Thanks for the Avalanche, Babe

The second Ada took the gear, her eyes welled up.

She looked at Keegan, her voice soft.

"You're really giving this to me? But... what about Nina?"

She shot me a shy glance.

Keegan waved it off.

"She's climbed over thirteen thousand feet three times. She's way stronger than you. This is your first time this high. You need it more."

Ada hugged the gear to her chest and murmured, "Thank you."

She couldn't quite hide the excitement in her voice.

Edward looked at me like he wanted to say something, but kept quiet.

I dug through my pack, pulled out a spare heat patch, and pressed it to my stomach.

Barely warm.

Still, it was something.

Keegan stayed outside Ada's tent forever, crouching down to help with her gear and showing her how to tighten every strap.

Ada beamed up at him, nodding along.

Sweet.

Helpless.

From a distance, they looked picture-perfect.

Just not with me in it.

The satellite phone rang again.

Sadie was practically screaming. "Nina! You made me order that gear from Switzerland for you! You wouldn't even use it, and he just gave it to someone else?"

"Sadie, chill."

"Chill? I'm pissed!" Her voice dropped, heavy with frustration. "He was supposed to propose at the summit.

"You'd say yes, come home, and throw an engagement party. Now some girl is hanging all over him, and he's giving her your gear."

She paused.

"So who's he proposing to up there? You or Ada?"

I leaned against the tent pole and stared at the endless snow-covered peaks.

The night was pitch-black.

The wind cut straight through me.

Moonlight washed the mountains silver, cold and brutal.

"Sadie," I said.

"Yeah?"

"He knows what he's doing. He's just too nice. You know that."

She went quiet for two seconds.

Still mad.

"Quit making excuses for him. Whose idea was it to bring Ada?"

I said nothing.

Keegan's.

Obviously.

Two months ago, when we planned this climb, everything felt perfect.

We picked the route.

Bought the gear.

He even wrote out what he planned to say when he proposed at the summit.

Three drafts.

Every one crossed out and rewritten.

That night, I held those pages and cried forever.

He rushed in, totally freaked out.

"What happened?"

I hid the pages behind my back.

"A bug scared me."

And he bought it.

Then, a month ago, everything changed.

Ada transferred from Baymont City to Keegan's research institute. His old grad advisor assigned him to guide her project.

Ada was twenty-three.

Tiny.

Soft-spoken.

Whenever she needed anything, she called Keegan like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And he always showed up.

He stayed late fixing her papers, helped analyze her data, and even grabbed her lunch from the cafeteria.

Once, I asked, "Don't you think you're being a little too nice to Ada?"

He smiled and flicked my nose.

"She's just a kid. You're seriously jealous?"

Later, Keegan told me Ada had always wanted to see a snowy mountain and asked if she could come.

"It'll be nice having someone else along. She just had a fight with her family and needs a change of scenery."

I said yes.

I thought I was being nice.

I thought the trip would still be ours.

The tent zipper opened.

Keegan poked his head in, cheeks and nose red from the cold. His breath clouded the dark.

"Why are you still awake?"

He crawled in and sat beside me.

I shoved the satellite phone into my sleeping bag.

"Too excited to sleep."

He smiled, wrapped an arm around me, and pulled me close.

"We'll push to Camp Three tomorrow. If the weather holds, we go for the summit the day after."

His voice stayed soft.

"When we reach the top, I have something to tell you."

My heart jumped.

"What?"

"You'll find out up there."

He kissed my forehead.

Outside, the wind howled like the whole mountain was screaming.

Curled against him, I felt warm everywhere.