I left Dr. Adler's office with her question playing over and over inside my head.

"Do you think there's any way Jesse would be willing to come to a session sometime?"

I mean, maybe. And it would definitely help me move forward from my shitshow of a childhood. But what if Jesse judged me for going to therapy in the first place? The main reason I had wanted to go was to work through the issues surrounding my relationship (or lack thereof) with my parents. Mom and Dad had always adored Jesse. He wouldn't understand.

Or would he? While Mom and Dad made sure to attend all of Jesse's events, he was just as physically and emotionally starved of affection as the rest of us were. I think the most any of us got was Mom putting her hands on our shoulders and saying, "Edward/Margaret/Jesse/Anne darling, how are you?"

It's not as though she actually cared. She was just going through the motions of what she thought a mother should say and do. Sometimes I wondered if she looked at us and suddenly remembered, "oh, right, I gave birth to you! Hi, how's it going?"

At 4:00, I would be meeting with Jesse and Tyler one final time before the cast arrived at 6:00. Rehearsals were Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 6-10pm, and then Saturdays from 10am to 4pm for eight weeks. Jesse, Tyler, and I had met a handful of times last week so that Jesse could teach me his choreography and we could discuss the basics of the show.

I still had about five hours before Jesse said he'd pick me up. I didn't know why he offered to pick me up - I knew where the theatre was, I had been there many times before, but not having to drive in the dark after rehearsal ended would be nice.

I went back to my apartment for the first time in three days. It felt good to be back - as extroverted as I could be and as much as I would miss having Rick's company, I did enjoy my solitude, too.

I decided to check my rehearsal bag to make sure I had everything: I had the script, the scorebook, my pencil case, my mini first aid kit, my wallet and my notebook. Perfect.

I went from activity to activity: watching an episode of a TV show, a crossword puzzle, reading - I even got out my old Nintendo DS and fed my Nintendogs for the first time in nine years. But I had a hard time focusing on any of these things.

I did want to ask Jesse about coming to therapy - but when? On the car ride to the theatre would be a good opportunity because it would just be the two of us. I could also wait for the car ride home but then I'd be thinking about it all through rehearsal.

At 3:45, I got a text from Jesse telling me he had arrived. I slipped on my shoes, grabbed my bag and headed out to meet him.

*

"Hey!" Jesse greeted me as I sat in the passenger's seat and fastened my seatbelt.

"Hi," I replied.

"How's your day been?" Jesse asked, looking behind him to make sure it was safe to back up.

"Uh…fine," I replied. God, it felt so strange to hear him ask me that. Jesse of the past wouldn't have cared at all what kind of day his little sister had. I appreciated him making an effort, though. I really did.

"How was your day?" I asked.

"Pretty good - I saw Rachel and we went to see a movie," Jesse replied.

"You really like her, don't you?" I said. Jesse and Rachel Berry had dated very briefly in high school. Their relationship had ended with him smashing an egg on her head, but years later they had reconnected and were dating again - Jesse certainly had matured quite a bit and had apologized for all that had transpired.

"Yep," Jesse smiled. "This might sound dramatic but -" he started

"When have you not?" I teased. Jesse laughed heartily.

"I think she's the one," he told me.

"That's…exciting," I replied sincerely. I was still waiting to find "the one" myself. I had dated one guy in high school, but six months into our relationship, he moved to Indiana. We mutually agreed a long distance relationship was just too hard.

"What did you do today?" Jesse asked.

"Well, I…" I began. Might as well just get this over with.

"I went to my first therapy appointment," I replied.

"You're in therapy?" Jesse asked.

"Yes," I answered. "And my therapist…she asked me if there was any chance that…you would be willing to come to a session?"

Jesse paused. "Do you always meet on Mondays?" He asked.

"Yes - from 10:00 to 10:50," I replied.

"I could make that work. How about next Monday?" Jesse asked.

"Um…sounds good! I'll send her email," I said. I was surprised that he had been so willing to go - and so soon, at that. But I also felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

"Here we are!" Jesse pulled into the parking lot of the theatre and we parked and went inside.

*

We found Tyler sitting at a table in the rehearsal room.

"Ah, the St. James siblings have arrived," Tyler greeted us. Jesse and I exchanged pleasantries with Tyler and joined him at the table.

"Okay, Annie - here's a list of the cast. I also have the scripts and score books in that box over there. Are you able to write each cast member's name and the character they play on a post-it and stick it on their scripts and scores?" Tyler asked.

"Sure!" I pulled the box up on the table next to me and set to work. It was a small cast with only eight actors, so writing out sixteen post-it notes and slapping them on these books would take me no time at all.

"What's on the agenda for the rehearsal?" Jesse asked.

"Oh, shoot! I emailed the week's schedule to the cast but not my co-directors," Tyler facepalmed and pulled out his phone. "I'll send you both the email now so you have a visual, but basically we'll go around and introduce ourselves, do the table read. After Act I, we'll break for dinner - I ordered pizza. Then we'll read Act II. If we have time to start blocking Act I - we can do that; otherwise we'll start with that tomorrow - as well as the music and choreography for those scenes."

After Jesse, Tyler, and I tied up some loose ends, the cast began to arrive. Everyone seemed friendly and happy to be there and after introductions we soon set to work.

*

After Jesse dropped me off at my apartment around 10:15, I hopped in the shower and put on my pajamas. I tried to wind down with some TV but I couldn't stop thinking about therapy.

I liked Dr. Adler - I really did. I felt at ease with her, but I was still surprised that I had poured out so much of my heart and soul to her at the first appointment. Yes, I understood that was the point of therapy, but I had been expecting to say something like, "I was born in March of 1996 to Edward and Margaret St. James. I have three older siblings named Eddie, Maggie, and Jesse. My parents spent most of my childhood traveling so my siblings and I spent a lot of time at my Uncle Rick and Aunt Beth's house who became pseudo parents to us. Aunt Beth died when I was in middle school, but Uncle Rick and I remain very close." I was expecting Dr. Adler to really need to coax the more traumatic aspects of my life out of me.

I was also still puzzled about the whole Jesse thing. We had only been on "good terms" for about 48 hours. All it took was me auditioning for a show to start bridging the 19-year gap between us. That hadn't been my goal for auditioning, either. I just wanted his approval - but it turned out it was there all along. And now he was going to go to therapy with me. So much had happened in the past 2 days and on top of everything else, I was exhausted from a fun but jam-packed rehearsal.

Giving up on TV, I shut it off and went to bed.