Rocky kept his head down to the carpet and tried to stop his thoughts from catastrophizing the situation any more than he already was as his worst nightmare unfolded in front of his very eyes.

"What were you thinking?" Chase said, narrowing his eyes.

Everest stepped closer to the mix. "Do you have any idea what you just did? This will devastate Skye."

Rocky cringed and shrunk down closer to the ground. It would be impossible to explain this to them.

Everest continued, shaking her head. "Why on earth would you do something so selfish? Did you once think about how this will affect her?"

A spark lit the insides of Rocky and fire rushed out of his mouth.

"You have no right to judge me. I did this for Skye, for me. Not for a selfish purpose, Everest. But you wouldn't know what that's like."

A snarl ripped out of Chase's clenched jaw as he moved towards Rocky, but Everest put a paw out to stop him from whatever he was about to do.

"I'm ok," she said.

Rocky watched him carefully as he reluctantly settled back down by the Husky's side with his front canines still exposed.

Chase narrowed his eyes. "Skye told me you haven't been taking your medication, but I never thought you'd do something this cruel."

"You don't know what it's like, I would never intentionally hurt her, I never wanted too, I did this to protect her. From me."

Chase and Everest shared a look before Everest spoke. "If you don't tell her, we will, she's going to find out, Rocky."

Rocky huffed and turned away from them. He cut through the silent living room and made it to his and Skye's room.

Removing his shirt, he rested behind her, rubbing her stomach, hating himself with a passion. She would find out. She would break up with him the second she did and there was no avoiding that. So, he held onto the illusion that their doomed relationship was still intact as he clung to her and tried to keep his tears off of her, trying to forget the last two hours had ever happened.

Rocky let out a pitiful whine deep from within his tummy as he realized that this was the last time he would hold Skye in his arms. Shutting his eyes, he took in deep breaths of her scent, determined to commit it to memory before morning, remember the feel of her soft fur against his chest and her calm heartbeat as it sent warm tingles down his back. Resting his head atop of hers, he kept his eyes open. Sleep would not take him tonight. His thoughts were deafening.

Morning came far too quickly.

Rocky peeled his eyes open as the morning rays filled the small room he and his soon to be ex-girlfriend shared. His bones felt heavy and achy as he moved into a sitting position, looking over Skye as she slept, like he always did. The bittersweetness of the moment and his pounding head reminded him of the previous night.

He should tell her soon, but how badly will it hurt her? Rocky grimaced at this thought in particular as he seethed with self-hatred. Hypocrite. That's what he was.

Skye groaned and turned over to face him, her eyelids fluttering as she tried to wake up.

"Good morning, baby," she said, pulling him down by the collar and kissing him like she always would.

Rocky savored the touch, the taste and smell, as he kept his eyes closed. His stomach twisted into knots. He didn't deserve to touch her.

"I wanted to apologize for being so hard on you last night, I know none of this is easy for you," she said. Running her paws aimlessly through his cheek fur the way he liked, she let out a yawn.

Stealing himself he opened his eyes to her, unable to remain quiet as guilt ate away at his insides, prompting him to spit out the poisonous truth immediately.

"Skye . . ."

"Oh!" Skye jumped up and reached for her phone. "I just have to check Everest's feed, she always posts cute pictures of her and Chase."

Rocky looked over his shoulder for any help from anyone. He found none.

"Skye?"

She either ignored him or couldn't hear his hollow voice calling to her as she scrolled aimlessly through Pawstagram.

Swallowing the lump in his throat and built-up saliva, he tried again, "Skye?" But she remained still, her whole body frozen as she stared down at her phone.

"I have to tell." He second guessed himself. This needed to be said just right. "You need to know something," he mumbled out, the confidence in his voice drained.

Finally, she moved, looking up to him with wet cheeks. "What is this?" she said.

"Skye?" Letting out a whimper he moved to comfort her but she pulled away. "What is it?" Rocky questioned, looking to the phone in her paw, blood drained from his head and he became lightheaded with anxiety.

"How?" he gaped, looking at a picture of Cody and himself, in the middle of their kiss.

"You need to explain this. Now." Fire spewed out of her mouth and Rocky shrunk down a size.

"I know how it looks, and I promise. . ."

"Don't you dare make one more promise to me that you can't keep!" She shot out of bed.

"I . . ." Rocky opened his mouth to speak but nothing seemed good enough. Nothing was the right thing to say. Nothing would fix this mess. "I lost. . ." He trailed off. That wouldn't sound right either.

Shakily, his breath came fast and in short supply. Like he was breathing through a straw.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, I never wanted that. I was protecting. . . It was my OCD. I couldn't control it."

"Protecting me? Stop lying. What did you think would happen?" Skye fumed jumping out of bed. "You promised me Rocky. You said you would fight it. That you wouldn't let it take control."

"I am trying, Skye," Rocky whimpered, swallowing the lump in his throat.

"Tell me, who is controlling who? Because right now it looks like your being controlled."

"It's not that simple."

Skye huffed out a shaky breath. Moisture built in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks as the anger in her face melted away.

"What is it then? Am I not good enough for you? Were you so unhappy with me that it drove you to do something this drastic?"

"No! Of course not." His voice was unconvincing.

"You broke my trust, Rocky. " She looked down as more tears rolled down her muzzle. "I can't, I can't be with you anymore."