A/N: I had this little meme fic outlined and stashed away for whenever I finished MKB 20, but then I hit the worse writer's block of my life. I couldn't write MKB or this or anything else I tried, and then FINALLY, I got a little bit of inspiration. Virgo Writer posted a 'five times' meme and it made me want to come finish mine, and though it took me a couple of days to finish it, the block is broken!
Payson let herself smile when she landed her dismount. She'd been working on a double double off the bars for weeks and it was finally perfect. The insanely difficult move was going to make her a lock for the bars gold next summer in London.
Applause echoed across the gym and she turned to look for its source, Austin Tucker. He'd been practicing his Melissanidis and was still standing on the landing pad behind the vault. "I was going to interrupt you a few minutes ago and asked if you wanted to leave, but you looked so determined that I couldn't burst your bubble. Now I'm glad I didn't. That was perfect, Payson."
She blushed. He had flattery down to a science so she ignored most of the compliments he threw at her and the other girls, but this was different. He was never blasé about gymnastics. When it came to gymnastics, getting a compliment from Austin was about like getting a 10.0 from a judge. It meant something special.
"Thank you," she said. "I'm really happy with it. I think it's finally competition ready."
He made his way over to her as he said, "It was competition ready a week ago, Pay. This is more than that. I meant it when I said it was perfect."
"Thank you," she said again. Feeling suddenly very shy, she searched for a way to move the conversation away from herself. She remembered his first words about almost interrupting her. "You're ready to leave?"
They were each other's chaperones. Sasha wouldn't allow them to work out completely alone in case they got injured and needed help, but he agreed to let Payson and Austin work late as long as they were together. If one left, the other had to as well.
Austin shook his head. "I was, but you're not. Keep working."
She took him at his word and mounted the bars again, this time tagging on the last several skills of her routine before she dismounted. It was still perfect. She repeated this twice more, adding more skills until she was performing her entire routine with the dismount. Austin applauded each time.
He bear hugged her when she was finished. It was something they had done many times before and was mostly just a joke at her expense—he teased that sometimes she got too full of herself and needed to be crushed back down to normal size. When they stopped hugging, though, the moment stopped being funny and started being serious. He looked down at her and said, "You're going to take the world by storm in London, Payson. You're amazing."
It happened slowly. The space between them grew charged and they couldn't pull their eyes away from each other. He leaned down and she lifted up on her toes, and their lips were just inches apart when she stopped. "Austin, we can't do this."
He reached up to cup her face and said, "Don't over think this, Payson. I can practically see all the things running through your head right now, but none of that matters. There is only one thing you need to know right now: do you want to kiss me?"
She wanted so many things. Yes, she wanted to kiss him, but she also wanted to follow the rules, to keep Kaylie as a friend, to keep her head on the Olympics and not on a boy. Kissing Austin could ruin all of that, so she said, "No."
"Lair," he accused.
And because he was right, Payson closed the gap between them.
o-O-o
Dates were rare but wonderful. Since the only people who knew about them were her family and Sasha, they couldn't go out together in Boulder. It was a small price to pay, though, to keep out of the notorious Rock drama. It was hard enough balancing a relationship with the demands of a professional gymnastics career; they didn't need to add on constant gossip and speculation from every member of the gym.
When they wanted to go on a date, they had to go to Denver, and since staying out late wasn't an option, a lot of the traditional date activities were out of the question. It didn't matter, though. All they really need was time to be together outside of their own homes, even if that meant wandering around the Denver Zoo together. It was a wonderful date.
Payson never ceased to be amazed (and disgruntled) by the way Austin ate. They sat together in the little café at the center of the zoo, while Payson ate a salad, the only remotely healthy thing on the menu, and Austin gorged himself with a hamburger, fries, and one of the biggest milkshakes she'd ever seen. It was unfair that he could do that and still be the best gymnast in the world.
He waved the milkshake in front of her face and said, "Come on, Pay, you know you want some."
"No I don't," she insisted. She tried to push it away but Austin wouldn't let up.
"One sip won't hurt you. You work harder than anyone else does, even than I do. You deserve a treat now and then."
"Okay, fine," she said. "One sip and then you leave me alone, deal?"
"Deal."
She leaned forward and closed her lips around the straw. It had been so long since she had a milkshake that she forgot how hard you had to suck to get a sip, but when the sweet chocolate touched her tongue it was totally worth it. She closed her eyes and let out a soft moan of enjoyment, but she was true to her word. She took one sip and stopped, despite how badly she wanted to keep drinking.
She opened her eyes to find Austin staring slack-jawed at her. "What?" she asked. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
He was barely able to speak. "That was disturbingly hot."
Confused at first, she tried to think of what might be hot about her sucking on a straw. Then it hit her how it must have looked and what act it must have made him think about. Her immediate reaction was embarrassment, but she pushed past that. It was the perfect opportunity to tease Austin. She leaned forward and whispered, "I can think of some much better uses for my lips than drinking a milkshake."
He made some kind of strangled moan and Payson shut him up with a kiss. She pulled away and said, "I think it's time we go home, don't you?"
Austin had never moved so fast. He was up and leading her out by the hand before she could even blink. Yep, it was definitely time to go home.
o-O-o
She loved being alone at the gym with him. It was home to them as much as either of their houses were, and it was someplace they shared equally. It wasn't his house or her house; it was their gym. It was special, too, because it was the first place they kissed.
Most nights they just worked, but sometimes they played, too. They had water fights, or played tag, or did stupid tricks into the pit. That was how Payson ended up with her new vault, a handspring double twist. She'd been training the one and a half since right after Worlds and had it down pat, but she and Austin were challenging each other one night and he dared her to try a double. Neither would have considered it if it had really been dangerous, but she had enough control in the one and a half that she knew she could do a double into the pit, even if it was ugly. To her surprise it went very well and Sasha let her start training it full time. It would be named after her, which she was very excited about.
Most of her night had been spent working on that vault while Austin tumbled on the floor, but eventually he came looking for entertainment. He was a lot like a kid sometimes. It was good for her, because he brought out her inner kid, too, so when he threw her over his shoulder, carried her across the gym, and tossed her onto the tumbling tramp, she laughed instead of complaining like she might have in the past. He jumped on the trampoline hard enough to make her bounce into the air and she flipped herself back onto her feet. They jumped together until they finally fell breathless into each other's arms.
"I was working, you know," she teased. "You interrupted me."
"I'm sorry. You don't hate me now, do you?"
"No. I love you." The words spilled out before she had time to consider them. It was true. She did love him, but she'd never said it out loud before, nor had he. She held her breath until he said it back.
"I love you, too. I have for a long time."
She kissed him then, and they had their clichéd romantic moment before she broke away and teased, "You know, we had our first kiss here, we said 'I love you' for the first time. I think we're forming a pattern."
He grinned and suggested, "Want to go for another first?"
"Yeah, I do," she said. "I want to try a double back stretched off the beam for the first time."
She scampered away but didn't get far. He caught her arm and pulled her back. "First off, that was cruel, and second, there is no way in hell I'm letting you do something that dangerous without Sasha around. We'll have to find some other way to entertain ourselves."
She slipped her arms around his neck again, lifted her lips to hover in front of his, and whispered, "I can think of a few ways to do that."
o-O-o
She felt so much that she was dizzy—the press of Austin's weight on top of her, his lips on her neck, his fingers inside of her. She was drowning in pleasure, and when she was sure that she could take no more, she came crashing with a scream.
She never gave much thought to sex before she was with Austin. There were so many more important things to concentrate on. Even when she was dating Max, she never thought about doing more than kissing. With Austin, though, she couldn't not think about it. It was there every second of every day, this overwhelming need to be with him, but she knew she wasn't ready before. He knew and understood, so he gave her as much pleasure as he could without crossing that final line. It wasn't enough anymore. She needed all of him.
She trapped his lips again and clawed at the hem of his shirt, her motor skills severely impaired by lust. Once she managed—with difficulty—to pull his shirt over his head, she fumbled for his belt. There was no mistaking what she wanted.
Austin levered himself off of her, making her cry out at the loss, but he waited until he had her complete attention before saying, "I need to hear this now before this goes too far. I want to make love to you, Payson, but not if you're not ready. Do you want me to stop?"
"No. Don't stop, Austin. Please don't stop."
It was all he needed to hear. He swept her into his arms again and they lost themselves to passion.
She woke up hours later nestled against his chest. He was staring at her with an expression she rarely saw on his face, something akin to gentleness. So often he wore a mask of cockiness and it fooled most people, but she saw the parts of him he tried to hide. There was so much more to him than the stupid Mr. Kobalt persona, but he only showed it when he thought no one was watching.
She shifted in the bed until she could see him fully and said, "You were watching me sleep."
For once he didn't try to pretend. "My favorite pastime. Better this time, though."
She understood what he meant. He had watched her sleep dozens of times, but never after making love. It was different. Everything was different now. "I love you," she said.
"I love you, too. Always will."
o-O-o
Five golds and a silver for Payson. Four golds and two silvers for Austin. It was everything Payson dreamed of and more, and now it was over. She once thought she might feel sadness or emptiness that the thing she had devoted her life to was over, but when the time came all she felt was pride and fulfillment.
Press conferences normally annoyed her, but not this one. After having just won her silver on beam and gold on floor, she was walking on air. She was too happy to be annoyed by anything, even the stupid repetitive questions the reporters were asking. She answered every one of them happily.
"Payson, you made history here by winning five gold medals and medaling in every event. After accomplishing so much at such a young age, what do you plan to do next?" The question was expected, and it was something that she had given a lot of thought to. Instinctively she looked toward Austin.
He raised an eyebrow and grinned. She knew exactly what he was thinking and said, "No."
"Excuse me?" said the confused reporter.
"Austin wants me to keep training for the 2016 Olympics." She turned back to her boyfriend, ignoring the people surrounding her. "Which is not going to happen. I'm tired. I've been doing this for fifteen years and I need a break."
"So take a break," he said. "We'll take a nice long vacation and then come back and start training again."
It was a long-standing discussion between them. He wanted them to go to Rio together, but she wanted to retire and start coaching. They had been over so much that it was becoming half-argument and half-joke. "I'm not going to Rio, Austin, and the next time you mention it we're breaking up."
It wasn't until questions exploded around her that she realized her joke was made in front of a large group of nosy people who didn't know she and Austin were dating. She got so lost in him that she forgot where they were. It was amazing that it hadn't happened before, really.
They spent the next half hour being drilled about their relationship, but Payson had to admit that it was nice to talk about something new for a change. They'd kept their relationship a secret for more than seven months, and it was time for them to come clean. The Olympics were over and they were starting a new phase in their life together. It was time for the world to know.
o-O-o
One more routine and her Olympic career was over. Of course, she said that once before, but she was sure this time. She was twenty two, too old by four years to be here already. She wouldn't make it another round, nor would she want to. Gymnastics was always a balance between how much she loved it and how much her body could take, and if she kept going any longer that scale would tip. She came into Rio having fun and she wanted to go out that way.
She fiddled with the bronze medal hanging around Austin's neck. He'd done well here, although not as well as he did in London. It was a simple matter of age. Men usually competed far longer than women did, unless an injury knocked them out like it did with Sasha, but twenty eight was still on the upper edge. He wouldn't be able to make it to Madrid any more than she would. They made out with a couple of gold medals each and a handful of silvers and bronzes between them, so they were ending their careers on a good note.
"I'm really proud of you," she said. "You know they're calling you one of the all time greats? Some are saying the best male gymnast in history. I happen to agree."
"I am pretty awesome, aren't I?"
She laughed. It was such an Austin thing to say. "Definitely awesome."
"They're saying the same things about you, you know. They're calling you the game changer. After you win gold on floor here you'll have more golds and more medals total than anyone but Larisa Latynina. More than anyone probably ever will."
It was easier for her to hear those things about Austin than about herself. For someone who sought glory and recognition for most of her life, she surprised herself by how little she liked the attention. It was embarrassing to hear stuff like that. It was worse when the media talked about them as a couple. The "Golden Couple" crap was annoying as hell.
She moved them away from the uncomfortable topic. "Who says I'm going to win gold on floor?"
"I do. No one else comes close." He flashed his characteristic smirk and said, "In fact, I am so confident that you'll win gold that I'm willing to do something very import before you go out there, just to show you how much I believe in you."
"Oh yeah, what's that?"
He reached into the pocket of his Team USA track suit and pulled something out that made Payson gasp and cover her mouth. "Oh my God, Austin!"
He opened up the plain black box to reveal the most wonderful, beautiful thing she'd ever seen. He didn't kneel, but he knew she wouldn't want him to. They weren't fluffy romance people. They were jumping on the trampoline, water fights, walking around the zoo, late nights at the gym kind of people, and there was no better place that he could propose than just outside the Olympic arena where they accomplished their dreams together.
"Payson, I love you. I knew it long before I kissed you that night in the gym, and every day that we've been together has made me love you more. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and fighting with you and playing with you. Will you marry me?"
She laughed and sobbed together and said, "You didn't kiss me that first night. I kissed you."
"Is that a yes?"
She nodded. "That's a yes. God yes, Austin. I'll marry you."
He fumbled to slip the ring onto her finger, just as overwhelmed by the moment as she was. He wiped away her tears only to have more replace them, so he gave up and kissed her instead. Forever they kissed, too wrapped up in each other to remember that they were standing in the middle of a hallway outside the athletes' prep room or that she was due to compete on floor in less than half an hour. They didn't stop until Sasha came looking for them and Payson happily exclaimed, "We're getting married!"
The time leading up to the floor finals was a blur of excitement and happiness and congratulations, and when it came time to march into the arena, she left her engagement ring on. She would have to take it off as soon as warm ups started, but she wanted to the world to see that she was going to marry Austin. Their engagement would eclipse the last gymnastics event of the Olympics and for once she didn't care.
She won gold, but for the rest of her life when remembered her last performance as a professional gymnast, she wouldn't think about making history. She would think about the moment that she said 'yes' to Austin Tucker.