For crowleysxangel, hope you'll like it(:

In the middle of studying the screen of your phone lights up and you see your brother's best friend, Jake Virtanen, texting you. You roll your eyes and see what he has texted you.

From Virtanen 😏"Hey, Geek, how's studying goin'? Discovered something new already?"

With exasperated sigh, you unlock your phone and quickly text back: "Very funny, Virtanen. What do you want?"

From Virtanen 😏:"I am bored and your brother doesn't have time."

"Like you don't have other friends..."
From Virtanen 😏: "Nu-uh, distracting you while studying is much more interesting. ;)"
"Virtanen, I really don't have time."

From Virtanen 😏: "Go skating with me."

His message surprises you. Him and you never got along, so there was no surprise his invitation sounds really weird to you. You decide to ignore, after all, the boy is bored beyond believing and you are the first one to mess with. Ten minutes later, the screen of your phone lights up again as he sends you another message: "Hello? Are you dead? Why didn't you answer?"
"Because, Virtanen, I am busy."

From Virtanen 😏: "Oh, come on. You got scared of my text, admit it ;)."

Against your own will, you let out a loud snort and text back: "Scared? Of your message? Pleaseeee."

From Virtanen 😏: "Come on, go skating with me. On a pond."

"I don't think so. Goodbye now, Virtanen."

"Oh, Y/L/N, don't be so scared," he quickly responds and you can nearly see mischievous smile on his cheeks.

"Goddamn it, Virtanen! Fine, if that means you'll leave me alone to study."

From Virtanen 😏: "I promise I will!"

You smile at your phone and start studying again. Only then you remember you have one tiny problem. You never learnt to skate. Not that you didn't try, you were just not interested in trying, no matter your brother spent every spare second playing pond hockey with guys from the neighborhood. Some of them even grew up into professional players, including Jake Virtanen.

"When do you have time?" he texts you thirty minutes later and interrupts you again. You rub your forehead and answer: "Guess you won't stop...What about in fifteen minutes in front of your house?"

From Virtanen😏: "Sounds good to me. See ya in 15;)"

You push yourself away from the table and slowly make your way to your closet. It's sunny outside, but you know the weather can change in a second, plus it's pretty cold outside since it's winter. After careful thinking you decide to put on black leggings, long grey knitted sweater with a snowflake on it. From the lowest drawer, you pull out a black beanie with panda ears, a scarf and warm gloves.

"Mom, I am going out for a bit okay? I am taking a break!"

"Are you sure you can afford that? Your exams are close and your future depends on the results of those exams."
"Mom," you sigh and ruffle your hair "I know how important those exams are, but I have to take a break. My head's starting to hurt from all the information."

Your mother sighs from behind her office desk and spins on a chair to look at you. She pulls down her reading glasses and eyes you: "You take full responsibility in case of unsuccessful exams?"
"Yes, of course I do. Mom, I am old enough. Why don't you trust me I can make it?"

"Because you struggle every year to keep the-straight-A-student reputation and this year your grades have a huge influence on your future."
"Jeesh, I know. I will be back soon, just taking a walk to the pond."
"The pond?"
"Yeah, I thought uh, maybe I should start skating."

Your cheeks tint a bit and you hope your mother's hawk eyes don't see that.

"Skating? Since when?"
"I don't know, I just wanna try," you mumble and quickly say goodbye before she can interrogate you any further. From the closet on the hall you take your skates and hope they'll still fit you. After all, your brother bought them last year as a weak attempt to make you try skating again.

You step out of your house and get to his house only to see him already waiting for you: "You are late. Nice skates."

"I had mom's lecture to listen, so just don't bug me, okay?"

"Someone is in a good mood," he winks and offers you his hand. You ignore it and sigh: "Shall we go? I have like an hour."

"Let's go then," he starts walking and you follow him with quick steps, your skates hanging from your shoulder.

"So, uh, why do you wanna hang out with me?"
"I told you, I was bored."

Knowing he saw you like the last option, an entertainment and the last exit when no one else was around, hurts your heart a bit more than you wish. You continue your walk to the pond, where, at your luck, there is no one around.

"Have skates? Good, smart move."

You let out a sarcastic snort: "Why don't you show off your skills, superstar, and let me do the watching?"
"Excuse me? Is this tough girl afraid of skating on a well-frozen pond?"

"Ican'tskate," you mumble under your breath and blush hard when you look up at him. His eyes glow a bit: "What did you say? I am sorry, I didn't really understand you."
"Uh... are you imagining things now? I didn't say anything."
"You mumbled something under your breath. Here, let me prove you it's safe."

Before you can prevent him, he runs on the ice and turns to you before jumping up and down the ice. You laugh at his goofiness, but the you remind yourself that you don't actually like him and put on straight face.

Soon he joins you and smiles: "See, it's not dangerous. Come on, lace 'em up and join me."

He drags you to the nearby bench and pulls off his shoes. He puts on his skates and laces them up with fast movements. When he is done, he realizes you are still in your boots: "Why haven't you changed into your skates yet?"

"Jake... I will just watch, okay?"

He turns to you and looks at you carefully: "What's wrong?"

"I...Promise you won't make fun out of me."

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. You won't know if you don't try telling me."

The inner battle between telling him and sassing him off is strong, but you decide to risk it all and tell him. In one breath, you say: "Idon'tknowhowtoskate."

"What? Again, I didn't understand you. Can you please repeat?"

"Fine...I-don't-know-how-to-skate. I never learnt to skate."

For a second it seems he has lost his ability to talk. But then he looks at you again: "You are joking, right? Your brother plays hockey, you grew up with guys who play hockey and you don't know how to skate? You really expect me to buy it?"
"You don't have to, but I really can't skate. Doesn't mean I didn't try, just...never had a will to learn."

"Well, then I will take this burden of teaching you the art of skating."

He kneels down before you and takes your leg in his lap, taking your boot off. The icy air hits you and you shiver. He quickly takes your skate, blows into in to warm it up and puts it on your leg. Before lacing them up, he repeats the same procedure with your other foot. Then he stands up, shakes snow off his trousers and stretches his arm: "Come on."

You take his hands and pull yourself up. Still tightly holding your hand, he leads you on the ice and waits for your legs to stop wobbling.

"Are you ready? We will take this slow, okay? Do you trust me?"
"I know we don't get along, but...yeah, I do trust you. Is that weird?"

"Maybe a bit," he chuckles and starts skating backwards. Concentrating hard not to fall, you start biting your lip.

"Can you stop?"
"I am not doing anything," you contradict him and let out a quiet squeak when you feel you are about to fall.

"Yes, you are. You are biting your lip and it's kinda driving me crazy. Hey, don't panic, I got you."

"Am I driving you crazy?"
"No. Biting lips drives me crazy and has nothing to do with the person who does it. Although, it's pretty attractive..." he grins cheekily and the next moment he is the on to trip.

"Jake!" you squeal before you land on top of him, your beanie covering your eyes. He chuckles underneath you: "Never thought I'd ever end up beneath a girl."
"Shut up," you giggle and pull your finger out of his grip to fix your beanie. But he is faster; his fingers move it from your eyes and your gazes lock.

"Thank you, but I think I should get back and start studying again..."

"Yeah, I understand."

You pull yourself up and slip off him. He leans on his elbows and grins: "Was it worth putting on your skates?"

"I don't know yet."

"But I can't believe you never learnt to skate. I mean..."
"I know, I know, my brother plays, I grew up with hockey players. I never liked skating, hate me for that if you want to."
"No, not at all. Just realized what my new free time activity will be. Coaching a klutz to skate."
"A klutz? I am not a klutz!" you tackle him down on the ice again. He laughs from beneath you: "You are a klutz. But I don't care, I think it's adorable."
You blush a bit: "Uh, thanks. Wait, why did you really invite me to skate?"

"Honestly, I wanted to see if you are really such a pain in the ass when you are not hanging out with others."
"Now I am pain in the ass. Just great."
He grabs your wrists gently and flips you over so you are trapped underneath him.

"I've just realized you are even bigger pain in the ass. And that I would like to go skating with you again. But only with you?"
"Is this Jake Virtanen asking me on a date?"

Now it's his time to blush: "We could say so. Or we could say two enemies hanging out together."
"The second option describes us perfectly."

"So I will ask you if you want to hang out more with a guy you don't like?"
"I'd love that. Now...can we get home, I am going to freeze here."

He stands up and pulls you after him. Even though his house is the nearest one, he walks you back home where he gives you a peck on a forehead before saying goodbyes.