Let Me In

Prompt: Rum gets beaten up and Belle takes care of him. (Rated M)

He was a mess. A fucking mess.

Stumbling into the playground of his apartment complex, Rum couldn't hold back the stinging salty tears as he covered his face against the metal spider's web. It was best to let it out here before going home and facing his father. He already knew what he was going to say: "Ah, look at you! Why the fuck didn't you stand up for yourself like a real man and teach those fuckers a lesson? No wonder they beat the shit out of you, you quivering quim!"

Once more it would be more proof to how he was a disappointment in his father's eyes. Nothing he can do would be right and he will always be that scared little Piggy.

"Are you okay Rum?"

Sniffling, Rum wiped his nose, flinching at the contact. Luckily it wasn't broken but it sure hurt as Hell. He turned to look at Belle, ashamed that his only friend would now witness how much of a pathetic loser he was. Instead, he saw only concern in her face, but it was her eyes that gave him pause. The bright blue of her irises had darkened to an almost black shade as a flicker of hunger leapt within them. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips, yet she made no move closer to him.

For some reason Rum was grateful for that. "I'm fine Belle. Really."

"You don't look it," she pointed out, and like magic, her eyes were normal again. "Does it hurt?"

His nose was on fire, his lip was split opened with dried blood covering them, and he knew he was a sporting a shiner; not to mention the other bruises kept hidden under his bulky clothes. But he wouldn't admit it to her—only he would secretly carry that shame.

He nodded. "It's not as bad as it looks. I've been worse."

"Don't joke about it!" Belle snarled, her sharp tone slicing in the empty air. "Don't you dare hide from it Rum. You're not okay. It was those boys that did it."

It wasn't a question but a fact.

"They took me by surprise," Rum suddenly admitted. "It was a game."

"That's not a game." Belle tentatively walked towards him and he could see an internal struggle on her countenance as she drew closer. He wanted to question it but not sure how to properly word it without sounding crazy in his head. Yet, she made up her mind and sealed the distance as her petite white hand cautiously touched the corner of his mouth. The slight pressure alone caused the chapped lips to bleed anew, which she wiped it away with her thumb.

"Next time you need to fight back Rum. You understand? You need to fight back," she told him solemnly. There wasn't a trace of that twelve-year-old innocence in her voice as she looked at him keenly. "Promise me you won't back down."

"I promise," he said automatically. Where that came from he didn't know, but Rum felt a surge in his veins that the next time he saw Killian (and it would be a next time) he will show him and his goons not to toy with him. "Thanks Belle."

"You're my friend," she reiterated. "I hate to see you get hurt."

She was the only one apparently. Not even his own father would breathe those words. "I don't want you to be the victim anymore Rum."

Belle licked her thumb and then cleaned his forehead, removing the blood above his eyebrow. It never occurred to him that she was cleaning her bloody fingers with her tongue. All he knew was that he felt safe and warm with her ministrations.

At last Belle stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Your eye is closed but you're not bleeding now."

"Good." At least he could lie and tell his father he ran into a pole or something. That would give the old man a chuckle. Looking down he noticed her bare feet again. "Belle, why don't you wear shoes? Aren't you worried you'll get frostbite?"

"I don't feel anything so there's no need," she explained matter-of-factly. "Tell me more about these boys. If they ever hurt you again, then you must tell me, got it? You're not going to keep it a secret from me."

"Never," he breathed and proceeded to tell her what she wanted to know.

Later, when Killian tried confronting him… Rum fought back. He grabbed the nearest stick he could reach and slammed it into the side of his skull. Killian's eardrum ruptured from the force. He knew Belle would be proud of him when he told her, and she was judging by her wide grin at the news.