A/N: Planning to update heaps this weekend!

Silence hung around her like a heavy fog, permeated only by the deep rhythmic sound of her father's breathing.

In the week since the Classic, he had deteriorated so suddenly that it was scaring JJ. Every day since arriving home, after physically exhausting herself in training, she came home and helped her mother tend to her dad's every need. Jason and Katie had flown straight from Hartford to Pittsburgh, having taken extended leave so that they could spend time with their family. Accompanying them had been Nandy, who had wanted to be there for her family and help alleviate some of the strain Michael's illness was starting to put on them.

Michael spent most of his days sleeping. A scan shortly following the Classic had shown the cancer invading his stomach and intestines; clearly, that was the root of the digestive issues, nausea, and vomiting that had been plaguing him even after the maintenance chemo had stopped. Even though they knew this was normal disease progression, it pained JJ and Sandy terribly to watch.

"He's doing alright," Sandy said quietly from behind JJ, approaching her daughter and resting her hands on her shoulders. "Not great… but ok. He's determined to see you at Trials"

"What's he going to do if I don't make Trials?" JJ asked quietly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Probably just haunt you for the rest of your life," Sandy said nonchalantly, getting a giggle out of JJ. Shortly after, they fell silent again, before Sandy reached into the room and slowly pulled the door closed, allowing Michael to rest.

"I can't believe this is really happening," JJ said quietly as they turned back towards the stairs.

"I know," Sandy replied softly, reaching over and squeezing JJ's hand as they headed back down to the kitchen. As they passed the lounge room, the soft voices of Katie and Jason floated out to them. JJ's heart tugged a little as she heard her brother's voice. Both she and Jason had always been very close to their father, but she knew his condition was taking a much bigger toll on her brother than he was letting on.

"I made coffee," Nandy said quietly as the younger two walked into the kitchen. They both nodded acceptingly as she poured them each a mug of coffee and pushed them across the counter. "You doing ok, sweetheart?" she asked gently as she did, watching JJ closely.

"Yeah," JJ replied softly, but even she could hear the fakeness in her voice. "I mean… it sucks, but I'm trying to just get on and do everything because Dad would never let me forget it if I didn't"

"As long as you're happy, JJ, that's the most important thing," Nandy reminded her.

JJ looked up, nodding slightly.

"I am… it's just harder than it used to be to show it"

JJ's changed her floor routine… last year she did a double double, a double layout, a double Arabian, and a full-in. Now she's doing the double double second and the layout first… why would she do a harder pass as her second pass?

Because I'm almost 99% sure she's going to upgrade it for Nationals, probably to a full twisting DLO. Which would be awesome. That's literally the only reason she'd change those two around. Speaking of her floor changes, it's actually pretty incredible what she's managed to do. Most gymnasts hit their peak and then maintain it and kind of max out what they're able to do. JJ, on the other hand, had a peak in London, and has not only maintained it, but climbed above it. In 2012, her gymnastics was good, don't get me wrong, but some of her routine construction on bars and floor was a little funky, and I think that actually inhibited what she was able to do, because clearly she was capable of more. I can't believe the girl from 2012 is now whipping out floor routines that could challenge Aly and Simone, but here we are.

Is it just me or has Team USA relaxed over the last quad? Is that something to do with Simone?

Yes. Hahaha. Basically, Marta realized when Simone reached senior level that the girls can still be teenagers and muck around and enjoy themselves, while being serious when they need to be and getting amazing results. Funnily enough, the best visual of this change is JJ. She was so timid and shy in 2012, always so serious, and now she's like a totally different person, always joking around with Simone and Aly, I love it.

"I have something for you," Will said quietly that evening as he and JJ relaxed on the couch. JJ had been far too exhausted to drive home after training, and had instead decided to crash at Will's for the night… not that he minded in the slightest. After dinner and a shower, she had pulled on Will's comfiest pair of sweat pants and one of his T-shirts, and was now lying with her head in his lap as he gently stroked her hair.

"What is it?" JJ asked curiously, turning her head so she could look up at him.

Reaching behind him to the end table he had positioned behind the couch, he picked up a sealed envelope, bringing it back down and placing it in JJ's open hands.

"Open it," he said as she looked at him in confusion.

She didn't hesitate to do so, opening the top edge of the paper slip, and pulling out a small pile of neatly folded pages all emblazoned in type.

Dear JJ,

Even though you like to put on a brave face, we know you're hurting more than words could ever express. We want to see your smile, your beautiful, genuine, wholesome smile, and we want you to know that even when shit gets really tough, we're here for you and we love you.

So myself (Will), and all the girls (Aly, Simone, Laurie, Ragan, Mykayla, Ashton, Madison, Alyssa, Maggie, Amelia, Brenna, Gabby, Christina, Emily, and Rachel) have decided to make a list. It was going to be 100 reasons why we love you, but we kinda lost track along the way and now we're not sure if it's 95 or 153, but either way… it's a lot of reasons why we all love you:

We love that you can be a mess in practice and yet you've never failed to walk out and reclaim your beam title.

You have the most amazing smile.

You have a heart the size of Canada.

You're starting to terrify Simone (and we love that).

JJ laughed, looking up at Will to see him smiling down at her. Letting one hand go from the paper, she reached up and squeezed his hand lovingly, before returning to the letter.

We love that you're always laughing and joking even when life is trying to get you down.

Your Instagram photos are all our couple goals.

You're the Mom to Aly's Grandma.

We're not sure how you can have the muscle tone of a super gymnast and still look like a freaking model, but we're working on finding out.

You're an amazingly good sport.

Every little gymnast in the country adores you and you never turn anyone away when they want to meet you.

We love when you randomly start belting out stupid song lyrics at camp.

You're afraid of huge 'fucking dinosaur' lizards.

You talk so highly of your family, it's incredible.

The relationship and respect you have with your dad is truly admirable.

You're beautiful inside and out.

You always know how to make everyone else smile.

The list went on and on, but the tears blurring JJ's eyes by that point made it impossible to continue. Pushing herself up, she turned, throwing her arms around Will's neck and burying her face in his neck.

She didn't need to tell him how much she loved what they had all done.

It was all in the embrace.