"I'm awake, you can stop tiptoeing around," Payson mumbled as she slowly came back to consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open and she saw Sasha sitting on the edge of Kelly's bed, which looked conspicuously unruffled, tying his sneakers.
"Morning, love," he said, kneeling at her bedside and brushing the hair away from her face.
She smiled at him, and blinked quickly, trying to clear the sleep from her eyes. "What time is it?"
Sasha shook his head, "Not even ten. You've got hours before you have to get up."
"Kelly never came back?" she asked, sitting up, leaning back against the headboard.
"Pretty sure she and Austin had plans," Sasha said.
Payson nodded, "I figured," she said, swinging her legs off the bed.
Sasha rested a hand on each of her thighs, stroking against the skin softly. "MJ called while we were asleep. She left a voicemail, something about your endorsements."
Payson couldn't stop her eyes from rolling. "I"m sure my sponsors are going crazy. Did you see that photo of us, Sasha. It looked like..."
He leaned in closer, his shoulders pushing her legs further apart, "It looked like I was about to take you right there on the dance floor, in front of everyone," he murmured. "And it looked like you would have let me."
She bent her head to his, pressing their lips together gently. Payson pulled back and looked steadily into his eyes. "Thank you, for last night, for getting me out of there when you did. I was so tired."
"You looked it. Just before your bars set the color almost completely drained from your face and after beam I had serious concerns that you were about to pass out. This quest, it was too much to ask of yourself. The pressure, the mental energy required to do it."
She shook her head, "It's almost over. Just one more day. A couple of hours really, that's all that's left of my career."
Sasha's mouth turned down, concern furrowing his brow, "Are you regretting the decision to retire after the games."
Sighing, she shook her head, "Absolutely not. I love gymnastics, but I've given my heart and soul and body to this sport for most of my life. I'm done after today. It's just tough to let go, I guess."
He nodded, "It's always difficult to let go of something you love, especially when you have a choice in the matter."
Payson smiled. Suddenly, they were no longer just talking about her gymnastics, they were talking about their time spent apart after Istanbul, about Austin and Kaylie's constant back and forth. "No matter what happens, I don't regret a thing. I think every decision we made, even the time we spent apart, it's led us to this moment, Sasha and I couldn't ask for anything more."
Sasha inhaled and then breathed out slowly, "I can't say the same. I wish we hadn't wasted so much time." His voice was so full of regret that it actually made Payson's stomach twist.
She shook her head and smiled, ignoring the pain, "I don't know. I think you're just feeling a little threatened," she said lightly. "I mean if we don't call a halt to things, I'd never have come up with the idea of going for the sweep and well, after today I'll have more gold medals than you do."
She was joking and he knew it, but his response was dead serious, "And when those medals go around your neck, there's no one that'll be more proud of you than me."
"You're awfully serious this morning," she said, running her fingers through his hair.
He shook his head, "I've been thinking, about what Steve Tanner said."
"He's a blowhard, Sasha. He always has been. Don't give his words any credence."
"Don't...just...be honest with me, what he said, I did my best to make sure that I treated all you girls the same, but, I don't know, maybe I pushed you harder than the others."
"Hey," Payson said, cupping his cheek, drawing his eyes to hers, "you pushed everyone exactly as hard as they allowed you too. The Rock has more medals at these games than some countries do. That's thanks to you, Sasha."
He pressed forward again and kissed her lightly. "Thank you. I'm not sure where that came from. I was just turning it over in my head all night and..."
She cut him off. "Hey, that's what I'm here for. I lean on you, you lean on me. That's how this works."
He shook his head, "It's your last day of competition, should I be the one giving you a pep talk?"
"I don't need a pep talk," she said. "I'm ready."
He opened his mouth to respond, but a ringing from the nightstand stopped him.
Payson smirked as, American Badass echoed through the room.
"Whats up, Austin?" she asked.
"Good, you're awake. Turn on your television, channel 5," Austin said.
"Am I going to laugh at this?" she asked, grabbing the remote control and switching on the set in the corner.
"Is Sasha there?" Austin asked.
"Yeah."
He snorted, "Watch it together. I'll see you later."
Payson ended the call and focused on the screen. There was a woman and a man, both dressed well, sitting on high stools.
"...can't deny that she's been the story of these Olympics. People are fascinated by her, both as an athlete and as a sex symbol. What do you think, Rick?" the woman asked.
Rick was heavy set, bearded with his hair slicked back, "I'm actually inclined to agree with you. Gymnastics isn't usually the place we find our juicy stories. Footballers provide ample fodder for the gossip hungry, but Payson Keeler's relationships and her transition from All-American good girl to something of a, well, a bad girl really has captivated people in a way we've never seen, Brenda."
"So she's just as much of a rebel as her fiance?" Brenda asked.
"Absolutely. She's obviously got a rebel streak in her that Sasha Beloff awakened. Let's just do the split screen. There it is, on the left you've got a picture of Payson and her ex-Austin Tucker kissing at a gymnastics reception. She's got a very nice dress on, but nothing extraordinary and the kiss itself is very romantic looking. On the right, well it's the complete opposite. She's dressed to kill and neither she nor Sasha is thinking much about romance. Look at them, this is pure animal lust."
Payson snorted and rolled her eyes, muting the screen. She looked towards Sasha, who had a frown plastered across his face. She reached out and touched his hand, but as he looked at her, the phone rang again. She smiled at him reassuringly and answered the phone.
"Hello?"
Sasha watched as the media attempted to dissect and report on their relationship. It was ridiculous, but he was oddly fascinated by it. Apparently, in the absence of any real information, they were comfortable completely inventing their own story lines.
"You're kidding," Payson said, scoffling lightly at whoever was on the other end. He looked at her curiously and she mouthed, "MJ."
He nodded and sighed.
"That's just ridiculous, but I'm not complaining," she said. "Okay, just email me the details and we'll figure it out after the games. I'll see you later. Thanks, MJ."
"What was that about?" he asked as she tossed her cellphone onto the bed next to her.
"Apparently my sponsors and endorsements are loving this," she said, shaking her head in disbelief. "Almost all of them want me to re-up for multi year contracts and she got a call from Vogue. They want me to do a spread."
Sasha smiled and nodded, "Sex sells, love."
She shrugged, "Apparently they all had 'concerns' at first that my fan demographic would be too young and I've alleviated those concerns. According to MJ anyway. So what do you think?"
Sasha took her hand and pulled her down next to him on the bed. "Do whatever you like. It's up to you."
"It's not like we need the money, but..." she trailed off, with a smile.
Sasha laughed, "Don't tell me, the girl who didn't want to waste her time prancing down a runway has actually learned to like all that girly dress-up stuff."
He was rewarded with a bright smile, "Maybe a little," she admitted, leaning against his shoulder.
Sasha kissed the top of her head lightly and made a decision, "Close your eyes for a second, love," he said, standing and moving towards his luggage.
"Sasha...what? why?" she asked.
"A surprise, just close them," he said, digging through his bag until he found what he was looking for.
He turned and saw that her eyes were closed, but she was shaking her head and smiling. "The last time you surprised me it was with an engagement ring, Sasha."
"That had a lifetime commitment attached to it," he said, sitting next to her on the bed again. "This surprise only requires about two weeks. Open your eyes."
He placed the tickets into her hands and she was silent for a moment before she let out perhaps the girliest squeak he'd ever heard escape her lips. "San Tropez?" she managed after her squeal of delight.
He nodded as she threw her arms around him. "You and me, our own private beach for two weeks. I thought after all this insanity that we could just unwind for a little while before your term starts. We leave at the day after tomorrow, just as the sun rises."
"This is amazing, Sasha," she said, leaning over and kissing him quickly. "You are amazing."
Sasha brushed a lock of her hair away from her face, "Win or lose today, love and I can't imagine you not winning, I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."
Austin sat in the trainer's room, unwrapping the crappy job he'd done on his wrists, tossing the prewrap into a garbage pail and starting again. His wrists had to be just right for the vault or it would throw his entire game off.
The door opened and he looked up, just as he finished taping his wrist.
"Here let me," a soft voice said, reaching for the scissors to cut the tape.
Austin smiled down at the tiny brunette, "Thanks," he said, "still going with the devil horns, I see."
Kelly snorted lightly, "I figure it's worked for me this long, why not finish up with them?"
"You all set for floor later?" he asked.
"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be," she said, biting her lip. "So listen, about what you asked me the other day, you know, the important thing?"
Austin's eyes flew up and he blinked at her rapidly. "Yeah," he said, clearing his throat.
"I was thinking, that maybe I'd stick around for a little while. London's been pretty good to me so far, you know. I won a gold medal a few days ago here. It's been good to you too, I mean two golds and two silvers, not too shabby. I was thinking that this is a good place for the both of us. Maybe we should..."
"Kelly," he said and her brown eyes flew up to meet his. "Stop beating around the bush. Are you going to stay here with me or not?"
She rolled her eyes, "Well, I'm not going to stay if you're just going to be rude to -"
He didn't let her finish. He leaned down, his hand cupping the back of her head as his lips met hers. He kissed her firmly, holding his mouth to hers. He pulled away, not opening his eyes for a moment, but when he did, hers were still closed as she breathed deeply. It was just a simple kiss, but that was the beauty of their relationship, or whatever it was that they had, it was simple. They felt something, something they hadn't put a name to and that was okay. They weren't in a hurry to define it, but they made each other happy, at least so far and at the end of the day, that's all you can hope for.
"I'm glad you're going to stay," he said simply.
Her eyes finally opened, a genuine smile blooming across her face, one he knew she didn't let appear too often. "Me too."
"And here we are folks, the second to last day of gymnastics competition, the last day of event finals for the women. The men will still compete tomorrow, on rings and high bar," Al Trautwig began their broadcast. "But today we've got both vault and floor exercise for the men and women, where Payson Keeler, Kaylie Cruz, Kelly Parker and Austin Tucker will look to add to the USA's already impressive medal total."
"That's right, Al," Tim said, "Fourteen medals so far for the United States. The women's team with only the second team gold in their history, followed by the amazing journey of Payson Keeler thus far. She's taking home the all-around gold as well as gold on uneven bars and balance beam. Though, let's not forget her teammates, Kaylie Cruz, silver in the all-around, Lauren Tanner a bronze on beam and Emily Kmetko a bronze on uneven bars."
"And on the men's side," Elfie cut in, "they've been just as successful. The team silver, as you said, Tim, and Austin Tucker took the gold in the all-around, Nicky Russo right behind him with the silver. Then in the even finals so far, Tucker won a gold on parallel bars and a silver on pommel horse. Nicky Russo a bronze on parallel bars and a gold on pommel horse, he's taking a gold medal to Stanford University this Fall."
"So that's where we stand, but I think the story everyone is wondering about, the reason everyone is tuning in today is to see whether Payson Keeler will complete her clean sweep of the gold medals here in London and we will bring that to you, but first, a little men's vault action for you."
"How are your wrists?" Sasha asked him after his practice vault.
Austin nodded, shaking them out lightly, "Feel good," he said simply, moving back down from the raised floor and finding a seat. He would have to wait for the other seven athletes to complete their two vaults before his turn.
Sasha nodded and handed him a water bottle.
"Kelly's going to move to London," Austin said, the words spilling from his mouth before he could even think about whether or not he'd wanted to share that information.
Sasha's eyebrows nearly popped into his hairline, "I thought..."
Austin shrugged, "It's...I don't know what it is, but she's just...I don't think I can really describe..."
Sasha stared at him, his mouth dropping open, "Oh wow, you've got it bad, huh?"
Austin snorted and shook his head, "It completely blindsided me too."
Sasha nodded sagely, "It usually does."
"Well, US gymnastics fans should be excited, because so far we've seen some really nice vaults from the rest of the field, but here comes Austin Tucker."
"An improbable gymnast, Al, just like his coach, Austin is six foot one inch tall and towers over his competition, both physically and in skill. His first vault is called a Melissanidis, which is a Yurchenko vault. It begins with the traditional roundoff onto the springboard and then a backwards double pike off the horse. It's an extremely difficult vault with a start value of 7.0."
He watched the flag go up and saluted the judges quickly. Then he was sprinting full out towards the vault, his feet carrying him in long, measured strides. He threw himself into the round-off and hit the horse and the perfect trajectory.
His body piked itself, hands against the backs of his knees and then he spotted the ground, released his legs and felt his feet hit the mat. His body weight lurched forward slightly and he put a foot out to steady himself, before he raised his arms showing control over his landing.
He caught Sasha's eye on the floor and his coach as always had some instruction, "Good job, on the Driggs now, watch you hips, no piking. Everything ramrod straight all the way through," Sasha followed his path back down toward the end of the run. "Hit that horse and let yourself fly."
Austin nodded quickly and flexed his wrists. He knew his score would be posted, but he didn't care. It wouldn't matter what he scored unless he hit his second vault.
He stood at the edge of the run waiting for the flag, visualizing his second and final skill of the day, the final skill of these games. He looked around quickly, allowing himself just a second to take it in and then focused again. It would be a direct run onto the spring board, a quarter twist onto the horse and then a two and a half off.
The flag went up.
He raised his arm in salute, then focused his vision down the run. Then his legs were carrying him down again, bounding off the board, catching sight of the vault quickly before it was gone and he was twisting in the air, his body straight as Sasha had instructed, his feet landing firmly on the mat in his blind landing."
His breath pushed out of his lungs as he turned and bowed to the judges before clenching his hand in a fist, pumping it quickly.
The first face he saw was Sasha's lit up in a huge smile. He reached out with his hand and his coach grabbed it, pulling him in for a one armed hug.
"Thank you," Austin said and he meant it. Sasha had taken a chance on him, allowing him into the Rock to train, despite his reputation.
Sasha pulled back and shook his head, he silently nodded towards the score board.
Men's Vault - Final Results
1. Tucker, Austin [USA] V1: 16.45 V2: 16.35 Avg: 16.40
2. Tipsarovic, Ivan [RUS] V1: 16.25 V2: 16.25 Avg: 16.25
3. Rossini, Enrico [ITA] V1: 16.15 V2: 16.25 Avg: 16.20
Austin raised his arms in the air as he looked up into the stands. For a moment, a fleeting one, he wished his family was there. He wanted to see his parents and his sister in those seats, standing and cheering.
They marched off the floor and that feeling of hollowness was suddenly filled as he was immediately accosted by two tiny girls, leaping upon him, embracing him tightly. Payson pulled away first, allowing Kelly to remain in his arms. Her eyes twinkled at him and he knew Kelly told her that she'd be staying in London.
"Congratulations," Kelly mumbled into the skin of his neck.
Payson moved away with a wink, lining up with the other girls competing on vault. His eyes landed on Kaylie at the front of that line for a moment, but she was steadfastly not looking in his direction. His arms closed around Kelly's waist tightly as the women's vault competitors moved into the arena to the loud cheers of the crowd, most of whom were in attendance to see Payson go for her sweep.
"You did good, Tucker," Kelly said as he released her.
He leaned down and kissed her lightly. He realized in that moment that in the absence of his family, his flesh and blood, these girls, his teammates, his friends, his coach, the family he'd chosen was there for him. And as he softly cupped Kelly's cheek, drawing her towards him again, Austin Tucker, for the first time in a very long time, was completely happy.