Harry's POV

One Week Later

The sharp knock at the door broke me out of my slumber, and I groggily answered the nurse who looked me up and down disapprovingly. I knew that I looked a mess, my hair matted to my forehead and I was still clad in my pyjamas.

"Get ready for your joint therapy, Styles," she had a smirk on her face when she saw my confusion, like she was enjoying how helpless I felt in the situation,  "It's just Dr Smith's excuse to put two therapy sessions in one."

"Sorry... Maybe I'm still a bit tired... What will actually happen in this 'joint therapy'?" My voice was still hoarse from my sleep, and the face of the Nurse softened slightly.

"It just means you'll be sharing your therapy session with another patient, and you'll be able to discuss things with them. It's supposed to help you see other outlooks on life," her face matched my feelings exactly; how lazy could a person be to just mix his patients together to avoid having to do separate therapy sessions?

As I slowly got dressed into my centre-regulated clothing, I reflected on my first week at the centre. While it had been chaotic, it hadn't been as bad as I had previously assumed it would be. I would often find myself forgetting my unquenchable thirst for alcohol, and being sober didn't suck as much as I had once thought it would.

***

"Harry, you're the first one here!" Dr Smith exclaimed as I walked into his room, "The other patient should be joining us soon. The whole idea of this joint therapy is to help broaden your mind, and maybe you'll share advice with one another."

"So basically do your job for you?" I retorted back with a sneer on my face, and I saw Dr Smith's constantly-happy facade slip momentarily.

The tension in the air was broken by the swinging open of the door, and in strutted Phoenix, emitting confidence and oozing self-assurance. Dr Smith scowled as she took a seat next to me, but she simply smirked at him and turned to wink at me.

"Harry Styles, I believe you are already acquainted with Ms Waters. Now that you are both here, we can begin this session. I usually start with a little exercise that involves sharing why you're at the centre," Dr Smith grabbed a clipboard, and I noticed that every second he seemed to glance over at Phoenix.

I had noticed when he had taken her to solitary confinement that there had been some unspoken tension between the pair, and I got the impression from Dr Smith that he had often wished that Phoenix would have been more than just a patient. While I could not blame him for being attracted to her fiery personality and her dazzling good looks, I was still utterly disturbed by the whole thing.

"We're both messed up in the head Smith, what more info do we need to share?" Phoenix said in an exasperated tone, rolling her eyes ever so slightly, obviously trying to provoke him.

"I was hoping maybe you would be able to give Harry some advice about how to thrive in this centre," Dr Smith didn't have any conviction in his words, and I wouldn't have been surprised if he was just reading lines off a sheet.

"Don't listen to the idiots like Smith over here," Phoenix turned to me, aggravation radiating off her, "Keep away from people who ask for your meds, and don't eat the meatloaf."

I chuckled at her response and she shot me a smirk; she knew the effect she had on people, how she would simultaneously shock and amaze them. Dr Smith looked ready to place his head in his hands, and looked over to me as if I would have something to say.

"What kind of things should I do to pass time?" I asked awkwardly, feeling like a little kid compared to her.

"Make fun of the psychiatrists, insult people, and try and steal things from the staff room," she replied back cheekily, and I couldn't help but feel endeared by her personality.

She was like no one I had ever met before.

"That's enough Phoenix, I don't know why I thought you would be good in this session-"

"Because I've annoyed all my other joint therapy partners so now you're sticking me with the new guy," she cut off Dr Smith, who appeared to be losing his temper.

"When will you learn Phoenix? Your behaviour is what's keeping you trapped in this place. Don't you ever wish that you could be free?"

The colour drained from Phoenix's face and she sat back in her chair, her manner and mood obviously shifting and their was an uncomfortable feeling hanging in the air. Just like me, Dr Smith was taken aback by Phoenix's drastic mood change and we all sat in silence until someone found something to say.

"You're both excused from this session, I will be seeing each of you individually soon," he gestured to the door and Phoenix stood up hastily, almost as if she couldn't wait to leave the room.

Once outside, Phoenix almost ran off, causing me to follow her in worry; despite not knowing her at all, her wellbeing concerned me in some way. She stopped outside a door and leant against the wall, catching her breath.

"I'll get a restraining order if you keep following me," she breathed out, and looked over to me, but unlike other jokes she had made in the past, this one was halfhearted.

"What happened in there?" I asked, standing closer to her but she flinched away slightly.

"Is it a sin to not want to be free? To not want to have to deal with your own emotions?" She looked up at the ceiling that was made of yellowing tiles, and then back to her hands which were constantly fidgeting.

"Sometimes we all like to be held unaccountable for our actions, I know that feeling well," I whispered back, and she looked up to meet my gaze, "While you like to be locked up somewhere and have your day dictated, I like to drink myself into a new person whose actions don't feel like my own."

"You're pretty messed up Harry, I like that," she replied, a smile threatening to poke out and I was glad that I had been able to lift her mood.

Unsure of what else to do, I left her alone and made my way to my own room, which was beginning to oddly feel like home. There was something unspoken about Phoenix, something that was hiding behind that confident facade, but I felt like I was one step closer to finding out what it was.

So why does Phoenix not want to be set free? Does it have something to do with her past? Sorry if this chapter was a bit dull, more stuff will happen soon I promise!

Vote and comment if you enjoyed :)