A/N: EEEEK I CAN'T WAIT FOR YOU ALL TO FIND OUT MY PLAN!

Waking up in the dark hours of Monday morning feeling sick to her stomach was not how JJ had wanted her week of finals to start. The air felt stiflingly warm in the room, the sticky warmth of the air in Rio seeming to seep in everywhere it could reach.

Her sheets were tangled around her legs, which immediately served to irritate her. Kicking her feet, she tried to disentangle herself, but all she seemed to be managing was making it worse, which was only making the bubbling frustration in her stomach worse.

Seemingly out of the blue, she burst into tears. Not wanting to wake Aly and cause a fuss, she rolled over onto her stomach, forgetting about the sheets as she buried her face in her pillow to muffle her sobs.

The entire month, she'd been holding up a brave face. With the girls, it was easier to laugh and smile and genuinely enjoy the experience with them. But on her own, it was so much harder when the sadness started to creep back in and the tears threatened to overwhelm her. No-one had told her that grief was going to be confusing, that it would be messy, that some days she would wake up and every part of her body would ache. Even right now, after the high that always came from competing, her chest, neck, and head were all hurting, along with the nausea swirling in her stomach.

All she wanted, more than anything in the world, was for her dad to hug her and tell her everything would be ok.

But the reason he couldn't was the same reason everything wasn't ok.

Lifting her face just enough to be able to see her phone on the bedside table, she pressed the home button, illuminating the display. Her eyes were blurred with tears, and she already felt lightheaded, but still she managed to make out the numbers swimming before her eyes.

3:13

What she wanted to do was call Will. Somehow, he always knew what to say to calm her down… but she knew she'd feel bad dragging him from his sleep.

Finally pulling her legs free from the sheets, she slowly climbed out of the bed, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. Grabbing her sweatshirt from the end of the bed, she tugged it on, pocketed her phone, and silently slipped out of the room, leaving Aly sleeping peacefully behind her.

She crept through the common areas of the apartment until she reached the sliding door that led to the balcony. Gritting her teeth as she slid it open as quietly as she could, she slipped out into the night air and pulled it closed behind her.

The air was cooler out there than it was inside. Taking a deep breath, she sank into one of the chairs, staring out peacefully at the night sky.

She still wanted to call Will. She knew he wouldn't mind, having promised her he was always there for her no matter the time of day, but she didn't really want to wake him up.

She debated this back and forth in her mind for a further five minutes, before deciding to bite the bullet. Calling his number, she lifted her phone to her ear, pulling her knees up to her chest as she did.

"Hello?" came his groggy voice after what felt like forever.

"Hey, it's me," she said softly, chewing lightly on the thumbnail of her free hand. "I'm sorry for waking you up"

Will yawned on the other end. She listened as he seemed to shuffle across the room, before she heard the unmistakable sound of a sliding door.

"I know you wouldn't call at this time unless somethin' was bothering you," he said sleepily. "What's goin' on babe?"

"Having a rough night," JJ replied quietly, resting her chin on her knees.

"Missing your dad?"

"Yeah," she choked out, her voice catching in her throat as her eyes welled with tears again.

"You know you're allowed to be upset about that," Will said gently. "You've been through a hell of a lot the last two years… you're allowed to have bad nights"

"I know," she said, somewhat tearfully. "It's just… I felt like I was doing ok… like I could do this… and then yesterday, when I got up to do floor, I was so painfully aware of the fact that for the first time… my dad wasn't watching… I know people mean well when they tell me he's still watching over me… but it's just not the same"

"I know babe," Will said sadly.

"I just… I don't know if I can do this anymore"

Her voice sounded so feeble and so broken that she hated it, but the tears were already dripping down her cheeks again.

"It kills me that you're hurting, JJ, it really does. I know it's natural, and it's part of the grieving process, but I wish I could just pull you into my arms and take all that pain away"

"I wish you could do that too," JJ whispered.

"I may not know what to say to help you… but I'll tell you what I do know. I know that you've worked your entire life and then some to be here right now. You're the girl who came home from London having already decided you wanted to go to Rio, and you're the girl who has defied all the odds to survive this quad and make this team. I know that even on your worst days, when you're sure you just can't go on… you've dug deep down and found that little extra to help you"

JJ sniffed, wiping her eyes hastily. Words couldn't fix everything, but the sound of Will's voice was at least helping her to calm down.

"If I know you at all JJ, you'll go out there with your team tomorrow and kill it. But you know something? Even if you went out there, found it too overwhelming, and fell all over the place… we would still be so proud of you"

"No, you wouldn't," JJ rebutted.

"Yeah babe, we would. You know why? Because even with all this awful stuff you've experienced, you still would've gone out and tried. Nothing speaks more volumes than going out and giving it your best"

"I just want my dad," JJ said in a small voice. She knew Will meant well, but she felt as though no-one had better been able to calm her down than her father.

"I'm sorry beautiful," Will said softly. "You're the strongest person I know… and I know that regardless of how the next week goes, your dad will always be so proud of you"

Swallowing thickly, JJ wiped away her remaining tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

"I think you ought to go get some sleep babe"

JJ sniffed, a smile finding its way onto her face.

"I love you," she said softly.

"I love you too JJ. Don't you go caving on me now," Will chuckled. "Go get some sleep, and I'll talk to you later"

Feeling a little more relaxed, JJ bid her goodbyes before ending the call.

Running a hand through her hair, she turned and gazed out across the open grounds of the Village. It was quiet, peaceful. All the athletes were clearly fast asleep, resting up for a day's competition ahead of them.

The scrape of the glass door made her jump, whirling around to see Aimee poking her head out the door.

"What are you doing up?" Aimee asked gently, a look of concern on her face.

Getting to her feet, JJ managed a small smile. "Had a bit of a rough night… I was just talking to Will"

Aimee smiled, stepping back as JJ made her way back into the apartment. "Feeling any better?"

JJ nodded slowly. "Actually… yeah. A bit"

With a reassuring smile, Aimee wrapped an arm around JJ's shoulders, giving her a comforting squeeze.

"Go on, get back to bed," she chuckled as she pulled away.

Still smiling, JJ headed back to her room. Moments later, she was crawling under the covers, curling into a tight ball.

Maybe it wasn't all fixed. But it was certainly better.