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the parking lot is crowded when they arrive, it’s a saturday evening in early november and beacon hills doesn’t have a lot to offer in weekend entertainment since the movie theatre closed for refurbishment. allison and lydia often rent a movie they’ve already seen six times from the blockbuster that is somehow miraculously still open and lounge on lydia’s bed, but this time they’d decided to try the new place everyone’s been talking about.
“I hate double dates,” allison grumbles as she locks up the car, “especially since I know I’m going to be terrible at skating. every time I go on the ice I fall flat on my face!”
lydia smiled and slid her hand into allison’s,
“well the good news is there’s no ice at a roller disco, just music. and if you do fall I’ll be right there to catch you.” she tucked a piece of hair that had fallen across allison’s face behind her ear before continuing,
“as for it being a double date, I wouldn’t even call it that. malia and kira are our friends, it’s just like hanging out, same as we do everyday. and anyway, we’re the seasoned pros when it comes to this couple thing. you have nothing to worry about!”
by this point they’ve reached the entrance, and while lydia’s paying for their tickets allison can see kira and malia waiting just inside. when kira spots her she jumps up from her seat and waves excitedly. allison shoots her a small smile in return and walks towards the pair as lydia joins her again.
they collect their skates from the rental hut and sit down on one of the benches near the rink to put them on. further down allison can see malia lacing up kira’s skates with one hand while she links her fingers with her girlfriend’s shaking ones with the other. wobbling slightly as she gets up allison makes her way over to the edge of the rink where other people are rolling round at varying speeds. lydia is waiting for her and kisses her quickly before taking her hand as she steps onto the wooden floor.
the music is predictably cheesy as they make a few slow laps, an old throwback pop song from the nineties. it’s one allison recognises from when she was younger, she had put together a whole routine and practised for hours in her room, putting on a mini show with her dad and aunt kate sat on the sofa in a lonely house in connecticut. lost in the memory, she doesn’t realise until it’s too late that lydia has lost her balance, tumbling to the floor and pulling allison with her. they land in a heap, and she vaguely notices kira and malia rushing over, asking them if they’re alright but she’s too busy laughing to answer. carefully removing herself from on top of her girlfriend, allison takes the hand malia offers to help her up. she looks down at lydia with a smirk before extending her own arm and pulling her off the ground too, mumbling in her ear as she does so,
“I thought you were meant to be good at this, ‘miss county champion’?”
“they aren’t the same thing - I was 8! ” lydia shoots back indignantly, her cheeks turning rosy pink. “besides, I had to cheer you up somehow.”
allison giggles again,
“you’re not getting away with it that easily, I even have witnesses to prove that the great lydia martin can’t do everything.”
“you would have thought all those years of practice would have taught you something, ice princess!” malia adds, joining in the laughter.
sensing some of the looks coming their way as the four of them stand in the middle of the rink, kira chimes in,
“why don’t we take a break and calm down, get something to eat?” she suggests. there was a typical diner-style cafe attached to the building, and everyone nods in agreement at the plan as they move slowly off the rink.
much later - after they had given skating another try (without any more mishaps, allison even managing to keep up with lydia’s thankfully accident-free performance) and said goodbye to kira and malia, they were back in the car outside lydia’s house.
“well, what’s the verdict?” lydia asks. confused, allison looks at her, prompting an explanation.
“the double date? It wasn’t terrible, was it?”
allison rolls her eyes, of course.
“I suppose it could have gone worse. I mean, at least now I know you’re not completely perfect!”
lydia covered her face with a hand, closing her eyes,
“oh my god, it was one mistake!”
“and I’m never going to let you forget it!”
“well I’m glad you had fun,” lydia smiled, the corner of her mouth quirking dangerously at the last second, “because I’ve set up another double date with scott and Isaac next week.”
raising her eyebrows, allison looks over at her again,
“what? but what if I want to spend some time with you, alone?”
“well you could stay tonight? my mom’s at the lake house all weekend cleaning it up for thanksgiving, and I know your dad’s out of town so…”
allison pretends to consider it for a moment,
“I guess that could work.”
later still, as lydia’s kissing softly down allison’s neck, she pauses to whisper in her ear,
“I was just kidding about Isaac and scott by the way. I want you all to myself.”