Max looked down into Liz's crumpled features and felt instantly guilty. However, not even guilt was enough to compel Max to withdraw from her tight, hot flesh. Max squeezed his eyes shut. He might not be able to withdraw but he didn't have to move either. It took superhuman strength, but he managed to remain still. He swallowed hard and asked, "Do you want me to stop?"

Liz met his earnest gaze and felt the sudden urge to cry. She did want him to stop. She just wanted to curl herself into a ball and cry herself to sleep. This was a mistake, sleeping with Max. It was too soon after Tess. Too soon after seeing them together, seeing them kiss, hold hands. . . .God only knew what else! Liz had never asked Max what had gone on between him and Tess the four months he had been apart from her. She didn't think she was emotionally prepared for his answer. Knowing that Liz didn't understand how she could have possibly deceived herself into believing that she was ready for a physical relationship with Max. She still didn't fully trust him. Tess was still a raw wound for Liz. It still hurt to think about Max and Tess together, it still hurt to think. . . No, she wouldn't think about Cam, not now. She had to concentrate on Max. No matter how he had hurt her in the past Liz knew, at that moment, Max wanted nothing more than to please her.

She ran her hands up and down the corrugated sides of his body. "No, Max," she lied softly, "I don't want you to stop." Max relaxed and lowered himself down onto Liz. He kissed her tenderly, wetting her lips with his tongue. At the first hard stroke of his body Liz responded even though her heart wasn't in it initially. The feel of him inside her, stroking her, however, was oddly desirable, arousing. Liz lost the fight to keep her eyes open. He was so sweet, so tender, moving inside her carefully, not wanting to hurt her at all. Liz knew that he loved her. And she loved him. She always had.

Her hips rose to meet his steady thrusts unconsciously. She could tell he was losing control. His strokes became shallow and quick, his hands pinned her hips to the bed. His weight pressed her back into the mattress. She compressed his pulsating hips between her thighs. "Liz, Liz, Liz, Liz, Lizzzzzzzzzz!" He chanted her name in a hiss as his body shook from the force of his orgasm.

Max rolled over onto his side and pulled her into his arms, stroking her damp hair back from her forehead. "I love you," he whispered breathily, "I'm sorry."

His words triggered a flashback for Liz. Suddenly she was back in the cave again. Back with him and Tess and Isabel and Michael, back in the cave where they had been told their destiny. Liz had found out that Max was never meant to be with her at all. The pain had been shattering. She had literally crumbled that night. "I love you. I love you," she had sobbed as she backed away from Max, "I'm sorry. I can't stay!" And then she had turned and run away from him. She didn't stop running until she had made it back to Maria and Alex, waiting for her out beside the highway. She had heard Max sobbing for her the entire way.

But when she had told him to fulfill his destiny she had never dreamed in a million years that he would actually do it. But he had. He and Tess began dating each other exclusively only a few, short days after Liz had taken her step back. Liz found herself as effectively shut out as Alex and Maria had been. The pain of seeing Max with someone else ate away at her heart everyday. For a while she had simply wanted to die. And then Cameron Brenner moved to Roswell. With a new hottie attending West Roswell every girl's guy radar went on red alert. And that was the best way to describe Cameron Brenner, a hottie. It wasn't just that he was tall and dark with the most amazing green eyes that Liz had ever seen. It was that he seemed totally unaware of his stunning looks, that he was actually bewildered when girls paid attention to him. Liz had to be honest with herself. He reminded her of Max, pure and simple. But Max was with someone else. So when Mr. Cameron Brenner was assigned to be her lab partner in Bio Liz viewed the development as a blessing.

Initially, he was all about business, as if he were trying to size Liz up. Cam never struck up a conversation with her outside Biology, but eventually he began to loosen up. He would pass her funny notes in class that made her laugh. But what amazed Liz most was that when she laughed it was actually genuine. She found herself passing notes back to him. After a few weeks Cam began eating lunch with her, Maria, and Alex. They all got along great. They laughed and hung out like normal teenagers. No FBI conspiracies, no glowing hands, no mysterious alien mates, just four regular teenagers having fun.

After a month Cam asked Liz out for their first official date alone. She had accepted. Gradually, their relationship grew from a cautious friendship to a budding romance. Cam would bring her flowers, blow her kisses, walk her to her locker in the morning before homeroom. Liz could feel the eyes of her female classmates boring into her back as she walked through the halls with Cameron Brenner, her boyfriend. Liz had taken pride in knowing that he was completely hers. She didn't feel challenged that anything or anyone could take him away from her. But the girls weren't the only ones to notice Liz with her new love.

Max kissed Liz's forehead, bringing her out of her reverie. "You're smiling. What are you thinking about?"

Liz quickly lowered her eyes, feeling guilty over where her mind had gone. "Nothing really," she lied, "just wondering when your parents are coming back."

"Not until Sunday, I promise," Max said, giving her a squeeze, "No one's going to interrupt us. After the way I drilled Isabel this morning she wouldn't come in here to warn us of a fire. We have the entire weekend to ourselves."

Liz shifted uncomfortably in his arms. "Well. . . .with my parents away too. . .someone has to look after the Crashdown."

"I suppose I could let you slip away for a few moments then," Max teased, caressing her shoulders, her breasts. "I know the first time wasn't too hot for you," he whispered against her ear, "Why don't you let me make it up?"

"I am a little sore. . ." Liz hedged.

"How about a hot bath then? I'll run it for you."

He looked so eager to please her, so in love, that Liz couldn't help but smile at him. "That sounds wonderful."

Max kissed her soundly on the lips then bounded out the bed in all his naked glory. "I won't be but a sec," he told her before disappearing into the bathroom.

Liz turned onto her side and pulled the sheets over her bare shoulders, her smile fading. She had thought making love with Max would make her feel close to him again. She had convinced herself that it would be the best way to dispel all the doubts that had been plaguing her since she and Max had reunited. How could she know for sure that he and Tess were over for good? How could she know that Max still wasn't drawn to her? She didn't know. And the not knowing, the not being completely sure that Max was truly hers was eating her alive.

"Water's ready," he said, popping his head through the bathroom door.

Liz smiled at him as she edged from the bed. He looked so happy tonight, glowing like a little boy who was just granted his most coveted wish. Liz couldn't destroy that happiness for him. She was the one with doubts after all. She had the problem, not Max. He had broken up with Tess for her. The only reason he had even started his relationship with Tess was because he had thought he had lost Liz for good. Liz told herself all these things as she walked into Max's waiting arms. And yet there was a nagging doubt at the back of her mind that Liz just couldn't shake. And not even Max's heartbreakingly tender kiss could take it away.