AN—I don't own anything from the TV show Make it or Break it. Okay it's a Payson and the new guy Nick story. It takes place at National and Payson needs some Cortisone.

~*~

Today for the girls was Vault. And the four Rock girls were standing together watching the other girls go.

"Can you believe that we're already halfway through Nationals?" Kaylie asked the other three.

"No. It feels like the time just zoomed right by us." Emily said it a sad tone. Lauren looked over at her and smirked.

"What is Nationals not what you thought it was going to be? Is it not up to your standards Emily?" Lauren asked icily crossing her arms turning to Emily.

"No it's just—" Emily tried to say, but Lauren cut it.

"Or is your mind on other things? Like that guy from the pizza shack? What can stand—"

"Give it a rest Laur!" Kaylie said bluntly. "We really don't need this right now."

"But look at Pay! It's not bothering her!" Lauren said defensively.

"That's because she's in her own little world watching Nick Russo." Emily said in a sickeningly sweet tone as she put her hands together and batted her eyelashes. Kaylie, Lauren and Emily broke into laughter. It was then that Payson notice that she had been watching Nick put chalk on his hands for five minutes. She spun around and looked at the other girls.

"What's so funny?" she asked smiling. But they just laughed harder when she asked. Her smile turned into an impatient frown. "Girls what are you laughing at?!" she asked again raising her voice. But still the girls laughed. "What the Hell are you three laughing at? It must be funny enough that you can't even answer me!" The girls stopped but they still looked as if they were about to burst into another fit.

"You've been staring at Nick for like an hour." Kaylie said, holding back the laughter.

"I was not!" Payson squeaked as her face turned tomato red. Kaylie snorted.

"Oh come on Pay! Lauren was flipping out and you didn't even notice. She practically yelled your name. Face you like Nick! And there's nothing you can do about it!" Kaylie said triumphantly dancing in place.

"I do not like him!" Payson tried to say calmly. "I don't have time for guys. So why would I spend my time watching him when I could be watching the other girls Vault?"

"Oh." Lauren said playfully. "So you were watching the Vault?" Payson paused trying to muster up her lying voice.

"Yes." She said. The other three giggled.

"Then…" Lauren asked. "Could you tell me who was the last up to Vault?" Payson froze.

"Uh-uh-I think was-um… Heather Lelie?" she lied.

"Payson." Emily said. "Heather Lelie isn't at Nationals."

"Oh well then it must have been—"

"Pay stop." Kaylie said as she came over to her. Kaylie left about six inches in between her and Payson. She looked and said. "Pay tell us the truth. It's okay to have a crush on someone. Just because were not allowed to have boyfriends, doesn't mean were not allowed to like a boy or two. Please tell us Pay. Please." Kaylie then gave her the puppy eyes. Payson with all might tried to fight her eyes… but sadly failed. Payson lowered her head.

"Yes." Payson said. Emily and Lauren walked over.

"Yes what?" Lauren asked.

"I like him."

"Who exactly do you like again?" Emily asked.

"Nick."

"Nick who?" Kaylie asked. Payson looked up and playfully punched Kaylie's arm.

"You know which Nick! Now stop! You got what you wanted. Yes I have a crush on Nick Russo. Are you happy Kay?" Payson said putting her hands on her hips.

"Yes I am very happy!" Kaylie said giving Payson a hug.

"Girls!" Sasha called. "We're up." The girls walked over to Sasha. "Okay the order goes Emily, Lauren, Kaylie, Payson. Are you girls ready?" They all nodded there heads.

First Emily went and stuck her landing. Then Lauren, but her landing wasn't as nice. Kaylie went and stuck it with no trouble. Payson was up.

"Good luck Payson." Sasha said as she passed him. Okay Payson it you're moment. Now all you have to do is beat Kelly. When she got to the starting point she stopped and gave a quick look over to the rings. There was Nick looking at her. He gave her a quick thumbs up, then Payson looked away. She focused on the Vault, took a deep breath and began to run. When she reached she did a back hand spring and flung herself in the air. As she twirled she thought of nothing. But then the landing came. When she hit the ground a shot of pain ran up her back and she gasped in pain but did not reach for her back. Her right foot moved out of place. The crowd cheered. As she walked back over to her team Sasha stopped her.

"Is it your back?" he asked.

"No. It's fine." Payson said.

"Then what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong I'm fine."

"Well your face didn't say I'm fine when you landed." Sasha crossed his arms.

"It was my ankle. I guess I didn't wrap it tight enough. But I'll be fine. I'll ice it and I'll get the trainer to wrap it tomorrow." Sasha paused.

"Fine."

Payson smiled. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." She said and then jogged over to Emily, Lauren and Kaylie.

"Nice job Pay." Lauren said.

"Thanks."

"But are you okay? You looked like you were hurt when you landed." Kaylie asked.

"Oh I'm fine. It was my ankle… but I'll be fine for tomorrow."

"Good bec—Oh Pay look! Lover boy's about to start his routine." Kaylie said smiling. But instead to Payson saying something she just turned and looked towards the rings. As he started Payson realized that he really was one of the best male gymnasts she had ever seen. All his moves were so precise and clean. And when his dismount came, it was prefect. He was the last to go for the men that day so he walked over to where the Rock was sitting. Payson turned to the girls again and started talking. But not a minute after starting she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned expecting it to be Sasha, but instead it was Nick.

"Hey Payson." He said.

"Hey Nick. Uh—great job on you routine." She said.

"Oh thanks. Good job on your Vault. But are you okay? Your landing was a little rough."

"Um— come over her." She grabbed Nick's arm and pulled him a few yards away from the other girls. She heard some giggles but ignored it.

"What are they laughing at?" Nick asked Payson.

"Oh nothing." She lied. "It's an inside joke. But anyway… I need more cortisone. I guess I didn't put it in the right place last time."

"Wait you did it yourself" he asked sounding worried.

"Well not exactly—but that's not the point. Do you have some with you?"

"Yes."

"Okay could I buy some please? I really need it."

"Yeah of course. But this time don't bring money."

"But—"

"Nope it's fine. But we'll need to meet tonight so it will have time to work. Where should we meet?"

"I don't know. We can't meet in one of our rooms for obvious reasons. If only there was like some closet or something."

"Wait Payson that's it! There's one on the third floor in the hotel at the end of each hall. You are so smart! Okay so I think we should meet at about ten. That will give the shot a good twelve hours to set in. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah that's fine. But how are we going to get in."

"I can pick locks."

"But I can't. What if I get there before you?"

"I'll come and get you."

"There is only one minor flaw in that plan. My parents might see you at my door. And you are a boy. And my dad will not think you're there to just chat or something. What the Hell are you going to say?"

"I'm going to tell him that Sasha wants to talk to us. We're the both number one on the roster. It makes sense." Payson paused.

"Okay. But you better have a back up plan if this doesn't work."

"Don't worry Payson." Nick said. Then he whispered into her ear. "I always have a back up plan." A chill went down her spine. And with that Nick walked away. Payson turned around flustered and looked at the girls. The three of them had little smirks on their faces.

"Don't say anything." She said walking past them to the chairs. She put her sweat pants on and watched the next girl do her Vault.

"So what was all that whispering about?" Kaylie asked as she sat down next to Payson.

"Nothing." Payson said calmly.

"It didn't look like nothing." Lauren said.

"Well it was nothing. So could you please just drop it?" Payson spat back. The girls looked at each other in question but left it.

************************************************************************

There was a knock at the door while Payson and her family were watching TV. Payson as calmly as she could, got up and answered the door.

"Hey Nick. You're early…by an hour." Payson said in a whisper.

"I know. But I figured you should get to bed before ten."

"Okay… Hey mom I'll be back in twenty minutes. Sasha needs to have a meeting with me and another person."

"Okay Payson. Have fun!" her mother called back. Then Payson shut the door. Nick and Payson looked at each other.

"We might want to run there." Nick said smiling.

"Okay." And with that the pair ran to the end of the hall and down five flights of stairs. Nick turned the knob and went in closely followed by Payson. Nick then flick on the light and shut the door. The closet wasn't as small as Payson thought it would be. It could probably five people comfortably. But still Payson was only a few feet away from Nick. The two were still trying to catch their breath when Nick reached into his pocket.

"Do you know how much I feel like drug dealer right now?" he laughed. Payson look at his hand. There was the bottle. He held it up in front of her. She started to reach for it but he moved it away from her sights.

"Hey." She said. "What are you doing?"

"First you have to answer a few questions." He said smirking

"Wait that was not part of what you said when we talked."

"Well I guess you don't want it then." He said while reaching for the door.

"Wait." she grabbed his hand before it got the door knob. He looked at her. "What do you want to ask?"

"How did you give yourself the shot, but not exactly?" She looked at the ground.

"Well I didn't give it to myself. I had to pay my sister that one hundred dollar to give me the shot and not tell anyone."

"And how are you going to do this one? Do you have more money to keep your sister quite?"

"No. But I'll find a way. So can I have the Cortisone now?"

"What if I do it for you?" Payson's hair on the back of her neck shot up. She looked up and him.

"Do you know how to do it?"

"Duh. My dad gives them to people on a daily basis. I know how to do it. Don't you trust me?" He gave her a warm smile that made Payson melt on the inside and without thinking said Yes. "Okay good. Now what I need you to do is turn around." She did. "And now I need you to… lift up your shirt." She froze for a minute. "Payson… I know this is weird… But if you want to compete you need to do this. It's not like I'm going to see anything but your back." He put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and faced Nick but she was looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry." She said. "I've just never been in a situation like this."

"Well I've never been in a closet with a girl before."

"Not that! Well yes that. But nothing like this…"

"Like what?"

"Well I've never been alone anywhere with a guy before." With each word Payson's self esteem sank. "So I guess I'm just nervous and the fact that I hate needles doesn't help." Nick took a step closer. He paused but then put his arms around her.

"Everything will be fine. I'm going to give you the shot and that will be that. Okay?" Payson nodded into his shoulder. He let go and stepped back. After a minute she gathered herself. Then she turned around.

"How far should I lift my shirt? Wait do you even have a needle?"

"Yes. And you should lift it about a foot."

"Okay." Then with shaking hands she lifted her shirt.

"Okay great. Now put you hand exactly where the pain is." She moved her hand. "Okay you can put it down." Then he got closer and put his hand on her back. For the second time that night Payson almost jumped out of skin. Nick laughed. "Now I'm going to press on different part of your back." He pressed down on a one spot and he felt her tensed. I pressed another and nothing. But at the eighth spot Payson gasped and pain and reached for her back.

"Is that where you put it last time?" Nick asked.

"No."

"Okay. Then I'm going to put it where I just was. You might want to move to the wall." She took two steps forward so she was half a foot away. Nick in the mine while took the needle out of his pocket. "Okay are you ready Payson?"

"Yeah." A few seconds later she felt Nick's hand on her back again. He pressed down on the sensitive part of her back. Once again she gasped.

"Okay on the count of three. One…two…three!" Nick stock the needle into Payson's back. She let out a yelp of pain. After ten seconds Nick pulled it out. He waited for Payson's breathing to even. "Are you okay?" he asked. Payson turned around and wiped a single tear from her eye.

"Yep. I'm fine. But I can I ask a question?"

"Shot."

"How did you open the door without picking the lock?"

"I picked it before I came to get. I figured it would've been easier."

"Oh okay. One more. How are we going to get out? Someone might see us and get the wrong idea."

"Don't worry I'll go first and then after a minute or two go and leave. But there is a matter of your payment for all this."

"But I don't have any money."

"I didn't take money last time did I?"

"No…"

"So now all you have to do is do me a favor as payment."

"Okay… what is it?"

"Stick out your hands." She did so. "Now close your eyes." She paused and gave him a questioning look. "Oh come on. Don't be a Scaredy Cat." She waited another second and then closed them.

"You know I don't see the poi—" Payson started, but was silenced by Nick taking her hands giving her a kiss. It was just long enough for Payson to return the kiss and then it was done. Payson kept her eyes closed.

"Payment made. But you still owe me that dance." Payson heard the door open and then shut a second later. Payson opened her eyes.

"Oh my God." She whispered. "Oh my God." She said in her normal voice. "Oh MY GOD! Nick Russo just kissed me… ME!" A smile jumped onto her face. She started hopping around in the closet and started half singing. "Nick Russo kissed me la la la la la. It was really awesome la la la la la!" Then a squeal of joy came out of her mouth. "Okay calm down you still have to wait a minute…." Then she continued to joyfully sing her song.

Though unbeknownst to her, Nick was just on the other side of the door listening to her. A smile was plastered on his face. But when he heard the door start to open, he jumped and run to the stair case and up the stairs as fast as he could.

But he didn't have to run. It turned out that Payson took the long way so she could dance singing to herself down all the halls until she got to her floor.

~*~

So what do you think?