Disclaimer: I don't own "Make It or Break It", any song references, or any other references unless otherwise noted.
A/N: Hi! So this idea has been floating around my head since "Are We Having Fun Yet?" premiered, and I had to write it. This is basically like a continuation of the ending, where Payson meets up with Ike and his friends after leaving the Open House at The Rock. I'm switching around the timeline of events a little bit, considering I started this right after "Are We Having Fun Yet" but I want to incorporate the scene from "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" where Payson walks in on Nicky and Kaylie. I'm also not having Nicky go to Denver, just because he shouldn't have left in the first place! Well, here we go!
Payson Keeler was shattered. There was absolutely no other way of putting it. Her entire life had fallen apart in an instant and now, weeks later, she was still feeling the repercussions. When her mother had decided to swing by The Rock this morning to drop off some cookies for the open house later that night, Payson was relieved that it would be early enough that nobody besides Sasha and Summer would be there. But when she had seen Kaylie's car in the parking lot, her sense of curiosity had gotten the best of her. Walking in that morning to see her best friend lying on the mat with the man Payson loved on top of her hadn't been the best way to start the day. But just when Payson had convinced herself that maybe it was just a fluke, that maybe Kaylie had fallen, Nicky was trying to be the gentleman that is and help her up, and she pulled him down on top of her, the open house arrived. Watching the duet that Nicky and Kaylie performed was enough to convince Payson that she was no longer in Nicky Russo's heart, that her place there, just like on the medal stand at Nationals, had been stolen by none other than Kaylie Cruz.
Of course, Nicky wasn't Payson's boyfriend or anything. The two had only shared one kiss, and Payson had always denied any attraction to him when pressed by her friends. Her face softened as she paused to consider that point, then hardened once more. Kaylie knew that, despite all of Payson's words otherwise, Payson liked Nick and Kaylie STILL went after him! Payson laughed at the hypocrisy her best friend was showing. After how hurt she had been when Lauren slept with Carter, Kaylie had no problem doing something similar to Payson.
Payson took another gulp of her beer and thought of things she would like to do to Kaylie Cruz at the moment, most of them rather violent. She was fuming now, far too angry to realize that her cup was being refilled continuously. Payson didn't care anymore. Why not get drunk? Her life was over anyway. She was never going back to The Rock, and she'd already broken the law once by buying cortisone that was illegally obtained. What was an underage drinking citation going to do to her already-destroyed life?
As Payson sat on the tailgate of Ike's truck and thought, Ike himself walked over. Well, staggered would probably be a more appropriate word, considering that he had been drunk when she had arrived and was now well on his way to "totally wasted." At least I'm not that bad, Payson though. Not yet, anyway.
"What's up, Pay-Pay?" Ike slurred, barely coherent. "Want another drink? We've still got another keg in the truck."
"No thanks," Payson replied, tilting her cup so that Ike would see the contents. "Apparently I've been getting uninvited refills for the past hour. Your friends are courteous drunks, at least."
"The best kind," Ike boasted proudly. He sat down next to Payson on the tailgate and asked her, "What happened to that thing you had to do? The thing at the gym with your friends?"
Payson's body tensed up and she tersely responded, "I don't want to talk about it." She stared unflinchingly into the night sky and drained her cup as Ike looked at her curiously.
"What happened? Friends move on and forget you? You remember you couldn't do that stuff anymore?" Ike polished off his own red plastic cup of beer and set it down beside him. "That's why life sucks: everything's temporary. It's like, you find something that you love, you know? And one day, it's all gone. That's life. We lose things we care about, and then we die."
"Gee, Ike," Payson responded sarcastically, "even when you're drunk you're still a philosopher." She sighed and said, "I found something I loved, something that I was good at, something that made me happy. I made myself the best I could be at it, the best at it PERIOD. Gymnastics became my LIFE. And now it's gone, and what do I have? Nothing."
Ike considered these words and closed his eyes, thinking as carefully as he could in his current state in order to phrase his next philosophic revelation the best way possible. Giving up, he just went with the idea in its purest form: "Beer is good."
Payson snorted, partially with laughter and partially in disgust. "Wow, Ike," she replied, "you should write a book! The Mysteries of Life Explained by Ike Benziger! With such profound statements like that, I'm sure it would be a best-seller."
Far too drunk to recognize the blatant sarcasm in Payson's tone, Ike smiled happily and said, "I should! Cuz, cuz think about it… Beer makes your problems go away! Like, you get so drunk that you can't remember why you were sad in the first place!" Seeing Payson's look of disbelief, he continued, "It's not the deepest philosophy ever, but it makes sense. Things like love and faith and your gymnastics, they're not tangible, and that's the problem with believing in them. It's impossible to hold onto them, so they eventually slip away. But beer? Beer is always there! It's there when you're happy, when you're sad, anytime you want it. All you have to do is reach out and take it."
Considering this speech, Payson leaned back to relax her muscles and said, "I guess you have a point. Believing in things that you can't see comes back to hurt you, but tangible things you can keep." Turning to face Ike, she continued, "I never thought of things that way before. I guess maybe your philosophy does make sense… More sense than mine does at the moment."
Leaning closer to her, so close that she could smell the alcohol on his breath without any effort whatsoever, Ike said, "Maybe you need a guy like me. A guy who shows you other things in life, who can show you what it's like to live in and for the moment."
As he moved forward with his eyes locked on her lips, Payson felt her breath catch in her throat. And as his lips hit hers, she immediately closed her eyes, only to be confronted with the memory of her kiss with Nicky in California. Feeling guilty and confused by the torrent of emotions rushing through her, she pulled away. As Payson caught her breath to explain to a hurt-looking Ike why she had ended their kiss, she heard a voice that was all too familiar to her, and the last she wanted to hear. "Payson?"
A/N: Yay cliffhangers! As you can see, this is kind of dark compared to what I normally write, but the stupid plot bunny has been attacking me to do it. I'm definitely not condoning underage drinking here; it's just that it was essential to the story. I hope I haven't messed up the characterization of Ike too badly; he's a pretty interesting character to write. I'm ignoring the events of "Save the Last Dance" as well as anything that happens beyond Payson's discovery of Nicky and Kaylie and Payson's attack on Ike in "Loves Me, Loves Me Not," so basically Ike's still a jerk. Let me know what you think and if this is worth continuing to post! I'm finishing it for myself so that the plot bunny leaves me in peace, but I'll gladly update if you guys think it's interesting enough. Review! =)