The Best Kind of Therapy

------------------------------------------

Aubree walked onto the beach, the soft white sand kicking up into her sandals and in between her toes, her long dark brown hair whipping in the wind. It was the most beautiful day that she had seen in a while and the tide was in so that was a bonus. She spotted Oliver sitting down by the waters edge and she walked in his direction. He looked adorable with his small natural pout, his plain white t-shirt, and his skinny jeans. When she got next to him, she sat down right beside him.

Oli glanced over and smiled when he saw Aubree. He never noticed how much of a hipster she was until he saw her outfit. A black tank top with a lace front, shorts, a fox tail clipped to her belt loop, and somehow she pulled it off. Normally he didn't like hipster girls, they were usually bitches. Aubree was different though.

"So, I can't quite figure out why you wanted me to come to the beach." She said with a small smile. Oli shrugged and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"We can just talk." He replied, his accent thick.

"About what?"

"About you."

Aubree gulped and ran her hand through her hair nervously. How could she not see that coming? Was she blinded by him somehow? Either way she couldn't turn back now, she might as well go ahead and tell him everything. She just didn't want the judgment that he might have, she wasn't prepared for that.

"Well, I was born in Orlando, Florida and then we moved here when I was 10. I thought England was pretty cool until I started school. I was tortured," Aubree took a deep breath and then continued, "for being the new kid and for being just a little bit different from everyone else. I was so small people actually took to throwing me around. It wasn't a very fun experience for me. It continued up until I graduated high school. When I was 15 I got into self harming. So yeah, you could say that I've had a fucked up life." She wiped away a stray tear that had fallen and Oli looked down at her arms.

"You don't hide your scars?" He asked suddenly feeling adoration towards her.

"Why should I? If there is anything at all that I'm proud of, it's my scars. They remind me that yeah, I'm fucked up but I made it through a very difficult part of my life and that I have one less to worry about. Things are still difficult, I'm not better, I'm still fucked in the head but there's less to deal with."

Oli pressed his lips in a tight line and grabbed Aubree's hand. He didn't know why he did it, it just felt like the thing to do. And the best part was, she didn't pull away. She didn't fight it. She wanted the comfort. After hearing her story, he wanted to help her more than ever. Then it hit him.

"Bree, what do you see when you look out at the ocean? I'm not talking about just the water but the water, the sky, the horizon, everything."

Aubree didn't know how to answer that question but she was going to try. She stared out at the landscape in front of her and she furrowed her eyebrows. It didn't look how she thought it was going to look.

"I see...it's ugly." Already anticipating that answer, Oli picked up a seashell. It was large and different shades of pinks and light blues, it was unusual.

"What about this?"

"It's...pretty." Aubree wasn't sure about where that was going but something was telling her to have an open mind and to trust this man.

"Now, look back out at the ocean."

She didn't know how he did it but suddenly everything looked a lot better than it did before. It was actually beautiful. Everything was suddenly beautiful. And then she realized, Oli was trying to give her a better outlook on life. It was the most amazing thing that she had ever experienced.

"C'mon." Oli stood up and stripped off his shirt, shoes, socks, and jeans. Aubree watched completely baffled as he ran towards the ocean. Fuck it. Aubree stood up, took off her top, her sandals, unclipped her fox tail, and put everything in her purse. And soon she was running out to the ocean, diving into the warm salty water.

The two of them spent roughly two hours wrestling around in the water. To everyone else, they probably looked like a loving couple but to them, they were just friends. Sure, Oli was attracted to her. She was short, skinny, toned, and was uh 'gifted' in the chest area. But Oli was tired of going after women for what they looked like on the outside. He wanted someone who had a good personality and Aubree just wasn't that girl.

As messed up as it sounds, she really was too fucked up.