Solangelo Oneshots

Beans Go To Therapy

Vanessa had been working as a therapist for fifteen years. She'd see all sorts of people wander in and wander out in all sorts of states. Therapy wasn't like they showed it in the movies. It wasn't quick and it wasn't like some kind of parental bond or close friendship. In fact, a lot of her job was dealing with stubborn, angry people or closed up nervous wrecks. Weeks of effort had to be put in and it could get very repetitive.

That was why she was always intrigued when she had a new client. It was a new person and therefore a new brain to unravel and a new mystery to solve. In her mind, Vanessa fancied herself a detective of sorts. She'd dig around and find clues and, if she was lucky, she'd hit her breakthrough and find the underlying Big Thing, which was the therapist equivalent of the murderer.

Her newest patient wasn't too unusual from what she'd read so far. It was classic PTSD, ADHD and dyslexia, all of which she dealt with quite regularly. Then again it wasn't the conditions that made people interesting. It was the reactions, the way they manifested and the person hiding underneath years of trauma and diagnoses.

Smoothing her shirt down, Vanessa stepped out into the waiting room with a bright smile, ready for whoever was sitting there.

"Nico Di Angelo?" she asked as brightly as she could after little sleep, three clients and four cups of coffee. A boy in the corner raised his head.

He was dressed in mostly black with a fringe that swept over his face and almost completely hid his eyes. He was hunched over, almost curling in on himself, with his hands fidgeting on his lap and his knees crossed on the seat.

"Hi, I'm Vanessa. You must be Nico," she said, lowering her tone a little. Her first assumptions, although she made sure never to grow too fond of first assumptions, was that this was a anxious young man who likely had terrible parents and low self esteem issues.

He was almost pressing his side against the arm of another boy who looked in his early twenties, same as Nico, but had a very different style sense. He wore an obnoxious red shirt, flannel and cargo shorts. He too was fidgety although he smiled brightly, eyes twinkling and curls looking like they might glow. Vanessa's first assumption was again that this was an anxious young man with terrible parents and low self esteem issues. It was funny how things manifested for different people.

"Yeah," Nico said gruffly. He glanced at the other boy who nudged him encouragingly.

"You alright?" the boy asked. Nico took a deep breath and nodded before standing up and following Vanessa.

-

Over the course of the next few sessions, Vanessa learned some things about her latest client. The first was that he was gay. The second was that he spent most of his childhood either in a bar or at a camp. The third was that this young man needed a break.

"Hey, Vanessa," Nico said as he said goodbye to the blonde boy - Will, his boyfriend as she'd come to know - and followed her to their usual room. She sat down and he followed suit.

"Hello, Nico. How's life?"

Nico shrugged. He lifted one knee to his chest and rested his head on it. It was an improvement from when he first came and he tucked both knees to his chest so he was both psychologically and physically creating an obvious barrier.

"Will and I went to visit my sister and her boyfriend," he said. Vanessa smiled.

"That's nice."

"It was actually."

"Where do they live?"

"Rome."

Vanessa had noticed that a lot of Nico’s friends and family lived in Rome. It shouldn't have been surprising given his Italian background. A lot of these people stayed in the sister camp of the one Nico grew up in and that was suprising given how he apparently didn't know about this camp until he was ten.