She made herself stop crying by thinking of other things. Her pets at her grandparents house in Ohio, her friends there too, the boy with his arm around her. She blushed slightly, her fingers reaching up and taking his hand. She could feel his heat and it made her feel better. She let out a slow breath then closed her eyes, exausted

Sage was out cold, but when she reached for his hand his fingers still closed around it subconsciously...he supposed he just appreciated the touch, even when he was asleep. He had wanted to stay awake in case she needed him, but he was sore and this was way more than he really should've been doing before his stitches had let his wound heal completely.....so he needed the rest.

In the morning, Flo woke up with a gasp for air, her eyes flying open as she caught her breath. That dream... It kept coming back. Their faces were hauntig her. She couldn't stay awake because she would have to eventually fall asleep, but when she did she saw Grace, James, and the countless men and women she had seen dead before they burned them. Florida rubbed at her eyes, desperate for their images to disappear for the time being

Sage stirred slightly when he felt the girl jerk awake, and forced his bleary eyes open to peer up at her, running a hand over his face in an attempt to wipe the grogginess away from his eyes. "You alright," he asked softly, though in a voice still obviously heavy with sleep. He was worried about her though.

Florida swallowed, taking deep breaths which made her chest rise and fall in a more dramatic way. "Y-yeah" she lied. "Sorry that I woke you up... You probably need more sleep" she urged, laying her head back down beside his

Sage sort of hummed and shook his head, wrapping himself around her snugly when she curled back in. "Maybe," he noted. "But id rather wake up if you need me," he mumbled. It was tired, but true....he'd rather be awake and tired and her feel better than sleep while she worried. That didn't seem nice.

"You're sweeter than you think you are" she said when he held her. Flo took a breath. "I keep seeing them... They keep coming back..." she shook her head. "Will it ever stop..?"

Sage sort of chuckled and squeezed her slighyin response to her first comment before sighing and shrugging at her other one. "It gets better," he noted softly with a sort of nod.

She wanted to smile but she couldn't. Their faces swirled in her mind like a hurricane. "How do you cope?" she asked

Sage sort of frowned in response to her question, trying to think about tha tone and actually give her a decent answer. "I got used to it, I guess," he mused. "But at first...or when I see something that messes with my mind...I tend to just shove it all away and try to focus on something more positive," he admitted. It wasn't the healthiest coping mechanism out there....humor only did so much. But he wasn't sure how else to do it.