a/n: This fic is the sequel to Ashes, and while not essential that you read that one first, this one will make a whole lot more sense if you do. I thought really long and hard about doing a sequel, but in the end decided that there is more to this story that I want to tell. And also I really don't see anymore Palex on the cards for season 6 (moan) so I like to think about what could have been. This is from Alex's POV. As always, feedback is most welcomed/appreciated.
Rise and Fall
Chapter One
There is an angel on my shoulder. For a miniscule heartbeat I watch her dozing peacefully. Not in a creepy way. In a respectful, awe-filled, how the hell can you sleep with your head flailing around like a bladder on a stick while we're trapped in a tin-can on wheels overnight, kind of a way. But I know that she likes her sleep. I know that she does her utmost to get it too. And I know that any second this innocent looking state of grace is going to be transformed into early morning commando woman. It's tempting to leave her be. But that would mean a return trip to back where we started. And, afterall, neither of us traveled 500 miles for nothing.
I lean down to her ear, hearing the very gentle murmuring of her shallow breathing into my shirt as I do. God I love her, love her, love her…
"Paige," I whisper, "Paige, we're here."
I move my shoulder a little as she stirs suddenly in that way people do when they didn't realize they'd fallen asleep.
She looks at me blearily, with a slightly confused smile and then slowly around the bus, and finally out the window. We're pulling into the depot and the other passengers start to surface, gather their stuff together, get back to real life.
New York city. It's about as real as it gets.
"Mmm," she mumbles, "where…?" I can sense her mental cogs are grinding more slowly than normal this morning. Well that's to be forgiven. It's been a pretty crazy couple of life-changing days.
"Oh my God, we're here?" something close to recollectance begins to dawn on her face as she looks up at me expectantly and then immediately sits up, her hands manically smoothing her tousled hair.
"Yeah, we're here," I can't help but grin back. We are actually going to do this. Embark on one big adventure together. Three weeks ago Paige was little more than a stranger to me. We'd gone our separate ways, started new lives, or an approximation of them. I was living with my cousin in New York, finishing up an internship for a big publishing house, fooling around with my boss and generally trying not to over-think anything or fuck up. She was doing her big deal business degree at Banting, Canada's answer to Harvard, as I had been oh so frequently reminded back in our glory days. We hadn't seen each other since Christmas, we hadn't really spoken.
But then my mother died and everything changed. I went back to cremate her and scatter her ashes. That was it. That was all. That whole book of chapters was now done. Or so I thought. But it's harder than I reckoned. I mean, I didn't really know what to think, I still don't. But…she was there. She came back to me. She's come back with me. And here we are…
"Oh my God, we're really here?" she starts to squeal and grabs my hand excitedly.
"Oh yeah," I assure here leaning in for a good morning kiss.
"Wow…Oh god, honey no, I haven't brushed my teeth in like ten hours," she fobs me off as she searches her pockets for what I can only suppose is gum.
The bus eventually comes to a halt and instantly everyone is up on their feet, stretching and crowding the aisle, picking up all their bags and shit.
"Come on," I nudge her out of her seat, "this in New York, no dilly-dallying."
"Oh, right," she says with a bemused look as she hauls her totally conspicuous pink suitcase into the aisle.
We all shuffle off the bus in varying degrees of wonder and agitation relating to the novelness of our surroundings. Although the agitation quickly descends over all of us as they take an age unloading all our luggage from the hold.
"Why the fuck is this taking so long?" I mutter, running my hand through my now greasy feeling hair. I suddenly realize that after sitting on my ass for hours on end I'm exhausted.
"Hey cranky, calm down," Paige says wrapping her arms around me as she looks about excitedly. Her expression is that of a puppy getting it's first whiff of the outside. It's sort of unexpectedly adorable.
I lean in to her embrace and it feels so warm and good that I feel I could just drift off right there. She hugs me tighter as I perch my chin on her shoulder.
"God, I just feel in need of a shower," I say and she murmurs in agreement. "I'm so tired. We can just go back to bed when we get home."
"Hey, I slept on the bus," she annoyingly points out as she breaks her hold. "Just point me to the coffee pot and I'm ready to go."
"Oh," I yawn, unprepared for this sudden, but not altogether unfamiliar perkiness. "Well, whatever."
I eventually get hold of my bags and we head on to my cousin's apartment. The easiest thing would be to get the subway, but I can't be bothered lugging my bag and Paige's suitcase (which I have mysteriously ended up pulling) down all those stairs. I settle on a cab, but as usual it's the early morning rush and flagging one down is proving annoyingly difficult.
"Come on, let's just start walking," I suggest, trying not to sound bad tempered.
"Okay," Paige replies, still acting like she's high on something. Her eyes are roving everywhere as she skips around in delight. "What's that?" she keeps on asking, as her arms point to various architectural wonders. My general disinterest makes me realize that perhaps I'm not going to make the best tour-guide for her. Eventually I just start making stuff up.
"That's the Met," and, "that's Trump Tower." It amuses me for a while as she seems to be buying it. But when I try and pass off Tower Records as Carnegie Hall I get an icy glare and a "Don't push it hun," which pretty much shuts me up.
At last we manage to hail a cab and bundle ourselves in.
"78th street and 3rd," I tell the driver.
"Right you are," he says as we go screeching off.
"Ooh is that where we live?" Paige asks, squeezing my arm.
"It is now," I tell her, unable to hide my Cheshire-cat grin. My god, I'm actually going to live with my girlfriend. This is unbelievably cool. She'll be there every night when I go to sleep. And every morning when I wake up.
"Shouldn't we have called your cousin?" Paige breaks my reverie with a little cold slap of reality.
"Oh, er-nah!" I try and shrug it off.
"But you said on the bus, that you would have to call him to tell him about me before we got there."
Okay this was true. Paige had surprised me by jumping onto the bus to come with me at the last possible second. Leaving my cousin totally unaware that I would not be returning alone.
"No, look Paige, it's fine. It's totally cool."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," I seem to be convincing myself at any rate. "Yeah it's cool. Don't worry, he's cool."
"Really? 'Cos I don't want him to hate me from the get-go."
"No, baby, seriously. It's cool. He will totally love you, I promise. Seriously. Everything will be cool. It's cool."
It was not cool.
We arrived as Jaime was getting ready to leave for work. The cab driver had seriously ripped me off, but by now I was too tired to argue. I ended up lugging our stuff up all six flights of stairs myself while Paige looked at the building in dejected bewilderment. I'm not sure exactly what she had been expecting, but despite it flirting with the upper East side, evidently Sex and the City this was not.
"Alex! Glad to have you back! Sorry I'm literally out the door-" Needless to say, this is the point at which he noticed Paige. Suddenly it isn't so good to see me.
"Paige? As in Paige your ex, Paige?" he asks, still seeming confused.
No, another Paige that I just picked up on the street on my way home, I want to snap back. I am feeling pretty damn testy by this point.
I explain as briefly as I can the whole Paige and I reuniting, her suddenly jumping on the bus story while Paige wisely and somewhat unexpectedly chooses to remain silent.
Jaime spends the whole time looking uncomfortable. I guess we have put him on the spot pretty much. But he's having none of it.
"Look, Alex, we just haven't the room," he tries, which is, I think, rather lame. I tell him so.
"Come on Jaime, we've got two bedrooms, she'll be in with me, it's not gonna impact on your space at all." Of course, knowing Paige, and her entourage of accessories this is a blatant lie. But I'm a convincing liar.
"And what are you going to do in New York anyways?" this is the first time he has addressed Paige. She looks slightly flustered.
"She's going to study," I reply for her. "What's it matter anyway?"
"It matters because we've got rent to pay, bills to pay, and three people equals more of them."
"I'm going to work too," Paige suddenly blurts out. "I totally intend to pay my own way. I mean, I wouldn't dream of barging into your home and not. Oh, and I'm totally into cleaning, seriously I'm a clean freak. But-not in an obsessive annoying kind of way. Oh, and I can cook-"
"Okay, okay," Jaime says, holding up his hands and at last cracking a smile. "Look, I'm still not saying yes, but I really gotta get to work, so we can discuss it later alright?"
"If by later, you mean….we'll see how it goes?" I coax him.
"Aah! It's too early for this shit," he answers, waving his hand dismissively. "I'm really going now. You can carry her over the threshold or whatever it is you ladies do."
He exits down the stairs as Paige and I exchange looks and both give audible sighs of relief.
"Don't worry, just my bag will do," she winks at me as she heads on in over the proverbial threshold.
We flop down simultaneously on the couch. "See, I told you he'd be cool," I say dead-pan.
She laughs and swats my arm playfully. "Poor guy!" she says, "we didn't give him much option."
I have to agree with this. But the first obstacle is over with. I'm back home in my new abode, with my old girlfriend beside me. I absently go to stroke her hair and she leans in to me as I do.
"I'm so glad you're here," I whisper to her.
"Me too," she replies, looking up at me.
I lean in for my now long-overdue good-morning kiss.
An inch apart she whispers to me, "I still haven't brushed my teeth."
"I don't care," I say, and kiss her anyway.