AN: Alright, I told Lissalou that I would post this in the morning, but then, I have a lot to do tomorrow and probably won't be able to, so I will post it now. Thanx again for all the wonderful feedback and keep it coming. This story is wrapping up, so I hope you've enjoyed the ride. On with the show!
“You recognize that name?” Max asked Liz gently as he placed a hand on the small of her back, needing to touch her.
Liz looked into his eyes, as if just now noticing him there and nodded slowly. “The mission...when I got shot...” she licked her lips, “the people in the downed chopper...Harding.”
Tess looked up at her, an expression full of anguish. “Oh my God! My parents!” Diane gasped out loud.
Kyle opened his big mouth again as he laughed bitterly. Everyone turned to look at him while he talked to Liz. “You mean to tell me...that you nearly died...rescuing this bitch’s parents? And she’s been here the whole time, making our lives a living hell?! Oh, that’s rich! That’s fucking beautiful!”
“Kyle!” Diane scolded him for the language.
Tess stood up and took a hold of Liz’s shirt, tugging on her as she cried her blue eyes out. “Are they okay?! Please tell me they’re okay!”
Liz looked down at the girl, unable to give her an answer. She didn’t want to give the wench the satisfaction of a straight answer. She felt a little sympathetic that the girl could have lost her parents, and was yet to be informed of their condition. But that video flashed in front of her eyes, and Liz felt no more sympathy. Liz felt the bitch deserved to wonder for a while, stewing in pain, the way Liz had been stewing in pain. Liz just pulled herself free and walked slowly into Max’s house, leaving Tess on her knees on the lawn, having to wonder.
Tess wasn’t that surprised that Liz had left the way she did. Tess knew she had screwed up royally, and now she would have to deal with the consequences. It was so easy to see how much Max and Liz loved each other. She could see it whenever the brunette would look at him, and vice-versa. It made Tess feel even worse, if that was possible, for the havoc she had wreaked on their lives. Two people in love should never have to go through so much to be together. And from their worn expressions, they had been through enough.
Max looked at Tess, feeling a slight pull at his heart, but the pull was dragging him toward the house, and that’s exactly where he went, picking up Liz’s duffle bag as he went. Diane didn’t know what to do. She wanted to make some phone calls to reassure the girl about her parents. They couldn’t have died out there. Someone would have been notified. Diane hated herself for the motherly instinct as she walked slowly towards Tess.
Diane leaned down and held out her hand. Tess stared at that hand before placing her palm there, allowing Diane to pull her up. When Tess caught Diane’s eyes, the woman said, “Just so we’re clear. Just because I’m helping you doesn’t mean that I’m not still angry with you.” Tess nodded, showing that she understood. Diane shot another glare at Phillip as she walked inside the house, making a reluctant Kyle follow them. They left Phillip out in the cold, just where he belonged, and made sure to lock the door after closing it tightly.
Diane led the distraught Tess into the kitchen, sitting her down at the table. Diane handed the girl a bottle of water before she went to pick up the phone.
******************
Max followed Liz into his bedroom. He watched from the doorway as she slowly took off her sling, wincing as she did. Max moved to her side quickly, hating her in pain. That’s when he saw the blood. “Liz, you’re bleeding.” Liz looked down and noticed that blood was, in fact, seeping through the white bandage over her wound. Liz looked up at him “Could you get my stuff from my bag?”
Max stood still for a second, just looking into her eyes, trying to resist the urge to drag her to him and kiss her senseless. He nodded and went to her bag, coming back to her with the bandages and a small bottle of Percocet. When she went to take the stuff from him, he stopped her. “Let me help you.”
He sat her on the edge of his bed, dropping to his knees, and carefully undressed the wound. Liz chuckled and Max asked her what was funny. “I’m the only one, huh?”
Max smiled himself and looked into her eyes, his expression totally serious. “I wouldn’t go to my knees for anyone else.” He lovingly applied the medication, wincing with her whenever she would pull in a breath at the pain. Just touching her was driving him crazy. He knew she was hurting here, and yet, his body immediately became aroused at just having her close to him again.
Liz wasn’t doing much better. She wanted to tear his shirt off and feel his skin beneath her palms again. His touch was sending an electrical current down her arms and straight to her belly. Both, however, seemed oblivious to the effect they were having on each other. He redressed the wound just as carefully. He opened the bottle of Percocet for her and handed her one, just as directed, before reaching over to get the bottle of water from his dresser.
Liz took the pill, grateful for his help. “Does it hurt a lot?” Max asked her. He looked so innocent and Liz had to offer him a small smile.
“It comes and goes.” He smiled slightly at that, glad that it didn’t hurt her all the time. “That little display out there just fired it up.” Max wanted to kick his own ass for putting her through that kind of pain, both physical and mental. When Liz caught it, she put her hand on his bicep. “It’s not your fault, Max. If it was, I wouldn’t be here.”
Max couldn’t wait any longer. He moved forward and wrapped his arms tightly around her, dragging her up until they were both standing, holding onto each other. Liz returned his embrace with one arm. He buried his face in her neck, breathing in her scent. Liz placed a small kiss on the side of his throat, sending small palpitations between the two of them. When Liz pulled back to look into his eyes, she had forgotten everything in that moment. She had been away from him and now she just wanted to be with him, and damn everything else.
Max didn’t cross the line though. He wouldn’t allow himself to. This was all on her shoulders now. He would easily give her whatever she wanted, but she’d have to be the one to make the first move. He held her at an arm’s length, his breathing labored, as he waited on her.
Liz looked down at his lips, before flicking back to his eyes, back to his lips. She wanted to kiss him so bad and she knew he was waiting for her. She leaned in just a little, but that’s when her dream came back to her.
Max noticed her stopping just before she had reached his lips and the pain he saw in her eyes was unmistakable. “I’m sorry, Max, I can’t.” Max felt like crying. “Not yet. I’m sorry.”
His jaw clenched and he had to close his eyes for a minute. He looked back at her, his face softening. He lifted her up with an arm under her knees, and gently laid her on his bed. He gently and slowly took off her shoes, before covering her up with a blanket. “Get some rest.” He kissed her on the forehead, unable to keep his lips off her, and turned off the light on his way out of the bedroom.
Once outside the closed door, he slid down to the floor, putting his knees up, and trying not to cry at the situation they were all in. He finally got up, wiping at his face, before heading downstairs to see what was happening now.
When Max got into the kitchen, he saw Tess sitting at the kitchen table and his blood began to boil. “What the fuck?!”
“Max!” Diane stopped him from going any further. Diane had the phone to her ear and was shushing Max with a finger to her lips. Max looked back at Tess and noticed that she was sobbing uncontrollably and she was obviously a mess. Max looked over at Kyle, who stood off to the side, obviously torn between hating her and comforting her.
Diane hung up the phone after saying a few thank you’s and turned to Tess, putting her hand on the girl’s shoulder. Tess looked up at her. “Your parents are alive.” Tess heaved a huge sigh of relief. “They’re in Germany, recovering. Your mother had some head trauma and your father had a broken sternum.” Tess’s expression changed to one of anguish. “But they’re going to be okay.”
“Oh, thank God!” Tess stood and began to walk out of the kitchen when Max grabbed her upper arm.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m going to tell Liz thank you for saving my parents’ lives.”
“No you’re not.” Tess wanted to move past him, but the look in his eyes dared her to even try it. “She’s resting.” Max let go of Tess and she nodded stiffly. She turned back to Kyle and Diane.
“None of it’s true.”
“What?” Kyle asked, his eyebrows raised in question.
“None of it! The relationship with Phillip...” She turned back to Max. “The pregnancy.”
“More lies. What else is new, Tess?” Max said, barely concealing his anger. Max was plenty angry, but he couldn’t help but be extremely relieved that she wasn’t pregnant. It made things so much easier. Similarly, Kyle breathed a silent sigh of relief that she wasn’t actually bumping uglies with Max’s old man.
Tess wanted to explain. “It’s just that...” Everyone turned to her, wanting to hear what she had to say. “When I got kicked out of here, and then Kyle turned his back on me...” She looked over at Kyle, who only seemed to be slightly proud of his decision to throw her out on her ass. “I didn’t have anywhere else to go. So, I went home, curled up underneath a blanket, and fell asleep. That’s how Phillip found me. He fed me and took me with him, but he said I would have to help him. I didn’t want to. I tried to warn you guys.” When she turned to Diane, everyone else followed suit, not knowing about the warning.
“She did call,” Diane told them. “But you still raped my son.”
“It wasn’t supposed to happen that way!” Tess cried out. “I had just come home from a date with Kyle and...Phillip told me that Max...I believed him.” She didn’t know what else she could say. “When I went upstairs, Max told me that he loved me.”
“I did not! I was asleep for fuck’s sake! Couldn’t you see that?!” Max was about ready to lose it again.
“It was dark,” Tess explained. “I didn’t know you were dreaming. I thought you were actually talking to me. Telling me that you were sorry for your past behavior and that you loved me. I didn’t realize you hadn’t known about it until the next morning. I swear, Max.”
“Then why did you lie about it? Why didn’t you tell me the truth when I asked that morning?!” Max couldn’t believe this. He wanted an explanation quickly.
“Because at that point, I knew it would devastate you! I wanted to hold onto our friendship for as long as I could! I’m sorry, Max!”
Max felt bad for her at that point. He knew how she had felt about him then, and he also knew that most of the blame belonged with Phillip for using her feelings to manipulate her. He also knew what he had told Liz in his dream, and he felt terrible that Tess had to be there, thinking that he had been telling her those things. He could only imagine what it must have felt like for her, thinking that Max was being with her, the same way he was with Liz.
Max knew that when he was with Liz, love exploded from every pore in his body, and it would probably be very hard to not see that. His gut twisted then, knowing that the special love he reserved for Liz, had been showered upon someone else. He almost felt like vomiting at the level of betrayal.
“Then why did you go along with Phillip’s plan, if you’d felt so bad about what you’d done?” Kyle asked, interested.
“I told you, I was hungry. No one else would even speak to me. I had no money, and the house was freezing. I didn’t know what else to do.” Tess was crying hysterically now, so Diane insisted that she go to the guest room to relax for a little while. She went willingly, wanting nothing more than to sleep for a bit. She was so tired.
Kyle had his head down, hating that he could still feel something for her. He felt terrible that she had been in such a situation that she felt like Phillip was her only way out. He now felt a little guilty too. Okay, maybe he felt a lot guilty. If he had just allowed her to come into his house that day, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe she would have come clean before and something could have been done about Phillip sooner.
Diane, too, felt her heart squeezing slightly. She was only a girl. She was naive and very young. All that she had said actually made sense, but still, Diane was Max’s mother. And nobody hurts her baby boy. It was a difficult place for the woman to be in.
Once Tess was gone, Max shook his head. “This is unbelievable! I can’t believe this shit is happening to me!”
Diane went to her son. “Max, what exactly does that tape show? I mean, if we went to a jury with it...what would they see?”
“They’d see a guy very much in love with a girl.” Everyone looked up startled at Liz’s sudden entrance.
Max ran over to her. “Baby, you should be resting.” He noticed that she was a little drowsy from the drugs. Liz allowed him to help her sit in a chair.
“What do you mean, Liz?” Diane asked her.
“If you want to see it, it’s in my bag. All that DVD does is show Max and that girl making love.”
“Please don’t say that,” Max cringed.
“It’s true.” Liz looked into his eyes compassionately. She knew now that it wasn’t his fault, having heard everything Tess said before she went upstairs. She placed a hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes, savoring her touch.
“Can I see it, Liz?” Diane asked gently and Liz nodded. Diane went upstairs to get it from her bag.
Kyle clapped his hands together before rubbing them excitedly. “Damn, Liz! That shit was awesome! When you flipped Phil on his back and dragged Tess outta the house like that! Yes!! I would have paid admission to see that!” Kyle laughed heartily.
Max glared at him to keep quiet, but Liz managed a small smile. “I was pretty pissed,” she said softly. “At least now I don’t have to take her to the hospital.” She looked at Max and he smiled widely.
“Yup. No baby to worry about now.” He laid his head in her lap as he kneeled before her and Liz stroked his hair.
“Well, I guess, this is the moment where I leave.” Kyle quickly made his exit, mumbling about going to help Diane.
“Liz?” Max asked from inside her lap.
“Hmm?”
“Are we gonna be okay?”
She looked down at him as he looked up and smiled. “We’d better be.” They smiled at their little inside joke, remembering when Max had asked her that before.
Just then, Diane came into the living room with several DVDs and asked Liz which one it was. She immediately picked it out, and then excused herself, saying that she couldn’t watch it. Max followed her, because he knew that it would only make him sick. Diane and Kyle stayed to watch it.
***************
Meanwhile, Outside...
Phillip was fuming! They had just welcomed that little bitch back into their home. Even after everything she had done to them! Alright, maybe most of it was his fault, but still. This truly sucked for him.
He headed over for the rental car, angry at the turn of events. He had hoped that Tess would have been with him, just as miserable as he was. Well, she is pretty miserable, isn’t she? Her parents could very well be dead right now, couldn’t they? He thought to himself as he climbed inside the car.
He reached over, opening the glove box and pulling out that bottle of Jack Daniel’s he had stowed there. He cracked it open, listening to the new bottle crackle as the plastic unzipped from around the neck, and took a generous swig, allowing the taste of the liquor to numb his tongue and throat. He felt the warmth spread throughout his body and took another large gulp.
He noticed the light come on in Max’s room, and watched two shadows facing each other. He could only assume it was Max and his little whore, talking out they’re problems. He could imagine them crying their pretty little eyes out to each other and as he continued to drink, he made up his own dialogue.
“Oh, Liz,” he began in a deep, yet whiney voice. “I’m so sorry about everything that’s happened. I swear, I really thought she was you.”
“Oh, Max,” he switched voices to a sugary sweet, yet equally whiney voice. “I always knew you loved me. She’s just a dumb slut who tried to steal my man. But I showed her, huh?”
He switched voices again. “You sure did, baby!” He watched their shadows suddenly fall out of view. Then he made little kissy sounds as he imagined them making out before falling onto the bed. He took another long sip from the bottle.
Back to Liz’s voice. “Take me, Max! Right here and now! Prove to me you love me more!”
And back to Max’s voice again. “Oh, Liz! I love you so much! Ahhh!” He snorted loudly, wiping the liquor off his mouth with the back of his hand after another sloppy sip. “Disgusting,” he said to himself as he started the car, headed for the mountains. It was always so easy to clear his head up there.
He continued to drink as he swerved around the narrow roads, further and further up the side of the mountain. He looked over the edge briefly, before fixing his gaze back to the front. He tipped back the bottle, but didn’t get much out of it. He looked down and realized that it was empty. “Dammit!” He cursed, throwing the bottle out of his open window.
A loud HONK turned his attention back to the road, a large SUV swerving to avoid the bottle he had thrown out. Phillip cut the wheel to the right, out of the truck’s way. The last thing he saw was the green of the trees and the snow on the mountains. He screamed, more irritated than scared, “Where the hell is the guard rail?!”
TBC...
That was a great way to sum it all up, lol.