Here, Darling.

The car ride was awkward at first neither party knew what to say and they didn’t want to be the first one to break the silence that was beginning to suffocate them. In the end Alaska couldn’t take it any longer, worried that if one of them didn’t talk the night would go downhill.

“So, how about the weather...” Alaska sighed, glancing at Zack before turning to lookout the wind shield, nodding her head in a way she never had before, feeling like a moron and someone she didn’t even recognise. “It’s cold, huh?”

“Well it is winter, Adelaide” Zack chuckled, shaking his head in amusement as he grinned at her, continuing the journey down the road before turning left and pulling down a small side street, the light was a lot dimmer, the dark night making it harder for you to see any more than a couple of feet in front of you.

“Yeah, that was really dumb” Alaska mumbled foolishly, rolling her eyes at her stupidity as she poofed out some air while she climbed out the car, waiting for Zack to do the same before meeting him in front of the bonnet, a slight shiver running down her spine from the sharp cool air.

“You’re not dumb Ad” Zack rolled his eyes, turning to give the girl a stern look as they headed down the street, the amber street lamps making the street only barely visible, the view reminded her of home, the late at night walks she used to take from her house to Josh’s, or vice versa, allowing her thoughts to rush through the night in the calm, quiet air.

“So, what are we doing?” Adelaide asked, turning to beam at the boy as they continued to amble down the road, Zack reaching out to take Alaska’s arm and leading her the right way before she headed into the wrong directions.

“Well...” Zack mumbled, rubbing at the back of his neck as his cheeks began to flush slightly “I didn’t know what to do, after all you are different to most girls, so I thought we could do something fun?” he suggested, his shoulders shrugging slightly stopping outside a brightly lit building, groups of teenagers stood gossiping outside, turning to look at the couple, their eyebrows raising slightly.

“The ice rink” Alaska nodded surprised, out of all the things she expected Zack to take her to on the date, this was definitely wasn’t one of them. Not that that was a bad thing, it seemed like the perfect thing for the pair to do, definitely better than the dinner and movie cliché that everyone portrayed as the perfect date.

“Yeah, is that okay? We can go catch a movie or do something else if you like...” Zack trailed off, biting his lip as he tore his eyes away from the doorway and rested them on the petite girl that was in front of him, trying to read her expression to figure out if he had done something right or not.

“Zack it’s fine, it’s perfect” Alaska reassured him, resting her hand on his bicep, he smiled at her, before leading her into the building, finally feeling like himself than he had earlier in the night.

Alaska couldn’t ice skate. Not for the lack of trying. She did quite good in the first ten minutes, nearly making one lap around the rink without any help, but the youth’s were to quick, darting in and out of gaps as they speedily made their route around the ice, cutting up any people necessary.

What was surprising was that Zack was great at skating, not even seeming to feel panic when he lost his balance, not that he seemed to, and could even skate backwards which deeply impressed Alaska since she could hardly manage doing it forward.

However, with this predicament it gave Zack a reason to hold the girl’s small hand, allowing him to pull her along the ice next to him, steadying her as she rocked to and fro trying to maintain her balance.

“You’re pretty good at this” Alaska chuckled, squeezing his hand tightly as she lost concentration, her balance instantly gone causing her to panic as she nearly fell on the ice, Zack grabbing her other hand in order to steady her.

“Yeah, well...” Zack simply shrugged modestly, a small blush erupting on his cheeks as he pulled the two of them in-between a gap of some teenagers, gossiping about the latest vampire movie they’ve seen, not seeming to care that they were stood in everyone’s way.

“You’re not going to tell me how you are so good?” Alaska continued to probe, adopting the puppy dog’s in a way of persuasion trying to coerce the boy into spilling the beans, Zack shook his head, there was no way he was telling Alaska the story. He hated it as it was.

“Please” Alaska begged now, her lips now forming a small pout, her eyelashes fluttering as Zack rolled his eyes, used to these antics from his sister who constantly used them on his friends over the last beer.

“I used to take ice skating lessons as a kid” he sighed, looking away in embarrassment, his eyes falling on a pair of middle aged woman making their way around the circuit, discussing their children’s problems at school for the whole world to here.

“Aww that’s so adorable” Alaska cooed pulling Zack’s attention back onto her as she squeezed his hand a little tighter, almost tripping over her own feet and nose diving onto the dance but managing to somehow stay on her feet.

“Lucy wanted to ice skate so my mum made me do it too” he tried to save his masculinity but by the look on Alaska’s face he knew he was too late.

“Did you use ice skating as a ploy to hold my hand, bud?” Alaska smirked, readying herself on her feet as Zack continued to whirl them around, turning so he was now skating backwards, and facing Alaska as he held both of her hands, trying to help her maintain her balance.

“Nah, I wish I was that smooth though it could of probably helped me out during high school” Zack shrugged, causing Alaska to scoff disbelievingly, giving Zack a playful shove to his shoulder as he just raised his eyebrow, wondering what he said that was so disbelievingly.

“Don’t lie Zack, I bet you were a right player at school always having girls hanging off your every word” Alaska chuckled, looking Zack up and down before adding “And probably your muscles too”.

“I wish, girls were always after Alex and Jack. No one wants the awkward types for boyfriends” Jack sighed, shrugging slightly as he pulled Alaska closer to him, squeezing the pair in between a group of children that were wobbling like a baby deer just after being born.

“But they are the best types” Alaska nodded, motioning towards the exit, Zack nodded slightly, his eyes rolling at the comment as he led her to the exit, following her to the bench where she seemed to collapse.

“Well I think you are the only person to think that, nobody in high school did” Zack shrugged, his eyes moving from Alaska’s to the small cafe located in the rink, “want anything to eat?” he added, after all it was probably the best place to talk.

“Sure” Alaska grinned, pulling off her skates and grabbing his hand before he even had time to remove his, dragging him into the cafe and towards an empty table, her eyes flitting around the room as the grin seemed to grow.

“This place is awesome” she exclaimed, turning to look at Zack before allowing her gaze to float away, she spotted an old couple sat in the corner, two mugs of steaming coffee place in front of them as they talked animatedly, their eyes sparkling making the pair look more like teenagers than old aged pensioners.

“Yeah, it’s been around for a while but most people don’t know about it because of it’s location” Zack shrugged, a young waitress no older than eighteen walking over to the pair, her eyes instantly lighting up when she saw Zack.

“Hey Zack” she beamed at him, turning to give Alaska a small smile as she waited, notebook poised in her hand ready to take down their order.

“Hey Abigail” Zack smiled slightly, turning to look at Alaska and allowing her to order first, her eyes widening as she tried to figure out what she wanted instead of making herself look like a fool.

“Er can I have a hot chocolate and a cheese burger with some fries please, if that’s alright?” Alaska mumbled, turning her attention from Abigail to look at Zack, who just nodded at her instantly making her feel more comfortable and easier for her to relax. Finally things felt like they were normal, instead of all awkward and second guessing/

“I’ll have the same Abigail” Zack said smiling at the girl who looked like she was going to pass out, she managed to nod to the pair before making her way back to the counter, Alaska just turned to look at Zack a coy smile playing in her lips.

“And you said girl’s don’t like the awkward type Zack, you’re such a liar!” Alaska laughed, causing Zack’s face to pull into a small frown, his eyes darting from Alaska to Abigail who was now starting on their drinks, confused to what was going on.

“What?” He asked bewildered, a hand running through his hair causing Alaska to laugh even more, shaking her head at Zack who was completely oblivious to what was going on.

“That poor girl is like head over heels in love with you” Alaska leant over the table to whisper to Zack who’s face paled, mouth opening in shock before he leant back, shaking his head as he smiled slightly to Abigail who brought over their drinks, her hands shaking slightly nearly causing the scolding brown liquid to pour over the edge of the ceramic and onto her hand.

“Thank you” Alaska beamed, before resuming her position, Abigail quickly scurrying away leaving the pair alone to resume the conversation “Did you see that? It’s completely obvious!” Alaska exclaimed, slamming her hand down on the table to try and make her point but Zack was now staring at her wide eyed.

“But I’ve known her since she was five from ice skating, that’s just gross” Zack shuddered, causing Alaska to break out into even more laughter her face turning slightly red.

“Aw you’re going to break her little heart” Alaska pouted, taking a gulp of her hot chocolate, her insides instantly feeling like they were warming up, she was enjoying Zack’s company and couldn’t imagine herself sat opposite anyone else.

“Stop it Adelaide, your ruining everything” Zack pouted slightly, widening his eyes into a puppy dog look causing Alaska to giggle at the ridiculous look nearly chocking on the sip had she just took, causing her to cough repeatedly as Zack just grinned at her.

“I did no such thing, I’m being a perfect a date, you should be lucky to be sat here with me” Alaska smirked, waving her hand in the air dismissively, as she raised her nose into the air slightly, trying to give herself a look of arrogance.

“To be honest with you Ad, I think I have been the perfect one, after all I have stopped you from falling on your ass at least a dozen times” Zack retorted, wiping the smirk cleanly off of Alaska’s face who now glared playfully at him over the table.

“You win this round” She muttered, pouting slightly as she took another sip of her drink, wiping her lip quickly in fear of a chocolate moustache.

“Darling, I win every round” Zack shrugged sending her a quick wink, causing Alaska to roll her eye’s grinning as a plate of food was placed in front of her. This was definitely in her top five dates.