BELLA nearly fell into the room, looking around to find Elliot on the other side of the room, curled up in a ball with his cheek mushed against the ground, and Cole slumped against the wall with his head back and his eyes closed.

Bella continued to giggle, unable to stop as Cole's ashen eyes slowly opened to look at her.

"Bella?" he asked, his voice raspy. "Are you allowed to be in here?"

Bella tripped on her way over to him, before she fell hard onto his lap. Cole jumped when she settled on top of him, and he sucked air through his teeth, his body instinctively curling for a second.

"Jeez, Bella, watch where you're landing," he exhaled in pain.

"Hi," she chirped, her glossy irises gazing into his tired and bloodshot eyes. Her lips were tilted into a small smile, and his were turned downward in confusion.

His thick eyebrows furrowed as he stared at her new attire, before he brought his eyes to her face. "Are you..." he recoiled, his eyes widening slightly as he tried to figure her out, "drunk?"

Bella hiccuped, before shaking her head quickly. "No, why would you think that?" she slurred.

Cole took a deep breath. "Okay, Bella, get off of me."

Bella slung her arms around his neck and tightened them. "Why?" she pouted down at him.

His chest heaved as he licked his lips and looked away from her.

"Drinking is so much fun!" Bella squealed, her hands on his shoulders as she shook him with excitement. "At first, it tasted like hand sanitizer! I wondered how anybody liked it, but then, I kept drinking, and it tasted like water! And now I feel crazy," she giggled, hiccuping on her deep exhale as she watched Cole grow more irritated with her.

"I don't understand why you would-" Cole started, but Bella interrupted him.

"I've never even kissed a boy before. But Mommy thinks I'm a slut," Bella whispered, her glazed eyes slowly blinking.

Cole attempted to push his hips up in a failed attempt to get her off of him, since his hands were still tied securely behind his back, but she stayed put.

"My mom used to cheat on my dad," Bella mused in thought, her eyes looking up towards the ceiling as she recollected her old memories. "Did you know that?"

Cole bit down on his bottom lip. "No, how would I have known that?"

"I used to watch her all the time," she recalled, her words drowsy. "She would do stuff like this with all these different guys, every night!" She slowly dragged her hands down his chest, and he watched her carefully, before she brought her fingers back towards his face and threaded her fingers through his matted hair. His lips parted for a second as she continued stroking her nails through his hair. "She also used to do this!" she exclaimed, daringly moving to press her lips to Cole's neck.

Cole flinched away from her before she could, though, shaking his head. "What the fuck, Bella? S-stop! What is wrong with you?"

"Don't act like you don't like it," Bella responded, clearly offended with a devilish smirk on her lips. "I know you do, I can feel it."

Cole's cheeks heated, and Bella noticed his obvious anger was making his breaths heavier. But she thought this was funny; she felt so free, like she could do anything without consequence.

"Why are you acting like this?" Cole asked her, his slight accent clear through his furious words. "You're smarter than that, at least, I thought you were."

"You are not my dad," Bella rolled her eyes. "She forced me to drink but it was fun. She... she even gave me a hug! And... and her boyfriend, he gave me a flower-"

"Huh?" Cole drew back, his muddled eyes watching her intently.

Bella smiled down at him. "Oh, right! I forgot to tell you, her boyfriend is so nice-"

Cole snorted with laughter, chuckling under his breath. "Yeah, okay."

Her smile slowly turned into a frown. "He... is. You don't understand," she dismissed.

"Right," he responded, nodding his head. "No, you're right, Bella. It was so nice of him to hold me up while the Psycho Bitch beat the shit out of me. Oh, also, when he was stabbing me with my own knife. Or, or when he held Elliot so The Bitch could punch the poor kid in the eye. But he gave Bella a flower, so obviously that means he's a Saint. Questo è incredibile."

Bella frowned at Cole, her eyes filling with tears. "You're being really mean right now."

"Because, Bella!" he yelled, his voice hoarse as he strained it desperately in order to stay quiet.

They heard Elliot stir, so they both quickly snapped their heads in his direction, waiting until he settled back asleep to speak again.

"Do you see how fucked up this is? The fact that you're... first of all, on top of me right now, drunk out of your mind, claiming that these people that kidnapped us are nice," Cole spat, his tone disgusted.

Hot tears pricked the corners of Bella's eyes as she slid off of him and stood to her feet, stumbling as she walked to the opposite side of the room, away from Cole and Elliot, who was still peacefully sleeping.

Cole watched her, his eyes still filled with confusion but mostly to the brim with an icy anger.

"Go to sleep," Cole demanded, and Bella crossed her arms over her chest.

"Stop telling me what to do!" she responded angrily, her teeth gritted together as she looked down at the floor and allowed hot tears to sear down her cheeks. "You're jealous that they like me, and they have no problem beating you up. All of a sudden you care so much."

Cole took a deep breath, and Bella just rolled her eyes, setting her back against the wall.

Elliot stirred from the side of the room, lifting his head from the ground and blinking at Bella and Cole. His blond hair was falling in his eyes, so he quickly pushed the strands off his forehead, his lips parting in excitement.

"Bella?" he squealed. "You're back!"

Bella forced a smile on her lips for the small boy. "Hi," she mumbled.

Elliot rested his head back on the ground. "You guys always fight."

Bella looked at Cole who was staring at the doorway, making her nearly jump in fear as she thought Mommy had been standing there. She followed his gaze and found nobody at the door, so with relaxed shoulders, she looked back towards Elliot.

"Yeah," Bella said, shooting an angry glare towards Cole. "Cole was being rude, as usual! Yelling in his stupid Italian voice, with his dumb Italian words," Bella shook her head, her smooth hair sticking to her clammy face.

Elliot was staring at her with large, frightened eyes. "Why are you talking like that?"

"Ignore her," Cole said to Elliot harshly. "Go back to sleep."

"See!" Bella yelled, laughing loudly and obnoxiously. "He thinks he's our dad, Elliot! He thinks he's allowed to... to tell us to go to sleep."

Bella watched Elliot's lip quiver as he stood to his feet. She expected him to run over to her, so she held her arms out, but instead, he ran over to Cole, plopping down beside him and moving flush against him in fear.

"W-why is she acting like that?" she heard Elliot whisper.

Cole just shook his head in response, murmuring something that Bella couldn't hear.

"Fine, you know, I'm doing this to help us," Bella turned away from them, facing the wall as she lay on her side and closed her eyes. "You're ungrateful," she slurred, each of her words drawn out.

She felt tears roll down her cheeks as she continued to quietly snivel beneath her breath. She heard the soft sounds of Cole and Elliot speaking, and she couldn't get her eyes to focus or her vision to straighten as she stared at the wall.

Her stomach turned. She quickly outstretched her hand against her stomach, and sat up immediately.

Then, the intense burning of alcohol singed her throat again, threatening to spill from her lips. She tried to swallow it, glancing around the room in desperation as her eyes teared.

But before she could move, she vomited all over the floor in front of her.