𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐓𝐘- a labyrinth sequel

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘- 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑

𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐁𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐂𝐄 𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐀 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐁𝐄. Apparently, her university prided itself upon advocating for students mental health. With all of the suicides lately, Sydney's included, the school wanted to make sure that resources were available. Four deaths this semester that had all been ruled as suicides, and so close together, too. Aurelia was still grieving her friend, yet she was forced to come here and talk about her feelings, which was the last thing she wanted. The woman sitting in front of her wasn't even a real doctor. She doubted she would be able to help her. 

"I'm sure you already know why you're here," Fiona Smith stated warmly, looking at Aurelia with a knowing expression. Aurelia crossed her arms over her chest; she had much better things to be doing right now. "I was just hoping to check base with you. You know, make sure that you're alright considering everything."

"I'm fine," Aurelia replied, not even bothering to sound convincing. She was told that this meeting was completely optional, but the countless emails she got strongly encouraging her to show up didn't make it feel that way. 

"Wow, you sounded so very convincing there," Fiona deadpanned, tapping her fingers on her thighs. She was an older woman, with streaks of gray in her dark brown hair, and small glasses that sat on the tip of her nose. "How about you try that again?" She suggested. 

"I mean obviously it was traumatizing," Aurelia admitted, hoping to just tell her what she wants to hear so she can get over it. "But I've learned to deal with it. Nothing I do is going to bring Sydney back."

"Grief can take on a lot of shapes, Aurelia. Sometimes we think we're coping when we're just burying it deeper."

Aurelia clenched her jaw, her fingers tightening around her arms. She hated this. Hated being dissected like she was some kind of case study. "Well, I've had enough people telling me how I should feel about it. I don't need a therapist for that too."

"I'm not here to tell you how to feel," Fiona said calmly. "I'm just trying to help you make sense of what you're feeling. If you're angry, be angry. If you're confused, say so. But I don't want you to think you have to hide everything just to seem like you've 'moved on.'"

"You don't know anything about me," Aurelia replied, not even trying to hide her irritation. She grew up around profilers, so she was used to people constantly trying to read her mind. But she was running on practically no sleep, and she's been itching for those goddamn pills every night to try and feel like a normal human being again. But with Donnelly there at every turn, she hadn't risked it. Now it felt like she was just a shell of a human being, and she was getting very close to the point where she'd just snap. 

Fiona raised an eyebrow, her voice still calm but more focused now. "You're right. I don't know you, Aurelia. But I know that grief, stress, exhaustion—they don't just disappear because we wish them away. And if you're running on fumes, you can't keep pretending it's not going to catch up with you."

Aurelia's fists clenched at her sides. "I don't need a lecture. I'm handling it."

Fiona's eyes softened slightly, as if recognizing the fragile edge Aurelia was standing on. "Are you?" she asked, her voice low and non-confrontational. "Or are you just trying to hold yourself together long enough to convince everyone else that you're okay?"

"I am okay," Aurelia repeated once more. Or at least she would be once everyone stopped asking her about Sydney. 

"I'm not so sure of that, to be quite frank," Fiona stated calmly, unbothered by Aurelia's obvious distaste toward her. "You know, when I spoke with that friend of yours, she told me all the same things that you're telling me now. So forgive me Aurelia if I don't wish to find you in a similar predicament."