A/N: Song in parenthesis is by Tears for Fears, but the Lorde version is preferred for the feel of this story. I want to thank everyone for reviewing, following, and favoriting this story and giving it a chance - you guys are very, very sweet and I appreciate every single one of you! Your reviews and interaction with the story is what encourages me :)

Also, I have not been asked about this yet in my reviews so I'm going to put this here just in case, and it's important anyway since some eyebrows might be raised from reading this chapter going forward.

Yes, there is an original source in which Christine Thompson says that Tom and Jacques are gay, but in another screenshot she goes on to contradict herself saying that all the characters sexualities are up for personal interpretation and that she thinks Tom and Jacques are gay. She also never outright states that it's canon that Jacques is gay, only Tom because he's based off real life Tom McGillis, the creator of TD who's gay. She states that Tom and Jen (the creators of TD) said it's up to one's interpretation.

If you would like to see the original source, it's on my Tumblr joseeapologist under the tag #christine thompson

I understand that there are very few LGBT represented characters in TD, but I'm not erasing it by writing Jacques as straight all along - in this story, he identifies as gay but doesn't acknowledge he's actually bisexual until after canon. Either way, I personally believe Jacques is 100% queer coded, that doesn't necessarily mean that he's gay - it could be anything from bisexual, pansexual, and so on.

This will be discussed more regarding Jacques' identity and something he struggles with. It's unfortunately common that biphobia is an issue not only coming from straight people but within the LGBT community as well, especially facing bisexual men. Some people are under the assumption that bisexual men are just "gay men that are afraid to come out." This in turn could make people have internalized biphobia (which is something Jacques' character goes through and how I interpret him) And as someone who's queer, I feel like I can write about this issue based on personal experiences.

There are also other openly LGBT characters in this fanfic, such as Tom and Jen, who will both have a much bigger role in the fanfic during the RR arc and after. There are also a few other TD characters that are LGBT as well, would prefer not to spoil who those are :)

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.