"You have to have a piece of Polar Bear Pie if you come here," Max argued with Liz as the two sat together in a booth at the dessert palace.

"Are you kidding me? I'm still full from that ice cream you made me eat before we went mini-golfing," she laughed and Max shrugged.

"You have to have rocky road before you go mini-golfing - it's tradition," Max shrugged and Liz just shook her head...

"I'm not having...what is it - Polar Bear Pie," she looked over at the menu and read the contents of the dessert. "No way."

"We'll share it," Max reasoned and Liz looked up at him, and giving in to his persistance, nodded her head. He just grinned widely. Right now Max was as far from Roswell and the problems there that he could get. Right now it was just he and Liz. Right now he wasn't so different. Not to Liz and not to him. It was a feeling he was becoming more familiar with, yet was a feeling he knew he couldn't get too caught up in. He was different and he could never ignore that completely. Liz leaned her head up against his shoulder as they waited for the arrival of their Polar Bear Pie. But she could.

While the Evans and Parkers were pacing worriedly in the front of the Crashdown and Michael, Maria, Isabel and Alex were waiting nervously in the back, Max and Liz had stopped off in the middle of their journey home to attend a tiny flea market on the side of the road. They walked up and down the rows and rows of knick-knacks and clothing, laughing as Max would suggest something for Liz and she would be appalled by the absurdity of the outfit. Green vinyl pants, a bright pink shirt laced around the collar and sleeves with fluffy pink feathers, shoes with five inch heels, a shirt that looked more like Victoria's Secret lingerie than anything. Liz reached across to a brightly colored and wildly patterned Hawaiian shirt and held it up to Max, laughing at the mere idea of Max dressed in it. He just shook his head and laughed, but she begged him to try it on. Wrapping her arms around him from behind she pleaded with him until he'd reluctantly given in. She'd been so amused at the sight that she'd captured it on film. After quickly shedding the garment, he'd returned to the revealing tank top that he had found earlier. She gave him one look as he picked it up off the rack suggesting it to her. Laughing, she spun on her heel and walked towards more colorful shirts.

"No chance." Max dropped the tank and followed after Liz. Taking her hand in his and glancing down at his watch he began leading her back to the jeep.

"It's almost six o'clock," he told her and as much as he hated to say the next five words he did. "We really should get home."

It was dark outside when Max and Liz finally arrived back in Roswell, but every light was on in the upstairs of the Crashdown. They had barely reached the back door when it sprung open, revealing two clearly frustrated and worried sets of parents. Max swallowed, he knew he was going to receive criticism from his parents for the days secret excursion, but this was much more than he’d expected. Looking over to Liz he knew it was more than she had too. Unable to speak, all he could was slip his hand into hers. And the two just stood there, peering up at their parents.

No one spoke for more than a minute. The parents seemed genuinely surprised at the manner that Max and Liz seemed to be standing there, fully knowing of what they'd done, seeming to be awaiting their punishment. It was Mrs. Evans who opened up her mouth first, but it was Max who broke the silence.

"We were in Artesia," he blurted out and the statement only seemed to surprise the adults more. "We - " he opened up his mouth again.

"You showed bad judgement..." his father suddenly said and both Max and Liz were quiet. "We didn't even know you were going out - "

"Liz, you didn't tell us where you ere going!" Liz's mother looked down upon her daughter from across the room.

"I didn't even know where I was going." Liz said truthfully and no sooner had she said it then she realilzed she shouldn't have. Now they'd all be jumping on Max.

"So you just jumped in the car with him - not even knowing here -"

"Mom, it's not like it's a stranger, it's Ma -"

"He's a stranger to me," her mother responded quickly, her mouth drawn in a thin line.

"You've met him before," Liz rolled her eyes, her hand still clamped around Max's.

"Exchanging glances in a hospital waiting room isn't -"

"Dad knows him," Liz wailed helplessly looking towards her father and he looked to his wife and nodded his head.

"Yes, I know Max..." he glanced to the nervous looking boy standing closely in the doorway with his daughter. "That's not what bothers me, it's that -"

"Max - what exactly were you planning on doing?" Mr. Evans suddenly interrogated.

"We were just taking a drive -"

"Two and a half hours away?" his father nearly yelled.

"I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Max attempted to apologize, he and Liz both terrified by their parents attack.

"Yeah well you did," Mrs. Parker interjected.

"Mom!" Liz rushed to Max's defense quickly, embarassed by her mothers rudeness but her clearly upset mother continued. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?"

"I told you I was going out with Max."

"And what does that mean?" Mrs. Parker held up her hands at the vagueness of the statement.

"It means I'll be safe," Liz blurted out naturally and Mr. Evans smiled at the comment, at the natural way that Liz clung to his son. Mrs. Parker didn't seem convinced and Liz turned to her father in hopes of reaching better progress and results there. He had a slight grin on his face, that he appeared to be trying to suppress.

"I wish you'd answered your phone," was all he said. "That's why you have it." And Liz kept herself from looking up at Max. She thought back to the way he'd pleaded with her to turn it off, how he'd drawn her to him and told her not to answer it. She didn't look up at him though, all she did was squeeze his hand.

The parents seemed divided, both fathers - while upset at their childrens actions - couldn't be mad at them. Mrs. Parker and Mrs. Evans seemed more than bothered. Max knew when his mom as the most upset - it was when she was the quietest. He looked to her then to Mrs. Parker.

"Look it's - it's my fault -" he began to apologize.

"No, Max don't -" Liz began to cut him off.

"You shouldn't blame Liz - just please, don't blame her," he said it with a sense of desperation that made everyones head turn a bit. "If you want to yell at someone, yell at me."

"You're taking responsibility?" Mrs. Parker raised her eyebrows in surprise as did the three other adults in the room and Max nodded his head. Silence prevailed in the room as they didn't know how to react to his actions.

"Max there's something else," his mother suddenly said. Max stood upright, awaiting whatever his mom had to say. She reached behind onto the table and held up a square piece of paper. "Your interim." Max's shoulders lowered. He knew his grades had taken a dip as of recently. He could try to push the blame onto basketball and the pressure on him now that they were in the playoffs. Yes that's what he'd say. "You have three cuts," Max was caught off guard by the statement. Not merely because he'd been expecting a comment on his grades, but because it was much fewer cuts than he'd actually had. "In math," his mother added peering up at him briefly then back down to the piece of paper. "*Five* in biology, two in English.." Max was silent. Across the room Mrs. Parker was looking at her daughters mid-semester report.

"And look at this, Liz yoou have the exact same number," she said the words slowly and Liz knew it wasn't new news, she knew that her mother and Mrs. Evans had discussed the matter earlier today - they'd probably discussed her and Max's punishments. Max's eyes shifted about nervously. He had no idea how to field this, all he could do was rub the back of Liz's hand with his thumb as if to assure her that they'd get through it somehow. The parents were quiet, awaiting an explanation from one of them. Thoughts raced through Max's mind - 'it's not what you think', 'there's a perfectly logical explanation' - but they would all be lies. He couldn't say anything, neither could Liz. Mr. Evans couldn't help but symphatize with his son, seeing him caught there with all the eyes on him, the only thing he did was cling to Liz's hand. He knew he couldn't allow Max to get away with cutting classes like he had been, but he wasn't exactly irate over the matter either. Finally he was acting like a normal teenage boy. Finally he'd get to punish his otherwise seemingly perfect son.