Portia looked around the white, sterile room. There was no escape there. Only that one door in and out. The window was small and had bars on it. The nurse in front of her was taking out the stitches from her wrists. She looked at the nurse's name tag. Ember.

"I like your name," Portia said.
"Thank you," Ember said. "I like yours too."

Ember removed the final stitch and smiled warmly.

"There you go. You'll have to live with the scars. Please, don't ever try taking your life again. You got your entire life ahead of you," Ember said.
"I won't," Portia said.

That wasn't a lie. Portia would never have tried in the first place. It was all Seth's doing, and now she would have two ugly scars for the rest of her life because of him.

"Escort her back," Ember said.

A man with an angry looking face and a name tag saying Brock opened the door. Portia walked over to him, and he walked her back to the ward. She found Elias in the common room playing a guitar and singing to himself. He smiled at her when she walked over to sit next to him. He finished the song and placed the guitar down on the floor.

"Let me see," he said.

He grabbed her hands and looked at her wrists. He smiled but his eyes looked sad.

"I can't believe he did this to you," he said.
"And I get to keep the scars for the rest of my life," she sighed. "You know, in case I forget who I belong to."
"You don't fucking belong to him!" He growled.
"Elias, I think I need to cry," she said.

He got up without another word. He knew what that meant. She got up too. They walked to the blind spot in front of the closet. He unlocked it and they stepped inside. As soon as he closed the door behind them, she broke down. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight.

"It's okay, sweetheart. Let it all out," he said.
"It's not okay. I'm never getting out of here," she said.
"Yes, you are. You can outsmart him. You're doing great so far," he said.
"I can't keep making Sami talk about himself. He's catching on. I have to give him something in order to get something back in return. He wants me to say I tried killing myself. So far I've been playing the memory loss card, but I can't keep doing that. He's pushing for me to say the words. Once I do, it'll go on my record that I acknowledge what I did, and it'll never go away again. It'll fuck me over for the rest of my life," she said.

She pushed herself out of his arms and dried her eyes with her hands.

"What does it matter? The rest of my life is either gonna be in here or with Seth. I'll never be free," she said.
"Don't say that," he said.
"How the fuck could I be so stupid to let him into my life? How the fuck could I ever fall in love with someone like him? Look what it did to me. Look at where I am. Fucking look at me!" She raised her voice.

He kissed her to silence her and backed her up against the wall.

"I'm looking," he whispered. "And you're beautiful, Portia. So fucking unbelievably beautiful. Inside and outside."
"Elias," she whispered back. "Please."

He kissed her again. They both fumbled around with their pants and underwear. Once they got out of it, he lifted her up. She locked her legs around his waist, and he pushed inside her. He let out a low moan and leaned his forhead against hers while he slowly rocked his hips.

"This is a bad idea," he said.
"Don't worry. No protection needed with me. I'm sterilized," she said.

He smirked at her. His small movements took up. They became faster and deeper. He kissed her again to swallow all her moans, and drown out his own. It didn't take long before both of them fell apart. He held still and looked at her.

"Now you can check that one off your list as well," she smirked. "Fucking in the closet."
"And it only took 9 years," he grinned. "So worth the wait."

He pecked her lips and placed her back down on her feet. They got back into their clothes, and ran their fingers through their hair to smoothen it out.

"I think I'm in love with you," he said.

She stopped combing her hair with her fingers and just stared at him.

"You think?" She asked.
"No, I know," he sighed. "I'm in love with you."
"You've only known me for 10 days," she said.
"Days, months, years. It doesn't matter. I've been here 9 years, and I've never felt this way about anyone coming through here. I'm not crazy, Portia. I'm in love with you. I just want you to know that before you leave," he said.
"Where the fuck am I gonna go?" She asked.
"One day you'll get out of here. Hopefully you'll remember me as the years pass and I'm still stuck in here," he said.

She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for a kiss.

"Traveling the world just the two of us with your guitar sounds like a lovely idea to me right now. It doesn't seem scary if you got a partner to travel with, does it?" She asked.
"No, it sounds lovely," he smiled sadly. "I really need to stop dreaming. My dreams died 9 years ago. I have no one left for me outside of this place."
"You got me," she said. "If I ever get out of here."
"Right now we need to get out of the closet before the cleaning crew shows up," he said.

He did his normal stick. He listened at first, then opened the door, then hurried out of the closet before locking the door after them. They were still standing in the blind spot from the camera.

"One day someone will catch on to us walking down this hall and somehow stopping here," she said.
"Don't worry. So far I've made sure only to bring you here when Seth has a therapy session. I know he's the only one watching you like a hawk," he said.
"I wish I could just make him disappear. If he never existed, I wouldn't be in here," she said.

She sighed and started walking towards her room. She needed a moment alone.

"I got the key," he said.

She turned around on the spot and stared at him.

"What did you just say?" She asked.
"I got the key," he repeated. "I've had it for three years."
"Why the fuck didn't you tell me sooner?" She asked.
"Because I'm scared. Getting out of here is scary. I have nothing out there," he said.
"This isn't just about you, Elias. This is about me too. I need to get out of here," she said.

She walked back to him and back into the blind spot.

"Give me the key," she said.
"No," he said.
"Now!" She growled.
"No, it's mine," he said.
"Fuck you, Elias!" She pushed him. "What just happened inside that closet will never happen again. From now on you don't speak to me or look at me. As far as you're concerned, I don't exist."

He reached for her but she stepped out in front of the camera again. He knew better than to follow and try anything.

"You're working with him, aren't you?" She asked.
"What?" He asked.
"I should have known Seth put you up to this," she said. "Do you have any idea what he'll do to me if he finds out you just fucked me?"
"I'm not. I swear," he said.
"Somehow I don't believe you," she said.

She turned around and walked back to her room. She knew she couldn't escape him. She couldn't even close the door to her room. He chose not to follow her though. He walked back to the common room, picked the guitar up from the floor and walked over to the window to look outside.

"Hello, world," he said lowly. "What have you got to offer someone like me?"