A/N: Aw, this is my first Common Law fanfic, but hopefully I got Wes' characteristics right. *Crosses fingers*

Disclaimer: I don't own Common Law...Warren Kole's butt in those jeans in last night's episode...so yeah, I don't own anything. :)

"Dissipating Anger"

'Travis. Group therapy. Alex. This…this…dog. The stupid dog.' Wes' thoughts weren't even full formed thoughts, just words that swirled around in his head, making his vein bulge. He was tired, he was irritated, and that damn dog barking wasn't making things any easier. Randy had to go out of town, and she trusted Wes to be responsible, way more than Travis, after that time when she was shot.

"Hudson, please, please, shut up. I don't want to listen to this," Wes growled at the dog that was ferociously barking at the wall. As if sensing that Wes was truly about to explode, the dog stopped, and made a short whining sound before he laid down, and stared at his temporary owner.

"Thank you," Wes murmured, putting a hand up to his face, and dragging down his skin because he was just so tired. In every sense.

Travis was just plain monstrous. He didn't care that his desk was in such disarray that files were now sliding to Wes' desk, nudging around things like a photo of him and Alex, and his stapler. For crying out loud, Travis knew- he very well knew- that Wes could hardly work right if his desk wasn't organized. Travis was loud, and he needed not to swing that gun of his around, especially not in Wes' face. God, he just made Wes' skin crawl sometimes.

Group therapy. Yeah, right. You may as well call it "Try to Guess What's Wrong with Wes". He knew what was wrong with him, he was still in love with his ex-wife, he lived in a hotel where people enjoyed getting high and he was partnered with a complete moron. Not to mention, everybody knew he was the asshole in the whole thing. When your life gets taken out from under you and you have to deal with scumbags and murderers everyday, didn't he deserve to be a little bitter? Couldn't he have just a little time to himself and not have someone pick apart his life until he felt so vulnerable in front of the people he hardly knows? Travis didn't have this problem, because they all loved him.

Alex. He loved her. He fell in love with her, he did whatever she wanted to do, he cooked great meals for her, but why couldn't she understand? That case- he couldn't deal with what happened. He sent an innocent person to jail. The police were supposed to do a better job with evidence than they did. He wouldn't let that happen, now that he's detective. Alex needed to realize that he couldn't stop loving her, and he couldn't stop being a cop.

Wes took another look at the dog. Alex told him to get a dog, because maybe it'd help him get out of his own head. Basically she had told him to quit thinking about her and move on. Stay out of his head because it only caused him trouble. Well, he's pretty wrapped in his head and he was babysitting a dog while he was doing it! So she was either wrong, or stupid. Maybe next time she should keep her damn thoughts to herself.

Someone kill him. He was getting angry at his wife. Ex-wife.

"Hudson. Do you like Alex?" Hudson let out a tiny bark. It wasn't an excited bark; it was a sort of irritated bark.

He knew it.

When Alex had opened that door and bent down to love on Hudson, Hudson didn't seem like he was really enjoying it.

So dogs can sense evil.

There he goes again, trashing his ex-wife.

"Hudson…" Wes started, knowing he may regret it later, "let's go to bed, boy." Hudson didn't need to be told twice; he jumped on that bed, and turned around to stare at Wes, urging him with his eyes to come to bed. Wes gave Hudson a half-smile and walked to the side of the bed where he slept.

Both boys were out once the lights were.

"Wes, you've been awful quiet today. Would you mind telling us what's going on inside your head?" Dr. Ryan asked. Wes suddenly felt eight pairs of eyes on him, including Travis' and Dr. Ryan's. He bored holes into the floor. He'd made it 43 and a half minutes without talking, surely he could make it another 16 and a half without saying much at all. Besides, he felt that if he started to speak, he may start yelling, and as much as he wanted to yell at these people, he'd rather not embarrass himself.

"I'd much rather not." Dr. Ryan leaned back in her chair and pursed her lips. Wes was going to be difficult today. 'That's right, Dr. Emma Ryan, I'm going to act like a major asshole today. Enjoy,' Wes thought.

"Wes, has something happened recently?" Her voice would be so soothing if it weren't for his currently easily flammable irritation.

"Nope." He finally organized all the things that severely pissed him off, but it might be better if he kept these thoughts to himself.

"Dr. Ryan, he's lying, that vein of his is bulging and I'm almost afraid that he's going to pop it. He's pissed about something," Travis said to the psychiatrist. Yep, Wes is pissed at just about everything.

"Okay…Wes, I understand you don't want to speak…Dakota…" Wes started to tune them out again. He slowly felt their eyes leave him, but he knew Travis was staring at something but was looking at Wes through his peripheral vision. Dr. Ryan was probably glancing at him every so often.

When you're trapped in your thoughts time goes fast. Wes finally looked up when several legs started to walk out of the room. Travis had stood up, but wasn't walking yet. Dr. Ryan was walking, but towards him.

Great. They're going to have a "talk" with him.

"Travis, why don't you go wait outside, knowing your relationship with him, this might make this harder." He wasn't sure why, but Wes didn't really like the way she worded that sentence. After a minute, Travis reluctantly left, and Dr. Ryan pulled Travis' chair so her knees were two inches from his. Wes stared at his.

"You're upset. Why." It was more of a command than a question. It made him feel a little bit better that she wasn't using the softer, "please tell me" approach.

"Travis. Group Therapy. Alex. The damn dog got dog hair all over my favorite shirt." It was actually Alex's favorite shirt on him, that's why he wore it to bed. Maybe he should set fire to it. Hm…

"You have a dog now?"

"It's Hudson. Randy's away for the weekend, and she trusted me to take care of him. He's at the precinct right now, though." Dr. Ryan nodded.

"Okay…what's wrong with Alex?" He liked the way she assumed it wasn't actually him that was the problem in their relationship this time. He shifted in his seat, but found he was just uncomfortable. So he stood up, and started pacing.

"When I have Hudson, it reminds me of what Alex said. She thinks I should get a dog so I wouldn't get so caught up in my own head. Alex doesn't want me thinking about her. She was wrong though, because once I got Hudson, all of my problems started to hit me and I haven't had a single moment where I've stopped thinking.

"Travis and his stupid irresponsibility and messiness. He needs to clean his desk before I do it for him, and shove all of his stuff completely off of it. His crap is spilling onto my desk, and it's messing up the way I have things arranged. He keeps making fun of the relationship I have with Alex and today is one day where I'd wish it would all stop but it won't.

"He's always so fun and easy to get along with and that's why the group absolutely loves him and hates me because I'm so different than him in comparison. If he's so easy to talk to, then somebody should be able to get to know what his problems are, instead of fixating on mine. I know I'm difficult, that I'm a challenge for their minds to figure out. I'm a freaking puzzle but damn it! They're one of the problems in my life!" Wes shouted the last part. Dr. Ryan stared at him, and Wes had no idea what she was thinking.

"What?" he breathed. His face felt hot.

"Sit down, Wes, and close your eyes." He stared back at her briefly, before deciding to trust her. He walked back to his chair, sighed as he sat down, and closed his eyes, leaning his head back a little.

"My father used to use this trick on me when I was little. Just focus on your breathing, okay?" Wes nodded. A second later he felt Dr. Ryan's thumb on his forehead, above his right eyebrow, towards the side of his head. Her thumb soothingly and slowly went across, just over his eyebrow, then it dipped into the bridge of his nose, it went back up, and across his other eyebrow. Then she worked backwards, her thumb never leaving his face. It was relaxing. His anger was slowly going away, or dissolving. It was almost completely dissipating.

This must have gone on for several minutes before she stopped. He slowly opened his eyelids. She was smiling softly at him.

"Please don't bottle all of this up until it explodes. That's unhealthy. If you feel like this again, just wait till the end of a session, stay, and we can repeat this, okay? Many people would greatly benefit this, especially you," she whispered. He looked at her again, going through that idea once more, to see if it was a good one.

"Fine. Just don't tell the others," he muttered. She smiled wider, and they both stood up.

"I promise, I won't tell the others."

Finally, he didn't feel so wound up.

A/N: Yeah, Wes needs to calm down sometimes. I know, Travis didn't really say anything. (I'm sorry, to all of you Wesvis shippers.) Also, this will be on tumblr. I'll put the link up on twitter, and I'm at RosieMJR.

Oh, and please vote on my poll, on my profile. It's not really relevant to anything, but it's harmless to answer. PLEASE REVIEW!

~RosesAreForWriters