Page 8 of Love in Times of Contempt

"I'm happy for you, Liam." Her eyes softened as she looked at him. "You worked hard, you waited for a while, and at the end you found what you wanted."

"I did." A smile stretched over his face. "She's moving in with me; officially."

"That's great! Congratulations."

"Thank you." He had to stop his chest from puffing up, like he'd gotten an award for being good at relationships now.

"Any big fights yet?"

He laughed. The contrast in their train of thought was not lost to him. "Nope. Not yet."

"They'll come eventually." She pulled at something on her skirt he could not see. "And each time you have one and choose each other, your relationship will grow stronger."

"In theory, I guess. But why would we fight? Beyond the little annoyances of the everyday, anyway."

She lifted a shoulder. "It could be anything. Old patterns resurfacing or something completely different. It doesn't matter. Just be prepared, and do your best. You have the right skills already."

"But wouldn't the skills mean there are fewer reasons to fight?" He frowned.

"Oh, not at all! You're still human, Liam. Having the skills means that when fights do happen, they'll be healthier fights."

"Huh." His eyebrows arched high for a second before he smirked. "I'm sure there'll be a session at some point when we get to talk about that fight you predict. For now, though— Ana and I are good."

"That really is amazing. And with that, your romantic life and work life are finally balanced."

"They are— mostly. Work still needs to slow down a bit but— yeah. It's all good."

Dr. Linda squinted ever so slightly, keeping quiet for a couple of seconds.

Liam closed his eyes and sighed. "Oh, no. You have that look. You found what you want to talk about."

She laughed. "You got me. I want to talk about your brother."

"Alex? Why?" He groaned.

"Because it's the one part that feels unresolved for you. Right? Every time we talk about him, you get a bit irritated with me."

Liam took a deep breath and held it in his lungs for a few seconds. He loved Alex, and wanted him close. They'd grown up like best friends, doing everything together, with lots of fighting included. While those got resolved when they were kids… they'd grown apart as they became adults.

Attempts had been made, on Liam's part, to figure things out and try to be close again, but Alex had pushed back with his brand of grump, and kept Liam at arm’s length.

Liam frowned. "Well, that's because I don't think it should fall on me to make things better between us. I've tried already."

"Who said it falls on you?"

"I guess you haven't said so, really."

Liam was older than Alex by about two years; the difference hadn't really seemed to affect their relationship growing up, but maybe it was okay to blame his impulse to fix things with Alex on some unconscious sense of responsibility as the older brother. A potentially misguided sense of it.

"No, I haven't said so." She raised an eyebrow. "I just want to know how you are feeling about your relationship with Alex."

"Frustrated, as always." Liam took a big gulp of coffee and shook his leg. "He responds to half my texts and a quarter of my calls. When we do talk, most of the time he's short tempered. I really don't know what else I'm supposed to do."

"Has he told you why he keeps you at such a distance?"

"Not lately." He shook his head.

"Have you asked?"