History Literature / Forbidden2010

** ParentalNeglect[=/=]MissingMom: By the end of the book, their mother has all but left the family to live with her boyfriend [[spoiler:including not even attending Lochan's funeral.]]

* BeautifulDreamer

* PromotionToParent[=/=]ParentalSubstitute: Lochan and Maya are the de facto father and mother of the household. The two of them raising their siblings and dealing with their neglectful mother is given just as much focus than their romance, especially at the beginning. with Willa at one point directly asking whether they are actually her real parents, since they are always there and their blood mother isn't. Kit's behaviour is largely because he struggles to deal with his older brother having to take on the role of authoritative parent, rather than the BigBrotherMentor his friends seem to have.

* AbusiveParents: Their mother is shockingly neglectful, as well as financially abusive--not to mention emotionally and verbally abusive towards Lochan.
** AlcoholicParent: Their mother again.
** FinancialAbuse: She gives her kids money for bills and food very grudgingly.

* AngerBornOfWorry: Kit illicits this response from Maya and Lochan in general. The time he comes home at three in the morning is a noteworthy example.

-->'''Maya''': ''[yelling and crying]'' He didn't kiss me! He tried to, okay, but I didn't let him! D'you know why? D'you want to know why? D'you really, really want to know why? This is why… ''[kisses his cheek]'' This is why… ''[kisses the corner of his lips]'' This is why… ''[kisses his mouth]''\\
''[They kiss for a minute]''\\
'''Lochan''': Maya, what the hell are we doing? I don't understand. Why--why the hell is this happening to us?\\
'''Maya''': All I know right now is that I love you. I love you far more than just [[BrotherSisterIncest as a brother]]. I… I love you in--in every kind of way.\\
'''Lochan''': I feel like that too… It's--it's a feeling so big, I sometimes think it's going to swallow me. It's so strong, I feel it could kill me. It keeps growing and I can't--I don't know what to do to stop it.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are a couple hints scattered throughout the story that [[spoiler:Kit [[SecretSecretKeeper secretly knows]] Lochan and Maya are in love, before it's finally revealed near the end of the story]]. After Maya returns home from her date with Nico, she and Lochan have an incredibly loud argument with each other, right before they realize they're in love and start making out. [[spoiler:Not only is Kit noted to have arrived home shortly before their argument, but his creaking ladder indicates he was awake the whole time, meaning he probably overheard them, and may have even seen them kissing.]] Later on, after Lochan and Maya bring Willa home from the hospital, Maya goes to Kit's bedroom to chat with him. When she warns Kit that they need to be careful what they say to avoid [[DontSplitUsUp social services finding out about their situation]], he responds, "Maya, I get it. I won't tell anybody about Willa's arm–[[spoiler:or anything else that could get us into trouble," alluding to his knowledge of his older siblings' relationship.]]

* ItsAllAboutMe: Their mother, to an astonishing degree. She all but abandons the family to live with her boyfriend and spends her wages on trifles for herself while leaving Lochan and Maya to work out how to put food on the table. One striking example of her thoughtless selfishness comes after she was so hungover she didn't pick up the kids and didn't remember asking somebody else to, leaving Lochan and Maya to frantically talk to teachers and contemplate calling the police when the kids aren't at school, and when Lochan furiously brings it up she replies "but aren't you happy that I'm feeling better?" in apparently genuine confusion.

* JailBaitWait: Played with. The timing of their relationship, where Lochan (18) is technically an adult and Maya (just shy of 17) is technically a child (though still over the age of consent) worsens the [[spoiler:charges against Lochan when he gets arrested]]. Downplayed however, since incest is illegal anyway regardless of age.

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: {{Reconstructed|Trope}}. There's no doubt Lochan and Maya's behavior--matter of factly putting aside their own needs to raise their siblings and giving up on their own mother--is worrying for a pair of 16/17-year-olds. However it's generally portrayed in a positive light and the best thing they can do in their situation. They do a pretty good job of raising the kids and holding the family together [[spoiler:until their mother discovers their relationship.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: There are a couple hints scattered throughout the story that [[spoiler:Kit [[SecretSecretKeeper secretly knows]] Lochan and Maya are in love, before it's finally revealed near the end of the story]]. After Maya returns home from her date with Nico, she and Lochan have an incredibly loud argument with each other, right before they realize they're in love and start making out. [[spoiler:Not only is Kit noted to have arrived home shortly before their argument, but his creaking ladder indicates he was awake the whole time, meaning he probably overheard them, and may have even seen them kissing.]] Later on, after Lochan and Maya bring Willa home from the hospital, Maya goes to Kit's bedroom to chat with him. When she warns Kit that they need to be careful what they say to avoid [[DontSplitUsUp social services finding out about their situation]], he responds, "Maya, I get it. I won't tell anybody about Willa's arm–[[spoiler:or anything else that could get us into trouble," alluding to his knowledge of Lochan and Maya's relationship.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: After Lochan and Maya bring Willa home from the hospital, Maya goes to Kit's bedroom to chat with him. When she warns Kit that they need to be careful what they say to avoid [[DontSplitUsUp social services finding out about their situation]], he responds, "Maya, I get it. I won't tell anybody about Willa's arm–[[spoiler:or anything else that could get us into trouble," alluding to the fact that he's secretly aware of Lochan and Maya's relationship.]]

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kit. He is quite mean and vicious throughout most of the story, but he ultimately shows himself to be a caring person deep down.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler:Both Lochan and Maya have this reaction at various stages when they think about the harm they could do to their family and each other. Kit has a major one after he, in a moment of misdirected anger, tells their mother about the relationship and she calls the police]].

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Kit. He is quite mean and vicious throughout most of the story, but he ultimately proves to be a caring person deep down.

* TheWoobie: Maya and Lochan, though {{Stoic Woobie}}s at that. As narrators, they are very open to the audience about their woobiehood. However in-universe, they hide their situation very well, lest a social worker notice.
* WriteWhatYouKnow: Lochan's social anxiety is directly based on the author's own experiences. Also Averted though--she's been clear that the incest is ''not'' based on her own experiences.

--->--Anonymous''

-->''You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.\\
-->--Anonymous''

-->''You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.\\--Anonymous''

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Averted hard. Lochan and Maya are all too aware of the risk social services could investigate their situation, especially as a family like the Whitleys are already on the radar. But it's not a case of DepartmentOfChildDisservices either--if social services ''did'' them out of their home, it ''would'' be for good reason. They're living in state housing, with DisappearedDad and [[ParentalNeglect neglectful mother]]. Lochan and Maya are only ''barely'' holding things together. Many of the pair's actions--raising the other three, covering up their mother's neglectfulness, resisting their feelings and putting on a brave face at school--are because they desperately [[DontSplitUsUp don't want to social services to step in and put the younger ones into foster care]]. At the end, Maya thinks about this, and whether she's trying to prevent that to ''protect'' her siblings, or because she doesn't want to lose them out of selfishness.

* BrotherSisterIncest: One of the big topics of the book, with a major point throughout being their inability to find a reason as to ''why'' a fully consensual relationship between equals should be considered wrong. Lochan's research also reveals that there's very little material on consensual incest, with most cases involving abuse.

* CantHaveSexEver: Or at least, Can't Have Sex For The Foreseeable Future. Incest is illegal, and having sex is the technical definition of incest. By restraining from that, that are able to convince themselves what they're doing is ok; that they're not being selfish or endangering their younger siblings.

* CharacterDevelopment: Kit seems to be getting over his horrible stage in the last part of the book and treats the rest of the family much better, largely because Lochan and Maya have succeeded in establishing a stable and consistent routine with their mum basically out of the picture. Meanwhile, Lochan starts working through his anxiety and shyness, including reading his work aloud to the class and making a proper friend.

* DysfunctionalFamily: The Whitelys, complete with alcoholism and incest to boot. Pretty much all of it stems from their father's absence and their mother's selfishness and stupidity, as the relationship between the other siblings is strong and supportive, with even [[TeensAreMonsters Kit]] coming round towards the end, once their mother has completely moved away and he is more able accept Lochan as a ParentalSubstitute.
* [[spoiler:FalseRapeAccusation: When everything is falling apart, Lochan instructs Maya to say that he raped her--absolving her of any guilt, and thus protecting her, with the assurance that as long as she doesn't actually press charges he'll be released (which he knows is untrue because she is a child and their mother will press charges). Her realising this and refusing to send him to prison prompts Lochan to remove her motivation to protect him by killing himself.]]

* JailBaitWait: Played with. The timing of their relationship, where Lochan is technically an adult and Maya is technically a child (though still over the age of consent) worsens the [[spoiler: charges against Lochan when he gets arrested]]. Downplayed however, since incest is illegal anyway regardless of age.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: Both Lochan and Maya have this reaction at various stages when they think about the harm they could do to their family and each other. Kit has a major one after he, in a moment of misdirected anger, tells their mother about the relationship and she calls the police]].

* TheirFirstTime: [[spoiler: Lochan and Maya lose their virginity to each other near the end of the book, and it all goes to hell immediately afterwards]].

* TroublingUnchildlikeBehaviour: Reconstructed. There's no doubt Lochan and Maya's behavior--matter of factly putting aside their own needs to raise their siblings and giving up on their own mother--is worrying for a pair of 16/17-year-olds. However it's generally portrayed in a positive light and the best thing they can do in their situation. They do a pretty good job of raising the kids and holding the family together [[spoiler:until their mother discovers their relationship.]]

* TheCutie[=/=]{{Moe}}: Willa.

* AngerBornOfWorry: Kit illicits this response from Maya and Lochan in general. The time he came home at 3 in the morning is a particularly noteworthy example.

* BigBrotherBully: Lochan ''really'' tries not to be this, but the pressure he's under causes him to get into a quite vicious fight with Kit after the latter comes home at 3 am and doesn't seem at all bothered that Lochan was searching the streets for him. Lochan is terrified of his own outburst, and struggles to forgive himself for it. He also completely accidentally dislocates Willa's shoulder when he pulled her down from standing on the kitchen counter, and has to be reassured by Maya that this was a total accident that could have happened to anybody.

* MementoMacGuffin: The silver bracelet Lochan gives Maya for Christmas, engraved: "Maya, love you forever. Lochan x."

** As a result of trying to deal with their stress, confusion, and pain, both Maya and Lochan have moments of spite where they act pointlessly cruelly to each other or the kids. They always regret it immediately, but it sometimes takes a while to reconcile.
** Their mother frequently does this when she's had a few drinks, with Lochan being the primary target. She has told him so many times that the only reason she married his father was because she accidentally got pregnant with him that he barely registers it anymore.

* NiceGirl: Maya and Willa.

->'''Maya''': ''[yelling and crying]'' He didn't kiss me! He tried to, okay, but I didn't let him! D'you know why? D'you want to know why? D'you really, really want to know why? This is why… ''[kisses his cheek]'' This is why… ''[kisses the corner of his lips]'' This is why… ''[kisses his mouth]''\\

* BigBrotherBully: Lochan ''really'' tries not to be this, but the pressure he's under causes him to get into a quite vicious fight with Kit after the latter comes home at three in the morning and doesn't seem at all bothered that Lochan was searching the streets for him. Lochan is terrified of his own outburst, and struggles to forgive himself for it. He also completely accidentally dislocates Willa's shoulder when he pulled her down from standing on the kitchen counter, and has to be reassured by Maya that this was a total accident that could have happened to anybody.
* BigBrotherMentor: What Kit would much prefer Lochan to be, and the fact that he's been forced to act as a parental authority makes their relationship a lot worse. After their fight, Kit himself is grudgingly at a loss for words when Maya directly asks him whether he thinks Lochan had a choice about taking on the new role, and whether he thinks Lochan wouldn't have wanted to remain his friend instead of his father figure.

* KickTheDog: As a result of trying to deal with their confusion and pain, both of them have moments of spite where they act pointlessly cruelly to each other or the kids. They always regret it immediately, but it sometimes takes a while to reconcile.

* LoveEpiphany: It's not until Maya goes on a date that either Maya or Lochan really understand that they like each other. On Lochan's side it's a GreenEyedEpiphany. For Maya, she abruptly realizes that a guy she ''thought'' she liked isn't who she wants to be with.
** AnguishedDeclarationOfLove follows, ''quite'' dramatically.
* MamaBear: However neglectful and unfit she may be, their mother still reacts violently to protect [[spoiler: Maya from (apparently) being raped by Lochan. Since she never bothers to get Maya's story and doesn't even attend Lochan's funeral, these vestiges of maternal feelings do not redeem her in any way, and actually inflict more devastating harm to her family than her neglect ever did]].

* ParentalSubstitute: Lochan and Maya are the de facto father and mother of the household, with Willa at one point directly asking whether they are actually her real parents, since they are always there and their blood mother isn't. Kit's behaviour is largely because he struggles to deal with his older brother having to take on the role of authoritative parent, rather than the BigBrotherMentor his friends seem to have.

* PromotionToParent: Lochan and Maya. The two of them raising their siblings and dealing with their neglectful mother is given just as much focus than their romance, especially at the beginning. They even plan to become Willa, Tiffin and Kit's legal guardians when they turn 18 so they don't have to deal with their mother at all anymore.

* RagingStiffie: During the DanceOfRomance, and what makes them realise that their love for each other is more than familial.

* TroubledButCute: Played with with Lochan. As is traditional for the trope he's antisocial, with a difficult home life, and beautiful, with plenty of girls who like him. But he's also got crippling social anxiety, and is a far cry from a classic Troubled, but Cute bad boy or rebel.

* TheUnfavourite: At the very least, Kit ''sees himself'' as this, and might actually be it concerning Lochan and Maya (though he brings most of it on himself). Lochan is certainly this for his mother.

* WriteWhatYouKnow: Lochan's social anxiety is directly based on the author's own experiences.
** Averted too, though--she's been clear that the incest is ''not'' based on her own experiences.

* BrotherSisterIncest: One of the big topics of the book.

* CluelessChickMagnet: Lochan

* [[spoiler:DrivenToSuicide: Lochan commits suicide while under arrest to prevent Maya from going to jail.]]
* DysfunctionalFamily: The Whitelys, complete with alcoholism and incest to boot.
* [[spoiler:FalseRapeAccusation: When everything is falling apart, Lochan instructs Maya to say that he raped her--absolving her of any guilt, and thus protecting her.]]

* [[spoiler:PerpWalk: Kit comes home just in time to see Lochan taken away. Neighbors come out to watch too.]]

* TroubledButCute: Played with with Lochan. As is traditional for the trope he's antisocial, with a difficult home life, and beautiful, with plenty of girls who like him. But he's also got social anxiety, and is a far cry from a classic Troubled, but Cute bad boy or rebel.

* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:Kit. Oh Kit. Without thinking and in anger, he tells their mother about Lochan and Maya's relationship. Arrest, suicide, and the near destruction of their family insue.]]

* BookEnds: Flies trapped inside, fighting for air.

* LoveEpiphany: It's not until Maya goes on a date that either Maya or Lochan really understand that they like each other. On Lochan's side it's a GreenEyedEpiphany. For Maya, she realizes than ever a guy she ''thought'' she liked isn't who she wants to be with.

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Averted hard. Lochan and Maya are all too aware of the risk social services could investigate their situation, especially as a family like the Whitleys are already on the radar. But it's not a case of DepartmentOfChildDisservices either--if social services ''did'' them out of their home, it ''would'' be for good reason. They're living in state housing, with DisappearedDad and [[ParentalNeglect neglectful mother]]. Lochan and Maya are only ''barely'' holding things together. Many of the pair's actions--raising the other three, covering up their mother's neglectfulness, resisting their feelings and putting on a brave face at school--are because they desperately [[DontSplitUsUp don't want to social services to step in and put the younger ones into foster care]]. At the end, Maya thinks about this, and whether she's trying to prevent that to ''protect'' her siblings, or because she doesn't want to loose them out of selfishness.

* SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Averted hard. Lochan and Maya are all too aware of the risk social services could investigate their situation, especially as a family like the Whitleys (living in state housing, DisappearedDad, [[ParentalNeglect neglectful mother]]) are already on the radar. Many of the pair's actions--raising the other three, covering up their mother's neglectfulness, resisting their feelings and putting on a brave face at school--are because they desperately [[DontSplitUsUp don't want to social services to step in and put the younger ones into foster care]]. Lochan admits that the moment he turns 18, he plans to become Kit, Tiffin and Willa's legal guardian to give the family some security.