Crash

Hold my hand

"I don't understand," Penelope said as she and Charles walked towards a small rundown looking building in the centre of Jeddah. She'd managed to fix her hair and dry her eyes, but she still felt like shit. "Where are we?"

Charles had this little smile on his face, like he was feeling extremely proud of himself. "I'm going to fix your problem."

"Right. How are you planning on doing that exactly?"

"Patience, Miss Jonas. Patience."

Penelope rolled her eyes, but she didn't argue. At this point, she was willing to try anything. Plus, she trusted Charles. She figured he wouldn't put her through anything too crazy, especially knowing how important this was to her. 

As they got to the doors of the building, Charles suddenly pulled her to a stop. "Close your eyes," he instructed. 

"What?"

"I won't let you trip over or anything. I just want it to be a surprise. So close your eyes."

She gave him a look, feeling anxious. "Last time you asked me to do that, you told me you loved me."

"Don't worry," he mused, eyes twinkling, "I'm not going to propose or anything. Well, not yet anyway."

Begrudgingly, Penelope let him put his hands over her eyes. She tried to peep through his fingers as he guided her through the mystery building, but she couldn't see anything. It wasn't until she started to recognise the familiar cold feeling and signature smell of the rink that she realised where he'd taken her. 

"Charles," Penelope said slowly, her heart rate increasing with the nerves. "Tell me we're not standing in a random ice rink in the middle of Saudi Arabia."

His hands lifted from her eyes as he grinned, shaking his hands like he was unveiling the Mona Lisa. "Ta-da!"

Penelope's expression didn't shift. She just stared at him, completely bewildered. "What's the plan here, exactly?"

"Well," he declared, reaching behind a bench and producing two pairs of skates that looked like they'd seen much better days. "I can't force you to take part in Nationals. And maybe you're right, maybe you won't compete again. But you love dance, and you love skating, so I figured why not just have fun? No pressure, no coaches, no scores...what do you say? May I have this dance?"

Penelope was hesitant to agree. Just looking at the rink was giving her heart palpitations, but Charles was right. She did love skating once upon a time, and maybe it would be fun to just go out there with him without having to actually be any good. Plus, he looked so full of hope and excitement at his plan that she didn't have the heart to say no. 

"Fine. Just don't let go, okay? Promise you'll hold my hand?"

"I promise. Oh, and I packed you a jacket for the cold!" After a short fumble, Charles pulled out a duffel bag from behind the same bench as before, grabbing a very red sweater from inside. She recognised it instantly as his Ferrari team jacket, the one he wore when he was doing racing business. With careful hands, he helped her put it on, standing back to admire her. "There. All better."

Despite her nerves, Penelope felt her heart melt. He'd clearly put a lot of thought into this, and in all honesty, it was probably the sweetest thing any guy had ever done for her. 

Together, they put their skates on (Penelope had to do his for him, smiling at his inability to figure out how to work simple straps), and made their way out onto the ice. Charles stayed true to his word, gripping onto her hand as they moved in a slow straight line, the fear Penelope had felt still yet to go away. 

At one point, she hit a ridge in the ice and almost fell, Charles steadying her just in time. Her eyes widened as she struggled for air, her nails digging into his arm. "I can't do this," she told him. "I can't breathe, I need to get off-"

"Hey," he said sternly, planting one hand firmly on her waist. "Look at me. Hey, Penelope, stop panicking and just look at me."

She was still terrified, but she did as he asked. Their eyes met, and she could feel herself latch onto him, using his presence to ground her. It wasn't as scary with him by her side. 

"That's it," he told her, his tone reassuring. "Does this remind you of anything?"

Penelope considered the question, nodding her head as she came up with her answer. "Our first proper date," she said quietly, remembering the way she'd felt about him even all the way back then. "I taught you how to skate. It feels so long ago now."

"Yeah," he said softly. "I was so nervous, I fancied you so much. I didn't know how to act."

"You fell on your ass after five minutes," Penelope smiled, lost in the memory. It made her so nostalgic to think about how far they'd come. 

"Don't remind me," he grumbled. "But I made a lot of progress. I had a good teacher."

Penelope nodded, leaning into him. "You told me I was going to win a gold medal."

"And then I asked you to dance. You looked so beautiful. I can almost remember the steps..."

With a start, Penelope realised that she and Charles were moving, her feet gliding across the ice without input from her brain. She looked up at him, shocked into silence, the movement coming as easy to her as it ever had. 

"Charles," she said slowly, looking down at her feet and then back up at him. "I'm dancing."

Her boyfriend beamed at her, letting her pull him along as she turned without a fault. "I know! Look at that!"

Penelope let out a joyful laugh, working up the courage to let go of his hand, spinning in a circle and doing a small jump just for good measure. It wasn't perfect, but it was closer than she'd been yesterday. She was fully smiling now, gliding back over to him and throwing her arms around his neck, almost knocking him off balance. "How did you do that?"

"I didn't do anything. It was all you."

She kissed him, long and hot and passionate. "I made a mistake," she admitted finally. "A lot of them, actually. I should have told you about my fight with Jasper. I'm sorry. And I...I shouldn't have quit. That's not me. I was just scared, and when I get scared, I run away."

"I'm proud of you," he told her, kissing her forehead. "But you should tell Jasper that, too. He cares about you, that's why he called me. He was worried about you. He wasn't mad."

 Shit, Penelope thought. Jasper. Her beautiful, kind, amazing partner who she'd torn apart for just trying to be there for her. That bridge was going to take some time to rebuild. "I said some things that I don't know if I can take back. What if it's too late? Nationals are right round the corner."

"He cares about you, Penelope. And the people in your life that care about you are the hardest to push away. Talk to him. He'll understand."

Penelope laced her arms around his neck, looking up at him with a fond expression. "When did you get so wise, hm? What did you do with my stupid boyfriend?"

"I've been spending too much time with you. It's starting to rub off on me, I think."

"Good."

"You're meant to say you love me as I am!"

"I do," she chuckled. "Nothing wrong with a few upgrades though, is there?"

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