Romantic One Shots & Imagines

One Shot #31: Not This Winter

     You and your boyfriend were participating in festive cheer this weekend by going ice skating. Well...you hoped your boyfriend would participate. You eloquently opted out that part out of your plans. You knew of his fear, but felt that it was time to face it. In the winter, he would always watch you ice skate from the benches, drinking his hot chocolate. In the summer, he would always watch you roller skate as he scarf down his chilli cheese fries.

          "Not this year", you thought to yourself. This year, you're putting a stop to the madness. Ice skating is meant to be fun and a pleasant way to spend the holidays. Convincing him to take the passenger seat, you drove him to the rink of your childhood. You assure yourself that if the place brought good memories then, it would bring good memories now. "It will be perfect" you thought to yourself.

          "Where did you say we were going?" Lewis asked.

          "I told you already." You respond, trying to dodge to subject.

          "No...I don't think you mentioned it." He pries.

          "Oh. I must have. I thought I did." You begin to babble. "You know, that has been happening a lot to me lately, thinking I've done something even though I haven't. Its probably because I've been so busy. I mean from the shopping and the wrapping and the...." You drift off as you turn to look at Lewis. He patiently stares back at you with a skeptical look. The jig is up, you think. He knows you're lying. You take a deep breath. "We're going to the ice rink. You know, the one I used to go to as a child."

          "Ugh, Ellie! I thought you said we were going to do something fun." He sounds like a five year old.

          "It is going to be fun." You try to say convincingly.

          "Sitting on a bench for an hour or two is not fun."

          "That's why you are skating with me this time."

          "No, I'm not!"

          "Yes, you are!"

          "No, I'm not!"

          "Listen, we are only five minutes away from the rink and we drove all this way already and---"

          "Alright, alright!...I'll do it, but you owe me". He concludes with defeat.

          "I owe you? I'm helping you." You start as you park in the lot. "Look," You turn to face him. "I've let fears hold me back before. I don't want it to hold you back from having fun and bonding with your amazing girlfriend". He rolls his eyes. "I completely understand if you never want to ice skate again, so long as you just try this one time. For me?" You stick out your lower lip and pull your best puppy dog face.

          He gets out the car. You follow him. "Fine." He's still sporting an attitude, but you could already tell that it wouldn't last.

     After lacing up, you help him walk out to the edge of the ice. Hesitantly, he sticks one leg out. You roll your eyes at his silliness. Eventually, you were able to guide him out on the actual ice. His breath was shaky and his palms were sweaty, but you didn't care. You were proud of your Lewis.

     Other skaters would glide past while you two were still on your first lap. Smiling the whole time, you just focused on teaching him techniques and making sure he was ok. Despite the scared look on his face, you knew deep down inside he liked it. If he hadn't, he would have said fuck it and crawled back to the entrance. He wouldn't have cared if he looked a fool, he would have left right there and then.

     After slowly making it around the rink twice, you suggest that he let go of your hand. He looked like one of those action heroes in the movies that had to choose between the red wire or the blue wire. Ultimately, he let go and I skated away proudly to give him space. The grin that spread across his face was priceless as he found his own rhythm. As he did, you started to skate around at your own pace.

          "Ell, Look at me!" He shouts. You turn as he begins to show you a trick he taught himself. Your smile quickly fades as you watch him fall flat on his behind.

          "Lewis!" You skate to him. "Are you alright? God, that look like it hurt." A small crowd of people start to gather around. A man helps you get him back up on his feet. Slowly, you put his arm around your shoulders to support him.

          "Thank you. I'm fine though."

          "No you're not. You're wincing."

           "Well my butt caught most of the impact. Times like these, they really come in handy, huh.

          "Yeah, asses aren't just for slapping". You respond with a coy smile. He returns the same look as you two make it to a bench.

          "I think its going to be a while before I can sit down again."

          "Ok, let me just ask someone for some rope so I can strap you to the roof of my car"

          "Ha, ha." Eventually, you two make it out of your skates and decide to walk around. "Thanks," Lewis begins to whisper. "I needed that."

          "What was that?" You playfully asked.

           "Thank You! I needed that." He repeats louder. Redness starts to grow on his cheeks, but not from the cold. "You were right, earlier, about fears and you were right about having fun."

          "What! You didn't just say the F word!" You exclaim.

           He laughs. "Yeah, I did have fun and it made me think about all the other times I didn't have fun my lovely girlfriend". You smile.

          "So, the big question is, will you ever do it again?" You pry.

          He pretends to ponder. "Yeah, I think so." Excited, you push him against the car and kiss him until the frigid bite of the wind brings you back to reality.

                                                           The End.