Melting On Ice

"Emma dribbles down the court and score!" I watched as the basketball swished through the net.

"You do realize that I let you win, don't you?" Patrick walked around me to get the rebound.

"And I suppose that you add the panting and sweating to make sure that I'm convinced right?" He made a face at me as he dribbled the ball back up to center court. I shook my head as he raised his eyebrows, challenging me. "No, I'm done. Miranda's waiting for me."

"It's okay," he shot the ball from the free throw line and watched as it arched perfectly and landed in. "This will be a short game."

"No, come on." I pulled on his shirt sleeve as I passed him. "I have to go get a new outfit for tonight."

"What's tonight?" He picked up the ball and followed after me.

"The Campbell for Kids banquet thingy, remember?" He titled his head, searching his memory. I sighed. "So I'm guessing this means that you didn't get your tux cleaned."

"No, I did." He opened his trunk to revel a nice, clean tuxedo. "I was wondering why everyone kept asking me."

I rolled my eyes as we both slid into the car. "Just drop me off at the apartment, we're going to walk around." He nodded as he turned down my street.

"I'll pick you and Miranda up around seven, okay?" He said as I closed the door.

"Alright, I'll just tell Derek to meet us there." He groaned quietly. "What? Isn't Amber coming?"

He nodded hesitantly. "Fine, tell him to map quest it though because we are not picking him up."

I took out my phone to call him. "Yeah, fine. See you later Patrick."

* * *

"You can pick your jaw up off the floor now Patrick." Miranda told him as he looked me up and down. She had helped me with my hair and makeup and I had hoped that it looked good enough. Judging by Patrick's reaction, it was a safe bet to say it did.

"You look...nice." He shook his head and I hoped that he was mentally cursing at himself for that poor excuse for a compliment.

"Thanks." I pulled at the curly strand of hair that had fallen in my face. "You don't look too bad yourself." I walked over and straightened his tie. I started to smooth out the small creases in my dress. It was blue and strapless and had a black ribbon belt that came around my high waist.

"Stop doing that." She gently slapped my hand away. "The creases are apart of the style." She was wearing a medium-length black dress that had a rhinestone belt around the upper-waist.

"Ready?" Patrick held open the door for us as Miranda walked out with our arms linked together.

"This is going to be so much fun!" She gushed as we made our way down to Patrick's car. "And Patrick cannot take his eyes off of you!" Right as she whispered this, he turned around.

"Yeah, probably because he hears us talking about him." I felt myself blush lightly as he turned around again.

She rolled her eyes. "Or he's mentally kicking himself for not picking you when he had the chance."

I really appreciated her kindness, but I sadly knew that Patrick would never feel that way about me. "I'm pretty sure that my reason is more accurate."

We finally reached his car and he opened the back door for us since Amber filled the passenger seat. I looked out the window as he started to drive at the Chicago night. I had always liked looking at the city at night, all lit up. It was like stepping in a different world.

When we finally reached the banquet, I noticed Tazer standing in front of the building, nervously playing with his tie. He looked up when he heard the car door close. "Wow, you look beautiful," he whispered to Miranda as she smiled up at him. He started to move his hand towards her like he was going to take her hand, but then pulled it back. Miranda sighed quietly before reaching over and grabbing his hand. He stared tensely at their linked hands for a minute before I saw his entire body relax.

I looked back to see that Patrick had his hand around Amber waist, and it looked very awkward because she was several inches taller then him.

And then there was me. Standing alone, in between the two happy couples. I glanced around for Derek, hoping that I wouldn't have to suffer for this much longer. I quickly scanned the crowd before I felt his arm wrap around my waist. "Looking for me?" he asked as he gently kissed me on the cheek.

I looked up to see Patrick staring at us. "Yep," I said, linking my arm in his. "Just wanted to see if you were here yet." He led me towards the door as Patrick told a woman our names as she checked us off the list. "Woah." I looked around the ballroom and it was like we stepped right into a movie. It was all done old fashioned looking and all of the people were dancing perfectly along to the live band that was playing classical music.

"Emma!" I looked up to see Mrs. Kane as she was running over to me and wrapped me in a hug. "It's been too long sweetie!" She stepped back so that she could examine me. "And look at how beautiful you are getting!" She lightly placed a hand on my cheek.

"Hi, Mrs. Kane." It was sort of strange to me that she looked exactly the same since the last time that I saw her. Her hair was pulled neatly back in a bun and she was wearing a long black dress with a knitted jacket over it. "How are things back in Buffalo?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed, exasperated. "As boring as always. Things are much more exciting around here." She scanned the room as Mr. Kane came up behind her and acknowledge me with a nod. Her eyes grazed over Derek. She smiled sweetly at him. "Whose your friend?"

I reached back for his hand and pulled him up so he would be closer to us. "This is my boyfriend, Derek." Derek waved awkwardly as the Kane's examined him.

"Your boyfriend?" I noticed how Mr. Kane hesitated before saying "boyfriend". When I nodded, he stuck his hand out for Derek to shake. "Nice to meet you. Em, why didn't you tell us that you had a boyfriend?"

The Kane's had raised me as their own so I guess I should have expected the interrogation. "Um, we haven't been dating for very long, I just haven't gotten the chance."

Mrs. Kane flicked her eyes between me and Derek before stage whispering to me, "has he kissed you yet?"

I blushed as I pulled his hand towards where Patrick was avoiding his parents. "Why don't we catch up later? I want you to enjoy the party." I laughed nervously.

"See you later sweetie." I forced a smile as Mrs. Kane squeezed my arm gently. One thing was for sure; they were defiantly as embarrassing as real parents would be.

I saw Jon turned to Miranda as we walked up to them. "Look at all the people dancing." She nodded, an amused smile playing on her lips. "Sure looks like fun, doesn't it?"

She nodded as she rocked back and forth on her heels. "Yep." She popped her "P" as she said this.

"Would you, um. Maybe you want to ah- we could." He played with his suit sleeve as he babbled like an idiot.

"Spit it out already!" I yelled, louder then intended and earned a few strange looks from the people around us. Jon scowled at me, Miranda looked at me in surprise, and I saw Patrick had a slightly amused expression.

"I would love to dance." Miranda said, taking his hand and leading him into the crowd of dancers.

"Would you care to dance?" Derek smiled down at me as he pulled me towards the dance floor.

"Uh," I looked nervously over at Patrick, who had his full attention on Amber as she adjusted her dress. "I'm not very good at dancing."

"You mean you didn't take just one day of ballroom dancing lessons?" He smirked at me.

"Hey," I slapped him gently in the arm. "There is nothing wrong with trying a bunch of different things."

"Exactly." He pulled me out onto the floor and helped me position myself so I was in pattern with all the other women who were dancing. "So let's try something different." He laughed quietly at me as I kept my full attention on our feet as we moved around. "Why don't we just sway?" He suggested.

I nodded. "Swaying's good."

He gently pushed a strand of hair out of my face. "You look really beautiful tonight, Emma." I blushed slightly as he leaned into kiss me. Right as his lips were about to touch mine, I heard Patrick clear his throat. I opened my eyes to see Derek's handsome features tense up just centimeters away from my face. He kept his eyes closed as he turned his head in Patrick's direction. "Yes?"

"Do you mind if I cut in?" He asked as he inched himself closer to us.

I heard Derek sigh quietly to himself. "Um, no." He let me go and started to walk away. "Knock yourself out." I followed him with my eyes as he made his way through the crowd.

Patrick's arms slid around me, picking up where Derek left off. He laughed quietly to himself as he watched me struggle. "I think you are the only person here who is a more awkward dancer then me."

I purposely stepped on his foot and saw his face tense up slightly as I did. "Did you interrupt my dance to insult me?"

"No," he lowered his hand to the small of my back, closing the distance between us. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About?" My heart rate started to increase as he flashed an amused smile at me.

"What do you think that Tazer told me?" I should have known that he was not going to let this go.

"Not gonna happen Patrick," I said through my teeth.

"Why? Is it a secret?" He twirled me around so it took me a moment to get focused again.

"I'm not talking about this" I insisted. I saw Derek examining us from the drink table.

"Please tell me," he whispered, his lips almost touching my ear.

I pulled slightly on his mullet so that he would pull his head back. "Patrick, let it go."

He bit his bottom lip slightly. "Fine, can I ask you something else?"

"Anything else," I said as we spun again to avoid another couple that was behind us.

He leaned in again so that he was right by my ear. "Please break up with Derek."

"What?" I pulled back from him, running into the woman behind me. "No."

I saw a flash of hurt run through his blue eyes. "Yes, Emma."

"No Patrick." The woman behind me scowled as I ran into her again.

"Why not?" He grabbed my hand to pull me back to him. "Why can't you?"

"Because I love him." I stared right into his eyes and I knew that he didn't believe me as the words were leaving my lips.

"No you don't" he insisted. "You don't love him. I've known you all your life, I think I know what's best for you."

"No, I don't think that you do." I pulled my hand back. "If you did, you would let me make my own decisions."

"Emma, you don't love him." He said again, lowering his voice as some people turned their attention towards us.

"How do you know?" I challenged. "Have you ever seen me in love before?" I saw him hesitate before speaking again.

"Emma, break up with him." His eyes pierced through me as he avoided the question.

"No, Patrick." My eyes searched his face as we both started to get more frustrated with one another. "I'm not going to break up with him just because you say so. I'm not five years old. You can't tell me what to do." I snapped my head quickly away from him and I hoped that I had slapped him with my hair as I stormed though the crowd.

"Emma," I felt Derek's cool hand grab mine and I became even more frustrated because he interrupted my tantrum. "Can we talk for a minute?"

I sighed. "Now is not really a good time Derek." I started to pull away from him, not sure where I was going.

"No," he grabbed my hand again. "If I don't do this know then I never will." Curiosity took over my anger as I let him lead me away from the crowd to a bench that was more secluded from the rest of the party.

He sat down and took a deep breath before speaking. "Emma, I think that we should break up."

"What?" I couldn't help my voice from cracking as I sat down next to him. "Why, what's wrong?" I looked down to see my hand shaking slightly.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. "It's Patrick."

"What did he say to you?" I stood up quickly and already started searching the crowd for his pretty little nose that I was ready to punch in.

He grabbed my hand to pull me back down. "Nothing, it's just the way he looks at you." I studied his face, not understanding what he was saying. "The way you look at him," he whispered.

"Derek," I put my hand over his but he pulled it away.

"I deserve someone who will put me first." His voice grew along with his confidence. "And you can't do that for me. I don't know if you're confused or what is wrong but you obviously can't make up your mind. I already know that I am going to be the one that has to suffer." He stood up and looked away from me. "I need someone who will put me first." He repeated. "And you can't do that for me." He walked away from me without looking back as my eyes followed him.

I placed my head in my hands, determined to not start crying. "Em?" I looked up to see a handsomely dressed Troy Brouwer standing in front of me. "Is everything okay?"

I shook my head in my hands as he sat down next to me and lightly placed his hand on my back. "No, nothing is okay. This is the worst night ever."

He pulled me into a hug. "It's okay. He didn't deserve you anyway."

"You heard all of that?" I mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah, sorry but I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard you guys." I couldn't help it. I started crying and the tears probably ruined his tuxedo.

"Then you heard it wrong." I sobbed into his shoulder as he smoothed my hair. "He was right. About all of it. I didn't deserve him."

He pulled back so that he could look at me. "Don't say that cause it's not true. Your amazing and he's a idiot for letting someone like you go."

I slowly wiped the tears from my eyes. "Thanks." I mumbled, even though I didn't believe him. "Please don't tell Patrick about this."

He looked over my shoulder as I heard someone approaching us from behind. "I think that he already knows."