Part 11

Beth exited the narrow lavatory at the front of the 747, squeezing behind another woman in the aisle. She looked around at the sleeping people and the snoozing children on the airplane as she walked towards the middle of the plane, towards her seat next to Max.

It was late in the evening and they were flying back to Roswell. Earlier she and Max had joked about how they’d made the same trip together for the first time sixteen years ago, to save her father. That had been right after takeoff and Beth had been waiting for a minute when she was completely alone with Max to tell him everything. Everything she had come to realize, and so much more.

Since she’d left the hospital that morning, after seeing everyone, she had gone straight to the Ballet Academy and straight to the director. And she, Beth Guerin, international ballet superstar, ballerina extraordinaire, she had quit.

She had looked right at the director and told him that she was leaving, effective immediately. He had sputtered and fumed, demanding to know why, threatening her that she would never dance professionally again, that she was hurting her career, she was hurting the academy, and even that she was hurting Charlie.

Her calm response had been that she realized the consequences, but she was still quitting. She told him Charlie already knew, she had told him in the elevator leaving the hospital. Charlie had been shocked, but he’d supported her. She thanked the director for all the years she’d danced at the academy, she’d stood and she’d left.

Beth had gone home then and begun to pack. She knew where she was going. Back to Roswell. She’d been wrong about getting away from that town, from the family she loved. She’d thought she wouldn’t miss them, but every time she thought of her mother and father, her younger brother, her honorary aunts and uncles and cousins, she missed them. And she knew that she was at the end of her career. If not for Max’s careful mendings over the years she would have been forced to retire years ago. She felt as though there had to be something better out there for her and she thought that she and Max could figure it out together.

Approaching her seat next to Max, she straightened her shoulders. Now she just had to tell Max everything that she had been thinking and everything that had happened in the last forty-eight hours and then everything would be as it should. She sat down next to Max, who faced the window and she took a deep breath.

"Max, there are some things I really want, I really need, to talk to you about," Beth started. When Max didn’t respond or turn to face her she leaned towards him.

"Max, did you hear me? Max—" Beth looked closer at his face and then she sighed. She saw the telltale signs of sleep by the easy rise and fall of his chest. He’d fallen asleep. And she didn’t have the heart to wake him after all he’d been through.

"The timing never seems right," Jody’s voice commented from behind her. Beth twisted around and nodded at her, unable to hide her frustration.

"I can’t seem to get to tell him. It’s the one thing, the one true thing, that I’ve needed to say all my life and I can’t get it out. Things keep getting in the way," Beth said. Jody nodded and then her eyes caught on something behind Beth’s head and she nodded towards the front of the plane.

"Let’s go join Belle," Jody suggested. Beth looked forward and saw that Belle was motioning them into the first class curtain. Beth looked over at Max, and then at Charlie next to Jody, who was also asleep.

"Should we just leave them?" she asked doubtfully. Jody rolled her eyes.

"Charlie sleeps through the traffic noises on 75^th street, he’ll sleep through the plane ride. Come on, Beth, time for some girl talk," Jody said. Beth finally nodded and followed Jody towards the front of the plane, ducking under the curtain that Belle held open for them. Beth tried not to laugh at Belle as she settled into an empty seat in first class.

"How did you manage this?" Beth asked. They’d all gotten coach seats on the next flight to New Mexico and the mostly empty flight had put them within a couple rows of one another.

Belle waved her hand.

"Fame opens all doors. Mike fell asleep," she said. All three women traded glances.

"Men," they chimed in together. Then they laughed, a sound that lifted a weight from Beth’s shoulders. With everything that had happened, a little tension breaker, some time with her two best friends, was exactly what she needed.

"I was looking around for something to drink when one of the flight attendant’s recognized me. She invited me up here, I asked if I could have some friends join me and she said no problem. So, I thought it was time for the three of us to talk," Belle said. Jody was shaking her head in amazement.

"How do you get used to that?" she asked.

"What?" Belle asked.

"People recognizing you all over the place. Being famous. All that," Jody asked. Belle seemed to think about it a minute before answering.

"I don’t know. It came with the territory. I love acting, I love all the people I get to meet, the places I get to go. I wouldn’t trade it for any other job. I just got famous doing it. Besides, the three of us are all famous in our own rights," Belle said, pointing out their highly successful ballet careers.

"Well, I won’t be famous much longer," Beth finally said. The other two women looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" Jody asked.

"I quit today."

Jody and Belle gaped at her, their stares unflinching.

"How did you-why did you-when did you—"

Beth laughed at Jody’s inability to phrase a proper question.

"Max."

Beth spoke his name as if she expected that to answer all their questions. They continued to stare at her, not seeing the whole picture.

"I realized that a lot of things are missing from my life. My family. My whole family. My home, the home I grew up in. New York will always be another home, but home now is where my parents, where my younger brother, are. And not just them. Max is missing from my life. After everything that’s happened, I’m not going to allow that to continue. I won’t be without him anymore," Beth said firmly. Belle reached out and squeezed her hand gently.

"I’m glad you finally came to that conclusion," Belle said softly, her brown eyes warm as she thought of her cousin and Beth finally back together.

"It’s been eight years coming. I just hope you can convince Max coming back to Roswell is a good idea," Belle finished. Beth shook her head.

"In the long run, it doesn’t matter. I’ll go with him wherever he goes. I just need to focus on the dream I should have eight years ago, and that’ll never happen as long as I’m so focused on my work in New York. I’ll find something else I can do, and if not, I can always go back to school," Beth said. Belle laughed.

"Become a scientist, just like Aunt Liz! That would bring everything full circle!" Belle said. Beth nodded a little, then she looked at Belle curiously, her eyes questioning her.

"Full circle?" she asked. Belle smiled as if she’s realized something only she knew.

"You and Max back together. Nothing is ever exactly right in this world unless Max and Liz are in love. That’s Max Evans and Liz Parker, Max Parker Evans and Elizabeth Amy Guerin. Max and Liz," Belle explained simply. Beth felt her eyes misting up, but she stared in amazement at Belle.

"I don’t know what it is, I don’t pretend to know. Fate, destiny, kismet, serendipity, luck, chance it doesn’t matter. I think we’ve seen time and again that there is nothing stronger, nothing more powerful, than when Max and Liz are together. And that applies to all of you," Belle finished softly. Beth was crying then, more than touched by Belle’s words. Jody had her arm around Beth then, stroking her hair gently.

"Thank you," Beth whispered softly. Belle nodded, satisfied that Beth understood.

"I can only hope that someday Mike and I might be able to touch that kind of happiness," Belle said. Beth caught Belle’s hand in her own.

"Belle, you can. You just have to make him see it. Mike is Michael Guerin. Believe me, if Mom had any say, she’d tell you exactly how similar they are. He’s a stonewall, but you just have to get in a crack and he’ll open up, he’ll show you everything about who he is," Beth promised. Belle nodded, her own eyes shining with tears.

"What about you, Jody? How are you and Charlie dealing with everything?" Belle asked, sniffling a little but trying to detract attention from her own tears. Jody smiled and shrugged.

"You know, at first I expected to be shocked and unable to deal with the notion that my boyfriend, my fiancé, was an alien. When that reaction didn’t come I started to question myself, wondering why. Charlie was having more trouble adjusting than I was. Then I thought back to before we were together, when we were friends and Charlie cared about me as more than a friend, but he waited," Jody paused, her eyes far away as she remembered back.

"I thought about how he waited for me, didn’t lecture me on my mistakes, didn’t make me feel like an idiot for my relationship with Cooper. He accepted me for who I was and he couldn’t believe that Cooper had been so stupid to treat me as he had. He considered himself lucky for how I eventually figured things out, that Charlie was the one I wanted. I finally realized that I loved him and after everything that happened, nothing could change that. Even finding out that Charlie is an alien couldn’t do that, and it never will," Jody said, her voice confident. Beth smiled at her roommate and Belle nodded in approval.

"He’s lucky to have you," Belle commented. Jody shook her head.

"No, I’m lucky to have him," she replied softly. Beth watched her, knowing that Jody believed every word with her entire heart and soul. Jody turned her eyes to Beth.

"Just don’t wait. I know that you know this, but don’t wait any longer. It’s already been eight years, there’s nothing worth wasting more time," Jody said, her voice strong. Beth nodded, taking Jody’s words to heart. The three women were silent for another minute until Mike’s tired voice spoke up.

"Belle? Where did you go?" he asked, sleepily poking his head through the curtain. Beth laughed at the sight of her twin’s touseled and spiked hair and his eyes drooping with fatigue. Belle smiled and stood, crossing over to Mike and putting her arms around him. He snuggled closer to her and sighed, closing his eyes.

"Why, did you get lonely?" she asked softly, fully expecting a rebuttal.

"Maybe."

Belle’s eyes widened at his words, one of the first times he hadn’t tried to push her away with an argument or with a challenge. She stroked his short hair and waved to the girls as she followed Mike back to their seats. Jody looked at Beth with a smile.

"A good start, I’d say," Jody remarked. She glanced back at the curtain leading to coach and then met Beth’s eyes. Automatically, Beth knew where Jody was anxious to be. Back with Charlie. She nodded her permission and Jody rose, turning to leave.

"You coming?" Jody asked. Beth nodded.

"In a minute," she replied. Jody left and Beth stood, walking over to the airplane doorway and the large window allowing a glimpse of the night sky. She looked southwest, knowing that Roswell was ahead of them.

"Home," she whispered.

"There it is," Mike said, drawing Beth’s attention. She looked out the car window and her eyes fell on the Crashdown Café sign, lit up bright in the night. Her recollection of the café hours from when she’d worked there told her that the restaurant was already closed, but she knew the sign stayed lit for a few hours after closing.

It was late at night, after ten, and the six of them had arrived in town, quickly rented a car, and drove to Roswell. Their families knew they were coming, but they hadn’t known the exact times in all the madness of getting flights and leaving New York as soon as possible. But they were finally back.

Mike pulled the van into a parking spot next to the café and turned around to look at the others.

"So, what’s the plan?" he asked the group. Beth turned to look at Charlie and Jody.

"You two can stay with us at our parent’s. They own the UFO Center across the street and the entire upper floors are our home," Beth said. Charlie looked across the street towards the large green and yellow sign, noting the outline of a green alien near the door.

"Wow, you grew up there?" he commented. Beth traded glances with Mike and nodded, realizing that it probably seemed even more bizarre to Charlie now that he was actually in Roswell. Her parents had met her dancing partner and roommate on previous trips to New York, but Charlie and Jody had never been to Roswell.

"I’ll take Belle home, and then come back," Mike volunteered. Max nodded from the backseat next to Beth.

"I should get inside and see my parents and sisters before they go to bed," he said. Beth smiled fondly.

"Your sisters would have no problem waking up to greet their big brother," she commented. Max grinned and nodded happily suddenly anxious to get inside to see his family.

"We should all meet up tomorrow morning. I think we’re leaving for Snowmass soon also," Beth said, her eyes fixed on Max as everyone began to exit the van and unload luggage. She didn’t want him to leave her sight, leave her for the night, without getting a chance to tell him everything on her mind. But she realized that he was anxious to get inside and now was perhaps not the right time to suddenly unload everything on him. And Beth knew that Max’s sisters and parents hadn’t seen him, barely talked to him since he’d been held hostage. Sighing, she resigned herself to waiting.

Beth carried one of Max’s bags to the door, following him close behind until he suddenly stopped. She placed his bag on the ground and stood next to him, looking at him curiously. He was smiling slightly, his eyes fixed inside the dimly lit café. Beth followed his gaze, hearing the sound of music from the jukebox.

Max’s parents were dancing together, looking as though the only existing part of the world was one another, circling around the café’s floor. Chairs were turned upside down on tables and the café was closed for the night. Looking at Max and Liz Evans, Beth was struck with how it seemed like they couldn’t possibly be in their mid forties. They looked like teenagers, bent and shaped against one another like everything between them was still new.

"Their first date," Max said softly. Beth nodded, a smile on her face. She remembered Liz telling her when she was a little girl about her first date with Max. They’d gone to a Chinese food restaurant, played pool, and then they’d danced. The song they’d danced to was playing on the jukebox at that moment. Max used to say that there were certain songs his parents would drop everything for, certain songs that made the world stop for them.

As the song trailed off Beth looked over at Max and found him watching her. She smiled at him gently.

"You better get inside," she whispered. She turned to join Jody and Charlie, waiting on the sidewalk for her before heading over to the UFO Center. Max’s voice stopped her, but she didn’t turn around at first.

"Beth, do you remember the last song we danced to?" he asked quietly. Beth nodded silently, remembering back to their senior ball in high school. With shock she realized it really had been eight years since she’d danced with Max. She still remembered what it felt like.

Beth shook her head clear of the memories of their last dance and she turned to look at Max, nodding slowly. He stared at her a minute, seemingly uncertain. She waited for him, knowing she would wait forever to hear what he had to say.

"Do you think that will always be the last time we danced?" he asked. Beth saw the sadness in his eyes at the thought and she quickly shook her head to reassure him. He brightened a little and nodded. As it had been since they were children, words were not necessary between them.

Max turned away from her and passed his hand over the lock in the door, unlocking it and pulling the door open with one last glance at her. She stepped closer to the door and watched, a grin on her face, as Max’s parents caught sight of him and hugged him. Beth watched Liz’s face brighten and her eyes widen, looking like a girl again in her excitement. Max’s father wasn’t always one to have a constant grin on his face, but nothing could have stopped the one that covered his face at that moment. Beth stepped away from the door, away from the light and back into the darkness of the night, her eyes still fixed on Max. Her voice came out soft, only loud enough for her own ears to hear.

"I love you, Max."