I suppose this is quick update is to apologise for the mini cliffhanger, otherwise I could have quickly reverted back to my only getting around to updating once every 3 weeks. Anyhoo, urbandaily & lieutenantflynn, I thank you again for the reviews, muchos gracias.
Sharon crossed her arms across her chest and scowled at Flynn, who looked a tad too pleased with himself for her liking, "Please tell me you're not serious?" her voice took on a pleading note as she glanced back at the building looming in front of them.
"Nope. Come on, it'll be fun." He reached down and took hold of her wrist and half-dragged, half-led her up the stairs of the ice-skating rink, Sharon moaning the entire time. He grinned when he saw the line for tickets wasn't as long as he had been expecting.
"I don't know how to ice-skate, Andy!" she whined, coaxing another smirk from Flynn who pushed her to stand in front of him in the line, anchoring her in place with his hands on her shoulders.
"I thought you spend Christmas in Park City with the munchkins and your parents?" he asked her, gently making her shuffle forwards when the line moved. She tried to throw an annoyed look at him over her shoulder, her attempts hampered by him shuffling her forwards again and her stumbling when his foot caught hers.
He steadied her by quickly moving one hand to her waist, keeping the other securely at her shoulder to keep her from escaping. "Yeah, to ski, Andy, ski. I've never skated in my life!" she felt Flynn squeeze her shoulder as they reached the ticket booth and he asked for two.
"Don't worry about it, it's the basically the same concept as skiing." He told her, smiling at the girl behind the booth who was watching the scene with an amused smirk on her face.
Sharon scoffed and whirled around to glare evenly at him, "Are you kidding me? They're nothing alike!" she poked a finger into his chest to punctuate her words.
He tilted his head to the side to consider her words and then shrugged, "Yeah you're right, they're not." The girl behind the booth began to laugh, quickly covering it with a cough when Sharon's stormy face turned to pin her with a glare. Silently she handed over the tickets and gave Flynn his change.
Keeping his one hand firmly on her shoulder and the other on her waist, he steered her through the barriers and up to the ice-skate rental counter. Sharon grimaced and grudgingly gave her shoe size and handed her boots over for storage, taking the offered skates. Once Flynn had his, he led her over to an empty bench and sat, confidently slipping his feet into his skates and lacing them up with ease.
Once he finished, he noticed Sharon staring at the laces and buckles on hers as if they had come from Mars. Grinning at her confused expression, he moved to straddle the bench, "Give me your foot." He said simply, reaching down to pull her foot up onto the bench next to him. She complied and watched with interest as he pulled the laces taut, looping them through the holes and around the hooks and trying them off with a double knot before pulling the straps at the top tight and snapping the buckles closed.
He tapped her foot and motioned for the other one and repeated the process. When he had finished he let her set both feet on the floor, "How's that feel? Tight enough? Too tight?" he asked her as she looked anxiously at the skates.
Sharon experimentally wiggled her toes and shifted her foot slightly to make sure they felt secure. She gave Flynn an uneasy nod, "They feel fine." Flynn smiled his boyish smile and swung his leg back over the bench and got to his feet.
Sharon attempted the same and quickly fell back down to the bench. Flynn chuckled and walked closer to her, "Patience young grasshopper," he quipped and held his hands up in surrender when she attempted to kill him with a stare, "Try getting used to the feel of the blade first, otherwise you're just gonna fall flat on your ass."
She chewed on her lower lip and concentrated on feeling the width of the blade, shifting her foot from side to side. When she was confident she knew just how thin the blade was, she looked up at Flynn expectantly. Taking his cue, he held his hands out for her to grasp and gently, slowly pulled her to her feet, feeling her hands grip his tightly when she wobbled.
"You okay?" he asked her, watching as she shifted her weight until she got a decent footing and balance. When she nodded he moved back a few steps from her until he was far enough away that he could only just keep a hold on her hands. He saw Sharon's eyes shoot up to his nervously as he moved away, "Okay, now try walking over to me."
She worried her lower lip with her teeth and took a hesitant step forwards, gripping his hands impossibly tighter when she wobbled, "It's okay, I've got you." He told her in the most reassuring voice he could muster.
"Oh that makes me feel so much better." She grumbled just loud enough for him to hear. Apparently that small bit of reassurance did the trick because she carefully shuffled her way over to him, grinning triumphantly when she reached him.
"Great." She smiled at his light praise, "Now lets get you on the ice." It was his turn to smile when he saw her face fall, "don't worry, you'll be fine." He assured her has he slowly led her through the double doors out to the side of the rink, not once releasing her hand.
Sharon's eyes widened when she saw all the people already on the ice effortlessly gliding around the rink, some performing the occasional pirouette while a small group was gathered in the centre, unsteadily dancing to the pop music that was being piped into the room via strategically placed speakers.
Unconsciously she tightened her already iron-grip on Flynn's hand, he didn't even wince, just looked at her with a smooth smile and a twinkle in his eyes, "Hey it's okay, I won't let go." He told her as he stepped out onto the ice, holding his arms out to catch her as she unsteadily followed him, immediately slipping.
Flynn caught her and held her steadily upright, helping her regain her balance. She smiled tightly at him and he gently made her glide over to the wall, "Lesson number two. Get used to the feel of the ice." She looked up at questioningly so he clarified, "I'll keep a hold on you so you don't go anywhere, just shuffle your feet backwards and forwards."
She followed his instructions tentatively, slowly relaxing into it when she realised that he meant what he said. He wasn't going to let her go. "So is this the ice-skating crash course for dummies?" she asked him wryly, he chuckled, pleased that she wasn't so angry with him that she had lost her sense of humour.
"Somethin' like that." She rolled her eyes at his grin and focused her eyes back on her feet, concentrating with all her might on not slipping, and they hadn't even moved anywhere yet. "You ready to try some skating then?" he waited for her slow nod and gently pulled her closer to him.
"If I fall, I blame you." She told him firmly, loosening her grip on his hand just enough to interlace their fingers.
"Deal." She smiled up at him and let him ease them carefully out into the throng of other skaters. She kept her gaze firmly on the ice at her feet in an attempt at having more control over where her feet went. Flynn delicately put his fingers under her chin and forced her head up so she was looking straight forwards, "Lesson number three, don't look down." She nodded quickly, biting down the urge to look back at her feet, "And try not lean back either, otherwise you'll over balance and land flat on your ass, most likely taking me with you."
She felt one of her skates slide out from underneath her and squeaked in surprise when she landed with a thud. Flynn stopped beside her and held out his hands to help her up, "You okay? Hurt anywhere?" he asked her; concern etched into his chocolate brown eyes as he quickly inspected her.
"Nothing hurt but my pride, Andy." She glanced around quickly to see if anybody else had noticed her little spill, "Seems like there's a lot of ways this could end up with me on the ground." She said smirking slightly, brushing of her jeans and rejoining her fingers with Andy's.
They slowly set off again, moving in a wide circle with the rest of the skaters, "You'll get used to it." He told her confidently, taking hold of her arm when he felt her begin to slip again.
"Ha, yeah." She snorted as they dodged a little boy being helped back onto his feet by his parents, "How is it you know how to skate anyway? I can't imagine you get enough time away from Scooby and the Mystery Gang to come skating on a regular basis."
Flynn chuckled and shrugged, "What kind of New Yorker would I be I hadn't been skating in Central Park on occasion?" he answered her. He saw her shiver almost imperceptibly, "How about getting some hot chocolate?" he pointed at a vendor at the side of the rink.
Sharon smiled gratefully and nodded, anxious to get off the ice. They carefully navigated their way over to the edge of the rink and unsteadily climbed the small step. "Why don't you take a seat while I go get those drinks." He told her, motioning to the seats a few metres away from them. She shuffled slowly over to the seats and sighed heavily as she flopped onto the hard, uncomfortable plastic chair.
Flynn joined her a few minutes later and silently handed her a steaming polystyrene cup, "Thank you." She grasped the cup in her chilly hands and relished the feeling of the warmth spreading through her fingers. She saw Flynn grimace as he took a sip and warily sniffed her own. It didn't smell bad so she took a small sip, and immediately regretted it.
"Oh! That's terrible!" she spluttered, forcing herself to swallow the hot liquid. Flynn chuckled at the face she pulled and took the cup out of her. He walked awkwardly in his skates over to the bin and tossed the two drinks.
"I think a trip to Starbucks is needed." He said as he sat back in his seat. Sharon nodded her agreement and watched intently as a couple of the skaters on the rink moved to the centre and began practicing twirls.
"Why did you decide to bring me here, Andy?" she asked him, not taking her eyes off the other skaters.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw Flynn shrug his shoulders before he answered her, "Seemed like a good idea at the time." He told her nonchalantly.
"Well I'm glad you did." Flynn looked at her, his surprise clear on his face. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm actually having fun."
Flynn smiled at her admission and grinned widely, "Oh I won't don't worry. Wouldn't want to ruin your image would we?" Sharon smirked and shook her head. "Besides, I'm pretty sure people would never believe me if I told them I saw you having fun anyway, I think the concept of you and fun is alien to most people."
Sharon laughed and leaned against his shoulder, "Thanks, Flynn."
Flynn smiled his boyish smile and abruptly stood, "Hows about we go have some more fun then." She took hold of his offered hands and allowed him to pull her to her feet, liking the idea of getting back onto the ice with him. It definitely hadn't been what she had expected.