#scout-the-prep

@hwutee (Tala) to @scout-the-prep (Lucy)

hey lucy! i really hope you liked this. if you didn’t, message me and I won’t mind rewriting it! :) happy holidays!

Carefully tying the laces on her ice skates, Scout stood up on wobbly knees and made her way to Ezra, who was waiting at the side of the skating rink. She never seemed to be good at walking with the skates on, and Ezra didn’t blame her, they were pretty hard to walk in.

“Ready?” Ezra asked, holding out his hand out. Although Scout got better and better each time they went out to skate, she was still a little clumsy.

“Ready,” Scout sighed, taking his hand in hers, and stepped hesitantly onto the ice.

They skated to the center, Scout still a little hesitant about it. Many people were skating around them, and she always seemed to get shy in new or crowded spaces, which Ezra thought was adorable. He told her so, and a bright red colored her cheeks. Ezra grinned.

“Feels nice to finally be relieved from all the exam stress,” Ezra said, as they skated around the rink, fingers intertwined.

“Tell me about it!” Scout exclaimed, “I can’t believe we’re finally done, I almost thought it would never end.” She laughed, letting go of Ezra’s hand to skate a few paces ahead of him, beginning to slowly feel confident in her skating skills.

“Now we have two weeks off, enough to do the homework Mr. Olson assigned, and give me more time with you.” Ezra winked, and she blushed again. He loved making her blush, she did it a lot, and it became a small goal of his to make her blush a minimum of five time when they went out, ten as the maximum.

“I can’t believe that ass gave us homework!” Scout rolled her eyes in annoyance, ignoring Ezra’s remark of hanging out with her more. That made him smirk, he knew that when Scout ignored his cheesy remarks, it usually meant it would stick with her for a day or two, replaying in her head.

“I know,” Ezra said, trying to make his tone match her annoyance, but he wasn’t really irked. He couldn’t really remember what their English teacher had given them as homework over the vacation, it probably consisted of a two hundred word essay on whatever they wanted. Ezra was going to choose to write about another one of his favorite musicians. “But let’s not dwell on that. This is our last day together before I head to New York,” Ezra skated closer to her again, and intertwined their fingers once more.

“I’ll miss you,” Scout said bluntly. Tomorrow morning, Ezra would be getting on a plane to New York to spend Christmas with some family there. He was hoping he’d stay long enough until the New Years’ countdown, but you couldn’t have everything in the world.

Ezra smiled and gave her a small kiss on the nose. He wasn’t sure if her face was red from the cold or because she blushed so easily. “I’ll miss you too, but I’ll be back for New Years, so we’ll have time then to spend together.”
She nodded, and then stopped in front of him, eyes gleaming with a challenge. “Up for a little skating competition?”

“Skating competition?” Ezra raised an eyebrow, but he was intrigued. “Little over a week ago, you fell face front in the sand racing Koh. You guys were running.”

“Koh cheated!”

“Why would Koh chea—” Ezra shook his head, “Actually, nevermind.”

“Sooo,” Scout drawled. “Up for it?”

He smirked, “You’re on, shortie.”

She glared at him. “How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?” About a hundred times, really, but Ezra liked the effect it had on her, and the way he was only allowed to use it, no matter how many times she told him to cut it out. When she did get annoyed at him for calling her that, she’d turn away from him, cheeks colored, and smile unconsciously. That’s why he hadn’t given the nickname up just yet.

“You secretly love it,” Ezra winked, and stood next to her. “Over to that end over there,” he pointed towards the end point of the rink, and assembled himself into a crouching position.

“On your marks, get set—” Before he had a chance to finish, Scout was already speeding off. He shook his head, laughed a little, and chased after her. Barely avoiding running into the other people, Ezra rushed through the crowd, catching up to Scout.

She hadn’t made it to the end of the rink yet, although she was near. Someone was heading towards her, and didn’t see her while they bumped into her, making Scout lose her balance and begin to teeter.

Ezra quickly dashed forward, catching Scout just before she fell. She looked up at him with wide eyes, before she smiled. “My savior,” she whispered as her eyes began to roam Ezra’s face, lingering on his lips.

He continued to stare at her, not wanting to break the moment, he began to stare at her lips too, and he slowly started leaning down…

Scout cupped his face in her hands and brought him down to her lips. Ezra smiled against her lips as he kissed back, feeling warm on his insides despite the cold they were in.

It felt like forever yet no time at all, Ezra was just starting to map out the shape of Scout’s lips with his own when someone came rushing past them, yelling, “Watch out!”

Not quick enough this time, Ezra didn’t have enough time to move Scout out of the way before the guy bumped into her, knocking her over and making her fall on the ice. “Ow,” she groaned, closing her eyes.

“Shit, are you okay?” Ezra leaned down next to Scout’s body, glaring daggers at the guy who knocked into her. He didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Ezra knew he’d do anything to stop a couple making out in public. Being the hypocrite he was, he hated when it was done to him.

“Yeah,” Scout groaned again, and began to sit up, Ezra needing to help her. “Back just hurts a lot, can we go and sit somewhere?”

“Yeah, sure,” he recalled seeing a small cart that sold hot chocolate when they were coming in, so he’d take her there. Maybe there were cushions she could sit on to rest her back. “Come on,” one arm went under her knees, the other around her shoulders, and he stood up whilst carrying her. Scout not expecting this, squeals, then laughs lightly, her face flushed far too much for it to be the cold causing it.

Skating to the other side and the way they entered the rink, Ezra walked with wobbly legs on the spiked ends of his skates to a bench. He sets Scout down, and then sits next to her. They both untie their ice skates quietly and quickly, then Ezra stands up and begins to carry Scout again.

“Wait,” she says, standing up. “I can walk myself,” she chuckles and wraps her arm around Ezra’s.

“Doesn’t your back hurt?” Ezra unwrapped their arms and wrapped it instead around Scout’s shoulder. He pulls her closer to his body, and kisses her on the forehead gently.

“It hurts a lot, but that doesn’t mean I can’t walk.”

They were silent the rest of the way to the small shop. When they arrived and entered it, warm air immediately greeted them, toasting the two of them. A small bell chimed from atop the door, and Ezra wordlessly pointed towards a couch at the other side of the snug shop, gave Scout a soft peck on the cheek, and headed to the cashier, already knowing what she wanted.

After a handful of minutes, Ezra walks to the couch he pointed Scout to, with a tray filled with two steaming mugs of hot chocolate, with two plates of brownies. He sets them on the small coffee table in front of the love seat. Scout sits up, as she was laying down on it and smiles, thanking Ezra when he hands her her mug.

“Back feeling any better?” Ezra sat down next to Scout, he wrapped his arm around the seat and she leaned into his shoulder, taking a sip from her cup.

“Not by much, but I’ll be okay.” She smiles, “Do you mind if I lie down?”

“Nope,” Ezra says, and sets both their mugs on the table. Scout lies on her back, resting her head on Ezra’s lap. He smiled at her when she looked up, and there it was again, the red coloring of her cheeks.

He plays with her short hair, finger playing around with the soft strands as they talked about everything and nothing. “I think your hot chocolate is becoming cold chocolate.”

“I’ll get up in a second,” Scout says, evidently not going to get up anytime soon.

Ezra smiled and leaned his down to look at her better, “What about those brownies?”

Her eyes light up. “Brownies?!” She think about it for a second, “Maybe later.”

Chuckling, Ezra stroked Scout’s cheek softly, face suddenly turning serious, as he stared down at her. This close, he noticed things like the way her irises had small flecks of gold surrounding them, the little freckles she had on her nose, the natural way her lips were pouted.

He looked back into her eyes, and found her staring right back, doing the same thing to him. Again, he stared at her lips, leaning down slowly, brushing their mouths lightly against each other. Not yet kissing her, he liked to aggravate her a bit before doing so.

It worked, like it always did, because Scout then grabbed Ezra’s face in her hands once more. “You just love teasing me don’t you?” She whispered lightly, hot breath fanning Ezra’s lips.

Then she brought him down to her lips, kissing him again and again, Ezra kissing back instantly, not wanting to pull back. Their food was soon forgotten, and became cold.

To: @frostedge (Kristi)
From: @scout-the-prep (Lucy
I hope you enjoy this lil piece of fluff! Have a lovely Christmas!!! I’ve loved getting to know you and your characters, you seem like such a nice person!
Here you go!

The best days are the ones where you arrive back home short of breath, with shining eyes and sand in your shoes, with each grain holding a different happy, smiling memory. The best days are the ones spent with the person you love, where the dying light is illuminated by their smile. The best days, the ones you remember the most, are spontaneous, unplanned and silly, with a feeling of unmistakable joy and weightlessness.
—
Clement giggled as Hyunwoo took his hand, pulling him along the soft white sand. Hyunwoo seemed full of energy, which was unusual but Clement hardly noticed - his senses were full of the salty taste, smell and beauty of the turquoise waves rising high in front of them. Hyunwoo, too, seemed in awe of the beauty of the beach, with its rolling pale sand dunes and palm trees lining the boardwalk.

They had arrived a few hours earlier, at the pier, and had stuffed their faces with popcorn, candy floss and every fried item under the sun. Now they were running, as free as the seagulls, along the bay, with the cool wind ruffling their hair. Clement had never felt so alive, and with Hyunwoo next to him, he felt… invincible.

He hardly had time to register this before Hyunwoo was pulling him into the waves, laughing as Clement struggled for breath. Their expression changed in a second as Clement submerged them with a huge grin on his face. The game soon turned into a wild, frenzied splashing competition leaving both sides breathless with laughing.

As they both emerged, soaking wet and grinning, onto the sand, Hyunwoo noticed the fading light above them. The duo linked hands once again and watched the pink hues of the sunset change into vivid orange splashes across the sky, infused with purples and blues. Hyunwoo glanced over at Clement, still with his head in the stars. They squeezed his hand and whispered three words into his ear. Clement blushed and gazed back at Hyunwoo, repeating the words slowly, tasting each one on his tongue before releasing them into the star studded night sky.

The two looked into each other eyes for what seemed like eternity, until Clement broke the silence by leaning into Hyunwoos lips, for a brief, fleeting, yet infinite moment of love.