A/B: Enjoy!

|threeflipstwotwists|

Um… what the fuck is happening? I see gymnast beef on Twitter.

|jareaumanar|

Honestly, no clue. Simone came forward as a survivor, then immediately decided to act out and throw others under the bus, most of all JJ, JJ had to come on and say that she wasn't a victim of the abuse, and then Simone kept swinging. The two of them have gone very quiet. God knows what's happened. It's all a mess tbh.

|aliyasonodi|

Jesus christ

After the initial shock and anger had cleared, JJ had tried multiple times to reach out to Simone, but every message had gone unanswered. In a last ditch attempt, she had messaged Stacey on Instagram, asking if it was worth her coming down to Texas for a couple of days to talk to Simone face to face. To her surprise, Stacey had agreed with very little hesitation, stating that he felt it was the only way anything would be resolved.

And so that was how she found herself walking out of the arrivals concourse at Houston Airport just a couple of days later, finding Stacey out on the curb leaning against his car.

"You didn't have to pick me up," she said, slinging her bag a little higher on her shoulder. "I could've gotten an Uber"

"It's all good. Besides… I can take you straight to the gym now. Simone's there training," Stacey replied.

"You didn't tell her I was coming, did you?"

Stacey shook his head, straightening up and reaching out to open the passenger door. "No, I… I think this is actually the best way to resolve anything to be perfectly honest. I tried to tell her multiple times that I thought she was out of line, but she wasn't having a word of it"

Sliding into the front seat, JJ buckled herself in as Stacey walked around the car and got in the driver's seat. As he started the ignition, she heaved a sigh, tipping her head back against the headrest. "She's gonna be so pissed when I walk in there"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Stacey replied, glancing over his shoulder before pulling out onto the airport road. "Honestly, she was putting a lot of that aggression on because it was easy to do when you're behind a screen. She's just… she's hurting. And I know that's not an excuse-"

"I get it," JJ said quietly. "I've been there. Not for the same reasons… but when I was at my worst, I took my pain out on everyone around me. It's not fair, and it's always handled like shit because you don't think about what you're doing at the time, you just act, and it almost always turns into a giant mess"

"I think that's what Simone needs to hear," Stacey said gently. "She was… I don't know, it was a really weird state she was in the day that all went down. I don't know why the fuck she decided to make assumptions about you and what did or didn't happen with that disgusting prick, and I'm not sure why she then turned around and started throwing you under the bus for it, but she was… not herself. At all. She was really distressed"

"Well… I think we just need to clear the air. I mean, she's supposed to be one of my fucking bridesmaids, but not if she's gonna keep carrying on like this," JJ sighed, propping her elbow up against the window and resting her head on her hand.

"She'll come around," Stacey said reassuringly. "She loves you JJ, you should hear the way she talks about you all the time. Whatever's going on in her head right now is not how she actually feels about you, I can guarantee it"

JJ said nothing, gazing out the window as the world whipped by outside.

Fifteen minutes later, they were pulling up outside World Champions Centre, the gym Simone's parents had built for her to train in when her former coach, Aimee Boorman, encountered difficulties with her original gym, Bannon's. The hot Texas sun beat down on JJ's skin as she got out of the car, hesitantly following Stacey into the massive building. He led her past the front desk, through a set of glass doors that led to an enclosed hallway. They walked a little way down the hallway before he pulled open another door, immediately flooding them with the noise of the gym on the other side.

There were kids everywhere when the two of them walked in, but it took Stacey less than ten seconds to locate the elite training group at the other end of the vault runway. As she followed behind him, JJ could see Simone, standing with her back to JJ as she chatted to Laurent and Cecile, the former WOGA coaches who had taken over to fill the void left when Aimee moved to Florida the previous year. As they got closer, Cecile was the first to notice the two of them. When her eyes landed on JJ, her expression changed to one of surprise, which was enough to prompt Simone to turn around.

"Stace," she said happily, breaking into a smile, only to notice JJ behind him just a moment later. As quickly as the smile had appeared, her face fell, but straightaway, JJ could tell she wasn't angry. Her expression was wrought with uncertainty, confusion… and even a touch of guilt.

"What are you doing here?" she asked softly.

JJ took a deep breath. "I… needed to talk to you. In person. You weren't answering my messages… this isn't something I want to leave hanging between us, so I messaged Stacey and asked if it was worth me flying down"

Simone's eyes flicked to her boyfriend. "You knew about this? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I didn't think you'd be super receptive to it," Stacey said with a shrug. "JJ's right babe, you can't just leave shit the way it is right now"

Cecile stepped forward, bringing a gentle hand to Simone's lower back. "Why don't you girls go and talk in the rehab room? It should be empty right now"

Simone paused for a moment, her eyes trained on the floor in front of her. Eventually, she heaved a sigh, starting off across the floor without another word, JJ falling into step behind her. It was a quietly tense walk back through the gym to the rehab room, which just as Cecile had said, they found thankfully empty.

Pulling the door closed behind her as she followed Simone into the room, JJ took a deep breath, shoving her hands into the pockets of her hoodie as Simone turned to face her from across the room. There was nothing but silence, the tension so thick it could've been cut with a knife, until JJ finally found her words.

"Simone… what… the fuck?" she spat out, fighting hard to keep her anger and upset out of her voice. "What the hell happened the other day?"

Simone bit her lip, casting her eyes towards the window to her right, her hands toying nervously in front of her. "I don't know"

"What do you mean you don't know?" JJ shot back.

"I… I don't know, I just…I-"

"I just want you to listen to me for a minute, ok?" JJ cut in, lifting a hand towards Simone to stop her. Before she continued to speak, she forced herself to take a deep breath, wanting to stay as calm and rational as possible. "I know you're hurting. I also know I could never even begin to understand what you're feeling right now. And I'm sorry that it happened, Simone, I really am, I'm devastated for every single one of you. But what you did to me the other day was not fair. In fact, it was downright cruel. You hung me out to dry in an incredibly awkward and public way. Not to mention the fact that you spoke for me, Laurie, and Maddie when you had absolutely no right to do so. Now, we still don't know where Laurie and Maddie stand, but I can tell you for certain that he never abused me. However, even if he had, you had no right to speak for me. That would be something that would have been my story to tell IF I wanted to, not for you to use as a weapon against me. And then not only that, you decided to top it off by throwing everything that happened in LA last year back in my face. I know you're in pain, Simone, and I wish I could take it away, but if there is one thing I learned from last year, it's that taking other people down with you is not going to make anything hurt any less"

Simone's face crumpled, one of her hands coming up to cover her face as tears began to roll through her.

"I'm not here to fight with you Simone," JJ said with an exasperated sigh, taking a step towards her friend. "I don't know if that's what you wanted, someone to fight with so you could feel like your pain was going somewhere, but I'm not here to yell at you, or get angry, because it's not going to change anything. We just can't leave things like this, and I can't have you throwing me under the bus like that anytime you're upset or in pain, because otherwise… I'm not going to want you in my life"

Simone said nothing, the only sound being her quiet sobs beneath her hands as JJ came to stand just a couple of feet away.

"I'm also here to see if you're ok," JJ said gently. "Even though I know you're probably not, and that's fine. What's happened to you is… awful. I wouldn't wish it on anyone"

"Why? Why didn't it happen to you?" Simone sobbed as she snapped her face up to look at JJ, her voice rising to a shrill cry as her face contorted beneath her tears.

"I don't know," JJ breathed, her heart breaking as tears of her own began to spill down her cheeks. "I don't know, Simone, and I wish I did. Part of me wishes that he hadn't spared me, because it kills me to watch all my best friends crack under this awful shit knowing I get to walk away free. I don't know why he didn't get me too, and I feel sick with guilt that I made it out of there but the rest of you didn't, and I'm sorry"

Squeezing her eyes shut to try and stave off the oncoming deluge, she pulled Simone into a tight hug. Simone relented, her tiny frame shaking with sobs as she buried her face in JJ's shoulder.

"Don't say you're sorry," she whispered. "It's not your fault. You're lucky… I'm glad he didn't hurt you because you have had enough happen in your life without this as well"

"So have you," JJ reminded her gently through her tears. She pulled back, tipping Simone's chin up. "Not one of you deserved this. I wish it had never happened"

"I just don't know how to process it," Simone cried. "I spent most of last year sleeping all the time because it was the closest thing to dying without actually being dead. And when you spoke up about what happened to you in March, I so badly wanted to tell you because I knew you would understand how I was feeling but I couldn't bring myself to say it out loud because I didn't want to admit that what happened had actually happened to me"

"You can reach out to me at any time, Simone," JJ said gently. "Don't ever think that's not the case"

The two of them came to sit on the edge of the rehab table, side by side in the silence of the room, tears running down both of their faces.

"How can you be so kind? I don't deserve it. What I did was so shitty," Simone sniffed after a few minutes. "When I saw you walking in here, I fully expected you to have a go at me"

JJ sighed, leaning heavily on the edge of the table. "I just… don't have the energy to hold grudges. I got really angry the other night when everything happened, just started yelling and screaming at Will and my mom, and afterwards, I was exhausted. The last eighteen months of my life have been filled with so much sadness and anger, and I just don't want that to consume me anymore"

Simone sniffed, tipping her head towards JJ. "I'm really sorry. I know that's not going to immediately fix anything, but I am. I should've just kept my mouth shut"

"Thank you," JJ replied softly.

"And what I said about Rio… I swear I didn't mean it-"

"It's ok," JJ cut in. "I don't blame you for feeling a little resentful. If I'd been through that while having everyone tell me I was going to win and then didn't, I'd be a bit pissed off too"

"Can you stop being so understanding?" Simone said with a watery laugh. "You're making it really hard for me to feel bad about what I did"

JJ cracked a small smile, bumping her shoulder into Simone's. "Just promise me you won't pull any dumb bullshit like that again, or I actually will lose it next time"

"I promise," Simone said softly, leaning over and wrapping her arms around JJ. "I'm so sorry"

"I know"

"If… if you don't want me at the wedding anymore, I understand"

JJ paused, taking a breath before she replied. "I… can you give me a week? To think about it? I mean… I still want you there, I just… need to think about the bridal party situation"

Simone nodded. "Of course"

"We'll be ok… just don't ever do that to me again. I definitely won't be so calm next time"

Simone took a deep breath, sliding off the table as she wiped her eyes. "I don't deserve a friend like you. I really don't"

JJ smirked. "Well, pull your fucking head in and maybe you'll feel differently. You're lucky I get it. Last year, when I was at my worst, I took everything out on everyone around me. It didn't help, it never does. You don't think in the moment and everything turns to shit. So as much as it sucks that we've both been through hell, you're lucky I understand both sides of it, because I may not have been so rational otherwise"

"Yeah, I know," Simone said softly. "I wish I could be as calm as you"

JJ chuckled, shaking her head as they began to walk towards the door. "You should've seen me the other night. I was decidedly not calm. Will was scared of me"

"Kinda glad I didn't see that"

Laughing, JJ nodded in agreement, following Simone back out onto the gym floor.

It definitely wasn't a quick fix, and she knew it would take a bit of time before she felt she could trust Simone again. But for now, the air between them was clear, and they could focus on reparing things as they moved forward.