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Today, Brigitte would go spelunking with Sloan. It would be a fun experience… if she could get over her nerves about it.
“Brig, do you want to do this? You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Sloan said as they entered the cave's opening. “If you’re scared, we can find something else to do!”
“No, I want to do this,” Brigitte said quietly. “Just need to… uh… calm down a bit,” she said with a nod.
“It’s not as scary as it looks,” Sloan said, adjusting the harness they were wearing. “All you gotta do—”
Brigitte sighed. “See, I know that, but it’s still making me all nervous and stuff…”
Sloan grabbed Brigitte’s hands, holding them in their own. “Do you trust me?”
“What?”
“I said, do you trust me?” they repeated. “It’s a simple yes or no question.”
“Yes, of course I do… I love you,” Brigitte said, looking at Sloan holding her hands. “Yes”
Sloan smiled, their eyes softening. “Then let’s take it one step at a time together, okay? You’re not alone in this. I’ve got you. You won’t be alone in there; you’ll have me the whole time guiding you through it.”
“What if I slip and fall and die? I’m rather large so what if I don’t fit in some of the holes— passages? What’s the word?” Brigitte said, panic rising up in her throat.
“This is a beginner’s tourist cave. There’s nothing you can die from and you’ll probably be able to fit through most passages because you're only like a few inches taller than me and I can!” Sloan said with a goofy smile. “You’ll be fine as long as you stay by me and listen to what I say.”
Brigitte paused, taking a deep breath, her heart still racing. Looking at Sloan’s bright, reassuring grin, she began to feel a lot better. “Yeah… I can do this. I will stick by you,” she said, her voice steadier this time.
Sloan’s smile widened, and they gave her hands another gentle squeeze. “Good.”
“I just… am scared,” Brigitte said, looking down at her feet. “I know I can do this but I’m scared to start, scared even to try. I know I should at least try, but I’m so scared.”
“It’s okay to be scared, we don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, okay?” Sloan reiterated. “We can go have a nice lunch instead of doing this.”
“I want to engage in your hobbies…” Brigitte frowned. “You take part in things I enjoy, so it only feels right to do the same with you…”
“Well, Brig, my hobbies are a bit more dangerous than poetry and arts & crafts,” Sloan laughed softly. “But if you’re sure, and if you trust me, we can do this.”
“Yeah… yeah we can… I trust you,” Brigitte said with a wide smile. “Let’s go spelunking!” she nodded. “I can do this, I can do this, I can do this.”
“That’s the spirit, now c’mon!” Sloan grabbed Brigitte’s hand and dragged her toward the entrance of the cave.
With that, their spelunking journey started with absolute trust in one another. They could get through anything as long as they had one another.