Suddenly Max Evans knew the answer to that question and bolted out the door on his way to Liz’s rooftop.

Liz Parker was sitting on her roof, looking up at the stars, thinking about Max Evans. The past week for her has been torture. Then, she heard him. The one person capable of making her feel so many emotions with just an utterance of her name.

“Liz?”

Liz looked over the edge.

“Liz, can I come up?”

“Sure.” She said, not really knowing what to expect.

Max jumped over the wall and just stood there looking at her.

She can’t even look me in the eye. “Liz… I just wanted to try something to make you understand why I had to…”

Liz cut him off. “No Max. It’s OK.”

“No, I need you to understand Liz. To understand completely. Just please let me touch you.”

“Max…”

“Please, Liz?”

She looked straight in his eyes for the first time since his step back.

Why does he have to have such soulful eyes? “Ok.”

Slowly he put his hands on the side of her face.

God, her skin is so soft. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.

All Max could think about was how much he missed Liz. It took all of the willpower he had not to kiss her.

Liz remembered the last time he had done this. She saw Max’s thoughts and felt everything that he felt. She couldn’t think of any words to give that experience justice. It was just so amazingly wonderful. Suddenly the images came.

Max healing Liz

Max and Liz’s first kiss

Michael getting sick in the museum

The ceremony at the reservation

The map

Max taking his step back

Liz in biology with Max after the breakup

Max sleeping with Liz’s picture

“Did it work?” Max asked.

Liz could hardly breathe. She couldn’t believe what she had just felt. Max Evans was terrified of her. He was scared of the way she made him feel. She made him feel normal. Something he could never be. He was scared of the hold that she had on him. On his heart. When he said he was just as scared as Liz, she never would have thought that she was at the root of his fear. She made the answers he was looking for less important to him and that made him push her away.

“You’re…scared of me.” Liz finally said.

Max just looked down embarrassed

Liz didn’t know what to say. Max was scared of her. Him knowing that she cared for him too made it even worse for him. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t know what to say, but she knew that the best thing for Max was to stay away from her. The more he was around her, the more he hurt.

“Well, I guess you should leave.” She said

“What?” Max was confused. He wasn’t expecting that.

“I mean… I don’t know, Max. You are scared of me and being around me just makes it worse so you should leave.”

She realized that just like her, when he was around her, his feelings for her grew and that isn’t what he needed right now. She loved him so much, and she wanted to be with him so much it physically hurt, but not if it meant him being scared of her.

“Liz…”

“No, Max. I understand now. You have to keep your priorities straight and finding out about yourself should be number one. I guess we shouldn’t even talk anymore.”

“Liz, that is not what I want.”

“No, it’s what you need.” With that, she turned and crawled into her window that led to her room.

Max just stood there dumbfounded. Liz now knew just how deep his feelings for her went and she pushed him away for his own good. She knew he was scared of her because of his feelings and she put him before herself. She easily could have used his feelings for her to seduce him at that particular moment, but she pushed him away. Max knew right then that Liz loved him. Then he realized something else. He wasn’t scared anymore.

“Liz?”

Liz came to her window. “Max, I told you…”

“No, Liz. I just realized that I’m not scared anymore.”

“Max, I just saw and felt it myself.”

“I know, but now I’m not scared anymore. I can’t explain it, but I’m not. I think it’s because I now know that I don’t have to be scared because you care about me enough to let me go.”

“Max, no. I do care about you, but if the day came where you could go home or you had to leave, I wouldn’t want you to and I wouldn’t let you. I would want you to stay, but I also wouldn’t want to be the one to make you stay. To make you miss out on your chance to go home.”

“Liz, anywhere without you is not home.”

“No, Max.”

“I know what’s important now.”

“MAX, NO! You have wanted answers your entire life. I am not going to let you lose sight of that. You deserve answers and I can not and will not get in the way of that.”

“Liz, you ARE all my answers. I now truly believe that we are meant to be.”

Liz almost fainted. She had longed for him to say those words to her. Every time he said that they don’t belong together, it ripped her apart and now he was saying he believed they were meant to be. She felt tears coming to her eyes and she couldn’t wait another moment to kiss him. He kissed her back with passion and urgentness. Like he couldn’t get enough of her. He finally realized that Liz Parker was his soul mate. Her love for him and her selflessness had somehow made him realize that it was time to take a step forward. Liz stopped and stared deep into Max’s beautiful eyes.

“Max. I love you.”

Max had tears coming to his eyes. “I love you too, my beautiful angel.”