Disclaimer - I don't own anything
A.N: Thank you to my Beta Dreamerlaure.
Chapter 3
Sean and Maria sat in the kitchen talking and laughing. It had been too long since they both had a good time. An hour had passed since Sean came back, yet they still hadn't ended their reunion. When Sean heard car alarms going off, he jumped up to look out the window. He raised his eyebrows and said incredulously, "All the cars are going off."
"Really?" Maria asked, joining her cousin at the window. A thought of Michael quickly flashed through her mind, but she tried to shrug it off and not think anything of it. She looked at Sean and joked, "Hey, welcome to Roswell, New Mexico where everything odd happens." She tried to push the thoughts of him from her head, and forced a smile on her lips as she went to sit back down.
Luckily for her Sean still had his back to her or he would've seen right through her fake smile.
"Yeah, I guess," Sean replied.
He turned his back to the window and walked back towards her. When he was comfortably sitting again, he took a deep breath, and asked the question he had been dying to know.
"How's Aunt Amy?" he asked softly. He watched as Maria tensed and avoided his eyes. He silently regretted wanting to drag them back in, but it was the right thing to do.
"She's.." Maria paused unsure of what to say next. The last time Sean had been here Amy had been clean. It was bad enough that he already blamed himself for Amy's drug obsession when they were younger, but now? It was too much of a coincidence for Sean not to trust in it.
Of course Maria secretly blamed herself for her mother's addiction. She believed that she was the cause of all the problems which was why she never complained about working long shifts and paying the bills. No one knew that she blamed herself for her own father leaving, or that at times she wished she hadn't been born because then maybe, just maybe her mom wouldn't have started taking drugs and her parents would still be together. No one knew how she felt and how could they, when no one cared.
"She's back on" Maria told him quietly. She felt hot tears slide down her cheeks, and she brushed her sleeve against them to keep them back. 'Why am I crying? I should be stronger than this. Lately all I've been doing is crying. Get your act together, DeLuca!' she mentally chided herself.
Sean closed his eyes and looked away. From the corner of her eye Maria could see the ticking in his jaw.
Taking a few deep breaths he turned back to his cousin, "How long?" he asked his voice controlled.
"Three years," Maria whispered back. She didn't want to tell him but at the same she didn't want to lie either.
Whatever colour was left on Sean face faded, and he clenched his fists, abruptly stood and left the house.
"I need some air," he threw over his shoulder as he slammed the door behind him.
Maria stayed motionless in her chair and stared at the door. She wanted to go after him and make him see that it wasn't his fault, but she knew he wouldn't listen. The problem with DeLuca's was that they were all very stubborn.
"Who was that? Michael?" Amy asked as she walked into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. Then without waiting for an answer she grabbed her purse and waved, "I'm going out honey, see you later," as she walked through the door.
"Sure Mom," Maria said to the empty room. She knew she should be used to not getting any attention from her mom, but it still hurt. Amy's addiction had only gotten worse over the years. Before, Amy knew she had a limit on how much she could spend on the drugs, and she never went over it. But now it was like she didn't care. She'd steal Maria's money to pay for a fix or she'd come to an agreement with the dealer. Maria never asked what the agreements were because she really didn't want to know.
Sighing loudly she stood, and cleared the table. Then she went to her room and fell on her bed, burying her face in her pillows. She smiled when she realised that she could still smell Michael scent on her sheets and pillows; she could still feel his touch and his kiss. But the weirdest thing was she could feel his presence, like he was there watching over her, and somehow that comforted her. She set her alarm just in case she overslept, and eased into her bed. Maria pulled the pillow closer to her body, closed her eyes and fell into a slumber of dreams of Michael and happiness.
Michael stood across the street from her house, hiding behind a tree. He had finished his shift at The Crashdown an hour ago, and once he did, he practically ran here. He wanted to talk to her, wanted to understand what had happened. Everything was going good lately, and they didn't argue as much as they used to: they were happy. 'But, I guess she wasn't happy,' Michael thought sadly.
Just when he had coughed up the courage and was about to cross the street and knock on the door, he saw a cab pull up in front of the house. Pulling back and taking cover behind his trusted tree he watched as a good looking, blonde man stepped out, paid the cab and walked to the door. He watched as the door opened and how they exchanged pleasantries. But, when the guy threw his arms around his Maria, Michael saw red.
Clutching the tree as a way to calm his possessiveness and his anger, Michael mentally threw daggers at the man's back. When the man walked into the house and closed the door it took all of his strength to not run across the street, kick the door open and beat the man senseless. Knowing that that kind of behaviour would only drive Maria further away from him he willed himself to take deep breaths and remain calm.
'Fuck calm' his conscience screamed at him, 'that good-looking man is in there with your girl. Do something!'
"No!" Michael growled breathing heavily. "He's probably just family"
'What family? She never talks about her family,' his conscience reminded him.
"So? Doesn't mean she doesn't have any?" Michael replied. He knew he was being stupid speaking to himself, arguing against the part of him that insisted that something wasn't right, but he couldn't help it. He was right. He had to be right.
An hour later when Michael saw no movement from the house, Michael's anger was on the verge of exploding.
'He's probably touching her, kissing her, doing her. What kinda man are you? Your girl's in there boning some other guy and you're sitting out here doing yoga,' his conscience mocked him, throwing his fears at him.
"Shut up!" he practically yelled but it was too late. His hold on his anger was gone and the next thing he knew, all the car alarms on that street started going off.
Shit. This couldn't happen. Not in broad daylight anyway.
Shaking his head he stared at the house. "God, Maria.." he whispered. A few moments later he watched as the man walked out the house and slammed the door. Michael watched as the man take deep breaths and start walking away from the house. Even from where he stood, Michael could see how tense the man's shoulders were. Shrugging his shoulders, Michael turned his attention back to the house. He didn't care what was wrong with the man so long as he was out the house and away from Maria. That was all Michael cared about.
Then he watched as Amy stepped out the house and got into her car. She looked tired and her eyes were red. He didn't know what was wrong with Amy because Maria refused to talk about her mom, but there were rumours that she did drugs. He looked sadly at the woman, wondering what could possible have caused her to do drugs when she had a beautiful, loving and caring daughter like Maria.
Knowing that Maria was now home alone, he crossed the street and crouched under her window. He watched when she came into her room, lay on the bed and quickly fell asleep.
'She must be tired' he thought to himself. Pleased that she was safe and confident that she wasn't going anywhere, Michael stood and turned to go home. He had to get ready for his second job now, and he decided that he would be back later to check on her.
TBC
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