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"Do you need help with your skates?" Evan asked, tugging at his own laces as he looked over at his struggling boyfriend. Jared shook his head stubbornly, extending his leg out and pulling the ratty strings with both hands. Jared and Connor had to rent skates, but Evan had brought his own white ones.
"I got it, it's fine," he said, grunting as the laces dug into his mittens. He let go and sighed, rubbing at his palms. Evan looked up at Connor, who already had his skates on and was ready to go. Connor finished putting his hair into a low ponytail so it wouldn't get into his face while they were skating.
"Hold on, your hands are going to fall off." The tallest of the boyfs sauntered over to Jared and kneeled down in front of him, putting his leg down. Jared huffed and crossed his arms, refusing to look at Connor as he adjusted his loose skates. Evan just chuckled from beside Jared, finishing his skates and looking over to watch Connor.
"You ready?" Evan asked as he and Connor stood up once Jared's skates were done. They both held out a hand, Jared grabbing both of them to help himself stand. He was never really good at ice skating, so he had to take a moment to find his balance.
"Could've done it myself. Come on," he said, starting to hobble over to the rink. His grip was secure in his boyfriends' hands, knowing they wouldn't let him fall. Evan was the first one to move onto the ice, ushering Jared forward. "Oh my god, oh my god, what the fuck--"
"You've got it, just keep your balance. Don't try to move for now," Evan said sweetly, carefully pulling Jared forward so Connor could step onto the ice behind him. It was pretty early, so there weren't many people on the rink. Evan didn't favor crowds too much, especially here, when there were friend groups who skated really fast and scared the crap out of beginners.
Jared continued to swear, obviously not used to the ice. He never really had a reason to learn to ice skate, nor did he ever have an interest in learning. He'd just think "oh wow that's pretty cool" when he sees videos of athletes doing tricks, then wander into the kitchen for a snack as he watched other, cooler videos online.
"You don't even have to move. Evan and I will make sure you don't fall on your ass or something." Connor held Jared's hand slightly tighter when he stepped onto the ice. He had ice skated before, back when his mom tried to have a family activity at an outdoor rink in New York, but that had been a while ago. He wasn't really sure if Evan would be any good at it, though. Jared seemed to think the same thing.
"Hey, since when could you skate? When we were in the parking lot, you tripped over, like, nothing," Jared said, eyeing the way Evan held himself. He could vaguely remember them going to a rollerskating rink for a birthday party as kids. The only thing he could recall clearly was when Evan fell on his ass and Jared laughed so hard, he fell, too.
Evan suddenly grew embarrassed. He shrugged and adjusted his scarf nervously, cheeks tinted pink. He hoped Jared and Connor would just think it was the cold.
"I, uh, learned as a kid. Come on, just keep your feet even." He moved forward slightly, looking down to make sure Jared's skates were lined up so he wouldn't fall. "Connor, you can skate?"
"I've only done it a few times. That was a while back, though." Connor knew the movements to skate, but he figured he'd have to get used to doing it again.
For a while, the three partners got used to skating in one chain. Evan was pretty happy to be sharing one of his favorite activities with them. Jared was focusing on trying not to fall or get whiny in case complaining about it hurt Evan's feelings somehow. The blond had been the one to suggest it, after all. Connor was steadily getting used to it again, though he wasn't really able to go too fast.
"Okay, can you try it on your own?" Evan asked once Jared had gotten the gliding motion down. Jared looked up with wide eyes, shaking his head.
"No way, I'm gonna slip and eat shit immediately," he protested, holding Evan's hand tighter. Connor was amused and just nodded at Evan.
"Why don't you go ahead of us so Jared can see what you're doing?" Connor gestured to the spot in front of them. Evan's eyes lit up at the idea, obviously eager to strut his stuff, and Jared found himself reluctantly letting go of his hand.
"Try to follow me. Tell me if I'm going too fast or too slow," Evan said, moving in front of his boyfriends easily. Immediately, Connor and Jared looked down at Evan's ass appreciatively before actually paying attention to what he was doing.
The teen glided along expertly, keeping his hands out as he looked over his shoulder at Jared. He grinned at him and Connor before turning back and folding his hands behind his back. He really wanted to go faster and maybe try to attempt tricks he hadn't done in a few months, but kept his pace so Jared would learn.
Eventually, he looked back again in time to see Jared slip. He stopped in place and his hands shot out to hold Jared's arm, keeping him up.
"You okay?" he asked, trying to keep from chuckling. Connor had nearly lost his balance as well, but he recovered faster than Jared.
"Yeah, I'm fine. You skate really well, Ev," Jared said to distract from himself. Connor nodded in agreement and the subject change worked immediately, a bashful smile appearing on Evan's face.
"R-Really? I'm not that good, it's been a few years," Evan chuckled awkwardly, still not used to being praised so genuinely.
"No way. You're better than both of us combined," Connor insisted as they started to move forward again. For a moment, he didn't question why he could still see Evan's flushed face as they skated. Then he looked down and nearly choked. "You're skating backwards, what the fuck?"
"Evan, oh my fucking god." Jared laughed and took his arm out of Evan's grip to grab his hand instead. "How are you doing that? I didn't know you could do that, what?"
"Oh, no, I learned this as a kid. It-It took a while," Evan admitted, looking down at his own skates and glancing behind him to make sure he wouldn't bump into anyone.
"What do you mean you learned as a kid? When we skated together, you ate shit," Jared recalled, nearly falling again. Connor held him up securely, trying not to lose his own balance.
"That was rollerskating. I took um, I took a free ice skating class?" Evan said, looking away out of embarrassment. "I know it's kind of lame, but--um, it was fun, so."
Jared and Connor were surprised, of course. Evan, the kid who nearly falls over when he accidentally kicks a pebble on the sidewalk, took ice skating classes?
"... Well?" Jared asked, expecting. Evan looked at him, confused. "Aren't you gonna show us what you learned?"
"Yeah, bless us with your pro ass ice skating moves," Connor encouraged, nodding.
"Oh no, I-I'm not that good."
"Sure you are, Ev! Just try."
"Yeah, maybe you could make Jared want to put more effort into this."
"Shut your face, Murphy."
"Well, if--I mean, if you really want me to." At his boyfriend's nods, Evan carefully released Jared's hand and took a breath. He turned and skated away some before stopping to spin in a circle. He stopped when he was facing Connor and Jared again, a small smile on his face. "There."
Jared carefully let go of Connor's hand to clap a few times, then held his arm tightly when he nearly fell. Connor chuckled and clapped as well, making sure not to move Jared too much.
"That was great! You're way better than us," Connor said sincerely, holding Jared's hand again. Evan flushed and thanked them, skating in small circles. He lifted a leg up slightly to spin on one skate, a quiet laugh escaping him. He stopped again to move back to his place on the other side of Jared, who looked very impressed, but still scared of falling.
"You're really cute and I'm in love with you, but can I please get a churro?" Jared asked, clapping again by gently patting Connor's hand. Evan laughed again and took Jared's hand, nodding.
"Yeah, of course. Connor, do you want to come?" he asked, grinning. He was obviously far less uncomfortable now that he was able to show off without seeming obnoxious. Connor agreed and the three of them skated off to get Jared his churro and a few hot chocolates for each of them.
Evan was the quickest out of all of them, mostly because he really wanted to go on the ice again. He'd adjusted his skates and told his boyfriends he was going to do a few more moves before they closed. Connor and Jared kicked off their own skates and encouraged him, moving to sit on a bench close to the rink. They watched Evan skate off with a small wave.
The rink had been emptier than before, so there was a lot of room for him to move. Connor and Jared sipped their hot chocolates and passed the churro back and forth as they watched their boyfriend. At first, Evan would just spin around on one skate, like he had earlier, or skate backwards before lifting a leg slightly and move in small circles.
He quickly got more comfortable, seeing as the only other people in the rink were a group of teenage girls, about their age, and some young couples, a few with toddlers who Connor would point at and say they skated better than Jared, earning a light punch every time.
Of course, it didn't take long for people to notice the really cute boy skating like some professional. Surprisingly, Evan didn't really mind too much. It wasn't like he'd see anyone again anyway, right? He had to put himself out there and this would be a good way to start.
The teen started to skate past Jared and Connor faster, then used the toe-pick of his skate to launch himself up. He brought his arms in to spin, then held them out again for balance as he landed. Jared nearly choked on the churro and Connor patted his back before clapping, proud of his boyfriend.
"What was that?" Jared asked, dramatically placing a hand over his chest once Evan had skated in front of them. The blond laughed softly, really glad he'd pulled that off.
"Uh, it's called a toe loop? It's one of the easiest, so don't think I'm, like, super good at it or something," Evan said humbly, folding his hands behind his back. After a few more words of praise from his boyfriends, Evan skated off again.
He hadn't had the stamina he did as a kid, so he stopped doing jumps after a few more of them. Instead, he just spun and made figure-eights really quickly. His pants weren't the best for skating, but he managed to bring his chest down and skate along with one leg with his other extended behind him. Right after he'd gotten back to skating normally, a grinning girl skated over to him.
Connor had to nudge Jared's arm because he was busy trying to pour the remaining cinnamon sugar into his mouth. They both looked up to see Evan blushing as the girl fawned over his skating. She had her hair in a short bob, with colorful tights beneath a short skirt and a large sweater. They were a good distance away, but Connor and Jared could still hear their conversation.
"That was such a nice Salchow earlier, you landed so smoothly!" the girl gushed, hands clasped in front of her. She was shorter than Evan was, so he had to crane his head down to look at her.
"Uh, thanks," Evan replied awkwardly. If Connor and Jared weren't suspicious and protective, they would've been more impressed by his socializing. Now, though, they were tugging their skates on quickly, glancing up every few seconds.
"Oh my god, I'm so rude, I didn't even--I'm Christine, it's nice to meet you!" Christine chirped, unclasping her hands and holding out her right hand, which was covered by a purple knitted mitten. Evan hesitated before shaking her hand and pulling his hand back right afterwards.
"Uh, Evan. My name's Evan," he replied, obviously trying really hard to keep eye contact.
"Evan! Nice name. Y'know, I've only taken ice skating classes, like, for two months as a kid and one other time when I was babysitting my mom's cousin's friend's daughter a few weeks ago. I learned to skate on one leg, too, wanna see?" Evan couldn't even respond before Christine skated away, then picked up speed and leaned forward, gliding for a significantly shorter time than Evan before standing straight again and turning towards him with a proud smile. "Ta-da!"
"Oh, that was really good," the blond said, clapping his hands politely. More applause came from the group of girls sitting on the other side of the rink from Connor and Jared. One of them whistled and another cheered Christine's name. She skated back over to Evan, bowing to her friends on the way. "Your friends?"
"Yeah, they're pretty loud. Yours?" Christine nodded to the two boys, still struggling with their skates. Evan looked over and Jared shot up, then stumbled and was caught by Connor. Evan wasn't embarrassed of them, but he never really knew how people would react when they learned of their poly relationship.
Evan hesitated for only a moment before looking back at Christine and answering in a quieter voice.
"Um, boyfriends, actually. Like, all three of us. We're dating."
To his surprise, Christine perked up even more.
"Oh my god! That's so cute, my friends are doing that, too! Well, four of them. They started off as two couples, then got together and decided--"
Connor and Jared entered the rink from one side, with Christine's friends entering from the other side.
"Chris, I don't think they'd want you spreading that around to strangers without telling them," a girl with long, brown hair stated, gliding over with ease. The other girls giggled quietly and held onto each other's arms, one gripping her smartphone as they skated less gracefully. The brunette obviously hadn't heard Evan's earlier words with the way she crossed her arms and stared him down, waiting for a reaction.
"Oh. Right. Sorry, Chloe," Christine apologized, smile turning embarrassed.
Evan blanched, intimidated by the sudden arrival of three new people along with Christine, who he was just starting to get used to. Just then, his boyfriends came over. Connor had to carry Jared since they wouldn't make it to the group quickly with Jared slipping every two seconds.
"Hey, ladies," Jared stated, voice confident even though he had both arms around Connor's neck so he wouldn't fall. "Me and my boyfriends were just about to leave, can we help you with anything?"
Chloe and the other two strangers relaxed slightly.
"What? Oh, not at all!" Christine smiled kindly at the boys as Connor gently set Jared down. Evan held his hand to make sure he wouldn't fall over. "In fact, we'll let you get back to your date! Nice meeting you guys!"
Before anyone else could get a word in, Christine suddenly shooed her friends off and waved goodbye to the three boys before following the other girls away. The three boys stared, Connor and Jared deflated since they didn't need to intimidate anyone to protect Evan, who was mostly just confused and uncomfortable about people coming up to talk to him.
After a moment, Jared latched onto Evan's arm and looked up at him.
"Good job handling that, Ev!" he praised, happy Evan wasn't having a breakdown caused by a group of teenage girls showing up all defensive of their friends.
"Yeah, that was really brave," Connor agreed quickly, pressing a kiss to Evan's forehead before starting to lead the two back off the rink. Evan flushed as Jared kissed his cheek once they were on solid ground.
"R-Really? I dunno, I just sort of went along. She, uh--Christine did most of the talking," Evan said flusteredly. He soaked up his boyfriends' praise as they sat on the bench and took off their skates, a smile on his face. "Thanks, though."
"Love you," Connor said, tugging his shoes on before standing.
"Love you, too!" Jared chimed, tying his shoelaces quickly.
"Love you," Evan joined in, standing up once he had his shoes on as well.
Overall, it was a pretty nice date to the ice skating rink.