Roswell Fanatics

Thank you for the feedback :

behrluv32 - Thanks .
lazza - Even though I was there in May/June, it was only 15 degrees and rainy and a lot colder than California!
anonymousarfan - Thanks . To be honest, I really haven't thought as far ahead as what's going to happen once they get back home!
harroc83 - I've always thought that I'd like to live in NYC (it's supposed to be 8 times safer than London (where I may end up living next year) .
roswell3053 - Thanks and don't worry, they will get 'together' eventually .
POM - Thank you . I'm always pointing out the places I've been when they are shown on the TV or in films .
begonia9508 - Yeah, that tour must be popular. Unfortunately we didn't have time to get off the bus at every place we wanted to .
kismet - Liz will get her chance soon .
dreamer destiny - I loved it when I was there - it was almost like being back at home - the atmosphere and the weather; but at the same time it was really different .
clueless - Thanks .



Part Twenty-One

I guess I must have been as exhausted as Max last night because I don’t wake up until after ten in the morning. Max is not in the bed with me and for a moment, I panic, wondering where he is; but then I hear the shower running in the bathroom and I sigh at my stupidity. It’s not like he can go very far in this room anyway,.

I yawn loudly (it’s not as if he’s going to hear me from here) and stretch languidly, making the most of the space in the bed. I smile as I feel the still-warm sheets where Max has been sleeping. Obviously, he’s only just woken up as well. Normally I would be slightly annoyed at the fact that we slept so long when we have a whole city to explore, but I am just too relaxed to care this morning; and besides, we saw and did most of the important things yesterday, so we can afford to be a bit more flexible with our time.

I give one more stretch before pulling back the covers and slowly climbing out of bed. I decide against having a shower after Max is done, since I’m planning on taking one as part of my ‘getting-ready’ routine before we go to the show tonight, so I just pull on a sweater and denim skirt outfit and brush my hair back into a ponytail.

I feel along the front of my teeth with my tongue, deciding that I really need to clean them. Like I told Max before, I just hate not brushing as soon as I get up and I figure that since Max seems to have no problems undressing in front of me, I’m sure he won’t mind if I use the sink while he’s in the shower. After all, he will be out of sight behind the curtain.

I walk over to the bathroom door and knock lightly on it; but then I realise that he’s not likely to hear it with the water running and so I knock more firmly.

“Max?” I call.

I wait a few seconds and when he doesn’t reply I knock loudly once more and call his name again.

“Yeah?” comes his slightly muffled reply.

“Do you mind if I come in?” I ask. “I need to brush my teeth.”

“Sure,” he calls back. “Come on in.”

“Thanks,” I say as I turn the handle and slip into the room, closing the door behind me. As I walk over to the sink, I try not to focus on the thought of Max’s naked body standing behind the shower curtain, barely a couple of metres away from me. The bathroom mirror has fogged up with the steam from the shower and I have to use my arm to wipe it away.

“Sleep well?” Max’s smooth voice drifts across the room.

“Yeah, like the dead,” I return with a smile, reaching for the toothpaste.

“Me too,” he replies, his tone amused. “I’m sorry I feel asleep on you last night, though.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I reassure him as I squeeze a small amount of the gooey substance onto my toothbrush.

“So, where are we going today then?” I hear him ask, barely a second after I’ve shoved the brush into my mouth and started brushing frantically.

“Mmm,” is all I can manage with a mouth full of minty toothpaste.

I guess Max doesn’t hear my mumbles because the next thing I know, his head pops round the edge of the curtain to peer at me in question. What a flattering position to be caught in by your boyfriend of barely a week!

He starts laughing as he gets a good look at my face and I just raise my eyebrows at him in a ‘What?’ gesture.

“Um, sorry,” he smirks. “You just have a little…” he points to his chin and a quick glance in the mirror to my right shows that I have a trail of toothpaste foam running down my chin.

I roll my eyes and turn to spit it out in the sink, wiping my chin in the process.

“Oh, ha ha, very funny, Max.”

He just grins and shakes his head at me, disappearing behind the curtain again.

Turning off the water in the shower, he asks again, “So today? What’s going on? Apart from the show tonight, I mean.”

“How about we do the uptown tour today?” I suggest. “It goes past here and up into Harlem.”

His hand appears and reaches for his towel, pulling it off the heated towel rail on the wall.

“Sounds good,” I hear from behind the curtain.

I’m about to say something more, but the sound of the curtain being pulled back and then the appearance of a dripping-wet, towel-clad Max emerging from the shower cuts off my train of thought. I bite back a sound of surprise and I feel my cheeks getting hot. No matter how many times I see his bare chest, my reaction is always the same. I wonder briefly, why it never affected me before this trip. Surely, I must have noticed this gorgeous body before this?

“Sorry,” he grins as he steps out of the shower, seemingly oblivious to my apparent lack of speech, “I’ll just get out of your way now.”

He exits the bathroom, leaving me to support myself against the sink and that’s when I decide that tonight’s the night. We’ll go to the show and have a great time, and when we get back, he’s going to be ravished.

Tonight is going to be all about him.

***

The uptown tour is really interesting. We see all these really old churches and mosques and we get a taste of the part of Manhattan Island that you usually don’t get to see in TV and films. After we get off the bus back in Time’s Square, we grab some lunch from a small deli and then go shopping. We visit the large Toys ‘R’ Us store, which has a huge Ferris wheel inside it and then the Virgin Megastore next door.

As we walk around Times Square, I notice a big Hershey’s store and drag Max inside it. Although I’m not too keen on Hershey’s chocolate, my parents love it and I realise that I have to buy them lots of different flavoured bars and packets of Kisses.

We get back to the hotel in the early evening so that I can have enough time to shower and change for the show. Max doesn’t know it yet, but I’m going to take him out to dinner afterwards. I saw an Olive Garden restaurant in the middle of Times Square earlier and I know how much he likes the food there.

After my shower, I get dressed, deciding on a purple strappy top with a crossover bust line and silver sequins along the top, a dark, flowing skirt and open-toed sandals. Max looks positively gorgeous in black slacks and a dark green shirt with the sleeves rolled up, showing off his strong lower arms and the top couple of buttons casually undone.

Honestly, I can’t stop staring as I watch him emerge from the bathroom, his hair combed just the way I like it (although I haven’t told him that yet) and his face freshly shaved. We get ready to leave the room and he takes my hand in his. As he leans in to kiss my cheek, I get a whiff of his aftershave and have to close my eyes at the feelings that just that scent invokes in me.

We hail a cab down to 42nd Street since I would prefer not to take the subway at night, especially when I’m all dressed up and we end up making it to our seats in the theatre stalls just in time for the beginning of the show.

Three hours later, we leave the theatre completely in awe of the performance we’ve just witnessed. Before tonight, I’d been a bit sceptical of how the Lion King would work on the stage, but it was absolutely amazing. The way that the costumes were designed allowed the cast members to look just like real animals and the whole atmosphere that the show provided was just incredible.

Even Max, who is a self-proclaimed action-movie geek, loved it. I can tell by the way he’s talking my ear off right now about the ‘coolness that was the show’ (his words, not mine). I’m getting a warm, fuzzy feeling just watching him, with his hands gesturing wildly as he talks. He’s too wrapped up in everything we’ve seen that I don’t have time to tell him about the dinner I have planned until we’re right outside the Olive Garden. I have to stop and wait for him to realise that I’m no longer beside him before I can reveal my intention.

His eyebrows raise and his mouth opens in surprise when I tell him that I’m taking him to dinner.

“Liz, oh my God, this is too much. You didn’t have to do this for me,” he protests with a shake of his head. “And anyway, aren’t I supposed to take you out for dinner, not the other way around?”

“Max,” I say, putting my hand on his arm. “I want to. And besides, you paid for the hotel in Vegas. This is the least I can do.” I smile and add teasingly, “Just shut up and enjoy it while you can, because once I’m a student, I won’t be able to afford to take you out to dinner.”

He chuckles and I can tell that he’s given in because he takes my arm and reaches out and opens the restaurant door for me.

“Table for two,” I tell the waitress in the foyer. She nods and leads us to a small table in the corner. She hands us two menus and takes our drink order (two cherry cokes) before leaving us to decide what to order. A quick glance at the main courses makes me realise that we’re going to have to budget. This is a lot more expensive than back home.

Luckily, Max notices this too and opens his mouth to protest once again, “Liz, maybe we shouldn’t – ”

“Hey, I’ve already planned this. There’s no way we’re not eating here now. We’ll just have to be careful about what we order,” I say, glancing back down at the menu. I scan my eyes over the cheapest dishes, realising that the more expensive ones sound much nicer. I deliberate over what to order for a couple of minutes, but then a smirk slides over my face. I’ve just had an idea.

“Hey, Max,” I look up to find him looking at me instead of the menu. The expression on his face makes me blush, but I resist the urge to bury my face back in the menu. “Here’s a thought; instead of both of us ordering something cheap, how about we just get one nicer dish and share?”

Max looks slightly dubious at my suggestion and I can’t resist adding, “Hey, if we get spaghetti, maybe we’ll get to have a Lady and the Tramp moment,” I emphasise my point by wiggling my eyebrows suggestively and Max bursts out laughing. The sound of his deep chuckle makes me shiver and suddenly I can’t wait until later, when we get back to the hotel.

“Okay, okay” he holds up his hands, in surrender a few moments. “You’ve convinced me. We’ll share. Like you said, you never know what might happen,” he winks.

We decide on the spaghetti bolognaise, just for the hell of it. It’s delicious, but sadly, we don’t end up both chewing on the same strand of spaghetti, no matter how hard Max tries to find the two ends of the same piece for us to eat together. The desserts are too pricey for my budget, but that doesn’t matter because the main course was filling enough.

When it comes time to pay the bill, Max tries to be sneaky and hide it while I’m in the bathroom, so that he can pay. But I know all his expressions, especially the guilty ones, and the second I return, I demand it back from him and pay it myself; although, at his insistence, I do let him take care of the tip.

We leave the restaurant hand-in-hand and while Max hails a cab, I take in the atmosphere of Times Square at night. I snuggle up to him on the ride back to 94th Street and his arm slips around his shoulders, pulling me close.

“Thank you for a wonderful evening,” he murmurs against my hair. “I had a great time.”

I smile against his chest. “Don’t thank me just yet,” I tell him. “There’s still more to come.”

He pulls back slightly, the questions visible in his eyes; but he doesn’t have time to say anything because at that moment, the cab pulls up outside the hotel. With a mischievous grin, I climb out of the car, leaving a bewildered and intrigued Max to pay the fare (I have no cash left on me).

He spends the entire elevator ride up to our room trying to make me tell him what exactly I have planned, but my lips are sealed. We step out of the elevator and I unlock the door to our room. Closing it behind us as we enter, I reach up and place a sweet kiss on his lips. His arms come around my waist and he tries to deepen it, but I have to pull away.

“Stay right there,” I tell him with a grin. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be right back.”

With a pout, he reluctantly lets me go and I step into the bathroom. I close the door and let my head fall back against it as I think about what I’m about to do for the first time in my life.

I’m so nervous; there are butterflies in my stomach and my hands are suddenly sweaty.

Come on, You can do this. I tell myself. This is Max. He knows you better than anyone.

I take a deep breath to calm myself and then step away from the door. I give myself a quick once-over in the mirror and deciding that I look pretty much all right, I make my way back over to the door and open it, ready to face Max.

TBC…

There's a bit of a mix of pics today, but here they are anyway:

Broadway and W. 94th St.(from the hotel window)
An old church (on the uptown tour)
Wall Street
The Brooklyn Bridge (I think)
Chinatown

I haven't had a chance to upload all of the pics to my Photobucket album yet, so I'll post more with the next part .

Thank you for your comments :

harroc83 - Thanks. I heard NYC is safer because of the tightening of security after 9/11 and the fact that there are policemen on practically every corner. In fact, I felt safer in NYC than in Albuquerque!
Roswell 10/2/00 - Thanks. The Lion King was great . But I was surprised that the only Virgin Megastore that I've ever seen in the states is in New York, because we have at least one in every town here!
Erina258 - Sorry that I left it there. You're right, there aren't many more places left to visit on their trip, but we're not at the end yet .
dreamer destiny - .
lazza - Thanks. I was so determined to go to a show that I didn't even care about getting cheap seat - it was my birthday . P.S. Just found out that my brother has a trial (at the end of Jan) for the 2006 Commonwealth Games (two of the guys dropped out with injuries), so if he makes it, he'll be in Melbourne in March !
roswell3053 - Thanks .
POM - Sorry, didn't mean to be a tease (well, okay, maybe I did) ! I love the Lion King - it was the best show I've ever been to.
Emz80m - Thanks .
begonia9508 - Thanks and Max is definitely not going to be asleep this time !
kismet - Thank you .
ISLANDGIRL5 - Thank you. The travelling was great - there was no way that I was going to spend almost a year in the US and not travel as much as possible!
clueless - Thanks .
RosyLady - Thanks .


Part Twenty-Two

Max is sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands braced on his knees, when I re-enter the room. I think he’s realised that I intend for something to happen between us tonight because he looks kind of nervous. I wonder if he knows what I’m planning for him.

I remember just then that when we talked the other day, he didn’t mention whether or not a girl had ever…gone down on him, for lack of a better phrase…before. I make a mental note to ask him before I do anything.

“Hey,” I say quietly and his head snaps up.

A smile breaks out on his face, “Hey, to you too.” He frowns slightly, “You know, it’s only been about two minutes since we last saw each other; I don’t really think that ‘Hey’ is all that relevant right now.”

I shrug. “I guess you’re right. It just felt appropriate somehow,” I say as I saunter casually towards him. I have to stop after two steps, however, because that’s how far it is from the bathroom door to the bed. Damn these tiny New York hotel rooms.

His legs part and I slip between them, looking down at him. My fingers slide through his soft hair and he raises his head to gaze up at me. He places his hands firmly on my lower back, holding me close to him. I can’t resist the smile that plays on his lips and I bend down to kiss him, one hand resting on either side of his head. As the kiss deepens, Max’s fingers trace a slow, sensuous path up my spine. He comes to a stop with one hand at the base of my neck and the other splayed across my upper back; I shiver at the feel of his large, warm hand against my skin.

“Max,” I gasp as he breaks the kiss and begins to drop feather-light caresses along my jaw line. At first, it feels so good that I can’t think straight, but then I manage to come to my senses and push him away.

“What?” he protests as I shake my head. “I thought you wanted – ”

“I do, Max,” I cut him off. “But this isn’t about me tonight, it’s about you. I want to give you pleasure this time, like you did for me last week.”

His jaw drops open, “Liz, I can’t expect you to – ”

“Why not, Max? What’s so different about me doing this for you this time?” I ask, straightening up. His hand slides down my back again as I move.

He shakes his head. “It’s just…you’ve never done this before and I had…I just don’t want you to feel uncomfortable…” he trails off uncertainly.

“Max, you’d only done it once yourself before last week! And let me tell you, there was nothing wrong with your technique,” I grin. “I may be inexperienced in this area and I’ll admit that I’m a little nervous, but I want to do this for you,” I tell him earnestly. “And I’m hoping you’ll help by showing me what you like…” I raise my eyebrow in suggestion, but he doesn’t respond and it’s then that I realise that he’s no longer looking me in the eye.

Then it hits me.

“That’s it, isn’t it? You don’t like it. You don’t want to me to do this, do you?”

He shifts uncomfortably, “No, it’s not that. It’s just that…um, no one’s ever, er, pleasured me that way before and I guess I’m not really sure what to expect and…I’m kind of nervous too. I mean, you’re Lizzie, you’re my best friend” he gestures towards me. “What if you, like, laugh at me or something? I’d never be able to look you in the eye again.”

“Max,” I tilt his chin up to face me. “I’m not going to laugh at you, okay? If anything, the thought of seeing you and touching you, is making me so turned on right now that I can’t think straight,” I tell him, watching as his eyes widen. “Please, Max. Let me do this; we’ll experience it together - a first time for both of us.”

I barely give him enough time to finally nod his consent because my arms are suddenly wrapped tightly around his neck and my lips are devouring his. Using my legs as leverage, I give a small push forward and Max falls back to the bed, pulling me down with him. A thrill runs through me at the feel of his strong, hard body pressed against mine and I can think of nothing else but that his tongue is caressing mine and our bodies are touching.

Somehow, our shoes get kicked off and we end up lying in the middle of the bed, my legs are straddling his hips as we continue to kiss.

Eventually, oxygen becomes an issue and we are forced to part. Max’s head falls back against the pillows and he is breathing heavily. I take the opportunity, while he’s catching his breath to move downwards, pressing soft kisses along his neck and collarbone, down to the opening of his shirt. I play with the fastened buttons for a moment, before casually unbuttoning a couple of them. I hear a gasp from Max as my fingers graze the newly exposed skin and I continue to unbutton his shirt, placing small kisses on his skin as it comes into view.

Before long, the shirt is completely open and I can run my fingers over the expanse of his bare chest, taking his shirt with them as I go. I reach his shoulders and he lifts off the bed slightly so I can ease the garment off him. I discard it on the floor and lean over him to admire a half-naked Max, my hair brushing his skin as I move.

“Liz…” he mutters and I look up to find his eyes closed. His hands rest gently on my hips and I smile at the picture he makes. I can’t help it; I lower my upper body to his and capture his lips once more. He moans into my mouth and I part my lips to allow his tongue entry. I feel his hands move from my hips and up underneath my flimsy top, coming to rest on my lower back. His fingers begin a torturous assault on my skin and as the kiss deepens, his hands move further up over my back. Now it’s my turn to gasp as he presses me more fully against him and I feel the bulge in his pants as it rubs against me.

“God. Max,” I breathe into his mouth, and some of my nervousness dissipates.

With a rapid surge of confidence, I tear my mouth from his and make my way back down his chest, licking and nipping at his skin. My tongue circles his right nipple and his upper body jerks slightly. I smile against his chest, lingering there for a moment before moving to pay attention to the left one. As my mouth works, I let my fingers trail down over his stomach muscles, grinning when I feel them contract under my touch.

My fingers finally reach their destination, but I’m still a little hesitant when they come into contact with his erection straining against his clothing. Sensing my uncertainty, Max slides one hand out from under my top and covers my hand with his.

“Liz, hey,” he whispers soothingly. “You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready.”

I raise my head from his chest to meet his eyes. “I am ready, Max,” I tell him. “I just, um…” I trail off, suddenly at a loss for words.

He seems to understand though, because he presses a gentle kiss to the top of my head and murmurs, “Look, we’ll just do this together, okay?” As if to emphasise his point, he moves my hand to his zipper and together we pull it down. A hiss escapes his lips as some of the pressure is relieved and I glance up at his face to find it contorted with pleasure.

His reaction spurs me on and I gently ease his pants down over his hips, boldly running my fingers over the material of his boxers, feeling the hard length beneath them. This time, my actions elicit a moan from Max and I’m suddenly eager to hear more.

I want to make him lose control.

Starting at his belly button, I walk my fingers along the trail of hair that runs down to his boxers. When I reach the elastic, I teasingly slip my hand underneath it, letting out a small gasp myself as my fingers close around his hard flesh. He lets out another moan at the contact and suddenly I have this incredible urge to not only touch him, but to see him while I’m doing it. I take a deep breath, knowing that what I’m about to do will cross a line and that I can never go back once I’ve crossed it. This will be the first time I’ve ever seen all of Max; that is if you don’t count that time when we were four and he ran around my back yard completely naked before jumping into the paddling pool and thoroughly soaking me in the process. I mentally shake my head. Okay, not a good time to be recalling childhood memories.

Another quick glance up at his face and seeing his eyes still tightly shut gives me the confidence to continue and before I can change my mind, I lift the waistband and free him from the confines of his underwear.

Wow.

I’m not really sure what else to say at this point, or how else to describe him. He is magnificent, if you can really say that about a man’s penis; I mean, they’re not exactly the most attractive things in the world. But I guess the locker room rumours about him were true, he’s definitely the biggest I’ve seen, although I’ve only technically seen two others in the flesh before.

I feel a little embarrassed about just sitting here and staring at him like this (at least he’s not looking at me though), so I just let instinct take over and stroke him gently. A tiny smile plays on my lips as his breathing deepens and then starts to come in small gasps. Incensed, I move my fingers over him faster and then reach lower to lightly cup and caress his balls. His answering moan is all the encouragement I need and I lean forward, tentatively flicking my tongue out to taste the tip. Max’s hips jerk in response and he whispers my name.

More confident now, I lean in again, but this time my tongue lingers slightly longer and then I take the whole tip in my mouth. His hands bury themselves in my hair and he gasps again.

“Oh God. Liz…”

Now fuelled by my own desire, as well as his, I daringly take more of him into my mouth, running my tongue over the smooth skin as my hand wraps around the rest of him, stroking steadily as my mouth does the rest.

He’s panting now and his breathing is erratic. Not ceasing what I’m doing, I look up at his face again and find that he’s opened his eyes and is now looking down at me, watching my every move beneath heavy-lidded eyes. I fight the urge to look away, and suddenly I find myself caught up in the obvious love and desire shining in his eyes and as his hands tighten in my hair, I feel a surge of warmth in my belly; now I’m too turned on to care about being self-conscious or embarrassed. A quick smile flits across Max’s face before pleasure takes over again and his head falls back to the pillow.

“Oh God, Liz,” he moans again, his eyes sliding closed once more. “Don’t stop.”

I focus all my energy on giving him as much pleasure as possible. I’m sucking and licking and pumping his length with one hand, the other gently cupping his balls once more.

Suddenly, without warning, his balls tighten and his body tenses.

“Liz, I’m going to…you have to…” he gasps then and tries to push my head away, but I’m not having it. It might be my first time doing this, but I want to experience everything about it and to be honest, I think it would be more awkward and well, messy, if I were to pull away now and have him ‘reach his peak’ all over himself (not to be crude or anything).

So, I shake my head and make a sound of protest in the back of my throat, which must have caused a vibration against him because just then his hands fist in my hair and he lets out a loud, gasping groan, his seed spilling into my mouth. It’s unexpected, but not completely unpleasant. I swallow quickly and continue to give him pleasure until I’ve sucked him dry and he relaxes back onto the bed, catching his breath.

I let his softening member slip from my mouth and cover him up once again, discretely wiping my mouth while his eyes are still closed. Before I crawl back up the bed to him, I lean down and slide his pants off his legs, leaving him in just boxers. I admire his muscular thighs and calves as I go. Deciding that I can’t be bothered to get ready for bed properly, I slip off my skirt as well and let it fall to join his trousers on the floor. I slide up the bed in my strappy top and panties until I’m face to face with him.

“Wow,” his eyes open slowly and he gives me a lazy, but contented smile. “Hey,” he whispers.

“Hey to you, too,” I reply. He opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off before he’s even started. “And it was my pleasure.”

“I love you,” he states, earnestly.

“And I love you,” I return happily.

His arm comes around me then and he leans down to kiss my lips. At first, I try to pull away, mindful of what I’ve just done, but he doesn’t seem to care and I find myself giving in and kissing him back. He eventually pulls back and rests his forehead against mine, grinning ear-to-ear.

“Come on, let’s get some sleep,” he says and shifts to release the covers, pulling them over us. I rest my head on his chest, my arm around his waist.

“Goodnight, Max,” I murmur softly.

“Goodnight, Lizzie,” he whispers back. “And thank you for tonight.”

I don’t reply, but raise my head and place a kiss to the sensitive spot on his neck, just below his ear. He shivers slightly, but is too sleepy to do anything about it. I lay my head back down on his chest, relaxing against him, closing my eyes as I drift off to sleep.

TBC…

I'm sorry to say that there are no accompanying photos for this part (as much as I wish I had some of naked Max ), but here are a few more random pics of New York:

The Guggenheim
The Met
The Big Wheel inside Toys 'R' Us
The ice rink outside Rockefeller Center

and thanks to Behrsgirl1230 for sending me these pics of the TRL studio when the Backstreet Boys were there:

The MTV studios
The TRL sign from outside the studio
Outside the studio (spot the BSB's in the window!)[/i]

Thank you for the feedback :

Roswell 10/2/00
Gater101
roswell3053
harroc83
Sweet Liz
dreamer destiny
begonia9508
Behrsgurl*87
Dreamer 4 Ever
youre my dreamgirl
lazza
POM
Alien614
kismet
clueless
anonymousarfan

I'm glad you all liked that last part .

***

Part Twenty-Three

“God, Liz, just stop, okay?” exclaims an irritated Max. “Please.”

“Stop? Stop what? You’re the one that keeps ignoring everything I say!” I cry, annoyed.

“That’s because nothing that has come out of your mouth in the past hour as been particularly nice and it doesn’t seem like you’re going to get over…whatever it is that’s making you act like this…anytime soon!” his voice raises steadily as he speaks, until he’s practically shouting. “And I’m trying to concentrate on getting us to Cambridge. You know, so I can see the place that’s going to be your home for the next four years.”

“Yeah well, I can’t help it if you’re an uptight ass with no compassion for others,” I grind out, crossing my arms over my chest as I turn away from him. I stare out of the window and try desperately to blink away the tears that are threatening to fall.

“What the hell, Liz? All I said was that maybe it’s going to cost too much to visit some of the other cities on the East coast, and you totally bit my head off!”

He’s right, of course. I’ve blown this entire conversation out of proportion. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with me today. I don’t want to fight with Max. Last night, when I pictured how we would be spending today, it definitely did not involve a full-blown argument between the two of us. But I guess I just woke up cranky this morning, which was a shame, considering the special night we just shared, but now I just can’t seem to stop the harsh words from tumbling out.

I’m having a clumsy, nothing’s-going-right-for-me, stressful day and it just so happens that Max is the only one around to take the heat. I really do love him, but I could really do with some alone time right now and being stuck in a car with him for several hours is really not helping my bad mood. As much as I don’t want to let on that I’m trying not to cry right now, I can’t control the small sniffle and hiccup that escape and I can feel Max’s gaze on me.

“Liz,” he starts tiredly. “I don’t want to fight with you today and I’m sorry, okay? So let’s just calm down and forget about it.”

I whip my head round to face him, “No, I’m not going to forget about it. This isn’t your fault; it’s mine. I’m having a crappy day today and I’m taking it out on you. I don’t mean to, but I am!” I tell him seriously. “Look, I don’t want to put a dampener on things, especially after last night, so it’s probably best if we just give each other some space right now. Why don’t I drive and then you can relax for a bit?”

Max nods, taking in what I’ve said, but he still refuses to let me drive.

“You just said it yourself: you’re having a bad day. I’ll handle the driving and you get some rest, okay? And we won’t talk anymore, at least for now,” he says and I nod in reply. “But, do you think maybe I could just hold your hand instead? You look like you could do with a bit of…subtle support,” he smiles and although I’m still a little frustrated and annoyed, I find myself agreeing, my fingers curling round his as his large hand slips into mine. I squeeze his soft flesh lightly, letting him know that I’m grateful for his understanding and we continue to drive in silence.

As Max drives on towards Cambridge, all the while casually stroking my hand with his thumb and fingers, I let my thoughts drift back to last night. Looking back on it now, I feel kind of embarrassed about how forward I was with Max and when I woke up this morning, before the crankiness started, I was really worried that things would be awkward between us; but one glance into those gorgeous, sleep-filled, gold-flecked eyes and all my fears dissipated. We shared a tender kiss and muttered sweet nothings to each other, before I got up and promptly began dropping and knocking over everything that I touched and so my bad day began.

We ended up almost missing the deadline for vacating the room at the hotel because of my apparent inability to do anything right this morning; and then the traffic out of the city was really bad, but we’re finally on our way to Massachusetts and Harvard University.

The warmth of Max’s hand in mine is comforting and it soothes my frazzled nerves. I find myself drifting off to sleep within a few minutes of our truce being initiated and the next time I open my eyes, we are in Cambridge.

“Wow,” I exclaim as we drive through the town. There are a lot of quaint shops and the place has a nice community atmosphere. “It’s beautiful here. I can’t wait to see the campus. What?” I ask when Max looks at me funny.

“You’re going to school here, but you haven’t even seen the campus yet?”

I huff indignantly, “Well, it’s not like it’s only a few hours away like UNM. I think 2000 miles is slightly far to travel for a quick campus tour.” Max opens his mouth to say something, but I carry on regardless. “And besides, I’ve wanted to go here my whole life. Harvard is my dream,” I say, gazing ahead at the beautiful scenery.

I hear a scoff and turn to Max to find him with his hands raised in the air in an act of surrender, “Okay, okay. I got it. No need to get your knickers in a twist.”

For a second, I’m tempted to wipe that smirk off his face, but then I see a genuine smile creeping through and I realise that he was just teasing. I shoot him a glare, but the effect is ruined by the sudden urge to giggle that has just risen up in my throat.

Anyway, Max pulls up outside the university a few minutes later and together we set off on a tour of the campus, our earlier argument all but forgotten.

***

Day 31 – Wednesday July 23rd 2002

Max and I spent the afternoon and early evening taking in Harvard University and I have to say, the architecture and the scenery here is wonderful. The buildings look really old fashioned and so different from New Mexico, where everything has been built Adobe style.

We got to see the Biology Medical labs and the lecture theatres where I’ll be taking my classes in the Fall and just seeing where I’ll be living and studying got me all excited. Suddenly, I can’t wait until next month when I’ll be moving out here. Of course, it’s going to be hell without Max, but simply the thought of working in those labs and making new biological discoveries sends a thrill though my body.

We also had the chance to look around the residence hall where I’ll be living come the end of August. It’s right near the science labs and close to several of the local student hangouts. The rooms look really nice and I guess I’ll have a roommate to get to know soon.

Tomorrow, we’ve decided to drive into Boston and have a look around the city. Since it’s close to Cambridge, I’ll probably end up spending some time in the city and it will be nice to have a look around it before I finally come here.

I feel kind of silly about it now, but when we found a motel to stay in for the night and finally had a chance to relax in our room, everything just caught up with me – the university, my bad mood all day – and I just burst into tears in the middle of watching a rerun of Friends and scoffing a pizza.

Max was great. He didn’t ask questions; he didn’t get offended when I tried to shrug off his words of comfort; he just plucked the slice of pizza from my hands, and placed it on the box. Then he swept the few unruly strands of hair from my face and enveloped my in a warm hug. His hands rubbed my back soothingly and he whispered comforting words in my ear until I managed to calm down a little.

It was like he understood that I hadn’t meant to be so harsh to him today, that something was up and that I couldn’t help flying off the handle at him about the littlest things and he seemed to take my little outburst in his stride. Eventually, I was able to get emotions under control again and when he was finally satisfied that I was back to normal again, Max left me to watch to more Friends episodes while he took a shower.

That’s where he is now: in the shower and the way things have been heating up between us lately, I would normally be thinking about the fact that he’s currently standing naked behind that door and how much I’d like to ravish him. But tonight I’m just too tired and moodily depressed to consider it, so to pass the time until he’s finished, I’ve been writing in my journal instead.

Just as I write that last sentence, the bathroom door opens and a clean, freshly shaven Max walks out in a T-shirt and boxers.

“Hey, you feeling any better?” he greets me with a smile, using a towel to dry his hair.

“Yeah, I am. Thank you,” I send him a grateful look.

He drops the towel onto the back of the nearby chair and I have to suppress a giggle at the sight of his hair now. It’s sticking up in all directions and makes him look about ten years old. Well, his face at least; the rest of his body is definitely not that of a ten-year-old.

“I’m sorry about earlier, in the car,” I apologise as he leans down to pick up the box of remaining cold pizza and place it on the floor. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me today. It’s like everything has been off-kilter or something and I just haven’t been able to do anything right.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it, okay? We all have our bad days,” he tells me, sitting down next to me on the bed “Remember the other week when we drove to the hotel at Disneyland? I was having a really crappy day then, just like you’re having today. I didn’t mean to, but I took it out on you and I barely spoke to you that whole day. It wasn’t your fault and I shouldn’t have ignored you like I did, but I had some stuff going on in my head and my problems just spilled over onto you. I’m sorry for that, but you didn’t hold it against me, just like I’m not going to hold this against you today. So let’s just forget about it, okay?”

“Okay,” I manage, touched by his apology and explanation. My mind wanders as I remember the few days we spent at Disneyland and I remember something that happened, or almost happened while we were there. With everything that was going on, I’d forgotten to ask him about it.

“Max, you know when Aiden showed up in California, just after we’d been on the river rapids? You started to say something to me, but we got interrupted. What were you going to say?”

Max frowns in confusion for a moment, but then his face clears and, for some reason, he blushes.

“Oh, um,” he ducks his head, biting his lip before looking back up. “I was going to tell you how pretty you looked soaking wet; and I think maybe I would have told you how I’d been feeling about you the previous few days. How jealous I was when I saw you with Aiden. How you mean so much more to me than just a best friend. I would have told you that you’re my whole world, Liz.”

“Wow,” I breathe. “You were going to tell me all of that? Man, Aiden really has bad timing! Max, you should have stopped me from going out with him that night,” I scold.

“Would you have listened to me?”

“Okay, probably not,” I concede. “Not if you didn’t explain why you didn’t want me to go.”

“Exactly.”

“Oh no,” I hold my hand to my head. “That’s why you got mad when I got back, isn’t it? Wow, I really messed that up, didn’t I?”

“Hey, don’t worry about it. It all worked out in the end, so why bring it up now?” he reasons and I find myself agreeing with him. “Hey, you must be exhausted. Why don’t you go wash up and we’ll go to bed, okay?”

“Alright,” I say and climb out of the bed. “I’ll see you in a minute.”

Ten minutes later, we’re curled up together in bed. Max is lying behind me, his head propped up on his hand. His fingers are caressing my shoulder and upper arm and it’s sending me to sleep.

“I love you, Liz,” are the last words I hear before sleep takes over.

TBC…

Thank you to Roswell 10/2/00 for sending me the photos of Cambridge and Harvard University :

Cambridge 1 2

Harvard University 1 2 3 4

The Biology Medical Labs at Harvard 1 2 3

Thank you for your comments :

harroc83 - Thank you.
Roswell 10/2/00 - Thanks.
ISLANDGIRL5 - Thanks. Poor Liz just can't help how she's acting right now, she just hasn't quite realised why she's feeling like that yet .
begonia9508 - Yeah, I agree, but I don't think Liz has got that yet .
clueless - Thanks.
Erina258 - I didn't want to have them fight properly, especially not just after all they've shared .
dreamer destiny - You know, when I started writing this fic, it was supposed to be realistic, but Max just seems to be getting more and more like someone out of a romance novel !
youre my dreamgirl - I know, I had one of those days the other week and it really was not good!
anonymousarfan - Unfortunately, circumstances mean that they won't get to do it for a few days, at least .
Ellie - Liz knew that she was being unreasonable, however her hormones took control ! Harvard's been her dream for so long, I don't tink she would give that up for anyone, even Max.
Emz80m - Thanks
roswell3053 - Thank you.
lazza - Thanks, you're probably right, but Liz hasn't admitted that to herself yet .
txndreamer06 - Thank you.



Part Twenty-Four

I wake up the next morning in possibly the most uncomfortable position I’ve ever slept in. Max’s arm is stretched out along the pillow, supposedly supporting my head, except that my neck is currently bent backwards over his forearm and the back of my head is touching the pillow. I am lying half on my side with the arm closest to Max squashed up against his side at the oddest angle. With a soft groan, I try to lift my head, only to discover an ache in my neck and a throbbing headache. Careful not to disturb Max, I push my body up into a sitting position and hold a hand to my head, almost swaying with the dizziness that my actions have caused. Gently, I ease myself off the bed and still holding my hand over my eyes, I fumble around for my wash bag, where I keep a packet of painkillers.

My intended stealthy journey to the bathroom is disrupted when I trip over a pile of clothes that I left on the floor last night and almost go flying into the nightstand. I mutter a curse and stumble into the bathroom, wincing when I flick the light switch and the brightness practically blinds me. Cautiously moving to sit on the toilet seat, I rummage in my wash bag for the painkillers, but my fingers are clumsy and the bag slips out of my hands and onto the floor, the entire contents spilling out in all directions. I let out a tired and frustrated sigh before leaning down to gather up my things, my eyes staying half-closed from the pain in my head.

I finally get hold of the tablets and quickly down two of them with a glass of water. I sink back against the wall, trying to build up enough energy to stand again, but I suddenly feel a twinge in my belly and cease my movements. Ouch. My hand flies to my stomach, as if that’s going to help dim the sudden pain. My other hand comes up to my forehead again and I let out a deep breath.

My period. I should have known it. Especially after how I was acting yesterday – talk about PMS-ing! My periods have never been totally regular, but it has been almost six weeks since the last one. I really don’t know how the fact that I was due, could have slipped my mind.

Oh, wait, I do.

One word.

Max.

I reach into the bag again, this time searching for my tampons.

My head throbs in response to the awkward position and pain courses through my abdomen once more.

It’s just going to be one of those days.

***

“Liz? What’s wrong?”

Slumped on the toilet seat, with one hand pressed to my stomach and the other holding my head up at the side of the sink, is how Max finds me half an hour later. After sorting myself out, I somehow managed to shuffle back into the room and slip a pair of sweatpants and one of Max’s oversized t-shirts on over my small, dressy top and panties.

I don’t have the strength to move my head to look up in the direction of his voice; but a soft moan escapes my lips, letting him know that I heard him. Barely a second later, I hear movement from behind me as Max crosses the small room and then crouches down beside me, watching my face in concern.

“Feel sick,” I supply in response to his questioning gaze. He frowns and I realise that he must think I have food poisoning or something. “Period,” I add.

“Oh,” he replies, slightly uncomfortably. As you probably can imagine, my menstrual cycle is another topic that Max and I have never really discussed before. “You know, you really don’t look so great. Is there anything I can do?” he asks tenderly, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly with his hand.

I try for a smile, but it doesn’t come off and only serves to aggravate the throbbing in my temple. “Help me up?” I ask timidly.

“Okay,” he smiles, but instead of supporting my weight so that I can get to my feet, he simply bends down to scoop me up into his arms and then carries me back into the bedroom.

He carefully lays me back down on the bed and I curl up on my side, my hands clutching my stomach. Max takes a seat beside me, gently stroking my hair away from my face.

“Are you sure there’s nothing I can get for you? Some painkillers? Something to drink?” he asks softly.

I try to shake my head, but it just makes me dizzy again. “I’ve already taken something,” I whisper throatily. “It just hasn’t kicked in yet.”

“Okay,” he nods. “So, if I can’t do anything to help, can I just hold you instead?” he asks almost hesitantly, as if he’s afraid he’ll hurt me, and I can’t help the smile that touches my lips. I reach up and cover his hand with mine, bringing it to my lips, I place a light kiss on his fingertips.

“I’d love that,” I reply and he smiles again.

He gets up and as I wait for him to move around to his side of the bed, I let my head relax against the pillow and close my eyes. A sigh escapes my lips as I feel the bed shift behind me and then his warm body comes to rest against my back. His arm wraps around my waist and he buries his face in the back of my neck. Having Max there, holding me to him, makes me feel better, if only a little, and I find myself drifting off to sleep again.

When, I wake up a couple of hours later, I find that we’ve shifted positions and now my face is buried in Max shirt. He still has one arm around me, but my arm has somehow slipped beneath his and is currently wrapped around his trim waist. Our free hands are resting together, between us on the bed. Our fingers are entwined, just like our legs. I move my head to peer up at Max’s attractive features, which at present are peaceful in sleep; when I do so however, I also realise that the pain in my head is all but gone and I feel much better.

I don’t make any attempt to move though, I’m content to just lie here in Max’s arms and watch him sleep. My gaze travels from the few strands of hair that have fallen across his smooth forehead, down over those impossibly long eyelashes and beautiful nose, eventually coming to rest on his perfect lips. Suddenly I can’t take my eyes off them and licking my lips in anticipation, I lean in to taste them.

“Hey,” comes the amused whisper, just before our lips touch and I jump in surprise. But Max is simply smiling down at me sleepily.

“Oh my God, you scared me,” I whisper back.

“I scared you? You’re not the one who woke up to find someone practically attacking them!” he exclaims quietly.

“I did not attack you,” I pinch his waist. “Anyway, it’s not my fault you’re so cute when you’re asleep; I just couldn’t resist.”

He raises his eyebrows smugly, but I can still see concern in his expression; concern for me. “So I guess you’re feeling better then?”

I nod, “A little. My head doesn’t hurt anymore, at least.”

“That’s good,” he murmurs and places a kiss on my forehead.

We lay together quietly and it is a few moments before either of us speaks again.

“Max?”

“Hmm?”

“Remember the other week in Arizona, when we got drunk?”

He shifts slightly, a slightly frown appearing on his face, “Yeah.”

“Well, um, what happened between us that night…when we kissed…was it really just because you were upset about Tess?” I ask, unconsciously biting my lip in anticipation of his response.

He doesn’t say anything at first, just fixes his gaze on something above my head and I start to get worried; but a moment later, he clears his throat.

“You know, at the time, I didn’t really know why I kissed you. I guess I just convinced myself that I was hurting and upset about Tess cheating on me and that’s why it happened; but I think that was just an excuse not to analyse what I was feeling for you. I mean, first I had to deal with Tess and then I walk out to find you all cosy with some guy...and it just threw me, I guess.”

“Oh…” I breathe.

“But what about you?” he continues. “I’ve been telling you all these things about me and what I’ve been feeling, but you haven’t mentioned why you kissed me that night.”

I gaze into his eyes as I consider the question. Why had I kissed him? At that point, I hadn’t admitted to myself that I was feeling more than friendship for him. So why? The best answer I can come up with is “I think that it was partly the alcohol. I mean, we were sitting there and I saw feeling all warm and fuzzy from the drink, and suddenly I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. It was like I was just noticing you for the very first time. Your soft skin, your eyes, those eyelashes, your cute nose and those beautiful lips…” my gaze fixes on the lips in question. “I realise now that deep down, I’ve always felt that way about you, but at the time is was the alcohol that made me look at you differently and I couldn’t stop myself. When we kissed, it was like I was on fire. And you know what was racing through my mind afterwards?” Max shakes his head and his eyes widen curiously. “I was thinking: Wow, Max is a great kisser!”

Max just laughs throatily at my confession and I feel tingles go down my spine at the sound.

“You were really thinking that?” he asks with a grin. “What a coincidence, that’s just what I was thinking that night too! Well, that and ‘why did I never pluck up the courage to do that before?’” he chuckles and I can’t help joining in.

When our laughter dies down a couple of minutes later, I find myself staring into Max’s eyes and my breath catches in my throat. His expression mirrors that of the night in San Francisco when we finally kissed for real.

“Max?” I whisper.

He shakes his head in the negative, a slight movement and before I know it, we are kissing hungrily. I gasp into his mouth as his hand slides down from my neck towards my belly, gently cupping my breast on the way.

“Liz,” he whispers into my mouth when he reaches my bottom and holds me closer to him. His hand slowly creeps round from my backside and over my hips until he reaches the juncture of my thighs. My legs part slightly and his hand brushes my clit through my panties and sweatpants.

I gasp, tearing my mouth from his at the sensation of his fingers touching me, albeit indirectly.

“God, Liz. I want…”

The longing in his voice brings me to my senses and I place my hands on his chest to push him away. His expression is a mixture of confusion and hurt and I realise that pushing him away like that was probably not the best reaction.

“Max, we can’t,” I murmur grudgingly. “My period…”

“Oh,” Max lets out, in realisation, removing his hand from between my legs. “I’m sorry. I forgot for a moment there…”

“Hey, don’t worry; I forgot too,” I roll my eyes at myself in exasperation. I fall back down to the bed with a sigh and watch as Max mimics my actions. “Well, this sucks. I was really in the mood as well.”

“Yeah, it does,” he agrees. “So, no nookie for a few days, then, huh?”

“Guess not,” I agree. “Wait. Did you just say ‘nookie’?”

“Um…”

“Since when do words like ‘nookie’ come out of your mouth, Max Evans?” I exclaim in mock horror. “My God!”

He shifts uncomfortably, “Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Parker. So, I say stupid things sometimes; so sue me.”

I roll my eyes again, at him this time and we lie in silence for a while.

Its Max who breaks the silence a few minutes later, “So, you feeling up to seeing Boston today, Miss Parker? Cos we’d better get a move on if we’re going to have time to see it all.”

“Yeah, I’m up to it, Mr. Evans,” I stress playfully. “Just don’t expect me to go running and jumping around the city or anything, okay?”

“Let’s get going then!” he exclaims and gets off the bed. Holding out a hand he pulls me up too and less than half an hour later, we’ve checked out of the hotel and are on our way into Boston.

And I’m driving this time.

TBC…

Thank you for your lovely comments :

dreamer destiny
harroc83
Gater101
Sweet Liz
youre my dreamgirl
Erina258
behrluv32
lazza
clueless
POM
anonymousarfan
roswell3053
begonia9508
Roswell 10/2/00
kismet
ISLANDGIRL5
txndreamer06

Okay, this part is a bit shorter than normal, but since I haven't been to Boston before, I really don't know much about what you can do there , and I thought it was a good place to stop .


Quick plug: I'm almost done writing my response to Holiday Challenge #2 and I'm hoping to start posting it tomorrow, so look out for it on the CC board .



Part Twenty-Five

Okay, so what Max didn’t tell me when he agreed to let me drive, was that Boston is only a few minutes from Cambridge, so basically I’ve only driven a couple of miles in the last few days! Bastard (and I mean that in the nicest way – honest)!

Anyway, we’re in Boston by lunchtime, so before we set off to explore the city, we decide to stop for sandwiches in a small café.

“So,” Max begins through a mouthful of chicken teriyaki sandwich. He swallows. “How’s your stomach? Is it any better?”

My hand goes to my belly, rubbing it soothingly, “A little,” I reply, touched by his thoughtfulness. “The pain comes and goes. But right now, it’s gone.”

“That’s good,” he smiles. “But let me know if you feel ill again, cos we don’t have to try and get everything done all at once, you know.”

“Okay, I will,” I return his smile. “Thanks.”

He shrugs and ducks his head, returning to his sandwich.

“I mean it, Max. Thank you,” I tell him sincerely, reaching across the table to take his hand. “And not just for helping me this morning. Thank you for putting up with me yesterday. I didn’t know what was wrong with me then; it didn’t even occur to me that it was, you know,” I lower my voice, “the time of the month.”

“Oh, but I knew, Lizzie,” he grins, squeezing his hand more tightly around mine.

My smile drops. Crap. “What? You knew what was wrong with me? Shit…” I trail off. “How?”

“How what? How did I know?” he looks puzzled for a second.

“Yes,” I hiss, mortified that he’d realised what was going on before I had.

“Oh,” he says. “Well, you know, I have been around you a lot over the last few years. And I do have a twin sister. I pick up on things; I know what it means when you or Isabel, or any girl really, is unusually tired, stressed and weepy,” he admits sheepishly.

“But, if you knew, why did we have that stupid argument in the car yesterday?” I shake my head, embarrassed, “You should have ignored how I was acting and carried on driving. Everyone else does when I get like this,” I roll my eyes and he smiles again.

“I didn’t realise that’s what it was then, otherwise I wouldn’t have got so annoyed. But you’ll notice that I tried to make it up to you later on,” he reminds me, reaching for his coke with his free hand.

“Yeah, you did; and thank you. I really didn’t mean to burst into tears on you. I just needed to let off some steam and crying is what came out. You know, I actually have no idea what it was about life that I found so stressful last night,” I frown and scrunch up my nose, trying to remember what exactly had set me off.

“Wait, I know what it was,” grins Max, with a wiggle of his eyebrows, setting his glass back down on the table. “You were watching Friends, when it occurred to you how much you’re going to miss your own best friend a.k.a…me, when you come here in a few weeks and you couldn’t bear the thought of leaving me all alone to fend for myself in big, scary Albuquerque; so you did the only thing you could – cry over me,” he holds his hand over his heart as he finishes.

My mouth drops open and removing my hand from his, I lean across the table to lightly punch his arm, “You are so full of yourself, Max Evans!” I grin. “Like I would ever cry over you.”

It was meant to come off as a joke, but the second the words spill from my mouth, I realise that chances are, I will be crying over Max in the near future, when we have to go our separate ways in just over a month. However, I’m not going to admit that to him just now.

“Aww, come on, Lizzie; no need to be so harsh,” he whines pitifully, still clutching his chest. His voice snapping me out of my thoughts and causes me to roll my eyes.

“Oh, shut up, Evans and eat your food,” I shoot back quickly.

“Man, why are you uptight all of a sudden? Was it something I said?” he grins again, but tucks in anyway.

I fix him with a mock death glare and turn my attention to the tuna-melt sandwich in front of me. But I have to hide a smile; teasing Max is fun today!

***

Boston is a lovely city. Max and I visit Quincy Market and the Boston T train; and I manage to get a gorgeous picture of the downtown skyline from Boston Harbour. I can tell that I’m going to like living close by. The east coast is so different from the southwest; the atmosphere, the streets and buildings; even the people seem a little different, but not in a bad way, of course.

“Hmm,” I sigh, leaning against the railing that overlooks the water. “I really like it here. Isn’t Boston a great place?”

There’s no reply from my left where Max is standing and I look over to find his head buried in a magazine. He hasn’t even heard me!

“Oi, Max!” I exclaim, elbowing him in the side. He looks up in bewilderment. “I thought we were supposed to be enjoying the sights of Boston here, not walking round with our noses buried in the latest issue of…what is it you’re reading?” I grab the front of the magazine so I can see the cover. “Max! FHM? I can’t believe you!”

“What’s wrong with that?” he asks defensively. “You’ve never minded when I’ve read it before.”

I roll my eyes at his stupidity. “I wasn’t your girlfriend then!” I tell him, as if it should be obvious, but he still looks confused, so I have to explain further. “You’re not supposed to ogle half-naked women in magazines in front of your girlfriend. It’s not polite.”

“Liz, I’m confused here, you’ve always told me that you didn’t mind – ” he starts. But I don’t let him finish; I just cross my arms and start walking away from him. I’m overreacting, I know, but it’s these damn hormones and my stupid period.

Normally, I wouldn’t give a shit whether Max was reading FHM or not. It’s never bothered me before. He’s a teenage guy; it would be kinda weird if he didn’t read guy’s magazines. I think maybe I just said it because I was trying to act more like a girlfriend and less like a best friend; but the more I think about it, the more I realise that it’s something that someone like Pam Troy or any of the other brainless cheerleaders would say to their boyfriends, but I’m not that type of person.

I come to a stop a few feet away from where I left Max, but when I turn to go back and apologise to him for flying off the handle at him, I practically walk right into him.

“Liz!” he exclaims in surprise. “Look, I’m sor – ”

“No, Max. Stop,” I cut in, placing a hand against his chest. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go off on you like that. Go ahead and read the magazine, I don’t have a problem with it, it’s just my stupid hormones going crazy today.”

His hand covers mine on his chest, rubbing his thumb over the back of my hand. “Hey, it’s no big deal, okay? Thanks for apologising, but there was really no need. And for the rest of the day, I’m all yours.” I smile at him in return and before I know what’s happening, his lips are on mine and we’re making up big time.

I manage to keep my hormones in check for the rest of the day and we spend the time enjoying each other’s company. I try my hardest to keep positive and upbeat, but my currently oversensitive emotions keep reminding me that this wonderful trip is not going to last much longer and I need to make the most of it.

We decided earlier that we really don’t have enough money to travel to any more of the big cities and since I’ll be living out here soon, there will probably be several chances to explore New England in the future; maybe even with Max. Therefore, after we leave Boston tomorrow, we’ll be heading back towards New Mexico.

The good news though, is that because we’re travelling by car, it will take us a few days to get back, maybe longer if we stop off at other places on the way back home.

But right now, I’m going to savour how I’m feeling right this moment. We are walking back to the jeep and Max’s arm is looped casually over my shoulder, his fingers tracing small patterns on my skin. Wanting to feel him closer to me, I slip my arm around his waist and hook my fingers into one of his belt loops. Max’s head turns to look down at me, a half-smile, half-smirk gracing his full lips and I can’t help but smile back. We’re having a moment; and I don’t think I want it to end. I let out a sigh of contentment as he nuzzles my neck, tightening his arm around me.

No more words are spoken as we continue the short journey back to Max’s car and we don’t talk again until we reach the motel where we’ve booked into for the night.

TBC…

Thanks once again to Roswell 10/2/00 for the pics of Boston:

Quincy Market 1 2 3

Boston T train

Boston Harbour

Edited to add: This part is really kind of a filler, so I apologise that not much happens in it.

First off, I want to apologise for Part 25 not being particularly great - to be honest I wasn't too happy with it, but I had trouble thinking of ways to make it better (or longer), so I hope Part 26 is a little better .

Thank you for your feedback, though:

ISLANDGIRL5
Erina258
begonia9508
roswell3053
dreamer destiny - I hope I can get some 'awesome parts' written - at the moment I'm just going with the flow, so I can't promise anything, but I'll try .
anonymousarfan
youre my dreamgirl
lazza - See, I was trying for a little less 'perfect Max' in that part .
Roswell 10/2/00 - I was actually thinking of exploring the next part of their lives at college a little - probably as an epilogue to this story, but we'll see how it goes .
POM
kismet
clueless



Part Twenty-Six

Day 33 – Friday 25th July 2002

We’ve left Boston now and are on our way back towards Roswell. It’s over 2000 miles away, so it’s not like we’re gonna be home tomorrow or anything, but I’m already starting to feel nostalgic about leaving all this and our trip behind.

My period decided to arrive yesterday, which unfortunately rules out any chance for things to progress with Max just now (you know what I mean), but usually they only last 3 or 4 days so it shouldn’t be long before we can go back to normal again. Max has been really great about it though. I woke up in total agony yesterday morning, but he was really sweet and took care of me until I felt better. Thankfully, the cramps have passed now so all I have to do is wait it out.

Despite all that, I couldn’t be happier today. We’re driving down the freeway, back towards New York City, with the top down. My hair is blowing in the wind and the heat from the sun is warming my skin. Unfortunately, this journal may end up flying out of my hands at any moment, so I think I’d better stop now…


I close the journal carefully, trying not to crease the pages in the wind. I slip my sunglasses down over my eyes from where they were resting on top of my head, and lean back against the headrest, my feet propped up on the dashboard. I sigh luxuriously at the feel of the sun on my face and Max’s hand caressing my bare leg (thank goodness I shaved this morning). I turn my head to watch him as he drives, my eyes hidden behind the dark glasses. He’s concentrating on the road, his serious expression shows that he is focused completely on driving and I realise that the movement of his hand on my leg is purely instinct on his part – he doesn’t seem to realise he’s doing it.

I take this time, while he’s off in his own little world, to study his profile. It’s strange; suddenly, I’m struck with a moment of clarity and it almost feels like this past week and a half have been a dream. It’s as if, right now, I’m simply sitting in the car with my best friend and none of the relationship stuff has happened between us. But then I drop my eyes to his upper arm, the muscles peeking out from the short sleeves of his T-shirt, flexing as his arm moves and my thoughts take a turn. My feelings change from friendly to lusty in a matter of seconds and a grin spreads across my face.

I wonder if it will always be like this – if in the future, Max and I will be able to revert this easily between being friends and being lovers when necessary. I just know that there will be times when I’ll need his opinion as a friend and not just my boyfriend and vice versa. But I also don’t want us to stop talking about the things we used to discuss when we were just friends; although I don’t know if that will be possible anymore; maybe there’s like this unwritten rule or something that I don’t know about, which states that once you enter a relationship with your best friend, some topics of conversation are just off limits.

“What are you thinking about?” Max’s voice startles me from my musings.

I raise my eyes to his face to find him watching me out of the corner of his eye. He’s lost that intense look of concentration now, but his fingers are still moving up and down my leg.

“Not much,” I shrug with a grin and he smiles.

“That’s a pretty serious expression for someone who’s not thinking about much,” he teases, before glancing at the road again.

I shrug (not that he can see me anyway) but don’t offer anything else. For now, I’m just happy to keep my thoughts to myself. Instead, I change the subject to something more interesting.

“So, how do you think everyone’s going to react when we get home?” I ask.

“React?”

“To our new-found relationship,” I clarify.

“Oh,” he says in understanding. “You know, I haven’t really thought about it yet,” he admits. “I’ve had other things on my mind,” he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and I have to bite my lips to prevent myself from giggling girlishly. God, what this man can do to me with just one look!

“You know what? I bet some people won’t be surprised though,” I say then, remembering San Francisco.

“Oh?”

“Well, you already told me what Isabel said. So, there’s her, for one,” I point out.

“Yeah, that’s true. But she’s in San Francisco, not Roswell,” he corrects.

“Ah, but your forgetting the other person that was there too,” I remind him.

“What, Alex?” he asks incredulously. “Why wouldn’t Alex be surprised?”

“Well, see there’s this thing I didn’t tell you about before,” I start, a little embarrassed that I’m actually telling him this.

“Oh?” he repeats, intrigued this time.

“When we first met them and you were talking to Isabel, Alex and I sat down to talk and he asked me…” I trail off, almost losing my nerve. “He asked me if you and I had quote unquote ‘got it on yet?’”

Max’s mouth falls open in surprise. “My god! Where did he get that idea from?” he wonders. “What did you say?”

“Well, of course I completely denied that anything would ever happen between us and then I told him, in no uncertain terms, to drop it.”

“You did?” he looks almost offended.

“Well, what else was I going to say? ‘Why yes, Alex. In fact, I’ve been having all these fuzzy, warm feelings for him these past few days and all I can think about right now is how much I want to boink him.’ I’m sure that would have gone down well!”

Max starts laughing then, but the sound dies down quickly when he realises what I’ve just said. “Wait. You wanted to ‘boink’ me?”

“Well, I uh,” I look down, embarrassed. “I guess that was a bad choice of words there, but basically, yeah,” I admit. “Or at least, do something with you.”

He exhales with a low whistle, “Well, then I think it’s a good thing that Isabel made us go out to dinner that night, because seeing you in that dress – wow!” He pauses for a moment before saying anything more. “You know, I spent that whole evening trying desperately to keep my hands off you; and then when we got back to the hotel, I just couldn’t not kiss you.”

His hand stills on my legs and I have to turn my head for a second so that he doesn’t see the blush that has risen on my cheeks at his softly spoken words. When I’ve finally gotten my hormones under control, I turn back to him.

“You know, that night, when we were at the restaurant, I felt so comfortable. I had two of my best friends around me, laughing and joking; and then there was you. You kept sending me these cute glances and smiles and the whole atmosphere of the evening just filled me with warmth and happiness. I was so content then, but when you kissed me afterwards, well that just made my day.” I smile fondly at the memory. My gaze catches Max’s and our eyes lock for a second before Max has to turn back to watch the road.

I lean my head back against the seat again, but my relaxation is short-lived, when a couple of minutes later, Max spots an exit and pulls off the freeway. Parking outside a small waffle house at the side of the road, he turns to me, one hand still stroking my leg tenderly as the other reaches up and cups my neck, pulling me to him for a passionate kiss.

After a crappy couple of days, this has been the perfect morning.

***

Day 34 – Saturday 25th July 2002

After our little detour off the freeway yesterday and a rather large brunch of waffles, bacon and eggs, we switched places and I drove for a while. We managed to make it just south of Washington DC before we had to turn in for the night. Max apologised that we didn’t get to see any of the capital city, but since we’ve spent nearly all our money now, we really can’t afford to stay any more nights than necessary, especially in expensive towns like Washington. It doesn’t really matter though, I’m sure we’ll be able to visit DC at least once over the next 4 years that I’m living on this side of the country.

Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to surprise Max with a trip here or something on a future anniversary of ours (I’m living in hope here).

Anyway, we found a pretty nice motel to stay in last night. It was really cheap, but not skanky and gross like a couple of the others we stayed in one the way out here. Max and I spent the evening talking and laughing just like we always used to before this trip – anything to keep our minds off other things we could be doing if it weren’t for my frustrating, annoying menstrual cycle!

Today we’re heading down to the Interstate 81, which will take us down to Tennessee and then from there we’ll get on the I40 and eventually arrive back in Albuquerque. I know that neither of us is in a rush to get back, so we’re going to see how far our money will stretch and try to visit some of the south as we go. We’ve decided to alternate with the driving so that we don’t get too tired. Max is starting off this morning and then I’ll take over again around midday – kinda of like we did yesterday…


“Hey, Liz. You about ready to go?” Max asks as he emerges from the motel bathroom, stopping to groan at me sitting on the bed, journal in hand. “You’re not writing in that thing again are you?” he questions in mock annoyance.

“Oh, shut up, you,” I scold playfully. “You’re just jealous because I still won’t let you read it. Never gonna happen, by the way,” I add before he has time to open his mouth and beg. “No matter how much closer we get.”

“But – ” he tries, but I cut him off with a glare and he rolls his eyes. “Fine, but don’t try to get me to spill any secrets to you in the future, cos my lips will be sealed.”

“Really? Is that a challenge?” I ask, my eyes lighting up with the possibilities. “Cos, you know, I bet I could get them out of you eventually.”

He laughs. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah,” I nod confidently.

“And how exactly would you go about extracting that top secret information,” he asks smoothly, sauntering slowly towards the bed.

“Oh, I have my ways,” I inform him slyly.

He licks his lips, moving in towards me. “Do tell,” he invites. His eyes begin to drift closed and I take the opportunity to slip off the bed and grab my bags from the floor.

“Not on your life,” I smirk. “So, are we leaving now, then?”

I turn on my heel and head out of the door, not giving him the opportunity to respond.

“Hey, Lizzie, no fair!” I hear him shout as I swing the bags into the back seat of the jeep and I try, unsuccessfully I might add, to look innocent as he appears in the open doorway of the motel room.

Max is so easy to wind up!

TBC…

Sorry, no pics today - because I don't have any !

Just want to say thank you for all your comments and your patience in waiting for this new part (sorry to keep you waiting, hopefully my updates can go back to 2 or 3 a week now that the holidays are over) :

begonia9508 - And they'll be exploring each other's previously unknown secrets in the next couple of parts .
roswell3053 - Thanks .
dreamer destiny - I like writing them as cute and happy - it's fun !
Gater101 - I just couldn't resist the 'boink' !
Sweet Liz -
clueless - Glad you liked it. Yeah, there's not long to go now .
Roswell 10/2/00 - Thanks .
youre my dreamgirl - I know, I don't like it either, but the trip can't last forever (and besides, I've almost run out of places for them to go that I have pictures of) .
Luvya - I'm glad you like it - I aim to please .
lazza - The banter is fun to write - I'm pretty much basing it off the random conversations I have with my friends - usually over alcohol (the way they play off each other, rather than the actual content of the conversations - cos that could get weird)!
txndreamer06 - Thanks .
POM - Thanks, and I'm finally back after a busy week .
ISLANDGIRL5 - One of my friends just got whisked off to DC 2 weeks ago, but I haven't seen her yet to ask her about it:( .
anonymousarfan -
kismet - Hope you like the new part .
jbangelo - Thanks, I'm glad you caught up .

This part is currently unbeta'd, so I apologise for any mistakes in it .


Part Twenty-Seven

Day 35 – Sunday July 27th 2002

It’s taken us almost two days, but we’ve now arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. It’s pretty late and we have been travelling all day, but tomorrow we’re off to Graceland. Cheesy, I know, but we can’t go to Memphis and not visit the home of the King!

Since Max keeps complaining about me writing in this diary, I sent him out for food so that I could write in peace. He’ll probably be back soon though, so I’d better make this quick – I’m starving! Driving all day is tiring and I’d forgotten how humid it is down here in the South. In New Mexico, its dry, desert heat, but here it’s almost 100% humidity. It’s like walking into a steam room every time you go outside!

It seems crazy, but now we’re getting closer to home, I find myself getting teary eyed a lot more often at the thought of our trip coming to an end. It’s funny, because I’ve never really thought of myself as a person who gets emotional about these kinds of things, but suddenly the thought of not spending all day, every day with Max is making me depressed.

Wow, that sounds kind of morbid, doesn’t it?

Maybe I haven’t quite got over the whole PMS thing just yet…


Not really in the mood to write a long, in-depth journal entry tonight, I close the book and stick it back in my bag. With nothing else to do but wait for Max to return, I reach for the novel that I’ve been trying to read over the last couple of weeks, although I have to admit that I’ve barely picked it up since Max and I got together. For once, real life has been much more interesting than anything written in a book.

I don’t have to occupy myself with the book for long thought, because a few minutes later, Max returns to the room with two fast food bags. He sends me a smile as he closes the door behind him and shrugs apologetically,

“Sorry, fried chicken was all I could find,” he indicates to the paper bags in his hand. “Hope you don’t mind.”

He so looks cute with his contrite expression that I can’t resist teasing him.

“Max!” I put on my whiniest voice. “What were you thinking? I can’t eat fried food; it’ll go straight to my hips! Didn’t they have a salad or something else less fattening?”

I have to bite the inside of my mouth to keep from laughing as his expression falls and he looks down at the food in dismay.

“Liz,” he starts; his voice is showing signs of tiredness. “Look, it was either this or nothing. I’m sorry, but you’re gonna have to just deal with it tonight, okay?”

That’s it. I know it only lasted a few seconds, but I can’t keep it up anymore. The corners of my mouth lift in an uncontrollable smirk and I slap my hand to my face to smother the giggle that erupts from my throat.

Max’s mouth drops open and he looks confused for a moment, but then I think he realises that I’m messing with him, because he rolls his eyes. “Liz!”

“Sorry,” I manage, trying to catch my breath, “couldn’t help it.”

Shaking his head somewhat incredulously, he moves towards the bed, tossing one of the paper bags to me before placing the other on the bedside table. I can’t help following his movements with my eyes, taking in the way his muscles flex beneath his (fairly tight) T-shirt. You know, he’s never really worn tight T-shirts before. I wonder, does the reason he’s wearing one now, have anything to do with me?

Impulsively, I shift on the bed and reach out to touch his arm. Slightly startled, his head comes up to face me and before he can react further, I pull him to me and slide my lips over his. The kiss is sweet and gentle and a shiver passes down my spine at the feelings it invokes in me.

“Huh,” Max breathes several seconds later as we part. “That was, um…” he manages, his eyes still closed.

I take a moment to study his gorgeous features whilst he is unaware of my gaze and I can’t help the grin that appears on my lips.

I lean in, whispering in his ear, “I love you.”

He pushes me away from him slightly, so that I can look his into his eyes. “You know, I never thought I could ever be this happy or this in love,” he confesses and suddenly I feel a lump in my throat. “When I was a kid, I always hoped that when I was grown up I would meet someone, get married and have kids; but as I got older and learned about life, I wasn’t sure if it would really ever happen. But you’ve given me hope Liz, hope that maybe one day, we’ll get to experience all of that and be happy.”

“Oh, Max,” I practically swoon (Swoon? My God, what century are we living in here?).

A small scoff escapes from his lips and he rolls his eyes, “I just heard that as you must have done, and it was just so cheesy and kind of ahead of myself, wasn’t it?”

“Maybe,” I concede, tracing the pattern on his shirt, “but I’m a girl; we like all that romantic, cheesy crap,” I tell him. “So feel free to keep on saying it; I’ not gonna complain.”

“Although, I’m probably going to have to get used to not saying cheesy things to you when we get back home because if I carry on like this, the others are going to think I’ve lost my mind!”

“Aww,” I mock, with a pout, “your bad boy reputation will be ruined!” I roll my eyes. “Suck it up, Evans. You’re in a real relationship now and you’re gonna have to deal with the fact that our friends will probably teases us mercilessly when we tell them.”

“I know,” he agrees, “doesn’t mean I have to like it, though.”

“Wait. On second thoughts, maybe we shouldn’t tell everybody.”

His brow furrows. “What do you mean?”

“Well, how do you think my mother is going to react when she finds out we’re in a relationship? The fact that she let us travel the length of the country together; alone,” I stress. “And that we’ve been sharing a room for the past month, is not going to go down well.”

“Oh shit!” he exclaims, running a hand through his hair and sitting back on the bed. “I didn’t think of that.”

“We’ll be lucky if we ever get any time to ourselves before college,” I say regretfully.

Max looks lost for a moment, but then a determined look, along with a sly smile, appears on his face. “Well, then, I’m just going to have to make the most of these last few days with you then, aren’t I?”

“Yeah, I guess you are,” I virtually purr as I lean in for another kiss, before we tuck into our fast food dinner.

***

“Isn’t this place cool?”

“It’s certainly different,” I say, gazing around the former home of Elvis Presley. There are several themed rooms and an entire section dedicated to his music with every award he ever won. Outside, there are marble gravestones, covered with flowers; one for each member of the family that has died.

After we finish viewing the house, the tour takes us over to Elvis’ private jet and then to the car museum, which has all of the vehicles that he owned on display. The whole experience of Graceland is pretty cool, but kind of strange at the same time.

We leave Graceland and make our way down towards the Mississippi river. Max spots an advertisement for Steamboat Tours on the river and insists on paying for us to go on one of them.

“This is nice,” I comment as the steamboat passes under a bridge that marks the state line between Arkansas and Tennessee.

“It is, isn’t it?” he agrees from his seat beside me. We are lounging in white chairs on the upper deck, with our feet propped up on another chair in front of us. It’s too hot and humid to sit in the sun, but luckily, we’ve found a spot to relax under the canopy.

“Max?”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me a secret.”

“What?” he smiles.

“Tell me a secret,” I repeat. “Something you’ve never told anyone before.”

“A secret, huh?” he muses. “What, like you want me to tell you how I’ve been secretly pining for you since the day we met?”

“Have you?”

“Well, um – ”

“Don’t worry, Max, you don’t have to answer that.”

Okay, so something I’ve never told anyone…you do remember that you know practically everything about me?” he says, but manages to think of something anyway. “Right, here we go…promise you won’t laugh?”

I nod. “I promise.”

“I, um…I once questioned my sexuality.”

Huh.

Well, at least I manage to suppress the giggle that threatens to spill from my lips as he turns bright red.

“You what?!” I’m shocked. See, Max is known around Roswell for being a guy’s guy; and he’s dated some of the most pretty and popular girls in school. I can’t imagine him being anything else but heterosexual.

“It was when I was about fourteen and had a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Tom Cruise movies. He was basically my idol. I wanted to be like him so much and I really wanted to meet him. It got to the point that I had no idea if I simply admired the guy or if it was something more. I was so freaked out that I refused to let Michael sleep over for a whole month. My parents thought we’d had a fight or something!”

Despite the seriousness of the topic of conversation, I can’t help but chuckle at that last part.

“So, what made you realise that you weren’t, you know, gay or anything?”

He turns to me in all seriousness, but with a twinkle in his eye. “Nothing, didn’t you know? I’m bisexual.”

“You are so not, Max Evans!” I shove him playfully. “Quit playing around.”

“You’re right, I’m not,” he admits, but then frowns. “But, if I were, you wouldn’t think differently of me, would you?”

“Of course not, Max. You’re one of the most important people in my life. I don’t think I could.”

He flashes me a smile. “Thanks. Well, anyway, eventually I managed to pluck up my courage to talk to my mom about my worries and she told me that it was perfectly normal to be confused. Then she asked me if I’d ever felt anything other than friendship for any of the guys I knew, and that’s when I realised that I wasn’t gay. See, I knew that I found girls attractive I had never thought of any other guys in that way before.”

“I suppose that must have been a relief,” I say.

“Yeah, it was. My mom said that even if I was, she and Dad would still love me and support my decisions, but it was still good to know that I fancied girls and not guys,” he admits. “So, anyway, that’s my secret; now you have to tell me one of yours,” he grins.

“Yeah, I guess I do, but you won’t be hearing it today,” I tell him smugly and he looks offended. “A girl’s gotta have some mystery, you know.” I lean in close to him and whisper, “But I promise you’ll get to hear a secret from me before we get back to Roswell. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to visit the bathroom.”

I get up off the chair and saunter off down the steps to the lower level, leaving Max to stare after me in both annoyance and disbelief.

TBC…

I have some new photos with this part ! These pics are scanned and so are not as good quality as my digital photos, but I hope you can enjoy them anyway :

Graceland 1
Graceland 2
The back of the house
The Memorials

Happy New Year!

Hey, thanks for the feedback :

youre my dreamgirl - Thanks .
Erina - I hope Liz's secret lives up to it's expectations .
jbangelo - Max had to talk to someone about it, and I just couldn't see him going to his dad for advice, so his mum it was .
Ellie - Liz's secret - coming up soon
begonia9508 - I think she just wants to keep his guessing for now
dreamer destiny - You know, it's been over 7 years since I went to Graceland, so I hope I remembered it right .
Gater101 -
roswell3053 - Just goes to show - anyone can have insecurities!
POM - Thanks .
lazza - As much as I'd like to have them travel all summer, I've run out of places for them to go (and they're almost out of money)!
kismet - Thanks, glad you enjoyed it .
Emz80m - Thanks
anonymousarfan - Thanks .


Once again, this part is unbeta'd, so I apologise for any mistakes.


Part Twenty-Eight

Day 36 – Monday July 28th 2002

We only spent half of our day in Memphis yesterday before moving on into Arkansas after lunch. Little Rock is only 2 hours from Memphis along the I-40, so we stopped off there for the afternoon. We took in the sights of the State Capitol, where Bill Clinton was Governor of Arkansas before he became President and the Children’s Museum. We also took a slight detour of about 30 minutes from the city to visit the ‘Old Mill’, which is a small public garden area with a old-style watermill and a pond/stream with faux wooden bridges. Apparently, the mill was used in one of the beginning scenes of Gone With The Wind; although I’ve never actually seen the film, so I couldn’t tell you for sure.

Anyway, I’m feeling really great today! My period is almost over and Max is just being the perfect boyfriend right now. Well actually, I think he’s only being his normal self and it’s just that, in my eyes, it seems he can do no wrong today. Like when we were walking around the paths by the Old Mill, he slung his arm over my shoulder and held me close to him the whole time. He kept pressing kisses against my hair and whispering things in my ear that made me blush, but also made me want to jump him right there! When he reached the bridge across the water, he insisted on getting these two old ladies to take a picture of us with our arms around each other and then, when they were gone, he picked me up and carried me piggyback style all the way back to the jeep. On top of all that, he even asked me if I wanted to drive – without me having to ask him first.

I wonder, what’s gotten into him today? Even now, while I’m writing this journal entry, he’s at the other end of the bed, massaging my feet!

Wait a minute…

I know what’s going on. See, yesterday, I made him tell me a secret; something he’d never told anyone before and I promised to tell him a secret of mine too, except I made him wait and said I wouldn’t tell him just yet.

So, now he’s buttering me up in hopes of finding out one of my dirty little secret. Not that I have any, of course. Honest!

Hmm, I think I’m going to have to call him on it.

I’ll be back later…


“Mmm, that feels good,” I murmur to Max, as I close the journal and let it slide onto the bedcovers next to me.

“You like that?” he smiles, running his thumbs along the undersides of my feet and I shudder at the sensation. Did I mention that I have sensitive feet – very ticklish, as Max found out a few minutes ago – and now the feel of his hands on them is sending tingles all through my body.

“Uh huh,” I reply. “So, what’s all this in aid of?”

“All what?” he asks, puzzled.

“The pampering,” I nod to his hands, “the piggyback ride at the Old Mill this afternoon, letting me drive the jeep before I even asked?”

He looks down, suddenly very interested in studying my feet and I have to bite my lip in amusement. Of course, I already know exactly what this is all in aid of.

“Um, no – no reason,” he finally stutters. “Just wanted to show you how much I love you.”

“Yeah?” I cross my arms over my chest.

He looks up at me. “Yeah,” he confirms, but I don’t know whom he’s trying to convince; me or himself?

“Come on, just spit it out, Evans.”

“Spit what out?” he asks innocently, his hand stilling on my foot.

I raise an eyebrow at him and he caves.

Honestly, I didn’t think it would be this easy, but I can’t say I don’t like having this power over him.

“Fine, you got me. I wanna know your secret.” He pouts and I just can’t resist him.

“You do, huh?” I grin, an idea forming in my head. “How much?”

“What?”

“How much?” I repeat.

“Liz, come on. I told you mine – with hardly any persuasion, if you remember!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” I agree. “How come you didn’t fight me on it, anyway?”

He gives me an almost incredulous look, “Liz, I told you because I thought the whole point was to share more of ourselves with each other; and now you’re refusing to cooperate! I just don’t understand how your brain is working right now.”

“You’re right, I’m sorry,” I concede. “I was going to tell you anyway; I just thought we could have some fun first.” I wiggle my eyebrows at him. He chuckles and leans up over me, kissing my lips quickly.

“You are so cute,” he grins and I blush. I’m not used to compliments like that – Kyle never really told me that I was beautiful, or even cute for that matter, when we were going out. Sure, people have told me I’m pretty before, but it was usually my grandmother or my mom saying it and they don’t really count. I mean, they’re my family; they kind of have to think that. But, anyway, I’m kind of getting off track here.

“So, you wanna have some fun, huh?” Max says, interrupting my musings. His grin turns sly. “How’s this for fun?”

He doesn’t give me a chance to respond, because his lips are glued to mine once again, his tongue begging entrance to my mouth and his hands are beneath me, pulling me down to the bed as he slides my body underneath him. I can do nothing but cling to his shoulders as he continues his ministrations. I can’t help the shudder that runs through my body as he settles over me; his torso pressing against my chest, his strong thighs on mine, his arousal evident and pressing against me. I almost blush again at the feel of it, despite the fact that I’ve already gone down on him before. But my embarrassment disappears as he shifts against me, my legs parting to accommodate his hips. He deepens the kiss and I gasp into his mouth as his erection rubs against my clit.

I slide my arms up from his shoulders and wrap them around his neck; I moan as his hands move down to cup my butt, pulling me closer to him.

“Max…” I sigh, my head spinning; but as quickly as his assault on my senses began, it stops and he pulls away. “What?”

But he just smirks at me and moves to support himself on his lower arms. “Was that fun enough for you?”

My mouth falls open in amazement. “Bastard!” I exclaim, but it doesn’t come out quiet as outraged as I’d intended. In fact, it’s kind of mischievous. Damn him!

The smirk remains as he lowers his mouth to my ear and whispers, “So, do I get to hear a secret now?”

He’s so close to me that I can’t help nuzzling his neck before I whisper a reply in his ear. “Only if you promise to finish what we just started at some point in the near future.”

He pulls back, looking a little surprised, “Some point in the near future? What, you don’t want to continue now?”

“Well, in case you’ve forgotten, I’m still on my period,” I remind him.

“Oh, right. Okay,” he nods quickly and shifts to lie beside me on the bed, propping himself up on his elbow. “So…this secret of yours, do I get to hear it now?”

“Well,” I start, unsure how to continue. Truth is, I have no idea what secret I’m going to tell him. I haven’t really thought that far ahead yet. I rack my brains for something that has happened to me that I’ve told no one about; which is hard because between Max and Maria, I’ve hardly got any proper secrets left. And considering the subject of the secret he told me, I don’t think I have any that significant.

Although, come to think of it, I probably have some pretty embarrassing ones. I rack my brain for the most embarrassing that has ever happened to me; which is proving hard because my mind seems to have gone blank.

Wait, I’ve got it; although I can’t believe I forgot it happened. And I also can’t believe that I’m about to tell Max about it either (Yes, it’s that embarrassing it’s probably not the kind of thing you bring up in civilised conversation); but here goes.

“Well?” I turn my head to find Max watching me expectantly.

“Okay,” I shift onto my side so that I’m facing him, supporting my head on my hand. I lean forward to whisper, “This is really embarrassing…”

“Go on,” he encourages, his eyes lighting up in, what I can only imagine, is anticipation of what I’m going to say.

“You remember when we had Sex Ed in Seventh Grade?”

“Yeah…”

“Well, afterwards, I was curious about some things and one day I found this book hidden away in our attic. It had all these diagrams and pictures and a lot of information in it, and so I decided to sneak it into my room and read it when my parents were asleep,” I confess and Max raises an eyebrow. “Except, one night, it turned out my parents had stayed up late to watch a TV movie and before they turned in for the night, they decided to check on me.”

“And…?” Max is grinning now; I think he suspects what happened next.

“And, well…let’s just say, I was doing a little more than just reading the book when they walked in,” I say in a rush, before burying my head in Max’s chest in embarrassment.

“You were…? Oh my God, Liz!” he exclaims, pushing my away from him so he can look at me. “Please don’t tell me you were – ”

“No!” I shake my head vehemently. “No, Max. I wasn’t doing that. But I wasn’t exactly fully clothed either,” I admit. “I was just kind of checking things out...”

“Right,” he swallows. “Well…so, um what did you do?”

“What could I do? It was the most embarrassing moment of my life! My dad just kind of stood there for a moment at a complete loss for words, before hightailing it out of the room, and my mom just gave me this weird look, before telling me that in the morning, we were going to sit down and have a little talk.” I hide my burning face in my hand as I await his reaction.

“And how did that go?” he asks, reaching for my hand and pulling it away from my face.

Oh God, he sounds amused; this is so not funny!

“You know what? I don’t think I can face talking about it,” I tell him, unable to look him in the eye.

His free arm comes around me and he holds me to him. Placing a soft kiss against my hair, he murmurs, “Don’t worry, I’m not gonna make you relive all the gory details.” I nod my head against him in thanks. “But I can’t believe that happened to you! And here I thought you were a good girl,” he teases.

“Hmmph,” is all I can manage about now.

“You’re so cute when you’re embarrassed,” he murmurs again.

“Ma-ax…” I whine. Now he’s embarrassing me.

His arm loosens around me and his hand comes up to cup the back of my neck.

“I love it,” he whispers, before leaning in and planting the sweetest kiss on my lips.

Almost all of my humiliation over my story drains away at the feel of his breath against mine and I can’t help scooting even closer to him and kissing him back. After some fairly heavy making out and an enormous amount effort from each of us to stop, we curl up together under the covers and watch a movie until we’re too tired to stay awake; which is actually only at about 10.30pm, but we do have to drive across pretty much the whole of Texas in the morning, so I guess it’s not too bad, considering.

TBC…


Arkansas State Capitol
The Children's Museum
The Old Mill
One of the Bridges at the Old Mill

Thank you for all your comments and feedback :

ISLANDGIRL5 - Originally, I was going to have her parents walk in on her doing what Max thought at first (I'll leave you to figure that one out), but I thought that might be a bit much!
Erina - It was one of those extremely embarrassing moments that she forced to the back of her mind, never to think of again - that's why she didn't remember it at first .
roswell3053 - It could have been worse, they could have walked in on her having sex or something (obviously at an older age)!
youre my dreamgirl - Don't worry, just becasue the trip's coming to an end, the story won't just yet
dreamer destiny - Yeah. it is kinda funny, isn't it?
anonymousarfan - You know, it didn't seem that bad when I came up with it !
lazza - We'll just have to see what happens between now and when they get home .
POM - Luckily, I'm glad to say that I've never had anything as embarrassing as that happen to me .
clueless - Next part coming up...
Alien614 - Sorry you missed the new parts, I'm glad you liked them though .
Ellie - There may be more secrets coming out, but I couldn't tell you for sure - I haven't written any yet, although the 'seducing Liz to get it out of her' idea is growing on me .
begonia9508 - I know, poor Liz, right? (Wow, I sound like something from Mean Girls - and I'm not even American!)
kismet - They'll get there eventually, don't worry .
jbangelo - They already know so much other stuff about each other, so why not get to know the more initmate things too?
Gater101 - I know, I'm actually feeling quite sorry for her now .


Part Twenty-Nine

Day 38 – Wednesday July 30th 2002

Okay, so my knowledge of geography leaves much to be desired. It turns out that the I-40 barely goes through Texas at all! In fact, we spent the majority of the last day driving through Oklahoma, only entering the north of Texas a couple of hundred miles before we reached the New Mexico border. It’s funny how you just have this view in your mind of what the world looks like and it turns out that you were completely off base – like I’ve always had this idea that San Francisco is really far north, like up near Seattle, but it turns out it’s barely halfway to Canada!

So, we’re back in Albuquerque now. Luckily, I’ve now gotten over my embarrassment about the secret I told Max and in turn, he hasn’t brought it up again. It’s cool though; we now know something new about each other that we didn’t know before, and it’s not like we ever bring up any of the things we already knew, so there’s no reason to bring these things up in conversation again. Anyway, we’ve decided to spend one last night on the road before driving back down to Roswell tomorrow; one last night before we have to go back to living in different houses, with half a town separating us.

Okay, no more time to contemplate the thought of being without Max; I have to go now because he is getting impatient for me to finish writing and I’d rather not spend our last night together, with him in a bad mood…


Our last evening out is great. Max takes me to Applebee’s for dinner (although I insist on paying half) and then we take a moonlit stroll through the UNM campus. We walk arm-in-arm around the campus, but as we walk down the steps into the student union, until I decide that simply touching arms is not enough. Under the pretence of pointing something out to Max, I don’t return my hand to its previous position, but instead I slip my arm behind him, around his waist and sneak my fingers into his back pocket. Although he seems surprised at my obviously unexpected action, he doesn’t say anything, but just turns his head and smiles down at me, wrapping his own arm around my waist and pulling me closer to him.

See, if you hadn’t already guessed, I’m feeling…how can I put this delicately? Oh, hell I can’t…I’m feeling up for it tonight. My period finally finished this morning and now I’m really in the mood to make this last night special for both of us. I can’t help squeezing Max’s butt lightly with my fingers as I think about what might happen tonight. I also can’t help grinning when he starts slightly as my fingers dig into his flesh.

“Liz!” he cries. “What are you doing? We’re in public!”

I lean up to his ear and whispered sultrily (or as least, I hope it’s sultry), “Just a little preview for later.”

I watch as his eyes widen slightly and then suddenly he blurts out, “A movie!”

“What?” Now I’m confused.

“Look, the student cinema is showing a movie tonight. Why don’t we check it out?” He nods towards the UNM movie theatre in the corner of the building. I look at my watch; it’s still early. There’ll be plenty of time for some fun in our room later, so why not?

“Sure, okay,” I agree, still slightly puzzled by his actions.

He practically drags me across the floor and then quickly buys two tickets when we reach the box office window.

The movie is a small, independent film that I have never heard of, but Max seems to want to watch it, so I follow him into the cinema.

***

Two hours later, we emerge from the UNM student union. I have to admit that the film was pretty good, although I’m eager to get back to the motel already.

Max seems quiet as we walk hand-in-hand back to the jeep. I wonder what’s going through his mind right now. Maybe he’s just excited about tonight. I can’t wait to finally share this experience with him. I didn’t tell him this, but earlier when we stopped for gas; I slipped into a convenience store and bought some condoms. Although I’m already on the pill (for medical reasons, of course), you can never be too careful.

We make small talk on the way back, but as we get closer to the motel, I start to get a little nervous; I mean, this is Max. I’m going to be making love with my best friend! Now that I think about it, the whole thing seems kind of surreal. Two months ago, I would never have imagined that this is how our big ‘end of high school’ trip would culminate.

I can’t say I’m not happy about it, though. Ecstatic, actually. I haven’t mentioned this to Max yet, because he is a guy and in general, guys seem to be eternally afraid of commitment; but the last few nights, as Max was lying asleep next to me, I’ve allowed my mind to wander to the possibilities of the future. Sometimes I’ll imagine our wedding day, or I’ll think of the two of us living together in a family home with two young kids (a boy and a girl) running round happily.

You know, I’ve never really thought of myself as a broody type of person, but recently I’ve been imagining what our kids would look like. I’d love for them to have Max’s eyes (and those gorgeous eyelashes, of course), but definitely my ears. Not that Max’s ears are not totally cute (on him, anyway), but I wouldn’t wish them on anyone else. God, does that make me a horrible person? I hope not. Actually, I love Max’s ears, but I’ll never tell him that; his ears have been the subject of our good-natured teasing since we were kids. I can’t suddenly take back ten years of mocking them – it would change the whole dynamic of our relationship!

“So, here we are.” Max’s voice brings me out of my thoughts and I realise that we are outside the motel and that he has turned the engine off.

“That we are,” I agree.

Why is it that I’ve been waiting for this night for the last couple of weeks, but now that it’s finally here, I’m all nervous.

“Well, let’s go in then,” he says and I nod, getting out of the jeep.

We walk up to the door together and I wait almost impatiently as Max fumbles with the key. Maybe he’s nervous too. I’ll just wait to get inside; maybe then this suddenly strange atmosphere between us will disappear and we can go back to being playful again.

As we enter the room, I take a deep breath and pluck up all my courage. Pushing my sudden nervousness to the back of my mind, I close the door behind us and walk over to Max, sliding my arms around his waist. I look into his eyes, giving him a soft smile and then I lean up to kiss him.

He seems a little hesitant at first, but after a couple of seconds, I feel his hands move up, one resting on my upper back and the other at the base of my neck, beneath my hair. His fingers start to gently massage my skin and all my reservations fade as I lose myself in the kiss. This is where I’ve always wanted to be (whether subconsciously or not) and I’m going to make the most of it while I can.

“Lizzie,” he whispers between kisses and I can feel my insides melt at his tone. How does he always manage to make me feel special? Even when we were just friends, I always felt like I was the centre of his attention whenever we did stuff together. Maybe that’s just how he is.

I can’t help moaning into his mouth as our tongues tangle together; and slowly, I walk him back towards the bed. The backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed, and unwilling to stop, remove my hands from around his waist and push him down onto the bed. Straddling his hips, I wind my fingers through his hair as we sit on the edge of the bed, kissing and holding each other close, and I enjoy the feel of being in his arms for a few moments.

We sink down to the mattress and I stretch out over Max, basking in the feel of his warm body against mine. Tenderly, I place soft, feather-like kisses along his jaw and down to his neck. I feel him shiver against me and watch with half-lidded eyes as his head falls back against the bed. His hands move down over the length of my spine and come to rest at the small of my back. His fingers find their way under my top and I can’t help letting out a small gasp as they come into contact with my warm skin.

I inch my way down to his collarbone, my hands skimming over the soft material of his t-shirt and then underneath it to caress his bare flesh. Barely a second later, the shirt is on the floor, followed by mine shortly after. I feel a little awkward since this is the first time Max has seen me in just my bra (swimwear doesn’t count in my book), but I quickly push those thoughts aside and occupy myself with unbuckling his belt and unzipping his jeans. Max’s hands make sweeping movements up and down the length of my back as I pepper his chest with kisses, paying close attention to his now erect nipples; but the moment I get his jeans undone and slip my hand into his boxers, he pushes me away.

“No. Liz, stop,” he mutters and moves his hands to my shoulders.

Confused, I stop what I’m doing and extract my hand from his trousers. “What? What’s wrong, Max?” I ask, rising up on my elbows so that I can see his face.

He closes his eyes and for a moment, I get worried, but then a whisper of a smile appears on his lips and he replies. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong…exactly.”

He opens his eyes and then urges me to sit up. Grabbing our shirts from the floor, he hands mine to me and pulls his own over his head. Confused, I do the same.

“Max?” I wonder.

He looks at me, an apologetic expression on his face. “Look, I’m sorry; I don’t want to spoil the evening, but I just don’t think we should go any further tonight.”

“Why not?” I ask, more intrigued than anything else.

He smiles, reaching a hand out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Liz, I want this, I really do; but I also want our first time to be special. I know that we love each other, but I just think maybe we should wait,” he tells me.

“But, why?” I question softly, not annoyed exactly, but puzzled at his sudden change of mind.

He takes a breath. “Okay,” he exhales. “Here’s the thing. These past few weeks with you have been wonderful – the best of my life – but that’s not real, Liz. Tomorrow, we’re gonna have to go back to real life and we’re going to have to adjust to that – ”

“But, surely that’s all the more reason to make tonight special,” I counter.

“That’s not exactly what I mean, Liz. My point is that I want to be able to make love to you in real life, not in this artificial life we’ve been living the past few weeks. I want us to go on proper dates, where I pick you up from the Crashdown and get grilled by your father.” He makes a face at this and I smile. “I want us to be sure of our relationship in our normal environment, with our friends and family around us. I want to be able to make love to you with the knowledge that what we have isn’t just a summer thing and that we can make it work in the future.”

As disappointed as I am that Max doesn’t want to be intimate with me tonight, I have to admit that he does have a point. He’s not telling me that he doesn’t want to sleep with me; he’s saying that he would feel more comfortable if we integrated what we already have, into our real lives first. I understand, I really do. I may not be a virgin, but he is and I want him to be completely comfortable in taking that next step.

“Max, it’s okay, I understand,” I reassure him, reaching up to stroke his cheek with the palm of my hand. “If you want to wait, we’ll wait. That’s fine with me.”

His warm fingers cover mine on his cheek. “Thanks, Liz. I appreciate that you are willing to wait for me. It’s not that I’m not ready, it’s just that I want us to take that step with completely level heads, with other people knowing that we’re together and accepting it.”

“You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Max,” I tell him. “I respect your decision, so don’t worry about it, okay?”

“Thank you,” he repeats and pulls me into a quick hug.

We lie down together, facing each other, not saying anything, but just savouring the last night that we’ll be spending together in a while. Eventually, we decide we’d better get ready for bed, but this time, instead of washing up separately, we stand side-by-side at the sink, brushing our teeth and washing our faces. I like it; it gives me a glimpse of what life might be like if we ever get married or live together for real.

We fall asleep in each other’s arms, our legs entwined and our upper bodies pressed together. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of having Max’s strong arms wrapped around me, his fingers caressing my skin.

As my eyes drift shut and I lose my battle with consciousness, I tighten my arms around Max and savour these last few hours alone with him.

TBC…

Thank you for the feedback :

roswell3053 - Thanks .
Erina - Yep, the trip is over, but there's still a few more parts left to go .
lazza - Thanks .
begonia9508 -
anonymousarfan -
dreamer destiny - Now they just have to work out how and when to break the news to everyone .
youre my dreamgirl -
Roswell 10/2/00 - I'm sure everyone has had something totally embarrassing happen to them at one time or another
POM - Thanks .
Ellie - You know what, I haven't decided exactly how everyone's going to react yet, but I'm sure Max and Liz will deal with it well .
kismet -
jbangelo - He sure does . I guess most people wouldn't consider that particular reason, but Max can see a future for himself and Liz and wants to make sure that they know exactly what they're doing.
Alien614 - That he does
clueless - The returning home part is coming right up...
Gater101 - Third time? Wow. You didn't post feedback before, so thanks for your comments .
txndreamer06 - Thanks; Roswell, coming up!

I'm glad everyone understood Max's reasons for waiting. I know most of you were hoping they'd take the plunge while they we travelling, but if i'm totally honest, I've had their lovemaking scene planned in my head since the beginning of this fic and I'm afraid to say that they were never going to do it during the trip (Sorry).

Anyway, hope you enjoy this part...


Part Thirty

Day 39 – Thursday July 31st 2002

Well, we’re finally on our way back to Roswell. I can’t believe this trip is really over and that, in less than two hours, we’ll be back home with our friends and our parents. We haven’t told anyone except our parents, exactly when we’ll be back, because we don’t want to arrive home tired and cranky from travelling, only to find a huge, loud welcome party waiting for us.

You know, in a way, I’m actually kind of glad to be going home. It’ll be nice to eat home-cooked food again and catch up with Maria and the rest of the gang on all the Roswell gossip. But I already know that I’m going to miss Max like crazy. There’s no way we’ll be able to spend as much time with each other as we have done over the last month and a half. For a start, we both have to go back to work: me at the Crashdown and him at he UFO Centre; and since we don’t know how everyone’s going to react to the news that we’re more than just friends now, who knows how often we’ll get to be alone?

Shit, maybe I shouldn’t have been so understanding of Max’s feelings last night and instead, persuaded him that it was the right time for us to sleep together! We may not get a chance to do anything at all once we’re back living under our parent’s roofs.

Or actually…maybe it could be fun! We could pretend we’re not together and then sneak around in private for a laugh. No, wait…scratch that, there’s no way I’ll be able to be around Max and not touch him in a way that would be deemed inappropriate for best friends to act around each other.

I mean, just look at him…

I can’t help it; the moment I look over at Max, my hand ceases it’s movement and I lose all concentration and my hand just rests, unmoving; poised above the page of my journal.

“What?” His voice startles me: I’m that engrossed in my staring; but I can’t prevent the happy lurch that my stomach gives, or the grin that spreads across my face at the sound of his smooth, deep tones.

“Nothing,” I reply somewhat coyly, shaking my head as I bite my lip, to control my smile.

“Okay,” he smiles, his eyes still on the road ahead, but I can tell he doesn’t believe me.

My suspicions are confirmed when, barely a moment later, his hand leaves the steering wheel and slides onto my thigh, squeezing it lightly as he continues to drive down the I-25 towards home. I take in a breath, closing my eyes briefly at the feelings that his warm hand on my leg invokes in me. I close the journal and shove it, along with my pen, into my backpack. Max’s hand doesn’t move from my thigh and when I straighten up again, I cover it with mine, squeezing his fingers in response to his gesture. His smile widens and he turns his hand over beneath mine, linking our fingers together in my lap.

I look down at our entwined hands and then back up to his face, admiring his profile. I love how he looks so relaxed as he’s driving, the warm breeze gently ruffling the tendrils of dark hair that fall over his forehead and the smile on his face that, I suddenly realise, is there because of me. Overcome with an unexpected rush of warmth and love towards him, I lift his hand, still clasped in mine, to my lips and place a gentle kiss on his knuckles.

I watch as his face lights up and at his reaction, I can’t help myself; I lean across the seat and start to nuzzle the underside of his jaw, placing kisses against his stubble-roughened skin – he didn’t have time to shave this morning.

“Liz…?”

“Yeah?” I mumble against his skin.

“Stop it, I’m driving!”

“No, don’t want to,” I pout.

“Liz, come on!” he practically pleads. “You’re distracting me.”

“So?” I can’t help it; I know he’s trying to concentrate, but I just can’t seem to keep my hands, or my lips for that matter, to myself. I move to the sensitive spot below his ear, licking it naughtily and I grin to myself as he squirms.

“Liz!!”

Uh oh, he’s annoyed now.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll stop!” I reluctantly move back over to my side of the jeep. “Geez, you’re no fun today!” I huff.

“Yeah, well, if someone hadn’t kept me up half the night…”

Oh yeah, I didn’t mention that part, did I? We were both awake in the early hours of this morning, unable to sleep and although we decided to wait on the ‘making love’ part of our relationship, we were both feeling kinda…playful…and it ended up getting pretty hot and heavy. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep after that.

“Hey, you enjoyed it as much as I did, so don’t complain,” I retort, sticking my tongue out at him.

“Fine, I give,” he relents. “It was pretty good, wasn’t it?” he adds a few seconds later.

“Yeah, it was,” I grin at the memory. “Go on, then, you concentrate on your driving again. I’ll be good.”

“Thank you,” he says, glancing at me quickly and squeezing his hand around mine briefly before turning back to the road.

***

We arrive back in Roswell an hour and a half later. About twenty minutes ago, I persuaded Max to pull off the road by Vasquez rocks just outside of town so that we could get a much-needed make-out session out of the way while we still had some privacy. We still haven’t decided exactly what to tell everyone about us, so who knows when we’re gonna be able to do it again.

“So, here we are,” sighs Max, as we pull up outside the Crashdown. He turns off the engine and turns to me. “I guess this is it; the end of the summer of our lives.”

“Yeah,” I exhale a little sadly. “It really was though, wasn’t it? The summer of our lives?”

“Well, it was definitely the best five-and-a-half weeks of my life,” he smiles.

“Yeah, mine too,” I grin and watch in fascination as he leans towards me. I tilt my head up in anticipation of feeling his warm, soft lips on mine, when suddenly he turns to the side slightly and places a chaste kiss on my cheek. I pull back, confused and ready to question his actions, when he whispers to me.

“I just saw your parents inside. They haven’t noticed us yet, but we’d better not give them reason to be suspicious just yet.” He clears his throat and straightens up in his seat, “So, let’s get your bags and let them know we’re back, safe and sound, shall we?”

“Alright,” I reply and Max hops out of the jeep to fetch my things. With a small, slightly reluctant sigh, I climb out of my seat and pick up my backpack and a few other things, bracing myself for everyone’s reaction to us finally being home.

A moment later, Max joins me at the side of the vehicle and we make our way towards the front of the Crashdown and my home. Just before we pull open the door, Max discretely takes my hand and squeezes it reassuringly and although he doesn’t look at me, he has this adorable smile on his face.

Taking a deep breath, I let go of his hand and pull the door open. The small bell above the entrance jingles as we enter the café, but it’s pretty busy for a Thursday afternoon and no one notices right away. A quick glance around the room shows that my parents are discussing something by the coffee machine, Michael is working behind the grill and Maria is taking orders at the booths. Looks like we’re gonna kill two…well, actually several birds…with one stone this afternoon, with everyone here.

“Oh my God!” Maria is the first one to notice us at the door. “Mr. P, Mrs. P, they’re back! Max and Liz are back!”

Their heads snap up simultaneously.

“Liz – ”

“Lizzie!”

“Honey, you’re back! We weren’t expecting you home so soon!” exclaims my mother as she rushes across the restaurant and envelops me in a tight hug.

“Hey, Mom.” I hug her back. “Hi, Dad,” I greet him after Mom lets go of me and suddenly I’m engulfed in an even bigger embrace from him.

“Hi, Max,” my mom smiles as my dad and I are hugging.

“Mrs. Parker,” he nods, sounding almost nervous.

“Thanks for taking care of my baby girl these past few weeks,” she sniffs. Oh, God, she’s getting all sentimental now. I pull away from my dad, turning to face them.

“Oh, it was no problem,” Max replies, glancing quickly at me. “We had a great time, didn’t we, Lizzie?”

“We sure did,” I grin. “I’ll tell you guys all about it when I’m done unpacking.”

“Lizzie!” Maria’s voice suddenly interrupts our little reunion. “I can’t believe you’re finally back, girlfriend!” she cries, flinging herself at me happily.

“Hey, Maria,” I manage as she practically suffocates me. “Hi, Michael,” I greet him over Maria’s shoulder as he approaches us from the back.

“Liz,” he nods with a small smile. “Maxwell.”

“Mike.” Geez, what is it with guys and one-word sentences?

“Glad you’re back,” he tells us, in typical Michael style, moving past me to give Max a ‘manly’ hug and pat on the back in greeting.

“You look so great!” exclaims Maria, pulling back and holding me at arms length as she studies my appearance. “You have to tell me everything! Where you went, what you bought, what you ate; everything!”

“Whoa, slow down,” I cry, “let me get unpacked and settled first, and then we’ll tell you all about it.”

“We?” she queries. “Max, you’ll be coming along to our bonding session later, too?”

“Sure, why not,” he shrugs, sending a grin my way. “After all, it was my trip too.”

He catches my eye and I grin back at him.

“So, I’ll just take all this stuff up to your room,” he says and bends down to pick up my bags.

“I’ll help you, Max,” insists my mother; she grabs the stuff I dropped on the floor when we came in and nods for Max to follow her out the back.

“Thanks, guys,” I tell them, watching as they head to the back door. Max turns back and shoots me one last smile before he disappears upstairs; it makes me feel all warm inside.

“Okay, Liz,” Maria starts as she grabs my arm and leads me over to the counter, “so, what’s going on with you and lover boy over there?”

My eyes widen. Shit! Back five minutes and we’re caught already!

“Maria! What are you talking about?”

“You and Max; something’s different between you two.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” I deny, but I know she’s not buying it.

“You may not want to tell me now, Liz; but believe me, I’ll get the truth out of you sooner or later,” she warns, before moving to the order window to pick up her customer’s order.

I observe her as her flits expertly between the tables.

Crap!

I think I’m going to need to talk with Max about exactly what we’re going to tell everyone about our relationship.

Otherwise, this could get messy.

TBC…


I do have some pics of the real Roswell on my computer, but I'll post them with the next couple of parts (I haven't decided which ones to use yet