Roughly 20 years ago

It was a cold winter afternoon, and Nicole and Richard were on a date together. Despite him never having done it before she had decided to take him ice skating.

"I'm not sure about this Nicole..." He replied worriedly as he put on his ice skates.

She smiled and placed her paw on his shoulder. "It's okay, you have nothing to worry about. I'll guide you through it all, you'll be fine." She assured him.

"Okay, I-I'll try..." He smiled as she took his paw and helped him up.

The two went onto the ice rink, and he almost immediately lost his balance and fell over.

She giggled and helped him back up. "It's okay, we'll take it slowly."

He slowly and cautiously began to walk again, trying his best to keep his balance, He slipped again and tried to hold on to her, but wasn't fast enough and fell over again.

"Almost had it!" He joked.

She laughed and helped him back up again, and held onto him as she tried to help him learn to skate.

This cycle of her trying to teach him and help him to skate, and him failing in various funny ways kept repeating for the next hour, with next to no progress being made.

A few times he managed to skate for a couple of seconds but found himself unable to stop and fell over again. Sometimes he accidentally pulled her over with him, causing them to land in a pile on the floor.

She even slipped and lost her balance herself multiple times, and even crashed right into Richard a couple of times, as she wasn't paying attention, but despite all of this Nicole was having the time of her life, laughing more and more each time.

Eventually, he fell over yet again, and this time fell right on top of her. Horrified he quickly rolled off her, blushing deeply as he was embarrassed about how bad he was at this.

He apologized profusely for not getting the hang of it and ruining their date, but to his confusion he looked down and noticed she was in tears of laughter, holding her chest as she was laughing so hard.

"It's...ahahahahahahaha...it's okay! Ahhahahahahaha!" She managed to say through her cries of laughter.

A smile began to form on his face as he began to chuckle, and eventually, this grew into a full-on laugh with her.

As he somewhat regained his composure he went to help her up, only to slip and fall on top of her again, causing them to break into another fit of laughter, even harder than their previous one.

Eventually, they regained their composure again and the two managed to get off of the ice rink, Nicole helping him off.

The two sat down on a nearby bench and began to remove their skates.

"I'm really sorry we didn't get to skate. I tried so hard but I just couldn't get the hang of it." He apologized to her, his ears lowering.

She smiled and held his paw. "It's okay, that doesn't matter. We came here to have a great time together and that's what we did."

"You're right, we had a great time." He helped her up with a smile.

She wiped her eyes and let out a happy sigh. "I honestly can't remember the last time I laughed that hard...god knows I needed it..."

He smiled. "Well, I'm really glad I helped cheer you up, and that I got to have a laugh with you. Even if it was unintentional..." He rubbed his arm embarrassed.

She took his paws. "It being unintentional made it even better. It reminded me how much of a silly, funny little goofball you are. And that's why I love you so much you."

He blushed at her compliment, making her giggle. "Awwww, come here you!" She leaned forward and kissed him, before rubbing her nose against his.

This made him blush even harder, as a goofy smile formed on his face. Suddenly, they were interrupted by his stomach rumbling.

She covered her mouth and giggled. "Someone's hungry..."

He rubbed his head. "Yeah, sorry..."

She grinned, "Alright you, after all of the hard work you've put in today, I think you deserve a treat. Come on!"

"Huh? Where are we going?!" He asked confused.

"Joyful burger, on me!" She turned and smiled at him.

Richard's face lit up excitedly. "Ooh, really!?"

She chuckled. "Yes, really! Come on!"

"YES!" He started running, dragging her along behind him out of the ice rink as she began to laugh. "Hahahahahahaha, slow down, slow down!"