This Is Me

Part 36

Upon leaving the rink for the day, Sean was stopped by a young man. The young man stuck his leg out to keep him from passing him in the hall, teasing out. "Third place? That must sting a bit, huh? Here I thought I'd have to work for a place in Regionals because of you... Oh, well. Hope you had fun while it lasted." Sean clenched his jaw, debating hard on whether it was worth punching a kid. Mark broke them up by rushing in to snap out. "Go fuck yourself, Tony. I hear they have lengthy mirrors in the bathrooms now. All you need is a dick stretcher. Have fun." Tony dropped his leg in shock and Mark shoved him to the wall with a firm hand to clear Sean a path. Sean started storming down the hall, working his way to the doors. He had just made it to the doors, when Stacy approached, asking with concern. "Sean? What's wrong?" Sean just waved at her and kept walking to the motel. Mark patted her shoulder, racing after Sean. The second Mark unlocked the room with the card key, Sean walked in and threw his skates onto the bed with a frustrated curse.

Mark closed the door, telling Sean reassuringly. "Easy. You still placed third. That's not bad." Sean whirled around with tears running down his face as he snapped back. "It's pitiful! I'm better than that! I know I am! I haven't placed third in anything since I was a kid!" Mark dropped his work bag, retorting bluntly. "You're still recovering from an injury. You can have all the talent in the world, but your body must feel ready to preform them. Those jumps have you shaking on your skates. You did very well. Tomorrow you will do better." Sean shook his head, sniffling as he shot back defeatedly. "Mark... This is my last shot... and I can't focus. I can't 'feel' anything out there..." Mark closed the gap between them, pushing him gently against the wall. Cupping Sean's face, he kissed him, before whispering to him calmly. "You're nervous. It's ok. You're putting too much pressure on yourself. What did I say? Pretend like you've already lost and just have fun." Sean raised a hand to wipe his tears away, causing Mark to kiss his cheek lovingly.

After another brief kiss between them, Mark told him sweetly. "Go take a hot bath. Relax. Let me worry about tomorrow." Sean nodded reluctantly, slipping off into the bathroom. Mark waited until he heard the tub filling, before turning on the news. Dropping onto the corner of the bed, he let out a heavy sigh and prepared for the worst. On the TV, Linda Locker chuckled with her co-worker, before stating out. "In other news, Nationals finally kicked off this week. A lot of fresh young talent out there. Including this Tony 'Twister.' Tony is reshaping figure skating with his Quintuple jump. Which could make the professionals quiver in their boots. However, it was skater star, Sean Mcloughlin, that really stole the scene." The news broadcasted a few of Sean's jumps. Zooming in on his almost disastrous fall. Linda Locker let out another chuckle, while her co-worker told her. "He's looking a little shaky out there. Think the pressure is breaking him?" Linda answered as the image repeated. "It sure seems that way. Sean barely kept his footing on those jumps."

Mark rolled his eyes. The kids he had seen had fallen on their ass in lesser jumps. He hated that they picked on Sean for every detail. The image changed to Sean kissing Mark before the skate, while Linda added teasingly. "He was probably distracted. With the relationship between him and his coach coming out. It can't be easy to focus, knowing the crowd might be divided on it. Although, I'm curious if there is more to this story?" Mark raised an eyebrow as the camera zoomed in on Sean's hand to see the ring. A few people in the studio gasped, while Linda's co-worker added out just as teasingly. "If that is an engagement ring, then Sean is certainly repeating history." Linda told the viewers with a smile as her image came back. "It didn't bring him much luck the first time, that is for sure." Mark gritted his teeth, when they cut to a reporter talking to a veteran skater. Matthew crossed his hands over his chest as the reporter asked him. "Tell us MatPat, do you think Sean will be dusting off his old freestyle routine for this comeback? After all, he brought back his Frozen Riverdance."