Emily has never been the type to let something go. No, not something. Someone. She always, for whatever reason, wondered what could have been when her story with someone felt unfinished. She spent a good majority of her high school years obsessed with what had happened to her friend Alison. Everyone said she had been murdered but she never believed that, not really. Maybe it's because she always wondered if the times they practiced kissing meant more to Ali than she had lead on. Something in her gut never let her settle for the answer that Alison was gone. She knew in her heart of hearts Ali wasn't gone. Or maybe she had just always looked at everything from the point of view of an optimist and hoped one day Ali would prove everyone wrong, prove herself right, and come storming back to help her figure out once and for all what she felt might be true. That Emily was not alone with her feelings.

Just that had happened one day and Emily had a sense of accomplishment about it. Ali wasn't dead. Point for her. Which meant she hadn't been murdered and thus another point in her column. Then one night out of seemingly nowhere, Alison confessed that the kisses weren't just for practice and she had been fighting her own feelings back then. Huge point for Emily. Game, set, match for Emily. At least that's what she had thought at the time.

So she had let herself be swept up in Alison once more. They kissed. It felt good. They held hands and that felt good. They eventually dated, or at least tried, and it had felt alright. But after time something just started to feel wrong and the two of them drifted apart. It happens and they both knew there was nothing that either of them could have done to stop it. So they parted ways as friends and moved on with their lives. The door had closed on Alison and Emily was satisfied now, finally, that she could let her go. There was nothing left unsaid.

Though she wouldn't admit it at the time she knew what had driven her and Alison apart in the end. It wasn't the fact that their chemistry hardly reached past friendship. It wasn't the fact that Alison was selfish and had only pursued Emily because she knew she could. She knew Emily would eat out of the palm of her hands and that is exactly what she wanted. It wasn't because the entire relationship was formed and attempted because of a first crush obsession Emily had been harboring for years. No, none of those awful circumstances were the eventual final nail in the coffin that was their dying relationship. Those things helped Emily realize they probably wouldn't work but what really sealed their fate was another unanswered for Emily. Because even though she had dreamed of this with Alison for so long it never felt as good and as right as it had when she had been with Paige. In the end, that's why Emily let it go. Because what she had imagined, and eventually tried, with Alison and what she had actually built with Paige were two completely different ends of the spectrum.

By the time Emily realized it, Paige was gone. They had graduated and all scattered around the country to different levels of higher learning. Paige, of course, had taken her swimming scholarship to Stanford and taken the first train out of Rosewood she could find. She didn't even visit for holidays, that's how badly she had wanted out of there. The danger, the drama, and the heartbreak of seeing Emily with Alison was too much. Paige, honestly, never even wanted to look back. As far as she was concerned, California was an entirely different planet and Emily didn't possess the only space ship that could reach it.

Years passed and as Paige tore up the collegiate competition, Emily went on with her quiet life in Ohio. She had been offered an academic scholarship to a pretty good school and thought it would be a nice fresh start. With Spencer going to Miami, Aria heading to Virginia, and Hanna landing an internship at a fashion firm in New York there really was no reason for Emily to stay around. She would visit on holidays, as would the other girls, so they all kept in touch. It was better this way. They could all get away from the drama and start somewhere new. They could focus on the future instead of dwelling on the past. They were all pretty good at staying in contact with weekly phone calls, random texts, and home visits during breaks. The only one that slipped away was Ali, which was probably for the best anyway. She was never meant to stick around. The girls were better without her and it wasn't until Junior year of college that they all started to actually believe that.

After graduation, Emily landed a job in Philadelphia. She actually had a lot of job offers but chose that one because her father had been injured in the line of duty and now needed extra care. She liked being just a phone call away and he could still visit her whenever he wanted. It was nice to be needed like that even if the circumstances weren't ideal. It just kind of felt nice to be home again. She felt fresh and new, like she could deal with anything. It was almost like her old life didn't exist.

Except, in the back of her mind, there was a part of that old life that was still very much thriving. There was hardly a day that passed on the job that she didn't think of Paige. It probably didn't help that her job was as a nutritionist for college athletes which brought her several swimmers each year. One girl she helped out had that same competitive sparkle in her eyes that Paige always had. Well not that same, obviously, but similar. Another wore her hair in a braid after swimming. The other had amazing arms. Paige always said Emily was the one with great arms but Emily would argue that until the day she died. Paige's arms were made to slice through the waters. The fact that she had won gold medals in the Olympics before graduating college kind of proved her right.

She had been deep in thought one day about Paige after her last student, who had Paige's strategic flair for swimming, had left her office when there was a sudden knock at the door. Her heart leapt into her throat and she looked at the door just in time to see her dad limp in. He gave her a smile and let out a soft laugh "Am I interrupting something, Emmy?"

"Of course not, dad!" Emily got to her feet in a flash and was wrapping her arms around him in a hug before he could finish his entrance into the room. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming for the weekend?"

"I changed my mind." Her father said in that sincere tone he always used with his daughter. He rubbed her arm then looked her over "You look tired. You need more rest."

"I'm fine" Emily pushed her hair behind her ears and waved him off with her hands. "I was just about to finish some paperwork for the day then we can head out. Do you mind waiting?"

"Not at all" Her dad limped over to one of the chairs she had in her office for the students and watched her step back behind her desk. She was smiling ear to ear as she typed like a flash into her computer. He couldn't fight the smile that came to his face. He loved seeing her with a grin on her lips. "So what is making you smile today?"

"What do you mean?" Emily glanced at him with another laugh "You, silly! I am so happy to see you!"

"I meant before I walked in."

Emily stopped her fingers and slowly looked at her father. She took a deep breath and shook her head, trying to shrug her shoulders as if casually clueless to what he was talking about "Reading a funny email."

"On the wall?" He glanced to where she had been gazing then laughed and looked back to her "Don't lie to me, Emmy. Are you seeing someone new?"

"What?" Emily shook her head so fast she thought it might fly off her shoulders "Dad, don't be silly. I don't have time to date."

"If you really wanted to, you'd make time. You always did before."

"Dad can we not talk about this?"

"Alright" He put his hands up in surrender then used his cane to hoist himself to his feet. "But only if you get me some dinner. This old man is famished."

"Deal" She grinned and went over to him, offering her arm to him before heading toward the door "I know just the place."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Emily's eyes were burning red as she stared at the dull glow of her laptop screen in the dark. Her fingers flew over the keys, tapped the track pad, and pressed into her eye sockets every now and then. She was searching, always searching, but never finding. She tried to avoid this, she really did, because it made her feel sad and useless and kind of like a stalker. But some nights she couldn't help it and this was one of those nights. Maybe tonight would be different though.

After hours of searching, clicking, and typing she let out a frustrated sigh and turned her head away from the screen. That's when she saw a figure in her doorway and nearly jumped out of her skin. A small scream escaped her lips before she slapped a hand over her mouth as the other clutched to her chest. "Dad!"

"I'm sorry. I got up to take my medication and saw light coming from your room. The dad in me had to check on you. I never meant to startle you, sweetheart."

"It's okay" She let out a laugh and closed her laptop. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Usual pain at night. Nothing I can't handle." He limped into the room a little more and leaned against her dresser "What are you doing up so late?"

"Late? It's only like midnight" That's when her eyes focused on the tiny digital numbers on her bedside clock and she groaned. It was after three in the morning. She bit her lip and looked back at her father "I guess time escaped me."

"Is everything alright?"

"Sure" Emily nodded and let out a soft yawn "Just research. I have to be in on the cutting edge of nutritional science and all that if I want to keep top clientele."

Her dad gave a slow nod then turned back toward the doorway. He limped a few steps away then glanced back at her with a warm smile "You work too hard, my dear. Let yourself have some fun every once in a while, okay?"

"Night, dad" She smiled and gave him a wave as she set her laptop aside and started to settle onto her pillows. "I love you."

She waited until she saw his light click off at the end of the hallway then rolled over and looked at her closed laptop. She reached for the bedside table where it sat and slid open the drawer where her hand dipped in and pulled out a framed picture. The room was dark but the moon offered just enough light to make out the outlines of the photograph. It wasn't as if she needed light anyway. She had stared so many hours at the picture she had it memorized. Her finger traced Paige's jaw in the dull moonlight and another soft sigh slipped from her lips. Why couldn't she find her? No social media sites. No contact information. The only stuff she could find were updates of her career and even those were brief. It was as if she had wanted to disappear and stay that way.

Days passed and the longing in her gut faded. It never really left, but it faded enough for her to focus on her life. Days turned into weeks and now even a month without another long night on the computer. She couldn't ask her friends if they had heard from her that would just be, well, embarrassing. Plus she was sure the only one that would even maybe still talk to Paige would be Hanna. But Hanna was probably busiest of them all being a huge fashion coordinator to the stars. She hardly even got her weekly phone call in with her anymore. No, she had to just drop it. Paige made it clear that she wanted to stay hidden and Emily had to respect that.

Except she couldn't. It wasn't in her nature. She had to find her. If for no other reason than to make sure Paige wasn't still pining over her. She left so quickly they really hadn't had any closure. What if Paige was so hurt and so mad at Emily that she hated the idea of her existence? No, Paige wasn't like that. But, still, Emily just wanted to talk to her. It was like a ghost that wouldn't stop haunting her until it was put to rest. She just needed to see her. She just needed to know for sure that Paige was doing alright.

She didn't want to hire a private investigator. That was too invasive. That was definitely stalker status. Maybe she should ask her friends. Maybe she should go back to Rosewood for a visit and accidentally run into Paige's mother. Maybe she could contact her coach under the guise that she wanted to speak to her about one of her students and their interest in hiring her as a nutritionist then casually mention Paige and ask if she's heard from her. That was a great plan. That was the plan Emily would go with.

Nodding in silent agreement to herself, a smile came to her lips. She was excited to go home and make some phone calls now. She grabbed the coffee from the barista that she had been waiting on while making the plan to find Paige and gave her a grateful smile and a soft thank you before turning to leave. She might have been a little too excited to go home because she turned too fast without looking and the coffee she had just spent too much money on was now exploded on her and the poor unsuspecting stranger behind her that she had run into during her haste.

"I-" Emily backed up a few steps and held the smashed cup out to the side, letting coffee drip from her. "I am so sorry! I was in a hurry. Please, let me help dry you-" She stopped as soon as her head lifted and she looked right into the eyes of the person she had drenched.

"'I've always told you that you need to watch where you're going." The voice was spine-chillingly calm and gut-wrenchingly familiar. Just like that, Emily was facing her ghost.

"Paige?"

Paige's lips curled on one side into her signature "only for Emily Fields" smile and she shrugged just one shoulder "Funny running into you here." She reached around Emily for some napkins and started wiping the front of her shirt dry with a laugh.

Emily was stunned. No that was an understatement. She was paralyzed with shock. All she could do was stand there, staring, mouth gaping open. Paige McCullers has just stepped out of the past and into the very strange present.

"You're blocking the line" Paige whispered and grabbed Emily's arm softly, giving the gentlest of pulls to move her just enough that the people behind them could continue to order and receive coffee.

The feel of Paige's hand on her arm electrified her and it was as if she woke up in that split second. Her eyes blinked again, her mouth closed, and her head turned. Her eyes verified that, yes, she had just literally run into Paige McCullers. She cleared her throat and finally formed words again "Paige, I am so sorry. What are you-"

"Sorry, I have to go" Paige waved at someone at the door of the coffee shop and gave her a smile. She gave her shirt one last wipe and when it looked useless to try any longer, she tossed the napkins away, then looked back at Emily with that same smile. "Watch where you're going next time, Em" She gave her a wink then stepped passed her and toward the door. Before Emily could call after her she was gone again. Just like that, Paige was a ghost once more. Emily's entire body had gone cold now and had she not just been asked to move out of the way of the sugar she might have thought she had been dreaming.

But she wasn't. This was very much a reality. Now she just had to figure out how on Earth she was going to focus on anything else knowing that Paige was in the same city as she was. She wasn't going to be able to, this she already knew with complete certainty. Everything else, well, now her entire world was anything but certain anymore.