Esmeralda was nervous about having dinner at Phoebus' house. She wasn't going to meet his parents tonight, but Phoebus lived on the Army base and Esmeralda wasn't sure if there were certain rules she had to abide by while she was there. Phoebus had assured her she'd be fine, but she couldn't help feeling on edge.

Phoebus pulled up in front of his house and Esmeralda got out of the car. It was a nice house; a simple, two-story white house. Phoebus took her hand and led her up to the front door.

"Phoebus!"

Esmeralda and Phoebus turned around. A petite girl with short black hair was running up to them. She greeted Phoebus with a hug, and Esmeralda felt a small pang of jealousy.

"It's so good to see you, Phoebus. Where have you been?" the girl asked.

"MMA has been taking up a lot of my time." Phoebus let go of Esmeralda's hand and put his arm around her waist. "And I've been spending a lot of time with my girlfriend. Mulan, this is Esmeralda. Esmeralda this is my best friend, Mulan."

Mulan stuck out her hand and Esmeralda shook it. "It's nice to meet you," Mulan said.

"You too," Esmeralda responded.

Mulan smiled at her, then turned back to Phoebus. "I won't keep you. I just wanted to catch you before you disappeared again." She gave Phoebus another hug, then left.

Phoebus unlocked the door and led Esmeralda inside. The inside of the house was smaller than she was expecting, but she thought it was cute.

"I'm gonna make some linguine with clam sauce for dinner. Is that all right?" Phoebus asked.

Esmeralda nodded. "Sounds delicious. Do you need any help?"

"No. But, if you want to hang out in the kitchen and keep me company, that would be great."

They went into the kitchen and Esmeralda sat down at the table. Phoebus gave her a bottle of water from the fridge, then started getting everything together for dinner. He put a pot of water on the stove, then sat down next to Esmeralda.

"How do you know Mulan?" Esmeralda asked, hoping she didn't sound as jealous as she felt.

"Her dad is stationed here as well. Her mom home-schooled me for a year, before I transferred to AHS," Phoebus said.

"Did you guys ever...date?" Esmeralda asked.

Phoebus gave her an amused smile. "Esmeralda, are you jealous of Mulan?"

"I'm just curious."

"No, we never dated. Her dad would kill me."

Esmeralda smiled. "Good."

Phoebus laughed. When the water started boiling, he got up and finished making dinner.

"How long have you been living here?" Esmeralda asked.

"My dad got stationed here when I was in eighth grade." Phoebus set their plates on the table and sat down. "I was home-schooled the first year, but then started going to AHS freshman year. My mom wanted me to have a real high school experience."

Esmeralda nodded. "Where did you live before you came here?"

"Everywhere. This is the longest we've stayed in one place."

"Which place was your favorite?"

"Here." Phoebus winked at Esmeralda.

Esmeralda blushed and looked down at her dinner.

"I really like you, Esmeralda. You're not like any other girl I've ever met."

Esmeralda looked up and smiled at him. "I really like you, too."

The rest of their dinner was pretty much conversation free. When they were done Phoebus started cleaning up, and Esmeralda excused herself to the bathroom. She felt bad for throwing up the dinner Phoebus had made her, but she was already starting to lose weight and she wanted to keep it off. Esmeralda sat on the floor for a couple minutes after she was done, trying to shake her guilt. She stood up and pulled her tooth brush out of her purse. She brushed her teeth thoroughly, then leaned over the sink. At the rate she was losing weight, she figured she'd be done with this in a couple weeks. Esmeralda sighed and went back out to join Phoebus.

XXX

Belle stirred her Coke with the straw while she waited for Adam. She invited him to have dinner with her at Mickey's so she could talk to him and get to know him better. She really liked him, but just didn't understand him. Belle wanted to know why Adam had trouble controlling his temper.

Adam arrived about a half an hour late. He slumped down in the booth and gave Belle a small smile. Ariel came over to their table and took Adam's drink order.

"Sorry I'm late," Adam said after Ariel left.

"Is everything all right?" Belle couldn't help noticing he looked like he had slept in days.

"Yeah, everything's fine."

Belle started stirring her Coke again. "Adam, we need to talk."

Adam leaned back against the booth. "Are you breaking up with me?"

"No, I just..." Belle paused. "Breaking up? I didn't know we were actually in a relationship."

"I've considered you my girlfriend since our first date. I thought we were exclusive." Adam frowned. "Have you been dating other guys? Who have you been hooking up with, Belle?"

Belle rolled her eyes. "I haven't gone out with anyone else. But, this is what I wanted to talk to you about: your temper."

Adam sighed in frustration. "I told you I'm working on it."

"I know. I just want to understand why your temper is like that," Belle said.

"So, all of a sudden you're my shrink?"

"No, it's not like that. But, I think I have a right to get to know my boyfriend."

Adam was quiet for a minute, then said, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Adam, please-"

"No. I don't want to talk about this with you."

"Why not?"

"You wouldn't understand," Adam said.

"How do you know?"

"I just know."

Belle felt herself getting frustrated. She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She reached over and took Adam's hands.

"Adam, listen to me," Belle said. "I really care about you. And I just want to know you."

Adam kissed Belle's hands. "Trust me, that's a part of me you don't want to know."

"Why won't you talk to me?"

"I'll talk to you about anything else, Belle. Just please leave this alone," Adam said.

"I will if you give me a valid reason to."

Adam looked like he was going to start arguing with her again, but stopped himself. "I just want you to."

Belle let go of his hands and stood up. She threw some money on the table. "I can't do this, Adam."

Belle quickly walked out of the diner. Adam followed after her. He caught up with her at her car. He grabbed her and spun her around. He leaned down to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

"Stop doing that," Belle said.

"Please don't leave."

"I can't be with you if you're going to keep secrets from me." Belle got in her car and drove away.

Of course, Belle felt bad as soon as she pulled away. She drove around for a while trying to make the feeling go away, but she couldn't. Be strong, she told herself. But what if she lost Adam for good? She really didn't want that. Belle had actually been excited when Adam told her she was his girlfriend.

Belle drove around for over an hour arguing with herself. Finally, she decided she couldn't leave things like this with Adam. She pulled out her cellphone and tried calling him. It went straight into voicemail. She called him a few more times, but it just kept going right to voicemail. She wasn't far from his house and decided to just stop by and apologize.

Belle pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. As she walked up to the front door she could hear yelling coming from inside the house. Belle bit her lip and nervously rang the doorbell. A loud crash came from somewhere inside the house. A few minutes later, Adam finally answered the door. Belle was completely taken aback by the look of anger on his face. When he saw Belle, his eyes filled with concern.

"Belle, what are you doing here?"

Before Belle could answer, the front door flew open even more and Adam's dad was standing there.

"Adam, why don't you invite her in instead of making her stand outside?" Adam's dad demanded angrily.

"No, it's ok," Belle said quickly. "I can't stay long."

"I hope you're not Adam's girlfriend," Adam's dad said. "A smart, pretty girl shouldn't be wasting her time with this loser."

"I am Adam's girlfriend," Belle stated. "And he is not a waste of time. Adam is the sweetest man I know."

Adan's dad laughed. "You're sleeping with him, aren't you? You're just a stupid whore."

Adam slammed his dad up against the door. "You will not talk to her like that!"

Adam's dad shoved Adam off him and punched Adam in the face. Adam staggered a little, but didn't fall. Belle stared at Adam in horror, expecting him to hit his dad back. Instead Adam picked up a backpack off the floor and stormed out of the house, closing the door behind him.

"Follow me," Adam said.

Belle backed her car out of the driveway, waited for Adam to pull out, then followed him. They ended up at the woods. Belle got out of her car and met Adam at his. He took her hand and silently led her through the woods. They walked for a while until they came to a treehouse. Belle watched Adam quickly climb up the ladder, but she didn't follow him.

"It's safe," Adam said.

Belle was more afraid of Adam than the treehouse, but she followed him this far…

She climbed up the ladder and Adam helped her up. He led her inside where he had a bunch pf blankets spread out on the floor. Adam sat down and Belle sat down next to him.

"Now you know my secret," Adam said quietly. "My dad has been beating me my whole life. It was worse when I was younger, though. I couldn't fight back then."

Belle fought back the urge to start crying. She put her arms around him and pulled him close to her. He rested his head on her lap and she ran her fingers through his hair.

"I'm so sorry," Belle whispered.

Adam sat up and looked at her. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry my dad talked to you like that and you had to witness all that."

It was then that Belle noticed Adam's lip was bleeding. She pulled her sleeve over her hand and gently wiped up the blood.

"Don't worry about it," Belle told him.

"I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to be with me anymore," Adam said.

"Adam, I wouldn't be here right now if I didn't want to be with you."