Grief Counseling

It had been a week since Cole had watched his mother die in a car explosion. Everyone said that it would get easier, but it wasn't and he knew that the aching feeling that he felt would never go away.

He had never felt more had tried to comfort him, but she didn't understand what he was going through. Her words of comfort were empty to him and he could feel himself losing her, but he didn't know how to stop it. Every night he had the same dream. In his dream Starr was on the shore and he was in a boat drifting further and further away.

He walked into the Grief Counseling class that Nora suggested. He didn't want to be there, but he was there because it was the least he could do for Nora. He stared at the floor while the counselor talked, everything she said he had heard before. He could tell that the counselor had never lost anyone really close to them as she spouted empty cliches.

"Is this the grief counseling class?" Cole heard a familiar voice ask. He looked up and saw the tear stricken eyes of Langston Wilde, Starr's best friend.

She walked over to the empty chair beside Cole and grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze and he suddenly didn't feel so alone. Langston knew exactly how it felt to be all alone in the world. She had lost both her parents just like he had.

"That's okay, do you want talk about why you were crying?" the counselor asked.

Langston didn't want to be there, she had only gone on Dorian's request and as much as she needed to talk to somebody she wasn't going to share her feelings with a room full of strangers. If Cole hadn't have been there she would have just left when the counselor put her on the spot.

She shook her head no and looked at the floor.

"That's okay, maybe next time," the counselor suggested.

"Do you want to go somewhere where we could talk? I could really use a friend right now and it looks like you could too," Cole stated as soon as the counseling session had ended.

"That would be nice," Langston said as she grabbed Cole's hand and walked out of the hospital.

-

"So why were you crying Lang?" Cole asked as he took a bite out of Carlotta's Famous Ice Cream Sundae.

"Today is the one year anniversary of my parents death."

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," Cole said as he grabbed Langston's hand from across the table.

"That's okay Cole. I don't mind talking about it with you. I've been grieving on my own for so long that it's hard to remember that I don't have to do that anymore. Do you want to know why I didn't tell anybody that my parents died?"

"I assume it's because you didn't want to go to an orphanage," Cole stated.

"That was part of it, but it was mainly because I didn't want to face it. I didn't want to go through the pain of losing my parents. It hurt so much and I felt all alone in my pain that the only way that I could cope was to make up stories about my parents, but I was wrong I wasn't alone. I had Starr and now I have Markko and you. I want you to know that you're not alone either, I'll always be here for you and I know that Starr would do anything for you," Langston stated.

"I can't talk to Starr, not about this, she doesn't know what it's like. I've tried to talk to her, but I just can't."

"I know what you mean, I lied to Starr for a year and she was my best friend, but when I finally talked to her and told her how I was feeling, it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Starr was great and it really helped to talk to somebody. I know that things are hard right now, but keep trying to talk to Starr. "

"Hey Lang, does it ever get any easier?"

"Yes and no, there are days when I don't think about losing my parents at all, and then there are days like today where the pain all comes back to me. Anniversaries and birthdays seem to be the hardest for me, so I'm really glad that you were there tonight. Are you going to go to Grieg counseling next week?"

"That depends, are you going to be there?"

"I'll make you a deal, I'll go if you go."

"Deal," Cole said as he leaned across the table and kissed her on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Langston curiously asked.

" For being a good friend," Cole stated, " Come on and I'll take you to Dorian's," Cole said as he grabbed Langston's hand and walked her out of the diner.

Losing his mother was a lot harder than losing his father was, but for the first time in a long time he had hope that he could survive losing his parents.

The End