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Ohio was having what he would consider to be one of the worst days of his life. It all started when Michigan invited him to go skiing in his Upper Peninsula. And Ohio, being the fool that he was, accepted.
That wasn’t the awful part. That was what followed. Michigan had driven them 10 hours across the state, which Ohio personally thought was too long to be in a single state, to the ski resort that he had recommended. And fine, Ohio had to admit, it was a nice resort. Only light snow was forecasted, and Michigan had insisted that they’d be fine to go skiing under those conditions, and Ohio had been inclined to agree.
The day started off perfectly. While they skied down the mountain, the wind whipped by too fast for Ohio to listen to a word that Michigan was saying. Utterly perfect.
Soon, the conditions turned for the worse. Dark clouds gathered overhead, causing the temperature to drop. The wind picked up, and the snow started falling at a faster pace. Ohio shivered as he skied up to Michigan, “Are we okay to keep going, or should we head in?”
Michigan scoffed with a smirk, “What, you can’t handle a little winter?”
Ohio frowned, the familiar anger boiling in his gut, “No, I was just wondering if you were wimp enough to take me up on my offer.”
Michigan snorted, “You’re not convincing anyone,” and with that, he made his way toward the ski lift.
The two continued to ski throughout the afternoon as the conditions on the slope continued to worsen. Both states being too stubborn to turn in for the day.
Suddenly, a huge gust of wind hit them as they were heading down the slope, blowing them off course. “Do you know where we are?” Ohio asked the other state as they came up on a fork that they hadn’t seen before.
“Of course,” Michigan responded unconvincingly, “I think we’re supposed to go right.”
Ohio rolled his eyes, “Fine.”
The two skied down the lesser-worn path slowly, doubt creeping up on Michigan’s face as they continued. Suddenly, they came up to a dead end.
“Oh, yes. Wonderful navigation skills, Voldemort. Now we’re lost,” Ohio complained.
“We can just retrace our steps, genius,” Michigan shot back, while turning around.
The snow had been falling at an increased rate as the day had gone on. It seems that their tracks had been covered up by the snow. “Well, that’s not going to work,” Ohio observed.
“Shut it,” Michigan grumbled, unclipping his skis so that he could walk around more easily.
Ohio followed suit, “So, what’s your big plan for finding our way back?”
Michigan frowned, looking around them, “Well, obviously we want to be going downhill, I’m pretty sure we were Northeast of the lodge, so if we just look at the angle of the sun-”
“Except the sun is being completely covered by the clouds right now,” Ohio interrupted.
“Fine, then we’ll just walk and hope for the best.”
The snow crunched under their feet as they walked along. The cold air bit at Ohio’s face as he walked. The temperatures really were plummeting. The wind howled as it passed through the trees that surrounded them. “We should’ve headed back to the resort earlier,” Ohio complained, “I knew I never should have trusted you.”
Michigan’s shoulders rose at the accusation, “What, you expected this to happen? Then why didn’t you insist on heading back? I thought you only asked to make sure I wasn’t a ‘wimp.’”
Ohio opened his mouth to retort, but he was interrupted by a noise.
CRACK
The two states looked at the toppling tree in horror. Ohio felt himself being shoved towards a small hill. He lost his balance and rolled down the hill, seemingly hitting every branch on the way.
Ow, Ohio thought when he finally came to a standstill. He blinked away the stars in his eyes before sitting bolt upright.
“Michigan!” He yelled out, looking up in horror at the hill he had just rolled down.
Did Michigan really save him? His heart fluttered at the possibility. Did Michigan actually care for him? He shook his head to clear it when the feeling of dread overtook him. If Michigan pushed Ohio out of the way, was he able to save himself?
With a cry of horror, Ohio fought his way back up the hill.
When he reached the top, he stopped in his tracks. Before him lay a gory sight.
Michigan was in the snow, pinned down under the tree that had clearly fallen on him. The wolverine state laid unconscious, as blood pooled around him. Red staining white.
Ohio knelt down, putting his ear to Michigan’s chest. He heard a raspy inhale, which was good enough for him. At least the other state was still breathing.
He tried to move the tree upward, attempting to free his fallen rival. Michigan cried out in pain, eyes flying open.
“Stop!”
Ohio froze, before speaking up, “I need to get this tree off of you, Michigan. You can’t stay under there.”
Michigan gazed up at him with hazy eyes, “Ohio?” he slurred, “Why are you here?”
“You invited me to go skiing with you,” he calmly explained.
“And… and you said my name. Is this real? Am I dreaming?”
Ohio tilted his head; the other state must have hit his head after the tree had collapsed on him. “I did, and yes, this is real.”
“Sweet,” Michigan muttered under his breath.
Ohio chose to ignore that comment, “I’m going to lift this tree to get it off of you, okay? I need you to drag yourself out from under it.”
Michigan suddenly looked at the tree, seemingly just realizing its existence, “There’s a tree on me,” he observed.
“Yes,” Ohio responded exasperately, “Now, do you understand?”
Michigan nodded earnestly.
Using all of his strength, Ohio shifted the tree upward. He could hear Michigan’s whimpers of pain as he did so, but they had no choice.
The other state used his arms to drag himself out before flopping down again once he was clear of the fallen tree. Ohio dropped it again before rushing to Michigan.
The other state sleepily blinked up at him, “I’m tired. Good night.”
“No!” Ohio exclaimed, “You need to stay awake. Can I turn you over, real quick?”
“Ask me to dinner first,” Michigan grumbled, but he allowed himself to be rolled onto his back.
A large gash spanned his stomach, bleeding lazily into the snow, staining even more of the powdery substance red.
Ohio ripped his scarf off, tying it tightly around Michigan in an attempt to stop the bleeding. “All we need to do is make it back to the resort, okay? I’ll carry you.”
“My knight in shining armor,” Michigan proclaimed, “Can I sleep now?”
Ohio hoisted him up in a bridal carry, “No, you can’t sleep. Why don’t you tell me why you invited me skiing?”
“Hmm, fine,” Michigan said, “I wanted to spend time with you, that’s why I invited you.”
“Spend time with me?” Ohio said, trudging in the direction they had been going prior to the tree falling, “Why would you want to do that?”
Michigan hummed in concentration, “Because I like you, dummy. Why else would you want to spend time with a person?”
Ohio knew at this point that Michigan was fully out of it. Never would he normally admit to anything like this. He might as well take advantage of the situation. It was unlikely that Michigan was going to remember this conversation at all, anyway.
“I thought you hated me,” Ohio admitted.
“How could I hate you?” Michigan asked, “When you’re so… you?”
Ohio forced himself to keep walking, “What do you mean by that?”
“You’ve always been there. Always when I needed you. You’ve been the one constant in my life through it all. Of course, I like you,” Michigan said, “Do you not like me?” he suddenly added on, timidly.
Ohio sighed, “Sometimes I think you’re the most annoying person I’ve ever met. But sometimes I think you’re the most endearing. Of course, I like you, too.”
Michigan let out a sigh of relief, “Good, otherwise it’d make things awkward.”
“What do you mean, awkward?” Ohio said, suddenly catching sight of smoke rising through the air. He quickened his pace.
“I mean, if you didn’t like me after I’ve been in love with you for years.”
Ohio almost dropped Michigan. He came to a halt, staring into the coppery eyes of his rival. He wasn’t sure if he had heard him properly.
“What?” Michigan asked innocently.
Ohio felt himself soften. He couldn’t take advantage of Michigan, not when he was like this. So maybe he had agreed to go on the skiing trip because he wanted to see his rival again. Maybe he missed him, too. Maybe the rage that boiled in his gut every time he saw the water wonderland state was actually desire. Maybe Ohio had been in love with Michigan just as long as Michigan had claimed to be in love with Ohio.
“You’re serious…” Ohio said.
“Of course, do I need to prove it to you?”
“Prove it?” Ohio managed to ask before being cut off.
His mind went blank. Soft lips were on his. He let his eyes fall shut as he leaned into the kiss.
Michigan pulled away first, settling back into Ohio’s arms with a contented sigh. “Now do you believe me?”
Ohio’s cheeks grew hot, “Hmm, I think I’m going to need a little more proof than that.”
“I’ll prove it to you all you want… after I take a nap. Good night!” Michigan said, eyes slipping shut.
“No!” Ohio cried out, suddenly realizing what an idiot he was. How could he think about kisses at a time like this? Lodge in sight, Michigan bleeding out in his arms. “We’re almost there, hang on!”
He ran towards the resort. Michigan grumbled in his arms, “You’re being too bumpy. How am I supposed to sleep under these conditions?”
“You aren’t!” Ohio responded.
Seriously, this man was going to be the death of him.