Shoutout to @urnotkenzie for this update! By using the !redeem write prize while I was streaming on Twitch they got to choose what story I would update next and they chose this one so thank them for this update. If you want to get a shoutout or pick what story I write next hang out with us on stream! Username for Twitch: EmmittRoseHerondale24

Axel’s POV

I sat behind the desk of a man I didn’t know. Callum was waiting outside the door but it did little to make me feel any better. 

“You’re going to therapy tomorrow,” Callum said when we sat down for dinner. I looked around the table to see who he had been talking to but all of his husbands were looking at me for some reason. 

“No, I’m not,” I had said easily as I leaned back farther into my chair.

“I know you don’t want to but I think it could help a lot. You don’t have to talk to him but it would make me feel better knowing you were at least sitting in the same room as him,” Callum said with a sigh.

“What’s the point of me going if you don’t expect me to talk to him?”

“He’s there if you want to,” Callum said with a shrug. “Look, all of us here have gone through therapy, I’ve seen firsthand how much it can help and I’ve seen the effect it can have on others. None of us wanted to do it either when we first started but after we got used to it, it helped. If you want, you can just sit there for an hour, thinking about how much you hate me for making you do this, but you’re going regardless.”

“I don’t need some therapist telling me that I’m a bad person.”

“He’s not going to tell you that,” Carter said with a frown. “You’re going to my therapist.”

“Andrew,” I groaned, ready to fight this until the day I died when Carter shook his head. 

“His name is Seth. He’s a good guy, very good with boundaries. If you don’t want him to talk about something just tell him no and he’ll move on.”

It was slightly better but I still didn’t like the idea of having to pour my feelings out onto a dude I didn’t know. 

“How long do I have to go?”

“Until I think Seth has done all he can do, you move out, or Seth tells me it’s not healthy for you to continue.” 

“Well, that’s just not fair. Why don’t I get a say in when I’m done?”

“Because you’ll say you’re done after the first session.” I pouted at that. 

“And all I have to do is sit there,” I asked, making sure I wasn’t being misled. 

“Sit there, talk about whatever shows you’ve been watching, about how much I annoy you, draw, bring a small Lego set; I don’t care what you do as long as you’re in that office for an hour every week.”

“Every week seems a bit much.”

“We went every two days,” Carter said with a frown. “That was a bit much; once a week is a cakewalk.”

“Fine. But I’m not talking to him.”

“Weylyn is going too,” Callum said but his attention wasn’t on me this time. Weylyn tensed as he leaned into my side.

“That’s not happening,” I said as I pushed against my brother’s side. 

“You’ll have the same guidelines as Axel. You don’t have to talk to him but you are going. You’ll be with Andrew, same time slot as Axel so you’ll both be done at the same time and then we can come home.”

“I don’t want to go to therapy,” Weylyn whined as he slumped down farther into his chair. “Nothing is wrong with me.”

“Of course, there’s nothing wrong with you,” Ryder said with a small smile. “Both of you are perfect and we will never ask you to change. This is just to help you talk out your feelings. I only know your childhood from what Callum has told me about his but I know it wasn’t easy. It can also just be a place to rant. For anything that might happen in school, for when we piss you off and you just want to scream at someone that isn’t us, for if you want advice; your sessions are for you. They will only ever talk about what you want to talk about.”

I still wasn’t convinced but Weylyn relaxed a bit.

“I don’t know Andrew very well. I don’t want to be alone with him.”


“Axel will be in his session but we can still help,” Liam said with a small smile that didn’t suit him. “What would help? We could have Callum sit in with you until you’re comfortable or one of us or we could have a panic button so if you press it we can come in to make you feel better. Or if you have any other ideas we can try those too.”

We went with the panic button in the end. It hadn’t been much, just a button on a necklace that would sound off to the other one when pressed. Weylyn had tested it out all the way to the office to make sure it worked and every time it did Callum would smile at him through the rearview mirror. 

I still didn’t like the idea of him being alone but after dinner, we crawled into bed together like always and he had told me not to worry. 

“Callum said it was fine so it’s fine,” he said as he turned his back to mine. We never cuddled but he always made sure his foot was touching my leg. “I know you don’t trust Callum anymore but I do. Besides all four of them have been with Andrew before and if none of them had any problems with him before then what are the odds of it happening to me?”

“Maybe they just weren’t his type.”

“Axel we’ve seen Callum’s baby pictures, we look exactly alike.”

“And what if his preferences have changed? What if he was getting all he needed from that camp and now he’s not and-,” Weylyn cut me off with a small kick to the leg. 

“Callum will be there. Callum won’t let anything happen.”

I didn’t like it but I also didn’t want to start another fight this close to our last one so I dropped it, pressed my leg harder against my brother’s foot, and tried to go to sleep. 

“Are you nervous,” Seth asked a few minutes after I sat down. “I was nervous at my first session. I kept thinking I would accidentally say the wrong thing and get sent to a hospital.”

“I’m not nervous,” I lied as I crossed my hands over my chest to keep them from shaking.

The only good thing about Seth so far was the fact that he was short and skinny. He wasn’t a threat in the least bit and that made me relax the smallest bit. 

“That’s good! I know it’s scary to be around people you don’t know so I’m glad I’m not making it worse.”

I don’t talk for a long time after that. His office was nice I guess. A nice wooden desk, the guest chair was comfortable, and plants littered the room. The blinds across the windows were down so the only light in the office came from a few orange-colored lamps across the office. 

“I prefer the lamps,” Seth said when he saw me looking at them. “The white overhead lights feel too industrial and they’re way too bright. Do you have a preference? I can switch them for us.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had an opinion about lights,” I said with a sigh. 

“Most people probably don’t,” he said with a small laugh. “Are you settling in at Callum’s well?” I shrugged. 

“It was fine up until he made me come here.”

“Why do you think he wants you here?”

“Because he thinks I’m fucked up and have a bad attitude.” 

“Has he told you that?”

“He doesn’t have to.”

“If he hasn’t told you then why do you think that?”

“Because only people who are fucked in the head go to therapy and I’ve been told by plenty of people that my attitude is shit.” 

I wait for him to correct me on the cuss words but he says nothing. 

“Callum went to therapy. Does that make him fucked in the head?”

“Trust me, I’ve known Callum for longer than you; I know he’s fucked.” The asshole smiles at my insult. 

"Maybe he was I only ever knew him after he was finished with therapy. He seems quite put together to me.” I glared at him. 

“Yeah yeah, I know. Therapy fixes people. I’ve heard that enough over the past few weeks.”

“You just don’t believe it?”

“Jax claims to be fixed and he still comes home slamming doors and beating punching bags and has people living in his head.” Seth frowns at that. 

“Jax has been through a lot. I’m not going to go into detail but he’s better than he was before. He used to beat people. I think a punching bag is a lot better than that don’t you?”

I didn’t answer because Callum said I didn’t have to talk to him. I had planned to spend this whole time ignoring him but Seth tricked me into it. 

“What would make you feel more comfortable?”

“I’m plenty comfortable,” I said with a glare. 

“Here or at home?”

“Both.”

“Are you sure? You seem tense. If you’re not okay with something all you need to do is tell me.”

“Listen, I don’t want to be here. I think I’ve made that pretty obvious over the course of the past 20 minutes so let’s just milk the clock until I can leave yeah?”

“I feel like it would be more productive if we talked about boundaries instead. We don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. This is your time. If you want to just sit here and think in a safe place then I will let you but we could also just talk about your day, a movie you’re excited to see, a class at school that you hate.”

“I don’t have boundaries,” I said with a scowl. 

“Oh, well I have a few. My boundaries are that you don’t touch me; I’m not very fond of it. I’d also appreciate it if you didn’t try to talk about my personal life unless it is relevant to what we’re talking about. I also ask that you don’t ask about Carter’s past. He was my client and I will not give information about him so it’s easier if you just don’t ask.”

“I don’t like touching either so that’s not a problem,” I said with a shrug. 

“So that’s a two-way boundary then,” he said with a smile. “See, you have at least one. Can you think of any others?”

“I don’t want to talk about Rowan.”

“Who is that? I ask purely because I need to know who he is so I can avoid bringing up topics that might involve him in some way in the future.”

“He was Lily’s, my sister’s, boyfriend. Go ahead and put her on the list too.”

“I can do that,” he nodded as he wrote something on a small notepad on the corner of his desk. “Is there anything else?” I shook my head and he smiled. “Well with that in mind do you want to talk today? We could talk about your first few weeks with Callum or something else that you like.”

“I don’t like most things.”

“Somehow that doesn’t surprise me,” he said in almost a teasing voice that I didn’t like. 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Just that you don’t let yourself enjoy things. Too busy worrying about other things.” I hummed as I glared at him.

“Well, maybe I was lying. I like plenty of things.”

“Like what?”

“Legos,” I said easily then drew a blank. “Also music,” I said just to make it seem like I had more points. 

“What kind of music? I prefer musicals but I might know a few.” Fuck. 

“You know just pop and stuff.”

“And stuff,” he asked with a small smile. 

“Yea like pop and punk I guess.”

“Do you have a favorite artist or band?”

“Tyler Posey is okay I guess,” I said with a shrug, picking him mostly because Weylyn won’t shut up about him. He was pretty hot though. 

“I don’t know him. I’ll have to brush up on his music before our next session. Maybe we can talk about it.”

“Maybe,” I said with another shrug, really hoping that he didn’t. I didn’t know a damn thing about that man.