Chase lightly scratched at the bandage on his cheek as he made his rounds around the lookout. He took a breath of the slightly cold air, a reminder that the beginning of fall was finally here. And he was all for it. Fall was his favorite season after all.

A few days after waking up, Chase had been released from the hospital and was finally able to go home. His wounds had been stitched up, but still needed to be wrapped in order to prevent the stitches from opening. The police pup was obviously ecstatic by this, and didn't waste any time getting back to his usual routine.

It was nothing too big. Just an early rise, a single warm-up jog around the lookout, patrol the area for the next half hour before waking the others up and beginning their morning routine. It was essential as the second in command to remain vigilant in case something like what had happened with Skye happened again.

And in addition to its practical uses, patrolling the area also calmed the Shepherd. It was always quiet in the mornings. Usually, he would hear laughing or talking somewhere in the lookout or outside, but when everyone was asleep, he got the opportunity to admire the beauty of the place he was honored to call home.

Finally, things were right again–

"Aaaauggghhh..." The Shepherd heard groaning nearby.

Maybe not...

Chase looked over to see who was making the noise. He heard the groaning continue as he began walking towards it. His brows furrowed in confusion once he realized the groaning was coming from Marshall's pup house.

"Well I guess there are some things to sort out before we can completely go back to normal."

Chase peeked into his sworn brother's pup house, opening the door slightly.

"Ughhhh..."

Scattered around the insides of the Dally's pup house were various tubs of ice cream, one of which covering the Dally's face.

"Marsh?"

He groaned weakly, fanning his paw, "Go away..."

"Are you okay?" Chase shuffled into his pup house, closing the door behind him, "You look like you had the roughest night ever..."

Marshall took the tub of ice cream from over his face, his eyes slowly traced over to the German Shepherd, "You don't say..."

"What's up, buddy?"

"You heard what Ryder told us, Everest is leaving tomorrow!" Marshall shot up, "With all that has been going on, I forgot that she didn't live at the lookout! Once she leaves, who knows how long it'll be until the next visit?"

Chase raised an eyebrow, "That's never been a problem for you before, why is it now?"

"Because, Chase!" Marshall flailed his arms around, "With you constantly avoiding Skye since you left the hospital, it reminded me that I have my own romantic issues going on!"

Chase winced at the mention of his increased awkwardness toward Skye since he returned to Adventure Bay. He would have loved to blame Marshall for that, as he was the one to tell Skye everything about their journey, and how far they both—especially Chase— went to find her and bring her home.

So embarrassing... Or maybe he was just being a coward.

"Right..." Chase looked away.

"Don't tell me you're still dodging Skye..." Marshall raised an eyebrow, "I know you've been back for only a few days and getting back into routine, but you can't lie and say you haven't been."

"No way, I'm just busy with stuff."

"What stuff?"

Before Chase could try and defend himself again, they heard shuffling outside of the pup house.

Marshall and Chase had just gotten used to living at the lookout again after spending nearly two weeks on the run from knights, their own emotions, on some occasions bears, and other things, their senses had been thrown into constant overdrive, being boosted by their traumatic experiences away from home.

Chase suddenly opened the door to the pup house, Marshall leaping out of it soon after and slamming whoever was making noise to the ground, "Got 'em!"

"O-Okay I'm sowwy, lemme go!"

Chase's eyelids soon lowered, "Wait I know that impediment..."

"Zuma!?"

Marshall got off of the struggling Lab, "What are you doing here?"

"I-I heawd talking and I got cuwious..." Zuma frantically scrambled to his paws, "I didn't think you two would twy to attack me!"

Marshall's cheeks turned pink under his fur, "How much did you hear?"

"Oh I heard everything..." The Lab grinned, regaining his composure, "Seems like we need to make a new team for—"

The Dally grabbed him by his collar, "Nobody can know about this!"

"Dude, this is Everest's last day spending over here since the PAW Patrol's original six is back and at least..." The Lab glanced at Chase, who still had the bandage around his back and paw, "...Somewhat ready for duty."

"And what about it?"

Zuma put his paws on Marshall's shoulders, "You gotta confess how you feel!"

"Why me?" The Dally's eyes bulged.

"Because Skye is still gonna be here tomorrow." He replied, "We all know that Chase has been acting more awkward around her since he got back..."

"Hey!" Chase glared at the aquatic specialist.

"...But at least he can deal with that later, we have to deal with your situation now! But we'll need a game plan."

Zuma grabbed the sworn brothers, dragging them into Marshall's pup house once again.

"Marshall does need to admit how he feels..." Chase thought for a moment, "Aw what the heck, I'm in!"

"Not you, too!" The Dalmatian groaned with exasperation.

"Let's get to scheming!"

"Just be yourself and talk to her?" Marshall asked himself as he walked closer and closer to Everest, who was talking with Rocky, "Could they have given any more generic advice?"

Something so upfront and honest certainly wasn't his thing, at least when it came to his more sensitive emotions. But what other choice did he have? He only had half a day left until Everest leaves back to go to Jake's Mountain.

Sure she'll still be around them for missions and whatnot, but it wouldn't be the same as her being around the lookout all day every day. And besides, when do they even do mountain rescues anymore!?

Marshall looked forward. He was approaching Everest. Hot as the sun yet cool as ice. Sure, back when Skye first came to the lookout and joined the PAW Patrol, he found her cute, but she had absolutely nothing on Everest when she joined.

Of course, he would never tell Chase that Everest was obviously superior in terms of looks and personality, but he wasn't going to be confrontational like that. Besides, he was ninety percent sure that Chase would absolutely kick his tail.

That didn't stop him from thinking about it, though. Everything about that Husky drove him nuts. Her concerning yet adorable fixation on anything liver-flavored, the way she danced while destroying him in Pup-Pup Boogie, not to mention how she was one of the most fit of the team behind Chase and himself, her body being toned to perfecti—

He suddenly tripped over a bucket.

The Dalmatian flipped a few times before rolling on the floor, right past Everest. The Husky pup heard the commotion from behind her, but didn't see anybody, as Marshall had already tumbled past her line of vision.

Marshall crashed into the wall, his eyes swirling with dizziness.

Chase and Zuma, who had been watching from the sidelines, winced in second-hand pain as they saw the pup crash and burn in his confession attempt.

They continued to watch, until they noticed Everest begin to turn to the wall Marshall had crashed into. Chase and Zuma exchanged a glance before leaping into action.

"Hey, Everest!" Zuma called to her, picking a ball up from the ground, "Think fast!"

"Huh?" Her ears perked up before her eyes darted to Zuma, catching the ball, "Nice try, Zuma!"

Meanwhile, Chase grabbed the dizzy Dalmatian and dragged him away from the place he had crashed into.

"Did I confess yet?" He dizzily asked as Chase dragged him away.

"Not yet, buddy..."

Chase took Marshall out of the lookout for a water break and to at least retain the last shred of dignity he had.

When Marshall finally snapped out of it, it settled in how bad he messed up.

"Who even leaves buckets in the middle of the room!?" The Dally cried, punching the ground.

Chase shrugged, "Don't get so down on yourself, Marsh." He looked around to make sure nobody was listening, "There are still a few hours left for you to confess."

Zuma soon walked out, "What was that?"

"An embarrassment..." Marshall sighed, "Any advice from the self proclaimed Casanova pup?"

"Hmmm..." The Chocolate Lab thought for a moment, "Maybe... Flowers!"

"Flowers?" The sworn brothers echoed in confusion.

Zuma began walking to his pup house, "Of course! The ladies love flowers!"

Marshall followed the aquatic specialist, "They do?"

"Think of every romance movie you've ever seen." Zuma replied, digging through his pup house, "There were always flowers in there somewhere!"

"He does have a point..." Chase nodded slowly.

"Where would we even find flowers good enough for Everest?"

"Remember that spot where Chase found little Hooty?" Zuma asked, "Flowers have been growing around there more and more as of recently."

"Wait..." Chase put a paw over his mouth, stopping the two, "It's the beginning of fall! What if they're no flowers left?"

"You're right!" Zuma fell out of his pup house, a few of his items scattering, "We have to move! Team Evershall is on a roll!"

"Don't ever say that again..." Marshall cringed.

Returning to the lookout, Marshall had a bunch of flowers held gently between his teeth. For a pup as clumsy as him, he was surprisingly good at neatly picking flowers up and arranging them to make them look as pretty as possible.

For Everest, he picked a collection of cool colors. He knew that she loved the color blue especially, so he made sure to prioritize blue and light blue flowers, as well as purple flowers to avoid having too much of one color.

Chase smiled as they walked into the lookout. He was proud of the Dalmatian. Here he was, ready to confess his feelings to the pup he so dearly admired.

Meanwhile, he had no idea when he was going to confess to her. The police shook his head to rid the thoughts brewing in his mind. This had nothing to do with him and Skye. Right now, he needed to be there for his brother alongside Zuma.

Marshall took a deep breath in as he peered into the room he and the other pups would usually watch tv. He spotted a familiar Cockapoo watching Apollo. Since she had been gone a while, she had missed a few episodes in the series, and spent a bit of time catching up alongside Chase and Marshall.

Skye soon turned around at the sound of movement.

"Hey, Marshall!" Skye greeted, a kind smile on her face, "Who are those flowers for?"

"N-Nobody!" He exclaimed, turning around to leave.

"Right, I'm sure Everest likes you too."

"Huh?" He whipped back around, only to see the aviation pup's cocky smile.

"You heard me." She turned back to the TV, "Good luck, Marshall."

Defeated, the Dally nodded, "Thanks, Skye."

When Marshall left the room, Skye looked down at her paws, "Maybe I should do the same for Chase some time... Flowers don't sound like a bad idea... That's the least I could do for him after all he did for me..."

Skye blushed beneath her fur. How could she ever repay him for what he did?

After Chase fell unconscious once again and had to be taken to the hospital along with Sweetie, Skye had confronted Marshall about what really happened between her pupnapping and her reunion with Chase.

Marshall, ridden with second-hand guilt for his sworn brother, explained everything. From leaving Adventure Bay to arriving in Barkingburg, from their escape and return to Adventure Bay, then their conversation with Ryder, Everest, Zuma, Rocky, and Rubble.

Skye couldn't help but still be disbelieving of this notion. Did he care so much to the point where he would actively go against Ryder's orders?

The Dally then explained their brief visit to the new location of Rufftopolis, then their drive to Adventure City. The firefighter pup continued by recounting the death of Robo-Dog 1.0 and the crash of the original PAW Patroller.

Then there was the bear attack.

When Marshall mentioned the bear attack in passing before their mission in Adventure City, she couldn't help but to scream in shock, repeating what he had just said a moment prior. They had fought a bear with little equipment along with the fatigue they must've obviously felt after living through such an event.

And after hearing that the duo walked the rest of the way to Adventure City hit her with an overwhelming sense of guilt.

If only she had been more alert, maybe this wouldn't have happened.

Meanwhile, Marshall had finally spotted Everest, who had decided to lay down on the grass outside and observe the area. After all, this was her last day living in the lookout for the foreseeable future.

The Dally gulped, walking toward her. He had to focus all of his energy to prevent chomping down on the flowers between his teeth.

Buzz...

This time, he's definitely going to confess to her. After all, it's not like he had much time left. In only a few hours, Everest would be on her way back to Jake's mountain, and it would all be over. Sure, it's not like he'd never see her again, but what's the point when he has an opportunity like this?

Buzz...

"Show no fear..." Marshall told himself, shuffling closer and closer to the Husky, who still hadn't noticed him walking up to her.

If only she knew how strongly he felt about her— wait, what's that buzzing noise?

Turning around, the Dally whimpered as he saw a hoard of bees flying directly at him. Yes there were no flowers around where he and Everest were, but where the heck was any beehive close enough to notice that!?

He didn't have much time to ponder that, as the bees got closer and closer to him every passing second. Marshall yelped and ran away from the bees and toward Adventure Beach he knew what he had to do to shake these bees.

Meanwhile, Chase was currently in the middle of helping Rocky with working on his pup house. He knew that he and Zuma couldn't just follow Marshall around all day and wait for him to confess. They had to take the training wheels off and let him ride on his own.

"So Chase, how's it been between you and Skye?" Rocky asked, walking over to the Shepherd.

Chase froze up, "What do you mean?"

"Drop the act Chase, I'm going to level with you." The eco pup sighed softly, "Everyone with the exception of maybe Skye knows about your crush on her. It's obvious."

"What!?" He looked at the mongrel with wide eyes, "No way! Even Rubble?"

"Even Rubble."

"Could this get any worse...?"

"Judging by how much you've been avoiding Skye since you came back, I'd say it's already gotten worse."

"Avoiding her?" Chase asked, a bright blush on his face, "What are you talking about?"

Rocky raised an eyebrow.

"Um..." The police pup shifted a bit, trying to find a way out of this.

"Chase, Zuma, I need you guys at Adventure Beach, ASAP." They heard Marshall's voice come through Chase's repaired pup tag.

The German Shepherd chuckled nervously, "Well, Marshall seems to need my help, I'll see you later!"

Before Rocky could protest, Chase was already long gone.

"Seriously, bees?" Zuma questioned, rubbing an ointment on Marshall's cheek, "You really are pretty unlucky, dude..."

Marshall, Chase, and Zuma were currently stuffed in Marshall's pup house, tending to the Dalmatian's many bee stings. It was nothing short of a miracle that Marshall only walked away with a bruised ego. Heck, it was nothing short of a miracle that Marshall was able to walk at all!

"No kidding— Ouch!" The firefighter pup yelped, "Careful with that ointment, it still hurts..."

"Well at least you still have the flowers, right?" Chase asked, earning a grimace from his sworn brother, "...Right?"

"They got soaked in the ocean when I jumped in to get away from the bees..." He sighed.

"No matter, dude!" The Chocolate Lab clenched his paw, "We'll just come up with a new plan!"

Both Chase and Marshall seemed a bit confused, "A new plan?"

"Of course, why wouldn't we make a new plan?"

"Because..." Chase glanced at Marshall, who was looking at the ground, "...We're out of time."

"Huh?"

Almost as if on cue, the three's pup tags went off, "PAW Patrol, to the lookout entrance!"

Zuma slowly turned to look at the downcast Dally, "...Marshall..."

"C'mon, Ryder needs us..." Marshall slowly trudged out of the pup house.

Just as the three had feared, there Jake was, ready to take Everest home. Chase and Zuma couldn't help but to look at Marshall, who seemed to be in a state of shock.

Ryder turned to the pups, "PAW Patrol, brief formation."

Skye began the lineup, followed by Rocky, Chase, Rubble, Zuma, and finally, Marshall. It was the formation they would always make whenever they were ready for a rescue.

"Everest, if anybody put in effort during the course of the last month, it'd definitely be you." Ryder kneeled down to the Husky, "You came from your home in order to learn jobs you had never performed before, just to improve the efficiency of the PAW Patrol."

Everest blushed at the compliments, "It was no biggie..."

"You've proven yourself to be a reliable member of the team, and for that, I have something special to give to you."

"Hm?" Everest looked a bit confused.

"For stepping up to the plate when we needed it most, leaving your home and owner for nearly a month in the process, I present to you the Golden PAW!"

Ryder pulled something out of his jacket pocket, revealing a small golden pin with the PAW Patrol emblem on it. All of the pups looked at the pin with wide eyes, many vocalized interests coming from them.

The boy put the pin on her collar, which proceeded to glint with the light of the sun.

The pups howled with enthusiasm.

"Congrats Everest!"

"We're so proud of you!"

Everest howled as well, looking down at her pin afterwards.

After the excitement died down, Everest began making her way down the line. She started by saying goodbye to Skye, who gifted her with a tight hug. She made her way through Rocky, Chase, and Rubble. Soon, she stopped at Zuma.

"I really hope you finally admit it sometime." Everest smirked at the Lab, "We're not getting any younger."

Zuma shrugged, "I have no idea what you're talking about, dude." He then smirked back at her, "I'd bet there's something you have to admit, though..."

The aquatic specialist pointed to his right, where Marshall was looking in the opposite direction in shame. He was obviously still thinking of the few events a few hours prior.

She rolled her eyes with amusement, "Bye, Zuma."

"Later dude." Zuma gave a mock salute.

Everest soon sat in front of Marshall, who finally looked forward and at her.

"Umm... I have to go..." Everest smiled sadly.

The Dally nodded, "Mhm."

"You okay?"

Marshall stopped for a moment before trying to give her one of her signature grins, "I'm just fine. Congrats on getting that Golden PAW."

The two then went silent.

"Well... See you around, I guess." Everest turned around and began walking away.

The other five pups groaned silently with irritation.

"Zuma, do something!" Chase mouthed, earning a nod from the Lab.

Zuma then sighed, "Sorry, Marshall..."

The Lab stomped on Marshall's tail, making him yelp, "HEY!"

Everest, who was nearly in her vehicle, heard the Dally's shout and turned around, "What is it?"

"Uh... I... Me... You... Flowers... Bees... And I..." Marshall tried to explain, but only came out as a stuttering mess.

The Husky smiled and shook her head, jumping down and running over to the Dalmatian. She stopped in front of the Dally and put her paws on his cheeks.

Ryder rubbed his eyes, making a double-take at what he was seeing. Rocky and Rubble's jaws dropped. Skye was grinning ear to ear, a faint squeal coming out of her mouth. Zuma closed his eyes and nodded with a grin. Chase, on the other paw, only stood there frozen in place.

Everest had kissed Marshall.

Marshall, despite staring directly at the Husky's closed eyes, found himself thinking that he had to be dreaming all of this. There was no possible way that this was happening. But no, he could feel it. He could feel everything. He could feel his tail wagging, slamming against the ground repeatedly. He could feel the cushions that were Everest's paws rubbing against his cheeks. He could even feel the stares of his friends watching the two of them intently.

Soon, much to Marshall's dismay, Everest separated from him. But she gave him a dreamy smile, almost instantly melting his heart, "Silly Marshall..."

The seven, including Ryder, watched as Everest left. As soon as she was out of sight, Marshall felt a smack on his back.

It was Chase, who was proud of the Dally, "Nice going, Marsh. Looks like you didn't have to do anything special after all."

"Looks like Everest has more guts than we gave her credit for." Rocky remarked.

"Wait, what?" Marshall looked confused.

"I might have forgotten to tell you that Everest felt the same for you." Zuma shrugged.

Marshall suddenly grabbed the Lab by his collar, comically shaking his friend, "ARE YOU SERIOUS? I HAD TO GO THROUGH SO MUCH, I COULD'VE BEEN DONE WITH IT BEFORE THE BEES! THE BEES, ZUMA!"

Chase watched on as Rocky and Rubble tried to pull the Dally away from the laughing water pup. He smiled as he looked at Marshall, who was laughing as well, but was trying his best not to.

"Well done, little bro."

Before he could try and help pull Marshall away, he glanced over to Skye...

...Who was looking right back at him.

Skye smiled sweetly at him, which made the Shepherd freeze. Chase blushed heavily. There was no way he would be able to distract himself now. Distract himself from her...