A few minutes later Sky opened her eyes to see that they were balancing over a very high bridge. Four looked terrified. "I forgot you were afraid of heights!" she said as they stood up and began inching towards the capitol building. "Yeah, I don't think that fear is ever going away….Don't laugh! It's not natural to be this high! Only birds should be up here!" Sky was doubled over in laughter when he reached the building, "Come on Sky!" She wiped the tears from her eye, "Ok ok, we're safe now! See? Yay!" Four turns around and Sky sees the window behind her is gone, they're trapped in a room where the walls are slowly caving in. Sky looks at him, "Fear of confinement….From the closets?" He nodded, his face ghostly white. She takes his hands, "Breathe Four, just breathe." He shakes his head, "Call me Tobias," he whispers, shuddering. She smiles as she sits him down, lowering herself into his lap and wrapping his arms around her. "It's ok Tobias, just breathe. Breathe every time I do ok? It will calm your heartbeat and the simulation will move on." He shook his head frantically holding Sky tighter, "Tell me something."
"Like what?"
"Anything! Tell me a story, one of your favorite memories!"
She laughs, "Tobias, you are in all of my favorite memories!" Feeling him squeeze her tighter was enough to get the story started. "Umm… remember that night we told our parents we were sleeping over at another friends' house? And we ended up camping out under the willow tree?" He nodded for her to continue, "That was the night I realized how much I loved you…" He kissed her shoulder and took a few deep breaths. When he opened his eyes, Sky recognized they were in Marcus' basement. Tobias' room of torture, unknown to Tobias it was Sky's room of torment as well. They saw Marcus with his belt in his hand, "I'm doing this for your own good son." Tobias was sweating and stepping back nervously, not noticing that Sky was pressed against the wall in terror. For some reason, Marcus drawing his arm back to whip Tobias snapped her out of whatever state she was in. Before he could hit Tobias, she tackled stimulation Marcus to the ground. He was too fast though and he gets on top of Sky and brings his arm back to punch her. Before he can, Tobias throws him into the wall. Yelling as he punches Marcus, "Don't you EVER touch her! Never lay a hand on her!"
Suddenly Marcus vanishes and they're in a dark room, it looks like a body is lying ahead of them. Four instantly recognizes it and sprints ahead. He collapses in tears cradling the body. Sky jogs up to him, "Is that….is that me?" He shakes his head, wiping hair from Stimulation Sky's face. "No no no" he whispers, "Please don't be gone Sky! Please don't be! I need you!" Sky was frozen in shock, I'm in his fear landscape? This is why he was so upset…. How do I calm him from this? Tobias' face was buried in the body's neck, she could hear his muffled crying. "I can't do this without you Sky. Please don't leave me!" She pulled him back hard enough to break his grip on her stimulation body. When he fought to get back to it, she sat in his lap and wrapped her legs around him. Grabbing his face, she kissed him. Once they pulled apart, she kept his focus on her. "Look at me Tobias. I'm fine, I'm alive, I'm here." He shook his head, confused. "B-but you're right over there. You're dead! Why did you die Sky? Why?"
Sky took his hands and placed them on both sides of her face, "Look Tobias, you are touching me, I'm right here. It's just the stimulation, it's ok." She put on hand over her heart, "Feel that?" He nodded, "That is my heartbeat, just focus on my heartbeat Tobias, it's ok. Just breathe." They sat there for the next 10 minutes before he finally calmed enough for the stimulation to end. He looked up at her and broke down, "This is why I was so upset Sky. Because I don't ever want to live that fear out. Please don't make me live that, I can't do it. I just can't" He buried his face in her neck, crying as she patted his hair and back. "I promise, Tobias. I won't make you experience that, ever. I'm sorry, I'm sorry." When he looked up he kissed everywhere on her face, saving her lips for last. "I love you Sky Yasmine Collins. I always have, and I always will." She was beaming when she replied "I love you too Tobias. Forever."
She spent the night cuddled in Four's bed for the first time since his choosing ceremony. "I missed this," she whispered as she laced their fingers together. "I've always slept better with you right next to me." He kissed the back of her head, "Me too. I kind of wondered if we would ever be us again." She turned so she was facing him, "We're an us?" He kissed her before replying, "Mmhmm. You and me. I'm yours and you are mine. And if Uriah ever tries to kiss you again, I'm not responsible for the damage that would ensue." She laughed, "That really bothers you doesn't it?" He nodded, "I don't like to share." She rolled so she was straddling him, "Well no need to worry, I'm all yours." He grabbed her hips as he kissed her, noticing the scar again.
"Where did you say you got that scar?" She looked down, forgetting her previous story. "Umm…a dog bit me like a year ago?" He shook his head and got out of the bed, crossing his arms in front of her. "I thought you said it was from falling on a rock while you were running?" Shit, she realized she was caught. "Oh yeah! That's the one!" Tobias narrowed his eyes at her and cocked his head to the side, "Why are you lying to me Sky?" She put on an innocent face, "I'm not lying…." He rolled his eyes at her, "Sky I've known you since you were five years old. I know what you look like when you lie. You look to your right for a second when you are telling a lie." She blushed at how well he knew her. "I'm going to ask you one more time Sky. Why. Are. You. Lying to me?" She decided to go on the defensive, "What am I not allowed to have secrets of my own? What? Do you want to go through my landscape too? That way you know every little teeny tiny thing about me?"
He was shocked at her reaction, it reminded him of when people asked about a cut on his face from Marcus. "Sky what is it you're hiding? What happened to you to give you that scar?" She took his hands and wrapped them around her, "Can we please just forget about the scar? I don't like talking about it." He nodded, "Okay…I'll let it go this time…you know I'm going to be the one running your fear landscape right? I'll see what all is going on in your stimulation." She jerked herself back, "What? No! No you can't! You have to have someone else do it." He sat her on the bed to calm her down, "Sky it's okay, everyone has to do it. I'm not going to judge you for anything you fear. What are you so worried about baby?" She had tears in her eyes, "You can't see them, I swore to myself you would never know. Please don't." He wiped tears from her eyes and sighed, "I will see if someone else can be in the room instead…but I can't make any promises. And I do want to eventually know what all is going on." She nodded, relaxing a little. "Come on," he said, "Let's go to sleep, you've got a long day ahead of you tomorrow." They lay down and cuddled for about an hour before Sky finally fell asleep in his arms.