Witness

38| On the Ice

"You should be good now," Jax said, pulling me from my thoughts.

He offered me his hands, holding tight as he pulled me up off of the bench. My ankles tried to wobble, but were secured by the tight fit of the skate. I was grateful Jax redid them for me, or I was certain I would have fallen flat on my face.

"You good?" Jax asked, guiding me to the outer wall of the rink where I would wait for everyone else before stepping onto the ice.

I nodded, releasing his hands to grab the wall.

"They found me a pair, so I'll be right back," Jax said, excusing himself to go put his skates on.

I looked around, noting that it wasn't too busy, but we were far from being alone too. It made me feel a little uneasy being this exposed away from campus, if I was being totally honest.

Still, I was excited to be here, and I tried to push these uneasy thoughts aside. This was such a normal thing that normal people did. I wanted to be as carefree as the couple who were holding hands and skating circles around the rink; I wanted to be smiling ear to ear like the mom who watched her children skate around each other; and I wanted to feel as safe as the little boy who was being held from behind as his dad skated along with him.

"Ready?" Hannah asked, materializing beside me.

I nodded, "Absolutely! It looks fun."

She was first to step onto the ice, pushing away from the wall with ease. It didn't look too hard; she didn't look unstable at all.

Blake was next, shooting me a smile as he followed Hannah out. Blake was tall, and he looked a little bit wobbly, but he otherwise remained upright as he kicked off to join Hannah. Seemed like everyone could skate just fine.

I didn't want to wait for Jax as I eased myself onto the ice. However, I should have tested the feel of it a little bit more before letting go of the wall, because the second I kicked off, my knees wobbled, my toe-pic dug into the ice, and I was sent sprawling onto my stomach with a thud. That sure didn't take long.

"Are you okay?!" Hannah called from a little ways away, a huge smile on her face as she began skating back to me.

I waved her off. "I'm fine! Just getting used to it!"

Blake and Hannah snickered at me as I rolled over, pushing myself onto my knees before attempting to stand up. Unfortunately, my skates slipped out from under me again, and I fell backwards onto my ass.

"Need a hand?" Jax asked, gliding up to me with a surprising amount of grace.

"Yes," I admitted, reaching out my hands to him. I was sure there was some sort of technique to getting up once you've fallen down, but I sure as hell didn't know it.

He reached down, grabbing my arms and all but lifting me onto my feet. My knees locked and I stood completely still as I regained my balance. I stole a glance at Jax's handsome face, which looked as though it was trying to hide a smile while his eyes shined with amusement.

"Come on," he said, giving me a little tug.

I tightened my grip on his hands, "Don't! I'm scared to move."

"Here," he chuckled, moving his arms so that his hands were gripping at my elbows, and my arms rested on top of his. "I won't let you fall again- just start shuffling your feet."

I nodded, not even moving as I let Jax do the work of pulling me. He barely even needed to lift his feet as he moved backwards, leading us in a circle around the rink. I was squeezing his arms so tight I was almost nervous he would bruise.

"Why are you good at this?" I asked, hanging tight to his corded forearms while he guiding me along. I finally started to work up the nerve to lift my feet a little the longer we moved.

"I'm good at everything," he smirked.

I shook my head, regretting it as I wobbled, only to be steadied by his strong hold on me. "Yes, but you're large and bulky! You're not supposed to have the grace and talent of a figure skater."

He chuckled, cocking an eyebrow at me. "You're forgetting about hockey players, which I happened to be all throughout high school and some of college."

"Of course you did," I huffed. I was supposed to be laughing at him today, not the other way around. This was surprisingly hard to catch on to.

"How's it going guys?" Blake asked, falling into stride beside Jax and I.

"It's great," I said, my voice thick with sarcasm. "look how fast I am!"

Blake chuckled. "You're doing good, Sky. You'll get the hang of it, it just takes some warming up."

"Where's Hannah?" I asked, moving my own feet a little more now.

"Over there," he said, pointing to where Hannah was spinning in rapid circles towards the middle of the rink.

"Well damn," I said, "she didn't tell me she was so good. Kind of hot, isn't it Blake?"

"Hm?" He said, his eyes still watching Hannah.

"That's definitely a yes," Jax chuckled, low enough for only me to hear.

Blake skated off to join Hannah, and I let Jax pull me for a little while longer until I got up the nerve to move on my own. Well, sort of anyway. We shifted so that I was skating against the wall, while Jax supported me on my left side, holding my hand in his.

It was going well. I really felt like I was starting to get the hang of it, and I was even starting to keep up with Hannah and Blake whenever they decided to join us.

After a little longer, I let go of Jax, skating independently beside him. "Look!" I said, "I got it!"

"You're truly amazing," Jax praised, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

I was about to respond when one of the children I had been watching before began skating towards us, faster than I was comfortable with. I locked eyes with him as he picked up speed, barreling right at me. My eyes widened. What was he doing?

The little shit skated right up to me, coming to an abrupt stop that sprayed ice dust up at me before making a sharp turn in the opposite direction. I was so startled that my stride faltered, and I fell backwards, knocking into Jax who was able to grip me around my waist to steady me.

He moved us forward, never breaking his stride as he supported my weight by my underarms. I kicked around, my skates struggling to find the ice beneath me while he slowed his pace. I could see the kid laughing hysterically as he skated back to his friends.

Jax slowed down enough for me to regain my footing, keeping his hold on me until I was completely upright. We both came to a stop against the far wall of the rink. I grabbed hold for balance.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Oh my god," I complained, "What a little turd! Did you see that!?"

"Of course I saw it," he smirked, "I'm the one who caught you."

"Stupid kid. I was finally getting the hang of it, too." The mysterious breeze whipped around my face and I shuttered.

"Cold?" Jax asked.

I nodded. It was very cold, and my feet were starting to feel sore, yet numb at the toes. "Yeah. I think I'm done skating for today."

"Okay," he said, "let's go get some hot chocolate."

I smiled, releasing the wall to grip tightly to his muscular arm. "Okay; pull me back!"