Author's note: It's the weekend; you all know what that means! Rapid updates! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Nope.

Chapter 10

After the holiday break, things started happening quickly. It was time to start putting their long and short programs together. About a week after she returned, Poe and Rey got into a new routine, skating through the morning, then spending the afternoons getting poked and prodded by a designer and her minions. Rey—who had trouble sitting still on a normal day—quickly grew bored. She'd expected to have some input, but no one seemed to care about her opinion, least of all the woman who constantly draped fabric over her body and started pinning it. She wasn't careful either; Rey got stuck a few times.

Poe never questioned anything. He just stood there and allowed them to do their work. He had his AirPods in his ears; he was probably listening to a book. Those first days back Rey thought the time away had done wonders for her very much not a crush on her partner. She hadn't gotten butterflies once. Unfortunately, designing the costumes required them to strip down to their underthings, because the measurements needed to be as exact as possible. The sight of Poe in nothing but boxer briefs caused all those feelings to come rushing back.

Those briefs left little to the imagination.

The universe really seemed to hate her.

She tried listening to music to distract herself. That worked for a while. She could close her eyes and imagine she was somewhere else while she was poked and prodded and posed. It was easily the thing she liked least about figure skating. What did it matter what they wore? Some of the costumes she'd seen on the internet were downright hideous. If she could skate in pants she would, but that didn't factor into Leia's vision. The object was to tell a story on the ice, Leia had told them.

Rey wanted something that reflected who she and Poe were as partners; nothing she saw so far did that.

"Arms out," one of the assistants asked her.

Rey complied, rolling her eyes as she was moved and posed for the fiftieth time. Not far away, Poe stood, looking completely disinterested. He was dressed like a matador for some reason. The designer messed with his sash, placing it in a variety of places. "Where to put this?" she wondered out loud. "We don't want him to hide his light under a basket, do we?" Rey stifled a snort; of course, all the options drew attention to Poe's crotch, somewhere she should not be looking.

Against her will, she felt her cheeks warm. Think about something else, she told her herself. Anything else. She twisted so her back was to Poe; she didn't think he'd spotted her. That was the last thing she needed. Another one of the assistants stuck her with a safety pin as she tried to attach some frill to the bust of Rey's costume. That was it. She was done with this dog and pony show. Rey growled in annoyance and yanked the offending beading down, which only tore the fabric. The neckline tore completely, exposing her sports bra. "I've had just about enough of this!"

That got Poe's attention. "Rey, what the hell are you doing?"

"You can't tell me you're happy with this," she shot back. Poe looked utterly ridiculous in her opinion. She stepped down off the chair she was standing on and marched over to where Poe stood. He too was up on a chair; she realized at the last second that she was almost eye level with his crotch. Oh well. Too late now.

Poe instinctively leaned back as she approached; she looked pissed. For once, Poe was pretty sure he was not the source of her ire, but he was wary all the same. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Rey yanked on the sash that was pinned to his hip. "You look like some overstuffed wanker."

Poe wasn't sure what that meant, but he knew it wasn't good. "Now see here…"

"We'll see alright." She got up on her toes, grabbed the right shoulder of his jacket and yanked. Fabric ripped; beads popped and fell to the floor.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Her eyes flickered over his bare chest. "Just getting started."

Thirty minutes later, the pair faced Leia in her office in the loft. Rey wasn't the least bit sorry about ruining days' worth of work. Poe sat there stone-faced; he refused to speak to her. Why, she couldn't fathom. She was doing them both a favor. He'd see that.

"Explain yourselves."

Poe spoke first. "It's not my fault. Rey's the one who went all bridezilla on our costumes."

"Because they were terrible!"

"Who cares?" Poe snapped.

"So, you do think they were awful!" Rey cried triumphantly.

"That's not what I said!"

"Enough!" Leia shouted. It was unlike her to shout. Then again, this behavior was reminiscent of the early days of their partnership. She thought they were past this. "Rey, please explain yourself."

The disappointment on Leia's face almost made her question her decision. Almost. The traditional way of doing things hadn't boded well in the past; she thought it was time to shake things up. "Look, maybe I could have been more…diplomatic about this," she conceded.

"You think?" Poe muttered under his breath.

"But I don't regret it. We need something that reflects who we are. Something that's us," she added, looking at Poe. "Shouldn't we tell our story out there? Isn't that the point?"

Poe blinked. He'd never thought of it that way before. He was used to just taking orders about what to wear and how to perform. All of that had been decided for him. No one ever asked his opinion. That didn't excuse Rey's behavior though. "Maybe."

"Okay then. I think we should take a break; start over."

Leia considered them. She didn't blame Rey for wanting more of a say in how the programs were put together. Her methods were less than desirable, but they were early enough in the process that no real harm was done. "How about this," Leia said, looking from one to the other. "We'll start with the music. You two work together, find two pieces you both agree on. Once we have that, we'll bring Sabine back in. Costumes can wait a few weeks."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Poe demanded. How often did they agree on anything? This wasn't choosing a movie for movie night. They'd have to live with these choices for the next year.

"I'll leave that up to you."

"Unbelievable," Poe muttered as they left Leia's office.

"You should be thanking me," Rey replied, unapologetic.

"Thanking you? Where the hell did you get that idea?"

"Are you kidding? I just saved us from being fashion disasters!"

"You have no idea what you just did!"

"Then enlighten me, oh wise one."

She was impossible. "I don't have time for this." He started to walk away, but Rey grabbed his arm and tugged him back. "Can't you just give it a rest for one day?" he demanded.

She frowned. "Not all of us can be the perfect toy soldier, Poe."

"Is that what you think of me?" Her hand was still on his arm; she seemed to realize this at the same moment and released him.

"It's hard not to sometimes," she admitted. "You're just so…difficult. You're a difficult man."

"Maybe I don't know how not to be," he replied quietly. He didn't want her to think of him like that. He didn't care what most people thought, but he did care about Rey. Her opinion of him mattered.

"Perhaps now is a good time to start."

He considered that. "Okay. How about this? We'll meet after dinner and listen to each other's music. We have to really listen, not just dismiss it. Deal?" He thrust his hand out.

Rey took his hand and shook. "Deal."

What the hell had Poe just gotten himself into?

True to her word, Rey marched back to the main house after dinner. She'd spent the rest of the afternoon going through her music collection, trying to find tracks that would be fun to skate to. She'd never really had to think about it before; it was more difficult than she expected. She thought she'd narrowed it down to twenty good ones; she hoped Poe liked at least some of them. It was going to be a long night otherwise.

Poe waited for her in the sitting room on the second floor. He sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace; he didn't notice her for a full minute. She admired the way the flames highlighted the bronze skin of his exposed forearms. No. Stop it, she thought. Even if she wanted to (which she didn't), she couldn't think of Poe that way. They were partners, that was it.

Rey shuffled her feet a little on the wood floor, announcing her presence. Poe turned; he looked…frustrated? Annoyed? She couldn't put her finger on the emotion on his face. "Hey."

"Hey. Might as well have a seat."

There was a sound system hidden in a cabinet; Rey never noticed it before. "Poe, are you…okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Can we just get this over with?"

"Look, if you're tired or something…we can do this another night."

He tugged on the wool of his sweater, pulling the fabric past his elbows. "This might seem hard to believe, but Nationals will be here before you know it. We need every minute we can get."

Rey sat across from him, keeping a respectable distance away. "You think I don't know that?"

"Sometimes it seems like this is all some game to you," he countered.

"A game?" Rey huffed. "Poe, I've been busting my ass for nine months. I wouldn't do that if I weren't taking this seriously!"

"You have a funny way of showing it!"

"What do you want me to do?" she demanded. "Just tell me and I'll do it!"

"I don't know!" Poe clamped his mouth shut; his eyes fell closed. "Nevermind. It's like you said, I'm tired. Let's just get this over with."

Rey wondered if there was something else going on, but they didn't have time to fight. They had a task that needed to get done. "You go first."

Poe turned on the stereo and synced it with his phone. He had some pieces that he'd skated to before that he really liked. There were a few others some of his competitors had used. He played the first one, a Bach composition. Rey wrinkled her nose. "What's that?"

"Bach."

Rey sat back and listened. She wasn't impressed. When the piece ended, she synced her phone and selected one of hers. Thankfully, modern rock came out of the speakers. Poe frowned. "What is that?"

"A band called Imagine Dragons."

"Never heard of them."

Rey rolled her eyes. "Just listen."

And so it went. For the next three hours, they went back and forth with music. Poe's choices were almost all exclusively classical, though he did throw a couple of Hamilton tracks in there. Those were Rey's favorites. At least they were from this century. Rey tended toward more modern fare, but she did throw in some Beatles' tunes because Poe already knew she liked them.

They couldn't seem to agree on anything. They kept playing tracks, trying to find one that spoke to them both. It was frustrating. Poe switched to a new track. "This is Mozart."

Rey groaned. Not this again. "It's not us."

"The deal was we had to listen," Poe reminded her.

"Poe, this is tired," she said for what felt like the hundredth time. "Ten thousand other skaters will cue up the same boring crap! This doesn't get it done." She switched the input on the stereo; one of her choices came through the speakers. "It's like the costumes. Let's be different. Let's kick a little ass."

Poe scowled and switched back to Mozart. "If you want to see some asses kicked, why don't you throw on some jeans and skate to this!" He turned it up. "If you want to win, you play it straight!"

"This is boring," Rey whined. She switched the input again and turned it up.

"Unacceptable!" Poe shouted. He switched it, but Rey just switched it right back, turning it up louder. "Would you stop?" he yelled, changing it back again.

"This didn't work for you last time!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

Poe huffed. "You have some nerve!"

Rey switched it again. "Just listen to my music for one second!"

"Stop turning it!"

"Guys!" Poe and Rey looked up at the same time; Zorii stood on the other side of the railing, a robe tied around her waist. She looked pissed. "Hey! It's after midnight! I have a 6:30 appointment!"

Poe cringed. He'd totally forgotten. He turned off the stereo hastily. "We were just wrapping up."

Rey snorted. "Play her the Mozart. She'll be asleep in no time."

Things were awkward the next morning. Poe was exhausted; it had taken him a long time to fall asleep, despite how tired he was. The thing was, he didn't understand why he felt so discombobulated. He wanted to pretend it was Rey's antics about the costumes or the music, but he hadn't felt like this since she first arrived. She'd only been gone for a week, but it felt like something had changed while she was gone.

He didn't want to admit it, but he'd missed her.

However, having her back hadn't fixed anything. In fact, he was pricklier, more prone to snapping for no reason. Before she left, everything seemed almost hypothetical. She was making remarkable progress, but now they had to put everything together. They had to really come together as a team and perform.

For the first time in his career, that felt scary as hell.

He wanted to trust her. He wanted to trust that this time would be different. They'd invested so much time; Poe certainly wasn't a quitter. This challenge was unlike anything he'd ever faced.

When Zorii asked him what was wrong, he just made some excuse. He didn't even remember what it was. God, he was almost relieved she was leaving. She was due back in London at the end of the week. That felt like a terrible thing to think about his girlfriend, but he knew deep down she hated that he'd come out of retirement. She kept making not so subtle hints about high school and college friends of hers, all getting married or having kids. Poe couldn't even think about things like that. He could only focus on what was right in front of him.

Rey was already in the weight room when he arrived still bleary-eyed and cranky. She had music playing on a Bluetooth speaker; when she spotted Poe, she went to turn it off. "No, you don't have to," he said.

"Look, Poe…"

He sighed. "Can we just call a truce? Please?"

Rey considered him, her hands on her hips. She'd started wearing these lycra bodysuits when she worked out; they clung to her curves. Poe tried not to notice, but the stray thought sometimes wandered through his mind. He couldn't seem to help it. "Was Zorii mad?"

Poe shrugged. "No idea."

Rey looked like she wanted to say something then she thought better of it. "I still want to apologize," she said finally. "We should be working together on this."

"I've never actually chosen my own music," he confessed.

"First time for everything, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." He dumped his bag. "Shall we try again?"

"How about we just listen to music while we're here? No pressure, no shouting."

"That sounds fair."

Since Rey already had something playing, they got to work. Rey resumed her set with some dumbbells while Poe did some stretches before starting his set of 100 pushups. He was fairly certain the music playing was the same band Rey played for him the night before; judging by the way she mouthed the words. It had to be a favorite of hers. It just seemed so strange to him, the idea of skating to something like that. The rules regarding music used to be much stricter than they were now, but he'd only ever played it straight. Classical, operas, mostly pieces people watching at home would recognize. Though if he had to listen to Carmen one more time he might vomit.

Some things were just overdone.

Still, he was leery about doing something new. This was supposed to be his big comeback; what if he got laughed off the ice? Yet, it wasn't just about him. Rey was right; she had worked her cute butt off since she'd arrived. It wasn't right to just dismiss her suggestions out of hand solely because they were different.

The album ended. "Your turn," Rey called.

Poe grabbed his phone from his bag and connected it to the speaker. Rey had already dismissed most of his choices the night before; perhaps it was time he tried something different too. He scrolled through his personal music collection, settling on one of his favorites, Ed Sheeran.

As he passed her, he waited for her to comment. "You know who Ed Sheeran is?" she asked when she realized who it was.

"Classical's only good for performing. I do listen to more modern stuff."

"He's one of my favorites. Rose and I went to see him in Minneapolis last year. We had nosebleed seats, but it didn't matter. One of the best nights ever."

He rarely saw her so enthusiastic about something that wasn't skating. It was cute. Poe smiled. "I saw him last year too at the Garden."

"As in Madison Square Garden?"

"Is there another venue with that name?"

Rey punched him in the arm. "Don't be an ass."

He laughed. "Then you probably don't want to know that I met him too, huh?"

Her jaw dropped. "What?"

He backed up, lest she punch him again. "It's not that big a deal."

She huffed. "You're insufferable."

"Maybe, but you're stuck with me." He almost slipped and used his little nickname for her. That just wouldn't do at all.

Fortunately, Rey didn't seem to notice. "Well, based on this, it seems obvious we should use an Ed Sheeran song."

He couldn't argue with her logic. They got back to work, rotating through the entire Sheeran catalogue. They both knew it well; sometimes one of them would pause what they were doing and start singing. Poe was floored the first time Rey did that; she was actually quite good. She had a pleasant warm alto voice; it made him want to sing along with her.

Leia walked in as they were having a silly sing-off; she stopped dead in her tracks. "Well, it seems you two are getting along better," she deadpanned.

Poe and Rey jumped. "Sorry, Leia," they mumbled.

"Don't let me stop you. But does this mean you've found some music?"

Poe looked at Rey, who nodded. "Yeah, I think we have."

"Fantastic. Get me the tracks and I'll call Sabine."

After Leia left, Poe turned to Rey. "You know we'll have to use the instrumental versions, right?"

"That's okay. I think we both know the words well enough."

"True." He ran his fingers through his curls. "You're pretty good," he admitted. "When you sing."

Rey blinked like she was surprised by the compliment. "So are you," she replied. "Any other hidden talents I should know about?"

"Now where's the fun in that?"

Rey rolled her eyes. "I hate you sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" he teased. "I must be losing my touch."

"Unlike everyone else, I'm not afraid of you."

"Good. This would be very boring otherwise."

"And we wouldn't want that."

It was past time for the actual skating part of their day to begin. Poe tracked down instrumental versions of the tracks they'd chosen and forwarded them to Leia. He was surprised at how easily the choices became once they found something they could agree on. He found himself looking forward to collaborating on all the other choices they would make. Leia promised that he and Rey would have input on things. Certain things were required, but there were always ways to include more artistic elements.

Leia drew him aside before they got started. "I'm very proud of you, Poe," she said softly.

He ducked his head, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for the way I've been acting," he replied.

"You don't have to apologize to me, dear." She squeezed his shoulder. "You two are alright?"

"Yeah, we're good. Ready to get to work."

"I'm pleased to hear that." There was so much work to be done; it would be so much harder if her charges were at each other's throats every day. She'd become very fond of Poe and Rey over the last few months; she knew they could be truly special together. But only if they let it happen. It was her job to help them realize their potential. She wasn't above nudging them in the right direction.