Chapter 1.34 Heart for Love, Hands for Friendship and Crown for Loyalty

"And then, Rosie raised her hands and all glowy stuff went around them, and then the fairy started coughing!" Alyssa went on.

"That's nice." Erin murmured. She's hardly been herself since that news broadcast. Since then, there's been no letter, no information, and no Erin. Not the way she was at least.

"Are you even listening to me?" Alyssa frowned. "Did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to stay out late." She was about to start crying.

"Its time for you to go to school." She murmured, sighing slightly.

"Do I have to go? I'm tired and a lot happened yesterday." She pouted. She just wanted to sleep. She was fine from the whole incident, nothing psychologically scarring or mentally damaging happened to her, she was just tired.

Erin narrowed her eyes, "I said go!" She yelled, watching until Alyssa left.

Alyssa, who was crying, went outside to where Rosie and Connor were already waiting for the bus. Neither of them used to do that before, but before Erin was actually nice. Connor went over to Alyssa, while Rosie just stayed where she was.
"What's wrong?" He asked, fairly quietly. He already knew what was probably wrong though.

"Mommy's being mean." She mumbled, sniffling. From where she was stood, Alyssa could hear Rosie grumble something about Erin. 

Connor sighed "She's just a little upset, she'll be back happy again soon. I promise." He half smiled. 

"Good, I don't like her like this." She frowned, and then the three of them headed off to school.

A little later, Erin went to this clinic. She was supposed to go for 'grief counseling', whatever the hell that meant. So far, she hated this place. It was one of those places that had a really optimistic name and bright walls to hide how truly depressing it really was.

"Hi, I'm here to see Dr Mason." She grumbled, seeing no one else was in there. This place probably didn't get used much, she almost felt sorry for those who had to work here.

"Okay, and your name is?" The receptionist asked.

"Erin." She answered simply in return.

The receptionist paused, before asking "Erin, what?" Her eyes were focused on the computer screen.

She shook her head "Just Erin. I don't tell anyone my last name." She had her arms folded. "Besides, its not like there's any other Erin in this town." She pointed out.

The receptionist sighed. "Fine. Please can you take a seat?" She asked, and Erin walked away from the front desk. She couldn't help but feel as if these people were all just pretending.

She couldn't help but grin at some of the ridiculous self help books. 'Advice for Alcoholics', 'Support for Smokers', 'Help for Drug Addicts'. She laughed to herself, maybe they couldn't think of a supportive word beginning with D?

Also, what if there was a smoking alcoholic that was addicted to drugs and liked it that way? There were tons of holes in these stupid books.

She was mostly in her own world, of mocking stupid self help books, she hardly heard when the doctor called her in.

The doctor cleared his throat when Erin sat down, "So Miss..."

"No 'Miss' just call me by my normal name, Erin." She folded her arms, already sick of this.

"So, Erin. How are you?" He asked simply, smiling at her. He thought it was best to start off friendly, which was only met by her scoffing

"How am I doing? Your ditzy receptionist could have asked me the exact same question." She slouched in the chair, giving the doctor a look.
"And I take it that you're used to you asking the question, and never being on the receiving end, mostly based on your hostile response. So, how about we change it up and you answer the question." The doctor was more firm this time.

She sighed, "What's wrong? Okay." She murmured, still giving the doctor a look. "How about the fact that I'm left with three kids on my own? How about that I feel as if I'm doing a crap job? How about each time I try and be a good mom, I end up making my youngest daughter cry." Her voice started faltering a little, and she rested her head in one hand. She didn't like this, at all.

"I don't like this. Can we please stop?" She asked quietly, sniffling.
"There are tissues on the table if you need them." The doctor mumbled, watching her. It wasn't quite the reaction he expected. "And I'm sorry but we can't stop. Can you talk to me about your childhood?" He asked.

"My childhood?" She asked, lifting up her head. "I guess it was pretty normal..." She mumbled, trailing off. "Nothing too interesting."

The doctor sighed "Please be honest. I can tell you're lying."

She sighed, "It sucked, okay? Everything about me and my past sucks. The best thing that probably happened was moving here. I met Thomas, and I had two kids without actually settling down." She shrugged.

"Erin..." The doctor warned, "Please stop avoiding the subject."

"Right, sorry." She mumbled, "Well, I never knew my father." She started, "And my mom didn't pay all too much attention to me. She was more interested in a nectar bottle than she was me." She sighed, her attention staying on the tissues. She didn't want to look up at the doctor.

"And that was why you were scoffing at the self help book for alcoholics." The doctor mused. "Because your subconscious knows that it doesn't actually work."

"You saw me laughing at those self help books?" She asked, a little embarrassed.

The doctor nodded, "I always watch my patients before they actually come in here. I set up several triggers around the waiting room, thing that would seem completely normal, and I see how they react. The fact that you saw those self help books first is a psychological sign you had a link with one of those problems."

Erin nodded, listening "You're really clever." She mumbled.

"Thank you. So apart from the issues with your mother, what else happened when you were younger?"

"I got engaged to this guy when I was a teenager." She sighed, "His name was Alex, and I wasn't even sure if I loved him or not." She mumbled. "I felt trapped, and I freaked out. When I was a young adult, which was a few days before my supposed wedding, I just got up and left." She shrugged.

"The fact that you got engaged so young, that was probably linked to the fact you had an absent father." He looked up at her, "And the fact that you never settled down is probably a sign that you have slight commitment issues, mostly because of the fact that you can't trust people."

"Who says I don't trust people?" She asked quickly.

"You." He answered simply, and she gave him a confused look so he continued. "You have a constant hostility towards new people in situations you don't trust. Also, because of the fact not many people paid attention to you when you were younger, it damaged how you socially act. This means that at times you can either be fully innocent and naive to situations, or you are hostile, like today you wouldn't even give me your own last name. You're a very confusing person."

She stayed silent for a while, not liking how easy he could read her. 

"Unfortunately, we're out of time. We'll talk again tomorrow. More about why you're actually here and not just your past." 

Erin nodded and stood up "Thank you." She mumbled, before walking out.

After school, Rosie was helping Alyssa with her homework. "So is 5x is the same as 15, that means x is uh..." She trailed off, working it out.
"3." Alyssa answered, looking up at Rosie and smiling. "Its not that difficult."

"Okay, Little Miss Smarty Pants, you try and do my homework, then we'll see if maths is so difficult." Rosie smirked slightly, knowing Alyssa wouldn't be able to do it.
"Why would I want to do your homework?" She asked, confused. "Besides, even if I wanted to, I wouldn't until you told me what you were hiding from me." She glanced over at Rosie, then back to her homework.

"H-Hiding something?" She asked "I'm not hiding anything." She mumbled, scratching her cheek with her right thumb.
"I think you are, based on you're not moving your left hand." Alyssa mumbled, and looked up at her sister. "You know you can tell me anything." She smiled slightly, putting away her homework.

"Well..." Rosie started, and decided to just rip the band aid off. "I'm engaged." She half smiled.

Alyssa gasped. "What?!" She looked up at her older sister, in shock.

"Shush!" She quickly hushed Alyssa. "No one else knows." She sighed "Remember that guy that took you home after the whole thing with the fairy?" Rosie asked, and she nodded. "That guy who helped you home was my boyfriend, well fiance now." She smiled, and Alyssa looked at the ring.

"It doesn't have a diamond though." Alyssa frowned slightly.

Rosie laughed "I didn't want a diamond. I wanted something different." She smiled, "And this ring has a special meaning too. It means love, loyalty and friendship." She grinned.

"How?"

"Its technically called a Claddagh ring. The heart is for love, of course. The hands are a symbol of friendship. And the little crown on top is for loyalty." Rosie smiled. It was perfect. The ring was special, pretty but not exactly ordinary. Some saw it as plain, but they didn't know what the ring meant. She loved the ring, and her fiance. For once, everything was going alright for her.

Chapter 1.33 Battling my Demons                                                            

Chapter 1.35 Lost in the Hurt

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AN: Happy ending I suppose, even though I was kinda mean to Erin in this chapter...

I do love Rosie's ring. I found it on MTS (but I had to edit it for teens.)