Lock down on Ice

Chapter 11

Perri was gutted. He had just had one of the best evenings ever with Vanessa and judging by his ringing ears and scratched back he assumed she did too. He could see how delighted she was that he had made an effort with breakfast so why did it all come crashing down?

He propped his elbows on his thighs and dropped his head in his hands. He then realised he had a long day at the ice rink with her now, he threw his body back on the bed and groaned loudly. 'How did I mess up so bad?' he thought.

They didn't say a word to each other the whole journey to the rink. And when they got on the ice they stood facing each other sheepishly for a few minutes before Vanessa sighed and broke the figurative ice.

"The live show starts this weekend; we need to go over our routine and make sure we know it inside out." She muttered. She glanced at him to check his reaction, but he was inspecting a particularly interesting patch of ice apparently. She sighed and took hold of his hand and checked again. 

He now looked at her with a startled expression then down at her small dainty hands holding his and felt her trying to pull him so he moved in the direction she wanted. She brought him to their starting positions and looked all business-like but Perri noticed tear tracks on her cheeks. Suddenly, he felt emboldened. He took her face in his hands and carefully wiped the tears with his thumbs.

"Hey" he said softly. Vanessa pulled away from his gentle caresses and skated to the side of the rink, clinging on to it like her life depended on it. Perri followed stopping a few feet away to give her space, but close enough that he could get to her if she needed him. He watched her carefully, trying to see if there was a clue to her reaction. When he couldn't find one, he skated closer. "Have I done something wrong?" Vanessa scoffed and looked up to the rink ceiling. She started to skate towards the exit but Perri overtook her and stood like a brick wall in front of her. He was determined to get to the bottom of why his partner was so upset. She looked at him, weighing up whether this was a physical battle she could win. Perri wasn't going to let her leave without answers and he was prepared to use his considerably greater strength to keep her on the ice. He saw her bottom lip trembling and he'd had enough of the softly, softly approach. He pressed forward and scooped her up without breaking his motion and carried her to the rink exit. She tucked her face into the crook of his neck and he selfishly loved the feeling of her needing him.

Once he was off the ice he made his way to the nearest bench and sat down setting Vanessa on his lap. He let her cry and rubbed her back as she sobbed uncontrollably. He wasn't sure how long she had cried for but he could no longer feel his toes, so he was relieved when the sobs started to abate. He lifted her off his thighs and set her on the bench next to him.

"V, can you please tell me what's going on." He begged.

"Nothing, I'm fine." She stood up to walk past him but he stretched his leg out to bar her way. "Perri let me pass" she said in exasperation.

"I know that something's wrong." He said in an urgent tone. Defeated, she slumped back down on the bench.

"I've ruined everything" She swallowed down sobs as she spoke. "You are acting weird after last night, and I guess...I guess I feel rejected...and stupid."

"But...you said you wanted to forget it happened!" He said it louder than he meant to and cringed when he saw Vanessa jump. He continued in a softer voice. "I thought I was doing what you wanted." She looked at him with wet eyes and sighed again.

"You're very beautiful but so stupid." Perri blinked at her with his eyes and mouth wide open. "Stop it you look like an owl".

"You think I'm beautiful?" he echoed, ignoring the insult. Vanessa realised her mistake and stood to run as far away from him as possible. But she had no chance, he simply extended his arm and snaked it around her waist and hauled her back, she landed back on his lap with a squeak. She tried to get up again but by then he had clamped his other arm around her trapping her completely laughing as she wriggled to escape.

"You're tickling me" he chuckled. He squeezed her tightly which made her stop moving altogether.

"So...am I?" he prompted, twisting her around to face him. His face was serious as he looked deep into her eyes.