"There is strength in showing one's weakness"
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One second. Just one second and everything changed.
Skyler is sent into a lonely downward spiral when her mom dies tragically. With the only support s...
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Song for chapter twenty four: Ghost of You by 5SOS
|Skyler|
"You're still awake Aunt Claire, what a surprise," I chuckled nervously at her flat expression. It was clear that she had gotten ready for bed, dressed in her lilac bathrobe and her hair was tied up in a loose bun.
"Where have you been?" she asked me, arms still crossed over her chest.
"I was out with a friend," I gave her a vague explanation. I wasn't sure how she would react to Aden. "You're not at work?"
"Not tonight. We have to talk," she responded, her lips pressed to a thin line. I nodded, sighing in defeat as I leaned against the kitchen table. I was suddenly glad that I had drank that coffee. I would need it to get through this. "I know you don't like going to visit Doctor Miranda. So, I just thought, we could always try another therapist."
If I had it my way, I wouldn't even want to go to a therapist at all.
My brain went back to what Aden had said to me, I'd tried to give Doctor Miranda a chance, but I also knew that I didn't really try that hard. Bolting off during our sessions wasn't the definition of trying.
"No, there's nothing wrong with her," I told Aunt Claire. I frowned as I tried to hold back a sigh. "I am trying my best, and... I'll give her another chance, a fair chance."
I hesitantly peered up at Aunt Claire to see a relieved expression on her slightly wrinkled face. I felt a stab of guilt that I had been the reason why she was so stressed out. She approached me with a weary expression and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug.
"I know you're trying your best," she whispered and I sighed contently. The last woman to hug me like that was my mother, but for once I didn't feel sad or empty that I could never feel her hugs again. I just felt nostalgic.
Aunt Claire let go of me, grinning from ear to ear, "Get some sleep, it's late."
I nodded as she walked off, shutting the door behind her when she entered her room. I did as she told me to, following her as I headed to my own room, switching on the light.
My gaze landed on the discarded pill bottle and newspaper clipping that was still scattered on the floor by the far wall of my bedroom.
Sighing, I ambled over towards it and began picking up the pills and placing them back in the bottle. Each one landed inside with a small thud. I still didn't want to take them, not because I was being stubborn, but because I felt fine without it. I picked up the newspaper clipping, eyeing the small blurb about my mother's accident.
My mouth curled into a slight frown, shoving both that and the pill bottle into my bedside drawer. For the first time in a while, I didn't feel the familiar emptiness in my stomach nor the tears that usually came if I was lucky. This time, as I remembered what Aden had told me a few hours before in my room. I felt lighter and free, as if a huge weight had been taken off my chest. Maybe I am as brave as he thinks I am. Even if I wasn't, I really wanted to try to be.
