note: i've only been ice skating once and it was like SO LONG AGO so i don't really know what i'm writing lmao. just kinda making it up at this point so like yAy!
Emma shook her head and turned towards the window. Paul was driving her somewhere "romantic" and refused to tell her where they were going, but surprise surprise! She hated surprises.
Emma groaned. "Just tell me." She said bluntly. "I fucking hate surprises, Paul."
"And I fucking hate musicals," he stated, not taking his eyes off the road. "but so far we've listened to the Hamilton soundtrack five times in a row."
Emma rolled her eyes. "Fine." She grumped, realising she wasn't getting anywhere with the conversation. The drive was dull and boring, and eventually she fell asleep in the car seat.
"Emma." Paul whispered, shaking her shoulders gently. "Emma, we're here."
"Mmh, what?" She asked, stirring awake and rubbing her eyes. She pulled at her seatbelt which was tightly wrapped around her.
Paul unclicked both their seat belts and grabbed her hand. "We're at the place!" He smiled.
Emma, being only half awake, yawned. "Where are we?"
They had parked right in front of their destination and as her eyes gazed up towards the name of the building, her energy picked up quite quickly. "Oh, you're fucking joking!" She cursed quietly.
Paul frowned. "Sorry, w-what?"
Emma blinked twice and quickly turned to him. "Shit, sorry. Not you. Just-" She sighed and looked up at the sign.
Of course the romantic place Paul had chosen just happened to be one of the last places Emma had been with her sister before her passing.
"This skate rink, I... Uh..." Emma's words fumbled and she sighed. "Jane used to take me here a lot, and I was never good at it."
Paul's eyes widened. His grasp on Emma's hand tightened. "Oh, geez, Em. I'm so sorry! I didn't know... We can just go out for lunch, if you'd like or-"
Emma cut him. "It's not your fault, Paul." She smiled sadly. "I don't want to disappoint you, so let's just do this quickly, alright?"
Paul smiled at her softly. "You're brave." He said warmly.
Emma whacked his hand but smiled. "You're a nerd." She said, before getting out the car quickly.
Emma zoned out while Paul organised the stuff inside. She stared around at the kids on the ice, the lines of ice skates on the wall and the snack bar where her and Jane would always get ice creams together.
Paul's voice brought her back into her senses. "Em, here." He said, handing her a pair of ice skates.
She grabbed them gingerly and took a seat on a bench that was furthest away from the skate rink. Emma was clearly not happy about being there, and it started to rub off on her boyfriend. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him throw on his skates quickly and her eyes widened.
"Paul!" She said frantically.
"What?" He asked absentmindedly.
"Your hand!" She hissed, and pointed to his hand. Blood dripped down from two of his fingers from when he was tugging on the skates, he must've cut it on the blade.
"Oh, shoot." Paul whispered, starting to feel faint. "Emma, I-I can't do blood..." He felt like a baby, but he knew if he didn't look away soon he would pass out and possibly hurt himself more.
Emma could sense that Paul wasn't going to be able to take it well, so she grabbed her jumper and tied it around his hand. "Squeeze it hard, if you can." She ordered. "Keep pressure on it. I'll go see if there's some bandages." Emma stood up quickly, before placing a quick kiss on his head. "Stay here, okay?"
Paul tried to smile at her, but the thought of his blood on the floor made his head spin so he had to close his eyes.
Emma returned with a young man seconds later, who helped Paul with his hand. Only ten minutes later, the mess of his blood was gone and his hand was wrapped up in a bandage.
"He'll need to go to the emergency room for stitches." The man had said to Emma.
Emma felt her heart tighten and sighed. She hated hospitals, but she loved Paul. "Okay. Sorry for the troubles." She added.
"Happens all the time, actually. You'd best be off, good luck."
Emma thanked the man and joined Paul, sitting down next to him.
"Paul," Emma said gently, her head on his shoulder. "That guy said you're gonna need stitches. We should probably go to the hospital."
Paul sighed and rubbed his temples with his free hand. "Okay." He said quietly, embarrassed with what he had done.
Emma smiled at him and kissed his cheek. "You're brave." She smirked, repeating his words from earlier.
Paul smiled at her softly. "I love you."
"Love you more, stupid. Now come on, I'll help you get these skates off, then we'll go." Emma said, already starting to untie the laces.
"I don't think we'll come back here." Paul said.
"Sounds pretty damn good to me, Paul."
