Cold Lust

4: Self-Help

As they eventually got to their home, the first thing that Eddy did was lock himself up in his room. Rose got seated into the couch, processing everything that had happened just now. She contemplated her actions of snatching her brother's most priceless possession, blaming herself for not thinking further before that. But, she knew there was no other way in which Eddy could be a better person from.

Eddy refused to get out of his room, because of the incident that had occured. She tried a dozen times to make him feel better, but it all of no avail. She soon felt guilty of throwing away his bong, but she couldn't stand there and watch him destroy himself, it was out of care that she had done something like this.

Her brother did not bother coming to dinner as she ate at the table, watching the empty chair from across it, along with the constant ticking of their clock, counting each and every second of their night. The empty chair across the table felt like a void to her, a stark reminder of the consequences of her actions, as she sat on her own, eating away his remaining food.

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♬|--Around - Modulogeek--|♬

The alarm on her phone rang out, waking her up to a brand new soulless day. Her mind continued with the thoughts of yesterday, actively mocking her for being so careless. Rose then got out of bed and made herself breakfast, again staring at the empty chair across the table as she ate her meal. After finishing breakfast, she knocked at Eddy's room door, hoping that he had atleast forgotten yesterday's incident.

"Edd, are you still in there?" Rose began while knocking on his door, the answer being pure silence from Eddy.

She knocked a dozen times more before sliding in his breakfast food under the door. You wouldn't be on the mood to eat if your most prized possession was thrown down the trash like that, even if it's for your own good. After a while, Rose decides to meet up with some friends during the day, hoping to get some answers from them about her situation. All of them were seated under a tree at a nearby park, with the others chatting away amongst each other, except Rose, as she quietly watched them.

"Hey," she began, breaking the silence between her and her friends, "I need some advice on how to break off my little brother's drug addiction, any ideas?"

Soon, one of her friends named Grace responded to her, "I think you should put him to counselling, or let him obtain a hobby that he's interested in."

"Oh yeah when he was still in high school," she replied, "He used to love drawing comics back then."

"Why'd he quit?" Grace replied.

"No idea."

Her second friend, Isabelle, came up with an answer of her own, "Why don't you just take them away from him?"

"I did," Rose sighed, "But he seemed to have more and more of it. It's like he had someone selling it to him."

Jeremy, her third friend, joined into this bleak conversation, "In that case, why don't you enroll him into one of my therapy sessions?"

A glimmer of hope was shined in her, "Sure, where can I put him in?"

He then handed her a piece of paper, "Here, have my card."

Rose reluctantly took the card from him, reading the address of where he takes his sessions.

"If he approves, let him know I'll meet him tomorrow at 8am," Jeremy adds.

Rose hesitated at first but later reluctantly agreed, hoping that this would be the final thing that Eddy needs. She folded the card and slipped it in her pockets and went away after a little longer of staying with them. On her way home, Rose thought about how this will completely change her brother's life for the best, she couldn't wait to show it to him as soon as possible. As the evening sun melted down the horizon, every step of hers was reminder of what good Jeremy's sessions can do to him. She knew that it wouldn't be an easy journey to take, but it would be worth taking it.

As she reached her home, the first thing Rose did was to try go to Eddy's room again, finding out that the door was finally unlocked. Inside, Eddy sat in front of his computer for the whole day, watching something as he hunched over. Rose then proceeded into his room, Eddy noticing her be more excited than usual.

"Hey, Edd" she began, trying to sound casual, "I need to talk to you about something."

Eddy turned over his chair to her, after hastily hiding something in the drawer of his desk. "Huh, what?" he uttered in a mocking tone, "Needa throw away anymore stuff I have?"

"Look at this," she responds while giving him the card she got from Jeremy, "This'll help you a lot."

Eddy took the piece of paper from her hands, only to let out a small chuckle as he read through it. "Therapy, huh" he scoffed, "Like you think that'll do shit."

"I do, Edd," she replied, her conviction unwavering, "This will do a lot for you."

He sighed, wanting to get out of this once and for all. "I don't know, sis" he uttered, the tiredness evident in his eyes, "I'll just go to bed early."

Rose stopped him from getting up from his chair, as she moved his head to meet her eyes. "Look, you don't have to live like this anymore," she said, staring into his tired and unwilling eyes, "So please listen to me."

Eddy's dreary eyes were locked in with that of hers. His gaze softened as he looked into Rose's eyes, seeing the genuine concern reflected by her. He felt a flicker of hope amidst the dim light that engulfed his room.

"Just give it a try, okay?" Rose continued as she looked into his eyes, "If it doesn't work out well, we'll think of something else for you."

Eddy looked down at his feet as she took her hands off his head, whispering, "And what if I really don't like it there?"

"We'll think of another way, like I said."

He gave out another sigh, going on to give a try towards what she is recommending to him, "Alright I'll go."

Rose was overjoyed, seeing that her brother finally accepted going to therapy. She went near him and gave him a heartfelt hug, almost catching Eddy off guard from his seat.

"I knew you would!" Rose exclaimed as the hug got tighter.

Eddy didn't know how to respond. He kept silent to her words, secretly admitting his own heartfelt appreciation for her efforts that bore fruits between him and her. He let out a faint smile, realizing that this was the first time that he had ever gotten some significant help from her.

"What you wanna get for tonight, Mac and cheese or pizza?" She continued, not letting go of him.

With all these thoughts, Eddy soon hinted at which one he wanted to have the most during the night.

As the night bore on, they soon get themselves at the dinner table to have the newly arrived food at their doorstep. For the first time in a while, Eddy was truly happy for what he got from his sister. He couldn't express it with just mere soulless words.

"So who's this Jeremy guy who showed me?" Eddy began as he ate on a slice of pizza from the box.

"He's a friend of mine," she responded, "And a really good guy."

"What do you even do in these sessions anyway?" he came back with, questioning if whatever he's agreeing to is legit.

She paused for moment, trying to find the best words to finally convince him, "They talk, Edd."

"About what?"

"They talk about personal struggles, about life's issues, and they together solve them with each other," she continued, "You just have to try it, I'm not forcing you to go there your whole life."

Eddy looked down at his slice of pizza, contemplating if he should join his sessions or not, "Sure, I'll go try one of them I guess."

"That's my Brother!" Rose replied.

Eddy managed another faint smile, seeing that it would truly help him.

"Jeremy told you to come tomorrow at 8am, is that okay with you?"

"Sure?" Eddy mumbled, with the last slice of pizza from the box sticking out of his mouth.