Chapter 1: Welcome Home, Paige

I could feel the burning sunlight trying to pry open my eyelids as the plane finally landed. A small groan escaped my lips when I opened my eyes.

"Come on, McCullers. Home sweet home," Toby grinned, seeing me starting to stir.

"About time. I thought I'd never get out of this hell hole." I muttered, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"Oh please." He scoffs. "You think this is a hell hole? Remember back in camp when we had to-"

"Ladies and gentlemen, SXSW Airlines thanks you for choosing to fly with us! We hope you enjoyed your flight and we'll see you again soon! And as captain of this plane, I would like to thank all the servicemen and women on this plane for serving our country whether on duty or retired. Who knows where America would be without your service and bravery. We will let our military, navy, army, and air force disembark the plane first. The res of the passengers will follow after. Thank you for your patience and welcome to Rosewood."

I got up and stretched a bit before wiggling out of the row. "Toby, come on." I gave him an impatient look. I was standing in the middle of the isle with all eyes on me. Some were filled with fear and others filled with admiration. Toby seemed to be taking his sweet time I swear. When we finally got out, I grabbed his arm and half-dragged half-ushered him out of the plane. Heat started rising in my cheeks when I heard sweet coos from the women and hoots from the men.

"Young love." Someone to my right murmured. "It is so strong."

"Thank you." Toby slipped his arm around my waist with a smile. He must've felt me flinch because his arm tightened around me. I forced a tight smile onto my lips. We finally made it out to the terminal and I shoved Toby off of me.

"What the heck was that for?!" I snapped, giving him a death glare.

"Well, were you gonna say, oh sorry ma'am. I'm gay and have such bipolar emotions that I can't even get myself a girl." Toby had a smug look plastered on his face. It took about all my strength not to punch that look off his face.

"Don't push it, Cavanaugh. I'm not in the mood." My fists were clenched so tight that my knuckles turned white.

"You never are." He mutters. Before I could land a good punch to his face, I heard a shrill voice from behind me.

"Toby, sweetheart!" I cringed at the sound of that recognizable high-pitched voice. A stout little woman came shuffling over to us and clung onto Toby like a magnet. "My baby…my baby's okay!" Toby's mom sobbed into his uniform. Man, was I glad no one knew I was back in town from my long vacation. Not to mention my second tour. I hate being the center of attention.

"Oh my Lord. Toby, is that who I think it is?" the stout mother gasped. "Paige…Paige McCullers?" Unfortunately, I wasn't going to get what I wanted today.

"G-good afternoon, ma'am. It's a pleasure to see you again." I was lying right through my gritted teeth. It was horrible. It was horrible to see her again. Just looking at the woman gave me chills. This was probably a bad idea, coming back home. Toby had convinced me that Rosewood would be so much better than the bustling streets of New York. I don't know why I agreed to him. At least in New York I'm just another face in the ocean of people. In Rosewood, I'm that 'boy who ran away'.

"Austin, it's so nice to see your face after all these years." Mrs. Silver cupped my cheeks in her hands, a shaky smile given. Her cheeks were still stained with tears and her eyes red and puffy from rubbing against Toby's uniform. "Why didn't you tell us you enlisted in the army? When did you start? How many tours have you been on? Where did they station you? Have you been hurt?!" she gasped, giving me the same pat down she did for Toby. Before she could see the wince I let slip when she touched my side, she had turned to Toby with an angry expression. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she shoved a finger at his chest.

I did my best to stifle my chuckle as I watched the scene before me unravel. It was pretty hard not to laugh at the sight of a short little woman telling a grown military man off. "Mrs. Silver, it was not his fault. I made him keep quiet." I smirked when I saw relief wash over Toby's face. "You owe me big time." I mouthed to him just before his mother turned around.

"Now why would you do that, Paige?" she gave me a disbelieving look, but her voice sounded calm and relaxing. It was almost like she was trying to coax the truth out of me.

"Well," I hesitated. "If I were to send that kind of information back home through a letter or via email, Alison would have gotten ahold of it somehow before everyone. And knowing him, he'd used it against me saying something like I joined the army so I could convince myself that I'm not a wimp." I half lied, with a small look of fear. I mean, it could've happened. You never know what that backstabbing queen bee might do to you for her own amusement.

Apparently, Mrs. Cavanaugh took the bait because she was nodding and rubbing my back with a sympathetic look. She was one of the very few adults who knew about the "A" incident. Only the liars and boyfriends' parents know about it. Let me point out I said boyfriend's parents. Not girlfriends or exes. Yeah, my parents don't have a clue about "A". They still think it was just some drunk and psychotic killer.

"No matter!" Mrs. Cavanaugh waved her hand. "You two are back now and that's good enough for us."

Toby and I looked at each other oddly. "Us?" we asked in unison. She just laughed.

"Come come! You will see." She ushered us out of the terminal. We were stopped every now and then with thank you's from some people. Then Toby halted to a complete stop with me almost crashing into his back.

"Cavanaugh, what the hell is-?!" I stopped myself short when my eyes landed on what Toby was staring at. "Ahem. Good afternoon, ma'am." I coughed.

"Damn you, McCullers." The bookworm I've come to love and hate sneered. Hastings-1 McCullers-0. Shit.