Day 14
The therapist greeted Matt as he got there first. Matt sat down and made himself comfortable. The therapist held her hand out for his journal and Matt handed it to her. She didn't look through it, she put it on the side and waited for you to arrive.
"She had a presentation today" He told her. "She might be all over the place when she gets here"
"I can wait"
Fifteen minutes later, you joined them, saying sorry. Your hair was in a messy bun and you put your bag down beside the couch, before sitting down.
You handed her your journal, watching as she handed Matt's to you and yours to Matt.
"Matt, you go first. Read the list"
The task was to right down things you dislike about each other. Matt cleared his throat and began.
"I dislike that you make decisions for me. The only solution I can think of is us communicating better and you respecting my wishes" Matt looked up at the therapist before remembering this had to be directed to you. He looked at you. "I'm sorry you feel that way. I agree that we need better communication" you nodded and he continued. "I want date nights on Sundays"
"Friday works" you interrupted. "You wrote Friday down so I'll agree with you"
"Thank you" he said quietly. "Friday works best for us both. I think"
"Good" she said. "You're being respectful to each other. That's good"
Matt looked back down at the paper. "I want you to be honest with me. Tell me when I do something you don't like. Tell me when I do things you do like" Matt looked at you. "Like when I said all the things I appreciate?"
You nodded. "Please?"
You go back and forth for a while. Matt wanted you to see your friends more, including Nick. He wanted you to talk to your family. He wanted you to do your favourite things, before it was your turn to read out what Matt would like.
"I want you to trust me" You bit your lip and looked at Matt. "I don't want you to think I don't trust you. I do. We just need to talk about things before you go and do them"
Matt didn't like your answer, but he nodded anyway. "We can do that. I make decisions for you because-"
"Because you don't trust me to make my own"
"No" he groaned. "It's my fault. I like having control and I need to remind myself that there's two of us"
You didn't reply to that, you just continued reading. You agreed with the date nights, you agreed you got upset at things.
You frowned on one of them. "You come home late. If you will be coming home late, have lunch with me incase we can't have dinner together. I want you to put your mental health first too"
Matt looked down at his hands.
"My mental health?"
"You overwork yourself. It hurts us"
"How?"
"There's no reason for you to stay at work late everyday. I want to spend time together, that isn't much to ask"
"But my mental health?"
"Yes"
You swallowed harshly. "Then you have to work on yours too.." Your face scrunched. "We could take up a hobby or take a trip"
"A trip sounds great" Matt's eyes became soft.
Day 15
You entered the room. Yesterday was good, too good, so that's why you were cautious when you entered the shared bedroom. Matt was in the bathroom, so you put your clothes on the bed and tied your hair up to prepare for this conversation.
