THE IMAGE of Cole's torn up back and the sound of his strangled groans continuously replayed in Bella's head as Mommy and Sir continued eating upstairs. Bella didn't know why they had forced her to go back upstairs with them, but she wished that she didn't have to leave Cole so she could truly apologize to him.

They were acting as if nothing happened as they ate. Bella just sat across from them, her arms straightened against her sides and her eyes glued to the wall as she trembled. She hurt him so terribly, and from that alone, she could not stop shaking.

"Listen, Sweetheart," Mommy started, and Bella's eyes snapped to the sickly woman who had just forced her to beat somebody.

"Why do you like me now?" Bella asked, her eyes filling with tears as she stared into the wicked, beady eyes. "Why do you hate my brothers so much?"

"Excuse me?" Mommy asked, tilting her head. "I thought that I told you not to question me," she said, her polite tone beginning to drip with thick, underlying anger.

Bella's eyes closed, and a tear slipped down her cheek. "You made me beat him," she whispered, her eyes widening as she then adverted her gaze to the dirty, wooden table in front of her. "He did nothing wrong - nothing to deserve that kind of punishment."

"I told you not to question me," Mommy repeated, her rotting teeth gritted together.

"You don't even care!" Bella cried out, her hair sticking to the tears coating her cheeks as she continued to snivel. "You're just eating as if you didn't watch a sixteen year old boy get whipped! As if you didn't... as if you didn't just make me do it!"

"What I do with my children is my business - you are my children, I will do with you what I please," Mommy growled, still clearly trying to keep her calm but she was about to burst. Bella could tell, and everything she had worked for to gain her trust was absolutely worthless to at that point.

"He was in so much pain already! You keep beating him and beating him!" she cried, her voice scratching against her throat. "Why are you doing this to us? Why?"

"He deserves it. He's my child, I'll decide what-" Mommy started, but Bella cut her off.

"We aren't your kids!" Bella screamed, her fingers threading through her hair as she heard Mommy stand up from her seat. "We aren't your kids, I will never be your daughter! You are such a cruel woman-"

Bella clenched her teeth as she was suddenly lifted from the chair by her hair, which was tangled in Mommy's tight fist. Bella's eyes locked on Sir who seemed too afraid to interfere, despite his large stature, he seemed very small in that moment. His hood was down and his eyes were fixed on his lap as Bella was then thrown into the wall.

The pain that radiated throughout her head was indescribable as it hit into the dirt-streaked wall. It wrapped around the base of her skull and throbbed beneath her forehead as Mommy then lifted her up by her hair again.

"I was just trying to bond with you. You ruined it!" Mommy cried out, her screech straining with anger.

Bella's nails clawed into Mommy's bare elbows, digging and penetrating her flesh as Mommy dragged Bella over to the basement door. Bella's fingers wrapped around Mommy's fist, where a handful of her hair was being squeezed above her, and she tried to pry Mommy's fingers apart.

Mommy swung the basement door open and Bella tried to latch onto the side of it, but Mommy kicked Bella's stomach to make her lose her grip, and before Bella knew it, she was tossed down the stairs.

Bella groaned on each step that she fell down, until she finally slid weakly down the last two, and Mommy's figure was only a silhouette at the top of the staircase, surrounded by the blaring light from inside her house. Bella sucked air through her teeth and brought her hand up to rub the top of her head, though her entire body ached.

"I will speak to you when you learn to respect me!" Mommy shouted into the basement, before she slammed the door shut and engulfed Bella in an unsettling darkness.

Bella, after a few minutes of laying there and taking in the pain that swallowed the entirety of her small body, picked herself up and dragged herself towards the door across from the staircase. She had barely registered what happened - her mind was muddled and her eyesight was spinning as she twisted the doorknob open.

When she crawled into the room, she saw Cole against the wall, his eyebrows knitted together in distress as he slept. Elliot was curled up beside him as usual, his head placed on his chest.

Bella dragged her body closer to them, her fingers reaching out to touch Cole's arm. Before she could, Elliot's deep brown eyes were open and watching her.

"Go away!" Elliot cried out suddenly, making Bella jump. Elliot's eyes were filled with pure fear as he curled closer against Cole, his lips pouting.

Cole slowly opened his bloodshot eyes to look at Bella.

Bella instantly started sobbing, her hands flying up to her mouth. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, her eyes staring into Cole's. "I'm so, so sorry."

"You're not nice!" Elliot's tiny voice yelled to Bella, his eyebrows furrowed in anger as he rested his head against Cole's moving chest.

"Relax, buddy," Cole's raspy voice spoke, as he closed his eyes and turned his head to the side. "She'll go upstairs soon."

"I said I was sorry!" Bella cried out, "what else do you want me to do?"

"Stop," Cole whispered, his head falling back against the wall as he attempted to fall back asleep. "Stop talking."

Bella sat beside them for a few minutes, before she shuddered from the frigid air nipping at her bare arms. It was a lot colder down in the basement than it was upstairs, and Bella began wishing that she didn't throw the tantrum so she would still be up there.

She slowly inched closer to Cole, before she moved fully beside him. His eyes were still closed, and her heart ached at the pain that was so clear on his face. She took a deep breath and hesitantly rested her head on his shoulder, embracing the little warmth that radiated off his bare chest.

"I'm sorry," Bella whispered again, her lips just beside Cole's ear, but he remained still.

"I heard you the first time," he mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"Don't be like that," Bella said quietly, tears beginning to fly down her cheeks again. "I'm a mess because of it. I didn't want to hurt you, I would never want to..."

Cole slowly opened his eyes to look down at her. He shifted his position, wincing in the process as his back pressed against the wall. Bella's chest clenched as her fingers wrapped around his arm.

They sat in silence for several minutes, and Bella listened to the sound of Cole and Elliot's harmonious breathing, until she began to hear Cole's breathing shift. His breaths picked up, and grew heavier and quicker, making Bella look up at him.

He was crying.

His shoulders were heaving and his head was slumped, tears dripping down his flushed cheeks as he tried to avoid letting Bella or Elliot hear him.

Bella didn't know what to do. This boy, who maintained such a rough and emotionless image, was breaking down right before her eyes, and she didn't know how to console him. She pouted, her eyes tearing along with his as she cuddled closer against him.

"Okay, just breathe," she whispered hastily, trying to comfort him. She was probably the last person he wanted for consolation, but he needed somebody.

"I miss my mamma," he said, his full lips wet with tears that continued trailing down from his light eyes. "I miss her so much."

"I know," Bella said softly, as he continued breathing shakily.

"I'm sorry about what I said b-before," he said, his chest heaving. "Get yourself out and get Elliot out of here too."

"I'm getting you out of here too, Cole, if it's the last thing I do," she whispered. Her eyes burned from the tears that welled across the brim of them. "Your mom wouldn't want you to give up."

"I just want this to end," he said, his breath hitching in pain as he leaned against the wall.

Bella's eyes moved to his scarred chest. "It will, soon, Cole," she whispered quietly.

"I don't think I will make it," he said, his voice gravelly. "I need you to tell my mamma that I love her if I don't. And my papà, too."

Tears pierced Bella's eyes. "You're going to make it out," she whispered, though she was unsure.

"I keep thinking about her crying," Cole said, his head back against the wall again. "Fuck," he groaned out, his eyes squeezing shut.

"Shhh," Bella cooed gently, a hot tear slipping from her eye. "Cole, don't think about it," her voice was very soothing as she laced her fingers gently through his hair, brushing them through it in a comforting way.

"Per favore Dio," Cole's voice broke beneath his heavy breath, and he was so quiet that Bella could barely hear him. "Permettimi di vedere ancora una volta mia madre. Farò di tutto per vederla di nuovo."

He was upsetting her. She was going to start crying as well, and she could tell by the way her breath caught in her throat that she would start if he didn't stop.

Absentmindedly, her finger reached beneath his chin as she tilted his head towards her, his glistening eyes staring into hers. She didn't know what she was doing, or what the electric feeling in her chest was, but before she could register what was happening, she pressed her lips against his.