Alone {Fionn Whitehead}

{15}

Elana was beyond happy that Fionn had planned another date for them, she was eager to spend time with him even though they were barely ever away from each other, and she was happy that he seemed so excited to be taking her to a nearby skating rink, but on the inside she was panicking. She was terrible at skating and she knew that she'd be slipping and falling all over the place the second they got their skates on. What if he laughed at her? What if he was a great skater and he got annoyed that she didn't know how to skate as well? What if he got tired of having to help her along the rink?

She knew she was being irrational, that Fionn was always patient with her and wouldn't judge her, and she knew that it really wasn't as big of a deal as she was making it out to be, but she was still nervous.

She just wanted to be...What's the word...Perfect. She wanted him to think that she was damn near perfect. She wanted to appear to be good at everything. She wanted to impress him. She didn't wanna look stupid in front of him, ever. Of course, she's aware of the fact that it's simply not possible to be great at everything, nobody's perfect and Fionn isn't expecting her to be, but damn she would give anything to be great at everything.

"You're quiet." Fionn observed as he pushed a cigarette in between his lips and lit it with the hand that wasn't holding onto hers. "Why?"

Elana sighed and tried to think of an excuse, but her mind was blank and there was nothing she could think to tell him but the truth. "I'm bad at skating. You're gonna laugh at me." She stated. He let out a small chuckle and squeezed her hand tightly for a few seconds before loosening his grip again. "I'm not gonna laugh at you." He assured her before furrowing his brows. "Well, alright...I might...But I won't necessarily be laughing at you, I'll be laughing with you." He corrected himself. "What if I'm not laughing?" She sassed. "Then I'll hold my laughter in until I'm alone and then I'll laugh at-With you." He joked. She remained silent, a small smile which she tried to hide appearing on her face.

"You don't have to be afraid." He assured her seriously. "Of being yourself around me, I mean. I won't ever judge you or make fun of you for it. I quite like yourself. Yourself is beautiful."

Well, now she couldn't hide her smile.

"Thanks, Fionn. Yourself is pretty great too."

"I know." Fionn smirked.

******

At first, Elana had tried avoiding getting onto the skating rink, first suggesting they get some food and then suggesting they play a few arcade games because 'The buildup is always better than the actual thing.' and then pretending that she'd caught a cramp in her ankle. An hour later, there was nothing more that she could say. No more excuses.

"Do you want a chair to hold onto?" Fionn asked as he placed a hand on the small of her back to help her onto the rink. She probably would've said yes, had she not seen two kids no older than six or seven skating with a chair, and one younger than them skating without one.

"No, thanks." She muttered.

She clung to the railing surrounding the rink for dear life as Fionn skated slowly along side her, trying his best not to laugh at how adorable she looked with a concentrated look on her face, her tongue poking out and her eye brows furrowed deeply. She was hunched over in an awkward position and she kept nearly slipping, letting out small squeals and loud curses each time she did. He wanted to take his phone out and take a picture, but he knew that'd only result in him getting cursed out so he decided against it.

"Why do people do this for fun?" She grumbled. "Why are you so good at it?"  "Oh, don't beat yourself up." He waved her off. "I'm great at everything."