A/N: Sweet little chapter for you!

Should preface this by saying that in the not so distant future, there's probably gonna be a fair few sex scenes, because what can I say, I've been sitting on story snippets for about three years. But hey, it's fanfiction, we can document everything if we want to, and I'll put a note on any relevant chapters so you can skip it if it's not quite your scene.

Enjoy!

Trading the deluge of snow for the warmth and sun of Florida was accepted with open arms by JJ. Some of the weight in her stomach had lifted after just one day in the Sunshine State, and while she knew it wasn't an overnight fix, she was grateful to have a few days away from home to get her mind off things. Even so, she knew her mom was watching her closely, nervous that another breakdown was coming.

Two days after arriving, she was out by the pool, her brother's two massive Great Danes playing on the grass a little further down the yard. Tinkerbell 'Tink' and Thumbelina 'Lina' were Jason and Katie's pride and joy. As their names showed, despite their size, they were beautiful, lovable gentle giants. Even as they played, barking and growling stupidly at each other, she was so warm and so comfortable in the sun that she could nearly have fallen asleep. It was such a vast change from Pittsburgh and the snow that she almost never wanted to leave.

"Hey Chalky!"

JJ lifted her head, pushing her sunglasses down enough that she could see over the top. Standing on the opposite side of the pool was her big brother, wearing a familiar shit eating grin.

"Who you calling Chalky?" she called back.

"Who do you think? The one who never sees the sun because she's always in that sweatbox of a gym! I should've brought my sunglasses out with me, you're blinding me!" Jason teased. JJ lifted a hand, flipping him off as she lay back down, which made him laugh.

"I actually came out to see if you wanted to come with me to take Lina and Tink for a W-A-L-K," Jason spelled out. JJ glanced down at the dogs, grinning when she saw that even his attempt at subtlety had caught their attention.

"Sure," she said with a smile. "Let me go throw some clothes on"

Five minutes later, now wearing a plain t-shirt and shorts over her bikini, she found her brother in the hallway slipping on his shoes. The dogs were hovering at the other end of the hallway, clearly aware something was up.

"Tink, Lina, let's go for a walk!" Jason called. JJ quickly stepped to the side, laughing as the two massive dogs came bounding excitedly down the hallway.

"Ok, ok!" Jason laughed, reaching over and handing an aqua coloured lead to JJ. "Here, you can take Tink, she doesn't pull as hard as Lina does. Lina might take you for a walk"

JJ laughed, taking the lead from Jason's hand. Tink immediately followed, looking at JJ expectantly as she waited. With a giggle, JJ reached over, clipping the lead to Tink's collar, before following Jason out the front door.

They walked in silence for about two blocks, laughing as they watched the dogs bounding down the footpath before them. Tink was definitely giving JJ a run for her money, but judging by the way the muscles in Jason's arm were straining against the lead, Lina was definitely the harder of the two.

Eventually, as they reached a quieter street that ran alongside a park, Jason spoke up.

"So Mom said you and Will have been dating since after the Olympics… you finally admit how you feel about him?" he teased.

"What do you mean, admit it?" JJ denied, her cheeks flushing pink.

"Come on JJ, you think I never noticed how you always flirted with him?"

"I did not flirt," JJ said indignantly, her cheeks starting to turn from pink to red.

"Yes, you did," Jason teased with a laugh. "But that aside… how long have you two been dating officially? Mom gave me some conflicting accounts"

"Woah, hey Tink, slow down!" JJ said suddenly, giggling as Tinkerbell pulled a little too hard on the lead in an attempt to follow her sister. "We've been dating since just after the hurricane, when I came home from the tour, but… we kissed… the day I got home from London"

"Cute," Jason teased, earning a sharp nudge to the ribs. He laughed, playfully shoving her back, making her stumble as she giggled and clutched on to Tink's lead.

"Is he being good to you?" Jason asked after they'd settled down. His voice carried a little more seriousness, which made JJ smile.

"Of course he is… it is Will we're talking about"

"I know… I know, I just… you're my little sister, and you deserve a guy who's gonna treat you like a queen. If I ever found out he was hurting you, I'd-"

"Jason," JJ said softly, reaching out and stopping him with a smile. "It's ok. I promise. He is so sweet to me, I couldn't ask for anyone better"

"If he ever treats you like anything less than the amazing person you are… you tell me straight away. Ok?"

JJ chuckled, leaning in and wrapping her arms around Jason's midsection. "Promise"

Jason grinned, giving her a quick squeeze, before he was pulled away by Lina. "Hey! Hey! LINA!"

Laughing, JJ followed, jogging behind Tink as the excited dog chased her dad and her sister down the street.

Not too much later, they reached an enclosed dog park, where JJ found Jason trying to calm down Thumbelina, who was so excited she was trying to jump the fence.

"They love this park," he laughed, opening the gate and unclipping Lina's lead. "Might as well stop for a little while"

JJ followed him in, letting Tink off the lead and falling into step beside her brother as the two dogs took off at top speed around the park.

"So… does life feel different now that you're an Olympic champion?" Jason asked with a grin.

"Sort of but not really?" JJ giggled. "I mean, yeah, there's a lot of professional opportunities coming my way, and more people recognize me when I'm out, but other than that, nothing's really changed. Home is still exactly the same, no amount of gold medals will stop Mom kicking my ass for not cleaning my bathroom"

Jason laughed.

"I mean… I feel like I've accomplished something huge, which I have, I mean, winning Olympic gold has been almost a lifelong dream. But other than that, nothing has changed"

Jason nodded, a small smile on his face as he gazed out over the park.

"But enough about me," JJ said with a grin. "What about you and Katie? No babies on the horizon?"

Jason coughed awkwardly, making JJ laugh. "Uh, no, no, there is no way I'm ready to be a dad just yet," he chuckled. "Besides, I have my hands full with these two loons"

"What about in a few years? You know, I really want a niece or nephew," JJ teased.

"Well you'll just have to wait," Jason said dryly. JJ giggled. "And if you want little ferals to play with that badly, you're perfectly capable of procreating yourself"

JJ burst out laughing. "Do you really want Will knocking up your eighteen year old sister?"

"Agreed, that's a no, I'd have to come and punch him in the dick," Jason said seriously.

"Besides, having them myself isn't as much fun because I can't give them back to anyone when they start kicking up a stink"

"True," Jason laughed. "Well… Katie and I haven't ruled it out. Maybe in a few years, we'll be ready. But right now, we're happy with our lives as they are"

"And they're pretty good," JJ said softly, smiling as Lina came running excitedly up to Jason with a ball in her mouth.

"Now where did you find that, crazy girl?" Jason laughed, taking it from her. With an easy throw, he hurled it across the park, sending Lina running excitedly after it.

"So... Mom mentioned something else, and I don't want you to think she's just sharing everything that's going on with you, but you know what she's like when she and Katie crack open the wine"

JJ chuckled; her mom and Katie had definitely had a few memorable outings with many bottles of wine shared.

"She said you're kind of stuck... that now that the Olympics are over, you don't really know what to do," Jason said gently.

JJ let out a sigh, the smile dropping from her face as the weight seemed to return to her stomach. "Yeah... apparently it's post competition depression... or something..."

"There's no shame in that JJ," Jason said softly, bending down to retrieve the ball Tink had brought back to them. He hurled it across the park again before turning to his little sister. "You worked your ass off for fourteen years to get to the Games. For years, you had this built up idea in your head of what it would be like, and then it came, and just like that, it's over. I'm not surprised you feel a little lost"

"When I carried the flag in the closing ceremony, I was so sure that I wanted to go back to the Games. But then I got home, and it was almost as if a fog lifted and suddenly I could see how long a stretch that's going to be... so now I'm not sure. And because I'm not sure and I literally don't know how to do anything else... I just feel so stressed"

"You know what Jayje?" Jason replied. "You're eighteen. You've barely lived a fraction of what's waiting for you out there. So if you don't really have it all figured out right now... that's fine! You can even afford to take a year to figure it out. Take some classes, do some travelling, make out with your boyfriend-"

JJ snorted.

"- what I'm saying is that if you need to take some time to have some experiences and kind of see what life is about, then you could do that. And probably still go to the Games again if you wanted to do that"

JJ smiled, her chest flooding with warmth as her brother leaned over and gave her a squeeze.

"You'll figure it out short stack," he said gently. "And in the meantime, you can always call me if you wanna talk about anything. I don't get to talk to you as often anymore, and... I miss you"

"I miss you too, Jase"

"Just do me a favour"

JJ raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Unless you're calling to tell me to come and take a bat to Will's kneecaps, save the details on the boy talk for Katie and Mom," Jason chuckled. "I don't wanna know what you're getting up to with Will"

JJ laughed, squeezing her brother around the middle as the two dogs came running back, exhausted and out of breath. "I promise"