Fairy (manxman)

11: Willow

"So where exactly are we going?" I asked while staring at my closet.

Ryan was sitting behind me on the bed, simply staring at me with a smile. It had been a few days since I'd actually left the house, so it was odd that he wanted to go somewhere. We haven't even been anywhere public together since... we've been here together. I still wasn't really sure what to call us at the moment. But today being Friday I thought he would've wanted to hang out with Blaine and Jesse after they got done with working. What I wasn't expecting was for him to take the day off and want to spend it with me. Except he wouldn't tell me where we were going and I didn't know how to dress.

"You know, the whole point of a surprise is actually getting surprised."

Turning towards him, I gave him a look while saying, "Okay but how am I supposed to be dressing for this surprise?"

"Just be comfortable."

"That's helpful," I grumbled before grabbing some random pants and a tee shirt.

When I was finally dressed we walked downstairs, my sisters giving us both wide toothed grins. That made me pull Ryan out of the house faster and all but ran towards his truck. After we were inside and he started up the truck, he leaned over to give me a soft kiss before we took off. It was so nice to just drive with him, even if we were just driving around the block.

However as we were driving down the road a little he suddenly started to fidget. He then placed a hand onto my knee as I asked, "Are you okay?"

Those dark eyes were then looking towards me with an almost sheepish look. "I don't want you to hate me."

"Why would I hate you?" Just then I watched him pull into a local ice rink. It wasn't the one I trained in, but I've definitely been here a lot. I could feel my face drain of all color before turning towards him. "Ryan!"

"Don't hate me!" He said before parking and then turning towards me. He took my hands in his, his thumbs running over my skin. "I just thought it might be nice to at least walk into the rink. And I wasn't kidding then I told you I could skate. I haven't done it in quite a while, and I'd like to skate again. And I was hoping you would skate with me."

My jaw locked as I looked back towards the rink. While I wasn't allowed to skate how I was before right now, my doctor had no problem with me just gliding around. The problem was me. I had no interest in skating anymore.

"You know how I feel about skating," I said with a frown.

"I'm not trying to push or rush you into anything. I really did just want to skate today. And... I haven't skated in quite some time. I was hoping I'd have you with me, but I understand if you don't want to go in. This was probably not such a great idea on my part and I'm sorry. How about getting some lunch instead?" When I remained silent he leaned forward to kiss my hair before saying, "Please forgive me Willow."

Taking a shaky breath I turned towards him to say, "You didn't do anything wrong Ryan. I just don't know how I'm going to feel going back onto the ice."

"Do you want to try?"

"I... I don't have my skates with me."

He looked sheepish once again as he suddenly reached into the backseat and retrieved my skates. "Surprise."

I couldn't help but laugh. "I didn't think you could be so sneaky."

"I try."

With a shaky breath I said, "Okay. Let's go in."

With a big smile he grinned before we got out of his truck, my heart beating loudly in my chest. When he opened the door for me, my eyes actually started to tear up. Everything hit me like a ton of bricks. The smell. The sound. The chilliness. The feeling of coming home. I couldn't believe I had been away from it for so long, I suddenly hated myself. Hated myself for missing my second home because I was afraid, because I got hurt. I've gotten hurt many times while skating and had to sit some championships out before. But what I think really got me down this year was knowing my Olympic dream was done. I knew it wasn't for good, but it was still hard to process. My fingers shook with anticipation just staring at the ice.

After Ryan rented skates for himself, we sat on a bench and quietly put our skates on. "Hey!" Someone suddenly yelled from behind us, making me jump. A youngish guy was smiling brightly as he walked up to us. "You're Willow Ray right?"

"Yes," I said with a small smile. "What's your name?"

"Dillon... Dillon Henry. I've been such a big fan of yours; I can't believe that I'm actually meeting you!"

"It's really nice to meet you Dillon."

"Can I have a picture with you?"

I couldn't help but smile at his happy face. "Of course. Would you mind Ryan? This is my friend Ryan."

Dillon seemed happy to be talking to both of us, and basically hung off my body for the picture. He then gave me a huge hug before saying, "I can't wait until the next Olympics and see you! I hope you know your fan base is huge and we're all cheering you on. Have a good skate!"

He was then running out of the rink, the smile not leaving my mouth. As I turned to look at Ryan, he was already smiling at me. "Ready?"

"Ready."

There wasn't anyone else on the ice at the moment, which I loved. There was nothing better than having the entire rink to yourself. Music hadn't been playing but once we got out onto the ice someone must've turned it on as it suddenly flowed through the speakers. My entire body felt on fire when I stepped out onto the ice. It simply felt like I was home and man, had I missed that feeling.

I watched Ryan glide out onto the ice; looking so confident I couldn't help but stare at him. He was then turning around and finding my eyes, a smile spreading across his face. Taking a deep breath, I skated over towards him before skating a small circle around him.

"This is a One Direction song, right? I really like this one." I watched as he pointed up towards the speakers but I couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

"I just didn't peg you for a One Direction fan."

I laughed as his arms caught me around the waist and pulled me closer to him. "I've kept a lot of things hidden; you're actually the only person I've ever told that."

"I feel honored," I said as my fingers gripped onto his shirt as the song You and I flowed throughout the rink.

He then gripped my hands before skating backwards and pulling me along for the ride. "You feeling okay?"

My hands gave his a squeeze as I looked around the rink. The music was flowing around us and making it feel like we were the only two people on Earth. "I'm good. Thank you Ryan."

He smiled before we started flying all over the ice, my feet knowing exactly what to do. It felt like I've never even left and still felt like I belonged here. I was glad that Ryan brought me here and helped me get my groove back. I don't know how I'd ever be able to repay him.