“The Last Star”
Date: March 24, 2002
Rating: M/L PG-13
Summary: Max and Liz have been a couple for a really long time, but something happens and it all changes. This is the story of their love and the last star.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, but my own words

**PART ONE**
\PRESENT/
Her beautiful brown eyes brimmed with tears as she watched Max live his dream. She knew that she had to let him go, had to let him be happy. The tears fell silently down her face as Max laughed and wrapped his strong arms around the petite cheerleader next to him.
“That should be me,” Liz thought. “I should be the one with him, not Tess, but me.”
His smile faded as he spotted the love of his life watching him. Things had changed, but his love for her hadn’t and never would. He could clearly see the tears streaking and marking her perfect features with pain. He felt his heart tighten as he realized that he was the cause of them.
“I should be there, making her feel better,” Max thought. “What the hell am I doing?”
He abruptly let go of Tess, ignoring her cries of protest. His legs raced to reach Liz, to let her know that he was sorry, that he was wrong.
Her eyes widened as she realized he was approaching. She took in his gorgeous appearance once more and turned, leaving the only thing she had left behind.


\PRESENT/
Stroking her pale face, the tears fell down his face as he whispered into her ear.
“Please, Liz. Liz, please wake up. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Don’t leave me.” His breath caught in his throat as a fresh wave of tears forced their way out.
Five hours ago, Max’s heart had stopped when he heard of Liz’s accident. A drunk driver had crashed into her as she was fleeing from him. The driver was fine, without a single bruise. His Liz though, was in critical condition and hadn’t woken up yet.
“She may never wake up. What if she never knows how sorry I am?”
The steady beat of the heart monitor was the only thing keeping Max alive. As long as it was beating, Liz was alive and Max could live. He took hold of her thin hand once again, absently playing with the promise ring he had given her a year ago.


\A YEAR EARLIER/
“Liz, I love you.”
She smiled, feeling as if her heart was about to burst. They had been together for a year now and she had heard those wonderful words more than once, but every time felt like the first time. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was to have this man love her. She wasn’t popular at all or pretty. She was just a skinny, all-knees bookworm. Max, on the other hand, was handsome, even if all the popular people made fun of him for being overweight. He was her dream of perfection, her only reason for living. Life was only great because Max was with her.
“Max, I love you too.”
He smiled back as he once again, thought about how lucky he was to have her. He was just a fat, ugly guy who screwed up all the time. Liz was the complete opposite though. She was the most beautiful thing in the world and she was all his. His heart sped up as he leaned down and captured her lips with his.
“I have something for you,” he managed to breathe out. His heart was going a mile a minute as he took the small box out from his coat pocket. He watched as Liz’s eyes sparkled in anticipation and smiled nervously as he looked into her soul and said, “Liz, you know that you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.” His finger hushed her as she opened her mouth to speak. “Not yet, sweetie.” He took a deep breath and continued, “I’ve always loved you. I still can’t believe that you chose me over Michael. You know that Michael’s always been the umm ‘better’ one out of me and him. But you, you still chose me. Here, Liz, open it, it’s for you.”
She shakily took the velvet box and gasped. Perched inside was a beautiful silver ring with a diamond star in the center. Surrounding it were little specks of turquoise. It was the most beautiful thing Liz had ever seen. Her eyes filled with happy tears as Max took the ring and placed it on her left middle finger.
“Liz, it’s a promise ring. Spanish warriors used to give their girlfriends promise rings before they went to war to show them that they loved them and to show other men that they were taken. Liz, this is a promise to you that you’ll always have my heart, my love. I’ll never ever leave you, not until the last star burns out.”
She let out a sob as she threw herself into his arms. He cradled her as she cried, her tears combining with his. Her murmured sweet nothings into her ear as one thing repeated in her mind, “the last star, the last star, the last star.”