Caitlin sat in her therapist's office, waiting for Natalie to call her back. To say she was nervous would be a vast understatement. She was simply riddled with anxiety. She could feel Barry looking at her every now and again, watching her softly, but she didn't know what she was supposed to say to him. She didn't know what she could say. She sighed softly, drumming her fingers against her leg and then she felt them still, looking down to see another hand clasped around them gently. She looked up to spot Barry smiling at her gently. "Barr?"

"I know you're nervous," he murmured soothingly. "I get that. And, I won't ask you to not be, okay? But what I will ask is that you remember Natalie is here to help you."

"What if she judges me for getting in that position?" Caitlin asked quietly.

"If she judges you, she's not the right therapist for you," Barry replied calmly. "But, Caitlin, try to give her a chance first."

Caitlin expelled a soft sigh, nodding her head the next moment. "All right. I can do that."

Barry smiled at her gently. "I know you can. You're going to be okay."

Caitlin smiled as much as she could, not quite sure if she believed his words one hundred percent, but willing to try anyways. "Thanks."

Just then, she heard her name being called. "Caitlin Snow?"

Caitlin looked up, spotting a petite redheaded woman looking around the room. When she made eye contact with her, Caitlin smiled somewhat shakily and stood up, Barry following suit. "Natalie?"

"That's my name," she replied, walking towards Caitlin, and holding her hand out to shake hers'. They shook, Caitlin feeling the warmth of the other woman's hand, and Natalie held her door open for her. Caitlin walked in, spotting a comfortable looking couch and she sat down, automatically relaxed enough by the soft and soothing music to pull her knees up underneath her. Barry sat next to her and Natalie shut her door softly, going to sit down in the plush chair across from them. "First time in therapy?"

Caitlin smiled somewhat guiltily. "Yes. And, I should have come a long time ago."

Natalie cocked a gentle smile her way. "You're here now. That's the important thing. Do you want to tell me a little bit about yourself?"

Caitlin chewed on her lower lip anxiously, wracking her brain with something that she could say about herself that sounded interesting. "Well, I'm twenty-three years old. I have a beautiful little girl named Maddy, and being her mother is the best thing I've ever done."

Natalie smiled. "That's wonderful. But I meant, tell me about your hobbies and likes and dislikes."

Caitlin frowned slightly, wondering what on earth she liked to do. She locked and unlocked her fingers a few times, playing with them as she thought and then she nodded. "I like photography. I'm pretty good at it and I picked up the hobby in college after – after something happened."

Natalie tilted her head to the side, nodding softly. "Something that hurt you?"

"Yes," Caitlin whispered shakily. "But I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that."

Barry squeezed her knee comfortingly, leaving his hand over it, and providing a warmth she didn't know she was lacking in her life. Natalie smiled in understanding. "That's okay. You don't have to be ready to talk about it. Tell me more about photography. What are somethings you like to take pictures of?"

Caitlin could talk about this; this was easy. "I like to take pictures of city life. When I was at college, I would go out with my roommate and take pictures of the nightlife in our city. My roommate, Felicity, said I had a natural talent for photography and it made me feel, I don't know…"

"Safe?" Natalie supplied helpfully and Caitlin smiled, liking that word for the descriptor.

"Yes," she murmured. "Safe. Like – like nothing could touch me if I had my camera on me."

Natalie nodded her head. "I felt the same way about my love for journaling. If I wasn't a therapist, I'd want to be a writer."

Caitlin looked at her. "I've never journaled before. Does it help?"

"Exceptionally so," Natalie hummed. "I'd give it a try if its something you can see yourself doing. You can pick up nice journals at almost any bookstore and you can just write in it once a day. Write anything you want, too. There's no specific thing you have to write about."

Caitlin smiled. "I can do that. It might help me to make sense of things that have happened in my life."

"It definitely will," Natalie agreed. She consulted her notes. "Tell me a bit more about your daughter now. You said her name was Maddy?"

"Yes," Caitlin replied. "She's three-years-old and the sweetest little girl you could imagine."

Natalie turned to Barry. "Have you met her?"

"Yes," he said. "I met her about a month and a half ago now. Caitlin was my best friend all through our high school years and then when she went to college, we didn't stay in contact much. It was a surprise to meet Maddy, but she's absolutely perfect."

"We didn't stay in contact at all," Caitlin laughed dryly.

"I was trying to help you out," Barry admitted sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.

"What happened there?" Natalie asked kindly, and Caitlin sighed.

"I need to be able to talk about this," she muttered. "That's why I came to therapy after all."

"Take your time," Natalie intoned quietly, and Barry handed Caitlin a tissue as tears slowly filled her eyes.

"Dammit," she laughed harshly. "Three years later and I can still cry about it. Okay, yes. Maddy is a very sweet little girl but how she was conceived is anything but – but – sweet. The story isn't a good one."

"Its okay," Natalie replied softly. "You're safe Caitlin."

Caitlin expelled a soft sigh, nodding her head a little the next moment and continuing onward. "I was at a party that I went to with my roommate. Parties weren't really my thing – ever – and I decided to go so I could be a bit more social. There was a guy there who was a year older than me. His name was Jay. I don't remember much after that first soda but Natalie – I swear that's all I had to drink."

"I believe you, Caitlin," Natalie assured her quietly. "Please, continue."

"I-I somehow ended up on a bed, with Jay on top of me. It was over quickly but…," she trailed off, closing her eyes as a couple of tears slid down her face.

"But?" Natalie probed gently.

"I came," Caitlin whispered in horror. "I don't remember much from that night but I remember that."

"That doesn't take away from the fact that you were raped, Caitlin," Natalie replied firmly. "Our bodies have natural reactions to sex, no matter if its consensual or not. That's normal."

"I shouldn't have been able to come," Caitlin sighed. "I didn't want that to happen."

"Of course, you didn't," Natalie said softly. "Just because your body had a natural reaction to the sex, did not mean you were enjoying it."

"Doesn't it though?" Caitlin asked somewhat desperately, trying to alleviate the guilt she felt all these years later.

"Certainly not," Natalie replied. "You could have come for a multitude of reasons, least of all one of them being because your body was in fight or flight mode. When we're put through trauma, our body does what it believes it needs to do in order to survive. You were put through something really traumatic – try to give yourself a little grace here, okay?"

Caitlin dotted underneath her eyes, trapping her crystalline tears in her waterline as she sniffled. "Okay."

Barry pressed a tender kiss to her temple, her best friend making her feel far more safe than she had in three years as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and whispered gently against her temple. "I'm so proud of you."

And while Caitlin was in no way healed, she knew that she was on the road to recovery. And that was good enough for her.