Growing Apart

Chapter 6

(Emma's POV)

I start my car up and start driving. My rescheduled session with Dr. Hopper is in 15 minutes. I pull up beside the building and lock the car doors as I walk inside. I'm greeting in the lobby by his dog Pongo. He knows me pretty well now since I've been coming here a while, and I bring him a treat each time I come. I take the milk bone out of my pocket and feed it to him. As soon as I'm about to sit down Archie walks through the door.

"Ah Emma, perfect timing. Come on in," he invites me. I follow him into his office and he closes the door behind me. I go straight for coffee this time, and sit down once I have a cup. "How's your morning been Emma?" he asks.

"It's been ok. I had an early morning class, but it wasn't so bad," I tell him. He nods.

"Good to hear. I see you're drinking coffee again. No coffee gatherings today?" He asks, not so subtlety changing the subject to Killian.

"No, not today. I'm pretty booked up. After this I have a 7 hour shift," I answer, not giving into his hint.

"How did it go with Killian?" he asks directly.

"Fine," I answer. He looks up from his pad of paper, awaiting a long winded answer that I don't have. "Well what would you like to know about it?" I ask the question this time.

"How did you feel going into it, as you walked into the shop?" he asks. I think back, but it's not hard to remember. My stomach was in knots and seeing him sitting there made it even worse. It was almost surreal until that point that it was actually happening.

"I was nervous," I answer simply.

"And how'd you feel during?"

"Sometimes I was ok, even happy, but sometimes I was angry and upset. It kept changing," I tell him. He nods.

"That's normal. When you meet with someone you haven't seen in a long time, especially a significant other, a lot can bubble to the surface," he explains, and I nod in understanding. I guess that makes sense. "How did you feel once it was over?"

"I wasn't nervous at the end, but I still had a knot in my stomach. I didn't want it to end. I wanted to make sure that it wasn't the last time we'd see each other. I missed him more then I even realized."

"So you've decided to see him again?" he asks. I shift in my chair.

"Well, I already have actually."

"You have?"

"Yes. Another trip to The Enchanted Forest the other day. And before you ask, it went well. It started off a little bumpy, but in the end it went really well. We talked about school, about his niece and nephew, even a bit about his childhood which is something he never talks about. I was so shocked that he was talking so openly about it. I wonder what changed." I think aloud. Killian never would have told me that before, I don't think anyways. He's always been so secretive about his father.

"It's possible he sought out counseling too. If he did how would you feel about that?"

"That he might be seeing a therapist?" I clarify. Archie nods back. "I would be shocked. He's not the therapy type," I scoff.

"What do you mean by that? What is a 'therapy type' per say?"

"I didn't mean it in a bad way, it's just... Someone in therapy has to open up, and be vulnerable. He isn't like that, he deals with things on his own and doesn't like to talk about them."

"That description reminds me a lot of how you were when we first started seeing each other Emma." I swallow hard.

"I guess so," I answer. I'd never thought about it that way.