Raistafina

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[maiashibutanis]

[aliyaandaly]

[aliyaandaly]

Walk Through Fire

Chapter 5: With Wings

I look to you, when I see nothing

—

“It’s weird isn’t it?”

Aliya turns her head at the familiar voice, her eyebrows raising as Jordyn makes her way through the stands towards where she’s sat.

It surprises her at first how nonchalant the other girl is, just years ago Aliya couldn’t make a move in London without Jordyn’s eyes boring into her.

But to the Wisconsin native it was like no animosity between them had ever occurred. “What’s weird?” Aliya inquires, looking around the training gym.

“Seeing her back on the mat.” Jordyn sets her bag down and takes the seat next to Aliya, a kind smile on her face. Aliya had been in America for almost a year now, and she had seen Jordyn many times since but there was still an uneasiness that came with her.

“Yes…it’s weird but in a good way. She’s happy in the gym.” Aliya smiles after Aly sticks a tumble pass and turns to the stands to wave at her.

“Are you going to train for Tokyo?”

Aliya turns to look at Jordyn, biting her lip before she shrugs  her shoulders. “I’ve been thinking about it—but it’s hard to do from America, I’d have to return to Russia…”

The older girl nods in understanding as she plays with the strings of her UCLA hoodie.

Sensing an awkwardness about to overtake the conversation Aliya chooses to make an effort because if the girl who used to very much dislike her was going to make one so was she.

“Why did you leave elite so early? I believe you would have done well in Rio.”

Jordyn’s lips tug up into a surprised smile at Aliya’s words and she takes a deep breath, leaning back to look about her surroundings as she speaks.

“I wanted to…I really did but in all honesty? I could never compete with Aly and once Simone came along there was no way I’d even make the podium, especially with you around as well.”

There’s a light teasing tone to her voice that lets Aliya know there’s no bitterness towards her, just pure honesty from one gymnast to another. It kind of makes her feel for Jordyn in a way she never thought she’d be able to.

She remembers the immense heartbreak the gymnast had gone through when Aly had knocked her out of the all around qualifications.

She could only imagine then what had been going through Jordyn’s head.

Even though Aliya owed her nothing, and she didn’t feel like she necessarily did a part of her felt as if she should apologize.

“I’m sorry...”

Jordyn shakes her head and sets her hand on Aliya’s arm comfortingly, a gesture that surprises the Russian but she doesn’t flinch away from it.

“Don’t be, you can’t help being an amazing gymnast and neither can Aly.”

She doesn’t know what compels her to say it, or why she’s suddenly so comfortable with opening up to Jordyn Wieber. “I admit it threw me a bit—when she told me, it’s put some things on hold for us…”

“Like the wedding?” Aliya nods, swallowing around the emotion in her throat because it was hurting her a lot more than she let Aly know.

“Once Aly gets fixated on something she really throws herself into it, you probably know that about her, but she won’t forget about what means most to her in the end.”

Aliya tries to let Jordyn’s words comfort her but as she watches Aly fly through her perfect routines she wonders if she can only realize these things once it’s too late.

“If you ever need a friend I want you to know I’m here.”

Aliya looks wide eyed at the girl next to her as Jordyn lets out a chuckle.

“I know we don’t have the smoothest history, and I was definitely a bitch to you in London but I want you to know you can always talk to me—if you’re lonely or feeling like you can’t tell Aly something.”

Before she can reply her phone is gently taken out of her hand and Jordyn adds her contact in her address book. She stands once she’s done and slings her bag over her shoulder, leaving Aliya to just blink down at the screen of her phone.

“Shoot me a text, we can grab coffee sometime.”

And with that the UCLA gymnast is gone down the steps. Aliya blinks once more before she looks up to catch Aly’s confused eye. She gives Aliya a curious look to which she just brushes off.

Aly turns and watches Jordyn exit through the gym doors but not before she gives one last look to Aliya in the stands which she believes goes unnoticed.

An uneasy feeling settles into Aly’s chest but she snaps out of it quickly as Mihai tells her to wrap up her training for the day.

—

“What were you and Jordyn talking about…?”

Aly flexes her hands on the steering wheel, keeping her eyes ahead when she feels Aliya shift beside her in the car. It had taken her about thirty minutes to ask her because at first it seemed like nothing and she should just let it go but slowly it ate away at her resolve.

“We were just talking about London and how well you were doing being back in the gym.” Aliya smiles at her before returning her gaze to the window.

Aly wanted to scoff she knew Jordyn wasn’t ever that nice about her but something about the way Aliya said it made her know it was genuine.

She reaches her hand over to take Aliya’s with a small smile. “She just seemed really interested in talking to you, it confused me…”

Aliya sighs with a small nod of agreement, “Me too. I didn’t think she liked me.”

To Aly’s knowledge she didn't think the other girl did either but she was slowly beginning to think Jordyn had another agenda.

She didn’t want to think badly of the girl but her mind was in overdrive from training and what not so she really didn’t have time to be fucked with by Jordyn.

“She gave me her number, to get coffee sometime.”

Aly almost slammed the breaks but instead just felt her stomach drop. What the fuck?

“Why would you two need to get coffee?”

Aliya shakes her head not really having an answer herself and that worries Aly even more. “I will not go if you don’t want me to.”

Aly shakes her head quickly, wanting to be far from a controlling girlfriend but something about this just didn’t feel right, but she trusted Aliya, more than anyone.

“No, no it’s fine…I just don’t know why she’s suddenly being nice to you and I.”

Aliya lifts her shoulders up before she returns her gaze to the passing Malibu landscapes. “She’s trying to patch things up, and get closure. I think it’s nice of her.”

Aly just nods her head dumbly and fixates her eyes directly on the road in front of her, Aliya not noticing how white her knuckles were turning gripping the steering wheel.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

—

"Thank you…I mean…spasibo!”

Aly smiles awkwardly at the Russian cab driver before sliding out of the car, squinting at the apartment complex in front of her. She looks down at her phone notes, making sure this was the address Maria gave her.

She takes her suitcase and backpack, heaving a deep breath as her eyes stay in front of her at the door.

The very door that her entire world could be behind right now. She was just inches away but for some reason the distance felt greater.

After being separated from Aliya for two months already she wasn’t quite sure what she was going to find on the other side, and that frightened her, it actually scared her shitless to think that she’s come all this way for nothing.

Don’t fucking think that way. Don’t be a coward, do the right thing this time!

She shakes her head, trying to rid herself of the negative thoughts before she reaches out and wraps her knuckles against the door. She only has to wait a few seconds before the object flies open and she’s greeted with a bright faced Maria.

Aly opens her mouth to speak before she’s pulled into a tight hug, Maria almost picking her up off her feet. “Privet, Aly!”

“Maria, hi…thank you so much for just helping me out and just everything...letting me know Aliya is safe, it means the world to me.”

She bites her lip when they pull back from the hug, giving Maria a genuine smile as the other girl nods understandingly and helps her inside.

The apartment is small but very elegant and put together, it looked like how Aly would expect Maria’s place to look, and it also had an air of coziness to it. She kind of felt sad that Maria lived here alone.

She scans her eyes throughout the room, trying to prepare herself for when she comes face to face with Aliya but she doesn’t sense anyone else in the apartment.

“She’s out now getting groceries…”

As if Maria could read her mind she gently takes Aly’s jacket to hang up as she follows her into the kitchen. “Do you think she’ll hate me for just showing up?”

Maria shakes her head before she takes a real look at the disheveled girl. Distance and heartbreak did not suit Aly well but she was somehow still beautiful beneath all the layers of pain.

“Nyet. I think she will not know what to do.” Maria leans against the counter and folds her arms in front of her, giving Aly her honest opinion.

“I love her so much—I can’t be without her and I won’t make the same mistakes…”

Maria motions for Aly to sit as she moves to pour her a glass of water. She slides the glass across the table to Aly who gives her a small thankful smile, the trip had been anything but relaxing and the exhaustion and jet lag was starting to seep into her system.

“She still loves you, she never stopped. You may be at odds with each other but I know she would never stop loving you.”

She swallows down her water quickly, trying to hold back the tears that are threatening to spill and instead takes a few strides forward and wraps Maria in a hug once again.

“Thank you Maria, I have always…always valued your support to me, Aliya, and us together…”

It's interesting to her to sometimes stop and think about the sacrifices that Maria has had to make in her life. Simone included in that of course. She wants to ask about the two of them but she thinks she'll save that for later.

She can see it in Simone's eyes when they're together, there's this underlying glint of pain-and she just knows it has to do with Maria. She doesn't approach the subject because the last time she almost got her head ripped off.

A part of her hopes that Maria will come to America, just to see Simone smile in that beaming way.

Aly pulls back and touches Maria’s cheek with her palm, tilting her head slightly. “You’ve done so much for me…for Aliya, I—“

Before she can get sentimental Maria stops her with a quick shake of her head and a smile. “Save your energy for later, now you should sleep it’s a long trip…she’ll be here when you wake up.”

Aly bites her lip, letting Maria lead her to the spare room. What if Aliya wasn’t there when she woke up?

What if I wake up and I’m back in California without her?

“I promise. She acts like she does not miss you but I know she truly does.”

She sets her bags down on the ground and crawls onto the warm bed, the scent of Aliya instantly overtaking her as she clutches at the sheets and blankets.

She’s so overwhelmed she just basks in the familiar scent she’s missed so much.

Maria closes the door with a soft click and lets Aly drift away to sleep, her body finally begins to power down and she lets the warm blankets and pillows be all that she needs right now.

She would put all the power into fighting for Aliya once she’s fully charged.

—

“I didn’t think you’d actually show up.”

Aliya smiles and takes a seat across from Jordyn, holding her coffee in one hand. “I’m not the bitch everyone makes me out to be.”

Jordyn smiles as well before she lets out a laugh and sits back in her chair, surveying Aliya.

“Touché, Mustafina.”

“Aly is training and I was stuck at home…it’s nice to get out of the house.” Aliya takes a few sips from her cup, observing at Jordyn over the lid.

“So why did you decide to?”

Aliya avoids making eye contact with the other girl and fiddles with the sugar packets in the center of the table before speaking,

“Like I said, I was stuck at home…Aly has been in the gym every day this week, I was lonely…”

Jordyn nods understandingly and resists the heavy urge to reach across the table and take Aliya’s hand. She’s not sure why the woman in front of her is entirely different from the steel Russian gymnast she used to hate but she sees Aliya for what Aly sees in her.

She’s pure beauty, everything she does, even the flick of her hair is beautiful and Jordyn finds herself absolutely mesmerized.

A part of her grows even more agitated with Aly for ignoring such an angelic human being. But that was very like Aly, to be very selfish without truly realizing it, or at least that’s how Jordyn saw it.

People didn’t trust her word as much because of the rifts she has had with Aly but she can only stick true to her word and what she sees in front of her is someone that Aly is slowly hurting.

“I hate to see you so lonely.”

She doesn’t know why but it just slips out and Aliya is staring at her with wide eyes and she’s not sure if it’s because what she said was so soft or because she’d never expect to hear it from someone like Jordyn Wieber.

Aliya opens her mouth and some retort is on the tip of her tongue but she loses it the minute she looks at Jordyn’s genuine expression. She’s at a loss for words and she can’t quite figure out why she isn’t being more hesitant towards Jordyn.

This is the girl that used to be Aly’s best friend and not to mention one of her fiercest competitors but she doesn’t quite see that anymore.

She doesn’t know what she sees, yet instead of standing and leaving she takes another sip from her cup, the two of them collectively letting out a breath.

—

She can hear her.

She knows that voice anywhere, it’s angelic, soft yet has an edge to it that’s all commanding and powerful. It’s Aliya Mustafina’s voice. There’s no doubt.

Aly’s eyelids feel heavy and her body feels like a thousand cement blocks are weighing her down but she forces herself awake. Her eyes take a moment to adjust before she looks around at her surroundings.

Nothing is familiar, even the bed beneath her is foreign and for a second she thinks she’s still dreaming seeing as Aliya’s voice is only getting louder then she remembers.

Plane. Russia. Maria. Fuck.

She sits herself up before rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She can hear Maria and Aliya talking downstairs and from the tones of their voices it didn’t seem to be a very pleasant conversation.

Aly slowly lifts herself from the bed to stretch her sore limbs. Being on a cramped plane for hours hadn’t done amazing things for her body right now. She takes a few steps forward to push the door open, the two voices more clearer now.

They’re speaking quickly but Aly has studied Russian for a few years now, she can understand to a reasonable knowledge.

“Why did you even let her in here, Masha?!”

“You know I would never reject Aly, she came for you, Alka! For God’s sake you’re being stupid she came for you!”

The two Russians don’t notice Aly until she’s literally standing a couple of feet away from the arguing pair.

Aliya is the first to turn and it steals Aly’s breath straight from her lungs when she comes to face to face with the woman after so much time.

This time was different from their reunion in Rio the first day—back then Aliya had been struggling under so many weights it was hard to see she was really in there but not this time, Aliya is fully there and she’s never looked more broken.

Aly can fully see her and it’s earth shattering because this is all she’s wanted, this is all Aliya’s wanted, but neither of them can find it in them to just move forward.

Maria looks between the two, folding her arms in front of her chest knowingly. She gives Aliya a pointed look and waves her hand.

“I refuse to send Aly away, she’s come so far—stop being…stop being stupid!”

Aliya flashes her eyes warningly at Maria who doesn’t even falter. She’s never spoken to Aliya in that way before, but this isn’t about Maria defying her in anyway it’s about being a true friend and in being that she has to make Aliya realize it’s time to fix things.

“I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Maria slips away just leaving Aly and Aliya still staring at each other. Every bit of their history is flooding back into their bodies and the emotion is almost too much for Aly right now.

“Aliya,” she breathes out, reaching forward to take Aliya’s hand and exhaling again when she doesn’t flinch away.

Her bottom lip is quivering, Aly knows her so well to know she’s holding back, she sees the wall she’s put up.

She shakes her head slowly, squeezing her palm tightly between hers. Aly’s voice cracks when she finally speaks but the emotion behind it is not lost on Aliya, not at all.

“I will never, ever…let you walk away from us.”

—

So tell me where to find you, and tell me where to go

[aliyaandaly]

Walk Through Fire

Chapter 4: Without a Word 

Tell me that all we had were lies, show me that you don't care

—

“I think we should start looking at venues, maybe florists?”

Aliya takes a seat on the couch next to Aly in their den, stacks of print outs in her arms and it’s such a cute sight to see her so excited Aly reaches out and pulls her into her, the other girl squealing in delight.

“Hello there…how was the gym today?”

Aly places a tiny kiss to Aliya’s shoulder and starts to comb through the various brochures and papers with her, shrugging nonchalantly as her run in with Jordyn from a few days ago jumps back into her mind.

“Not too bad, just easing back into it, Mihai is starting to get intense again.”

Aliya nods absently and lays out her favorite picks on the coffee table in front of them, Aly scanning them over carefully as she listens to the explanation for each of them. Her mind starts to wander to the calendar that Mihai was showing her earlier that day.

There were so many competitions booked for the coming months and between that there were numerous training sessions and promotional things to do. She didn’t realize she’d been zoned out the entire time until Aliya gives her a small nudge.

“What do you think about this one?”

Aly comes back from her cluttered mind and looks at the photos that Aliya is trying to show her. Her eyes scan over the various locations and she smiles at how beautiful each one is.

“It’s hard to choose, all of them are so different from each other!”

Aly’s mind starts to wander again to earlier, her hand absently runs up and down Aliya’s back as the Russian speaks to her excitedly, yet everything is going over her head and all she can think about is telling Aliya about Tokyo but she doesn’t know what’s stopping her.

“Are you okay?”

Aliya frames her face between her palms and examines her closely, trying to see if she’s hurt visibly in any way. “Is it training?”

She shakes her head and smiles, shaking her head out of Aliya’s hands as she takes her palm’s and kisses them softly. Aly relishes in the feeling of her girlfriend’s warm skin, the beating of her pulse right under her lips just reminding her that all of this is a reality.

“I’m just tired—long day of doing the floor and stuff…”

Aliya looks at her sympathetically and runs her fingers over her jaw before she places a gentle kiss on her nose. “Go shower and then take a nap…I can look through these.”

Aly frowns and shakes her head, her grip on Aliya tightens but the younger girl just shakes her head and smiles at her reassuringly. “Do not worry, you can look at them tonight when you’re rested.”

She stands reluctantly but leans in and drops a loving kiss to Aliya’s lips, inhaling the familiar and comforting scent of her fiancé.

“I love you,” Aly whispers to her, meaning every ounce of it as she frames Aliya’s face before pulling back. “Join me?”

Aliya smiles teasingly before shaking her head and taking her seat back on the couch. “I’m going to look through these but another time, I promise.”

Aly drops one last kiss to her forehead before making her way to the stairs, she’s halfway up the railing when she turns and watches Aliya on the couch. Her eyes scour every inch of her that she can see, in its ultimate perfection she has never admired her more.

The way her hair falls over her shoulders like perfect chocolate waterfalls, the way her fingers traced over every photo she holds in her hand as if she were trying to physically feel the flowers, and feel the landscapes of the venues.

She bites her lip guiltily, her hand pausing its decent on the banister. She could tell her right now, there’s nothing holding her back from doing so and Aliya had a right to know as her fiancé but something was telling Aly to hold off—but she can’t figure out why.

“Doesn’t she have a right to know?”

Jordyn’s words echo in her mind and send a pang of guilt straight to her stomach. It just wasn’t the right time, they were planning a wedding and telling her would only bring more stress into their lives and they had worked so hard to get to this place of calm.

She could hold off a little while longer, it wasn’t going to hurt them and it wasn’t like she was lying to Aliya directly, she was just waiting to tell her something.

With her mind partially settled she continues her way up the stairs and to their bedroom, trying to shake the anxiety from her tired body.

As she stands in the shower, letting the hot water rush over her spine she can’t help but wonder why she chose to train for Tokyo.

It’s not like she didn’t have enough medals already and no one was really telling her to do it, but there might be a part of her that felt like she owes her team something, owes her country but at this point does she owe her country more than she owes herself?

Or does she owe Aliya? Because after all this time that’s the only person will ever matter when it comes down to the line.

—

“Flight V789 to Moscow, Russia will be boarding shortly, thank you for your patience.”

Aly looks up from her boarding pass as she taps her foot restlessly on the ground. Her carry on sits next to her seat, her earphones successfully drowning out the noise around her.

Just a few more hours and she’d be with Aliya. Like she’s supposed to be. Her phone makes a buzzing sound, interrupting the music playing into her ears and as she glances down to see Mihai’s number on the screen she feels a bought of anger course through her and she aggressively presses the ‘ignore’ button.

Nothing mattered anymore than getting to Moscow and finding her heart. It was halfway across the world right now and she felt the absence grow deeper and deeper everyday.

It’s as if someone has pulled her heartstrings over continents and borders just to tug at them from day to day.

Aliya’s ring sits in her jacket pocket while her hand holds it, feeling the metal between her fingers gives her comfort on hard days. She hasn’t really let it go since she left, her skin is always touching it but never wearing it, no, the ring was only one person’s to wear and one person alone.

“We are now boarding our first class passengers on flight V789 to Moscow.”

Aly’s ears perk up at the flight attendant’s voice, she stands and walks eagerly to the line, anxious to get on board and away from California.

The city of Los Angeles once held so much happiness for her but without Aliya days were bleak, muddled and hard to get through.

It was far colder in Russia, far harsher but right now all she could think about was the chill of the air on her skin, the bite of the wind and the beautiful, glimmering lights of Moscow.

Just as much as America and California specifically had become a home for Aliya, Moscow had made a special place in Aly’s heart. It wasn’t a home so much as it was a place where so many of her happy memories had been made over the past year.

Moscow to Aly was like a home away from home. It serves as a safe, snowy wonderland where nothing looked more beautiful or felt as warm as Aliya walking down the snow covered streets with her at 1am in the morning, their gloved hands holding one another as small kisses were placed on Aly’s cheek between flurries of snow.

“Enjoy your flight.”

Aly smiles gratefully at the flight attendant once her ticket is scanned, probably more than a normal person flying to Moscow should smile but she can’t help it. Her feet want to move faster down the ramp to the plane but she forces her body to be patient and wait for her turn.

She’s about to take her seat when her stomach twists and a feeling of dread settles deep into her system. What if Aliya absolutely refuses to see her? Should she stay in Moscow no matter what?

You have to. You can’t live without her…

She swallows hard and slowly takes her seat, throwing the flight attendant a reassuring smile when she’s given a worried look.

Once her seatbelt is fastened securely around her waist she finally exhales, trying to get all of her anxiety to leave her with every breath.

The plane begins its creep towards the runway, her hands shaking with every single movement it makes, she wishes she could just blink and be there already. Aly just knew she was going to feel every single minute that was about to come, 12 hours felt like an eternity but she was ready for it.

A part of her knew she was doing a crazy thing by flying halfway across the world but this was for Aliya and in some way Aly knew that this is what she wanted—she wanted Aly to come for her this time instead of running away like a coward.

She’d walk to the end of the earth if it meant bringing Aliya back with her. There’s nothing she can do to make time go faster so with that in mind Aly sits back and tries to relax. Her eyes fall close as the plane begins its takeoff into the night.

I’m coming for you, Aliya, I’m coming.

—

“Hey Aly?”

“Yeah?”

Aly fits her earring into her ear before peaking out from behind their bathroom door. Aliya is laying on their bed, flipping through her laptop when she looks up at her fiancé.

Aliya lifts her beautiful head to smile at her in the doorway, scrunching her nose in that adorable way.

“Are you ever going to help me settle on a venue for October?”

Aly turns back to her reflection in the mirror before fitting her second earring in. She swallows and slowly emerges from their ensuite bathroom. Aliya can instantly sense her nerves and scoots to the end of the bed, offering her hand out reassuringly.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want to do this anymore…?”

Aly’s eyes go wide as saucers and she almost shouts, moving to sit on the bed next to her. “God no! Oh my god, no Aliya this is all I’ve ever wanted…no, that’s not it…”

Aliya’s face relaxes slightly as she moves to kiss away Aly’s anxieties her hand running its way through her hair soothingly. “Tell me, you can tell me anything.”

It’s dumb because she knows she could’ve just told Aliya the moment it happened and it wouldn’t be a big deal but she takes a deep breath and intertwines their fingers absently.

“I decided…to train for Tokyo. I have a few competitions coming up in September and some in October which is why I haven’t made a decision on the venues…”

She braces herself for the anger that is going to sweep over her girlfriend but all she gets is a small nod, confused look and a lip bite. It seems like an eternity before Aliya finally speaks,

“When…did you decide this?”

Aly swallows around her guilt once more and squeezes their conjoined hands, her thumb absently tracing itself over the diamond ring on Aliya’s finger.

“A few weeks ago—I’ve been meaning to tell you and I wasn’t hiding it, we’re just so happy about the engagement I wanted to focus on that and not me…”

She prepares herself for Aliya’s reaction but all she gets again is a nod and for some reason that motion is beginning to worry her.

“Aly, you know I’ll support you in everything. I am very proud of you…I love you.”

A small wave of relief washes over her before she surges forward and connects their lips, just needing to feel Aliya against her, knowing she’s there and Aly’s fuck up didn’t drive a wedge between them.

“I am happy about the engagement yes, but I love you and I want you to trust me—“

“It wasn’t a lack of trust…I—I honestly don’t know what it was, I just didn’t want to ruin what we have right now.”

Aliya shakes her head and kisses her back gently, placing one hand on her jaw to trace the outline of her cheek. “Nothing can ruin this. I wish you had told me…we can delay planning some things until you know your schedule.”

For some reason a bullet of guilt hits Aly this time and it’s because after all this hiding and not telling Aliya the moment she does she’s met with the most understanding reaction ever. She mentally hits herself for keeping this to herself in fear.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best person on earth?”

Aliya smiles shyly and shakes her head, standing to pick out a dress for dinner with Aly’s parents. “I’ve been told that.”

But Aly should have known, she should have known that repercussions sometimes start small and build themselves out like ripples.

She should have noticed it that night at dinner as she sat across from Aliya and as the four of them chatted happily about the wedding, Tokyo and what not. She should have seen the flashes of sadness that crossed Aliya’s face.

They were there, every sign that Aly had hurt her were there but in her success over telling Aliya she lost sight of what was really under the surface.

Aliya spins her fork between her fingers and stares down at the food she’s barely touched since it was placed in front of her. Lynn inquires her sometime during the dinner if she’s not feeling well which she replies with a ‘kind of’.

She was starving when they left the house but something else was sitting in her stomach, it wasn’t anger or sadness it was a kind of disappointment—a hurt. A hurt that was building itself out so gradually that just looking at her food kind of made her sick right now.

Aly gently knocks her foot under the table and mouths ‘are you okay?’ and Aliya forces a smile back and a nod before mouthing in return, ‘I had a big lunch.’

The dinner continues in a normal fashion but once the two of them are tucked away in bed and the clock on the table reads 3:00am, Aliya lays awake with wide eyes, Aly’s arms around her waist as she sleeps silently next to her.

Why didn’t she tell me? Is she getting second thoughts about the wedding?

It wasn’t until that very moment earlier in the night was Aliya 100% sure that she was the most important thing in Aly’s life.

Now as she lays awake with anxiety pooling in her system she can’t help but think if their entire relationship will be a competition between her and gymnastics. She wonders if she’ll always be worrying whether she comes in second to gymnastics in Aly’s life and she can’t quite wrap her head around this worry.

Gymnastics had been the number one thing in her life for years until she met Aly. The road from London to Rio changed so many things for her and in return she had created a place for Aly in her life that knocked gymnastics down a few spots, and she was fine with that, she actually always knew Aly belonged in that place over anything else.

But did Aly truly make the same place for Aliya in her life?

—

I'll stay here if you prefer, yes I'll leave you without a word

[aliyaandaly]

Walk Through Fire

Chapter 3: Won't Go Home Without You

Every night you cry yourself to sleep thinking: "why does this happen to me?"

—

Ring, ring, ring…

“I’m here.”

Silence encompasses the room and the only sound that can barely be heard is the sound of their collective breathing. Aly presses her phone as close as she can to her ear, believing that in some universe it’s her way of getting closer to Aliya.

This had been turning into a bad habit. Calling each other and not saying anything. Neither of them knew what to say, every time Aly thought she knew it got caught in her throat and she felt like choking.

She assumed it was the same for Aliya. But, here they were. Almost everyday at the same time on the dot.

Aly or Aliya’s phone would ring and they didn’t even have to look at their caller ID’s to know who it was.

They never said anything, sometimes it was a “how are you?” or a “I’m well”, but otherwise complete silence beyond that. Aly didn’t know what it was, just sitting in those few moments and knowing Aliya was on the other end of the line.

The girl had broken her damn heart and yet the best part of her day was knowing this phone call would happen.

Knowing Aliya was there, knowing she was alive, breathing, listening. Yet despite all of that there was still a gaping hole in Aly’s chest and she was determined to fix it.

She was determined to not let them fall back into the pattern that they went through four years ago, she wasn’t going to let Aliya slip through her fingers, they could make it she knew they could they both just had to believe it and she wasn’t sure if Aliya did.

“I’m with Masha, in Moscow. I’m safe.”

Aly swallows hard, her fingers gripping her phone tighter as she brings a hand to her mouth. Aliya’s voice floods her ears and into her brain, making her feel like she can’t breathe a second longer without her.

“Y-You are?”

She can feel Aliya tense on the other line like she has more to say and Aly is on the edge of her seat, about to fall or stay and Aliya is controlling all of it.

“I…I don’t know why I’m here.”

Aliya’s voice comes out small, withered, like its been through so much and just making the effort to say these words to Aly is slowly killing her.

In a way she does know why she’s in Masha’s kitchen, thousands of miles from America, but a part of her also cannot bring herself to realize her current situation.

“Then come home, just come home.”

Aly doesn’t want her voice to sound desperate but she can’t help it, everything about her lately just screams desperate but she doesn’t care, this is what she amounts to without Aliya.

“I…can’t.”

It shatters Aliya to say the words and she hadn’t realized until now that this wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. She couldn’t just go back, not now. The miles between them were tearing her apart everyday but she didn’t have the strength to face Aly.

“Then I’m coming to Moscow.”

“Aly—“

Aliya can’t even get a sentence out before the line goes dead and she’s left with silence on the other end.

—

Aliya stares down at the paper in front of her, her hand holding her pencil faltering a bit as she tries to take the words from her head and put them down. She bites her lip in thought, scrunching her forehead together.

“You’re doing really well, babe.”

Aly smiles proudly at her, ghosting her hand over her girlfriend’s as she rests her palm on top of Aliya’s knuckles. The younger girl visibly relaxes but her expression still remains tense. There are good and bad days with learning English.

Somedays she’s on a streak and she can physically feel herself grasping the language then other days it’s like she hits a brick wall.

Aly can see it, see her struggle and it tugs at her heart strings but she reassures her even on her bad days she’s learning.

Seeing Aliya put this much effort into something that wasn’t a sport surprised Aly at first, the amount of dedication that came from the Russian was overwhelming emotionally for her because she was doing this all for her in the end; to be able to communicate with her, her family and friends.

“Why don’t we take a break from adjectives for a little?”

Aliya gratefully drops her pencil onto the paper and sits back with a long relieved sigh, running her hands over her face in exhaustion.

Aly bites her lip and shuffles the note cards in her hands absently, Aliya giving her an affectionate smile from behind her hands.

“I’m really proud of you, Alka. So proud.”

Aly’s beam of pride makes Aliya’s heart jump out of her chest, even after all this time it’s still the best fucking feeling in the world. A high that nothing else could ever compete with.

“Give me some more.”

Aliya sets her jaw determinedly and motions to the cards in Aly’s hand, raising an eyebrow. Aliya was a lot of things, some good, some not so good but she definitely at the core of being was not a quitter.

It’s then that she notices there’s a small shake in Aly’s hands, her eyes follow her arms up to her face and she gives a small inquiring look to her girlfriend. She sees the creep of a smile tug at the American’s lips and she knows it all too well.

“Aly?”

The other girl gives a shake of her head and a small smile before sliding a notecard to Aliya. There’s a small blush to her cheeks and her eyes are following Aliya’s every movements but her smile is genuine.

“Try to read this one…”

Aliya rolls her eyes in response, knowing Aly too well it was probably a difficult sentence because she liked to push her. She knew it was so she would learn and take on challenges but Aliya was tired, her mind is a jumble of Russian and English; it was overwhelming and sometimes too much.

She gives Aly a reproachful look but smiles and lifts the notecard, turning the piece of paper over in her fingers her breath catches and her eyes widen. Her mouth goes dry and suddenly everything slows down and it’s just her and the card.

“Will you marry me?”

Is written across the lines in Aly’s neat handwriting. Aliya may not have been studying the English language for too long but this was a phrase she didn’t even need to know a single English word for. She had been waiting to hear these words since she met Aly Raisman.

She lifts her eyes up just in time to meet Aly’s, hers shimmer with unshed tears and her smile has never felt wider across her face.

Aly’s knee bounces anxiously under the table and she gives Aliya a look like she’s waiting for an answer and the gears have to start moving in her head again when she realizes she never said anything in response.

“…Yes! Yes, of course! Aly I have never wanted anything more…!”

The watery giggle that escapes from Aly’s throat is contagious and Aliya soon finds herself laughing as well and she doesn’t even know why. Before she knows it she sees Aly remove a small box from her coat pocket and open it.

The diamond ring that stares back at Aliya is something she’s needed her entire life but just never knew it. Not so much the ring but the symbolism of it is what grounds her in this moment. This promise that the both of them are making; never to repeat the same mistakes they both made prior.

She holds out her hand eagerly and the ring slips effortlessly onto her finger like it was made just for her and no one else. She surges forward and frames Aly’s face in her hands, kissing her with everything she has, giving her everything she is.

“I’ll always say yes. Always.”

She whispers her words into their kiss, against the lips of the woman she loves and she means them. She means them with her entire being.

—

“So you’ve decided to go for Tokyo?”

Aly looks up from her phone to Jordyn who’s standing a couple feet away from her. She’s sat in the bleachers of the gym, chewing her lip anxiously as she reviews a rather long email from her dad.

“How did you hear?”

Jordyn fiddles with the tie on her sweatpants and scoffs gently, giving Aly a condescending look that bothers her more than it should.

“Word travels fast you know that, Aly.”

She nods and sets her phone down, surveying the girl in front of her with curiosity. There was a time where her and Jordyn were inseparable, a time where the two of them were practically glued at the hip but that had all come crashing down the moment Aly had knocked Jordyn off the spot for the all around in London.

The other girl insisted it wouldn’t effect their friendship, she was hurt but it wasn’t Aly’s fault, she insisted that everything would be normal but nothing had ever been normal for them from then on.

When Aly had decided to go for Rio and Jordyn decided to retire from her elite career things had changed even more for the two of them.

Things were cordial between them, there was never any cattiness upfront or in front of coaches, parents or other gymnasts but the animosity that had grown between them had cut Aly at the seams and down the middle.

She hadn’t only lost her best friend in London she lost a confidant, someone she could tell everything to. The loss seemed to effect Aly a lot more than Jordyn. When it came down to it Aly blamed Jordyn and vice versa.

She didn’t really know what she would blame the other girl for, but she had tried everything but just like a flame burning out slowly their texts to one another had become scarce, their phone calls non-existent and their dinner dates a distant memory.

It wasn’t until Aly and Aliya’s relationship came semi-public with her friends and family that Jordyn had started to slowly creep back into her life. When the team had returned from Rio with Aliya in tow Jordyn had been one of the first people to reach out to Aly and offer her support and commend her bravery.

She wasn’t offering her support in a best friend type of way, the way that Aly wanted it, but it was still better than nothing. It had been a bit of a shock to some people on the team, getting used to the idea of a Russian and an American talking let alone being together as a couple.

“Have you told Aliya?”

Aly frowns a bit, slightly taken aback by the question. What gave her the right to even inquire about that?

“Not yet…why?”

Jordyn tries to shrug it off but takes a seat on the bleacher one step down from Aly, still fiddling with the ties of her UCLA sweat pants.

“She’s your fiancé, doesn’t she have the right to know? Training basically controls your life for the next four years.”

Aly’s next words come out a little more aggressive than she intended but it doesn’t seem to effect Jordyn.

“Of course I’m going to tell her, it’s not like I’m keeping it from her, for fuck’s sake Jordyn…”

The other girl just blinks and gives Aly a slight nod in response. Her flippant behavior somewhat pisses her off and for a second she has the idea to ask her what the fuck has been up with her but she stops herself.

Today had been a long training session and the last thing she needed was to get into it with Jordyn Wieber right now.

“I’ve got it under control, thanks.”

Aly stands, slinging her back over her shoulder as she walks towards the end of the bleachers to the exit of the gym.

“Don’t wait, Aly. It won’t end up well, I just want what’s best for you.”

She doesn’t turn around with one hand on the door to push it open, she doesn’t owe Jordyn anything and especially anything about her personal life. She takes a deep breath before pushing through the door and into the parking lot.

—

“I feel naked without it.”

Aliya holds up her ring finger and examines her hand closely, like looking at it will magically make her ring reappear. All Maria can do is nod and watch her friend, as they sit there she wonders if she’ll ever find love just as Aliya had, if she will ever be able to look at her own hand and see a ring there one day.

“Why did you leave it with Aly?”

She doesn’t have an answer right away, the wounds are still so fresh but it’s a valid question if anything she should have taken it with her but she couldn’t bring herself to in that moment.

“I wanted her to have a piece of me…”

Maria raises an eyebrow and presses a little further,

“So you could get it back from her one day?”

She knows that Maria wants her to say she’s going to go back, that she’s going to make things work and even for a second she convinces herself she will but then she remembers everything and it’s like a weight has suddenly been dropped straight back into her stomach making her want to vomit.

“I don’t know Masha, it’s not that simple.”

“It seems like it is!” Maria bangs her hand on the table, not meaning to sound angry but she can’t help it, she can see her best friend going down the same path and she won’t let her this time.

“You sit here and tell me how much you miss her, so go back to her god dammit, Alka! You love her, I know it, everyone knows it!”

“It’s not that simple Masha—“

“Love is never simple but that’s why you work on it...I will not let you and Aly fall apart while I am around, I will not let you be this broken person again!”

They make eye contact and Aliya blinks back the tears threatening to spill. Maria’s right, there’s not a word she’s said that was wrong but it’s still not that simple.

“Love is supposed to make you happy Masha, not tear you apart from the inside.”

Aliya’s voice is firm, her face is stoic, her throat bobbing up and down as she tries to swallow.

“Love doesn’t always make you happy but you can’t run away from it. Stay and fight...”

She shakes her head, her tears falling freely now as she lets them, her vision clouded slightly but she feels Maria’s hand on her shoulder before her arms encircle her into a hug and she holds on tightly, not willing to let go.

She cries into Maria’s shoulder while she tries to whisper comforting words to her but her body is wracked with sobs, everything hitting her at once. She’s out of words, she’s tired of talking, she’s spent.

“I-I don’t know if I can this time…I don’t know if I have any fight left in me.”

—

It's not over tonight, just give me one more chance to make it right

[aliyaandaly]

is there a second chapter to the sequel yet??

Just posted! 

[aliyaandaly]

Walk Through Fire

Chapter 2: Still Missing you

Wedding bells were just alarms, caution tape around my heart

—

“We did it, we did it!”

Aliya lets out an exhausted sigh and falls backwards onto the soft cushions, closing her eyes. Aly smiles at her affectionately, thanking her parents as they bring in the last of the boxes. Moving day had been long but they were so determined to be almost completely moved in by the end of the day that they had pushed through it.

Aly lets out a long exhale before she throws herself onto the cushions next to Aliya, wrapping her arm around her girlfriend and kissing the top of her head. “Mm. Home. I can’t wait to start this new chapter with you.”

Aliya shivers at the whisper that Aly mutters into her hair, excitement, love, and happiness bubbling up into her chest all at once. She feels like she’s on top of the world with Aly, and everything is theirs for the taking.

“Hey we’re going to head over to the hotel, we’ll see you tomorrow for furniture shopping?”

Lynn shuffles into the den area with Rick following behind, a proud beam on her face. Aly sticks her thumb up, leaning her head over the back of the couch.

“Thank you so much…for everything.” Aliya bites her lip and stands, Lynn not even missing a beat as she engulfs Aliya into her arms, kissing the side of her head.

“You’re family now. Never forget that, okay?”

She leans into Lynn’s hold, reveling in the comfort that Aly’s mom exudes, a kind of comfort that even Aliya could never feel from even her own mother.

Once the rest of the Raisman clan pulls out of the drive and Aly kind of figures out how to work the front gate she finds herself staring at the front of the house. She doesn’t know how long she’s been standing there, in the pouring rain too, until she feels Aliya’s hand on her arm and an umbrella looming over her head.

“Why are you standing in the rain?” Aliya nudges Aly’s side, a smile quirking at the corners of her lips as she surveys her girlfriend, always in complete awe at the energy that encompasses Aly Raisman.

“I just…I can’t stop staring at it.”

Aliya turns her head and focuses on the front door, nodding in agreement as she slips her hand into Aly’s. “You’re right…it is like magic. Pure magic.”

Aly turns her head and grins at Aliya before she leans down to press their lips together softly, giggling when a few raindrops hit their noses. “I’m so in love with you.”

Aliya presses her forehead closer to hers, inhaling the same breath as Aly while she cups her cheeks, her stomach doing back flips.

“Nothing will ever allow me to stop loving you.”

Aly feels like crying but she stops and nuzzles her nose against Aliya’s and grins. “Don’t make a promise you can’t keep, Mustafina.”

Aliya snorts and pushes Aly back playfully before yanking her back just as quickly, pressing her lips back against hers hotly.

“Who says I’m not going to keep it?”

—

“Have you given more thought to Tokyo?”

Aly turns her head at the sound of Mihai’s voice, her body presses forward into the bar in front of her, her right leg stretching onto it. “I…haven’t really thought about it. Aliya and I just moved and right now I’m concentrating on her visa and stuff.”

She sounds guilty, because Mihai’s been badgering her about this since the day she finished in Rio but she needs to breathe.

Gymnastics had been her entire life up until a few months ago, now Aliya is her life. It doesn’t mean she can’t have both but she’s not sure where the balance is.

Mihai lets out a groan and rolls his eyes, crossing his arms across his broad chest he looks at Aly carefully, sometimes Mihai knew Aly better than she knew herself.

“Aly, you’re a champion. Champions don’t quit.”

She straightens up this time and takes her leg down from the stretching bar, rolling her neck a bit. She knows it, she doesn’t need Mihai to remind her. The medals in her house are a reminder, but being a champion doesn’t always mean you have to keep going.

“I know, I know. Like I said, my main priority right now is Aliya and building our lives together. I don’t even know if she’s going to return to Tokyo.”

“So?”

“So, for once I’m thinking about my future not in terms of gymnastics right now, I’m sorry Mihai.”

The old man shakes his head, a look of disappointment crossing his face and Aly knows that look all too well. It used to break her, used to cut her straight at the seams when she was younger.

A wrong twist, bad vault, or missed beam step Mihai’s face would reflect the mistake, Aly didn’t even have to feel the disappointment because he would feel it for both of them.

It had wrecked her, time and time again but that’s what had made her better. She’s 22 now, she’s committed almost all of her life to the sport, but now she wants to breathe, wants to live and Mihai doesn't seem like he's going to let her without a fight.

“I’ll think about it. I promise.”

She gives him a forced reassuring smile, walking towards the locker rooms to collect her things. Mihai’s eyes follow her but she ignores it, brushes it off because no matter how hard the old man tries right now just isn't the time she had to be thinking about this.

She’s about to push through the doors when Mihai’s voice catches her off guard, and she knows he isn’t saying it to hurt her, it’s because he cares and he wants her to watch her back.

“Did you hear? The Russian court may not end up charging Sergei.”

She feels ice water spill down her spine, her entire body goes rigid and all she can do is turn and blink at Mihai. He sighs sadly and nods at her, her hand is still on the handle of the door but she can’t find the strength to turn it.

“Does that mean…?”

“Aliya might be brought to testify in Russian court.”

“Then I will go with her.”

Aly’s doesn’t even need time to think about her answer; it’s automatic. She's never had to think twice about following Aliya. It’s in her blood, in her system, everything that she is is only who she is with Aliya.

Mihai sets his lips in a tight line and regards the stubborn girl in front of him. He’s known her since she was ten years old and barely something of herself; now she was this sure and confident woman.

“What is more important to you? Gymnastics or Aliya?”

Aly scoffs in response, anger bubbling up in her throat as she finally regains her strength and pushes through the door. “That’s not even a question.”

—

“Oh my god! Baby!”

Aly tosses her head back when Aliya tugs the back of her hair roughly, her other arm pumping against Aly’s stomach as she clenches around Aliya’s fingers, her eyes rolling into the back of her head.

She sees stars and she can’t comprehend what day, month or year it is but that doesn’t really matter because Aliya is giving her the entire universe right now and she doesn’t need anything else.

She gasps for breath, her lips tangling with Aliya’s once more as they move in complete synch, and she wants to die, to live and to breathe everything that is Aliya Mustafina because there is nothing anyone could ever give her like this.

The slight scissor of Aliya’s fingers finally send her over the edge and she reaches out to grip the side of the bed as her orgasm rips through her like a sixteen wheeler truck.

Every brush of Aliya’s skin on hers burns an invisible path into her skin that she’ll never be able to get rid of. The invisible scars that litter Aly and Aliya’s body will always serve as a reminder of who they belong to and what their love is; all consuming and forever.

She comes with Aliya’s name ripping from her lips, her back arching off their silky sheets into Aliya’s front as the two help each other down from the high. The Russian smirks at her teasingly when she finally cracks her eyes open and she rolls them in response.

“Okay, you win.”

Aliya nudges her nose into the crook of Aly’s neck and blows a small breath of cool air there. “No say it bunny…” She squeezes the American’s hips, her fingers dipping into her abs to trace their outline faintly.

Aly groans and pinches Aliya’s hip, looking at her girlfriend through her lashes. “Fine. Russia wins. Happy?”

The squeal that Aliya emits is the cutest thing ever as she sits up, kneeling beside Aly as she runs her hand soothingly over her legs and stomach. “I told you I could make you come in under fifteen minutes.”

Aly giggles and bats at her hands when they begin to tickle her teasingly, her hair sweaty and some of it is matted to her forehead making her look like she was probably just struck by a tornado but none of that mattered because Aliya just gave her one of the best orgasms ever.

“Now let’s see if I can do the same and win back my title…”

Aly surges forward so quickly it catches Aliya off guard and before she can comprehend anything she’s on her back with Aly pinning her arms, her hot breath tickling her collarbone.

“Not a chance, I’ll hold off.”

Aly doesn’t seem faltered by the threat as her hands slowly wander down Aliya’s toned stomach and thighs, her eyes locked into hers the entire time.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to once I’m done with you.”

—

Aliya looks away from the window and reaches out to take the steaming mug of tea Maria hands her. She bites her lip, turning her eyes back to the pattering rain on the glass. Her shoulders sag a bit and Maria notes that the bags under her eyes indicate the lack of sleep she’s probably getting.

“I’m sorry.”

Aliya’s voice is barely above a soft mumble but Maria hears it regardless. Her eyebrows knit into a frown as she takes a seat across from her best friend, reaching out to take her free hand in hers.

“What would you ever have to be sorry for, Alka?”

It jarred Maria to open the door and see Aliya in front of it weeks ago, but for some reason she can’t explain it was like she felt it—she had felt the complete absence when she had left Aliya in Rio, but now even with Aliya psychically here in her presence after all this time she still felt like no one was really here.

Something was different, she was different. She was a ghost.

“I promised you—that I would come back for you if I ever returned. I failed you.”

Her eyes lift up from her mug and look over at Maria, her lashes obscuring the pain in her eyes but Maria can sense it and it’s all engulfing, almost suffocating. Maria shakes her head, leaning over the table to kiss Aliya’s cheek.

“Never be sorry for that.”

Aliya exhales slowly and nods gratefully to her friend before she turns her attention back to the window. She thought her return to Russia would be happier than this, she expected some sort of emotional return but there wasn’t really anything.

Her family hadn’t even tried to contact her even though she had written her mother multiple times and in truth the only person that knew of her return was Maria.

For some reason she can’t bring herself to bring the cup to her lips, usually tea would soothe her but she’s mesmerized by the fall of the rain and the feel of Maria’s hand in her own.

“Where did you go after you left the house?”

She flashes back to that night, all the memories way too fresh in her mind still, even after all these months. She shifts uncomfortably, shrugging but still not looking at Maria.

“I went to Jordyn’s, I did not have anywhere else to go on short notice.”

Maria sucks in a sharper breath than she means to and sits back in her seat. “Does Aly know that?”

Aliya quickly shakes her head a pang of guilt hitting her in the chest. It’s not like she had anything to be guilty for really, Jordyn was just helping her, and she hadn't done it to intentionally hurt Aly but she knew it was the one place Aly wouldn't come looking for her. Even so she knew it would wreck Aly if she found out Jordyn had harbored her broken soul for the two weeks she had stayed there.

“I’m not in love with Jordyn, we never did anything, but Aly was always threatened by her and I don’t know why.”

Maria gives Aliya a look, pursing her lips as she takes a quick sip from her cup. “You do know why.”

Aliya refuses to believe that the dissolution of Aly and Jordyn's friendship was all due to her, it’s much more complex than people saw it from the outside but there was no possible way of explaining it to Maria in this moment.

“Do you miss her?”

Maria regards Aliya thoughtfully, her head tilts slightly and she can’t help but watch the shattered expression that flashes across Aliya’s face, yet it’s only for a second before her cold stoic features return.

A small silence falls over Maria’s kitchen, it’s not awkward but it charges the air with something indescribable. As the two sit in the small apartment, the city of Moscow below them Maria isn’t sure whether Aly and Aliya will make it out this time, she’s not sure if they can return from the gate of hell that they’ve opened because everything’s different now.

They’re a little older, wiser, and more emotional. Maria could tell in Rio how much Aliya was still in love with Aly but now only a year and a half later she can’t tell what Aliya’s emotions are at all.

Even though a part of Maria is selfish and is cherishing every moment she has with Aliya once more she knows that her friend does not belong here anymore; and she hasn’t for a long time. She belongs with Aly.

Her voice is small and genuine when she finally replies, and Maria is more shocked by the emotion behind her words than she should be.

“Everyday. It’s like someone has cut my heart straight out of my chest.”

—

And I'm always tired, but never of you

A/N: I'm so sorry for the delay in updating! I've been really busy with school, work and life but I haven't forgotten about this and I'll try to update more frequently. I'm so happy people are enjoying the sequel so far, I'm excited to let their new story unfoldThis story will be a little different than "Stay" it will jump back and forth between past and present a little more frequently to explain certain details of their situation etc.You've probably heard by now that Aliya got married this past week, congrats to her but it definitely should have been to Aly! As always thank you so much for the support - I love you all.xx

[aliyaandaly]

Walk Through Fire

Chapter 1: Prologue: Baby, It’s All Wrong (sequel to Stay)

Yeah, I know it's hard to remember, the people we used to be

—

“Hi! You’ve reached the home of Aly Raisman and Aliya Mustafina. We’re not home right now so please leave a message and we’ll get right back to you, thanks!”

Beeeeeeep!

“Hey, it’s Simone! I got back from Texas yesterday, I came around to see if anyone was here. My trip was okay, longer than usual but I slept most of the ride...I finally watched Pitch Perfect 2 on the plane—it was really good! Anyways, where are you guys?”

—

Her heart is raging in her ears so loud she can’t hear anything going on in her surroundings, even as she crashes into various tables and walls the only thing ringing in her head is the rapid beat.

Her vision is going in and out of being blurry, she also swears she’s tripped over the same object twice but she’s probably just going insane, that would be a much better excuse than the reality she’s in right now.

She hears a crash upstairs as her hands find the railing of the stairwell, her body forcing her legs to sprint up the steps. She stumbles on the landing as Aliya rushes past her into their bedroom, lugging suitcases and various items, some falling out of her full arms.

“Aliya! Aliya, look at me and just stop, please...!”

Gibson barks worriedly next to her when she trips over the assemblage of clothes and objects littering their bedroom floor, Aliya in the center of the room stuffing various items into her bags.

Her breathing is ragged and the tears falling freely from her cheeks are obscuring her vision to properly handle the articles of clothing she’s stuffing into her suitcase but she doesn’t have time to stop and take a breath.

“You can’t leave, I won't let you!”

Aly can’t stop the shaking of her hands, her eyes scan the room that’s now in complete array but she can’t get her body to move towards Aliya. Her body feels numb, her lungs are heavy in her throat and her heart is beating so wildly she feels as if she might die any second.

She hears the zipper of one of Aliya’s suitcases and finally fines the strength to surge forward onto the carpet next to Aliya, her hands frantically trying to tear the clothes and bags away from her Aliya’s shaking form.

“Aly, please, just let me go!”

She doesn’t feel Aliya shoving her away from her things because her entire body is numb, she doesn't feel a thing until her back meets the end of their bed with a thud and she’s left trying to scramble to her feet, almost tripping over a clothes hanger.

—

“I wanted to call and check in…haven’t heard from either of you in a while…”

Simone twirls her umbrella between her fingers as her voice trails off and her eyes move to look up at the large Malibu house. She shifts her phone pressed to her ear with a small sigh. There was no car in the driveway at the moment. The house lights weren’t on either, and it doesn’t look like anyone had been home for a long time.

She shuffles to the gate off to the side of the drive and glances beyond it to the yard but sees no sign of anyone out there either. Her eyes settle on the pool a few feet away which is filled with a few floating devices, but otherwise it just sits there quietly, rippling with raindrops that fall every now and then.

She sighs heavily, her fingers still resting on the gate contemplating whether to walk through or not. This was the third time this week she had visited the house and still no one.

Simone doesn’t even hear the sound of Gibson barking at the door which is surprising because that little dog knows whenever she was even within a mile of the house.

—

“Aliya just stop for a fucking second—!”

Aly clumsily makes her way down the stairs following Aliya racing through the hallway, dragging her things behind her. She tries to scrape her hands on the walls for support but Aliya is so fast she finds herself tripping over nothing trying to keep up with her.

“ALIYA!” She screams in anger and frustration, reaching out to grab the end of Aliya’s suitcase, pulling it back with such desperation it catches Aliya off guard and the grip flies from her hand.

Aliya turns around, her hand that was once holding the suitcase dropping to her side uselessly, her other running through her hair in stress. Aly takes the brief pause in their shit show to examine her closer.

Her eyes are red and puffy from crying, her eyeliner is a little smudged but somehow she still looks gorgeous.

“What can you possibly say?”

There was absolutely no way she could make her stay right now. Aliya had already made up her mind and Aly had pushed her to that decision.

“We can work this out…I love you, I love you so much I’m not going to let you walk out that door, isn't that enough?”

“It hasn't been enough for months! I can’t do this anymore...I am running uphill when it feels like you're not even there at the top.”

Aly drops her hands by her sides, the heart break slowly starting its descent into her chest, and she remembers the exact time she felt like this last. She thought this was all behind them but something was telling her this was just the beginning.

"I-I'm sorry, Aliya."

That's all she can really say right now because she's standing in front of her entire life and she's not quite sure what's going to happen if it walks out of the door.

—

“I’ve come around a few times in the last few weeks, but I haven’t seen anyone here. Honestly I'm being over dramatic, you guys probably ran away on another unannounced vacation…”

Simone gives another glance to the front door before she turns to make the quick walk back to her car. Something doesn’t feel right—just looking at the lonely house is giving her more anxiety.

The plants outside look long neglected and she couldn’t help but notice their mailbox hadn’t been emptied in days, letters and packages are falling over each other some of them soggy from the rain. This just wasn't like Aly or Aliya.

She bites her lip, inhaling sharply as she sits at the driver’s seat, unable to turn on the car as she stares at the doorway once more; trying to will it with her eyes to open and for someone, anyone, to come out.

—

“I-I…” Aly stutters on her words, inwardly cursing herself for not being able to form sentences in the one second she needs to. The look Aliya gives her is of pure heartbreak and it shatters her. She feels like they're all the way back to square one. The glass tower they had built was crumbling slowly.

She reaches out to grab at Aliya's hand but the other girl steps away, reaching to regather her bags and this time Aly doesn’t stop her. A beep comes from Aliya’s phone alerting her that a car is waiting outside.

“Come find me when you know.”

“No wait…! Let me talk for fucks sake!”

Aliya yanks her jacket off the hanger in the hallway, swinging open the front door as Gibson barks sadly and tries to scamper outside after her. Aly runs forward, stopping Gibson from escaping through the door, stepping out onto the gravel of their drive.

She watches Aliya load her suitcases into the car with the help of the driver before she climbs in, casting her one last broken look that shakes Aly to her core.

Aly runs up to the window and attempts to wrench the car door of its hinges but it’s locked so she settles for slamming her hands against the tinted glass. She knows Aliya can see her, her entire body is begging her to open the door.

"ALIYA! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"

The sound of the engine kicks up and her motions start to get desperate before the car lurches away from her violently, leaving her in a pile of dust.

Aly can’t do anything but watch helplessly as the car pulls out of their driveway towards the road. Her limbs are frozen in place, her hands clench over her head painfully, tears cascading down her face like waterfalls.

After everything she finally knows what it had felt like to Aliya when she had left her those years ago. The pain is splitting her chest so open she can feel herself bleeding out onto the driveway even though there isn’t anything physically there.

She releases a few short breaths and makes her way back inside the house. Aly stands in the doorway just trying to get a grasp on herself for what feels like an eternity. She tries to get her breathing under control and her head on straight but to no avail.

Breathe, then get in your car and go to Aliya, then breathe. Don’t you dare make the same mistakes.

She reaches towards the table in the front hall for her car keys when she sees it and stops. Her visions twists, honing in on this one spot on the table; and just like that her world ruptures.

Sitting on the table, in stark contrast to everything else in the entire room, is Aliya’s engagement ring.

—

“I know you’d tell me if something was wrong. Everything’s alright with you two, isn't it? I’m being silly, of course it is…Aly and Aliya; the perfect couple. I’m just worrying unnecessarily. Anyway, please call me when you get this, I can’t seem to reach either of your cells…talk soon bye!”

Beeeeeeep! Thank you for your message.

Simone tosses her phone onto the passenger seat, sparing one final look at the Raisman/Mustafina residence with a shaky sigh. She starts the engine of her car and pulls out of the drive slowly, the gate closing after her with a faint click.

—

And in our time that you wasted, all of our bridges burned down

A/N: hi everyone! I'm so excited to bring the sequel of Stay to life. I decided to add these into a series, hopefully I'll be able to post one-shots and deleted chapters under this series so stay tuned.I was overwhelmed with the support Stay got, so this sequel is my love letter to all of you.I hope you all enjoy, and accept my apologies in advance for what's about to unfold here!

xx Anna

[aliyaandaly]

So 1st off your fic is AMAZING the best Raistafina fic TY for writing it. And 2ndthis isn't about the fic necessarily but about Aly &Aliya on Insta. I follow them both on a separate account so I 👀everything like and I follow Simone. And Aly &Aliya follow each other but Simone doesn't follow Aliya but Aliya follows her 😩. But my point is I've noticed that Aliya rarely likes Aly stuff &vice versa BUT Aliya always likes Simone's stuff. I think Aly and Aliya does this on purpose bc they know...😭

Oh, wow! 

[aliyaandaly]

is there anyway we can get in contact with the writer? :) I just want to express how much I love the fic to her!

@chrome_peach on twitter <3

[aliyaandaly]

Stay

Epilogue: Sunday Morning 

Sunday morning rain is falling, steal some covers share some skin

—

“Hi everyone this is your captain speaking, we are about twenty minutes from landing. On behalf of the crew and I; we would like to welcome you to the wonderful city of Boston, we hope you enjoy your stay, and if you’re coming home then welcome home!”

Aliya slides the window shutter up just in time to see the plane scrape over the Massachusetts coast; bright, beautiful, and full of boats just like she remembers it. She clutches her passport with her visa paperwork tightly between her hands, her stomach doing a backflip as the city comes into view through the clouds.

Aly stirs gently, her head resting on Aliya’s shoulder as she mumbles sleepily while her eyes adjust to the sudden flux of light into their row. “Mm, I was sleeping…”

Aliya rolls her eyes playfully and points out the small plane window, “Look! We’re flying over Boston…” The admiration and awe in her voice doesn’t go unnoticed by Aly as she lifts her arms out from under her blanket and peers over Aliya to see her home city.

“Just wait until I take you to the coast, it will take your breath away.” Aly pecks her cheek excitedly and gives her knee a squeeze. “Do you have all your papers ready? When we get off I’ll have to get in a separate line but if you need me just ask someone to find me, okay?”

Aliya fiddles nervously with the papers, opening her passport to scan through them in order. “I’m having trouble with the English…” She points to the scribbled words and documents, Aly taking them from her hands to examine.

“You’ll present these to the people at customs and I’ll meet you right on the other side, I promise.” She rubs her thumb over the back of Aliya’s knuckles comfortingly, sensing the obvious anxiety in the other girl’s movements.

“Don’t worry, Alka.” She places another comforting kiss to Aliya’s lips, rubbing her side. “Just think about once we get back to my place…we can finally be alone.” She whispers the last word hotly against Aliya’s lips making the other girl prickle with heat, her throat bobbing up and down in anxiety.

Once the plane lands and the aggravating wait to get off is over Aliya finds herself alone in the middle of American customs. She holds the documents to her chest like her lifeline, her body shuffling forward in the line of foreigners.

Aly had long disappeared into the crowd of U.S. passport holders and Aliya finds herself nervously shifting her eyes everywhere to try to find her amongst the throngs of people. Her efforts prove to be useless so she focuses her sights on the documents, trying to pick out which words she could understand.

Reading them wasn’t the problem; the real issue was piecing together the words she did know with the words she didn’t. No matter how many flashcards she did there were still gaps, it was frustrating but Aly’s encouragement and pride in her was more than enough to want to do better every time.

“Six months from this date you will be allowed to live and travel on United States soil until your departure or application to a longer visa program…”

Her and Aly hadn’t really talked about if she would have to apply for a visa extension or something more permanent and the prospect kind frightened her. In the back of her mind the idea of being deported back to Russia was always nagging at her constantly, it sometimes kept her up at night.

Those months seemed like a long time but in reality when given that amount of time to figure out her life she felt completely lost.

Would she have to try to get a green card? Would Aly even want to get married? All the panic and worry distracted her enough she almost doesn’t hear the officer directing her to a customs station. She throws an apologetic yet grateful smile to the woman and moves up to the desk.

She slides the papers over with shaky fingers, the customs officer looks her over once before sorting through the papers, signing various lines and stamping her passport. “Welcome to America,” he mutters before sliding everything back to her.

Aliya blinks at the simplicity and gathers her things, shooting him a quick ‘thank you’ before she finds herself back in the airport crowd when she spots Lynn and Rick searching the crowd for her. She raises her hand, waving to them with a grin as she shuffles through to them.

The hug Lynn wraps her up in warms her heart instantly and before she can do anything else Lynn passes her straight to Rick who exudes the same warmth and happiness she think she’s been searching her whole life for.

“Welcome home, Aliya!” Chloe and Madison shout next to their parents, both of them hugging her sides. She smiles warmly and gives them each an affectionate squeeze, giving Brett a quick side hug after. She turns to see Aly coming towards them, pushing a cart with their luggage and a the most loving look spread across her face.

She takes a second to soak in her surroundings; groups of people greeting loved ones, sun blazing through the large glass windows, billboards the size of trucks lining the walls with various American ads, cars and taxis zooming through the pickup area. Everything was entirely overwhelming but to Aliya it was just what she needed to see.

Aliya Mustafina had finally arrived, and after all this time nothing had ever felt so good.

—

“Why are you moving so much?” Aliya’s sleepy eyelids blink slowly into the darkness of their bedroom, Aly shifting restlessly next to her every few seconds. “I’m trying to warm up!” Aliya lets out a snort before Aly hits her playfully with a whine.

“It is not cold, Aly. It is only December.” She rolls her eyes even though she knows Aliya can’t see the action in the dark she can probably sense it. “Yes it is! Not all of us are made up of Russian blood that can withstand Siberian like temperatures!”

Aly scoots closer to Aliya with a pathetic whimper, trying her best at puppy dog eyes even in the dark room. She had tried effortlessly to cuddle up to Aliya during the night but the other girl, who wasn't feeling the cold quite as much, insisted that it was making her too sweaty and overheated.

“Can you warm me up, pleaaaase?” Her bottom lip sticks out innocently when Aliya gives her an annoyed look. Over the past few months Aly learned that sleep was something Aliya valued and took very, very seriously. Any lack of it did not bode well the next morning.

Aliya sighs softly as she thinks for a couple minutes before she abandons any hope of getting back to sleep. The stark red numbers of Aly’s alarm clock reading 3:30am. She lifts her arm and runs it down Aly’s back, gently drawing the girl towards her. “Fine! I’ll help you warm up, krolik…”

Aly grins triumphantly and lets the gentle feel of Aliya’s hand on her back soothe her while she presses her face into her girlfriend’s neck to leave small kisses over the already formed love bites from earlier in the week.

Aly had skipped out on bringing Aliya to her cousin’s house for Hanukkah services earlier that day using the excuse she wanted to take her present shopping and show her around snowy Massachusetts, except she really just wanted Aliya to herself in an empty house.

She feels Aliya shift to hover over her, watching her sleepy movements become more heated when she tugs at Aly’s sweatpants, the older girl getting the message as she lifts her hips to help her.

“Warm yet?” Aliya’s hot breath tickles the top of Aly’s stomach and she lets out an involuntary moan, her ab muscles tightening in arousal. “Not quite…”

Aliya smirks against her skin before moving lower, ghosting her lips over the line of Aly’s underwear before that item of clothing slowly comes off her body to join her sweatpants along with Aliya’s tee. A USA tee, to be exact.

“Nope.” Aly smirks, squeaking when a teasing slap is delivered to the inside of her thigh, her back arching slightly. “I want you to warm me up…”

Aliya’s lips hover over her center, her eyes peeking up through her lashes to land on Aly who’s sat up on her elbows watching her with the most predatory look. “Getting warmer…” Aliya quirks a smile, remembering the game of ‘hot and cold’ that Aly described to her some time ago.

Aliya peppers small kisses to the inside of her thigh, nipping at the sensitive skin, her hot breath skidding over Aly’s most sensitive area. “Am I getting warmer…?” The older girl shifts and bends one of her knees, giving Aliya a perfect view of her gorgeous center. The sight makes her mouth go dry and for a second she gets dizzy on the intoxicating scent.

“Yup, warmer…” Aliya smirks knowingly, leaving a tender kiss on her hipbone, Aly’s breath becoming short and panted with each movement her girlfriend makes.

“Oh—fuck, yeah that’s warmer, baby…” The giggle that Aliya lets out would usually annoy Aly but she’s too far gone at this point and she can’t stop thinking about how fucking on top of the world she is right now as her head tosses back, her abs tensing, and pure ecstasy taking place of any other thought she previously had.

—

“We are so proud of you, aren’t we Vera?”

Maria smiles at her baby sister when she babbles a series of nonsense to her, reaching out to hold her little hand. The sight of her mother and sister waiting for her at the airport amongst the welcoming family and friends crowd had shocked her at first; she had never expressed an ounce of interest in Maria or her career, yet somehow here she was waiting for her with her baby sister in tow.

“Thank you mama.” Maria leans her head down as her mother leaves a small kiss to the top of her head, Vera tugging on her sleeve to be picked up. She balances the toddler on her hip, saying her goodbyes to her teammates for the time being, following her mother outside.

It’s only August but the air in Moscow is already getting cooler with the impending winter, she can feel the chill begin its creep into the country. “You must be tired.” She nods absently, sliding into the back to tuck Vera into her carseat.

“I did not see Aliya get off the plane?” Her mother peers at her through the rearview mirror and Maria averts her gaze, fiddling with the buckles of Vera’s seat. “She is taking vacation.”

“Not in Russia?”

“Nyet. In America.”

The disgusted sound her mother gives in response makes her suck in a deep breath and she looks to the now sleeping Vera to center her so she doesn’t go off. She’s jet lagged, her best friend is countries away, Simone is countries away, and she can’t talk to anyone about it right now.

Her patience with her mother was very thin to begin with but now she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to spend an entire car ride with her without wanting to go back to the Lake immediately.

Unlike most of the gymnasts at the Lake Maria was never itching to visit home, the Lake really was her home. She hadn’t called her mother’s house home for years. She sits back to watch the buildings pass her, sighing heavily.

“I am proud of your silver. I’m sorry you lost to that American girl…”

Maria glances up once more to see her mother watching through the rearview mirror. Her expression remains blank but her mind and heart are running a marathon right now. She knows her mom can see something in her eyes but she can’t identify it.

She turns to face the window, the landscape of Russia passing with every second of her heartbeat.

“Her name is Simone Biles.”

—

“Oh my god, look we’re here!”

Aly beams through the windshield of the truck as she maneuvers the large vehicle up the short drive, the windshield wipers flap back and forth to toss the rain water off the glass. Aliya looks at the directions on her phone next to her before lifting her head, her eyes lighting up when the house comes into view.

Aliya throws open the passenger door to jump out as quick as she possibly can, almost forgetting her umbrella once Aly cuts the engine. Her heart does a black flip at the sight in front of her, her eyes widening at the gorgeous home sitting like a perfect fairytale in hills of Malibu.

She swallows, Aly coming around the front of the moving truck looking just as emotional.

The sound of another car approaching signals them to Lynn and Rick pulling up behind the truck, boxes practically falling out of the back of their car as Lynn waves from the window. It doesn’t feel real at all, standing in front of this mirage Aliya is sure it’s going to disappear at any moment.

“I can’t believe it’s ours.” Aly wraps her arm around Aliya’s shoulders. The only sound surrounding them is the steady beat of the glorious Sunday rain. A small mist is settled over the California coastline and the sight has never been more breathtaking.

Aly gives them both an excited shake as the other girl continues to look in awe at the house. It had only been six months since they came back from Rio. Six entire months. Even a month ago the thought of moving to Malibu, let alone buying a house, was so out of reach for them but in some divine miracle they had ended up here all in one piece.

Aliya hadn’t been able to adjust to Boston as easily as she had assumed she would but the winter wasn’t particularly bad, considering nothing could ever be as cold as Russian winters the weather really wasn’t the problem.

She was still trying and learning how to fit into American society, she usually did a lot of research on the Internet but at points it got so overwhelming she wasn’t sure if she would ever figure it out, let alone fit in.

“It’s like we dreamed.” Aliya drops a animated kiss to Aly’s cheek before wrapping Lynn and Rick in a hug when they reach them. “It’s even bigger than the photos!” Lynn says in excitement, motioning for Rick to open up the truck to get started.

“Chloe, Brett, help your dad get the small boxes inside first!” Aly glances over when her siblings stumble out of her parent’s car and head toward the truck, moving to open the back of it. “Dad and I can start with the heavy stuff mom, we just need to get the small boxes in first.”

Aliya helps Lynn arrange a couple chairs so Rick and Aly can get to the back of the truck, Chloe and Brett starting towards the house with arms full of boxes, Lynn following close behind trying to balance an umbrella over their heads.

“We need someone to open the door!”

Aliya steps off the truck without even realizing how symbolic this moment is, the keys in her pocket jiggle slightly when she pulls them out and puts them into the lock, the door swinging open to reveal the beautiful open space of their front hall. It takes the breath right out of her lungs when she gets her first look at her new home.

She had seen it earlier that month when Aly and her had come down to close on the deal but now that it was really theirs she saw it completely differently. Chloe and Brett must sense her moment as they set their boxes down and return to the truck.

She reaches her hand out to run it over the wooden lining of the door, her hands brush the perfect mahogany under her fingers and she has to stop herself from getting too choked up over a fucking piece of wood.

“Aliya…?” Aly comes up the walkway, reaching for her hand when Aliya turns to her and motions to look inside the entry way. Aly raises an eyebrow before she follows Aliya’s line of sight, the same emotion hitting her right on cue.

“Wow.” She exhales the words slowly, Aliya agreeing before they both take a step through the threshold, never letting go of each other’s hands. Aly’s in awe of everything surrounding her right now, even though the house was completely empty and void of anything at the moment, this very instance was one of the most important moments in her life.

Just standing in the empty space with Aliya sets her heart ablaze.

“What a perfect rainy Sunday.” Aly read somewhere when she was younger that rain on the first day of moving somewhere or construction was a sign of good luck; and this was definitely a sign. Rain on Sundays was her new favorite thing from now on.

“We did it, Aly…” Aliya speaks with such exhilaration lacing her tone Aly finds her own body filling with joy and pride. She squeezes Aliya’s fingers, pulling them over to the windows lining the kitchen that overlook a beach off of their backyard. Aliya presses her hands to the glass, needing to touch them to know that she’s here, she’s alive and that nothing is a dream this time.

“We really did.” Aly casts her eyes away from the empty house to Aliya, their faces moving closer as their lips almost touch. Her heart vaults out of her chest and the small ring box in her pocket weighs her down like a boulder. This was their forever.

—

That may be all I need, in darkness she is all I see, come and rest your bones with me

A/N: Here we are everyone! This fic has come so far and has gained such an audience I wanted to take the time to genuinely thank each and every one of you for your support, comments, kudos, etc. This story and couple only remains alive because of everyone in the fandom!

I have already a bit of the prologue written for the sequel and I'm excited to bring it to you all soon. I don't know how everyone keeps updated but if you do want direct updates to know when the prologue goes up tweet me @chrome_peach, if not I'm sure the aliyaandaly blog will help keep people updated as well!

I actually wrote this last chapter when I wrote the first chapter because I knew exactly how I wanted to end this fic and what title I wanted for the last part. This chapter jumps around a bit in terms of time but wraps it up nicely I think. I almost didn't include the part about Maria but I just found myself writing and couldn't stop but okay enough of me talking. Here is the end to "Stay".

Thank you, thank you once more from the bottom of my heart

xx Anna

[aliyaandaly]

YOU UPDATED FUHAKSKSJS I FEEL SO TRIGGERED THANK YOU QUEEN

Enjoy ;) 

[aliyaandaly]

Stay

Part 12: All We Know 

We've passed the end, so we chase forever, 'cause this is all we know

—

“Welcome back to the 2016 Rio Olympics, thank you for joining us. Today we have some devastating breaking news; last night at around 2am, Russian gymnastics coach Sergei Starkin assaulted gymnasts Aly Raisman and Aliya Mustafina in the Olympic village. We are told the police arrived with Marta Karolyi shortly after and the two women were brought to the medical wing and have been reported with no major injuries.”

“Head Russian coach Evgeny Grebenkin issued a statement this morning saying Starkin has been forced to resign and is undergoing investigation by the Russian Federation for months of physical abuse towards his athletes Aliya Mustafina and Denis Ablyazin.”

“Mustafina has done so amazingly in the games this year it’s heartbreaking to hear behind her success she has undergone months of this abuse from her coach, but I’m glad this has finally come to an end and hopefully the two gymnasts can try to find peace and recover. There are more reports saying Starkin could also be under investigation in Brazil for illegal drug handling.”

“In our last bit of news today; Denis Ablyazin released another statement this morning discussing the steps he’s going to be taking for him and Mustafina in order to heal from this traumatic situation, in the meantime he has called off their engagement so the two can have time to work on their mental heath. We will have more as reports continue to come in, thank you I’m Hoda Kotb with Bob Costas for the NBC Olympic coverage.”

—

She fiddles with the remote before the screen of the TV in front of her goes black. She tosses it to the side of the bed, making sure to avoid the ice pack wrapped around her knee. The cold numbness that has taken over most of her upper leg is beginning to annoy her and she moves to unwrap the ice before a voice stops her.

“You have five more minutes with it, Aliya…”

Aly’s stern yet gentle voice makes her hand pause and she pulls back with an annoyed groan that makes Aly giggle lightheartedly. Aly’s stood in the doorway from the bathroom with a small smile on her face, just knowing Aliya is in her room safe and healing is what is keeping her sane right now.

“Leg is numb.” Aliya mutters with annoyance, shifting her shoulders against the headboard behind her. Aly smiles sympathetically, hesitantly making her way to sit on the side of the bed, careful not to jostle her knee too much.

They had been released from the medical wing earlier that morning and despite Aly’s protests Aliya had made sure she went to her afternoon training session. She may not have any more events to compete in but Aly still had the floor final and she wasn’t going to let her fall behind on her training.

Once Aliya had been settled into Aly’s room with Maria staying with her for a little Aly felt confident enough to leave her alone, even though Aliya also felt this sudden clinginess to her she still pushed her back to the gym.

They hadn’t had time to talk about everything, Aliya’s family, Sergei, Denis, all of it. Aly was so on edge she didn’t know where they stood but just Aliya being here right now, tucked up in her bed had to mean something.

A few beats pass before Aliya lifts her eyes to meet Aly’s, reaching to link their fingers over her knee. The action makes Aly’s heart leap and a surge of hope fills her, making her lips twitch into a smile.

“I hate that you abandoned me.”

It stuns Aly out of her daze of happiness and brings her back to the present but Aliya is still holding her hand and she clings to it with both of hers. She has to listen, no matter how much it will fucking hurt she’s not going to run away anymore—she won’t make the same mistake she did two years ago.

She faces Aliya, her eyes swirling with anxiety but Aliya leans in and kisses her cheek to reassure her before she settles back and inhales

Light brown hair obscures most of her face. Her chin is now tilted downward, her expression is raw, and she is split so wide open Aly thinks if she looks hard enough, she’ll be able to see Aliya’s pain running angry and red and swollen all through her body.

“Me too,” Aly whispers into the air because she it's the truth. She hates that she abandoned Aliya out of fear. Aliya finally looks back to her, her eyes mirroring the same anxiety and unsureness in Aly’s.

“I don’t know if I have fully forgiven you yet,” Aliya pauses to gauge Aly’s reaction but the other girl just nods for her to continue because she understands. She understands more than ever and even though it hurts to hear she feels relieved because if they can have these conversations then they can work on it and fix it.

“But I’ll love you forever, and that’s more important...” Aliya leans in without warning and presses her soft lips against Aly’s with such a softness it makes them both melt. It’s like the first time they kissed.

Aly is the first to speak once they’ve pulled away, the sadness from earlier is still piling up in her stomach and she has to let Aliya know she’s going to do everything she can to help her. “Your family, I’m so sorry-I want to help, I just don’t know…”

Aliya shakes her head, leaning her chin on Aly’s shoulder with a small kiss to her jaw. “You are my family.” Aly pulls her closer with a fierce nod, she’d never let Aliya feel alone again, because they had each other now. Forever.

“Maybe one day, they will be happy for me…I hope for it, but for now I will take it day by day.”

Aliya cracks a sad smile but remembers if in the end it had come to Russia or Aly she would have chosen Aly. Always. There was no other choice she had even if she wanted one, and she still knew even with Sergei out of the way there was a lot she still had to face but maybe the worst of it was over.

“Evgeny says I can continue at the Lake if I want to compete in Tokyo or the next Worlds—he’ll find a way to work it out once I move to America…I am surprised at his reaction but it warms me…he supports me.” The grin that flies across Aliya’s face makes Aly’s heart jump with joy, just seeing her so happy makes everything worth it. It makes the last two years without her worth it if this was going to be their outcome.

Her heart is so warm and full, they’re both healing and more importantly they’re doing it together. Aly had also been surprised at Evgeny’s nonchalant reaction to them but then again she should have expected it from the teddy bear of a man, yet it still surprised her when he hadn’t even thought twice about letting Aliya know she still always had a place in his gym.

“I can’t wait to get home.”

Aly presses her lips into Aliya’s hair and squeezes her tighter into her chest. A jump of excitement collides through Aliya’s body, her eyes widen a little and her smile doesn’t go away as she repeats the word that has never really meant anything to her up until now, because without Aly it had no meaning;

“Home.”

—

The sound of her zipper going up and down resonates in her ears, her fingers fiddling with the latch obsessively as she stares ahead at the large flat screen screen in front of her. She swallows nervously and glances around at the faces of her siblings, her parent’s in the next room preparing dinner.

They were sat in the den watching re runs of the 2012 Olympics, she had barely gotten home a week ago from London and by then she was so sick of watching herself or any of the competition but her siblings had of course insisted on watching the team all around.

“Dinner in ten!” Lynn’s voice filters into the den where the Raisman kids make small sounds of acknowledgment before their attention turned back to the large flat screen. Aly cranes her neck to the kitchen, watching her parents cooking and chatting with each other, the sounds of the TV are long muted in her head.

She sees them laughing and smiling, something that may be gone in just a couple of minutes. She has to tell them tonight or else she won't ever do it. The anxiety that sits in her gut is too much and she even finds herself shaking, thankful no one has noticed her weird behavior for the last few days.

She has been so jittery, like coffee was constantly toiling around in her system and she was thankful no one had really noticed, they were probably still on the high of coming back from London.

Everyone was but that had long faded but Aly, she was on a different high; the high of Aliya Mustafina.

“It’s ready!” Lynn’s calls into the kids as all of them rise automatically and hustle to the dining room towards the enticing smell of a roast.

“We made Aly’s favorite because she’s our Olympic champion!”

Aly follows closely behind Chloe, smiling at the younger girl as they all take their seats at the table. “It looks great, mom.” She forces a small smile, hiding her shaky hands under the table as Lynn starts to dish everyone a plate.

Everything is silent for a few minutes, everyone just enjoying their food instead of making small talk but she still feels all her sibling’s eyes on her, as if they were imploring her to say something.

“Honey, you’ve been so quiet since we got back, that’s not like you is everything okay?”

Aly nods almost took quickly to her father, forcing another smile before taking a large bite of mashed potatoes, Rick narrowing his eyes at her. Brett is the first to speak up, casting Aly a worried look.

“Really, Al, you’ve been acting so jittery since we got back. Did something happen in London?”

She doesn’t even have to look up from her plate to know her family’s eyes are on her. Aly swallows and tries to shake off their stares, pushing some broccoli around on her plate. Her patience is thinning and she might as well just say it but another part of her is running away to hide.

“Sweetie, are you sick or—“

“No I’m just gay!”

It comes out so quickly a small part of her thinks no one heard her but Chloe’s fork clattering onto her plate is the definite indication they all heard her. She closes her eyes, bracing herself for the disappointed looks she knows she’s going to see on her family’s face but when she reopens her eyes she’s greeted with the exact opposite.

“You owe me twenty bucks, Brett.” Madison points a finger at her brother, the boy rolling his eyes as he reaches into his pocket. Aly opens and closes her mouth a couple of times, Rick giving her an amused look that kind of pisses her off but she’s just grateful they’re not particularly upset.

Lynn reaches across from her and takes her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Honey, we know.”

Aly blinks rapidly, making sure she doesn’t wake up soon from this dream like state she feels like she’s in currently.

“What?”

Rick gives her a knowing look over the rim of his wine glass before Lynn smiles gently and sets her own glass down. “Aly, we’re your parents we can tell these things. We know Mihai doesn’t let you date when you’re in training but it’s not like you’ve ever expressed interest in men when you had the chance.”

Aly blanches, completely taken aback by what’s going on right now and she looks to her siblings to see their take but when they nod their heads in agreement with Lynn she really feels like she’s going to pass out.

Madison pushes her glass of water closer to her, Aly giving her a thankful look as she takes large gulps, her parent’s watching her closely.

She can’t tell whether she wants to cry in happiness or be pissed off she hyped herself up and had all this anxiety for weeks for nothing. She sets the glass down shakily and looks between Rick and Lynn.

“You’re…you’re not disappointed or something like that?”

Lynn scoffs, Rick chuckling into his wine glass while Madison leans over beside her and hugs her tightly. Her mother shakes her head and gives her hand another firm squeeze.

“Aly, how could we ever be disappointed in you being who you are? We love every bit of you and we’ll support you no matter what.”

She feels herself crying a bit now, but she doesn’t reach to catch the tear that falls from her eye. She just settles on smiling at the people sitting around the table, her heart swells and she finally feels a weight fly off her shoulders.

“Your mother and I would never try to take happiness from you.”

—

“Tomorrow’s the floor final and then we’re done.” Aly smiles into Aliya’s hair, pressing small kisses to her scalp while they sit together on her bed, flipping through TV channels absently.

Aliya nods under Aly’s lips, flipping the screen off before she rolls over and smiles up at her girlfriend. “Are you sad you’re done with all your events?”

She thinks for a second, her mind flashing to the gold medal on the desk a few feet away. She glances to Aly and shrugs  her shoulders lightly. “Yes and no—I’m proud of all I have done, but kind of sad it’s over.”

Aly hadn’t really thought a lot yet about whether she would come back for Tokyo or not. She thought coming from London that she wouldn’t even be back for Rio but that had all changed and now here she was, probably thinking she wasn’t going to worry about Tokyo but for some reason during the past few days she had thought about nothing more than doing it.

She already had another round of Olympic medals, she had Aliya, it was all so good that stopping didn’t really seem possible right now—she wanted to go all the way, wanted to imprint herself into the very essence of the Olympics.

“Do you want to compete in Tokyo?” Aly steals another kiss from Aliya before she pulls back to let the younger girl answer. She sees a series of emotions intertwine and cross Aliya’s face. She doesn't know what it would be like for herself to compete and for Aliya to not.

A part of her would be heartbroken if the world never got to see Aliya Mustafina compete again. She would also be saddened if she never saw Aliya compete again, it made her so happy and she was so fucking good at it.

“I am not sure. I'd like to but I won’t compete under any other flag than the Russian one, I’m not sure where I stand with my country right now.”

Aly nods in understanding, dancing her fingers along Aliya’s arm, nuzzling into her neck with a deep breath. “Hopefully Evgeny can help you, if you choose to. I’ll support anything you do—even if it means you have to go to Russia to train. I’ll follow.”

Aliya lets a wide grin split her face as she leans up and presses their lips together tightly, framing Aly’s face between her palms. “I think you should go for Tokyo, you only get better every year.”

She whispers the words of encouragement against Aly’s lips and hopes she can truly show the girl how prideful of her she is. No matter what decision Aly makes in the end she would always have Aliya’s support, but the Russian knows more than anyone that Aly wants this, even if Aly doesn’t even know herself.

“You think so?”

“I believe in you more than anything. I’ll even wear a USA jacket to support you.”

Aly squeals in disbelief and presses into Aliya firmly, running her hand down her spine to pull her against her chest. “I’m holding you to that!” She tickles the insides of Aliya’s ribs, sending the girl into a wiggling fit as they both explode with laughter, excitement and most importantly pure happiness.

—

Simone’s fall on the beam makes the entire crowd bristle in anticipation, her gold is lost but she can still make it to the podium. Even though her mistake will cost her her score on beam is so high she’ll still be able to take bronze or silver.

Maria finally takes her eyes away from the scoreboard and relaxes back in her seat, Aliya leaning forward next to her as they watch the competition continue. When Maria says it she should have anticipated how much it would hurt, but she didn’t know her words would effect her this much.

“You’re leaving then?”

She doesn’t look at Maria for a few seconds, concentrating on the pixels of the scoreboard but eventually turns her sad eyes to her best friend, biting her lip in guilt.

“Yes.”

Maria sucks in a sharp breath, taking Aliya’s hand in her own automatically. She doesn’t say anything for a while but Aliya doesn’t feel anxiety from the silence, she knows this is Maria’s way of processing, and she herself is anxious over leaving her best friend.

“I’ll miss you.”

Aliya leans in and places a soft kiss to Maria’s cheek, sighing. “I’ll miss you too, so much…”

Maria looks down, trying to hide the fact that she was on the verge of tears. This was all she had known since she was young, and now a part of her childhood, her being, was leaving and maybe never coming back.

“Will you ever come back?”

Aliya shakes her head, trying to fight back her own tears threatening to spill. She had done more crying in the last two weeks than her entire life. She was still surprised her body had tears left to produce.

“I hope to.”

Maria lifts her eyes up to lock into Aliya’s and she finally sees the hurt rolling around in Maria’s pupils. She wishes more than anything that she could take Maria with her, but she knows that’s beside the point. She’s not even sure she wants to ask about Simone right now because Maria doesn’t need a reminder that she’s losing two people when the games are over.

“Are you going to tell Seda and Angelina?”

Aliya shakes her head once more, wrapping her arm around Maria’s shoulders comfortingly. “No, not the whole story. They’re too young to understand right now.”

“I know they’ll miss you too.” Maria leans her head into Aliya’s with a small hiccup, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket.

“I’ll tell them that you are happy. They will understand.” Aliya gives her a grateful squeeze, letting out a long sigh as they watch the last gymnast wrap up her beam routine, the judges calculating the final scores.

“You will come visit me—you are always welcome with Aly and I. I’m sorry I can’t take you with me.”

Maria smiles widely, a watery giggle escaping her as she sniffs, sitting up in her seat once more. She looks at her friend and can physically feel the happiness rolling off of her. All she’s ever wanted for Aliya is pure happiness and Aly was that for her.

No matter how far Aliya went Maria would eventually follow but perhaps this was a path she wasn’t able to follow her down this time, and that breaks her. She didn’t have much in Russia herself. Her father had left a long time ago and her mother hopped around from guy to guy and kind of resented her.

Gymnastics was her escape from her troubled home life, she didn’t speak of it often but she had fought long and hard to make something of herself. If Aliya could get out maybe there was hope for her one day too.

“I will save up all my money to come see you.” She bumps her forehead affectionately against Aliya, and anyone from afar might think it was a romantic gesture but between the two of them it was the strongest bond of friendship either of them had. Maria was her person.

“We’ll be leaving before the closing ceremony, I expect the Americans will stay for it. Simone is going to be holding the flag.” Maria smiles proudly down at the girl in the arena, her heart fluttering a bit at the sight of Simone’s bronze medal win.

Even when the girl made a mistake in her routine she was still able to place. She was the most amazing person Maria had ever been in the presence of. It rocked her to the core in all the best ways.

Aliya claps along with the crowd as the medals are presented to the three champions before she turns back to Maria. “I’ll help you all pack after the floor final, I won’t let you go without saying goodbye.”

They both linger on that word; goodbye. They let it anchor them but it also creates starts a rift in their already fragile hearts. Aliya feels her chest squeeze but she won’t let herself cry anymore. This is a happy time even though she’s letting go of certain things, this was the next chapter of her life.

Maria will have her own soon, she would figure things out and Aliya would be there for her every step of the way no matter what country she was in.

—

Aly’s still buzzing on the high from placing second on the floor exercise. Adrenaline is coursing through her veins as she waves to the crowd next to Simone while they step off the podium to greet the press cameras off the stage. She holds up her silver medal proudly, biting into the metal as they do traditionally for photos, the taste of the silver resonating on her lips in the best way.

“Aly! How do you feel achieving another medal in the floor exercise?”

Microphones and cameras shove up in her and Simone’s face and she tries to put on a smile as they try to move forward towards the press room.

“I feel great! I’m glad I could improve from London, I just keep getting better and it’s only up from here!”

She doesn’t have a chance to answer anymore questions because Mihai is ushering her away from the cameras to gather her things. “Aly, Aly, will you be coming back for Tokyo in 2020?!”

The shouts from the reporters drown out behind her only to be replaced with the oncoming questions from the ones inside the conference room. She gets into her USA jacket, following Simone up to the table as they take their seats.

The questions are nothing new, and she answers them with poise but all she can think about is it’s all over. Her and Aliya can go home soon. Their lives can finally start together. That’s the only thing getting her through this mess; she’s proud of herself but she wants to relax. She wants to lie down and preferably with Aliya for a long, long time.

“Aly, we’re so glad to see you’ve been able to compete even after your incident with Sergei Starkin, how are you and Aliya Mustafina holding up and how do you feel about the charges being brought against Starkin?”

Her shoulders instantly tense and she averts her eyes straight to the journalist, Simone squeezing her knee under the table.

“I’m doing fine thank you and so is Aliya. I’m glad that justice will be delivered to the victims for all of Sergei’s abuse.”

The moderator clearly senses Aly’s unease with the question and holds up her hand when the journalist tries to inquire more. “There will be no more questions on this topic.” She sends a grateful glance to the moderator and sits back in her seat, taking a sip from her water.

She fields a few more questions, Simone getting the bulk of them to no one’s surprise so she sits back and hopes this will all come to an end soon. Her knee bounces anxiously under the table, her ability to listen to and answer questions is slowly fading from a combination of exhaustion and her adrenaline high coming down.

She looks to the moderator as they finally end the onslaught of questions and the conference comes to an end. She stands on tired legs, giving one last wave to the press pit before she follows Simone out of the room and finally into her new life.

—

“Here.”

Aliya reaches out and stops Maria from zipping up her suitcase the other girl giving her a quizzical look. Maria watches as Aliya takes out a familiar looking object before she places her gold medal from London on top of the folded clothes.

Maria’s eyes widen before she quickly shakes her head, handing it back to Aliya in a flustered movement, practically shoving it at her.

“Alka, no, it’s yours…”

“No-“

Aliya shakes her head in return and gently places it back into her suitcase, a small smile on her face. “I want you to have it for now—so you have a piece of me in Russia. One day I’ll get this back from you.”

It’s a silent promise between the two of them that doesn’t even have to be explained. Aliya is giving Maria a part of her; a part of her that is promising Maria one day she will come back for her.

“Alka…”

Maria wipes at the corner of her eye, being careful of her makeup as Aliya pulls her into a tight hug. She had managed to get through hours of packing without breaking but now she feels her resolve fading, everything was happening too quickly.

Barely two weeks ago hey had arrived in the Rio airport, still surprised that Russia had been cleared to go and now here they are, ready to go back to Russia but this time Maria was leaving something behind.

“Remember to call?”

Maria nods rapidly, zipping up the rest of her bags when they pull away from each other. Evgeny calls down the hallway to give everyone a ten minute warning before they have to board the airport shuttles.

Aliya kisses her forehead and hands her her team jacket with a sad smile. Maria links their hands as they walk into the hallway where the other team members are filtering into towards the buses.

“Check your pocket later, there’s something in there from someone.”

Maria quirks an eyebrow and feels a small lump in the left pocket but before she question it Aliya is pulling her into another tight hug, pouring everything she has into it. She whispers gently into Maria’s ear, squeezing her eyes shut.

“Ya budu s toboy. Vsegda.” I’ll be with you. Always.

Aliya walks her all the way to the entrance as she thanks the driver for taking her suitcase. They stare at each other for a few heartbeats, Maria memorizing every part of Aliya’s being while she does the exact same. There was no other spirit in the world like Aliya, she was so vastly unique Maria knows for the rest of her life she would never meet anyone that compared.

“Never goodbye, always see you soon.”

Maria lets out a watery chuckle at Aliya’s phrase and hugs her once more with a firm nod repeating the words for solidification; “Never goodbye.”

Maria glances over her shoulder once more at Aliya’s figure before getting onto the bus. The emptiness starts to seep into her system but she gives Aliya one last smile. This is it.

She takes an empty seat by the window and waits for the others to board, Aliya waving to her one last time before she motions to her pocket and points to Maria, reminding her to check her jacket.

She jumps a little and quickly unzips her pocket, pulling out a small box of Skittles and a folded note. She instantly recognizes Simone’s handwriting.

Her heart flutters and she can hear each beat it makes in her chest. She looks back to the window and finds Aliya in the crowd and presses her hand to the window. The weight of the Skittles packet feels heavy in her other palm but in all the right ways.

Maria owes so much to Rio from so little time. She wonders if she’ll forget these two weeks, she hopes she doesn’t because she firmly believes they were the most important in her life.

She feels the bus engine start before the vehicle pulls out of the lot just as she unfolds Simone’s letter. Her face lights up just after reading the first two lines.

She may be going back to Russia now, but she sure as hell was going to make it out someday.

No, Maria Paseka will never forget the 2016 Rio Olympics for as long as she lives.

—

Aliya watches the first shuttle pull away and down the road away from the village, her eyes follow the vehicle until it goes completely out of sight and even after that her eyes still remained fixed on the road.

She turns back and walks a few steps back into the building, the remainder of the Russian teams making their way to the rest of the buses.

She lifts her eyes from her shoes and like it’s fate she lands right on Denis coming down the stairs with his suitcases. They lock onto each other, Aliya not really sure what she can say and Denis feeling the same.

He stops in front of her, his face stoic but she can sense the emotion behind it. She takes a deep breath and squares her shoulders, feeling this might be the last time she sees Denis in her lifetime.

“Thank you,” she breathes out, Denis raising an eyebrow as his eyes glint with a kind of gratefulness towards her.

“No, thank you.” He nods firmly but before anything else can transpire between the two he walks past her towards the shuttles.

“Have a good life, Aliya.” He throws over his shoulder with one last look in her direction and a small smile.

Aly returns the smile genuinely, releasing a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. "You too, Denis."

She watches his figure exit through the double doors and onto the bus, she watches it pull away in the same direction as before and disappear over the horizon.

—

It’s a little after dark when they return to the village from the floor exercise. Aly steps off the shuttle, stretching her aching limbs when she spots Aliya coming towards her and every ounce of exhaustion leaves her body like a river.

Simone is greeted by her family and eagerly starts showing her medals to Laurie and Gabby, Aly walking past all of them towards the only thing that matters.

She doesn’t even care who’s watching as she runs towards the girl and wraps her up in her arms, both of them wanting to touch and hug every part of each other.

“I am so proud of you!” Aliya squeals and leans forward to press their lips together, and if it weren’t for the absolute bliss Aly finds herself in she would realize it’s the first time Aliya has ever initiated contact in public with her.

She didn’t feel nervousness anymore, or under constant surveillance—this kiss felt completely different. It felt like freedom, freedom for both of them. Aly presses forward and deepens their connection, wrapping her hand in Aliya’s hair as they sway with each other.

She can feel the smile Aliya has and mirrors it, recapturing her lips with vigor. She wants to consume every inch of Aliya, she wants to envelope them both in a haze of love forever—she doesn’t need or want anything else, she never will.

Aly has everything she ever possibly needs in her arms right now. The taste of Aliya’s tongue and the feel of her palms caressing her cheeks center her, she’s breathless and what little air exists between them is disappearing because both of them are trying to get closer and closer to each other.

“Stay.” Aliya pulls back for air, speaking the phrase softly between them as they ignore the obvious stares of Aly’s teammates and friends. She doesn’t even care, let them watch because what they were witnessing was the purest form of love every imaginable.

“Forever.” Aly replies before they both move forward and smash their lips back together. They pull back again for air after a minute or two of making out again and that’s when it hits Aly in the face like a brick.

She locks onto Aliya’s dark chocolate colored pupils, the breath escaping her lungs at the emotion she sees in them. Aliya’s eyes are like an ocean and every time Aly looks into them she’s taken away by the waves to be drowned, they hold everything.

She sees their new life together, she sees everything in them; marriage, kids, and just loving each other forever and more. Aly doesn’t feel the ticking time bomb she felt after London, she doesn’t feel this overwhelming pain at being away from Aliya instead she just feels happiness at long last.

“Oh my god, grandma break it up!”

Simone laughs at the two of them teasingly, Aly giving her the finger as she presses her forehead against Aliya’s, both of them soaking in the close proximity to each one another. Aliya still had so much to figure out but she wasn’t afraid of facing it anymore- not when she had Aly next to her.

The last few days had been entirely incredible but equally heartbreaking for Aliya. She hopes that above all the pieces of herself that Sergei, Russia, and her family took from her will come back eventually.

She has so much emotional healing to do, and it’s intimidating but she knows as builds this new world with Aly she will always make sure to leave room for those pieces to make their way back into her life.

Her heart races as it knocks against her ribs almost like it was trying to break out of her chest to jump right into Aly’s and stay there forever.

Later when all is said and done, when the adrenaline from the competition has calmed down and Aly isn’t in this loved up haze she’ll ask Aliya how she was able to handle her family’s reaction in the way she did, how she could bring herself to watch Maria ride away on that bus, and how could she so willingly depart with Russia, the country that raised her and that she competed for? Aliya’s answer is so pure it only makes Aly fall more in love with her;

“Because without you I do not know who I am. How could I go back to a country, to my family, that doesn’t allow me to exist? I am not Aliya Mustafina without Aly Raisman.”

—

I'll ride my bike up to the world, down the streets right through the city, I'll go everywhere you go

A/N: Hi everyone!! First of all I'm so, so sorry it took me this long to update. I'm getting all muddled up with school and what not but here is the second to last chapter!I will be posting the epilogue soon and then not too long after I hope to post the prologue to the sequel. I'm not done with this couple just yet!Thank you for your overwhelming support this fic has gotten, I write this for you and I hope it has been satisfactory!xx

[aliyaandaly]

AN UPDATE IM SO FUCKING SHOOK AHAHAJSJSKSK MY POWER MIGHT GO OUT TOMORROW BC OF HURRICANE MATHEW BUT AT LEAST I GOT ME SOME RAISTAFINA FTW FUJSJSKSK

I promise to get the update up asap but more importantly PLEASE STAY SAFE!

[aliyaandaly]

Girl, you disappeared on us... I just wish we had an answer. It's so frustrating when we get emotionally invested in a fic, but the author vanishes 🙁

No worries, there should be an update tomorrow <3

[aliyaandaly]

I JUST STUMBLED ACROSS YOUR BLOG AND ??? HOLY FUCK YOUR FANFIC OS SO GOOD I LITERALLY READ CHAPTERS 1-10 TODAY I DONT WANNA READ 11 BC I DONT WANNA GO TO SLEEP BUT THIS IS SO GOOD EVERYTHING IS AMAZING YOU'RE PUTTING SO MUCH TIME AND EFFORT INTO MAKING IT REALISTIC AND I REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE THAT THIS FANFIC IS ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL ALL I WANNA DO IS READ MORE 😩😩😩 IM SO GLAD I FOUND THIS BLOG

Omg you're so cute :') You are very welcome!

[aliyaandaly]

Stay

Part 11: All Through The Night 

This is an emotional chapter to say the least, and there's a little bit of violence so trigger warning here.

All through the night, I'll be awake and I'll be with you

—

The instant they get away from the cameras and into the safety of the locker room Aliya doesn’t want to be anywhere near Denis, she’s shaking so violently all she can do is attempt to push him away weakly and run to the toilets because her stomach feels like she’s just been sucker punched and her lungs are giving out.

Her heart slamming against her ribcage so hard it beats into her ears with such intensity she wants to scream because the ache isn’t stopping, it’s only getting worse with every passing second.

She falls to her knees in front of the nearest toilet, the pain of her legs hitting the tiled floor doesn’t even register with her as she wretches vigorously, feeling like her guts are crawling their way out of her body. Sobs slowly start to wrack her body and she loses control over her nerves entirely.

Her lungs are constricting in the most painful way, she feels hot and cold all at the same time and her vision is tunneling. The last time she felt even remotely close to this—and the only time she ever has was after reading Aly’s letter in Sochi.

“Aliya, let me help…”

Denis’ voice is trying its best to be calm and soothing but her automatic reflex is to push him away again, there’s no chance in hell right now she can possibly deal with everything she’s feeling and Denis trying to be nice to her is just the cherry on top.

“Don’t!” Aliya grates out through clenched teeth as she finds the strength to shove him into the door of the stall. She stands and wipes at the corner of her mouth, locking eyes with Denis.

“How could you let him do this to me?!” She shoves him again, this time harder, and moves past him to a nearby bench. Her legs won’t carry her that far because they’re absolute jello right now but she sits herself down, Denis looking at her in a combination of sadness and anger.

His shoulders tense, his eyes remaining focused on Aliya, and if it weren't for her own current emotional state right now she would be able to see the obvious despair he too was feeling.

He takes a shaky seat across from her on an adjacent bench and leans forward on his knees, Aliya resisting the urge to punch him right across the face. Right now anger courses through in the strongest current and it terrifies her how strong it is.

“I had no choice. You don't know—“

“So you just let him destroy my life so you could keep your fucking career?!”

Aliya stands so abruptly Denis almost falls off the bench but he keeps his eyes fixated on her while she continues to stand in front of him; the epitome of a breakdown so beautiful it’s hard to tell whether it’s a marvelous or heartbreaking sight. He settles for both.

A fist crashes into the lockers with a splitting crack and makes a huge dent, but Aliya doesn’t even flinch at the sound. Denis stands, his chest heaves and his knuckles are red, but his anger is not towards Aliya.

Aliya isn’t frightened of him, she doesn't have the capacity for any more emotions in her body—and she’s very much on the verge of shutting down.

“You think I want to marry you?! I’ve only ever wanted to marry Ksenia…and you know that, everybody knows that! Fuck! Your life is not the only one he is ruining!”

At the mention of Ksenia Semenova's name Aliya visibly deflates from a wave of guilt, memories of the former gymnast and Denis make their way back into her memory stream, their love for each other was so evident but never acted upon by the two.

Her heart breaks a little for him.

The feelings coursing through the room create a thick unreadable tension within the locker room space. Every sound surrounding them becomes background noise, the only thing they can both hear is the breathing of one another.

“I lose Ksenia and you lose Raisman.”

Denis’ voice comes off as raspy and shallow, his body language showing his defeat.

Aliya’s brain stops functioning around the same time as her lungs do, her vision going black again, the edges turning fuzzy, her only inclination is to blink against the pain. This is a nightmare. It has to be. She's going to wake up and it’s going to be the day of the uneven bar final. This whole thing isn’t real.

Losing Aly was not an option. It never was. She chokes back another sob; her entire body convulsing at just the mere thought of losing Aly.

Aly. She has to talk to Aly. She has to fix everything and quickly before the entire news of their “engagement” gets out to her family. Oh god, her family.

The drop in her stomach almost makes her wretch again, just the very idea of her father terrifies her, it sends an icy pain straight to her heart without a second thought.

How her body even finds the strength to move is a mystery to her, her entire system is shot and her muscles are non existent, but she forces her legs out of the locker room and down the hall to the waiting shuttles.

—

It takes her a good ten minutes before she feels like she can get off the ground without hurling her organs onto the floor. If it weren't for Simone she probably wouldn’t have made it to the bus, she still doesn’t know how she got here. Every part of her body is on fire, in just such a short time she’s surprised how her entire universe could come down in flames.

She can’t meet anyone’s eyes the entire ride back to the village, even when Simone erases the distance between them in aisle, the comforting arm of her friend still isn’t enough.

She avoids the sympathetic gaze of Maria, ignores the words Simone is whispering to her, ignores everything because nothing matters anymore. Nothing will ever matter—she had absolutely nothing.

“Do you want me to come up with you?” Simone asks tenderly, her arm never leaving its place around Aly’s shoulders.

She sees it, the small encouraging squeeze that Maria gives Simone, and it shatters her all over again. She’s been here before, she knows everything they’re feeling, the secret looks, the faintest touches that are almost not there, but the fact they are make it that much better.

Her tattered heart is tugged in a million different directions, vulnerability consuming every ounce of her being, she can’t help but swallow against the tears that haven’t spilled yet but threaten to.

With a swift shake of her head she turns to walk to her room.

She doesn’t leave Simone room to say anything because she should be celebrating her gold right now. She should be celebrating with Maria and the rest of their friends, maybe Aly was spiraling down but that didn’t mean she was going to take her best friend with her.

A few long moments pass before Aly finally gets to her door. Her room feels completely void of any life without Aliya there, her hands hover over the doorknob as she contemplates what she can do now.

It wasn’t more than a day ago Aliya told her she was coming home with her, it wasn’t even a fucking second ago in Aly’s mind. Sergei had torn her entire heart out of her chest in all but two minutes.

The bed creaks under her slightly when she sits tenderly as if she might break into a million pieces at any second. Aly’s brain roils over her fears, her insecurities. She pictures the press conference just hours ago and the way Sergei had stared directly into her eyes when he spoke the word “engagement.”

The urge to throw up is now real and as she stands to close the short distance to the bathroom she stops at the soft knock at her door. Aly turns her head and stares at the piece of wood, unsure whether she should even do this now—because literally and figuratively she would be opening the doors to hell.

But she reaches for the doorknob anyways, turning it ever so slowly.

—

She fights against the liquid burning behind her eyes, and tries to find her strength but there is none left. Instead of speaking she turns back into her room, leaving the door open for Aliya to enter.

It doesn’t feel the same—not at all. It doesn’t feel like the bedroom she’s spent so many nights in, curled under the sheets, skin and limbs so close they were practically stuck together, kisses and whispers shared between each other and words of devotion muttered into the darkness of night.

No, instead this room feels like a complete stranger Aliya is meeting for the first time and the girl in front of her mirrors that. She bites her lip, closing the door behind her with a soft click, before she makes her way towards Aly but pauses when the other girl takes a seat to look at her.

“Say something…” She begs, pleads, implores of Aly but the other girl just shakes her head, her bottom lip quivering.

When Aly’s first words to her come out in a broken; “I can’t,” Aliya’s knees almost give out beneath her. She struggles to stand, grasps onto the first thing in her vision, but she settles for the wall for minute support.

“I don’t know what to do. I-I thought I was free. Aly, please look at me.”

The other small shake that Aly gives Aliya makes her stomach drop, she has to swallow against the bile in her throat once more, but she presses on.

Aly leans over her knees and closes her palms around her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut she continues to listen but remains a ticking time bomb.

“I’m going to find a way—“

“And what? Risk your entire family finding out and hating you? Risk your country denouncing your titles?”

Aliya bites the corner of her lip, her eyes searching the girl bent over her knees in front of her for some kind of answer. “They would find out eventually.”

Aly’s arms shift to cross in front of her chest and she finally turns her eyes up to look at Aliya, weak and huddled against the far wall by her bed, the sight is almost too painful to look at and she finds herself subverting her gaze back to the floor once more.

She doesn’t know what compels her to say it, or even where it comes from but she suspects it’s from the last four years, the last four years of this rollercoaster relationship.

Aly wasn’t sure if she was staring down the barrel of the end of their relationship or the beginning, there’s an an overwhelming anxiety and panic that triggers her, because she knows this feeling, it's too familiar. One of them will always be leaving.

“At least it will be easier for you.” She spits out the words with such venom that Aliya visibly recoils slightly at her tone, the regret instantly settles into Aly's system and she flinches in guilt.

“What did you say?” Aliya straightens up a bit this time, squaring her shoulders as much as she can, fixating her eyes right into Aly’s skull, begging the older girl to just fucking look at her.

But she shouldn’t have wished for that because the moment Aly’s eyes meet Aliya’s she gasps as her chest squeezes impossibly tight, she has to grip her shirt to stop herself from collapsing.

Aly clenches her jaw, staring down the only person that holds every ounce of power over her.

“It will be easy for you to get over us, it will take longer with me.”

Aliya almost blanches, her spine prickling uneasily as she takes a step closer to Aly’s sitting form, her eyes still boring into her. “What does that even mean?”

Her voice hits Aly like a thousand icicles are dripping from the break in her voice, she strains against the feeling to burst but it’s too late now; something inside her just snaps. She makes a noise like a scoff before standing so suddenly to come face to face with Aliya.

Aly steels herself in front of Aliya and feels the same constriction in her chest. She shakes her head to try to avoid the tears that are now freely spilling but it’s useless.

“Well we both know…we’ve both always known,” Aly starts then the look she gives Aliya is almost like she’s saying “you don’t know?”, it confuses and angers Aliya even further, making her raise an eyebrow in response.

The incredulous scoff that escapes Aly’s mouth drives a knife into Aliya’s heart and she takes a step back from the girl in front of her.

“Aliya, the fact of our relationship is that I love you more than you love me…which is great news for you today, because it means you can move on!”

Aly throws her arms up in exasperation, turning away from Aliya because she can't bare to see the hurt she's causing her. The bitterness in her tone does not go unnoticed as she bites her lip, hard enough to almost draw blood. The expression of agony that crosses Aliya’s face makes Aly step back herself.

Just looking at Aliya breaks her fucking heart. Aliya chokes on a sob, her hands flying to her face as she wipes furiously at her eyes. She reaches out to try to steady herself against the wall but the task does not prove easy for her shaking limbs.

“How could you ever say that?” Aliya’s voice is cracked, broken and quiet when she finally addresses Aly after what feels like an eternity of the two of them standing in the tension of the room.

Aly feels dizzy, dazed, unreal, and she forget that she still hasn’t and still can’t forgive herself for abandoning Aliya. It's suddenly far more important for Aly to realize that Aliya leaving could very well bring about her own death.

“Aly, you left me!”

“I spent four years trying to fix myself so I could be the woman you deserve,” Aly fights against her emotion for the strength she needs to continue, her fists clenching so hard her knuckles turn snow white.

“You’re perfect, and just every fucking thing under the sun! How could I ever make you happy if we were worlds apart? I couldn’t do it—I love you more than I love myself and I couldn’t fucking do it, Aliya! I walked away because I had to, I had to or else I wouldn’t have been able to save us when the time came and at the time that seemed like a lot less painful than sticking around to watch us go down in flames. I tried to contact you but you cut me out!”

They’re both sobbing now, but neither can offer the other comfort and that makes them both cry even harder. Aly’s bottom lip quivers so hard her face scrunches up slightly when she cries, she tries to draw a steady breath in but her entire ribcage feels like it’s collapsing into itself.

“You got over me before, and you’ll do it again, you’ll go back to Russia a star and marry Denis, have a bunch of kids, and forget about me!”

Aly’s words are bitter and she knows it, she knows they’re harsher than she wants but if this is really it she has to make Aliya hate her, she has to make her hate her so much so Aly will be forced to have a reason to never think of her again.

Aliya doesn’t hold back, her anger bubbles to the surface and she has to say what she wants to say because she's waited too long to not show Aly how utterly heartbroken she left her two years ago.

“Don’t you dare say that to me, don’t you ever dare.”

It feels like forever that Aliya is struggling to breathe again. Numbness steels over her, the world retreats behind a curtain of cold and black and Aly’s words replay in her head like a torture method, and Aliya is oblivious to everything but the girl in front of her—the only thing in life she’ll ever want or need.

“I waited two years for you! I spent those years waiting by my window at the Lake hoping you would come and rescue me eventually—“

Aly softens at the absolute pure vulnerability Aliya is expressing right now, she looks smaller than ever, she looks like seventeen year old Aliya.

“Aliya-“

“I waited for you even after you left me! Don’t you think for a second that I got over you. You walked away, you couldn't even face me! Because of that I did the hardest thing I have ever had to do; I gave you up!”

Aly’s still struggling to breathe past the vise stilling her heart, past the panic and the fear and the pain flooding her veins, past a regret of her words that somehow weigh on her more than anything else right now.

“Medals, Russia, my family, my friends, my gym; they are nothing to me. I was nothing without you!”

She involuntarily chokes in pain and guilt at Aliya’s words. Aliya’s eyes are hollow and empty, which causes Aly to flinch just looking at them.

“Don’t you dare try to say you love me more, don’t talk to me about why you left, because everything you did is nothing, Aly, nothing compared to me giving you up!”

Aly takes an immediate step forward, reaching out her hand to pull Aliya in but she moves away roughly, shaking her head.

“Don’t touch me!”

She shakes her head before reaching forward to hold her again but Aliya moves even further away, crushing her back against the wall like Aly is the plague.

Aly stops and just watches her, she doesn’t know what to say. She doesn’t know how to react. She doesn’t know how to translate into words the roil of emotion tossing her insides and pulverizing her bones to dust.

They're both humming with emotions, both shaking so hard they don't know whether it's in anger, heartbreak, fear or all three.

Aliya never stopped loving her. She never will. Even when Aly had slammed the door on their relationship she had stayed in love with her. Aliya's right, everything Aly did is nothing compared to the things she had to give up.

Aly was going to hold onto Aliya forever, and she was going to prove that now.

Aliya still feels like she is moving through mud, like there is a strong, persistent resistance to the very air around her as she sits up against the wall and makes herself look at Aly. She doesn’t know where to go from here and she’s pretty sure Aly doesn’t have a clue either.

There’s only one thing they know, they can both see it in each other and they’re not really sure who initiates it but in a flash they’re crashing together like two colliding astroids. They hit hard and burst together.

Teeth, tongue, lips, limbs are entwining, clothes flying onto the floor so quickly Aliya finds herself on her back in seconds.

Aly yanks at her sweats like they’re burning Aliya’s skin, ripping them off so cleanly she doesn’t waste anytime in doing the same to her underwear before she spreads her legs wide and falls between them.

Aliya wastes no time herself in helping Aly with her own clothes and makes sure her gold medal makes a loud clattering sound when it hits the ground.

Their skin is blazing and just touching each other is lighting a fire inside of Aliya but it’s not enough. Aly’s arms around her, Aly’s scent, thick and saturating, Aly’s bare skin folded over hers, it’s overwhelming, it’s devastating, it’s staggering, but it’s not enough. Aliya needs more.

Aliya and Aly are pressed so closely together they leave no room for anything to come between them, Aly’s arms wrapping around her so tight she can feel herself to bruise under the possessive pressure of her fingertips.

There is only a sliver of space between Aliya’s nose and Aly’s throat, only enough to drag in the very minimum amount of air Aliya needs to stay conscious, and still, she feels it’s too much space between them still.

Aly pins her body down with hers, the other searching through Aliya’s hot center, Aly’s fingers drag through her folds like she’s detailing every single inch of her heated center and all she can do is squirm under the girl that she relinquishes so much power to.

Aliya takes her own time to run her hands up and down Aly’s powerful thighs, up her spine, and finally around to her taught abs that Aliya melts for. She tangles her fingers in Aly’s hair, tugs her closer, grinds her hips into Aly’s hand and winds their legs tighter together.

Aly takes the opportunity to bite down hard into the hallow of Aliya’s throat, marking her territory in the most predatory way and it makes Aliya release the loudest moan into her ear. She doesn’t care who sees it, in fact she wants the entire god damn world to see the marks she leaves on Aliya.

Without warning three slender fingers are plunged into Aliya’s core, sending an electric current of arousal straight through her entire body which almost recoils at how tightly wound up she is. She lets out a scream of pleasure, her neck straining back as her eyes squeeze shut.

She mimics Aly’s movements and finds herself buried in the other girl’s wet heat, the feeling making herself even more turned on if that was even possible.

Aliya’s warm, wet heat that’s wrapped around Aly’s fingers pulses around her. Aliya swallows the soft, cracked moan that spills from Aly’s mouth into hers as their lips battle each other viscously, neither one of them letting up.

The pull in Aliya’s stomach only intensifies with every pointed thrust Aly’s fingers ignite, she’s never felt so connected yet so far away from Aly right now and it’s effectively killing her. “Mine,” Is whispered over and over into her ear as Aly rolls her own hips down onto Aliya’s hand with a loud groan.

Aliya growls, driving her own fingers into her love harder to make her own point, Aly was just as much hers as she was Aly’s. “Always each other’s…” She pants out between their fluid movements that are now becoming jerky as they approach the edge.

But Aly doesn’t want this to be over just yet because now she’s imagining Aliya leaving on a plane with Denis, leaving Aly behind to put unimaginable distance between them once more and she can’t take it she can’t fucking take it.

Tears fall from her eyes, marring Aliya’s skin like acid but she doesn’t even notice because her head is tossed back in pure ecstasy, her orgasm hitting her like a train going at full fucking speed.

Aliya clenches, greedy for more and it pulls a low, guttural, animal groan that jumps from Aly’s throat straight to her clit. It’s not long before Aly’s wild heat floods Aliya’s own fingers, and a final, powerful pump of her hand carries Aly over the edge with her.

—

The sound of their heartbeats are so loud they hear nothing else in the silence except each other while they lay side by side on top of the sheets, their chests rising and falling rapidly. Aly is the first to sit up after a few minutes and stretch her back, Aliya watching her shoulder muscles flex and move in the semi-dark space.

She doesn’t know if she has the strength to even lift her body off the smooth mattress, it feels like a cloud on her fatigued body but the sound of her familiar ringtone blaring somewhere under their pile of clothes prompts her to sit up.

Aly looks in her direction, watching Aliya rifle through their scattered items for the ringing object while she stays on the bed, her body tight with nerves. Aliya’s eyes go dark when she reads the caller ID, her throat constricting in a rigid swallow before she puts the phone to her ear.

“Papa.”

Aly freezes in place, unable to take her eyes off of Aliya’s stoic figure, her own showing a look of absolute fear. Aliya is speaking lowly in Russian but Aliya hadn’t been the only one mastering a new language over the years. Russian was complicated but Aly put in the hours and right now it was paying off, but in the worst way possible.

“Aliya! Sergei called to tell us about the engagement personally. I am so proud and happy for you!”

“Papa it’s—“

“Your mother is already looking at flowers, dresses, and venues. When you return we will show you them!”

Aliya tears her eyes away from Aly and turns towards the window, running an agitated hand through her hair. “Papa please-“

“Have you thought about where you’ll live with him? I should buy you two a trophy case for your medals!”

“Papa!”

She doesn’t mean for her voice to sound so forceful but she needs to say something, no matter how this is going to go; she needs to do it and do it now before it’s too late.

“I can’t marry him. I don’t want to marry him.”

“Aliya…”

“I can’t go back to Russia and become his wife.”

There’s a pause on the other end of the line, Aly holding her breath like it might just be her last, and she wants to reach out and hold Aliya but her mind is trying to translate every word as fast as she can.

“Is it because of that American gymnast?” Aliya blinks, switching the phone to her other ear, the sinking feeling from earlier coming back to her stomach. “How did you-?”

“Sergei mentioned it to me a while ago. I did not want to believe it and thought he was just pulling my leg because no daughter of mine is gay. You are Aliya Mustafina, you belong in Russia and nowhere else.”

Her father’s words issue a white hot flash of pain lashing over her entire body, she has to hold her chest again to stop herself from sobbing.

“I will never belong somewhere that does not accept me.”

She hears Farhat cough, realizing her mother is probably listening on the other line but she continues, this time in English which she knows they both understand to a degree.

“I love her.”

“Aliya, you’re playing a very dangerous game with this phase of yours, I’d step back before you do something you’ll regret.”

She inhales sharply, not really sure of the next few sentences that come out of her mouth because her entire childhood and her country were becoming a blurry, distant memory of the past.

“This is not a phase, papa. I don’t expect anything from you so if this is goodbye then so be it, but please think about Viktor, think about what you lost and please don't push me away in the same manner. I’ve spent my entire life never feeling true happiness and now that I have it—you want me to leave it. I love you, mama and Naliya, I love you so much, but I’m finally happy."

She was holding out her hand, begging her father to take it. A small shred of her was trying to get him to understand that he can be different this time, she's not Viktor she's his daughter, who's standing here begging for her family's support.

"Please papa, I know you feel guilt over Viktor. I know it. This time can be different. I have happiness, please don't take that from me..."

There’s another pause, and Aliya is really starting to fucking hate silence these days, then she hears her mother hang up on the other end.

“Goodbye, Aliya.” Farhat mutters brokenly before the line goes completely dead, her phone falling from her hand and onto the ground.

—

“Aliya…?”

Aly tentatively takes a step towards the other girl, her heart still in a vice grip, a turmoil of emotion going through her right now at what she just witnessed.

“He said goodbye.”

Aly pales instantly, her eyes flying to the discarded phone on the ground then back to her. Aliya’s voice is scratchy and almost unreadable when she finally speaks.

“He doesn’t get to do this.”

“Aliya, I’m so s-“

Before she can even finish Aliya is yanking her clothes on haphazardly and she only manages to get into her sports bra, pants and shoes before she’s out the door in a flash, leaving Aly to blubber like a fish.

“Aliya—where are you…wait!”

Aly panics looking for her own clothes, throwing on her nearest hoodie and pants before she’s racing after the girl who’s moving at a pretty impressive speed down the hallway to the other side of the village. She doesn’t know what’s suddenly possessed Aliya but it just makes her run faster.

“Aliya! What are you doing?!” She shouts after her, not caring who hears or who wakes up but as she passes the side of the corridor that Simone’s on she notices her door open and the girl poking her head out.

“Aly, what the hell?!”

Aly throws her arms up and continues to follow Aliya, Simone narrows her eyes before watching Aly continue to chase the Russian down the hallway.

It only registers with Aly a second before they arrive that Aliya was going to Sergei’s room.

“Aliya, no!” She starts in a sprint towards the other girl in an attempt to stop her but the door flies open and the smug smirk he gives Aliya makes Aly’s entire body pale and she stops in her tracks to stare at the man that has singlehandedly tried to ruin her entire existence.

“Have you said goodbye to your filthy American?”

“You…” Aliya clenches her jaw, finally letting her anger control her.

A beat doesn’t even pass before her fist flies straight into Sergei’s smug face, a cracking sound filling the room. The gasp of shock that falls from his lips is one of the most beautiful sounds Aly has ever heard and as he stumbles back into his room, Aliya follows to quickly give a hard kick straight to his crotch.

“You little bitch!” Sergei spits venomously, groaning as he holds his balls and tries to search for any shred of dignity he might have left after this.

Gymnasts might be small but years of training and conditioning can have amazing effects on the strength of the body. Something Sergei had to find out the hard way.

Aliya bends down to grab his collar but the taller man makes a quick recovery and slams his entire body against Aliya’s small frame, catching her off guard, and forcing her against the wall. Aliya lets out a gag as the air is knocked straight out of her but she steels herself although unable to find the strength to push him off.

This entire time Aly has been frozen but the sight of Sergei laying a finger on Aliya sends a flash through her, then suddenly she’s running into him and shouting. She drives herself forward so hard she manages to shove him off Aliya, watching as his large frame stumbles back once more at the force of her 5’2” body.

He sneers at Aly like she’s nothing before he lunges back at Aliya, his leg striking out like a bullet straight into Aliya’s knee. The scream of horror that bursts from Aly pierces the empty hallway, probably waking up the entire village, but then Aliya is buckling to the ground and all she can see is red. The pain catches up to her and consumes her entire frame, her vision starts to blur a bit, a scream of agony rupturing from her throat.

“Aliya!”

Aly throws herself to the ground next to her, wrapping her arms around her shoulders protectively, her eyes lifting to the satisfied look crossing Sergei’s face before he lifts his leg again, Aly preparing herself for the pain but when none comes she looks up when she hears frantic voices round the corner down the hallway.

“In there, Marta! I heard Aly screaming!”

Simone Biles to the fucking rescue. Sergei stops and backs away from the door, Simone appearing with Marta, Evgeny and two security guards. Marta looks at the scene horrified and runs to Aly and Aliya instantly, Evgeny pushing into the room to grab Sergei by the collar of his shirt.

“Explain!”

For the first time in his life Sergei stutters, completely scared shitless at Evgeny’s towering figure. The man was like a giant protective bear.

“I-I” Sergei motions to Aliya and Aly but Evgeny’s eyes boring into his make him cower away entirely.

“I saw Aliya come in here to talk to him and then the next second he was beating her.” Aly speaks lowly, her arms still wrapped tightly around Aliya’s shaking form. Evgeny looks between Sergei and Aly, Sergei interjecting angrily,

“Don’t listen fucking listen to a word she says! They’re fucking dykes-“

Evgeny shakes him by the collar so violently Aly swears anymore force would have snapped Sergei’s neck in two. He puts his face so close to Sergei’s their noses are touching and the next word he whispers so fiercely it could physically burn one’s skin.

“Don’t you dare show your face in my gym or any gym ever again. You are nothing.”

He says his last word with a pointed shove before nodding to security. “Leave your jacket and uniform. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get thrown in jail here.”

Sergei doesn’t even get a word out, the security guards grabbing him by the shoulders to handcuff him, he shouts and protests but the sounds soon fade fade down the hallway.

Evgeny watches him go then faces Aliya, kneeling beside them to frame her pale cheeks in his hands. She tries to look at him but her vision isn’t focusing correctly and the whole time she’s been clutching her knee, her nails digging in so hard it’s almost drawing blood but she can’t feel a thing.

“Alka, it’s okay, we’ve got you…” Aliya is shaking so fiercely she’s having a hard time responding and the way Aly is holding her says all he needs to know right now. He kisses her forehead, smoothing her hair.

“We need to get her to the medical area to have her knee checked.” Marta says firmly, standing to help Aly up, Evgeny agreeing as he easily scoops Aliya into his strong arms. She holds onto him like her lifeline, hissing when Marta runs a gentle finger over her leg.

Her jaw is chattering, her whole body feels like an iceberg and she hears Marta mention something about shock but she’s too distracted reaching blindly for Aly, needing her to just touch her to know she's there. She’s sinking and she can’t swim on her own right now.

“I'm here, just hang onto my hand…” Aly whispers to her, walking step in step with Evgeny, Marta and Simone following on their heels. She kisses Aliya’s forehead soothingly, holding onto her hand the entire time even when she feels the world going black she keeps talking to her.

Aly watches like a hawk as one of the doctors examines Aliya, she watches everything as they conclude her knee is just a little bruised and fragile but nothing is torn or broken from the impact.

She watches a nurse give Aliya something to help her calm down, watches her start to fall asleep against the small medical cot, and even though she wants to talk to her she's grateful the shaking in her body is starting to subside, and she lays curled together gently she looks so small and fragile.

The nurse suggests she spend the night incase she needs more assistance and before she can even finish her sentence Aly has already pulled a chair up right beside the bed.

Marta gives her a reproachful look, saying she should also be examined for any wounds but she remains sitting in the chair, with one hand closed around Aliya’s hand just to remind herself that Aliya is physically here and alive. Breathing.

Evgeny and Marta discuss the authorities arriving tomorrow to talk to them as they leave the girls in the room, Simone stays for a few minutes afterwards once everyone else is gone from the room she pulls Aly into the tightest hug, inhaling into her shoulder.

“You scared the shit out of me, grandma.”

Aly hugs her best friend back before returning to her seat right next to the bed. She gives Simone a thankful look, regretting not being able to really form a cohesive sentence right now but Simone understands and gives her one last squeeze before leaving with the promise to come back first thing in the morning.

Aly doesn’t sleep that night, instead she stays curled uncomfortably on the small chair, just in case Aliya needs her at all during the night, with one hand closed over Aliya’s wrist just to remind herself that Aliya is physically here and alive.

Even after the nurse shuts the light off and soaks the room in darkness, Aly's eyes still remained fixed on Aliya's unmoving form.

She still feels like she is in a daze, lIke all of this never happened and the last six hours weren't real.

She hopes Aliya doesn’t mind, but now she can’t let go. Her heart is still wrapped in a cold, hard vise and only the slow, steady, subtle beat in the vein under her thumb, only the warmth of Aliya’s skin against her own, reminds her to stay there…breathing…surviving...

—

Once we start a meter clicks, and it goes running all through the night

A/N: Love you all! Thank you for sticking with this, I hope you're excited for the sequel that I do intend to write if there's still interest in this couple.p.s. - the chapter title is from the Sleeping At Last cover of the song "all through the night" I recommend listening!