A/N: Hey guys :) I'm terrible for updating when I'm writing Chapter 38 right now but whateverrr. I'm updating for my awesomest girly, Katie Rainbow. :D She loves me really. She's going away tomorrow [:(] so I'm updating for her. :D Love you beb. :) You're probably sick of hearing me complain about my life, and nothing major is actually happening (for once) so no complaints this week.

Review replies:

KTxx/Katie: Thank you beb! :) I'm happy just to get a review even if it's not that long. I love writing Baley, haha. They're so cute :) Love you like a rainbow ;) xxxxxxxxxx

Libby: Thanks for your review. I know before you've said I take criticism better than some others, but this one just brought me down. I apologise if you don't like it, I'm glad you think it's good, but I can't act like your review didn't upset me. I can usually handle it, but I'll admit I did cry over this review. I'm sorry for the lack of diversity, I didn't think it was a problem. There isn't as much Naley in this chapter, so I hope you like this one. If you don't, well that's up to you. I'm sorry that you don't like it, but I can't change it. I write through Haley's POV because it's easier for me, and I feel like I can convey more through her POV than I can in neutral. Anyway, I hope you like this. :/

Don't mean to whine, but I feel like I'm dragging this out when noones interested.

Enjoy :)

Chapter 25

*A week later, the final rotation of the meet against China*

We were about to compete in the final rotation of the day. During the first rotation, I medaled silver on floor, and Brooke managed bronze on vault. In the second and final rotation, we already had Brooke's silver medal on bars, and Peyton's silver medal on beam. She had the gold before Genji Cho had competed and knocked her out of the top spot. Now, it was down to me to earn the last medal of the day on beam.

I was good at competing on beam, but I didn't know if I was good enough to break the top three. So now, whilst I was standing by the beam waiting to start, Tom began to give me the pep talk I needed.

"Listen, Haley. I want you to add a triple twist dismount to your routine. I've seen you working on it during lockdown this week and I know you can do it." Was he mad? I'd never perfected the triple twist once this week. Why would I be able to do it under pressure?

"Why? We have the four medals, if I just do my routine clean, we could probably get our five." I replied.

"And that would be wonderful, for the team. But I'm talking about you, Haley. I'm talking about you going for the gold, right now."

I took a quick look at the score board, and to get the gold I'd need to beat Genji Cho's 16.775. "Do you think I can beat that?" I asked.

"Yes. Prove yourself. Right here, right now." He said sternly.

"But if I don't land it, I might not medal at all, and we won't beat the national team." I replied.

"But if you do, you are clearly the best gymnast in America. And you rival the very best in the world." He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. "You can do this. I believe in you."

I nodded in response as he walked away. I stood closer to the beam and raised my arms to give the starting position.

I placed my hands on the beam and started with a handstand mount, requiring a lot of upper arm strength to keep me up right. I turned to the side and placed one foot after the other onto the beam. I raised my arms and brought them down again before executing the splits in the air and turning while doing so to land facing one end of the beam. I walked forward slightly and stopped with a pose for a moment, before jumping in the air with my back leg bent and behind my body. My other leg was diagonally straight whilst I was in the air. I came down quickly, executing the landing perfectly.

I then went into a back handspring, followed by two back layouts. I stood on the end of the beam for a moment before launching into my triple twist dismount. I flew through the air and as I came down to land, I made sure I knew where to land.

I managed to stick the landing. I did it. With barely any training on the triple twist, I executed it perfectly and landed without moving. I'd never done it perfect in practice, and in a pressured situation, I pulled it off. Tom was right, I could do this.

I ended the landing with my arms raised above my head as I did at the start to signify the landing and the routine had ended. I grinned hugely as I walked back over to the bench where we were sitting, to greet my teammates and my coach. I embraced Brooke, Peyton and Charlie in turn, before smiling at Rebecca, Sara, and Melissa. We all awaited the final score to be tabulated nervously as we watched the score board.

After what seemed an agonizingly long wait, the score board changed. The final scores had been counted. I watched as my name flew to the top of the score board, and the box around the scores signified the final standings. I'd done it. I beat Genji Cho. And I got the gold on beam. Beam, of all events! But I did it.

The entire team jumped up as the final scores appeared and screaming and smiles echoed throughout the gym. The look on Rachel's face as she realized we'd gained more medals than the national team, and specifically that I'd won gold on beam, was priceless. I was the first gymnast the beat Genji Cho for gold. I couldn't believe it. My title as National champion meant something. I was the best gymnast in America.

We were quickly surrounded by press hounding us with questions and compliments on our wins.

"What a great job defending your title today, Haley." One reporter said.

"I'm no longer defending it." I smiled. "I'm letting it speak for itself."

We all embraced each other in a group hug, smiling and laughing as we did so. We were proud of victory against the Chinese, even if we lost out to them by two medals; we proved what we set out to prove. The NGO took the wrong girls to Beijing.

After we had dealt with the press, Tom suggested that we'd done enough for a while, and we all headed to Karen's café where a party had been set up for us all to celebrate our wins.

I walked over to a table where Peyton was sitting with her leg on the table, as she'd injured her ankle when she dismounted from beam. I sat down next to her and squeezed her hand as she smiled.

"How's your ankle?" I asked looking at the ice pack she had wrapped around it.

"How's your gold medal on beam?" She replied, before quickly starting again. "Wait, I'm sorry. I never thought you'd beat me on beam, Haley, but you did. I have to admit you were amazing."

"Thanks." I replied, giving her a smile.

"I guess there's a new queen of the beam in town, huh?" She laughed.

"Nah that was just a fluke, I'm still working hardest on floor. That's my strong point. You're still queen of the beam." I giggled, reaching forward to hug her. "I'm going to go find Brooke, alright? I'll catch you later."

I got up and walked over to the corner where Brooke was sitting, talking to Julian.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" I asked, looking between the two.

"No, it's fine." Brooke replied, looking to Julian. "We'll talk later, okay?" He nodded as he walked away.

"What's going on with you two?" I laughed, sitting down next to her.

"Nothing…yet. He seemed shy and I decided to ask him on a date seeing as he's too shy to ask me." She smiled.

"Sorry. Was I interrupting?" I asked, feeling slightly guilty.

"Nah, it's alright. I'll just catch up with him later. Speaking of boys," She started, looking in Nathans direction. "Have you spoken to lover boy since lockdown started?"

"Not yet." I answered, giving him a quick smile. "Haven't had the chance. I wanted to talk to my best friends first." I smiled, pulling Brooke into a hug. "You did a great job designing these Leos, by the way." I complimented.

Brooke had designed the leotards we were wearing for this invitational, and she sent her designs to the country's best leotard manufacturers and had them especially made for us all. They were red, blue and white. The blue was on the bottom, met by white curls and waves in the middle with red on the top. The pattern continued on the back. She even got us matching warm ups with 'Hillview Gymnastics' written on the back of each jacket.

"Thank you! I quite like them, if I do say so myself." She laughed.

"They're great, Brooke. Who knew you were such an artist huh?" I laughed in response.

"Who knew, huh?" We continued laughing for a few seconds, before Brooke followed my gaze and noticed I was staring at Nathan. "Oh fine, go! But I want to know –"

"You want to know everything. I got it Tigger, you tell me every time." I laughed and hugged her before I got up. "I'll catch you later; I've got some catching up to do." I winked and giggled as I walked away, towards Nathan. I looked around to make sure nobody was looking before I grabbed his hand and pulled him to the back room of the café. I made sure nobody was around before I locked the door and pushed him against it, attacking his lips with my own.

"I. Missed. You." I whispered onto his lips, between kisses. We both pulled away for a moment when air became an issue.

"I missed you, too, babe. How was lockdown?" He asked.

"Surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. Just a week full of Brooke talking nonstop overnight, and eating, sleeping and breathing gymnastics. Nothing out of the ordinary." I laughed.

"Did you tell her? Brooke, I mean." We both knew what he was referring too.

"No, I didn't want her to find out. She'll just tease me for life. Or she'll probably tell Peyt and Char and as much as I love them, I can't risk them finding out. Plus I don't see how it's anything to do with them. Just between us." I replied, placing a kiss on his lips.

"Okay. I'm happy keeping it between us if that's what you want. But you know if I could, I'd shout it from the rooftops. That we're together and in love, I mean. Not the sex part. That's our business." He laughed as I laughed with him.

"I know. I would too, if we could. But after the Olympics, when we go to college, we'll be together properly. I promise." I placed another kiss on his lips, before looking up at him.

"I like the sound of that." He smiled, kissing me back. "Now come on miss gold medalist, we'd better get you back out there. People are going to wonder where you are."

"In a minute. I haven't seen you all week. Just kiss me for a bit longer." I said, leaning up to press our lips together again.

"Sounds good to me. But you really do have to get back out there soon." He laughed, kissing me back.

Soon enough, our innocent little kisses that we'd missed throughout the week turned into an intense make out session. Nathans shirt came off at one point, and my warm ups came off. I was still wearing my leotard underneath so nothing else could come off, but I guess you could say we'd gotten carried away. God only knew how long we'd been in there. I placed a final light kiss on his lips before pulling away.

"I think we should go." I laughed. "People are going to be seriously suspicious by now. And I think we got a bit carried away, too." I nodded to the discarded shirt and warm ups.

"Alright, obviously we can't leave together, so I'll go first and you can leave a few minutes after, that okay?" He asked.

"Yep. I'll see you later." I said, placing a final kiss on his lips.

"Definitely. Are you staying tonight?" He questioned, pulling his shirt over his head.

"Sorry, baby. I can't." I shook my head. "Quinn's boyfriend is in town. We're having a family dinner tonight. I'd love to invite you but you don't want to be part of my family dinners." I laughed. "But seriously, you know why. Only Quinn knows about us."

"It's alright. I'll see you tomorrow, though?" He asked.

"Of course. I'll text you tonight and I'll see if I can sneak a phone call, too. It depends on who's staying and whose going." I replied.

"Alright. Text you later, beautiful. I love you, baby." He grinned, giving me a final kiss.

I returned the kiss and reluctantly pulled away. "I love you, too, handsome." I grinned. "Bye."

Later that night, I was sitting in my bed on my laptop, finishing up an assignment for my tutor, when my phone buzzed.

1 new message – Nathan

Can you talk? Miss you already. Xx

I smiled at the message, before quickly pressing the reply button.

I'll be on Skype in a few. Just need to finish this assignment. Xx

Within seconds, the next message came through.

That's my girl. Talk to you soon. Xx

I smiled at the message, before exiting the message screen and putting my phone on the bedside table next to me. About 10 minutes later, I'd finally finished the assignment, so I clicked save before closing the document and signing into Skype. I searched my contacts before clicking Nathans name.

You have invited Nathan Scott to a video call appeared on my screen as I made sure that nobody was around to hear us. I locked my door and went to sit back at my laptop as I saw that Nathan had accepted the invitation. Our faces soon appeared on screen as the sound kicked in.

"Hi, baby." I spoke first. I noticed his surroundings, and realized he was in his room. We should be okay for privacy.

"Hey, beautiful." He replied. "You alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I miss you, though." I pouted.

"Aw, my poor baby. I miss you, too. But I'll see you tomorrow, and it's your day off. So you can spend the whole day with me, if you like."

"Of course, I'd love too. There's nowhere else I'd rather be, you know that."

"I know. So what are you up to?"

"Not a lot. I just finished my assignment for home school. I managed to get through the family dinner earlier. I was ready to just slap Taylor; she was really winding me up. Quinn and Viv kept telling her to stop, but when does Taylor listen to anyone?" I sighed. "What about you? Doing anything interesting besides missing me?" I laughed.

"No offence, but Taylor sounds like a bitch. And nope, not really. Thinking about you. Talking to you. That's about it." He replied.

"Taylor is a bitch, and no offence taken."

"What did she do?"

"She kept mentioning how I was the only one of all my brothers and sisters who was still a virgin." I looked down as I said the last part. "What she doesn't know, eh?"

"Aw, baby. I wish you could tell them, I really do. But it's for your career and my safety that we're keeping it a secret." He laughed. "But for what it's worth, I don't think you should let Taylor get to you. You know the truth and I know the truth, and that's all that matters, right?"

"Right."

"So then don't let her get to you, okay?"

"Okay. Thank you, Nathan. You always know exactly what to say."

"I know."

"Good."

"So what do you want to do tomorrow? Your call." He asked.

"Um…I don't know. We could watch a few movies, some trashy TV, make out a lot." I smirked.

"I like the sound of that last one." He laughed.

"You would." I laughed with him.

I heard a knock on my door as we were talking, and told Nathan to keep quiet for a minute. I asked who it was and when Quinn replied, I got up to open the door for her.

"No offence, Quinn, but what is it you want?" I asked as we sat back on my bed.

"Can't I talk to my little sis anymore?" She countered back.

"Well…yeah. But not now." I said.

"Oh I see. You're talking to Nathan. Hi Nathan." She spoke, moving to sit next to me.

"Hey, Quinn." He replied out of formality.

"You're taking good care of my little sister, aren't you?" She asked.

"Quinn!" I exclaimed. "Ignore her, Nathan."

"Nah, it's alright. I get it; she's looking out for you because nobody else will. I promise I'm looking after her, Quinn. She's perfect. I love her to pieces, and someday I want us to get married." He spoke.

I blushed at his words.

"Aw, look, Hales has gone red. Thanks for the reassurance, Nathan. But I need to talk to my little sis. She'll talk to you later, no doubt. Bye, Nathan." She passed the laptop back to me.

"Sorry about that." I gave Quinn a look. "But I guess I'm leaving. I'll text you later or something."

"Alright. Bye, angel. I love you more than anything." He smiled.

"Bye, babe. I love you, too." I grinned back, before signing out and closing my laptop.

"Aw, you two are so cute!" Quinn exclaimed, wrapping her arms around me.

"Thanks, I guess." I laughed as she pulled away. "Quinn…can I tell you something?" I moved so I was facing her, sitting Indian style.

"Um, sure, I guess. What is it?" She replied.

"Promise you won't be mad. And you have to promise not to tell anyone. Not even Clay." I pleaded.

"Um…alright. What is it, Hales? You're freaking me out a little." She replied.

I took a deep breath as I looked straight at her. "I had sex with Nathan." I looked down as I waited for her reaction.

"Haley! Are you serious?" She exclaimed.

"Dead serious. Why would I say something like that if it wasn't true?" I nodded as I looked over at her, a shocked expression drawn on her face.

"When? Why? How? What happened, Haley?" Now she just looked disappointed.

"You know that night I told mom and dad I was at Brooke's last week, that night before her sleepover?"

"Yeah?"

"I wasn't at Brooke's. She covered for me, but I knew mom and dad wouldn't ask if I told them I was at Brooke's. We just wanted one night together. I didn't mean for anything to happen, but I just wanted us to be normal for a night. You know, just like every other couple our age. And mom and dad would've never let me stay at Nathans. They don't even know we're together. It just kind of happened and it felt right." I explained, tearing up.

"Just kind of happened! Haley, are you serious? What if you got pregnant? Your career would be over in the blink of an eye. I can't believe you'd be so irresponsible." She sighed, as the tears fell freely down my face.

"Quinn, stop, please. You don't understand. You were always normal, you could do whatever you want any time, I couldn't!" I cried. "I've had my future set out for me since I was five years old. I didn't have the chance to be normal. I never got to make friends outside of the gym. I never went to a normal school. I didn't even get to go to high school. I was never able to go to a school dance, or prom. You were able to do all that while I wasn't. I'm sneaking around with my boyfriend behind everyone's backs because I'm not supposed to have a boyfriend. I'm not supposed to want boys. I'm supposed to want gold medals. And believe me, I want that, I do, but I love Nathan. And he loves me. And we just wanted to be normal, for one night in our entire lives, we wanted to be normal. Is that really such a crime?" I sobbed.

"Oh, Haley, come here." She reached out her arms and wrapped them around me as I cried into her. "I'm sorry for getting mad. I see where you're coming from, and you're right, I don't understand. Because I've had all those experiences and you haven't. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you. But you have to know I got mad because it's your future we're talking about it. I just want you to have your dream."

"I know. And I have my dream, both of them. If I do well at Worlds trials in a few weeks then I'll make the Worlds team and be on the right track to the Olympics. But Nathans my dream, too. We have our lives planned out together. And we both want that. And after Worlds or the Olympics, we can be together properly. But for now we have to hide it. Please don't tell anyone Quinn." I looked up at her, wiping my eyes as she looked back at me.

"I won't tell anyone, promise. But you've got to realize it was stupid. You used protection right?" She asked as I nodded in response. "Good. Don't do it again, okay? You never know what could happen."

"I won't." I promised, as she cuddled me tighter.

"Good. That's all I needed to hear. Now tell me all about him." She laughed as I sat up and looked at her.

"You're just as bad as Brooke." I giggled, as I reached out to hit her playfully.

"But you love me." She smirked.

"That I do." I smiled. "Unfortunately." I laughed.

"Hey!"

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