A/N: Hi guys! Thanks for the response for the last chapter, I really hope you like this one! I decided to update earlier than Monday because I've had the worst day ever. 3 exams in the space of 2 and a half hours. Me = dead. My ass is still numb. Thought you'd like to know ;) Haha. My brain is fried, ready to explode. I have had the same song on repeat for the past week, and I'm working on a dance for it. ;)

Just before I reply to the reviews, I wanna send a shoutout to my bezzin - KTxx because we had THE best conversations this week. I enjoy her company...virtual company that is. :P LOVE YOU KATIE CAT. ;) Hahahahaha. 3

Review replies:

naley12/Zara: Aww glad you liked it! :) I hope you like this one too!x

KTxx/Katie: LOOOOL I only just read your review again. I forgot how much it amused me the first time. You are evil. You made me think you were splitting up Naley. :( GLAD YOU FINALLY SEE IT OUR WAY. Haha, I kinda like her too. :P She's fun to write :) Rainbows! LOL this is the part that amused me so much I nearly choked. It was so random and just out there. Sorry I didn't reply to your DW question earlier...but we've established that we're both Amy/Rory shippers now. XD That's what makes you cool. ;) Hahahaha! 3 you too :) xxxx

windycloudcakes: Well thank you for reading! I hope this makes you excited enough. :P x

Enjoy! :)

Chapter 21

I got out of the car, taking in the surroundings of the giant house. The last time I was here this didn't end well. But hopefully; that'll change this time around. Hopefully; I'll manage to speak and tell Nathan that I was crazy in love with him and I didn't want to be without him anymore, and he would tell me that he loves me too and wants to be with me.

But I could only hope I'd manage to speak; I might be an elite gymnast; but professing my love was not one of my best skills.

I walked over the gravel driveway towards the front of the house, following him inside once he had opened the door. I sat down on the sofa as I had done a few weeks previously; fiddling with my hands while I tried to think of the words to say to him.

"So, Haley, what did you want to talk about?" Crap. I really should've thought this through.

"Um…Okay, I'm no good with words. When I'm nervous, I ramble. And I'm beyond nervous right now. I really have no idea how to say this. Oh crap, I totally didn't think about this enough. Okay, that's a lie, I think about you like, every day. Oh crap, I totally just said that out loud." This was not going very well.

"Haley, stop." He laughed.

"Are you laughing at me?"

"No."

"You are, aren't you!"

"No! Haley, what is it? You're rambling." I moved closer to him, taking his hands into mine and looking into his eyes. I took a deep breath before saying it out straight.

"I love you." I squeezed my eyes shut and anticipated his reply.

"What?" I opened my eyes and stared into his.

"I said; I love you. I'm in love with you, Nathan. I'm so crazy in love with you that it hurts when I'm not around you. When I'm with you, my heart is beating so hard, so fast and so loud I swear it could beat out of my chest or someone will hear it. I get butterflies in my stomach; I can't help but smile when you're around; your cocky smirk makes me go weak in the knees; when you kiss me, I feel like I'm in the clouds.

"Nathan, I can't be without you. 3 months ago, I would've never let myself fall in love. It was only about gymnastics and beating Genji Cho at Worlds. Then I flunked algebra so you tutored me. Now, everything's changed. I can't stop thinking about you when we're apart; and when I'm with you I feel like I can't breathe. You make my heart skip a beat and right now I swear to you, I think it's going to beat out of my chest.

"I'm sorry that I broke up with you, I'm sorry I made you wait all that time, I'm sorry for everything. I'm so in love with you, Nathan. It scares me, even if only a little, it scares me. I thought I was in love with Ethan and look where that got me. Please just…tell me you feel the same way. I had to tell you." Wow.

I didn't mean for it all to come out like that; but I couldn't hold it in any longer. He had to know how I was feeling. My eyes started to water as I stared into his eyes, praying that this wouldn't end the way it did last time.

"Nathan, please. Say something; anything." Ibegged.

"I love you, too, Haley." He grinned.

"You do?" I couldn't quite believe what I was hearing.

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I? You're perfect. I love you, Haley James. And someday, I'm going to make you Haley Scott." He smiled once more, and I leant forward, pressing my lips against his.

I'd always loved our kisses before, but now they were just…different. It was a good different, of course, but still different. It was as if something had been missing before this, and now that we'd said those three words; it was like the puzzle was complete.

Nathan was my missing puzzle piece.

The next morning, everything just seemed to have changed.

I'd purposely chosen a different leotard to wear to practice this morning. It was my newest one, and I hadn't worn it to practice as of yet. I thought since Nathan and I had just got back together properly, that he'd appreciate my new choice.

It was from Nastia Liukins new collection that she'd designed; SuperGirl. It was a black leotard, with blue trimming around the edge and as straps on the back. There was a diagonal strip across the leotard, starting at the top of the right shoulder, and covering the right side of the chest and shoulder, meeting at the side. It was multi-coloured stripes and swirls with diamantes covering it. There was a multi-coloured superman logo on the left side, and Nastia's signature on the bottom right side.

Nastia Liukin was my hero. She competed for the US multiple times at the last Olympics, and won the World championships. If I could be half the gymnast she was, I'd be more than happy.

At practice, things were also different.

I knew I had to maintain my standards whilst I wasn't with Nathan, and I had done, nobody had mentioned anything about working harder or focusing, so I guess I did a good enough job of hiding it. But now that we were together again, everything was so much easier.

Routines seemed to flow more naturally; higher DODs didn't seem so hard to pull off; and most of all, smiles seemed to be permanently fixed onto my face.

He pulled me around to the back of the annex building when I had arrived that morning, just so he could kiss me and tell me he loves me. It was small, sweet gestures like that that made my heart race even more than it did by just looking at him.

I was wearing my club tracksuit over my leotard at the time, so he hadn't seen it until I took off the tracksuit and stepped out onto the mat to start stretching. As usual, Brooke, Peyton and Charlie were waiting for me.

"Morning, Haley." They chorused.

"Hi, girls. We all alright?" I said as I hugged each of them in turn.

"Yes."

"Yep."

"Sure."

"Good, glad to hear it." I replied.

"Oh my god, Haley is that a Nastia Liukin leo!" Brooke exclaimed.

"It sure is. Daddy bought it for me to train in before lockdown. He's bought me 6 new Leos, not including this one, for lockdown next week." I sounded a bit spoilt, but it's the truth.

"That's so cool! I love Nastia! I really want one of her Leos." Charlie said.

"I can give you a number of a company that stocks them later if you want; my mom has connections with them and can get you a discount if you like." Charlie was a nice enough girl.

"Oh my god, could you! You're a star, thanks Hales!" She squealed, leaning forward to hug me. I accepted the hug and let her know she was welcome.

"So, what are you all doing tonight?" Brooke asked. Crap. I promised Nathan we'd hang out tonight. Maybe I can just tell her he's tutoring me tonight?

"Luke's taking me out." Peyton smiled. She and Luke had been really working things out since their explosive arguments in the past.

"Lucky for some, eh?" Charlie laughed, elbowing Peyton in the side jokingly. "Chase is just so…unresponsive. I really like him, but I don't think he likes me that way."

Charlie was a bit younger than us, she was 15. She was just like us, except competing in the junior elite category. She'd be joining the senior elite category after her 16th birthday this year. She could only compete at national and international events as part of the junior national team, but was not eligible to try for the world team, and therefore couldn't try to earn a spot on the Olympic team just yet.

She wasn't banned from having a boyfriend just yet; Tom had given her until her 16th birthday for that. She'd been into Chase for just over 5 months, and they did suit each other. But she was too shy to say anything too him. We all felt for her, we were once like her.

Well, except Brooke.

"Aw, Char." I sighed, leaning forward to hug her. "You really like him don't you?"

"Yeah, I really do." She pouted. "Do you think he likes me back?"

"Of course he does! What's not to like? You're smart, gorgeous and talented. What's not to like?" I said, rubbing her arm. "C'mon, show me your floor routine. Get your mind of things."

We stood up and walked onto the floor mat after finishing up our stretching. I smiled at her as I pushed her into the corner of the mat jokingly. I stood to the side and watched her perform her floor routine seamlessly. As the music ended and she lay in the middle of the floor in her finishing pose, I smiled.

Charlie was really something, and she would do us all proud one day, even more so than she is now.

But that wasn't all, Nathan was smiling at me. It was nice to have him smile and not look away straight after for once. I hadn't seen him smile at me properly for weeks, and it made my heart falter if by a fraction. I gave him a cheeky wink before walking over to Charlie and pulling her up.

"Char, you're going to kill it against China next weekend! That was perfect!" I exclaimed, pulling the younger girl in for a hug.

"Thanks, Hales. But I could be better. I know I can. If I want to beat Genji, and all those other Chinese gymnasts; I've got to be perfect. No errors." Bless her, she was really hard on herself.

"Char, I'm serious. You're going to kill it. You're perfect, honestly. You can run it again if you like, but I'm telling you, your technique, your lines, your extensions, it's all perfect." I grinned.

"One more time; just so I can be certain you're right." She laughed before moving back into her previous starting position and beginning her routine over again.

After practice had ended a while later, I headed to the locker room with Brooke, Peyton and Charlie to get changed.

"We're so gonna kick some China ass next weekend." Brooke said.

"I hope so." Charlie responded. "I don't wanna convince myself that we will and then we don't, you know? But I don't want to be pessimistic, so I'm just working real hard and hoping it's enough."

"It's a good way to think about it." Peyton replied.

"As long as I beat Genji Cho at something next weekend, I'll be more than happy. I need the all-around gold if possible. The NGO need to see that I'm improving and that I'm not just a fluke." I stated as I grabbed my top from my bag, holding it under my chin as I replaced the top of my leotard with it. I grabbed my shorts from my bag and in a simple and quick movement had them on in the place of my leotard; which I folded up and put into my bag.

"Right, I'm off." Brooke said. "Catch you all later, girlies."

"I'm headed off too, bye guys." Peyton waved as she walked through the door with Brooke.

"See you later, Haley. Thanks for today, it meant a lot." Charlie smiled, giving me a hug, which I returned.

"Aw, Char. You're welcome. I mean it when I say I think you're one of the best girls at the gym, and if you weren't a year younger and competing for the junior elite at the moment, I'd be scared for my title." I laughed. "And hey, thanks for your help, too."

"I didn't do much, but you're welcome. Bye, Haley." She smiled as she walked out the door.

I was taking down my hair from the tightly pulled ponytail I had it in when I felt a pair of arms encircle my waist, making my heart skip another beat.

"Hi, baby." I whispered. "What are you doing here? You'll get caught."

"No, I won't. Everybody's gone. Come here you." He grabbed the tops of my arms and turned me around to face him. "I missed you today."

"I know, baby. I missed you too. But you know the rules. I'm not allowed a boyfriend. If we're caught together, I'm screwed." I sighed.

"Forget that, for now, okay? Just focus on how much you love me and want to kiss me right now." He smirked.

"Oh I do, do I? Maybe you can help me out with that." I whispered, moving closer to him.

"Hmm, maybe I can. Come here." He lifted my chin and pressed my lips to his, driving my heart wild. I'd completely forgotten our surroundings as he kissed me; he made me forget everything else on my mind but us in that moment.

I reached behind me to close up my locker so I could lean against it, before securing my hands behind his neck. I reached up to kiss him once again and smiled as he kissed me back.

I was completely lost in Nathan, and hadn't noticed the doorway opening slightly until I heard a voice that didn't belong to Nathan or me.

"Busted."

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