“Only when it’s my fault,” she argued.
“Only when youthinkit’s your fault,” Dr. Briggs corrected. “If you haven’t had this conversation with Magnus or with Trey, how can you be certain you’re the reason?”
“Because I’m still there, and Trey’s not,” she snapped.
“From what I’m getting from you, I think there are two separate issues here. One, you’ve got feelings for both Magnus and Trey. And, for whatever reason, they’ve separated. And two, your relationship with Magnus isn’t progressing as you’d like it to.”
Ava considered that. “Yes. And my relationship with Trey is deteriorating.”
Dr. Briggs’s nodded, but she didn’t chime in.
“I know we need to talk about what happened,” Ava admitted. “It’s just … really hard for me to think about it. It’s bad enough I have nightmares. I wake up screaming most nights, and Magnus has to console me. If I ask him to, he’ll sleep on the couch with me.”
“Why on the couch?”
Ava shrugged. “I guess that feels like neutral ground.”
“Who’s determining what is neutral ground?”
“I don’t know what that means?”
“Who’s suggesting that you sleep on the couch?”
“Me.”
“Do you have your own bed at his house?”
“My own room,” she clarified. “Magnus cleaned it out and bought me a bed so I’d have some privacy.”
“What’s the difference between having Magnus stay with you in the bed versus on the couch? Why do you choose the couch? Because it’s neutral ground?”
“Yes.”
“So, in a sense, could it be that you’re keeping Magnus at arm’s length?”
Ava stared in surprise. She hadn’t thought about it that way. But she could see how Magnus might misconstrue it. “I hadn’t considered that,” she admitted.
“I think it’s important for you to sit down and talk to Magnus about what happened. You might learn a few things about what he went through during that time. And vice versa. If you think he’s making assumptions, then it’s important for the two of you to clear the air and put your feelings all on the table. Otherwise, you’ll be stuck in this vicious cycle until you do.”
***
“How did it go?” Magnus asked whenAva came out of Dr. Piper’s office.
Ava’s response was a shrug of her shoulders as she got into his SUV and put her seat belt on.
“Is something wrong?”
“No.” The response was curt, and he noticed she was looking anywhere but at him.
“Ava?”
“Could we please just go home?” She frowned. “I mean back to your house.”
He wanted to tell her that she’d had it right the first time, but he kept his mouth shut. Whatever had transpired during that hour had put her in a sullen mood.
“Okay.”
They made the thirty-minute trek not speaking. At one point, Ava turned the radio on, which did nothing to ease the tension filling the car. Magnus wanted her to open up and talk to him, but he didn’t know what the protocol was. Could he ask her what had happened? Did he really want to know?
