our beginning // harry jowsey and rylee arnold

twelve

~ rylee pov

"Do it again." I said, making Harry do the routine for now the 7th time in a row without any breaks. He was annoyed with me and I could tell, but we were in week 5 now, it was time to turn things up and I couldn't take it easy on him anymore.

As we did it though, I could see Harry getting frustrated. His moves with incomplete and the lifts were rushed. So if I felt like he wasn't giving 100%, I'd stop him and start over. I had never done this before, but I was trying something different to see if this is what he needed. More discipline.

I was often told that I was going too easy on Harry. I hated hearing that if he was with a more experienced pro, that he would be doing better. So I needed to now be strict to get better results.

"Rylee, we can't keep starting over every time I make a mistake.." He said, sounding exhausted, I felt so bad, but we only had to get through 30 more minutes today. Every second made a difference, I wanted him to understand that.

"We can and we will." I said, telling him to start over. But he was shutting down and it was clear. I had never worked him so hard.

"I need to take a break." He said, leaving the room without saying anything further. I sighed, Sasha walking into the room shortly after Harry had left. "Is he okay?" He asked me, taking a seat on the couch next to me.

"Yeah, he's fine.. just frustrated. We both are." I said, telling him that I was trying to push him harder but that it wasn't being received as I wished.

"It's okay, you'll probably go through this every season. We all do, fatigue starts to kick in. And it's frustrating when you work so hard to maybe not get the best results, but it'll be okay." He said, Sasha always knowing exactly what to say.

"I'm sure it's tricky to not fall back into the role of being his partner in real life, but remember that you two are here for a reason. Don't give up now, keep pushing him, you're doing great." Sasha said, hugging me before he had to run back to rehearsal.

I took a deep breath, trying to be zen for a moment before Harry walked back in. He was right, I wasn't his girl right now, I was his dance instructor so I had to stop feeling bad. Harry could handle this, I wouldn't be pushing him this hard if I didn't think he could.

"Ry, I'm sorry but I'm gonna head home. I have a headache and honestly am not feeling well." Harry said as he walked back into the room.

"What??" I asked, not expecting this. Harry had never ended a rehearsal short, even if there were only 20 mins left, he stayed until the last second.

Maybe I had pushed him too hard and was being too harsh..

"Harry, we can slow things down if-"

"No, I really can't dance anymore today. I think we danced enough anyways.." He said, starting to pack his bag.

"I'm literally only pushing you this hard because I know you can do it.."

"It doesn't matter, I clearly can't." He said, grabbing his bag and heading to the door. I ran to him, grabbing his hand to stop him from leaving.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked, no longer even caring about the dance competition. I just didn't want to think I had hurt him.

"No, it's fine." was all he said as he left. I sighed as I sat down on the couch and groaned. I should've known that Harry wouldn't respond well to tough love. We had already been doing so well, i shouldn't had changed anything. But I just know he has so much potential.. and I want to pull that out of him.

I packed up my bags, ready to go now too. As I walked out, I covered my face from the paparazzi that was camping outside the studio, not in the mood to speak today or get my picture taken.