Chapter 10
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Chapter 10
Since that day, we shared an unspoken understanding, both intimately close and quietly distant.
Every morning, he found new ways to make me breakfast, checking in on me, and “coincidentally” showing up whenever I was working alone. I knew he was waiting- waiting for me to truly be ready to accept a new relationship.
Then came the accident.
I was out on the glacier, surveying, when I suddenly felt the ground shake beneath me. A crack spread out with shocking speed right under my feet.
“Clarissa! Get back here!” Stuart’s voice rang
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out from behind.
I tried to run back, but it was too late. The ice gave way, and I started to plummet down.
Just as I thought I was done for, a strong hand yanked me back. It was Stuart!
He held on tightly, one hand gripping mine and the other clinging to the edge of the ice.
“Let go!” I shouted, watching his arm strain, the veins bulging under his skin. “You’ll fall too!”
His face twisted with the effort, sweat dripping down his forehead, but he kept his iron grip on my wrist.
“In your dreams!” he snarled. “Let go? I’d never let go of you in this life!”
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His arm began to tremble, nearly at its limit.
Then, just in time, a rescue rope dropped down.
We both made it out alive, though his arm was left with several deep cuts from the ice.
As I bandaged his wounds, he suddenly spoke. “You know, at that moment, I had one big regret.”
“Regret?”
“Not telling you sooner that I love you” he said, gazing at me intently.
“If we hadn’t made it out, you’d have never known just how much I love you.”
My hand, holding the ointment, paused.
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He continued, “I remember when you first arrived in Ushuaia; you were like an iceberg, keeping everything buried deep inside. I watched as you slowly stepped out of the shadows of your past, as you started to shine again.”
“Clarissa, these past six months, I’ve lost count of how many times I looked at you, or how many chances I missed to say something…”
I cut him off. “It’s not too late to say it now.”
He paused, then gave a small, quiet smile. “So, will you give me a chance?”
I looked up at him, meeting his gaze earnestly for the first time. “Stuart, thank you for waiting for me.”
After that, we officially started dating.
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He’d carry me back to my dorm when I worked too late, stand guard next to me whenever I was out collecting samples, and sneak kisses on my cheek whenever he caught me deep in thought.
Then, on a night when the aurora filled the sky, he took me up to the observation platform.
“The aurora is incredible tonight,” I
whispered, awestruck.
“It is,” he replied softly. “Just like the night we kissed here three months ago.”
My face flushed. “Who kissed who-?”
As I turned around, I saw him down on one knee, holding a velvet box in his hand.
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“Clarissa, I know you’re still healing, and I’ll wait as long as you need. I’ll wait until you fully trust me, until you’re certain this love is worth a lifetime. I’m not asking you to answer me now, but I want you to know I’ve had this ring ready for a long time…”
I interrupted him. “Yes.”
“What?” He looked stunned.
“I said yes.” I knelt down to meet him eye–to–eye.
“Stuart, you helped me heal every scar, one. by one. And now I know–you’re the one I want to spend my life with.”
He lifted me up, spinning me around in excitement. “Oh my god! I was ready for the long game!”
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I laughed, hitting his shoulder playfully. “If you keep spinning me, I’m going to get sick!”
He stopped, then carefully slid the ring onto my finger. “Clarissa, I’ll only love you more every day of my life.”
The aurora blazed across the sky above us, bearing witness to the most passionate love this icy land had ever seen.
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