Nytin blinked in surprise as if he hadn't expected that Avery would want to go on her own. “Oh...” He cleared his throat. “Alright, I’ll stay close and shout if you’re about to hit anything.” 

He let Avery go and moved back, watching as she carefully glided along the ice to test herself momentarily, to see if she could really skate on her own. Nytin thought he’d have to quickly go and catch her as Avery moved a bit faster as her confidence grew, almost losing her balance in the process, but she managed to steady herself and seemed to be rather proud of it. 

She suddenly turned to Nytin with a wide smile, excitement clear on her face, “Look! Nytin, look, I'm doing it! I didn't fall!” 

Nytin felt as if his entire world had frozen. He was instantly captivated by Avery's eyes as they sparkled in joy as she called out to him. It was as if they were two stars shining spectacularly in the night sky, only it was day, and the only star visible to him was Avery.  He could feel his lips curving into a smile the very moment he’d laid eyes on Avery's, but they didn't dare move when he tried to respond to her. He found himself unable to utter a sound, only being able to stare at Avery in what appeared to be awe even though she was clumsily moving along the ice. To anyone, it was awkward and unbalanced, making it very clear that Avery was a beginner, but to Nytin, it was graceful. 

Ba-Dum 

He felt his face go hot, and he moved to clutch at his chest as his heart began to hammer loudly in his ears, thudding against his chest quickly. What's happening..? His stomach felt as if hundreds of little butterflies had suddenly taken flight, fluttering rapidly around his body, yet he still couldn't keep his eyes off of Avery. Everything all around him had melted away into nothing, and the one thing he could see was Avery, still happily gliding along the ice, nonchalant and unaware of the things Nytin had been experiencing in those short few seconds of silence. 

Finally, as a gust of cold wind blew against Nytin's face, everything resumed once more, as if a spell cast on him had broken. He moved his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. He took a deep breath, yet he stumbled over his words as his bottom lip quivered for a reason unbeknownst to himself, "Y-You're doing great Starshine! Just be careful!" 

Nytin quickly tried to bury what he'd felt at that moment and instead moved closer to Avery, skating alongside her. Although that moment hadn't gone unnoticed, Blaire had stopped to watch him, quickly taking note of his expression. She turned around when she heard Amirah call for her. 

"Blaire! Can you help me stand up?" Amirah seemed to have fallen. Blaire instantly went to her side with a laugh. 

"I thought I was the one who sucked at skating." She held her hand out, snickering as Amirah rolled her eyes and took it. 

"I was trying to spin, kinda like those figure skaters?" With Blaire's help, she stood up, gently holding her girlfriend's hand,  "Anyway, where are the other two? I heard Avery yelling, but I didn't see her." She looked around curiously. 

Blaire opened her mouth, ready to spill what she'd just seen, but quickly held her tongue. "They're over there. Nytin is showing Avery how to skate."

"Oh! I see Nytin! C'mon, let's go with them." She dragged Blaire towards Avery and Nytin, who waved them down once Nytin also spotted them. 

The quartet had a few hours of fun, slipping on the ice, getting lessons from Nytin, and making fun of each other. They soon moved off the ice and went to the very same bakery that Avery had taken Nytin to, and once again, Nytin offered to pay. 

"You three can get whatever you want, and I’ll cover it.” He had already begun to take out his card, but this time, Avery seemed to have a problem with it. 

"But you already paid for our skates. We can't just-" 

Blaire quickly cut her off. "Shush! Sh! Be quiet!" She turned to the cashier, who had been patiently waiting for them to order, and asked, "Can I have a large hot chocolate and sticky toffee pudding?" 

The attendant smiled and said, "Of course, anything else?" 

Amirah hesitated, but upon seeing Nytin's relaxed demeanor, she ordered herself what she had been raving about in the beginning, "Can I have a small..." She glanced at Nytin, who motioned forward, encouraging her to get whatever she wanted, "A large..hot chocolate and fudge brownies?" 

Once again, the attendant smiled and wrote the order, "Mmhm, and what will you be having?" 

It was Avery's turn, and she hadn't noticed the attendant had moved to look at her until Nytin gently nudged her. She looked up at Nytin with uncertainty and asked, "Are you sure?" 

Nytin hummed, "I'm very sure. Please order what you'd like." 

Finally, she gave in, "Then... could I have a medium-hot chocolate and a slice of butterscotch and toffee pie?" 

The attendant turned to Nytin and said, "Alright, and what would you like, sir?" 

Nytin hummed, "A large hot chocolate and a whole pumpkin roll." 

Amirah and Blaire looked at each other, mystified, but Avery seemed to have expected Nytin to order whatever he'd wanted, even if it was an entire pumpkin roll.

 Finally, their order was complete. Nytin paid and gave the attendant an extraordinarily generous tip. Their attitude seemed to chipper up greatly, and they quietly thanked Nytin before going to fetch their food. The four went to sit down in a booth, listening to the faint Christmas music playing in the background and enjoying the warm air the bakery provided from its ovens, which made the entire building smell sweet and welcoming.

 Avery spoke up first, "Thank you for everything, Nytin." 

Amirah nodded, "Yes! Today's been amazing because of you. You taught us how to skate and got us all nice things to eat. We're very thankful." 

Blaire yawned, "Mm yeah...thanks, man. I didn't know you were loaded." 

Amirah nudged her girlfriend, "Blaire, don't be rude." 

They all turned to Nytin when he let out a soft chuckle, "You're welcome. I like to give others things when I can. It's a nice thing to be able to do."

Avery couldn't help but smile. "You're such a nice person. I'd have never guessed you were secretly a sweetheart." 

Nytin leaned closer to her with a brow raised. "What could you be insinuating? That I'm actually cold-hearted? Hm?" It was clear he was pretending to be offended as a small smile appeared on his face, "What do you mean by that, Starshine?" 

Avery shrugged. "Just… well… maybe you're secretly plotting something. I dunno. What do you think I mean?" She poked Nytin's chest, moving closer to not seem as if she were going to back down. "Tell me." 

Nytin's brows raised in surprise, and he couldn't help but move back ever so slightly. He could feel that sensation once more in his stomach, his words catching in his throat for just a moment. Nonetheless, he tried to play it off as nothing and opened his mouth to respond to Avery. 

The two continued their back and forth for quite a while, seemingly forgetting Amirah and Blaire were there until the attendant brought their large tray of food. Nytin's attention immediately went to the pumpkin roll placed in front of him, but his attention shifted to Avery's pie, which had been emitting a heavenly smell. He tore his eyes away and focused on what he had gotten instead. 

The quartet quickly dug into their treats, and Avery nudged Nytin playfully, "Way better than that other hot chocolate, isn't it? It's so good!" 

Nytin nodded. "It's much better. It's not watery. It's rich and tastes like real chocolate. It doesn't taste artificial." 

Amirah seemed to be thinking for a while before she spoke up. "Are you guys talking about that hot chocolate stand at the Veteran Park?" 

Nytin seemed to be thinking momentarily, "...I believe..that's the one." 

"I had some of it, it's so gross. I thought it would be good since it's a stand meant for hot chocolate, but it was disgusting." 

Blaire couldn't help but laugh in triumph, "Ha! You guys drank nasty hot chocolate. Now you have to live with it for the rest of your mortal lives." She lowered her voice to sound scarier, moving her fingers in an odd, creepy manner before quickly digging back into her pudding. 

Avery took a small bite of her pie and said, "At least I didn't eat liver and onion jelly beans." 

Blaire immediately got goosebumps, "I don't want to talk about it!" She huffed, turning away, seemingly sulking as she drank her hot chocolate. 

The other three had a small laugh and slowly calmed down. Nytin had eaten around half his pumpkin roll, but still, he looked over at Avery's pie and couldn't help but ask, "Is it any good?"

Avery looked up at him and said, "The pie? It's really good! Here, have some. I'm not going to eat it all." She cut off a large piece of it and held her spoon up towards Nytin. 

Nytin hesitated for just a moment before moving closer and eating off of Avery's spoon. His eyes sparkled as he moved back. "I regret not asking for this. The pumpkin roll is delicious, but this is amazing."

Avery smiled up at him. "Want more?" 

There wasn't a moment's hesitation from Nytin, "Yes, please."

Amirah and Blaire watched as Avery happily fed Nytin a few more spoonfuls of her pie, and Nytin ate it even happier. Soon enough, everyone had finished their food and was leaving, full and content.

Amirah took the initiative and cleaned up the table, taking everyone's trash and throwing it away from them. "Alright, are you three ready to go?" 

Avery nodded. "Yup! Thank you for throwing that stuff out."

Amirah shrugged with a smile, "No problem. What's the move?"

The other three stood up and began to walk out of the bakery. Nytin led the way, sticking close to Avery, "Shall we head home? Or does anyone have anything in mind they'd like to do? - I'll get the door for you." He moved forward and opened the door, moving to the side. 

Avery smiled. "Thank you- umph!" 

Avery was knocked back into Nytin, who quickly caught her. Nytin held her protectively, wrapping his arm around her. He stood slightly in front of Avery while keeping her by his side, his grip firm but gentle. Nytins’ jade eyes locked onto the source of the problem: an older woman with short, brown hair that rested on her shoulders. She had turned towards Avery, her lips curled in disgust, her sharp green eyes looking Avery up and down angrily. 

"Seriously? Are you blind or something?" The woman looked up at the larger, cloaked figure standing next to the person she'd been ready to rip into for bumping into her. Nytin scowled at her, not speaking a word, yet his eyes held nothing but hostility, daring her to continue what she'd been saying. The woman opened her mouth and turned her nose up in the air, "Whatever! Watch where you're going!" She quickly walked away. 

Blaire crossed her arms and said, "Rude bastard." She spat, "You alright, Avery?" 

Avery nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay. I just didn't see her. It was probably my fault anyway.” She went to rub her shoulder, but she retracted her hand slowly as her fingers brushed against Nytin’s. She looked up at Nytin, who had a troubled expression on his face—not that he could see, but Amirah and Blaire could, and they quickly took notice that the interaction bothered Nytin quite a bit, or perhaps Avery's words had. 

Nytin guided her out of the bakery but still made sure to hold the door for Amirah and Blaire. "Don't blame yourself for others' mistakes, Starshine, that wench– woman…"He quickly changed his choice of words, "Ran into you, not the other way around." 

Avery felt her heart hammer against her chest just for a brief moment. Nytin cared a lot about this, a lot more than she would have thought. She smiled and looked down, trying to hide her face. "Thank you, Nytin." 

Nytin looked down at Avery. His stomach churned, and his hand felt as if it were on fire. He quickly let go of Avery, shoveling his hand in his pockets, "Mmnn." He couldn't bring himself to speak, too afraid he'd stumble over his words and make a fool of himself.

Amirah spoke up, "Guys, you passed the car."

Avery and Nytin abruptly stopped, and Avery felt her face burn in embarrassment, but she simply laughed at herself and said, "Oh my gosh, how'd we do that?" She giggled and rushed back to Amirah and Blaire with Nytin by her side.

The group had a small laugh at Avery and Nytin before getting in the car and driving off, deciding to head to Amirah and Blaire's house. Amirah and Blaire were happily singing along to the radio in the front, and Nytin was humming his own tune, but he noticed Avery was rather quiet.

He moved his gaze towards her and observed that she seemed to be drowsy, she was staring out the window, but her eyes were half lidded and unfocused. He leaned down closer to Avery, speaking just loud enough so she could hear him over the music, "Are you alright, Starshine?" 

Avery flinched and looked up at him, "Oh, yeah. I'm just a little tired. I'll take a nap later." 

Nytin hummed whilst reaching forward and twirling a strand of Avery's hair around his pointer finger, "Do you need to rest?" 

Avery's eyelashes fluttered, and she fiddled with the seatbelt ever so slightly, "I think I'll be fine." 

Her neck felt hot as Nytin fidgeted with her hair. Avery couldn't help but shuffle her feet slightly and avert his gaze as Nytin mindlessly played with his hair. He moved upwards slightly and began to braid it very gently. He seemed a bit more focused now, but his voice was soft. "Are you sure?" He couldn't help but add, "...Has...anyone ever told you that your hair is beautiful?" His voice had lowered even more, but Avery heard nonetheless. 

The two jumped when Blaire suddenly began to yell out the lyrics to a song and was getting fairly into it, dancing in her seat and pretending she was holding a microphone. Nytin seemed to be frozen in shock, and he quickly moved back. His lips moved as if he were trying to speak, yet no sound came out, similar to when they’d been on the ice, although this time he simply turned away and stared out of the window, clearly wanting to be anywhere but there at that moment.

Avery was flustered. She rubbed the back of her neck and glanced over at Nytin. She reached forward to touch his arm, but Amirah turned around to ask her something. She quickly turned her attention to her and began to have a small conversation with her. Yet, she fumbled slightly with her words, still ruffled from what Nytin had said and done.