My first fic ever! I'm not sure where its going, but I hope you like it. Let me know what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Cari and Chris

Chapter One: Meet Cari

Ten years… As Cari finished getting ready, all she could think about was the ten years that had passed since the last time she'd seen her cousins. Back then she was eleven, Jesse was ten and Leon was thirteen. The three of them were inseparable. Leon protected her from everything and everyone that bothered her and Jesse was her best friend. She still couldn't forget the day her mother had moved her away from them. It wasn't something she hated her mother for, but it was something she wished had never happened.

There were a series of bad things that happened to her family leading up to the day she and her mom moved. All of it seemed to start when Jesse's dad ended up in prison. Jess was a mess and Leon was too, even though he would never admit that. Jess lost his dad and Leon lost the second man he looked up to as a father. Their mom, Judy, was not one to survive without a man to provide for her. She had jumped from Leon's dad to Jesse's dad in a little under a year. This time didn't take so long. Six months after the sentencing, Judy married Carlos. Stating that Judy had bad taste in men was putting it lightly. Leon's dad disappeared one day after he gave in to the drugs and alcohol that had all but consumed his life. Jesse's dad was a thief. Carlos was much better at hiding his vices, but they turned out to be the worst of all.

For the first month of their marriage, everyone seemed mildly okay with adding Carlos to the family. That didn't last for very long past that one month mark. Cari overheard her mother and her aunt taking in the kitchen one night about Carlos. Her mom told Judy that Carlos had made a pass at her and when she turned him down he slid his hand up her thigh and threatened her. Cari's aunt was livid. She screamed at her sister and accused her of being jealous because she couldn't find a man marry to marry her since Cari's dad had died eight years earlier. Judy stormed out of the apartment that night and would never talk to her sister again.

The following day, Cari's world had been turned upside down. She had gone to school, as usual, and told Leon about the fight. He told her that they fought a lot and it would cool down. The scene Cari stepped into after school suggested otherwise. She came home to find her mom packing their apartment. The only things left out were large pieces of furniture. Her mom had a black eye, a split lip, and looked like she had been crying all day. She flatly informed Cari that they were moving to Miami. Later on, Cari found out that Carlos had beaten and raped her mother for talking to Judy about him.

Living in Miami was hell. It was absolutely nothing like Arizona. Cari hated the crappy apartment and the dangerous neighborhood they lived in. The only time she was happy was at school. They lived in the horrible apartment so she could go to a private school. She loved being there because she was good in school and got to join a dance team there. Aside from the girls on her team, Cari didn't have very many friends. She wasn't rich like the other girls and they didn't let her hang around them. Home life wasn't better for her either. Her mom left her alone a majority of the day. In fact, if she wasn't working she was drinking to forget the pain. Cari was allowed to call Leon for a total of one hour a week. She made short phone calls every day praying disparately for either him or Jesse to answer the phone so she wouldn't have to hang up and try later. Her aunt hated her just as much she hated Cari's mom. Leon listened to her and felt useless because he wasn't old enough to save her. Two years after she moved to Miami, Cari's mom drank herself to death. At thirteen, Cari buried her mother.

The only person who attended the funeral was Cari's grandmother, Ann; more specifically, her dad's mother. Cari didn't know her at all, because after her dad died her mother had cut Ann out of Cari's life. Judy refused to come and wouldn't let Leon or Jess come either. She ended that conversation with Ann by stating there was no way in hell she was taking Cari in because she was "that bitch's kid". Cari had no idea what she was going to do and the only feelings she was having were ones of loneliness. She couldn't go back to Arizona, she couldn't live alone in that rundown apartment in Miami, and she had no one who wanted her. Her first two assumptions were very true, but the third was proven false by her grandmother. Ann picked up all of Cari's emotional baggage and moved her to a different neighborhood in Miami. Cari was amazed at the house her grandma lived in. It was big, had five bedrooms, and was in a nice neighborhood. Ann promised Cari that she would take of her and that was exactly what she did and more.

Over the years, Cari was given, within reason, everything she wanted or needed. The only thing her grandma asked of her was that she do well in school and show respect to Ann. Cari did this without question. She was enrolled in public school because she wanted to go to a place where no one knew her. Cari was smart and excelled without too much effort. She met a girl named Suki at school and the two of them became inseparable. She loved living with Ann and Ann enjoyed having someone around. Ann did everything she could for Cari. She supported Cari's love for dance, taught her to drive, bought her a car, threw her birthday parties, and, most of all, loved her. She knew that Cari still kept in contact with Leon and encouraged her to. She bought her a cell phone to call him and Jesse on. The calls were no longer frantic and tear-filled, however. They became friendly and short weekly calls, as opposed to one every day.

On her seventeenth birthday, Leon called, as usual. He had never forgotten her birthday and, in turn, she hadn't ever forgotten his or Jesse's. After wishing her a happy birthday, Leon excitedly told her that he and Jesse had moved to LA; Echo Park to be exact. He told her that Judy and Carlos had gone to Vegas for a second honeymoon and never come back. So, he and Jess had packed up to go to Race Wars to pick up some extra cash. They met people there who offered them a place to live and jobs at their garage because their boss was "away" and they were short a mechanic. Jesse had shown off his computer skills and they wanted him to do graphics. He sounded happy, so she didn't question the way he had said "away" or what Race Wars was. The next day she received a card from Jesse and Leon, which surprised her because they had never done that before. The address was for the garage where they were working. After that, they religiously exchanged birthday cards.

When Cari graduated high school, she was third in her class. Her grandmother wanted her to go to a university, but Cari refused and enrolled in the local community college. She knew her grandma was aging fast, even though Ann wouldn't admit it, and she wanted to be close to her. Suki had been forced by her mother to enroll at the community college. She could've cared less about school. In fact, the only thing she really cared about was cars, racing cars, and drawing cars. Cari learned everything she knew about them, aside from how to drive one, from Suki. She met Chris through Suki's mechanic, Tej. Chris was a sexy, bad boy who lived to race. After he met Cari, he wouldn't leave her alone until she agreed to go out with him. Before Cari knew it, she was falling head-over-heels. He was sweet to her and insisted on teaching her race. It scared her, but after the first time she broke 100 the adrenaline took over. Chris's lifestyle and her new-found obsession with racing were the only two things she ever kept from her grandmother. Ann died in March, close to a month after Cari turned twenty. She had told Cari that she didn't want to feel old anymore and now that Cari was all grown up she could go be with her husband again. She died in her sleep from old age. Cari called Leon the day after the funeral to avoid feeling like a burden to him. Chris stood by Cari every step of the way. She didn't know what she would do if she didn't have him in her life. Unfortunately, she would find out.

It hadn't taken long for Ann's lawyer and accountant to settle the estate. Cari had been given everything. Her grandmother was worth close to 30 million dollars. Ann's husband had bought stock in IBM and had, at one time, owned a few businesses. Now all of the profits and investments belonged to Cari because her father had been Ann's only child. Chris had gone to the meeting with Cari. He seemed okay with the change and didn't change anything about how he treated her. He still paid for dinner when he took her out and supported her choice to finish her AA in accounting. He moved in with her when she decided she couldn't live alone in the house. They were happy. She was beginning to be her old self again, even though she still missed her grandmother.

A year and two months after Ann died, everything changed. Chris had become evasive and was rarely ever home. She refused to believe Suki and Tej when they said he was cheating on her and using her. That is, until she found him looking through bank statements in her grandma's old office. They got into a fight and she accused him of the cheating. He was furious at her. Before she could react, he flew at her and hit her in the face. That was her defining moment. She ran upstairs, locked herself in their room and called Tej. Chris stood outside the door apologizing. She refused to hear it. There was no way she was going to become her mother or her aunt. Tej was there in less than five minutes. Only then did she open the bedroom door. Tej took one look at her face and turned on Chris. He punched him until Cari's yelling made him stop. He threw Chris out just as Suki pulled up.

That night Cari decided to pack up and go find Leon. She loved Suki and Tej but she needed to get away from Chris for awhile. She packed minimal belongings; clothes, necessities, a small picture album, her computer, and a broken heart. Tej and Suki had stayed over that night to make sure Cari was okay. In the morning Tej loaded all Cari's things into her Toyota Celica and the three friends said their goodbyes. She handed them the keys to her house and asked them to take care of it. There was no way she could sell it because it was all she had left of Ann. She hugged Suki one last time, promised to call and slid behind the wheel. She programmed the GPS for DT Automotive and waved as she pulled out of the driveway. She realized that it was time to take a leap of faith. It was time to find her family.

So, that's the history of the situation... Review, please!

--Cari