Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty-One

ELIJAH QUALIFIED IN SIXTH PLACE, dead last. Only six climbers got into the finals, so he'd barely squeaked his way in. Still, the crowd had greeted him like a hero when he'd gone out there for the introductions. No matter how this ended, he'd always be able to hold onto the fact that he'd made it here at all.

Nerves batted at his chest and tingled in his fingers as he pulled on his climbing shoes. He should have been resting, but Elijah couldn't seem to sit still. He used to face these competitions so calmly, but back in his youth he'd made finals nearly every time. It was different when he wasn't sure if he belonged here or whether he'd make a fool of himself.

He exhaled. He just had to climb. The setting so far hadn't treated him too poorly. And he was definitely on today. He just had to keep doing what he was doing.

The judges called him out for his first climb. Elijah trotted onto the mats on numb legs, dizzy as he put his back to the crowd and faced a real, actual finals boulder.

A dyno. Of course. If anything was going to shake his confidence right from the start, it was another dynamic jump. Setters loved this stuff these days. It looked good on the livestream and played well to the crowd, but Elijah would trade it any day of the week for some plain old technical climbing.

Elijah chalked up his hands and approached the climb. There was nothing to read in it. The route was very straightforward. Get set, make a couple moves, then jump for the end. Either he'd get it or he wouldn't.

He missed his first attempt. And his second. Elijah thumped his fist against the soft mats beneath him, frustration weighing him down like someone had turned up the gravity today. He had to find a way to shake it off or he'd never make that jump. A little pysch was good for a dynamic climb, but too much could backfire.

Elijah took his time getting back to his feet. He fished around for his chalk and thoroughly coated his hands so they'd stay dry. As he did, he caught a flash of color out of the corner of his eye. Elijah turned his head to follow it and found a rainbow waving frantically in the crowd, a tiny square of color among the sea of indistinct faces .

It couldn't be. Elijah froze, his hands still half in his chalk bucket as he gaped at that rainbow flag waving wildly in the crowd. He blinked, sure his eyes were tricking him, showing him what he wanted to see, but that head of soft brown curls beneath the pride flag didn't change.

Ty.

Elijah stood up straighter and waved without thinking. The crowd responded with a cheer, assuming Elijah was asking for encouragement. He was, but not from all of them, just from the wielder of that pride flag somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

Where had Ty even gotten that thing? And why wasn't he resting in bed? How had he made it here in his condition? Should he even be here?

The questions and worries flitted through Elijah's head, but one overwhelming thought drowned them all out: He came here to see me.

He must have heard about Elijah getting into the finals and dragged himself here somehow. Of the two of them, he was certainly the one who'd had more faith in Elijah ending up on this stage this evening. He would surely tell Elijah that this jump was no problem for him. Ty would laugh if Elijah claimed it was too hard.

You can definitely do that move. Who are you kidding?

Ty chuckled in Elijah's head, his words so clear Ty could have been standing on the mats right next to Elijah at that moment .

Who was Elijah to doubt him?

Ty had dragged himself all the way out here, even though he probably still felt like shit, and ensured Elijah knew he was in that crowd cheering for him. The least Elijah could do was have the same faith in himself that Ty had in him.

He turned back to the climb. The jump still presented a daunting challenge, but Elijah approached it more calmly this time, his nerves quieter, his heartbeat even and steady.

He wasn't surprised when he made the jump. He soared across the gap, hands slapping onto the next hold, and he refused to let go. The crowd erupted behind him, but Elijah swore he could hear one voice rising above all the others, one sweet, joyful cry tinged with laughter, one voice that had never for a second doubted that Elijah belonged here right now.

Elijah finished the climb and hopped back down to the mats. When he waved for the crowd, he looked directly at that rainbow flag flapping frantically just for him.

THE NERVES RETURNED as Elijah waited back stage in the isolation area for his next climbs. With his heart pounding in his ears, it was hard to tell just how quickly or slowly the other climbers were finishing up that first boulder. It didn't matter. Elijah had gotten a dyno in the finals in three attempts. That was just about as strong a showing as he could hope for.

And Ty was out there cheering for him.

He still couldn't believe it. Part of him wanted to chide Ty for leaving bed when he could have just watched a stream of the event, but most of Elijah clung to the image of that pride flag nestled among the crowd like it was a lighthouse guiding him home. He'd never been the type who cared about his family or friends showing up for comps. His family wouldn't, for one thing. And half of his friends were in the comp, for another.

But it was different with Ty, with someone who wasn't just a friend but a companion, the best part of Elijah's day. Ty was like a painter adding color back into Elijah's dull life. He made Elijah believe he could do things he'd assumed were impossible. Hell, Elijah wouldn't be in this competition at all if it weren't for Ty.

Elijah resolved to give this everything he had as he headed out for his second climb. Another jump, but an easier one. He got it without difficulty, but struggled on some small holds on the rest of the climb. It took several attempts before he got the top, but at least he got there.

The third climb went worse. It tested his stamina, and Elijah was already exhausted from the semi-finals and the previous two climbs. He didn't have the endurance of a twenty-year-old anymore and it was starting to show. Every muscle protested as he pulled onto tough holds and made strenuous reaches over and over to try to get the top.

He never made it there. He tried until the four-minute timer ran out, but he never reached that final hold. Elijah managed to secure points for the zone holds in between the start and finish, but that wouldn't mean much without the top. That was what really counted.

He returned to the isolation area to try to recover as much as he could before the last climb. All the other athletes would know Elijah used the full four minutes, but as each went out to try that third route, Elijah began to suspect they were taking just as long. A cheer told him Lukas had finally broken through and conquered the climb, but the other four athletes may not have.

Which meant Elijah still had a chance.

He had two tops out of three, and zone hold points on that third one. If Lukas was the only one of them who'd managed the third climb, there was still a chance for Elijah to clamber onto that winners' podium.

He just had to give this final climb absolutely everything he had left.