He was nervous… Max couldn’t deny that. It has been over a year since he had saved Liz’s life, opening himself up to her for the first time, and openly falling in love with her. Never once in that year, had he faced Liz’s parents alone, without her by his side. She had faced his own mother that very morning. Liz knew where she stood with his parent, but he had no idea what Liz’s parents thought of him, and now he was going to find out.

What Max was there to do, in and of itself, was easy for him. He was there to support Liz, to protect Liz. That was easy…it had been coming naturally to him for two lifetimes now.

Max looked up towards the flashing Crashdown sign. Nervous as he may be, Liz needed this, and he would do anything for Liz.

He stepped out of the jeep, and headed for the restaurant door, determination in his stride.

Jeff Parker sat at the counter in his restaurant, his financial books spread out in front of him, as he calculated his earnings of the previous day, like he did most mornings.

There was so much work to be done. Once he finished balancing the books, he needed to do a supply inventory, and prepare the food order for the next week.

All of it was work that Liz normally helped him with.

Jeff sighed, and set down his pencil, rubbing his brow in frustration.

He had been trying to get his work done, but he wasn’t accomplishing anything. His mind kept drifting back to his daughter.

They hadn’t heard a word from her since she left, and he was worried sick about her. Where had she gone? What was she doing? Could his baby girl survive on her own without their support? Was she still here in town…or had she left Roswell to get away from them.

Jeff desperately wanted to contact the school to see if she showed up today, or her friends. He wanted to find her and bring her home.

But he didn’t have the right.

He and Nancy were the ones at fault here. They were the ones who lied to their daughter. They had pushed her away, without even meaning to, by a decision that they had made when she was just a little girl. They didn’t even think of the way that decision would effect her in the future.

It was their fault. Liz had every reason to hate them.

Jeff truly believed that all they needed to do was give Liz some time away from them to calm down. When she was ready, Liz would come back to them.

Nancy fought him bitterly about it, claiming that they needed to bring Liz home and keep her here. They were her parents, even if she was adopted, and she belonged home with them, but Jeff put his foot down, ending the discussion.

The bells on the front door jingled as someone walked into the otherwise empty café, and Jeff turned to greet them. His jaw dropped in surprise at the sight of Max Evans walking towards him, a determined look in his eyes.

Jeff stood, abandoning his work, and turned to the boy.

“Max!” Jeff greeted him, relief edging into his voice as he firmly shook his hand.

“Mr. Parker.” Max responded in that quiet voice of his.

“Call me Jeff.”

“Okay…Jeff.”

“How’s Lizzie…is she doing okay?” He asked desperately.

“She’s about as well as can be expected, considering the circumstances.” Max replied, his eyes darkening with emotion.

Jeff nodded in understanding, amazed at the protective tone he heard in Max’s voice.

“What can I do for you, Max? Aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

“Yeah…I needed to talk to you though, and I figured this would be the best time…when there’s no one around.”

“Okay.” Jeff gestured towards a nearby booth. “Can I get you anything? Coffee? Tea? Soda? Alien Blast?”

Max chuckled softly as he slid into the booth, remembering Liz’s idea of an alien blast.

“No, I’m okay. Thanks though. Let’s just talk.”

Jeff sat opposite him, and searched the boy’s eyes for any sign of what was going on.

“Does she know you’re here?” He asked.

“No…not yet. But she will. She and I don’t keep any secrets from one another.”

“Like I do.” Jeff responded sadly.

“I wasn’t insinuating that.” Max protested gently. He didn’t want to give Liz’s father the wrong idea. He didn’t come here to place the blame. He came here to help them understand what she needed right now.

“No…it’s okay.” Jeff sighed. “It’s true.”

Max nodded in agreement. “That may be so, but I didn’t come here today to throw accusations at you. I just want to try and help you understand what she’s feeling right now.”

“And what makes you think you can do that?”

Jeff and Max both looked up at the bitter voice that jumped in on them, surprised to see Nancy Parker standing near the door of the café.

“Mrs. Parker.” Max greeted her, desperately trying to keep his voice pleasant. “Why don’t you join us? What I have to say is for both of you.”

Jeff slid over, allowing Nancy to sit beside him, and immediately Nancy turned her suspicious eyes on Max.

“What makes you think that you can possibly understand what Liz is feeling right now? How can you possibly be so bold as to claim to represent her best interests?”

“Because I do understand where Liz is coming from. I’m adopted too.” Max explained. “Liz never told you that about me, did she?”

“Lizzie never told us much of anything about you.” Jeff told him. “It seems like every time we brought you up in the conversation, she just locked up, dropped silent. She never talked about you. The little that we know we practically had to wrestle out of her, and even that isn’t very much.”

Max nodded. It made sense. Everything about his relationship with Liz was based on secrets. It was the nature of their lives because of who and what they both were. They could never tell their parents the story of how they fell in love, because it was based on secrets. Everything that tied them together were things that they had to keep concealed from the world. It was impossible for him to even begin to explain to them the depths of their love for each other, because their connection was completely unnatural. The Parkers would never believe him, or even be able to understand what he and Liz shared.

Max could tell them something though, a little bit of the history of his ‘human life’. Maybe that, if nothing else could help them understand where he and Liz were coming from.

“When I was six, my parents…my adoptive parents…found me and my sister, Isabel, wandering along a highway in the desert. They took us in and raised us as their own children, loving us from the moment they found us. I don’t remember anything about my life before that day. The only thing is that my parents were always open with me about my past. But I know that if they hadn’t been, and I found out the truth, I’d be feeling really angry and confused right now.”

“Is that how Liz is feeling? Angry and confused?” Nancy asked.

“Angry, confused, and hurt, to put it simply. I think her feelings go beyond that though.”

“It’s understandable, Nancy.” Jeff reminded his wife. “She did just find out that we’ve been lying to her all of her life.”

“We did it to protect her!” Nancy protested.

“That doesn’t make it right.” Jeff insisted.

Tears filled Nancy’s eyes, and she wiped them away angrily. “I know.” She whispered.

“What can we do for her?” Jeff asked Max. “I mean, is there anything?”

“Just give her some time.” Max suggested softly. “She loves you both very much…that’s why this is hurting her so much. She just needs time to let it all sink in, and to cool herself off. She’ll come to you when she’s ready. Until then, all I can do is promise you that I’m taking good care of her…I won’t let anything bad happen to her.”

Nancy’s head shot up, and she sent Max a sharp, piercing look. “She’s staying with you?”

Max sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He hadn’t meant to tell them that, but he didn’t want to lie to them.

“Yeah…she’s staying with me and my family.”

“And your parents are okay with that?” Nancy asked, knowing full well that she would never in a million years let Max move into her home.

“My dad doesn’t know, because he’s out of town on business, but my mom’s okay with it. She knows how important Liz is to me…she’s the one who suggested that I come and talk to you, in fact.”

“Will you thank your mom for us?” Jeff asked. “And let us know if we can do anything more.”

Max nodded. “Of course.”

Nancy shot up out of her seat, staring at her husband in astonishment. “Jeff, you aren’t possibly going to support this? Liz is only sixteen! She shouldn’t be living with her boyfriend!”

“Nancy…” Jeff soothed. “It’s out of our hands. We don’t have any say on what Liz does right now…we won’t until she comes back to us. We gave up that right the day we lied to her. Maybe Max is what she needs right now. We have to trust our daughter. We may have made some mistakes, but we did raise her to know what’s right and wrong, and we have to give her the benefit of the doubt here. She’ll come home when she’s ready. Until then…just let it be.” Jeff turned his gaze back to Max. “Take care of our daughter for us, Max. Although if you love her as much as I think you do, that should be easy for you.”