JADE (young justice/robin)

51. end me

Simple combinations we could have done in our sleep were now long series of bumping into one another, falling to the floor, and now arguments over who did what wrong.

"You're left foot is supposed to be extended, not your right."

Any second now, my lungs would cease working and I would collapse to the floor. "This is my left."

"Then, your other left."

"So, you were wrong then."

"No, I'm not because your foot was in my way."

"Maybe you're in my way."

"Honestly, I don't get paid enough to listen to you bitch at each other anymore," Cissie sighed. "I have clients willing to give me double what you two do, but I declined because I am supposed to be coaching champions. Where are my champions?"

We weren't bitching.

"Why don't you just train her for her singles routine?" Miles suggested. "We can cool off for the night and start pairs again tomorrow."

"Fine, call it a day." Cissie started rubbing her temples. "But with how far behind you two are, if you can't get it together within this week, I'm sorry, but you'll have to find another coach.

My heart was pounding, and it took everything within me to breathe slowly. When I sat down at the bench, I could barely get my skates off with how bad my hands were shaking.

"What are we going to do?"

I looked up at Miles, wanting to figure this out at literally any other possible time. Please, just not now.

"Because we can't keep forcing ourselves to practice together if we don't figure something out."

"I don't know what you want me to do."

"Something! Anything!" he begged. "Convince me that we should keep skating together and that we'll get past this."

"Maybe we shouldn't."

His face fell. "That's it? You're just going to give up?"

"I'm not going to insist on skating together if you hate me."

"I don't hate you, Carter. The whole problem is that after everything you've done I still have feelings for you. I still care about you, even, though, you never cared about me."

"I care."

"What you care about is winning."

"I preserved something that we spent years training for. This is all I have."

Truly, it may be the last thing left for me, and it was seconds away from crumbling with everything else.

"But it isn't all you have," he argued. "You have your friends, you have me. Did you even bother to consider that I would still be here if we didn't win?"

Of course I did.

"Is everything okay?"

Miles and I looked over to see Dick watching us.