WARNING: child abuse in later chapters and hints of it in this one, along with suicide, depression, prostitution, and all that jazz.

A/N: Yeah! I get my own author's note! I usually write with AethraZip (Zippy: Meep.) and this is my first story by myself. Well, not my first, but the first one I'm posting. Bear with me in the first chapter, it's a little slow, but I promise it will get better. ENJOY!

And Life Goes On

Chapter One

You know, no matter what you do, no matter what happens, life goes on. It doesn't stop for anyone. It doesn't care who you are or what's happening, life just keeps on going.

That's what they taught me. Three of the best friends I ever had. They taught me life goes on and you just have to keep living, there's no point in stopping it, because if you do, you make it worse for the people left behind. Bad things well happen, and worst are yet to come, but no matter how bad things get, life *will* go on.

William Rasmussen shoved his hands deeper into his jean pockets. "Can we please hurry and get out of here? I hate crowds."

"I hate malls in general, but you don't see me complaining," William's girlfriend Joey said.

"And you would call that last comment . . . what?" William turned to Max. "How long will this take you?"

"Not long, I just have to get a few things from the computer store. I need to increase the RAM for my PC."

"Stop using acronyms!" Joey commanded. "And if I haven't mentioned it, I don't. Like. Malls."

"Yes, actually, you have— 90 times." Max rolled his eyes. "Besides," he said in a teasing voice, " I thought that girls were suppose to *like* the mall."

Joey snorted. "Only girls with money."

Will glared daggers at a young boy who had just walked into him. "I'm getting pissed! It's way too crowded in here for my liking."

"For God's sake! I get it! You don't like malls! Will you just shut up already? Jesus, I didn't ask you guys to come in!" Max cried, finally exasperated.

"We know, but we just *love* to drive you crazy, Maxie," Joey cooed, putting her arms around his neck and giving him a squeeze.

"Ugh!" Max pried her arms away from his neck. "Please, I need to breathe. Besides, if you guys keep complaining, I'll just take even longer." He smiled an evil smile.

"Ha ha, then you can *walk* home, Mr. O'Conner, because *I* have the car keys!" Joey stuck out her tongue and waved the keys in his face.

"We'll see about that," Max challenged, grabbing for them.

William, who was watching the scene unfold, spoke up. "If guys don't quit, we're going to get kicked out." They ignored him, and William was nearing his last nerve. He *hated* crowds, absolutely despised them. Watching his girlfriend and best friend fight over the car keys finally got to be too much, and he grabbed the keys from Joey's hands. "Enough," he snapped. "Let's just go." He tossed the keys back to Joey.

"You have no sense of humor. You know that, don't you, Rasmussen?" Max said, shaking his head and starting towards the computer store again.

"So I've heard," William murmured, and followed Max and Joey through the much hated crowd.

It took the three of them twenty minutes to get to the computer store, find what Max needed, buy it, drag Joey out of the food court, and get back out to the parking lot. By then, two of the three were quite cranky.

"Please shoot me next time I decide to go into the mall," Joey requested, sliding into the driver's seat of her old red Honda. William took the passenger seat and Max climbed into the back. "All right, since it seems that I'm playing chauffeur today, any more requests?"

"The bank," William said. "I need to cash my check."

"Will do." Joey started the car and pulled out of the parking space.

William turned to look at his friend in the back seat. Max was sprawled across the back seat. "Comfortable?"

"Yeah, actually, I am." Max smiled. "Hey, Joey? I have a lot of home work and shit to do, so could you drop me off first?"

"Sure." She took a left onto the highway.

"Damn, it's hot!" William complained, rolling down his window.

"Sorry, the A\C is broken," Joey said sheepishly. "Again," she added.

"Is there no A\C at all? I'm dying back here! It's like 80 degrees outside!" Max sat up and reached in front to play with the temperature dial.

"Maybe it's because you're in a long-sleeved shirt, you retard." William said, pushing Max back into the back seat.

Max stuck out his tongue, then rolled down both windows in the back. "I'm melting!" he shrieked.

Joey laughed. "Take off your shirt. I'm *sure* that will help."

"Oh, you just want to see my hot bod!" Max laughed.

"*Hot bod*?! Wait a minute, Joey, I thought *I* was your boyfriend!"

"Ohhhhh, Joey, that was supposed to be secret!" Max smiled, unbuttoning his cuffs and roling up his sleeves.

Willaim examined at his friends and realized they were only joking. "You two really had me going there for a second." He smiled at his own stupidity.

Max laughed. "You really need to find a sense of humor."

"I know," Will said dryly. He turned in his seat to ask Max a question and instead caught sight of a nasty burise on the upper part of Max's arm. "Hey, man, what happened to your arm?"

Max loked down at the big purple and blue bruise on his upper arm. "Oh," he said. "I— uh— ran into a door." He smiled up at his friends, and rolled his sleeves down to cover the bruise. "Nothing really. 'Tis but a scratch."

William laughed, "A scratch?! Your arm's off!" and the two friends immersed themselves in their own reactment of 'Monty Python and The Holy Grail.'

Joey turned up the radio to drone out them messing up lines and arguing over who said what when, and whether or not Lancelot was gay. Before long Joey pulled up in front of Max's white split level house.

"See you later!" William called as Max walked up the front steps.

"Bye!" Max yelled back.

After he was out of sight, Joey put a hand to her temple. "Joey, what's wrong?" William frowned, sliding his arm around her.

"I'm worried about Max, that's all." Joey shrugged his arm off and pulled out of the driveway.

"Worried? About Max? Why?" William leaned back and stared at Joey, eyebrows knitting.

"I greatly doubt that he got that bruise from walking into a door."

"Huh? Joey, what are you saying?"

Joey sighed. "Forget it." She pulled into the parking garage to William's apartment.

"You forgot to go to the bank."

"Oh yeah. . . . Sorry." She sat looking at her hands. 'I can't keep your secret for long, Max. I'm too worried about you,' she thought.

"Joey?" William inched over to her and placed an arm around her again.

"Yes?" Joey asked a suspicious sparkle in her eye. William leaned forward until their faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Are you—" William started when Joey kissed him gently. Hearing his question, however, she pulled away.

"Am I what?"

"Never mind." And he kissed her this time. His lips traced a familiar path down her neck, and Joey sighed softly.

"Shouldn't we go upstairs?" she murmured, feathering her fingers into his hair.

"Why wait?"

A/N: Yeah, I suck at romance (Enna, help me!) Anyhoo... I'll try to get another chapter later, but it might be a while, I'm on babysitting duty this week, and I want to type up another story too. So the next chapter will be more action, I promise. We'll find out Max's *secret*, and meet another character.

Yeah, so, til next time...

Hakuna Matata,

Terry