Thank you so much for the attention that this book is getting! I love it soooooo much!

Of course, if you know me well, this book will be very dark.

Sorry.😂

Also, I will be using trigger warnings in every chapter if there is any. I won't be removing any warnings if I feel like they are needed because every trigger, no matter how small, should be tagged. Love you.:)

Enjoy the chapter!

WARNING: abuse, past abuse

Mitch couldn't speak.

His aunt walked over to him, striking fear in him. He could remember those eyes from anywhere.

Those cold brown eyes.

FLASHBACK

"MITCHELL, BRING YOUR BUTT DOWN HERE!"

Mitch jumped, dropping his teddy bear in the process. He stood up, biting his nails nervously as he walked downstairs, his aunt's scary eyes glaring at him evilly. She had a belt in hand, making him whimper. She stomped upstairs, grabbing his little arm roughly, ignoring the sounds of pain while leading her nephew to the kitchen. There on the counter was a plate.

A dirty one to be more specific.

"What is wrong with this picture?" She asked Mitch, squeezing his arm more forcefully. Mitch let out a cry, tears rolling down his cheeks. "TELL ME!"

"I-I don't know," Mitch whimpered, trying to take himself out of his aunt's grip. "Please let me go."

"LOOK AT THE COUNTER!"

Mitch did as he was told, looking at the plate.  That was his plate from his lunch earlier. Kindergarten ended not too long ago and Mitch didn't have enough money to buy lunch (like every other day) and he had to ignore the pain in his tummy until he went home and made some German pancakes, a recipe his mommy made before she died.

He really missed her.

"WELL?!"

Mitch jumped, not knowing how to speak at the moment. He sobbed a bit, looking up at his aunt innocently.

"I-it's my lunch plate. I w-was hungry."

"SO YOU WERE LAZY ENOUGH TO FORGET ABOUT YOUR DIRTY PLAYE?! YOU ARE SUCH A DISAPPOINTMENT! YOUR MOTHER SHOULD HAVE ABORTED YOU!"

With that said, Mitch's aunt threw him on the ground. Mitch yelled, his back in pain from the sudden movement. He watched as his aunt brought up the belt, crying loudly in hopes of someone hearing him.

"SHUT UP! COUNT THE HITS!"

Mitch widened his eyes. He didn't know how to count yet! He knew 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, but he didn't know anything else after that! This isn't fair!

The thin leather slapped him roughly, making him scream. He was sobbing harder now, whimpering out the first number.

"O-one."

Hit.

"T-two."

Hit.

"Th-th-three."

Hit.

"F-four."

Hit.

"Fi-five. Auntie, I-I don't know what go-goes a-after that!"

His aunt smirked evilly, bringing up the belt more. He widened his eyes, knowing that this one will hurt.

"Let me help you."

After his punishment, Mitch knew how to count to twenty.

Because of the twenty welts on his fragile body.

END

"Mitch, are you okay?" Scott asked, worried for his boyfriend. Mitch nodded, trying to get the memory out of his head. "Okay. Could you help her? I think she needs it."

Mitch was about to shake his head no when his aunt glared at him, her hand pulling out a belt from her purse. Mitch nodded, trying to fight off the panic attack that was sure to come.

"Awesome! You're a sweetheart, babe! I'll drive you guys home."

Mitch nodded, wanting to get away from his aunt.

Once and for all.

I'm scared.

~~~

"Mitch! Where were you?! Did you do the who-ha with Scotty boy?"

Mitch glared at Sara playfully, pushing her gently. Sara laughed, winking a bit as she looked at Kirstie.

"Kirst, Scott and Mitch didn't do the do yet. You can't throw condoms at them yet."

"Dang it," Kirstie murmured, putting the box of Trojans in her purse. Mitch shook his head, a smile on his face. Sara and Kirstie made everything better. "Well, I guess it's okay. I'll just donate it to the school's Sex Ed class."

"What about Sex Ed?" Alyssa asked, raising a perfectly arched eyebrow. "Kirst, did you throw condoms?"

"No! How dare of you think of me this way?! I haven't done it yet."

Her friends rolled their eyes, Scott coming over with Avi by his side. Scott kissed Mitch's temple sweetly, holding his hand before smiling at him.

"How is the lady doing? Is she okay?"

Mitch's aunt was surprisingly...quiet all weekend. Mitch asked his parents if she could stay because she needed a place to stay and introduced her as his teacher from kindergarten. His parents, although reluctant, let her stay in the guest room...

Which was by Mitch's room.

Of course.

But she was quiet all weekend, striking fear in Mitch. What could she be planning? Will she hurt him?

Again?

Mitch nodded, looking over at Kevin. Kevin looked...angry. Why?

"It's been great, Scott. She's very quiet, which is great I guess. Just wished that someone would have said something before bringing her over."

Mitch looked down at his lap, knowing that Kevin was directing his anger at him. He didn't mean to do it! He really had no choice.

"Oh, okay. Well, Mitch was kind of enough to let live there for a little while."

Kevin scoffed, shaking his head. He picked up his backpack, standing up their table to walk away from them. Alyssa looked at them, frowning apologetically before gathering her stuff herself and going to find Kevin. Sara frowned herself, looking at Mitch confusingly.

"Why is he mad about the lady moving in? Who is she?"

//My kindergarten teacher. She needed a place to stay.\\

"You better not be lying to me, Mitchell Olusola," Sara warned playfully, kissing Avi on his cheek. "Hi, babe. I missed you. I want to spend time with you all the time."

"I told you, love. I'm busy. I would hang out with you if I can."

"Pllleeeaaassseee. We're Savi!"

"I know, babe, I know. How about if we go to In-N-Out tomorrow? It'll just be us."

"I like that," Sara approved, smiling softly. "I love you."

"I love you."

Kirstie frowned, finally finding out that Jeremy wasn't there. Where is he?

"Hey, guys? Where's my love? He hasn't texted me."

"He is at that camp for sixth graders," Avi spoke up, Kirstie sighing in relief. "He wanted to text you, but he had his phone taken away by his parents for the week. He isn't grounded though, but his parents took it away so he couldn't use it."

"Okay, I forgot about that," Kirstie admitted bashfully, missing Jeremy horribly. "I'm going to class. See ya."

"I'll go too."

"Same."

Kirstie, Sara, and Avi left, Scott and Mitch by themselves. Scott smiled at Mitch sweetly, holding his hand while brushing the dyed hair back.

"I love you, babe. So much. We'll get through everything together."

Mitch smiled, kissing Scott gently. He smiled when he felt Scott kiss back, wanting nothing more than to be with him.

Little did he know that he would need Scott more than ever.

~~~

"Thank you so much for letting me stay here", Mitch's aunt spoke sweetly, drinking from her wine. "It means a lot. I missed Mitchell so much."

There's that name again.

"Oh, you're welcome, Ashylynn," Mrs. Olusola spoke sweetly, smiling at Mitch. "Mitch is a sweetheart! Biggest blessing in my life."

"Oh, he is," Ashlynn lied, glaring at Mitch discreetly. Mitch froze a bit, looking at his plate. "He was a bit of a trouble maker though. Needed a lesson. Or two."

Yeah, if you call burning my skin, cutting me,slapping me, hitting me with a belt, and starving me a lesson.

"Oh, really? He never really had any timeouts. He never talked back or anything. He was a good kid."

"That's good. I need to talk to him after dinner anyway," Ashlynn spoke up, getting more wine which made Mitch's heart drop. 'Ashlynn' was scary when drunk. "It's important."

"Oh, okay," Mr. Olusola spoke up, nodding a bit. "Just make sure he goes to bed. He is a freshman."

"I'm a freshman too, Daddy," Candace spoke up, frowning. "I get to stay up."

"I know, hon. Mitch has a lot of AP classes though. Kevin, what's wrong? You haven't said a word at all."

"Just didn't feel like talking," Kevin mumbled, wanting nothing more than to yell at Mitch. "I'm just tired. I want to graduate."

"Don't be grumpy," Kellen spoke up playfully, getting a glare in response. "I'm just kidding! Calm down!"

"Hey, no fighting!"

Kevin rolled his eyes, picking up his plate of unfinished food. He ran into Mitch's chair on purpose, making his youngest brother jump. Mrs. Olusola shook her head, picking up her and Mr. Olusola's plates. Candace stood up, taking her plate, Kellen repeating her actions. It was only Mitch and his aunt now, 'Ashlynn' actually a Rachel. Rachel glared at her nephew, putting her hand on Mitch's arm.

"You thought you could get away from me. You thought wrong."

Rachel pulled up Mitch's sleeve, his arm unsafe. Rachel put her fingernails on Mitch's skin, making Mitch jump.

She didn't cut her nails.

"You are the reason why I was in jail. You ruined me!"

With that said, Rachel  dug her nails in Mitch's skin. Mitch wanted to scream, but he couldn't.

His vocal cords are damaged because of his Aunt Rachel.

"You...ruined...me!"

Rachel squeezed, Mitch's skin breaking at the contact. Blood ran down his arm, making him breathe heavily, tears in his eyes. His family was upstairs already, accepting the fact that he won't be able to yell for help.

Rachel is going to hurt him and he won't be able to call for help because of his disability. His aunt could do anything to him.

Anything.

"You are a horrible son, boy, friend, nephew, person. You should have never been born. Your mom made a terrible decision to give birth to you."

Rachel squeezed harder, her other hand pulling at Mitch's hair. Mitch bit his lip, trying his best not to cry.

She would only make it worse.

"Your hair is horrible. I'm going to shave it."

Mitch shook his head, not wanting that to happen. He wanted to shave his hair, but he was hoping that Scott would be the one to do it!

She's going to hurt him!

"You are going to do everything I tell you to do. If you don't, I'll kill you. Now, first thing, sleep out here."

Rachel threw Mitch's head back, almost giving him whiplash. She walked off, Mitch's arm in pain and body in fear.

Rachel is going to hurt him.

Again.

A/N: Ooohhh, boy. This is going to be interesting. Once more, thank you for the attention! It means a lot ! I'm happy that you like the story! Anyways, I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and remember that I love you all.:)

-Maddie🐶💕🎤