Nick and Charlie One-Shots

ice skating

"You promise you won't let me fall?"

"I promise. Will you just get up and try?" I hold my hand out to my boyfriend who was finding every reason to procrastinate. "Please?"

"Fine." He sighs and takes my hand, carefully standing upright and finding his balance.

"See? Easy."

"Charlie, I'm not even on the ice yet." I just smile at him and slowly lead him towards the ice rink. He keeps a very tight grip on my hand the whole time, wobbling like a baby lamb standing for the first time.

"Okay, now for the ice."

"Do I really have to?" He has this desperate and fearful look in his eyes that makes me feel a little bad but I know he'll be fine once he gets over the initial fear.

"Please, Nick. I promise, I'll hold your hand the whole time." I step out onto the ice rink myself, dodging a couple of other skaters zooming by. "I can't believe you've never been ice-skating before."

"It just never really seemed like my kind of thing, going around and around in circles."

"Well, it can get a bit repetitive. But it's fun, I promise."

"You're making a lot of promises about this."

"Nick, come on. The sooner you get out on the ice, the sooner you can get off if you really don't like it." My hand is still clasped tightly within his. He looks out at the other people staking around and bites his lip before sighing.

"Okay, here goes." With the hand not currently death-gripping mine, he holds onto the barrier and carefully takes a step out onto the ice.

"You've got this." I encourage, watching as he settles both feet onto the ice, still wobbling a little.

"I did it!" He gives me this triumphant smile when he's somewhat steadied himself, making me laugh.

"You did. Now to actually get moving."

"Give me a minute, Charlie. One step at a time."

I look out over the ice, really wanting to go and skate around a bit. I've always loved ice-skating, since I was a kid. I'm starting to get an idea of why it's taken so long for me to be able to convince Nick to try it out.

"Go on. I'll stay here and try to stay standing." Looking back up at my boyfriend, I see the softness in his eyes.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I know you wanted to go ice skating. And standing here with me isn't exactly what you pictured." I wrap my free arm around him and lean up to kiss him but he pulls back quickly, steadying himself with the barrier.

"Sorry. I'll just do a lap and I'll be back."

I make sure he has a firm grip on the wall before pushing off, making my way around the rink. Its fun, getting faster and feeling the cool breeze hit my face. I can't believe Nick hasn't ever experienced this.

As I get closer to where I left him, I see how he's watching me, smile on his face.

"You're so fast, Charlie." I slow to a stop just in front of him.

"I've been practicing for a long time." I grin, "You ready to try?"

"Okay." He reaches for my hand again, gripping tightly. "Slowly, though."

"Of course."

He wasn't kidding when he said 'slow'. It takes twenty minutes to get only a quarter of the way around the rink and Nick keeps his eyes on his feet the entire time.

"Nick, you can look up every now and then. Don't hide your face from me." I tease, moving in front of him.

He snaps his head up to look at me, too fast, though and he loses his balance. I watch it happen in slow motion, his feet slipping out from under him and he lands on his ass on the ice. He lets go of me and the wall to catch himself and I have to clap my hand over my mouth to try and hide the laugh that's threatening to burst out.

"Ouch." He looks up at me with a kicked puppy look, "It's not funny."

"It kind of is," I tell him, unable to hold back a giggle. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah." A couple of kids speed by and Nick quickly pulls his hands away from the ice. He'd told me he was terrified of someone accidentally skating over his outstretched hands if he fell. "Help me up?"

I reach down and with some careful maneuvering, we get him standing up again, taking a moment to make sure he's steady before I let go again. He pulls a face after a moment and I frown, "What's up?"

"My ass is cold and wet now from the ice."

"I can warm it up for you..." I say quietly, moving close and sliding my hands into his back pockets.

"Charlie, there's kids around..." He whispers but doesn't make any move to stop me.

"I know." I press our lips together briefly and then pull back to look at him, "How about this? You finish this lap, without falling, and we can go home and get warm."

"Yeah?"

"I think you just need a little incentive to keep going." My lips brush against his once more before I pull back completely and glide a couple of feet away.

"Charlie..."

"You can do it." I call back, "If you catch me, you can kiss me."

He laughs and grips the barrier again, carefully moving his feet as he makes his way towards me. It becomes like a game of cat and mouse between us; every time he gets close, I move away again, laughing at the look on his face.

We get about three quarters of the way around and Nick finally gets himself into a slow rhythm, alternating between looking up at me and watching his feet. But now he's more careful when he changes his focus, wary of falling again.

"Come on, I'm getting cold. I really feel like going home now." I call, watching as a kid, not much older than 6 or 7, sped past Nick. He was a little too close and Nick startled, fumbling his balance a little but he managed to steady himself again.

After a moment, he started moving again, eventually catching up to me at the exit. I help him off the ice and we stand to the side a little for a moment, Nick pushing me back against the barrier.

"You, Charlie Spring, are a tease."

"Maybe. But I really am cold." I laugh, wrapping my arms around him.

"I can fix that." He closes the distance between us, kissing me maybe a little too heated for the situation we're in. But he broke away again pretty soon, taking my hand and leading me back to where we'd left our shoes and bags. "Are you sure you're okay to go home? I mean, you love skating and you only got to go around twice."

"I'm sure. When I go around faster, I stay warm but I got cold today going slow with you."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Just means we need to come back again so you can get better." I tell him. "Did you enjoy it?"

"When I wasn't falling on my ass, I did. I can see why you like it." He smiles and stands up, reaching back for my hand.

We return our rented skates and make our way down the street, holding hands between us as we head towards his house.