It was the night of February eighteenth, 1988.

Bella stared in the bathroom mirror at herself. Despite being nineteen years old, she could still easily see her fourteen year old self gazing back at her. Her large, olive green eyes were still pooled to the brim with fear and trauma. Those eyes saw way more than they ever should have.

Five years before, she was rescued from Mommy's House. She couldn't believe that so much time had passed. That much time had passed since she had the blood of Rose and Steven coating her hands. That much time had passed since she had last seen Cole. She rarely saw Elliot since then, only a few times between the years.

She smoothed her dress down and ran her fingers through her waist-length hair.

"You're okay, you're okay. You're stronger than this, Bella, just breathe," she whispered to herself, inhaling sharply as she stared down at the granite countertop of the sink. She hoped that nobody was in the stalls as she spoke to herself.

She took a deep breath and quickly exited the bathroom, into the large venue where people were all over. She immediately saw James' son, Benny, talking to somebody who must have been in his family. He was about her age now, and Bella was so glad that he was finally talking to his father again.

Her eyes suddenly focused in on James, clad in a tuxedo, talking to Liv who was stunning in her ivory white dress. He leaned in and gave her a kiss on her lips.

Bella walked slowly up to them, and James looked over at her.

"Hi, Bella," he said with a smile, and Bella forced a smile towards both of them.

"It was a beautiful ceremony," Bella said, her voice nearly drowned out by the sound of people talking and Whitney Houston playing through the speakers. "Congratulations, guys, and Liv, you look stunning."

"Thank you, sweetheart. How are you feeling?" Liv asked, her hand resting on Bella's shoulder as Bella swallowed and nodded.

"Uh, great, actually. I just wanted to let you guys know how happy I am for you," she told them.

Bella felt a tug on the skirt of her dress, and she looked down to find their nearly four year old daughter, Annie, staring up at her with a big smile. Her brown hair was tied in two pig-tails on the sides of her head, and she was dressed in a tiny pink dress.

"Bella!" the little girl exclaimed.

"Hi, Annie!" Bella cooed, kneeling down to smile at the little girl.

"She was asking all about you before," James said, bending down to pick Annie up.

A woman approached Liv, and Liv looked at her before she turned to Bella. "I'm going to go off for a second, but Bella, I'm going to talk to you later. Okay?" she asked, her fingers resting on Bella's arm.

Bella nodded, knowing that James and Liv could see right through her act. They always could. She could tell by the way James was looking at her.

Liv walked away, and Bella looked at James. "I'm sorry," she said, shaking her head. "This is stupid, I'm so... selfish," she said with a breathy laugh, trying to remain calm.

"Don't apologize, Bella. This is a really hard day for you, I'm so glad that you're here right now. That's all that matters to me," James assured her, and she immediately felt calmed by his presence.

Bella leaned in and wrapped her arms around James and Annie, her head resting on James' shoulder as she took a shaky breath.

"You know Elliot's here, right?" James said, pulling away from her after a minute. "I invited him and his mother, surprisingly, they came. I also invited Cole, but I don't even know if he received my invitation or not."

Her heart dropped at the mention of Cole. She hadn't seen Elliot, because she basically refused to look up the entire time she was there. She swallowed and looked around at all the people dancing and having a good time, where she almost immediately locked eyes with the boy standing silently, a few feet away from his mother.

He was nearly unrecognizable, but Bella immediately knew who he was. He had big, honey eyes, and short blonde hair. His gaze was timid as he looked over at his mother, who wasn't paying attention, before he started walking towards her.

"Elliot, oh my God," she said as she rushed to meet him halfway, before she tossed her arms around him. He wrapped his arms around her too, and she realized that he had grown to about her height. She pulled away and stared at him. She hadn't seen him in about two years.

"I'm sorry, my mom wouldn't let me see you that much. She didn't want me to talk to you today, either, but I don't care," he told her, and she noticed his voice was a bit deeper.

"It's fine, I understand why. God. How old are you now? You're so tall," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm twelve," he answered, and Bella's chest filled with warmth. She was so happy that he was alive and well.

"How's school going?" she asked.

"It's good. I'm in the seventh grade now! It's a lot harder than sixth grade," he said, and Bella rolled her eyes playfully.

"I bet," she laughed, and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"My mom told me that today is the day that... you know," he said, and Bella really wished that he hadn't brought it up. Her heart started to race as she nodded.

"Yes," she choked out, and Elliot stared at her. "It was a great day," she lied. It was an awful day. "Cole and I were rescued."

"Can I tell you something?" he asked her.

Bella nodded, worried about what the child was going to say.

"I don't remember anything that happened," Elliot admitted, and Bella tilted her head to the side.

"What do you mean?" she asked, "nothing at all?"

Elliot sighed heavily. "Not really. I try to remember it, but... I mean, I remember... I remember what the woman looked like. I remember running away and being in the woods. Everything else is just blurry. My mom won't tell me about it, either. And she said that if I talked to you today, she was afraid you would bring those memories back."

"I would never do that," Bella said, her eyes large and filling with tears as she stared at him.

"Is it normal? That I don't remember," Elliot asked.

Bella nodded, and she didn't know why tears were falling from her eyes. "I, well, I mean... you're lucky," she said quietly. She was envious.

"I guess so," Elliot said, before his mother, Jasmine, called him over.

"Elliot! Come back here, please, Sweetie," his mother yelled over the music. Bella knew why his mother wouldn't want him to talk to her, so she couldn't even blame her.

"It was nice to see you," Elliot said to Bella with a smile. "I'm sorry. Please don't cry," he said, his expression filling with guilt as Jasmine came over, smiled at Bella, and politely pulled him away.

Bella brought her fingers up to her eyes and wiped the tears away, her breath shaky as she looked for James but couldn't find him. She looked around, her eyes wide as she tried desperately to find him. She needed him.

Her eyes locked on him, and he was not too far from her, hugging a man who was about his tall height. The man was dressed in a white button-up and black pants. He had his arms wrapped around James for a long time, before he pulled away and Bella was able to get a better look at him.

She heard James tell the man not to be sorry for being late.

The man had thick black hair that appeared to be gelled back, and he was broad-shouldered. When he looked in Bella's direction, she knew those shocking grey eyes too well.

It was Cole. He had to be about twenty-one years old. He was unbelievably breathtaking, just as she would have expected him to be. He looked the same as he did when he was sixteen, but more mature, and even more handsome.

They locked eyes with each other, and all Bella could hear was her heartbeat as she nearly sprinted over to him, her heels clacking against the tiled ground. James smiled from beside him as Cole held his arms out. Bella jumped onto him, her arms tight around him as she buried her head in his shoulder.

She couldn't stop tears from flying down her cheeks as she felt his arms tighten around her.

"Bella," she heard him say, his voice deeper than she remembered, which vibrated in his chest as she rested her head against it.

"Oh my God, Cole," she said against him, her voice muffled by his shirt.

He rubbed her back gently, and she couldn't stop smiling. She felt embarrassed as she continued to whisper his name.

"I'll leave you two alone," she heard James say before leaving them, and Bella gripped onto his shirt.

Bella finally pulled away, staring into his light grey eyes. This didn't feel real. She reached up and wiped her eyes again, her mascara coming off on her fingers as she shook her head.

"Bella," she heard him say again, and she noticed that his accent was even stronger. "Holy fuck," he said, staring at her, his eyes studying her.

"Stop," she said, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Her heart pounded in her chest as she wrapped her arms around him again. "I can't believe it's you."

He swallowed hard and continued to stare at her. "I- I know, I haven't seen you in so long."

"How is Italy? How is everything? Tell me everything, Cole, I missed you so much," she told him, and he smiled.

"Italy's great. Everything is really good, actually, I'm studying to become a lawyer right now. How about you, Bella? How are you doing?" he asked her, and she felt a pang in her chest.

Why was she envious of him too? Perhaps because him and Elliot had the luxury of being able to move past everything, while she was still tormented daily, even five years later.

She swallowed and nodded. "Uh, good. Great, I... I'm doing so good," she said, and she wanted to slap herself in the face for acting like an absolute idiot. "I'm, I'm studying..." She felt tears begin to fall again, and she quickly reached up to wipe them away, trying to catch them before they fell down her cheeks.

"Are you all right?" he whispered, his voice and his accent calming her as she shook her head.

"I'm going to go," she told him. "It was nice catching up with you," she added quickly, before she stared at the floor and moved through the people laughing and talking.

The cool, nighttime air couldn't even relieve her as she rushed out the door and continued to sob. She could hardly see in front of her, the tears blurring her vision as she tried so hard to feel okay. Why couldn't she feel okay? Why was it so hard?

She sat on the dark side of the building, not even caring about how dangerous that was. Nobody was around. She brought her knees up and continued to sob into them.

Her heels scratched against the pavement as she inhaled sharply, exhaling with a choked cry as she repeatedly hit her head against the brick building.

A radio sounded from a speaker outside the building, the soft songs it played driving her insane as she just wanted to be in silence.

"What is wrong with me?" she cried out. "What is wrong with me!" she screamed, grabbing her shoe and tossing it at the fence in front of her. "It's been five years!"

"Bella?" she heard his voice call from a distance. Then, she saw his figure in her peripheral vision. "Bella!"

Cole knelt in front of her, but she shook her head, pushing him away from her.

"It's been five years," she sobbed, shaking her head. "Why can't I just get over it?"

She felt him wrap his arms around her, and she tried to flail against him, but she soon gave up and continued to cry against him. She hated that being close to him always comforted her.

"It's been five fucking years," she cried out, her head resting against his chest as he embraced her.

"You swear now?" she heard him ask.

She pulled away from him, staring at him. "What?"

A distant streetlight a few feet away from them provided enough illumination to highlight every speck of icy blue in his eyes.

He shrugged. "I didn't think that you swore now. You never did before."

"I want you to get away from me," she lied to him, threading her fingers through her hair. "In the nicest way possible, please leave me alone."

"You really are insane if you think I'm going to leave you alone out here," he said, and she gritted her teeth together, her fingers curling into fists at her sides.

"You never even came back to visit me, Cole! These last five years, you were probably having the best time in Italy, forgetting about everything that happened to you here. Every single time, every... single... time, this day comes around, I go crazy. I think about it all the time."

"Bella," he tried to say, but she refused to let him speak.

"You just forgot about everything. And now your life is so great, you're so hot, you probably have a wife or something, and kids, you're going to be a lawyer... and, I'm a loser. I live with my dad and I don't go to college or anything. I can't do anything because I need therapy once a week," she continued to ramble. "I killed two people, Cole. In cold blood."

"Bella," he said again, but she shook her head.

"Elliot doesn't even remember anything! He doesn't remember, and here I am, trying so hard to forget. And I can't, no matter what," she said, her head rolling back as she let out a groan of frustration.

"Okay, are you done now?" he asked, and she closed her eyes.

"Maybe."

"Bella, I don't have a wife, and I definitely don't have kids. You know I'm only twenty one right?" he asked, before he took a deep breath. "Italy helped me forget a little bit, but I needed therapy for a long time. I'm a bit better, now, Bella, but it hasn't been so good for me."

She turned to stare into his eyes. "It probably hasn't been that bad. I didn't even know if you were alive or not all these years."

"I almost wasn't," he said, and Bella's heart fell to her stomach. His eyes were filled with pain. "I thought I was insane and that I'd never get better, so I tried, you know..." he swallowed hard.

Bella felt bad for saying anything. His voice was rough, and Bella could tell that he was struggling to talk about this.

"My Nonna found me," he continued.

"Cole, you don't have to," she started, but he shook his head.

"I scared my poor Nonna almost every night with the nightmares I had. I would scream, and she would sit in the room and hug me and sing me to me like I was a baby," he said. "She was so afraid. I was too."

Bella bit down on her lip.

"I was out of control, I wasn't right. I couldn't fuck a girl without thinking of that evil bitch's hands all over me instead," Cole said, and Bella shook her head, trying to ignore the spark of jealousy in her chest.

"You still don't have a filter," she pointed out.

"Sorry," he said while taking a deep breath. "I don't know what Elliot's deal is. He was little, so he probably blocked everything out. But I haven't forgotten, Bella, trust me," he continued. "And even if I did, all I'd have to do was take my shirt off and I'd remember again."

Bella felt tears prick her eyes again. He must have scars all over him.

"I'm sorry," Bella said quietly, putting her head down.

"You have no reason to be," Cole informed her.

"You didn't have to tell me that, Cole," Bella said, pressing her head into his neck. "I'm glad you're alive. This time of year isn't easy."

She felt his fingers stroke her arm. "My therapist says it's common for this day to be rough every year. It almost stopped me from flying out to James' and Liv's wedding, but honestly, I really wanted to see how you were doing," he whispered, and Bella wrapped her arms around his torso.

"Italy's probably better than this place, anyways," she said quietly. "It's probably beautiful there."

"You should come sometime," Cole said, playing with a strand of her long, silky hair. "I mean it."

A smile moved across her lips, and she looked up at him. "I would love to. I want to meet your... Nonna? Is that what you call her? She seems so sweet."

"My flight back is tomorrow, you should come with me," he said, and she almost thought he was joking, but he appeared to be completely serious.

Bella stifled a giggle, rolling her eyes. "Okay, let me just hop on a plane to another country tomorrow with a guy I haven't seen in years. My dad would love that."

"You're right, that doesn't sound too good. But the offer always stands," he said, and she couldn't help but laugh at him.

"I'll think about it," she said. "I'm sorry for my meltdown," she apologized, standing to her feet and pressing her dress down again. "God, I probably look like a mess."

"Other than the makeup that's all over your eyes, you look great," Cole teased as he stood up in front of her.

"Shut up," she said, wiping her fingers beneath her eyes again with a laugh.

She stared up at his face. She ran her fingers along his jaw, threading her fingers through his thick hair as she then leaned in to give him another long hug. They hugged and listened to the radio which was still playing songs from the speaker outside.

"Your accent is so strong now," Bella pointed out. She buried herself more against his chest, exhaling as she listened to his heartbeat. The sound of his heartbeat always comforted her.

She sniffled, and tears began to fall down from her eyes again.

"It's okay," he said against her hair. "Ti prometto che starai bene."

Bella loved how everything felt so natural, like he had never left. For once, she felt at peace.

The radio suddenly filled with static, ending the song abruptly. Bella furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled herself away from Cole to look up at the speaker outside the building.

"We interrupt this broadcast with breaking news," a monotonous voice sounded from the speaker. "The search is on for three missing children, who have reportedly just been abducted in the area. This hasn't happened to our neighborhood in years. Lock your doors and please, folks, watch your children. Stay tuned for more details."

THE END