Group Therapy

The First Patients

Finn laid on the couch, listening to the angry and distorted guitars of PUP. He'd had The Dream Is Over on repeat for the past few days. 'What a fitting title.' He felt stupid, thinking there'd been something there. He should've never listened to the fans. 'But Fillie!' They'd cried. Every interview, every fan meeting, even their private conversations. Everything always ended up being about Fillie. So why not make it real? Why not give it a shot?

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at his door. 'Maybe if I ignore them, they'll go away?' He thought to himself. He should have known. "Finn! You better open this door right now!" They screamed. 'Come on Finn, just have to hold out a bit longer.'

He heard a bit of fumbling with the door handle before bright light flooded the dark room. As the figure in the door way drank in all the room had to offer, from instruments strewn haphazardly across the ground, clothes piling in the corner, and the boy sprawled on the couch, Finn slowly sat up and covered his eyes. The intruder closed the door behind them, giving the boy time to blink as they sat in the chair next to him.

"Sadie, I already said all that I needed to say." Finn began, already knowing what she would say. 'Probably some whole speech about how we're meant for each other, just like the fans would say. But we'd get back together and the whole thing would start again.'

"I know, and she did the same. The rest of us have kind of given up hope on you guys. So we decided to comfort you instead." Finn looked up, a mix of anger from earlier mixed with a new feeling of confusion. "Shouldn't you be with Millie then?" He asked, thinking of all the times that they'd spent together on and off set. Even in between seasons, they found time to hang out.

Sadie fired back immediately, an answer ready. "We thought of that, but Noah knows her better. Plus, it's not like you and me are total strangers." They both remembered the times they spent, bonding over old music they liked and getting to know each other when Sadie first arrived. Finn even remembered the time that they teamed together to prank the Duffer brothers.

But that felt like a different time, and he felt like a different person. That person had hope for life and the future, he only felt the desire to stay on this couch for all of eternity. Sadie once again pulled him from his ever digressing thoughts.

"Finn, I know what it's like. To fall for someone and have it not work out. I know what you're probably thinking. You're probably thinking about how your situation is different because this or that. You're probably thinking that even though I went through the same thing, I still can't even begin to fathom the things you're feeling. And although it's going to be hard to believe, I do understand." Sadie finished her rant with a small sigh as she sank into the chair.

Finn just laid back down, as if he was at a therapists appointment. Sadie looked over at him and sighed in frustration, annoyed that she seemed to be making no ground with him. Before she could speak again, he opened up, "It's just, I never really felt that way for her. The fans made me think I did. They made me see things that weren't there. And now we're here, all for something that shouldn't've happened. And a friendship that I valued is possibly gone now."

"Oh."

'Wow great going Sads, what wonderful contribution to the conversation.'

"Yeah. So maybe it is a bit different." Piped Finn. Sadie attempted to give a small laugh to lighten the mood, but if anything it made it worse. "Look not to be rude, but I'd kind of like to be left alone."

Sadie quickly nodded and sat up from her seat. As she reached for the door's handle, she looked back. She looked back at the boy on the couch who was already attempting to get another round of sleep. "Just call me if you need me." She whispered, almost more to herself than the figure across the room.