Title: If They Only Knew
Author: Jenn
The Disclaimer & Such: Sadly *sniffle* I do not own Roswell or any of
its characters. Max, Liz & co. belong to Melinda Metz & the United
Paramount Network (You lucky people). All other characters in the story are
mine. But if I had my way I would definitely own Jason Behr ;)~~ ok that's
enuff I'm getting carried away. On with the show.
Rating: R ~ For situations and language
Category: Would you expect anything else? M/L mostly but the gang's
all there. Hey I’m a total Dreamgirl!!
Summary: For three and a half years, Elizabeth Parker has kept a
dark secret from her friends. The real question is if her friends knew her
secret would they all still love her?
Author’s Note:This is a Tess-free Alterna-Roswell. Let’s pretend that
they rescued Max and things went back to what they consider to be normal.
Nasedo did replace Pierce but little Miss Homewrecker Harding died in a car
accident a few years back so technically their destinies don’t exist anymore.
This story takes place towards the end of their junior year (April-May).
Feedback: Greatly appreciated.......I know I still haven’t finished “My
Ain’t That Just An Interesting Twist of Fate” yet but I got the inspiration
for this one and felt compelled to write it. I hope you like it.
Now on to your regularly scheduled fanfic.................
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Part 9 (The Way We Used To Be....)
AN: The first few sections of this part will jump between Alex & Maria
(In Alex’s Explorer), Max & Isabel (In the Jeep), and Micheal & Liz (In Liz’s
Eclipse)
Micheal & Liz:
Did You Ever Wonder?
Naturally, Liz is driving. Micheal’s next to her in passenger seat. And
Montega is asleep in her car seat behind Liz.
“So Liz how exactly did you manage to get this car?”
“Well, Mom and Dad decided that since I have my license, I should have a
car. Plus since I have Montega, it makes it a lot easier to take her places.
Dad has always known that I wanted a black Mitsubishi Eclipse for the
longest time. And now, here we are.” She smiled. ’In my
car.’
“So let me get this straight. They bought it for you no strings attached?”
‘I wish I was that lucky.’
“Oh hell no! I have to pay the insurance for it. Which is ridiculously
expensive considering I’m a teenage girl. And they consider an Eclipse a
‘sports car’.” She emphasized ‘sports car’ sarcastically.
“Damn.” He said while pondering just how much she must have been paying.
‘Ok, maybe I don’t wish I was that lucky.’
“Yeah I know.” She sighed. “They say it’s not a sexist world anymore. But
they obviously haven’t seen what insurance companies are charging these
days.”
‘Damn, she sounds just like Maria.’ “Y’know, you sound like
Maria.”
All she could do was laugh. “I guess I do. She’s always complaining about how
people claim the world is politically correct or PC as she calls it. But it’s
really not. The world will always be sexist whether they admit it or not.”
‘It’s not necessarily a bad thing that I sound like Maria. I just hope that I
don’t start babbling like her. Cause that would be just plain bad.’
‘I hope she doesn’t start babbling incessantly like Maria. If she does then,
shit.’ “Yeah could you do me a favor and promise me something, would
ya?”
“Sure.” She looked at him confusingly.
“Don’t do the babbling thing. I mean I love Maria with all my heart. I really
do. But the babbling part, I could do without.” He said with his trademark
smirk.
She laughed again. “Micheal C’mon you know you love it.”
He shook his head. “No, no I really can’t say that I do. Blondie has a
tendency to babble too much.”
“Yeah you do. You just don’t wanna admit it. And speaking of Maria, I wonder
what she’s doing right now.”
‘I don’t cause I happen to know what she’s doing. She’s in the car with
Alex on their way out to the desert. Just like us.’ “Yeah. I
wonder.”
Meanwhile, In The Whitman Mobile:
Here We Come...
“So where are we going?”
“Still not telling you.”
She grabbed his arm in desperate attempt to get him to confess. “Come on
Alex. I....”
He finished her sentence for her. “Hate surprises. Yeah I know. But to tell
you the truth ‘Ria. I really don’t give a damn at this particular moment.
Hopefully, you’re gonna enjoy this.” ‘That is assuming I survive. If you
don’t kill me before Micheal and Isabel get to me first.’
She opened her mouth to protest, but he stopped her. “No buts DeLuca. I’m
in control here.”
She let out a small laugh. “Oh you think so huh?”
“Nope I know so.”
“And that usually translates to we’re headed for trouble. It means that
you’ve come up with another hair brained scheme. It also means that I
should be absolutely and completely terrified.”
Alex pretended to look shocked. “You think that little of me Maria? I must
say that I’m hurt.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Save it for someone who doesn’t know you as well as I do
Whitman. Fine. Have it your way. But I’m warning you if all hell happens to
break loose on this little get away of ours, don’t look my way. You know I
hate surprises. And Murphy’s Law dictates that whatever can go wrong
usually does. Keep that in mind.” ‘I’m already not liking this. He’s getting
cocky. And when he gets cocky, things tend to go way wrong.’
“So I guess this is that part where I recite the disclaimer.” He kept his eyes
on the road but held his right hand up. “I, Alexander Charles Whitman, do
hereby accept full responsibility on this trip. Should anything go wrong I am
solely to blame. ‘Well not solely. Micheal, Izzy, and Mrs. Evans had hand in
this too.’ Blah. Blah. Blah.”
Maria laughed. “That wasn’t exactly a disclaimer. That sounded more like an
affidavit for an insurance policy.”
He rolled his eyes. “Whatever. That’s not the point.”
“I suppose not. I guess it’ll have to do though. I’m shutting my mouth now.”
She declared as she sat back in preparation for a much needed nap.
Alex clutched his chest mockingly. “I knew there was a god.”
Maria instinctively reached over and slapped him in the back of the head. A
move that she normally reserved solely for Micheal.
“Ow! ‘Ria! What the hell did you do that for?” He asked while rubbing the
now sore spot on his head.
“You deserved it buster.”
“I was only joking. Geez, don’t be so sensitive.”
She fell into a fit of laughter. “This coming form the one who used to cry
whenever someone called him a geek. You know I’m sensitive about that. I
can’t help that I babble and or talk too much. I personally blame my
mom.”
“Yeah Amy does have a tendency to babble.” He agreed.
Maria suddenly took in her surroundings. ‘That’s weird we must’ve passed
Frasier Woods 10 minutes ago.’ “Alex, where are we going? Cause I’m
pretty sure that we passed Frasier Woods a while ago.”
‘Shit i was kinda hoping that she wouldn’t notice until we got there. Now
I’m forced to try and come up with some clever answer that she probably
won’t believe.’ “Um...”
She sensed he was up to something. “Okay Alex where are we really
going?”
“Um...”
“Alex, please don’t play dumb.”
“Um...”
She groaned impatiently. “Would you quit umming me! Just tell me where
we’re really going. I swear I won’t hurt you. And don’t try to feed me some
stupid story. You’ve already made it painfully obvious that you were
lying.”
“I never said that we were going to Frasier Woods.”
“Alex let’s be real here. Whenever you’ve said that we’re taking a road trip,
the road ends at Frasier Woods. And it could just be me, but I could swear
that we’re currently on our way out to the desert.”
‘Ding. Ding. Ding. Tell her what she’s won Alex.’
He sat there quietly driving to their destination, trying his best to avoid
answering her questions. He suddenly found his way out when they turned
off the road & pulled up next to a black Eclipse. He turned to look at Maria
with a smile on his face and promptly left the car. “Oh lookee, we’re
here.”
She took in the surroundings. ‘Okay now I’m curious.’ “Alex, may I ask
why we’re at the caves?” Maria asked curiously as she quickly jumped out of
the car and made a mad dash to catch up with Alex.
He decided to be a wise ass. ‘I’m already dead. So why not have some fun?’
“If you don’t already know then I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” He
said as he helped her down the embankment.
“Well we’re in the desert. And there’s only one place that I can think of that
we visit when we’re here. So I’m just gonna venture a guess and say that
we’re going to the pod chamber. And I’m also gonna say that that’s a very,
very, very, bad idea. And I can list three reasons why it’s a bad idea off the
top of my head. One, we shouldn’t go there without Max, Izzy, or Spaceboy.
Two, you and I know damn well that they’d be extremely po’d if they knew
we were here without them. And three, I just don’t like the idea. It gives me
a bad feeling. So I for one, think that we should pull and about face and
march back to the car.” She stated matter-of-factly as they entered a small
cave below the embankment.
Alex walked in non-chalantly as if he’d been here before, which Maria failed
to notice. She was too fascinated by the cave walls. There were drawings all
over and the cave itself was illuminated by a mysterious blue light that
seemed to emanate from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
“Okay. This is not the pod chamber.”
He let out a small laugh. ‘Leave it to Maria to state the obvious.’
“Thank you Captain Obvious.” ‘But little do you know, that it does lead to
the pod chamber. And this is not a bad idea because we do have them with
us in a manner of speaking. Micheal, Liz and Montega are already at the
cave.’
They walked for what seemed to Maria like miles until they reached a ‘fork
in the road’. Alex already knew which way to go because Micheal had already
given him instructions. But Maria didn’t know that. She looked at him with
absolute confusion. He decided to have a little fun. ‘Why not?’ He
returned her look with one of his own. They each turned to face a different
direction that the cave divided into.
“Ummm...I think we might be lost.” Alex said with his back turned to Maria.
He was grinning uncontrollably. ‘This is gonna be fun.’
“Then why’d you drag us out here? Huh? I told you this was a bad idea! But
no! You’re Alex Whitman, King of The-Know-It-Alls. Y’know, Mom always told
me to trust my instincts. They’re usually right. I knew it. I just knew it!” She
threw her hands up in defeat.
He smirked, grabbed her arm, and dragged her to the left. ‘Oh Maria,
little do you know that I do know where we are.’ “Let’s go this
way.”
Suddenly, Maria’s ears were met with the sound of laughter. She shrieked in
surprise as Alex put a hand over her mouth.
“Bingo. We’re here. Now be quiet or you’ll ruin our entrance.”
She ripped his hand from her mouth. And turned to him in shock.
“Entrance?” She hit his arm. “Entrance?” She hit him again. “I’ll give ya a
freggin’ entrance. You scared the shit outta me for no reason.”
“Maria that’s not the point. Don’t you wanna see who’s around the
corner?”
He could tell he peaked her curiosity by the look on her face.
“Yeah.”
“Ok then.”
“Lead the way.”
They walked around the corner to be met by the surprised faces of Liz and
Montega. Micheal stood behind them smirking at Alex.
“Bout time Whitman. I thought you’d never get here.”
“Yeah well I had someone yapping in my ear all the way here and it was kinda
distracting. And besides I kinda didn’t exactly make it known where we were
really going.”
“I didn’t expect you to. You would’ve had to drag her here kicking and
screaming if you did.”
“Well that settles that.”
“Settles what?”
“I thought you were gonna kill me.”
“Hell no. For once, you made a wise decision.”
“Thanks man.”
“No prob.”
They stopped talking when they noticed that they were the only ones talking.
Micheal wondered why his niece was so quiet. ’She doesn’t know the
meaning of the word.’ Montega was intently watching the exchange
between her mother and Maria.
They just stood there facing one another and stared at each other. Maria
broke the silence.
“Hey Liz.”
“Maria.”
Micheal and Alex didn’t know it, but the same exact thought crossed both of
their minds at that moment. ’This is going to be an interesting
night.’
Now the only thing missing were the last two members of their little
group.
Yep. It was defiantly going to be an interesting night.
And Finally: The Evans Jeep:
Let’s Play 20 Questions
Max just laid back and let the breeze take him over. He was surprised
Isabel had offered to drive. She normally hated driving the Jeep. She was
always after their parents to buy a “normal” car for them.
But then again, she had convinced him that he “needed this.” So maybe this
was her way of letting him kick back for a while. ‘Who cares? Just enjoy it
while you can.’ He silently scolded himself.
The only thing that he had managed to pay attention to was the sunset.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Huh?What?” Isabel asked as she broke out of her own little world.
“The sunset. Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Yeah. It is.” She looked over at her brother and noticed the serene look on
his face. She hadn’t seen that in him for weeks, even before the whole
Liz/Montega situation came to light. ‘He looks so peaceful. I wish we could
be like this forever: free from all trouble and worries.’
“Where we going?”
“The Pod Chamber. Why?”
He shook his head. “No particular reason. Just curious.”
“Oh okay. You feeling any better, Max?”
He nodded. “A little. I think its because I always feel so peaceful out here. I
mean I’m still hurting but it’s not as prevalent when we’re out here. I guess
I’m just getting the breathing room I really needed.” ‘Even though I know
you’re up to something.’
“Good. You deserve it. You can deal with everything later.” ‘Or is it
sooner?’
“Yeah I guess.” ‘Why is it I feel like I’ll be dealing with everything sooner
than expected?’
He suddenly noticed that Isabel was driving almost forty miles over the
speed limit.
“Hey why you in such a rush?”
“No reason.”
He mumbled a ‘Yeah I’m sure.’ almost inaudibly but Isabel heard it just the
same.
“Why is it I suddenly get the sneaking suspicion that you know I’m up to
something.”
“Because I always know Is.”
“Okay All-Knowing-One, what am I up to this time?”
“I’m not completely sure. But I’m sure I’ll find out, soon enough.”
“Well you’ve got maybe another five minutes to find out.”
“Okay then it’s time for twenty questions.”
She let out a exasperated sigh. ’I hate this game.’ “Fine.”
“Question number 1. Are we meeting someone else at the pod
chamber?”
“Yeah I guess you could say that.”
“Kay, question 2. Is Liz somehow involved in all of this.”
‘Damn. Busted.’ “I’m afraid, dear brother, that I can’t answer that
one.”
“That means she is.”
She glared at him. ‘How does he always know?’ “I didn’t said
that.”
“Oh yes you did. Question 3. Micheal’s involved in this isn’t he?” He cocked
an eyebrow at her.
She let out a little ‘hmpf’ “Yeah he is. How in the hell did you know
that?”
He gave her an all knowing smile. “Because Alex is obviously in on whatever
you’ve got planned. So your other partner in crime has to be in on it too. It’s
a simple matter of deduction really.”
She mimicked him. “It’s a simple matter of deduction really.”
“Let me tell ya, you’re just so hysterical Is. I just can’t contain my
laughter.”
“I wasn’t trying to be funny. And if that was your best attempt at sarcasm
then I’ve got a few things to teach you, little brother.”
“Oh is that so? We’ll see about that.”
“I’m sorry what’d you say? I couldn’t quite hear you.”
He shook his head at her. “Now you’re just acting juvenile.”
“Whatever. Weren’t you playing 20 questions?”
“Yeah I was. Now where was I?”
“Let’s see Um we’ve established that yes we’re meeting someone else at the
pod chamber, yes it has to do with Liz and yes Micheal’s in on it. You’re up to
question number four if I’m not mistaken.”
“Question number 4. Was Mom in on it too.”
“Yep.”
“Kay. Dad?”
“Nope.”
“Amy?”
“Yep.”
“Maria?”
“Nope.”
“Alex’s parents?”
“His mom.”
“The Sheriff?”
“No. But he knows about it.”
“Why?”
“So if anything happens, he can help us.”
“Kyle?”
“Same as the Sheriff.”
“Jeff Parker?”
“Yep.”
“Nancy Parker?”
“Sorta.”
“Sorta?”
“Well she’s away at some restaurant convention but she gave Jeff the green
light on our little plan.”
“Ok so let me get this strait. Everybody except Maria, Liz, Montega, and I
are in on this?”
“Yes and no. Montega’s knows what’s going on.”
“Isabel you’ve got a three year old in on this?”
“Hey she’s way too smart for her own good. She’s on her way to being
another Liz Parker. And she’s almost 4.”
“Okay so I’ve got seven questions left to figure out what’s up.”
“No. You don’t. You’ve got four.” She looked away sheepishly as he gave her a
look of contempt. “But who’s counting?”
“Fine I’ve got four. Let the games begin.”
“I thought they already had.”
He ignored her. “Question 17. You’re trying to me and Liz back together
aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t aware that you had officially split up.”
“Just answer the damn question Is.”
“Yea. You got me.”
“Kay, 18. You’re trying to get Liz and Maria talking again. Right?”
“Yep.”
“19. This is also for Alex’s benefit isn’t it?”
“A little. He’s in on it so how could it not. This is for everyone’s
benefit.”
They pulled up next to a black Eclipse and a green Explorer. Max recognized
the Explorer as belonging to Alex but he didn’t know who’s Eclipse that was.
Isabel got out, grabbed her bag from the back and made her way towards
the chamber. Max did the same.
“20. Do you get the feeling something weird is gonna happen?”
No answer.
“Well?”
Still no answer.
“C’mon.”
“I do. But I don’t know what.”
When they reached the entrance to the pod chamber, not a sound could be
heard. Isabel got worried and practically ran in there. Her eyes were met
with the sight of Liz and Maria just staring at each other while Micheal,
Alex, and Montega looked on.
Montega walked up to Isabel and hugged her legs. “Hey Aunt Izzy. They’ve
been like this for a couple minutes now.”
“I bet. And how is my little Munchkin doing?”
“I’m good.” The toddler then directed her attention to Max, who had bent
down so he was eye to eye with her.
“Hi Montega. I’m..”
She stood there with a hand on her hip. “Max. I know. You’re Mama’s
boyfwiend.”
He smirked at her. “God you are a Mini-Liz.”
Montega threw her hands up in frustration. “Why does everyone act like
that’s a bad thing?”
The sound of laughter could be heard from all present. Liz and Maria had
stopped the staring contest for the moment and were silently watching the
exchange between Max and Montega.
“It’s not. It’s just weird.” He explained to her.
“Oh so now I’m weird?”
“You are her in every single way. No. I didn’t say that. It’s just weird to see
someone who acts exactly like Liz.”
“I don’t act exactly like Mama.”
A cough could be heard from Micheal. They all looked at him. “Monty I’m
gonna have to go with Max on this one.”
“Some Uncle you are.”
“Hey. Calm down kiddo. No one ever said that you being exactly like your
mother was bad.”
She made a puppy face and rubbed at her eyes. “But you didn’t say it was
good either.”
Liz decided to break this up before Montega escalated it into a fight.
Montega could be a real grouch when she was tired. And she had missed her
3 o’clock nap today. “Okay. I think someone is in major need of a
nap.”
“But..” Montega protested.
“No buts sweetie. You’re way too tired to fight with me. You didn’t get a nap
today. It’s a wonder you’re still awake.”
“No I’m not.” Again the puppy face. After all this time, hasn’t she realized
that the puppy face doesn’t work on me?
“Okay so you’re rubbing your eyes and copping an attitude for no reason?”
Liz asked as she picked her up.
Max was amazed at Liz’s motherly instincts. Dealing with her daughter was
like second nature to her.
Montega looked her mother in the eyes. No matter what lying to her mother
was not an option. “Okay maybe I’m a little tired.”
“See. I knew it.”
Montega rubbed her eyes and yawned. “Fine I’m tired. But, where am I gonna
sleep?”
Micheal suddenly had an idea. He swiped his hand over a small boulder, and
pointed to it. Liz let Montega down and she proceeded to climb onto it. “It’s
comfy!” She said in amazement. “Thanks Uncle Micheal.”
“No problem kiddo.”
Max looked at Micheal in shock. “Micheal was that a good idea in front of
her?”
“Ahem.” Montega got their attention. “I know that you, Uncle Micheal and
Aunt Izzybel can do magic or whatever you wanna call it. And I also know
that your from, oh how did Uncle Micheal put it? Up North. And I don’t mean
Canada either.”
But is she gonna say anything to anyone else.’
As if she heard his question Montega answered. “No I’m not gonna say
anything. You trust Mama don’t you?”
Max nodded.
“Then you can trust me. Mama loves you and I wouldn’t do anything to mess
that up. Besides if Uncle Micheal wasn’t around I wouldn’t have someone to
beat up.” Both her and Liz shared a knowing smile.
Again Micheal coughed. “Mini-Liz.” under his breath.
“Okay Montega we trust you.” Max reassured her.
“Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s nap time.” She said as she crawled up
onto the ‘rock-bed’ and promptly drifted off to sleep.
“She be asleep for a few hours.” Liz said while glancing at her daughter
adoringly.
“Which gives us time to talk.”
“About what Micheal?”
“You know what Liz.”
“Do we have to?” She asked.
He put an arm around her. “Liz this is the only way everyone will
understand.”
She hung her head. Still ashamed of the events that transpired four years
earlier. He sensed this and encouraged her to talk.
“Liz you remember when Marc told you it wasn’t your fault?” Maria gave
Micheal a puzzling look.
Liz just nodded.
“Well he was right. You did nothing to deserve it. I don’t care how drunk you
were. No means no.” He whispered as he hugged her close.
“What wasn’t you fault Liz?” Maria asked.
‘She’s the only one that doesn’t know about Liz being raped. I bet she’s
gonna beat herself up for this.’ Max thought to himself as he casually
glanced at Maria. ’ Liz still doesn’t know that I know either. So I guess I
have to play dumb.’
Liz sniffled quietly, let go of Micheal and attempted to wipe away any trace
of tears on her face with the back of her hand. ’It’s now or never, Liz. You
can do this.’ She told herself.
“Maria you might want to sit down.” Micheal told her in a hushed
tone.
She complied without complaint. But that bad feeling in the pit of her
stomach was back. She’d only had it twice before: when Liz was shot and
when Micheal told her he loved her, then left her. ’I know I am not gonna
like this at all. Just remember to keep as calm as possible. There is a child in
the room, or ‘chamber’. Whatever they wanna call it. I don’t care. I just
know this is bad.’
“Can all you guys sit down please?” Liz asked the group as she surveyed
everyone’s faces. As far as she knew, Micheal was the only one who knew
about Kevin raping her.
She suddenly got very pale and felt nauseous. She hated reliving that night:
the night that had completely stripped her of her innocence.
Max grew concerned. “Liz are you okay.”
She was brought out of it by his voice. She turned towards him and put on a
fake smile. “I’m fine. I just really hate to discuss this.”
“Discuss what?” Maria questioned.
“Montega’s father.”
Sensing her distress, Isabel spoke up. “Liz if you don’t want to talk about it,
we’d understand.”
She shook her head defiantly. “No. I. Have. To. Talk. About. This.” She said
as tears began to stream down her face. Micheal went to hug her but she
pushed him away. “Micheal you may be my ‘brother’ but you can’t keep trying
to hug this away. You’re right. Talking is the only thing that will help.” He
took no offense at her attitude. He simply sat back down, and watched her
carefully.
“Now I’m going to explain how everything went down. I just don’t want to be
interupted cause if I am, I may not want to finish. Just remember that my
daughter is sleeping nearby so I don’t want anyone going nuts when I’m
finished. Okay?”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“Well it all started when I was staying at my Uncle Tony and Aunt Terese’s
for the summer before eighth I think it was. I went to a party with my
cousin Marc, who was a high school senior at the time.” Memories came
crashing back at her.
“Here ya go Lizzie. No chugging. This is the only beer you’re getting all
night. Got me? I will not be responsible for the perfect Elizabeth Parker
getting trashed at a party which she really shouldn’t be at in the first
place.” He laughed heartily then sat down beside her.
“Marcus Joseph Parker I am not going to get drunk. I’m more responsible
then that. I just don’t wanna look stupid in front of all your friends.” She
then took a huge chug of her drink.
“I know Lizzie, just please be careful. I’m supposed to keep an eye on you
while you’re here in Texas.”
“Marc calm down. I’ll be fine. No one ever said Mom and Dad have to know I
was at this party.”
“The Perfect Lil Miss Elizabeth Parker lying?? Can it be true? Oh be still my
beating heart.” He clutched his chest mockingly.
She smiled at the memory. “I remember that Marc only let me have one
beer, because he didn’t want me to get trashed.” She laughed when a picture
of the look on his face when she chugged the beer came into focus in her
mind.
“I also remember that I had a huge crush on Marc’s best friend, Kevin
Montalvo. They had been best friends since they were four, I think. I
thought he was the most gorgeous thing on Earth. He was so well built, with
red hair and the most entrancing blue eyes.” She smiled but then quickly
corrected herself.
No one was really paying attention to her facial expressions but Max caught
it all the same.
“Hey Marc, mind if I ask your cousin to dance with me?” Kevin asked while
pointing at her.
Marc smiled but the protection was there in his eyes. “Sure but behave. If
you do anything to hurt Lizzie I’ll have to hurt you.” He slapped Kevin on the
back.
Kevin turned and extended his hand “Ms. Parker, would you care to
dance?” She jumped up and grabbed his hand gleefully.
“But of course Mr. Montalvo.” She then turned toward Marc with the
goofiest smile on her face. “I’ll be right back. Don’t go
anywhere.”
“I remember being so excited when he asked Marc if he could dance with
me. I though he was such a gentlemen.”
Alex, Isabel, Max, and Micheal didn’t realize it but they simultaneously had
the same thought. ’Yeah, such a gentlemen.’
“We danced for what seemed like an eternity. It was like we were in a
trance. Then I asked him to go get me a drink.” She shook herself out of the
memory only to be assaulted by another.
“Hey Kevy, could you get me a drink? I’m thirsty but no beer though.
Remember what Marc said.”
“Sure Liz I’ll be right back.” He smiled at her and made his way to the drink
table.
“He did get me a cup of Pepsi, I think. I’m not completely sure.” She closed
her eyes and tried to remember. “It’s too fuzzy I can’t quite
remember.”
Maria kept her eyes trained on Liz. “That’s not really important Liz.”
“But it is Maria. You don’t understand.”
“Then let me understand.” Maria got up and sat next to Liz. “I want to know
what happened Liz. I’ll be here for you no matter what. I should have been
from the beginning.”
Maria thought she heard Liz mutter an ‘I hope so’.
“Well the next thing I can remember is being in an upstairs bedroom making
out with Kevin.”
She was totally out of it. Kevin wasn’t ‘all there’ either. He was laying
basically on top of her, sucking on her neck.
“Kevin what was in that drink? I feel so funny now.” She asked him. She
tried to push him off her, but found that she couldn’t because she was so
‘gone’.
“Calm down baby. I only gave you something to make you relax a little. Don’t
fight what you know you want.” He continued to kiss her. Next thing she
knew he was unbuttoning her shirt. That was the last straw.
“I remember him kissing me and trying to take off my shirt.”
That comment caused Max, Micheal and Alex’s fists to ball up. Isabel and
Maria noticed this and gave each other a frightened glance.
“I tried to get him off me. But I wasn’t strong enough. He had laced my
drink with something. The police said it was probably a date rape drug.” She
said as she burst into tears. No one made a single attempt to try and
comfort her for the fact that they felt she wouldn’t get it all out if they
did. Isabel and Maria were basically reduced to tears by now. They couldn’t
imagine having to endure what Liz did. And It hit them hard because Liz was
such a good person, she did nothing to ask for this.
“Kevin stop it. I don’t want to do this. Not here, not now, and not like this.”
She cried desperately. He slapped her hard across her face, and pinned her
arms down to prevent her form getting up.
“Don’t make this difficult Liz.” He told her as he started taking off her
pants. And then his own. Any attempt she made to get up, he would stop by
literally slamming her back onto the bed.
She stood up and began pacing while wiping at her eyes angrily. “I tried to
get away but whatever he had slipped in my drink was keeping me from
fighting back. I finally gave up in the hopes that it would save me some pain
in the long run. I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
’She sobbed as he passed through her barrier. The pain was unbearable.
He wasn’t even trying to be careful with her. She felt like he was trying to
punish her for something.
She couldn’t fight anymore because the pain was too great. She completely
shut down. All she could think was ‘Please let him stop soon. Please let him
stop soon.’ as tears silently streamed down her face.
“He had no remorse. Ya wanna know how I knew that?” Liz’s comment caught
Max’s full attention. He looked up and suddenly, their eyes locked. He could
tell by the look in here yes that she felt guilty and ashamed. She knew he
could read her emotions. ’Why is it he can always read me?’ She
decided she better keep going or she’d just break down in tears. ‘At least
Montega is out of earshot.’ She thought ruefully. I knew it because of
the cold look in his eyes and the fact that he didn’t take his time and he was
as brutal as possible.” She said truthfully. A shudder of anger and pain shot
through Max like a knife. Isabel and Maria burst into tears again just as Liz
did.
He finally pulled out of her and grabbed his clothes. In the process of
doing so, he grabbed her arm tightly and said in a threatening tone, “If you
ever and I mean ever tell anyone about this, I’ll kill you and whoever you
told. Understand?”
The look on his face had told her that he wasn’t kidding. She simply nodded
at him and put her carefully put her clothes back. Every move she made
seemed to hurt. She looked at the bed and saw a pool of blood where she
and Kevin had previously been.
“When he finally pulled out, he just started putting his clothes on. He
grabbed my arm and threatened to kill me if I told anyone about what he’d
done. I told him I wouldn’t and that was that. He just left the room. When I
looked at the bed, all I saw was blood. My blood.” She held back more tears
and kept going.
Max now had a horrified look on his face. Micheal looked like he was gonna
kill someone. And Alex looked just plain angry.
“I didn’t tell anyone what happened that night. I kept my mouth shut for
another month until my uncle and cousin questioned me about it.”
”Elizabeth, what’s going on you haven’t even touched your food?” He asked
in a concerned tone.
“Nothing Uncle Tony I, I swear.” She tried to look as if she was telling the
truth.
“Don’t lie Lizzie, it doesn’t suit you well. I happen to know you’re not sleeping
too well either.” Marc added in.
“I told them that nothing was wrong with me, but they knew better. I guess
it was obvious considering that I didn’t wanna go out. I tensed up whenever
Marc’s friends came over. And I didn’t eat much. I lost thirteen
pounds.”
“I remember when you came home, Alex, Kyle and I were so worried because
you didn’t look anything like the Lizzie we knew. Your mother told us you had
Mono.”
“My mother didn’t want me to have to relive what happened. Lord knows I
could barely talk to the doctor that examined me. But the final blow hadn’t
been dealt yet.” She said while remembering the day she had been told she
was pregnant. “By the time I told Uncle Tony, a full month had gone by.
When my mother took me to the doctor, a pregnancy was the furthest thing
from my mind. I was so scared of stuff like STD’s and HIV. That the
thought of it had barely crossed my mind.” She let out a sarcastic
sigh.
“All I can remember from that day was sitting with my mother in the
doctor’s office a week after my original exam being told that I was roughly
five weeks pregnant.”
Maria was curious. “How did your mom react, Liz?”
“She and my dad were very supportive, actually. They never ever brought
the subject of..” She looked at Montega and then whispered “abortion. I
wouldn’t have gone along with it even if they did. It’s like they knew that she
was the only thing driving me at that point.”
Liz sat back down next to Montega. She began to play with the little girl’s
long brown hair.
All five of them silently thanked whoever it was ‘upstairs’ that gave Montega
to Liz. Her little saving grace.
“I had Montega in a hospital in Texas. I was supposed to stay there until
Monty was a few months old. Then we had it worked out so that Uncle Tony,
Aunt Terese, and Marc would take care of her while I was here in Roswell.
Those first few months I spent away from her were the hardest of my
entire life. I missed my little girl. The instant I saw her face, I was in love
with her.”
“Liz I think that goes for everyone.” Micheal said referring to his
niece.
“I’d have to agree.” Maria said while watching Liz with Montega. “One look at
that adorable little face and you’re hooked.”
Isabel looked apologetically at Liz. “Liz I for one am so sorry about that way
I treated you. It wasn’t fair. I just abandoned you when you needed me. I
wasn’t exactly an understanding friend.”
“Don’t be sorry. You could not have known what happened. I never told
anyone. I hadn’t planned on you guys finding out the way you did. But that’s
the way life goes. Shit happens. You deal with it and move on. It’s over and
done with.” She said pointedly at Maria.
“Really Lizzie? Is it?” Maria asked hopefully.
“Yes. ‘Ria. This is no one’s fault.” She said as she got up to embrace her best
friend. Isabel quickly joined them.
“How come you keep telling yourself otherwise then?” Micheal questioned as
he watched his ‘sisters’ and girlfriend console each other. “You are not to
blame for what Kevin did to you.”
“If I hadn’t been drunk...”
“If. If. If. We could talk about what ifs till we all turned blue but that
doesn’t change the fact that drunk or not, you weren’t responsible for this
Liz.” Max burst out to everyone’s surprise.
He slowly approached where Liz, Maria and Isabel were sitting. Sensing that
they were about to make up, Isabel and Maria quickly got out of the way. Liz
stood up to face Max. She couldn’t hold back her tears any longer. Her knees
suddenly felt weak as a shudder ran through her. Max quickly pulled her to
him.
“Shh. Let it all out Liz.” Max said as he buried his face in her hair. “You’re
okay. I’ll never let anything like that happen to you again baby. I love
you.”
She looked up at him, still teary eyed. “How can you be so
understanding?”
“Because I love you too much to let this get in between us any longer.” He
said as he pulled her lips to his. Liz suddenly had a vision.
She was standing on her rooftop watching Max. He was sitting outside her
window watching her other self cry herself to sleep. She felt all his pain at
the sight of her other self crying.
They continued kissing. They had missed each other’s kisses so much. The
visions continued to assault her. But she didn’t even try to break away from
Max. She wanted to see where this was going.
She saw Max at her window again. This time it was like he was in a trance.
She walked over to this Max and touched his face. She was thrown into his
mind. She saw what he saw. What she discovered he was seeing really
bothered her.
She saw bits and pieces of her ‘usual’ nightmare. It was right at the point
after Isabel, Maria, and Alex had walked out on her. She watched her
‘dream self’ begging Max to answer her.
“Max answer me.”
“Why should I? Huh?” ‘Dream Max’ turned around and looked down at
her.
She stood up and tried to hug him. “I’m so sorry Max. I’ve wanted to tell you
for so long.”
He pushed her away “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH ME!!!” He moved away from
her. “First I found out you’ve lied to me. And this isn’t like one of those
stupid little lies either. Second I find out you have a KID with someone
other than ME? I’m not even sure I want to hear what you have to say
Lizzie.” He spat out sarcastically.
She moved closer to him “Max listen to me it was an accident. I never meant
for this to happen.” She put her hand on his arm. “You have to believe
me.”
Dream-Max pushed her hand back to her side and slapped her as hard as he
could. “BELIEVE YOU!!! Ha! The only thing I believe is that you’re a lying
WHORE!”
Liz reluctantly pulled away from Max. He turned away from her as he
realized what had happened. She felt the hurt radiating off of him. What he
had seen in her dream had hurt him so badly.
She turned his face to hers. “What was that?”
“I’ve been sleeping on your balcony.” He admitted. “I was so worried about
you. You kept waking up screaming. I just wanted to know why.” He said as he
felt tears stinging his eyes. He fell to his knees in front of her and wrapped
his arms around her waist like she was his lifeline.
“God Liz. You have to know I would never.”
She knelt down and grabbed him. “I know. I was just so scared of telling you
guys. I guess my subconscious got the best of me.” She said
tearfully.
They were both in tears now. They just sat there holding each other. Max
was murmuring in her ear.
The sight of Max and Liz like that was too much for the rest of the group.
Maria was sitting in Micheal’s lap outright crying. Isabel was leaning back
against Alex as tears streamed down her face. Alex was a bit teary-eyed
too. Even Micheal ‘Stonewall’ Guerin had tears in his eyes.
Suddenly Montega yelled for Liz.
They ran to the other room of the cave where they had left her. She was
standing their staring at the walls in fascination.
“What are these?”
Micheal picked Montega up and led the group back to the pod
chamber.
“They’re writings from our planet.”
She stared in awe of all the silvery writing on the walls as the seven of them
walked into the pod chamber.
Alex asked Isabel “Do you know what those,” he said while gesturing at the
symbols on the wall adjacent to the pods “mean?”
She shook her head sadly, “Not a clue. None of us do.”
“I know.” Everyone literally stopped dead in their tracks and looked at
Montega. She squirmed to get out of Micheal’s arms. He quickly let her
down.
“Sweety what did you just say?”
Montega looked at Liz in surprise. “Mama I can read this can’t you?”
Liz studied the symbols for a moment and then replied in a hushed voice.
“Yes sweetie I can but I don’t understand how.” She said while looking at
Max who had a bewildered look on his face.
“I do.” Said a familiar voice from behind them.
**TBC**
[Prologue] [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]