Review Replies:
Bliss 235 – I'm so glad you're enjoying it. I like to think of it as my catharsis for everything I dislike with the show. So please, chime in if there's something you'd like to see. Glad to see you're enjoying it and I LOVE your reviews, so please keep them coming.
Zabini123 – You managed it all in two days? I'm impressed. I've been told I'm an overly wordy writer. Carter is complicated. Everyone's a real competitor, and, to quote some real life gymnasts, putting together a five man team is like a jigsaw (I like to think of it as a rubix cube, actually). But at the moment, and we will talk about this, Austin is just about the only one with an Olympic lock, and that's because, frankly, he's just too awesome (which is why I thought cutting him on the show was ridiculous, he's got an Olympic medal!)
Elm-Tree10 – You hate Wendy Capshaw? How much? Because she's going to start popping up very soon and I hope you won't hate me. Needless to say she and Lauren will not be getting on. Whenever I see Kaylie and Austin on screen, my instinctive reaction is He's just using you! But then I'm like, lol, no. This is ABC family. I love doctor walker (except he was a skeezy rapist on 90210, which creeps me out a bit). I think I'm going to keep descriptions of Jack vague, so people can just imagine him. And wasn't Lauren awesome this season? I love your reviews so than you!
Forever Written in the Stars – yeah the new scoring system is a bit interesting, its meant to encourage more dance, combinations etc. But I think because they have less opportunities, they're actually trying more boring but higher scoring tricks… which sucks. Try thecouchgymnast for excellent gymnastics coverage. They're easy enough to understand but still pretty detailed. I'm glad you like the gymnastics focus, all the strategy and planning that goes into it will be coming out soon, so I hope that translates well.
Luv2Live – You're not the only one worried about loosing Jack to domesticity and old married life. It's a concern I had writing this, but that was what I always felt about Austin… he wants to be boring and domestic and settle down, which was why he was always able to separate the media life and his private life so well. You wont be the only one with these concerns (Lauren expresses them quite well, I think) but don't worry, I've got a plan! With Austin, the idea was always, he's Lauren + 4 years. I hope you like it and let me know if you don't, please!
Iargyrop – vintage Lauren is awesome! The line in the final (that line) was awesome! So perfect. Thanks for the review.
- The Beginning of the End -
"Now our next guests are two of the most talented athletes on the planet. Last week they competed in the Gymnasts World Championships in Tokyo, Japan and won gold medals, and they're both aiming for some more gold medals in London next year.
First up, He won five gold medals at the world championships, including the all-around. He's the most successful American gymnast of all time and he takes his clothes off to sell us underwear. I am, of course, talking about Austin Tucker!
"Hi, welcome."
"Hi. Now this is your… third appearance here?"
"Yeah, it is, actually. Wow."
"after the Olympics, and then the last time you won a world title. No wait, it was the time before that, 2009 you were here. What happened last year, did you not win?"
"No, I won. I just moved to France with my then boyfriend right afterwards."
"Oh, well. Moving to France. I suppose that's a decent reason. And the boyfriend, I don't think you would've admitted that last year."
"Probably not, no." Austin allowed himself a chuckle.
"So, you're a world champion, a gagillion times over. How's that feel?"
"Pretty good."
'What changes, when you win a gold medal?"
"Well, you've got to decide where to put it… no, don't look at me like that. This is a real problem. Where do you put a medal?"
"I don't know. I've never won one. Where are yours?"
"Well I've decided the kitchen, so when I'm cooking, and I love cooking, I can be like, where did I put the olive oil… oh right, I won that world title. I think it'll work out great."
"I'm sure it will. Now, on a more serious note, I have to say, as a gay person, I was disappointed that didn't come out of the closet."
"Well I was disappointed that I was dragged out of the closet." Austin snapped before softening. "I'm not going to apologise, I'm sick of being attacked for trying to have a personal life and successful career at the same time. The irony being, if I hadn't been forced out of the closet, I would've done it on my own time and the gay community would probably have me as their pin up boy."
"Well I think you've been the pin up boy since those shirtless ads after Beijing." She sobered "So you stand by your decision?"
Austin looked down. "That's always the hardest question, because it wasn't my decision. If I could do one thing over it would be to come out first, to beat the news breaking. But I can't. I could sit here and be apologetic and say, I'm sorry for not being willing to sacrifice my career but… part of me is so angry, because no one is jumping up and down and demanding straight athletes choose between their careers and their personal lives." He looked up "Maybe I did make the wrong choice, but it's not a choice I should've had to make."
Ellen nodded solemnly.
"When we come back, we'll be joined by fellow gold medallist and Austin's training partner Lauren Tanner!"
- The Beginning of the End -
After Ellen, Austin took her to lunch, where she watched, amused, as Austin chatted happily with the chef about the degustation menu they were about to eat. Since they'd gotten their L.A. schedules he'd been trawling food blogs and websites, looking for the best places, and this, he'd decided was it. He didn't throw his diet plan out the window (though he'd sounded pretty willing) but had been delighted when the chef had come out to "see what they could do." Evidently, he was flattered by Austin fan boying, even as Ryan Seacrest sat on the opposite side of the restaurant.
Austin looked over "and Lauren needs…'
"I'm fine." She insisted, waving him off "Really."
"Lo, you can't eat this." He told her
"I'll eat what I can." She told them, before telling the chef "Really, it all looks amazing. Just, perhaps, smaller portions."
"Certainly, and congratulations."
When she chef left, Austin gave her a look. "Lo…"
"I'll handle it. This stuff looks amazing. It'd be a crime not to try some."
"Carter's going to kill me." He told her instead.
"Shut up, I want to hear about your meetings." Lauren told him. While she'd been shooting a Rimmel commercial, M.J. had been escorting him around.
"They went fine."
"They went fine, meaning you got them?"
"Some sponsorship offers. A few I might take."
"That's great."
"Yeah."
"You don't sound thrilled. Are they underpaying you?"
"No, the money's great."
"Okay, so what's the problem?"
"It's all sponsorship, no endorsement."
"Sponsorship pays way better, and you don't over saturate your market." Lauren frowned. "M.J.'s trying to get me sponsorship."
"Sponsorship's great, it's great for companies because when people go looking for information, there it is. But it isn't front and centre. No company wants me as the face of their products…"
"Austin…" Lauren said sympathetically.
"It's fine, Lo. It's just, pissing me off. I probably would have said no if they'd wanted endorsement stuff anyway. You're right. It's too time consuming."
"This isn't…" Lo attempted "they just don't know you."
"They don't you me?"
"it's just a theory, but your brand was obliterated, not in a bad way, you weren't caught with a bong or anything. They'll get over the lying, but you never let the media in. If you're not Austin Tucker playboy, who are you? It's hard to do brand imaging with that. That's why I figured M.J. has you doing so many in depth, proper, interviews.
"I guess."
"They just need to get to know you, and Men's gymnastics was never the biggest seller ever."
"I know, Lo." He reminded her.
"And we've got The Advocate."
"Joy of joys, they hate me."
"So don't let them. Stand your ground, remember." Lauren insisted.
"When did you get so wise?"
"I bought a bunch of books on media strategy M.J. recommended."
"The idea of the two of you teeming up is terrifying."
"She said maybe I could intern with her agency when I retire."
"New York huh?" Austin asked.
Lauren froze, aware of her slip. "Maybe?" She stated "I mean, I haven't made any plans yet, but I have to go to college somewhere."
"Right." Austin eyed her curiously.
"What about you?" She hastily changed the subject "Carter told me your selling the lakehouse."
It wasn't right, not for me and Jack. Olly loved that place…"
"So now you'll buy a place… Jack likes? Are you sure you don't want to rent?" She kept her tone light but he caught the undercurrent .
"I know you think we're rushing this." He told her "him moving out here."
"I just don't know why he needs to move all the way to Boulder, for a year. He could come out and visit… you could even visit him."
"And take weeks off in 2012?"
"And you can't wait until after London. It's been working so far, hasn't it?"
"I'm sick of waiting, Lo." Austin told her "I know you don't get this. I know, because you're seventeen."
"Almost eighteen."
"And I'm almost twenty-two. I know what it's like to be eighteen. I've done it. I've bummed around Europe and been to all the parties, and yeah, I settled down too quickly with Olly, but that was because of Jack. He's the one, Lo. I don't want to wait anymore, and I'll regret it so much if I don't. That I'm sure of."
"Okay."
"Really?"
"I still think you're rushing things, but you'll need someone on your side if it all goes to hell, and it won't be the person who called you an idiot. And I like Jack, even if he's, like, twice my age."
"I think he's just the appropriate social maturity for someone who didn't grow up in a gym."
"How boring." Lauren commented dryly, before their food arrived and Austin politely ignored Lauren filling her stomach with club soda between every bite. Afterwards, once he'd taken care of the check and she'd taken care of herself, they headed off into the California sunshine.
"What are you doing after the Advocate tomorrow?" Austin asked Lauren, resisting the urge to pluck the sunglasses from her head. He was abstaining from sunglasses until he signed a new contract with somebody.
"Just… meetings." She was suddenly careful about mentioning them.
"Well good luck." He told her pointedly.
"What time's your flight? Dad could use a golf partner. He adores you." Lauren reminded him
"Amazing what finding out that there's no risk I'll bed his daughter will do."
Lauren laughed, a little louder that required, but tightened her grip on Austin's bicep none the same.
- The Beginning of the End -
Celeb Watch: Spotted, Recent World Champions Austin Tucker and Lauren Tanner in downtown LA. The two took a break from their Olympic training to visit LA for endorsement meetings and television spots.
- The Beginning of the End -
In the end it took a week for Lauren to get from Tokyo back to Boulder, and that was mostly due to the five days she spent in L.A. After three, Austin flew back, new endorsements and Jack clearly on his mind.
It left her and her father in Santa Monica. It was, she found, a very nice way to spend two days just with her Dad.
She worked out, every morning and evening, on the beach and M.J. filled her days and nights with appearances and meetings that she soaked up like a sponge.
Still, when she finally got back to Boulder, it was something of a relief to breath in the crisp mountain air and see the looming mountains.
"Come on kiddo." The driver of the car her father had arranged took two suitcases, leaving her father to grab the third one Lauren had managed to fill with her L.A. purchases. "Let's go home."
It had been over two weeks since she'd seen the house she'd grown up in, and it made her smile as well. Emily Kmetko and Kaylie Cruz watching movies, she was less enthused about.
"You're back!" Kaylie at least seemed excited to see her, jumping up to give her a hug. "How was L.A?"
"Great, it was really great." She answered.
"Emily said I could come over and wait for you to get home" Kaylie told her, a huge smile on her face "now come on, I'm your best friend. You have to tell me everything!"
Cautiously, Lauren sat down.
"Well? What happened?"
"I, uh, went on Ellen." Lauren told them "and the tonight show, and Chelsea lately, and just, you know, met who M.J. wanted me to meet."
"Come on." Kaylie insisted "tell me, did you meet anyone famous?"
"A few people…" Lauren answered "Matt Damon! And the cast of Glee!"
"That is so cool." Kaylie replied "I'm totally jealous." And the light-hearted way Kaylie said it made Lauren blanche all over again.
"Well you should come next time." Lauren insisted "but tell me all the goss from the Rock!"
"Okay." Kaylie perked up "Sasha's started assigning us upgrades for nationals. He thinks Em and I might be able to upgrade to Anamars! If I'd had that at worlds, I totally would've placed in the all-around!"
"That's great, Kay." Lauren insisted, and settled down on the couch, and settled in to hear about them training the hardest vault in the world. She needed to have a conversation with Sasha in the morning, clearly.
- The Beginning of the End -
Instead of a conversation about upgrades, she arrived to Sasha nowhere in sight and Janet imposing a ruthless conditioning circuit that threw her into the deep end. While she'd stayed in the best shape she could in L.A, it was always her upper body that lost its strength first.
"Regretting L.A. a bit now?" Payson teased, and unlike Kaylie, it didn't send a shiver of dread down Lauren's spine.
Lauren gritted her teeth as she slowly rotated over the low bar skinning the cat.
Finally, they were done and she'd been back in the gym for an entire morning and hadn't touched an apparatus, let alone her favourite beam. It made her skin itch.
She'd just finished warming up again, and with Sasha still in the coaches meeting, was about to make a beeline for the apparatus. But then the conference door opened and a wave of staff walked out. The grin and nod Carter gave her had her frowning in confusion. They'd talked the night before but he'd had a one-on-one in the annexe that morning. She knew him well enough to know the grin and nod was supposed to be saying something.
"Payson, Kaylie, Emily, vault." He insisted "Lauren, with me."
She followed him upstairs and then sat on the couch.
"How's it feel?" He asked her.
"What?"
"Being a favourite to win individual gold in London"
"Feels pretty good." She admitted, before adding "I don't think it's sunk in yet."
"It needs to sink in." Sasha told her "in the next ten seconds. You had your trip, your celebration. Now we focus on London, and absolutely everyone is going to be gunning for you. There's no resting on your laurels, or your beam routine." He told her pointedly.
"Okay. So I need to upgrade floor." She nodded resolutely. "It's the only apparatus I didn't make the event final for."
"It's more difficult than that." Sasha told her "We have limited time and its reaching the point in your career where I think you'll hit your limit."
"What does that mean?" Lauren frowned.
"It means the effort required to increase your difficulty is going to get exponentially more difficult than it has in the past."
"I can still upgrade." She insisted
"Yes. But we have to be smart, there's no point in you adding an extra half twist if it costs you execution marks somewhere else."
"So what?" Lauren demanded. Sasha tossed her a pad and pen.
"I'll be honest." He told her "I don't see you making any event final except beam in London."
"I just made vault and bars."
"Yes. But you need to drop your second vault."
"But… my Tsuk's easy. I've been doing it forever."
"Which is why you're dropping the Rudi. You can't upgrade it, you're barely getting the height you need and you're much better at the Tsuk entry."
"But the tsuk double's worth so much less." Lauren protested.
"Unless you upgrade it. I've spoken to FIG. They'll give the same size upgrade for the extra half twist as they do from going from a yurchenko double to a two and half. It's a 6.1 difficulty, it's no Anamar but it'll get you much closer."
"Okay. I can do that." She jotted down notes.
"You'll train that for nationals." She informed her "and we're going to start laying the groundwork for other upgrades."
"Bars?" Lauren groaned.
"No. The effort required to increase your bars difficulty would be poorly wasted. Let the bars specialists upgrade there. You just keep working on execution."
Sasha heard a muttered "joy" and barrelled on.
"You need new floor choreography. We've been putting it off too long. And we'll factor in some new skills and work them in gradually, either for nationals or the Am Cup. The goal is London." He repeated. "So we're going to keep the opening layout into the double front. Its impressive. All your stuck landings are impressive. So we go from the double front but then I want to move up whip whip double. Follow that with a triple jump combination, you can reintroduce the Johnson half but you need to work on getting lift. Then the connecting two front straights. Twist in the first one so your landing is better on the second."
Lauren nodded, jotting everything down before looking up. "Can I add a third?" She questioned.
"What?"
"Go straight twisting straight straight. I think I can do it."
Sasha gave her a long look. "We'll see." He informed her "then we'll keep the simple turn, but move up your 2 and a half forward straight and I want you to end with a double twisting double tuck."
"I've never trained that." Lauren stated, eyes going wide. "That's a huge dismount. That's like, a tumbler's dismount."
"It's the smart upgrade. You're already doing it on bars, it's why you made the event final in Tokyo, and we can use it as a beam dismount as well."
"And I'm supposed to have it by nationals?"
"No, I'll say this again. The goal is London. We'll work in what we can, gradually. By Nationals, you need the vault, solid, and the new floor structure and choro. We'll work in the upgrades, as you get them, through nationals, the American Cup, Pac Rims…"
"Okay, that sounds… good." Lauren's head pounded a little.
"Which brings us to beam."
"You want to upgrade beam even more?" Lauren felt a rush of nerves but also sheer joy rush through her.
"No."
"Okay…"
"I want to change your beam, temporarily downgrade it."
"No! That's insane."
"Here me out. Temporarily" He repeated. You beam is the hardest in the world by eons. And I'm sure, Genji and everyone else is gunning for you. Do you know where you dropped points in Tokyo?"
"It's better to have a harder routine and a lower E score. I'm not Payson, I'm not doing that artistic crap!"
"As much as I'd enjoy watching you try, no." Sasha informed her "you're strength has always been your strength moves and low work, but you've lost most of those. Before regionals last year, you used the beam better. Hear me out" he pleaded. "Keep your mount. Of course keep your mount. Then the aerial onodi combo, followed by an Omelianchik, you used to use it and it was the reason you won beam as a freshman senior. Trust me, the judges' love it, and its artistic enough that it'll dispel some of the criticisms about your beam if you build some choro around it. Then we can get rid of the side somi, because it's ugly. How does that sound so far?"
"Not ridiculous." Lauren stiffly admitted "What else?"
"You need to lose the low turn."
"No." She instantly replied "it's got huge difficulty, Lauren Mitchell and I are the only ones who do it."
"She does a triple." Sasha pointed out "and she invented it. You dropped .3 on worlds from the turn alone. That already brings it down to a C skill you could perform perfectly. And it takes up a lot of time, and doesn't fit with the rest of your routine."
"You're the one who said I should have more low work."
"and you will, but you need a better turn. I think a leg raised in attitude would suit you. It's rare and still difficult."
She scowled and didn't say anything, which Sasha took as an opportunity to continue.
"Keep the grigoras, of course, but I want you to drop the switch leap and turn the teza to a yang bow."
"That's lower." She pointed out.
"Not if you link it to your sheep jump. Trust me!" He insisted
"it's still lower." Lauren grumbled.
Sasha continued "and then the dismount." He finished "ideally, we'd have all of this by nationals, but we'll need to prioritise. The Tsuk is the top priority. You need to start competing that as soon as possible. Then the new floor choro, from there we can build the routine."
"Delightful." Lauren's twisted mouth showed less than pleasure.
"The new moves come first, so you cans top training the old ones, then the upgrades. Is that clear?"
"Crystal."
"I promise, by trials we'll have your DOD back where it was, if not higher. And your execution will rise."
"Fine. Is that everything?"
"It is. Got it?"
"Got it." Her scowl sharpened and she seize the pad.
"Why don't you get warmed up and we'll start going through vault then." As she started to leave Sasha called her back.
"Lauren?" She turned, and already he could see the exhaustion on her face. It was on every gymnasts face when they faced what seemed like an insurmountable task.
"All of this." He waved a hand "it's all designed for you, specifically. Your body, your style, and its designed for you to win."
"Got it." She smirked, without malice, which reassured him a little, and with a bit more bounce she headed down the steps.
- The Beginning of the End -
Life post world championships couldn't be going better for Carter Anderson. In the week since he'd gotten back, Sasha had started bringing him in on coaches meetings as some of his regulars that he'd been training with Janet (his favoute two groups if he was being honest) were moving into junior elite. He'd expected to hand off the boys to Paul and the girls to Janet, but instead Sasha had asked if he'd like to keep up the joint coaching with Janet showing him the ropes. Apparently his gymnasts were "flourishing," which wasn't his word, but he liked it.
What was even better was his own gymnastics continued to improve. Sasha had sat him down, and while he would definetely keep training paralel bars and pommel long term, and maintain his current routines in the present, the was focusing on the other apparatuses now. Floor and Vault would be his ticket to London, and High bar and Rings as backup.
What's more, M.J. had secured him an Addidas rising star endorsement contract, the same contract Austin had before Beijing. M.J. had grinned that toothy grin before she started talking about "going big" and an indiviudal, repeat Calvin Klein run. Carter was just glad he could afford to pay Austin rent, but the man had turned him away, before blsuhing slightly and explaining he was probably selling the house. That wouldn't be for at least a month, but he and Max had started scouting about and we considering (at Razor and his drummer's request) getting a four bedroom place. The lower cost appealed to Carter, but lviing with half a Rock band, not so much.
From the moment he'd turned his phone on in Tokyo, it'd been ringing off the hook. He'd ended up turning it off, getting a new number which he was far more selective about handing out (he'd had the old one since he was fifteen) and then sorting through the mailbox. To all the highschool classmates commenting "dude, saw you on TV. Awesome, even though you were wearing a leotard" and family friends and second cousins and every gymnast who'd ever trained at the Rock, he sent basically the same text. But there were a few that did stand out. The first were from his East Coast family. Evidently his uncle no longer thought he was a gold digging devil incarnate and expressed as much, along with a congratulations. What was much sweeter was his tiny cousin basicaly hyperventalating into his voicemail about how awesome he was, and how Lauren's hair was the most pretty thing ever, and she went to the hairdresser and made them do it exactly the same and how she could've believe her cousin was a world champion and congratulations and how he was awesome and she was going to the gym as much as she was allowed. His grandmother was more subdued, choking up as she told him that his mother would be so very proud and how she was proud and… even Carter was a little affected by that.
He'd called them all back, polite as ever, but wasn't expecting their desire to come to nationals.
He wasn't used to it, to making time, to having dinner. He got in, did his thing and got out, with certain allowances made for team drama and all that. But his grandmotherhad requested tickets and wanted to fly in. He'd told her he'd be really busy, that he'd hardly have any time but she'd gotten all emotional and he'd crumbled, much to Lauren's enjoyment.
"She's family." Lauren had told him "and not, you know, awful. You could go. Have dinner with her. Talk about your Mom."
"You'll come?" He'd requested. She'd nodded, and that was that.
The second phone call was harder to make.
Luke Anderson had never been super close to his middle brother, they'd both idolised the eldest Anderson brother, Jake, as children and spent a fair amount of time angling for his attention, but then as Carter had pulled away, spent more and more time arguing with his father about allowances and gym fees and spent his weekends crashing on various gymnasts' couches, they'd lost what little connection they'd had.
Thus, it was a bit of a shock to hear his baby brother on his voicemail.
"Hey. Its Luke." The phonecall had announced "Congratulations." There was muffled shouting in the background. "You're probably not going to get this, cause its like 6am here, but we just watched you become a world champion. How cool is that? Everyone's at the bar, Steadmans? In town, and I mean everyone. We've been here since three, they stayed open speical. And you did great. I mean, you always said you were good, but shit, man, you were like, I don't know, better than I thought… it was pretty cool. Anyway, I don't know if you want to hear from me, or anyone, no one seems to have talked to you in, like, a year, but I wanted you to know we're cheering you on! And if you wanted to come home, that'd be cool too. That'd be real cool, actually. And hey? Want to hear something crazy. You're on billboards now. I googled you and you have like, fans" Luke lost his steam "Anyway. congrats, and, uh, call me back, if you want."
Carter had listened the the message at least a dozen times, he listened to it when he had a spare moment and again, when he got home. When he talked to Lauren in L.A. he didn't mention it, but for the first time since people had started caring what he did, he googled himself.
More specifically he went looking for the Wyoming papers.
He was shocked to find they were all talking about him, at least about Tokyo, and the Olympics. They all just pulled quotes from the bigger press.
"What are you doing?" Austin asked finally, casting aside his own phone.
"Reading about myself."
"Oh, dude. Don't." Austin warned himself "that's what M.J.'s for. The only stuff you want to read on the net is stuff you write yourself. Seriously."
"It's stuff from my home town." Carter explained.
"The one you haven't been back to since your family kicked you out?"
"They didn't kick me out." Carter stated, before repeating at Austin's look "it wasn't like that."
"Really? Cause you were living in your car when I met you."
"Kicking me out just sounds bad. They said I had to support myself. I was an adult." Carter shrugged "And besides, that wasn't Luke. He's sixteen, and he called, cause he watched me compete and wanted to say congratulations."
"Cute." Austin stated "so?"
"So, what?"
"Family's a big deal Olympic year. Lots of decisions."
"My grandmother wants to fly in for nationals."
"And so it begins…"
"What? Dude, come on."
"Alright, so." Austin espoused his wisdom "the family comes to Nationals. Do they come to trials? What about to London? Where are they going to stay? Are you going to apply for an athlete's bursary? Do you have to look after them? Spend time with them? Will they get offended if you don't? Are you going to talk about them in interviews? What about money? You've been making some. Are you going to give any of that to them? Maybe your brother needs money for college, and what about your cousin... Your parents worked so hard to support you… and don't you think your coach should blah blah blah."
"Yeah. I get it." Carter nodded "but he's my little brother, and my home town. It could be nice you know."
"Sure." Austin remained sceptical.
"You don't talk to anyone from your hometown?" Carter asked.
"How many of your friends called you before you were all over the paper?" Austin questioned "We live in the gym, we have very little time and I'm not going to spend it with people who's only connection is biological or geographical. I talk to other gymnasts. The guys I trained with in Europe, a few people from my old Texas gym, like Maxxie, we text, occasionally."
Carter didn't understand. He didn't get it. The memory of loading up his battered jeep with all his possessions while simultaneously rejecting the proposition that he might not come back, still haunted him.
"Look." Austin softened "it's your family. Look at Steve Tanner, the Keelers. I know there are good families out there. Mine just, wasn't."
That night, lying in bed, Carter pulled out his phone and hit dial.
- The Beginning of the End -
To Lauren's delight Payson and Max had declared themselves officially a couple, and Payson had started coming to Lauren with relationship questions.
"How far should I go?" Was her first question, and Payson's determination to succeed in everything reappeared with "what if I'm not any good?" Discussions about boys caused a sudden curiosity in Lauren and Carter's relationship.
"Why is Payson staring at me?" Carter questioned casually, one lunch, as the pair sprawled on the grass, enjoying the last of the summer sun. At Lauren's guilty expression he straightened "Lauren?"
"Okay, maybe I told her a bit too much about her sex life, but she asked!"
His face transformed to horrified.
"What? All good things"
He was half horrified, half charmed, and that was made five times worse when he finished warming up and stepped onto the floor.
"Payson." He nodded respectfully at his fellow gymnast and she went bright red.
Luckily Sasha was there to step in. "Alright, Pay, I'm sure Carter will allow you a quarter to work on your spin. Carter I want you to keep working on that Thomas." His attention snapped away "Kaylie!"
"After you?" Carter offered politely.
"Thanks." Payson replied. For the rest of the afternoon, Payson kept an eye on Carter.
She's seen it at nationals, and again in Tokyo, but his floor was coming along so nicely. Every time she saw it, it seemed like it was getting better. He was entering his real growth period as a gymnast and four the next few years would struggle to find a limit to his capabilities other than time in the day. She was suddenly very jealous of male gymnasts who didn't peak until after they finished puberty.
He also trained as hard as she usually did, which was something of a surprise, though she felt offended on his behalf as soon as she thought it. One thing she'd learnt in the past year, from Lauren and Austin especially, was that they were all hard workers.
"Are you okay?" Carter realised, when he noticed her staring, not at him but at the mat.
"Yeah, fine."
"Well let me know if you need help." He insisted, before settling down and working on his strength move.
Her eyes followed him until he made herself look away, and she glanced around the gym, only to settle on Lauren who very distinctly raised an eyebrow.
Payson thought she might have felt her heart stop. She quickly turned away and settled back down on floor, hiding her reddening face.
She almost made it out of the gym unscathed, but her mother had needed to take Becca for a school test, and had promised to come back to pick up Payson, leaving her sitting, wide open, on the curb.
Lauren exited the gym and propped her sunglasses up onto her head, her eyes latching on Payson.
"Hey Pay." She called.
Payson flinched. "Hi."
"Whatcha doing?" She asked, her mouth curving wickedly.
"Waiting for my mom. She's getting up Becca."
"Right, I remember." Lauren nodded "Well I'll give you a ride."
"It's fine. I don't mind waiting."
"Don't be stupid." Lauren insisted "besides, it's Friday. We should be doing something more interesting than going home. Why don't you have a date?"
"Uh, Max is busy, I think. We have plans tomorrow night. What about you?"
"Carter has a one-on-one with Sasha tonight, and he's teaching tots to tumble early tomorrow. Saturday kind of exhausts him."
"He's a great coach." Payson pointed out.
"I know. Now get it." Lauren didn't take no for an answer. "and text your mum you'll be out for dinner. We should chat."
Payson did text her mother. "Lauren's kidnapping me, if I'm not back by nine. Panic."
"So…" Payson asked. "Are we… chatting?"
"Soon." She insisted, and maneuverer her convertible through the traffic. Like all gymnasts, Lauren was a conservative driver. She'd never risk a crash, but she was heavy on the horn.
"Where are we going?" Payson asked cautiously.
"Manis, Pedis, get our hair done. Come on. My treat." Lauren insisted "come on, it'll be fun. Shopping… We can see a movie..."
Payson agreed cautiously.
Lauren waited until Payson was pinned down by a pedicurist, a manicurist given strict instructions not to touch their palms, and someone giving her a head massage before she asked.
"So why are you being all weird?"
"I'm not…" Payson insisted.
"Please, Pay. I've known you since you were a kid. You were being weird, and staring at my boyfriend, which I totally haven't mentioned… but you were."
"I know." Payson admitted "and I'm sorry, it's just, Carter's awesome. We've been training together with him as long as we've been training together. How did I not know this?"
"It baffles me." Lauren told her, relaxing into her hand massage. Then her tone sharpened "but you know you've got no chance, right?"
"I know." Payson was quick to answer "He's completely in love with you."
"I know." Lauren stated "so why are you being all weird and staring at my boyfriend?"
"Because, he's sweet and nice and…" Payson's voice dropped "apparently you have mind blowing, super athletic sex."
"So this is a how do I get that? Question." Lauren relaxed.
"I guess, just, don't get me wrong. Max is great. He's sweet, he's funny."
"He thinks you're gorgeous." Lauren pointed out.
"Yes." Payson blushed. "that too, but… you and Carter are together all the time."
"Not all the time."
"A lot of the time. How don't you run out things to say?"
"We just don't." Lauren shrugged "I mean, it's not like we sit around talking about our feelings… I'd rather kill myself. And have you met Carter? He's not exactly chatty. We do stuff, we hang out. Half the time I'm with Carter we're with other people. Except for when we have sex, then we're alone." That at least got a laugh out of Payson. "This is what you're being all weird about?" Lauren continued "god, Pay. Not every couple can be as awesome as me and Carter."
"You're right, I know."
"But hey, we can totally double date." Lauren suggested excitedly. "It'll be awesome, and, we can do some activity thing, so it's less awkward."
"Like what?"
"Like Carter and I go running on Sunday mornings. You and Max could come! Not every Sunday, cause it's like, one of our things, but one time, and hey, Carter and I were talking about going to the ballet, cause of his mom. You're totally into ballet these days, which is awesome, because I know nothing, but it'd be super romantic."
"Okay." Payson felt a smile tug.
"Okay? Awesome." Lauren relaxed back in her chair.
Afterwards, Payson swished her lightly trimmed hair around while Lauren for once had hers blown out. "Do you seriously do this every week?"
"Pampering is good for you." Lauren insisted. "Normally I'd take Becca, except I think your mother has her under house arrest again."
"She snuck out to a Rock concert." Payson reminded Lauren "got drunk and lied about it."
"and the girl thing."
"That too." Payson conceded.
"Well that means today you're my shopping buddy, and I need new strapping tape, at the very least."
Payson reluctantly let Lauren drag her along. One small mercy was that with her Rimmel contract, Lauren could no longer drag her through the make-up counter of every brand in town.
- The Beginning of the End -
Six weeks after worlds and Lauren was disgruntled to find that Sasha was right. The upgrades weren't coming along as fast as she would've liked, but rather than throw a temper tantrum, she gritted her teeth and copied Payson's determination. Every time she saw Kaylie flitting up and down the beam she scowled though, and to make matters worse both Emily and Kaylie were managing an Amanar.
She was finally almost landing the Tsuk. It had taken more work than perhaps any upgrade ever, but it was happening and her muscles burned because of it.
Amid all of it, she was also finishing up high school along with Payson. The two had timed it perfectly to finish their coursework before Christmas, while Kaylie would be graduating at the end of the following semester, before the Olympics. Lauren didn't ask when Emily would be graduating, she just accepted her father's heartfelt congratulations (and gift).
"I haven't heard anything from Columbia." She told him finally.
"Of course not. You're a special case, graduating in the middle of the school year, and you did apply late." Her father reminded her "you also aced your SATS, have a perfect GPA and you're going to be an Olympian. They'd be crazy not to take you, and you heard from UCLA and Stanford."
"I know." Lauren pouted "I just want them to take me."
On the day she started fulfilling the two-and-a-half twists into the pit, Sasha watched intently until she started to lose the skill from exhaustion and he told her to go home.
"You're leaving early." Austin commented.
"You too. Hot date?"
"Jack's in Denver doing work stuff." Austin told her, before smiling softly. "Want to see something cool?"
Jack had arrived quietly, and Austin had thrown a small dinner for the six of them on a Saturday night. During which Payson gaped slightly at Austin pulling Jack close in the kitchen and Lauren simultaneously insulting and complimenting Max's photography skills with her wicked tongue while Carter watched, mouth twitching in amusement. Lauren and Payson had teamed up for some shooting game and horrified the boys at their lack of skill and good luck in taking out snipers.
Even then, on the couch, Austin and Jack had been inseparable, heads together, talking softly. They'd retreated into some kind of couples cocoon that only now Austin was emerging from. The lake house had been quickly snatched up, but they had time to move out and find another place. Lauren had taken to wandering around the place. It would be sad to see it go.
The constant smile on Austin's face was also a little disconcerting.
"I thought you were getting rid of this thing." She gestured broadly to the Porsche.
"M.J. didn't tell you she's talking to Chrysler?"
"No."
"Well she's talking to Chrysler. For you too, I think."
"Awesome." Lauren leaned back and let that sink in, until she noticed, they were leaving Boulder.
"Where, are we going?"
"Why, you don't have somewhere to be, do you?"
"London, the Olympics…" He steered them deeper into the Rocky Mountains. "I feel like I'm being taken out to be abducted by a serial killer."
"Not exactly. Just trust me." He told her.
Driving along, as the sun started to set, Lauren was indeed struck by the beauty of Colorado. "So, how's Jack?" She asked, and let Austin's delighted voice was over her.
"Get the gate, will you." He said finally, and she stared at him like he'd grown another head. "Please." He added, and she grumpily dropped out of the 4WD to open the heavy thing.
"If I pull a muscle, Sasha will kill you." She told him, but managed to get back into the car unscathed "Now will you tell me what we're doing here."
He pulled the car to a stop as the road curved around the mountain and a valley was revealed before them.
"What do you think?" He told her.
"It's beautiful, of course." Lauren told him, before asking "but why are we here."
Austin gave her a pointed look and nodded at the foreclosure sign.
"No, she replied "This whole place? It's huge. I thought you wanted a house!"
"We do." Austin replied "not even that house." He pointed out the main house as they drove past. "I'll show you."
There was a house around the side of the base of a much smaller mountain, and overlooking a river that bent around to run along the base of the valley. It was picturesque and reminded Lauren of the holidays she'd taken as kid with her Dad, while she'd race around on ponies with other kids and her father and his friends would sit about drinking scotch and occasionally one of them would kill something or fish, and all the girls would be horrified while the boys would draw nearer. It was the perfect blend of wilderness and civility.
He pulled the car to a stop and she clambered out.
"The property was some New York banker's dude ranch. Then he cheated on his wife who divorced him and discovered he'd been embezzling millions. It's selling for pittance."
"Pittance?"
"Okay, not pittance, but, not as much as it should."
"It's beautiful, Austin, it is. But do you really need to buy this place? I mean, are you even going to be here in a year?"
"I don't know." He sighed. "But it's perfect Lo, even if it is just the guesthouse."
"I agree, but what are you going to do with the other billion acres and buildings and all that?"
Austin groaned. "I don't know. My business people are looking into it. Apparently we can maybe lease the land to other farmers."
He showed her the guesthouse, and the main house, with its two levels of gorgeous stone, and, to Lauren's delight, the lap pool that could be enclosed and heated in winter that made Lauren think Austin shouldn't lease the main house, just for that.
They even wandered about the big buildings. The old, fully sealed, indoor stables with in-ground heating (lucky horses), the staff quarters, back when it had once been a working property, and the huge indoor exercise yard.
"Apparently the wife was a horse rider back in her golden years." Austin filled her in conspiratorially.
"How much of a pittance did they say they wanted?" She checked.
"four and a half, for a quick sale. We can afford it if we can lease some of the pastures and the endorsements come through."
"Austin!"
"What?"
"Do you even know what pasture is?"
"It's like, the land for cows and stuff"
"Please tell me you haven't bought this place already."
"I haven't, but I mean, property is not a bad investment. The bubble has already burst, and…"
"What?"
"M.J.'s hopeful. Turns out, those L.A. meetings went well. The new ones aren't wrapped up, but most of my old sponsors want me back. Porsche, Kellogs, even fucking Cobolt." At Lauren's look he added "apparently them dropping the lawsuit is part of the contract."
"That's ridiculous."
"I know, which is why it's a good thing, M.J. already has me signed up with their competitor, Ray bans baby!"
"That's fantastic." Lauren told him before turning serious "but it won't pay for this place." Lauren considered, carefully, "you should charge them more, not Colbolt, but any other endorsements. Not just for the worlds medals but for dropping you. Double your signing fee. Call it a bigot tax."
"You're just a vicious killer, aren't you, going straight for the jugular?"
"Being grateful they'll resign you isn't going to pay for this place." She reminded him. "and, like, any of their competitors would get a ridiculous amount of publicity if you signed with them. That's why Chrysler wants you, right?"
"I like to think it's because of my dazzling personality. You know." He slung an arm around her shoulder "you sound just like M.J."
They headed back up the path to the main house with the foyer that made Lauren want to spin around and around.
- The Beginning of the End -
M.J. came through on everything, including the Chrysler deal, and Austin somehow managed to pay for the place, even if he was suddenly aware that he needed to repeat his successes in London to earn money to live off. It made Lauren aware she needed to chat to her Dad about just how much money she was making, somehow (And she couldn't quite believe this) she'd lost track of.
M.J. approached Austin and then Lauren about bringing her in on the Ray Ban campaign, apparently they were very media-compatible. She made him more mainstream, while their documented friendship kept presumptions about campaigns strictly P.G.
Sasha frowned disapprovingly when M.J. showed up for her latest round of endorsements, and somehow managed to orchestrate four different endorsement campaigns on the one day. She managed to placate the brands by emphasising the publicity the combined force would bring, and so in a warehouse in Denver, Austin and Lauren rocked out aviators and wayfarers, Carter had a promo to do for Addidas which included bouncing across the floor, around a high bar and over a vault in a pair of loose short shorts, before clapping chalk covered hands together dramatically. Lauren thought it was fantastic!
Payson's was a bit less dramatic and involved her posing with her mum and talking about Proctor and Gamble products. Lauren forced down her irritation that Proctor and Gamble had wanted Payson, and focused back on her plans for the evening while reminding herself that Kaylie hadn't had any endorsements to film.
Austin and Jack threw a housewarming party that everyone went to, including M.J., though she and Jack kept on opposite sides of the place at all time. They took advantage of the very last drops of heat, before winter rolled in, and it mostly took part outside. Lauren was suddenly startlingly aware that this would most likely be the only time any of these people got to see the house, let alone get near it. Austin's love of a private life once again rearing its head.
Her 18th birthday loomed and, to Lauren's surprise and slight concern, she discovered that Kaylie was insisting on throwing her a surprise party.
For Lauren, even more entertaining was watching square her shoulders and approach Carter.
He knew her better, and between the end of his last class and his own training time, he dashed out to catch her in the car park.
"I know you saw Kaylie talking to me." He told her.
"Why yes, I did."
"and… that's it?"
She smiled. Wickedly.
"You know." He stated.
"Kaylie's never been known for her subtlety."
"And you're okay with this?"
"Sure." She shrugged, leaning against her car, keys dangling.
"I don't…" Carter admitted "I don't understand you two."
"We're friends."
"Really?" Carter was genuinely surprised, and sceptical. "Just like that, you're friends again?"
"If you're asking me if I trust her, not slightly. But we've been friends a long time, and" she faltered "I remember what it was like to be on the outside, when she won the national champion and everyone followed her around. I want to be better than her." She stated.
At Carter's somewhat proud look she quickly added "and it's kind of sadly pathetic, her following me around pouting. I think I preferred arrogance."
"Alright." Carter kissed her cheek quickly "and you're okay with her throwing you a birthday party? She's talking to your Dad and he called to check it was what you wanted."
"My Dad called you?" Lauren felt a rush of delight.
"You're Dad called Austin."
"But you'd be invited?" She checked quickly.
"Yeah, Kaylie's planning a dinner."
"Well we can do something after" Lauren promised, pressing their lower bodies together and smiling up at him. "Like we did for your birthday."
"Okay." He nodded. "I need to…"
Lauren smiled and nodded and headed home. Somehow it all seemed to perfect.
- The Beginning of the End -
Kaylie had gone all out. Lauren had to give her that. She'd organised a private room at Boulder's best (and only) Teppanyaki resturaunt. It was packed with their mutual friends and Lauren had effectively gasped with surprise and ignored Austin's wink.
Instead she let Kaylie hug her and hugged her back tightly.
"Well?" Kaylie demanded enthusiastically "are you surprised?"
"Absolutely." Lauren replied back with equal enthusiasm, even as she could picture Austin snickering and Jack giving him a fond, disapproving look.
"I just wanted to do something really special for your birthday." Kaylie told her "your last birthday before we all go to London, imagine!"
"It all looks beautiful, Kay." Lauren told her, taking in the beautifully decorated room, full of white drapery, and pale pink table accessories.
In each spot was a perfectly printed name tag.
"You're here with me, Lo. At the head of the table, and your Dad of course, right next to you of course."
"Awesome." Lauren. Then blanched at the sight of Carter Anderson printed next to her father.
"Jack, sit next to Dad, I'm sure you guys can talk Broncos all night." She hastily tossed the place card at Austin who laughed.
"Come here." He insisted, before hugging her tightly "Happy birthday. Eighteen. You can pose for playboy now."
"No she absolutely can't." Steve spoke up.
Lauren laughed and hugged him and Jack before Emma Mickinley grabbed her.
"Happy birthday." The girl stated, holding out a package.
"Thank you." Lauren told her politely. The girl blushed a little and then asked "So is Carter coming tonight?"
"Since when do you and Carter talk?" Lauren frowned at the younger girl. She was only here because her older sister was fifteen and her parents were angling for a spot on the board.
"He's my coach." The girl shifted awkwardly "he's, like, the best coach ever. Like Sasha, but younger and nicer!"
"Ri-ight." Lauren drew out.
"You are like the luckiest girl ever!" The two girls stared at each other until Becca intruded.
"Happy birthday!" She quickly declared, before thrusting a gift at Lauren. Just behind her was a watchful Mrs Keeler.
"Happy birthday Lauren." She echoed before Becca spoke up.
"Hey, it'd be alright if Bennett came, right? Mum convinced Kaylie it'd be inappropriate to invite her."
Lauren pursed her lips to stop the smirk and told her "call her! I'm sure we can find another seat. It;s not like we eat anything anyway. Razor too." She insisted, and then laughed delightedly when Becca's face erupted into a smile. Lauren watched her go, lips twitching until Mrs Keeler's disapproving look caught her eye.
"I should keep saying hi to people" She insisted, ducking away before anyone could protest.
Carter slipped in before dinner service and even with the collection of fathers present, his height still made him noticeable.
"Excuse me." Lauren excused herself to greet her boyfriend with a firm kiss on the mouth.
"I missed the surprise…" He was disappointed
"I basically made this face." She feigned surprise and he laughed.
"Happy birthday." He touched the side of her face and for a moment they shared a moment before Kaylie interrupted, dragging Lauren away.
- The Beginning of the End -
With her gymnastics slowly grinding forward, and school over and done with, Lauren turned to her career and delighted M.J. with an enthusiasm to push it forward. The agent warned her about over exposure, and then set her up to do profiles and media pieces and a succession of charity work, largely to do with kids and drugs. She couldn't say she enjoyed it. In fact, the best time she had was when she was chatting with their public relations team expert. The woman reminded her of M.J., if M.J. had a soul.
To her utmost relief she started sticking the vault, at least a quarter of the time, and they reached the point of no return, where muscle memory started following the two and half.
To Austin's relief, the neighbouring farmers had something of a bidding war over his acreage (and Carter had patiently explained more than one term) and that just left the main house and the cottages free. Jack and Austin offered them up to the Max and Carter, who considered the option of cheaper rent, compared to living twenty-five minutes out of Boulder.
But winter had come early and came in the form of heavy frost and unusually strong wind and pounding rain that felt more like hail. It became common place for gymnasts without a designated parking place to arrive even earlier to snag a spot near the door, while every gymnast, parent and coach did the car to door dash, rugged up and avoiding puddles.
Inside, keeping water off the floor was enforced and the winter heaters were turned on early.
It also signified the true, permanent, end to Sunday morning runs and outdoor conditioning. Instead they were stuck doing laps in the gym, and the weather was making them all crazy. On that note, Sasha cancelled practice over Thanksgiving weekend.
Instead, he staggered the time periods they were too come in for one on one sessions, and then an combined conditioning time.
Only the elites had access. The rest of the gym was expected to celebrate the holidays.
Lauren ignored Summer's open invitation to come to her church (any day, every day, she wasn't going to give her any attention) and claimed practice spots with the skeleton coaching staff.
Payson grumbled, signing up, fiercely protesting her limited practice times.
"Think of it as a time to refresh." Sasha told her "go, enjoy yourself, and when you get back Monday we'll take a fresh look at your vault."
Payson scowled. Her vault was still into the pit and she hated that she couldn't land it.
Carter rapped on Sasha's door Tuesday afternoon.
"Anderson." Sasha looked up from the video of Kaylie's vault. "Come in. I'm just torturing myself."
"Anything I can help with?"
"Only if you can tell me why a girl can manage to under rotate a Double Twisting Yurchenko and over rotate an Amanar in a five minute period."
"It's all in her head?" Carter offered cautiously.
Sasha's lips twitched "yeah, something like that." He nodded at his chair.
"What can I do for you?"
"I wanted to talk to you about Thanksgiving weekend. I noticed I'm not on the coach's roster."
"When I said I wanted gymnasts to take it easy, I meant you as well." Sasha told him. "This'll be the last real break you get before nationals. Even Christmas you'll just get a day."
Carter nodded. "yeah, I guessed, I just…"
"What is it Anderson?"
"Could I miss a few days practice?" He asked suddenly.
"You're thinking of going away?" Sasha replied with a raised eyebrow. He certainly wasn't the only one, but for an elite, it was a rarity. He thought perhaps the only other elite wanting to leave was Max Spencer, who was visiting his parents.
"Yeah, like you said, I'm probably not going to get time like this again."
"How long's it been since you've been home?"
"Twenty months. Since I was suspended."
"Because you were suspended?"
"Because I came back."
- The Beginning of the End -
Carter's old jeep rattled unhealthily as he drove up the drive. It was almost pitched black when he arrived, and the lights from the few buildings contrasted dramatically with the black and stars of the night sky. He pulled his old duffle bag out and resisted the urge to head for the old barn and the familiar buildings he'd spent so much time loping around as a teen.
He felt better as soon as one of the figures on the porch caught sight of him.
"Carter!" The solid woman who'd been the closest thing he'd had to a mother caught sight of him and rushed down. "Look at you, don't you look handsome."
"Hi Elspeth." He kissed the housekeeper's cheek. "Happy Thanksgiving."
"Happy Thanksgiving. Come inside, we want to hear everything!"
"Who's here?" Carter wondered cautiously. "Everyone. We had to tell half the town not to show up. Carter's here!" She declared loudly to the house, as they walked through the door.
Carter blanched, slightly. He'd been expecting a big thanksgiving, but this was evidently the half of the town they hadn't told not to show up.
As he nodded "Hi" at Tom Callaghan, a sort-of friend from high school who'd given him more than a hard time over how he spent his free time, he had to laugh a bit at the irony.
Then Luke caught his arm.
"Hi little brother." He caught him in the bro hug he'd so commonly shared with a team mate after a routine. "How you been?"
"I've been great." Luke grinned "Hey, the World Champion is here!"
It took him half an hour to get through the room and find his brother Jake, drinking a beer with some of his high school football team.
"Hey bro." Jake gave an inscrutable nod.
"Jake" He nodded at the other guys.
"Congratulations." They all told him, while Jake stood.
"Want a beer?" He gestured at few dumped in a bucket of snow.
"Yeah, sure."
"I'm surprised you can drink." Jake told him, when they were leaning against the verandah.
"I can't, really. I figure I'd just have a few sips and people'd stop offering me one."
"Sucks, you win and you can't even celebrate."
"We had champagne in Japan." Carter admitted
"Fancy."
"And Austin scored some sake. The coaches would have murdered us. What?" Carter asked at Jake's look.
"Austin. The guy you're on billboards half naked with."
"Yeah. That Austin, he's also my landlord and one of my best friends, and those billboards pay my rent."
"I'm just saying, I prefer the ones with the hot blonde."
"That's my girlfriend, so watch it."
"How the hell did you get a girl like that to go out with you?" Jake ribbed.
"Gymnastics…" Carter shook his head. "Do you know how many guys over the age of fifteen train at my gym, twenty one. And fifteen of them are NCAA guys. You know how many women?"
"more?"
"Ninety-seven."
Jake let out a low whistle. "Those are some good odds."
"Don't ever tell Lauren I said that." Carter added hastily.
"So apart from hot blondes on billboards and jetting off around the world, how's life?"
"Good. I train, I work, I train some more, I sleep. Occasionally my manager has an endorsement for me. That's it."
"The life you always wanted."
"Yeah. It is actually."
"Her Anderson!" One of Jake's high school buddies called "Andersons! You boys done having your moment! Come on! I want to hear about being famous and that shit."
"It's not every guy that causes a town-hall meeting in Wyoming." Jake reminded him.
"What?"
"You're underwear ad. Not everyone was a big fan"
One of the guys commented "are you really dating the girl? Cause she's hot, even without great boobs."
"Yeah, have you seen Dad?" Carter asked instead.
Jake took a sip of his beer. "Try outside."
"Thanks."
His brother was right and his father was in the first place he should've looked for him.
"Hey Dad." Carter wandered over.
"Hey boy." His Dad stated gruffly. "The party over?"
"Nope, still going."
"I'm surprised Luke let you out of his sight. This is all he talked about since you said you were coming home."
"Well I think he's having fun holding court inside."
The two lapsed into silence. The father staring at his beer, Carter stared at his hands, picking slightly at the calloused skin. He made himself stop. He'd cut it off later.
"Did you even watch Tokyo?" Carter said finally.
"Everyone watched Tokyo." The man replied "The whole town was there."
"But did you?" Carter asked, before sighing "you know what? Whatever."
Turning he walked back into the building and graciously attracted congratulations.
- The Beginning of the End -
Thanksgiving morning, Carter woke up to his eldest brother leaving the room, already dressed. He sighed, rolling over on the blow up mattress he was sleeping on. He'd eyed the thing and hadn't said a word, figuring he'd slept on worse and been fine. Half an hour later he got up, the last of the sleepiness having disappeared, and left his little brother sprawled out across his bed. He grabbed his warmest clothes and quietly crept past his old bedroom, where his three cousins were still fast asleep.
The whole house was pitch black, even the animals were mostly silent. By the time he'd completed his run, the morning light had appeared, causing everything to be covered in thick morning fog. His breath came out sharp and obvious.
"You're awake?" Jake noted, when Carter nodded.
"Yeah."
"We're going down to the South pasture, but the feeding run hasn't left yet. Luke'll fill you in."
"Jake I'm not…" Carter sighed "The Olympics are in less than a year. I'm not risking my body on a feed run."
"Well" Jake put on a voice "if you can't risk your body."
The ute took off, leaving Carter to sigh and head onto the porch where he dropped to the deck and after stretching, started his exercises.
After music playing through his phone headphones, he completed the first hundred repetitions with a groan and rubbed his hands together, trying to force some warmth back into them. Without a bar he couldn't complete most of his upper body stuff and instead settled for push ups.
"Dude." Luke wandered out "that's crazy intense."
"Yeah." Carter rolled out his shoulders and took in the sight of his brother, holding a giant cereal bowl. "Shouldn't you be doing the feed run?"
"It's Thanksgiving. I'll get to it. Want some breakfast?" He waved his bowl pointedly.
Carter took one look at the coco puffs and laughed. "I can't eat that." He told his little brother before heading into the house.
"Suit yourself then." Luke called.
After a hot shower and stretching out his muscles Carter dressed himself in the clean shirt Lauren had seized and insisted on dropping at her dry cleaner a week earlier, accompanied with his Calvin Klein jeans he quickly styled his hair the way Austin and Lauren and M.J. insisted looked best.
He headed for the kitchen where he found Elspeth, already hard at work. Beside her were his uncles' wives Aunt Georgia and Aunt Megan, Mackenzie, Elspeth's grown daughter, and his three cousins, Emily, Hailey and Faith.
"Don't you clean up nice." Georgia commented immediately "you look like a real coast boy."
"Faith, do you remember your Carter?" her mother asked.
"Hi Carter." Faith stated quietly, eyes on the floor.
"Hi Faith." Carter grinned, crouching down to talk to the girl "Look at you, you were just walking last time I saw you. And you guys, he turned to the older Hailey and Emily. "You've grown about a foot."
"Alright you two" Georgia told her daughters "how about you follow Carter's example and but on nice clothes for lunch. Then I'm sure he'll tell you everything."
"I will." Carter promised, and the girls, grumbling, headed for the guest room.
"Now." Mackenzie insisted, "We hardly got to talk to you last night. I want to hear everything. How was Tokyo?"
"Amazing." Carter stated "it was like nothing I'd ever scene. Maybe even better than New York."
"When were you in New York?" Mackenzie asked
"After Nationals, last year, in Boston."
"That's incredible. Where else have you been?"
"I went to Argentina last year, for a meet Austin got me an invite too, um, Pittsburgh. I might get to go to a world cup event next year, in Norway, or China or Qatar… Nationals is in St. Louis, Trials are in San Jose. London, hopefully."
"That sounds like the most amazing thing I've ever heard." Mackensie expressed.
"Well what about you. College next year? You were always such a bookworm."
"University of Wyoming." She told him.
"Not everyone gets offered a full ride to an out of school college." Aunt Georgia reminded him, washing her hands at the sink.
"College will still be there after the Olympics." Carter responded tersely.
"Not a scholarship. Not since you decided to take endorsements, isn't that right?"
"No. But I had to pay rent, and they were good business opportunities. I have savings now. Real, serious, savings."
"Well I think you could help your father then. Faith stop fussing." Megan scooped up her daughter.
"As helpful as he was when he kicked me out? I have rent to pay, and health insurance, and gym dues."
"Rent, with that boy you live with?" Megan began again.
"What boy? I live with three guys."
"The gay one." Megan continued.
"That… pretty much describes all of them. Max is… flexible."
"What does that even mean!" Megan gaped.
"I think, what your aunt is trying to say is, we worry, about what kind of life you're living. You should come home more often." Georgia insisted. "We just hear these stories and see on the internet… we worry, of course we worry."
"Well Dad made it pretty clear he didn't want me around."
"Your father's a proud man. I know, I'm married to a man just like him."
"Well so am I." Carter replied. He dropped his loud tone when he caught sight of his two nieces in the doorway, listening in, magazine clutched in their hand
"Hey guys, what's that?"
"Can you sign this?"
"Sure." He signed it "I actually have some new promo stuff my manager just got me, if you want that." He offered
"Really?"
"Yeah, I got a new sponsor. It's in my bag." Hastily he grabbed his new Addidas bag, filled with swag, as Lauren would call it.
"What's in the bag?" Mackensie asked.
"Swag, from my sponsors, and my friends' sponsors."
"Austin didn't give you a car did he?" The older girl continued "I heard he's sponsored by Chrysler."
"I wish." Carter laughed "you've seen my jeep. I've got some addidas stuff. Bags, bottles, watches."
"Awesome!" Emily perked up.
"Help yourself, just, save some for Luke and Jake."
"What's this?" Emily asked
"Oh no Calvins for you." Carter seized them. "Here, have some nail polish. My girlfriend is a Rimmel spokeswoman."
"I wanted to put a poster of her on my wall but Mom said it was inappropriate." Emily informed him.
"I was that advertisement. She was in her underwear. It was in appropriate."
"Well I have national team posters…" He riffled through. "Here you go."
"Do you have one of Kaylie Cruz?"
Carter held back a laugh
- The Beginning of the End -
Carter sat on the steps, phone in hand.
"and then what happened?"
"it was alright for a bit." Carter told her "Luke and Jake might come down for a Broncos game. It was just, normal, you know?"
Hailey and Emily had latched on to Carter's iphone from the moment they saw it. He'd had just enough time to quickly scan through his messages and make sure he hadn't left anything (and hadn't M.J. given them all enough lectures on that).
In fact, the only fight that had come about was the girls' raised voices interrupting thanksgiving football, until they were down to the dying minutes and his phone had rung.
"Can I answer it?" Hailey demanded.
"Sure." Carter called back, eyes locked on the screen.
"I thought it was you." Carter told Lauren.
"It wasn't me."
"Yeah, I know."
Hailey answered the phone and it wasn't until a minute later that she came over. "Who is it?" Carter asked her with a frown. Detriot was down by four.
"She says she's your grandmother?"
Carter blanched and seized the phone, game forgotten.
"Right. Thanks. Grandma?" He ducked out of the room, ignoring the disbelieving eyes behind him.
"After that, things got weird." He told Lauren.
"Since when do we have a grandmother?" Luke demanded. Their father's mother had died years earlier, they barely remembered her.
"Since I met her." Carter offered up.
"She contacted you?" His father demanded.
"I contacted her. I was there for nationals, Lauren and I drove there one day. I met them."
"Who's them?" Luke demanded.
"Our grandmother. We have uncles, cousins."
"What are they like?" It was Luke who spoke up again.
"There okay." Carter shrugged "grandma's nice. Posh, but nice. I haven't talked to them that much but they seem like good people."
"Why would you talk to them at all?" His father demanded.
"Because they're my family. I wanted to meet them."
"We're your family." Jake spoke up. The older brother. He'd been the one to teach Carter the most.
"Because you've been around so much?" Carter demanded.
"You're the one who left" Jake stood up. "You left, and not even for college. On a whim, chance you could make it as an Olympian. Do you know how crazy sounds?"
"But I'm doing it!" Carter replied "I could make the London team, I could get to compete at the Olympics. Even if that's all I do, even if I don't make the team, I'll be happy, knowing that I tried. Most families beg, borrow and steal to get there. None of you even care, even called to wish me good luck before I left." He made face. "What, nothing to say Dad? As usual."
"We supported you. We let you go when any other father would've told you no. Hours and hours, driving back and forth, slacking off at school, giving up sports, thousands of dollars in fees."
"So what? You want me to pay you back?" Carter raised his voice. "Austin told me you'd be like this."
"Austin?"
"Austin Tucker." His aunt interrupted. "The one I told you about."
"You've got to be kidding me." Carter snapped at her, before storming outside.
"Then I called you." He finished.
"So what are you going to do?" She asked "come home?"
"I don't know. We'll see I guess. It just all seems so petty, you know."
"That's family." Lauren counselled "you should've seen Chloe and Grandma today. But." She realised that was perhaps not the most supportive girlfriend topic. "tell me more. Really."
- The Beginning of the End -
So that's the chapter! The beginning of the end. The countdown to the last nationals begins. Lauren needs to stay on top, Austin needs to make sure he doesn't wander into the countryside and drown in a sea of domestic bliss when he should be focused on the Olympics, Carter needs to finish growing up and prove himself useful for an Olympic team. Kaylie needs to get back on top. Emily needs to prove herself still relevant after being less than at worlds and Payson? Payson's got a boy, a proctor and gamble campaign and as much difficulty upgrading as Lauren.
I just wrote 12,000 words (and I'm not quite sure what happened in them) so please review because next chapter lots happens!
Disaster strikes and not just in the reappearance of Kelly Parker. M.J. gets between Sasha and Marty. Summer and Austin have a… disagreement. Lauren hears from Columbia. Payson fights with her family and everyone makes decisions about their future. That's next chapter so please review.