The Sullivan Sisters

The Sin Behind The Cross

"I'm glad that you came back, I haven't seen you for a while," Dr. Phelps smiled, his eyes filled with sincerity.

"Yeah, it's been a while," Quinn agreed with the nod of her head. She glanced around the room, her eyes landing on the plethora of familiar inspirational posters, her hands running along the bright red couch that she knew all too well.

"So, what brought you back, anything in particular?" he implored while adjusting his glasses.

"Nope, the same reason as last time," the teenager sighed, "my sister. She felt like I needed to come back here."

"Do you know why she feels that way?"

"I'm still having those...nightmares that we've talked about and for whatever reason, she thinks they're dangerous or bad or whatever, I don't know. She just wanted me to come back to see if you could somehow fix it," she shrugged.

"Well, I don't think that fixing it is necessarily the right term," Dr. Phelps chuckled. "I'm not here to fix anyone, I'm here to help."

Quinn raised her eyebrows while forcing a small smile onto her face.

"So, these nightmares, what exactly do they entail?"

Dr. Phelps sighed quietly once his question was met with silence.

"You know, Quinn, I realize that you've been coming here because your sister wants you to but, it's really important that you have your own reasons for doing this. You don't have an obligation to your sister, but you do have an obligation to yourself. She realized that something was going on with you and she got you here, but now it's your turn to take the reigns."

"Look, I feel like we're kinda going in a loop here," Quinn chuckled. "I've already told you everything I was gonna tell you, everything that I was gonna talk about. I'm only here because my sister dragged me here, it was either this or she wouldn't let me leave the house for an indefinite amount of time. I don't mean to waste your time, but...honestly I don't have much to say."

"Why is it that now you don't have anything to say?" the therapist pondered softly. "I know that it took a little while at the beginning, but I felt that we were really making some great progress, you were being open and discussing things and you seemed a little bit brighter. It seemed like your thoughts were a little more clear because of our sessions, but then suddenly you stopped coming around. You've told me why you're back, but why did you ever leave?"

Quinn blinked a few times, Dr. Phelps' question surprising her. "Well, things got better, I didn't think I needed these sessions anymore. I don't need them anymore," she reiterated. "I do well in school, I got a job, friends...a boyfriend."

The redhead smiled shyly as a blush crept onto her cheeks at the warm thought of the boy who was always on her mind.

"A boyfriend, huh?" Dr. Phelps smiled. "It's great that you have other people in your life, someone that cares about you in a romantic way. This period in your life is new and exciting, I'm sure, but there's also something that a lot of people don't quite understand about relationships."

Quinn furrowed her brow, her interest was officially peaked. "What's that?"

"Relationships are built on trust. That's the only way they last, it's the glue that keeps them together and makes them real. Lies and deceit are like tape and sincerity and trust are like glue. Everyone knows that glue holds things together a lot better than tape."

"...What's your point?"

"Is it safe to assume that your boyfriend doesn't know about these nightmares that you're having?"