Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars. Yada, yada, something witty, haha I'm amazing.
Fix Me Up
Paige winces as she watches her favorite nurse weave a stitch in and out of the hole in her arm. When the pain becomes just a little too much, she averts her eyes and opts to stare at the nurses badge instead and continues the game she always plays whenever she winds up in the hospital.
She cocks her head to the side and stares intently at the badge, specifically the name shown on it. Emily. Emily...Watson. Paige furrows her brows at that, it doesn't match the face. Emily...Rose. Too cutesy. Emily...Price. God, she hopes that isn't it.
"You know," Emily shakes Paige out of her 'you waited too long to ask and now you have to guess what her last name is' game. "This is the second time I've seen you in four months. I'm starting to think you're not as good of a detective as you've led me to believe for all these years."
Paige would glare at her, but it's taking her too much concentration to keep from crying out when she feels the needle go through her torn skin again. She waits until it's fully through to plead her case. "Hey, that last one barely counted. It was a tiny little scratch, from a tiny little knife. I mostly came as a precaution," she shrugs, hoping she sounded as nonchalant as she didn't feel about having her arm cut open a few months ago by an informant, who apparently didn't want to be one anymore. Talking obviously wasn't his strong suit.
Emily stops, looking Paige directly in her eyes. "More like a really big scratch, from a really big knife, he cut a major artery. You almost bled out before you even got here," Emily finishes, resting a hand on Paige's thigh.
Paige chooses to ignore the warmth Emily's hand brings, knowing full and well that if she payed it any attention, her mind would turn to mush. "You squeamish around blood now Em?" Paige smirks, despite the butterflies currently wreaking havoc in her stomach.
Emily moves her hand from Paige's thigh and smirks back at her. Paige has just a second to contemplate why exactly, until she feels a sharp pain in her arm and the very obvious finger Emily was pushing against her injury, causing it.
"Hardly," Emily says, evenly.
Paige clings to the hospital bed she was sitting on. "Jeez, I'm an injured person here," she scowls at Emily. "You treat all your patients like this?"
Emily chuckles, shaking her head. "Nope, just the ones with gunshot wounds."
Paige bites her lip and looks away as Emily finishes the last stitch. "So you're just mean to me then?" Paige says, knowing that when Emily wasn't stitching her up, she was mostly taking blood pressure and giving shots.
"Considering I'm technically not even supposed to be treating you, you should feel so lucky."
Paige turns back with a cheeky grin and raised eyebrows. "You know you love it."
Emily rolls her eyes, placing a square shaped gauze on Paige's arm. "I know that between you scaring my boss into thinking he'll lose his job and making a fuss in the waiting room whenever you drop by, no one else will see you."
Paige rolls her eyes this time, already wanting to rip off the annoying tape Emily was placing on each side of the gauze. "I do not make a fuss," Paige mumbles quietly.
"There," Emily gently smooths her hand over Paige's now treated injury. "All done," she smiles, dropping her hands at her side. "And you know you're a total baby every time you come in," Emily says, tilting her head at Paige.
"I am not."
Emily folds her arms over her chest. "Really? So that whiny voice crying out for me earlier, wasn't you?"
Paige shakes her head. "You've got me mixed up with one of the boys. It was probably Roberts, I heard he took a hit too." Paige makes a mental note to go check on him before she leaves.
"And the other times?"
"I'm always polite and not at all whiny when I ask for you."
Emily drops her hands, her head shaking in obvious disagreement. "Yeah, okay McCullers."
Paige stays silent as she watches Emily clean up, throwing various wrappers and way too many bloody cloths into the trash can. Her eyes become fixated on Emily's nimble fingers as she gathers a bunch of sharp looking medical tools that Paige should know the names of by now, but has never bothered remembering. She feels like a pervert, not able to stop her mind from making a list of other not so professional or altogether innocent things Emily could do with those fingers. Paige gulps, turning away. She really needed to get a grip. Or even better, some courage to finally ask the nurse out. Considering she hasn't been even a little bit close the past three years, the chances of that happening were slim to none.
Paige shakes her head, letting out a bitter, loud puff of air, Emily turning to give her a questioning look before going back to whatever it was she was doing by the sink. Paige should've known the moment she laid blurry, tired eyes on Emily all those years ago, that the brunette would be the best kind of trouble for her.
In two months, it would be three years ago to the day that Paige had gotten t-boned in an otherwise dead intersection and left to fend for herself. She'd waited in her car long enough for her mind to clear, before she was out and hobbling her way down the deserted streets. There was just enough adrenalin in her body to make it all the way to the front of this very hospital where she promptly dropped to the concrete. The last thing she saw before her world turned black was Emily's name tag and the wide-eyed, concerned eyes of the woman attached to it.
When she awoke a few days later, she'd find out who exactly Emily was, the nurse apparently making it her responsibility to see to it that Paige got better, which she eventually did. And when she got hurt six months later, it seemed the only reasonable thing to do was ask for Emily, which she did. And then it just became their thing. Paige would get hurt and Emily would fix her.
Somewhere in there, Paige isn't sure exactly when, but between the poking and prodding, the talks(both in the hospital and increasingly so, out of the hospital as well), the arguing, the finding out of Emily's stance on Law Enforcement or 'her and her kind' as Emily liked to say and dating in general, Paige fell in love with the brown eyed brunette. And she's been miserable ever since. Pining for someone whose type is the exact opposite of you was not fun, not even a little bit and anyone who says differently has never been in her position.
A loud clang from the sink and a muffled 'shit' gets Paige's attention. She's forced to stare at Emily's back as the nurse is facing away from her. Paige bites her lip in thought. It really shouldn't be this hard. Paige has never had game per se, but she had her moments. And the fact that not even one has come up since she's known Emily is more than a little disconcerting. And it's not like she could use her usual 'I'm a bad ass detective' backup card. If anything, that would just slim the chances she didn't even have.
She was waiting for a moment that would probably never come.
Paige sits up straight at that thought. If there was never going to be a right moment. There was really no point in waiting at all. She should just do it. She should just ask. Her eyes fall back on Emily. Right now.
"Emily?" Paige calls out, before she can stop herself. Her voice is shaky, but what the hell.
Emily offers her a distracted 'hmm'.
Paige takes a much needed breath. "Go out with me."
Emily freezes, then chuckles, turning around to face Paige, a playful smile on her face. "Okaaay, sure Paige."
Paige frowns at her joking tone. "I'm serious."
Emily's smile falls. "Paige, I told you I don't date-"
"Patients."
Emily nods. "Right. Or-"
"Law Enforcement, I know," Paige adds, knowing Emily's speech by heart at this point.
"So then why are you - "
Paige quickly get's up from the bed, wanting to stop Emily before she could get started, her hands ball into tight fist at the pain coursing through her arm at the sudden movement, but she ignores it as she hobbles her way over to Emily.
Emily winces, glancing at her arm. "You really should have let me numb the area."
Paige waves her off as she stops in front of her. "Go out with me," she says again.
Emily leans back against the sink and looks away. "Paige - "
"Three years worth of injuries," Paige interrupts her again. "You don't think I deserve a little dinner with a beautiful woman?"
Emily turns back to Paige, her eyes wide. She clears her throat. "Well if you're looking for beautiful, you're barking up the wrong tree. I don't think you've ever seen me with make-up on," she stops, grabbing the bun on her head. "Or with my hair down."
Paige shakes her head, a small smile on her face. "You're the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," she says honestly and goodness has she wanted to say that a million times.
Emily doesn't say anything for a long while. Just stares back at her. The longer the silence goes on, the deeper the stare, the more nervous Paige gets.
Emily sighs and everything in her body language is telling Paige she's not going to like what she says. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"Because." Emily says with such conviction, Paige almost takes it as an actual reason. Going over that word over and over again in her head, as Emily moves away from her and starts fussing with the sheets on the hospital bed.
Paige puts a hand through her hair, scratching the side of her head in frustration, quietly observing Emily as she thinks. Her face breaks out in a grin when an idea forms in her head. "Fine. How about dinner, then?" Paige asks as she walks towards Emily.
"That's the same thing," Emily says without looking at her.
Paige lightly grabs Emily's wrist, Emily immediately freezing at the contact. "As friends," Paige clarifies, letting Emily's wrist go.
Emily drops the pillow in her hand and sits at the edge of the bed. "Paige," she practically whines.
Paige sits next to her, making sure to keep some space in between them. "Aren't we friends?"
"I guess," Emily says, her eyes on her fiddling fingers.
Paige frowns at that half-assed answer. "Really?"
Emily blows out a puff of air. "Yes, we're friends."
"Don't friends have dinner sometimes? How many dinners have you had with Hanna and..." Paige trails off, trying to remember the names of the friends Emily has often told her about. "Um, the uptight one and the mouse. Don't you have dinner with them?"
Emily laughs. "Spencer and Aria."
"Huh?"
Emily's eyes meet hers. "The uptight one and the mouse. Spencer and Aria."
"Sorry, I'm not really good with names I can't put a face to. Those two should barge in unannounced into your place of work and braid one of your unconscious patients hair while they wait for you."
"You told Hanna you liked it."
"I may have lied."
Emily shakes her head, the smile on her face giving Paige just enough confidence to continue.
"Have dinner with me, please?"
Emily sighs. "Just as friends?"
Paige nods, scooting closer to her.
"No funny business?"
"I am so not funny."
"Paige," Emily says evenly, giving Paige a pointed look.
Paige rolls her eyes. "No funny business, I promise," she finishes, using her finger to cross an x over her heart in promise.
Emily squints her eyes at Paige, not looking the least bit amused, but after a moment she exhales and Paige has to bite her lip to keep from grinning. "Fine, we can have dinner. Just as friends."
"Great," Paige says, with a grin, not capable of holding it in anymore.
Emily shakes her head, wiping at her uniform as she stands up. "You better not try anything."
"I wouldn't dream of it," Paige says, following Emily without a thought. All she needed was an actual 'yes' followed by a time and place and Emily would be rid of her for the day.
"I'm serious, Paige," Emily says, turning to face her. "I don't date - "
Paige moves to put a hand over Emily's mouth, but it seems to have a mind of it's own as it stops at Emily's cheek. Paige's hand twitches at the warmth radiating off of Emily and she knows she shouldn't, that she was already playing with fire, but she can't help herself as she brushes her thumb across Emily's cheek, only stopping when she hears, then feels Emily's breath hitch.
"Paige." It's the pleading in Emily's voice that pushes Paige's eyes up Emily's face and it's Emily's tongue darting out, licking her lips that stops them from going any further.
"I'm sorry," Paige apologizes.
Emily's nose scrunches in confusion. "For wh -"
Paige leans forward before either one of them has a chance to stop her. It's a short, simple kiss, no fireworks or bright lights, no overwhelming feeling taking over Paige's body. But it was warm and nice and soft, so soft, and if Emily kissed Paige back even just a little bit, Paige wouldn't have pulled back. But Emily didn't and so Paige did.
"I'm sorry," Paige says again, kind of really meaning it this time, as she raises her head to see just how much trouble she's in. Hopefully Emily doesn't completely cut her out her life.
Her breath gets caught in her throat at a wide-eyed, open-mouthed Emily staring back at her. An Emily that doesn't look all that bothered by such an unexpected kiss. Her breathing is ragged and her face flushed. Paige bites her lip to hide a smirk. At least not bothered in a bad way.
Paige drops her hand from Emily's cheek, which she didn't realize she was still holding. "Emily, I -"
And then suddenly Emily is kissing her. And though her movements are somewhat hesitant, her lips trembling against Paige's, her hands inching up Paige's face at an agonizingly slow pace, Emily was kissing her, so Paige could care less how Emily was going about it.
Paige figures it wouldn't hurt encouraging Emily a little, as her arms slide around Emily's waist, closing what little space was left between them, Emily's body now flush against her own. It seems to do the job, Emily sighing against Paige's mouth, her fingers threading through Paige's hair, lightly pulling at the strands.
Paige pulls away, a soft smile on her face, taking a second to breathe, which is all Emily gives her before she's pulling Paige's mouth back to meet hers, her lips parting as soon as they connect. And Paige can't help herself, she get's bold and slips her tongue in, immediately overwhelmed with Emily's taste.
And then Paige feels it when Emily's tongue meets her's. She feels the fireworks, the bright lights, the overwhelming, heart beating out of you chest, take over your body feeling. She feels everything. If Paige had known that a kiss could feel like this, that a kiss with Emily could feel like this, she would've thrown caution to the wind a long time ago.
God.
And then suddenly, the air changes, the room gets smaller. The kisses become heated, teeth nipping, hands trailing everywhere with no destination, but knowing all the same the right way to touch. It's almost too much. Almost.
God. God. God. Just... God.
When Paige feels Emily's hand under her shirt, squeezing her hip, she can't help but moan. The second it leaves her mouth, it's like a switch is turned off and everything stops, Paige feeling empty when Emily pulls away.
Paige steps back, rubbing her hands over her face, trying to clear her mind so she could better assess the situation, how much trouble, if any she was in. She's putting a hand through her hair when she hears Emily clear her throat one too many times, knowing Emily was waiting for her undivided attention.
This is it, no turning back now. Paige was either going to get the chance she's waited years to have or she'll have the greatest memory to keep her going for years to come. She licks her lips and swallows, before looking at Emily. She's pleasantly surprised seeing the smile on Emily's face.
"No funny business, huh?" Emily raises an amused eyebrow at her.
Paige closes her gaping mouth, before stuttering out, "I um... I didn't uh..." she shakes her head, attempting to clear her mind. "I... didn't find that particularly funny," Paige finally get's out with faux confidence. "Um... did you?"
Emily doesn't say anything, simply pursing her lips together as she stares back at Paige. "I'll let you know after our date."
"Our d -"
Emily closes the distance, wrapping an arm around Paige's neck and shuts her up with a firm kiss, then she pulls away, "I mean, our dinner... as friends," Emily smirks, as she pulls away.
Paige silently watches as Emily wraps her hair in a bun, stretching the hair tie from around her wrist and wrapping it once, then twice around her hair. Paige frowns, realizing too late that at some point during their impromptu make-out Emily's hair was free of the bun Paige was so used to and she didn't even take the time to fully appreciate it.
Paige doesn't have too much time to dwell on it, before Emily is in front of her with Paige's hand, palm up, in her own. She takes a pen out of her front pocket and quickly writes something on Paige's palm, letting it drop at Paige's side when she was done. "That's my number. I'd tell you to call me anytime after eight..." she trails off, smiling at Paige, "but I think you know my schedule better than me at this point."
Paige nods. "Right... I mean no... I..." She stops. Takes a breath, ignoring Emily's beaming face. "I'll call."
"Great," she says, squeezing Paige's shoulder. "Try not too get hurt out there, McCullers. There's a steak with my name on it that you're paying for," she jokes, though Paige kind of get's the feeling she's not entirely joking about all of it.
"But you're so good at patching me up."
Emily frowns. "But I don't enjoy it," she says, her voice serious. "So, just be careful, okay?"
Paige raises a hand. "Scouts honor."
Emily shakes her head, grinning. She pulls away, though her eyes stay on Paige. "I have to go," she says after a while, still not moving.
Paige nods. "You should go then."
Emily bites her lip. "Yeah," she steps back, turning around. As she takes a step, Paige grabs her arm when a thought occurs to her.
"What's your last name?" Paige figures now was as good as time as any, she was not going to wait another three years to find the right moment. Not that this was it.
Emily stops and without turning around says, "Fields," before she's out of Paige's grasp and the room faster than Paige can blink.
"Emily Fields," Paige breathes out. "So much trouble."
AN: So I haven't been posting as often as I said I would. No excuses and no promises this time. They will come when they come. This one came because of some unexpected reviews for fics I posted however long ago and as always, they made me smile, then feel bad, and so here we are. It just goes to show, no matter how long or how thought out the review. Whether it's two seconds after something is posted or two years. They all mean a lot and are much appreciated.
Away from the sappiness, the idea for this came from some Keanu Reeves movie where he's a detective or something and there was literally a two minute scene or whatever w/ a nurse and there was flirting(I think, I don't really remember) and I saw it years ago and have no idea why I thought to write this now(the middle of last yr) or for Paily.
The ending feels a bit rushed to me idk, but I chose to ignore it because PLL is pissing me off and I would rather finish all this half written stuff before I completely lose all the Paily feels. And re-reading this, it doesn't feel done. It feels like there needs to be a date of some sort. I have nothing planned, just a sentence so I'll just leave it open for now.
As always, I hope you enjoyed it...
You guys are the absolute best. :)
