Hi!

Sorry for disappearing on you. I'm really busy at the moment (trying to work as much as possible so that I can finance my studies), but just know that I haven't forgotten about you!

I just have one thing to say. It might seem like I'm really smothering you with the love between Max and Tess, and some of you are growing a bit worried that Liz will become secondary to Tess. Keep that faith in our beloved dreamer couple and everything's gonna be okay. Tess was the love of Max's life... up until now... You can probably figured the rest out *wink*

Thank you so much for reading and for leaving feedback!! I love every word you write!!

Chapter 8


"What the hell were you thinking, Max?!!" a distraught mother cried.

"Isabel, calm-" the husband tried.

"Don't tell me to calm down," Isabel snapped, crushing her daughter to her chest. "I trusted you to take care of her! My God! You work with children! I would've thought that you would be better with children because of that. How difficult can it be to look after a three-year-old?!"

"Mommy, pwease stop yelling," a crying Michelle begged.

"Isabel, you're scaring Michelle," Alex said.

But Isabel wasn't listening. Her brother had lost her little girl and it was only a miracle that she hadn't been abducted.

"What if someone had taken her?! Taken her to the woods somewhere and cut her up?!"

"Isabel!" Alex hissed as Michelle's crying grew worse.

"I didn't… I saw... I never meant to..."

Concerned, Alex glanced at his brother-in-law. Anyone could see that Max was close to a breakdown and Isabel bringing up every fear and feeling of guilt that Max had probably been beating himself up with since Michelle's disappearance anyway didn't ease the situation one bit.

"What did you see, Max?" Alex asked, cutting through her wife's ramble.

Max averted his eyes. Isabel's eyes widened and she stared at him, her chin dropping, as realization hit her, "It was her. You think you saw her!"
"Who?" Alex asked, confused.

Isabel sank down on the bench behind her, barely noticing how Michelle crawled out of her arms and into her father's.

"This is it, Max. You need to go and see a therapist! You are sick!"

"They don't help me," Max said, his voice stronger. He had been at a grief counselor right after their death, but it hadn't helped him one bit. The counselor had only tried to pull out all the things he wanted to forget.

"Don't you understand?!" Isabel bit out between clenched teeth, tears of anger and fear running down her cheeks, leaving black streaks of her mascara in their wake. "You could've gotten Michelle killed, just because you thought you saw her!!"

Alex watched in horror as Max closed down in front of him. "Isabel, stop this! Let's talk about this when we get home."

"No, Alex," Isabel said without moving her eyes from Max's face. "He needs to hear this. He wasn't the only one who lost someone. I lost her too, Max! She was my best friend. But I moved on!! You have to let this go, Max! You almost sacrificed Michelle today, just because you can't let go of her!!"

Isabel's words were hitting him like thousand knives, cutting into his flesh, scraping against his bones. Ripping his heart and the walls he had started to build around himself apart. Her words hurt, because she was right. He could have gotten Michelle killed today just because he couldn't let go of his dead wife.

"Isabel! Stop this now!!" Alex yelled, making Isabel jump with the intensity of his voice. He had never raised his voice at her before. "Can't you see what you are doing to him?"
Isabel bit her lips together. "What I'm doing to him?! What about what he almost did to our daughter?!"

"I think you should have a little more understanding for Max's situation after today. Now you know how it feels to be terrified for the life of your child. Max has felt that too. Max's son died, Isabel! Michelle is still alive! Do you really think that Max intentionally tried to hurt Michelle? He loves her, Isabel. He would never hurt her!"

Isabel could feel her anger dissolve and her tear-filled eyes floated to Max's face. While the distorting clouds of anger dissipated, her eyes moved over her brother. His eyes were downcast, but she could read the defeated stance of his body like her own. Isabel's heart stabbed with guilt. What had she done?

"Max..." she said, her voice barely above whisper. He looked up. She could see that he was already trying to rebuild the withering walls around his hardening heart, but his eyes were always the last ones to hide his emotions. Some part of Isabel found the emotions she could now see in his eyes hopeful. They were the first real emotions she had seen in them since... since the day she had found him in the emergency room after they had heard that Tess and Josh had been in a car accident. He looked so lost and shattered. When she realized that, it that made the sudden, but ever-present feelings of guilt beneath the surface rise up and almost suffocate her.

"I'm so sorry..." Isabel said, her anger being wiped out of her system and replaced with regret for putting that expression on his face.

Max just shook his head.

"Uncle Max?" Michelle piped up. Her voice was filled with tears as she looked at her uncle from her position in her father's arms.

"Yes, Michelle?" Max said softly, his entire attention shifting to the little girl.

"I wuv you," she said.

Max felt the guilt crash into him again and he momentarily closed his eyes against the emotion before he reached out and took Michelle from Alex's arms, holding onto her tightly while he was fighting the tears in his eyes.

"Let's go home," he said, his voice short as he turned around with Michelle in his arms and began walking towards their car. The second his back turned against his sister and his brother-in-law, tears started to roll down his cheeks. He angrily brushed them away with the back of his hand.

"Why you sad?" Michelle asked.

Max looked down at her tear-stained face and forced himself to give her a reassuring smile. "I was just so afraid that I lost you today. Don't ever walk away like that from me again, okay?"

His voice was soft, pleading, defeated. Michelle pressed a wet warm kiss on his cheek and said with great seriousness. "I pwomise."

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"...and then he pulled out this really sick newspaper and tried to tell me that what he had seen had actually been published in the newspaper... Liz, are you listening to me?"
Liz's hand stilled while she was absent-mindedly moving her fork in her food and she looked up at her boyfriend, sitting across the table with a concerned look on his face.

"I'm sorry, Kevin," she said regretfully. "What were you saying?"

Kevin searched her face. "Is that headache still bothering you?"

"No," Liz answered, taking a sip from her water glass, "I'm just tired."

Kevin sighed. "I told you it would've been better if you hadn't spent so much time at the mall."

Liz resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yeah, you're probably right. Now, you were saying?"

Kevin studied her face a few seconds before placing a hand over hers on the table. "Liz, I'm sorry. I guess my ramble would bore anyone to death-"

Liz smiled. "No, Kev. Continue. I want to hear about your day."

"It's not that interesting anyway," Kevin said, "I want to hear about your day instead."

Liz quizzically raised one eyebrow. "You're serious?" she taunted.

"Hey, I always want to hear what you're up to," he said, offended.

Liz raised the other eyebrow.

"Okay, most of the time I want to hear what you've been up to," Kevin corrected himself.

"Really?" Liz asked.

Kevin searched her face and then grimaced. "Am I really that bad? Don't I ever listen to you?"

Liz smiled. "Of course you do, honey."

"I'm sorry," Kevin said with regret.

Liz rolled her eyes. "Okay, you want to know about my day?"

"Of course," Kevin answered.

Liz momentarily spaced out as her thoughts took a one-eighty towards a certain dark and handsome man she had met at the mall. The nameless stranger whom she would probably never meet again. But that didn't stop her from thinking about him. He and his little girl had been on her mind ever since they had met at the mall. During the couple of hours trip back home to Roswell, while Maria chattered happily beside her about some new boyfriend, Liz's thoughts had continuously been drawn back to the man and a small girl named Michelle. She had assumed that Michelle was his daughter. Was he married? Divorced? She hadn't thought about looking for a wedding band. Maybe it wasn't his child at all. Maybe it had been a child of a friend or just a relative. But why had he been so upset? Sure, terrible things could happen to a child on their own in a mall, but his behavior hadn't been that of just a worried parent.

He had been utterly destroyed. As though he would die or even kill himself if he didn't find the little girl. Then there were his eyes. There was something about them. She could read almost everything about him in those eyes. Every emotion. Like she knew him by just looking into his eyes. There had been so many feelings flickering in the depth of his amber eyes that she had almost felt smothered by the intensity. She got the deep instinctive feeling that he had lost someone dear to him. That he had lost a part of his soul, his reason for living. And it was as though Michelle had been one of the things that actually kept him moving forward. If that was the case, then his intense and overwhelming fear was more understandable.

He had fascinated her. Intrigued her. And the more she thought about it, she had to admit to herself that he had awoken something inside of her that had been buried for a while, something that might never have been alive. With just one touch of his hand and one look of his intense eyes, her legs had turned weak and she had felt more than when she had been the most intimate with Kevin. And that scared her. If the feelings Kevin stirred in her were that weak in comparison to the touch of a stranger, how strongly did she truly feel for Kevin? Should she really be with Kevin at all?

She had thought a lot about their relationship. She was a true romantic. A dreamer at heart. She wanted the passion she had read about in the books she had consumed when she was in the hospital. She wanted the soulmate kind of love. But reality had been hitting her over the head lately. Ever since she had gotten the transplant and her life had started for real, she had lost all reasons and justification for living in a dream world. It was time to get out in the real world and make a life of her own, outside the hospital walls. But was what she had with Kevin true love? How could she know?

She had nothing to compare it with. He had been her only boyfriend. There had never been anyone else with her. No one else had given her more than a second glance when she had told them about her heart condition. It had scared them off and, frankly, she wasn't that disappointed at the time because she was too afraid to let anyone in. She didn't want to be pitied or have them take care of her when she got worse. But Kevin had been there. He had stuck through. He had not given up and he had eased into her heart with his persistence and his loyalty.

But was it true love?

"Honey? Are you still with me?"

"Huh?" She looked up at him in confusion.

He smiled at her. "You kind of spaced out on me there for a second. Did you buy anything today?"

Liz took a deep breath and forced all of her confusing thoughts to the back of her head.

"I didn't, but Maria..."

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The VCR whizzed with the familiar sound of a tape being started. The TV screen was filled with various images, replacing each other in a slow tempo. The unprofessional shaking of the camera memorizing the events told that it was a home video. The volume was turned on, the sound level gradually increasing until the poorly-lit room was filled with the laughter, chatter and clinking of glasses and silver wears against plates.

"Isabel! Isabel, say something!"

The bright and laughing face of the stunning Isabel came into view.

"Tess, girlfriend," she giggled as she caught sight of her brother moving towards her, "I don't know what possessed you to marry my annoying little brother..."

"Hey, Max! Go away! This is a private movie shooting, man!" the cameraman shouted.

"What are you saying about me?" Max asked, walking up behind his sister. Isabel turned around and grabbed a hold of her brother and with an arm wrapped around his waist, she turned back to the camera, her expression now serious.

"Tess, I can't tell you in words how happy I am to see you marrying Max. I know that you will be happy together. Max adores you, just look at him now," she pulled Max closer to the camera, his happy and smiling face becoming clearer to the viewer, "I've never seen him any happier. You know, he has had a secret crush on you since the first day he laid eyes on you."

"Isabel..." Max said softly. The camera caught the tears glittering in her eyes and her warm, though teary, smile.

"Just continue doing what you do best - love each other. And everything will work out."

She put her arms around her brother and pulled him into a tight hug.

"I love you, little brother," she whispered, but loud enough for it to get recorded.

"Okay, enough with the mushy stuff," the cameraman said, but intense emotions cracked even his casual voice.

The scene changed to display a beautiful girl dressed all in white. Her cream-colored shoulders were left naked as the simply embellished dress clung beautifully to her soft feminine curves. Her otherwise wild and natural blonde soft curls were pinned to the back of her head, with soft curls escaping and falling down on the sides of her face. Softening her face. There were flowers in her hair. Daisies. They had always been her favorite.

"Oh, Michael," she smiled into the camera, her smile glowing, "You clean up pretty well."

"You don't look so bad either," came the reply from the person filming, the voice a little louder, yet muffled behind the camera.

"He always did have his way with compliments," the woman said, trying to sound sarcastic, but she was just too happy. Her eyes were tinkling with happiness and laughter.

"Yeah, well what can I say," he replied, "Do you have something to say to the camera, Tessie? Any last remarks as a free woman?"

Heartfelt laughter floated over her lips before she stepped closer to the camera and looked directly at whoever would be seeing the tape in the future, but directing herself to one person in particular.

"Baby, I'm planning on making you just as happy as you're making me," she said, "I will make all your dreams come true. I will spend my days loving you."

"Why, thank you, Tess. I would really love to pursue this but it's my duty as Best Man and everything to remind you that you'll be married to Max in about thirty minutes. But we could always work around it somehow of course. What are your opinions on an affair?"

Her laughter could thaw any frozen soul. "In your dreams, Michael!"

Her laughing face froze along with the activity in the background as he pressed pause on the VCR.

His eyes were glued to her smiling face, his angel. So happy. So excited about their future. And it would have been a great future. If they had been given the chance to live it. Max picked up the remote control and pressed forward. The faces flashed before him. Every good wish, every happy tear. His mother's happy face, his father's laughing face. Tess' proud parents. Alex goofy grin. He pressed play again. The wind was blowing in the loose tendrils of her honey colored hair. The air played with the white fabric of her wedding dress. On the screen, she was looking up at him, awe and love in her eyes. His hand lifted to her cheek. As he sat there in the darkness of their house, he could still remember how he could barely keep himself from touching her. How his hands had throbbed during the ceremony with the need and longing to touch her. How his eyes kept drifting to her lips, wanting to taste the sweet nectar of them. How waves of intense euphoric happiness had coursed through him every time the thought entered his mind that he was going to marry the girl of his dreams. The only girl he had ever loved. The only girl he wanted to spend his life with.

"You may now kiss the bride," the priest said in the background, a knowing smile on his lips as he watched the feathery touches of Max's hand across Tess' cheek. Max bent down to taste her lips and in that simple act sealing their promise to each other. The second Max's lips were to touch hers, Max pressed the remote control and turned off the TV.

Tess Harding was the only girl he had ever loved. The only girl he would ever love. And now he had to let her go. Now he was forced to move on. The phone started to ring as he walked towards his bedroom. But he didn't notice. With the incessant ringing in the background, Max took two sleeping pills to keep the haunting dreams at bay and went to sleep. On the other end of the unanswered line, Isabel put down the phone with a sigh.

TBC...