The Beauty And The Beast (Harry Styles Love Story)

Never Give Up

"Let the girl go!" I heard shouting over the ringing in my ears.

There was scuffling and out of my blurry eyes I could see Alexander on the ground, a buff man on top of him. I felt myself being lifted up, my head dangling to the side.

I wanted to sleep. The darkness was pulling me, enticing me to close my eyes. I couldn't breathe, Alexander had broken my nose, and it hurt to open my mouth. It would be so easy to give up. To just let the dark take me, to surround me with it's dark tendrils.

"Clear!"

My whole body jerked and suddenly the dark wasn't there. I could see properly and even though it hurt to breathe, I was doing it. My brain was working over drive, trying to process what had just happened. I blinked quickly, tears forming in my eyes as the images of what happened returned.

"Can you hear me?" Someone shouted in my ear. I tried to speak, to tell them yes, but only a gurgling sound came out. "She has a punctured lung."

I blacked out after that, accepting the blank. I didn't feel anything, I had nothing to be scared of. When I did wake up, I was surrounded by familiar faces. Mom sat next to me, clutching my fingers that peeked out of the large cast I was wearing. Her face was tear stained and when she saw me, a teary smile appeared on her face as dad smiled down at me, his own face covered with tears.

"Oh my baby girl," She sobbed. "My poor baby."

"Don't speak," Dad said. "Your throat is sore from being..." He began to get choked up with his words. "From that bastard trying to choke you."

I faintly remembered the sound of banging on the door and Alexander freaking out. He had turned around and wrapped his hands around my throat, keeping me from breathing. I had clawed weakly at his face but my left arm erupted in pain when I lifted it.

I woke up with my face wet. I sniffled and sat up in bed, rubbing away the tears. Dr. Greene said it was pure luck that I even survived. I had been so battered and I had lost so much blood, it was a miracle that the EMTs had managed to get my heart beating again.

I slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs for some water. My throat felt dry and I couldn't bring myself to look at the empty spot in bed. He hadn't came home last night and even if he did, he didn't bother to come up stairs.

I gulped down three cups of water and was on my way to the fourth when I heard someone clear their throat behind me. I jumped, heart racing, and turned around to see Liam standing there in jogging shorts.

"You wanna' come?" He asked softly.

I nodded.

.....

I was breathing heavily and sweating by the time Liam and I got back. The sun was rising when we had headed back to my house, Liam following me as I took the trail I was so used to. There was a small forest behind our town and it had a trail that led to the backyards of each house. I remembered jogging behind Ryan's house early in the morning on a Saturday and our get aways in the forest. We would hide out there for hours, messing around and being stupid teenagers.

My heart ached at the thought. I was so stupid back then. And I still am. I was being stupid with Harry and this whole relationship thing. I shouldn't let this come between us.

But I still didn't want to come out. There was a part of me that still wanted to hide away but now with Harry in the mix... I had to think about him now. And he knew what he was doing, right?

"That was great!" Liam exclaimed as we stepped into the house. I relished in the AC. "I didn't know there were trails back there."

"Yeah, I didn't find them until I was in year 11." I explained.