WARNING: THERE IS SOME LANGUAGE AS WELL AS CHILD ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ IT THEN DO NOT PROCEED.

Disclaimer: You people should know at this point I don't own Jekyll and Hyde. The versions of them I'm using belong to Sabrina Cotugno, author of a webcomic called The Glass Scientists. The concept of Jekyll and Hyde belongs to Robert Louis Stevenson, author of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. However, as far as I know, the Bonded!A.U. does belong to me, so if I'm right and it does, I really don't care if you guys want to use it, just be sure to give credit where it's due.

CHAPTER TWO

THE CAR RIDE

Henry watched the world pass by out the backseat window as his mother drove him to his first day of school.

He didn't want to go.

"Can't I just stay home with you, mommy?" The five year old asked quietly, even though he already knew the answer.

"You know you can't, sweetie. You have to go to school. Besides, I have to go to work anyway." She responded, giving her son a reassuring smile from the rear view mirror.

"You'll be fine, dear."

Henry sighed, and went back to looking out the window, but his focus wasn't on the outside world.

'What's wrong, Henry?'

The other child's voice was loud in his mind, drowning out the other sounds around him, but he was used to it by now.

'Mom's making me go to school….'

'That sucks! Just throw yourself on the ground, swing your arms and legs around, and scream like me! It always gets me what I want!' The other child spoke, a proud tone to his voice.

'I'm not throwing a tantrum just so I can stay home, Edward….' The brunette responded with another sigh.

'Hmmph. Have it your way then.' Edward muttered back quietly.

Henry knew he was pouting, and this thought caused the child to giggle quietly from his car seat.

His mother looked at him in the mirror once more, an eyebrow raised in curiosity.

"What are you giggling about back there?" She asked her son with a smile.

The brunette quickly snapped out of his daze at his mother's voice, looking up at her.

"Oh….I just saw a funny looking cloud, that's all, mommy." He lied, giving her an innocent smile.

His mother smiled back at him before returning her attention to the road.

Henry looked back out his window, a small frown on his lips.

He hated lying to his mom, but he knew it was better if she didn't know about his conversations with Edward. He learned that well enough a few months ago….

-FLASHBACK-

It was Henry's fifth birthday, but instead of spending it with his family, he just wanted to sleep….

He wanted to spend it playing with Edward. It was his birthday too, after all.

The two five year olds were running around in their dreamscape, playing a game of tag.

Before they had begun their little game they had warped the dreamscape to look like a grassy field, one that went on forever and was surrounded by a blue sky, filled with fluffy, white clouds.

Edward was "it" at this point, chasing after the brunette boy who was running around the field trying to escape him, laughing loudly.

'Gotcha!' The blonde child shouted joyously as he suddenly grabbed the other around the waist, pulling him down into the grass.

Henry shrieked as he felt himself be tackled into the grass, looking back at Edward with a laugh.

'Eddie! You're not supposed to tackle me!'

'Oopsies!'

The two laughed at their own conversation, not bothering to get up once they had calmed down and instead turned their attention to the clouds above them.

The two boys began a game to see who could create the better cloud, going back and forth with joyous laughter for a few minutes, before something stopped them.

Henry was watching Edward morph one of the clouds when the dreamscape began to shift and fade around him.

The brunette sat up, looking down at his hands to notice his form was fading in and out as well. A frown appeared on the boy's lips.

He was waking up.

Edward soon noticed this as well, sitting up beside him, not liking the frown on the other's normally happy expression.

'Hey, it's okay, Henry! You can come back later! And we can still talk until you do! So cheer up!' The blonde exclaimed, pulling the other child's fading form into a hug.

Henry nodded, hugging back with a small smile on his lips.

And then he was gone from the dreamscape.

As soon as the brunette woke up he immediately wished he hadn't…..

His father was standing before him, red in the face from anger, a half empty bottle of liquor in his left hand.

Henry whimpered in fear, trying to hide under the covers, but it was no use as his drunken father quickly grabbed him by the hair, yanking him out of the bed and throwing him onto the rough, carpeted floor of his room.

The boy yelped in pain, trying to back away from the man towering above him as tears came to his eyes.

'Henry?! What's going on?! Are you okay?!' Edward asked quickly from the back of his mind.

He had felt his other half's fear and pain, and was more than a little worried.

"E-Edward….." Henry whimpered out, not realizing he had done so out loud.

"Shut up you little brat!" His father shouted angrily, kicking the five year old in the stomach hard.

The brunette cried out in pain, unable to hold back the tears any longer as he curled in on himself to try and avoid anymore kicks from the drunkard.

"I'm sick and tired of you sleeping all the time! No more of it, you hear me?! You should be doing work like the little bastard you are!"

"B-But daddy….I-I w-was only pl-playing with E-Edward…..!" Henry tried to defend himself, an uncontrollable stutter in his voice as the tears streamed down his cheeks.

"That's another thing you're going to stop! I don't want to hear anymore about Edward Hyde or your damn connection with him ever again! Do you understand me?!" His father nearly screamed, kicking his terrified and pained son in the chest.

Throughout all of this Edward had remained quiet. Not because he didn't care to say anything, but because he couldn't.

Henry had accidentally let his memories of what was happening right then flow through the connection to Edward, allowing the other child to see what was happening to his other half.

It didn't help that he felt his pain too.

"Y-Yes, s-sir! I'm s-sorry! I w-won't m-mention him e-ever a-again!" Henry cried out, hoping his drunken father would stop.

The man kicked him once more before stomping out of the room, slamming the bedroom door behind him.

The brunette curled in on himself, sobbing harshly as his body shook from the tears and his pain.

Edward quickly snapped out of his dazed state, sending as much love and comfort as he could to the other boy.

The beating Henry took that day may have been painful, but it taught him a valuable lesson…..

Not everyone was like him and Edward…..

Not everyone would look upon their connection as a blessing.

From that day on Henry knew it was better to keep these things to himself…..

-FLASHBACK-

"Henry…..Henry!"

The young boy was snapped out of his reverie by his mother shouting his name. He quickly looked over at her.

"We're here sweetie, it's time for you to go inside."

Henry looked out the window to see she was telling the truth. The brunette sighed and undid the buckles on his car seat, grabbing his backpack and getting out.

"Bye baby! I'll see you after school! Love you!" His mother called before driving off.

The five year old looked up at the school building, before looking back at his mother's quickly disappearing car.

"Love you too…"

And with those words, and a tight grip on the straps of his backpack, Henry Jekyll made his way inside the school.

This was going to be a long day…..

Well...again, I apologize for the content of this chapter, but...there needed to be some background info...yeah...