Hughie wasn’t sure how they convinced him to do this. Ice skating sounded like a nice date idea, in theory -- but the second he realized he had to walk on blades, he started to question it. He knew he was foolish for ever agreeing to do this. It was a death wish.

He stood at the railing, holding on tight, along with a few small children feeling a similar way. He swallowed as he looked out into the center of the ring. And there, as expected, his partner.

They were beautiful. They weren’t good at it -- in fact, they fell quite a few times -- but they still looked so beautiful. Getting back up, dusting themself off, laughing and moving again. He felt an admiration building in his chest. He wished he had a modicum of their confidence.

He could handle this. He’d just wait it out on the sidelines. Then they could do something safe, like drink hot cocoa and walk through the lights of the park. He kept his eyes on them. And for a moment, he didn’t feel so afraid.