Time Will Tell (sequel to HMM)

Chapter 21- Lasting Effects

Repost for those who didn't see it last night

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I dropped Jason off at his house when we got back. I had told him that I would probably be meeting with him again soon as well as with my father to discuss what steps we would take moving forward. 

When I walked into the house, my mom pulled me to the side with a slightly worried look in her eyes. 

"What's wrong? Is Allison-"

"She's in the living room. But Alarik, she's not well."

"What do you mean she's not well?"

"She woke up about two hours ago screaming." My body went tense at her words. "I sat her in the living room with a herbal mint tea. She hasn't moved or said a word since."

I wasn't looking at my mom, my eyes were fixed on the wall behind her, my mind racing a million miles a second. 

"Alarik, she needs help. She needs professional help."

I looked at her then. 

"What do you think that's going to do?"

"She needs to talk to someone about what happened."

"She can talk to me."

"I don't think that's a good idea," my mother said pointedly. 

"And why not?"

"Can you really sit there and listen to what she has to say? Your my son, and I know you so well. There is no way you would be able to stay impartial and that's something she needs. She needs someone to talk to, she needs someone to just listen."

I didn't want to listen to what my mom had to say anymore. It doesn't matter what she thought, what matters is what Allison wants. I go around her and into the living room, sitting next to Allison on the couch. 

She's staring blankly at the TV that isn't on, a mug between her hands. 

"Hey," I say setting a hand on her leg. 

Allison jumps slightly, wide eyes turning to me. A small smile finds it's way to her lips. 

"Hey," she whispers.

I reach out, taking her left hand in mine. My thumb rubs over the ring on her finger. 

"How are you doing?"

Her eyes are trained on her hand in mine, watching my thumb as it moves. 

"I'm fine." 

Her voice doesn't sound convincing, but I can also tell she doesn't want to talk about it. I'm stuck between trying to find medium ground between what she wants to do and what would be good for her. She doesn't want to talk about what's bothering her, but will holding it up inside help her with it?

Allison takes her hand out of mine and places it back on the mug. She starts retreating back into herself and I know that something needs to be done. 

"Allison, my mom and I were talking and she thinks that maybe you should see someone."

"What do you mean?" She looks at me straight on now. Her eyes accusatory. "Do you think there's something wrong with me or something?"

"No, no. Of course I don't think there's something wrong with you. We just think that you've been through a lot."

"I'm fine." Her voice is sharp, short. 

"Allison. You shouldn't be fine." The more she talked, the more I was starting to agree with my mother. Allison wanted to act stong, but put on a brave face and pretend that she was perfectly fine. While I hadn't agreed with my mother at first about her needing to see someone, I knew that she shouldn't be fine. She'd been through so much; more than I even knew.