Prompted by an anonymous person on tumblr.

Under the Ice

It was hard to hear over the rush of wind and rev of the engine, but the trees zipping past made the view of the forest more interesting than the sounds. Up ahead, Flynn spotted a gnarled oak tree decked with snow and squeezed the accelerator. He was going to win.

Flynn flashed past the tree and pulled the brake, just as another snowmobile tore past him with a gale of laughter. It spat snow in his face as it braked sharply and then Yuri twisted around.

"I win!"

Flynn yanked his helmet off. "Are you allowed to operate a snowmobile when you're clearly blind? I passed the tree before you." The tree was always their finish line when they came up here to ride around.

"No way. I passed it a second before you did." Yuri pulled off his helmet as well and shook out his long hair. He hopped off the snowmobile and stomped across the packed snow to Flynn. Leaning against Flynn's snowmobile, he smirked and said, "I'll let you pretend you won if you give me kiss."

Flynn slapped the pursed lips off his face. "I don't need to be bribed to know I won. Anyway, let's not stick around arguing. It's time to head back to town."

Yuri turned his head up to the blank white sky above the trees. "Yeah, I don't like the look of those clouds."

Even when they weren't moving, the wind whipped Flynn's face. It was a testament to how obvious the coming ill weather was that even Yuri wasn't arguing they stay out for one more hour. "The news said the storm shouldn't blow in until after midnight, but it looks like it's coming early."

"Yeah. Think it'll hit before we make it back?"

A howl of wind answered for Flynn. "We might get hit by the frontlines." Damn, they should have started heading back earlier. They had been having so much fun, though, and when his eyes were locked on the trail in front and concentrating on gunning through at top speeds, it was easy to ignore the sky.

"Let's cut across the lake. It'll save us at least half an hour by not having to loop around."

Flynn frowned. "I don't know…. It's usually good practice not to go off the trail. It's easy to get lost in the woods."

Yuri rolled his eyes. "Stop quoting the safety manual to me. The lake is significantly longer than it is wide. As long as we go straight across the shorter distance, we'll end up back on the trail without having to cut all the way around the finger. Even you can manage to steer in a straight line."

At the end of the trail was the lodge with hot chocolate and a warm meal. Even with his gloves and sturdy boots, Flynn's extremities were starting to feel the chill of winter. It would only get worse if a storm hit, and snowmobiling through flurries and strong winds could be dangerous. He nodded. "You're right. Let's cut across the lake." He put his helmet back on and added, "But if we get lost and stranded in the wilderness, I call dibs on eating your leg."

Yuri plonked his helmet on and walked away. As he went, he slapped his ass and called, "If you want a taste of this ass, you can wait until we get back to our room!"

Within minutes they were moving again. Perhaps they had stayed out a little too late, but tomorrow they had to head back to the city and it was a lot harder to forget impending deadlines for assignments when you were within fifty kilometres of your university. It was the last day of their mini-vacation and they'd tried to stretch it out as long as possible.

Oh, well. They'd make up for the lost time by taking this short cut. At the point the trail curved around the lake, Yuri broke off and rode over rough, uneven ground. Flynn followed, gripping the handlebars tight as he skimmed over the unmaintained snow. It only lasted a few seconds, because within moments they were gliding across a thin layer of snow over slick ice.

With no trees to block the wind, it buffeted them on the open expanse of the lake. Flynn leaned forward and kept his eyes on opposite bank. Yuri had been right; it was easy to keep straight and he had little concern about not meeting up with the trail. They were nearing the other bank now and Flynn was starting to feel very satisfied with cutting so much time off the return journey.

Flynn never did find out what happened. Maybe there had been a boulder sticking through the ice and buried under the snow. Maybe the ice had begun to crack and a ledge jutted up. Maybe ice fishers had left a small pile of frozen snow that blended into the white ground. In the end, it didn't matter what it was that Yuri hit.

There was a bang and Yuri's snowmobile jolted up. He landed with a thunderous crunch and the treads skidded on the ice. The snowmobile smashed to the side, throwing Yuri to the ground. It slid away, dragging Yuri along with one leg trapped underneath.

It had happened in seconds. Flynn had only managed to brake when Yuri and the snowmobile had come to a stop and then he jumped up while tearing his helmet off. "Yuri! Are you all right!?"

Yuri didn't answer. His helmet had been pulled off, his eyes were closed, and dark hair spread in a tangled mess on the snow. An arc of red streaked across the ice toward the leg caught underneath the snowmobile.

Flynn ran to him. Halfway to Yuri, Flynn suddenly remembered the crack that had echoed across the lake when the snowmobile first crashed down. He remembered this because he heard another one, and that was the only warning he had before the ground gave out below his feet.

It was cold. That wasn't a very inspired thought, but through the shock he couldn't think of anything other than: holy shit this is cold. The frozen water gave him an instant headache and bled through all layers of clothing. A dark shadow rushed past him as his own snowmobile sank to the lakebed. The cold shocked him so much that for a few seconds he couldn't even move.

Then panic set in. Flynn kicked his feet, though his boots felt like anchors dragging him to the rocky bottom. He flailed his arms and pushed up, but his head hit something hard. Ice! He must have drifted a few feet from the hole. It was all right, just don't panic.

The water was dark and keeping his eyes open sent stabs of sharp cold right into his brain. Flynn's gloved hands clumsily groped the underside of the ice as he searched for the hole. Frigid water carried away his body's warmth and left him struggling to move his limbs. The need for air sent an ache through his lungs that he almost didn't notice over the all-encompassing cold.

On the other side of this ice was air. This thought infuriated Flynn, who clawed at the ice and tried to find a way out. The weight of his clothes fought against him, stubbornly pulling him down and making it a fight to even stay here searching for the way to air.

Flynn dragged his arm through the water like it was made of iron. Was it just the water resistance making this hard? No, it had to be the cold, or maybe the lack of oxygen. His legs were kicking slower, too, and he could feel himself losing the fight with gravity.

His hand scraped the ice and hit an edge. The hole! Now he just had to… push himself… toward it….

Flynn's outstretched hand drifted away from the opening. What was he… supposed… to do? Get out… swim…. It was so cold. Flynn saw himself pushing toward the hole and then realized his legs weren't actually moving. They didn't seem to be listening to him anymore. Everything was cold, and dark, and his lungs wanted to burst out of his chest. He could feel his mouth opening to suck in water against his will, his stupid body trying anything to find oxygen. He was already so frozen he barely noticed the icy water pouring into his throat.

In the frozen silence, Flynn stopped fighting.

And then he thought of Yuri. The image of the blood, vibrant against the snow, burned into his brain. Yuri. He was hurt, possibly unconscious. His snowmobile must be busted and Flynn's was at the bottom of a lake, leaving him with no way to drive back to town. In his injured state, Yuri would surely die out here.

Flynn could not let that happen. Yuri needed him! His eyes flashed open and a reservoir of strength fountained within. He gave a few hard kicks and his head burst out of the water with a gasp of air.

Flynn gritted his teeth and clutched the lip of ice. He kicked a few more times to push himself into a horizontal position and then slowly, inch by inch, wiggled his way onto the ice. Every time it groaned, he stopped and let it calm down and then moved again, more cautious than before. Once he had his chest out, a buckle on his jacket snagged on the ice and kept him from sliding back down.

Finally, he gave one last heave and dragged himself fully onto the lake surface. Before he let himself rest, he crawled on his stomach toward Yuri. He didn't stop moving until the ice stopped creaking beneath him. For a few seconds he lay still, shivering and gasping for breath.

I'm alive, he hazily thought. And he'd been so sure he was about to die down there. Yuri was right in front of him, though, and he needed help first. "Yuri!"

Yuri opened his eyes and tried to sit up with a groan. "What… hell… happen…?"

"Don't move." Flynn knelt by the snowmobile and confirmed that Yuri's leg below the knee was pinned underneath. The blood leading to it was sparse, so a piece of the machine had probably broken skin but it didn't look too bad. Here, Yuri and the snowmobile's slide had cleared the snow so he could see the dark water lurking beneath the ice. Aware of how suddenly holes could open, Flynn worked quickly.

He grabbed the snowmobile and heaved. It thunked onto the ice as he freed Yuri's leg. Flynn turned back to find Yuri lying still, gazing through the ice.

"Are you all right?"

Yuri jerked to attention and forced his gaze to Flynn. He stared for a few moments, mouth hanging open, and then rubbed his eyes. "I… yeah. I hit my head but the helmet took most of it. I'm all right. What about you?" His eyes drifted to the ice again but he quickly pulled them up.

"I'm ok." Yuri was probably checking how thick the ice was here, easily piecing together what had happened from Flynn's wet appearance. "A bit chilly, though. Let's get to the shore and try to warm up."

Yuri nodded. "Yeah. I'm not sure how well I can walk, though."

"I'll help you." Flynn crouched by Yuri's side and pulled him upright.

Yuri wobbled and tentatively put weight on his injured leg. He winced and leaned on Flynn, pulling it up to hobble on one leg. "I can make it if you let me lean on you."

"Ok." Flynn didn't let himself wonder how long it would take to get back to town. It would be over half a day's walk if they were making a brisk pace, but if Yuri's leg was injured they might be looking at a whole day. Well, they could worry about that later. For now, he wanted to get off the ice as soon as possible.

Flynn took one last look at the cleared ice below his feet and that was when he saw… something. Recognition flit across his brain and then flew away just as rapidly. By the time he'd started helping Yuri across the lake, he barely remembered that there had been something to see.

When they reached the far bank, they trudged up a snowbank and then collapsed at the side of the path.

"Look," Yuri said. "We made it to the path. Told you we wouldn't get lost."

"Well… that's something."

"You must be freezing."

"It's not that bad." He really didn't feel that bad, but that was probably because he was too numb to feel cold.

"Flynn… we're not going to reach town tonight." Yuri looked up at the sky and frowned. "That storm is coming on fast, you're soaking wet, and we're looking at a ten kilometre walk.

"You're right. We should find shelter and wait out the night. Tomorrow, when I'm dry and your leg feels slightly better, we can head back." Flynn stood and pulled off his jacket. He quickly took off his soaked sweatshirt and t-shirt and then pulled the waterproof ski jacket, which was already drying, back on. "We don't have time to build a lean-to before the storm hits, but we should be able to dig a shelter into the snowbank."

"You're the Boy Scout here. Tell me what to do."

They spent the better part of an hour shovelling snow with their hands. Yuri kept shifting his weight and trying to find a position that didn't hurt his leg, while Flynn told himself that the exertion was good because it warmed him up. A thick snowbank at the side of the plowed path gave them ample building materials, and it wasn't too difficult to carve a cave. They'd made forts like this as children, but now it was a life or death situation.

By the time they finished building, the oncoming storm howled around them. They crawled through the narrow opening into the small cave and then used Flynn's discarded clothing to block the entrance.

"Looks good." Yuri leaned against the back wall.

There wasn't much space in the cave. They hadn't had time to make it spacious, and a smaller area would hold heat better. Flynn therefor had no choice but to snuggle against Yuri's side and thank god he wasn't claustrophobic. "We ought to get a merit badge."

There was no time to gather wood for a fire, and besides, they didn't have anything to get a spark and there was no room in the shelter anyway. Already their body heat was warming the tiny space, though. Snow was a fantastic insulator.

"How's your leg?"

"It's not bad." Yuri's snowpants swished against the floor. "It's stopped bleeding, at least. I think it twisted my knee and maybe a hairline fracture on the bone."

Flynn winced in sympathy. "Ouch."

"What about you? Warming up?"

"Yes. I feel fine."

"Good."

Flynn's backpack - which contained a water bottle, some granola bars, spare socks, a compass, and his cellphone – was now at the bottom of the lake. Yuri's had probably been smashed when the snowmobile flipped. They never got a signal up here anyway, so there was no point heading back onto the ice to try to find it. Yuri was never as thorough with his supplies as Flynn, so it was unlikely there was anything in his backpack worth salvaging.

Of course, there was another reason Flynn didn't want to head back onto the lake. It had to do with that… that…. It was like hitting a blip of static in his brain. What had happened? Now that they were warm and safe, the entire debacle on the lake seemed like a distant dream, like it had happened in another life. He couldn't begin to pinpoint why, but he felt a primal urge to stay away from the site of the crash in case he saw it again.

Flynn leaned against Yuri and listened to the blizzard settle in outside. The wind tore through the trees with such force it had a physical presence, but they were safe inside their shelter. It was a cocoon against the world.

"I'm hungry," Yuri announced after a little while.

"Well, you're not eating my leg." Flynn wasn't sure how much time had passed. When he lay still, head rested on Yuri's shoulder, time seemed to blur. He hadn't gotten hungry yet, but there was no longer any light making it in around their blocked entrance.

"Wish I'd brought a knife or something. I could try to hunt a rabbit."

"In a blizzard?"

"Tomorrow morning, when we'll be starving for breakfast."

Flynn smiled at the thought of a warm breakfast back at the lodge. For now, they were stuck out here. The blizzard would rage for most of the night, and he doubted he'd get much sleep. Blades of frozen wind stabbed past their blockade every few minutes and blasted them with cold. Beside him, Yuri shivered. It was warmer in here than out in the blizzard, but still uncomfortably chilly. With nothing to do but sit in cramped, frozen darkness, Flynn felt compelled to find a conversation topic to give them company.

"You know, if you're surviving in the wilderness for a while, it's dangerous to eat nothing but rabbit." The cave was now black so he couldn't actually see Yuri's expression, but he could tell he was rolling his eyes.

"Oh, yeah? And why is that, Mr. Boy Scout?"

"Because rabbit is incredibly lean. So if you eat nothing but rabbit meat, you're not getting any fat and you get protein poisoning."

Yuri chuckled. "Ok, Flynn, I promise we won't eat too many rabbits if we start to starve."

"No, it's not eating too much rabbit. It's eating nothing but rabbit."

"Well that doesn't make sense. Hawks and eagles and stuff eat rabbits all the time and they don't get sick. I suppose they eat them with a side of carrots to stay healthy."

"They eat all the innards and brains and stuff and get fat that way."

"Oh, so eating too much rabbit is making them fat? Got it. We should just avoid rabbit entirely."

"You know that isn't what I meant."

"Would it be better to eat my leg to avoid having one too many rabbits? What's the cut-off point here? I mean, how many rabbits are we looking at before getting poisoned?"

"No! It's not the amount of rabbits, it's eating nothing but rabbit."

"It'll be ok. I don't think I can eat more than two rabbits anyway."

"You're deliberately misunderstanding!"

Yuri's laughter filled the cave, but it cut off with a distant crash. The noise echoed through the forest until it was drowned out by the howl of wind. "Sounds like a tree fell," Yuri said.

Flynn nodded slowly, though it was so dark Yuri couldn't see it anyway. The trees near their shelter were sturdy, but there was no guarantee they'd stay up. The roof of their shelter was thick, packed snow, but a falling tree would go right through and crush them.

"Hey, Flynn… thanks. You saved my life. I wouldn't have been able to get off the lake and into shelter without you."

"Think nothing of it. I could owe you the same thanks – it was worrying about you that gave me the boost I needed to get out of the lake."

Yuri sounded like he was going to say something, but he hesitated too long and then another gale of wind blew the moment away. He coughed and then shivered. "Sorry. I meant to say, don't thank me for crashing. It was my stupid mistake that got us into this mess. If I hadn't suggested crossing the lake, or if I'd paid better attention to the surface…."

"But it's fine. We just have to wait out the storm and then we'll head back to town with a story to tell."

"Yeah…." Yuri shifted again. Flynn couldn't see anything in the darkness, but he could hear Yuri's legs swishing against the wall. "Sorry. I'm trying to…" he grunted. "My leg hurts."

Flynn pulled himself against the wall to make space, but there wasn't much he could do. They hadn't had time to make their cave very large, so there wasn't room for either of them to stretch out their legs. "Are you going to be all right?"

"Yeah, don't worry about me. I've got a killer headache, though, and I'm starting to get pretty hungry. I'm going to try to get some sleep before those issues become too uncomfortable to sleep through."

"Ok."

Yuri shuffled around some more to get as comfortable as he could while Flynn stared into darkness. All he could hear was the flow of air: Yuri's soft breathing beside him and the wind raging outside.

Even though Yuri wasn't awake, Flynn didn't feel alone out here. The longer he sat and listened, the more he imagined the blizzard as being a tangible presence in the woods. The gusts of air whipping across the lake sounded like someone wailing and cold fingers kept creeping into their shelter as if the blizzard itself was trying to escape the cold.

It must be lonely being blizzard. Every winter, the north froze over and chilled winds rushed south to escape. As soon as they arrived, every living soul barricaded themselves in whatever shelter they could find and did their best to keep the blizzard from joining them. If a personification of a blizzard existed, they must be awfully desperate for company.

Perhaps the… something… in the lake could join it. Flynn's brain still filled with static every time he tried to recall what was out there, but it had to be… something. He imagined a spirit of the water rising out of the hole he'd made and greeting the blizzard. Maybe they could entertain each other and convince the blizzard to go home early. It was a silly thought, but he knew there was something in the lake, and imagining a benevolent spirit was a lot nicer than wondering if the Loch Ness Monster had gone on vacation.

Flynn let his mind drift. He reached the point where his imagination slipped out of his control, but he never quite fell asleep. Images swam through his mind: red blood on white snow, shimmering blue of the underside of the ice, his own hands reaching for air. The camera of his mind shifted and he saw the scene from above. He could see his white, panicked face through the ice as he clawed for air. So cold – water flowing down his throat – every muscle aching from both the cold and need for air – light and warmth was just beyond the ice if he could only –

Flynn's eyes snapped open and he hugged himself. So much dread flowed through him it might have been what was keeping him warm. He rubbed his face and shuddered; that had been such a close call. Yuri had led him on some risky endeavours over the years, but he'd never come so close to death and the newfound familiarity made him want to throw up.

The close walls of the cave suffocated him. It was like ice over his head, keeping him from fresh air. He needed to get out and feel the wind on his face because the motionless darkness of the cold cavern reminded him too much of drowning below the ice.

Without thinking, he leaned forward and started pushing his discarded sweatshirt away from the opening. It had frozen solid and snow outside packed over it, so he grunted and rustled trying to get out. A blast of frozen wind rushed inside as soon as it could.

"Flynn?"

He froze.

"What are you doing?"

Flynn hurriedly pulled the sweatshirt back to block as much wind as it could. "Sorry. I just… got a bit spooked." He leaned back folded his arms over his chest. "Sorry for waking you. How's your leg?"

"Sore. On the plus side, I can press my knee against the wall and it's like having an ice pack. What about you?" He shuddered. "You're not freezing even wearing only a jacket?"

Flynn shrugged. "I feel all right. This jacket it nicely insulated." He recalled reading once that a sign of hypothermia was feeling deceptively warm. Those thoughts got pushed aside because there wasn't anything he could do about them now. He did, however, lean closer to Yuri so they could share more body heat.

"Do you remember that time we went camping?" Yuri said into the darkness. "Except we forgot to pack the tent."

"You forgot to pack the tent."

"Yeah, well you didn't check to make sure we had it."

"Just as well. Sleeping under the stars was nice."

Flynn remembered that night vividly. He'd harassed Yuri all afternoon for forgetting the tent, but Yuri insisted they'd be fine because it was summer and warm. Flynn hated to admit when Yuri was right, but it had actually been nice. They'd lain awake for hours, staring into a sky with so many more stars than city boys usually gave the sky credit for. They'd talked for hours that night, and Flynn didn't think that it was a coincidence that only a couple of weeks later they'd started a relationship.

"I guess we wouldn't see very many stars if we went out tonight," Flynn said.

"Heh… probably not. You know, I'm not really a religious person, but I read that great kings from the past are looking down on us from the stars. That's… nice to think."

Flynn snorted. "That's not religion, Yuri, that's The Lion King."

"It's a good movie! Anyway, you just don't like it because you know it makes you cry."

"It does not."

"How come you conveniently had to go to the bathroom just after the stampede started last time I put it on, then?"

"Coincidence." It was a coincidence that his allergies flared up and made his eyes watery when Mufasa died.

"Well, even if it is from a Disney movie, it's a nice thought, you know? That people you've lost can still look after you. Even if the people you belong with die… you're never really alone."

It did sound nice, and the mention of 'people you belong with' made Flynn lean closer to Yuri. He felt Yuri shiver and said, "When we get back, let's have a huge bonfire. It'll be so hot we never want to feel heat again."

"And we can throw all our old assignments in and watch them burn."

"We should go camping again without a tent." Wind screamed and he added, "When it's summer, I mean. Have you ever been to the west coast? There are trees so huge you can drive a car through them. I went camping there when my parents were alive."

"I've heard of those. Sounds amazing. We might have trouble seeing the stars if they're so tall, though."

"We can find a clearing."

Yuri's arm snaked around Flynn's shoulders. "Let's go. Just you and me and those big-ass trees. It'll be great."

"Yeah…."

Yuri went quiet and Flynn wondered if he was falling asleep again. Flynn tried not to think about how much pain Yuri was in. Yuri's helmet hadn't fallen off until after he hit the ground, but even with padding, slamming your head into ice had to hurt. What if he had a concussion?

When Yuri did talk again, his voice was unexpectedly ragged. "Hey, Flynn?"

"What?"

"We've been dating for a while, right?"

"Yeah."

"And it's just… I don't think I've ever said… You have but it always made me feel awkward to reply, so I just…."

"Pretended to be Han Solo?" Flynn smiled as he said it. He knew exactly what Yuri was talking about, and didn't hold it against him. Funny how three simple words could be so hard for people to say, but he assumed it was harder if they hadn't grown up with parents to practice on. It didn't matter, because even if Yuri struggled to put his feelings into words, his actions screamed them with every gentle touch and playful smile.

"But I really do, you know. Love you, I mean. I… love you." He took a sharp breath.

Flynn hadn't expected the words to hit him so strongly, but they took his breath away like plunging into icy water.

"I love you." Yuri's voice was firmer this time now that he'd had practice. "There, that wasn't so hard, huh?"

Flynn pressed against him. "I love you, too."

Yuri's jacket swished as he leaned around the cave and pressed his lips against Flynn's cheek. The cave was black as midnight, so he tried again and hit Flynn's nose this time. Flynn laughed and wrapped his arm around Yuri's back, feeling the heat soak into his hand. Yuri nuzzled his way to Flynn's lips and finally hit his mark. Flynn was so caught up in wondering how someone with such a sharp tongue could have such soft lips that it wasn't until Yuri pulled away that he realized moisture had rubbed off from Yuri's cheeks.

Yuri kept his arm wrapped around Flynn and leaned his head on his shoulder. "You're the best thing that ever happened to my life," he whispered. "I don't have a single regret."

"Hm? Me neither. You should go back to sleep, Yuri. I know your injuries are hurting more than you're letting on."

"Heh… you're right. Just… I really do love you. No matter what happens… remember that."

"I will."

Yuri fell silent as he tried to fall asleep again. Flynn wasn't able to relax as easily, because he couldn't shake the feeling that Yuri's words had sounded like a goodbye.

Flynn sat in silence. The storm had stopped about an hour ago, but only now was daylight beginning to creep into the cave. Yuri was slumped against him in sleep and Flynn hadn't had the heart to wake him until now. If the storm had stopped and the sun was out, they needed to start heading back. He pushed the sweater away from the opening, along with a pile of snow that had built up against it. Flynn crawled into a world so bright he had to squint.

Everything glittered. The pines trees held perfectly balanced clumps of snow like something from a Christmas card, and any boulder or lump on the ground had been smoothed over with a layer of white. Animal tracks were the only thing that broke up the blanket. The lake was smooth again. Fresh ice had covered the hole he fell through and the only sign that they'd had an accident was the white mound covering the crashed snowmobile.

Flynn felt the cold, but it wasn't extreme enough to bother him. It was just another detail to take in as he stared at the blue-grey light of dawn reflecting off the field of white. For all the stress that storm had caused them, it was one of the most beautiful scenes he'd ever laid eyes on. Perhaps this was how blizzards apologized.

"You should see this, Yuri." He got to his knees and popped his head into the cave. "The storm is over and everything is… Yuri?"

Yuri had fallen against the wall after Flynn left, but this hadn't woken him. Yuri had often complained about Flynn getting up too early because hearing him walking outside his room could wake him up, so why wasn't he waking now? "Hey, it's time to get up. We need to head back."

Flynn leaned closer and shook Yuri's arm. As he moved, light was able to hit Yuri's face. The ground wasn't the only thing that had been left white by the storm. The only bit of colour on his face was his lips, which were slightly blue.

"Yuri!" No, no, no, no, no…. "Wake up, Yuri!" How could he have been so naïve? The crash played through Flynn's mind again and he felt sick. Yuri had been thrown onto the ice – what if there was internal bleeding? What if he'd been hiding how serious a concussion he had and it had progressed into a coma? "Please…"

Yuri's eyes flickered open and Flynn gasped in relief.

"Don't scare me like that!"

Yuri just groaned and didn't move.

He wasn't dead, but he clearly wasn't well. "Can you pinpoint what's wrong?"

Yuri's voice was little more than a whisper. "C-c-c-cold…."

Based on the blue tint to his lips, Flynn would bet anything hypothermia had set in. There must have been a gap in their door that let more cold air into his side of the cave. Flynn internally squirmed with guilt that Yuri had been the one to get it when he was more injured. Rationally, he reminded himself that he'd been soaking wet last night and probably on the cusp of hypothermia to begin with, but that didn't make him feel any better.

"Can you move? We need to get back to town."

Yuri pushed against the wall to get upright and started to move his legs. He gasped and clutched his knee while smothering a groan. Based on how stretched the material on his pant was, Yuri's leg must be horribly swollen. Between that and the hypothermia, Flynn doubted Yuri would be able to walk any distance.

"It's going to be all right," Flynn said. "I'll carry you back to town."

The blizzard left behind something else as an apology: a plethora of fallen branches. Flynn found a thick branch half-buried in the snow with many arms covered in pine needles. It would make a decent sled, so he carried it to the entrance of the shelter and carefully dragged Yuri out. Yuri grunted and grimaced with every movement, but Flynn managed to get him on the branch. His feet stuck off the end, but it was the best Flynn could do. Then he piled on another pine bough in hopes it would keep him warm and began the trek.

The wind started up again as Flynn walked. Snowflakes drifted through the gusts, but he didn't think it would turn into an actual storm again. The trickiest part was the snow. At least a foot of snow had been dumped by the blizzard, which made each step a challenge.

Yuri was asleep. No, that sounded far too mild. Yuri was unconscious. There was a big difference between being asleep and being unconscious. Despite that, Flynn didn't feel like he was alone. Wind blew behind him like it wanted to push him onward. The blizzard had blown itself out, but something so powerful couldn't vanish without leaving a trace of itself behind.

If only the weather had been clear. If there hadn't been a brewing storm to convince them to cross the lake, they'd be in their car driving home by now. Yuri would be fiddling with the car stereo and bickering with him about how high they could turn the volume and not shivering uncontrollably behind him.

I'm sorry, the wind whispered as it rushed past and fluffed his hair. I'm so sorry.

The remnant of the storm kept him company as he trekked through the snow. He could feel its presence sliding around him as he tugged one boot out of a foot of snow and stomped forward.

His mind drifted to the lake again and wondered about the crack in the ice. When a lake froze over, warm water sank to the bottom and all signs of life retreated to the depths. While the world above froze, life hibernated at the bottom of lakes and waited for warmth to return. It was like an egg waiting out the winter until spring thawed its icy shell. So what happened when you crashed a hole through the ice before it was time? What if the dormant life down there had an unexpected release?

I'm losing it. Flynn shook his head and focused on putting one step in front of the other. At least the snow made it easy to drag Yuri behind him. The branches draped over him trembled with Yuri's shivers and Flynn wondered how he was still going strong. No wonder he felt like an automaton. The cold had enveloped him so thoroughly he didn't even notice it and his legs moved of their own accord. His mind kept drifting to surreal thoughts about lake monsters and life beneath the ice, and he couldn't open his gloved hands pulling Yuri if he tried.

He fuelled himself with warm thoughts. Lazy summer afternoons spent trying to dunk each other under the pool. The time they'd raced around their high school football field in early September and then collapsed in a melting heap of sweat. Sitting by a fire and arguing over who should get up to fetch the next log. The sun beating down on his scalp the first time Yuri kissed him and the way his chest had exploded with heat.

I must get Yuri home. He'd been trudging through the snow for hours now and he couldn't have made his legs stop if he wanted to. No matter how exhausted he was, nothing would be worse than driving home and facing Estelle and the others and having to tell them Yuri hadn't made it.

It was good that Yuri was so cold, Flynn desperately told himself. A cold body constricts blood vessels and slows down bleeding, so if Yuri had internal injuries, he'd last longer in the cold. Flynn just couldn't let him get too cold, because hypothermia killed as readily as blood loss.

And then the path curved downward and Flynn knew they had made it. This was the start of the trail, where it rose up away from the lodge and into the forest. A burst of relieved laughter broke out of his mouth and the wind blew a little harder to prove it was still the loudest thing in the forest.

"Yuri! Yuri, we made it!"

Flynn picked up the pace and ran off the road to the slope. The path curved gently around in a loop, but it would be faster to slide right down the slope. There, at the base of the hill, was the wooden lodge. Part inn, part restaurant, part home base for hikers and snowmobilers, and all salvation. There were people in the parking lot and smoke drifted from the chimney.

Flynn dropped to the ground and turned to Yuri. "We made it, Yuri. It's right there. We just need to get down this hill."

Yuri was motionless for a long moment and then his eyes opened. A wave of relief swept over Flynn; he realized just then how terrified he'd been that Yuri would be dead by the time they made it.

"You… really did it," Yuri muttered. He struggled to sit upright, wincing and grunting the whole way. They sat in a foot of snow, but at least it moulded around them and made it easy for Yuri to stay upright. Yuri leaned against Flynn and pressed his lips against Flynn's cheek. They were ice cold and then he muttered, "Thanks."

"You're going to be all right. They'll warm you up and get you to a hospital to get that leg looked at." They still had to get down, and now Flynn worried about Yuri sliding down with his injuries.

In the parking lot, a group of guys were busy packing up their car. Flynn waved his arms and shouted, "Hey! Hello! We need help!" The group didn't even look at him, so he raised his voice and tried again. "HELP! Hello?! Hey!" Still he was ignored. There was no way they wouldn't at least hear a muffled shouting from this distance. Irritated, Flynn turned to Yuri and said, "What kind of douchebags are these?"

Flynn wasn't expecting the agony that gripped Yuri's face. He let out a breath that caused the air to steam and choked out, "Flynn…."

"Hey! You!" Flynn screamed at the parking lot. "Helloooo!" They hadn't even looked up to see what it was they were ignoring. Flynn looked back to Yuri. "Why can't they hear me?"

"Flynn… there's… it's… I need to t-t-tell," he hugged himself and shivered, "y-you something."

Flynn wrapped his arm around Yuri and rubbed his back, trying to warm him up. "What's going on?"

Yuri took a moment to catch his breath and try to get his shivering under control. "You know w-w-when you pulled yourself out of the l-lake?"

Flynn nodded slowly as he met Yuri's eyes. They were so dark against his pallid face, but now he noticed a shimmering in the corners.

Yuri pulled his sleeve up and rubbed the shimmer away. He swallowed heavily and then whispered, "You didn't."

Flynn didn't have any words, so the wind shrieked and filled the silence for him. He wanted to say, 'What are you talking about?' Another option was, 'That's ridiculous; I'm right here, aren't I?' He even thought of saying, 'Lie down, Yuri, you're delirious.' But Flynn didn't say any of those things, because Yuri's words shifted the world into focus and the static in his brain was forced aside. In a flash, Flynn remembered what was under the ice.

It was his own face. Blue eyes he looked at every day in a mirror sightlessly stared back at him. His body drifted beneath the ice, mouth hanging wide for air it would never breathe again.

"N-no…." His hands trembled, but it wasn't from the cold. The bitter wind seemed to go right through him without leaving a mark, because cold only bothered the living. "That can't… no. I'm not – I can't be-"

"I'm so sorry."

Yuri's breath made fog in the air, but Flynn's… didn't. Why hadn't he noticed that?

Flynn screamed, "I'm not dead!" The words fought the wind for prominence, but nobody in the parking lot even glanced his way. The next time he spoke, it was little more than a whisper. "I can't be."

The face through the ice wouldn't leave his mind. His face. Without him, Yuri would have frozen to death on the lake, but knowing that had only been enough to pull his spirit out. As reality sunk in, he looked to his hands and saw snow through them. He was fading.

"It isn't fair," he whispered. "There are still so many things I wanted to do."

Yuri wrapped his arms around him and breathed heavily. "I'm sorry, Flynn. I'm s-s-o sorry. It's all my fault. We n-never should have gone on the lake."

It was too late to worry about shoulds or could haves. Everything had ended when he plunged through the ice. He'd never wanted it to end like that – not so cold his bones ached and clawing at the ice for a snatch of air. There was still university to finish, the world to see, his relationship with Yuri to further. It had all been cut short and it wasn't fair.

He pressed himself into Yuri and his face ached with the need to shed tears that wouldn't come. "I don't want to go."

"I'm sorry," Yuri muttered again. "It sh-sh-should have been me. It was m-my fault."

Yuri was still shivering and Flynn realized he hadn't actually supplied Yuri with any body heat. Of course not, his body wasn't even really here.

"You'll get my body, right? You'll tell people where it is so they can get it out?" The last thing he wanted was to think he'd be left behind in that accursed lake to feed the fish hiding in the depths.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course. I would never leave you there."

"How long did you know?"

Yuri's muscles tightened and his fingers dug into Flynn's back. "I saw your body through the ice. Then you weren't even affected by hypothermia and you looked… pale in bright light. S-sorry I didn't tell you. Maybe… part of me hoped I was crazy."

Flynn glanced down at himself. He was fading fast, now. "I think… I don't think I have much time left." His eyes met Yuri's. "I love you, Yuri. I don't blame you at all. I should have been more cautious on the ice. Please don't blame yourself."

Yuri grabbed the back of his head and pulled their faces together to kiss. As soon as they pulled away he breathed, "I'll never forget you."

Flynn could see Yuri's jacket through his hands. "I'm sorry… but I have to leave you now." He pulled himself against Yuri and tried not to feel resentful that Yuri's lips didn't have any warmth to appreciate for the last time.

And then Yuri pulled away with a tense gasp and hung his head. Flynn looked down and saw nothing. Yuri sat alone on the hilltop.

Flynn stood and backed away, trying not to notice how his feet didn't blemish the pristine snow. He leaned against a tree and listened the wind. It could blow and blow, but no one would ever see it.

"Hey!" Yuri shouted and waved his hands. One arm dropped to clutch his aching body while the group in the parking lot finally looked up. "Help!" Yuri called as loud as he could. "I need help up here!"

Flynn watched the guys hop in their car and drive up the snowy loop to the top of the hill. When they arrived, Yuri had fallen backward into the snow. He babbled something about crawling all the way here and the rescuers hurriedly lifted him into the back seat of their car. They'd call an ambulance, Flynn heard. They would get him to a hospital.

Yuri was going to be all right. A gust of wind made snow whistle through the trees, but it went right through him. Yuri was now in safe hands, so Flynn turned away, released his grip on consciousness, and let himself join the wind.