His gaze was averted by the strangers sitting beside her. That was odd. There were two other teens that Max didn’t recognize at the table with the rest of the gang. He noticed Isabel, Michael, and Tess eyeing them nervously, while Alex and Maria smiled awkwardly at them. It was sad to admit, but because of their unusual situation, their circle of friend weren’t normally very open to outsiders.

What was strange though was Liz. She smiled openly at the strangers…a open, genuine smile on her face. These two seemed to occupy Liz’s entire attention…she hadn’t even noticed him standing across the quad yet.

She was incredible. The past few days her entire life had been turned upside down: she found out that she was alien in a sense, destined to be Max’s wife, she had run away from home, and yet she could still try to bring new people into her life, and be happy…that was what blew Max away the most. She was completely happy, as if she had forgotten all of the trauma from the past few days.

Max’s gaze drifted across the table from Liz, and he frowned, the peace he had found from Liz’s smile slipping away. Liz may not have noticed his entrance yet, but someone else at the table had.

Tess was staring at him from across the quad, her icy blue eyes locked on him. He shivered, knowing the things he did now. She was a skin, his enemy. He needed to be wary around her.

“Ignore Tess”, He pleaded with himself. “She’s nothing as long as you have Liz. Concentrate on Liz.”

Max locked his gaze on his angel, perched on the bench, as she smiled and gestured wildly to accentuate some story she was telling to the two strangers, who had their backs to him. He glided across the quad towards her, changing his course so he could come up behind her.

Reaching the table, he produced a single white rose that he had been gripping since arriving back on campus, and he slid it over her shoulder and in front of her face.

Liz squealed softly, a natural reaction to her already cheery mood and shot Max an electrifying grin, as he slid onto the bench beside her, slipping an arm over her shoulder.

“Hi.” He whispered softly into her ear.

“Max! I’m so glad you’re here!” She responded eagerly. “Hey, I want you to meet the two new kids that I’m showing around, Alyssa and Matt.”

“Hey.” Max responded, trying to keep a friendly tone in his voice. He had noticed before how the others had responded to the new kids, not necessarily unfriendly, but definitely untrusting. Liz obviously liked them, so Max would do his best to help them too. “Welcome to Roswell.”

“Thanks.” Matt responded with a nervous smile.

“So you cut two classes just to get me a rose?” Liz asked with a slightly seductive grin.

Max chuckled softly. “Okay, you got me there. The rose was just an extra treat. I was taking care of something…we’ll talk about it tonight at home, okay?”

“Excuse me?” Tess interrupted, as her steely gaze swept from Max to Liz, and back again. “At home?”

Max and Liz turned to the rest of the table. They had forgotten that half the people there hadn’t seen either of them in days…not since Isabel’s party. Only Isabel and Michael knew that they were back together, and only Isabel knew about their current living arrangement. Maria and Alex were staring at them with their mouths hanging open in shock, and Tess was glaring hatefully at them. The two new kids on the other hand were grinning openly, almost as if they were thrilled to hear about Max and Liz’s current relationship.

Max and Liz met eyes, throwing slightly ackward, nervous glances at each other, before Max finally spoke.

“Okay, well…Liz and I got back together after Isabel’s party. A lot happened that night…a lot of stuff that I don’t really want to get into right now…” He shot them a look that screamed: Later, and the others knew that it was alien stuff.

“Anyways…” Liz continued. “At the same time here, I’m having some issues with my parents, and I kind of…ran away from home…and moved in with Max. I’ve been living with him the past few days.” Liz looked up and met Max’s eyes, before professing with certainty. “He’s been absolutely wonderful, the way he’s been helping me through it all. I wouldn’t have made it without him.”

As they spoke, completely wrapped up in one another, they barely noticed Tess’s face get redder and redder, as a furious, murderous rage entered her eyes. She suddenly leaped up and turned to the happy couple, screaming aloud.

“You two have no idea what you’re doing! She suddenly leaped up and turned to the happy couple, screaming aloud.

“You two have no idea what you’re doing! You’re ruining everything! I am not going to let you get away with this!” And with that as her final word, Tess turned and ran away from the table, shaking with fury as she headed straight to the parking lot. She needed to get as far from Max Evans as possible…

A worried gaze flew between Max and Liz, as they realized what they might have just done. They were the only ones at the table that knew what Tess really was, and knew what she was truly capable of. They may have just brought a great deal of danger upon them.

Later that afternoon, the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, and one by one the students filed out of the school, heading off to homes and jobs all over Roswell.

Two students headed out on foot, to the old abandoned soap factory on the edge of town. It was the only place they had found where they knew that they could live without attracting unwanted attention.

Alyssa and Matt stepped inside, made sure the building was secured before they began to talk openly.

“I think things went really well today.” Alyssa immediately exclaimed with a smile.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. I mean, we’re enrolled in school, no questions asked, and we’ve established contact with both of them.” Matt agreed.

“She was so nice to us, don’t you think. She accepted us right away, without any hesitation.” Alyssa sighed happily.

“Yeah, and I think he is as well…probably because she is. Did you see the way he looked at her? He’d die for her…without question.”

“And she’d do the same for him.” Alyssa agreed.

“Tess is definitely going to be a problem though.” Matt ventured cautiously.

“But we knew that from the start.” Alyssa reminded her brother. “Skins are always dangerous. I don’t think she knew who we were though, that’s a good thing.”

“Yeah, it will help in the future. The longer she goes without knowing our identities the better. Hopefully we’ll be able to take care of her before she figures us out.”

“Yeah…if the skins find out we’re here…”

“Everyone would be in greater danger…not just us, Max and Liz and everyone else too.”

They fell into a quiet pensive silence, thinking carefully about their position. They had escaped their slavery back home, and now their dream was finally coming true. They were in a position to help Max and Liz in their quest to save their people, and fight the skins.

“God Matt.” Alyssa gasped out in amazement. “Can you believe this is actually happening? I mean…we’ve finally met them…our parents.”