Title: Where We Were Before
Rating: PG...the most it'll probably get is PG-13...I think.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything Roswell, etc.
Summary: It's been 5 years since graduation...7 years since Tess Harding entered their lives and changed everything. With a little match-making scheme, Maria and Michael try to see if they can get Max and Liz back 'where they were before'.
Category: Max/Liz, although all Roswell couples will be/are involved


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(Blessid Union of Souls excerpt)
"Where We Were Before"

And you're just what I've been waiting for
To come and take me in
To grab ahold and take control and make me whole again
And if you need my everything you can take it all and more
Just help me to get back where we were before

~~~~~~~~~~

"Michael?" Maria's soft voice split the stillness of the night.

"Hmmm?" An equally soft answer prompted Maria DeLuca to voice her silent thoughts.

Maria turned her eyes from the brilliant night sky to the man lying by her side. Her high school sweetheart lost for what seemed like eternity now suddenly back in her life. Her tough, but gentle, untamable but suddenly captured Michael. Maria's eyes softened with unspoken love as she reached out and began to caress his hand. "Don't you think it's a shame?"

Michael's eyebrow raised in silent answer to Maria's question as he glanced over at her then back up at the stars, his eyes beginning to dance with amusement. "Maria, baby, I know you and I never did do well at saying exactly what we meant in high school, but can you at least try? Just this once? Call it…I don't know…part of this new deal we have going…"

Maria chuckled and slapped Michael playfully on the chest before raising herself up on her elbow to look at him. "Hey! I hope you realize the majority of our communication problems in high school were yours."

"Mine?"

"Yes, yours, Mr.-I-have-to-be-a-stone-wall-Guerin. You didn't give me many breaks back then, you know."

Michael shook his head with a chuckle as he reached over and ran his hand down Maria's arm. "No, I guess I didn't. But we've gotten past all that now. So…" Taking her hand in his, he raised it to his lips and kissed it gently before looking back up into her eyes. "…tell me what's on your mind."

Maria smiled as she gazed out into the distance relishing this new relationship of theirs. This openness to each other she'd always seen in Max and Liz's relationship and desperately hoped for in hers and Michael's. Amazing how things had changed in the last 5 years…for all of them. "Well, I was just thinking. Here we are…finally together and happier than ever…" Maria paused and looked over at Michael her eyebrows furrowing in sudden uncertainty. "You are, aren't you? I mean, happier then ever…right?"

Seeing the irrational worry in Maria's eyes, Michael leaned up and captured her lips with his before running his fingers through her thick blonde hair. When he pulled back to look into her eyes he grinned with satisfaction at the sudden desire he saw burning there. "Answer your question?" He asked huskily with a glimmer of cockiness in his voice.

"Mmmm-hummm." Maria sighed contentedly before leaning in once more for a quick kiss. "Completely."

"Good." Michael responded while continuing to smooth back Maria's hair. "So, if we're both happier than ever...what's the problem?"

Maria contemplated his question for a second before answering. "Well, I just wish our friends could find the same happiness, you know?"

"Our friends." Michael repeated as his lips began to twitch with a smile. "Maria, we don't have any friends. Unless...wait. You don't mean..."

Maria nodded her silent agreement to Michael's dangled sentence and bit her lip in nervousness. She'd been forming a plan for a while now. She just didn't know how much of it Michael was going to go along with. "You're right. I'm talking about Max and Liz."

"Maria…" Michael began in a warning voice when he saw the scheming light in her eyes and guessed where this line of thinking was going.

Maria sat up and turned toward him her excitement getting the better of her. "No, no, Michael. Just listen, okay? I know it's been so long since they've actually seen each other…"

Michael linked his fingers together and propped them behind his head. "Yeah. Like light years ago."

"And there was some tension when they split…"

"You call what happened 'tension'? Good God, Maria, it was like WWI, II and Independence Day all put together."

"And I know that they have their own separate lives now…" Maria continued as if Michael hadn't spoken a word.

"Oh, I'd say separate is the word. Especially since Liz is planning a wedding to that human…what's his name? Ben, right?" Michael nodded knowing he'd remembered the right name then rolled his eyes. "I'd say that's definitely in the separate lives stage…"

"But…"

"It's not going to work…" Michael predicted without hesitation.

"It could." Maria countered tilting her head to the side in that way she knew drove Michael wild.

Michael noted the tilt of Maria's head and the way her soft eyes were gazing at him with so much feeling and hope. When he spoke, the uncertainty in his voice contradicted the firmness of his words. "It won't."

"Let's try anyway. Come on, Michael. I know Liz just like you know Max. Neither of them are really living, you know? They're only existing right now without each other. I think we both know how much they still absolutely adore each other yet they aren't…you know, together. That's got to be the saddest thing in the world, Michael. To love someone so much and not be able to be together."

"Maria, baby, it was their choice…"

"That's a load of bull! They were together Michael. Loving and happy and ready to take on the world until that meddler, Tess Harding, dropped into our lives and started causing problems for everyone. Until she started messing with Max's head. It was never the same after that." Maria shook her head in disgust and pulled her hand away from Michael's. "And now, of all things, you tell me that it was all staged all of that time. That Max and Tess never…"

Sensing the explosion that was about to erupt, Michael sat up and attempted to put his arm around Maria. "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't have told you. You know…about Max and Tess."

Maria shot Michael a hurt look as she crossed her arms in front of her and shrugged out of his loose embrace. "Why not? Don't you trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, Maria." Michael stated emphatically before he shrugged and looked down at the ground, pulling a blade of grass from its home. "It's just...well, maybe I shouldn't have told you because it only makes you mad. And I never wanted to…well, I never wanted to make you feel anything bad…ever again."

Maria's anger melted away at Michael's gently spoken words. Reaching up she took his face in her hands and kissed him light on the lips. "You, Michael Guerin, don't. It's everyone else in this twisted human/alien connection we've all made. Max for hiding behind a fake relationship with that...person. Liz for believing everything he said too easily and not fighting harder for him. Isabel for backing Max up and covering for him. And Alex…"

Maria paused and looked away for a moment as she searched for a reason to be angry with Alex. Not finding one, she shrugged sheepishly. "Okay. So, maybe Alex hasn't done anything, but I'm sure if I think long enough I can come up with something."

Michael started to chuckle at Maria's comment before he ran his fingers through her hair. "I love you." Sobering suddenly, Michael ran his finger along Maria's face. "And you're right. Max still loves Liz. But in all honesty...Maria, with everything going on...with emotions running as high as they were, everyone going crazy like we did...someone would've gotten killed. Max had no choice but to walk away."

Maria swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat when she realized how right Michael was. Suddenly her eyes lit up with inextinguishable hope. "But things are different now, Michael. None of us are the same. There's no more danger. No more fear. I really think it could work this time. At least..." Maria wrapped her arms around Michael's neck and gazed lovingly into his eyes. "...come on, baby. Say we can at least try..."

"I have such a hard time saying no to you when you look at me like that, you know it?" Michael sighed as he tried to pull back before Maria attempted to capture his lips in a kiss that would seal his decision.

A wide grin spread over Maria's face. "So…does this mean you'll help me?"

"Do I really have a choice?"

"Not if you want to sleep in the bedroom tonight."

Letting out another sigh, Michael Guerin did what he never thought he'd do in his life. He agreed to become a matchmaker...