Late January
Therapy was Kai's idea, but I was the one who broke down first.
Dr. Sarah Kim's office was small and comfortable soft lighting, plants everywhere, a couch that didn't feel clinical. We'd been going separately for two weeks before she suggested a joint session.
"Tell me what brought you here," Dr. Kim said, looking between us.
"I lied to my girlfriend," Kai said immediately. "Hid conversations with another woman. Broke her trust."
"And you?" Dr. Kim looked at me.
"I kicked him out without listening. Made assumptions. Shut down instead of communicating."
"So both of you contributed to the crisis."
"I contributed more," Kai said.
"That's not a competition," Dr. Kim said gently. "Aria, why did you shut down?"
"Because it hurt. Because I've spent three years supporting him through everything and the second things got hard for me, he ran to someone else."
"Did he run to her, or did you push him away?"
I opened my mouth to argue, then stopped. "What?"
