Ana

Do a crossover…toe loop…and a spiral.

With that, I did a snowplow stop and froze in place. I had done all of the things I had been practicing, and that was the first time I had gotten them all right all together. I was definitely improving.

Skating is the only sport that I’m really good at. It’s graceful and artistic. The skates glide over the ice in a careful line, and it’s so beautiful to watch. I try to bring that artistic form into everything I write.

My mind flashed back to the poem I wrote that one time, the one Harry found. I smiled as I remembered it. That poem, it was the honest truth. And the last line, it was completely true. Honestly, it’s been six months since we first really met. But knowing him has been a great gift.

Honestly, I’m falling for him in a whole new way. I don’t mean having a crush on him because of his looks or his voice. I’m falling for Harry, the young guy who helped me be myself. I might not be truly in love with him just yet, but who knows, I might be. But, at the moment, I just have really strong feelings for him. Okay, they’re really really strong feelings for him.

That was really cheesy. Simone would laugh and tell me it was way too sappy to be real. But she didn’t understand. Not yet. Maybe Tanner would help her understand. That’d be so cute! They’ve known each other forever after all, so it’d be perfect.

As my thoughts continued to travel in fifty different directions, I went back to skating. I hummed softly to myself as I did this. I spun around on the ice happily, enjoying every second. It was a real rush to be on the ice. I loved it. I was in my own little world whenever I did this.

A mohawk…then a lunge…and a bunny hop.

I tripped up slightly on the bunny hop, but still managed to stay on my feet. I sighed in relief. The last time I fell terribly, I fell on my right arm, my writing arm, and I sprained my wrist. It wasn’t too bad. It only caused me to be unable to write for a week at the most. That’s been the worst injury I’ve gotten when skating, and it was years ago.

I thought I heard the crunching of snow underneath boots near the edge of the pond. But, instead of looking towards it, I focused on my skating. I needed my practice, after all.

I skated around happily, humming a song that always got me moving. It was a song that was kind of a blast from my past, but I really enjoyed it. Too bad it wasn’t really a skating song. But, it was pretty fun anyway.

As I spun around the ice, I smiled brightly. I was completely focused on my skating, nothing more.

A few three turns, ballet jumps and slaloms later, I decided I wanted to try something new. My teacher, Olivia, had taught me a new move a few weeks ago. This would be my first opportunity to try it out, since the rink had been closed for refurbishment for weeks. Plus, I don’t really like skating on the outdoor rink near my house because it’s always bumpy everywhere. At least this pond was relatively smooth everywhere.

I skated across the ice quickly to gain speed for the jump I was going to try. I carefully, yet powerfully launched myself into the air, doing my spin. I executed all the moves perfectly…until the landing. I crashed to the ground, landing on my arm. To make it worse, it was the same arm that I had fallen on the last time. Just my luck.

“Aah!” I exclaimed, rolling off of my arm in pain. I pushed up on the ice to try and help me get up, but it hurt my wrist too much.  “Aah…” I mumbled.

Then, I heard the footsteps again. This time, though, they were coming towards me on the ice. “Ana!”

I looked up. “Harry?” I asked, in shock. “What are you doing here?” I dusted the snow off my arms quickly.

“I saw you skating out here through the window and I wanted a better look,” he answered. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, and attempted to get up again. Of course, I cried out in pain at that moment. Harry grabbed onto my arms and helped me up onto my feet. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Are you sure you’re okay? That fall looked pretty bad,” Harry said. “Plus, you were moaning in pain when I got here, and when you tried to get up,” he pointed out.

“I’m fine. At the most, my wrist is sprained,” I said, looking down at the wrist in question. “Why is it always this arm?” I asked myself softly.

Harry heard, however. “What do you mean?”

I sighed. “I fell on this one the time I fell down at the rink during the practices for the skating exhibition freshman year. I sprained it that time, but I was okay after a while.”

He looked at me, a bit shocked. “You already sprained this one? We should at least get you inside so you can set it or something,” he said.

I sighed. There was no way I was convincing him otherwise. “Okay,” I said. “Just let me sit down on the bench in there to get my skates on,” I said, and pointed to a small warming house. Thank goodness Kyle had brought out the portable heater last night. During the summer, we used it as storage for things like life vests. But, in the winter, we turned it into a warming house and people would sit on the shelves to get their skates on. Honestly, I used it the most.

Harry looked over in the direction I pointed and raised his eyebrows. “You have a warming house?”

“Well, we really just bought one of those sheds from Home Depot and had Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Anderson put it together one summer. Didn’t you see it?” I asked.

“No,” Harry said, and I laughed. “I was too busy watching you!” he defended.

“Okay, fine,” I said, smiling. “I just can’t believe you didn’t notice a big shed. Did you lose your sight over the last few months?”

“Ha, ha,” Harry said, rolling his eyes with a small smile. “Very funny.”

I laughed again. “I thought so,” I said. Honestly, the fact that he was just watching me and not noticing anything else made me feel special. It was pretty sweet. “C’mon.”

I skated towards the edge of the ice, cradling my injured wrist. As I skated, I heard Harry call, “Hey, wait up! I’m in boots, not skates!”

I did a quick hockey stop and faced him. “Sorry,” I said. “Remind me to teach you how to skate later,” I said.

Harry caught up to me, but was walking slower and more careful this time. “Will do,” he said with a smile.

As I gave him another smile, I skated off the ice at the same pace as his walking. As I reached the edge, I found my skate guards. I left them lying on the “beach” so I could get to them easily, because Mr. Anderson and Mr. Gonzalez built the storage off the beach. It made it a bit more complicated for me to get out of here when I went out for skating, but I made it work.

“Do you want any help?” Harry offered.

Even though I liked the fact that he was offering, I refused. “I want to try doing this on my own. But thanks, though,” I said, and put the guards on. Then, I walked carefully to the little warming house, balancing on the small blades. It wasn’t that far, honestly, which was nice.

I reached the little building and stepped inside, finding my boots by one of the shelves-turned-benches where I had left them.

As I took a seat, I looked down at my white skate boots. I knew that this one would be tougher.

Harry sat by my side. “Do you want any help this time?” he asked me.

“I can do it,” I said, giving him a smile in response.

“Ana…” he said, giving me a look. It wasn’t going to work. He was going to make me let him help me. Yeah, he was sweet. You’ve got to love helpful boyfriends.

“Okay, fine,” I said. “I can’t convince you not to, anyway,” I shrugged.

Harry gave me a smile and got down in front of me, untying the laces of both of my skates. He helped me get them off my feet and put my boots down in front of me. He reached to slip them onto my feet but I brought my feet back. “I can get this if you want.”

“I’m ticklish,” I laughed. “I don’t want to kick you in the face.”

“You kick people in the face a lot?” he asked me, smirking a bit.

“Honestly, yes,” I admitted.

Harry quickly stepped back. “I’m not risking that,” he said as I laughed even more. I slipped my feet into the boots and stood up.

“Thank you,” I said with a smile. I pecked his cheek lightly before heading out the door. He followed me outside and up to the house.

As we walked, we saw Lizzie, Louis and Michael coming up the hill. “Hey guys,” Lizzie called, smiling.

“Hey,” I said, giving a smile.

“You okay?” Michael asked me, noticing my wrist.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just fell,” I answered.

Harry nodded. “Having fun sledding?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Louis smiled. “It’s pretty fun.”

“Glad you’re having fun,” I smiled. “See you later,” I added. When I got a response from the three of them, I went inside the house. As I went inside, Harry followed me, passing by. He slipped his shoes off quickly and went towards the kitchen.

I pressed on my heel with the toes of my other foot to pull the boots off. The first one was easier, but the second one took a bit longer. I went into the kitchen, and then found Harry already there. He had an ice pack, a towel, and an elastic bandage lying on the island.

“You work fast,” I joked with him, giving a tiny smile.

Harry shrugged. Then, he directed me to take a seat. I did so, and he brought the bandage over, as well as the ice pack wrapped up in the towel. He carefully wrapped my wrist with the bandage, and then placed the wrapped ice pack on there. “There,” he said.

“Thanks,” I said, giving him a smile.

“It’s no problem,” he assured me. “Now go take a seat over there on the couch and keep your wrist above your heart,” he said.

“Yes, Doctor Styles,” I said with a small laugh, and did as I was told. Simone and Tanner had left the area. They probably made their way down to Tanner’s to hang out. There were probably too many people here for them to get any time to hang out, just the two of them.

After he put everything away, he came over and sat beside me, draping his arm on the back of the couch. “So…” he began, looking over at me. “What do you want to do now?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Watch a movie? Play video games?” I suggested.

“With your wrist, I wouldn’t play video games until it heals a bit,” he responded. “So how about a movie?”

I nodded in agreement. “Good plan,” I said and smiled a bit at him. Then, I got up to pick up a movie for us to watch. “Got anything in mind?”

“Surprise me,” Harry said. I nodded and picked out a random movie from the choices. “How about this?” I asked, showing him a copy of Les Misérables. I loved this movie. It was so good, except for the fact that most of the people I liked died.

“Sure,” Harry said again. He smiled at me and I put it in. When I was done, I sat down next to him and snuggled into his side, making sure my arm was above my heart, just like he wanted me to do. We sat together and watched the movie, just enjoying being there together. It was comfortable and relaxing.

We sang along to some of the songs as we sat together, which was fun. I mean, I wasn’t a horrible singer, but I wasn’t the best in the world. But when we were just goofing off a bit as we watched, I didn’t care. We just sang with smiles. It made me forget the pain I was dealing with. I was so grateful to him in this moment.

At least I know now that he’ll take care of me when I need him.

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A/N Hey everyone! How have you guys been? Sorry it's been a few weeks. I've been kind of busy.

Who saw You & I? At first, I was thinking, "What the heck?" when Niall became Liam, but then I got over it and really liked it. But, my favorite music video was probably Story of My Life, honestly.

Which one was your favorite music video? Feel free to chat about it in the comments. And please tell me what you think! This chapter was a lead in to a few interesting pieces in the upcoming chapters, so it's kind of important. Please vote and comment!

Love, Noel