Icing Those Hurts (NOT MY STORY. READ DISC)

Part 17

This is where he trots out his sadness. Little black cloud, little black umbrella.

...

Ranboo takes quick notice- Tommy opens up more and more to them everyday. It's great.

They only practice three days a week, twice at night under the lights and once in the mornings, so any other time they're either relaxing, working out, or going out with their coach Niki. Everytime they go, they make a point of stopping to ask Tommy. Even if he's lacing up his shoes to head down to the dance studio or packing his gym bag, or isn't even there in the room- they text, or stop him and pointedly ask, hey, do you want to come with us? Want to go ice fishing, or walk a trail, or head to a reserve?

When they manage to catch him in person and ask, he at least thinks about it before saying no. And every time, it takes him longer and longer to say no, longer and longer to deny himself from going out and having fun with them, until one day, he shyly says sure. Yes.

They're both a bit stunned, not expecting that, and Tommy very nearly takes it back, but then Tubbo jumps in and rushes Tommy to get ready.

Now they're here, standing on a snow tubing deck and staring out at the hills and hills of snow that stretch all the way off into the distance, with little black and navy blue dots racing down them.

"Fuck," Tubbo sums up, and Ranboo has to nod.

"Oh yeah," he grins. Now Ranboo will be the first person to admit that he's a bit of an adrenaline junkie. Maybe not to the extent of Tubbo, who picked up mountain climbing after mastering the art of sliding down it, but still, he'd say he's always chasing that high of a thrill.

Looking at that huge snowy hill, with people speeding down it at speeds that make them blur, all in just tubes- Ranboo feels just a tad out of his area.

"Is this what snow tubing is?" Ranboo asks, just to be sure and Niki, who's standing a bit behind them, tucking their tickets into her pocketbook, tsks.

"This is it," she answers cheerily. "You wanted a mountain that you don't have to practice on, and here you are."

"This seems..." Ranboo's eyes cut to Tommy, who is staring at the glass with wide, wide eyes. He hasn't said a word yet. "What do you think, Tommy?"

That wide-eyed gaze shifts to Ranboo. "Um. It looks very- fast. Fun? I think? I'm not- sorry, I don't know."

"There's no right answer, dear," Niki reassures. "But it does look both fast and fun."

Tubbo squints at Tommy for a moment. Ranboo is about to tell him to cut it out because he's freaking Tommy out, but then he blurts, "Okay! I've got it. We'll start on the smallest hill and see how that feels."

Oh. Oh, Ranboo loves his best friend.

Tommy relaxes a bit, but still goes, "You all snowboard. Wouldn't you want to go on the biggest hill? I wouldn't want to make you stop-"

Tubbo shakes his head. "Nope! Shut up, we're doing the little hill first. We invited you to hang out with you, Tommy. Not to have fun while you watch. We're not gonna leave you behind and we're definitely not gonna do something if you don't want to."

Ranboo grins proudly, and that's how they end up on the smallest hill first, waiting in line with their tubes. Tubbo looks up the physics and safety of tubes on ice and quietly, Tommy asks how he manages to ride a stick down a mountain, which makes Ranboo laugh so hard he nearly dies right there in line.

"This doesn't look too bad from here," Tubbo says, sitting himself in his tube easily, but Ranboo's eyes are on Tommy, and the way he cringes back, trying to hide his fear.

"Hey," Ranboo says, "come get in my tube, Tommy. If you're scared, you can close your eyes and I'll watch for you."

"Really?"

Ranboo nods and Tommy takes his hand, letting Ranboo help him into the tube. "Hold on," he instructs, and Tommy slowly holds onto Ranboo's waist. "Ready?"

Ranboo hears Tommy mumble a yes, and then they're off, sliding down the hill. It's the shortest one, so there's just one bump that's relatively small, but Ranboo feels Tommy's arms tighten around him all the same.

When they get down to the bottom, Tommy let's go and Ranboo turns to look at him. He's just opening his eyes, but he's smiling, his cheeks red from the cold.

Tubbo, who went ahead of them, sticks out a hand to help Tommy out of the tube. "How was it?"

Tommy takes a moment to find his voice, and then says, "let's do the next one."

And they go on and on, to every hill. Everytime, Ranboo reminds Tommy that he's here to hold onto and Tubbo cheers loudly like nothing could ever hurt them. Ranboo doesn't know for sure, but he thinks that they're doing a good job of making Tommy feel safe as he's sliding down hills of ice.

Pretty soon, they're staring at the biggest hill now, back in that observation deck, warming their limbs before going again. Tommy, Ranboo's been watching, looks nervous- more so than usual- but he's watching the people shooting past like he's considering it.

"I'm ready to go if you all are," Ranboo says impulsively. And it's true- he's had a great time with them. It was exhilarating. Ranboo doesn't need to end it off with the huge hill. He's content for the day to end just like this. It would be ruined if he felt like he made Tommy do something that he didn't want to.

But Tubbo doesn't seem to share the same sentiment, because he leans over and shushes Ranboo, and then looks to Tommy.

"Tommy?" He asks, voice perfectly balanced. "What do you think?"

Tommy's quiet for a moment, his brow furrowing deeper. His eyes flit down to his own steady hands. "I think I want to try it," he says quietly. "I want to try the big one."

Tubbo grins, grabbing Ranboo's arm and nearly shaking him in his own excitement. Ranboo knows Tubbo well enough to know that isn't excitement for just a big hill to slide down.

Tommy is choosing to do this. No one else but him.

They go, and Niki shares her tube with Tubbo, while Ranboo doesn't even have to say anything before Tommy is climbing in with him, locking his arms carefully around Ranboo's waist.

"Ready?" Ranboo asks, as he always does, and Tommy hums, squeezing slightly, shutting his eyes.

It's an amazing hill, and they catch air on some of the bumps- enough to make Ranboo's stomach swoops the way he's been craving- but what really gets him aren't the bumps or the snow flying up in clouds. It's that this time, halfway down the hill, Ranboo hears Tommy gasp, and he knows without looking that his eyes are open- that he's watching the world pass them in a blur. It takes only a half a second, but then he's yelling, squeezing Ranboo even tighter, laughing delightedly in his ear. Beautiful and reckless and loud. It's an amazing sound that Ranboo wants to hear all the time.

He thinks back to the Tommy that was confused when they asked him how he was, and the Tommy that came in late and left early without a word. He thinks back to the Tommy that didn't look up and didn't speak over a certain volume. The one who looked like he was just existing rather than living, and Ranboo realizes that he'd do anything to keep this Tommy, the real, unburdened Tommy, with them.

When they hit the bottom of the hill, maybe Tommy doesn't jump up and cheer like Tubbo does, but he buries his breathless smile in the back of Ranboo's shoulder and asks if they could possibly do that again.