That's a good gif 👆
.......

Alexander felt himself loose balance and he slid to the ground, sliding a few inches before stopping.

He let out a exhausted groan and planted his bare hands on the frozen sheet of ice under him, pulling himself off of it without slipping.

"That was beautiful! Very elegant! Would've been better if you hadn't fell but it's a working progress, I get that." John Laurens clapped his hands encouragingly with a smile that could light up the darkness of caves from the sidelines

Alexander flashed him an unimpressed glare and sighed. "I still can't stick that landing, John." He pouted, skating over to the side where John was.

"Of course you can't!" Freckles laughed, his curly hair bouncing with his movements. "It's ballet. You can't expect to learn a move on ice when you haven't even learned it on ground."

Alex scoffed, moving to the gate and exiting the ice rink. He sat down on the bleachers and untied his skates while John took a seat next to him. "Are you coming to my recital tonight? It's the last one for the season and it's kinda a big deal."

"Oh shit, John I totally forgot." Alex groaned, dropping his head in his hands. The freckled boy constantly reminded him months before and even the week before this. He even pinned it to his refrigerator, bedroom door, even his book bag. How could he forget?

John snapped from his thoughts and held his smile, trying to keep it from faltering. "It's alright. I'll just force my cousin to go instead." John didn't have any cousins. Alex looked up at his best friend with a worried frown. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Yeah--yeah, I'll be fine. Don't worry 'bout it, Lex." He stood up with Alexander, both of them exiting the arena.

"Ah, I see you two snuck in the rink again." Lafayette purred, leaning on the counter at his check in station just outside of the rink.

"Yeah. John's trying to teach me a move I could do to impress the judges in the competition."

"Wait--you're going to compete this year!?" Gilbert's mouth was wide open and he started squealing. Last time Alexander competed in the competitions, he was devastated about losing to a British asshole. He was also nationally embarrassed by the British dude and didn't leave his room for a month. It was a tragic time for the little bean.

"Uh, yeah. I-I am." Alex rubbed the back of his neck while packing away his skates in his raggedy gym bag.

"Aww! Mon petit amour that is so amazing! I am so proud of you! Steppin' out of your shell and stuff!" Laf squeezed him into a hug over the counter, squealing again because he was proud of his friend.

John smiled fondly at the two, walking away to grab his things from the locker room. He had practice soon. But before he'd go to dance, he would always come to the rink and watch Alexander practice his skating and even give him tips on posture and elegance. He kind of thought it was a little unfair that he always made time for Alex whenever he could yet Alex couldn't take the time to come to his last recital of the season. John tried his best to not let the sadness show, because he knew Alex was busy. Just like he was busy at his last show when he had to cancel because he had a family dinner to attend to. Or he was helping Hercules with the diner. With Alex, it was always something.

John sighed and shook his head. He needed to clear his mind. Especially since the recital was in less than four hours. He needed to go home and get some comforting sleep.

"John?" He tilted his head up and turned to face the person who called him. "Yes Alex?"

"Me and Laf are going to swing by the diner, wanna come?" Alex said while putting his stuff in one of the lockers and locking it. He smiled towards his friend but it dropped when he saw how upset John looked.

"John..."

The freckled boy looked away, biting his lip and looking down. "What?"

Alex hugged him without warning, making John blush and look away. "I'm sorry I can't make it to your show tonight. I'll make it up to you. I promise."

"You said that last time." He muttered and Alex broke the hug, holding him by his shoulders.

"I know...but I truly mean it this time." John searched his eyes for honesty before nodding. "Okay."

"Now let's walk you to practice."

..

"You're late."

"I know, I'm sorry. I had uh, late practice."

John sat his stuff down on the couch and sat down with a sigh. His feet and legs were sore and his eyes were begging for sleep. He was happy that the people that came to his recital loved his solo. He might even get promoted to team captain in his group.

Henry Laurens scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, okay, whatever, dinner is cold." He picked up the tv remote and turned the channel to some live fantasy football game.

John picked up his stuff and went to check on his siblings. He hated living them alone with their father because there was no telling what he might do to them.
"Johnny.." his little sister sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes tiredly as he sat down next to her. "Hey, how was school?"

"Boring. Miss Bryan brought in our class pet. It's a weasel. It's adorable too." She said after hugging him. John smiled at her and hugged him back.

"Did anything happen....while I was gone?"

His sister nodded, laying down and frowning slightly. "Mommy and daddy were fighting again." John sighed and held his sister tighter. "Is everyone okay?"

"Daddy hurt mommy."

John's breath got caught in his throat. He glanced at his little sister who was looking at the floor and began to feel upset for not being able to help their mother.

"I'll go see if she's alright. You go to sleep. Make sure no one else wakes up, mkay?"

"Okay. Goodnight Johnny."

"G'night."

He then left his sibling's room and went to check on his mom, who was sleeping but had a bruise on her cheek. He must've slapped her...He thought, watching her sleep peacefully. He was always jealous of his mother's freckles. They looked so pretty, like little snowflakes but his were just scattered everywhere, like a weird disease or something.

He walked out of her room and went to his, kicking off his shoes and climbing lazily into bed.

..

"Marthaaaa....!"

"No Alexander."

"Pleaseeeee! For me?"

"No! You don't need a new pair of skates."

"But mine are all beat up and dirty!" Alexander cried, complaining about his skates at the breakfast table. "And how am I supposed to compete in these?!"

"Maybe you should take better care of them." Martha Washington fixed a button on her dark blue pantsuit while pouring orange juice in a cup at the same time.

"But I've had these for years!"

"How about you go get a job instead of playing in snow all day. That way you can buy your own." George Washington joked, sliding some eggs onto Alexander's plate. He attempted at sunnyside ups at first, but horribly failed so he made scrambled eggs instead.

"It's not playing in snow, it's ice skating." Alex flicked a piece of hash brown at the side of his bald head and George chucked an eggshell at him.

"You know I'm joking, you little rugrat."

"Says the dude who looks like a bald headed chinchilla-"

"Oh you want to go there, you apple headed, Gerber baby-"

"Boys!" Both of their heads turned to Martha who looked very unamused. "You are both too old for this. I have to be at work by seven and this train is leaving now." Martha snatched a hash brown off of Alex's plate and walked out the room with the sound of her heels clicking behind her.

"Look what you made me do, " George motioned to the doorway where Martha just exited. He stood up from his seat and slung his bag across his chest. "Now she's going to be angry."

"You did that on your own. Don't put the blame on the immigrant." Alexander bit into a spoonful of egg while George kept a glare at him.

"Have a good day at work Mister Washington!"

The oldest in the room scoffed and walked out, leaving Alex to chuckle by himself. His bald father figure was fun to tease.

....

Here's a naked mole rat because I couldn't find a naked chinchilla..
😐

He's so beautiful y'all.