A/N: Please review if you enjoyed! Feedback means the world to me!

"And... UP!" Nick yelled as she swung through the bottom of her swing and flicked her feet into the air. Soaring over the bar, she flew through a huge straddled Tkatchev. Outstretched fingers scrabbled at the chalky surface of the bar, but ultimately, she missed her catch. With a loud THWACK against the crash mat, she came down hard on her knees, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Ok," Nick said softly, pushing away from the pillar he was leaning on and slowly approaching her. "You're exhausted... why don't we leave it for now, and you can try it again this afternoon when you're feeling a bit more refreshed?"

JJ looked up at him, her eyes screaming at him just how tired her body was. But underneath the exhaustion was a familiar sparkle, the determination that had gotten her to this point in her career.

"Can I try one more time?" she asked. "I don't want to go home on a fall"

Nick took a deep breath, seeming to mull it over before he nodded. Holding out a hand, he helped her to her feet. Far behind him, he heard the distant slam of the gym's glass doors; Michael had come to pick JJ up from training, as he often did in the summer when he wasn't working.

"I'll cut you a deal," he said, a small smile playing around his mouth. "You give it everything you've got and nail that Tkatchev... I'll give you the rest of the day off. I think you've earned a little break"

JJ's eyes seemed to light up.

"Really? But I need to train... Trials-"

"One afternoon off isn't going to hurt your chances, I promise," Nick said gently. "If you make the Olympic team... you're going to be very busy for the rest of the year. I'm giving you an opportunity now to relax... get your head on straight. You'll thank me tomorrow"

Smiling, JJ nodded, adjusting her grips as she looked back up at the high bar.

Stepping back, Nick clapped his hands together. "Come on kiddo, make this one count!"

With a deep breath, she gathered all the remaining gusto she had. She jumped up, her hands grasping the wooden bar tightly. Kicking her legs back and forth a few times to generate some swing, she was able to kip up to the bar and pull up into a handstand.

She swung down once, meeting a handstand again at the top of the bar.

"Good form JJ!"

Swinging down again, she drove her legs up past her chest, arching her body through the swing and flicking it up. She let go, immediately counter-rotating as she soared backwards over the bar.

And like magnets to metal, she closed her fingers tightly around the wooden bar on the other side.

"That was a good release I saw when I came in," Michael said conversationally as he drove towards the little shopping strip that lay between their home in East Allegheny and the gym. It was midday, and being summer holidays, there were people out everywhere enjoying the beautiful weather.

"The one before it wasn't so spectacular," JJ laughed, tearing her eyes away from where some kids were riding their bikes down the sidewalk as she turned to look at her dad.

"Well, we can forget all about it with some ice-cream," Michael said with a grin. Pulling up to the intersection that led to the popular shopping area, he looked both ways, before heading around the corner and down towards the parking lot at the end.

"You know Mom will kill you," JJ giggled.

"Your mom might kill me, but a little ice-cream isn't going to kill you," Michael laughed. "You've worked really hard Jaybird. You deserve to treat yourself every now and again"

JJ smiled as Michael pulled into the lot and then into a free bay. Clutching her phone in her hand, she unbuckled her seatbelt, pushing open the door and sliding out of the car. The sun beat down against her skin as she strolled around the car to meet her dad, reminding her that even though she spent every waking hour in the gym, summer was truly upon them.

What it must feel like to have a normal life.

They walked in comfortable silence down towards the ice-cream parlour, JJ reaching the door first. She pushed it open, a blast of cold air rushing out to meet them.

"Hi," chirped the guy behind the counter. "How are you today?"

"Good thanks," Michael said with a smile, following JJ up to the glass cold case and looking down at the flavours. "Just the usual, Jaybird?"

JJ grinned. "You know me so well"

Michael chuckled. "Alright, we'll get two regular cups please. A butterscotch and vanilla... and I'll just get mint chip please"

"Coming right up," the young guy said, opening the cabinet from the other side. With a handsome smile thrown in JJ's direction, he grabbed one of the takeout cups and a scoop.

A few minutes later, they were leaving the cool shade of the store and heading back out into the summer sun.

"I think he liked you," Michael said, a teasing grin crossing his face as he took a mouthful of his ice-cream.

JJ rolled her eyes. "He doesn't even know me"

"Take it as a compliment then. He thinks you're pretty. And he's not wrong," Michael said sweetly. JJ laughed.

"Dad, are you trying to ship me off because I'm turning eighteen soon?"

"The sooner I marry you off in exchange for two cows, the better"

JJ burst out laughing, nearly inhaling some of her ice-cream as they stopped at a little bench on the sidewalk and took a seat. She coughed, prompting Michael to pat her on the back as he chuckled.

When her throat was clear again, she straightened up, looking at her father with a grin.

"Is that all I'm worth to you? Two cows?" she asked, giggling.

Michael grinned. "Two of the finest cows in all of the land"

JJ shook her head, giggling as she brought another scoop of ice-cream up to her mouth.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, watching the world drift slowly past them on that warm summer's day in June. For a moment, JJ felt like the pace of her own life had slowed... for this moment, she was just a seventeen year old girl, enjoying summer break.

"Are you feeling prepared for Trials?" Michael asked as he reached over and tossed his cup in the bin. Looking towards JJ, he took her empty cup from her hand with a smile and disposed of it as well.

"I think so," JJ said softly. "I think I'll just mostly be glad when it's over... it's a lot of pressure"

"Mhm," Michael hummed, nodding in agreement. "You always handle pressure very well though. It's one of your best qualities, I think... that you keep it together so well"

"Thanks," JJ breathed.

A short silence followed, the sounds of the world surrounding them before JJ looked up at her dad. As intimidating as he looked to strangers, he had the kindest heart. Her entire life in gymnastics, she had always been able to count on him to be her biggest cheerleader. No matter the meet, no matter the day, she knew he would be in the stands cheering as she competed.

"Dad?" she said softly, pulling his attention. He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

"What... what are you going to do... if I don't make the team?" she asked, her voice getting smaller with every word.

Michael hesitated for a moment, seeming to weigh his next move. But eventually, he lifted an arm, putting it around JJ's shoulders and giving her a comforting squeeze as he kissed the top of her head.

"Give you the biggest hug I've ever given you... and then support whatever you decide you want to do next," he said softly, noticing when she relaxed under his hold.

"I love you Dad," she whispered, making a small smile cross Michael's face.

"I love you too peanut. Come on. Best get you home or your mom will start getting suspicious"

"JJ!"

At her mom's call, JJ rose up off her bed, where she'd been sitting and absently scrolling through Instagram.

"What?" she called back as she reached the door.

"Will's here!" Sandy exclaimed.

Smiling a little, she crossed the landing, making her way down the stairs. As she came down, she spotted Will leaning against the banister waiting for her.

"Hey," she said with a grin, stopping a few steps from the bottom. "Something I can help you with?"

"Well, I'm really bored," Will chuckled. "And you said Nick gave you the afternoon off... so I was wondering, if it's not too beneath you, would you like to go swimming?"

JJ laughed. "Beneath me?"

"I know you athlete types," Will teased. "Always thinking your sport is above all others"

Reaching out, JJ gave him a playful shove as he laughed.

"Keep that up and you can go swimming by yourself. I'll call Lani to come and amuse me for the afternoon," JJ giggled. She knew her friend Alanis, or Lani as she preferred, would be over in a heartbeat if she called.

"Ok, ok," Will replied, holding his hands up in mock surrender. "So are you coming or not?"

"Sure," JJ chuckled. "Give me like... ten minutes to change"

"So... half an hour?" Will shot back.

"Oh you are so asking for it," JJ replied with a laugh, shaking her head as she turned and headed back up the stairs.

Half an hour later, they were walking into the local outdoor swimming pool. Even in the heat of the summer sun, it wasn't as busy as they had been expecting, and they were able to grab two sun lounges beneath an umbrella.

"Last one in is a chicken," Will teased, throwing his stuff down on his lounge and pulling his shirt over his head.

"You're STILL using that old line? I haven't heard that since we were like, ten," JJ laughed, dropping her shorts down her legs.

Will opened his mouth to reply, but was almost immediately distracted by JJ's toned body becoming more and more visible to him by the second. Even at her tiny stature of just four feet, eleven inches, her legs suddenly looked miles long poking out from her blue bikini bottoms.

Her shirt quickly joined her shorts, and Will had to forcibly remind himself not to stare at her perfectly flat yet muscled stomach. Swallowing hard, he willed himself to keep it together.

So he did the only thing he thought possible.

Taking a step towards her as she approached the edge of the pool, he reached out and gave her a light shove. Just enough to knock her off balance and into the pool.

With a splash, she disappeared for a moment beneath the water, before surfacing with a shocked expression.

"Will!" she laughed, splashing some water in his direction.

"Heads up!" he yelled, leaping off the edge of the bricks and into the water, splashing JJ in a wave of water. She laughed, swimming away from him as he swam to the bottom and grabbed her ankle.

"Hey!" she yelled, kicking to make him let go. He did so, surfacing with a grin.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"Oh you are so cocky," she laughed, splashing him again.

"That's one word for it," Will laughed.

After nearly an hour of mucking around in the pool, Will was sitting on his sun lounge, while JJ dried herself off.

As he watched her out of the corner of her eye, he suddenly spotted something on her hip he hadn't noticed before. Jumping up, he approached her.

"Hold up a sec," he said suddenly, grabbing her waist and turning her to the side.

"Wait… what are you doing?" she laughed as he bent down slightly and peered at her hip.

"Jennifer Jareau, what did you do to yourself?" he chuckled, bringing his thumb to rest on the bright purple mark that graced her hip bone.

Twisting around, she caught sight of what he was looking at and started to laugh.

"Oh that… I wiped out big time on beam last week. Like, fell in the worst direction possible and hit the beam so hard I winded myself," she explained.

Will laughed. "I thought you were the World Champion"

"Only sometimes," she replied with a grin, making him laugh again as he let her go.

By evening, she was home, showered, and waiting for dinner.

An afternoon off from gymnastics had been a blessing. Just getting to be a normal teenager, hanging out with her best friend... it had been exactly what she needed with the final stage of the selection process looming like a cloud.

Not that she didn't want to go to London. She wanted it more than anything in the world.

But sometimes... sometimes it was good just to breathe.

TERMINOLOGY GUIDE

Tkatchev – also known as a reverse hecht. From a backward giant, the gymnast arches her body up as she reaches horizontal to the ground and releases the bar. With a counter movement back over the high bar, she clears the bar and catches it again on the other side, continuing either into the downswing or a second skill. Can be done in a straddled (most common), piked, or layout position (rare).

Backward giant – a swing around the high bar in a completely stretched body position. The gymnast is facing forwards as she swings. If she were to release the bar for a dismount, she would rotate through a backwards salto, hence the name backward giant.

Forward giant – the opposite of a backward giant in that if the gymnast were to release the bar for a dismount, she would rotate through a forward salto.