That's Why I Love You: A Marshall x Everest Collection

Shy

Ryder and the pups gathered in front of the big screen behind the elevator for their classic Cinema Night at the Lookout like every first Saturday night of every month.

Rocky had already the pop-corn for everyone, Skye and Rubble were arguing about if they were going to watch Pride & Prejudice for the third time, or the new Suicide Squad movie for the first time. Both options were terrible. The other pups, along with Everest, were already approaching to their respective beanbags, taking one bag of pop-corn and sitting.

Ryder was struggling with Skye and Rubble because of the movie, while Chase and Zuma rested on their bags, betting for which movie they were going to watch. Rocky was already wondering if they were going to watch a movie anyway, before noticing that someone was missing.

"Where's Marshall?"

For some reason, it wasn't the fun Marshall had in mind for the night. He has been always a calm pup; funny, clumsy sometimes, but when it comes to relax, a movie wasn't the first thing to pop in his head. Ryder knew this and just let him be. But also, he needed some time alone to think about some issues that needed his attention, and the best way to do this, is going to the top of the Lookout and watch the stars illuminating the night sky.

A little shiny star remind him to his sister, who was with his parents far from Adventure Bay, but he has not seem them in a long time. His work in the city wasn't something easy to deal with. Sometimes he wishes to have enough time to visit his family for a least a couple of days.

He looked at other star surrounded by other big ones, which brought some things to his mind. Not a long time ago, a misunderstanding with the other pups leaded him to run away to the woods, which putted him in a big depression. Even after the team found him, explained what really happened and showed him all their affection, the event left a scar on Marshall, his self-esteem fell to he floor to a point of feeling useless for the team, something that he hasn't told anyone yet. He managed to get over it, but he almost completely lost the confidence on himself.

What came with that lost of confidence was a total different subject. He looked a two bright stars close to the moon, and couldn't help but smile.

It wasn't a secret for the other male pups that Marshall had a crush on certain snow/mountain rescue pup, not even for Ryder. Only Skye was the only one on the Lookout who didn't know about this, just in case she could blabber something to this pup. But no matter how many times his friends had told him to declare his feelings, he never did. His lacking of confidence was not helping at all, sometimes he even hides himself from Everest when they're on missions together with a silly excuse.

So, call his family the next day, check. Try to open himself with his teammates, check. Declare his love for the pup he liked since the very first day and the one he wants to spend the rest of his life with...

That can wait... He thought, resting his head on the bag.

"Counting stars?" A voice came from behind, one that he immediately recognized, which made his blood freeze.

"Everest." He turned his head. "I-I thought you were with the other watching the movie." Everest appeared in the elevator with a little slime on her face.

"Yeah, I was. But I felt sleepy all of a sudden, so I just came up here for a nap." She said, slowly approaching to where he was. "Mind if I rest here for a second...?"

"S-Sure, why not?" He nervously replied, pointing to the beanbag next to the one he was using, but she approached this one closer to him. She carefully lied down on the bag close to Marshall. Too close. She rested her head on her front paws as she watched the stars with him. Marshall was already considering to use one of his classic silly excuses. Which one this time? The call of the nature in form of yellowish liquid? Fake a call from Ryder? Or maybe-

"So, how long have you been hiding your crush on me?"

None of them.

"W-W-Wha-What?!" Now Marshall choices changed to: Fake a heart attack or having a heart attack for real. The second one was winning.

She smiled kindly. "It wasn't hard to guess. But answer me, how long?" she inquired. A thousand questions appeared on his mind, the most important: How? Did she realized by herself? Did the other pups told her? It wasn't time to look for answers, she was waiting for one. After struggling with his mind, he just gave up.

"5 months..." mumbled Marshall, looking down.

This made her eyes twinkle in surprise. "I... joined the team 5 months ago." she commented.

"Since the very first day." he confessed, turning his head for a second to see her expression, this was only a smile, but he quickly looked down again.

"What do you like the most of me?" She continued. Marshall tilted his head looking at her. Everest found this kind of funny.

"Easy. Your eyes." He finally smiled.

"What about them?"

"Have you ever looked yourself in a mirror? They're wonderful!" He commented, quickly starting to blush again, which made her giggle.

Despite this, he continued. "Your smile, it's just perfect, your little ears, your voice, your eyes-"

"You already mentioned my eyes." She interrupted him.

"I had to. I could be starring at them all day long and never get bored." he said. Now Everest was the one who blushed.

"That's very sweet from you." She smiled.

"Thank you."

Marshall asked himself the entire conversation why she was asking these questions, was she just playing with him? The other pups told her to do this? Or...

It passed just a few seconds of silence before Marshall broke it. "It's pretty late. Jake must be waiting for you in the cabin." He looked shyly at her.

"You want me to go already?"

Red alert in Marshall's mind. "No! No, I mean-"

"I'm kidding, silly." She laughed. "And no, I told Jake that I was going to stay here for the night."

"You're staying here in the Lookout?" he asked. A series of possible options appeared on his mind again.

She chuckled. "Yup. You want to know why I came here in the first place? And no, it wasn't for the movie." She asked, Marshall only nodded with fear.

"There were some rumors saying that the pup I like, likes me back." She softly replied, leaving Marshall with wide open eyes. She got the closest and kissed his cheek, turning the Dalmatian from withe with black spots to red with black spots.

"Y-You mean..." An overjoyed Marshall stuttered, wagging his tail like no tomorrow.

She giggled. "It's really nice up here in the tower, and I never noticed how cozy your fur is." She mentioned, snuggling with him and resting her head in his fur. "Mind if I rest here ... for the night?"

The response was quick nods with a goofy smile, cooing at the feeling of her warm fur against his.

Even after she fell asleep, Marshall couldn't stop shouting in his head.

She likes me! She likes me! She likes me!