DISCLAIMER I don't own Lost Boys or any of the characters or anything like and in no way do I profit from this story.
There was a light snow on the ground. Heavy enough that it stuck to the frozen blades of grass, but light enough that the greenery still protruded out. It was bitterly cold out, everything seemed frozen. Even the air was heavy with ice and cold and seemed to weigh down on every inhalation taken by those brave enough to go outside.
Two of those brave souls were Alan and Jane.
The week hadn't been good to Alan. Alan had been gone from early morning to late night-or early morning-fighting vampires with Edgar and Sam. The physical toll was enough on him, but there was something about constantly killing things that also took an emotional toll. And a heavy mental toll as well. Not to mention working overtime in the comic store in order to make the few sales they could. Comics had become a thing of the past. For kids, they were the boring introduction of a video game that you skip over. For adults, they were useless unless they were bought to be sold or collected. And the people in Santa Carla didn't have the finances to be collectors, much to the Frog Brothers' disappointment. While this week was no different from any other week for Alan, it had the addition of being the week before Christmas, so the pressure to buy gifts (and gifts of quality) was on and at full blast.
Since Alan had a violent streak in him that seemed to come out with stress, so Jane had decided they should go for a walk so he could clear his mind. So after he came home for lunch, they'd gone for a walk in the park.
The snowfall was light, almost like rain, as it bounced off of Jane's red snow jacket. Her long blonde hair whipped around her face, caught in the winter breeze. She was freezing cold and was pretty sure her blood was hardening with every step she took, yet she was determined to make this walk with Alan. She wanted to show she was there for him, even if it cost her a few fingers to frost bite. He was worth the loss.
She turned her head slightly so she could look up at him. His mouth was still set in that stern, solemn line, the same one he wore at work, or when he hunted vampires, or when his brother was being a smart ass with him and was getting under his skin. The grim expression was not helped by his long, black leather duster. Alan looked like a sexy, teenage version of Death.
Jane slowly, cautiously, unfolded her arms from her chest and immediately stiffened as a gust of wind pushed against her. Holy shit, it was freezing. Jane squeezed her eyes shut and bravely reached down, gently intertwining her fingers with his.
His response was to give a gentle squeeze to her hand, but keep looking ahead, his mouth still set in a grim line, still solemn.
"It'll be okay," Jane said softly, in an attempt to break his sadness and draw forth happiness-well, not happiness. Alan was never really happy. But maybe a smirk, or at the very least serenity. She smiled at him, looking up the whole seven inches that he was taller than her and looking into his eyes. "It'll be all right."
Alan looked at her, squeezed her hand one more time, and looked ahead again. "I suppose," he offered gruffly, yet practically. Jane could not possibly imagine the level of stress that his jobs involved, whether the stress was financial or even literal life or death. And then on top of work, he had her to worry about, what with her psycho ex-boyfriends always popping in and out of their lives. "There's just…so much shit going on. All the fucking time."
Jane nodded, looking down again at the dusting of snow that coated the sidewalk. Hand holding wasn't cutting it, and this walk just seemed to be brooding time and not thinking-moving-on kind of time. Jane sighed; she just wanted to make him feel better, hopefully even smile. Maybe she could embarrass herself, like slip in a cartoonish way or do a little happy dance or something. Lifting her gaze, she noted a patch of ice on the sidewalk not too far ahead of them. In the next step she took, the idea hit her on how to cheer him up.
She smiled and pulled on his hand, walking a little ahead of him. "Alan, Alan, look! There's an ice patch!" she said happily, walking towards it.
"And?" Alan responded after a pause, reluctantly following behind her.
Jane smiled, stepping onto the patch of ice gingerly. "I used to ice skate," she said, gracefully and slowly using one foot to push herself forward and spinning herself in a circle. She looked at Alan and smiled, holding out her hand. "Want to spin with me?"
Alan scoffed at the idea, laughing slightly as he looked at his girlfriend. "Jane…come on…no."
Jane was happy to see him kind of smiling, but persisted. She reached out her hand a little further, still smiling. "Come on, baby. It'll be fun," she said softly, turning on all the charm she had.
Still smirking, he rolled his eyes, putting his hands in his pockets. Alan was a serious vampire hunter. He didn't dance. He didn't ice skate. Jane was bringing out the human characteristics in him, but it was a gradual process. "No, Jane. Now get off of that thing before you hurt yourself." He said, the protector in him coming through.
Jane shook her head and smiled. "No, Alan," she laughed softly. "It'll be fun, Alan. I won't let you fall or anything."
Alan was going to protest-he was. He really was going to be his usual stern self and tell Jane to get off the fucking patch of ice. But he couldn't. Something stopped him from putting her in her place, which is what he did with everyone else. He assumed what stopped him was her smile, possibly some odd desire to ice skate with her.
He was gonna go with it was her smile.
"This is so stupid," he said, slowly stepping onto the ice. It was probably going to crack right under him. "I'm going to look like such a jackass."
"Stop it," Jane said with a small chuckle, taking both of his hands. "You'll be fine."
"Right, right…" he said with a sigh. "Now…how exactly are we spinning?"
"Well," she said, smiling happily at him. "We can't really do much else besides walk-slash-slide in a circle."
"So basically try to not fall on my ass?"
She smiled up at him. "Precisely."
Jane had only begun to slide along the ice when Alan shook his head. He was going to fall or trip, probably end up knocking her over with his luck. "Jane, I don't really think I can do this," he said, letting go of her hands and taking a step back. His heel caught on the ice and his leg responded by trying to fly forward, slamming him into the sidewalk, back first.
He was positive he'd paralyzed himself from the waist down. Merry Christmas. He was now Tiny Tim. …okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but still, slamming into the cement could not have done him any good.
"Alan!" Jane yelled, her voice a combination of laughter and concern as she looked down at him. "Oh, Alan! I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have made you get on the stupid ice patch!" She started to slide over to help him up, she owed him that after causing him to fall on his back like that, when her feet decided to take to different paths-one still gliding forward as the other ran along a crevice going to the right. She fell forward, right on top of Alan.
It took her a few seconds to catch her breath, her little puffs of steam almost seemed endless as she laid on top of him, trying to regain her composure. Eventually, she looked at him, her mouth forming a perfect, embarrassed little "o" and she earnestly began her apology. "I am so, so…sorry."
"It's fine, baby," he said calmly. And it was fine. Alan was sort of…content. I mean, his spine had to be in knots at this point and he still had the stress of work and Christmas ahead of him, but all those things could wait.
Jane arched her eyebrow in confusion. Alan was being eerily and uncharacteristically calm. "Are-are you sure? I mean, we can get home and look at your back or something."
"No, no…" he said, looking at her. "I'm really fine." He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her, all he really wanted to do. She calmed him down. She made him happy. She was all he needed right now, and it took a fall on his spine to realize it. "Let's just…wait here awhile. It's nice here."
Jane gave a small smile as she looked at him, the snow finally stopping. She leaned in and kissed him gently. "I love you, baby. And I really am sorry."
"I love you too," he said quietly, smiling back at her, gently rubbing her lower back with his hand. "I was just happy I was already down here to catch you."
She laughed gently. "Well, you could look at it that way, I guess." She closed her eyes and rested her head on his chest. "I'm very lucky to have you, Alan."
Alan remained silent, just continuing to stroke her back and hold her and just enjoy the serenity he felt at that moment. Ironically, she would never know how lucky he was to have her.