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Every single second of the 21 years of Scott’s life that he has spent with Tessa has been more special than the last. He treasures every practice, every event, every meeting that they go to and is able to put up with all the little inconveniences because she has been by his side the whole way. Although, because of a certain answer to a certain question they can never seem to avoid, Scott is unsure if Tessa feels the same way.
They have been getting the “Are you or aren’t you?” question for years now and, while the answers may vary slightly, they all vary around the same idea: “no, we aren’t,” even though they are and have been for about a month. It’s stopped bothering Scott because so long as they have the chemistry that they do, they will never be able to dodge the question. However, Tessa seems to be annoyed with the frequented question.
“Why do people always have to assume that we’re dating? I mean, we are, but I’m not ready to expose that part of our lives yet.” Tessa ponders in their car ride to the next interview, internally formulating her pre-meditated responses to the inevitable questions.
“Not sure, T. Even a blind man could see the chemistry we have on and off the ice, it’s really not that hard to get.” Scott responds with a sigh while looking down at his fidgeting thumbs in his lap.
“Yeah, I get that, but I just mean why is it these people’s business anyways? Would they want the tables to be turned and us to ask them about their-“
“Are you ashamed of me?”
Scott’s interruption catches Tessa off guard.
“I don’t- What do you-“
"You'd rather keep our relationship hidden like it's something to be embarrassed of and dodge questions about us than finally admitting that we're a couple? Are you ashamed of me? Ashamed of us?"
“Scott, I could never be ashamed of you. I- I love you, Scott, more than anything. I just-“
“Then why don’t you tell everyone just how much you love me?” Scott retorted with an admitted attitude, knowing that she loved him, but still unsure what was holding her back from telling the world that.
Tessa’s defeated eyes and silence gave Scott all of the answers he needed.
“That’s what I thought. T, I’m in love with you. So in love with you and so proud of you that I want to shout it from the rooftops all day and all night long. And I’m still searching for the reason of why you wouldn’t want to do the same.”
Tessa tore her gaze away from Scott’s and turned her body so she was facing forward again. They rode to their next interview in silence, the only contact they had being Tessa grabbing Scott’s hand that was resting in the empty middle seat and giving it a squeeze, as if to reassure and appease Scott before they had to show their faces again. They pulled into stage lot for their next interview and even though Scott put a smile on his face as soon as he got out of the car, Tessa could read right through it and she knew she had to make this right.
They did their usual routine when they went to the site of a new interview: met the hosts, introduced themselves to the staff and crew, and waited for their cue to go out to the stage. Tessa and Scott had refrained from speaking to each other for what was nearing on an hour now. Although, as soon as they got their cue to go on stage, Scott’s anger and sadness seemed to fly away and they both walked out there with bright smiles and Scott’s hand on her lower back.
Let’s see how this goes.
//
They have been talking to the hosts for about 5 minutes now and they are nearing the part of almost all of their interviews where they confront the dating question.
“So, you two have been in the spotlight since the Pyeongchang Olympics for many reasons. But, there’s one thing that many people seem to care about more than others,” the female host says with a smirk and side eye. “Everyone is dying to know if you two are a couple, so what can you tell us about that?”
Tessa and Scott glance at each other and wait for the other to say something first. Scott decides to be the one to break the silence.
“Well, we truly take it as a compliment when people find our chemistry so moving and it makes us feel very proud of our performance. As for the personal aspect of it, I just don’t 100% know where we stand on that.” Scott finishes talking with a sigh.
“I do.”
Scott gets interrupted by Tessa and is met with confusion and Tessa’s hands resting on top of his on the table in front of them. They meet each other’s eyes and calling Scott lost right now would be a grave understatement.
“I love Scott. I love him now, I have since I was 7 years old, and I will continue to for the rest of my life. Up until today, I was unsure if I wanted to expose that part of our lives because I didn’t want our personal business to be picked apart and ridiculed by the public. But, I’m not sure why I was so hesitant to show off the amazing man that I have been so lucky to have by my side for almost my whole life.” Scott’s eyes are still on Tessa while she explains herself to the interviewer.
Scott can’t help but feel overjoyed at the fact that they weren’t just outed as a couple, but Tessa was the one to do the outing. Tessa has never been one to be super out there with her emotions, so this filled Scott’s heart with so much love for the beautiful woman sitting next to him.
“Well, there you have it everyone! These two lovebirds have officially announced that they are a couple and our phone lines are already blowing up! We’ll be right back with Tessa and Scott in just a minute.” The excited interviewer turns to them when they cut to commercial and starts speaking a mile a minute about this and that about how great they are for ratings and how cute they are together and Tessa swears she hears something about how cute their children would be. Tessa quickly, but always politely, cuts off the interviewer.
“You’re so lovely, thank you so much! Would it be okay if Scott and I ran to our dressing room for a minute?”
Scott glances at Tessa and their eyes meet at the same time.
“Oh, uh, yeah, of course! Take your time! But not too long because we do come back from commercial soon, but no rush at all! I just want-“
“Okay, we’ll be right back!” Tessa interjects and grabs Scott’s hand and rushes them into their dressing room.
“Look, I know I said I wasn’t gonna out us, but I know you were upset and I’m sorry and I wanted to make it right and-“
Tessa is cut off by Scott’s hands on her hips pulling her in for a kiss. She is startled at first, but kissing Scott is second nature to her at this point, and she melts into him immediately. Tessa had been fighting her feelings for so long that everything finally clicked into place the moment their lips connected. There was always something she felt was missing in her heart and in that moment, she knew that loving this man fully and letting everyone know about it was the missing piece.
“Don’t even think of apologizing for letting the world know that you’re mine. I will never hesitate to let every single person on this planet know just how much I love you.” Scott’s reassuring words calm Tessa down a bit, but she can’t help but wonder if this was the right decision.
“As if people didn’t already hound us about our personal relationship, it’s going to be even crazier now and it’s because of me.” Scott moves his hands from her hips to her face just to make sure she fully understands him.
“Do you understand how happy you just made me? Let them talk about us. You mean more to me than anything in the world and now everyone knows, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. God, I love you so much.”
They embrace in a hug and Scott lifts Tessa off of the ground and spins her in a circle. The smile that has stretched onto Tessa’s face is one she never wants to leave and is sure it never will so long as she as Scott by her side.
Any sliver of doubt Tessa had in her mind had officially left and she feels ridiculous for not wanting the whole world to know about the dream of a man she’s had on her arm for 21 years. Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir were now officially out there as a couple after 21 years, and neither of them would want it any other way.