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“The wind is getting worse,”Sean noted, calling over his shoulder to Aidan.

Aidan nodded. “We’re coming around the other side of the mountain now, bound to happen.”

The trail he’d thought was safe to traverse had begun to narrow the further they’d walked. It had shrunk to the point where they were forced to walk in single file, with Sean taking the lead. From what Aidan could see, however, the trail, treacherous as it was becoming, eventually looped down to the base of the mountain. They only needed to endure the next couple of hours on the mountain path, and they would be in the clear.

Sean glanced back at him. “This might add an extra day to our trip.”

“It could. But I want off this mountain before night comes.”

“Agreed.”

It was a completely normal conversation without a hint of their former animosity. The night before had been completely uneventful after the quick, hidden blowjob in the trees. To Aidan’s surprise, Sean hadn’t been awkward or weird the next morning, carrying on a normal conversation with the team and even Aidan as they dug into their morning rations. What surprised him was the quick wink Sean shot him as they prepared to head out, and the rest of the team wasn’t paying attention.

Of all the outcomes Aidan might have predicted regarding him and Sean, a sudden peace followed by the possibility of...who the hell knew what else, was not one he would have guessed. For all his understanding of human nature and psychology, he wouldn’t pretend to be all-knowing, and when it came down to it, people were weird.

It wasn’t just the frantic fuck in the alley, though that was certainly what Aidan considered to be the beginning of the entire shift in their relationship. Whether it had been a catharsis to the pent-up aggression they’d been denied expressing toward one another or the flick of a switch in their heads from the sudden explosion of passion, he wasn’t sure. But it had been more than that, and he knew it.

There were little moments that followed. The moments of respect, idle conversation, and, as Aidan recalled fondly, the moment he made Sean laugh. The whole team had been laughing a lot more than when he’d first joined, and maybe that had something to do with the change in Sean. Aidan still wasn’t sure what was going on between them, and he was sure they’d have time to figure it out when they were back in Fort Dale. For now, though, he could comfort himself with the hope that maybe, just maybe, they were all starting to come together as a team and would be okay.

And then he slipped.

He’d warned Sean about the treachery of the path, but drifting off into his thoughts, Aidan had forgotten to watch his own steps. The wind blew snow all around them, making it harder to see than the all-white environment already did. Aidan’s foot came down too close to the edge, and it crumbled under his weight.

Aidan flailed, pinwheeling his arms as gravity and the wind worked to take him over the edge. Time slowed as he pitched tothe side, looking down into the abyss that looked to be as much snow as it was brutally hard rock.

“Aidan!”

A strong grip yanked him back so hard his shoulder screamed in protest. He was prevented from plummeting into the snowy abyss as Sean used his weight to tear him back. Aidan watched in horror as Sean let him go once he saw Aidan was safe, and his momentum carried him over the edge instead.

“Fuck!” Aidan barked, scrambling forward on the ledge as the rest of the team cried out in horror and fear.

Aidan crawled to the edge, all too aware that he still needed to be careful. His heart pounded, mind screaming that Sean would still be there. Their team leader would be hanging on some outcropping of rock, some sturdy root sticking out of the side, anything at all.

There was nothing but the rock and snow he’d seen before, obscured by the snow caught in the howling wind.

“Oh shit, Sean,” Aidan said, staring down.

Why had he done that? Why had he done something so stupid? There could have been any number of ways to save Aidan from his fall, that didn’t involve a panicked grab and throw on an already dangerous surface. His mind raced, trying desperately to make sense of what had happened and demanding to know why Sean had been so impulsive, so stupid.

And hating himself for not being more careful.

From behind him, he heard the sounds of the team. Pulling himself from his terrified thoughts, he realized they were arguing, almost fighting.

“I don’t give a shit, Matt, we’re getting down there,” Ricardo was snarling.

“We have no idea where he landed, and in case you didn’t realize, we don’t have any rope. Fuck, we have nothing we canuse for climbing gear,” Matt shot back, gloved hands in fists at his side.

“We could fashion a rope,” Nick said, looking around wildly.

“Out of what? Ice? Maybe a few frozen rocks?” Matt demanded.

“So what, we leave him there? Like fucking hell. If you want to hide up here instead of finding our goddamn friend, that’s on you,” Ricardo shouted back.

Aidan watched them, still a little dazed and confused, as the three team members dissolved into a deepening argument, growing increasingly furious with each passing second. At the back of his head, he could see Sean’s stern expression, masking the worry as he watched the team fall apart before his eyes. The three men seemed ready to come to blows on the side of this snow-blown mountain, and Aidan closed his eyes, pushing away the panicky voice of terror clawing at his chest.

Aidan pushed himself up. “Enough!”

Ricardo turned to him. “Don’t you?—”