Thank You

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Disclaimer :

Dude, I don't own them, as stated in the disclaimer tacked on the last chapter.

Fluffy sweetness, rated strong PG-13 for language.

Oh, and since I've never been to London I'm not exactly sure if a place like this really exhists.

It's all good though 'coz it's only a story anyway ^.^;

Have fun!

Oh, and sorry for taking so long..I've been sorta busy, hee ^^;;

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" And Oh just to be with you is having the best day of my life.."

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"No way, there is no fucking way, Steven!"

" Aww, c'mon...It'll be fun!"

Perhaps, had I known he was going to react like this, I wouldn't of brought him here in the first place. But it wasn't really all *that* bad. I mean, aside from the girl behind the counter of the little rental shack there was hardly anyone else about.Well, there were a few other couples, but they, it appeared, were in the midst of packing up to head home. It was rather peaceful really, by the time we had arrived it had begun to lightly snow which not only cast another layer of white over the ground but effectively managed to muffle the sounds of the city that rose up around us. It really was quite nice, and I had a mind to enjoy that quiet for a moment, but was interupted by Brian and his shrill complaints.

Christ, he is such a woman some times.

"Steve! I am *not* I repeaot* ot* going out there! It's stupid, why can't we just sit here?" He whined loudly, drawing a curious glance from the girl behind the rental shack's counter.

"Because," I answered, " Jus' sitting here is no fun. Really, Brian. It's easy. Anyone can skate."

" Well I'm no' anyone and I don't want to!" He complained again. I was too busy getting our skates to care though. Wandering over to the little booth, I politely asked the girl for two pairs of skates, one for me and one for Brian, who was busy hissing curses at my back.

" Don' mind him, love, he gets like this sometimes when 'e forgets to take his medication," I explained to the girl, who laughed as she handed me the skates in exhange for some money.

" I heard tha', you twat!" Brian shrieked loudly, drawing a few more curious glances from the scant crowd gathered.

"Of course you heard me, Brian. I meant for you to hear me, now be quiet an' put these on alright..?" I replied goodnaturedly as I wandered back toward the bench, dropping his pair of skates down beside him on the scarred wooden surface.

" Ste-eevie, I don'--Do I really...?" He asked defeatedly while poking at the skates as if they would jump out and bite him at any second. Abandoning my own skates, which I was in the midst of getting ready to put on, I rose with a grin, grabbing Brian's pair before kneeling down at his feet.

" Don' worry, it's easy. If I can teach a little girl how to skate in the matter of a few minutes, I think I can handle you, " I said with a smile. Meanwhile I made myself busy tugging off his shoes and putting the skates on his feet. " An' anyway, it's sorta like riding a bike, or driving a car--Once you learn how you don' forget. " I finished as I began to lace up and tightly tie the laces of his skates.

"Steven!! I never learned how to do either of those!" Brian shrieked.

Well bugger me sideways, Guess I had forgotten.

" Ehh, Don' worry about it, Brian. It's real easy, I promise," I replied with an affirming nod as I stood up. Plopping down on the bench, I went to put on my own skates, ignoring Brian's protests even as I stood up and made to haul him up to his feet as well. He complained during the whole process of course, almost instantly latching himself to me once I'd managed to pull him to his footing.

"Stevie! I'm gonna fall! I'm gonna fall! I'm slipping--AH!! I'M FALLING!"

"Brian, you are not going to fall b'cause one, I'm holding on to you, and two, we're not even on the ice yet. I don' know as you know this, but this stuff that we're standing in, it's called snow. It's generally not slippery."

" ...Oh..."

Honestly, sometimes I just didn't know what to do with the little sod.

Prying Brian away from me, I held onto his hands while carefully backing myself up until the snow under foot gave way to ice. Brian remained on the little snowy embankment, staring dubiously at me and the slippery surface I now stood on. He glared at me, pouting profusely as he inched his way down the little embankment and onto the ice.

"See..? Now tha' wasn't so hard, was it..? " I asked as I tightened my grip on his fingers to further prevent accident should he decide he wanted to fall.

"Yes, It was," He said with a scowl. " I fucking hate you, Steven."

" No you don't, you adore me, remember..? " I countered.

He hissed at me.

" Point and case." I said cheekily.

"........."

Leaning slightly backward, I inched along the ice at a snails pace, watching amusedly as Brian's eyes widened in terror when he realized we were moving. Instantly, his fingers tightened about mine. A vice-like grith ith his stubby nails digging in to the flesh of my hands. Not that I minded any, oh nope not at all. What's another bruise to add to the "Oh, yea, Brian did that" list?It wasn't like I needed my hands or anything, what with my line of work and all.

Slowing to a halt, I offered him a reassuring smile. I must've done something right because after a moment he smiled as well, the near death-grip he had on my hands relaxing just slightly.

" Ok, this is real easy, Bri...All y'gotta do is put one foot in front of the other. Like your shuffling along trying no' to fall over b'cause you can't see infront of you or something." I explained carefully, the very same explanation I'd used when I had taught my daughter how to skate.

" O-ok," Brian said, and I fancy he said it nervously. But if he was nervous, he quickly dismissed it because after a short pause he fixed me with a lethal glare. " If you let go, an' I fall, I'll kick your ass so bad, Steven Hewitt." He hissed, and all I could do was grin while resisting the urge to mention the last time he'd tried to beat me up. We'd been leaving a bar, and Brian had been more than a bit drunk. Somehow he had gotten it in his head that I was being a total arse for not letting him stay for another drink.

Well, one thing lead to another, and he ended up jumping on my back, attempting to pound in my skull. He wasn't succesful however, actually he never managed to get that far because he ran right into me, lost his balance and fell flat down on his ass and on to the pavement. Silly little prick.

Shaking my head with a smile, I ignored the look he was giving me and tugged him forward in to the rink as I glided backward.

"Steven..Are you sure this is a good idea..?" He asked quietly, his finger's sliding up along my hands until they were firmly locked around my forearms.

"Sure," I replied cheerfully. " It's better than being stuck indoors, isn't it..?"

" Actually, I kind of like being indoors." He answered.

" Well that's too bad." I said . " B'cause we're not leaving for a while yet." And with that, I proceeded to speed up our pace, dragging Brian along for the ride.

Ignoring the look of sheer terror that animated his face, I shushed any further protests he may have been planning to say with a pointed glare.Instructing him as I had before to simply take it slow, I reminded him to put one foot infront of the other, and then glide. It took him a long while to get the hang of it, but by our two-millionth time 'round the rink he'd pretty much gotten the hang of using his feet.

Now if only I could teach him to walk this well.

" See, now this isn't all that bad." I said after a few minutes.

" Yea, I guess not," He admitted sincerly. I shot him an incredulous look and he glared up at me, snorting. " What!?"

"Nothing," I answered with a grin as I shook my head, quickly filling the frore silence before he could cut in with a sarcastic remark. " Ok, well now that you've gotten the hang of this why don't we try something else..?" I didn't wait for a reply however before I began prying myself from his grasp to move behind him. I hadn't even put more than an inch or two between us before he started shrieking.

"Steven! What are you doing!! Don't let go of me!!" Of course he was totally overeacting, because during the whole process I hadn't once broken contact with him. My hand was still on his arm, holding tight should he decide to be an arse and fall.

"Brian, Christ, jus' chill the fuck out. I'm no' going to let go of you." I said calmly, flinching slightly as he shrieked again.

" I AM GOING TO FALL! Don't let me fall, Steven!!!"

This time I was forced to yell in order to be heard over his panicked yelps.

" Brian! Brian, just calm down! I am no' going to let you fall ok!? I've got you!" I shouted, my grasp on his wrists tightening to prove that I would not let him fall. This seemed to calm him slightly, and after a moment of quiet I poked him in the ribs as I moved my hands down to reposition them on his waist.

" See..? " I asked. " I've got you, I won't let you fall, ok..?"

" Y-yea..OK. " He replied, his head wobbling infront of me in what appeared to be a dubious nod.

" OK, " I reiterated flatly. Before shaking my own head. I was beginning to think maybe I should have just left him home.

Snapping from my thoughts I nudged him forward, prompting movement.

"Ok, this is just like b'fore," I started. " Just do like you were doing a few minutes ago, ok..? It's exactly the same. An' I promise, I won't let you fall, alright..?" He nodded quietly, and peering around the top of his head I watched as he slid one foot forward followed by the other.

" Good, jus' like tha', mate." I encouraged with a smile. Ok, so maybe not all was lost yet, he did seem to be making progress. Settling his hands over mine, we inched our way around the rink a few times, Brian leading the way.

By this time it had gotten pretty quiet. Almost all of the scant crowd gathered had dispersed to wherever it was they'd come from, leaving Bri and I alone on the yellow light splotched skating rink that was in the process of being dusted with a light blanket of powdery white. I sighed softly, smiling as a white steam cloud shot out through my nostrils to zip along the top of Brian's hair to melt the snow flakes that had gathered there. Against me he shuddered and slowed to a full stop before turning to peer over his shoulder at me.

"Thank you, Steven. " He said quietly, a smile forming upon his lips. I blinked stupidly, dazed slightly by the sudden intrusion of noise. I guess I'd gotten myself caught up in the moment or something.

" Uhh, you're welcome," I replied, a smile of my own making it's way to my lips. I wasn't exactly sure on why he was thanking me in the first place, but it didn't much matter. He must've read my mind or something because about two seconds later the little bugger opened his mouth again to explain.

" Seriously, Steve. This is th'first time in days I've actually been able to smile. Thanks for making me feel better." He said quietly, Sincerly.

" Well, you're quite welcome, Brian," I answered after a moment."That's what friend's are for, yea..?"

" Yea. " He affirmed before with another shiver he turned to glare at the ice. " Can we go now..? I'm bloody fucking freazing my ass off."

Trust Brian to ruin a perfectly good moment of "calm". Chuckling quietly, I gave a nod.

" Yea, we can go." I said before slipping out from behind Brian, careful not to allow him to fall while I moved to his side and grabbed ahold of his hand. Slowly dragging him along, I skated over to the exit and to lead him to the bench where we'd left our shoes. Plopping down on it's scarred wooden surface, I swifly unlaced my skates and stuffed my feet into my sneakers.

Standing up, I gathered my skates. I was halfway to the rental shack before I heard a soft cough. Turning, I glanced over to where Brian sat, still wearing his skates. He watched me, a bemused smile upon his lips.

"Well..?" He asked impatiently.

" Well what..?" I retorted.

"Skates..? Unlace them..?" He said while gesticulating wildly at his footwear.

I glared at him and shook my head. " Take off your own goddamned skates." I stated flatly. He simply snorted at me and folded his arms across his chest, donning the infamous ' I'm-not-going-anywhere-till-you-fix-this' expression.

Grumbling, I resigned and made my way back over to the bench.

"Fine fine, I'll unlace the fucking skates." I sighed. Bending over, I made quick work of removing the skates from his feet, and as I side note I even jammed his boots back on. And none too gently I might add. That done, I stood again and made my way back over to the rental booth for the second time.

Returning both pairs of skates, I turned to find Brian waiting behind me.

"Ready..?" He asked.

"Yup." I replied.

I made to stick my hands in the pockets of my trousers, but a hand on mine halted the action. Glancing over to Brian, I smiled and threaded my fingers through his. I suppose it was alright if one of my hands got cold. Sticking the other set of five in my pocket, I gave his hand a squeaze and nodded off in the direction of the street. It was a fair distance, but it was a nice night out, and we could catch a cab once we hit the sidewalk. Besides, it wasn't all that cold. Not when I was sharing body heat with the human leach.

Pressing closer to me, Brian nudged me with his shoulder.

" Ok, ok, I'm going. " I said in mock exhasperation before setting off in the direction of the street. He fell in to step beside me, his head dropping to my shoulder.

So maybe I hadn't figured out exactly what was bothering Brian, but I had a feeling that he'd atleast clue me in a little when we got back to the flat. All and all I'd say that my little plan had worked.

Muah.

Mission Accomplished.

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FIN