"Good morning babe." Dark whispered softly in Anti's ear, kissing him lightly on the neck.

"Wha?" Anti mumbled wearily, snuggling closer to Dark's bare chest as he blearily cracked his eyes open to look into his dark colored, love filled eyes.

"We gotta get up and practice for the competition." Dark reminded him with a small smirk of amusement.

"I don't wanna!" Anti argued, burying his head into Dark's chest.

"C'mon, I even found a Starbucks close by here." Dark nudged Anti, soothingly running a hand through his messy dark green hair.

"Fine." Anti sighed reluctantly, sitting up slowly and swinging his feet over the side of the bed before hopping off onto the carpeted floor.

"So...was it good?" Anti asked sheepishly as he slid his clothes back on.

"Yes Antiboy, you were perfect." Dark chuckled as he put his clothes back in as well, smiling widely at Anti.

"You weren't so bad yourself Mr. Muscles." Anti teased, squeezing Dark's bicep even though his hand was unable to fit completely around it.

Dark scooped the keys up off of the floor before walking with Anti to their car and driving to Starbucks with loud music blaring on the radio to somewhat wake them up before they arrived.

"I know you like window seats." Dark remarked as they walked inside, leading Anti to a booth that had a large window next to it that showed the dark, quiet sleeping town outside.

Anti happily took the seat next to the window while Dark slid into he seat across from him after ordering their drinks.

"This is nice." Anti commented as he leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes in content, listening to the soft music playing in the background and the workers bustling around behind the counter.

"I told you it would be worth it." Dark assured Anti.

"It was worth it since I get my two favorite things: coffee, and you." Anti winked, smiling cheekily while Dark laughed, causing him to start laughing too.

It was when Dark and Anti got their drinks that their perfect morning was ruined.

Mark and Jack walked through the door and glanced over at them before hastily looking away, pretending they didn't see them.

"Hey, I remember you two from last night!" Anti called out.

Neither of them turned around, glaring hard at the menu as if hoping that if they ignored Anti that he would go away.

"Hey!" Anti slapped Hack lightly on the back to gain attention as he walked over to him, causing him to jump in surprise.

"What's your name?" Dark asked as he walked up to Mark, scaring him as well.

"I'm Mark, this is my friend Jack." Mark introduced himself and Jack stiffly, obviously feeling very uncomfortable with how close Dark was standing to him.

"You're YouTube gamers! What are you doing ice skating?" Anti frowned in mock confusion.

"I guess I'm a Jack of all trades." Jack shrugged, smirking at his own pun.

"You're certainly a master of none." Anti snorted in amusement, hating himself for what he was saying.

"Leave my friend alone." Mark warned him, his tone dangerously calm.

"Or what, you're going to get yourself and your friend kicked out of here too?" Anti countered with a forced sneer.

"Leave them alone Anti." Dark spoke up to save Anti from having to torment them further, surprising Mark.

"You know, you're no better than the people that bullied you last year." Jack remarked as Anti and Dark turned to go back to their booth.

The world seemed to freeze as Jack's words sunk in, seeming to slice Anti's heart. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, distinctly remembering the other contestants whispering about him even though it had been a year since he last thought about them.

"Don't think about it babe, that's all in the past." Dark whispered into Anti's ear comfortingly before sliding Anti's hand in his and guiding him out the door.

"Anti-"

"I want to kick their asses." Anti growled in fury, cutting off Dark.

"You wanna practice to get the stress out?" Dark offered.

Anti nodded tersely and got back into the car, allowing Dark to take them to the nearest rink, which was called Helenski Ice Hall.

It was a large indoor rink that reminded them of an indoor football field, except the turf was ice. The sears that surrounded the rink were red and shielded by bullet proof glass for when hockey was played and a shot would go wild towards the crowd.

Dark and Anti grabbed their black duffels full of equipment from the back of the van before walking inside and lacking their skates on.

Before they could even get it onto the ice, Mark and Jack walked brought the doors.

"Are you following us?" Anti's eyes narrowed accusingly as Mark and Jack dropped their bags onto the ground and started lacing up their own skates.

"No." Jack stated simply as he waited for Mark to finish lacing his skates up.

Anti opened to harass Mark, but hesitated when a haunted look crossed his face like he was reliving a nightmare.

"You okay?" Jack paused by Mark, noticing him standing frozen in the middle of the rink with his gaze fixated on the empty seats.

"Yeah." Mark assured Jack as he shook his head to dispel the memories, warming up by skating laps around the rink.

Dark watched Mark closely as he warmed up as if daring him to attack Anti again.

Dark and Anti finally left them alone, going to the opposite end of the rink to stretch.

They were halfway through warmups when they heard a sickening crack from behind them, followed by a muffled thud.