Liz opened her mouth to speak, but Max rushed in ahead of her. "I mean, will you marry me when we graduate? I know we can’t right now, but I want… no, I NEED to hear you say yes very much right now. Liz, no one will ever love you like I do."

Liz placed her fingers on Max’s lips, stopping any further talking. She was amazed that he could still be uncertain about her answer. How could he doubt that he was the person she wanted to be with forever? But she knew the answer to that question. Because more than anything, Max still feared that she would one day want someone normal. A small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Like that was even possible!

"Yes." Soft and definite.

Max’s eyes widened for a moment and then filled with tears. Happy tears. Relieved tears. Tears that showed Liz how much he had wanted that to be her answer. And confirmed once again that she would never find anyone to take Max’s place in her heart, in this galaxy or any other.

Max crushed her against him, his face pressed in her neck. His aching lungs were reminding him to breathe, but he could care less about air now. How does that compare with Liz Parker saying she’ll marry him? He felt like he was floating on a cloud. Giddy and dizzy and indescribably happy.

Liz ran her hands over his back, trying to comfort him. He seemed really overcome with emotion and she marveled at the fact that she had such power over him. It was an ego-boosting realization, but one she must never misuse. Besides, he had the same power over her…

Max rolled to his side, pulling Liz with him. He caressed her face as they lay staring at each other with their faces inches apart on the same pillow. "Wow. We just… wow!"

Liz grinned against his fingers that were now tracing her lips. "It took you long enough to notice that I am now officially ruined, Mr Evans!"

Max’s half-smile had a devastating effect on her as always. "Hey, if that means nobody but me gets to do this with you for the rest of your life, that’s fine by me!" He became serious again. "Are you okay? Nothing… uhm weird going on?"

Liz shook her head, still smiling. Max would never change! She suddenly yawned.

Max tucked her hair behind her ear. "Go to sleep, love."

"What about you? Aren’t you tired too?" Her eyes were already closing. Max was safely back in her arms and all was well in her little world.

"Yeah. But not too tired to watch you sleep for a little while." He kissed her forehead and whispered. "I have dreamt of this moment for as long as I can remember… I love you, Liz Parker."

"Love you too… Thank you for making this so special…" Her words were mumbled against his chest. She fell asleep with Max’s heartbeat in her ear.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Journal Entry 32

We held our breath until they returned. This wasn’t part of the original experiment, but we needed to know anyway. Was it possible? Did our plan work?

The Jeep came to a halt amid a hushed silence in the camp the next evening. Max and Liz looked at each other. It was clear that everyone had been waiting for their return. It felt really strange being among these people when so much in their lives had changed in the past 24 hours.

If Michael didn’t have Maria in a firm grip, she would have run to Liz screaming. Liz LOOKED fine to her. Does that mean…?

Max took pity on his friends who were very obviously dying of curiosity and asked them to have coffee with him and Liz in the dining tent. The six assembled around a table and all eyes were on Liz who was trying very hard to hide her burning face in Max’s shoulder.

Maria finally couldn’t take it anymore. "So! What happened! Did you… Was everything normal?"

"Jeesh, Maria, be blunt, why don’t ya!" Michael didn’t sound as annoyed as he should have.

Max sighed, taking Liz’s hand. "Everything is… fine. Normal. Okay? Okay! Subject closed from now on." He stared at each of them in turn, causing all the open mouths to snap shut again. Noticing Nick at the door of the tent, he waved him in. "What has happened to Jans and his people?"

Nick looked away. "They have been taken care of."

Max froze. "What do you mean ‘taken care of’?"

"I mean he will never bother anyone again. We really have to discuss some things, Max. Like Liz and the others returning home to their parents soon."

A shocked silence greeted that statement. Go home? Parents? They had all just assumed that Nick had taken care of that. Things had been so abnormal since they arrived at the camp that they had just lived in the moment.

Max was crushing Liz’s hand with his. He felt ill at the thought that she had to leave. "Okay. So tell us what is going on?"

Nick had trouble not grinning. It was clear that his young leader was very unwilling for his love to leave the camp. "Well, we let them think that you all went off on a two week camping trip with a group from school."

Liz was getting agitated. She looked at Max, remembering last night and… this morning. Boy, were her parents going to freak if they knew what their little girl had been doing while ‘camping’! "How did you do that? They would never just believe…"

Nick stopped her by raising his hand. "They spoke to all of you the next morning and watched you being picked up by the bus. It's similar to what Tess can do… We thought it best to handle it that way. The point is, the parents are expecting you back day after tomorrow."

A collective gasp was heard from around the table.

Max spoke first. "What about our training and all the other stuff that was so important that you brought us here." His voice had an underlying tone of anger. "What is going on here? You can’t expect us to fight a war-."

Nick held up his hand for the second time. "There is much you need to know. About our planet, about your real parents, about why you are here. Not just here in the camp, but here on earth. The time has finally come to tell you everything..."