A/N: Hmm. Not many reviews for this story at all. Oh well, I can't get it out of my head. So, I'm marching onward.

Disclaimer: Same as first chapter.

Chapter: 2 Dust in the Wind

I close my eyes, only for a moment and that moments gone

Dust in the wind

All we are is dust in the wind…

ONE YEAR LATER: CARLSBAD NEW MEXICO

Liz took a generous sip from the bottle of Molson before sitting it down on scarred wooden table inside Juan's Bar and Grill. As she looked around the establishment she noted it was pretty crowded for a Thursday night.

Not that she patronized the place enough to really know, but on the rare occasions that her meetings ran late, like tonight, she would drop in and have dinner before heading home.

As she waited for her grilled Chicken Ceasar Salad to be brought out, Liz sighed with fatigue. Sometimes working in Real-estate wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Oh she loved her job well enough, but her latest clients the Andersons were in a word pains.

In their mid to late forties, the wife was a fake red-headed bitch. And the husband…well, he had a receding hair line and a roving eye. More than once Liz had found herself under his intense scrutiny. His wife, who had also noticed, claimed Liz reminded them of their daughter who'd drowned when she was ten.

Not a very pleasant thought.

However, Liz believed her. Or a least she pretended to. Now, if they'd only buy a house and get out of her life.

No such luck.

They were just too picky. More like pretentious. Or a least the wife was anyway. Nothing Liz showed them seemed to satisfy her. Liz was quickly coming to the scary conclusion that nothing ever would.

Raising the bottle of beer to take another sip, she heard an argument breaking out in the far left corner of the room where the pool table was located.

"I say ya cheated," growled the beefy looking guy in a blue hat that sported the words 'Wheels Trucking'.

"Whatever," slurred his much leaner companion. "Just pay me my money."

Liz couldn't see the second guys face, but she sure as hell recognized his voice. She would have recognized his voice anywhere in the world.

But it couldn't be. Could it?

Before she could come up with a decisive answer the argument turned physical. She watched the smaller guy take a drunken swing at the mountain. He missed.

The mountain didn't.

His ham-like-fist connected with deadly accuracy against the other guys jaw and he went tumbling back. Several women screamed. Liz included. Though she was the only one to go rushing forward as she finally got a look at the guys face.

"Max!" Panic raced down her spine as she crouched on the floor next to his fallen body.

Hearing his name called, Max briefly opened one bloodshot eye. "Hi-ya Lizzie," he said, right before he fell unconscious.

-&-

"What the fuck?" Max muttered as he opened bleary eyes and blinked several times.

"Hello to you too," Liz said tiredly from the chair next to his bed.

"Where the fuck am I? And what the fuck happened?"

"One, I could do without all the foul language. Two, you're in the emergency room. Mild concussion. And three, you thought you were David and decided to take on Goliath. It was quite the show. Especially when you not so gracefully slammed into the hardwood floor. The locals thought it was a real hoot. I on the other hand could have done without the entertainment."

"What the hell were you doing there anyway?" He glanced disdainfully at her skirt-suit and silk blouse. "Tryin to pick someone up?"

"If you must know smart-ass, I was getting dinner," Liz glared at him angrily.

"If that's your story," he smirked before sitting up and swinging his legs off the edge of the bed.

"Be careful!" She jumped up to steady him as he swayed dizzily.

Max rested his head against her chest as he tried to catch his bearings. Ok, so maybe he'd been a little hasty.

Liz who'd become uncomfortably aware of where his head rested began to babble. "You should count your blessings. Good thing I was there. God knows what would have happened if I wasn't."

Max lifted his head and smiled sardonically. "I would have gotten up and gone home with the blonde who was eyeing me all night. Her big blessings would have been much more appreciated than your smaller ones," he glanced pointedly at Liz breasts.

"Fine, I'm outta here," she said quietly stepping away from him. Liz grabbed her pocketbook from the chair while hiding the hurt in her eyes. Fishing for her keys and finding them, she turned towards the door to leave.

Max sighed deeply as he took in the stiff set of her shoulders. Way to go Max, he thought despondently. "Look Liz, I'm sorry ok. As you can see I'm not very good company. Haven't been for a while now."

Liz knew he was speaking the truth. He'd all but disappeared after Tess's funeral. His own family had not seen him in more than six months. Or so she'd heard. So it was doubly ironic that she, of all people, would run into him in some backwoods honky-tonk.

She turned to face him and couldn't help but notice how sexy he was. He looked amazing in well worn blue jeans and long sleeved green tee-shirt. Even his hair which was over-long and beginning to curl suited him somehow. His scruffy looking week old beard was the icing on the cake, even with the slight bruise on his jaw. Until you caught a glimpse of his eyes.

They were dead.

No sorrow, no joy, no grief. Nothing. Just dead. In that moment Liz's anger simply fell away. Her heart broke for him.

All over again.

Clearing her throat she asked, "You have a way to get home?" She of course had driven him to the hospital.

He shook his head and then winced as the pounding intensified.

"If you give me the number I'll notify your family before I leave."

"No thanks." The last thing he needed was his family descending on him with sympathy and reprimands. They didn't even know he was back in town yet. He wanted to keep it that way. At least for a little while.

"Max," she gently scolded.

"I said no!"

"Will you at least let me drive you then?"

"Will that stop you from calling my family?

"Yeah." Liz agreed with her fingers crossed behind her back.

"Fine."

-&-

One hour later Max was released from the hospital with a prescription for Motrin 600, and they were on their way. He gave Liz driving directions to the apartment complex where he lived. For the first five minutes of their drive the silence in the car was companionable. The only sound that could be heard was the steady rainfall that had started right before they left the hospital.

Then Max opened his mouth.

"So tell me Liz, why were you really at the Honky-Tonk?"

"Don't you mean Juan's Bar & Grill?"

"Same difference," he shrugged.

"I told you already," she said calmly, her hands on the steering wheel white knuckled and tense.

He looked at her knowingly before saying, "Yeah, cause people go there all the time for the food."

"Would you just SHUT UP please?" Liz said tightly.

"Truth hurts, huh?" He delivered these words with a smirk and was startled as Liz suddenly pulled over to the side of the road.

The slap she delivered across his face was even more of a surprise. It resounded loudly in the now silent car.

"Let me tell you something about truth," she grit out. "If I wasn't driving you home I'd be huddled in my bed right now. With the lights on. Why? Because every time there's a storm I'm reminded of the last time I drove in a storm." Liz watched as understanding began to dawn in Max's eyes.

"That's right Max. The night of the accident. God knows you have a right to grieve. And I know how much you loved Tess. But I was in that car too dammit. I was in that car too. And you…you can't possibly imagine how much that night still haunts me," her voice broke momentarily before regaining strength again. "So just sit back, shut up, and let me get you home in one fucking piece!"

A/N: I know, I know, another angst filled chapter. Although it gets better it's still going to be a bumpy ride. I also know that Max and Liz may seem out of character but not really. The Max in this story is one full of grief and is coping with it the best way he can. And Liz…well, she's sort of like first season Liz before she became a rug. Next chapter you'll get to meet the Evans and Maria, as well as be provided with the high school back story on Max and Liz. Reviews make me write faster so you know what to do.