Chapter II

''Are you sure you want to go out tonight?" Gwen fretted from her spot on the small settee in Anna's sitting room, as she waited for her to get ready. "Wouldn't you rather stay in and rest?''

''Gwen, I'm fine.'' Anna smiled. ''I took the pills the doctor prescribed and rested this afternoon.''

''Are you sure?'' Gwen repeated, even though she already knew what the answer would be. It was Saturday evening, just a few hours after the two of them had gotten back from the hospital. Gwen had assumed that they would have a quiet evening in, but Anna had invited her to join her, Ethel, and Daisy in the city centre for a drink. They had all been friends since secondary school, and had recently decided to spend at least one evening a month together, catching up or simply having fun like in the good old days.

''Yes, I'll be fine,'' Anna nodded, hoping her friend would believe her. The truth was that her cheek was killing her. Although she had taken her medication, half of her face was still in pain. She had gotten two stiches at the hospital and, despite the fact that the doctor had prescribed rest for her in addition to the pain medication, she was determined to meet with her friends as scheduled.

''OK.'' Gwen gave in reluctantly. ''But can you at least promise me that you'll tell me if you start feeling poorly?''

''I promise.'' Anna responded, examining herself in the mirror and trying her best to conceal the bruised skin visible around the edges of the bandage with some powder.

''I can't believe you still have this thing!'' Gwen stood up and walked to the guinea pig cage in the corner of the room ''It must be...what - a hundred years old already?'' She chuckled, tapping against the metal bars of the cage with her fingers, making little old Bruno look up from his food. ''Why the hell do you even still have it?''

''I have him because, back in secondary school, someone read an article about animal cruelty in some PETA magazine, went completely crazy, and stole all the rodents from our biology classroom, without any plan as to what to do with them afterward. That's why,'' Anna smirked.

''Ah, the good old days. I'll never forget Miss O'Brien's face when she found out that all her little friends were gone the next day.'' Gwen laughed.

''You were lucky, you know. You could have gotten into serious trouble, if they had found out it was you.''

''Why do you think I asked you of all people to hide them at your place? No one would have ever suspected you.'' Gwen chuckled, remembering how she had snuck three hamsters, four white mice, and Bruno into Anna's house, in her quest to save them from Miss O'Brien's crazy experiments. ''You should be proud of yourself - you saved eight innocent lives that night.''

''Nine, if I count yours.''

''True.'' Gwen giggled and walked over.

''How do I look?'' Anna asked, turning to face her. ''Can you tell...''

''...that a maniac threw an icy snow ball in your face?''

''Gwen...how many times must I tell you that it was an accident?'' Anna rolled her eyes.

''And how do you know that? You said yourself that he was throwing them directly at you, one after another, like a mad man.''

''Yes, but he…'' Anna began again, but stopped. If she continued defending the man, Gwen might get suspicious and start asking questions for which she did not have answers. ''Oh, never mind. Can we go?'' she added, buttoning her coat.

''Sure.'' Gwen walked past her toward the door. ''But believe me, if I ever set eyes on him again, I'll...I'll…'' She tried to think of some terrible punishment fitting his crime, but failed.

''Come on, Gwen - forget it and let's just go have fun.'' Anna laughed at her friend's stormy expression as she pulled her out the door.

xXx

The city centre was packed with people enjoying the festive holiday atmosphere, drinking tea and mulled wine, and it had taken a while before the four of them had found a small table by the ice skating rink in the middle of the city square. They'd spent almost two hours getting caught up on each other's news, especially curious about Gwen's latest adventure in Africa, until the cold had gotten to be too much for them and they'd decided to warm themselves up with a little exercise.

''Do I really have to?'' a slightly tipsy Gwen muttered, when Anna pushed a pair of ice skates into her hands.

''Yes, you do! Oh, don't give me that face...it will be fun!'' Anna laughed, as she tied the laces on her own skates.

''I knew I shouldn't have come back to England for Christmas,'' Gwen grumbled, making Anna laugh even harder. She had missed her grumpy best friend so much over the last few months, and knowing that Gwen was returning to Africa the day after Christmas, she had decided that they would enjoy the little time they had to the fullest.

''Here, let me help you.'' Anna offered, but Gwen was quicker. ''Just go on ahead, Anna. I know you're dying to get onto the ice. Don't let me stop you. Daisy here will help me, won't you!?'' she said, pulling Daisy into the seat next to her.

''Yes, of course,'' Daisy replied, and started helping Gwen with her skates. ''Anna, go on - we'll meet you in the middle of the rink in a few minutes.''

''Are you sure?''

''Yes. Go and see if you can find Ethel. God knows where she is or who she's with by now,'' Daisy said.

''OK, then.'' Anna nodded and walked to the rink entrance. Stepping onto the ice, she felt tiny butterflies in her stomach, as well as a feeling of relief and rightness. It felt wonderful to be back on the ice again. For years the ice had been home to her, and it still would have been, if only she hadn't fallen and damaged her knee so badly that her skating career had ended before it had gotten properly started. She had been fifteen years old when that terrible fall had happened, and it had taken her almost three years to make some peace with the fact she would never skate professionally, a dream she'd had since putting on her first pair of skates at the age of five. Now, years later, she was able to fully enjoy skating once again, with only the slightest tinge of regret from time to time.

Gliding around the rink a few times, she tried to spot Ethel, but her friend was nowhere to be found. Typical Ethel, she thought to herself - she had always been the wild one in the group. Nothing had been too crazy for her...wild parties every night, alcohol, boys...even sleeping with Dr. Spratt, her maths professor at uni. But Anna loved her regardless; she loved all of them. They had been there for her when she had needed them most, and…

''AAAAAaaaaahhh….'' A loud voice coming rapidly in her direction made her glance to her left just before someone barrelled into her, knocking her over.

She was used to getting pushed and falling in public rinks. People visited ice rinks just to have a bit of fun. Many of them were quite wobbly, and even more didn't know how to stop other than to run into something or someone. Anna took it all in stride, though. Perhaps it was due to her generally sunny nature, but she had long ago chosen to laugh rather than get upset every time someone lost their balance or accidentally bumped into her.

''Sorry!''

''Are you OK?'' she asked, sitting up and turning to the boy who had landed in a heap on top of her legs.

''I think so.'' The boy finally looked up and smiled.

''Oh, god!'' Anna covered her mouth when she saw he was missing his front teeth and had blood on his lips. ''Does it hurt?'' she asked in concern, helping him to stand up with her.

''Does what hurt?'' the boy grinned, happy that this vaguely familiar-looking lady wasn't yelling at him, as the last one he'd run into had.

''Your…your front teeth are missing!'' Anna knelt down to face him, surprised that he hadn't seemed to notice.

''Really?'' the boy asked a little too enthusiastically, quickly rubbing his finger over his bloody gums. ''Oh, wicked!'' he beamed, turning and skating away from Anna, yelling ''Uncle John! Uncle John, they're out! They finally fell out!''

Uncle John? Anna looked in the direction the boy was skating...and there he was - the man who, just a few hours ago, had hurt her cheek with an icy snowball and had tried to help her before Gwen had interrupted them...the man who, for some reason, had made her knees weak with a single look.

''Josh, what happened? Wh-…'' The man's voice brought her back to reality and she saw that both of them were skating in her direction.

''It's…it's you!'' the man exclaimed in surprise when he got closer to her, immediately forgetting about what had happened to Josh. His eyes sparkled and he gave her one of the warmest smiles she had ever seen. ''I mean…''

''I…I…'' she began, but couldn't put more words together. He was even more handsome than she had remembered.

''Hi…'' He just stood there, staring at her, until Josh tugged on his sleeve, reminding him that they were standing in the middle of the rink with dozens of people skating past them. ''Are you all right?'' he finally asked softly.

''Yes, don't worry about me. Is he OK?'' she responded shyly, and looked at the boy standing next to him with concern.

''Ummm…'' John forced himself to shift his gaze from her to his nephew. ''I think he is. Josh?''

''Yes, I'm great! The lady helped me lose my teeth. See?'' he said, opening his mouth so that Anna and John could see the big gap where his two front teeth had been. He flashed them a quick grin before skating away.

''Yes, I see.'' John laughed and looked back at Anna, who smiled, very pleased to have bumped into him again and yet also worried about the boy's teeth.

''Hey…are you sure you're all right?'' he asked again, and gently touched her shoulder. Suddenly Anna felt very warm.

''But his teeth…'' she began, wondering why nobody seemed to be concerned.

''It's OK.'' John replied. ''He's been trying to get them to fall out for days now. Believe me, you're his hero right now.'' He chuckled.

''Oh…'' She turned around to see whether she could spot Josh in the crowd moving around the rink. ''If you're sure...?''

''I am, don't worry.'' John nodded and once again focused on her, finding it hard to believe that she was really standing here in front of him, looking even more beautiful than she had a few hours earlier. But despite her lovely face, he could not miss the bandage covering her cheek, which reminded him of the circumstances of their earlier encounter and stirred up the feelings of guilt that he had been carrying with him ever since.

''I'm sorry about this morning,'' he said tentatively, leaning a little closer to her.

''What?'' She was finding it difficult to think about anything more than the fact that he was close enough that she could feel his body heat...or was she just imagining it?

''Your face…I hurt you…'' he began and automatically reached out, lightly running the backs of his fingers over the edge of the bandage. It should have felt strange - she didn't know him, after all - but for some reason it didn't. Staring directly into his eyes, she held her breath as he caressed her cheek.

''It was an accident. I'm fine now,'' she managed to get out. ''And I'm sorry about what my friend said.''

''Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?'' John whispered, surprising even himself with his boldness. He knew nothing about this young woman, yet something powerful seemed to be pulling them together.

''How about some mulled wine? I could use something to warm me up,'' she smiled, blushing, feeling like a teenager all of a sudden. Who was this fellow? And why was she feeling this way with someone she hadn't even met properly?!

''OK, it's a deal. Meet you at the mulled wine stall in five minutes? I need to get Josh.''

''Sure,'' she smiled. ''I'll see you there.''

''OK, see you in five.'' He grinned, and reluctantly forced himself to skate away from her in search of his nephew.

''Oh my god!'' Anna whispered to herself when he had gone. ''Oh god, oh god, oh god!'' She skated to the exit and quickly changed to her shoes. He was here - the cute guy from the park was here! And he was going to buy her a drink! Aaaaaaahhh!

Walking in the direction of the stall, feeling excited and curious both about the situation and about him, she was startled when all of sudden someone grabbed her hand, stopping her in her tracks.

''Anna! Thank god you're here!''

''Daisy? What's going on?'' Anna asked. ''Is everything OK?''

''No, I can't find Gwen! She said she was feeling ill, and I walked her to the toilets earlier, but now I can't find her and I have no idea where she is!'' she explained in a panic.

''Are you sure?''

''Yes! I need you to come help me find her!'' Daisy grabbed her hand again, but Anna didn't move, instead looking around quickly, in hopes of spotting Gwen…or John. She couldn't just leave without letting him know.

''Come on!'' Daisy repeated, raising her voice. ''Anna! We have to hurry!''

''Yes, I'm coming,'' Anna said, looking back toward the stall as her friend pulled her in the opposite direction, for the second time today walking away from something unknown that for some reason felt so very right.

beta: annambates! :D :D thank you! :D :D

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