Disclaimer: I don't own MIOBI or these characters, and I'm not making any money off of this story.

A/N: Farfallama won you all a little bit of Sasha/Payson by writing me some awesome song lyrics :) (Btw, Farfallama, do you mind if I share those?)

I had a choice between making this chapter a lot short or a little long, and I chose the long option. The flip side of that is that the next chapter will be just a tad shorter than my standard 2000-ish words.


Payson was having a conversation with Austin across the stadium. Not just a few mouthed words exchanged. A whole conversation.

"How do you even understand each other?" he asked, walking up beside her. "I couldn't tell you a single word that Austin just said."

"You and I have conversations by just looking at each other. Try explaining that."

He stopped to consider and realized that she had a point. He couldn't explain the way he and Payson communicated, so he shouldn't expect her to be able to explain how she communicated with Austin. "Good point. Forget I asked. How are you feeling?"

She didn't answer immediately, so he knew the answer wasn't simple. She was trying to figure it out. "Better than I thought I'd be," she said. "Not great, but not horrible. I can definitely finish out."

"Good. Because I really want another banner for the front of the Rock."

She rolled her eyes at his joke. "You know, I think we're going to have to move some of those. The front of our building is getting a little full."

She was right. Kaylie's National Champion banner had long since been moved inside to make room for the several banners from Worlds, where Austin and each of the four girls took home individual medals, but those wins would be eclipsed by Olympic medals over the next week.

"We'll take all of the old ones inside," he suggested. "Are we getting banners for Austin?"

The real question was, is Austin coming back to train at the Rock? The reason he was thrown out was because of what happened with Payson, so now that they had worked things out, the door was open for him to come back.

"I think so," she said. "But we haven't talked about it. I'll ask him later tonight."

"It would be the perfect set up, you coaching and him training. You'd always be together."

Payson stretched out while she talked, getting ready for bars. She was last to go, but the time always flew at the end of a competition like this. "Me coaching at the Rock is the perfect set up altogether, I think. Austin's there, you're there, mom and Becca are there. On the other hand, though, I'll be surrounded by over protective people who want to take me to the hospital every time I so much as yawn."

"Very funny. Just wait until you're better and we all finally allow ourselves to have mental breakdowns. Then you'll have to take care of all of us." It was mostly a joke, but he did think that he, Kim, and Austin were holding it together out of sheer willpower.

Payson didn't even watch the other girls perform, which was a good thing, and he pretended that he wasn't watching either. Being able to watch something out of the corner of your eye was a necessary skill as a coach, and he was putting it to good use. Elisabeta edged out Jinnin, and Ivanka did a decent job with a 15.675. It would be really close between Ivanka and Genghi. Ivanka had a seven tenths lead going in, but Genghi was capable of gigantic scores on bars, on the same level as Emily, so that could bridge the gap.

As it turned out, it did. Genghi had a six tenths DOD advantage over Ivanka on the bars and better execution, so she ended up taking the bronze by less than two tenths of a point. That's how he thought of it in his head, at least, which was a bad idea. He wouldn't know that Genghi had the bronze until after Payson and Kelly competed.

He and Payson both wished Kelly luck before she took the podium, and the Denver gymnast surprised him by giving them both a hug. There had been a huge change in Kelly over the past week, and all that Payson would tell him is that Kelly was dealing with a personal issue that had changed her outlook on some things. He didn't push because he knew that Payson wouldn't (and shouldn't) betray Kelly's confidence, but that didn't stop him from being curious as hell.

Kelly was fantastic, with barely an error to be deducted for. He gauged her at around a 9.1 execution, give or take a bit, and turned out to be spot on. She scored a 9.125, taking the silver by nearly a five tenths lead. But he really needed to stop assuming that Payson would win gold. It was bad luck.

The fear never went away when Payson was on the bars. Even knowing that she was well enough to perform, he still couldn't shake the now dual images of Payson falling in Boston and her collapsing into his arms on Saturday. He was terrified out of his mind for the entire minute that she was up there, and when she landed her double double stretched with just the slightest bend in her knees he was so relieved that he had to lean back against the bar rigging just to support himself. Then they were off the podium and she was hugging him and hugging Kelly, and then hugging them both at the same time. They talked and laughed and cried, and when her scores posted (did it even matter what they were?) and the two girls saw their names at the top of the scoreboard they both screamed.

The whole stadium was in an uproar, and his ears were ringing from the girls' scream, so he sidled up to Marty and said, "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to hear again. I think they burst my eardrums."

"Yeah, but can you blame them? Remember what it was like when we were up there?"

Memories of his time in Sydney flooded to the surface. His win was bittersweet; he was proud of his accomplishments, but he was also still reeling from the forced retirement that he knew was coming thanks to his busted up knee, MJ's betrayal, his mom's death, and his dad's disapproval. When he stood on the gold medal podium, he wasn't happy. Payson would be.

He'd known her for a little more than a year, but she never stopped surprising him. He was amazed by her capability to fight her way through anything, the joy that she found in gymnastics, and the way that she never stopped loving life no matter how bad things got. Thrown into the worst possible situation—pregnant, sick, and afraid for her life—she'd still managed to achieve her dreams and be happy doing it. As cheesy as it sounded, Payson Keeler was his hero.

She cried when her gold medal was placed around her neck, and so did he. She was an extraordinary woman and he was so proud to be a part of her life. Her win meant more to him than his own ever had.

o-O-o

Interviews. Hundreds of them. Photographs. Autographs. Flowers. Congratulations. Hugs. Tears.

Women were nuts.

Austin was psyched about his win, but nothing like this. People went over the top for Payson. She spent a full five minutes after the ceremony just sobbing into his chest, but that was forgivable, because she had a lot going on at the time. She was mostly crying out of joy, but it was coupled with profound relief. She and the baby had made it through safely, and even if she couldn't compete in the event finals she still had the All Around gold. But she would be able to compete, he knew, because she was getting better. Which was the most profound relief of all.

MJ had arranged a reception in the ballroom at the Dorchester, which Payson pointed out was a huge risk since it she might not have won. MJ scoffed at the idea, and, secretly, so did Austin. Of course she was going to win. There was never any doubt.

Payson looked gorgeous dressed in drapey white lace (even though Austin could only think about taking it off of her), but her behavior was, according to MJ, "atrocious." She danced exactly four times, once each with Austin, her dad, Sasha, and Marty, and sat at a table with her friends and family the rest of the time, not bothering to mingle. MJ wanted her to work the room and schmooze the hundreds of guest that none of them knew, but she politely said that she was tired and wanted to rest. When her agent persisted, Payson less than politely told her to go fuck herself. Austin was impressed with her ability to say something like that with a smile on her face and friendly tone of voice. Her friends laughed. Her parents looked horrified. Ava slapped him on the back and said, "You picked a winner, big brother. I like her."

His favorite part of the night, though, was the end of it, when he got to take Payson back to the Village and celebrate alone.

It turned out that the best part of being in a real relationship with Payson wasn't the sex; it was the talking. They laid together for hours discovering each other's pasts, dreaming of the future, reveling in the present. They talked about the baby endlessly.

He was trailing kisses along her stomach, making Payson laugh by whispering to the baby, while she ran her fingers through his hair. She was talking about decorating a nursery. "We want a house with four bedrooms so that you'll always have a place to stay even after…" we aren't together anymore, she didn't say.

"Wait," he said, scooting up to be level with her in the bed again. "We?"

"Yeah, me and Sasha." She looked confused, like he should have known that. Maybe he should have. "We're looking for a house to buy."

Austin wasn't sure how he got to this place, but he wasn't jealous. Somewhere along the line he had figured out that Sasha and Payson were untouchable, and he was okay with that, because he knew that he would always have a part of her. "Payson, you know that I've accepted you living with Sasha, but buying a house together is a big deal. You need to tell me about things like that before you do them."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I didn't tell you?"

He shook his head. She reached up to cradle his cheek and said, "I'm so sorry. I honestly thought I told you. There's so much going on right now that I can't keep track. But you're right. No more big decisions without discussing them with you, I promise."

Even though he knew it wasn't her intention, her words made him feel like an ass. "I'm not trying to control you, Pay, I swear. I just want to be in the loop."

"I know. I told you the other day that you had responsibilities to me and the baby now, but that goes both ways. I have responsibilities to you and Alex, too, and part of that responsibility is to be open with you."

He pulled her in for a kiss and then whispered a thank you in her ear.

He could tell when a thought flickered through her head. He was beginning to read her almost as well as Sasha did. "I just remembered something that I was supposed to ask you," she said. "Talking about Sasha reminded me. Are you going to train at the Rock again when we get back?"

"Do you want me there?" He hadn't given a thought to where he would be training after the Olympics were over.

"I do, as long as you'd be happy there. I'll be there coaching, and I'd like to have you that close every day."

He was glad she felt that way, because there was a time when she wouldn't have. "Then I'll come back. I don't want to waste a single minute that I could spend with you and Alex."

"I don't want to waste a single minute, either," she said, drawing his mouth to hers and pressing her body against him.

They lost themselves making love, and afterward Payson fell asleep, or so he thought until her eyes opened and she whispered his name.

She waited until he was looking in her eyes to say, "I think… that I should tell you about that night in St. Louis. You deserve to know what happened."

Just the mention of that night gave him chills. They hadn't brought it up, at least not explicitly, since she got sick. "Payson, you don't have to tell me. You shouldn't have to re-live that."

"You deserve to know," she repeated. "I know I always said that we both made mistakes, but deep down I blamed you, and I think you blame yourself, too. But that's not how it happened."

He couldn't stop himself from asking, "What do you mean?"

She sat up and reached for a shirt, which happened to be his, and pulled it over her head. She responded to his raised eyebrows by saying, "I feel like we should not be naked for this conversation."

Payson never had qualms about being naked, so he knew whatever she needed to say was very important to her. He rummaged around until he found his boxers to put on, and then they sat facing each other on the bed.

"I was not in good place at Nationals," she started. "I think everybody knew I was having a hard time with it, but nobody knew how bad it really was, not even Sasha. I knew I was in St. Louis, but in my head I couldn't get out of Boston. Every time I looked at an apparatus I saw myself falling, and sometimes I was so scared that I couldn't even move. My muscles would just lock up and I'd have to make up an excuse for why I wasn't practicing.

"I started having panic attacks. I stole a bottle of Xanax from my parents' medicine cabinet before we left home, and I was popping them every four hours on the dot—extra at night, just to be able to sleep—but it wasn't enough. After the first night of competition I hyperventilated so badly that I blacked out for a couple of minutes."

"Christ, Payson, I had no idea." She was so strong during that competition, seeming to push aside all of her emotions, but he should have known better. She almost died at Nationals the previous year. That was not something you just got over. "You shouldn't have had to go through that alone."

She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. "I should have told someone, I know, but I just didn't know how. I couldn't even explain it to myself, much less to someone else."

She took a deep breath to regain her composure, and then continued her story. "When you asked me to go out and celebrate with you when it was over, I just wanted to get out, get the hell away from the gym and forget everything, so I said yes. You were drinking, a lot, and you kept filling up my glass and telling me to drink more, and any other night I would have said no. But I just couldn't that night.

"Eventually you talked me into doing shots, and it started out innocent enough, just licking salt off your arm, and it just, I don't know, spun out of control. And we were talking in between the shots, and I ended up telling you everything, about the panic attacks and the pills and blacking out, and you said, 'You know what your problem is, Keeler? You need to fuck someone. Hell, I need to fuck someone. It's been a year and I'm tired of waiting on one woman. First Kaylie and now… Maybe we should get out of here and solve each other's problems.'

"The next shot you did, the salt was on my breast, just right above the edge of my bra, and I guess you were really serious about needing to have sex, because you went a little farther than just licking off the salt. So when you tried to take the lime out of my mouth, I dropped it and kissed you instead.

"After that, we ended up back in your hotel room, and I you already know how that turned out." She started crying and wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I'm so sorry, Austin," she sobbed. "I was hurt and scared and I took it all out on you, but I shouldn't have. I'm sorry that I let you feel guilty all this time. It wasn't your fault."

It took him a long time to process her words, but when he worked it all out one thing was clear: "It was, Payson. I took advantage of you. You were too messed up to make good decisions and I used that."

"You didn't know," she said, cupping her hand against his cheek. "Just like I didn't know that I was the woman you were talking about. How could I expect you to stop after I kissed you like that, when you'd waited so long for me?"

She moved forward curled into his chest. "I wish I had known how you felt so we could have done this the right way."

"You would have wanted this? I didn't think that you were ever interested."

"I wasn't, because it never occurred to me to be interested. I was so focused on gymnastics that I didn't think about the possibility of anything more between us. You were just my friend. But if I'd ever stopped to consider it, yeah, I think I would have wanted this." She paused, like she was done speaking, but then she asked, "Why didn't you ever tell me?"

Why didn't he tell her? In retrospect, he should have. "I know this sounds stupid, but I guess I thought you knew and were trying to let me down gently. I flirted with you like crazy, kept trying to win you over, but I could never get your attention away from Sasha. I thought that you wanted to be with him instead of me. Now I wish I'd taken the risk and asked you out."

"You know what, though? As much as I would have liked to have done things the normal way between us, I don't think I'd change it if I could. If anything was different, we wouldn't have Alex."

He was floored by the sentiment. "Do you really mean that?"

"I do. I thought I'd never be able to move past that night, Austin, but I was wrong. It was a horrible experience, and I'll never be able to look back and be thankful for it, but I can be thankful for the things that came from it. You gave me the biggest blessing of my life that night." She took his hand and spread it flat across her belly. "We did this, Austin. We made a baby. No matter how bad the circumstances around it are, that will never stop being amazing."

"You'll never stop being amazing, either," he said. He moved down to kiss her still-flat stomach again, and knew that Payson was right. It didn't matter how Alex was conceived or that they were too young and not ready to be parents. Despite everything, this was the best thing that had ever happened to him.


A/N: We're having horrible storms roun' 'bout here tonight, and I'm posting thins in a break between two of them. So be appreciative ;P

So I forgot to mention this before, but this is one of the few places in this story where I just blatantly wrote something that was inaccurate. The top ranking AA finalists start on vault and end on floor, but I wanted her on floor first so I ignored the normal starting order.

What do you think about what happened in St. Louis? Hopefully this gives you a little insight into why they slept together in the first place, because they were both feeling pretty needy that night. Also, is it weird that I just assumed that the Keelers would have a bottle of Xanax lying around? I'm not sure if that's a product of me living in the south or not. (If you don't get the connection between the south and Xanax, google Pistol Annies "Takin' Pills")