"Does everyone understand what they are doing?"

Bel paid no attention to Dino as he instead drew in his textbook, trying his best to ignore his crippling depression; he was struggling to keep from crying, finding it extremely painful to know that Ayane kept giving him looks he couldn't decipher; he wanted so badly to forgive her and continue dating, but it was too hard for him to remember how easily she had betrayed the trust he had so shyly granted her with.

"If there are any questions, feel free to ask me." With that, Dino left his class to their own devices, sitting at his desk so that he could get some of his own work done in the meantime.

"Bel…?"

Bel tensed visibly at Ayane's voice. He dropped his head as his body froze; to anyone who decided to look at him, it would be only too obvious that he was very uncomfortable right now. "…"

"Bel, I –"

"- Did you break up with your girlfriend, you freak?"

Bel closed his eyes at the familiar voice of the class bully, knowing that their attention was fixed on him; he had been bullied several times before, but Dino had noticed and stepped in before it could get too bad. "…"

The bully in particular looked between Bel and Ayane, and he smirked as he noticed they both looked uneasy. "Or maybe she dumped you because your dick was too small for her to feel a thing."

Bel started trembling at these words. Ayane's eyes narrowed before she said, "Leave him alone; we were just friends."

Bel couldn't explain how much those words hurt; he had truly believed that they had been dating, and to realise that he had been wrong all along… He sniffed back tears as he rubbed at his dampening eyes.

"Oh, is the little cry-baby about to run to sensei, again?" Not pleased by the silence he was only getting in response, the other reached out and shoved Bel hard enough to push the boy from his chair. "Say something for once, you creep!"

"Hey!" Dino stood up at the commotion. He voice was raised for the first time in – well, it had been so long since he had had to be hard on someone, he wasn't sure if he had ever yelled before in his life. "Leave him alone, Satoshi!"

Bel could feel anger growing within him, feeling as if he were a volcano about to erupt. He started trembling as it became too hard to control himself, and when his attacker came closer, he had no control over himself; getting back to his feet and throwing himself at Satoshi, he knocked the other to the ground. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pocket knife Dino didn't know he had, ready to stab Satoshi as many times as he could; he had had enough, and he couldn't sit back and let this happen to him anymore.

"Bel, no!" Dino ran as fast as he could to the younger two. He ignored the screams erupting around the classroom as he did so; all he could focus on was trying to get to Bel before the smaller blond used the weapon. "Stop it, Bel!" Close enough to reach out and touch his charge, the teacher tried to grab Bel's wrist, but he was too late; the boy started to attack, and what the man had grabbed was the serrated edge of the knife. "Gah!"

Bel jumped in fright before he got off of Satoshi and backed away to the side. He held the knife in his hand as blood dripped from the blade and onto the ground. He whimpered in shame as he realised that he had hurt his guardian, and a guilty look crossed his face as he stared down at his feet.

Dino grinded his teeth together as he wrapped his injured hand up in his shirt in an attempt to stop the endless river of blood. He forgot all about Bel as some of his other students came to his aid. He allowed them assist him; he knew they were upset, and he had to keep everyone calm.

"Sensei, you need a hospital."

Dino nodded. He wasn't in the mood to argue; he knew they were right because the blade had sliced so deep into his palm, he swore he could feel the pain radiating all over his body. "Go and get the principal."

Bel felt as if time had stopped as he watched the way another teacher came in to take over the class while Dino was driven to the local hospital by the vice principal. He was barely aware of the tears that rolled down his cheeks, not even when they came harder as the substitute teacher gave him a loathing look.

"You freaky little bastard…" The teacher's voice was cold and accusing, and Bel could only become more frightened than he already was when the other approached him. "I always knew there was something off about you… Give me that fucking knife, you psycho!"

Bel's eyes widened and he screamed in horror when he watched the way a taller, much stronger body lunged at him. He instinctively waved his knife around as if to try and ward off his second attacker, but all it accomplished was for his wrist to be grabbed and the knife to be wrestled from him. He was terrified, unable to stop screaming as he was soon pulled out of the classroom and to the nearest broom closet, so scared he almost wet his pants.

The door to the broom closet was opened, and Bel was thrown carelessly into the tiny space. He hit the hard ground with a loud oomph, and he curled into a ball as the door was slammed shut and locked, leaving him in complete darkness.

Bel didn't know what he had done to have to live like this, but what he did know was that if he still had his pocket knife, he would slit his wrists here and now and let himself bleed to death – but sadly, his knife had been taken from him, and he knew he would never get it back.

~~XX~~

Bel wouldn't have been surprised if Dino never came back for him after what the smaller blond had done to him, but to his relief, his guardian had returned after a few hours with a bandaged hand and was only too happy to rescue him from the cops that had been called to the school to interrogate him. It had been a long struggle, and had taken a lot of convincing from Dino to get them to leave Bel alone, but the teacher had taken his charge home for the rest of the day, and the boy had barely moved from his bed since they had come back; he had been so stressed, he physically hadn't been able to move.

Bel remained in his bed as he patted his pet mink to try and distract himself from the pain. His door was open, knowing he wasn't allowed to close it now of all times because Dino had to be able to make sure that he was safe; the man couldn't take the chance of letting Bel close it and try and kill himself where Dino couldn't see. He could hear the doorbell ring, but he didn't care to know who it was; he just wanted to be left alone.

"Bel? You've got a visitor."

Bel sighed at Dino's voice. He wished he had the energy to text his guardian and tell him to ask the guest to leave, but instead, he just laid where he was and listened as two sets of footsteps came closer to his room.

"Bel-senpai?"

Bel lifted his head from his pillow at the voice. He frowned as Fran came into view; why did the younger come back? Bel honestly had never expected to see the teal-haired kid again once Fran had left to go back to the streets. "…"

"That horse said senpai is sad today." Fran moved into the room and pulled himself up to sit on the bed next to Bel. He crossed his legs before he spoke again. "Is Bel-senpai okay?"

The boy's frown grew at the question. He grabbed his phone from his pocket so that he could type out his thoughts. He passed the phone to the younger when he was ready, telling Fran what had happened that day. Fran's expression didn't change all that much as he read the message, but the boy was able to pick up a slight change in his tone, indicating that Fran was indeed sincere.

"That sucks, senpai. But when I asked the horse what had happened to his hand, he said it'll be okay and he just can't use it for a while. He didn't seem mad."

Bel nodded, glad that Fran didn't seem to be judging and instead was understanding about the incident. Typing once again at his phone, he wrote, 'I hate school because no one likes me. Even the other teachers are mean to me.'

Fran nodded. "I've never been to school, senpai. Can you stop going?"

Bel shook his head before he laid back down beneath his comforter. "…"

Fran could sense the deep depression wafting from Bel. When he moved closer to the blond, he didn't miss the way Bel flinched and curled in on himself, unsettled by the close proximity. He understood that the older male was afraid of touch, but it didn't stop him from reaching out and tugging at the other's striped sleeve. "Let's not think about school; let's play a game."

Bel frowned at these words. He lifted his head from the pillow once more; play…? "…"

Fran continuously tugged the stronger male's striped sleeve until Bel had hesitantly gotten out of bed. He then led the boy out of the bedroom and instead to the living room, glad that the older male was coming with him; it had been so long since he had had someone to play with. "Let's play cards, senpai; I saw them on the coffee table before."

Bel hugged himself with one arm as his breathing picked up. He trembled from anxiety; he was frightened of having come out of his room when he was feeling so bad, and he wanted to go back to his bed. "…"

When at last Fran had gotten Bel out to the living room, they passed Dino who sat on the couch watching TV in order to grab the pack of playing cards from the coffee table and sit down on the floor together.

"Hey, boys." Dino was looking at the younger two curiously, surprised to find that such a young child had been able to coax Bel from his bed; not even he had been able to do that in times like this. "What'cha doin'?"

"Playing cards." Fran sat down and opened the packet before he tipped the cards out onto the ground. He then looked up to the older blond, asking, "Do you have Uno cards, too?"

Dino nodded. "I'll get them."

Bel stared down at his lap as Fran shuffled all the cards. He didn't look up when he was dealt a hand, instead hesitating to so much as ghost his fingers over his own cards; he wanted to be left alone, but he didn't know how to express himself right now, and even if he did, he still had no energy to get up and go back to bed. "…"

"Let's play Go Fish, first." Fran, who knew that Bel wasn't going to speak now of all times, continued on. "You don't have to tell me to fish, senpai, and you can show me what card of yours you want to ask for instead of saying it."

Bel nodded, glad that at least Fran understood that he didn't talk anymore; he wasn't sure he would have been able to handle it had the younger tried to make him talk just to play a card game.

To say that Bel had been miserable for the first ten minutes of their games would be an understatement; Bel had been so depressed, he felt completely empty. But somehow, after a while of playing with Fran, and eventually Dino who had joined them, he couldn't help but begin to feel again, and ever-so-slowly, the depression lifted temporarily. He was able to have a little bit of fun, and though he wasn't aware of it, the corners of his lips twitched and lifted into a slight smile every now and then.

But when Bel really started enjoying himself, his happiness vanished when Dino grabbed both of their attention and told him that they had to stop and get ready for Bel's emergency therapy appointment. He had put his cards down on the ground and got to his feet, with a lost look crossing his face as he seemingly stared into space.

Dino, too, got to his feet. He wrapped an arm around Bel's shoulders and guided his charge to the younger's bedroom. "Change your shirt and wash your hands, okay? There's still a bit of blood on you."

Bel barely registered what was said; all he could do was make his way back to his bed and curl up beneath his comforter, wishing he could just die. Why did everyone insist on keeping him alive when he felt so empty, the only thing he had interest in was sleeping?

Not wanting to attend his weekly therapy appointment – especially not his second appointment in as many days as Dino had booked him into the soonest emergency slot available after what had happened at school – Bel closed his eyes and tried to force himself into sleep; just like with school, he always tried to delay his arrival.

Was it so bad of him that he just wanted to stay in his bed and never have to come back out?

~~XX~~

When therapy had ended, Dino had taken Bel to Tsuna's home, needing someone to watch the boy while the older blond went back to school to meet with the other teachers about his charge's actions. Bel had interacted very little with the younger group upon his arrival; he had just curled up on Tsuna's bed and listened as the younger group talked amongst themselves and shied away whenever attention was put onto him.

Fran had come over, too, and while Tsuna and Yamamoto fussed over him, Gokudera instead paid more attention to Bel, not very interested in some random brat. To the silver-haired male's relief, Tsuna and Yamamoto took Fran into town with them, leaving Gokudera to keep Bel company.

"Bel?"

Bel flinched at his name before he scurried further away; why couldn't he just be alone? "…"

Gokudera sighed. "Yamamoto and I broke up last night…"

As tired as Bel was, he soon rolled onto his side so that he could look at Gokudera. He remembered how much it had hurt with what had happened between he and Ayane, and he wondered if the younger male felt the same way he did. "…"

Gokudera shrugged before he moved to sit on the end of the bed. He and Bel stared at each other for a while before the stronger male asked, "Have you thought about what I asked you to?"

Bel shook his head; truthfully, he hadn't because he had believed that he would be with Ayane forever.

"That's okay." Shrugging again, Gokudera glared at the wall opposite them. "Don't rush; take your time. But you know I'd never hurt you, right?"

Bel wanted to believe that, but how could he? He had been hurt so much in his sixteen years of life, he was finding it increasingly harder to trust people. "…"

Reaching out, Gokudera took a frail hand in both of his. "We don't have to rush anything if you agree, Bel; we don't even need to have sex. We can kiss and cuddle in the meantime; I wouldn't ask anything of you that you're not ready to give."

"…"

Gokudera waited for Bel to think about his offer, knowing that he would only upset the older male if he were to keep trying to persuade the boy. Instead, he sat in silence where he was, listening to the soft sounds Bel made as he went over everything in his head.

Bel had never thought about whether or not he liked boys; in fact, he had never even thought about girls before until he had met Ayane and found that he couldn't take his eyes off her. But he didn't feel that way about Gokudera; the truth was, he was actually a little frightened of the other. But even so, he still liked spending some time with the silver-haired student; he just was naturally nervous around other males.

But did Bel like Gokudera? …He honestly didn't know. He had never been close enough to the younger trio to truly break out of his constant anxiety, but he did know that he could consider them as his friends, the only friends he had ever had in his lifetime. Could it be possible for him to learn to like Gokudera? Or would trying to date someone he sometimes felt uncomfortable around only make him feel worse? Dino had tried to explain romantics to him several times before, but he had never been able to comprehend any of it; it simply confused him, and he didn't understand what to do in this moment.

But Gokudera looked so hopeful for Bel to say yes, and the boy didn't like to hurt who he cared for. Should he say yes and hope that Gokudera would help him understand his feelings? Or should he say no and try to protect himself against more pain and heartbreak?

Grabbing his phone, Bel typed, 'I'm scared, though.'

Gokudera understood; while he didn't know the full story, Dino had told him that Bel had been badly abused and suffered a deep fear of other males as a result. He reached out and slowly put his hand on top of Bel's head, watching the way his love interest flinched and tensed at the action. Waiting until Bel had relaxed some, he then started stoking Bel's hair. "I know you are. But I won't hurt you."

"…"

Gokudera lowered his hand and slowly patted Bel's upper arm next. "You like this, don't you? I've seen you let that bitch touch you like this before."

Bel couldn't help but shiver at the touch, but not in a bad way; he did enjoy caresses like this, and to his surprise, he felt more responsive to this touch from Gokudera than he had from Ayane. "…"

"Is it okay that I touch you like this?" Gokudera would sincerely back off if Bel felt uncomfortable about it, and to his relief, he received a nod in response. "That's good. I can give you lots of touches like this if you want me to."

Bel liked the idea of that, having missed feeling Ayane's hands on top of his clothing. Typing once more on his phone, he wrote, 'Only on top of my clothes. Never on my skin.'

Gokudera was not stupid; he had pieced together the puzzle enough to have worked out long ago that Bel had been sexually abused. Nodding, he lifted his hand and cupped the blond's cheek before he slowly leant forward to press their lips together. Bel didn't return the kiss, but he didn't shy away, either; that was a good sign, Gokudera knew. "I know, Bel. So how about it? Will you be my boyfriend?"

Bel bit his lip as he nodded, afraid of admitting that he didn't understand his feelings towards Gokudera, but feeling as if he desperately needed the kind of touches Ayane had taught him to crave; they made him feel safe, and they helped him forget his pain – if he would have to jump into a relationship he felt conflicted over just to receive them, he would do so.

Gokudera smiled brighter this time and gave Bel another kiss. He didn't try and deepen it; he was content with just feeling soft lips against his own. Bel trembled as strong arms wrapped around him, and he whimpered loudly as he felt himself being pulled down onto the bed. He tried to break away, but Gokudera simply tightened his hold.

"It's okay," the silver-haired male promised. "Let's just cuddle for a bit. Okay? Try and sleep; you're really tired."

It took a while until Bel was able to calm down, but when he realised that Gokudera only wanted to hold him and rub gentle circles into his back, the boy slowly pressed closer to his new boyfriend as he tried to find the same comfort in him he had found in Ayane whenever he cuddled in against her.

"That's right, Bel; go to sleep." Surprising himself with his actions, Gokudera hadn't thought he would be so gentle with the boy; he knew he would have been patient, but he hadn't seen himself becoming this soft to the blond – not when the only other person he was so kind to was Tsuna, and for good reason.

But then again, Gokudera wasn't such an ass that he would purposely be cruel to someone in Bel's condition. He was loud and assertive when it came to Yamamoto, but he knew the taller male could handle it and try his best to defuse the situation – but if he tried that shit with Bel, the blond would never come near him again out of fear. Gokudera knew his battles, and he knew better than to make Bel feel threatened.

Somehow, Gokudera had managed to get Bel to trust him enough to fall asleep, because it didn't take long for soft snores to become audible, the blond out to it from all the stress he had been under today alone.

Hopefully Bel would continue to trust him and come out of his shell a little more, because never leaving his bed was no way for the boy to live.