Now, on you go!<center>Part 11</center>
Michael ground his teeth, clutched the steering wheels with both hands tightly and stared straight ahead, refusing to look at the passenger seated next to him. He was sorely afraid that if he let go of the steering wheel or if he turned to look at Maria, he would surely strangle her. It had barely been five minutes since she had sat in the car and already she was chatting away a mile a minute.
Does she even pause to breathe? Michael wondered as he, with increasing impatience, tapped his fingers on the wheel while he waited for the light to turn green at the crossing. God, how can anyone stand her?
Maria, oblivious to his mood, continued on with her diatribe about her life in Roswell. “I mean, it isn’t as if I intend to spend the rest of my life in Roswell,” she was saying, “But it isn’t easy getting out of small towns. I’d do anything to be able to go to New York and try my hands at a singing career.” She turned ninety degrees in her seat to look at Michael eagerly. “Have you ever been to New York?” she asked.
Sighing with impatience, Michael began to nod but Maria cut him off before he could even speak. “Of course you must have. I doubt any true big city resident has not been to New York,” she stated with a flippant wave of her hand.
“And what makes you think I’m from a big city?” Michael asked, slightly alarmed. Did she know about them? Had Kyle, being Maria’s friend, told her all about Liz and him?
“Oh, honey, it’s written all over you,” Maria laughed. “Usually I can spot a city man a mile away.”
“Just how good friends are you with Max?” Michael asked out of the blue, switching gear in hopes of startling her and steering her away from the direction the conversation could take. And maybe, just maybe, to get a feel of the guy who had Liz so captivated.
Maria just raised an eyebrow at him, giving him a knowing look. She had been expecting it in a way. She had been sure that sooner or later Michael would ask and she had been prepared for it. What she hadn’t been prepared for was the protective and worried look in his eyes as he asked her.
Some part of her felt touched by the depths of his concern for his friend. He didn’t appear the sort who cared easily, if at all but obviously he was very protective of Liz. Without meaning to, she laid a light hand on his arm.
“He won’t hurt her,” she promised him.
Michael glanced down to where her hand was then back up at her, his eyes cold and disapproving. She saw and immediately removed her hand feeling embarrassed and foolish that she had been thrilled by the power she felt in the muscles of his arm.
“Liz doesn’t need any complications in her life right now,” Michael replied, ignoring the warmth that lingered on his arm where her soft hand had been moments before. “She doesn’t need Max. In fact, he’s the last thing she needs.”
“Well, maybe you should let Liz decide that for herself.”
“She’ll just get hurt again,” Michael replied, forcing the anger back. “And I promised her, promised myself, that I wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Have you ever considered that maybe you can’t shield her from everything?” Maria asked, sensing that there was a lot Michael was feeling guilt over.
“Well, this is something I can shield her from!” Michael retorted. “Liz doesn’t have the time or inclination to get into a relationship. Especially one with a virtual stranger she met in a park.” He shot her a sardonic look. “I assume that’s what he wants to talk about right? He wants to have a go at her?”
Maria stiffened, feeling that he had just somehow insulted Max. “If by that you mean does he want to ask her out, then yes.” She looked at him curiously. “Is it that bad that he does?”
“Yes!” Michael automatically shot out, and then he ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “Maybe…”
Maria cocked her brow at him. “Well, is that a yes or a no?”
“I don’t know…,” Michael muttered. He knew that for Liz to get into any kind of relationship right now might not be a good idea, especially since they didn’t know how long they were going to be in Roswell. He hoped she considered that before she did anything rash. But at the same time, he had to admit to himself that the look in Liz’s eyes when she had seen Max had been…disturbing. If he didn’t know better, he could have sworn she was half in love with him already.
What a stupid thought. He shook his head wryly. Of course she couldn’t be. She didn’t even know the guy.
“Max has been my best friend since as far back as kindergarten and I can assure you that he’s the most noble, kind, caring and sweet guy you’ll ever come across,” Maria stated emphatically.
“Sounds like a puppy dog,” Michael muttered.
Maria’s eyes narrowed, anger flushing her skin. “Watch what you say about my friend here,” she snapped. “I wasn’t too happy about the fact that Max wanted to pursue Liz but I backed him up on it because he is my friend. Now if you’re Liz’s friend, you’ll back whatever decision she makes!”
“That sounded more like an order than advice,” Michael seethed, steadily growing angrier. He pulled the car to a halt outside the Crashdown and turned to glare at her. “I don’t take well to orders! Liz and I can take care of ourselves and I know how to be a friend! I’ve been taking care of Liz all this time and I’m going to keep on doing so.”
“You pompous jackass!” Maria nearly yelled, struggling with the seatbelt. “Can’t you see how unhappy she is? Even I could tell when she first came here. But now, when Max is around, her eyes don’t look so haunted. Now I don’t know what the hell happened but I do know this. Max makes her happy, and if not happy then at least he removes that pained look from her eyes! She may try to fight it, to deny it but he does and there’s no backing away from it. He cares for her and if you stop being so pig-headed and over protective, you’d see that she does too! And that maybe he’s what she needs after all!”
With that, she pushed open the door and after getting out, slammed it behind her. Then she strode angrily into the café with Michael staring after her. He stared in the direction she had gone for a long moment before letting out a shaky breath, and started the car again. He refused to think about that fact that Maria had hit a nerve.
“God help whoever dates her!” he muttered to himself as he pulled out of the lot.
<center>*****</center>
She walked about her small, cramped hotel room in somewhat of a daze. She picked up Michael’s clothes that he had carelessly left on the floor and folded them neatly before putting them on his bed. The simple act kept her mind from wandering to places she didn’t want it to. It kept her from thinking about Max, about the proposed date…about the kiss.
You’re not thinking about that, Liz! she told herself sternly when she found her mind wandering to it and remembering. It would do no good to recall this kiss.
But what a kiss it had been! she sighed internally, frozen in place, a dreamy look in her eyes as she felt the warmth tingle her lips and run down to her toes. It had felt like liquid fire had been racing down her spine. She had been so sure that she’d melt in his arms in another moment. Even now she felt her legs go weak beneath her as she thought about it.
No! She shook her head to dispel the thoughts forcibly. I’m not going to think about it!
There was no way she would even consider Max’s request for a date. It was absurd, it was unsafe… it had felt right.
Carefully avoiding looking at the desk where she had kept the piece of paper Max had given her a while back, she crossed the room and got her own clothes out from her bag. Then she headed into the bathroom to take a shower.
But it was only seconds later that she was storming back out, a frustrated look on her face. She shot the piece of paper on the desk a dark, accusing look before grabbing it and staring down at the address written on it.
Max’s address.
Liz bit her lip as she stared at it. She couldn’t deny that she felt something when she was around Max. It was more than a crush, more than attraction. It was a deep set familiarity. She should have been scared of what she felt when she was around him. She should have been wary and cautious but some part of her deep inside just knew that Max was safe, that he was the one.
It can’t hurt to go see him, she thought to herself, curling her hand around the paper tightly. One date, that’s all. How could one date be dangerous; especially when it felt so right?
“So, does this mean you’re actually considering going out on this date with Max?” Michael’s voice came from across the room. He stood leaning against the door, arms crossed, and a frown on his face.
Liz hadn’t heard Michael come in, nor had she felt him yet she wasn’t surprised to find him standing there. She looked at him blankly for a moment, considering his question. Was she considering it? Had she already made up her mind without really knowing it?
Maybe the decision had been made the moment Max had kissed her.
“Don’t you ever feel it, Michael?” Liz asked him, her eyes far away as she recalled the first moment she had seen Max. “Haven’t you ever felt like there’s something in the air when you meet someone for the first time?” She smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around herself. “And the feeling only intensifies the more you see that person again.”
Michael fidgeted slightly, recalling the moment he had met Isabel and Maria. Both had been different moments but both times he had felt something. With Isabel it had been old, forgotten yet familiar, with Maria it had been electric, mind blowing.
“It’s called chemistry, Liz,” Michael replied, not sounding entirely sure of it himself. “It’s volatile and temporary. Over in a flash, leaving one hurt and alone.”
“Maybe…,” Liz agreed, “But I’m telling you with Max it’s more. It’s different. I want to know what it is that I’m feeling. Is it just chemistry, just wild attraction or something more? And I want to know why it’s so familiar, why it stirs up memories that I can’t clearly recall yet….”
“Sometimes what feels the safest can end up causing the most damage.”
“If I don’t at least try things out with Max right now I’m going to probably regret it for the rest of my life,” Liz replied. She shook her head, her eyes pleading with him. “I don’t want to be left wondering about ‘what ifs’, Michael.”
When she saw that Michael remained unconvinced, she walked over to him and took his hands in hers. He wasn’t forcing her to stay but he wasn’t happy about her going as well. She wished he would back her in this one hundred percent but she was also wise enough to know that that was probably never going to happen. She’d just have to settle for convincing Michael that this was something she had to do.
“Michael,” she said, squeezing his hand gently, reassuringly as she looked into his eyes. “Sometimes things happen that you don’t like or approve of but then not everything will go as you want them to. Not everything is gong to stay under your control.”
Michael flinched inwardly, Liz’s words sounding like an echo of Maria’s. There was no fighting it. Liz was going to do what she wanted, regardless of what he said. The best thing for him to do would be to keep his eyes open and his senses alert.
With a sigh, he nodded finally and gave Liz a brotherly hug.
“Be careful,” he whispered.
<center>*****</center>
The sunlight glinted off the drawn windows of the house. The flowers that were planted along the side of the house gave off the sweet smell of spring. Liz bit her lip, tugging at her hair, before pushing it behind her ear.
The place looked normal enough. But then again, looks could be deceiving. She shot a look behind her at the street, tempted to turn and run. There was still time to back out of this. No one would know, especially not Max. He wouldn’t have to….
“Since when did you turn into such a coward, Liz Parker?” she asked herself with a shake of her head. “And such a rude one at that?” She couldn’t leave him hanging like this. If not out of anything more than courtesy, she had to at least tell him her decision face to face.
Pushing back all her nervousness, she shook back her hair and readjusted her skirt. She knew these were just excuses to prolong the moment but she didn’t think there was anything wrong in allowing herself time to calm her fluttering nerves. Finally, after taking a deep breath, she pushed the doorbell.
Would Max answer the door? she wondered nervously as she heard the muted chimes ring through the house, or would someone else?
Before she could think too much about it though, the door flew open to reveal a smiling Max. She startled, surprised by the speed. She hadn’t even heard anyone approach.
“Hi there!” he greeted her with an affable smile.
Liz stood there staring at him for a moment, just taking in how he looked. She didn’t think anyone could look so good in jeans and a shirt. “I-I…,” she began, slightly tongue-tied. “I didn’t think you’d be home,” she said stupidly.
Max grinned as he leaned casually against the door. “I made it a point to stay home today.”
Seeing his almost smug smile Liz’s eyes narrowed and her nervousness evaporated, changing to annoyance. The way he was smiling and talking, it made it appear that he knew she wouldn’t be able to stay away. It made her seem desperate and…unable to resist him.
“You knew I’d come,” she stated, the annoyance in her voice masking the trickle of pleasure she felt. She may be annoyed at his presumptuous attitude but it made her feel special, too. It told her that he had been looking forward to see her again.
“No, but I’d hoped,” Max answered honestly. He held the door wide open then and nodded inside. “Want to come in? Maybe have a drink or something?”
Liz shook her head, nervous once more as she recalled why she was here. “No, I just want to say this quickly before I lose my courage and my coming in would only prolong it.”
Max looked at her curiously, stepping outside to join her. “Okay, it seems like you’ve made up your mind.”
Liz didn’t bother to reply as she bit her lip, looking almost shyly down at her feet before looking back up at him. She gave him a small smile as she pushed back a strand of hair from her face.
“All right,” she replied.
For all the confidence Max had shown a while earlier, he seemed surprised by her answer right now. “All right?” he asked, his voice hopeful. “Does that mean…?”
“All right I’ll go out with you,” Liz rushed to explain, her eyes sparkling and her stomach fluttering even as she told herself it was just one date. “But it’s just one date, Max. I’m only doing this to figure out what this is between us…and maybe to try to get you out of my system. God knows I’m in deeper than I care to be.”
At this Max laughed and reached out to play with her hair while his eyes roamed all over her face, making her blush. “That might be a bit of a problem,” he told her, pulling her closer to him gently. He was thrilled by this. He may have hoped that she’d say yes but until now he hadn’t really believed she would. “Because, Liz Parker, you certainly are imbedded into my system. And I don’t want that changing.”
“Max…,” Liz stammered, unnerved by the intensity of his words and the look in his eyes. She pushed lightly against him, away from the kiss she knew this was leading to. “Rule one: We take this slow.”
“We have rules?” Max asked, amused slightly.
“Yes, yes we do,” Liz replied pulling herself free from his grasp. Taking a small step back, she looked at him seriously. “That was rule one. Rule two is that this date be as normal as possible. No pressure, no expectations for anything more.”
“No pressure,” Max repeated, nodding. “Got it. Do we have rule number three?”
Liz smiled slightly. “I’ll be sure to tell you as I think of them.”
“Do your rules include no kissing on the first date?” Max asked, his tone teasing.
Liz considered his tone, and couldn’t help teasing back. “That’s…under debate.” She smiled.
“Well, while you debate that…” Max stepped closer to her and kissed her softly. He didn’t let it go on for long but it was enough to make Liz’s knees feel weak. Liz knew she should protest but she couldn’t find it in her to say anything. She had enjoyed that brief kiss way too much.
Max let go of her quickly though, putting some distance between them. “If we’re going to do this then we’d better do this right,” he told her. “I’ll pick you up at seven tomorrow. Be ready.”
“Where will we be going?” Liz asked curiously.
Max smiled. “It’s a surprise.”
<center>TBC. . .</center>
But since that's still some ways off, here's a brand spanking new part!
im still have to go read ur story! 
I thought that dream occured the 1st and 2nd night they were here and accoridng to my timeline it's been around 4 5 days since they have been in Roswell...hmm...I'll go check this out. Thanks for brining it up!
But then I do have a new story I'm currently writing!