"It's me." Zachary's familiar voice called out from behind.

Hearing him, I finally relaxed. But I'd been so tense that I lost my footing, and before I knew it, I was falling backward uncontrollably.

Zachary instinctively reached out to catch me, but he lost his balance too.

We wobbled at the edge of the steps and then both fell backward, and to make it worse, Zachary landed right on top of me.

I let out a pained groan.

"Sorry, ...