***Trigger warning for mentions of suicide/suicidal thoughts.***

Start the song. It's Vacation by Florist.

As terrible as Tyler felt about it, he kept glancing at the clock on the wall during sessions. It was still only fifteen minutes to five, but he wasn't sure if an hour was going to fly past the moment he looked away. He wasn't going to be late getting home tonight. He knew it was important to Jenna, and honestly, it was important to him too.

This was Tyler's last session of the evening, so he really should stop worrying. He'd get off work well before seven. This was an easy client too. She only ever really needed someone to vent to for thirty minutes before she was in good shape. He always made sure to give her some tips on coping skills and to help her process things, but that was all she ever really needed from him. Her session flew by just as quickly as the others had, and he was walking her out in no time.

"Thanks Dr. Joseph! Have a nice night," she told him with a smile as she left.

"You too," he replied cheerfully, mostly because he was so relieved to be done for the day.

He went back into his office, determined to finish his paperwork as quickly as possible. It looked like he'd be able to finish it up and still be home on time. Just the thought of coming home to Jenna was enough to give him the energy to work more quickly and efficiently than he ever had before.

Barely ten minutes had passed by before the receptionist, Hayley, poked her head into his office. "Hey, Tyler. Do you have time for one more session? If you don't have time, I can call in Dr. Stump or someone, but she's technically one of your clients right now."

Tyler looked at the clock. It was 5:30. He'd still be done by 6:30 if he did one more session, and he could take his paperwork home with him. He could still make it on time.

Smiling a bit tiredly at Hayley, he replied, "Yeah, of course."

She smiled back cheerfully. "Perfect. Um," she looked down at the sticky note in her hand. "Abigail Dun's mom is bringing her and her brother in. She said it's not an emergency that Abigail speaks to you, but that she really thinks Abigail needs to talk to someone right now. Her brother is coming with her. Mrs. Dun sounded really flustered."

Tyler nodded, instantly standing and going to his supply cupboard. He opened it before unloading all of the art supplies he had in it: coloured pencils, watercolour paints, clay, markers, crayons, paper, paint brushes, glitter, etc. Hayley watched him for a moment before disappearing back out of his office.

It only took Tyler a second to fix the cushions on his couch and to arrange the art supplies on the worn coffee table in front of it. He tried to make the room as comfortable for Abbie as possible given how difficult it was to get her to talk. She's opened up earlier in the week when she'd been able to draw, so he'd make sure she had access to that.

Hayley poked her head in again. "They're here."

"Thank you," he told her as he followed her back out of his office and through the door that led to the waiting room.

Abbie and her brother, who looked just a bit older, were both staring into space. They were holding hands, but they weren't speaking to each other. Whatever was going on that had called for both of them to come in, it was affecting them both equally.

"Hi, guys. You wanna come on back?" Tyler asked them warmly.

Abbie didn't stand up instantly, her gaze remaining locked on some part of the carpet. Her brother stood though, tugging her up with him. She kept her head down as she allowed her brother to lead her through the building behind Tyler to his office. He made sure Abbie sat down before he did while Tyler closed the door. Neither of the kids said a word as Tyler sat down on his chair.

"I know Abbie, but what's your name?" Tyler asked the curly-haired boy with a numb expression kindly.

"I'm Jordan," he replied simply.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Jordan. I'm Dr. Joseph," Tyler greeted.

Abbie didn't seem to be listening. She had no makeup this time, and her eyes were swollen from crying. Her hands shook as she picked up a worn sketchbook and some crayons before shifting to have her feet on the couch and the sketchbook resting against her knees. She picked up a red crayon and set to work without a word.

"Abbie, don't," Jordan said to her, sounding a bit embarrassed.

Tyler shook his head. "No, she's okay. Sometimes it's easier to let things out without words. We all have different means of coping and expressing ourselves."

Abbie glanced at Tyler before going back to colouring. Tears were welling up in her eyes, but she said nothing. Jordan ran his fingers through his hair anxiously as he looked at Tyler.

"So, what brings you two in here today?" Tyler asked, picking up his clipboard off of his desk. Hayley had replaced his previous client's information with Abbie's while he was in the waiting room.

When Abbie didn't say anything, Jordan replied for her. "Our brother's on suicide watch in prison. Abbie's really freaked out about it. Joshua is on suicide watch a lot though, and nothing ever happens. He'll be fine."

Tyler was surprised by how quickly Jordan had dismissed the severity of the situation. Their brother would really have to have frequent periods of poor mental health in order for a boy so young to talk about a situation like this so casually.

Abbie glared at her before looking at Tyler. "Jordan's always an asshole when this happens. Of course Joshua's on suicide watch a lot. He's been locked up since he was thirteen. He's probably super overwhelmed all the time."

Jordan glared right back at Abbie. "He made the decision to do what he did. He's locked up for a reason. Stop acting like he's a victim all the time. He killed people, Abbie. That's his fault. He's a fuck up. He should be overwhelmed."

"He didn't mean to!" Abbie shouted at her brother.

"Hey hey hey. Let's talk this out respectfully. Yelling at each other and calling names isn't going to fix anything. Let's try this a different way, okay?" Tyler guided calmly. "Abbie, what worries you about your brother's current situation?"

Abbie kept drawing as she spoke, her bottom lip trembling. "I want him to come home and be my brother for real, but I'm afraid he's going to die before he gets a chance to come home."

Tyler nodded, his heart aching for this poor family. He couldn't imagine going through something like this, especially at such a young age.

"Have you talked to him about that?" Tyler asked, making Abbie's shoulders slump.

"He got put on watch right after I sent him that letter. Does that mean this is my fault?" She whispered.

Jordan held onto Abbie's hand as she started to cry. He looked pleadingly at Tyler, as if Tyler could really and truly fix everything for Abbie in an hour long session. He sighed.

"I don't think it was your fault, Abbie. I really don't. I'm sure reading your letter was the best part of his day," Tyler told her carefully. "You don't need to feel responsible for what he's going through. You're doing everything you can to love him through this tough time, and I'm sure that means the world to him."

Jordan nodded. "Ashley said that when she gave the letter to Josh, he smiled for real. It wasn't one of those stupid almost smiles he does every time. It was a real smile, and then he asked her all about you. He was glad he got the letter, Abbie."

She nodded, wiping her eyes on the sleeves of the Thrasher hoodie she was wearing. It swamped her, and Tyler wondered if it was her brother's. "I wish I could talk to him."

"Ashley said he'd promised to write back this time," Jordan pointed out.

Abbie glared at her brother. "I don't want to only talk to him in letters, Jordan. He's in there by himself all day every day in a tiny little cell, and no one ever visits him. Mom didn't even go for his birthday last year, and dad hasn't visited Josh once since he was in juvie. You've never visited him, and Ashley only goes when she has nothing better to do. He deserves more than just letters. He's our brother. I want to go see him and talk to him."

Jordan snorted. "You want to go to see Josh in prison? You want to go somewhere where murderers and rapists and pedophiles and other arsonists live? That's fucked up."

"I want to go where my brother is," she snapped. "I don't care who else is there. I just want him to know someone in this family actually gives a shit."

It was definitely time to rein the conversation back in now that both of the siblings had made some valid points. "Abbie, have you asked your parents about letting you visit Josh?"

"My mom won't let me until I'm eighteen," Abbie replied irritably. "She thinks I'll burn a building down if I go talk to him for fifteen minutes."

"You probably will," Jordan mumbled.

Abbie smacked her brother with the sketchbook in her hands, which Tyler quickly confiscated. He set it down on the table as the two siblings glared at each other.

"Fuck you," Abbie spat at her brother, who smirked.

"You sound just like Josh."

Tyler sighed. "Okay. Everyone needs to take a breath for a second. I understand that you're both upset right now, and both for valid reasons, but treating each other like this isn't going to help anyone. Abbie, I know you're feeling overwhelmed about trying to forge a relationship with your oldest brother, but you can't destroy your relationship with your other brother in the process. Jordan, it's fair for you to be angry at Josh for what he did and to not want to be involved with him, but you need to allow Abbie to make her own decisions about her relationship with Josh. You don't have to have the same opinion about your brother, but you can't be on opposing teams."

The teenagers were quiet for a moment before Abbie shuffled and said regrettably, "Sorry, Jordan."

"Me too," he replied quietly, scratching at the fabric of the couch distractedly.

The siblings were silent for a moment before Abbie said, "I just want Josh to be included in our family. No one tells him the things he needs to know when he gets out or tries to make sure he feels safe coming home to us. He doesn't know us at all anymore. He doesn't know anything about our family. Mom doesn't tell him any of the important stuff because she doesn't want to upset him, but I think it's worse that he doesn't know."

That was an interesting point. "What would you want to tell him that he doesn't know?"

Abbie and Jordan made brief eye contact, and Tyler could tell they were thinking the same thing. Surprisingly, Jordan responded.

"He doesn't know our parents are divorced. Our dad doesn't visit him because he lives in Cleveland with his girlfriend. Josh thinks our parents are still together. Our mom said he'll think they got a divorce because of him if she tells him about it, so she's just putting off telling him. It's been three years."

"Sometimes," Abbie said quietly, "I think our mom is counting on him not being released until he's served his full sentence so he never has to know about all of the things she's lied to him about."

Jordan added, "She didn't tell him when our dog died either. We got that dog when Josh was little. It used to sleep in his room. He's never asked about our dog, so she just never brings up that he's dead."

"Or when our grandma died. She didn't tell him that," Abbie added.

"Or when Dad's girlfriend got knocked up," Jordan contributed.

"Or when her baby was born," Abbie finished.

The siblings were quiet for a moment before Jordan looked at Tyler and said, "I think he's just as much at risk of killing himself outside of the prison as he is inside at this point. Our mom fucked up keeping everything a secret from him. He won't have time to cope if he gets out when he turns twenty-one. That's in six months."

Tyler sighed. He glanced at the clock. They only had about five minutes left, but they hadn't really solved anything. The kids just vented a bit. Maybe that was what they really needed though.

"Have you talked to your mom about your concerns with the secrets she's keeping?" Tyler asked them.

Both of the teenagers shrugged. Neither of them said anything.

"I think, if you feel up to it, Josh would probably appreciate you advocating for him. It sounds like he could really use someone on his team," Tyler told them.

They were quiet for a moment before Jordan said, "I'm not on his team though. He can rot in prison for all I care. I don't want him to come home and fuck everything up. He scares the shit out of me."

"Maybe you wouldn't be so scared of him if you actually tried to talk to him," Abbie said quietly, tugging her sleeves down over her hands. "He's not a bad person."

"How would you know?" Jordan asked irritably.

She shrugged. "Ashley told me. She said he was always a really good brother and that he was really nice. He just liked fire and didn't talk very much. She said Mom and Dad never even suspected he had problems like he did. He didn't tell anyone about anything that was bothering him. He just sat in his room all the time. He snuck out his window when he started the fire, and he was terrified all the time after. Ashley said he still is. He's not mean or angry or crazy or anything like that. He's scared, and he doesn't know how to cope. That's why mom needs to tell him this shit before he comes home. He won't know how to handle it if he hears all of this stuff at once or finds out about it on his own."

Tyler nodded. "I think that you two should consider talking to your mom about these concerns you have. I know it's hard to feel like you really know your brother or are a part of his life while he's in prison, but this might help you both to understand him a little more. It will also make the transition a little easier for him when he gets home because you're absolutely right. He probably doesn't have the tools he needs to cope with all of this. He's going to need as much help as he can get, and it would be really helpful for him to have some of that support at home."

The kids both nodded, Abbie doing so earnestly and Jordan with a bit of hesitation. Tyler smiled at them warmly.

"That's all the time we have today, guys, but you can always come back if you need to talk about this some more. Thank you for talking to me about your brother. I know that isn't always easy," he told them.

Abbie smiled at him weakly, but Jordan just stared down at his feet. They didn't say anything else to Tyler as he led them out of his office. That was okay though because Tyler was distracted by the clock. If he left work in the next five minutes, he could be home by six twenty. He just had to be fast.

Mrs. Dun was in the waiting room, looking absolutely exhausted. She'd been crying, but she carried herself as if she hadn't. She smiled when she saw her kids. Jordan hugged her, asking her if she was okay. Abbie was more worried about Josh.

"Is he safe? Did he talk to you? Did he tell you anything?" Abbie asked fearfully as she hurried over to her mother.

Their mother rubbed Jordan's back before releasing him from her arms. "He's going to be okay. I told him I'll come visit again soon. He told me to tell you that you're going to be okay. He mentioned you a couple times actually. He said you sent him a letter?" She seemed worried.

Abbie smiled. "Did he read it?"

"He read it. He said he'll write back as soon as he can. Why didn't you tell me you wrote him a letter?" Her mother pressed.

Tyler hesitated. It hadn't occurred to him that her mother might be against that idea. Josh didn't seem dangerous from what he'd heard though. Well, except for from Jordan.

"I wrote him two letters and drew him a picture. He doesn't get letters from us anymore. We just send pictures and stuff. I figured he might be lonely," Abbie explained.

Mrs. Dun sighed. "I suppose you're right. Okay. Let's get you two home. Thank you so much, Dr. Joseph."

He smiled at her warmly. "Thank you," he insisted. "I hope everything goes well this week. You've got some incredible kids. I'm amazed by how strong they are."

Abbie smiled at Tyler. He smiled back. Mrs. Dun beamed proudly at her kids. "Thank you. Have a nice night."

"You too," he replied.

As soon as they'd left the building, he was in his office and packing up his things. He wanted to be home to Jenna by seven, but it would be even better if he could get there a little early. He wanted to spend as much time with her as possible to make up for all the time he'd spent focusing on other people. If he was going to marry Jenna, he needed to be able to be there for her when she needed him. She needed to be his main priority. That was what family was all about, and he and Jenna were a family.