Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

TY GOT THE TEXT in the middle of the night, which was probably a far more reasonable time in Colorado. Ty and the rest of the USA Climbing team were planning to stay in Switzerland between this comp and the next, as both took place within a few hours of each other. It was also partially so they could explore the area and stay attuned to the right timezone.

And soon Elijah would be joining them.

Ty lay awake, blinded by the glow of his phone. Somewhere in his shared room, Jude groaned and rolled over. Ty didn't care. His chest was too full, his heart racing too quickly.

Really? he typed back. You're coming?

Why are you awake? Also yes. Really .

I'm awake because I'm excited. When???

If I fly at weird times, the cost isn't too bad. I can get there mid-week and have a few days to adjust.

A few days. A few days to explore Switzerland with Elijah, to climb and try new foods and train for the competition coming up next weekend. It was more than Ty had dared to hope for. He'd even started trying to take the edge off the inevitable disappointment of Elijah backing out of Villars entirely. Now, not only would Elijah be in Villars, but he'd be there early.

I'll text you the team's address in Villars , Ty sent.

Please just go to sleep , Elijah responded. You just competed. Aren't you tired?

You're the one who texted me

I thought you'd see it in the morning. I'm not responding anymore. Go to sleep.

Fine, dad

Please never call me that again…

Is daddy better?

I'm turning off my phone and throwing it out the window. Goodnight.

Goodnight 3

THE TEAM GOT A BIG VAN and drove from Meiringen to Villars the next day. No sense in staying in Meiringen when they could use a rest day to settle in at their next location.

Ty could hardly sit still in the van. He jittered his leg the whole time, missing half the conversation around him. He must have checked his phone every five minutes, but Elijah was probably asleep. Or was he traveling by now? Was he already on his way here and getting closer every moment? Ty was way too sleep-deprived to do the time conversion in his head. After that text exchange, he'd tossed and turned like a kid on Christmas Eve, too excited to sleep for more than a few fitful minutes at a time.

He didn't get any sort of message the entire rest of the day, even after the team reached Villars and unloaded into their next temporary lodging. He and Jude were sharing a room as usual, but Elijah would probably get his own room once he arrived.

"So you're saying I'll have the place to myself?" Jude said, elbowing Ty.

Ty rolled his eyes. "He is coming here to compete, you know."

"You can get laid and still compete," Jude said. "And hopefully we both will."

Ty didn't rise to the bait this time. Jude could think whatever he wanted. If all Elijah wanted to do when he got here was adjust to the timezone and train, Ty would totally respect that. As difficult as that would be.

He went to bed earlier than most of the team that night, his restless night finally catching up to him as the radio silence from Elijah stretched on into the evening. It wasn't until the next morning that Ty finally got an update, but it couldn't have come at a much worse time. After the rest and travel day, Ty was back to training with the team, trying to stay fresh and strong for the next comp. According to Elijah's text, he'd be landing sometime in the afternoon. Not much time for more than a meal and a desperate attempt to stay awake until a semi-reasonable bed time.

Ty's stomach dropped. Elijah was here, within arm's reach, but Ty wouldn't even get to see him until tomorrow. He tried to hide his disappointment in his text reply. He had no idea if he succeeded.

We'll see each other tomorrow, I promise , Elijah said.

That was a definite "no" on the question of whether Ty had managed to conceal his emotions. He wasn't good at that in general, but when it came to Elijah, he might as well have been screaming his every thought out loud. Reserved as Elijah was in comparison, he saw right through Ty. Even in text, apparently.

Jude picked up on Ty's sour mood as well. As badly as Ty just wanted to put his head down and get through training, the world seemed intent on forcing him to confront his disappointment.

"Did he cancel or something?" Jude said while they sat on the climbing mats recovering from a problem .

"Huh?"

"Come on, man," Jude said. "You look like someone kicked your puppy. It's gotta be Elijah, right? Did his flight get canceled or something?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that. We just won't have time to see each other tonight. He's getting in and going right to his hotel, and I'm supposed to be here training so…" Ty shrugged.

"That's a bummer, but you'll see each other tomorrow, right?"

"We don't have definite plans."

Jude rolled his eyes. "As though he can't wait to see you. Hey, actually, why don't you make the plans?"

"What? But I've got training and team stuff."

"Skip it."

"Coach will fry me."

"Nah, you're our golden boy," Jude said. "I've got you. I'll even hook you up with the perfect romantic date for two climbers."

"You're serious?" Ty said.

Jude's smirk spread. He pulled out his phone and typed furiously, then turned the screen to Ty.

Ty blinked at the website on the screen. "Wow, you're … you're actually right. That's perfect."

"Of course I'm right," Jude said. "I told you I had your back. So you're skipping training tomorrow, right?"

"IS THIS REALLY OKAY?" Elijah said.

They sat hand-in-hand on a bus taking them away from training facilities, away from the practice Ty should have been at, away from coaches Ty would deal with later.

"It's fine," Ty said. "It's just one day. And I can't wait any longer to see you."

Elijah snorted as though laughing at himself, but something in his eyes softened. "Tomorrow we're training."

"Yes, sir."

Elijah shot him a look. "Better, but still makes me feel about sixty thousand-years-old."

Ty rolled his eyes and focused on his phone instead. The trip required three buses, nearly two hours of traveling, and a hell of a lot of Google Translate, but if Jude was right it would be well worth it.

When the scenery turned decidedly more mountainous and snowy, even in the middle of summer, Ty's hopes rose. They exited at what looked for all the world like an ordinary ski resort. Cables ran out from under a huge awning. As Ty and Elijah departed the bus, a sleek cablecar slid in under the awning, depositing guests and picking up new ones.

Ty squeezed Elijah's hand in excitement. "Please tell me you haven't done this a million times already."

Elijah gaped at the scenery. "I've never been here in my life. "

"Seriously? Even when you were competing?"

"I mostly just trained back then. What the hell is this?"

As though to answer him, a cablecar slid out from under the awning with the word "Glacier 3000" splashed across it.

"I thought we should go see some real mountains, since we're climbers and all," Ty said.

"This is a lot bigger than a boulder," Elijah said.

"Same difference. Come on, let's get in line for the next one."

Ty tugged Elijah along and they joined a line of people waiting for the cablecars that arrived to carry people up the mountain. The service seemed to run every fifteen minutes or so, and they swiftly found themselves sitting in one of the swinging carts as it lumbered skyward.

Elijah flinched the first time the car rocked. When Ty shot him a look full of raised eyebrows, Elijah narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't even. I'm jet lagged."

"You seem fine to me."

Elijah glared even harder. It was all Ty could do not to start giggling in the middle of a crowded cablecar. Somehow, everything was always brighter and funnier and more interesting with Elijah around, even a slow, trundling cablecar ride.

A blast of frigid air swept into the cart when the doors opened. Ty and Elijah followed the crowd out onto an honest-to-goodness mountaintop, at least, that's what it looked like to Ty. They were so high up his ears were doing funny things. The sky unfurled endlessly in all directions, fading to a darker, deeper blue up where the atmosphere thinned.

And there were mountains. In every direction, as far as Ty could see, mountains: soaring, snowy peaks poking out of a downy wreath of cloud and mist. Ty had selected this place, but he hadn't prepared himself to step out onto the top of the world.

The other passengers flowed around Ty and Elijah as they stood stunned, taking in the scenery.

"That's probably the Matterhorn. Shit," Elijah said quietly beside him.

Ty scooped up his hand, the spell broken by Elijah's voice. "Come on. I read there's a suspension bridge between two of the peaks."

They followed the flow of people milling casually about the summit. It was downright strange finding a souvenir shop and restaurant and alpine coaster in a place that felt almost like outer space for its other-worldly allure. They had to pass some of the attractions to reach a winding path that headed up to the "Peak Walk," apparently the world's first suspension bridge spanning two mountain summits.

Ty squeezed Elijah's hand. "Let's cross it. You ready?"

Elijah's jaw had gone stiff and tight, but he nodded and let Ty pull him onto the bridge. It didn't sway, despite the people traversing it. Ty almost wished it would. But the sturdy metal contraption was almost depressingly solid, with high guardrails. Ty longed to climb up onto those railings and really feel the space around him, the roiling eternity of clouds churning under his feet, the thinness of the crisp air, the openness of a place humans were never meant to tread.

As though guessing his thoughts, Elijah hurried him across the bridge and to the peak on the other side. It bore a Swiss flag and a bit of a platform, but little else.

Wind whipped across the platform, pummeling them as they stood at the rail. Though mild down below, up here at three thousand meters the sun-strewn afternoon turned considerably cooler. Ty huddled a little closer to Elijah, only partially due to the cold.

"It's like being at the top of a really huge boulder," he said.

Elijah laughed. "I mean, I guess technically that's what a mountain is. But also not at all."

"I'm trying to put it in our terms," Ty said.

Elijah just shook his head. They stood gazing out over an unfathomable landscape made mundane by the presence of ski lifts and bunny slopes. Summer had stripped much of the mountain around them of its coating of winter snow, but other peaks never shed their caps. There were probably all kinds of famous mountains within view, but Ty couldn't name them. He'd spent too much of his life head down and focused on climbing on plastic .

All of that felt incredibly small from up here. How could plastic ever compare to this, to rock so tall and magnificent it scratched open the sky? The kinds of boulders he and Elijah loved best might have rolled off the backs of one of these giants or landed in a forest thousands of years ago, deposited by retreating glaciers. Though Ty and Elijah climbed far smaller rocks than this, they owed their hobby to these towering monuments.

It made even the upcoming competition feel like a pale comparison rather than the real thing. Not that Ty didn't like it or didn't think it required skill. He'd worked damn hard to get to this point, and he was sure that once he was back on the ground he'd be just as pumped for the competition in Villars as ever. But standing so high above all of that, even temporarily, left him feeling like he was looking down on a miniature of his own life.

"This is really beautiful," Elijah said. "Thanks for taking me here."

"It was Jude's suggestion," Ty said. "Maybe he's telling me to get off the pro circuit and go climb some mountains instead."

Ty laughed, but the look Elijah shot him was careful and considering. "I don't think I'm up for becoming an alpinist. Too many of those guys die in places like this. And I'd never get any sleep knowing you were out doing something that risky."

"Hey, we haven't even gotten through the comp this weekend yet," Ty said. "Don't worry. I'm not going to bail on bouldering in the middle of the season."

"You better not. You're the one who convinced me to come out here."

Ty turned to face Elijah fully, trading some of those stunning, impossible heights for the stunning, impossible man before him.

"And I'm really, really glad you did," Ty said. "No matter what happens in the comp, I hope you know that I'm just really stoked you're here."

Tension eased out of Elijah's face. He set his hands on Ty's hips. "I know. And I intend to make the most of it, no matter what happens out there. It's weird, but being up here kind of put it all in perspective. I feel … I feel like no matter how it goes, that's alright."

"That isn't why I brought you out here, but I'm glad," Ty said. "It does make normal life feel kinda small, doesn't it?"

"Most of normal life. Some things still stand out." Elijah leaned toward Ty at the end of this, kissing him lightly right there at the crown of the world.

By the time he pulled away, a smile had settled onto Ty's mouth. "I wish we could do this all the time. Not here, specifically. Too many other people. But just being out on the rocks together. This feels so good."

"Some day," Elijah said. "When you're done winning every single comp you enter. "

Ty rolled his eyes, but his smile faltered a little. "Part of me doesn't want to wait that long. Part of me…"

Elijah's eyebrows drew down. "What? What is it?"

Ty swallowed. He'd never said this out loud before, not even to himself. He wasn't even sure Elijah was the right person to be saying it to. The weight Elijah dragged with him every time he entered a competition wasn't unfamiliar to Ty, however. It wasn't the same weight, but Ty understood something of that burden.

He finally met Elijah's eyes again. "There aren't a lot of climbers who look like me," he said. "I just don't want to disappoint them."

"Ty."

Elijah stroked a finger along Ty's cheek.

"It isn't really my place to speak on something like that," Elijah said, "but I can't imagine people being anything but incredibly proud of you."

The lump in Ty's throat eased just a little.

"You're right," Elijah said. "There aren't a lot of climbers who look like you. That's been a problem for a long time in the sport. I know that can be a really, really heavy thing to carry with you. I feel it a little bit with my age and being out. It's not the same, but still, I get it, at least a little. You should still get to make your own choices. You've done so much. When you're ready to step away, that should be your decision and no one else's.

"And you aren't alone. There aren't enough Black climbers, but that doesn't mean there are none. They're out there competing hard too. Would you ever discount everything Meagan Martin has done just because she lost one comp? Of course not, so give yourself that same grace."

Ty nodded, slipping his arms around Elijah's neck and burying his face against his shoulder before the emotions could overwhelm him in public. He'd never talked about this with anyone before, hiding it deep in his chest, carrying it with him from comp to comp, practice to practice, like an extra training weight strapped to his ankle. It felt nice simply saying it out loud, even if Elijah would always be standing on the outskirts of that conversation.

"I want to climb every rock in the world with you," Ty said, still nestled against Elijah's shoulder. "I want to sleep outside between trees. I want to go to places no one else would be crazy enough to go to."

From so close, Elijah's low chuckle rumbled through Ty's chest. "Some day," he said. "When you're ready. No pressure."

Ty nodded.

"For now, though," Elijah said, "could we continue this conversation not at the top of a mountain? It's seriously freezing up here."