"Kris?" Taylor asked, over the phone later the same day. "Are you alright?" Even though Mike had been a great person and a great friend, it didn't help her out at all. She was still depressed about the entire situation. She couldn't believe they were acting like that.
"All my friends decided they were going to just drop me." Taylor took in a quick breath. It was her old life all over again. He didn't want her to go through that old pain anymore, but he knew she was at that moment. "One of them, Mike, he was still nice to me and all, but I can tell he doesn't really want to be friends with me. It's like I'm an outcast all over again."
"Kris, you don't need to be. You're still the greatest person in the world."
"Well I better be to someone," she said, smiling. "I'm just happy I still have you. I mean at least we'll still be together."
"And I'm not about to leave anytime soon. I'll be here as long as I can."
"Hey, do you want to go out somewhere? This house is as boring as hell and I need to do something. I want to spend time with you before you leave later."
"Sure. Whatcha wanna do?"
"Well, there's this lake behind my house and it's frozen solid. You know how to skate?"
"No, but I have a feeling you're going to make me anyway."
"Oh you know me too well. Donnie left his skates over here from the last time he was here and I'm just hoping they'll fit you."
"Otherwise we can do something where I won't look like a fool!"
"It's not much different from rollerblading; ice is just a bit more slippery than concrete but it's really not that hard."
"I'm still going to make a fool out of myself."
"Well it's just me, Taylor," Kris said. "I personally don't care if you make a fool out of yourself, because I already know that you're a fool. "
"Hey!"
"Well you are. Come on over, I'm bored."
"And me being there is going to make you less bored?" he asked.
"Well, that's the point. And hurry up."
"Fine, I'll be there as soon as I can. I love you."
"I love you too." He hung up the phone. Kris got up and started searching the house for Donnie's skates. Considering Donnie was drastically shorter than Taylor, she hoped they still had the same shoe size.
Kris found Donnie's skates when the doorbell rang. She didn't bother answering it, cause Taylor now had the privilege of walking right in. She just let him know to ring the doorbell before he came in. "Hello?" Kris poked her head out of the closet, which was right in front of the door. He jumped back when he saw her.
"Hey."
"I was not expecting you to come out of there."
"Well I did. Here ya go." She handed the skates to Taylor and ran upstairs to get hers. When she came back down, she smiled at him. "Ready?"
"No, but I guess I have to be anyway." She rolled her eyes and grabbed her coat off the rack.
"Is it really cold out?" she asked.
"Yeah." She opened the door. Immediately the cold air hit her and her cheeks turned red. She smiled, despite the fact that her nose began to run. She'd always loved the cold, mostly because she grew up in it.
Taylor followed her to the lake behind her house. It was always a great place to skate, especially when it got cold out like this. There was nothing like ice skating to warm up a person. Kris put on her skates and checked the ice for soft spots, just in case. Everything seemed to be fine, so she smiled and signaled to Taylor.
"Come on!"
"I'm going to fall." She skated from the middle of the lake to the edge, where he was standing. She reached out her hand for him to grab.
"It's not that hard. The ice isn't even as slippery as it normally is, so don't worry. I'll hold onto you so you don't fall."
"There's no ledges for me to hold onto. This isn't nice."
"It's a lake, there's not supposed to be ledges. It's not even that big of a lake, so if you need to fall, there's snow all around you. Soft snow."
"I'm not going into the middle."
"Taylor, stop being such a dope. It's not that bad." He stepped onto the ice and let her guide him around.
"How come you're so good at this?"
"Cause I've been doing this for years. I know what I'm doing, and now I'm teaching you what to do. I know you know how to rollerblade. Just stop being a wimp and try it out."
"I don't want to look stupid."
"You'll look even worse if you go the rest of your life not knowing how to skate! This is something every person should know how to do. Well, except for people who live in Hawaii and Florida."
"Then I should move there."
"Come on." She stopped guiding him and let him try it out without her pushing. She continued to hold onto his arms, but he was moving his legs now. "You're getting it, just keep trying."
"Yeah, whatever." She looked behind her and made sure they weren't running out of ice. When it was time to make a turn, she completely let go of him. She was surprised when he didn't lose his balance or anything. He looked up and realized she wasn't holding onto him anymore. "Hey!"
"What?"
"I'm getting it!"
"Good for you. Now, try it a bit faster. I don't want the turtles passing us anymore." He gave her a look and sped up. She turned around and skated away. "I'm gonna get you!"
"Try it." She skated as fast as she could to the other side of the lake. When she looked behind her, he was right there. Surprised, she tried to go faster. He was very good for a first-time skater. She turned around and began to skate backwards. "Do you no how to stop?"
"No."
"Crap." She tried to stop him but they both ran off the ice and into the snow. He fell on top of her. "Hi," she said.
"Hi." He picked up a handful of snow and squished it on her. "That's better."
"I'm going to kill you."
"Not while I'm on top of you." He kissed her. "I missed you."
"When?"
"I don't know, I just missed you." She smiled. "Me and Zac are checking out this club downtown tonight. You wanna come?"
"Club?" she asked. "No thank you. I'll stay home tonight. I wouldn't be much fun anyway."
"Are you sure? I want to spend as much time with you as I can before we have to leave." He put his face against the soft scarf around her neck. "I don't like being away from you for so long."
"Maybe next time, Taylor."
"I'll be gone for at least a month."
"I don't care. As long as you come back and you talk to me. If you don't call every few days I'll have to shoot you."
"I can't call all the time�"
"That's why I said every few days. I know you're busy. Try to pencil in a quick I love you every now and then. I just like to hear your voice."
"I like to hear your voice too."
"So are we going to skate or are you going to spend the rest of the day laying on me?" Kris asked, smiling slightly. They both knew that she didn't want him to move. He didn't want to move either. It was one of the few times they had together without any threat of someone else coming to join the party. No problems, no worries, nothing but the two of them and the beautiful day. No one cared that it was cold, they stayed warm by holding onto each other.
"I want to stay right here with you."
"I don't want to move either. But you on me isn't my idea of fun. Flip over." He got off her and laid on his back next to her. She put her arm around his waist and put her head on his chest. He took off her floppy hat and put his hand through her hair. He'd always loved her hair. Everything about it; how it was soft and fluffy, even though it was thick it was still beautiful on her. She'd put golden highlights in it, giving it the perfect tone to just brighten up her entire face. "Oh God, can I just hold you here forever?"
"I wish you could."
"Long-distance relationships suck."
"It's the only way."
"Unfortunately."
"Unfortunately," Taylor repeated. "Unfortunately I'm stuck with my life and it's completely different that what I can offer you."
"Oh well."
"We'll live."
"Barely�" She began coughing, causing Taylor to laugh. "But we still hold on�" She coughed harder, but had to stop. "Okay, we both know I suck at that and let you still let me do it and make an ass out of myself."
"It was funny. I just love you and your ways of being you."
"Because I'm the most specialest person on the face of this earth, right? Cause I'm actually holding the actual Taylor Hanson right here�"
"You start and I will be forced to hurt you."
"Oh my God!"
"Kristina�"
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. Teenies are bad� I don't think I could ever be a teenie."
"You just pulled it off pretty well. You just forgot to scream."
"Well I could if you really wanted me to�"
"That's okay."
"So what am I going to do while you're gone?" she asked, and trailed her finger over his chest. He shivered. "What?"
"That feels weird." She smiled, but didn't stop. "I don't know what you're going to do while I'm gone. You're going to sit around and think about me the entire time, right?"
"I probably will. That'd be kinda funny though. I'll be thinking about you during like Math class or something. I'll get asked a question and answer 'Taylor.' "
"That's always good�" Taylor said, rolling his eyes.
"And there's an obsessed fan in my math class too!" Kris laughed. "Oh no, she'll think I'm starting to like you people or something."
"What's wrong with liking me?"
"I love you, there's nothing wrong with that, it's just your music."
"What's wrong with my music, then?"
"I don't know�it sucks maybe?"
"Shut up�"
"I'm just joking, honey. I have no idea what your music sounds like. You know what?" she asked, looking around.
"What?"
"I'm wet and I'm cold. Can we go inside?"
"Fine. I'll make you some hot chocolate." She smiled. He stood, pulling her up with him. They skated, rather slowly, to the other edge of the lake. There, they put on their shoes and walked back to the house. "This is a rather nice place. Even if we don't skate, I'd like to come back here one day."
"One day? It makes you seem like you're never going to come back here!"
"Okay. I'd like to come back here in the near future. Like when I'm here. Or whatever."
"I love teasing you. It's so easy." She smiled. When they reached the house, Taylor looked at his watch.
"How come you didn't tell me it was so late?" he asked, pinching her. "I have to leave!" She turned around.
"Already?"
"Yeah." She looked at him, sighing. "You know, as much as I don't want to leave you know I have to."
"Yeah, okay."
"Come on, don't get mad. I'll see you before you know it," Taylor lightly told her, lifting her chin so their eyes could connect. "I love you."
"I love you too." He lightly kissed her. As he pulled away, she only kissed him deeper. As much as she didn't want him to go, she forced herself to let him. "Call me when you can."
"I will. I guess I'll see you in a month." She nodded.
"Yeah. Goodbye."
"For now."
"For now."