"Hey Max," Jeff sounded upbeat, but his face turned serious when he saw Max’s look of concern. "What’s wrong? Where’s Lizzie?"

Gesturing towards the back room, Max said: "That teacher took her back there. What did she talk to you about?"

Jeff was frowning now. "She wanted to know if we were aware of the fact that you two seemed too close. I told her that we were well aware of how serious you two were about your relationship and that the school should only concern itself with your grades."

The two most important men in Liz’s life shared a look, before Max got up from the table. "Let’s go see what’s going on…"

Relief flooded through Liz as the backroom door swung open to reveal Max and Jeff, both with mirroring determined expressions.

Mrs. Moore blanched when she was faced with all three of them.

"Is there a problem that I’m not aware of?" Jeff asked her.

"Ah… no, I just wanted to make sure everything was fine with Liz," Mrs. Moore replied.

Max took Liz’s hand in his, squeezing it in support.

"Everything is just wonderful, Mrs. Moore," Liz said quietly while moving closer to Max.

Jeff had had enough. "Mrs. Moore, I would appreciate it if the school butts out of my children’s private lives. They are doing exceptionally well in school and that is all that you need to worry about. Trust me when I say that neither Max nor Liz has been hiding anything about themselves from us or the Evans’. I trust them. Also, Max is already 18 and Liz will be 18 soon, so I guess what they do in their off time is up to them. Surely you have better things to do than go around checking up on students after hours?"

Both Max and Liz stared at Jeff in amazement. He normally cannot be described as a vocal person and here he was telling off their teacher!

Mrs. Moore seemed at a loss as to what to say to Jeff. She gaped at all of them for a few seconds and then mumbled: "Well, everything is fine then so I’ll… just leave."

Max hugged Liz against him when the teacher left with Jeff in tow. "What do you say we kick this dive and go home? To OUR home," he whispered in her ear.

Nodding against his shoulder, Liz inhaled his scent deeply. She loved being close to him and being able to smell him. It was such a unique Max scent: warm, exotic, exiting and sexy. And right now, it made her want to be with him so badly. To be able to press her skin against his. Yes, Max Evans had put a force on her…

~*~*~*~*~*~

***ONE WEEK LATER***

Liz rolled over onto her stomach and found Max’s side of the bed empty. She opened one eye to see the time on the bedside clock. Too early for him to be up yet. The next moment, something soft slid over her bare shoulder. Shivering, Liz tried to turn over, but Max covered her back with his chest, nuzzling her cheek before placing light little kisses all over the side of her face.

"Happy birthday, sleepyhead," he said softly, his breath feathering over her sensitive skin. "How does it feel to be 18?"

"Hmmm…" She contemplated the sensation of the warm skin of Max’s bare chest sliding over her back as his one hand gently moved her hair away from her neck and spread it over the pillow. "I’m liking it so far."

He reared away from her a bit and this time she saw what it was that he was sliding across her skin. It was a white rose. Max used it to trace all of her features, taking his time with her mouth, still keeping her virtually pinned underneath him.

"Max!" she gasped, desperately wanting to be able to touch him back.

"No, wait," he said. "This is the first time I’m making love to you legally and I intend to do it thoroughly."

He caressed the indentation of her spine with the rose, slowly pushing the sheet that covered her lower. Then he followed the same path with his lips. Finally, he tore the sheet away completely, leaving her totally bare to his eyes. Instead of continuing his caresses, he carefully fit his body to hers, not lying on top of her, but covering just enough of her so that she could feel his skin next to hers. She lay facing away from him and he pressed his cheek against hers again. "I love you, Liz," he stated simply.

Tangling her fingers with his, Liz felt like her heart was going to burst with happiness. "And I love you."

Curling his arm around her waist, he moved her onto her side, still facing away from him and pressed his face into her hair. "You mean everything to me…"

Liz inhaled sharply. "Thank you, Max, for not giving up on me. Ever." Last time he had said those words Liz had felt like her heart was being ripped out. She had known then that he meant them, but also that a destiny he didn’t ask for didn’t allow him to mean them. Walking away from him with those words ringing in her ears had hurt so much she could hardly breathe. This time she knew he meant the words too. And this time, he was allowed to say them. And that made her gloriously happy.

He allowed her to turn towards him and she faced him, her heart clenching at the blinding joy she could see in his eyes. "I’m going to do my best to always make you this happy, Max," she promised him, touching her fingers to his mouth.

Rolling them over unexpectedly, Max settled his body on top of Liz’s, again marveling at how tiny she really was. So tiny and yet so made for him.

Liz held her breath until he angled his head and tasted her soft mouth with a devastatingly direct hunger that shot right down to her toes. Her lips burned and her thighs trembled as he rimmed her parted lips with the tip of his tongue, teasing her, making her desperate for his invasion of her mouth. When his tongue finally tangled with hers, it electrified her, tore a moan from her throat and sent her hands into his hair, pulling him closer for more.

Their connection flared to life, showering them in images of themselves, entwined in passion and lost within each other. Max trembled against her and she knew he was trying to keep himself in control so he could pay full attention to what he was doing to her. The rose he had been caressing her with lay forgotten next to them on the bed as his hands shaped her curves, trailing fire where they went.

Max fought his own urgency as he watched Liz’s reaction with dark, heated eyes. She arched underneath him, her head flung back and her eyes shut tightly as she instinctively tried to get closer to his arousal. He teased her by keeping his body just far enough away that she couldn’t quite manage to touch him properly.

She reached up to him suddenly, finding his mouth again for herself and parting her lips to the invasion of his tongue. He shuddered violently against her, his control slipping as he kissed her back with raw, hungry force.

His hand slipped lower, touching her intimately, making her whimper and writhe underneath him. "When you respond like that, all I can think about is being inside you." It was a groan against her lips, his voice hoarse with passion.

"Then please… please, Max!" she begged. And he complied, entering her slowly to extend their pleasure. He gripped her hips, halting her frantic movements against him, changing her rhythm to fit his. He kept their advance to that final peak gradual, making sure that the release would be explosive. And he held Liz tightly as she shuddered in his arms, his name tumbling from her lips with that little catch in her voice that he loved so much. He watched as she came undone in his embrace, her fingers digging into his shoulders and her breathing rapid and labored. This was his Liz. The one no one but him had ever seen…

She finally opened her eyes and wrapped her legs around his hips. Her voice was still husky when she promised: "Your turn, Max…" And sent him over the edge with a small movement of her hips.

"Oh god, Liz…" Coherence left him as he rode out the storm she had stirred up inside him. And for a few exquisite moments, Liz Parker was in complete control of the leader of an entire alien race…

~*~*~*~*~*~

She was all dressed up and had no idea where she was going. Liz smoothed her hair once again as her eyes wandered to the Harvard acceptance letter that lay on her dresser. Max had finally gotten around to give it to her this morning and she had promptly burst into tears with joy. Her dream of studying molecular biology at Harvard was coming true. And even better, she was going there with Max…

The school day had been uneventful, apart from her friends surprising her with a cupcake and a birthday candle during lunch in the quad. And, of course, Maria doing a loud rendition of "Happy Birthday to You" which made them the center of attention and made Liz dive into Max’s shoulder to hide her face.

Oh, and Max dragging her into the Eraser Room saying that this was the last time he could make-out with her on her birthday in this little room. And boy did he make it count! Okay, so the day had not really been uneventful…

Now, here she was, waiting for Max to finish dressing so he could take her out to dinner somewhere. She fingered the chain around her neck carrying her engagement ring absently. Max had given her a delicate charm bracelet for her birthday, one that had little stars and planets hanging from it. He had had a lopsided grin on his face when she opened it, saying he had thought it was a fitting gift.

Max halted in the door of their room, watching Liz sit at the dresser. She looked ethereal with the lights dancing from her hair and turning her smooth skin into the color of moonlight. She took his breath away. He watched as she turned towards him, a smile lighting up her whole face. "Lord, you’re beautiful…" he said wonderingly.

Liz blushed and stood up, suddenly unnerved by his intense appraisal. "And you are biased."

Smiling, he countered: "So what if I am?" He caught her hands when she reached him and kissed her softly on the tip of her nose. "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Max told her that his parents wanted to wish her happy birthday in person and that they had to stop by his old house first. Diane and Philip met them in the hallway, hugging Liz before taking her into the den where all her friends and her parents were congregated.

"Surprise!" Maria yelled. When she noticed she was the only one she glared at her friends: "How do you all expect to graduate when you can’t even follow simple instructions?" The same thing had happened during Michael’s birthday party and Maria was getting tired of trying to teach them how to throw a successful surprise party.

Liz was happy nonetheless and she finally got Maria to stop calling their friends names. She got more presents, among others a sweater from Isabel with tiny buttons down the front that Isabel claimed was actually a present to Max, causing him to squirm in embarrassment and everyone else to laugh at his discomfort. She also got a leather case from her parents who could finally beam at her proudly about Harvard.

It was late when Max finally pulled her to her feet and the room went quiet. Still holding on to her hands, he took a deep breath before saying: "Liz, I-I talked to your parents and… I asked them if I could marry you."

Liz stopped breathing as his hands found the chain around her neck and lifted his engagement ring from its nestling place between her breasts. The ring was still warm from her body heat when he slipped it onto her finger.

"They said yes." His eyes met hers unwaveringly. "So will you please wear this on your finger from now on? And never take it off again? And marry me soon?"

He smiled as he watched her eyes fill with tears because he knew her answer before she even said it out loud. Yes! "Yes."

Applause broke out around them as they kissed softly.

"Finally!" Michael grouched.

"Oooh, a wedding!" Maria’s gleeful voice.

"I’m choosing my own bride’s maid dress!" Isabel sounded firm.

"Oh god! Another wedding!" Alex whined.