A/N: This is a very lengthy chapter. Sorry about that... or not... if you're okay with that sort of thing. Thank you again for reading and reviewing the story and interacting with it. It's very much appreciated.

Song in parenthesis by Madonna.

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..."