Payson Keeler stood in the living room of her house. There were tables lined up, several for food, and some for presents. A banner hung directly across from the front door with the words, "Happy Engagement Summer & Sasha" written across it. As far as Payson was concerned, there was nothing happy about the occasion. It was just another function she had to grace with her presence.
Her mother had volunteered to host the party, much to Payson's dismay. It was bad enough that she had to watch the Rock's over-enthusiastic Christian marry her ex-boyfriend, but what made it even worse was that she had to spread their love. Yeah, love. Payson thought. Sasha loves sex. And she's trapping him into marriage by with-holding it. She was so busy sulking in her thoughts that she hardly noticest the arrival of several of the Rock's finest members. (If by finest you meant never making it to the Olympics, let alone winning a gold medal.) She decided to collect herself and became the great hostess her mother instructed her to be.
Everytime she turned around there was another hand to shake, and another person to put on a smile for. The party had barely started, and she felt like she'd greeted every person in Boulder. She turned to greet yet another group of guests, and she was relieved to find it was actually a group she wanted to see.
She looked up at Austin, smiling in relief as he bent down to press a kiss on her forehead. She looked around instinctively to make sure nobody was watching, and it took a minute to realize the no dating rule didn't apply to her anymore. Behind Austin stood Kaylie and Nicky, bright smiles on both of their faces, and linked by the hand.
The four had just completed a joint two week media tour. They were all permitted a three day break in Colorado before they had to pick up and tour the east coast. It wasn't surprising they were adored everywhere in the US, seeing as between the four of them they had managed to procure fourteen Olympic gold medals. The four had become virtually inseperable since their victories.
"Pay!" Kaylie exclaimed, turning to hug her friend. "It's only been a day and I missed you so much!"
Payson laughed in reply. "What are you going to do when the press tour is over and you're at UCLA?"
"I don't know!" Kaylie said. "It's crazy isn't it? Exciting, but crazy."
"It was only a month ago we were spending every hour of the day together at the Rock," Nicky said, adding his input. "It doesn't seem real we could be celebrating here together for the last time."
"Why do we have to be here again?" Payson interjected. "It's not like we won't attend the wedding."
"It's just another function," Austin reminded her. "But this one is about someone we actually care about."
"Yeah, well that still doesn't mean I want to be here," She mumbled in reply.
"But you are, and you look beautiful," Austin said, looking down at her with a smile.
Payson leaned into his side. He was wearing black pants and a white button down shirt. She loved it when he got rid of his leather jacket, and replaced it with something more classic. She, on the other hand, was looking very risque in a short, form-fitting sequined dress. It was black and long-sleeved. She once would have found it revealing, however ever since she completed the Olympics, she found she had more time to worry about her style and much more body to work with. She wore silver pumps on her feet, and her hair hung down in loose waves.
"Yeah, well, speaking of not wanting to be here," Kaylie began, "I think it's safe to assume we won't be seeing Lauren tonight?"
Nicky and Austin exchanged a look that didn't go unnoticed by either girl.
"What?" Kaylie demanded.
"Well," Nicky hesitated, "I don't know why it matters. It's not like you have been on the best terms since we got back to the US."
"So?" Kaylie challenged. "That doesn't mean we aren't still friends."
"Kaylie, by 'not on the best terms' he means Lauren probably hates the both of you for beating her in every event, including beam. So that combined with being ignored by the media and the fact that we're celebrating her father's ex-fiancee's engagement to her old coach, leads me to the conclusion that Lauren will not be joining us this evening," Austin elaborated.
Payson nudged him in the side.
"What?" He asked. "It's true."
"Austin," she rolled her eyes at his tactless behavior, but before she could lecture him, their attention was turned toward a circle of people cheering, surrounding a single couple. Sasha and Summer had arrived at the party. Payson's playful smile immediately fell off her face, and she looked around for somewhere to go. Her focus pinpointed on the door to the kitchen that would lead her to another door, that would take her outside. She started walking towards it, but was abruptly stopped by Austin.
"What's wrong babe?" His eyes looked at her concernedly, attempting to discern what was wrong.
She put on a smile. "Nothing. It just got really hot in here. I need to go outside and breathe."
His face relaxed a little. "Do you want me to come with you?" He asked.
"No," she replied immediately. "I just need a few minutes. I'll be right back."
"Okay," Austin answers, before resuming his discussion with Nicky and Kaylie.
Payson sends one last look over her shoulder at Summer and Sasha. She walks through the kitchen, and by the time she is out the back door, she is hunched over, barely able to breathe.
She hears the door open and immediately pulls herself together. She stands up straight and turns around to greet the intruder. She sees who it is and walks further into the yard.
"Payson," the voice calls. She walks faster.
"Payson, wait!" They yell out, again.
She pulls off one shoe successfully, but it takes a few more seconds to unhook the other one. She finally does, and disposing of them both in the grass, she starts to run.
She doesn't know how long she is running for, but it feels like seconds when she hears footsteps catching up. It takes even shorter a time before her path is obstructed by the body that was following her.
"Payson." He grabs her by both arms. "Stop."
"Oh hey Sasha," she tries to play it off. "I didn't see you."
"Payson." He states her name like he's telling her to cut the crap. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine Sasha. You're not my coach anymore. You have no responsibility to me."
"Payson just tell me what's wrong. If you were fine, you would still be at the party." Sasha looks at her with eyes desperate to understand.
"Do you really wanna know what's wrong?" Payson's volume escalated significantly, and any evidence of being happy completed disappeared. "What's wrong is you are out here asking me what's wrong, when you should be at your engagement party with your fiancee. I was fine for two weeks. For two weeks I forgot you ever left me. For two weeks, I forgot you got engaged at the stupid Olympics. For the two weeks I was gone, and you meant nothing to me. But now I'm back and I'm hosting an engagement party for you. Everything is wrong with that Sasha."
"Payson," he said softly, his hands in the pocket of the same suit he wore to take her to the ballet. "You know I had no choice in leaving you. You would have never been so successful at the Olympics if I was there to distract you."
"Do you really think when I think about the Olympics now, I think about how successful I was? You couldn't have waited until we got back, until we at least gave whatever we were a real try?" She asked desperately.
"Payson, you know I didn't ask Summer. She asked me, and I just,"
"Stop." She cut him off. "Save it. The way you can prove to me that you care about me now is by just getting out of my life. The only thing you've ever been good at is leaving me. You don't know how much I want to trust you, but I can't. Not anymore. It hurts too much. I don't want to risk everything I have with Austin for you, because I don't know when you'll decide to leave again."
She stands with her arms crossed in defiance, waiting to hear what he has to say.
"I wish you knew how much I wish I could take everything I said that night back," He replied, his eyes brimming with tears. "Because it is enough. Our love. It is enough, or we wouldn't be here right now."
Payson looked in his eyes, as disbelief filled hers. She maintained her stoic composure and said, "The one time you were right was when you said it wasn't enough, because it's not. You are going to marry Summer. If you loved me you wouldn't be marrying her. You made a decision. I don't know if you chose wrong, I can't tell you that, but I can tell you that I don't know how to love someone who isn't there. We can't be together anymore."
He looked away, and they stood in silence. "I miss you." He said, more to himself than to her. "I wish I chose differently."
"Well I don't miss you." She replied, not missing a beat. "I'm with Austin now. He treats me great, he defends me, and he looks out for me."
"You don't need that Payson," he replies snidely. "You don't need someone to look out for you and to protect you."
"Maybe I don't." She snaps back. "But he loves me."
"And do you love him?" Sasha inquires.
She hesitates, and that's enough for Sasha to call her out.
"How can you be happy spending your life with someone you don't love?" He tries.
"Do you love Summer?" She fires back. "Did you make the right decision?"
He avoids eye contact, and whispers to the ground. "Yes."
"Then why are you here?" She says, venom dripping from every syllable.
"I don't know," he whispers.
"Then I guess we're done," she says, sounding disappointed. She starts walking away from him, and her house, when she thinks of something she forgot to say.
She turns around to his retreating figure.
"Sasha," she calls out, not wanting to leave anything unsaid.
He turns around. For a second, she could swear she saw a flash of hope in his eyes.
"I'm not coming back," she states.
A puzzled look overcomes his face.
"To Colorado I mean," she clarifies. "I was offered a coaching job in New York. I think I'm going to spend some time there for awhile."
He puts his hands in his pockets, and nods. Before he can turn fully around and return to the party, she calls out again.
"Sasha." Again, he looks around. "I do love you. You're my soul mate," She says. She pauses, thinking carefully of what to say, and continues. "But real life isn't like Cinderella. It's more like Romeo and Juliet. If our families and friends never came into play, we could be so happy, and in love. But all the outside forces do matter, and for us it ends like a tragedy. Granted neither of us killed ourselves, but this isn't a happy ending. Our love really isn't enough."
She turns around and starts walking away. He watches her figure disppear, Her dress sparkling under the streetlights. He can't help but think to himself, that he'd give anything to make their love be enough.
A/N: Okay, so much for that oneshot. I just couldn't resist. I think I'm gonna write one more part to this. I'm not so sure yet, we'll see how it goes. Let me know what you think, I'd love to know what you liked & what I could do better. Thank you so much to the previous chapters reviewers, I appreciate it with everything! You should definitely review & make my day.
P.S. Who watched last night's episode? Loved it! Let me know what you thought of that too!