A/N: So this was the long chapter I mentioned I was writing ages ago last year. I finally got back to it today and added a bit more to it. There was lots more I had planned, including separate parts with Aspen, Caspian, Finn and an idea for Kellan, but it's just so hard to get back to it and finish it off. So I decided to post this, and I can add another part later maybe, if I get back to it. Sorry it's rushed at the end. Anyway, this is something very different, so I hope you enjoy it!

Also, I should add that it shows the characters at varying ages, not relating to each other. And lastly, I am in no way a psychologist, so sorry if I've done it all wrongly, but ah it's a fiction, so oh well.

Stepping into her office, where she worked as a psychologist, Ember tucked some brown strands of hair that had fallen from her bun, behind her ear. She'd tried to set it up so that it looked homely, with a sofa with cushions and a rug, calm lighting, and a desk and chair for herself. Even still, she'd decided it needed more than just that, and she found some pictures of people on Google images of people and framed them around the room; someone smiling, a family, and happy things like that, to set the mood. Of course, she couldn't use pictures of herself or her own family, that was all personal.

Her first patient that morning was a sad case, and she couldn't help but sympathise. He'd lost his twin earlier that year, and his parents had made him go and see a psychologist, for his own wellbeing. They'd been inseparable, she'd learnt, and had depended on each other so much, that it was hard for him to now live on his own. It was the little things that she tried to do to help; listening, making plans and suggestions.

Glancing at the time, she gathered her notepad and pen, opening it to his page, before pulling her door open. "Connor," she said, smiling over at the boy sitting on a chair in the waiting room, "You can come in now."

He followed her silently, his expression blank as he walked into the room and slid into his usual spot on the couch.

Pulling her own chair over a little closer, she placed her notepad on her lap, and rested her hands on top.

"How are you feeling this week?" she asked, leaning forward, and studying him for a moment. She noticed the dark circles under his eyes, and his lack of energy, silently.

He shrugged, glancing away, at the window. "The same as last week, I guess. Nothing much has changed.

"Have you been going out every day, like I suggested?" she asked, writing down a couple of notes on the paper. She'd given him a task last week, to try and help with his independence and interactions. It would be good, she'd said, if he could get out and go to the shops, or to the gym, or something like that, even just to get outside.

"Yeah… We-… I… tried," he nodded, swallowing.

"And how did you find it?" she inquired, pushing him for more information. He still answered with 'we' quite often, as if his twin was still there, and she knew he had a hard time accepting it was real. She didn't want to rush his grieving process, and she was there to help him slowly come to terms with it all, at his own pace.

He lowered his gaze to the ground. Many people were often uncomfortable at first, talking with her, but she prided herself on helping them feel safe with her, so they didn't worry as much about revealing their feelings. "It was… fine. Some people talked to me when I was out. Nothing eventful happened."

She tapped her pen against her page, writing down a few more things.

"I'm glad to see you progressing, Connor. And you know you can take as long as you need, in this healing process. There is no rush."

He nodded numbly, and they talked some more about what he'd done during the week, how his job applications had been going, and whether he'd been sleeping.

His words had always stayed with her. In one of their sessions, he'd explained how it felt like part of him was missing. He didn't know who he was anymore, without his other half. They had always finished each other's sentences, and had their own secret language and handshakes. Since they were identical, he was even mistaken for his brother, on occasion. They'd never had many friends, or been particularly close to anyone else, and that all took a toll. She knew it would take a long time to heal, and she was willing to be there for him, as long as he needed her.

"I'll see you again next week," she said, to conclude, standing up and walking beside him to the door. "You know how to reach me, if you need me."

Connor nodded and left, and she closed her door behind him, wanting to prepare for the next patient.

ooOoo

Her next patient hardly ever stopped talking. She loved to gossip, and tell Ember all about everyone she met, and all their quirks and opinions. The girl was nosy too, always trying to find out more about Ember's personal life, to which Ember quickly steered her back onto the right track. She was lovely to talk to, of course, but Ember often had to mentally prepare herself for the bombardment of words and questions, and to keep up her calm façade.

Opening her door after she'd turned to a new page, she smiled over at the girl. She was very pretty, slim with long, blonde curls, and lots of makeup. It was all her own act though, and Ember was well aware of that. "Rose, it's your turn," she said, beckoning her inside.

Rose looked cheerful, as usual, walking over to sit on the couch, crossing one leg over the other. "Ember," she sang, looking over at her, "How lovely to see you."

Ember had long since given up on trying to get the girl to call her Dr Crane – ever since Rose had found out her first name, she always used it, and if she felt more comfortable using that, then Ember was fine with it.

As pretty as she appeared on first glance, if you looked for long and hard enough, you'd notice how skinny her arms and legs were, and how pronounced her bones. Her collarbones stuck out, and her clothes hung off her frame, as if they were much too big. She'd been diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and Ember was just one part of the healthcare team who were assisting her recovery. She felt it was important to do sessions with her family as well, so they'd already booked one in for the next week with her mother.

"It's nice to see you too, Rose," Ember smiled, clicking her pen open, so it was ready to use. "Tell me about how your week has been."

As Rose chattered on about her friends and their boyfriends and the holidays, Ember nodded, listening attentively, and asking questions.

In a lull, she moved on, probing with one of the more important questions. "How has your eating been recently?" she asked, watching her expression.

"Oh," Rose said, her smile slipping slightly. "It's still… challenging."

She didn't say any more, and Ember probed with another question. "Your mother said she was going to take you out to dinner for your twentieth birthday," she started, knowing full well how much Rose had been dreading it. "How did that go?"

Rose smoothed out the bottom of her floral dress with her hand, avoiding her gaze. "Well, I tasted lots of things. I couldn't actually… eat much though."

Ember nodded sympathetically, trying to understand. It wasn't that Rose didn't like the taste of things. Often when she went out to a nice food place, like in the case of the dinner, she might try something for the taste, but she wouldn't swallow it, instead discarding it discreetly in her napkin. She had become so good at counting calories, that she knew instantly how many calories were in each part of the dish, and just the thought of how many calories in a chocolate bar, made her feel sick. Once, she'd told Ember exactly how many calories were in the coffee she was drinking, as if she couldn't help it. Before her parents had urged her to seek help, she'd mostly skipped meals, occasionally setting a timer each day, for when she could have a spoonful of something, and it had to be measured exactly. How she survived like that, Ember had no idea.

Ember had noticed that there was a damaging trend in today's society, where everyone had to look perfect, all the time. People were defined by the number of likes on their pictures, or the number of comments or compliments they received. When people like Rose grew up around superficial friends like this, the results were unsurprising, and Ember had seen other cases, similar to hers.

In their time together, Ember had tried to focus on helping Rose to embrace herself as she was, as well as setting a more positive image of her body, and building her self-esteem. Cognitive behaviour therapy was important for helping her to identify and challenge unhelpful thoughts and to learn practical self-help strategies. They'd made a list of goals together, and Ember was helping her to achieve them, one by one.

"I think it's important that we focus on your goals again," Ember said, flicking back to an earlier page of her notebook. "How about I read some of them out again?"

Rose nodded, raising a hand to her necklace as she listened. "Okay," she agreed.

"Firstly, you want to be healthier. That's the important one. You don't want any more visits to the hospital. You want to be able to go out to places to eat with your friends, rather than having to stay at home. You'd like to stop counting the calories all the time when you look at food. You'd like to find a job. And… You'd like to get a boyfriend," Ember finished, adding the last one with a slight smile, since it was such a Rose kind of goal.

Looking down at her writing, she considered. "How about we focus on the goal about the calories this week," she advised. "How about instead of counting the calories, you think of all the good things in there, that will help you grow healthy and strong. Like… instead of thinking about how many calories there are in an orange-" she started, before Rose interrupted her with a quick, "Forty-seven."

Ember nodded, before continuing. "Yes, instead of thinking about that number, how about you try and focus on the vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that they contain. I read that one orange," she said, checking her notes, "Contains 130 percent of your vitamin C needs for the day. They also have B vitamins including vitamin B1, pantothenic acid and folate as well as vitamin A, calcium, copper and potassium. You could research these for different foods if you like, as your homework. I think it would be beneficial if you start focusing on these things, rather than the calories."

Rose gave a slight, determined smile. "Alright, whatever you say, Ember! I'll look into it, I promise."

Glancing at the clock and noticing they'd reached the end of the session, Ember smiled back, as she stood up. "It was good to see you again, Rose. Don't forget to bring your mum in next week, like we decided on."

"I won't forget!" Rose chirped, following her to the door, before skipping out. "Have a nice day!"

ooOoo

Making a quick instant coffee up in the lunchroom – she was never fussy about those kinds of things – Ember pondered her earlier sessions as she leaned against the counter. She wanted the best outcomes for her patients, and she was determined to help guide them on the right path. It was dangerous though, getting too attached. It wasn't professional, but she couldn't help but give those who needed it her mobile number, just in case. She wanted to be there when they needed her the most.

Unfortunately, she wasn't looking forward to seeing her next patient, because-… As she made her way to the waiting room, she frowned slightly. Cole was there, as expected, but Steff – another one of her patients - was there early too. They were chatting, and Cole was acting charming, almost too much so.

"I work in human management in this snazzy building. It's twelve stories, and I work on the eleventh," Cole bragged, as he watched her, adjusting his tie so it was straighter. "We get free lunch, a decent amount of holidays and good pay too, of course."

Steff looked almost a little intimidated by his impressive job. "Oh, that's nice," she replied, swallowing. Ember could tell what she was thinking. Why was he here when his life seemed so perfect?

Cole didn't look put off by her lack of response, instead leaning back comfortably in his seat. "What do you do for a living?"

"I'm a librarian," Steff said, a little shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear. "Just at the local library. Nothing special, but I do love books…"

"A librarian?" Cole repeated, his eyes glittering. "Have you read-…"

Ember cleared her throat, interrupting him, and they both looked up. "Steff, you're here early," she remarked.

"Oh, sorry," Steff said, with a guilty smile. "I must have left a little earlier than I realised."

Ember doubted that was the case. It was more likely that she was lonely, or she had something to discuss, but Ember let it be for now. Cole's smile was slightly smug, and she wanted to separate them as soon as possible. Steff would be easy to manipulate at the moment when she was at her most vulnerable, and Cole was a master manipulator, or so she suspected.

"That's alright. Cole, did you want to come in now?" she asked, gesturing towards her door.

Cole got up slowly, at his own pace, before following her to her room. As he walked inside, instead of sitting down immediately, he took his time, pausing to stare at one of the pictures for a moment, as if studying it. Then, he dragged his finger along the top of the drawers, and glanced at the dust on his finger.

"You should do some cleaning in here," he remarked, languidly. He thought he was above these kinds of things. That had been made plainly obvious, from day one.

Ember tried not to sigh, sitting down in her usual seat. As part of Cole's work, they liked their employees to see a psychologist, due to the stress and pressure they had on them, as part of their work. Cole in particular, they had wanted her to see, as he was referred due to complaints filed by a number of employees regarding manipulation. Ember had spent their sessions trying to rule out whether he was a psychopath or not. He certainly didn't need her help with anything, and if he was one, she'd need to refer him onto someone more qualified than her.

She often found herself coming away from their sessions frustrated. He was good at revealing very little, often talking about completely unrelated things, as if he found it all very amusing. He'd even tried to charm her one time, to which she had carefully kept her distance.

"Would you like to take a seat?" she asked, after watching him for a moment in silence.

"I'm alright for the moment," he said, leaning against the drawers unhurriedly. "What's on the agenda this week?"

"I wanted to ask about your relationship with your fellow employees," she started, carefully.

"Oh, I'm not in any 'relationships,' as you put it," he said, smartly. "I don't have time for such things."

"I'm not talking about romantic relationships," she replied, sitting up a little straighter. "Just when you're talking with people in the lunch rooms, or after work. Things like that."

Cole rolled his eyes. "I'm very busy at work. I don't have time for socialising or friends. Nor do I need such things."

"Everyone needs friends," she disagreed carefully, glancing down at her notes. "And from what I've read on your notes, you've talked to a number of different employees. Some might even say you influenced them."

"It's hardly my fault if they're weak of mind," he replied, waving her words away. "It's not like I forced them to do anything."

He was smart, never quite admitting to anything, but he was also proud, detailing just enough to show exactly how smart he was. As if he liked to let someone know.

It continued back and forth like a tennis match, neither willing to admit defeat to the other. However, when she opened her mouth to make a further comment, he tapped his wrist, over his watch. "Sorry, but time's up," he smiled. "I'll look forward to my next visit."

Ember nodded, her lips in a tight line as he left. Perhaps she should ask someone about some advice in dealing with him sometime soon.

ooOoo

Opening her door again, Ember beckoned Steff inside. Now that her attention wasn't focused on Cole, Ember smiled warmly when she saw her again, doing a double take. "You cut your hair," she observed, surprised. Steff always had long, golden hair, reaching far down her back and she normally kept it in a plait. This time however, she'd cut it short, so it was just above her shoulders, and she wore it out.

"I wanted something new," Steff replied as she sat down on the couch. "And I've been trying to work on finding my independence, like you suggested."

Ember nodded, feeling proud of her. Steff had suffered emotional abuse from her family when she was younger, and now she was finally moving on, living on her own and breaking off contact with them. They didn't know where she lived or worked, for her own safety. It was a sad thing, when families couldn't be saved, but for the wellbeing of certain patients, it was better if they 'divorced' their family, so to speak.

"I'm glad to hear that," Ember said, leaning forward on her seat. "You came here early today. Was there something you wanted to say?"

Steff reached into a pocket to pull out an envelope, before getting up and walking over to pass it to her. She was nervous, Ember could tell, from the way her fingers fiddled with her hair, before tucking it behind her ear. "I wrote this letter, to post to them. I thought I'd let you read it first, to tell me if it's alright," she explained, hovering nearby as Ember unfolded the pages. "And you've helped me so much so… it only feels right to let you read it."

Ember smiled, before lowering her eyes to the first page to read it. It was handwritten in Steff's neat, cursive writing, and the letter went over three pages of her special note paper. It was almost like she was pouring out her heart and soul in her writing, and Ember fought to keep her expression even. She couldn't afford to get too emotional, as it wouldn't help anything.

When she finished reading, she folded it neatly again, staying silent for a moment as she pondered it. Steff shifted, anxiety in her expression, and Ember reached out to take her hand, placing the letter back in it, and closing her fingers around it. "It's perfect, Steff. You should send it."

Nodding, Steff bit her lip, her eyes a little moister than before. "Thank you. I was hoping you'd like it."

"You've come such a long way, Steff, and I believe everything has been for the better, even though I know it's been hard on you," she replied, empathy in her eyes.

Before she could say anything more, Steff moved to hug her, and instead of pulling back, like she was meant to do, Ember found herself hugging her back, feeling sympathy, fondness and a sense of pride, all in one. Her job could be hard, and she couldn't always solve everything.

But if she could help, even if it was just in a small way, it made it all worth it.