CHAPTER 72: AUSTIN

One tear fell, and another, and another.

The pain was real. It was old but real, always there, and it was finally breaking through. It was been held back for so long, but it was finally out. I was starting to let go of the things that have killed me for years.

Maggie’s touch was warm and soft, comforting and safe, and as she pulled me into her, I let her. She didn’t speak. She didn’t do anything but just hold me. She reminded me I was not alone, that I was safe. As much as I needed to hold her, I needed her to hold me just as much. She grounded me and kept me here. By focusing on her I was reminded that I was not six years old and afraid anymore. She stopped the flashbacks consuming me. She made that pain bearable.

“That’s why I major in psych,” I breathed out after a while of her holding me. “Because it means I can help kids like me that have all this shit in their heads. If I’d had someone to talk to when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t be this fucked up now.”

“You’re not fucked