Wingless {Clifford A.U}

Chapter Six

Naomi, Astrid, and Michael (though only Astrid could see him) sat in the waiting room of the therapist office. Naomi was engulfed in her phone and Astrid was hunched forward, her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. These offices always had made her nervous. Michael watched her, before they had left she nearly had a panic attack. She had paced the floor, running her fingers through her hair, hyperventilating and shaking before nearly passing out.

When he was alive, Michael wasn't the best with people. He was a loner, so when it comes to comforting and reassuring, he felt helpless. She tapped her foot impatiently, she was a nervous wreck. Michael didn't like seeing her like this and he knew that he has to comfort her in some way, after all, he's her guardian angel, he has to help in these situations.

He bit his lip and slowly reached out and grabbed Astrid's hand. She tensed at the contact and he thought he had done something wrong. He only did what he thought would help calm her down, but he was reassured when she laced her fingers through his and squeezed his hand.

"I'm scared." she said barely above a whisper so only he would hear her. He stood up, taking her with him.

"Lets step outside." he said and Astrid turned to Naomi.

"I need to step outside real quick." she said and Naomi just waved her off. Astrid sighed and let Michael lead her out the door. They went around the corner of the office where they could talk in private without it seeming that Astrid was crazy.

Michael stood in front of her now and she looked up at him, she never realized how much taller he was than her.

"You okay?" He asked her even though he knew the answer. She shook her head.

"No, I'm not. What am I supposed to do? I can't just not talk, they'll think something is up, and I can't actually talk about what's going on because they'd lock me up in a mental institute." She said, her voice cracking slightly.

"It'll be okay." he said.

"What if it's not?" She said, a tear rolling down her cheek. He wiped it away with his thumb.

"It will be okay, I promise." he said slowly.

It was strange, Astrid wasn't really one to trust very quickly, but with Michael it felt different. She's only known him for a short amount of time, but she almost feels...safe with him. It was different, but knowing that she can trust one other person besides her brother is comforting, and she didn't feel like she had to worry about him turning on her. Maybe it was because she felt like maybe they had some sort of connection, or maybe it's just because he's an angel. She didn't really know for sure.

"We better go back inside. It's probably almost your turn to go into the office now." He said.

"R-right I knew that." she mumbled, brushing past him towards the front door. He stopped her, grabbed her hand.

"I'll be with you the whole time, you don't have to worry about anything. Come on, lets go inside." he said and they walked inside, hand in hand, through the glass doors. They sat down and went back to silently fidgeting.

Around maybe twenty minutes or so later a blonde secretary with her hair pulled back in a tight bun stepped out into the waiting room.

"Astrid, the therapist will see you now. " she said and Astrid stood up along with Michael and followed the secretary down the hallway.

She led them down to a door with a name plate labeled Dr. Marx.

"Right in here." she said and walked away. Astrid placed her hand on the door knob but hesitated.

"Go on." Michael said nudging her shoulder gently. She sighed loudly and twisted the knob and stepped inside.

The office was well furnished with a large desk, a couple of chairs, and a couch. On the wall hung Dr. Marx's college degree and therapist license. Behind the desk sat a man, maybe in his early thirties, with short black hair and blue eyes that stood out from the rest of his features. He gave her a warm smile and motioned for her to sit down.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Marx. You must be Astrid." he said and held his hand out. She shook his hand and nodded.

"Your mother called me around a week ago and told me you were having some problems." he said and she bit her lip.

"She's not my mother." she said bitterly.

"She's not? My apologies, but who is she then?" he asked.

"Foster parent." She said irritably.

"What about your real parents?" he asked.

"Mother gave up me and my brother, father's in jail as far as I know." she said in a plain tone.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Are you with your brother? In the foster home I mean." he asked and she nodded. "Do you both like it in your foster home?"

"Look, I don't mean to sound rude, but I didn't really want to talk. In fact I didn't even know about this appointment until after I woke up this morning." she said bitterly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Michael looked at her. He'd never seen her so irritated before. He didn't like it.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Dr. Marx apologized and Astrid sighed.

"It's not your fault, I just-I don't trust people easily so I really don't like talking about my home life." She said and he nodded.

"How about I make you a deal." he said and she raised an eyebrow curious.

"Lets hear it." she said and he sighed.

"At least once a week you need to come down to my office to talk, I want to gain your trust. You don't have to talk about your problems, just whatever you like, and I won't charge you anything for it. I just want to help." he said and she looked at him in disbelief.

"And why do you want to do that?" she asked.

"Because I lost my daughter a long time ago and now she's in foster care. She doesn't even know that I'm her father. I've never spoken to her, so I want to help, and that's that" he said. She looked down considering her options and looked at Michael and he gave her a small nod. She turned back to Dr. Marx and sighed.

"Deal."

A/N: I'm BACK! Finally I updated sorry for the wait but I've just been so busy and lazy. I'm getting better about it though. Please vote/comment. Thanks

-Xx E.J