Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

SEVENTY-SIX

Max had created a sanctuary for me. A place to heal. A place to start feeling safe again. To try and forget the shadows lurking behind corners. To regain my belief in the goodness of people - human and alien. He wouldn't admit to arranging it, but I knew he was pulling the strings.

It was right up his alley, being the control freak that he was. Obsessed with protecting not only my life, but also my well-being. I sometimes heard whispers of his plans through the connection, even when he was trying his best to hide them, which strengthened my suspicions to his involvement in my 'care'.

He kept a lot of things hidden from me during that time. I was not to attend any meetings with the rebellion. Max forbid any of the members - except for his father, of course - to see me. He refused to let me be pressured into something before I was ready. He didn't want to even give them the chance to play on my sympathies, to guilt me into taking steps I was not ready for yet.

So he kept them from me, something I was actually very grateful for. That particular part of my current situation still frightened me. Aliens with powers. Aliens who wanted power. I still did not trust them. Even if they were fighting for a freer society, for a more humane society. Where humans were not used and hurt in order to advance their race.

I couldn't ignore the fact that they were still aliens and I had experienced the darkest sides of their race.

Max made sure that my days were filled. I didn't realize it until later why he was doing that. At first, it was exhausting. I was begging him for naps, for some quiet time to read, sleep or just be by myself. We had quite a lot of heated arguments about it, to be honest. But he usually won in the end. I was too tired to fight him. I didn't want to fight with him. After a while I was happy that he hadn't given in just to be nice to me. Or given in just because he could see that I was upset; even pleading with him with tears running down my cheeks.

He had already figured out that with my days filled, I had no chance to think. The preoccupation kept my obsessive thoughts away. It kept my ghosts at bay and hushed the memories. With one activity picking up straight after the other, I never had to be alone, rarely had to be surprised and flinch in momentary fear. Never had to be paralyzed by silence.

Max and I would take long walks together. We were 'hiding out' in a large house that had previously served as a hostel. Which meant that there were a lot of bedrooms, a large kitchen, a common room, a pool table, and several bathrooms. Behind the house was a big garden, with trails that led into the desert. Max had had an argument with his father about our walks as well. Mr. Evans hadn't considered it wise for us to walk off on our own like that, unprotected, and Max had responded by looking at his father like Mr. Evans lacked a suitable number of active brain cells.

We had survived capture at the hands of some cold-hearted vicious aliens, but we wouldn't survive a walk in the desert?

Apparently, Max had won that argument (as well) since we were still taking the walks, talking about everything between heaven and earth while our joined hands swung comfortably between our bodies.

At first, the walks had tired me out quickly. My muscles had atrophied with my banishment from freedom, my lack of food had contributed to an overall weakness, and my breathing easily got heavy and strained. But every day I grew stronger, more in tune with my own body again. It helped to exercise (even if the exercise only consisted of slow walking). The fresh air and the naturally repetitive movement of my body helped me connect my mind to my body.

In the evening, my dad and I played cards or watched movies. Sometimes we would cook together (a secret passion of my father's; the reason he had started up a restaurant) and I would smile behind my father's back as he experimented with ingredients, adding odd spices in weird combinations. Oddly enough, it always turned out tasting really good.