Penelope woke Bella up to go to school that Monday and the girl was just exhausted from the night she had had.
They sat to eat breakfast and Bella was almost asleep again.

"Did you sleep okay, Bellie?" Penelope asked.

"Yup" Bella lied. She just didn't want to talk about it.

They finished eating and headed out. Penelope dropped Bella off and headed to work.

"Look who's here." One of those bullies said as Bella walked to the big steps in front of the school.

"I'm glad you're back, shrimpy" Vanessa said.

"Was it hard having to stay with your bro?" One of them asked getting closer to Bella.

"I'm sorry mommy couldn't be there" Vanessa said and Bella just stared trying to stay calm.
"Like usual" the girl added and Bella just ran away.

.

"Hey" Chloe said as Bella walked inside the classroom. Rose was sitting on the front, at the very first desk where Bella used to sit. So Bella sat behind the girl.
She sat quietly and got her binder out.

"Hey. What's up? You're not talking to us anymore?" Gavin said.

"Can I sit there Ro?" Bella asked a bit down.

"I really like seating here, Bella" Rose said.

"Please, I'm not feeling very good. Just today. You can sit there whenever" Bella said.

"Okay" Rose said. She took her things and changed seats with Bella.

"Bella, seriously what's up?" Gavin said but the teacher started the class and he had to be quiet.

Isabella didn't say a word during the first class. Her friends were getting worried.

"Hey. What's going on?" Chloe said sitting next to Bella on her seat as the teacher walked outside.

"Nothing" Bella said.

"I know it's not nothing" Chloe said. "You can tell me. I won't tell them" she added.

"It's nothing" Bella said as her eyes teared up.

"Bella" Chloe said feeling bad as she saw Isabella was about to cry.
Suddenly the teacher walked in. Chloe went back to her seat and Isabella pushed her tears away.

When the recess bell rang, Isabella quickly left the classroom without waiting for her friends.

"I'll go talk to her" Chloe said walking out fast.

She followed Bella to the bathroom.
Isabella got inside the bathroom close to their classroom which she knew no one really used during recess and lunch.
She felt her head pounding. She sat on a closed toilet and closed the door.

Suddenly Chloe walked in.
"Bella?" She called but Isabella stayed quiet.
"Bella, I know you're here" Chloe said and Bella opened the door.

"What happened?" Chloe asked really worried as she saw the amount of tears streaming down Isabella's face.

"I wanna go home" Bella said.

Chloe hugged her and Bella just broke down.

After Bella started calming down, Chloe asked "was it those stupid girls again? They came up to Ro and me today" Chloe said and Bella nodded yes.

"What did they tell you?" Chloe asked.

"They just... They talked about my brother and my mom. They said my mom is never here" Bella cried.

"Don't listen to them Bella. You know that's not true" Chloe said.

"But it is... She's not here, is she?" Bella said.

"Bella, she's working and that's what parents do. I bet their parents are like that too" Chloe said.

"Your mom aren't" Bella said.

"Sometimes she is" Chloe said. "Sometimes she stays working late and sometimes she brings so much work home that she barely even talks to Millie and I" Chloe said.

"I barely saw my mom this week" Bella said.

"I know. My mom told me the play date was canceled because your mom had to work. But you know it won't always be like that" Chloe said.

Suddenly Ro walked in. Bella saw her and tried closing the door again but Chloe was on the way.

"Bella stop" Chloe said as Bella tried pushing her out.

"Get out. Leave me alone" Bella told them.

"I'm sorry" Ro said confused.

"Get out. I wanna be alone" Bella said crying.

"No you don't." Chloe said and hugged Bella and Bella stopped fighting and just cried again.

"Why is she crying?" Rose asked.

"Her mom traveled on a case and those stupid girls bullied her" Chloe said.

"Gavin invited us over to his house today, he told me to come tell you guys so you can ask your parents. Why don't we all go? I think it could help us forget about those girls" Rose suggested.

Bella nodded no.

"Come on Bell. It might help" Chloe said and Bella let go of the hug.

"We can do our homework together and go to the pool and play games. It's gonna be fun" Ro said.

"Please" Chloe begged.

"Okay" Bella said and wiped her face.

"Go wash you face" Chloe said and Bella did that.

"I'm gonna stay in the classroom" Bella said.

"Okay. We'll stay with you" Rose said and they went there. They just sat and no one said a word. After a while the bell rang and another class started. Bella was quiet but she would talk whenever anyone asked her something. During lunch break she was still down but a bit better. They ate at the lounge close to the library and luckily didn't have any problems.

As they walked back to the classroom Gavin got a call from his mom. She asked how many people were going to their place and Gavin said 4 plus him. So Colette suggested everyone going directly to their house and she would order pizza. So Gavin told everyone and they called their parents to ask. Bella called Garcia and of course the woman said it was okay but just to make sure Penelope called Colette to confirm everything Bella had told her.

So later that day, they all headed to Gavin's house. Bella was more excited and was talking more, even though they could see she was not in her normal state of being.

But the day went great.
They did their homework and then Michael arrived so they played video games, Colette lend them clothes so they could go to the pool. Rose's mother, Mary, picked her up around 7. Hilary picked Chloe and Bella up at 7:30.

"Did you guys have a good day?" Hilary asked.

"Yeah" Chloe said but Bella stayed quiet.

"How about you Bella?" Hilary asked.

"Yes sure" Bella said with a small smile. Hilary knew something was up.

She dropped Bella at the office and went home. Penelope sent a secretary down to get Bella because she was busy.

"Hi" Penelope said as Bella walked in.

The girl walked to the woman and hugged her. She needed that hug since that horrible morning.

"Did you have fun?" Penelope asked letting go of the hug.

Bella nodded yes but didn't look very happy.

"Did something happen, munchkin? Why the sad face?" Garcia asked.

"Those girls at school... they talked about mom today" Bella said honestly as her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh monkey" Penelope said feeling bad and wrapped her arms around Bella again.

"Chloe said what they said isn't true but it actually is this time" Bella said now crying.

"Let's go to my office. Come on" Penelope said as she noticed a few agents looking.
She grabbed Bella's hand and went to her office and sat on the couch and pulled the girl to her lap.

"What exactly did they say?" She asked.

"They asked if it was hard staying with Jeremy and they said they were sorry mom wasn't there" Bella said crying. "And they said 'like usual' ... They know she's not here"

"Oh sweet girl, You can't listen to those girls. They don't know anything. And Bella they very likely barely even talk to their parents. They are just jealous because they know how you and your friends are loved and have fun all the time together. They probably don't have that, that's why they say all this things. They feel better if you guys are feeling bad and that's not right" Penelope said.

"You really think they are jealous?" Bella asked.

"Have you ever seen them having fun together?" Garcia asked.

"Not really" Bella said.

"How about their parents? Have you ever even seen them?"

"No" Bella said.

"See. They're jealous because you guys are awesome" Penelope said and tickled Bella. The girl smiled.

"Don't listen to them, okay?" Garcia said and Bella nodded yes. "I'm serious. Try your best not listen to what they say. Because is not true" Penelope said.

"Okay" Bella said.

The rest of the day went okay.
They stayed in the office till 11, Penelope worked while Bella watched 'That 70's Show' on Penelope's iPad. Bella fell asleep around 10 and at 11 Penelope woke her up so they could go to Penelope's house. When they got there Bella was asleep again so Garcia woke her up and the girl walked to the bed and laid down wearing her uniform and just fell asleep. Penelope took the child's shoes off and covered her up. She showered and then laid next to sleeping Bella.
Luckily the night went great.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

Bella woke up Tuesday morning and found Penelope changing. She couldn't help but laugh as she noticed she had her uniforms on.

"What do I do know?" She asked Penelope.

"I'll iron it for you. Come on quick" Garcia said and did just that. Then they ate breakfast and headed out.
The day went okay even though at lunch those girls bullied Bella again as she went to the bathroom with Chloe.

"I saw your group got bigger. The New Yorker weirdo fits right in." One girl, Gail, said.

"As weird as they come" another girl, Yuna, said and they laughed. Chloe and Bella took a few steps ignoring them and suddenly Vanessa said "say hi to your mama for me... Oh yeah she's not here again"

Chloe froze but Isabella remembered what Garcia told her so she grabbed Chloe's arm and kept walking.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked a bit confused as they entered the classroom.

"They are just jealous" Bella said.

"What? Of us?" Chloe said even more confused.

"Just ignore them" Bella said confident.

"Okay" Chloe said still confused and the bell rang.

The rest of the day went okay.
After school Bella went to the office and did her homework, read a bit and then decided to watch a movie.
It was late at night and she was getting tired. She was almost asleep on Penelope's couch when the woman stood up and turned her computer off.

"Is my mom coming back?" Bella asked sleepy.

"Not tonight" Penelope said and the girl just looked sad. Garcia felt bad. "How about if we stay in your house tonight? Do you want to do that?" She asked and Bella nodded yes rapidly. "Alright. Let's go then, monkey" Garcia smiled and they headed to Emily's apartment. When they got there they got ready for bed and Bella asked "can we sleep on my mom's bed?"

"Would she be okay with me there?" Garcia asked.

"Sure" Bella said heading to Emily's bedroom. She hopped on the bed and Penelope laid next to her. The girl felt good in there and she was glad she was home.
It didn't take long for both to sleep but it didn't take long for Bella to wake either.
She woke up from a bad dream but luckily stayed very quiet. She tried going back to sleep but she just couldn't. She laid in bed for a while and then decided to go inside Emily's closet. She looked around and found one of Emily's hoodies. A big Yale one that Emily slept with whenever it was cold. Bella put it on and it was ginormous on her but she felt very good wearing it. So she headed back to bed and tried to sleep. The familiar smell of her mother filled her nose and she felt more relaxed. It didn't take very long for her to be back asleep.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

On Wednesday, Bella had a chilled day at Penelope's office and they had to spend the night there. The only big thing that happened was that when Bella was walking to the bus two girls bullied her again. Luckily Vanessa wasn't with them.
Bella was with Gavin, since Chloe was picking Millie up and Rose had left.

"Look who's here" one girl, Yuna said. "Hi shrimpy. Is your mommy back yet? Or is she gone for good this time?"

"Hi and goodbye" Gavin said grabbing Bella's hand and they kept walking.

"We are talking to you" the other girl, Gail, said pulling Bella's backpack.

"Au" Bella said as her back hurt and she almost fell.

The girls laughed.

"Stop it. Are you out of your mind?" Gavin said angry.

"Shut up fatty" Yuna said.

"Shut up bitch" Bella said angry.

The girls just stared at her and stayed quiet. They were not expecting that reaction.

"Let's go" Gavin said and they walked to the bus.

"Thanks" Gavin told Bella who just gave him a small smile.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

On Thursday, things were going okay at school. Bella was talking normally with her friends now and everything was great till they had to go to art class.
That was when things got bad.

It was the last class of the day and Bella was walking to her locker to get her art supplies. Her friends headed to class first because they already had their things. So she was almost there when Vanessa and those girls appeared in front of her. The hall was pretty much empty and whoever was in there wouldn't help her with anything.

"Hey shrimpy" Yuna said.

Suddenly Bella saw herself surrounded.

"Well, I heard you called Yuna something bad yesterday" Vanessa said and Bella stayed quiet. She was clearly scared of the older girl.

"Have you lost your braveness today or something?" Yuna said coming close to Isabella's face.

"No" Isabella said serious.

"Oh you haven't? Are you sure? Cause I'm gonna teach you to not ever talk to us like that again! And what are you going to do?" Vanessa said grabbing Isabella's right arm, a few inches above the elbow, and squeezing it as tight as she could.

"I didn't do anything to you" Isabella said as Vanessa kept the tight grip. Bella could feel the girl's nails on her arm.

"If you talk to any of us like that again there will be far worse consequences. Do you hear me?" Vanessa said but Bella stayed quiet.

"Do you hear me?" The girl asked very close to Isabella's face.

"Yes" Isabella said as she felt a tear slip.

"Good" Vanessa said and pushed Isabella to the ground. The small girl fell and hit her back on the lockers making a loud noise. With that all the bullies ran away leaving Isabella crying on the ground.

A teacher, that was in a classroom nearby packing to go home, heard the noise and ran out to check.

"Isabella" she said as she saw the girl crying.

Isabella looked up and felt really embarrassed to see Miss Marion, the French teacher, staring at her.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked.
Isabella nodded yes and Marion helped her get up.
"What happened?" The teacher asked.

"I fell" Bella lied.

"You fell?" The woman asked not really believing it.

"Yeah" Bella said crying. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" The girl said and started walking.
The teacher walked with her.
Bella got inside the bathroom and started watching her face.

"Mon amour, Que s'est-il passé?" (what happened?) Marion asked.

"It was nothing" Bella said.

"Ne me mens pas. You didn't just fell, did you?" (don't lie to me) Marion said.

"No" Bella said looking down.

"Did someone push you?" Marion asked.

"No. I'm fine. Alright. I have to go to class" Bella said trying to get away and not talk about it.

"No. You have to go to the principal's office with me"

"No. Please, it's okay. I'm okay" Bella said fast, begging.

"Isabella. He can help" Marion said.

"No he can't" Bella said. "It's just gonna make it worse. It's fine. I got it under control" Bella said.

"You clearly don't, sweetheart" Marion said.

"Please don't make me go" Bella said.

Marion took some time to think and then said "okay. But if it happens again we'll have to talk to him" Marion said deciding to not push the girl.

"Okay" Bella said.
Bella looked down at her arm and it was very red where Vanessa had held her.

"Look at that" the teacher said feeling sorry for the girl. "Let's put some water on this" she said as she noticed some scratches, probably from the girl's nails. She washed it and dried it and then told Bella to wait there and she would get a coat she could put on.

She got back and Bella was sitting on the floor concentrating on her breathing.

"Here" the teacher said handing a school coat to the girl. She helped Bella put it on.

"I have to go to class now" Bella said.

"Okay" Marion said with a small smile and wiped a tear that had escaped from Bella's left eye. "Look, if it happens again or if you need anything you can tell me"

"Okay" Bella said and Marion smiled. "Thanks" Bella said and walked out.

The teacher felt horrible. She had heard about the bulling some girls were doing but she never thought it could happen to Bella.

Isabella got her supplies and headed to art class.

"Where have you been Miss Marshall?" The teacher asked.

"Sorry" Bella said walking to her seat.

"You didn't answer me." The teacher said.

"I had to talk to another teacher. I'm sorry it won't happen again." Bella said.

"It better not" the teacher said and went on with the class.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked confused.

"Yeah" Bella lied and then payed attention to the class.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

When the last bell rang, the 4 friends walked out the door. Bella smiled as she saw Marion across the hall.

"Isabella! A word please" the woman said and Bella walked to her and her friends waited close by.

"I thought I could walk you to the bus" the woman said.

Bella smiled shyly and nodded yes. "Umm.. Gavin goes with me" Bella added.

"Alright" the teacher said.

Bella walked to her friends and the teacher followed.

"I have to go get Millie. Bye" Chloe said and gave Bella a hug.

"Bye" Bella said trying hard not to make a face when she felt her back hurting.

"We can talk on the way" Marion said trying to hide the reason she was there and they walked outside.

"Bye guys" Rose said when she saw her mom's car and walked away.

"So let's go?" Gavin said.

"Sure" Bella said.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know about this book we'll read in French class and..." Miss Marion started as they walked to the bus.

"So I see you in class" Marion said when they got to the bus.

"Oui" Bella said with a smile.

"Bye" Gavin said and they walked inside the bus.

"What was that all about?" Gavin asked.

"Vanessa did something and I was upset and she found me and she just knew" Bella said. "She said she wanted to walk me to the bus. Just so no one would... You know" Bella added.

"That's nice of her" Gavin said.

"Yeah" Bella agreed.

"But what did Vanessa do?" He asked.

"I was getting my supplies and she just went nuts about me calling Yuna a bitch yesterday." Bella said.

"What exactly did she do?" He asked.

"She pushed me" Bella said.

"Are you okay?" Gavin asked worried.

"Yeah I'm fine" Bella lied. Her arm was hurting a little and she could feel it was hot. And her back was hurting quite a lot.

"It's my fault. You shouldn't have defended me" Gavin said feeling bad.

"Hey Gav I'm okay" Bella said. "And now miss Marion knows" she added.

"Yeah. Maybe that will help" Gavin said hopeful.

"Yeah" Bella said.

They stayed quiet the rest of the ride till Gavin's stop.

"Bye. See you tomorrow" Gavin said and Bella suddenly felt nervous thinking about facing Vanessa the next day.
She sat on the bus quietly and started feeling a bit sick just thinking about that.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

Isabella walked inside the BAU and headed to Penelope's office. She didn't even notice the team was back and inside the conference room.

She knocked on Penelope's door.

"Come in" Penelope said sounding happy.

Bella opened the door and Emily was sitting on the couch.

"Hi" Emily smiled but that smile faded as she noticed Isabella's serious face.

"They're back!" Penelope said excited.

"Don't I get a hug or a hello?" Emily asked.
Bella walked to her and gave her a hug. She was so embarrassed about what had happened in the mall.

"How was school?" Penelope asked.

"Fine" Bella said and sat on the couch.

"Where did you get this coat?" Penelope asked as she noticed Bella had a coat on that she did not have in the morning.

"It's Rose's" Bella lied.

Penelope smiled but Bella stayed serious.
Suddenly JJ walked in. Bella looked embarrassed to see the woman.

"Morgan brought pizza!" JJ said.

"Let's eat?" Emily asked Bella, who nodded yes serious, and followed the women to the conference room.

"Wow it's hot in here" JJ said as they entered.

"Boy genius here managed to break the AC" Morgan said.

"Let me check" Penelope said grabbing the remote from Spencer.

"Look who's here" Derek said smiling at Bella and hugging her. Bella flinched as he hugged her tight. Her back was hurting bad now.

JJ noticed.

"Yup. It's definitely broken" Penelope said putting the remote on the table. David took his blazer off and JJ and Emily did the same.
They sat to eat the pizza.
Emily sat next to JJ and pulled Bella to her lap since there weren't enough seats at the table.

"Take this off. You must be boiling under there" JJ said and Bella took her coat off.

JJ noticed a purple bruise on the child's arm.

"Bella, what's this?" JJ asked.

Bella looked at her arm and tried to hide the shock. It wasn't purple like that earlier. "Nothing" the girl said trying to hide it.

"Let me see" Emily said folding the girl's sleeve.

"Bella what happened?" Emily asked worried as she saw the bruise was clearly left by a hand.

"Nothing" Bella lied.

"It's clearly something, Bellie. And it was not there when I dropped you off at school today" Penelope said.

"Bella" Emily said and the girl just wrapped her arms around her neck and broke down.

"Honey. What happened?" Emily asked but Bella just cried. "Did someone do this to you?" She asked and Bella nodded yes. "Who did this, honey?" Emily said and Bella just cried. The whole team was heartbroken.

"You can tell us. It's okay" JJ said.

"Vanessa did" Bella said crying.

"That tall girl in your class?" Emily asked.

"Yes" Bella said.

"And how did this happen? Why did she do this?" JJ asked.

"She was mad at me and she grabbed my arm" Bella said.

"Look at me" Emily said and Bella sat straight and looked at her.

"She was mad at you because of what?" Emily asked softly putting Bella's hair behind her ears.

"She was mad because I defended Gavin yesterday front this other girl and I ..." Bella said and cried.

"And you what?" Emily said.

The girl swallowed trying to get control of herself. "She called... Yuna called Gavin fat and he hated so I just..." Bella cried.

"You just what princess? You can tell us it's okay" Morgan said from his seat next Emily.

"I told her to shut up and I called her a bitch" Bella said and hugged Emily again embarrassed.

"You what?" Penelope said.

"I'm sorry" Bella cried.

"Oh honey" Emily said running her hand on Bella's back and the girl flinched and said Au very low.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Emily asked as she heard the Au.

"No" Bella lied.

"Tell me the truth, Bella" Emily said.

"I hit my back on the lockers" Bella said.

"How?" Emily said. "How exactly?" She said making Bella look at her again. She wiped the girl's face. "Calm down and tell me what happened" Emily said calmly.

"I went to get my things for art class and they came out of nowhere and Vanessa grabbed my arm and started saying things while she squeezed it and-" Bella started.

"Why didn't you scream for help or something?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know" Bella cried.

Everyone stayed silent waiting for her to continue, so she did.

"umm she said things and then she pushed me and I fell" Bella said.

"You fell and hit the lockers?" JJ asked.

"Yeah" Bella cried and looked down at Emily's shirt. She was so embarrassed about it and really sad.

"Did you tell someone?" Morgan asked.

"My French teacher" Bella said. "Well kind of" she added.

"What do you mean kind of?" JJ asked.

"She found me and she wanted to take me to see the principal" Bella said.

"Did you talk to him?" Morgan asked.

"No. I didn't want to" Bella cried.

"Why not? He can help with this" Garcia said.

"No he can't. It will just make it even worse" Bella said crying and hugged Emily again.

Emily ran her hand on the girl's back as usual and Bella flinched again.

"Can we check your back?" Emily asked worried.

"No" Bella cried.

"It's just us, honey" Emily said and Bella stayed quiet.

"It hurts up here?" Emily asked putting her hand on it.

"Yeah" Bella said.

"Can I lift up your shirt?" Emily asked and Bella nodded.
Emily started and JJ took it from her. JJ lifted it up high and everyone was speechless. Isabella had a big purple bruise on her back and a big scratch from probably hitting one of the locks.

JJ looked at Emily with such face that Emily knew it was bad.

"Take her home, Prentiss" Hotch said. "And contact the school" he added.

"Let's go?" Emily asked Bella, putting the child's shirt back down. Isabella nodded yes as tears kept falling. They stood up and Emily picked the girl up. Bella was really embarrassed, she hid her face on Emily's neck.

"Where's her backpack?" Derek asked.

"In my office" Garcia said and they headed there.

Emily took Bella to the car.
"Can you buckle?" Emily asked. Bella nodded yes and wiped her face even though she was still crying.

"It's going to be okay, Bells" Emily said putting her hand on the girl's thigh.

"I just wanna go home" Bella said.

"We're going home" Emily said and went inside the car.

"Her bag" Derek said opening the back seat door and putting it inside.
He went up to Isabella's window and asked "do you want me to go kick her ass?"

Emily smiled as Isabella's eyes widened.

"I'm serious we can go to her house right now" he said smiling and Bella couldn't help but smile.

"drive safe" he told Emily with a smile and Emily drove home.

At home Bella held Emily's hand all the way to Emily's bedroom.

"What's this doing here?" Emily asked as she saw her Yale hoodie on the bed.

"I wore it to bed" Bella said sitting on the bed.

"Why?" Emily asked standing in front of the girl.

"It smells like you" Bella said almost a whisper as tears filled her eyes.

"Come here" Emily said and Bella hugged her. She picked the girl up and sat on the bed with Bella on her lap.

"I'm sorry for the tantrum in the mall mom. It was dumb and babyish" Bella said crying.

"Yeah" Emily said.

"I was just scared" Bella said.

"Scared of what, baby?" Emily asked as she saw the perfect opportunity to talk about that.

"I don't want it to be like before" Bella said.

"Like when you were in Seattle with dad?" Emily asked to make sure.

"Yeah. You would tell me you'd go see me soon and then It would take a long time. Now I don't have dad to be with me"

"Oh honey, I know these past few weeks were packed for the team but it's not always like that. We've never gone in three cases so close before" Emily said. "It's not like this"

"It's not?" Bella said.

"No. It's like before all that Jeremy craziness" Emily said. "You were doing so good with Penelope back then. What happened?"

"I just got scared because you came home and on the next day you were gone and then you came back and it happened again" Bella cried.

"It's not always like that, I promise." Emily said.

"I don't want to hear you say you'll try your best to be with me, like before. I just want you to be with me" Bella said crying.

Emily soothed the girl's hair.

"You miss when mommy hold you like this?" Emily asked sweetly.

"Yes" Bella said. "Sometimes I just wanna hug you"

"I know you do. But aunt Penny gives amazing hugs too" Emily smiled.

"But not like yours" Bella said.

They were quiet for a while, just hugging till Emily said "do you promise you won't throw tantrums like that again? Cause you're a big girl now"

"Yeah, I promise" Bella said.

"Okay." Emily smiled letting go of the hug.

"I'm really sorry" Bella said looking in her mother's eyes.

"I know you are. And mommy is sorry too" Emily said with a small smile and wiped Bella's cheek.

"How many days are you gonna stay home?" Bella suddenly asked.

"For sure, till Monday" Emily said.

"But what if they call you like last time and you have to go?" Bella asked.

"Well, I already told Hotch that this is our weekend. So no matter if we have a case or not, I'm gonna stay home with you" Emily said.

"Really?" Bella asked not crying anymore.

"Really" Emily smiled and hugged Bella again.

"It's our weekend. Just you and I" Emily said.

Bella could still be heard sniffing.

"I love you Bells" Emily said.

"I love you too mommy" Bella said.

"How about a bath now? And then we can maybe watch a movie?" Emily suggested running her fingers through Bella's silky hair.

"Okay" Bella said.

"Go get your clothes and I'll get the bath started here" Emily said and Bella got up. The girl went to her own bedroom and Emily went to the bathroom. She started the water and then made some bubbles.

Bella got back carrying her pajamas, long sleeves and pants as usual, and a towel.
"Bubbles?" Bella asked as she saw Emily putting even more in.

"Come on get in" Emily smiled. It had been a long time since she had prepared a bath for the girl.

Bella started taking her clothes off but when it came to the shirt her back was hurting.

"Let me help you" Emily said and helped Bella take it off.
"Oh baby" Emily said as she saw the big purple bruise and the scratch. "You must have hit the locker so hard" Emily said.

Bella nodded yes as her eyes filled with tears. Emily wrapped her in a hug. Bella felt so vulnerable. She only had panties on and she was hurt. She just wanted to cry.

"Get in" Emily said as she felt she was about to cry too.
Bella got inside and sat down.

"Do you want me to stay here?" Emily asked and Bella shook her head no.

"Alright. I'll be right outside, okay?" Emily said.

"Okay" Bella said and Emily walked out.

Bella stayed there for about 10 minutes and then she walked out and got dressed. She looked in the mirror and hated what she saw. She had red and puffy eyes from crying so much. She washed her face with cold water and walked out.

"All done?" Emily asked from the bed and Bella nodded.

"Get up here with me" Emily said and Bella got on the bed, went over to Emily and sat next to her.

"Go and choose a movie to watch while I shower super-fast and make popcorn" Emily said smiling.

"Okay" Bella said.

Emily went to the bathroom and Bella laid on the bed.

When Emily got out of the shower Bella said " 'Matilda' was about to start. Do you want to watch that?"

"Sure. Let me go get popcorn" Emily said smiling and hurried downstairs. She made popcorn in the microwave and headed back up.

"Here" she said handing Bella a can of coke. Bella put it on the nightstand and sat on the bed. Emily sat next to her and they watched the movie and ate popcorn.

Once that movie was over Emily picked out another one.
20 minutes into it and Bella was starting to look tired.

"Are you sleepy?" Emily asked.

Bella laid down and said "can you put something on my back? It hurts"

"Let me get an ice pack" Emily said and walked downstairs.

She got back quickly and sat next to Bella and said "come here"
The girl hugged her and she held the ice pack in place.

"It's wetting my whole shirt" Bella said.

"Take it off" Emily said and she helped Bella take her shirt off. She got a towel and hugged Bella again. She put the ice pack above the towel and held it in place.

As the pain got a more and more relieved, Bella got more and more sleepy.
She ended up falling asleep like that.
Emily smiled as she noticed the girl was out and held the pack a while longer. Then she put Bella down on the bed and went to put the ice pack back in the fridge in case Bella needed it again. She went back to bed and laid next to the girl. She covered Bella up since it was cold and the kid didn't have her shirt on, and then went back to paying attention to the movie.

Bella slept a lot. Emily figured The kid hadn't been sleeping very well so she let the girl sleep.
Around 11 Bella woke up and Emily was sitting on the bed with her computer in hands.

"Hi" Emily said.

"Where's my shirt?" Bella asked. She was cold. Emily picked it up and gave it to her.
Bella put it on and laid back down.

"What are you doing?" Bella asked sleepy.

"I was just talking with Carl." Emily said. Carl, was the school's principal.

Bella kind of froze. She didn't want any more trouble with those girls.

"He wants to talk to me tomorrow at 4" Emily said.

"Please don't tell him" Bella said with a sad face.

"I already did, honey. I'm not letting anyone hurt you like this" Emily said and Bella looked sad. "It won't make it worse. I promise you." Emily said.

"You don't know that" Bella said.

"If it gets worse I'll tell Derek to go kick her ass" Emily said and Bella couldn't help but smile.

"Do you think he would do it?" Bella joked.

Emily laughed. "I'm pretty he would kick her parents' ass" Emily said and Bella smiled.

"Now try to go back to sleep, okay? It's late." Emily said.
Bella grabbed her blanket from under the pillow and Duffy from the end of the bed.

"You really like that bear, don't you?" Emily said. She had noticed the girl was always sleeping with that next to her.

"Yeah" Bella said. "He's nice to hug" she added.

Emily smiled and put the computer down on the bed.
"Well, I found this at the Disney store in the airport and I thought he might need it" Emily said walking to her go bag. She got a Disney bag out and went to the bed and handed it to Bella.
Bella opened and smiled as she saw what was inside.

"Is this an outfit for him?" Bella asked laughing.

"Yeah. It's a Sulley costume for your bear. From Monsters Inc. It's cute, right?" Emily said sitting down on the bed.

"It's adorable" Bella said. "Can I put it on him right now?" Bella asked.

"Of course" Emily laughed. "Let me open it for you" she said and Bella handed Emily the thing. Emily opened and handed the costume to the girl who put it on the bear.

"It so cute mom, thanks" Bella said.

"You're welcome" Emily smiled and put a lock of hair behind Bella's ear.
The girl laid down and hugged her bear and her blanket.

"I love you" Bella said.

"I love you too" Emily said and placed a kiss on the girl's head.
Bella snuggled closer to Emily and closed her eyes.
It didn't take very long for her to sleep again.
Emily finished what she was doing on the computer and then laid down too. She covered Bella up and kissed her head.
The woman was happy to be back home with her baby. And she was relieved she finally knew what was bothering the girl so much.

She had a little bit of trouble falling asleep that night with the thought of going to the school the next day. She knew that would be hard for Bella.
But eventually she slept.