Chapter 16 #2
But before he can puzzle it out, Danny’s smiling again. “Okay. Just checking. Cause I talked to Coach Garrett, and he said it was fine, as long as you can get this, like, visa thing? I forget what it was called, I’ll look it up.”
“You talked to your coach?” Panic ripples through Sasha’s stomach—he hadn’t realized that Danny was already setting this in motion, telling other people without him knowing.
“Yeah, he’s pretty chill. And he already knows who you are, I showed him that Tsuk you did in Glasgow like ages ago,” Danny says, shrugging, as if there’s no way any of this could possibly go wrong.
“Oh, and my parents are cool with it, too. My mom wanted me to ask if you have any allergies—you’re not vegetarian or anything, right?
It’s totally fine if you are, we just won’t do, like, steaks or whatever… ”
It’s too much, too fast, Danny barreling down the runway before Sasha’s had a chance to check the springboard, the height of the vault, or the landing mat.
How can Danny be sure it’s safe? How the fuck is he just telling everyone about Sasha coming to visit, like he’s not at all worried about what they’re going to think?
“Danny, I—”
Can’t, he means to say, because he shouldn’t.
Even if he managed to extend the trip without anyone suspecting why, two weeks of Danny would still be two weeks of chances to get caught—by the Hartmans, by Danny’s coach, by all the friends he’s now expecting Sasha to meet.
It would be risky bordering on reckless, and if he has any sense of self-preservation, he’ll tell Danny no.
But Danny’s staring at the screen with those goddamn puppy-dog eyes, and Sasha knows that if he does the right thing, he’ll regret it for the rest of his life.
“No allergies,” he says, swallowing. “And I am not vegetarian. But…”
Danny waits while he gathers his doubts, arranging them in order of their importance.
“I don’t know how to tell my mother. Or Kirill.”
And he can’t see a way around either of those problems, blazing like giant neon billboards over Danny’s summer camp and taco restaurants. Alina has no idea Danny exists; Kirill barely believes that Sasha doesn’t hate him. How the hell is he going to explain any of this to them?
“Easy,” Danny says, and Sasha stares at him.
“Just tell them you asked me for some recommendations, and then I was all like, ‘Dude, you gotta come visit my gym,’ and you were like, ‘What?’ and then I kept asking, and finally you were like, ‘Okay,’ and now you’re stuck with me.
” He grins. “I mean, if you think about it, it’s kinda true. ”
That… might actually work, Sasha realizes.
He’ll still have to plan out and practice what he’s going to say, but…
yeah, Kirill would definitely believe that Danny had invited a random Russian to coach at his gym.
Would Alina, though? And could he really convince both of them he’d been worn down enough to accept?
But if he pulls this off, he’ll have two whole weeks with Danny, which is more than they’ve had in the last three years combined. And this time, there won’t be any teammates to sneak around, or stairwells to skulk through, or even curfews to obey.
He’ll finally know what it’s like to kiss Danny without a clock ticking in the back of his mind.
“Okay,” he says at last. Because some things are worth the risk, and a long time ago that only meant gymnastics skills, but more and more it just means Danny. “I… I will tell them.”
“Yes!” Danny throws his fist in the air, eyes sparkling like the stars. “Oh my God, this is gonna be amazing. Like, best summer ever.”
It’s too soon to celebrate—Sasha still has to talk to Alina, and Kirill, and probably someone at the US embassy about that visa—but before he can point any of this out, Danny starts rattling off all the places he wants them to go together.
And all the tacos he wants Sasha to try.
And, and, and, until Sasha’s caught up in the excitement despite himself, letting Danny carry him away on the hazy, gleaming promise of a golden summer.
At least until Danny goes quiet and bites his lip, looking unexpectedly nervous.
“What?” Sasha asks.
“Uh…” Danny hesitates, then says in a rush, “Sash, I really want to meet your mom.”
Sasha’s smile drops, and so does his stomach. It’s his own fault for not being prepared—he should have known Danny was going to bring this up again.
“I know you don’t want her to find out,” Danny adds quickly, “and I totally get it, but, you’re gonna be staying with me for two weeks, right? So I feel like, as your mom, she’d want to meet me and make sure I’m not, like, a murderer, you know? And I’m gonna have to come pick you up anyway, so…”
Logically, what Danny’s saying makes sense, but Sasha’s stuck on how many ways it could go horribly wrong.
What if Alina takes one look at him when he’s with Danny and knows, as only a mother could, that they’re together?
What if Danny hugs him too much, or calls him Sash, or says something else that gives them away? It’d be better—safer—to just refuse.
Except Danny’s watching him hopefully, and while he hasn’t pulled out the puppy-dog eyes again (yet), Sasha remembers how upset he’d been before, finding out that Alina didn’t know he existed.
It’s obvious that this is important to him, even though Sasha doesn’t completely understand why, because meeting Alina won’t change the fact that Sasha’s never going to tell her the truth about their relationship.
But still, it matters to Danny, and Sasha feels guilty enough about hurting him to try and push past some of his discomfort, to concede what little he can. “I will… I will ask her if she wants to meet.”
“Really?” When Sasha nods, Danny’s smile lights up like a bonfire. “Holy shit, thank you! Seriously, Sash, that means a lot. And I promise, I’m gonna be so chill. Like, bro hugs only. She won’t even know…”
Danny goes on, and Sasha takes a deep breath, telling himself that it might not happen—Alina could decide she doesn’t need to vet Danny, or maybe it’ll be too difficult to arrange something around her flight home.
Either way, he’s not going to let it ruin his excitement about seeing Danny this summer, even though it’s another complication, another obstacle he’ll have to overcome if they’re going to have any hope of pulling this off.
Because he will. He’ll do whatever it takes.