When Fran awoke the next morning, he found himself curled up in Bel's arms and pressed against the boy's chest. He sighed softly as he snuggled closer, content with the proximity; it was a nice change to welcome the warm embraces instead of fearing the touch of others.

Bel's eyes opened slowly as he felt movement against him. He shivered and tensed instinctively; by now the painkillers had long worn off and the events of the previous day were clear in his mind - what the fuck had he done yesterday?

"F-fran…"

Fran looked up, confused by the usage of his name; he had grown so used to being referred to as a frog, he had almost forgotten the other even knew what his name was. He frowned, not liking the uncertainty clear in Bel's voice. "What's wrong?"

Bel licked his lips, not knowing what to say; all he knew was that he felt very distressed. "…A-about yesterday…"

"What about it?" Fran's heart was starting to beat faster. He didn't know what to expect; was he in trouble for something? Was Bel sick of him already? Did Bel… not want him anymore…?

"…" Bel sighed as he started pushing Fran away from him. "…Fran… W-we can't be boyfriends…"

"What?" Fran's eyebrows narrowed in confusion; but Bel had said... "Why…?"

"Fran, I…" Bel rolled onto his back and stared up at the roof. "…The prince wasn't in his right mind last night. …I… don't want to be boyfriends with you…"

Fran felt as if his whole world had shattered. W-what…? He pulled himself on top of Bel and stared into the blond bangs hiding Bel's eyes. He felt his eyes tearing up, not understanding why it hurt so much; was it because he had put all the trust he had into Bel to not hurt him? To let the blond touch him in ways he feared? He had pulled down his barriers and let Bel past them, see him scared and upset, and now the blond was pulling away.

What had Fran done wrong…?

"…I-I don't understand…" Fran whispered. He shivered as he felt the teenager try to push him away, scared Bel was going to hit him.

Bel stopped pushing at the other and turned to stare at the wall opposite them. Tears dripped down onto the pillow beneath him as he tried to explain.

"…I… I-I'm not… right…" Bel whispered. He clenched his hands, knowing he did like Fran – the boy was relatable, quiet, and didn't irritate him. He was the only one in Varia he could tolerate, as hard as it was for him to admit that. "…I… I'll just hurt you…"

Fran disregarded those words and placed his lips shyly against Bel's for a few moments. When he pulled away, he whispered, "…I-I like it when we kiss…"

Bel felt the urge to hit Fran rush through him; it was one of the reasons he didn't want to be this close to the boy as he knew he could get uncontrollably violent at times, and he'd be lying if he said there wasn't something about Fran that made him want to protect the younger. He didn't want to hurt the other – not now, not for a while, but he knew that it would be inevitable for him to do something; he was… sick, and he knew that better than anyone.

"Fran…" Bel ran his thumb over the younger's pale cheek. "…Fran, the prince… I… don't want… to hurt you… Squalo and Xanxus… they say I'm dangerous…"

Fran was silent as he pulled away to sit on the side of the bed. He swung his legs back and forth as he tried to convey his feelings into words, but it was harder than he had anticipated at first; how was he supposed to explain the things that went through his head that were influenced by his past? "…When I was… with them… I was always scared… They made me do things I didn't want to… I hated them… I never felt safe with them… B-but… when we kiss… I do feel safe… And maybe I'm wrong, but… it felt as if you… c-cared about me… when you didn't… touch me there yesterday…"

"…Froggy… I'm sick…" Bel curled into a ball in a desperate attempt to hide his fragile being – but he knew it was pointless; he knew Fran saw him as the weak, pathetic boy he truly was . "…I'm so sick… You wouldn't want someone like me… W-when you're older you'll understand, but… I'll hurt you, and… you'd eventually start to hate me if I let you into my life…"

Fran shook his head. "You're… the first person… I've felt safe around… I want to be your boyfriend. I… We both hurt, so… I know it won't always be easy, but… maybe we can make it work. Please? Can we at least try…?"

Bel sighed. He truly wasn't in the mood for arguing, but he knew that Fran wasn't going to quit any time soon and if they kept going, the blond was going to snap. He knew that it would be easier to just go along with it and see where it went – who knows? Maybe Fran would get bored of him after a day or two anyway. "…Okay. …But don't say the prince didn't warn you, Froggy. And what Xanxus and Squalo said yesterday; the prince isn't ready to do anything more than kissing, so don't ask him to do more."

Fran cocked his head to the side. "But what else do boyfriends do than kiss? Is there more?"

"Yeah, but we won't do it for a long time so don't ask me!" Bel flicked Fran's nose playfully before he wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him closer. He knew he was only supposed to be going along with it to make Fran shut up, so why did he enjoy having someone he could hold like this? He didn't understand. "I'm bored already. Let's go into town today."

Fran snuggled in closer to Bel's body as he nodded. "Okay. But what do you do in town?"

"Are you serious? You can't really be trying to tell me you've never gone into town before." Bel was incredulous, as if he had just been told his best friend was really an alien; how could someone not know what it was like to be in town? It was something even little kids knew what to expect! If Bel knew what town was about, then everyone should know because the blond rarely left the house, let alone went into town!

"I haven't, senpai." The teal-haired child frowned. "Is that… bad…?"

Bel frowned. He took a deep breath as he tried to calm himself; he should have known better than to lump Fran in on his level because maybe Bel's carers were far from perfect, but at least they took him into town when he wasn't being too difficult. But Fran… From what he had been told, Fran had never been out of a cage until he was taken away. He almost whispered his reply to the question. "…No. I'm going to have a shower…"

Fran tilted his head further as he was pushed from the other's lap so that Bel could leave the room in a hurry. He sighed, certain that he had done something wrong again; he always seemed to make trouble where Bel was involved.

When Bel slammed the bathroom door closed behind him, he didn't take his clothes off; he just turned the hot water tap until he couldn't it turn it any further and then stepped in under the steaming hot water. He whimpered at the scalding temperature, but he made no move to get out from under it; he instead started scratching at the skin hidden beneath his saturated clothing as he fought against his tears.

The blond shivered as hands of the past ghosted over his body and, with a hiccup, he let his legs drop weightlessly to the ground as his back rested against the glass behind him. He sobbed as he pulled his knees to his chest in a futile attempt to comfort himself, but no matter what he did, all he could do was remember a past he hated with all his being. Even scrubbing his skin so raw with soap that it bled did nothing to soothe him; he could only sit there and cry as he tried his best to rid himself of the blood and filth he knew still clung to his flesh from all those years ago, and he could only wish that Squalo hadn't put a temperature lock on the shower because otherwise he might have finally been able to succeed in burning his skin off so that he would never have to feel hands that had long since rotted all over him again.

~~Fran~~

The first adult Fran had found after venturing out of his room was Lussuria. The chef had been cleaning the kitchen before lunch, but he stopped when the boy tugged at his shirt.

The child looked at his feet as he spoke in an anxious voice. "…I think I did something wrong again…"

Lussuria knelt to be at eye level with Fran. He hummed in encouragement, trying to get the boy to open up to him; he knew that this was unusual for the other to tell people what was bothering him, so he did his best to be as welcoming as possible. "What is it, Fran-chan?"

"…I think I made Bel-senpai mad, but I don't know how…"

"Oh, hun, Bel gets mad very easily," Lussuria tried to comfort. "He doesn't have any friends here and he won't talk to us when he's having a bad day. I'm sure you did nothing wrong; he might just have been grumpy because of something else."

Fran nodded. He pulled away so that he could sit at the table and wait for Bel to get out of the shower, but the blond was taking so long, he considered the possibility his new boyfriend might have fallen down the drain.

Lussuria was glad the kid had quietened down so easily; it was nice to see Fran sitting so patiently, so he had no concerns about getting back to cleaning; he was sure that if the other needed him again, Fran would let him know.

But when the child did indeed gather his attention again, he wasn't prepared for the words that had come from the younger.

"What do boyfriends do together?"

Lussuria stiffened at the unexpected question; did Bel have something to do with this question…? He wouldn't be surprised if the blond did… He turned back to face Fran and asked in a cautious tone, "Why do you ask, dear…?"

"Because Bel-senpai and I are boyfriends, but he says he isn't ready to do more. He wouldn't tell me what else we can do together apart from kissing, so I was curious."

The man chuckled at the explanation, thinking that heh ad been wrong in blaming Bel and that Fran had just heard the terminology somewhere else and was mistaking Bel for his boyfriend – after all, he knew the blond well enough to know that Bel wasn't interested in dating just yet, and he found it hard to believe the other would agree so out of the blue. He put the cloth he had been holding down on the bench as he moved to sit at the table with Fran. "Hun, boyfriends do lots together. There is kissing, and then there is touching. The last step, once both parties are ready, is sex."

"What is sex?"

"Sex is –"

"Voi!"

Fran jumped when hands slapped over his ears and pulled him away from Lussuria. He didn't need to look behind him to know that it was Squalo who had grabbed him.

"Don't put ideas in the kid's head, Gaylord!"

"Aww, but Squ-chan, he's going to want to do that stuff eventually; we might as well teach him now while he's still young and innocent~"

Fran pulled away from Squalo's hands and looked behind him at the man. He noticed the embarrassed blush on the long-haired male's cheeks, but he didn't understand; what was there to be embarrassed about?

But before the child could question any further, Squalo grabbed him and carried him out of the kitchen. The man mumbled to himself as they travelled up the stairs, and he stopped only once he had kicked open the door to Fran and Bel's bedroom and dumped the kid on his bed.

"Don't ask Gaylord those things ever again," Squalo mumbled as he turned to leave. "You'll hear much more than you want to and be traumatised for life."

Fran just blinked, watching as Squalo slammed the door behind him.