How Could This Be Real?

28. I'm Sorry, I Just... Can't

[Listen to the song at the end again. It's H.O.L.Y. by Florida Georgia Line (thank you Luna for showing this to me!)]

There's a bit of a makeout session near the end, you can just skip the hotel part if you don't like that stuff, you wouldn't be missing much. Just thought I'd let you know :)

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It felt like only a few minutes had passed (when in reality it had been close to an hour) when we pulled up to a large, open area with a fair amount of people.

"Ice skating?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

"I've, never been ice skating."

He gawked at me, "What? How? You live in like, the iciest place ever."

I smirked, "Ever heard of Iceland?"

"Oh, you know what I mean. But seriously? Never?" I shook my head and he pulled me over to the skate rental booth, "Well I guess it's time for another Squiddy lesson then! In real life!"

"You're not going to make a fool of us, are you?"

"Pssh, please, have you met me?"

"That's not very reassuring."

"Just trust me." He helped me lace up my skates and led me onto the ice.

I stayed close to the wall at first but soon realized, "Huh, it's just like rollerblading."

"You've done that?"

"Yeah, I'm not too shabby at it either I might add."

"Well then use that, it's pretty much the same." I felt a bit braver and let go of the wall, pushing off to go faster. David stayed by my side, steadying me if I started to go off-balance.

"There you go, now you're getting the hang of it!" Just then, I saw something flutter down between us. I held out my hand, catching a glimpse of a perfect snowflake before it melted into my glove. We looked up and watched as more drifted down in a silent dance.

"It's beautiful," I breathed.

He took my hand, "Not as beautiful as you." I smiled and we skated slowly around the rink, just enjoying each other's company and watching the snow.

After a while, he whispered, "Want to take a break?" I nodded and we put our shoes back on and he guided me down the sidewalk. When we were out a ways, he said, "You know what I miss most from my winters as a kid?"

"What?"

"Building snowmen. The first snow of every year, Tom and I would rush outside and try to make a better one than the year before."

I smiled, "That's sweet."

He stopped and looked at me, a playful glint in his eye. "Do you want to build a snowman?"

I chuckled, "If you don't burst into song."

He smirked, "Oh, but you know Frozen is my favorite film!"

I dropped onto my knees and started rolling a giant snowball. He helped me and our snowman slowly started to take shape. I was looking for sticks for his arms when I felt something cold and wet hit my leg. I turned around and saw him packing another snowball.

"Oh, so you want to play that game, huh?" I crouched and gathered some of my own snow. I threw it at him and it splattered over his jacket. The next one hit my face and I sputtered but he laughed. "Oh, it's on!" I yelled.

We ran around, tossing snow at each other and laughing our heads off. At one point, he grabbed my wrist and poured some slush down my shirt and I shrieked because I was practically turned into an ice cube. I decided to get him back by stealing his hat and packing some snow into it before shoving it back on his head. He was not very happy about that apparently because he tackled me to the ground, landing on top of me. I laughed breathlessly and grinned up at him. He was beaming and his whole face was red from the cold.