Flip

Sophie tightened the laces on her skate one last time, before pulling on her jacket and opening the door to the rink, and taking a look around, before hesitating.

"Take off your guards before you skate, there's a cute boy on there"  Sophie thought.

She took off her skate guards, set them  on the side of the rink, before stepping on the ice. She did a few laps, passing the boy a few times. Pale, dark brown hair, teal eyes.  A small smile tugged at Sophie's lips every time she passed him, and every time he noticed, a smile formed on his. Sophie could only imagine kissing those lips.

But she had things to work on, programs to practice. Roughly fifteen minutes into her session, she decided to run her program. She tied the belt around her waist so people would move out of her way. She ran the program, pretty smoothly in her opinion, and was untying the belt when the boy skated up to her.

"Hey, um, that was really good" The boy told her.

"Thanks. Anything I should do better?" Sophie asked, trying her hardest to not blush, or focus on the boy's lips.

"Uh, yeah I think you could get a bit higher on your flip, and maybe add some arms on the way down the ice with your lunge" He offered, shrugging.

"Yeah, I've been planning to add arms to the lunge. But you're right, my flip needs work" Sophie nodded, hanging on to his every word.

"I'm Fitz by the way" He introduced himself.

"Sophie" She told him.

"Hey, um, who's your coach? Mine's pretty good teaching flips so you should try to schedule something" Fitz asked

"I have Forkle" Sophie said.

"Try to schedule something with Coach Tiergan, he's my coach" Fitz said.

"I might. Thanks for the help, Fitz. Mind if I watch you run yours?" Sophie asked.

"Uh-uhm, okay" Fitz said nervously, his confident aura dimming as he set his jacket down next to Sophie, and grabbing the belt, setting up his music, and getting into his starting position. He was pretty good, his flip was great, but she noted that his spin was kind of wobbly and to short. And something felt off about it. 

Something was missing. He skated back to her, and asked, "Well?"

"I think your spin was a bit wobbly and short, but that's it. But I feel like something's missing from it, y'know?" Sophie asked, and he nodded.

"Yeah, I felt that too" Fitz said.

Then it hit her.

"It shouldn't be a solo" Sophie said. "You should find someone and make it a duet."

"That's a great idea!" Fitz smiled. " Would you mind helping me figure some of it out now?"

"I would, but I'm a leftie. It wouldn't work as well." Sophie said sheepishly.

His face lit up. "Yes it would, c'mon!"Sophie followed him over to the corner where he did jumps.

"So I'll move my flip over here" He traced the outside of the right circle. "And you should go here" He traced the far end of the left circle with his marker.

"You're right. We should do a duet." Sophie smiled.

Ftiz grinned. "Okay, let's start from the top."

~

"So, we should probably choose costumes" Fitz said.

"Oh" Sophie mumbled. "We probably should, yeah"

"Any color ideas?" He asked.

Sophie laughed a bit. "You should choose colors. I always choose neutrals"

"What do you think about teal? Maybe I could do like a dark teal shirt with black pants, would that look good?" Fitz asked.

"Yeah, teal'll work. And the dark teal shirt is a great idea, Fitz" Sophie told him. "I guess I need to find a dress now"

He enjoyed watching over Sophie's shoulder as she looked through dresses. He commented on a few he liked, many he hated. They finally both agreed on one, so that was the one she choose.

But Fitz's favorite thing, that was dress rehearsals. Especially for the duet.

He would never tell Sophie this, but he loved the way she looked in her dress. He loved the fact that he got to hold hands in the start and end. He loved it all, and he loved Sophie.

People would say that love is a strong word.

It is, really. And it's accurate, describing how he felt about Sophie.

And she loved Fitz's rehearsals. Especially the duet, for the same reasons.

He loved her.

And she loved him too.

And neither of them was ready to confess.

 The two of them had the summer show coming up. So Fitz decided.

~

The program went well. Fitz loved it, so did Sophie.

She grabbed his hand for the end, they got into their ending pose, and the music ended.

She was about to smile at Fitz and curtsy. Sophie got as far as looking his way before he kissed her. He was about to pull away when Sophie kissed him back. 

The applause in the background sounded like thunder now. Sophie pulled away, curtsied, Fitz bowed, and they skated off of the rink.

She only let go of his hand to pull on her guards.

"So I did that" Fitz said.

"You did" Sophie remarked.

"So, um- Did you-"

"You need more practice but it was great" She told him.

"The-the program or the kiss?" Fitz asked.

"Both" Sophie smiled at him.

"So-"

Sophie cut him off by kissing him again.