A/N: Okay, so this is my 2nd Paily fanfic. After hearing that Lindsey Shaw is returning, I knew I had to get back into writing! Lol I hope all of my fellow Paily fans enjoy it! And like I said, not entirely sure how long this will be just yet.

Emily's POV

"What's going on in that head of yours, Em?"

I had been aimlessly swirling the olives around in my dirty vodka martini at The Radley, occasionally stabbing one with the plastic spear, and then dropping it back in and watching it sink to the bottom of my glass. I watched the liquid twist and spin like the funnel of a tornado and then quietly dissipate before I looked up to catch Aria's gaze. She quirked her brow, almost as if it were going to will me to answer truthfully and honestly.

But, to be truthful and honest, I didn't even have the faintest clue of where to start. Things had been quiet lately, considering our newest nemesis. We got Hanna back, safe and sound, but things still felt…off. Maybe it was because I still didn't trust Rollins or his relationship with Ali, maybe it was because deep down, I was heartbroken that I couldn't help my friend through whatever psychological break that was plaguing her. But, who am I kidding? I know that it's much more than just that.

Aria had Ezra, hell, she could still have Liam if that fell through. Hanna was finally getting back into the swing of things and of course her first instinct was to dive right back into planning her wedding with Jordan. Spencer and Caleb? Well, they seemed to have not missed a beat, even with his little…slip up with Hanna. But where was I? Where did I fit in?

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair, "It's nothing. I'm fine, guys" I lied through my smile. Spencer called my bluff immediately.

"Bullshit."

Hanna directly followed, "Yeah, Em, c'mon. We've known each other for years. We all can tell when you're being less than truthful." Aria nodded in agreement as she sipped her mai tai.

"So, why don't you cut the crap and tell us what's up?" Spencer persisted, setting her empty wine glass down onto the table, and signaling our waitress for a refill.

"Oh, me too!" Hanna interjected, pointing at her half full cosmo. We all looked at her, questioningly. "What?" She deadpanned, almost too innocently, followed with a shrug. "It's an anticipatory order."

The three of us chuckled and said no more. Considering the hell Hanna had been through lately, who were we to rain on her parade of binge drinking?

Spencer didn't waste another second, bringing us back to full circle. "Em, talk to us."

"I'm just…jealous, of all of you guys" I confessed. I brought my glass to my lips and took a big swig, hoping the liquor would help me to feel less embarrassed after what I just said.

"Us? Why?" Aria asked, genuinely curious.

"Look at you guys, you all have careers and lives, and…partners…" I trailed off. I can't believe I was twenty-three years old and complaining to my best friends about being single. Maybe I need another drink, too. I took another swig, downing the rest of my drink and setting it back onto the table.

Hanna perked up at this, "Oh! So, what you're saying is, you'd like for us to play match maker tonight!" She giddily began clapping her hands like a school girl. Aria looked like she wanted to join her right then and there.

"No, no" I laughed, "That's not what I'm saying. I'm just saying that-"

"That you haven't gotten laid in months?" I was met with Spencer's smirk as I felt heat start to boil to my cheeks. Our waitress placed another martini in front of me. Thank god somebody knows what I need right now. I wasted no time grabbing it.

"Not like that's any of your business, but…no" I whispered the last part, not exactly sure why I felt so embarrassed around the girls I had shared much of my life with.

"Say no more, Em, I'm on it!" Hanna said and kicked her feet up onto the lounge couch her and Aria were currently occupying, perching herself upwards. She began to intensely scan the entire lobby of The Radley. I rolled my eyes, she thinks she's going to find me someone here? I'll believe that when I see it.

Spencer and Aria joined in, as if wanting to beat Hanna to the punch of finding someone.

"Guys, seriously, you don't have to do this." I tried, but Hanna waved me off as she continued to scan.

"Um, yes, we do, Em. It's our duties as best friends! Besides, I know you'd do the same for…a ha!"

"What do you got, Han?" Spencer asked, moving over to the couch and sitting behind her and Aria.

"Right there, at the bar." Hanna pointed, grinning. "Short brown hair, legs that look like they go for days in that dress."

"Hmm I applaud you, Hanna. Not bad" Spencer teased. "She has nice muscle definition, did you check out her arms? Definitely an athlete of some sort…"

"I wish she'd turn around, I want to see her face" chimed in Aria.

"Oh great, thanks guys, you pick out a girl who one, you haven't even seen her face and two, we don't even know if she plays for my team. Thanks!" I chuckled a bit and threw them a thumbs up. "On that note, I think I'm gonna head out." I began to stand up, reaching for my purse.

"Oh come on, Em, please? At least just come and look at her" whined Hanna. She pouted her lips at me and I knew I was done for.

"Fine. And then I'm leaving."

I made my way over to the couch and followed the direction of their eyes, landing on a brunette haired woman. She was sat at the bar, a half empty martini glass in front of her. Dirty. She has good taste, I thought to myself. She was clad in a dark blue cocktail dress, black pumps encased her feet. One of the male bartenders was standing a small distance away, drying glasses, but with his gaze turned downward. No doubt trying to catch a glimpse down the plunging neckline of her dress. Her hair, the color of almonds, were in soft curls stopping just above her shoulders. I always had a thing for women with short hair.

Spencer, Aria, and Hanna were continuing to chat about this brunette haired beauty, trying to come up with a coy plan to get her to turn around and face us. But there was no need. Another woman approached her, two martinis in hand. The beauty turned to face this stranger, and it was then at that moment that I lost my breath. It was at that moment, that my stomach leaped, it felt like I was on a steep drop on a roller coaster. My heart soon came crashing down, into the pit of my stomach.

It wasn't because another woman had beat me to the punch and struck up a conversation. No, no of course not. It was because the brunette beauty my friends had been ogling for the past ten minutes, was in fact, Paige McCullers.

The girls made this realization a couple seconds after me, because by the time they did, I was halfway out the hotel. My feet wouldn't stop, they just kept going. Further and further away from the woman who had been haunting my dreams for the past few years. Further and further away from the woman I hadn't been able to stop thinking about since the day I met her, so many years ago.

I heard the girls calling out to me, no doubt chasing after me. But I couldn't stop. I didn't stop until my cheeks were met with the cool Rosewood weather. Thank god for the breeze, it helped to dry a tear that had escaped and cascaded down my cheek before I turned to face my friends.

"Em, what's wrong? Why does the sight of Paige McCullers send you fleeing?" Spencer asked, putting her hand onto my shoulder to comfort me.

I swallowed hard, not sure of where to even start. A lot had happened these past five years, a lot that the girls didn't know about. Most of which, centered around that brunette haired beauty no more than a few hundred feet away from me. That was the closest I had been to her in years, and now being in her proximity again, was sending my heart into a frenzy.

"It's a really long story…"

"Hey, we've got time" Hanna assured me, giving my arm a supportive squeeze.

/

I smiled as Paige continued to leave trails of kisses up and down my neck.

"If I don't get on the road back to Malibu now, I am not going to make my 8am class" I persisted, my hands coming into contact with her shoulders, trying to playfully push her off. But she wouldn't budge. She continued her assault and when she lightly nipped at my skin, I lost all control.

"But I'm not ready for you to go yet" she said, "And it doesn't seem like you are either…" Paige began to snake her hands up my shirt, lightly scraping my abdomen with her nails. My eyes shot open at this and I willed myself to stop, I forced myself to, as I slithered out from underneath her grasp.

I hopped up from the bed and held my hair up, now realizing just how warm it had gotten in Paige's dorm room. Paige threw me her best pout, but all I could do was smile and shake my head.

"I love you, but I have to go. But I promise I'll see you next weekend."

This had become our routine for the past year, spending weekends with each other. I can't lie and say choosing Pepperdine didn't have anything to do with Paige. Once I arrived, I wasted no time in contacting her and rekindling our romance. Sure, I attempted to move on with Talia and Sara, but they were just fillers. Taking up space until I could finally be with the one person I knew deep down I had always meant to be with.

Things with Paige this time were simple, easy, effortless. With no A stalking our every move, Paige and I were finally free to be together. And to say this past year with her was amazing, was the epitome of an understatement. I don't think I've ever loved someone as deeply and purely as I loved Paige.

"You know, this would be a hell of a lot easier if you'd just transfer to Stanford." I sighed. Here we go again. Considering we had just started our sophomore year of college, this conversation had happened on more than one occasion.

"Paige, we've talked about this. Stanford doesn't offer any of the courses I'm interested in. And besides, tuition at Pepperdine is half of what I'd be paying at Stanford. You know that my parents have been struggling…"

Paige pushed herself up off the bed and began making her way over to me. "I know, I know, I just…I wish we could be able to spend more time together, you know, not just on weekends and school breaks." Paige had circled her arms around my waist, pulling me close, as our foreheads touched.

"I know, babe. Me too. But, we've already made it this far, just two more years and then we'll be together, me and you, everyday…" I gently pecked her on the lips, getting lost into the daydream of us finally together and starting a life.

Paige kissed me back with all the love I knew she had.

"You're right, what's two more years?"

/

Paige's POV

I was jolted awake by my phone ringing on my nightstand. It was just after 8pm, I had hit the hay early because I had a swim meet bright and early the next morning. So any other time, I would have silenced it and sent it to voicemail, but I was sort of expecting a call.

Emily and I hadn't spoken in a couple of weeks. Out of nowhere, I got radio silence from her. She stopped responding to my texts and phone calls. It was so out of character and I was genuinely worried for her. I even drove to Pepperdine one day. I played hooky from all of my classes, I even missed swim practice. I just had to know if she was okay, if we were okay.

I was half expecting to find her with someone else, I knew only seeing each other on weekends and school breaks might not be enough for her. But when I arrived, I didn't find her at all. Her roommate informed me that she had suddenly dropped out of Pepperdine and left. That was the last I ever heard of Emily Fields.

Until now. I squinted, as the brightness of my phone lit up my room. I recognized the area code. It was from Pennsylvania. Rosewood, to be exact.

"Em? Is that you?" I answered, praying that it was her. I mean, who else would be calling me from a Rosewood number?

"Oh, sorry, Paige, It's Pam…"

I shot up in bed. "Pam? Is everything okay? What's wrong?" I stammered. Pam sounded worried, and she sounded like she had been crying.

"Paige, I'm so sorry to ask you this, but I need your help…"

"What is it?" I stood up and flipped on the switch to my bedside lamp, cursing myself as it was a bit too bright for my liking. I began picking up clothes that were scattered on my floor, knowing that whatever Pam needed from me would require me to be clothed and ready to leave.

"It's Emily, she's…ever since Wayne, her father passed-"

"Wait, what?" My heart literally felt like it had fallen out of my chest.

"She…she didn't tell you?" Pam quietly asked, fighting back tears.

"No…she didn't. When did this happen?" My mouth had slightly gone dry, I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"A couple of weeks ago."

Finally, it had all made sense. The radio silence, the leaving. She must have been distraught, and worst of all, she didn't trust me, her own girlfriend, to let me in. To try and help. I sighed and held back my anger. I couldn't make this about me right now. I had to go find Emily. I needed to let her know that I was here and that I wasn't going anywhere.

"Pam, I am so sorry. But, I haven't heard from Emily in weeks, I don't know where she is…"

"I just got a call from her. She's really drunk, she said she was at a friend's place. Naomi's. Paige, I'm really worried about her, I don't want her to do something reckless or stupid."

"I'm on it, Pam. I'll get there as soon as I can." I had just finished lacing up my shoes and I snatched my car keys off my nightstand before bolting out of my room. I had met Naomi a handful of times when I would visit Emily at Pepperdine. She was one of the first friends Em had made upon arriving. And boy, did she like to party. I didn't really think she was a good influence on Em, but she insisted that she could do no harm.

Just under 4 hours later, I was parking my car outside of Naomi's place that she shared with a couple other people. How I made it to Malibu in this short of time without getting pulled over was a miracle.

A house party was in full swing, and the second I made my way inside, my nose was hit with an overwhelming amount of alcohol. There were people everywhere and the music was blaring. I was afraid I'd never find Emily in this mess.

But almost instantly, I caught a sight of her. She was sitting down on a couch, an almost empty bottle of vodka was slouched across her lap. Naomi was next to her, puffing on a joint of marijuana. She passed it to Emily, who took it without hesitation.

My heart broke. This wasn't the Emily I had fallen in love with years ago. She looked so broken, so lost, a mere shadow of her former self. I watched her inhale deeply and puff out a wad of smoke. I started making my way over to her, knowing that this would end in one or two ways.

"Emily, what are you doing here? We have to go." I wasted no time, hoping that if I was stern enough, she would just leave and we could go somewhere and talk.

She looked up at me, she didn't smile or frown. In fact, her face was emotionless, as if she didn't even know me.

"No thanks, I'm good here."

"Emily, please. Your mom called me and she's really worried." I tried tugging at her hand a bit.

"I said, no thanks, I'm good here." Emily replied with a cold, harsh tone, snatching her hand away from my grip. I was beginning to get fed up.

"Seriously? Your dad passes away and this is how you behave? I'm sure he'd be so proud of you." I knew I was hitting a nerve, but I needed to do something to get her off this couch and away from this place.

What I didn't know was the nerve I was hitting didn't belong to someone I knew anymore. Emily shot up, the bottle of vodka flying off to the side of the couch.

"Don't you ever talk about my dad, you don't even know the first thing about it!" Sure, Emily had raised her voice at me before. But not like this. She gritted her teeth, vodka soaked breath spewing from her mouth. She wasn't angry, she was enraged.

I didn't get a chance to respond before Emily swiftly turned on her heel and took off. It took me all of 1.5 seconds to chase after her. She darted down a hallway and entered into the nearest room. A bathroom. She hastily shut the door, locking it behind her.

I rattled the knob, hoping to find a way in.

"Em, please, don't do this. Can we just talk?"

Emily's response wasn't in the form of words, but rather the sounds of her upchucking anything and everything in her system. I was slightly grateful for her having locked the door, the smell of vomit always made me want to hurl.

After a little while, I heard the toilet flush, followed by the whoosh of the water from the sink. The door flung open and I almost expected her to collapse into my arms to cry, to let me hold her. Almost.

"You know what, Paige? This is all your fault! I left Rosewood for you! I came all the way to California for you! I spent summer break with you instead of going home! I could have seen my dad one last time, but I didn't!" At this point, tears were streaming down Emily's face. But she didn't falter, she continued to scream.

"I lost everything because of you!" I couldn't believe my ears at this point. I knew deep down she didn't mean any of this, but I couldn't stand to listen any further.

"It's over, Paige! Just go back to your scholarship and your fancy school and just leave me alone!"

Without another word, Emily pushed past me with my mouth agape and heart shattered, and disappeared back into the party.

It was at that moment that I knew that my relationship with Emily Fields was over. The Emily I had grown to love, the Emily I had pictured a life with, marriage and kids with? Well, she was gone. And this new, broken and lost Emily, had just blamed me for the death of her father. She was gone. And I knew no matter how hard I tried, I could never bring back the Emily Fields I was once in love with.

/

Paige's POV

I was on my second martini, compliments of the beautiful woman seated next to me. Her name was Rebecca, she was from Arizona, twenty-five years old and had just finished her Masters in Hospitality Management. She was in town to interview for a new management position here at The Radley.

I was still getting used to the fact that the place I was in used to be a psychiatric hospital. Rosewood sure had changed since I had been gone. I smiled, as I sipped my drink, listening to Rebecca. She was saying all of the right things, obviously not an amateur to picking up women at the bar. Any other time, I'd fallen for it, hook line and sinker. Any other time, I'd be on my way up to a more…private area, one where I'd surely be screaming her name in no time. But not tonight.

Tonight, my mind and heart had settled on one Emily Fields. Being back in Rosewood, I couldn't help but think about her. I wondered where she was, how everything had turned out for her. But having her on my mind, I also drifted back to the last time I saw her and spoke to her.

I felt that all too familiar pang at my heart. God, how can she still have this affect on me?

"Um, Rebecca, will you excuse me? I need to go to the bathroom."

She smiled politely, "Of course."

I puffed out a sigh of relief as I made my way out of the bar. I bee lined past the bathroom and headed towards the elevators. I know it was wrong of me to just ditch this woman like this, but I couldn't take it anymore. Emily was clouding my mind and right now, I just really needed to be alone.

I pushed the 'Up' button and impatiently began to wait. The elevator was on floor 10, and I began to tap my foot, desperately wanting to just retreat to the safety of my hotel room.

Emily's POV

I pushed the 'down' button and waited. The girls and I had made our way up to Hanna's room after I bolted once I saw Paige. I had just recounted to the girls the last time I saw her. And to put it in Hanna's words, how much of an asshole I had been to her. I finally told the girls that it was late and I should get going. To be honest, I just wanted to be alone.

The elevator dinged and brought me out of my nightmares from the past. But as the doors slid open, I felt as if my heart had been ripped from my chest and finally put back together, all at the same time.

When Hanna had said earlier that I'd get a chance to make things right sooner or later, I had honestly bet on the latter.

But here, standing in front of me for the first time in over two years with the same stunned expression, was my beautiful ex-girlfriend.

"Em-"

"Paige-"

We said in unison.