All That Still Matters

Louie should have known that Daphne and he couldn't go to the top of the half pipe and have it all to themselves like he had planned. Fortunately, there were only two people up there when they got there the next morning: Shaun and Joanna. "Hey guys," Louie called out, and the two of them turned around.

"Hey, you guys up here to practice or just for fun?" Shaun inquired as Joanna waved to the two of them.

"Maybe a little of both?" Daphne shrugged her shoulders. "What about you?" she asked Shaun.

"Just for fun," he told her. "Joanna's up here to make sure I don't try anything too ridiculous before the prelims," he laughed, while she nodded her head enthusiastically. Shaun wrapped his arm around Joanna's shoulders, pulling her closer to him. "Gotta love the girl," he smiled at her.

"So, I saw Mason last night," Joanna said, simply trying to make conversation. "I didn't know he was coming up to Vancouver to watch."

"Let's not talk about Mase," Louie requested, and both Shaun and Joanna gave him a confused look. "Today is all about focusing only on Daphne and snowboarding," he said in a rather serious tone, and the other couple knew not to question it.

"Sounds good," Shaun said. "Daph, go for it," he said, motioning towards the pipe. "It's all yours." Daphne looked at the three of them, who all happened to be staring at her, and she nodded her head, strapping her board to her boots and putting her helmet on. She started to do her run, only to fall on her second trick, a straight air, which really shouldn't have given her problems at all.

The others didn't say anything to her, instead just encouraging her to try again, but after the third time of her not being able to make it through a simple run, Louie decided to step in and say something. He pulled her to the side, knowing she wouldn't want to talk about it in front of Joanna and Shaun. They may be her friends, but she was still embarrassed that she couldn't land a run in front of them. So, while Louie was talking to Daphne, Shaun was attempting to teach Joanna a new trick for her to try.

"You're not focusing on this," Louie said simply.

"I know!" Daphne snapped, taking all of her frustrations out on Louie. "Do you think I don't know that I'm terrible up there? And, I have only a week to figure all the shit that's going on in my life out!" she yelled. Shaun turned to see what was going on, but he immediately turned his head back around when he saw how furious Daphne looked at the moment.

"That's just it, Barbie," Louie began.

"Stop calling me Barbie!" Daphne interrupted him, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Daphne! My name is Daphne!"

"Okay, Daphne," Louie said, trying to calm her down. "You've got to focus on snowboarding, and nothing else."

"Did you not just hear me?" Daphne continued yelling. "I know I have a bunch of shit to sort out in my life if I want to ride well!"

"Daph, that's it, though, you don’t have a bunch of shit going on in your life. You're just too preoccupied with Piper and Mase. I don't know why you're obsessing about them so much when you have more important things to focus on!"

"They're a part of my life," she argued, still as angry as ever.

"But, you don't need to worry about them or babysit them or anything! They're grown adults. Stop worrying so much about them," Louie said, starting to get frustrated.

"You don't get it, Louie!"

"No! I don’t!" he exclaimed. "So explain it to me! Explain to me why their relationship is so fucking important to you and your life!"

"Just leave me alone," Daphne told him, grabbing her snowboard and beginning the trek down the hill, leaving Louie there, wondering what exactly had happened between him and Daphne.

"What was that all about?" Joanna asked quietly as she walked up behind Louie, who still stood there, dumbfounded.

"I don't know," Louie muttered.

***

Piper was sitting in her room when she heard a knock on her door, and she slowly stood up and made her way over, opening it just a little bit to see who was on the other side. "Louie," she smiled, opening the door up all the way so he could come inside. "What brings you to my room?" she wondered aloud.

"You and Mason need to figure your shit out," he said, forgetting any sort of greeting towards her.

"Louie, you too?" she questioned with a groan. "God, Daph won't get off my case, and now she's got you bugging me about it, too? When are you guys going to realize that Mase and I are over, and that our relationship, or lack there of, really has nothing to do with anyone else?"

"Daphne and I got into a fight today. And, I'm not talking about her getting angry about me calling her Barbie. No, I'm talking about a full fledge fight, one that's likely to fuck us both up in competition," Louie told her, sitting down on her bed.

"What?" Piper asked, concerned for her best friend. "About what?"

"You and Mase," Louie began laughing, thinking just how ridiculous it was that he was getting into a fight with his girlfriend over another couple. "She's so damn preoccupied with you two that she can't think of anything else!"

"Louie, look at me, Mason and I are over. I'm moving on. I'm sure he's moving on," she told him.

"I know that! Wait, what do you mean you're moving on?" he asked, suddenly comprehending her sentence.

"I’m moving on," Piper repeated. "I met a new guy…" she trailed off.

"So, you're dating someone else?" Louie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, not dating, per se. But, well, we're…you know…" she said, hoping he understood what she was trying to say.

"You're what?" he asked. "Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed. "You're fuck buddies," he said nonchalantly.

"What an eloquent way of putting it," Piper said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at Louie. "It's a wonder you have a girlfriend," she laughed.

"Yeah, well, I'm not sure if I have a girlfriend at this point," Louie admitted.

"It was that bad?" Piper asked, and Louie nodded his head. "Damn it, I don't need anything interrupting Daph's concentration on the pipe!"

"Thanks for being so concerned about me," Louie muttered.

"Louie, you know I love you and care about you, but Daph's my athlete. I'm her coach. I have to be a little bit more concerned about her than you," she explained, trying to hold back her laughter when she saw Louie pouting. "So, what's it going to take to get you and Daphne happy again so she can focus on snowboarding?"

"That's just it, Piper. It's not going to matter if she and I are fighting or not. The only thing that will help her focus is if you and Mase get back together."

"That's just ridiculous," Piper told him.

"I know," Louie laughed. "Which is why we got into the fight in the first place."

"I'll try talking to her," Piper offered.

"Thanks," Louie smiled. "So, this fuck buddy of yours, do I know him?" he asked, changing topics, causing Piper to lean over, smacking him in the head with a pillow, resulting in a pillow fight between the two of them.

They were still fighting fifteen minutes later, with Piper straddling Louie on the bed, trying to hold his hands above his head in order to stop him from hitting her with the pillow, and neither of them heard the door to Piper's room open.

"Great, would you look at this," they heard Daphne say in an extremely sarcastic voice, and both immediately stopped what they were doing, Piper sliding off of Louie. "I come here to talk to my coach who is supposed to be here in Vancouver to help me with my snowboarding, only to find her with yet another guy, my boyfriend."

"Daph, this isn't…" Piper began before Daphne cut her off.

"I don't want to hear it, Piper. You know what, you made it clear, you're moving on from Mason. But, did you really have to move on with my boyfriend?" she questioned, venom spewing with every word.

"Daphne, you know…" Louie tried.

"Just shut up," Daphne snapped at him. "I hope the two of you are happy," she said, shooting daggers at them with her eyes before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

She walked down the hallway, and she could have sworn she heard Louie say "Fuck!" but she didn't stop. Instead, she walked out of the hotel and down the street. She accidentally ran right into someone and quickly mumbled an apology, not stopping until she heard the voice of the person.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Katrina's voice rang out, and Daphne stopped where she was, slowly turning around. "You walk in on your boyfriend and Piper?"

"Something like that," Daphne mumbled, and Katrina began cackling.

"Oh my God! They finally did it! I told you that they'd hook up eventually. I just never thought it'd happen at the fucking Olympics. I guess we now know Louie's way of relaxing," she continued laughing.

"Fuck you," Daphne muttered, turning back around and beginning to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Katrina called out, and against her better judgment, Daphne turned back around. "So, what are you going to do about it?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You know what you've got to do, right?" Katrina asked, and when Daphne didn't reply, she continued. "Sweet revenge," she said with a devilish smile.