posted on 27-Nov-2001 5:36:16 PM by IndependantElegance
Title:Ending that World
Rating: PG-13
Genre: M/L, Liz
Author's Note: I have this finished, so it will be posted in an orderly fashion (something totally new to me), but please leave feedback.

Prologue

Elizabeth Parker sat inside a hole. The hole had once held the Granilith, which had once been held in the Pod Chamber. Now it was mostly just rubble, but it had just enough working to create shadows. Liz sat cross legged, not worried about posture. Her face was turned upwards, looking at the core of the Granilith. It was intact, but dark.

Liz was in a dark denim skirt that stopped right at her knees. Her high black boots and white blouse where the only other ornaments on her, besides a red beaded necklace that was unnoticeable unless you cared enough to study the subject. Her hair was as she had styled in for her prom, wavy and loose. She had scrubbed her face clean of all make-up, and her eyes were finally clear of past tears. She looked beautiful and disillusioned. She was ready now.

“Liz?” Her name shattered the spell that had been cast across the room. Maria and Kyle followed her name, their eyes not on their friend, but on the Granilith. They had nightmares here too. The two sat down next to each other, facing Liz. They searched for some comfort, but Liz was the first to speak.

“I’m alright.” Neither Maria, Kyle or Liz believed the words.

That night, about two hours earlier, Liz, her parents, and their extended family had sat down to dinner. The seat next to Liz had been empty. Max was supposed to have joined Liz and her family for dinner, but had never come. Two hours before that, Liz had told Maria and Kyle that this was Max’s last chance. After dinner, Liz had gone to her room and called them and asked if they could meet her where they all sat now. Maria reached and took Liz’s hand, noting how cold it was.

“It’s over, isn’t it?”

Liz’s smile was crocked, “Yeah. It’s over.”

Kyle took her other hand as Liz’s eyes drifted back to the core. It was natural for her gaze to be fixed there, for the Granilith had once held her past and future.

“Do you want to hear a story?”



[ edited 3 time(s), last at 1-Dec-2001 5:18:54 PM ]
posted on 27-Nov-2001 5:38:46 PM by IndependantElegance
Chapter One

“Liz!” Alex pushed through the crowd of people, trying to catch up to his friend. “Have you seen Tess?”

“Tess? No…Why?” Max came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, nuzzling her neck. Liz smiled as her eyes fluttered shut. “Hey.”

“Hey. You didn’t come over last night.” Max’s voice was muffled by his girlfriend’s hair.

Liz’s hands floated to cover Max’s, “I know, I’m sorry, Dad made me stay up late and help him with the books. By the time we were done, I was so exhausted I fell asleep before even changing.”

“You should have called me, I would have come over.”

“I know you would have, I…” A look came over Liz’s face that made Alex very glad he couldn’t see what Max was doing to his best friend.

“Aw, C’mon guys…” He scratched the back of his ear, looking everywhere but at the couple in front of him. “We talked about this before. Public areas? Went with the whole ‘Get a Room’ chat?”

Liz giggled, “Sorry Alex, what?” She nudged Max until he propped his chin up on the top of her head.

“I think Tess left.”

*****

Kyle and Maria watched Liz in shock. Liz smiled and opened her eyes as she finished describing the scene. “I can still feel her emotions.” She studied her hands, turning them over. “Every one. It’s like living twice. Every moment in this world overlaps with one from there’s.”

Kyle opened his mouth to question her, but stopped from a look from Maria. Instead, Maria turned to her best friend. “Liz? Are these…I mean, how…”

Liz looked up, “I don’t know.”

*****
Max and Liz laid in the back of his jeep, looking up at the stars. The desert was quiet and cool, a slight wind ruffling Liz’s hair every so often. Liz’s head rested on Max’s chest, their legs tangled together as they both thought about the girl who had crushed their worlds, and had now left.

Max’s arms tightened around Liz as he felt her fill up with guilt.

“Max…” Liz let her voice trail off. “Where do you think she went?”

Max’s hand began to run down Liz’s back absentmindedly, “I don’t know.” The two took comfort from each other silently.

“It’s our fault.” Liz turned so she was looking into his eyes. “It is.”

Max started to contradict her, but found himself unable to deny the truth. “Yeah, but…” He stopped talking until Liz’s eyes returned to his own. “It’s worth it. She’s not one of us, not in the ways that count. It was her choice to leave.”

“I…” Liz swallowed, and Max felt another rush of guilt. “I don’t want her to come back.”

“Neither do I.”
*****

Liz shook her head, “They let her go. They wanted so much to be happy and normal, they let her go.”

Kyle spoke, “It was the right thing to do. She was working for the skins.”

Maria looked up at the sky that was visible through a crack in the ceiling. “Yeah, but they didn’t know that.”

“They didn’t go to the harvest. Their Tess left a few days after that. They didn’t even find out something had gone on at her “funeral” until years later.”


[ edited 1 time(s), last at 27-Nov-2001 5:40:59 PM ]
posted on 1-Dec-2001 5:17:57 PM by IndependantElegance
Chapter 2

The cool porcelain was a shock to Liz’s bare skin. Getting over it, she leaned her head back on the edge of the bath and closed her eyes. The smell of vanilla flooded her senses, and for that moment, she was content to just lay there, enjoying the feeling of the warm water and fragrant air.

She kept a smile off her face as she felt Max’s presence enter the bathroom. He had been out shopping with Isabel for their Mother’s birthday present all day, and had been completely stressed when he had called her to say he was going to be late. She couldn’t stop a smile from forming however, when his hands cupped her face. She opened her eyes. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He smiled at her before leaning down, careful not fall in the tub. When they came up for air, Max let his eyes wander down the body he knew as well as his own, if not better. Liz grinned as his eyes turned black, promising another sleepless night. Not that either were complaining.

She watched the muscles in his throat constrict as he focused on one area. Careful of the various candles around the tub, she pulled him in down on top of her. She kissed him hard on the mouth before he could say anything, and looked into his shocked eyes.

“You take care of your clothes.”

Max grinned at her before waving his hands over his clothes, making them vanish if never there.

*****

Maria and Kyle’s faces were both flushed by the time she was done. Maria cleared her throat, “How much do you…remember Liz?”

Liz let her lips quirk, but didn’t answer. “Max has only had one flash of that other life. When we were in Vegas, he saw them getting out of a cab, married.”

“Married?” Kyle’s eyes were wide. “You didn’t tell me you two had been married.”

Liz nodded her head, letting her hair fall over her cheeks, bowing her head. “Yes, they were married. 19 years old. God, they must have been insane.”

*****

Liz was silent as she walked into Max’s dorm room. His roommate was gone for the weekend, so they had their privacy…for once. One lamp was still on, so she could see Max’s sleeping form clearly on the bed. He had fallen asleep studying again. Stacking his books on the ground and turning off the light, she kicked off her shoes and crawled into bed with him, letting her eyes close as her cheek rested on his chest. His arms wrapped around her in his sleep, and within minutes Liz had fallen asleep as well.

The alarm clock woke them both up, Max cursing as he looked for it on the nightstand. The one morning they don’t have classes. Liz kept her face buried in his neck the entire time, trying to block out the noise.

“That was pleasant.” Liz muttered, pulling the covers tighter around her. “What the hell time is it?”

Max winced, knowing that if Liz wasn’t one thing, it wasn’t a morning person. “It’s 6, go back to sleep. You don’t have class until 11.”

They both laid there, knowing that sleep wasn’t coming. They had always been the kind of people that, when they woke up in the morning, they weren’t getting back to sleep. “I hate this.” Liz said softly.

Max stroked her hair, “So do I.” He had been trying to be upbeat about the situation, but it was killing him even more than it was Liz. He missed waking up with her like this. But their parents wouldn’t let them move in together, and it wasn’t the same with a roomful of guys. Their sex life certainly wasn’t suffering, if anything, they had become even more creative in their lovemaking. Max grinned as he remembered ‘lunch’ yesterday. “It’ll get better.”

“I want to get married.” Max’s arms around her got almost painfully tight.

“Have I mentioned how much I love to hear you say that.” He kissed her forehead.

“Max. I’m serious.”

“You’re kidding, right?”

“No…that would be the opposite of serious.” Liz turned so she was resting with her elbows crossed on his chest, and her chin resting on her arms.

“Liz…c’mon, your crazy.”

Something close to hurt filled Liz’s eyes, “Don’t you want to marry me?”

“God yes!” Max yelped, shocked that Liz would think differently. “You know I do. It’s just…remember how our parents reacted when we talked to them about moving in together?” He saw in Liz’s face that she did indeed remember. “Liz, we’re just…we’re too young.”

“Romeo and Juliet were younger.”

“Romeo and Juliet weren’t biology majors that needed parents to finish paying their tuition.”

Liz sighed, “I know, I’m sorry for whining.”

Max felt his heart twist. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Liz felt miserable the next week. She had caught a cold from her roommate, Surena, who had the advantage of being able to drive home whenever she wanted. Moaning, she fell into bed. She wore one of Max’s old sweatshirts that she had long ago claimed as her own over sweatpants. Grabbing her Kleenex, she curled around them and tried to find some relief for her pounding head.

Max walked into the room, trying not to wake her. She had kicked him out earlier and made him go to class, after accusing him of being a mother hen. “Hey sweetheart. I got you some medicine.”

“I hate you.” Liz blew her nose, “You don’t get sick, and then you can’t even heal me.”

Max felt a flash of guilt before Liz threw a cough drop at him, “Stop it, I’m kidding.”

He stretched out on the bed and spooned his body around her miserable one, taking a box with him. “Drink some juice.” He put a straw to her mouth, but she saw what he had rested around the straw before she could take a drink. Shocked, she stared at the small diamond ring.

He used the hand that wasn’t holding the box to take off the ring. “Will you marry me?”

*****

Maria’s heart went out to her best friend. To know that life while living in this one…it must have been hell. She had seen Liz suffering over the past year, but hadn’t realized there was even more behind it.
When Alex had died, she knew that Liz blamed herself. But she had been too grieved and mad about Alex, and Liz acting the way she was to help her friend out.
Kyle stared at the little form in front of him in shock. He had no idea what he was doing that night Liz came to him. What had he had been thinking? Why hadn’t he had asked questions? Alex died so that bitch could stay to ruin Liz’s life. Couldn’t anything ever work out in their favor?

Liz felt a tear fall down her cheek, and whipped it off furiously. “They were happy dammit!” Both Kyle and Maria’s heads shot up at her voice. Liz stood up for the first time since she had entered the Granilith and paced around. “Why? Why?! They were happy!” She let out a sob and hit the Granilith’s core with a fist. Stretching out her hand so her palm lay flat on the core, she bowed her head.