Hi! First of all, thank you SO much for all the lovely reviews! They truly make my day. Second, sorry for the lack of updates the past few days; I've had more homework than I thought physically possible, which left me no time for writing. D:

Anyways, here is Chapter Eleven! Let me know what you think? Thanks! :D


Chapter Eleven - Bella

Mal jumped up and grabbed the phone from the kitchen, pausing to glance at the caller-ID before answering. I got up from the couch and walked over to him, standing close enough to hear both sides of the conversation.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Mal?" a female voice came from the other end. "This is Elissa."

"Yeah, this is Mal. Hey, Elissa,"

"Listen, I hate to ask you this, given the current circumstances, but... My car stalled out on the way to a restaurant, and I'm about five miles from your place. Would you mind helping me out? I have a jumper cable, but I don't know what I'm doing. I'm really sorry to ask, but-"

"Don't worry about it, Liss. I'll be there in a few. What street are you on?"

"A hundred-and-ninth. Thanks so much, Mal,"

"No problem, I'll see you then."

They hung up, and Mal turned to me. He started to tell me that he had to help Elissa, but I cut him off.

"I have to go and-"

"Yeah, I know; I'm coming with. I... don't want to be alone right now."

"Okay," he said quietly. He reached out and gently stroked my cheek. I looked up at him sadly, placing my hand over his. We stood in silence for a few moments, wordlessly staring at the brokenness in each other's eyes. He then pulled me into a gentle hug, softly stroking my hair. After a few seconds, he pulled away, then took my hand and guided me towards the door.

"C'mon, Nat," he prompted quietly. "Elissa's waiting."

"Okay," I replied simply, slipping my coat on and again taking Mal's hand.

We drove the five miles in comfortable silence, pulling over to the side of the road where Elissa's car was stalled. Elissa met us outside, jumper cable in-hand.

"Thank you so much," she said immediately, handing the cable to Mal.

"It's no problem, really," Mal said with a smile, opening the hood of Elissa's car. Two kids sat in the backseat, one boy and one girl. The boy looked to be about eight, and the girl looked no older than five. The boy was drawing on a pad of paper, and the girl was sleeping.

Mal turned to start the car, and Elissa turned towards me. I braced myself for another 'how are you holding up?' or something to that extent, but it never came.

"You're really pretty!" she said instead. It took me by surprise, given the circumstances and my emotional state of the past few days.

"Oh, uh, thank you!" I replied hastily with a small laugh. She flashed me a smile, and I smiled back. I don't know what it was about her, but her cheerfulness was contagious.

"What are your kids' names?" I asked, motioning towards the car.

"Zach is eight, and Bella is four," she answered with a smile. Just then, Bella came waddling out of the car, then ran up to Elissa.

"Momma, I'm hungee!" she chimed, patting her stomach. "So is Zach!"

"I know," Elissa cooed, bending down to Bella's height. "As soon as Mal fixes our car, we'll go to the restaurant, okay?"

"Okay!" Bella replied cheerfully. She turned and looked at me, staring with curious green eyes. "Momma, who's dat?" she asked Elissa, pointing at me. Elissa glanced at me hesitantly, then picked Bella up.

"This is Natara," she said softly, pointing at me. "Can you say hi?"

"Hi, Natawa!" she chirped, waving brightly. I suddenly felt prickles of pain stab into my heart. She reminded me of Madison.

"Hi, Bella," I said back, smiling at her with a small wave. Just then, Mal walked back over and handed the cable back to Elissa.

"That should do it!" Mal said, brushing his hands on his jeans. Bella pointed at Mal, mumbling something close to his name. I saw a flicker of pain flash through Mal's eyes, and I knew he'd thought of Madi, too.

"Can you say hi to Mal, Bella?" Elissa said, pointing towards Mal.

"Hi, Mal!" she said with a wave. Mal smiled at her and greeted her back.

"Hey there, Bella!"

"Momma, hungee!" Bella persisted, pointing at her stomach again.

"Okay, okay, we're going!" Elissa laughed. "Do you two want to come with?" she asked Mal and I. "It's about dinner time." Surprised, I pulled my phone out and glanced at the time, confirming that it was 5:01. Given that it was almost December, the skies darkened earlier than normal. The sun was already setting, and hues of orange and pink were painted beautifully across the sky.

"Sure," Mal and I both said at the same time, undoubtedly harboring the same thought.

"Okay, great!" she said, setting Bella back down. Bella scampered back over to the car and climbed into the back seat. "The café we were headed to is just a few more miles down the road."

"Alright, we'll see you there!" Mal said, waving as we both got into our cars. Mal started the ignition, then pulled his seat belt over himself. I pulled mine on, too, and then met Mal's gaze.

"Bella reminds me of Madi," he said sadly, biting his lip slightly.

"I know," I replied, sighing. After a few moments, Mal shifted into 'drive', then eased on the gas to catch up with Elissa.

At the café, we all sit down and order drinks and food. My appetite has seemed to be lacking the past week. I know I need to eat, but I'm not hungry; I ordered an iced tea and a small bowl of soup. Mal's appetite, for once, seemed to be fairly non-existant, too; he settled on a Coke and a small sandwich.

As we ate, we made small talk, chatting about whatever came to mind. Soon enough we finished eating, and Bella began to look tired. Zach was contentedly rolling a toy car on the table top, quietly making 'vroom' sounds.

"I'm tired," Bella said sleepily, rubbing at her eyes.

"Alright," Elissa said, "We should probably get home."

"So should we," I announced, suppressing a tired yawn. Mal stood and helped me put my jacket on, so I flashed him a grateful smile. He smiled back, giving my hand a quick squeeze. He walked ahead of Elissa, her kids and I, holding the café door open for us.

"Thank you," I said with a smile.

"Thanks!" Elissa chimed, corralling her kids to their car.

"We'll see you guys later," Mal said with a wave.

"You too. Take care!" She turned towards her car and began strapping Bella into the booster seat.

"Is Elissa married?" I asked curiously once we were inside out car.

"No," Mal replied, looking over at me. "She was engaged, but the guy took off once she told him she was pregnant with twins."

"Twins?" I questioned. "They're not the same a-" My mind drifted back to when I met her at the viewal. She had mentioned she'd lost a child, too. "... Oh..." I concluded, and Mal nodded.

"Macon was Zach's twin. He was killed in a car accident a few years ago. Elissa was bringing him home from a friend's house on a Friday night, and some drunk idiot crashed into the side of their car. Elissa was relatively fine, but the impact... killed Macon instantaneously."

"Oh my God..." was all I could say. "That's terrible."

"I know. And what's worse... She blames herself."

"Wait, what? Why? If it was some drunk-ass idiot, it wasn't her fault at all."

"I know, it wasn't her fault at all. We all tried to tell her that, but she completely shut herself in the house. She took up drugs and self-harm, and she kind of... Lost her way for a while. She was only 19 when it happened. I babysat Zach a lot during that time."

"Oh, man..." I muttered incredulously. "That's so horrible." Mal nodded with a grimace, turning the key to start the car. We pulled out at the same time as Elissa, so Mal wave a hand, motioning for her to go. She nodded, then continued backing out. Mal then backed out, too, swiveling the wheel so it was straight again.

"Oh, hold on," I said, turning to buckle my seat belt. "Okay, I'm good." Mal laughed, and I turned back around.

Just in time to see a blue SUV careen around the corner and crash right into the side of Elissa's car.