The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[abrightboy]

"It would have to be. My parents won't be there," he pointed out glibly.

[thatsfascinating]

"Not that your father would be there anyway."

She brushed a lock of hair back from his face.

"Do you want to go visit your father together when we get home?" she asked softly.

[abrightboy]

He hesitated.

"I don't know. I don't know if I want to see him."

[thatsfascinating]

"It's okay, we don't have to. Or we can if you want. Whatever you want to do is fine." She smiled. "We should probably see your mother right away, though. She might be a little less upset if she's the first person we tell."

[abrightboy]

"I wouldn't count on that, but we can try it," he conceded. "How long am I going to feel tired like this?"

[thatsfascinating]

"A couple days," she said. Then frowned. "You don't think they'll think I took advantage of your concussion and convinced you to marry me while you were cognitively compromised, do you?"

[abrightboy]

"What? No. First of all, they're not going to know about my concussion; no need to go oversharing."

[thatsfascinating]

She nodded solemnly. "Got it. Don't tell anybody about the concussion." She tilted her head. "Should we tell them what happened? In the stone building?"

[abrightboy]

He studied her face.

"Do you want to?"

[thatsfascinating]

She frowned.

"I don't know. Maybe we could talk to Gabrielle?"

[abrightboy]

"Oh, yeah, if you want to talk to someone about it... yeah, she's the best," he agreed.

[thatsfascinating]

"Shouldn't we talk about it?" she asked. "You were worried about this having a long lasting effect on me. Talking it out would help that, wouldn't it?"

[abrightboy]

"Absolutely. No, I am a hundred percent behind therapy," he insisted.

[thatsfascinating]

"We should definitely go together," she said. "It was a shared experience. We should talk about it together."

[abrightboy]

He nodded. "Yes. That's a good idea," he said, trying to study her face. His head hurt but he felt like he'd been missing something. Like, he knew she'd been in terrible danger and they hadn't dealt with it and it was similar to her last terrible danger, but he read people's faces and there was something he was missing there. "We can do that as soon as we get back."

[thatsfascinating]

"That would be good. Thanks." She had never done long term therapy, so it was a good thing they were doing this together.

He was looking at her strangely. She shook her head, smiling.

"What is it?"

[abrightboy]

He shook his head faintly.

"Your question surprised me. It shouldn't have surprised me."

[thatsfascinating]

She frowned faintly, thinking back over the conversation.

"Which question?"

[abrightboy]

"About wanting to go to therapy. Of course you want help; you've been brutally assaulted twice in less than a month."

[thatsfascinating]

"Well, I mean...you're the one who suggested talking about it. I'm not sure I would have thought of it if you hadn't."

And he had been assaulted twice in a month, too. Another reason why it was good for them to do this together.

[abrightboy]

He felt like his whole life was a series of traumas anyway. What were two more.

She was better than him, though. She hadn't been turned into... whatever he was. She was still good.

"I hope it helps."

[thatsfascinating]

"Oh, I'm sure it will. Gabrielle's really good. She's been amazing for you, right?"

Edrisa would object vigorously to the notion that Malcolm was in any way "bad."

[abrightboy]

"Yeah, she's the best. She's helped me a lot." A beat. "I mean, she does occasionally object to my refusal to switch to a more... age-appropriate therapist, but... she also knows if she won't see me anymore, then I won't see anyone. And nobody wants that."

[thatsfascinating]

"Definitely don't want that," she agreed. Then she frowned. "I hope she'll be okay working with both of us. I really think we should do this together, and no one knows you like she does."

[abrightboy]

"Of course we'll do it together. I mean, unless you want to talk about something you don't want me to hear. I'd leave. If you asked." He frowned faintly. "Anyway, seeing both of us together won't really take up more time. I'm sure she'd be fine with it."