, you don't even have to run near her if you don't want." She threw him his walkman, "Or even listen to her."

"Or even see her!" Max said, sitting down on the bed. "Because I'm not leaving this hotel room!"

Serena's eyes narrowed, "You are, even if I have to drag you down there! I swear to God Max Evans, I will drag you down there even if it kills me! What am I suppose to tell Liz? 'Sorry that Max couldn't make it but he's still feeling a little bit bitter about you sleeping with someone else' Did you even think about how it will make me look if you don't turn up? I'm meant to be your wife, even if its just for the next two weeks and Liz will think that you're still in love with her! Is that what you want?"

"You could have just stop at the part with the dragging!" Max said as he rose to his feet. "And I'm not bitter."

Serena rolled her eyes, "Whatever you need to tell yourself Evans. Just get that cute butt of yours downstairs before I decide to something I might regret!"

Max wrapped an arm around Serena's shoulders as they made their way to the front of the hotel. He grinned wickedly at her, "So you think I've got a cute butt…"