Smile (Kris Bryant)

Chapter Fourteen| Stolen Kiss

Alexandria

I step into the familiar office inside of a tall building in downtown Chicago. I take a seat in the waiting room and read whichever magazine was sitting on the table next to me. There was a sports one with Kris on it and naturally I pick it up with a huge smile on my face. He always looked so happy, I just wanted to be that way again. I know this will take some time but every second I'm not who I could be is time wasted. I need to get better so I can move on and that why I'm here.

I get called into a office in the back and sit on a black futon couch. Why do I feel like people sleep in here? My psychiatrist sits across from me bright eyes as ever. Dr. Jackson was a tall blonde girl with pretty blue eyes. She was about thirty with a really sweet family. Always said the right things and let me know she wanted me to get better. I aspire to be like her one day, and with her help I could be. I give her a second to pull out some papers before she looks at me again.

"Hello Alex, how are you today" she finally asks folding her hands in her lap and looking at me. She was a little too proper to be one of my friends but I still enjoyed being around her.

"I've been doing better" I admit.

"What's happened since I've seen you last" she wonders. I've had two sessions with her so far and she asked a lot about what my life was like before all this went down. It was nice to think about the good old times for a little, even though they're dead and gone, they're still appreciated.

"Kris finally came home from his ten day trip and was safe. I went to the doctors for my check up and everything has healed correctly so I wouldn't have to go back for a while. My ribs still hurt like a bitch but nothing I can't handle. Kris invited my family over for dinner last night which I thought was awesome" I smile.

"That's great Alex. And how are you feeling" she wonders.

"I feel better than I have in a really long time. I mean I'm still scared of something going wrong but I know if something happens I have people around me that will help. I know not to push them away and to communicate with them" I admit.

"Like Kris..." she trails off.

"Especially Kris" I smile.

"What is your relationship with him like" she wonders. We haven't really talked about him and quite frankly I was thankful for that, because I wasn't sure how I felt about him.

"Complicated" I admit.

"Complicated how" she questions.

"Complicated like I want him to touch me but every time he does I jump. I want him to kiss me but every time I close my eyes I see Spencer instead. I want him to love me but I'm scared that I'll disappoint him and he will hurt me" I whisper.

"You have to understand that Spencer was not okay. That's a bad guy doing bad things. What he thought was okay, it's just sick. He is a terrible man who will rot in jail for a long time for what he did. But his parents were abusive too so it was fairly easy for him to pick up on those actions. Even if he didn't notice, he inherited the aggressive trait and unfortunately you got the bad end of it.

I can't promise you a lot, but I can promise you that Kris will not be like Spencer. Kris is a good family friend of mine and he was raised to be a gentleman, as you have seen. He actually cares about you, and it's not just to gain your trust. The things he does for you, people in Spencer's mind frame would never be able to pull off. He's not going to hurt you, not on purpose at least. He's going to mess up but you'll have to know it was a mistake, not a conscious decision to hurt you. He wants you to feel safe with him, he wants you to be able to trust him and with time that will happen. But something really bad happened to you and it will take time to open your eyes again."