More Than Just A Friend (A Bruno Mars Fan Fic)

Chapter 29

Mon

3 days later

She knows coming to see the therapist is for the best but she's feeling nervous about it and as Lonnie parks the car Leila turns to face Bruno and he strokes the back of her left hand that he's been holding since they left home and tells her, I know you're nervous baby but I think you're doing the right thing and i'll come in with you if you want and Leila shakes her head no and tells him, knowing you're here is enough Bruno and as much as i'd love to have you in there with me I think I need to see the therapist by myself and he tells her, ok, i'll wait in reception for you and she asks him, I thought you were going to wait in the car for me and Bruno tells her, no, I want to be closer than that to you if you need me and Leila smiles and tells him, if it gets out that you're here people will be saying it's you that's here to see a therapist and they'll speculate why and Bruno laughs and tells her, let them, I don't give a fuck, i'm here for you baby.

She walks into reception with Bruno holding her hand and Leila approaches the receptionist who takes her name and she hands her a clipboard with a form to fill in and tells them they can take a seat and she points to the chairs behind them where there is a man and woman sitting and she and Bruno go and sit down away from them and Leila fills in the form and she goes and hands it back to the receptionist and she goes and sits down beside Bruno again and he quietly tells her, my cap and sunglasses have stopped anyone recognising me and Leila smiles and quietly tells him, there's only 3 people in here and they're obviously not any of your hooligans who would recognise you anywhere no matter how you disguise yourself Bruno and he laughs quietly and tells her, good point and they watch as a door just off the left side of reception opens and a tall, young man with messy brown hair walks out and Leila tenses up at the sight of him, feeling nervous and Bruno puts his arm around her shoulders and then a woman who looks to be not much taller than Leila who is 5 foot 2 inches, in her late fifties with short black hair comes out of the office and calls her name and Leila turns to Bruno and he tells her, remember i'm right here if you need me and he kisses her softly and Leila gets up and walks over to the woman who says hello to her and asks her to come into her office and Leila says hello back to the woman and follows her into the office.

He hopes it's going well with the therapist for Leila and he's playing candy crush on his phone to distract himself and the receptionist comes over to him and asks him, can you please go into the office, your friend needs you and Bruno gets up quickly from his chair and runs to the office and he opens the door and he stops as he sees Leila sitting in a chair crying and he goes to her quickly and rubs her right shoulder and Bruno looks at the therapist and asks her angrily, what the hell have you done and Leila tells him, it's not her fault Bruno, this is harder than I thought it would be and the therapist tells him, my name is Martha, please take a seat and Bruno pushes the chair that's beside Leila's closer to hers and he sits down and holds right her hand and Martha tells him, Leila has given me permission to speak with you here and whatever either of you say to me is confidential and you should both know if you haven't realised already, that the trauma of Leila's attack isn't something that can be gotten over or dealt with easily or quickly for either of you and it can be a trying time for a relationship and Bruno looks at Leila and tells her, i'll do whatever it takes to help you and he looks at Martha and tells her, whatever it takes and Martha smiles and tells him, good, now I know from what Leila has told me that she's struggling with what happened and she asks him, what about you and Bruno looks at Leila for a moment and he looks at Martha and tells her, I feel guilty and I don't know what to do to help Leila through this and I don't want to do anything that reminds her of him and Bruno grits his teeth and Leila tells him, i've told you that you have nothing to feel guilty about, what happened wasn't your fault, you saved me and Bruno shakes his head no and tells her, not soon enough, I didn't get there before he hurt you... touched you and Leila tells him, it could've been so much worse if you and Eric hadn't broken down the office door when you did.

She squeezes Bruno's left hand that's holding her right hand and Leila hopes she can make Bruno see that he shouldn't feel guilty and she tells him, you're not responsible for what Luke did to me and if I could snap my fingers and be back to my old self and back to normal with you then I would and Martha and asks her, back to normal with him how and Leila looks at Bruno and tells Martha, we have... we had... a very active... sex life and I miss it, but I can't... i'm not ready to have sex with him again and I miss showering with him and sleeping naked with him and Bruno tells her, baby i've told you we'll be intimate again when you're ready, there's no pressure remember and she tells him, I know and Martha tells them, I can tell that you 2 have a good relationship and that you love each other and communicate well, so what i'm going to suggest Leila is that you try to go to sleep thinking about something that makes you happy and make sure you're feeling relaxed before going to sleep and don't worry about when you'll be able to have sex again with Bruno as you're going to have to get used to being touched by him again without it triggering a flashback or memory about your attack and i'd suggest keeping it non sexual for now, like how your both holding hands now, but Leila you'll have to tell Bruno what's acceptable and take it slowly and then you can both move forward and be intimate again, but if you try to rush the healing process which is different for everyone, then you could cause a set back.

He looks at Martha and asks her, what about kissing and Martha smiles at him and tells him, as long as Leila is comfortable with that, then fine, but it's important that Leila feels empowered and in control since that was taken away from her and Bruno looks at Leila and asks Martha, what can we do about the flashbacks and Martha tells him, doing something that happened during the attack and anything that reminds Leila of it will trigger a flashback, like seeing someone that looks like the man who attacked her and so can a smell or a noise that reminds Leila of it or him and Bruno tells Martha, yeah, I learned not to come at Leila from behind and he looks at Martha and asks her, can a smell or noise really trigger a flashback and she tells him, oh yes and Leila squeezes his hand and tells him, you smell nothing like Luke and Bruno smiles at Leila and tells her, good.

Later that night...

She looks at Bruno as he gets into bed beside her and Leila moves closer to him and he rests his hand on her waist and she stiffens up, she can't help it and she tells Bruno, i'm sorry and she forces herself to relax and he tells her, it's ok, but if you want me to move my hand away then I will and she strokes his face and tells him, no, leave it where it is and Bruno kisses her gently and tells her, I don't want to do anything that reminds you of Luke and Leila smiles and tells him, I know that and I think you were right about me seeing a therapist, Martha's ok and Bruno tells her, she seems ok and as long as she helps you, that's all that matters and she tells him, time will tell and my next appointment and Bruno leans his forehead against hers and tells her, if you want me to come in with you then I will and Leila kisses him and tells him, thanks, but if you can wait in reception for me again... give me a chance to see if I can get through a session with Martha without you, that'd be great and Bruno tells her, consider it done, I love you Leila and i'll do whatever you need me to and she kisses Bruno's nose and tells him, I love you too and I know Luke attacking me has affected you too and I can't thank you enough for your patience with me and support and i want you to know that i'm going to do whatever it takes to get back to normal with you and Bruno smiles and tells her, I think we can get through anything and he kisses her softly and pulls her closer to him and Leila rests her arm over Bruno's chest and hopes they can get back to how they used to be soon.