A/N: Song in parenthesis is the theme from the TV show Gossip Girl, which I felt was especially fitting considering two characters that play a much bigger role in the story. For those of you who have seen the show, you already know :)

Chapter 17- Friendship Contract (Gossip Girl)

Jacques woke up the next day with a start; it was the sound of the hotel telephone ringing, signaling them it was time to get ready for the second episode of the competition. He glanced at the clock to see they had roughly an hour.

By the time he took a shower and got dressed, Josée still was in bed, snoring lightly. Jacques wasn't too surprised; Josée never had a proper sleeping schedule and was frequently a night-owl. Jacques approached her slowly and gently shook her shoulder. "Chouchou..." Josée hummed a little bit, before turning over to the opposite side, making Jacques sigh. He went over to the other side and tried again. "Chouchou, we have the competition..." This time, Josée stirred and turned over again - except she turned over so fast that she nearly fell off the bed - which would've happened if Jacques hadn't caught her. "Are you alright Josée?" Though he couldn't help but be a little amused.

Josée's eyes snapped open. "Fine." She rubbed her eyes then took note of her partner already in costume. "How much time do we have?"

"Forty-five minutes," Jacques answered. "Then a producer is going to pick us up to take us to the last chill zone."

"Wonderful."

When both of them were ready, they arrived at the chill zone. There they saw Don, who would tell them when it was okay to hit the button on the Don box. Don cued them to go after what seemed like an eternity of waiting. It seemed like the other two teams had made it so far, even though they barely got their head start. Jacques hit the Don box button and took out the travel tip for Josée to read.

"There's nothing 'Eiffel' about this Parisian landmark," Josée read aloud, then it clicked in her brain. "Paris." So it looked like the Fashion Bloggers predicted that they would be going to Paris next. Josée couldn't help but smirk a little, they would probably be so excited. Josée and Jacques ran over to the selection of motorcycles with helmets. Jacques took the driver's position while Josée was directly behind him.

"I think I see the Cadets and Best Friends!" Josée pointed out. She also couldn't help but notice that there were many cameras focused there. She got into a pose as Jacques sped up the motorcycle, passing both teams while staring directly at the cameras with large smiles. Eventually, they made it to the airport - when the double doors opened, Jacques held Josée's hand, then immediately after Jacques had taken the liberty of sliding across the floor holding Josée's waist in his hands while she posed.

"Two for Paris!" She announced to the receptionist at the airport, "Do you offer free upgrades for Olympians?"

The receptionist typed something on his computer, before nodding with a smile. "Ah, yes! Free upgrade for all gold medal peoples! Mhmm..."

Josée's eyes twitched ever-so-slightly, however she kept that winning smile up, no matter how desperately she wanted to strangle him. "Economy is fine!" Jacques looked on worriedly; and before they could get on the plane, the producers stopped them for another interview on why they smiled.

"Being sports-heroes, we never know when the cameras will be on us!" Josée gushed, while Jacques nodded in agreement. "So we have to smile all the time!"

"All the time, even in our sleep!" Jacques added.

"It's very painful."

By the time they boarded on the flight with seven other teams, Josée and Jacques put their sleeping masks on and went to sleep.

"We're heading in!" A boisterous voice belonging to MacArthur woke up nearly everyone that was sleeping on the flight, including Josée and Jacques. They ripped their sleeping masks off and ran ahead to the front, waiting for the okay that it was okay to push the door open. After the cue, Josée and Jacques pushed the door open, ignored the sound of bones being crushed, and ran ahead to grab a taxi. They found one surprisingly quick, at least in comparison to the other teams, and relaxed in their seats.

"Did you notice something?" Josée asked her partner.

Jacques' eyebrows were raised. "Mm? What do you mean?"

"One of the cadets... MacArthur... when we boarded the same flight before we went to sleep, she kept glaring at us."

"So?"

Josée sighed. "It reminded me of those stupide ice dancers at the olympics during the warm-up sessions... the ones from France."

"The one that tried to cut you with her skates?"

"Oui."

Now Jacques understood her concerns. "I don't think she's a threat, even if she's fast for someone who's fat." Josée snickered in amusement, and Jacques smiled - it was good to see her spirits lifted a little. "You worry too much."

She spoke too soon.

The taxi began to pull up to the Eiffel Tower. Josée spotted the Don box and noticed that there weren't any other teams there. "Gold medal!" she cheered happily, her hands up in the air. Jacques smiled fondly at her excitement. "Woo!"

CRASH!

Had they not been wearing any seat belts, Josée and Jacques would've been thrown out of the vehicle. Josée let out a scream, realizing that a car had rummaged from behind them. Jacques instinctively wrapped his arms around her protectively, not caring if the cameras were watching.

"Are you okay?!" Jacques exclaimed, his eyes wide with panic. Josée nodded frantically, even though neither of them were okay. They turned around to see the trunk's glass was shattered. Between the cracks, however, they saw that it was the Cadets in the vehicle. Maybe it was an accident, maybe they didn't intend to do it-

But MacArthur jumped out of her vehicle and proclaimed, "Nailed it!"

...What?

"What did we do?!" Jacques exclaimed angrily. "What did we even... why did she-"

"No time!" Josée interrupted. "Jacques our fans are watching," she hissed through a clenched smile. Now she knew that she had every right of being paranoid; Leo and Liv were right - there were people looking to sabotage them, and she had to be very, very careful. Josée dragged Jacques out of the taxi, still a little lightheaded from the crash, but made their way to the Don box for their next challenge.

"It's a botch or watch," MacArthur pointed out.

Jacques hit the button and received their travel tip as well. "Whoever didn't eat the stew in Morocco must draw a caricature of their partner."

He exchanged a smile with Josée, because they knew that he had this in the bag. Although Josée was the better figure skater, Jacques was far better at designing costumes, and part of designing costumes involved a lot of sketching - which did involve having to draw himself and Josée from time to time. Jacques grabbed a sketching pad and a pencil and got a good look of his partner, not that he needed to, but... she was very cute when she was posing.

They didn't take long at all, and were among one of the first teams to be approved by the local French artiste. Jacques took the travel tip and read it: "Go down, down, down, find the cheese so round, where your next tip is found - why do some of these have to rhyme?"

Josée, however, was processing the statement and shuddered. "Oh, that is disgusting!"

"Eh, I wouldn't say rhymes are disgusting-"

"Not the rhyming," Josée said, resisting the urge to smack her forehead. She pointed to the sewer that had velvet rope surrounding it.

When it dawned on him, he shuddered as well. "Disgusting!" Jacques agreed.

It was a giant puzzle. Apparently this was called the 'catacombs' and really, Josée and Jacques would rather be anywhere but here. It was disgusting, gross, awful - god, it had an odd smell too. Also, it gave both Josée and Jacques the creeps - and it took everything they had to smile through it. After all, their fans were watching.

"Any sign of anything? Did we try that entrance?" Josée asked, pointing to one. Jacques shrugged, and they ran to see that the Cadets team was in the room. MacArthur was struggling to get a skeleton off of her. After a few more seconds, MacArthur managed to do so. It was then both cadets realized they were in the ice dancer's presence.

"I bet you did that!" MacArthur accused, pointing her finger roughly at the pair. "You made the skeleton drop on us!"

Needless to say, both Josée and Jacques were bewildered.

"How would that be possible?" Jacques asked.

"Also, you crashed your car into our taxi," Josée pointed out, still smiling forcefully. "It must have been a bit of an accident, right?" She couldn't help but say something, even though she chastised Jacques for doing the same. It was getting increasingly difficult to keep to herself.

"I'm onto the both of you!" MacArthur proclaimed, full of suspicion. Sanders sighed and guided her away, mumbling in her ear about being too fixated, as MacArthur disagreed right back to her, causing her partner to sigh. They found another entrance, leaving Josée and Jacques alone.

"What is her problem!?" Josée nearly exclaimed, shaking her head. She even giggled a bit at the altercation. Jacques was a little worried and wanted to stop smiling, but he knew that Josée would yell at him over that later. "It's fine, though. It's totally fine," she began to ramble, more to herself as she went ahead in another direction.

Jacques looked on worriedly. "Josée...?"

"She could nearly kill us but we're the bad guys, that's totally fine."

"Non, Josée. Those ugly cadets, they're not even worth it."

Josée let out that breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. "You're right. I just hope they get themselves eliminated soon."

Several minutes later after being in the catacombs, they saw a light that Josée and Jacques could only figure was the right direction to go in, with multiple stairs. But the biggest give away was that in that direction was running water - which neither Josée and Jacques had run into. They climbed up the stairs to see that they were in the right place, with a large selection of cheese floats - which the cadets had gotten to first. Jacques cleared his throat loudly.

"Well if it isn't the smiling silvertons!" MacArthur announced amusedly.

Her grin disappeared when Josée and Jacques just exchanged a look with each other, and continued to smile as if she hadn't insulted them. Truthfully, they were furious and they had been insulted. Jacques had pleaded with her to "just ignore them" but really, it was starting to make her blood boil. Instead of taking it out on the Cadets, however, Josée kicked a bunch of cheese floats that revealed a tip and shouted proudly, "I hate silver!"

Jacques began to read the instructions. "Take your cheese and sail away to where Mona Lisa's on display."

"The Louvre!" Sanders realized.

Josée and Jacques didn't waste any time. The latter threw the cheese float into the water. Jacques jumped on top of it and held his hands up for Josée to put hers in, easily balancing her as they floated away. "Bye!" Josée called out to the cadets, unable to help herself: "You stink worse than this cheese float!"

"Too bad you forgot your oars!" MacArthur called back, while Sanders held up theirs with smirks.

Jacques groaned. "Darn it!"

Josée glared down at Jacques from his position for a brief second, before facing the camera with a bright smile when she realized it was on her. "Jacques! You were supposed to get the oars."

"What's French for 'boo ya?!'" MacArthur gloated as she and Sanders rowed past them.

Once out of earshot, Josée looked down to Jacques with a heavy glare as they slowly floated down the water. "We're not going to get anything but first." Jacques looked back to where they had departed; they were already too far away to go back and get the oars, and it would waste such time.

An idea came to mind. "We're going to have to get our clothes a little wet."

"And why would we do that?" Josée challenged.

"If we paddle our feet in the water while holding onto the cheese float, we might pass the cadets since it would push the cheese float faster," Jacques reasoned.

Josée thought about it for a moment, then broke out into another smile. "Oui! That sounds about right." Finally, he was using his brain. Jacques and Josée slid down the cheese float and started to paddle. It worked almost immediately; and smiled for the cameras following them while MacArthur exclaimed in utter disbelief as they passed them. The satisfaction Josée and Jacques felt was incredible. They hoped their fans were still watching and saw their move. Eventually, Josée ended up sitting on Jacques' shoulders. Her eyes widened and pointed to the location. "The Louvre! Over there!"

By the time they got off their cheese float, they waved to their fans who were watching at home. Unfortunately, Josée's smile disappeared and turned into a frown when the Cadets rolled their cheese float past them. Jacques took out their cheese float from the water and tried to catch up to the Cadets, but to no avail.

"Well, well, lady cadets. You're in first place," Don announced, then added: "And the ice dancers have to settle for silver."

Keep smiling.

Keep smiling.

MacArthur began to gloat, "Ha! You don't hear victory music? Probably 'cause you didn't win."

Josée's eye twitched - Jacques had noticed she had been doing that a lot recently. But when the producers asked to do an interview on the decision of paddling without oars, Jacques and Josée were more than eager to sit down and explain their strategy.

"Missing paddles? Ha!" Jacques exclaimed, smiling. "That won't stop us."

Josée took over. "We've competed in far more dire situations. Jacques once got rabies from a squirrel, but that didn't stop us!"

"I skated dressed as a Saint Bernard so all the foam coming from my mouth made sense!"

"Adapting! It's what champions do!" Josée added cheerfully.

The producers exchanged more odd looks and ended it there. Josée and Jacques spent the rest of their time waiting at the chill zone, as other teams started to arrive. Third, fourth, fifth, and sixth place were already announced. But then, Josée and Jacques saw something rather interesting - and to be frank, a little amusing. Tom had a ton of shopping bags in two hands while Jen had rolled the cheese float all the way to seventh place.

"You went shopping?" Josée asked incredulously, unable to hide her grin while Jacques was openly giggling.

"We just couldn't resist. The stupid producers won't let us shop during our free time; it's awful!" Jen exclaimed, burying her face in her hands.

Tom nodded in agreement. "Shopping in another language is so, so hard. You'll have to teach us more."

"We had to balance all of the clothes on a cheese float," Jen explained, squeezing out her ponytail that was wet. "I had to ruin my hair."

Jacques continued to giggle. "That's crazy. I would never be able to ruin my hair, not even for a challenge!" Josée side-eyed him skeptically but said nothing on the matter. As the Fashion Bloggers and Jacques talked among one another, Josée didn't know how to feel about them. Yes, they were very nice and friendly - but they weren't serious! Imagine on how well they could've done had they not gone shopping.

"Josée, look!" Jacques pointed to the chill zone. "First penalty." Josée shook out of her thoughts, looking over to see that the Reality TV Pros had been given a twenty minute penalty, all because the fat oaf decided to eat the cheese float.

"How the hell do you eat an entire cheese float?" Tom asked, gawking in disbelief.

Josée couldn't help but smirk at Tom. "How the hell do make your glasses fly off your face?" Jen snickered while Tom lifted an amused and impressed eyebrow.

Roughly eighteen minutes pass, and there were only three teams left to cross the finish line. The team that took fourteenth place Josée and Jacques were told were the Vegans, and the team that took fifteenth place were the Rockers. A little bit over three minutes remained for the Reality TV Pros penalty; and it looked like it was going to be close race between them and the Tennis Rivals - who were holding their cheese float and walking very slowly.

"Why are they carrying it?" Jacques suddenly asked, "It would be easier to roll-"

"Shh!"

"Shut up!"

Everyone revolted against him immediately. Jacques blinked slowly. "Okay..." Soon after though, the Reality TV Pros penalty was finished, and both teams made a leap for the chill zone. Unfortunately for the Tennis Rivals - because of a technicality of Pete's foot not being within the chill zone - they were eliminated. Then the filming ended for the day.

When the teams were advised to go to their next hotel, the Fashion Bloggers walked alongside the Ice Dancers.

"So that was a close elimination," Jen said, attempting to make small talk. Josée and Jacques didn't respond, letting the bubbly girl continue: "I was pretty sure those contestants from Total Drama Island were goners." .

"What is that?" Jacques asked cluelessly.

"Total Drama Island. It was a reality TV show for teenagers in a summer camp. It aired about three years ago," Tom answered.

Beat.

"It sounds stupid," Josée remarked, with a scoff. "It-" She stopped talking when she felt a pair of eyes on her. Josée was right; turning around to see that MacArthur was glaring at her suspiciously. Tom, Jen, and Jacques turned around to see where Josée was staring in to understand why she stopped speaking suddenly.

"What's her problem?" Tom asked of MacArthur, wrinkling his nose.

"Haven't a clue," Josée replied honestly, breaking away her gaze from MacArthur. "She crashed her car into our taxi when we get to the Eiffel Tower first."

Jen rolled her eyes. "Over-competitive much?"

They arrived at the hotel shortly. The Fashion Bloggers waved goodbye to Josée and Jacques as they entered their hotel room. The ice dancers unlocked their own, and immediately collapsed on the bed - they were tired, and craved a shower from being in those awful catacombs and then having to sit on cheese.

Cheese.

"Second place," Josée spat in horror as she shook her head. "Disgusting." It reminded her so much of the olympics. And the way MacArthur just gloated, god - her entire personality reminded her too much of Clara's abrasive side - it nauseated her.

"The Fashion Bloggers seem nice," Jacques remarked, ignoring the comment about silver. He sat up a little to face Josée. "We may be in ah... competition, but maybe an alliance with them wouldn't be bad?"

Josée looked at her partner strangely. "An alliance? We're having trouble getting first for gold's sake. Besides, they're not even serious about it. They would rather go shopping for new clothes than get further in a competition. They're nice, but they would slow us down."

Jacques hummed a little to himself in thought. "I think they would make good allies."

"Isaac did tell us to stay in our lane," Josée reminded him, but she thought about it some more. "But I see what you mean. If they hadn't been so focused on shopping, they could've gotten way better than seventh place." The moment Josée thought of Isaac, she thought of her mother. After only a few days of this competition, Josée wondered how her mother was doing. Those were her final thoughts before Josée and Jacques went to sleep - tomorrow was another day.

The chill zone starting point was the same as last time, which was at the Louvre. Josée was annoyed yet again at the thought of having to wait her turn as the first team went up ahead. It annoyed her so much, that she and Jacques tried to get closer to the Don box that maybe it wouldn't be noticeable.

Unfortunately to Don, it was. "Whoah, whoah, whoah. Yesterday's winners go first ice capades."

Ice capades.

Neither Josée and Jacques heard that in a long time. They didn't mind it that much.

Josée and Jacques turned around to see the Cadets behind them.

"Yeah, relax silver streak!" MacArthur snapped.

That nickname was also new, but neither of them liked it.

"Wait your turn!" Sanders added.

The Ice Dancers had no choice but to watch MacArthur and Sanders get ahead of them. Once the cadets left, Don finally cued Josée and Jacques. Jacques hit the button and took the travel tip out and read it aloud: "Take the train to the Calanque de Maubois on the Mediterranean Coast and search the station for your next travel tip." They couldn't waste time. Two episodes were finished, and neither of them consisted of Josée and Jacques coming in first. As they both ran to try and find a cab, Josée clutched onto bun-bun, she had a feeling that today was going to be a good day.

...Unfortunately, they weren't off to a good start.

"None of the cabs are stopping!" Josée complained angrily.

CRASH!

Josée and Jacques jumped up, startled at the sudden noise. They exchanged a look, before the latter said: "I think that was a few blocks ahead of us?" Josée shrugged, but followed Jacques up ahead and were shocked by the sight; a collection of cars were huddled together in one big crash - with windows being shattered and a few on fire. It looked like it would be difficult to get a cab on this route. Staring for a few minutes, both ice dancers shook it off and ran to another sight.

"The subway!" Jacques exclaimed. "It's the fastest way to the train station!" After going on the subway, they arrived at the train station. Behind them were four other teams, the Surfers, the Best Friends, the Cadets, and the Father & Son team. Josée and Jacques couldn't help but be a little saddened that the Fashion Bloggers weren't with them.

As the train took off, Josée and Jacques began to wait, which left the teams to talk among each other.

"It was hard to get a cab," Geoff said to the Cadets, who were across from him and Brody. "The subway was much faster, man."

"Yeah, dude. It was so hard," Brody chimed in.

MacArthur chuckled a little. "We managed to get a cab. It uh..." she chuckled again, a bit nervously when Sanders glared at her: "...involved some... collateral damage."

Beat.

"What does that mean?" Carrie dared to ask.

"Oh crap. Speaking of uh... damage," Geoff went on to explain, "There was a crash up ahead, it was fucking - oh, we can't swear, sorry TV dudes - really insane."

The apprehensive look on MacArthur's face and the way Sanders buried her face in her hands said it all. While the Surfers were utterly clueless and failed to connect these dots, Josée and Jacques weren't - and from the disturbed looks of Devin and Carrie, they seemed to figure it out too.

The rest of the train side was spent in silence.

When the train pulled into the beach, all five teams that arrived on the beach spotted the Don Box immediately and were eager to slam the button and receive their travel tip. Josée slammed the button and read the travel tip. "Botch-or-watch. Who wants to swim with... oh for the love of gold..."

"Sharks!?" Jacques exclaimed, letting out a high-pitched gasp. "Is that allowed?"

Josée ignored his question, and continued to read on: "Whoever didn't draw the caricature in Paris must swim in the Mediterranean and retrieve a travel tip from the dorsal fin of a great white shark." When it sunk in, Josée's eyes grew wide in realization. "Oh no."

"Josée, I am really, really concerned-"

"This is for the gold, Jacques!" Josée suddenly interrupted, shaking off her fears. "We have to win!"

"Note: Eaten teammates will result in disqualification," Jacques added, reading the bottom of the travel tip. "Josée, this is dangerous-"

"Non!" Josée shouted fiercely, fire in her eyes: "This is for the gold. For maman. For our fans. We cannot quit so early when we haven't even gotten first yet." She prepared to dive, intensely focused on the water. "If I don't do it, then who will?" Without any further argument, Josée gracefully dived into the water.

While watching Josée swim in the water, Jacques did feel anxiousness - and rightfully so, but he felt another emotion toward her that he couldn't quite explain. He was in total awe; with the way Josée made swimming look so effortlessly compared to the other contestants, much like she made performing in general - very easy. Jacques didn't see those contestants; he only saw her. When she put her mind to something, it would happen no matter what. The fiery determination she had when it came to the things she loved was unmatched; only she could hold such a passion like this so tightly.

She looked so alive.

It was positively thrilling.

There was a shark right behind Josée. Jacques' awe vanished for a second and was replaced with concern, but he needn't worry - Josée dove underwater and dove backwards in the air and snatched the tip from the dorsal fin in the process.

"Wow, nice move!" Devin complimented, also amazed. He took the words right out of Jacques' mouth. But then Devin was chased by a shark, resulting in a scream.

"How did she learn that?" Carrie asked curiously, in awe as she watched Josée swim back.

Jacques continued to stare at her. "She is beauty, grace, and strength," he explained, watching as she dove under again. "Every move like a swan that makes other swans feel ugly - ow!" He groaned and glared at a swan that bit him. How dare that swan interrupt his admiration of his partner?

Speaking of, Josée showed up on the shore. "It's an All-In. The travel tips says we have to build a sand replica of the place of Versailles." She paused, and bit her lip. "I have no idea how to build a sand castle."

"Yes you do!" Jacques argued, smiling at her as they ran. "I was ten, you were eight - it was the first time you've ever been to the beach."

"We had to beg maman to let me go with you," Josée said, sighing a little. Her mood drastically shifted upon thinking about her.

Jacques held her hand tightly and squeezed it, kneeling down on the sand beside her. "Well champions must preserve, non? And... our fans are watching."

Josée smiled a little. "Merci, Jacques."

For the next several minutes, Josée and Jacques posed for the cameras several times, smiling, and started to attempt to build a sandcastle. Other teams arrived to take on the challenge eagerly. They tried not to get distracted by the other teams; including Stephanie and Ryan who kept saying gushy stuff to each other as they built a sandcastle. A pair - who were wearing purple shirts - were more focused on hurling sand at each other than they were on the challenge. Then of course, there were the Cadets that had a rather big castle - Josée's paranoia was pushed further; this team wasn't a pushover.

"Hurry!" Dwayne shouted, running quickly with a travel tip for the next instruction. Josée and Jacques looked over to see a tiny sandcastle that was approved and their hearts sunk; it looks like they finished first and were on the road to becoming first.

"Jacques," Josée shrieked desperately through a clench smile, staring at the camera. "We need to get first."

Jacques nodded quickly. "Of course, Josée." After a minute of building the sandcastle, he called over the kid - Sandy McCastles, he believed it was - to approve their work. The kid smiled and gave them a thumbs up, and gave them a travel tip: "Grab a speedboat and follow the GPS to the chill zone on the southern tip of... Iceland!" Jacques let out a happy squeal, and Josée's smile became more loose and free.

Iceland.

Ice-land.

"C'mon, Jacjac!" Josée cheered, grabbing Jacques' hand and running toward the speedboats.

Jacques broke into a bigger smile. "O...Okay!" It was weird that she addressed him as her pet-name for him on camera; perhaps she was so excited it slipped her mind. They strapped into the speedboat, with Josée starting the engine and taking the driver's seat and took off. Their smiles, however, faded when they saw that the Father & Son duo had already reached the chill zone before them.

"Silver... again..." Josée sighed disappointedly, while Jacques looked down with shame. "They were here first."

"Yes, they were here first, but..." Don started off. Josée and Jacques looked up from the floor; their eyes shining with hope as Don smiled. "But they have a penalty."

And that's when it hit them collectively.

First place.

First place.

Gold!

Almost immediately, Josée and Jacques started kissing at the cameras eagerly as Don went on, "Jacques, Josée, you've come in first." Don looked at them with amusement as they continued to kiss at the cameras simultaneously. "I expected a little more insanity, glad to see you're keeping it professional."

...Yeah, right.

When the producers asked how the Ice Dancers felt about their first win, that was when they let their professionalism slip for a moment.

"Woo! Hoo! Hoo!" Jacques had lost it, running around happily back and forth on the beach while Josée's arms were up in victory. "We're the best we did it! Yes!" He squealed in joy. Josée watched him go back and forth as kissed her rabbit's foot multiple times as he continued to cheer, "Champions of the world! Yes! Yes! Mais oui!"

Then he kissed the camera.

The producers didn't appreciate that.

Josée knew it was unprofessional, yes, but she couldn't blame him for being so animated about their first win. Hell, she was tempted to break out into a cheer as well about their win! After two terrible finishes of getting bronze and silver, they had finally gotten the gold! Maman would be so proud.

Maman...

They waited near the chill zone off-camera for more teams to arrive. The next team was the Fashion Bloggers. "Jennifer. Thomas. You've arrived in second place," Don announced. The Fashion Bloggers squealed. Josée and Jacques smiled fondly; though it was an annoying behavior - they didn't seem annoyed by them for some reason, in fact, Josée would go far to admit they were a little endearing. But she knew they were good competitors, and them getting second place only proved it. "However, you didn't arrive in Clanque De Maubois by train as instructed. You traveled by yacht instead. Twenty minute penalty."

...Never mind.

Josée blinked slowly at them. "You two went on a yacht?"

"Okay, but listen... there was a prince and everything!" Tom tried to excuse, his eyes lighting up gleefully as he thought about it. "We partied on a yacht with a prince."

Jacques laughed. "How do you even... how do you even find yourselves in these situations?"

Jen shrugged. "It was an accident, we swear." She turned to Don and smirked. "You totally wish you were us, though." Tom and Jacques burst into more laughter while Josée let out a little giggle; the look on Don's face was absolutely priceless.

Don rolled his eyes. "Yeah so, I hate to break up the party, but we need to make room for the other teams, so be quiet." The two teams laughter died down as they stepped to the side. Tom and Jen made funny faces mocking Don, much to the amusement of Jacques and Josée - not that the latter would admit it aloud.

"He is so jelly." More quiet snickering followed after Tom's snide comment.

Don turned around to the teams. "Quiet, please." Their snickering ceased at once.

Tom turned to Josée, Jacques, and Jen and playfully put his finger on his lips, indicating a shushing motion. "I feel like we're back in high school," he whispered to them. It took everything they could not to lose control again when Don shot them another glare.

The next team to arrive was the Reality TV Pros, who were announced as second place. Followed by them was the Cadets, who were third. The Father & Son team was fourth place, and the Fashion Bloggers were announced as fifth because both teams penalties were finished. More time passed, and nearly all the teams had reached the chill zone. Josée and Jacques noticed that the Surfers and the Best Friends hadn't arrived yet. People started to complain to Don at how long the other teams were taking.

"How is that my problem?" Don shot back, rolling his eyes. "Stop whining, I have to wait too." Then he paused a little, looking at the production crew and added: "The chill zone could really use a sofa, is all that I'm saying - oh, here they are!"

Two other teams, the Best Friends and the Surfers were making their way to the chill zone. "Carrie, Devin, fourteenth place." Josée and Jacques didn't know how to feel about that; they were nice people - a little annoying and chatty, but they both thought it would be a shame had they had been eliminated. It looks like it wasn't going to be them.

"It's okay, Don. We already know. Just blast us with the bad news," Geoff said sadly.

Other than Brody's horrifying appearance, Josée and Jacques took note of the amount of teams that were currently in the chill zone. Two teams were eliminated since the last episode, which meant there were sixteen teams in total. Carrie and Devin were announced as fourteenth place, which meant that the Surfers had to be fifteenth, which meant-

"Geoff, Brody... I'm sorry to say this, but you are... second last, aka fifteenth place, aka still in the race!"

...right. But wait a second-

"Who's the other team?" piped up a contestant with pigtails, whom Josée and Jacques didn't know the name of yet.

"Kitty, be quiet!" hissed her partner - well, she looked to be her sister - next to her. They knew her name was Kitty now, at least... silly name that is, Josée thought.

"The Geniuses are last," Don told them.

Beat.

"Who?" Nearly everyone said simultaneously. But Don didn't answer. Instead, he hopped into a helicopter and flew away; presumably to alert the team that had been eliminated. The camera crew told the cast that they were finished filming for the day, and were going to be taken to a hotel room shortly.

"So..." Jen mused, smiling at the Ice Dancers beside her partner. "Congratulations on getting first! It must be super exciting. How are you going to celebrate?"

"Celebrate?" Josée echoed, furrowing her brows in confusion. "No. This is a competition, we're... we're thrilled that we've gotten the gold, but we have to prepare for tomorrow."

"Aw, come on," Jen said playfully. "You have to celebrate somehow! You're so dedicated to the craft, that..." she giggled a little nervously, rubbing the back of her neck. "...well, we could learn a thing or two from you both. It's so inspirational."

Josée and Jacques didn't know what to think of this compliment.

"Well for starters," Josée began seriously, "Don't go on a yacht."

Jen's face faltered a little, forming into a sheepish grin. "Yeah, you're probably right about that."

"Okay but there was a prince-"

"Forget about the prince, Tom!"

"Forget, Jen? Forget about the prince of Monaco? I don't think so," Tom stated, matter-of-factly, before turning to the Ice Dancers. "You can celebrate in our hotel room. It will be so much fun. Trust."

"...This is a competition," Josée reminded them sternly; though hanging out with this team didn't really sound as awful as she thought. "We can't just make friends."

"We're gonna order room service, which will involve alcohol," Jen chimed in.

The offer was sounding better already.

However...

"Are you trying to give us a hangover so we'll be too weak to compete?" Josée asked, full of suspicion.

"...We'll be drinking with you," Tom replied. He turned to Jacques. "Are you okay with this?"

Jacques shrugged. "It's fine by me." He turned to his partner. "Josée?"

Josée appeared hesitant. "Mm, I don't know."

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Tom insisted. "We'll pay for it. It's our treat since you won. Also, you have to tell us how you plan out your costumes."

Josée bit her lower lip and looked to Jacques expectantly, waiting for his answer on the matter. Jacques gently took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly. As always, these little hand squeezes translated to care, in which Josée knew that Jacques would be with her in case anything went wrong. But from the looks of Tom and Jen, they seemed genuine and that they could be trusted. But still, the back of Josée's brain was telling her to stay in her own lane, not to get involved, that this was their competition. She could hear her mother telling her that they were her enemies.

"Fine," Josée agreed, sighing deeply.

Tom and Jen squealed.

The moment that Josée and Jacques stepped in front of the Fashion Bloggers' room, they were eagerly invited in. Tom and Jen strongly reminded the ice dancers of friends that they knew in high school; a little too cheery and peppy - but overall nice. At the very worst, they were shallow. Josée was understandably weary because of her experience in high school, and she couldn't understand why Jacques was so trusting of them - he had whispered in her ear that they would be fine and that the Fashion Bloggers seemed okay.

When they ordered room service, Tom and Jen insisted they ordered more than just salads and that they could get more and to just put it on their tab, Josée and Jacques declined and said they didn't want to overstep. Jen asked if they were sure, and Josée and Jacques nodded slowly at her kindness. Tom explained why, in a cheeky manner.

"She's such a mom, ignore her."

"I am not-"

"She was that girl in high school and university that held your hair while you were throwing up."

"Totally not true, when Cindy Carmichael threw up in my second year of university I had no ounce of sympathy since she got herself into that mess."

"...You still drove her home, afterward."

"Shut up. At least I'm not the one that's laughing at the person throwing up, you sociopath," Jen said, without a hint of malice; it was all playful.

"Touche."

Josée had furrowed her brows in confusion at their little exchange; Tom and Jen's dynamic was rather intriguing for her, though she didn't have a clue why. It was cute, even. Josée didn't understand what Tom exactly meant about Jen being 'such a mom' because Josée knew that if she got really, really drunk and threw up her mother wouldn't hold her hair up and would probably lock her in the closet in a pile of her own vomit. Despite this, Josée would give her left arm to hear from her mother right now.

Once they finished eating their food, they took out the wine - and that's when things started to get interesting, and sat in a small square in the middle of the hotel room.

"So how'd you guys meet?" Tom asked, after a few drinks.

Josée and Jacques exchanged a look, before the latter decided to speak. "I was eight, and just moved to Montreal hardly knowing English. She was six, and one of the best skaters I've ever seen. I didn't need to know English to know that." Josée smiled fondly at him as he went on: "She hated me."

Josée gasped, her smile had vanished. "I didn't hate you-"

"You made me cry on the first day of lessons," Jacques chuckled.

"Because you couldn't skate for your life!"

"Oui, but I got better!"

"...That you did," Josée allowed, taking another sip of her wine. "We didn't become friends at first. After a few months, when we won our very first competition, that was when we decided to become best friends, and well... that's... that."

"I'm sure figure skating - crap, I mean ice dancing helped, right?" Jen corrected. "Sorry I get those two mixed up. I don't know the difference."

"The fact that you understand ice dancing exists is wonderful," Jacques pointed out.

"The bar is at the earth's core, unfortunately," Josée said, laughing a little. "Ice skating, well those single figure skaters - have jumps and throws, while ice dancing is always done in pairs and doesn't allow those things. It's really artistic, and I get a thrill when the audience cheers, it's like oxygen."

"Oh my god!" Tom exclaimed, his jaw dropping in amusement. "You're like Tinkerbell!"

At this revelation, Jacques burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh Josée! That really does sound like you!" Josée blinked slowly, not comprehending.

"You've never heard of Tinkerbell?" Jen asked incredulously, unable to hide her grin. "Tinkerbell is a fictional character from Peter Pan. In theatre, Tinkerbell needs applause in order to live." Jacques continued to laugh hysterically while Josée huffed at Tom.

"Whatever you say, Twiggy."

Beat.

"Twiggy?" Tom questioned.

"You're built like one," Josée explained, "Twig."

"...Naming me after a famous English supermodel. I feel honored, Tinkerbell."

Josée rolled her eyes at the name, and said: "That's okay by me. Ice dancing is very theatrical, anyway."

"Theatrical," Jen remarked happily, then turned to her partner. "That's how Tom and I met. Well... sort of. We were in high school. He was two years older than me. I was in ninth grade, and he was in eleventh. We helped design costumes for the theatre department and we were paired off together."

"But with us it just clicked," Tom gushed. Jen squealed beside him.

Josée couldn't help but smile; Tom and Jen's happiness, though it would come off as a little annoying, was somewhat contagious. Sure, peppy people irritated her, but... she knew now that they meant well. Or maybe it was the wine that was making her more at ease. Either way, she was glad that she made the decision to come over to their room. Tom and Jen looked really happy together, and she wondered why most competitors couldn't give off that same energy.

Though she was not one for gossip, Josée couldn't help but ask: "You guys seem really happy together. How long have you been dating?"

It was silent for a moment.

Tom and Jen exchanged a look, then burst into hysterical laughter.

Josée's face faltered significantly. "Oh... did I say something wrong?" Tom and Jen wiped the tears from their eyes and shook their heads roughly, trying to control themselves.

"No, no, no. You're totally fine, it's just that... we're not a couple," Jen clarified.

"I'm gay," Tom told Josée. Then turned to his partner. "We literally are not attracted to each other at all."

"Yeah I'm a lesbian," Jen added. "I would've done this show with my girlfriend, but she's busy with stuff, so I thought - how about I bring my best friend for eight years instead?"

"It's also how we became friends," Tom added. "Like, in the theatre department at our school. I was openly out, and me and my family helped Jen come out to her family."

"Luckily they were super supportive," Jen chirped happily.

"Oui, me too," Jacques said. "I came out to my family and friends, and they were... sort of supportive."

"Sort of?" Tom and Jen asked at the same time.

"...It's complicated," Jacques settled with saying instead. "But Josée and I went to a performing arts school, where many people are gay - so there's that."

"That sounds nice! With us it got a lot easier in university," Tom went on to explain: "There's more people in our major that identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual-"

"Bisexual?" Jacques interrupted, with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Tom and Jen blinked in confusion. Josée had been very quiet and took more sips from her wine. "What do you mean?" Jen asked back. "You know what bisexual is, don't you?"

"...Oui, but..." Jacques paused thoughtfully. "You're either gay, straight, or not knowing what you are? You can't just like both."

Tom raised an eyebrow. "Who the hell told you that?"

Jacques blinked slowly. "Um... well... boyfriends that I had would say that."

"Well they're wrong," Jen said, then quite seriously: "My girlfriend is bisexual. She likes men too."

Wait.

What?

"And you're comfortable with that?" Jacques asked doubtfully.

Beat.

"Why wouldn't I be comfortable with that?" Jen shot back, furrowing her brows at him. "It's who she likes."

"You don't think she'll cheat on you with a man? That doesn't bother you?" Despite Josée's wine glass being empty, she kept pretending to drink as she glanced back and forth between the bloggers and Jacques.

"...Just because she likes men doesn't mean she'll cheat on me with one," Jen answered, frowning deeply. "But the point is, she also likes girls. She actually likes guys more than girls, but she still likes both, you know? She's still bisexual; even if we're dating, and her having more options doesn't mean she's more likely to cheat on me than anyone else."

"So your girlfriend isn't saying that she likes women and men so she can avoid being ah... hated?"

"Where are you getting this from?" Tom asked, also frowning deeply. "There are people that like men and women. Hell, I've dated a guy or two that are bisexual." Josée's eyebrows raised and proceeded to pour herself more wine.

"But that isn't a thing," Jacques argued, wondering why he was having this disagreement with two people that were gay, like him. Why weren't they agreeing? "You need to pick a side-"

"When it comes to being bisexual, it's not about picking a side - it's about picking a person," Tom stated. "That's at least how my last bi boyfriend explained it to me - well, gender does play a role in it, because he prefers women over men, but that's how he saw it."

Jacques thought about that statement Tom made, it echoing in his head over and over. It couldn't be right; hell, it didn't sound right to him. Jacques sighed and shrugged a little bit, running a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. It's that past boyfriends said that most bi guys just say that because they're ashamed of being gay, and want to seem normal-"

"It sounds like your boyfriends were shitty," Jen interrupted honestly. "Being bisexual isn't some transitional stage. Sure, some people say that they're bi before coming out as gay or lesbian, but I've seen it happen the other way around too - it's not as common, but it does happen."

"What do you mean?" Jacques asked.

Jen took another sip of wine. "Some people that identify as gay or lesbian at first realize they're bi later on."

"That happened to a friend of mine's cousin," Tom said, then he explained: "When he was in junior high, he didn't have crushes on girls, but he did have a crush on a guy, so his instant thought wasn't, 'Oh, I'm bi' it was, 'Oh, I'm gay'. He didn't realize until his late teens that he was actually bisexual with a strong preference for men. He's now engaged to his current girlfriend of two years."

"So he's straight now?" Jacques asked confusedly.

Tom shook his head. "No, he's bisexual. He's always going to be bisexual because he likes men and women. His current relationship status doesn't change his sexuality."

"It's not all black-and-white," said Jen. "Sexuality can be fluid."

"Not for everyone though," Tom added for good measure. "But I know for some people it can be."

Jacques didn't know what to make of all this; and it made him evaluate his past relationships which left him very uncomfortable. Why did the men in his love life constantly say that this wasn't real? He couldn't exactly shake it off, however - because there was the matter of betrayal - how on earth could someone go back on their word? After they came out as gay? Tom and Jen claim that it's happened, but why hasn't he ever seen it? Didn't people feel they were going back on their word by taking it back?

Meanwhile Josèe had been quiet the whole time – the only thing she had been curious about if they knew why it took her two years to fall in love with Claude and if it somehow correlated.

But before she could ask, Tom changed the topic. "Anyway, the Geniuses getting eliminated... ouch. They were still building sandcastles!"

"I don't even know who they are," said Josée, who had been quiet the whole entire conversation. "I still don't know all the teams names."

"We've talked to other teams, like... that Best Friends team. That girl from that team... Corrie?"

"Carrie," Josée corrected, wondering why - it didn't matter to her. "Her name's Carrie." She scowled a little. "Very chatty."

Tom rolled his eyes. "And she's totally in love with her best friend, it's so obvious! I bet that will be a big part of this show."

"I think everyone knows she's in love with her best friend, but her best friend," Jen added, also rolling her eyes.

"She's also so nice," said Tom, uneasily.

"Eh..." Josée smiled into her glass a bit, thinking about it. "She's a little sassy." And took a sip. Jen, Jacques, and Tom stared at her. Josée started to explain: "She made passive aggressive remarks about Devin's girlfriend the entire plane ride in Morocco. It completely went over his head though."

"But it was funny," Jacques agreed, then he turned to Tom and Jen. "Funny like you going shopping and partying with a prince."

Josée crossed her arms as the Fashion Bloggers chuckled. "I don't understand. Both of you are actually good at this competition and you'll do stuff like that and it will lower your place. Think about how well you could do if you didn't do things like that." Part of Josée wondered why she cared so much in the first place, because like it has been said, the Fashion Bloggers were competition. Why would she advise them on such a thing?

"I guess we could take it more seriously," Tom admitted sheepishly. "We were actually hoping for an alliance with the both of you, just early on."

"What?" Jacques noticeably perked up.

"I think to test it out, we should at least try," Jen added.

Josée, naturally, was hesitant. "What would this alliance consist of?"

"Just... helping each other out if needed! If we were in trouble you'd help us, and if you were in trouble we'd help you," Jen explained.

"I think that would be good," Jacques agreed, but turned to his partner who had an untrusting look in her eyes. "Josée?"

Although the ringing voice in Josée's head told her that this was her competition, and that she should stay in her own lane - she realized it depended on what the latter intended. Because while Tom and Jen were competition, Isaac always said staying in their lane consisted of not bothering other teams and sabotaging ice dancing competitions, and they never got involved in unsportsmanlike behavior like that anyway. But this was a different competition, Josée thought, and Isaac never mentioned not helping the other teams, especially if that other team you were helping was willing to help you.

"...Fine," Josée settled, and before Tom and Jen could squeal happily, she cut in again: "But I have a few conditions." She took a breath and faced the Fashion Bloggers. "You need to take this competition seriously. If you decide to go on little trips, or do anything of the sort - we're not digging you out of the hole you dug yourselves." Tom and Jen nodded eagerly, but Josée wasn't finished yet: "And the final thing, is that when we approach the chill zone - Jacques and I get to cut in front of you."

"What?"

"We're olympians," Josée stated, matter-of-factly as she ignored the bewildered expressions, "We know how to place on the podium, we should be able to carry you to second while we get first."

"...Okay," Jen agreed, smiling. She stuck her hand out. "Deal?"

Josée eyed the hand suspiciously, before looking at Jen and matching her smile as she took it. "Deal."