First Encounter (A Perri Kiely story)

Chapter 19

Perri continued to go from strength to strength in the competition, his routines became more complicated as he developed more skill, soon, he was getting comments from the public saying you couldn't tell who the professional skater was.

His favourite routine was Harry Potter, which Vanessa struggled with, in parts, because it was so technical. He never knew that Laura had a hand in the planning of the costumes and the pre-show filming trip to Wizarding World. She was content to listen to him excitedly chat about what he did that day, the Nimbus 2000 he bought there (his new prized possession) and what he was going to wear.

Now, his focus was on the most important routine of the competition, dearer to him than even the final was, he may never get there and he definitely might not win, he thought, but at least he can do this for the fam, the people in his life as close to him as his blood family. It was his turn to work Vanessa hard, who had been a bit off with him of late. He had to chase her for extra rehearsal time. From the moment he was asked to choose a piece of music personal to him there was no other track. The song that his dance troupe played at the end of every show was perfect, they would recognise it instantly, they would know what it meant. Vanessa was quiet when she heard it for the first time, he thought maybe it was something to do with Rory. She had banned all talk of her boyfriend since they nearly came to blows.

It was the day of the week 9 live shows, he had gone through his solo superhero routine and his personal skate. He was more nervous than he had ever been before. Vanessa was now used to his bouts of quiet introspection. She knew to leave him alone when he retreated into his head. She had given him a wide berth for as long as she could but it was time for make-up. She found him at the end of a dark corridor, not really in use by anyone. She approached him slowly, so she didn't startle him.

"Hey, are you ok?" he asked him quietly. Perri looked up with massive sad eyes.

"I'm ok, I'm just really nervous." He was in his superhero costume, all red and black and gold.

"There's no such thing as a nervous superhero." She chided, smiling at him. "Come on, it's time."

Perri followed her back to the training rink where the floor manager hurriedly ushered him into position. Vanessa watched as he skated out following his name. His solo skate was flawless, she couldn't focus too much on him because she needed to join him at the right time, but she knew it was, everything he did was always flawless. The Judges were a little divided, Ashley thought he could have done more, Jayne thought he did some really difficult moves. That's his problem, Vanessa bit her teeth as she grinned at the judges, he makes everything look so easy. They left the main rink and joined the bedlam that was wardrobe and make up change. She couldn't talk for face wipes covering her mouth, but she wanted to tell him not to worry. She could see him retreating into himself again in the mirror's reflection.

It felt like seconds to Vanessa as they waited to be called out. She winced as Perri held her hand painfully tight. She fretted about when to tell him to relax his hold, she didn't want to skate out with broken bones. But Phil and Holly had called their names and they skated to their positions, he let go of her hand and she climbed up the stairs to her balcony. The music started, a soft piano intro, she hopped daintily down the stairs as he skated to her with one hand behind his back. She positioned herself with her back to him as he took her hand, she caressed his face with her free one and raised up as if to kiss him. She really wanted to, he usually kept his head high in rehearsals, but this time his lips were millimetres from hers.

She twirled around him and just let go of her choreography, it was in her bones so she was going to feel rather than repeat. She jumped up and his strong hands caught her, lowering her gracefully down so it looked like she floated there. The set was so beautiful, the dry ice, the night sky, it felt to her as if they were truly in Verona. She could see him hit every position mark exactly but without looking at the ice, he was staring straight at her.

When he took her hand, he was gentle, loving in fact. Vanessa's heart almost stopped. She skated around the bottom half of the rink in a wide arc with her arms out, this was a deceptively tricky part of the routine because if the timing was wrong, everything would look off. But she needn't have worried. As the string instruments increased in volume so did Perri, swooping behind her and wrapping his arms around her and lifting her up with a force that made her close her eyes. They skated in absolute synchronicity, she felt as though they were one person, she could almost see the bond between them. She used his shoulders to lift herself up on to his knees, normally it required a lot of her arm strength but she barely needed it tonight. He plucked her off the ice into a counterbalance that looked effortless to the audience who applauded loudly. Then came the signature move, the message to Ashley and all of his Diversity friends and partners. They flipped round, raised their legs and used their toe picks to come to a complete stop before skating off, the noise in the studio drowned out the music for a moment. As she saw Ashley and John get up from their seats in amazement, she knew Perri had nailed it. When the song built to a crescendo, so did they and Perri's energy showed no sign of abating as he lifted her high above his head to rapturous applause. He lowered her into his arms with such surety and care that she felt like a bride. The final spin came and went and they finished in each other's arms. She could see Perri tearing up and knew it would only be seconds before she did the same.

They took longer than they should to compose themselves but very nearly lost control when they both saw the row of 10's on the judge's screens and Holly's voice rang out "10's across the board" The entire studio was on their feet. Vanessa didn't hear much of what the judges were saying, she could see that they were emotional too, especially Ashley who she caught wiping tears from his face. When she dared to look up at Perri, she could see his huge eyes were wet. She knew he bared his soul out there on the ice and as she held him, she felt all of his emotion, his love, his gratitude. She wanted to take him away from here forever.

They skated out to staff congratulating them. Vanessa hadn't said a word, she didn't think she was physically capable of formulating any speech she just held on to him, to Perri, the cure and the cause of her emotion. Without any care for who was around her, she reached up and pulled his head down, she captured his lips and kissed him hard. Perri tensed at first, then she felt him relax, finally she felt him pull her to him and return her kiss.

"mhmmmm" A small voice shocked them out of their impetuous action. Perri let go of Vanessa and stepped back in horror.

"Laura!"