The Beast (Harry Styles)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Confessions are never pretty or great,

But sometimes we have to play with our fate;

Now Adeline will finally learn the truth

Of what happened in Harry's youth. . .

~.~

"I have never been a creature of romance, nor have I been an angel of sophistication and refinement," Harry started, "but I have loved. And I loved her with everything I had.

"If I could turn back time, I don't think I would change the end results--my dear Isabella was sick; she laid trapped within her own twisted fantasies and sadistic views of how the world should work. If I could turn back time, I would have lulled her into a sweet slumber where her worries would have vanished and she would be awake inside her mind to live what she wanted."

Harry noticed the moisture forming in his eyes and quickly wiped anything that had fallen. "But I can't, and I couldn't save my Isabella from taking her physical form with her to dream for the rest of eternity.

"In another world, maybe I would have been the tortured soul overtaken by such terrible thoughts; yet the world works in such a silly manner." Harry looked towards the window that peered over the garden.

A light snow had fallen on the serene paradise, encasing the exotic flowers that would die with the frigid touch of snow. Normally Harry would frantically bark commands to remove any and all impurities that covered his precious roses that were planted in the center of the garden. But now he noticed the snow added a certain charm and realistic dimension to the otherwise fragile flowers. If the roses couldn't survive such a natural occurrence of nature, maybe it would be okay to let them wither away.

With his back turned to Adeline, Harry closed his eyes but remained facing the garden. Memories flooded back to him, all the memories he tried long ago to forget. Harry felt trapped for a split second; but as he floated upon the raised water that took over his mind, he noticed it wasn't as bad as he remembered.

So with his body still turned away from Adeline, he kept going.

"Adeline, please forgive me as I recount to you some of what happened. There are things that I'm not particularly proud of, and there are actions that I regret immensely.

"Isabella and I. . .we were children striking a match near propane; it was only a matter of time before one of us got burnt. And as the days turned to weeks, weeks into the few measly months in which I had the honor of calling her my wife, I saw the sparkle in her eye erupt into a fire in her soul.

"Maybe I should have noticed Isabella's destructive behaviors earlier." Harry sighed, opening his eyes to be met with the sight of innocence being ruined by nature itself. "But I was a fool madly in love with a beautiful goddess walking among the mortals, and can you blame a man for being entranced?"

Harry laughed at his own obliviousness to the obvious situation. As the memories continued to come back into the single light in his mind, all he could see was Isabella's controlling and angry personality: demanding more dresses when she just received new ones, forcing Harry inside when he was supposed to meet with family, screaming if she didn't see something as perfect. . .how could he have been so blind?

Sneaking a quick glance at Adeline, Harry met her kind eyes and interested expression. How was she feeling? If Adeline did love Harry, how did she feel about the zealous recalling of his devotion to Isabella? Harry swore he would never hurt her, never make the kind and gentle Adeline cry or feel the self-loathing he felt. With this thought, he shut his eyes once again and faced the garden.

Maybe, just maybe, once Adeline fell in love with Harry--the real Harry, the one he was about to tell her about--Harry could also learn to love himself.