Damage Me

Chapter 36

It's been sixteen days since Juliette overthrew North America and killed my father. My days have consisted of meetings, training, and keeping an eye on Eva.

When she contacted me saying that she'd been shot, I didn't even know how to react. I was going crazy, being irrational, trying to figure out how to get to her in time.

Sonya and Sara saved her, though, and for that I am grateful.

She was very vague and didn't tell me much about what happened there, only that my brother, Nico, was the one who shot her.

I didn't want to push on the subject at first, but now I'm getting more anxious about the whole thing, needing to know what happened.

Every time I ask her though, she just turns away, and becomes suddenly guilty and embarrassed for some reason. I've gotten to the point where I don't want to ask anymore, it's getting too exhausting, and she won't tell me anyways.

I have my own demons to deal with. Ever since my father died I haven't been the same. He was a horrible man, and I'm glad he's dead, that he can't cause anymore harm to anyone. I hated him with such a violent intensity, I'm not sure there's a word strong enough for my feelings I had towards him. But he was still my father. How am I just supposed to forget that?

I've tried. It doesn't work.

Aaron is feeling the same way, too, and a few days after it happened, about 2 weeks ago we spoke about it, but otherwise we haven't talked about our father since then. I don't even know what we'd say, what we don't already know.

It gets worse and worse everyday but that's why I try and distract myself with the daily routines I try and keep to. Something about the repetition calms me.

I hear raised voices coming from Aaron's—Aaron and Juliette's—room. Eva's sleeping on our bed, so I cautiously walk through the adjoining doors in the room.

I reel at the sight.

Juliette is standing facing away from her bed, which has her abandoned gun on it, with Kenji in front of her, gun lazily in his hand, and Aaron, staring at Kenji like he might kill him.

No one heard me come in, so they're still resuming whatever they're fighting about.

"We were," Aaron's saying. "Until you touched my hair."

"You asked me to give you a haircut—"

"I said nothing of the sort! I asked you to trim the edges!"

"And that's what I did."

"This," Aaron says spinning around to show Juliette, "is not trimming the edges you incompetent moron—"

I barely stifle a gasp at the sight. His hair is a jagged mess of uneven hair; entire chunks have been buzzed off.

Kenji cringes. Clears his throat. "Well," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I mean— whatever, man, beauty is subjective—"

Aaron aims another gun at him.

"Hey!" Kenji shouts. "I am not here for this abusive relationship, okay?" He says, pointing at Aaron. "I did not sign up for this shit!"

Aaron glares at him, and Kenji retreats out of the room. Juliette let's out a breath of relief. Suddenly, he pops his head back in.

"I think the cut looks cute, actually."

Aaron slams the door.

I let out a long breath, letting them know I'm in the room.

They both turn to face me.