Disclaimer: I don't own these sexy-as-hell characters... Jason Katims, WB etc do. Just taking em out to play past their season 3 curfew.
Summary: Set after they have left and it's jsut a bit of... fun really. Hope you enjoy it. Light, airy and.. well... what else do I write?
The first thing he notices when he opens his eyes is that it was dark. Very dark. So dark, in fact, that he can’t even see the hand that he is waving about in front of his face. He sighs as he sat up, careful not to bang his head off of any protruding metal poles or such like.
He can hear the breaths of one other person and he squints in the blackness, trying to gauge their location.
“I see you are awake,” the voice bit and he rolls his eyes slightly in exasperation, trying to hold back his annoyed laughter. “I don’t see what you can possible find amusing about this situation,” she bites back at his silence in annoyance.
Okay, so, a couple of points about her statement:
First off, just what the hell is this situation he is supposed to find funny; and, secondly, how the hell did she know that he is about to laugh?
They haven’t even been married for two months but already they had had their first major fight – and it was a big one. They didn’t fight, they were Max and Liz and, if the situation ever arose in which the did fight, one of them would back down and instantly admit their wrong-doing.
But not this time. This had been going on for two days and he had absolutely no idea why. She had simply woken up that morning and bit his head off from where it lay on the thin motel pillow. He’d yet to get it back and he’d be damned if he was apologising; he hadn’t even been snoring!
Another point about this bizarre situation: Liz was never in a mood, well, at least, never with him. All he ever had to do was smile shyly and dip his head, tilting his eyes up to hers and she’s be a goner. But even that hadn’t won her over this time.
It was unnerving.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Rolling his eyes, he stood up in the blacked out camper van and moved towards where he hoped the door was. He pushed it hard with his body, expecting to be flooded with light. However, when his body impacted harshly onto the metal, he let out a grunt of pain and annoyance. What the hell?
He pushed it again and it didn’t budge. Frowning, he used his powers over the lock but it was to no avail.
“The door is locked,” he told her, unceremoniously falling to the floor, feeling his legs trample over hers.
“Oh, really? I didn’t notice!” She cooed in an overly-sweet voice then volleyed her ankle into his shin.
He would not give her the satisfaction of a grunt of pain. However, considering how un-Liz-like this behaviour was, he did feel the need to try and find out the reason behind it. Again.
“What the hell is wrong with you?”
Ha. That went splendidly. He was trying to be the caring husband but, evidently, failing miserably.
He heard her scoff and closed his eyes, waiting for the shouting match to begin. They’d been in a few of those already these past two days. When it didn’t arrive, however, he opened his eyes to the blackness and stared in what he though was the direction of her head.
“Nothing, your highness .”
Ouch… if he didn’t know that this behaviour was so incredibly un-Liz-like he’d be compelled to yell at her like he would Michael or Isabel. But, as the current situation would have it, he couldn’t yell at her because, in all honesty, he’d tried that approach. And failed, again, dismally.
“Oh, I think I have reason to disagree with you there, Lizzie,” he wondered, suddenly, how he knew that she was glaring at him, her teeth clenched together. “But you’ve had a bug in your ass since about two days ago and I would very much like an explanation, as your husband, I would expect no less.”
Okay, so maybe the husband line had been too much, he reasoned as he felt her anger flare but then disappear as she blocked him out of their connection, like she had been doing for two days. But it was obvious that something was bugging her and, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Michael and Kyle had commented on it, he would probably never have acted upon it. But, as it was, he wasn’t the only one she had been taking her pissy mood out on.
And he knew that it wasn’t that time of the month.
“Well,” she replied. “Maybe, just maybe, it has something to do with the fact that I am stuck here, in the back of a very cramped van with you!”
He is so offended that he actually gawks at her. What the hell?
“It’s not my fault we’re stuck in here.”
“You could use your powers to get us out.”
“You could use yours.”
“I tried.”
“Me too.”
“Not hard enough, I think you want to be locked in here with me.”
Under normal circumstances, he would agree.
“Oh, so now it was my idea to lock us in here?”
“Well…”
“Hmm?”
“I…”
“Come on.”
“Uh…”
“I’m waiting!”
“Okay, fine! No, it wasn’t your idea. But dammit, you could at least try harder to get us out!”
“Stop it! Okay! Just stop that!” He shouted and threw his hands out, hoping to grab onto her but failed. “What is wrong with you?”
There is silence following his outburst but she shifts.
“Just a bad week, that’s all.”
That’s all he gets.
Silence follows.
--
He sighs as he hears her chuckle slightly in the back of her throat and he instantly regrets his decision to tell her that he has the intense need to urinate.
In the minutes that follow, he is unsure whether or not he has heard some of the words that she has used to mimic the image and sounds of running water but he really didn’t mind, at least she was smiling – he knows, despite the fact that he still can’t see her face - and at least her wicked sense of humour was back and it seemed that nothing he could do would stem the tide.
Speaking of water…
Unfortunately for him, she keeps bringing up liquid substances.
“Hmm, maybe you shouldn’t have had those couple dozen cans of soda with Michael, huh?”
He also noted that this was un-Liz-like behaviour. Given that they were still not on the best of terms and that they were locked in a seemingly impenetrable van and that they were not adverse to teasing one another… she never ever went this far.
And, to him, it was another indication that something wasn’t right.
The pain in his side, the constant reminder that he needs to pee, disappears as he is over-taken with concern.
“Talk to me, Liz…” he didn’t mean to trail off at the end but he felt better as the soft words floated across his lips into the anonymous blackness. But, when he felt her humour filter out, he began to regret his words. He just needed to know what was wrong so he could help her.
She doesn’t say anything and he sighs.
--
“I’m sweating.”
He blinks – probably a moot point in the darkness, but he did it anyway – as his brain registers the comment. “What do you expect me to do about it?”
“Nothing.”
“Then why did you tell me?”
“Why did you tell me that you needed to pee a whole twenty minutes ago.”
He rolls his eyes, she really has to go and bring that up again, doesn’t she? Hoping that his bladder would remain ignorant to her words, he shrugged slightly. “Fair point.”
In fact, now that she mentioned it, it was kinda warm he realised.
They gave up shouting and banging on the door some fifteen minutes ago when they realised that the exact people they were seeking help from were the ones who had deposited them in their current… situation.
Banging on the door hadn’t been much use of anything, except perhaps, almost knocking the whole van over and that was something he had no desire to do if he was inside of it. Or Liz, for that matter.
“Take something off?” He suggested, desperate to fill the sudden void between them.
In truth, he hated arguing with Liz, it was unnatural to him. All he really wanted to do was apologise to her but some stubborn part of him – he liked to call it Zan – would not let him back down for something he didn’t do. Even though all he wanted to do was-
“I don’t exactly have much on as it is,” she said and suddenly he was sweating too. He hears movement, despite her words and then suddenly he feels movement as her body touches his… body.
Which is fine, really.
Dammit but it was hot. Why was it so hot?
Think, Maxwell, he chided himself. Enclosed space, body heat. It all made perfect sense when he thought about it.
There is more movement and then there is a soft ‘frump’ as he realises that she has pulled something of what little attire she had on and threw it down.
And suddenly, he feels the need to take off something of his as well. Sliding his arms down through the sleeves of his long jersey top, he is about to pull it off when –
“Oohh… that feels good.”
He gulped. What the fuck?
More murmurs of pleasure float up to him and he’s suddenly in a panicked rush to be rid of his clothing.
Then it hits him. The smell.
She’s taken her shoes off. Why the hell was she wearing shoes when she had so obviously been asleep? Clearly, she’d put them on before she had realised that they were locked up.
“Feels good, huh?”
He tossed the long sleeved top to the side and smiled when he felt the slightly cooler air hit his chest.
“How the hell do you know I’ve taken my shoes off?”
He can hear the annoyance in her voice and, although he should be treading carefully what with the way she had been so volatile but he really, really can’t pass up this opportunity.
“I can smell your feet.”
“My feet don’t smell!”
He grins. Truth is, her feet do smell. A lot. And she knew it. He and her father used to tease her about it all the time. Separately, of course.
“What?”
He shakes his head.
“Just thinking of how you used to complain about your dad making fun of your smelly feet.”
Instead of the little burst of laughter he expected, there was silence.
“Liz?” Nothing. “Lizzie?”
“I miss them.” Her voice is extremely quiet and he almost missed her words.
It’s his turn to be stunned into silence. He thinks back to the last time he saw his parents. Graduation: looking at him, scared, helpless, loving. He can feel a small lump in the back of his throat and he swallows it down quickly.
“Me too,” he manages eventually. “I miss them so much, sometimes I can almost imagine them being here with us, telling us off for being stupid and exposing ourselves to help people we don’t even know. And, sometimes, I wonder if she’s right – my imaginary mother. But… I realise, that it’s all worth it, because you’re here with me and we’re all together.”
More silence. This time from him because he can’t believe he has just said all of those things to her, given that they are still not on common ground. Granted, they had made some progress but he still didn’t want to scare her off.
“I sent him my journal,” she murmurs and he nods, although she can’t see him.
“I know,” he replies and he just knows that she’s looking at him with that surprised little look on her face that makes his heart melt each time he sees it. Imagining it does nothing lessen that effect. He hears a noise distinctly like… nooo… surely not?
“Are you crying?”
“No.”
She sniffs again.
Riiiiight.
--
“I’m sorry.”
He tilts his head in her direction and frowns.
“For what?” He shifts uncomfortably against the metal wall, his sticky back slicking against it.
Unlike her, he didn’t dare take his socks (he didn’t have shoes on) off.
He would not put anyone through that but… then again, the next Skin they come across… ‘Death by Foot Odour’… didn’t have a very proud ring to it.
“For being such a bitch.”
“It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I was such a bitch and you didn’t deserve it. You don’t deserve it.” There is a long silence and he is unsure whether or not he was supposed to fill it with something, so, instead of making even more of an ass of himself than he has in the past hour and a bit, he stays silent. “I’m pregnant, Max.”
His brain attempts to process this new piece of information. Liz. Pregnant. Max. Father. Pregnant. Liz was pregnant?
“You’re pregnant?”
--
He wasn’t sure how he knew, he just did. But they were looking at each other. Him in wonder, her in apprehension.
Wow. Liz was pregnant. Liz. Was. Pregnant. His brain refused to swallow this information and allow him to respond.
“I know this is a really bad time for this to happen and… well, there never would be a good time but-“
Footsteps. Definite footsteps. He can hear her inhalation of breath as she hears them too and they both scoot towards the end of the van towards the door, unaware as their bare upper bodies (except for her bra) meet.
Well, most parts of his body stay unaware.
Now would be a good time to say something, he realises as the footsteps draw nearer. But he doesn’t.
Neither does she.
Then, he shifts. During their scramble towards the door, he had thrown his arm around her waist and was holding her and his bodies upright. He tightened his hold on her, for balancing purposes only and then looked into her eyes. It’s then he realises that his hand had a mind of its own as he traced the edges of the waistband of the sweat pants she wore, his fingers brushing her navel then his fingers fanned out over her stomach.
“Pregnant…” he murmurs before his lips find hers and they’re kissing.
Passionately, lovingly, violently – all of their frustrations pent up blew over the edges and into the kiss as their connection sprang to life and he felt himself moan into her mouth. Her free hand, which was not currently wrapped around his waist for support purposes only, reached up to his face and pulled his head further into hers. Acquiescing easily, he pulled her flush against his body.
Then there was movement. Lots and lots of movement, and feeling himself falling, instincts take over and he grabs onto something, anything to stop gravity from having her way. He still can’t understand where it is he is going but he is moving at a great velocity and, for all he knew it could be very far down, so he tries to stop himself.
Then, he realises, everything is a lot brighter.
He opens his eyes gingerly to see the group of friends staring down at him with amused grins on their faces. It takes him a few moments to realise why they are so damn amused but when he feels Liz’s hands on his bare chest, her lips swollen from their frantic kissing and he can feel her embarrassment at their undressed state and he understands instantly what they thought was going on in the van.
“Everything all right?” Isabel asks, a smirk on her face and she raises her eyebrow at her brother and sister-in-law.
Okay, a couple of points about that question: of course he’s not okay. They just, obviously, interrupted his serious make-up-make-out session with Liz that he will now need to continue, second of all why the hell did they find the need to lock him in the van? How had the managed to do it? And, just because he could, he was going to kill whoever it was that opened that damn door. And, lastly, Liz Evans was-
“Pregnant.”
And he grinned, pulling her head down to his and…
“Glad to see everything is sorted, we’ll just be over by the tree…” Kyle’s voice was drowned out as the two lovers, husband and wife, expectant parents continued their make-up-make-out session.
The Van (M/L) [1/1] TEEN 11/19
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