Thank you all so much for the response I've gotten so far! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

He played his game until he fell asleep. The next day, he was up and ready for school earlier than usual, as he had woken up and couldn't get back to sleep with how much his mind had been racing. Even in the early hours of the morning, he was already thinking about the situation he was in.

Thankfully, that day he didn't have swim practice, so he could get on with his day and he didn't have to see or speak to Coach Brown. Most likely, Coach would have expected him to already have taken the first dose, so there would definitely be questions as to whether he had started, and why he hadn't.

Even though he knew he wouldn't have to face his Coach, he was still distracted all day and found it hard to concentrate in his classes. Knowing what was sitting at home, hiding in his room, and the expectations that came with it.

Maybe he could talk to his Coach and tell him it was just not for him. Maybe he would be understanding and wouldn't force Gordon to do something that he really didn't want to do. Maybe this could all go away.

However, his hopes were soon gone as the following day came and so did his next swim practice.

He could feel Coach Brown's eyes on him the whole practice, but he was smart enough to not bring up his little present to Gordon in front of the other swimmers. Gordon was hoping that he wouldn't bring it up at all, but he knew that would be a long shot.

When practice was over, Gordon tried to sneak off before his Coach noticed him, but with how closely the man had been watching Gordon for the past hour, he shouldn't have even tried.

"Tracy."

Gordon stopped on the spot, halfway to the locker room. Some of his team sent him and then the Coach a glance, but often the man wanted to talk to them after practice, so it wasn't unusual.

Gordon heard his Coach walk up behind him and Gordon slowly turned around, preparing himself for what he knew would come. The man didn't speak until the last of the swimmers had left the room and the two of them were alone.

"So?" He finally said as he stared down at Gordon. He crossed his arms. "Have you done as I asked?"

"Well..." Gordon trailed off as he tried to find an excuse, but nothing came to mind. "Not exactly."

His Coach sighed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. When he glanced back at Gordon, he couldn't help but shrink down as he saw the look in the man's eyes.

"I knew you didn't look any different in practice." He shook his head in disappointment as he crossed his arms again, and Gordon felt guilt start to bubble in his belly. He looked down at his feet on the tiled floor. "Why not? You know that I'm counting on you. We're all counting on you."

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just-" Gordon still couldn't think of any excuse other than he didn't want to do it, but he knew Coach Brown wouldn't think that a good enough reason. "Isn't it, you know, illegal?"

He glanced back up just in time to see his Coach send a quick look around the empty room before he looked back down at Gordon again, which should have been answer enough.

"Only if you get caught," he said in a low tone that sent shivers through Gordon. "And you'll only get caught if you tell someone. You're not going to tell anyone, will you?"

Gordon knew that his Coach could be firm. It was an attitude that was needed to push them to their limits, get them to where they needed to be. However, he had never been scared of the man before. Not until now.

Now, with the tall man standing over him, staring at him as he waited for an answer, all Gordon could do was shake his head in response.

Coach Brown's features softened just slightly, but he still looked serious.

"Good, because if you do, you will not only get me in trouble. You will also be putting yourself on the line."

"W-what?" Gordon swallowed as he felt his heart start to race with panic. He hadn't even taken anything yet.

"You're in possession of them, that's incriminating enough." If Gordon wasn't too busy panicking, he might have noticed the small smirk that briefly flashed across his Coach's face. "There's no backing out now, so I suggest you do as I ask and make the most of the situation you're now in. I expect to see different results by next practice."

With that, the man turned and left, leaving no room for argument. Gordon watched him go, feeling helpless and lost. He didn't know what to do, there was so much weight on his shoulders that he didn't want. He wished that it was someone else in this position, maybe they would be braver than he was being.

Gordon trudged his way back to the locker room. This time he was even later out to Virgil, who was picking him up again. Thankfully, his brother didn't question him this time on his reason for being late, which meant that he didn't have to come up with another excuse. He was sure Virgil would start to see through them soon.

It was a Friday, which meant that now the school day was over, the weekend had come and he could try and relax for a few days.

However, it was hard to relax with his pressing issue looming over his head. Every time he was in his room, he was aware of what was sitting under his bed. Although he couldn't see it, that did nothing to hide it from his mind.

So, he decided the best way to ignore it was to leave the house completely. Maybe the distance could make him forget.

When Gordon was feeling this stressed about something, the best way for him to unwind was to go swimming, which seemed a little ironic as that was part of his problem to begin with. Although, it could also be the solution.

If Gordon could prove to his Coach that he could get better, faster, without the help of drugs, then maybe he could get out of this situation all together. He just had to work hard.

That was how Gordon ended up at the local pool that Saturday morning. He'd managed to get a lift off Scott who was already heading into town to see friends. His brother wondered why he wanted to go swimming so badly when he had been to practice just the day before, but his family already knew how hard it was to keep him away from the water, so it didn't come as a shock to anyone. Scott easily accepted his excuse of just wanting to go swimming because he had nothing else to do that day.

He waved Scott goodbye as his brother drove away, and then Gordon was left to his own devices.

As he was getting changed, he started to put himself into the mindset he always went into before a competition. Although he was on his own and there was no one to actually compete with, competitions always made him push himself to his hardest. And at his hardest was the only way he would get to where his Coach wanted him to be.

When Gordon was at the local pool, it always felt different to not have someone standing on the sidelines watching his every move. There was no one to tell him what he was doing wrong or to go faster or push himself harder. When he was here, on his own, it was up to him and him alone to keep himself moving.

Usually, Gordon used the time at the pool away from practice and coaching sessions as a time to relax and swim for fun. However, that would not be the case today. Today was no time for relaxing.

For the next several hours, Gordon claimed one lane at the pool all to himself. He swam back and forth, taking the time to practice and improve all his strokes. Although he favoured the butterfly, he couldn't be the swimmer his Coach wanted him to be if he wasn't versatile, so he needed to be perfect on all fronts.

He hadn't even realised how long had passed until the pool started to clear as it was needed for a swimming lesson. Gordon took that as a good place to stop for the day, and headed to the showers for a quick wash before he got changed and headed home.

He sat on a bench to tie his shoelaces, but when he stood up, a wave of dizziness washed over him and he had to grip onto the closest wall to stop himself from falling. The dizzy feeling faded quickly and Gordon wondered where the feeling had come from.

It then hit him that he hadn't eaten anything since breakfast.

Gordon had completely forgotten about lunch, too preoccupied with swimming to consider a break for food. Not that he thought he would have had something to eat if he'd remembered. Eating meant taking time out of training, which meant taking even more time out to ensure he didn't get cramp. It was time he couldn't spare.

Gordon hadn't thought to bring any food with him, but he did have some water and a bit of cash. He sipped on the water as he bought something from the vending machine; a chocolate bar, that although wouldn't give him much energy, it was at least better than nothing.

He got the bus home as he knew Scott would still be out with his friends for a bit longer. As he sat in the seat and stared out the window, how hard he'd worked all day started to catch up to him. He started to feel tired and his body was beginning to feel achy. He had to try his hardest to stay awake and not fall asleep before he missed his stop and ended up in some unknown location.

When the bus was at the closest stop to his house, Gordon trudged the rest of the way home. His feet dragged along the ground and, honestly, all Gordon felt was disappointed in himself. He needed to be as good as his Coach expected him to be, which didn't involve getting so exhausted after just one day of practice. He was sure Olympic gold medalists didn't almost collapse after just the first day.

However, that's just what Gordon did. As soon as he was home and in his room, he barely had time to kick off his shoes before he fell onto his bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

He woke up when dinner was ready, which wasn't all that much later as he had gotten back quite late in the day. His short nap had done nothing to fight the tiredness off, and he could barely eat his food as most of his energy was spent just trying to keep his eyes open.

If anyone noticed how he barely touched his food, they didn't say anything.

Shortly after dinner, everyone dispersed to spend the rest of the evening doing their own thing. Scott was still out, their dad went back to his office, Alan and their Grandma went to watch something on the television together, and Virgil and John went off to do who knew what in their rooms. That meant that Gordon was left on his own to do what he wanted, and what he wanted was to rest. He knew he needed it for what was to come.