Austin ended the phone call with the manager of a local pub, receiving assurances that they'd have the place all to themselves as watched as Payson ran across the floor towards Sasha and cheered with the rest of the crowd as she practically leapt into Sasha's arms. Their kiss was projected on the large screen near the scoreboard, as catcalls and encouraging whoops were sent from their section. The men's team was seated just to the right of the girls' families and Austin glanced towards Payson's parents both of whom looked mildly amused by their daughter's openness and he grinned.

He moved down his row and leaned over the railing, "We're going out to celebrate," he said to Kim who looked at him quizzically. "Everyone," he shouted over the crowd noise, "friends, family, everybody since we can't get you all into the Olympic Village."

He quickly motioned to Damon Young and Leo Cruz who came over and took the information from him. He trusted them to get the rest of the families there.

The party was in full swing when the girls arrived, all freshly showered and dressed to kill, even little Izzy Ruggeri dressed in one of Kaylie's pink numbers. Her hair and makeup had Lauren Tanner written all over it, from the smoky eyes to the glossy lips and the stylish, yet messy up do.

Austin watched as her parents embraced her, her father's eyes not totally approving of her new look, but the affection obvious between the young girl and her folks. He sipped his club soda and frowned at his phone, waiting for his sister to respond to his text. He knew it was hard for her to be around gymnastics, knew it was nearly impossible for her to watch the sport, but selfishly, he wanted her there tomorrow to support him, especially since his parents had flat out refused to attend.

Good luck tomorrow, Aus. I'll be rooting for you!

He sighed at the message that appeared on his phone and took another sip of his drink.

A warm hand landed on his wrist and his eye met Payson's as she looked up at him in concern, "I've declared a moratorium on sighing heavily and frowning tonight," she said, her voice raised over the din of the crowd and the music playing in the background, a smile lighting up her face. She was happy and rightly so. She was an Olympic gold medalist and he knew how that felt. It was the most incredible high, one nothing else would ever match.

He returned her smile and then hugged her tightly as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "Congratulations, Pay," he said into her ear, "you deserve it and you were incredible today."

"Thanks for putting this together," she said, pulling away, gesturing around to the crowd around them of family and friends there to celebrate the woman's team victory just hours before. "My parents just left, they wanted to thank you for inviting them, but they couldn't find you in this crush.

"My pleasure," he said, feeling a self satisfied smile build on his face.

"I think someone is looking for you," Payson said suddenly, nodding behind him.

He turned and saw Kelly standing there looking drop dead gorgeous, giving him what could only be described as a come hither stare.

"See you later, Austin," Payson said, watching her friend's jaw drop as he took in Kelly's appearance.

"Yeah, Pay," he managed, "see you later."

She just laughed as he practically fell over himself getting Kelly out onto the makeshift dance floor in the center of the restaurant.

She wandered around the party slowly, mingling, engaging in a few conversations, most of which were simply heartfelt congratulations on the team's accomplishments when suddenly…

"Having fun?" a voice asked from just behind her and she looked up to see Marty Walsh standing just to her right, beer in handing, gazing out into the crowd of people.

She smiled, "I am actually. I mean I know I've got a lot ahead of me still, but it's nice to step back and celebrate. It still doesn't feel real."

"It will," he assured her. "Give it a month or two and you'll just be walking down the street one day and it will hit you that it actually happened, that you are actually an Olympic gold medalist. It's an absurd feeling."

Marty cleared his throat and suddenly she realized that he'd approached her for a specific reason. She looked up at him again and raised her eyebrows in question. "Was there something you wanted to say?" she asked, giving him an opening.

"Yeah," he said. "I wanted to…I never apologized to you, for leaving like I did. I'm sure by now you know why…"

"You had an affair with Ronnie Cruz," she supplied for him and immediately regretted her blunt delivery as he winced in reaction, the pain evident in his expression. "Sorry."

"No, you're right, that's exactly what happened, but I never apologized for lying to you and for leaving. I mean obviously it all worked out in the end," he said, motioning to the celebration around them, "but at the time…"

"You did what you thought you had to do, Marty. I get that," she said, wondering how far she should take this, but then she realized that this might be the only moment she had with him. "You really loved her, obviously, if you were willing to give up your career like that." He opened his mouth to interrupt, but she raised her eyebrows and he nodded, acknowledging what she said was fact. "I wouldn't have understood that at the time, Marty, but now…now I get it."

Her eyes found Sasha across the room, talking to Emily, Damon and Becca who was rather obviously following Damon around the party. Her hand instinctively went to her ring, twisting it around her finger.

"Congratulations, by the way," Marty said, following her gaze. "I don't know how much he told you, about our past, not the story everyone thinks they know, but what really –"

"He told me everything." And he had, one night, after she'd had a small fight with MJ on the phone over a detail in one of her endorsement contracts. She hung up the phone and vented her frustration to him, and that had somehow led to him confessing the rather painful story of how an eighteen year old Sasha had walked in on his best friend and his girlfriend just days after his mother's death.

Marty looked down, not quite able to meet her eyes. Then he bit his lip and nodded, "Then you know how much he deserves to be happy and you make him happy, Payson. In all the years I've known him, I've never seen him this happy."

"He makes me happy too," she said, Sasha's eyes shifting from his conversation and meeting hers across the room. His face lit up, a large smile spreading across his lips as he winked at her and then quickly excused himself from the conversation, moving in their direction.

"Excuse us, Marty," Sasha said, as he finally reached them, taking her hand in his and pulling her onto the dance floor.

She laughed lightly, "That was a little rude," she admonished, though in her mind she couldn't help but marvel at this light hearted version of the man she loved, which he rarely showed in public.

He shrugged, his eyes twinkling down at her, "He'll get over it."

They moved to the music, their bodies as usual perfectly in sync, "So how much longer do I have to share you with all these people?" he murmured against her ear, making her shiver. For a man who'd been dead set against her wasting energy on sex during the Olympic Games, he'd been even more amorous than usual and his attempts at seduction, though almost wholly unnecessary, were growing more and more frequent.

She smiled up at him, "At least another hour. I promised my parents we'd take Becca back to the hotel and I promised her I'd give her until ten to convince Damon that he should leave Emily for her."

Sasha's look of almost petulant disappointment turned into an amused smile. "I'd forgotten about her little crush on Damon." He shook his head, "You two are so different; it's remarkable."

She smirked at him, moving closer as they danced, "Oh, I don't know if we're all that different, we both are apparently attracted to charming, talented," she leaned in brushing a kiss against his cheek, "devastatingly handsome, older men." The last word was barely off her lips before his mouth caught hers in a searing kiss. Despite the five inch heels that brought her much closer to his height, he lifted her off the floor, their bodies pressed together from shoulder to ankle, the firmness of his chest and thighs easily supporting her smaller frame.

He pulled away and she stared at him in stunned silence. "Go collect your sister. I don't care what you promised her, we're leaving immediately."

He left the dance floor, ostensibly to call for a taxi and she just blinked, still stunned by the intensity of his kiss. She bit her lip and a small smile appeared on her face as she turned and went to look for Becca.

He was right; it was definitely time they left this party.

Austin watched in undisguised amusement from the bar as Payson found Becca across the room, still talking to Damon and Emily and practically dragged the younger girl out of the restaurant. He caught her eye as she was leaving and winked, letting her know he knew exactly why she was skipping out on her own party. Even from a distance he could see her face flush slightly, but then she shrugged and mouthed, "Thank you," in his direction, before disappearing out the door towards her much more private celebration.

He turned back towards the bar to retrieve the drinks he'd ordered for him and Kelly when he saw a familiar head of brown hair and a small body encased in a very tight pink dress stumble into the mahogany counter.

"Kaylie?" he asked, reaching out a hand to her shoulder to steady her.

"Don't touch me," she snapped, but managed to stumble again, this time directly into his chest.

"Kaylie are you okay?" he asked, as he grasped her by the shoulders and helped her stand straight. It was then he caught a whiff of…was that rum? "Kaylie are you drunk?" he rephrased his question. The party was barely a couple of hours old, how had she gotten this plastered this quickly?

Kaylie looked up at him and shook her head firmly, "No…no not drunk, I'm…I'm celebrating," she told him conspiratorially.

"Oh, I see," he said, playing along, "and did that celebrating include some alcohol?" he asked.

"Just…just a little," she admitted, her eyes glassy. "I'm a gold medalist, you know, just like you. I'm going to have a banner like yours, bigger maybe, even though I didn't really earn it."

"What?" Austin's brow furrowed in confusion, "of course you earned it."

She shook her head, "Nope, I almost blew it…me and my stupid triple twist, or I guess you could call it a two and a half since I never got around on the last half."

"Seriously?" he asked, not quite believing what he was hearing "Kaylie you won a gold medal today, your dreams just came true and you're upset because you didn't land an extra half twist in your beam dismount?" He shook his head. Was she never satisfied? What drove her to this? Had he done this to her, somehow?

She rolled her eyes, "What do you care? Your gymnastics is perfect, you and Payson and Kelly Parker, let's not forget about her. Your flavor of the week."

Austin gaped at her, "Kaylie, I…" he began, but then she stumbled again and he caught her in his arms, helping her stand.

"There you are," Kelly said, approaching from behind, obviously not seeing Kaylie. "Did you order our drinks?" she asked and then frowned, seeing Kaylie plastered to his chest. "Austin…"

"She's drunk or celebrating, as she put it," he told her and shook his head. "I should take her back to the Village. She doesn't hold her alcohol well or so I've been told."

Kelly gave him an incredulous look. He knew that look. He'd seen it on many girls' faces before. It said, Look at me. Do you see how hot I am? I look like this tonight…for you.

He nodded, "I know, I know, I just…she's got the all-around the day after tomorrow and she shouldn't drink any more than she already has and I just…"

Kelly shook her head. "Its fine, Austin. Do what you have to do," she said finally, though her arms were crossed over her chest and she was shaking her head in disbelief.

He nodded, "Thanks for understanding, Kel," he said, leaning down to kiss her cheek lightly. She rolled her eyes, as he lifted Kaylie up against his shoulder, wrapping an arm around her waist to lead her out of the pub.

"Yeah, thanks, Satan," Kaylie said, picking that moment to perk up again. "Really 'ppreciate it," she slurred.

"Alright," he said, as they made their way through the crowd, "no need to rub it in. You just ruined her night."

Kaylie snorted in a way that despite her drunkenness was really quite adorable, "Yeah, she isn't gettin' any."

They made it out onto the sidewalk and Austin was relieved as he signaled for a taxi and one pulled up almost immediately.

The rode in near silence back towards the Olympic Village, the only sounds were Kaylie's soft groans and the heavy sighs he kept involuntarily releasing. They pulled up to the gate and thankfully Kaylie had her credentials in her purse. They were scanned in quickly and the cab driver let them out just beyond the gates before he was waved out by security.

Kaylie mumbled something as they finally stepped into the air conditioned lobby of their building, waiting for the elevator.

"What was that?" he asked, as the elevator doors opened.

"In the shadow of greatness," she said, leaning against the wall of the elevator car, allowing him to press the button for their floor. "That's what happened to me today. I wilted in the shadow of greatness."

Austin rolled his eyes, "You didn't, Kaylie. You had…I don't know, a momentary lapse in judgment. What's this in the shadow of greatness crap? You're a great gymnast. You always have been."

Kaylie shook her head, though it seemed she immediately regretted it, as she held her hand to her forehead, "Not as good as you," she said quietly, "or Payson. Payson was the reason we won today, Austin." Her eyes seemed to clear suddenly and her voice was barely slurring. "Everyone did the math. Without Payson Keeler we don't win gold. We probably don't win silver either."

They reached their floor and they walked towards her room. They reached it quickly enough and she put the key in her lock and began to open the door, but he stopped her, "You know what, Kaylie?" he said, drawing her eyes to his. "That's just bull shit. Where is this coming from? The Kaylie Cruz I know, the Kaylie Cruz I love isn't like this. She's a winner; she stood up on that gold medal podium today as an Olympic champion and if the girl I love shows up again during the all-around, she'll go out on that floor and show the world what she's made of," he said.

It was meant to be a pep talk, an inspirational speech to pull her out of whatever mental hole she'd dug herself into, but in his haste to make her understand, he'd slipped and it wasn't until she looked up at him again, eyes shining that he realized what he said.

"You love me?" she asked, blinking rapidly, obviously trying to clear her head.

His eyes slid shut and he sighed. "Of course I do," he said before he could stop himself.

And then before he could explain further, she was pushing up onto her toes, pressing her lips against his and deepening the kiss almost immediately. His hands wound tightly around her waist, holding her against him as he relished the feel of her. He'd fought this tooth and nail, denied it, tried to move on, but it was hopeless. So when she pulled away and opened the door, tugging gently on his hand to follow her, he went willingly, remembering vaguely that he'd intended to get to bed early that night in preparation for tomorrow's team final, though as the door clicked shut behind him, the thought flew out of his head completely.

Payson lay back against her pillows, her breath still ragged, but slowly evening.

"You were right," Sasha said, his hands laced behind his head, a smug grin spreading across his face, "it is getting better."

She hummed her agreement, before slipping out from beneath the covers, pulling on the shirt he'd worn to the party. "Speaks pretty well for the future, I'd say." She padded lightly over to the mini-fridge to grab a bottle of water. On the way she began to scoop up articles of clothing that they'd left in their wake, placing the rest of his clothes over the back of an armchair.

She made her way back to bed, water bottle in hand, but as he took it from her, he simply rested it on the nightstand between the two beds and pulled her towards him, her body landing atop his as his hands roamed the backs of her thighs, nearly sliding up beneath the shirt.

"Uh, do you two ever stop? I swear you go at it like bunnies!" Kelly Parker's voice rang out.

Payson leapt to her feet and stared at Kelly who was holding the scarf she'd tied to the door knob between her pointer finger and her thumb like it was a smelly gym sock.

"Kelly, what are you doing? I thought we had a system," Payson said, rolling her eyes. The scarf around the door had, in fact, been Kelly's idea, even if Payson had been the only one to use it. She moved to where she'd put Sasha's clothes and wordlessly handed them to him. Their night was over and they both knew it.

Kelly rolled her eyes right back. "Urg, whatever, if I'm not getting any tonight, then neither are you."

"Too late," Sasha mumbled from behind her, pulling on his boxer briefs and pants skillfully under the sheet. Kelly glared in his general direction.

Payson's brow furrowed in response, "But I thought…" she began, wondering what happened to Austin.

Sasha stood from the bed, now decently clothed, but sans shirt. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, love," he said, brushing a kiss against her cheek, his hand sliding down over the small of her back quickly, unseen by Kelly, giving a small squeeze to her bum. She couldn't help the smile that spread over her features and Kelly rolled her eyes.

"Night Sasha."

"Good night, Kelly," he said, the smirk still plastered on his face.

The door clicked shut and Payson looked to the girl who'd somehow become her friend over the last few weeks. "So what happened?" she asked.

Kelly shook her head, "How come you didn't tell me Kaylie Cruz was in love with him?"

"What?" Payson asked, shaking her head, "Kelly, I don't..."

"Seriously, PK, why would you let me sleep with him when you knew that? I mean I'm a bitch, but I'd never steal someone else's guy. That's just...I don't do things like that."

Payson sighed and shook her head and suddenly recalled why her best friend was a guy. Girls were just way too much drama and trouble.

"So what did you tell her?" Emily asked, as they made their way to their seats in the arena.

"I told her that Austin's love life is none of my business," Payson said with a sigh.

"And she believed that?" Emily asked, incredulously.

"I don't think she did, but it's all I had to go with. And technically it's the truth; it is none of my business. If I'd thought there was still a chance for Austin and Kaylie, I would have told her, but he assured me it was over and he was looking to keep it casual. What was I supposed to do?"

Emily shrugged and sighed.

They sat and watched as the teams began to warm up for their first rotation. She caught sight of Austin warming up on the parallel bars, Sasha standing just off to the side watching carefully.

"Hey guys," Kaylie said, jogging down the steps towards them, a smile on her face as she took her seat next to Emily.

"Hey," they said in unison, looking at her carefully.

"What?" she asked, checking her shirt and her hands going to her hair in confusion.

"Nothing," Payson said, quickly, too quickly apparently because Kaylie's eyes narrowed.

"Austin told you," she determined and shook her head, "and he promised he wouldn't say anything."

Payson shook her head quickly, "He didn't. Kelly did, last night when she came back from the party."

Kaylie's eyes grew wide and panicked. "How would Kelly know something like that?" she asked shrilly.

Emily shook her head, "She was there, when Austin decided to take you back to the village. She saw you two leave together."

"Oh, right," Kaylie said, trying to play it off casually. "He made sure I got back safe. I might have gone a little overboard with the rum and cokes."

Payson met Emily's eye and then they both stared at Kaylie. Neither of them believed her and it was obvious there was much more to the story given her initial reaction. They watched her intently until she wilted under the pressure of their gazes. "Okay, alright, we had sex, are you happy?"

"You what?" Emily nearly shrieked, clearly not anticipating that admission.

Payson's jaw dropped in shock. That was the last thing she'd expected out of Kaylie's mouth. She'd seen Austin earlier, just before she and Sasha went to visit Boris at the hospital and he hadn't mentioned a thing about it. Payson suddenly remembered why she hated having a guy for a best friend; they were way too much drama and trouble.

"Are you…are you okay?" Payson finally asked, studying Kaylie carefully. "I mean, you were drunk, at least that's what Kelly said and…Kaylie, Austin is my best friend, but I swear to God if he took advantage of you I will kill him."

"We didn't have sex last night," Kaylie said, "I was drunk and you know he'd never take advantage of me, Pay." Her voice was quiet. "It was this morning. He…he took care of me last night and he told me loved me and I'm just…I'm so happy. I mean guys, we won yesterday, we're Olympic gold medalist and I think Austin and I are finally going to get our happy ending."

Payson smiled, hoping she did a good enough job not to arouse suspicion. Kaylie looked so happy; she didn't want to spoil it, but her knowledge of Austin's post-Olympic plans suddenly hung over her head like a three ton weight. Had Austin told Kaylie he was moving to London? Had they talked about their relationship at all or was this a volcano waiting to erupt as soon as the torch was put out next Sunday?

Her mind reeled as the men moved through the competition, earning a team silver medal, a disappointment given that their top two competitors, Austin and Nicky, were the favorites to go one-two in the all-around. The problem was team depth and they just didn't have enough difficulty in their routines on all six events to compete with the Chinese as a team.

As Payson watched her best friend, the man who'd become like a brother to her bend to receive his silver medal, she couldn't help but think that he'd made quite a mess and she didn't know if she'd be able to help him clean it up.