Paily one shot, enjoy.
This was hurting Paige as much as it was hurting Emily. Sure Paige didn't have the physical pain, sure she didn't have her parents being watched by CPS, and sure she could get in the water and swim her way into a Stanford Scholarship, but this was still tearing her apart. If Emily couldn't swim, if she was done forever, then that changed things, it flipped things upside down. Paige wanted to be with Emily, she was going to be with Emily, but she didn't know how to make everything okay.
Paige did the only thing she was good at, dramatic entrances, showing up out of nowhere and hoping for the best when she got there. She sort of had a 33/66 record with that. It didn't go over so well when she showed up on Emily's front porch in the rain, or when she kissed Emily in the car, but it did work out pretty well at the Masquerade Ball depending on how you looked at it.
Paige pulled onto Sorority Row and parked far away from the house that was currently hosting a massive party, the last thing she needed was for some drunken guy to smash her window, or worse someone puking up their dinner on her hood.
Paige approached the house with caution, sure she'd grown a lot since she was that shy kid who cried because Alison called her Pigskin all the time, but Paige could still feel uncomfortable at times. Especially when alcohol was involved, she had some pretty bad experiences with it. Right now all she wanted to do was find Emily, which would probably be impossible considering when she called Hanna all she got was some half assed directions and a question about spare shovels. And when she called Spencer all she got was her going on and on about a panic room and someone named Tippy.
It didn't matter, she was here for her girlfriend, that's what mattered. "Hey Hanna!" Hanna was already on the move, brushing past Paige like she was a ghost or something, it wasn't like Hanna meant to be rude, but she was just in her own world right now. "Hanna!" She finally turned around, looking at Paige like she'd just dropped down from a UFO. "You okay?"
"I'm fine…what are you doing here?" Hanna asked.
"Looking for Emily, you gave me directions remember?" Paige's eyes went down to the bag that Hanna was carrying but then back up to her face. "Is everything alright? You look worried. Is Emily okay?" Paige moved towards the driveway but Hanna stopped her.
"Whoa, chill out, you don't need to go all Batman on us. My problems are mine, not Emily's, I can take care of this myself." Paige's brows furrowed and she shoved her hands into her pockets.
"Wait, no…if you need help, then I'll help you." Paige offered. Hanna's face softened a bit.
"Would you stop being the perfect person, Paige? It's making me want to take you out to get a few pink drinks." Paige laughed and Hanna pulled her backpack over her shoulders. "Look, go and talk to Emily, I'll be fine, I promise." Paige waited for Hanna to walk off before she turned on her heels and proceeded towards the house.
She spotted Emily out front talking to some guy, he was tall slender, and more importantly he was looking at Emily in a way that made Paige more than uncomfortable.
"I'm not available." Emily said. "I'm with someone." Paige was starting to understand where this conversation had started, clearly this guy had been hitting on Emily.
"Well, maybe he's not making you happy anymore?" He said and Paige rolled her eyes at the blond idiot standing there. She wanted to walk over there and punch him telling him that he happens to be a she.
"He's a she. And she's amazing." Paige froze at Emily's words, sure it was one thing saying something to her face, but Emily was saying this to someone else. She didn't even know Paige was there. It meant a lot even if she had to watch it from a distance. Paige walked over and wrapped her arm around Emily's waist.
"Paige what are you doing here?" Emily asked her face lighting up as soon as she saw her girlfriend.
"I came to see you. Is this guy giving you a hard time?" Paige asked Emily.
"Not anymore." Emily said with a smile.
"Hey buddy." Paige started before taking a step further and sizing the guy up. "That's your cue to leave." Brendan practically tripped over himself as he walked away, petrified of Paige. Paige didn't stop glaring at him until Emily smacked her shoulder. "Ow! Em!"
"Paige stop trying to act tough." Emily said as she grabbed both of Paige's hands and pulled her closer to her.
"I wasn't acting." Paige insisted. "I can kick some serious butt; did I tell you the story of that time when I saved Spencer?"
"Only like a million times." Emily said with a playful eye roll. "I wasn't expecting you to be here."
"Yeah well you know me, dramatic entrance is my kind of thing." Paige seemed nervous and Emily noticed right away.
"You okay with this?" Emily asked.
"With what? Oh you looking at a different college? Oh yeah I'm cool with it." Emily could see right through Paige's cover up.
"Paige you don't have to pretend with me." Emily assured her girlfriend. "I know it's scary, I mean college is scary enough, a new place, new people…new dreams. I don't know what's going to happen, the future hurts to think about, I mean I was so sure that swimming was my only option-."
"It's not, you can do anything." Paige told her.
"I know, it's one of the few things I know for sure. Along with the fact that youare my only option. We'll find a way, I promise." Emily grabbed Paige's hand and intertwined their fingers. "Perfect fit." She said as she looked down at her hands. "Do think this outfit makes me look gay enough?" Emily asked suddenly.
"Huh?" Paige questioned dumbfounded.
"I mean…it's just I don't want to appear like I'm hiding who I am. I've been in the closet before, it's not fun. Plus I got really weirded out when all these guys started checking me out."
"Okay well first off, I'm not going to blame them for think you're hot because…damn." Paige breathed out as she looked at Emily's outfit. Emily nudged her eliciting a laugh from Paige. "How about this," Paige started. "I'll hold your hand through the night, and if that doesn't get guys to back off then I'll go all the Dark Knight Rises on them." Emily squeezed Paige's hand as they started walking back towards the sorority house.
"You're really getting into this Batman thing, huh?"
"I made a promise on the grave of my pet gerbil that I would rid this city of the evil that took their lives. By day, I am Paige McCullers, kick ass swimmer. At night, criminals, a cowardly and superstitious lot, call me… Batman." Paige said even doing a dramatic pause in her step.
"You are such a dork!" Emily said before kissing Paige on the cheek.
"Yep, but I'm your dork." Paige replied with a grin.