Romeo and Juliet

"He looks like you," Kaylie cooed, watching the baby boy rock back and forth between Damon's hand to her's. Tyler, Emily and Damon's two month old son, unmistakably had Damon's sandy brown hair, slightly spiking at the back of his head. The same spike Damon covered up most days using mounds of hair gel which probably made him look more ridiculous than not.

"Yeah? He has Emily's eyes. Same beautiful, brown eyes I fell for. Stunning right?" Kaylie tried to bury the twinge of jealousy sparking in the pit of her stomach. Emily had lost everything. She had lost her dream, her friends, and anything moderately close to people she cared about; but now she had a family. She had a beautiful baby boy, a wonderful boyfriend and was surrounded by happiness. What kind of person would she be to focus on her little...crush rather than being happy for her best friend?

"Yeah. He's really is beautiful." In the past few days she had spent with Damon, she couldn't help but notice the spark in his eye when he was around Tyler. It was the same joy she saw in him when he expressed his emotions through music. It was pure passion and love. A few days after Damon's departure, she had felt slightly down. It began to occur to her that she liked having someone around to relate to. Not a single girl at the Rock understood Kaylie the way he did and it bugged her. She had began to believe that maybe she wasn't right to kick his ass all the way to Mrs. Kmetko's apartment and go after Emily and the baby; but seeing him now put it all to perspective. This was where he belonged.

"Hey Kay, how long did you want to leave the cookies in for?" Emily's troubled voice sliced through her musings. She had offered to bake her friends the cookies her mother had taught her to bake when she was six. When she was younger, the cookies always seemed to char and burn, but this year, she was determined to make them taste the way they were supposed to.

"Kaylie, unless you used color changing cookie dough, they're burning..."

"Crap." This wouldn't be the first time good quality cookie dough turned into a fully fledged kitchen fire. "One moment." She shot an apologetic glance to Damon and fled to Emily in the small kitchen.

"Take your time. I actually want to eat some traditional Cruz family cookies."

…

"So, how have things been going at the Rock?" questioned Emily, fanning out the ever so slightly overdone cookies. In the few days Kaylie had been staying with her, it was pretty obvious that Emily missed the Rock, even though she did no more than drop a few subtle hints.

Once in a while, in the midst of vacuuming the dust bunnies under the couch, or receiving the boxes of ornaments from the top shelf of their garage, there was definitely some curiously she had displayed about the on goings of the gymnasts. Just simple question like - How's Payson's back taking the heat of that new vault? Or you think you can beat Kelly with you DOD so low on beam and bars? Emily was never one for the Rock drama, but she sure did seem like she missed it after being away from it for so long.

"You know, busy. After Worlds being over and everything, it's been pretty hard to train without some reporter sneaking in and trying to take pictures of the Rock drama." Emily cringed at the mention of the pesky paparazzi. It was because of them, Kaylie had gotten the address of their apartment in the first place. She was kind of glad though, her only other option would have been confronting Chloe Kmetko, and after all the awkwardness of the kiss, asking her for the address to visit the girl who's life she had ruined would have been more than a little awkward.

"And we really miss you, Em," she added. Emily almost dropped the sheet of cookies as the words slipped out of her mouth. Kaylie had done her best to pretend as if nothing had changed between them since she had arrived. She made no attempt at conversation about gymnastics unless Emily initiated the conversation. She made no Rock references when someone cracked a joke, and she most definitely did not show any signs of pity about her dream being blown away to the dust.

No matter what, she loved Emily, and now, she suddenly felt to urge to make it known to her former best friend. Not quite the reaction she had expected, Emily simply picked up the sheet of cookies and began setting them out onto a nice China plate which vaguely resembled the one Lauren had packed in everybody's 'Thanks for coming' goody bags after her birthday party.

"So are the cookies burnt?" questioned Emily. Kaylie took the hint and brushed it over as nothing but a conversation filler. If Emily wasn't ready to talk about it, she could wait.

"Nope, I think we can safely say Damon can stuff these down his throat without dealing with a burnt aftertaste."

…

"He really loves him, doesn't he? I know he said he wasn't ready to be a father, but he's a pretty good job at it," Kaylie mused, watching Damon cuddling Tyler into his chest. One finger caught in the baby's small hand, Damon pressed a kiss to his tiny forehead.

"Yeah, he's just got that maternal thing."

"Umm...Em, I'm pretty sure that's just a mother thing." Emily shrugged stroking her chin in mock thought. Kaylie chuckled. She had missed her friend's sense of humor. It was hard pretending Lauren or Payson had the same calming effect on her when they cracked a joke before a major meet.

"Look Tyler, it's Mommy and Auntie Kaylie!" he yelled, pointing at them extravagantly."Say hi, Ty!" Kaylie suppressed a giggle as the baby stared at Damon as if he had three heads. He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck,

"He's not as sharp as me yet."

"As you? Elite gymnast versus Guitar player, I think I win, don't you?" Damon raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay, sure, but I still get to eat the cookies."

…

Christmas Eve was always a beautiful time of year for families. Not that in ever applied to the Cruz household. For the Cruz's Christmas was usually a time to spend fighting over whether time should be invested in putting up a tree or working on upgrading DOD on beam routines. Never was it ever solely about family. It was always weaved in to her gymnastics career.

But this year was different. It was nice to finally spend a Christmas Eve decorating a tree, eating Christmas cookies, and wrapping presents. Like a normal family that she's never had.

"Em, you look tired, why don't you go take a nap, we'll watch Ty and finish with the tree," offered Damon, slightly eyeing the pale looking Emily. While she and Damon had watched Tyler, Emily had been lifting boxes, separating ornaments by colors, baking various foods, and cleaning the house on over drive. It was hard to believe she was a former Elite. To Kaylie's eyes, she seemed more fit than both her and Lauren combined. Emily had denied visiting a gym after the pregnancy, but considering she didn't have any belly fat - or in fact any fat at all - after nine months of carrying a baby, it was kind of a hard concept to wrap your mind around.

"Em, you really do look tired." Emily wiped the bead of sweat gathering at the top of her forehead using her dry, overworked hands.

"Alright thanks, there are some leftovers in the fridge if you guys want," she motioned towards the rusty looking refrigerator. Slowly making her way up the stairwell, almost slipping and falling on her face a few times, she safely made it to the bedroom. Kaylie and Damon shared a glance.

This was going to be a long day.

…

Silence in golden. Or it was supposed to be. When you were with the right person, it shouldn't matter for how long you were on the phone with them, or how many dates you got to know each other with. When you're with the right person, you don't need to speak to convey the love. You're bond is strong enough to survive without words.

Austin Tucker was a man of many words. There was no limit to how many topics flew around during their dates. Quiet was always filled with the painful need to say something so an awkward silence wouldn't get the best of them. Looking past the pretty picture, they were hardly the perfect couple everybody made them out to be.

"So what have you been up to, Cruz? That Tucker kid treatin' you good?" Kaylie's heartbeat rose at the mention of Austin. It wasn't exactly normal to have to talk to your best guy friend – almost had been boyfriend – about your current boyfriend.

"Yeah, of course. Why wouldn't he be?"

"No reason." Damon's gaze unwaveringly remained on Tyler, as he sorted through the different ornaments. Finally settling on the large, green globe ornament; he motioned for Damon to place it on the tree. Damon placed his son on the freshly waxed floor and placed the ornament right below where the star would be placed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" pushed Kaylie, knowing he was trying to move past the awkward subject.

"Jesus Christ, Kales. I didn't mean anything by it," he responded nonchalantly, placing a few more ornaments around the different branches of the pine tree.

"Yes you did," she accused coldly. There was a fine line between love and hate, and she and Damon definitely walked that line. There were many times she felt like there was no person in the world who could understand her better, but other times, she swore he was going to be the death of her. Sometimes he just had the tendency to be a sarcastic, moronic, asshole.

An hour went by, as the two sat silently decorating the tree. They were accompanied by the large claps of branches hitting the framework of the house, and the soft rustling of the leaves on the patio deck.

"Did you ever get time to think about it?" Damon asked softly, still not reverting his attention back to her. Kaylie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"About what?"

"The kiss. Our kiss." She almost dropped the string of lights as the words left his mouth, remembering at the last moment that breaking them would probably mean having to pay for them. The kiss had been uncharted territory in their everyday conversation. From the reactions of their fellow peers, it was well noticed that the kiss was something to pretend never happened.

"No," she lied.

"Liar."

"So I thought about it," she spat, slightly annoyed at his childlike persistence. "How could I not think about it?"

"Yeah, I thought about it too," he said coolly, crouching behind the nearby loveseat to retrieve a few boxes of Christmas gifts. Kaylie chuckled, amused by his cleverness in hiding the gifts. It was better than her father did. He usually resorted to hiding in her own closet, claiming it was 'hiding in plain sight.'

"Sorry about all the trouble?" she asked warily. It was a no brainer that the only reason Damon kissed her was because she was expressing her gratitude a little too freely towards him. Even she had to admit that he wasn't wrong to kiss her, and if it was her, she would have kissed him too. Placing all the presents around the tree, he slightly frowned.

"If you're talking about the gut punch, then I saw it coming. I kissed Kaylie freakin' Cruz, girlfriend of Austin Tucker," he said, waving his arms, gesturing wildly to convey his message. "Trust me when I say, I saw it coming."

Kaylie smiled. Not at the thought of Austin ramming his fist into Damon's stomach, but at the thought that he kissed her anyway. He knew he would get hurt, and he didn't care. Love, or not, that's the kind of person she wanted to be with. One who would be with her no matter what, stick with her through thick and thin.

When the anorexia had enveloped her life, Austin wasn't there for her. She didn't argue that without him, she would probably be dead, but she didn't agree that she survived because of him either. No, she survived because a broody, self confident, cocky, cute, off limits, wannabe rock star was there for her, every step of the way.

"Then why did you do it?"

"I don't know."

"Liar." Damon smiled, finally meeting her eyes for what seemed like the first time that day. They were both horrible liars and they knew it, but why didn't that give them enough common sense to stop? No, guess not.

A loud screech and soft thud interrupted her musings. Frightened, Kaylie spun around, trying to locate the source of the horrid screams.

"Oh Tyler..." she cooed, watching the baby attempting to untangle himself from the mini pile of tinsel. And here she thought, putting the strings of death in a box would baby proof it. She pulled Tyler into her arms and began untangling him from the 'harmless' Christmas decorations.

"Let me." Damon picked him up, cuddling him into his chest and pulling the strings out of his hair. After he had moderately cleaned him up, he threw the remaining tinsel onto the tree.

"Sometimes a kiss is just a kiss," she offered, trying to wipe her conscience free of the guilt of crushing her best friend.

"Are you talking about ours or you and Austin's after Worlds?" Damon retorted, a smirk printed across his face.

"What makes you think you outrank Austin in my book of importance?" she asked, trying her best to muster up any left pride. Damon barked out a laugh.

"You're here with me on Christmas, aren't you?" Busted. It was either that or playing girlfriend and meeting Austin's family, and for some reason, spending time with Damon and Emily seemed like the better move.

"With Emily," she corrected half-heartedly.

"Right." Kaylie rolled her eyes, slightly bumping her shoulder against his,

"It's not an excuse."

"Sure it's not, but you can't deny that you probably still go onto the recording studio most days and feel empty 'cause I'm not there," he said pointedly. Kaylie pursed her lip, slightly slouching in defeat. It's hard to pretend as if Damon was never in her life when he practically saved her. She still occasionally sits around in the recording studio on Sunday mornings, just listening to some of the new material he sends her every week. No matter how much she tries to avoid it, she misses him.

"So? That doesn't mean anything," she defended. Damon turned to face her; his chocolate, brown eyes reading of victory.

"It means it wasn't just a kiss."

…

Tyler was a lucky kid. Sure, he was born under stressed circumstances, but he was still lucky. He had parents who loved him, unlike her parents. She watched as Damon cradled him against his chest, feeding him with the bottle. He was well loved, and that's all anybody ever needs.

"Austin and I aren't really together," she said, shattering the delicate silence they had built up over the past hour or so, "Well, we are, but neither of us are really happy," she explained.

"Why's that?"

"Because we're both too focused to take a break from gymnastics to really be in a relationship." Damon placed the bottle down and put Tyler over his shoulder to burp him.

"That doesn't sound right." Kaylie tilted her head in confusion.

"Hmm?"

"If that were right, then wouldn't you be with Austin right now? Instead of spending time with the guy who almost ruined your dainty little relationship, on Christmas Eve?"

"Maybe I just missed Emily."

"Maybe you just missed me," he pointed out, slightly smug.

"For someone who knocked up my best friend, you seem awfully sure of yourself that we belong together." Damon shrugged his shoulders, putting Tyler on the couch, trying not to wake him.

"Maybe we are," he said nonchalantly. Not detecting any sarcasm in his response, Kaylie's eyes widened the size of golf balls. How could he hint at anything about them being together when he practically ended her best friend's dream.

"If we were meant to be together, then why are there so many problems keeping us from doing just that?"

"Have you ever read Romeo and Juliet, Kaylie?"

"Well, yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?"

"They were made for each other. True soul mates. But does nature give them a happy Cinderella ending?"

"So what's your point?"

"That it's possible we're meant to be. You just have to believe it is."

…

"There, the tree's all done. Cookie's baked. Baby sleeping. We're all set for Christmas!" Damon fell back onto the couch, exhausted. Kaylie sat down beside him, a mug of hot tea warming her hands. She looked over to the clock. The bold red numbers indicated it was eight o'clock. They had been on high gear, decorating like crazy for over 5 hours.

It surprised Kaylie that even being an Elite gymnast who trains twenty four seven, her arms were sore from hanging all sorts of random decorations around the house. But it was definitely worth it. One glance, and it no longer looked like a ratty, old, rented out apartment. It looked like the perfect home for any family.

"Yep. I've never actually had a traditional Christmas with the people I care about, but this seems like a good start" Kaylie tilted her head in confusion. Emily had always yammered on about how Damon came from a very good family who loved and cared about him.

"Really? What did you do in your childhood? Emily always told me you had a good one."

"Well, my dad was never really in the picture and my step father was kind of a tone deaf jackass who never excepted me as a son. He was also Jewish which meant that every year, we spent time celebrating Hanukah with my two step brothers and my sister,

"Emily doesn't know everything about me." Kaylie slowly nodded her head, slightly touched that he would share something at this personal level with her. Then again, it was a little awkward to know that she knew something about him that his girl friend didn't.

"What about your sister? What was she like?"

"A lot like me. Music junkie. Never really fit in. Never had people to call family."

"Then why didn't you invite her this year?"

"I don't know, we didn't exactly keep in contact after the 'knocked up an Olympic hopeful' thing."

"Well, Christmas is always a time of miracles. You should call."

"How 'bout I make you a deal?" Deals were never exactly her thing. The first time Austin wanted to make a deal, she had gotten tricked into helping him clean his little mansion. Knowing he was Mr. Kobalt, she should've refused the offer to begin with. She would be genuinely surprised if Austin knows the definition of cleaning up after yourself.

"Hmm, I don't know, I don't usually make deals with the devil."

"Afraid of getting on Santa's naughty list?" he teased. Kaylie cocked an eyebrow, gasping and pretending to be offended.

"Funny. Alright, what's your deal?"

"I call my sister, and you answer one question honestly." Thinking on the request, Kaylie stroked her chin in mock thought. Finally, after determining it wasn't going to change her life in any way, she nodded her head in approval.

"Deal."

"Alright, I'll call my sister tomorrow morning." They shared a wistful smile. Kaylie knew how important it was to have family around, especially because she had none.

"Okay, what's your question?"

"I'll get back to you on that." Kaylie furrowed her eyebrows in suspicion. Damon Young thinking on an idea could never be a good thing. Especially when he had that glint in his eye. The same glint he got before forcing her on stage and singing with him. Not that it was that bad. But for now, she just smiled and hoped for the best, because she couldn't name a single time Damon Young had disappointed her. Not even the kiss.

Especially not the kiss.

…

I'm Kaylie Cruz and I'm anorexic.

Those six words supposedly saved her life. Supposedly without saying them, she would have died. But she didn't believe it, because if they went by that, then she supposedly loved Austin. No, she definitely loved him. According to the press, her friends, her parents even, she loves Austin Tucker. But being here in Vegas with Damon made her question that.

When Kaylie was little, on Christmas Day, she would always lay under the Christmas tree, looking at the the strings of lights from below. Her father always used to tease her about how she looked as if the tree had eaten her head. She had to admit she looked somewhat like a psychopathic child with her head stuck under a tree and her legs dangling below, but it helped her think, and that's all that mattered.

Here she was at sixteen, lying under a Christmas tree. Not even growing up, and sitting in a living room in Vegas could change that. Here she was, under the tree, staring up at the orange, red, blue and green lights splashed across her vision. The brightness slightly stung her eyes, but it was worth clearing her head of all the thoughts.

She hated thinking about Damon. It made her feel dirty, like she didn't deserve to be the Kaylie Cruz her parents raised. It made her feel like a dirty cheater to be looking at him, let alone thinking about him. Which is why she needed this. Which is why she needed the lights to scorch her eye balls, ridding her of the thoughts.

"Hey, I didn't think you'd be up," Damon's voice rung through her ears. Damn. Just what she needed.

"I could call you out on the same thing."

"So, what are we doing?" he asked, lying down beside her, and popping his head under the tree.

"The lights are just so beautiful."

"And?"

"Well, I did this thing on year on Christmas Eve. I laid like this all night, just waiting for Santa. For a miracle."

"What was the miracle about?" he asked curiously, slightly nudging her with his elbow when she didn't respond.

"It was the year I tried out for the Rock. I was 7 and all I wanted was a chance at my dream." He nodded, understanding.

"And now?" Kaylie tilted her head in confusion.

"Now what?"

"Why are you here?" he clarified. "And don't say anything stupid like I couldn't sleep 'cause under a tree isn't exactly the ideal place to go when you're restless." Kaylie chuckled in amusement.

"I just want everything to be clear." She cleared her throat and bit her lip. "About my gymnastics, my love life, about everything," she explained.

"You seem like a girl who knows what she wants and goes for it. What's stopping you now?"

"I just- I don't know." She deflated. She never liked to be clueless. Being clueless meant being unaware of your surroundings, and being unaware of your surroundings could result in death for a gymnast.

"You never did tell me what you're question is you know," she pointed out, trying to move past the subject. Damon took the cue and nodded.

"Alright. You have to answer it and you have to do it completely honestly."

"Okay, shoot." They were followed by a moment of painstaking silence, which definitely didn't help the situation. If anything, it made it worse since all she wanted was to move on from the previous topic. Finally, Damon opened his mouth, and spoke the very question she had hoped he wouldn't ask,

"What does Austin Tucker have that I don't?" She opened her mouth to tell him off, but out came no sound. It didn't make it better that Damon was staring her down for the answer.

"I'm still waiting, Kales" he teased, his voice attempting to be innocent.

"Different circumstances," she finally answered. Damon nodded his agreement.

"So maybe if I hadn't knocked Emily up then me and you could have..." he trailed off, letting her contemplate the rest.

"Go to bed Damon."

"No."

"No?" she asked confused.

"I'll wait here with you, I've got some things to think about too," he explained.

"Then good night Damon."

"Good night Kaylie."

…

Surprises. Everybody loved surprises on Christmas morning. She wasn't sure about the kind of surprise she woke up to though. She opened her eyes and there he was. Tyler staring down at her, doe eyed. Out of all the thoughts flooding her mind, only one stood out to her.

He does have Emily's eyes.

"Good morning Tyler, what are you doing up so early?" she asked the baby, her voice still raspy from disuse. Tyler continued staring at her, short of sleepy.

"Kay, it's 10. And he likes sleeping in with Damon on the weekends." For a moment Kaylie thought it was Tyler talking. That was before she spotted Emily scurrying around, looking for a place to put the centerpiece they had made the day before.

"But Damon's not-" Before she could finish, a loud groan interrupted her. She looked beside her to find Damon's arm loosely draped around her stomach.

"Oh... Em last night we were just..." Before she could finish, Emily cut her off.

"Kaylie, he's my boyfriend. I've learned to trust him. I love him and he loves me, and I need to stop doubting that." Kaylie was genuinely surprised. Emily had always been the type of person to fend for herself and trust no one. It was nice to see she was finally letting go.

She got up, pushing Damon's arm aside and crossed the room within seconds, enveloping her friend in a hug.

"I've missed you so much, Em." Emily sniffled, hugging the petite brunette tighter.

"I missed you too."

…

"Open this one." Emily said, sliding a small box, the size of a ring box over to Damon. For a moment, Kaylie's heart skipped a beat. Was that a ring? She shook her head. That wouldn't make sense, the man was supposed to give the woman a ring, not the other way around.

Damon neatly unwrapped it, unlike any boy she had ever seen opening a present. He pulled out a small box with the name 'John Lennon' engraved on top. Kaylie leaned over his shoulder to get a better look. As he slowly opened the box, it revealed a guitar pick, signed by John Lennon.

"Aw thanks, Em. I've been looking for this forever." Damon had once told her that he had a collection of guitar picks, and he would trade the world for one autographed by John Lennon. Well, trade time.

"Yep, so have I. Merry Christmas Damon." Emily quickly pecked him on the cheek and sat back down across from him.

"Who's this one from?" he asked, inspecting the next present.

"Me." He flashed her a smile and unwrapped the present to uncover the DVD. He quickly popped it out of the case and loaded it into the DVR. Out displayed several pictures of the two of them fooling around in the recording studio, and while they were singing. It was set to their song, Finally Free.

"Oh my god... Kaylie is this...?"

"Yeah. It's not much but I figured it's the least I could do after all you did for me during my recovery." Kaylie brushed it off as nothing, but it had taken her forever to find all the pictures and upload them onto a CD. It definitely made her feel like a technology deprived idiot for not knowing how to upload photos. He pulled her into a friendly hug.

"It's beautiful, thanks you."

"I kinda also got my mom's old agent to check out some of the new material you sent me last week and she loved it!" she added, scratching the back of her head. Damon arched his eyebrows, waiting for her to throw in a 'just kidding!' but it never came. Kaylie bit her lip,

"And wants to meet with you next week…" she felt a little guilty for taking Damon away from his his girl friend and son, but when Ronnie's old agent had heard her replaying the song in the recording studio, she couldn't help but say yes to inviting him over to meet her.

So maybe it wasn't just the fact that this was jumpstarting his career. Maybe it had a little to do with spending more time with him alone in Boulder, but that shouldn't matter because this was his career they were talking about… right?

"Are you serious?" asked Damon, still not quite believing her words.

"Yep, again, the least I could do."

"Are you kidding, you might have just jumped started my career all over again. When I told you I was having a rough time, I didn't think you would go out and get me an agent," he rambled. "Thank you so much Kales!"

"So where and when is he going?" Emily cut in, trying to keep them grounded to reality. Kaylie bit her lip in anticipation. She had been hoping the joy could carry them over this bridge. No teenager would want to be a single parent of a child on the second month.

"Oh... Well, he needs to meet with her next week in Boulder, but I was thinking maybe he could come with me by tomorrow?" Emily diverted her attention to Damon, her eyes reading of concern.

"Sure..." she said distractedly, "How long would you be gone?"

"A few weeks." Kaylie jumped in, "You could always come with, Em." Now that was truly the least she could do. Even though the alone time would be shattered, Damon was still getting to his dream.

"No, it's cool. It's going to be horrible taking Ty on a bus. I'll miss you guys though"

"Then it's settled, we're going to Boulder tomorrow."

…

She'd be lying if she said she wasn't attracted to him. She'd also be lying if she said she didn't maybe, kinda love him. She'd be lying if she said she didn't have dreams where they were together. But she would also be lying if she said she ever had a chance with him.

She would give anything for one more kiss. The kiss they shared was magical. It was perfect. For that one moment their lips crashed together, all her troubles disappeared. For that one moment, she was no longer the former champion or the mentally ill one. She was Kaylie Cruz, and that was enough.

Going to Boulder with him probably wasn't the best of ideas. The last thing she needed was more drama. If they had to record a song together there was no doubt they would kiss again, leading to some Damon versus Austin violence. Again, drama.

She packed the last of her clothes into her pink suitcase and took a deep breath. This was the first and last time she was ever going to visit Vegas, and that was final. Coming to clear the air with Damon didn't exactly accomplish anything except reopen the partially healed wound. She picked up the moderately heavy piece of luggage and began walking downstairs.

"I'll miss you." She stopped dead on her tracks as she heard Damon's voice from the bottom of the stairwell. This wasn't snooping, technically she was just… being curious. She peered over the railing and saw Damon, his arms wrapped around Emily - who looked as if she may or may not have been sobbing. Emily nuzzled into his shoulder.

"I'll miss you too." There was a pause, "I love you." Kaylie nearly choked when she heard her say it. Of course Emily loved him. He was her boy friend. They had a baby together. But it still hurt to know her friend had something she wanted.

"I love you too." She gasped. It felt as though her heart had been ripped out, and torn to pieces right in front of her eyes.

He loves her. You never had a chance, the voice mocked in her head. It was the same voice that put her down time after time after Nationals. The same voice which told her she would never measure up to Payson. The same voice which nearly destroyed her life. She always believed the voice. The voice doesn't lie. It was like Sasha, who always told her exactly what was right for her. It was simply never wrong.

But for the first time in her life, she took a chance. She didn't believe it. She believed that no matter what anyone says, she and Damon were meant to be together. Even if they could be together, she knew they were meant to be, and that's all that mattered. Because at the end of the day,

He was her Romeo and she was his Juliet.

A/N Hey guys... I know kinda just dropped off the face of the Earth and came back with something that's not exactly what I usually write and I'm sorry for that! I promise a new chapter of Champion from Ashes is on the way!

First of all, let me just say I had a horrible case of writer's block... I know it's not really an excuse but I just couldn't write anything.

Second of all, yes I know its like a week after Christmas, but I don't really care :P At least Santa got rid of my writer's block.

Third of all, a big thanks to JCI, LauraW89, and Creatively Lisenced B for helping me get off my little runt!

Fourth of all, I made a twitter. Follow me for any updates on my writing! :) I'm SunnyStar123 and if you want a link, it will soon be up on my page!

Read and Review! :)