Banner by Steffi Title: Paradise
Disclaimer: I don’t own Roswell or its characters. I get no profit. This story is just for fun. No copyright infringement intended.
Rating: Adult due to Strong Language, Sexual Content between minors, featuring Harsh and Dark themes, scenes of extreme violence and underage drinking/drug use.
Warning: I ask you to read responsibly. I will be dealing with some dark and sensitive subjects in this story like Child abuse, incest, drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, suicide, and date rape… This story will have triggers in it and I just want everyone to be prepared before they read on. I will also be exploring some UC relationships in this story to some extent, like Max/Tess and Max/Isabel who aren't anyway shape or form related in this story; so if that bothers you I suggests not reading this story.
Category: Au without Aliens/Drama and Angst/ Romance/Family and Relationship dynamics
Pairing: CC, Ensemble
Summary: There are moments in every person’s life that defines them. A moment that makes them the person that they will become and be judged upon—some moments are good, the one that leave a warm place in your soul… while others are bad and leave a dark abyss that can never be filled and for eight teens—those moments will help them discover that while you may not be able to choose your family but you can choose the kinds of people that you let into your life and touch your soul.
A/N: This is a story that’s very personal to me. I took all the best and worse things that I, my family member, and some of my dear friends have went through in our short lives or long lives and combined them together into this one story with my favorite characters.
This story is probably going to be my best because I’m speaking or trying to speak from the heart and pour my soul into this story. I am deeply proud of where this story is going and while at times it may be dark and the subjects that I talk about are something that no human being should go through… I feel that the relationships and lessons that these characters will figure out at and form in this story are so beautiful and real.
I especially love the relationship between Max and Maria… anyway, on with the story and I hope that you will laugh when I laughed, cry when I cried, and adore this story as much as I do.
Quick Note: The family dynamics in this story are very different… Here they are:
• Isabel and Liz Parker are biological siblings(?) Isabel is three years older than Liz, who is nine at the being of this story. Isabel will be a senior when Liz is a freshman.
• MaxEvans and Maria Deluca are long lost cousins. Max’s father is Maria’s uncle as Maria’s mother is Max’s aunt. Max is also three years older than Maria and Amy is not Maria’s mother in this story
• Michael, Tess, and Alex are foster siblings in this story. Michael and Tess are twins, while Alex is not related to Michael or Tess in anyway. All are the same age.
Warning again:Please don’t read if these subjects are too much for you… I don’t want anyone to hurt themselves.
-1-
It’s a beautiful day, Maria thought wistfully, clutching her teddy bear closer to her as the car came slowly to a stop in front of a big house and the tall, broody man next to her cut the engine.Mom would have loved a day like this, Maria hugged her gift bear close to her nose, sniffing to smell the lingering scent of her mother’s perfume and she tried to stifle the tears that were threatening to roll down her young face with abandon… but it was no use. She was suddenly alone and scared… and without her mom. She didn’t have anybody… and the man sitting in the car right next to her was just a stranger.
“We’re here,” the man’s rough voice said abruptly, startling her. She continued to hug the bear close as he continued, “I’ll just take your things upstairs to your new room.” He smiled warmly at her and got out of the car, walking over to the passenger side door. He opened it with a click and offered his big gloved hand to her.
“Come on,” He encouraged her with a flick of his head. “It’s okay… You’re home now.” His sweet words made her feel better, less afraid of what was to come and, with a small sigh, she took his hand and stepped out of the vehicle. He closed it behind her with a bang.
Maria stared at the mansion before her, awestruck for the first time in her young life. She had never seen anything so beautiful… anything so big… or at least not in close proximity. The closest she had ever come to seeing a mansion before that moment was in the movie Gone with the wind… It was her mother’s favorite movie to watch during one of her bad days and, even then, it hadn't looked anything like this.
It seemed the man she was going to be living with now was loaded… blue blood, old money kind of loaded—and, for some reason, that fact made her a little uneasy. She wasn't used to the finer things in life, not when her mother had been a single mom working two jobs just to pay the rent and keep them from starving, but now she wasn't going to want for anything and that made her feel oddly useless. Even at the age of nine, it just wasn't in her nature not to work for the things that she wanted.
“Go on up,” the tall man said a few moments later, nudging her with his hand. “He’s waiting for you.”
Maria only nodded in return before walking up the long cement driveway and through the big wooden doors of the old cottage, closing the door behind her as she walked in. She stopped dead at the archway of the front door, amazed.
The place was even more beautiful on the inside… Its pristine walls were carved out of Victorian marble that shone brightly despite its old age. A winding staircase led to the second floor of the house. Its banisters and railings above were made of iron with crystal insets at intervals. As she stared at all of it with wide, awestricken eyes, Maria felt more enthralled than she had when she was looking at it from outside… but now she also felt even more uneasy than she had before.
She couldn't live there. She looked like white trash compared to this house’s grandeur. She didn't look like someone with royal blood and making her try and fit into that mold was like trying to keep a cat from attacking a mouse… It just wasn't going to work.
“Hi!” Someone yelled excitedly, knocking Maria from her daze and making her flinch. She sighed, a little irritated at the unknown person. She wasn't any more than five feet away from the dude; he didn't have to shout. She turned toward the direction of the voice to see a handsome, dark haired boy standing on the top of the iron staircase; he was wearing a custom made black tux with his hair slicked neatly back, a red clip-on tie hanging loosely from his open jacket and she knew that, like her, he had just came back from her mother’s funeral. She knew instantly who the person in front of her was… her long lost cousin, Max.
“I’m Max!” he said cheerfully, smiling brightly at her and she couldn't help but smile a little back. He raced down the staircase in long, quick strides before coming to an abrupt stop in front of her and Maria backed away from him, a little frightened by his blatant enthusiasm… He seemed almost overjoyed at seeing her, like she was his savior or something.
“Do you wanna go in the backyard and play?” he asked, still smiling from ear to ear. “I know this really cool spot deep in the garden that the keeper doesn't trim… I can show it to you, if you want?”
“I don’t know…” Maria said, uncertain. She played with the hem of her black dress, her teddy bear dangling limply from her hand. “I’m supposed to go see your dad first.”
The beautiful smile that was on his face faltered a little at the mention of his father. In fact, he was downright frowning now. He shifted uneasily in his dress shoes, rocking on the balls of his heels. He seemed almost disappointed at her reluctance to simply go and hang out with him.
“We can play anything you want to play,” Max said shyly, clenching the fabric of his dress suit with his hands. “We can play house…dress-up… I’m sure I can convince Hinckley to go out and buy you some Barbie dolls if you want… I-I just want to hang out with you.” He finished desperately, looking on the verge of tears and Maria didn't know how to react to that. Just how lonely was her life going to be from now on? Just how lonely was this boy in front of her that he was willing to seek company with someone he had only known about for two days… someone who was younger than him? She eyed him warily, a little suspicious of him. She didn't know what to make of the eager kid in front of her and that frazzled her. She wasn't used to being shoved into the spotlight and forced to make awkward decisions… but he didn't seem too bad. At least she didn't feel so alone anymore. She had a new friend…. even if he was a little annoying.
“Do you have toy cars?” she asked quietly, still a little unsure of what she was getting herself into… but he looked so sad and Maria could never stand it when anybody was sad. She sat her teddy bear in one of the decorative chairs closest to her that seemed to litter the whole front part of the house.
“Yeah!” Max perked up at her question, sounding pleased that he had something that he could appease her with. “I have lots of toy cars!” he added, motioning with his hand for her to follow him upstairs. “There in my room… I got the new collection of Hot Wheels the other day. It hadn't even come out in stores yet.”
“Cool!” she giggled lightly, his enthusiasm was oddly infectious. She followed him closely to his room as he ranted idly about anything and everything, his sweet and melodic voice making her feel safe, welcomed… free. She hadn't felt this sense of self-security in such a long time… not since her mother had gotten sick… And, despite everything that had transpired in the last few days, he had been the first person that had been shoved into her orbit that made her feel like everything was truly going to be okay, that she was going to make it through. His overzealousness had done the impossible, making her finally feel like the nine-year-old that she was instead of the old lady that she had to become in order to be able to take care of her mother… and she didn't know how to thank him for that.
And as she stared at him with a newfound sense of affection that she didn't even know could be developed in such a short amount of time, she thought that Max Evans must be one of the loneliest boys in the world, if he was so willing to do anything to make her happy… if he wanted to be her friend.
And she guessed that was okay… because truthfully, she was a little lonely herself.
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Isabel was a unique girl for her age because, unlike her younger sister, she had never much cared for Barbie dolls, Princes, or princesses. She hadn't wanted a fairytale story read to her before bedtime and she had never asked her mother to check for monsters underneath her bed or in her closet. For a twelve year old, she had simply never really believed in any of it. She had known, even at an early age, that imagination was useless and would get you nowhere, except on a road to a hateful and bitter life—No… hard work and determination was the key to getting what you wanted out of life.
It was a grown up way of thinking… but Isabel hadn't been a child for years, so the adult mindset in which she thought suited her well. Unlike Liz, she never had a place in her heart or mind for such youthful and whimsical notions to take a hold. She wasn't stupid… She had always known that no handsome knight in shining armor would come riding up on his white horse to rescue her… not from her monsters… not when her demons lived inside her dreams every night.
So, to simply put it… monsters just didn’t exist for Isabel Amanda Parker… Or at least not the ones that hid underneath your bed.
“Izzie…” a familiar voice whispered in the imperfect darkness, snapping Isabel back from her thoughts. She stiffened, pulling the covers tightly around her like a shield. No, please God… not tonight, not again. “Oh, Izzie… are you awake?” the voice asked, shifting around in the darkened room.
Isabel willed him to go away as she lay still in her small bed. “Come on, Isabel… I know you’re awake,” the disembodied voice that she knew so well said amusingly, his size making her bed dip as he leaned in closer to her. “Come, Isabel, get up… It’s time to play a game.”
“No…” her young voice croaked, fisting the covers tightly around her. “Go away.” She demanded weakly.
“You know I can’t do that,” He laughed cruelly, prying the covers away from her small fists. “You know the drill by now,” he said. “You play a game of my choosing and then I go away.” He wrapped his bulky and sweaty arms around her tiny waist, holding her so close that she could smell the booze wafting off of him. She had to choke down the urge to cry and puke at the same time as she always did when he came into her room because he only ever came to her when he smelled just like that.
“Please,” she pleaded again. “Not tonight… come back tomorrow, I promise I’ll play a game than… I’ll play two,” She found herself saying and she knew that she was only making the punishment worse for herself. He hated it when she begged him… but she wanted him to go away, to get away from her and leave her alone… at least for one night. But she knew he wouldn’t go… but that didn’t stop her from trying to make him. “Just… not tonight.” She finished, sobbing.
Like they always did, her youthful pleas fall on deaf ears and he just pulled her in closer, his large nose buried into her blonde curls and she held her breath, trying not to let in the overwhelming smell of his disgusting aftershave and the unmistakable smell of bourbon. “I think…” He hummed with consideration, still holding her close and she knew what was coming... she knew what her pleas where going to get her now.
“For your troubles, we’ve going to play a game of ‘Hide and Go Seek’ tonight.” He said, tugging on the hem of her pajama pants and she inhaled deeply, steeling herself to what was going to happen next. “What do you think, hmmm?” he asked and went to work on pulling down her panties next, his overwhelming mixture of smell still making her want to gag.
Isabel Parker didn’t believe in imaginary monsters… not when she knew just what true evil felt and looked like… what something like that could really do to a person, and figments of childish evil kind of paled in comparison to it.
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“That looks stupid, Michael!” Tess exclaimed, snatching the pen out of her brother’s hand. “Hank has a much bigger nose than that.”
Michael chortled, patting Tess playfully on the back. Tess smacked him on the arm while Alex just smiled.
“Put it away, you guys,” Alex said softly, a bright smile still playing on his lips. “You both still need to help me change the sheets.” Alex pointed to bed in front of him. “You know how angry Hank gets when we don’t do our chores.” Alex stopped smiling as he finished, picking up the dirty clothes off their bedroom floor.
Michael and Tess stopped laughing at the mention of Hank’s name, Michael’s eyes tightening around the corners. “Screw Hank,” he said defiantly. “You know that he’ll just find something else to complain about anyway.”
Alex glared at him.
Tess sighed, throwing the pen onto the ground as she pushed herself up from the floor of their bedroom and walked over to the closet. She gingerly put some of her toys that had been lying askew all around the room back into the bin they kept in there before making her way over to him. “I’ll help you, Alex.” Tess said softly, making Alex smile and tempering some of the anger he felt towards Michael.
“Traitor…” Michael spat from his spot on the floor, poking holes in the eyes of paper he drew Hank on.
“Thanks,” Alex said over him, growing more irritated. Why did Michael have to make things so darn hard? He was only trying to make life with Hank a little bit easier. Alex had discovered a long time ago that a ‘happy’ Hank was less likely to feel the urge to beat the living crap out of them if his needs and demands were immediately met and Hank had made his demand of the day pretty clear before he had left home for the bar… ‘Get the house cleaned!’ he had yelled over his shoulder as he walked away, slamming the door behind him.
Besides Alex had only asked Michael to do one little simple thing—it wasn’t like he asked him to bury a body in the backyard. But, then again, he didn’t think that Michael would be so reluctant to help him if he had. He knew his brother would do anything for him if he asked it for himself but when it came to making Hank happy… Michael would stay stubbornly rooted to the ground before he helped do anything to make that drunk satisfied and Alex couldn’t really blame him.
But… still… that didn’t mean that he had the right to be nasty and rude to Tess when all she was trying to do was keep the peace and he was about to say so when he felt Tess’ hand pat him on the shoulder gently.
“You have to pick your battles, Alex,” Tess said softly, firmly. “And me and you both know that you’re not going to win this one… so just let it go.” She finished knowingly, grabbing the side ends to one of the comforters, smoothing it out in her soft hands.
“Now, come on and help me put these sheets on the bed,” She mocked good-naturally, dropping her voice down a few notches to sound like him.
He laughed, feeling a little better. Tess was right.
When it came to Hank, Michael was never going to bow down and give in… and Alex admired that fight in him, wished he could possesses it himself… But it also filled him with a deep sense of dread… because he knew that Hank wasn’t going to stop tormenting Michael until he got what he wanted from him: submission. And Hank wouldn’t hesitate to kill any one of them to get exactly that.
“You’re making me sound like an old man,” Alex complained half-heartily, shaking away his worries. He grabbed the other end of the comforter, fanning it out and laying it meticulously onto the bottom bunk, fussing over the wrinkles adjoining his sides.
Tess scoffed, gesturing wildly to what he was doing. “That’s because you act like an old man!” She exclaimed, tucking in one of her ends into the mattress of the bottom bunk bed sloppily… to irritate him or prove a point… He wasn’t so sure which.
She smiled slyly when he couldn’t help but un-tuck her part of the comforter, tucking it back in so that there were virtually no more wrinkles. “You’re an old man with OCD tendencies, trapped in a twelve year old’s body, and I feel sorry for you,” she finished, shaking her head as she laughed fondly, her blonde curls bouncing on top of her head.
Alex smiled and shrugged indifferently, unbothered by the ribbing. It was just the way he was… the way he had always been.
He didn’t even realize that he was doing it anymore; he just had an overwhelming instinct to fix whatever looked out of place to him, straighten what was crooked. He couldn’t even count on his fingers the number of times he had abruptly stopped what he was doing to turn a salt-n-piper shaker ninety degrees to the left when Hank would drop them back onto the countertop with a bang, or how he could simply unplug a oddly placed lamp and move it halfway across the room to fit into a better lit area or position.
He couldn’t explain why he felt like he would begin to hyperventilate if wrongly placed things weren’t fixed immediately. He didn’t know—it was like those items beaconed to him to make things right, fix what was imperfect and make them perfect… better. It didn’t matter anyway. These little oddities in his personality were like second nature to him now.
“I know,” he said, still fussing over one of the corners that refused to lay still. “But you love me anyway.” He teased, grinning.
Tess’ expression softened, a bright blush flushing her cheeks as she said, “Yeah, I do… deeply.” And he loved her too. He loved them both.
Sweet, vulnerable Tess and stubbornly impulsive Michael were the only family that he had, the only two people in the world that he loved and cared about with no reservations and he knew that they loved him back just as furiously… even if Tess was the only one willing to openly admit it.
Michael shifted restlessly from his spot on the floor, clearly uncomfortable with the turn that their conversation was taking and Alex wasn’t as comfortable with where things were going either, so he decided to change the topic.
“Michael… come and help me with the top bunk.” He said firmly, leaving no room for argument and, with a childish groan, Michael got up off the floor, sticking the picture of Hank’s ugly face into his back pocket before begrudgingly climbing the step ladder up to the top bunk.
TBC....
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They should try to defend themselves, together... especially when Hank is drunk! 
Good thing I have a high tolerance for writing angst, or else this story wouldn't exist.
