Roswell Fanatics

TITLE: The Good One

AUTHOR: willowbv

CATEGORY: AU M/L

RATING: TEEN

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Roswell, it belongs to Jason Katims and Co.

SUMMARY/ AN: This is totally unplanned, I was just inspired to write this, so I don't really know where it's going. All I know is that, it's dreamer and that Liz is at university and that there are no aliens. I'll edit this once a bigger plan forms but so far this what I've got.



A big thanks to LilacStardust for this ace banner

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Chapter 1

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To: Futurechic@yahoo.com

From: Crashintome@yahoo.com

Hey Serena,

How’s Cambridge university? Better yet, how is life in London? Have you done all the tourist things yet? I guess you’ll give me the run down after I give you mine, so here goes:

I love my university life. I live in great halls with great floor mates and fabulous room mates.

The first time I arrived at Boston university, I didn’t know what my room would be like, who I would share with and I prayed to God that I we would get along.
It turned out even better than that, my room mates are like my family. When I go home to Roswell to visit, I miss them.

The place, the students, the atmosphere is electric and there is nothing like it. During the past few months, I have learnt and grown so much, but I can’t even begin to quantify it or express how, I just know that I have.

I live in a sort of apartment, we have four bedrooms, two on each side with a living room and kitchen separating the each side. I totally lucked out on accommodation, the place is gorgeous and my room mates are the nicest girls ever.

There’s Maria, she’s doing drama and that basically says it all. Then there’s Isabel, she’s studying psychology and Tess who is studying photography. They have incredibly outgoing personalities and are incredibly stunning, seriously Serena, I have never met so many naturally beautiful girls in my life.

We go out and hang together, which is great and we’ve made separate friends who have merged into one big group and then other friends. I know soo many people through them and most of them are guys.

Seriously, one night, our apartment was high-jacked by twenty guys! The girls had it under control though, which was good because I was not in the mood to be polite to anyone smoking.

Anyway, we have these four guys, Michael, Alex, Kyle and Jesse who Maria and Isabel met one night out. They are the nicest guys I have ever met. They’re funny and kind and just great to be around and they LOVE Maria, Isabel and Tess. Why didn’t I include myself in the LOVED list? Well it’s because, sometimes I feel out of place when we hang out in our kitchen, I’m not as much of a talker as the other girls and I’m soo not great with talking to guys, I mean, you know that. I just seem to freeze up and make general comments and then that’s it or sometimes, I’ll loosen up and bit and just be more of me but I know who they really come to see. Which is fine, I can handle that because they’re not really my friends, I mean, they’re more of their friends than mine, if you get what I mean, it’s just…Let me give you an example, Maria make some sarcastic joke and laughed and I laughed to, Michael playfully punched her and she told him to punch me too because I laughed but he said, “I can’t do that to Liz, she’s the good one.”

That’s who I am in my group Serena, the girl I’ve always been, the quiet one…well that one is debateable because give me time and I’m…yeah, you know but the whole “the good one” issue still stands and sometimes I wish I wasn’t, I wish I could be more like Maria, Isabel or Tess but I’ve accepted that that’s me, it’s just I wish a guy was interested in the good one because I am funny and smart and deserve a great guy to be with but they don’t seem to like me in that way. I’m the good friend and it is sooo annoying.

I love my friends dearly, I really do. I guess I envy them, I wish I could be a guy magnet like they are and not be classed as the good one or the quiet one. And yet I am those things, I guess I wish they were an attractive quality to guys.

Okay, I don’t have anything else to write, Sweets, so get this, read this and write back.

xx Liz.

****

AN:Roswellluver, JasonBehrsChick, BelevnDreamsToo, begonia9508, WarGirl

Thanks for the early encouragement guys, here’s the next part:

P.S. Oh, BelevnDreamsToo, about Max...he's here, lol


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Chapter 2

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To: Crashintome@yahoo.com

From: Futurechic@yahoo.com

Hi Liz,

It’s great to know that you’re enjoying uni. Cambridge is fun, I mean whenever I leave it, it’s like stepping out of the Cambridge bubble because when you’re in there, it feels like it’s the only place in the world. There is nothing like that feeling. Cute guys everywhere of every kind: cute smart nerdy guys, cute skater guys, I’m loving it.

I have soo done the tourist thing, visited Trafalgar Square and everything and the shopping Liz? It’s amazing!! I’m working in a bar to fund my shopping obsession, which is also a first for me right? From waitress at the Crashdown to bar wench, lol.

My roomies are great except, I thankfully have my own room with ensuite bathroom facilities, we share a massive kitchen though between 12 girls. You can imagine the gossip, lol. Classes are going great, they’re intense but as you know, I thrive under intense pressure.

Enough about me, it’s back to you Lizzie. You are a totally hot chick and okay you might have a bit of a quiet side and focus a lot on your studies and stuff but I wholly agree, you’re funny and smart and deserve a guy. But, and you know I’m right, try coming out of that shell of yours and actually have a conversation with a guy without making him think that you’d rather be doing something else? When the other girls are hanging out with the guys, join them and just go with the flow. I know you do that sometimes but you sort of get bored and go off to do something else. And so what if you’re the “good” one to those guys, I’m sure each of the other girls have a name and don’t be offended by it, play with it a little. And you know what Lizzie, you gotta let someone in in order to see if they’re boyfriend potential but you usually keep them at arms length (don’t hit me, but it’s true).

Okay Sweets, that’s enough from Serena’s advice column for today.

Ttyl, Lady S.

****

Liz had just finished reading the email when Zoe and Jane from next door burst into her room.

“Hi,” she greeted them as they made themselves comfortable.

“Hi,” said Zoe, “we thought we’d come see what you’re up to.”

“Nothing in general just checking email and stuff,” she replied,”when’s the Chinese getting here?” she asked.

It was a system they had devised, if anyone on the hall was ordering take-out then they would get as many people as possible to enable them to have it delivered for free. Liz usually cooked but today she had decided to have something quick and easy.

“Should be in a few minutes,” replied Jane.

Just then a roar of laughter filled the room.

Liz shook her head fondly. Michael, Alex, Kyle and Jesse had just suddenly shown up to hang out and Isabel, Tess and Maria were entertaining.

While you’re sat checking your email, she told herself.

Refusing to deal with the issues her inner voice was bringing up and with Serena’s email, Liz turned her attention to her friends who were currently making plans to go out tomorrow.

“Are you in Liz?” asked Jane.

“Um sure,” she replied.

She loved going out. She loved to dance and have fun with her friends. They never intentionally went out to get guys grinding up against them or thinking that they wanted to make out…well she didn’t anyway, they just went out to dance and have a good time.

Zoe’s phone rang. “Must be the food,” she said picking it up.

Liz searched for her purse as Zoe talked to the food-delivery guy. After collecting money from Zoe and Jane, she made her way downstairs to pick up the food. On her way out she called out greetings to the group who were sat around the kitchen table top.

“Hi Liz,” they chorused in response.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened after that, she paid for the food and carried it back to the dorm. Realising that they needed knives and forks and a few drinks, she headed for the kitchen and as usual the group were absorbed in conversation not noticing her. Which was fine with her because she didn’t really want to join them.

She was on the way to her room when, Maria called her.

“Hey Liz,” she said.

Liz turned around. “Yeah?”

“This is Max, Max Evans, a friend of Michael’s, he just moved in with them today,” she said.

Her gaze followed Maria’s finger.

She had heard about the symptoms but only dreamt of feeling them. She ticked them off in her mind : breath caught in throat, heart thuds against chest, everything feels a bit more real.

To Liz, everything changed.

He was gorgeous.

She suddenly had a desire to just sit and stare at him all day. He had dark brown hair, some of which swept across his forehead.

The one word that would have described Max Evans, was a word Liz had never used before in her life in reference to the male species but he, he was lush. She couldn’t see the colour of his eyes but she figured that they were probably brown. He wore a black shirt with the top buttons undone.

That one observation made her feel very light-headed.

Oh my gosh, he is..wow!

“Hi.” He greeted her with a small shy smile.

Liz felt butterflies in her stomach.

She greeted him with a small wave of her hand. “Hi,” she smiled back as casually as she could.

She felt her cheeks heat up and decided that now was the time to leave. She flashed the group a smile and was relieved to see that conversation had already started up again . She hurried to her room where to her surprise everything seemed normal.

But I don’t feel normal, she thought to herself as she handed out the food and utensils, I feel anything but and it feels good.

“Oh,” she realised, “I forgot the drinks, I’ll go get them,” she told them.

Her heart beat wildly at the prospect of seeing Max again and that was all she was going to do, just seeing him was enough. First off, he was too good looking to be single and secondly he was probably as in love with Tess, Maria and Isabel as the other guys were, thirdly, she was no doubt “the good one” and that wasn’t sexy or particularly appealing to a guy like Max Evans.

She went to the fridge, took out the drinks and was once again on her way back to her room, but not before sneaking another glimpse at Max. She was not surprised to see his complete attention fixed on the girls, his eyes twinkled and his whole face was animated as they talked.

Yep, she thought with a rueful smile. He is so out of my league but at least I know that. I’m just gonna enjoy the way he makes me feel…, she sighed as the door to her room closed behind her, drowning out some of the laughter,…that’s as good as I’ll get anyway.

****

AN: here's the next part guys, and if you're wondering about how Max feels about Liz, all is revealed in this next part....

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Chapter 3

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To: Futurechic@yahoo.com

From: Crashintome@yahoo.com


Hi Serena,

Thanks for the advice but um, I have to say that you are so wrong. I am a completely open person, I let people in, I don’t have a thing for Michael, Kyle, Jesse or Alex, I just haven’t met anyone to go for yet.

Okay that’s kind of a lie, there’s a new addition to the group, his name is Max, Max Evans and the only word I have to describe him is lush.

Tall, dark, handsome and with eyes that literally make my knees weak. He’s two years older than us because he took some time travelling around Europe and doing some family stuff.

He’s studying Law and he’s smart, a little on the quiet side but he sometimes steps out enough to let his quiet, dry humour show. He comes up with the rest of the guys, so I’ve had a chance to hang out and observe him to see if there could be something permanent between us.

Of course it’s all for nothing because he isn’t interested in me in that way, I’m just Liz, a friend of Maria, Tess or Isabel. Besides, if you saw him, you’d know that he is too lush to be interested in me. You know what? Just forget it, there’s nothing there from his side and I’m just going to enjoy our non-existent relationship. Being around him makes me feel good and that’s enough for me.

School wise, I have two essays due for Thursday and it’s Sunday. I know, shock, I kinda left things a bit late but Maria and I are in the same situation, so we’re supporting each other and they’re gonna get done. Today is laundry day, so we’re gonna go do our washing and our essays while we wait.

There’s my rundown, you’re next.

Liz

****

“Liz!!!! Come on” yelled Maria.

“Coming!”, Liz yelled in reply.

She quickly sent her email, grabbed her purse, her laundry bag and headed out to meet Maria.

“I’ll wait in the laundry room while you come up to get our essay stuff,” she said as they headed down their hall stairs.

“Sure,” agreed Maria, “I’ll bring down a few snacks as well.”

“Fine,” she laughed. Maria had a thing about working with the help of sugar filled foods.

Liz was glad to see that the laundry room was empty. That meant that the four comfy seats in the corner were theirs for the taking. Her joy was short-lived however when they realised that the washing machines all had clothes in them.

“That’s just great, some people are so selfish,” sighed Maria.

“And how do you figure that?” she asked.

“They do their laundry when we want to,” she replied with s smile.

“Yeah,” she added in mock seriousness, “that is so wrong.”

“Okay, so we’ve got like an hour to burn, I guess that gives us more essay time,” said Maria.

“Sounds good to me.”

While Maria went to accomplish her tasks, Liz went over what she was going to write in her essay. Her thoughts were disturbed when two people entered the laundry room.

Max and Alex.

Great, she thought to herself. She wanted to get the essay done and wasn’t in the mood for distractions.

And these guys are definitely a distraction.

“Hi, Liz,” said Alex.

Max greeted her with a smile.

“Hi, guys,” she said. Enjoying the way her pulse rate had suddenly increased. She watched as the two went to check on a row of five washing machines.

“Don’t tell me you guys hogged all five,” she said.

“We had a lot of back laundry,” protested Alex.

“We’re you waiting to get yours done?” asked Max. She noticed the amused look on his face.

“Possibly,” she replied sarcastically. She waved over to her laundry bag, “and as you can see, mine shouldn't take up too much space.”

“Don’t we get points for domestication?” asked Max sheepishly. Liz‘s gaze dropped to the softener he was holding in his hand.

He had this charm that was just so hard to resist and when he purposely used it, there was no use in even putting up a fight.

“Fine,” she smiled dryly, “you get points for domestication.”

Rolling her eyes, she dropped back onto her seat. She felt once again, extremely light headed, being around Max constantly did that to her and she had learned to savour it.

Her attention was drawn to the door as Maria entered carrying two bags.
“Look who’s here,” she said nodding over to the guys.

“Max, Alex,” she said surprised, “what are you doing here?”

“Their laundry,” Liz replied for them. “Using five washing machines.

Maria crossed the room and settled next to her. “You machine hogs,” she chided them.

“But,” she told her, “they get points for domestication.”

She glanced at Max and for a brief second, their eyes clashed. Liz was sure that she had seen sparks. Literally.

Whatever, she dismissed herself. Stop inventing stuff that isn’t real.

“Indeed they do,” agreed Maria.

Liz rifled through one of the bags and took out her essay plan, paper and started to work.

She needed to focus and get the essays out of the way, Maria could entertain the guys as they waited.

“What you working on?”.

The voice startled her in it’s proximity, she had realised that Max had crossed the room and sat next to her.

It was then that she also realised that both her and Maria were dressed in their “home, lounging around” clothes.

She glanced down at her worn out grey jogging bottoms and her yellow vest top. She inwardly groaned, she was wearing sandals and her hair was in an untidy pony tail.

Max was sitting next to her, looking handsome as usual and she was in tramp wear.

Very fetching, she thought dryly.

“Um,” she felt her cheeks flush again and mentally rolled her eyes. Why the heck did her cheeks have to give her away every time?!. “I’m working on an English essay, it’s due on Thursday.”

“Yeah, which is a big trauma for Liz because she usually gets essays done like weeks before they’re due,” teased Maria.

Liz pursed her lips together and tucked her hair behind her ear in an effort to hide her embarrassment. She couldn’t argue against the truth but why did she have to say it in front of Max.

“I usually do that too,” said Max gently.

His voice once again drew her to his eyes. Being close to him was intoxicating, invigorating, he was like a drug and right now she was getting her fix.

“Great minds think alike,” she responded with a smile.

Initially, being around him had been distracting, because, she felt him. It was the strangest experience she had ever encountered, but when he was near her, she felt his presence, but now, she managed to use it as a comfort bubble which dulled out the rest of the world and let her focus.

She only paused from her work to put her clothes into the machine and when she had to take them out and into the dryer. It puzzled her then, why when all her clothes were clean and dry, Maria’s were still in the washing machine.

The answer was simple though when Liz actually paid attention to the conversation the trio were having about the best places to go clubbing on a night out. Clubbing was Maria’s favourite topic, it was ideal topic to keep her from doing her essay or her laundry quick enough.

“Um, I’m pretty much done here guys. I’m gonna go up and finish up my work,” she said gathering her things.

“Do you need any help?” asked Max.

Her and Max alone together? She couldn’t handle that yet. She could deal with him when they were in a group with other people but definitely not a one to one basis. She feared awkward moments of silence between them.

“No thanks, I can manage,” she replied as she dragged her laundry bag along with her. “See you later,” she called at the door.

“Later,” they chorused.

She held the door open to go through but paused when she heard Max ask, “So are you and Liz really good friends?” he asked.

“Um, Max,” she called, “you’re usually supposed to wait until I’ve left the room before you start talking about me behind my back,” she teased.

She thought she saw him blush, but that was ridiculous, they said things like that to each other all the time, why would he blush?

“Got it,” he retorted with a smile.

Liz didn’t pause to think why he would be asking Maria questions about her, her focus was on the essay she had to get done and after that one, the other.

****

“Yeah, I mean, I’ve known her for like a month now but it feels like longer. We just clicked,” Maria replied.

“Oh,” nodded Max. He was still recovering from the embarrassment of knowing that Liz had heard him ask Maria about her but he couldn’t have waited a moment longer.

She intrigued him.

The first time they had been introduced in the girls’ kitchen, he hadn’t really paid much attention to her. He just had her pegged as one of Maria’s other gorgeous roomies and if he had to admit it, he had been taken in by the trio of girls. They were funny, smart and beautiful. He loved being around them and he supposed it was because he liked one of them, but he had realised that that wasn’t it. They were just great people to be around.

Then, when Liz had started to join them, she was added onto the list of the funny, smart and beautiful girls that had become his friends. She was a bit quieter than the other girls, Maria had told him that she was the more responsible one of the group.

Slowly, Max had found himself frequently glancing at her during conversations, he noticed how brown her eyes were, how silky her hair was, how she bit her lip or tucked her hair behind her ears when she was nervous. The first time he had heard her laugh, really laugh out loud and without stopping except to take deep breaths, he was surprised by how it had made him feel. It had touch something in his heart and made it alive somehow and from that moment on, her laugh made him smile.

He and Liz had never had one to one conversations, the only interaction they had was when they were in a group with other people and that hadn’t bothered him until a couple of days ago.

He now found himself wanting to be alone with her. But he wasn’t sure how she felt about him, because they hadn’t had one on one time together, it was hard to read her.

She was aloof with him. He had sat next to her on purpose and yet she didn’t even react to his proximity or realise that he was there until he asked her a question.

Sometimes he wondered if she thought of him as an individual or as Alex, Michael, Kyle or Jesse’s friend because she never looked at him they way she looked at the others. She just briefly glanced at him or when she was looking at him, she seemed to be looking through him.

Max had never had a problem with a girl like this before. Usually the gave signals but with Liz, he didn’t know if she was interested. Hence the reason why he was questioning Maria.

“Do you know if she’s seeing anyone?” he asked.

“Why are you interested in her?” pounced Maria. She knew for a fact that Liz liked Max. She always blushed when she was around him and always stared at him when she was sure he wasn’t looking. She had asked her of course and Liz had told her that there couldn’t be anything between her and Max.

Maria wanted to shake her friend into action, into giving some signals at least but Liz, was just Liz, infuriating.

Max hesitated before answering. “Um…”

That was answer enough for Maria. She mentally jumped for joy. Max was a great guy, the moment she had met him, she had thought of fixing him up with Liz. Liz however, during their girl to girl talks during the first week had expressed her hate of being fixed up due to bad experiences.

A plan suddenly formed in her head that would solve everyone’s problems.

“Take that as a yes,” said Alex.

Max glared at him but his friend didn’t care. It was about time the word was out and someone did something about it. He was tired of seeing Max making goo goo eyes at Liz whenever she wasn’t looking.

“No, I’m not,” he said pointedly looking at Alex. “I’m just trying to figure that out,” he added weakly to Maria.

“She’s single and free, so ask her out on a date,” said Maria.

His heart soared, “so she’s interested in me?” he asked.

“I go with a resounding yes, but our Lizzie has a few relationship issues,” she replied.

“Do you think I should ask her out?” he asked.

Maria thought for a moment. She had a feeling that if he did ask her out, Liz would probably say no. She shook her head sadly, that girl had real issues.

“She’d probably say no,” she replied.

“Oh,” he said surprised at how crushed he was.

“But don’t worry,” she said, “ I’m gonna take care of that.”

Hopeful once again, he asked, “How ?”.

“Give me a couple of days and I’ll fill you in but keep your Wednesday free,” she answered cryptically.

“Okay, I will,” he said.

His secret was out, he liked Liz Parker and with the help of his friends, just maybe, she would give him a chance.

****

AN: Hey guys, just finished typing this up. Came back from a Valentines dinner with my roommates and decided to update this fic, what can I say…I had to write up some Max and Liz fic on Valentines day and an update of this fic came to mind.

About the inspiration for the this next part...well my roomies with boyfriends and I got to talking and embarrassing moments, were talked about and voila, this idea made me laugh so, here it is...

Roswellluver, Pegleg, JasonBehrsChick, Earth2Mama ( You are like my fic cheerleader, lol) , snoopie13, Lady_without_a_clue, begonia9508, BelevnDreamsToo.

Thanks for the fab feedback guys, it’s truly appreciated.

begonia9508 wrote: and I undersand why Max is suprised: it's not every day that
a girl says no to an hunk!!!!! Maybe she needs to be tamed!
EVE

Too right!! But it’s not going to be an easy job,

Earth2Mama wrote: Liz needs to loosen up a bit. She's too......what's the word?

I know what you mean, that’s how I think of her, I have many words to describe her (and I will, or should I say Maria and Max will :hint: in later parts, lol ), she’s too a lot of things but we’ll deal with that soon enough….

BelevnDreamsToo wrote: This is different than the usual "love at first sight"...kind of more like a slow boil!! heehee!!

Yep and just a fair warning, even though I want this fic to be quite short, ten chapters as a maximum, I plan make it boil for a little while longer, lol



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Chapter 4

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To: Crashintome@yahoo.com

From: Futurechic@yahoo.com

Hey Lizzie bear,

I’m pretty busy with work and stuff, so I’m gonna get to the point and make this quick.

Got your last email and I just have one word to say four words, get over your self-pity! .
I mean it with all my love, Liz. You like Max and you probably haven’t even given him a chance to show whether he feels anything for you, you’ve just closed off the option that he might actually be interested.

I know you Liz and it’s what you do, it’s what you did in high school and it’s about time it stopped because you’re the only person stopping yourself from developing that kind of a relationship.

Maybe Max isn’t interested, but my point still stands and I’ll keep saying it until you do something to change it.

School wise, what happened to the Lizzie who did her homework the day she got it? Should I be concerned or is it just a one time thing? lol

Life for me is going okay, it’s been raining for two days now…yeah the weather sucks but other than that, it’s all good.

If anything earth-shaking happens I’ll mail you but right now, it’s pretty tame stuff.

Later chica

****

Liz rolled her eyes when she finished the email.

It was fine for Serena, she was beautiful, smart and confident. She was one of the girls, one of the guys and at the same time she managed to get a guy.

Liz had to admit that she was right, she did close herself off to the option that Max liked her, but she was only being realistic.

Sighing, she turned her attention to the books on her bed.

“Time to get back to some out of class reading,” she told herself.

Half an hour later, Maria burst into her room.

“What are you doing Wednesday?” she asked.

“Night?” she asked in return.

Maria dropped onto her bed.

Liz sighed and closed her book, there was no way she was going to get any work done with Maria in the way.

“Of course,” she replied.

“Nothing, why?” she asked.

“We’re going to go to the CC club,” she replied.

Liz shot her an incredulous look, the CC club was one of the best clubs around, it was very exclusive and played the best music. When they went out to clubs, Liz liked to dance and CC club was one of the best places to go to dance to good music.

“Not that I’m not happy about it,“ she began, “ but that’s a hard place to get into“.

“Not on Wednesday,” she sand.

“Why not Wednesday?” she asked.

“It’s couples’ night, they’re less strict ‘cause it’s couples so they don’t have a male female ratio to fill or anything and the music is the best,” she enthused.

“There’s just one little problem with your plan“, said Liz, “ none of us are in a couple“.

“We’ll have pretend boyfriends for the night,” she shrugged.

“Who?” she asked.

“The guys of course. Me, you, Tess and Isabel with Michael, Max, Kyle and Alex. Jesse’s busy that night so it all works out,” she replied.

Liz nodded taking the information in. She loved Maria, she really did, but sometimes, she required a lot of energy to even have a conversation with, especially when she was excited.

“So who’s going with who?” she asked.

“Well, to be honest, Iz, me and Tess want Alex, Michael and Kyle, in that order of course, so we figured this would be a great way to make it obvious you know…see what happens - and you and Max can just hang out.”

“I don’t know…” she said dubiously. Her and Max almost one on one? What would they talk about? What if he got bored of her and wished he was somewhere else?

Sensing her friend’s reluctance, Maria adopted another strategy. “Liz, you’d be doing us girls a major favour, besides it’ll give you a chance to know Max better since we all hang together anyway.”

Liz sighed. She had no way out, plus she wanted to go to CC club anyway. She could handle whatever Max-related problems that could arise.

“Okay, fine,” she relented.

Plus who was she kidding? Pretending to be Max Evan’s girlfriend wouldn’t be a chore - after all, they were friends and nothing more.

“Great,” said Maria, “be ready for about 9, we’ll have a few drinks here, so the alkies that are Tess and Kyle can get loose, and then hit CC okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded.

The instant the door closed, Liz collapsed onto her bed. An uncontrollable smile spread across her face, her heart pounded against her chest, she revelled in the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Wednesday couldn’t come soon enough.

****

“And she said yes?!” asked Max ncredulous.

Maria held back a smile. The poor boy was so insecure when it came to Liz and who could blame him? the girl kept herself off limits to him and any other guy who showed interest. With Max, she had sentenced herself to a “just friends” relationship and it was their job to get her to think otherwise.

“Of course she said yes Max. I told you she likes you, she just needs to open up and that’s what’s going to happen on Wednesday. Group dating,” she told him.

“Right,” he nodded nervously.

“Just be yourself and take it slow with her Max. You’ll be fine,” she coached him.

“I hope so,” he said.

His lack of confidence when it came to Liz always surprised Maria, no matter how many times she noticed it. “You really like her don’t you?” she asked.

“I really do,” he replied.

****

****

“Liz! The guys are here!” shouted Maria.

Liz opened her door slightly and shouted, “Ten minutes!.”

It was 9:15pm and she was just putting the finishing touches to her outfit. She had spent most of the night sat on her bed with a hot water bottle, mentally berating her cramps.

“Why today?!“ she whispered harshly to herself, “why when me and Max have a semi-date and when we’re going to CC club?!“

She had taken every precaution: medication and the hot water bottle. She had decided to use a less stronger medication this time, turns out it was a bad idea especially for her first day.

The cramps had their one advantage: it meant less contact with Max because she was holed up in her room.

She gave herself a final assessment in the mirror and liked what she saw. She had chosen to wear black straight-legged trousers and short-sleeved v-neck black top. She had decided to keep it simple, after all, an outfit was all about accessories. She wore a silver choker and sliver dangling earrings, had opted for the smoky dark eye makeup and had pulled her hair up in pony tail to keep herself from getting too hot.

“Okay, here goes nothing,” she told herself as she opened the door.

****

The group had all settled on the chairs in the living room and were laughing and drinking, non-alcoholic for the majority of the group with Tess, Kyle and Isabel as an exception. They were generally having a good time.

Liz smiled to herself. She had nothing to be nervous about, she was just going out with her friends.

“Hi guys,” she said settling herself next to Tess.

“Hey Liz,” they chorused.

Her eyes settled on Max who had been looking at her ever since she had sat down.

“You okay there Max?” she asked.

Why was he staring at her? It was strange and made her very self-conscious.

“Umm,” he shook his head as if waking himself out of a daydream, “ yeah, I’m fine…”

She thought she saw him flush but that had to be imagination.

“…You look really…nice,” he finished.

Nice? She thought slightly disappointed.

He thinks I look nice.

But of course he does, he’s Max Evans, all around fox, a friend of a friend.

“Um thanks,” she responded, “You look…”

gorgeous, handsome, I would so gladly jump you,

“….nice too,” she finished lamely.

“Thanks,” he responded slightly crestfallen.

She thought he looked nice?
Not handsome or anything, just nice?
Was that good or bad? He had no clue because as usual Liz Parker was giving nothing away. Maria had dressed him especially for tonight. She had chosen a pair of black trousers and the black shirt which according to Maria, suggested that he worked out but didn’t give too much away, which apparently was a good thing.

He hoped that even if she didn’t show it, Liz had experienced the reaction that Maria said she would.

He wanted tonight to go perfectly, it was like an audition night for him with Liz. If he messed this up, then she would never give him a chance.

Maria watched the couple and rolled her eyes in amusement relieved that Liz had decided despite of her cramps, to come. The tension of unspoken words between them was enough to cut through.
Of all the things they could come up with to say, they come up with “You look nice?”.

She shook her head in amused disbelief. They were more than perfect for each other and she hoped that tonight, Liz would finally open up to someone.

****

“Now that everyone’s here, shall we go?” asked Alex.

“Yeah,” she answered.

The group gathered their belongings and headed out. When they got downstairs, Liz realized that she had no idea who was going in which car. Michael and Alex had brought their cars, but she knew nothing of passenger seating.

“Who am I going with?” she asked.

“Oh, um, you and Max are coming with Michael and I,” replied Maria.

“Oh,” she said oblivious to the high-pitched almost panicked tone of her voice.

“Is that okay?” asked Max.

She looked at him and registered the effect her response had had on him. “Yeah, sure it’s fine,” she flashed him a reassuring smile. She didn’t want him to think that she didn’t like him or anything, she just didn’t know what the conversation would like in the car.

Her worst fear was awkward silences, she hated awkward silences but luckily for her, with Michael and Maria in the car, there were hardly any silences at all. The two argued about everything from Michael’s movie tastes to what songs would played on the car radio and to her surprise, after a rocky start, conversation with Max was easy.

“So how long have we been together then?” she asked playfully.

“What?”, he asked confused.

“Well if we’re going to pretend to be a couple,” she said, “ I need a little back story to work with“.

“Oh,” he chuckled, “ okay…um, we’ve been together for three years. And we met…” he looked at her expectantly.

Liz caught onto the game and finished his sentence, “…through a friend and of course I hated you on sight,” she finished.

“Of course,” he said, “but you loved me really,” he teased.

Liz pursed her lips together and sighed in mock defeat, “How could I not? You’re smart and handsome….”

“….And how could I not fall for you? You’re smart and beautiful and funny…”

His voice trailed off as he suddenly realised how close not only they were, but how close his lips were to hers. If he just moved in a little, their lips would be touching.

Mesmerized by the notion, Max found that all thought not relating to kissing Liz fled from his mind. His eyes finally detached themselves from her lips and met her eyes. What he saw there made his throat suddenly feel very dry.

He saw her open up.

It was one of those moments, few and far between when Liz would let him see more of herself and this time, he saw that she was thinking the same thing he was thinking.

He blinked and just like that, she closed herself off again. With a slight clearing of her throat, Liz ended the possibility of a kiss or that connection that had been so charged a second ago.

She tucked a few strands of invisible stray hair, behind her ears and looked away. “This should be fun,” she said.

Max sighed and settled back into his seat, “Yeah it should be,” he replied.

In the front passenger seat, Maria shook her head in disbelief. How many signs did Liz need to know that the guy was interested?! What the hell did someone have to do to get a date with Liz Parker?! The girl was infuriating. She wasn’t even giving him a chance.

Maria vowed that if Liz still managed to convince herself that Max wasn’t interested by the end of the night, then tomorrow, they would have to have an intervention.

****

The club was amazing, the music was amazing, being with Max was amazing.

The only thing that ruined the night was cramps.

During the first half of the night, she had been fine physically and also because they had danced as a group, to the fast songs, she had had her usual Max contact…until that is, the slow songs started and Maria, Tess and Isabel had decided to dance with their prospective boyfriends. Liz was happy for them, but that meant her and Max were left to their own devices.

They were currently watching their friends dance and Liz was trying to take her mind off the pain by commenting on their body language.

“They all so need to get together,” she told Max.

During the whole night, she had thought of him as a friend and that made

conversation and everything else easier, the whole night had been relatively relaxed.

“I give them all by the end of this week,” he laughed.

Liz smiled, looking not at him but at the couples around her. They all looked happy and in love, it warmed her heart.

“Do you wanna dance?” asked Max.

His sudden question paralysed her for a few panic filled seconds.

Max wants to dance with me. Dancing involves holding hands, close body contact. Oh my gosh!. No way in hell am I doing this! She screamed silently.

In the back of her mind, she mentally rolled her eyes at her reaction. It was only a dance, they were friends, there was no need to be petrified.

Calmed by the surge of rational thought, slowly exhaling, Liz turned to face him. “Um sure,” she heard herself say.

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, she silently panicked.

Get a grip! She chided herself. It’s only Max.

Tell that to the butterflies in my stomach, she argued silently.

His face lit up, a reaction which puzzled her. Why did he seem so excited and nervous? He was only dancing with her.

“Great!”, he said.

When he stood up and held his hand out for her to take, Liz thought that she was dreaming, but when he squeezed her hand gently sending currents of electricity through her, she knew that she was fully conscious.

As Max led her to the dance floor, the opening notes to Jodeci’s Love U 4 Life swept the room, taking her with it.

Promises you made me
All the things you told me
You said you’d never leave me
We’ll be together for eternity
Now it’s all in the past
Lady I will do all I can
Lady I will be all I am

Because he was her friend, putting her arms around his neck and his around her waist wasn’t awkward or nerve wrecking but when she was settled in his arms? That was a different story.

I’ll give you all you had before
So come on in and close the door
Let me show you what I could be
Could you just please tell me

Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live

In his strong, protective and almost possessive arms, Liz was floating on air, walking on clouds, living her daydreams.

Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live

I know that things are rough
But my faith wasn’t strong enough
Now my heart is built to last
My heart is beating for you fast
But now I know that you understand


Just for that dance, she let herself be Max Evans’ girlfriend.

I wanna take you by the hand
And walk with you down that aisle
And with you I will live my life
I’ll give you all you had before
So come on in and close the door
Let me show you what I could be
If you just please tell me


****

At that moment in time, Max was holding the most precious and fragile thing in the world.

Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live
Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live



A line of a poem he once read came into his mind , each time my heart beats, it mentions your name

His heart was mentioning the name of girl whose fingers were currently playing with the hair at the nape his neck, Liz Parker, Liz Parker, Liz Parker.

I want you to know that it’s for real
This feeling that I feel
I want you to know that it’s so real
Tell me will you

He was dancing with Liz Parker and he marvelled at how dancing with her could feel so different, it felt so much more.

Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live
Do you believe in love
And the promise that it gives
I wanna love you for life
Cause your love is why I live

His heart was so full of a strong, powerful emotion that threatened to burst out and spread through his entire being and it was all because of Liz Parker, he thought in awe.

He felt her stiffen slightly in his arms and bury her head deeper into his chest.

He pulled himself away from her, so that he could see her face. “Liz is everything okay?” he asked.

He noted that she looked a bit pale and her forehead was creased in what could be concentration of pain.

“No, not really do you think we could sit down?” she asked.

“Of course,” he replied . It felt natural to wrap his arm around her waist as he led her to a table.

“Can I get you anything? Water? Coke?” he asked.

She shook her head at his suggestion and to his surprise and concern, with one hand on her stomach, she doubled over in pain.

He was on his knees, by her side in an instant, just in time to hear her cry of pain.

“Liz?” he asked alarmed.

She met his eyes, attempted a smile but instead winced in pain. “I’m okay Max, just a case of very bad cramps,” she replied.

“Oh,” he replied. Cramps. That wasn’t exactly a topic that made him feel comfortable but thanks to Courtney, his blunt older sister, he could handle it.

“Yeah,” she said slightly embarrassed.

Somebody kill me please, she thought to herself. Her first thing with Max and cramps screw it up. Plus cramps weren’t exactly the topic she wanted to discuss with Max.

“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked.

Liz was taken aback by his question. She had no idea what she was expecting but she wasn’t expecting that.

But then again, he’s a friend, so it’s typical, she told herself.

“That would be great,” she smiled gratefully, “All I want is my pyjamas, hot water bottle and a cup of herbal tea,” she added as he helped her on her feet.

“I think I can help with some of that,” he responded. He held out his hand for her to take as they made their way through the crowd to find Maria.

****

After the situation was explained, it was decided that Maria would go back with Max and Liz to the dorm, then bring the car back to CC club and finish the night out.

Once there, Liz expected Max to leave but he didn’t.

“I can take it from here Max,” she told him.

“I’ve got nothing to do, I’ll stay and keep you company,” he offered, “How about you get changed into your pyjamas and I’ll fix up your hot water bottle and tea and we can watch a movie or something to take your mind off it?.”

“You don’t have to do that,” she said.

He took off his coat and hers and hung them up. “I have a sister remember,” he said, “I know all the tricks.”

“Okay,” she laughed and headed over to her room. The whole situation was absurd, the guy who she liked but could only have as a friend was mothering her because of cramps of all things. And the strangest thing was, it wasn’t awkward, it was fine, casual and the whole thing made her feel slightly giddy. They had definitely reached a new level in their friendship.

Max watched her until she shut her bedroom door. Then, he made his way to the kitchen, boiled the kettle and prepared her tea and hot water bottle and while doing all this, he couldn’t prevent himself from smiling.

He had no idea why he was smiling or why he felt so happy and light-headed considering that it wasn’t the night he had planned to have with Liz. Somehow, even though she was in pain, he thought that, it was better night than they had both expected.

At the sound of footsteps, he turned and found himself speechless, staring at a goddess. She stood in front of him wearing an oversized striped shirt and trousers.

Max resisted the desire to take her in his arms, lift her chin to urge her gaze to meet his and finally to kiss her. He noticed that she was blushing under his scrutiny and that only made her more appealing.

“I like things baggy,” she said.

She crossed the room and picked up the mug of lemon tea he had prepared for her.

“It looks good on you,” he managed to say.

“Thanks, I think,” she smiled.

“Here’s you hot water bottle,” he said presenting it to her.

“I hate the first day when I come on, it’s always the worst,“ she took it from his hand . “ Thank you,” she blushed. She couldn’t believe that she was having an actual conversation with Max Evans about her period, was anything more cringe worthy? But they were having the conversation and it was surprisingly fine.

“You’re welcome. You definitely are the stronger sex when it comes to pain threshold”, he smiled.

She nodded in agreement. “Do you want anything to eat?” she asked, “ we have left-over Chinese we had for dinner,” she offered.

“Sure, I’ll have that,” he said.

“It’s in the fridge,” she said and headed for the couch.

It was an automatic response to watch her go. Max shook his head in disbelief, she had no idea the effect was having on him.

“How about Armageddon?” she suggested. “It has action and romance?”

He rummaged through the fridge until he found the food. “Sure,” he replied.

Grabbing a fork and can of Pepsi, he made his way to living room and instead of sitting in his own chair, he decided to share the couch with Liz.

She sat with her knees near her chest, resting in the corner arm of the couch, hot water bottle on her stomach and tea in hand. It was an ordinary situation, but to Max, it was something more. He sat next to her, giving her space but being as close to her as possible, something she didn’t seem to mind him doing.

They sat in companionable silence as the movie began, each contributed their own comments about the it as it progressed. Somewhere along the line, Liz had closed the small space between them and rested her head on his shoulder.

Max was in a state of elation, just because of that one action. He couldn’t understand it. He couldn’t understand how, he could have not felt what he felt for Liz now, sooner. Why had it taken him so long to realise how much he liked her?

It doesn’t matter because now that I know, I’m not letting her not give us a chance, he vowed.

“Feeling better?” he asked her, halfway through the movie.

He felt her nod. “Much better,” she replied.

****

Liz didn’t remember much after that until the loud voices of Maria, Michael, Tess, Kyle, Isabel and Alex woke her.

Before their entrance, she remembered feeling better and tired but what she didn’t remember was, moving from resting her head on Max’s shoulder to resting it on his lap.

She thought she remembered him trailing his fingers through her hair, his strong comforting arm covering hers and sometimes his fingers trailing down her arm, but she accounted that to a dream, it had to be because Max wouldn’t do that with her. He was way out of her league and didn’t see her like that anyway.

After that, they said their goodnights and Liz crawled into bed ecstatically happy and with no concrete idea as to why.

****

AN: First, response to some feedback:

LysCat wrote:Everytime I read your story it always makes me smile. I never realize it until I finish reading the chapter and all I can think is "awe..."

I love the POV's you slip in and te way they interpret certain actions.

I'm curious as to why Liz has such a low self esteem. I can't wait to read more about that. I mean I'm sure she noticed the way he used to look at Maria, Tess and Isabel, but there has to be something more to that...

Lys

Thanks for your feedback hun. When I write each chapter, I think “aww,” too, lol. That’s what I love about writing this fic, it’s simple and just about a girl and a boy. Liz and the low self-esteem thing will be explained in this post…

begonia9508 wrote: Why can people talk about cold and be so shy talking about cramps?
EVE

You tell me. I my social anthropology lecture, it was about cramps and periods and stuff in different cultures…for three hours. The guys turned all shades I tell you, lol.


AN: New part is up. And all I can say is that, they’re getting there…enjoy

****

The Good One
Part 5

****

Liz carefully placed her shopping bags and sat beside Maria as the bus pulled out onto the main road. She absently sighed happily but consciously acknowledged the fact that she couldn’t keep from smiling.
It was ridiculous really, that one night of bonding over cramps would make her so happy. She had woken up in the morning ridiculously giddy because for the first time, she openly admitted to herself that she liked Max Evans. A lot.

He made her heart beat fast, he made her world stop, she imagined kissing him, holding his hand, nestling in his harms and being his girlfriend. When she thought of him, she couldn’t help but smile or feel butterflies in her stomach.

And if he didn’t like her the way she liked him, then that was fine with her. She didn’t think he did anyway, so she was content to enjoy her fantasises.

“How was last night?” asked Maria innocently.

Of course she already knew because she had spent her lunch hour giving Max a Q&A session, but now that classes were over and the need to restock the fridge had taken hold, she decided that it was time to give Liz her Q&A session on the bus journey home.

“Given the circumstances of my cramps and all,” she said, “ it was a good night. Max is a really sweet guy.”

Maria noticed that her cheeks flushed, her eyes sparkled and she was wearing a smile Maria knew all too well.

“Yeah, I bet.” she teased.

Max’s reply had been along the same lines except, he had referred to Liz as being, “someone special…beautiful, funny…”, until she had had to stop him.

“And the cosy way we found you? What was that all about?” she asked.

Liz rolled her eyes in amusement. “I fell asleep on his lap that’s all there is to it”.

“And him calling you this morning?” she asked.

“How do you know about that?“ she asked surprised.

“I asked him about your night,” Maria shrugged smirking, “that slipped out.”

Maria laughed as Liz hid her face in her hands. “Oh my gosh“. She slowly looked up at her,”…and?” she asked.

“Liz, he likes you. He is ga ga over you,” she replied.

“Right,” she frowned in disbelief.

“Why is that so hard for you to believe?” she asked puzzled.

Liz was smart, pretty and one of the best people she had met. How could she not think that someone like Max would be interested?

“Maria, can we just drop this?” she pleaded, “ I really don’t want to talk about this.”

“Fine, okay,” she relented.

“Can we talk about something else?” Liz asked.

Maria decided to drop the subject, because her work was done. It was up to Max now.

“Well, me and Michael, Izzy and Alex and Tess and Kyle are officially couples,“ she sang happily.

“I’m not surprised, “ Liz commented, “it was obvious from the start that those guys were in love with you“.

Maria held back from telling her that her and Max were exactly the same, they liked each other, a whole lot. Maria wasn’t quick to say the word love, but with Max and Liz, she was coming very close.

****

They entered their apartment to be greeted by familiar male voices. Liz shared an amused look with Maria. Now that all her room-mates had boyfriends, she had a feeling that they would become a permanent fixture in their apartment.

Liz watched as Michael helped Maria with her shopping bags. “I can grab yours too Liz,” he offered.

“Thanks, but I’ll manage,” she replied. She was on a time schedule, she wanted to unpack, pack the food and do some major reading for her seminar for the next day. They headed into the kitchen and unpacked in the atmosphere of pleasant banter.

Liz had just put the last of the food in the fridge when there was a knock on their door. Tess volunteered to open it and in entered Max.

“Max, hey,” said Tess.

Liz watched as he shrugged off his jacket and made his way to the kitchen.

She really wished that she could stay and chat or just stare at him, but her reading had to take priority.

“Hey,” he greeted them. His eyes settled on Liz as she flashed him a quick welcoming smile. He had come straight from his last class to see her. It was absurd, but she was all he’d been thinking about all day and after his talk with Maria, he was determined to ask her out.

And he was petrified.

If she can only give me a chance, he added silently as she made her excuses to leave and headed to her room.

Max’s eyes met Maria’s .

“Max, don’t you have something to do?“ she asked.

“Um…“ her eyes were a warning, go now or else. “Yeah, yeah.” He got up from his chair, “ I’ll be right back.”

With the help of Maria’s silent urging, he followed Liz to her room.

****

****

Liz had just got comfortable on her bed, laying on her stomach, propped up by her elbows and was ready to read, when there was a knock on her door.

Glad that she had left her door unlocked, so that she didn’t have to get up, she called, “Come in,” figuring that it was probably Maria.

To her surprise, Max walked through the door instead.

“Hey,” she greeted him.

“Hey”. He closed the door softly behind him and stood before her with his hands in his front pockets.

Liz gave him a quizzical smile. He seemed nervous and serious and it was making her nervous and puzzled.

“What’s up Max?” she asked sitting up.

“Nothing much, I just wanted to ask you something,” he said.

“Go for it.”

“Last night, for a pretend date, you had a good time with me right?” he asked.

She smiled at the memory of the previous night‘s events. “Considering that I was in pain, yeah, I had a good time with you.”

She wondered where he was going with his questions.

It can’t be where I think because- that’s just not possible.

“Good because…“ he hesitated before continuing, “I was wondering if you wanted to do it for real.”

She stared at him with a blank expression as her stunned mind tried to understand the meaning of his words. Coming up with nothing, she decided to ask.

“Do what for real?”.

“Go on a date with me,” he replied.

Now it was slowly making sense but the idea that Max Evans was asking her out on a date, was too unbelievable to fully accept without more confirmation.

“I’m sorry…are you asking me out?”.

Max was unsure of whether it was a genuine question or if it was leading to a sarcastic reply essentially rejecting him. He decided to risk it anyway.

“I-um, yes. I’m asking you out on a date.” It all came out in a rush and Max wondered if she could hear the loud sound of his heart pounding against his chest.

“With you,” she stated.

He didn’t have the emotional strength to give her a verbal reply if it all ended in her rejection of him. Instead, he nodded.

She nodded in response to his unspoken verification, unsure of what to say.

Max Evans had just asked her out, she was overjoyed, surprised, happy and scared, all at the same time.

I am so glad I’m sitting down, she thought absently.

“You don’t have to reply now,” he assured her, “take your time.”

Liz could only nod as he turned and headed out of her room.

“Max”, she called.

He turned to face her.

“Are you serious?” she asked.

He chuckled. “As a heart attack,” he replied. “I’ll see you later Liz.”

A stunned smile lit her face. “Later.”

****
In the kitchen, Maria interrogated.

“Sooo…?” she queried.

He sat down and gave her and smiled hopefully. “I asked her,” he replied.

“And…”

“She didn’t say no,” he replied. He was still in awe of the fact that he’d asked out who was invading his life and she hadn’t said no. “…but she didn’t say yes either. I told her she didn’t have to answer straight away.”

“That’s fine. She didn’t say no, that means something Max,” said Tess.

“I hope you’re right,” he said.

Because my heart’s on the line, he added silently.

****
Maria knocked on Liz’s door before entering. She found her friend sat on her bed reading.

“Hey,” she said sitting on a chair.

“Hey,“ Liz responded. She put her books aside. “Have the guys gone?”

“Yep,” replied Maria.

“Oh.”

She wasn’t going to ask Liz about it, she would just sit there until she wanted to talk. Any girl who got asked out by someone she liked would want to talk about it, Liz was no exception.

“Max asked me out,” she said after a moment’s silence.

That was all Maria needed. Her air of calmness and blasé attitude were cast aside for one of excitement.

“He did?!”, she squealed, “What did you say?”

“I didn’t know what to say, I was speechless,” replied Liz. She crossed her legs, her girl talk position and Maria sat on the bed and did the same.

“I told you he liked you, so are gonna say yes?.”

“I don’t know…”

“Liz,” she took her hands in hers and fixed her eyes on her,” he’s a good guy and you like him right?”

“Right.”

She held up her hands and shrugged. “So give him a shot.”

“I don’t know…”

“Why not?”, she demanded.

This was getting ridiculous, she was not going to let her friend throw away a possibly life changing relationship because of some fear.

“Because things like this don’t happen to me Maria. People like Max don’t ask me out. I mean, you’ve seen pictures of Serena and my other friends, they’re stunning. All through high-school, they got guys like Max while I was the friend, good old Liz Parker, all around plain-Jane and goody-too shoes,” her tone grew even more mocking as she added, “Always goes to class and does her homework.”

“I’ve seen the pictures Liz, and they are stunning, but so are you,” argued Maria.
“It’s just, you have this thing where you don’t let a lot of people in, but that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with being all the things you said except, you’re no plain-Jane believe me. You are gorgeous and I’m not just saying that. This isn’t high-school anymore, there’s no need to stay in the box that you think people give you and plus, who the hell cares what they think? Max is into you and you’re into him,” she said gently, “Give it a chance,” she pleaded.

“I’m petrified,” she sighed.

“Why?”

“I’m scared that we’ll go out and he’ll find me boring or there will be awkward moments of silence and that he’ll see that I’m nothing special,” she babbled, “ and I would rather like him from afar than find that out because…I like him too much.”

“Don’t you think that he’s scared you’ll find him boring because he likes you that much too?” she retorted, “It’s all about risks Liz and it’s about time you took one.”

Maria waited while she thought about it and she wasn’t going tom leave until Liz gave her an answer.

After about ten minutes of silence. Liz gave Maria and herself the answer. “I can’t believe I’m about to do this but, okay,” she picked up her cell to call him.

Maria heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, things were moving al-

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m calling him,” replied Liz.

“Yeah um,” she took the phone away from her, “I love you and Max together hun and I know would like to put him out of his misery, but he’s a guy so follow the phone rules and call him tomorrow at the earliest.”

Liz shook her head and grabbed the phone back. “Screw the phone rule, I’m calling him now.”

Maria smirked. “Goody Liz Parker breaking rules?! I’m shocked,” she teased.

“Well, Max is worth it,“ she retorted, “now get out, a little privacy please?”

“Fine,” she replied with mock offence.

She laughed as Liz shooed her away. Maria couldn’t help but give her a thumbs up before disappearing behind the door.

****

Max stared at the name on his caller id before finally answering.

“Hi Liz.”

This is, he told himself. It’s either a yes or a no. Be strong, just whatever it is, you’ll deal with it, he coached himself.

Yeah right.

“Hi Max, how’s it going?” she asked.

Her voice was casual, pleasant, that had to be a good sign.

“Fine, just doing some reading,” he replied.

The truth was, he had been trying to do some reading but waiting for a call or visit was agonising, his mind kept distracting him with different scenarios.

“Oh, me too. Um…anyway, if your offer about the date is still up for grabs, I’d be glad to go out with you.”

And just like that, the world was magic and life was very good.

“Really?” he asked.

“Yeah,” she laughed.

“Um…are you free tomorrow evening about seven ?” he asked.

“Seven’s fine,” she replied.

“Great.”

He wondered if she was smiling as much as he was. He hoped so.

“Yeah- oh what shall I wear? I mean, where are we going?” she asked.

“I was thinking movies and then dinner at Ciena‘s?,” he suggested.

Dinner and a romantic meal? He couldn’t go wrong.

“Um, I’m with you there on the movies, but um, I’ve been craving a Pizza Hut pizza, so do you mind if we do that instead of Ciena’s?” she asked.

Max had to laugh. She was turning down a well cooked somewhat healthy meal for pizza? He found it sweet and oh so Liz. “Oh no, that’s fine.”

“Great, see you then?”.

“See you then” he confirmed.

****

****

“I swear, you’ve changed into at least ten different sweaters now,” complained Michael, “you’re going out for a movie and pizza, that‘s it.”

“I’m going out for a movie and pizza with Liz Parker, Michael, I don’t want to blow it,” said Max tensely.

He tried to remember why exactly he had decided to consult Michael for date clothing advice and was failing.

“Maxwell, I hardly think that the colour of your sweater is going to blow your date.”

Max decided to ignore the last comment and held up two sweaters.

“Which one?” he demanded.

“Black one,” said Michael, “girls find it sexy.”

“Okay”, he agreed. He was running out of time anyway.

“Max.”

“What?”

Michael smiled, “don’t worry about it, you’ll be fine. You two have been dancing around this for too long, just go for it.”

“Thanks for the pep talk Mike,” he said dryly.

Michael shrugged. “No sweat.”

****

“Liz, Max is here!” called Maria from behind her door.

“Be right there!” she called back.

It had taken a combination of her trio of friends to get her ready. They had settled on a black, short-sleeved, v-neck semi-plunge top, blue jeans and black heels. Isabel had done her make-up; it was soft, subtle, natural and brought out her eyes and emphasised her lips.

Liz took one final look at herself in the mirror and smiled at her reflection. She looked good, she could admit that.

I hope this goes okay, she thought nervously.

She exited her room and made her way to the living room where Max sat. He stood up as soon as he saw her and just stared at her. The look in his eyes made her feel…perfect, perfect for him.

He too was a sight to behold. He wore black jeans and black v-neck sweater which lightly emphasised his toned upper body. Add his stunning features and drown-in-me eyes and Liz was sure her jaw was touching the ground.

“Hey, you ready?” he asked.

“Yeah”.

As she made her way towards him, she somehow tripped over herself and fell straight into Max’s arms.

Her heart stopped as she felt the areas his arms touched heat up.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you”, he whispered into her ear before helping her stand upright.

“So sorry about that,” she blushed, “That was incredibly humiliating,”

“Don’t worry about it, I can’t say I regret my role in the whole incident,” he grinned.

She looked away with a shy smile before tucking her hair behind her ear and facing him again.

He still had that look in his eye that made her blush. She had a feeling that she’d be doing that a lot on their date.

“Yeah um shouldn’t you guys be leaving?!” Maria shouted from the kitchen. Her comment was followed by a trio of giggles. It was then that Liz remembered that they had an audience.

“We’re going,” she called back as she ushered him towards the door.

“See you guys, later,” called Max.

Liz shook her head at him as they left, “Don’t encourage them,” she playfully chided him but she couldn’t help but smile.

“Have fun!” yelled Tess.

“We will!”, she called before closing the door behind them.

And so it begins, she said to herself. She just hoped that she would have a good ending.

****