The World Outside Doesn't Exist •Skyeward One-shots•

All I Could Do, is Say That These Arms Were Made for Holding You

It was dark. Not in a scary way, but more like a soft peaceful dark. The dark that remains quiet but leaves out the ominous.

That's how Grant had always felt when he was on the bus. Nothing set him on edge there, and he could forget everything and be with people that he actually cared about. He was safe.

But it did seem to change when Skye was shot. The dark nights were more like ticking time bombs, as if each sleepless night for Grant could be her last, but he would never know. Tension sliced through air, with the dreaded silence that suffocated the bus.

It was so much better when she was awake, her skin colored compared to the drained paleness she developed while unconscious. Her eyes were bright and shining and for gods sake, Grant thought, she was living. Skye could laugh again and make him laugh back. Everything could be back to normal. Or, at least, as normal as the bus could get.

But it was the night when Skye was finally released out of the module back to her bed. He thought everything was okay, but even as he went to the kitchen to get a drink, he could hear soft crying, but just barely. Had he not been trained so well he wouldn't have noticed it.

He searched for where it was coming from, but deep down he already knew who it was. As he thought, he went to Skye's bunk, quietly opening the door, and saw her curled up under the covers, shaking. She whimpered, tears slowly making their way down her face.

"Skye?" He asked quietly, doing his best to sound not nearly as worried as he feels. She did not respond, and instead curled up a bit more, as if she was trying to protect herself. She was having a nightmare, Grant assumed.

He lowered himself so that he wasn't too close to her but at least leveled with her face, and and lightly shook her, trying to wake her up without scaring her too much. "Skye," he repeated, a bit louder than last time.

It worked. Her eyes shot open, red and scared. She immediatly grabbed onto him, as if she needed reassurance to whatever had been hurting her. Her shaking has ceased but her breathing was still heavy.

"Are you okay?" He asked, then feeling a bit stupid. Obviously she wasn't. But he didn't know what else to say.

"I'm...no, not really," She admitted, closing her eyes for a few seconds, as if to recover.

"Is there anything you need?" He persisted, knowing that he failed to not sound worried but he couldn't help it.

She shook her head, but her grip still remained firm on his shirt.

"Okay, I'm going to go back to bed," he said, beginning to stand up.

"Wait! no," She pleaded, sounding afraid. His eyes widened a little but he didn't move.

"What?"

"Can you stay...please?" She asked him, her voice cracking ever so slightly. Her eyes were wide and innocent, and worst of all he could still see the slight redness from her crying.

He didn't know who would possibly leave her like that. "Okay, I'll grab a chair-"

"No, come here," She insisted, patting the empty spot closest to the window. Once again, he couldn't say no to that.

Carefully, climbed over Skye and into the empty space, watching her as if she might change her mind. But she didn't.

He knew this wasn't exactly something he should be doing, but then again he also had a more valid argument: Skye wanted him to be there. So, he put the covers over himself and faced towards Skye and away from the window. With the compartment door now locked it was dark again.

After being all settled he expected her to fall asleep again, but instead she decided to push the boundaries even further. Naturally, Grant thought. She snuggled up against him, her head buried in his chest, sighing in content.

He took this as the 'okay' to wrap his arms around her, and it made him feel better just as much as did for her. While she felt safe, he was also keeping her safe. "Thank you," she mumbled into his chest, before her breathing slowed.

It turned out Grant was way wrong. Everything turned out better than normal.

•••

This went on for a little while, whenever she had a nightmare he would go into her room and comfort her. During the day it was like nothing happened, but niether of them minded. He figured that she also felt better not having the whole team worrying.

One night, when he was back in her room, holding her after her nightmare she sat up suddenly. He did the same, looking at her worriedly.

"Is something wrong?" He asked, searching her face for any sign of distress, but she seemed okay.

"I never told you what I dream about," she said, looking at him sadly.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," He replied earnestly.

She shook her head. "I have to, I can't keep it in."

She took a breath before blowing into the explanation. "I would be in the basement. And he would shoot me. But the thing was I didn't make it, in the end. I died... But that isn't the worst part. It's just that when I do," She began to choke out the words a bit, "I see all of you... And you're distraught. It's not me that I care about but it's you guys, and you all fell apart..." A tear rolled down her cheek.

"That's never going to happen," Grant brushed the tear away, but didn't pull his hand from her face. She leaned into his touch. "It won't because I'm here and I won't ever let anything hurt you, not if I can help it."

She looked at him, her lips parted ever so slightly as if in astonishment. Stared at his dark eyes and his messed up hair. And as if in slow motion, she leaned into him and closed the space left between them. Her lips were soft, Grant thought, as his eyes fluttered closed and his hand left her cheek and ran through her hair. There was no bright white light, no angels, but they both were sure that this is what heaven is.

They broke apart to take a breath. His vision was hazy as if he was in the clouds, her eyes drowning him in love. It was something he never thought he could have. But here she was, holding on to him, her face close enough so that he could see the brown in her eyes, even in the dark...

He smiled and leaned forward this time, his lips pressed against hers. She was in his arms, and there was nowhere he'd rather be.

I was in a extremely fluffy skyeward mood, so enjoy. Also, I decided to use song lyrics as my new chapter names because why not.
And yes, that lyric is from '18'. It's one of my favorite songs.
Please vote and comment :)