Last chapter. Hope you enjoy it. See you another time in the MIOBI universe, or any other fandom.

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Her therapist had advised ger to practice multitasking anyway

Part 5

V

"Welcome to Amsterdam!"

"Danke" Lauren smiled at the air hostess as she left the plane.

Stepping on European soil, she looked around at the men's and women's teams that were spreading out as they waited for everyone to come out of the plane.

"You ready for this Parker?" She asked Kelly with a smirk as she stopped beside her.

"Oh, Tanner, I was born ready! You better get ready for second place" The smirk in the devil horns wearing girl was predatory. "What about you Conway?"

Andrea snorted. "You better get ready for second place Parker. The bars are mine."

They looked at each other, smiles adorning their faces.

"Bring it."

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"Well, step one is done." Andrea stretched as they left the bus and entered their hotel. "Now for the agonizing process of waiting for the qualifier rounds to end."

Qualification went as well as it could have gone for Lauren. She came first in the all-around from the US girls, in front of Kelly and Ellen, who had been chosen to be third all-around competitor. She also came first on beam and, surprisingly, second on floor after Ellen stepped too many times out of bounds.

Kelly had made it first on bars and second on vault, while Andrea had come second on both bars and beam.

Kaylie had managed to keep herself focused. Lauren didn't know if her pep talk had helped or not, but her former teammate had come first on floor, showing that age brought experience and maturity.

Then Clara had followed up with a flashily high value on her vaults, making her number one on that apparatus.

Payson, unfortunately, had not made it to the top two of the US qualifiers lists on any event, and neither had Ellen Hernandez, though both girls had made good contributions on their best events, and would likely contribute again in the finals.

"Waiting is always the most annoying part at worlds." Kelly groaned. "You'll see Tanner, you'll be biting your nails to see if you make it to your floor final. Trying to figure out if any of the Chinese, the Russians or a lucky Brit or Brasilian make it pass your score…"

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"Let's just go train or cheer on the boys or something. I just don't want to think about it."

The girls agreed, and that was that.

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"Go Austin!"

The screams went wild wen the young man stuck the land of the p-bars, and Lauren high-fived Kelly and Andrea in celebration.

"How many events do you think he will qualify for?" Andrea asked.

Kelly shrugged. "I say all of them"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "That's virtually impossible. I'd say four. P-bars, rings, high bar and floor."

"Come on Tanner. Where is your confidence in your man?"

Kelly and Andrea sniggered, but Lauren didn't let the comments bother her. It was kinda true "I love him, but I'm a realist"

"Ohhh… Love him is it?"

"Lauren and Austin sitting in the tree…"

Lauren rolled her eyes again as her friends made kissing noises, but didn't bother to comment.

That one was also kind true.

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Lauren did manage to qualify to all the events she had been able to considering the rest of her teammates scores. And Austin did qualify for the four events she had predicted.

If she ever got bored with gymnastics, she might make it as a fortune teller.

Anyway. Now the real game would begin.

"You ready Tanner?"

Lauren smiled at Andrea. "I was born ready. Let's do it Captain!"

Andrea winked. It had been a surprise for her to be named captain, but not for Lauren. Being a captain didn't mean you were the best, it meant that you were the most reliable and experienced, and no one had more experience in international meets than Andrea.

"Alright team! Let's bring in the gold. USA on three!"

"USA!"

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"This might sound strange, but I can kind of hear Al Trautwig's voice in my head right now. Like, my subconscious is commenting on what is happening, and it has his voice..?"

Kelly laughed. "You know what, if you repeat this, I will deny it, but the same thing happened to me on my first Worlds."

They laughed nervously together, as they looked over at the leader board over their heads.

Two days before, the US Woman's team had won gold. By 0,011 points, but it was a win.

And now Lauren and Kelly were 1 and 2 on the all-around, waiting for Gengui Cho's last score to find out the final standings.

"I swear, waiting for this last score is worse than actually being up there and doing our routines"

"You can say that again Tanner"

An amused huff came from behind them. "How do you think it feels to have to watch the whole thing?"

Both girls rolled their eyes at their coach with a mumbled "that's your job", before focusing back on the scoreboard.

"Come on…."

A beep was heard followed by screams and a shiny 15.01.

"YES!"

It was good, great even, but Cho had had a bunch of deductions on beam, so it was not enough and it put her firmly in third.

It was time to celebrate.

All Trautwig would agree.

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"Hey"

Lauren turned around smiling at Austin and accepting the drink and jacket he was offering.

"You're hard to find for a three-time gold medal winner." He teased.

"And a one-time bronze medal winner" She replied with an air of self-importance. "All those peasants do not deserve my greatness, so I have retired to this balcony to rid myself of the smell of pandering in the room.

He laughed and joined her on the balcony. "Well, I believe that as a three-time gold and two-time bronze medallist, I, at least should be able to share your majesties greatness. With a jacket though. November in the Netherlands is cold."

They laughed together, enjoying the night air the balcony could offer them (while properly clothed), as inside the US men's and women's teams celebrated all the accomplishments of the championships.

Coming back to herself, Lauren sighed. She had made it. Though it was not the end of the line yet, she was halfway there. And everything was already miles from where it had started.

It was perfect. But there was something missing.

Beside her, Austin turned and put his glass on the balcony, leaning into it.

"You know what. I thought I could do it. But I overestimated myself. It's not working anymore."

Lauren was stricken. "It isn't?" she asked in a small voice.

Austin cursed and rubbed his face with his hand. "Sorry, I'm bad with words… just…" He shook his head. "Just… screw it.."

And then all Lauren knew was that, somehow, he was kissing her.

And then she was kissing him back.

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"So, what I meant was that I overestimated myself, and I'm like, 99,99% sure that I'm not gonna last as just friends until after the Olympics."

His voice was sheepish, as they cuddled together out of sight of the balcony windows.

"I think I understood your meaning" She teased. "Eventually."

He smiled gently, brushing her hair away from her face. "So, Lauren Tanner, when we get back, I'll be asking you on a date. Like I'm just a normal 21-year-old that isn't training 6 hours a day 6 days a week."

Her smile was so blinding, he couldn't stop looking at it.

"And I will accept, like I'm justa normal 18-year-old that isn't training 6 hours a day, 6 days a week." She reached up on her toes and kissed him on the jaw. "I hope your thankful, I'll be spending my one day off on you"

He laughed. "I'll be ecstatic. Believe me."

Lauren sighed in contentment. Now there was nothing missing.

It was not really according to plan, but plans were made to be altered anyway. She was awesome, so she was sure she would be able to focus on training, and still have a relationship at the same time.

Her therapist had advised her to practice multitasking anyway.

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The END

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Thank you for the support. I hope you enjoyed the last few chapters!

I wish good health and a good year for everyone.