When The Stars Align

chapter forty five | storm

I DON'T REMEMBER the last time I felt pretty.

I never really had the time to be pretty. I was a fugitive, I was always on the run. The few heists we had at formal balls had me in nice enough dresses to pass me off as one of the guests. But that was it: it was me in a dress. I was faking my look. Even the few times I was in a dress in my time with my siblings, I didn't feel pretty. I felt like an imposter.

But now was different, maybe because I was dressed to be pretty. Or presentable, at least. I finally felt clean and comfortable in my own skin. I couldn't help but touch my skin constantly, feeling the softness of it. I also liked the feeling of my freshly painted nails against my skin. It was nice.

Tori insisted I looked better with my hair down so Michelle left it as so, but she did grab a flat iron and put my hair in nicer waves. Brown locks rested on my shoulders. Michelle wove hairpins into my hair, keeping loose strands away from my eyes. She put the lightest layer of makeup on my face, making it seem clear.

Pretty. I look pretty.

My sister comes back into the room after stepping out for a bit. I think she was checking on Annalise, who was staying upstairs with some of the other maids during the ball. She looks at me for a bit longer than she had to, pursing her lips.

"Michelle, I can finish off here. I'll call you in a minute to help me," Tori says, dismissing the woman. She nods, stepping out of the room.

Tori walks towards me slowly, but she doesn't say a word. Her hand rests on my shoulders as she looks at the both of us in the mirror. She says quiet as she zips the back of my dress closed, smoothing out the fabric.

I break the silence. "Gosh, Tori, it's not like it's my wedding. You don't have to look at me like that."

"I really wish the last time I saw you wasn't ten years ago," she says. "I really wish we could've seen you grow up. You look beautiful, Vera." She kisses the back of my head. "I'm so grateful that I get to see you like this."

"In a dress and covered in makeup?" I joke.

She laughs, shaking her head. "No, Vera. All grown up. I told myself so many times that the last time I saw you was at eight years old, that I would only imagine what you'd look like when you were older, but I have you here now."

I tried to stop myself from smiling. "You're being too sappy, Tori. You're gonna make me cry."

"Oh, we can't have that happen, can we?" Tori said, looking through her sets of jewelry. "We don't want you to mess up your makeup already."

She picks out small, gold hoop earrings. "I'm really surprised your piercings never closed, if I'm being honest." She helps me put them on, even if I was capable of doing it myself. "I guess that's what happens if you get them when you're just a kid, they take a while to close."

"I mean, I did have a couple sets of earrings back... there." I still wasn't sure what to call the place I lived in for the last ten years. It definitely wasn't a home. Maybe I'll just call it Fox. "We were thieves, Tori, I got my hands on jewels often." I grabbed the other earring from my sister's grasp, putting it in myself.

"Sometimes I worry when you say things like that so casually," Tori admits. I raise an eyebrow. "I mean, I trust you completely. But sometimes I just... forget."

I don't really know what to say to that, so I stay quiet as she continues to talk. "Speaking of jewels-" She points to the amulet around my neck. "Are you keeping that on?"

I touch it carefully. "I think it would be safest if I had it on me. Why, is there something wrong with it? It still matches the colour scheme of the dress-"