~19~

Bryan waited with bated breaths to see Kieran's reaction, it had been the first thought to plop in his head after listening to Kieran.

He might have managed to convince the Head Beta to stop smoking as much but he was no professional, he really wanted Kieran to get the needed help.

Not just for their possible relationship but also for Kieran's sake.

Kieran reeled back at Bryan's words, not expecting them one bit. "What?" He blurted out, a deep furrow in his brows.

He had been expecting a lot of things but not this.

Bryan was dead serious though. "Yes, and no, you don't have a choice, at least for the first couple sessions and if you still don't want it, you're free to quit it." He said bluntly.

This made Kieran go quiet, it was a lot to take in at once, he has never once thought that he needed to see a therapist and honestly, he still thought that way.

But he owed this much to Bryan at least, after all he had made him go through the past couple days.

"Fine." He accepted grudgingly, he had been trying to convince Bryan why he was such a terrible catch, he hadn't been expecting this turnout.

"When?"

"Right now." Bryan decided, getting to his feet.

He was aware that the issue between them had merely been pushed under the carpet and was still very much there.

But there was no moving forward with Kieran until they got his emotional issues resolved.

Keiran looked up at him, somehow not surprised but he was relieved that Bryan was back to his bubbly self. 

"You seem to forget that I have a job." Kieran deadpanned, gesturing at the files piled on his desk.

"No genius," Bryan shook his head. "We're setting up the appointment right now, not seeing the therapist." 

Kieran made a face at this, maybe he shouldn't have been too quick to decide that he wouldn't make Bryan sit on the ground again.

"Fine, knock yourself out." Kieran allowed him, pointing at his desk phone.

"Don't mind if I do." Bryan went ahead before Kieran could change his mind again.

Kieran watched him make the call, hardly listening to him talk on the phone, instead he watched the changes in his expression, how his brows furrowed when he listened and how phe swiped his tongue over his lips while he talked.

Kieran's instincts were still to run and it got stronger the more time he spent around Bryan, maybe he really did need a therapist.

"I've set an appointment for 1 pm. It's just a 40 minutes session, the Pack won't crumble if you're away for that long." Bryan informed him.

Kieran had no excuses and he wasn't even about to make one. "Sure, did you manage to get any writing done? Hell, did you even sleep?"

Bryan tucked his head between his shoulders. "Not exactly." He mumbled, unable to lie to Kieran.

"Then you should get some rest…" Kieran was already saying.

"No." Bryan cut him off immediately, "it's just a couple hours to your therapy session, you're not getting out of this." He deadpanned.

Kieran hadn't been looking to ditch the therapy session but he could hardly blame Bryan for thinking so. "Fine, will you write instead so you can get an early rest." 

Bryan thought about this, he did have to write. "Fine." He agreed, going over to get his things from the ground.

"You should get some work done too." Bryan huffed importantly, settling on one of the chairs facing Kieran's desk.

"Sure." Kieran muttered, still staring at Bryan.

"Is there something on my face?" Bryan raised his head to ask after writing a couple sentences and still feeling Kieran's eyes on him.

"Stop getting distracted, you have a lot of work to catch up on." Kieran scolded with a straight face.

Bryan gaped at this and then decided to give Kieran what he asked for. "Fine." He grumbled, going back to work.

Kieran couldn't hold back his fond smile, Bryan was really fun to tease.

His amusement only lasted briefly when he couldn't seem to catch Bryan's attention again.

Bryan was writing just as he had told him to but it made Kieran frown, he wanted his attention.

He dropped his jaw on a hand, resting it on his desk, he perked up when he remembered that he had candy on him.

"Hey, Bryan, do you want some candy?" He asked.

"No, thanks." Bryan replied curtly without even sparing him a glance.

It stung Kieran, he was probably acting like the kid now but he still wanted Bryan's attention.

He made a face, he had been staring at Bryan the entire time and he hadn't lifted his head once from his laptop, his mop of dark red brown hair bobbing gently.

Kieran thought of what he would do to get Bryan's attention and came up with a blank, Bryan was always the one teasing him and he did it so effortlessly. It couldn't be that hard to do right?

Several minutes later, Kieran was about ready to storm across the table and shake Bryan to get his attention but that would be admitting defeat.

He had to hand it to Bryan though, he had far more patience than Kieran had previously been willing to give him credit for.

Bryan lifted his head at this point. "You know, you've never once tried sitting on the ground." He said bluntly, looking unimpressed. "You might soon."

Kieran was too stunned by this response to give a proper comeback, grumbling under his breath as he finally got to work.

Bryan bit back his laughter, relieved that things had worked out the way they did, he had come really close to losing Kieran for good.

If he had handled things any differently, he had a feeling that he wouldn't have gotten to the point that he was with the Head Beta.

Also maybe he had managed to grow on the Head Beta with his awkward charm because Kieran did seem like he wanted him around.

He had expected to be turned down and out after he suggested a therapist but Kieran had taken it in stride. He had hope for whatever they had between them.