A/N: Pics & Vids are up on the blog.

I'm surprised I didn't end up bald the way I kept tugging at my hair all day…it's a habit I picked up that comes out whenever I'm stressed.

Bella and Dr. Brandon came to the house today.

Bad enough I couldn't keep my eyes off of Bella…dressed in denim capris and a tank top…she looked too good for words with the way her pants hugged her hips…yeah, it was hard to focus.

But when she pulled the three big tubs out of her truck…that's when I really started freaking out.

Dr. Brandon worked with me on breathing techniques to try to help with my anxiety level. They helped a bit, although I still wasn't pleased about having to get rid of things.

Bella tried to be reassuring as she explained the process…each bin was for different things. One was for things I'd be keeping, one was for things I was donating or selling, and the third was for things I was going to be throwing away.

I was already hating this whole thing, but when Bella placed her hand on my arm, and told me she knew I could do this…it made me really want to try, not so much for myself, but because I didn't want to disappoint her.

The first thing we tackled was the six boxes I had stacked directly to the left of my front door. They'd been there for a few months already, and I couldn't remember what they had inside them. When we opened them up, they all had reams of printer paper in them…and that's when I remembered.

"Staples was having a good sale on paper a while back," I explained. "I uh…I thought it would be a good idea to stock up."

"Don't you think this was a bit excessive though Edward?" Dr. Brandon asked. "I mean, each ream of paper has 500 sheets, and each of these boxes has 20 reams of paper in it. That's…60,000 sheets of paper in total. Do you really need that much paper at home?"

When she made me look at it that way I could understand her question more…I mean…I didn't really need that much paper, and it's not like I can't afford to buy more if I run out.

"Uh…um, well…I guess I don't need that much paper when you do the math like that. Um…maybe…I'll keep half of one box and uh…I can bring the rest to work? I know they'll use it there."

"That's a good idea Edward," Bella replied. "Now…go on and sort the paper into the right bins."

I separated the paper I wanted to keep from the reams I was going to bring to work, and once they were all sorted, we broke the boxes down and put them in a pile for recycling. I couldn't help but smile a bit once I saw that small space open up in my foyer; it was like I had reclaimed a tiny little piece of my home.

The rest of the afternoon was spent slowly working our way through the left side of the foyer. We didn't get very far, only about half of the way through what we had set out to do, but we did manage something, despite my panic attack and my anxiety getting in the way. Both Bella and Dr. Brandon helped me to work through it each time. In the end, I had agreed to get rid of all of my Leaf Tacos since I had a hired landscaper who maintained the grounds, all of my Pops A Dents, all of my GoJo's, and all but one of my NuWave Digital Ovens because I really did want to see if it worked like the commercial said…I mean, who wouldn't want to keep something that could cook a piece of frozen meat to perfectly done in minutes flat? But when it came down to the final total…I managed to get rid of 182 individual items from my home…not a bad start if you ask me.

Before Bella left, she gave me another hug, telling me how proud she was of me for the progress we made, and reminded me that she would be back to work with me again on Monday. Dr. Brandon also told me how she was pleased with how well today went, and gave me another notebook and more homework…writing reflective journal entries about how I felt about each clean out session. She told me we would go over both of my notebooks during our sessions at her office each week.

That night, after dinner with my family and telling them how well the day went, I went to bed not feeling so anxious or stressed, even when I thought about everything that I went through as I did my journal entry. The anxiety was there, but…I tried Dr. Brandon's breathing techniques, and they helped, and for once…I went to bed without feeling any guilt.

A/N: So, exciting announcement time...Hoarder was rec'd on The Cheese Shop blog, and now, I've been nommed in their June 'Big Cheese Author Spotlight' poll in the drabble category. If you have a spare second, head on over and vote: www . thecheeseshop . wordpress . com (just remove the spaces) The polls are on the right hand side of the page.

Chapter 9 will post tomorrow, and in that chapter we'll get a little insight into Edward's childhood.