Ashley (Morning Dreamgirl) - Your reasoning concerning who was supposed to call (or not call) Max when Liz was visited by Sean is correct. You'll find out - later on - who that person was.
Max's hesitation? It might not have anything to do with Liz (even though she was obviously reading it like that). Maybe he was thinking too hard, trying to make sense of the situation - how much he could do during the examination without affecting the connection, if he was overstepping boundaries. Maybe he had been certain (for whatever reason - perhaps because of the lack of that phone call) that nothing had happened to Liz and her distress kinda threw him off. Because trust me, Max is
not hesitant about touching Liz. He loves touching Liz. But this was not just about touching her - this was an examination, mostly to calm her down, and at the end it was to put an end to his own questions about if something
had actually happened to her.
Don't know if that answered it for you, I felt like I got lost in my own explanation
The heating during the examination was Max using energy to connect with that area so that he could "see" the structures and make sure that they were - in the term he used - intact. Liz's body would buzz and heat while he connected to her fully as well - to heal her injuries earlier - but that was energy distributed in a whole body. Now it was energy that became very locally focused (in a very sensitive area as well), so it felt like more. Heated more.
Michael... Hmm... Michael is probably not that much part of this whole M/L-thing. He's not stupid. He knows that something is going on between Max and Liz, because Max is acting a bit out of character where she's concerned. But considering Max's mentioned opinion of his protector, Max is most likely not sharing any secrets about healing and bonds with Michael.
That won't make for a happy-Michael-chapter.
I'm not sure I'm up to giving him a whole chapter
I doubt Max blocked her much - if at all. He's wanted her basically his entire life and even if he just had a piece of her for a little while he wouldn't want to block it. Plus when they connected in his father's office he alluded to that with his "every thought" comment.
And it would go well with his overprotective streak. What better way to keep track on when she was in danger, etc, than to listen to her emotions
It's surprising he didn't lock her in his room when she came to him for her second healing!
*laughs* Yeah, the control in that man. He
must be suffering.
Alex is actually a really great guy. He's trying to find his place in this whole mess too and while Max's problem is that he has
no prescribed role in Elizabeth Parker's life, Alex's problem is that
he does. How can he prove to her that what started out as his parents telling him to befriend Liz, has grown to a real friendship? How can he protect her if she doesn't trust him? So now that she knows the truth, he tries to give her space, to let her figure out where the boundaries are. But he's really new to this situation too.
And Maria is a good friend. She's trying her hardest to look out for Liz without crowding her. The death of Liz's mom is still very recent and so far, Maria can excuse Liz's behavior by blaming it on grief. But Maria is a bit bossy by nature and is used to sharing almost everything with her best friend, so these last couple of weeks have not been easy on Maria. Especially since she wants to be there for her friend, but Liz keeps pushing her away by not opening up. And then there's that creep Sean that Liz seems caught up in; something that makes absolutely no sense to Maria. But yes, she's a very good friend.
Nevertheless I can't imagine Max is the only one that is going to be upset at Isabel. If anyone else in their society finds out (even if she just gets in trouble with her dad) it's not going to go over well.
Shhhh... it's a secret...
I imagine it would be during her check-ups. But he has to know it's because she was trying to defend herself. So maybe he's hostile out of guilt. Like when Max becomes angry out of fear for Liz.
Like father like son?
So... How long are our favorite couple going to stay mad at each other after this? Because lately when their emotions run high it leads to other things.
Well, let's see about that, shall we? On to the next chapter
Thank you thank you thank you!
Helen (Roswelllostcause)
WHAT?! Did Isabel really just say that she want Liz to suduce Max?
Yup
Thank you for the feedback!
L-J-L 76
Because right now I'm trying to figure out how Liz is suppose to act like she loves Sean, Handle Maria and seduce Max.
It's a handful, isn't it?
And why does Isabel want Liz to seduce Max? You'll get an understanding of that in the next chapter.
Thank you for the feedback (and the bump <3 ) !
Eve (begonia9508) - Isabel has a theory. Let's see what that theory is; coming up in the next chapter. Thank you for the feedback!
Natalie36
no words but i'm liking isabel i think
She seems pretty great right about now, doesn't she?
Thank you for the feedback!
Carolyn (keepsmiling7) - Sorry for making your head spin... Seems like I can't stop throwing stuff at you guys. Sean should be dealt with. But, that's a complicated problem to deal with unfortunately. Thank you for the feedback!
mezz
I can understand that Max, being so careful to give Liz free choice, doesn't want to push the permanent bond thing. Isabel doesn't have to be as careful in that way as Max does.
Spot on
I was trying to find a quote and so skimmed back through the story. Mrs Evan's reaction to meeting Liz was very interesting. She greeted Liz warmly, especially once she'd checked that she was 'Liz Parker?'. I wonder if that is simply because Liz is a gaea or because she knows about Max's love for her.
She is his mother after all. And mothers know their children better than anyone, right...? Is Max really able to hide his feelings for Liz - which have possibly been there for many years - from his own mother?
There is still no explanation for this though -
“Okay, that’s enough,” Mr. Evans said and added succinctly, “Maxwell, you can always rekindle things with her later. Just without all the extra details.”
There are obviously more complexities where the bonding and use of a gaea are concerned. We just don't know it yet. I wonder if Isabel knows more?
There are. To be explained in the future
Thank you so much for the feedback (and for searching for clues - love it
)!
From FORTY-TWO:
Her eyes were frantic and worried. I think it was the first time that I could see a resemblance to her brother. When she wasn’t putting on an Ice Princess show, her eyes reminded me of Max.
”Do you remember me?” she whispered anxiously.
My eyes narrowed in suspicion and confusion. ”Um…yeah?”
She sighed frustratedly, as if I was a small child that just didn’t get it. ”I mean, do you remember me?”
I crossed my arms across my chest, not appreciating her attitude. ”You mean, do I remember that you are an alien-human-hybrid, who is part of a secret population of tormenters and users of homo sapiens and who would just stand idly by and watch her own brother being hurt and freezing cold? Because then; yes, I remember you.”
Her face had turned ice-cold during my statement and her reply was clipped and short, ”Funny.”
I guess that Max had already informed his sister of my momentary memory lapses post my contact with Sean.
I dug my fingers into the sides of my elbows. ”What’s up, Isabel?”
She exhaled loudly, looked at me quietly with contemplation for a long pause, before she simply stated, ”I need you to seduce Max.”
____________________________________
FORTY-THREE
”Wh-what?” I sputtered, uncomfortable laughter bubbling up in my throat as I stared at Isabel.
She was looking at me, clearly annoyed with my reaction. ”Believe me; this wasn’t exactly my favorite thing of the day to ask.”
Even my mind was speechless at this point. ”You want me to
seduce Max?”
She sighed, leaned against the wall with a bored expression as she scrutinized her fingernails. ”I’ve thought about this a lot and yes, that’s my conclusion.”
”How?” I felt stupid. ”Why?” But mostly I felt nervous and worried about what her ’request’ entailed.
She looked up from her perfect nails, angling her head to the side as she silently regarded me, before she hitched her head towards the other side of the hallway. ”Come on. Let’s find someplace more private.”
My gaze fluttered around us, suddenly aware that we weren’t alone, and realizing that what Isabel was going to talk about wouldn’t be suited for the ears of the regular human population.
And right now, Isabel was not the least intimidating, which made me follow her without hesitation down the hall towards the female toilets.
Isabel marched into the female restroom as if she owned it, quickly checked underneath the stalls to ascertain that they were empty, before stepping around me, putting her hand over the lock to the main door, emitting a glow from her hand (my mouth fell open in surprise) and turned back to me with an unreadable face. After brushing an errant strand of hair out of her face, she once again was the epitome of perfection.
”Max has told you about our type of connection, right?”
My eye twitched in worried anticipation. Where was she going with this? Tentatively, I agreed, ”Yes.”
”I have to admit, I didn’t really believe Max when he first claimed to have bonded with you, but then I witnessed it for myself.”
In their basement. When Isabel had suggested that I should transfer my body heat to Max through the connection.
”And…” she scratched distractedly above her right eye. I was surprised by the normalcy of that movement. How human that movement of indecisiveness made her.
I wet my dry lips and prompted, ”And…?”
”And I realized what we need to do.”
I looked at her incredulously. ”Seduce Max?”
She gave me a half-smile, so normal and warm that I found myself thinking that (just like with Max) there was a whole other person underneath that mask of pretense. ”Yeah.”
”And what would that solve exactly?” I wondered, while simultaneously questioning why I was trying to talk my way out of this. Didn’t I
want to seduce Max? Was it not Max whom I wanted?
I couldn’t help it, couldn’t stop the hope from igniting. Had Isabel found a solution to the whole Sean-gene-Max-problem?
She looked at me seriously, without blinking. I swallowed in the shine from her exposed look. ”I’m worried about him. I’ve never seen him like this before. He has always been a ’good boy’ within our community, but now he’s breaking all the laws and getting beaten and punished every other second.”
I chilled, frozen into silence.
”Because of you,” Isabel continued. ”I would bet my life that he would risk everything, even die, for you.”
She frowned, putting her head to the side as if I was a mystery that needed solving. ”And even if I don’t understand that, I can’t allow it.”
Sadness brushed her beautiful eyes and she admitted with an honesty that was very un-Isabel, ”I can’t lose my brother. He’s my best friend.”
I bit my lip, a bit insecure on how to act around this new version of Max’s sister. ”So you want me to seduce him to…what? Give him a happy memory before he sacrifices himself..?”
Isabel’s laughter was so abrupt that I jumped. Her eyes glittered with bemusement as she quieted. ”Not really.” Still smiling, she already looked much more relaxed. ”I have a theory.”
”Okay…?”
”Max has told you about how we usually bond with humans, right?”
”Yep,” I answered, thinking of
copulation.
”And he has told you about the other option to bonding, available to only a few people with his rare gift?”
”Yes.”
”Which - if my brother hasn’t lied to me - is the reason why you’re connected right now.”
I nodded.
”And I kinda hate Sean,” she continued and my whole body tensed at the mention of my prospective bonding-partner. ”And I wouldn’t wish him on my worst enemy.” She shrugged, ”Not that you’re my enemy, but you get my drift.”
”Sure,” I agreed tonelessly.
”But I would hate to be bonded to someone like that,” she elaborated.
Okay? You’re not really making me feel any better about this whole situation here, Isabel.
In light of my silence, Isabel explained, ”So, it got me thinking. What if - by using two methods of bonding - your bond would be stronger. Doubled up.” She licked her lips, looking at me expectantly. ”Your bond would be indestructible. Irreversible.”
My heart fell to my stomach with a hard thump.
”This would eliminate the risk that Sean would get to you. You would be unusable to him.” She smiled brightly, proud of herself. ”So he would leave you alone.”
My throat felt dry. I whispered hoarsely, ”Or they might just kill us both for betraying your laws.”
But I wasn’t thinking about my words as I said them. My mind was occupied with going over Isabel’s suggestion and the more the cogwheels turned in my head, the more upset I felt myself becoming.
Isabel shrugged, insensitive to my preoccupation. ”Isn’t that a chance you’re willing to take, considering the alternative?” She lightly bumped my shoulder with her fist. ”Come on. Admit it, Parker. You have the hots for my brother. It’s not like we’ll be forc-”
”Does Max know about this?” I whispered sharply.
Isabel stilled, the smile slipping off her face, her mouth crinkling in dissatisfaction at my lukewarm (more like chilling) reaction to her marvelous idea. ”We’ve discussed it.”
Her matter-of-fact statement made my anger flare.
”You’ve-” I sputtered.
The reason behind my reaction was slowly dawning on Isabel’s face, her eyes turning cautious and worried, ”No. No, it’s not like that.”
”I-” I clenched my fists tightly against my sides, pulling in a sharp breath. The anger was all-consuming. ”I need to go.”
”Liz…” Isabel tried, but I shrugged her interfering hands off me and reached for the door.
It wouldn’t budge.
”Liz,” Isabel said again, coming up behind me.
”Open the door, Isabel,” I hissed, not looking at her.
”Just let me explain-”
”Open. The. Door.”
Isabel expelled a resigned breath, reached in front of me and put her hand against the lock. Following a brief light emitted from her palm, there was a click as the door was unlocked, and then I was moving through the corridor, back towards the cafeteria.
I must have looked crazy, my hair flying wildly behind me and my steps hurried but determined, as I moved through the busy cafeteria. That is, if you were judging from the hushed conversations and surprised stares which were following my angry march.
But I didn’t care about that. My eyes had zoned in on their goal.
Halfway there, a hand snaked out and grabbed my underarm. ”Liz.”
The chills rushed down my spine, momentarily putting a damper on the blazing anger, but as I whipped my head towards the person holding me back and verified that it was who I thought it was, my anger was back full-force.
My voice was low and threatening as I hissed, ”Not. Now. Sean.”
I saw Maria’s chin almost touch the floor as her mouth fell open in complete surprise from her viewpoint from the neighboring table (had Maria stopped Sean from taking a seat at our table…?), looking comically similar to one of those cartoons where their mouth would elongate all the way to the ground in an exaggerated vision of shock.
Sean let go off my arm as if he had been burnt, but I didn’t waste any time on being happy about my successful avoidance of his mind control.
Instead I pushed plastic chairs out of my way, bumped into a table or two, and, upon reaching his table, I grabbed Max’s arm, pulling sharply.
He had followed my arrival since the moment my stormy eyes had connected with his upon reentering the cafeteria, but still he wasn’t completely prepared for my sudden tug on his arm making him lose his balance for a second, grabbing onto the table to stop himself from falling off the chair.
Michael pushed to his feet, towering up in front of me intimidatingly. ”Hey!”
I spun around to look at Max’s
protector and watched him shrink away from my gaze. ”Back off, Michael.”
Michael’s eyes drifted to Max in question and I looked down at Max, seeing him shrugging in response before getting to his feet. ”What, Parker?”
He was probably the only one that didn’t seem scared of me.
Max’s public display, which implied not knowing me, did nothing short of infuriating me even more.
I stepped up to him, adrenaline pumping through my warm body as my agitated breaths made my breasts brush against his chest. Unconsciously my eyes glanced at his lips, before I hissed, ”We need to talk.”
With a snap, he angled his face forward, stopping half an inch from mine, stopping my breath in my chest as his grin oozed sex, ”Sure.”
I licked my lips and envisioned his taste on those lips as I felt his breath against my mouth. So close, he was so close. Too close.
My breath came crashing back to me and I took a step back. ”Outside.”
”Okay,” Max said slowly and his presence was heated and very solid while walking two steps behind me as I turned and retraced my steps through the cafeteria.
The cafeteria that was basically quiet now. A sense of déjà vu trickled down my neck at the intense and almost empty stares that were following our walk through the room.
But my pulsating anger made it easy to ignore the discomfort their quiet observation of us generated, and I reached the exit of the cafeteria in no time. Turning the corner into the hallway and stomping down the length of the corridor lined with lockers, I broke through the main doors of the high school in a whirlwind of emotions.
”You’re making a scene,” Max said disapprovingly as soon as we were outside.
I twirled around, eyes burning brightly with tears of hurt and disappointment as I bit out, ”Did you know?”
He searched my face, his own clad in seriousness as he took in my upset appearance. ”Know what?”
”That you might be able to save me - save us - by sleeping with me?”
His face immediately closed up and he took a step back. He pressed his lips together in a thin line as I dug my nails into the insides of my palms.
”Did you?!”
”It’s only a theory,” Max said quietly.
”Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, the hurt I felt extremely audible in my question.
It seemed like he was looking for an excuse, which only infuriated me further and I felt my tears build in my eyes. The emotional load was too much.
”Do you find me ugly? Disgusting? What?” I bit the inside of my cheek. ”Would it be so horrible to have sex with me?”
He was in my personal space within the blink of an eye, eyes passionately dark and staring down into mine as he spit out emphatically, ”I would take you right here, right now, if we weren’t standing in a school yard in the middle of the day.”
My mouth fell open and just stared at him - rendered speechless - as his jaw clenched and his cheeks flustered beautifully with anger. Instant desire was tightening my stomach and my breath was once again lost as his rapid breaths fanned my face.
”Got it?” he bit out harshly and I found myself numbly nodding.
”Good,” he mumbled tensely and took a step back, turning his back on me as he brushed his hands through his hair while commencing an agitated pacing of the ground.
I found my voice somewhere inside the tightest swirl of hurt and desire. ”Then why?” I swallowed, my tongue not really cooperating. I could feel his anger vibrate through the air around us, confusing my own anger. ”If it could save our lives-”
He swirled around and I swallowed at the dampness in his eyes, making his gaze even darker and more dynamic. ”That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you. Because I didn’t want you to feel forced to sleep with me just as a means of survival.”
I tensed. ”But you would rather I slept with Sean and lose my future to a life of mind control? Gee, thanks for the consideration.”
”Sex is already forced upon you - I didn’t want to add to that equation,” Max grumbled.
I shook my head and said angrily, ”No. No. That’s not an excuse, Max. You should have informed me so that I at least was part of the decision.”
”There’s no guarantee of it working anyway,” Max fired back. ”It would be too dangerous to try. No healer has ever formed a connection with a gaea before. It’s against the law.”
I frowned. ”That doesn’t make sense. What if a gaea needs healing? Doesn’t that require forming a connection?”
”They’ve already formed a primary bond with their supposed partner by then, so it won’t matter.”
”But what if it could be true? That we could ’double-bond’ or something.”
He ran frustrated hands through his hair again. ”And bind us together forever? Possibly irreversibly?”
It was like he had punched me in the stomach. I gasped and took a step back.
I saw his face fall as he realized how that must have sounded. But the harm was already done.
”And that’s not something you want?” I croaked, feeling faint.
Read the clues, Parker. He doesn’t want you. There are too many signs pointing to that.
But I’ve seen into his mind. I’ve seen his feelings for me.
He told me he loved me.
Maybe now. But obviously not forever.
As my mind was arguing with itself, Max took a step closer and hissed, ”Of course I do!”
”Then what?!” I practically screamed and pushed my hands out to the sides. ”What’s standing in your way?”
”Your right to a free will,” he snapped. ”Your right to a normal life with a…” he swallowed tightly, ”human.”
I rolled my eyes and he squared his shoulders. ”I have no free will. No prospect of a normal life. Probably already within 24 hours I will either have sex with you or with Sean.” I glared at him in challenge, observing his face paling. ”Who’s it going to be?” I took a deep breath as he didn’t reply immediately. ”I’m voting for saving my life here.”
”Fine,” he snapped and towered above me, his pupils dilated to the maximum. ”Let’s have sex.”
”Fine,” I flared.
”Fine,” he yelled back, turned on his heel and without another word disappeared inside the school building.
The second the door slammed behind him, I bent forward at the waist, putting my hands on my thighs and tried to inhale.
What the hell had just happened?
TBC...
----------------------
I'm starting to wonder if any of you is going to hunt me down soon if I keep throwing these cliffhangers at you...
How had she not seen this though. I'm a bit stumped. Max has told her repeatedly that the bond is usually made through sex and that is the way to make her unviable for Sean. I suppose that with everything going on she didn't think clearly. Hmmmm ok.