Late the next afternoon, Liz's shift was just ending when the bell on the door jingled, announcing his entrance. She turned to greet the customer, and her heart full out stopped in her chest at the site of Max walking towards her with a determined glint in his eyes.
"Max!" She gaped, trying desperately not too sound too shaken to see him.
"Liz." He replied evenly. "You're getting off now, aren't you?"
"Yes…"
"Come with me." He implored her.
Liz's eyes widened in surprise. He wasn't asking…
"Where?" Liz asked, uncertain as to where he was going with all of this.
"Just away from all of this for the night. Away from Maria, away from Isabel…away from everything. It'll just be you and me, without any outside pressure…and we can just talk about everything."
"I don't know if that's a very good idea." Liz sighed…even as her mind screamed over and over again at her: 'What are you talking about? Of course it's a good idea! Go with him!'
"Liz…please?" Max asked more gently this time. "Just give me this one night to try and prove to you that we can move forward together. I promise you, Liz. If you ask me to leave you alone tomorrow morning, I will respect your wishes."
Liz searched his eyes, which were genuinely pleading with her to give him one last chance. She was never able to resist Max, when he looked at her so lovingly and openly…it was almost like having her old Max back. For the first time in months, her heart opened to him.
"Give me ten minutes to go upstairs and change." Liz requested, and Max nodded eagerly in agreement. "Michael is in the kitchen." She reminded him, as she untied her apron and headed for the back door.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Michael." Max greeted his friend with a nod as he walked into the kitchen, leaning his back against the counter. "I haven't seen you in a while."
"I've been busy, you know…with Maria." Michael explained a bit guiltily.
Max grinned at his friend. "You're a lucky guy, Michael."
"Yeah, I know." Michael replied honestly, turning to his friend with serious eyes as he broached a subject that they had avoided for a long time. "I'm glad we didn't go, Max."
"Me too." Max agreed softly.
The silence that followed was pensive, as both friends lingered back to the mistake that they came so close to making…for as many regrets as they may have…there were a few things that they did right…barely…like saving Liz, telling the humans, trusting each other…and staying behind when Tess blasted off to another planet.
"So what are you doing here anyway, Maxwell?" Michael asked, breaking the silence. "Maria will kill you if she sees you."
Max chuckled, knowing full well the truth behind Michael's words. "Yeah…but I was willing to risk it."
"To see Liz?"
Max's smile deepened. "Yeah."
"Good for you, Maxwell."
Max's eyes widened in surprise. "What did you just say?"
Now it was Michael's turn to laugh. "Don't be so surprised, Max. Is it really that bad right now?" Michael continued on, not waiting for an answer. "Maria would kick my ass if she heard me say that, but I say do whatever you can to get her back, Maxwell. You both deserve that much."
"Thank you Michael."
"Don't thank me, Max. It really is for the best. Maria is so pissed at you that she's not seeing things clearly right now. Liz has been like a ghost without you…just wandering around here depressed all the time…even if she couldn't admit it. If she's finally ready to give you the time of the day, take it, Max, and fix things between the two of you."
"I will." Max swore.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Liz?" Maria greeted her friend as she let herself into her bedroom, closing the door softly behind her. "Max is in the kitchen."
"Yeah…I know." Liz replied firmly, as she slid a sweater over her head.
Maria sighed. "Liz…I didn't go in there and yell at him or anything…he probably doesn't even know I saw him."
"Good." Liz responded quickly.
"Liz, do I have to run an intervention here?" Maria groaned. "You're not actually going out with him are you?"
"Actually, Maria…I am."
"I don't think you should…stay strong, Liz. Don't let him get to you."
Liz paused for a long moment, turning to stare at her friend before finally responding. "Maria…I'm going to only say this one time. Butt out. This is my life and I'm going to do what I want with it…and right now what I want to do is hear Max out. I love you dearly, Maria…and I really appreciate that you're trying to protect me…but right now you need to just let it go."
Maria gaped at her friend for a few moments, before whirling around and walking right out of the room.
Liz sighed, and grabbed her purse before shutting off the light and heading down to meet Max.
~~~~~~~~~~~
"Frazier Woods, huh?" Liz asked Max as she stepped out of his convertible, and took a deep breath, taking in the fresh air mingled with the lingering scent of the pine trees.
"Yeah…it reminds me of the last time I realized what an idiot I've been." Max explained. "I remember when we came here on that camping trip, right after the first time I broke your heart. I was watching you all weekend, watching me, and I wanted to rectify everything between us so badly, but I was stupid, stubborn, and I insisted on keeping a distance between us."
Liz met his eyes curiously, wondering what he was getting at.
"I don't want to make the same mistake again, Liz. Watching you yesterday, I get the feeling that you're ready for me again…and I don't want to stay away this time…unless I'm wrong and you want me to go…then I'll respect your wishes. But please, Liz…prove to me that I'm right."
Liz waited a long moment before responding.
"You're right, Max. I don't want you to stay away. I know that for certain." She hesitated, trying to find the words she was looking for. "However I don't know what I do want from you right now."
"Try and tell me." Max begged her. "Whatever you want…I'll do anything you ask. I just can't stand to be away from you anymore…I'm nothing without you."
Liz met his eyes, and almost gasped aloud, as their eyes locked…she couldn't pull away from him. What she had been sensing all night, was truly there. Her Max was back…focused on her again. He had gotten lost along the way somehow…maybe he had been defeated from the heartbreak that she had caused him, but Max Evans was whole again…and desperately looking for the home he had found two years earlier in Liz Parker.
Liz's heart ached to run at him, throw herself in his arms and kiss him senseless…but it was something else that had changed over the past year…Liz too had lost her way. She had taught herself to ignore her heart since the day that a future version of Max Evans had turned up at her window…and she ignored it still.
"Max…I…" She stammered over her words, fighting an internal battle, before her mind finally won. "This is all happening so fast." She cried.
Max took a desperate step towards her, shaking his head, pleading with her. "No, Liz…it's not. We've been fighting each other for two months now…please…don't give up on me…I love you."
His words stung her broken heart, as she heard him say the oath that she had longed for, for so long. Finally her heart won the fight.
"I love you too, Max. I always have."
"Then don't fight this, Liz…please. We'll take it slowly…start from the beginning again. It doesn't have to be intense…it just has to be…something."
Liz nodded in agreement. "Slow is probably best."
Max paused for a long moment, studying her eyes deeply before finally asking. "Does slow mean that I can't kiss you?"
Liz froze in shock. Never once had she considered she'd be coming out with Max for this. Not once in the last few weeks had she even considered that he might kiss her so soon.
They stood there still for a long, silent moment, in a sort of sensual face off, Max waiting patiently for some kind of response, any kind of response from Liz…and Liz with no idea at all how to respond. She couldn't even think clearly…all she could do was stand there frozen staring at Max's lips, and trying to remember how incredible it used to feel when her Max used to kiss her.
"Okay, Liz." Max started carefully. "Since you're not protesting…in about ten seconds, unless you tell me otherwise, I'm going to kiss you. I really, really hope that you don't stop me, but if you do I totally understand and will respect that."
Slowly, softly, Max began counting out loud to the two of them, and his heart jumped when she didn't say anything. Beaming at her when ten seconds was over, Max slowly crossed the distance to her, and cupped her face in his hands, startled to see a tear slip down her cheek.
"Don't cry." Max whispered, as he brushed the tears away with a gentle swipe of his thumb against her smooth, soft skin. Slowly, carefully, in a manner so worshipful that it reminded Liz of their first kiss, Max brushed his lips against hers in a nearly feather-light caress.
The world seemed to fade away, as Max pulled back, and met her eyes again, relieved to see love, and joy nestled there. He could see the traces of fear too, and prayed that he could wipe them away, as he leaned in again, capturing her lips more firmly this time.
Gasping against his embrace, Liz responded eagerly, urging his lips further, as he hungrily devoured her mouth.
As flashes began seeping into their minds, they both went catapulting over the edge of sanity. It had been so long since they had felt this…and it hadn't faded in the slightest…in fact, if anything, it had grown stronger in their absence, totally controlling them, as they relived moment after moment of their lives together, from the first time they saw each other, back in the third grade, to the shooting, their first connection, their first kiss, the first night they spent together in the desert, Liz running from Max in the desert, Liz dancing with Future Max on her balcony, their dance in Las Vegas, and finally their last kiss, as they said goodbye in the jeep, thinking to never see each other again.
Along with the images came an onslaught of emotions…love, so strong it overwhelmed them, intense horrible pain, desperation, sadness…because of all of the time they had lost.
As quickly as the connection began, it ended, and Max breathlessly pulled away…although, unable to break the embrace yet, he leaned his forehead against Liz's as he desperately tried to regain control over himself.
"Wow…" Liz gasped, as she peeked up and met Max's eyes.
But their overwhelming joy was short lived, as suddenly a loud rumbling surged through the air around them, and the whole world seemed to begin to spin.
Liz met Max's eyes fearfully, the last thing she saw before a blinding flash of white light overwhelmed her vision, and the world went black.
