It's dark.

All the lights have been turned off for the sake of the icy stage to stand out more. The curtainless windows provide almost no illumination due to the winter evening nature.

Through the wall, you can hear roaring applause greeting the fourth pair of skaters as they enter the ice. The whole university and more must be here by the sound of it.

"y/n". Mark's voice guides your eyes to your right. Squinting through the dark, his familiar form approaches out of the shadows.

"Mark," you greet back quietly, resting a hand on his arm.

Even in this lighting, your breath draws thin at his appearance. His blonde hair is slicked back instead of tousled in a cute fringe like you're used to. It's nothing crazy, but it somehow changes his vibe completely. Your hand feels at his billowy white shirt, tucked neatly into black pants.

"Okay, keep looking at me like this and we're not making it out there," Mark mumbles under his breath, smirking slightly as a few stagehands pass by.

You remove your hand only to smack him in the same spot.

"Shut up"

"You love me"

"Yeah, and?"

His familiar giggles tickle your ears.

"Are you Mark and y/n? Pair five?," a staff member interrupts.

"Oh, yes, that's us"

"Please head down this way to be on standby. When it's your time to enter, there will be someone at the gate to usher you in".

"Okay, thank you". Slipping your hand into Mark's, the two of you hobble in the direction of the rink entrance. It's nerve-wracking, but the feeling is so easy to ignore when you're together with him.

The music of the current performance becomes suddenly louder as you open the door to enter the main part of the stadium. From where you stand (in a random corner by the bleachers), thousands of audience members fill the stands.

The pair on the ice dance together playfully to their energetic piece. Your two teammates, you recognize.
"They're really good," you breathe, watching them spin oh-so-synchronously together without missing a beat.

"That doesn't mean we can't be good too," Mark states matter-of-factly. You look up at him to meet his gaze, giving his hand a small squeeze in agreement. "And now is as good a time as ever to tell you that I was- and I'm not shitting you- I was standing right here when I saw you for the first time".

"What?". You look around at the dark underside of the rink bleachers. The best two adjectives to use for a place like this are 'dank' and 'gross'.

"Yes, I know. Fall of last year, you were practicing at night and I came to do drills. I saw you here and... that was it for me. I dropped my bag and you turned towards me so I completely panicked. I ran away and couldn't grow the balls to ask you out for a whole year. That's the truth".

Mark's expression is oh so cutely shy and it makes you curl your toes in your skates.

"You complete loser," you gush over the music, "You should have stayed, asked me out right then and there. Then we would've had an extra year together".

"You're right," Mark groans into his hands jokingly. He spreads his fingers to peer through their gap. "But what's one year of forever, right?".

"What's one year of forever," you echo.

Applause erupts from above you as the skaters finish their routine. The announcer goes over the rules for voting once more, sending them off as they exit the ice.

"Group five, you're on next. When they announce your names, you're gonna go through this gate here and when you're ready, they're gonna start the music. Any concerns?," the staff member directs.

"No, thank you," the two of you shake your heads.

"Okay, this is it," you state. It's unclear if it's directed to yourself or for Mark. In all honesty, it's to the world.

"This is just one thing, y/n. It's just one of the many things we're gonna do together. Let's just do it how we always do"

He's always right.