A/N: ...Finally, it's here.
...This is going to sound dramatic as hell but I don't care lol.
When I found out that I was writing this chapter already, I was so... livid lol. I was so tempted to skip ahead to the Ridonculous Race chapters so I didn't have to write this, I avoided it like the plague lol but this must be done. I was so not mentally ready to write this chapter. I mean, we already did have plenty of angst in the story so far, but this is something we know is going to happen, something that will change the course of the story indefinitely.
Song in parenthesis is from the soundtrack from the movie Requiem for a Dream, also having the same title. It is a cinematic masterpiece I highly recommend.
Chapter 13- Requiem of All Things Good (Requiem for a Dream)
"Josée?" Jacques whispered frantically, sounding panicked. "Josée, are you alright?"
It was an incredibly stupid question; of course she wasn't.
She lifted her head up briefly to reveal a bloodied chin.
A few medics, as well as Isaac and Avril, thankfully showed up in time. Josée's eyes were wide with fright as she touched her chin and saw red. She felt a little dizzy, and this time, Isaac was the one that scooped her up and off the ice. Everyone else immediately followed to the emergency care center for olympians. Once the cameras were off, Josée immediately started to wail. This had to be it. Her ice dancing career was over before it could truly start.
"I am so sorry..." Jacques dared to whisper.
"How did this happen?!" Josée wailed hysterically.
Several days earlier...
"That's a wrap!" Isaac remarked happily, satisfied with Josée and Jacques' routine for the olympics coming up very soon. "These three dances should get you that gold medal."
Josée and Jacques exchanged a look and smiled. This is what they had trained for. They were planning on leaving tomorrow early in the morning to get to the Olympic Village. Both of their mothers were going with them, but Josée and Jacques were staying in their own room for the first time. The Olympic Village only catered to participating athletes, officials, and coaches. Families were allowed to visit, but they were staying in a separate hotel outside the village close by.
The best part about it though? The media wasn't allowed in!
Josée beamed. "The gold is going to be ours!"
"Oui!" Jacques agreed, with a giggle. "It will be in a landslide!"
"Please get a good night's sleep," Isaac told them. "We have to get up early because the press and reporters might be there."
Ugh. They might as well dealt with now, they supposed. Josée and Jacques had the entire Olympic Village to look forward to, with no cameras, no reporters, no press... no stupid questions... It was going to be a paradise. Other than the actually olympics, of course - no one was going to record them.
Josée and Jacques nodded. The two of them went to the locker room to change back into their regular clothes. Once they were finished, they both had to walk home since Jacques' father was in surgery and had taken the car. Josée's mother, oddly enough, refused to pick her up saying she was caught up in paperwork and that she would have to walk with Jacques.
Josée and Jacques stepped outside to see the sky had grown dark; not enough to be pitch black, but enough to differentiate from the warm afternoon they experienced earlier to a now colder evening. It wouldn't be long until the stars came out, and - as embarrassing as this sounded to her - Josée loved it as much as she hated it. She hated how sentimental it made her feel, she hated how much it reminded her of the night where she realized she loved her now ex-boyfriend, and she hated that something so simple backed by science could be so enthralling to her. But at the same time she loved it for all those reasons. It was so complicated for no reason at all.
As they walked side by side, Josée squealed - yes, practically squealed in delight. "I still cannot believe this is happening!" Jacques smiled over at her as she went on, "Even maman smiled earlier this morning! She never smiles, Jacjac."
"Speaking of your maman," Jacques mused, "I'm surprised she didn't make time to come to our last practice before the Olympics."
"Me too," Josée agreed. Then her face lit up even more. "Oh Jacjac! What if she truly believes I can win? Maybe that's why she's letting me be independent!"
As wonderful as it sounded, Jacques didn't want to get Josée's hopes up - it was unlikely that her mother wanted her to be truly independent. When Jacques brought up the suggestion of them living together she had thrown her shoes at him. Jacques found it to be very interesting that in some aspects Josée's mother wanted her to act like an adult far beyond her years, yet critiqued her for wanting to do anything considered 'grown up.' "Well, ah..." He decided not to say anything. He was about to turn a corner, but Josée suddenly grabbed his arm out of the blue. His eyebrows shot up. "Josée!"
"I want to visit Rachel before we leave!"
Jacques gasped. "Non! Where she lives is dangerous!"
"We can beat anyone up."
"...Your maman is expecting you to come home!"
"Actually," Josée started off, giggling. "She's not expecting me to be home for another hour, and maman thinks I can maybe be more independent, so..." Then, she lifted an amused eyebrow: "You're not scared, are you?"
Jacques huffed. "I'm not scared."
"Scaredy cat."
"I am not! Stop giggling, Josée. You're not funny." With one final huff, Jacques rolled his eyes and relented. "Fine. We'll go." Josée grinned victoriously as they made it to Rachel's apartment complex after hopping on a bus. Josée had been to Rachel's only once, but it was during the day. It was never close to night time like this.
Josée jumped up in surprise when Jacques held her hand. She looked up to meet Jacques' eyes, waiting for an explanation.
"Just..." Jacques said, still holding her hand. "Just stay close to me, chouchou."
Josée rolled her eyes. "I can take care of myself. I am independent." Despite saying this, she let Jacques hold her hand as they headed up to the room Rachel was in. Truthfully, she didn't mind. Whenever they went to the bar in the seedy area where Bernadette worked in a few years ago, she always stayed close to Jacques in case something bad were to happen.
Josée grinned and let go of his hand. "So you aren't a scaredy cat after all."
Jacques scowled. "I never was, you're just mean." Josée's teasing grin remained as Jacques knocked on the door. Instead of her aunt answering like Josée expected, it was Rachel herself who answered instead, shocked to see them. "'Allo, Rachel-"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Josée and Jacques stared at her blankly. "It's getting late. Do you know how dangerous it is?" Out of nowhere, Rachel yanked both ice dancers into her apartment and abruptly shut the door. "Insane. Both of you are mad."
Jacques scoffed at his partner. "Told you."
Rachel turned to Josée. "It was your idea?"
"I wanted to see you before we left early tomorrow," Josée explained, smiling sheepishly. Rachel blinked, taking this in, before sighing and gesturing the two of them to follow to her room. "Where's your aunt?" Josée saw the pack of cigarettes lying on the table, as well as a tiny empty bag that was usually filled with one thing, but didn't say anything.
"She had to work late," Rachel explained, running a hand through her blonde hair. She gave a little smile. "I'm so proud of both of you! I just know you're going to win. You're obviously the best team there! I saw the ISU scores, you know... I'm jealous."
Josée chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Merci."
"I think we only have Liv and Leo to worry about," Jacques chimed in, fiddling with one of the cigarettes from the pack.
Rachel rose from her seat, noticing. "Oh sorry. Did you want?" She reached for a lighter nearby.
Though Jacques was tempted, he shook his head. "Non. They're bad for you and rot your insides."
"True, but it's better than snorting up like people in dance, right?" Rachel laughed at her little joke. Jacques gave her a half-grin, but Josée didn't find it amusing in the slightest. Rachel realized that and cleared her throat, adapting a more serious tone: "Oh, I want to quit smoking. It's just so hard... But I know what everyone thinks, 'Why start in the first place?' And really I have no idea how I picked it up."
"Probably from Viktor," Josée said with disdain.
Rachel thought about it, humming to herself. "Mm. Probably."
Josée shook her head in disbelief. "Smartest in our class, yet you do something as stupid as this." She was not referring to the cigarettes.
"Things could be worse, you know," remarked Rachel, tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear. "I could still be with him."
"Oh definitely," Josée agreed. Speak of the devil, three knocks were heard. "Is that your aunt...?"
"Shit," Rachel swore, standing up abruptly. She turned to Josée and Jacques and flashed them a smile. "Wait here." Then she departed to answer the front door. Josée's eyes went over to her partner's, who's gaze was stuck on the cigarette pack.
"Jacques," Josée hissed. Jacques blinked rapidly and stared back at Josée, who shook her head. "Put it down. You've done so well."
"We have the olympics coming up-"
"Go chew gum instead," Josée ordered. Then, she sighed and stood up. "She said she usually keeps some in the kitchen instead of her room; something about bugs infiltrating it." That being said, she left and made her way to the kitchen. She opened a cabinet and found where it was and as she shut it, she heard something she wished she hadn't.
"Go away! I have friends over," Rachel snapped. Josée frowned, but continued to listen through the threshold and tried to remain unseen. "I'll meet you outside in a few hours, alright?"
"No, I need the money now."
"Why would you think to come here?"
"Because you short-changed me last time, and this shit isn't cheap. You told me I could stop by to make up for it."
A few seconds passed, until: "...Fine. Just let me go inside and get my bag."
Josée's heart sunk to her chest, but she quickly ran back into Rachel's room before the blonde could know she was listening in. Jacques sat there, still fumbling with an unlit cigarette, and caught the half pack of gum that Josée threw in his direction. Jacques raised an inquisitive eyebrow, yet said nothing. Rachel returned, with her bag, and then went back to the living room. A minute later, Rachel returned, being met with curious stares from the ice dancers. Rachel laughed it off. "Co-worker had to give me a paycheck."
Josée stared at Rachel's bag that she had forgotten to zip up carefully. "Right."
After some time has passed, Josée and Jacques decided it was time to go. Rachel gave each of them a hug and wished them luck. Josée and Jacques were about to exit, until Rachel suddenly stopped them. "Wait!" They stopped in their tracks and turned around expectantly. "How are you going to get home?"
"The same way we got here?" Josée said, not understanding. "Why?"
"You don't have anything on you to defend yourself?!" When they shook their heads, Rachel facepalmed. "One second." She retreated back to her room and held out to Jacques what looked to be a switchblade knife. "You come over to this side of Montreal at night. How the fuck don't you have a switchblade knife? Brainless." Jacques, out of shock of being handed it, let it fall to the floor. Josée groaned and picked it up instead.
Then Rachel pushed them out and shut the door. It was quiet for a few minutes.
"Josée, did you see the-"
"Yes. I saw it," Josée said through gritted teeth. Suddenly she wished she hadn't come here. "Let's just go home."
The next morning, like Isaac had said, was filled with reporters and cameras. Over the years, ever since Josée and Jacques were in their tweens, they were used to cameras being shoved in their faces, reporters asking obscure questions, and a few other journalists. They were used to fans shouting their names like much were right now, wishing them luck for the olympics and hoping for them to win the gold. The fans, for the most part, were pretty sweet... a little loud at times, but sweet. But there were a few crazies that tried to touch them, or try to hug them, and so on...
The point was the same, they were always prepared for that.
However, what they weren't prepared for was possible oppositions to them.
For every comment about how wonderful they were, was someone else throwing some choice words at them that were pretty foul. Josée and Jacques had dealt with people hating them before because they prefer Leo and Liv in comparison to them, but this was a whole other level. Something that Josée found interesting was that even though they remained a "friendly" demeanor regarding Leo and Liv and vice versa, their fans were divided on who was "truly" Team Canada.
Even though it was early, people managed to find them. It never failed to amaze them how the Montreal press seemed to find them anywhere.
"Duck!" Isaac shouted to Josée and Jacques, and they did so, narrowly avoiding an empty bottle being thrown at their heads. Josée and Jacques stared wide-eyed in the direction that had been thrown in. Had it hit them, there would've been serious problems. Getting on the flight was going to be difficult. Luckily security finally showed up to break up the crowds, and Josée and Jacques were able to safely get on their flight.
Fleur, who was sharing a row with Josée's mother, shuddered. "They're all vultures. Every single one of them trying to hurt them."
Isaac, who was with Avril, nodded in agreement. He turned to Josée and Jacques. "Are you okay?" They nodded slowly. Isaac huffed and leaned back in his seat at the display from earlier. "Shameful behavior from their fans. Your fans aren't nearly as rabid."
"Jealousy," Jacques spat in disgust. "That's all it is." He nudged Josée gently. "Isn't that right, chouchou?"
Josée seemed to be lost in her thoughts, because when he nudged her she blinked a few times. "Right, um..." she trailed off. "Jealousy." Jacques reached into his pocket and got out a granola bar, but it seemed to slip through his fingers and landed on the floor. Josée snorted in amusement. "Well, there goes your snack."
Jacques rolled his eyes fondly, but grew concerned as Josée turned away and went silent again. "Chouchou, are you okay?"
Josée hummed a little, before turning back to Jacques with a little grin: "I'm just happy that I'm doing this with you." She took his hand and squeezed it tightly in support.
"...I'm happy, too."
When they settled at the Olympic Village, it was truly a sight. They had some time before they had to perform and compete in the olympics. The hotels were grand and wonderful, and the privacy away from those annoying reporters was something Josée and Jacques looked forward to. Jacques had fumbled and dropped the hotel key to get in, but other than that, the experience of being an olympian was nice.
There was a total of three dances that they would be performing and would be judged accordingly by the ISU. The first was the compulsory dance, the second was the original dance, and the third was called the free dance. They would be scored based on a technical score, which was based on technique on the ice, and a component score, which would be based on interpretation of the steps. Each of these dances occurred on different days.
Today was the compulsory dance, which had a specific theme for every olympics. For this olympics in particular, it was the Tango Romantica. Before they could perform, however, people were grouped to warm up on the ice based on past ISU scores. The later you went, the better you were - that meant the judges liked you.
Josée and Jacques were going last, and despite this being a very good sign, Josée was hesitant.
"I don't know how I feel about this," Josée whispered to Jacques nervously. "This doesn't sound good."
"Ah, it is good Josée! We get to be the grand finale for the dance!" They spent the next two hours watching all the performances. Some of the scores that some skaters got made Jacques and Josée visibly cringe. How on earth could a team get less than twenty-two in total combining the component score and the technical score? Josée and Jacques had seen top skaters get a twenty-two in one score, it was very embarrassing. Josée felt her stomach churn, because she hoped she and Jacques didn't get that low of a score. What if the judges decided to hate them today? What if...
Jacques squeezed her hand. Josée smiled appreciatively; it was likely he noticed that she had forgotten to breathe.
Once their warm-up group was next, they couldn't help but notice that a lot of people were eyeing their performance for later while performing their own. Jacques tried to redirect her. "Focus, chouchou. They're all just jealous."
Josée shook her head. "I'm not sure - don't stop smiling! The cameras are on us." Perhaps Leo and Liv were right, no one liked the youngest competitors there, and that so happened to be her and Jacques, well, mainly her. Finding out that you're the only teenager competing in the olympics for ice dancing was very overwhelming.
After their group was finished warming up, Josée and Jacques watched from afar as Leo and Liv skated across the ice gracefully and the crowd began to scream in delight. It was their turn to perform. The announcer spoke, "Our next skaters, représentant le Canada, representing Canada, Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois!"
When the crowd settled down, Leo and Liv got into their positions and waited for their music to start. When it did, they took off. Josée and Jacques watched every move of theirs carefully - it was precise, sharp, and elegant. Josée's lips pressed into a thin line with worry - it was true that Leo and Liv were technical dancers, so naturally they would do so well. They also had the advantage of being in the olympics four years ago, so they knew exactly what to expect.
They finished in a striking pose, and the crowd went wild. Leo and Liv smiled to the crowd appreciatively and then glided off the ice. By the time they got to their seats, they awaited for the announcer to say the scores aloud. "The scores please, for Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois of Canada..." The crowd exploded once more; it's like they knew they did well despite not knowing anything about ice dancing like the performers and judges did.
It quieted down after a bit, and the announcer said: "They have earned 42.89 points in the compulsory dance, a new season's best." As the crowd screamed, the announcer continued on: "Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois are currently in first place."
Now Josée was nervous, and understandably so. She turned to Jacques. "...That's a really high score, Jacjac. I think..." she tried to think positively. "I think we can beat it."
Jacques smiled at her, though it was a little strained. "Of course, chouchou."
A few performances later, and Josée and Jacques were the last skaters to go. Josée kissed her rabbit's foot for good luck before they stepped out on ice. The moment they did, it was the loudest cheering that the two of them had ever heard in their entire lives directed at them, and both felt butterflies in their stomach. She and Jacques couldn't help but break out into huge genuine smiles.
"Our final skaters... représentant le Canada, representing Canada, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont!"
It was the way the crowd screamed for them again did Josée and Jacques' worries melt away. They had to focus on what was important; their performance. Josée knew that Jacques was nervous too, but hearing the crowd cheer them on did help ease his anxieties - it usually did. Josée and Jacques waited in position, waiting for the crowd to quiet.
This was it. The first part out of three.
When they started to dance; it was less about the tricks and more about the grace - especially when it came to the tango. Usually ice dances revolved mostly around strong athletic ability coupled with how graceful you perform these moves, but in this case, it was all about grace. Josée hoped that Leo and Liv were watching; she wanted to prove that they were the ones to beat; not them. She considered it a message to the other teams as well.
Just because of her age, she would not be intimidated.
Jacques grinned as they struck a final pose with Josée. It was the way the crowd roared that told him that he and Josée had done well. As he looked over to his partner, he saw that she had a rather strained smile than a genuine one - she was worried, he could tell. A 42.89 was a pretty good score, and given Josée and Jacques' inexperience in comparison, she was concerned that they wouldn't get near that score. God, she hoped they got over that score.
"Smile when we get to our seats and await our scores, Jacques. The cameras will be on us," Josée reminded him as they skated off the ice.
They got to their seats between where Isaac and Avril were waiting for them. Josée and Jacques noticed the cameras were zoomed in on them - the scores were coming. Josée and Jacques waved and smiled gratefully. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out...
"The scores please for Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont of Canada..."
Jacques put his arm around Josée as they waited for the scores. They could feel their hearts pumping out of their chests.
Please.
"They have earned 43.76 points in the compulsory dance, a new season's best..."
Josée and Jacques' eyes nearly popped out of their heads while the crowd broke into applause.
43.
43.
That must mean...
"Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont are currently in first place," the announcer finished. It was by a hair, but it was still first place! Jacques' arms went up happily as he waved to the crowd, Josée was slightly more composed with a little grin and wave with one hand to people. Once they finished, they hugged both Avril and Isaac, and then each other.
"We did so well!" Josée squealed in his ear happily. "It was magnifique!"
It wasn't over yet, but it was a wonderful start.
Yesterday was the compulsory dance, and when they had secured first place in that category, it was thrilling. Josée's mother had been very pleased over this - which was an overstatement, but still - and Jacques' mother had been overjoyed at the news; that was an understatement. As for Josée and Jacques themselves, they were incredibly giddy over this, and rightfully so - Josée couldn't stop smiling all the way to the village. Jacques felt less stressed than before. Josée had hugged Jacques so tightly he couldn't breathe.
One of the best things about the original dance portion of competition was that ice dancers were allowed to choose their music. However, the genre music was to be decided based on the theme of the competition. Nonetheless, it was a lot less restrictive compared to the compulsory dance.
"Are you coming?" Josée complained impatiently in their hotel room. She rubbed bun-bun for good luck, tapping her foot in annoyance. They were set to leave in a few minutes.
CRASH!
"...Um, nothing fell!" Jacques called from the bathroom.
Josée rolled her eyes. "Sounds like something did."
"Just dropped my skates, but they're fine!"
God, he was an idiot. A stupid, clumsy idiot at times.
Speaking of clumsy, he was very clumsy as of lately.
...It was probably nerves, Josée figured. "Well stop being stupide!" Needless to say yelling at him wouldn't help, but Josée was getting frustrated. Seconds later, Jacques was dressed in his costume for the original dance they would be performing later. "Great. Now let's go."
Arriving at the stadium, the same thing happened as last time. The groups were somewhat mixed based on the scores of the last dance, but it somewhat applied that the ones with the higher scores were closer to last. Although Josée and Jacques currently were in first, they were set to go a little earlier than last time. They still were after Leo and Liv, however, who looked a little less smug than last time. Josée and Jacques grinned at them and waved cheekily; they weren't so cocky now, were they?
After watching many performances, Josée and Jacques' warmup group was next again; they were to perform soon. Like last time, Leo and Liv would go first and this time would go immediately after them instead of waiting between performances.
While they were warming up, Josée and Jacques couldn't help but notice the odd looks they were receiving from a team that they believed to be from France. Josée assumed they were either staring because of their high scores, or because of the costumes they were in. She and Jacques were doing a French Can-Can themed original dance. Josée didn't think much of it, at first.
That was, until they skated way too close to her and Jacques. The blade from the girl's skate was two inches away from Josée's shin. It was too close to have not been intentional. Josée had yelped and skated out of the way just in time; if that blade had even touched Josée's skin, it would be a very, very bad situation.
Jacques stopped skating immediately. "Chouchou, are you alright?" he asked concernedly.
Josée looked back at the team, who was giving her a dirty look, then looked back at Jacques and nodded. "...Oui. Oui, I'm fine."
After the warmup was Leo and Liv's performance. Like yesterday, the crowd yelled and waved Canadian flags as Leo and Liv glided across the ice. The announcer boomed over the microphone: "Our next skaters... skating to a Spanish Flamenco, représentant le Canada, representing Canada, Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois!" While they crowd cheered as they did and Leo and Liv started to dance to their music, Josée and Jacques talked amongst one another.
"Interesting how they're doing a Spanish Flamenco after the dance the other day that was a tango," Jacques remarked, turning to Josée. "Why do you think that they're-"
"Because it requires sharp and concise movements," Josée answered cordially before he could finish his question. "...They're good at that."
"Unfortunately," Jacques chimed in.
Josée nodded, a bit nervously. "Unfortunately," she agreed.
Josée began to rub bun-bun as Leo and Liv finished their performance. The crowd was ecstatic for them, as usual. Josée and Jacques couldn't help but snort; if only those people knew how Leo and Liv were in real life. Leo and Liv went back to their seats, grinning at the cameras, awaiting their scores to be announced.
"The scores please... for Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois of Canada..." the announcer said. "The original dance scores, please..."
Please don't score too high, Josée thought. Not too high...
"...They have earned 66.34 points in the original dance, this is a new season's best for them." The crowd broke into applause like before, and the announcer continued: "Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois of Canada... have a total combined score of 109.23 and they are in first place."
...Crap. That was very high. Higher than either Josée and Jacques expected.
Josée gave bun-bun one little kiss for good luck. Jacques saw something Josée do that he hadn't seen since they were little, she bit the string of bun-bun apprehensively as Liv and Leo skated off the ice. Jacques squeezed her hand reassuringly to calm her down, because he knew that when she did that she was nervous. Josée took a deep breath and put bun-bun away. She smiled at Jacques. "Merci, Jacjac."
Jacques smiled back. "No problem, chouchou."
...He may have been an idiot, but he knew how to make her feel better.
It was their turn; Josée and Jacques smiled at the welcoming crowd that shouted gleefully at them as they were announced: "Our next skaters... représentant le Canada, representing Canada and dancing to a French Can Can, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont!"
After seeing a few of the others dancing, Josée was worried about this one. Many times, she and Jacques had voiced their concerns about their dance being seen as 'too cute' in comparison to everyone else's. They told this to Isaac regarding this dance in particular they were doing, but he insisted that this was a winning dance. So on top of her and Jacques being younger than everyone else, they were doing a dance that would probably seem 'cute' rather than mature like the dances Leo and Liv did.
But it was a high-energy routine that the crowd would love, and the crowd's reactions, believe it or not, would heavily influence the judge's opinions.
Isaac was right. The music started off slow, but once it began to pick up, it excited the audience and they began to clap along with the music. It relied on athletics, which was their stronger points, and the high powered moves made the audience break into applause each time. With one final move, they stopped in place and soaked in the audience's reaction. Isaac was right, the audience did love it, but would it be enough to sway the judges' opinions?
Josée and Jacques settled back into their seats like last time, holding the other's hand in anticipation.
"The scores please, for Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont of Canada... the original dance score, please..."
Beat.
Beat.
Beat.
"...They have earned 67.80 points in the original dance."
Josée and Jacques broke into huge smiles and hugged each other immediately, as the announcer went on: "Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont have a total combined score of 111.56 and are currently in... first place."
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... Josée's mind repeated over and over. She couldn't believe it. She could hardly believe it.
They were winning, they were going to win the gold. She and Jacques broke apart to hug Avril and Isaac, and then stood up to wave and blow kisses at the fans in the stadium. This only caused the crowd to scream louder for them excitedly. This was looking to be a landslide. They were going to be the youngest winners of ice dancing in the olympics.
Jacques kissed Josée on the top of her head and giggled, "We're winning, chouchou!" he cheered.
It was all going to plan.
...Nothing could ruin it, right?
Today was the free dance, also known as the last dance of the ice dancing portion of the olympics. This was also the same day the winners would be chosen based on their combined scores. Needless to say, it was totally understandable why Josée and Jacques would be jittery. But at the same time, their confidence shot up to an all-time high.
They were going to win.
They were going to win.
Josée and Jacques still had a few hours before they left the village to get to the stadium, so far now, they were just relaxing and talking about the competition.
"Jacques, what do you think it'll be like to be super rich?" Josée asked in awe.
Jacques quirked an eyebrow. "Aren't we already rich?"
"True, but... I mean, what will it be like when we're even richer?" Josée rephrased happily. Jacques couldn't help but smile at his partner. This was, without a doubt, the happiest he had ever seen his partner in a while. Her maman even said she did a good job! Jacques had watched as Josée's eyes grew so big and hopeful, it was truly an adorable sight. A little bit sad at the same time, because he knew how hard Josée worked in order to get that approval from her mother, but it was still an accomplishment.
"Mm, I don't know," Jacques replied, "Maybe we can get matching crowns?"
Josée giggled. "Mais oui! We would look magnifique, Jacjac!"
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
Josée and Jacques jumped up a little, slightly startled. They turned to each other and did a round of rock-paper-scissors. Jacques' rock beat Josée's scissors, the latter groaned and got off the bed to answer the door. To Josée's alarm, it was Leo and Liv. Her alarm turned into a smug grin. "Hi Leo! Hi Liv! Do you see our scores? Marvelous, isn't it?"
"So apparently being 'cute' still works in the industry," Liv remarked coldly.
"Josée what's going on?" Jacques had stood up and joined his partner. His eyes went from curious to annoyed. "What do you two want?"
"You won't win," Leo told him, surprisingly confident - so confident, that it shocked Josée and Jacques. Leo went on, "Our free dance later is going to be revolutionary. We're behind you both, but not by much - we're going to win. Free dance is our strong suit."
"You're going to have to rip that gold medal from my cold, dead hands," Josée spat venomously. She was not doing this, not today.
"You're acting like we aren't capable of something like that," Liv retorted, just as venomously. "Don't you remember?"
Beat.
"Excuse-moi?" Josée said incredulously; she felt her stomach churn. "Are you threatening me?"
Liv scoffed. "What are you going to do about it?"
"Break your nose a second time," was Josée's bitter reply.
"You know," Leo began, "You can throw a punch, but your eyes will water up in an instant when someone calls you fat. Which you have been getting, by the way."
Jacques looked over to see Josée's jaw clenched tightly along with her fists; this was her weak spot - and he was being malicious on purpose, and it just made Jacques so mad. He felt his body go unusually hot; the words Leo was saying was all muffed to him. When he saw Josée vulnerable and upset his eyes landed on Leo's, and he began to see red.
"The judges probably took pity on you."
Jacques didn't think of the consequences. He did not care about the possibility of someone seeing them, nor did he care about possibly getting cut from the competition. No, he thought none of this at all. In that moment, Jacques' fist collided with Leo's jaw, sending him to the ground. Both Liv and Josée gasped in surprise at the movement. That was probably the least surprising move, in comparison of what was about to happen. Leo stood up and tackled Jacques to the ground in his room.
"Stop it! The free dance is soon!" Josée shouted at the two men brawling on the floor. Then she turned to Liv, shoving her once. "Get your disgusting partner off of mine!"
Liv scoffed and shoved the teenager back. "No, you get your partner off of mine!"
Luckily for them, Isaac and Avril showed up, along with Leo and Liv's coaches to pull the two off of each other. It was Isaac who got everyone's attention, "That's enough!" he shouted over them bickering. He turned to Leo and Liv's coaches, "Get them out of here."
As Leo and Liv were ushered away, Liv turned back around and spat at the younger ice dancers, "Both of you are done. So. Fucking. Done." Josée and Jacques suddenly felt very nauseous, because those words could mean a lot of things; they knew that they had to be careful for the free dance today.
When they were out of earshot, Isaac shut the door behind them, accompanied by Avril. "What the hell happened?! Control yourselves!"
While Jacques looked more resigned and ashamed for his earlier actions, Josée felt her blood boil.
Jacques looked over at his partner worriedly. "Josée..." But she didn't listen. She walked over and threw a few things in the hotel room, loud enough to startle everyone in the room, but not loud enough to get anyone else's attention.
"Josée!" Avril gasped in shock, however Isaac remained neutral with her behavior, unfazed. "Calm down!"
"Calm down?" Josée echoed incredulously. She laughed at the absurdity of Avril's statement. "You want me to calm down!?"
Jacques watched nervously as Josée continued to laugh, going on: "I am sick of this! For years we've been taking their nonsense, and I'm just supposed to take it forever?" She had ceased her laughter, along with her smile, "How on earth is that fair? They'll keep going on and on and on, but the reporters assume everything is all happy and friendly and glitzy and glamorous! I swear, the figure skating world is a breeding ground for sociopaths. I have never felt less welcomed in my life, and I know I shouldn't care about that because all that matters is gold, but why are our lives threatened?! All because we're dedicated to our craft that we worked hard on?!"
In a fit of rage, Josée kicked the trashcan nearby with all she had, toppling it over.
Isaac took a breath. "Did you get all of that out of your system?" he asked calmly, yet stern. "Because you and Jacques have the olympics to compete in."
Josée thought about it for a minute, then nodded. "Oui."
Isaac sighed, full of sympathy. "I'm sorry," he remarked seriously. "It's not fair that you both have to endure such a behavior, but you know that-"
"...comes with the price," Jacques finished quietly. "It shouldn't have to be."
"I know," Isaac agreed. "Both of you need to focus on what's really important right now; which is the ice. None of that other nonsense matters, it's the footwork, grace, poise, and passion that you have for this sport that I've seen from no one else over my years of coaching. I watched both of you grow up, I know what passion looks like. Don't lose it because of some immature ice dancers who should show better sportsmanship, it's a shame since they're much older than you two."
Jacques still was nervous; he felt his stomach drop. He felt like dread was waiting to occur.
Suddenly, Josée grabbed his hand and squeezed it, with a little smile. "We're going to win gold, Jacjac." He smiled weakly back, but the stomach-churning feeling remained.
In a shocking turn of events, Josée and Jacques were going before Leo and Liv, and the gap between their turns was a little bigger. Josée figured it had to do with 'suspense' since it looked like Canada was going to win this, the issue was deciding which teams. The scores between the Canadian teams were very close, and it was anyone's game.
Josée took Jacques' hand and squeezed it, smiling up at him. "For the gold."
Jacques squeezed Josée's hand back gratefully. "For the gold," he repeated, smiling back.
They were cued to skate across the ice, the stadium was full of cheering before they were even announced yet. "Our next skaters... are skating to Adagio by Il Divo, représentant le Canada, representing Canada, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont." The crowd roared and some shook their Canadian flags with pride. Josée felt her heart pound out of her chest. They were currently in the lead, they were on the road to becoming olympic champions. They were going to be the youngest ones ever.
This is it, she thought to herself. The most important day of your life, don't screw it up.
The music began.
There was no one else there in the stadium as soon as she and Jacques started dancing.
It was just Josée and Jacques.
The best team.
Truly Team Canada.
Josée and Jacques did synchronized camel spins that made the audience clap and shout gleefully.
...It was all theirs.
They were a minute into their routine out of the four. Josée kept her eyes on Jacques, who was doing such a wonderful job. For all his faults, she knew she could count on him. He would carry her all the way to the gold.
She had absolutely no doubt in her mind.
...How could she and her mother even think he wasn't serious enough for the olympics? He clearly was. Josée longed to go back in time and slap herself multiple times in the face for telling him that she had doubts of their partnership. He was her partner for over ten years, and that meant something.
And in that moment, Josée had a realization that her mother was wrong, because how could she say those awful things about Jacques? Sure, he was a bit clumsy at times, but he truly was a talented ice dancer, and even more than that - an amazing friend and something else. Josée didn't know what that something else was, at least not yet - but she will. That didn't really matter right now though, she and Jacques had gold to win.
From the looks of it, it looked like their dreams were going to come true.
Josée smiled as they approached the end of the piece. This was it, she thought. The final pose.
The gold would be theirs.
...It all happened too quickly for Josée to comprehend. One second she was relishing in the crowd's attention as Jacques lifted her into the air, and the next second her face suddenly felt stiff and very, very cold. Instead of the crowd cheering, they had gasped and had gone deadly quiet. Josée didn't understand why everyone had gone silent.
And then her face began to hurt.
It hurt a lot.
That's when Josée realized that the routine didn't go as planned. Instead of being in Jacques' arms, his grasp had slipped and she had fallen.
Face first onto the ice.
"Josée?" Jacques whispered frantically, sounding panicked. "Josée, are you alright?"
It was an incredibly stupid question; of course she wasn't.
She lifted her head up briefly to reveal a bloodied chin.
A few medics, as well as Isaac and Avril, thankfully showed up in time. Josée's eyes were wide with fright as she touched her chin and saw red. She felt a little dizzy, and this time, Isaac was the one that scooped her up and off the ice. Everyone else immediately followed to the emergency care center for olympians. Once the cameras were off, Josée immediately started to wail. This had to be it. Her ice dancing career was over before it could truly start.
"I am so sorry..." Jacques dared to whisper.
"How did this happen?!" Josée wailed hysterically.
"Josée, it's okay... just please calm down," Isaac said worriedly. He knew why she was crying, it had nothing to do with the injury.
The medic inspected her face. "Are her parents going to be here soon?" At the mention of the word parents, Josée began to cry even more. She gripped the chair tightly and began to hyperventilate. "Whoah, whoah, whoah... you need to relax."
"Maman's going to be so mad," Josée managed to get out between gasps. "She's going to be so mad-"
"Shh..." Avril attempted to calm her down. "It will be fine."
Jacques longed to comfort her. He wanted to wrap her up in a hug and tell her everything was going to be okay, but instead he stood there - in total disbelief and fright. He was too scared to touch her. He didn't want to make things worse than they already are. He dropped her. He had hurt her, he...
"Jacques," Isaac stated sternly, however with a concerned look. "It's okay."
Jacques didn't believe him in the slightest.
Five minutes later, Jacques' mother and Josée's mother showed up.
"What happened?" Fleur asked worriedly to her son. Jacques shook his head and motioned to Josée, who was hysterical. She hurried over to her side and ran a motherly hand through her hair. "It's okay... it'll be fine." She exchanged medical jumbo with the medics, who said that thankfully Josée would be fine, and because the drop wasn't from that high and all she needed was an ice pack.
"Oh for the love of gold, Josée, stop crying," Josée's mother ordered harshly. She turned to Jacques. "What the hell happened?"
Fleur's lips pressed together in disapproval. "Louise..."
"I dropped her," Jacques admitted softly, looking down at his shoes.
"...I fucking knew it."
"Louise-"
"I knew that clumsy boy would screw this up-"
"What's our score?" Josée suddenly interrupted. After she heard that she was going to be fine, she just wanted to know her score. "Do you know what our score is?"
"I'll go find out," Avril told her, leaving the care center. Another seven minutes passed, and Avril returned with a saddened look on her face.
It told everyone all they needed to know.
"Just tell us please," Josée's mother grumbled impatiently.
"They just about finished up and are going to announce the medals soon," Avril started off. "Josée and Jacques got 107.44, including the one point reduction from the fall, bringing them up to a total of 219. They made the podium."
The phrasing of that told them that while they did make the podium, it was more of a safety net, not the goal.
"Bronze?" Josée's mother spat in disdain. "The medal of failure?"
Avril shook her head. "N-no... the winning team that got gold, scored a 110.27 on the original dance... bringing them up to a total of 219.5."
She waited for it to sink in.
Horror rushed through Jacques' body; he didn't know what to say. He looked over to everyone else that had connected the dots as well. He and Josée had a one point deduction from the fall, and had gotten silver - losing the gold by half a point. Had he not dropped her, they would've been the youngest ice dancers to be olympic champions.
The look on Josée's face said it all - he had crushed her dreams. It was all his fault.
"Who... who was the winning team?" Josée stammered, trying not to break down in tears, out of fear that her mother would yell at her.
As of things couldn't get any worse, Avril said: "Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois."
...This was a nightmare, and absolute nightmare.
However, Avril went on: "They want to know if you and Jacques are going to be back to get on the podium to take your medals, if you're okay enough."
"Of course she's fine," Josée's mother hissed. She turned to her daughter. "You and Jacques accept those medals; and think about what you've done."
"M-maman-"
"Silver is always the first to lose."
Maman was always right, Josée thought. She was always right.
Silver is always the first to lose.
Josée and Jacques wondered if it was possible to die from humiliation when they returned to the stadium.
They had to endure Leo and Liv's smug and disgusting grins, at how happy they were to receive gold, even though they didn't deserve it at all. They were in-between the gold and bronze medalists for ice dancing, the bronze medalists from Russia being called up first to take their rightful place on the podium.
And then they were next.
"Médaillés d'argent, représentant le canada..."
The translator took over, "Silver medalists, representing Canada, Josée Boyet and Jacques Clemont!"
Even though the crowd cheered for them, Jacques and Josée - especially her - didn't feel it was genuine. Still, her mother told her to eat the pain and smile, and her mother was always right about these things. It was foolish for Josée to think that for a second she could be wrong. She and Jacques skated across the ice, bowed to the crowd, and took their place on the podium.
Silver.
And now came the worst part...
The crowd was already cheering for what was to come.
"Médaillés d'or et champions, représentant le canada..."
"Gold medalists and olympic champions, representing Canada... Olivia Simmard and Leonardo Dubois!"
Nearly everyone in the crowd went insane. Josée and Jacques had to politely clap and take it as the gold medalists bowed to everyone, smiled and waved to the crowd in such a fake manner that made them ill. It was bad enough that they won silver, but to have to lose gold to Leo and Liv was some ninth circle of hell. They skated over to the podium, where they hugged the Russian team that had gotten bronze. Fuck. Josée and Jacques knew what was coming, and they had to pretend everything was all friendly and nice.
Liv and Leo smirked as they skated over to Josée and Jacques, looking absolutely smug. Liv pulled Jacques into a hug, and Leo did the same for Josée - which was already difficult enough but Josée hated hugs in general, so getting one from your worst enemies was awful. They switched, with Leo now hugging Jacques and Liv hugging Josée.
"I'm about to vomit down your back," Josée hissed in Liv's ear, but still smiling.
"Cry me a river, you baby," Liv hissed back, matching her smile.
Soon the medals were placed around their necks. Josée and Jacques shuddered at the silver against their chests; it reminded them every single time of when Leo and Liv shoved them and wrote the word on their foreheads when they were kids. But now it was infinitely worse, because Leo and Liv beat them at the olympics.
Silver.
Silver.
Silver.
After the ceremony was over, Josée desperately tried to talk to her maman, but she gave her daughter the silent treatment. Jacques' mother tried to tell them how proud she was to see them get silver after the incident, but her words fell on deaf ears. By the time Josée and Jacques got back to the olympic village, Isaac and Avril tried their best to comfort them.
"Both of you are still very young," Isaac went on, "You were able to get silver at your ages even with the deduction! The next highest score was a 212.54. You still have your careers ahead of you..."
"And..." Josée started, glaring at Jacques: "We would've been the youngest winners had we not gotten a deduction."
Isaac didn't have anything to say about that. He and Avril went back to their room. Josée and Jacques were headed to their room as well, until...
"Allo!"
Oh, fuck.
Jacques crossed her arms. "What do the both of you want?" he snapped lowly.
Leo and Liv exchanged a look of amusement, before the former spoke up condescendingly: "We would just like to congratulate you on silver!"
"That was a spectacular drop!" Liv chuckled. Both Josée and Jacques fought back the tears as she went on, "I've never seen anything like it, it was so great to watch. The tabloids will be all over it! The media... the press... the reporters... ooh, I can't wait!" She actually squealed with delight. "Thank you Jacques, you were especially the MVP."
Jacques couldn't deny it.
"Shut up," Josée retorted, but it was weak, not at all confident like herself. "Just shut up."
"Do you want to know why both of you truly lost the olympics? And it's not just because your partner dropped you." Liv told them mockingly. She didn't wait for their answer. Instead, she went on assertively and coldly: "You have to be mean in order to win; it's pathetic how nice both of you are. We told you to go over the other teams so you'll seem more threatening, but you didn't listen; just stayed in your own bubble, like you always do. You're so soft... it's honestly disgusting. Do you see how playing fair gets you?"
"That's not true," Josée said to Liv, however the expression on her face said it was more to herself. "Good sportsmanship is important-"
"Oh stop it," Liv cut in angrily. "I'm getting sick just listening to you. Wake up and smell the coffee, you have to play dirty to win in this industry. You either learn how to play mind games, or you learn how to say, 'I used to be an ice dancer.' Do you get it now?" Then they left them alone, laughing their way back to their room.
That's when it hit Jacques. That was the reason why they lost, the paranoia that he got from the other ice dancers being cold to him and Josée was just one stupid mind game that they... no, he fell for and ultimately cost them gold. When he turned to his partner, seeing her eyes grow sadder, she must've figured it out too. However, it was hard to tell what Josée was really thinking; she seemed to be in her own world at the moment. It was like she took in those words Liv said very, very seriously.
"Josée?" Josée didn't reply. She whirled her body around and ran to her hotel room. Jacques followed and shut the door behind them. There were tears brimming at his eyes, and they were going to fall. Josée's back was facing Jacques, and it destroyed him. "Josée, I'm..."
"I hate you."
Jacques froze in disbelief, his eyes wide. "Wh-what?"
Josée turned around to face him, revealing a blotchy red face and tears streaming down her cheeks. "I. Hate. You." She articulated each of these words to care to show him how she really felt at the moment; and what she felt, was fury, rage, sadness, and everything negative at once - she despised it. All the anger began to boil, and she desperately tried to calm herself - trying to count from ten, but it didn't work.
It began to get worse. Josée let out a choked sob, and started to yell: "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
Now Jacques let his tears fall. "I'm sorry-"
"No, you dropped me!" Josée screamed, beating her fists against his chest. "I thought I could count on you, but I can't! We were going to win, we were going to be champions, maman was going to love me!" she wailed hysterically. "And you let me fall! I trusted you, but now... I hate you!"
Losing gold at the olympics hurt, but when Josée screamed that she hated him, Jacques was sure in that moment he wanted to die. Josée continued to punch Jacques' chest, it didn't really do any of damage, Josée's punches hardly hurt him, and he would absorb the blows anyway - he felt he deserved this. She screamed into his chest, muffled but probably full of profanities reserved for him - which again, he understood. It hurt, but he still took it. Eventually she just collapsed against him, sobbing and hiccuping over the reality of what had happened.
They had lost.
Jacques, though her words hurt him, wrapped his arms around her body and held her close to him, blinking back his own tears. Her shouting had quieted down significantly to just mumbling how much she hated him, before she had raged herself to sleep. Slowly, Jacques lifted her bridal-style and carried her to her bed and tucked her in. He wiped away his own tears in realization - she definitely hated him. Josée hated him, and rightfully so, because this was all his fault. She hated him and there was nothing he could do about it to make this awful day go away or make it better.
He knew that Josée hated him, and that was that.
Josée didn't hate him.
When she woke up later at two in the morning neatly tucked in because of the aftermath of her tantrum and saw Jacques passed out on his bed, she realized that she didn't hate him. For some reason unbeknownst to her yet, it was utterly impossible. She despised that she couldn't despise him, because she wanted nothing more than to do just that, but she just couldn't. Jacques gave her a reason to be mad at her just now, and she should hate him because he interfered with her goals and dreams.
Yet, here Josée was staring down at Jacques' figure, and her heart just... sunk. She didn't feel loathing, or rage, or anger - she, at the very worst, felt pity.
Josée didn't hate him.
She would be very angry later the next morning, though, she just didn't have the energy to be angry right now - she would probably be angry for years over this, and it would take her a long time to get over it, but she didn't hate him, she could never hate him. She hoped Jacques felt the same.
Josée sunk into her pillows in despair. The sad part was that all the decisions regarding where their future lied weren't up to her. For now, Josée could cry into the pillows, softly so Jacques wouldn't hear - he was a heavy sleeper, anyway.
Josée didn't hate him.
But after tomorrow, Josée was convinced that Jacques would hate her.