Chapter Text
“Have you seen this kid? He’s only eighteen years old and quite possibly the best figure skater in the world. This internet sensation and national champion Canadian figure skater has everybody calling him ‘The Quad God’ because he has been able to do what no skater before him has. Nikolai Hollander-Rozanov–yes, his dads are the famous hockey players–has made quite the name for himself in the figure skating world. After posting a viral video of him successfully landing a quadruple axel jump, and being the first person to ever publicly do so, Hollander-Rozanov went absolutely viral. People on every social media platform were going crazy over his unseen talent and the craze only grew when they realized who his parents are. Here at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Nikolai Hollander-Rozanov will be representing his home country of Canada to hopefully bring home some medals, and I have no doubt that he will. After watching some footage of what this kid can do, I have to say, I am beyond impressed at his skill. Not to mention that he is not the only one in his family here to compete in Milan. His older sister Anastasia Hollander-Rozanov, at only nineteen years old, is the youngest woman to ever compete in Olympic Ice Hockey. What a talented family, I must say. I cannot wait to see where Nikolai goes in these games and I know that I am not the only one who is excited to see the Quad God in action on the ice tomorrow during the team skating event.”
Everyone was gushing over Niko’s talent. He’d gotten countless dm’s from others in the figure skating world asking for help or just giving him compliments on his talent.
Having lived in his fathers’ shadows his whole life, Nikolai was thrilled to finally be gaining his own reputation and getting recognition for the art that he’d been working on since he was only three years old.
Niko Hollander-Rozanov had worked his ass off to get to where he is now. From day one, Niko had gotten unconditional support from his dads. It even got so far that Shane was now Niko’s head coach and learned every single thing having to do with figure skating just to be able to support him. Shane Hollander-Rozanov drove his son to every practice, every competition, every private training session, and when he finally decided to step up and be his coach, he stayed by Niko’s side through every up and down.
Being able to coach his son in the Olympics while his husband was the head coach for the Canadian women’s hockey team made Shane feel incredibly proud. It was what he and Ilya had wanted since they decided to slow down on their own hockey journeys.
The day that Niko found out that he had actually made the Olympic team, something in him shifted. A newfound sense of confidence and comfort flooded his mind and body and suddenly he was his own person, outside of his dads, and things began to feel real.
The minute he stepped foot in the Olympic Village, Niko was the Quad God not Shane and Ilya’s son. He was the figure skating champion and the favorite to win the gold medal for his home country.
Everyone knew Niko’s name around the Olympic Village. People from other sports and countries were pulling him aside to ask for pictures. Niko was used to watching his dads do this and having to take the pictures. He never thought that he would be the one in the picture.
Even Niko’s childhood idol and now biggest competitor, Theodore Turner, said hi to him and asked for a picture when they crossed paths at the rink during their practice time.
Theo Turner was the best figure skater of all time. Was. This was only Theo’s second Olympics representing the USA. He’d even gotten gold the first time, but now there was competition. Now there was Niko.
Niko could barely recall their interaction. He was so starstruck by his presence and entranced by his looks that he knew he had to have stuttered through the whole thing. When he checked his phone later that day, the picture of him and Theo was the last one in his camera roll.
He should’ve said no. Niko should not have gotten that picture with Theo and should have stayed focused on practicing for his Olympic debut. But he didn’t. He got the picture and distracted himself and totally threw off his game.
Spiraling in his thoughts, Niko convinced himself that he was only thrown off because of Theo’s intimidation. No other reason…
“Nik!” Shane snapped him out of whatever trance he was in. “Did you hear me?”
“No. Sorry,” Niko actually listened to his dad this time.
“Papa and Ana are playing in an hour or so. It’s their first game, so we’re going to go and watch them. We can see if you can get some practice time in a bit.” Shane checked his watch nervously. If there was one thing to know about Shane, it's that he is always anxious. He has to arrive to everything at least thirty minutes early so he knows he won’t be late.
“Right.” Back to reality. “When should we head over?”
“I’m going to head over now to talk to papa before the game. I don’t care when you come as long as you aren’t late. I’ll save you a seat.”
“I’m going to grab some food. Want anything?”
“You know what I want,” Shane smiled at his son and hugged him before going off to the hockey rink.
Niko made the short journey to the dining hall. He didn’t know what he wanted, but knew he couldn’t take too much time trying to figure it out because Shane would kill him if he missed any part of Ilya and Ana’s game.
In line for the buffet, Niko decided to take five of the infamous Olympic chocolate muffins. One for now, one for later, one for his dad, one for his papa, and one for his sister after she wins her game. Good thing he had a backpack on.
“Quad God?” Someone laughed in line behind Niko as he was shoving a muffin in his face. Niko turned around and came face to face with the last person he wanted to see.
“Hi, Theo,” he mumbled with his mouth still full of food.
“You seem a bit preoccupied," Theo noticed and began to walk away.
“Wait!” Niko yelled despite his better judgement telling him not to. He swallowed the last bit of the muffin and spoke up. “What's up?” he asked Theo, stepping closer to him.
“Oh, nothing.” Theo shrugged nonchalantly and smiled. “Just wanted to see what you were up to.”
“I’m about to go watch my dad and sister in hockey. I think they play Sweden so we should have no issue winning.” Niko laughed nervously and looked down at his shoes.
“Ilya Rozanov is coaching the Canadian women’s hockey team?” Theo’s jaw dropped. “I have to come see this.”
“My other dad will be there too,” Niko stupidly added. “Well, I have to head out so I guess I’ll see you later.” All of Niko’s confidence was erased the second the guy that was supposed to be his arch rival showed up.
“I’m coming with you.” Theo grabbed a muffin from the buffet and suddenly Niko was regretting every single decision he’d made in the past five minutes.
The journey to the hockey arena felt eternally long. Theo kept cracking stupid and cocky jokes while Niko awkwardly laughed in response.
“I’ve looked up to your dads since I was a kid. Their rivalry took over every bit of my life. I had posters of them in my room and everything. When they came out, well, when they were outed- I was kind of surprised. But, honestly I was happy to see it. They gave me the courage to come out to my family. It was different since I was never a manly hockey player, but seeing other guys like me on the ice changed something for me.” Theo’s cockiness and confidence seemed to dim a bit as he told Niko all of this.
“That’s kind of crazy,” Niko joked. “I looked up to you since the first time my dad took me to the juniors. I think you were twelve which would’ve made me…”
“Seven,” Theo responded for him. “Well look where we are now. You’re going to look great in silver, don’t worry kid.”
“You fucking wish,” Niko laughed and gave him a playful shove.
They entered the arena together despite the fact that they were supposed to be sworn enemies.
Niko immediately recognized Shane sitting in the front row right behind the Canadian bench. “Hey, dad,” he said as he and Theo approached Shane.
“Nikolai, why are you hanging out with the enemy?! No offense, of course. You’re incredible.” Shane gave his son the look that said more than words could have.
“You can’t be talking. You were secretly having sex with papa for how long while you two were the biggest rivals in the NHL?” Niko shot back, secretly proud of himself.
“That’s enough. Sit down.” Shane’s face went red as he turned his attention back to the Canadian and Swedish hockey teams warming up.
“Plus, he just wanted to see the game.” Niko shot a look at his dad who shot one right back.
“Mr. Turner, would you mind giving us a minute?” Shane asked, putting on a fake smile.
“Of course. I’ll go find a seat with some teammates. Have a great rest of your day. I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘Quad God’.” He put emphasis on the world famous nickname and had the audacity to wink at Niko as he walked away.
“Nikolai Ilia Hollander-Rozanov, do you think I’m stupid?” Shane asked with a look that was a mix between concern, pride and distress.
“Dad, I swear there is nothing going on. He’s my number one competition and I cannot mess up my game, you know this. Did you really think I’d stoop that low?” Niko regretted the question as soon as he asked it.
“Well, you are my son, so yes.” Shane smiled at Niko and lightly nudged him to show that he was joking, though he really wasn’t. “Speaking of competition, have you watched any of the films I’ve sent you?”
“Dad, for the last time, this isn’t hockey. I don’t need to study my opponent’s games.” Shane was always slightly stuck in the hockey mindset, but Niko grew used to it.
“Well, we’re going to practice as soon as the game is over. I told your papa that we would get lunch, but that’s just going to have to depend on how long you can practice since they want you at the front of the line for Canada in the opening ceremony tonight and holding the flag.” The pressure was growing with every new thing that people wanted to see from Niko.
“Noted,” Niko said dully, moving his focus to the hockey game that was now beginning in front of him.
“Oh!” Shane remembered something. “I have something that I want you to try too. It’s going to be risky but if you can pull it off…” Shane trailed off, leaving the rest to imagination.
Team Canada won in a shut out game against Sweden. Anastasia got a hat trick and had the best game of her life.
“What did you want me to try?” Niko asked his dad when they finally got time on the ice.
“You can do a backflip, correct?” Shane started out by asking.
“Yes.”
“Do one on the ice.” Shane said it like it was nothing. He said it as if he was asking Niko to do a single toe jump.
“What?” He knew how cool it would be and how cool it would make him, but it was too much of a risk. He had his Olympic debut in twenty-four hours and he was not going to risk breaking a wrist or his neck.
“Just do it. Don’t think about it.”
“Dad, I’m not-”
“Do it.” Shane pushed him both physically and metaphorically to do the flip.
Niko skated around and did a few simple jumps to warm himself up and then he went for it. The first one was not great. He over rotated and fell, but did so without hurting himself. It took a few tries to get used to the take off and to know how much to rotate, but after six or so attempts, he stuck the landing.
“I told you!” Shane shouted with his voice full of pride. “You got it!”
Niko skated back over to Shane with a huge smile on his face. “Where is it going?” he asked eagerly.
“Not in your short program tomorrow. We can keep working on it so maybe we can add it to your free skate in a few days.”
They continued to practice and went over Niko’s short program a few times to be sure he was ready for his first event.
“Go get ready for the ceremony. I’ll be waiting with a car at 1:00 to take you.” Shane hugged his son and left to go back to his hotel
Niko rushed back to his room to get ready for the ceremony. He had only known for a few days that he was chosen to hold the flag for Team Canada.
He tried to style his hair but it still ended up looking like a mess of dark curls. Some athleisure brand had supplied the athletes with some extravagant outfits to wear for the ceremony. It was a lot but very representative of Canada.
Just like he promised, Shane was waiting for Niko in his rental car at exactly 1:00. Niko hopped in the car and they sped off to the arena where the ceremony was being held.
“Should I be nervous?” Niko asked, biting at the loose skin on his lips.
“Just don’t drop the flag,” Shane responded with a laugh.
“You’re really helpful. Thanks.” Niko rolled his eyes but inevitably chuckled at his dad’s stupid reply.
The ceremony ended up going really well. Niko didn’t drop the flag and led his country with pride. The only downsides were the extreme cold and the outfits they had to wear.
Shane, Ilya, Ana and Niko all met up for dinner at some fancy restaurant after the ceremony to catch up. They hadn’t really seen each other in a few days between all of the practices and differing flights.
“You played really great today,” Niko praised his sister.
“I know,” she joked around, showing off her cockiness that she inherited from Ilya.
The dinner was nice. They felt like a normal family that wasn’t separated all the time because of sports and professions getting in the way. They joked with each other, tried each others’ food, and shared stories. It felt good being normal for once.
Once dinner ended, Niko took his time getting back to his room. After finding out that he made the Olympic team, all of the members met up for lunch a few times a month. They were all incredibly nice and even more talented than Niko could fathom. His roommate, Mat, especially. Mat was technically from Russia but gained Canadian citizenship from his father. He was an incredibly talented figure skater and had already won a silver medal and two world championships.
It was getting late but Niko was restless. He just exerted almost all of his energy on the ice but still felt as if he could run a marathon.
“You alright, kid?” a familiar voice spoke behind him.
“Yeah,” he responded confidently.
“Go to bed. You compete tomorrow, you know that right?” Theo looked down at him.
“It’s the team event. My teammates have a lot more talent than I do. If I’m off my game, we can still win,” Niko spoke through a yawn.
“You’re going to let me win?”
“I never said that.” Niko’s tone grew defensive.
“Ah, so I just have more talent than you and I’m going to win anyways?” His cocky voice grew husky as the night dawned on him.
“Shut up,” Niko said in a half playful voice.
“Make me,” Theo’s voice was low and hopeful. He crept forward, closer to Niko, until their faces were mere inches apart. Theo’s breath was hot on Niko’s skin. His eyes were dark and full of need. As Theo moved his face closer to Niko’s, Niko was frozen.
Thoughts were racing through his mind faster than he could comprehend. This was an absolutely horrible idea. Niko swore nothing would get in his way and nothing would interfere with him winning gold but standing in front of him was the biggest and most expected obstacle: a dark haired American who was considered old by the figure skating community and had a perfect smile with a slight dimple on his left cheek.
Theo’s lips parted as his face nearly touched Niko’s.
“I should go.” Niko backed away and stared at Theo. Theo’s demeanor totally changed. He was depleted of all previous confidence and arrogance. It was, instead, replaced with regret and disappointment.
Niko turned around and fled. He walked as fast as he could and felt a rush of relief once he made it back to his room. Luckily, Mat was fast asleep so Niko could sit in peace and have time to process whatever the hell just happened. Well, almost happened.
He lay in his bed in the pitch black, staring up at the dark ceiling. Niko knew he desperately needed sleep but he still couldn’t. The adrenaline was too much and the anticipation of the competition was getting to him.
Earlier that day, Niko had stayed to watch the first two events for his team. He couldn’t exactly focus on anything though. He was too overwhelmed by everything going on around him.
His team did decently well in the first few events. They got first in ice dance, second in women’s short, and fifth in pairs. Now it was up to Niko to do well enough to move them forward.
Slowly drifting into sleep, Niko let his thoughts wander and the first thing that they landed on was Theo.
He shut his brain off and went to sleep.
The next day, Niko’s alarm woke him up bright and early. His plan was to hit the gym, get a nice breakfast and some much needed caffeine, and then meet up with his dads and the team for some motivation and prep.
The gym was packed, as expected. Every treadmill was in use, every stationary bike, nearly every weightlifting machine. Niko needed cardio. It was too damn cold in Milan to go on an outdoor run. He just had to camp out and wait for one of the treadmills or bikes to open.
After his workout, Niko headed to the dining hall. It wasn’t nearly as packed as the gym, but still pretty full. Niko knew he wouldn’t see either of his dads there because they decided to rent some fancy ass hotel to be able to sleep in the same room. Niko searched around for familiar faces and landed on one. Theo. His eyes kept scanning but didn’t come across anyone else he knew. Obviously, he was not going to sit next to Theo. He wouldn’t have even if he’d been standing for days and it was the only seat in the entire world. Dramatic? Yes. Valid? Also yes.
“Quad!” a male voice shouted from behind Niko. His fists clenched, thinking it was Theo. It turned out to be one of Niko’s teammates: Noah. He and his partner on the ice were married. They were partners for ten years before falling in love and deciding to tie the knot. Everyone envied their chemistry and how perfect they were for one another. Noah and Katie were the definition of soulmates.
Not only were they adorable, but they were also the most down to earth and kind people that Niko had ever been around. They acted like the parents of the team, making sure everyone eats proper meals, takes care of themselves and is staying positive.
“Hey, kid.” Noah approached Niko and patted him on the shoulder in a fatherly manner. “What’s wrong?”
Niko tried to lie and say he was fine but his new and very apparent stutter blew his cover.
“Don’t say you’re fine because I know you’re not.” Exactly.
“Some shit went down with Turner last night.” Using his last name helped Niko to think of him as the guy he used to watch on tv, not the guy who almost kissed him.
“Like what? What did that asshole do?” Noah puffed his chest and scanned the room to find Theo.
“Nothing. Don’t worry about it. It just threw me off a bit.” It definitely wasn’t nothing but how could Niko tell him the truth? He’d be outing himself when he hadn’t come out to anyone yet and he’d probably fuck up Theo’s reputation or his own somehow.
“Tell you what, come have breakfast with the rest of the team. We need you to get your head in the game. We have to win this.” Niko nodded and brought his food over to the table of Team Canada. It was a mixture of figure skaters, hockey players, curlers, skiers, and everyone in between.
Niko introduced himself and was beyond shocked to know that everyone already knew who he was. Yes, Niko was sort of an internet sensation, but for some of the biggest names in Canadian sports history to recognize him seemed impossible.
“We all know you! We were actually just talking about you,” Mel, a gold medalist in ski halfpipe announced.
“Good things, I hope,” Niko chuckled nervously. To be in the presence of Canadian royalty was one thing, but to have them talk about him and know him was entirely another.
“We all can’t wait to see you later tonight!”
“You’re all coming?”
“Of course! I’ve been wanting to see you perform in person since the first time one of your videos came across my feed.”
The conversations between everyone at the table and Niko were surreal for him. Hockey players that played with Niko’s dads were there and gushing over Niko, not his parents.
After all of the figure skaters finished their food, they had to rush over to their meeting area to go over the plan for the day.
Nerves flooded Niko’s body. It was his Olympic debut and there was so much pressure to perform well and be as perfect as he was in practice.
A small bus came to pick the team up and bring them to the hotel that Shane and Ilya were staying at. They convinced the hotel to let them use the conference room to meet with the team, and they would be using it every day until the figure skating events concluded.
“You ready?” Elissa, one of the women's single skaters, asked as she took the seat next to Niko.
“I’m alright.” Niko kept his focus out the window.
Elissa’s event was the day before and she had done incredibly well. She missed one of her axels, but that happened a lot when it came to high pressure events. She got second, only losing by a few points.
“You’re going to do great,” she encouraged.
Niko finally turned to her. His face was red. He let his anxiety finally take over. It was only a matter of time before Niko finally felt anxious about his first Olympic program. So many people were counting on him and watching, hoping he would do good. Not to mention the sheer pressure that he had on him to beat Theo.
“Niko, listen.” Elissa was a very supportive person and one of the few people that made Niko feel better after a big screw up in their joint practices. “You’re going to beat that asshole.” Theodore Turner. Thinking about him made Niko’s stomach turn. Should he have given in last night and accepted his fate? Did he fuck up?
“That’s not what I’m worried about. I know I’m going to beat him.” Niko took a breath. “I feel like there’s so much pressure on me. I can’t screw up anything without letting millions of people down.” It felt nice to get it off his chest, but the weight was still on his shoulders.
Elissa gave him some encouragement and then changed the subject to get his mind away from the inevitable anxiety.
Shane and Ilya were waiting at the front of the hotel for the bus to arrive. All of the skaters and coaches made their way off the bus and followed the Hollander-Rozanovs to the large conference room.
The array of varying coaches all stood at the front of the room as the skaters sat around a table. Shane approached Niko and pulled him aside.
Niko’s eyes were beginning to well with tears. He wasn’t sad, he just had no other way to get rid of the anxiety and pressure that he was feeling. On the bus, Niko made the mistake of checking his phone. His social media messages were filled with people tagging him in posts about what they expect from him in his performance. People said they expected four quads in his short program and at least six in his long program. They wanted to see some more tricks that had never been seen before and expected him to score at least a 105.
“Nik, are you listening?” Shane studied his son’s face and saw no emotion.
“Yeah, sorry.” Niko looked his dad in the eye and took a deep breath.
“Take a deep breath,” Shane demanded and Niko did as he said. “Good. I need you to stay off of your phone,” he added as if reading Niko’s mind. “It isn’t going to help anything.” Shane put his hands on Niko’s shoulders and looked him in the eye. “You know you can do this. You did it three times last night so what’s one more? I have more to say, but I’m saving it until before your program. Just let yourself relax until then, okay? Enjoy time with your teammates and don’t be nervous. You aren’t allowed to feel nervous until ten minutes before you hit the ice. Sound like a deal?”
Niko gave his dad a look that said he was insane. How could he not be nervous? He had the weight of the world on his shoulders to perform well and an extra weight to beat Theo.
“Stop it,” Shane snapped. “I will bring papa over here to beat the nerves out of you if I have to.” That made Niko chuckle and he tried to ignore the nerves. “Good. Now go sit down,” Shane smiled at his son and watched as he walked away.
Taking a seat between Elissa and Mat, the other male’s single skater, Niko looked up at all of the coaches and saw Shane conversing with Elissa’s coach about something. Ilya stood next to his husband awkwardly and his face lit up when his eyes met his son’s. He shot a wink at Niko and watched as the smile grew on his face. Niko was a near mirror image of Shane. He got his freckles, nervous smile, and dark hair. He only had Ilya’s blue eyes and curls. Ilya loved how he looked and acted like Shane because it reminded him that he had two guys in his life that he loved. Ana, on the other hand, was a spitting image of Ilya. She had his eyes, curls, cocky smile, face shape, everything. She looked as if Ilya had dark hair. He loved the two of them and Shane with everything in him.
“Holy shit,” Niko heard Elissa whisper from beside him. She was only twenty but had the maturity of a school age kid.
“What’s wrong?” Niko asked, worried about what had just happened.
“Your dad is so hot.”
Niko felt his face go red. “Shane?” he asked stupidly.
“Well, yeah,” Elissa laughed. “But I was talking about Ilya.”
“Oh,” Niko laughed nervously. People complimented his dads all the time but it was weird hearing it from one of his friends.
“Alright, listen up!” Mike, the Canadian figure skating director, got everyone’s attention. “I know you remember this from yesterday, so I’ll keep it short and sweet. You two,” he pointed to Niko and Mat. “You’re going to crush it. Don’t be too nervous, stick to what you know, if you fall, you fall. It’s not the end of the world. I don’t care if you get first or if you get last, I just care that you do your best.” He smiled at the two young men as they nodded their heads along to agree with what he said. “Now, you two,” he gestured toward Noah and Katie who also had their event today. “Same goes for you. You fucking crushed it yesterday, so just do the same thing today.” He continued to drone on about something to do with strategy and mental health and Niko stopped paying attention.
He stared off at some random spot on the wall and went over his routine in his head. Niko thought he was going to forget his routine. The one they had been curating for months. He’d never forgotten a routine in his life so why was he expecting it to happen now?
His mind then wandered to last night. He could still perfectly picture the moment: Niko telling Theo to shut up, and Theo telling Niko to make him shut up and then bringing his face closer and Niko could smell his cologne and the mintiness on his breath and the warmth radiating off his body and–
“Nikolai!” someone barked. “Are you listening? This is important.” It was Mike. Of course. The only person Niko actually needed to listen to. Instead he was daydreaming about some self-centered douche who tried to kiss him.
“Yes sir.” Niko looked into his eyes and nodded his head to show that he was paying attention.
After Mike droned on and on about more random shit that was irrelevant to Niko, the meeting concluded and it was time to head to the rink to start getting ready.
Niko was going second to last. Of course he was. He was the one that everyone wanted to see and the only way to keep everyone watching was to have him go close to last.
There was a small training area that Niko decided to camp out in. Since he claimed it first, no one dared to come in and bother him. Except Shane.
“You doing alright, Nik?” Shane asked with a worried expression on his face.
“Fine.” Niko stayed focused. He found a jump rope on the ground and used it to his advantage. He hadn’t gotten to work out as much as he would have liked to that morning, so he was doing it now. Plus, the physical exertion helped get rid of the nerves.
“Want me to leave you alone?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll come back when you need to start making your way out. You’re going to do great. I love you.” Shane smiled at his son and then left him alone.
Once Shane was out of the room, Niko stopped his jump rope and grabbed his phone and earbuds. He pulled up the livestream of the event and listened to it as he tested out the various machines in the room.
No one was doing very good. Great Britain fell and seemed to have let the nerves get to him. Italy came in and landed most of their jumps but then fell on the last two.
Things weren’t going well until France came in. He had a solid routine and landed all of his jumps without a problem. He was now the person to beat, and Niko was confident he could.
With five people left, including Niko, Shane came in to bring Niko into the hall to get ready. They were going to clean the ice and then give the last five skaters their six minutes to warm up.
Niko was allowed to feel nervous now. It was his allotted time that Shane gave him. For some reason, though, he wasn't nervous at all. He peeked his head out to look at the crowd and saw the whole Canadian team sitting together in their red and white outfits, ready to cheer him on. Near them was most of the Canadian women’s hockey team, here to support their coach’s son and husband. Speaking of Ilya, he was standing down near the ice, ready to yell whatever motivating thing he needed to.
When Niko’s skates landed on the ice for warm ups, everything disappeared. It was him, the ice, and nothing else. Obviously there were four other people and possibly thousands of people watching from the audience, but Niko felt like it was just him. The world was his and he had complete control over everything; every thought, every movement, every calculated jump, turn and trick.
The six minutes were over just as fast as they had begun. As Niko began to step off the ice, he heard a chirp behind him, “Try not to fuck this up, kid. Or should I be bowing down to you since you’re a ‘god’?” Theo was trying to fuck with his head less than twelve hours after he nearly kissed him.
“Come on. Ignore him.” Shane handed Niko his skate guards and jacket and pulled him off of the ice.
Niko was now pacing back and forth down the hallway. Why the hell would Theo do that? So what, Niko swerved his kiss and then practically ran away? Grow up.
Theo stood against one of the walls in the hallway, waiting for Niko to notice him. He stared at him, noticed every detail of the sparkling gems on his costumes, the way his curls bounced as he walked and his blue eyes glimmered in the dim lighting.
“You know you’re not going to win, right?” Theo made his presence known.
“What?” Niko responded with a frightened look on his face.
“You’re a child. You don’t know what you’re doing out there. You’re going to screw up and let everyone down.” Theo knew the only way to get back at Niko was to destroy his ego and confidence.
“Fuck you,” Niko grunted as he wiped away a stray tear and walked out to be ready for when it was his turn.
Unbeknownst to him, Theo followed him out of the hallway and took a seat to watch his program.
Niko went over to Shane to get some of his confidence back and tell him what Theo said.
“What happened?” Ilya asked as he stalked over to the two of them conversing against a wall.
“Turner is fucking with his head. He’s breaking him down so that he can win again. He’s such an asshole. Why were you hanging out with him yesterday, Nik?” Shane’s face grew red with anger.
“You what?” Ilya asked, his face also beginning to redden.
“I thought he was a good person! I wanted to give him a chance and so I did and then something happened last night and he tried to kiss me and–”
“He tried to what?” Ilya’s voice grew louder and Shane had to shush him to keep his voice quiet. “Okay, Nik. You listen to me.” Ilya switched to Russian mode and began to give his son a pep talk. “Ty — luchshiy, blyad', figurist, kotorogo ya kogda-libo videl. Yesli etot pridurok khochet slomit' tvoyu uverennost', poshli yego nakhuy. Yesli yedinstvennyy sposob dlya nego pobedit' — eto zastavit' tebya chuvstvovat' sebya plokho, to eto dokazyvayet, kto iz nas luchshiy figurist. A teper' ya khochu, chtoby ty vyshel na led i sdelal vse, na chto, kak my oba znayem, ty sposoben. Idi i unichtozh' yego, blyad'! Ty smozhesh'!” You are the best fucking skater I've ever seen. If that asshole wants to ruin your confidence, fuck him. If the only way he's going to beat you is by making you feel bad, then that proves who's the better skater. Now I want you to get out there and do everything we both know you're capable of. Go destroy him, fucking man! You can do it!
The last skater, who was from Georgia, stepped off the ice and made his way into the seats to wait for his score. This was Niko’s cue to get on the ice and get himself ready.
He had a minute of two to skate around and practice some last minute jumps, but then it was time to begin.
Niko made his way to the middle of the ice and prepared himself to start. He looked over at his dads who gave him a nod of approval, and then looked around to see who else he would recognize. Huge mistake. Sitting to the right of the judges table was the last person he wanted to see. Theo was casually sitting there to watch Niko’s routine as if nothing happened.
As the music started, Niko began his program. He landed his first few jumps, remembered everything, and stayed on beat. Usually, as soon as the music began, Niko’s mind emptied. He usually had that freeing feeling when he was on the ice and it was even more present during high stakes competitions. Something about the atmosphere was throwing Niko off his game. He set himself up for a triple axel. It was supposed to be easy. Simple takeoff, simple landing. No. He missed the landing. He saw Theo staring at him and that asshole was the reason he missed the landing on his triple axel.
Niko had to stand right back up and act as if nothing happened. He had to finish out his program and make sure everything was perfect. No mistakes. No flaws. Straight, clear mind.
Once his music and routine came to a close, the audience erupted with cheers. Everyone was so proud of the Quad God and despite the fall, his team was still cheering the loudest. Theo, on the other hand, had a grim look on his face as he approached his coaches.
Niko took his bows and met Shane at the exit of the ice with tears starting to well in his eyes.
“You did amazing!” Shane wrapped Niko in a tight hug once he was fully off of the ice. “I’m so proud of you. I’m so, so, so proud of you, Nik.” Shane’s eyes were glossed over with unshed tears of pride.
As Niko looked to the left of Shane, he saw Ilya wiping tears off of his own cheek. “Come here,” he said, pulling Niko into an even tighter hug. “You did so good, Nikolai.” He planted a sloppy kiss into Niko’s neat curls.
After some more congratulating, Niko had to walk over to the seats to hear his score. He knew it would be lower than he wanted because of that damn fall, but other than that, his routine was perfect. He landed everything smoothly and remembered every part of the program.
Shane held Niko’s right hand as he sat to his right, and Ilya did the same to his left as they braced themselves to hear the final score.
“Ninety eight point zero zero.” The score boomed on the overhead speakers for the whole audience to hear.
Niko shot out of his seat. “Ninety eight?” he asked in disbelief. His score now put him in first place by over five whole points.
Even with an ugly fall, Niko was still able to be in first. That was something to be proud of.
Shane and Ilya both wrapped him in a hug to show how proud they were.
But, there was still one more to go. Theodore Turner began his routine. He was graceful and every move was calculated perfectly. Every glide of his skates, every jump, spin, everything. He looked perfect out there. His costume was tight in all of the right places, his hair laid neatly, his subtle makeup accentuating his face. Niko was entranced. His routine was perfect. No mistakes, not even a messy takeoff on any of his jumps. Absolutely perfect.
When Theo came over to the seats with his coach, he had a cocky grin on his face. He knew he won, and so did Niko. Theo scored a 98.67. Nearly eleven points higher than Niko.
On the plus side, Niko gained more confidence than he’d had before. Ignoring Theo’s presence and snarky comments, Niko was genuinely proud of himself. He scored nine points for Team Canada, making their score thirty-nine and putting them in first place. Only the top five teams got to advance, and thanks to Niko, Canada was one of them. But also thanks to Theo, the US was another one.
As the event drew to a close, the entirety of the Canadian figure skating team rushed over to congratulate Niko. They swarmed him in a group hug and praised his performance. It allowed Niko to completely forget that he fell and the reason for it. Theo was standing, half listening to his coach, intently watching Niko with his team.
“You were incredible!” Elissa screeched as she wrapped him in a hug. “Other than the little fall, every single thing was perfect. I’m so proud of you!” She pulled him in again and kissed his cheek.
“That was amazing!” Sophie, the other female skater, came up and congratulated Niko with a smile.
That night was a very good night. Shane, Ilya and Ana took Niko out for dinner and this time it was his turn to get praise from everyone and some celebratory ice cream.
He was done until the men’s singles event started and he would only be representing himself and wouldn’t have a team to back him up. Niko had three days to perfect everything and get his short program better and absolutely flawless.
Niko slept like a baby that night. Yes, he technically lost to Theo and let him get to his head, but that was easily Niko’s best performance ever, minus the small fall. He made sure to avoid walking through the area where he had encountered Theo the night before, while walking back to his room.
Mat was waiting for Niko to return to be able to fully congratulate him without other people interfering.
“You’re incredible,” Mat said as Niko walked in the door. “Seriously, I don’t know how you do it. I would have crumbled under the pressure.” He had a weak smile on his face. Mat was meant to perform in the free skate the following day and needed to get at least third to secure a medal for Canada.
“Thank you,” Niko responded sincerely. “You’re going to do great tomorrow. I know you can do it,” Niko wasn’t great at encouraging others, but still gave it a shot.
“Yeah.” Mat turned his back to Niko and went to sleep.
The next morning was the same as the one before. Workout, breakfast, meeting. Niko didn’t pay any attention in the meeting because he didn’t have to. He and Elissa gossiped about who they saw sitting together at breakfast and what they were expecting at the various events today.
Elissa wasn’t performing today either, so she didn’t need to listen to Mike. Sophie was the one who was doing the free skate. She had incredible stamina and her ability to get better and better as the program went on was impeccable. Elissa was always a better short form skater. She could fit a bunch of impressive tricks into a short amount of time and rarely ever missed any landings.
“Nikolai! Do you ever listen?” Mike snapped at him again. It was like deja vu from the day prior.
“Sorry,” Niko replied in a small voice.
“I was saying that we want you to do the free skate today.”
“What?!” Niko’s jaw dropped and his brows furrowed. He didn’t have any other routines put together other than the three that he had expected. “I can’t. Dad,” Niko looked to Shane for some help. “I can’t. I don’t have anything put together! Why isn’t Mat doing it? What happened?”
“Calm down, Nik. I told him it was fine. We’re going to leave in a few minutes. I rented out a local rink for a few hours and you and I are going to go put something together super quickly.” Shane was incredibly calm for the given situation.
Niko couldn’t pay attention to anything after that. He picked out a song from the endless playlist that he had memorized of songs that he would want to perform to. He began to curate the routine in his mind, incorporating all of his best tricks that would guarantee points.
As promised, Shane drove Niko to a local rink to practice. Niko didn’t exactly need it though. He came up with the entire routine in his head and had already memorized it.
After yesterday’s performance, Niko’s confidence was extremely boosted. He was determined to beat Theo and now had a chance to help his team beat the USA.
“What do you mean you already have a routine?” Shane asked, stepping onto the ice.
“I made one up in my head. I’m actually really proud of it.” Niko handed Shane his speaker and after a short warm up, gestured for Shane to start the music.
The routine was simple but extremely elegant and well executed. It could obviously use a bit of tweaking and some more complexity, but it was a good start.
“Add a flip in. I think this is the time to try it.” Shane saw the look on Niko’s face. He didn’t want to, but knew he should.
Niko did the routine again but replaced a double toe loop with a backflip and landed it. It added a good amount of complexity, but not enough to get first.
“What about your quad axel?” Shane asked, leaving it up to Niko on whether or not to include it.
“Too much. I can add a triple or another quad somewhere, but I haven’t practiced it enough.” Niko decided to add in some quads and a triple axel and decided that the routine was good enough to at least secure third.
They made it back in just enough time to watch Sophie perform in the women’s singles free skate. She did incredible. Her routine was almost perfect. She missed a triple lutz and a triple axel, but was still able to get an amazing score and third place. The USA got first again.
Almost immediately after was the pairs free skate. Niko wasn’t as close to this pair as he was to Noah and Katie. They were nice and very good skaters, but they weren’t quite at Katie and Noah’s level. They got fourth. The US got first. Again.
Now it was Niko’s turn. He still had the new routine memorized and had a newfound sense of confidence. Yes, he was confident before, but this was different. He felt like he could hold the world on his back and carry it through an entire routine.
They put him third out of the five performers. Niko went back to the hallway that he had been in before his short program and paced. He walked back and forth, going over the routine in his head over and over, as the song played on his headphones. Niko could have looked at the scores and checked to see what he needed to place in order to get the gold, but he spared himself. He knew that would be too much pressure and the pressure to get a certain place was the reason he messed up last time.
Shane came over and led Niko out of the hallway to get ready for his program. “You’re going to do amazing,” he said encouragingly. “Don’t think. Just let your body take over and do what I know you know how to do.”
Niko smiled at his dad and then looked over to his papa, who was wearing a t-shirt that just said “QUAD GOD” in red lettering. He walked over to Ilya for another Russian pep talk. “I need another pep talk in Russian.”
Ilya understood what he needed to do. “Ty znayesh', chto u tebya vso poluchitsya. Ty luchshiy zdes', i vse eto znayut. On znayet, ona znayet, ya znayu, papa znayet, i ty znayesh'. Ty chertovski talantliv, eto nevozmozhno vyrazit' slovami. A teper' vykhodi na lod i kataysya izo vsekh sil. Ya tebya lyublyu, Nikolay. Ya tak gorzhus' tem, kakim chelovekom ty stal.” You know you've got this. You're the best here and everyone knows it. He knows it, she knows it, I know it, dad knows it, and you know it. You're so fucking talented that words can't even express it. Now get your ass on the ice and skate your heart out. I love you, Nikolai. I am so proud of the man you have become.
Niko gave Ilya a warm smile and a big hug before getting on the ice. Just eight hours earlier, Niko found out that he was doing this event. Now, he was performing in the second event of his Olympic career.
After his very short warm up, Niko made his way to center ice. The music started and that feeling was back. The freeing feeling that felt like he was floating on the ice. No worries, no thoughts, just skating. He hit landed everything. From his triple axel to quad lutz, everything was perfect. He could vaguely hear the audience cheering his name, but he was too focused to let it get to him.
Once it was time for the backflip, Niko had to focus. He had to get the perfect takeoff, rotation, and most importantly, land it. Which he did. He stuck the landing even better than he had in any practice. The crowd erupted in shock. No one had ever done that in Olympics history. No one except for Niko.
His routine came to a close and tears filled his eyes. He fucking did it. He did it perfectly. Stuck every landing, didn’t forget anything, and stayed confident.
“Yes, Niko!” “Go, Niko!” “You’re amazing!” The audience cheered so loud for him. His dads’ cheers were the loudest of them all though.
Taking his bows, Niko couldn’t stop smiling. He was so beyond proud of what he had just accomplished. Shane and Ilya, once again, swarmed him and enveloped him in the tightest possible hug while they showered him in praise and compliments.
They took their seats to wait for his end score and, “Two hundred point zero three.” Niko dropped his head in his hands and started crying. It wasn’t his best (his best was the world record…) but it put him in first place and was a pretty damn hard score to beat.
Niko got to sit in the winner’s box and get all of the glory that he had earned.
The last two teams to go were France and the USA. France’s score was nowhere close to Niko’s. The program was good, but not nearly as good as Niko's.
The USA was last and they had Joseph Walter doing the free skate. He was good, but old. This was his third (and probably final) Olympics. He got gold in the singles in his first, but was beaten by Theo in his second. His program had immense potential but not a great execution. It was too simple for an Olympic routine, but would more than likely score high because of the technicality of everything. He did each move perfectly and landed everything.
Niko sat in anxiety as he waited to hear what the US’s score was. The judges were taking their sweet time getting everything together, but the announcer finally said it, “One hundred ninety four point eight six.” It didn’t click to Niko that it meant he won. He got first place. He scored ten points for Canada. They could get gold!
All of Team Canada’s figure skaters ran down to Niko. They announced how Canada had won gold because of Niko. If he scored any lower, they would have gotten silver, but no. Thanks to Nikolai Hollander-Rozanov, Canada now had a gold medal and beat the USA.
The medal ceremony happened so fast. One second, Niko was being swarmed by his teammates, and the next he was standing on top of a podium with everyone, ready to receive his medal.
“I hate how good you are,” Elissa joked, nudging Niko with her elbow. “Seriously though, that was the best fucking thing I’ve ever seen.”
Niko wanted to respond but was interrupted by the person giving him his medal. The lady nicely placed it around his neck and congratulated him. His teammates got the same. Then, the Canadian National Anthem played over the speakers and the team proudly sang along.
It didn’t feel real to Niko that he was wearing a gold medal that he deserved. He’d tried on his dads’ medals before, but never thought he would have his own.