Olivia takes Amanda to winter date night at the Central Park ice rink.
Written for hargitayisbae1989 on tumblr, as requested. Hope you enjoy!
Thank you to my lovely beta, Mina.
And like always, I have no rights to the show.
"Where are, you taking me?"
The brunette chuckled, amused at the blonde's complaint as it pierced through the silence. She knew the blonde was never one to be patient. "You'll see."
The blonde grew more annoyed at the response and rolled her eyes. All she wanted was a little hint at where they were headed. "Fine." She grumbled, linking her arm with the taller brunette to keep them close together.
It was extremely cold, the freezing weather penetrating through to their bones even though they were bundled up in multiple layers of clothing and bulky winter coats. They walked down a path in Central Park, Christmas lights turning the park into their very own winter wonderland. The sky was clear and so dark that they could see their breath coming out in small, frost clouds as they exhaled.
They reached an ice rink, the absence of people allowing the floodlights to illuminate its' sheer size. It was just them underneath the lights that streamed above and around the rink in front of them. The privacy brought a glimmer to Amanda's eyes, and a soft smile to Olivia as she glanced at the blonde's expression.
"What's this?" Amanda asked, her tone soft but perplexed.
Olivia grasped Amanda's shoulders and guided her body to face hers, her brown eyes fixated on the blue ones staring back at her. It was difficult for her not to feel warm inside. It was something about those blue eyes; they did something to her.
She placed her hands on the petite woman's hips, gently bringing their bodies closer before wrapping her arms tight around the blonde's waist. Olivia grinned softly as she lowered her head to capture the sweet lips of her lover in a tender kiss.
She pulled back and beamed widely. "I'm taking you ice-skating!" she confessed in a tone that was a little too chipper.
She was excited to take her girlfriend ice-skating; it had been so long since she'd been inside that rink. The last time had been when she and Alex had come to try and start over, despite the fact that they both knew the romance and love was no longer there.
Amanda gently pulled away and chuckled. " Ice-skating?" She walked closer to the ramp, placing her hands on the wooden barricade as she stared out to the rink, slightly intimidated.
"Ah, babe, you know I've never ice-skated before."
Olivia wrapped her arms around Amanda's waist, the blonde's back lightly pressed up against her chest. She rested her head on Amanda's shoulder, turning to kiss her cheek. "I'll teach you." She whispered softly into her ear.
Amanda had a death grip on Olivia's arm, trying to keep her balance as Olivia led her onto the rink. She was sliding all over the place, terrified of falling, and her unusual clumsiness reminded Olivia of Bambi.
"Here, let's try this." Olivia removed her arm from its position around her girlfriend's waist.
Amanda's mouth dropped open as she became even more scared. "Wh-what are you doing? I'm going to fall!" She yelped, panicked.
Olivia laughed softly as she quickly placed herself in front of the blonde, intertwining their hands together, suppressing a wince as Amanda's death grip returned.
"I got you baby. Just follow me and stroke your feet back and forth."
"Oh, I'll stroke something alright." Amanda quickly replied, her eyes never leaving her feet. Olivia chuckled, although she hoped to get some of that "stroking" later in the night.
Olivia skated backwards, using their grip to lead Amanda and keep her from falling. It took a while, but Amanda slowly, and painfully, began to get the hang of ice-skating. Olivia couldn't help but chuckle to herself as she watched her girlfriend's skittish attempts to skate; she was so cute. She was even thinking of nicknaming her Bambi.
"Hey, I think I'm getting a hang out of this!" Amanda exclaimed.
Olivia shook her head and laughed softly. Not really, Bambi. she thought to herself. Out loud she tried to make herself sound reassuring. "Sort of... but you're still Bambi on the rink."
Amanda finally looked at her and raised an eyebrow, confusion written all over her face. "Bambi?"
"Yeah, like the Disney movie Bambi. You remember the scene where the baby deer is on the ice and is falling all over the place? That's you."
Amanda shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "Never seen it."
"What?" Olivia replied, shocked. "Well I guess I know what we're getting for our next movie night." She smiled playfully.
"Seriously? We're going to watch a Disney movie on movie night?" The blonde was amused at the thought of them curled up on the couch watching Bambi, because she knew she would definitely fall asleep halfway through.
"Yes."
Amanda rolled her eyes. "Fine."
Olivia suddenly let go of Amanda's hands and began to skate away from her, making circles around her with grace.
Amanda yelped at the loss of her crutch, her fears coming back immediately. "I'm going to fall!" Amanda yelled out as she watched Olivia tease her, skating around her once more before skating off at full speed and doing little tricks.
"That's what you get for rolling your eyes at me." Olivia yelled back teasingly as the space between them grew further.
After struggling for a few seconds, Amanda finally found her balance, standing tall on the ice as she watched her girlfriend skate around the rink with grace and confidence. She was mesmerized at the smooth and beautiful way Olivia skated around the rink.
This is what Amanda loved about Olivia, all her little secrets that would come out every now and then. The Christmas lights illuminated Olivia's beauty, highlighting her curves in a subtle way. Amanda smiled with pride at her girlfriend, who sped around the rink like she was a bird released from its cage. Her body slicing through the air, eyes closed as she skated without a care in the world.
After they were done skating, they ended up in a coffee shop a few blocks from Central Park. It was a quaint and small, with dim lights and a real wooden fireplace that kept the place nice and toasty. The shop gave off a cabin vibe, intensifying their closeness as Amanda and Olivia sat across from each other, each nursing a hot chocolate.
"So, where did the amazing Olivia Benson learn to skate like that?" Amanda asked before taking a sip of her peppermint hot chocolate.
Olivia looked up from her drink to gaze into the inquisitive blue eyes across from her, smiling sheepishly. "Well, when I was about seven my mom date this guy, Greg. He was a great guy. He helped my mom stay sober and treated me as if I was his daughter." She let out a small sigh before continuing. Amanda nodded at her, letting her know she could continue or stop if she wanted to. "He would take us ice skating every weekend during the winter. Before he moved here he lived in Canada, where he was a hockey player."
Amanda nodded her head. "He was the greatest guy my mom had ever dated. I really felt like he was going to be my father because of how well things were going. My mother never drank when she was with him, and she acted like a real mom. The house was clean, there were hot meals every night, and she even helped me with my homework sometimes. I felt loved. He brought out a happiness and sense of security in her."
"I was never as happy as I was during that time." She added.
A question popped up in Amanda's head, and she hesitated, but her curiosity got the best of her. "What happened?"
Olivia broke her gaze with Amanda and looked back down at the mug in front of her. The floodgate of memories she had suppressed opened, and she could feel tears building up.
"My mom started meeting with an old boyfriend. He was a junkie, and somehow sweet-talked his way back into my mother's life. She started drinking again, maybe even more than she had before Greg. He couldn't handle the drama that arose from her and her junkie ex." Olivia closed her eyes, the pain of that time invading her body. "So he left. I haven't seen or heard from him since. But I never blamed him for leaving."
Amanda placed a hand on top of Olivia's nudging it a little to get the brunette to look at her. After a few seconds, Olivia looked up and met her gaze. "I'm so sorry that happened to you." Amanda whispered.
Olivia shrugged her shoulders dismissively. "It's okay. It was a long time ago."
The blonde bit her bottom lip as a thought came to her. "How about this, every Sunday we can go to the ice rink and you teach me all the ballerina tricks you have up your sleeve."
Olivia chuckled. "You don't even like ice skating."
"No, but you do. And I want to do all the things you enjoy doing. And if ice skating happens to be one of them, I can learn to love it as much as I love you."
Olivia laughed at Amanda's last statement, pulling her hand away. "You're funny."
"I'm not going anywhere." Amanda stated in a serious but soft tone, reaching out to hold Olivia's hand again. "I love you."