Day 5: Oval

The ideal was easy to picture: a festive outdoor ice rink, classic holiday carols in the air, twinkle lights in the trees and hot cocoa for sale to warm up chilled fingers. Graceful skaters would travel around the oval in a synchronized swirl of movement so perfect it almost seemed choreographed. Yes, the ideal ice skating date was very easy for Kurt to picture.

The reality, however, as is often the case, was quite another story. While the rink was nicely decorated, the sound system was a bit antiquated, making the music rather tinny and sometimes difficult to hear over the crowd noise. The crowd, for that was the only word to accurately describe the massive crush of people on the ice, was pleasant enough, but far too numerous for Kurt's liking, and there were more than a few rambunctious pre-teen boys with hockey skates that gave him some trepidation. The horde didn't exactly glide gracefully around the rink – there were far too many of them for that. It was more like they circled around in unison like a pack. Heaven help anyone who fell or lagged behind.

Looking out over this less-than-ideal scene, Kurt sighed. It wasn't at all the way he had planned. This was his first date since his boyfriend broke up with him months ago. Rachel had pestered him until he had finally given in and agreed to be set up on a blind date with one of her classmates. Anxious about this being a first date, this being his first date since him, and it being a date with a complete stranger, Kurt had thrown himself into focusing on the details of the activity instead. The shortcomings of the setting were not promising. Vowing to remain optimistic, he went to the rental booth, got a pair of skates, and marched resolutely to a bench to put them on and wait for his date.

xoxoxo

Blaine couldn't help but wonder about the cute guy sitting on the bench. He'd come to Blaine's booth half an hour ago. After donning his skates, he stayed seated on the bench. It was a busy night and Blaine did have customers to take care of, but he kept sneaking glances over to the bench whenever he could. The man hadn't moved, except to check his cell phone and look around expectantly every few minutes. Clearly, he was waiting for someone, but who? A friend? A date? Whoever it was, Blaine thought it was a sin to keep someone that attractive waiting.

Another half an hour passed, and the rink was closing for the night. Blaine was busy with a flurry of returns as the everyone left the ice. He was about to close up the booth when he caught sight of the same cute guy, still sitting on the same bench where he'd been for at least an hour now. He sat motionless, staring at the toes of his skates with his head down and his shoulders slumped. It occurred to Blaine that the poor man must have been stood up. He looked so dejected that Blaine couldn't stand it. He grabbed a pair of skates and exited the booth, hoping he was about to do the right thing.

xoxoxo

Kurt was startled when two skate-clad feet appeared in front of him, nearly touching the toes of the skates he'd been staring at for who knew how long. Looking up, he found a man smiling down at him kindly. It took a moment for him to remember where he'd seen the face before.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You probably want these back," he apologized, glancing around and realizing that everyone else was gone. The rink must have closed and he didn't even realize it, so the rental clerk had come to ask him to return his skates and leave. Kurt bent forward to begin untying the laces, but was stopped by a light touch on his shoulder.

"Not yet," the man said. He straightened up, glancing over his shoulder at the rink behind him. "I always like to take a little spin at the end of the night," he declared, hoping the other man couldn't tell he was fibbing. "It's nice when it's not so crowded, you know?"

He turned back to the lone skater. "Care to join me, um…" he trailed off, fishing for a name.

"Kurt," he provided warily.

Blaine smiled. "My name's Blaine," he replied. Kurt didn't say anything more, so Blaine felt a bit more explanation was necessary. "You came all the way down here, got all laced up, and I'm guessing," he added, his voice softer, "that you were waiting for someone who chose not to take advantage of our fine facilities?"

Kurt huffed out a laugh. "If that's a fancy way to ask if the guy I was supposed to meet stood me up, the answer is yes."

Blaine shook his head in disbelief. "Well, then he clearly doesn't understand what he's missing."

Kurt leaned to look around Blaine towards the rink. "It's nice and all," he began, righting himself again, "but it's not like it's Rockefeller Center."

Blaine smiled again. "I wasn't talking about the rink." Holding out his gloved hand, he asked, "Shall we?"

xoxoxo

The ideal was easy to picture: a festive outdoor ice rink, classic holiday carols in the air, twinkle lights in the trees and hot cocoa for sale to warm up chilled fingers. Yes, the ideal ice skating date was easy for Kurt to picture. As he glided beside Blaine around the oval, delighting when Blaine linked their arms (for safety, he'd explained with a wink), Kurt decided that the reality was much better than the ideal.

A/N: I'm still trying, folks. Thanks for your patience.