Francis sat in the chair in front of Jenny's desk, fidgeting and looking down at his feet. He felt like he was eight and he, Antonio and Gilbert had gotten into trouble again. Or he would have, had Gilbert not been sat at his own desk, getting some coursework done.

Jenny sighed. "Francis," she said, gaining the teenager's attention. "You were the one who asked for a word, but all you've done for the past five minutes is sit there looking uncomfortable. Now are you going to talk to me or not?"

"Ah, oui. Well..." he trailed off, trying to sort the words in his head before saying them. "I no longer want to meet Monique in the contact centre." he blurted.

Both Jenny and Gilbert stared at him in utter shock. "But Fran, I thought the two of you were getting along really well?" asked Gilbert, frowning. He'd been so happy for Francis when he began meeting with his sister.

"Non," Francis shook his head. "That's not quite what I meant." He cursed himself for not wording it properly. "I want to continue my contact hours with Monique but... not in the contact centre..."

Jenny smiled. "So, would you like us to ring Claudette and ask if she would allow the contact to continue at her home?" she asked, already picking up the phone.

After a moments hesitation, Francis nodded. "Oui, but please make sure she knows that I'm still not entirely ready to forgive her." he clarified.

Giving a curt nod and a wink, Jenny dailed the number.

Ivan gave a quiet sigh, once again shifting his sister's weight onto his opposite hip. "Natalya, may I please put you down for a moment?" he asked.

Natalya whined, burying her face in her brother's shoulder.

"Why must you cling to me so much, mladshaya sestra?" asked the Russian, a little aggravated by the younger one's seemingly endless need to be with him.

Tightening her grip, Natalya mumbled something that got muffled by Ivan's sweater.

"Pardon?"

Natalya lifted her head, revealing the unshed tears in her eyes. "Y-You look like p-papa." she wept. "I-I don't w-want you t-to go away like h-he did!"

Ivan frowned. He placed Natalya on the ground and knelt down so that he was eye-level with her. "Is that what you think is going to happen?" he asked, wiping away her tears with his thumb.

The little one nodded, her hands finding the edge of Ivan's scarf and holding it to her chest.

"Glupaya devochka. I'm never going to leave you, Natalya." The Russian answered gently, wrapping his arms around his baby sister. "You're my little Natty and I love you all the world." In a rare show of affection, he pressed his lips to Natalya's cheek. "Now dry those silly tears, da?"

Natalya hiccuped, rubbing away the tears. "Da." She nodded.

Ivan smiled. "Khoroshaya devochka."

The sibling's moment was soon cut short when a small voice called over to them. "Hello Natalya."

The Belarusian turned to see Lili at the end of the corridor.

"Would you like to come play with me and Peter again?" she asked.

Giving one last look to Ivan, who only smiled, Natalya nodded and skipped off, joining hands with Lili in a friendly manner, which shocked Ivan a little. Still, he was happy that his sister was finally making friends.

Taking a deep breath, Gilbert knocked on his old bedroom door, hoping he'd find his brother inside.

"Ja?"

It would appear that luck was on his side today.

"Hey," he called, opening the door. "I'm here to talk... if you still want to."

Ludwig looked up, initially glaring at his brother who'd promised to talk to him 'as soon as he got home'. "I don't know if I even care any more." he grumbled.

Gilbert flinched. "I'm sorry, Luddy." He sighed, sitting down on his old bed. "I had every intention of talking to you but I chickened out and... and I used the craziness that was going on as an excuse." he admitted through gritted teeth. "But, I'm here now and I'm willing to answer any questions."

Ludwig's glare softened, before fading entirely. "I just want to know why we're here, Gilbert." His voice was almost a whisper.

Giving another drawn out sigh, Gilbert ran a hand through his hair. "Ja," he began chewing the inside of his cheek. "Where should I begin..."

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Gilbert reached out from under the covers and slammed his fist down on his alarm, silencing the obnoxious thing. He willed himself to move. Even if he was in brutal agony, he had to get up. If not for himself, then for Ludwig.

At the thought of his brother, Gilbert sat blot upright in the bed, ignoring the pain.

Shit! What day was it?

Thursday. Good. They had school today.

Normal children loathed school. They hated getting up early, just to go and sit in a boring classroom. They hated not being able to stay in bed, or at least stay at home with their parents.

Not the Beilschmidt brothers.

What they loathed was staying home.

Easing himself from his bed, Gilbert limped across the room and shook his brother awake. "C'mon, Luddy. It's time to get up." he whispered, so as not to wake their parents.

Ludwig stirred, stretching out before sitting up. "Morn'n." he yawned, bringing a smile to Gilbert's face. "Good morning, kid." replied the eldest of the two. He leaned forward and hugged his younger brother briefly, before getting to his feet and walking to the closet to get their uniforms, trying desperately to disguise his limp.

However, tricking Ludwig was a lot harder than tricking other children. He noticed. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Gilbert faked a confident smirk, laying Ludwig's uniform on the end on his bed. "Nothing the awesome me can't handle!" he lied. "Now hurry up and get dressed."

The boys walked to school hand in hand, as usual. Gilbert walked Ludwig right up to the classroom door before turning to get to his own class on the other side of the school. He managed to get through the door just as his name was being called.

The teacher gave him a soft smile. "Impeccable timing." she said. "I was just about to mark you as absent."

Gilbert apologised and took his usual seat by the door. He didn't really like his teather. Miss Griffiths, her name was. She was nice, but she meddled a bit too much.

Once the register had been taken and Miss Griffiths had gone over the work for the day, she pulled Gilbert aside.

"I know we've had this chat a number of times," she started. "But I've spoken with Miss Kelly who teaches Year 3, and she has noticed similar marks on your brother to the ones on you." She frowned, putting a hand on Gilbert's shoulder, which he instinctively flinched away from. Miss Griffiths sighed. "Gilbert, I want you to know that you can trust me. If there are issues at home, please talk to me about them." she pressed.

Gilbert shrugged. "We're brothers. We get a little too rough with each other sometimes." He was lying through his teeth again, and Miss Griffiths knew he was, but there wasn't anything she could do.

Meanwhile, in the Year 3 class, Ludwig was getting the same treatment from Miss Kelly.

"You aren't in trouble Ludwig." she soothed. "I only want to know how you got those bruises."

Ludwig glanced down at his arm, where aforementioned bruises resided. "Playing." he mumbled.

Miss Kelly tutted. "You told me that last time. And I told you to play a little more gently, remember?" she said.

Ludwig nodded.

"Well, why didn't you?"

With a shrug, Ludwig's gaze shifted to the floor.

Miss Kelly gave a soft sigh. "You know you can trust me, don't you?" she asked.

Ludwig nodded again.

"So you'll tell me if there's something bothering you?" Her tone became a little sterner. She held out her little finger. "Pinky promise?"

Hooking his little finger through his teacher's, Ludwig nodded.

The end of the school day is something neither Gilbert nor Ludwig really looked forward too. While everyone else rushed home, the two took their sweet time.

Luckily, on this particular day, their parents were both already so high that they didn't even notice the two boys coming in through the door or sneaking up to their bedroom, which promised a quiet afternoon. At least for now.

They spent a few hours playing together quietly in their bedroom, trying not to attract their parents attention. This was a perfect example of the calm before the storm, and Gilbert knew all too well what was to come.

The tell tale sign of drunken stumbling up the carpeted stairs was his first and only warning.

"Ludwig," He grabbed hold of his brother's wrist. "Go and hide in the closet and don't come out until I say so, okay?" He gave him a push in the direction of the closet.

Ludwig looked back over his shoulder as Gilbert stared to count, as if playing hide and seek. But Ludwig knew exactly what he was doing. Reluctantly, he climbed into the closet and shut the door.

At first, he couldn't hear much, just his father and Gilbert talking. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but he could hear their voices. Then the voices got louder.

It wouldn't be long now. This had become almost like a routine.

Right on cue, Ludwig heard an echoing slap, that was probably their father's hand across Gilbert's face.

Everything was silent for a while after that. Ludwig pressed his ear against the door, wondering if his father had left. He just about heard Gilbert utter something before a louder slap was heard. He flinched away from the door, pressing himself as close to the back of the closet as he could.

As the slaps got even louder, so did Gilbert's cries. Ludwig had his hands over his ears to block out the sounds, but it did nothing to help.

Ludwig hated hearing this. He hated knowing that Gilbert wouldn't get it so bad if he was out there. But then Gilbert would get mad and yell at him like he did before. He couldn't help but whimper and sob quietly to himself.

Minutes passed by, but it felt like hours. Hours and hours of listening to his brother crying, pleading for their father to stop. Finally, he heard heavy footsteps stomping out of the room and the door slamming shut. Still, he stayed in the closet.

After a few more minutes, Gilbert's sobs faded into nothing and Ludwig heard him pick himself up and slowly shuffle over to the closet. The door was pulled open to reveal Gilbert's worried face. His eyes were red and swollen from crying and he had a nasty hand print on his cheek. "Are you okay?" he asked.

Ludwig frowned, crawling out of the confined space. "I should be asking you that."

Gilbert smirked as best he could. "I told you, it's nothing the awesome me can't handle!" Even as he was saying it, he was wincing at the dull ache all over his body. "Come on, we have a game to get back to." he said, grabbing hold of his brother's hand.

End Note: *is crying* Gilbert finally grew a pair and told Ludwig about their past. I cried while writing it, and I couldn't even bring myself to write it properly. I am such a baby!
Translations:
Mladshaya sestra - Little sister.
Glupaya devochka - Silly girl.
Khoroshaya devochka - Good girl.
As always, feel free to correct me.
The song for this chapter is Servant of Evil by Len Kagamine (which I listened to on repeat while writing most of this).
~Lolly xXx