"I… my feet hurt… new boots, you know…" she revealed with a shrug like it was no big deal when Max kept looking at her speculatively, but the truth was that her feet were killing her.
She had already been in a bit of discomfort earlier when she had been dancing, even if it had still been perfectly bearable then, but walking in them through half of town was something she would have definitely done without. Max's house was definitely much farther than the Crashdown would have been.
"Why haven't you said so before?" Max stopped and inquired, knowing by experience with his sister that no matter how pretty they could be, new boots could be a bitch, too.
Too often Isabel had pranced around like nothing at all, only to cry her eyes out at the end of the day, while he laughed his ass off at her own stubbornness. Only this time it was Liz and strangely he really didn't feel like laughing.
Liz didn't really answer this time, already embarrassed that he had noticed something was indeed wrong, but Max wouldn't have any of it.
"Come here!" in a bold move, he drew her closer to him and ignoring her gasp of surprise, he let go of the hand he had been holding only to wrap her arm around his neck instead, and before Liz could even think about protesting he had scooped her up into his strong arms.
"Oh… what… what are y-you doing?" she squealed out, her flushed face only an inch from his now, even if Max didn't seem to mind or even notice their sudden closeness.
"It's still a good ten minutes to my house… and you're hurting…" he said for all explanation, like this was a normal occurrence for him, and though Liz appreciated his concern, she just couldn't let him do that.
"No… I… p-put me down… you don't have to do this…" she tried to say and force him to put her back down, but Max wouldn't hear of it.
"It's okay… it's nothing… but stop moving or I'll drop you!… Relax, okay!" Max replied, an amused smile tugging at his lips. It wasn't like it would be a problem for him to carry her all the way to his house considering that she weighed nothing in his arms. He was more preoccupied about what all her fidgeting could do to him or how badly he could react to having her this close, his spontaneous reaction having definitely not quell his desire for her. On the contrary. "Is this okay?… I'm not hurting your side, am I?" he couldn't help wondering nonetheless, even if he was doing his best to hold her to him as gently as he could.
"No… it's… i-it's fine…" Liz stuttered, having probably forgotten all about the pain she had been in the second she had felt his arms around her. The only thing she could still feel now was how his muscles rippled under that shirt, and how strong he was.
"Good!" Max breathed out and just like that their argument seemed to be settled, bringing their conversation to an end, at least for then.
It took her quite a while, but gradually Liz indeed felt herself relax, to the point where she was finally comfortable enough to just lay her head against his shoulder and just hold him tight while he carried her, and Max almost wished they had still more to walk when they rounded the corner of his street. She felt so right in his arms, cradled protectively against his chest, he didn't want to ever let go, even if that was clearly not a possibility.
The sound of a car approaching them startled them both, and as Max stepped on the sidewalk to avoid being hit, he felt Liz burrowing her head in the crook of his neck, the move and most particularly the warmth of her breath directly on his skin nearly making him drop her for real this time.
The driver honked as he passed them by and as Max heard the passenger yell a sly '
Evans, you're the man!', he couldn't help chuckling softly, recognizing one of the school jokes who lived a few streets down. Obviously, even if he was pretty sure that they hadn't seen who the girl in his arms was, they had had no difficulties identifying him, and he didn't doubt that he would hear some of their comments back at school on Monday morning.
"It's okay… they didn't have time to really see you!" Max whispered reassuringly as he felt Liz tense in his arms, sure that the last thing she would want was for some rumors to be spread about her and what she could have been doing at his house at this hour. Actually he didn't want everyone to start speculating about what was happening between them either. He knew all too well how people tended to deform the truth.
Liz just nodded then, and she didn't have time to say more that they were already in front of his door and he was helping her back to her feet. Only he visibly miscalculated his move and deposited her too close to the edge of the step, and before Liz could even gasp she stumbled forward and found herself in his embrace again.
Her arms were still around his neck but in an attempt to catch her before she could fall, Max's had moved just over her ribcage, dangerously close to her breasts, and what was worse than anything else,
under his jacket.
Holding her breath, Liz briefly met his eyes as he uttered a soft '
sorry', but then the look on his face made her forget all about why he was even apologizing. All she could see was the way he was staring at her lips now, all she could feel was his hands as they slid down her sides and finally settled on her hips.
Max was so close. Oh, so close to kissing her then, he wanted so much to taste her lips and discover if they felt as sweet and soft as he had always dreamed them, but at the last second he seemed to snap out of it and the moment was lost once more. This was so not the place, nor the time for that.
Liz barely stifled a moan however when she saw him lick his very dry lips, and she felt her stomach momentarily tighten in desire as she sensed him run his thumbs just under the hem of her top, but unfortunately the spell was broken when he spoke again.
"Keys!" he murmured, his eyes closing briefly as if he was trying to control himself, or stop himself from doing something he shouldn’t.
"What?" Liz swallowed hard as his hands descended even lower, barely grazing her thighs, until she felt him reach into the pockets of his jacket and she suddenly felt utterly stupid for thinking that Max Evans could have been trying to seduce her or actually been wanting the same thing she did herself.
"Oh, right!" she muttered in understanding when he came up with a bunch of keys and quickly proceeded to open the door behind her, all the while avoiding to look at her.
Liz knew that she shouldn't feel disappointed, after all Max had never offered more than shelter for the night to her, yet it wasn't so easy to convince her heart and her head of that.
"Come in!" Max encouraged when his breathing had more or less come back to normal, and as he saw her staying rooted on her spot on the steps, he reached for her hand again.
God, something was really wrong with him! He had to pull it together or he would truly lose it. And he could definitely not afford to kiss her, no matter how much he could actually want to, because he doubted that he would be able to stop at that if he got only a taste of her.
Quite uncomfortably, he led her into the living room and they both stopped short before the huge couch at the center of it, not really knowing what to do now, but even less wanting to comment on what had almost happened between them not a minute ago.
Darting a quick look around her, Liz scanned the room, taking in the expensive furniture and their perfect setting out, finding the place cozy and just as she had always imagined it, but she didn't dare say a word or compliment his parents in their obvious good state, even if that would have certainly been the right thing to do. Her mind had yet such a hard time processing the fact that she was actually here, glimpsing into what was part of Max Evans' everyday life, that the rest seemed secondary.
An awkward silence settled around them, until Max decided that they couldn’t very well stay there, looking at each other all night, no matter how appealing that thought was actually to him.
"Wait here… I'm sure my mom has one of those ice bags somewhere… I'll be back, okay!" he told Liz as he caught sight of the bruise on her cheek again, and he was on his way out before Liz could tell him that it wasn't necessary.
"I… Could I use your cell phone?" she called out after him before he was out of reach, thinking that she better contact Maria and tell her that she was alright. She wouldn't give her details of where she was of course, but at least that way Maria wouldn't panic or much worse, suspect that she wasn't home.
"In my pocket." Max replied and then as an afterthought, asked her who she wanted to call exactly.
"Maria." Liz answered, wondering if he would mind. Not that she had any intention to reveal to her friend that she was actually at his house, but maybe that was what he was thinking, or worse,
fearing.
"Maybe you should… you know…" Max stammered, not wanting her to think that Maria knowing that she was with him could embarrass him in any way, but not wanting her to think either that she had to tell her anything if she didn't want to, and Maria seeing the caller ID would certainly raise questions.
"Thanks!" Liz whispered as he took the phone from her hands and obviously changed his settings so that it wouldn't show who was calling.
Max smiled gently at her then, and the next instant he was out, leaving her to her conversation with Maria.
It didn't take Liz long actually to reassure her friend, and when she finished, she found herself alone and irremediably drawn to the mantelpiece, where various family pictures laid there for all to see.
She smiled fondly as she took in the ones of Jordan, his toothless grin flashing at the camera in some, but it was those with Max that really turned her insides to mush.
On one of them he was holding Jordan still a baby then, and Liz could see just how proud he was to be a big brother again. Another one showed him with Isabel, both of them holding one of Jordan's little hands and obviously swaying him between them when the shot had been taken. They were all laughing and she found herself smiling broadly at the sight.
The last one was the most beautiful to her however, maybe because it seemed to have been taken quite recently. Max had Jordan on his shoulders, holding his brother's legs so he wouldn't fall off, while Jordan himself apparently held on the first thing he had found, Max's ears in this case. She was sure that that one had to have been the cause of many ribbings from everyone who would enter the Evanses' living room, and yet the fact that Max apparently didn't mind having it there, proved to her that hearing people talk about his slightly protruding ears hadn't damaged his sense of humor, contrary to some could think. She remembered all too well Maria telling her that Max hadn't always been comfortable with that particular trait.
Here he had evidently known what Jordan was doing and how that would look on the picture, but nonetheless his smile was all teeth, matching perfectly the one of his brother, enhancing once more just how alike they looked. Yeah, there were absolutely no doubts they were siblings.
"Here." Liz heard coming from behind her, and as she turned around she wondered just how long Max had been standing there.
She saw him scratch the back of his neck as he noticed which picture had held her attention so much that she hadn't even heard him entering the room again, and she couldn't help blushing slightly herself at having been caught.
"Just… put it on your cheek a few minutes… it won't swell so much!" Max added when she took the ice bag he had found from his hands, but since he lowered his gaze almost immediately, he missed how Liz literally gaped at the sight of him.
He had opened his shirt while he was out, taking the time to clean the sticky substance that had seeped through it, and though Liz didn't know about that detail, the reason seemed to be totally irrelevant at that moment because the only thing she could see was that she was about to have a heart attack and would most likely have to run that ice all over her body if she hoped to calm herself back down after such sight. Being built like that should be registered as a crime, and god, didn't he realize what he was doing to her?
"You okay?" Max asked her once she put the ice on her cheekbone like he had instructed, apparently completely oblivious to the effect he was having on her.
Why wouldn't I be, I can see your freaking bare chest! Liz wanted to scream… or simply hit him for being so clueless.
"S-Sure!" she stuttered all too quickly, causing Max to cock a curious eyebrow at her, before he simply decided to drop the matter.
The last thing he wanted was to make her feel uncomfortable now that she was here, and for that he knew that he had to act as naturally as possible himself. Or at least that had been part of the pep-talk he had been giving himself not five minutes ago when he had stopped in the bathroom. Liz Parker was here, sure, but this was his house, his safe haven, and he had no reason to feel nervous. He just had to be himself and everything would go alright. He had no reason to panic at all or act any differently than he would have if it had been any other girl. And who cared if the only other one he had ever let into his bedroom had actually only been his sister? He could do this, it couldn't be that hard, even if the only thing he could actually think about was how much he wanted to jump Liz and have his way with her.
Oblivious to what was going through Max's mind, Liz followed him dutifully after he considered that she had used the ice long enough, but she couldn't control the way her body trembled when they eventually stopped in front of the last door down the hallway and she saw him open it.
"Okay,
this is my room!" Max announced almost shyly once they were in, picking a few toys of Jordan on his way as he realized that he hadn't tidied the place earlier, and Liz smiled tenderly as she imagined Max playing with his brother in this same room.
"Uh, nice room!" Liz answered just as softly, her eyes settling briefly on the bed, before she concentrated on the book that lay on it, anything to not think about Max laying there every night, rumpled sheets barely concealing that hard tanned body. "Nice bedtime stories, too!" she added with a small smile as she caught on the title, hoping that Max would not notice her sudden nervousness.
"Uh… it's my brother's book!… he likes it when I read him a story before… I mean, it helps him get to sleep!" Max clarified and then blushed himself when he saw Liz looking at him intently, and eyebrow raised.
"That doesn't explain what this is doing on
your bed, does it?" she teased him good-naturedly and Max found himself smiling along with her this time.
"Actually… Jordan often falls asleep here with me and then I take him back to his room!" Max elaborated some more, and Liz could just picture them both, Max with his little brother safely cradled in his arms, reading and waiting for him to fall asleep before letting go of him.
"You two are really close, aren't you?" she couldn’t help asking as she settled down on the bed, missing as Max gulped as he saw her do so.
Oh, God, help him, Liz Parker was actually sitting on his bed, and if that was already enough to nearly make him pop a vein, he so knew he wouldn't last the night.
"Yes… we are… " he trailed off awkwardly as she now took off his jacket, but if Liz noticed how difficult it had suddenly become for him to talk, she didn't let it on.
He didn't mind her questions though, it just seemed a little strange to him to be talking to her about her relationship with his brother, or at least to start with that. It seemed to be something so personal to begin with, and he would probably have been more comfortable if they had started with the basics, like what were his favorite movies, or TV shows, or whatever along those lines.
"Yeah… I guess it must be really great to have siblings… I wouldn't know, I mean… I'm an only child!" Liz pursued and though this was no new information to Max, he couldn't miss the slight edge of sadness her tone held.
"It can't be very hard, too, don't think… you wouldn't want to share a bathroom with my sister, believe me!" he joked back in hopes that she would realize that sometimes being an only child could be a good thing, too, even if there was no saying that he wouldn't trade Jordan or Isabel for anything in the world.
Liz couldn't help herself then and laughed along with him when he did, having no problem picturing what Max could go through every day if he indeed had to share his bedroom with Isabel Evans. When she remembered just how perfectly put his sister always was, she imagined easily how much time she could spend to prepare herself and reach such perfection.
A short moment of uncomfortable silence followed again soon after, Max having been completely entranced by the sound of her rich laughter, and only when he saw Liz squirm under his intense stare, did her realize what he had been doing.
Leaping into action before it turned even more awkward, he moved to the side of the bed, and after having pulled a sleeping bag from under it, he unrolled it on the floor, not too far from where Liz would be sleeping.
"Okay… uh… you take the bed… I'll take the floor!" he told her, that repartition looking like the most logical thing to do.
"NO! I mean… you don't have to do that, you know! I can sleep on the floor, I don't mind!" Liz protested right away, the last thing she wanted being to rob him of his bed, moreover with all he had already done for her.
Truth be told, she hadn't even really given any thought to their sleeping arrangements until that second, even if she realized now that it was kind of stupid not having done so. That should have been the first thing she should have thought about when Max had suggested she followed him in fact, but her brain had most likely been already too saturated with everything that had already happened to manage to process the information.
"No way… no girl will sleep on my floor if I can offer her my bed! Here… you can slip this on if you want… " Max was being as stubborn as she could be herself, and this was not a point he was going to discuss with her, he swore as he reached for one of his Roswell High tee-shirts and held it out to her. But Liz still didn't seem convince and he felt compelled to add. " Don't worry… I'll be fine… unless…"
"Unless what?" Liz continued where he trailed off, holding the garment in her trembling hands and doing her best to not bring it to her nose so she could get a whiff of Max's scent. She would have enough time for that anyway, she thought as she realized that this was what she would sleep in tonight.
"Unless you want to share the bed!" Max teased out of nowhere, raising his eyebrows suggestively, and he could have bet that Liz's incredulous gasp could have been heard all way across town. In fact, he was sure that her jaw had to have hit the floor, and even if he didn't know himself from where he had suddenly garner up the courage to suggest such a thing to her, he couldn't help but chuckle at the expression on her face. "Kidding… c'mon, I'm sure you're just as tired as I am!"
Even as he spoke the words, Liz kept looking at him like he had suddenly babbled some foreign language, and it wasn't until she finally saw him move near his desk, shed his shirt and kick off his shoes that she seemed to get a hold of herself again.
Moving to the other side of the bed, she stood there awkwardly, her eyes strained on his broad back, and she couldn't help but swallow thickly as she took in the sight of him half naked now.
"Won't
you… put something… uh on?!" she stammered hoarsely when she noticed that he had apparently not only not picked up a tee-shirt for himself, but was on his way to unbuttoning his pants, right there, like he didn't even care that she was in the room and could actually see him do so.
"Well… I could but… I happen to like sleeping naked!" Max retorted, biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from grinning like he so wanted to.
So okay, that wasn't the entire truth, since he had absolutely no intention to sleep naked when Liz Parker was in the same room, who knew what embarrassing
accident could happen if he did, but she didn't need to know that right away, did she?
"Wait… you're not going to… I mean… not… you… " Liz was sure that her sentence was supposed to make more sense than that, but for the life of her she just couldn’t put the words together.
Surely he couldn't be serious, right? Because if he was, she wasn't sure she would survive the night. Actually, no, she
knew without the shadow of a doubt that she wouldn't get through the night knowing that Max Evans was sleeping stark naked three feet from her.
"What, Parker?… you don't think you can handle it?" he challenged cheekily, Liz barely registering his words since he chose precisely that moment to turn slightly to her and she caught a glimpse of the dark boxers he was wearing and the scarce trail of hair that led directly to them.
"S-Sure I can… I… oh, god… okay… could you just… turn around?" deciding that this conversation wouldn't lead her anywhere expect to maybe further embarrass herself, Liz chose to drop the matter, but obviously Max himself considered that it would be more fun to make it difficult for her.
"Why?" he uttered questioningly, even when he knew perfectly well that she was just asking for some privacy. It wasn't a question he needed an answer to, he was just discovering that he loved to see her all flustered and therefore couldn't help himself.
"Because I'd like to get out of these clothes, that's why!" Liz all but squealed out outrageously, not believing that he could just even ask.
"You know… it's nothing I haven't seen before!" Max shrugged like it wouldn't be such a big deal for him to see her drop all her clothes just in front of him, but inwardly he was already going out of his mind at the thought that she could actually do such thing.
"I don't remember you seeing
me almost naked before, so… turn around now please!" Liz insisted, piercing him with a meaningful glare until he finally relented and faced away from her.
God, someone please tell her that this was not really happening.
"That's what you think!" Max murmured as his eyes were naturally drawn to his full length mirror and he witnessed how she wiggled out of her skirt through it.
Man, he had fantasized about seeing her in her birth suit more often than he could remember, but what was more than obvious to him now that he spied on Liz Parker only in her lacy underwear, was that his fantasies of her didn't do any justice to the real thing.
She was certainly one of the sexiest girls he had been given to see, and it was little wonder so if he found himself groaning at the sight of her before he could even stop himself. Even seeing her clad in one of his tee-shirts was enough in fact to make him lose his mind and the little sanity he had left.
"What was tha-…?" Liz started, thinking that he had talked to her, but then stopped short when she realized he was standing there, his back fortunately still turned to her, but in nothing more now than his boxers. Very
tight boxers she should add since they seemed to fit him like a second skin. "Oh, goodness!" she moaned out, her breath suddenly coming out in pants as her eyes stopped at what seemed to be a very firm butt.
Unfortunately for her, Max heard and saw her reaction and couldn't stop himself from taunting her some more, even if he would certainly wonder afterwards what was wrong with him, and how he could feel so at ease with her all of a sudden, when he had almost been scared shitless all the way here. Maybe there was still some residue of alcohol in his blood that was suddenly kicking in and making him do crazy things, but whatever it was, it was definitely worth it if only to see that look on her face.
"Do you like?"
"What?" Liz uttered as she snapped out of her trance and made eye contact with him through his mirror, her cheeks flaming when she understood that he had been watching her while she was checking him out.
"Do you like what you're seeing?" Max asked her quite boldly as he turned around now, strangely not the least ashamed to be there standing almost naked in front of Liz Parker. On the contrary, if her awed and dreamy expression a second ago was any indication, he already knew the answer to his question and was quite proud to finally elicit a reaction out of her. Apparently all those hours of working out were finally paying off.
Shocked beyond belief, Liz could only gape at him, wondering what had happened to the guy who could barely look at her not half an hour ago, but then she noticed the corner of his mouth twist into a smile and she just knew he was doing it on purpose.
Who would have thought that Max Evans could be such a tease, huh? Certainly not her. But what was sure was that he had another thing coming if he truly thought that she would admit to him just how much she indeed found him to her liking.
"You're so full of yourself, Evans!" she accused before throwing a pillow at him, and boy she couldn't believe that she was actually thinking that but he was definitely
full in more way than one.
She willed her eyes to not look
down at him, but clearly that would have been like asking her to suddenly stop being interested in everything that was just Max, and when her gaze snapped back up to his face, she blushed ten shades of red in mortification, understanding from his smug smile that he apparently knew exactly were her thoughts had gone a second ago.
At that instant, more than ever in fact, Liz wished that the floor would just open up and swallow her whole, and she had probably never been more relieved than she was when Max didn't comment on it.
Instead, he just picked up the pillow he had easily dodged, and dropped it by the head of his sleeping bag.
"Thank you, I needed one!" he thanked her like nothing had happened, but Liz could see that he was doing his best to not crack up and smile. Then as she pulled the sheets down and slid into his bed, she heard his teasing voice again. "Are you sure you don't want to share the bed?… Here is your last chance!… And you know… many would kill to hear such an offer!"
Yeah, like she didn't know that! But she wouldn't give
him the satisfaction to know himself just as much she wanted to take him up on that.
"Over my dead body!" Liz retorted with a sweet sugary smile that would have certainly chilled Max all over if he hadn't already been prepared for something like that.
"Sorry, I'm not into that kind of things anymore." he quipped almost too seriously and then lost it completely, laughing throatily when he saw Liz's shocked expression. "Kidding… I was kidding, I swear!" he held up his hands in defense as she threw the second pillow in his direction, missing his head by only an inch, and Liz really felt like going after him and wrecking his neck when he threw it back and she saw him disappear under the bed, obviously still laughing his ass off at her expense.
During interminable minutes, Liz had to bear with the muffling sounds that were coming from below, Max having visibly a hard time containing himself, and when she just couldn't control herself any longer, she turned off the light and muttered into the darkness. "You're a jerk, you know that?"
"I-I'm sorry… but… you really should have seen your face…" came the amused answer again, and even as part of her felt like telling him to go to hell, she couldn't stop the small smile that tugged at her own lips.
It felt good to hear Max laugh so easily, even if she didn't know if she should feel that glad that he found some humor in making fun of her.
"Har-Har… yeah, so funny…" she threw back, her tone forced and disapproving, even if Max could hear that she wasn't really angry with him.
"Okay… I'm
really sorry… is that better?… I am… " he reiterated his apology, mirth still coating his voice and he took him yet a few more minutes before he could sober up and continue more seriously. "Now seriously… don't worry… I'm not planning on taking advantage of the situation… you can sleep peacefully."
"Yeah…uh… goodnight then. " Liz answered simply, even when all she actually wanted was to yell at him that he was an idiot and that she
wanted him to take advantage of the situation, if only he wouldn't be so blind and see it.
"Goodnight, Liz!" Max breathed out, and Liz wondered if he knew just how husky his voice sounded when he whispered her name. It made her want to beg him to repeat it over and over again, until she would have memorized the sound and had enough to last her a lifetime.
A few minutes passed after that while none of them felt the need to say anything, until Liz realized that there was still something she needed to do, something she should have done the second he had invited her into his house in fact.
"Hey?" she whispered softly, sure that he wasn't asleep yet but not wanting to startle him.
"Yeah?"
"I just… Thank you… for everything!" her voice was low and barely audible, but Max couldn't not notice how much the little he had been able to do had meant to her, and how grateful she could be for his help and his kindness.
"You're welcome!" he replied easily, rolling on his side at that moment with probably the hugest smile he had ever had on his face.
Too bad Liz couldn't see him then, she would most likely have understood that everything that had happened between them tonight, however insignificant that might have been, meant just as much to him.
For a long time, though they kept quiet then, they were both acutely aware of the other's presence, and more than once Max wondered if he would really be able to find some sleep, knowing that Liz was so close to him and that he could probably join her in bed if he had the nerve to do so and wasn't actually so afraid that she would reject him if he did so.
Every creaking sound his bed made as she turned around restlessly seemed to be amplified tenfold and he wondered if it had always been this loud, or if he was only noticing it now because it was Liz Parker, half naked between his sheets, who was doing the tossing.
On the bed, Liz herself was having as much a hard time finding sleep as he was, no matter how tired she could actually be. She just couldn't ignore the fact that Max Evans, the man she had been in love with for as long as she could remember, was lying practically at her feet.
She kept her eyes obstinately closed, hoping to block the sound of his heavy breathing and every movement he could make, but her mind just wouldn't let her forget.
It took her a while to find a comfortable position herself, and when she finally settled down on her right side, a hand tucked under her head, she prayed with all her might that sleep would claim her at last, or she was sure that she would end up crying out in frustration. Not really something she was willing to do in front of Max.
Unfortunately for her, nearly an hour later she was still wide awake, even if apparently Max had eventually lost the battle, and before she could stop herself she was leaning over the bed in an attempt to see where he was exactly, only to nearly gasp aloud when she realized that he had obviously moved his sleeping bag from its original position and was way much closer now than what she had been expecting.
His position mirrored hers a few minutes ago and when her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she got a good look at his quiet form lying on the floor, she barely prevented a moan from escaping her suddenly dry lips, the sleeping bag only covering part of his body and leaving little to the imagination.
God, she couldn't even believe it herself. Here she was, in Max Evans' bedroom, in Max Evans' bed, with his scent and all those things that were just him surrounding her, while he slept peacefully a few feet from her, oblivious to her thoughts or the things he did to her. Oblivious to the power he had over her.
He looked so at peace then, so innocent and yet so sexy, she wondered how that was even possible. No man should be allowed to look this good, it was just not fair to women.
As her eyes drank their fill of him, she felt her fingers itching with the sudden need to touch him, and before she could even comprehend herself what she was doing, she was reaching out to caress his cheek. She was just pushing his bangs aside, marveling once more at his perfect and beautiful features when all of a sudden Max captured her hand in his own, almost making her fall from where she was on her knees on the bed now, and she had to bite her lips nearly to the blood to stop herself from crying out at the scare it gave her.
For a moment she expected to see him staring back at her and hear him asking her what the hell she thought she was doing, and she barely relaxed at all when nothing happened and she understood that Max was still very much asleep.
Still, it didn't stop her from cursing herself for her own stupidity. With her ass up in the air now, she had to look completely ridiculous, but it made no doubt to her that she would look even more so if he suddenly woke up and found her in such grotesque position.
God, she would just die on the spot if that happened, she cringed as she tried to pry her hand out of his grasp, but he seemed to know exactly what she was doing and only held her tighter.
Closing her eyes in disbelief, she wondered how she would get herself out of this one, but then they snapped right back open when a breathy murmur drifted to her ears, something that sounded awfully like her name. But it couldn't be, could it?
Why would Max be almost… moaning… her name? It didn't make any sense, at least not in the real world. In her fantasies though, that was a constant occurrence. She couldn't even remember how many times that had occurred actually, or what she had been doing to him to see that happen.
But she was digressing, what she really needed now was not to be picturing Max Evans crying out in the throes of passion, but rather find a way to get her hand back before this turned to be really embarrassing for her.
Much to her relief, the next time she tried to tug on her hand however, Max turned on his back with a soft groan, but at least let go of her and Liz couldn't be quick enough to crawl back under the covers.
For interminable seconds, she could do nothing more but hold her breath, sure that she was going to see Max poking his head from below and ask her what she was doing, and only when she was positive that she was safe, did she dare release it.
Coaxing herself into sleep after that seemed to be even more difficult than it had been earlier and she wasn't even surprised to see how many times she tossed and turned before she eventually tired herself out. By then, she had worked herself up so much that she felt like she was burning up and had no choice but to take off the tee-shirt she had borrowed from Max. She could only hope that she would wake up before he had any time to see anything, though she suspected that it was already too late for her to feel shy about it.
Max Evans had certainly seen more of her in one night than any other guy in her whole life. That and what he could think of what he had most likely already seen was actually Liz's last thought before she drifted off, Max's steady breathing eventually lulling her into sleep. And for once her fantasies and the reality didn't seem so far away. Her dreams didn't look so out of reach.
End of chapter five.
TBC…
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uh-huh… not a chance, so nope, Roswell and all that goes with it is not mine!
… at least if you like what you read first. 
(thank you babylisou and Frenchkiss70 )
(Note that the end of this part deals with some violent and difficult situation, so I guess I must warn you… don't know if this requires R-rating or not then… but well, just in case, I'm gonna say it does