I promise you all that i am trying... but i keep on getting distracted with Greener With The Scenery. But, i will try and try and try some more, just to get more chapters written in the next week.
Um... yeah, that kinda did sound weird... but it made me laugh. Even if it wasn't the response you intended to get, it put a smile on my face... therefore making it sound less weird. Oh, and, Thank you, Your very kind.mandydemoo wrote:This is going to sound a little odd but the thing i love most is the EXCELLENT paragraphing.
Everyone else, thank you for your replys... um... you may not really like what Tess says at the end of this chapter, but i promise that eventually, Karma will come back and bite her in the ass.
But first... the new chapter (insert second applause here). Anyway...:
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Chapter 21 </center>
“I-I can’t get him out of my head Max.” Liz sat on the bed with her arms tight around her legs, holding them close to her chest as she watched Max slowly pacing the room. He turned around to face her, his eyes gleaming with guilt and worry for her. He slowly walked over and sat on the bed next to her, placing his hand on one of hers in a comforting gesture.
“Every night?” He whispered, a hint of disbelief laced in with his soft words.
Liz shook her head, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to fall any minute. “No… just, every few days…” her voce was small and soft, barely audible as she wiped away the tear with the back of her hand.
“God, Liz…” He pulled her into his arms tightly, forceful yet amazingly gentle at the same time. “Why didn’t you tell someone? Any one? You can’t live with him haunting your dreams Liz, you don’t deserve that. No one deserves what you’ve been through…”
“Maybe I do…” She didn’t mean the words to come out, it was just a slip of the tongue, but as soon as she heard them out loud, it felt as though a giant weight was lifted. It had been running through her mind the entire time. Maybe she did deserve what had happened to her. Maybe Max wasn’t supposed to find her. Maybe she was supposed to be raped. Maybe it was all punishment for not letting go of him.
Even though they weren’t together anymore, even though Max was now with Tess, she still had a part of him, why else would he be here now? Why else would he bother to even speak to her? Why else would he still love her? As selfish as it sounded, Liz didn’t want to let go of him, because if she did… she doubted that she would survive.
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Maria turned the key in the lock and pushed open the door, to be greeted by the sight of her mother running back and forth around the kitchen, frantically putting away groceries. She stopped in the middle of her running when she noticed her daughter standing there with a bemused expression on her face.
“Mum… what’s with the rushing?”
Amy brushed a strand of hair off her face and put her hands on her hips. “Maria! I didn’t know you were home. I’m… eh… just trying out a new… experiment. Yeah, that’s it, and experiment… to see how fast I can put the groceries away…”
“Have you got somewhere that you’re expected to be mum?”
Maria took her mothers silence as her answer and prodded further.
“Are you having dinner with someone tonight?”
Amy returned to packing away the groceries, but the time with a slower pace than before, ignoring her daughters questioning gaze.
“Are you having dinner with Valenti to night?”
Amy stopped dead in her tracks and looked up at her daughter, before saying, “If your asking if Jim and I are two friends catching up over a meal, then yes Maria, we are. But if your implying what I think you’re implying…”
“Whoa, Mum! It’s okay… no need to get all worked up. I was just asking! Besides, I’m going over to Michaels so it doesn’t really matter what you do tonight…” Maria walked out of the kitchen, down the hallway and towards her room. She walked through her bead curtains and over to her dresser when she stopped. She turned sharply to address the girl sitting on the end of her bed.
“What the hell do you want?” Liz jumped at Maria’s tone, but stood up and looked her dead in the eye, not backing down. She took what Max had said to her yesterday and mixed it in with the fact that she needed to apologise to Maria. She needed to tell someone what she was thinking, what she was going through...why she ran away. Maria seemed like the likely option, killing two birds with one stone, etc.
“I-I came to talk…” Liz looked at the ground, her hands tangling in front of her torso. She flinched inwardly when Maria spoke again, knowing that Maria wouldn’t make it easy.
“It’s a little late for that, isn’t it?” Maria flung her bag down on her bed and crossed her arms over her chest, staring down the frail girl in front of her. She knew that this was hard for Liz, but she deserved it. Ever since she came back, she’s had everyone walking on eggshells around her, never being straight with her, but it was time for a change. Liz put everyone through hell when she ran away, so she deserved everything she got.
“I-I came to say that I’m…”
“You’re what Liz?” Maria cut her off, knowing that if she actually did apologise, she wouldn’t be able to stay mad at her. “ Huh? You came to say you’re sorry? Well it’s too fucking late for that! Every one else may have forgiven you Liz, but I won’t! I can’t!”
Liz could feel the tears forming at the corner of her eyes and held back a sob at her friend’s harsh words.
“God…. Our best friend had just died, so you decided to leave town? What the hell happened to you Liz? Why didn’t you come and talk to someone, anyone, instead of skipping town? You put everyone through so much shit… your parents were wrecks! Fuck… your mother couldn’t stop crying! And Max was on some sort of mission to fucking bring you back home…” Maria shook her head as she noticed the tears streaking down the girls face. “I honestly don’t know why the hell he bothered! God knows I wouldn’t have!”
With that she left, storming out of her room and slamming the front door behind her. Liz sank down onto Maria's bed, feeling numb everywhere as the tears continued to fall from her closed eyes.
She was right…
She had abandoned everyone when they needed her the most. Her parents… Maria… Michael…Even Alex. She should have been mourning the loss of her best friend instead of running away from all of the monsters…
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Max looked up from his cheery coke as soon as he felt her enter the Crashdown. She slowly walked over to the booth he was sitting, staring down at the ground as she walked. Liz sat down opposite him, and he immediately knew that she had been crying.
“Liz-"
“I’m fine Max.”
“What hap-”
“It was nothing. Can we just, not talk about it? Please?”
He nodded his response, promising himself that he would find out what had happened later. “So… your dad tells me that you’re coming back to school tomorrow.”
“Yeah…” She had been back in Roswell for three weeks now, and her parents thought that it was time to loosen the death grip that they had on her. They were just afraid that she would run again… and Liz couldn’t really blame them. She quite possibly would have already run, if Max wasn’t constantly watching her. There is no way that someone could like the Crashdown food that much. He was here in all of his free time, which he just happened to have a lot of.
“It’ll be good to have you back. It’s no fun in biology without a lab partner.”
“Max! There you are. I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” Tess walked over to the booth and kissed him on the lips, making sure she lingered for quite some time before pulling away. Max wiped his lips in disgust, feeling guilty that Liz had just witnessed her display of one-sided affection.
Liz sat there, staring down at her shoes as Tess talked to Max about their plans, obviously oblivious to the fact that there was someone else sitting in the booth. She knew that Max and Tess had gotten close, and she was happy that he finally following his destiny, but it still hurt like hell.
“What are we going to do today? I was thinking that maybe we could go to the mall and…” She stopped when she saw the expression Max was giving the seat opposite him. Tess turned her gaze onto the small brunette sitting quietly in the booth.
“Liz.” Tess spat her name out with venom dripping from her words. Max looked at her pleadingly, knowing what she was about to do even before she did.
“I-I should g-go now…” Liz stood up and attempted to step out of the booth, her destination clearly her room, her sanctuary from the outside world, but Max grabbed her wrist.
“Liz…”
Their connection opened automatically from the contact, and she pulled away, practically running through the door to the employee lounge and up the stairs, willing her tears to hold back until she was safely in her room..
Max stood up to follow her but Tess gripped his wrist, her nails digging in hard to his skin.
“Max… let her go and sulk on her own. She’s none of your concern anymore. It’s not like your dating or anything, you don’t have to care about her little tantrums.”
TBC...
