~~~~~*~~~~~

Justin took Maggie ice skating, much to her dismay.

She had no confidence in her ability to stay upright on the ice, but Justin wouldn't be dissuaded. Unbeknownst to her, he had ulterior motives; he couldn't think of a better activity that would keep her in close proximity to him and allow him to be more hands on than their previous dates had allowed. Plus, it didn't hurt that he was a pretty good skater, either.

Although she was filled with nerves the moment the word 'ice' was mentioned, Maggie found that once she was laced up tight in a pair of skates and Justin was leading her confidently towards the rink she felt equally as excited as she was apprehensive. It was strange how things she'd normally avoid doing took on a different light when Justin was involved. Plus, as dusk descended and the fairy lights that'd been trailed along the rails off the rink illuminated giving out a warm glow, Maggie had to admit that it was pretty romantic. Also deserted. They were the only people in the vicinity of the rink, which helped ease Maggie's nerves a little. At least only Justin would be witness to her humiliation.

“Come on, Ginger. You can't tell me you haven't done this before?” Justin chuckled as he took in the worried look on Maggie's face and gave her gloved hand a comforting squeeze. She was bundled up in a heavy coat and scarf and gloves, but enough of her face was showing for him to see how nervous she really was. Still he firmly believed that stepping out of your comfort zone was good for you once in a while, and he hoped she'd be proud of herself afterwards for having faced her fears.

“Not in a very long time,” Maggie said, her voice as wobbly as her feet. She clutched tighter to his hand and Justin chuckled again, reaching out his spare arm to steady her and help her walk. Maggie flicked up her eyes to meet his and giggled. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

“Yes,” Justin said, his grin widening. “Definitely.” He took a step backwards onto the ice like an expert and released his grip on her arms so he could take her hands instead. With a confident grin he pulled her forward gently and before Maggie knew it she was standing upright on the ice. “See?” Justin said, “not so bad, right?”

Maggie couldn't speak. She was too busy trying to keep as still as possible so she wouldn't humiliate herself right there and then in front of him. She stared down at her feet–her almost unrecognisable feet. Who'd have thought they'd be squeezed into a pair of skates again?– and tried not to freak out. It seemed inevitable to her that she'd end up on her bum before too long. She only hoped that when it happened she'd have the good graces to laugh it off.

“You okay?” Justin asked, realising that she'd been a little too quiet for a little too long. Perhaps he should've heeded her warning that she hadn't done this in a long time, he thought. There may well have been a very good reason for that.

“Sorry,” Maggie said, flicking her eyes up to meet his before dropping them back down to her feet again. She edged forward but quickly regretted it when one foot went right and the other left. Maggie's eyes widened and she bent her knees, but sadly to no avail. Her feet continued to slide apart and she gripped tighter to Justin's hands. This is it, she thought. This is the moment I make a complete fool of myself.

Sensing her panic, Justin released her hands and quickly gripped her around the wrists, pulling her upright and reminding her to point her toes together. Maggie obeyed, and when Justin took a step back and pulled her along with him she gained height and straightened up.

“You're hating this, aren't you?” Justin teased as he continued to skate backwards pulling Maggie along with him. Skating sure was a lot easier when someone else was in charge of direction and keeping her balance, Maggie thought as she watched the ice pass beneath their feet. Despite her apprehensions, she managed to crack a small smile.

Maggie didn't want to sound as though she were complaining, and there were certainly benefits to the damsel in distress routine, but she couldn't exactly say she was enjoying herself... yet. “Don't let go,” she whimpered as she felt Justin loosen his grip. She squeezed tighter to his hands and looked at him with wide eyes. He was grinning, clearly enjoying himself.

“You can do this, Ging,” Justin said, stretching his arms as far as he could so she was almost skating by herself.

Almost. But not quite.

“No,” Maggie said, “I really can't.” She noticed Justin's expression and narrowed her eyes playfully. “You're enjoying this, aren't you. Don't think I don't know what's going on here.”

“I have no idea what you mean,” Justin replied, the crooked smirk returning to his face as he slowly pried his fingers from hers. “I'm helping you to overcome your fears.”

“Stop!” Maggie squeaked, grasping for his hands like a mad woman. “Please, don't let go. Seriously, I'll land on my face!”

“It's easy once you get started,” Justin said. “You've just gotta take a deep breath—“

“Don't tell me what I'm supposed to be doing,” Maggie said in a panic, leaning forwards when she felt herself begin to lose her balance. She forgot all of Justin's advice to keep her knees bent and her toes pointing inwards and her ankles began to tremble as she wobbled on the blades. She gulped and prepared herself for what she hoped wouldn't be too painful a fall. “Please, don't let me fall,” she said as much to the universe as to Justin, however he quickly heeded her words and reached for her as the wobble spread from her ankles to her knees.

“I've got you,” Justin said, pulling her close and wrapping his arms around her back, pinning her tightly to his chest so she could regain her balance. Maggie blushed as she met his eyes and a shy smile crossed her lips. Whereas she couldn't seem to fight back a smile, Justin looked utterly serious, his blue eyes wide and searching. “I won't let you fall,” he said in a voice barely more than a whisper. He reached out and brushed a warm hand down Maggie's cheek, sending her nerve endings into a frenzy.

“Promise?” she whispered back as his face edged closer to hers.

Justin paused and broke a smile. “Promise,” he said before pulling her close for the sweetest kiss Maggie'd received in her whole life.

~~~~~*~~~~~

From that moment on, Maggie was hooked. Officially.

By the time Justin had finished her skating lesson, which had involved a lot more kissing, giggling, hand holding and cuddling than actual skating, Maggie was not only freezing cold and shivering, but she was also completely and utterly giddy with happiness.

It was an unfamiliar feeling to her, and the revelation shocked her. It wasn't that she was particularly unhappy or dissatisfied with her life; she had a lot to be thankful for and many blessings for which she was grateful, but if she was completely honest with herself she'd admit that she'd been coasting through life. Or at least that's how it'd felt.

Until now. Now she felt as though she were having the most wonderful dream. Only this dream was as real as it was wonderful; as was the man sitting opposite her staring into her eyes and smirking when she blushed.

“So, how's it feel to have overcome your fears?” Justin teased as Maggie forked a slice of cucumber from her salad plate into her mouth. The food was sublime, as was the view of the inky blue mountains from their table, just as Justin had promised her it would be. It hadn't been easy to get reservations so close to Christmas he'd said, but he'd pulled some strings, and now they were seated at the restaurant's premier table drinking champagne and choosing food off the menu Maggie would never have dreamed of eating–like avocado and prawn salad with crushed walnuts.

“I think overcome is a bit too strong a word,” she giggled. “More like was pushed into and just about survived.”

“Nah,” said Justin with a dismissive wave of his hand, his fork sending a splattering of cranberry jelly onto the pristine white tablecloth near his wine glass. He grimaced and rubbed at it with the heel of his hand but only succeeded in working the stain further into the fabric's fibres. Justin flashed Maggie a sheepish grin which made her giggle, and she moved the decorative vase of flowers from the centre of the table to cover the stain making them both laugh out loud. “You were incredible,” he said after a short pause.

Maggie snorted a laugh. “You may be a little biased,” she said narrowing her eyes playfully at him.

“I think I might,” Justin agreed flashing her a wink before stuffing another mouthful of breaded oven-baked Camembert and cranberry jelly into his mouth. He chewed, swallowed and beamed at her. “So what's next?”

“Next?” Maggie asked feeling a little hot under the collar. “You mean after the date?”

“I mean next on the list of fears to smash. We're clearly on a roll here, we should keep going.”

“Why are we only focusing on me?” Maggie asked with a giggle. “Surely you have some of your own we could work on? What's your biggest fear?”

“Nuh-uh,” Justin said, dropping his eyes to his almost empty plate and shaking his head. He nudged a stray piece of lettuce around with the tines of his fork and avoided meeting her gaze. Clearly he wasn't comfortable talking about his insecurities, or at least he wasn't with her which Maggie could understand. She didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable so she let the subject drop. There'd be other occasions, she told herself.

“This was delicious,” she said as she placed her knife and fork together in the centre of her plate as her mother had trained her to do since she was little. It was the polite thing to do, or so she'd been told a million times before.

“I know,” Justin said, agreeing with her. “I swear if I didn't have to be on stage all the time for work I'd just eat until I was humongous. I don't understand people who go on these faddy diets to lose weight; I love food too much to not be able to enjoy it.”

“Amen!” Maggie agreed, holding up her glass of white wine so Justin could chink his delmonico glass full if Jack Daniel's and coke against it. They chuckled at each other and took sips of their drinks simultaneously sending Maggie into another fit of giggles.

“'Sup, Ginger?” Justin asked with a raised eyebrow as Maggie struggled to catch her breath. His eyes sparkled at her as he watched her in amusement. Maybe it was the wine, or the food, or all the kisses... either way she was giddy. Probably too giddy to be out in public, Maggie reasoned.

“I dunno,” she said. “Must be the wine or something.”

“Or something,” Justin said, winking at her again. He loved watching her laugh. He loved the way her nose crinkled and she squeezed her eyes shut. He loved the way she lifted her hand to her mouth and dipped her head, looking at him through her lashes. And he especially loved the way there was nothing calculated about any of her actions. She wasn't trying to snare him with batted eyelashes and pouted lips. She was being herself, and to him that was the most attractive thing of all. Also the most endearing. He felt no need to have his defences raised or be on his guard around her. If anything he felt it would be all too easy for him to fall for her, which was his only concern. Above anything else, he didn't want to hurt her.

“Or something,” Maggie repeated, bobbing her head up and down as she tried to compose her face. It cracked a few times before she managed to get a grip on herself and sober up enough so she could speak. “So, Justin...” she began causing Justin to raise his eyebrows at the mock serious tone that appeared in her voice. It was at contrast to the half-smirk on her face. “Are you really leaving in a few days time?”

Justin's eyebrows shot higher up his brow and he let out an astonished snort of laughter. Maggie sure had a way of taking him by surprise. She'd taken herself a bit by surprise, too. She'd had no intention of mentioning his inevitable departure until he brought it up first, but obviously her subconscious had beaten her to it. Maggie felt her cheeks flame as she met his eyes and hoped she didn't sound as needy as she thought she did. Or as disappointed.

“Yeah...” Justin said, clearing his throat awkwardly. He'd been expecting the subject to come up at some point, especially after he'd taken the leap to kiss her that afternoon, but he hadn't been expecting it to be so soon, and especially not at dinner. But then again, if not then, when? Time was already slipping away from them, and as much as Justin didn't want to think about it, he knew that at some point the subject would have to come up.

“Yes, Maggie,” he said, leaning forward and reaching for her spare hand which was resting on the table beside her now empty plate. Maggie gave him a slightly wary smile and stared into his eyes, her own clouded with confusion and something else... something Justin couldn't quite decipher. Trepidation? Regret? The smile dropped from his face and he looked at her earnestly. “Let's not ruin the time we have together worrying about a few days time, okay?”

Maggie looked glum. So he was leaving soon.

“Okay, Ginger? Let's just enjoy getting to know each other and see where things go from there, yeah?”

Maggie couldn't promise. She couldn't promise she wouldn't think or worry about it. That she wouldn't wonder if they were making a mistake opening up to each other when they were about to be separated. Would it be better to call it a day right then and there before anyone got their feelings hurt? Before she got too attached and he became too protective? Could she do it?

Her eyes scanned his earnest face and his deep gunmetal blue eyes that despite having the potential were never cold. No, she realised, she couldn't. No matter where the train was headed she was fully committed to the ride. The destination might not be the one of her dreams, but hadn't she been told throughout her life it wasn't the destination that mattered but the journey? Maggie certainly hoped so.

“Okay,” she said a little more confidently, picking up her glass to raise a toast. “To seeing where things go.”

Justin grinned and clinked his glass once again against hers. “To seeing where they go.”

~~~~~*~~~~~