A/N: Kind of short chapter compared to the last one… I think you'll like it, though.

By the way, a reader (wisdomlingersx) mentioned this story reminds her of The Proposal, so I decided to check it out. While watching it, I was laughing at some of the striking similarities already and I haven't even finished watching it. None of this story was stolen from that movie given that I had never watched it until now. The writer and I must have similar minds. This is going to be quite different, though, but you will see some similarities.

Disclaimer: I don't own Make It or Break It.


Usually, having dinner or any meal with Austin's family is not a problem at all for Payson, especially after her and Austin won his parents over at dinner the other night. But for some reason, this dinner on Friday evening is more uncomfortable than all the rest. She feels like she's suddenly the only one in the hot seat... and not in a good way.

"Payson, Austin also tells me that you're a great coach," Mrs. Tucker mentions at the dinner table. Most people are involved in their own private conversations with other people at the table, so only a few people are actually paying attention to her.

Payson looks up at Austin and grins before answering, "Yes, well, I try my best for the gymnasts."

"You must miss being a gymnast, huh?" Adrianne notes, before taking a bite of her food.

"I do, but I'm a coach now, so it's nice not having to leave the gymnastics world completely. I can't even imagine leaving it."

"So, you were at the gym like 24/7… you must have been really close with everyone there," Amber notes.

"Of course, how do you think we got together?" Austin says.

Payson lightly bumps Austin and says, "We weren't even close until after I retired from gymnastics, silly."

Amber rolls her eyes and mumbles, "Gag me." It 's quiet enough for only Cassie and Adrianne to hear. "I bet you were even closer with your coach."

Payson frowns, "What do you mean?"

"You know, you were with him all the time. You were probably around him more than you were around your family," she explains, "What do you think I meant?" Amber asks, lifting an eyebrow.

"Nothing. I was just wondering." Amber is trying to get to something; Payson can tell. She just can't seem to figure out what it is.

After dinner is over, Payson offers to wash the dishes. While doing so, Payson can't help but think of what Amber had against her. She was nice to her for a total of two minutes, and then all of a sudden she was a complete bitch to her.

She's so caught up in her thoughts that she doesn't realize that Thomas, Austin's cousin's child, has been waiting there; ready to wash his dessert plate by himself. "It's alright, sweetie, I can do it for you," Payson says, taking the plate from the little boy.

The three-year old continues to stand there and rocks back and forth on his feet, as if he has something else to say. Stopping washing the dishes, Payson laughs and looks down to him. "Is there something else you need?"

He nods and quietly asks, "Are you going to marry my Uncle Austin?"

Amusement is written all over her face as the young boy smiles back at her. "Do you want me to marry him?"

Thomas nods his head and explains, "My mommy said that if you marry my uncle, then maybe next time we come, I'll have a little cousin to play with."

Payson's eyes widen. She definitely was not expecting that to come out of his mouth, but then again, it isn't the first time during this trip that someone mentioned something to her about having babies.

She chuckles as she says, "We'll see. Now go find your mom; I'm sure she wants you in bed."

"Okay," he says, dejectedly. "Good night, Payson."

"Good night, Thomas." She watches him walk away to find his mother and Payson can't stop smiling at how cute he is.

Not long after her short conversation with Thomas, Payson hears her name quietly being mentioned in the room next to the kitchen. It's obviously something that whoever is speaking doesn't want anyone else to hear. Unfortunately for them, she could hear it. She moves closer to the division between the kitchen and the other room, making sure not to enter. She generally isn't one to eavesdrop, but she's interested in what they possibly could be saying about her that they don't want anyone to hear. Payson puts her back to the wall, getting as close as she could get without being seen.

Listening more closely to the voice, she realizes that it's Amber and Mrs. Tucker speaking. This can't be good. Luckily, she's able to catch the most important parts of their discussion.

"…Amber, are you sure this is true? I'm really skeptical about this information," Charlene says

"Mrs. Tucker, I wouldn't tell you something if I wasn't sure it was true," she assures, even though she would gladly tell her something about Payson even if she wasn't sure it was true. "And apparently, what I told you yesterday isn't it."

Charlene eyebrows lift as Amber continues, "Supposedly, that's how she got on the Olympic Team… because she was having… relations with her coach."

Payson's mouth drops and she frowns as she hears this. This can't be happening to her. Just when she thought everything was going perfectly, something like this happens. She barely knows most of these people. How is possible that rumors are spreading about her here? This must have be why Amber was questioning her at the dinner table about her closeness with Sasha, and why she felt so uncomfortable. She really was trying to get to something.

It's enough. She's heard enough. Her and Austin were so close to completing this week. It's Friday night and they had two more days left. Now wasn't the time to break. It was only a matter or time until they got on a plane back to Boulder and she wouldn't have to come across this again. She stays strong and makes sure she doesn't cry.

Payson quickly finishes the rest of the dishes then heads upstairs to her and Austin's room. She lies down on the bed and takes slow deep breaths, trying to forget everything she just heard. She almost feels like a teenager again, with all the racing emotions she has felt this week.

Austin barges into the room, already plotting where he wants to take Payson tonight. "Payson," he begins.

She sits up and despondently answers, "Yes?"

He puckers his brows. Something is wrong with Payson and he could tell. Of course, he also knew that she wouldn't tell him, but it was worth a shot. "Is something wrong, Pay?"

She shakes her head, still with a low-spirited expression. She's usually good at hiding her emotions, but it was hard or her to do so this time.

"Payson, talk to me," he says, sitting down next to her.

"I just lost something. That's all," she lies. Payson knows if she tells Austin what's really wrong with her, he would immediately make a scene that would put a bigger dent between him and his family. She doesn't want that.

"Do you want me to look for it?" he asks.

"No. It's fine; it's not important.

Austin recognizes that her explanation is a lie, but chooses not to pressure her into having to tell him. He wants this night to be fun for the both of them. The type of fun he's used to.

"Well, I have the perfect cheer-up medicine."

"What is it? Cocaine?" Payson teases, and she finds it impossible not to laugh at her own joke.

"Haha. Very funny, Keeler. Anyway, there's this place downtown Austin on 6th street. It's pretty much the hottest spot in the city. You can't come here and not hit up 6th street."

Payson lifts an eyebrow. "And what does this '6th street' include?"

"Clubs, bars, beer, hot ass chicks… everything I enjoy."

The twenty-five year old rolls her eyes. She should have expected Austin to take her to a place like this sometime during this trip. It's not a shock to her. "Of course." This is so typical Austin.

"Come on, Pay, it'll help you feel better. Plus, it's Friday night. Why don't you let loose for just one night? You can continue being the focused, responsible woman you are in the morning." Surprisingly to Austin, it doesn't take Payson more than five seconds to think about it before she agrees to it.

It wasn't her normal scene, but she knew letting go for a night wasn't going to hurt her. Besides, she's not even that big of a drinker; there's no way she would let herself get as drunk as Austin. She needs to stay controlled, so she can make sure Austin can stay in control.

They end up going to a nightclub, and it's even wilder than she expects. The last time she's been to a club was when Austin dragged her to go with him years ago and on Lauren's twenty-first birthday. The first thing Austin does when he enters is buy him and Payson a shot of Vodka. Actually, the first thing he does is check out a girl's ass but Payson turns his head away.

Three shots later and Payson is way past drunk. Weighing more than Payson, Austin isn't as drunk as she is, but is drunk enough. With the music blasting loud enough for people down the street to hear and strobe lights bright enough to blind their eyes, it was hard for either of to stay seated. Austin dances with a few girls and a few guys get a bit handsy with Payson but Austin quickly pushes them aside and tells them to back off. After a while, they find themselves dancing with each other, but soon are seated down near the bartender discussing things with each other.

Regrettably for Payson, when she get's this drunk, things slip out of her mouth that she wouldn't normally say if she were sober. One of the reasons she doesn't do this.

Laughing uncontrollably, they can barely get words out of their mouth. And when they do come out, it's in a slurred manner.

"…I can't believe… how drunk I am..." Payson says.

"I can't believe how drunk you are either. I thought you don't do this."

"I don't," she agrees. "I see… I see why you do this… so often, though."

He nods his head slowly. "It's great. Ever since… what happened… it's been my life."

"I can't imagine doing this all the time," Payson says, "Although, it is quite nice."

"You don't have to be so perfect all the time, Payson."

Payson chuckles. "Trust me. I'm not perfect," she begins, "At all. Everyone has problems... some are just better are hiding it than others. I'm one of those."

Even being wasted, he can't help but try his best to focus on what Payson is saying. Maybe she would finally open up to him, but chances are he wouldn't remember it past tonight.

She continues on to explain, even in her drunk behavior. "Most of my friendships from when I was a teenager… went toxic…I lost Kaylie as my friend. Kelly follows everything that Kaylie does, so I lost her too. I almost lost Lauren. Emily is so caught up in Damon and motherhood that I barely even get to see her anymore. Jordan is the only one who actually completely stuck by me."

"What ever happened between you and Kaylie, anyway? You never…. You never told me."

"It's not important," she mumbles, "Oh, and to top it off…. The guy I lost my virginity to… well, that was a total bust. You really… You really want to know what happened?" she said, lazily pointing her finger at him.

He nods, while Payson says to the bartender. "Uh.. Excuse me, can you get me another one… another one of these," she asks, pointing to her empty shot glass. When she gets ahold of the vodka, she quickly pours it in her mouth and swallows. "Let me tell you what happened, Tucker. It was during the whole Olympics thingy… London…. You know what I mean. It was the day before the BMX competition, so I went to go wish him good luck. Then, I overheard him talking to his BMX buddies about how incredible easy I was to get in bed. How he wasn't expecting me to sleep with him only after a month. One of his teammates even started to make fun of me; he didn't know I was there listening to it all, though. But he didn't even say anything to defend me." Payson explains, vaguely, "I'm so stupid…" she says, laughing hysterically. "I fell for a guy that I didn't know was a total jerk."

"No, you're not stupid and you didn't deserve that. But you know the problem you girls tend to make? You fall for the wrong guy just cause he always says the right things. And then you cry when something like that happens," he says as Payson nods. "If you ask me, though, I'm the one who's stupid. I mean, Kaylie fucking cheats on me then breaks up with me, and I actually beg her to take me back even though she's the one who did wrong. That's stupidity. Now she's married to that guy and even has a kid with him, and look at me. No wonder my parents are ashamed of me. I should be the one married with a kid. Whatever, though. I don't care," Austin continues. "Get me another one of those,' he orders to the bartender. Unluckily for Austin, when he get's drunk, he tends to spill out everything, as well. He hates talking about what happened between him and Kaylie, which is what he didn't want to discuss with Payson the day after his mother had called him about this reunion. In fact, it's the sole reason why he's the way he is. His heart got broken and he was never able to recover from that.

"Well… that's why you're the way you are. Because of what happened. Anyway, the point is… my life isn't as peachy and perfect as you think it is. I don't want what happened to happen to me again."

"Payson… many people spend their lives trying to make it better, unfortunately, they forget to live it."

He's right and she knows it. She honestly just wanted to get back to his grandmother's house and get some sleep, though. "Let's just go back. I… I think I've partied enough to last me a lifetime."

Austin and Payson get up from their seats and hold onto each other to keep themselves steady. "Shit. I thought I was going to be sober enough to take care of the both of us. I think I'm more drunk than you are," Payson says with uncontrollable giggles as she stumbles.

Coming out of the club, they catch a taxi back to Austin's grandmother's place. The whole taxi ride consists of laughing and mumbling of random things. This is probably the most Austin has ever gotten drunk, and definitely for Payson.

When they get to the house, Austin hands the driver some bills in his pocket, which probably equals twice as much as the driver asks for. They're out of the cab and almost in the house before the driver can even give him back change.

The best friends stumble into the house, and realize that everywhere is dark and everyone is asleep. "Fuck, what time is it? Everyone is asleep," Austin notices.

"Shh. It's midnight. Don't make too much noise. Let's just try and get upstairs."

They quietly sneak back up to their room, thankful that nobody noticed them sneak in this late at night… or so they thought.

Payson and Austin eventually get upstairs after almost slipping twice. After going into their room, the rest was kind of a blur from there. They're way too drunk to think and make proper decisions. The kissing to the ripping of each other clothes to the touches that were ten times more than just a hug or a kiss. Between the kissing, she manages to ask, "Austin, are you sure we should be doing this?" Payson knows she should have stopped both of them from there, except excessive alcohol does too much to a person. And because of that, she couldn't.


Author's Note: Nothing much to say after that. Please Review!