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SEEING BLIND
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13| A Blind Boy Ice Skating.
Even though it was the middle of February, the 14th to be exact, snow had managed to cover every surface to be seen.
Annie was currently sat on the windowsill in her room, a hot chocolate in her hand as she watched the snow fall.
Thankfully, it was a snow day off of school, Annie wasn't sure what she had planned for the day just yet. She naturally woke up at 6:30am, as she does every day, and seeing the snow covering half of her window was a positive indicator for an entertaining day.
James, her chef, was going to be arriving at 7:00, so she decided to read for a little while to pass the time.
After a filling breakfast and some silly cartoons to start off her morning, Annie scrolled through her social media's with her bottom lip between her teeth. She hadn't realised it was Valentine's Day, her and Luke hadn't planned anything, but she wasn't sure how far into their relationship they were yet.
Ashton had posted a photo of him and Rosie kissing, Annie thought it was just adorable as the caption. Seeing this made Annie feel as lonely as ever, making her check the time to see if Luke would be up yet.
She realised she had a notification from Luke, a simple text asking what she was going to do with the day off today.
Annie:
Nothing :( but I
want to go out or
do something x
Luke:
Sounds like a
plan. When
should I pick you
up? X
Annie:
How about I
walk to yours
at ten? X
Luke:
Can't wait :)
Annie rushed to get changed into something warm, doing her make up naturally before tugging a thick cardigan on.
Trudging her way to Luke's, she knocked on his door with her glove covered hands, tucking her neck deeply into the scarf she buried it in.
Luke answered, smiling hopefully and praying it was Annie who knocked.
"Hello," She chimed, smiling widely as her inside fluttered. "How're you?" She questioned, licking her lips and instantly regretting it as the frost bit at the newfound warmth.
"Better now that you're here." Luke chuckled, reaching forward and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I got you something," he smiled, turning around and patting down the small table he had by the door.
Picking up the dark red roses, he passed them forward with a proud smirk on his lips, knowing girls loved getting flowers. "Technically my mum got them, but I paid for them and... yeah." He scratched the back of his neck, smirking widely as Annie took the flowers.
"You're not going to be very warm in that." Annie commented, seeing that he was just wearing a jumper and some jeans.
"Well, I didn't think we were going to go outside. It is snowing Y'know?" Luke chuckled, shivering slightly as a gust of wind blew through the door.
"I know but I'm taking you out, go get changed into something a bit warmer." Annie informed, blushing as she saw Luke smirk at her statement. She's never normally this confident around boys she liked, ignoring the fact she very rarely had a real crush, but with Luke she felt like she could do anything.
-
He decided on wearing his jumper and a coat, even after Annie said he might still be cold. She got Carla to drop them off at her secret destination, leaving Carla to take the flowers home and put them in a pretty vase in Annie's room.
"When are you going to tell me where we are?" Luke chuckled, squeezing the chilly girls hand and following through a gate.
"Right now... We are going ice skating!" Annie giggled, sitting Luke down on one of the many empty benches around the thick ice rink. She chuckled at his expression, wide eyes and jaw dropped with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Have you actually lost your mind? I think I'm concerned for you, have you hit your head?" Luke sputtered out, shaking his head violently and adjusting his glasses.
"Don't worry baby, I used to do ice skating for years, I'm practically an expert," Annie started, cupping Luke's cheeks and rubbing her thumb underneath his glasses, pecking his nose briefly. "I'll keep you safe, don't worry. And if you don't feel safe we can go home instantly I promise." She whispered, kissing him sweetly afterwards and hoping to calm his nerves.
At the sound of a pet name such as 'Baby' falling beautifully from Annie's lips, Luke had no way of declining her possibly life-threatening offer. Luke never really had an opinion on ice skating, it wasn't on his bucket list (like surfing or rock climbing) but he couldn't help but feel a little excited. Or maybe he was nervous, he was definitely nervous.
"O-ok, but you promise to go slow?" Luke asked, rubbing her side and resting his forehead on hers.
"Of course. Now, what size shoe are you?" She sat herself next to him, slipping her own shoes off and placing them under the bench. After strapping her own skates on and getting some for Luke from the small make-shift shop set up here over night.
Not too many people were on the ice, they probably stayed inside or went to the inside rink, which confused Annie immensely. Why wouldn't people want to be outside when the outcome would be the same if not better?
"Ok... are you ready?" Annie asked, linking their hands and walking together onto the ice. She made sure to keep him next to the wooden fence surrounding the lake, which was completely frozen over, to make sure Luke felt the extra safety of the barrier.
"mhm," he bit his lip in concentration, gripping onto the fence for dear life as he tried not to break Annie's fingers also. He took one step forward, not understanding the whole skating idea as his legs started to wobble. "Shit! Annie, Annie!"
Annie chuckled, encasing the hand which Luke kept on the fence with her own, stroking his gloved covered knuckles with her own. She kissed his forehead, placing her body in front of his to stop it from moving. "Hold my hands." She whispered, intertwining their fingers and squeezing lightly.
"You won't go fast right? You'll take it- take it slow?" Luke muttered, his head looking at the ground in hopes of calming himself. He hadn't realised how much of a douche he probably looking while wearing sunglasses in the late winter.
"I promise. I won't let anything happen to you. I wouldn't of brought you here if I thought you'd get hurt, ok?" Annie whispered, her head next to Luke's neck as she squeezed his hands once again.
He nodded, this feeling of vulnerability washing over him as he practically left his life in her hands. He trusted her with it 100%, but he felt as though he shouldn't. He shouldn't have to rely on this angel in front of him, he shouldn't ruin her life with the burdens of being his care giver.
Annie didn't think of any of this, she was too busy blushing over the extremely attractive boy in front of her, who was currently holding her hands. She kissed his nose, being so pleased to the fact that she could actually do that with him.
Luke took another step forward, and Annie realised he isn't the best at figuring things out for himself.
"Don't step, try and glide instead." She chuckled, allowing him to strongly grip onto her arm as he became unstable. Luke nodded his head, his tongue poking out in concentration as his right foot glided forward. Annie moved slightly to the side, copying his actions as he glided with his left foot also. "Yes!"
Luke's face lit up, the feeling of somebody being genuinely proud of him became abnormal after the accident. His parents were all but proud, mostly disappointed with his choices and never bothered to tell him anymore. What hurt Luke the most is when he would tell them something that he did which made himself feel good, made himself feel proud, but he only got a half-arsed mumble from the most important people in his life.
It really hurt him when they did that, and after the third time Luke decided it was probably best to just keep to himself, nobody cared anyway. But with Annie, he wanted to tell her everything. Not just yet though.
Luke was just a blind boy ice skating, but to Annie, this was the next step in him realising this isn't the end. She could never imagine the struggles he goes through, especially with the lack of friends he now has. It saddened Annie to know the people he used to call friends dropped him like a hot potato, just abandoning him for something out of his control.
"Did you want to do it again?" Annie asked, releasing one of Luke's hands and standing next to him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Luke was so relieved that she asked, instead of just skating away and causing his worry to topple out of him. "Yeah, just- at the same speed though please."
Gliding through the day, they decided four hours on the ice was probably enough. Not before Luke slowly, and carefully, spun Annie around, kissing her again and thanking her for the day they had shared.
Annie slipped his skates off for him, insisting she must due to not wanting him to cut his hand on the sharp blades. They got their shoes back on and made sure they were ready to leave before anything else.
"Since you took me ice skating, I think it's only fair I take you out to dinner." Luke casually spoke, placing his hand smoothly on the small of her back, rubbing his thumb over the thick fabric of her coat.
"Well, that does sound fair." Annie grinned, her stomach bubbling with excitement.
Her mind wondered, the memory of today being Valentine's Day rang in her head as thoughts clogged her mind.
Was Luke going to ask her to be his girlfriend?
The thought was ringing in her head as her hands grew clammy and her heart beat like a drill. What would she say? Of course it'd be a yes, she was already head of heels for him and they'd only known each other nearly two months.
Now she couldn't wait until they arrived, already picturing the adorable scene in her head; A crimson blush on both their cheeks as he asked the question, his hands shaking as he waited. She'd lean over the table and peck his lips, mumbling a simple 'yes' as his face lit up with happiness.
"Where did you want to go?" Luke asked, holding her hand as they started to walk in an unknown direction.
"Um, theirs a pizza place just down the street, what about there?" She asked, wanting to get to the food soon so she could finally eat. And finally say yes.
She shook the thoughts from her head, trying not to get too consumed in them as they walked into the shop, a cute bell chiming above them.
"Did you want pepperoni?" Annie asked, seeing that you had to go up and order instead of waitresses coming to you. He nodded his head, smiling widely at the girl as she left him alone for a few moments.
Luke slid into a booth, taking his beanie off and fixing his head quickly, hoping he looked good for her. Next he took of his gloves, rubbing his hands briefly and taking off the scarf he had been forced to wear by his mum.
"Back," Annie informed, sliding into the booth opposite him and biting her lip, seeing him presumably getting ready. "It should be here in about twenty minutes they said."
"Oh good, I'm starving." They we're passing time Annie thought, he was just waiting for the right time, too distracted to carry on a decent and entertaining conversation.
The pizza arrived, both of them silently eating along and humming at the delicious taste. Annie glanced up at him, watching as he removed his glasses and blinked a few times, placing the glasses in his shirt neckline.
She bit her lip, his eyes watching her, even if they weren't. She couldn't help but blush, the uncomfortable feeling of this staring settling in.
Maybe he was going to ask now. He was going to attempt to look her in the eyes as he asked, his hands crossing in front of him.
Annie kept looking at him, smiling when his hand started to reach towards her. He accidentally poked her forehead, before gently feeling that her hair was in two French plaits before moving his hands away.
"Thank you for today... I never would of done that. I wouldn't even do that when I could see." He chuckled, licking his lip as he wiped his greasy hands on his jeans. "And... Uh... well- thanks for um- for believing in me... to do that..."
Annie smiled even wider, her eyes feeling slightly watery as his own looked it. She felt this meant a lot more to him than just ice skating, something about nobody caring anymore.
It hurt her to know this is how he felt, he'd obviously thought about it quite often. He felt invisible to most people, but he was the only thing Annie could see.
"It's ok, I knew you could do it. If you ever want to do something like that again, I'll always be there to support you." She smiled, linking their fingers and kissing his knuckles.
She hoped this would confirm his debates inside his head, to get him to hopefully ask the question.
The word was on the tip of her tongue, ready to say and ready to kiss him. She just wanted to say it.
Yes, I will go out with you. I will be your girlfriend.
Then she didn't have to be confused by their relationship; constantly kissing and talking and sometimes getting turned on, but not actually being anything yet.
"Well," he started, Annie's heart racing as her hands started to sweat. She felt the booth starting to get tight and the ringing bell starting to get louder. This is what she's been waiting for, for days, weeks possibly.
He was going to say it, simple and easy in the smoothest way possible. No matter what he did, it was always with charm and that iconic smirk on his lips.
"Are you ready to go?" He finished, shrugging his clothes back on and exiting the booth, shoving his gloves back on and ready to leave.
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LOTTA LOVE
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