Liz, on the other hand, woke up feeling nauseous again. The first fingers of dawn were creeping over the horizon and this time she literally sneaked from the bed so as not to wake Max. Huddling on the floor in the bathroom, the nausea didn’t go away, but at least she wasn’t being physically sick this time. She didn’t want Max to know how scared she was, because that would only make him more upset about the fact that she was leaving. And besides, she was just being a child about all this. None of her fears were going to realize! Max would not let Tess get to him. He was stronger now… and closer to Liz than ever before.

When she felt a little better after drinking some water, Liz went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. A huge bunch of white roses stood on the counter, making her smile because Max had obviously intended to give it to her last night. He was so sweet!

Max came awake with a start, panicking for a moment because Liz wasn’t next to him before his senses registered the smell of coffee and breakfast permeating the small apartment. Liz appeared next to the bed with a tray in her hands and his heart melted as she smiled at him sweetly. "You didn’t have to."

"I know. I wanted to." She sat down across from him and placed the tray between them.

Max grinned when he saw the single white rose she had added to the tray. "I’m sorry, I wanted to give them to you last night, but we sort of got side-tracked."

"Yes, we did. But it was worth it."

She looked so beautiful to him, perched on the bed in one of his old T-shirts, looking tousled and sexy. "But I had this whole plan of seducing you with a rose…" he said with gleaming eyes.

Liz glanced at the clock and grinned back at him. "Well, we have two hours before we have to leave…"

His eyes turned dark, a sure sign that she was getting to him, but he made her eat some of her omelet first, claiming that it would be a long time before he could look after her again. When he was satisfied that she had eaten enough, he took the tray to the kitchen and returned with the roses. He made Liz stretch out on the bed on her stomach and proceeded caressing her all over, first with a rose and then with his mouth… until she begged him to make love to her. It was another slow and gentle union, tinged again with sadness and a little desperation because this would be the last time for a while. When they got up to shower much later, rose petals were scattered all over their bed and the floor… and some were even stuck in Liz’s hair.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The drive to Albuquerque was conducted in silence. Liz wiped at the tears threatening to overflow from her eyes every few minutes and Max gripped her hand and clenched his jaw to try and control his feelings. This would have been so much easier if he didn’t worry about Liz’s stress-related sickness and about Tess and Nacedo basically breathing down their necks. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore and pulled to the side of the road before lifting Liz into his lap. He wiped the tears from her cheeks and brought her hand with their engagement ring to his lips. "God, I’m going to miss you so much!"

Liz just nodded, not able to speak around the lump in her throat. She suddenly threw her arms around him and kissed him desperately, willing him to see all her emotions through their connection. Their tears mixed on their lips as they kissed.

Please be safe!

Please be careful.

I love you.

I love YOU.

Nick was waiting for them when they arrived at the airport. He gave them one look and took Liz’s luggage before going off to get it sorted out.

Liz’s hand was going numb from the crushing grip Max had on it. But she didn’t complain, it was comforting that she wasn’t the only one coming apart at the seams. If only she could stop the stupid tears from rolling down her cheeks incessantly, then maybe she would be able to get on the plane with some dignity. That didn’t seem to be a possibility right now though, because the closer they got to the checkout counter, the worse the ache in her heart became. "Max…"

He stopped and turned towards her immediately, his eyes clouding over when he saw the tear tracks on her face. "Let’s get you booked in, then we’ll talk, okay?"

The task was completed soon, with neither Max nor Liz noticing the interested and sympathetic looks from the airport staff. Max left Liz briefly to talk to Nick for a few minutes, after which Nick left for the departure hall to wait for Liz.

Watching him walk back to her, Liz had trouble not flying into his arms. She might as well have, since Max pulled her into a fierce hug as soon as he reached her.

The woman behind the counter watched the couple embrace and marveled that after all her years of working in this small airport, she still got to witness something new every once in a while. It was clear that the impending separation was breaking the hearts of the young couple in front of her. She heard their whispers of love and wondered how two people could look so much a part of each other at such a young age. They were teens, that was clear, but the way the intense young man held the beautiful girl close to his heart was breathtaking to see and it made her long for something similar.

Max kissed Liz softly, his lips tracing a loving a trail across her face before he leant his forehead against hers.

"I love you, Max. So much. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through two weeks without you…" Liz bit her lip to stop its quivering.

Her words made Max come to a decision. He had wanted to surprise her, but seeing her so sad was killing him. "Sweetie, I’m coming up to see you next weekend." Her head jerked up and the light that started to grow in her eyes assured him he was making the right choice by telling her. "My mom has to go to Boston to see some clients. She said I could go with—"

"Max!" Liz cried. She hugged him closer, joy starting to dissipate some of her sadness. He lifted her up and swung her around in a small circle before sliding her back to her feet and kissing her breathless. The kiss was long, intense and deep and spoke of a love that transcended time and distance.

When they finally pulled apart, a chorus of applause broke out around them. Both Max and Liz flushed when they saw the small crowd of spectators beaming at them. The moment was short-lived though, as they heard the call for Liz’s flight. Ignoring all the people still milling about, Max turned to Liz. "Call me, okay? About anything. And if you feel sick again—"

Liz stopped him with her finger on his mouth. "I promise." The tears were welling up in her eyes again. "I’ll miss you!"

He just nodded and kissed her again before dropping his arms from her slowly and stepping back. He had to shove his hands into his pockets to keep them from hauling her back into his arms and taking off with her to someplace they would never have to be apart again.

Blinded by her tears, Liz hurried away from him. I’m coming back, I’m coming back, she repeated to herself as she walked. She had no idea where she was going and was relieved when she felt an arm encircle her shoulder and Nick’s familiar voice telling her to come with him.

Bracing himself against the glass with one arm, Max stood at the window and watched her plane take off, his mind frantically clinging to the link of their connection. As the plane grew smaller in the blue sky, he had to sink into the nearest chair following the disorientation that resulted from the rapid fading of his connection to Liz. He sat resting with his head in his hands, waiting for the dizziness to pass so he could go home. Home to Roswell… alone.

Tess watched his pathetic actions from the other side of the hall. She had never seen such a sad display of emotions from two people, one of whom were supposed to be this strong leader of a whole race! Oh wait, she HAD seen such displays before, and, not surprisingly, the same two people were involved. She saw Max stagger to his feet after a few minutes. Good. He is weak. That will help a lot.

Lying back in her seat with her eyes closed, Liz finally managed to get herself under some sort of control. Nick had gotten her onto the plane and into her seat and he was now sitting beside her, reading quietly. She was already missing Max, it felt like a hollow void had appeared where her heart used to be and the fact that their connection had died down to a barely discernable whisper at the edge of her consciousness didn’t help much.

Nick watched from the corner of his eye as Liz took a few deep breaths and squared her shoulders. He smiled slightly. Not that he needed any reaffirmation, his "experiment" with the two of them last year already proved how intense Max and Liz’s connection and love were, but seeing them this morning made him glad his people hadn’t decided to force their young leader into a bonding Max would have hated. It was still weird to him sometimes, to accept the human way of choosing a mate through love and not have one thrust upon you by your parents and then made acceptable through genetic coding.

"Thank you, Nick."

He started at Liz’s sudden quiet statement. "For what?"

"For always being there for Max and I." She looked at him with her serious brown eyes and Nick understood a little more of Max’s complete devotion to this girl. She inspired it so effortlessly. "I mean you have your own wife and here you are going off with me because Max asked you." She faltered a bit before asking: "Why are you doing it?"

It was his turn to look serious. "Because he asked me to." It was a simple answer that said so much about his relationship with Max. It said that he was doing it because technically Max was his superior and could order him to do anything and he would obey. It also said that he was doing it precisely because Max had ASKED him and not ordered him. Nick had come to respect Max Evans for who he was, so when Max arrived at his home with the tale of Nacedo and Tess’ reactions to him being bonded with Liz, Nick knew he would help him. It angered Nick to no end that Nacedo had become so self-righteous while living on this planet. It was completely crazy that they would have to protect their leader and his mate from one of their own.

"I can hardly feel him anymore," Liz said sadly.

Nick understood immediately. She was talking about her connection with Max. He smiled at her bent head. "I can help you with that…"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Arriving back in Roswell, Max headed to his parents’ house. He didn’t really want to go to their apartment, its emptiness would just remind him of Liz’s absence. He was actually not surprised to find his sister and three friends waiting for him around the kitchen table when he entered his old home.

Maria jumped up first, coming over to hug him. "Are you okay?"

Max just nodded. His mind going to Liz instinctively. Was she okay? Did she feel sick again? He glanced at his watch, wondering how long before she would call to say she had arrived in Boston safely…

"We’re taking you bowling, Max," Isabel announced, getting up from the table.

Max couldn’t help but be amused. He had trouble picturing Isabel and Michael in a bowling alley! But hey, he needed something to take his mind off the fact that Liz was steadily flying further and further away from him. "Okay, but I have to go to work later this afternoon."

~*~*~*~*~*~