Five Twenty-Eight

7.

"We made those rules for a reason— They weren't written down, o-or committed to with a signature, or whatever, but we needed them."

Grace sat back in her seat, amused by the never ending flow of words that had come from Elisa's mouth since the second she sat down. Apparently, neither of them realized how important two sessions a week were.

"Why do you think the rules are so important to maintaining the relationship you have now?" She cut in, barely making the words out in time before Elisa could continue talking.

Elisa hesitated, the expression on her face showing her to be seemingly startled by Grace's interaction, as if she expected her to sit quietly. "I was getting there," She noted, pointing her finger at her, "The last time Oliver and I tried out dating, we moved too fast. I, personally, wasn't ready to be in a relationship again, and I think it just set me back further."

"And why is that?"

She sank down, having nothing to say for the first time all afternoon.

Grace raised her eyebrows, and tilted her head in curiosity. "This was-" She started slowly, blindly flicking through her notes as if she needed to remind herself, "-After you dated Jack."

Elisa's eyes fluttered shut, her jaw clenched in panic.

"Okay," Grace nodded, "I don't think you need me to tell you that Jack's a little bit an issue for you-"

Slowly opening her eyes to look at her again, Elisa hugged her arms around her stomach, tucking her fingers away into her palms.

"-You might have to tell me about him to move on, Elisa," Grace gently suggested, carefully adding, "You know this is a safe space. Not only is patient confidentiality a big practice here, but I need you to know that this isn't just another chunk of change for me— I genuinely care about you, and helping you get better."

Elisa took a deep breath, tilting her head back to rest against the couch. Her nails had been growing in the past month, long and sharp enough to make her eyes gloss over, but she kept them still.

Jack. Jackson Summers. A year ago, Elisa would've talked Grace's ear off about all the great things about Jack that made her face hot and fingers tremble with excitement. Today, she wanted to talk about anything else.

Her lips were sealed, putting them in a forgotten silence that made the clock hands ticking around that much louder. Every second. Tick. Tick. Tick.

"What was he like?" Grace pressed, and Elisa shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't tell me about you and him— Try telling me about just him."

She didn't budge, but she dropped her head forward to look at the steaming mug of coffee, wanting so desperately to grab it.

Grace sighed softly, leaning forward to grab the cup and moved it away, causing Elisa's eyes to shoot up. "Did you start doing that after you met Jack?"

"What?" Elisa frowned, her thumb nail anxiously clicking against the others.

"The coffee, and the tea. It's hot, isn't it?" Grace raised her eyebrows, "It hurts?"

Elisa's eyes flickered back and forth, the bright mostly-yellow hazel eyes watching her closely.

"And your hands— Is it your nails? Are you nicking yourself with your nails?"

Her breath shallowed, her heart pounding even louder than the ticking clock. "N-No," She stammered, her nails digging deeper into her skin, "I'm not— I guess I can just handle the heat-"