Guilt is piling up, but I can't tell her who I am. I have to protect her. She makes the mountain feel easy. Every mogul, every trail, every first chair points back to her. Nicole is off-limits for a hundred reasons. Mostly because I’m not who she thinks I am. Her whispered “someday” sounds like now. That’s the moment I know I’ve fallen. We steal minutes under our oak tree. Time feels dangerous and perfect. One kiss after a sledding run changes everything. Careful turns into forever. I plan it all—ring, midnight at the oak, Christmas Eve. We elope in every version of my future. Waiting feels like losing her by inches. The clock is louder than my heartbeat. Then the knock lands and the world tilts. New rules. New names. No goodbye. I vanish like a ghost to keep her breathing. The truth hunts me, and it will hunt her too. Lying keeps her safe… but ruins our future. I hate that math. If I tell her who I am, I paint a target on her. If I don’t, I lose the only woman I’ll ever love.