Maxon walked in during one of his weekly visits after The Report, late at night, to find America crying on her bed, laying on her side with her back to him. She was clutching a picture of May to her chest. He immediately ran over so he was facing her, kneeled by the side of the bed, and cupped her face in his hands, staring his chocolate eyes into hers. She was comforted by this alone.

"Are you hurt?" he demanded.

"No," she sniffled and gave a weak smile through her tears. "Just sad."

"Do you want to be alone?"

She hesitated. Then, "No."

He gave her a light kiss on the forehead and without any further questioning, he walked around the bed and crawled into the bed behind her, his stomach pressed to her back, and laced one arm under her neck and wrapped the other around her, curling her into his body. As she continued to cry quietly, he stroked his fingers through her hair, he murmured sweet things into her ear. She eventually fell asleep like that, so he decided to stay there through the night, so as not to disturb her.

He was woken around 3am by America tossing and turning and calling out. Somewhere in the night, they had ended up with his back to her, and she was gripping tightly to his shoulders in her sleep.

"M-M-May! Help no please Maxon help! May, stop! Please, Maxon, no! Oh help, help he—"

Maxon quickly sat up and shook her awake and brushed the tears from her blotchy face. They were both now sitting upright on the bed, staring into each other's eyes, Maxon holding her trembling wrists tightly. America looked around wildly and yanked her wrists back, startled.

"May? Where is she? Help," America stuttered quietly, then collapsed into Maxon's outstretched arms, realizing it was just a nightmare.

"Shh my sweet, it's me, you're perfectly safe, everything's okay." It was then that Mary poked her head in the door, making sure everything was alright. Maxon gave her a quiet nod and turned his attention back to America, rubbing her back and bending to kiss her hair.

She began to sob quietly in Maxon's lap. "I-I was so scared, I just—" but another wave of sobs overtook her.

"It's okay, it really is. You're here with me and everything's okay. Let's try to get back to sleep."

"I don't think I'll be able to."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"No! It's too horrible. Another time..." Then, she added weakly, "Do you think we could go for a walk to our bench?"

"America, you know it's not very safe and—" but he was interrupted by her beautiful blue eyes. He gave in, "Okay. Quickly though, and with a guard nearby."

He got up slowly and found her robe, helping her into it as she put on her shoes. He found his suit jacket and put that on as well before pulling her into a hug, his strong arms grounding her to his chest. He could feel some of the tension slowly start to melt from her body.

"Everything is okay, America. You're still here, everything will be fine."
She gazed up at him and whispered, "Wouldn't you have gotten in trouble for staying the night in one of the rooms of the girls?"

"It's fine, I sleep better when I'm with you, anyway."
She blushed and looked down, grabbed his hand, and headed for the door that lead outside.