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She knew Scott had cleared his schedule so they could spend some quality, quiet time together before the rehearsals for the Thank You Canada Tour began. His plans included buying all the food and wine they could possibly need during those days and not leave the house. He told Tessa he didn’t want to see any spreadsheets, go over any song choices or merch details. All he wanted was his girl and a whole way-too-much white house only for themselves.
He knew these moments were rare and would be even more once they finished their upcoming two-year plan. They would start by traveling all around Canada to perform in their own tour, with their best friends - who happened to be the best skaters in the world. It was Scott’s dream at first, which he shared during an interview before ever mentioning it to Tessa. When she watched it and noticed the joy in his voice and how his eyes were sparkling when he told the interviewer that he wanted to have his own tour, she immediately knew they were about to share another dream. And just like their previous ones, they also made this one become a reality.
This is their plan: they would finish the tour, perform in a few others in Asia and Europe, and come back to Montreal, where Scott will start what Patrice calls an “internship”. He’d help Marie France and Patrice with their skate teams at Gadbois for a year and, if he wanted to, he could have his own teams by the end of it. Tessa would finish her MBA, design her own sportswear line - with Adidas, of course - and finally consider saying yes to the many CTV’s requests for her to keep appearing in their shows - even though she’d have to go to Toronto for those. She likes to think that someday she could have her own show, but that would have to wait. She has a lot to learn. And a lot to do.
Hopefully, once the two-year period is over, they’re gonna start working on their most special project yet. Scott knows it will not only finally bring some color to their white walls, but will also make their own lives brighter. The Greatest Skaters of All Time, platonic business partners and bandmates would be described as something else: mom and dad . He hopes he can convince her to also become his wife before that, but she insists they are and always have been way more than any title a signed piece of paper could ever give them.
So yeah... That’s why Scott wanted to be alone with Tessa for a couple of days, in their house, doing everything and nothing at the same time. But she had other plans. The rehearsals would start on September 1st, a day before his birthday, because it was the only date when all of the acts would finally be available to start going over choreography and their crazy ideas for the tour. Some of the skaters would stay over their house, so that meant they wouldn’t be able to properly celebrate his birthday by themselves. Well, that was the plan before Tessa started reading a travel magazine during her flight from France. There was an article about Lava Springs, a resort in southern Utah, near the Snow Canyon State Park, that has an “18-hole golf course, a luxury spa and a Sport & Fitness center”. It also said Lava Springs was the perfect place to “relax and renew”, which was exactly what Tessa and Scott needed, she thought.
They arrived at Lava Springs late at night. Scott had had a busy day at Gadbois and as soon as he saw the king-sized bed in their room, he threw himself on the it. Tessa, despite being jet-lagged and tired from so many flights in such a short space of time, wanted to make the most of their time there.
“No, no, no. It’s way too early for bedtime. What do you think about a late night swim?”
“I think I’d rather stay here, in this cosy bed, cuddling.”
“You’re gonna cuddle your pillow, then. I’m going to the pool.”
“Can’t we do this tomorrow, babe?” He looked at her with his best puppy eyes. It wasn’t working.
“It’s fine. Let me just grab my red swimsuit from the suitcase…” And she knows she’s won. Scott stands up in less than a second.
“Actually, it’s quite hot in here and I think a night swim wouldn’t be that bad, eh? Lounge around the pool for a while… make a date with my favorite girl.”
“That’s what I thought.”
---
“2020 Olympics, anyone?” Scott says when Tessa reemerges from the water, a couple of seconds after him. They wanted to find out who could reach the other side of the pool faster. It was only the two of them out there, the other guests probably respecting the sign of “Pool is closed at this time” that the couple had just ignored.
“Now that Michael Phelps is out…”
“But is he really? He also said he was retiring after London.”
“You’re one to talk!”
“This time is real… right? For us?”
“Yeah, babe. We’re basically the grandma and grandpa of ice skating at this point.”
“You know it isn’t true. Also, speak for yourself, lady. I’m very young, full of energy, thank you very much.” He says while he flexes his arm to show off his muscles.
“Are you?” Her hands - that were moving around his chest seconds before - carefully grabbed his necklace. The one he doesn’t seem to go anywhere without. The one that almost caused a fight between the two of them.
He’d just arrived home after a very busy day at Gadbois. The living room lights were off and it was almost completely dark. He knew Tessa was home, but just like every single day of that week, was probably too busy at her office, making the final adjustments on the pieces of her collection with Hillberg and Berk. Jewelry. Exactly what was making him so nervous at that moment. He had a surprise for her. Scott turned the lights on, left his shoes by the door and opened his bag to find the reason for his anxiousness. A small black box.
He had no idea of what her reaction was going to be. Would she hate it? Would she laugh at his face? For a moment, he regretted not thinking previously of what to say to her, thought about hiding the box somewhere and only show it to her sometime later. You can do this. He grabbed the box and walked towards her office. He opened the door and she was so focused on whatever she was doing that she didn’t even notice his presence.
“Babe?” She nearly jumped out of her chair.
“Oh my God, Scott. You scared me!” Tessa puts her hand over her heart. He laughs a little.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to.” He stands by the door, one hand on the handle and the other hiding the box behind his back.
“So you almost killed me and don’t have the decency to come here and give me a kiss?” She jokingly pouts. He doesn’t move. “What’s going on?” And then she notices he’s hiding something. “What is it in your hand?”
“Nothing.” He plays with the door handle. “Just the handle.”
“The other hand?” And now she’s standing up. Curious Tessa. It’s time. He takes a deep breath.
“Listen, babe. I know we’ve talked about promise rings and how we’d probably lose them because we wouldn’t be able to wear them all the time and would very likely forget one of them in a hotel abroad, but seeing you working on your collection, an idea popped up in my mind…” He finally moves and gets closer to her, revealing the black box on his right hand. Tessa stopped walking towards him, wide-eyed.
“Scott, is this…” Her voice was wobbly, her heart was beating too fast. And then it hit him. She thinks this is a proposal. Well, not yet. Not until she’s ready.
“Oh my God, no! No, babe, no! I clearly haven’t put much thought into this. It’s not a ring.” He can see how relieved she is. It sort of hurts a little, but they’ve talked about this already and decided there was so much for them to do, to accomplish, together and separately, before taking that next step. “This is quite silly, actually.” He opens the box and she sees a very small silver charm, in the shape of a pair of skates.
“It’s so cute! Thank you!” She grabs the box from his hand and he wonders how he’s going to tell her it’s not for her.
“Huh, Tess?” He looks embarrassed.
“Yes?”
“This one is mine.” Scott can see the slight disappointment on her face. “I didn’t know how you’d react to it…”
“Why? I love it!”
“Turn it around.” She can tell he is nervous. She flips the charm and gasps.
“Oh.” It’s all that she manages to say when she sees the small T engraved on it.
“Is this a good or a bad oh?”
At first, she thought it was a little bit weird. Then, the sweetest thing ever. At that moment, under the light of the moon and with water drops falling from his hair, it turned into the hottest thing she’s ever seen.
“But I’m more of a hot uncle, you know?”
“Have I shown you the tweets of people calling us mom and dad?”
“Do they do that?”
“Yeah, it’s definitely a thing.”
“That’s weird.” She stays silent and Scott can tell her mind is somewhere else. “Earth to Tess?”
“Sorry.”
“What were you thinking about?” He notices she’s blushing. “Tess?”
“It’s silly.” She can’t even look him in the eyes, pretending she’s interested in the way the water is moving between them.
“Come on, what about ‘no more secrets between us, Scott’?” He brings her closer to him, holding her waist with one hand while the other traveled through her body.
“OK.” Tessa looks at him for half a second then decides to close her eyes. It’s been a couple of years since everything changed between her and Scott, but she still is a little bit shy around him sometimes. He loves it. He loves how she can be so shy in a moment and transform into a force of nature right after.
“I was just thinking about what you said. About being a hot uncle.” He looks at her questiongly. She slightly opens her eyes. “And I think you’re wrong. You’re more of a hot daddy .” And if someone could explode from shyness, she totally would.
“So you, Tessa Virtue…” He starts kissing her jaw. “Think I’m a hot daddy?”
Then his lips are all over her neck. She lets out a soft moan. Both of her hands are tracing his abs. He presses her against the edge of the pool. His lips are brushing hers.
“Do you?” And when she nods, he kisses her. They have no idea of how much time they spent lost in each other. Well, until they hear a deliberate cough, the sound of someone clearing a throat. They immediately disentangle themselves. The first thing they see is a pair of nicely polished shoes. Then they see they belong to a gray-haired, almost bald man, wearing a suit. He doesn’t seem very happy.
“I’m sorry to interrupt, but you know it’s way past the pool closing time, right?” The man gives them a disapproving look. He reminds Tessa of Mr. Jamison, the worst Math teacher she’s ever had. Am I about to be lectured?
“It isn’t safe to be here without a lifeguard. I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to get out of the water. And then you can continue… whatever it was that you were doing.” Tessa wants to disappear. This isn’t happening. Scott knows she’s about to have a panic attack, but when he makes a move to get closer to her, she distances herself from him.
“Mr…” Scott tries to read the man’s badge.
“Mr. Fulton. I’m the Lava Springs manager.” At least it doesn’t seem like he knows who we are.
“Mr. Fulton, sir, I must apologize. This was a terrible idea.” He can’t stop thinking that it was, in fact, a very nice idea until they were caught. When he looks at Tessa and sees the mortified expression on her face, he continues. “A terrible idea that I had.”
How gallant, but irrelevant, is what Mr. Fulton wants to say. When he sees that the pair isn’t moving at all, he says: “You have to leave the pool area.”
“Yes, yes, sure.” Scott answers. Tessa is standing still, too embarrassed to move. “T?”
They finally get out of the pool. Tessa puts her bathrobe and flip flops on and starts walking. She hears Scott saying “I’m so sorry” a few times, but doesn’t wait for him. He finally catches her when she’s about to enter their room.
“Tess?”
“Please, let’s just not talk about this.” She says as she opens the door to the room. When he mentions that they could continue what they were doing on the bathtub, she gives him a look. He tries to contain his laugh.
“I’d like to forget that water exists.”
A few minutes later, the bathrobe is lying on the floor, her swimsuit is nowhere to be seen and his swimming shorts are - somehow - hung on the bathroom door handle, water easily forgotten when Scott’s hands were all over her body and she was trying so hard to find another one of the nature’s four elements: air.
---
When Tessa arrived at the spa for her facials appointment the next morning, only one of the six reclining chairs in the room was occupied. A blonde woman, wearing a bright pink robe, had her eyes covered with cucumber slices - the rest of her face completely green. Even like that, Tessa could swear she knew the woman from somewhere. Was she a singer? A model? She couldn’t tell, but what was very clear was that the lady was someone important. The way the beauticians were nervously walking around the room with eyes wide opened told her that.
They’d just put her facial mask on - one of the estheticians is giving her a scalp massage - when she hears the voice of the woman.
“Broadway can be so exhausting, you know? They’re letting anyone star in a play these days.” She sighs. Tessa’s mind just clicks . That’s Sharpay Evans! Half of the famous Evans twins. She was a musical actress that starred in movies and Broadway shows and her brother a worldwide famous choreographer. A few weeks before, Tessa saw an ad for her Legally Blonde adaptation.
“That’s why I love coming back here. There’s always something exciting happening, ladies. Did you know that Fulton found a couple in a very compromising… situation at the pool last night?”
Tessa just freezes for a second and then starts coughing nervously, like she’d just choked on something. The esthetician takes her hands off of her and asks if she’s alright. She nods, still coughing, opens her eyes and realizes that everyone else is looking at her. She’s incredibly thankful for her mask, otherwise they’d see how embarrassed she was. She needed an out. That’s why she says the first thing that crosses her mind.
“I’m putting up together this little ice dancing tour and I would love to show you what we’re working on. I’m sure you’re way too busy and you must be here to relax, it would be okay if you said no. Really. Totally okay.” She speaks fast, without taking any time to breathe.
“Hi to you too.” Says Sharpay, laughing. Her face is completely clean now.
“Oh, hi.” Tessa waves awkwardly. “I’m so sorry, I’m Tessa Virtue.”
“Well, you clearly know who I am.” She points to her face as if to say of course you know . “I am very busy, yes, but we could talk about it over dinner? I can ask Ry to join us… A table for three? Are you here with someone?” She’s standing up, retying her robe, getting ready to leave.
“I’m here with my partner. And wait. Ry as in Ryan? Evans? Your brother?”
“Yes, you silly. Meet us at the restaurant around seven. And your partner, tell her to join us!” Sharpay storms out of the room. Tessa sees everyone letting out their breaths, like they’re relieved.
She didn’t have time to tell Sharpay that her partner was in fact, a guy.
---
“You know that’s my future kid, right?” Scott says, pointing to a little boy wearing a blue cap, who clearly was in the middle of a golf class. Small golf club in his hands, great posture, a smile on his face.
“I’m sorry, your future kid, Moir?”
“He looks like he knows what he’s doing. He’s a good golf player, I can feel it. So he’s my kid, you know.”
“Because you’re a better player than me? Is that what you’re trying to say here?”
It wasn’t a secret that they both loved golf. When he was younger, he hated the fact that Tessa was better than him at it. Now, he can’t stop bragging about it. So it was no surprise that they decided to play. They were on their way back to the hotel, after Tessa crushed him on the impressive golf course, when Tessa asked Scott to stop for a second.
“Pose for me.” She lets go of his hand to point to the view in front of them.
“T, you know I don’t li…” He’s interrupted by her.
“Please? For me?” She’s searching for her phone, that usually is kept in his pockets. An old habit that persists even when she’s carrying a purse.
“Alright.” Scott, being the dork that he is, couldn’t for the life of him pose like a normal person. He made funny faces, jumped around, put his hands together forming a heart sign - clearly mocking her.
“I got it.” She says, smiling devilishly. She opens her messaging app and searches for Alma’s name. Tessa picks one of the pictures and texts her.
Look at your goofy boy. - T
“What are you doing?”
“Texting your mom.”
“You’re sending her these pictures? You know she’s gonna ask for one of us, together. Let’s do it.” He grabs his own phone, puts his arm around Tessa and opens his camera app. They both smile to the camera as he takes the first one. Then, Tessa kisses his cheek. Another one. He looks at her with heart eyes - as always. Another one. He looks around to see if anyone is paying attention to them and once it’s a clear no, he steals a kiss, capturing the moment as well. Her phone vibrates.
Alma Moir:
Our goofy boy, T. Ours.
She reads the text and smiles at Scott.
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You’re looking at me in a funny way.”
“It’s nothing, really.”
He shrugs and then starts walking.
“Scott?” He looks back at her.
“I love you.”
---
“Remind me why we’re meeting these people? I thought Marie and Sam already had the whole choreography covered?”
“It’s Ryan and Sharpay Evans, Scott. We can’t pass up an opportunity to talk to them. They’re amazing!”
“Okay.” They’re entering the restaurant and Scott clearly doesn’t know who he’s looking for. Tessa leads the way. She can see Ryan, his mouth slightly open as if he’s in shock, looking back from them to Sharpay and exasperatedly asking her something.
“...gold medalists! Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir! I thought you were talking about some random producer, not the greatest ice dancers to ever step on Earth.” They hear him saying as they reach the table.
“Shut up.” Sharpay mumbles. “Hello! You’re a guy!” Scott seems confused. Tessa laughs.
“Yeah, I didn’t have time to tell you this morning.”
“I just assumed he was a girl. I’m sorry. Please sit. This is my brother Ryan. Ry, these are…”
“Well, I clearly know them better than you, sis.” They all laugh. This is going to be interesting. Scott and Tessa sit side by side, Scott in front of Sharpay and Tessa in front of Ryan.
“I’m sorry, I don’t really watch the Olympics. It makes me feel bad that you work for years and years for what? 3 minutes of fame?” Tessa gasps. Scott puts his hand on her knee. Calm down. “I don’t know how it is to be an Olympian, but trust me, my journey wasn’t easy as well. There was this girl, her name was Gabriella, she wanted everything I’ve worked my entire life for, you know?”
“I can relate.” Tessa immediately answers. Scott bursts out laughing.
“You know, it’s so funny to be here with you guys.” Says Ryan. “I’m here to teach a masterclass for our old high school students. Their teacher, Ms. Darbus, is a huge fan of yours. She was telling me all about her trip to Pyeongchang to see you guys compete. She said it was to celebrate her upcoming retirement and because she had to update her Twitter account.” He shrugs. “Apparently she has a, and I quote her here, a Virtuemoir stan account . Whatever that means.”
“Aw, that’s so nice of her.” A waiter pours wine for them. Tessa takes a sip.
“I can’t imagine what’s like to have a bunch of people interested in your love life.” Ryan says.
“Oh, we’re not a couple.” Tessa tells them after putting her glass back on the table.
“Really? That’s funny, ‘cause I asked Mr. Fulton, our manager, to send goodie baskets to yours and your partner’s rooms and he mentioned he only had to send one because you were sharing a room.” Says Sharpay. Scott chokes on his drink, bringing his napkin to his mouth to try to avoid a mess. Tessa drinks her wine quicker than she has ever drank something before, trying to hide - unsuccessfully - behind the glass. “There must have been some mistake, I’m sorry.”
For half a second, Scott and Tessa exchange looks. In their silent way - the result of many years of working on their communication - she tells him she’s got this and he thanks her. He sees the exact moment she changes her posture a bit and gives Ryan and Sharpay her press conference smile. She’s ready to lie. Unfortunately, that was something they had to do almost on a daily basis for the sake of keeping their relationship private. They like to think they’ve learned how to do it, but anyone who watches a 10-second clip of any interview they’ve done together in the past couple of years can tell how much they suck at it.
“Actually, we do share a room. We got used to it after so many competitions abroad. You know how expensive a room in Europe can be, right? Imagine having to pay for two...”
“I don’t, dad doesn’t want me to worry about those kind of things. And we also have some hotels in Europe so…” Sharpay shrugs. Scott tries to contain his laugh. He’s met a lot of rich people in his life, people who made his career possible, but he would never understand how their mind works.
“So you share a room and are not a couple?” Asks Ryan.
”It’s not like that with us.” Tessa answers.
“So you’re like brother and sister? We don’t sleep in the same room, me and Sharpay. I don’t think we ever did.”
“That would be weird, Ry.” She taps his shoulder. “I love you and all, but personal space is so important to me. Are you, though? Like brother and sister, I mean?”. Tessa blushes. Scott knows it’s up to him to answer that one.
“Not exactly. I would never do with a sister the things I do with Tessa. That would be way too awkward.”
“I’m not following. So what are you guys?”
“ Bandmates.” Tessa says. Scott seems surprised. “What?” She asks him.
“I thought you didn’t like the bandmates thing.” And then he starts talking between his teeth, for only her to listen to what he’s about to say. “I slept on that creepy red sofa that night, Tess.”
The waiter arrives with their dinner.
“We were starving and already ordered for all of us. But don’t worry, the food is amazing. It’s a turkey. Our turkeys are imported from Maine.” Says Sharpay. They all start to eat. Sharpay breaks the silence.
“Scott, if you want more privacy I’m pretty sure our manager can find you another room. On us, of course.” Tessa gives him a look that screams say yes and you’re a dead man.
“It’s not necessary, but thank you for your kindness.”
“Anytime.” Says Sharpay, as soon as the word leaves her mouth, she winks. Tessa immediately adjusts her own posture.
“We have a friend in common. Jeff Buttle.” Ryan says, clearly trying to change the subject.
“ Friend? ” Asks Sharpay. Ryan blushes. “They dated for a while.”
“I saw a few videos from your Stars On Ice. There was a particularly interesting one, a compilation showing the evolution of the choreography for Shape of You. It was really entertaining to see how the choreography progressed show after show, you know?” And now Scott was the one who was blushing.
“I’m sure you were amazing in that, Scott.” Sharpay tells him, touching his hand over the table. He quickly takes his hand off the table. Tessa just watches the whole scene. She could swear Sharpay was now trying to find a way to touch his hair over the table.
“We have something else in common.” Says Ryan. “I love Baz Luhrmann. He’s a genius. I read the interview where he talked about your performance at the Olympics. Moulin Rouge is one of my favorite musicals.”
“We love it. The music has been used before, our team was hesitant at first, but we managed to convince them it was the right choice for us. Eventually they all fell in love with the music, the moves and everything clicked.” Tessa tells him.
“Well, I hate it.” Says Sharpay. Scott and Tessa can see Ryan hitting her lightly with his elbow.
“I apologize for my sister. It’s just that Moulin Rouge now has a different meaning for her.”
“Of course Troy had to ruin that for me as well.”
“Troy, as in Bolton? The one who’s playing Christian on Broadway? You don’t like him?” Scott asks her, out of curiosity. He’s seen a clip of the man singing Come What May and as much as he wasn’t a musicals expert, he could see the guy had talent.
“How do you like the music? Our new pianist is amazing, right?” Ryan says in a nervous way. Tessa can tell something’s wrong.
“Excuse me, I have to go to the ladies room to reapply my lipstick. I’ll be right back.” Yeah, something was definitely wrong. She looks at Scott to see if he also thinks the situation is a little bit awkward, and his face tells her yes.
Once Sharpay is a few steps away from the table, Ryan starts talking again.
“Again, I apologize for my sister. Troy Bolton is a… delicate subject for her. They have history. But he’s an amazing guy, a friend of mine, and I’m sure I could get you guys some very nice tickets if you feel like going to New York.” He opens his wallet and hands Tessa and Scott two of his business cards. “That’s my number.”
Sharpay comes back and before sitting down, she looks at Scott questiongly.
“Do you want to dance?” She asks him. Tessa takes another sip of her wine.
“I don’t dance, no.” It’s all he manages to say. Sharpay laughs.
“You’re an ice dancer !”
“Exactly. I don’t know how to dance when I’m not on the ice.” I don’t dance with anyone but Tessa. It’s what he wants to say. Except Johnny Weir, of course.
“Well, that’s sad.” She finally sits. “Scott?”
“Yes?”
“Did I tell you that your shirt matches your eyes?” And that’s it for him. He checks to see if Tessa has already finished her dinner and stands up. “This was lovely, but I’m afraid we have to call it a night. We have a Skype meeting with some producers from Japan.” Do we? Tessa almost asks before realizing that’s his way of politely saying goodbye.
“Yes. For a tour. Next year.” Says Tessa, standing up as well.
“But we didn’t have time to talk about your tour!” Sharpay is pouting.
“Next time!” Says Scott, shaking Ryan’s hand. He also shakes hers. Tessa hugs both of them.
When they leave the restaurant to go back to their room, Scott says:
“How do you feel about a dip in the pool?” She punches him in the arm.
“Ouch.”
“You deserve it.”
“Well, that was not my idea, babe.”
And when they’re entering their room:
“How do you feel about sleeping on the floor tonight, babe ?”
“I think that if I’m on the floor I won’t be able to do this…” He kisses the back of her neck. “Or this…” His tongue meets her earlobe. “Or this.” He bites her lower lip;
“Maybe you could do all of this and then sleep on the floor?” She laughs, pushing him to the bed.
It’s 4 a.m when Tessa wakes Scott up with kisses. He slowly opens his eyes, scans the room and notices their luggage by the door. He looks at her, confused.
“Wake up, babe. We’re going to New York.”