Counseling: arachnophobia

"<i>Aaahhhh!</i> Baby, help! Quick!"

"Oh, shit, Zashi - where?" Elly slid into the room brandishing one of the many fly-swatters their home had scattered about. 

Hizashi pointed, shaking, at the kitchen counter where a house centipede was scurrying quickly away. Elly swatted it hard, then flipped the swatter in the nearby trash can and hurriedly wiped the counter with a cleaning wipe. 

Breathing hard, she turned to her boyfriend and smiled. "Gone!"

"Thanks," he replied, still trembling. His green eyes behind the red-rimmed glasses were giant in his terror. 

Elly carefully hung the swatter up and hugged him. "Go sit, you're going to be like this for a little while." 

He nodded. "Y - yeah."

"Besides, I have another story to tell you. One I think you'll appreciate."

"About bugs?" His head jerked up and he flinched, halfway to sitting on the couch.

She sat and tugged on his arm, encouraging him to sit and snuggle with her. "Well... yes. Especially spiders."

"Euuugh."

"Yeah. I'm scared of some insects, too, you know. Screaming scared, like you. I can't sleep or shower or anything if I see one in a room and can't kill it."

"I totally understand that."

"With me it's wasps and spiders mostly. I really, really am scared of spiders."

He choked and nodded, unable to speak. Elly stroked his hair until his trembling subsided. "I used to see one and yell for my stepfather to save me. You know, 'daddy' to the rescue."

"Was he afraid, too?"

"Oh, no. He hates snakes, isn't scared at all of bugs or spiders."

"Oh." He flushed, embarrassed that he couldn't protect her in this case. She shook her head and lifted his chin up.

"Hizashi - I'm not upset at you. You have a severe phobia. I can't imagine what that's like. I'm terrified of spiders but have managed to sort of deal with them, in a way. You simply can't. It's not your fault."

"Huh." He bit his lip.

"I love you, sweetie. Anyway, my fear was much worse as a child. I would scream, he would come and immediately mock me for being afraid. Besides this, he would kill it in a tissue and then..." She squeezed him for comfort. He sat up and hugged her back, listening more intently.

"He would chase after me with it. Threatening to shove it in my face as I cried." Her eyes were filled with anger.

His jaw dropped.

"He..?"

"Yes." 

"H - he, he..." His brain was in a loop. All he could see was this woman he loved as a little girl, calling out for daddy to help protect her and being terrified worse in the end. And he understood what it was like to be so scared of bugs - he couldn't imagine anyone doing this to him even now, as an adult. Let alone an adult doing it to a child they were supposed to nurture. 

"It's okay, Zashi." Her smile was pained, however.

"But he..." Tears filled his eyes, spilling over onto suddenly flushed cheeks. His lower lip jutted out and he gulped loudly before whimpering, grabbing her in a huge hug. "I'm sorry," he sniffled.

"I know. It makes me feel better knowing you understand how that must have felt." 

"Baby, I don't think I can meet your parents. For real, yo - I - I couldn't look them in the eye after knowing how they hurt you so much!"

She sighed. "I know that, too. Maybe I should put more space between them as well... but no matter what, I always love them. It sucks."

He whimpered again and held her tight.