Because the truth was, shewasquestioning it even when she was young; she just kept it all internal and never acted on it for fear of punishment.
“You didn’t follow his rules to make him happy,” Elias finally says, thinking along the same lines as me. “You did it to avoid punishment.”
“Does it matter why I went along with it for so long?” she asks with a shrug.
“Yeah, it does,” he says with a nod, some of the anger leaving him as he gives her a tight smile. “It means that you weren’t blinded by your love for him as your brother. You weren’t just doing things to make him happy. You had just correlated him being happy to equal no punishment.”
“I still don’t know what that distinction matters,” she says, her fingers digging into the front of my shirt as she yawns.
“It means that deep down inside, you knew what he was doing was wrong, you had just learned to block out that part of you.”
She doesn’t respond, so I speak. “Can you see it now? How messed up that was, locking you in a closet, and for how long? Hours?”
She mumbles, “Sometimes longer.”
Longer? As in…days?
“Angel,” Pete cuts in as I try to wrap my head around Wren as a child, being locked in a closet for such a long time. “He locked you in a closet, and you were just akid. A kid who’d lost her parents. He forced you to do everything he wanted, grooming you and enslaving you, then sold you off to the highest bidder when he was done with you. Not to mention, he told his men to harm you when they caught you.”
I tilt her chin up so she’s looking me in the eyes, as I ask, “Can you truly say you still care about him? Because I don’t believe he’s ever cared about you as anything other than his property.” She flinches a little at my harsh words, and a single tear rolls down her cheek, one I’m quick to wipe away.
“No, whatever love I thought I had for him is gone now,” she admits, making me exhale a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “But it’s not just because of what he did to me.”
“Why then?” I ask, my hand moving to cup her soft cheek.
“It’s because of what he didn’t do.” I frown, and she points between us all. “This. I never knew caring for someone could feel like this. Being able to get upset without fear of your reaction. Of being able to just let go and react however I want, knowing you won’t be disappointed in me for it… it’s... freeing. Not to mention the physical contact is something I’ve never had.”
She snuggles a little more into me as my arm around her tightens. It explains why she loves cuddling so much, why she’s much more likely to climb into someone’s lap than take an empty seat. She’s been touch-starved her whole life.
“Wren?” Elias asks, getting her attention. “Why didn’t you tell me about the closets when we were younger?”
“I was embarrassed. I didn’t want you to know that I was doing something wrong. I wanted you to think I was… good.”
He sighs and shakes his head. “You understand how misguided that is now, though, right?”
She nods. “Yes. Nobody should be locked in a closet because they refused to eat their broccoli or slouched at the dinner table.”
“Fucking shit,” Pete mumbles as I try not to show my anger externally.Locked in a closet for slouching?
“I’ll kill him,” I accidentally say out loud.
“Me first,”Jagger signs.
“Alright,” Elias says, pushing to his feet. “You just relax there, I’ll take care of the closets.” Jagger follows him, and the rest of us sit quietly as we hear some banging and grunting. It grows quiet for a minute, then the noises repeat.
After about ten minutes, the two of them come back as Elias wipes his hands and gestures to the bedrooms. “There, problem solved,” he says, his voice calm but with an undercurrent of seriousness.
Curious, I stand, carrying Wren as we head back to the bedroom. We all look straight to the closet and see that he’s completely removed the door.
“No doors on any of the closets,” he says with a nod of his head, looking straight at Wren.
“Does this help?” I ask, watching her carefully.
She wiggles, so I place her on her feet, and she carefully steps up in front of the closet, staring at it in silence for a full minute before she spins around, a huge smile on her face. “It worked! I’m not scared!” she exclaims excitedly before throwing her arms around Elias in a hug. “Thank you so much!”
His shoulders relax as he hugs her back. I can tell he wasworried that it wouldn’t help. I hate to admit it, but removing the doors was a brilliant idea. I only wish I had thought of it so she’d be hugging me instead.
I might actually like the guy if he didn’t look at my girl like I did, like he was obsessed with her. She has a long history with Elias, and if she ever realizes how much he cares for her, she might decide to leave us to be with him. They could have the perfect life together, free from us fugitives.
