Frostbite

"You guys have such good chemistry out on the ice, was it always like this?"

Micajah and I looked at each other before busting into a fit of laughter. Most of the questions we were asked were of the normal variety; Asking about our training schedules, how hard it was to switch partners on such short notice, if we'd gotten any negative feedback for being two gay boys partner skating, and, of course, where we had gotten our outfits. There'd even been a few personal questions that Micajah wouldn't let me answer. But this was an unexpected and fucking perfectly timed question in the middle of all this chaos.

"W-with this p-pretentious fuck?" Micajah gasped out. "Hell no!"

"Well you weren't always a ray of fucking sunshine either." I huffed, finally composing myself again. "You even made me get on my knees when I asked you out."

"What?" Micajah stood straight, looking up at me with those beautiful big brown eyes. "You didn't like the view? But I tried so hard with my costume...."

The first flash blinded me before I even had time to feel my cheeks heat up. I hid them in Micajah's neck as he wrapped his arms around my waist, cooing like he's just seen two kittens fighting.

"I like it better when you're not wearing the costume," I whispered in his ear. "In fact, I like it best when you're not wearing anything at all."

Then it was turn for him to hide as more pictures were taken. Through all the snapping, one loud voice broke through to ask yet another question. I looked up to see the same woman who had asked all of the unanswered questions Micajah blushed at and smiled, glad to hear what she had to say.

"Benjamin, would you describe yourself as the jealous type? Have you ever felt threatened by anyone of Cage's homosexual followers?"

"No." I laughed, causing Micajah to bring his head back up. "What do I have to worry about? I'm a sexy fucking beast, no one can take Micajah from me, I'd rip their fucking head off."

"What are you saying?" Micajah exclaimed. "What about the time at the coffee shop when you almost pushed that guy into the road? Or Bennett, even after he started dating Nico? Or when you wouldn't let Grant hug me? Or at Juliette's party with with that fuzzy guido? Or-"

"Well what about you?" I cut him off. "Jennie's brother, Conner? You even told me you were jealous of everyone wh-"

"Hey, Fly." Clary pushed herself through the mob of reporters like they were veins and she was holding a machete. Kinna followed behind, smiling over the head of her escort. "I've been looking for yo-"

"Kinna!" One reporter yelled. "Kinna, how hard was it to design outfits that would suit these two young men, while still keeping their masculinity intact?"

Like the professional she is, Kinna turned to the reporter and spoke up loud and clear. "Well, it wasn't hard for Benjamin, what was hard was trying to get him to agree to wear the pants I made without hearing him whine about how his lower half was suffocating. Cag-"

"Have you seen these pants!?" I cried, gesturing to the second skin covering my legs. "It takes me and Micajah three full minutes to get these things off."

"Oh, like you really hate that so much." She rolled her eyes before turning back to the reporter. "As I was saying, Cage on the other hand was significantly harder. For one, our father refused to let me put him in a skirt. But putting him in pants like Benjamin wouldn't have worked either and the only suggesting I was getting from either of them was Butterfly over here saying he could just go out pants-less. Once I finally got the right design to his lovers attire, it was a whole new challenge trying to take measurements without them running off to pig out in the kitchen."

"They do that at your house too?" Clary inquired. "I can't ever find anything to eat because they devoured everything in the house."

"And who are you?" Someone in the back called out.

"What? Fly, you didn't tell them who I am!?" She huffed. "I'm this giant's sister. I'm also occasionally Nina, Nygus, Orihime, Haruhi Fujioka, Celty, Winry, Misaki, Mizuki, Umeda, Kodama, Kodom-"

"Basically," I cut her off "She's a freak that lives in the room next to mine."

Before she could say anything back, Kinna had grabbed my wrist and was trying to find a way out of the mob.

"Where are you taking us?" Micajah asked.

"We're going to do a quick live interview for your fansight." She chirped. "They've been waiting all day to see you guys preform, we have o at least give them a nice closer for their excitement."

"And you're giving it?" I asked as she pushed us out of the building and to a quiet(er) place out back.

"Oh course no." She said as she plucked me on the head. "I've picked someone who used to interrogating people. She does it for a living."

"Interrogating?" The look on Micajah's face was that of slight alarm. "I thought this was an interview?"

"Interview, interrogation, same thing." She threw her arm over her shoulder as my mom came into view.

"Oh no!" I exclaimed, pushing off of the bench. This was not about to happen. If this interview went anything like the others then I would't be leaving my house for the next three years. Plus, there are just some things that don't happen, and making me subject to my mothers professionality is one of those things. It sent an uneasy shill down my spine. "I'm not being questioned by my mom. Are you insane?"

"What? She's perfect for it, she's a layer after all. They always know exactly what questions to ask."

"And what do you have to hide young man?" She put her hands on her hips in hat motherly way I knew all too well, telling me this was going to happen whether I wanted it to or not. I sat back down as her eyes instructed and prepared for the worse.

She sat down on a plastic chair Kinna had provided, crossed her legs, cleared her throat, and made that creepy transition from mother to professional everything as Kinna turned on the camera she had set up.

"This is so weird." I fidgeted, pulling Micajah closer. "I feel like the president in some weird family press conference."

"Just think of it as preparation for the future," Micajah smiled as he kissed my cheek.

My mom looked over at us with a smile "Do you want to be the president in the future, Benjamin?"

"What?" I asked, confused for a moment before I remembered she was asking for the benefit of the interview. "No, I don't care about people enough to want to do that."

"What, you don't care about me?" Micajah asked, faking blighted feelings.

"Of course I care about you. I just only care about you, my family, Lee, and my hockey team. No one else.... okay, maybe some kids."

"Where do you want to be when this is over? Do you see yourself going back to your hockey team, competing with figure skating more, or going in a different direction" She asked.

I thought for a moment, then smiled and answered. "With Micajah."

"I'm sorry, could you explain?"

"I want to be with Micajah after this. I see myself with Micajah. I haven't really thought much on the future, hell, I don't even know where we're going to celebrate after this." I hesitated when she raised an eyebrow at the inappropriate language, but continued with hopes of not getting in trouble afterwards. "Thinking about the future isn't really something I do on a regular basis. But whatever I do, wherever I happen to end up, I know that I want Micajah to be with me. He will be with me, as long as he doesn't mind it."

She looked to the blushing brunette next to me and grinned. "Do you?"

"No," He smiled. "Not at all."

I let go of the small breath I didn't realize I was holding. Every time I tell him I love him I'm scared Kade'll wake me up and I'll be back in bed before I get the chance to hear him say it back. Every time I reach out to him, I'm scared my hands will feel nothing but air. Every time I'm near him I'm scared i'm just imagining this perfect boy. He's too good to be true, sometimes I question if I'd just dreampt everything. Knowing that I hadn't, and that he promised to be there in the future, his reassurance that I wasn't crazy, made me love him all the more.

"I knew you couldn't spend a day without me." I smirked, pulling him closer to calm my nerves.

He rolled his eyes at this and mumbled "Says the guy that couldn't get his own pants off last night."

"On that note." Mom chirped in, an evil look on her face. "How would you describe your relationship since beginning to skate together? Has skating hindered your relationship at all, or have you guys gotten... closer since?"

I left the rest to Micajah, dodging anything she threw at me until she asked a question that he couldn't possibly answer on my behalf.

"So, Benjamin. Do you regret any of it? Having to put hockey and your family gatherings aside for a sport you used to dislike? Do you ever wish you hadn't done it?"

The question hit me hard, and there was a few moments of silence before I had conjured up a true answer. "Honestly, no. It was worth it. I got to help Micajah with his dream, I got to be a part of it. And even though we didn't reach it we got close enough to taste it, close enough to want to do it again. His dream became mine. I never really had a dream. I like hockey, yeah, but I don't have a goal to reach with it. It was, and still kind of is, just a way for me to release my anger. And while I do miss going out on regular camping trips with my family, spending Saturday nights on Tumblr with Lee, and helping Clary cosplay- wait, don't tell her I said I miss that. But even though I miss always doing those sorts of things, cutting back on them was worth being able to have a dream to follow. And hopefully the people who I don't spend as much time with realize that."

"I think they do. And I'm sure they all love Micaja for giving that to you." My mom smiled, and I swear to god I saw her eyes get wet. But before I had a chance to examine any farther she ad put on her professional look again. "Thank you guys for taking time out to talk to your fans first, I'm sure you guys have a fer more interviews to get to. Hopefully you guys are here next year with a gold medal in our hands."

Micajah smiled, pulling my arm tighter around him. "Oh, we will be. Don't worry."