That Night

Lying in bed, Max Evans replayed his earlier conversation with Liz over and over again in his mind. Sometimes he could not believe what he had done, what he had risked in saving Liz Parker. But he had told her was true; he risked all because it was Liz Parker. When he saw her lying there, bleeding, he could not let her die.

He knew that Isabel and Michael were pissed at him for telling Liz—still were, despite Liz and Maria helping to get Sheriff Valenti off their backs. He couldn't blame them, the risk was not just his to take; it was theirs as well. He broke the pact they had made to protect themselves. Now they had no idea what was going to happen next.

Another scrap of conversation flashed through his mind:

That brought everything crashing in on him: their fears; the risk he took which then seemed to backfire on him. Valenti could do anything to him, expose the truth and he'd have the law on his side. Max would be taken, experimented upon, killed. His life was in Valenti's hands, and Valenti obviously wasn't all that sympathetic.

But Liz came through, temporarily diverting Valenti's suspicion. The sheriff was still suspicious, but he knew he had nothing to hold Max with, and with Phillip Evans being a lawyer, he would be released within an hour of being arrested.

Max sighed. Michael and Isabel were right. He had put them all in danger when saving Liz and exposing their secret to her and Now Maria DeLuca. But he would do it again, and he suspected that his sister and Michael knew that. He couldn't let Liz die—he loved her, he had loved Liz Parker since they were eight years old.

He loved her, but he couldn't do anything about it. They couldn't be together; they were different species for crying out loud, and there was no telling what might happen, what could happen to Liz. He couldn't put Liz in any more danger.

He clearly remembered seeing her through the smoke of the "crash", watching him, her doe eyes unreadable from that distance. He approached her, and when they faced one another they were speechless. Max had the overwhelming urge to bury his fingers into her beautiful brown hair. He gave in to that urge, somewhat, allowing himself to reach one hand out and brush some hair back over her shoulder, even allowing for a gentle caress of her cheek as he did so.

He wanted so much to kiss her senseless right then, especially when she said that she didn't care that it wasn't safe for them to be together. But he couldn't give in. she was better of dating Kyle Valenti or some other "normal" boy and not an alien, no matter how he felt about her.

Max sighed again and sat up. He wasn't going to get any sleep, not now. His mind was too full of Liz. Against his better judgement he got up, pulled his jeans and a black t-shirt on and quietly pulled Michael's trick and climbed out his bedroom window.

He wandered the streets of Roswell for a while, not knowing where he was headed, but instinctively heading for the Crashdown, the diner Liz's parent's owned, the place where, five days ago, his life became complicated. He stopped, not in the street in front of the diner, but in the alley behind, where above him was a wide balcony, which Liz's bedroom opened onto. Max did not often come here to stare up at her bedroom—he didn't want to draw attention to himself as a stalker.

Tonight he looked up, then shrank back into the shadows, he could faintly hear music, indicating that Liz was on the balcony, and he didn't want her to know he was there. He smiled to himself as he heard Liz humming to the music. She seemed to be all right. Max crept away as quietly as he could so as not to disturb Liz.

Liz Parker looked up suddenly. Inexplicably, she could feel Max's presence. She put her pen and journal down, went to the edge of the balcony and looked down, but her could see no one. She smiled to herself; she must have been imagining things. Ever since Max had connected with her, to save her life and to show her that he meant no harm, she imagined that she could feel Max whenever he was near. But he was no where near tonight.

She shook her head and sat back on the banana lounge. Although she was technically still dating Kyle Valenti, she felt strangely drawn to Max. She felt she could drown in his chocolaty, soulful eyes, and was disappointed earlier when he told her that they could never be together. Liz knew that there was no 'hair thing', and when she felt his hand brush past her cheek she wished he would cup it and kiss her. But the moment had passed.

Liz turned back to her journal. It's September 24^th, I'm Liz Parker and five days ago I died. But then the really amazing thing happened… I came to life.