The Karma Project

Chapter 42 - Cutting, Bending, Dissolving, Freezing, Boiling, and Melting

Brandon

Max kept Zoe to himself for over nine hours, and saying that I'm having withdrawals would be an understatement. Of course the second Max left her room this morning I had to check in on her. I figured she'd be exhausted but when I cracked open her door she was already up and brushing through her hair in the bathroom.

"Well good morning, Princess." The shock in my voice isn't the least bit disguised.

"Good morning," She sighs as she works through a particularly difficult knot.

"Would you like some help?" I ask, extending my hand to her hairbrush with a reassuring nod. She hands it over to me, seemingly giving up on trying to get through it on her own. I step behind her and I start at the bottom of the knot. "How are you feeling today?"

She twists her lips to the side in a way I haven't seen before, but I can tell she is trying to hide back a smile. "I feel," She begins but pauses to think of her next words. "For the first time in my life, I feel complete. Whole." She admits. I'm so stunned by her honesty there is a pause in my brush strokes, but I try to refocus so as to not shy her away from the openness.

"What do you mean, princess?" I finally get the bottom half of the knot free when my eyes meet hers in the mirror.

"I guess I mean that I never felt like I belonged. As selfish as it sounds I feel like I never had enough, and I never got to have something for myself that makes me happy. And after last night, and after everything that has happened since you all found me... I feel sure. Sure that there is comfort here, sure that I have family here. Sure that this is a home for me." Her eyes start to shine with unshed tears but she blinks them away quickly and casts her gaze back down to her hands. "I finally feel held." Her final words are a whisper, and I don't respond right away. I finally free fiery stands from the knot and brush her locks until they are back smooth.

"Princess, you were family from the very beginning. You have had us wrapped around your little finger from the second you took that mask off." I collect all of her hair and I begin a simple braid at the base of her head. "You have never had a family, not a real one anyway. So maybe you aren't sure how they work. But you have been held from the beginning, you have been valued, and cherished from the beginning." Her breathing stutters but I continue on anyway as I tie off the braid. "Zoe, it is never selfish to want."

I grab her shoulders and I turn her to me. When she faces me I catch a rogue tear that has broken free and is sliding down her cheek just before it could drop off. "You are allowed to want, you are allowed to take. In this dysfunctional family, you get to have anything you could ever dream of." I kiss her gently on the corner of her lips as they start to quirk up. "Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno."

Her eyebrows pinch together in confusion, "Was that fucking Latin?" There is a laugh laced in her voice, and I'm happy to see the tears have gone away.

"I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as a dead language." I shrug and I pull the bright white strand of her from her braid and I curl it around my finger.

"What does it mean?" She asks, crossing her arms in that defiant way that just makes me want to kiss her harder.

"You're smart, I'm sure you'll figure it out." I kiss the other corner of her mouth. "How are you feeling physically?" I step away from her and start digging through her closet.

"Deliciously sore, but I like the reminder." She hums as she follows me into her closet. I turn to her, with her clothes for the day picked out. She's leaning against the door frame with her arms crossed and her bare legs crossed over one another. It wasn't until now that I realized she is not only naked from the waist down, but also draped in my t-shirt. I know after watching the cameras that Max is the one who dressed her, and I also know that him doing that is showing us just how okay he is with her belonging to all of us.