A/N: I'm taking a short break from the Art of Deception to post this. It's going to be relatively short. About two or three parts at most. Hope you guys like it. :)
The Rosewood High gymnasium wasn't too crowded and really, that was no surprise. Most of their class had flown the Rosewood coop the very second the option was available, exactly like Paige had. Rosewood High's infamous alumni were here, though. Including Noel Kahn and Mona Vanderwaal and Bridget Wu. Paige felt a pang of nostalgia at the sight of all these old faces. It was strange; she'd never expected to miss this place, but now that she was standing here, she couldn't believe she'd been gone so long.
A squeal from the other side of the gym jolted her and she turned to see Hanna Marin skipping toward her, looking younger and more vibrant than ever, her hair now in longish blonde waves around her face. Her blue eyes were clear and her smile was huge and Paige couldn't help the way she responded, with a hearty laugh and an even bigger grin.
"Hi, Han."
Hanna pulled her into a tight hug. It almost felt like longing. "Paige. God, it's been so long. How is everything?"
"Good. Good." As much as she'd missed Hanna's bubbly presence, she was hesitant to share too much personal information about herself lest it fall into the wrong hands. Emily Fields' hands to be exact. "How are you?"
"Great! Caleb and I finally tied the knot." She held out her left hand enthusiastically, giving Paige a cue to inspect her wedding ring.
"That's wonderful, Hanna. And can I say it's about damn time."
Hanna laughed shortly, but just as quickly grew very serious. "We were gonna invite you, but…"
"Hanna. Don't worry about it. I understand. Believe me, I do. I'm just glad I'm here now."
"God, so am I! Are you planning on hanging around for a while? The others are on their way."
Paige swallowed hard at the mention of the 'others.' No doubt Emily and Ali would be among them. "I…"
"Come on, Paigey. It's been ten years. Besides, Ali's not even in Rosewood."
"No?"
"No. She's in Paris somewhere with her nutso sister."
"Sister?"
"CeCe." Hanna offered. "It's a long story."
"What about…what about Em?"
"Em will be happy to see you."
Paige gave her old friend a hard look that indicated that that wasn't what she meant at all.
"Oh. Yes, Em is seeing someone. No, it isn't Ali, thank God."
Thank God is right.
"What about you, Paige?"
"What about me?"
"Are you with anyone?"
To lie or not to lie. Ugh. She sighed and bit the bullet. "Yeah."
"And?"
"And it's pretty serious."
"That's all you're gonna give me?"
"That's all I'm gonna give you."
Hanna sighed dramatically. "Fine. Be that way." Her phone began to ring from the bottom of her purse. She looked ridiculous as she dug around for it, her teeth snug on her bottom lip and annoyed little grunts falling free. She finally retrieved it on the fourth ring. "Hey, Spence."
Paige worked to tune out Hanna's side of the conversation, but it proved relatively difficult. Hanna told the others where she was and exclaimed excitedly that she ran into someone they all just had to see. Paige groaned. She couldn't get out now even if she wanted to.
The others arrived ten minutes later and Paige found it hard not to follow them with her eyes. Spencer was undeniably beautiful in a black pinstriped pantsuit. She looked so much like her mother it was crazy. Paige wondered if Hastings had become a lawyer. She definitely looked the part. Emily wore a simple white dress that clung to her frame. And Aria…well, Aria was Aria. Paige was glad to see some things hadn't changed.
"Hey, guys." Hanna moved to greet them and Paige stood back, terrified in a way she hadn't been when she'd run into Hanna. "Look who I found."
They all seemed stunned to see her. Paige felt herself grow even more uneasy. "Hi."
Spencer was the first to recover from her shock. She tugged Paige into a friendly, quietly desperate hug. "It's good to see you, McCullers."
"You too, Hastings." Paige replied as the other girl let go. "What's with the Veronica Hastings get up? Halloween isn't for another month."
"Haha. Very funny. I'll have you know that I now run my parents law firm."
"I'm not surprised. No one's a worse hard ass than you."
Aria stepped forward, a smile on her face as she put herself between them. "Go easy, you two."
Spencer didn't even pay attention. "So, what do you do, McCullers?"
"I coach a local swim team in Sacramento."
"So, you make little children cry?"
"Hilarious. It's a high school swim team." She crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. "And I'll have you know that they've gone to state three of the last four years."
Spencer smirked. "Well then, congrats on losing at state three of the last four years."
Now, Hanna was intervening. "Guys! Let's try to be civil. I know you two have to compete over everything, but can we like give it a rest?"
"Sorry, Han." Spencer and Paige said together.
"Good. I swear you two are worse than actual children."
"Hey!" "We are not!"
Hanna and Aria burst out laughing. "Way to prove my point."
Emily stood to the side of all of them, smiling at Spencer and Paige's familiar antics. "Some things never change." She said in an adoring voice as she looked at her ex.
"I guess they don't." Paige said, glaring at Spencer. She walked toward Emily, her steps hesitant. "Hey, Em."
Like the others, Emily swept her up into a warm hug. It felt different, of course, and a hell of a lot more famailar. Her ex still used mango shampoo. Paige gave an affectionate squeeze and pulled back, hoping that her face wasn't giving tumultuous emotions away. "You look beautiful."
"Thank you."
The corner of Paige's mouth quirked up. "You're welcome."
Spencer cleared her throat and put a hand on Paige's shoulders. "Hey, uh, we're having a sleep over at my place tonight."
Paige couldn't help but laugh at the use of the word 'sleep over.' "Aren't we a little old for that?"
"Maybe you are, McCullers. Some of us like to hang out, get drunk off our asses and complain about our spouses."
Paige shook her head and fought the urge to gag at thought of Emily with a spouse. "Getting drunk off my ass could be fun."
Spencer nudged her shoulder. "There you go. So, you in?"
"Yeah, I'm in."
She packed her overnight bag slowly, eager to drag out the inevitable. It wasn't that she didn't want to see Emily again; it was that she was absolutely dreading it. The thought of calling Stacey passed her mind, but she forced it down and focused on getting ready to go to Spencer's. She lived in her childhood home, which wasn't even a bit of a surprise. Despite how much trouble Spencer had had with her family, she loved the house and everything that came with it.
Paige let out a breath and reached into her pocket for her phone. She couldn't afford to think about Spencer or Em or Rosewood. Already, it was clear that this place was on the verge of sucking her back in. She couldn't let that happen.
Stacey answered on the second ring. "Hey, you." It was the way she always greeted Paige.
A smile touched her lips at the warm familiarity. "Hi. How's everything going?"
"You know how it is. Kevin is still a dick."
"Don't let him work you too hard."
"Never, baby. Never. How's it going in Rosewood?"
"It hasn't changed much. All my friends are married to their high school sweethearts. It kinda feels like I went through a time machine." Everyone except Emily, anyway.
"Is that really so bad? I know how much you missed the place."
"I wouldn't go that far." Paige chuckled. "I missed the people. Not the town."
"Fair enough. You know what I miss?"
"What?"
"You."
Paige could hear the smile in her girlfriend's voice. "I miss you, too. I'll be back before you know it."
"And then we can start planning the wedding?"
"Absolutely. I can't wait."
"Me, neither. I love you."
"I love you, too. I'll see you soon."
"Bye, baby." Stacey said sweetly, blowing a kiss into the receiver.
"Bye."
They were all staring at her expectantly. Emily looked from one to the other to the other, her eyebrows raised. "What?"
"What do you think?" Hanna asked with in 'duh' tone.
Emily threw her hands up. "I don't know what you guys want me to say."
Spencer slid to the edge of the love seat, one hand palm out to keep Hanna quiet for a moment. "We just want to know how you are. We're worried."
"About what?"
"About you seeing Paige again." Aria replied softly. "We know how you felt about her."
"Right. How I felt. She's got a whole other life in California, you guys. I can't get in the way of that."
"We just want you to be happy, Em. And we know Sara isn't doing that." Hanna's expression turned sullen as she put a palm on Emily's knee.
"Guys, I love you, but this is crazy. Paige and I…God, we haven't even seen each other for ten years. We're different people now." Her friends gave her matching sympathetic looks. "Please don't look at me like that. I'm not in the mood for a pity party."
Hanna clapped her hands and stood up. "You're right, Em. We're sorry. I'll go get us drinks."
Aria was next to get to her feet. "I have to call Ezra. I'll be back in a sec."
With them both gone, Spencer turned her attention to Emily again. "I really am sorry, Em. We just care about you."
"I know. I know. I'm not mad. Just really, really confused."
"About Paige?"
"Yeah. I wasn't expecting to see her…or to still feel so much."
"I understand. I just hope you know we're here for you."
"Yeah."
There was a knock on the door.
Spencer rubbed her palms down her pant legs. "All right. You ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's do this."
