Warning there is talk of character suicide and abuse. I'm not going to lie, this story is dark.
*Disclaimer: Rizzoli and Isles belong to their respective owners.*
I hope you enjoy. Jane will make her appearance in later chapters.
August 24th, 1988
Kylie Anderson set her bike down at her friend Claire's house. They were having a sleepover tonight and Claire had finally convinced her to tell the story about her old best friend, Maura Isles. Kylie rang the doorbell of the crimson house and smiled at the 16 year old that greeted her. Dark skinned and bright green eyes, Claire had looks that could stop the world from turning and had a bubbly personality to match. It was a wonder the two had become good friends, with Claire always dressed in pink and Kylie never without black or grey. Kylie knew after Maura was gone that she needed a change. She thought of it as out with the dark, in with the light. Kylie also knew though that she would forever miss Maura and the love they shared.
Claire led the way through a big house modernly decorated with the finest furniture. All the way to Claire's room the girl babbled on about school and who was dating who. Kylie would answer vaguely every now and then to show Claire she was still listening when she really wasn't. The only thing she could focus on was how different Claire's house was to Maura's.
"Kylie…Kylie snap out of it!" Claire pinched her on the arm and Kylie realized they had made it to her bedroom.
"Sorry I was just looking at how nice your house is." Kylie told her and Claire laughed. "Kyles, c'mon! Now that we're here you promised you would tell me about that ol' friend of yours! I wanna hear every bit so spill it sister!" Claire dropped to her bed and pulled back the pink comforter. Kylie took a deep breath and sat beside her friend.
"Maura felt unloved and in a deep black hole she couldn't ever see the light from. She finally couldn't take it anymore and took her life.
Even as her best friend I couldn't even begin to imagine how Maura felt until she was gone. She had a hard life. She was only ever semi-okay until she got older. Something inside of her just broke or died and she couldn't really be happy anymore.
Maura couldn't stand most people. When she was around them she just wanted to be alone. I was her best friend because not only did I feel the same way about people, but I also had known her since we were 8. Maura couldn't make real good friends with anyone because they would always stab her in the back. I knew from that first moment she brushed me off that she needed a friend and I decided it would be me. She only told me to stay away for a day. After that she finally gave me a try, but when going into our 15th birthday she was so very upset with life and couldn't take it anymore. She left this world.
June 16, 1976 –Maura is 3.
"It was never easy for Maura at home but it mostly started around when she turned 3."
Maura was sitting in her high chair eating the food in front of her. Tonight was a peanut butter and banana sandwich cut into little squares. She pushed the pieces into her mouth and chewed slowly, savoring every bite. She knew, even at the age of 3, that she wouldn't get another meal today, so she ate slowly to make sure it lasted. The sandwich was sweet and tasty even with the bitterness of the words that flew behind her as her parents argued. She didn't understand what they were fighting about. Maura heard a scream and objects flying. The worst she heard though, but didn't understand, was the sound of skin hitting skin. She turned to see what had happened and saw with little hazel eyes her mother lying on the floor. Her father was above her with a beer bottle in his hand.
"What are you lookin' at?" He snapped.
"What's mommy doin' on the ground?" Maura asked innocently. The question, though innocent, made her father angry. He was atop her highchair in mere seconds and flung the rest of her food to the ground.
"You stupid child think you can talk to me like that eh? Well no more dinner! That'll teach ya a lesson not to question me!" He growled at the little child and smiled when he saw a tear in her eye. Maura didn't cry. She knew what would happen if she did. She only let a small tear escape before she pulled herself together and stared blankly at her father. He left her in the highchair and grabbed another beer before sitting on their expensive tan couch and counting his money from his last deal.
Maura sat there and traced patterns in the floral print wallpaper. She thought of unicorns and fairies dancing on the walls and jumping into swimming pools on the fancy periwinkle carpet. She didn't make a sound and sat there like a good girl until her mother awoke and was able to put Maura in her crib. Her mother sang her to sleep and before leaving the room whispered promises to leave. Those promises whispered would always be broken.
Nothing was said the next day about what happened the day before. Maura's mother got her up and dressed her in a little pink dress with ladybugs on it. She pulled Maura's little blonde curls into two pig tails with matching bows. All the while her mother sang Maura a soft tune of her favorite song "Piano Man". Maura hummed along and they laughed when Maura tried putting her own panties on and putting it backwards. This morning routine was like a small getaway from reality for both of them. Maura and her mother could be happy at these times and didn't have to worry about getting in trouble. The moment they walked out of Maura's nursery and poker faces had to be put on.
"Ellie, let's go" Her fathered order to her mother.
"We can't just leave her here Charles." Ellie told him, clutching the little girl next to her.
Charles snorted at the thought of someone telling him no "What was that? Just leave some food out for her and a few old newspapers. She'll be fine."
Ellie looked at the child in her arms and gave a sigh. She knew she wouldn't, couldn't win. She could only do her best to make sure Maura was safe. Placing a stack of newspapers in a cardboard box and put a peanut butter sandwich in a bad next to the box.
"Please be good, Maura." Ellie whispers into her ear and plants a kiss her cheek. Wiping a tear from her eye, Ellie stood and walked out the house with her husband at her side.
This became the daily routine and Maura grew up to love when her parents went out for the day. She could play, laugh, and not have to worry about getting yelled at. Often times when she got older, on particularly brave days, Maura would venture out of the house. But at the age of 3 Maura could do nothing but sit there and play with her toy and eat her sandwich.
Present Day-
"Oh gee I'm so sorry for what happened to her, Kylie." Claire shook her head in complete disgust about what she heard.
"Yeah, Maura was brave though. She grew up fast and was making her food at like 5" Kylie told her.
"Hey, let's talk about something else its kinda depressing" Claire said. Not wanting to push the issue of Claire being the one who brought it up, Kylie agreed and they fell onto the subject of Claire's new crush Joey.
When Claire finally fell asleep Kylie couldn't help thinking of when she had first met Maura. Kylie was "homeschooled" when they had met. Her mom never made her do any work and she was free to play outside.
July 13th, 1981 Maura and Kylie are 8.
Kylie pulled her thin, brown hair into a pony tail. Adjusting her bright green tank top and pulling her denim shorts down that had come about her waist while she had been sitting, she casually opened the screen door and stepped out into the hot sun of July. A warm breeze flew around her and the air smelled like blooming flowers. The tree above her patio gave little shade but Kylie was content with it anyway. It did after all, make a wonderful climbing tree. The thing Kylie loved most about her backyard though was the in-ground pool. Living in the wealthiest neighborhood did have its perks. The downside was all the privacy fences because it made exploring the area hard. Now that her parents were both at work again, because Kylie refused to go to a babysitter and could take care of herself, she had taught herself how to climb the offending fence in her backyard. Today she was determined to find out who lived behind her and what secrets they were hiding. Getting a running start, Kylie jumped and pulled herself up onto the first horizontal piece of wood. Gripping the next piece she scraped her feet against the vertical pieces of fences until she was able to sit one the last piece. Carefully, she swung her legs over the top of the fence and was surprised to find a small chained-link fence below her. Placing her feet on it she turned and jumped the rest of the way down.
Kylie had expected no one to be out today. Usually the neighborhood was full of business men, women who went to country clubs and children who went to private school. So, she was very surprised when she turned around and hazel eyes met her dark grey ones. Kylie gasped in surprise and almost lost her balance on the ground. Neither girl said a word as they both continued to stare. Kylie made a sweep of the girl in front of her and instantly envied the blonde curls that were pulled back into the most perfect ponytail. The blonde was wearing an expensive dress that looked like it had just come out of the closet of Kylie's older sister, Tessa. She had matching white sandals and made Kylie feel out of place in her older clothes and dirty sneakers. It's not like Kylie didn't have nice clothes, she had plenty, she just wasn't allowed to play in them outside.
"Who are you?" The blonde broke the awkward silence between the two.
"I'm Kylie. Who are you?"
"My name is Maura and you shouldn't be here." Maura told her and pointed a finger at her. Kylie scrunched up her face and made no move to leave.
"Yeah? Why not?" Kylie asked. Hands on her hips.
"Because I said so, that's why." She didn't want to tell Kylie what her father would do if he found out she was talking to someone other than the fancy guests that he showed her off to.
"Well then make me leave Maauuuraaa" Kylie drew her name out, challenging her to do something about it.
"You shouldn't be here, Kylie."
"You already said that, Maura"
"Please go." Maura pleaded. Kylie saw the hurt in her eyes and only shook her head.
"Don't you want someone to play with? Doesn't it get lonely by yourself? I know I get lonely." Kylie waited for Maura's response. Only to be surprised by the blonde turning around and walking into her own house. Kylie's mouth dropped and a frown made its way to her lips. Who did she think she was to just leave her here? Giving up, Kylie made her back over the fence and jumping down. Feeling a little too hot she decided to take a swim.
July 16th, 1981
Kylie peeked over the fence for two days seeing an empty yard. Now, on the third day, she saw Maura was out with her back facing her inspecting something in the ground. Smiling to herself Kylie made her way to Maura's yard. She noted that Maura had her hair down and was constantly pushing the blonde curls out of her face. She had a yellow sun dress on with matching tights. Never had Kylie seen anyone so dressed up to go outside.
When she crept up behind Maura she could tell Maura was looking at a funky 8 legged creature. Just as she was about to pick it up Kylie coughed.
"You shouldn't pick those up." Kylie told her. The blonde looked up startled and gave a yelp. Kylie let out a laugh.
"You shouldn't sneak up on people. It's rude." Maura was frowning but Kylie could tell she was forcing down a smile.
"You shouldn't try to pick up a spider. They bite." Kylie found the blonde hard to leave alone and couldn't help the teasing.
"It's not a biting type of spider, Kylie."
"All spiders bite. How do you think they eat their food? It's only the ones that bite humans and have poison that you have to worry about."
"Where did you learn all that?" Maura was thirsty for knowledge that Kylie held. She was disappointed when Kylie just shrugged "I have an older brother." Maura's eyes widened.
"What's it like to have an older brother?"
"It's a pain! He's really mean and calls me stupid a lot" Kylie took a seat on the porch steps "He also steals my toys. It's ok though cause my older sister Tessa gets them back for me."
Maura was shocked. "You have an older sister too?" Maura was couldn't believe that this girl was lucky to not only have one, but two siblings.
"Hey are you still mad at me for being over here?" Kylie asked suddenly aware that Maura was now being nice.
"Not really, but you have to be careful my father doesn't see you or he'll get angry." Maura avoided Kylie's eyes. Kylie couldn't figure out why it mattered if Maura's dad saw her, but decided that it wasn't worth pestering her about. Instead she focused on her new friend and getting to know her.
"So Maura, what's your favorite color?"
"Well, I guess it would have to be purple."
"You guess?"
"Mmhm"
"Well then, I guess my favorite color is blue" Kylie was happy Maura was beginning to open up to her. She felt like pushing the boundaries. "So, Maura?"
"Yes?"
"Nobody is home at my house. My brother and sister aren't ever home until Saturday for dinner and my parents are at work until 7pm. You should come over and swim" Kylie mentally crossed her fingers hoping the blonde would agree.
"I don't Kylie…" Maura was quiet, staring at the ground. A light bulb flashed in Kylie's head.
"Hey, my parents are having this fancy party tonight at 8. The whole entire neighborhood is invited and the kids will get to play outside and sleep in tents. You should tell your parents you want to go." Kylie was almost out of breath and her eyes pleaded with Maura's. Maura smiled at Kylie's persistence to get her over.
"I'll ask my mom. How am I supposed to explain how I found out though?" Maura asked. Kylie held up a finger and was on her feet in a flash. Before Maura could comprehend what was happening Kylie was half away over the fence. She waited for what seemed forever when she saw a head pop up with hugest grin. Kylie had returned with a flyer in her hand.
"Just say it blew into your yard and you wanted to pick it up so the yard looked tidy. That's how I get away with playing outside when I'm grounded." Kylie had the biggest smile Maura had ever seen. It wasn't a fake smile like the one her mom used around the house guests and her father, it was a genuine, happy smile that was contagious and Maura couldn't help wearing it too.
"Ok. I'll ask." No sooner were the words out of Maura's mouth when Maura felt herself in a huge bear hug.
"Thank gosh you're coming! You would not believe the other kids I have to deal with there! All their parents send them to snotty private schools where they get to do practically anything they want." Kylie huffed and took a seat on Maura's porch step again, this time with Maura sitting next to her.
"Don't you get to do whatever you want though?"
"It's not the same! They flaunt it in your face like they're the king of the world." Kylie waved her hands around trying to prove her point. Maura giggled at the silly gestures. Kylie narrowed her eyes at Maura's laughter, which made Maura giggle more.
"Are you laughing at me?" Kylie's sniffled pretending to be hurt.
"I'm sorry it was funny" Maura's lip formed a frown as she thought she had hurt her new friend all ready. A smiled tugged on Kylie's lips and she let out a chuckle.
"Silly Maur, I was only pretending!" Kyle's laughter was contagious for Maura and soon both girls were laughing so hard they were crying. After they had finally got themselves together did Maura realize how late it was.
"Kylie, it's getting late. If I don't see you tonight I'm really sorry."
"I understand Maura, it'll be ok. You will come out to talk tomorrow when your parents leave right?" Kylie was almost begging. Almost. She was rewarded with a smile from Maura that made a smile form on her own lips.
"Defiantly!" Without another word they gave their good bye hugs and went into their respective homes.
When Maura's parents got home she was delighted to see they were in a good mood.
"Mom! Dad! There's this big party tonight at the house behind us and everyone's invited!" Maura was almost bursting with joy. Her mother's face lit up, but her dad frowned.
"Why should I care Maura?" He snapped.
"Cause there will be many socialites there. It is a party only for the rich" Maura knew it was a long shot, but as her father glanced at the flyer there was hope burning in her eyes.
"Go get ready"
