Sasha slowly came back to consciousness, the light from the sun shining through the curtained window just above the bed in his trailer. Something soft was tickling his nose and he sniffed. The scent of coconut invaded his senses, Payson, he thought as he shifted closer to the intoxicating smell, the same one that had aroused his interest months before, the morning after she'd awkwardly kissed him. Her body was curved into his, her head tucked just under his chin, and her freezing cold feet against his calves.
"Your feet are bloody freezing," he murmured into her ear, seeing if she was awake.
She chuckled into the pillow, snuggling closer to him, but pulling her feet away. "Better?" she asked.
He dropped a small kiss on the back of her neck and then nuzzled against her shoulder, "Mmm, much."
"What time is it?" she asked a moment later.
"Umm," he hesitated, lifting his head to see the clock, "Quarter to six," he said, not really comprehending what he was saying.
Payson did and sat up immediately, wrapping the sheet around her breasts, "You have level twos in fifteen minutes," she said, dropping the sheet, modesty forgotten and practically leaping over him to search for her clothes.
"Shit," he grumbled, rolling out of bed. He saw himself in the mirror; his hair was sticking straight up. "And I told Kaylie to stop by at six," he said, trying in vain to flatten it with his fingers.
Payson stared at him wide eyed, "Are you serious?" she asked, pulling her tank top over her head. "The level two parents aren't going to recognize my car, but Kaylie will. Look at me Sasha; do I look like someone who slept alone?"
Sasha studied her carefully and smirked. She didn't. Her hair was in disarray, mostly due to his handiwork, her lips were still swollen and if he wasn't mistaken he'd left quite a mark on the top of her breast. Her leotard would cover it, but the tank top she was currently wearing did nothing to hide it.
"What?" she asked, noticing the cocky expression that crossed his face. She looked down, catching the direction of his gaze and she rolled her eyes, "Don't look so smug," she said, running her fingers over the mark. "I wouldn't take your shirt off in front of anyone, unless you want them to think you were attacked by a mountain lion."
He chuckled, pulling on his jeans and a shirt, covering the pink scratches down his back her nails had made last night.
"Crap, Alex Cruz just pulled into the parking lot with Kaylie in tow," Payson said, looking out the window. "Go, I'll meet you inside in a second; just keep her away from the front entrance."
He stepped past her, stealing a kiss on his way by, and then stopping for a moment to deepen it, biting down gently on her lower lip. They smiled against the other's mouth, "Go," she said, pushing him away lightly.
"See you inside," he said and left the trailer, being sure to shut the door firmly behind him. "Alex, Kaylie," he called out to them, jogging across the parking lot to catch up.
"Morning Sasha," Alex said, extending his hand. He and Alex Cruz had come a long way in the respect department after Kaylie's diagnosis and recovery. With Alex still president of the parents' board and Kim Keeler managing the gym, the Rock was chugging along as smoothly as ever.
Kaylie glanced up at him, "Morning," she said shortly, not looking up to meet his eye. She was dressed for training.
"Good morning, Kaylie," he said, "Follow me." He led them into the gym, the front door having been unlocked by Tara who took the early shift on the weekend. Alex moving towards the observation room, his cell phone out and a stack of paperwork under his arm as Sasha escorted Kaylie towards where Tara was warming up the level twos on the floor. Sasha recognized someone in Kaylie. It wasn't himself. No, it was Marty Walsh. They both were blessed with incredible natural talent. Just like Marty, distractions, sometimes got the best of her, but unlike Marty, she had him for a coach and he was not going to let her throw her career down the figurative toilet. Kaylie was a performer that could light up a crowd and put a smile on even the most hardened judge's face. With the improved dedication she had shown after winning Nationals, but before her disorder took hold, Kaylie had been well on her way to challenging Genghi Cho at the World Championships.
"I haven't stretched yet or anything," she mildly protested.
"You won't need to, I didn't bring you in to train this morning," he said, stopping a few yards away from the floor.
Kaylie looked at him, annoyance with him written clear across her face. "Sasha, this is ridiculous. I'm going home."
Sasha stepped in front of her, "Hear me out," he said, "You owe me that much." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms expectantly. "Look at those little girls out there, level twos, none of them older than 8 years old. Exactly where you were at that age," he said. "Each of these girls, they want to be Kaylie Cruz when they grow up."
Kaylie rolled her eyes, and nodded towards the mats at the other side of the floor where Payson had begun to stretch. "They want to be Payson Keeler, not Kaylie Cruz."
Sasha smiled, "No, they don't," he said. "Payson is a champion and the best gymnast in the world right now. Her story is inspirational," Kaylie snorted, obviously not understanding where he was going, "but, she scares the living daylights out of them with her focus and intensity. These girls, they see you training at the gym you grew up in, working your way from where they are right now to National Champion, you're accessible to them. You're right there with Payson, but I'm not comparing you to her. You placed fourth in London after being out for months, only five weeks of training under your belt. I know you're thinking about quitting." Her mouth flew open in protest, but he raised his hand to cut her off, "I think that's a mistake, because I think deep down, there's still a part of you that loves gymnastics, like these little girls do." Kaylie's eyes focused on the little girls doing round-offs for warm up and she grimaced. "And if you don't do it for them though, do it for yourself, because if you quit now, you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Take it from someone whose career was cut short, but who got a chance to compete in the Olympic Games. It's something no one can ever take away from you. When my knee is killing me from doing something simple like jogging across the parking lot in the morning towards one of my gymnasts when it's cold outside, because she's got it in her head that she wants to quit, I'm still an Olympian."
Kaylie sighed, "Sasha, I…"
He shook his head, "Don't make a decision now. Sit here, watch them, and think about it. I can't tell you what to do, Kaylie, but I can tell you that the only person you'll be letting down if you quit is yourself and I don't want you to live with that kind of regret."
Kaylie nodded and sat down against a pile of mats to watch the little girls practice. Sasha walked away, back towards Payson, who was the only Elite at the gym at this hour on a Saturday. He extended a hand to help her up and she slipped his key to the back door into it. "Alex Cruz came back outside to get something from his car. You should have seen me; I looked like a covert op ducking behind cars to get to the door that leads to the women's locker room."
Sasha laughed, slipping the key in his pocket. "You ready for bars?" he said.
"Yeah, what did you say to Kaylie?" she asked, looking over at her friend with concern.
Payson hadn't really spoken to Kaylie since they arrived home from London. The National Champion had made it clear that she didn't want to talk to her. When she asked Austin about it, he just shrugged and muttered something about not getting in the middle of it.
"Sorry, privileged," he said, adjusting the bars to the height and width she needed.
She sighed, "I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and talk to her," she said.
"Yeah, what's with you two lately?" he asked. Payson shrugged. For someone as observant as he was, he really had no idea how teenage girls operated.
"You know that problem you had with Austin?" she said and he rolled his eyes at her, but nodded, "She had the same problem with me."
He shook his head, "Does anyone in this gym follow the no-dating rule?" he asked, exasperation evident in his tone.
"Nope," she said with a smile. "Besides they're not dating. He pulls her pigtails, she tells him to shove it and then hates the girl whose pigtails he pulls next," Payson shrugged. "It's like Kindergarten."
Sasha had clearly had enough of the conversation. "Chalk up, and get on these bars," he said, hanging from the top bar to ensure that it would take the weight. She smiled at him and pulled on her grips.
"My thoughts exactly," she said, jumping to the high bar and pulling herself up, circling the bar once to clear her head and then proceeded to focus on hand stands.
Later, as she was getting some water from the cooler, Payson saw Kaylie walk past her into the locker room. "Kaylie, wait up," she called. Kaylie's shoulders lifted and fell, as if she'd taken a deep breath, before she turned around.
"Look, Pay, I'm sorry for being a bitch, but I really don't want to talk to you right now," Kaylie said.
Payson looked at her, trying to read her expression, "Kaylie, I just don't get it. What is this about? Is it about Austin Tucker because letting a guy get in the way of our friendship is just…"
Kaylie shook her head, "No, it's not about a guy." Payson rolled her eyes and shot her an incredulous expression. "Okay, it's a little about a guy, but – how did you do it, Pay? After your injury, how did you come here every day and look at my banner on that wall? How did you deal with that SI picture and the cameras following you and Austin Tucker hanging around? MJ was calling you a stone in a river, you just let everything slide over you."
Payson looked at her friend, "Kaylie, I…I don't know, I just focused myself I guess. I knew all that other stuff was just a means to an end, part of the road I was taking. Nothing is a big deal unless you let it be."
It was a lie or at least a lie of omission. Sasha had been there, every step of the way, every moment. He had become the most important person in her life, in and out of the gym. They operated as equals, working towards a goal and while Kaylie trusted Sasha and he spent just as much time with her at the Rock as he did Payson, it was just different. She decided to give Kaylie a little bit more of the truth, "It was Sasha too," Payson admitted. "I decided to put myself in his hands," she said, inwardly flinching at the double entendre, knowing that Kaylie probably wouldn't notice anyway. "He's the best coach in the world, but you have to let him be. You have to trust him all the time, on everything, Kaylie. That is, if you still want this. Do you still want it?"
"He told me, that little girls wanted to be me, not you," Kaylie said. Payson caught her eye and she saw there what she saw in Lauren's many times, intent to hurt.
Payson wasn't going to let her friend lash out, "Of course they do. Kaylie, I told you after I got hurt, you're everything I wanted to be. I'm too focused to be a role model. I ignore them and focus on myself. I'm selfish like that, it's the only way I can be successful. You on the other hand, you made it look so easy even though you worked your ass off. You always had a smile for everyone. Of course they want to be you and not me. I probably scare those girls to death."
Kaylie twisted her lips into a frown, "That's what Sasha said."
"Sasha's usually right, but then so am I," she said. "And just to clarify, I am not in any way seeing or dating or interested in Austin Tucker." Kaylie frowned, and opened her mouth, "I'm not done." Kaylie raised her hands, in mock surrender. "But if I was, why exactly would you be mad at me? Supposedly you had no interest in him. Austin's great and I like him, a lot, but he'll never be anything other than a great guy, a friend, a brother to me and he knows that. But if that wasn't the case you would have no right to be angry, Kaylie. I thought you were going to cut the drama out of your life, well start by cutting the drama you created yourself. Talk to Austin and work something out or just stop with the bitchy-act. It doesn't suit you."
Kaylie just stood there, mouth agape. "Wow, Pay, I don't know what to say," she said.
"Say you're not quitting and that you're going to come in and train with me tomorrow at six in the morning and come to the Olympics with me and Emily and Lauren, just like we planned. Say you're staying." Payson looked at her friend pleadingly.
"I'm staying," Kaylie said quietly, nodding her head as if confirming it. "I'm staying and we are going to the Olympics, together and we're going to bring home the Gold." Payson smiled, "Don't smile just yet, Keeler, you're going to wish you never begged me to come back when I beat you at Nationals this summer." Kaylie finished with a smile.
"Ah, we'll see about that," Payson said, returning the smile. "Now go tell Sasha you're staying before he goes prematurely grey at the thought of the National Champion quitting."
"He told you?" Kaylie said, frowning.
Payson shook her head, "We all knew, Kaylie. You were so pumped to come back and then you just faded. Someone very smart once asked me if the passion came from where you are or where you want to be? Obviously it's where you want to be and you just weren't passionate about getting anywhere new."
"How about being passionate about a round off, half on, front straight salto with one and a half twists?" Kaylie asked with a smirk as they turned back towards the gym and made their way to the vault pit to practice the aerial skills.
"16.5, not bad, but not a 17.1," Payson said, playfully.
They walked past Austin, as he was approaching the parallel bars, "Ladies," he said, nodding in their direction. Payson smiled and Kaylie returned the nod, but kept walking.
"Kaylie," Payson whispered, "what was…"
Kaylie stopped, "Pay, I think it's great that you and Austin have such a strong friendship, but I meant it when I said that I wasn't interested in him." she said. "I uh, actually have plans with Nicky tonight. I was annoyed with you in London because Nicky was following you around and you were just ignoring him completely and before he left we did kind of have something."
Payson rolled her eyes, "Uh and just when I thought that the drama was over," she said, looking over at where Austin stood across the gym.
"You know, you could just put Austin out of his misery. Blonde, challenging supermodels remember?" Kaylie said, laughter in her voice.
Austin dismounted from his bars routine and smiled at them. Payson sighed. Had she been deluding herself about him, not seeing what was right in front of her? Kaylie walked away, headed towards Sasha's office, to tell him what she'd decided, but Payson remained firmly rooted to the spot. You're out of my league, Payson Keeler. That's what he had said to her. I am such an idiot.