As the Snow Falls

Chapter 11

"You found me." Cassie says from her bundle of blankets.

"It took me a while." I respond before pausing briefly. I hated apologizing. "I'm so sorry, Cassie. I didn't mean to say things like I did. You didn't deserve that, especially since I gave you no credit for helping. If I'm being honest, you did 85% of the work to get this manuscript finished and you didn't complain once. If anyone deserves the promotion, it's you. And I'll make sure Mr. Benson knows that." I say this last part quietly, but Cassie's eyes snap to mine.

"You would do that?" She whispers.

"I would. You mean more to me than any promotion. I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that."

"Ava, I'm sorry..."

"Cassie, don't you dare apologize right now. You've done most of the apologizing in this relationship and it's my turn. I'm sorry for making you feel like you were less than anything. You're one of the greatest people I know, and I should've never let you second guess that for even a minute. As I've gotten to know you more this week, I realized so much about you that you keep hidden. You are so kind, and so amazing, and you've been through so much. But you don't want anyone to know that you've been through a lot. You'd rather help other people than let them help you. It's one of the things I love about you."

Cassie's eyes widen and I let out a breath of relief. I'd finally said it.

"I love you, Cassie. And I never want to do anything to ruin that. If I haven't ruined it already..." I trail off as the nervousness finally creeps in. Cassie doesn't say anything for a moment, and I feel more stupid with every second that passes. "Anyway... I'll leave you alone now. I just wanted you to know..." I trail off again before turning to head back up the stairs.

"Ava, wait." Cassie's voice is right behind me, and before I know it, she grabs my arm to turn me, and her lips find mine. She kisses me urgently, and I do the same after only a moment of surprise. She backs me up until I feel my heels hit the wall, and I use it to steady myself as my knees weaken.

After several minutes, Cassie finally breaks the kiss. "I love you, Ava. I'd been so scared that you didn't feel the same, that this," She gestures between us, "was just a fling. I started falling for you the moment I met you, but you were my competition and I did everything I could to stay away from you and keep you away from me. When you said that stuff about the promotion yesterday, I just used that as my excuse to really push myself away from you. I figured if you didn't feel the same, then you wouldn't try to fix us, and that would be that. I didn't want that to be the case, but it was easier to expect that than to hope you somehow felt the same."

She takes a breath, running her fingers through her hair. "I've been hurt before. By my ex. I didn't want what happened in my past to happen with us... so I pushed you away. But for some reason, you always came back. And I'm so thankful you did."

"I will always come back for you, Cassie. You are worth that, and so much more. And if I ever run into your ex, she's going to be wishing she'd stayed in whatever state she's in currently."

Cassie laughs, and the sound seems to patch up the hole that had formed in my heart over night. I had missed her.

"I started working on something while you were down here, would you help me finish up?" I ask Cassie, taking her hand gently in mine.

"Of course." She says with a small smile before following me up the stairs.

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"I know they probably won't work for long, but we only need to get to that short building over there." I say, pointing in the direction of the building. Cassie eyes the snowshoes warily.