Savages

The scalding hot water streaming from the shower head would make any normal person cower in the corner in pain, body curled up to try and escape the spray, their skin blistering immediately.

This was the only kind of shower I could tolerate.

To feel the steam rolling up from my feet and waft through my nostrils made my nerves slow down from their unusually fast pace.

Faintly I could hear the sounds from Meghan's room, Niall currently sending the brunette girl into a world of euphoria, and I had found my way into the shower to block out the rest of the world.

I wanted nothing more than to be normal, to be able to shrink away from the heat, to disappear from the strained expressions the boys held whenever I was around them.

For the first time in my existence, I truly felt like an outsider.

I expected their shut out, truly, and respected their need to adjust to the news that had been dropped on them. And after two weeks I noticed that most of them were starting to act normally in my presence again.

Niall originally had been the most accepting, thanks to my brunette roommate, and the fact that I had selflessly jumped into a river to save him mere hours after properly meeting him.

Surpringly Louis was the next to come around, asking me about all my abilities with curious eyes, cracking jokes like it was just a regular day in his life.

Zayn and Liam still continued to keep their distance, never really approaching me unless it was completely necessary but still accepting the fact that I was there to protect them.

That left Harry.

The curly haired, green eyed wonder always went out of his way to steer clear of me, whether we were in public or back at the flats. He would completely avoid any kind of contact with me other than the random glances he would shoot me in the dead of the night after a long night of clubbing.

But what really bothered me was the fact that I found myself wishing he would acknowledge me.

Be it with insult or just a mistaken graze of physical contact.

Part of me was starting to crave the electrical shock provided from his touch, starting to want an intense gaze from his green eyes to fall onto my pale blue ones, and I cursed myself for such thoughts.

My hand was reaching for the knob in the shower when an earsplitting shriek split through the air and burst inside my head. Squeezing my eyes shut I bent forward with my hands pressed firmly over my ears in a feeble attempt to block out the noise.

The longer I stood still the louder the shriek seemed to grow and I struggled to lift my feet over the edge of the tub. Stumbling, my arms were thrown out in front of me in order to try to hold my balance, the shriek completely blinding my other senses as I fell forward into the bathroom door.

The structure crumpled under impact and sent my naked figure to the floor in a wet frenzy. I pushed myself up from the carpet, small pieces of the door sticking to my skin, and took a staggered few steps toward the front door.

Meghan and Niall came bustling out from her bedroom, hair frayed and sticking up in random places, clothes pulled on backwards in a quick frenzy. I didn't hear their voices, didn't see their expression, I merely reached blindly toward the flat door in hopes of escaping the painful shrieking still pounding inside my head.

Ripping the door open I practically fell out into the hall, my right foot missing a step, and my body twisted as it collided into the wall of the boys' flat across the way. I smashed the palms of my hands into my ears and let out a frustrated cry, squeezing my eyes shut again and throwing my head back into the wall.

The shriek only increased its' intensity and I dropped my hands, seeing the crimson liquid that stained my palms. Stepping away from the wall I caught the wide-eyed gazes of Meghan and Niall who stood motionless in the doorway of the flat, their lips moving and their words lost to me. I stumbled to the right and into the solid chest of another person, their hands gripping onto my shoulders to steady my teetering form.

Raising my pale blue eyes from his chest I came face-to-face with an intense green gaze that on any other day might have created something electric sparking through my body. I parted my lips, my voice lost in the noise swirling in my ears, and I gripped onto the front of his shirt tighter than I meant to.

"Make it st-" the whisper was left broken when the shriek transformed into an explosion, a nuclear war casting off inside my head. A blinding light flashed in my eyes and my entire body went limp falling directly into Harry's chest.

.........

"I didn't expect you until tomorrow."

"That's why it's called a surprise, num-nuts."

Harry ran a hand through his curls and shot his older sister a look she hadn't been expecting.

"Well fine, if you don't want me here I'll just go," she huffed picking up her bag from the floor. Immediately he reached out for her and let out a breath, his green eyes softening as he offered a small smile.

"No, please stay. It was a good surprise," he urged. Throwing out her right arm she slung it around his shoulders, pulling him into her side and ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Where are the lads?" Her eyes scanned the vacant flat where the usual rambunctious group could be found scattered about.

"Grabbing lunch. They'll be back in a bit."

"Good, gives me time to freshen up. I'll use your bathroom, yeah?" Before he could register his sisters words she bounded down the hall toward his room.

"Wait! Gemma!" Harry chased after the brunette in vain, her hand already pushing his bedroom door open by the time he reached her, and slapped a hand to his face in annoyance.

"Oh! I didn't realize you had company," she said with the click of her tongue. Gazing into the room his eyes fell on my still sleeping form, watching the sheet that covered my body rise and fall with each breath, before pulling his gaze to the older girl.

"It's not what it looks like," he began. Gemma held up her hands in defense and shook her head, gesturing to the guest bathroom farther down the hall.

"What goes on in there is your business, Haz. I'll just use the guest one." Turning on her heel she disappeared giving him the chance to let out the breath he had been holding.

Crossing his arms over his chest he leaned against the doorway and continued to watch me, biting the inside of his cheek in thought. Shooting a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Gemma was still indisposed, he pushed himself farther into the room. Settling himself down on the side of the bed I occupied he held his hands in his lap awkwardly.

He wanted to reach out and brush the strand of hair out of my face, to trail a line down my jaw, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wrap his head around the whole situation at hand. Louis called him naive, arrogant, and stubborn, and Harry couldn't agree more with his best friend. But something was holding him back from accepting the story, the idea that someone was after them. And that I, a girl with unnatural abilities, was sent to save their lives.

"A picture would last longer," Gemma teased from behind. Harry whirled around, quickly standing from the bed, and marched out of the room. "You must really fancy the bird if you're letting her sleep in your bed." Her footsteps followed his down the hall and into the kitchen, his hand wrapping around a lone bottle of water on the counter.

"I don't fancy her," he practically snarled.

"Keep telling yourself that," Gemma snorted just as the door flew open and the rest of the group piled in.

"Gemma!"

Harry welcomed the distraction that pulled Gemma away from him, his thoughts instantly pulling to the bedroom and the body occupying his bed. Taking a long swig of water he decided to ignore the little voice in the back of his head telling him that he should quit lying to himself.

He pushed the voice into the depths of his mind and locked the door.