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Chapter Text

Prologue

'Bronze is the medal of failure.'

That simple sentence, one with so many more layers now, was ingrained in Josée's head by her mother. She made sure to drill it in her mind, over and over. There were many other things that her mother had said to her. One of them happened to be that "Silver was always the first to lose." These two sayings were especially prominent in Josée's life by the time she was six-years-old, which was a little after she and Jacques met and became ice dancing partners. While most parents - Jacques', for example - were just happy to see that they made the podium, Josée's mother thought that gold was the only option, and anything else below that was unacceptable.

But now, bronze had a whole other meaning, and this was not about their ranking on the Ridonculous Race.

Her mother wasn't here to yell at her anymore.

The ice dancers walked to a hotel, eeriness in each step. Jacques grew increasingly worried for Josée as he glanced at her every few minutes. The way that she began biting her ponytail was a sign of a potential panic attack and something else very, very worrying. How was she going to take the recent news? When they did enter their hotel room, it was still quiet, but both could feel the tension rising.

Finally, Jacques dared to call her name: "Josée?"

"I don't know," she stated quickly, evenly as she could muster. She shook her head in total disbelief. "I just don't know."

It was silent for the next five minutes after that.

But then, Jacques heard a familiar whimper - he looked over to see that Josée had sunken to the floor on her knees, a solemn expression on her face. "I failed her."

Jacques immediately rushed over and knelt down, putting a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. "Mon petit chou, you did your very best! You didn't fail..."

Josée shrugged the hand off. "I promised Mama I would win!" she snapped as tears streamed down her face. "This embarrassed her so much that... I... I killed her!"

Jacques' eyes grew wide. "Josée, non! You did not kill her... she had been very sick-"

"And I finished her off, didn't I?!" she interrupted bitterly. "I can still hear her... she's dead now, and I could still hear her..." She let out a wail and began to punch his chest in a fit of fury. "How is this fair?!" Jacques was still. Josée eventually stopped punching him and collapsed into a fit of sobs. "It's not fair..." Jacques gathered Josée in his arms and rested his chin on top of her head. "Even when she's dead, she still calls me a failure..."

Jacques' heart broke then and there; he had failed his partner. Again. He had told her, he had promised that they were going to win the race, just so Josée's mother would for once in her life, be proud of her, that she would hopefully forget about what happened at the olympics before she passed. He was going to achieve that goal by any means necessary. This is for her, he kept telling himself, over and over. He was doing this for her because why wouldn't he do this for her? He couldn't exactly comprehend his best friend's relationship with that awful woman, that pathetic excuse for a mother, but Josée wanted this, so of course he did this.

Anything for Josée.

To see the woman that he had grown to adore way past friendship break down like this... it obliterated him. Although they had known each other for almost fifteen years, there was a lingering feeling in Jacques, one that he did not fully acknowledge until much later. He was in total denial before then, with a bunch of complicated feelings and internalization that drove him absolutely mad - the race contributed it to them even further, and deep down, Jacques was still afraid. Not that she knew that he harbored such feelings for her, after all. He was working on how to tell her that.

This was not the time for that.

So for now, Jacques held Josée and pressed a kiss on her forehead. "You're not a failure, mon petit chou," he mumbled softly into her hair, as she continued to sob into his chest. "You were never a failure." Jacques rubbed her back comfortingly, as his mind drifted back to where it all began.

Chapter Text

Chapter 1- The Start of Something Wonderfully Awful
(Cold As Ice)

In years to come, Josée will wonder why the hell Jacques hadn't made a move much sooner, because although she admittedly didn't think about Jacques in well... that manner at first, it had certainly been on her mind throughout the race; not that she fully realized what this meant, of course.

Jacques would occasionally remind her that she was supposed to be the fearless one out of the two, therefore she should have made the first move.

Then Josée would remind him that she knew nothing about romance, that she really didn't understand it herself, so how was she supposed to know how to initiate it?

Then, they would proceed to bicker back and forth on who should've made the first move then; not that that mattered anymore, since the result would be the same - they would eventually come to be.

It took a while; hell - it took them a while for them to become friends, let alone a couple. To build any sort of relationship with someone can take time, especially when these two people are different from one another and have different approaches to life. But one always balances the other; such is the case when they're meant to be. But to get to that certain point in a relationship, remember - takes a lot of time.

Sometimes, it depends on what is meant by a lot of time. It could mean a few months, a couple of years, several years.

Or in this case when it came to how they came to be a couple - roughly fifteen years.

Josée was rather cold and domineering, and had a specific mindset on how to do things, while Jacques was more of a free spirit and liked to go with the flow. Even at the ages at six and eight, when they met, this was acknowledged and they recognized these traits in each other - not that they knew those exact words, of course - just that they were very, very different, in a sense. Both wondered in that moment in time how their partnership would work; and Josée assumed that they wouldn't last a week. Jacques liked to tease her every now and then on how wrong she was. Josée would roll her eyes at his teasing that she had gotten used to over the years; he was lucky that she liked him so much.

She didn't like him at first - oh no, far from it. In fact, he irked her. Eventually, he wormed his way into her seemingly cold heart that was once reserved for the rink. Through their shared passion for ice dancing, it became more for Jacques, and Josée realized there were things worth more than gold. Perhaps she knew that all along, but wouldn't dare to admit it aloud.

Jacques didn't dislike Josée, he was just, well... he was intimidated by her! He just moved with his family from Quebec City to Montreal and met this girl who would dazzle on ice; how could he even compare to her beauty? He was mesmerized by her at the start as much as he was afraid of her - and the fact that he was to be her partner for couples' skating almost sent him into a heart attack.

But it was safe to say that Jacques definitely cherished their bond over time, as did she.

They weren't always so villainous; they were once normal people - well, at least as normal as they could be, considering that they achieved a decent amount of fame in Quebec due to their ice dancing abilities. So they at least tried to have a sense of normalcy. They went to school, had some friends, and each even had a lover or two. But above all that nonsense, they were performers; ice dancers with an ambitious and passionate dream to reach a level of greatness that no one could ever compare and sacrifices had to be made. While they tried to be normal kids and teenagers, they were winning competitions left and right in their age divisions - it was their norm.

Yes, they have lost some friends on the way - as well as made some enemies, too - but what was important to them was they had each other, and their drive for ice dancing. What people failed to understand was that you don't insult someone's passion or minimize it in any manner, especially not Jacques and Josée's - it was asking for trouble. It took so much time and effort and dedication, you don't knock someone down for that. Ice dancing was everything to them; because ice dancing played a significant role in how they came to be. They finally became friends after winning their first competition together, as for how ice dancing helped them become a couple... well, more on that later.

Though it's important to note that the course of the Ridonculous Race also helped play a major role in how they came to be.

But more on that much later, because this story is - first and foremost - about the ice dancers themselves.

Throughout their fame, there were many people that loved them - their fans were held dear to their hearts and they would do anything for them, but the ice dancers were loved as much as they were hated. They weren't unfamiliar with controversy (the incident at the olympics didn't help) as well as infamy (the Ridonculous Race especially didn't help). But throughout it all, with every obstacle they had to face, every tragedy, fight, and heartbreak, they didn't face it alone, they did it together - forever and always.

Yes, they weren't saints; but there was a reason how and why they turned out the way they did. Not everything could be solely blamed on them. There was always another side to every story. This one just so happens to be their side; and everyone deserves to have their side heard... even the so-called villains.

It is important that we start at the very beginning, when they met, because remember - to reach a certain point in a relationship takes time.

For Josée and Jacques, it took a lot of time.

An eight-year-old boy with a mop of blonde hair smiled in content, clinging to his mother's side on the piano bench as she played - it was an elegant piano piece that his mother would play for him every night an hour before bed - Clair De Lune. His father often said that he was much too young to ask such a request every night, but his mother insisted that it was healthy and that she enjoyed playing it. He wouldn't stop smiling - it was just his nature, really. When his mother played the piano, it was the most beautiful sound in the world because music was something for all languages to understand.

Despite his family being originally from Montreal, Jacques' family moved to Quebec City - which heavily spoke French in comparison - because of his father's opportunity to practice medicine there as well as give medical lectures of his time as a surgeon shortly after Jacques was born. His mother Fleur used to be in the medical profession as a nurse, but stopped right after Jacques was born to be a stay-at-home mother. But exactly five months ago, their family decided to move back to Montreal and his father would continue his medical practice there instead. Compared to his two older sisters by three to four years, Gabrielle and Bernadette respectively, his English wasn't as good as theirs. Although Quebec was predominantly French, they lived in a wealthier area of Montreal where speaking English was becoming increasingly common.

"Magnifique!" cheered Jacques, giving his mother a tight hug - that was another thing, he was very affectionate. "One more!"

"Non, non..." Jacques' mother said gently, with a smile as she took her hands off the piano. "You have to get ready for bed."

"Mamannnnn..." Jacques whined. "I don't want to!"

"Mon grand, you have a big day tomorrow," his mother said.

"I mean," started off Jacques' father, peering up from one of his medical books. "If he doesn't want to go-"

Fleur frowned disapprovingly at her husband. "Hector," she said in a warning tone. Jacques' father wasn't very keen on the whole business with figure skating yet, even after three years. What he truly wanted was a hockey star, but he learned quickly that his son much preferred moving around gracefully across the ice rather than getting a puck into a net. Hector shrugged and went back to reading his novel. Fleur, however, smiled warmly at her youngest. "Aren't you excited?"

Jacques nodded eagerly. "I ah... never had a ice dancing part-ner!" It was decided two days ago. Jacques was practicing his layback spins - which were getting progressively better, he wasn't the best at spins yet even though it was impressive to be attempting them at his age - up until one of the instructors pulled him aside along with his mother. One of the most advanced girls at the rink that was around his age, perhaps a few years his junior, was planning on going into couples' figure skating, known as ice dancing.

The key difference between figure skating and ice dancing was that the latter required two people instead of one. Since Jacques himself was quite good - compared to other boys' in the class - he was offered the chance to be her partner. Still, he had seen this girl ice skate before, always accompanied by her mother, and she was no pushover. He had seen figure skating moves from her that he hadn't seen in his life that looked too advanced for him to do. Of course he longed to learn, and by being with this girl would help him, he supposed - so he leapt (no pun intended) at the chance.

So really, Jacques couldn't contain his excitement if his life depended on it - even with the piece his mother played on the piano.

"I'm sure she'll be a lovely match for you, mon ange."

But most of all - this would be fun, Jacques was absolutely sure of it...

...though it would take a while; these things take time.

"Se lever!" Jacques cheered the next morning as he jumped on his sister's bed. The figure, belonging to his older sister Bernadette, turned over. But Jacques wasn't having any of it. He shook her excitedly. "I am starting today! Ice dancing starts today!"

Bernadette sat upright and rubbed her eyes. "I'll alert the media," she groaned sarcastically. Jacques' furrowed his brows confusedly, but Bernadette sighed. "Jacques, why are you telling me this at..." She glanced at the clock nearby. "...six in the morning!? You have three more hours until you go skating. Jacques, did you even sleep?"

"Oui. I... heared papa go out. It ah... got me up."

"Heard," the twelve-year-old corrected instinctively. She ran a hand through his hair affectionately. "He probably had a shift at the hospital," she remarked, more to herself. Then she sighed at the excited state of her brother. "You need to sleep. No one wants to wake up early, especially during summer." She got out of bed and helped Jacques to his feet, holding his hand as she brought him back to his room and onto his bed. "Jacques, stop pouting. You need to go back to sleep."

"But I'm not tired!" Jacques whined, while he yawned on top of his covers.

"I swear, the house better be on fire," a new voice entered. Jacques and Bernadette turned to see that it was their sister, Gabrielle, the middle child of the family. She looked increasingly agitated at being woken up at six in the morning. Instantly at the sight of Jacques pouting, Gabrielle rolled her eyes. "What is he bitching about now?"

"Gabrielle!" Bernadette hissed.

"What?!"

"You can't just say things like that in front of him!"

Jacques blinked confusedly. "Huh?"

"Nothing, Jacques. Go back to sleep," said Bernadette, then she turned to her sister. "You too."

Gabrielle scowled. "And I thought maman was annoying." Nonetheless, she retreated back to her own room.

Bernadette looked back at her little brother. His eyes were drooped slightly. She smiled fondly and tucked him in. "Mon petit frère, I'll wake you up later. Bonne nuit." Jacques was already fast asleep before she shut the door.

A few hours later, Bernadette shook Jacques to wake him up as promised. "Up." The eight-year-old groaned and sat upright. Bernadette couldn't help but smirk. "It's not fun to be woken up when you don't want to, hmm?" Jacques pouted at his sister. "Oh don't look at me like that. You start ice skating today."

"Ice dancing," Jacques corrected. He shooed her away and got dressed.

Jacques got the living room soon after and spotted his mother in the kitchen and his sisters on the sofa watching a French soap. Jacques' mother fixed up breakfast for him while his sisters bickered over the remote.

"We're leaving in ten minutes, mon ange," Jacques' mother said to her son as he put his dish away in the sink. However she saw that Jacques was already waiting at the door, ice skates dangling from his hand, and bag over his shoulder with a show-ready smile.

"Wasn't he just whining thirty minutes ago about getting up?" remarked Gabrielle, with a scowl. "Oh mon dieu..." Jacques smiled vanished at once.

"Gabrielle, stop trying to pick a fight with your brother," Jacques' mother ordered. Then she turned to her youngest. "Give me a moment, Jacques." Naturally of course Jacques huffed and crossed his arms impatiently. A moment passed, and before Jacques' mother left the house, she turned to her two daughters: "We will be back in a few hours. If there's an emergency..."

"We'll call you," Bernadette interrupted.

With one last goodbye, Jacques' mother shut the door behind them and started to walk. They had the luxury of being within walking distance of the skating rink, which was at most a fifteen minute walk. As Jacques happily chatted with his mother about what today was going to bring, an odd sight interrupted his thoughts as they drew closer to the rink. Two people, a boy and a girl who looked no older than fourteen, were leaning against the building smoking cigarettes. Though it wasn't uncommon for teenagers to smoke - Jacques had seen it back when he was around Quebec City - he had never seen it around the ice rink there unlike this one in Montreal.

Not only did the teenagers stare back at him, it was more like judgmental glares. It made Jacques feel very uneasy. Thankfully, he didn't stare for long as his mother diverted his attention to the receptionist's desk. After they checked in, they headed out to the rink. The instructor, a man in his early thirties, noticed them arrive and waved them over. He had taken gold in the olympics twice and was a undefeated champion back in his day. His name was Isaac, and was also set to be he and his partner's private instructor for ice dancing.

While his mother was talking to the instructor, Jacques couldn't help but notice the two occupants of the rink. One happened to be a woman in her early thirties, with a disapproving glare and her arms crossed in disappointment at the other person who was on the ice, which Jacques knew to be her daughter and future partner. She skated hard, and did not wobble once. Jacques remembered when he would wobble on the ice, but from the looks of it, it seemed like this girl never wobbled once in her life.

"'Allo, Jacques."

The eight-year-old realized he had gotten so lost in his thoughts that the girl and her mother were no longer at the rank, but standing beside their instructor. "'Allo, Isaac." His eyes were still on the little girl across from him, who stared right back in assessment. Her mother's hands were on her shoulders.

"Jacques, this is Josée. Josée, this is Jacques," Isaac introduced. Jacques looked at Josée. She looked no older than six, yet she had an expression as serious as a forty-year-old, not unlike her mother. "You're going to be ice dancing partners! Isn't that exciting?" he asked enthusiastically. Jacques smiled just a tad at the excited tone of his instructor, but it wore off once he saw that Josée's expression didn't change.

"Enchanté," Jacques offered, trying to be friendly. "You skate good!"

"Well," Josée's mother corrected in a stern tone. "Not good." It sounded like she didn't believe the statement in itself. Jacques' mother smiled awkwardly, uncomfortable not unlike her son. Josée's mother looked down at her daughter, who looked at her for permission on what to say. "He is the best boy for you to work with for now," she grumbled.

Josée looked back at Jacques - who noticeably stood up straighter under the girl's cold glare - and assessed him one final time, before saying: "You better be good."

The blonde boy gulped. "...Oui, I am."

Beat.

Isaac cleared his throat, noticing the uncomfortable tension. "Alright then," he started, clasping his hands together. "Jacques, put your skates on, and then we'll start with some chasses around the rink first. Then you'll learn how to do it together as ice dancers!" Isaac took off, as well as Josée, nearly matching his speed (who was intentionally going slower) but Jacques took a little longer and got to the end of the rink five seconds after they did.

"You skated," Josée observed, narrowing her eyes at Jacques.

"Uh, oui."

"It was not good," Josée said bluntly.

Jacques' face faltered significantly. "Oh..."

"Josée," Isaac warned lightly. "Everyone skates at a different pace."

The little girl crossed her arms and pouted. "We have to be beautiful on ice! How can we get gold if he's not good?"

"G-Gold?" Jacques stammered. He blinked rapidly in confusion. "What's that?"

Josée gasped in disbelief and stared up at Isaac. "He doesn't even know what gold is!" Josée took a breath and turned to Jacques, who was biting his lower lip. "Gold," she started matter-of-factly, "...means you're the best! It means you're a winner!" Jacques noticed a gleam in her eyes as she went on, it was the first time he seen her genuinely excited and happy, and had a big smile plastered on her face. "It means everyone loves you and you're not garbage."

While the instructor looked unsettled by this definition, Jacques wanted to learn more: "Ah, I see. And how do you get some of this... 'gold?'"

Just like that, Josée's smile vanished and her glare returned. "By not doing what you just did!"

Jacques gaped like a fish out of water. "What did I do?!"

"You skated too slow!"

"S'il vous plaît, s'il vous plaît!" Isaac tried to get their attention. The bickering children turned to him. "Let's remember another thing, which is having fun!" Josée huffed at this, while Jacques weakly smiled - that was something he could do fairly well. "Now that you two skated across the ice for a bit, it's time you learn how to do it together." Jacques and Josée watched as Isaac called over Darcey, one of the choreographers of the rink always ready to assist when it came to needing a partner for a routine. Isaac put his right arm on Darcey's upper back, while Darcey put her left arm on his upper back. Isaac's left arm was extended outward as was Darcey's right arm, and their hands held together. They did a few glides around the ice, demonstrating how Isaac guided Darcey and how they steered with no issue. "These are chasse swing rolls in a waltz," he told them.

Jacques blinked. Those were too many words to comprehend. "What?" He desperately tried to ignore Josée's annoyed grumbling.

"It happens a lot in ice dancing," Isaac explained. "The boy is forward, while the girl is backwards. The boy has to guide the girl across the ice. Then you have to learn tricks, but we'll get to that later."

Josée stood on the ice, perfectly balanced, her arms already in position impatiently waiting for Jacques to take charge. He grew uncomfortable under a state - a very common occurrence today - as he didn't exactly know where to put his hands, and looked back at the instructors. "Um..."

"For the love of gold!" Josée exclaimed in frustration, yanking Jacques' arms and putting them in the right place. "There. Now lean forward, I have to skate backwards." Jacques did so, pushing forward trying to imitate the movement he saw about two minutes ago. He wobbled just a bit, which in turn resulted in Josée's anger. "You're too slow! You have to guide me, not me guiding you!"

"I'm trying!"

Josee pushed him away frustratedly. "Not trying hard enough!" Jacques' eyes were already brimming with tears. This wasn't fun at all... "We have to be beautiful on ice and you're making it ugly!"

Jacques was in total astonishment at her harsh words. He felt his cheeks grow red. "You are mean as you are beautiful, which is a lot!" and then with a final huff, Jacques burst into hysterics, tears streaming down his cheeks as he rushed off the ice crying for his mama. Josée on the other hand groaned, rolling her eyes at the babyish behavior while Isaac and Darcey exchanged a look of exasperation.

"Well," stated Isaac, sighing deeply. "What a way to start lessons." Darcey face-palmed and nodded.

"Don't look so sad, mon ange," Jacques' mother cooed to him as soon as she and her son got home. The entire walk consisted of Jacques crying and sniffling about how that 'Josée' girl could be so mean. His mother tried to explain that it was probably because she wasn't taught that way, and muttered something about her 'getting it from somewhere' but wouldn't explain on it when Jacques asked what she meant. "It was probably just a bad day, I'm sure with some practice you will be magnifique, oui?"

Gabrielle and Bernadette were on the sofa watching television and turned to see they were home. Concerns went up a notch when they saw that Jacques was crying. They rose from their seats and over to Jacques. "What happened?" Bernadette took a more nurturing approach, running a hand through his hair which ceased his cries. "Was it bad?"

"We had a little bit of a rough start," Jacques' mother put mildly. At the mention of this understatement, Jacques began to wail and ran to the sofa, burying his face in one of the pillows and sobbed into it, starting his hysterics all over again. She sighed and rubbed her forehead while her daughters looked on. "Oh, great."

Bernadette and Gabrielle sat on each side of the sofa of where Jacques was sobbing. "My partner is beautiful on ice but she's mean!" Bernadette rubbed his back while Gabrielle's arms were crossed. "She... she said I skated too slow and that I was making everything ugly!"

"I'm sure that's not true!" Bernadette tried to comfort, but to no avail as the blonde boy kept crying. "You just need some help, and that's not a bad thing!"

"I'm going to deck the little chienne..."

"Gabrielle-"

"What?! Only I can make my baby brother cry!"

Bernadette sighed at her younger sister's foul language and turned to her brother. "I'm sure you weren't bad, Jacques."

"He was bad, mama," Josée remarked coldly at the dining table. Her arms were crossed in a dignified manner, with that same facial expression she had at the rink, perhaps a little colder based on today's events. Her mother didn't reply immediately, instead she was focusing on the papers in front of her. "But he has a pretty face," she allowed.

Her mother rolled her eyes. "Don't be stupide, Josée. This probably won't last very long. Clumsy lazy boy..." she muttered the last part under her breath.

Josée looked down at her hands and didn't say much after that. She figured her mother must have been right; after all she was once an ice dancer with a dream to get gold in the Olympics. Josee knew the story all too well, her mother liked to continuously remind her whenever Josée messed up on the ice that she was the one that had to give up her own ambitions to raise her daughter after her "pathetic ice dancing partner" split after revealing she was pregnant. The "pathetic ice dancing partner" in question happened to be her father, who had been out of the picture since the revelation.

"Your moves weren't that great either," Josée's mother went on harshly. "This morning's layback spin before the lesson was pathetic, don't think I haven't forgotten about that."

Josée's eyes were downcast. "Yes maman," she stated obediently. "I'm sorry. I lost balance, if I didn't..."

"Nothing's ever your fault, is it now?" Her mother interrupted rhetorically, narrowing her eyes at her daughter. Josée immediately tensed up; she should have kept her mouth shut instead of initiating conversation. Josée knew very well where this could lead up to, another cramped stay in the closet her mother would lock her in whenever she screwed up badly. But Josée's mother sighed irritably instead. "You're lucky that boy was a thousand times worse. Just remember your place." Then she went back to her paperwork.

Josée almost let out a sigh of relief. The closet was her worst nightmare, really. She wasn't a baby, she rarely cried, but the closet her mother made her stay in was one of the few exceptions. Just thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine. Without even thinking, Josée's thumb rubbed against her lips uncomfortably.

Unfortunately, her mother noticed. "Don't be a baby, Josée. You're pathetic," she snapped. Josée immediately retracted her thumb from her mouth. She mentally slapped herself for being such a child. She went into her room and decided to leave her mother alone before she changed her mind about the closet.

She picked up her rabbit's foot, bun-bun, which was from a pet rabbit she had when she was five. It was the first time death was explained to her. What made it worse was that it was the day after one of the worst times she's skated and then her rabbit mysteriously died. She rubbed it in effort to calm herself down, and unconsciously chewed the string attached to it.

It took almost a minute for her to realize. This time Josée literally slapped herself.

Don't be a baby.

Pathetic.

The next few weeks were only slightly better. Josée was surprised that they even lasted a week. Jacques was surprised he didn't have a heart attack from her complaining. Still, with this in mind, their lessons were slightly better. At least in comparison to Jacques running off the ice crying and Josée throwing a fit. But Jacques did manage to learn the chasse swing rolls in a waltz form, which Josée didn't complain about anymore. Isaac said they were both improving tremendously and making leaps - both literally and figuratively. It looked like Josée wasn't too sure if she believed him, but Jacques was happy about that.

Today Jacques insisted that he got some extra practice on the rink early. His mother couldn't take him because she had to go grocery shopping, so Bernadette volunteered to take him instead. Bernadette's words of encouragement helped Jacques a lot with ice skating, considering that she gave him a long talk right before they entered the building. Jacques spotted the same group of kids again, who looked a little older than Bernadette and were smoking, but didn't stare too long this time.

"Bernadette," Jacques asked curiously in a hushed whisper. They had just checked in. "You don't smoke, right?"

His older sister made a face. "No, that's gross. It makes your teeth yellow and you get sick. Mama says so. Those kids that are doing it are gross too."

"They ice skate too," Jacques told her. He learned that they were one of the older kids that were in an age division higher than them. "They also smoke."

Bernadette glared down at her little brother. "Jacques, as long as I'm alive, you will not smoke a single cigarette."

"What if you're not alive anymore?" Jacques asked cheekily.

"If I die and you smoke a cigarette I will come back from the dead and slap you. Comprendre?"

Jacques' smile vanished. He didn't need to be told twice. "Oui." They entered the rink, and there were only a few people there. Jacques was surprised to see that Josée was already there, practicing with what it looked like were camel spins. They were absolutely stunning, Jacques had never seen them executed so perfectly before.

"Keep that leg straight!" Her mother shouted from the side of the rink.

Bernadette raised an eyebrow. Jacques put his skates on and explained, "That's my partner there." He pointed to the girl doing camel spins. "She's so good..."

"She is," agreed Bernadette. "She's very tiny. You let that girl make you cry?" Jacques shrugged it off and was about to go on the ice, before Bernadette tilted his chin up to get him to look at her. "Show her what you got. You're talented, Jacques."

Jacques smiled eagerly at her encouragement and made his way on the ice to warm up. He skated a bit, and he could feel Josée's eyes on him. Good, he thought. He started to practice his layback spins that he had been working hard on. The issue was not so much the spin itself, but stopping it gently instead of it stopping at a halt. This time, however, he managed to slow it down with ease. Just as Jacques was about to get into position, there was a small tug on his shirt. He turned to see that it was Josée.

"You're skating faster which is good," she remarked cordially. Jacques could feel himself beaming at her compliment. "But your layback spin could use more work." In the blink of an eye, Jacques felt discouraged. Josée shook her head. "Your back should be arched more." She then demonstrated the spin, her back perfectly arched as she spun effortlessly and landed gracefully. "See? Like that." Jacques frowned. She made it look so simple. Nonetheless, he gave it another go, trying to arch his back more. When he landed, it was a little unsteady, and it looked like Josée noticed that. He looked expectantly for her reaction. "Better," she allowed. "Do you want to practice our routine Isaac showed us?"

Jacques nodded and smiled widely, stars in his eyes. "Mais oui!"

Josée furrowed her brows together at his enthusiasm. "You're never serious. This is important."

"Oui," Jacques agreed, but he went on: "But it's fun too!"

Now Josée was seriously wondering how the hell they lasted two weeks of partnership. "Fun?" she echoed, as if it was a swear. "Getting gold is fun. And we have to work and be beautiful to get gold, so we have to be serious first!"

Jacques shrugged. "We are beautiful, Josée! You are beautiful, Mais oui!"

Josée blinked slowly at his odd compliment, then shook her head. "Boys are silly." She stood up balanced perfectly as she did as Jacques got into position of the chasse swing roll waltz they were going over. Josée didn't even have to position his hands this time. He started it - usually Josée would be the one trying to take control, but found herself letting him do it instead. Josée realized that Isaac must've been right; that they had improved a lot since the first day, especially Jacques.

Meanwhile, as they practiced, Bernadette tried to initiate conversation with Josée's mother. "Is that your daughter? She skates wonderfully," Bernadette praised. Unlike her younger sister, she liked to converse with others. "She's like an angel on ice."

"Oui, and no she's not, she's garbage, especially today," Josée's mother stated without even looking at the chatty girl. "I'm guessing that's your brother? He's awfully clumsy."

Bernadette frowned. "Oui, and no he's not," she retorted, echoing the older woman's words from before. "He's getting there with practice."

"At this rate," began Josée's mother icily, "They're never going to be beautiful."

Bernadette couldn't help but scoff as it finally hit her. "Oh, so that's where she gets it from."

Josée's mother lifted a skeptical brow at the twelve-year-old. "Excusemoi?"

"Your daughter," Bernadette stated, not backing down. She really couldn't help but laugh, because of course. "That's where she gets it from, non?" Josée's mother merely stared at her as if she hadn't a clue of what she was talking about. "Well she is beautiful," Bernadette continued, then added in a mutter: "...unlike you."

Josée's mother's eyes grew wide with anger. "Excuse moi?!" This caught the attention of Josée and Jacques, who had stopped mid-routine. She glared at the two. "Did I say you could stop dancing, start the routine again!" Josée immediately directed Jacques' attention back to the start of their little routine, not without trying to listen in on what they were saying, however. It was difficult not to pay attention, since they had gradually gotten louder. "I'm giving you a chance to redeem yourself. What did you say before?"

"You heard me."

Josée's mother clenched her fists tightly. "What do you know about ice dancing you insolent brat?!"

"Oh, not a thing. It's a very confusing sport," Bernadette allowed. "But I do know that you shouldn't be calling your daughter trash!"

At this point, Jacques and Josée stopped dancing and stared at them arguing, which had gotten the attention of the whole rink. Once they saw Josée's mother being one of the perpetrators, they turned back to their own business; it wasn't unfamiliar. Jacques however kept his eyes on them. That was, until, he heard a little whimper beside him. He was surprised to hear that whimper belonged to Josée, who was trembling just a bit at the arguing and clutching onto bun-bun and rubbing it.

"Josée?" Jacques asked with worry in his voice. He looked at his bickering sister and Josée's mother before turning back to his partner. "What's wrong?" Josée didn't look to be near tears, but Jacques couldn't make of what her state was. She just harshly shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. "Josée?" he repeated. Josée shook her head and ran off the ice rink in hysterics while the bickering was still going on. Jacques, uncertain as to why, ripped his skates off and ran in the direction she went in. He couldn't find her at first, until he heard a scream and a locker slamming. Jacques heart raced, and despite his instincts telling him to leave, he ran into the direction he heard the noise in.

Jacques found her on the bench holding onto her fist, to which he assumed was the cause of the locker slamming. From the looks of it, Josée punched the locker. Jacques found her on the bench cradling her fist, to which he assumed was the cause of the locker slamming. "Josée!" Jacques exclaimed in concern at the state of her slightly bruised hand. "Are you okay - ow!" Josée had slapped his hand away from hers. "Josée..."

"Go away!" Josée snapped furiously at him. Jacques was taken aback by her sudden mood change. "You don't understand! We have to be beautiful..." she whined.

Jacques felt his heart ache. "J-Je suis désolé," he said quietly, full of shame. "I'll do better, I promise!"

"Mama says there's two types of ice dancers," Josée went on, rubbing her hand, but kept her eyes locked on Jacques'. Jacques saw they were a little red. "Mama says one type has natural talent, and the other is a talentless hack and they work hard to cover it!" Her lower lip trembled ever-so-slightly. "I'm the second one! Mama says so..." Jacques frowned deeply at this revelation, because he thought Josée was a natural. If she wasn't, then what did that make him?

"Josée but you are good!" Jacques tried to protest.

"Not good enough for the olympics, and not good enough for mama!" Josée shouted. "And you're worse! Go away!"

Jacques felt anger well up inside him. "Fine," he huffed, and fled out of the room before he could lash out at her.

Two months pass without another incident. In terms of Josée and Jacques 'getting along,' they weren't really friends. There of course was a lot of civility, there had to be - but still, what seemed like what was "temporary" was actually going a lot longer than Josée and Jacques anticipated. It was a wonder how they managed to stay together after nearly three months, that was until you saw them on ice.

Despite their differences, both were doing exceptionally well. Isaac remarked they were doing so well that he thinks that they're ready for their very first competition. This was a very surprising statement, because most ice dancers don't compete until they get a lot more experience ice dancing, regardless on how long they've been figure skaters. Josée had been absolutely excited at the news, that they would finally get this "gold" she had always talked about, that Jacques didn't really quite understand yet.

Jacques arrived with his mother bright and early to the rink for another lesson, but frowned when he saw that a certain dark-haired girl wasn't here, nor was her mother. Usually Josée got to the rink way before he did, already warming up and practicing. Jacques looked over to see Isaac practicing with Darcey a very advanced routine on the ice.

Jacques cleared his throat and waved. "'Allo, Isaac!"

His instructor and choreographer stopped dancing upon sight of the blonde boy and skated over to him. "'Allo, Jacques," Darcey greeted warmly, with a cheerful smile. Isaac had greeted his mother who was beside him. "You're here very early," she remarked. "How come?"

"Jacques wanted to get some extra practice with Josée," Jacques' mother answered, smiling. "They had been working so well together!"

"Oui," agreed Isaac. "I believe Josée's in the locker room. Her mother dropped her off because she had to run an errand." Jacques swore he heard Darcey mumble a "thank god" beside Isaac, and he elbowed her stomach lightly before she add anything further to that. "You should probably check there."

Jacques waved to his mother goodbye and made his way to the locker room. As he got closer to it, he heard obnoxious banging on the locker and muffled sobs. Frowning, he picked up the pace and froze at the sight he saw when he arrived. The two older kids that he frequently saw outside of the rink smoking were there, malicious grins plastered on their faces. He knew it was them because he could vaguely smell the smoke off of them. The girl's arm was pressed harshly against the locker, Jacques assumed that there was an occupant trapped in their based on the sobbing. Meanwhile, the boy crossed his arms in a smugly manner.

"Let me out!" The voice shrieked hysterically, her breathing getting more and more shallow. "I mean it, p-please! Let me go, I-I-I c-can't!"

Jacques' stomach dropped. He recognized that voice.

"Can't what?" The girl taunted, as her male companion laughed beside her. "You can't breathe? Josée, you're pathetic!"

Josée.

"What a little baby!" The girl cooed menacingly. "Are you crying? Sucks for you!"

Suddenly Jacques remembered that lesson Isaac had about trust. It was a month ago when Isaac mentioned there would come a time where they would learn more tricks that involved catching your partner mid-air, and that you needed to have a good bond with them that involved a lot of trust in order for that to occur. Josée needed to trust him, and how was she ever going to trust him if he sat by and watched this idly?

"Let her go!" Jacques' voice boomed angrily, getting their attention. It was quiet between them, other than Josée's sobs. "You're hurting her!"

The boy scoffed and towered over the blonde. "And who are you?"

Jacques gulped nervously; the other boy had quite the height advantage over him. Despite this, Jacques scowled and stood his ground. "I'm her partner!"

The girl and boy exchanged a look at Jacques' display of chivalry and snickered. Nonetheless, the girl finally let go of the locker. Jacques rushed over and yanked it open to see Josée's eyes wide and laced with panic, her breathing labored significantly, and her tiny body trembling. Jacques got her out of there so she wouldn't escalate much further into her panic, but from the looks of it she hadn't realized he was there.

The older girl pushed Jacques to the ground. "Mind your own business next time, yeah?" She stormed off, and her partner followed shortly behind her.

Jacques groaned and got up, facing Josée who's breathing was still abnormally shallow. "A-Allo... Josée? It's okay! You're not in that ugly locker! It's..." Jacques bit his lip nervously, pondering what to do. He knew the right thing to do was to probably get a grown-up, but he wanted to help her. Trust is important. He hesitantly took his hands into hers. "Breathe! Josée! It's okay..." he tried saying again. Josée's breathing wasn't as labored, but it was still a little uneven. Her tears, however, were evident on her face.

Josée stopped breathing as harshly and took in her surroundings, still hiccuping with her cries and saw she wasn't in the locker anymore. It was cramped, dark, and scary, and it made her feel like a baby. Suddenly, her hands felt warm, it was because her partner was holding them, with his eyes fixated on hers with concern. Jacques, without even thinking, pressed a kiss on the top of her head. Josée wasn't mad at this display of affection like she would've been, but entirely confused by how it was so out of the blue.

Jacques blushed wildly. "That is ah... what Bernadette does when I'm sad," he offered as an explanation, now taking his eyes off hers out of embarrassment.

Josée let go of his hands. "I don't like small spaces," she admitted sheepishly, looking down at her shoes. "They make me sad." She sniffled and wiped a tear that had fallen out of embarrassment. "It's scary and I hate it! I'm such a baby..."

"Non, Josée," Jacques disagreed. "You have ah... comment dites-vous... phobia? The one with Santa Claus?"

Josée had a ghost of a smile touch her lips. "Claustrophobic," she pronounced carefully, wanting to make sure she got it right. "It's a big word. That girl uses that word a lot when she pushes me in lockers."

Jacques gasped. "You mean she does this all the time?"

Josée nodded sadly. "Yeah..." she said in a small voice, full of shame. "...and her partner, too. Their names are Liv... that's the girl... and Leo's the boy. They're all special and up there 'cause they won gold in a World Junior Championship... and they're only thirteen."

"I see them smoke outside, it's yucky," Jacques pointed out.

Josée made a face. "Oui. They do that 'cause it makes them skinny." Jacques frowned at the unfamiliar word at the end, so Josée tried to rephrase. "It makes them not fat. A lot of ice dancers do it, but I won't, 'cause it's gross."

"Me neither," agreed Jacques.

Josée's breathing improved tremendously. "We should go on the ice to practice," she told him, after clearing her throat. On the way to the rink, Josee spoke softly, "Merci."

Jacques stopped walking. "For?"

Josée stopped as well, her eyes were on the floor. "Getting me out of there. No one has done that before."

Jacques couldn't help but feel a little sad at the revelation. "Well, ah... that's what partners are for!"

They continued walking. Jacques couldn't help but notice that Josée was fully smiling now.

Around three weeks later was their first competition. Jacques had never competed in figure skating in his life, but Josée had. This was mostly for local competitions which Josée had a lot of experience in winning, even at her young age. She had beaten children almost twice her age in solo figure skating. But as for ice dancing, both of them were fairly new to the competition. However, according to Josée, there was a thing or two she needed to teach him about how competition in the figure skating world works.

Once they got to the locker room, Jacques had his questions. "So someone will call us up to perform?"

"Oui," Josée replied, starting to stretch. There were other kids around them also competing that were under the age of eleven. Jacques put his bag down and started to walk away, until Josée grabbed his arm harshly. "No!" she nearly yelled.

Jacques was lost. "Wh-what? What did I do?"

"Don't leave your bag all alone!" Josée snapped. "Someone could mess with it."

"What do you mean?" Jacques asked, picking his bag back up. "You're here. You wouldn't mess with it..."

Josée scoffed. "Of course not. I don't mess with other skaters. We have to stay with each other. People are mean here..."

"I don't get it."

Josée resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "They will do anything to make sure you don't win so they could. Someone put ants in my bag once, it was gross."

"Really?" Jacques shuddered at the thought. "But they're like us, why would they do that?"

Josée twirled a strand of her hair. "I've heard coaches make them do it sometimes..." she explained quietly, almost like she was paranoid of being overheard. "Mama says lots of stuff goes on 'behind-the-scenes' but I don't know what that really means, but she said it's not good."

"That's really bad," said Jacques, a bit horrified. "Will anything happen to us?"

"Only if you leave your stuff everywhere," Josée answered. "One time, a girl's skates were messed with, and she had to go to the hospital 'cause she fell. It was scary." She picked up bun-bun and started to rub it nervously. "And... and this one time, Liv cut a girl's ankles as she skated past her, so she couldn't compete." She stared down at bun-bun, as she confessed this quietly: "I think Liv did it on purpose. Liv's a really good skater. She's the best I've seen, other than Isaac. She wouldn't make a mistake like that."

"That does sound scary," Jacques agreed, frowning deeply. "We should tell someone."

"No," Josée said at once, very sharply. "That's a bad idea. Something bad could happen if you tattle."

Jacques didn't quite understand, but he took her word for it. Another team was called up to perform, and it wouldn't be long until Josée and Jacques were next. Josée unconsciously started to bite the string from her rabbit's foot.

"You always have the bunny foot around," Jacques pointed out. From the looks of it, Josée hadn't realized she had started to nibble on the string. To Jacques' surprise, instead of continuing the habit, she slapped herself in the face. "Josée! Why did you do that?" Her face was red as she put bun-bun away. "Did I... Did I say something bad?"

Josée shook her head from embarrassment. "No... Maman doesn't like when I do that. She said it's for babies."

"Your maman says lots of things," Jacques told her, almost uncomfortable. "She's very mean."

Josée gasped. "Maman is the best in the whole world," she said defensively. "She was a skater too! And really, really, good."

Jacques was quiet for a moment, until: "You can hold your bunny foot... I won't tell."

Josée looked hopeful. "Really?" But then, it was followed by skepticism: "Why?"

"Because we're partners!" Jacques told her, as if it were obvious. He smiled at her gently. "And you're nervous... but we're going to win, chouchou!"

"Yes, I know we're partners, and - wait... what did you call me?" Josée had processed the rest of that statement.

Jacques' face turned red as a tomato. "Ah... nothing! It was ah... nothing." He looked away from her.

Josée furrowed her brows, then broke into a giggle. "You're so strange, Jacques." It was a very angelic giggle. Jacques wasn't sure if she was making fun of him, but her laugh was cute and the most genuine one he had ever heard from her. She brushed her thumb against the rabbit's foot. "We should be going on soon."

"Can I see the bunny's foot?"

"No."

"Ah... okay."

Minutes later, they were called up to perform. Josée kissed the rabbit's foot and put it away. She turned to Jacques with a show-stopping smile. "We're gonna win the gold!" There was a special part in this dance that Isaac assured that none of the other teams would do, and it was something they had practiced very hard on. It was, however, a risky move that was very rarely seen in competitors under eleven years old. Josée and Jacques were hoping to make an exception.

"Of course we are!" Jacques cheered. "We're the best!"

One of the announcers called them up, and Josée and Jacques took off on the ice, with wide smiles on their faces while the stadium cheered for them. Jacques had never felt such a feeling in his life, it was absolutely liberating. He looked over to his partner, who was taking it all in with pride. The announcer stated that this was their ice dancing debut, and one of the youngest competitors of the competition, and that they could be something special. Damn right. Josée and Jacques were about to show them right now.

They were in in-hold position, waiting for the music to start. Once it did, they took off. Of course there was their usual moves in ice dancing for beginners, consisting of a lot of twirls - it was a miracle that Josée wasn't dizzy yet with the way Jacques was turning her everywhere. But even if she was dizzy, Josée didn't care. It was quiet in the stadium, every eye carefully assessing their moves. She remembered what Isaac told them; find the judges, and smile as wide as you can. Her mother said this too, so while they skated Josée's eyes wandered to the judges' table, who were eagerly smiling. It was probably because they thought were 'cute.' Josée couldn't wait to show that they were much more.

"I have to say it's... whoah, what's this?"

It's now or never.

It's all about trust.

As Josée skated closer to Jacques, she lifted her right leg up holding it in a bent position. As Jacques drew her closer he grabbed her by the waist and kept her right leg bent while her left leg was completely straight. He lifted her slightly above the ice as he spun around two times, with her body facing the ceiling then he set her back down. This took place in a matter of three seconds, and when the crowd saw it, they gasped and erupted into applause.

"Fascinating! Absolutely thrilling! I haven't seen this before from a pair so young!"

"Oh, well isn't that something!"

Even though they were still dancing and had about thirty seconds left, Josée's smile was evident, genuine, and not just one happy for the onlookers - she really, really meant it. They had excelled the move perfectly, and the crowd was going wild for them. At this rate, it was a guaranteed win. By the time their performance ended, everyone was cheering for them. Josée and Jacques smiled like they were told to - wide, energetic, and youthful, as they were.

It was a total wipeout. When the announcer was about to say who won the competition, Josée was gripping Jacques' hand so tight she nearly crushed it. And then they heard their full names, and once more, the audience went insane. Jacques felt a rush; an indescribable feeling in which his heart raced more than when he was on the ice, and when he looked at his partner, it was then he realized why this meant so much to her.

And then he heard it, right after the judges awarded them with gold medals. Josée said beside him on the podium, "We did it, Jacjac!" Jacques turned over in shock at the affectionate nickname that she had given him, and she didn't even recoil after it - she genuinely meant it. And her smile too, it was very real - radiant as well.

Jacques smiled back at her. "Of course we did! We're the best - oof!"

He was caught off-guard by the younger girl suddenly wrapping her arms around his waist. "You're the best partner! And... and..." she hesitated just for a moment, before deciding with a shy little grin: "...and a best friend!"

Jacques couldn't believe his ears. "Oui, mon ami! We're a great team!" he cheered.

Josée hugged him once more; winning was nice. "And you caught me!"

"That was quite the performance."

Josée and Jacques stopped their cheering and hugging as one of the judges interrupted them. He was accompanied by the three other judges. "I see that we can expect great things from you two in the future!" One of the judges said to them, with a warm smile. "Very promising!"

Oh, and neither of them knew the half of it. They all had no idea.

"Everyone, the winners - Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont!" The announcer shouted once more, earning more cheers from the applause.

Josée and Jacques looked at each other. The younger of the two flashed her partner a grin. "Ready, Jacques?"

Jacques nodded once, smiling as well. "Ready." Just like they practiced, they waved to the audience with smiles plastered on their face.

They would have to get used to being the darlings of the figure skating world, so they might as well start now.

Chapter Text

Chapter 2- In the Limelight (Everybody Wants to Rule the World)

It's been almost eight years since Josée and Jacques' first competition win. While so much had changed, so much had stayed the same.

Jacques and Josée did become best friends, and they were on the way to becoming sweethearts of the figuring skating world. They managed to do it in Quebec, now they had to take on the rest of the world. They were on the path, since they won their first World Junior Championship a while ago, and it had been a total wipeout. Over the summer they had the opportunity to perform an ice show in New York City, which was especially life changing - their names were going to be known; they were on the right track.

Many choreographers and coaches had come and gone over the years, Darcey being one of them, but Isaac was still one of their main coaches. The two-time gold olympic medalist was coaching one of the most promising up-and-coming ice dancers since Leo and Liv, who were undefeated World Senior Champions.

While Josée's mother was always demanding, she seemed to get demanding more and more every year - it's what came with the fame, most likely. Her mother wasn't in love with the idea that Josée managed to become friends with Jacques, and had a tendency to be one of the major subjects that come up in Josée and Jacques' bickering. Because yes, while they were the best of friends, there were many arguments. Sometimes Josée did get too serious, and sometimes Jacques could try to take things more seriously - but usually they were resolved. Josée would learn to laugh, and Jacques would learn to focus. There were a lot of good days, some bad days, but the good always outweighed it.

Even on those wretched days where Josée's mother would lock her in the closet. Jacques always made things better. At least he could relate to the pressures of skating.

"Josée..." Josée shook out of her thoughts when she was nudged by Jacques. She blinked and stared from beside him. "We're going back on soon."

Oh, right. They were being interviewed right now on their local station, and had taken a short commercial break. Josée made the mistake of letting her mind wander; she did that often. The fourteen-year-old tightened her ponytail. The cameras would be on soon. The interviewer had settled down in his chair across from them.

"We're going back on!" Someone behind the cameras cued, along with a thumbs up.

The interviewer flashed a smile. "Welcome back! I'm here with promising up and coming ice dancers, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont." The two ice dancers smiled widely at the cameras before turning back to the interviewer, who continued: "You were telling us about your experience in New York?"

Jacques looked at Josée, who eagerly answered, "Oh it was wonderful," she started off, sweetness oozing from her voice like she practiced. "The stadium was packed with people watching us perform; there must have been millions! We're so glad we were able to perform for them."

"Is it different from Montreal?" the interviewer asked.

"Oui," Jacques interjected, with a laugh. "It's busy and crowded. So is Montreal, but not like New York is. We arrived at night, and you couldn't even tell with all the lights from the tall buildings! There were screens everywhere. It is, ah... called the city that never sleeps."

"The capital of the world," Josée remarked. "It was beautiful. I hope we'll get to perform there again."

"Speaking of beautiful," started off the interviewer, with a smile. "You have certainly gotten more beautiful since you were last interviewed. It was a year ago, yes?"

Josée immediately grew uncomfortable, and chuckled awkwardly. "Merci... I think so."

"Any cute boys lately?"

Josée's smile grew more strained. "Um..." she broke into a fit of uneasy laughter and looked at Jacques, who looked just as unsettled. She shook her head. "No, not at the moment. Jacques and I are too busy training a lot to be with anyone."

"We have a lot of work to do if we could ever get into the olympics," Jacques cut in, which Josée was thankful for. This unfortunately happened too often. "We only have one Junior Championship we have taken gold in. When we get a few more and become Senior Champions we'll move onto the olympics."

The interviewer's eyebrows raised. "Really? You're not seeing anyone at the moment either? We've heard from a couple of sources about you seeing someone lately."

Jacques blinked slowly. "Excuse moi?"

"Well, you did come out as gay three months ago. People are saying you're currently seeing someone."

Jacques couldn't help but snort, yet kept his smile up. "Yes, I did. But that doesn't mean I'm seeing someone." Josée hid her smile behind her hand; he was a good liar when he really needed to be. "I also did it because the press is very... persistent." Josée's smile turned into a knowing smirk because the interviewer's friendly smile vanished. Jacques was sure to add a chuckle so it didn't look like a direct attack. "I mean, you definitely know how it feels, non?"

Thankfully the interviewer laughed along. "Oui, I understand. So are you confirming that you're not seeing anyone?" Jacques' smile dropped just for a second as he rubbed his face irritably. The interviewer looked over to Josée. "Could that be a reason you're not dating anyone Josée? Because you're secretly gay?"

What...

Josée laughed nervously. "No, I'm not a lesbian, and what would it matter if I was? I already told you, we're much too busy to date other people." She resisted the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes. "I thought we were supposed to talk about ice dancing, and the last World Championship win, but I guess not."

"Oh of course we could move onto that if you'd like..."

"Yes I think we should," Josee interrupted, with a venomously sweet smile. Jacques bit his lip nervously but hid it behind his hand; he just knows she was this close to losing it.

The interviewer cleared his throat ready to start, but someone motioned to him that time was almost running out. "Unfortunately we're running out of time." Of course they were... He flashed them both a winning smile. "It was a pleasure to have both of you on the air." It was funny how they started up again not even two minutes ago. He cleared his throat and motioned to the ice dancers again. "Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont, everyone!"

"...And, we're out!"

Josée and Jacques' show-ready smiles vanished in an instant and walked off set, without even addressing the interviewer. Josée in particular was stalking all the way to the back of the set, ripping her mic off. Jacques followed her out of worry that she would break something. "Josée?"

"Madonna once said that the worst thing about being famous was having to answer stupid questions," Josée stated coolly. She whipped her body around to face Jacques with a stealthy look in her eyes that always made Jacques uneasy. "With every day that passes, I understand that more and more." With that she turned back around intending to go to her dressing room, but was stopped by Jacques again. "Jacques, I swear. I am very tempted to trash the back of the set-"

"They always ask stupid questions," Jacques told her. He gave her a weak smile. "Champions must preserve. Like you always say."

Josée was nowhere near calm about the situation, but appreciated the effort to make her feel better. "You're right," she agreed, smiling back at him earnestly. "Also, nice try lying to them."

Jacques raised an amused eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"'But that doesn't mean I'm seeing someone,'" Josée said teasingly, with a giggle. Jacques rolled his eyes fondly. "You couldn't be more obvious."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

Josée crossed her arms and gave him a knowing smirk. "Nice turtleneck." And she turned back around without saying another word, leaving a blushing Jacques behind. Jacques stood there for a few moments, still in shock, before he shook his head in amusement at his friend's comeback and went to his own dressing room.

Normally Jacques would drive himself and Josée to the rink early in the morning to practice for an hour and then later go to school, and then back to the rink again. The problem was roughly two weeks ago he had crashed his papa's car - which he's still mad about, and won't let him hear the end of it - so they had to rely on the metro to get to school.

It wasn't... it wasn't too awful, Josée supposed - as she sat on the metro beside Jacques. While yes, the metro smelled bad - it was a lot better than the subway system in New York City. The one in New York smelled infinitely worse, had a thousand times more rats, with one rat that had run across Jacques' feet causing him to screech. But hey, at least no one stared at them. Besides, there was another reason why it wouldn't be bad, Josée would meet up with her friends that did take the metro.

...Okay, so maybe that could be both positive and negative, because while Josée did like her friends a great deal, there was only so much of their petty drama that she could handle at one time. So for now, she might as well enjoy her company with Jacques, it was a lot less dramatic that way and that was saying something.

"Maman was so disappointed with the way I handled the interview," Josée said sadly, with a sigh. "She said I wasn't smiling enough."

"My papa said he thought your maman was holding us at gunpoint from the side of the camera." Josée flashed him a dirty look. Jacques immediately back-tracked. "Ah! I corrected him, of course."

"Good," Josée said. Her mood was already ruined. "Speaking of your papa, how did he take you 'coming out' again?"

Jacques clenched his jaw and stared down at his shoes. "Like he did the first time." It was a complicated subject. When Jacques came out as gay, his maman and his sisters were of course supportive, with his sisters chiming in with witty remarks about how they've always known since he was learning to sew at four. His father, however, was not so in love with the idea - but he had been prepared for a while for news like this to occur, claiming that his son was never very 'manly' as he put it, and it always irked Jacques.

Before Josée could reply to him, the train pulled into a stop. Arriving, well more like storming into the metro, was a girl with flaming red hair whom Josée recognized as one of her friends in her year. She was in the singing program at their fancy performing arts high school, and despite that, Josée always thought the theatre department suited her more - she had the tendency to be very dramatic. "'Allo Alice," she greeted. "How are-"

"So I had this audition, right?!" Alice interrupted, fire in her eyes. "And I didn't make it! I was wondering how I didn't make it, as I was absolutely amazing as usual. But then I take a look around and realize that I'm the only girl with red hair!" People were beginning to stare. "And so I'm thinking... that maybe they're prejudiced against redheads! Ugh, it's so hard being a ginger in the industry. Why are we the outcasts? Someone's got to protest against this sort of thing, because if I'm not able to book a job because of this preconceived notion then I might as well drop out of high school and go into stripping, which is not a good look for me. Oh, no offense to people who do that for a living, but anyway. How are you guys doing?"

Josée and Jacques blinked slowly. For someone who's considered one of the best sopranos in their year, Alice Martel could be rather tone-deaf.

"We're good," Jacques replied politely. "We were just talking about... the interview..."

"Oh I saw that!" Alice exclaimed, a gleam in her eyes as she took her seat. She giggled a little bit. "You guys are really something. All confident for the cameras, you would never know it here. You're both very awkward. Oh, I don't mean that in a mean way, I'm just saying your celebrity persona is far different from how you are in real life." She reached into her purse and got out a compact mirror and observed her features as she went on: "I heard what that interviewer was saying. He was such a creep. I mean, I didn't understand any of those ice dancing things you were talking about... but I did understand that juicy gossip he was trying to get. That's all interviewers care about, never about your passions, it's absolutely revolting. Let me tell you, in the business, there are creeps everywhere, especially producers. They're probably the worst offenders. My stepfather works in the business, he knows all too well."

Josée shrugged. "Maman said he was trying to compliment me, and that I should be grateful that they didn't point out my nose like the press did a year ago."

Alice hummed to herself in thought and snapped the mirror shut. "Well, your nose is different. Oh, I don't mean it in a bad way... I'm just saying it's different from other noses, it's cute actually. But if it bothers you so much, then you should get a nose job? I mean, I would never get one because my voice is too precious to risk, but your sport is all about looking pretty and dancing. So it would help you?"

Josée pressed her lips together in thought. "Liv did get a nose job over the summer."

Jacques had heard enough and shook his head. "Non, Josée," he stated. He looked at Alice, with a sort of glare to them. "Her nose is fine."

"I'm just trying to-"

"It's fine."

Alice scowled and shrunk in her seat. "Fine," she spat. Shortly after the metro pulled into another stop, Josée recognized yet another friend of hers - though it was more accurate to say that she was more of Alice's friend than Josée's. Clara Fournier, also known as Alice's best friend, and shared that they were both singers, and that was about it. She was quite the opposite of Alice in nearly every other aspect. While Alice was dramatic and flashy, Clara was not. "Clara, you would not believe what happened-"

"I know," Clara groaned irritably. "Stupid audition... red hair... you told me as soon as you got home." Correction, she could be mean like Alice, except she was fully aware of the fact and couldn't care less. She took her seat and looked at Josée and Jacques. "So how much has she talked since she's got here?"

"The whole ride," Jacques answered.

"Nice to see you too, Clara," Josée said. "How are you doing?" Even after knowing Clara for a while, Josée would fail to understand that she was almost always in a bad mood.

"Terrible, awful, and I want to scream because I woke up at an ungodly hour. Everyone here could bite me."

Alice snorted. "Just try not to tackle anyone and pin them down like last time."

"They took the last poutine dish, that was justified." That was another thing, she refused to be seen as another 'dainty' soprano. She was gruff, aggressive, and made other ninth graders wet themselves. "They're lucky I didn't kick them in the privates."

"Did you do the biology homework?" Alice asked her. "It's due in three hours and I have yet to start it."

"I didn't start it either. That's what we have Rachel for."

Speaking of Rachel, the metro was now traveling in a much seedier part of Montreal, and pulled into a stop. Rachel Bouchard, Josée's only friend from dance, was the last of their little group. Unlike Alice and Clara, whom Josée has known since grade seven in their upper prestigious private school, Josée only knew Rachel from seeing her at the rink over the past summer as a figure skater as well, but not at all into ice dancing like she was. She and her aunt had moved to afford a cheaper place to live. They didn't start becoming friends until dance, when the other dance girls made fun of Rachel for wearing a non-designer leotard. Josée shared that in common with Rachel; not the part about being unable to afford designer leotards, but being made fun of by those bitchy dance girls.

There was also the fact that Rachel was a very smart cookie, and would be willing to do her homework in case she was too busy. Before Clara could even ask Rachel, the girl cut her off. "I know, I know. I'm doing it right now. I started it five minutes ago."

Josée peered over at her work. "There's three pages of that."

"Biology is a lot more fun when I'm not rushed, I like to take it all in."

Alice and Clara stared at her strangely. The former spoke up. "What planet did Josée find you from?"

After exchanging homework for the next ten minutes, they all got off their collective stop at their luscious performing arts high school. Right in front of the building was a boy who was waiting patiently, with a radiant smile. Jacques' eyes immediately lit up excitedly, walking ahead so he could greet him with a kiss. "Nathaniel," he greeted, smiling earnestly at him. "I missed you." The rumors were true, though they had only been seeing each other a short time. Nathaniel was a theatre student in his year that Jacques wouldn't stop gushing to Josée about all summer.

"It must suck that your boyfriend has to lie on television," Alice pointed out, glaring at Nathaniel.

Instead of getting mad, Nathaniel smirked venomously. "At least I can get a steady boyfriend instead of being with someone every other week."

Josée closed her eyes in annoyance. "Can we not do this today?" She was already starting to leave, and grabbed Rachel's hand. "We should start getting to dance instead of listening to this petty bickering they always have." Rachel blinked, but didn't hesitate following her.

Jacques gazed at Nathaniel adoringly. "Ah, Josée has a point," he agreed. "I will see you later, oui?" He gave him one last peck on the lips and followed shortly.

"You know, Josée, I'm starting to think about it," stated Rachel as she stretched. Class had yet to start, and only a few dancers were there. Jacques was talking to his friends about god-knows-what, so that left Josée stuck with Rachel. Truthfully, she didn't mind. Rachel was relatively sane compared to other dancers. "Alice should be in theatre. She talks a lot. Though if I had her singing voice, I wouldn't shut up either."

Josée didn't answer right away, starting to practice her fouetté turns and landed gracefully after seven. "Hmm..." She thought about it for a moment. "It's true."

Rachel blinked cluelessly at her distant expression. "Are you talking about Alice or you're assessing your turns?"

"Both," Josée replied curtly.

"Oh... what did you figure out?"

"They're sloppy."

"Alice's vocals or the turns?"

"The turns."

"No they aren't, they're magnifique! Best in the class."

"I know. But it's still sloppy."

It was awkwardly silent for a minute with Josée continuing to warm up, until Rachel tried to initiate conversation again. "I saw your interview last night, it was nice."

Josée stopped moving and turned to Rachel. "Word of advice," she began, "When you become big enough in the figure skating world, you'll have to endure stupid questions."

"Oh." More people began to arrive. Unfortunately, this spelled out trouble to Josée. Two of the dancers that happened to be in Jacques' year approached her.

"Excuse me," one of the girls named Michelle asked in a snooty tone. "But I think it's time someone else stands at the front of the barre?"

Josée bit back a groan. This again. This happened at least once a week. "No, I was here first. Maybe you should show up on time." She pointed her toes and extended her right leg behind her while holding onto the barre, thinking that was the end of that conversation. Suddenly, her leg was grabbed by the other girl named Yasmine. Josée nearly gasped barely managing to get out of her grasp before falling on her knees. This caught the attention of the entire class, minus the teacher who hadn't showed up yet.

"Josée!" Jacques exclaimed, rushing over to help her up. "Are you alright?"

"She's being dramatic, she's fine," snapped Yasmine. "You make it seem like I twisted her ankle."

"What a shame that would be, she wouldn't be able to dance with us for today and whine about our 'imperfections' as she says," Michelle snickered.

Rachel frowned at the two dancers. "Leave her alone."

Michelle found this to be amusing. "Oh, I know the worst dancer here who wears the same leotard twice a week isn't telling me what to do."

Josée felt her temper rising, and got up, her fists clenched at her side. "You know, all this time you could've been practicing those horrendous pirouettes but instead you're whining about the barre. Glad to see that you have your priorities straight."

"You don't even care about ballet!" Michelle shrieked. "You're just a stupide ice dancer that sees ballet as nothing more than a way to succeed in your meaningless sport!"

Josée gasped and glared furiously. "Excuse moi?!" she bellowed furiously. "You have no clue what you're talking about you talentless hack!" She charged up toward Michelle, ready to strike her, before Jacques grabbed her waist from behind. "Let go of me Jacques!"

"Non, Josée! Stop," Jacques ordered. "She's not worth it." He sent Michelle a dirty glare. "She's just jealous of your talent and grace."

Michelle crossed her arms. "You used to be a lot more fun before she came along."

SLAM!

The front door was shut aggressively causing all the dancers to scatter back to warming up once they saw that their dance teacher had arrived. Madame Lizette, a stern woman in her early forties, was no-nonsense teacher that very clearly played favorites - namely Josée and Jacques - and did not tolerate any idle chitter-chatter and despised when students were spending time talking instead of warming up for her class, and she was sure to tell them so. "When I'm not here," she started crossly, "I expect all of you to be warming up so we do not waste any precious class time - did I say you could stop moving?"

Some students scurried back to warming up.

"Never stop moving unless I tell you to do so." Madame Lizette walked around, observing students closely at their movements. "When you get in the real world, you are expected to warm up on your own. That's how professionals have to be or else whoever is in charge will send you home crying." Funnily enough, or perhaps not, she had sent students home crying. She stopped in front of someone. "Yasmine, I can see your breakfast."

Yasmine furrowed her brows and frowned. "But I don't eat breakfast, you told me not to."

"Really? It isn't showing." Very, very ruthless.

Josée bit her lip as Madame Lizette walked over to her, squinting her eyes inspection at her form. "Hmm, très bien, Josée."

Josée let out a sigh of relief while Yasmine glared at her and scowled. "The same thing goes for you too," she hissed so Madame Lizette wouldn't hear. "You're a local celebrity, so she obviously won't tell you the truth. That's what the press is for, though. Just like they told you about your nez."

Josée frowned deeply at this comment. For the first time, she stayed quiet for the rest of the class.

"I want to claw Marcella's eyes out," Alice declared, taking a bite of her lunch. Josée absentmindedly picked at her food, still thinking about what Yasmine said earlier. She hardly had the energy to contribute to giving Alice advice about her struggles in choir. "All I said was that I was advising her to stay away from smoking, since it made her voice significantly uglier... and she nearly attacked me!"

"You also called her new boyfriend a terrible kisser."

"I was just warning her, Clara!"

"Well it was a bitchy thing to do."

"Oh, like you care about morals all of a sudden."

"I don't. I'm just saying it was bitchy."

Don't get involved, don't get involved, don't get involved...

"Josée do you think what I did was bitchy?"

Crap.

"Yes."

"I was talking to Josée," Alice snapped at Clara. "Unlike you, she's nice." Then Alice looked expectantly at Josée. "Do you?"

Why couldn't Jacques be here? Josée sighed. "I don't... I think both of you can be annoying, and you're giving me a migraine." She started to pick at her food again.

"You hadn't eaten anything," Rachel pointed out. "This isn't about Yasmine's comment, is it?"

Alice and Clara ceased their bickering. "Is everything okay?" The former asked. "Those dance bitches are always giving you a hard time."

Josée shrugged a little, still staring at her meal. "Oh, it's just the usual." She got up and threw away her tray. She smirked at them. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"You know what would totally cheer you up?" Alice said excitedly. "There's a party later for everyone at six-thirty at the top floor gym. Okay well, not everyone... the people in orchestra and band never go to these things."

"Is it authorized by the school?"

Clara snorted in amusement at Josée's question while Alice shook her head with a grin. "Um, no, honey. The security guards think we're practicing for our school's musical. I heard the upperclassmen host it every year, it's kind of tradition," Alice went on. "Most of them sneak in... things."

Instead of inquiring what these 'things' were, Josée had another question. "Why would we go to a gym to rehearse and not the auditorium?"

"Beats me. You should come with us! We're all going. I am, Clara is, and even Rachel."

"I have homework to do after school later in the library, and Jacques and I need to practice on the ice."

"We have Rachel here for a reason," Clara pointed out for the second time. "And you can practice on the ice later. You'll be fine."

Josée frowned. "I don't like parties, and I can't just practice on the ice later-"

"Jacques!" Alice suddenly exclaimed, jumping out of her seat when she saw that familiar mop of blonde hair. Jacques scurried over to see Josée's distressed expression. "We need your help. Do something here." Jacques eyed Josée, who sent him a pleading look and a shake of her head, presumably at whatever Alice was proposing. "It's the party."

Jacques immediately understood. "Ah..."

"Make Josée go. She needs to socialize."

"I have you three and Jacques. What else do I need? Besides..." Josée paused, looking at Jacques expectantly. "We have to practice later."

"The party's not for a while, chouchou," Jacques told her. "We can go back after we practice at the rink. Maybe we can give it a try? I was hoping to go."

Josée huffed. "What's my maman going to say?"

Rachel blinked slowly. "It's in school. Can't you say it's a dance project? Oh speaking of... I should probably tell my aunt. Can I borrow your phone?" Josée nodded and handed it over to the other dancer who muttered a thanks and got up from her seat to make the call.

Jacques turned back to Josée. "Well?"

Josée pondered about it briefly, but shook her head. "I'll think about it when I'm doing homework at the library."

"Ah, okay. I'll be in the dance room waiting, you'll stop by when you're done?" Josée nodded. "Great." Jacques couldn't help but notice she was still off from what happened.

"I can't believe Madame Lizette left you in charge of this room." This was stated after school in the dance room by one of Jacques' friends in his year named Viktor. It was also occupied by another friend in their year named Lucas, and Nathaniel. "What's it like to be her favorite? Must be nice not getting yelled at over an 'abysmal turn.' Right?"

Jacques shrugged, from his spot on the floor, his arms still wrapped around Nathaniel who was in front of him. "Maybe if you didn't try flirting with her..."

"That was the first day of ninth grade, I didn't know she was the teacher!" Viktor protested, earning a few snickers from his friends.

"Who else did you expect her to be?" Lucas chimed in, barely holding in his laughter. "She's ancient."

"This antique joke will never die," said Viktor. Then, his eyes drifted to Nathaniel. "Can you stand outside and keep a look out?"

Jacques groaned in realization. "Already? Shouldn't you do that minutes before the party starts?"

Nathaniel blinked confusedly. "What, oh-" He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Viktor take out a rolled bill and a small bag of a white substance held between his thumb and forefinger. "Is that allowed?"

"What do you think?" Viktor retorted sarcastically.

Jacques shook his head. "Lizette left me in charge for a reason."

"You're obviously not going to narc on us, are you?" Lucas asked, referring to himself and Viktor.

Jacques sighed. "No," he said reluctantly. Nathaniel got up and stood outside the dance room. Jacques looked away as Viktor snorted the drug, followed by Lucas. This... did happen frequently among dancers. In fact, he was positive that he and Josée were the only ones that hadn't tried it in their dance class, well, other than Rachel.

Nathaniel peeked his head through the door. "Jacques, Josée's here - ow!"

Josée had brushed past Jacques' boyfriend with ease, startling both Lucas and Viktor, who were about to start another line. Josée took in the scene, and rolled her eyes in utter annoyance. "I don't even want to know," she hissed. She didn't like Jacques' friends very much, and for good reason. Her eyes shifted to Jacques'. "Should we get going?"

"Please," Jacques insisted, before he could get in trouble. He didn't worry too much, since they were both done with their 'habit' as they liked to call it. He got up from the floor and threw the keys to the dance room to Lucas, who barely caught it. "Give them back to me when we get back here." He stopped by the door to give his boyfriend a long kiss on the lips. He grinned and pulled away. "I'll see you tonight?"

"Oui."

Jacques nearly giggled, until Josée grabbed him by the ear and yanked him out of the room and slammed the door shut. "I cannot stand them," she complained. "They better not be sucking you into that nonsense. If I hear anything like that about you, I will cut your legs with my skates, clear?" Jacques nodded quickly, his eyes wide. It would be wise not to call her bluff. She rarely bluffed. "Because olympic skaters are drug tested frequently, so you can't be into that, and it will surely damage our reputation. It's like no one here has heard of Patrick Bissell before."

"Ah, mon chou... you shouldn't worry!" Jacques insisted, with that small grin Josée despised. "You know I would never..."

However instead of getting more upset, Josée sighed and her eyes softened. It did look like he meant it. Sometimes, she couldn't tell what Jacques was thinking. But she... she liked to think he was smarter than this. She began to walk ahead. "Right," she said, in a quieter tone. "Let's go to the rink."

Luckily the metro had moved faster, and they had the next hour and fifteen minutes to practice their routine for an upcoming competition that they would surely win. Thankfully, no one was there at that time, as the ice skating class for beginners had just ended so they had it all to themselves. After warming up for ten minutes, they began their routine.

"So," started Jacques, while he and Josée did a synchronized twizzles. "About the party..."

"Are you going to talk about the party while dancing?" Josée huffed angrily as she got into the next part of their routine, being lifted by Jacques and thrown, spinning mid-air, and then back into Jacques' arms. They did that with ease. "Jacques, you are ridiculous!"

"It was just a question!"

"Jacques, focus! You nearly dropped me!"

"I did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not! I would never drop you."

"You almost did."

"But I didn't."

Josée ran a hand through her hair. "This is getting absurd," she stated coldly. "Fine. We'll go to the stupide party, but we have to get this routine down, are you happy now?"

Jacques bit his lower lip. "Well, now I just feel guilty."

"Don't be dumb, Jacques," Josée chastised lightly. "If we don't get gold in the next competition, it will be awful. I don't even want to imagine."

"It will be awful for you, or your maman?" Jacques interjected.

Josée frowned uncomfortably. "For both of us," she stated, a bit uneasily. "I don't know why you asked me that. You know the answer."

Oh there was no question, Jacques thought. Something was up.

Ten minutes in the party, and Josée was already overstimulated... not in a good way. She had heard at least seven pieces of gossip from Rachel, most of which surrounded Alice's love life, which wasn't surprising in the least. Clara had lost her temper and tackled someone for the last "special" cupcake. At least three people threw up, the list went on. By the time Rachel was done filling her in, Josée thought she was drunk by listening to it, despite not having a drop of alcohol in her system.

"Should we be concerned?!" Rachel shouted over the music and into Josée's ears. "The theatre guy is a twelfth grader!"

"Alice's love life is none of my business," Josée said. "She's always been boy crazy, there's no point trying to stop her." God, she needed air...

Meanwhile, Jacques was out being social. He himself had a fair share of drinks, but that was nothing compared to the state of his boyfriend. The twelfth graders always had the job of sneaking in alcohol into water bottles by the staff - which always succeeded - and it was pretty obvious who it affected more. Nathaniel happened to be one of them.

"I've never seen you drunk before," Jacques told him, with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Knock, knock, knock! Who's there, i' the name of Beelzebub?" Nathaniel declared, slurring his words. "...Crap, I forgot the rest... something, something, something..."

Jacques blinked confusedly. "...What?"

"Jacques!" The ice dancer turned around to see Nathaniel's best friend from theatre, a girl named Maddie. She looked at Nathaniel in concern. "Did he start drinking?" Jacques nodded, looking over his boyfriend. Maddie rolled her eyes. "Ugh, great. He always recites Shakespeare when he's drunk." She gave Jacques a soft smile. "I'll get him water. You know, actual water. Thanks for looking after him." Before Jacques could say goodbye, Nathaniel said another set of words, probably from Shakespeare, as Maddie got him away.

Jacques figured now he could look for Josée. Earlier they had split up after Rachel dragged her away to talk about gossip she probably didn't care for. Jacques nearly smiled at the thought of all of her annoying bickering friends bombarding her with information she would find useless. He spotted Clara sitting on the floor, looking a little spaced out.

Clara's head snapped up to his eye level. Jacques noticed her eyes were a little red. "What is it, pretty boy?"

"Have you seen Josée?"

"Nope. Didn't you bring her here?" Jacques sighed and shook his head. "Well that sucks for you."

Jacques took a breath and made his way asking more people. All of whom had no clue of where Josée was. Then, he saw a closet. It was very unlikely that Josée was in there, given her fear of small spaces, but god... it was possible that someone could have shoved her in there. His heart tore a little even at the thought of it. He didn't want Josée to be in there, but... she better be in there. She wasn't answering her phone - despite calling her three times in a row - and he was starting to grow worried.

When he opened the closet, however, he was greeted with a different sight. Alice had her arms wrapped around a twelfth grader's neck and had been kissing him deeply. Startled, Alice and the twelfth grader pulled apart. "Jacques!" Alice hissed angrily. "Get out!"

Jacques ignored the hostile tone. "I'm trying to find Josée."

"Did you try calling her like a normal person?"

"She's not answering."

Alice groaned irritably and turned to her... partner... with a smirk. "Hold on one second." Alice slammed the closet door behind him and dropped the smirk once her eyes laid on Jacques and glared at him. "Is this important? Because if you didn't know, I'm busy."

"Aren't girlfriends supposed to stick together or something?"

"Not when there's a cute guy involved. I mean, you understand."

Jacques pressed his lips together as if to keep his temper inside. "Right, okay, fine. Oh, and Alice?" Alice lifted her eyebrows. "Really? A twelfth grader? You really shouldn't be-"

"Jacques-"

"Just be careful!" Jacques interrupted before she could protest. "You're still one of Josée's close friends and she would care if something happened to you, even though you obviously don't feel the same way." He stormed away before Alice could reply to him. Soon he ran into Rachel, who was talking to a group of other ninth graders, and instantly he felt dread when he didn't see Josée in that pool. "Rachel." The dirty blonde stopped talking and turned to Jacques. "You were with Josée last, non?"

Rachel sighed, full of regret. "I can't say I have. She said something about getting some air?"

Yeah, no. This was the final straw. Jacques cleared his throat and called out to the crowd, "Has anyone seen Josée?"

Josée sighed as her eyes drifted from the railing she was leaning against to the view of the night sky. The ruckus downstairs was giving her a migraine, so she headed up to the balcony seeking unbothered silence. Even with this, her headache persisted with the many events that had occurred over the past week such as the interview, the last ice dancing competition, friends, her mother continuing to demand more and more, and many other things that would usually bombard her.

Sometimes it would be too much for herself to handle. She did juggle having to keep her marks up while being poised for the cameras ever since she was little, staying out of trouble and whatnot because the media was quick to rip you apart over everything, especially the Montreal press. The cameras pick up everything, just like her mother picked up everything with her technique. Josée figured that her mother was just good practice to deal with people bothering her and Jacques over nonsense.

Even though she and Jacques had a heavier load, they were the normal ones, Josée knew that for sure, at least in comparison to their friends. And, well... sometimes Josée wondered what it would be like to live an actual a boring life. More often than not, she brushed such awful thoughts aside, because she knew that she was born to be a performer. But nights like these where she spent her time in solitude she couldn't help but wonder...

...Oh, what the hell was she thinking? of course she wanted this, she... she had always dreamed of performing, of ice dancing, there was nothing else she could do. And god, of course she could handle it all - even with school she could practice three hours a day, with an hour and a half being before school. of course she-

"You do not feel like celebrating, mon ami?"

Startled, Josée turned around from her position on the balcony to see Jacques leaning casually against the wall, with a knowing smile on his face. Josée turned back, facing the view she was looking at, rolling her eyes. "You know I'm not one for parties." She could be practicing right now... she doesn't know why she agreed to go. Stupid Jacques.

Jacques walked forward until he stood right by her side. "Ah, you need some... school spirit!"

Josée couldn't help but smile. "Sure, Jacques. Nothing says school spirit like people sneaking in drinks by the staff." Jacques leaned on the railing and stared straight ahead like she was. Josée broke away from the view and frowned thoughtfully at her ice dancing partner. "Shouldn't you be with Nathaniel?"

"Boyfriends are not exempt from drinking."

Josée hummed to herself. "I suppose," she settled. She went back to staring ahead. It was mostly quiet and contemplative, other than the occasionally shouts coming from downstairs. She did her best to ignore it. After a while, she told Jacques: "You don't have to stay here. I'm fine by myself."

"I was looking for you," Jacques said warmly. "I was starting to get worried." Truthfully, he had been worried all day, but Josée didn't need to know that.

"Well I'm fine... I just prefer solitude," she said. "You know that." The crowd downstairs was muffled so hardly audible, so it was comfortably silent between her and Jacques; it usually was. Jacques normally hated the sound of silence, but he knew that Josée liked it, and she knew that he knew that she liked it, so she was secretly thankful - it was an unspoken fact. The thoughts of what brought Josée up to the balcony in the first place began to trickle in her mind again.

After a few minutes, Josée spoke again. "Jacques..." He looked at her, however she returned to the view. "Why are we here?" Jacques, in return, matched her frown, as she turned to face him with an uncertain look in her eyes. "I mean really, why are we here?"

Jacques grew uncomfortable under that look of hers. "I... um..." He was unsure what his partner meant. "Here? Well it's a party-"

"That's not what I meant," Josée interrupted. "I mean here. Why we do what we do?"

"Well isn't it what you always say?" Jacques told her. "To achieve your dreams."

"...To achieve your dreams," echoed Josee, looking back at the sky. "I want to win gold at the olympics more than anything else, but there are days where I wonder what could've been if I wasn't in ice dancing, I would've been away from all the stupid pointless gossipy drama."

"Ah, but you're forgetting one important thing," Jacques said, smirking. "You wouldn't have met me."

Josée smirked back. As aloof as he could be, he did know how to make her feel better. "Fair point," she said earnestly.

"You worry too much, mon amie," Jacques said, his smirk turning into a smile. "What's bothering you? Is it your maman again?"

"No."

"Friends?"

"No."

"Ballet?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"It's a mix of everything, I guess."

Jacques thought about it for a minute, then wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Just remember, everything we do will be worth it in the end, hmm?" Josée wasn't one for physical affection, but with Jacques, she'd always make an exception. "We're the perfect team." Josée nodded into his chest and pulled away, smiling at him.

"Of course," Josée said, with a sudden burst of confidence. "How could I be so silly?"

"Josée!" Alice shrieked from downstairs. Josée bit back a groan and watched as Alice hurried up the balcony, along with Rachel. "Tell Rachel to stay out of my love life!"

Josée turned to Rachel. "Stay out of Alice's love life."

"She was going to go home with him!"

"Go home with him?" Josée echoed incredulously. She shook her head. "Oh no. No she's not." Jacques nodded in agreement with his best friend's statement. Josée turned to Alice with a glare. "You're going to order a cab."

Alice gasped with a comical look of betrayal. "What happened to staying out of my love life?!"

"You're not staying the night with a guy who's three years older than you. Even I know that's a stupid idea!" Josée exclaimed angrily. Jacques couldn't help but smile. Alice really, really, really didn't deserve someone as elegant and selfless as Josée. She couldn't help but notice someone else was missing. "Where's Clara?"

"Waiting downstairs for her older brother to pick her up," answered Rachel. "She's high."

Of course she was. "Go with her. You're two stops away from each other on the metro. He'll drive her."

"But-"

"Alice," Josée hissed at the redhead. "Go." The ginger huffed, but relented, storming off downstairs.

"I'll go make sure she actually goes," Rachel said, following shortly after Alice.

This left Josée and Jacques alone once more.

Josée ran a distressed hand through her hair. "I just want to go home." She gave Jacques a pleading look, one that she knew he couldn't say no to. "Jacjac..."

Oh no... not the pet nickname. Damn it. "Fine," Jacques groaned in annoyance, which earned a grin from the female ice dancer. "Can I at least say goodbye to Nathaniel?" Beep. Jacques frowned, the noise had come from his phone. He opened it coincidentally see a message from Nathaniel - a rather drunken one, in fact - that he had gone home. Then another message shortly followed, this time a lot more clear, that stated that it was Maddie and she had gotten them a cab. "Never mind then."

"Nathaniel texted you?"

"A drunk one. Followed by Maddie."

"Boyfriends are not exempt from drinking huh?"

Jacques snorted. "Don't remind me." Josée giggled. They finally exited the balcony and out of the building to see Rachel standing outside. "Rachel, are you..."

"Oh I'm fine!" Rachel interrupted. "Alice and Clara just left. I was actually going to the metro to go home myself."

"You can come with us," Josée suggested. "We're about to leave too."

"Oui, that would be nice." Josée, Jacques, and Rachel set off to get on the metro. The next five minutes were just quiet chatter that wasn't filled with drama, just the way that Josée liked it. It was definitely refreshing compared to the conversations that were had this morning on the metro and the one during dance, and then during lunch. Rachel was about to get off her stop, until Jacques stopped her.

"Are you sure you could walk home alone at this time of night?" He asked.

Rachel smirked. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." To prove this, Rachel revealed a pocket knife that was hidden in one of her socks. When the blade opened, Josée and Jacques flinched in surprise. Rachel couldn't help but giggle a bit from their reactions. "Merde sacrée, you act like you saw a ghost! Au revoir." She put the pocket knife away and exited.

Jacques and Josée exchanged a look, yet said nothing about the matter. By the time they were at that spot, Josée was about to say goodbye, until...

"Wait, chouchou. I'll walk you home," Jacques offered.

Josée smiled and shook her head. "I think I'll be okay."

"Non, Josée. I want to make sure you get home safely."

"You know, you should be with your boyfriend." Not that Josée completely minded, of course. Sometimes she worried he spent too much time with Nathaniel, and that it would eventually worm its way into their ice dancing. Hopefully that wouldn't be the case.

"His best friend is making sure he's safe, I should do the same for mine."

Josée laughed a bit as they walked. "Well, with the way Alice goes on and on about romance, I figured you would be with him."

"Partnership is important too, especially for future olympic champions."

They stopped at the front door of Josée's house.

"I should go, maman is probably waiting," Josée said this a bit nervously, though she was trying to cover it up.

Jacques knew better and hugged her quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow, chouchou." He let go to see her smiling faintly. "Bonne nuit, Josée."

Josée waved goodbye. "Bonne nuit, Jacques." She stepped inside her house and shut the door. Jacques waited for a few minutes, then departed to his own house.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3- Quirk (Another Day)

"Sloppy!" Came a shout from the rink, belonging to Josée's mother. She shook her head in the utmost disappointment as Josée waltzed across the ice and did a spin. "Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Although Josée and Jacques spent most of their time on the ice together, Josée's mother insisted on working on her technique without Jacques "distracting" her.

Whatever the hell that meant.

Josée's mother was a complicated subject matter on its own. Jacques occasionally alluded to his opinion that her mother was satan incarnated - which usually was the majority of people's opinions when they talked to her - but Josée had a different opinion on her that was all the more complex.

Of course she loved her mother, that was out of the question. Her mother was probably her favorite person. She worshipped the ground she walked on. At the same time, however, she didn't like the way she made her cry in almost every practice session, but Josée insisted that it was because her mother knew what she was talking about. She was an ice dancer herself. She was supposed to go to the olympics before she got pregnant. It only made sense that Josée was to become one herself. Alas, dear maman was cursed to have a clumsy-whiny-crybaby-of-a-daughter.

So Josée tried to make her proud whenever she could. Now was not one of those times...

"I'm trying, mama," Josée pleaded.

"Not trying hard enough," her mother hissed.

"Je suis désolé, maman," Josée mumbled, her eyes downcast and full of shame. "I'll get better."

All it took was one comment, one little thing, and of course Josée would take it seriously.

"It will get better once you start exercising more," Josée's mother grumbled.

Josée's eyes grew large with concern. "What do you mean?"

Her mother laughed bitterly. "Oh, I'm sure it's nothing," she played off nonchalantly. "The press will start talking about it soon, anyhow."

"Talking about what?" Josée emphasized, her voice squeaking a bit. "Please tell me, maman."

"Well..." her mother started, pointing her finger at her stomach. "Haven't you noticed that you've gained some weight?"

Beat.

"Wh-what?" Josée stammered in surprise. It had to be true. She vaguely remembered Yasmine telling her a few months ago that the press would start commenting on her weight. She thought about it some more. "Really?"

"With the way Jacques struggled to lift you the other day." Her mother clicked her tongue and shook her head. "I'd say so. Olympians have to be skinny, Josée. And it looks like you're on the path to, well, being fat." Josée didn't say anything, nor did she look at her mother. She was too preoccupied with what she put in her head. "Anyway," her mother started, unusually cheary. "That's enough for today. Go change in the locker room... while your clothes still fit you."

Josée blinked back the tears that had started to form. "Yes maman," she said obediently, and hurried to the locker room. The disgusting smell of smoke drew closer and closer, and just when she thought this day couldn't get any worse, she spotted the source of the smoke, which was from Leo and Liv. "Can't you both smoke outside?" Liv scoffed and blew smoke in her face, making the younger ice dancer cough. "Gross!"

"Just get changed and go," Leo snarked. "Don't be such a baby."

Josée scowled and opened her locker. After much contemplation, however, she turned back to Leo and Liv. "So... those are how you stay skinny?"

Liv raised a curious eyebrow, then smirked. "Interested in smoking? You're fourteen, aren't you?"

"God, what took you so long?" Leo asked Josée, taking another puff.

"I turned fifteen four days ago, and no, I'm not interested in smoking. It's a nasty habit that rots your insides."

"Leo," started Liv, realization dawning on her face. "She's not interested in smoking. She's interested in being skinny." Then, she grinned. Josée was reminded of a shark. "It's really that simple. Just excessively limit your calories. All the great ice dancers do it."

Josée frowned. "Are you sure?" She doesn't know why she was asking them for advice. They would likely be sabotaging her... but they were Senior Champions...

Leo and Liv exchanged a look, then looked back at Josée. "I haven't had a full meal since 2003," Liv told her. "It's gotten us gold more often, hasn't it?" Well, Josée couldn't deny that. She nodded slowly that she understood. Liv kept her catlike grin up. "Don't listen to what anyone says, you know. It's not unhealthy. Leo always works out constantly."

"To get that figure skater's body requires sacrifice. We would know," Leo added for good measure. "Since you're too much of a goody-two-shoes to smoke."

"Dieting is just apart of the lifestyle," Liv said. "If you're ever feeling hungry, just drink a lot of water or chew on some ice chips. Oh, and if you ever have to eat, chew your food slowly, you trick yourself into thinking you're full."

Josée didn't know what to do with this information. Part of her knew that deep down this all sounded unhealthy, but... maybe implementing a stricter diet wouldn't hurt.

Right?

A day passes, and no one says anything. The day after, her girl friends finally say something.

"Josée, this is ridiculous," Clara told her after seeing what was on her plate during lunch, which was a few small celery sticks. "I thought you of all people wouldn't be so superficial."

"It's not being superficial," Josée countered. "I'm just..." she paused thoughtfully. "...being mindful of what I eat," she put mildly, starting to nibble on the celery stick slowly.

"Like you weren't before?" Clara asked incredulously.

"I have to say I don't understand this either," Alice agreed as she applied mascara in her compact mirror. "It's not like you're fat or anything, unless by figure skating standards you are? I wouldn't know. I mean, I don't think you are."

"She's not," Rachel replied knowingly. "Josée is too busy caring about what others think."

Josée stopped chewing to glare at the other figure skater. "I don't care what others think!"

"Yes you do. You're still worrying about what Yasmine said two months ago, why else would you be restricting your diet?" Rachel said.

"Wait a minute," said Clara, staring at the remaining celery sticks on the plate. "You mean what you were eating before wasn't restricting your diet?"

"I'm just trying to get rid of a few extra pounds, it's not a big deal. I never said I was fat." Just that she wasn't skinny...

"Does Jacques know?" Alice asked.

Josée frowned. "Why would Jacques-"

"Jacques!"

"...know," Josée finished, rolling her eyes as Alice shouted across the cafeteria to get his attention. "Alice, it's really not necessary..."

"What's not necessary?" Jacques asked, joining their table, along with Nathaniel who waved to everyone while giving Alice a dirty look, which she returned. Jacques eyed Josée with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Josée is being superficial."

"I am not being superficial..." Josée snapped at Clara, before turning to Jacques with a wide smile. "They're overreacting."

"No, you're overreacting."

"Can someone please tell me what's going on?" Jacques asked, losing patience as he looked back and forth between the girls. "Josée?"

"Josée's being silly," Rachel confided. "She's going on this stupid diet that she doesn't need to go on. She's trying to lose weight because she doesn't think that she's thin."

Jacques frowned at Josée. "Is this true? Because you are thin. You're beautiful."

"It's only a few pounds, it's not that extreme."

"You have three celery sticks on your tray."

Josée glared at Jacques' boyfriend. "Thank you for pointing that out, Nathaniel." Nathaniel shrunk in his seat and said nothing. Josée's eyes drift to Jacques' concerned ones, and she resisted the urge to slap him for having such a pitiful look. "It's not a big deal. I'm just trying to watch what I eat and all... we're going to be olympians, remember?"

"Oui, but..." Jacques trailed off. Something didn't feel right about this. "You've never been this obsessive."

Now Josée was getting frustrated. "How is this any different from what you do?" She challenged. "You record your meals all the time in that stupide book of yours. Every fat, every carb... you won't eat anything unless it's labeled. Plus you workout constantly when we're not practicing our routines."

Jacques rubbed his face, slightly unsettled. "That's different. I'm not trying to lose weight, I'm maintaining it."

"My point is," started Josée in an icy tone, "You have no right to call me obsessive."

"Josée..."

The female ice dancer wouldn't hear another second of it. "I'm going to go study in the library," she stated, getting up to throw away the tray.

"Josée, you hardly ate..."

"I'm fine," Josée hissed at Rachel. "I lost my appetite, anyway." And she stalked out of the cafeteria, with her partner watching with worried eyes.

Jacques turned to Josée's friends. "How did... what... I'm very confused. Did someone say something to her?"

"Yasmine, a few months ago," Rachel told him. "But other than that, I'm not sure. I think someone did."

"Maybe it's the tabloids?" Alice suggested. "They always have something to say."

Jacques shook his head. "She would've told me if someone said something..." he muttered quietly. He was still pondering on what it could be. He didn't... he didn't think Josée was ever insecure about her figure, he would tell her she was beautiful at least once a day. Jacques didn't understand what could cause this. Normally she was confident, but there were little slip ups where she would doubt herself, but it was never about her body. But then, a dreadful thought came to mind.

Jacques bit his lip. "Um, 'allo?" He addressed the group nervously. "You don't think she would do something bad to herself, do you?"

Alice, Clara, and Rachel exchanged weirded out looks. It was Clara who spoke up. "What do you mean?"

"Ah, I don't know just..." he trailed off, his stomach began to churn. Something definitely wasn't right. However, instead of continuing, Jacques brushed the thought aside. "Non, non... never mind. Josée wouldn't do that. She's... she's confident. This will pass."

"Are you sure?" Alice asked, furrowing her brows.

"I'm sure," Jacques insisted, more to himself. "It's a Josée quirk... she gets nervous sometimes and overthinks, but... this will pass." It's just another one of her quirks...

Right?

"Jacques, I told you..." Fleur reassured for what seemed like the millionth time, "There's not a lot of fat in it. Eat. It's from the brand I showed you. We went shopping for it together."

It was time for dinner, which was a common discussion within their household. Given that both of his parents were or are currently in a medical profession, they obviously knew what healthy foods to get, but no one was more persistent and adamant about it than Jacques.

"Buck up, son," Hector grumbled at the table. "It's not that serious."

Jacques huffed angrily. "It is a big deal, papa!"

Gabrielle rolled her eyes and sat beside her older sister Bernadette and the table. "God, could we go one day without hearing you and papa argue?"

God... if they could go one hour without arguing that would be a miracle...

Instead of arguing, there was awkward and tense silence, other than the sound of silverware moving around from eating.

Bernadette cleared her throat after a while. "So..." she mused, "I'm really excited to start my new job bartending."

Gabrielle smirked. "Does that mean I get free drinks?"

"No."

Fleur bit her lower lip. "I'm just worried that it's in a rough side of town."

Bernadette sighed and put her fork down. "Maman..."

"I know you'll be careful. It's not you I'm worried about, mon ange."

"It's the only job that'll take me," Bernadette reminded her. "I'm trying to pay my way through university."

"I would rather you focus on your education, dear."

"Didn't you and papa have to work through school?"

"Well, times are different now..."

"I mean, I'm not complaining-"

"Hector-"

"What?!" Jacques' father exclaimed. "If she wants to work, let her do it. Good for her." Jacques resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"May I be excused?" Gabrielle asked her parents.

Fleur frowned. "Are you okay? You haven't touched a thing."

"I'm not very hungry."

Bernadette pushed her plate away as well. "Yeah, me neither."

This was the final straw. "What is it with girls not eating?!" Jacques quite nearly shrieked. The entire table stared at him blankly. Hector eventually groaned and facepalmed at his son's reaction. Jacques shrunk a little in his seat and moved his food around on his plate like nothing out of the ordinary happened.

"Jacques," Fleur began softly, her voice dripping with concern. "Is everything-"

"Oui. Everything's fine. Some people eat, some people don't. It's fine, totally fine."

Bernadette turned to her parents. "He's not fine, something's up with him."

Fleur sent her a look. "Believe me, I can see that."

Jacques ignored his mother's comment and narrowed his eyes at his eldest sister. "Can you not talk about me like I'm not here?"

"It has to do with Josée," Gabrielle chimed in.

"Nobody asked you."

"Jacques, don't talk to your sister that way," Hector said sternly.

Of course, Jacques ignored him and fixed his eyes on Gabrielle. "How do you know if it has to do with Josée or not?"

"It always has to do with Josée."

Jacques looked to his mother for help, but she shrugged. "I mean, she's got a point, honey."

"Maman..." Jacques groaned. He rubbed his forehead in distress. Thus, he gave in: "Josée is worried about food, but she's obsessing more than usual. I'm really worried about her because she already restricts herself enough." He stabbed his food harshly and shoved it in his mouth. "I don't understand why she's being like this."

"Maybe because her dad left her before she was born and her mother is a psychotic rageaholic bitch."

"Hector!" Fleur exclaimed in horror, while Jacques' sisters snickered.

Hector wasn't phased in the slightest. "Oh come on, Fleur, let's be honest. That woman is pure evil. She's the reason I started drinking."

"Hector..."

"You can't deny she's a bitch."

Fleur was quiet for a moment. "Anyway," she started, wanting to get back to the topic at hand. "Josée is having trouble with regulating food? She could always go to us for medical advice if she needs help maintaining her weight." Bernadette and Gabrielle had left the table out of respect. They didn't need to be told that this was going into a much personal matter. "I thought she was already doing that. She just needs to be careful. I wouldn't want her to slip into dangerous territory."

Jacques nodded in agreement. "Oui. She shouldn't worry so much and be so obsessed over food."

Fleur bit her lower lip. "Um, Jacques..." she started hesitantly. "I also think you should take your own advice."

Jacques lifted a brow confusedly. "What are you talking about?"

His mother laughed nervously. "Ah, well..." she trailed off. "When it um... comes to your eating habits, well..."

"Son," Hector's voice boomed over the table. His wife was taking too long. "Your mother read your food diary the other day."

"Hector, please!"

Jacques gaped like a fish out of water and glared at his father. "First of all, it's a journal." This time, he glared at his mother. "Second of all, you looked through my things?!"

"I know, I'm sorry!" Fleur exclaimed, full of shame. However, her eyes were showing concern, and rightfully so. "But I'm glad I did, mon ange. What you're writing in there... it's not okay. The way you have details over every little thing you eat."

"Forgive me that I care about what goes through my body," Jacques snapped.

"Son," Hector started sternly, but it was a little softer than before. "You forget your mother and I went to medical school. We recognize these behaviors, and... it's not healthy."

"It's not like I'm starving myself or am trying to lose weight," Jacques insisted coldly. He got up from the table in a fury. "Never mind. But hey, I now know I can't trust anyone!" With that, he turned on his heel and stormed up to his room and slammed the door behind him. Of course his parents wouldn't understand.

This wasn't being "sick."

Josée was sure on that, or perhaps, something she had convinced herself quite well. This was... this was damage control, Josée insisted. Maman told her to do whatever it takes to keep her weight down; she was almost convinced that Jacques had trouble lifting her in practice the other day. So when she found herself stuffing her face consisting of junk after hardly eating anything all day today, she knew she had to take care of it.

Josée breathed heavily and flushed the contents of her stomach down the toilet and stumbled to get up from the bathroom floor. She held onto the side of the wall to gather her footing, after a while she slowly went over to the mirror to brush her teeth. The girl staring back at her was ashen pale, with dark circles under her eyes due to the hunger pangs keeping her up at night. After brushing her teeth, she gripped the sides of the sink in an effort to steady her breath.

Then, she glanced at the scale that still read the number from five minutes ago.

Josée kicked it frustratedly and stormed back into her room, letting out a muffled scream into her pillow while kicking the bed.

A week passed. Nobody dared to bring it up again. Josée was unusually quiet, but tried to keep up appearances. She was always good at that. Despite the fact that he would rarely see her eat full meals, she did occasionally grab a granola bar rather than the celery sticks, which was certainly better.

Still, the churning feeling in Jacques' stomach persisted, because he knew something didn't feel right. This was a quirk of hers, he tried to insist. But maybe there was something more to it, that it wasn't just her "watching what she ate" more. Jacques was waiting for a week. He was waiting for Josée to tell him something, that there was more to it. That she longed for him to help her out with whatever she was going through. He shouldn't have been too surprised though, since Josée would rarely ask him for help. Besides, nothing happened to indicate that there was a bigger problem lying underneath the surface, and Jacques felt like giving up all together.

Saturday was when it happened.

Because Josée and Jacques obviously didn't have school on the weekend, that was when their longest ice dancing private was with Isaac and the other choreographers. Josée's mother was out of town for business reasons, so that left her by herself. Despite the fact that Josée turned fifteen not too long ago, Jacques was still concerned about her being alone in a house all by herself. He checked up on her, and Josée would grumble over the phone that she was fine. But she sounded like she was a little out of breath, like she had been working out. Jacques tried not to think much of it, since even before this "diet" started she would work out.

It's just another Josée quirk; this was just an unexpected extension of said quirk.

Josée said she would meet him at the ice rink. Little did he know, he had no idea what he was going to see. He spotted her in the locker room dressed in leggings and a tank top getting her skates on, and his heart nearly stopped. Josée hadn't noticed he was there, but he for sure noticed her. She looked... pale. Sure, she was naturally pale, but... she seemed more pale than usual. There were dark eye bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept, and jeez... were her bones sticking out?

After some time of watching her struggle putting her skates on, Jacques made his way over to help. "Josée, let me..."

Smack!

"Ow!" Jacques exclaimed, retreating his hand and rubbing it. "What was that-"

"I'm fine! I'm not a baby, I can do it myself!" Josée snapped, finally managing to put her skates on. She stood up too quickly, clutched her head and groaned. Jacques was instantly at her side to help her, but she brushed him off. "I'm fine, Jacques. I can get up." Jacques didn't respond. After a few seconds, she found good balance and stalked over to the ice rink for their lesson. Jacques rushed after her with his own skates on.

"Are you sure you should skate today?" Jacques asked worriedly. "You're never off balance!"

"I wasn't off-balance," Josée sneered. "I was just..." she hesitated, "...gathering my thoughts."

"Gathering your thoughts about how you were off-balance?"

"No, gathering my thoughts about how my partner is being annoying!"

Now Jacques was getting frustrated. "Forgive me for caring!"

"Jacques, I swear to gold..." Josée warned, her temper already starting to flare. "Shut up!"

"Hey!" Isaac shouted from the side of the rink. Both Josée and Jacques turned to their coach who was frowning in disapproval. "We have a lot of work to go through for this routine, we have no time for arguments." Though there was a hint of concern in Isaac's eyes. Jacques knew that he knew that something was off with Josée. However, unlike him, Isaac wouldn't press on the matter. "Let's start from the back inside twizzle." Josée nodded quickly without saying a word, getting to her position. Jacques lingered after her frame for a few seconds. He didn't know if his eyes were deceiving him, but she looked less steady on the ice. He shook out of his thoughts and followed her.

One of the choreographers, a woman in her late twenties named Avril, whispered to Isaac: "Is she okay? Do you think it's because her mother isn't here?"

Isaac couldn't help but scoff. "Believe me, it would be a hell of a lot worse if she was here." Then, he spoke louder: "Okay, go!"

Josée and Jacques started with the back inside twizzle, and it was just a tad out of sync, but noticeable to the trained eye. Warning bells began to ring in Jacques' head, but continued the routine nonetheless. The next part of their dance Josée was supposed to be lifted as Jacques twirled her around gradually up to his shoulders. Throughout the entire routine so far, Josée hadn't looked at him once. When it came to ice dancing, this was a huge red flag. Communication was everything, and it was done by looking into the other's eyes. Hell, not just with ice dancing, but dancing in general.

There were either three things that was happening. The first that she was avoiding his eyes. The second being that she wasn't feeling well to look at him in the eyes. Then the third happened to be a combination of the two. Jacques figured it was the third option. Despite this, he kept going - he knew that if he stopped mid-routine Josée would have lost it on him, and he didn't need her more mad at her than she already was.

The moment that Jacques lifted Josée, it was a lot easier to lift her - like it had been the past week. Warning bells were turning into warning sirens. He started to spin reluctantly, gradually getting faster as he brought over his shoulders as she posed mid-air. Jacques set her down, and she wobbled on the ice for a few seconds before getting back in-hold position. Jacques broke eye contact just for a moment to see Isaac growing more concerned over Josée's unusual clumsiness. Then he looked back to see Josée had frozen on the spot with her eyes glazed over and staring into space, breathing heavily.

"Josée?" Jacques whispered into her hair. "Are you..."

Josée slowly turned to Jacques. "Jacjac..." she mumbled. "I... I don't-" She staggered on her feet.

Warning sirens were on full blast now.

"Jacques, catch her!" Isaac shouted. Right when Isaac ordered that, Josée's knees buckled over and Jacques caught her in the knick of time before she could hit the ice. He ignored the gasps from the other choreographers and skaters, carrying her bridal-style off the ice - he was right, she was far too light. Jacques looked at Isaac and Avril cluelessly on what to do next. "Lie her down on the floor." Jacques did so. Avril brushed the hair out of Josée's face. "Is she breathing?"

"Lightly," Avril said worriedly. She held one of Josée's hands. "She has a pulse... her hand is very clammy."

"I noticed that when we were dancing," Jacques asked, his voice panicked. "Do you need me to call my maman?! She was a nurse, she'll-"

"Yes go call her," Isaac advised, kneeling down beside Josée. As Jacques started to run to get his phone in the locker room, Isaac shouted: "Jacques, stay calm. She'll be okay." Jacques did not take this advice and therefore panicked more. Josée fainted. She fainted. And she almost fell and if he wasn't there she could've been hurt.

Jacques returned to the rink with his mother on the phone after informing her about Josée. "She'll be here in five minutes. Is Josée still breathing?" He asked Isaac and Avril.

"Yes."

"Yes." Jacques paused, then asked them: "No injuries right?"

"No."

"No." Another pause, then Jacques said to them: "Maman says try bringing her knees to her chest." Avril did so, bending Josée's knees and bringing them to her chest. Suddenly, Josée's eyes fluttered open and darted around the room. She was confused by the sounds of sighs of relief, then she realized she was on the floor, and got even more confused. Frowning, Josée tried to get back up, but Isaac wouldn't let her.

"Stay down," Isaac ordered sternly. "You just passed out. We're waiting for Jacques' mother to get here."

Josée blinked yet said nothing. Jacques knelt down next to her with fear in his eyes, holding her hand in both of his. "Josée..."

He didn't continue because his mother arrived, with apple juice. She shooed Isaac and Avril away and knelt down beside Josée. "Hi sweetheart." She handed the juice box to Josée. "Drink this. Your blood sugar is probably low."

Josée eyed it and shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine, I don't-"

"Sweetheart, it's not a request. Drink the damn juice." Josée sat there shocked at Fleur's assertiveness, usually that was only reserved for her own children. Josée sat upright, with Fleur supporting her back with her free hand. Josée took the juice box and slowly started to sip it. "When's the last time you had a full meal?"

"Yesterday night," Josée lied with ease.

Jacques' mother didn't believe that for a second. "Again. When's the last time you had a full meal?"

Josée pretended to think about it. "Fine. Yesterday afternoon." This time, she glared at Jacques. "At school. Jacques was there. He saw me eat a sandwich."

Fleur turned to her youngest, who still had fear in his eyes. "Is this true, Jacques?" Josée continued to glare at Jacques that said that he better lie.

So he did, while staring at Josée with total disbelief. "Oui. Every last bit of it." He saw her get a little relieved. It made his chest knot.

"Then I'm sure she could join us for lunch later."

"No thank you," Josée said right away, smiling like she did at the cameras. "Maman told me to stay home after practice and prepared for me to eat something healthy, don't worry. Fleur, you know that she doesn't like being disobeyed."

Fleur's lips were pressed together in thought. "I suppose you're right." She paused and looked over at Josée. "But we're taking you home. Understand? Speaking of..." She turned to Isaac and Avril. "We're cutting this lesson short."

Isaac nodded once. "Understood."

Josée's eyes grew wide in horror. "What?!" She shrieked. "I can still skate! Let me..."

"Non, chouchou!" Jacques exclaimed fearfully. "Save your strength!"

Isaac agreed. "Josée, I'm giving you and Jacques the day off."

"But-"

"No buts!"

"But-"

"Tut, tut, tut!" Isaac wouldn't hear it. "That's enough. You nearly fainted today. Go get some rest."

Josée groaned irritably. "Great."

Jacques' eyes cast down. Perhaps it wasn't just a quirk after all...

This Monday, instead of going directly to the rink after school Josée and Jacques set a much later time. This was because Josée's mother was still out on business, and frankly, didn't care to hear about how her daughter had fainted and that Jacques' parents made sure to call Josée every two hours to make sure she was okay. The point on was that she was set to arrive back at a much later time than usual, hence scheduling when Josée's mother would be available to judge their footwork on the ice.

Jacques didn't know how to feel about this. On one hand, he loved it, because it gave him time to spend with his boyfriend, which Josée was not-so-secretly annoyed about because she wanted to practice after school. Nathaniel was sort of a touchy subject, because while Josée didn't dislike Nathaniel - in fact, she tolerated him compared to most of the other boys Jacques had crushes on and girls that he was friends with - he was starting to cut into their ice dancing time, like Josée had feared.

On the other hand, Jacques was nervous for Josée, because she was a lot more nervous about her mother coming home because she knew that her mother would give her a tongue-lashing over fainting on the ice. There was also the fact that Josée's mother was ruthless when she watched them perform, but that was no secret. The amount of times Jacques saw Isaac roll his eyes aggressively and mutter a fair share of curses when she was there was almost impressive.

Right now, classes have ended, and Jacques was looking forward to spending time with Nathaniel. They had at least two hours. Jacques grinned when he spotted Nathaniel waiting by the exit doors. Once Nathaniel's eyes met his, Jacques felt the butterflies in his stomach.

Fantastic.

Jacques' hand slipped into Nathaniel's as they exited the building. "Mon amour..." Nathaniel stopped walking and cupped the side of Jacques' face, bringing him forward to kiss. It lasted around three seconds or so, before they pulled apart and started walking again. "I'm so excited to see you. You're always busy with ice dancing, which I totally get. When I found out you rescheduled when my theatre classes were, I've never been so happy."

Jacques' eyes lit up. "Oui. Stupide school for only making us see each other in science class."

Nathaniel laughed and leaned into him. "Tu me rends heureuse."

"Oui. You make me happy, too," Jacques agreed, smiling. This was nice. He needed a break from this, his head had hurt all week from thinking about Josée, maybe she would be fine, maybe-

"Jacques!"

Unfortunately he couldn't get away so easily.

Jacques and Nathaniel turned around to see Alice, Clara, and Rachel trying to catch up to them.

"Alice, please don't-"

"Shut up Rachel," Alice shut her down. Rachel sighed and sent Jacques an apologetic look. He took this as a warning for what was about to come. Alice turned back to Jacques with a smile faker than plastic. "We need to talk."

Jacques already knew what, or should he say, who this is going to be about. "Hmm? About what?"

"You know exactly what," Clara chimed in, well, more like grumbled. "It's about Josée." Out of the corner of Jacques' eye, he could see Nathaniel rolling his. "She has an issue."

Jacques started to grip Nathaniel's hand so harshly to the point where Nathaniel yanked it away. "What issue?" He was starting to get frustrated. He actually didn't think about Josée for a few seconds, but of course they just had to put this back in his head again. He felt Nathaniel put an arm around his waist. "Josée doesn't have any issues."

Alice scoffed in total disbelief. "You know what," she began, "I know that you worship the ground that your chouchou walks on, and you think that there are no faults with her, and you cherish... whatever the hell your relationship is with her... but you need to wake up and smell the coffee and realize that something serious is going on."

Rachel stared at Jacques' jaw clenched tightly. "Alice, please, maybe we shouldn't-"

"Do you see what she's doing?" Alice asked Jacques, as if Rachel hadn't spoke. "I've seen diets. I've been on a diet... you know, my whole non-dairy routine..."

Jacques shook his head, he didn't want to hear it. "Shut up Alice."

"This is different, Jacques, and you know it," Alice continued again, like she wasn't interrupted.

"Maybe he really doesn't know, did you ever think of that?" Nathaniel sneered at her.

"You have no part in this conversation, so you can kindly shut the fuck up," Alice hissed at the theatre student. Back to Jacques: "You know what's going on. You just don't want to believe this is actually happening and hope it'll go away on its own."

"Shut up," Jacques' voice was raised slightly. "You have no idea what you're talking about. You don't know her at all."

Alice crossed her arms. "You know, I vaguely remember someone telling me a few months ago about them being worried for Josée and how I was basically selfish for not being so concerned, but it seems like you're being selfish here."

...Oh. Oh no.

"Alice, stop it!" Clara yelled, seeing Jacques' darkened expression. "That's enough!"

"What?! I'm not wrong. I've tried to talk to Josée, you've tried to talk to Josée, Rachel has tried to... but the only person who hasn't - and conveniently the person that knows her better than the rest of us - is Jacques, because this is hurting him personally and he's making it about him!"

"It's not that big of a deal..." Jacques said angrily. Nathaniel tried to rub his back comfortingly. "It's just a..."

"Just a what, Jacques?" Alice spoke up fearlessly. "Just a quirk? You always say that Josée has quirks. This isn't a quirk, Jacques. Starving yourself isn't a quirk."

Beat.

...She had a point.

"I know it's not," Jacques said quietly.

Alice was glad that he admitted that at least. But she kept going: "She like, needs help or... she'll keep hurting herself and people will have to force feed her or something."

Jacques shook his head quickly. "Non, non... it wouldn't get that far-"

"Is that what you really think? You know how obsessive and extreme she can get."

Jacques sent her a warning glare. Rachel and Clara noticed his right fist was shaking. "You don't know anything about Josée."

"She's destroying herself, Jacques."

That was the final straw.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!" Jacques finally exploded. "God-" He cut himself off from swearing and tried to compose himself. He took two breaths and turned around to Josée's friends, who stared at him wide-eyed with shock. "Where is she?"

Rachel tried to deescalate. "She said she was going to walk home to finish some homework, she-"

"I'm sorry, walk home?!"

"Jacques, calm down!"

"Calm down?!" Jacques repeated, shrieking. None of them understood. How the hell could he be calm? "It would take an hour to walk to her house from here! She could be passed out in the middle of the-" Oh. Oh he had to go. He had to go right now. Ignoring the stinging pain of his hand, he took off without saying goodbye to Nathaniel.

There was always a next time.

He needed to do this now.

...God, why didn't he do this sooner?

There was no time to chastise himself. He pulled out his phone while he walked quickly, dialing Josée's number. "Come on, come on, come on, please pick up." It rang a few more times before Josée finally picked up. "Josée! Where are you?"

"...I'm walking home."

"Get on the metro stop closest to you."

"But it's good exercise!"

"Get on the metro stop closest to you," Jacques repeated, this time more assertively. "Nathaniel had to cancel plans. I'll meet you at your house."

"...Okay." Her voice was quiet, meek, and nothing like the Josée he knew. Jacques got on the metro as soon as he could, tapping his foot impatiently when he sat down.

Too many things were running through Jacques' mind. How was he supposed to approach this? Obviously he couldn't just outright ask, "Are you starving yourself?" Because while that was definitely true, she would lie about it, just like he lied to his mother on Saturday for her. She would be in denial, just like he was about the situation. Jacques felt the guilt well up inside him once more. But... maybe he should outright say it, because there was the chance she would feel cornered and finally come clean about her eating habits. But he didn't want her to feel pressured about it.

Jacques visibly groaned. Why was this so difficult?

Maybe... maybe he should go over his own eating habits, too. Maybe both of them could learn from this-

No.

Oh... God.

Jacques wish he could go back in time where food wasn't so freaking complicated. But that came with the profession, however there had to be a way to minimize the damage.

Ten minutes later consisting of careful thought, he was off the metro and stood right in front of Josée's house. He assumed that she had gotten to her house before she did had she listened to him and took the metro from where she was located. "Josée?" He called out, knocking on the door. There was no answer. Frowning, he tried again: "Josée?" He was starting to think that she had lied to him, that she was walking home.

That was until he heard retching from the other side.

Now Jacques was starting to panic like earlier. "Josée!" His knocking became more frantic. "Chouchou, let me-"

Jacques cut himself off as he processed the advice he was given the past few weeks. Isaac had told him to calm down, his mother told him to calm down, Josée's friends told him to calm down. It was all the same. He knew he had trouble thinking these things through; but Josée was in a serious crisis that he hadn't seen before. The ones that Jacques had seen before, whenever she had doubts or had a tantrum, he was always the calm one. He had to have the same approach when it came to something like this. He might not know what to do yet, but he knew how to calm her down.

Jacques looked down at the front mat. He was so freaked out that instead of knocking on the door like a madman that he forgot Josée kept a spare key under it whenever her mother was away. It was a bad quirk- Jacques stopped the thought at once. Quirk. He shuddered at the word. The word that got him into trouble in the first place. The word that made him think this was under control. He used the spare key and burst through the door. "Josée?" He brushed past the kitchen, which he couldn't help but notice had a massive amount of food left out on the table. He made his way to the bathroom door, which was locked. "Josée are you okay?!"

"Go away!" Josée screeched from the other side of the door. "How the hell did you even get in here?!"

"Leaving your key under the mat is a bad qu- habit," Jacques corrected at the last second. "Chouchou, you sound sick-"

"I'm not sick, leave me alone!"

Maybe she did need space, maybe she-

CRASH!

Yeah no.

Jacques took three large steps back and braced himself. He knew Josée's maman would kill him, but it was absolutely worth it. Jacques charged forward and slammed his back against the door. It creaked just a bit, but it wasn't breaking off like he hoped the door would. This time, Jacques repeats the action, despite the pain, and the door tumbles down. Jacques took the sight in front of him. There was a garbage can that was thrown into the bathtub that must've brought the curtains down with it.

And Josée was retching over the toilet with one finger in her throat, trying to induce vomit.

Jacques' eyes grew wide. "Josée! What are you doing?! Stop!" he cried out, reaching over to pull her away from the toilet. He grabbed her by the waist with one arm while trying to get her fingers away from her mouth. "Josée, stop it! You're going to-"

"No, no, no!" Josée screamed frustratedly. "I have to do this, I have to fix it-"

"Fix what?! You're hurting yourself!"

"It's not working, nothing's working!" Josée cried, tears streaming down her face. She stopped trying to make herself throw up and hiccuped violently. "I have to be thin and nothing's working! I'm a failure, I'm a failure, I'm a failure!"

Jacques tried to cup her face in his hands. "Non, Josée! That's not true! You are thin and healthy."

Josée shook her face away from him. "No I'm not! Mama says so... she wouldn't lie to me!" Then it Jacques' mind it clicked. There was no further explanation for what could have started all of this, he should've known. Upon finding out, he felt rage at first, but that was put to the side when he saw Josée's eyes dart frantically. "It's so..." Her eyes stopped to the scale that lied on the bathroom floor. The numbers were from earlier. It was then Jacques finally noticed how thin she was, and it was bordering on dangerous. In a sudden flurry of emotion, Josée got herself out of Jacques' grasp and grabbed the scale, letting out a scream as she banged it repeatedly on the sink. "It's not fair!" she yelled.

"Josée, stop!"

But she didn't listen, or - it was likely she didn't hear. Josée kept slamming that scale over and over on the sink until the numbers went away and threw it in the bathtub. She stood there and sunk to the floor and sobbed. Jacques sprung into action, a reflex within him since they were children, as he wrapped his arms around Josée's shaking frame. Unsurprisingly, she began to punch Jacques' chest repeatedly, which he absorbed. She eventually collapsed against his body and sobbed into his chest. Jacques rested his chin on the top of her head, trying to rub her back comfortingly. Eventually, Josée's sobs turned into small hiccups, and then she started to breathe slowly.

Josée had tired herself out.

Jacques knew ever since he was little he disliked Josée's maman. But now, in this very moment, he was sure that he didn't just hate her, no - he loathed her.

Jacques had carried her from the bathroom to the sofa. Twenty minutes after she raged herself to sleep, Josée still remained in Jacques' arms as he waited for her to wake up. It wouldn't be long, she was never asleep after these tantrums for longer than thirty minutes. What was she going to do when she woke up? Would she just shout again? Lose her temper? Would she snap at him? Be in total denial over what happened? Jacques had no idea where they stood.

It had been mostly quiet. The only thing that was heard was Josée's light breathing and her whimpering at least twice. When she did, Jacques hugged her a bit tighter and she would relax again. It wasn't common that breakdowns like these would happen, but when they did happen, they were extreme and from a distance seemingly unmanageable, however Jacques usually knew what to do.

Jacques was startled as Josée stirred in his arms. She hummed a bit, before opening her eyes to see that she was on the sofa, in Jacques' arms. It was then she assessed that it must have been a bad tantrum. She blinked and stared at Jacques, who sadly smiled at her. "Hi chouchou."

Instead of pushing him away like Jacques anticipated, Josée rested her head on the front of his shoulder. "I hate this, Jacjac," she muttered quietly, like she was ashamed of something. "I hate it so much."

"What do you hate so much?" Of course Jacques knew what she was referring to. Josée shifted uncomfortably in his arms and stared at her hands. She couldn't even look at him. Jacques felt his heart ache for her, but he knew that she needed to talk about this. There wasn't any more tiptoeing around it. He had to make her say it.

Jacques wasn't exactly sure in the moment what he expected her to say, but it most certainly wasn't this:

"Do you ever stare at yourself in the mirror and cry?"

Jacques felt like a piano was dropped on him when she asked that question. To be clear, Josée did have self-esteem issues now and then. The only physical aspect of herself that Josée was insecure about before her mother's intervention happened to be about her nose. Jacques would remind her how beautiful she was, how elegant she was. The fact that he heard Josée asked such a question was so heartbreaking.

It took one comment, one little thing, and Josée would take whatever her mother said seriously. When she took it seriously, it was serious and therefore it would turn extreme.

But it also made him do some self-reflection on what Josée had asked him. There were days where he had been... a little obsessive about his looks. There were days where he would cave and eat a sweet, despite that it rots your insides, and he hated himself for it. Whenever he looked at his reflection after eating a sweet he would see himself as ten pounds heavier when he knew it was obviously not the case. His parents - health experts - would repeatedly assure him that one sweet wasn't going to kill him, but he would end up going to the gym to burn it off excessively.

In this moment he realized two things.

The first was that yes, he did have a problem with food, and so did she.

The second was that this was exactly how he was going to go on about it. He had to open up, too.

It was worth a try. "Oui, sometimes I get very upset with the way I look," Jacques answered calmly. "I don't like what I see sometimes." Josée sat a little more upright, shocked at the revelation, until settling back into his shoulder again as he continued, "I'd do whatever I could to change this part of me that... hates myself. Because it isn't healthy."

Josée nodded in agreement, her eyes sad. "Yeah..." she said, her voice hurt. "I just don't know what to do. It's just this cycle of not eating, and when I cave and stuff my face, I try to get rid of it, and..." she broke off, a tear sliding down her cheek. "It won't stop. I'm so tired."

"Josée," Jacques began firmly, but gentle. "Do you want to stop?"

Josée hesitated. She reached into her pocket and took out bun-bun and rubbed her thumbs along it. It seemed to make her feel a bit better. "I don't know," she admitted softly. Jacques nodded at the answer for now. It was better than a 'no.' She looked away from bun-bun to Jacques with a fearful expression. "I don't think I can do it alone."

Jacques hummed a little to himself. "Me neither," he agreed. Josée furrowed her brows in confusion, but Jacques went on: "I have been thinking about this lately. You were right. I do write in that book a lot, and I want to stop. I think you want to stop too, but you're afraid to do it by yourself." Josée thought about it, before nodding slowly. "Good. I think... I think we could come up with an arrangement. We can have healthier eating habits. My maman offered to help. We don't have to obsess over our diets."

"Really?" Josée asked, relief filling her voice. She snuggled closer to him. "That would be wonderful, Jacjac, but... I'm not sure it will be easy."

She was right. It wouldn't be easy in the slightest. But they were the best team, they could get through anything. Even something as... complicated as this. Jacques knew that, and he knew that Josée knew it as well.

"One step at a time, chouchou," Jacques said, as he kissed the top of her head. "One step at a time."

Chapter Text

Chapter 4- Lurking in the Distance (What a Feeling)

Many months pass after many gold medals and trophies, ice dancing season was about to come to an end for Josée and Jacques. From May to July was off-season, where figure skaters mainly participated in ice shows, which were non-competitive events sorely for entertainment purposes. They were undefeated this season in their junior division, so the ice skating union was starting to keep a closer eye on the pair.

In regards to World Championships for ice dancing, Canada had taken over full storm. Because while Josée and Jacques were the leading junior team, Leo and Liv were the adults on the senior team and were mostly undefeated with the exception of the olympics. Leo and Liv had participated, but had placed silver. However, this was quite impressive for them since they were both twenty-two and the team from Russia were in their late twenties and were far more polished.

"No, no, no! Absolutely not," Josée complained in disapproval, holding up the costume to Isaac in his office. Despite popular belief, Josée and Jacques did not have that much artistic freedom when it came to designing and creating their own costumes. They usually had to consult someone for that. Josée was highly annoyed because they weren't "babies" and that she and Jacques could do it themselves. There were also instances, such as this one, where they would get sponsors to pay them to show off their designs. This costume that came into today that Josée was set to wear in an ice show. Jacques had been quiet when she went on about how awful it was.

When Josée stopped ranting, Isaac sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Are you finished now?" He was not at all phased by her behavior in the least, as this has happened many times before. To be honest, he was mostly surprised that she hadn't trashed his office yet. "So let me get this straight," he started off calmly, "You're upset because of a custom-design, specifically for you, that the designer put all of their time and energy into?"

"It isn't even the right shade of pink I wanted!" Josée exclaimed in horror, pointing at it repeatedly. "Look. Now when Jacques and I get out there, we'll look like idiots."

"Josée, the costumes are fine-"

"Shut up Jacques."

"Oh..."

Josée turned back to Isaac with a furious expression. "If you could just let us design more of our own costumes, that would be great."

"Josée," Isaac started off sternly. "You don't want to hear this, but figure skating is a business first. All of it, it's a business. Artistry comes later. The more sponsorships you get, the more money you get, and the more money you get, the more attention and fame you get cheering you both on to win. What you're doing now isn't how the figure skating world works. You don't get to cry until you get a new costume."

"But-"

"The answer is no."

"Ugh!" Josée groaned and crossed her arms. "Fine! But when we get tomatoes thrown at us at the ice show coming up, I'm blaming you."

"I assure you, nothing bad will happen just because it's not the shade of pink you wanted."

Josée felt her temper slowly slipping away from her. She opened her mouth to say something, but decided it against it. She grabbed Jacques' arm instead and dragged him out of the office with one hand while holding the costume with the other. When she let go of Jacques she gave his office door mighty slam as she stormed off. "Unbelievable."

Jacques followed behind her. "What do you mean?"

"Isaac is a lot nicer when he lets me do things my way."

"But he doesn't." Correction - Isaac doesn't let her get away with acting like a diva.

"I know right? It's awful. Just like this costume!"

"I'm sure you'll look fine in it, chouchou," Jacques said sweetly.

"Allo Jacques! Josée!" The ice dancers turned around to see Rachel on the rink waving to them. The blonde skated toward them with a sunny smile. "My axels are getting so much better. How are you guys doing?" Rachel saw Josée roll her eyes, and that told her all she needed to know. "Oh what happened?"

Josée opened her mouth to complain, but hesitated when she realized who was in front of her. She could very well tell her the truth about how a custom-design wasn't exactly what she wanted, that was probably expensive, and would bring in a lot of money for her and Jacques through sponsorships that Rachel could be getting. She knew that Rachel was significantly disadvantaged when it came to costumes. Josée could very well say that she was annoyed that she wasn't getting her way.

But she didn't. "Just... I found out that, um... literature class," Josée lied. She ignored the strange look Jacques was giving her as she grew more confident in her lie. "I just remembered I had something for literature class that I need to do."

"Do you want me to do it?"

Josée smiled sweetly. "No thank you, Rachel. I've got it." Her smile faded. "I'll see you later."

"Au revoir!" Rachel called out happily.

"Au revoir!" Jacques repeated back as he and Josée started to walk away. Once he was out of earshot, he smiled at Josée teasingly. "You have a soft spot for Rachel."

Josée scowled at him. "No I don't." Jacques stared at her doubtfully. "I don't." It was silent for a few seconds, before Josée sighed in defeat. "Okay, she can't help being poor. At least she's trying to make an effort to dance and skate, unlike the others in dance class. She doesn't deserve the hate. I'm just a bitch, so it's different."

Jacques' smile vanished. "Chouchou, you're not a bitch!" He nearly exclaimed. "You're ah... high maintenance."

Josée raised an eyebrow. "You just called me a bitch with fancy words."

"Would a bitch spare Rachel's feelings from being hurt?"

"No..."

Jacques grinned. "See? High maintenance."

Josée let out a tiny grin back and rolled her eyes fondly. "Alright, you have a point." However, she and Jacques stopped grinning when they both felt a very ugly presence. Outside the rink they ran into Leo and Liv, both of whom were smoking their cigarettes.

"Is that Josée and Jacques?" Liv said mockingly, in a condescending voice. "How wonderful to see you! Congratulations on your latest competition win, it seemed like such a fluke though. The judges at junior competitions have gone soft over the years." She and Leo gave them venomously sweet smiles. Of course Josée and Jacques knew better.

"Thank you," Josée replied, matching her tone. "Congratulations again on silver at the olympics, I personally wouldn't be caught dead with that."

Leo scoffed. "Don't hold your breath."

"You won't be able to if you keep smoking those cancer sticks," Jacques countered, earning a snicker from his partner. "Really unhealthy."

Liv took note of Josée. "Oh, it's hilarious that you're laughing about that, considering that you're looking unhealthy. How's the diet going?" Josée and Jacques' grins disappeared after that. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

Jacques stepped in front of Liv. "Take that back," he hissed.

"Ooh, Liv. You hit a touchy subject." Liv smirked as Leo snickered. "Who's laughing now?"

"I don't know, I find it pretty funny that you got silver," Josée pointed out.

"I find it pretty funny that... oh, what's this?" Liv snatched the costume from Josée's hands and observed it. She burst into hysterical laughter. "Oui! I find this funny. That you have the confidence to wear that. I mean, considering..." Liv gestured to Josée's body. "That. To be fair, I wish I could let myself go like you have."

Jacques looked over to see Josée had tears welling up in her eyes. Naturally, Leo and Liv got a kick out of it. "Oh are you going to cry?" Leo mocked. "Are you a baby?"

Suddenly, Isaac appeared. "Is there a problem?" Leo and Liv raised their eyebrows at Josée and Jacques' coach. Isaac turned to Josée, who's eyes were watering. "Josée?" The fifteen-year-old shook her head violently and ran off - presumably behind the building - so no one would see her cry. Isaac turned to Leo and Liv and flashed them a nasty look. "Olympic medalists or not, you don't ever make one of my students cry. If you're going to smoke those disgusting cigarettes and not skate, leave the building." Leo and Liv put out their cigarettes - that were mostly done anyway - and wordlessly exited. This left Jacques and Isaac alone. "Go find her."

Jacques nodded gratefully. "Merci, Isaac." He went behind the building to see Josée sniffling. He leaned down beside her. "Chouchou, they're wrong. Hey, look at me." Josée did, as Jacques wiped the tears with his thumbs and gently cupped her face. Josée noticed the seriousness in his eyes. "They're wrong." Josée nodded slowly that she understood. Jacques brought her in for a hug, which she gladly accepted. "You won't be anything less than perfect to me."

The first ice show off-season was today. Josée and Jacques were set to go on in thirty minutes. They could perform this routine in their sleep, backwards, or both simultaneously. It wasn't about that. They knew they were going to ace it. The issue happened to be the costume. Oh, not the color - at least not this time - but the fact that Josée was having trouble getting into the costume. It was strange, because it did fit two days ago.

"It's not fitting, it won't zip all the way it... we have to be on in thirty minutes!" Josée's breathing began to get harsher in the back room where performers and their coaches waited, along with costume designers and parents if needed. Josée turned around with her head to face Jacques with fear in her eyes. "Please, Jacjac. Why isn't it fitting!?"

Jacques shook his head. "It's not that you don't fit, the zipper is stuck."

Isaac tried to reassure her. "Josée, it just won't zip up a little bit, it's not that noticeable." Josée's breathing was starting to worsen and swatted Jacques' hands away. "Don't worry. You will skate wonderfully, oh-" he cut himself off when Josée started to hyperventilate.

"Maman's... going to be... upset," Josée barely managed to breathe out. "All my fault... and this stupide costume." She started to fan her face excessively to try and dry the tears from her eyes, preventing it from ruining her makeup. "Is there a spare costume or something?!" Jacques guided Josée to the corner of the room, with Issac following behind them. "This is bad, Jacjac. It's all my fault..."

"Breathe, chouchou," Jacques ordered gently. He held her hands in his as she took in a shuddering breath. "Everything's going to be fine..."

"Jacques, where will I find your mother? The audience?" Jacques nodded at Isaac's question while keeping his eyes on Josée. "Great. I'll be back soon."

It took less than five minutes to retrieve Jacques' mother, who had a brown paper bag just in case and handed it over to Josée. "Deep breaths, sweetie. There you go." Josée breathed heavily into the paper bag until it evened out. "Let me see what I could do. Josée, try sucking in."

"Try not to rip it!"

"I'm trying, dear. Suck in." Josée did so, and Jacques' mother managed to pull the zipper all the way up. Josée felt relief wash over her body. Fleur shooed Jacques away so she was standing in front of Josée and tilted her chin up so she was looking at her. "No need to get into a frenzy, mon ange." Josée let out a tiny grateful smile and nodded. She turned to Isaac and Jacques and rolled her eyes. "There's two of you and you couldn't fix a zipper?"

"Maman..."

"I swear if I wasn't here all hell would break loose," Fleur told her son. However, she hugged him, and later Josée. "You both will be magnifique. Good luck."

"Merci, Fleur."

"Merci, maman." With that being said, Jacques' mother made her way back to the audience.

Isaac looked at the pair. "You're about to be called up after this performance. Are you two ready?" Josée and Jacques exchanged a look, smiled, and nodded. "Wonderful."

Josée took out bun-bun and kissed it once, before handing it over to Isaac. "Make sure you rub it so we do well!"

Jacques scowled. "I still can't believe Isaac can hold your rabbit's foot but I can't."

"Isaac won gold at the olympics twice!" Josée protested defensively. Then, she looked back at her coach again, who had raised eyebrows. "Isaac, please."

Their coach was very aware of Josée's superstitious streak - no matter how much she tried to deny it - though he couldn't bring himself to tell her that a rabbit's foot bringing good luck was only a myth. He did try to encourage for her to be more confident in her skating than assuming a rabbit's foot was contributing greatly to all of that.

It made him a little sad, but Isaac took the rabbit's foot anyway. "Of course, Josée."

"Our next skaters have won two world junior championships in a row, two junior grand pix championships in a row, two national junior championships in a row, and have been undefeated this season! Please welcome, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont from Montreal, Quebec!"

Josée and Jacques were cued to skate gracefully across the ice, smiling widely to the cheering audience, who were screaming their names. They took their position in a waltz-hold and waited for the music to start and the audience to simmer down. Once they did the music started, with Josée and Jacques waltzing on the ice. Josée was lifted just a bit off the ice and did a simple turn before she and Jacques collectively did a camel spin. After stopping the camel spin they waltzed around more before Jacques suddenly lifted Josée again using one arm under her back while holding her free hand and spun her around while her legs were stuck together in a straight line. With every spin, Josée gradually put her legs over his shoulders and then gradually came back down, with Jacques still holding her back and holding Josée's free leg that was completely straight.

Both of them separated and did a twizzle while the audience clapped appreciatively. As Jacques skated forward and Josée skated backward, the latter eventually stopped so Jacques could catch up. They simultaneously stuck their left leg out with a hand on the other's heart, while their other arm was outward and lifted to salute the audience, which they clapped and cheered at. The next part, however, was going to outshine all the other performers. Josée put her foot on Jacques' bent leg while he supported it, performing a curved lift. It was incredibly difficult due to the fact that the female skater had to be careful not to injure the male dancer's leg with their skate. Followed by that was Jacques spinning Josée around again, but he held her legs which were spread on the side of his shoulder while her arms were extended.

Once they were finished, the audience broke into applause at their routine. Josée and Jacques bowed to them and waved, smiles plastered on their faces as they exited the rink.

"See! Mon chou," Jacques told her, still smiling. "We were magnifique."

Josée smiled back weakly. "I think so. I just hope maman didn't hear about the costume mishap." Speaking of Josée's mother, she showed up along with Isaac and Jacques' mother, who looked a lot more impressed compared to her. "Allo, maman! Did you hear our fans cheering for us?"

"Hmm, oui," Josée's mother answered, with a serious expression. "They were distracted by their cheering that they didn't see you have a slightly bent leg for the camel spin."

Josée looked resigned. "Oh. I'm sorry, maman."

Fleur laughed nervously at the sudden awkwardness and cleared her throat. "Well I think you two were just wonderful," she said sweetly.

"I agree," said Isaac. "If this was a competition, you would definitely win gold." Josée smiled appreciatively while her mother looked less than pleased. Isaac went on, "I don't want to alarm both of you, but you have a ton of reporters and cameras out there... there are some fans out there, too."

Josée and Jacques' eyes lit up at the last part. "The crowd is that big?"

"Extremely. Are you both ready?" Josée and Jacques nodded that they were, and already prepped their smiles, bracing themselves before they stepped out into the crowd. Josée grabbed Jacques' hand right away, he squeezed it back in support, taking a breath in as Isaac opened the door...

...Mayhem.

Josée and Jacques suddenly wished they had brought sunglasses, with the amount of cameras flashing in their faces. Some earplugs would've been wonderful too, with the way that people were screaming their names, presumably from those adoring fans of theirs. As they made their way through the crowd, Josée and Jacques smiled and waved at all of them, blowing kisses as the cameras, and eventually stopped to answer all the questions that were thrown in their direction while signing autographs.

"Merci!" Josée called out when a reporter told her how beautiful their performance was. There was a follow-up question about what their plans were next. "Oh, we're probably going to do more ice shows in the future, so stay on the look-out for that."

"Do you think you'll perform somewhere in New York again?"

Jacques laughed a little. "We hope so."

"Who designed your costumes?!"

Josée and Jacques ignored the more... inappropriate comments and questions that were directed at them, and Isaac decided this was the moment where they would have to push through the crowd to get back home. Once they did, it was absolute chaos. More shouts from the crowd than ever before took over, and Josée was starting to feel claustrophobic, Jacques could tell. Josée quite nearly shrieked when a reporter laid a hand on her shoulder, resulting Jacques to smack it away while bringing Josée in closer.

"Chouchou, are you okay?" Jacques whispered, to which Josée nodded very slowly. He didn't believe her. "We're almost there, Josée."

"God, can you believe this is every kid's dream?" Isaac grumbled to one of the choreographers, referring to the swarm of people. He shook his head. "It's too much." They managed to get into the vehicle. Jacques and Josée took the backseat while fans waved at them through the windows. Jacques smiled and waved back and them, but Josée still looked a little freaked out by the incident from earlier.

"Josée, for the love of gold," her mother snapped from the front. "Eat the pain and smile."

Grin and bear it.

Josée obeyed, matching Jacques' sunny expression waving goodbye as they took off.

Madame Lizette was in a terrible mood and was taking it out on most of the dancers that were probably too strung out and tired to pay attention in class today. Jacques and Josée were in the minority in the case where they did understand the steps.

"Non, c'est faux!" Madame Lizette snapped after the group failed to do the sequence again. "You keep forgetting it's step step sauté arabesque. You're all doing step sauté arabesque instead of two steps after the five fouettés, which most of you butchered miserably." Madame Lizette walked to the front of the class. "From the top!" After every fouetté turn, she snapped her finger, and some students still couldn't do it. "Non!" Her eyes scanned the room for a pair that had gotten it right from the start. "Jacques and Josée, your moves are sharp in comparison to everyone else's. Please demonstrate for them."

Josée could hear the groans coming from the older dancers, but she didn't care. She smiled brightly and made her way to the front of the room, along with Jacques. Madame Lizette began to count down. Josée and Jacques effortlessly did the fouettés followed by the correct sequence of the two steps and the sauté followed by the arabesque. "Merci." Josée and Jacques returned to their spots as Madame Lizette went on: "If this were an audition, they would've gotten the callback while the rest of you would've been cut."

There was a knock on the door. Madame Lizette visibly groaned when she saw one of her superiors motioning that something had come up. "Wonderful," she muttered bitterly. With that, she turned to the rest of the class. "Work on the combination while I'm gone. Jacques and Josée, lead the class." She exited shortly.

"No way," one of the twelfth graders snapped after their teacher left. "I'm not listening to a ninth grader and an eleventh grader."

"But we were the only ones that could the sequence," Jacques argued. "We're just showing you how we do it."

Yasmine scoffed. "Remember when seniority was a thing here? Never thought we'd be forced to take orders from a ninth grader."

Josée crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. "This ninth grader was able to do the fouetté turns and the following sequence without any trouble at all. Just because you're older doesn't mean you're better."

"It's called a totem pole," Yasmine retorted. "Just because you're good doesn't mean you get to cut in front of everyone older than you."

"Actually, I think it does."

"God, you're such a baby."

Jacques tried to step in between the two bickering girls. "That's enough." Alas, he was ignored.

Josée felt her blood starting to boil. "You know, I wouldn't mind helping you Yasmine if you weren't such a bitch." People gasped at the swear. Rachel tried to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but the ice dancer shrugged it off roughly. "I guess your turns will be ugly forever."

Yasmine didn't take those words kindly. "Ugly? Like that nose of yours?" People started to laugh.

"How dare you speak to Josée like that!" Jacques spoke angrily in defense of his partner.

"She started it!" Yasmine retorted, glaring at the male ice dancer. "You let her get away with her insulting me?"

"This is ridiculous," Josée snapped, rolling her eyes. "I was just told to help you learn the sequence because you can't apparently. If I could get back and do this better after a performance yesterday night, then you could too! I'm tired of pulling your weight!" At this point, Josée was shouting and Jacques bit his lip nervously in the potential direction this could go in.

"You have a lot of nerve coming after my weight, vous vache!" Yasmine shouted back.

"I'M NOT THE COW, YOU'RE THE COW!" Josée screamed in Yasmine's face and raised her fist, but Jacques pulled her back just before she could strike her in the face. Coincidentally, Madame Lizette returned and slammed the door angrily upon seeing no one working.

"What is going on?!" Madame Lizette hollered, her eyes wide with unfathomable fury. "You were all supposed to be working on the sequence!"

"We were!" Josée yelled, her temper long gone. "But apparently seniority is more important so no one would bother listening to the stupid ninth grader!" Without even thinking, Josée grabbed her belongings and started to storm out of class. She heard Jacques trying to call her name, but Madame Lizette wasn't having it.

"Jacques, stay here."

"But..."

"She needs to cool off."

SLAM!

Josée slammed the door and let out a muffled scream into her bag. For once could they maybe appreciate her? She did that dance flawlessly and no one would listen to her. They had too much of their stupid pride to listen to some lowly ninth grader like her. Josée turned around to face the door of the dance class, spat on the floor in disgust, and stormed off. She might as well leave. They didn't deserve her help. Why should she help people that didn't care about her? She could easily help Rachel after school, the only one besides Jacques that actually gave a damn about her feelings. She-

Oh!

When Josée had turned the corner, she accidentally bumped into someone, nearly knocking them over in the process. Josée groaned in annoyance and rubbed her shoulder while the other person winced. "Watch where you're going!" Josée snapped at the figure, without quite looking at them yet as she was focused on her own injury.

"No, you watch where you're going!" Josée openly her eyes in surprise that it was a male voice, and saw that it was a boy she had seen before. She couldn't quite place it. He was holding what looked like a clarinet in his hand and looked visibly angry. "This is expensive and probably cost more than most people's lives!"

Josée narrowed her eyes at him. "Oh, I'm sorry that I hurt your precious clarinet!"

The boy gaped at her, offended. "It's not a clarinet," he hissed. "It's an oboe! There's a distinct difference between the two. Would you like it if I compared dancing to just moving around?" Josée blinked at him and then shook her head. The boy must've seen her expression and sighed. "Je suis désolé... I just left my orchestra class. It's got me in a terrible mood."

Josée snorted in agreement. "You're not the only one." Then, his face got a little clearer to her. "Oh, you're in my Literature class."

"That I am." It look like recognition sprung in his eyes as well. "I'm Claude Rousseau," Claude introduced himself curtly. "You're Josée right? You're in dance?" Josée nodded, not at all surprised that he knew her name, but was surprised that he mentioned dance class and not ice dance. "Nice to meet you. Sorry again, by the way. I had to leave my class because my classmates are unbearable."

Josée grinned at that. "Don't worry, I know the feeling all too well."

Claude smiled at her grin. "Some people don't know true talent even if it hit them in the face."

This time, Claude earned a laugh from her. "Very true. I was just trying to help them." Josée proceeded to explain the situation, despite the fact that she was sure they both loathed each other not even a few minutes ago. Now, Josée wasn't so sure, but nonetheless: "I don't mean to brag, but I am one of the best dancers in my class. Even as a ninth grader, I'm better than all the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders. Jacques and I... we were the only ones that could do this step, but they refused to listen to me because it should go by seniority, according to them." She rolled her eyes at the last part. "It's so ridiculous."

"Absolutely!" Claude agreed. "I'm the principal oboist in orchestra, and the only ninth grader wind instrumentalist there. I have to keep the orchestra in tune. The other woodwinds wouldn't listen to me, even though I have perfect pitch and that I've been playing since I was four. Then we had to play this piece, and I had a huge solo, and the other instruments were overpowering my solo even though it's marked that they have to play softer, it's like they're trying to drown me out on purpose."

"Oh! And then they get paranoid when you call them out, right?" Josée exclaimed.

Claude's eyes lit up. "Exactly. I mean, 'I'm sorry that I actually follow the markings and do what I'm told.' They're so immature."

"It will all pay off when we're out of here and in the real world," Josée pointed out. "It's amazing how they call themselves artists but get involved in petty nonsense, instead of working on their talents, you know, what they're allegedly here for."

"Yes. It's all pointless drama that won't matter."

He was... interesting. Josée leaned against the wall and stared at the instrument in his hand. "You said you didn't get to play your solo," she remarked. "Do you mind if I hear it? I don't think I've ever heard an oboe before."

"Yes you have." Josée furrowed her brows in confusion. Then, to her surprise, she found out she had heard it before. Claude started to play the instrument, a familiar tune from her childhood that lasted a minute. It was absolutely lovely. Once he finished, she smiled. "That's Peter and the Wolf," she said knowingly. Claude smiled back at her for recognizing it. "The duck was my favorite part."

"Here's the solo that I was trying to play." Claude licked his reed and began to play the solo, and Josée once again recognized it. It was one of the most beautiful sounds she had ever heard in her life.

"Jacques and I danced to that song once," Josée told him, realizing that she had been smiling for quite some time now.

"Ice dancing? Right?" Josée stared at him blankly in surprise. Claude shook his head fondly. "I've known you were an ice dancer the moment you walked into literature class. I've seen you skate before, you're really good." This... was news. Not the part about her being good at ice dancing, of course she knew that. The part where Claude didn't immediately open up and point out that she was a semi-famous ice dancer. "I have to say though, you're a lot different in person than you are on camera. Shy, even."

Josée avoided his eyes and ran a hand through her hair. "I get that a lot."

"It's actually really refreshing."

"Oh how on earth is that a good thing?"

"It shows that you're human," Claude explained. "I... struggle with that sometimes."

Josée blinked confusedly. "I think you're human. I get you, I guess. People really are talentless hacks. You're... you're not one of them. You play nice."

"You're not so bad yourself with the way you dance."

She didn't know what to make of him. "I should go, but..." She met his eyes. Her point still stood, his eyes were very nice. "We should talk more," she insisted. "You get it."

"Oui," Claude agreed.

She really didn't know what to make of him. "I'll... see you in Literature class."

Josée couldn't focus.

Jacques knew that very well. When something was on Josée's mind, he could read her like a book. As soon as he saw her at lunch, he saw it in her eyes that something had changed. He was sure that it had something to do with what happened in dance class today, but Josée insisted that wasn't the case. She refused to speak on it. Then, when they got to the ice, Jacques was sure that this was somewhat of a big deal, whatever it may be, because Josée had been oddly quiet.

Then an awful thought came to mind that he hadn't thought of. What if... what if she relapsed? Lately she had been on the receiving end of comments about her weight, even though she was at the perfect size, from older jealous petty dance girls and petty ice dancers. What if they had pushed her? He only saw her briefly at lunch.

"Josée," Jacques began, right after they finished their routine for the fifth time. "Did you eat today?"

Beat.

"What?" Josée asked incredulously. "Yes. Why do you ask?"

Jacques bit his lower lip. "Um..." he hesitated. It's not that he didn't trust her. To be fair, there were other things on Jacques' mind to really pay attention to Josée lately, something about himself that he was curious about. Now his situation he obviously knew had to do with what he saw in dance class, but he didn't want to think about that at the moment. He mentally cursed himself, thinking that he could neglect his best friend like that. "You've been quiet."

"That doesn't mean I'm starving myself."

Jacques shouldn't have been surprised that she was blunt after so many years, yet he was every single time. "Right... okay. I'm just making sure. I care about you."

"...Thanks," Josée mumbled.

It was quiet for a few seconds. Jacques spoke up again. "Is-"

"I ran into someone," Josée confessed suddenly, without looking at him.

Jacques blinked slowly and raised a confused eyebrow. "Um, okay," he said, unsure of what this meant.

Josée nodded and continued, "Yes. After I stormed out of dance, I ran into someone."

"Did they hurt you? Because whoever did I will hunt them down and..."

"No."

Jacques' eyes grew wide. "Did you hurt them?"

"No," Josée groaned. "I wanted to at first, but I didn't-"

"Ah, Josée, I am so proud of you!"

"Jacques, shut up. Can you let me finish?!" Jacques became quiet. "Thank you. It wasn't like that, it... it was strange. I actually got along with him, he-"

"Him?" Jacques' interest was piqued.

"Oui, now as I was saying..."

"You've met a boy that you've got along with?" Josée gave him a glare that told him to stop talking. "Ah... sorry."

"Merci. Yes. He's in orchestra and plays the oboe. It was very nice. Remember the Peter and the Wolf music your maman had us listen to? That was the duck part! The oboe."

"Your favorite part," Jacques said knowingly.

"Oui," Josée went on, "It was a nice conversation. I liked his company. I know him from my Literature class but I never really paid attention to him... up until now."

Jacques gave her a teasing smirk. "Ah, Josée! Do you have a crush on a boy?"

"No," Josée groaned again, oddly defensive. "It's not like that. I'm not like Alice where everything has to be about boys. I just... I got along with someone. He could be a potential friend, it feels like it. It also helps that he truly appreciates my talents."

"Well you do deserve to be appreciated, chouchou."

Josée smiled at him. "I know. Those stupide dancers don't know talent."

"So..." Jacques mused. "You have to tell me what his name is."

"His name's Claude. I think you would like him. He's very talented and cares about his passion, I could tell. He's kind of like Alice in that sense, except he's not crazy about romance like she is. He also has people who don't appreciate him. He's one of the best musicians in his orchestra class and they won't listen to his input, it's awful! This whole seniority thing... it should be banished."

Jacques... wasn't so sure about that first part. Truthfully, he was still hung up on the fact that Josée was getting along with another boy that wasn't himself. Which was strange, because, Jacques couldn't help feeling a bit off about it. Yes, even though this was Josée, and that the circumstances were different, he found it odd that he felt odd about this. This only lead him to more questions about himself that he didn't quite understand, but more on that later.

"Oui, we should banish seniority, eh?" Jacques said, grinning a little. "You are the best."

"Clearly," Josée agreed. Before he could ask any more questions, Jacques phone began to chime loudly from one of the seats on the rink. The female ice dancer rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Jacques, I thought I told you to put it in the locker room since no one else is here."

Jacques didn't reply to her as he picked up the phone. "Allo? Nathaniel! Oui..." Hesitation spread across Jacques' face as he listened to what his boyfriend was saying. "Ah, but you know I'm at practice, I..." He looked at Josée. "She's right here. Oui. Hold on." Jacques covered the phone with his hand. "Ah, Josée..."

"He wants you to hangout with him."

It wasn't a question. "I can say no."

"It's fine."

Jacques raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"You can go." Josée's expression was unreadable. "I need time alone, anyway. I have a lot to think about." Jacques would've liked to say that sometimes it was dangerous for her to be alone with her own thoughts, but decided against it. "Jacques, I mean it. Go. But you have to pick me up later. Maybe an hour?"

Jacques smiled. "Of course, chouchou."

Nathaniel was... breathtaking, wonderful, and made Jacques' world balanced. He met Nathaniel in tenth grade when they had math together, and they started off as good friends. As the school year progressed, Jacques found himself gushing about the theatre boy. Sure, he's had crushes on other boys before, and even had a boyfriend before Nathaniel that were very short-lived - mostly because during those times he hadn't come out to the press yet - but Nathaniel was different.

"Is everything okay, Jacques?"

And he had quite the ability to read his mind.

Jacques was laying down comfortably across Nathaniel's lap on his bed while the latter ran a hand through his hair. Normally Jacques was picky about who could touch his hair, but after several months with Nathaniel, he decided he was the exception - along with one other person, of course. "Oui. I noticed something in dance class." Nathaniel hummed a bit to show that he was listening. "Do you think... it's possible to find girls attractive too?" Nathaniel stopped petting his head immediately as Jacques went on: "I mean, I know I like guys, I definitely do, but..."

"Where is this coming from?" His tone was a little different than before. Almost cold, even.

Jacques shrugged. "In dance class, I just noticed a dancer was pretty to look at. I just appreciated her beauty, that's all. I'm asking, hypothetically, if it would be possible to be like women? Even if you like guys."

Nathaniel hesitated for a second, then laughed and resumed his petting. "Don't be silly, Jacques. You're definitely gay. I would know."

"No, I know that I'm gay," Jacques insisted, though he felt somewhat uncomfortable. "I'm saying... hypothetically."

"Well..." began Nathaniel, "Most of the guys I've been with that said they liked women and men, just eventually ended up being gay. It's kind of like a transition some gay guys go through so they could still feel accepted by people by being seen with a woman." Jacques stared at him confusedly, but Nathaniel laughed it off. "But you don't have to worry about that." He pressed a kiss onto his lips.

Jacques nodded slowly. "Ah... okay." He decided not to bring it up for the rest of their time together. Obviously Nathaniel had to be right. He had been in many more relationships compared to him, so he had to know what he was talking about. Obviously Nathaniel knew him well, obviously he-

Jacques froze when he realized how much time had passed. "Oh merde! It's almost..." He sat upright and glanced at the clock. "Non!" He got up and put his shoes on. "I have to go, I'm fifteen minutes late!" Just as he expected, his phone started to ring and showed Josée's caller ID. Jacques mumbled a fair share of swears as he gathered his things.

Nathaniel sat up. "Late for what?"

"I promised to pick up Josée from practice," Jacques answered, not even looking at him. He picked up the phone. "Josée, I'm sorry!" He retracted the phone away from his ear and winced. "I know, I know! I'm coming now." She hung up on him. Jacques went over to his boyfriend and kissed him on the lips. "Some other time. Oui?"

Nathaniel eagerly kissed back, but frowned afterward. "Oui."

Jacques gave him one last apologetic smile and left.

Josée really, really, really couldn't stop thinking about Claude. In fact, she spent most of practice determined not to think of Claude, but that backfired because her mind eventually drifted to that moment spent after dance class with him. Maman would have been absolutely disappointed in her. In fact, she was sure she was disappointed in her because she wasn't home yet and it was stupid Jacques' fault!

Josée huffed when Jacques showed up outside. "You moron."

"Josée, I'm sorry-"

"It's fine," Josée grumbled, stepping into the car and shutting the door. "Let's just hope maman doesn't kill you."

Jacques chuckled as he drove. "I'm sure she won't kill me because I was late picking you up from practice, chouchou."

He was about to be proven wrong.

When he got to Josée's house and walked her to her door, he was met with the biggest surprise of his life. Josée's mother had been watching from the window and had slammed the front door open in a fury. Josée bit her lower lip when she saw the murderous look in her eyes that meant she was about to have a tantrum. Jacques, however, wasn't looking at her face. He was completely focused on the object that was in her hand.

A lamp.

Jacques chuckled nervously. "Ah, Louise, it-" He didn't finish his sentence as Josée's mother let out a scream and held the lamp above him. Jacques' eyes grew wide, along with Josée's, as her mother attempted to hit Jacques with a lamp. Luckily, he dodged it in time. "Louise what the-" He dodged it again, and began to run away from the house. Josée's mom was persistent and started to chase him with it. "Merde, merde, merde!"

"JACQUES GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE WASTE OF SKIN!"

Jacques let out a high pitched shriek as he ran. "Josée, make her stop!"

"Mama, stop!" Josée cried out, following behind them. "Watch his lifting arm!"

Eventually, Jacques managed to get chased all the way to his house. Jacques banged on the door obnoxiously while Josée was trying to talk her mother down. The door opened, revealing Jacques' older sister Bernadette. Jacques started to wail and ran in the house. Bernadette frowned at the behavior, but she took a good look at the furious state of Josée's mother, and suddenly it made sense. She sighed and turned around. "Mama, papa! Josée's mother is here."

Josée swore she saw Jacques' papa spike his own drink.

Hector arrived outside, along with his wife Fleur. Josée could still hear Jacques sobbing in the background. Hector took one look at Josée's mother, who's hair was disheveled and sticking everywhere, her face full of sweat, breathing heavily, looking like the madwoman she was, and said: "You look lovely, Louise."

"Shut up. Where is he?"

"In the house. Since you chased him all the way here. You made him run away crying like a little girl." More wails were heard in the background.

Fleur frowned in disapproval. "Hector..."

"Your pansy-of-a-son was late picking up my daughter!"

Hector took a long drink. "First of all, don't call my son that. Even if it's true."

"Hector..."

"Second of all," Hector paused, taking yet another drink. Josée was convinced it was spiked. "That doesn't mean you attack him with a lamp."

"My daughter didn't get into trouble until she met your son!"

"And I didn't start drinking until I met you!"

"Hector!" Fleur finally snapped at her husband. She turned to Josée's mother and awkwardly laughed. "Sorry, Louise. How about we all settle down for some tea inside?"

Josée's mother crossed her arms. "No. I would like an apology from Jacques."

Fleur turned her head toward her house. "Jacques! Come outside."

"Is it still out there?"

"IT!?" Josée's mother shrieked. Her daughter looked mortified. "That disobedient little-"

"I won't come out unless Josée is holding the lamp!"

"Buck up, son."

"Stay out of this papa!"

Josée's mother grumbled and handed the lamp to her daughter. "I don't have the lamp anymore!"

Slowly, Jacques peeked out the door to see if Josée's mother was telling the truth. Once he saw that she was, he stood behind his mother just in case. "Oui?"

"Apologize."

Jacques gaped in disbelief. "Why should I apologize?! You were going to attack me with a lamp!"

"Jacques, just apologize to it."

"What did you say?!" Jacques' father didn't bother replying this time. Josée's mother shook her head in disbelief. "I see where Jacques gets it from."

Fleur was getting tired of this. "Alright, alright! Enough. Jacques, just apologize to Louise."

Jacques groaned. It always came down to him. "Fine. I'm sorry that I was late picking up Josée from practice!"

Josée's mother hummed thoughtfully. She narrowed her cold eyes at the male ice dancer. "Whatever. It'll do for now." She always saw a hint of defiance in those eyes of his and it annoyed her immensely. She turned to her daughter. "Come on, Josée, we're going home." Josée immediately resigned, already starting to walk back.

"Louise," Jacques' father began sternly, "Try not to attack my son again." Jacques' eyes lit up in surprise at his father defending him. "Even if he is a sissy."

...Of course.

Josée's mother rolled her eyes. "Fine." She muttered a fair share of nasty words in French and snatched the lamp away from Josée. As they walked home, Josée realized that she hadn't thought about Claude for those twenty minutes, but it eventually did come back to him. After those twenty minutes, she really didn't know what to make of it all. Perhaps Alice would help her with that. She did hope to see Claude over the summer. It was rare that she got along with a boy other than Jacques.

Why did this have to be so complicated?

Chapter Text

Chapter 5- A Multitude of Perspectives (I Want to Know What Love is)

A few months into tenth grade, Josée finally knew what to make of this. She and Claude weren't dating, per se - but she knew that he liked her, and to be honest, she was fond of him too in a way that was different from the few people she was fond of.

Throughout the summer they kept in contact. When she wasn't perfecting her footwork on the ice with Jacques, she would spend time on the phone talking to him about anything. Josée found that he was pretty intelligent and offered a lot of insight into things she hadn't thought of herself. It was nice to be intellectually challenged. Her mother was aware that Josée was talking to a boy, but she was mostly happy that the boy in question wasn't Jacques.

Also that she shouldn't be stupid with boys.

She had been to his house before. As a friend, though. She liked listening to him play the oboe. She liked that he showed in interest in her ice dancing, or at least pretended to be interested, she thought. Claude tried to reassure her many times that he actually enjoyed to hear her talk about her passion, finding it "cute." Josée had gone red from embarrassment, and she realized that this maybe wasn't just a friendship.

When Claude asked her out on an official date two days ago, Josée had said yes.

And it was, well... well it was lovely. It was interesting that Claude did have this different side to him. While most saw him as snooty and arrogant, Josée saw a dedicated performer that would do anything to achieve his dreams. Admittedly, snooty and arrogant was how Josée saw him at first. All it took was a simple conversation to realize otherwise. It was obvious that he understood her. She was similar in a sense. He was chivalrous. Admittedly, Josée felt she would be lying if she said he wasn't decent to look at.

Claude even walked her home. Josée wasn't sure about how this whole "dating" thing worked, but Alice told her that a gentleman always pays for the first date, and that he was supposed to walk you home. Alice said if he failed to do either of those things, she should drop him "like last month's shoes." But he didn't fail to do those things.

"Today was really nice," Josée said, and she meant it. She smiled at him. "I had a really fun time."

"Merci, so did I," Claude agreed, smiling back. He leaned in a little closer. Josée could see his eyes sparkling, and suddenly time stopped for a moment... not necessarily in a good way. Her heart beat fast... again, not necessarily in a good way. It was because she remembered the next part Alice said; there was supposed to be a kiss.

Josée had never had her first kiss. Although in ice dancing it was common for partners to kiss in performances - Liv and Leo would - Isaac said that Josée and Jacques would never have to do that because he didn't want them to cross a boundary they weren't comfortable with.

Not that she ever thought about kissing Jacques, of course.

...Oh, why was she thinking about Jacques? Claude was right there showing all the signs Alice talking about that he was about to kiss her!

Claude gently cupped Josée's face, lifting it slightly so she was at his height - she was a little shorter than him - and slowly closed the gap between their lips. Josée's eyes were open for a split second in surprise, but closed them as she tried to feel the kiss. The first thing Josée felt was that his lips were warm and moist. Then she felt Claude's hand gradually go from her face to her shoulder. She wondered if she was supposed to do the same and put her hand on his shoulder. From her cue, Claude put his hand on the back of her head to bring her closer into it. After what seemed like an eternity to Josée - what was really seven seconds - she pulled away to breathe, and assessed this.

Josée looked at him, she really looked at him and tried to assess the kiss that took place. Alice told her that she was supposed to feel like the earth was shattering... in a positive way. She was supposed to feel like there was a spark awakened in her. It was the feeling of losing your "kissing virginity" as she put it. She did not feel a "spark" per se, but she did want to know more. She did want to spend more time with him, but... it wasn't a "spark." She definitely liked it though, it felt nice in a sense where it was warm - but it wasn't a spark and she didn't get those "butterflies." Nonetheless, she was happy that Claude was with her.

Jacques and Nathaniel were passionately kissing on the latter's bed. His parents were out of town, and Nathaniel suggested in a "flirty manner" that he should stay the night. Jacques agreed, and texted his parents that he was staying over at a female dancer's house to go over a routine for them - a deliberate lie that he knew his parents would buy for two reasons. The first was that his mama knew that he wouldn't bed a girl, the second was that his papa hoped he would bed a girl. It was a win-win situation.

Jacques' back was against the bed while Nathaniel had crawled on top of him while their lips were intertwined. Jacques' hands were on Nathaniel's hips as the latter leaned in closer with his arms wrapped around Jacques' neck. God, Jacques' heart swelled. There was almost nothing more that he enjoyed in the world than kissing Nathaniel. The key word being almost. There was one specific thing in mind that enjoyed a bit more, but he brushed that aside in an instant. That's when Jacques knew he needed this.

They broke apart every few seconds to breathe, but then soon got to kissing again.

Just as Jacques started to kiss him back more, Nathaniel pulled away. "Jacques," he started off, with a serious look in his eyes. "Are you sure about this?"

Jacques' heart skipped a beat. He knew exactly what his boyfriend was referring to. They had talked about it many times but Jacques had been nervous about it; it was like that missing piece in a puzzle that he wondered all along. Because he knew that he was absolutely enthralled by Nathaniel, but he couldn't help but feel like he had something to prove to him. In order to prove that he loved him, he had to do this. Which Jacques knew was silly, because he knew that he loved him.

Stupid doubts. Obviously he loved him, and obviously this was the next step in their relationship. This had been on hold for too long, and his boyfriend knew it. There was this paranoia that Nathaniel could very well leave him tomorrow if this didn't happen, but the same thing could happen vice-versa. It felt like a double-edged sword, but when it came to something like this, it shouldn't have to be.

Jacques kissed him back, tenderly this time for a few seconds, then let go: "Oui."

Nathaniel slowly got off of him and nodded. "I'll go... um... get the-"

"Oui!" Jacques interrupted, blushing wildly. Nathaniel smiled at him, with stars in his eyes. Jacques smiled back.

The moment Josée got home, her mother was waiting for her with a disgruntled look. "So," she started off coldly. That nice feeling Josée felt immediately went away and she shut the door. "What did you do?" She was referring to the date.

Josée felt herself tense up. "Um, we just went out to dinner, maman..." She let out an uneasy smile. "It was nice. I think... I think we're dating."

She looked at her mother closely, waiting for her approval. Josée's smile disappeared when she saw her mother's expression. Her lips thinned into a fine line whenever she was thinking hard about something. After thirty seconds, Josée's mother rolled her eyes and groaned. "I don't see why you would go out with a boy when you have you're skating career to worry about. But..." She let out a sigh. "I knew this day would come. You're too innocent and would want to date a boy, but it's better than your partner."

She had spat the last part and mumbled something about Jacques being lazy, horrible, the usual things she'd say.

Josée grew oddly defensive. "Maman, Jacques is gay."

"Mm, okay sure," her mother remarked snidely. "Do not be stupid with boys, Josée," she warned once again. "The money I make goes into your skating, not for you to spread your legs for the first boy that shows an interest in you." Josée knew this was coming from a personal experience, but that didn't mean it hurt any less. She ought to have brought it up, but Josée did not want to be thrown in the cramped closet. "You have a reputation to uphold, and I will not hear about my daughter in the tabloids at fifteen for something so scandalous, so if you ever do something like that, I will set bun-bun on fire, do you understand?"

Really, really personal. This was serious. Josée knew her maman did not bluff. She nodded obediently and very quickly. "Of course, m-maman."

Josée's mother smiled approvingly at her daughter's timidness of her threat. She walked over slowly and tilted Josée's chin up aggressively. "That's wonderful, Josée," she said, in a faux-sweet tone, "You understand I only want what's best for you, non?"

Josée smiled weakly. "Of course." She always did, right? Mother knows best.

Her mother's smile - well, more like a smirk - grew wider. "And I am letting you date this boy. I could very well say no. It's a very nice thing for me to do."

It was true, Josée thought. "Yes, maman." Though she couldn't help but be a little annoyed.

Unfortunately, her mother saw right through it and sighed angrily. "Great, now I look like the bad guy, right? Even after I'm allowing you to date him."

Josée's eyes grew wide. "Non! Non... mama. I'm sorry." Mother did know best. She knew her very well to see through it. Her mother was silent, so Josée tried again: "Maman! I'm sorry. I... the press won't know I'm dating him. And I would never... never do anything like you said."

Just like that, her mother's smirk returned. "Good. You're very fragile and naive, Josée. It would really upset me if anything were to destroy your reputation and mine!" Her smirk disappeared. "Don't ever embarrass me," she hissed. "You will regret it."

Josée nodded again. "Right, maman. I'm sorry."

"Merde."

That French word that escaped Jacques' lips softly echoed throughout the room. It meant so much. He was cuddling in bed with Nathaniel, the covers over their waists with both of their shirts off in the darkness; other than the dim light beside them on the nightstand. Jacques had a gentle smile in content as he stared into his boyfriend's eyes, enjoying that Nathaniel was playing with his hair.

This was something serious. What they did was serious. It was wonderful, yes, and it did make things a little clearer, didn't it? Jacques wasn't too sure. But he knew that he liked this. He absolutely, without a doubt, liked this. Hell, he would go further to say he even loved this, even. Jacques had been with other guys before, but not like this, and they never lasted as long as he and Nathaniel were lasting.

"I love you," Jacques told his boyfriend earnestly, pressing his forehead against his.

Nathaniel gave him a soft peck on the lips. "I love you, too."

Jacques closed his eyes and smiled more.

The whispers drove her mad.

Josée couldn't get away from it today in dance class. There was nothing more in the world that she detested more than petty gossip - well, other than a medal less than gold. This sounds amusing because Josée did happen to be friends with Alice and Clara, who did nothing but gossip. Josée would tolerate it for a certain period of time before her patience would wear thin. So to hear about people being more closed off and gossipy than usual irked her and set her in a bad mood. Hell, even Jacques was involved with it. Josée couldn't help but roll her eyes; she thought he knew better.

Josée started to warmup and stretch, ignoring all the chattering in class before it started.

"Josée, I need help."

Unfortunately, Rachel had arrived with a desperate look on her face.

Josée stopped her turns and frowned at the blonde. "Rachel, I told you your fouetté turns are improving. You don't need my help."

"No, it's not about that, it's..." Rachel looked around to make sure no one else was listening, before leaning in to whisper: "I need your advice... about boys."

Josée couldn't believe her ears. "I'm sorry, you're asking me?"

Rachel laughed a little awkwardly. "Well, considering you and Claude had started going out..." Josée shouldn't have told her that, but let her continue: "I had my eyes on someone else too, but... I don't know if they would like me back."

"Rachel," Josée began honestly, "Unless that boy is gay, I'm pretty sure he would like you. You're naturally pretty."

It's also the reason why the figure skating community was starting to fall in love with Rachel. Josée didn't want to be mean, but her friend's skating was... solid... it wasn't show-stopping. What made Rachel so admired was that she was down-to-earth, brainy, and pretty - combined with the fact that others have heard about her story of being financially disadvantaged compared to other skaters. She was relatable. As awful as it sounds, these things often played a bigger role than the skating itself.

Rachel sighed wearily. "I don't know. He's very..." Josée caught Rachel eyeing the boy that she was staring at, and visibly winced. "...charming."

Josée's expression grew cold. "Viktor is not charming," she stated. "You know that he... uses right? Like the rest of them?"

This was very complicated thing that was pretty well known within the dance program at their school. It was likely their dance teachers knew, but looked the other direction. Unfortunately, many of the dancers would use uppers to stay active and alert throughout the day - some orally, some snorted - so they could dance better. Josée, Jacques, and Rachel were probably the only ones that didn't partake in the habit for few reasons. One was that they had to be smarter than that. The second happened to be was that they were likely to be drug-tested since they're going into a career for skating - something which surprised Josée about Rachel, because the blonde was so smart she could be anything she wanted. Still, Josée admired Rachel for sticking to her passion, even though she had the brain to be a lawyer, or a doctor, or a rocket scientist.

However, Rachel wasn't smart enough to see that dating Viktor would be a terrible idea, and Josée told her so. "Specifically, the drug that-"

"Yes, I know Josée. The drug that killed my mom. Thank you," Rachel cut in, rolling her eyes. "That doesn't mean I can't find him attractive. We've been talking a lot lately..."

"Find who attractive?" Josée and Rachel turned around to see Jacques had arrived.

Rachel smiled. "Jacques! Maybe you can help."

Jacques blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Viktor. It's about Viktor. You're friends with him, right?"

Jacques winced a little. "Oui, but... he's ah... not exactly dating material." Josée wasn't really paying attention to the advice he was giving Rachel. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted the other dancers looking at them while they whispered. Once they met Josée's eyes, they looked away. However, they kept on talking. There were several pieces of the conversation that she picked up from earlier today, but it was entirely too vague.

"...So just be careful, okay?" Jacques finished.

"Jacques," Josée interrupted, frowning as she leveled a glare with the girls. "Do you know what everyone's whispering about?"

Jacques' face faltered and grew uncomfortable. "Um, no... Josée. Don't worry about it."

Josée nearly gasped. "Are they talking about me?" she hissed fiercely in hushed tone.

Jacques' eyes grew wide. "N-non! Josée-"

"What did I do this time?" Josée cut in like Jacques hadn't answered her. "I tried being nicer this year. I've even given the ninth graders some tips that no one ever gave me when I was a ninth grader-"

"You never needed it, chouchou. You are the best," Jacques tried to reassure. Josée narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously; she knew that he was hiding something. Was he trying to spare her feelings? Thinking that she was some baby that couldn't handle it? "Josée, I mean it. It's not about you."

Josée crossed her arms. "Then who is it about?"

Jacques raised an eyebrow. "Why do you care so much?"

"Because people were staring at me." Jacques bit his lower lip as his partner went on, "That means people are talking about you."

"Um..." Rachel interrupted the bickering between the ice dancers. "If it helps," she started, "I didn't hear anyone talk about you Josée."

Josée's patience was wearing thin. "Then who is it about?"

Rachel felt Jacques' threatening glare on her. "Someone in theatre..." she fibbed easily. Josée furrowed her brows in confusion. Rachel cleared her throat and gathered the courage to continue with the lie, "Yes! Someone in theatre... I think a twelfth grader... she's pregnant. I'm not... I'm not sure who it is, though."

Just as Josée thought. Some mindless, stupid, petty drama that wouldn't mean anything years from now. To be fair, she wasn't surprised that it was in the theatre department, they were practically known for drama. But still she shouldn't have been too surprised, in their performing arts school, when didn't they have drama? Admittedly, Josée didn't like to gossip with anyone except Jacques and maybe Rachel since she was relatively sane compared to everyone else.

Still, Josée couldn't help but think something seemed... off. The rest of dance class continued with the same whispers, and there was only so much Josée could take.

It went on and on.

All of it.

It continued to drive Josée mad.

Even though Rachel insisted that it had to do with a theatre girl getting pregnant, Josée didn't think it was that huge of a deal. It sounded surprising, but in their high school it was not. First off, there were very few things that made Josée blush wildly, but one of those few things that happened to be was how open some people were when it came to talking about sex. Alice happened to be one of them. It was nothing personal against Alice of course, but Josée didn't understood the culture behind it all. Alice told her it was all in good fun. Josée didn't understand how someone could have fun with all the risks, such as pregnancy, but it wasn't her life.

Besides, there were certain words that Josée made out that didn't seem to correlate with whatever the story was. While Josée was used to getting stared at, this was a little strange since it was in school. Whenever people did stare at her it was out of annoyance, but now it was out of curiosity, even. Admittedly, Josée felt like Rachel had lied to her to spare her feelings. After all, she had done that for Rachel a few times in the past.

During lunch, it only seemed to get worse. She spotted Clara and Rachel already sitting at their usual table and joined them. Clara merely stared at Josée while Rachel looked hesitant to even look at her. Josée couldn't take it anymore. "What is it?"

Clara blinked slowly at the ice dancer. "Like you don't - ow!" Rachel smiled awkwardly while Clara winced like Rachel had kicked her under the table.

"The girl in theatre that's pregnant," Rachel hissed, sending Clara a look.

She seemed to have caught on. "Oh right..." she said lamely, rolling her eyes. "Not surprised. She is in theatre. They're all sleeping with each other." Josée didn't reply and opted to take small bites of her lunch instead. As Clara and Rachel had a conversation for about five minutes, Alice had eventually arrived with a bright smile on her face.

"I'm going to try something new," she declared, taking her seat beside Clara.

Clara mock-gasped. "Monogamy?"

Josée frowned. Just because she didn't understand about the culture behind having sex doesn't mean she agreed with the shaming.

Alice scowled at her best friend. "You're evil. You know that?" Clara didn't answer. Alice went on, "I'm either going to dye my hair blonde or brown. It's the only way to get into the industry since we redheads are the minority." Josée slowly looked up from her food to stare at Alice, trying to process the stupidity of that statement. "It's awful."

The table stared at her.

Josée couldn't believe her ears. "Um, Alice," she began, still in utter disbelief. "I really don't think you're in the minority."

Alice's face lit up when she saw Josée. "Oh! Josée. Just the person I wanted to see." The redhead grinned at her. It made Josée uneasy. She nudged her with her shoulder. "So! What do you think of the news? It's pretty exciting, isn't it?" Clara and Rachel exchanged a wide-eyed look that alarmed Josée. "I mean... wow! And it's about time, too."

"She's talking about that theatre girl's pregnancy!" Rachel cut in, smiling and laughing awkwardly.

Alice's eyes grew wide. "There's a theatre girl that's pregnant?" Rachel and Clara glared at Alice. She laughed a bit. "I bet it's that bitch Wendy. That's what she gets for saying I sounded bad during those acting classes we take together." Josée didn't know exactly who Wendy was, nor did she care. "She can hardly sing."

Wait... wait a second. If Alice didn't know about this, then what was she talking about before?

"That is the news, Alice..." Clara said, through clenched teeth with a glare that could cut through glass. "That's it. The thing everyone's been talking about. The only thing."

Alice rolled her eyes in amusement, stared at Josée, and then back at Rachel and Clara. "Oh, so that's what you told her?" Josée froze in realization just for a moment. Then, she looked over to Rachel and Clara that looked very sheepish. "Come on, guys. You're keeping that a secret from her? It's her partner. I thought she'd be the first to know!" Josée's heart skipped a beat. So this wasn't about her, it was about Jacques. Wait... but what wouldn't Jacques tell her?

"Wh-what?" Josée stammered uneasily. "What do you mean?"

Then, Alice leaned in closer and said: "It's about Nathaniel and Jacques. The rumors are spreading like wildfire. You didn't hear? Jacques isn't a virgin anymore."

It took a several seconds for the words to sink in.

Josée... didn't know what to think of this rumor. It probably was a rumor. Jacques would tell her something like that, wouldn't he? Even if she didn't understand romance, Jacques would gush to her constantly about Nathaniel, even when she didn't care for it all. Sure, something like that was personal, but...

"I'm surprised he didn't tell you," Clara said honestly.

Exactly. She had a point. They were partners... they were best friends, they... they told each other everything, no?

"...He didn't," Josée admitted. Maybe this was one of those things that best friends of the opposite sex didn't tell each other? Josée was more bothered by this than she thought she would be. But there was the possibility of this being a rumor and that Jacques would tell her something like this if it were true.

Before anyone else could talk, someone else approached the table.

Rachel let out a smile. "Hi Viktor."

Viktor smirked. "Rachel! Happy to see you here." He didn't acknowledge the other girls at the table. His eyes were on her. "I was wondering if you'd like to sit with me today?"

Rachel's eyes gleamed with hope. "Really?" Josée could tell that the blonde was resisting the urge to squeal. Viktor held his hand out for Rachel to take, which she of course took. She giggled as they held hands and sat down at an empty table. Despite not liking Viktor, Josée allowed a tiny smile at her friend's obvious happiness. For a second she did forget about the Jacques rumor. Only for a second, however.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't!" Alice called out to the pair.

Clara raised an eyebrow. "What wouldn't you do?"

"Good point," Alice allowed, then turned to Josée. "How old is Jacques?"

"He turned seventeen in February," Josée answered. "Why?"

"Geez, what took him so long?" Alice asked in disbelief.

Josée didn't understand. "What?"

"Josée, don't be blind. Everyone's having sex."

The ice dancer crossed her arms. "I'm not having sex."

"Well..." began Clara, frowning. "That's just you. But you're dating Claude, so that'll change soon."

For some reason, Josée wasn't too sure on that. "I don't understand why it's a big deal. Don't I need that... thing that Alice talks about... in order to do it?"

Alice thought about it. "Well not always. Are you attracted to him? Like... would you mind doing things with him?" Josée felt heat rise on her cheeks; giving Alice her answer. Alice smiled and nodded. "Ooh, that's so cute!"

"I mean I could, but... I feel like I would have to feel that thing you always go on about."

"Ah, I see," Alice said knowingly, then: "You need the spark." She went onto explain further, "Your whole world is supposed to change. It feels like you're on fire... you get all googly eyed when that spark is ignited, you feel it in your bones and your stomach... god, it's so amazing."

"To be fair," Clara pointed out, "Alice feels that with every boy she comes into contact with."

"Oh shut up."

Speaking of the spark - that Josée was allegedly supposed to have with a significant other - Claude showed up at their table. Josée wasn't sure what exactly happened now. Claude had explained yesterday night over the phone that they were an item now, which she liked, but... she never had a boyfriend before, and she was utterly clueless. "Allo, Josée." Claude gave her a kiss on top of her head, which she smiled a little at. He politely greeted her other two friends. "What's going on?"

"We were just talking about se - ow!" Clara grabbed her leg that had now been kicked twice. "Oh wow... now you decide you don't want to talk about it? What a day."

Claude looked to Josée for an explanation, but she just sighed. "Nothing, um... Girl talk."

"Oh," was her... boyfriend's response. Josée realized that she would have to start getting used to calling him that.

"Congratulations to you both," Alice said sweetly. Josée felt Claude put an arm over her shoulders. This seemed like a normal couple-y thing to do. Josée couldn't help but look around to see if anyone was staring at her. "I'm sure the date was wonderful. I remember the last date I was on. It was terrible. This guy wasn't chivalrous at all, then he called me easy, so I spat on his shoes."

Claude blinked slowly while Josée facepalmed.

Clara's eyes twinkled - a rare occurrence. "So you're in orchestra and band right?" Claude grinned a little and nodded. "That's really cool. Most of the people in orchestra and band are the ugly ducklings. I never thought Josée would ever date a musician."

This caught Josée's attention. "Who would you expect me to date?"

"Ja - hey!" This time, Clara had kicked Alice under the table before she could answer. "Sheesh, I get it." Then she faced Claude. "Be nice to Josée," Alice warned lightly. "She's never had a boyfriend before, so she has absolutely no experience - oh stop glaring at me, Josée. I'm trying to help you."

Josée's face was bright red from embarrassment. Claude kissed her temple. This did not help her redness go away, but she appreciated the sentiment. "It's okay, there's nothing wrong with that," he reassured. Josée pressed her lips together but didn't say anything. She did feel her cheeks get less hot though. Truthfully, her mind was still on the whole 'Jacques-situation' more than her getting a new boyfriend. It bothered her more than it should. Then, Josée decided, that she would ask Jacques about the rumor later.

For the rest of lunch, Josée leaned into Claude's touch as they talked, because that's what girlfriends were supposed to do, right?

Josée wasn't going to ask right away. Although she considered herself to be a blunt person compared to others, this was something she just couldn't be blunt with. Besides, what would maman think if she was asking such a question? These things were personal. She didn't really care about Jacques' love life, all that mattered was that he knew how to carry her across the ice and to the gold. But when she heard that most of the school heard such a rumor way before her, coupled with the fact that Rachel and Clara tried to hide it peaked her curiosity, and she had to get to the bottom of it.

...She insisted that it had to do with their performances. Jacques couldn't get too attached, because what if something happened and he was left a blubbering mess unable to lift her, carry her, and twirl her around? Then what? They wouldn't be able to get gold, and her maman would take it out on her. It wouldn't even be her fault, it would be her stupid partner's fault.

On the other hand, Josée thought, this could very well happen to her now that she and Claude were dating. She liked to think that she wouldn't do such a thing of getting too romantically involved with someone, but her maman did show a level of concern when it came to her dating. Mother did know best. She contemplated whether or not she should continue this before it got too serious. But... maybe she wanted this to become serious? Maybe have something outside of ice dance-

Josée stopped that horrid thought immediately. She almost wanted to slap herself for thinking that anything or anyone could be worth more than ice dancing, worth more than gold. Guilt welled up in her; maman would be ashamed of her, and rightfully so. Her maman did warn her about ruining her reputation.

"Josée, are you alright?" Josée shook out of her thoughts in the locker room and stared at Jacques, who was watching her with concern. "You ah... you had been staring at your skates for two minutes without putting them on."

Josée blinked rapidly and put her skates on quickly. "Right, sorry. I'm just thinking about-"

"Your boyfriend?" Well, he wasn't partially wrong about that. Jacques gave her a teasing smile. "I told you that you-"

"Oh shut up," Josée said, but it was playful. "I'll... I'll tell you after practice, okay? We have a competition to win next week."

Jacques raised a curious eyebrow, wanting to press about it, but decided that she looked too uncomfortable to talk about it now. "Of course, chouchou."

Unfortunately when Josée and Jacques got to the rink, they saw the last two people that they ever wanted to see. Leo and Liv were practicing a routine, no doubt the one that was set up to go against Josée and Jacques for the Senior Competition next February, which the duo was finally eligible for this year. They did compete against Leo and Liv before nationally, and sadly took more losses up against them rather than wins, but it was usually by a few points. Josée remembered the hours spent in the closet due to failing to get gold. She did not mean to be a sore loser (at least, not yet) but she suspected politics played a big role in it. Because while Leo and Liv were probably the better skaters technically, their status as Canada's sweethearts in figure skating was at its peak and would always appeal to the judges.

Josée and Jacques, despite their ages, were still seen as "cute."

"Hello!?" Liv shouted, snapping her fingers in front of Josée's face. Josée nearly gasped and stared at Liv, who turned to Jacques. "Is your partner brain-dead or something?"

Josée, who had gotten lost in her thoughts again, finally remembered where she was and groaned. "I'm not brain-dead," she snapped.

"If you didn't hear us," Leo began icily, "We're practicing our routine. We don't want you bothering us."

"Well we need to practice too!" Josée growled angrily.

"Tough."

"Hold on," Jacques interjected, sarcasm oozing from his tone. "We can do this thing... called... splitting the rink. Josée and I get one side, and you both get the other?"

Leo and Liv seemed to think about it for a moment. Liv sighed irritably. "Fine," she agreed reluctantly, but then she smirked. "Maybe I'll accidentally skate so close to you that my blade will rip right through your shin."

Jacques' expression grew cold. "Don't. We're trying to stay..."

"...in your own lane," Leo cut in, rolling his eyes. "Yes. We get it. Sweet angelic ice dancers that don't want any trouble." Leo said the last part in a mocking condescending tone.

For the next thirty minutes, Josée and Jacques made sure to stay as far away as possible from Leo and Liv. When it came to sabotage, they didn't bluff. Josée and Jacques' paranoia grew considerably as time went to the point where they had trouble focusing on their own routine. They could feel Leo and Liv's judgmental eyes on them. Josée obviously knew that it was some mind game, they were clever like that, but she couldn't help the eerie feeling. She could only imagine what Jacques was feeling. She wanted to yell at him to suck it up, but that would only provide more entertainment to the older ice dancers.

"Jacques," Josée said quietly, after managing to get through their routine. "Do you want to go take a walk somewhere?" To say Jacques was surprised would be an understatement. It was very rare that Josée would cut practice short. "We can come back after they leave."

But Jacques did feel more relieved, so he wasn't going to complain. "O-Oui. Sure."

Josée took his hand and dragged him to the locker room. So Leo and Liv may have won for now, at least. But maybe this was the best time to ask, when they were alone walking somewhere. Sure, there was the risk of running into the paparazzi and the press, but it was snowing lightly outside and it was unlikely they'd be seen. Besides, there was a secluded place Josée knew where to go that none of them would find. There was a frozen lake ten minutes away from the rink with a small bench. Josée and Jacques would practice there if it wasn't too small, but would frequently go there to hide away from the paparazzi.

It was quiet and contemplative on the way there, not too awkward, but not as comfortable as silence could be between them, like it usually was. It's like Jacques knew that Josée knew something about him, and that there was a giant elephant in the room. It's just... Josée didn't know why something like this would bother her. She liked to separate his love life from his skating, because the latter was her business, not the former.

"Er..." Jacques spoke up, still walking. "How are you doing?"

Beat.

"I'm fine," Josée replied curtly, tucking a stray of hair behind her ear. "I'm just thinking about today and all, I've heard something interesting." She met his eyes, which were filled with guilt. Josée frowned, not because of the rumor itself, but because he looked so guilty about it. Why would he keep this from her? Hell, why would he act guilty in the first place? Josée cleared her throat. She promised that she wouldn't get to it right away. "You and Nathaniel are really happy together," she noted.

Jacques was visibly uncomfortable. "Oui." A pause, then: "Is that it? What did you hear, Josée?"

Josée hesitated. Now what? What could she possibly say? She was wondering why the hell she opened up this clearly awkward conversation. "Well, you know that these are just rumors. It's all petty. Most of them end up being untrue." Jacques nodded slowly, unsure of where she was going with this. "So I wouldn't be surprised if it was."

They arrived at the spot at the frozen lake. Josée brushed the snow off the bench and sat down with Jacques.

"It's probably not true," Josée mumbled, mainly to herself. "I think I would hear about it first..." she laughed nervously. "I mean, obviously I'd like to think-"

"Josée," Jacques cut in, frowning. Josée stopped rambling and stared at him. "Not to ah... stop your train of thought, but can you say it?" He knew what was coming. Jacques watched as Josée shook the snow that fell into her hair. She was even graceful doing something simple as that.

"I've heard that you and Nathaniel were..." Josée bit her lower lip, breaking eye contact with her partner. "...intimate."

The silence was loud.

"Uh..." Although Jacques expected this rumor to catch up with Josée, he did not expect her to actually say it. "I've heard that has been going around too. It starts with people in theatre, it always does."

Josée laughed a bit, a little less uncomfortable. "I agree. Leeches." Jacques gave her small awkward smile. They both stopped after a while when they realized what the context of the rumor was. "So, is it true?"

More silence followed.

"Chouchou, I don't get why you're so concerned about this. You've never cared about drama, relationships, and things like that-"

"I don't," Josée cut in, a bit too defensively. "But the whole school knows about the rumor but me, and I'm wondering why that is."

"For that reason," Jacques argued. "I didn't want you to stress over it."

Josée frowned. "That makes no sense at all. We're partners, we..." She let out a frustrated sigh. "I don't understand any of this."

"...Which is why I didn't want to tell you."

"You still didn't answer my question," Josée pointed out knowingly. She knew avoidance when she heard it, especially if it was from Jacques. "Is it true?"

"Okay, okay! Yes. There. It's true," Jacques finally answered. "I have. Happy now?"

Beat.

Josée's expression was unreadable. "Cool," she stated evenly.

Jacques blinked slowly. "Cool?"

"How else am I supposed to react?"

"Alright, now it's my turn."

Josée sat up a little straighter and looked at her partner curiously. "Your turn? This isn't twenty questions."

"You opened this up, chouchou," Jacques teased. "It's only fair. It's a best friends rule."

"It's a best friends rule," Josée retorted in a mocking tone, rolling her eyes. But it was playful. "There's hardly anything about me that you don't know."

"You and Claude have been comfortable lately."

Josée snorted and turned away. "That's different."

"How is it different?"

"We've only been together for two days!"

"Ah, but you've been talking for months!"

Josée sighed. "Still... I wouldn't say I'm in love or something. Alice talks about that a lot, love and romance... which I don't get. I'm just not ready for anything major or serious at the moment." Her eyes softened a bit. "But I get Claude, that's the thing. He's smart and all... sort of handsome too." Jacques shifted uncomfortably. "He's nice, and he understands that I have to put ice dancing first... he's the same way. It... It feels like having another friend, for some reason, or like some extension of a friendship. Our careers and passions come first, and most couples don't understand that. I think that's how we could work, because we don't need to be together twenty-four seven like others... but..." Josée ran a distressed hand through her hair. "According to Alice that's not how it's supposed to be."

Jacques hummed to himself. "Mm, I'm not too sure if she's right about that."

"What about you?" Josée countered. "Don't you love Nathaniel?"

For some reason, this took Jacques a little longer to answer than usual. "Oui. And I... And I realized that after we were... together." He paused, considering his words: "He said that I was definitely gay."

Josée frowned confusedly. "I thought you already knew that?"

"I did. It's just..." Jacques hesitated, "I was probably ah... thinking of something... but Nathaniel told me I was."

"Jacques," Josée started, "Do you think you're gay?"

"What do you mean? I must be. I've only been with men." Jacques was wondering why they were talking about this.

"I'm not denying that you like men," Josée told him. "I'm saying that you're saying Nathaniel is telling you these things, but shouldn't you be the one to decide that or not? I mean, Alice has been with boys that have dated boys and girls-"

"That's because they're in the closet," Jacques cut in, unusually cold as he echoed his boyfriend's words from months ago. "Since when do you listen to Alice for everything?"

Josée froze at the iciness of his tone. "I'm... I'm just saying. I don't know much about this stuff, we hardly talk about these things..."

"You're right, Josée. You don't know about this."

The female ice dancer looked down at the concrete below her feet. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. This wasn't how this was supposed to go.

Jacques shook his head and sighed. "No, chouchou. I'm sorry. I think I'm gay. No, I'm positive that I'm gay."

Josée couldn't help but feel like he was hiding something, but chose not to address it. She remembered when Jacques came out to her when she was twelve, and she didn't think much of it. As long as he could carry her across the ice she couldn't care less about his love life. He had been so confident that he was gay then, but now he thought he was? And sure, later he said that he was positive that he was... but... oh hell, this was way too complicated. She knew he had to figure this out on his own.

Josée saw him have a slightly distressed look. Frowning, she scooted closer to Jacques and rested her head on his shoulder. "Jacques," she began, "No matter what you are, you know you're still my best friend, right?" She knew she ought to tell him that more often; guilt welled up inside of her.

In response, Jacques rested his cheek on top of her head. "Of course, chouchou."

Chapter Text

Chapter 6- A Chain of Dilemmas (No Sleep Tonight)

"Josée," her mother started, through gritted teeth. She slammed the house door open and pointed to it. "Get the hell inside. Right now." Josée knew better than to argue. She blinked back the tears threatening to form and walked inside. Josée's mother slammed the door shut at once behind them. "That was atrocious, Josée. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. That had to be one of the worst times you've skated."

"It... it wasn't my fault, maman... I didn't know that-"

"Nothing's ever your fault, is it?!" Josée's mother cut in shouting, her voice echoing throughout the house. Josée unconsciously rubbed the rabbit's foot in her pocket as her mother continued chastising her, which was a massive understatement: "It was an embarrassment. Shameful. Pathetic. And out of the goodness of my heart, I'm preparing you for the olympics, and this is how you repay me?"

Josée's eyes grew wide. "N-non! Maman, I didn't mean to-"

She gasped when her mother grabbed her forearm harshly, wincing at the harsh grip she had. Josée felt her heart stop in realization of where this was going. Her mother dragged her by the arm. "Maman, please! J-Je suis désolé... I'll do better! I'll be good, I'll be good!" But her mother did not listen. They stopped in front of that wretched small closet Josée despised. Her mother threw her inside and slammed the closet door shut. Josée heard the sound of a lock clicking. Josée frantically banged on the door. "S'il vous plaît, s'il vous plaît!" She could already start to feel the walls closing in. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. "Maman, I'm sorry!" her voice cracked. "Let me out, please!"

"Stop crying, Josée! Are you a baby?!" Her mother began to mock callously. "You're pathetic!" Maman was right... "A pathetic, whiny baby!" Josée let the tears flow. Of course maman was right... how could she think it wasn't her fault? She was the one that was clumsy, she was... pathetic. "Because of your mistake, look what you've made me do!"

Josée whimpered, actually whimpered, and sat in the back of the closet with her knees drawn to her chest, closing her eyes. She tried to take some deep breaths, but her breath kept getting stuck between her teeth. Her breathing was getting more and more shallow. She buried her face in her knees and let out a muffled scream. Josée leaned her head back, trying to blink away tears as she attempted to breathe, but it was getting more and more difficult. It wouldn't be long until she passed out, Josée thought.

Josée hated the closet. But how else was she going to learn? It was cramped and dark, a terrible combination, for good reason. It had to toughen her up. But even after more than ten years, Josée never got used to the demons of the closet. She even tried holding bun-bun and rubbing her thumbs against it, but bun-bun could only do so much.

Josée caught herself chewing on the string holding bun-bun, something she hadn't done since she was very young. Once she caught herself, she slapped herself across the face.

What a baby.

Josée always had trouble breathing when she was upset or frustrated. Jacques' older sister Bernadette called them 'anxiety attacks' but Josée didn't like the psychology terminology she used since she was in university studying it. Besides, Josée's maman once said psychology was a sham and it was 'for the weak.' Still, Josée did appreciate the efforts of Jacques, his family, and sometimes Isaac trying to calm her down when she was frustrated. She would even welcome her boyfriend now, even though Claude wasn't at all aware of her... getting upset. She wished any of them would show up right now.

If there was a higher being, whatever it was, it was on Josée's side that night.

After spending at least thirty minutes in the closet, the door yanked open to reveal the disgruntled look of her mother. Josée stared up at her mother from the floor, her eyes wide with anticipation and fear. Her mother rolled her eyes at her daughter's position. "Oh get up. You look pitiful."

Josée obeyed immediately and stood up straight. "Wh-what-"

"Don't stammer," her mother ordered abruptly. Josée instantly quieted. "Someone's here to see you." Josée knew who it was with the way her mother muttered a series of swears about that 'lazy good-for-nothing partner' of hers. Josée followed her mother to the front to see that Jacques was there waiting with an unhappy expression. Josée's mother left and went to her room, presumably to do more business work.

Josée wiped off any traces of her tears. "Jacques, what are you doing here?"

"We broke up." Josée froze in disbelief as Jacques went on, visibly upset: "Nathaniel said his family is moving to New York, and... it was a last minute thing. He didn't have an idea about it. They're leaving tomorrow. He said he can't do a long-distance relationship, he said he was thinking about breaking up with me anyway, he-" Josée cut him off with wrapping her arms around his waist. Jacques returned the hug. "We've been together for almost a year."

"I'm sorry, Jacques," Josée said earnestly. "I'm really sorry."

When Jacques pulled away from her, he saw her unsettled expression, she was unusually shaken and staring down at the floor, like she was hiding something. He had an inkling that it didn't have to do with the recent revelation. "Josée, are you okay?" Josée accidentally sniffled a bit, revealing that she had been crying earlier. Jacques' frown deepened and gently lifted her head a little from her chin to reveal her eyes watering a bit. His tone changed to a sympathetic one instantly: "Oh chouchou, what's wrong?"

Josée shook her head. "It's nothing. You're the one that's upset. You and Nathaniel broke up, you must be-"

Jacques waved it off. "Never mind that, chouchou. What is it?" Josée stared down at her hands as her way of offering an explanation. His eyes drifted to her hands, which were slightly bruised. Jacques connected the dots and took a breath in, trying to keep his anger inside. "Your maman locked you inside the closet again, didn't she?" Josée nodded silently, sniffling again. Jacques brushed away the tear that managed to escape from her eye with his thumb. "She can't keep doing this to you, Josée."

Josée was ready to argue, "Jacques-"

"That evil, vile, wicked-"

"Jacques," Josée pressed desperately, hoping her mother wouldn't come up hearing what was being said. "You can't just say things like that, it's not true!"

Jacques bit back a sigh. He didn't find out about Josée's mother's way of punishing her daughter until a little over two years ago and swore him to secrecy. He couldn't always be there for Josée to protect her from her mother, and it pained him so. "Josée, you-"

"Is your sister working tonight?"

"Oui." Jacques knew why Josée was asking that question. "What are you going to tell your maman?"

"I'll tell her that you insist on working on this part from a routine again and that we're getting extra practice to make up for the last one." Jacques hummed to himself. Josée's mother would buy that. "I'm going to put my hoodie and glasses on."

"Do you have an extra pair of sunglasses?" Jacques called out. Of course she did. They were used to cameras in their faces, after all.

It didn't happen frequently. Josée's mother would kill her that she would step in such a seedy part of Montreal, and Jacques' mother would have a heart attack that two out of three of her children were there as well instead of one. The reasons why Josée and Jacques went there in the first place was because Bernadette worked there as a bartender, and no one would recognize them since they were out of their lush neighborhood, and that no one cared that they were figure skaters. Since both Josée and Jacques were underage, they did not care that no one cared about who they were as celebrities. Still, just in case, they were sunglasses and hoodies to disguise themselves.

Once they got inside the building, Josée and Jacques removed their sunglasses and sat down at the chatty bar.

"Hi, welcome to..." Bernadette stopped speaking upon realizing who sat in front of her. Josée and Jacques greeted her with knowing smiles. She swore that they batted their eyes as well. Bernadette rolled her eyes and groaned, "I'm going to have to see your IDs."

Josée and Jacques' smiles vanished. "Are you joking?" asked Jacques.

"I'm trying to cover your asses," Bernadette said, through a clenched smile in a hushed tone. "My boyfriend's parents who own the place are here, so just show me your IDs." Josée and Jacques exchanged a look before reaching into their pockets and handing over their IDs. Bernadette pretended to read them: "Thank you... Jocelyn and... Javier. What can I get you two today?" She handed the IDs back to them, which they put away.

"What do we usually get?" Jacques countered.

Bernadette glared at her little brother, but did pour the usual drinks they got. "Don't be cheeky. You're not getting that much." She handed both drinks over and scowled as they started to drink quickly. "With the way you both have been coming over recently, you're going to become full-blown alcoholics."

Jacques slammed the quarter-empty glass on the table. "Save your psychology nonsense for later."

Bernadette raised an eyebrow. "You realize I can cut you off at any time?"

"But I just got dumped a few hours ago," Jacques said, as he smirked. He added for good measure: "And Josée is sad. You should be giving us a discount." Josée gave her a mocking pout, making Jacques snicker and Bernadette sigh, because she did fall for that pout frequently.

"You have a tab from last week that you have yet to pay for," Bernadette reminded them. Then, she backtracked to her brother's first sentence. "You got dumped? I'm sure papa will be happy about that. I thought you'd be a blubbering mess."

"Why do you think I'm here?"

Bernadette turned to Josée to explain, "He's taking the 'papa' approach where he drinks his feelings away."

"I'm not drinking my feelings away," Jacques cut in defensively.

Bernadette ignored him and kept her eyes on his partner. "Alcoholism runs in the family, we just don't talk about it."

Josée frowned. "That doesn't sound too healthy," she said, as she took a long drink of her alcoholic beverage.

"And what about you, chouchou?" Bernadette said teasingly, grinning. Josée glared at her in disapproval. "Oh come on, I'm joking. What's wrong? Is Louise being a bitch again?"

"That's what I told her on the way here," Jacques added, taking a sip.

"My maman is not a bitch," Josée declared, her glare intensifying. "She's toughening me up. That's how parents are supposed to be. She's good at this stuff."

"Mussolini was good at that too," chirped Bernadette, earning an amused snort from Jacques. Josée did not feel the same way. Bernadette sighed and shrugged, heading for a bathroom break. This left Josée and Jacques by themselves at the bar. Their glasses were nearly done. They weren't intoxicated, per se, but perhaps a little tipsy.

"Josée, I think you've... had enough," Jacques hesitated, slowly taking the nearly finished beverage away from her. "Are you okay?"

The female ice dancer nodded slowly, her elbow propped against the table with her head in her hand. "Hmmm. Yes, I think so. I... I... almost wanted to make myself throw up in the closet, Jacjac," she admitted softly, like she was ashamed. But then, Jacques saw a twinkle in her eye, a victorious one. "But I didn't." She let out a tiny grin. "I'm happy."

In return, Jacques gave her a huge smile. "I'm so proud of you, Josée."

Josée waved it off and shook her head. "It's not a big deal."

"Oh but it is. Don't be so bashful, chouchou." Josée's grin turned into a genuine smile. She thought it was silly to be proud of something like this, but Jacques did mention that it was one step at a time. She remembered when Jacques' mother taught them about cooking and she had been nervous at first. But Josée and Jacques both wanted a healthier relationship with food, and interacting with it more while still being healthy was beneficial.

The tender moment was ruined when a new pair entered the bar. Despite the sunglasses covering their eyes, Josée and Jacques knew exactly who they were. Leo slammed his fist on the table once as a way of demanding service, earning an eye roll from Bernadette that returned from the restroom. Bernadette knew exactly what to get him and Liv, and wordlessly got their drinks, not without glaring at the two older ice dancers before walking away.

"We should go..." Jacques suggested to Josée in a whisper.

"Wait a second," Liv said, finally noticing her younger competitors. "Are you even... are you both even allowed to be in here?"

Josée and Jacques exchanged a worried look.

Liv scowled. That gave away their answer. "Whatever. We're not going to narc on you." She and Leo took a long drink while Jacques and Josée merely stared at them. Liv, in return, glared at them harshly. "Is there a problem?"

"Non! None. None at all," Jacques said right away.

"We're looking forward to you getting wiped out in the senior competition," Leo sneered at the teenagers. "Most of the top skaters in the world are going to be there, you know. This isn't a junior competition. Most of these people are in their early-to-mid twenties that will probably compete in the olympics in a few years."

"We're going to win that competition," Josée told him determinedly, for some reason letting his words hit her faster than usual. "And then we're going to the olympics and win."

Liv snorted mid-sip of her beverage, trying to keep it from going everywhere at what seemed like the absurdity of that statement. "Don't be stupid, Josée. You see, in junior competitions being 'cute' could pass. But in senior competitions, you have to be beautiful, elegant, regal. Let's face it; it's all the things that you're not."

Jacques' eyes flared at the older ice dancer when he saw Josée's jaw clench tightly. "Josée is beautiful," he declared confidently. "Inside and out. Something that you aren't."

But Liv knew that she was hitting a nerve when looking at the other female ice dancer, and kept on: "With that ugly nez crochu of yours, it's amazing how people can stand to look at you. Leo, isn't it amazing that a boy other than Jacques could stand to be around her?" Leo snickered at his female partner's taunts. Josée felt herself grow very, very hot. Her fists, along with her jaw, were now fully clenched up. Liv, however, didn't care. She really should've, though. "An ugly girl like you could never win the olympics."

Josée had enough. She abruptly stood up, walked in front of Liv, and socked the older ice dancer in the nose. The impact was so strong that Liv tumbled backward into Leo, sending them both crashing to the wall, catching the attention of the entire bar who gasped collectively. Jacques gasped and pulled Josée back before she could do any more damage. Liv groaned and clutched her bleeding nose in her hand, ushering Leo to go get a bunch of paper towels.

"Josée, why?!" Jacques pleaded desperately. "You just planted a target on our back!" Josée didn't care in the least.

Bernadette strolled in at once to see all the commotion. She facepalmed when she saw that of course her little brother and his partner was two of the involved parties. She reluctantly turned to them and said, "I need to ask you to leave. Now."

Before Jacques and Josée could, they stared at Liv who was still on the ground, holding her nose. They stared up at them with murder in their eyes. Josée, however, wasn't thinking of the potential consequences. "I hope you can afford another nose job, chienne," Josée snapped, spitting at them on the floor on her way out.

"You punched her?" Rachel asked Josée incredulously at lunch the next day after she went over the bar incident. Clara was there as well as Alice. "Wow! I didn't think you'd have it in you."

"Luckily reporters didn't see," Josée said casually, putting a light dressing on her salad.

Clara stared at Josée's bruised hand from yesterday. "Must have been a good punch. I bet it felt good, didn't it?"

Josée smirked. "Oh, you have no idea..." She took a bite of her salad, and her eyes lingered on her food. Her smirk slowly disappeared. "Jacques is mad at me over it," she confessed quietly. "We sort of had an argument on the way back."

"Why?"

"He says I planted a target on our backs," Josée explained, sighing. "The worst part... is that I'm starting to think he's right."

"Hm," Alice mused, throwing her tray away. "I'm starting to think he's right too."

"What do you mean?"

Alice laughed a little bit and put her hand on her shoulder. "Oh sweetie, you understand how it feels... I understand it too. We're the most talented ones in our year, probably out of the whole school, you definitely are in your department, even if it's only dance." Josée glared at the redhead, who backtracked. "Okay, okay. Sorry. But... you have to understand... that everyone's always going to be jealous and out to get you."

Josée blinked slowly, not understanding her friend's point. "...What?"

"Think about it," Alice stated, thus she proceeded to explain, "Everyone's so cutthroat and all, I wouldn't be surprised if someone tried to poison us or something." She even let out a little giggle at the thought. "So, like, I'm always on the lookout. Someone's always looking to sabotage you."

Josée was absolutely bewildered. "I just stay in my own lane. What's your point?"

"I mean, yeah. You could stay in your own lane, but my point is... don't Leah and Larry sabotage people?"

"Leo and Liv," Josée corrected curtly. "And we steer clear of them. We don't need to sabotage anyone. Jacques and I win through hard work and determination."

Alice shrugged. "Suit yourself," she allowed. "But speaking of Jacques..." she allowed a smile. "He's available, now's your chance!"

Now Josée was really confused. "What? First of all, I'm dating Claude..."

"Well, yes, but - okay, I will never understand why you're dating Claude when Jacques is wonderful."

"And Claude is not?"

"He's... fine, I guess... but he's not Jacques."

Josée crossed her arms. "Alice, Jacques is gay." Then she paused doubtfully, remembering a conversation from a while ago, and whispered to herself: "He said he thinks."

"He thinks?" Clara asked incredulously. After listening to Alice's litany earlier about people being cutthroat, this was a lot more refreshing to listen to. Rachel and Alice stood up straighter in interest. "What do you mean?!"

The female ice dancer visibly winced. She wished she hadn't said anything; she hadn't realized she said that aloud. "I don't know. He... says that. He said that he thinks that he's gay, but then he says he's positive he is. I don't know much about this. He said he wanted to forget about it." She really, really, really wished she hadn't let that slip.

"It sounds like something he needs to deal with on his own," Rachel said. Then, she smiled when she saw her boyfriend, Viktor, walking over to her. She turned back to her friends. "I have to go now." She was positively glowing, and giggled as Viktor took her hand and they went up the stairs, presumably to one of the dance rooms.

Once they were out of earshot, Clara turned to Josée, "Can you believe that Rachel lost hers before you?"

Josée visibly groaned at the implication. "Not this again... Claude and I are taking our time, okay? He's like me... he... he doesn't like to rush into things, and neither do I." She would curse herself later for being sucked in such pettiness. Speaking of Claude, he had texted her that he was waiting for her at the library. She pocketed her phone and was ready to leave.

That was, until Alice remarked jokingly: "If it turns out Jacques likes girls, and if you don't ever kiss him, then I will."

Josée halted her steps in annoyance, and sat back down. "You're not entirely serious..."

"Do it then," Clara told Alice. "Since Josée is clearly not interested."

Suddenly, Alice's demeanor changed entirely and looked down at her tray, poking at her food. "...No, I can't do that. She said that he doesn't know, and I don't want to be the one that puts pressure on him."

"That hasn't stopped you before. You've been with guys who have been with guys," Clara pointed out.

Alice glared at her. "Not going to happen with Jacques."

"Wow," Clara said in total astonishment. "A gay guy might not be gay and likes girls and you turn him down?"

Josée really wished she hadn't opened up this conversation. It was all her fault.

"I mean, I think he definitely still likes guys," Alice said.

"Well he should pick a side already." For some reason, Clara's comment made Josée very uncomfortable.

"Maybe he doesn't have to pick a side?" Alice argued, and to prove her point: "I know a few girls in choir that are bisexual."

Clara frowned. "But those are girls. It's different for guys, I guess... I mean, most of them are pretty much gay. Who's ever heard of a guy who likes girls and guys? Also, I wouldn't date a guy who likes guys, I don't get how you do. That singer that my mom likes said he was bisexual at first but then he said he was gay, so..."

"You said so yourself, Clara," Alice told her cordially. "I've been with a few guys that like both."

Clara couldn't help but snort. "Alice, let's be honest. They probably just wanted to sleep with you because of knowing how available you are."

The silence between the three was loud.

Josée stepped in, turning to Clara after seeing Alice's hurt expression. "Why do you have to be so mean for?"

"I'm just being honest."

Alice abruptly stood up from the table, with tears in her eyes. "You know, it's just so funny when there are guys in choir that do the same thing, and they never get any hate for it! But me? Always. Jealously is an ugly trait, Clara."

"Please, it's not jealousy-"

"Also, there are times when I do say no. It's just something no one ever hears!" With that, Alice stormed off to the bathroom.

Clara looked helplessly to Josée, who closed her eyes in distress. The latter was less than pleased with the drama she managed to get herself into today. "I have no time to fix your problems. I'm meeting Claude in the library."

"Josée-"

"No, I mean it," Josée cut in, her patience wearing thin. "I already feel guilty enough gossiping with the two of you about my best friend, something that's my fault that I didn't try to stop, but I'm not going to continuously fix problems between you and your alleged best friend. That has nothing to do with me. Alice might not be the most socially aware person in the world, but she never intends to be harmful. But you do. I'm seriously tired of it. I promise that I'm not getting involved anymore."

Right now, she sounded entirely serious, and it was meant to be taken seriously. But little did Josée know, a few years from now, she would break her promise. Within the process of breaking of promise, she would learn something she never wished she knew, that would change her entirely, but it would somehow turn into one of the best things that could've ever happened her - but she wouldn't know that last part until many years from now.

Josée rose from her seat and grabbed her belongings. "And for the record," she stated, with one final glare: "Jacques could love whoever he wants." Then she left the cafeteria.

"Jacques, I don't understand why you're practicing," Lucas remarked in the dance room eating his lunch as Jacques practiced his turns. Rachel and Viktor were cuddled in the corner. Madame Lizette did have the dance room open during lunch, with the intent for people to practice, but only Jacques would use it for that. "You have better turns than the entire class, and that includes Josée."

Jacques landed gracefully and shook his head. "Non, that's not true."

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "I think you're trying to distract yourself because Nathaniel isn't here anymore."

"That's not why."

"That's definitely why," corrected Viktor, pelting Rachel with kisses, which she giggled at. "Sorry to hear. But hey, there are other gay theatre guys to fuck, I'm sure of it."

"Practically all of them are," Lucas pointed out.

Jacques shrugged. "They're not Nathaniel." He was about to continue, until he saw Viktor help Rachel off the floor with a devilish grin on his face. Jacques got a funny feeling in his stomach... not necessarily the good kind. Just as they were about to exit, Jacques interrupted his original train of thought. "Rachel, where are you going?" Rachel and Viktor exchanged a look and smirked. Jacques couldn't help but notice Rachel's looked more nervous.

"We're going to the bathroom," Rachel supplied.

Jacques couldn't believe his ears. "You aren't worried that you'll get in trouble?"

"I'll take care of her, don't worry." Although Jacques had been friends with Viktor for years, he's known from his past that Viktor wasn't exactly the most trustworthy person in the world. He did have a reputation of being with many girls.

Jacques eyed Rachel. "Just be careful."

Viktor snorted. "Why are you so protective?"

"Because Josée would kill him and you if anything happened to her," Lucas answered instead. Neither Jacques and Viktor disputed the point. Without saying goodbye, Viktor and Rachel left the dance room, leaving Lucas and Jacques alone. The latter went back to practicing his turns. "You've got let this go."

"My turns could always use more work."

"I'm not talking about your turns." Jacques stopped his turns to stare at Lucas, who faltered a bit. "I mean, that too... but I'm talking about the Nathaniel-"

Jacques rolled his eyes. "I'm fine. Champions must preserve." He paused thoughtfully, looking at the door. "Do you think Rachel and Viktor are a good couple?"

"Do you like him or something?"

"What? No!" Jacques snapped. "I mean, do you think Viktor is good for Rachel?"

Lucas shrugged. "Probably not. But Rachel is smart. She'll figure it out sooner or later."

"I'm... not so sure about that."

Claude frowned deeply at his girlfriend's persistent pen tapping. The librarian already had to shush them twice because of the 'consistent noise' despite the fact that there was a group of chattering theatre girls in ninth grade gossiping about god-knows-what that the librarian hadn't bothered to shut up. "Josée," he began worriedly, "Is everything okay?"

Josée sighed, unable to focus on their literature homework in front of them. "I'm fine, it's just... I was in the cafeteria earlier, and my friends were giving me a headache."

"They do that a lot it seems," Claude pointed out.

"It's so tiring," Josée agreed.

"You could stop being friends with them, mon chéri."

Josée smiled a little at the term of endearment. "Yes I could but they do have their moments when they're nice." There are a few that came to mind, but truthfully, Claude did have a point. Alice and Clara proved to be a handful to be friends with. To be fair, Josée knew she was like that with nearly everyone in their school but Jacques, Claude, and maybe Rachel on a good day, but sometimes even she proved to fall into the gossiping circle.

"Claude, can I ask you something?"

The oboist smirked. "You just did." Josée rolled her eyes, but there was a fondness to them. Claude chuckled a bit. "Okay, shoot." His smile faded as Josée's expression went from fondness to doubt and folded her arms. She briefly looked away from him, before hesitantly meeting his eyes, and dropped this bomb:

"Am I being a good girlfriend?"

Claude's eyes almost popped out of his head. "Wh-what?" he nearly squawked.

"I mean, I get why I wouldn't be, it's that, we've been going out for around a month, right? And... and I feel like because I have no experience in relationships that I'm sort of dragging you along, and that..." Josée was starting to ramble while hugging herself. "I feel like I could be doing more, I don't know. I don't understand how romance works-"

"Josée-"

"-and I never understood it!" Josée almost exclaimed. She wasn't shouting, but her voice was above regular speaking volume. Claude shrunk in his seat as people were starting to stare, however Josée went on: "Other people usually do things in relationships, and some progress faster than others, but I'm not too comfortable with certain things-"

"Quiet in the library!" The librarian hissed at the couple.

Josée muttered a quiet "sorry" and buried her face in her notes, unable to even look at her boyfriend. She whispered quieter this time, "I just... feel obligated to these things-"

"Obligated?" Claude managed to cut in, echoing her words in utter disbelief. He shook his head and smiled sadly at her. "Josée, you're a wonderful girlfriend. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do. I have no problem taking things slow with you." He hoped this would make her feel better, but her worried expression didn't change. "Where did this come from?"

Josée sighed and looked at him. "Rachel and Viktor have been going out for as long as we have, maybe shorter, and they've... well, I've heard-"

"I thought you were better than this, Josée," Claude interrupted, frowning. "That's all gossip. You hate gossip."

"Well, I know that... but still-" Josée's face faltered significantly. "I don't know. It just really had me thinking. I just like being around you, and I want to do this right."

Claude clicked his tongue. "It sounds like you need to get rid of those friends," he told her. "It'd be for your own good." He couldn't help but laugh a little at the situation. "Gosh, what would you do without me to tell you these things?" Josée felt stomach in her stomach shift and smiled weakly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be mean, Josée. I'm only telling you this because I care about you. You know that, right?"

Josée's smile grew a little stronger. "Right..." she said quietly, more to herself. "But I still would like to keep my friends, even if they are... tone-deaf sometimes."

Claude's expression was unreadable just for a second, but then he laughed uncomfortably. "I mean, yes, it's good to have friends. But we have each other, you know? And when you're boyfriend/girlfriend, that's all that really matters."

Josée's smiled faded after that. "I can't imagine getting rid of them, even if they drive me crazy. Especially Jacques, I've known him almost my whole life."

"Oh, I understand Jacques," Claude said gently. "You both were assigned to be ice dancing partners, so you had to become friends."

This statement bothered Josée. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't be so sensitive, Josée," Claude chuckled, patting her hand. Josée merely stared at him, waiting for an explanation. "I'm saying, would you and Jacques be friends if he wasn't going into ice dancing as well?"

Josée grew uneasy. "I..." She hesitated. She never really thought of this before. "I... I'd like to think we would be."

Claude gave her a half-shrug. "Okay. You can believe that, then."

Josée closed her notebook. "Um..." She didn't know what to say. She would have to ask Alice about this later if this was normal in relationships. But wait a second, Claude did say that her friends could be problematic, and he was certainly right about that. She cleared her throat and changed the topic: "I think we should go to the dance room."

"Why?"

"Even if you think my friends are problematic," Josée started off, "Rachel at least has brains. Maybe she could help us with the literature homework?" She already stood up and gathered her things. "I think it would be good."

Claude shrugged again and pushed his chair in. "Maybe you're right," he settled. They started to walk to the dance room, and on the way there, it was noticeably awkward than how it usually was. "Josée, you don't have to do what I say. It's just a suggestion. It's only because I-"

"...care about you, I know," Josée finished for him. Then, to her surprise and her boyfriend's, she stopped him in the middle of the halls and pecked him on the lips. "You just have to trust me, alright?"

Claude smirked goofily. "You just kissed me in public."

Josée couldn't help but roll her eyes and chuckle. "That's what you're focused on?"

"Oui."

Before Josée could enter the dance room, high-pitched laughter caught her and Claude's attention. They spotted Viktor holding Rachel's hand as she giggled in an uncharacteristic way, trying to hold in her laughter with her hand. Viktor pressed her against the wall and showered her with kisses, making Claude and Josée collectively wince.

Rachel pulled away when she caught Josée and Claude's eyeing them. "I'm going to get water, hold on. Go inside!" Viktor nuzzled against her, giving her one last kiss before departing to the dance room. She was about to walk over to the water fountain but was stopped by Josée and Claude. Rachel blinked for a few seconds, then burst into laughter once more. "Allo, Josée! Allo, Claude!"

Her eyes were wide and manic, nothing like Josée had seen before. There was that inkling feeling of knowing what it was, but Josée chose to ignore it for now. "Rachel, do you think you could help Claude and I with some literature homework? We're not understanding..." She saw Rachel's hand twitch slightly. An uneasy feeling filled Josée's stomach. No, no, no... Josée did her best to ignore the obvious signs. "There's this part that's really bothering us-"

"Totally! Sure!" Rachel cheered happily. "I probably did it before. I'm in Honors Literature. I am soooo smart, did you know that?"

Claude gave Josée a strange look. "Are you sure...?"

"Rachel," Josée began assertively, looking into her eyes, which were very dilated. Josée's heart sank into her stomach when she saw the final sign. "You have white powder under your nose." Rachel's upbeat demeanor seemingly vanished. Instead of giving a verbal response, she resorted to blinking rapidly. Josée didn't know exactly how to feel about this revelation, because she truly thought Rachel was smarter than this.

Apparently not.

...For some reason, this enraged her. It was probably the conversation she had with Claude, who was starting to sound more and more right with each passing day.

Josée rose her hand and slapped the girl in front of her. "I can't believe you," she spat. "You're in figure skating. You cannot afford a drug habit! This is so incredibly stupid of you! It's why I never wanted you to go out with Viktor in the first place! You..." Josée's mind drifted to someone else; the person who was probably responsible for introducing this to her. Without saying another word, she stormed into the dance room.

Claude desperately called out to her when he saw his girlfriend's eyes on Viktor, "Josée, please it's not-"

Josée whirled her body around to face her boyfriend. "Not now." Back to Viktor. "What the hell is your problem?" Lucas and Jacques, who had been chatting quietly, stood up to see what the commotion was about. "Are you trying to ruin her career!?"

Jacques stepped in, "Josée, what's the matter?"

Unfortunately for Jacques, her rage was about to be directed at him: "You allowed this to happen?! Do you realize what's going on?!"

"N-non!" Jacques exclaimed, his eyes wide. "What happened?"

"Your chouchou is being annoying, that's what," Viktor snapped, with an eye roll. "She's such a baby - hey what the fuck!"

"Josée!" Jacques gasped when Josée had spat in Viktor's face.

"You're going to ruin her, you moron," Josée sneered at Viktor. "She can't have a drug habit!"

Jacques couldn't believe his ears. "What?!"

"It was her choice, I didn't hold a gun to her head!" Viktor retorted to the female ice dancer.

Josée opened her mouth to say something, but Claude jumped in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Josée, is any of this worth it?" he asked firmly. "Really. Ask yourself that. Is the stress of going through this worth it?"

Josée was going to say that yes, it absolutely was worth it. Rachel couldn't fall into that stupidity. She was one of the few intelligent people in dance, someone she found intellectually stimulating, someone that she liked very much. But then, Josée realized, her boyfriend just had to be right about this. She could feel Jacques' eyes on her - hell, she could feel everyone's eyes on her - anticipating what she would do next.

So she wouldn't disappoint them. Josée shrugged Claude's hands off her. She gave one last look to Viktor, and stated evenly: "You're going to ruin her life." And Josée stormed out again - she came to the realization she had been doing that a lot recently.

When Josée and Jacques had a private with Isaac, the way it would go would depend on the people present watching it. When it was just them, it was normally calm, productive, and pretty positive for the most part. However, on those occasions that Josée's mother would join to put her two cents in, it was hell for everyone around her. She had that miraculous effect on people. She truly had the gift of terrorization.

Today happened to be the example of the latter, which spelled out trouble. Jacques already knew Josée was in a foul mood from today's events. He knew that it wasn't just the Rachel dilemma, he suspected that Claude had something to do with her foul mood, as well as her friends. She had muttered a fair share of profanities under her breath as she put her skates on in the locker room. Jacques wanted to approach Josée on the matter, because she really was having a stressful week, but he didn't want to add more to her plate. Her biggest concern right now was impressing her maman.

It was not working at all.

"This is sloppy! There is no way they're ready for competition unless they want a participation medal!" Josée's mother snapped at the coach. "I mean, seriously? This is such garbage, Isaac, such... shit!"

Isaac was not having it. "Louise, would you stop yelling and swearing in front of my students?" He asked, with an exasperated sigh. "The faster we get this done the faster I get home to my husband and my bichon frise, and we can't do that if you keep screaming at my students."

Jacques barely back a snort of laughter, which did not go unnoticed by Josée's mother. "Stop laughing you brat!" Jacques' smile disappeared in a flash. Josée's mother turned back to their coach again. "Isaac, we pay you and the other choreographers good money to make this routine go right, and they're nothing but sloppy, I would do it myself if I wasn't so busy all the time."

"Speaking of busy," Isaac cut in, noticeably irritable. "Don't you have friends to see? Or business to take care of where... you have to be anywhere but here?"

Josée frowned deeply at her coach. He really shouldn't be fighting back against her. He was going to lose. It was going to be ugly for her later. Seconds later, like Josée expected, the two started to bicker. She felt Jacques' arms wrap around her shoulders in attempt to comfort her. Normally she would fight him for being affectionate in front of maman, but she was just too upset over these past few days to do so.

Jacques let go after a few seconds. "Can we get a water break please?" he asked, loud enough to stop Isaac and Josée's mom from arguing.

Isaac nodded. "Ten minutes."

Josée and Jacques got off the ice. Truthfully, Jacques was hoping that on the way there Josée would talk about what's been on her mind. It's often what they did whenever they got a water break. So on the way there, Jacques and Josée ignored - well, Josée tried to ignore - Josée's mother snapping at Isaac for letting them have a water break. Instead of Josée talking, she looked even more unsettled.

What they were about to see wasn't going to help.

"Elise?" Jacques asked, recognizing an ice dancer that was a year older than him sitting in the corner wheezing heavily while her partner was frantic searching for something in her bag - which was unusually full of red ants. "Are you okay?" The female ice dancer didn't answer, instead shaking her head rapidly and wheezing harsher.

Josée was alert instantly and rushed over. "What's going on?"

"I'm trying to find her epipen!" Elise's partner, Hugo, answered in a shriek. "She's allergic to red ants! And there were so many in her bag!" The epipen wasn't in there. "Call an ambulance!" Jacques didn't waste any time, yanking his locker open to dial 911. The ambulance would arrive in less than five minutes. Meanwhile, Josée went back to the rink to get more help. Hugo was hysterically crying to Jacques, who did his best to comfort him. "We were supposed to compete tomorrow in Sherbrooke."

Jacques' stomach shifted uncomfortably. He and Josée weren't competing in Sherbrooke.

But they knew a pair who was.

Josée returned to the locker room saying that the ambulance had arrived and that Isaac had flagged them down. Thirty seconds later, the ambulance arrived and immediately injected an epipen in Elise's upper thigh. After that, her breathing slowly turned to normal. Despite her breathing getting back to normal, the paramedics stated that they wanted to keep her under observation for a few hours in the hospital. Hugo had called Elise's parents and said they were going to meet them there. Josée and Jacques watched as they put Elise in the ambulance, Josée gripping onto Jacques' hand tightly in anticipation as one of the paramedics walked over to Isaac.

"Lucky her," he said. "A few minutes later and she would've been dead."

Josée and Jacques' stomachs dropped.

It was then Isaac realized Josée and Jacques were still there. "Jacques, Josée, go back in the locker room."

"Is Elise going to be okay?" Josée asked, ignoring her coach's orders.

"Most likely," Isaac replied. "But she and Hugo are definitely not going to be competing. Go back inside."

Josée felt Jacques gently grab her hand, she turned around, startled. "Come on, chouchou." As Jacques tried to bring her back inside, Josée's eyes lingered on the ambulance that was driving further away. "Elise will be okay," he said softly.

"I just don't understand." Josée shook her head in utter disbelief. "Ants? How did fire ants get into her bag?"

And that's when they heard it.

"How was I supposed to know she wouldn't have an epipen?" Liv whispered fiercely. "She should've been responsible and brought it!"

Josée and Jacques had yet to fully enter the locker room, but peeked to see that Liv and Leo were in an argument.

"That's not the point, Liv!" Leo looked less-than-impressed with Liv, which was a massive understatement. "Do you know what could happen to us? The shit we'd have to go through if this is traced back to us!"

"Please, we'll be fine! It's all a performance. Tomorrow, we'll smile and wish Elise the best when asked about it."

"We could get caught! This is attempted murder! We wanted to sabotage, not murder!"

...Oh.

Oh shit.

Josée and Jacques' eyes were wide with horror. Nausea enveloped their frames, and they resisted every urge they had not to throw up on the spot. Anything else said after that neither of them heard it. They had heard enough. While they weren't unfamiliar with Leo and Liv's tactics of sabotaging other teams to get ahead, this was something very, very different and frightening - this was a straight up crime. As if things couldn't get worse, Leo and Liv spotted them eavesdropping.

"Hey!" Liv shouted at them. Jacques and Josée's hearts were beating out of their chest. In a fury, Liv reached over and grabbed Josée's hand and yanked her over, ushering Jacques to try and stop her. "Whatever you two heard..." she began icily, fire in her eyes, "No you didn't." Truthfully, Josée and Jacques would give anything in the world to not hear what they just heard, but they couldn't. What was done was done. "If you say anything, to anyone, you're both next."

Josée and Jacques nodded very quickly.

Then, Liv smirked, venomously sweet. "I suggest you don't punch me in the face anymore, sweetie. After all, we all remember what happened when you both crossed a line?"

...They remembered it vividly.

Josée was eleven, and Jacques was thirteen. They were facing older ice dancers in a competition at their rink, and they had won. Leo and Liv hadn't competed, because they were too old since the age range was from eleven to seventeen, and both Leo and Liv were eighteen at this point. When they had gone down to the locker room after the competition, the other dancers have surrounded them. Leo and Liv just so happened to orchestrate the entire thing.

"Lock the door," Leo had said, and one of them did.

Josée and Jacques were both held down by the other dancers. Hands were over their mouths as they let out muffled screams that weren't going to be heard. Their eyes were pleading for mercy, and they were blinking back tears to prevent themselves from looking weak. Which, of course, Leo and Liv got a kick out of.

"Babies! Are you crying?" Leo had taunted menacingly.

"Remember your place!" Liv had snapped at the two. She was right above Josée's face, which had been stained with tears. Josée was unable to hold them back any longer. Liv had gotten a permanent marker and began to write on top of Josée's forehead. Leo did the same for Jacques with his own permanent marker. They both kicked and tried to scream, but it was no use. "The next time you do something like that, you're dead."

Then they spit in their faces. Once that was over, Josée and Jacques were left alone in the locker room, sniffling and trying not to break down in tears again. They had done a fairly good job of that, until they saw what was written on the other's forehead. Josée and Jacques ran to the closest mirror nearby. What they saw broke them down. Josée sunk to the ground and cried into Jacques' chest, while Jacques held her close while letting out tears of his own.

Silver.

Chapter Text

Chapter 7- Unresolved Conflicts (Causing a Commotion)

The end of March was approaching, which was the middle-to-the-end of competition season. Josée and Jacques have taken many gold medals in the process, but like they had feared, they had taken the silver medal for their senior competition against Leo and Liv, which they had taken gold for. They had constantly gloated that they won, and as much as Josée wanted to punch them in their faces - and to break Liv's nose in the process - she had to hold herself back, or if she couldn't Jacques would do it for her.

Currently, they had won a local competition in Montreal days after the senior competition, and were greeted by a dozen cameras. Josée and Jacques had their dark shades on; since the flashes and lights never failed to give them headaches. Speaking of, Josée had one about now - that was turning into a migraine - and had to rely on Jacques to guide her to their vehicle.

Josée still smiled, though. She never stopped smiling - because while the paparazzi and reporters and the press were incredibly scummy, their fans were still there and wanted a glimpse of the ice dancers. For every annoying paparazzo, there were more fans who's eyes would light up with joy when they came face-to-face with her and Jacques. There were days where they would be recognized and would beg for an autograph, and they would even stop to have a bit of small-talk with them if no one else was around.

At some point, whatever fan who has talked to them will almost always say something similar to: "You're a lot different in person than you are on camera."

It was true. Alice mentioned that to them at some point. Their smiles were a little less forced, and they were noticeably awkward which would come as surprising to their fans as they appeared so confident in front of the cameras. Well, that was because they were mostly told what to say. Real-life was an entirely different situation. Jacques was a little more friendly than Josée, but they were still dubbed as "shy" at least in comparison to other ice dancers in Quebec.

And then came the questions from the press and reporters. Some of them were in French, some of them were in English. It depended who was asking.

Jacques took care of all the questions. He answered questions such as how excited he was to be accepted into one of the best ballet companies in Montreal, which he would work at as soon as he graduated high school during the day time. Josée still had two more years of high school to get through, so they wouldn't be with each other all the time.

...It all happened so fast. One second Josée was struggling with her footing - the flashing cameras usually made her uneasy - and the next she somehow ended up losing Jacques' grip on her and was pushed onto a paparazzo. Instead of the paparazzo helping her up and leaving at that, he had helped her up and placed his hands on her chest.

Josée let out a yelp and pushed the paparazzo off her. "Get off of me!" she snapped. Where was... where was Jacques? He was just here a minute ago...

Jacques had realized ten seconds after the incident that Josée was hurt. "Chouchou, are you alright?" Josée didn't know. Jacques saw her eye the paparazzo with something like fright - a rare occurrence from her - and he connected the dots based on the crowd cheering at the paparazzo and the words that were said.

"Jacques, he just... placed his hands on my..." However, Josée didn't get to finish her sentence. Right when Jacques was ready to knock the paparazzo out, a familiar face appeared among the crowd, shocking them all as the figure in question, with a swift motion - punched the paparazzo square in the nose.

Everyone swarmed the fallen paparazzo. Meanwhile, Josée spotted the figure that had thrown the punch, and was shocked - but it turned into absolute delight. "Claude!" she said happily, like her headache had vanished in an instant. She rushed over and hugged him. "I didn't know you were coming! Oh, Claude... your hand!"

Claude pulled her away gently and smiled. "It was worth it, mon ange."

Josée couldn't help herself. She hugged him again. "Merci. You're my hero."

Jacques had watched as Josée ran into Claude's arms, all excited to see him. He had seen earlier that Claude had been the one to knock out the paparazzo because he could get the chance to. He saw how Josée's headache seemed to disappear among seeing him. He heard Josée happily say that Claude was her hero.

Jacques especially didn't like that last part.

...He wasn't jealous. Obviously. That was Josée's boyfriend, and well, Jacques had plenty of male suitors of his own - last month when he turned eighteen, the tabloids made that especially clear - and obviously wouldn't be interested in someone female. Nathaniel had made that pretty clear to him those few years ago.

Even with this mind, Jacques felt a certain feeling about Claude.

Not a good one.

Josée and Jacques were working on another routine the next day, which involved a synchronized camel spin that they were currently stuck on. Not because the trick was difficult, both of them were highly advanced with that move, but there was a disagreement on where that camel spin should be placed before or after a set of twizzles. Avril and Isaac, though they were fairly good friends that rarely argued, had varying opinions. This left Josée and Jacques experimenting with many camel spins before and after the move. This would've been difficult for them if they were younger, but their brains were well-trained enough to suppress the dizzy feeling from multiple spins.

Isaac shook his head in disapproval when he saw Josée and Jacques perform the camel spin before the set of twizzles. "No, the transition would be nicer if they did the set of twizzles first going into the camel spin."

"What if they risk hitting each other with their skates? We do not need an incident like that. It would be safer to do the camel spin and then settle into the twizzles."

"I know you don't seriously think that they would cut each other with skates."

"It happened in the Four Continents championship!" Josée and Jacques winced; they were there and had taken the gold in that competition. This was from another team from Quebec, Canada other than themselves and Leo & Liv. Jessica and Bryce were a few years older than Jacques and they were pretty friendly and had competed with them on several occasions. Unfortunately, Bryce's skate sliced Jessica's cheek after their camel spins were too close together. She had to get at least eighty stitches.

"We wouldn't make such a rookie mistake," Josée interjected from the ice, getting the attention of Isaac and Avril. "We know better."

Isaac turned back to Avril and smiled. "See? They know better."

Avril hesitated for a moment, then sighed. "It's your call, anyway."

"So we're doing the twizzles first?" Jacques spoke up.

"Oui," answered Isaac. "Start from the top, then up to what we've learned with the new combination. And Josée?" The female ice dancer looked up expectantly. "Make sure that you're further apart during the twizzles."

Josée nodded and got into she and Jacques' first position for the start of the dance. There was the fear of the camel spin getting too close to hitting the other, but luckily that wasn't the case and they knew to space each other out. From there, Isaac and Avril added more moves to the routine for later. Around an hour after putting it all together they did a run-through of the dance. While they did this dance, Jacques took the moment to start a conversation.

"Jacques," Josée hissed back lowly. "Focus on the dance!"

"I was wondering if you were okay from yesterday."

"We've been over this, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure? I would've done something about that paparazzo instead of your boyfriend."

After the set of twizzles, Josée frowned at Jacques when they got back to in-hold position and waltzed around the ice. "Is that what this is about?"

"Stop talking during the dance!" Isaac shouted over to the pair.

Josée hadn't realized she had spoken aloud earlier and glared at her partner, who sheepishly smiled and muttered a pathetic, "Sorry." Josée rolled her eyes. Her sour mood, however, was lifted by the end of the routine. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Claude waiting by the double doors for her lesson to be over, which was in five minutes.

Jacques spotted him after it was over and their coach was talking to them about their progress. Neither he nor Josée were really paying attention, as Josée occasionally stole glances from him. He watched as she did so. With Jacques' eyes finally setting on Claude, he felt his pulse race and his stomach swirl.

It was not in the way that he got whenever he had a crush on someone. It was not in the way he danced across the ice gracefully with the wind in his face, nor was it the feeling of anxious butterflies in his stomach before a competition. This one look at Claude told him everything he needed to know, and yesterday only proved those feelings.

Jacques didn't like him.

At all.

It was strange that it took him that long to come that conclusion. Jacques did often playfully tease Josée about having a boyfriend, like most best friends did... and the thing was, well... Jacques didn't really mind Claude at first. But now he was starting to understand why Josée was annoyed whenever Nathaniel would ask to hangout. However, the difference was that he never came to the rink like Claude had been doing recently.

When they were dismissed, Josée greeted Claude with a hug like she usually did. Jacques frowned looking at them do so, and he did feel horrible about this... because Josée was happy to see him, she always said he was "great company", and it was good that she would interacting with more people, but...

Did he have to stop by all the time?

"You seem upset." Jacques turned around to see Isaac, who also had eyed the couple. "How come?"

Jacques shrugged. "I'm not upset," he said cordially. "I just... I don't want him getting in the way of this routine."

"How the tables have turned," Isaac chuckled. "I vaguely remember when Josée was upset-"

"This is different," Jacques tried to insist. "He's just... he..." He couldn't find the right words, so he settled with saying: "He's not good enough for her."

"And you don't think Josée thought the same way about you?"

Jacques frowned. "What's that supposed to..."

"I'll see the both of you tomorrow," Isaac interrupted, restraining a smile as he walked away.

Jacques watched him go, blinking confusedly and shaking his head.

He knew this was different. He glared at the oboist. Ugh. The oboe isn't even that good of an instrument, it sounded like a dying duck. Why was she so enthralled by him? She said it was because of Claude's dedication and talent, but Jacques had that himself! So why did she have to go find a boyfriend? Ugh. It's not like he had proof that Claude was a bad person, but he was sure he was! Josée would talk about people being fake and nice all the time in their school and in figure skating, so what really made Claude so different?

...Ugh, Jacques needed a break. This was giving him a migraine. For now, he would let it go.

Claude was nice.

Josée remembered a time where she didn't think he was nice, which was approximately one minute before she remarkably decided that he was. Claude did have moments where he was not-so-nice and sort of grouchy, but she figured that was expected. After all, her maman had told her that no man would ever love her enough, and that she was the only person that she could truly trust. It hurt when she said that, Josée wouldn't lie. Maman had raised her, so it was expected that she would know better, Josée supposed. So when Claude ever made a passive aggressive comment, Josée would ignore it or divert the topic to something else.

That was, until today, that is.

Today had been going great, and Claude was being nice. On the way to his house he had gushed about how good she was on the ice, and they held hands, and he was being as chivalrous as he usually was. By the time they got to his house they put on a movie - Josée had gotten a text from her mother in the middle of it that she was expected to be home in an hour - and cuddled on the sofa. Eventually, cuddling and talking while watching the film turned into light kissing by the end of it.

Josée had yet to feel that certain "spark" that Alice talked about, but she did like kissing Claude. It was nice, she thought. That's always how she'd describe Claude; an intellectual who happened to have a nice side, and if maman thought a man was adequate enough for her, it would be Claude. He, according to Alice, was the example of what many girls wished their boyfriends were like - even though she considered Jacques the most ideal partner for her.

...Not that dating Jacques has crossed her mind, of course. Her maman's story was the perfect example about how dating your ice dancing partner could go horribly wrong and how they'll abandon you. She doesn't think Jacques would abandon her in that hypothetical situation, but her maman liked to remind her that she thought the same way. Besides, Jacques made it clear who he liked... she thought. Honestly, Josée didn't understand what was going on with Jacques, but as long as he could carry her across the ice; she couldn't care less where his romantic interests lied.

And she also had Claude! Who was intellectual, nice, made great company, he was a gentleman. Okay, he was a little arrogant, but who wasn't? He had every right to be proud of his talents and boast about it, it's what she liked in him anyway, she felt like someone could understand.

It was Josée's turn to pick the movie, and she had picked a dance movie, as expected. She swore she saw Claude roll her eyes at her selection, but chose to ignore it. Little did she know, this movie would be the start of their argument.

"I don't like movies usually," Josée remarked after the movie was over and they had pulled away. "But this movie just makes so much sense to me. It made me realize that I had to be a dancer, but just add figure skating to it!" She was positively beaming. Talking about their shared passions did make the relationship work. "I never get tired of it."

"Mmm, I can tell."

Just like that, the mood shifted.

Josée frowned at him. "What do you mean? You know I love to dance."

"Well, yes," Claude agreed. "There's no question about that, it's that... you seem to forget when watching these films what makes dance important, which is the music."

"I never said it wasn't important," Josée clarified, furrowing her eyebrows. "What brought on this?"

"Oh nothing. I've just been thinking lately about these dancers that want to go on Broadway, and if they want to be huge stars, you can't be just a good dancer. You have to be a good singer too, or else you'll never make it on the big stage."

Josée's frown deepened. "Claude," she started off slowly, as patiently as she could muster, "Dance is just as important as the other arts. It's something the audience will be excited to watch."

"I'm not saying that it isn't important, mon ange..." Claude said sweetly, as if talking to a child. "You're being too sensitive again. All I'm saying is that people will be more excited to hear music than to watch a dance without music. Without music, the dance is sort of meaningless, don't you think?"

"I don't think that at all," Josée stated, rather coldly. She felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I can't believe you're undermining how important dance is to me."

Claude sighed and rolled his eyes. "There you are, being sensitive again." He smiled like she was crazy. "Have you heard of any famous dancers in the industry?"

"Madonna started off as a dancer," Josée reminded him icily, glaring at the oboist. "She's still one of the biggest pop stars in the world even at her age, I hope you know that."

"But she needed to learn how to sing," Claude told her. "Mon ange, you have to understand that without music... most people wouldn't really watch dance."

Josée crossed her arms and scooted further away from him. "How would you like it if I said there are hardly famous oboists out there?"

Claude's expression grew cold. "That's different, and you know it."

"Explain it to me," Josée asked of him sharply. Her patience was starting to wear thin. "Because I would never undermine your field of interest, so why are you doing it to me?"

"That's not the point, ma belle," Claude said, starting to get frustrated. "I'm not saying dance isn't important, because it is... but if you look at the industry... even when you ice dance, the moves that you and your partner do wouldn't be nearly as interesting without the music provided, which consists of singers and instrumental music."

Josée rose from the sofa, with an utterly stony expression. "I think I'm going to go... my maman wants me home soon."

"You said that she wanted you home in an hour then, it's only been thirty minutes!" But Josée wasn't listening, instead she grabbed her coat from the sofa. Claude rose from the sofa as well to follow her with a disapproving frown. "You can't be mad about what I said, it's all factual... you've always been about rationality and now you're-"

"Well this is different to me," Josée interrupted, turning around with a less-than-pleased look. She was desperate to hold on to the little calmness she had left, that was starting to slip - it was noticeable in her tone. "Ice dancing is my life. Performing is my life. Dancing is my life. I thought you of all people would understand that."

Josée let out a sigh, and softened her look just a little bit when she saw hardness in his eyes. She didn't want to be mad at him, honestly. But he just... how could he be so blind? This take of his was awful, considering that he, too, shared her determination to make a living within the performing arts field. It was the reason that they had become a couple, someone to have intellectual conversations with, someone who was just good company. Sure, she had yet to feel that "spark" but she liked having him around.

Hopefully this would be forgotten; Josée figured couples fought often, anyway. That's what her friends told her, at least.

Sometimes, if Josée was upset enough, it would read all over her face. Whenever she felt certain emotions, she felt those emotions strongly; which could be wonderful as it could be potentially dangerous. Jacques knew that all too well, and to most people, Josée was able to cover up these emotions in front of the cameras, and even to some of her closest friends - which was probably why she exploded later on and it would bubble over into a frenzy.

When Josée was happy, she was ecstatic; always so giddy and talkative and would really be full of life. But when she was angry, she was furious; and would eventually go into a tantrum. If she was forced to cover up these intense emotions in public, it would only make these emotions come out even stronger in private - especially the furious part.

After knowing her for nearly a decade, Jacques knew she was frustrated today - and she was desperately trying to keep it in.

Usually Josée and Jacques would practice ice dancing before school, which they did - which was when Jacques noticed her behavior - but it on the way to school where Jacques decided to confront her on it. "Josée?" The female ice dancer hummed from the passenger seat of the car to show she was listening. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The way she said this was distant and cold, like the way she was at the rink this morning.

Jacques briefly looked away from the road to look at her; she refused to make eye contact and was playing with her hands. Nonetheless, he spoke up again: "Did ah... something happen with your maman? Or-"

"What's it to you?" Josée suddenly snapped, facing him. "Why are you so nosy today?"

Jacques pressed his lips together, his eyes back on the road. She had been giving him an attitude all day during practice, and it appeared that it was going to continue off the ice as well. He tried not to let it get to him. "Yesterday after practice, when you went to Claude's, you didn't call me like usual, and this morning you were... kind of mean, Josée."

Josée rolled her eyes. "Oh, so I'm mean because I don't want to tell you anything about my life?"

It was getting more and more difficult for Jacques to not get irritated. "I remember you getting upset because I didn't tell you something about me, so I thought this was a two-way street."

"It's different."

"How is it different?"

"The whole school isn't talking about me like they were talking about you. This is personal and private."

Jacques let out a deep sigh. It was best not to pressure her about it, he decided. "I'm sorry, chouchou," he said softly instead. "Just... I'm here if you want to talk, okay?"

Josée brought her knees to her chest on the seat. "Okay," was all she said. When he looked at her again, her expression was unreadable. It made his heart sink; whenever she was in this state of mind he couldn't be mad at her for long. They spent the next five minutes of the ride in silence, though the tension between them was rising.

After a while, however, the silence became too insufferable to tolerate. Jacques was going to talk again, but Josée beat him to it. "Claude is just so selfish, that's all - Jacques!" Jacques had abruptly pulled over to the side of the road. Josée was near fuming. "We're going to be late for class!"

"It can wait. What did he do?" Jacques asked, his expression entirely serious. "Chouchou, I swear if he-"

"Oh stop it," Josée interrupted sharply, rolling her eyes again. "You make it seem like he tried to murder me."

Beat.

"Well, did he?!"

"Jacques-"

Jacques gave her a knowing look. "Josée."

Josée sighed once more. "He just..." she paused, still a bit hesitant, before confessing, "We were watching a movie yesterday, it was my turn to pick the movie... so I picked the one about dance, of course... like whenever it was his turn he'd pick something surrounding music. Everything was nice, but then..." her frown deepened as she continued to play with her hands uncomfortably. "We had a disagreement about the arts. He was saying that dance wasn't as important as the other arts! He was saying that in order for dance to be appreciated there would basically have to be other components of the arts in it, such as music!"

She started to rant frustratedly; not seeing the appalled look from her ice dancing partner. "I mean, I understand that dancers have music, but he's undermining the time, effort, and dedication that dancers go through to learn these routines, so for him to say, 'your field is useless without music' was so insulting, it just... it just made me so mad."

Jacques gripped his hand on the steering wheel. "He doesn't understand how hard dancing could be."

"Exactly," Josée agreed sharply. She shook her head in utter disbelief. "It would be like if I mentioned that playing the oboe wasn't difficult, even though he told me a million times on how it's one of the hardest instruments out there to learn. Then he sort of brushed off ice dancing! Like what we didn't do was hard!"

"Really?" Jacques let out a bitter chuckle. "Well, thankfully you don't have to deal with him anymore, chouchou."

It was dead silent for a few seconds.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Josée asked, her tone unusually hostile.

Jacques frowned in confusion. "He insulted your career. Surely you broke up with him after that, non?"

Josée crossed her arms. "Actually, I didn't."

Now Jacques' frown deepened, more confused than before. "What? That doesn't seem like you at all!"

"Alice says that relationships often have disagreements-"

"Yes, about what movies are good, not about something you dedicate your entire life to!" Jacques exclaimed in horror.

Josée felt her fists clenched at her side, glaring at her partner. "Why are you getting so upset over this?"

"Why aren't you getting more upset over this?" Jacques countered. He huffed angrily. "I remember you threw a fit over a move I had trouble with two days ago-"

"Because that move is ridiculously easy!" Josée snapped at him. "You should know better."

"And he should know better not to insult something you love, you said so yourself!"

Josée pressed her lips together as if to keep her temper inside. "You know something that's hilarious," she started venomously, "I never, and I mean never, cared or got involved in your petty relationships, what makes mine so different?"

Jacques scoffed. Oh, she was really going there. She had some nerve. "Really? Because I vaguely remember you pestering me over a stupide rumor!"

"I said that's a different situation!" Josée hissed. She was this close to shouting at him. "I already explained it to you! God, you are just so..." She paused, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. However, the anger from her face refused to fade. "This is why I didn't want to talk about it."

"Because I would tell you that your boyfriend is wrong? That's what you wanted!"

"No, I didn't want to talk about it at all!" Josée fired back. "You're so frustrating. You think I don't notice how you've been around him? You don't like him. At all."

"What you told me earlier gave me the proof I need to not like him."

"The point is," Josée began icily, with a stealthy look in her eyes, "...is that it's none of your business. I don't need you to look after me. I can easily survive without you and look after myself!"

That hurt. Jacques bit back a groan. "You really feel that way? Because the way you've been acting says otherwise."

Josée stared at him. "Oh really?"

"This past week you've been off lately," Jacques proceeded to explain, almost desperately. "I had to push you to eat something before practice-"

"I was fine!" Josée exploded, finally losing her temper. He had... how the hell could he just casually bring that up? What business of this was his? She let out a shaky breath and yanked her seatbelt off and wordlessly got out of the car.

"Where are you going?!" Jacques asked her, highly annoyed.

Josée whipped her body around to face him. "I'm walking to school," she sneered. "Something I'm capable of doing by myself."

"Josée, I was just trying to help you-"

"Well don't."

Jacques rolled his eyes. "Fine. Be that way." That being said, Jacques stepped on the gas and drove off, the tires of the car screeching.

Sometimes, he really didn't understand her.

Josée wasn't completely surprised that she lashed out at Jacques. This argument between them was lurking around the corner for about a week, it was bound to happen sometime. But what Josée wasn't expecting was it to surround Claude somehow; even if she had the inkling that Jacques didn't like him. Oh, what did it matter anyway? There were times when he was just so impossible to deal with, it's like they had gotten back to their old ways when they were younger when they hadn't gotten along at all.

"There was an attempted stabbing yesterday night," Rachel announced at lunch, sliding into her seat between Clara and Josée. "This is so depressing."

Alice shrugged and picked at her food. "But like, aren't stabbings normal in your area?" Josée looked away from Rachel's worried expression to stare at Alice in utter disbelief. Alice, of course, didn't understand. "What? It's true, isn't it?"

"It's the sixth one this past month," Rachel emphasized, rubbing her forehead in distress. "Our area always had a knife problem, but I never knew it was like this."

"Hope you don't die," Clara said in a nonchalant tone.

Rachel scowled. "Glad to see you care, Clara, as always." She looked back at Josée, who had returned to eating her lunch quietly. "Josée, are you okay?"

She slammed her fork down. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?" she snapped irritably. Rachel backed down, averting her eyes from the other figure skater. Josée's eyes softened considerably and let out an exasperated groan. "I'm sorry. It's just... boy problems, of sorts..."

Alice noticeably perked up. "Did you and Claude get into an argument? It makes sense since he isn't here right now."

"Not just him, I think I'm frustrated with every man in my life right now," Josée remarked, with a huff. "I think my maman was right about them."

"Every man in your life? There's only one other..." Clara trailed off in realization when she saw Josée's glare. "Oh, fuck."

"I knew something was up!" Rachel nearly exclaimed. "You and Jacques had been super distant in dance today."

"You and Jacques argue? Does that even happen?"

Josée rolled her eyes at the redhead's questions. "Of course we argue. We've been partners for ten years, and..." she paused, biting her lower lip. "This was different. It was a build-up. I don't even understand it myself."

"What was it about?" Alice pressed.

"Strangely enough, it was about Claude," Josée admitted, uncertain as to why. Alice, Rachel, and Clara exchanged looks. Josée ignored them and scowled. "They should get married, with the way they bring up each other sometimes."

"Hm, I wonder why that is," Clara asked rhetorically.

"I know," Josée agreed, not catching on. Alice hid a snort while Rachel blinked. "It's all... so... stupid!"

Clara couldn't hold her laugh. "He needs to figure this out already."

Josée frowned. "Figure what out?"

"Oh, we're not talking about this again," Rachel said, with an eye roll. "Let people live."

"Figure what out?" Josée repeated, this time more sharply.

"Whether he likes girls or guys." Clara replied.

"Or both."

"Alice, I already told you that isn't a thing for guys..."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Josée cut in irritably.

Alice, Rachel, and Clara exchanged more looks, before the latter snorted and shook her head. "I think you're very naive, Josée."

Beat.

"I think everything will work out," Rachel tried to reassure Josée, before the ice dancer could fume at Clara's comment. "With you and Claude, you and Jacques."

Josée let her head drop against the table. "I'm not sure how much of this partnership I could take anymore," she admitted sheepishly.

Rachel's eyes went wide. "With you and Claude or you and Jacques?"

"Both, honestly."

Beat.

"Are you serious?" Rachel's eyes, if possible, got wider. "Josée, please tell me you're not serious. You've been partners with him for ten years!"

Josée sighed and lifted her head back up. "I have to be honest," she started to explain, her voice full of shame: "We have been fighting more recently. Most ice dancing pairs hardly reach the ten-year mark. My maman always said that he would be my downfall... and she's never been wrong about these things. Maybe this is the sign?"

Rachel shook her head. "I don't understand why you listen to your mother for every little thing."

Josée was immediately rubbed the wrong way. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I don't know," Rachel said, shrugging. "You mention your mother a lot. She sounds very mean."

Alice and Clara turned to Josée in anticipation.

Josée grew very cold. "My maman wants the best for me," she spat at the blonde. "Don't project your insecurities to me about your own mother not being able to do the same."

"Josée!" Alice exclaimed, shocked by the ice dancer's harshness. "You're supposed to be the nice one out of all of us!"

"That has nothing to do with it," Rachel retorted, as if Alice hadn't interrupted. "In case you haven't figured it out, I hate her for that anyway."

Josée scoffed. "I couldn't imagine hating my own mother after her death like you do, it's sad."

"My mother was a drug-addict who failed to take care of her only daughter," Rachel snapped defensively. "Forgive me that I don't hold the highest opinion of her."

"You say that as you snort the very same drug that killed her."

"That was one time!" Rachel nearly exploded, fire in her eyes.

"Okay, okay," Clara interrupted the spat between the two figure skaters, surprised that she was the voice of reason. "That's enough." She turned back to Josée to get back to the original topic at hand. "What the hell are you going to do about Jacques and Claude? Just end it with both of them?"

Alice nearly gasped at Josée. "Oh no. You can't break up. If you do, there's no hope for the rest of us."

"Don't be so dramatic," Josée advised. "Maybe Rachel is right, and that it will all work out. Claude and I aren't breaking up."

"I was talking about you and Jacques," Alice said, with a smirk. Josée rolled her eyes.

Even though Josée and Jacques weren't on the best terms - along with Josée having serious doubts over their partnership - they still had to meet up for their ice dancing lesson later. They have shared many arguments over the years, yes, but it was important that they didn't let those petty arguments get in the way of their shared passion.

It sounded dramatic, it sounded absolutely insane, but it was something that had been in her head for more than a few weeks now. Josée could only take so much pestering from her mother, and she was right about these things no matter what Rachel tried to tell her; what the hell did she know? It was bad enough that Jacques tried to tell her that her mother was a 'bad parent' and she didn't need Rachel to tell her the same lie! The fact is, her mother knew best, obviously. Josée and Jacques were starting to have differences, and her mother said that now would be the perfect time to find an adequate partner that was serious about going to the olympics.

Was Jacques serious? Josée had no idea how to answer that. That's when her mother told her that he wasn't.

"Josée, are you coming?" Josée snapped out of her thoughts. Speaking of Jacques, she saw Jacques had arrived, at their usual meeting spot in front of the school.

"Yes," she said cordially. "Hopefully we'll get the second part of the routine down." It was quiet, tense, and cold - not at all like they usually were, and Josée despised it.

Just as they were about to get in Jacques' car, a familiar voice shouted: "Josée!" It was desperate, as well as apologetic.

Josée turned around and her eyes widened in shock. "Claude?" She ignored Jacques' eyes rolling dramatically. "What are you..."

Claude ran over to catch up to her. "I've been thinking it over," he began, his voice full of regret, "I shouldn't have said those things. God, I am so sorry, mon ange." Josée raised her eyebrows at him surprisingly as he went on to explain: "I wasn't thinking at all, and it was really inconsiderate of your feelings." He smiled at her, almost sweetly. "If there's anything I could do to get you to forgive me, mon chaton-"

"Claude," Josée interrupted calmly, smiling at him back. "It's okay." She ignored the fact that Jacques' jaw dropped.

The oboist's eyes lit up in total surprise. "Are you sure?"

Truthfully, he did sound apologetic, Josée supposed - and she didn't want to be mad at him. Now Jacques on the other hand, who was making a lot of annoyed gestures out of the corner of her eye, was getting on her last nerve. If there was one thing Josée knew how to do, it was how to be spiteful.

Josée wrapped her arms around Claude's neck. "Yes," she decided, bringing him in for a brief kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Claude smiled back gratefully. "Of course, mon chaton." Josée beamed brightly as Claude waved goodbye to her.

Once he was out of earshot, Jacques spoke up. "Mon chaton?" he asked incredulously, as he went to the driver's seat. "Wow."

Josée got into the passenger seat and scowled. "Stop it. Claude's very nice."

"Oh yes, he was very nice when he insulted your passion." Jacques snorted in annoyance as he started to drive. "I can't believe you forgave him so easily."

"Like you and your lovers never had arguments!"

"Not over things like my profession!"

"Can we just..." Josée stopped, closing her eyes due to distress. She was so happy and of course Jacques had to take it away from her. "Just drive!"

The rest of the drive to the rink was spent in tense silence.

When they got to the ice, Isaac waved friendly to greet them, but frowned deeply when he saw how distant the two seemed. "Oh no," he remarked, shaking his head. "Whatever argument you two are having, I want it fixed - oh, don't look so shocked. It's not like I haven't known you for ten years and know when you both are in a petty spat."

Throughout the entirety of the lesson, while they got through the routine, it was spent in an uncomfortable manner that even the untrained eye could notice.

It was the worst lesson they had since the first one they ever had.

Once he got home - it was dark outside at this point - Jacques sighed deeply and collapsed on the sofa, massaging his temples as if it could clear this terrible day. They didn't even have to shout at each other; it was so awkward, so tense, and gave Jacques a nauseous feeling. This feeling still persisted when he got home. Luckily her mother picked her up, because driving her home would've caused an explosion of emotions, he knew that very well. This was probably the only time he was grateful for the older woman.

"Jacques?" Jacques lifted his head from his hands to see Bernadette with her hands on her hips with a concerned look in her eyes. He just remembered that only she was home. Their sister Gabrielle was out working, their father was in the operating room, and their mother went to catch up with a friend. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine," he hissed at her uncharacteristically. Bernadette shot him a knowing look. Jacques backed down and averted his eyes away from her. "No I'm not." Bernadette walked over to sit beside him on the couch. He let out a groan. "It's just so stressful."

"I'm listening."

Thus, the litany spilled. "Josée is impossible sometimes," Jacques said, like he was ashamed of that. He ran a hand through his hair in distress. "I feel her getting distant, and her stupide boyfriend is the reason, I'm sure of it. And no, I'm not jealous or anything, but... I don't like the way he has control over her. It reminds me of-"

"-her maman," Bernadette finished.

Jacques confirmed it with a nod and went on, "I'm sure her maman has something to do with it too. She always does. I'm worried about Josée. We're fighting so much lately, and maybe a break from each other is best? I just... I don't know what to do!" Jacques exclaimed at the end. Now he was starting to get frustrated. Bernadette put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Her boyfriend insulted something she loved, and she just forgives him so easily! But when I mess up something... she's so quick to attack me!"

"Jacques..."

"I don't get it at all!"

"Jacques," Bernadette cut in sharply. "I think you need to go over and talk to her right now. Let her know how you feel. From a psychological perspective - oh, don't roll your eyes at me, this could be helpful - Josée tends to crumble under the pressure when it comes to people that she holds close to her, and sometimes that could cloud her judgment because those people could easily manipulate her."

Jacques glared at her. "So does that mean I'm not dear to her?"

"That's not what I'm saying. You're just... different."

"What does that even mean?" Jacques asked, with a snort.

Bernadette bit her lower lip. "I'm not sure myself. What you have with her... it's special. I'm not sure what, but it's definitely something. You're best friends. We've watched you two grow up together. And I don't think you should throw that away after some silly fight that could be resolved with communication. Also..." she paused, almost like she was reluctant to say the following: "It sounds like her boyfriend has a certain hold on her, kind of like her mom. The difference between you and them is that you let Josée think for herself and you treat her like an actual human being."

Jacques let the words sink in.

Bernadette cleared her throat and stood up. "I have to go to work." Jacques nodded mutely as Bernadette made her way to the door. Before she left, she turned back around to her younger brother. "And Jacques?" He looked up expectantly. "I think you should go to her house. No one likes it when best friends fight. And Josée... well, she needs you... whether she'll admit it aloud or not." Jacques said nothing. Bernadette sighed and opened the door. "I'll see you tomorrow."

With that, she shut the door behind her, leaving Jacques alone with his thoughts.

He was going to do it.

Here Jacques was in front of Josée's house, standing in complete darkness as he awaited for someone to answer the door that he knocked on a few seconds ago. He hoped that it wasn't Josée's maman, who would more than likely slam the door in his face.

Thankfully, it was Josée herself who answered. Once she saw it was him, she narrowed her eyes. "What the hell do you want?"

Jacques resisted the urge to snap at her. "Josée," he began stealthily, "Can we please talk?"

"Who's at the door Josée?" called out Josée's mother from the living room.

"It's Jacques, maman." Jacques ignored the groan from her mother. "But..." Josée glared at Jacques. "He was just leaving." She tried to shut the door, but Jacques stuck his foot out in the threshold to prevent her from doing so. "Jacques-"

"Chouchou, I just want to talk-"

"Don't 'chouchou' me," Josée retorted haughtily. Jacques' expression grew solemn under that cold look that he despised. "You've lost the right."

The blonde knew what the risks were being out this late at night in this area. She felt her stomach churn as she walked. With every footstep, her pace quickened, along with her unusual feeling of doom. The atmosphere was dark, gloomy, with an eerie presence, like someone was following her. Then, she stopped suddenly, as if she had come across a realization she hadn't fully acknowledged until now.

Something wasn't right.

Maybe she was just being too paranoid, but she figured you could never be too careful. It probably was the news that was making her go a little mad, but again, she knew the risks coming out here. Where else could she be other than here? Others would tell her that she could've had another choice, but she'd roll her eyes. She was here for financial reasons; not that her rich friends could understand.

Two breaths in, two breaths out... then she kept walking.

"Lost the right?" Jacques echoed incredulously, staring at Josée with shock. "What are you talking about?!"

He could see it in her eyes, something was wrong that she was not telling him. "Just go away Jacques..." Josée muttered quietly, averting her eyes away from him. "Leave it alone, I don't want to talk about it..."

"Then when are we going to talk about it?" Jacques pressed assertively. "Non, I won't talk about it later. There will never be a later, don't you see? We'll go on without talking about it, and it builds up and we'll explode!"

"Jacques," Josée said in a warning voice, fire in her eyes, "I mean it. Leave it alone."

Just when he thought this couldn't get worse, a new voice entered the conversation.

"Josée, I thought you said Jacques was leaving!" Josée turned around to see her mother behind her with her hands on her hips with a disapproving glare. Jacques did everything he could to not react to Josée's mother's arrival. He was definitely going to lose this... argument... if you could even call it that. "But since he's here..." she started, with a malicious grin plastered on her face as she eyed the male ice dancer. "Why don't you tell him what we've been talking about lately?"

Jacques watched as Josée went from annoyed to nervous. "Maman, maybe we shouldn't..."

"Non, I think we should!" Josée's mother said delightfully.

Josée's eyes grew wide and desperate. "Maman..." she said quietly, looking down at her shoes.

Jacques felt his stomach turn to knots. "Josée, what is she talking about?" he asked, somewhat afraid.

...This was bad.

The blonde was getting even more paranoid. She assumed this is what the news would do to you. She had been hyper focused lately about how bad the neighborhood was and that it was no place for pretty blonde girls like herself. She had been used to going around here, because again, what other choice did she have?

She desperately wanted to go home.

Thus, she quickened her pace again.

Josée stood there like a deer in the headlights, with Jacques across from her awaiting her answer. "I..." She cleared her throat. "Jacques, it's nothing bad, can you go?!"

"Non, non!" Josée's mother snapped at her daughter. "You're the one that let him stay in here, so you have to deal with the consequences and tell him. It was bound to happen anyway."

Jacques' heart began to race. "What was bound to happen?" Josée refused to look at him, staring down at her feet. Jacques began to grow angrier: "Josée, tell me!" Though he didn't sound angry, it was more like he sounded... panicked.

"I'm not leaving until you tell him," Josée's mother pressed angrily.

Josée's voice started to shake. "I... I..." She bit her lower lip. "I can't."

Part of Jacques wanted to yell at her for keeping something from him like he suspected, but another just wanted to hug his chouchou tight - she was clearly anxious.

Her mother, however, had other plans. "Josée, you are such a pathetic baby," she spat, then turned to Jacques: "Josée doesn't want to be partners with you anymore."

She was going to be home soon. She realized that she had panicked for no reason. She would make it.

The blonde let out a sigh of relief.

The news had gotten into her head too much, perhaps.

And then she heard it:

Shing.

The brief moment where she felt safe and sound had disappeared in an instant.

...The latter part of Jacques had vanished immediately.

Jacques looked away from her Josée's mother and glared at her daughter. "Did she put you up to this?"

Josée couldn't even look at him. "Jacques-"

"Did she put you up to this?!" Jacques snapped, finally losing it. "Josée, do you realize what you're doing? What you're letting her do?"

"That's enough from you!" Josée's mother fired back. "I'll have you know Josée thought about this all on her own - stop biting your thumb Josée, you're not a baby!"

Jacques looked back to Josée, who dared to look him in the eyes. "Chouchou..."

"She's right!" Josée suddenly exclaimed, her voice cracking, like she was trying not to cry.

Jacques felt his heart shatter.

"Look," the blonde began nervously, turning around to slowly to come face-to-face with the person that had a knife. "I don't want any-"

She didn't have the chance to finish her sentence. Her eyes went wide as saucers and gasped loudly at the piercing pain from her chest.

"What do you mean?!" Jacques shouted, unable to believe his ears. He saw tears starting to form in her eyes and he couldn't help but be mad; she was ending this partnership, not him. Why was she upset?

Josée cleared her throat and glared at him. "Maybe I don't want to be partners with someone who is always fighting with me and trying to control me!"

Jacques scoffed at his best friend's behavior. "I'm trying to control you?" He really, really, couldn't believe this. "Josée, what has changed recently? I want you to think about it. Someone new that has entered your life..."

"Don't bring Claude into this!" Josée roared.

"I didn't even have to mention his name!" Jacques shouted back.

Josée felt her fists clench at her sides. "It's about him though. Because why wouldn't it be? It's always about him because you can't stand him! Why are you so jealous?"

"I'm not jealous."

"Just because all of your relationships failed doesn't mean you have to ruin mine!"

"This has nothing to do with my relationships! It seems like Claude is doing a great job of ruining your relationship with others!"

Josée let out a groan. "You. Are. The. Worst," she articulated. "We wouldn't even be friends if it weren't for ice dancing, anyway! He said..." She trailed off, her eyes wide.

"Who said?" Jacques snapped, knowing damn well who.

"You know what?! Have a good life Jacques! Because I never want to see you again!"

"Fine by me!"

Josée's mother smiled in approval.

Hector took off his gloves with sweet relief at the hospital. Another surgery was successful, thankfully. He was off after this. It's not like he didn't like his profession, he was absolutely obsessed with anatomy, but sometimes it really was a stressful job. He had seen many people come and go through this hospital. There were some patients that he was able to save, and some that he wasn't. That's why surgery was so good; he couldn't get too personal with the patients and would remain detached.

Just as he was about to leave, the double doors burst open with a blonde girl on the stretcher accompanied by several nurses. "She was stabbed on the corner of-" Hector didn't hear much after that. The moment that the stretcher passed him and he got a glimpse of blonde hair his heart sank into his stomach, and felt a cold chill go through his spine.

At first, he was in denial. There were a lot of patients that could look like her. But then, the actual rational side of his brain was trying to take over and edged his way into his brain - he didn't want to be sure of it. But he was. He absolutely was. He froze, staring after the same spot the stretcher pushed past him on.

Two of the nurses looked to him, with sad looks in their eyes. "Dr. Clemont..."

That was their confirmation.

For the first time in several years, Hector's eyes were laced with panic. "Bernadette..."

Chapter Text

Chapter 8- Delirious Detachments (Songbird)

Jacques didn't remember much of what he was told over the phone. A lot of it was his mother hiccuping and sobbing, she couldn't contain herself at all so Jacques knew something had gone horribly wrong. She had rambled for a bit, beating around the bush, saying things like this were the reason she had to stop being a trauma nurse. There were many things that had traumatized his mother, her job and her former religion being two of the main ones, so Jacques knew this was a big deal. Jacques, who was getting more panicked, begged her to get to the point.

That was when his father took over the phone, in a voice that was desperately trying to stay steady telling him that Bernadette had gotten hurt.

Jacques couldn't believe he was here. Just a little less than an hour ago, he was arguing with Josée and her mother regarding their partnership, and how he wished he could go back to doing that compared to spending the night in a hospital after receiving terrible news. Gabrielle had tears forming in her eyes, and their father had an unusually neutral expression; if you disregard the haunted look in his eyes as he tried to comfort his wife. Despite all the chaos that was a hospital, all Jacques would hear was the clock ticking.

Waiting was the worst.

But then a doctor showed up and everyone stood up collectively at once to hear what he had to say in anticipation. The doctor explained several things to Jacques' parents that he nor Gabrielle understood. However, Jacques didn't need to understand that, the look on his parents faces went from hopeful to distraught.

"Can you cut the crap?" Gabrielle cut in angrily, with tears in her eyes. Jacques was quiet; he knew that she knew. "Not all of us are in the medical field."

That's when the doctor told them the blunt truth of what happened, in simple words that needed no translation.

It crashed on them in an instant. Jacques watched as his mother let out a heart-wrenching sob, bursting into hysterics with tears down her face. She sunk to her knees and buried her face into her hands and cried into them. Gabrielle, in a fit of frustration also let out a sob and kicked a chair. Jacques' father let out an shaky breath and knelt beside his wife, trying to rub her back with one hand while hiding his eyes with the other. When he removed his hand from his eyes, Jacques swore he saw his eyes shining.

It was the first time Jacques had ever seen his papa cry.

This alone told Jacques that he didn't know what to feel. He couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was that he was feeling. Though the doctor's words rang true and that his parents always told him to trust doctors, Jacques couldn't believe that this was real. While everyone around him was upset, he felt as though he wasn't even there. And that feeling brought on a wave of nausea because he wanted to be there; but at the same time, did he want to feel that pain? No, of course he didn't, but the point was he should've been feeling that pain, and right now, he was just watching his family falling apart at the inevitable news.

Bernadette was dead.

She was... he had just seen her two hours ago, he.. he didn't understand-

"Jacques," his father called out. Jacques blinked rapidly out of his daze. "Son-"

Suddenly the nausea Jacques felt was unbearable. He bolted out of the hospital as fast as he could. He couldn't hear the shouts of his family trying to get him back. He just had to get out of there. His stomach swirled with too many emotions that he experienced too quickly and too complex for him to understand, and began to hyperventilate. He staggered over to a tree, holding his stomach with one hand while leaning against it with the other, and let out the contents of his stomach onto the ground. Eventually, he was reduced to dry heaving excessively, while desperately holding onto the tree for balance. He panted for a bit, his heart was still racing, hell, part of him was still hoping this was just a nightmare that was now over.

Unfortunately for Jacques, this was far from finished - and perhaps it never would be.

BEEP.

"Jacques, it's Josée. I... your maman just told my maman what happened, and I... I want to say that I'm sorry for your loss. Please call me back."

When she went to the bathroom, twelve-year-old Josée let out an ear piercing scream as her eyes popped out with overwhelming panic. "Oh my god!" her breaths turned into desperate gasps for air. She got up and ran out of the bathroom, looking around in fright. "Maman!" And then realization hit her; her mother left two hours ago to go out of town on business, so she obviously couldn't call her back here. Her mother hated a last minute change of plans and would chastise her for ruining her day.

But... Josée was positive that she was dying, surely this was an emergency? Well, she had felt normal... other than her anxiousness. Maybe this was what dying was like?

Josée decided to do the next best thing - find Jacques. He would know what to do, or at least, he would eventually figure out what to do, even if he wasn't too swift at times. She knew she could get to Jacques' house in five minutes if she ran quick enough. Still with tears in her eyes, Josée burst out the door and ran all the way to Jacques' house. Once she got there, she frantically knocked on the door while gasping for air.

"Josée, what's wrong?" Josée stopped her crying when she realized who was in front of her. Jacques didn't answer, instead she came face-to-face with his eldest sister, Bernadette. The eighteen-year-old eyed the ice dancer with concern. At once, Josée burst into hysterics again. "Oh... oh crap, um... I didn't make you upset, did I?"

"Where's J-Jacques?" Josée stammered, not answering her question and sniffling. "I think I'm dying!"

"Dying!?" Josée tried to push past the older girl, but to no avail as her path was easily blocked. "Jacques is out with some friends at school." Josée resisted the urge to scream; it was that stupid performing arts school that took him away from her, making friends without her! "Explain what happened."

Josée realized it was hopeless, and spilled her guts out: "I-I was in the bathroom, and... and..." she stuttered, bursting into tears again. Bernadette's nervous expression suddenly turned neutral. "There was my blood on my underwear and it stained and I'm scared and I don't know what to do!"

Bernadette put her hands on the ice dancer's shoulders in effort to calm her. "Josée, you aren't dying."

"What do you mean I'm not?!" Josée shrieked. "There's blood!"

"How old are you again?" Bernadette asked.

Josée blinked and sniffled at the odd question. "Twelve. I'm going to be thirteen soon-"

"This is normal at your age. It's okay. You just got your period, that's all."

"My what?" Josée asked, baffled. "What are you talking about?"

Bernadette sighed deeply. "First let's go up to my room and get you a pad so no more bleeding happens."

"There's going to be more bleeding?!" Josée asked in a panicked tone.

"Josée it's okay!" Bernadette tried to reassure, taking the preteen by her hand. "Come on, let's go upstairs."

Josée was skeptical at first, but shrugged as Bernadette lead her up to her room. "Why can't Jacques help me?"

"Because Jacques is a boy."

Josée blinked yet said nothing as they entered Bernadette's room as she fished for something in one of her drawers. She took out a pad and underwear. "This is a pad. You use it to stop the bleeding." To demonstrate, Bernadette pushed the pad on the underwear and attached the sides to the bottom of it. "That's how you put it on." Bernadette gave Josée another pad to use. "You know where the bathroom is."

A few minutes later, Josée returned from the bathroom and stared at Bernadette in disbelief. "Can you tell me what's happening now?"

Bernadette proceeded to explain, "Once a month for up to two days to a week, girls bleed from... that area. It's the start of becoming a woman."

It was quiet for a few seconds before Josée spoke up. "Why doesn't this happen to boys?" she whined.

The blonde shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me. Boys will try to make you feel bad about it, too. And if they ever do, you have my permission to beat them up." Josée allowed a tiny grin at that. "Now..." Bernadette gave the girl a warm smile back. "I don't know about you, but whenever I get my period I eat chocolate and watch movies. Your mother is out of town, right?"

Josée nodded. "Oui. But... I'm not sure if I should have sweets."

Bernadette winked at her. "I'm sure we can keep it a secret, non?"

Right before Josée could answer, a new party joined, Jacques' other sister. "What's this gathering about?" Gabrielle asked. "Jacques isn't here, is he?" Josée blushed wildly and looked down at the floor in shame. "Did something happen? Did Jacques make you upset? Because I could kick his ass." Josée hesitantly looked up at Bernadette.

"It's okay, Josée. You can tell her."

"I... can you do it?" Josée muttered.

Bernadette nodded once and turned to her sister. "Josée came over here not knowing what to do when she got her period, not knowing what it was."

Gabrielle raised her eyebrows, trying not to smirk. "And you were going to go to Jacques for help?" She resisted the overwhelming urge to laugh, causing Josée to whimper, which made Gabrielle turn serious. "Hey, hey, hey. Come on, I didn't mean it like that. If it makes you feel better, when I got my period, I told my papa. I've never seen him get so red before, and Bernadette was laughing."

Bernadette chuckled even thinking about it, nudging the ice dancer. "It was funny," she agreed.

Gabrielle gave Josée a smile. "Congratulations. I'm sure Bernadette told you about the chocolate we eat during our periods."

"Yes, I told her."

"And the movies we watch."

"That too."

"And that we drink like monsters-"

"No," Bernadette cut in, glaring at her younger sister.

"Why not?!"

"She's twelve, Gabrielle!"

"Hasn't stopped me before."

Bernadette rolled her eyes. "You're an awful influence," she remarked. Thus, she turned to Josée. "There's chocolate and movies. Believe me, you'll feel loads better. We'll explain absolutely everything to you - no Gabrielle, we aren't drinking!"

Gabrielle scoffed. "Fine."

"Josée wake up!" Josée was shocked to by shaken by her boyfriend Claude, who was sitting right next to her at lunch watching in concern, along with Alice, Clara, and Rachel. Josée blinked and fought back a yawn, covering her mouth. She hardly got any sleep last night. Yesterday, at around four in the morning she and her mother received a phone call about Bernadette being a fatal victim of one of the stabbings. Her mother had told her so nonchalantly, so Jacques would be absent from school.

Josée knew he was struggling. There was no way in hell that he wasn't, and she couldn't stop thinking about it. It could be explain why her dream was a memory with Bernadette just now. After all, she definitely was there for her when she was frightened. Bernadette and Gabrielle had watched movies with Josée and ate sweets she knew would be bad for her body, but she felt oddly comforted. She vaguely remembered telling her mother about her period and her mother couldn't care less. Bernadette, though often teased her and said awful things about her mother, was a very nice person.

She in no way deserved this.

It was on the local news this morning. The news spread around the school like wildfire. Although Josée was in no way related to Bernadette, people sent her pitying looks because she was Bernadette's brother's best friend... or ex-best friend. Not that anyone really knew what happened last night before the accident, of course. Josée wasn't exactly sure what their relationship was at the moment; they were technically still angry at each other.

"Josée..." Claude started worriedly, "You haven't eaten a thing."

Josée massaged her temples. "This is just so unreal. I tried calling him as soon as I heard, but..." she sighed. "He ignored me."

"He's grieving, mon petit chou."

Beat.

The pet name from Claude made Josée grow very cold. "Don't call me that."

Claude backed down. "Okay, I'm sorry." He paused, then: "You need to give him time."

Clara nodded in agreement. "Claude's right. He might not try to talk to you for days." Claude smiled at her as she went on: "Give him some space."

Josée rubbed her forehead in distress. "I just don't know how to comfort him."

"Give him time, first. It's still fresh in his mind. Hell, it's fresh in your mind," Rachel advised.

BEEP.

"Hi again, it's me... It's been a few days. Everyone at school misses you. I would... I would stop by, but... you know... I want to give you space."

Today was the wake. Shortly after the ceremony, the burial would follow.

Josée had never been to a funeral home before. Like it has been said, the only experience she ever had with death was her rabbit as a very young child, and even that brought on complicated thoughts she didn't quite understand, that gave her an eerie feeling, much like now. Though the casket was currently closed, this place gave her the creeps, though it looked like such a comfortable place to be in. There were many chairs dispersed everywhere for people to sit in. White lilies were spread all around Bernadette's casket, with two large cylinder candles on each side of it. There were a few couches in the back of the room, even - that were accompanied with lamp stands.

Some people had arrived already, a few relatives from Jacques' family that gave Josée friendly but sad smiles. Everyone was dressed in black, as was tradition, with most people holding grim expressions. Josée expected that - Bernadette's death was far too sudden and far too quick to process. She died way too young at the age of twenty-one.

Bernadette was supposed to turn twenty-two this May.

Sadly, Josée thought, that day would never come.

...It wasn't fair, nor was it right, and all Josée could think about what Jacques and his family what they must be going through.

Jacques...

What Jacques must be going through, especially.

More people began to file in.

Some of them were Jacques' friends that she recognized from school, as well as her own friends. She wasn't surprised that her own friends showed up, nor was she surprised that she didn't see her boyfriend. Viktor, one of Jacques' friends, must've passed down to Rachel about the service, who in turn passed it down to Alice and Clara. Josée had gone away from her maman for a second to talk to them.

"Where are they?" Alice whispered to her huddled group of friends, referring to Jacques' immediate family. "I didn't see them at all."

Rachel frowned. "Alice, don't be rude."

"What? It's just a question."

Clara spoke up. "I saw them earlier outside, didn't you? They should be arriving soon." She turned to Josée. "Have you talked to Jacques at all lately?" Josée slowly shook her head no without even looking at her. "Are you-"

"You said so yourself," Josée hissed at her friend. "You said he wanted space, so I gave him space."

Clara faltered significantly and exhaled. "You're right, I just... I didn't think he would ignore you."

Josée shrugged, her eyes cast down at the floor. "I didn't think so either..."

"'Allo." Josée, Alice, Rachel, and Clara looked up, startled momentarily, before realizing it was just Lucas. "Have you seen him?"

"Unfortunately not," Josée replied solemnly, shaking her head. "Have you tried speaking to him?"

Lucas sighed and put his hands in his pockets, leaning against the wall nearby. "He refuses to speak to anyone, which I understand. I was hoping you could tell me anything, if he has been speaking to you?"

Guilt reigned through Josée. "Non. He wants space, and we got into a fight and... and I think we ended our partnership-"

"You what?!" Alice nearly exclaimed, earning the attention of some onlookers who looked disturbed. Rachel elbowed her disapprovingly. Alice scowled and rolled her eyes, but continued in a shrilly voice at a whisper: "Josée, are you mad?"

"It was right before both of us heard what happened," Josée tried to justify, though she felt awful. "I couldn't have known. I found out hours later! It was just terrible timing."

"No wonder he's been out of it even before the accident," Lucas remarked. Josée lifted her eyebrows, awaiting for an explanation, which Lucas was quick to give: "He had been moody... but he refused to say what it really was. I assumed that the both of you were just going through a rough patch... but no longer being partners? That's insane."

Josée glared at him, as well as the others. "Oh come on, now. Don't do this. I wasn't..." she bit her lower lip guiltily. "There was no way of knowing." she added in a whisper.

It's all your fault, Josée thought. This situation would've turned out a lot differently if they weren't having problems, if she hadn't told him about her doubts of their partnership. At least she would think Jacques would be more open to letting her help him. But was this a blessing in disguise, because well... when it came to something as big as this, she didn't know how to help him.

Josée winced as another thought entered her mind that made her even more guilty; he knew how to help her, though. Jacques always knew what to do, or at least pretended that he did. She... she could be independent and away from him, hypothetically, but it always did help with Jacques by her side - even if she didn't initially get along with him at first, ten years of partnership meant something. From the looks of it, however, it didn't seem so hypothetical - perhaps this was the reality that was setting in.

...She missed him. It had been a few days since the fight, but she couldn't remember the last time they truly got along, and how she missed that so much. How she missed him. It seemed like an eternity, but really it was a few weeks - the closest they got was civility, but that wasn't enough for her. She needed to be close with him like they used to be.

Josée knew it sounded selfish. Part of her wanted him back because he always knew how to comfort her during her lows; while she couldn't even return the favor to him right now! Jacques always fussed over her - made sure she was eating right, would calm her down whenever she got nervous, and she couldn't forget those times Jacques would hold her after she fell asleep following her tantrums. But what especially made her feel selfish about the whole ordeal was that she was thinking about this during his sister's funeral.

Speaking of which...

Jacques' immediate family had arrived. Unsurprisingly, they had gloomy expressions. At an instant, relatives rushed over to their sides to say their condolences. While Josée's friends were going up to them, she remained frozen on the spot; staring at Jacques cluelessly at his shockingly calm expression. She didn't understand how he hadn't burst into tears; or perhaps he did and was trying to remain strong. Josée's feet refused to move from her spot, watching as even her mother went over to greet them - keeping her distance, of course. Fleur was in tears, Gabrielle was in tears, hell, even Hector's eyes were shining. Josée couldn't recall a time where she saw Jacques' father cry.

Then, Josée caught Jacques watching her, but he looked away immediately - opting to stare at the floor instead. Josée's eyes remained on him.

He looked like he hadn't slept in days.

Josée took a sharp intake of the breath and felt her feet shuffling forward to the Clemont family. Firstly, she went to Jacques' mother, who looked like she was resisting the urge to burst into sobs. "Fleur," she started uneasily. She couldn't help but admire at the older woman's attempt to smile through the pain. "Toutes mes condoléances." Josée grasped Fleur's hands in her own as a way of comfort, giving her a little squeeze of reassurance, but that wasn't enough for the older woman. Fleur brought Josée into a tight hug, which Josée leaned into for several seconds - she could feel her shaking. After a few more seconds, she pulled away.

"She was... she was supposed to be a psychologist," Fleur said shakily, wiping away her tears. Normally Josée would make a comment about how her maman thought it was a phony profession, but even she knew that now was not the time for that.

"She would've been a good one," Josée offered instead, unsure of what else to say.

Fleur nodded in agreement, still smiling. "She would've."

Josée moved on to Jacques' father, who immediately gave her a hug after she muttered her condolences to him, the same went for Jacques' remaining sister Gabrielle. Then, she couldn't avoid him any longer; her eyes met his again, and her first instinct was to look away like he had moments ago. What made matters worse was that his parents and Gabrielle were ushered over by a few relatives, making it seem like Josée and Jacques were the only ones in the room, making it all-the-more awkward.

"Hi," Josée muttered at last, daring to meet his sad eyes.

Jacques cleared his throat, putting his hands in his pocket. "Allo," he replied cordially.

Some silence followed. "Toutes mes condoléances," Josée said earnestly.

"Merci," Jacques said, rubbing the back of his head uncomfortably. "For ah, coming."

For some reason, this made Josée sadder. "Bien sûr."

The wake passed with no major problems. It was the burial that was going to hit the hardest.

And it did. The moment that Bernadette's casket started to lower into the ground after everyone said their goodbyes, Gabrielle and Fleur let out a collective sob while Hector's cheeks were a little wet. Meanwhile, Josée caught Jacques standing there with his eyes staring straight ahead on the casket, slowly bringing his hand to his cheek to come to the realization that it was completely dry, however - his body was shaking just a bit if you looked close enough. Then the unexpected happened. Jacques grew paler, and without any warning, ran as far away from the site. Everyone gasped and looked over, with his family desperately trying to call him back.

"Jacques!" Gabrielle shouted after him worriedly. She turned to her family. "I should go-"

"Wait!" Everyone turned back to see who had shouted that. It was in that moment Josée realized that it was herself. She hesitated at all the eyes on her - including the glare she got from her mother - and cleared her throat, gathering her courage to say: "I'll... I'll go." She didn't wait, sprinting away from the burial to follow the direction Jacques went.

She almost didn't see him.

Josée spotted Jacques beside some railroad tracks. It had to be roughly a little less than a mile from the burial. She didn't think she would chase him so far here. The most startling part of this, however, was his position sprawled out on the grass with smoke rising above him. When Josée moved closer, she saw him with a cigarette between his index and middle finger, his eyes cold and staring straightforward at the gloomy sky.

"You're smoking," Josée observed casually after a while of unpleasant silence.

In response, Jacques brought the cigarette to his lips again, and let the smoke out slowly. A wave of emotions spread across Jacques' face too difficult and fast to read. After careful contemplation, he muttered: "She isn't coming back."

Josée knew that her dress would be ruined if she sat next to him on the grass, but she would make an exception this one time. Josée did so, smoothing out the dress and crossing her legs as she watched him smoke. "Unfortunately not." She fiddled with her fingers awkwardly. "You're smoking," she repeated. "You know that's bad for you."

"It's never too early to develop lung cancer."

Josée visibly flinched at his bitter tone. It was not at all like the Jacques she knew. "Leo and Liv do it a lot, it's a disgusting habit." Jacques turned his head to glare at Josée and she winced in response; perhaps she shouldn't insult someone while they're grieving.

"Merci, Josée. I had no idea." Jacques exhaled out some more smoke, "That was sarcasm."

"I could tell," Josée said instinctively in a cold manner. She closed her eyes in realization. She knew she was being mean; it wasn't... on purpose. She took a deep breath and tried a calmer approach. "Jacques, I think we should get back to the burial." Jacques had looked away at this point, focusing on the cigarette and the sight of the sky. However, Josée persisted: "I mean it. Everyone's concerned about you! And... and..." And? Josée was utterly clueless on what to do. "...and I miss you," she admitted softly.

That got a reaction out of him. Jacques finished the cigarette and threw it. He sat upright, hugging his knees close to his chest, still looking away from Josée. "The last thing she advised me to do was to make up with you. She never thought about herself; not once." Josée was quiet as Jacques went on, with a sharper edge to his tone. "That was before I knew about you not wanting to be my partner anymore. And now you miss me?"

"Jacques, I am so sorry-"

"Josée," Jacques cut in coldly, looking at her. "You made it clear that you didn't want to be partners with me anymore. So now you're pitying me because my sister was killed?"

Josée's eyes grew wide. "I'm not pitying you, I-"

"Yes you are," Jacques snapped. "Let me ask you this; if my sister was safe and sound at home that night we fought, would you even consider our partnership? What would've happened if she was still alive?"

Josée took a sharp intake of a breath, leveling a glare with Jacques. "That's not fair."

"It's very fair," Jacques countered. Before he could go on, the sound of a train pulling in caught his attention. Josée looked at him closely and felt her stomach swirl; something wasn't quite right with the way Jacques was staring at the train approaching slowly - it was like he was caught in a trance.

"Jacques?" Josée called out to him, however his mind was somewhere else entirely.

He got up and started to walk forward on the tracks. Josée's eyes went a little wide in alarm and got up as well. "Jacques? What are you..."

But he didn't listen. The train was speeding up a little, and in response, Jacques stepped right in front of it and let out a smile. Josée's heart began to accelerate. "Jacques! Get off the tracks!" To Josée's shock, instead of doing what she said, he laughed at the train, almost like he was inviting it to hit him. "Jacques!"

At the very last possible second, Jacques leapt out of the way before the train could crush him. Josée could barely hear the sound of his manic laughter over the train's roaring horn along with Josée's heart beating out of her chest. Once it cleared up, Jacques was on the other side of the tracks, bursting in hysterical laughter that made Josée uneasy and frightened. The first thing Josée felt was anxiousness, the second thing she felt was fear, and the third thing she felt - perhaps the strongest one of all - was undeniable fury.

"WHAT THE FUCK JACQUES?!" Josée screamed, tears forming in her eyes. She stared in disbelief as he doubled over in laughter. She clenched her fists together to desperately stop the shaking, the fear that enveloped her frame was all too terrifying and all he could do was laugh about nearly dying. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"Josée did you see that?!" Jacques asked in excitement, continuing to laugh hysterically. "I could've been killed!"

"THAT'S THE POINT YOU MORON!" Josée shouted at him furiously, hiccuping and gasping for air. "I COULD HAVE LOST YOU, YOU IDIOT!"

"You think that's how she felt?" Jacques asked, his laughter dying down. But his smile was too strong, entirely too strong; like the way they would smile for the cameras. "I'm talking about Bernadette, you know... her life flashing before her eyes? You think that in that moment, I was so close to being with her for one last time..."

Josée felt a chill go down her spine. "Jacques, you're really scaring me-"

"It's so funny, Josée! Don't you see?" Jacques exclaimed gleefully, "You shouldn't be scared! Because... because she was stupid! Just like I was stupid just now! She walked to her death! Even though maman tried to tell her not to get that job! I was making a point. I could've been just as dead as her but I got myself away from there!" He started to ramble, frightening Josée even more. "God, you know... you're so ridiculous, Josée. No one understands. No one understands! And you... I bet they just sent you over here, didn't they? To check to see that I wasn't going to jump off a bridge or something, right?"

"No, I came here by myself," Josée snapped. "Because I was worried about you!"

"No you're not worried about me at all!" Jacques shouted at her. "Like I said, you pity me!"

"I am not pitying you! I'm scared for you-"

"Do me a favor!" Jacques interrupted sharply, chuckling with bitter tears in his eyes. "I got your messages. Stop calling me. Stop messaging me. I'll get what I want, and you'll get what you want, which is for us to stop being partners, right? You don't have to pity me. You don't have to do anything."

"But..." Josée was at a loss for words. She watched helplessly as Jacques walked back, presumably to the burial. This wasn't how this was supposed to go at all. There were times when yes, Jacques was upset about things and Josée would comfort him to the best of her ability, but this was an entirely different situation. She had no idea how to help him, and he didn't want to listen. Josée couldn't help but get unusually angry. It was either because of Jacques shouting at her, almost scaring her to death when he was near death, Bernadette's death still fresh on her mind, or a combination of all three.

Josée, in a fit of rage, screamed and began to punch the ground, over and over. She was lucky she didn't fall asleep at this rate.

BEEP.

Josée opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it, and hung up. She didn't know why she bothered calling him this morning; he wanted nothing to do with her right?

It was too quiet in the Clemont's home, and Gabrielle was getting worried.

Sure, Gabrielle was very aware that people grieve differently; but the way her brother was handling it made her very uneasy and disturbed her. A day ago at the burial Jacques had run off... almost manically. Since he had come back, he hadn't left his room. Gabrielle wished that was the scary part of the way he was handling it, but no - the scarier part is that since then he has been unresponsive for the past day. His family was sure that he hadn't slept either, nor was he eating or drinking anything. Everyone was at a total loss, and although her mother said it's normal for people to go into shock - Gabrielle was still understandably frightened for his mental state.

Hours had passed, and he was still in his room.

"Jacques," Gabrielle called for the tenth time that day, staring at her younger brother nervously from the threshold. "You need to eat something." Jacques wouldn't budge. He had been in the same position the whole day, too. He stared right through Gabrielle blankly, which sent shivers down the latter's spine - he hadn't blinked once. He sat normally on his bed upright like he had been, and when his mother tried to hug him he didn't react at all. At first, Gabrielle thought he was ignoring them, but soon she found that he couldn't hear them. Slowly, Gabrielle sat beside him; he gave no indication that he knew she was there. It was likely that he didn't. "Jacques, talk to me, please."

Nothing.

"Gabrielle, que se passe-t-il?" Her mother asked as she strolled in, followed by her father looking on curiously. Once her mother realized what Gabrielle was trying to do, she sighed wearily. "Mon chou, give him time..."

"It's been a day," Gabrielle hissed, losing her patience. "We're here right now and he doesn't even know, or... I don't know what this is, but it's scaring me!" Her outburst caused others to flinch, with the exception of Jacques who continued to sit motionlessly.

Her father, who had been watching and taking mental note of his son's behavior all day, finally stepped in front of Jacques. He frowned at his son who didn't move a muscle, still staring through him like he wasn't there. The first thing he did was snap his fingers in front of his face; Jacques did not blink - his eyes refused to move. Then, Hector sighed in distress, full of regret for what he was about to do.

Hector murmured, "Je suis désolé..."

And he slapped Jacques across the face as hard as he could.

"Hector!" Jacques' mother gasped while Gabrielle's eyes were wide as saucers. However, he wasn't focused on them right now. He kept his eyes locked on his son's for a reaction he was hoping for - which was any reaction whatsoever, and unfortunately he wasn't getting one. Jacques easily bounced back from the slap, like he hadn't even been hit. Jacques' mother began to cry, rubbing his son's stinging cheek. "My poor fils..." Jacques' father never hit his children, never. It was unfortunate that in an event such as this that it had to be done. But it looked like it was for nothing; Jacques was unresponsive.

Hector let out a sigh. "Fleur... you know we have to."

"Hector, no... he's just grieving-"

"He's in a catatonic state, we don't have another choice," Hector interrupted.

Gabrielle looked back and forth between her parents. "Cata-what? What is that? And Choice? Choice for what?"

"I don't think it's a good idea," Fleur argued, ignoring her daughter. "Maybe he'll be fine by tomorrow?"

"He hasn't slept, Fleur. Look at him." Fleur winced at Jacques' state. There were eye bags under his eyes; he looked like hell. Hector continued, "He hasn't eaten either. He isn't taking care of himself."

"Choice for what?!" Gabrielle spoke loudly this time, her patience was wearing thin. "Just say it! Stop being vague."

Fleur ran her hand through her son's hair and sighed in defeat. "He may have to be hospitalized."

Beat.

"Hospitalized?" Gabrielle repeated, not understanding. "He'll go back to eating, maman. He's not starving to death or anything-"

"Not that kind of hospitalization," Her father cut in, and then pointed to Jacques' head. "That kind of hospitalization."

Her father waited for the implication to sink in, once it did, Gabrielle felt her stomach drop.

"No way," Gabrielle said immediately, shaking her head. "You're not sending him to some nuthouse!"

"It's not a nuthouse, it's a facility," her father clarified. "And it would only be for a few days-"

"No!" Gabrielle snapped at her parents. "You both have experience in the medical field! We can take care of him... we can-"

"This is beyond our expertise," Hector articulated carefully, "You think I want to do this? I'm not going to lose my son too." That being said, Hector stormed out of Jacques' room.

Fleur closed her eyes in distress and sighed, giving her son a kiss on his forehead. "I'll talk to your papa. But it looks like it will be hard to sway this; you know how stubborn he gets." Gabrielle nodded reluctantly and watched as her mother exited, leaving her alone with her brother.

Gabrielle leaned her forehead on Jacques' shoulder, soaking it with her tears. "Please come back, Jacques," she pleaded into his shoulder. "There has to be something..." After a minute of silent crying, Gabrielle lifted her head from Jacques' shoulder and proceeded to leave. Just as she was in the threshold, she swore she heard it, as low as a whisper.

"J-Josée..."

Gabrielle whipped her body back around to face him and held back a gasp. "Jacques?" She stared at him, who seemed to revert back to his state. At that moment, a lightbulb went off in her head, and she cursed herself for not thinking of this sooner. She ran out of his room and into the living room, where their parents were still arguing on what to do regarding Jacques' mental health. "Don't call anyone yet!" she shouted at them. Fleur and Hector merely stared at her. "There's one more thing we haven't tried."

"Gabrielle-"

Gabrielle didn't wait for an objection. She bolted out of the house.

There was a knock at the Boyet residence.

"Answer the door, Josée," her mother ordered.

Josée nodded obediently and did so, frowning thoughtfully in wonder on who could this possibly be late in the evening. She opened the door to reveal not Jacques, but his older sister that wasn't Bernadette. Gabrielle, for that was who it was, stood there with an anxious expression and her eyes darting around frantically until she realized Josée was there. The blonde let out a shuddering sigh and ran a distressed hand through her hair.

Call it intuition, but Josée knew immediately that something was wrong. "Gabrielle–"

"Jacques needs you," Gabrielle interrupted at once, biting her thumb not unlike her brother whenever he was nervous. Josée's eyes widened ever so slightly and Gabrielle went on, rambling a bit. "Something's... something's wrong and no one knows what to do."

"Gabrielle..."

"He just stares straightforward, it's not like him, and he won't respond to anyone."

Now Josée's eyes grew noticeably larger as Gabrielle grew more frantic. "Wh-what? I don't understand, what do you-"

"Who's at the door, Josée?" Her mother interrupted.

"Gabrielle." Josée ignored her mother's groan, looking back worriedly that she would get yelled at before turning back. "Jacques and I aren't exactly on speaking terms..."

"The hell you aren't!" Gabrielle snapped, losing the little self control she had. "I don't know what is going on between you two, but we're at a total loss on how to help him. He hasn't eaten, he's not sleeping right, hasn't spoken a single word to us all day! Something is wrong and you've always been able to lift his spirits."

Josée massaged her temples. "I tried to talk to him last time," she said softly, defeated. "But he wouldn't listen! He's been acting so strange, and we got into a fight! So I really don't see how I'll be able to help you." Josee wanted to stand her ground, to have pride, that she wasn't the one to blame for all this. She tried to slam the door shut for good measure, but Gabrielle was quick on her feet and stepped between the door and the threshold, preventing Josée from closing it.

"He said your name!" Gabrielle shrieked, her eyes flaring madly. Josee stood there in quite a shock; though Gabrielle was one for losing her temper every now and then, this was different; this was out of concern for another human being.

Josée's mother finally stood up, glaring at the girl. "Josée, will you tell Gabrielle that it's time to leave-"

"Oh shut up you old bag!" Gabrielle retorted threateningly. Josée's mother looked about ready to kill then and there, and her daughter looked like she was going to pass out from total fear and anticipation of what the next event could occur, coupled with the revelation Gabrielle had uttered moments before. But to Josée's surprise, her mother backed down; it was probably because she knew that their family was still grieving, so she didn't want to look like a total monster - although it was worth noting that if her reputation was not at stake, her mother probably would've thrown something at her.

Gabrielle checked herself, sighing frustratedly as she continued, this time in an undertone: "It was more like a whisper... I swear, I heard it... it was definitely your name-"

Josée blinked confusedly. "I thought you said he hadn't spoken a word."

"Well, yes... except for that part," Gabrielle explained, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you think I understand? Because I don't. None of us do. You do, though. And he said your name, so that has to mean something. Can you just please come over and see if we get a response from him?"

Josée didn't have to think about it. Of course she was going to come over, it would be cruel if she didn't, and-

"No," stated Josée's mother coldly. "She can't. I will not let you drag her out of the house without a fight."

"I have no problem putting my foot up your ass... now is not the time," Gabrielle hissed through gritted teeth. Josée looked at her mother with fright in her eyes at what her next move could be. Gabrielle turned to Josée, with plead in her eyes. "S'il te plaît, Josée..." The ice dancer turned to her mother, who rolled her eyes with a wave of her hand.

Josée turned back to Gabrielle and nodded a little. "Take me to him."

The moment she saw him, when she really looked at him, Josée knew then and there why she was nervous to come over in the first place. It wasn't just because she didn't know how he was going to look - which was absolutely terrifying, by the way - or a potential fight that would've drove them further apart. It was one main thing, which Josée once again couldn't help but think about how selfish she was - as she came to one shattering realization.

This determined whether or not she was going to take him back.

...Of course she was, god, of course she was. She was undeniably foolish to think that she could just drop him so easily; because part of Josée - a part of her she wasn't fully aware of - couldn't see herself without him, because he was her partner-in-crime, her childhood best friend, her... this wasn't just some ice dancing partner that was strictly professional with her - no matter how much her maman wanted it to be just that - this was Jacques.

But the scariest part, the one she wasn't ready to face, was whether or not Jacques would take her back.

Gabrielle put her hand on Josée's shoulder. "I'll leave both of you alone."

Josée really wished that she hadn't. When Gabrielle left, Josée kept her eyes focused on Jacques, and felt a chill go through her spine - it was like he was looking through her. Slowly, she approached him and called out to him softly, "Jacques? It's... it's me." He didn't respond to her right away; and that scared her - hell, she would welcome even a cold greeting to her rather than nothing. She sat on the bed, sitting on her feet so her knees were touching the bed, that way she was closer to his height.

Hesitantly, Josée put her hand in Jacques' hair and ran through it lightly, like he would always do for her. "I'm here now, and I'm sorry." The vacant expression from Jacques made her bite her lip; she had never been in this situation. She retreated her hand briefly and heard a whimper from him, shocking her, before she returned her hand to his scalp and continued the petting motion, "It's alright... okay, it's not alright now, but... it will be." She used her other free hand to touch his own, squeezing it lightly. "I'll be here for you always, Jacjac... please believe me." She couldn't control her tears now, and began to sniffle and rest her forehead on his shoulder and cried into it.

Squeeze.

Josée could barely hold back the gasp when she felt her hand gently constricted. "Jacques?" she asked desperately, staring at him waiting for another reaction.

Jacques blinked rapidly out of his trance and exhaled. He turned to Josée with a pleading look in his eyes. At that very moment, Josée knew exactly what to do. She knew exactly how to comfort him. She started to stand on her knees so she was taller so she could rest her chin on top of his head, letting her tears soak into his hair as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Je suis là pour toi, Jacjac..." she muttered into his hair, repeating it over and over. When she removed her chin to get a good look at him, she saw there were tears brimming from his eyes - and that one tear managed to slide down his cheek. Josée returned her chin to the top of his head and rubbed his arm with one hand comfortingly. She felt relief when Jacques' thumb brushed against her hand as a way to get her tears under control as well, and leaned into her touch.

"...Merci, Josée," Jacques finally spoke, his voice hoarse.

Josée let out a shuddering breath, it was like a weight had been lifted. "We're going to be okay," she reassured him softly. "You're going to be okay, oui?"

Jacques nodded once, letting another tear escape from his eye. "...Oui."

Chapter Text

"Imposter syndrome is defined as the psychological phenomenon of self-doubt that causes a person to feel like a fraud."
-Psychology Today

Chapter 9- Imposter Syndrome (I'm Looking Through You)

Ever since the death of Bernadette, which was several months ago, Josée and Jacques remained partners - though one could argue that they technically never stopped being partners - it was a rough patch that tested their friendship, and hopefully, they wouldn't have to experience that awful feeling ever again. Little did they know, that would happen a few years down the line, but for now, they obliviously enjoyed rekindling back to their old ways. They had competed in the remaining competitions of April, and skated in many, many ice shows during off-season, stronger than ever, and were settling into October, which was the month after the start of competition season.

While waiting for Jacques to arrive, Josée was accompanying Rachel on the ice to give her some pointers.

"What do you think?" Rachel asked after she finished her routine.

Josée hummed to herself for a moment. "It was solid," she allowed.

Rachel's sunny smile disappeared at that. "Oh." She skated away from Josée. "...Great."

"You don't seem happy about that," Josée pointed out. "Usually I say much worse."

"I know," Rachel remarked, sighing. "'Solid' in your book means 'amazing and graceful' according to others."

Josée sent her a look. "I'm not that mean, am I? I figured I was being honest."

"You're not mean," Rachel told her. "You're critical of others because you're critical of yourself."

That caught Josée off guard. "Excuse-moi?"

Rachel waved it off. "Don't take it so personally. I don't mean that in a bad way, I'm saying that you're watching me skate and trying to hold me to a higher standard." She even gave Josée a smile for good measure. "You'd make a great teacher, you know."

"Hmm, I don't know about that," Josée said doubtfully. "Even though Isaac had asked me to take those classes to become one for Skate Canada. I am sixteen, after all. He says that it's a 'fallback' option, so I should get it done early like Jacques did when he turned sixteen." Rachel blinked at her. "If it helps," Josée continued, "You're getting better."

"Are you saying that to make me feel better?"

Josée genuinely smiled and shook her head. "Non, it's true. As my mother always says, there are two types of skaters. There are those with natural talent, and..." she trailed off as she remembered the rest of the quote, looking at Rachel who was awaiting the second part. At this, Josée's eyes softened considerably. "...those who have to work harder."

Rachel tucked a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I'm going to assume I'm the latter, aren't I?" Josée slowly nodded at this. Rachel sighed again. "Oh well, nothing I can do about that except to work at it, right?"

"That doesn't mean you're not a beautiful skater," Josée said at once. "You hear what people say about you, they love you! They love interviewing you because of your personality, people can relate to you, you're very pretty for a skater... you have that look they like, the dainty princess look, with the long blonde hair-"

"But they never mention my abilities on ice," Rachel interrupted Josée, albeit a bit coldly, "I'm not stupid, Josée. You don't have to try and be nice to me. I know people like me more because I fit the 'look' of a figure skater." Josée watched as Rachel skated off the ice and took her skates off. "Hopefully I can get people to focus on the ice skating itself rather than my appearance." She stood up straighter, with a determined look in her eyes that Josée hadn't seen from the blonde before, "I'll get everyone's attention."

Josée, uncertain as to why, was struck by Rachel's confidence. "...I'm sure you will, with a bit of practice."

Rachel nodded in agreement. "I will," she said assertively. "I'm going to go the locker room to get my things." She smiled. "Thanks, Josée. You're a great friend."

With that, she disappeared to the locker room, leaving Josée by herself. The ice dancer sighed; she did love teaching Rachel, even though it did cut into her own rehearsal time, but... Jacques was right; she did have a soft spot for her friend - again, she was sane compared to the other skaters and dancers she knew... well, other than Jacques, of course.

"You're skating is beautiful, chouchou."

Speaking of Jacques, he had showed up while Josée spent the past few minutes practicing her footwork on the ice. She smiled at him. "Merci, Jacques. Where are your skates?"

"Ah, I left them in the locker room yesterday night."

Josée raised an eyebrow. "And you decided to come to the rink first because?"

Jacques' face faltered. "I ah... figured I'd see you skate first."

Josée blinked at him, then put her hands on her hips. "Well you did," she remarked evenly. She skated off the ice. "I need a water break. I'll come with you." Jacques nodded once as they walked side-by-side to the locker room. "I've been helping Rachel with her skating lately."

Jacques smiled. "I've always told you that..."

"...I have a soft spot for her, I know," finished Josée, with a roll of her eyes. "For someone who says I should venture out more and make more friends, you tease me a lot for the friends I do have." Not to mention her boyfriend Claude, which was still a rocky subject between the two, but at least Jacques wasn't actively hating him like last time.

"I think it's adorable, actually."

Josée pouted at him. "I. Am. Not. Adorable," she articulated. Of course, Jacques couldn't help but chuckle. "What's so funny?!"

"You're contradicting!" Jacques proclaimed, still chuckling. "You say you're not adorable yet you have this pout on your face-"

"Jacques..."

"And those puppy dog eyes, ah, who could forget that?"

Josée playfully shoved him. "I don't understand how I put up with you - RACHEL WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Josée and Jacques had gotten to the locker room to be greeted with a horrifying sight; Rachel was looking in the mirror with a pair of scissors mid-way through her hair, with the intention to cut it.

Rachel looked at them from the mirror, unfazed. "It's time that this sport is less focused on vanity and more on the sport itself."

Jacques was so shocked that he couldn't think of what to say at first, still staring at the scissors in Rachel's hand. "This isn't the way to do it! You wouldn't dare chop your hair off, that's your career!"

"Well I want people to focus more on my skating rather than my looks," Rachel said, matter-of-factly. "That's what Josée said."

"Not like that," Josée retorted, through clenched teeth. "It's tradition that female skaters have long hair! You can't just screw with tradition!"

Rachel smiled from the mirror. "Watch me."

And in a dramatic fashion, Rachel cut a huge chunk of her luscious blonde hair. Jacques let out a high-pitched gasp, while Josée covered her mouth, her eyes wide. They watched in horror as Rachel smoothed out her hair that was now above her shoulders, admiring her new look.

"Those drugs have screwed with your brain," Josée remarked at last in disbelief.

"It's called making a statement," Rachel stated coolly. "I don't get why you're so upset about this, you go on and on about the research you and I look at about figure skating, and about how the ISU has a terrible history-"

Josée folded her arms. "Because I never 'made a statement' rebelling against them like you are." She went on to explain: "Jacques and I would never do that because it would cost us competitions, because unfortunately not only vanity plays a role in it - but politics has always been prominent in figure skating. You don't see it now, but you will. When you rebel it will cost you a competition, and when you keep losing competitions, you will lose sponsorships, and when you lose sponsorships, you lose money."

Josée took another breath, briefly realizing how much she sounded like Isaac before brushing it away. "There is nothing more in the world that I want more than for figure skating to be stripped of all of that nonsense and for the ISU to focus on the footwork on ice itself, but it won't. Look at Surya Bonaly. She didn't have your look. She was a muscular skater and didn't have the 'graceful' appearance the ISU wanted, and yet she was the only person to be able to perform a backflip and land on one foot because she was so athletic. The ISU hated her because they would rather have dainty skaters than actual athletes like she was, and... now I'm not saying that the ISU is racist, but if you looked at her scores and compared it to her performances, you'll see she was insanely underscored, and the other skaters that weren't black didn't have this issue, it seemed strange to me. You and I are lucky that we won't have this problem."

"All of this over hair, Josée?"

"It's more than just hair!" Josée snapped at Rachel. "You have the look of the 'ice princess' that they want - or should I say, had. White, Long blonde hair, dainty, graceful, and traditionally pretty. You're throwing that part away just to make a statement as you put it. Surya Bonaly rebelled too, by doing that illegal backflip as a 'fuck you!' to the ISU - which I did enjoy watching, I'm not going to lie - but it damaged her career. And by doing something like this - as minor as it may seem to you - is going down a bad road."

Jacques, who had been watching in admiration, felt his stomach oddly flip when Josée spoke so passionately about ice dancing. Her love for it was so contagious, even though sometimes he wasn't one hundred percent of aware of the things she spoke about, so she had to break it down for him. Jacques never really understood the politics behind figure skating, but he figured that she was right - Josée was always right when it came to things like this. But what he did know was the way that she looked when she talked about ice dancing; she was animated, that's for sure - her eyes having that certain twinkle that he would hardly see for anything else. Though Jacques couldn't deny that Josée was emotional sometimes, when it came to something so dear to her as ice dancing, that was very well an exception that no one could dare cross.

Moments like these - Jacques felt very conflicted when it came to Josée, for more reasons than one.

Rachel, for the first time, turned back around to face Josée with an unbothered grin. "Maybe I should dye my hair purple to spite you."

Josée huffed. "Fine, it's your funeral."

"It was a joke."

"I mean you might as well do it!" Josée retorted. "You're treating figure skating as a joke, when for some of us..." She pointed to herself and Jacques, "It's our career. It's our livelihood - we have put so much blood, sweat, and tears into this sport in hopes of making it to the olympics one day. Do you know how many times I've considered getting a nose job to make me look prettier? How I've thought of dyeing my hair? Hell, you reprimanded me for not eating, but do you know why I did those things in the first place?"

Jacques visibly winced; he was very, very conflicted.

Rachel sighed frustratedly. "Well there's no use trying to fix it now," she said, gesturing to her new style. She grabbed her bag, along with her skates, and said before leaving: "I have to go meet Viktor. I guess I'll see you guys later." And then she left.

Once she was out of earshot, Josée muttered a fair amount of swears under her breath. "She's unbelievable. She's just throwing it away."

Jacques, however, wasn't as concerned with Rachel at the moment. "Josée," he started off gently, "You do know you're pretty, right?"

Josée rolled her eyes and scowled. "Of course I know that."

"I mean it."

"Yes, I know, Jacques..."

"One of the prettiest girls I know," Jacques said, before he realized it. Josée raised her eyebrows in surprise; he's never said that to her before. Jacques averted his eyes, out of embarrassment, and cleared his throat. He went over to his locker and got out his skates, closing it. "We should go to the rink. Isaac's waiting."

"Oh, yes, absolutely!" Josée remarked too quickly, her voice at a higher pitch than usual. Neither of the two spoke on the way there.

Isaac clasped his hands together. "Great," he told Josée and Jacques on the rink, after they did another run-through of their program, "I'll see you both tomorrow?"

"Oui," both ice dancers said simultaneously.

"Wonderful," their coach remarked, "We're also going to try it in the costumes you've both designed, yes?"

"Mhm, we'll come in our costumes already so we can get started," Josée stated.

Isaac nodded once. "Très bien. See you soon."

Jacques and Josée waved goodbye as they skated off the ice. When Jacques eyed Josée as they walked side-by-side to the locker room, he noticed that she bore an unusually cold expression; though Jacques assumed that it was from today's argument with Rachel, he had no choice but to ask her what was wrong. "Josée?"

"Today was good," Josée told him, "I think our turns are improving."

Jacques nodded in agreement, but he knew avoidance when he heard it. "Oui." A pause, then: "Are you alright?"

They were in the locker room now.

The female ice dancer shook her head and took out an apple she had wrapped in a brown paper bag for a snack after practice. "It's so stupid."

"What's stupid?"

Josée sighed and took a bite from her apple, sitting on the bench. "Rachel is just... throwing away what she has. Because as much as I would love for the stupid ISU bias to go away, it's giving her a career, and I just know the press is going to vilify her for something like this."

Jacques sat down beside her. "You know, I always joke about you having a soft spot for Rachel, but..." he trailed off after seeing her glare at him impatiently. "...but why do you care so much? If it was any other skater-"

"She's already at an economic disadvantage," Josée interrupted critically, "I'm just trying to think about this rationally; figure skating is very expensive, so why would she make it harder for herself and..." She ran a distressed hand through her hair. "Maybe I'm... I'm... I don't know, maybe it's because she's sane compared to Alice and Clara, I don't want to see her fall. She is just so smart and capable and has so much potential and her stupid boyfriend is dragging her down. Speaking of her boyfriend, I know what I'm about to say is really awful, but I think..." she hesitated, before saying in a hushed tone: "I think she's using again."

Jacques frowned. "Josée, that's a bold accusation-"

"I know, I know it is... and I feel awful. But you know Viktor... and he uses a lot, too... because he's rich and can afford it. People talk about Rachel a lot in dance, you're not there anymore to hear it. The girls will go on and on about how trashy Rachel is for using, because she's not rich, while they do the same thing. It's just not fair and I don't understand it. She misses class sometimes, she'll leave early to be with him... it's not healthy."

"Chouchou, you don't know that..."

"She's been oddly distant lately," Josée pointed out. "And I know it's none of my business, but I can't help but care a little. I just do, okay? Because normally I'm a very selfish person-"

"No you aren't," Jacques cut in right away. Josée looked at him, mildly surprised - he had been doing that a lot today - and awaited an explanation. "A selfish person wouldn't care so much like you are about Rachel. You were the one that was patient with me when Bernadette died, when I acted like a jerk-"

"You were grieving, that's different."

Jacques shook his head. "Non, you are very selfless, Josée." Jacques never failed to be amazed by moments like these that left him conflicted regarding Josée, because he assumed he knew her better than most people, if not all - but then she'll drop a bombshell on him, such as degrading who she was as a person.

This was the same person who claimed to be annoyed by Alice and Clara, yet over the years have solved their petty arguments which Jacques would've ignored. This was the same person who would put up with those uglies in ballet class and still try to help them, even though they firmly believed in 'seniority' and put Josée down. This was the same person who was exceptionally kind to the incoming ninth graders and gave them advice in ballet class. This was the same person who although wasn't the best socially, would always take the time to sign autographs with him, and even try to be friendly with the much younger fans, even though she was very awkward with young children. This was the same person who put up with the ugly reporters, interviewers, and paparazzi who would ask gross questions.

In Jacques' eyes, Josée wasn't selfish at all. Not even close.

Jacques never quite understood these moments where she would have a low opinion of herself, but he always had an inkling feeling that her mother was behind it... no, correction - he was positive that it had to do with her mother.

Josée thought about this for a minute, taking his words in. Then she smiled gratefully. "Merci, Jacques."

Jacques smiled back, watching Josée take another bite of her apple - he was always glad to see her snacking after practice. "Of course, chouchou."

It was silence for a while, then Jacques spoke up again. "How are the instructor exams?"

Josée rolled her eyes. "Please. Remember when I made fun of you constantly for complaining about them?"

Jacques raised an amused eyebrow. "I'm assuming you're taking it back?"

"Indefinitely." Of course, Jacques chuckled at that. Josée had a ghost of a smile touch her lips. "It's annoying. We're obviously going to get gold in the next olympics, why does Isaac insist on us having a backup plan?"

Jacques shrugged. "Well, what do we do after we win the olympics in a few years?"

"Are you dumb?" Josée asked rhetorically. She slapped his arm playfully. "Win the next one, of course! Win as much gold as we can while we're in our prime!" She got up and threw away her apple in the trashcan nearby. She began to imitate him teasingly, "'What do we do after we win the olympics?' Do you hear yourself?"

Jacques mock-pouted and rose from his seat. "You're a bully."

Josée laughed at his expression. "Don't be like those reporters that ask stupide questions," she advised lightly. It was then she checked the time. "Should we get going?"

"Oui," agreed Jacques. As he and Josée exited the building, they unfortunately came within distance of Leo and Liv at their usual spot leaning against the building. Josée's nose crinkled in displeasure while Jacques blinked at the smoke rising from the cigarettes the rival skaters held in their hands. "Didn't Isaac yell at you last time for smoking out here?" Josée resisted the urge to facepalm at her partner's actions; why on earth would he provoke them?

Liv and Leo stopped leaning against the building at once, glaring at the pair. "I know you of all people aren't going to narc," Leo remarked snidely. "Like you didn't have a habit."

Jacques glared at him. "It was for a few weeks, then I decided it didn't suit me."

"Eh," Josée cut in, a little hesitantly with a tone that suggested otherwise. Jacques stared at her in disbelief. "It was more like a month."

Jacques gaped at her. "A few weeks," he corrected.

"Jacques, I'm not stupid, I could smell the cigarettes off of you then," Josée replied bluntly, rolling her eyes. "I just didn't say anything."

"Because he was mourning," Liv added, with a smirk. "Poor thing."

Josée watched as Jacques' expression darkened considerably, before turning back to Liv. "You are a bitch," she sneered at the older female ice dancer, like she realized this for the first time. Josée took Jacques' hand and squeezed comfortingly, which shocked her partner briefly, but squeezed her hand back. "I hope your asses get kicked this season."

"I hope you don't gain a few pounds like you did last season," Liv retorted, with a malicious glint in her eyes, "It's a miracle you can fit into those costumes."

Much like the last time Liv went after her weight, Josée's eyes welled up with tears. At an instant, Jacques got into Liv's face. "How dare you speak to Josée in such a way!" he screamed at her. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Leo approaching him but Jacques easily shoved him away and focused on Liv, who looked just as mad as him: "You're just jealous that she has more poise and grace in her pinky than you have in your entire body!"

"You wouldn't know poise and grace if it stabbed you in the stomach," Liv hissed at him, fully aware of the words she was using.

Jacques' right fist began to shake; it took all his energy and composure to keep himself from striking her across the face. "Are you... mocking... my sister's death?" he made sure to articulate very, very slowly - however his words could cut through glass.

Liv's smirk disappeared, and she actually backed away from him. She turned to Leo, clearing her throat awkwardly. "Let's go. We have practice." She put out the cigarette against the building, Leo doing the same, before they departed to skate. Jacques closed his eyes and leaned against the wall and began to count from ten. He managed to calm himself down after that, exhaling. The same, however, couldn't be said for Josée - who let out a small whimper.

At an instant, Jacques was by her shaking frame. She was still deeply upset from Liv's words from earlier, he could tell. "Chouchou, it's not true, you're fine, and - chouchou!" His attempts to comfort Josée had gone south when she cut him off mid-sentence by letting out a frustrated scream and punched the building repeatedly with her fist. "Josée, stop it!" He rushed over to pull her away from the wall from her waist. "You're going to hurt yourself." Eventually Josée started to wince, probably because the adrenaline wore off and she was really starting to feel the pain from her hand, shaking it roughly. Jacques slowly put her back down on the ground as she continued to wince from the injury.

Isaac flew outside to see what the commotion was about. "I heard screaming-" he stopped mid-sentence when he saw Josée and her hand starting to bruise. "Oh crap. Do you need an ice pack?" Josée nodded desperately, cradling her injured hand with her other. Isaac went back inside and hurried back as quick as he could with an ice pack, which Josée put on her injured hand. "What the hell happened?" Josée and Jacques gave them a look that said they weren't going to talk about it, thus, Isaac sighed. "Look, whatever it was... whoever it was..." Isaac turned to Josée to make sure she especially was paying attention. "No matter how dear you hold them, or how much you hate them... I don't know... it shouldn't warrant a strong reaction like this. Control your temper," he advised at last, then walked back inside.

Jacques turned back to Josée, who had sniffled and was unable to wipe her tears due to having no free hands. "We should go to my house," he suggested gently. "My maman can take a look at your hand." Josée sniffled again, still shaking a bit from Liv's harsh words along with her injury, but nodded. They both departed from the rink without saying another word to each other.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Josée hissed, drawing back from the pain as Jacques' mother inspected her hand in their living room on the sofa, while Jacques leaned against a wall nearby and watched from there. Unfortunately, situations like these weren't unfamiliar; as Fleur over the years with her nursing skills have patched Josée's injuries from her tantrums. "Ow!"

"Almost done, sweetheart, I'm sorry..." Fleur clicked her tongue a few times in disapproval and shook her head. "You're very lucky you didn't break any bones, dear."

Josée yanked her hand away from Fleur's grasp and cradled it in her own again. "There, I'm fine."

"Not so fast," Fleur cut in, shaking her head adamantly. She turned to her son. "Jacques, get the first aid kit."

"Fleur..." Josée proceeded to whine as Jacques presumably went to get said kit. "It's nothing-"

"Your hand is still badly bruised," Fleur pointed out sternly, as Jacques handed her the first aid kit. "It could swell. I'm going to wrap your knuckles up." Fleur sighed when she heard Josée groan and winced at her fixing her hand. "You have to learn how to get a hold of that temper of yours," she advised softly. When she saw Josée's expression grow sad and uncomfortable, she turned back to Jacques with an accusing look. "What did you do?"

Jacques gaped. "What?! What makes you think that?!"

"I'm sure you did something."

Josée giggled a little. "Don't worry, Fleur. He's innocent for once." Jacques scowled at her and in return, Josée playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"It was stupid drama," Jacques said.

"Drama at the rink?" A new voice entered, belonging to Gabrielle who had just gotten home, who turned to Josée. "Was your mother swearing at the other mothers again?"

"That was a week ago, get over it," snapped Josée.

"What happened to your hand?" Gabrielle asked, then her eyes lit up hopefully. "Did you finally give your bitch of a mother a piece of your mind? Oh, that would be rich-"

Josée gasped in horror. "I would never strike my maman!"

"...though it wouldn't be bad if you did."

"What?" Josée asked, turning to the person who had mumbled that, but she hadn't quite heard what was said.

Fleur looked like a deer-in-the-headlights, then proceeded to laugh nervously. "What?" she echoed.

"Oh, um... nothing I guess," said Josée. "Are you almost done?"

"Almost," answered Fleur, finishing up the wrapping. "There you go. Try to refrain yourself from punching things... or people..."

Josée retreated her hand from Jacques' mother. "Merci."

Fleur smiled warmly. "No problem," she said, rising from her seat. "Hold on second." She went to the kitchen and returned with a piece of candy. "For you."

Josée scowled while Gabrielle snickered, and even Jacques couldn't help but hide a smile. "I'm not a child, and I hate sweets." Fleur held it out again and gave Josée a knowing look. Josée eyed the candy with distrust, and grabbed it with her good hand. "...You won't tell maman, right?" Fleur smiled encouragingly. Josée unwrapped it and popped it in her mouth. "...My blood sugar is low." Gabrielle snickered again, shook her head, and departed to her room.

"Or maybe it's because cherry is your favorite flavor," Jacques teased.

"Oh shut up."

"You can stay for dinner later if you'd like," Fleur offered kindly. "That is, if Louise is okay with it."

"Mmm, no thank you," Josée declined politely, "I would, but I promised I would go meet Claude."

Out of the corner of Fleur's eye, she saw her son roll her eyes very quickly. "Oh right, Claude! Your boyfriend."

Josée allowed a small smile. "Oui. We've been together for a little over a year now!"

As terrible as it sounded, Jacques was amazed that they lasted that long. Although he wasn't too fond of Claude - something he had been trying hard to hide lately - Jacques could understand why their relationship worked; he and Josée were hard-working individuals that put their passions first, and each other would be second. Josée would talk once about how talented and how 'eccentric' he was as an artist, and that she liked him very, very much and enjoyed being with him. Jacques didn't want to admit it; but he was glad that Josée had never mentioned the other 'L' word to him regarding Claude. Jacques, however, didn't understand the appeal over how Claude's dedication enthralled her - especially over something as stupid as the duck instrument - and besides, he was dedicated too! And he had known her longer!

...Feelings like this, once again, have put Jacques in a conflicted position.

But more on that later.

"I'm assuming it's going well?" Fleur pressed gently.

Josée nodded eagerly. "I think so. Maman seems to think he's okay. She and Claude got along fairly well... he thinks that she's a strong woman that cares about me." At this, Jacques and his mother couldn't help but frown. Josée, however, was oblivious to this and went on: "I like him a lot... we argue sometimes, because, what couples don't argue?"

Fleur's expression was unreadable, but she forced a laugh. "You're definitely right about that last part."

Josée got up from her seat when she saw the time. "I should get going. Thank you again, Fleur." She was about to leave, now a few feet away from the door, before she turned around and walked up to Jacques. "Merci, Jacjac." She wrapped her arms around him comfortably. "For today. You're an asset to the team."

Jacques was taken aback by her initiating affection every time she did it, especially when it was around other people. He stared at her head, blinking in shock, before returning the hug. "Of... of course, chouchou.." he didn't know why he stammered on his words a bit. Josée let go after several seconds. "I'll see you tomorrow." She exited the house.

Jacques' eyes lingered at that spot. Why did she have to go to Claude's?

Better question, why did she have to make him feel things that he didn't understand?

"Jacques, are you alright?"

The ice dancer blinked and removed his eyes from that spot to see his mother staring at him with concern. He nodded far too quickly. "Oui, I'm fine... I'm just... thinking."

"About?"

"Josée," Jacques replied. His mother gave him a look that said to elaborate, so he did: "Maman, I'm worried. Any boy that could get along with that awful woman is ah... how do you say it... a red flag! Part of why Josée and I fought last time was not just because of the senior competition last March! A lot of it had to do with her boyfriend, and he... he has a lot of say over what she does, like he's trying to control her or something, and it reminds me of her maman in a way!" Jacques was now ranting, clenching his fist to his side trying to stop his frustration taking over. "I'm not crazy for thinking that, non? She easily forgives him. But I can't say anything or else we'll get into an argument, and we've been getting along so well lately... I don't want to ruin what we have. But at the same time, I don't want him to hurt her, because I know it's coming, I can feel it!"

Jacques stopped his rant with heavy breathing, running a distressed hand through his hair. "There's no way to win."

Fleur, who had been listening carefully to her son's concern, smiled knowingly. "Josée is very lucky to have a friend like you. You're so lucky to have each other. You care about her so much as a friend looking out for her, as always."

Beat.

"...Oui," Jacques eventually said quietly, a bit awkward under her gaze. "As a friend."

"Jacques, are you... are you implying she's... more than a friend to you?" Fleur put delicately.

"Non, it's not like that. You know I've only had boyfriends."

Fleur considered this for a moment, then nodded. "Right. Just know Jacques, whatever you are, your papa and I will always support you."

Despite there being many things that Jacques wasn't sure of, he was positive that what his mother said couldn't be more wrong. "You will," he corrected bitterly.

"So will your father," Fleur said determinedly, "A lot has changed since Bernadette died-"

"Maman, stop saying she died. She was murdered-"

"Honey..."

"What's your point?" Jacques asked, trying to ignore the hurt look in his mother's eyes.

"My point is," his mother began delicately, "...is that we support whatever you are, and yes, that includes your father."

Jacques couldn't help but feel a little annoyed. As much as he loved his maman, she had too much of that unique ability to see right through his inner turmoil and conflict. Those annoying 'knowing' looks she gave him irked him in a way he was never irked by others. A mother always knows, his mother would say... but what about mothers like Josée? Surely she didn't know everything; especially when it came to treating Josée right. He could treat her right. He always treated her right, he...

...He needed some air.

"I need to go," Jacques decided at once, without saying goodbye to his mother - he had a lot of thinking to do.

Josée didn't like the phrase "butterflies in the stomach" when it came to being with someone. Alice had used this phrase a lot, Rachel used this phrase a lot, and even Clara mentioned that she got this feeling from time-to-time. Josée only liked the phrase and thought it was appropriate to use before a performance when you were nervous; it just showed how much you cared about doing well. When it came to liking Claude - which she did, a great deal - she preferred the term "comfortable."

Because she was. Maybe she was starting to understood Alice's perception of romance that she was starting to warm up to Claude a little more. Josée didn't understand why it was taking her so long to get intimate with Claude, but she felt like she could get closer to him. Hell, when she and Claude first started going out she was so skittish and unsure.

Now, however, she seemed a little more sure. She knew that she liked him a lot. She had come a long way since they started to date.

Here she was, a lot more comfortable laying down on Claude's bed while he kissed her from above, his hands occasionally running through her hair. It also helped that Claude liked taking things slow as well. Alice remarked that he was one of the good guys, that most guys want to rush into things. Josée was glad Claude wasn't like that.

When Claude gently pulled away from her, Josée positively beamed. Claude smiled back at her, with an unrecognizable look in his eyes, and said: "I have to tell you something."

Jacques remembered very well what happened when he came out as gay to the public.

For a then sixteen-year-old in the figure skating world, this was controversial for many reasons.

First things first, he didn't plan on coming out - but the pressure the reporters had hinting about him in relationships with men was becoming more and more persistent, so he made a very, very bold move and did so. Although figure skating had been called a "gay" sport - or sometimes wouldn't even be referred to as a sport - the judges and institutions revolving around skating were pretty conservative in nature. Josée told him they would use phrases like "family-friendly" but in reality was blatant intolerance.

There had been openly gay skaters before, but there was the risk of judges being, well, intolerant - and Josée mentioned that this was how politics played a role in figure skating, with judges holding certain prejudices that could affect the score. Though judges claimed to be unbiased, everyone involved in skating knew it simply wasn't true.

So it was an incredibly brave thing for Jacques to come out. And he was proud of that.

But then there were these moments about his feelings were conflicted; because sometimes he would see a beautiful girl and imagine her in a romantic way and wondered if he liked that girl in attempts to tip-toe back into the closet again, that he was faking his attraction, or maybe it was to get the approval of his father, Jacques didn't know...

Josée sat upright so she was facing Claude properly, still smiling. "Is everything alright?"

Claude hummed a bit to himself, sitting cross-legged on the bed while he looked at her with his eyes shining, giving a nervous smile. "Oui, everything's fine, it's just..." he trailed off, averting his eyes away from her.

Josée's smile faded a little after that, because it was rare that Claude would look so... apprehensive. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no!" Claude said quickly, his eyes wide. "You did nothing wrong. I just have to tell you something important."

She could tell he was nervous. "You can tell me anything, Claude," Josée tried to reassure, with a tiny grin.

Claude reached over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. "Well, we've been together a little over a year now..."

...it bugged Jacques immensely because, on the other hand, he had risked so much to come out as gay. He risked his father's approval of him - which Jacques assumed he would never get anyway but still - he risked not only his entire career, but Josée's career as well if he really thought about it.

Another major purpose of ice dancing had to do with interpreting a romance between two skaters telling a story through dancing on the ice.

Because of Jacques coming out publicly, people don't see him and Josée in that manner, really - or maybe reporters and the press would push that narrative, it depended.

The thing was, it did bother Jacques that people wouldn't see them that way, and he hated that it bothered him because it's not something that should bother him. He had worked the courage to come out, and, he felt like he was denying who he was if he did think a woman is attractive.

In this case, it was Josée.

"I know I can tell you anything," Claude said, with that smile. Although Josée still hadn't quite warmed up to him like most girlfriends warmed up to their boyfriends after a little over a year, but she could at least appreciate how attractive he was; well, at least to her. One of the first things Josée noticed about Claude - other than him knocking into her on that day they met - was his eyes, that they were pretty.

Josée wrapped her arms around his neck, drawing him closer to her. "Well go on then, spit it out."

There was nothing he could say that could alarm her, Josée supposed, unless it was him breaking up with her, of course. But it didn't seem like he was going to do that. He was nervous, yes, but there was something in his eyes that told him that it was something that had nothing to do with breaking up; this was important to him.

And then he said it: "I love you, Josée."

Josée... always confused Jacques.

Maybe it was the infamous "dance trap" in which you get caught in a moment so intimate and close with your partner in a dance that you think you like them, or maybe it was because they've known each other for so many years. But then he remembered he felt the same off the ice, that he did like being with her, and frankly, Nathaniel did express frustration whenever he chose Josée over him to go for an extra practice with her. A few other lovers expressed the same frustration; but none of them understood.

Hell, he didn't understand. Was he attracted to her?

But then Jacques thought about his lovers and they all said that they pretended to like a girl to feel some sort of acceptance. So if Jacques thought he felt something toward a girl; it was like an act of betrayal for what he's worked hard to come out as gay to people he knew, hell, to the world, practically.

It's not a case of choosing between men and women, because he knew he definitely liked men. There was no question about that, but the second he considered seeing a woman he wouldn't mind being intimate with, he felt shame. Maybe it was like Nathaniel said, maybe he was subconsciously going back into the closet... and that he was faking the attraction.

Jacques groaned. So he couldn't love her even if he wanted to, he figured. Besides, Josée was in a committed relationship with Claude...

Josée froze.

It took her a few seconds to process that meaningful statement. Claude said he loved her. He said that he loved her. Josée, in that moment, did feel butterflies in her stomach, but for all the wrong reasons. She remembered being told how much of a big deal it was when being told that someone loved you, and the look in Claude's eyes told Josée that he wasn't joking about it in the slightest; and that frightened her.

"And because I love you..." Josée felt heat rise in her cheeks as Claude went on, "I think we should... try... it."

Beat.

Josée let the works sink in, knowing what "it" entailed, and how it was an entirely big deal. Well, most people didn't think that it was a big deal - except for when the gossip about Nathaniel and Jacques leaked out - but to Josée it was. While most people in her school slept around for the sake of sleeping around - and she holds no judgement against those people - but she just couldn't do it. Josée wasn't going to sleep with anyone she just liked, she wanted to be positive and in love.

And right now, looking at Claude, Josée simply wasn't.

"I'm sorry," Josée uttered at last, his cheeks red as she averted her eyes. "I... I didn't know you felt so strongly about me." She felt her heart shatter when she saw the disappointment in her boyfriend's eyes. "No, Claude... wait. I do like you. I like you a lot, it's that... I'm not sure if I'm ready for something like that."

Jacques had no chance. No chance at all.

Obviously he was gay and couldn't love her even if he wanted to, and obviously Josée was happy with the relationship she had so he couldn't interfere with that. Despite that both of these things were critical and seemed justified as to why Jacques figured he couldn't really be attracted to Josée, it frustrated him so.

Because the fact was - though he had tried to deny it - that he was jealous. To be fair, he was jealous of anyone, or, in fact anything that Josée had given a lot of attention to that wasn't himself. Jacques had gathered up the courage and took so long to come out as gay; and his father went through trying to accept him, so if he went back Jacques felt he did all of that for nothing if he wasn't. Nathaniel had said that he was lucky; saying that many people who claimed they were bisexual before they learned they were gay had to go through that struggle of figuring out who they truly were - Jacques had skipped those steps.

Or did he?

Jacques groaned. It. Was. Too. Complicated.

Besides, Jacques wasn't about to go back in the closet for someone that would never like him. Then he found himself wondering why he cared so much in the first place.

And that settled in the back of his mind.

Josée awaited for his response. Something shifted in Claude's eyes, yet another thing she couldn't so easily read. He cleared his throat, and gave her a smile, "That's okay, Josée. We'll... we'll take things slow."

For some reason, this sounded less sincere than when he first said they could take things slow. Josée, however, smiled back gratefully - however, with a bit of hesitance. "Really? Are you sure you aren't mad? Because... I can see myself with you, just not now. Maybe in the future? You know how... these things take time for me."

Beat.

Claude was smiling, but his eyes were not. "Of course, mon chaton."

Josée could see herself being intimate with him. She was attracted to him in that manner, she knew that - but she wasn't attracted to him in the sense of feeling butterflies of the stomach. She wasn't attracted to him in the sense like all those romantic movies talked about; she knew she felt... strong feelings for him, but it wasn't anything like those movies (at least, not yet) But she firmly believed, for her first time to be enjoyable, she had to fall in love. Hypothetically, she could be intimate with him, and maybe that could lead her to developing feelings - but this was personal, it was important.

It. Was. So. Complicated.

Maybe she would fall in love with him. Josée knew that she was starting to get more serious with him, that this wasn't just a regular relationship, it could be something special.

But she had one major thought.

This was taking entirely too long than what her friends had experienced. If Josée couldn't love fall in love with Claude, then she was incapable of falling in love with anyone else.

And that settled in the back of her mind.

Chapter Text

Chapter 10- Second Hand News (Ray of Light)

It happened out of nowhere.

Josée wasn't sure if she was capable of feeling love, but then one night everything changed and she thought that maybe, just maybe , she would be willing to open up and be a little more vulnerable with Claude. Going into her final year of high school, she had no clue about how this chaotic year would go. She still had her friends, she still had many competitions to win, and of course she had her boyfriend , but she never was sure about the outcome.

Little did she know, everything was going to change - and, to be frank, Josée didn't handle change very well.

But one thing did change in a positive direction - or so she thought - it was the realization that Josée did love him. They were outside on Claude's balcony at night - Josée's mother was out of town so she took the chance - and watched the stars, which was incredibly cliche, but it felt nice to go stargazing with him. When she met his eyes... well, Josée didn't want to be dramatic, but... she wanted to be with him for the rest of the night. Forever, even.

Everything felt right. Everything felt stable. Josée knew she could use some stability in her life, and Claude helped with that.

So yes, Josée figured it out, she did love Claude.

The problem was...

...Too little, too late.

Ever since he started having those internalized thoughts, Jacques had figured out a solution for 'getting over' it. Normally when people got over things in his family, drinking them away was usually the way to go - but this was different. So since that day, Jacques had a series of lovers - most of which were not exclusive. A lot of them were men in the ballet company that he worked at during the day while Josée was at school.

But Jacques soon found that he had grown to like one guy more than the other guys there.

His name was Adam. He was a few years older than Jacques, and he was one of the best dancers there. He was definitely something . They had met during a break when they went to the cafeteria to get some lunch, going to the same salad bar. They struck up a conversation, and after only a few days of a conversation, it turned into 'benefits' and what was 'benefits' to Jacques turned to feeling actual attraction, as in, he thought Adam was boyfriend material. The last serious boyfriend Jacques had was Nathaniel, so maybe he could break the question to Adam. They had been... intimate together these past few months after all.

Speaking of Adam, Jacques was at his apartment right now this very morning.

"Morning," Adam said, grinning beside him on his bed. He leaned into kiss him, but Jacques stopped him, giggling.

" Non , don't kiss me... my breath smells like rotten eggs."

Adam's eyes gleamed. "I love the smell of rotten eggs." And kissed him anyway. He glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. "Oh crap. Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Jacques shook his head. "Non. Josée and I usually go practice early but she mentioned going to a friend's house." At the mention of his partner's name, Jacques saw an unidentifiable look in his eyes - it was similar to the one Nathaniel had. Jacques tried smiling. "But we can stay here... if that's okay. We don't have practice until later." He rested his head in the crook of Adam's neck. "Do you want to go back to sleep?"

Adam smirked and brought him closer. "Part of me just wants to stay here forever."

Jacques' heart fluttered. "Oui, me too. I'm just worried about the press-"

"Aren't you already out?"

That wasn't really the point, but Jacques didn't want an argument. "Oui." Jacques snuggled closer. "I was worried that they followed us to your apartment last night... wouldn't want them to stalk and ask you a lot of annoying stupide questions." He sat up and reached for his phone. "I should message my parents to let them know I'm okay."

"You should try getting your own apartment, bel homme ." Jacques grinned at the sweet talk. "It's not like you can't afford one." Jacques hummed to himself in thought. It was very true. The prize money that he and Josée had received over the years from competitions - and some that they are currently earning - would be enough for an apartment to himself, as well as the money he makes on his own at the ballet company when they do productions of dances. "You'd also get privacy," he added suggestively.

"Mmm, oui. I was... I was planning on saving for a bigger apartment for before the olympics." It had been in the back of Jacques' mind for as long as he could remember. He figured that he and Josée could share the apartment when she was old enough so she could be out of the hands of her mother and having a coordinated schedule to train for the olympics. It would be a lot easier without Josée's mother around, but Jacques knew it would take a lot of convincing.

Adam furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why would you need a bigger apartment for that?"

Oh.

Jacques shrugged. "Well, ah, we would need to put a lot of training equipment there, a place for our trophies-"

"'We?' 'Our trophies?'"

Fuck .

Jacques... had a sinking feeling that Adam wasn't too fond of Josée. He tried not to mention her as much as he could, really, because - he really did like Adam. "I am an ice dancer, and so is my partner, so if we have to get gold it would be easier if we lived together."

Adam's expression was unreadable, then with a 'hmph!' he let his head rest on the palms of his hands behind him. "I see," he said neutrally. Jacques settled back into Adam's chest. "Don't understand why you have to live together though," he muttered.

Jacques wished he hadn't said anything.

It was rare that Josée would spend time with friends outside of school and ice dancing that wasn't with Jacques. There were very few times her mother approved of her doing anything outside of "perfecting her footwork on the ice" or schoolwork. Once Claude had entered her life, her mother did decide to be more lenient, even though she claimed that "romance was a waste of time" but little moments did pop up now and then where Josée could have more freedom.

This happened to be one of them. Alice's parents were away for the weekend and left Alice in charge of the house, and specifically told her not to invite anyone over. So naturally, Alice had to do the exact opposite. She invited Josée, Rachel, and Clara, but the latter couldn't make it.

When Josée asked why, Alice chuckled a little nervously. "Oh, I think Clara's doing some errands for her mother."

Rachel looked uncomfortable, so she changed the topic. "Viktor and I are in love," she announced in Alice's room, over the Celine Dion music that played in the background. Josée wasn't sure what song it was, but she was more focused on that statement Rachel made that annoyed her. "Can you believe that it's going to be two years?"

"Not really," Josée said honestly. Rachel and Alice merely stared at her. Josée wasn't phased. "What? I didn't think you'd last that long."

"Well, I can say the same about you and Claude," Alice chimed in, smiling awkwardly. "It has been almost two years for you both as well!"

Josée couldn't help but smile. "It has, and... you know something... I think I might be in love."

The reaction she got was not what was expecting. Instead of Alice jumping for joy - since she was the one that pressed Josée about her romance with Claude - she looked a little more apprehensive than before. Rachel began to wring her hands a bit - a habit Josée knew she had whenever she was nervous - and averted her eyes away.

"Isn't that wonderful ?" Alice asked, laughing a bit. She frowned at Rachel who looked like she wanted to say something, and stomped on her foot. "Don't leave your mouth wide open like that sweetie, you'll catch flies that way."

Josée blinked a few times in confusion at the exchange, but decided to go on: "I think I'm ready to..." She felt her face go bright red. "... be with him , you know?"

Alice nearly gasped. "It's amazing how you're seventeen and you're still a..." she couldn't even finish the sentence, opting to smile instead. "I'm happy for you. Did you tell him that you think you're ready to be with him?"

Josée shook her head. "Non, I... I just don't know when the timing would be right. This is important to me, because... for the longest time, I've wanted to be absolutely sure and in love, and I wanted to be stable and I wanted everything to feel right. I wasn't always so sure, but... but now I am. Everything about him is just so wonderful, and I know that this year is the year where something special could happen between us, and this could just so happen be it."

Rachel exchanged a knowing look with Alice, with the blonde biting her lower lip.

Alice, however, rolled her eyes and said with a chuckle, "Thank god. You really do need to sleep with someone... spouting all of that. That'll be a major change."

"Speaking of major changes," Rachel cut in, changing the topic again. "You have yet to dye your hair."

"Believe me, I want to," Alice said bitterly. "But I told you, my maman said that I can't dye my hair until I leave the house. She said it was a 'wonderful' trait and reminds me that's how my stepdad fell in love with her." Josée looked down at her hands uncomfortably. "She's so clueless. I think I may just drop out."

"You have the twelfth grade solo to look forward to," Josée said encouragingly. "You're the best vocalist in the school, how could it not go to you?"

Alice positively beamed under the praise. "Good point. I just know my audition was far better than anyone else's."

"Ally!" A little girl's voice squeaked happily as she ran into Alice's bedroom. Josée knew the girl to be Alice's five-year-old sister Colette. Alice would always go on and on about how lucky Colette was that she didn't get her 'cursed' red hair. "Will you play with me?" Then, she turned to see that Josée was there and broke out into a huge smile. "Josie!"

She was also Josée's "number one fan." If only she could pronounce her name right, but Josée didn't have the heart to correct her. Josée was alarmed when the small child proceeded to climb on her lap and hug her around her neck. Josée looked helplessly to Alice. It wasn't like Josée hated children, she just never knew what to do and was awkward around them. Whenever she and Jacques came into contact with younger fans it was Jacques who was better with children compared to her. "I missed you!"

Rachel scowled. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Alice chuckled nervously. "Sorry about that, Josée. She's not very good with personal space."

"Um... it's alright." Frowning unsurely, Josée hugged the child back. "I uh... missed you too, Colette - ack !"

Colette gasped and stopped squeezing her neck tightly. "Sorry! I love skating! I wanna be an ice dancer like you!"

Josée felt her heart go fuzzy and couldn't help but let herself smile genuinely. She turned to Alice. "Is this true?"

Alice rolled her eyes. "She won't stop talking about you, it's so annoying... we bought her first pair of ice skates... she is determined."

"Well..." Josée started off to Colette, "You'll have to work hard."

Also, as awful as it sounded, a tiny part of Josée hoped that Alice's sister didn't pursue a career in figure skating, which was the last thing most people expect from a star figure skating athlete. It wasn't that the sport wasn't beautiful, Josée thought ice dancing was the best thing to ever happen to her - and one other thing, not that she would admit it - but it was a cruel and demanding sport that preyed on those who were sensitive; the ice wasn't so forgiving. It all stemmed back to why her mother was tough on her, and well, Josée had met Alice's mother - she was a weak woman who chose her a man over her children, which was the opposite of her own mother.

"Do ice dancers ever kiss?" Colette giggled.

That came out of nowhere. Josée bit her lip. "Um... sometimes in performances."

Colette held back a giggle this time. "Did you and Jacques ever kiss?" Rachel gasped while Alice couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement when they saw Josée's face turn red as an apple.

"No, actually. I also don't think Claude would appreciate that." Even if the kiss was only professional and would absolutely mean nothing whatsoever; her mother's story taught her the dangers of falling for an ice dancing partner - they would leave you, as would any man in her maman's situation.

Wait... why was she discussing the thought of kissing Jacques ?

"Who's cloud?" Colette asked, then she giggled again. "Is he your boyfriend ?"

"Yes he is, and he's very nice."

"Alice has had lots of boyfriends!"

"Okay, Colette, that's enough!" Alice said sternly, picking her up from Josée's lap and setting her on the ground while Rachel snickered. "Get out of my room."

Colette pouted. "But I didn't get her to sign something!"

"You have a box full of twenty other signatures from Josée, get out of my room."

Colette huffed angrily. " Fine ." But before she left, she gave one last smile and wave to Josée. "Bye Josie!" Josée waved back, grinning just a bit.

Once she was out of earshot, Alice scowled and rolled her eyes. "Sorry about her. She's very annoying."

"It's... fine," Josée settled, shrugging.

"You're just saying that because you don't have siblings."

"That's true. But annoying sister or not, she's still a fan," Josée pointed out, then went on to explain: "Our fans are probably one of the best parts about ice dancing other than the dancing itself. They give us so much energy to perform! If they believe we can do it, why can't we believe in ourselves? It's better than the press and reporters, who just want to make money off of us and ask us stupide questions, the fans actually care . It's only fair if Jacques and I care right back, and that includes the younger fans, which I'm not so great with... but I try! Anything for the gold, for our fans, for the ice..."

"It's almost like you're having an affair ice dancing over Claude," Alice said jokingly. "...with the way you fawn over it."

"Oh shut up." Although choosing between Claude and ice dancing would be absolutely absurd, Josée knew at least now that she could see Claude in her future.

"For the love of gold ," Josée's mother snapped irritably. "You will see that boy later after practice, let's go ."

Josée nearly gasped; she hadn't realized she had been messaging him the whole time on her way to the rink. Claude had told her that he would be picking her up after practice and she felt relieved. He had been unusually busy this year so far, even if it had just started. Like, last week for instance, Josée originally was supposed to go to Claude's house, but he said he was caught up with something so Josée went to Alice's house instead. She sheepishly put her phone away. "Sorry, maman."

Her mother rolled her eyes as they entered the main hall. "It's crazy how that boy is still with you anyhow."

Josée, who had been happy the whole day, felt her mood dampen significantly. "What do you mean?"

"Well..." began her mother, with an icy smile, "It won't be long until men get tired of you, Josée. It's a miracle, honestly. You're very naive when it comes to these things."

"...We've been together for a long time, maman," Josée told her defensively. She even smiled a little thinking about it. "I think he really, really likes me. He told me himself that he loved me." Her heart swelled just a bit letting his words consume her brain. He said he loved her.

Her mother shook her head. "Oh come on now, really?" She even laughed at the thought. "They always say these things. You're far too busy with your career." Before Josée could go to the locker room to put her skates on, her mother cut her off, standing in front of her with cold steely eyes. "I've warned you, Josée. I told you not to get stupide with boys, I know you're not going to disobey me, are you?"

Josée's eyes grew wide. "O-of course not! I would never -"

"Because again, it's awfully nice of me to let you keep seeing him," she remarked coldly. "Even though he's probably going to end up leaving you."

"Maman, he wouldn't!" Josée tried to insist, but of course, the doubt lingered inside her. Maman was usually right about these things; Josée couldn't recall a moment in her life where her maman was wrong.

"Oh, I'm not trying to scare you, Josée. I'm just saying... there are... possibilities ." Josée stared at her mother like a deer in the headlights, but in response, her mother merely smiled as if she hadn't said anything. "I wish I could stay to make sure your ice dancing isn't a complete failure, but... I have to go work. I'll be back on Monday. Try not to burn the house down, I'm sure you could even follow that simple task."

Josée nodded, obliged. "Yes, maman." She watched her mother exit the building.

Once she was out of sight, Josée left to go to the locker room, alone with her thoughts. Jacques hadn't arrived yet - ugh, he was late again - so she took the time to herself - unable to get her mother's words out of her head. Josée decided after five minutes of careful consideration that she would have to tell Claude tonight how she felt about him. Her mother did have some points; Claude had been busy, and he had been slipping away from her recently - all because these things in a relationship took a lot of time for Josée and it was about time she told him how she felt. Surely that would fix everything, because in that moment where she and Claude watched the stars, she truly connected with him emotionally - everything had suddenly clicked.

"Chouchou, is everything alright?" Jacques, who had just arrived, asked with a worried expression.

Josée shook out of her thoughts, blinking and taking in her surroundings, before rolling her eyes at Jacques. "You're late," she snapped, putting her skates on aggressively. She got up and jabbed her finger into his chest a few times as she said, "I hate when you're late."

Jacques' face fell. "I'm sorry. I was..." he stopped himself, he really didn't have a valid excuse. "...with someone," he told the truth.

Josée lifted an eyebrow. "And that's an excuse to be over five minutes late?"

"Is that really much of a problem?" countered a new voice that Josée didn't recognize, along with a new face. She didn't see the person around the rink at all.

Jacques bit back a groan. "Adam, I told you that you could wait in the main hall."

Josée looked on in realization; she vaguely remembered Jacques talking to her about a new guy he was seeing. He didn't go into detail - thankfully, because they both had other things to worry about, such as their performances - but he mentioned that one guy stuck out to him more than the others at the ballet company he was working in. Josée assumed that this happened to be him, since he was down here in the locker room.

For some odd reason, this annoyed Josée more than usual. "Skaters are not supposed to be down here," she said sternly.

"And why not?" Adam challenged.

Jacques could feel the tension and laughed nervously. "Ah, okay! How about we all just get out of the locker room?" His fake smile vanished when he saw Adam keeping a strong glare on Josée. "Um, 'allo?"

"Yes we should get going," Josée agreed, breaking eye contact from Adam. "We'll have to make-up for the lost time." Jacques' eyes drifted from Josée to Adam, seeing his icy expression turn into one of neutrality.

"Right. I'll be waiting in the main hall." And Adam left.

"So that's the guy you've been seeing?" Josée asked rhetorically, with a roll of her eyes as she made her way out of the locker room. "You need to tell him the rules, Jacques. He can't just come down here."

Jacques followed her, frowning. "Does this mean I can complain about Claude again?" Josée flashed him a dirty look. "Ah... okay." However, at the mention of her boyfriend's name, Jacques noticed Josée's eyes soften significantly and she... blushed? Did she actually just blush ? "You okay?"

Josée let out a sigh and stopped walking, leaning against the wall. "Can I tell you something completely mad?"

He stopped walking. "That depends. Is it murder?"

" Jacques -"

"You're my best friend, but I don't know if I would report you to the police or not."

"It's not murd - wait a second ..." Josée stopped mid-sentence to gawk at him in utter disbelief. "You would narc on me if it was?"

"I don't know!" Jacques exclaimed, his eyes wide. Then he looked away from her, chuckling nervously. "So we should get going to the rink-"

"That can wait," Josée said amusedly. "You just opened up a can of worms. Go on, then. You would seriously narc on me? Jacques, stop laughing ... it's not that funny."

"I'm starting to think you're going to kill someone."

Josée huffed. "It's about Claude, stupide ."

Beat.

"You're going to kill Claude? Because I can definitely get behind that-"

" JACQUES! "

Jacques wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. "Okay, okay, okay. I'm serious now. What is it?"

"I've experienced something that I've never experienced before," Josée muttered, looking down at her skates. Jacques' high spirits have diminished once he saw just how serious she looked; which wasn't unlike Josée, but he knew that this was a different type of serious. She looked back up at him with insistence. "It's not as good as getting a gold medal, of course... but it's still really important and almost scary , even."

Jacques' eyes grew wide. "Scary?" he echoed, not quite believing it - it was rare that Josée was scared over something that didn't have to do with competitions, her maman, or the closet she was forced in. "Josée just talking like this is starting to scare me ."

"Well it's not about you stupide !"

"You said it had to do with Claude..."

"Okay, alright then!" Josée cried out, throwing her hands up in defeat. She broke eye contact from Jacques, looking down at her skates again and biting her lower lip. She covered her mouth with her hand, mumbling something incoherent that Jacques couldn't make out.

"I didn't get that, Josée?" Jacques said, staring at her with concern. "Can you repeat that?"

"I love him," Josée confessed quietly, barely above a whisper." As in, I'm in love with him." Josée didn't know why this was so difficult to say to Jacques , of all people. Hesitantly, she looked up to meet Jacques' eyes.

A wave of emotions went across Jacques' face too quickly to read. "Are you... are you sure?"

Josée nodded adamantly. "Yes, I'm sure. I don't know much about romance, but... I'm starting to understand what people say about it. Like, that idiom about having butterflies in your stomach, or the way your heart is supposed to flutter, how you have that moment of connection and everything feels right." She paused thoughtfully. "The only thing I'm wondering is why it took me so long to feel it with him, but..." she smiled a little, thinking about it. "I know what I feel now. I'm going to tell him tonight."

Jacques, who had been noticeably getting more serious as she went on, cut in with a small smile: "I'm happy that you're happy, chouchou."

Josée's eyes lit up. " Really? " Then, she turned more serious. "I won't let this get in the way of our partnership, you know, with what we... have ." She smirked victoriously. "We have to win the olympics, after all... and all our competitions, and..." Suddenly, she took her hands in his, with stars in her eyes, "...I couldn't do that with anyone else."

Jacques squeezed her hands back and smiled, a softer look in his eyes. "Merci, Josée." It was silent for a while, then he cleared his throat: "We should... we should get to the rink."

Josée let go of his hands, laughing a little. "Oh right we should-"

"-it's getting later and later, and-"

" Oui ," Josée cut in desperately, and walked ahead of him. Jacques followed without making another sound.

Claude picked up Josée from practice like he said he would. Right now at his house, she and Claude weren't even watching the movie as they kissed on his bed; it was noticeably a lot less awkward - well, on her end at least. Every time she kissed him she felt him pulling away slightly, or at least looking a little shocked that she was initiating all the kisses. Maybe that was just her being paranoid, but... god, she just knew something was wrong.

After a while, she couldn't help herself. "Is everything okay?" Josée asked concernedly.

Like Josée had seen many times from her boyfriend, he smiled - but his eyes did not. "Oui, I'm fine."

"I think we should..." Josée couldn't believe she was really doing this. Her heart began to accelerate. "I think we need to have a talk ." She sat upright, and Claude did the same - she noticed that his eyes went a little wide in anxiousness, she could tell and his smile disappeared entirely. "Relax, Claude," she tried to reassure gently. "It's a good thing."

Claude's eyebrows shot up. "Oh? What is it?"

Josée took note that his voice was a little more high-pitched than usual, but decided not to address it. "I've been thinking a lot about us lately, and... I know I haven't been the best girlfriend..." Claude did not interrupt to dispute the point. "Like... the way it takes me a while for me to sort of these feelings and all, and..." Josée stopped talking to get a good look at him, his eyes were shining. She wrapped her arms around his neck like she usually did. "I think... no, wait... I have to be sure , and... I adore you," she breathed at last.

Josée stared down at her lap, not quite ready to look at him yet to see his reaction. "I'm sure I love you, that I'm in love, and I know it's taken me forever to come to that conclusion, way longer than most girlfriends do, I'm sure... I mean..." Josée laughed nervously and began to ramble. "Girls like Rachel say 'I love you' after a few months, and Alice would say 'I love you' after a few days , and..." she hesitated for a moment, "I don't remember Clara ever saying she loved someone, but I'm sure she has." For some reason, Claude visibly flinched. Josée hesitantly met his eyes, biting her lower lip. "Please say something."

Claude, who had taken all the time, merely smiled at her. "I love you too, Josée."

She really, really, really wanted to believe him. "And continuing on, well... I want to show you how much I love you, but... not now. I mean, not tonight, " she added, with a hinting tone in her voice.

Claude seemed to catch on, looking wide-eyed and shocked. "Do you mean that, mon chaton? "

Josée smiled at the pet nickname. "Oui. Just... it can't be today, I'm too... nervous. Is... Is tomorrow okay?" She looked a little hopeful. Then she was surprised when Claude cupped her face gently and pulled her into a kiss, sending a wave of fuzziness that she enjoyed having.

"Oui," Claude agreed, still smiling once he pulled away. "I can't wait, Josée, I love you too."

Josée smiled a bit to herself. Their relationship was saved in her mind, at least for now. Although Claude had been distant lately, she could feel him slowly starting to come back to her - maybe she could believe him just a little. She would've stayed the night today, but she figured there had to be some preparation that needed to be involved. This was important. Hopefully her friends will be able to give her advice on the matter, because even though they gave her a migraine from time to time, they knew how to give advice on a topic as complicated as this.

Tomorrow couldn't come fast enough.

"Au revoir, Adam," Jacques told him.

Adam grinned and kissed him as a way of saying goodbye, and departed from Jacques' house. Jacques watched his... semi-boyfriend as he went away. Adam wasn't his boyfriend, at least, not yet. Jacques really wanted him to be, but he didn't know how to bring up the question. The last serious relationship that he had that actually lasted fairly long was with Nathaniel, and he had been the one to initiate a new step in their relationship. It was like Jacques forgot all about the dating scene all together and skipped multiple steps of romance to get to the intimate part, and well, maybe he could get back into having a relationship again.

Once Adam was out of sight, Jacques entered his house and collapsed on the sofa. He didn't realize that Gabrielle was right next to him until she cleared her throat very loudly, startling the ice dancer. "What was that for?!"

"So his name's Adam ..." Gabrielle mused teasingly. Jacques bit back a groan and rolled his eyes as his sister went on, "Oh don't give me that attitude, he's cute looking. I didn't realize you were into much older men-"

"Shut up," Jacques snapped. "I like being around him. He's nice , he's fun-"

"Ooh, so he's fun now?"

Jacques couldn't help but groan this time. "Where's maman?"

"You're not seriously going to cry to her, are you?" Gabrielle asked amusedly. "Typical."

"You know, I never bother you about your love life... oh wait!" Jacques smirked menacingly. "You have none!"

Gabrielle's grin vanished in an instant. "As a matter of fact, I do, stupide ." She paused for a second. "Can I ask you something?"

"Is the question going to annoy me?" Jacques asked, exasperated.

"Probably."

Jacques sighed. "Go ask."

"You and Josée..." Gabrielle started off, without a hint of judgment in her tone. She was skeptical and serious: "Are you two...?"

" Non , nothing like that." Gabrielle was right, the question did annoy him. Uncertain as to why, he went on: "She has her own boyfriend, and... she said that she loves him. I... I should be a little happier for her, but I'm not. I can't help but get this feeling that he's bad for her-" he stopped when he saw his sister's neutral expression, interpreting it as something else: "And before you say it, I'm not jealous or anything-"

"No, I think you're right," Gabrielle cut in, entirely serious. Jacques blinked in surprise as his sister went on to explain, "When I met the kid at one of your competitions, he just seemed so off. I'm glad that Josée found someone, because really, she needs to get away from that devil-woman known as her mother, until you mentioned how easy it was for Josée to forgive him over things so quickly. It's like she never wants to fight with him."

"Exactly," Jacques agreed. "When she told me that she loved him, I didn't know what to feel. Am I supposed to stand there and take it, or tell her that he's bad and that she shouldn't be with him? That got us into a fight last time. Am I supposed to let her relationship with him continue?"

"Unfortunately, yes ." Jacques stared at Gabrielle in disbelief, but she continued, "Because by you interfering, you're proving that you can be just as controlling as her boyfriend is, you have to let her make her own decisions, even if they are shitty ones-"

"But I'm her best friend-"

" Exactly ," Gabrielle cut in. "That's the exact reason why you let her go through with it. You advised her, you let her know that you don't think he's great, and that's something Josée has to see for herself. And if that involves her getting hurt in the end - yes, I know the last thing you want is for her to get hurt - then so be it."

Jacques smiled a little. "You sound like Bernadette."

Gabrielle chuckled at that. "I can't believe I'm the one giving sisterly advice. I was planning on just being that sister that you can get drunk with, but you know what? Why can't I be both?" It was silent for a few seconds, both of their smiles gone. "I meant what I said, Jacques."

Jacques nodded solemnly. "I know."

"You can't protect Josée from everything."

"I know, it's that..." Jacques buried his face in his hands. "I'm not sure I can handle it." Gabrielle gave him a sad smirk and nodded in understanding.

Josée was fuzzy all over even after she left Claude's house; she couldn't help it. A part of her hated herself for it, because she knew that her maman wouldn't approve of such a thing and say once again that men were a waste of time and that she had raised such a "soft" daughter. Of course she would be able to mask that up, it was best that she didn't mention these things to her dear maman for now, at least.

...God, this other part of her wanted to go back to Claude's and tell him that she was ready, right then and there! Right now, she was bored up in her room without anything to do. She could go to the rink to get some extra practice, but it was likely they were starting to close up.

Maybe she could call him; it would be last minute, sure, but... she couldn't wait any longer. He would probably help her through it, she didn't need her friends' advice, it would be an experience for her that she would be guided through because Claude was her boyfriend who loved her, like she loved him. Picking up her phone, Josée scrolled through her contacts ready to call her boyfriend, up until Rachel's caller ID showed up and started to ring. Frowning thoughtfully, Josée picked up. "Rachel?"

"You need to get to Clara's house now ."

An odd feeling enveloped Josée's stomach. "What do you mean?"

"The twelfth grade vocal soloist results came out," Rachel said irritably. If Josée listened closely, she could hear bickering in the background. "Alice didn't get it."

Josée's eyes went wide. "Oh shit," she said bluntly. Then, she was skeptical: "What does this have to do with Clara?" Rachel didn't say anything. Josée briefly thought that the blonde had hung up on her, before Josée started to connect the dots and her eyes went wider in realization. " Oh shit ." Rachel didn't have to say anything.

"So I see you figured it out," Rachel remarked, sighing. "It's ugly. I was just hanging out with Clara, and then the email came through... then Alice stormed in here, it's so, so, ugly. I can't get either of them to calm down, can you... can you fix it please ?"

"Not going to happen," Josée cut in right away, "I told them a long time ago that I was finished with solving their fights. They claim to be best friends but argue over the pettiest nonsense that's so vapid-"

"Josée, please ," Rachel practically begged over the phone, "I know you hate pointless drama, but... you at least care about them, don't you? And it's our final year, after all. We're all going to move on to new things. Alice is probably going to move, who knows where Clara is going to end up."

Josée let out an exasperated sigh. Rachel did sound desperate enough, and well, she did make a few good points. As much as Alice and Clara annoyed her to no end, she really did enjoy being with them for five years of school. It made her life seem a little more normal, even though the two singers were far from normal. " Fine ," she allowed. "Just... give me ten minutes and I'll be there." She hung up and rolled her eyes. She had promised she wasn't going to get involved in these petty arguments, but here she was, heading to the train and on her way to Clara's house. She had no idea what was in store for her.

A night that would change everything.

Arriving at Clara's house, before Josée could even knock on the door, she heard the bickering coupled with hollering. Josée closed her eyes briefly and rubbed her forehead, because this gave her a hint of what she would be dealing with; not that it wasn't unfamiliar, but she had gone without fixing their stupid fighting for so long that it brought a wave of memories back that she had thought she had erased from her mind.

After she heard something break, however, Josée didn't bother knocking. She entered the house - which was left opened by Rachel, Josée assumed - and froze, surveying the scene in front of her. Alice and Clara were still bickering, not even noticing Josée's arrival, and Rachel looked helplessly back and forth between them. Her eyes landed on Josée, being the only one that saw her there. "Oh, thank god ," Rachel breathed out, relieved. That's when Alice and Clara ceased their fighting to look at Josée.

Josée let out a distressed sigh. "What's happened?"

Alice huffed and glared at her alleged best friend. "This bitch is trying to steal my spotlight that I've worked hard four years for!"

"And now it's time you give another person a turn!" Clara shouted back. "Maybe if you didn't act like such a diva and entitled to these things-"

"Oh what the hell have you done to deserve this solo?!" Alice retorted angrily. "To be honest, Clara, you're not that good of a singer!"

"I must've been, since I got the solo over you."

"They probably took pity on you, that's what it was, I'm sure of it since you couldn't sing if your life depended on it!"

"Face it, Alice, you're just jealous . Some supportive friend you are!"

Alice couldn't help but let out a bitter chuckle. "Oh, you want to talk about being a supportive friend? You're anything but! You hardly even care about singing, with the way you harm your vocals with the drugs you smoke!"

"At least I don't whore around like you do to 'blow off steam' after performances!"

" YOU ARE THE LAST PERSON TO TALK ABOUT WHORING AROUND, YOU -" Alice suddenly stopped shouting. She turned to Josée, who was looking on with annoyance, and a bit of concern at the level of intensity of the scene. But then, Alice started to smile. "Josée, I'm actually so glad you're here!" She sent Clara a look. "There's something you should know that everyone's been keeping from you."

"Alice, please ..." But Rachel was ignored. Suddenly Clara looked like she realized she made a grave mistake.

The redhead's smile turned into a smirk. "No, no, no. Let's get it out in the open, then. Josée is here, after all. Rachel, you wanted this, didn't you?"

And that sinking feeling in Josée's stomach returned. "Wh-what?"

" Alice ," Clara seethed, fire in her eyes. However, she sounded threatened . "Shut up. I'll give up the solo, I-"

"It's a bit too late for that, Clara," Alice said, venomously sweet. "I think it's very telling how you'll lecture me about sleeping with people, when you and Claude have been sleeping together this past week - and you swore Rachel and I to secrecy."

The silence was deafening. Clara averted her eyes away, while Rachel couldn't help but looked between the three girls, anticipating what could happen next.

"Say what you want about me," Alice started off nonchalantly, "But I would never sleep with someone's boyfriend."

Then it went silent again for several seconds.

"That's not true," Josée muttered at last, and she really, really, really wanted to believe that Alice was lying. Josée looked at Clara for confirmation, and with the way Clara was avoiding her eyes told her all she needed to know. "That isn't true!" she repeated louder, almost desperately. She thought about it some more; Claude had been extremely distant lately, it seemed like he was falling out of love with her, and he only appeared hesitant when Josée finally told him how she felt today.

She was... she was going to spend the night with him. She thought she was ready. If Alice hadn't called ...

Once it had begun to sink in, Josée couldn't breathe - it was like all the air had been sucked out of the room. A wave of complicated negative emotions she couldn't understand rushed through her small frame, but she felt it was much too big for her to handle. She didn't understand, it was all so complicated, and in return, it pushed her into the emotion she was all too familiar with - which was fury, that was now starting to bubble. She could feel it in her veins, desperately itching to get out, but Josée clenched her fists in effort to keep herself under control; she wouldn't have a tantrum, not here, at least.

Josée turned back on her heel, and tried to storm out.

"Josée, wait!"

And then Josée couldn't contain herself any longer. She whipped her body around and glared at Clara. " SHUT UP! " she shrieked, her voice cracking as she desperately tried to stop herself from crying. " JUST SHUT UP! " she repeated, reaching a volume that Josée didn't think she would ever reach herself. She was breathing heavily, startling everyone else around her who watched with frightened eyes. "You could have picked anyone else to sleep with, and you choose him?!"

"Josée..."

" And all of you knew?!" Josée continued furiously, ignoring Rachel trying to cut in. Alice and Clara didn't say anything. "So I'm just the last to know, aren't I? That's why everyone had been acting so strange around me, and I was... no, I still am in love! Oh god, I looked so stupid!" Josée cried out, covering her face with her hands. Once she removed them, she glared at all three of them. "I cannot believe this. Some friends you all are! You suck! " This time, she stormed out successfully out of the house.

Or so she thought.

"Josée, please wait!" Rachel had caught up to her, breathing heavily. "I wanted to tell you, I tried to convince Alice -"

"Save it, Rachel!" Josée snapped. "Just. Fucking. Save. It," she articulated harshly, narrowing her eyes at the blonde. "I don't want to talk to you. Out of all of them, I expected you to tell me first if something like this were to occur - because that's what friends are supposed to do for each other, is it not? I don't have many friends, but even I know that if Viktor was cheating on you with Clara I would tell you right away!"

She didn't let Rachel argue back. In fact, Josée didn't even stay there and ran back to her house.

Josée thought about confronting Claude today. That she knew what he did, how he betrayed her. But she could do that tomorrow. The day that would've been her first. Once she got to her room, in a blind rage, she screamed and threw her pillows all around in her room, breaking several objects as the adrenaline rushed through her, and punched the walls repeatedly as the tears streamed down her face. She wasn't sure how long this tantrum was, but she was positive it was one of her longest - it felt like eternity.

All her friendships at school - gone .

Her relationship with Claude - gone .

After it simmered down, Josée felt herself grow extremely tired and let her head drop on the bed, her entire body going limp. Her final thoughts before going to sleep was this:

Maman was right.

How could anyone love her ?