No Force of Nature Ch. 01

Noticing that the wine and beer supply was depleting at an alarming rate, Margaret assumed the safest course of action was to get more for her family. So she took it upon herself to load up a plastic basket with the remaining beer from the garage refrigerator.

After putting her shoes and scarf back on she opened the creaking door that led from the hallway and into the garage. Flicking the light switch on she found the old fridge her mother had refused to get rid off, operating in the corner. Her father's old Chevy lay untouched under the tarp her and her uncle had covered it up with after her parents' funeral. Part of her wanted to rip the tarp off and set the damn car on fire, but causing a ruckus was the last thing she wanted tonight. Tonight was Liam's night and although the impulse to destroy the car was strong, she wouldn't allow herself to ruin his night.

So with a shudder and a deep breath to reign in her anger, Margaret moved over to the fridge with the basket and loaded it up with the beverages. She was about to leave when the power suddenly went out. The storm must have gotten worse, she thought to herself, annoyed that she had to make her way around the car, in the dark and with all the glass bottles in the basket.

"Shit." she muttered to herself "You try to do something nice for your family and what do you get?"

She lifted the heavy basket and slid her feet along the cement floor, her knees hit the end of the car telling her she needed to move slightly to the left to access the door. But she couldn't move, the tarp must have slid off this part of the car somehow and the feel of the chrome bumper against her legs brought back a sense memory so strong, it was all she could do to not drop the drinks.

Her breathing became labored and sweat began to dew on her skin. Margaret closed her eyes hoping they would adjust to the black of the room but nothing seemed to fight the all consuming darkness that pressed upon her mind and heart.

She heard something start to echo in the room, a whimper. Her own voice...no, there was another voice here. The voice was yelling, screaming at her. A hand was pressing against her back, forcing her to bend over the car, knees bruised from banging against the car's bumper. A horrible scream, a rip of her jeans and then pain-.

"I don't think she would be in the garage-" a voice called right before opening the door with a screech, saving her from the nightmare. "Mags, what are doing in here...and with all that booze?" it was her Uncle Will to save her, as usual.

"Nothing, um - I saw that you guys were low on drinks and there was nothing left in that fridge so I came out here..." his hands closed on her shoulders and he gently pushed her back towards the door. "The lights went off, did we lose power?"

"No the storm's actually stopped...the garage is on a sensor now. The light was always being left on, wasting energy, so we installed the sensor." Will looked at Maggie, taking in the paler than normal skin and slight sheen of sweat coating her skin. Few were alive that knew what had happened between Maggie and her father. He cursed himself for not getting rid of that car when she left for college, he had continuously told himself that it only served as a reminder of the hell she went through after high school. But it had also been a reminder for him of the good times, before his brother went insane.

Maggie saw him looking at her. "Uncle Will, I'm a big girl now, I can go into the garage by myself without having a panic attack." Liar.

"I know you are, but you will always be my little snow white." he kissed her on the forehead and grabbed the booze from her hands."Now give me all this liquor so I can inject it into my family's veins and get them to pass out so we can have a quiet moment to ourselves." Will walked into the dining room with Maggie fast on his heels, cheers resounded not for their arrival but for the replenishment of the drink. Maggie laughed at the typical response, but now it was her turn to be passed around. A year wasn't long, but it was long enough to receive the interrogation from her grandparents. Check the hair, check she's not wearing too much makeup, make sure shes not too skinny, is there and will there ever be color in those cheeks? The same questions she'll give the same responses to.

**********

Liam had been sitting at the end of the table, finishing his grandparents interrogation when Maggie and Uncle Will walked in. He laughed at his family's response to the liquor's arrival but his smile faded soon after seeing the haunted look on Maggie's face. Her skin was now truly as white as the snow and the sheen of sweat he saw glisten on her skin seemed to have removed a little makeup revealing sunken circles under her eyes. A nervous tick brought her hand to her stomach, it rested there for a moment, slowly moving back and forth until she noticed what she was doing and quickly dropped her hand.

"I found her in the garage, she had gone to get our liquor." Uncle Will's voice cut through his thoughts, he knew he had been responding to a question, but Liam also knew that the answer had been intended for him. Will acknowledged that only Liam would be able to see through his sister's calm facade to the terrified girl. After the drinks had been passed around, Liam politely declining, Will came to sit by him.

"Is she OK?" Liam asked his uncle.

"What do you think, on the outside she'll be as solid as the fucking cement that makes up your father's tombstone." Will snorted and took a swig of his beer. Alcoholism had run in the family, but Will had kept his drinking to a social event minimum.

"Listen, Madge and I didn't tell you this when we invited you home but we are going on vacation." Will whispered to Liam as he turned back to his nephew.

"Oh? When are you going?" this wasn't a big surprise to Liam, his family liked to escape daily life for weekend holidays in the tropics or favorite haunts in Europe.

"Tomorrow." Will confessed, with enough grace to look slightly ashamed.

"What? But I just got here! When will you be back? You'll be here for Christmas, won't you?" Liam asked trying not to raise his voice or look too surprised. Uncle Will had not only been Maggie's hero, but Liam's as well. Liam remembered running to his uncle's house (which was only a few blocks over) when the fights between his father and his mother became a little too much for a 10 year old to bare. "I know and I'm sorry, but honestly I think you and Margaret need to take this time to become siblings again." Will nodded over to the opposite end of the table where Margaret was getting the third degree from her grandmother. Liam saw her thin wrist sweep a jet black curl out of her face and behind her ear, a small smile picking at the corner of her mouth, trying desperately not to laugh at the ridiculous inquisition. His stomach flipped and heat rose to his cheeks.

"Oh, c'mon Liam." Will clapped his hand on Liam's back with a thunderous laugh. "It's not that terrifying a thought. You used to spend hours together as children, not wanting to play with any kids your own age. Your mother tried to give you different interests, but separating you only caused either one or the other to have a tantrum." Liam laughed nervously at Wills comments. He remembered those hours with his sister more fondly than a brother should. He remembered thinking those same thoughts when he had turned 15, and later in life when his sister had turned 17 and her lips never looked more kissable. When she wore a bathing suit at swim practice, when she came out of the shower in a tiny towel, her legs still dripping wet...the water droplets falling from her neck and streaming down her chest.

There were so many thoughts and feelings Liam had experienced that he wished he could erase from his memory. So many images and fantasies he had dreamed of featuring his younger sister that nearly drove him insane. Liam had left to prove to himself he wasn't his father, that he wasn't capable of doing what he had done, to be the bigger man...and walk away. After a year or so in Anchorage, Liam had been able to forget those feelings, returning to at least a semblance of normal life. But being back here, with his sister in full bloom and never looking more alluring, only made him want her more.

It was wrong...so wrong.

"So...when will you be back?" Liam asked quietly, thinking maybe a beer didn't sound too bad after all.

"Well...technically...not until after New Years..." Will took another guilty swig from the bottle, averting his eyes from Liam's angry gaze.

"After New Years? What the fuck?!" Liam pulled his hands through his hair in frustration, trying to keep calm. "Uncle Will, why am I even here? I see you for one day and then you go?"

Will slammed his beer on the table, a little done with his nephew's whining. "You are here because you have been gone for four years. You are here because you deserted your sister when she needed you most, when your family needed you most. We understood, we really did. Fuck, I still understand the need to run away, to get your shit together-".

"I didn't run-".

"Don't lie to yourself, Liam. Of course that's what you were doing and no one blames you for that, boy. But you've grown up, I can tell it. I could tell when we were speaking on the phone last month, that's why I invited you back." Will nodded his head back to Margaret, now sitting next to Aunt Jeane, their father's oldest sibling. Also the most oblivious woman you had ever met, she could talk for hours without so much as a nod in response from the receiving party. Which is why Margaret had clearly taken this time to space out and stare into nothingness. Her hair seemed slightly more limp than usual and her shoulders rounded into a defeated pose. Tired, world weary, you name it she looked it. "You've turned out OK, it's your sister your Aunt and I are worried about." They observed her statuesque pose a little longer before Will continued. "You and I both know she's had the worst of it..."

"How is she doing over in New York?" Liam asked, trying to determine the situation.

"Fine as far as we can tell. She's living with some bloke named Robert, we've spoken to him on the phone, he seems a decent fellow...a bit of a lazy bum by your sister's account but nothing harmful."

"She's living with a guy?" the information stung "Are they...together?" "I think your aunt said they've had some sort of relationship but nothing too serious." he nudged Liam in the side with a wink clearly meaning to indicate sex. Liam non-chalontly rolled his eyes.

"All right, enough Uncle Will. I don't want to hear about my sister's sex life." at least not when it involved other men, he had no problem fantasizing about it however.

"Yea yea...speaking of sex lives, you ever find a girl? We didn't exactly touch upon that subject over the phone. You fallen for an Eskimo yet?" Will's laugh echoed around the table causing other conversations to drop and look towards the two men in the corner. Liam tried to shush him but alas it was too late...Grandpa had woken up.

"William, what are you laughing about with my grandson?" Grandpa Connor demanded from his kingly chair at the opposite end of the table.

"Sorry, dad. I was just asking Liam here whether he's found a pleasant Eskimo to take for a wife yet." laughter sounded throughout the room and Liam silently cursed his dear Uncle.

"Are all the women up there really short, Liam? Is ice-fishing the main source of sustenance?" this from his cousin Andrew, Madge's son.

"One, that is racist, two no they are not short and for all your information Anchorage is a city like any other." chided Liam with a teasing grin on his face. Andrew had always been good for a laugh.

"Yea, except you only get 6 hours of daylight a day." laughed Andrew

"That's only in the winter." Liam yelled over the laughter. Liam again felt the pleasant warmth that told him he should have visited a lot sooner.

"OK but all jokes aside, you've been up there for four years...you must have at least dated someone, Eskimo or not." the room turned silent waiting for his reply. This was a question he had expected and prepared a response for...a clear guilt free response.

"There have been a few over the years, nothing serious. I'm thinking of asking this one girl, Lara out for dinner." Master of lies, step right up.

"Ooh, dinner...that's a big step, do you think you can handle it?"

"Oh, shut it you ass" Liam went for a swipe at Andrews head, Andrew evaded the expected shot. "Besides you should talk, where are all the women who follow at your heels, begging to be asked out?" The room peeled into laughter again, Andrew took the embarrassment kindly. He was used to it, actually asked for it behind closed doors. Andrew was gay but not out of the closet to his family. Liam and Margaret were the only two who knew. Andrew and his cousins liked to play a game called 'who could it more obvious that Andy was gay without actually stating the fact.' it was a great source of entertainment for them.

"Well Liam we would love to meet this Lara, what does she do?" Asked Grandma Barbara or Babs for short.

"Grams, I'm not bringing a girl home from Alaska to meet my family when I haven't even asked her out yet." Liam grabbed an olive from a nearby dish and popped it in his mouth, wiggling his eyebrows playfully at his cousin.

"Well you need to settle down at some point in our life, Liam. We only want to see you happy and with the right girl. Is that too much to ask from an old woman?" Grams lay the guilt trip on thick and heavy. Liam laughed and walked over to his Grandmother, putting a hand over hers.

"It's not too much, Grams. You know me, waitin for the right girl." He couldn't help himself as his eyes trained on Margaret, a sigh escaping his lips. He just didn't expect Mags to be looking right back at him, a strange expression gracing her face. A quizzical frown turning her lips down, head tilted slightly to the right. Aunt Jeane of course continuing her own conversation without realizing Mags had turned away completely.

Liam's heart pumped as they stared at each other. The room stopped, all action ceasing to exist outside the small bubble that him and his sister inhabited. This is how it had been when they were younger, nothing could have torn them apart. Joined at the hip and oblivious to the world around them. Liam could only describe this as bliss.

**********

Margaret's heart was pounding, her breathing again for the second time tonight becoming shallow. But this time she had nothing to attribute it to, she had been listening politely to her family cajole and laugh about Liam's love life when he had mentioned asking some girl out. Her skin had literally run cold with dread. 'If Liam dates he may fall in love and if he falls in love he may want to get married and if he gets married he'll never want to leave Alaska. He'll be in his Alaska bubble of heaven, with his Alaskan wife and their small children running around the sled dogs with hoods that had fur on the edge. What the fuck am I saying? Liam isn't getting married, stupid...Liam is- Liam is looking at me. I'm looking at Liam. Why is that a bad thing, he's my brother whom I haven't seen for four years why wouldn't I want to look at him? Why wouldn't I want to look at his perfect jaw, his full lips, his- his full lips?' Margaret pulled herself up from the chair, dropping her gaze from her brother and excusing herself.

She quickly made her way into the kitchen and turned the cold water on, splashing some in her face. A few deep breaths and a shake of the head later she was feeling better, more normal. This night was too much, that garage was too much, seeing Liam was too much, her Aunt telling her that Liam and Margaret will be alone in the house until after New Years was way way too much.

Margaret quickly returned to the table not wanting a family member to start another search party for her. The night progressed, eventually the cousins, friends, aunts and uncles sobered up. It was around 4AM when Will announced that himself and Madge had a plane to catch early in the morning and they needed some form of sleep. Everyone helped clean up and then took another hour saying goodbye and making the kids promise they'll visit before they leave again.

Once the door shut on the final guest, Mags made a sweeping gesture against her forehead and fell backwards on the couch in the living room.

"Phew. Will, I have no clue how you can handle that year round." "I don't, I only see them on birthdays and holidays." he sat next to her, taking a final swig from what must have been his tenth beer. That man is built like an ox, Mags thought to herself with a smile, ever indestructible.

"Well that's ten birthdays and a few more holidays then I'd be able to handle. More power to you." They laughed and Will patted Mags on her shoulder.

"It's good to have you back." He looked to Liam who was currently sitting on the floor "It's good to have both of you back. Madge and I will be gone by the time you get up in the morning so I'm just going to say this now...If you have a fucking party, clean up after yourselves." Madge laughed and the siblings cringed as they remembered there one attempt at a party. They had both been so hung over they forgot that their parents were coming home the next day...not the day after. After reminiscing for a few more moments, Liam and Margaret both hugged their aunt and uncle bidding them a goodnight and safe trip.

**********

"We'll be perfect little angels, Uncle. No worries." Liam said as Madge and William went upstairs to at least get a couple hours of sleep before leaving for their flight. 
 "Alone at last." Mags muttered, her eyes half closed as sleep slowly took it's hold.

"Was that your plan? To get me alone?" Liam laughed, scooting over to sit on the floor next to his sister. She smiled and opened her hand to him, he slipped his in without question. She placed his hand on her chest, holding it close to her heart.

"Mm, no...my plan is more diabolical than that..." it was getting harder to understand what she was saying, exhaustion reigning it's ugly head. Watching her yawn made Liam realize he was utterly spent. Before they both passed out here in the living room, Liam rose to his feet and scooped Mags up as he had done a thousand times before.

He carried her up the stairs and was about to enter her old room when she shook her head. "Your room, please."

"What? Why, you love your room?" he asked, getting tired of holding her but not wanting to let go.

"Mmmm...part of my plan...."

Liam shrugged and moved into his old bedroom. He placed her on his bed and wondered what he should do...she was still fully dressed and didn't want her to get hot during the night. But should he take her clothes off? How much should he take off? He decided to strip her of her socks and pants but would leave her long sleeve shirt on. Gently, he pulled one sock off at a time, noting that her toes were painted a bright turquoise. He looked to see if she was sleeping and then slid his hands from her toes to the button on her jeans. He could feel the muscles under her skin tense slightly but then return to their relaxed state.

His hands lingered for a moment over the button on her jeans, he sighed wishing he was stripping her for more sensual reasons. With a shake of his head to rid himself of the thoughts he quickly undid her button and began to pull her pants down until a soft sound penetrated the room, making him stop short and his blood to boil.

A moan. Doubtlessly a moan, as quiet as death escaped from his sister's mouth. He looked down to his hands and realized they weren't on her jeans anymore but were rubbing her hips up and down. When had that happened?

"Oh..." Oh God a word, she said 'oh' as Liam was rubbing her hips up and down. Was this in response to his touch or was it from some dream she ws having? No she was definitely still sleeping...nothing he had done illicited that response. He let go of the breath he had been holding and slipped the rest of her jeans off, this time however, to appease himself, he left his hands on her legs and he pushed, allowing myself to touch her bare, silken skin.