Climb | ✔

Chapter 33 | Winter

He'd been in Rose Antiques before, but today would be the first time that he ascended the tall, slim staircase that led to the upper loft. There, he'd find much of the whimsy from the bottom floor had flooded over into the apartment. Bright colors and trinkets of varying peculiarity furnished the home in a way that spoke precisely to Rose's and Winter's tastes.

Winter's room was only a further extension of his findings, and when he entered, his attention was immediately drawn to a large, orange wall that lacked the glossy sheen of a regularly-painted wall. More strikingly, it was covered in drawings done in various colors of chalk and littered still more with photos and other memorabilia.

It was a collage of Winter's time since coming to Minnesota, pieces of her memories sketched onto the orange chalkboard paint. He brought his hand up to a small section of the wall which seemed dedicated to Winter's memories of him. At the center of it was the park bench they had spent so much time on; in silence, in laughter, in each other's arms.

Over the whole section was the set up for a belay, the rope stretching all the way up the wall and into the sky, where Cepheus, Cassiopeia, and Andromeda had been immortalized, their twinkling lights standing tall over the myriad of other pictures and symbols.

"You don't have to look so intently," Winter commented, a small blush dusting her cheeks.

Murdoch shook his head, his eyes still scanning the wall in wonder. He perched his hands on his waist as he looked over every inch, browsing the various photos and asking questions about the baubles and curiosities taped or pinned to the wall. He felt very strongly now that so much had happened, and, reminded by the large space of blank wall still left, that much was still to come.

Once he was satisfied with prying, he looked at his girlfriend intently and said, "This is incredible, Winter."

Winter laughed shyly and shook her head, her dark curls dancing around her chin as she did so. "I just did it out of boredom."

Murdoch raised his brows at her statement. "Yeah, that's why it's so amazing."

He smiled kindly and insistently at her until she acquiesced and took the compliment. Then, she rerouted him towards her desk area so they could study. After a few hours of productivity, with a break for dinner in between, they'd found themselves back in Winter's room, comfortably laying on Winter's bed. Notes and books were strewn about as they finished their fourth practice set of the day, and signalling his exhaustion from all the work, Murdoch rolled over onto his back and laid his forearm over his eyes.

"Done already?" Winter asked teasingly.

"Already? I don't know what your schedule was like at your fancy private school, but 5 hours of studying in one night is decent."

Winter smiled and rolled over onto the other side of Murdoch, setting her notes down to bask in the quiet that followed as they gave their brains a break. Unmasking his eyes, Murdoch found his gaze returning to the orange wall, and he stared blankly as the night crept further in.

Noticing this, Winter followed his gaze to the large, empty portion of the chalk mural and sighed. "Who knows what's going to go there," she commented.

"Who knows," was Murdoch's response. "Lot's of things, probably."

"Hopefully."

"Definitely," he returned, earning a sly smile from Winter.

Her smile faded as her mind wandered further into the unknown that awaited them. She turned on her side to face her boyfriend, a thoughtful look on her face demanding his attention.

"I wonder what it's gonna look like. The future, I mean."

Murdoch shifted to face her and hummed in contemplation. "A little like how its been, a little different too." He bought his hand up and tucked some of her hair behind her ear. "You'll be making it big in New York, doing artsy things with your new artsy friends, and I'll be-"