Love and War || A Sanders Sides AU

Chapter Sixteen

AYYYYY GUYS!!!! GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS!!!! IT'S THE TIME IN EVERY SINGLE AU I WRITE WHERE A BOI GOES TO THERAPY!!! PICANI TIME! PICANI TIME! YEE

just a lot of fluff and angst tbh lesgo

WARNINGS: mentions of PTSD, insecurity, mentions of abuse, mentions of rape/non-con, crying, Unsympathetic Patton, missing abuser, complicated feelings about abuser, basically nobody's alright haha.

Let me know if I missed any!

"You're sure there's no other way to just get over this?" Roman asked unhappily as he walked with Logan into the office building.

"It's not about getting over anything." Logan adjusted his tie. "It's about coming to terms with it and working through issues, Roman. And it's just the intake appointment."

"Yeah, but..." Roman sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Okay, I get it. You want to help."

"Of course I do." Logan said softly, halting to peer down at him. "Roman, I do truly want you to be alright. I promise."

"I know." Roman sighed, looking at the clock on the wall. "I know, Logan. I just don't want to have to talk about it."

"You're sure you want to go alone, though?" Logan asked, eyebrows creasing with worry. Roman nodded. If he was going to go - he was going to do it alone Not for any reason, really, except to prove to himself he could do it and pretend he was doing it by his own volition.

"I'll be fine, pocket protector," he promised with a smile as they approached the lobby of the therapy clinic. "Just don't abandon me to walk home alone and we'll be fine."

"I can assure you, I'll be right out here once you're done," Logan said firmly, taking a seat on the waiting room couch.

Roman wanted to join him, but instead, he walked to the desk and checked in, and soon found himself in a room that, in all honesty, was heaven.

There were Disney posters around the room, figurines and stuffed animals on the table and couch. He sat on the couch, waiting for the therapist who the secretary promised would 'be right in' and resisted the urge to pick them up and inspect them. He failed, and when the therapist dramatically jumped into the room, he nearly dropped the mickey mouse he was holding.

"Hello new patient!" the therapist said cheerfully, bouncing over to his chair. "My name is Dr. Emile Picani, and you must be Roman!"

"Uh, yeah." Roman gently put the figurine back down, glad he hadn't broken it. "I'm Roman Tower." Picani gasped, face lighting up.

"I thought I recognized that name!"

"Oh." Roman winced. Right. People knew him. "Right. Uh..."

"Remy mentioned you a few times before!" Picani tapped a pen to his head and Roman blinked in surprise. "Just in passing, it's not his job to tell me about you, is it?"

"I guess not." Roman shrugged.

"Well Roman, it's a pleasure to meet you." Picani smiled. "Let's get started, I want to know more about you! I want to know everything there is about Roman Tower!"

"Okay..."

"So tell me about yourself?" Picani pulled out a notebook, smiling cheerfully and waiting.

"Right." Roman sighed, rubbing his hands on his jeans. "Well, I'm Roman. I... I write books, and I act. Not as much as I'd like to, but life is busy. Um, I got a degree in English literature and theater in college, and I work at a bookstore part-time to keep up with the bills and stuff."