“Woah, you saved me, again.” I breathe, marveling at how strong she must be to hold me up with just one hand.

“Yeah, I did. Now can you please get back on the ladder, you’re kinda heavy.” I finally snap back to reality, and start up the ladder again, being extra careful up the last rungs I hadn’t yet touched.

“Thanks, for saving me back there, that was kinda crazy.” I feel my cheeks heat with embarrassment, all my previous ideas of masculinity challenged in a single moment. Saved by a girl once, honest mistake, but saved by a girl twice? That was just absurd.

“I couldn’t exactly just let you smash your head on the floor, now, could I?” Annabelle pretends to be nonchalant, but her tanned cheeks seem to have reddened a little too.

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“What the hell are you two doing?” Jordan demands from the doorway, clearly annoyed at being woken up.

“There’s a cellar, we found some food down there.” I explain, deciding to leave out the fact that I nearly fell to my doom. Annabelle isn’t so kind

“And this idiot nearly fell to his death coming back up the ladder. Annabelle says, her voice full of cocky contempt.

“That’s why you were shouting then. You good man?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m okay. I think I’m actually gonna go back down, there’s so much stuff down there!”

“I’ll come too, so we can carry more on each trip, but you should stay up here Jordan, in case Sebastian falls again.” She grins at me, and I know I’ll never live that down. I hop onto the ladder first, going slowly so neither of us fall.