Counseling

Summary: Josslyn attends group counseling at Michael's insistence.

Josslyn nervously rubbed her arm as she took a seat next to a girl with a dark pixie cut. She slunk low in her chair and looked over everyone else in the room. Michael had insisted that group counseling at the hospital could be good for her and she'd agreed. It seemed to be helping her brother. Now, however, she was unsure. She knew no one in the room, being in a totally different counseling group than her older brother and she felt nervous about talking about her problems in front of a bunch of strangers. She wasn't a shy person and was fairly well liked in school, but there were many things she wouldn't even tell her best friend, Trina about.

"Are you new here?" The girl with the pixie cut asked curiously.

The blonde looked at her, meeting a pair of deep brown doe eyes. She nodded. "My brother convinced me it would be good for me."

The other girl smiled kindly and nodded. "I thought so. Don't be nervous. Everybody is great here. And Rebecca won't make you talk right now if you aren't ready. I'm Mckayla by the way." She held out a hand

Josslyn smiled softly. "That's good to know. I'm Josslyn." She shook the other girl's hand. "How old are you, anyway?"

Mckayla smiled and ran a hand through her hair. "Eighteen. I've been coming here for about a year now."

"I'm sixteen. I should've probably been coming here long before now, to be honest." Josslyn admitted. "Has coming here helped you?"

She nodded. "It has. It still hurts that the person I love isn't around anymore, but talking about her has helped."

Suddenly, a woman stepped forward out of an adjoining room and took a seat.

"That's Rebecca." Mckayla whispered softly to Josslyn, leaning into her slightly so that their shoulders brushed.

Josslyn looked at the woman with interest. "She's young." She observed. The woman looked around Michael's age at most.

Mckayla nodded. "I think that helps. She can connect with all of us better."

"I see I have someone new here." Rebecca said kindly, leaning forward and looking at Josslyn with hazel green eyes. "I suppose Mckayla has already told you who I am?" At Josslyn's nod, she smiled once more. "Well welcome. The way things work around here is we each take turns talking. If you don't feel ready, you don't have to talk. Mckayla, how about we start with you?"

Mckayla nodded. "I finally got up the courage to go and talk to Natalie's family. They told me exactly what you said and what my parents and everyone tried to convince me. That it wasn't my fault. They said that Nat loved me and wouldn't want me blaming myself. I didn't know how much I needed to hear that." She admitted. "I still haven't worked up the courage to go to her grave yet, but maybe I'll try next time."

Rebecca smiled. "That's a good thing Mckayla. Don't push yourself, though. Just go at a natural pace." She looked around the room. "Who wants to speak next.

Josslyn wet her lips, feeling suddenly courageous after hearing her new friend speak. "Actually, can I talk next?"

At the woman's surprised nod, she began to speak. "I probably should've been here around two years ago when my older brother, Morgan died in a car accident. I was so angry and hurt. I was having nightmares. It didn't help that we never even had a body to bury so there wasn't any closure. Anyway, I thought I'd dealt with it until my boyfriend got sick. He'd broken up with me because he didn't want me to end up more hurt when he died. But I found out what was wrong with him and confronted him. I decided to stand by his side and convinced him to take these trials that could possibly save him. I was so terrified. I hadn't been that angry or confused or scared since Morgan. Anyway, Oscar began to take the trials. We thought they were working, but they just...weren't. Oscar died a couple of weeks ago and since then, I've been a mess. I locked myself in my room and avoided my family and friends. I was mourning the loss of my first love. My brother, Michael finally got through to me and convinced me that talking to someone might be a good idea because group therapy works for him."

Mckayla reached out to squeeze Josslyn's hand as she finished speaking and Josslyn gave her a grateful look, leaning into her a bit.

"I'm so sorry. The good thing is, you're talking about it now." Rebecca told her. "Have you talked to his parents yet?"

The blonde shook her head and shrugged helplessly. "Kim hasn't been to work since. And Drew is mourning the loss of a son he just found out about a year ago. I haven't spoken or seen either of them since the funeral." She admitted.

Rebecca nodded in understanding and the session continued on.

Josslyn learnt many stories like of Ben who was mourning the loss of his younger brother who'd died in a house fire. Or Karen who's mother had died at the hands of an abusive ex. She felt less alone hearing everyone speak and she knew these people wouldn't judge her. It wasn't that Cam, Trina, or her mother would, but it felt easier talking to this group of people she'd just met.

"It's cool that you told your story today." Mckayala told Josslyn as they both headed towarded the table in a corner of the room to grab themselves a drink and a cupcake. "I wasn't brave enough to talk immediately. Not many people were."

Josslyn took a bite from the cupcake and swallowed before speaking. "I didn't expect to either. But then after hearing you talk, I got up the courage. Was Natalie a friend of yours?"

Mckayla smiled. "Natalie was my girlfriend. I have a feeling you two would've gotten along well if she were still alive. She was probably my first love the way Oscar was yours."

Josslyn glanced down sadly at that. "What was Natalie like?"

The girl laughed. "Nat was stubborn through and through. She was sweet and kind. She was a cheerleader which...was kind of weird considering I was never involved with school sports or anything like that at all. I know people wondered why we were together but we...fit."

The blonde grinned at that. "Natalie sounds amazing."

Mckayla gave a fond look. "She was."

Josslyn walked out of the room fifteen minutes later, still talking to Mckayla softly.

Michael walked over to the two girls and smiled down at his little sister. "Did everything go okay in there?" He asked of her.

His sister gave a smile and nodded. "Thanks for convincing me to come here, Michael." She chirped before she pointed to Mckayla. This is my new friend, Mckayla. Mckayla, Michael." She introduced them.

Mckayla shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Michael." She turned to Josslyn, hand rested on her arm. "I've gotta go. See you tomorrow." She said, leaning in to hug Josslyn.

Michael studied the two girls closely and watched Josslyn smile as she watched Mckayla walk off.

She raised an eyebrow when she noticed him looking at her. "What's with that look?"

He shook it's head. "It's nothing. I'm just glad to see that therapy worked for you."

Josslyn rolled her eyes. "You're such a nerd." She told him good naturedly. "Anyway, can we get some pizza? I'm starving!" She breezed past him, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders just the tiniest bit.

Michael grinned to himself momentarily before he followed her out.