Mirrors |NH|

Chapter Six

In the car on the ride home, Benny turned to her, "So who was that?"

"Who was who?"

"The guy you said bye to?"

"Oh, no one.  Just some guy I got partnered with."

"Partnered with?"

"Yeah, our counselor assigns everyone a partner and he's mine."

"What for?"

"Someone to talk to, I guess.  Something about an exercise in building trust."

"Oh, well that doesn't sound so bad."

She turned to him and scoffed, "Yeah, well, it sounds awful to me.  Benny he saw my face!" And then the tears began rolling.

Benny pulled the car over and placed it in park.  He undid his seatbelt and reached out for his sister, pulling her in for a hug.  "Sshhh, sweetie.  I'm sure he didn't see anything."

"Yes, he did.  He came up behind me earlier, during our break, and scared me.  My scarf and coat fell away from my face.  There was a streetlamp right there!  He saw everything!"

Benny just rubbed her back while she cried.  He couldn't imagine what she was going through and every time he did, he wanted to hunt the bastard down and kill him.  He hated the way she was living.  Scared of everything, locked up in her flat. 

"Remember what the doctors said?  Once the scars have fully healed, they'll be able to determine what they can do to remove them."

"You can't remove scars, Benny."

"True, but you got lucky that they are along a portion of your face that can be reconstructed."

Edie sat up, nodding.  She knew that she could have reconstructive surgeries that would essentially give her a face lift.  But she also knew one scar would always remain – the one that ran down the right side of her face, crossing over her eye.  She had been lucky that the guy hadn't pressed down harder, or else she wouldn't have her right eye.

"But those aren't the scars I'm worried about, Edie," Benny quietly said.  She pulled away, knowing where he was headed.

"Benny, please don't start.  I'm not in the mood to listen to this spiel again."

"Then please start trying.  This Charlie woman is supposed to be one of the best and I know you aren't in there spilling your guts out.  But if she says that you need a trust partner, and that guy is it, then please, I beg of you, to just try.  For me."

Edie wiped away a few more tears before nodding.  She couldn't say no to her brother.

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As Louis drove Niall home, he couldn't help but think about this partnering of his.  He couldn't get her face out of his mind.  The scars weren't all that bad the more he pictured it.  It mostly made him wonder what had happened to her.  He was also a little relieved that the guy who picked her up was her brother.  Although, he couldn't quite figure out why that relieved him.  He came back to his senses when Louis pulled into his driveway.

"Niall! You gonna answer me?"

"Huh?"

"Who was the girl?"

"Oh, just some girl in my group.  I got partnered with her tonight.  Something about needing to trust someone."

"Ohh, okay.  Well, that seems interesting.  I hope you give it a try."

Niall opened his door and got out.  Before shutting it he said, "Yeah, I think I might."

He waved by to Louis and made his was into his house.  As intrigued as he was, he had no intention of trying.