Marie's POV:

I woke up the next day, and everything was ordinary. Tyler and Josh bickered, Jenna read her book, and I just sat and watched some TV. Jenna and Josh had the bus stop at a store so that we could stock up on groceries.

Tyler then came and sat next to me.

"Hey kiddo, what's up?" He asked.

"Nothing really, just watching whatever is on." I shrugged and turned back to the TV.

Tyler sighed.

"Look, we have to talk..."

"I already took sex ed in eighth grade, dad."

He started laughing.
"That is NOT what we will be talking about."

"Alright then..."

"So, Jenna and I worry about you, and I just want you to know that I understand what you're going through..."
Tyler pulls up his sleeves.

"See? You can heal. It takes time. You can defeat this. You may need medications. You may need years of therapy. But you will get there, I promise."

I look closely as he speaks, and I can see faint white lines across his arms. I never noticed since I never really looked and since they are so healed.

"We can help you, but YOU have to help you too. You have to tell us when you're feeling bad or having urges, you need to tell us if you think you need to have therapy or if you're afraid you might hurt yourself. Healing is the hardest part, because in order to really clean a wound, it has to be opened. And it'll sting. But then it's over and only a scar remains. Okay?"

I hug him as I saw tears drop from his eyes. He's scared. He doesn't want to lose me.

"You have to want to help yourself before any progress is made. Promise me you'll fight?"
He asks, his voice breaking at the plead.

"I-I promise..." We hugged for a bit longer when I decided to do something. I got up and went over to my satchel.

"What are you doing?" He asks.
I grabbed my blade that was tucked inside my bag and held it out to him.

"Getting a head start."