Started With A Kiss

Chapter 6

"I don't think I can survive anywhere else but New York," I admitted, "I've lived here all my life." 

"Me too, but sometimes change will do some of us good," Chris said quietly before changing the topic, "Are you alright? You look pretty cold." 

I was suddenly reminded of the chilly winter night. The cold air nipped at my skin, and my goosebumps were raised over my arms. I hadn't anticipated the sudden drop in the temperature, therefore I had only worn a grey jacket that didn't do much to keep me warm, instead of my usual scarf and coat. 

"I'm alright," I told him. 

"You look like you're going to get frost bite. Seriously, your lips are turning blue," Chris looked at my face worriedly, before taking off his black coat, "You're severely underdressed for five degree weather." 

He gestured for me to turn away from him, and then, he hung the coat over my shoulders. I shivered as his warm hand brushed against my freezing neck. 

"Turn back around," He instructed. I did as told, and Chris quickly buttoned up the coat for me. 

"Let's hurry up. I don't want you to turn into a popsicle," Chris stated. We started walking again, this time at a quicker pace. 

And, somehow, my cold hand ended up being intertwined with Chris's warm hand as we journeyed back to my apartment. 

 * * * 

"Have you skated on a frozen pond before?" 

Chris shot me a surprised look, and slowly shook his head. "I've never ice skated before." 

"Well, you're missing out," I exclaimed loudly, "Hey, wait here. Don't move an inch." 

Chris nodded, still looking pretty surprised, and I turned back once more to ensure that he wasn't going to run away, before dashing into the elevator. After grabbing mine and James's old skates, and my thick woolly coat, I rushed back down to the lobby. 

"Wait. So, we're going to skate on a pond, at eleven-thirty in the night," Chris once again confirmed with me as he followed me to our destination, holding James's black skates in his hand. 

"Yep. Exactly," I affirmed, as I led him through a passage I had been to a gazillion times, to a small pond behind our apartment. It was - as expected - frozen solid, and after knocking on it a few times, I ensured that it was strong enough to hold. 

"C'mon, pull your skates on," I urged him as I quickly tugged my three year old skates onto my woollen-sock covered feet. I decided against waiting for him, and quickly entered the makeshift ice rink, skating to adjust to the roughness of the unsmoothened ice. 

Minutes later, Chris joined me. "I'm going to fall," He mumbled as he stumbled onto the ice clumsily, collapsing with a thud moments later. I laughed as he emitted a loud groan.

"You can do this, come on. I'll teach you," I offered as I skated around him carefully. After a few laps around him, I slowly bent down, and offered my hand to him. "It's actually really simple after you get the hang of it." 

Chris let out another loud and resigned sigh, before grabbing onto my arm, allowing me to slowly pull him up. Surprisingly, he was not as heavy as I'd expected even though he already looked as skinny as a bean pole. 

"Wow, you're really light. What's your weight?" I couldn't help but question him.

"Hundred and eighty pounds." 

"That's crazy! You're underweight! And, you're like, six-four isn't that right?" I sputtered in astonishment. That was extremely unhealthy to be underweight.