I emerged, forty-five minutes later, donning a much more comfortable jeans and t-shirt ensemble. My hair was dripping down my back. It would have been too much to ask that Sasha had locked himself inside his ugly trailer. He was sitting, head in hands, on the steps leading to the office.

His gorgeous blue eyes lifted just enough to see me before Sasha turned and led the way up the stairs. I got the message clear enough, follow. My sneakers made an awful noise as I hustled quickly behind him.

He sat in the chair that I usually saw occupied by Mrs. Keeler or Summer and made a motion towards his small, black couch. I folded one leg underneath me. I had some family thing in a week and Danny to stress over, but I just wanted to forget it all and enjoy being alone with Sasha. We hadn't finished our first talk, and I wasn't sure if we ever would thanks to Danny. Sasha's jealous and overprotective coach had him focused in on my ex-boyfriend.

"So, are you going to make me repeat myself? What the hell was that, Emily? I thought we talked about the no-dating rule. And more importantly than that, I thought," Sasha stopped himself.

He stretched his body out, leaned his head over the back of the chair and clamped his hands tightly over his face.

"I'm not dating him. And what exactly is that you thought?"

"No, this isn't about me. This is about you and that punk. Is he stalking you? Do I need to talk to your parents?"

I mimicked his earlier position, but chose to bury my head in the crook of my elbow. The silence in the room scared me. The Rock was never quiet. There was always the sound of chalk on grips, feet hitting the beam, grunts, or complaints; the list could go on forever.

Sasha beat his hand against the desk, scaring me from my own mind. I watched him stand and kick at a leg of the chair before turning towards me once more.

"What are you not telling me?"

I had one of those horrible movie-like flashes of Boulder high school and my short lived stint there. Most of my memory flashes involved Danny and his beef head friends.

"My parents will probably be expecting me. We've got to do a wardrobe run through for next week's schmooze benefit," I made to leave, but Sasha ran to my side on the couch.

"For such a smart girl, you don't understand the simplest of things. Not only am I your coach, but I-," he looked down at his hands and paused for a moment. "I care about you in other ways as well. I don't really think I can explain that just yet, but I do. I can help if this guy is harassing you. No matter what the circumstances," his hand reached out towards mine, hesitating in the air before gripping the edge of the couch.

Suddenly, I felt like I was in ninth grade again. I crossed my arms self consciously as his fingers inched towards mine.

"If you cared about me, you would drop this."

We sat in silence. For all the game I was talking, I didn't make any more moves to leave. It would be nice to tell someone, I mused, but I really didn't want Sasha to judge me.

"The things I've got running through my head make me want to find that kid and ring his neck. If you could at least tell me what it's not so I don't do anything rash," Sasha touched my thigh lightly, probably hoping to attract my gaze, but really just distracting me.

More silence followed, but when I looked at the clock, only ten minutes had passed since I left the locker room.

"I was a willing participant, but that doesn't mean I can forget it. I can't even go to the grocery store without being reminded of," I chanced a glance over at him before focusing on the wall again, "everything."

He tugged my elbow until my head collapsed on his shoulder. Sasha kept his hands in his lap; he was careful to situate us into an appropriate position should anyone decide to make a late night visit to the Rock.

"I was barely fourteen when I was a freshman. Up to that point, my parents had continued with the homeschooling. Starting high school seemed like a fresh start for me. Daniel was a junior, my parents loved him, and as cliché as it sounds, what could go wrong? We dated for about four months before we had sex."

Sasha stiffened under my head. I watched the vein on his arm protrude as he gripped the leg of his pants tighter. I grabbed his forearm with a chilled hand and he relaxed. His left hand covered mine before I continued.

"And I sometimes think he still loved me. He didn't start the rumors. I think it was just one rumor to begin with; one of his friends insinuated something, people took it too far, and it just kept going from there. He didn't stop his jock friends from saying those things. Another girls under their belts did wonders for their reps. I even heard him publicly discussing our slight bedroom life."

I hoped the rest spoke for itself. I was so ashamed of the things being said about me that I applied to every major residential and arts academy in the US. I ran like a coward.

Sasha shifted under my head. Leather and original Old Spice wafted towards me with every move he made. I gripped his arm tighter when I thought he was moving to get up.

"So you dumped him, at least that's a part of the story I'm hoping you just didn't say."

"Obviously," I detached myself from him to lean forward with my elbows on my knees. His hand gripped my neck, working the day's stress away. "I need gymnastics to focus on, and I need you to promise me we won't talk about this again."

I barely had time to blink before Sasha's hand traveled down my jaw to grab my chin. His kiss was much gentler than the first time. I'm still afraid that I scared him with my story. I knew he wanted to kill Daniel just as much as before my confession. I swiveled my hips to face him. I wanted to battle Sasha for control, it was in my nature, but he seemed to need it more than I wanted it.

My phone buzzed in my front pocket. I pulled away, wiping at the corner of his mouth with my thumb.

"Where are you? Daniel came by here over an hour ago. We expected him to bring you home, and then he shows up here waiting for you. Emily, so help me God," my mother's tone of voice clearly threatened to continue.

"I just finished up showering. I had to take an ice bath after the day I had in the gym. If Daniel is still there when I get home, Mom, you can bet I won't stay long."

She gave a slight sigh, but agreed. I stood, stretching my arms a bit. Sasha swiftly pulled me into a tight hug, giving me another chance to commit his smell to memory. His jacket smelled vaguely of cigars and liquor. I didn't even want to know all it had been through.

He walked me out to my car, grabbing the door as I was buckling in.

"Don't think I've forgotten that we have some more things to discuss. This can't go on like this. We have to have a plan, or an idea, something."

I nodded my agreement, not trusting my verbal communication. Sasha's mere presence had a way of turning my knees to jelly. The past half hour of touching, hearing, smelling him on me was almost too much to handle. As I drove the short distance, I tried to imagine how I would react being any closer to him, which I hoped would happen someday. I shuddered at the thought.

A/N: Yea or nay? Reviews please? I really need to know how I'm doing. Also, would you readers prefer a Paysha or another Payson/OC when I [eventually, not now] end this?