(Part 1)

Liz's eyes almost burned holes in the back of the girl's head when she saw her sitting next to Max. She was petite, with long blonde hair and blue eyes, and had such a sickeningly sweet personality that Liz just longed to walk up to her and backhand her through a plate glass window.

Maria jumped when Liz slammed her way into the back room. She watched with wide eyes as Liz opened her locker so hard it collided with the locker next to it, undressed and put on her waitress uniform with jerky movements, and banged her locker shut so hard Maria was sure they'd have to pry it open with a crowbar.

"Will you at least tell me what's wrong before you start banging *me* around like that?" In spite of the fact that Liz was her best friend, Maria found herself backing up a step when Liz rounded on her.

"What's wrong? I don't know, what could *possibly* be wrong? It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that *they* came straight here from school! It isn't enough that I have to see them all damn day, hugging and holding hands and her putting her gross lips all over him, but *now* they have to come here and dump a little more salt in the wound!" Liz flopped onto the couch and stared at a coffee mug hard enough to shatter the poor thing.

Maria sighed and surreptitiously took a whiff of cypress oil. "Umm...'they'?"

Liz glared at her. "Max, Michael, Isabel, and *her*!" The last word was practically a growl.

"Her? Oh, Tess!"

Liz's only response was to make a gagging noise and look away.

Maria sighed softly and walked over to sit by her friend. "Liz, you've been like this for almost a month, ever since Max started dating her. I mean, you have every right to totally despise the jerk, but people are starting to worry about you...me included."

"You mean, you worry when you're not busy devouring Michael in the eraser room," Liz bit out.

Maria gasped, waved her bottle of cypress oil under her nose, and started to leave the room.

"Maria, wait!"

She turned back to see Liz looking at her dejectedly with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry...I don't know what's wrong with me...I'm just so *mad* at everybody!" Liz sniffled.

Maria went back and sat beside her again, recognizing the second part of Liz's recent emotional cycle. First she would get furiously angry at everyone, then she would feel horrible about it and apologize. After that, she would have a period of relative normalcy, which would promptly end
the first time she saw Max or Tess, then she would be infuriated all over again.

"I just don't get you lately, Liz. I mean, you weren't anywhere *near* this upset when Max broke up with you in the first place," Maria said gently. "Why is this so different?"

"Because it just *is*." Liz looked up and saw that Maria was giving her that I'm-not-accepting-that-as-an-answer look. "Maria, I really appreciate your concern, but I don't want to talk about this right now...or probably ever."

"Okay, but you can't keep doing this to yourself. We've got over a year of high school left, and you're going to have to deal with Max during it."

"No, I'm not."

She'd spoken so quietly that Maria wasn't sure of what she'd said. "Excuse me? Say again?"

Liz raised her head and looked directly at her. "You're right, I can't do this for another year. It isn't fair to me, and it isn't fair to Max. I want him to be happy, Maria, I really do...it's just...does he have to be so deliriously happy in front of me?"

Maria gave her a sympathetic smile. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm leaving."

"Leaving Roswell?" Maria stared at her, totally stunned. Of all the things she thought Liz was going to say... "What, for a few weeks? A month?"

"Permanently."

Both girls had tears escaping from their eyes, but neither paid any attention.

"What? You...you can't leave! Liz!"

"I have to...I don't want to, but I can't stay here...and I have to go somewhere where I'll never see Max or anyone that reminds me of him." Liz was openly sobbing now.

"Even me?"

"No! No, I don't mean you, or Alex...I just...I can't even be in my parents' restaurant without thinking about him! Or outside on the balcony...even when I try to sleep, I remember his expression when he realized he was in my bedroom when we were looking for my journal. And you have no idea what hell it is to sit beside him in biology and watch him practically fall out of his chair to avoid touching me. He inches farther and farther away as class progresses, and God forbid I reach for something that's on his side of the lab bench...he flinches like he expects me to hit him!"

"But do you have to *leave*?", Maria sobbed halfheartedly. She already knew that Liz's departure was inevitable, that every moment Liz stayed in Roswell was torture for her.

"Yes...but I'll stay in touch, I promise. I'll e-mail you every day and call you every weekend, I swear! Maybe you and your mom can take a trip out, once in a while?"

"Where? Liz, where are you going to go?"

Liz sniffled. "I've been accepted on an early admissions program to the University of Florida...they've got a fantastic microbiology program...so I'm graduating high school early and going there."

"Liz...that...that's a great opportunity for you, but...are you sure that's what you want? To go that far away? Do you even *know* how far away that is?"

"I'll be one thousand, five hundred, thirty seven point one miles from Max Evans...right now, that's all I can think of."

Maria valiantly fought back tears as she asked "When are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Tomorrow?!!? When were you going to tell me?"

"I didn't know how to...I didn't want to hurt you!"

"Well, you did!"

"I'm sorry!"

The two girls ended up hugging each other and sobbing their hearts out. They stayed like that until an annoyed teenager interfered.

Michael poked his head through the swinging door. "What is this, National Waitresses-Don't-Work-Day? Are we..." He cut off his words when Maria and Liz whipped around to look at him and he saw their tear-streaked faces.

"What's wrong? What happened?" He dashed across the room and knelt in front of Maria, his eyes darting back and forth between her and Liz. "Are you two all right?"

"No!"

"We're fine!" Liz overrode Maria's voice and gave her a glance that clearly told her to keep quiet for the time being. "We were just being a little maudlin, that's all. Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Bull. The two of you are *not* fine. Now what's going on?"

Liz leapt to her feet and glared at him with her hands firmly on her hips. "Michael, whatever is right or wrong in my life is none of your fucking business, got it?" She flounced out into the Crashdown before he had a chance to reply.

Michael stared after her in disbelief. "Did she just say what I thought she said?"

Maria was equally flabbergasted. "I think she did."

"I always thought the world would end if little Liz Parker ever said...*that*!" He smiled slightly when Maria giggled. "That's better...now what made you so upset?"

"You've got to promise not to tell Max..."

"Okay."

"Liz is leaving..."
 

(Part 2)

If there was ever a time Max Evans could be called sullen, that time was now. He had to restrain himself from flinching away from Tess every time she brushed against him. He kept giving Isabel glares that clearly communicated his rage at this deception. Tess either didn't notice or chalked it up
to some sort of sibling disagreement.

Tess was still chattering away about some inane subject when Michael came back to the table a great deal paler than when he'd left it.

Max interrupted Tess and asked, "Isabel, didn't you want to do some shopping?" It was their safe  phrase; as Isabel put it, it was only to be used when Max found himself in danger of telling Tess to get lost and running to Liz to tell her that it had all been a sham designed to flush out yet another government agent.

Isabel gave him a long suffering look. If Max himself wasn't funding these shopping sprees, their parents would have had a fit long ago. "Oh, yeah...Tess, come on. I need a second opinion."

"Sure!" Tess chirped. "See you tomorrow, Maxie." She aimed for his lips, but missed when he turned his head at the last second, her lips plopping against his cheek.

Max resisted the urge to shudder, and slid out of the booth before she could climb over him as she usually tried to do. "See you tomorrow, Tess."

When the glass door swung shut behind Tess and his sister, Max turned to Michael. "I am *never* going to forgive you and Isabel for forcing me to do this. Every day that I'm with Tess is another day that I break Liz's heart. I can't stand this much longer..."

"Max, I know how you feel..."

"No, I don't think you have any fucking idea how I feel!"

"Twice in one evening...is the world going to end?" Michael muttered.

"What?"

"Nothing...it's just this charade has driven your Liz to profanity too...rather alarming..."

Max slumped against the booth's back. "She's not my Liz...not after the way I've treated her..."

"Max, she'll understand, once you explain..."

"How do you know that? And she may understand why I did this, but I don't know if she'll ever forgive me. How do you think this makes her feel, after listening to me go on and on about how it wasn't safe for me to be with her...how do you think it makes her feel to see me with another human week after week? I wouldn't blame her if she never spoke to me again." Max had managed to keep his voice low to avoid being overheard, but his tone was no less anguished for it.

A sudden flash of green and silver caught his eye, and he watched Liz take another customer's order across the room.

"Don't look at her like that! If she sees..." Michael cautioned.

"'Don't look at her like that! Don't think about Liz all the time!'" Max mimicked Michael angrily. "'Spend more time with Tess, or she'll be suspicious! She might break up with you, and then we won't know what her next move will be!' Why is it that I was the natural choice for this job? I was with Liz when Tess came to town...you weren't with Maria then!"

"We've been over this, Max...you're the one Tess was interested in. I flirted with her and got nowhere, and I don't think Isabel would have either." Michael knew he had to break his promise to Maria and tell Max what he'd found out. If he didn't...they might find out what Tess was up to, but he knew Max would never forgive him if he lost the only woman he'd ever loved because of it.

"You're going to have to break it off with Tess...something's happened," Michael told him decisively.

Max tore his gaze away from the swinging door as Liz passed through it and narrowed his eyes at Michael. "What are you talking about?"

He sighed deeply. "Max...this has been harder on Liz than anybody knew, or we wouldn't have pushed you so hard to do this...she's leaving."

"Leaving? What, leaving Roswell?" Max was absolutely stricken at the thought.

"Leaving the state...she's going to college in Florida, Max. She's supposed to leave tomorrow morning."

Michael grabbed the table to steady it as Max rocketed out of the booth and towards the back of the Crashdown. "Guess this means I'm stuck with the check."
 

(Part 3)

"Liz? Liz! Please, let me in! I have to talk to you!"

Liz jumped nervously, knowing that her locked bedroom door would be no protection if Max really wanted in, and her parents weren't there to run interference. "Go *away*!"

Max sagged against the door when he heard the pure venom in her voice. "I can't...please, just give me five minutes, and then I'll leave if you want me to, I promise!"

"You promise? *You* *promise*????" Liz shrieked. She stalked to the door and jerked it open so suddenly that Max almost fell into the room. "Is that supposed to make me feel better? The word of a pathological liar?"

Max towered over her, searching desperately for the words to make things right again. "Liz, up until a month ago, I never once lied to you."

She let out a bitter laugh that ripped at the seams of Max's soul. "You'll have to excuse me for not believing you." Max remained silent until she snapped "Is this how you're spending your five minutes?"

Liz turned away and walked across her room, sitting on her windowsill and glaring at him. //How dare he...what gives him the right to come barging into my room like he still belongs here?// She wished the five minutes would go faster...

"Michael told me you were leaving."

"He promised Maria he wouldn't tell! Is the ability to lie genetic with your species?"

Max winced; she was really out for blood. "He told me because he realized it was finally time for you to hear the truth about why I'm going out with Tess."

"Oh, this should be good." Liz crossed her arms over her chest and gave off every impression of being annoyed and bored, but inside she was sobbing. Why was he doing this to her? Couldn't he just let her go?

Max crossed the room and hesitantly sat on the floor at her feet. "I can't tell you the whole story in five minutes, but we found out that Tess is a government agent, sent here to hunt down and destroy alien life forms. We know she was ordered to masquerade as an ordinary high school student, and when she got here, she acted really interested in me. River Dog was absolutely frantic about this, and he scared the hell out of Michael and Isabel."

"And you?" Liz asked. Her tone was warmer towards him than it had been in weeks.

"And me," he admitted. "We had to find out how much she knew, and we had to do it fast. Michael flirted with her, because he and Maria weren't together then, but she didn't go for it...so I had to...I had to...Liz, I hate what I did to you, and I'm so sorry...please..." He rocked forward onto his knees when she stood to go past him, and pulled her close to him. His arms circled her thighs and he pressed his face into her stomach. "Please don't leave...Liz...I love you so much...I'll break up with
her tonight and we'll figure her out another way...just don't go..."

She could tell from his voice that he was dangerously close to tears, as was she. Somehow, she knew without a doubt that he was telling her the truth she'd wanted to hear for so long. Her arms felt as though they were underwater as they slowly moved up to rest on his shoulders. A few
salty tears escaped as she bowed her head to be closer to Max. She could hear him whispering against her dress, and she strained closer to listen.

"I'm sorry, so sorry, so sorry..."

"It's all right...I understand, you were afraid for your lives...but Max, why didn't you tell me, *why*? Didn't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you!" Max raised his head and pleaded with her. "I trust you completely...but I was so afraid you'd get hurt because of this...this is the first time that someone's ever been after us that we knew without a doubt they wanted us dead. If anything happened to you because of me...if
they used you to get to me...I couldn't live in a world that didn't have you in it."

"You could, and you would, Max. You wouldn't leave Michael and Isabel, no matter what," she told him softly. She pulled away from him and walked to the pile of suitcases in the corner, aimlessly checking for unlocked bags.

Max looked at her and his heart shattered. He knew...he didn't know how he knew, but he did. She was still going to leave him. "Liz?"

"Did you know I was never afraid of you, not even when you first told me you were a Czechoslovakian? Not even then...I was afraid of what that meant, afraid of the situation...but I was never afraid of *you*. I knew somehow...that you would never, ever do anything to hurt me."

"I know. I realized it that night I came to the Crashdown, when I tried to make the connection go the other way. You don't know how wonderful it was, for you to let me touch you, and you didn't flinch away, you just stood there and let me be near you." His voice was husky with the memory of it.

"But I'm afraid of you now." Her quiet voice sounded through the room like a death knell.

"*Why*?"

She was crying openly when she turned back to face him. "Because I'm afraid you'll always choose breaking my heart over risking my life, and I can't...I can't live like that any more, Max. I want to be with you, I want to be free to walk up and hug you in the halls, or hold your hand...all those things that I had to watch Tess do to you."

"Liz, I..."

"Don't say you're sorry again, please. I know you hated it too...I just want you to understand what I've been walking around with...every day, I had to see you holding Tess, kissing her, looking at her like you used to look at me."

"I didn't..."

"I know, but that's what it seemed like to me. And there I was, blindly believing that you loved me, but you were staying away to protect me...and then you start dating a human. Someone who doesn't even know the danger you face, who couldn't possibly help you if you were in trouble. So I
started thinking that maybe you'd lied all along...that maybe you'd pretended to like me so you could keep an eye on me, to make sure I didn't betray your secret...because why else would you break up with me to be with a girl who was just as vulnerable to attack as I was?"

"Oh, Liz..." Max wanted to go to her and hold her so badly he ached with it, but he was unsure of what she wanted. He forced himself to stay still and let her speak.

"And then when you started flinching away from me in class..." Her voice broke, and she couldn't continue.

"You don't know how much that hurt me...I only did that because I was so afraid...afraid that all it would take was your hand brushing against mine and I'd lose it right there, and announce to the entire world that I loved you, belonged to you...and Tess and the government be damned."

Liz smiled through her tears at him. "I would have loved that."

"I can stand up in class tomorrow and do that," he offered.

Quick as thought, her smile vanished. "I won't be there."

For a moment Max thought he was going to pass out. "You...you're still leaving?"

"I have to." Now it was her turn to plead with him. "Right now, I couldn't get through a day without wondering if you and I would still be together at the end of it. You terrify me...you've proved that you'll break my heart and your own if you think that's what's best for me. I need to be away from all this for a while...I'll hate it, but it's what I need. I have to go learn how to *not* fear you again."

He nodded, not trusting his voice, and suddenly found the patterns in the carpet intriguing enough that he didn't look up until he felt the warmth radiating from her body.

She had drifted across the room until she stood right next to him. All he had to do was open his arms and she would be in them...and after that realization, he opened them and she was pressed against him. He closed his arms around her and held on for dear life, as if he was afraid that if
his grip on her slackened, she would vanish.

"Don't be mad?"

"I'm not...I'm just going to miss you 'til I'm crazy," he told her.

"But it's not forever...I should be getting my AA about the time you graduate from high school...and I'll be back for holidays, and we can write to each other...if you want to..."

He heard the uncertainty in her voice, and he couldn't stand it. "I swear, Liz, if you ever need me, all you have to do is say so and I'll drive all the way to Florida."

Her laugh was muffled in his shirt. "Watch what you offer, buddy."

They stood there leaning against each other for long moments, until Liz finally raised her head and looked at him. "I think your five minutes are up."

"Do you still want me to go?"

"No...but I think you'd better."

"Okay...can I come say 'goodbye' tomorrow?"

"No, not goodbye. Never that," she answered quickly.

"Never," he agreed, softly but vehemently. "Can I come say 'goodnight' then? Or something..."

"Yes..."

He lowered his head until his lips were almost against hers, unwilling to go further without encouragement from her. He sighed when she moved the final fraction of an inch and slid her lips against his.

He groaned when he felt her hot tongue taste his bottom lip, and she instantly took advantage of his parted lips and began to explore his mouth.

Liz gasped when his arms tightened around her and lifted her in and up against him, so much so that her feet no longer touched the ground. She shifted against him restlessly, all the while kneading his shoulders and attacking his tongue with her own.

Max returned the favor, kissing her just as hungrily as she was kissing him. He didn't know how long it would be before he held her like this again...a sound akin to a whimper surfaced and he kissed her even more desperately, carrying her backwards until they came to a stop against the wall.

He tore his lips from hers, only to fasten them on her neck. He felt her pulse throbbing against his lips, and he traced the line of the vein with the tip of his tongue, before sucking at the juncture of her neck and shoulder.

Liz's lips parted on a soundless cry, and then closed over a particularly sensitive spot in his neck. She used the wall as leverage to arch even closer to him. She heard him groan against her skin, and she smiled in satisfaction, loving the knowledge that she affected him just as much as he did  her. //Now, how can I get him to put me down so we can get to the bed...what am I thinking?!!?//

"Max...we've got to stop..."

She felt him go completely still against her. "Max?"

He slowly let her slide between him and the wall until she was standing on her own two feet again. "I'm sorry...I just wanted..."

"To remember," she finished. She wrapped an arm around his waist and prevented him from backing away from her. "Don't be sorry, I'm not. But Max..."

"You're still going."

"I think I have to...and like Maria said, it really is a great opportunity for me..."

"And we'll just do the long distance thing for a year or so."

"Right. That is, if you want to..."

"I do. And my offer stands...if you need me..."

"I'll call, I promise. And you'll do the same?" she asked expectantly.

"I promise."

They kissed briefly, and then Max pulled away. "What time should I be here tomorrow?"

"We're leaving about 6, so..."

"Five?"

"Sounds great."

"I'll miss you."

Her heart melted. "I'll miss you too."

"Okay, I'd better leave while I still can. Good...night, Liz."

"'Night, Max."

He stepped away from her reluctantly, closing the door behind him when he left her room. Liz walked to the door and pressed her ear against it, listening until the last sounds of his retreating footsteps had faded. She sighed heavily, then started packing the last of her things.

Maybe the time apart would be good for her and Max...and maybe, when it was over, they could finally be together.
 

The End!