Title: Starting Over
Category: M/L
Summary: A future fic. 10 years after high school, Liz is about to get married, when Max suddenly re-enters her life.
Background: Uhhh… yes. Spoilers. I mention the Tess thing. If you don’t know who Tess is you may not want to read this. I just put what my theories on how those spoilers are going to affect the storyline and so on and so forth. Oh, and in my story Max’s parents now know everything. Just so you don’t get confused.
Rating: PG-13
Author: Anne
E-mail: dreambehr@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: They’re not mine. The characters of Roswell belong to Melinda Metz, the WB, Jason Katims, and all the wonderful people who we all love for starting this wonderful story. I’m just borrowing them!

"Okay Liz, breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. All right, that’s good. Now squeeze my hand as tightly as possible. It will help you relieve some stress. Okay…too hard! Liz! Too hard! Stop! Let go dammit!"

Maria DeLuca looked at her best friend standing across from her. Liz Parker hadn’t changed much in the ten years since they had graduated from West Roswell High School. She still had the softest brown hair that you could imagine, and those beautiful dark eyes. Liz was still the kindest woman in the world, always putting others first, and of course she was a control freak, but wise beyond her years. She looked a little older now, with the experiences of her life evident on her face to those who looked closely enough, especially in her eyes. If you looked deep into Liz’s eyes you could see a deep pain, which hadn’t begun to diminish over the years.

"Maria, I’m not sure if I can go through with this." Liz panicked.

Maria smiled at the sight. Who would have thought it? Liz Parker, completely out of control like this. But then again it’s normal for people to panic and have second thoughts on their wedding day.

"You’re going to do just fine, Lizzie! I mean, you and David have been dating for years! You took the entire relationship at a snail’s pace, and everything has gone perfectly! You two were made for each other."

It’s true. The two of them were so right for one another. They both liked organization and control. It was a trait that came with being a scientist. That was another thing they had in common, they worked the same job at the local government science lab. The two of them were completely open and honest with one another about everything. Well, almost everything. Liz still had one hidden secret that she had never shared with David, and it was that one secret which brought up all of Liz’s present doubts and fears. She couldn’t stand it. She needed to bring it up.

"Maria…what about Max?"

Maria stared at Liz in shock. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"Oh no, Liz. You are not going to start thinking about him now."

"I never stopped thinking about him, Maria. Just because we don’t talk about it doesn’t mean I don’t think about it. I think about Max every day."

" I thought we agreed to stop pining and move on with our lives Liz. And can I remind you that it was Max who dumped you. He was the one who fell for someone else…"

Liz couldn’t keep the flash of pain out of her eyes at the memory. Tess… She hated Tess. But she couldn’t hate Max for what happened.

"…And he was the one who left forever after graduation without so much as a goodbye."

"He had to leave, Maria. The government was after him. And he’s never come back because to do so would put him in danger. Everyone in Roswell is after him!"

"Liz…"

Liz cut her off.

"Maria, I invited him."

"You did WHAT?"

"I invited him, Maria. I sent him the invitation through Isabel. He could be out there, Maria. Today could be the first time I’ve seen the love of my life in ten years, and I’m marrying someone else. Maria, if I see his face I’m not sure if I can go through with it."

"You have to go through with it, Liz. It’s too late to back out! Think of what it would do to your parents. Think of David. How could you possibly explain it to him? ‘By the way, even though we’ve been dating for four years, I’ve been secretly in love with someone else the whole time, so now I’m going to leave you at the alter, even though it could never work out with this guy because he’s, well, kinda, sorta, not HUMAN.’ Liz, you can’t do that to him!"

Liz stared at Maria. She was right. Liz knew she was right. But she still was having doubts. What if he came? He wouldn’t though, would he? Returning to Roswell would be suicide for Max. The FBI was probably still lurking around, waiting for him to come back. And she KNEW the sheriff would LOVE to grab him and lock him up. Briefly she wondered what would happen to him if they got him. What would they do to him? She shied away from that thought. She did NOT want to think about it.

"Liz? Come on, Liz. It’s time."

The panic rose again, and the butterflies in her stomach were having a field day. The huge double doors in the back of the church swung open, and Liz found herself parading down the isle.

Liz locked her eyes on David in the front of the church. Her groom grinned at her, but she couldn’t find a smile for him within her. Liz knew she was playing it safe by keeping her eyes locked to his. If she kept her eyes there, then she wouldn’t be searching the audience for Max.

Max. God she was getting married to David, and all Liz could think about was Max, and how much she wished it was him up there instead. She was low. The lowest form of life!

Liz reached him, and turned to face David. The audience sat down, and out of the corner of her eye, she caught some movement in the back of the room. Liz turned her head slightly, and her breath caught in her throat.

Max Evans stood in the back corner, in the shadows, watching her with an intense look in his eyes. Liz’s eyes met his, and he bowed his head slightly in acknowledgement before she ripped her gaze from his, and returned to David. Liz’s mind was running at a million miles a second. He came! He actually came!

Max couldn’t help wishing that he could be this guy, that he could be the one up there standing next to Liz Parker. He wished he was capable of giving her the life she deserved, but it just wasn’t possible. Max could never do for Liz what a human guy could. He had spent the past ten years running from the law, never staying in one place for too long. Never really settling down. That wasn’t the kind of life that Liz deserved. Stability. That was something that David could give her that Max could never even imagine having.

"He came"! Liz could think of anything else, even as the priest was rambling on about love and marriage in front of her. "That MUST mean that he still cares, even if just a little. Max risked his life by returning to Roswell. Returning to Roswell to be here, to support me on my wedding day. He risked his life for me again! Oh God. What am I supposed to do now?"

Liz barely noticed the wedding ceremony going on around her. Even with her gaze locked on David’s, she could feel Max’s eyes on her. She could feel his presence. It felt like home, like perfection. It was all Liz could do to keep from sighing with happiness. She hadn’t felt that feeling, the feeling of Max, in so long. She had almost forgotten how much she missed it. Almost…

Liz dragged her mind back to the wedding ceremony right as it was reaching it’s climax.

"Do you David Marshall take Elizabeth Parker to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold through sickness and health until death do you part?"

"I do."

"And do you Elizabeth Parker take David Marshall to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold through sickness and health until death do you part."

Liz stood there in silence. What should she do?

"Miss Parker?" The priest prodded her.

"Lizzie?" David asked, pleading silently with his eyes.

"I’m sorry." Liz whispered, tears glazing her eyes.

"Liz?" David stared at her in shock.

"I just can’t!" Liz wailed as she turned and ran down the isle, and out of the church, the tears flowing freely down her face, and stinging her cheek as she ran as far from there as she could get.

The audience in the church murmured in shock at what they had just seen. If anyone was so ready to get married it was Liz and David. What went wrong?

Max felt like he had been punched. He slid down against the wall, sitting on the cold stone floor of the church, trying to collect his thoughts. He knew he shouldn’t have come. By showing his face to her, it was enough to keep her from marrying that guy. He couldn’t help feeling a bit relieved though, deep down inside. Liz didn’t marry him. She may still love him. He may still have a chance with her. He couldn’t imagine how that was possible, after everything that he had done to her. He had caused her so much pain. She deserved better than him.

He knew the whole Tess thing was stupid. He never loved her. Even when he was with her, it was Liz he wanted, but something unexplainable had drawn him to her, and she had screwed him over big time, exposing him to the FBI, and almost getting him locked away in a government. Thank God he had managed to throw them off long enough to get out of Roswell. But that whole Tess thing had ruined it with Liz. Possibly for forever.

Max turned to find Maria standing next to him glaring at him.

"This is all your fault you know. You just can’t let her go, can you? You can’t give her that little shred of happiness that she’s been offered. We’ve done just fine without you the past ten years, and Liz had finally managed to let you go, and what do you do? You just show up and pop back into her life, confusing everything that she’s had with you gone."

"Maria, I…"

"I don’t even want to hear your excuse, buddy. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to go find my best friend, who’s going to need some cheering up after this."

Maria turned and stalked away, leaving Max staring after her with his mouth hanging open. He sighed, and pulled on the hat he had brought to hide his face on the streets.

"I guess I should head home too before anyone else notices me," he thought with a sigh, as he stuck his hands in his pockets, and trudged towards his old home.