Ice Skating

                                    

                                          
"Come on, Babe. It's not that hard," Shawn said, extending a hand to me. 
                          
"Easy for you to say," I grumbled, clinging to the rail as I tried to balance on the thin blades of my ice skates on top of the slippery ice. It wasn't going very well. The skates were also big and I kept tripping over my own feet. "How long have you been doing this?"
                          
"About 9 years," he admitted. 
                          
"Exactly. And this is my first time."
                          
"Come out to the middle," he said, holding his hand out again. 
                          
I looked at him like he had just grown another head. "Are you crazy? I can barely keep myself up with the rail. How in the hell am I supposed to stay up out there?"
                          
"I'll hold you up. Don't you trust me?"
                          
"It's not you that I don't trust. I don't trust my feet and legs to work the way they're supposed to. What if I run into another skater?"
                          
"You won't. Trust me. They're all going to steer clear of you," he assured me. 
                          
"Because they can see how badly I suck at it, and they don't want to be run into?"
                          
"Yep," he said bluntly. "Come on," he encouraged. "If you don't go, I'll go by myself and leave you here."
                          
"No you wouldn't," I said, confident he wouldn't leave me.
                          
"No, I wouldn't," he admitted with a sigh. "But I will drag you out there." He looked dead serious when he said that. 
                          
"If you do, I swear, I will scream and convince everybody you're trying to kidnap me or something."
                          
"Come on, Y/N. Please?" he begged, giving me his signature, wide eyed, pleading face. 
                          
"Fine," I agreed with a sigh. "But I think we're both going to regret this."
                          
His eyes lit up, and I took his hand, allowing him to slowly pull me out to the middle. 
                          
All the experienced skaters whizzed by us, and I was sure Shawn wished he could be doing that, too. Instead he was slowly skating beside me, helping me keep my balance. 
                          
"You're doing great," he praised. 
                          
I didn't think so. Every muscle in my body was tensed, expecting to fall at any moment, and it left me exhausted. "I think 'great' is stretching it a little."
                          
"At least you haven't fallen yet," he said cheerfully. 
                          
"Yet," I emphasized. I continued slowly making my way out to the center of the rink. 
                          
"Look out!" I heard someone, that sounded like a child, yell. 
                          
Before I could process what I was supposed to be looking out for, Shawn yanked me towards him, crushing me to his chest. What was he doing? Now wasn't the time for a hug, but if he wanted one, he could have just asked. 
                          
Just then, a kid who looked to be about 9 flew past us, right where I had been standing. He would have taken me down if Shawn hadn't pulled me out of the way. I watched the kid skate all the way to the other end of the rink, coming to a stop right before he hit the wall. 
                          
"That kid can skate better than me and he almost ran into me," I muttered. 
                          
"Well, he's probably been doing it longer than you, and I don't think he's scared of getting hurt," Shawn reasoned. 
                          
"Maybe." I looked up at him, but all I could see was the pale arc of his throat and jaw. I leaned up and kissed the place where his chin curved to his throat. I watched his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed hard. 
                          
He tilted his head down to look at me. I had to lean back slightly to see his face, putting some of my weight into his arm wrapped around me. 
                          
He smiled faintly at me and then leaned in to kiss me. His left hand, the one that wasn't supporting me, began roaming, ending on my ass. He squeezed it lightly, and I jumped, swatting his hand away and breaking the kiss. 
                          
"Shawn," I scolded. "There are kids here."
                          
"So? I'm sure they've seen it before," he shrugged. 
                          
"Not from random strangers! And what about the adults? They're just going to think we're horny teenagers."
                          
"Well, I mean... I kind of am one," he joked. 
                          
I rolled my eyes. "I would totally skate away from you right now if I didn't need your help to move."
                          
He chuckled and moved his hands to my waist. "Is that better?"
                          
"It's more kid friendly."
                          
"It's also more boring," he mumbled under his breath. 
                          
I rolled my eyes. "Can we go back to the edge now? I came out here, and I almost got ran over. I'm ready to go back."
                          
"Not yet. We just got out here."
                          
"I still want to go back."
                          
"Nope. Do you want to try a spin?" He looks excited. 
                          
"Um... Probably not. I don't think I can do one."
                          
"You won't know unless you try, and I think you should try."
                          
"Fine," I sighed. 
                          
He released his grip around my waist and held one of my hands over my head. "Okay, now just turn in a circle. Act like you're just on normal ground."
                          
I tried it, but I ended up tripping over my own feet and falling, taking Shawn down with me. Somehow my elbow managed to jab him in between the legs. It hit him hard too; most of my body weight was behind it. He groaned in pain. 
                          
"I'm sorry. I told you I couldn't do it," I immediately apologized, pulling away from him. His hand fell to his crotch, his jaw clenched and his eyes closed. "I'm sorry," I apologized again, my hands fluttering around him uselessly. "Is there anything I can do?"
                          
"Just give me a minute," he said through gritted teeth. 
                          
I nodded and sat back, watching the other skaters. Most of them didn't appear to even notice us. 
                          
A moment later, Shawn began to struggle to get to his feet, wincing the whole time. 
                          
"I would help you," I said as I watched him. "But I need your help to get up."
                          
He smiled faintly at me and extended his hand to me. I took it, and he pulled me up. "I really am sorry," I said once I was up. "Are you going to be okay?"
                          
"I'll live," he nodded. "But if we ever try to have kids one day, and it doesn't work, remember this."
                          
I glanced at him sharply to see if he was serious. A small smile played on his lips, and I relaxed. 
                          
"I'm kidding. You didn't hit me that hard. But it does hurt. I think it's time to go home and get some ice."
                          
"That's what I've been thinking the whole time. But it's kind of ironic that we're at an ice rink and we're leaving because you need ice."
                          
"It kind of is, isn't it?" he laughed. 
                          
So we went back home where Shawn got ice and I got hot chocolate. 
                          
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Unedited
Before I wrote this, I didn't plan on having an ending like that, but it's kind of interesting, I guess😂
August 27, 2017
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