Whiskey & Vows

T W EN T Y T W O

T W E N T Y T W O || HERE IN YOUR ARMS

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I could have thought of a million things I wanted to do instead of attending another therapy session with Derek. If it was for his depression or anything else to do with his mother's death, I would support him until the end of time. This, however, isn't what I was imagining.

Couples Therapy.

We weren't even having any problems!

Even worse, it was his own idea! After we discussed ditching our annulment to focus on Andy rather than us, we have been fine. Apparently, Derek seemed to think otherwise because on a morning when I could have slept in, we're sitting in a circle among other couples.

"You're dead to me." I whispered in his ear. I heard him take a deep breath and he smiled sheepishly at me.

"Come on, it can't be that bad." He whispered playfully. Narrowing my eyes at him, I was ready to strangle him.

"Not that bad? There's a reincarnated Anna Nicole Smith and a Johnny follower here." I snapped. He followed my gaze and grimaced at the horrendous couple.

"They might be nice."

They weren't nice, in fact, they were more annoying than the actual Johnny. The guy seemed more interested in himself and it was clear that the Anna Nicole Smith look-alike brought him along in hopes of fixing their relationship. I had no idea why Derek brought us here. We weren't fighting, we weren't any different than normal, yet here we sat with troubled couples.

"Alright, I want you to look into your partner's eyes and tell them one thing that you like about them." The therapist said, clapping her hands together in excitement. The various bangles on her wrist clattered loudly as she looked around the room.

"What about love? I'm so madly in love with his hunk." Anna Nicole Smith look-alike gushed, grabbing the Johnny's arm and resting her head on his shoulder. Wincing, he rolled his eyes and tried to shrug her off him.

Great.

"Don't be shy, people. You're with your partner for a reason. If you can't seem to share anything or feel to embarrassed, maybe you have a lot more to work on than this simple exercise."

"You can start." I huffed, crossing my legs and looking at him carefully. Derek played with his lip and blushed bright red.

"I, uh, l-like your faith in me." He stammered nervously. My heart thumped in my chest and I felt my own cheeks turn pink. I opened my mouth to ask him what was wrong with him, but then I realized how bitchy I really was.

This wasn't for me, this was for him. Derek hasn't had someone to open up and share with since his mother passed, and being married means that his walls need to slowly come down. Derek and I have had a lot thrown at us in the past few months, and maybe this was what he meant about focusing on us. It didn't have to be dates or time alone, it had to be communicating.

"Okay, now this should be obvious but share why you like that quality about your partner. We don't have to share aloud, don't worry."

"I've screwed up in the past, a lot, but you know that I can work through it and that makes me realize I can." Oh fuck, he's melting my heart. Speechless, I stared at him as he looked at his shoes, wiggling his toes in his Nike slide ons.