THE TAYLORS [H.S]

14.

"What if my brothers are hurt?" I asked, panic finding its way into my body. I didn't want to think anything could possibly happen to them, but if someone could get into the fucking house, despite the amount of guards that surrounded the place, I felt like anything could happen.

"They're fine," Harry said with a growl of annoyance. "They can handle themselves."

"As can I," I snapped at him, my voice suddenly raising. His hand went from around my wrist to covering my mouth almost instantly.

"Now is really not the time to be stubborn," he hissed, though he kept his voice low. If it was any other time, I would of made a dirty joke about how close he was, or I would of admired how rich and honey-like his voice sounded when it was whispered to me, but I had other things to worry about, and the wellbeing of my family was one of them.

I yanked his hand away from my mouth, keeping it in my own hands. I gripped it tightly, my own hand beginning to ache as I squeezed so hard that I shook. I tried not to let it offend me that Harry just stared down at me with an impatient glare, like the whole situation was just mildly inconvenient to him.

"Now is not really the time to keep me from my family," I told him, hating how my voice quivered.  I sounded nasally from the tears I had shed, but I gave myself a break. Any person with a pulse would of shed a tear if they woke up to what I did. A Taylor or not, I had a beating heart and a whole lot of fear when it came to my family.

Harry was still all in my person bubble when the doors of my bedroom flung open, allowing the lights of the hallway to flood my room, casting new shadows in its wake. In what felt like a flash of a moment, Harry had spun on his heels, gun pointed in the direction of the intruder, all the while shielding me from view.

I felt somewhat relived to be so small against Harry's frame. His free hand wrapped around my waist, shoving me into the corner of the room to keep me in hiding. He was using his body as a human shield, reading to take any hits for me just as Trent had promised he would.

I reached out for his shirt. I couldn't help it. In a moment of vulnerability, my fists tightened around the fabric of his loose t-shirt, my head falling to rest on his back as I whimpered out of fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what was to come. He didn't say anything comforting, though his hand that rested on my waist, that was keeping me locked into the corner of the room, tightened.

I was thankful my room was big enough that it would take the intruder a second to find us in the darkness of the room. I just hoped it would give Harry enough time to regain his own composure and take aim. If I wasn't clinging to Harry for dear life, I would of covered my ears to prevent the sound from piercing my ears.

"What happened?" Harry's voice vibrated through his chest, his voice demanding. It wasn't one of warning, and his hand suddenly loosened from me.

I took this as a good sign. I let myself peak around his body, my eyes falling onto a guard. I unfortunately didn't remember his name, though his face did look familiar, even if it was bruised. And covered in blood.

My eyes narrowed, and I peeled myself away from Harry, taking a step away from the shadows as I realised he was no threat, though he did look as if he had just been someone's punching bag. Maybe that wasn't a good sign.

"What happened?" I demanded, repeating Harry's words. I took a step forward on shaky legs. My heart sounded as if it was coming out of my ears, it was beating that loud. Or maybe it just sounded that loud because everyone else was silent. I wasn't too sure. "Where are my brothers?"

Harry's hand pushed me back as soon as I tried to step in front of him, and he scowled at me. "Shut up," he snapped at me. He turned to the guard who looked more frantic than I liked to admit. "Well? Are you going to fucking speak?"