Audrey's house was finally quiet and its residents were finally asleep. Both her and Claude had gone to bed a bit too late that night. Claude only had just a couple more days until he had to return to Paris and start school once again. It had become a ritual in her household, at the end of the summer, for Claude to repeatedly ask and beg why he couldn't just stay with her full time.

There were many reasons on why it wasn't prudent for him to stay. The only good reason she could agree with, when it came to her brother was Claude's schooling. One thing he managed to get right was his son's education. He was enrolled in the most prestigious, just newly credited school in the country and its main campus was right in the center of Paris. Claude was lucky for the privilege. The nearest school from where she shacked near the coast was about fifty miles inland.

"I'm sorry Claude, It's just not sensible right now to pull you from your schooling. In the end, you would still be away from me during the fall and winter months. You would most unquestionably be housed at the school's dormitories. The closest private school available here is a day and half journey and that's on horseback."

That was the most reasonable excuse she could give him in his obvious disenchantment, but it did nothing to calm him and she didn't blame him.

She went through the same thing once.

Her older brother's overbearance and "justifiable" violence with her, started when she was seven and ended in her eleventh year. Not because of the abuse itself, but because they were separated due to deaths in the family and they didn't reunite until Claude was only a year. She was in her early twenties by that time, he was in his late twenties.

One difference between her and Claude's experience, was her brother didn't get the chance to physically mark her by his own hand. He would have of course, if fate hadn't stepped in. Now, being a grown woman, his thirst to throw his weight around on her had vanished. He had another new toy to ruin. It wasn't a relief on her part though. She saw her own helplessness in Claude and it brought back her past with a vengeance.

Claude was the ONLY reason she decided to stay. But she hadn't forgotten and she still hadn't ever forgiven. That may have been a huge lapse in all her Catholic teachings, but she was a person that understood that there was a time and place for everything and if a person wasn't healed enough to forgive, god hadn't presented the strength to move on from it. It was a process and a looong one at that. But if it's dealt with carefully a person could overcome.

…And she wished…oh god…she prayed with all her heart that Claude would be able to…

…Maybe…with her help…

"But, I would be coming home to YOU! Not him…not her…or even them anym…ore." Claude's voice was uneven through the tightening of his throat and it broke at the last word. His eyes floated in a pool of tears. They finally spilled down at great speed over his pallid cheeks and over his dry, thin lips. More followed within the existing, unending stream. The hopelessness in his face was clear and he finally buried it in his hands and wept hopelessly into them.

Audrey let him get his tears out and only stood with a dejected look of empathy as her mind reeled on in recollection.

Another difference was how cruel his peers were, compared to her own class mates when she was a girl. She had to admit, she was thankful for that. Her school trips were her only escape. Claude had no escape and she couldn't imagine the amount of fear he carried at all times. It was his own cross.

Even at a younger age, it was clear that Claude began struggling to relate with others, because the brutes preyed on his sensitivity and innocent nature. They smelled it a mile away. Claude's upbringing was exceedingly harsher than any of his classmates. They were free to do what they wanted, when they wanted and it left Claude on the outside looking in. On top of all the apathy shown, it created a social indifference between Claude and other people in general. It was only going to get worse as time went on and Audrey didn't see an end in sight.

As Claude's crying continued, she couldn't hold herself from him any longer and rushed to him in an effort to just give him some physical comfort. Something that didn't involve pain. Pain that involved the psychological, physical and emotional torment. It was deep, it was real and it was raw and copious. It was inescapable.

In a rare moment, young Claude allowed his aunt to take him in her arms and rock him as he sobbed out hard against her shoulder. So much that he was shaking in the sheltered confines of her arms. She brought him into her more tightly, rocked him delicately and ran her fingers through his messy black hair. She lowered her lips and felt the cool strands of his hair as they tickled her upper lip. She left one…two…three slow, long kisses on his crown.

About that time, Trinity walked over and sprung herself on the wooden kitchen table next to the embracing duo. She modestly lowered her whole body on the table's surface and into what looked like a loaf of fluffy bread. She stayed motionless and let Claude feel her body heat propagating to his.

At that, he calmed enough to discern the room around him through the dying roar of his ears. But his breathing was still heavily labored. Audrey could still feel the hammering in his chest. Evidence of his anxiety and his dread being poured back into his veins. The same ugly blights he stored away every three casual months a year. All of it preparing for an endless battle of survival. A ploy that would eventually callus his soul completely over time.

She feared that over all else and when Audrey went to speak, her voice failed her when she went to stroke his thin, almost emaciated back. It was the solid reminder of how dire all of this was. It wasn't even his spindly spine that struck her so much. Every boy his age went through that scrawny phase. It was the growing amount of scars he had collected while he was away. It jarred her upon feeling them over his thin night shift and it made her stomach sour.

She was speechless as the thoughts in her head raced on.

What do you say to something like this? What condolences could possibly be brought forth that would leave a more than hollow reassurance that he would be okay? That he would be safe? That what his father was doing was important. That "kids will be kids."

It wasn't important. None of it was needed. None of it was noble, excusable or acceptable. It was madness and to convince Claude otherwise would be contributing to the idea that she normalized it.

So, she remained quiet as Claude's thin shoulders heaved out more sobs.

A/N This was a little short. These two parts aren't the end though, there will be more.

This part hit real close to home as well. It was another hard one to write. Anyway, see you in part 3 of chapter 5.