Gabriel settled onto the edge of his bed, elbows braced on his knees, still looking at me like he was trying to reconcile the human he\u2019d known with the creature standing in front of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo\u2026\u201d he said slowly, \u201cwhy would anyone want to beat this out of you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stayed standing for a moment, the weight of his question hanging heavy in the air. Then I shifted back, letting the fur retreat, the claws draw in, until I was just me again. It felt colder somehow, even though the room hadn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBecause it scared them,\u201d I said simply. \u201cAnd scared people\u2026 they try to control what they don\u2019t understand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel frowned. \u201cYour parents?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMostly them,\u201d I said, pacing a slow line along the side of the room. \u201cThey decided I was \u2018wrong\u2019 before I was old enough to know what that meant. Said I was dangerous. Said I needed help.\u201d My voice hardened on that last word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He was quiet, watching me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey sent me to a place,\u201d I continued. \u201cNot some summer camp with therapy dogs and arts and crafts. This was locks and straps and needles. Doctors who never looked you in the eye. People who spoke about you like you weren\u2019t in the room. Or like you weren\u2019t\u2026 human.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel\u2019s jaw worked, but he didn\u2019t interrupt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI learned quick that if I let anything slip \u2014 anything \u2014 they\u2019d make it worse. Sedate me. Isolate me. Call it treatment while they chipped away at me until there was nothing left but what they wanted to see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stopped pacing, meeting his eyes again. \u201cI don\u2019t give them that satisfaction anymore. I\u2019ve kept it buried. Hidden. I don\u2019t even let myself\u2026\u201d I trailed off, realizing my fists had curled again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2026until now,\u201d he finished for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I nodded once. \u201cUntil now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gabriel leaned back, the mattress creaking under his weight. \u201cI don\u2019t know how anyone could look at you and see something broken. But I guess I should say thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor trusting me enough to show me,\u201d he said. \u201cFor letting me in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That one landed deeper than I expected, enough that I had to look away for a beat. \u201cJust don\u2019t make me regret it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He smiled faintly. \u201cNot a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the hallway, a floorboard creaked \u2014 distant this time. Probably Nathan keeping his distance. Gabriel\u2019s eyes flicked toward the door, then back to me, and for the first time, I realized the fear wasn\u2019t mine anymore.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gabriel settled onto the edge of his bed, elbows braced on his knees, still looking at me like he was trying to reconcile the human he\u2019d known with the creature standing in front of him. \u201cSo\u2026\u201d he said slowly, \u201cwhy would anyone want to beat this out of you?\u201d I stayed standing for a moment, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-59","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-high-school-life"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59\/revisions\/60"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/threewerewolves.com\/firstsemester\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}