With You, I'm Home

Feisty One

Spinning on the ice, I felt truly at home. I felt free. 

With my headphones in my ears, and the music playing loudly, I finally felt like I could relax for the first time in weeks. No one else was here, there was no one to be forced to share the ice with this late at night. I could do whatever I want.

Hell, I could scream at the top of my lungs if I wanted to. 

My mom used to bring me here when I was younger. Late at night, just to skate and be silly. A way to relax and unwind she would always say. And it was always late at night when we didn't have to bother with anywhere else. She knew where the spare keys were hidden. Even when it changed, she knew.

Granted, mom was a bit of a shut in. She never wanted to go out during the day. I guess that's where I got it from. 

But now, mom is gone. 

The blade of my skate seemed to catch on something in or on the ice, and before I knew what was happening, I went falling face first onto the ice. My face smacked pretty hard, and almost instantly I could feel the warm trickle of blood running down my nose and over my top lip. 

Putting my bare hands down on the ice, I pushed myself up before flipping over so that I was sitting up. My ankle throbbed from the force of which my body both stopped and went flying at the same time. 

Using the back of my hand, I wiped the blood away from my nose, only for more to take its place moments later. With a huff, I pushed myself back up onto my feet. Putting weight on my ankle was definitely not comfortable. It was actually pretty painful. 

"FUCK!" I screamed once at the top of my lungs. Though the slight feeling of relief that it gave wasn't enough. Feeling the tears that welled up into my eyes, I screamed again. And then again. And again. 

Only once it felt like enough did I start skating again. 

I had only done one lap around the ice when something latched onto my arm. My body propelled backwards, and collided with a wall of muscle. Reaching up, I ripped the headphones out of my ears before turning around to face whoever it was. 

"I said what the fuck are you doing in here?" The guy was shouting at me. Obviously, he hadn't realized that I had headphones in. Even without them in my ears, as I lowered them down to my side I could still hear the music blasting- so I knew he could hear it too. "Get the fuck off of me!" I shoved his chest hard enough for him to release his grip on my arm and push myself back away from him. 

"You know you're bleeding, bud?" His expression softened ever so slightly when he looked at my face. 

Instinctively, I reached up and once again tried to wipe the blood away from my face. Only I couldn't from where it had dried in most spots. 

"'Course I fucking know. What the hell are you doing here." I snapped at him. 

The man stood a head taller than I did. He had shaggy brown hair, dark brown eyes, a strong jaw that was covered in stubble. When he spoke, I could faintly see that he was missing a tooth- must be a hockey player. Though I will admit that he was fairly attractive. 

"Heard ya' screaming, didn't I? Came to see what the fuck was going on. How'd you get in here anyway?" He cocked his head to the side ever so slightly. 

"No of your business, now leave me alone." Turning, I went to go back to skating, when once again I was stopped. This time when his hand reached out and grabbed my wrist, I didn't come to a jarring stop. Mostly because this time I hadn't been able to build up the same speed as I had before.