Sense Of Restraint

Chapter Seven: Helpful

7

I spent the rest of the weekend at home, the whole thing with Chris scared me to death. Neither one of us went back to sleep that night. Chris left that morning around 4am, we've texted but we haven't seen one another. I haven't figured out what I'm gonna do with this situation.

I need to get him to either go back to seeing his therapist, or get him to see someone else. He said he doesn't trust whoever he's seeing, I'm afraid he won't trust anyone. Hell, look how long it took him to trust me!

I get ready for work and I leave my room. I see Max in the kitchen, I see him drinking his usual cup of coffee. I go in the kitchen and I give him a grin "Morning Maxy." I say sweetly

"Hey. There's coffee if you want some."

"Uhm, no, thanks. I'll have some at work."

He nods then brings the cup back up to his lips. I open the pantry and look for something to eat. Max looks at me and clears his throat. "We should talk about the other night. You know, with Cerulli."

I grab a granola bar "I don't wanna talk about it."

"No, I would imagine you wouldn't, but we have to."

"Max, it was a accident. He has bad nightmares, you know that."

"Yeah but, I never worried about him getting violent with you till now. Char, he could've killed you."

"But he didn't."

"But he could've. I'm just looking out for you, you're my sister and I won't let you be a victim again."

I grin "I appreciate you, Maxy, really. But what happened wasn't his fault."

"If you're gonna make excuses for him attacking you in his sleep, you're gonna have to make the same excuses for any guy that hits on you or hurts you while they're drunk or high. They don't know what they're doing either. It's only fair."

Deep in my heart I know Max's right. I look at him "You can stop drinking or getting high. Chris can't quit sleeping."

Max sighs and takes a drink of his coffee. "You constantly protect the people you love. Who's gonna protect you?"

"Protect me from what?"

"Anyone! Babe, I'm not always gonna be there to protect you. What if there's a night that I'm not here or god forbid you move out and go on your own and this happens again? I know you love him Char, but fucking hell he's a time bomb. I don't want you to get hurt when he inevitably blows up."

"He won't. I'm gonna get him the help he needs. I'm not running from him, he needs me and I need him. I do love him and I think he loves me, in his own way. He quit his therapist because he didn't trust them. All I've gotta do is find someone he trusts.

"Then until then...I don't want him here when I'm not here. Sorry, it's my home too and I've gotta be able to protect you. He can come over as long as I'm here. And I don't want him sleeping over. At least for right now."

I nod "Okay, fair."

He nods "Good. Any idea's on who you're gonna have him see?"

"I think I'm gonna try to get him to try his therapist over again."

"That's your plan? Char, he told you he doesn't trust them."

"I'm hoping he just didn't give them a fair chance. If that doesn't work, I'm gonna have him see a therapist I work with. Her name's Nancy and she's a fantastic therapist. I think he'll like her."

"Let's hope you're right. You talk to him?"

"Vaguely. I'm cooking dinner tonight so I invited him over. Please don't make him uncomfortable. He already feels horrible."