Category: AU M/L
Summary: AU story based on a song I have liked for a long time, but with a different twist. Liz didn't grow up in Roswell and has been living in foster homes as long as she can remember.
Disclaimer: Jason Katims owns everything Roswell…come on now if I owned it would I be writing fanfic??? Also I don't own the song either, it's "Two beds and a coffee machine" by Savage Garden. I'm just borrowing this stuff and I'll put it back when I'm done I promise. Oh and I created the characters of Abby, Charlotte, and Frank who are loosely based on characters in the song and people I know.
Thanks: To my oh so wonderful beta Elise –you rock! To everyone who left reviews, I appreciate it so much.
Feedback: Okay I said I wouldn't beg—but I lied…Please Please Please leave feedback!
A/N: the italics indicate thought, also song lyrics. I'm really beginning to see that this is going to be one long twisted story. For everyone who has been asking questions, they only hint I will give is – some things are meant to happen. Think about it.
Liz sighed as she opened the motel room door. She felt as if she could sleep for a week and still be exhausted. But the girls needed her, so sleep could wait for now.
It was then that she noticed the girls…sitting on the edge of the bed, still in their pajamas, watching cartoons, and munching on crackers and juice boxes. I should have figured that Charlotte would find the food stash, she thought. Just then, Abby finally looked up from the cartoons and noticed her standing there by the door.
"Lizzzzie! You came back!" the little girl cried, running towards Liz and wrapping her small arms around Liz's legs. Her sister wasn't far behind, but at the dignified age of seven, she seemed to hold herself back a bit.
Liz bent down to hug them both saying, "Of course I did silly!" As she stood up, she looked around a little and said, "Um…we're going to be staying here for awhile girls…so I have to go find us an apartment this afternoon. You girls might need to come along, I don't want to leave you by yourselves for too long."
"Hey Liz," Charlotte said hesitantly, "if we are going to stay here, does that mean we can go to school?"
"Maybe sweetie, we'll see okay?" Liz said.
"Alright," Charlotte replied, looking slightly excited.
Even though Charlotte was very young, she already seemed to love school as much as Liz had, before she had to stop going. For Liz, it had been something in her life that she was good at and had complete control over. While she wasn't actually related to either of the girls by blood, she did consider them her sisters and she felt some kind of connection to Charlotte because of their shared interest in schoolwork. For this reason she made herself promise to look into registering the girls for school.
"What do you say we break out some of those breakfast bars and finish watching some cartoons?" Liz asked.
"Yay!" the girls both replied, running back to the bed and jumping on it as Liz rummaged through her backpack looking for the promised breakfast bars.
"Got them!" she yelled as she ran to the bed to join them, being just a bit more careful not to land on any bruises. Liz couldn't remember the last time she had been able to really kick back and hang out with the girls. She missed being able to act like the teenager she was instead of the grown-up she was forced to be. But she did what she needed to do because otherwise the girls would be left for Frank to care for, or not in his case, or worse. She sighed and stretched out on her stomach, resting her head on her folded arms in front of her. She could slowly feel unconsciousness taking over and she didn't have the strength to fight it.
The next thing she knew, she heard whispers, specifically those of two little girls. She opened her eyes just a crack and saw two small faces peering at her from the end of the bed.
"Look what you did Abby…you woke up Lizzie," Charlotte said, chastising her little sister.
"Sorry Lizzie. You looked like you really needed to take a nap," the little girl said matter-of-factly as if she was the adult and Liz was the little girl.
"I guess I did hun. Don't worry about waking me up though. I think it's about time we all got up and got dressed," Liz said. "Abby why don't you let me help you?"
"I can do it Lizzie. I'm a big girl remember?"
"I know. I just want to make sure you at least match today, alright? No more bright orange and red together this time," Liz said, smiling.
"You're no fun."
"You forget that's my job—to make sure you don't have any fun. Besides, I want you girls to meet some people today and I need you to make a good impression."
"We will Liz," Charlotte said, speaking for both of them.
"You girls need to promise me that if anyone asks you about what happened before we came here or where our parents are, you won't tell them."
"But isn't that lying?" Charlotte asked.
"Not really sweetie. 'Cause see, we aren't really going to lie we just aren't going to say anything alright? Just say 'I don't really wanna talk about it.' If we tell anyone we ran away from Frank, they might make us go back. Or worse, they might send us to new homes and separate us. You don't want that do you?"
"Oh no Lizzie. We don't want to leave you," Charlotte said quickly, afraid to be split up from her only 'family.'
"Don't let them take us away Lizzie," Abby said, looking as if she was about to cry.
"I'm going to do my best. I promise," Liz said, hugging Abby and trying to comfort her.
TBC
And she takes another step
Slowly she opens the door
Check that he is sleeping
Pick up all the broken glass
And furniture on the floor
Been up half the night screaming
Now it's time to get away
Pack up the kids in the car
Another bruise to try and hide
Another alibi to write
Another ditch in the road
You keep moving
Another stop sign
You keep moving on
And the years go by so fast
Wonder how I ever made it through
And there are children to think of
Baby's asleep in the back seat
Wonder how they'll ever make it through this living nightmare
But the mind is an amazing thing
Full of candy dreams and new toys and another cheap hotel
Two beds and a coffee machine
But there are groceries to buy
And she knows she'll have to go home
Another ditch in the road
You keep moving
Another stop sign
You keep moving on
And the years go by so fast
Wonder how I ever made it through
Another bruise to try and hide
Another alibi to write
Another lonely highway in the black of the night
But there's hope in the darkness
You know you're going to make it
Another ditch in the road
You keep moving
Another stop sign
You keep moving on
And the years go by so fast
Silent fortress built to last
Wonder how I ever made it through
