“Max.” That sultry voice that always made his heart leap called him. His whole body jerked towards the sound and there he found his goddess, lying carefree in the pillows of grass. A light, lively smile played amongst her desirable lips. Max fell to his knees beside his beauty and scooped her tightly into his arms.

“Liz,” he cried, his lips dancing across the sweet flesh of her body. “Oh god, Liz, I’m so sorry- I should have- you’re all right- I love you- Liz, never again-”

“Max!” Liz yelped, pulling herself from the tangle of his body. She placed her hands on both sides of his head and stared directly into the anxious amber eyes that never ceased to melt her. “Max,” said Liz, a bit more softly. “I’m fine. See?” She gestured to her unharmed body. “All okay.” Max smiled at her antics and pulled her close again, kissing her cheek tenderly.

“I love you, Liz,” Max whispered softly into her ear. Liz smiled, nuzzling her head into the comfort of his chest. Maybe this was just a dream world for right now, but it would do, and Max’s dream body was just as delightful as in reality. She felt Max’s fingers twined themselves around strands of her hair, and she recognized the feeling of just wanting to touch the one you loved so much.

“Liz, where are you?” asked Max. Liz slightly pulled away, looking up at Max.

“I don’t know, and I don’t know where we’re going. We’ve been driving ever since we left Roswell. We’ve stopped, maybe, twice. Every time I ask Adam where he plans to go, he just mumbles incoherently.” Liz shrugged helplessly.

“But you’re ok, right?” An edge of anxiety sharpened Max’s question. Liz reached up with her hand and stroked his face lightly.

“I’m fine,” she said, smiling at him. She wondered if they could just stay here, just live in this dream world of theirs. No one could hurt them here and nothing would ever interfere with them loving each other.

“You know, it’s not very nice to make people fall asleep when in the middle of something,” Max teased. Although he had been running around like a chicken with its head chopped off just moments ago, his body was now calm and collected. Only Liz could do that. Only Liz could make him want to walk to the moon and back just to touch her for one, single moment.

“Oh really? And what were you doing that’s oh-so important, more important than yours truly?”

“Well, now that you put it that way…” Max leaned into her and kissed her passionately, his arms snaked around her waist. He was afraid to stop touching her. He was afraid to let go. He was afraid she’d never come back. And that terrified, because without Liz, there was no Max.

“LIZ!” Liz turned to see a running Isabel coming near her. Max unintentionally tightened his grip on Liz, but she tugged away and went to Isabel, much to Max’s dismay. The two girls hugged, feeling as if they were friends who had lost years of their lives together.

“I saw Max passed out, and I connected with him to make sure everything was all right. And lookie at what I found!” She motioned towards the two of them. She twisted her body towards Max and smacked him a good one on the arm. “You scared the shit out of me, and the rest of us.” Max rolled his eyes.

“Excuse me, but Miss Parker here pulled me into sleep land.” Liz just stuck her tongue out at them.

“As much as I love you all teasing me, I assume that I have three other people waiting to see if Max is dead or not.” Liz winked and faded momentarily. Max stiffened at the loss of Liz. He knew she was just connecting with Michael, Maria and Alex, but the prompt Isabel had cut his alone time with Liz short.

Michael, Maria and Alex all found themselves embedded in the green field as they too, joined the group. Maria shrieked when she saw Liz, and dashed to her side. Her best friend quickly swallowed her in a choking hug. She felt the tears already pouring down her shoulder from Maria.

“Oh, girlfriend! You’re alive! I’m so glad to find you in one piece!” Liz pried herself away from Maria’s chokehold, and smacked her lightly on the arm.

“First you choke me and then you remind me of my crappy situation.” Maria knew Liz was joking, but she started to cry again. Liz instantly felt bad for her comment and let Maria engulf her into another suffocating hug. Liz looked pleadingly towards Alex, who just nodded and smiled.

“You know, Deluca, you might want to let her breathe now and again,” Alex ribbed. Maria flashed her glaring eyes at the boy, but she reluctantly pulled away. Alex wrapped Liz in a quick hug, and kissed her cheek softly. “I’m so glad to see you,” he whispered into her ear quietly. She smiled at his tenderness, and nodded at him.

Liz didn’t expect the bear hug from Michael, though. It was as bad as Maria’s, if not worse.

“I’m so sorry,” Michael murmured. “I wish I had helped you. Don’t you worry; I’m going to make sure everything turns out right. No one is going to touch you or even think about touching you. I’ll kill them before they get the chance. Liz, you’re going to be all right-”

“Michael! I know! I think it’s you who need the pep talk,” Liz replied. She pulled out of his embrace, and grinned up at him. She leaned in and said quietly to him, “I missed you too.”

Liz returned to Max’s warm and waiting arms, and sheltered herself in them.

“So where are you, chica?” Maria asked, her usual spunk showing its head.

“I don’t know. And no, Michael, I don’t know where we’re going either.” Isabel snickered, receiving a threatening glance from Michael.

“Look, you guys have to relax. Adam is taking great care of me, well, as much as can be expected for spending endless hours in a car.”

“Speaking of which,” Maria stated, “My mom is going to kill me once she knows my car has been jacked. By my best friend, no less.”

“Just tell her you lent it to me,” Liz replied briefly. She then addressed the whole group. “Ok, so, here’s the rundown on what happened before any of you even ask. I woke up early and went downstairs, finding Adam drinking some coffee. I joined him and we were just talking when the big explosion happened. We escaped, and I mind warped anyone in the whole radius of the city.” She nodded affirmatively. “So the restaurant… what happened?” The other five teens shifted uneasily at the new question.

“Well, Max stopped the fire before it got real terrible, but a whole wall got burnt pretty badly,” Isabel replied. “Michael and I tried to repair it, and we got most of it, but you can smell the smoke like crazy. Maria had to convince Craig for about an hour to not open the Crashdown today. He only complied when she told him that Ms. Deluca would send him three coconut cream pies for his family.” Liz smiled sadly, wishing she could have been there. Wishing she could be there more than anything.

Max sensed Liz’s discomfort, and kissed her head softly. “You’ll be back before you know it,” he declared to her, hoping she believed him. Instead, she turned to him and smacked him hard on the arm. “OW! What was that for?”

“For being stupid and stopping a fire when you could have been burned to death.” Alex and Maria snickered at Max, but Liz gave them a good smack on their arms too. “And you guys, for letting him almost get burned to death!”

Maria was about to protest when the background started to fuzz up suddenly and began to fade slowly.