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Beating Heart

t h i r t y t h r e e - monster.

//we are all searching for someome whose demons play well with ours//

//Harry//

The faint taste of blood lingered in my mouth, the argument almost resulted in the death of someone. Not me, of course.

All I know about the ending is that Zayn jumped in and pushed me off of Liam's helpless body. Then he proceeded to limp towards the house as I ran off into the woods to blow off some steam.

Ringing in my ears and circling my mind is the sound of Julianne's frightened scream. When I first heard it break into the commotion, my temper rose higher than it ready was and I just couldn't prevent myself from hurting Liam, there was no stopping me.

It's all his fault - he never had the right to lay his hands on her or spit hurtful words in her face. He drove me to the brink and I snapped - once again. This time, however, was quite different than the previous ones. This go around I didn't wrap my hands around his neck, instead I sunk my teeth into his skin and dug my claws into him.

I emerged from the woods, keeping the back part of my body hidden in the brush. My eyes stared at the house, focusing on the noise inside. I trained my ears to drown out everything else and focus on the house in front of me.

Julianne is crying - it's all I pick up on, I block out everyone else like I usually do. A huff escapes my body as I force myself to transition to my slightly less intimidating human self.

My skin is coated in a layer of sweat, my eyebrows fall in frustration as I being the walk to the house. Liam's scent caught my attention as I hurried myself to the door - I swear to god, they better get him away from me before I really hurt him.

I reached the door quicker than I expected. My lungs take in deep inhales before slowly releasing the air back into the space around me. I gripped the door handle tight and turned it, slinging the door open.

A gasp came from the couch and I saw Sara sitting there with Gemma, a worriness floating in her eyes. She stands from her seat and rushes to me. Her small arms wrap around my waist and she presses her forehead to my abdomen, staying close.

I lay one hand on her shoulder and the other on the back of her head. "I love you, Hazza." Sara mumbles against my shirt. "I love you too, babe." My voice is scratchy as I reply to her.

"I'm so happy." She states, her little hands fisting my shirt, making sure she has a nice hold on me. "Why's that?" I ask her in a low voice.

My eyes fall shut as I let my head drop, my little sister is one of the most important things in the world - she means so much to me. Moments like these, shared with her, are memories I'll keep forever.

"Because you're okay.. and you saved Julianne." Just the sound of her name makes my heart pound, she probably thinks she's lost her mind. "She's pretty torn up." Gemma chimes in, referring to my sweet angel. I let out a gentle sigh, the last thing I wanted her to see was the monster I am.

"I.. I don't know.. what to do." I shrug as I look her way. I run my fingers through Sara's long hair, pulling out a few tangles and knots as I go. "Talk to her." Gem is usually good at giving advice, but this piece didn't seem to solve my fucked up puzzle.

My focus goes to Sara as she unwraps her arms from around me. However, she soon rekindled the contact we shared by grabbing both of my hands. She slots her fingers with mine. "Listen to your heart." She gives me a soft smile as I kneel down to be closer to her.

I squeeze her hands as I press a kiss to her forehead. "I'll try my best." I whisper back as I drop her hands and stand up straight. She steps aside and gestures for me to walk in the direction of Julianne's bedroom. I don't hesitate.

I lead my self to the hallway. I slowly crept closer and closer to her door - closing the distance between us. My ears picked up on the mixed sound of Perrie and Sophia's voices.

My feet stopped me in front of the door. I raised my fist up, soon knocking my knuckles on the wood. I take a heavy breath, trying to calm my still heated nerves, Liam is near and it's messing with me.

What if she refuses to speak to me? What if she saw me before I phased? Fuck, she was probably scared then. I gulp harshly, my heart begins to pound as I hear the click of the lock being turned. A moment later, the door slowly opens and Perrie's head pops out, blocking my view of anything beyond the door.

"Hey." She gives me a saddened smile. "Can I.." I raise my eyebrows as I nod my head towards the room, hopefully clearly indicating that I'd love to come in. "Are you sure?" She keeps her voice in a hushed tone, most likely not wanting to rise suspicions.

I nod lightly a handful of times - I'm completely sure that I want to see her, my sweet girl is probably traumatized by what occured before her eyes nearly three hours ago.

Perrie closes the door after telling me to wait a moment. I take a few steps back, I grab my wrist as I place my arms behind my back.

For the sake of Julianne's privacy, I block out everything and focus on my inner thoughts - it's so fucking hard to create a barrier that has enough power and strength to ignore Julianne but I force myself to allow it. Of course it's only meant to be up for the next minute or two.

My mind drifts off to the very first time I exposed myself to her precious eyes. She was young, it hadn't been long since her mother died. The forest floor was covered in thick snow and the air was chilly.

From a short distance, I observed closely as she played in the snow and gathered some into her rather small palms to construct a snowman. I remember smiling in my mind as I witnessed her beaming, a bright grin on her face as she spoke to both the snowman and herself.

She started to panic because she couldn't find any small rocks in the snow to place on the snowman's face. I stayed close and followed her as she trotted through the heavy snowfall, searching for the small creek. She always played on the bank in the summer, splashing her feet in the water after discarding her shoes in the grass.

I let her be as she searched for the perfect set of pebbles. The odd thing was that I picked up on the scent of the mountain lion nearly an hour before she even came into the woods but I kept my cool. Usually, when animals got a wiff of my scent that flee from the area, or at least hope to go unnoticed. That's why I didn't think much about it.

The stupid animal came out from its hiding spot and was determined to attack Julianne - who was minding her own business at the time. I let out a deep growl, hoping to trigger the animal's fear and it would run away but it didn't.

So I took a big leap and revealed myself to her, so I could save her life.

I wonder if she remembers that? She probably doesn't, she was fairly young at the time.

But the chances of her recognising me are high because after that day, whenever she came across a dangerous animal (which were mostly bears) I"d jump out and save her. When she would explore, I'd always, and I mean always, be there with her. She might not have saw me, but I was there.

"Be gentle.. She's still afraid." Sophia's words drag me from my trance and I look up from the floor to see them both standing there. "She.. She's gonna let me in?" I say, a tad taken back and shocked by that. They both nod in unison and step away from the door.

I grab the handle and twist it. Just as I'm about to open the door, Sophia's hand wraps around my wrist. I shift my gaze to her and she sigha softly to me. "The sun's rising.. She'll see it." She whispers quietly to me.

My heart stops as I let my mind absorb her words. What does it matter anymore? She's seen the other side of me already, why hide the rest?

"Harry.. it's not dark in there. There's enough light.. to see it." Perrie pitches in, trying to keep me from comforting the fragile soul hidden behind this door.

Without a final thought, I push the door open and the cold air hits my damp skin. No more hiding.