A/N Hey guys! I know it's not another chapter of Champion from Ashes but I've been busy with my first week of high school! So I've been trying to get some writing done, and this was a quicky so tell me what you think! I had this idea for a while and I thought since it was a short idea, I could finish it inbetween updates for Champion from Ashes which I promise I'm working on! I'll post it in a day or two, a week at latest. I have it written down, I just need to edit it a bit before I post! So till then, enjoy this little one shot!
This might extend into one more chapter, but I don't think it will. Well, we'll see how it goes. So, this is pretty much going to be a different version of Payson when she goes to get Sasha back from Snagov. In this version, only Payson goes to get him, and Emily and Lauren are at competition. Okay, enjoy, and dont forget to tell me what you thought!
Payson Keeler was not going down without a fight. She didn't give up gymnastics without a fight, and she won't let the man she loves hide away like a coward without a fight. She tipped the elderly cab driver a twenty and waved him away when he scowled - leave it to her, a world class athlete travelling around the world, to tip a Romanian man with American money. You would think she carried around cash from all the countries. Not really. She gave him a tight smile and jumped out of the cab. This was it. This was her one shot to get him back.
She took in the scenery. It all looked old and rustic, and had an antique vibe to it. Duh, it was the middle of nowhere. Literally. There was not a single person, just an old rusting pub which seemed pretty deserted. Payson once again checked the address she had scribbled down on the crumpled piece of paper during her twelve hour cramped flight while she was drooled on by a sleeping Lauren and was forced to listen to Emily complain about her boyfriend problems. She was almost glad when she booked the tickets to Snagov to bring Sasha back. It meant she didn't have to put up with either of them for the next six hours. She averted her gaze back to the scenery.
This couldn't be right. This address was supposed to be where Sasha was. Why was in the middle of nowhere next to a pub as old as Cleopatra? Frustrated she kicked the nearby wall and grunted when the impact injured her big toe. She ignored the pain and continued to kick at the wall, adding a few punches; trying to take out all her frustration on the already worn out wood. She was frustrated that Sasha had abandoned them. That he had practically disappeared off the face of the earth. That she felt like her heart had been ripped out the moment he left. Eventually her raging anger died out and silent sobs took over her body. She slowly crouched down, hugging her knees and buried her head into her team jacket, trying to muffle the sound of her crying.
"Payson?" she lifted her head when a rough hand stroked the top of her head. In front of her stood the man she loved, his steel grey eyes boring into hers, as if penetrating her every thought. His expression was a mixture of both discontent and surprise.
"Sasha," she breathed. All the memories they had together flooded back to her. All the times he had been there for her. The Swan Lake ballet. Taking ballet lessons with her. Teaching her how to become a completely different type of gymnast. Making her feel special. Making her feel beautiful. Before she realized it herself, she threw herself at him. She grabbed the nape of his neck and pulled his lips to hers. Being caught off guard, Sasha froze. Unlike the first time around, Payson wasn't about to give in and pull away when he pushed her back. She pushed him farther, nudging his bottom lip with her tongue. Sasha stumbled back and fell against the wall. Payson felt his hands grip her waist, ready to push her away. She lightly scratched the nape of his neck, trying to make the last second count; hoping he would change his mind. He let out a groan at the back of his throat, a sound Payson found rather appealing; and instead of pushing her away, he pulled her onto his lap. She startled his waist as he kissed her back, fierce and with just as much power and she had offered him.
His one hand travelled up under her tank top, rubbing soothing circles at the small of her back where her scars from surgery laid; and the other got into the locks of her blonde hair. Her hands were everywhere. They roamed his chest, his torso and gripped at his shoulders as an involuntary shudder broke through her body. After for what seemed like hours, they broke away; cursing their need for oxygen. Sasha took a moment to drink her in. From her rosy pink lips to her thoroughly mused hair. She looked beautiful. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, then travelling down the column of her neck, working back up to her other cheek. She whimpered and tightened her grip around his shoulders as he hit a sensitive patch of skin. He pressed a final kiss to her forehead and pulled her into his chest. She nuzzled into his neck and took in his scent. His unique cedar like musk wafted into her senses. After a few moments, Payson murmured into his neck,
"Come back to me," the words came out muffled by the collar of his shirt. Sasha sighed and pushed her away enough to look into her, clear blue eyes which were burning with desire. The meaning was clear. She wanted him back. She wanted him back as more than just a coach. She wanted him back as hers.
"I can't," he whispered, his thick accent sending her into a trance of her own, almost missing his words entirely. Eventually the words caught up with her pleasantly numb mind and her head snapped up.
"Why?" The voice of the innocent little girl was now replaced by her burning rage. She had ditched a major international meet to come get him and he won't even consider it as an option?
"Because of this," he motioned between them, "I can't train you when all I want to do is be with you," he said with a long sigh, exhaling the remaining oxygen in his lungs. Payson's heart leaped at his words. It wasn't just her, he had felt it all this time too. They remained quiet, in the calm silence, both caught up in their thoughts.
"So you love me?" Payson asked, lifting her hand to run it through his cropped, wheat colored hair. He groaned and leaned into her touch. She slightly scratched his scalp with her blunt nails as he dug his finger tips lightly into her hips. As he pulled her into his chest, she snuggled into him, as if they would magically melt together; which Payson wanted more than the world. She couldn't bear if he ever left her again. A part of her heart was ripped out when Sasha left, and she would do anything to get him back to where he belongs. With her.
"Payson Keeler, I love you more than it is humanly possible for anyone man to love a woman. You are the single most beautiful, passionate, lovable, caring, kind girl in the entire world, but that doesn't change the fact that this is wrong. I shouldn't be feeling these things. I was your coach, and I failed you." Payson rolled her eyes.
"And how exactly did you fail me?"
"I broke your trust. You trusted me with your life, and I took advantage of it the moment I fell in love with you."
"Sasha, you are such a good man. You did not take advantage of anything. I love you more than the world too, and if you say you took advantage of me as a gymnast, then I say I took advantage of you as a coach. You were right when you told me about the love a coach and athlete share, but maybe there is more to it. You and I aren't like the other coaches and gymnasts out there. You and I," she pressed a kiss to his cheek, her pre competition lipstick leaving a smudge, "we're meant for each other." Sasha smiled and pulled her in for a kiss. This kiss was a little less desperate, and more chaste. Payson sighed into it, almost as if she needed him to breathe. They belonged together. She didn't care what anybody thought or said. She was his and he was hers. Nothing would ever change that. He pulled away and offered her a sad smile.
"We might be right for each other, but that doesn't mean it's right for us to be with each other. I'm almost a decade older than you, and you're sixteen Payson."
"Almost seventeen," she mumbled. Sasha glared at her to cut it out. She gave him a cheesy smile when he rolled his eyes at her.
"You're still under age and in a world where I'm not your coach, I could go to jail. That's not even the worst, if this got out, you're career would be ruined." It was both sweet and stupid the way Sasha thought it was worse for her career to be ruined than him to be rotting in a jail cell. It was those moments that Payson acknowledged how lucky she really was to have him.
"Then we wait," she declared. Sasha looked up at her, perplexed at what she was suggesting. "We wait till after the Olympics, nobody can keep us apart after that, it would be our own free will; but for now, I need you. I need you to be there as my coach, and nothing more. I promise to push my feelings aside till then, I just need you to be there for me till we reach the road to the Olympics." Sasha sat quietly, as if thinking over a life altering decision. After a few painstaking moments, he finally spoke.
"Nothing till the Olympics," he confirmed. He scooped her up in his arms and stood up, letting her down on her feet. Sasha couldn't express in words how much he loved. He loved her enough to give her up, and he definitely loved her enough to wait. There was so much he needed to figure out, but one thing was completely clear. The girl standing in front of him had stolen his heart. She made him want the unthinkable. She made him need the unmistakable. She found find the better in him, and he couldn't think of wanting anything more than to make her happy for the rest of her life. So he would wait. As long as it took, because when he looked into her longing eyes, he knew it was worth it.
A/N Okay, so I might add another chapter, so that decision is still pending. It would probably be of our favorite couple after the Olympics. Till then, tell me what you thought! Reviews make me happy!