Hello all! This is my first story ever for Life As We Know It. I had the idea a while ago and just didn't write it out. I hope it's interesting. I hope you guys enjoy it. There will be a range of emotions as Messer and Holly work through their grief. I just wanted to put that warning out there now.

The characters Harvey Gold and Jessica Weaver are of my own creation.

Happy reading!

Harvey Gold was wondering what he had gotten himself into when he decided to become a therapist. Sure, it seemed like a rewarding job, and he had mostly good experiences with clients, but then there were times when he got given clients who did not seem to want to cooperate or even talk.

Eric Messer was one such client.

"So," Harvey said, tapping his pen against his leg. "Eric..."

"Call me Messer," Messer insisted. "Please."

"Okay."

"I don't really understand why I'm here," Messer said, continuing on. "Or what purpose this has for me."

"Well, it was encouraged as part of your journey towards caring for Sophie," Harvey explained. "And to help with your grief from the loss..."

"Stop," Messer said, holding up his hand. "Stop right there."

"Did I say something wrong?" Harvey asked. Messer looked as though he was about to burst; whether it be with anger or sadness was left to be discovered.

"I don't want to talk about it," Messer said after a moment.

"About the loss...?"

"No," Messer cut him off quickly.

"Okay," Harvey agreed. He knew that people needed time to process things, to be able to feel comfortable talking about painful situations. He knew not to push or pry. He knew it would be a work in progress. He did hope, however, that Messer would talk about something at least. He figured it would be about Holly, the woman he now had to live with while caring for Sophie. He had heard from the social worker, Janine, that they weren't exactly peachy with one another. He figured he could help with that if Messer shared about it.

Messer did not talk for the rest of the hour.

...

Jessica Weaver loved being a therapist. She felt lots of good feelings when her clients left and told her she had helped them so much. She was able to effectively deal with other people's trauma and sadness and pain. She had yet to meet a client that would cause her to feel pain more than usual. Then she met Holly Berenson.

"I'm sorry," Holly said, crying. "I just...I can't believe they're gone. Gone!"

"It is so difficult losing a loved one," Jessica nodded. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"I just..." Holly said, reaching to rip out five sheets of kleenex and blow her nose. "I just saw her, you know? We talked. I never dreamed that would be the last time I spoke with her ever!"

Jessica knew to stay quiet. Using silence was her tool to get the clients to speak more. She still nodded, though, to show she was listening.

"And Sophie...my God, what must she be thinking? I know she's only one years old, but she has to know her parents are gone, right? She would put that together, wouldn't she? It's been a week, and it's been just Messer and I at the house with her. She has to know."

"Infants are very perceptive, yes," Jessica agreed. No doubt poor Sophie was feeling the pain.

"She is my best friend," Holly whimpered. "Was. Oh, God!" She burst into more wails, and Jessica felt them hit her own chest like bullets. It was sometimes hard seeing people cry so hard in front of her. She wondered how her colleague, Harvey Gold, was doing with Eric Messer, the man Holly was co-parenting Sophie with. She hoped he was making progress.

...

Messer drove while Holly sat in the passenger seat, wiping at her eyes viciously. She didn't want Sophie to see the tears. Thankfully, one of the neighbors had been able to look after Sophie while they were in therapy.

"That was a waste of time," Messer said after a while. Holly looked at him.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Therapy. It's dumb."

"It's supposed to help us grieve, Messer," Holly said, feeling a little disgruntled.

"I'm grieving in my own way, Holly," Messer said back. "I don't need to talk to some stranger about it."

"They're professionals..."

"Who are strangers," Messer finished for her. "I'm not comfortable with that."

"All right. So talk to me about it," Holly insisted. Messer scoffed as he looked at her quickly.

"No," he answered.

"Why not?"

"Because!"

"Why don't you want to talk about Alison and Peter dying?" Holly demanded.

"Drop it, Holly," Messer warned.

"We have to be able to talk about it, not just for us but for Sophie," Holly urged.

"No," Messer disagreed.

"Why can't you talk about it?" she pressed, not giving in.

"BECAUSE IT HURTS TOO DAMN MUCH!" Messer shouted, hitting the brakes hard and stopping at the sudden red light. He was staring at the road in front of them, panting while Holly stared at him in surprise. She knew he'd be hurting, but his explosion was unexpected.

"I'm hurting too, Messer," she whispered. "We are hurting together..."

"Stop," he ordered, finally looking at her. "Stop trying to make us bond. Stop trying to fix me or this. Just stop."

Holly clamped her mouth shut, knowing if she said anything else, he'd probably make her walk home. She just nodded. The light turned green, and they drove on. Their journey was just beginning.

Do you guys think it's worth continuing? I plan on following along with the movie storyline, but it's not a rewrite of the movie. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!