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Beating Heart

n i n e t y - him.

//Julianne//

My heart is racing, threatening to fly out of my chest. Harry and Sophia are in the bedroom, she's talking to him about something. Probably about last night, or about this morning, or earlier, or I don't know. I don't care either. I'm still sitting on the bathroom floor.. waiting for both of them to help me up. When I woke this morning, pain shot through my legs and my arms. I sucked it up and walked down stairs, knowing that being near Harry would make me feel better. And it did, it really did. When I sat on him, and even when I moved beside him, I felt a million times better. I didn't focus on the burning of my skin, or the weakness in my bones. I was with him.. everything was fine. Then he left.

"Alright, love." Sophia's voice interrupts my thoughts, forcing me to pick up my head. I bite down on my cheek as I watch Harry walk in behind her, shutting the bathroom door just a second later. His shirt has mud on it, his hair is a wreck. My eyes look over his neck, knowing that I had my mouth there last night - I see the marks I left on him, the scratches on his arms, too. But he looks normal compared to me.

"Here's the plan." Sophia squats down in front of me, reaching out to push a strand of my tangled hair behind my ear. "I'm going to put a little water in the tub to begin with.. we'll rinse off the blood and the sweat. Then, I'll drain that water.. and we'll get a nice, warm bath going. Sound good?" She asks me quietly, kindness and worry both visible in her eyes. I nod lightly, everything hurts too much for me to move. "Okay." She smiles, standing back up. She takes a few steps backwards, her attention turning to Harry - who's still by the door.

"Harry.." She mumbles his name, using her hand to motion him over here. He runs a hand through his hair, pushing it out of his face as he starts the short journey to me. He and Sophia share a quick glance at one another just as he reaches me. He kneels down, hesitating already. His breathing is deep and slow, he seems collected - yet I know him better than that. I can tell he's nervous, afraid even. So am I.

"It's alright, Harry. Go on." Sophia tries to encourage this, but he's still not willing to put his hands on me yet. I can feel his stare against my temple, he hasn't blinked I'm sure. Daringly, I turn my head so that our eyes meet for the first time in a few hours. His lips relax, no longer in a straight line on his handsome face. His eyebrows rest on his forehead, losing their previously held tension. His eyes soften - all of which shows me he's no longer angry or mad, but instead he's sad.

"Harry." Sophia sighs, I'm sure she wants this to get a move on. "It's.. it's f-fine.." I stammer out, my voice barely audible. His eyes dart to my lips, watching me talk, for just a second. When his stare returns to mine, I decide to continue speaking to him. He needs to know I'm alright with this. "Y-you can.. can.. t-touch me."

He shakes his head gently from side to side, rolling in his soft lips. "You can." I repeat, but still he denies my words. "I.. I need.. your.. h-help." I tell him, referring to the reason he's returned home. "I don't want... to do any more damage." He murmurs, voice thick and deep. "You won't." I whisper back, pleading silently. I want to feel his touch against my skin, I need to know that he's willing. "Harry.." Sophia disturbs our quiet conversation, in which I was the one doing all the talking. He tears his eyes away from me after a few seconds to look up at her. "The faster we get her cleaned up.. the faster she can lie down and rest.. and.. and recover."

Harry nods to her, his eyes soon find mine again. "I-I.. I-I'll be.. g-gentle." Harry nervously tells me. It's odd to hear him stutter, he only does it when he's very anxious. "I trust you." I utter in reply, just as his arm slides around my back. His hand carefully rests on my waist, which is just as bruised as anywhere else. His other arm goes under my knees, lifting my legs off the floor. "Put your arm.. 'round m'neck." His voice is low.

I do as he asks and lift my arm. Thankfully it isn't the one with the injured wrist. Before I could take in the feeling of his touch, he's lifting me off the ground with no trouble at all, and easily lowering me into the bathtub. I keep my arm around his neck, even when he tries to pull away from me. I use all the strength I have left to slide my fingers into his hair, keeping him close to me.

"I.. I.. st-still love you." I tell him with a shaking voice. I fear the worst, even though I just want to hear him say it back. "I never stopped loving you." He assures me, placing a feathery kiss against my swollen lips. "D-don't leave." I bite down on my lip, scared that he'll flee the room if I let him go. "I won't, baby, I won't." He says, barely lifting the corner of his mouth. If I had blinked, I would've missed it.

He tries to pull away, but I pull tighter on his hair, refusing to let him escape my grasp. "I promise I won't leave, baby. Sophia's going to clean you off. I'll be right here the whole time." He tries once again to assure me of this, but I don't want to risk anything. "You-you do it." I beg in a broken voice - I had to say it, but I believe Harry broke more than we both think. It's hard to find courage right now, hard to find energy. It's like my ability to be brave.. to be strong.. is gone.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you want." He nods lightly, kissing my forehead a few times. "Don't-don't leave me." My lip begins to shake, a sign that the tears are forming behind my eyes - ready to spill out. "Julianne.. I'm not going to leave you." Harry tells me in a more stern voice than before. He's trying to get me to comprehend it but I can't. I'm afraid to let go. Every time I've let him go he's left. Like this morning, I should have held on harder - maybe then he wouldn't have left me.

Harry and I just stare at each other for what seems like forever. I wouldn't mind that. Finally, after probably two minutes of pure silence, he sighs out. "Sophia.. will you start the water. Get me a washcloth, please." I feel a small smile crawl onto my lips, Harry notices it and returns the gesture. "I told you I'm not going anywhere." He says as Sophia turns on the water after getting the washcloth. She passes it to him and he gladly takes it. "Now.. in order for me to do this, love, I'm going to need to move my head." He chuckles, lifting his hand to my arm. He wraps it around my elbow and tries to pull my hand away from his head. Realizing that he's being truthful with me, I release his hair and allow him to bring my arm down to my lap.

The water is only a few inches deep, my legs aren't even fully submerged. Harry's hand forms a cup and he collects some water from between my legs. He tosses it on my shoulder and I flinch from the cool temperature. Sophia leans down and adjusts the knobs, making it more comfortable for me. "Don't be scared.. I'll be gentle this time.. I swear." Harry says, lifting the now wet wash rag up to shoulder.

"I'll start with your back.. there are.. less marks there." Harry tells me in a soft voice, dragging the rag down my spine - slowly and delicately. "When-when we.. get the actual bath going.. I'll help you with bathing. Until then.. I'm just going to wash you off with the water." The way he's talking while explaining this is quite soothing. His voice is smooth and rich, but yet it's gentle at the same time. He's being so sweet, so nice - he's being himself. There isn't a wolf present right now, there's no supernatural-immortal stuff happening. It's just him.. and that's what I love the most. Him. "O-okay." I stammer, even to this day I'm still nervous around him sometimes.

Harry carries on with running the washcloth gently over my skin, only pressing down when there's a stain of blood that needs to be removed. I've remained mute, my eyes watch him glide the rag across my skin once he's moved to the front of my body. He does both of my arms, being extra careful when he comes to my swollen wrist. Sophia made a comment about going to call someone to bring her medical supplies over - I had forgotten she was even in the room with us. She had been in the corner, observing just to be sure things were done right. When she leaves, I find myself able to speak a little clearer to Harry.

"I'm.. I'm not hurting as bad.. l-like.. earlier when you were.. on the.. the couch I.. I didn't.. really.. hurt." I try my best to explain this to him, but I fail terribly. Harry displays a half smile to me, "It's the um.. imprinting.. our connection." Harry mumbles, his eyes trained on my collar bone as he carefully washes me off. "Is.. is that the only.. reason why.. why you love me?" The sentence that comes from my mouth shocks both of us. I look away from him, not wanting to make eye contact. "What do you mean?"

"The imprinting.. thing.. Is that.. the only-" Harry cuts me off once he heard the part he previously questioned. "No. If imprinting didn't exist then I'd still be in love with you. Don't ever think that this is some sort of forced relationship. I do love you, Julie, with all that I am. The imprinting is just the wolf in me." Before I had time to say anything back, the door opens and Sophia enters, smiling as she walks towards us.

I turn my head back to my lap, not caring about her or Harry anymore. I just want this to be over so I can go to sleep. I'm fucking tired. It took Harry forever to get here, so it's late in the afternoon. I'm tired of being naked.. I just want to put some clothes on and go to sleep.

"Gemma's going to bring the stuff I need.. along with some morphine for the pain. We'll get you all fixed up, love." Sophia says, I can hear the grin in her voice - she's so kind, even in the hardest situations. "Can you, um, lean your back against the tub.. so I can get to your stomach?" Harry insists rather than asks. I give him a nod and do as he said. I close my eyes as I lie back, my nape against the edge of the tub. I scoot down as far as I can without losing the support from the tub's wall. Harry mumbles to me once I'm still, "Perfect.. now just relax."

He's being very vigilant with me. Even though it hurts when he has to press down harder on my skin, I hold in my whimpers. The very last thing I want to do now is make him think he's hurting me more than he already has. There is no getting past this - I can't lie and say it doesn't hurt. Harry did hurt me, of course not intentionally. I wish things would have went better. While we were engaged in the intimate actions, it didn't hurt - not like this at least.






It doesn't take much longer for him to finish. He avoiding my crotch, neither of us wanted to see if there were bruises there. I just told him to keep moving. He's done now, and Sophia's adjusting the water for my real bath. Harry excused himself to go let Gemma in. She has Sophia's things. I didn't want him to go, I wanted him to be the one to make the bath, but I had no say so in this. He told Sophia to stay.

"I think things went well. He's.. very calm." Sophia said, pouring some bubble bath under the running faucet. Bubbles instantly start to form on the surface of the water, which is starting to tint with pink. I'll never pass up a bubble bath opportunity - it's very relaxing for me. My response to her is a shrug, nothing more. "Am I intruding?" Sophia sighs, squatting down so that she's at my eye level. I look over at her, hesitant about what I should say.

"If you want me to go downstairs.. I will. I know you want this time with him." She says, an understanding smile on her face. "It's not that I don't want you around.." I huff, that's not the case, ".. I just need to be.. with him while he's.. letting me." I admit - I still have this heavy fear that Harry won't lay with me tonight, that he'll give some stupid excuse just so he doesn't have to think about hurting me anymore. I swallow the lump that started to randomly build up in my throat. I overthink things, I'm sure.

"I get it." She whispers, just as the door opens. She stands up, walking towards who I assume is Harry. "I told Gem to just sit on the couch. We'll probably need her assistance with the medicine and stuff." I hear his deep voice enter the room - I missed him, he hasn't even been gone that long. "Alright. I'm going to go tell her how we'll go about all this." Sophia tells him, a light smile coming to my lips. "What? I-I thought you wanted me to sit in the bedroom while you-"

She cuts him off, "I'll go.. you stay." I'm sure she's giving him one of her mother looks - a serious brow lift and straight lips. I hear him sigh, "O-okay." The door shuts, and I can only presume that Sophia made an exit and Harry stayed put by the door. A few moments pass by quietly, the water's still running and I'm still waiting.

"Alright." Harry breathes out, his voice getting closer as well as his footsteps. I take a deep breath, relaxing my tense muscles and anxious nerves. There isn't anything to be worried about, it's just Harry. "Here's a new washcloth." Harry lies the cloth on the side of the bathtub, smiling gently as we make eye contact for just a few seconds. He stands straight up again, taking a few steps backwards. "I'll just stand over here.. don't rush." He passes me a light smile - but I can tell it's not real.

"C'mere." I mumble, the distance is killing me. He lets out a heavy exhale, "Baby." He's going against what he told me earlier, he's sort of lied to me. "I want you by me, please." This time, he gives me a real smile. He pushes himself off the counter and comes over to me. He sits on his knees and slides a hand into the water to pick up mine. I can't help but to lean over and kiss his cheek softly. He deserves the world, and I can't offer that.


-


//Sophia//

I decided to make some coffee for Gemma and I. I'm very sure that this will take an hour or so once she's out of the bath. We have to get her completely dried off, apply the cream to the bruises, the medicated paste to the bite marks, get her wrist wrapped up, and a hundred other things.

Gemma sighs after taking the first sip of her coffee. "So.. they done it." She says, raising her brows as she looks over at me. "Yeah. From what I've been told.. neither of them quite understand how rough and.. and harsh things were during the actual, you know, but um.. Harry said when he woke up this morning.. that's when he saw everything." I get her caught up, she wasn't really told much when I called her - just that I need certain things brought over.

"She must look pretty bad if he freaked out like that." She takes another drink, just as I add some sugar into mine. "Yeah," I start to mix my coffee with a spoon, watching the creamer change the color of the liquid. "She looks rough." Gemma hasn't laid eyes on Julianne yet, and I fear that she'll have the same reaction as I did.

"What.. what went wrong?" Gemma asks, sighing in a confused manner. I shrug, I really am not sure about that. "I suppose.. he just.. Well, he's a lot stronger than her. She isn't like us so obviously that plays a big role in it." I start to spill out my thoughts, Gemma is still unsure about everything. I'm starting to believe I'm just as perplexed as her. "Most of the bruises are in the shape of his fingers.. He probably just held on to her too hard. The bite marks.. well.. they're bite marks."

After filling Gemma in on everything I saw on Julianne's weak body, we both decide it's best that we step out onto the porch for some fresh air. I went and checked on Harry - I didn't open the bathroom door, just called out to him. He told me they were fine and it wouldn't be much longer. I feel so bad for them, they love each other so much and I know how important last night was for them, even if it ended up like this. They deserved better, that's for sure.



-



//Harry//

Despite how things mended between the two of us, my heart is still broken into millions of pieces. Julianne's body is possessed with the marks I left behind, the scratches, the bruises - everything I caused, it's still there. It'll remain for several weeks to come.

"Now.. this should help. Don't take it off." Sophia gently lies Julianne's arm down on her lap, a thick bandage wrapped around her wrist. She gives her a nod, understanding what she's been told. I step further into the room, knowing my assistance will be needed for the next section of the recovery process. After putting her on the bed, I went to clean up the bathroom - ridding the floor of Julianne's blood - and Sophia fixed up my love's wrist. Gemma helped as well.

"Ha-harry." Julianne's throat is scratched, her voice displaying it. I give her a gentle smile as I go towards her, knowing she's wanting me to be beside her. "We'll start with putting BandAids over the, um, bite marks and scratches." Sophia says, grabbing an unopened box of bandages from her bag. Her and Gem work on peeling the paper off each bandage, applying medicine to it just a second later. They're laying them on the end of the bed, wanting to get them all ready so save us some time.

"I missed you." Julianne whispers as I pick up her hand, lacing our fingers together. "I missed you, too, baby." I say, lifting her hand to my lips. I place kisses along her knuckles, getting a smile to tug on her lips. Silence returns between us, but I know it's nothing negative. She's tired, and her body is worn out - it's understandable. I'm sure if I were in her shoes - I wish I could take this from her and put it on myself - I would feel the same way.

"Harry.. you can go on and cover some of the marks. If there are any that are too close together I have some bigger bandages for those." Sophia insists, nodding her head towards the bandages they have spread out, already prepped. I nod to her, releasing my love's hand unfortunately. She sighs out, hating that I have to leave her hand empty. I grab two to start off with, and I begin with her neck. I carefully place the medicated section of the bandage over one of the marks on her neck. She grunts as I inflict a slight bit of pain on her - that's nothing new, I guess..

"We'll be more gentle.. next time." Julianne mutters, her words directing towards me only. I look up from the injured spot on her skin, my brows lowering just a tad. "There will be a next time.. right?" Her question made my heart jump. "Of course, baby. Whatever you want.. M' always going to do anything you want." Her pink lips curve upwards just enough to form a pretty smile. I love her beyond what words could ever describe. She's my girl, she's my world.

Notes

i just want to thank you all for everything, all the love and support over this long journey. I'm so glad you decided to tag along with me! this is the final chapter (an epilogue is coming) of Beating Heart. I hope I've entertained you with my story, and I hope you are willing to continue it with me. The sequel (who's title won't be revealed just yet ;) ) will be released in a few weeks. I know you're going to love the opening!

Beating Heart has been LONG, so thank you for sticking around. Just remember (I've received some private messages before where people tell me I'm doing too much) that every single piece of my story has a meaning. A lot of people were confused about how Ruth played into things --- her role has only just begun! You will see much more very soon xx I hope you're as excited as i am.

I will include a longer message in the notes for the epilogue - can't wait for you guys to see where Julianne and Harry end up.

As usual, my loves, feedback is always welcomed down below! I hope you all have a wonderful day/night! I love you tons xxx

Comments

I love it

@Allie Miller @Harry02
super sorry about just now replying to you guys! thank you for the love. I hope you like the new update ;)

brianna.smith brianna.smith
6/19/19

Oh my god, the new chapters are amazing! Thank you for updating :)

Harry02 Harry02
6/8/19

Awesome updates my love :) Can't wait to see what's to come. Keep up the great work girl

Allie Miller Allie Miller
5/16/19

Great new chapters! Can't wait to find out what's going to happen next :)

Harry02 Harry02
4/16/19