Witness Protection ✔

Therapy

This past week had been extremely tiring for Nathalia. She had been having nightmares almost every night, sometimes more than once.

Every now and then she couldn't wake up. Those days she got stuck screaming until Darius shook her awake.

Much like the first time it happened, they'd spend some time in the backyard sitting and talking. They'd talk about anything but the nightmares. She knew he knew what they were about, and they were always the same.

It reached a point where she didn't want to sleep anymore, afraid of the inevitable. So she tried to sleep as little as possible, which wasn't always successful.

Yesterday she fell asleep while sitting at the kitchen table. Darius had found her with her head on her arms slouched forward over the table. He never said anything about it.

Maybe because he knew what it was like.

Unlike the week prior, she actually looked forward to the therapy session. Matt had told her that he was going to draw up some exercises that would help with her nightmares. And she couldn't wait for that relief to come.

So now she sat at the kitchen table while staring at the clock. Not out of nervousness but out of anticipation.

"Nat?"

Darius's voice snapped her out of her daydreaming as she dragged her eyes away from the clock.

"Hm?"

"I asked you if you wanted anything to drink."

"Oh, I-- I didn't hear. Sorry."

"Alright, so?" he asked.

"What?" she replied confused.

"So, do you want anything to drink?" he asked. "Are you alright?"

"Oh," she laughed softly, "No thanks, and I'm fine."

He stared at her for a moment longer. He opened his mouth to say something but the doorbell rang, cutting him off. He looked back at her before going to open the door.

Getting up, she slowly walked after him to greet Matt as well. Like before, Darius was too tall to see Matt right away so she could only see him after Darius turned to let him in. But right as she made eye contact with Matt his face lit up with that easy smile he always seemed to wear.

"Hi! Nat, how have you been?" Matt greeted her as he walked in.

"I've been fine, how have you been?" she replied politely.

Right after she said that Darius shot her a look. It was hard to see what exactly he meant by it but she was sure she could figure it out.

"I'm a lot better now," he said as he shot her a wink.

Her voice got stuck in her throat, did he just flirt with her? Or was it just a joke? She didn't know how to respond. What could she say to that?

So she just laughed it off, trying to not make anything awkward.

But Darius didn't seem to think it was a laughing matter at all. His grey eyes narrowed at Matt and the muscles in his jaw twitched.

But the way they were standing Matt couldn't see him. Oblivious to the tense atmosphere he continued, "So, do you want to have this session in the kitchen like last time?"

She nodded while she turned to guide him to the kitchen, noticing Darius didn't follow. And she was glad. To her, it didn't really matter if Matt flirted with her or not, but somehow she didn't want that in front of Darius. She didn't even like Matt that way.