Hello My beautiful Paily people! It has been quite a bit of time since I have been on as this account. To be real for a second, I was so disheartened by the PLL writing and their easy dismissal of Paige back in season 5 that I walked away from the show (not from Paily, never from Paily!). Welp. I heard Paige was returning and decided I'd check it out and was once again brokenhearted at the way they are disfiguring her character. I have decided that since both the PLL writers and some specific shippers (cough emisof cough) won't let us be happy it is time I came back and gave this amazing duo their rightful endgame.
This "story" will basically be snippets and descriptions from Paige's POV regarding her relationship with Emily and how, through good and bad times, they always come back to each other. No one scene will be super covered, my goal is to show their relationship in entirety from beginning to beyond. Most of it will stay in cannon, but as I have said I have not paid much attention to current PLL seasons so the later snippets regarding their current standing may not be super accurate, please do not kill me!
I have already written half of the snippets and plan to write more every night this week until the whole account is done so I am hoping updates will be frequent and satisfying and that I will actually finish this one (insert dig at myself for unfinished stories). I also hope to continue one-shots about Paily and their never dying love over the next 8 months and if there is interest I will motivate myself to go in and update my other main projects I posted previosly.
Finally, although it feels fantastic to be back I would like to issue a call to action to my fellow shippers! Who knows if we will get the televised ending we so desperately crave so let us all start writing and posting any type of Paily fanfic: it will send out wonderful positive energy that could sway things in our favor, it shows people there is still interest, AND we can all collectively create a bubble of love to hide in when the people on twitter aren't nice (cough emisof cough).
Please enjoy and please review; I am writing this story as a challenge to myself but it is always nice to gauge interest!
"Life is a cycle, as is everything in it. The cycle is to and fro. Together, apart."- A Communion with God
New school, New classmates, New you. The mantra cycles continuously in your head, hoping that with enough repetition the sayings will stick. Even still, the hopeless anxiety you feel grows with every rotation of your pedal, each inch passed marks another inch closer to your next four years: Rosewood High School. Your parents are thrilled that they relocated to a town with a respectable school district, more specifically, to a town with a reputable swim program. Great grades, Great times, Great collegiate opportunities. That is the mantra your dad has said aloud to you starting the moment the enrollment papers dried. You used to wonder if either parent ever considered your level of interest in anything life offered, but that curiosity burned away slowly with every relocation and every new school; swimming remains the only constant, your only friend, and so you continue to pursue personable bests and improved strokes.
Head down, eyes low, quick gait. You have truly mastered the ability to fly under the radar, a skill you put into good use now as you enter into the high school as a new freshman, a new student, and new prey. You are almost to your locker, not too fast or else someone will notice, when you run smack into something, make that someone, knocking it (them) over. You seethe, not at the other person, never at the other person, but at yourself. Why are you so careless? Mere feet from your destination and you had to cut across hallway traffic. Your anger is so consuming that you forget about the person on the floor...that is until they yell up at you. As you look down with a well-rehearsed apology and self-deprecating statement loaded onto your lips you freeze.
Your grandfather had a heart attack when you were seven and as you stare into darkened brown eyes you wonder if this was what he felt when his heart stopped. No thoughts, no movement, no breath, just stillness, perhaps peace even. The person you knocked over was a girl, probably your age, and she was the most intricate person you have ever seen. Long brown hair, frazzled from impact but no less perfect, tan yet smooth skin, lithe face with pointedly thick lips, a softly curved nose, and of course those eyes, those delicate eyes that held, that held…well, anger. You finally snap yourself out of your trance before dropping all of your new books on the ground in hopes to help her to her feet. Although your motives are generous, your execution was flawed as you yank the young woman into the air and almost into another locker. Her feet have barely touched the ground before your babbling a series of what you hope are sincere apologies but could very well be a recipe for chicken noodle soup since you seriously have no control over your mouth once it starts (the one friend you had in middle school once told you that because you hardly ever talked, your mouth tried to over compensate every time you actually went to use it).
You were barely finished with what you were hoping was a third (thirtieth) apology when this victim of your clumsiness places a hand on your arm with a gentle laugh. She is not mad, in fact, she claims she could not have planned a more unique way to start her high school experience. You think she is just being nice, but you are grateful for the friendly banter, even if you are not sure how to respond since her closeness in proximity has made you start to sweat for no apparent reason. Before you get the chance to analyze your bodily reaction the first warning bell sounds and both of you look startled by it. She makes a joke about getting the show on the road and you laugh, nodding in terrified agreement, but saying nothing else since your brain has all of a sudden short circuited. As she starts to make her way around you she pauses, smiling once more, and tells you she's Emily.
Coincidentally, before the day was out it was discovered that you are both hoping to join the Rosewood swim team as the pair of you were some of the only ones who showed up to the out of season meeting and training session. You cannot believe your luck as she smiles and sits next to you, perhaps you have found your first friend; an ally among the sharks. You practice in the same lane, share nervous glances after the coach's motivational welcome speech, and walk out together into the parking lot. She tells you about her youth as a military child, you explain to her the dark side of being a Preacher's daughter. She explains her love of cooking with her mom, in return you discuss the historical importance of DC comics. The pair of you giggle over shared battle stories involving elementary swimming programs. You cannot really remember when you connected with someone so easily.
You have not said anything too embarrassing throughout the two hour practice, which is a personal best, so you decide to muster up the courage and ask for her contact information when you hear someone call out her name. As the two of you turn you notice a young blonde girl with a face of stone approaching your bench. You look over to see if Emily knows her, and judging by the weirdly awestruck countenance Emily has on, she must. The blonde girl, without any regard to you, chats Emily up and invites her shopping. For a moment Emily appears almost…giddy before turning her head to make sure you would be alright heading home alone. You are not fully sure why you feel the need to hesitate, but you do know that you want to spend some more time with your new friend. However, instead of saying you would prefer to not be alone anymore you see how excited Emily is at the prospect of being around this other girl so you decide to just smile and nod. Emily smiles in return, but hesitates to leave until she seems to have made up her mind to go in for a hug; just as you have braced for the contact the blonde interrupts by grabbing Emily and walking away. So instead of a hug, Emily parts you with a muffled goodbye and rushes off calling after the girl named Ali. You let her go, and go back to being alone.