She Loves Me

Chapter 9

This all happened after a week of Wakko jumping over the rope and you reading to him. A few more days later, one morning, you just couldn't do it anymore. You drew a picture of Wakko with one leg over another and arms behind his head. Beside it you wrote his name with red and blue letters and drew a little heart next to it. You hid the picture somewhere you knew he wouldn't look.

"Ok", you said as you came back to the living room, "Time to face your traumas". "No...", he whimpered, frowning. "Oh no you don't", you took his hand and sat with him on the couch. You took the remote and turned on the tv. "Tell you what, I don't like to watch tv either", you said. "Then why are we doing this?!", asked Wakko.

"So you can move on", you said, "Now please, watch and don't move". So he reacted like you thought he would. He ended up crying in your lap. Not that you wanted it though. It annoyed you what they'd done to him. "You're using me", he said at one moment. "No I'm not", you said, "Be grateful you're getting your own treatment from a non-proffessional".

"Guys, what- y/n! How dare you?!", your mom asked when she saw you. "I'm helping him mom". "And what if he doesn't want-". "Not my problem! This is the best I can do". She shot you a dead glare, "We'll talk about this". "Can we stop now?", asked Wakko. "Ok", you said, "Now you have a reason to jump over the rope, and from now it'll be in the afternoon".

After lunch and before the rope jumping, your mom took you aside to talk, as she promised. "Wakko says you're being strict", she said, "What do you think he means?". "I'm doing the best I can!", you snapped, "What do you expect me to do?! Leave him be?! Let him suffer?! What?!". "Make things easier, you know", she said.

"But how?!", you whined, annoyed, "Who screamed that night and woke everyone up, and then cried like someone had died, huh?!". "Calm down", she said, placing a hand on your shoulder, "I know you're trying your best. It's just that...you have to figure some other way to-". "I can't", you said, holding onto your chest on a verge of tears.

You ran to your room and trew yourself on your bed, tears strolling down your face. You messed up, again. And all because you tried your best to hide your feelings. After a while, she came into the room. "Hey, don't cry", she said. "Leave me alone mom!", you whined. "Ok, but can you please tell me what is it?", she asked. After a short pause, you sighed, "I love him".

You started crying even harder, because that meant hurting him in some way. It just seemed wrong to you. "Hey, it's not your fault you do", your mom said. "Don't tell me that", you said, "I did everything not to hurt him and...now I'm here, telling you how I feel...". "You did your best", she repeated, "So now is the time you slowly start showing him what it feels like".

"I can't do that!", you snapped, "He'll think...he'll think I broke a promise...that I betrayed him...". "What have you promised?" "That...I musn't lay a hand on him". She gasped, "Without my permission?! You're doing yourself no good". "But I'm doing him good", you said. Your mom sighed, "You need to relax. Instead of letting him fully recover, you're making him face it all again. Have you tought what's the main goal here?".

"I guess not", you said. "Well then, the goal here is to get him away from the problem. Not everything can be faced, you know. But if you start showing him how to love, that'll also mean facing something". "So you're saying...that I should start right away?", you asked. She smiled, "Go on. Do it", and nudged you to get up.