A/N: I know, I'm terrible. I'm SO sorry I haven't updated but with school starting back up everything is so crazy. I have so much homework it is unreal, coursework from last year I need to finish, as well as 3 Twitters, 2 Tumblrs, and 4 fanfics to deal with. OH and rehearsals for We Will Rock You started today, yay. :-D Show time is always the best time of the year. I rehearse for that Mondays and Tuesdays, so yeah, not much time for myself anymore.

Replies -

naley12: Yay I'm glad you like it! :-) More time with friends in this chapter...ish, I think. Thanks for the review sweetness, keep it up! :-) x

ObsessivePrincess: YAY! :-D I'm SO glad you love it, I really needed to hear that. I'm sorry I'm so terrible with updates (a) Yes, I agree, but that isn't happening just yet. :-) I wrote this months ago, I do everything in advance, yay me. It's okay if you type Merrygold or Sykes or even both, 'cause someday that's going to be my name. Aston knows it is. :-) LOVE YA TOO! Xo

Chapter 38

The next day, everyone had practice until the opening ceremony that night. I went along to practice to help out with final preparations; what else was I going to do? Nathan and I had decided to only tell Brooke, Peyton, Charlie, Chase, Julian and Lucas about our engagement, and would announce the engagement to everybody else at the after party for the Olympics. I wore my ring on my chain and hid it under my shirt, so it was close to my heart and nobody would notice it.

I was confident that the US would go home with many medals in gymnastics, individual and team. Watching everyone did give me a streak of jealousy, but seeing them stick the landing of a move or dismount once I'd given them tips on how made up for it. I'd never considered coaching gymnastics, but then I never really had to consider it. Now trying out coaching, I was better at it than I thought, and I enjoyed it more than I thought, too.

I was now watching Brooke perform her routine on bars, and helping her make any final improvements. Being an ex-gymnast myself gave me the advantage of picking out little bits from routines that other coaches may not pick up on. I knew what the judges were picky about, and I could help others with that. I placed my arm across the small of Brookes back as she landed, to keep her from falling.

"Tigger! That was great!" I smiled, pulling her close to me.

"Really? I keep falling on the dismount." She replied.

"It was really great." I smiled. "Only a few things, make sure your handstands do go right up and it's clear it's a handstand, else they mark you down. And on your dismount, make sure you get enough rotations; otherwise you won't make it properly, and you'll fall. Everything else about your routine is fine, honestly."

"Alright, I'm gonna try it again. I'm gonna do it until I've got it down." She said, walking back to the front of the bars.

"Alright. I'm gonna go help Char with her floor routine, okay? You can do this, Brooke. I believe in you." I said as I walked to the floor mat.

"Hey, Char." I smiled as I watched her walk over to me.

"Hey." She smiled back.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"Um, good, I think. Can you help me, though?"

"Yeah, sure I can. Show me what you got."

I watched as she moved to her starting position in one corner of the mat. I watched her fly through the air in her multiple tumbling passes, she was a young Olympic champion in training. There was no way she couldn't medal in her events. She had the power and the height to her tumbling passes, and she was as graceful as a swan. She had the perfect mix; there wasn't really much for me to help her improve on. She finished in the middle of the mat in her finishing position, before she got up and walked over to me.

"So…what can I do better?"

"Char, you're perfect." I laughed. "The only thing you can do better is just make your dance elements a bit more defined, you know? Don't get me wrong, you're amazing, but if you want to do better, you need to make it look a bit more dancey. Know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it. I'll work on it. Thanks, Hales." She smiled.

"Anytime." I looked over to the vault where Nathan was about to launch himself into it. I knew he wasn't competing on vault until the individual events, and when he stopped in front of the horse, I frowned slightly and walked over to him. "Hey, baby. What's up?"

"Hey, babe. Not much. I just can't get over this stupid horse with this new vault. Competition is in like, four days and I can't get myself over." He sighed.

"Is it that new vault Tom gave you? The blind landing?"

"Yeah."

"I had trouble with that. It's fear that's holding you back. You're scared that you're going to mess up or land on your ass. You've got to eliminate the fear." I explained, having suffered a case of fear with a blind landing myself.

"And how do I do that oh wise one?" He smirked.

"Knock it off." I laughed, giving him a light slap. "Trust. That's all it is. Eliminate the fear, replace it with trust. No more fear; trust. Just say it to yourself before you start running, chant it if it helps. Trust me, it works."

"Alright. I'll try it." I watched as he made his way back up to the start of the runway to the vault, and heard him chanting the words I'd told him to quietly under his breath. And sure enough, he made it over the vault without a problem. I smiled as I watched his face light up with proudness, as did mine.

"You did it!" I beamed as I walked to the end of the vault.

"I did it!" He smiled back, pulling me close as the bump would allow us to be. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"One thing: try to gain more height. It'll help you stick your landing better." I encouraged, having had problems with height and landings before. He captured my lips in a sweet kiss, to which I returned before smiling up at him.

"Thank you, baby." He said.

"You're welcome." I smiled.

"How's my baby doing?" He asked, rubbing my very swollen stomach.

"She's fine. Kicks harder when daddy's around." I laughed.

"That's what I like to hear. Daddy's little princess already."

I looked around and noticed Rachel staring at us. I knew she was jealous, but that was her problem. She wasn't coming between us again, especially now we were engaged and having a baby together. The reaction she was blatantly going to give to the news of our engagement would be worth paying to see. She'd been a problem my whole career, and the incident with Nathan made me dislike her even more.

"Haley!" I heard Tom bellow across the room.

"Yeah?" I asked as he came closer.

"You've been coaching for a while; take a break for a bit." He suggested. He did this a lot, whenever he thought I'd been coaching too long he told me to take a break. He was only trying to be supportive, and stop me from working hours on my feet at a time, but it was very annoying at some points.

"If you say so, coach." I laughed. "See you later, baby." I said to Nathan, placing a light kiss on his lips before heading to the side to sit down.

"Haley." Tom said.

"Sorry." I laughed, knowing he wasn't impressed with my gesture.

Later that night, we were standing in the stadium waiting for the opening ceremony to begin. The artistic part was underway already, with many different things to show the British culture and unity of the world during the Olympics. We stood along with the rest of the competing athletes from the US, and waited to be called before walking out from behind the doors and into the stadium. Even though I technically wasn't part of the US team anymore, coaches and assistant coaches got to be part of the parade. So I would be walking right alongside Tom, which would be my position in line.

I'd always dreamed of walking in the Olympic parade, but never did I think that it'd be as an assistant coach instead of an athlete. I was naturally upset that I'd lost out on my dream, but I'd spent the last few months moping enough about it. So I decided that tonight was the night I'd suck it up and deal with it. It wasn't just about me anymore. In fact, it wasn't about me at all. It was about celebrating the potential victories the US team would bring.

The artistic part of the opening ceremony had finally finished, and the end was signaled by a round of fireworks shooting to the sky from the top of the arena and all around the village. Now, it was our turn. We patiently waited for the team to be called, as the teams before us walked in. Right on cue, we started to walk out from the back of the stadium and smiled to the audience of thousands as the voiceover boomed "Please welcome, the team from the United States of America".

Thousands upon thousands of flashes were erupting through the stadium, all dying to capture the moments of the opening ceremony. The lights nearly blinded me, but soon enough we were standing in our place in front of the stage, waiting for the rest of the teams to file in. Finally, as the British team took their positions, the prime minister of Britain began his speech. Shortly after he finished, we listened to another speech from the head of the Olympic committee.

We watched in awe as four men and women, all former British athletes, dressed in white, carried the Olympic flag through the stadium and handed it over to the Olympic officials who would tie it to the pole where it would be raised for the world to see.

After a long night, the opening ceremony was finally over. The end had once again been signaled by a round of fireworks that light up the night sky. They were all sorts of colors, and they were all pretty.

By the time the night was over, I was ready for bed. Tom had given everyone a strict time for lights out as he always did. No doubt somebody would break it at some point, but he wouldn't exactly have a way of checking when we were all dotted around the place. But at least tonight, everyone would stick to the lights out time. Everyone was too tired to stay up any later.

I leaned my head into Nathans shoulder as we walked towards the bedroom. He placed a soft kiss on the top of my head before we went our separate ways to get ourselves ready for bed. I started to bend over to open the drawer that contained my pyjamas, but I was interrupted when Nathan protested.

"Stop that." He frowned as I stood back up.

"What?" I laughed.

"Bending over to get things. You're only gonna hurt your back even more, and we don't want that." He replied, as I sat on the bed and laughed as he handed me a pair of pyjamas.

"Nathan, calm down. I'm fine, honestly. Sometimes you can worry too much, and you're doing it now." I laughed again.

"I just want to make sure you're alright, that's all." He reassured, placing a kiss on my lips as I got myself changed. I took off the chain I was wearing and slid my ring back onto my finger, where it belonged, before placing the chain on the bedside table and getting into bed.

"I know. Now come on, sleep, you've got a big day tomorrow." Tomorrow was the day of the team finals.

"Alright. Goodnight, baby. I love you." He smiled, placing a kiss on my lips, to which I returned.

"Goodnight, babe. I love you, too." I whispered, as I lay my head on his chest and let the sleep wash over my body.

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