Yellow (M/L ADULT): NEW CHAPTER! Ch. 21 3/24/21

Fics using the characters from Roswell, but where the plot does not have anything to do with aliens, nor are any of the characters "not of this Earth."

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ChemChic
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Yellow (M/L ADULT): NEW CHAPTER! Ch. 21 3/24/21

Post by ChemChic »

Title: Yellow

Author: ChemChic

Category: M/L - Liz POV

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Summary: I am Liz Parker and my life was pretty much perfect. A straight-A student with a great family, wonderful friends, and incredible boyfriend, I knew that with hard work I could make all of my dreams come true. And then there was a murder...and Gabriel...and six words a parent never wants to hear...and my life would never be the same.

Author's Note: Hi all! It's been...probably a decade since I've posted any Roswell-related fanfiction to the interwebz, but I have been working on this story for quite some time and I'm finally far enough in that I feel it's worth sharing. I've become very, very attached to this version of these characters, and I am hoping by sharing it with you all it will be the inspiration I need to finish this story. It is fully outlined and I have actually written the ending as well as a number of disconnected vignettes so it's just a matter of connecting all of the pieces. I intend to post weekly, but I am a PhD student with a full-time job, so please don't hold a missed week or two against me! It's going to be a very bumpy ride for our favorite couple, but everything they will face they face together.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Everything was perfect, down to the very last detail. Every image I had conjured up about this moment fell flat and I took a shaky sip of my Riesling, willing myself to hold it together for just twenty more minutes. Twenty more minutes and it wouldn’t matter if my makeup was everywhere and I was a blubbering mess. But until those twenty minutes were up, I needed to look like a presentable human being.

A hand squeezed my knee and I felt myself breathe for what may have been the first time that evening. I didn’t need to look at him to know he was in precisely the same state. This night was simultaneously wonderful and heartbreaking, but after all these years, it was almost electrifying to finally experience the triumph and calamity without the overwhelming agony that once followed so closely behind.

A lovely blonde woman in a stunning yellow gown stepped up to the podium. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for being here tonight and for your generosity and support for such an important cause. As many of you know, the Yellow Foundation was born from a great loss. When many people find themselves up against something insurmountable, it is hard enough to find the strength to just keep breathing. But there are two people here tonight that aren’t like most. They turned their personal tragedy into something beautiful. So without further ado, I would like to introduce to you the founders of the Yellow Foundation, Doctors Maxwell and Elizabeth Evans!”

The room lit with applause, but it barely registered. All I could here were the opening chords of “Yellow” by Coldplay as the song came on over the sound system. And everything besides the words to that song and my husband’s hand in mine became secondary. Because the Yellow Foundation was not just born from a great loss, it was born from our great loss. And from a story that begins almost two decades earlier.
This is our story.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I now announce you husband ‘n wife! I think you’re suppose’ta kiss’er now!” A six year old Alex said proudly; excited that he remembered his lines. Well, almost.

“EW! Why’d you wanna kiss’er? She’s a GIRL!” A seven year old Michael teased from the “pews” we’d fashioned out of blankets and Fisher Price chairs for the animate and inanimate guests alike.

“SO!” A precocious, Shirley Temple curly Maria screamed back, stomping the heel of her Mary Jane down on Michael’s foot. She grabbed Isabel’s hand and the two took off towards the house in stitches.

“OW MARIA!!! I’m telling! MOM!!” Michael shouted, scrambling to chase after two giggling little girls in party dresses who already had a good five-second head start.

The ruckus quieted as the three fled towards the front yard and my new “husband” quietly said, “I don’t think it’s gross.”

I blushed and smiled and shook my head. I didn’t think it was gross either. In fact, I thought that was precisely what husbands and wives were supposed to do. So I mustered up my courage and pressed my lips to Max’s cheek. I lasted all of a second before I pulled away, embarrassed, staring at the ground.

“I thought he was ‘pose’ta kiss you!” Alex chastised. He was so focused on getting everything “just right” because you only got one wedding. Or so we assumed at the tender age of six.

“Oh, right,” Max mumbled and then leaned down to kiss me, except instead of my cheek, his lips touched mine.

“Oops,” he said, pulling away from me. He looked surprised and self-conscious.

“It’s okay, Max…I don’t mind,” I whispered shyly. Max relaxed and smiled, the two of us breaking into a fit of giggles. I’ve always told people that was my first kiss, even though most wouldn’t count such an innocent gesture. It meant the world to me; it still does.

“Well, now that the wedding is over, I think it’s time for cake!” My mom’s voice came from behind the video camera. A chorus of “yeahs!” came from several different directions and the filming became wobbly as she followed us into the house.

“God, Lillabet. You were adorable,” Max’s voice came from the doorway. When we were toddlers, every time Max tried to say “Elizabeth” it came out as Lillabet; it stuck.

“Jesus! You scared me!” I gasped, pressing the stop button and turning around. He was leaning casually against the door frame with that lopsided grin that, invariably, turned me into a fairly useless excuse for a 16 year old.

“Sorry, the door was unlocked,” he chuckled, pushing off the wall and making his way towards the couch.

“Not that I’m complaining, but I thought you had to work?” I asked, scooting over to make room for him. He stretched his long legs across the sofa and pulled me down against him and my whole body relaxed almost instantly.

“I did, but Milton was all set. Where is everyone?”

It was Sunday night which traditionally meant the Parker and Evans clans plus a few honorary members were gathered at one or the other’s house for dinner and board games.

“I figured at least Alex would be here by now, but maybe his track meet ran over. I’d guess Kyle’s still down at the station with Jim, I don’t think they’re off until 7. Maria said they’d be late; and she and Michael are still working.” I shrugged, not at all displeased about getting some unexpected alone time with Max.

“And our parents?” Max was obviously as upset about the situation as I was, his fingers wandering down my back and teasing the small expanse of skin revealed by my sweater.

“Mm,” I hummed, not immediately registering that he’d asked a question. “Oh, well, our mothers are out shopping, my dad is downstairs doing the books, and I can only imagine that your dad is still out golfing.” I lifted my head from his chest and raised my eyebrows coyly.

“Empty house, huh?” Max slid his hand just inside the waistband of my jeans, playing with the top of my panties. “There must be something we can do to entertain ourselves…” He drew his palm over my bottom and around my hip, resting it torturously over my pubic bone.

I moaned softly and arched into his cupped hand, aching for him to continue.

“Well, someone’s a little eager,” he chuckled softly as his index finger moved down, down…

And then the apartment door slammed open and Hurricane Deluca came blowing in.

Max yanked his hand from my jeans and shifted us so that my body would hide his, er “growing problem” and I tried to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. If Maria caught on to us, we’d never hear the end of it.

But luckily for us – and not so luckily for Michael – she was on the war path.

“If I have a customer complain that their order isn’t cooked the way they wanted it one more time, I swear to you Michael Evans is losing every last organ that makes him a man!” She fumed, storming into the den and all but throwing herself onto the love seat in a huff.

“Maria, isn’t that kind of…harsh?” Max hazarded. He really, really should have known better. After all, we’d only been friends with Maria for 14 years.

“Harsh? HARSH!?” She screeched, springing back up to her feet. “I’ll tell you about harsh! Harsh is losing out on a ten dollar tip because your incompetent imbecilic of a brother and founding member of the modern Neanderthals can’t remember to make a damn hamburger well-done, hold the onions, extra mayonnaise, with a side of Saturn Rings and not Space Fries! He’s back there making $7.30 an hour and I’m relying on my good looks and charm to get anywhere near that! Who cares if Michael screws up? Well I’ll tell you who cares! ME!” Maria was standing in the middle of the room, fists balled at her sides, panting like she’d just run a marathon. If I wasn’t so fond of breathing, I would’ve been in hysterics she looked so ridiculous. But I valued my life, so I – quite literally – bit my tongue and kept quiet.

“Okay, Maria? Breathe. I’m sure that he didn’t screw up the order on purpose,” I hedged. There was always as good a chance of calming her down as there was of making her just that much more pissed off. I was hoping for the former.

“Of course he screwed up the orders on purpose! It has been his sole mission in life to make me as miserable as possible!” Maria seethed, slumping back down, this time landing in my dad’s recliner.

There wasn’t much room for argument, except Maria seemed to forget the part where she caused him as much grief as he did her. If they weren’t fighting, they were making up from a fight. And according to Maria, it made the fighting all worth it.

And then Maria noticed our less-than-casual position on the couch.

“Oh...god! And here you two are, about to do it where we all have to sit...well, don’t let me interrupt you! But shit, either get a room or put down a towel!” She huffed, getting up yet again and heading towards the door. “I’m going to go home and shower and your dad is halfway through the books; you have 45 minutes. If you two aren’t fully dressed and looking like you’ve spent the afternoon playing Scrabble, so help me god...” And with that, the door slammed shut behind her.

“You heard the woman! 45 minutes!” he quipped, all but leaping off the couch and pulling me to my feet.

I laughed, allowing him to drag me towards my bedroom.

“I sincerely hope you remembered to make that CVS run,” I said, stopping in the doorway. Max let go of my hand and reached into his back pocket, producing a foil packet.

I grinned widely. “Best boyfriend ever!”

He glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck the way he always does when he’s embarrassed.

“That, or your boyfriend has the best brother ever,” he mumbled sheepishly.

I rolled my eyes and then reached out and grabbed his wrists. “Remind me to thank him later!”

Max kicked the door shut behind us and our lips met with practiced ease as we made quick work of our clothing.

There was no fumbling for belt buckles or blushing as more skin became exposed; there never has been. Even that first time we saw one another naked after we’d hit puberty. From our first “real” kiss on my balcony at the start of 6th grade, it was all so natural. Of course, like anything else, there had been a learning curve; we certainly weren’t born knowing how to bring each other pleasure. But we were both willing and eager to learn and unlike most teenagers, we weren’t afraid to talk about it. Hell, we spent almost six months talking about making love for the first time before we actually went through with it!

“God, I will never get enough of seeing you like this,” Max groaned as he laid me down on my bed and kneeled over me.

“The view isn’t too shabby from here, either!” I quipped, coyly raising an eyebrow as I raked over his deliciously hard body.

“Oh yeah?” He whispered in my ear before his mouth started descending down my neck to my clavicle.

“Oh...yeah,” I squeaked in surprise as his teeth grazed over my taut nipple and his fingers danced deftly over my clitoris.

He chuckled throatily, moving to the edge of the bed so that his mouth could join his hand.

“Fuck yes,” I gasped as he laid purchase on my core. He teased my nub with the tip of his tongue, just hard enough to drive me insane with need.

I moaned and dug my heels into the mattress, pushing my hips towards him in desperation.

“Mmm,” he breathed against my hypersensitive flesh. “So eager.” And he slid two fingers deep inside me, curling against my g-spot.

I arched off the bed, my mouth open in a silent scream. He wasted no time, pumping his fingers in time with his tongue. My body responded in an instant, every nerve alight and trembling.

“Fuck! Max!” I gasped as he added a third finger and I exploded, my walls contracting around him violently. I writhed beneath his ministrations, shaking and spasming as he pushed me well past the point of orgasm; it was the most delicious form of torture. He pressed his free hand firmly over my abdomen, pinning my hips to the bed as he pushed his mouth harder against me making it impossible for me to fight the onslaught of sensations. And just when I thought I couldn’t take another moment, I exploded into a second, even more intense release. By that point, I was crying incoherently and almost hyperventilating. The things he could do to me!

He chuckled when he released me and I went all but limp, my heaving chest the only part of me capable of coordinated movement. He kissed a path back up my body, making sure to pay extra attention to my breasts and the sweet spot in the hollow of my neck before he came to rest next to me, propped up on one elbow.

He was smiling bemusedly when I finally pried open my eyes.

“Hi,” he said with a cheshire cat grin.

I chuckled and stretched against him, nuzzling at his chin. “Hi,” I joked back.

“You doing okay there, babe?”

I mumbled something incoherent and turned towards him, my hand snaking between us to encircle his throbbing erection.

It was his turn to moan.

I smiled up at him coquettishly and nudged him on to his back. I knelt between his knees and pumped his cock a few times before leaning down to take him in my mouth.

“Jesus Christ,” Max hissed as he threaded his fingers through my hair and flexed his hips. I hummed against his pulsing tip, sucking and teasing him with my tongue before I slid down as far as I could handle. I started a steady rhythm, stroking what I couldn’t fit in my mouth and swirling my tongue around his straining head. I loved the way he felt in my mouth, so hard and so smooth and so male. Even his taste was heady. I could never understand girls who were turned off by oral sex; I found it addicting. An act in which the sole purpose was to bring your partner pleasure without any consideration to your own. That’s pretty incredible.

“I need to be inside you,” Max demanded hoarsely, tugging gently on my hair that was still twined in his fingers. I sat up and reached for the condom packet on the nightstand, tearing the perforation and discarding the foil on the floor. I pinched the tip and rolled the latex sheath over him and straddling his hips, I sank down onto his length.

We let out twin moans of pleasure and I was still for a moment, just enjoying the incredible feeling of having him so deep inside of me. Max’s hands came to rest on my hips and I began rocking against him, slowly and methodically.

“You have no idea how incredible it feels to be inside you,” Max murmured, his eyes slipping shut as he sighed.

I leaned over him, my lips trailing across his neck and jaw, my teeth nipping at his ear lobe before I sought his mouth. His arms snaked around my waist and his hands trailed up my back, pulling me against his chest. This new position put him in control and he thrust his hips up, driving him deeper and I mewed with pleasure.

His thrusts became urgent and I felt the mood shift from relaxed and playful to intense and charged and I responded instantly. I reared up and pressed my hands against his pecs, taking back control and I set a set a furious pace that guaranteed the release we both so desperately craved.

His fingers dug into my hip bones as he slammed me down onto him over and over, our moans rising in a barely controlled crescendo of mindless passion.

I could feel his entire body tense beneath me and I knew he was close...so damned close. I rocked back and locked my gaze with his as I deliberately reached between our bodies and started to rub myself with abandon. I knew exactly what that did to him when I touched myself and I wasn’t left disappointed.

“Oh my god. Fuck! Liz!” He gasped as he began to shake. I knew he was holding back, waiting for me to join him but I so badly wanted him to lose control.

“Let go, baby,” I commanded and I sent myself flying over the edge and he immediately followed with a groan as he shuddered deep inside of me.

I collapsed on top of him, slick and panting, the afterglow of my orgasm enveloping me like warm tendrils. I felt incredible. We were silent and still for a few minutes while we caught our breath, his fingers tracing senseless patterns across my overheated flesh.

“This is why I get nothing done,” Max said, reaching up to brush my hair off my face.

I chuckled, snuggling into his chest. “What do you mean?”

“This! You!” I could feel him gesture towards our bodies. “If sex with you was mediocre, it wouldn’t be on my mind every waking minute of my day. But no, you have to go and be this freakishly talented little nympho...” I interrupted him with a laugh and a playful smack on his shoulder.

“You think you’re the only one with this problem? You walk around looking all gorgeous and irresistible and all I can do is picture you all hard and naked and tied to my bed so I can have my wicked way with you!” I joked, resting my chin on my folded hands and looking up at him.

“Well I guess it’s lucky that we both have the same, very solvable problem then!” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and I dissolved in a fit of giggles.

“Careful there babe, enough of that and I’ll be ready for round two! And by my calculations, that’ll run right into the middle of dinner...”

I sighed, still chuckling and rolled off him and onto my side of the bed. “Fine!” I huffed jokingly. “You go clean up, I’m going to get dressed and see if I can make myself presentable.”

He rolled over and kissed me quickly. “I love you, Lillabet,” he said with a lopsided grin as he pushed himself up off the bed and headed for my bathroom in all his naked glory.

I flopped on my back with a contented smile. Life was pretty damned good.

Little did I know how quickly things could change.
Last edited by ChemChic on Tue Mar 23, 2021 11:44 pm, edited 20 times in total.
"It's like...chemical" ~ Liz Parker
keepsmiling7
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT)

Post by keepsmiling7 »

Welcome back! So glad to see you.
Loved the background when the kids were so young.
And Maria, always Maria.
Can't wait to see what happens next.
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Stefuh
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT)

Post by Stefuh »

This is a great first chapter, I feel like this fic will wreck me though, but I can't wait to read more!
And that was really hot! :wink: Post more soon, please!
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ChemChic
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Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 2

Post by ChemChic »

Exactly 48 minutes after she’d blown out of the apartment, Hurricane Deluca blew back in.

“‘Quack’ with a double word score for 40 points! In your face, Evans!” I said, studiously ignoring Maria. After we had gotten dressed and headed back to the living room, we thought it would be hilarious if we looked engrossed in a game of Scrabble when she walked in.

“I wouldn’t get too cocky, Parker,” Max bantered, turning my ‘Q’ into ‘racquet’ with a triple word score.

“After all I do for you, and this is how you repay me? I see how it is!” I shot back with a pout.

“You two are actually playing Scrabble?” Maria’s incredulous tone made us both look up from the game.

“Well sure, it was such a great idea! It totally beat anything else we had in mind,” Max replied with an impressively earnest face.

“You mean to tell me that as soon as I walked out that door, you two weren’t headed full-tilt for Liz’s bedroom?”

“Maria!” I gasped in what I hoped sounded like true astonishment. “How could you think so little of us? Putting pursuits of the body above pursuits of the mind! What do you think we are, a couple of animals?”

“Well, you’d better start packing up and heading for the zoo sister, because I don’t know of any Scrabble gameplay that would leave Max wearing his shirt inside out and you with teeth marks on your collar bone...” She arched one perfectly plucked eyebrow at us as I blushed a deep red and then she shook her head and made her way into the kitchen towards the sound of the back door swinging open. Our mothers were back.

Max’s hands flew to the back of his shirt and then over his shoulders, feeling for the tag or the seams. “My shirt’s not on inside out!”

I leapt up and made a beeline for the mirror behind the couch, pulling the collar of my shirt down to reveal completely unmarred skin. “And I don’t have a hickey!”

“No, but I’m apparently a much better actor than either of you!” Maria called back. Max and I looked at each other before dissolving into a fit of laughter.

“Lizzy, come set the table and Max I need you to clean the corn,” my mom called from the kitchen.

“We almost had her!” Max insisted as I pulled him up off the floor.

“If you mean almost as in not even close, then sure,” Maria replied from the sink.

“How does she do that?” Max asked me. The girl had freakishly good hearing!

“Talent!” And this time, our mothers started to laugh, too.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A little over an hour later, all 13 of us were chatting around our dining room table that was supplemented with folding chairs and an old card table my dad rarely used for its intended purpose.

Sunday dinners started way before us kids were even a blip on the radar. My mom and Diane were roommates their freshman year at UNM where they met our fathers. By their senior year, Phil and Diane were already engaged and my mom and dad had been dating for almost a year. While all four of them were very different, they had become excellent friends. My parents moved back to Roswell where my mom had grown up to take over her family’s restaurant after her mother passed away and Phil and Diane stayed in Albuquerque while they went to law school. At that time, there was a dearth of family law attorneys in Chavez county and with a little persuading from my parents, the Evanses decided to join them in Roswell after they graduated.

By that time, my parents were married and expecting me and the Evanses had been trying for children for almost 4 years with no luck. So they had started to look into adoption. Jim - friend to my parents, the newly appointed Sheriff, and single father to 5 year old Kyle - suggested they contact a local adoption agency. He had just wrapped up a case of a father of three kids - a 15 month old and 6 week old twins - who had been in a wreck about ten miles outside of city limits heading home from one of the local watering holes. His wife had died from complications giving birth to the twins and ever since then he’d been perpetually drunk. Thankfully, he’d had enough forethought to leave the children with a babysitter that night, but they had no other family able to take them so they ended up in the care of the state. Their case was handed over to a local adoption agency because CYFD thought they’d have better odds of being placed together.

Within a month, Michael, Max, and Isabel came to live with the Evanses, I was born two months later, and just 6 months after that, their adoption was official.

The first time I met Max, I was less than two hours old.

When we were two and Michael was three, our moms joined a local playgroup where we met Amy and Maria. Though Amy was several years younger and far more flighty and free-spirited, our mothers hit it off, as did we with Maria. Well, Max, Isabel, and I did; Michael and Maria have had a contentious relationship from the beginning!

Starting way back in college, our parents would get together for dinner and usually a movie or board games on Sunday evenings. It was the only night of the week no one was working or otherwise busy, so it became a tradition. When they met Jim, they invited him to join and bring Kyle so he wouldn’t have to find a sitter, and then when they met Amy, they invited her and Maria along, too. It wasn’t long after when Jim and Amy started dating. At first it was just very casual, but they quickly realized just how much they enjoyed each other’s company despite their differences. They married when we were seven.

Alex was the last to join us. His family moved in across the street from Amy and Maria when we were in kindergarten. His parents both worked and traveled quite a bit for their jobs, so Alex was often left home with a nanny. When Amy discovered this, she decided she was having none of that and offered to watch Alex in the afternoons so that’s he’d have someone to play with at least. Maria decided that he was going to be our new best friend and when Maria made up her mind, there was no changing it. Over the years, we’d invited Gloria and Charles to join us for dinner, but they were rarely in town and when they did come, they never quite fit in. It never bothered Alex, though, he’d always say that he had a better relationship with his nanny Marlena, anyways.

“Well that was delicious as usual,” Jim said, pushing his chair back from the table and loosening his belt a notch.

“Yeah, a little too delicious!” Amy commented, poking her husband in his slightly rounded gut. “It’s tofu and steamed veggies for you all week!”

Jim shot my father a “help me!” look and my dad winked at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll hook you up,” he said conspiratorially.

“Hey! Don’t you encourage him! I’m trying to keep my man fit and spry!” Amy shot back.

“I don’t think anyone has used those adjectives to describe my dad since the early 80’s,” Kyle interjected, earning a playful smack from Jim.

“What? Just telling it like it is, Dad,” Kyle said with a shrug, rubbing the back of his head.

“Well, why don’t we start cleaning up, I’m sure that at least a few of you have homework left,” my mother said as she started to collect the dishes.

“Oh, Liz! When are we going to work on that project for AP US Lit? The rough draft is due Wednesday,” Isabel asked.

“Crap, I forgot all about it,” I said, passing a half-empty basket of rolls to Alex and collecting the left-over platter of burgers.

“Do you want to just stay over tonight and we’ll get it done? Then Max won’t have to come get you in the morning,” she suggested, following me into the kitchen with a stack of plates and cutlery.

“Yeah, that makes...oh, crap, I can’t. I have to open in the morning and I’m working Monday and Tuesday night. How about during a free period?”
“If it’s for school Lizzy, I’d rather you get your work done and let your mom and I worry about opening,” my dad interjected, handing a stack of glasses to Maria who was manning the sink while Michael dried.

“Are you sure?” I hedged. I hated shirking my responsibilities, but getting up at 5 to get the restaurant up and running for the morning crowd wasn’t my most favorite activity, either.

“I’ll help your father in the morning, I don’t have anywhere I need to be until 9,” my mom assured me.

“Thanks guys, I appreciate it!” I said, giving my dad a quick kiss on the cheek and grinning at my mother.

“No problem, Lizzy. School comes first,” my dad squeezed my shoulder and then turned back to the counter where he was boxing up the left-overs.

Thirteen sets of hands make for quick work and twenty minutes later we were putting the last few dishes away in the cabinet.

“Alright, who’s staying for Pictionary and dessert?” My dad asked, pulling the box down from the hall closet.

A chorus of yeses answered him and Phillip started taking coffee orders while Diane sliced the pie.

“Iz and I are going to take off!” I replied.

“Max, are you coming with us or can you catch a ride with Mom and Dad?”

“I’ll stick around and let you two work,” Max replied. He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “I’ll see you in a bit, Lillabet.”

I leaned into him for just a moment and then followed Isabel towards the door.

“Oh, let me just grab my books.” I spent so much time at the Evanses that I kept a few changes of clothes and some toiletries there, so I never needed to take a bag back and forth. I turned down the hall to my bedroom and bumped into my mom who was coming out of the guest bath.

“Thanks again for covering for me in the morning,” I said, giving her a hug. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Lizzy. I’m just glad I could help!” She gave me a quick kiss on the temple and before heading back to the living room. I smiled to myself and turned back towards my room to get my things.

“Shall we?” Isabel asked when I met her in the entryway.

“We shall!” I replied, taking one quick glance at our family before we headed out the door.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Well, that’s about as good as it’s going to get!” Isabel exclaimed, slamming her text book shut. It was almost 10 and we’d just finished our outline and proposal for our project.

“All I have to say is that we’d better get an A on this. I can’t believe how much he expects us to do! I swear to god, if I knew how painful this class was going to be, I never would have taken it. AP credits be damned!” I closed my laptop and flopped back on her bed. Isabel grabbed a pillow and laid down next to me on her stomach.

“At least we got to pick our partner; the last time he assigned groups, I got stuck with Mark Epping and Derek Shu!” She made a face at me.
“Hey, I was stuck with Erica Schauten for the D. H. Lawrence assignment!”

“Oh god, The Sniffler herself! Someone needs to get that girl an allergy pill and some concealer,” Isabel groaned, rolling her eyes.

I giggled and nodded in agreement. I glanced at the clock on her nightstand.

“He’ll be home soon, Gidget. I’m pretty sure you’ll survive.”

I blushed. Busted!

“You can help me pick out a dress for the Valentine’s Day dance. Something that will knock Alex’s pant’s off, ” she teased, reaching across me to grab a copy of Vogue from the tabletop.

“Wait, pants? Don’t you mean socks?”

“I stand by my initial statement,” she waggled her eyebrows with a grin.

“You’ve been spending entirely too much time with Maria!” I commented, snatching the magazine from her and flipping to the first page she’d marked.

“Well if you weren’t so constantly distracted by my brother, maybe my Mariaisms would be under better control!”

“What can I say? He’s great to look at, and not too bad in the sack either!” That earned me a shove from Isabel as she flipped over and scooted up next to me.

“Ew. Focus, Parker. Let’s find me a dress!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I awoke to someone brushing my hair from my forehead.

“Hey,” Max murmured softly, perched next to me on the bed.

I yawned. “Hi.”

Isabel, still fast asleep, shifted next to me, turning on her side.

“C’mon, let’s get you to bed,” he said, helping me to my feet. I headed for his room and Max draped a throw over his sister and switched off the bedside light.

I grabbed one of Max’s t-shirts out of his dresser and stripped down to my panties, slipping the shirt over my head. I crawled into bed and curled around my pillow, waiting for him to join me.

It was an unusual arrangement we had with our parents and one that started almost 15 years before. Even as very small children, Max and I were inseparable. We just seemed to gravitate towards one another. It didn’t matter what we were doing, we were just happier to be doing it together. Our mothers thought it was so cute that we would hold hands and hug each other without prompting so they encouraged the photo opportunities, thinking that they’d have some fun fodder for future boyfriends and girlfriends. So when we insisted on napping in the same bed, they didn’t think twice about it. Had they known the utter fits it would cause several years down the road when they tried to separate us because we were getting “too old” for it, they’d have reevaluated their earlier decision.

By the time we were both nine and still as attached as we were at two, they started to think that this wasn’t just some phase. Unlike the relationships between Maria and Michael and Isabel and Alex, we never vacillated about our feelings for one another. We were steadfast in our friendship and we both knew that what we felt for each other - no matter how naive and immature - was much different than what we felt for our other friends. It was at this point that our families started to insist that Max stay with the boys and I stay with the girls during sleepovers. It wasn’t long after lights out that one of us would end up with the other and we would have to face angry parents in the morning. We were still too young to fully grasp why this was so important to them and all we knew was that we wanted to be together. It wasn’t until the next year that we had sex ed for the first time that things started to click.

I’ll never forget coming home from school after that first day and sitting at the kitchen table while my mom made me an after-school snack. I was particularly quiet, picking at my plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies. She set a glass of milk in front of me and sat down, brushing a lock of my long hair off the table and over my shoulder.

“What’s wrong, Bizzybee?” She asked. It was a nickname I insisted she stopped using once I reached high school, but at that time it was still commonplace.

“I know why you don’t want Max and I to sleep in the same bed anymore,” I mumbled, still staring at the dish.

“Oh?” Was her only reply.

I took a deep breath. “Because when a boy and a girl sleep in the same bed, sometimes they take off their clothes and have sex and having sex is what grown-ups do to have a baby,” I blurted out, my cheeks hot with embarrassment.

“Is that what you learned in health class today?” She asked neutrally.

I nodded. “Well, not exactly that - not the sharing the same bed part - but the rest of it. But Mom, Max and I don’t want to have a baby. Not for a long time. Like after we’re married for real; when I get to wear a wedding dress and he gets to wear a tux and Daddy will walk me down the aisle and give me away,” I explained, trying my best to sound mature.

“That’s very good to hear, Lizzy. I’m glad that you and Max want to be married before you have babies,” My mom agreed, still waiting for me to say more.

“We just like to sleep next to each other. He’s like having my very own living, breathing teddy bear. He’s warm and when I have a nightmare he hugs me and tells me not to be scared. And that’s it. I don’t want to do anything that they taught us about today, I just want to be near him. He makes me feel better.” I finally glanced up at my mother and the look on her face was a mix of surprise and contemplation.

She didn’t say anything else about it and changed the subject to something more mundane.

A few days later, the Evanses were hosting a sleepover party for Max and Isabel’s eleventh birthday. Before we left, my mom sat me down in the same spot as our first conversation.

“I talked to Diane today. We’ve decided that instead of forcing you and Max to stay apart which will only make you want to be together more, we’re going to let you continue to share the same bed. But the door needs to remain open. And if your feelings start to change for one another - if you start to feel interested in any of the physical things you’ve learn about in health class - I want you to come to one of us. You’re growing up and it’s only natural to want to explore all the wonderful things that go with it, but I don’t want to see you do anything you’re not ready for. And I know that the relationship you have with Max is very special and I don’t want to see it jeopardized. What you have is too precious,” she said the last sentence with a slight quaver in her voice. Watching your child grow into a young adult is never easy for any parent.

I readily agreed to her conditions; I was ten and I didn’t see anything between Max and I changing anytime soon.

A little more than a year later, Max went to my parents to officially ask permission to take me on a real date. We had our first school dance and we both wanted to go as boyfriend and girlfriend. My parents agreed, but reminded us again that if things were getting more serious than we could handle, we needed to talk to them. That they would never be angry or judgmental or even tell us that we couldn’t do something, but that having some adult perspective could help us to make the best decision.

The fact that our parents were willing to be so open with us (and this extended to the rest of the kids as well) and yet still respect our opinions and our choices set an incredible precedent of communication. We talked about everything and made sure that we were both completely ready for any new step in our relationship.

I had just turned 15 when the subject of sex came up in earnest. By that point, we had been intimate in fairly much every other way a couple could be without actually engaging in intercourse but we still felt like it was a huge step. I’m pretty sure we were the only teenage couple in history who actually sat down at the kitchen table and hashed out all of the pros and cons, birth control options, and even going so far as to discuss what we would do in the event of an unplanned pregnancy. Max even insisted that he go with me to my first appointment with the gynecologist so that we could both be fully informed. Perhaps it was all a bit over the top, but having a plan made us both feel better and certainly gave our parents less cause for serious concern.

We were honest and upfront with them about our decision and made it clear that we had all the facts, we knew all of the risks, we’d taken all possible precautions, and this is what we wanted in our relationship. All things considered, they were pretty reasonable. They knew that they couldn’t do a thing to stop us, so instead they set some ground rules to keep everyone happy. There’d be no sex while other people were home, the door would still remain opened during sleep overs, and if ever we were caught in a compromising position in a public or communal location, there’d be hell to pay. We agreed to the terms (terms that ultimately became “house rules” as Maria and Michael and Alex and Isabel became intimate as well) and about two months later we lost our virginities while my parents were away at a restaurant convention. It was everything we’d both hoped it would be.
Max tugged his t-shirt over his head and unbuttoned his jeans, stepping out of them and his boxers after they fell to the floor. I sighed contentedly. The sight of him naked would never get old! He shrugged into an old t-shirt and a pair of boxer pants and I found myself desperately wishing they weren’t necessary. Oh, hormones!

He switched off the light and slid into bed.

“I’m really glad you’re here Lillabet,” Max said as he settled in beside me. I tucked my head under his chin and slung my leg over his as he gently rubbed my back.

“I’m always glad to be here,” I murmured, already feeling myself start to drift off.

“I just can’t wait for the day that we can do this every night.”

I sighed. “Me too. But I think it’ll be here before we know it,” I replied softly.

“I think you’re right,” Max whispered, kissing the top of my head.

If only we knew how right I was.
"It's like...chemical" ~ Liz Parker
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 2

Post by Stefuh »

It's really healthy that their parents are so open about Max and Liz's relationship, it's true that it's less worrisome for them and more safe for the teenagers. And awwww, it's so cute that Liz and Max grew up together and got close so fast! ^^ Those sunday evening looks like so much fun! And about that last sentence, I wonder if it means Liz will get pregnant soon or if one of them will lose a parent... Can't wait to find out!
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 2

Post by keepsmiling7 »

Loved reading about all of the gang when they were young.
And how lucky they were that their families were all friends.
LOL.......Isabel wants to knock Alex's pants off.......
Max and Liz were very unusual with their steadfast feelings through the years.
Then the hormones kick in. Loo!
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 3

Post by ChemChic »

I awoke to hazy daybreak filtering in through the gap in the curtains. I glanced at the bedside clock: 5:57 AM.

Ugh. Not again. I sighed quietly and flopped onto my back, tossing my arm over my eyes and trying to will myself to go back to sleep. I worked the morning shift often enough that I had become used to waking up ridiculously early. By the time six am rolled around, my brain was convinced that I had slept long enough...my body didn’t necessarily agree.

I glanced over at Max. He was lying on his stomach with an arm curled around his pillow, his features soft and boyish in his sleep. I briefly considered waking him, but he looked so content that I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

May as well get some breakfast and take a shower before everyone else gets up.

I grabbed a pair of my sweat pants out of Max’s dresser and tugged them on, trying to make as little noise as possible. I padded down the hallway to the kitchen and absentmindedly started the coffee maker and tossed a bagel in the toaster.

The sun was rising slowly over the backyard and I stared out the window for a moment. I always found their house to be so comfortable, so peaceful. I loved my family’s little apartment, but there was something idyllic about the Evans’ sprawling country kitchen with the big open windows and the quiet sounds of suburbia in the early morning hours.

I spooned two heaping teaspoons of sugar into my mug and added the cream while I was waiting for the coffee to finish brewing. I briefly contemplated turning on the news, but I was enjoying the quiet so I decided I’d just check the front stoop for the paper. It was usually there by six.

I opened the door to the cool morning air and just as I was bending over to pick up the paper, I saw Jim’s cruiser pulling into the driveway. I straightened up and stared in confusion; for as long as we’d known him, Jim had never just dropped by out of the blue unless it was at the Crash Down.

He wouldn’t be here unless something was very, very wrong.

My stomach dropped.

Jim got out of the SUV slowly, already in “uniform” - or his version of uniform, at least. He removed his Stetson and left it on the driver’s seat before quietly closing the door. This was really bad.

“Liz,” he said. He’d been crying.

“Did...did something happen?” I forced out in a cracking whisper.

He swallowed hard. “Is anyone else awake yet?” He asked, avoiding my question.

“Just…please. What’s going on?” I could feel the fear rising in me like an insurmountable wave.

“Let’s go inside, Lizzy. Please.” He never called me Lizzy. Ever.

Oh my god. This has to do with my family. Something happened to my parents…

I stumbled in the open door, the paper forgotten on the floral welcome mat and Jim followed behind me.

“…Max? Max! MAX!!” I could hear the fear rising in my voice. I didn’t even realize I was calling for him until his name left my lips.

I vaguely registered the banging of doors and a voice calling my name in response. Within a few moments a panic stricken Max came tearing down the hallway with the rest of the bewildered Evans family close behind.

He stopped short when he saw Jim standing in the doorway. I immediately reached for his hand, my breathing erratic and uneven.

“Liz, what’s…Jim! What on earth are you doing here at this hour?” Phillip’s surprised question came from my right.

He opened his mouth to respond, but I interjected in a low, knowing whisper, “my parents…something’s happened to m…my parents.”

“Liz!” Diane gasped, her eyes wildly flicking from me to the Sheriff. “Jim, what the hell is going on?!”

“I think maybe we should all sit…” He started, but I couldn’t stand it. Not for another second.

“No!” I practically shouted. “No! You’re going to tell me now - right now!” Even I was stunned by my violent reaction and I felt Max’s grip tighten on my hand. It was then I realized I was trembling.

Jim choked back a sob and nodded. “I’m so sorry, Lizzy. I’m so sorry.”

I felt my legs start to give just as Max’s arms came tight around my waist.

“There...there was a robbery this morning. A kid looking for drug money. He had a gun and so did your dad. He was spooked when your mom walked out of the back. When your dad heard the shots, he grabbed his rifle and fired. They hit each other at the same time. No one…no one made it. There was nothing we could do for them, Lizzy. They were already gone.” He finally broke.

I don’t remember feeling anything in those first few seconds. It was as though every cell in my body froze. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t breathe; it was as though my heart even stopped beating. And then it slammed into me all at once. And I started screaming.

I sank to the floor and Max followed me down, a horrendous sound coming from somewhere deep inside of my body. I dug my fingers into the carpet, trying desperately to find purchase, to pull myself back to shore, but there was nothing to hold on to. My parents were gone and I was here and my world just fell off of its axis.

Max dragged my heaving body back against his, holding me in a bear hug; the harder I cried, the tighter he held me. I could feel his hot tears washing down my neck and his lips moving against my skin. He was saying something, but I couldn’t hear anything except the awful sound coming from me.

I don’t know how long we sat there like that, but I started to feel syncopal and nauseated, my screams dissolving into quiet sobs punctuated by staccato breaths.

“Liz, can you hear me?” Phillip’s gentle voice broke through the haze.

I took a shuddering breath and nodded weakly.

“Okay. It’s okay, sweetheart. I think we need to get you up off the floor and somewhere a bit more comfortable, alright?” I could hear the agony in his voice and the struggle for him to keep his composure.

Max stood and got me to my feet, then he and Phillip guided me towards the family room. I dropped onto the couch with Max next to me and I immediately curled up against him. I felt myself dissociating; it was as though I had stepped out of my own life and was watching myself on a screen. Everything seemed so small and out of focus, everything sounded so terribly far away and I knew if I let go of my hold on him, I would lose myself completely. The sound of his ragged breath in my ear and the warmth of his body against mine was the only thing I could fathom.

Prior to that day, the only person I had lost was my Grandma Claudia. Her death was sudden although not completely unexpected and while it was heartbreaking, it is simply a part of the natural order. But this? This was the antithesis of natural; to the point where it almost felt impossible.

I don’t know how long we sat there, but it was long enough for Alex, Kyle, and Maria to arrive. I vaguely remember each of them sitting with me, holding me, crying with me but the memory is closer to a faded scene from a movie seen only once than to an experience I actually lived.

At some point someone decided we all needed to eat and shortly thereafter I could smell reheated lasagna wafting from the kitchen and my stomach clenched violently in revulsion, the nausea almost overwhelming. It was that awful sensation that brought me slamming back to reality and the force of it nearly crushed me. I couldn’t be there, I needed to be anywhere else but there and I needed this so desperately that I was off the couch and bolting out of the front door before I registered that I even moved.

I took off down the street, my bare feet slapping the asphalt and my lungs burning as they tried to take in air between choked sobs. I didn’t care if I was a bloody mess when I finally stopped; it was as though even the most unfathomable physical pain would hurt less than what I was feeling.

I made it to the end of Murray Lane before Max caught up to me, his hand wrapping around my forearm and pulling me to a stop, my inertia causing me to slam into him.

“No, Max! Let me go, please let me go! I need to go!” I begged, pummeling his chest with my fists as I tried to break away from him. He wrapped me in a bear hug and again the harder I fought, the tighter he held me.

“I will take you anywhere you want to go Lillabet, but not like this,” he said quietly, pressing his lips against my ear.

“I need to go home, Max.” Only realizing the words were true after they left my mouth.

He sighed. “I don’t know if we can do that, if we can go there right now,” he hedged.

“I need to go home,” I repeated. “Please just take me home.”

He held me for a long moment and then pressed his lips against my hair. “Okay.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Even though the Crash Down was technically still a crime scene, Jim agreed to let us go into the apartment if he was with us. The three of us climbed into his cruiser for the short, silent ride across town. My breath hitched in my chest when I saw the yellow police tape cordoning off the storefront and adjacent sidewalk, but instead of pulling up to it, Jim turned into the alley by the side stairs. I got out of the SUV slowly and I steeled myself against a rising uncertainty that this was actually a good idea. I wrapped my hand around the smooth metal railing and paused, looking back over my shoulder to Max and Jim.

“I need to do this alone,” I said quietly and with more conviction than I actually felt.

“Lillabet,” Max started, but I simply shook my head.

“No, Max. Please. Let me do this.”

He looked for a moment like he was about to protest. “Okay,” he said finally, his concern still evident on his face. “I’m going to be right here if you need me.”

I held his gaze for a moment and then nodded. I knew he’d always be there, no matter the circumstances. And for that I was more grateful than I could ever put into words.

I climbed the stairs slowly, the metal steps groaning under my feet. I let myself in with the key we kept above the door and took a deep breath before closing it behind me. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting to see, but for everything to look so normal was unsettling. I walked slowly through the tidy living room, my fingers grazing over the back of the couch where Max and I had been curled up yesterday. I examined the pictures on the wall; most were a younger version of me, but there were a few shots of my parents or of all three of us together. I swallowed hard and turned away, not ready to deal with that level of reality. I walked through the kitchen, stopping reflexively to put a coffee mug in the dishwasher. It occurred to me that there wouldn’t be more to load into the machine, so I poured a bit of detergent in and pressed start. The emotional part of me was taken aback by my actions, but the pragmatist won out; no sense in eventually having to deal with moldy kitchenware.

I went into my room next, mostly out of habit. I was greeted by a made bed with a pile of freshly folded clothes on the corner; my mom must’ve done laundry after we left. My chest seized at the realization that those clothes may have been one of the last things of mine my mother ever touched. I could feel the anguish welling up and I forcefully shoved it away with a few deep breaths. Instead, I took a duffle bag out of my closet and packed the clothes away, adding ancillaries from my dresser. I knew that I would have to come back for more at some point, but what I took would do for the time being.

Before leaving, I shimmied out the loose brick that hid my journal and tucked the book in with my clothing. I glanced out at my balcony, a place that had always been my refuge and wondered if I’d ever feel safe there again. I swallowed hard and steadied my breathing; I had one place left to go.

The door to my parents’ room was ajar and the shades were still pulled. I hesitated in the doorway, my hand hovered over the knob for a moment before I made myself push it open. Everything was exactly as I expected to find it. Their bed was hastily made and my dad’s clothes from last night had missed the hamper by a few feet. I glanced around the room, unsure what I was looking for or even trying to accomplish when something on the bureau caught my eye. After a mishap involving my dad’s wedding ring and the deep frier a few years back, he’d developed the habit of taking off his ring and leaving it in a little knickknack dish on the dresser when he had to work in the kitchen. It was a simple platinum band with their anniversary engraved inside. The metal was cool and slick from years of wear and while much too big to fit on my fingers, I knew it fit perfectly on my thumb from years of playing with it. I turned it over in my hand a few times before slowly slipping it onto my right thumb. I found its weight comforting.

My mom never took her rings off, but she did frequently wear a silver necklace with a meditation wheel that my dad gave her on their first anniversary. It was lying in the bowl right next to my father’s ring. I picked the necklace up and gently clasped it behind my neck, the pendant falling just below my clavicle.

Almost 20 years later and I still wear both pieces every single day.

I sat down on my mom’s side of the bed and gently ran a palm over her pillow. I leaned over and inhaled deeply; it still smelled like her. I felt a sob choking up the back of my throat and I laid my head down, my fingers buried in the fabric. I reached over and grabbed my dad’s, holding it tightly to my chest as I curled around the last vestiges of my parent’s presence in this house and in this life.

This time when the tears came, I let them fall. It was so unbelievable to me that this is what I had left. Just things and scents and old memories. Any memory I made from that morning forward would be tainted with their absence. Big or small, significant or entirely unimportant, it didn’t matter. They were gone.

After a few minutes, I willed myself to get up; if I stayed much longer Max would undoubtedly come looking for me and I really needed this to be something I did on my own - start to finish. I straightened out the bedclothes and took one last look around the room before shutting the door. I knew that it would be a damned long time before I could bring myself to go in there again.

I found Max and Jim in the cruiser where I left them.

“Lillabet?” Max hedged as I got into the car, placing his hand on my shoulder.

I reached up and covered his with mine, giving it a soft squeeze. “Thank you.”
Last edited by ChemChic on Thu May 07, 2020 1:55 pm, edited 4 times in total.
"It's like...chemical" ~ Liz Parker
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 3 5/4/20

Post by keepsmiling7 »

That is so very sad.
Can't imagine returning home after your parents had been shot.
Jim was very obliging and Max was very caring.
Poor Liz, what will happen to her now??
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 3 5/4/20

Post by RoswellFan68 »

Poor Liz losing her parents at sixteen. Will Evans or Valenti family take her in?
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Re: Yellow (M/L ADULT): Ch. 3 5/4/20

Post by Stefuh »

This chapter was heartbreaking. :( Poor Liz, losing her parents so young.
At least, I'm glad she wasn't home when this happened.
I'm glad that she had Max and his parents by her side, and Jim too.
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