The Beginning in the End

Chapter 6

Hayley had been planning on approaching this subject, but knew shed be putting pressure on a tender area. She glanced up at Gerard, who looked back at her expectedly, waiting for her to start the session.

"Well, you've almost completely quit drinking. I think we should talk about what happened that night.. You need to let go, move on. Its not healthy for you to be stuck in the past like this." Hayley spoke softly, biting the corner of her lip as she watched Gerard's expression change. Confusion, guilt, sadness, pain, anger, fury.  It settled on fury. Shed struck a nerve. She pressed her lips together, expecting him to yell. Instead he got to his feet, stomped to the door and left. Hayley flinched at the sound of the door slamming shut, she sat in silence for a moment, gathering her thoughts. Standing, she went out the door and quickly caught up with Gerard. She was determined. "You know I'm right, Gerard. You know I am. Its okay to be scared, and feel guilty. You've been doing this for years. Its time to stop!"  She was nagging him, but at this point its all she could do. Shed noticed that he'd been less interested lately, pulling himself away emotionally. This was a slap to the face, but he certainly got the message. Hayley stopped and allowed Gerard to storm off, frowning. Maybe shed gone too far this time. Gerard had been guilt tripping himself for years, hes been forcing himself to be unhappy so he wouldn't feel the heavy guilt that always seemed to weigh him down. Hayley would give him time to cool down and come back. What else could she do? She went back inside and sat down on the couch, hiding her face in her hands and sighing. Gerard was difficult but he wasn't stupid, he'd be okay on his own for a while until he cooled off. Meanwhile, Hayley would plan their next meeting

Gerard slammed the door behind him and plopped down on the couch, seething with rage. How dare she?! How dare she?! Move on! Hah! How the fuck could he move on. She's an idiot. A bloody idiot. He groaned and tugged on his hair, standing once again. He began pacing, back and forth. Couch, past the table, dining room and back, repeat. He paced until the sun went down and the sky was illuminated by a million bright stars. All these weeks of session after session..what a waste! He should've known.