The Winter We Chose Us (Always Been You #2)

Prologue

“Shh, be quiet.” I pull on Tobias’s wrist as we sneak around the hallway corner.

Dad’s in the kitchen cooking some dinner for us. While he thinks we’re upstairs playing, I want to show Tobias the water.

It’s his first time here at the lake house, and I’m so excited to show him everything. Dad says I can bring him here every summer if I want to. I can’t wait.

Tobias laughs behind me, covering his mouth to keep from being heard. Perfect. As long as we’re quiet, I can sneak him outside for a quick swim before dad even notices we’re gone.

The smell of cooked garlic fades as I tug him out the back sliding doors. The deck wood is warm under my feet from the setting sun, and I can hear the lake water lapping at the dock from here.

“We’re going to get caught!” Tobias laughs, feet thumping behind me.

“Not if we make it back fast. Come on!” I hop down the deck steps and sprint down the grassy hill, until I’m positive we’re out of my dad’s line of sight. My feet skid on the slope before the grass turns to warm, grainy sand.

Tobias pounces on me at the last second, making me yelp. We tumble into the sand, grains sticking to my elbows. I topple over in laughter, and he giggles, pressing his hand over my mouth. I wiggle free, and he flops back with a chuckle.

Jumping up, I tug my t-shirt over my head. “Okay, enough horsing around. We don’t have much time.”

Tobias’s eyes widen. “Wait. We’re going in?”

“Duh. We have to see who can hold their breath the longest.” I step into the water, and the first touch bites at my toes.

“Ah! It’s cold!” I hiss as it soaks my shorts.

I’ll worry about how to explain our wet trunks later.

The water swirls cloudy-brown at my knees before turning green as I push deeper.

I tread water once my toes can’t brush the bottom anymore.

I look over my shoulder to see Tobias hesitating at the water’s edge, digging his bare toes into the wet sand.

“Come on.” I wave him over before dunking my head beneath the surface.

Popping back up, I wipe my hand over my face and notice he still hasn’t followed me all the way in yet.

He looks…different. Scared? His shoulders are hunched. He keeps glancing over his shoulder toward the house, like he’s wanting to ditch me or something.

“Tobias, you okay?” I ask, moving to where the water is only waist-high.

“Yeah,” he says quickly, forcing a smile. “Everything’s okay.” He slowly splashes in after me.

I’m not sure I believe him, but if he says he’s okay, then I’ll take his word for it. I grin and push into the deep again. The water thickens around my legs as I paddle, pulling harder to keep afloat.

“Okay. Last one up is the winner,” I say. “On the count of three.”

Tobias nods, stepping forward.

“Okay, good.” I begin counting. “One…two…”

But having reached the deep slope, he dips under before I say three, bubbles fizzing to the surface where he was.

“Hey! That’s cheating!” I laugh. Sucking in a huge breath, I plug my nose and slip under.

My mind quickly goes off track, thinking about how much fun I’m having already.

I’ve never had a friend here before. This is going to be the best summer ever.

I hold my breath for as long as I can, but when my heartbeat starts drumming in my ears, I know time is up for me. Kicking back up, I break the surface.

“Thirty-two! I got to thirty-two!” I yell, wiping water from my eyes.

Looking around, I see Tobias hasn’t made it up yet. Wow, he’s really good.

I’m not surprised, though. He’s really good at everything. There’s really nothing he can’t do.

Last month, he won three awards at fifth-grade graduation. No one else won that many. He’s so cool.

Actually, I kind of miss him now that he’s gone.

How long can he keep holding his breath?

There are no more ripples in the water from where he went under. I turn in slow circles, scanning for him. But I still don’t see him.

Something feels weird.

The longer he’s under, the more it’s making my stomach hurt. I don’t like this.

I suck in air and dip my head under again, my eyes burning as I try to spot him in the water.

The green water blurs everything, but thankfully, I see him. His arms stretch out above him, little bubbles slipping from his mouth as he sinks down slowly.

I don’t wait. I shove through the heavy water, wrap my arm around his chest and kick us toward the surface. My lungs burn, screaming for air, but I don’t stop until we break through.

It takes some work to pull him, but thankfully, we aren’t too far from the shallow end. Once my feet touch the bottom, we both stumble toward the shore.

Tobias sinks to the ground, coughing heavily. I sit beside him, breathing in deeply while I try to catch my own breath.

“What happened!?” I struggle to say, pushing past how much my throat burns.

Tobias looks away from me, and it makes me feel sad. He pulls his knees to his chest, burying his face in his elbow like he’s scared to show me. But, I can tell from the soft way he’s shaking that he’s crying.

“Tobias.” I move closer, rubbing his back in big circles, the same way my dad does it when I’m sick. “Do you…not know how to swim?” I ask softly.

He doesn’t answer. He only shakes his head slowly, keeping his eyes on the sand below his feet.

This makes me so angry at myself for taking him into the water. “Why didn’t you tell me?! You could’ve gotten hurt. My dad would’ve killed me if something happened to you.”

Tobias chuckles softly, looking down at the sand. Squishing the grains in his hand, he throws a pile of it in front of him before coming back for more. “I didn’t want…” he sniffs, rubbing his nose on his arm. “I didn’t want you to be disappointed that you brought me here.”

Disappointed?

What a silly thing to think. It’s so silly that it makes me smile. He can be so funny. “I didn’t bring you here just to swim.”

Tobias’s eyes finally find mine. They look so sparkly and blue right now.

“Really?” he asks. I swear I can see a little smile appear. Good. I’m happy he’s feeling better. I don’t like it when he’s sad.

I nod quickly. “Oh yeah. There’s so much we can do together. Video games. Water guns. Oh! My dad says we can hang out in the boathouse. We can make it into our special secret hideout.” I raise my eyebrows up and down making him laugh.

“Okay, yeah! That sounds like fun.”

“But you know…if you want to learn how to swim. I can teach you that, too.” I shrug.

Tobias’s smile drops again. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to! It’ll be fun. I just thought your dad would’ve taught you.”

He shakes his head, looking down. “No.”

“Well, that’s okay. I can teach you.” I puff out my chest, making him laugh again.

“You’d do that?” He sputters, wiping some wet droplets off his lips with the back of his hand.

“I’d do anything for you.” I shrug. “You’re my best friend.”

A smile spreads on his face again. Bigger than I’ve ever seen. “You’re my best friend too.”

Forever and always, I hope.

I wrap my arm around his shoulder, grinning as he rests his head against me.

“Elijah! Tobias! You kids out here?!” Dad’s voice echoes over the water.

Our eyes widen as we scoot apart. “Oh no, we’ve been caught,” I gasp.

We make our way back up to the house, heads hung low.

I guess swimming lessons will have to wait. But I’m excited to teach him everything I know—

even if he’s bad at it for a while.

Even if he’s scared of drowning.

I won’t let him.

As long as I’m his best friend, I’ll make sure I’ll always be there to pull him out of the deep end.

Every

single

time.