The Favorites

Heath is Kat’s childhood friend, ice-dance partner, lover, and rival at alternating points in the story. He came into Kat’s life when they were children and lived in a foster home in the same neighborhood. After Kat and Heath befriended each other, she quickly convinced him to become her ice-dancing partner; Heath and Kat’s lives have been deeply intertwined ever since, with Kat’s father even becoming Heath’s legal guardian to enable the continuance of the children’s ice-dancing partnership.

Heath is an intensely passionate man. This intensity extends to the insecurities that he feels as a young teenager, especially alongside Kat and the Lin twins. Heath and Kat both grew up in a small, midwestern town; however, despite these shared beginnings, unlike Kat, he did not grow up with the reliable love and acceptance of a family. When the reader is first introduced to Kat and Heath, both of Kat’s parents have already passed away, and Kat’s unreliable older brother, Lee, is in charge of them. However, memories reveal that Kat enjoyed unconditional love and support from both of her parents during their lifetimes; for Heath, on the other hand, Kat is his entire family. His world revolves around her, and she is his sole emotional support. His dependence on Kat for his sense of self-worth leads him to feel jealous and insecure when the two of them move to Los Angeles. He realizes that his lack of skill will hold Kat back from her dreams. Further, because Kat prioritizes her career above all else, he doesn’t receive the same level of commitment and devotion from Kat that he feels toward her, with her entire focus revolving around ice dancing.

Heath’s intensity turns to vengefulness for a time during the story. While the story explores the power of ambition, Heath’s story is an example of the equally potent power of revenge seeking: His desire to cause Kat pain pushes him to endure Veronika’s torturous training methodologies and causes him to improve exponentially. When he resurfaces, he is so improved in technique and skill that he and Bella, paired together, pose an actual threat to Kat and Garrett’s victory dreams. Heath’s vengefulness also causes him to make some destructive and hurtful choices as well—he partners with Bella, knowing that it will infuriate Kat, and later even sleeps with her to get back at Kat.

Despite these choices, however, Heath does still carry love in his heart for Kat for the entirety of his life; the intensity of his hatred toward her only emphasizes the depth of his intense feeling for her. This is seen in how, the moment when Kat is in pain or danger, Heath abandons everything else to ensure her safety: He rushes to be with her when she falls and hurts herself at Nationals, thoughts of revenge forgotten. In later years, Heath’s enduring love for Kat is tempered by his discovery of passion and purpose elsewhere—he becomes an instructor alongside Bella at Sheila’s academy and later pours his heart and soul into raising the daughter he fathers with Bella. Heath’s character arc involves growing to establish strong relationships beyond Kat and learning to rely on himself for his sense of self-worth. Having someone and something else be the focus of Heath’s intensity in constructive ways allows his relationship with Kat to finally progress in a healthy manner. With this shift, Heath and Kat are finally able to partner as ice dancers without letting their feelings or personal problems affect their performances; additionally, they are able to explore their romantic relationship again, living with each other and raising Mei alongside Bella.