PRICELESS adj.

of inestimable worth
so precious its value cannot be determined

Disclaimer: I do not own Make It or Break It.

Summary: No matter what it always came back to him – to the one person who had seen her at her best and her worst and found beauty in both. Who could put a value on that? Payson/Sasha

X. Breakaway

In spite of everything that had happened the previous day, Payson refused to be swayed from her usual routine. Today was a Tuesday, so she woke up at 5:30am, just like she would any other training day. She changed into her running clothes, updated her iPod, gathered what she needed and was out the door with two minutes to spare. Just in time to run headlong into Sasha Belov as she flicked her eyes away from her intended path to select a playlist.

"Sorry, I thought you saw me," Sasha apologised, his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"I wasn't really paying attention," she replied sheepishly, tucking an imagined piece of stray hair behind her ear. "There's not normally anyone else out at this time. Especially at this time of year."

"I wonder why," he mused thoughtfully, eyes skimming the near darkness broken only by the beam of the occasional streetlight.

Payson ignored the dry comment, shaking her head. "Morning," she greeted instead with a small smile, remembering her manners and the fact that in spite of his unexpected appearance interrupting her routine, she was genuinely pleased to see him. It was just what she needed – a suddenly appearing Sasha to lighten her spirits after the awfulness of the previous evening.

"Morning," he grinned back at her with a familiar gleam in his eyes. They were lit with amusement, the way they sometimes did when he was teasing her. She narrowed her eyes and lifted an eyebrow expectantly, daring him to say it. "Just admiring your light fixture, Pay," he teased, tapping her head mounted lamp.

"It's practical," she protested.

"Obviously," he grinned. "Doesn't make it any less adorable," he added, solely to watch her expression darken into a fetching pout. "You're like a cute li'l miner."

"Did you want something?" she asked, crossing her arms. She didn't particularly care that her question came off as impolite. He'd started it, after all.

Realizing that she wasn't going to take the bait, he nodded solemnly, amusement fading to concern. "Your mum called me about what happened with Lauren last night," he told her.

"Are you alright, Payson?" he asked softly.

Her eyes narrowed and she huffed with annoyance, disliking the pity she heard in his tone. She hated that her mother had gone over her head like that, and more so that Sasha had a tendency to do the same and thought it perfectly okay. It made her feel like a child and made her want to revolt against him instead of accepting the comfort he was trying to offer.

"You don't need to check up on me," she said darkly.

"I know," Sasha said, giving her a gentle, understanding smile and catching her hand. She could still read the concern in his eyes, but was appeased by the warmth of his smile.

The rest of her was set off again by his next words. "I'm not here to check on you, Payson. Your mum recruited me.

"She thinks you should stay away from the gym today and she knew you wouldn't listen to anyone else," he told her. "I think she's right. You and Lauren need to be away from each other. Just for today."

Payson scowled at him, taking back possession of her hand and fisting them at her sides. "Then make her stay at home," she replied sourly. "She's the one who messed up, so she should be the one to miss training. Not me."

"Who said anything about missing training?" Sasha asked with a mysterious smile.

"But you said –"

"You weren't going to The Rock," he reiterated, cutting her off. "Today we're doing some off-site training."

"We?" she questioned, looking more enthused by the new prospect. She tried to hold back some of her eagerness – biting her lip to suppress a smile – but knew the reasons for her change of mood were quite transparent.

"We," he confirmed. "So really Lauren's the one missing out.

"You get me all to yourself," he added, taking her hand once again and tugging her a step closer. She didn't resist, and he used the opportunity to pull her into a loose hug, smiling as her arms slid around his neck.

"I suppose that doesn't sound too awful," she said airily, smiling coyly. "But first I've got to do my run."

"Of course," Sasha nodded. "Mind if I join you?"

She nodded, finally appreciating the fact that Sasha was not dressed in his usual jeans-jacket combination, but a pair of track pants, a loose sweatshirt and trainers. He had come prepared for her daily routine, knowing she wouldn't break it for anything short of injury or natural disaster. She flicked on her headlamp – the one he had teased her for – and smiled cheekily before using his sturdy frame to push herself off with a running start.

The challenge was issued without a word, and Sasha easily kept up despite the ten years and fully operational knee she had to her advantage. He even kept up with her through some of the more difficult trails in Chautauqua Park, his feet as sure as her own as they navigated the uneven terrain.

"Bet you thought you were the only one who knew this shortcut," he said between breaths, taking the lead on a narrow part of the path.

"Yes," she replied huffily, lagging a little to his longer stride. "When do you run?"

"Sometimes after practice," he replied, glancing briefly over his shoulder. "It's a pretty good stress reliever if we've had a hard day. You should try it."

"Maybe," she said. "I like the mornings, though. Less people around. I can pretend I have the whole park to myself."

"So you like to run alone?" Sasha asked curiously.

Payson shrugged, a smirk pulling on her lips. "I don't mind having a partner," she told him easily, before suddenly sprinting past him as the path they were on bulged at the corner.

"Just so long as they can keep up."

When Lauren came into the gym that morning she was in a surprisingly good mood. She had a plan. She was going to talk to Summer and Sasha and Payson and she was going to apologise and fix things and then Payson wouldn't hate her and Summer would want to be her mum again.

At least that was the plan.

"Summer's 'sick' and Sasha's not here today," Lauren said, the look on her face telling Kaylie exactly what Lauren thought that meant and that Lauren was already blaming her for the coincidence.

"I'm sure it's not what you think, Lauren," Kaylie tried to placate. "And so what if it is? You promised you were going to stay out of Summer's love life."

"So now I don't even get to comment when she makes bad choices," Lauren huffed judgmentally. "Sasha is so not the right guy for her. I mean, Summer looks like she was dressed by a J Crew catalogue. I don't think Sasha even knows what that is," she concluded, her voice lowering to a stage whisper as she spoke sacrilegiously.

Kaylie looked at her dryly and shook her head. "Don't you think we should be more worried about Payson?" she asked. "Payson would never miss a day of practice unless she was sick. And Payson never gets sick."

"You don't think she's left, do you?" Lauren asked, now justifiably concerned about a conspicuous absence. Summer probably was, in all actuality, sick, where as Payson had never missed a day of training unless there was a really good reason. Sasha had to practically ban her from stepping into the gym when her back was playing up before Nationals, so if she wasn't there, it had to be something serious.

"I don't think so," Kaylie said, giving the question serious thought. "Payson wouldn't leave.

"She wouldn't leave Sasha," she added more firmly, not wanting to give Lauren false hope or leave her any room to believe that she had anything to do with Payson continuing at The Rock. "She got on a plane to Romania just to get him back. She wouldn't leave."

"She might go to Denver," Lauren pressed, still not ready to let it go.

Kaylie rolled her eyes at the thought. "She's mad at you, not Sasha. She's not going to go train with Marty when we have the best coach in the world here at The Rock.

"Besides, Becca and Mrs Keeler are still here, so she can't have left," she concluded firmly. "We should just ask," she added. "It's stupid us standing around speculating when we can just ask."

"You ask," Lauren said quickly, edging away. "I'm not exactly anyone's favourite right now," she said with a casual shrug.

"Payson's mom isn't like that, she'll be cool," Kaylie insisted. Lauren didn't budge, so she made her way up to the gym office on her own.

"Good morning, Mrs Keeler," she greeted brightly.

"Morning, Kaylie," Kim replied, sounding tired and slightly. "What can I –" Before she could even get the question out, the phone started ringing and Kim held up a hand as she went to answer it. "Rocky Mountain Gymna –

"No, I'm sorry. Coach Belov is unavailable right now.

"Yes, I'm sure your daughter is a very good gymnast and –

"He really isn't available. If you'd like to try –

"In that case I'll be sure to let him know what he's missing out on." With a frustrated half-grunt she slammed the phone down on the cradle. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she turned back to Kaylie. "What can I do for you, Kaylie?"

"I just wanted to . . . Is Payson okay?" Kaylie asked cautiously.

"She's upset," Kim replied gently. "She won't be in today."

"Is it that bad?" Kaylie asked, the words flying out without thinking. Kim smiled indulgently, knowing that the words – callous as they might sound – were said out of concern.

"If Payson had her way, she'd be here, but I thought it would be a good idea for her to take the day off," she told Kaylie, doing her best to reassure her. "She'll be in tomorrow."

"Okay," Kaylie said, looking relieved. "Thanks, Mrs Keeler," she said brightly, sending her friend's mom a smile before heading back down to the floor.

"So?" Lauren asked, meeting her at the bottom of the stairs.

"Payson's just taking a day off."

Lauren let out a sigh of relief. "So what about Sasha and Summer?" she asked, back to her first concern now that Payson's absence had been dealt with. "Did Mrs Keeler say if they were . . . together?"

"I didn't ask," Kaylie shrugged nonchalantly. "It's none of our business, Lo, and you know it.

"If Summer and Sasha want to be together, it's their choice," she reiterated firmly. "Okay?"

"Yeah," Lauren agreed reluctantly. "I still think he'd make more sense with Payson," she muttered, speaking more to herself than to Kaylie.

"Lauren," Kaylie reprimanded, the pitch of her voice raised in outrage. "If you want Payson to forgive you, you should probably start by not saying stuff like that."

"It was just an observation," Lauren replied sulkily. "But I'll keep it to myself."

Kaylie's expression softened a little. She was always such a pushover when it came to Lauren. They'd been best friends for so long that there was nothing that Lauren could do to alienate her. She had forgiven her for Carter, and that was pretty much the worst thing that Lauren could do to her. If she could forgive her for that betrayal, then she could forgive her for this too.

"Did you think about what you're going to do to make it up to everyone?" Kaylie asked her gently.

Lauren nodded, having spent half the night coming up with ways to fix everything she broke. "The punishment has to fit the crime, right?" she said. "I almost ruined everyone's chance, so I have to do something to make them all better.

"So, I'm gonna have daddy pay for an additional coach," she announced proudly, clapping her hands in joy. "Isn't that great?"

Kaylie smiled weakly. It was a nice thought, and Lauren's heart was in the right place, but . . . "Lauren, you can't just throw money at this to fix it," she said solemnly. "I get where you're coming on," she conceded, "but I think it's going to take more than that. You – "

"No, I get it," Lauren sighed. Spending money was something that came easy to her. It didn't require any effort, and it didn't really mean anything. It didn't show how sorry she was. It just showed how good she was at manipulating people, especially her father.

"I want to fix this," she assured Kaylie, her expression solemn.

"I know, Lauren," Kaylie sighed. "I know."

~ to be continued ~

Inspiration! And I've got a few ideas for where I want this to go. And hopefully I'll be able to keep up some writing on this for a while.