Psych | C.H. AU

Part 8

I couldn't talk to her. I was too scared to pick up my phone to see if she had texted me again or not. It was my turn to avoid Skyler. What if Jacob had told her already? What if she was just waiting until we saw each other in person to tell me how much she hated my guts now that she knew?

There was no way I'd be able to deal with that. I had no friends. She was the only person who treated me like I was any other normal human being and if ignoring her meant keeping her around for a little bit longer, that was exactly what I was going to do.

I scrounged around my room, picking clothes up off the floor and piling them onto my still unmade bed. My mother had been asking me to clean my room for weeks and I thought now would be the best time. I'd do just about anything to keep my mind off what Skyler could possibly think of me now.

"Honey, do you want- Oh!" My mother stopped mid sentence as she stood in the doorway of my room.

She clapped her hands together with excitement. "Finally, you're cleaning your room!"

"Yeah," I answered shortly, not even glancing her way.

"Would you like some help taking anything downstairs?"

I threw some more clothes into my hamper before I handed it over to her. "Thanks, mom."

She smiled and turned back around and I followed after her with a bundle of even more clothes in my hands. I guess it had been a while since I had done anything other than mope around the house and watch reruns of the cartoons I used to love as a child. I didn't know why it had been so hard for me to get up and actually do something, but I thought it was about time to get my shit together.

Especially since my trial was only two weeks away. I just wanted to be ready for whatever the outcome may be. And even though Doctor Gram made it seem like he was sure I would be fine, I still wanted to talk to him about it more at my session today.

As much as I hated that hospital and the situation I had put myself in, I realized after my time with Doctor Gram last week that I had gained something positive out of all this. Skyler. She seemed to be the one good thing that came out of this shitty situation.

I sighed as I stuffed as many articles of clothing into the washer as I could, my mother's eyes on me as I did so.

"How's your friend?"

I instantly stopped what I was doing and turned back to look at her. I gulped back my nerves and smiled a little. "She's fine."

Though that was obviously not the truth because she was back with Jacob and she would never be fine if she was in his presence. But I couldn't tell my mother that. She'd probably call the cops and then I would be sure that Skyler would never talk to me again.

"Do you like her?"

I groaned and finally turned back to what I was doing. "Mom!"

"What?" She snickered to herself, soaking in my embarrassment. "It's was just a question."

"I guess, yeah." I shook my head and shut the washer before I hit a few buttons on the top and pressed start. "But it's not like anything will happen."

"Keep your head up, hun." She patted my shoulder. "Especially now."

I shifted my weight from one foot to the other feeling uncomfortable with the subject at hand. "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

"Would you like me to make you a late breakfast?" She offered, not minding my reluctancy one bit.

I smiled and nodded, following her out into the kitchen. I loved my mother, there was no denying that. If only I could feel the same about my father.

. . . . .

I felt horrible. I had sat at the back of the parking lot and watched as Skyler stood outside our starbucks waiting for me. But I couldn't seem to bring myself to get out of the car and walk up to her. It was obvious that she was angry and annoyed, but I was too scared to hear what she had to say. I turned the key in the ignition and drove away, not knowing if she had another way to get to the hospital or not.

My knee bounced up and down repeated as I sat in the seat I had the first time I came here, right next to the door. I wondered if I could escape without being noticed. My eyes wondered up toward the clock on the wall above the reception desk to see that it was almost time for my session and Skyler still hadn't shown up.

As if on queue, the door opened and in walked a very unhappy looking Skyler. I sunk down in my seat in hopes she wouldn't see me, but as her eyes found mine I knew I was screwed for sure.

"You." She stormed up to me, gaining the eyes of the few people around us. Without saying another word she grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the waiting room and into the hallway just outside.

"How could you do that?!" She spoke harshly, a glare evident on her face.

"Look, Sky..." I ran my hands over my face, knowing that it was finally time to explain everything that had happened. "I was completely wasted, I-"

"Wait. What?" She looked extremely confused as she pushed some of her hair away from her face. "You're drunk right now?"

My eyebrows knitted together and we both stared at each other in complete confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Today!" Skyler threw her hands up in frustration. "You stranded me at starbucks and I had to take the bus here."

I cracked a smile and chuckled quietly to myself. Jacob hadn't told her anything. I was safe and Skyler still liked me.

"It's not funny!" Skyler whined in a cute manner with scowl on her face.

"I know, I know." I bit at my lower lip and grinned at her. "I'm sorry."

Her eyes searched my face, her cheeks reddened, but she just shook her head disapprovingly. "I'm still mad at you."

"That's perfectly alright." I shrugged and she tilted her head in thought. "I'd rather have you mad and yelling at me than not having you talk to me at all."

"Why wouldn't I talk to you?"

I shrugged again, that same smile on my face as I took a step toward her, the proximity of our bodies slowly becoming smaller. Though it was hard to tell how Skyler felt most times, it was more than obvious by the fact that she wasn't moving away from me that I might eventually have a chance with her.

"Mr. Hood?"

I took a large step away from Skyler, both of us not daring to look at the other. Doctor Gram stood in the doorway of the waiting room with a raised eyebrow. I laughed dryly and stole a quick glance at Skyler to see her eyes glued to the ground.

"Ready for your session?" Doctor Gram asked casually.

"Yes, sir." I stepped around Skyler and headed toward the door, but not before taking her hand and giving her it a little squeeze.