A/N: Mostly sweet, with a little bit of angst! Our lovely little JJ has a lot going on!

Covered in sweat, chalk, foam dust and god knows what else, JJ felt incredibly relaxed as she came to rest on the floor at the conclusion of her Wednesday training, her first day back since the conclusion of the Olympic Trials.

Shrouded in the warm dusty air of the gym, she felt more secure than she had all year.

Here, it was like she'd never left. In the week she'd been gone, everything had changed, and at the same time, nothing.

Sitting on the edge of the floor, she gazed around the gym that was like a second home to her as she gently stretched out her hard worked muscles. Everything was exactly as it had been the previous Saturday morning… but it felt like so much had changed at the same time. The posters detailing her success at the national and world level still hung in the same places on the wall, the banners bearing the logos of Olympics past stretched across the bricks beneath them. The banner bearing the words LONDON 2012 hung at the very end, a recent addition of only a few months. But now, looking at it, it sent a thrill of excitement racing through her chest.

She was going to the Olympics. A dream she'd clutched tightly to since she was only six years old. A dream she and her family had made thousands of sacrifices for to have even the slightest chance of achieving it. And here she was. One of the miniscule percentage who actually made it.

Running her hands along the tops of her legs and all the way down to her toes, she glanced up at the sound of the cover of a foam block rustling. For the first time, she noticed Nick sitting on one of the blocks by the edge of the floor. He had a much calmer expression than he usually wore… in fact, he almost looked a tad emotional.

"Are you happy with how you trained today?" he asked when he noticed her watching him across the gym. She broke into a smile.

"Yeah," she said, her voice coming out in an excited, breathless whisper. "Everything felt really good"

"You seem like you have a bit more energy today than usual," Nick chuckled. "Unsurprisingly"

Relaxing out of her stretch, JJ pulled herself to her feet, picking up her grips bag and her water bottle. She slowly made her way over to her coach, coming to a stop a few feet away from him.

"You know Jayje… I'm really proud of you kiddo," Nick said, a warm smile crossing his face. "You're my first elite… my first national team member… national champion, world champion… now you're an Olympian, and it just… it makes me so proud, you've worked so hard… I'm very grateful that you and your family trusted me to get you this far"

JJ swallowed hard, her coach's sweet words stirring up all the emotion from Sunday evening once more.

"Still got a way to go," she reminded him with a smile. He chuckled, nodding as he pulled himself to his feet.

"We'll enjoy it as it comes. In the meantime… you better head home and get ready for that party your mom's throwing you," he teased lightly as they walked back in the direction of the locker rooms. JJ threw her head back, letting out a groan as Nick laughed.

"Just what I want… to be the center of attention," she muttered.

"Only for a few hours… and think about it. It's only like… fifty people. The Olympics will be more like… fifteen thousand," Nick said in a mock whisper.

"Don't tell me that," JJ whispered back, cutting in front of Nick before darting into the change rooms, both of them grinning from ear to ear. As she pushed open the change room door, she heard Nick chuckle to himself, before heading back in the direction of the offices.

The 'small' get together her mother had promised had turned out to be a little bigger than she had anticipated. Her grandmother, affectionately nicknamed Nandy, her mom's sister and her two cousins who lived in the States had all driven in to help celebrate. Joining them were most of her friends from school, Will's parents, as well as the majority of the older girls from the gym. Rounding out the fairly large group were Nick and Tash, and two other coaches from the gym, Elliott and Liam.

"This is a lot of people," JJ muttered as she walked outside alongside her mom.

"A lot of people wanted to celebrate with you," Sandy chuckled.

Before JJ could speak again, the gathered group in the backyard seemed to realise she had graced them with her presence. Breaking into a round of cheers, they started to approach her as she fought off the tomato red blush creeping up her cheeks.

Nearly twenty minutes later, after she'd made her way around and spoken to most of her friends and family, she was just heading back towards her school friends when someone yelled her name across the yard.

"JJ!"

JJ whipped around at the sound of the familiar voice, only to be almost knocked off her feet by a flurry of denim shorts and wavy brown hair.

"Lani!" she laughed, staggering back to catch herself as she threw her arms around her friend. Alanis, or as she steadfastly insisted on being called, Lani, was JJ's oldest friend apart from Will. The two of them had gone to school together since their kindergarten days, and despite the fact that their personalities couldn't be more opposite at times, JJ loved having Lani in her life. She was just the kind of upbeat, crazy friend that every self proclaimed introvert needed in their life.

"We all got together at my place to watch you compete, you were amazing! I can't believe you're actually going to London," Lani gushed, pulling back and grinning excitedly. "I'm gonna host a watch party"

JJ laughed, looping an arm around Lani's back as they walked across the backyard to where her other school friends were waiting. She could see the familiar faces of Tessa, Brenner, Mackenzie, and Clayton sitting around one of the tables that had been set up. Will was hovering behind the table, talking with his friend Matthew, but his attention seemed divided as JJ approached the table.

"There she is, the star pupil of East Allegheny!" Clayton called as they walked over. JJ blushed, unable to fight off the grin that found its way onto her face. Pulling out a chair, she dropped down between Tessa and Brenner, Lani sashaying around the table and finding herself a place on Clayton's lap. Clayton playfully slapped her ass, sending the group up in a fit of laughter while Lani rolled her eyes at her boyfriend.

"Just trying to show us all up hey?" Brenner teased. JJ stuck her tongue out at her friend, leaning forward and grabbing a pretzel from the bowl on the table.

"Always," she shot back, grinning.

"You were so good Jayje, honestly, when they called your name, I was crying almost as hard as you were," Tessa gushed.

"No word of a lie, girl went through like half a box of tissues," Lani teased.

"I was proud, it was a proud moment!" Tessa exclaimed, throwing her arms around JJ as they laughed.

Someone tapped on JJ's upper arm, pulling her attention away. Seeing Will's smiling face, she extricated herself from Tessa's hold and stood up again.

"Can I talk to you? Alone?" he asked softly. She nodded, stepping around the chair and following him back towards the house. Clayton let out a wolf whistle, prompting Will to turn and flip him off while their friends laughed again.

Once they were inside, JJ followed Will into the dining room, where he stopped and stood somewhat anxiously by the table.

"What's up?" she asked softly, watching as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"I... I just wanted to tell you... how amazing you were at Trials. I'm so glad you made the team," he said warmly, a handsome smile crossing his face. "I have to admit, it's pretty amazing to watch your best friend make her dreams come true"

JJ blushed, an abashed smile finding its way onto her face. "Thanks Will"

He shifted his weight nervously from one foot to the other, lifting one of his hands and running it through his hair. Lifting his gaze, his eyes met JJ's, and for the first time, she noticed the intensity shining beneath them.

She was surprised to feel the tiniest flutter in her stomach from the way he was looking at her, but she just as quickly brushed it off. He was her best friend… as close as they were, their friendship hadn't experienced a moment like this before, a moment as emotional and intense as her finally achieving her lifelong dream. He was proud… she could see it in his face.

"JJ! Can you come outside?"

Her father's voice made her whip around, smiling at her dad as he leant through the back door.

"Yeah, I'm coming," she called back, looking back towards Will. "Were you going to say something?"

He swallowed hard. "I… yeah, but don't worry… I'll catch you later," he said softly, giving her a soft smile as he started to head towards the door. He brushed her upper arm gently, stirring up the butterflies once more.

Shaking it off, JJ followed him back out of the house, walking towards where her dad was standing at the edge of the deck, an arm cast out towards her. The attention of all their guests was fixed on her parents, and she could already feel a blush creeping up her cheeks. Forcing herself to smile through it, she came to a stop at her dad's side, his arm settling around her shoulders.

"Now that I have your attention… Sandy and I just wanted to thank you all for coming tonight and helping us celebrate what is truly an amazing achievement for our family," Michael started, looking down at JJ with a warm smile before lifting his gaze and attention back to their guests. "All of you have known JJ from some point in her life, whether it was from the day she was born, or your first day of school, or from Nick's gym, but surely throughout all the time you've all known her, you've known her endless passion and dedication to the sport of gymnastics. Since she decided… at the ripe old age of six nonetheless… that she was going to the Olympics, all we have known was for JJ to chase that dream like it was all that mattered in the world. And it's been a difficult two years, but she's finally made it… she's one of the five best gymnasts in the country, and she will be representing the United States at the Olympic Games in a couple of weeks, and we are so goddamn proud!"

Everyone erupted into a round of applause, making JJ grin helplessly as Michael tightened his grip on her shoulders.

"So I just wanted to say thank you. All of you. Whether it's in a big or a small way, all of you have had some hand in supporting JJ on this journey. Our biggest thanks, of course, has to go to her wonderful coach, Nick, without whom, JJ may not have made it this far"

Nick lifted a hand in appreciation as JJ's friends and family clapped around him.

"We can't wait to see what JJ's going to achieve in London, but no matter what happens, we'll be proud of her. And we hope you'll all tune in, if you're not travelling with us! July twenty ninth is the first day of women's competition, so make sure you hit up NBC!"

More applause filled their backyard as JJ turned and hugged her dad tightly.

"I know I've said it a million times, but I'm so proud of you baby girl, I love you so much," Michael murmured in her ear, making her smile as she pulled away and turned to her mom. Sandy wrapped her in a loving hug, everything she wanted to say being said in that one simple action. When she pulled away, she pressed a kiss to JJ's forehead, smiling warmly at her before they turned and rejoined the party.

"Hey," she called out as she spotted Will heading back towards their friends. "Didn't you want to tell me something?"

"Oh, yeah," he chuckled as he turned around. "It's alright. It wasn't important. Just… remember that you killed it at Trials… and you're gonna kill it in London. I'm proud of you"

Breaking into an abashed smile, JJ was a little surprised.

"Well… thanks Will. It… that means a lot"

Hours later, JJ knew she should've been sleeping. After all, she had training early in the morning, and training tired was one of her least favourite ways to spend her days.

But in the darkness of her bedroom, the moonlight illuminating her half packed bag for camp sitting on her chair, she couldn't switch off her mind. For once though, her thoughts weren't focused on how nervous she was about the upcoming preparations for the Games.

Tonight, her thoughts were on Rosaline.

It had been seven long years since her older sister had committed suicide, and still, it felt like she could walk through the door at any moment.

JJ's heart pounded in her chest as her thoughts wandered back to the morning she'd found her sister's lifeless body in the bathtub, covered in blood and ghostly pale. That same evening, London had been announced as the host for the 2012 Olympic Games. 'Her' Games, as she had called them for many years.

"Hey, why are you still awake?"

Turning her head towards the door, JJ sat up as her mom slipped into the room.

"Can't sleep?"

JJ started to shake her head, but seconds later, the tears had risen like a tidal wave and bubbled over, flooding down her cheeks as Sandy closed the gap between them and pulled JJ into her arms.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, smoothing JJ's hair down as she held her tightly.

"Ros," JJ croaked.

Sandy's heavy sigh told JJ that some of her feelings about her deceased sister were definitely shared by her mother.

"I miss her too," she breathed, pressing a lingering kiss to the top of JJ's head. "I miss her too, baby"

"I wish she could be here… to watch me at the Olympics," JJ stammered, pulling away slightly and lifting her tear stained gaze up towards her mother. "Do you think she'd be proud of me?"

"Of course she would," Sandy whispered, wiping a few tears from JJ's cheeks. "She would be thrilled that you've made the team"

Leaning back into her mother's embrace, JJ sniffed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand as Sandy rocked them back and forth ever so slightly.

She would make her sister proud at the Olympics. She wasn't just competing for the United States, or her family… she was competing for Rosaline too.