GyllenHolland: Cherry

Taco Tuesday

One month down. Surprisingly, Tom was making a lot of progress since he first started staying here. He finally started talking in group therapy, and eventually pulled himself out of his harmful headspace. He still had urges now and then, but he usually just let them go instead of indulging in them. The only problem that was developed from this was sets of panic attacks. But that's another story.

His group therapist noticed him and Paula were getting along very nicely. They were basically attached to the hip, since Tom didn't want to talk to anyone else, and Paula was too nervous to make other friends.

Tom still found it stupid he had to acknowledge his struggles in front of a group of people, not matter how much progress he made. "I guess," he sighed, "I guess I wasn't prepared for what I had to do."

"Whatever you had to go through, was difficult then? Yes?" The therapist asked, trying to keep Tom's life discreet.

"Yeah. And it-" his voice broke. He looked up at the ceiling, not daring to let a tear fall. He took a deep breath and continued what he was saying. "Life became very unmanageable, very quickly."

"It's a good thing you're here." He smiled. "We can teach you the best coping mechanisms when life starts to unravel again."

Once group therapy concluded for the day, Tom and Paula decided to hit the café. It was Taco Tuesday, and Paula could not resist.

"So Jake Gyllenhaal huh?" She said taking a bite into her crunchy taco.

"Yeah." He messed with the end of his sleeves.

"You guys are really cute together. When the news came out that you were an official couple, I swear I almost-"

"We aren't together anymore."

Paula almost choked on her taco shell. She took a sip of water, and coughed trying not to asphyxiate. "I'm sorry! I didn't know. I'm stupid for nosing in your business." She was very prone to blaming herself for every mistake that occurred.

"You're not stupid. It's fine, honestly. I'm just, trying to focus on myself right now. I'm not ready to talk about him."

"Of course! I totally understand." She fiddled with the crystal charm attached to her necklace.

Tom smiled and ended the conversation. All he wanted to do for the rest of the day was sleep. Being around people he didn't enjoy talking to often took it out of him.
~
Around two o' clock in the afternoon, a knock came from Tom's door. He tried to ignore it, but it just seemed to get louder. "Tom? Are you awake?"

He huffed, and rolled out of bed. He shuffled his way to the door, and unlocked the knob. "What is-" his irritated face grew into a smile. "Jacob! What are you doing here?"

"I got a call saying that you were finally allowed to have visitors. So here I am!" He opened his arms, suggesting for Tom to bring it in.

They hugged briefly. Jacob sat at his desk in a rollie chair, while Tom flicked on the light, and turned down the TV. He was embarrassed of how messy his room was. He never had the motivation to clean it.

"How are you doing man?" Jacob said.

"Better. Every day is progress."

"Awesome man!" Jacob looked around his room, and chuckled when he saw a Spider-Man poster hung up on his wall. "I can see your ego hasn't changed."

"Yeah, I guess not." He laughed a bit.

"So what do you do here all day?"

"Swim in the pool, meditate, eat, and a whole fucking lot of group therapy." He rolled his eyes at the thought of it.

"That doesn't sound too bad." Jacob's eyes scanned over his body. "Have you been working out? You look shredded!" He poked his biceps.

Tom glanced at his body. It did look different from last time he even bothered looking at himself. He was more bulk, and looked healthy. "Actually, no. I've just been eating better." He smiled, at least that was one thing he could be proud of.

They talked a few more moments. For a while, Tom forgot that he was in rehab. Having someone chat with him from the outside reminded him of how good life could be. He missed feeling free. Unfortunately, it was short lived.

A head popped into the room. "Jacob? Your times up."

He sighed and stood up off Tom's chair. "I'm happy you're getting better bro. I'll talk to you soon."

"Talk to you soon, mate."

They fist bumped, and Jacob left his domain. He closed his squeaky door, leaving him alone to submerge in his own thoughts once more.