Squalo and Bel sat together in the living room the next morning, watching TV. The boy, while still a little nervous about his new living arrangements, seemed happier than he had the day before; he had accepted his breakfast with a bright smile, and now, as he relaxed with Squalo, was straddling the older male's lap and running his tiny fingers through the silver locks as he tugged and pulled, just like the child he was.

Squalo was glad Bel was happy; it had been hard getting him to sleep the previous night in the spare room because the boy had whimpered and cried for his mother at first. Then, when Squalo believed he had finally settled the younger, nightmares had plagued the child's sleep until Squalo went in to spend the rest of the night with him; the teenager hadn't wanted to take the chance of Bel waking his boyfriend up, because that would be the end of them both otherwise.

"Squalo has a bruise on his neck." Bel spoke in his native tongue as he cocked his head to the side. He ghosted his little fingers over the discoloration, wondering how it had happened; it looked so tiny, he couldn't wrap his head around how it had gotten there.

"Yeah, brat." Replying back so easily, he may as well have come from the boy's homeland as well, Squalo shrugged. "That's why I don't want you left alone with my boyfriend. I'm glad he hasn't woken since you've been here; it's a bit of peace for a while."

"What's your boyfriend's name? Is it Xanxus? Because when you and your friend were talking yesterday, I heard that word being said heaps."

"Yeah, that's it. And my friend's name is Dino." Squalo sighed as he threaded his gloved fingers through his hair.

"Dino." Bel cocked his head to the side as he tried to get used to rolling the word off his tongue; these names were tricky for him to pronounce. "Dino…"

Squalo smiled at the thick accent Bel spoke with, certain that the child would get better speaking Italian over time; he was sure his new charge didn't know much Italian, if any at all, so it wasn't surprising he was having trouble rolling the correct pronunciations off his tongue. "You'll get the hang of it."

Bel giggled as he wrapped his arms around Squalo's neck and snuggled in close. "Squalo, I don't want to watch TV anymore; I don't understand what they're saying."

"Then what do you want to do, brat?"

"Will you play with me?"

Squalo frowned. "I'm not a little kid, brat."

"Please~? My brother isn't here for me to play with."

Squalo sighed at this, knowing not to be so hard on the child; it wasn't Bel's fault he was in this position, after all. "Alright. What do you want to play?"

"Hide-and-seek!"

Squalo smiled softly, almost about to agree – but the door slamming behind him quickly startled him out of all thoughts of entertaining the boy; his boyfriend was awake, and by the sounds of things, he was in a foul mood. "…"

"What the fuck is this?" The scarred teenager standing by the doorway glared furiously at Squalo as his red eyes narrowed in loathing. "Get that thing out of my sight before I snap its neck."

Squalo could feel Bel tense on his lap; though the boy couldn't understand what was being said, he could still sense the danger resonating from the newcomer. He spoke quietly so that only Bel could hear him as he ran a hand through golden locks. "It's okay, Bel; go upstairs and into the room you slept in. Lock the door and don't let him in. Okay?"

Bel nodded. He accepted the hand that grabbed his as Squalo stood up. He stuck to the teenager's side like glue as he was led closer to the angry male, and he couldn't help but begin to shake; the raven-haired male was terrifying, even when he was just standing there.

The boy scurried past the other once the raven's attention was on Squalo. He didn't stick around to listen; he did what he was told, soon finding solace in his new bedroom when shouting became audible through his closed door. He climbed up onto the bed and held his hands over his ears as he curled up into a ball, not used to yelling; was Squalo going to be okay? It was hard to know when he couldn't understand a word that was said.

The yelling, and soon enough the sounds of things breaking that soon accompanied it, died down eventually. Bel flinched when he heard a knock on his bedroom door, but when he recognised Squalo's voice, he moved to open it. He frowned up at the teenager as he lifted a hand to brush the tips of his fingers against what looked to be a bruise forming around the older male's eye. "Squalo…?"

"It's okay, Bel." Squalo threaded his fingers through golden locks. He tried to smile, but Bel was smarter than that; he knew that the smile he was seeing was forced, and that his new friend was anything but happy in this moment; Bel may have been young, but he could see through masks. "Let's stay in here for a while."

Bel nodded. He wrapped his arms around Squalo's waist before he looked up at the older male. "I don't like your friend…"

Squalo didn't know how to reply to that; he knew what he was doing was cruel to want to keep such an innocent party around a situation such as his, but what was he to do? He was already fond of Bel, and he was worried the boy wouldn't be cared for properly if he were to take him to authorities.

Was it really so bad of him that Squalo just wanted some sort of purpose that wasn't being his boyfriend's punching bag…? He was willing to care for Bel through thick and thin, and he knew that was all that mattered.

But part of Squalo knew deep down that the only thing he would be protecting the boy from was his boyfriend.

~~XX~~

When the fighting grew too much for Squalo to handle that same evening, he had taken Bel by the hand and dragged him out of the house without a look back before calling for a taxi to his house. Bel hadn't understood what was happening or why he had been rushed outside, and he was especially confused when a strange car pulled up in front of them and they got in it; what was Squalo doing?

"Squalo…?" Bel frowned as he looked up at his guardian. He wrapped his arms around one of the teen's and hugged it tight before he whispered, "What's happening…?"

"We're going into town." Squalo was patient as he let Bel climb into his lap. He patted golden locks in a soothing manner before he said, "We might even go to one of my friends' houses for the night after we have dinner. But first I'm going to buy you some new clothes."

Bel nodded. His eyes fixed on the scarf he had never seen Squalo without. He cocked his head to the side as he tugged at the fabric. "Does Squalo wear a scarf because of bruises…?"

"Yeah..." Squalo's eyes darted to the side; he didn't want to be talking about this with Bel of all people, but he also didn't want to upset the boy; Xanxus was doing that enough as it was. His eyes darted to the side as he lifted a hand to run it through his silver locks; he didn't want to see the childish innocence on the boy's face he was afraid would one day vanish.

"Why does Squalo let someone hurt him?" Bel bit his lip; he couldn't fathom wanting to be around someone who hurt him; if someone always yelled at and hit him, he would find a way to leave.

Squalo felt sick at this question; how could a little boy know how stupid he was for staying with such an abusive partner? But it wasn't like he could just leave; that would be suicide. At least if he were to stay and endure the abuse, he might come out of it alive and better off than if he were to try and escape – he had known what Xanxus was like before he had started to date the older male, but…

Well, Squalo knew how stupid he had been, how stupid he still was, but was it so bad he had hope that maybe… just maybe… Xanxus would change his ways and come to love him in return…?

"…I don't know, Bel… Let's talk about something else, okay?"

Bel nodded, doing as told. "When will my mommy come back for me?"

Squalo's stomach churned at this question. He didn't know how to respond to it; he thought he had already made it clear to Bel that his family wasn't coming back for him, but…

It seemed that like Squalo, Bel also had hope that he hadn't really been abandoned and his family would be back for him soon.

"…" Squalo closed his eyes. "I don't know, Bel…"

"I miss mommy…" Bel snuggled in against Squalo as a few tears rolled down his cheeks. "I miss her…"

"Bel…" With a sigh, Squalo ducked his head; why was the world so cruel…?

~~XX~~

"Bel, this is my friend, Lussuria. Lussuria, this is Belphegor."

Bel peeked out from behind Squalo so that he could look up at the stranger warily. It was another teenager, maybe a little older than Squalo, with a part of green hair and thick sunglasses hiding his eyes, despite the fact that they were inside. When they spoke, it was to Bel's glee that they, also, knew his native tongue.

"Aren't you just the cutest~?" The teenager named Lussuria got up from the bed he was sitting on so that he could come closer and pinch Bel's cheek. He laughed when the boy hid behind Squalo again, his hidden eyes shining with affection; he loved children, and he hoped that one day he could adopt his own. "Hello, sweetheart. You don't have to be afraid of me; I won't hurt you."

Squalo spoke, too, hoping to reassure the youngest. "Lussu is harmless, Bel. He wouldn't do anything to you."

Bel slowly emerged back out from behind Squalo. He eyed the other once more. He was still nervous, having always been shy around strangers, but at least this stranger wasn't yelling and hitting Squalo and instead seemed rather friendly.

Ducking his head, Bel whispered, "H-hello…"

Lussuria would have loved nothing more than to wrap his arms around Bel and hug him tight, but he could understand that the child was afraid; he would be, too, if he were in the position Squalo had told him Bel was in.

Instead, in an attempt to make Bel feel more at ease, Lussuria turned his attention back to Squalo, making sure to speak in Russian so that Bel could understand, too; he would hate to make the little boy feel out of place.

Bel listened quietly to the older two talking. He picked at his clothing as he slowly felt a tad more comfortable around Lussuria; he couldn't pick up anything harmful from the other, and instead felt only comfort radiating from around the teen.

It was only natural Bel soon found the courage to ask what was on his mind. "Why do you wear sunglasses?"

The oldest two fell silent at this. Squalo bit his lip while Lussuria's smile turned into a deep frown. It took a while for Lussuria to respond to this question, and when he did, it was in a sad, almost pained tone.

"You see, Bel-chan…" Lussuria sighed. He had to pick his words carefully so that such a young child would understand. "…I live with my foster parents because… My biological mother doesn't like that I like other boys… She didn't like that, and… she… Well… She threw very hot liquids at my face when she caught me with my boyfriend… I wear sunglasses because… All around my eyes, it's just… scar tissue…"

Bel frowned in understanding. He stepped closer to Lussuria and brushed his tiny fingers against the other's cheeks; he could indeed feel the difference between his own skin and the skin he was feeling. He recognised makeup all over the other's face, and it made him wonder; was the teen wearing makeup so he could hide more burns…?

Lussuria couldn't help but smile at this. He grabbed Bel's hips and pulled the boy onto his lap. He chuckled as the other squirmed in surprise but soon quietened down and rested peacefully against his chest; Bel was just so adorable. "You're such a sweetheart, Bel-chan."

"'Bel-chan'?" Bel cocked his head to the side as he waited patiently for an explanation.

"It's a Japanese term of endearment. I use it because I feel it shows my affection."

Bel nodded, glad to understand a little bit more about the other, but there was still just one more thing that was bothering him. "Why doesn't your mommy like you liking boys? Were you only allowed to have girls as friends?"

Lussuria gave a sad smile; the younger's innocence was endearing. "It's a lot more complicated than that, Bel-chan. You'll understand when you're older."

Bel nodded. He was now feeling much more at ease around Lussuria; he trusted the teen to not hurt him or Squalo because he was good at knowing whether or not someone could be trusted, and he sensed no malice from the oldest male. He remained on the other's lap and curled up into a ball, allowing a yawn to escape to his lips. "I'm really sleepy… I woke up to Xanxus yelling again…"

"Squa-chan…" Lussuria frowned at Squalo; how many times had the younger been told to leave Xanxus…?

Squalo shrugged. He scuffed at the ground with his shoe, looking anywhere but at Lussuria. "…"

Not wanting to argue in front of Bel, Lussuria instead sighed and said, "We'll talk about this later, Squa-chan."

Squalo nodded, knowing he wasn't going to get out of this – not when Lussuria knew that Bel had to endure Xanxus, too.

~~XX~~

With Bel having fallen asleep on Lussuria's lap and now tucked safely into the oldest male's bed, Lussuria and Squalo sat on the floor together, eating at the pizza his foster mother had cooked for them.

It was Lussuria who brought the subject up again.

"You can't be thinking of keeping Bel-chan in your house with Xanxus there, surely?" Lussuria nibbled at the slice of pizza in his hand before he frowned. "You know what he'll do to Bel-chan…"

"I know…"

"If you know, why do you insist on putting Bel-chan through it, too?" The older male was gentle as he spoke. He hoped he would be able to talk sense into his friend; he couldn't bear to see such a sweet little boy get hurt. "Hasn't he been through enough? Squa-chan, he can stay here with me; he'll be safe and happy here. No one would hurt him, and he won't have to be around the fighting."

Squalo shook his head. "He's staying with me… I'll do whatever I can to protect him, Lussuria; I won't let him get hurt. He'll be safe with me; he'll just hear it."

"Having to listen to what he does constantly is still going to damage him; he's eight, and he doesn't need to develop anxiety because he can't get away from the conflict around him. I'm sure even Dino would be more than happy to look after him if you're more comfortable with that."

"He's fine, Lussu!"

"…" Lussuria never wanted to fight with Squalo, but still… Couldn't Squalo understand that Bel didn't deserve to live in such a toxic environment? "…One day you'll realise that you should have listened, Squa-chan…"

Squalo bit back a shout and instead made a frustrated sound before he got to his feet and left the room; he needed to go for a walk to clear his head. In his absence, Lussuria could only stare at Bel, silently mourning for the inevitable; he knew that sooner or later, Xanxus was going to get to the blond, and the results would not be pretty.

It was just a shame that Squalo was refusing to come to his senses simply because he didn't want to have to suffer alone. But even so, why couldn't he find someone older and more emotionally developed who could handle it? Not an eight-year-old child.

Lussuria knew that one day soon, Squalo was going to regret not listening to what his friends said, and when that day comes…

Well, Lussuria doesn't want to think about what it could entail.