TIES THAT BIND: LETTER

AUTHOR: Aesop

DISCLAIMER: The characters aren't mine, and I earn no profit by writing this.

SUMMARY: Six people left Roswell, but they still have ties to that town. Ties they are unwilling to sever.

AUGUST 25, 2002

Dear Mom;

I'm sorry I couldn't write sooner, we've been kind of busy. By now you've been filled in about why I had to leave so suddenly, without saying good-bye, and I really hope you understand. I've come so close to losing him so many times, and I couldn't do it again. I'm going to stick with him no matter what.

It won't be easy. We both know that. You know it too, and I know you don't really trust him after all that's happened. I also know it'll be worth it when we make it work, and we will. I'm sorry if I've frightened you. I didn't want to leave like that, but I had too.

I don't know if I'll ever see you again, so I have to say what I need to say now, because I don't know when I'll get another chance.

I'm guessing that you think this is a mistake. I'll ruin my life. I'll never be happy. All the big plans I had are going down the drain. No college. No great career. No happily ever after no matter how much I love him.

Maybe you're right. Maybe we won't make it, but I am not going to let that possibility stop me from trying. Whatever else happens, whatever comes of my choices, I want you to know I love you, and I'll try to contact you when I can. Until then, try and have faith.

OOOOOOOOOO

She put down the letter and stared blankly at the package it had come out of. It had been tucked in with the shipping information. The plastic pouch had been the first place she looked for an answer to why she had received a package she'd never ordered from a company she'd never heard of. The alien Halloween masks seemed appropriate given what she had been told about her daughter's boyfriend. She still didn't know how she felt about that.

The journal had shocked her as much by what it did not say as what it did. There were, she could tell, glaring omissions. Huge pieces of her daughter's life had been hidden from her, and she resented that. She might never know the full story, and she resented that too.

She had never had much in the way of faith. Not religious faith or faith in people for that matter. So it was hard to have any faith in a boy who had caused her little girl so much pain and grief. Yet she was expected to believe this boy would keep her safe despite the odds against them. Despite the rogue FBI agents, the aliens (she still had trouble buying that) and whatever other dangers they would encounter out on the road. It wasn't safe out there, even if you weren't a fugitive. How could she have faith in any of her daughter's friends, when she was seriously doubting their sanity?

Putting down the letter she went to the phone pulled a card out of her purse. Agent Barnes had told her that she should call if there was any word from her daughter or her friends. The story he had told her sounded incredible, but it was a lot more believable than what she had seen in that journal or what Philip and Diane Evans had told her. She began to dial, knowing that her daughter would probably hate her for it, but that it was for the best. It was the only hope she had to see her daughter safe at home again.