Understanding All Around

*Thump, thump, thump*

The sound of Malachi's heart was reverberating so loudly throughout the bedroom that all of the girls inside could hear it.

He told himself that he was prepared for this.

Afterall, he could not stay hidden for forever and eventually his closest friends and family would demand to see him.

And though the girls told him that Serana knew already and said that she was not afraid of him, he still had his own worries.

Little voices in the back of his mind that told him that he wouldn't be accepted once everyone saw his new tails or webbed hands.

"Malachi..? Can you hear me?"

The beating of Mal's heart only got worse than before when he heard Serana speak to him with her lips nearly pressed against the bedroom door.

"Do you remember in high school how you stood up for me after Seth told everyone in my grade that I let him sleep with me in the back of his car behind a McDonald's?