Thanks so much for the reviews! I really, really appreciate them loads!

To jillybean2000: sorry, but I doubt I could write the gang against the 'world' stories cos in my story, they're not being hunted or anything so yeah…

Chapter 5

Liz felt herself "melting" into the arms of her one true love. She'd missed him so much. She missed the way his strong arms held her. She missed the way he kissed her, the way he stroked her hair, the way he looked at her. She missed everything about Max.

Max couldn't take the sight of Liz crying. He loved her too much. He never wanted to see another tear fall from her gorgeous brown eyes. He wiped the tears from her eyes with his hand and led her, together with little Hayley, into his room.

Liz sat on Max's bed and placed Hayley on her laps as Max went to get Liz a drink. He came back and all he could do was stare at Liz and Hayley on his bed. His family was here. All he ever wanted was right here in this room. When he and Liz dated, he always dreamt that they would one day get married in a lavish wedding and have many, many kids.

"What are you staring at?" Liz asked Max. "Nothing," Max said as he handed her a coke and sat on bean bag he had opposite his bed. "What made you come by today?" Max asked her. Liz didn't know how she would answer that question. She looked up at Max and saw how much he cared for her, how much he still loved her. She turned Hayley around to face her and asked her little girl, "Do you want daddy to hold you?" Hayley just smiled, being the happy baby she always was.

"You mean, I…?" Max stuttered. He didn't know what to say as Liz just handed little Hayley over to him. "I know you've held her before but I thought you might like to get to know her," Liz said to Max. Max just stared at little Hayley. She looked as though she was going to cry for her mummy. "Hey there, sweetheart, daddy loves you so much, you know that?" Max told his little girl. She seemed to understand what Max just said and started giggling at Max. Max just laughed when he saw Hayley's reaction.

Liz looked at the father-daughter interaction. Hayley seemed to be taking to her dad rather easily. Liz wished she could do the same. How she wished that everything could go back to the way it was before. But she was afraid, afraid that Max would hurt her again. After so long, she didn't know what to expect from him anymore. He was no longer "her" Max.

Max, sensing Liz's glance at him, looked up at her. He sensed her fear and her worries but couldn't put a finger on what caused it. Hayley started crying and it was then Liz realized that it was Hayley's feeding time. "Max, do you have hot water in the kitchen?" Liz asked. "Yeah," Max said. "Do you need my help?" "It's ok. I think Hayley would want her daddy to spend a little more time with her," Liz said and smiled as she headed to the kitchen to get the hot water for Hayley's milk.

In a couple of minutes, Liz came back with Hayley's bottle. "You wanna feed her?" Liz asked Max. "Really? I could?" Max asked, happy that Liz was giving him a chance to know his daughter. Liz handed the bottle to Max who gave it to Hayley. Liz watched as Max easily took to his new role as Hayley's dad. As Hayley was drinking, Max couldn't help but notice how perfect she was. "Liz, she has your hair and your face," Max said, smiling at Liz. "Well, she has your eyes," Liz said. When Hayley finished drinking the milk, Liz was about to reach for Hayley to burp her when she realized that Max was going to do the same. "Wow, somebody's knows how to take care of a baby," Liz said, laughing. "I took care of her for a day, remember?" Max replied, unable to wipe the beaming smile off his face.

"Liz, would you stay for dinner, please?" Max asked. He wanted to spend more time with Hayley but most of all, he wanted Liz around. Liz saw the expectant look on his face. "Ok, I just gotta call home and tell my mum," Liz replied as she dialed home on her mobile phone. Max then called his mum and told her that they would be having a guest at dinner. After that, he came up with a crazy idea of taking Hayley to the park. "Liz, is it alright if we go to the park?" Max asked. "The park?" Liz replied, surprised that Max would come up with such a suggestion to pass the hour they had before dinner. "Yeah, I thought I'll let Hayley have her first playground experience," Max said. Liz smiled and nodded.

At the park, Max took Hayley to play on the swings and the slides. He handed Liz his camera, asking if she'd take pictures of him and Hayley together. So as Max had a ball of a time with Hayley, Liz took a dozen different pictures of them together. Seeing Max at ease with being a dad and seeing him being a kid again with Hayley, Liz couldn't help but laugh out loud. Max took the camera from Liz and took pictures of her laughing. "What was that for?" Liz exclaimed, 'hitting' Max for being cheeky. "You looked cute, laughing right there," Max said, smiling. "Come on, it's your turn to play with her. I kind of forgot how tiring it was playing around the playground." Liz laughed and took Hayley on another round of swings and slides. Max took a whole load of pictures of them, and another load of pictures of Liz alone.

Max loved the way her hair framed her face when the sun shone in. He loved the way she smiled when Hayley giggled after a ride down the slide. Seeing Liz play with Hayley made him head over heels for her again. "Hey Max, isn't it time to go back?" Liz asked. Max looked at his watch and realized an hour and a quarter had passed. He asked a babysitter who was sitting on the bench nearby if she could take a picture for him. "We have one more thing to do," Max said, as he asked the babysitter to take a picture for the 3 of them. "Ok, now we can go back," Max said, happy that he got his 'family' picture. "Kinda sneaky of you, Max Evans," Liz said, smiling at him cheekily. "I thought Hayley would like to remember her first playground experience," Max replied, as Liz handed Hayley over to him and they made their way back to Max's house.

"Liz!" Diane Evans exclaimed as she saw Liz walk in with Max. "Mrs. Evans! How are you?" Liz asked, as Diane hugged her. "I'm fine, thank you. How's your leg?" Diane asked Liz. "Its fine, Mrs. Evans," Liz replied. "Ok, dinner in five minutes. Isabel's not coming home for dinner today," Diane announced. Max and Liz then placed Hayley on Max's bed and the little girl fell asleep almost immediately. "Guess the playground wears her out, huh?" Max said quietly, not wanting to wake the already-asleep Hayley. "Come on, let's go get dinner." Max ushered Liz to the dining table outside.

At the dinner table, Phillip and Diane were full of questions about Hayley. "So what made you come by today, Liz?" Phillip asked. Liz didn't really know how to answer that as the real reason was that she missed Max. "I wanted to thank Max for taking care of Hayley that day," Liz said. About an hour after dinner, Liz said she'd better get home. She said goodbye to the Diane and Phillip who were extremely happy after getting to play with their granddaughter after dinner. Max offered to drive Liz home but she told him that she drove. So Max carried Hayley and walked Liz to the car.

"Liz, thank you so much for dropping by. I really appreciate it," Max said as he put Hayley in her car seat. "You're welcome, I had a good time today," Liz said, smiling at Max. "Can I come by someday?" Max asked. "Yeah, sure. But I'll be going back to Northwestern in a week so after this week, I'll only be around on the weekends," Liz told him. "No problem." Max said, beaming at Liz.

"Bye Max," Liz said as she climbed into the driver's seat. "Liz," Max called out as she was about to sit down and impulsively gave her a soft kiss on the lips. Liz didn't know how to reply to Max's kiss but she couldn't keep the huge smile off her face. "I'll see you soon. Bye Max," Liz said, smiling. "Bye Liz," Max said as Liz closed the car door and drove off.

'I'll make you fall in love with me all over again,' Max thought to himself. 'I'm gonna show Liz that she's the one I want and that I'd never hurt her again.'

TBC…