We'll Shine Together Ch.2 (The One Where Allison Gets in on the Plan)
Title: We'll Shine Together Chapter 2 (The one where Allison gets in on the plan)
Fandom: Swimming
Pairing: eventually Ryan Lochte/Michael Phelps
Disclaimer: Not real, this is all lies, I made it all up, I own nothing.
Rating: PG
Summary: Allison gets in on the plan to hook up Ryan and Michael.
Notes: Definitely don't get your hopes up that I'll be posting a chapter a day because that's not gonna happen lol. These first three chapters or so are kinda just setting up everything so they're shorter/faster/etc. This one's 1423 words.
They've got a couple of days before the training camp in Knoxville, but Allison and Michael coordinate their flights so they can fly from Baltimore to Knoxville together. They're sitting in the terminal waiting to board and Allison notices that Michael's just sitting there tapping at his iPhone screen.
"Are you playing a game?" she asks, but Michael shakes his head.
"Nah, Ryan just got to Knoxville. He says the place they're putting us up in is really nice."
Allison smiles to herself. Of course he's texting Ryan. Since Elizabeth had brought it up the other day in Omaha, she had been noticing more and more just how much he was actually texting Ryan and it was definitely a little weird. "Are you rooming with him?"
Michael shakes his head again. "Nah, he's rooming with Cullen. I think they said I was going to end up with a single, which is weird but totally fine."
"Yeah, no distractions," she agrees. "I'm with Elizabeth."
"Beisel?" he asks, and Allison nods. "That sounds like trouble waiting to happen," Michael says with a laugh.
"Whatever," Allison says, smiling widely. Michael taps at his phone a couple more times and Allison thinks back to how much Megan had yelled at him for texting all the time. "Did you and Megan ever make up?" she asks.
"Definitely not," Michael says, and he rolls his eyes. "She was...well, she ended up being a bit more possessive than I would have liked. I mean, I can't even text my friends? Come on."
"She was pretty though," Allison supplies, but Michael just shrugs.
"There'll always be pretty girls, Schmitty. I'll be fine."
Elizabeth is waiting in the room when Allison gets there and she greets her friend with a hug. "This is gonna be the best month ever," Elizabeth says.
"Definitely," Allison agrees.
"Trust me, I've got some ideas." Elizabeth's eyes are sparkling and Allison wonders if maybe what Michael had said about trouble had a little more truth in it than she originally thought.
Training camp flies by. One of the last days, there's a media day, and the natatorium is filled with reporters and fans. Luckily for most of them, Ryan and Michael handle the majority of the questions.
"They make a great team, don't they?" Elizabeth notes, and Allison nods in agreement. Because they really are. Michael's been doing this for years, so he can handle pretty much any question an interviewer throws at him, and then Ryan just turns on the charm and makes anything Michael says a million times better. They were the perfect compliment for each other.
Elizabeth is watching them with a weird smile on her face, and Allison starts to ask her about it but Elizabeth waves her off. "Later," she says.
"Later" apparently means when they're getting ready to go to the send-off party at one of the USA Swimming guys' house, because Elizabeth corners Allison when she's fixing her makeup in the bathroom.
"So you noticed it too, then?" Elizabeth asks.
Allison finishes applying her mascara before she answers. "Noticed what?"
"Ryan and Michael," she continues. "Like, you noticed how weirdly close they are."
"Sure," Allison says with a shrug, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "I mean, they're friends."
"But they're not just friends," Elizabeth presses. "Like, have you noticed that? It's weird, they're always hanging onto each other and hugging and touching each other. You noticed that, right?"
Allison has to agree. "Yeah, now that you mention it."
"Like, at training this morning. When Ryan was like...jumping on Michael's back?"
Allison laughs, remembering. Michael had actually ended up giving Ryan a piggyback for almost an entire length of the pool with the crowd cheering him on. Then he had unceremoniously tossed Ryan off of his back into the next lane and the crowd cheered just as loud. She looks back at Elizabeth in the mirror. "So you think they're like...secretly dating?"
"I don't think so," she says. "Ryan is terrible with secrets, he never could have kept that from Conor especially, and probably not me either. I think, if anything, Ryan for sure has a crush on Michael."
"I mean, like I said yesterday, who wouldn't?" Allison says with a smile.
"Exactly! Michael's a good looking guy with a great body. And I think Ryan has noticed."
There's still one thing missing from all of this, though. "Michael's not gay though. And Ryan..."
Elizabeth grins. "Ryan is, in his own words, flexible. Somehow he manages to pick up the hottest guys, I don't even know." Her smile widens. "I mean, okay, I do know, it's because Ryan could seduce anyone, anywhere. Which is why I think this could work."
"Why what could work?" Allison asks cautiously.
"We're going to set them up. It'll be perfect." She's got a determined look on her face and Allison knows there's no way she can get out of this now.
"I dunno, Liz..."
But Elizabeth grabs her arm enthusastically. "Come on, Schmitty, it'll be perfect! We'll be like, Olympic matchmakers! Like the Millionaire Matchmaker lady on Bravo, only more awesome and with super curly hair. Pleeeeease?" She's looking up at Allison with big puppy-dog eyes and she just seems so excited that Allison just can't say no.
So she concedes. "Fine, what do I have to do?"
Elizabeth jumps excitedly and hugs her. "Right now, nothing. Ryan was already bugging me about not getting distracted, and I know Michael's worse, so we'll let them focus until the events are actually over. That still gives us like a week. But, you know, we could like...push them together or whatever, like make them hang out and see what happens." She smiles knowingly. "The spark's there, Schmitty. We just need to set it off."
They go to the party that afternoon and it's a blast, as expected. The entire Olympic team is there, and there's lots of laughing and people cracking jokes and taking pictures. There's a pool, but nobody wants to go in, so they just hang out on the deck drinking lemonade and eating burgers.
There's a band playing on the patio, and at one point Elizabeth grabs the microphone away from the singer and has the band play "Call Me Maybe". Missy starts dancing around the pool deck and Kathleen makes a comment to Caitlin about how they should totally make a video of the team dancing to it.
Allison is about to tell Kathleen that's an awesome idea when she notices Michael out of the corner of her eye. He's sitting on one of the pool chairs talking to Ryan, which is normal, but what she really notices is the way he's talking to Ryan.
Ryan looks like he's telling some story to a group that's surrounding him, but he's mostly facing Michael. Every now and then he reaches out and touches Michael's knee to get his attention, but that's typical Ryan. What's not typical is Michael's smile. She's spent enough time around him to know when he's really smiling and when he isn't, and this is definitely one of the real times. He's got his media smile, his "I'm super polite and my mama raised me well so I'm gonna pretend I'm enjoying talking to you but really I want you to go away" smile. But this? It's Michael's "I'm really, really enjoying this" smile. Allison knows that smile- it's the one she's lucky enough to get to see most of the time.
But there's something else there, and it takes Allison a minute to notice it, but when Ryan's done telling his story and he just sort of casually rests his arm on Michael's knee, she sees it. It's the look he gets when he's at the bar trying to pick up a girl. The little smile she'd seen him give Megan once or twice over the past few months. But this time it's directed at Ryan.
When Elizabeth finishes singing and high-fiving the band members, Allison pulls her away from Conor and tries as hard as possible to subtly point out Michael and Ryan, deep in conversation, Ryan's arm still resting on Michael's knee. "Don't scream," Allison says quietly, because judging by the huge smile on Elizabeth's face, she looks like she might burst with happiness.
"I told you oh my god!!!" she finally squeaks out, bouncing up and down a little. "You know this means we definitely have to do it now?"
Allison nods enthusiastically. "Duh. This is going to be the easiest Olympic matchmaking in history."
Fandom: Swimming
Pairing: eventually Ryan Lochte/Michael Phelps
Disclaimer: Not real, this is all lies, I made it all up, I own nothing.
Rating: PG
Summary: Allison gets in on the plan to hook up Ryan and Michael.
Notes: Definitely don't get your hopes up that I'll be posting a chapter a day because that's not gonna happen lol. These first three chapters or so are kinda just setting up everything so they're shorter/faster/etc. This one's 1423 words.
They've got a couple of days before the training camp in Knoxville, but Allison and Michael coordinate their flights so they can fly from Baltimore to Knoxville together. They're sitting in the terminal waiting to board and Allison notices that Michael's just sitting there tapping at his iPhone screen.
"Are you playing a game?" she asks, but Michael shakes his head.
"Nah, Ryan just got to Knoxville. He says the place they're putting us up in is really nice."
Allison smiles to herself. Of course he's texting Ryan. Since Elizabeth had brought it up the other day in Omaha, she had been noticing more and more just how much he was actually texting Ryan and it was definitely a little weird. "Are you rooming with him?"
Michael shakes his head again. "Nah, he's rooming with Cullen. I think they said I was going to end up with a single, which is weird but totally fine."
"Yeah, no distractions," she agrees. "I'm with Elizabeth."
"Beisel?" he asks, and Allison nods. "That sounds like trouble waiting to happen," Michael says with a laugh.
"Whatever," Allison says, smiling widely. Michael taps at his phone a couple more times and Allison thinks back to how much Megan had yelled at him for texting all the time. "Did you and Megan ever make up?" she asks.
"Definitely not," Michael says, and he rolls his eyes. "She was...well, she ended up being a bit more possessive than I would have liked. I mean, I can't even text my friends? Come on."
"She was pretty though," Allison supplies, but Michael just shrugs.
"There'll always be pretty girls, Schmitty. I'll be fine."
Elizabeth is waiting in the room when Allison gets there and she greets her friend with a hug. "This is gonna be the best month ever," Elizabeth says.
"Definitely," Allison agrees.
"Trust me, I've got some ideas." Elizabeth's eyes are sparkling and Allison wonders if maybe what Michael had said about trouble had a little more truth in it than she originally thought.
Training camp flies by. One of the last days, there's a media day, and the natatorium is filled with reporters and fans. Luckily for most of them, Ryan and Michael handle the majority of the questions.
"They make a great team, don't they?" Elizabeth notes, and Allison nods in agreement. Because they really are. Michael's been doing this for years, so he can handle pretty much any question an interviewer throws at him, and then Ryan just turns on the charm and makes anything Michael says a million times better. They were the perfect compliment for each other.
Elizabeth is watching them with a weird smile on her face, and Allison starts to ask her about it but Elizabeth waves her off. "Later," she says.
"Later" apparently means when they're getting ready to go to the send-off party at one of the USA Swimming guys' house, because Elizabeth corners Allison when she's fixing her makeup in the bathroom.
"So you noticed it too, then?" Elizabeth asks.
Allison finishes applying her mascara before she answers. "Noticed what?"
"Ryan and Michael," she continues. "Like, you noticed how weirdly close they are."
"Sure," Allison says with a shrug, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. "I mean, they're friends."
"But they're not just friends," Elizabeth presses. "Like, have you noticed that? It's weird, they're always hanging onto each other and hugging and touching each other. You noticed that, right?"
Allison has to agree. "Yeah, now that you mention it."
"Like, at training this morning. When Ryan was like...jumping on Michael's back?"
Allison laughs, remembering. Michael had actually ended up giving Ryan a piggyback for almost an entire length of the pool with the crowd cheering him on. Then he had unceremoniously tossed Ryan off of his back into the next lane and the crowd cheered just as loud. She looks back at Elizabeth in the mirror. "So you think they're like...secretly dating?"
"I don't think so," she says. "Ryan is terrible with secrets, he never could have kept that from Conor especially, and probably not me either. I think, if anything, Ryan for sure has a crush on Michael."
"I mean, like I said yesterday, who wouldn't?" Allison says with a smile.
"Exactly! Michael's a good looking guy with a great body. And I think Ryan has noticed."
There's still one thing missing from all of this, though. "Michael's not gay though. And Ryan..."
Elizabeth grins. "Ryan is, in his own words, flexible. Somehow he manages to pick up the hottest guys, I don't even know." Her smile widens. "I mean, okay, I do know, it's because Ryan could seduce anyone, anywhere. Which is why I think this could work."
"Why what could work?" Allison asks cautiously.
"We're going to set them up. It'll be perfect." She's got a determined look on her face and Allison knows there's no way she can get out of this now.
"I dunno, Liz..."
But Elizabeth grabs her arm enthusastically. "Come on, Schmitty, it'll be perfect! We'll be like, Olympic matchmakers! Like the Millionaire Matchmaker lady on Bravo, only more awesome and with super curly hair. Pleeeeease?" She's looking up at Allison with big puppy-dog eyes and she just seems so excited that Allison just can't say no.
So she concedes. "Fine, what do I have to do?"
Elizabeth jumps excitedly and hugs her. "Right now, nothing. Ryan was already bugging me about not getting distracted, and I know Michael's worse, so we'll let them focus until the events are actually over. That still gives us like a week. But, you know, we could like...push them together or whatever, like make them hang out and see what happens." She smiles knowingly. "The spark's there, Schmitty. We just need to set it off."
They go to the party that afternoon and it's a blast, as expected. The entire Olympic team is there, and there's lots of laughing and people cracking jokes and taking pictures. There's a pool, but nobody wants to go in, so they just hang out on the deck drinking lemonade and eating burgers.
There's a band playing on the patio, and at one point Elizabeth grabs the microphone away from the singer and has the band play "Call Me Maybe". Missy starts dancing around the pool deck and Kathleen makes a comment to Caitlin about how they should totally make a video of the team dancing to it.
Allison is about to tell Kathleen that's an awesome idea when she notices Michael out of the corner of her eye. He's sitting on one of the pool chairs talking to Ryan, which is normal, but what she really notices is the way he's talking to Ryan.
Ryan looks like he's telling some story to a group that's surrounding him, but he's mostly facing Michael. Every now and then he reaches out and touches Michael's knee to get his attention, but that's typical Ryan. What's not typical is Michael's smile. She's spent enough time around him to know when he's really smiling and when he isn't, and this is definitely one of the real times. He's got his media smile, his "I'm super polite and my mama raised me well so I'm gonna pretend I'm enjoying talking to you but really I want you to go away" smile. But this? It's Michael's "I'm really, really enjoying this" smile. Allison knows that smile- it's the one she's lucky enough to get to see most of the time.
But there's something else there, and it takes Allison a minute to notice it, but when Ryan's done telling his story and he just sort of casually rests his arm on Michael's knee, she sees it. It's the look he gets when he's at the bar trying to pick up a girl. The little smile she'd seen him give Megan once or twice over the past few months. But this time it's directed at Ryan.
When Elizabeth finishes singing and high-fiving the band members, Allison pulls her away from Conor and tries as hard as possible to subtly point out Michael and Ryan, deep in conversation, Ryan's arm still resting on Michael's knee. "Don't scream," Allison says quietly, because judging by the huge smile on Elizabeth's face, she looks like she might burst with happiness.
"I told you oh my god!!!" she finally squeaks out, bouncing up and down a little. "You know this means we definitely have to do it now?"
Allison nods enthusiastically. "Duh. This is going to be the easiest Olympic matchmaking in history."