Everest was having the shock of her life. Here's why. 

The day following from when the PAW Patrol came back from vacation, she decided to visit Adventure Bay, mainly to spend quality time with Skye. They hadn't done it in a while, so they both gathered in the comfort of the Lookout Tower's spacious living room. Both stocked up on snacks, such as liver treats and popcorn while brushing each other's fur and painting each other's nails. It was completely ideal for a normal, best friend hangout. 

Unfortunately, Everest forgot her favorite nail polish color—which was a crystal blue hue—so she settled back outside to swipe it from her snow plow, alongside a hairbrush. While trying to balance both, she dropped the hairbrush and reached down to pick it up. As she did so, she came across a folded wad of paper. 

Curiosity began to boil through her veins, so she opened it. She figured that it could've been some kind of shopping list, but it wasn't. Her mouth dangled wide open as she read it. It was completely anonymous from what it seemed, and the handwriting was readable, but she didn't know who the note belonged to. 

Everest. Everest the Siberian Husky, to be exact. 

I like her. She's fun, caring, pretty—I could go on for ages. Maybe the words I use to describe her sound normal, but she's like a different kind of gem—one that sticks out from the rest. 

This may sound cliche, like those annoying romance movies, especially the Hallmark ones that end with a kiss or something, but I love her. She is the highlight of my entire summer, even if it hasn't been so great so far. Being with her is the best thing I could ever wish for and I am truly lucky to even have her in my life. 

Nothing can compare to her crystal eyes—or anything. I love her with all my heart and I miss her whenever she isn't here. 

Everest's mouth couldn't manage to close as she placed the note into her pocket. She carried the nail polish and brush into the Lookout, dazed. Skye seemed to notice as she retrieved her best friend's nail polish in preparation to paint her nails. "Everest? Are you okay? You look shocked," the Cockapoo questioned with a grimace as she popped the nail polish open. 

"I-I'm fine, Skye," Everest stuttered as she lounged onto a pillow. 

"What's going on? I can tell you're lying to me," Skye persisted as she raised an eyebrow. 

"Okay, fine, you got me," the Husky nagged as she pulled the note out her pocket. "I found this note outside as I was getting my things. It's directed towards me, but I don't know who wrote it." 

Skye grabbed the note from her out of curiosity, her eyes widening as her magenta eyes scanned the words. "Looks like someone has a crush on you," she smirked as she nudged Everest's shoulders. "It's probably Marshall." 

"How could you know for sure? The note is completely anonymous. Do you even know what Marshall's handwriting looks like?" Everest interrogated, an eyebrow raised. 

"No, but it's probably him who wrote it. I mean, who else could it be," the Cockapoo chirped as the nail polish's brush holder glided against one of Everest's nails. 

As the Husky dug her hand into the bowl of popcorn with her free front paw, she reflected off of it. Who else could've wrote the note—or in this case, the diary or journal entry? One of the other PAW Patrol members could've wrote it. The possibilities weren't endless, but there was still a chance that Marshall could've wrote it. 

At this point, there wasn't a way of knowing on her own. She genuinely hoped that Marshall wrote it, but there were still chances that he didn't. Speaking of Marshall, he walked out of the elevator, which was a distance away. He widened his eyes as he looked towards the living room, either because it was a mess or because Everest was here. Maybe both. 

"Hi, Skye. Hey, Everest. I didn't expect to see you here . . . today . . . 'cause you know," Marshall muttered as he stumbled on his words. "You're usually up at Jake's Chalet." 

"I guess my appearance was a nice surprise," Everest smiled as Skye started to paint her other front paw with the same polish. 

Marshall nodded as he looked past Everest, seeing a share-sized bag of pup treats, causing his tongue to hang out his mouth. "Mm, are those pup treats? May I have one?"

"Treat yourself," the Husky winked. The Dalmatian treated himself to a few pup treats before sealing the bag and placing it back where it was before. 

"Thank you," he acknowledged after swallowing a mouthful of a pup treat. Everest nodded her head as Marshall made his way out of the Lookout Tower, giving Skye and Everest their space. 

"He was so excited to see you. Come to think of it, he always is," Skye smirked as she made last touches to the Husky's nails. They were bright blue and well-maintained, no splotches of polish on her fur or lumps on her nails. Everest could always count on Skye for these kinds of things, even though she wasn't particularly interested in them herself. 

"He did, I can't deny it," Everest said as she wanted to place a paw over her chin, but realized she couldn't because her nails were still drying. 

Did Marshall like her? Or was he just being an amazing friend? Thoughts similar to these invaded her brain like a swarm of bees. Once they were there, they wouldn't escape anytime soon.

"What do you plan on doing with the note, anyway?" Skye questioned as she threw a pup treat into the air, landing into her mouth a few seconds after. 

"I'll keep it," Everest shrugged before foiling a liver treat into her mouth. "You know, for future reference." 

"You need to tell Marshall how you feel sooner or later. What about over dinner? Maybe at a park or something. A picnic would sound cute, minus all the bugs," Skye suggested. "Or maybe lunch." 

"You're right, I should tell him," the Husky admitted. She could feel goosebumps crawl over her as soon as she said it. It made her shiver nervously. The worst thing that could happen is if Marshall said no, but what if that happened? Everest tried to shake off the thought as she ate another liver treat. 

To her, liver treats were her stress snack. Whenever she felt stressed about a certain thing, she'd eat them like crazy. The Husky pushed the bag away from her with a sigh. The only way to take the stress away was to ask Marshall. She made it seemed harder than it was, but was it worth it. If only she knew that all these questions would remain in her head for the rest of her time hanging out with Skye. 

After an hour, Everest insisted that she'd need to get home for dinner. On her way to her snow plow, she decided to make a detour to Marshall's pup house to ask him. Her heart beated crazy, like a drum, but life was short. If she didn't ask him now, when would she ask? She'd probably keep pushing back the time to ask him, and next thing you know, it's too late. 

Marshall was in his pup house, bouncing a ball back and forth against the wall of his pup house. At this point, he already knew the note gone missing. He tried to find it everywhere that day, from the mission control room to his pup house, but he couldn't find it. After dinner the night before, he was knocked out, so he fell asleep within an instant, forgetting about the note completely. Ryder insisted on washing all the pups' uniforms earlier that day, so the Dalmatian assumed that the note could've gotten lost in the wash. 

In his opinion, it was better than anyone finding it, but without him noticing it, Everest found the note. It was completely against what Marshall had envisioned the personal note going to. 

Everest stood in the door frame of his pup house, an eyebrow raised. "Hey, Marshall. You seem bored." 

"Huh? Oh yeah, I kind of am," Marshall said as the ball bounced on the wall again, this time landing in front of Everest's paw. "Sorry about that. What brings you here, anyway?" 

"It's completely fine," Everest inhaled, probably the most air she has inhaled in her entire lifetime. "I have a question I want to ask you. I've been needing to ask you this for a while now, but I kept chickening out." 

Goosebumps began to crawl all over the Dalmatian as he shivered. "What were you going to ask?" 

"It's just . . . I want to know more about you. As cheesy as it sounds, will you . . . go out on a date with me?" Everest quickly said as she closed her eyes, awaiting a rejection. 

"Slow your roll," Marshall insisted as he tried to comprehend every word Everest just said. "So . . . you want to go out . . . on a date . . . with me?" 

"Uh, yeah," the Husky murmured, regret already boiling in her veins. She was ready for Marshall to burst out laughing. 

"Of course! I'd love to!" The Dalmatian exclaimed with disbelief. He got up and began to wag his tail, like a dog that won a prize of pup treats—a lot of them. 

"Great," Everest hummed. "Is there anywhere in particular you want to go?"

"How about tomorrow evening at six o'clock? We can order dinner from a restaurant and take it to the park for a picnic," Marshall suggested as he brushed his paws against the ground.

"Sounds like a plan," Everest nodded her head, followed by a wink before she began to abandon the Dalmatian's pup house. "See you then."

"B-Bye," Marshall mumbled with a stutter as he slightly stepped out of his pup house to watch her leave. No other words managed to come out his mouth. It was amazing how someone could come at such a loss of words in a matter of minutes.

He couldn't believe anything. Everything seemed so surreal, like a dream. His paw pinched on one of his legs to make sure he wasn't in the middle of a dream. Turns out, he wasn't. The consequences of pinching himself was a light discomfort in the area he pinched himself in. A grin spread across his face, awaiting the next day like never before. 

***

Rain pattered over the roof of Jake's Chalet over and over again, like a drum as Everest softened her fur. If the weather was reasonable, she would've gone to Adventure Bay to have her fur fluffed, but the weather wouldn't allow her to do so. Eventually, she'd be drenched in rain, which would automatically ruin the entire look. 

From staying inside the entire time, she managed to look reasonable for her date, but the bad news was that there was no way they would be able to go to the park for dinner in all the rain. They still could've went to the restaurant to dine out, but all the restaurants in town are usually over-crowded by the time of day. She didn't want to postpone the date for another day, but it had to be done. 

So she decided to call Marshall. 

Her hands trembled as she called him, disappointment in her eyes. As soon as the Dalmatian answered, he couldn't help but force a smile. Like Everest, he knew what was up. 

"Hey, Everest . . . are you okay?" He questioned. "It's about the date, right?"

"Yeah, I'm just disappointed that the weather isn't so . . . nice," Everest murmured. "I don't want to postpone our date to tomorrow, but we can, if you want." 

"I was looking forward to having it today, too. I guess things may change," the Dalmatian sighed, loud enough for Everest to hear through her pup tag. 

"And that's okay," she added with reassurance. "How about we hang out inside instead? Jake went to see one of his friends, so no one is around here. Just me. There's a lot of liver treats around here." Her pitch got higher just so she could talk Marshall into it. 

"Liver treats . . . that sounds interesting," Marshall proclaimed as he wrinkled his nose at the thought of having only liver treats during their date. His mouth didn't particularly water for it, definitely not as much as Everest's mouth did. 

"Alright, I'll have other foods, too," Everest compromised. "When are you getting here?" 

"I'll be there in fifteen," the Dalmatian murmured without hesitation before hanging up. 

//

Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to comment. I love hearing your thoughts 💜

Also, for story spoilers and teasers, remember to follow my Instagram. I plan on posting really nice teasers. The link is on my carrd, on my bio 💙