close as strangers ↣ joshler ✓

9. Reunited

Me: struggling mentally, drowning in finals reviews, crying, self sabotaging, and listening to one direction to take the pain away

Also me: let's not do my homework and write about a broken relationship!

Josh looked out the window as Reagan drove, their hands intertwined on the center console. She would squeeze it reassuringly every couple minutes but Josh still felt like he was going to throw up everywhere. He was perfectly capable of driving himself and they had two cars but he didn't think he'd end up going if he was in charge of himself.

"Thank you," Reagan rubbed his hand with her thumb. "Thank you for doing this."

"I don't want to but I need to," Josh sighed.

"I know. I'm still really appreciative you're trying though. Not many people can do this."

"I just hope everything goes okay."

The rest of the car ride was silent as Reagan pulled up to the front of the mental health center. Josh swallowed. He had become someone who has to go to a mental health center.

That was terrifying.

He was about to get out when Reagan grabbed a hold of his hand tightly. He looked back at her. "I'm am so so so proud of you," she told him seriously, her eyes dancing around as she surveyed every aspect of his face. "No matter what happens in there your worth doesn't change, okay? I love you."

Josh forced a smile on his face and pressed a light kiss to her lips. "I love you too."

"I'll be here at 1:30 to pick you up," she offered him a smile. He didn't reply, instead pressing another kiss to her lips. This was one different though. It was sad and desperate and scared.

They pulled away and Josh looked at her. "I'll see you then," he said before getting out of the car and shutting the door. He looked back and realized Reagan wasn't going to leave until he made it inside okay.

He took a deep breath and walked through the automatic doors, his hands shoved in his jacket pockets. He had to enter through another pair of sliding doors before he was in the office.

And as soon as he stepped in he wanted to step right back out.

The waiting room was bright. Too bright. The walls were a cream color and the rough carpet was a dark blue. The chairs looked stiff and plastic and were a light gray-blue with dark gray handles. The ceiling was white and the bright lights in the room made everything look worse. He noticed there was a section in the corner with kids' toys and realized that a lot of people had to either bring their kids with them to therapy or had to bring them to therapy and it just made him feel a lot worse.

It was dead silent in the room and there was an older guy— maybe mid forties —already sitting in one of the chairs. He looked up and locked eyes with Josh and the blonde just offered him a polite smile before walking over to the reception desk.

"Hi," the woman sitting behind the desk greeted, a warm smile on her face. His eyes caught the nameplate that said Annabelle Richards. "How can I help you?"

"Uh yeah... I have a therapy appointment at 12:30," he swallowed thickly, feeling embarrassment creeping up on his face. He then realized he didn't know the name of his therapist and felt dumb for not asking Reagan. She had set up this appointment and didn't really give him much information in regards to it.

The receptionist didn't seem to mind, rolling in her chair over to her computer. "Name?"

"Joshua Dun."

She typed a few things in and smiled at him once more. Picking up a clipboard and pen, she handed it to him. "Here's some paperwork you need to fill out really quick. It should only take about five minutes but you can sit in the chair to complete it if you want. Before you go I need to see your insurance information and ID."

Josh pulled out his wallet and provided the requested information, handing it to her. "Is that all?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "I'll work on getting you signed in while you work on that paperwork. Just come back up here when you're done."

Josh nodded before walking off and sitting in a chair three down from the man already there. He was looking through a magazine and radiated boredom. Josh's eyes flicked down to the paperwork and he began filling it out.

Approximately 5 minutes later, just like the receptionist said, he was finished and he walked back up. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," he nodded and handed the clipboard and pen over.

"Awesome," she gave him his things back. "You're all ready to go. Your therapist would usually come to get you when he's ready but he's dealing with a few things and said you could go and head back if you want. Just go through that door right there," she pointed to the door in the corner of the room. "It's the third room on your right. The name on the wall says Dr. Matthews. That's not his name but we haven't had to chance to change it out yet," she laughed gently.

"Cool, thanks," he told her, walking over to the door that she had just pointed to.

He opened it and hesitantly began walking down the hallway, scanning the right side for the name he was looking for. His eyes and feet stopped when he saw Dr. Stanley Matthews and found the door was open. He went ahead and walked in, wringing his hands together nervously.

Upon entering he took saw there were two chairs and a couch, a coffee table resting in the middle of it. There were a few things in the table including a box of tissues, hand sanitizer, and a small statue. He decided to take a seat on the couch since they do that in all the movies and he honestly had no idea what he was doing.

He took a second to glance around the room, surveying his surroundings. He saw there were a few pictures and paintings on the walls that were very modern. A picture of Queen hung and Josh smiled, thinking of Reagan and Freddie. She was crazy about that band and freaked out when she realized Jim and Freddie were attached at the hip because apparently Freddie Mercury dated a Jim. Josh let out a inaudible laugh at the memory, feeling a bit better.

His eyes floated to a degree hanging as well but before he could read the name of his therapist, he heard footsteps. "Hi, I'm so sorry I had to go print a few things," he heard a familiar voice and his heart stopped.

Josh turned his head and saw the last person he wanted to. He was currently shutting the door, balancing a stack of papers in hands and not looking up. "My name's Dr. Joseph but you can call me Ty—" he cut himself off when his head raised. Josh watched his face go white.

Josh felt his world stop and his throat became extremely dry as his heart pounded vigorously in his chest. Despite that, he forced himself to speak. "What are you doing here?"

"I work here."

"Fuck."