What We Know | John Laurens x Reader

29. Breaking The Ice

Hey, guys! Now, I promised y'all some angst and I'm here to deliver! So, grab your tissues and be ready to cry! *sobs onto keyboard* Don't enjoy!

!!Warning!! (Mentions of suicide)
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Y/N's POV

"It's not that cold."

"You know, you keep saying that, yet I keep freezing." I pulled my coat tighter around my body and stuffed my hands into my pockets, trying to ignore the way that my teeth chattered while I walked.

"It feels great outside!" John beamed, brushing some snow off of his shirt.

We were walking out to a nearby lake behind Alex's house that was completely frozen over and it was 20 degrees outside.

Even worse, we were carrying some shabby looking ice skates in our hands. Needless to say, they didn't look anywhere near as safe or comfy as the ones in the future.

"I dunno, guys," Izze frowned, staring down at her skates with an uneasy look. "These look kind of... fragile."

"What are you talking about?!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Those are some of the safest skates in New York! Herc's dad made them!"

I wasn't very convinced. I shuffled through the snow, bumping into John with a smug smirk. "Where is Herc, anyways?"

"He's at a bar with Laff," he chuckled.

"And Alex?"

"Out with Eliza."

"Oooh!"

"Oooh indeed."

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at a small clearing with a frozen over pool of water and put on our skates.

Now, when John had suggested we go ice skating earlier, I'd been all for it. However, now that we were actually standing near the ice... not so much.

I leaned against one of the trees lining the clearing, a good distance away from the ice. I could feel tiny bits of snow landing on my hair.

"M-Maybe I should just stand over here," I said, trying not to hug the tree.

"Absolutely not!" John laughed, racing over to me and grabbing my hand to lead me to the ice.

I stifled a startled shriek as I felt my body move away from the safe and sturdy tree and get closer and closer to the frozen over lake.

I tried giving John my very best puppy dog eyes, but he just looked away with a determined look on his face before giving me a small 'encouraging' push.

The moment my skates hit the ice, I fell on my butt with a graceful 'Oof!' and glared up at John.

"Sorry!" He winced, helping me up with an apologetic kiss to the cheek.

He grabbed my hands and didn't let go this time, instead choosing to guide me slowly around the lake. We skated around like that for a while, holding hands as we inched across the ice.

It was actually kind of calming, once I got over the initial fear of the ice breaking beneath my feet. Eventually, I leaned my head against John's chest with a content smile.

I was only disturbed once when I heard Izze giggling at me from a couple feet away as she chanted '(insert ship name here)' under her breath. Naturally, I was forced to grab some of the snow that was piling up on my head and throw it at her and her accomplice.

After a while of skating with John, I finally gained enough confidence to try doing it on my own. I had a shaky start, but pretty soon, I was skating circles around my traitor of a sister.