Based on this prompt: the plliars are hanging out and the topic of who would you date out of the 4 of us comes out, Hanna and Emily pick each other, Aria picks Spencer and Spencer reveals she has a little crush on Paige, Emily knows Paige finds Spencer attractive but tries not to think about it too much, at a party they play spin the bottle with their respective bf/gf and Spencer and Paige end up giving the others a make out show that makes Emily jealous. Everyone notices the tension in the room.
Btw, I promise I'm not neglecting The People We Could Be. The best cure for writers block is to write, am I right? New Chapter for that story coming this week.
Just A Game (Part 1 of 2)
"This is stupid." Spencer said indignantly from her place on the couch beside Aria.
Emily and Aria nodded in agreement, but their eyes remained fixed to the movie playing in front of them as they distractedly scooped handfuls of popcorn into their mouths. It was one of those rare weekends that the girls could actually relax like normal teenagers and the last thing Spencer wanted to do was play another round of 21 questions, Truth or Dare, or What Would You Rather Do courtesy of Hanna Marin. Queen of making even the most innocent situations uncomfortable and sexually inappropriate.
Hanna rolled her eyes, brushing off Spencer's disinterest. "No, it's not! C'mon, I really want to know."
"No." Spencer deadpanned, sliding the popcorn bowl from Aria's lap into her own, much to Emily's dismay who was stuck on the opposite end of the couch and out-of-reach of the bowl.
"Em?" Hanna deferred to the more benevolent of the three, giving her a gentle tap on the knee to get her attention. "What do you think?"
"About what?" Emily asked, only half-focused on what Hanna was saying as she leaned across Aria to reclaim the popcorn bowl from Spencer.
Hanna huffed in annoyance, aware that no one was really listening to her. "For goodness sake!" She jumped up from her place on the rug and snatched the popcorn bowl from Emily, immediately earning all three girls attention as she retreated to the love-seat in the furthest corner of the room.
"Hey!" Spencer, Emily and Aria screamed in unison, each sending an annoyed glare in Hanna's direction.
"Now that I've got you're attention I'll repeat my question for the third time." Realizing that Hanna wasn't going to let up the three girls reluctantly turned towards her to listen. "Between the four of us who would you rather date?" Hanna asked before smugly popping a kernel of popcorn into her mouth as she waited for an answer.
"Is this just another way for you to find out if girls think you're attractive? Because if this about that pink drink again I swear-" Emily's reprimand was quickly interrupted by a defensive Hanna.
"It's not about the pink drink!" The raised eyebrows thrown in her direction made it clear that none of them believed her. "Don't look at me like that. You can't tell me you haven't thought about it before."
"I have." Aria piped up earning a triumphant smile from Hanna and curious stares from Emily and Spencer.
"You have?" Spencer asked skeptically, her interest suddenly peaked by the shorter girls admission.
"Yeah, totally." She said it as if it were the most logical thing in the world and…maybe it was? After all it had happened before with Emily and Alison, so everyone knew it was definitely possible to cross that line between friendship and something more.
"And?" Hanna urged impatiently, literally hanging off the edge of her seat as she waited for Aria to continue.
"I'd choose Spencer." Aria answered with a shrug, taking all three girls by surprise with the decisiveness of her statement. "The whole bookworm thing is kinda hot. Plus, She knows my coffee order better than anyone else and all the servers are too intimidated by her to challenge her." She added the last bit as way of explanation, unaware of the blush that was currently creeping up Spencer's neck at hearing that Aria thought she was hot.
"What about you two?" Aria directed her question to Hanna and Emily, who looked at each other knowingly before simultaneously blurting the others name and bursting into a fit of laughter.
"Well I can't really say that's a surprise." Aria said with a playful nudge to Spencer's side. Hanna and Emily already acted like an old married couple, and were admittedly closer to each other than anyone else, much in the same way Spencer and Aria were.
"Spence? You're up." Emily said, leaning her elbows on her knees to look around Aria who was positioned between them.
"I don't want to play."
"Oh, come on Spencer. It's harmless fun." Hanna encouraged with a toothy grin. Spencer knew she was just hoping she'd pick her so she could finally have a one-up against Shana's constant snubbing of her.
"You guys are my best-friends. I honestly don't think of any of you that way." It was true. She couldn't imagine "dating" any of her friends, even in a hypothetical sense. Yeah, sure she'd imagined what it might be like to kiss Emily once or twice, and she and Aria -in a night of drunken curiosity- had even gone so far as to test those waters, but dating was different. Dating involved romance, courtship and physical as well as emotional intimacy, and Spencer couldn't picture herself doing those things with the same friends who were like family to her.
"Ooookay…" Hanna drawled, realizing Spencer wasn't going to play by the rules of the game. "How about a girl that's not one of us? If you weren't with Toby who's a girl you would want to date?" Spencer felt her face grow warm when a familiar name instinctively popped into her head, and she struggled to swallow the lump that immediately formed in her throat.
She didn't want to think of Paige but apparently her subconscious had other plans, because the moment Hanna asked the question hers was the only name she could think of. She felt horrible for even considering the idea, not just because she was Emily's girlfriend but also because there were times (though few in number) when Spencer selfishly wondered what it would be like if Paige wasn't.
She wasn't sure what it was about Paige that appealed to her so much. Maybe it was the passion she put into everything she pursued? Or the fierceness in which she loved and protected Emily? Or maybe it was the little things -things that only people who spent as much time as Spencer did watching Paige would notice- like the way her hands fidgeted even when she wasn't nervous, or how she always seemed surprised by any compliment she received (no matter how obvious it was) as if she wasn't used to being praised. Spencer wished she didn't notice those things, wished she didn't bookmark every "little thing" Paige did on a page inside her mind to visit over and over again like a good book she couldn't put down. But most of all she wished she hadn't let Hanna talk them into this stupid, stupid game.
"Earth to Spencer." Hanna joked, tossing a kernel of popcorn in the air and hitting Spencer square on the forehead.
"Hey, you're going to get food everywhere. You know Mrs. Montgomery hates messes. Do you remember what happened last time when you spilled Pepsi on the rug?" Spencer was desperate to shift the subject of conversation to something not Paige McCullers, but unfortunately her attempts were a bit more obvious than she intended.
"Nice subject change, but it's not gonna work. Pick someone." Aria ordered.
"I don't really have anyone in mind." Spencer answered vaguely, shifting on the couch so that her knees were folded underneath her and twisting her ring on her finger just to give her hands something to do.
"But you did think of someone." Hanna prodded, picking up on Spencer's tone and realizing she did have someone in mind after all.
Despite herself, Spencer felt her eyes involuntarily flick guiltily towards Emily and that was all it took for Hanna to connect the dots.
"Oh my god, it's Paige! The girl you would date is Paige." Her voice was way more triumphant than it had any right to be considering the surprise written on Emily's face and the mortification on Spencer's once the truth was out.
"Really? You two argue every chance you get. I thought you just hung out with Paige for my sake." Emily's eyes stayed locked on Spencer's, searching her face as if she were looking for something that had previously been hidden.
"I did, in the beginning. But after I got to know her -I don't know- she kind of grew on me. It's actually really annoying." Spencer added trying to downplay it.
Emily didn't know how to feel knowing that Spencer would date Paige given the opportunity, especially after her girlfriend had already admitted to her early on in their relationship that she thought Spencer was attractive. Emily had thought nothing of it back then, aware that Paige had only meant the remark in a casual sense and would never do anything to hurt her, least of all with her best friend. However, knowing that Spencer shared similar feelings complicated the situation. It made something inside Emily's stomach twist like she'd eaten something sour. She didn't feel jealous, what she felt was worse. She felt…threatened. Because deep down she knew they'd be perfect together.
"I'm with Spencer on this one. I sure wouldn't turn Paige down if she sent me a pink drink. Paige is a total hottie. Like seriously, have you seen those biceps? It must be a swimmer thing." Hanna's eyes roamed over Emily's biceps, clearly trying to determine if it indeed was a "swimmer thing," and Emily felt her mood instantly lighten and a smile tug at the corners of her lips.
Satisfied with her study of Emily's biceps Hanna hopped up with the -now empty- popcorn bowl in hand. "I'm gonna get a refill. You guys want anything?"
"I could use another soda. I'll come with you." Aria said as she stood and followed Hanna out of the living room.
Once the other two girls had left Spencer lightly touched Emily's arm to get her attention.
"Em? You know I was just playing along, right? I love Toby and even if we weren't together I'd never try anything with P-"
"You don't have to explain." Emily hurriedly interrupted before Spencer could finish her apology. She felt guilty for even thinking, even momentarily, that Spencer would betray her like that, especially after everything they'd been through. If there was one thing she knew about Spencer and Paige it was that she could trust them both with her life, and that neither would ever do anything to jeopardize the relationship they had with her.
"It's just a game Spence. Now, come on we should catch up to Hanna before she makes that gross unsalted stuff that nobody likes." Spencer's smile matched Emily's as they both made their way into the kitchen, each secretly clinging to the relief they felt that their fears were right back where they belonged. Buried.
After all it was only a game.
TBC…
