Mitch's P.O.V.
Preston pouted, his hand finding mine under the table where we were sitting. He was annoyed, the waiter had been flirting with him the entire time we had been there and he had been getting a little annoyed because he had been trying to make it obvious that I was his boyfriend.
"Forget it Pressy, it's fine." I said in a hushed voice, feeling him squeeze on my hand. He swung it back and forth as we walked along the road, his coat over his shoulder and his phone and wallet in his back pocket.
I had a bag in my hand which contained my ice skates, black beauties which I had had for only a few months, which replaced my last pair that I used so much that the ankles had caved in and no long supported my feet.
I skated a lot and knew a lot about it, and although I didn't compete, I would like to think that I was pretty good at it. Preston on the other hand, had pretty much never skated in his life and the one time he did go he was clinging to the wall and falling on his butt.
Our breath turned to steam the minute we stepped foot into the building and Preston's eyes lit up, deliberately blowing so the air around his head filled with white mist. We headed to the skate hire and I was greeted by Chris, a coach, who was behind the counter.
"Heya Mitch, finally brought your boy to meet the team?" I shrugged, giving him Preston's shoe size.
"Kind of, I'm getting him on the ice for the first time today so just be prepared for him to fall over a lot." I grinned at Preston, he knew I didn't mean it harshly but he also knew it was probably true.
"I'll have the first aid kit ready." Chris stated, jokingly, handing the blue pair of skates over to me. They were hire skates, old and battered and made of plastic rather than leather like professional skates, but they were in decent condition.
The two of us sat down on a bench by the rink and I pulled my skates on, pulling the laces as tight as I could. Preston followed in my examples, pulling his skates on and lacing them up with a little bit of my help when he got tangled.
"Ready Pressy?" He nodded, biting down on his lip nervously. He was clearly unsure about skating, he didn't have the best balance or confidence in himself but I knew he could do it, he just needed some reassurance.
"Yeah, I-" He stumbled over his words. "I guess."
"You'll be okay, it just takes a bit of time to get used to." He nodded and slowly, shakily, he stepped onto the ice beside me. I was confident, able to skate backwards and hold onto his hands at the same time, allowing him to cling to me as he took uneasy steps.
"That's it." I praised. "There you go, you've got it."
He was clinging to me tightly, his knuckles white and his face pale from fear but also flushed red from the cold. I placed one hand on his waist and held his hand with the other, stepping slowly along the rink so he could get his balance.
It didn't take long, maybe 10 minutes tops, before other people started getting on the ice alongside us. It was a public session so there was quite a few children with their parents, but, unfortunately, there were also a fair amount of speed skaters, there to keep their fitness up.
Preston was fairly nervous around them, pressing himself into my chest and clinging to my hands even tighter, and I expressed my opinion of them by glaring at them every time they passed us.
Slowly, he started to improve. After about half an hour he was able to lift his feet from the ground and push on his own, although he was still clinging to my hands and refusing to let go, but I didn't mind. It was nice to see the improvement.
A few times he actually let go of my hands, carefully keeping his balance and wobbling back and forth, but he was grinning happily. I smiled at him, whispering encouraging words into his ear.
Only a few minutes before we were planning to get off Preston pushed himself away from me and was pushing gingerly, and a speed skater rocketed past the two of us. Even I almost fell over, scrambling to keep my balance as he sped around the rink.
I heard Preston shriek behind me and I turned to see him stumble right into the skater, his head cracking hard against the ice. Both of them collapsed but the speed skater landed on his butt, sitting up looking shocked and scared.
Preston didn't move, his eyes closed, lying on top of the other skater.
"Preston!" I yelled, falling to his side. The other skater scrambled out of the way as I rolled Preston onto his back, a bruise already forming on his forehead. "Oh no, oh no, shit, shit, shit, shit! Preston!"
It wasn't long before Chris was on the ice along with some others, ushering people off the ice and helping the skater back onto his feet. He was uninjured but in shock.
"Mitch- shit, okay- ughhhh" Chris fumbled for a second, trying to gather his thoughts. "There's been an ambulance called, we need to get him off the ice and into the first aid room."
I nodded shakily and gently scooped him up into my arms, his head flopping against my chest and his body dangling limply in my arms. I carried him into the first aid room and lay him on the bed, stumbling back into a seat as my legs gave out underneath me.
Chris looked him over.
"He'll be okay Mitch as soon as he wakes up, the hospital is just to make sure, okay?" He was trying to reassure me, and slowly, I nodded.
"Okay. It'll be okay."
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"Just a concussion, he's uninjured otherwise but you should just look out for him over the next few days and bring him back in if it gets any worse." I nodded, ruffling Preston's hair gently.
He groaned and wrinkled his nose, pressing his head into my chest. The both of us were sitting on his hospital bed and he had just been given the all clear, but he was sitting with his head on my lap and his hand in mine.
"Come on Pressy, let's go home."
He had been in hospital only a few hours, he had awoken on the ambulance ride to the hospital and after a few scans it was determined that he had been very lucky, no bad damage. He had only ended up with a concussion and a bad attitude, because he wasn't impressed with the headache he ended up with.
The ride home was silent, Preston didn't want any noise and I respected that, letting him rest his head against the cool window and close his eyes. I drove slowly, tired and little bit annoyed. I had honestly wanted to curse out the skater that had knocked my boyfriend over but I couldn't, shock setting in before I could beat him up.
"Pressy?" He looked up as we drove in the driveway, his eyes slipping shut every few seconds. The bruise on his forehead was bigger than ever before, turning purple, blue, green and yellow. It looked painful.
"Yeah?" He croaked.
"Come on, let's get you upstairs. You're tired, exhausted and sore, and you're grumpy as well. Maybe some sleep will sort the attitude." He smiled shyly, letting me take his hand and pull him up the stairs. He stumbled a little but I got him up to his bed without any trouble.
"Do you wanna sleep now?" He nodded, making grabby hands at me to make me lie down beside me. I did as he asked, crawling into the bed beside him and wrapping my arms around his waist. "Do you feel okay?"
"Yeah." He whispered. "I'm okay. Just a little sore."
"That's good." I whispered back, feeling his lips on my neck. "Just promise me you won't fall again?"
"It wasn't my fault though!" He pouted.
"I know, I know."
"Okay, I promise."
