Part 5

Liz closed her eyes to push the sight of the bruises on her body out of her mind. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. She’d been fine all day in class, after school at the Crashdown and sitting talking to Max all evening. Even when Kyle’s dad had come in, she’d frozen momentarily, but everything that had happened just hadn’t seemed real. And now, she was standing in front of her mirror, faced with the reality that someone she had trusted had violated her.

She knew the bruises and pain would fade away, but she didn’t feel safe. And she didn’t even entirely blame Kyle. His dad had mentioned that Kyle was going through a lot and suddenly she began to wonder if maybe all the stress of his mom leaving, plus her announcement, had just been too much. Opening her eyes and staring at her reflection, tears streaming down her face, Liz wondered if maybe it was her fault. Maybe she’d been leading Kyle on, maybe she’d brought his anger down on herself.

A soft knock on her bedroom door made her jump. She quickly wiped at her face and tried to calm her pounding heart. Walking towards the door, she tentatively reached for the knob, closing her fist tightly when she saw her hand shaking.

"Who is it?" she called, forcing her voice not to waver. There was a pause before her brother answered.

"Lizzie, it’s me. Are you ok?"

She leaned her head against the door and rested a hand flat on the wood. Closing her eyes, she took deep breaths. Michael could be so kind, the perfect brother, the perfect protector. But she knew if he saw her he’d been enraged. And then Kyle would have more than suspension to worry about.

"I’m fine Michael, just tired. I think I’m going to call it a night."

Liz listened to the silence and she could sense his disbelief through the door. She knew he didn’t believe her and she knew he’d either let it go and allow her to heal on her own, or he’d come crashing through the door. She prayed he’d curb his impulsive streak.

"Are you sure? I thought . . . I thought I heard you crying."

Liz felt the tears well up in her eyes at the sadness in his voice. He sounded like a little boy, and so sorry for anything he’d ever done. He’d had the same tone in his voice when he’d accidentally broken one of her favorite porcelain dolls when they were ten. She couldn’t bear to hear that tone and not reassure him.

But she couldn’t. She realized that Michael wasn’t the one who could help her.

"I’m really ok Michael. Please, don’t worry about me. Just go to bed and I’ll see you tomorrow, ok?" Liz pleaded with him.

"Ok."

Michael trudged off slowly, she could barely make out his padded footsteps down the hall. Sighing, she turned away from the door and pulled down the sheets to her bed. She decided to do exactly what she’d told Michael, try to go to sleep. Her thoughts were running a mile a minute and she wished she could talk to someone who would just listen. She loved her brother, and Maria and Alex, but they had a tendency to do more than listen. And she didn’t want to hear them give her advice. She sighed, sitting on the edge of her bed.

She knew what she wanted. She wanted Max Evans’ soft brown eyes watching her face, making her feel like every word she uttered was important. And she wanted to see the reassuring smile on his face, telling her that whether or not things would be alright, he’d be there for her.

She shook her head. She’d probably imagined all the feelings she’d felt radiating off of Max that afternoon. He’d just been kind to her, helped her out. And here she was, ready to lay her problems on him like he didn’t have anything better to do. He probably hadn’t given her a second thought since he’d left the restaurant.

Her head shot up at the rustling and creaking sound outside her window. She ducked her head to peer out and she realized the sound was someone climbing up her fire escape. She stopped breathing and froze, suddenly terrified that Kyle could be coming to talk to her again. Her eyes wildly darted around her room for a weapon of some kind and she grabbed the Shakespearean textbook by her bed. The book was massive and thick, a good tool at knocking anyone out if thrown at their head.

She saw hands gripping the top of the fire escape and she waited, poised to launch her book at the would be intruder. It couldn’t be Alex or Maria, she knew they would have called first. And Michael was inside. She was convinced it was Kyle until Max Evans’ face peeked up over the edge of the brick wall. Her bedroom window was even with the floor of the balcony, so she and Max were basically at eye level. She gasped and dropped her book immediately, instantly feeling safer knowing that it was just Max. He looked at her warily.

"Hey, Liz, didn’t mean to scare you. Can I come over there?" he asked her. She nodded, watching as he effortlessly pulled himself over the edge of the balcony and walked over to her window, kneeling down so that she still had to look up at him, but not by much. She rested her chin on her folded arms and waited curiously to see why Max was there. As she watched him sit down in front of her, trying to sit comfortably, she was able to think about how it didn’t seem strange that he was at her window late at night. How she’d been thinking of him seconds before and he suddenly appeared. Just like when Kyle had grabbed her. She’d prayed he would stop and he did, all because of Max.

"What are you doing here Max?" she asked softly. He fidgeted a little, his eyes focusing on one of her candles nearby. She looked at him patiently, willing to wait him out. She had a feeling that Max thought she might be uncomfortable with him showing up at her window, but the feeling was just the opposite. He made her feel safe.

"Um, I was leaving the Crashdown and I just wanted to make sure you were ok. And I wanted to see if you wanted to talk," he offered. Liz closed her eyes at his words, wondering at the way he seemed to know exactly what she needed. Her eyes snapped open at the feeling on his fingers lightly touching the skin on her arms. She followed his gaze to the bruises on her arms and she watched his eyes harden with anger. She knew without asking what the question in his mind was.

"That’s what Kyle did to me," she whispered. He nodded slowly and then stood up, taking her hands with his and pulling her out of her room, through her window and standing next to him on the balcony. She was barefoot next to him and found she had to look up even more because he was a head or so taller than her. She watched his eyes soften from anger to a pained expression at the bruises on her body.

He turned her around slowly, her back facing him and she relaxed against his hands on her arms. She closed her eyes and listened to the sound of his breathing, steady and even. When his hand grazed the skin on her back where the most damage had been done she felt her skin rise with goosebumps at his touch. It was a light touch and Max’s hands on her skin had a calming effect on her nerves. And she thought she felt the pain fading away, just a little.

Max took even breaths as he concentrated on healing some of Liz’s injuries. He was barely scratching the surface of her mind, staying on the outskirts and specifically avoiding making a connection with her. Because she’d know exactly what he was doing and then she’d have questions he wasn’t ready to answer. Not yet.

He moved his hand up her back and tried to ignore the silky softness of her skin, telling himself that his purpose was to help Liz heal, not scare her away with his newfound attraction to her. Funny thing was, it didn’t feel new. It felt like he’d known her forever, even though they’d just met less than twenty four hours before. At the nape of her neck his fingers brushed against the base of her skull and he found the tender knot of flesh that had formed after Kyle at thrown her against the tile wall. He touched it gently, tangling his fingers in her soft hair, and eased the pain away with his fingers.

He almost took a step back from her when Liz sighed with contentment and leaned back against his chest. He froze in his spot and looked down at the top of her head, his eyes darting to her arms. He frowned at the goosebumps on her skin, she had to be cold wearing just a tank top outside at night. His hands moved up and down her arms, rubbing gently so that he didn’t aggravate the bruises. She sighed again and he gazed upward at the sky, praying he could restrain himself from turning her around and capturing her mouth with his.

This hadn’t been his intent. He’d intended to just come up, see how she was and offer a listening ear. Instead, he'd gotten close enough to see the mars on her skin and he couldn’t help himself. It was the one time in his life when not being normal had seemed more like a blessing than a curse. He wanted her to trust him, to feel safe with him. And the smell of her, standing so close, was making it increasingly difficult to resist her.

He finally looked down and then cursed his action immediately. Looking down offered him a glance the low neckline of her tank top and the curve of her breasts. He realized quickly that she wasn’t wearing a bra and he groaned inwardly. He should have known it was a bad idea to come up to her room.

Liz enjoyed the warm feeling of Max standing behind her, his hands lightly touching her skin so that she almost wasn’t sure he was touching her. His feather light fingers were careful over the parts of her body that were injured and just when she thought she might drift off to sleep Max turned her around to look at him. She opened her eyes and smiled at him dreamily.

"Thank you Max," she whispered softly. He nodded his head once, deciding not to ask her what she was thanking him for. She glanced over at her window and then back at Max.

"I think I’m going to go to sleep. Will you come inside and stay with me?" she asked. Seeing the surprised look on his face she realized just how forward she sounded.

"I mean, just keep me company. I feel safe when you’re around," Liz added, her voice lowering to a whisper at the last sentence. Max nodded slowly and she pulled him over to the window, her fingers laced in his. She ducked inside and Max followed her. She turned off the lights in her room and moved over to the bed, huddling under the covers. Max pulled the blankets around her and then sat on the floor next to her bed, resting his chin on his folded arms as she lay on her side to face him. Even in the dark she could see the glitter of his eyes trained on her face. And with him in her room, closely guarding her, she felt more comfortable than she ever had before.

Michael had watched over her ever since he’d become her brother, but this was different. It was different with Max because he seemed to just know what she needed when she needed it. And she could tell that he was waiting for her, knowing she needed to talk. Taking a deep breath, she spoke.

"I feel like maybe it’s my fault, like maybe Kyle wouldn’t have come after me if I hadn’t led him on."

She paused before continuing, grateful for the silence from Max as she attempted to sort out her thoughts.

"But that’s crazy, right? I mean, how is it my fault that he hurt me? And I didn’t lead him on. We went out a couple of times, but we never were an official couple or anything. But he was always so nice to me. How could he do that to me? Max, how could he throw me around like that?"

Liz felt the tears escaping her eyes as she spoke and she tried to hide them. Max tilted up her chin with his hand and brushed them aside, just as he’d done earlier that day. But she couldn’t stop the tears this time and she kept crying, trying to keep her sobs quiet. She almost didn’t notice that Max had moved until he gently prodded her over and climbed up next to her in the bed. He stayed on top of her blankets, but he pulled her against him, and she settled gratefully against his chest.

One hand stroked her hair, trying to soothe her as the other found her hands on his chest and covered them with her own. Liz finally let all her emotions pour out after the long day and she cried until she felt drained and restful after letting all her pent up feelings out. Max was still stroking her hair gently and she raised her head to look up at his face, expecting him to be staring off into space, a bored expression on his face. Instead, she saw his eyes looking right back at her.

"Liz, you can’t blame yourself. You didn’t do anything wrong. And you can’t do anything about Kyle’s behavior. He was wrong to hurt you and it’s going to be hard for you to understand why he did it. I don’t know why he would do that to you, I hope I never understand why. But don’t let him hurt you more by blaming yourself, ok?" he said softly. Liz nodded slowly and then she mustered a small smile.

"I’m sorry about your shirt," she replied. He chuckled a little and shrugged his shoulders.

"It’s ok, you can cry on me anytime," he said, half jokingly. She studied him carefully, wanting to take him at his word.

"Promise?"

Max caught her dark eyes with his and held her gaze steadily.

"Yeah, I promise."

Liz gave him a radiant smile, the first one he’d seen since early that morning before they’d even met and she lowered her head to rest on his chest again. And Max continued to run a hand down her hair, closing his eyes at the softness under his fingertips. Feeling a little tired himself, he yawned and closed his eyes briefly. He’d just wait until she fell asleep, then he’d go home. He knew that’s what she wanted, so he waited patiently for the evening of her breath. Closing his eyes, he let out a deep breath and gathered Liz a little closer, enjoying the light weight of her against him. In just a few minutes he’d leave.

But only when she felt safe.