Isabel blinked at the change in Max. The tentativeness and strain that had been a part of him for the last few days seem to have vanished and she once again congratulated herself for forcing him to tell their parents. The old Max was back!

Philip was not about to leave his son and his friends in the hands of this weird stranger. "Who is this man, Max?"

Max smiled at his father, the happiness on his face nearly knocking Liz to her feet. "We know him, Dad. He works for… with us. Please meet Nick. One of the people we met at the camp."

Nick and Philip eyed each other warily. Both of them were feeling the crush of responsibility for these young people resting on their shoulders. Philip finally moved to get in the car with Isabel and Diane when Max assured him again: "It’s okay, Dad."

When the car had disappeared from their sight, Max returned his attention to Nick. "Is it the guy from the Crashdown?"

Nick merely nodded, his eyes meeting Liz’s fleetingly. "He’s with Marcus and Chris at the moment." His comment letting Max know that Liz’s two bodyguards hadn’t rested until they had made up for not being there for her yesterday.

"I need to speak to him. With Michael. Could you make sure that Liz gets home okay?" Max’s voice sounded deadly. Scary.

Liz didn’t want to get into an argument with Max in front of Nick. He was the leader and she needed to assist him in his duties, not undercut his decisions. But she really did not like what was happening now. "Uhm… could you guys give me a few minutes with Max?"

Nick obeyed immediately, but Michael hung around. He knew exactly what Liz was up to and he didn’t like it. He wanted him and Max to deal with this alien without worrying about the sensitivities of some girl. Even if that girl was Liz Parker, the glue that held the group of six together.

"Michael." Max’s quiet voice finally got his feet moving.

"Honey--." Max tried to pre-empt what he knew Liz was going to say.

"Hm-mm, don’t honey me. Max, I need you to not leave me out of this. Please."

Max was having a hard time staying firm with Liz looking up at him with her big doe eyes. She always knew just which buttons to push to make him melt. But he couldn’t let her do that this time. "Liz, I need you to go home and ask the Sheriff to meet with us. We need to get everyone out to the camp again. And with everyone, I mean our parents too. You have to start organizing things at the Crashdown so they would be able to leave."

"They will never do it, Max." Liz shook her head. She was also not sure if she WANTED them out at the camp. Not that she didn’t want them safe. The camp was just such a special place for her that she wanted to keep it away from her real life, so to speak. Besides, once there, she would have to stay in her own tent away from Max. And that would just seem so… unnatural.

But Max was firm. "That’s why I need to talk to the Sheriff. He needs to help us get your parents out there." He caressed her cheek with his fingers. "I want to end all of this as soon as possible. So you and I can get back to our own lives. Where our biggest worry is that our parents could catch us making… out."

Worry creased Liz’s face into a frown. "But Max, my parents will find out about you…"

"I don’t care." He saw her surprised look. "Liz, if you and I want to be together forever, they will need to know sooner or later. I’m voting for sooner, then maybe they’d understand us better." Max didn’t sound convinced of the last part, though.

Liz bit her lip. "Do you think it’s good idea? Putting all of us together in one place?"

"I don’t see any other way. If we do it in town, it would look really weird to everyone else, and if we don’t all stay together until this is resolved… Well, we can’t guard everyone all the time." He pulled her closer to him. "Do this for me, okay?"

Sliding her hands up Max’s back, Liz stood on tiptoes and kissed him. She was still not convinced that it was a good idea to let Max go to the other alien without her. That time when they all thought he was dead was still fresh in her mind. But he needed her help now, so that’s what she’ll do.

The kiss started out as a gentle good bye, but as was the case with most of their kisses, it soon turned into something more than that. Liz opened her mouth in response to his silent request for entry and Max went under. How was it possible that she could still arouse him so quickly and so easily? Sometimes all it took was a look from her and he was in trouble. It felt like forever since they had last made love… and now he was bringing her parents into this. Max felt like a bucket of ice water was thrown in his face and he pulled back abruptly. Her parents were going to kill him. Hell, he would have killed him if it were his daughter!

"Max!" Liz was looking at him strangely. "Did you have a flash?"

Yeah, Max thought, of my imminent demise at the hands of your father! "Uhm, no, I just--." He stopped when he saw the hurt in her eyes, realizing that he had jerked away from a kiss with Liz! "Hey, I’m sorry, I just…" He took a deep breath. "Let’s not tell your parents about us until we’re 30, okay!"

Liz’s laugh was music to his ears and added fuel to his desire for her. He better leave with Michael NOW, or he never will… Max kissed her quickly and pulled her to Nick by her hand. "I’ll meet you guys for lunch at the Crashdown. We have to get everyone moving tonight at the latest." He kissed Liz’s forehead. "Be careful."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz was a whirl of activity when she got back to town. She phoned Maria and Alex and informed them that they were going "camping" again. And she silently organized one of the reliable waiters to take over the running of the café while she took her parents on a "surprise holiday" that they knew nothing about yet.

While Liz was running around in the café, Sarah arrived, looking around her curiously. Liz saw her and made her way over. She was still wondering if the girl’s boyfriend was abusing her, and surreptitiously tried to see if there were any visible marks on her. Nothing!

"Hey Sarah! How are you?" Liz saw Sarah flinch in surprise.

"I’m fine, thanks." But Sarah’s smile was tight and nervous.

"Did you want something to eat?" Liz, being Liz, was wondering what was wrong with Sarah and how she could be helped. Maybe I could send Max to scare the boyfriend…

Ducking into a booth, Sarah looked relieved to have something concrete to do. "Yeah, uhm, could I have a cherry coke?"

Liz nodded and walked off to get the coke, still frowning about Sarah’s weird reactions. She was filling a glass with the coke when she felt Max coming into the café. A secret smile crept over her lips and she pretended not to know he was there, continuing with her little task. Her ploy had the desired results, Max was behind her instantly, his arms sliding around her and pressing her back into his body. Liz didn’t hear so much as feel the contented sigh that escaped her as she leant her head back against his shoulder.

Sarah watched the scene from her vantage point at the booth. So this was Max Evans…

Max kissed the side of Liz’s neck, slowly running his lips over her soft skin until he could trace her ear. He heard Liz’s soft gasp and relished, just for a moment, the fact that he could make her respond this way. Liz put her hands over his on her stomach and tangled their fingers together. Her actions inadvertently giving him tantalizing glimpses down the neck of her uniform. Max closed his eyes, willing his body’s reaction under control. How on earth was he going to keep his hands off of her while they were back in the camp? Well, maybe being afraid of her father might help!

Liz angled her face so she could kiss Max. "Hey, did everything work out?"

Not really wanting to talk about his morning with a very cruel and angry other alien, Max just nodded his head. "Are things organized here?"

"Yeah. The Sheriff should be here soon and I’ve made sure that someone runs the café while we’re--." Liz faltered when Max slipped two of his fingers between the snaps of her uniform and onto the bare skin of her stomach. "Max…" His touch was making her tremble and she had to struggle to breathe normally. "Max, please…"

He didn’t move. He couldn’t. Maybe they could stay like this forever. He could hold her and touch her incredibly soft skin and her scent could envelope him while her silky hair clung to his cheek. He would be content to live like this... But then Liz shifted in his arms, her body brushing against his and he knew he would never be content with just this. He needed her as close as physically possible as much as possible. He needed to be able to talk to her and hear her wonderful laugh. He needed her support and loyalty. And most of all, he needed her love.

Pulling away reluctantly from Liz, Max smiled at her besotted expression. "Who was the coke for?" He could see Liz was struggling to return to reality and he softly ran his fingers over her cheek, his heart felt like it was bursting with love for her. His Liz.

Grabbing the glass with a glare at Max, Liz made sure that her body touched his when she brushed past him slowly, grinning when she heard him inhale sharply. She turned back after she had rounded the counter, finding his hot gaze on her. "Just getting you back for doing that to me!"

Max grinned and sat down on one of the swivel chairs at the counter, following Liz’s progress through the café with his eyes. He watched as she put the coke in front of a blonde girl and chatted with her for a while. He sighed blissfully. For just a few minutes he could enjoy being a guy in love with a gorgeous girl and imagining that the biggest problem he had to face was working out when he could get her alone and out of that cute uniform. His eyes slid to her cute bottom. The summer had not been entirely wasted on issues alien, he had, for instance, learned that the Crashdown waitress uniform took only a few seconds to remove… His eyes snapped up when he realized the girl Liz was talking to was watching him ogling Liz. He saw a moment of amusement flicker in her eyes before it was replaced with… fear? Max looked at Liz again. He relaxed when she seemed unconcerned by the strange actions of the girl.

"So, still staring at Parker I see! Its great to know some things haven’t changed while I was away this summer." Kyle’s voice interrupted Max’s musings.