He ran his hands through his hair before answering. "She’s okay. I got there before he could do anything." His voice was tired when he continued. "He was looking for me, Iz. How did he know to come look for me at the Crashdown? How did he know about Liz?"

Isabel sat down next to Max and looked at him worriedly. Her brother seemed… despondent. "Max…" She rubbed her hand over his shoulder, feeling the tension knotting his muscles. "Is there anything I can do?"

Yes, Max thought, help me be normal. But that wasn’t in Isabel’s power. "Just… be careful, okay. They know we’re in Roswell and they’re bound to find all of us sooner or later."

"Don’t worry about us. I’m spending most of my day in Alex’s bedroom--." She swatted his shoulder when she saw his look. "And no! It’s not what you think! Not that you’d be one to talk! But we are doing research on the Internet to try and see if we can’t find something on these other aliens. So far, there isn’t much to find." She took a deep breath before plunging ahead. "But we did find a mention of the possibility that a waitress was shot and healed at the Crashdown in one of the recent UFO Today newsletters…"

Max’s head snapped up. "What!"

"Yeah, uhm… We saw it today. It was printed about three weeks ago. There were no names in the article about who was shot and who did the healing. They didn’t even ID their source."

"So that’s how they found us…" He clenched his hands into fists. Will the one act that forever changed his life for the better, also remain the one thing that will haunt him and every one close to him for the rest of his life? He jumped up from the bed. "There must be some other way for us to solve this thing between the two alien races! I refuse to accept that we will be hunted for the rest of our lives. That Liz and I will never have a…" he swallowed, "… a family."

Isabel inhaled sharply when she saw the torment that flashed in Max’s eyes. Max had so many dreams that kept getting sacrificed to the greater good. Sure, they all had dreams, but theirs were new and mostly unformed. Max, on the other hand, has had years in which to build up the dream of being married to the girl he had always loved. About having a house and children. And about being normal.

"Max, we will work this out. Together." Isabel hugged her brother. "Why don’t you go see Liz? I’ll cover for you with mom and dad."

Max shot her a small smile. "Thanks, Iz, but her parents will kill me." They’ll kill me anyway if they knew what I did with their daughter this afternoon! "I’ll see her early tomorrow."

Isabel smiled at him knowingly. "You hate this, don’t you. Not telling everyone that you two are… well, basically married now."

"I hate a lot more than that. I hate that I can’t be with her every second of the day. I hate that she is in danger because I love her. I hate that I have to rely on other people to help keep her safe. I hate that we will apparently never have a normal life." Max turned to find his sister watching him with a concerned expression. "But I will still take all this over my life before Liz was a part of it any day."

"Max." Isabel’s voice reflected her concern. She had never seen Max so… weary. It was like he was pulling himself through each passing second with the hope that it all would lead to a normal life with Liz in the end. Like that was the only thing that kept him going.

Turning away to stare up at the V-formation in the stars, Max shoved his hands in his pockets. "It’s okay, Iz. Sleep well."

Isabel stared at his back for a few moments, before leaving the room.

Max heard her startled gasp from right outside his door. He swung around to find that one of his recurring nightmares had apparently come true. His mom was filling the doorway, her eyes full of questions.

"Max? What is going on here?" Diane’s voice was uncertain, trying to make sense of what she just heard.

Isabel saw Max’s helpless and terrified look and realized her brother was inches away from coming undone. On top of all the events of the day, he now faced his second biggest fear. Apart from losing Liz forever, Max was most afraid that their mother will find out what they were and stop loving them. In contrast with Max, Isabel held on to the hope that her mother would continue to love her unconditionally, in spite of what she was. "What did you hear, Mom?" Isabel’s voice held a false tone of cheerfulness.

"That… that Max and Liz are… married? That she is in danger? I… I don’t understand?" Diane was floundering, her mind filled with possibilities of the meaning of what she had overheard. She was staring at Max, who had gone completely motionless. Her son’s beautiful eyes were filled with terror. Terror directed at her. Diane couldn’t stand that look in his eyes and she rushed forward, pulling him into an embrace.

"Whatever it is, Max, I’ll understand!" She pulled away slightly, asking the question that had immediately popped into her mind when she had heard Max and Isabel talking. "Is… is Liz pregnant?" Her heart started beating again when she saw Max’s complete shock at her question.

"No Mom! Liz is not pregnant!" Isabel spoke up for her brother who still seemed unable to get his throat to work. "You know Max, he worries about everything! And there was this gunman at the café this afternoon that tried to shoot Liz. Max is just overreacting about the whole thing." Isabel realized she was babbling, but she couldn’t stop herself. "That’s why we love Max, he overreacts about everything! Especially about Liz…" She kicked herself at the last statement, knowing it had brought their mother’s attention back to the issue at hand: Max and Liz.

"I heard about the incident at the café and that Liz is okay… Then what’s this about marriage?"

When he finally spoke up, Max’s voice was low and full of feeling. "I’ve asked Liz to marry me." He locked gazes with a speechless Diane. "She’s said yes."

Diane walked towards Max’s bed on unsteady legs. "Honey, you are seventeen. How can you two be thinking of marriage? I mean, I know you love her very much…"

"Mom, I have never loved anyone else in my life. Only always Liz. I know what I want. What I need. Its Liz."

Staring up at her son, Diane Evans again saw a grown man. She suddenly realized that she couldn’t remember when Max had ever been a boy. It seemed that he had moved from being a child to a man without becoming a boy in between. He had become a young man without her noticing. With this realization, the concern about what exactly was happening between Max and Liz reared its head again. "I can see that you’re serious about Liz. Are you two… are you having sex?"

Max looked at her steadily. This was one lie he wasn’t prepared to continue with. "Yes."

~*~*~*~*~*~

Liz couldn’t sleep. Something was going on with Max, she could feel it. His emotions were like a roller-coaster and she guessed something was happening with his parents or Izzy. She desperately wanted to call him, but had to wait until she was sure she wouldn’t be interrupting anything. Once again she wished she could be with him whenever he needed her. Instead she could only close her eyes and concentrate on how much she loved him and hope he would feel it. My Max. My everything.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Both Diane and Isabel stared at Max open-mouthed after his confession. Isabel was sure Max had finally lost it. Was he insane for admitting that to her mother? Her mom would probably take the news of them being aliens better than what she had just heard!

Max was watching Diane with something akin to contentment on his face. It felt good to finally be honest with her about something. His mom, on the other hand, seemed unable to form a coherent response and various expressions flitted across her face: shock, concern, admiration, disappointment and finally, relief.

"I’m glad you felt you could tell me this, Max. I don’t think you are doing the right thing, but at least now we can talk about it." Diane was trying very hard to sound reasonable so she didn’t send Max back into that aloof world where he had seemed to live before Liz Parker came into his life. "Do her parents know about this?"