Riddles on Napkins // E.Nygma

Chapter 22

"Ice skating? I've never been, are you sure you don't want to just stay at home?" He offered.

"You've never been ice skating? What do you mean? Now we have to go! I'm pretty sure there's one just on the outskirts of Gotham." I begin to drive in the direction I remember seeing on the internet a while ago.

"Are you sure?" I held his hand with the one I wasn't steering with and gave it a squeeze.

"You are going to love it I promise," I assured him and he looked slightly less terrified.

We got to the ice skating rink in less than an hour, which wasn't too bad considering how far you had to travel to find anything decent in Gotham. It was a fairly large rink, the rails going around in a massive circle and people skating in the center of it. I parked the car and got out as fast as I could, eager to get on the ice. Ed was more hesitant than I was, not sure whether he really wanted to do it.

"C'mon Eddie! it'll be fun." I took his hand in mine and playfully dragged him to where we had to pay for skate hire, I paid for the both of us much to his dismay and we collected our ice skates. I laced mine up and stood on them, taking a second to gain my balance while I waited for Edward to finish getting his skates on.

"I'm not sure if I want to do this." He states hesitantly but I pull him up onto wobbly legs and I grip his arms to help keep him stable.

"Yes you do! I've been ice skating for as long as I can remember, you're in safe hands." He nodded slightly and I guided him to the rail of the ice, skating onto it gracefully.

Edward almost fell, his shoulder not still completely healed but I was quick to stop him. Steadying him and making sure we kept eye contact, he was terrified but too embarrassed to say anything so I took it slow.

"Alice, I don't think- Alice Oh my goodness Alice no!" He yelled and I held back a laugh. He had a death grip on my arms and his legs were shaking uncontrollably.

"Edward, hey look at me." His eyes met with mine. "Stop over calculating, I know you are thinking about every possible outcome but I need you to just look at me, I'm not going to let you stack it." He relaxed slightly, his grip never loosening but his posture starting to straighten. I kept eye contact with him and slowly began to skate backwards toward the middle of the rink.

"You have beautiful eyes." He comments, trying to take his mind off the situation I'd forced him into. We got to the middle of the rink and I let go of one of his hands but kept hold of the other to keep him stable he looked around with a sense of pride, not completely terrified.

"So do you." I replied, blushing lightly. "See look it isn't too hard right? You got to slide your feet one after the other." I showed him how to do it and with wobbly legs and his other arm waving wildly in an attempt to steady himself.

"Alice!" He calls out frantically and I giggled lightly before helping steady him again. I guided the both of us around until his posture changed completely, more confident and relaxed. He wasn't nearly as clumsy and he took my other hand, the two of us had made our way back to the center of the rink, the snowflakes drifting to rest on our noses. "You are truly an exquisite creature." He mumbles, bringing us closer together.

"I'm a creature?" I reply jokingly but he silences my laughs with his own lips pressing against mine. We pulled away from each other, the trails of our breath intertwining and fogging up Edward's glasses.

"I'm going to have to take these off." He pulls off his glasses and puts them in his pocket, looking back to me with a mischievous glint in his eyes. His freezing fingers graze my warm tinted cheeks as he holds my face in his hand, he leans a little too far forward and the two of us come crashing down onto the ice. He lands on top of me, propping himself up on his forearms as our clothes begin to soak.