A/N: Short, but to the point.

Heaving a sigh, JJ wriggled her toes as she shifted around to try and get comfortable on the couch. It had been just over two weeks since the injury, and she was already extremely restless. Despite this, she hadn't moved much; the full leg cast made sure of that. She had mastered getting around on the crutches, which had made getting to and from the bathroom a much easier process, but even so, she had still had to yell out for someone to help her get up from the toilet a few times.

With only a few days before the Thanksgiving break was due to begin, her mom and dad were both at work, meaning Will had come over to spend the day with her in case she needed any help. He had arrived at seven, just before Sandy left for work, gratefully crawling into bed with JJ to join her in sleeping away a cold wintery morning.

"You gonna sit still?" he asked, a teasing grin on his face. Ever since they had made up their station for the day on the couch, JJ's constant fidgeting and frustration had not gone unnoticed.

"I hate sitting still," JJ said shortly. "I'm sick of this cast, I want to go back to training"

Will looked at her, his face slowly twisting into a frown. "JJ... it's been two weeks"

JJ shrugged. "So?"

Unable to find any words, Will just shook his head. "I just... you've had two pretty major injuries from gymnastics in the past three years that have both required surgery... wouldn't you want to take some time off and get back into it slowly?" he finally asked.

"What, you think I'm going to rush back in there right now with this cast on my leg?" JJ said sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she dropped back against the back of the couch.

"No, I just mean that when you're able to go back, maybe you should take it easy for a while. You've had a big three years," Will reasoned. "Maybe consider taking this season off?"

JJ sat up again, turning to face Will with a sudden fire in her eyes. "I want to be doing this, Will. I made the choice to come back to the sport after the Olympics. You have no idea what it takes to be at the level I'm at, I'm already at a massive deficit going into next season because I'm losing twelve weeks of training time!"

"That's why I think maybe taking a season off wouldn't be the worst idea, Jayje, you wouldn't be rushing back into it-"

"Do you even understand what it takes to go to Worlds? The Olympics? I train six hours a day, day in, day out," JJ explained, her voice starting to rise. "I want to go to Worlds, Will, I'm not giving up just because I got injured"

"You're sidelined with a broken leg!" Will exclaimed. "JJ, I just… I just don't get it! You're injured! What if you had hit your head and broken your neck? What if the break was bad enough to take you out for good? I can't stand watching you get hurt JJ, and as much as I love watching you do what you do, I hate that I can't protect you from the dangers of it!"

"I don't fucking need you to protect me Will!" JJ cried. "I know gymnastics is dangerous, but I can't live in a bubble! Every sport has it's dangers at a high level, you saying I should just give up because I might get hurt? Or that because I had one injury now, I should just quit forever?"

"That's not what I'm saying JJ!" Will said exasperatedly, jumping up from the couch. "But... as much as I see how it makes you happy, I'm trying to understand what it is that you're chasing, and I just can't figure it out! I mean, you've already been to the Olympics once, you had great success there, what more could you possibly want? You gonna break every bone in your body to maybe go to the Olympics again?"

Tears welled in JJ's eyes, the words unable to find their way out of her mouth as the context behind Will's words hit her. Did he really not understand it? If he didn't understand, how could he possibly support her?

"JJ... please don't cry, I didn't mean to yell-"

"Just go," JJ said tearfully.

"JJ-"

"LEAVE!" JJ yelled, tears now flooding down her cheeks as she thrust an angry finger towards the front door. "Just go!"

Not seeing the point in arguing, Will turned and left. JJ collapsed down on the arm of the couch, burying her face in her folded arms as she tried to control her tears.

She knew Will hadn't intentionally tried to upset her, and she also knew where he was coming from; their entire time knowing each other, he'd been just a bystander for her gymnastics career. He didn't understand it like her family did, and she couldn't be mad at him for that.

But for some reason, their spat had unearthed something in JJ that she'd been trying to ignore; the nagging worry that her broken leg was going to take her out of the running for Worlds and she would fizzle out and become irrelevant by 2016.

She wanted Rio so badly that she could taste it. But right this very minute, just like Will had said, she didn't know why. And that lack of a motivation was surely going to be her downfall.

'This has to be it,' she thought through broken tears. 'What if I just step down now and start on the next chapter?'

Her mind was a mess. She was angry, upset, confused, and broken.

And she had no solid reason to explain it.