City of Fools

As there was with every good thing; there was a downside to spending all this time with Alex.
As always, it came in the form of my mother.
Having learned that it was much easier to just go along with her ridiculous requests than to argue, therapy session number two ensued.
It was the same woman, (Miss New-Boobs, though I had now learned her name was Clara), but this time the experience was somewhat more dull without the company of a certain pink-haired someone.
This time I attended alone, in the mindset to get a professional view on Alex’s thoughts of me.
“Hi Taylor! Welcome back. I’m glad you found your first session helpful enough to come back.”
Ugh. I mentally rolled my eyes and put on a fake smile, shifting to get comfortable in the weird bendy-chair-thing.
“Is there anything in particular you wanted to start with?”
“Well, actually-”
I opened my mouth to talk about the things Alex had said, but instantly stopped myself. Realisation hit me like a ton of bricks. I couldn’t share the things Alex had said. Ridiculous as though it may seem, they suddenly felt private and precious; a part of the small piece of forever we shared. Talking about them, even to a so-called professional, in a situation in which the passing-on of information any further was even illegal; it was wrong.
“…. No. Nothing.”
“Well,” She smiled and sat up straighter, looking over some papers on her desk.
“Your Mother tells me you’ve been very distant. Can you explain why?”
I rolled my eyes, quite blatantly this time.
“I haven’t been distant. I’ve been having a life. I’ve been working and spending time with a… friend. I’ve answered when she called and provided adequate conversation. I’m really not the problem there.”
Clara nodded, making a note of my words.
“How old are you, Taylor?”
“I’m twenty. Don’t you have that in your notes?”
“Yes, but there are some routine questions. Just to see what we’re working with.”
“… We?”
“Me and you. Therapist and patient.”
Dear God.
“Right.”
“So, where were you this time yesterday?
“Um,” I paused, glancing at the clock.
“I was in Starbucks.”
“Alone?”
My mind wandered back to Alex and his theories on the diversity of family life in present day (without once touching on his own, may I add).
“No. With a friend.”
“A special friend?”
I frowned. “You’ll find he’s astoundingly clever.”
She smiled, fighting against a laugh in an attempt to maintain her professional front.
“That’s not what I meant. Is he just a friend?”
“Oh.” I pondered it, knowing that he was not just a friend, though not yet anything more.
“Maybe not. No.”
“Tell me about him.”
I frowned again, racking my brain for a way to explain him to her without creating a crack in the shield of private serenity that surrounded Alex and I.
“He has the most amazing mind- he has thoughts that I could never begin to understand. Though I think it’s because he’s a little broken. A lot broken. But I guess I’m a little broken too. I’m helping him and he’s helping me- we work around each other in this amazing way, I mean, we fit. It’s the puzzle. And we fit.”
“You’re right,” She commented, “You do fit.”
“Huh?” I wasn’t expecting her to understand.
She smiled knowingly. “Now tell me more about being a little broken.”
I blinked, realising what she’d done.
“Wow,” I nodded appreciatively. “I guess you’re pretty good at this.”
I’d gotten home at around 5:30 and soon decided to not waste any more time. I knew what I wanted.
“Alex, ” I began the second he opened his door. “I’ve been back to therapy today and I’ve had an epiphany.”
He smiled, that I-know-something-you-don’t crooked smile that made my knees weak.
“I’ve heard therapy does that to people.”
I laughed, looking down.
“You’re throwing me off! I had, like, a speech.”
“Oh but it’s so much more fun when you’re all blushy and confused.”
I took his hand, shushing him with his own finger as I walked into his apartment.
“I’ve had an epiphany or whatever. And I’m bored of wasting time. We have a finite number of days-“
“And there’s something we’re destined to do within them.”
“Stop it!”
He laughed at me, taking both of my hands and walking forwards until I was against the wall.
“Alright. And I’ve realised that-“
“Tay.”
“What. What?!”
“Shut up.”
And then he kissed me, and nothing else mattered. I didn’t care about the speech, I didn’t care about therapy, and I didn’t care about work. Alex was kissing me and I was kissing Alex. In that moment there was only Alex and me, and the world had spared a few seconds to revolve around us as we completed the puzzle within our own little piece of forever.