A/N- I'm sorry in advance

TW







Juliana's POV

I came to my senses slowly, something I didn't do often, realising how comfortable I was. I yawned, snuggling deeply into my pillow as I sighed in contentment. It wasn't often that I woke up without a nightmare, or someone crushing me half to death.

I heard a deep rumble and a chuckle, fingers running softly through my hair.

"Hush Pillow." I mumbled, repositioning my head to get comfortable again.

I was almost back asleep before I realised that pillows don't talk. Nor do they run their fingers through your hair. Popping my head up in alarm, I groaned when that made me smack up against the hand in my hair.

Great, another headache.

I put my head back down, deciding that it was too early to deal with this.

"Are you okay?" A voice asked and I screamed, flinging myself to the side, and in true Juliana fashion, I ended up on the floor.

"Juliana!" Massimo's face came into view, and I froze as everything that happened last night came back to mind.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

LAST NIGHT - 1 AM





I wasn't exactly sure what was going on downstairs, and I wasn't sure I wanted to know.

Apparently something had come up at one of the businesses that needed literally every adult in the house's attention, and Hunter had been left to "watch us."

Unbeknownst to them, the minute everyone had left the house, Hunter invited a bunch of his friends over, and they were currently downstairs doing who knows what. He had simply told Justin and I to stay in our rooms, which wasn't a problem for Justin because he still had writing to do.

It made me seriously wonder just how mean Grandpa had been when dishing out his punishment.

However there was one problem. I was hungry. The adults had left about an hour before dinner (which was hours ago), and I had forgotten to eat lunch, too caught up in my drawing, and my breakfast had been picked out before being forgotten about.

On the bright side, I had finally gotten the eyes just how I wanted them, and then I got a little caught up with the colour spectrum. The only reason I had stopped was because Elliot had to leave and I felt too awkward being in here without him.

So here I was, in a pit of a dilemma. I wanted food, but I didn't want to go downstairs and deal with whatever the fuck was happening down there. And the idiot that is myself, forgot to stash some emergency snacks.

Just then I started thinking about how I had been violently craving the fudge that Dad taught me to make. And I'm the type of person that if I eat sweets on an empty stomach, I throw up. Welp, it's either go eat or cry about dad.

I choose food.

I hadn't even made it halfway down the stairs when I realised how bad I had just fucked up.

As soon as the living room came into view, I was able to see that Hunter only had a few friends over, maybe 3 total. But it was what they were doing that put me in a real dilemma.

I smelt it before I saw it, catching me by surprise it immediately made me cough. I was reminded of when Jameson brought his friends over. It was not a pleasant smell.

I froze as I heard the talking come to a halt, before I heard Hunter call,

"Just come down here already Juliana. We know you're there." I cringed, walking the rest of the way there. I can't say I was shocked to see the alcohol bottles, the bong, joints, lines, and spoons strewn out across the coffee table. But it definitely wasn't a welcome sight.

I stood awkwardly at the bottom of the stairs, feeling uncomfortable with four people staring at me when I only knew one of them. Not to add that I had no idea how far gone they were.

"I was just going to get some food." I said, taking a side step in the direction of the kitchen.

"You're a real pretty girl. Why don't you join us?" One of the slime balls sitting on the couch said, leaning forward and propping his elbows on his knees.

"Yeah, we can give you something to eat." The one next to his jokes, and the others laughed. Except for Hunter.

"Dude. She's literally my cousin. That's disgusting." He said, screwing his nose up at them, but they brushed him off.

"Yeah, I-I'm good. I'm just gonna go." I kept my distance as I walked around them to the kitchen, taking a deep breath once I was safely at my destination.

I decided to forgo the fudge and just get something quickly so I could get back to the safety of my room.

I opened the fridge to see that there were seven bowls wrapped up in the fridge, all containing what looked to be Chicken Alfredo. I silently thanked whichever cook had done that, and popped it in the microwave for a few minutes to warm it up.

After I grabbed a fork, napkin, and a water bottle, I mentally prepared myself and started my beeline for my room.

Only to be stopped by a hand on my arm.

I tensed, looking behind me to see the one who had previously told me to join them.

"Where are you going gorgeous?" He asked me, pulling me against his chest.

"None of your business." I snapped, trying to pull away from him, but my efforts were in vain.

"Oh come on, don't you want to have a little fun? Loosen up a little." He laughed.

"No. Now fuck off." I again tried to jerk out of his hold, but that only resulted in me almost dropping my precious food.

"Aww, you're a feisty one." He laughed, rocking his hips into me and I heard chuckles from behind us. There goes my appetite.

"What do you want?" I demanded, leaning as far from him as I could get.

"I asked you to join us. It's rude to ignore people. Did your daddy not teach you that? Because I'd be more than happy to teach you." He leaned down to whisper the last part in my ear.

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

"I told you, I'm good." I ground out, glaring at him over my shoulder.

"You know, how do we know she isn't gonna go upstairs and snitch on us?" The third and final guy spoke up, taking a swig of what looked like a very expensive rum, straight from the bottle.

"Oh," The guy holding me looks down at me with a pleasantly surprised face. "Well it looks like now you have to stay." He smiled ruefully at me, and I had a feeling I would not like how tonight was going to turn out.

So that's how I ended up between two of Hunter's 3 friends, who I had yet to learn the names of, but the one on my left, who up until then had been the quiet one, was staring creepily at me, and I'm honestly questioning if he's even a teenager. He sure doesn't look like it. And the other one, the handsy one, had been slowly inching his hand up my bare thigh, (because someone was an idiot and wore shorts to bed) laughing whenever I tried to push his hand off only for him to reposition it higher up my thigh.

My food was long forgotten, instead I focused on not throwing up, and planning the fastest route out of this room. I watched Hunter and his two asshole friends down 3 almost full bottles of alcohol, and line after line, joint after joint, and so by now they were all obviously drunk and high off their asses. I was actually kind of concerned, because we all know mixing drugs and alcohol is already a risk, but with how much they were doing... I was starting to get a little scared.

And while all this happened, the creepy one on my left didn't participate in nearly as much of it as the others did. Did he participate, yes. However he still seemed pretty level headed, unlike the other two.

"Are they okay?" I asked, looking at Hunter and his friend, the handsy one, both passed out on the other side of the couch. I tried looking to see if they were still breathing, but from my angle I couldn't tell.

"Oh calm down, they're fine." The one who had told me that they could "give me something to eat" slurred.

"Yeah sweetheart, relax. Have some fun." The one on my left said, reaching forward and grabbing one of the joints. Yes, they still had some left.

He lit it, took a long drag, and then blew it in my face. Because I didn't realise what he was about to do, I wasn't able to prepare myself for it, meaning that I coughed, choking on the air, trying to wave it out of my face as tears came to my eyes.

All while the guys on my left and right laughed.

"Fucking bastards." I said, trying to escape once again, and once again, it didn't work. Instead, maybe/maybe not a teenager grabbed my waist and yanked me into his lap.

"Aww, don't be mad, sugar." He chuckled as he spoke close to my ear. I crinkle my nose, practically gagging at the smell coming from his mouth.

"Let go of me." I struggled to get out of his lap, accidentally knocking the joint in his hand with my bicep, sending it to the ground. I didn't even notice the burning that was coming from my arm because of it, too focused on getting away from this slime ball.

"Ohh, keep moving like that baby, you'll get me off right here." He grunted, his hands tightening on my hips as he thrust up into my bottom.

I froze, my stomach dropping. His hand moved from my waist down, but unlike the handsy one, he didn't stop. He tried to cup my privates, but I jerked to the side, pressing my legs tightly together.

"Come on now, don't be a fucking tease." He said harshly, taking that same hand and palming my boob. Again, I pushed his hand away, my breathing starting to become harsh from panic as the situation hit me.

I continued struggling, dodging his hands when he tried to grope me, finally coming free, only to be shoved straight onto the floor. I winced when I felt the still hot joint be crushed under my forearm, not necessarily because it hurt, but knowing that that was probably going to leave a mark in the carpet.

Before I had time to process anything, there was a body on top of me, holding me down. I was shook out of my shock when I heard a fly being undone, randomly kicking my legs out, and hitting whatever was in my reach.

I couldn't see much, I didn't process much of what was happening, but I could feel my arms being pulled above my head, I heard jeans being shuffled with, there was a hand around my left hip, I could feel some form of weight on my legs, like someone was sitting on them.

My mind was stuck between protecting itself and fighting back. I could feel 3 hands on me, so I knew that both of them were participating. Fuck. If I couldn't even fight off one, I had no chance against both of them.

The hand on my neck squeezed teasingly. Not hard enough to completely cut off my air, but enough to remind me of my helpless position. It still didn't stop me from trying to retch my hands from their little prison, my body wiggling all around, trying to get away.

I heard chuckles, but it sounded distant. There was a plastic ripping sound, and then I felt hands on my shorts. An agitated and panicked scream left my mouth, only to have a hand shoved over it, as the one on my neck tightened, completely cutting off my airways.

This meant that my hands were free, and I brought them up, pulling and scratching at the person suffocating me, doing whatever I could to get them to let up.



But they didn't.





























My vision was going grey, the ringing in my ears becoming prominent. So prominent that I almost didn't hear a door being slammed. I almost didn't hear the running footsteps, or the angry yelling. I almost didn't feel the hands being ripped off of me. I almost didn't feel the softer hands pulling back up my shorts, or hear the hoarse coughing coming from my lips. I almost didn't feel myself being picked up by gentle hands, being hugged to somebody's chest, my back being rubbed soothingly.

But when I did it was absolute chaos. I kept my head buried in the person's neck, unknowingly wrapping my legs around their waist, clinging onto them with a death grip.

I heard mad voices trying to figure out what had happened. Somebody was dead. I hadn't realised a soft whimper had left me until everything went silent.

"Massimo, take her upstairs. Put her to bed." It was Uncle Stefano.

I didn't hear a reply, but I did feel whoever I was clinging to start moving. I felt them go upstairs and enter a room, all while rubbing my back.

"Ana, I need to set you down now." I heard a deep voice say, and it took me a second, but I finally loosened my hold.

I was set down on the edge of my bed, and I stared down blankly, feeling numb.

"Ana?" A voice called. The voice was familiar, yet not. I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure about a lot right now.

"Julie, I need you to look at me." The voice was a little harder, more nervous.

"Juliana." The voice snapped. The sound of my full name had me looking up, confused.

I saw a man in front of me. Now one I'd seen before. He looked familiar. Had the features of someone I knew. Maybe?

The face softened when he finally saw me respond. He just stared at me, not creepily, but like he was taking me in.

I ignored him, looking around lucidly.

Me standing up seemed to draw him out of whatever trance he had been in, and he immediately put his hands out, like he thought I was about to fall.

"What are you doing? Where do you think you're going?" He interrogated, that harshness seeping back through.

"I need to shower." Was all I said, waving his hands off as I made my way to the bathroom.

"I don't know about that. That's not the safest thing right now. You need to-"

"I don't care. I stink, I'm hurting, and all I can right now are his hands on my skin." I looked at him through the mirror, and I saw the pain and sorrow that flashed quickly through his eyes at what I said. "So please, right now, what I need is a fucking shower, okay?"

He finally nodded his head, keeping his eyes on mine through the mirror.

"Alright. Fine, but this door stays cracked open." He raised his hand to stop me when I opened my mouth to complain.

"That is for your safety. You are very susceptible to shock right now, and so this door either stays open, or you don't shower. Nobody will be able to see in the door. The shower and closet are both blocked off from the door and mirror." He explained when he saw my face and I mustered up a weak smile, nodding my head in agreement.

He nodded back, leaving the door cracked as he left.

Oh, what a night this has been.

_____________________________

A shower was definitely what I needed. It helped clear my mind, and get the funk off of me. Literally and figuratively.

After getting dressed in some cute white sweatpants that had little hearts all over them and a loose grey long sleeve shirt, even though I was probably going to regret that seeing as this was summertime, I brushed my hair and called it a day. Or should I say night?

"-ppened? She could be going into shock and you let her out of your sight?" I heard Grandma exclaim, voice slightly raised, as I walked out the closet door that led straight into my bedroom.

"I am fine. I'm not going into shock." I sighed. Even though my voice was a little hoarse and my throat hurt, and was possibly bruising, that was about the only damage done.

"Nothing happened!?" Multiple voices shouted at the same time and I just shook my head, realising that they were going to make a big deal out of this.

"Exactly. Thanks for agreeing with me." I said, as I continued my walk over to my bed. Seeing as most of them were either sitting on or standing by it, I decided to sit on the guy who had carried me here.

Who I was pretty sure was Massimo. Either way, it didn't matter. What mattered was that I was exhausted, I felt safe with him, and a part of me didn't want to be alone right now.

"So you must be going into shock then," Elijah said, putting his hand on my forehead to feel my temperature.

"I'm not going into shock!" I said, swatting his hands away.

"Really? You're clammy, warm, flushed, and look like death." He countered and I gave him a look.

"Gee, thanks." I drawled, and he shook his head, eyes wide.

"No! I didn't mean it like that-fuck, you know what I mean." He said and I raised an eyebrow.

"Do I? Cause I think you just called me ugly." I heard a snort come from behind me and Elijah glared.

"Stop distracting me." He said suddenly, pointing a finger at me.

"I'm not clammy, that's lotion." I said and Elijah frowned, sniffing his hand slightly, nodding in agreement when he smelt the lavender scent on his hands.

"I'm warm because I was just in the shower, and I'm not flushed, I have a sunburn." I said, but this time it was my turn to give him a pointed look when he tried to argue. Instead he huffed and walked away.

"Is Hunter okay?" I asked no one in particular and I heard a lot of angry grunts.

"He won't be when we're through with him." Maybe-Massimo said, and I turned around to give him a glare but he chuckled when I did that.

"Bambina piccola, you couldn't hurt a fly." He said and I huffed, crossing my arms and whipping my hair in his face as I turned around.

(Translation: Little girl.)

"So he's alright though?" I asked, realising I never got a true answer.

"He'll be fine. We had to pump his stomach, and everybody's on standby in case an overdose starts to take effect. He should be completely fine the day after tomorrow. You realise what happened downstairs was very dangerous, on many different levels, correct?" Uncle Stefano answered, and I nodded my head showing him that I understood.

"Good. So if you're not going into shock, then we had a few questions for you." Maybe-Massimo said, repositioning me so that my side was to him and I was facing the others. I took a breath and leaned into his chest, looking expectantly at the others.

"You need to tell us exactly what happened. And did you ingest anything?" Grandpa demanded, cutting straight to the chase.

"Other than what was in the air, or what the one guy blew in my face, no." I felt Maybe-Massimo stiffen slightly when I mentioned Hunter's friend, but I ignored it. I blew out a breath, not really wanting to snitch on Hunter, but I also understood why they needed to know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And that's how we had gotten here. When Massimo had left to go to bed, I decided I wasn't done being clingy and had followed him, offended at being placed down.

He definitely didn't fight me too much on letting me stay in his room, and here we are.

"Juliana, Are. You. okay? I am three seconds away from taking you down to the clinic, answer me." Massimo snapped and I quickly nodded my head, letting him know that I was alright.

"What time is it?" I asked, clearing my throat.

"A little after 5:30, why?" He asked and I looked at him confused.

"Wasn't it like 4 when we went to bed? I asked, wondering how we only slept for an hour at most.

"Today is Thursday, you're thinking about Wednesday. He explained and I nodded, but then looked at him in shock.

"It's been over 12 hours?"

"You needed it. You had a stressful day." He said, sticking his hand out to help me up off the floor.

I took it, and now I was standing almost equal to his height, seeing as he was still sitting on the bed.

"Are you okay?" He asked me, holding onto my hands, looking at me intently.

"I'm fine. Falling off a bed isn't going to be what kills me." I joked and he gave me a serious look.

"You know what I mean." He whispered and I looked down.

"I guess. I mean, nothing happened." I said and I looked up when Massimo squeezed my hands.

"You know that it's not true, right? We pulled the CCTV footage. They assaulted you, Juliana. That is not nothing." I looked away again, and Massimo gently tugged at my arm.

He let go and opened his arms, silently asking permission for a hug.

I wasted no time hugging him tightly, soaking in the temporary comfort he brought me.

"We have a few hours before breakfast, would you like to do anything?" He asked as we pulled away from each other. "We can go back to sleep, watch a movie, play a game, you can have some alone time if you want." He suggested.

I thought for a minute, deeply considering what I wanted to do. I didn't have a lot of free time at home, at least not the type that I was allowed to spend playing around.

"Can we play a game?" I asked hesitantly, but the second the words were out of my mouth I regretted them.

'He probably doesn't want to play with you. He was just suggesting it to be nice you dimwit. It's not even 6, who would want to play games that early?' The voice in the back of my head snided, and I had just opened my mouth to take back my stupid suggestion when Massimo spoke.

"Alright, sounds good. What would you like to play?" I looked at him cautiously, unsure if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Card game or board game?"

"Uhh, board game?"

"Pick one, then."

"Be a little bossier and I will." I sassed and he raised an eyebrow.

"Okay. scratch the options I gave you, we're playing uno." He said and I rolled my eyes. He tickled my ribs in retaliation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Breakfast

Apparently, the seat that had been deemed "my chair" had such a random gap between me and Uncle Stefano because Massimo normally sat in the chair to my left, which was the second chair to the head of the table.

Grandpa sat at the head of the table, and my side of the table (left side) held Uncle Stefano, then Massimo, me Elijah, and Elliot. Then, across from Uncle Stefano, it was Nonna, Aunt Stefanie, Hunter, and Justin.

To say breakfast was tense would be an understatement. Hunter was still in the clinic upstairs, so he, thankfully, wasn't there. But Justin, who had no idea what had taken place the other day, or should I say yesterday morning, kept questioning where Hunter was, and why nobody was talking.

I knew everyone but Justin and Hunter knew what had happened to me last night, and it seemed like everyone was either walking on eggshells because of it, or trying to make awkward conversations that quickly shut down.

"Justin, why don't you go put your plate in the sink and get dressed." Uncle Stefano eventually said, and Justin nodded, happily running out of the room.

Oh how I wished to be in his position.

When I tell you we all just sat there, for the next who-even-knows-how-long. I wasn't sure what we were waiting on, as everyone was done, but you'd think that we'd all been put in time out or something.

"So is this just how it's going to be from now on?" I asked, unsurprisingly having been the first one to break from the impending silence.

"You're going to see a therapist." Grandpa stated and I swear I almost died right there.

"Excuse you!" I practically shouted, shocked.

"Watch your tone." Grandpa said in a scary voice which immediately had me shutting up.

"Okay, okay that was not the way that was supposed to happen." Uncle Stefano interfered.

"What he means is, all of us have regular check in's with a trusted family therapist named Maria. All of us do it, and it's not only a safety precaution, but our line of work can get very dark, and very depressing. Talking with a therapist is a very good, healthy way of letting go of some of those burdens." Uncle Stefano explained.

"We were going to wait until it was time for the boys' next check in, so you wouldn't be alone, however we think it might be best if we moved that up a little bit." Nonna explained gently.

"How far is a little bit?" I asked, already knowing I wasn't going to like the answer.

"Like an hour and a half from now." Elliot said smugly and I glared at him.

'Ever heard of something called a heads up?' I thought sarcastically.

"Please say you'll go, Juliana. It might be good for you to talk about what happened last night." Elijah pleaded, talking for the first time this morning.

"Well with that indisputable proposition how could I possibly say no." I muttered, loud enough for everyone to hear with such a quiet room, and stood up, grabbing my plate and trudging into the kitchen.

Looks like I'm lying to a shrink today. Just what I had on my to-do list for this morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, I have to admit this isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I thought it would be like one of those scenes straight out of a horror movie, the ones where you end up strapped down to a metal stretcher, being wheeled into a padded isolation room.

But nope. Apparently, this Maria girl came to us.

When she arrived I was freshly dressed in a long-sleeve form fitting shirt (long sleeves to hide the burns) and shorts because it was too hot, even when staying inside, to be wearing long sleeves and pants.

True to their word, Maria did seem pretty friendly with the family, giving both my Aunt and Nonna a hug, and shaking hands with most of the males the minute she arrived.

Once she finally got inside is when she finally spotted me shamelessly using Elijah as my personal hiding space.

"Hi, you must be Juliana, I've heard a lot about you from Justin." She said with a big warm smile on her face and I pressed my lips into a thin line in acknowledgment.

'What have I done to Justin that warranted being brought up in therapy?' I wondered.

'I don't know, maybe the fact that you put him on read and have been completely ghosting him for 9, almost 10 years?' the little voice in the back of my head snarked, not at all happy about the way I had isolated myself.

'Shut up.' I told myself.

Okay maybe I do need therapy.

Ignoring my rudeness, Maria introduced herself and then asked if there was anywhere specific I would like to talk.

I shrugged, and asked if we could go sit by the pool, hoping that as long as nobody was snooping through the security cameras, no one could eavesdrop. Maria agreed and let me lead the way.

"So, how do you like living here?" She asked and I shrugged, kicking my feet in the water.

We were both sitting on the edge of the pool, feet and shins dipped in the cool water.

"Fine I guess. Wasn't really my choice, but it's better than it could be." I didn't look at her, more focused on the water.

Was I being a bitch, yes. I'm fully aware of that, and I know it's not her fault, she was just doing her job. But I hate therapists with a passion. Always so eager to tell on you even when they promise they won't.

"And why is that?" She asked, and I finally looked at her.

"You don't already know?" I asked and she shook her head, her reassuring smile still intact.

"No. I have not been told anything about you, or your life. Only what Justin spilled about you when you were younger. I will know only what you tell me, and trust what only you tell me. And what you tell me, stays with me. Unless it is a life or death/potentially harmful situation. That is how therapy works." I looked at her while she spoke, and I couldn't see a single factor that might clue me in to the fact that she was lying.

"My brother is currently the one taking care of me and my siblings. I guess he needed a break from me. Thought sending me here would be a good alternative." I made up my own, slightly happier, version of the story. I liked the way that sounded much better than 'my brother got tired of beating the shit out of me and he sent me here so others could'

She nodded her head thoughtfully.

"And how do you feel about that?" She asked.

"It's kind of disheartening, knowing that he would need a break from me, but not the others. However, I understand that we all have our own needs, and right now what he needs is a bit of a break. Plus, I can't complain too much because it's giving me time with my extended family." I was prepared for that question, and the answer rolled easily off my tongue.

"That is very mature of you." She said and I smiled gratefully at her.

"I am going to be fifteen in a week." I joked.

"I'm not going to beat around the bush with this part, I feel it would be best if we simply got these questions over with." She said, and the serious note in her voice had me immediately diverting my full attention to her.

"I need you to please answer these questions as honestly and fully as you can. First off, are you suicidal?"

"No."

"Are you currently harming yourself or others?"

"No and no."

"In the past month, have you thought about harming yourself or others?

"No."

"In the past month, have you ever thought that the world would be a better place without you, that you were not needed, or did not add anything to society."

Only every day.

"No."

"Have you ever been formally diagnosed with depression, or anxiety?"

Honey I would be locked up in the psych ward if you could see inside my brain right now.

"No."

"Have you ever felt depressed, or had major anxiety problems?"'

"Only the healthy amount."

"And what would that be?" She sort of shocked me by how quickly she went from her mesmerised questionnaire back to genuine questions.

"Anxiety and depression are a vital part of life, and very healthy things if experienced in the correct balance. I feel fear, or anxiety in the appropriate situations, in appropriate amounts. But it doesn't cloud over me, or dictate my life."

You lying bitch.

"That's good. Have you ever seen a therapist before? Because you seem very well aware about these types of things." She asked and I nodded.

"Yes, actually. I saw one when my dad was first declared dead. He helped me through a lot of the big feelings and small regressions I was having, such as thumb sucking and bed wetting." I said and she nodded.

"How old were you when that happened?"

"About 5, I would say."

"And how long did you see that therapist?"

"For about a year. Three times a week for almost 6 months, and that slowly decreased as we saw progress." Well, not really. I mean, I did see a therapist, but it wasn't a pleasant experience.

"That's good. I see why you would be so emotionally inclined then." She said and I nodded.

I want to say that we talked for almost half an hour about random things, things that I liked about it here, things that I disliked. I didn't mention what had happened last night out of fear that she would want to make a follow-up appointment to check in with any physiological effects it could have had on me in the long term.

Once our time was up, and she felt like she had enough information about me to properly judge my mental state, she said that she was glad to meet me, and that she didn't think she would need to see me again until Uncle Stefano thought it was time.

"Thank you for today. And I'm really sorry about earlier. I know I was being really rude. You did nothing to warrant that." I sincerely apologise for the way I acted, because it was not acceptable, no matter how upset I was about seeing a counsellor.

"It's okay. You're not the first person to be less than willing to see me. In fact, all of the boys went through that stage where they wanted nothing to do with me. I promise you did not hurt my feelings. And I understand how it may have felt like you were going backwards in your progress from when you were younger. From the sounds of it, you've not had therapy since that year after your father died and so I see why maybe it could have been a bit of a trigger for you." She explained and I nodded, grateful that she hadn't taken offence towards the way I acted.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." I said, smiling to her as Aunt Stephanie walked Maria out to her car.

I just about sighed with relief and was on my way to run up to my room when suddenly a voice calls out:

"Hold it."

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Another chapter done. Got it out a bit later than I wanted too, but life happened. Hope you enjoyed. :)