Title: My Knight In Shining Armor
Part: 1
Author: Nina
Email: [email protected]
Disclaimer: I don`t own the show but go ahead and sue me if it`ll make
you feel better.
Summary: Someone will show up just in time before Sean tries to take
things too far with Liz.
Category: Max/Liz
Rating: PG
Keywords: rescue, help, rape, Sean, protect
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Liz was starting to wonder why Sean was still here. It was getting
late. He`d shown up down in the Crashdown a couple hours ago and said
something about them studying together...Liz hadn`t really had the
energy to say no, so she`d gone ahead and let him come upstairs. They`d
worked on homework together for maybe twenty-five minutes and then the
TV had ended up turned on while Liz went into the kitchen to make
herself a sandwich for dinner. Her parents were out at some late-night
movie and wouldn`t be back till half past ten or so. Eventually Sean
turned off the television and went into the kitchen with her. Liz asked
him when he needed to be home and he just shrugged. She offered him
something to eat but he said he didn`t want anything. As time went by he
seemed to have less and less reason to be in her house still.
Max had also been in the cafe earlier that day, right before Sean
had come in, in fact. In a brief conversation they`d had Liz had
mentioned that she`d probably be up late studying. At this time Max was
driving his jeep down a street not far from her house, and he eyed a
book on the dashboard that he`d borrowed from her a long time ago. He
was finished with it but kept forgetting to get it back to her. He
looked at the clock-it was 9:12. Kind of late to swing by her house, he
thought. But as long as she would be up late studying...maybe she could
use some brief company.
Liz was now at the sink scrubbing at dishes. Sean would surely
leave now if he saw she had things to do. But instead he seemed bothered
that she wasn`t looking at him or something; as she worked he paced
around the kitchen and talked to her about the most random things. It
was a rarity that Liz actually responded to his words, but he kept
saying little once-in-a-while comments.
Finally Sean stopped messing around and he crept up behind Liz`s
back. He peeked over her shoulder from behind and reached his hands
around toward hers. Gripping her hands that were holding a wet plate, he
said quietly, "Why don`t you put that down for a while."
Max had long since developed a trust with Liz where he could just
come up her balcony and into her room at any time. He found her window
open but the bedroom lights were off. That was odd; she usually studied
in there at her desk. Hoping her parents weren`t there to notice his
breaking in, he went through her bedroom door and out into the hall.
At once he heard the sound of Liz saying something to another
person in the house, and he didn`t like the sound of it at all:
"Stop it, get your hands off me, Sean-STOP!"
Max ran toward the voice. He didn`t have to look to see what was
going on when he found Liz and Sean right outside the kitchen; he
already knew. He just went ahead and flung himself at Sean, getting him
off of Liz, and thrust him against the wall. "You filthy bastard-can`t
even come in and keep the fuck off." Max grabbed Sean again around the
collar of his shirt and slammed a fist across his face, sending him to
the floor. Liz scurried away from the two of them, holding her face like
she just wanted to shrivel away into nothingness right then.
Max got Sean out the back door, pushing him out onto the ground and
shouting, "Stay the hell away."
He slammed the door shut and then it was over. Max went back
upstairs and leaned against a wall, breathing out heavily. At the moment
he was filled up with a deep, hot anger. No one was supposed to touch
Liz, not in that way-no one was supposed to hurt her like that. Max
clenched his right fist together, still throbbing from how hard he`d
punched Sean, and ran his other fingers across the sore knuckles. What
if he hadn`t gotten here early enough? What if Sean had really gotten
that far and taken something from her?
As his anger cooled down and a certain ring in his ears went away,
Max`s hearing started to make out the sound of weeping in the other
room. Max ran across the house and found Liz sprawled across the floor,
her tears wetting the carpet. He dropped to the floor beside her and
said, "Liz..."
Her shirt was unbuttoned and hanging open but she seemed to not
even be aware of it. She didn`t seem to be aware of anything-not even
his presence there. Max leaned forward, bringing his face against hers.
He closed his eyes and whispered again, "Liz."
He touched her face with
his hand and wiped away a tear. She opened her eyes and they were
distant and sad. She cried, "It`s my fault...I should have known he
would try to..."
"Shhh....no. No, don`t worry about it." Max wrapped his arm around
her shoulders to pull her up into a sitting postion and together they
leaned against a wall, Liz basically lying against him. She didn`t say
anything and he didn`t expect her to. After a few minutes he reached
down and slowly buttoned her blouse back together with the loving
gentleness that Sean could never show her. One of the buttons had ripped
off, leaving behind a tiny tuft of thread, and in that place on her
shirt there was a gap hanging open to reveal the lace of her bra.
She
looked up at him and her voice cracked weakly as she said, "What if he
tries it again?"
"I won`t let him," Max promised. He held her tightly and said, "Don`t
worry about telling anyone. I`ll take care of it."
She closed her eyes again and buried her face against the warm
fabric of his shirt. She thought, if he stays here another minute I`ll
fall in love with him all over again. "Why are you still here?"
"To take care of you." Max rubbed his hand down her back and softly
kissed her forehead. She just remained silent, kept her eyes closed.
As time went by the fright of the moment aged and started to pass
on more and more. Everything was going to be okay. Liz relaxed and she
stayed there in Max`s arm until she fell asleep. Even after she had gone
to sleep, Max stayed there sitting against the wall with her for a
while. He thought that she`d probably feel safer with his heart beating
against hers, and she didn`t want her to be scared.
Eventually Max managed to carry her into her bedroom and carefully
lay her down onto the bed. After pulling the sheets over her, he held
her waist delicately and kissed her innocently on her mouth. Then he
wondered if he should leave now, but concluded that maybe he should
stay, just in case Sean came back. He didn`t want to leave her just yet
until he knew she was safe.
As he sat against the side of the bed, he watched her sleeping and
thought. He hoped she would see now that even though they couldn`t be
together in the way they wanted to, he would always be there for her.
For now he would protect her and make sure she never got hurt, and then
maybe one day they would be together, and maybe she would give to him
what Sean had tried to steal away from her.
The End