The Beast (Harry Styles)

Chapter Sixteen

As the journey to home begins,

Adeline's nervousness makes her head spin;

Everything is nerve wracking, quite encasing,

But the view of the forest is quite breathtaking. . .

~.~

The forest rose above the carriage, lush evergreens sheltering it from the bright sun that beat down upon the leaves of the trees. We were hidden away from the world, surrounded only by viridian arms covered by a blanket snow stretching out to grab at us, pleading to stay within the safety of nature. Within it held a paradise where no one could touch us; we could be far from sin in the innocence of what God originally gave to Earth.

Yet the dirt ground betrayed its sisters, leading our carriage into society where it was through judgment and persecution that the species of homo sapiens released their true nature.

It confused me: if we were to be the "wise man," then how do we not know how much our words and actions hurt each other? Was it the dark side of humanity that tempted us to ignore the signs of abuse and indulge in the pseudo-happiness attacking our own species gave us?

Maybe it was my fear of seeing my village or seeing my family. Harry's castle had at first been where I would have chose to slowly rot away into nothing; but as I learned, it became a safe haven of sorts, where Harry would never make fun of me on purpose or criticize what I wear.

But I shouldn't add my parents with that damned village; in a group of lions, my family were mere deer. It seems biased, yet in a community where my mother smiles to everyone and gives them anything they need and they can't reciprocate any of that, it was the truth.

Having been taught to radiate kindness and sincerity to everyone, I didn't understand why no one else did the same. I was taught to be a better person even if I didn't earn respect back.

It has always been hard to do so; there are people who are too far into their war of coming out on top of the rest that it's impossible to sate their constant desires.

My leg began to bounce, a nervous tendency I had.

I was nervous, not only to see my family, but to see what I had missed and what William had told my parents.

Harry's hand caught my thigh, stopping the movement.

"Are you okay?" His worried expression mimicked my past few minutes of thought.

"Yeah," I told him as I met his eyes, shaking off any of my previous thoughts, "just a little nervous is all."

"It'll be fine," Harry reassured me, giving my thigh a small squeeze. "They're family; they won't judge you for your decision to stay in the castle."

It's not myself I'm worried for, I thought while I gave a Harry a thankful smile, it's you.

Nonetheless, Harry smiled back at me and took my hand in his as we made our way through Eden to the shamed-filled world of Man.

~.~

Our hideaway of innocence shortly fell back into the distance, fading away as we moved further from the trees whose hands were still held out to save us from the world we were approaching.

And as the carriage slowly made its entrance to the tiny village, my nerves continued to dominate my thoughts and body.

Harry had given up trying to pacify my leg of bouncing early on; he realized it wasn't going to stop as long as I sat down.

My stomach buzzed with a million butterflies all longing to escape, frantically fluttering their wings. A feeling swelled in my chest and I tried to decipher what it was, yet it eluded me.