AN: Merry Christmas everyone! This is my last holiday(ish?) oneshot before Christmas day, and I love it, even though this book doesn't have too many readers anymore! I hope you guys enjoy it, and hope you all have a happy holiday!

The Donny Nova Band had initially expected to win the radio contest. Needless to say, after they had gone onstage performing Welcome Home instead of Love Will Come and Find Me Again, they did not win. However, it was apparent that everyone involved in the music scene back in Cleveland had also expected them to win, and assumed they would want to celebrate, because they had payed for three days in New York City. To put it simply, they didn't particularly feel like celebrating, but they had another day after the contest to make the most of the city.

They had all retreated to their separate rooms after coming back from The Palace, with no definitive plans for the next day. Apparently, though, they were fine with a little separation from each other - or at least they would have to be. That became clear to Julia when Donny knocked on the door to her room the next morning without bringing Jimmy or anyone else with him.

She glanced through the peep hole, thanked her lucky stars that she had made the decision to get up early and make herself presentable, and opened the door. He looked a little nervous, and almost surprised that she had answered the door, which was strange, but it wasn't too unexpected based on the circumstances.

"Hi, Donny." She smiled at him, and his shoulders relaxed slightly.

"Julia." He nodded at her. "How... how're you?"

"I've been better." She admitted. "How about you?"

"I'm okay, actually. This isn't how I expected things to go - God, I don't think any of us expected this - but I feel good. We gave 'em what they deserved."

"We certainly did." She agreed. After a slight pause, she realized that he was still standing in the hall. "Do you want to come in?"

That seemed to snap him out of his state of nervousness. "Actually, I came to see if you would let me take you out."

That, however, caused Julia to stiffen. They hadn't done so much as acknowledge their kiss from the previous night since it had happened. She didn't know what she had expected to come of it (after all, it wasn't as if she hadn't liked it), but asking to take her on a date already seemed a bit presumptuous.

"Donny..."

"I know." He stopped her before she could say anything. "We can take things slow, as slow as we need to. It's just, I've always wanted to go skating at Rockefeller Center, and I don't think Jimmy'd want to go with me. And I can't imagine going with Davy, Nick, or Wayne, so that leaves you."

"I'm sure Johnny would love to go." Julia pointed out, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth.

Donny stared at her, trying to come up with a logical response to that before giving up. "You know what I mean."

She laughed. "I do."

"So are we going?"

"I'd be delighted to." She grinned. "Let me grab my coat, and then we can go."

oOo

Julia trusted Donny to lead her to safely to Rockefeller Center, and she was grateful she didn't have to go anywhere on her own. There were so many people in the city, the energy contained in it was amazing, but it also made it somewhat of a nightmare to navigate, especially a week before Christmas. And if at one point she happened to take Donny's hand in hers to avoid getting lost... well that was purely because of the crowds.

It was still fairly early in the morning when they got there, so thankfully it wasn't unbearably crowded. She allowed Donny to handle paying for rental skates at his insistence, and was waiting for him on a bench adjacent to the rink when he had finished.

He sat down next to her, handing her a pair of white skates as he did so.

"You ever skate before?" He asked as they both began to tie their laces.

She shook her head. "I was never interested enough to go before. But here..." She looked up at the large Christmas tree towering over them. "It's special here."

"Everything's special here." Donny agreed. "I always knew I wanted to come here someday."

"And here we are." Julia smiled at him. "Now come on, help me up."

With a some difficulty, the two of them made it to the ice. Once there, however, Julia was less focused on how much she was enjoying her time with Donny, and more on the fact that she had no earthly idea how to ice skate. She took a hold of the railing with a death grip and stared in awe at a skater flying passed them with ease. It was strange to realize that less than twenty-four hours ago, she was shocking the country with her voice, and now the fear at the forefront of her mind was falling at the ice skating rink.

Donny picked up on her nerves, and turned to face her. "It looks intimidating, but we don't have to be experts at it."

Julia raised her eyebrows at this. "Donny Nova, are you admitting that you don't have to be the best at everything."

That got a laugh out of him. "I'm the best at what I do, alright? Now, c'mon, it's not too hard. You just make sure you have solid footing with one foot, and then push back with the other one. After that it turns into a kind of glide."

He demonstrated, and turned back to her. "You wanna try it?"

She was grateful that he had done this before, because otherwise they would be falling all over each other. She started to try it, made it about two feet, and stumbled.

Donny caught her arm, and she steadied herself. "We'll stay close to the railing." He assured her.

"That's probably a good idea." Julia nodded. She took hold of the rail again, hoping that it would keep her from completely embarrassing herself.

"And I'll be here on your other side if you need me."

Donny offered her his arm, and after a slight hesitation, she linked her arm with his, smiling softly at how right it felt.

"Ready?"

She nodded, and let out a breath. "As ready as I can be."

He pushed off with his foot, and she followed suit. After a few seconds, they were gliding side by side. And though she had the rail nearby to support her, having Donny next to her felt like exactly what she needed, in more ways than one.

She smiled to herself. She didn't know what the future would hold, but here, arm in arm with Donny Novitski in New York City under the most beautiful Christmas tree she had ever seen, everything was good, an everything was right.