I heard a faint whisper. I quickly sat up as I felt a chill ran down my spine.

I wiped at my eyes and looked around the room. The door to my room was open, though I remembered closing it. I tiptoed over to the door and closed it. Then I froze. I could hear sounds of hushed whispers.

"Liz, will..." I couldn't make out any other words.

My mind must be playing tricks on me, I figured. There was no one home. No one at all. Yet the voices still spoke...

~*~*~*~*~

My life had changed once again today. Because of Max once again.

The first time had been when he had brought me back from the dead and showed me how good life can really be. And now today, when he found out his destiny. They all did.

And I left him to his Destiny. It wasn't easy, but it was right. He was made for greater things, and I couldn't let our love be the reason for the destruction of an entire race. I didn't want him...or the others...to look at me and see the enemy.

No, that would have hurt more than anything. And so I left.

~*~*~*~*~

"Shhhh...." I heard someone. But this time, I ignored it. I had too much on my mind. I let my thoughts drift back to Max. And soon the sound of my sobs drowned out the voices.

~*~*~*~*~

I did not see Max or the others the next day. Max called though but I did not return his calls. It was better this way. I knew that any contact with him now would only be postponing the invietable. And in the end, he would be glad that I did this.

His constant calls tried my resolve but they were a reminder of what we once had and I cherished them.

Then the calls stopped and in a way, I was relieved.

I still saw him at school; we still had classes together. Tess and him seemed to be getting along pretty well. But I knew that he still loved me.

He talked to Tess, sat with her druing lunch and all, but he never looked at her the way he looked at me. And despite all that had happened, I found myself feeling sorry for Tess. Yet I couldn't help hating her, though I knew that I shouldn't hate her for something that wasn't her fault. In the end, she was as much a victim of Destiny as I was.

Soon, I learned to accpet their Destiny, Maria however wasn't so understanding. She wasn't going to leave Michael because of some predestinied crap. I respected her decision to pursue what she wanted, but she was not seeing the big picture. She wasn't there at the cave that day; she hadn't heard the pleading in Max's mother's voice. I had.

She had tried to talk to Michael countless times and every time, it ended the same way. He had a responsibility and he had to fulfill his destiny. Nothing, not even Maria, was going to stand in his way.

Isabel and Alex though were closer than ever. But like the others, she didn't want to jeopordize her precious Destiny. She talked to Alex, sat with him during lunch at times, but she never let him close.

And at times, I resented her for that. Michael had been wiser to break it off. When this was over, Isabel and Alex would be more hurt than necessary.

~*~*~*~*~

The next week school closed for the summer and I found myself missing those glances I stole at Max when I knew he wasn't looking. But life still went on, though I didn't much care for living.

Then one day, Maria told me that they were leaving. All four of them. Not leaving Earth, but leaving to go and find their Destiny...whatever that meant.

That's when I realized that I hadn't completely given up on Max, that a part of me was still hoping that the destiny thing was just a bunch of B.S. But their leaving meant that it really was over.

It was then, after that day at the cave, that I finally let myself cry. Maria held me as I sobbed and soon she, too, gave in to the impulse.

~*~*~*~*~

As I sat on my roof, I once again heard the sound of hushed voices. I looked around to find no one. I had pretty much gotten used to ignoring them, but when I was alone, they became more insistent.

I put down my pen and became still. "Alex?" I called into the night. "Maria?"

No one.

I shook my head and went back to writing, feeling less than sane.

"Liz?" I heard Max call. This vioce was different. More real.

I turned around to see him climbing up the ladder to the roof.

"Max!" I said and even before I could form a rational thought, I threw myself in his arms. He didn't say anything, just held me.

And my mind took that exact moment to reflect on that day at the cave. I remember the haunted look on Max's mother's face, the pleading in her vioce. And I remembered what was at stake here: an entire race.

I pulled back. "You didn't leave?" I asked.

Max shook his head. "I couldn't. Not like this." he said. "I love you, Liz."

My heart skipped a beat, and all I wanted to do was hold him. To tell him that I loved him to. To have him. But I knew that I couldn't. Not this time.

"You belong with...Tess." I said, my voice breaking.

"I don't love..." he started.

"I know....but you have a responsiblity towards your people...A leader doesn't put his personal happiness before the fate of his people." I said, trying to make him see what exactly our love will destroy.

"I don't." He said defensively. "I am going to stay with her. I'll perform my duty. But it's you I am in love with. Not Tess." he said.

I tried to blink back tears, but they came anyways and I truned away.

Max stepped closer and wrapped his arms around me and let me cry. And I wanted this moment to last forever.

"It's my fault." Max said finally. "If I ..." he started.

"Then we might have never met" I replied. "And that would've been worse."

I caressed his face and continued. "Max, I am so glad we met. So glad to have known you. And when this is all over and we aren't together, it will tear me apart, but I'll be glad all my life."

Max nodded and once again took me in his arms.

I don't know how long we stood there, but he finally pulled away and kissed me. "I'll love you forever" he said.

I smiled. "Forever is a long time, Max." I replied.

"Not for us." he said and with that he was gone from my life.

~*~*~*~*~

The next morning he left Roswell; they all did.

For the next 2 months, life went on. Slow, but it did progress.

Maria hardly ever talked anymore. Alex sulked non-stop. And I didn't care. For me, life had stopped. I was living just for the sake of living. Yet there was nothing to live for.

I wanted to die. I really did. I just didn't want to kill myself and I seriously doubted that Maria or Alex would have done it for me.

~*~*~*~*~

Almost six months had gone by since they left. School had re-started. My grades had fallen. In short, the bad had gotten worse.

I hummed to myself as I worked in the back room of the Crashdown. Not because I felt like it, but because I didn't want to hear the the voices.

I stepped into the front of the Crashdown to hear the door bells chime and looked up to see Max entering.

I couldn't believe my eyes, yet it was there. He was there. It was a miracle and the sight of him stirred so many emotions in me that I felt nothing. I could only stare and wonder if I've really lost my mind.

He came to me and held my hands in his and I knew that he really was here...yet there was something else. "Tess?" I asked finally.

He smiled and gestured towards a table, and I followed his gaze to see Tess and Kyle making out. I frowned; there was something really off about them. But I didn't care. I looked back at Max.

"How?" I asked.

Max then told me his incredible tale of alien monsters and how they met up with Kyle and defeated the enemy race. As he continued his impossible tale, I listened because I could do nothing more.

"So now you will leave?" I asked when he was done.

Max shook his head. "No. We have done what was required of us. We don't belong with them anymore."

I kissed him then, still unable to believe all of this. It was all almost too good to be true.

~*~*~*~*~

Later that day, after closing the cafe, I decided to take a walk. Maybe go see Maria. I hadn't talked to her in the last three days and I was assuming that Michael had seen her already. But I wasn't sure. Michael and Isabel had seemed almost too close even before the whole Destiny thing started.

It was then that I noticed someone outside, looking heaven-ward. I walked closer to see who it was.

"Tess?" I said. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

Tess continued to look at the stars. "Wondering if I'll ever see home..." she said and then looked at me.

In that instant, I knew that despite everything Max had told me, Tess wanted to go home.

I walked closer. "You don't love Kyle, do you?" I asked. Because I had to.

She shrugged. "Does it matter?" she asked, answering my question unknowingly.

"About Max..." I sollowed. "Are you sure?"

She smiled. "I'd better be sure, don't you think? Or he'll be very upset." she said.

"But you..." I started and trailed off.

Tess nodded. "I do love him, Liz. So I don't want to see him be miserable for the rest of his life. I don't want to be the reason for that." She said and a single tear escaped her eye. "With you, he will be happy. And that's enough for me. You two were meant to be. So, yes, I am sure."

I nodded and on impulse hugged her. I hated myself then for hating her all this time. Not only was she giving up her love, but also the chance of even belonging. She was giving up her home. Tess was an angel. She really was.

~*~*~*~*~

That night, as I returned home, I can't help thinking how perfect life had just became. **Only a dream can be this perfect.** a voice in my head said. I had no idea where that thought had came from.

As I entered the Crashdown, I heard the sound of Maria sobbing.

"Maria?" I called.

No answer, but the sobbing got louder. I walked toward the sound and opened the back room of the cafe.

"Maria?" I called again.

Yet there was no one there...

~*~*~*~*~The End~*~*~*~*~

Epilogue:

Maria Deluca sobbed as she sat in the hospital room, holding the hand of her best friend, Liz Parker.

It had been almost a year since she had been shot at the Crashdown Cafe. An argument gone bad. She had survived the bullet but elapsed into a coma. And had been in the coma ever since.

Maria still couldn't accept it. She came to see her almost everyday and talked to her as if she was still there. She liked to think that Liz can still hear her voice.

The accident had effected Liz's brain badly, resulting in a coma. Her brain would have collapsed totally by now if not for the drugs that she was constantly on. There were some kind of hallucinogens that kept her brain processing constantly. They made her dream constantly.

"Maria, we should leave." Alex said.

Maria looked up and nodded. "Stay with her and I'll go call the nurse." she said, frantically wiping at her eyes.

Alex watched as Maria left, then he took Liz's hand in his and bent down to kiss her forehead. It was the hardest for him to accept that Liz was gone, possibly forever. He had been in love with her since forever. Though she never thought of him as more than a friend. She had always been in love with Max Evans.

~*~*~*~*~

As Maria made her way back to Liz's room, she saw Isabel Evans at the end of the hall, talking to a nurse. Her eyes met Isabel's and she faked a smile, trying to be civil. She might not be best friends with Isabel, but they had known each other since before Pre-K.

Isabel waved and walked to her. "Maria." she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Liz." Maria replied.

Isabel flinced. "How is she?"

"The same." Maria said. "How about you?"

Isabel sighed. "I am here for a blood test for this thing. I'm on probation, so I'm here with Michael. 'Cause Max and Tess are both away for the weekend." she finished.

"How nice." Maria said without emotion. Liz had been in love with Max since forever, but he had only had eyes for Tess Harding.

Isabel nodded. "I'm just waiting for Michael to get here." she said.

"Maria?" Alex called. "You ready to go?" he asked, totally ignoring the fact that she was talking to Isabel.

"Hello, Alex." Isabel said.

"Isabel." Alex said sternly.

Isabel looked from Maria to Alex, then down the hall and smiled. "Michael is here. So I'll see you guys at school. Bye!" she said.

Maria watched as Isabel walked towards Michael and threw her arms around him. She turned away as they both kissed. She didn't get how anyone can date Michael Guerin.

She looked back at Alex. "You could've been more civil. She was actually being nice." she said.

"For a change." Alex said. "Let's get outta here."

Maria nodded and followed him out, not looking back.

Life went on in Roswell, without Liz Parker. Yet Liz was happy in her own world, with her own life. A life that her mind had created out of her desire to go on. A life where she was saved by the love of her life. A life that didn't exist.

~*What if the only reality you knew was the one that didn't exist?*~