The drops of rain pelted at the windows. Was rain a good omen or a bad one? Emily sat up in bed with a sigh. Today was the big day, today her mother was getting married to Steve Tanner. Today Lauren Tanner, the bitch of the beam, would become her step-sister. She'd finally have a bedroom of her own. Be careful what you wish for, Kmetko, you just might get it. It was too true. All her life, the only thing she'd ever really wanted for her family was some stability, to not worry about paying the electric bill or where they would find money for groceries and now her prayers had been answered. Their days of financial issues were long over and yet, Emily would gladly work at the Pizza Shack if it meant not sharing a home with Lauren Tanner. There were some positives about today, despite where'd she be sleeping. Damon would be at the wedding. She hadn't seen him in months. He'd been on tour all over the country, headlining for the first time, but he'd flown in after a show in Seattle last night and would be in Boulder for the wedding.
She was helping Brian pack up the last of his things, as well as the tuxedo that he'd be wearing to the wedding, when there was a knock at the door.
"That's probably Mr. Tanner," Brian said, looking oddly excited about Steve Tanner's arrival to pick him up. The men would all be getting ready at the Tanner house the next morning, while the women would congregate at the Keeler residence for hair, makeup and nerves.
She smiled she hoped in an encouraging way at Brian before opening the door. It wasn't Steve Tanner.
"Emily Kmetko," he said and her breath caught in her throat. "Hey."
"Damon," she whispered, before launching herself into his arms. He caught her and held her close.
"I missed you," he said, his warm breath tickling her ear. Her arms tightened around him.
"I missed you too." He leaned back at her words, just enough to look at her closely. His hand caressed her cheek lightly, tucking her bangs behind her ear before their lips met for the first time in months.
"What are you doing?" her mother's voice echoed in her ears, breaking her out of her memory, as she came around the corner in an ancient pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. "Get up, the car is going to be here any minute to take us to the Keelers."
Emily sighed and shrugged, "It's not like I have to get ready. We're getting ready there. I just have to grab my dress and shoes and I'll be ready to go."
Chloe nodded and took another deep breath. "I know this isn't something you're looking forward to Emily, but I love Steve and he loves me and I just want today to be perfect."
Emily felt the guilt stab at her stomach, so she stood and looked her mother in the eye, "It is going to be perfect. And I'm happy you've found someone who makes you happy."
Chloe saw right through her, "You're a bad liar, Emily, but thank you," she said and hugged her before quickly pulling away as a car honked loudly from outside. "That's it, let's go."
Emily grabbed her last suitcase, the garment bag laid over the couch that held her bridesmaid dress and the small bag of toiletries she'd been living out of after their things were sent to the Tanners' house, her new home. They wouldn't be returning to this apartment again. Chloe was already out the door, but Emily took one last look around. This place held a lot of memories, some good, some bad, but mostly she realized it was the ending of one chapter of her life and the beginning of another. A week ago she'd won bronze in the all-around at Nationals, virtually cementing her place on the Olympic team. In just a few more months she'd been in Los Angeles, living at UCLA, either reveling in a victorious post-Olympic glow or simply trying to move on from a disappointment. The Olympic trials were only two weeks away and from there, hopefully London. All of it, everything, the pain, sacrifice it was all finally coming to a head.
"Emily, let's go," Chloe called again.
"Coming," she called and strode out of the apartment not looking back. She shut the door behind her and as if symbolic of the life that awaited them, the driver of the long, shiny, white limousine stood, holding the door open, his hand extended to let them in. Emily shook her head, this was going to be interesting.
They arrived at the Keeler house and the place was already buzzing with activity. Her mother's friends from the salon were stationed throughout the house helping everyone get ready. The only people they knew in Boulder were from the gym and when the older generation, namely Kim and Ronnie balked at the idea of being bridesmaids, Chloe enlisted Payson and Kaylie to join Emily and Lauren in the bridal party.
Despite their shared dreams and aspirations, they were four very different girls. Shopping for bridesmaids dresses had been more like a cold war than anything else.
"I promised my dad I'd stay here for an hour and then I'm out of here," Lauren said, right to Chloe's face.
Emily watched as her mother plastered on a resilient smile, "Thanks for coming, Lauren. I think we're going to find a great dress for you girls today. I've got a fitting today, so take a look around and pick something you all like."
Emily looked to Kaylie and Payson, both of whom only looked slightly more enthused than Lauren did and she couldn't say she disagreed. She'd dreaded this for weeks now, ever since the girls agreed to be a part of the wedding party.
They began digging through wracks of dresses, each of them pulling a few they liked. "What about this one?" Kaylie said, holding up a pink mini dress.
Payson raised a blonde eyebrow, "Cute, Kaylie, but I'm pretty sure I'd look like a sausage in it."
Lauren shrugged, "I like it," she said and Kaylie smiled in response.
Emily rolled her eyes and Payson smiled wearily back. "I'm pretty sure you'd look like a sausage too, Lauren," Payson said and Emily snorted in response. "It's Emily's mother's wedding, why doesn't she just pick the dress?"
"Absolutely not, I will not wear anything that woman chooses," Lauren said.
Emily rolled her eyes, "As much as I hate to agree with her, my mom's taste isn't exactly, it's just better if we pick it out," she said and Kaylie nodded emphatically.
"Does your mom care what color?" Kaylie asked, diving back into the racks.
"She decided on a couple of different shades of green and a cream color with the wedding coordinator –"
"That my dad hired," Lauren cut in.
Emily rolled her eyes, "So I guess those shades would probably be best," she finished.
"Most of these dresses can be ordered in any color," Kaylie said, pulling out a book from a shelf. "They have a bunch of them listed here. So really, we only have to choose a style and then your mom and her wedding coordinator can pick whatever color goes best."
Emily nodded, "That sounds like a great idea." Kaylie smiled and Payson nodded.
"What about this one?" Kaylie asked, emerging with yet another mini dress and Payson sighed. "Just try it on, Pay. I bet it will look great on you."
Payson huffed and grabbed the dress from Kaylie's hands before moving to the changing room to try it on.
"You sure you want her to wear that? I mean Austin's coming to the wedding, isn't he?" Lauren hissed to Kaylie, but Emily heard her loud and clear.
Kaylie rolled her eyes, "Austin Tucker can do whatever and whoever he wants," she said sharply and Emily looked up in shock.
"I thought you guys worked things out?" Emily asked. The last time she'd talked to Austin, he hadn't mentioned anything about a fight.
"We didn't," Kaylie said and shook her head, "I really don't want to talk about it."
Lauren shrugged, "Is he still hung up on Payson."
"He was never hung up on Payson," Kaylie and Emily said together and looked at each other in shock.
Lauren looked at the both of them, "I still think there was something going on between those two. What did you guys fight about?" she asked Kaylie, who shrugged, obviously not willing to give an answer. "
"Think what you like," Payson said, from just behind them, hands on her hips. "I don't care, but I am not wearing this dress inside of a church."
Lauren's eyes went wide and Emily turned to see her friend, the curviest of all of them looking like something out of a magazine. "Holy crap, Pay," Kaylie said, giving voice to their collective thoughts.
Payson waved off their reaction. "How about this, we all choose a dress we like and that doesn't make us look like a porn star and get it in the color Emily's mom chooses. We'll all match and we'll all be comfortable."
That's what they had done, each girl finding a dress that fit her individual style and ordering it in the light, mossy green color Chloe chose. Emily smiled as she entered Payson's old bedroom which was serving as the girls' dressing room.
Payson was sitting in a chair, the final touches of her blonde updo being sprayed into submission. "Hey Em," she said, their eyes meeting in the mirror. "Kaylie and Lauren are in the kitchen getting their makeup done." She stood and moved out of the chair making room for Emily to sit and get her hair done.
"Excuse me for a second, girls. I'm out of hairspray, there's some more in the kitchen," the stylist said, leaving the room.
"Damon's here," Emily said, as soon as she was out the door.
A smile lit up Payson's face, though it wasn't one of shock or surprise, simply joy. "That's great, Em."
Emily's jaw dropped, "You knew!" she said. She would have grabbed a pillow and thrown it at her friend, but her hair wouldn't have survived the onslaught. It was pulled up into an intricate updo, blonde curls strategically framing her face.
She shrugged, "He needed to know what to wear and when to go get Brian. I would have told you, but he wanted it to be a surprise."
Emily smiled and sighed, "It was a great surprise. We never get to see each other and then he was just right there. I didn't realize how much I missed him. "
Payson smiled, "You deserve it, Em. I can't imagine how hard it is to be away from each other all the time. When he called, he sounded desperate to see you. It must have been some reunion."
"It was." Emily felt her face flush, thinking about how they'd gotten caught up in each other, completely forgetting that Brian was just a few feet away.
Payson stood from her chair and moved towards her bedroom door, checking to make sure no one was within hearing rang. She turned back towards Emily, her face growing serious. "So, I talked to Austin," she said and Emily's eyebrows shot up. Payson wasn't exactly a gossip so this must be big. "And he finally told me what happened with Kaylie."
Austin Tucker pulled at the lapels of his tuxedo jacket sharply. The invitation said white tie and that meant a penguin suit, complete with tails, a white waistcoat and a white bowtie.
"You'll do," Sasha said from across the room, his outfit an exact replica. "Trust Steve Tanner to insist on white tie dress at his wedding, never thought that was Chloe Kmetko's style."
Austin shrugged. "Emily said something about them trying to blend their tastes."
Sasha raised his eyebrows, "This wedding might be more interesting than I thought."
"Yeah," Austin agreed, cringing at the idea of running into Kaylie.
There would be no way to avoid her. He'd managed it at the gym since their conversation in the trainer's room before Nationals. He couldn't help but think that maybe that last fight had something to do with her systematic melt down at Nationals. She'd finished seventh in the all-around and hadn't medaled on a single event. Embarrassing for a former National champion and it was possible she'd blown her chances at making the Olympic team, even after the disaster Justine Turner had put in at the Pacific Rim championships. Turner had won the silver in the junior all-around and looked impressive.
The women's team was still very much up in the air, but the men's squad looked all but set. For the third straight year, he and Russo had gone one and two, with Carter finishing a surprising third. The remaining three men had solid strengths on two or three events. It would be a strong team and they would definitely contend for a medal. As far as he was concerned, Austin felt even more prepared for these games than he had for Beijing. His degree of difficulty was where he needed it to be and he was ready to dominate the field, just like Payson was. It was going to be a fun two weeks in London if they performed up to expectations.
"Austin?" Sasha asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "You in there?"
"Yeah, sorry, just thinking about…nothing forget it." Sasha shrugged and turned toward the mirror to tie his bowtie. "Can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure," Sasha said, not taking his eyes off his reflection.
"I think maybe I psyched Kaylie out before Nationals. I think it's my fault, how badly she did."
Sasha stopped tying his bowtie and turned to face him. "Austin, Kaylie did badly at Nationals because she allowed outside influences to affect her, again, just like she has her entire career, for good or bad. Whatever is going on between you two, she shouldn't have taken it onto the floor."
Austin nodded and he suddenly had the urge to spill his guts entirely. "I told her that I couldn't be with her."
They stood in the trainer's room in silence, Kaylie still hovering at the door after Payson left them alone.
"So does it? Do I get credit for taking the first step this time?" she asked, moving into the room and shutting the door behind her.
Austin shrugged, "I don't know, Kaylie. What happened? You ran out on me and I haven't heard a damn thing from you since."
She bit her lip and looked down at her feet. "I know and I'm sorry about that. I just, everything happened so fast."
"Fast? Kaylie, we've been going back and forth with this thing between us for two years. I guess I just don't understand."
She shrugged, "I guess you don't. I don't know, Austin." It looked like she might have more to say, but then she just trailed off, not finding the words.
He sighed heavily in frustration, running a hand through his hair. "You don't know what? You don't know if you want to be with me? After all this time, everything we've been through?"
Again, she looked like she wanted to respond, but she didn't speak. Her mouth opened and then closed again, her eyes avoiding his.
"Fine then, have it your way. I've had enough," he said, moving past her toward the door.
"Austin," she said, and he stopped dead in his tracks, hoping she would give him something, anything to hold onto, but she grew silent again and he sighed, before leaving the room, her still standing there silently.
Sasha's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "Wow, that's…"
Austin nodded, "I know. I don't even know what made me do it, but it's the right decision. It was just a constant struggle with her. It was always one step forward two steps back and I don't want to live like that."
"Okay," Sasha said.
Austin knew that his coach didn't have much context for the conversation. He knew the last thing Sasha was interested in was the personal lives of his gymnasts. He'd already talked about it with Payson, after she'd badgered him for details for weeks, but while she was his best friend, she was also a girl and Kaylie's friend. Her perspective was very different from his own.
"Can I run something by you?" he asked, and Sasha shrugged in response, still battling with his bowtie.
Sasha turned and faced him frowning, "It's not that I don't want to help, Tucker, but…"
Austin shook his head, "Just generally, it's more a philosophical question than anything else."
Sasha snorted, "Fine, go on," he said, turning back towards the mirror.
"Do you think that sometimes people aren't meant to be together, no matter how right for each other they might seem?"
Sasha stared at him back through the mirror, "Seriously? Have you been reading those stupid magazines that match people up by their astrological signs? You either want to be with someone or you don't."
"But," he began, but Sasha cut him off.
"No buts. You feel what you feel. If anyone knows that, it's me. Obstacles, bumps in the road, the Great Wall of China, if you want someone, you go for it, simple."
Austin sighed, "You make it sound so easy."
"It is easy, at least it's easy to make the decision, but keep this is mind, just because people seem like they're right for each other, doesn't mean that they are."
Austin ran a hand through his close cropped hair in frustration. "It's like she's two different people, you know? Sometimes she's this confident, strong woman and other times she just retreats into a scared little girl."
Sasha snorted, "That's all women." He sighed at the mess that had become his tie and began again.
Austin stood up from his seat on the couch arm rest and folded his arms across his chest. "Hang on, no it's not. Payson's not like that," he argued. He'd never seen Payson flounder like Kaylie did. She was always so strong, despite everything, even when she was scared of something she conquered that fear.
Sasha rolled his eyes, "Of course she is. She doesn't show that scared little girl to just anyone, not even her best friend."Sasha acknowledged him with a small nod. Austin frowned, but Sasha continued, "She shows it to me."
Austin snorted in disbelief. "Payson isn't weak, Sasha. She's not…"
Sasha pulled firmly on his bowtie, now straight and resting firmly at his throat, "That's not what I'm saying. Everyone has their moments, Tucker. Everyone and the person you choose to be with, that's the person you lean on in those moments." He turned to him. "I don't know what happened between you and Kaylie, frankly I don't want to know, but it seems like neither of you is willing to lean on the other. If that's the case then you shouldn't be together. But then what the hell do I know about it?"
Austin left the question unanswered as they both looked at their reflections one last time. They had to be at the church in fifteen minutes. "I think we'll pass inspection," Austin said as they left Payson's house and climbed into Sasha's truck.
Austin sat in the passenger seat watching the small city of Boulder flash by him. They pulled up to the church, watching much of Boulder's elite walking through the parking lot in their finest. Emotions would be running high today, combined with an open bar, it could prove to be an interesting day to say the least.
"Let's go, Tucker," Sasha called, having already gotten out of the truck. It was raining when they woke up that morning, but the skies had cleared into a startling blue, the sun warmed his face through the car window. A good omen, maybe?
Austin stepped out, straightened the lapels of his jacket as they joined the procession towards the social event of the year, the Kmetko-Tanner wedding.
