Best Laid Plans
Part 8

By Prestor John

Disclaimer: All of the standard: Don't own 'em, just borrowing 'em.
Summary: My AU diverges when Max kisses Tess in Heart of Mine.
Category: Other
Rating: PG-13
Authors Note: My first fiction, so be gentle and honest. Hell, if you can’t be gentle, just be honest! :) Let me know what you think. Mega thanks to Jayfff & Cobray for beta reading, and to Robin and Fadre for editoral comments and reminding me of the rules of grammar. :)

Because the next day was Monday, the gang wasn’t able to get everyone together until after school at the Crashdown. While waiting for everyone else to arrive, Liz decided to head up to her room to drop her books off. When she got there she opened the door and stopped dead in her tracks, mouth agape. Covering every flat surface in her room, bed, desk, windowsill, were white roses. Some scattered about singly, some in bouquets, some in vases. There was one large vase full of white roses with a single red rose in the center sitting on her desk with a card. Liz, knowing whom the card was from still went over and picked it up. With shaking fingers she read the simple inscription: Liz, Will you go to the movies with me tonight? Love Max. Feeling the familiar ache in her heart, she just stared at the card when, unbidden, the memories of what her Grandmother Claudia said to her almost 2 years ago.

“Promise me one thing Honeybear? That you’ll follow your heart where ever it leads you?”

As much as she had been fighting it, Liz knew where her heart was leading her. And, she thought as the first true smile she had felt in ages crossed her face, I did promise Grandma.

When Liz got back down stairs she saw everyone was gathered around the usual table, except….

“Hey” said Max as he stepped out of the restroom.

“Hey” replied Liz, feeling a slight blush spread across her cheeks.

“I see you got my card” Max said pointing to the card that Liz hadn’t realized she was still holding. “Well, will you?” he asked.

With a stern face, Liz said “Max come here.” Grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him in the back room. “I appreciate the gesture, but you can’t go buying me all those flowers.”

Put off by her stern words and expression, Max tried to muster a reply but was cut off, “No Max. You can’t be doing this.” Feeling her resolve weakening, and the frown being replaced by a silly grin Liz continued. “You’re going to have to save some of your money for jewelry. I mean flowers are nice, but diamonds..” She was cut off by Max’s expression of pure joy and his sweeping her up into his arms for the kiss she had been so missing.

When they finally came back up for air, Liz took a breath and stepped back out of Max’s embrace. “Yes, I’ll go to the movies with you tonight Max. But we have to take this slow. There’s just too much that has happened for me to rush back into loving you. Can you accept that?”

“Gladly.” Replied Max “Anything you want, so long as it’s not pushing me away” He started to move close to Liz again but was stopped by her hand in his chest.

“Slowly” Liz repeated with a smile on her face to take the sting out of her rebuff. “Besides, we should be getting back out there”

When they joined the others Isabelle had just started describing what had happened the night before. She explained Tess’s nightmare with Alex throwing in his two bit psychoanalysis “Having two guy’s she’s closest to, closest to having a relationship with, say they thought of her as a sister… Was probably more than her ego could take.”

“I never called her a sister,” muttered Max, “I just said she was like family to me.”

“Whatever, it was close enough, following Kyle saying basically the same thing to drive her over the edge.” Answered Isabelle. “Anyway, right before she forced me out her clothes started changing. I recognized the uniform she was wearing: it was that of a park ranger down at Carlsbad Caverns.”

“So that’s where she is?” exclaimed Kyle, “What are we waiting on? Let’s go!” He stood up from the table and started to turn to the door.

“Kyle wait.” Said Isabelle grabbing his arm. “Sit down there is more.” Once he had taken his set again Isabelle continued. “When I dream walk someone, I either get right into their dream, or hit a kinda wall if they are blocking me or are awake.” Under the table she felt Alex’s hand find hers and give it a gentle squeeze. “I tried again this morning to dream walk Tess. I also tried during lunch. Both time the same thing: Nothing.”

“Nothing?” asked Liz not quite understanding what Isabelle was getting at.

“Nothing” replied Michael, realization hitting him “Like there was no more Tess. Like she’s dead.”

No one said anything as Isabelle’s head nodded agreement.

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

Tess awoke feeling funny. Her head felt…thick. She was having trouble thinking. She tried to bring her hand up to brush her hair off her forehead, but found she couldn’t move her hands. She opened her eyes to a blinding light that seemed to come from everywhere. Squinting in the brightness she saw that she was laying strapped down on a medical gurney. Fear punched through the fog in her head as she struggled with her bonds. That fear grew exponentially as she lifted her gaze to the room she was in.

“Hello Tess” came a disembodied voice. “Welcome to the White Room.”

TBC in “Of mice and men”