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May 21st, 1964
Joseph's house

"You can do this, love." George says, holding Beth's hands as she stands in front of him. Beth takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

"I hope so."

"I'll be right here if you need me. Okay?"

"Okay. Thank you."

The two of them hug for a bit. Beth is nervous about going into "therapy" for the first time. But, Joseph is a friend, so it isnt as bad as it would be with some random person.

"We ready?" Joseph stands politely at the stairs. Beth nods at him and smiles nervously. Joseph makes his way up the stairs, signalling Beth to follow. She looks back at George, feeling unsure.
George nods at her, and she begins to follow after Joseph.

"Here, we can use the guest room." Joseph pulls out a key and unlocks the door, allowing Beth to go in first.

The room is nice. It's sunlit with big windows, and furnished quite beautifully.

"I hope you forgive the lack of professionalism, I'm unable to access my office over weekends." Joseph says, pulling out a chair beside the bed.

"Should I just lay on the bed?"

"Whatever makes you comfortable."

Beth sits down on the bed and turns so she's laying, facing the ceiling. She crosses her hands on her stomache, waiting for Joseph to get started.

"Remember that you don't have to answer any of the upcoming questions if you dont want to, and if you feel uncomfortable at times, we may stop whenever you'd like."

Beth nods.

"Alright, how are you feeling right now?" Joseph's voice is gentle and calming. Not his usual strong, thick voice.

"Nervous. I'm not sure what I'm nervous about, though."

"Opening up to somebody is a hard thing to do, so I understand why you would feel nervous." Joseph repositions himself so he's leaning back against the chair.

"Why dont we try some breathing exercises, yeah?"

Beth follows Joseph's instructions. Taking deep breaths in through her nose, and out through her mouth. She feels herself becoming much calmer. She continues the breathing exercise for a few minutes.

"How do you feel?"

"Much better. That really helped."

"Breathing exercises are great for times when you may feel stressed out. I sugguest doing the ones you just did whenever you're disturbed."

"Ill be sure to do that. Thank you." Beth smiles at him, and he smiles back. But he stays very professional.

"Alright. We're going to begin discussing some past experiences, if you feel comfortable."

Beth takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, nodding.

They discuss Beth's anxiety and trauma over her experiences with Mike. Beth feels a bit scared at some times, but she manages to work through and answer the questions, because she knows she's working with a professional. She even tears up at times, nearly breaking down. She discusses everything that happened from when her and Mike met, until the most recent panic attack, which was on the hill with George.

After an hour and a half, they come to a close. Beth feels much better about letting everything out to another person.

Joseph stands up and offers to take Beth's hand to help her up. He pulls her off the bed and pats her on the back.

"Great job." He says.

"Thank you, you too. That really helped me out a lot."

"Are we going to keep this a regular thing?"

"I'd love to. Maybe twice every week?"

"Sounds lovely."

Joseph walks back to the door and opens it, allowing Beth to walk out first. George immediately stands up upon her arrival at the bottom of the stairs, and brings her into a hug.

"It all went well!" Beth says. George swings her back and forth, smiling.

"I'm so proud of you." He whispers.

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