something from the archives: chocolate velvet - part 12

and fin.

and i think that finally wraps up all the fanfic i had stored up. crazy to realize it's been a 3-year project basically.

Chapter 12

There aren’t any memories that don’t include her. And there aren’t any memories left. It’s all present tense from now on. Kyle is glad for what he can remember. That Tess didn’t steal it all. But she’d never really considered Liz as someone worthy of competition. She’d never understood why whenever Liz was in the picture she was doomed to come in at least second place.

His place was with Liz. That much he knew. 

The day Max shows up is a day like any other. We are getting ready to go to our respective jobs, Liz is clearing the dishes from breakfast and I’m packing up our lunches. When the doorbell rings we know. 

There’s no one else who would ring the doorbell here. Liz puts down the plates she is carrying and turns to me. “Should I?” she asks hesitantly. I see the reluctance in her posture. She understands that this is something we have to face, but she has been dreading it since Isabel warned us he was coming. 

“It’s okay, babe. I’ll get it.” I finish putting her brown bag together and wipe my hands on a towel before walking over to the door. When I swing it open, there are no suprises. I look him up and down, and without inflection say, “Hey man.”

“Kyle.” He greets me with a bob of his chin. “Where’s Liz?”

I turn and call out into the kitchen, “Babe, Max is here.”

And my beautiful girl calls back, “Thanks, love. I’ll be right there.” Love. She calls me love and my heart blooms with the emotion. I feel her love for me and I know she can feel mine too. We have connected at a cellular level, every time we are together and intimate the connection between us grows. 

“She’ll meet us in the living room, if you want to come in.” I say to Max moving aside to allow him to enter our home. 

But he stands frozen in the entryway. 

“Dude,” I prompt him, “we both have work, so this can’t take long, okay?” I have a little more time than Liz does, given that my commute is the thirty yards of grass between our walkway and the garage entrance, but I like to be there early.

“She loves you?” he says slowly. 

I think it’s the first time he’s ever allowed himself to realize that Liz might have moved on without him. Like maybe he’d bought into the Romeo and Juliet thing they had going on and thought I was just another obstacle. 

“Things are different, man,” I say quietly. “There’s a lot that has brought us together. We have a lot of history, Liz was my first love. It’s different from before, but it’s more now.”

Liz comes up behind me and wraps her arm around my waist, leaning into my body as she softly says hello to Max. 

“You love him?” he asks dumbly. 

Liz nods her head, “I do. He’s been everything to me. I’m so sorry that you found out this way. But since we left Roswell, I knew things had changed for all of us. And being on the road, spending time with Kyle I remembered everything we were to each other when we were younger. And my heart just fell back into rhythm. 

“You know we weren’t working, Max. Everything Tess put us through, losing Alex, the pregnancy, all of it. I wanted to forgive you, and I did. But things weren’t the same. I didn’t feel the same way anymore.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“You weren’t listening.”

I pipe up, “Why are you listening now, Max?”

Because he is listening. For the first time in a long time, it’s not crazed, overly focused Max Evans. It’s the Max who saved me because he knew I mattered to people he cared about. The selfless Max that was easy to fall in love with. 

I’m surprised that I don’t feel threatened by him. He was so hard to overcome in those days. But Liz and I weren’t in a good place back then either. Everything is different now. For the first time since we’ve separated I breathe easily. 

This might all turn out okay. We might all be okay. And I’m astonished at the relief I feel knowing that I might not have to battle Max for the love of my life. She’s chosen me. And maybe he’s had enough distance to realize that it’s time to let the idealized version of their relationship go. 

That was a different time, a different place. Too much has happened. And surprisingly, for Liz and me, it’s taken us back to where we began. Together. In love. Happy.

Present tense. It’s not like anyone can say for certain that they know what the future holds. Kyle and Liz only know that they will face whatever it brings together. They remain connected to the aliens, but they build a life for themselves in a small town in Montana. They manage their alien symptoms. 

The spicy food. The electric green currents. The ability to walk in dreams. The increased healing. 

When they say their vows they are alone with Isabel on the top of a mountain. The Perseid meteor shower is at its peak and it’s a beautiful summer evening. They promise love and forever and fidelity. 

And they keep their promises.