Love Shows When It's There

Matt and I walked downstairs to find Alex and Jack cuddling one another. Jack looked guilt ridden, and Alex looked understanding. What had happened? Not that I had time to ask. I'd catch up with them later.

I grabbed Matt's hand and pulled him out of the front door and to his consultant. Ever since the nightmare incident in which Matt threw me into a wall, he had been going to see a psychologist. He didn't want it happening again. I noticed it was helping him immensely, even if the nightmares still continued.

Matt usually went alone to these meetings, but he had asked me to come along this time, which meant a lot to me. Letting Alex and Jack know we were going out, we grabbed the car keys and jumped into the car. Matt drove us to the clinic he went to before climbing out. Grabbing my hand, he walked to his clinic, me following behind.

"Morning Grace," he said to the receptionist, putting on a dashing smile.
"Morning Matt. Just go through," she replied, smiling. Matt nodded, and pulled me through to the fourth interview room. There sat a woman looking slightly professional, but not intimidating. She was quite pretty.

"Matt. Hey. Come on in. Brought Vinny with you this time?" she said, smiling softly
"Hey Tay. Yeah. Tay, this is Vinny, my boyfriend. Vin, this is my psychologist Taylor, but I was told-"
"Call me Tay. Taylor's just my professional name," she finished Matt's sentence.
"Hi Tay. I'm Vinny," I said, waving slightly. Matt and I both took a seat.

"So, how is your healing process coming along, Matt?" she said, picking up her pencil.
"I'm still getting nightmares, but I'm not as edgy and not thrashing around in my sleep as much," he said.
"How do you see his progress Vinny? I'm aware of the incident that happened a couple of months ago," she asked me.
"Since Matt's started seeing you, he's been a lot calmer. He's not on edge. As he said, he still gets nightmares, but he's not lashing out and the nightmares don't happen as frequently," I replied.
"That's good. It's important that you tell me if you have a nightmare. Now, Matt. How many nightmares have you had since we last met?" she asked.
"Three. One every week. Always on the Wednesday," he said.

"What day did you get attacked on, Matt?" she asked.
"It was a Wednesday," I answered for him.
"That'll be why the nightmares take place every Wednesday. Okay Matt, well I've got enough from you. You may go. However, Vinny, I'd love a little word with you. Matt, could you go wait at reception please?" she asked, politely. He nodded and kissed me before walking out, shutting the door behind him.

"Okay Vinny, I need you to be honest here. How are you holding up? I can see you're upset. I'm a trained psychologist. You're watching your boyfriend go through that every week. You're picking up the pieces. Talk to me. How are you coping?" she asked, looking me in the eye. Tears pricked mine

"I... I'm not coping. I'm just going with it. I've not really thought about me. It's been about him. I'm being the good boyfriend. I'm pushing everything aside for him. I'm sleeping during the day when he's at work 'cause I can't sleep at night in case he has a nightmare. The nights he has nightmares, he cries. I hold him, try to help and try to comfort him, but I can't," I told her, a few tears falling. I sniffed as she passed me a box of tissues.

"I understand how frustrating this for you, and how difficult it is. You're picking up the pieces. What happened on that day, from your perspective?" she asked.
"I got a text from Matt saying "bathroom. help". I got out of class and ran to find two jocks walking out. I ran in to find Alex curled up looking traumatized and Matt hugging him tightly begging him for forgiveness. Matt was covered in his own blood and Alex wasn't saying a word. I grabbed Matt and turned him to face me. He hugged me tightly, sobbing. I didn't know what to do. I was crying. My friend Zack was sitting in the corner, pale faced. We got the story out of Matt. I didn't know what to do. I was shocked. I tuned out after that really," I told her.

"It's a lot to go through Vinny. Listen, here's my business card. When Matt's away at work, come down for a wee while and we can chat some more. Dry your eyes and off you go," she said, handing me her business card. I thanked her quickly before leaving. Matt and I met again in the reception from where we drove home and chatted about that session.

Tay was a good woman. That much I had gathered. Matt what in good hands, when it came to his mental well being.