A/N: I am SO glad that you all enjoyed the last chapter! Thank you to KK161990, Seeker and Dreamer, Ida-cullen, JCI, BearyFunny66, crazylady789, and Anonymous for your wonderful reviews.

About this chapter: it's Nationals time again! Yay! I didn't focus much on the actual gymnastics for two reasons 1) I suck at writing it. Honestly, I know nothing about gymnastics, so it feels awkward when I write it, and I don't want to subject you to that every time. I promise for the chapter about World's I'll give you some gymnastics action. 2) There is so much more that I wanted to address in this chapter that had nothing to do with the competition itself. Really, it only would have wasted space.

Also, I don't want to give too much away, but Payson and Kelly Parker do a thing in this chapter…kind of a solidarity/hand shake ritual thing, and I want to know what you guys think of it. It wouldn't be an all the time thing, but every once in a while. And I'm not married to keeping it, so tell me what you think: keep it, lose it, or indifferent?

Hope you all enjoy reading! And of course, when you're done reading, you know what to do ;)

Chapter 28

"Ladies, listen up," Sasha calls, his stern coaching voice in place. Payson can't help but smile at the familiarity. "I know that you've all been on the World's team, so coming back to Nationals feels like nothing, but you're wrong. The judges will expect more from you then they did last year, and you'll need to deliver. I want you all focused tonight, no running around getting into trouble like I know you do, visualizing and meditation only. Summer or I will be around for bed checks at nine."

The Rock gymnasts break up, moving to grab their things and take them up to their hotel rooms. Payson sighs as she slings the strap of her bag over her back. She can't believe she's back here again, back to the National Championship where she broke her back exactly a year ago. It doesn't matter that the city is not the same, that the arena is different. What matters is that the atmosphere is the same; the buzz of excitement and nerves, the intense focus of every gymnast in the city of Philadelphia. Payson can't lie and say she isn't nervous, she is. Despite having competed a number of times since her comeback, everything is just a little too similar not to unnerve her.

"You okay?" Sasha asks, coming up next to her and handing her a room key. She looks up at him and nods, plastering a smile on her face.

"Yup. Ready to go." Sasha raises an eyebrow.

"Don't lie to me Payson," he warns. She sighs, shaking her head.

"Fine, I'm a little freaked," Payson admits. Sasha puts a hand on her shoulder, an innocent gesture to anyone walking by, and it grounds her.

"Even if you fall, I'll be there to catch you," he promises. Payson nods, biting her bottom lip.

"Okay," she says finally, her voice a little stronger and the butterflies in her stomach settling. Sasha smiles and gives her shoulder a squeeze.

"Good. Now go upstairs and get some rest."

Payson does as he asks, heading for the room she'll be sharing with Emily and Lauren. She knows that her parents are around somewhere, but she won't see them until after the competition the next day, and part of her is glad for that. She doesn't need to listen to her mother's fretting when she's still trying to convince herself that all will be fine.

"I hate feeling all cooped up like this," Lauren sighs, lounging on her bed. The room has two queen beds and Lauren had announced as soon as they found out they'd be sharing a triple that she would be having her own bed. That left Emily and Payson to share, which is fine with both of them.

"Well we're stuck, so use the time wisely," Payson insists, closing her eyes and running through each routine in her head. Each time she runs through a routine it starts to feel more solid, like she's actually performing it. She feels herself smiling.

"Thinking about your boyfriend, Keeler?" Payson's eyes snap open to find Kelly Parker leaning against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest. She hadn't even heard Kelly come in.

"Boyfriend?" Lauren asks sharply. "Payson doesn't have a boyfriend."

"Sure she does," Kelly insists, smiling. Payson looks between Kelly and Lauren, not quite sure what to do.

"What are you doing here, Kelly?" Payson finally asks, her shoulders slumping a little. That, apparently, was as good as confirmation for Lauren.

"So you do have a boyfriend?" Lauren snaps. Payson squeezes her eyes shut.

"I just came to wish you good luck," Kelly offers. The look on her face is sincere and it reminds Payson that though Kelly can be ruthless in the gym, she's not actually a terrible person.

"Thanks, Kelly. You too."

"I heard you booked a Dr. Scholl's commercial next week," Kelly offers. "They pay big, and the royalties for every time they run the commercial are huge."

"Yeah, that's what I've heard. Hey, I never got to ask what you thought of our Seventeen spread?"

"It looked great. We're all pretty hot," Kelly says. Payson nods. "Well, I'd better get back or Marty will kill me for fraternizing with the competition."

"I hear that," Payson laughs. Kelly slips out of the room, leaving a lot of awkwardness behind.

"That was…weird," Emily says, frowning. Payson laughs softly.

"She's not so bad outside the gym."

"Are you kidding?" Lauren demands. "She's probably just trying to get you to let your guard down. Is it that guy from the bar?"

"What?" Payson asks, confused.

"Your boyfriend, Payson! Is it Sasha's friend from the bar?" Lauren shrieks. Payson shudders.

"Ew, no." She almost admits that Liam is too much like an older brother to date, but that could lead Lauren to who her boyfriend really is. "I would really rather not talk about it right now."

"So Kelly Parker gets to hear all about your secret boyfriend, but I don't? I thought we were supposed to be friends, Pay," Lauren says, spitting out her nickname like it tastes badly in her mouth. Payson shakes her head.

"All Kelly Parker knows is that I have one. She doesn't know who he is or anything else about him," Payson insists. Lauren turns to Emily.

"Did you know about this?"

"No," Emily lies. Payson groans. Emily has never been a good liar, and there's no way that Lauren doesn't see right through her. Lauren gets up, stomping out of the room, and Emily and Payson catch each other's eyes.

"This won't be good," Emily points out. Payson allows herself to fall backwards on the bed.

"No it won't. No good at all."

#

The next morning Payson doesn't have time to worry about Lauren. The bitch of the beam had slipped back into the room moments before Summer knocked on their door for bed check and hadn't spoken a word to her or Emily since. But Payson isn't thinking about it, she's thinking about her routines.

She and Sasha had agreed months ago that she would take it easily at Nationals. She would push herself enough to win, but a lot of her newfound abilities would stay locked away, for bigger meets like Worlds, and the Olympics. It makes her overall DOD lower than it could be, but Payson isn't worried because it's still higher than most of the gymnasts competing at Nationals, and right on par with Kelly Parker's.

Payson eats breakfast only because Sasha makes her, and then they all cross the street to the arena where the competition will take place. Already there are crowds of reporters and fans milling around, waiting for gymnasts to appear. Payson braces herself.

"Payson! Payson Keeler!" Payson debates just keeping her head down and pretending she doesn't hear the reporters, but she knows the grief she'll catch from MJ isn't worth it, so instead she puts on a smile and waits for the questions.

"Payson, how does it feel to be back at the competition where you broke your back?" She almost groans. Leave it to reporters to the New York Times guy to dive straight to the tough questions.

"It feels great, almost like I've come full circle. I'm ready to do this year what I couldn't do last year; win."

"Ms. Keeler, you and Kelly Parker were photographed together for Seventeen Magazine a few months back. Any chance that rivalry we all love to watch has cooled off?" A guy from Sports Illustrated asks. Payson shakes her head.

"I admire Kelly Parker for her work ethic and her tenacity, and outside of the gym we have an amicable relationship, but she is still my competitor. You'll get that rivalry you all love as soon as Kelly and I are both in the building," Payson promises.

"Payson, you've been doing a lot of publicity lately, does that mean you haven't been training as hard as you need to, to win?" Payson can't tell which reporter asked the question, but it makes her angry, and she isn't afraid to show it.

"I haven't done any publicity in the last month because I've been devoting all my time and energy to training. And even when I am doing publicity, it's done on my day off when my coach wouldn't let me in the gym anyway, so no, sir, my training has not suffered." And on that note she walks into the arena.

From then on, it's gymnastics only. Payson and her teammates warm up, and everyone is looking good, with the exception of Lauren. Lo can't seem to get her head in the game and she's continually screwing up. Payson knows that at this rate she won't make the national team again, so she marches up to her, grabs her arm, and pulls her off to the side.

"Get it together, Lauren," Payson hisses. Lauren narrows her eyes.

"Why do you care?"

"Because you are too good not to be at the Olympics in 2012, and at this rate you won't be. So I'm sorry if you're pissed I didn't tell you about my boyfriend. Honestly, I've tried to keep it from everyone so it's not just you," Payson insists.

"Like I care what you do? I don't," Lauren snaps. She yanks her arm from Payson's grip and marches back to the floor. Payson watches for a few minutes and sees that her little chat had the desired effect, Lauren is now channeling her anger, or hurt, or whatever it is, into her gymnastics instead of letting it distract her from her performance.

Payson walks over to where Sasha is standing, observing his gymnasts. He glances at her, giving her a distracted smile.

"Ready?" He asks. Looking out over the performance floor, watching the gymnasts fly on each apparatus, she nods.

"Let the games begin."

#

"In third place, from the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club, Emily Kmetko!" Payson can't help but smile as her friend steps up to the podium to receive her bronze medal. Lauren came in fifth, just missing the podium but still making the national team, and Amy McDowell, another Rock gymnast, had come from nowhere to take sixth. They were all a little shocked by that one.

"In second place," the announcer starts, his voice booming through the arena. "From Denver Elite, Kelly Parker!" Kelly steps up on the podium, smiling brightly. She'd given a great performance, one of her best ever, and had really given Payson a run for her money.

"And your new National Champion, from the Rocky Mountain Gymnastics Club…Payson Keeler!"

Payson smiles as the man handing out medals slips the gold around her neck. She sees Sasha and her teammates cheering wildly. There are tears in Sasha's eyes that she can see even all the way across the floor, and the look on his face is the same one he wore that first night she'd kissed him, the first time her floor routine had been perfect, and the night they'd realized there was more to their relationship than just a coach and his athlete.

Payson turns to hug Emily tightly, proud that Emily is finally owning her talent, finally convincing herself that she belongs. Then she turns to Kelly. She knows Kelly isn't the hugging type, even under the best of circumstances, but she also doesn't expect it when Kelly raises a fist, waiting for Payson to bump it. It was something they'd done only once before, at the Seventeen photo shoot when Kelly had called them bombshells.

Smiling wide, Payson bumps her fist against Kelly's and they both make explosion sounds, opening their fists as they pull them back.

"Bombshells, baby," Kelly says. It's as much of a peace offering as Payson can ever hope to get from Kelly.

"Tick, tick, boom," Payson responds.

The medal winners pose for a few photos before jumping from the podium and running to the teammates and coaches. Payson jumps into Sasha's arms and holds tightly for a moment before releasing him and letting Emily have a turn.

Payson steps back, watching her teammates and her coach, as well as the supporters and family members in the crowd, celebrate what the girls have done here at Nationals. Pride swells in her heart until it hurts and she starts to cry. Payson Keeler, the infamously stoic gymnast, is standing on the floor with tears streaming down her cheeks. She finally feels like her comeback to the sport has been cemented, that any lingering doubts she had about her abilities as a more artistic gymnast have been dashed. She conquered her own fears, facing down the bars and owning them. Payson can't help but feel overwhelmed at everything that's happened.

"Payson!" Payson turns, wiping the tears from her eyes, to see her mother and father racing onto the floor. She hugs them both tightly.

"We're so proud of you, honey," Mark whispers against her hair. Payson pulls back, looking between the two of them.

"I love you guys. I know we've had our ups and down, but I couldn't ask for better parents," Payson says. Kim starts to cry and Mark pulls her in for another hug.

"We love you too, Pay."

#

Payson is relaxing on the bed in her hotel room, Emily sitting on Lauren's bed while the blonde is in the shower, when a knock sounds at the door. Frowning, Payson gets up to answer it.

"Keeler, Kmetko, let's go," Kelly Parker says, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Go where?" Payson asks. Kelly rolls her eyes.

"To celebrate. We're the three best gymnasts in the country and we worked our asses off this weekend. We deserve a reward," Kelly explains. Payson looks over her shoulder at Emily, who shrugs. She hears the shower stop running and wonders if Kelly will invite Lauren, deciding probably not. Those two will never be able to put aside their differences.

"Do we need to change?" Emily asks. Kelly smiles wickedly.

"Nope," she says. Payson knows Kelly has something up her sleeve, but for once in her life she doesn't care. She's still riding the emotional high of the day, and she's in the mood to celebrate, to let go of the hyper focused, uber controlled Payson Keeler that everyone but Sasha sees on a daily basis.

"Okay, let's go." She and Emily slip out of the room just as Lauren emerges from the bathroom. Payson hears Lo and Kelly exchange a few words, nothing decipherable, until Kelly laughs. It's not her easy, carefree fun laugh, but her mirthless laugh, the one that signals she's about to go in for the kill.

"Sorry Tanner, medalists only."

Payson almost feels badly, but escaping Lauren for a while is too appealing for her to put up a fight. Besides, for every gymnast Lauren has ever iced out and all the crap she pulls, Lauren deserves to be put in her place sometimes. Payson knows that she's had some difficulties in life, her mother abandoning her and then dying, and all the daddy issues, but the girl needs to learn that she can't simply stomp her feet and get her way all the time.

"So…where are we going?" Emily asks, pulling Payson from her thoughts. She looks at Kelly, waiting.

"Tucker's breaking out onto the roof as we speak. And he's got Champaign," Kelly says. Payson falters, and then decides to throw caution to the wind. She deserves to have fun, damn it.

The three girls make their way to the top of the building, following instructions that Austin had texted to Kelly. Payson had no idea they even knew each other, much less well enough to put together this little scheme.

It's chilly, but the view of Philadelphia is gorgeous. Austin is sitting in a plastic lawn chair, drinking straight from the Champaign bottle.

"I think the hotel employees hang out here to give their bosses the finger," Austin says, chuckling as Kelly, Payson, and Emily approach. There are several other chairs, so each girl gets one. Austin holds the bottle up in the air and looks at each girl in turn.

"To winning," he says, taking a long drink. Then he hands the bottle to Kelly, who tips the top of the bottle to the sky and takes her own long drink before passing it to Emily. Emily stares at the bottle for a moment and then takes a drink. Payson is last.

She only hesitates a moment before echoing Austin's toast and taking a large sip. She feels the heat of the alcohol settle in her stomach, much like it had in Romania, and smiles.

They all bask in the silence for a while, drinking and staring at the city, until a question that's been burning in Payson's mind for days refuses to remain unasked.

"Kelly, why are you such a bitch?" Payson asks. She might not usually put it so bluntly, but the alcohol is making her less choosy with her words. At least Kelly doesn't seem offended.

"Better to be a bitch than get all chummy, I guess," Kelly says. Payson frowns at the answer.

"But why? I mean, we're…sort of friends now. What changed?" Kelly sits quietly for a moment and then leans her head back so that she's talking to the sky.

"You and I have a bond, Keeler. We're world class athletes with a similar goal, and we both have the press and endorsement deals and all that, which not many others really understand. We have to stick together. Besides, my therapist says I need to start letting people in more, and if you tell anyone I see a therapist I will ruin you. It'll make condoms and lip hair remover look like playground games," Kelly says dangerously.

"Why do you work so hard to keep people out?" Emily asks, understanding how Kelly feels.

"You know, Kmetko, you and I are a lot alike too, and I shut people out for the same reasons you do; because people always leave."

"Not us," Payson assures her. "Even if we aren't in the same city or state after the Olympics, we'll have a bond that no one can break."

"Here, here," Austin agrees. Payson can feel the shift in the air as the conversation changes.

"London 2012. Seems more real than ever, doesn't it?" Emily asks.

"It does. What's it like in the Olympic village Austin?" Payson asks. Austin smiles, but doesn't answer right away. They continue to pass around the bottle of Champaign.

"It's a big party. There's always a celebration; the 'I can't believe we're really here' party, and then victory parties or pity parties as each sport wraps up. You would think we'd be used to living around elite athletes by now, but it's insane when you get every Olympic competitor in one compound. And everything is free. It's really like a self sustaining city," Austin explains.

"I can't wait to be there," Emily breathes as she hands Payson the bottle.

"Me neither Em, me neither."