"Huh? What?" Max jerked his head up suddenly.

"You gonna eat the dinner your mother made, or you just going to play with it?" his father scolded him as Max pushed the peas all over his plate, staring down at the food and not at anyone.

"Oh, sorry..." he put his fork down.

"Y'okay, Max? You seem a little - off - today?" his mother inquired. Isabel kept her mouth quiet at the other end of the table.

"Yeah, I'm - I'm fine..just - tired is all," Max assured his mother. Tired is right he thought to himself.

"Yeah I bet," Isabel suddenly commented, "after playing basketball for four hours." The comment stung, as much as Max wanted to pretend it didn't. It hurt hearing his sister talk to him like that, Isabel was more than his sister she was his best friend. He was quiet however. "How was the game, Max? Hope it was worth it?" She spat again and both parents seemed utterly confused by her sudden spitefulness. Again Max didn't say anything. "Oh real mature, Max! What are you just not going to talk to me for the rest of your life - oh wait, you should be just fine - you've got plenty of other friends!" Mr. Evans dropped his fork now and was about to intervene when Max finally said something.

"And what about you? You go out almost every weekend - with guys - you have more friends than I could even hope for," Max said the statement with some sadness in his voice and he started to continue, when Isabel interuppted.

"It's different Max, don't even go there, you're not being careful, you don't know what could happen, we can't just -"

"Isabel I'm not talking about this here," Max ground his teeth together, reminding his sister that both their parents were sitting at the table with them.

"Talk about what - kids, what is going on?" their mother suddenly inquired and Max put his hand to his forehead, as if he had the most mind-knumbing headache imaginable.

"When are you going to talk about it? After it's too late?"

"It's not going to kill me to get involved a little!" he stated the thoughts that had been racing through his mind.

"Involved a little? If this has anything to do with Liz -"

"Liz, Liz who???" Mrs. Evans inquired again but Isabel continued.

"-then you and I both know it's not just involved a little."

"Leave Liz out of this -" Max defended.

"Who's Liz?? What Liz?" Mrs. Evans continued to question while Isabelle continued her onslaught.

The words were flying at him from every angle. Isabel criticizing him about everything and anything, his mother inquiring about Liz, his father inquiring him about what the problem was and he suddenly stood up from the table - unable to take it anymore. Throwing his napkin onto the table he grabbed his jacket and began to walk towards the front door.

"Max where are you going?"

"Max get back here!" both his father and mother ordered but the door slammed shut.

Max hadn't even bothered to get his jeep, he had just stormed out of the house and down the road. He didn't know where he was going, he was just walking. Away from home, away from the problems there - from Isabel, from his parents so in the dark about everything in his life. He hadn't meant to end up at the Crashdown, but somehow after hours of walking around the streets of Roswell he did. The store was closed up, the windows dark. He suddenly remembered that Liz had told him how sometimes at night she stayed up on her balcony and he found himself walking towards it.

Dear Journal,

It's October 25, I'm Liz Parker and I'm confused. Confused about everything. The more time that I spend with Kyle the more I realize he's not the person I really want to be with. Because Kyle doesn't give me chills everytime I'm with him, my heart doesn't skip a beat every time he enters a room. Only one person does that to me. And each day that goes by that I spend with Kyle and not with him I just get more confused.

"Liz!" Max called down from the sidewalk. He wasn't sure if she was up there or not, but he called her name anyway. More than he had ever hoped in his life, he hoped that she was up there. "Liz!" he called hoarsely again.

Liz hadn't believed it the first time he'd called her name. She'd known who it was the second she heard it and the goosebumps began to appear she just hadn't believed it. He need not call her a third time, she slipped her pen inside her journal, closed it and walked to the ledge.

"Hey.." she smiled shyly leaning over the ledge. There was Max, standing with his hands at his sides peering up at her.

"Can I come up?" he asked boldly and she was a bit taken aback.

"Umm...yeah, yeah sure - what're you, what're you doing here, Max?" she turned her back to doublecheck that her journal was out of sight. When she turned back around Max was hoisting himself over the edge. "It's late.." she stated, not sure of what she meant. Not as if she wanted him to go. She just spoke to fill the awkward silence she knew would develop.

"I know, I just..I had to...I -" Max stuttered, unsure himself as to why he had come. He couldn't help it, it was as if there was a force that had drawn him to her balcony, to her. "I wanted to talk to you." He finally made out. Liz did all she could to keep herself from fainting right there and she felt her face go hot. It was dark out, hopefully he couldn't see.

"What's up?" she asked, her voice wavering as she tried to control herself from saying something else. Something she might regret. Max sat down on the lawn chair Liz had been laying on before he came. She sat down next to him.

"When you look at me - do you...." Liz sat down beside him.

"Do I what?" she moved her face closer towards his.

"I mean before last month...before - like last year and....even now - would you.." Max stammered.

"Would I what?" Liz smiled, as again she questioned his purpose in coming here tonight. His face was only inches from hers and she was looking up at him, staring at him so intensely Max thought he would die right there.

He turned his head forward, "Would you say I'm not involved?" he finally asked.

"What do you mean not involved?" she questioned, trying to pretend she wasn't frustrated that he had turned his head the other way, that she wasn't dissappointed.

"I mean..." Max paused and lowered his head into his hands, "I don't - I don't know what I mean...I'm sorry." He apologized standing up and Liz got to her feet too.

"No, I'm glad you came..." she said quietly, not believing that she'd actuallly said that out loud. What was she doing? She might as well have just read him her entire journal. Read him the pages and pages of entries she had written about him.

"You are??" He asked softly, " 'cos I was - I was afraid maybe I....I woke you up."

"You didn't," she smiled, shaking her head, her hair falling over her shoulders. More than anything in the world Max wanted to reach out and touch that hair.

"Good..." Max mumbled as he used all the control he had to keep his hands at his sides. But again both their faces moved closer together. "I better go..." he said weakly, taking a step back.

"Okay..." she, for some reason, nodded her head in agreement.

"'Night.." he said softly, walking to the edge and climbing over.