Sasha walked past the trainer's room and shook his head. It had apparently turned into a hot spot over the last few hours. There were five tables in the room and four of them were occupied, each with one of his elite gymnasts. It was crunch time, two weeks before Nationals and they were all training hard, spending most of their time at the gym, conditioning their bodies, getting a required ten hours of sleep, but today was a near disaster. First Emily had rolled her ankle dismounting from the uneven bars, followed by a spectacular fall from Kaylie, who landed chest first on the beam after she slipped mid-pirouette. Lauren had gotten through most of the day until she went into a back hand spring oddly and felt a twinge in her right wrist. Then finally, just as everyone was finishing up for the day Payson had twisted her knee practicing her Yurchenko two and a half off the vault. They were dropping like flies from silly, but not exactly preventable injuries and Sasha was extremely frustrated. They'd all showered and changed, but he'd made sure they visited the trainer one last time before they left for the day.

He nodded towards their trainer, Tricia, and she grimaced. "Don't kill the messenger, but all of them need to shut it down. Payson and Lauren for a day or two, Emily for at least the rest of the week and Kaylie, she should go get an x-ray done to make sure it's just a bruise and not a cracked rib." He sighed and looked at their trainer, who left the room, patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm fine, I can train tomorrow," Kaylie said. "It's just a bruise," she said. "I'm not going to show up unprepared for Nationals because of a bruise."

Sasha frowned at her, "You'll go for an x-ray and we'll see what the doctor says. Go home and don't come back until you've been cleared." Kaylie huffed and got off the table, wincing as her torso shifted a bit. Sasha raised his eyebrows at her and she rolled her eyes, as she left.

He looked at Lauren and then Emily, both of whom were gathering their stuff. Emily sighed, "Fine. Can I get a re-eval after tomorrow though? I just rolled it a little bit."

"Me too," Lauren said, flexing her wrist, wrinkling her nose at it. "It hurts, but doesn't feel like a sprain."

Sasha nodded, "Ice, compression and elevation and then come back tomorrow afternoon so we can look at it." They left quickly, not wanting to argue when they got what they wanted to hear from him.

He looked over at Payson. "Let me see," he said, walking over to her. She was lying back on the trainer's table, her white skirt pushed up her thighs slightly, and her knee propped up on a bunch of towels, a bag of ice over it. He lifted the bag and looked at her knee before replacing it again. No swelling, a good sign, probably just a tweak. "Pain?"

She twisted her mouth into a grimace, "Not bad. I can probably train tomorrow." He opened his mouth to protest, "But I won't. No sense in hurting myself this close to Nationals."

He laughed softly, "Really?"

"No, but I know it's what you wanted to hear. I'm going to sulk all day tomorrow because I can't train and you'll just have to deal with that."

He snorted, "I could kiss it and make it better."

She rolled her eyes, "Your lips have magical healing powers now?" She was obviously in pain, her sarcasm a front to cover it up, but she lifted the ice pack off the afflicted knee and raised a challenging eyebrow at him.

"Haven't heard you complaining lately," he said, leaning down to brush his lips against her knee. Her skin was icy cold, but he knew the goose bumps on her skin had little to do with the cold compress she'd been using. "How's that?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Mmm, it's a miracle, I can train tomorrow," she said, with a laugh.

"You're hilarious," he muttered, placing the ice pack over her knee again. "You need a lift home?"

"No, it's the other leg, besides I'm going to Kaylie's tonight. Sleepover." She sighed, sitting up, "I'd rather just stay here, but that's probably not an option."

He snorted, as she lifted the ice pack off her knee and tossed it into the garbage pail not far from them, "Hi, mom, yeah I'm staying at Sasha's so he can magic the pain in my twisted knee away with his lips," she said, "That would go over well."

Sasha cringed. He hated when she mentioned her mother. It was the one thing about their relationship that gnawed at his conscience like a tiny Jiminy Cricket. He saw Kim Keeler almost more than he saw anyone else during his day and he'd gotten very good at looking her in the eye and pretending that he wasn't secretly cavorting with her seventeen year old daughter while she was none the wiser.

"I hate that you do that," Payson said softly. Their eyes met and he could see the sadness in hers.

"Do what?" he asked, stepping closer, putting a hand on her thigh, rubbing lightly against the smooth skin there.

"I hate that I can't mention my parents without you feeling guilty, like you're betraying them in some way," she said. "I hate that you feel like we're doing something wrong."

He sighed, "We are." He kept it well hidden, but it was an ever present feeling. For the most part, his feelings for her overwhelmed the deep rooted guilt, but she had never confronted him about it before.

She closed her eyes, as if the words actually caused her physical pain. He looked away, focusing on the wall behind her. "We aren't," she whispered. "Look at me." Her hand rose and pushed his chin down, forcing eye contact, "Look at me, do I look violated? Do I look taken advantage of?" she asked. "I hate that you feel this way, but I love it too."

He looked up at her in confusion. What was she saying? "I don't understand, Payson. What?"

"I love that you feel this way because it means you're a good man, an honorable man. It means that you're not taking advantage. If you weren't a good man, you wouldn't feel guilty, at all." She shook her head at herself, obviously not sure if she was even making sense. He wasn't sure if she was either.

He looked at her, her eyes tearing up as the words spilled from her mouth. A tear fell, trailing down over her cheek to her lips. He brushed it away with his thumb. Her hand covered his and squeezed gently. "I'm not a good man, Payson." His voice sounded odd to his own ears. "I'm not an honorable man."

"You are," she began, but he cut her off.

"I'm not," he said. "I'm not a good man because I'm standing here and you're crying and we've crossed almost every line. We've lied to your parents, you've lied to your friends, we've created an impossible situation for ourselves and all I can think about is kissing you, making you forget that we'd be crossing any lines at all."

She put her hands against his chest. He could feel the heat of her skin through his shirt, and then she placed her hands on either side of his face, the tips of her fingers brushing his temples, soothing the tension there. "Do you think that I don't know that? I hate lying to my parents. I hate that I have to keep this a secret, when I want to shout it from the rooftops. I'm staying over at Kaylie's tonight and don't you think I want to be able to tell my friends about this amazing man in my life, a man they would barely recognize even though they see him every day; a man that would make all the guys they fawn over and complain about look like silly little boys in comparison. How he's sweet and brilliant and how we agree and disagree and argue and work together. And how when he touches me my body responds in ways I didn't know existed. I hate that we can't share this with the people we love. I hate that it's necessary, but all that hate doesn't matter because of how I feel about you. That overpowers every other emotion, every secret, every lie, because what's between us, that's real. It's as real as it gets." She stopped for a moment and brushed a stray tear from her cheek. "Sasha," she said, reaching out, taking his hands in hers.

He sighed at the sound of his name falling from her lips, not in pleasure or anger or frustration or need, but confidently, completely sure of herself, sure of him and what they felt for each other. He brushed a lock of blonde hair away from her forehead, before running his fingers down past her temple to her cheek, and then looking down at their joined hands. "I love you."

She didn't think she'd heard him right. She'd unexpectedly poured her heart out, thoughts she'd been keeping to herself for ten months, almost a year, an absolute flood of emotion and feeling and he had responded with three words that summed it all up. They'd never said that word before. It had been implied many times, it had even become a nickname, one he used during their most intimate moments, but used now, in this context as he stood there in front of her, their gazes locked together, she never thought should could feel this much for one person. She exhaled sharply and smiled. "I love you too."

And then he was kissing her, the same way he'd kissed her here months before. It was soft at first, almost tentative, as if he were testing these new words out, to see if something was different about their kisses. Then the intensity level shifted, and his kisses became possessive and dominant in a way that thrilled her. His fingers circled her wrists, pulling them up and placing them around his neck, before he stepped closer, standing between her legs, his hands trailing up the skin of her thighs, pushing her skirt upwards, as he shifted closer. She wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him into her, the pain in her knee a vague thought in the back of her mind before he wiped out all coherent thought as his tongue plundered her mouth and his hands created paths of fire over her body.

What seemed like days later, but in reality only a half hour's time had passed, they laid together on the trainer's table, her head resting upon his now bare chest, his arm holding her body to his tightly. The only sound in the room was their breathing as they tried to regain control. "Oh my God," she said, not being able to find words to express what she was feeling.

He nodded and kissed the top of her head. Payson faintly heard a buzzing sound and after a moment was convinced it wasn't a side effect from the pleasurable high her body had just descended from. She pulled her arms through the straps of her tank, covering herself again, and as she stood she smoothed her skirt down. "My phone," she said, opening her gym bag. "It's Kaylie. Wondering where I am."

He sighed and nodded before standing. He pulled his pants back up and zippered the fly before grabbing his shirt from the floor, yanking it back over his head. He saw a small piece of pink lace lying at his feet. He picked it up and held it out for her but she smirked at him. It was useless now. "I'll buy you a new pair," he said, returning the wicked grin.

"I've got to go," she said. "I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast."

He raised his eyebrows, "No training tomorrow."

She shook her head, "Magical healing powers, remember. My knee feels fine." He shook his head, "Fine, I'll come in and do some upper body work in the fitness center and then help out with some of the younger girls, maybe do some paper work in the office."

"Better," he said, stepping closer to her.

She sighed, putting her arms around him, not wanting to let go. It was so unfair that it had to be this way for them. They were good people and they loved each other and they couldn't move forward, not yet. "I love you," she said, testing the words on her tongue again.

He sighed, his breath tousling her hair. "I love you too."

She wasn't sure exactly how she got to the Cruz house. One moment she'd been in Sasha's arms, the next she'd been in her car, sitting in the driveway, not really wanting to go in. She sighed, killing the engine and stepping out of the car. She saw a pair of headlights entering the driveway and smiled at Leo Cruz as he got out of his car.

"Hey Payson," he said, smiling at her.

"Leo," she said returning the smile. They moved together towards the house, but he stopped and grabbed her arm. "What?" she asked.

"Austin Tucker, huh?" he said, with a smirk.

"Ugh, those stupid pictures. No, Austin and I are friends."

Leo shrugged, "That's not the impression I got from my sister, but then she's usually wrong about these things. Not the most perceptive girl in the world."

Payson rolled her eyes, "Kaylie knows that Austin and I aren't together."

He shrugged again, "You sleeping over?" he asked, opening the front door.

"Yep, all of us, me, Lauren, Emily."

"Well, have fun and don't wake me up when you leave this house at four in the morning to be at the Rock at the ungodly hour you train at."

She laughed, "Don't worry. Good night, Leo," she said, racing up the stairs towards Kaylie's room, but only getting a few steps before she felt that twinge in her knee again and went more slowly. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late," she said, stepping into the room. Lauren and Emily were sitting on Kaylie's bed, eyes focused not on her, but at Kaylie who was standing between Austin Tucker and Nicky Russo. It looked like she had missed something, something huge.

"Hey, Payson," Austin said, not looking away from Nicky.

She had no idea what to say, "Hi," she said, looking at Emily and Lauren for help, but they just shrugged.

"I was just leaving," Austin said, looking between Nicky and Kaylie and then shaking his head. "Good night," he said, moving away from them. He stopped just in front of her, "You were right," he said, moving past her and out of the room.

She had no idea what she was right about, but she felt sorry for it, no matter what it was.

"What just happened?" she asked, looking at Kaylie, then Nicky and then at Lauren and Emily.

No one answered.