Luckily Izzy agreed to teach Chelsea on the bunny slopes and offers for them to come along for the ride. What could go wrong?

Chapter Text

Apart from his subtle panic attack, the lift ride had been perfect. He just had to hope that most of his natural awkwardness had been used up during the interaction and could only pray that when she met the rest of the lads they wouldn't sell him short in front of her.

They talked about a plan to meet up later in the bar at the ski lodge, briefly talking about who they thought would hit it off. He was excited but knew he was a... handsy and talkative drunk, even more talkative than when he was sober. Being Scottish didn't help him out much either, by the end of most nights out he was slurring his words and incoherent.

Back home he was... kinda known for one night stands. He hated the stereotype because no one bothered getting to know him, no one knew he was a genuinely nice guy. It wasn't his fault that after the first night most girls just saw him as a fuck buddy and wanted to talk about their guy problems with him.

Getting off of the ski lift was going to be a hassle. Izzy prepared him, she went skiing often and spent most of her time on the black diamond slopes. She said she was finally ready to go off-piste, whatever that heck meant.

The gut-wrenching feeling crept inside his bones as Bobby looked down from the window at the fast approaching ground. Izzy spotted the look of panic on his face and stifled a laugh before reaching for his hand, squeezing it reassuringly, “I’ve done this a thousand times before, It’s not as hard as it looks. Just stick with what I do and you’ll be safe.”

He nodded and as they got off he stumbled but somehow managed to keep his balance on the concrete path with his heavy boots just long enough to get out of the way of the other passengers. His feet wobbled but hoped he managed to pull off a casual, cool manner about the wobble. You know, act goofy and shit.

Once safely on level ground, they spotted Gary and Lottie chatting and the rest of the boys were sitting behind them on some benches putting their skis on.

"Gaz, nice to see you got here safely," he looked between Gary and Lottie, they were standing close and both had a content smile plastered on their face.

"Oi oi! Let go get the boys!" Gary kissed Lottie on the cheek and began running over to the benches.

Bobby turned to Izzy and smiled, "See you later, yeah?" He wasn't sure whether to kiss her cheek or hug her like Gary had done to Lottie, but decided against it. He'd probably only make more of a fool out of himself.

She grinned back at him, "Yeah, 7 PM sharp! Not a second before, not a second after!"

He chuckled, "You're gonna be hard work aren't you?" he said as he turned away, casually waving goodbye before floundering towards the boys.

He took a moment to look at the surroundings. The height of the mountains really put everything into perspective. He could see why Izzy would come here regularly, it was striking.

And I thought sunflowers were tall...

"Alright, Bobby? Lose your virginity to her yet?" Henrik hollered causing the rest of the boys to snigger, "We all know you're in love with the girl."

Bobby felt the heat rising in his cheeks, and not just from the cold. He rolled his eyes and pointed at Gary, desperately trying to get the attention off of himself, "Mate, have you not seen Gaz?! Kissing the lassie on the cheek already!"

Noah and Ibrahim wolf-whistled at Gary and punched him on the arm. Gary blushed and turned away, his skis clicking onto his boots, acting all nonchalant. Bobby had always found Gary to be this odd mix of open and confident about girls and oddly, almost prudish at other times.

Bobby walked over to Lucas and took a seat next to him. Lucas smirked and handed him his skis.

"Are you excited, Robert?"

"Mate, I'm scared shitless, never done this before."

"You paid attention to the safety lesson then, I hope?"

Bobby bit his lip. His mind had been... elsewhere. "Oh yeah, most definitely. They'll be able to call me Safety Robert after the attention I paid," He lied, giving Lucas a big cheesy grin.

Luke rolled his eyes and tugged on his jacket, zipping it up, "Oh, you weren't here earlier. I received a text saying a small storm was coming. We're likely to get snowed in for at least the night. We should get back before 7… Gaz mentioned something about meeting some ladies at the bar?" Lucas guided Bobby’s boots to click them in place on the skis, "It sounds good to me. I've called up my friend who works in the bar and he said it's been reserved for us. Dancefloor, music, drinks and a karaoke machine."

"Well then, let's get this party started shall we?" Bobby announced, standing up and holding his hand out to hoist Lucas off of the bench. Lucas gripped onto his hand and pulled himself up. He rubbed his hands together and got the attention of all the lads.

"Right boys, the first stop is the bunny slope, we all know 'Safety Robert' here is going to need it," a few laughs and whoops echoed around the group, "So keep an eye out on him, right, guys?" Lucas said with a wink at Bobby.

Noah waddled over to Bobby and tapped him on the shoulder, "Looks like you and I are the guppies. Henrik is a mountain man, Lucas comes here every year, Gaz has been skiing before, Ibrahim is a sports wiz... and that leaves you and me. The shitty ones."

"Noah, our only talents put together are reading, baking and singing, mainly on my part. We're fucking screwed."

"Well, what have we got to lose?"

Bobby rubbed the back of his neck, thinking to himself, just our dignity.

***

Lottie ran over to Izzy, eyes wide and full of excitement, "This is officially the best holiday ever. How's Bobby? Is he your dream guy?"

Izzy hadn't seen her this excited about anything since two years ago when she fell madly in love with the drummer for this weird band of Scottish punk singers. She thought she remembered something about bagpipes too, in Lottie's description of them all those years ago.

Izzy carried on walking towards the benches opposite where the boys were sat and perched on the edge, "I've known him for a few minutes, he's done everything right so far but I can't make a judgment really can I?"

Truth was, her mind was pretty much made up. He was gorgeous, funny, and goofy. She opened up to him and the conversation flowed so naturally like they'd know each other for years. It was weird for her, revealing as much about herself as she had on the lift up here. She was normally pretty guarded but this freckled boy managed to knock her walls down within minutes.

"I saw how he was looking at you, fucking sparks Iz. Although at one point he looked like he was about to throw himself off of the ski lift."

"Yeah, he had a minor panic. Do you think I should tell him he probably has social anxiety or something?" She said, sarcastically squinting her eyes and tapping her chin.

"Umm, Iz... What did you do to him? And no."

"God I'm only joking. Well, all I can say is Marisol would love to get her hands on him. He was a major fear of heights."

Lottie winked, "So you got to know him then?"

Iz pinched her arm, "Shush. Chelsea's coming and she'll blab to everyone!"

There was a high pitched squeal in Izzy's ear, "OMG! How was it, ladies?! Where are the boys?"

Lottie and Izzy looked at each other and grinned. Lottie pointed, "They left that way a few moments ago."

The three of them turned their heads to look in the direction of Lottie's finger and Izzy noticed Bobby was at the end of the group with another other tall boy heading around the corner towards the bunny slope. Izzy smiled to herself, she thought she might run into them on the slope soon as she would be teaching Chelsea the basics.

A few cheers and whoops were heard as the rest of the girls joined them by the benches. Hope, Priya and Marisol gave Lottie and Izzy mischievous looks.

"So, who are these boys Chelsea's told us about? Same ones in the group with the lad from the bar, huh?" Priya said, smirking at Izzy.

Izzy shot a look over to Chelsea who was biting her lip, "Oh God Lottie, shes blabbed already."

"Did you expect less hun?" Lottie whined, "We love you Chels but this is why no one tells you things."

"Hey! It's not me! It's the ADHD speaking," She pouted and crossed her arms.

"Well me, Hope, Lottie and Priya are off to the red run," Marisol turned to Izzy, "Good luck teaching Chelsea, catch up with us later if you make it?"

Chelsea went to protest again but she couldn't this time so, instead, she bundled her little hands into fists firmly at the side of her hips and hummed.

"Don't worry Chels, I'll have you on the black diamond slopes before you know it, babe," She walked over to her and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.

Chelsea sighed and untested, "Why didn't we go to the Bahamas or something, I'd be teaching you all how to sunbathe and get an even tan!" Chelsea pushed her lips together in a mock pout that Izzy suspected had some very real intent behind its teasing.

"Sorry love," Hope said as she walked past and patted the top of Chelsea's snow hood, "We'll meet at the hotel room at 5 to get ready, yeah?"

"Sounds good. We may be snowed in tonight, so make the most of it! We leave Sunday night, don't forget."

The girls waved and there was a chorus of "goodbyes" and "see you laters."

***

The two girls stood at the top of the practically flat slope and Izzy demonstrated the position Chelsea should take, "Okay, so, the wider your skis are at the back, the slower you go," Izzy explained, looking intently into her eyes, praying that she'd take the information in.

Chelsea nodded and had a determined look in her eyes as she stared down at the slope. It was fairly busy with families and children, but being term-time it wasn't manic, most kids and families were at school or work.

"Try to get a triangle shape with the tips touching but DON'T let them cross in the front! You'll fall over hard on your arse, trust me," from the corner of her eye she spotted Bobby and the taller guy struggling and holding onto each other's arms. She could see them laughing and clutching their stomachs and their echoing laughter and smiles were contagious. She felt herself let out a small giggle at the sight of Bobby's friend cross his skis in the front and go down, taking Bobby with him.

"So that's why you don't cross in the front," Chelsea's face was suddenly very close to Izzy's following her gaze over to the boys, "OI, BOBBY!", she screamed, making Izzy wince slightly.

His head suddenly whipped round and when he realised who it was the blush that followed could be seen, even from far away. He quickly snapped out of it and waved the girls who giggled and waved back.

"God, he's Bambi on ice, isn't he?" Izzy shook her head, "When he told me he was terrible I didn't think he would be that bad."

"Well, why don't you coach him with me? His gorg friend could use help as well," She nodded towards the boys who were attempting to help each other up.

"No, that's way too forward! That's like a Hope or Lottie move. Plus, it's a girls trip."

"Hmm, well, from the two seconds I've known him he seems like an all or nothing kinda guy, babe. BOBBY AND FRIEND! COME HERE!"

The lads looked up from where they were and both seemed confused but started to clumsily make their way towards the girls. Both Izzy and Chelsea couldn't contain their laughter when a 10-year-old girl almost went straight into them causing the boys to yelp and fall over.

"Stay there, we'll come to you!" Izzy shouted over to them and she and Chelsea made their way over.

Bobby plodded right next to Izzy and he smoothed the snow off of his jacket, "fancy seeing you here, you too, Chelsea."

"Well hello Bobby, I hope you treated Izzy well on the ski lift," Chelsea shook a tiny, admonitory fist in Bobby's direction, before grinning at him.

"Of course I did, I hope you sorted out the organisational emergency in your room."

Chelsea had to think for a moment before she remembered her quick lie from earlier, "Ah! Yes. It's all resolved now. Thank you."

Bobby's friend awkwardly cleared his throat and smiled at the girls whilst pinching Bobby.

"Oh yeah, ladies, meet my annoying friend Noah. Noah, these lasses are Chelsea," he pointed towards Chelsea, who beamed and waved at Noah, "and Izzy," he pointed towards Izzy who smiled at Noah. Noah smiled back quickly before the serious look Izzy was sure was usually his go-to expression took back over.

"Alright, Bobby tells me you're a professional skier, maybe you could teach us the basics? Neither of us paid much attention to the safety class."

Izzy laughed, "Yeah I could tell. I'm not a professional but I'm decent enough to show some newbies the basics, I think"

They headed over to the button lift that takes them to the top of the small hill.

Izzy anxiously peered at Bobby, who grinned and shook his head at her, "Nah, I think after the earlier ride all the way up here, I'll manage this little bit just fine."

She grabbed the seat next to him, and he's right. For the short time that the lift was in the air, Bobby was able to make a joke or two about his and Noah's skiing and pretend he didn't notice they were off the ground. His feigned nonchalance is cute but she bit her lip, not wanting to call attention to it.

When they got to the top, Bobby miraculously got himself stuck getting off the lift, until Izzy helped him out.

“Don’t worry, I struggled with this the first few times too,” she laughed, “I was like four years old though.”

Bobby couldn't remember the last time someone new had teased him as effortlessly as Izzy was doing. She never once made him feel bad about himself, or inadequate, just helped him to see the amusing side. He loved it. Even when her words made him blush, he absolutely loved it.

Chelsea nudged Noah with her elbow, pointing her chin at Bobby and Izzy. Noah looked, his eyes widening a little, then he looked down at Chelsea with a small smirk on his face.

She bounced up and down a couple of times and then made a fist pump, "I know! It's awesome!" she whispered causing Noah to laugh a little at her tone.

Izzy lined them all up at the top, before angling herself and her skis so they could all easily see her demonstration.

"Now," she pointed at Noah with her eyebrows raised, "what went wrong over there were your skis crossed in the front, you want them to be in a triangle shape but never across," she then turned to Bobby, "for you Mr clumsy, the wider the back, the slower you go," lastly, she turned to Chelsea, "and for you misses, eventually2 you'll keep them parallel but it might take a while and we only have about 2 hours. For all of you, to do parallel turns is another story that I'll get into next time we're out on the slopes? If that sounds good to you guys."

Bobby smiled at her and took a deep breath, "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

***

Bobby was stood at the top with Chelsea and Noah watching Izzy demonstrate how to go faster. They'd been up and down a couple of times now and Noah and Chelsea were getting the hang of it. He, however, was still absolutely atrocious. When he'd been telling all his mates how bad he was going to be he'd really underestimated it. His legs just didn't move that way and the more fun Chelsea and Noah were having the more jealous Bobby got. It was so stupid, but he wanted to impress Izzy.

"Do you reckon you could do that?" Izzy said to the three of them, biting her lip anxiously when her gaze met Bobby's.

"Simple," Noah said. He looked at Chelsea.

"I mean probably. I thought I was going to be a doofus at this but it can't get worse than Bobby!" Chelsea said innocently causing Noah and Izzy to snigger.

"Oi! I could do that! Easy-peasy," He tried to sound confident but his voice broke on the last word earning another snort from Noah.

"Oops! Sorry babes, I tend to say things without thinking."

Izzy nudged Chelsea's shoulder looking at the boys, "And you think this is bad? Wait till we get a few drinks in her tonight."

Izzy and Chelsea made eye contact and burst into giggles, obviously remembering some stupid things Chelsea had done while drunk. When they calmed down, Izzy took a deep breath.

”Right, are we ready?” She looked at Bobby apprehensively but he nodded again, ignoring the dread building inside him.

”LET’S GO!” Chelsea shouted and pumped the air as they all began going.

Izzy was leading at the front, Chelsea and Noah hung back a bit but got the hang of the technique and began racing off leaving Bobby behind. Again.

He desperately tried to move quicker but his legs felt unsteady, and he pushed back to the snowplough move in an effort to slow himself. Suddenly, his skis crossed in the front, his knee crashed into the other and he fell hard on his arse. He struggled to uncross his skis as he slid down the slope on his rear, speeding faster and faster.

Everything went in slow motion, almost as if he was floating in the air and watching what was going on from above.

He expected to come to a soft stop in the snow, but instead, he slammed into another body and felt a jolt of pain as something punctured his calf. They slid to the bottom of the slope together, limbs and sticks and skis became a tangled mess, and all he could see was white snow. Bobby and the stranger eventually came to a stop when the ground levelled out.

His first instinct was to get up and check whoever he’d hit was alright but his ankle protested in pain and his body was weak from shock.

He heard people shouting but it sounded muffled, and everything was slightly fuzzy. He must have hit his head.

He tried looking down at his leg to check it wasn’t some ungodly shape and it looked fine underneath the clothing, there were no bones sticking out anywhere at least. There was a hole though, in his trousers, he stuck his finger through and prodded his leg. Pain rattled through him.

A blonde girl, Izzy probably, was rolling up his snow trousers and all he saw was red - blood. It dripped onto the snow and turned the pure white into a sickly pink colour. His two fears, blood and heights, and he was faced with both of them within a few hours. What a holiday to have with the girl of his dreams.

His vision quickly began blurring up more and he felt queasy.

Someone was talking to him but he couldn't quite understand. He blinked a few time’s and his vision got better, it was Noah. All he could properly make out was Noah shouting, "fucking hell Bobby, breathe."

So he did. He took some deep breaths and gradually came back to his senses.

"Bobby? Can you hear me?" Izzy was looking at him with her big green eyes full of worry. Noah was to the left of her and Chelsea and some random man was there as well.

"Yeah, is the other person alright? Oh God, it wasn't a kid, was it? Tell me I didn't wipe out a kid."

The other man put his hand up, "It was me. No injured kids, though a few had to dodge out of your way. You're a fuckin' torpedo mate. I'm so sorry, I didn't see you coming. Some fall you had there," He looked around the same age as Bobby but was much bulkier, you could tell under the layers of clothing.

"No, I fell, you shouldn't be sorry," He tried to sit up and Noah assisted him. He caught a glance at his leg and saw Chelsea's pink scarf had been tied around it. He tried to think of anything other than the fact his ankle was fucked up but it was impossible with the amount of pain coursing through his leg right now.

"I'm on the phone to Lucas, he'll be here in 30. He said he'd call the rescue people and we need to put pressure on the bleeding," Noah said before rolling his eyes, "I need better service, give me a second."

None of the girls fancied putting pressure on his wound so the random lad, called Jakub, stepped up. He knelt on the floor beside Bobby and pressed on his leg. It fucking hurt but he'd rather have that pain rather than bleed all over the already red and pink snow.

Bobby's face dropped, it wasn't that bad, surely? He bit the inside of his cheek to try to distract the pain before letting out a shaky breath, "I'll be fine, it's probably just sprained," He looked at Izzy and Chelsea for some reassurance but Chelsea looked slightly pale and upset that her scarf was being used as a tourniquet, "Right?"

Izzy bit her bottom lip, "You might need stitches, it's a pretty deep gash on your calf Bobby."

He groaned and took a look around. Turns out he'd gathered a little crowd of people trying to see what had happened. He blushed and shook his head slightly.

Of fucking course, Bobby. Captain B. smooth as always.

After another 20 minutes or so Lucas showed up and took a look at his ankle.

"What's the verdict, doctor?" Bobby joked through his teeth, desperately praying he wouldn't say it's broken. It was shitty of Lucas to have to deal with this on his stag-do week get-away.

Lucas pressed a few more times on his leg and then looked Bobby in the eyes with his serious face on, "It seems just sprained and bruised luckily, the bleeding is controlled, only thing now is getting some x-rays to be sure and some stitches in that cut," he stood up and wiped his brow, "of all people, Bobby. Of course, it's you mate."

Bobby grunted and let his head fall back into the snow, "Who else would it be?"

Lucas laughed and sat on the floor next to Bobby, "I'll wait here with you. Izzy, Noah and Chelsea, you can head to the red run if you want?"

Bobby interjected, "no Lucas, Noah can stay, you're not missing your stag-do! It's only the first day."

"He's right Luke, I'll stay," Noah said, extending Lucas his hand to stand up.

Swiftly, Izzy stood up, "I'll stay. I honestly don't mind, I go skiing all the time and I won't be missing out on anything."

"Are you sure?" Chelsea said from behind her.

"Well as long as Bobby doesn't mind," She looked at Bobby and smiled, "I don't bite."

Fuck. Does she want to spend time with me? No complaints here I guess.

"Yeah, I'm cool with that," he glanced at the other three, "You guys head off, I'm fine."

Noah and Lucas clapped his back and Chelsea hugged him goodbye, "See you later guys!" Izzy shouted before plopping down next to him. Jakub was still awkwardly stood by. Bobby still felt guilty about hitting the guy so attempted to thank him some way.

"Jakub, thanks for everything mate, really. We're all heading over to the bar later tonight, we have it rented out. Join us?"

The tall lad smiled and nodded, "Sounds solid, stay safe alright? And maybe never go skiing again."

Bobby chuckled and waved at him as he walked off.

He turned back to Izzy, "Thanks for this. I really don't want to ruin Lucas' time here."

"It's all good Bobby. Don't worry about it. I wouldn't have offered otherwise."

"True. I'll buy Chelsea a new scarf as well. You might have to help me with that one though. I'm not exactly a fashionista," He winked.

***

Eventually, the medical staff got there and lifted him off the slopes, putting his leg into a temporary brace. He was taken into an ambulance and driven to the A&E. Having Izzy next to him the whole way was comforting. He probably would've been freaking out if not for her squeezing his hand every now and then with a warm smile on her face. She was a breath of fresh air.

"Bet this wasn't how you expected the first day of your girls trip to end up, hey?" Bobby said, sitting up on the bed in the doctor's office wearing a temporary bandage and gauze on his leg to stop the bleeding, "Sat in A&E with a strange, handsome Scottish man."

Izzy snorted, "Well I can tell you're feeling better from all the pain killers, Mr Jokester. Just wait until they start putting stitches in that bad boy, ought to shut you up."

She was glad he was feeling better. Seeing the red snow on the mountain had definitely taken a toll on him, he almost went as pale as on the ski-lift... almost.

A doctor introduced himself as Dr Harvin with a french accent and took him through to x-ray and to get his stitches done while Izzy waited in the room for him. For the half an hour they were apart Bobby was more anxious than when she'd been by his side. He really wished she'd be allowed to be there for the stitches but it was "family only" apparently so he had to do it alone.

When he was back in the room with Izzy he calmed down once again. This had been a mad journey since getting on the plane, but he wouldn't go back and change a thing, because this girl wouldn't have walked into his life. God, I'm already a melt.

The same male doctor walked in form earlier and took a seat, inspecting his clipboard and putting some glasses on, "Well, Mr McKenzie. Good news, It's not broken," Bobby sighed and his shoulders relaxed, "But,"

Oh, Jesus, a but is never good.

"You've sprained it and will require to wear a boot for a week, so no more skiing."

"Thank God," Izzy muttered sarcastically under her breath, getting a glance from the doctor. Bobby suppressed a laugh and put his serious face on but he probably looked constipated.

"And stitches are needed for a week as well. Crutches will also be necessary for at least a week, possibly two depending on your pain. Your head injury is nothing to worry about, you might get some bruising but nothing major. It's been a pleasure hearing about your accident, I can't lie, thanks for bringing some humour into my work."

Izzy and Bobby made eye contact and both looked equally confused, "I'm glad I could, Sir. Thank you for all your help." He shook Bobby and Izzy's hand before opening the door for them to leave.

They exited the hospital in silence and when they finally got out Izzy called an uber.

Bobby took a deep breath and wanted to end this half-awkward half-comforting silence.

He started chuckling, "He was weird wasn't he."

"Yes, very fucking weird."

They both made eye contact and burst into laughter, barely stopping by the time the Uber arrived.

It dropped them off to the lodgings and they both stood inside to the warmth. Bobby nervously asked if she wanted to keep him company in his room for a bit until the others got back. Luckily, she agreed and they sheepishly headed off to the room.