Part 20

Max held open his apartment door, while Liz headed inside. Following her in, Max flipped on the light switch to see herself in a small, humble, lonely looking apartment. The walls were bare, there was very little furniture, and boxes were stacked in the corners.

"This is where your home?" Liz asked softly as she observed their surroundings.

"Yeah, I guess." Max replied. "I dunno…I only lived here a few days. I didn’t even finish unpacking. Home isn’t exactly the first word I’d use to describe it. Well…at least there won’t be too much work to do to move me."

Liz felt a chill settle into her heart as she stared around the lonely apartment. It was like reality was sinking in for the first time, as she suddenly realized just how much Max had given up, just to find her. What if they had never found each other? Would he have been forced to stay in this cold, lonely apartment for the rest of his life, alone? Would he have regretted coming home?

It wasn’t fair…all that they had been forced to cope with. No one deserved the kind of agony that they had suffered through apart. Max had been at war…fighting, risking his life day to day, on a planet far away. He could have died and Liz would have never known. She could have died and he would have never known. So many things could have made things worse for them…even through what they had already dealt with.

They were lucky…to have finally found each other. And Liz intended to never let Max spend another day in a cold, dreary, lonely place, whether it was here on earth, or some planet far across the galaxy.

Grabbing Max’s hand, Liz tugged Max deeper into the apartment, towards the bedroom.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Liz pulled his head down into a long, desperate kiss. The room had left her feeling cold…and she wanted Max to warm the chill within her…make her forget all of the pain, all of the suffering.

An hour later, Max lay on his side in bed, Liz curled up against him as he stroking her hair as he stared down at her lovingly.

"Liz…love." Max started gently. "Don’t get me wrong here…that was fabulous…but I do have to ask. Where did that come from? We didn’t really get much done in the way of packing."

"I know…I’m sorry." Liz rolled her eyes in self-ridicule. "It’s kind stupid actually…"

"Liz…nothing about you, nothing you’re thinking, nothing you’re feeling, is ever stupid to me. You don’t need to be ashamed to tell me anything…ever."

Liz smiled softly at his words. "I know…I’m sorry. It’s just…this place. Seeing your apartment. It was harder than I thought. This place was so lonely, so empty…emotionless. I wanted to do something to warm the place up…something to make it seem like yours."

Max nodded as she continued. "It’s just…it was like reality hitting home for me, about how lonely both our lives were without each other…and about how much you were willing to risk to find me again…and I didn’t do anything to make that easy for you. What was I thinking, Max? I cut myself off from home, because I was afraid of the pain…afraid that if I talked to anyone in Roswell, if I set a foot in Roswell, that I would break down, knowing that you weren’t there too. But I wasn’t thinking Max. If I had kept in touch with home, you would have found me the moment you came home…it would have been so much easier. What if you hadn’t walked into my class that day, Max?"

"But I did, Liz. That’s what matters. I did walk into the right classroom. I did find you. We are together today. Nothing else matters. Yeah, this place is cold, empty, lonely…but it would have never been home, Liz. To me, home is anywhere that you are. Without you this place would have always been cold and lonely."

Liz flushed at his words, and leaned up to softly pour her love into his lips with a slow, sweet kiss.

"I love you so much." Liz professed, her eyes shining up at Max’s.

"I love you too." Max replied instantly, easily…without any doubt or question. He had always known. It was always Liz.

"Liz?" Max asked gently.

"Yeah?"

"Have you thought about it? Going home, I mean?"

"Home." Liz replied distantly. "To Roswell… God, I don’t even know. It’s been so long, Max. I don’t even know if I can go home. Are my parents still there? Is the Crashdown still there? Maria? Alex? What’s waiting for me in Roswell? Do they all hate me for cutting myself off?"

"There’s only one way to answer all of those questions." Max reminded her.

"By going home." Liz sighed. "I know… The major thing keeping me away was fear…pain. I didn’t want to face the fact that you were really gone. But you’re back…we’re together. If I go back now it’s with you. So the only thing keeping me away now is my own insecurities."

"We can face them together, Liz…I’ll be right there with you."

Liz nodded. "Christmas break? At the end of the semester? We could go for a few weeks then…spend the holidays with our families."

"And with each other." Max reminded her. "I’d like that a lot."

--- --- ---

The week passed by in a whirl of activity. Every spare moment when they weren’t at school, Max and Liz spent their time packing up the last of Max’s belongings, preparing his apartment for the move. Thursday afternoon they were finally ready, and Max rented a small truck, to get his belongings across town.

Thursday night, everything was finally unloaded, and Liz’s apartment was covered with boxes, crowding the corners and the floors. Max grinned happily as he opened the box labeled "Daily Clothes" and began organizing them into the space Liz cleared in the closet. That night, they were finally able to crawl together into their bed, in their apartment. It was a euphoric feeling for the both of them.