Part Nine

Roswell, New Mexico: Ten Years Prior

"Where do you think you're going?"

Liz tensed at the voice before turning slowly and meeting her stepfather, Paul's, eyes.

"I'm leaving."

They looked at each other for a moment before he called out to her mother, never taking his eyes from hers, "Nancy, I think you need to get here quick honey."

Liz twitched; fighting the urge she had to run down the stairs and out of the apartment before her mother could get here. That would be the easier way to go but Liz was done with taking to road most traveled.

She'd been done with that since she decided to take Max on.

Nancy slowly walked out her room, putting an earring on with an indiscernible expression, until she saw the suitcase. Her gate slowed to a stop, "What's going on?"

"Liz says she's leaving."

A small smile curved the corners of her mouth. "To go where?"

"Away from here," the brunette said quickly, not liking the looks on their face.

"With that boy?"

Liz turned toward her stepfather with surprise.

"It's gotten everywhere that he was expelled and now, all of a sudden, you're talking about leaving. It's pretty obvious you two have made some sort of plans."

Nancy stepped forward with a sympathetic look and touched her daughter's shoulder. "Tell me that's not true."

Liz shook the hand away and stood taller when everything in her was saying to shrink back, "It is true."

Paul and Nancy looked at one another and laughed gently and that was the last straw. Their daughter picked up her bags and started her way down the staircase.

"Liz honey, don't be stupid. What about Harvard?"

"There are other schools," she replied, not even turning around, unwilling to giving to them a second glance.

Nancy hurried down the stairs and stepped in front of her, "Are you serious?"

Liz looked at her then, "I love him and I'm leaving."

She watched understanding down on her mother's face. Understanding and disbelief, "I'll be here when you come back…"

"I'm not coming back," but Nancy kept on going as if she hadn't spoken a word.

"Because that's what parents are for."

Liz pushed past her and made her way to the door stepping out into the sunlight.

"When you fall on your face, I'll be here to put you back together," Nancy yelled but Liz wasn't listening anymore.

Day One

Liz dragged her suitcase into The Desert Rose with a sweaty face and a smile.

This was it.

This was the day that she would finally be able to be with the only man she'd ever loved. She plopped down on the side of the bed, contemplated taking a shower before Max got there and decided against it. She smiled naughtily, he would need to wash down too when he got there, might as well conserve water.

Day Two

She felt fear niggling her from the back of her brain but ignored it. She'd been trying to call him all yesterday and this morning with no answer. She thought about calling the hospitals but didn't because she was too afraid of what she might hear.

"He probably just got caught up in something," she said lowly. "He'll be here soon."

Day Three

"You really need to call me Max alright."

She hung the phone up harder than she had yesterday during her calls to him and went to the lobby to find a phone book. The fear that had been at the back of her mind the day before was now at the forefront of her conscientiousness and no matter how afraid she was, she had to know what had happened to him. Liz went to her room and sat on the edge of the bed and called Roswell Regional.

"Hello," she said with a shake in her voice when they answered. "Was a Maxwell Evans admitted to this hospital sometime within the last 3 days?"

She let out a sigh of relief when the answer came back in the negative. "Thank you."

She hung up ran her finger down the page in the yellow book and picked out another number.

Day Four

"You need to pick up your fucking phone," he hadn't been admitted to any hospitals or arrested. She slammed it down harder this time than she had the two days prior and breathed hard with wide eyes. The fear that had been consuming her lately was being replaced by something else.

A realization.

A realization that there was something worse than his death.

His being alive.

Day Five

Liz had never felt so empty of any emotion in her entire life, just laid on her back across the bed and watched the water stain on her ceiling widen in diameter every day. The phone rang for the first time during her stay and something inside of her stuttered. She raised herself up and looked at it with narrowed eyes.

It was him.

There was no way she should be so sure of that but she was, got into a seated position, picked it up and let it hover over the base before slamming it back down, picking it up again and calling the front desk.

"Good morning. May I have the number for a taxi company?"

Liz dragged her things through the Crashdown's front door and ran into her mother and father in the break room getting ready to open for the day.

They didn't say anything and Liz almost breathed a sigh of relief before Nancy spoke up. "Your exam is tomorrow. Study hard honey."

Present Day

"Liz?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts and looked at James.

"Yes?"

He laughed nervously and touched her forehead. "Are you okay? I've been calling you for five minutes."

"I'm fine," she said quickly, moving out from under his grasp and starting to apply her eyeliner, "I was just thinking is all."

"About turning the big two seven?"

"Exactly," she lied with a laugh. "When did I get so old?"

"You're the most beautiful old lady I've ever seen," he remarked, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

"Thank you," she replied, smiling.

He sat at the foot of the bed and watched her apply her makeup. "Did you invite Max?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

She put her long-last lipstick down and turned toward him. "Would you have preferred I hadn't?"

"No," he said quickly, "but I know you two had a falling out."

"She waved that off and turned back toward the mirror, "we have a complicated relationship but I…he's my friend and I want him at my birthday.

"Okay, but we have to get a move or we're going to be late."

She threw her makeup into a small clutch and spun around in the black tube dress that hit her at the mid thigh she had brought specially for this occasion. "How do I look?"

He let his eyes drift from the curls at the top of her head to the red painted tips of her toes and she felt herself tingle,

"Fabulous."

"Just what I wanted to hear."

-0-

"And you know this girl from high school?"

Max realized he was shredding the napkin he'd been given in his hand and made an effort to stop, "Yes. Haven't I said this like five times already?"

She rolled her eyes at his prickly demeanor and glanced out the window. The invitation had said to meet at Restaurant August at seven and they'd been here since 6:15. She looked at him and noticed his nervousness.

"There was nothing else between you two?

He turned to her quickly, "why would you think that?"

"Because we got here 45 minutes early and you've shredded that napkin so small it could be snow. Why are you so nervous?"

He was about to say something when a pretty blond girl and a tall blond man sat down beside him. The same pretty girl who'd been singing in the nightclub the second time he'd seen Liz, the same pretty girl who had been working the desk at Pfizer and Eliza's small gasp confirmed it.

"Maria."

It wasn't a question but she answered it like it was. "That's me. How you been Max?"

"Well, and you?"

She shrugged and took a sip of water. "Pretty good, how's Michael?"

His eyes widened at the memory that those two had indeed dated for awhile. "He's good."

"Sorry to cut in," Eliza said breathlessly, "but I love your music…"

"Thank you," Maria replied with a genuine smile.

"I had no idea you two knew one another."

"We didn't really," she said slowly. "We just ran in the same circles in high school."

Maria turned back to Max then. "Will you tell Michael I said hello?" He wanted to ask her what had happened between them, from what he could remember, Michael had liked this girl, but they didn't know each other well and he didn't want to overstep his bounds.

Eliza elbowed him in the side and cleared her throat. "Oh," he said, "of course I will," but then Liz was walking through the door and all of his attention was focused on her. He didn't see his date's narrowed eyes and frown as he moved to pull out Liz's chair.

They all smiled and sat as Maria introduced her date, Dave Strong, and Max introduced his, Eliza Sands. They all shook hands and smiled and ordered drinks and appetizers and Max pretended like he wasn't sizing James up or watching the way Liz would lean into him as he slung his arm along the back of her chair and whispered in her ear.

He pretended he wasn't jealous and that he wasn't looking for a reaction out of Liz when he pushed the hair out of Eliza's face and smiled. It was petty and stupid, she hadn't spoken to him for two weeks after that debacle of a lunch and he should be happy with what he had. Eliza was a great girl and Liz seemed happy with this James guy but he couldn't stop himself.

He watched her eyes flit toward him over the course of the dinner, watched her expression get more and more annoyed.

"It's time for presents right," Maria asked too loudly with a laugh sucking down her third midori sour.

"Sure, we can do that now."

Everyone let out a whoop of happy drunkenness and pulled out their gifts. Maria gave Liz a green cashmere scarf, and James gave her a beautiful diamond bracelet. Max was suddenly feeling nervous as Liz hugged her boyfriend with a happily surprised smile after she opened his present.

"I've been saving up since last year."

She kissed him on the lips. "Thank you I love it."

He considered telling her he hadn't been able to choose a gift on the short notice he'd been given about his invite but decided against it.

"Here you go."

She opened the gift and didn't say anything for a second.

James looked down on it with raised eyebrows. "My Girl? Liz, you like that movie?"

"Why…," she said without continuing because he spoke over her.

"Because I know you."

The jovial aura of the able felt as though it had been sucked into a black hole at his words. Everyone was quiet, suspicious eyes darting between the two when Liz stood quickly and made an excuse abut going to the bathroom.

James was about to follow her when Max intercepted him. "I said something to her, let me go and fix it?"

The red head looked like he wanted to protest but replied, "alright,' and hesitantly took a seat instead.

-0-

Max stood outside the women's bathroom and decided he was going to apologize for his behavior tonight. He honestly hadn't come out here to try and win her back or make her jealous but…Then she was exiting into the hallway and he had her up against the wall and all his good intentions flew out the window.

"What are you do…"

And he was kissing her and she was kissing him back.

This was self destructive behavior.

This was selfish behavior.

This was Max at 17 behavior.

He should've backed off but he bent his knee and pushed it between her thighs instead. "When does James go to work?"

"Nine," as soon as she said it, he could see the regret. "Not that I'm saying you can come over or anything…"

"Call off work tomorrow."

This was crazy, Dr. Culling was not going to like what he was going to be told in their weekly meeting but Max didn't care.

"I will do no such thing," she replied indignantly, pushing herself against him, panting.

"Where do you hide your key?"

That seemed to pull her out of her fog and she pushed him away. "We're not doing this Max. I have James and you have Eliza and we're happy. Let's not fuck this up okay."

He looked at her and swallowed, really hearing her and felt embarrassed as hell over his actions. "You're right, I'm sorry."

She was about to say something else when…

"Liz? Max?"

They looked over to see James at the end of the hall watching them curiously. Liz shut her mouth and went to take his hand. "I'm alright, just had a bit too much to drink. I was feeling a little nauseous."

He started to look between the two of them again when she abruptly began dragging him back to the table without waiting for a reply. Max following behind quietly and the three of them sat down.

"So," Liz said, picking up her menu. "Who wants desert?"