It had become clear that Squalo and Bel weren't safe anymore; even months after what had happened, while Bel's parents and brother had been apprehended by the police, his uncle was still out there, and held no remorse for the things he was putting the younger two through – it didn't take a genius to work out why their home had been trashed several times and almost set alight, after all.

Squalo was no fool; he knew full well that if they were to continue staying with Dino, they would only put the blond in danger, too. Because of that, no matter how much he knew Bel would protest and hate it, he was taking the boy away until it was safe for them to come back.

"Here are the keys."

Bel looked up at the soft clanging of house keys, hiding behind Squalo with one hand gripping tight the back of the man's shirt. He didn't quite understand why Squalo was taking him away from Namimori and to another town instead; why couldn't they stay here anymore? He liked it here, and he didn't want to leave.

"Squ…" Tugging at his guardian's sleeve, Bel whined softly. "Where are we going…?"

"To the Bucking Horse's old vacation home." Leaning down to pick Bel up, Squalo held his kid close. "I don't know how long we're going to be there for."

"I don't wanna go…" Wrapping his arms around Squalo's neck, Bel started to shake. "Don't want to…"

"Yeah, I don't either, but we have to, Bel."

Dino backed up at the tell-tale signs of a temper tantrum beginning; he knew that neither himself nor Squalo was in the mood to deal with this, but they had to be patient; Bel had every reason to act out.

"Bel…" Squalo, who was quite simply too tired to deal with this, put the boy back down on the ground. Shaking his head, he waved at Dino before turning around and walking back to his car. He ignored his charge yelling at him, instead unlocking the vehicle and getting into the driver's seat. He didn't hesitate to put the keys in the ignition and start it, and by now he noticed that Bel seemed wary in continuing his temper tantrum – Bel wasn't stupid; he was testing the waters to see what he could get away with before Squalo drove off without him.

Waving at the boy, Squalo put the car in reverse and left the driveway. He saw the panic on his charge's face, but he wasn't done yet; throwing the gearstick into first gear, he started driving down the road, gradually speeding up until he noticed Bel was chasing him, screaming for him to stop.

With a sigh, the man hit the brakes and stopped, waiting until Bel had caught up and gotten into the car before he started driving again. "You finished throwing tantrums, brat?"

Crossing his arms against his chest, Bel huffed, glaring at the dashboard. "…"

"Whatever…" Hitting the accelerator with more force than he had intended, Squalo winced as he over-revved the car. Shifting into a higher gear, he couldn't help but let himself become exhausted; he was trying his best to look after Bel, but the boy wasn't making it easy for him. He knew Bel wanted to stay here – and he did, too! – but if they were to do that, it could be their end.

No… Squalo had to take Bel away until they were safe, because he would never forgive himself if anything more were to happen to his kid.

~~XX~~

"I don't like this town…"

Squalo glanced over at Bel, finding the boy fumbling with the juice box he had been given a while ago. He had been driving for hours now, having only just arrived at the town where Dino's old family vacation home was located. He hadn't been there before, having not known Dino well enough during the period the blond's father was still alive, and he was quite curious to see what they would be staying in; if it were anything like Dino's old home in Italy, it would be quite luxurious. "Why?"

Shrugging, Bel dropped his head against the window, fighting to keep his eyelids open; he was just so tired, but he hadn't been able to sleep with the pelting rain echoing loudly in his ears. "It's a stupid town…"

Squalo himself felt as if he could nod off any minute now; he hoped they were almost there… "Yeah…? You haven't been here before; you can't judge shit."

"I don't want to judge shit, Squ… That's gross…"

Sighing, Squalo shook his head; he would just have to hope that it wouldn't take long to get there, and that there would be rooms already set up for them so that they could go straight to sleep. "You're tired; go to sleep, Bel. You've already missed your nap."

"Because Squ wouldn't let me nap!" Kicking at the dashboard, Bel made an agitated sound. "Squ just shoved me in his car and wouldn't tell me where we were going!"

Unable to hold back his own temper, Squalo hit the accelerator without need; uncaring as his car flew up behind the one in front of him, he turned to glare at Bel. "What was wrong with sleeping in the fucking car?! You could have taken your fucking nap ages ago!"

"It's storming!" Kicking the dashboard again, Bel then threw his juice box against the windshield. "I can't sleep when it's loud!"

"You know damn fucking well that I can't always work around your fucking routine! I wouldn't have stopped you from napping if I had a choice because you piss me off when you're like this! You could have – Stop kicking my fucking car, you little shit!"

With how slippery the roads were, and how erratic Squalo was starting to drive, it was no surprise he soon slid out of control due to his current lack of proper control and high speed. Unable to correct the vehicle, it slid to the wrong side of the intersection where the passenger side slammed into another car stopped at a red light.

Squalo took a deep breath before he looked at Bel, finding that the boy had gone very pale, his body trembling as he stared straight ahead, clearly frightened by what had happened. Reaching out, he put his hand on Bel's. "You alright, brat?"

Bel licked his lips as he turned to look at the man, but he didn't speak; he just continued to shake in his seat.

Carefully pulling his car off the road and to where it was safe, Squalo got out to assess the damage to his vehicle as he waited for the other driver to follow him. He knew he shouldn't have taken things out on Bel like that, but the boy really had to understand that Squalo was only trying to do the right thing and keep them safe, no matter how much the blond hated it.

~~XX~~

Bel had eventually calmed down from the earlier incident once Squalo had taken him out for lunch. He had still been shaky, and after getting out of the car, it had taken a lot to coax him to get back in it; he had been scared of Squalo colliding with another car, because as soon as he saw himself heading straight for the one his guardian had hit, he thought he had been about to die.

But now, as Squalo turned down the long driveway that would bring them to Dino's vacation house, Bel couldn't help but sigh; why couldn't he just go back home…?

"I don't want to be here, Squ…" Pulling at the door handle, Bel whimpered as it wouldn't open; he hated how his guardian had had child locks installed in the passenger side door to stop him from opening it and getting out of a moving car. "I want to go home…!"

"Yeah, I know." Wishing he could turn the car around and go back home, Squalo sent his charge a pitiful look. "I want to, as well. But we can't; not until… Until it's safe."

"Safe…?"

The long-haired man nodded. He didn't want to have to tell Bel everything that had happened, but…

If it would help Bel stop fretting, Squalo would tell him everything he had been hiding.

"Your uncle's still out there, and he's causing too much trouble. If we stay home, he'll hurt you again. He's not going to stop at anything."

"…"

"I don't want you to be hurt more than you already have been, Bel." Sending his kid a serious look, Squalo shook his head. "If taking you away is what will keep you safe, then I will do that, no matter how much you hate it."

"Squ…" Looking at his lap, Bel slipped his hand beneath his bangs in order to rub at his eyes; he didn't deserve Squalo. "…"

"When we get inside, you can go take your nap. I'll find a room for you." Slowing the car down now that he was ever closer to the mansion itself, Squalo couldn't help but hope that Bel would adjust quickly; he wasn't sure he would be able to deal with the boy's troubles for much longer in his current state – if he didn't get enough rest soon, he was going to snap on the blond.

"I wanna sleep with Squ-Squ…" Not understanding why he was all of a sudden being made to sleep apart from his guardian, Bel tensed up; he was always allowed to sleep with the man at home…!

"Not here, Bel. I'm tired, too." Fighting back a yawn as if to prove his point, Squalo continued on. "I need a bit of alone time for a while."

"Why?" Flinching when the car came to a stop, Bel felt a surge of panic wash through him; he didn't want to be here!

"Because I want to actually sleep." Pulling the handbrake up, Squalo turned the car off. He opened the door and got out, moving to the passenger side door to open it for Bel. "Come on, brat. Let's get inside before we get soaked by the rain."

Bel let out a loud scream when Squalo grabbed his arm. Recoiling from the touch, he moved as far back as his seatbelt would allow; why couldn't Squalo understand?! "I don't want to get out! I want to go home!"

Throwing his arms up in the air in defeat, it took all of Squalo's willpower to keep himself from screaming at the blond. Instead, he yelled, "Stay the fuck in here, then! See how much I care!" before kicking the car door closed and stomping over to the front door of the mansion. He unlocked it with more force than was necessary before stepping inside and slamming it shut behind him. "Stupid brat…"

Locking the door behind him, Squalo went to find the servants Dino had told him were still working at the mansion. He knew he shouldn't have locked Bel out in a storm, but damnit, he was just too fucking pissed off to be able to deal with the boy right now.

Squalo wasn't being heartless; there was still a car outside for Bel to take shelter in – all he was doing was getting himself some well-needed rest.

~~XX~~

Squalo didn't know how long he had been asleep for – just that when he was awoken by someone hitting him angrily with a pillow, he was about ready to murder whoever dared wake him back up.

Sitting up and finding Bel standing by the bed with a pillow in his hands, Squalo grit his teeth. He took no notice of the way Bel was shivering and soaked to the bone from water; he instead reached out and snatched the pillow off the boy.

"Get the fuck out, Bel." Shoving the younger backwards, Squalo hoped Bel would get the hint and go somewhere else; was it so bad that he needed to fucking sleep? "Go piss someone else off for a change."

Bel let a loud sob escape his lips as tears started rolling down his cheeks, mixing with the rain that still clung to his skin. "You locked me outside in a storm!"

"Yeah, I fucking know!"

"I had to keep banging on the door until a stranger let me inside!" Throwing himself at Squalo, Bel balled his hands into fists, punching and kicking at the man. "I hate you!"

Grabbing Bel the shoulders, Squalo shook him violently for a few seconds before he slapped the younger across the face with the new prosthetic hand he had gotten a few weeks previous. "I hate you, too! I can't fucking stand you when you're acting like a baby! For fuck's sake; you're almost seventeen and still act like a damn toddler! It's so shameful, I'm embarrassed to be your fucking guardian!"

Squalo instantly regretted these words; Bel froze on the spot, staring at the man as if he almost couldn't believe what had been said. It seemed to take a while for the boy to truly swallow those words, because after what felt like an eternity of silence, he started bawling his eyes out.

Pulling himself free from Squalo's grip, Bel ran from the room, his loud footsteps quickly becoming quieter until they were soon non-existent. Squalo had never hated himself more than he did in this moment; in trying to protect Bel, he had only hurt the boy himself in the end.

Sitting up straight on his bed, Squalo pulled his phone from his pocket. Unlocking it and scrolling through his message thread with Dino, he tried to take reassurance from his friend's comfort that he wasn't acting this way towards Bel on purpose; it was the damage to his head he had suffered during the attack that night that was amplifying his moods to the point he was unable to stop himself from taking it all out on Bel.

But no matter how much Squalo wanted to blame his head injuries for his words and actions towards Bel, he knew he couldn't; he had been in control of himself all day today, and yet he hadn't stopped himself from any of this towards the boy he loved more than anything else in his life.

Bel would never know it, but he had saved Squalo's life by giving the man a purpose in life. But now, Squalo wouldn't be surprised if the boy really did hate him.

Pulling his knees to his chest, Squalo couldn't fight back his tears; he should have killed himself years ago and left Bel with Dino, because Dino would have been a much better guardian than he ever had been.