Part 31

Maria DeLuca sat behind her desk, sighing as she heard the bell on the door to the café ding, announcing another customer entering. It had been a busy day, and thankfully things were starting to slow, as the dinner crowd had finally faded, leaving only a few straggling customers drinking coffee or milkshakes.

All the same, it was worth it. Ever since her mother’s alien merchandise business merged with the Crashdown five years earlier, and they had expanded the restaurant/shop into the whole building, rather than the single suite the Parker’s originally owned, business had picked up for both ends.

Her mother and the Parkers still remained the owners of both businesses, but Maria did all of the real work behind the scenes, financing and keeping everything up to date and organized. It wasn’t what she had dreamed of doing with her life, but considering her life’s history, it was ironic in a sense, that she stayed stuck in Roswell all of her life, feeding the obsessions of the X-Philians. And even through it all, Maria had no real complaints. She was fairly happy with her life as it was.

Fairly happy, Maria reminded herself, as she closed the balance books with a sigh, and headed into the café to lock them in the safe for the night.

--- ---- ---- ----

Liz giggled as she and Max slid into a booth, amused by the way he gawked at the old, classic Crashdown Café waitress uniforms, while she stared around the room shocked by the changes all around her. Liz knew her parents had always dreamed of buying the rest of the building, but they could never afford it. It seemed as though things had finally changed for them.

"Can you believe this place?" Max asked in shock. "It’s so different! Everything’s so much…bigger!"

The couple muffled their amusement as their waitress stopped at the table, leaving them with menus, and taking their drink orders. They both breathed a sigh of relief to see that at least the menu had stayed the same, stuffed full of galaxy subs, Will Smith burgers, and alien blasts.

"I know…" Liz marveled, as the waitress walked away. "It looks like things have been looking up for my parents since I left."

Max noted the wistful sadness filling Liz’s eyes, and took her hand, slowly bringing it up to his lips, as he pressed a gentle kiss across her knuckles.

"I know what you’re thinking, and don’t even go there." Max insisted. "It’s not because you left, and they are not better off without you. You are amazing, Liz Parker, and don’t you ever forget it. No one could ever be better off without you in their life."

"I don’t know." Liz mumbled uncertainly, before her whole mood suddenly changed, and she turned her eyes up to Max in a mischievous grin. "There’s always Tess!"

"Ahhh…but she’s the exception to the rule!" Max joked. "Anyway…she never stood a chance, even if you weren’t around!"

Throwing an arm around her shoulder, Max pulled Liz close to him, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"You’re amazing, Liz Parker." He emphasized again, softly, lovingly, in the tone of voice that Liz knew she could never, ever ignore or forget.

---- ---- ----- -----

Maria sighed as she stepped into the main dining room of the café. She was happy, she really was. Or at least she was really good at pretending she was happy. But she couldn’t help it…no matter how hard she tried. Maria missed her best friend. Nothing had been the same since Liz had disappeared, and as hard as she had tried, Maria could never let go.

Everywhere she went, Maria found herself surrounded by memories, seeping back into the past, as she flashed back to the days of her childhood when the Three Muskateers ruled Roswell…and the days of their teen years when their Czechoslovakian friends had joined the ranks. Everywhere Maria went, she could see Liz in her mind’s eye, laughing and playing like they always used to.

Groaning as Maria scanned the Café, she slapped herself upside the head. Now, not only was she imagining Liz around town with her, but she was delusional enough to actually see her and Max sitting in at booth in the restaurant, cuddling together in that disgustingly sweet way that was so typical of them.

She had finally lost it. It was as simple as that.

"Stay strong, Maria." She whispered to herself, as she held her head high, and walked straight through the center of the café, refusing to allow herself to even glance at the couple in the booth.

It was impossible, anyway, that it was Max and Liz. Liz was…well, who knew where Liz was. And Max was somewhere far from here on another planet. Even if he was able to return home, Liz’s disappearance had been pretty thorough. If she and the Parkers were never able to find Liz, there was no way that Max Evans would be able to find her.

Liz was always telling her to stay in control…and that was exactly what Maria DeLuca needed to do right now…to stay in control of her own mind.

"Maria?" A soft voice piped up as she passed the booth.

Maria stopped dead in her tracks, staring off into the distance in shock, as the voice that had haunted and possessed her memory for years slid through her ears. There was no mistaking it…Liz Parker’s voice was one that Maria could never forget or mistaken for anyone else.

Slowly, Maria turned around, eyes closed painfully, until she finally got the courage to open them, and find her staring right into Liz Parker’s eyes. Liz Parker, who even now was wrapped up in Max Evans’ arms.

"Liz?" Maria whispered softly in question, her eyes widening as she stood there praying that she hadn’t actually lost her mind. "Max?"

Liz nodded silently, recognizing Maria’s shock.

"Is it really you?" Maria asked again.

"In the flesh." Liz swore, stepping from the booth and carefully approaching her best friend.

In an instant they were in each other’s arms, hugging tightly, tears flowing openly from Maria’s eyes, soaking into Liz’s shirt.

"I was beginning to think I’d never see you again!" Maria gasped between tears, as she pulled away from Liz, wiping at her cheeks, trying to regain control of her emotions.

"I’m so sorry." Liz cried, her own cheeks puffy from the emotional moment. "I couldn’t come home yet…it was just so hard. And then so much time passed…there’s no excuse. I’m sorry."

Maria’s head snapped to focus behind Liz on where Max now stood.

"And you!" Maria shrieked at him. "When did you come back, girlfriend? Where’s Michael? And how did you find Liz? Oh God, we have so much to talk about! Have you seen your parents yet, Liz?"

Liz shook her head. "No…we just got here. We flew in this afternoon, checked into the hotel, and then, uh, came here." Liz replied, glancing to Max with a secret smile, remembering what else had happened in between.

Maria sighed. "I hate being the logical one, but you should go to them right away."

Max groaned loudly. "Right away? Do we have to?"

Maria stared at him in shock for a moment, her eyes flashing between him and Liz for a few moments, before she screamed out, understanding.

"Oh my God…you two are sleeping together!" Maria freaked out. "That’s why you’re delaying going up there. Max doesn’t want to face your parents as the guy who deflowered you."

"Thank you Maria." Max moaned, flopping back down into the booth in frustration.

Maria slid in beside him, patting his shoulder comfortingly. "Don’t worry, Max…Liz’s parents will be so thrilled to see her again that they won’t even pay attention to your glow right away."

"My glow?" Max asked, raising his eyebrows curiously.

"Yeah, you know…that ‘I just got laid’ glow that seems to be emanating from you."

Max sighed, his head dropping to his hands in frustration. "Oh God…"

Liz shot Maria a glare, sliding into the booth across from them, as she reached over and took Max’s hand comfortingly.

"Don’t worry, Max. Maria’s just trying to mess with your head. There is no glow…you’re fine."

"Well, actually, you don’t see it because it’s around you too, Liz." Maria stated confidently, with a chuckle, before sliding out of the booth. "Okay, that’s it. You, my friends, are going upstairs to see Liz’s parents. I’m going to call Alex, and when you’re all through the four of us are going to have a nice little chat, and you’re going to catch us up on the past ten years of both your lives, okay?"

"Okay." Liz grinned.

"Good, I’ll see you a little later."