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Julian sank down into the sand with a soft thud. He gazed out into the crystal blue waters of the ocean, while waves broke over the sand just a few feet in front of him. The sun felt lovely against his skin – it was the perfect amount of warmth, just enough to make him unwind. Cool ocean breezes tickled his face and threatened to mess up his hair, but he didn’t mind. There was nothing Julian loved more than summer, especially days like this when he was able to escape football and go to the beach. He dug his toes deeper into the sand and let out a happy sigh - he was at ease. Unfortunately, his peace was cut short. A terrible, loud scraping noise filled his ears and completely took him by surprise.
Julian’s eyes snapped open and reality set in.
He wasn’t on the beach, but at home in his bed in Wolfsburg.
It wasn’t summer, but the end of a ferocious and unforgiving December winter.
The scraping noise was the result of a snow plow clearing his street of freshly fallen powder.
And worst of all, the calm beach was just a dream. Due to work commitments, he wouldn’t be able to go on vacation for quite some time. This just made Julian more annoyed.
Julian hated winter. He hated it with the same passion that he had for Dortmund as a boy. And that was intense.
He never enjoyed winter sports, such as hockey or skiing. They just weren’t exhilarating for him, mainly because he couldn’t stand cold temperatures. When at outdoor football practices and games, he despised how the frigid air would give him a runny nose within minutes of stepping on the pitch. When at home, he loathed having to clean off his car and his driveway, especially if the snow accumulation increased by the hour. The only good thing he liked about winter was the fact that he got six weeks off of football. That was it.
All in all, winter was just one giant roadblock on Julian’s highway to happiness.
He turned to the clock on the nightstand. It was nearly noon. Since it was winter break, Julian had the freedom to stay up late at night without worrying about being tired for practice. There were only two reasons why he would ever stay up late, though. One reason was because he was caught up in a fierce game of FIFA with his friends on his PS4. But usually, the sole reason why Julian went to bed so late is because he was always on the phone with someone. His someone.
Erik.
Julian’s move to Wolfsburg had been hard for both of them. In order to make up for the distance, Julian and Erik called each other every night. They talked for hours and never ran out of topics - that was part of the reason why Julian loved Erik so much. Although they had been dating for quite a while, Julian always seemed to find new things out about Erik. Usually they were little things, but Julian remembered them all. How couldn’t he? Erik infatuated him.
Just as he was recounting snippets of last night’s conversation, Julian’s phone began to ring. It was Erik.
“Hey,” Julian said through a yawn.
“Hey Jule!” Erik exclaimed. He was always so chipper in the morning, even if he was running on a few hours’ sleep. Julian never understood how. Was he the Energizer bunny in his spare time? He could certainly pass for it.
Julian listened to what seemed like the sound of traffic on Erik’s line.
“Where are you? Are you in your car?” Julian asked.
“Uh, well, that’s kind of why I’m calling you,” Erik said happily. “I’m actually on my way to Wolfsburg right now to come and see you.”
“Wait, what? You’re joking!” Julian said with disbelief. Erik didn’t mention coming to see him last night. They actually didn’t have plans to see each other until New Year’s Eve.
“I decided that I couldn’t wait until New Years to see you. So since you said you weren’t doing anything today, I figured I would come and entertain you! I thought maybe you would like to go on a date with me,” Erik said proudly. Julian could just picture him beaming with happiness in that moment.
Julian laughed. “I would love that. What did you have in mind?” he asked.
“You know how there’s that ice rink in the park right down the street from you? Let’s go ice skating! It’ll be so much fun. I haven’t been able to go skating in so long, especially since my knee has been giving me trouble,” Erik suggested warmly.
“Yeah, that sounds fun! I can’t wait to see you,” Julian happily agreed. Any kind of date with Erik is his favorite kind of date.
“Great, I’ll be in Wolfsburg in a few hours. Love you, see you soon!” Erik said excitedly.
“Drive safe, love you too!” Julian said before hanging up.
Julian was overcome with excitement. Any time that he got to spend with Erik was precious, since the distance was such an inconvenience.
But then Julian realized he had a problem. He can’t ice skate. He never could, not even as a child. He was always too focused on football and never wanted to risk getting an injury. He was for sure going to embarrass himself tonight.
Erik was a fantastic skater. Well, Julian assumed he was. Erik had mentioned how he and his family would always go skating during the holidays at a little rink by their Christmas market. Occasionally, Erik talked about those times, and how he would always race his older sister around the rink and how they would try to prank other kids. He had been skating for well over a decade, which made him practically an Olympian in Julian’s eyes.
He pushed his thoughts aside and got out of bed. Julian began to clean everything, partly because his home needed it, and partly because it kept him from thinking about tonight’s impending disaster.
Sure enough, Erik arrived at Julian’s a few hours later. The very first thing Julian noticed was Erik’s choice of shoes. Erik was dressed casually in jeans, a black hoodie, and a black scarf. However, he wore bright, tomato red sneakers. The shoes threw off the whole outfit, but Julian didn’t have the heart to fight Erik about it. He had actually tried to convince Erik to buy different shoes at the mall one day, but Erik pulled out his puppy dog eyes and pouty face. Julian can’t ever say no to Erik when he sees those bright blue-green eyes. It’s his kryptonite.
Once Erik was in the doorway, he realized that it was only a matter of time before his boyfriend would watch him fail miserably. He greeted Erik as though everything was normal, and as though this date wasn’t making him incredibly nervous.
Julian suggested that they go for dinner before going to the rink, which would hopefully give him enough time to mentally prepare for tonight’s absolute fiasco. Not to Julian’s surprise, Erik agreed without hesitation. He knew that Erik hadn’t been able to eat much since he had been driving nearly all afternoon.
They hopped into Julian’s car and he drove them to the local Japanese hibachi restaurant. He and Erik both loved Asian cuisine, and this particular restaurant was notorious for giving generous portions – another part of Julian’s plan to stall the date. Since they would be given so much food, it would take them a while to eat and digest all of it. Therefore, he could postpone ice skating until they were both ready for physical activity.
Everything worked out according to plan. Julian and Erik devoured huge mounds of fried rice, vegetables, and chicken. They both nearly ate every single piece of food on their plates, thus causing them to feel extremely stuffed. After eating, they ended up staying at the table longer, digesting and chatting about football and the latest transfer rumors.
However, much to Julian’s distaste, they couldn’t stay there forever.
“Hey, are you ready to go?” Erik asked, before sipping the very last drops of his fourth refill of water.
“Yeah, sure,” Julian responded with a fake smile.
They got to the rink, rented skates, and sat down on a bench to lace up. Julian was very careful not to let his nervousness show, and closely mimicked everything that Erik was doing.
They stood up and walked over to the rink entrance in their skates. The rink itself was beautiful – there was a giant emerald Christmas tree in the middle, decorated with bright golden lights and big red ribbons. A shimmering gold star with red accents dominated the top. The surrounding walls and perimeter of the rink also were draped with twinkling lights that matched the tree. Instrumental holiday music played from speakers placed in various spots around the rink. Children, adults, and couples skated smoothly across the freshly cleaned ice. The air was filled with laughter, excitement, and an overall sense of happiness. It was probably the prettiest winter scene Julian had ever seen in person.
As they were walking up the ramp to the ice rink’s entrance, Julian’s eyes became fixed on a young couple. The boyfriend was an excellent skater, to the point where he could skate backward without worrying about what was behind him. The girlfriend, however, looked terrified. She couldn’t skate at all and had a permanent look of panic upon her face. The boyfriend decided that it would be funny to scare the poor girl, which caused her to jump and slip backward right onto her ass. Julian just prayed that Erik wouldn’t do something like that to him. But it was likely.
Julian gulped when they finally reached the entrance.
Was he going to look like a baby giraffe taking its first steps? Probably.
Was Erik going to judge him for it? Probably.
Julian groaned internally.
“Okay, are you ready?” Erik asked excitedly. He slid onto the rink without any second guesses. He turned back and looked at Julian. Why didn’t Jule follow?
Julian just stared back. There’s no way he could do this. Nope. Not today.
Erik laughed. “Oh, come on. What are you doing? Are you teasing me?” Erik asked in a joking tone, while skating back toward Julian. Why is Jule being so passive? It’s as though he’s been holding something back all night, and Erik was starting to get worried.
“Uh…no,” Julian mumbled, staring at the ground. He was cautious to not make eye contact.
This was going to be one for the books.
Erik suddenly seemed to understand what was happening – he didn’t even need to ask. His expression changed to one of encouragement.
“Hey, it’s okay! Take my hand. I’ll teach you how to skate,” Erik said, his hand reaching out to Julian. Sometimes Julian was too proud to admit and accept that he needed help.
“I-I don’t know. I don’t want to hurt you if I make you fall down,” Julian said nervously. He really didn’t want to make a scene.
“Julian, do you trust me?” Erik said in a serious tone, despite the smirk on his face.
“More than anything. You know that,” Julian responded with a soft smile.
“Then take my hand and let me help you,” Erik commanded.
And so Julian did.
Shyly, but he did.
Erik held on to Julian’s hand, and Julian gripped back tightly. Erik sailed them seamlessly around the rink, often checking Julian’s expressions to see how he was holding up. At the moment, Julian looked like child that just found out where babies come from. Erik just shook his head and grinned. Since when did Jule become this cute?
At first, Julian was petrified. He kept imagining all of the ways that he could have fallen and ruined everything. The last thing he wanted to do was cause Erik more pain, especially since he was just starting to transition back into things after the knee surgery. What if he’s out for all of the next half because Julian made him fall? Julian’s internal thoughts were literally just a series of screams.
But then, all of his worries melted away almost as fast as the snowflakes that began to fall on his cheeks. Erik made him feel at ease and he was eventually able to let go and skate on his own. Of course he had to go slow, very slow, but it was progress. Erik’s eyes lit up with so much happiness when he saw Julian take his first strides perfectly on his own. Erik was incredibly proud of Julian for being so brave and willing to try something new.
They continued to slowly loop around the rink just like that. They occasionally stole glances at each other, and would burst out laughing when they made eye contact. Julian would sometimes slip, but he never fell down.
Erik teased him gingerly when a group of small children passed them for the third time.
Julian chuckled sarcastically – he knew that he was a terrible skater, but he realized that he was okay with that. And best of all, Erik didn’t judge him for it. Instead they made light of it.
“Hey Erik, why shouldn’t you tell jokes while ice skating?” Julian asked, looking up from his skates.
“I’m not sure, why?” Erik questioned sarcastically, knowing that the answer to this pun was probably going to be cheesier than a child’s fingers after they’ve eaten a whole bag of Cheetos. Here we go.
“Because the ice might crack up!” Julian beamed and stuck his tongue out at Erik.
Erik just rolled his eyes and chuckled. Julian was the absolute worst at jokes, but he loved him for it. Even if the jokes sucked, he could always just make fun of how big of an idiot Julian was. It was a win-win situation.
While lost in the thought of how big of a dork Julian was, Erik accidentally skated over a deep gash in the ice. He tumbled into Julian, who surprisingly caught him and steadied him back on to his feet.
“Thanks,” Erik mustered through his embarrassment.
“Wow. Way to let it go, Elsa!” Julian teased playfully.
Instead of wishing the date would be over, Julian found himself hoping that it would never end. He could float around the rink with Erik forever, laughing about anything and everything. Without a doubt, this was his favorite date yet.
After almost two hours of skating, they began to tire. They hopped off the ice, returned their skates, and began to make their way back to Julian’s home.
Julian drove them almost the whole distance back in silence. A good silence; a calm and happy one. In all honesty, this is Julian’s favorite time with Erik. They’re just able to sit together and comfortably enjoy the other’s presence. It’s something that can’t be achieved when they’re talking over the phone and a conversation grows dull. It’s something that secretly calms Julian.
Once they reached Julian’s house, the temperature outside had dropped relatively low. Julian turned up the heat and decided to make them both a mug of hot chocolate. It was the good kind of hot chocolate too, made with Swiss chocolate, actually. Julian knew that Erik liked the Swiss version the best, because it was one of those little things he learned about him over the phone one night. Erik had been talking about his Swiss teammate Roman, and one thing led to another.
When the drinks were ready, Julian topped them off with a copious amount of whipped cream. It was winter break and they had already cheated on their diets with the massive hibachi dinner. What more harm could whipped cream do?
They sat in front of the fireplace, wrapped up in fluffy fleece blankets. Erik laughed when he saw how much whipped cream Julian put on top of the drink. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a decent sized gulp.
Swiss chocolate. Erik recognized it instantly. He was so surprised that Julian remembered that little detail – he had only mentioned it once. It was nice knowing that someone cared about Erik enough to want to know everything about him, just to brighten moments like these. Jule was simply the best, and Erik wouldn’t trade him for the world. He would even give up his favorite red sneakers in order to keep Julian, though it would pain him. Erik loved those sneakers dearly.
When he lowered the mug, Julian instantly became distracted by the whipped cream that had accidentally gotten all over Erik’s nose and upper lip.
“Hey Erik…you’ve…you’ve got…” Julian started, unable to formulate a proper sentence.
“What? What do I have?” Erik said confusedly.
“No, no, it’s just that you’ve got…when you…the mug…” Julian began again, this time starting to lean closer to Erik, focusing on the whipped cream mustache.
“I’m really confused, is something wrong? Did you put something in my drink?” Erik said, sounding concerned. Did Julian put salt in his drink again? He did it quite a lot when they were in Rio, and the thought of it always made Erik annoyed. He couldn’t leave his drinks unattended during the whole World Cup - not even his water bottle was safe. The things Julian did to get Erik’s attention. Ugh. At least Jule grew up? Kinda?
“No…you’re fine…it’s just…” Julian started again, staring straight at Erik’s plump lips. This time, he ended the sentence by placing his lips on Erik’s. He kissed him softly and sweetly, gently picking up traces of the sugary residue.
“Oh,” Erik blushed when Julian pulled away. Erik guessed that it wasn’t a salt trick after all.
Julian wrapped Erik up in the blanket with him and held him close in front of the fireplace. Erik was so comfortable in Julian’s arms that he began to drift off into a dream filled with dancing sugarplums and friendly snowmen. At least that’s what Julian thought he would be dreaming about, as he lovingly watched Erik sleep. In that moment, Julian couldn’t imagine anywhere he would rather be. Not even at the beautiful, warm beach in his dream. He would pass up even the best tropical vacation if it meant that he would get to stay wrapped up like this with Erik. It was plenty warm under the blankets, anyway.
Maybe, just maybe, winter wasn’t as bad as Julian thought.