Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sophie

At first, I wondered if I’d pushed Reid too far that night, but then she’d responded to my messages and said she was going to therapy. And then she’d sent me her fanfic.

That was huge. Completely unexpected and I’d been shocked when I got that message. I’d looked through her profile and saw she was prolific. She’d written so much, holy crap. That was impressive. I’d had no idea. She’d done a lot, and her stories had been read a ton of times. Especially the one she’d recommended. She wasn’t the top author in that fandom, but she was up there.

I’d immediately started reading and within a few paragraphs, I was completely hooked. Absolutely riveted. I didn’t want to let my eyes leave the page, not even to blink.

The story was a little rough, with typos here and there, but her words were so compelling that I didn’t care. Her sentences were poetry sprinkled in with some of the best flirting dialogue and banter that I’d read in a long time. There was just something about the way she wrote that made me want to giggle and kick my feet and clutch my ereader to my chest and sigh in happiness.

There was no way I was sleeping tonight.

Reid and I hadn’t talked about it, but we’d been keeping our distance from each other. It seemed like the right thing to do while she worked on herself.

But I missed her. We still got to talk, but I missed her voice and the way her face looked when she was listening to me and hearing her laugh. I missed seeing her eyes go from brown to gold and back.

“No doubt about it, you’re in a pickle, my love,” Larison said during one of our video chats. Juniper had passed out on the couch after watching a princess movie so we could speak freely.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” I said, feeling grumpy about it.

“How long are you going to give her space?” she asked.

“I don’t know. Until she says that she wants to see me.”

Larison frowned and shifted Juniper off her lap slowly so she didn’t wake up.

“Did you ask her about that, or are you assuming?”

“It just seems like what she’d want,” I said, defensive.

“You should talk to her,” Larison sang softly. “At least check in.”

I didn’t want to. Because then she might say that she didn’t want to talk to me at all and this might all be over.

“Whoa. Stop what you’re doing,” Larison said, pointing at me.

“I’m not doing anything,” I snapped. “Sorry.”

“Sophie. Just talk to her.”

“Ugh. Fine. I’ll talk to her. But if this goes bad, I’m blaming you. I’m going to drive there and I’m going to blame you.”

“Oohhh, I’m scared,” she said, wiggling her fingers.

“Hey, I could take you,” I said.

Larison laughed. “Oh, that’s cute. You couldn’t, but it’s adorable that you think you could.”

She was right. She would absolutely wreck me if it came to a physical fight. I’d be too scared to hurt her, and she’d be scrappy and use dirty tricks. It would be over in a few seconds.

“Now, circling back to what we were talking about, go talk to Reid. Not knowing is the worst part.”

She was right. Larison was almost always right. It was really annoying.

“Stop trying to mom me,” I told her, pretending to glare.

She snorted. “Sorry, can’t help it.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

I sent Reid a message the next day asking if we could talk in person on Friday.

I can do it in the evening. I have my first therapy session in the afternoon.

I really was proud of her for doing that. I had no idea if it would be helpful for her, but I hoped so. Having a good therapist had helped me so much. It wasn’t for everyone, but Reid seemed to have so much bottled up that she needed to get out in a safe environment. She needed someone to validate her anger and her other emotions. And maybe help her with some coping skills if she needed help handling them.

Are you nervous? I asked.

Honestly? Yes.

So I told her about my own therapy journey in the hopes that it might ease her mind.

Thanks for all that. You’re right, it’s the not knowing what to expect that’s the worst part. What if I hate it?

I’d had all the same fears. Then you leave. You don’t have to be anywhere you don’t want to be, Reid. You’re an adult. If you hate it, leave. And maybe try a different therapist.

Thanks, Soph. All of this means a lot to me. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.

She hadn’t told me what time her appointment was, but I kept my eye on the clock and couldn’t stop looking at my phone during my shift at the library. I didn’t have her fanfic with me because if I did, I wouldn’t be able to do my job. Everything else would fall by the wayside and I’d get fired for ignoring everyone who wanted to check out a book.

I was getting back when I got a message from Reid.

Therapy done. I survived. On the way back with cupcakes. See you in fifteen?

See you in fifteen I responded.

I ran around my place, tidying up and just generally freaking out like this was the first time Reid had ever come to my place.

Her knock on the door was crisp and prompt.

“Hi,” I said, yanking the door open and wanting to hug her immediately. I held back, and not just because she had a box of cupcakes held out between us.

“Hey,” she said. Reid looked wrecked. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her face was pale. She had been through the wringer today.

“Come in, come in. Do you want some tea?” Immediately I switched into hostess mode, taking the cupcakes from her and filing the kettle and pointing her toward the couch so she could sit down.

“I was thinking about you all afternoon,” I said as I arranged the cupcakes on a plate and got out the mugs and bags of tea.

“Thanks for talking me down last night. I was so close to canceling.”

I brought everything over on a tray, praying that I didn’t drop it.

“But you didn’t.” Setting the tray down, I took a seat next to her on the couch.

Reid reached for a cupcake as if it was a life preserver and she was drowning. It was chocolate with chocolate frosting. Naturally.

I poured the tea and made us both cups.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” The suspense was killing me, but I didn’t want to push.

Reid took a massive bite of cupcake and swallowed before she answered. “Well. I cried almost the whole time. I’d specifically promised myself I wasn’t going to do that and then, waterworks. I swear there was something she pumped into the air. Anyway. It was brutal and terrible, and I hated every second of it and I have an appointment next week.”

She finished her cupcake and went for the tea.

“Yeah, that’s kind of how therapy was for me. It’s like exercise. While you’re doing it, you’re miserable, but afterward you feel so much better.”

Reid nodded. “Exactly. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, I guess. I’ve got a lot of shit to deal with.”

I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t make any comments.

“I can feel you wanting to say something over there, Soph. This is not news to me. I’ve got…some baggage.”

Didn’t everyone?

“Yeah, and I’ve got anxiety. Makes us far more interesting, in my opinion.”

Reid laughed. “Okay, I like that. And I think you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.”

She grabbed another cupcake. “Anyway, I feel like I’ve been run over multiple times today. Please can we talk about something else.”

So I told her how much I loved her fanfic. For a long, long time.