			SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW (Chapter 62)

"So, we're up to the point where you met Warren." Mary was saying. It was the beginning of their Friday session.

"Yeah. We were just friends." Sophia told her a bit about how their friendship developed.

"You seem to have let him in pretty quickly."

"I don't know if I let him in or he burrowed his way in," Sophia laughed. "For some reason, though, I trusted him almost immediately. You have to know him. There's something about him. Everybody that knows him trusts him, I found out later. "

"OK. When did you know you were starting to think of him as more than a friend?"

"I'm not sure. I was so fucked up then, I wasn't sure what I was thinking. I think I started to feel that way long before I admitted it to myself."

"Do you know why your feelings for him developed?"

"It started because of the way he treated me. I had never been treated like that, not even from people that claimed to love me. Now, with some people--like my Mother--it was because I didn't give them the chance to treat me well. But, comparing Warren to every boyfriend I had ever had at that point, he treated me miles better. I think that was the beginning. He just made me feel....loved. I hadn't felt loved in a long time."

"I think that was the first inkling, but I wasn't admitting it to myself yet. What happened after that was that I got to know him better and better. Everything I saw, I liked, you know?"

They talked a little about how their relationship had developed, and what the first three-plus years were like.

"It sounds almost idyllic, Sophia," Mary commented.

"Yeah, it was."

"OK, so you have this wonderful relationship with this wonderful guy. You come out here, and in three weeks, you end it."

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"What was going through your mind?"

"Lots of things. First of all, there was another guy." She explained about Eduardo.

"But that wasn't enough to break you guys up, was it? It shouldn't have been."

"No. Although I think I tried to convince myself that it was. I hadn't seen Warren almost at all in three weeks. We got here, and his nose got buried in a textbook. He had a hard time adjusting to his workload."

"And you didn't take that well."

"No I didn't."

"Did you believe him, that he had that much work?"

"That's a good question. You have to understand, Warren is incredibly gifted academically. He graduated third in his high school class, from a very tough school, and still made time for me, and for our ice dancing, and he worked every year except Senior, because that's when our ice dancing really took off. He juggled everything masterfully, for the three and a half school years I knew him. To see him overwhelmed by schoolwork was a very new experience."

"And you got suspicious that there was more to it."

"Maybe I did. Subconsciously, I think I did. My brain knew that Warren is as honest as the day is long, and wouldn't hurt me if his life depended on it. I don't know. Something inside me just....panicked."

"And Eduardo was coming on strong."

"Real strong. Sending me love notes, romancing me, grabbing me in the hall outside class. Plus I had girls on my floor telling me I was nuts for staying with a high school boyfriend in college, that I should be living it up. It was too much."

"So you broke up with him. Did that ever feel right?"

Sophia thought. "No. It never did. It felt necessary." She turned her head, and gazed out the window. "But I still don't know why it felt necessary."

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Warren called Sophia up on Saturday afternoon and asked her on a real, honest-to-goodness date. She eagerly accepted. They went to a movie and for some Chinese food afterwards, and had a great time. He even kissed her goodnight. She told him that Mary had asked him to come to their next session on Monday, and he agreed.

Sunday, Warren went to her door early in the morning. "You ready to skate?"

"You betcha!"

"Hey, can I come watch?" Elise asked.

"Sure!' Sophia said. "As long as you realize I'm way out of shape and we're not very good at the moment."

Elsie laughed. "I'll cut you some slack."

"You won't be the only spectator there. I wanted a chance to talk to you about this, Soph. Papa Bear and Caitlin wanted to come."

"Cool."

Warren took a deep breath. "And Alexa. I actually asked her to come. She's going to help us out with something."

"Alexa's the main one you've been sleeping with, right?" Sophia asked him.

"Yeah. But, first and foremost, she's a friend. She's known about you all along, you know. And she comes watch me skate a lot--she likes to watch. And she's really looking forward to watching us skate together."

"OK. Fine. I can handle this."

When the three of them got to the rink, Papa Bear, Caitlin, and Alexa were already there.

"Hi Kids!" Warren yelled as he and Sophia stepped onto the ice. Sophia looked at them--Alexa, really--a bit warily. Elise went around and sat with them, introducing herself.

Warren skated over to the boards, and put the boombox they used for their music in front of Alexa. "Got the camera, Lex?"

"Sure do."

"Camera?" Sophia asked.

"Alexa's got a digital camera."

Alexa smiled at her. "Warren and I talked about this. We've got a plan, and I'm going to use this digital camera to get the internet vultures off of your back." 

"All will be revealed, I promise," Warren told her.

"OK."

"Now. Sinatra?" Warren asked her.

"Sure. Let's see how much we remember."

Alexa cued up the music for them, and they went through it a couple of times, isolating certain parts, and working on moves. It wasn't going particularly well.

"No!" Sophia yelled. "Not like that. Closer here, and then the turn. You're too far away."

A few minutes later: "No, Warren, get in here! This is a tight hold, don't you remember?"

"I guess not."

They did a few more moves. "Warren, your arm is supposed to be around my waist from the back. Close into me."

A few more moves. Sophia abruptly skated away from Warren. "Dammit, Warren, this is not going to work!"

"What isn't going to work?"

"You're afraid to get close to me! You keep messing up the choreography by pulling away from me!"

"Sophia, we haven't done this choreography in three months. I'm just forgetting."

"Since when do I have a better memory than you do?"

"Better memory for dance steps? Since forever!" He turned to their four spectators, who were watching with increasing dismay. "I remember everything else in life better than she does, except choreography. Apparently, I have a better memory about her having a better memory for choreography." He grinned at his friends, and then grinned at Sophia. He succeeded in breaking the tension.

"You're right," Sophia admitted with a smile. Then she dropped the smile, and looked down at her hands. "It just seemed like you were pulling away from me. I don't mind taking our time with our relationship, but we can't do that on the ice."

"I'm not. And I'll prove it to you. Alexa? Cue up track two, if you please." He led Sophia to the middle of the ice. "Oh, and Lex? Get that camera ready. You get to take pictures of a command performance of a program that won a National silver medal."

Sophia smiled. Then Alexa started the music. Glenn Miller filled the rink.

They flew through their old free dance like they had done it yesterday, instead of months ago. They were a bit ragged, but that was to be expected. It wasn't perfect. It was a lot better at Nationals, or Worlds. But, for both of them, it felt fantastic. They both skated the whole program with wide smiles on their faces. And, when they got to the final bit, where they moved in close and tight, Warren proved what he had said.

The audience of four clapped as loud as they were able. Sophia and Warren took mock bows, smiling and laughing.

"Oh my God, I can't tell you how much I missed that," Sophia said to him.

"Me too," Warren admitted.

"Warren, you know what?" Alexa said. "You dance like you make love."

Sophia glared at her. Warren said, "How so?"

Alexa smiled. "The world revolves around your partner. I kept trying to watch both of you, but my eyes were glued to Sophia, and you made sure of that. God, you guys are good."

Sophia's expression softened into a smile. "Yeah, it's actually called partnering. And he's the best in the world at it."

Alexa grinned at her. "That's two things he's the best in the world at." Sophia gaped at her. She just laughed.

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They all ended up going to brunch together. Sophia and Warren went up to drop off their skates.

"Alexa makes you a bit uncomfortable." Warren said.

"Well......maybe a little. She has more recent memories of sleeping with you than I do. I know why we're not jumping back into a physical relationship, and I agree with it. But.....you know......."

"I'd tell her to cool off the comments, but she won't listen to me, so why bother? That's just the way she is. She has a very unique attitude towards sex."

"How so?"

"She's not possessive about it at all, and can be very uncomprehending that other people are. And she talks about it like she was talking about how good the omelet is."

"In other words, if she talks about sleeping with you, and I get all bent out of shape about it, she won't understand why."

"Right. Listen, we can blow them off and go elsewhere, if this makes you uncomfortable."

"No. I just won't get all bent out of shape about it. Do you love her?"

"No."

"If you never have sex with her again, will it bug you?"

"No."

"Will it bug her?"

"If it's because you and I are trying to work through our problems, no. Not even a little bit. She said to me once, 'You and I are friends. I want my friends to be happy. You won't be happy with anyone other than Sophia. End of story.'"

"That's a very generous attitude to have, actually."

They got down to the dining hall. Their friends were already there, talking as they approached with their food.

"Well, that's why Alexa wanted me to sleep with him," Caitlin was saying to Elise. "Not that I'm at all upset by the way things turned out," she said, cuddling into Papa Bear's side.

"He's the best lover I've ever had. At least, the best male one. And I've had quite a few," Alexa was saying. Sophia and Warren sat down. "Ain't that right, Sophia? Now that you guys are back in the saddle, you must be very satisfied."

Sophia looked down, not saying anything. Warren said, "Actually, we've postponed having a physical relationship again until we can repair our emotional one."

Alexa looked down, dismayed. "Oh. Well, then, I'll just shut my big fat fucking mouth."

"It's OK," Sophia smiled at her. "Really. Anticipation, and all that. Besides, I have a good memory."

Alexa laughed, relieved.

"Waitaminnit," Warren said. "Did you say, a minute ago, best male lover?"

Alexa gave him an impish grin. "Did I never tell you that I was bi?"

"No!" Warren cracked up. 

"Oops. Must have slipped my mind. But, yeah, I am."

"Hmmmmmmm" Elise said from next to her, giving her an appraising look.

"Watch out, Alexa," Sophia laughed. "I think my roomie sees something she likes."

Alexa looked at Elise. "You're.....?"

"Yes, I am," Elise said with a big grin.

"I think I'm in trouble." Alexa was smiling.

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Warren and Sophia were studying in Sophia's room later that day.

"Do you know where my roommate is right now?" Sophia asked him.

"No. Where?"

"With Alexa." She giggled. 

"You're kidding."

"Nope. I know Elise's type, and, believe me, Alexa is it. I was seeing that gleam in Elise's eye before Alexa said she was bi."

"This is very funny, you know that?"

"What, that you passed on your old sex buddy to your past-and-future girlfriend's roommate?"

"Exactly!"

Sophia smiled to herself, for more reasons than one.  

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Sophia's phone rang. "Hey, it's Elise. Is Warren there?"

"Yeah."

"I'm in Alexa's room. She wants both of you to come down."

"OK."

They went down, and found Alexa on the computer. 

"All right, this is the deal. I have a website, and I set up a special page for these." She showed Warren and Alexa the pictures she had taken. They looked great.

"OK. Warren told me how to subscribe to the newsgroup and the mailing list. Here's the post I'm going to send out, with a pointer to the URL that I have those pictures on."

SUBJECT: Daniels and Kelleher not split up!

MESSAGE: I'm a good friend of Warren and Sophia. I go to Wisconsin with them. They have been working on some problems in their off-ice relationship, but they have not split up as a dance team. In fact, I have some photos of them practicing that I took today. They are fine on the ice, and their off-ice problems are being resolved. They plan to be at Nationals.

"Well, is that good?" Alexa asked.

"Perfect," Warren said.

"Yeah, what he said. Thanks, Alexa." Sophia smiled at her.

"Anytime."



