The End of the World
Disclaimer: I now state I do not own any of the people mentioned in this fan fic (though I'm welcome to offers Brendan and Jason!) This is purely for entertainment. I don't own Titanic either.
Rating: If you're old enough to watch the show you can read this.
Author's note: This is not a happy fic. You have been warned.
Maria stood in the doorway to Michael's apartment her mouth-hanging open, her mind reeling from the sight in front of her.
Michael was standing at the counter and Isabel was standing behind him her chin on his shoulder and her arms wrapped around him from behind.
"You know I love you Michael," she whispered pulling away.
The pair looked away from each other when Maria knocked the door flying in her haste to get out.
"Maria wait!" They both yelled in unison as they saw her start to back away.
"Wait? I came over here to say I love you. I felt bad because I should have told you before you left. But what do I find. One of my closest friends and you being all lovey dovey," Maria gasped. She couldn't seem to get enough air into her lungs. "I hate you both! I never want to speak to you again!" she yelled before she ran out of the apartment she heard their footsteps and yells following her but didn't stop. She ran down the stairs nearly breaking her neck in the process. She saw her Jetta parked on the other side of the road. Her only priority was getting to it and driving as far away from there as possible. But she never made it.
In her blind rage she ran in front of a car. Not just any car.
Maria's body bounced of the bonnet of Max Evan's jeep and landed on the tarmac with a sickening thud.
"Maria!" Michael yelled rushing to her side.
Her eyes were open staring blankly up at the sky.
"Maria…" he whispered holding her face between his palms. He could feel the dampness of his tears still there.
"Someone do something," he yelled.
Liz and Alex who had been in the jeep were standing behind Michael in shock. Isabel had fallen to the ground. Max rushed to Michael's side and tried to heal her but nothing happened. He could heal the dying but not the dead.
He rested his hand on Michael's shoulder but he was shrugged off.
"I'm sorry…" he whispered before turning his back and letting Liz hold him.
The only sound that could be heard on that quiet street in Roswell New Mexico was Isabel's uncontrollable wailing.
"Maria DeLuca was one in a million. She could babble on about anything for hours but could always keep a secret," Alex said to the assorted people who had gathered in the stark church. "She was a great friend but if you were being a jerk you knew about it. She loved her family and friends and always stuck up for you if you needed her. I remember one time this bully tried to steal my sheet music in 5th grade. She went and punched him right in the gut. He was about twice the size of her," he reminisced. "But when I think of Maria I will always remember her at one particular moment. Maria, Liz, Max, Michael, Isabel and I were sitting in the Crashdown after hours. She was sitting on Michael's lap and doing her best to get to him when he stood up, threw her over his shoulder and ran outside in the pouring rain with her. We all followed and joined them. We must have looked like total idiots, running around soaking wet but we were so happy. That is how I'll always remember Maria. Happy."
Alex wiped away a tear and sat down in the front pew with Liz. Isabel and Max sat a few rows behind.
Michael stood at the back. He couldn't bear to be there but couldn't stay away. It was killing him.
Everytime he closed his eyes he saw her face. He was tortured by the words. The last thing she'd ever said to him was that she hated him. He ran out of the church, unable to take anymore.
It was late. He didn't have any clue at the time just that it was pitch-black darkness. But that didn't matter. Darkness wouldn't stop him from what he was going to do.
He sat down beside Maria's grave and rested his hand on the flowers Liz had put down. They were roses. Beautiful pink roses. It just served to remind him of her.
"Maria, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault! I swear to you nothing was going on with Isabel. She was just trying to make me feel better. I was telling her that I missed you and that you'd never forgive me. She gave me a hug because she thought it might make me feel better. She wanted me to know that whatever happened with you I would always have someone to love me. But she meant as a brother Maria! And then you walked in and thought…" he stopped his voice choked with emotion.
"God, I love you so much. Its like a heavy feeling in my stomach every time I realise that you're not here anymore. Why did you have leave me? I can't do this. I can't live knowing that you can't."
He fished 4 envelopes out of his trouser pocket and Isabel's cellphone out of his jacket.
He placed the four letters on Liz's flowers. One of each of them. Alex, Liz, Max and Isabel. He'd told Alex who much he appreciated his help and asked him to take of Isabel for him. He told Liz to keep Max company and to keep Maria's memory alive. He told Max to find the answers they had prayed for all their lives. He told Isabel that she had nothing to feel guilty over.
He told all of them he loved them.
He picked up the phone and dialled Isabel's private number.
"Hello?" her scratchy voice asked. She'd obviously been crying.
"Isabel come to the cemetery now. Bring Max, Liz and Alex. Love you," he whispered before hanging up.
He fished in his pocket again and found the Stanley knife. Pulling it from its packaging he laid beside the grave of the only woman he'd ever loved.
He raised the blade to his wrist and made the first cut. It stung but he persisted, cutting several more lines across it.
He had to do this. If he couldn't be with Maria on earth he'd be with her in death.
He dropped the knife when his head became fuzzy. His last thought was of Maria.
Isabel sat in the front see of the jeep, rocking backwards and forwards like a caged animal. She knew something was wrong. Michael NEVER said love you at the end of a conversation. Her nails were bitten to the quick. The journey seemed to be taking far too long.
Max stopped the car and she leapt out and ran to the place she knew he'd be.
She saw a broad form lying on the ground next to Maria's grave and hope surged through her chest. Maybe he just needed someone to comfort him. Maria's loss was obviously breaking his heart.
But that hope was quickly extinguished when she reached him and saw the blood dripping from his wrists onto the freshly turned dirt.
"No Michael! You haven't done this. Oh god, please say he hasn't done this!" she moaned as she tried to heal the wounds.
It was too late. He'd been dead for a while already. She couldn't do anything.
She dropped her head onto his chest and sobbed. It was all her fault. If she hadn't hugged Michael then Maria wouldn't have run out and got knocked over. Then Michael wouldn't have done this. She'd caused Max to be haunted with nightmares, tormenting himself. She caused Alex and Liz to be emotional wrecks.
She vaguely felt Max and Alex try to pull her away but she wouldn't let go. She couldn't. They backed away. She felt a softer hand rest on the back of her head and exhausted by her hysterical tears let herself be pulled into a hug by a crying Liz.
Max turned and blasted a nearby tree in frustration. It was his fault. Alex touched his shoulder and Max crumbled. He dropped to the ground and stared blankly at his sister, the love of his life and the dead body of his best friend.
Once again the small town of Roswell heard the cries of a distraught alien echo through the night.