Ice Lovers (boyxboy)

CHAPTER 19

Right at the beginning of my routine is the part I'd been secretly dreading the most. It starts off with me blowing a kiss off to Diego, that's the part I had that focused on him, that's how I show that my routine is dedicated to him. I didn't focus on the people around the rink, not even Diego, I didn't want to see his reaction just in case it would throw me off.

Then it goes into some step work, one of the easiest parts, and one of my favorite parts of the routine. As the music gets more dramatic, I go a little faster, the small step work turning into twists and turns. I zoned out for most of the routine, I just did what my body had memorized from my weeks of practice for this.

A few spins later and I was doing different jumps. Most of them came easy to me, I'd been doing them from such a young age. A few jumps were harder though, reaching the current level I was on in my ice skating journey. But all of it came down to the quadruple axel. The quad comes in once I'm about 75% done with the routine and for the end to be just as climactic as I want it to be, I have to land it.

The anxiety in me rises as I slowly reach the time of the quadruple axel. I know Sofia probably feels it too, she knows way better than Diego how hard this move will be. Diego doesn't even know exactly what a quadruple axel looks like, I just told him that if I fall at any point, the move I did before was probably it.

I know this isn't anywhere near as important as I make it seem. But after getting it in my head that quadruple axles were totally possible for me, I can't let it go. And soon I'm skating backwards, getting ready for the jump I've been anticipating for this whole time. Then it reaches a certain point in the music letting me know it's time to flip around and lift off into the quadruple axel.

I spun four times and…I didn't land it. Immediately I get right back into the routine, finishing it off with the last bits of spins, jumps, and a step sequence before it ends. Of course, I ended it with a sour look on my face, I hadn't figured out if I wanted to cry or scream, I was too focused on the routine at the moment. Then I took another deep breath just like I had started the routine with.

I got up from the one knee I was on, that's how I had ended the routine, a small nod to the stance I hoped someone would propose to me in one day. Of course, the routine being kind of based on my love for Diego, I hoped that would be him at the moment.

I held my head down as I skated off to the exit of the rink. The whole thing went perfectly except the quadruple axel, yet I was upset because that was the part I was thinking of the most. I made way for the next person to get on the ice and sat near my coach so I could hear anything she might say about my routine while I took my skates off. “You did great, Mason. I'm sure you'll place in those competitions.” That's all she said, nothing about the quadruple axel.

Maybe it didn't matter as much as I thought. The whole routine, I did amazingly. I know I could simply change the quad to a triple axel instead like my original plan, but honestly, I just want to keep trying at it. I'm just in high school after all, the person I saw land a quadruple axel was way older and definitely had more experience, maybe if I just keep practicing then I could possibly land it in the competitions.

Thinking of this cheered me up just a bit, at least enough for my sour face to get into a more moderate expression. I left my skates on the floor and walked towards Diego, completely forgetting about my still tied up hair and the hair tie I would probably never end up returning to Sofia. I sat next to Diego and casually leaned on him, placing my head on his shoulder.

He seemed to not know what to say, we just sat in silence as he wrapped an arm around my waist. At least he could tell I was a little sad, he was probably waiting for me to be comfortable to speak first. And I did, once I had taken another deep breath. “Did you see that?” I asked, not giving him any context as to what I was referring to. “See what? The kiss you blew at me? That part was awesome, I probably looked completely star struck with how mezmorized I was by that.”

I chuckled at that, he was obviously avoiding the part where I fell but at least he was trying to cheer me up too. “No, silly. The part where I fell. After the quadruple axel.” I told him, sticking out my bottom lip into a pout. “Oh. Yeah I saw. Did it hurt?” He asked me carefully, probably not trying to upset me and let me do the talking. He's so thoughtful. “No, I'm fine. I'll probably just have to keep practicing till I get it right.” I looked away from him, sparing a glance at the person currently performing.

Diego thought for a moment, not saying anything until the hand resting on my waist slightly squeezed. “I think you should rest a bit. Maybe we can hang out instead?” He suggested. I nodded my head. “Oh…sure, I guess. It's not like I can practice much over the weekend anyway.” Did I come off as if I was uninterested in hanging out with him? I don't think it sounded that way to Diego, he just nodded his head.

“Maybe you can even meet my mom. And Maverick.” “And your brothers.” He said, including them as well. “Brother and sister. My little brother is now my sister, my mom doesn't know yet though.” I corrected him and he nodded his head again. “She's trans?” He asked and I nodded my head. Does he have any weird opinions on trans people? Will he avoid Micah because of that?

But just as my head starts to think of all these things, Diego proves them wrong, showing just how effortlessly cooler he can get. “Cool. My best friend from middle school is trans. He goes to a different high school now, but I still talk to him every now and then.” I smiled, glad he's just as accepting as I'd hoped.

“Yeah, I'll ask my mom if you can come over this weekend. Maybe we can have a sleepover and you can meet all of them.” Diego smiles back at me, he seems excited to meet my family. “Alright, You let me know if she says yes and I can ask my parents, ok?” I nodded my head in understanding. He's so sweet all the time, my family is so important to me and him being so interested in meeting them just makes it ten times better.

Now I'm excited, the sadness of my earlier fall has faded away, thanks to Diego. Me and him talked for a bit longer before practice had soon come to an end. He went with me as I gathered up my things and respectfully waited outside of the bathroom as I changed. Then he walked out to the parking lot with me before we parted ways, saying our goodbyes and sealing them with a kiss.

I drove home the fast way, I wanted to get home to talk to my mom as soon as possible. I got home and went to her room and stood by the door, waiting for her to notice I was there. “Oh, hey, Mason. Welcome home, babe.” She greeted me and I smiled at her before quickly getting to the point. “Can my boyfriend come over this weekend?” “Diego? Like for dinner?” I've told her about him a few times, so it makes sense for her to know his name by now. “And to stay the night too?” I phrased it as a question, hoping she'd say yes and let Diego stay over.

“As long as there's no funny business, then I don't see why not.” She shrugged her shoulders and gave me a smile. “Yay! Thank you, Mama.” Of course she said yes, even if she didn't show it, she was definitely excited to get to meet him. Even though it will probably be a bit scary for her, Diego will be the first boyfriend I've introduced to her since Simon.

And with that, I went to my room and plopped onto my bed as I texted Diego to let him know that she said yes. Maverick jumped up onto the bed with me and pawed at my phone until I pet him. Soon Diego responded, letting me know that his parents also said yes. His parents probably thought I was just some guy friend he was going to be hanging out with, completely oblivious to the large amounts of making out we would definitely end up doing.

The rest of the day went by like normal, aside from the many hours I spent texting Diego. He asked about my family a bit and I answered his questions, occasionally sending him cute pictures of Maverick too. Once it was late, I went to bed.

Even though it's the weekend tomorrow, I still want to wake up somewhat early so I can get ready to look presentable enough for when Diego comes over. And I want to clean up a little and tell Micah that he's coming over. I won't tell Miles though, he never has much of an interest in my boyfriends. He got tired of meeting them around the third one. Maybe he'll like Diego though, he has a sort of charm on people.

I set an alarm for me to wake up at 10:30 am tomorrow, just enough time to get everything ready for when Diego comes by at 4:00 pm. And soon enough, I drifted off to sleep, cuddling with Maverick.