Fic Lab Prompt 9: Olympics

I decided to write a second story for this prompt.

Alice can't sleep. She achieved her goal today, the goal she has been working for since she was five years old. Alice is the Olympic All-Around Champion, the gymnastics gold medal winner. The USA had already won the gold in the team competition a few days earlier, so she now has 2 gold medals. She just has the individual events left to go. It's been an exhausting few days…and an exhausting 15 years. But, still, Alice can't sleep.

She knows this should be the happiest day of her life, but she just feels empty. Instead of brooding alone in her room, Alice decides to walk around the Olympic Village to get some fresh air. It's the middle of the night, but with all the security to get into the Olympic Village, there's really no safer place to be right now.

Alice enjoys the dark. She can hide from the staring eyes she feels on her most of the time. Sometimes those eyes are full of awe, but other times they hold nothing but scorn. Most of her team doesn't understand her.

In a perfect world, Alice would have celebrated her gold medal with all of her teammates. That's how it works for others, but not for her. Her father, who is also her coach, doesn't let Alice get too close with anyone. As far as Coach Brandon is concerned, everyone else is competition and he doesn't think it's smart to become friends with the competition. Alice tried when she was younger, but she soon learned it wasn't worth disobeying her father. He never physically hurt her. Instead, he'd punish her by making her workouts harder and harder. He won't accept anything less than perfection.

Alice walks around the courtyard, staring up at the stars in the sky, feeling like the only person on earth. That is until she feels two arms grab hold of her shoulders. She panics for a second until the owner of the arms speaks.

"Whoa there, darlin'. You almost walked right into me."

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone else to be out here this late, " Alice says. She's blushing in embarrassment and almost afraid to look directly at him. But her mama always taught her to be polite, so she puts on a smile and looks up at him. He's taller than she initially thought, and when her eyes finally find his face, she blushes even more. He's the most beautiful man she's ever seen, with wavy blond hair & piercing blue eyes.

"That's okay, it's not a problem. I'm surprised to see anyone else out here as well.," this beautiful man says to her.

"I couldn't sleep," Alice responds, feeling a bit bashful.

"I'd say not. You've had an exciting few days. It's Alice, right?"

"You know who I am?" Alice is surprised. She knows the other gymnasts know her, of course, but this man is obviously not a gymnast. To begin with, he's far too tall. But also, she already knows everyone on the men's team, even if she can't really call them friends.

"Oh, I think most folks here and in the U.S. know who you are now, darlin'," he tells her with a smile. "In case you're wondering - and I'm going to assume you are, if just to feed my ego - I'm Jasper Whitlock. I do the high jump. No one outside of that sport knows who I am," he laughs.

Alice laughs with him. She's never felt this comfortable with a stranger before…or really anyone else at all. She's never had the chance to get to know anyone well enough before. Her father's seen to that.

"We'll, it's really nice to meet you, Jasper. And I'm sorry for almost walking right into you."

"As I said, don't worry your pretty little head about it. I was just heading to that bench to sit for a bit. You want to sit with me?"

Did Jasper really just call her pretty, she wonders? Or is that just an expression people use? Either way, Alice is not ready to say good-bye to Jasper yet.

"Yes, that sounds lovely."

Jasper takes her hand and leads her to the bench. They sit and talk about everything and nothing until they see the sun start to rise.

"I'm sorry for keeping you out so late, Alice. I hope this doesn't mess up your training schedule, " Jasper says. Alice can see the concern in his eyes. He truly seems to care about her. She's not used to getting that from anyone other than her mama.

"I'll be fine, Jasper. But thank you for your concern. This was actually the best night I've had in a long time."

It really was. Alice has been so lonely for most of her life, but she wants to change that. She has already been thinking about making big changes after these Olympics. She wants this to be her last competition. She knows her father will be upset with this decision, but she's an adult now. She won't let him control her anymore.

Jasper walks Alice back to her room in the Olympic dorm. When he reaches down and gives her a kiss on her cheek, she knows she will see him again. Alice is ready to start living her life on her own terms.