Disclaimer: If I owned "Roswell" or "I Do," I would be able to support my sister and myself through our last year of high school and four years of college. But alas, my parents will eventually go bankrupt because of us…
Category: This is going to sound weird coming from me, but Max/Maria with a little bit of Max/Liz thrown in there.
Author’s Note: Anything in astrics-**-represent a thought or past event.
Author’s Note, the Sequel: I don’t know what motivated me to write this, but I was watching a childhood movie favorite yesterday and got all sad and weepy. Also, this is dedicated to my cat, for being the best poopy ever! (Becca, lol).

I got a letter today
An invitation

Liz Parker sighed as she got the mail out of her mailbox. "Coming, Chrissy," she called to her six-year-old daughter.

She sorted through the mail as Christina ran up to her. "Anything for me, Mommy?" she asked, her dark eyes full of hope.

Liz laughed, because even Christina knew there was never any mail for her. "No, sweetheart." Her heart stopped as an envelope appeared. Miss Elizabeth Parker, it read. No one called her Elizabeth, except her mother when she was especially impatient or sentimental.

She and Christina were silent as they walked up to her apartment and Liz wondered what could be in the envelope. An invitation, of course…but for who? She opened up the letter and she froze.

Mr. and Mrs. Philip Evans and Miss Amy DeLuca

Cordially invite you to the wedding of their children

Maxwell Benjamin and Maria Julianne

And the writing looked like you
Hello, how are you, and by the way
Please RSVP I do

"Mommy!" Christina pulled insistently on her mother’s skirt for the sixth time. "What is it, Mommy?" she asked as Liz finally looked down.

"Only an invitation, darling." *Max and Maria?* Liz thought. "Chrissy, why don’t you go over to Emily’s to play?" Christina nodded and went to their neighbors to see her friend.

It had been a long six years, she contemplated as she sat down on a couch in her Boston home. She was 27 now, and hadn’t spoken to Max or Maria in ages. Alex and Isabel were now married, living in Los Angeles, and she talked to them regularly. The last time she had spoken to Max or Maria was six years ago…graduation night.

*"Oh, Maria, I can’t believe we’re done!" Liz exclaimed as Maria took off her hat and robe. "I mean, I was done a few weeks ago, but now…we’re adults, Maria!"

"I know, Lizzie," Maria smiled. She had gone to UC Berkeley, Max to Stanford, Liz to Harvard, Michael to NYU, and Alex and Isabel to UCLA. They were all 21, and Maria was the last to graduate. "Oh, shit, I have to go meet my mom for dinner. I’ll see you later, Lizzie." Maria hugged her friend and was off.

Liz wandered around the campus aimlessly until she as tapped on the shoulder. "Excuse me, miss, may I help you?" She turned around and gasped.

"Max!" She threw her arms around him and held him tight. "It’s been so long, Max," she whispered, glad to be in his arms again.

"I know, Liz." He breathed the scent of Liz and sighed. "I can’t believe it’s all over." They separated and smiled.

He and Liz and broken up at the end of high school, as had Michael and Maria. Max and Maria had shared an apartment ever since college started and had grown to be close friends.

"Tell you what, Liz," he stated, beginning to walk. "Let’s go out for a night on the town. Just you and me." Very impulsive and un-Max like, but she grinned anyway.

"Sweep me off my feet, Mr. Evans," Liz laughed, and so they were off.*

Had it really been six years since she had last seen them? And now he was getting married. To Maria. A tear slipped down her cheek, and she hugged her knees and began to cry.

She still loved Max; why she had never told him was a mystery, and now it was too late. He had looked at her sadly, all those years ago, and told him that they weren’t meant to be. Liz had protested, but now those words rang true.

I thought of writing sad words of how it used to be
But I didn’t want to bring you down

But Maria had been her best friend from preschool to twelfth grade and Max had saved her life. She owed them that much. But was she emotionally capable of going? She couldn't even think about it without crying.

I guess the bells will ring pretty well there without me
Don’t worry about me, baby, I’ll wear the thorny crown
I will play the clown

She looked at the invitation once more and a loud sob escaped from her. "I love you, Max," she whispered.

***************

"They’re getting what?!" Alex Whitman looked at his wife in disbelief. "But…but…"

"I know, Alex," Isabel replied, running her hands through her long blonde hair. "I can’t believe him…he knows it will tear her up."

"Does he know about-" "No," she interrupted, her voice sad. "She never had the courage to tell him, and it’s too late now." The phone rang, breaking the silence between them. "Hello?"

"Hey, Izzy." It was Liz. "Have you gotten the invitation yet?" She sounded like she was dying.

"I’m so sorry, Liz." It was only a consolation, because she knew she could never take away the pain Liz was feeling.

"It’s not your fault, Isabel," Liz whispered. "I mean, I shouldn’t have expected he would wait around forever. But Maria…she was my best friend. My best friend took away the only man I ever loved." She paused, and her voice cracked. "He must think I stopped loving him when I left the night of Maria’s graduation…but he’s wrong." She sniffled, and attempted to compose herself. "It doesn’t matter now."

If you think that I don’t love you, you’re just wrong
And that don’t matter now anyway

"He’s being stupid, Liz," Isabel assured her frankly. "He knows it, but he can’t bear the thought of you ever being hurt by him."

"I don’t know if I can do it, Iz. I don’t know if I will be able to bear it, knowing that I had all this time to tell him about me…about Christina…and I wasted it!"

"There’s nothing you can do now, Lizzie." Isabel’s voice faltered, knowing it would kill Liz.

"Yes, there is. I can stay away. I have to," Liz replied.

I couldn’t bear to see you up there with a white dress on
Here’s my vow to you
I’ll stay away

"No, no, no, Liz!" Isabel pleaded. "Even though you haven’t spoken to them in six years, they need you there. You were Maria’s best friend and you are Max’s true love. He’s just too hardheaded to see that."

"But Isabel! He told me he could never love anyone else…but how can one control who they fall in love with? And now, as time went by, he found someone better."

I remember when in a lover’s whisper you said
No other man would ever share your bed
Well, we both know that’s not been so
And I wish I’d never let you go now
You found a better man instead

"He was only afraid he would hurt you, Liz, you have to know that," Isabel told her. "He’s not afraid of hurting Maria…he doesn’t love her as much."

Liz heard the door open and a little voice called out for her. "Izzy, I have to go…thanks for your help."

"Anytime, Liz." Isabel smiled sadly. "We love you, Lizzie."

"I love you guys too, Isabel." Isabel placed the phone carefully in the receiver and sighed.

Little did she know that would be the last time she would ever talk to Liz.

***************

"Chrissy!" Liz called. "We have to go to the market. Go put your shoes on!" She smiled as she watched her little girl scurry around, trying to find her shoes.

Christina Maxine Evans, born March 22, 2005, was a beautiful little girl. She had her mother’s straight dark hair and warm smile, her father’s dark hazel eyes, and a mixture of her mother and father’s personality: Max’s responsibility, Liz’ pragmatism, and so on.

If only Max knew about her. They had slept together the night of Maria’s graduation but Liz had left that morning, knowing she could never leave him if she stayed.

It had been two days since Liz had talked to Isabel, and she had done some thinking. She wouldn’t go to the wedding, but had written Maria a letter, expressing her regrets about the situation.

She just wished that they would have a perfect life together…that both of them could be happy and content with one another. That’s all they deserved. It could be enough for her, at least for now.

I wish you health and wealth and a white house on a hill
and I, I hope you raise a family
Little boy and a little girl, a little more joy in this little old world
Well, that’d be enough for me

Liz had learned that as time goes on, dreams die. One can pretend they don’t love someone, but still know in their heart that they would go back to them in a second if they asked.

I can only hope that whenever Max wonders if true love and fate and all that other crap exists, he thinks of me…and remembers our relationship like I do, she thought contently to herself.

Time rolls on, and dreams, they die
And I’ve thrown out the pictures I had of you and I
And if you’re ever wondering if love can be true
Well, think of me remember darling like I, like I do

***************

"Chrissy!" Liz screamed. "Get out of the way!" She pushed her daughter out of the way of a truck that must have been going 120 miles per hour.

"Mommy!" Christina ran over to her mother’s body that was saturated with blood. "Mommy, please wake up…"

Scenes of her life flashed before Liz’ eyes…meeting Maria, Max kissing her in their fifth grade performance of "Snow White," Max saving her life at the Crashdown, high school graduation, Christina being born, and other countless memories.

"Chrissy, I love you more than anything in the world," Liz whispered, managing to gain the strength to tell her little girl the things she needed to know. "And tell Max that I’ve never stopped loving him and that he’s always been in my heart, even after everything we had faded into a memory."

Old friendships fade away, love falls apart
But you’ve not spent a single day outside my heart

Tears came to Christina’s eyes. "Please, Mommy, don’t leave me, I love you!"

Liz’ vision became blurry and she started to close her eyes. "I love you, too, sweetie."

And as her life ended, Liz Parker had two last thoughts: one, that Christina grows up to be a strong, caring woman, and two, that Max is happy and smiling when Maria says I do.

And there’s just one more dream that I have left for you
I hope your smiling when he turns around and says I do
I do

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