Hi everyone! So this is my first fic back in a while and this is the first thing that i thought could possibly worth putting up here. I have other stories under the username Tomwillisrulz but i thought it was time to start fresh. I know it's not amazing or anything but it's another Paily fix to read (I can't get enough of them) while we wait for Paige to be back on PLL!

Anyway, hopefully there will be a little interest in this story because I'm having some fun writing it. Please read and leave a review if you like it and tell me what you would want to happen in this story and I'll see where i can go with that.

Dani :)


Paige McCullers was the best.

She was the best of the very best.

At least that's what her Olympic gold medals told herself and the rest of the world. She had competed in the 2012 London Olympics but was forced to retire the following year due to injury but she was still at the top of her game and only 24.

She had been listed as an emergency swimmer in the 2008 Beijing games but she wasn't needed that year so she had barely missed out. Paige used that disappointment and that hunger to push herself further than she had ever gone before. National trials had been a breeze for her, she was setting new national records in pretty much every race she was swimming with automatic selection practically being handed to her. She had taken on different distances, strokesand had secured the anchor position in the 4 x 100 freestyle relay and the 4 x 100 medally.

When it came to the London Olympics, she was certainly the favourite to win her races but she was also a crowd favourite. The nation had fallen in love with her because she was the perfect picture of the All American girl next door but that changed when she publically decided to come out as gay to prove to younger people that it does get better and that being gay didn't make them different to anyone else. She was criticized a lot for what she did but she was also praised by most for her bravery and fearlessness. The country really got behind her when it was time for her to race, even carrying an injury midway through the Olympics didn't stop her from achieving the almost unachievable.

After her surgery, Paige decided that seeing as she could no longer race; she would try and coach swimming, so she could help others like her coach had helped her. Everyone wanted her; universities, Ivy League schools, international schools but she decided it would be best for her to return to her hometown of Rosewood and coach at the local swimming school and a part time coach at the high school. She knew that she could have been in a bigger place building her name as a coach but she was still young, she had more than enough money with sponsorships and appearances she was still making and she wanted to come home for a while. Her plan was eventually to move to New York and continue coaching there but home was where she wanted to be for now. The owner of the swim school was an old friend of Paige's so she knew she only had one choice.

It was the end of her first week at the swim school and she had been taking a swimming class younger kids, something that she had always enjoyed doing when she would make appearances. The swim school was abuzz with having the Olympic Gold Medalist at their humble aquatics centre, it had certainly boosted the business of the school and the amount of kids that had signed up for classes.

She walked into the swim school on a Friday morning, the smell of chlorine filling her nose which was something that Paige grew up with and she loved it, it was second nature to her.

"McCullers!" She heard her boss call out and she turned around quickly, startled by the voice

"Hey Jason" Paige replied as she covered her fright

"I know you were only dropping in today to get your pay cheque but do you want to be employee of the month and run a class?" He asked

"For today?" Paige asked

"Every Friday" Jason admitted but began speaking quickly again before Paige could interrupt "I know it was your day off and you have to go to the Sharks meet this afternoon but Danny left this morning and you'll have plenty of time to get to the meet after"

"He left?" Paige asked curiously

"Yeah, he decided to go to the swimming school in Brookhaven" Jason said "They're paying him much more than I can afford right now. I've been running around all day and…"

"It's fine Jason, I can do it" Paige replied nodding "I'll just go out to my car and get my things"

"Thank you" Jason said "Employee of the month"

"I've been here a week" Paige said over her shoulder as she began to make her way to the car

"I don't care" Jason called after her

Paige grabbed her bag from her car and with a quick change she was ready to teach her new class. Paige paused for a moment when she saw a little boy come inside the centre with a woman who was just stunning, that was the only way she could explain it and that didn't seem to do her any justice. She found herself having one of those slow motion moments where no one else was around and she could only look at this olive skinned beauty. Paige had seen a lot of beautiful girls in her life but this girl was breathtaking. Her olive skin complimented her dark hair and deep brown eyes. Her body was toned and fit and her features were soft and welcoming.

Paige pulled herself out of a daydream when she felt Jason push her forward slightly towards the little boy and the beauty.

"You don't look like a Daniel to me" The girl said with a smile

"No ma'am" Paige answered politely "I'm"

"Paige McCullers" She spoke before Paige could finish "I know"

"Right, I forget that people tend to know that around here" Paige said shyly

"You're an Olympic champion" She replied

"I'm just a swim coach here" Paige shrugged with a small smile appearing in the corners of her mouth before she turned her attention to the little boy who was now next to her"Which brings me to my next point, who might you be little man?"

"Braxton" He said with a toothy smile

"Well Braxton, my name is Paige and I will be your swim teacher from now on" Paige said with a smile "Better get you into the pool with the other kids so we can start huh?"

Braxton nodded enthusiastically and he made his way to the side of the pool

Paige turned back to the woman and she smiled briefly before making her way to the pool and jumping in.

Once the lesson was done Paige said goodbye to all of the kids while Braxton was over with the mystery woman.

"Say thank you to Miss McCullers for today" She said politely

"Thank you" Braxton said sweetly

"No problem" Paige replied

"Daddy!" Braxton called out and Paige looked towards the entrance to see a young man with shoulder length hair and a broad smile on his face.

Paige's heart sunk.

She didn't even know who this girl was but she was, for some reason, disappointed that she had a husband or boyfriend or whatever he was to her. The bottom line was, her child had a father that was still around and they looked pretty friendly.

Braxton had made his way to his father but she found the woman still standing next to her when she turned back towards the pool.

"He's a good kid" Paige replied

"I'm Emily by the way" She said quickly with a smile

"It's a pleasure to meet you Emily" Paige nodded

"You too" Emily replied "I just thought it was rude and unfair before that I didn't tell you my name when I knew yours"

"It's fine" Paige said shrugging "It was nice to meet you, I've got to go, the sharks have a swim meet this afternoon that I have to get ready for"

"Oh, okay" Emily replied "Well I'm bringing Braxton next week so I'll see you next Friday then"

"You will" Paige replied with a small smile

Paige watched as Emily left with the Braxton and his father and she turned to see Jason leaning against the pole

"What?" Paige asked

"You always were a sucker for the pretty girl" Jason said

"Yeah well she has a kid and a guy" Paige sighed "Just typical"

Paige walked away with another sigh before she made her way to Rosewood high to hopefully coach the sharks closer to a state championship.

"You're late" She heard from behind her and Paige smiled

"I know, Jason suckered me into teaching this afternoon" Paige said as she turned to see her friend Spencer who was standing with her hands on her hips

Spencer was childhood friend, who knew her the most out of anyone in the world because Paige was practically a Hasting based on how much time she had spent with that family. Spencer was also coaching the Rosewood hockey team and Paige was friends with another Rosewood resident, Aria Montgomery who was a Maths teacher at the school.

"Aria and I were waiting for you" Spencer said

"I know, sorry" Paige said "I'm here now"

"And?" Spencer raised her eyebrow

"Um go Sharks?" Paige asked hopefully

"Exactly!" Spencer said "Come on!"

Emily stopped the car and got out with Caleb and Braxton before they made their way into the house where her friend Hanna was waiting.

"Momma!" Braxton exclaimed as he saw Hanna and Emily smiled

"Hey little guy!" Hanna smiled and she swooped her son up in a hug

"What about me?" Caleb asked

"Come here" Hanna said and she waited for Caleb to join the embrace "Em, you want in?"

"No thanks" Emily laughed "How was New York?"

"Fine as per usual on a Friday" Hanna replied "Next week I'm home though so I can take Braxton to swimming. You're free Em"

"Oh, I wouldn't mind" Emily said

"Really?" Hanna raised her eyebrow

"It was fun" Emily said shrugging

"And Paige McCullers is Braxton's teacher" Caleb said as he pulled away from Hanna finally

"Oh" Hanna said raising her eyebrows as she set Braxton down "Really? I thought she would be teaching the older squads"

"I think she just got roped into it" Emily said

"Emily couldn't take her eyes off her" Caleb said with a smirk

"Just how long were you there for?" Emily asked

"Long enough" Caleb replied

"Anyway, she probably thinks Braxton is mine and so are you Caleb" Emily said jokingly

"Which is a perfect reason for me to come by" Hanna said and her eyes widened "And for you to come with! I can be your wing woman. We can score you a hot Olympian, can we? Please?"

"She might be in a relationship" Emily waved Hanna off "I mean how can she be single?"

"She's single" Hanna scoffed nodding "She's got to be, I mean she's an Olympian, not just any lesbian would be good enough for her"

"Hanna" Emily said shaking her head

"You're different though" Hanna said holding her hands out defensively to her friend "But I'm pretty sure she is, I read an article about her and she didn't mention anything about a girlfriend"

"Well it must be true then, she's single" Caleb commented rolling his eyes "Come on Brax, we'll get you ready for dinner"

When Braxton and Caleb made their way up the stairs, Hanna took a step closer to Emily

"You know it will be good to get out there again" Hanna said quietly "You can't be hung up over Samara forever"
"I'm not hung up over her, she just broke my heart" Emily defended "That takes some time"

"I know, which is why we need to move onto bigger and better things" Hanna said "Like an Olympian"

"We?" Emily paused

"I live and love vicariously through you now" Hanna said jokingly "Em, I love you. I just want you to be happy"

"I'm happy" Emily retorted

"I want you to be happier" Hanna said "And you could be happier"

"Thanks" Emily said quietly

"You staying for dinner?" Hanna asked

"It's okay, I've got to go have dinner with my Mom" Emily said

"On a Friday night?" Hanna asked

"I haven't caught up with her in a while, work has been too busy" Emily shrugged

"Things at the law firm haven't calmed down?" Hanna asked

"No and I can't expect them to" Emily said "I'm fresh out of law school and everyone is passing their unwanted jobs and I have to take them"

"I told you that I would give you a job at the magazine" Hanna said "Your style is perfect"

"I didn't spend 7 years in hell to go to a magazine" Emily said "No offence"

"Some taken" Hanna said furrowing her eyebrow

"I'll call you tomorrow" Emily said nodding

"Thanks for taking Braxton" Hanna said

"Any time" Emily nodded

"So, next Friday?" Hanna asked hopefully

"Maybe" Emily said laughing quietly

Next Friday came pretty quickly and Paige made sure she was early for her class.

She had been thinking about Emily all week and she wasn't too sure how to get the girl out of her head.

She knew that Emily was off limits, she had a man and a child but Paige couldn't help herself, she was drop dead gorgeous and she seemed so sweet.

She cursed the fact that the cliché of all the good ones being taken was generally true.

She pulled out the kickboards for the kids and set up her area when she saw Emily walk into the complex with a blonde woman, the same age as Emily she guessed.

Emily was dressed simply in a yellow shirt that sat just off her shoulders and jeans while the blonde woman looked like she was about to step onto the catwalk. Braxton and his father followed them closely as the blonde made a beeline for the bleachers, pulling Emily with her.

Paige caught Emily's eye for a moment and Emily smiled, giving Paige a wave.

Paige mouthed 'hi' and she continued to set up her area though she felt eyes burning through her back. Braxton soon came over to Paige with his same toothy smile.

"Hey buddy" Paige greeted as she squatted down to be eye level with Braxton

"Hi" He greeted happily

"You ready for our lesson?" Paige smiled

"Yes" Braxton replied "What are we doing today?"

"Kickboard" Paige grinned "I used to love doing that when I was your age"

"Cool" Braxton replied carelessly

Paige chuckled and she looked over to Emily, the blonde woman and Braxton's father who were talking quietly to each other

"Should be interesting" Paige mumbled to herself

The kids all arrived at the pool on time and Paige took them through their hour session with ease, she was a natural with the kids and everyone noticed. Once the session was finished and the kids were out of the pool, Paige began to count and collect all of the kickboards to put them away.

"You're missing one" She heard a voice behind her

Paige swiftly turned around after jumping slightly to see the blonde woman as she pulled Emily behind her

"Sorry?" Paige asked raising her eyebrows innocently

"Brax took his with him with Caleb" Hanna said "That probably runs in the DNA unfortunately, you can blame me for that"

"Oh, that's okay. I'll get it from him when he comes out" Paige shrugged

"You know, why don't I go check on my sonand Husbandjust to make sure they bring that board back for you" Hanna said before she squealed quietly yet not subtly at all, which wasn't missed by Paige or Emily before she left

"She your friend?" Paige asked chuckling

"Just call her Hurricane Hanna" Emily said rolling her eyes "She's good at leaving a trail of destruction"

"So that's Braxton's mom then?" Paige voiced her thoughts aloud

"You thought he was mine, didn't you?" Emily asked with a small smirk

"I wasn't sure" Paige began "Well yeah. He's a cute kid"

"I'm his God mother" Emily shrugged "Hanna is usually away for work on Friday's but she was free today"

"And you came with anyway?" Paige asked

"Brax asked me too" Emily said quickly

Paige smiled to herself and reminded herself to thank Braxton later

"Well it's good to see you again" Paige shrugged "I've seen you around a little but I haven't had the chance to say hello"

"Well next time make sure you do" Emily replied quietly

"I will" Paige nodded and she looked down at her feet shyly

"Are you settling back into Rosewood okay?" Emily asked

"Yeah, I think so" Paige said looking up to Emily again, pausing as their eyes met again "I always forget what a small town it is"

"I know" Emily said nodding "Everyone knows everyone"

"Well hopefully I can get to know some people better" Paige said subtly but Emily knew what she meant without her having to try too hard

"Hopefully" Emily agreed

"Here you go" Braxton said, looking up to Paige holding up the kickboard

"Thank you kind sir" Paige replied taking the board "Have a good weekend, okay?"

"I will" Braxton replied happily

"Em, we're going to the car" Hanna said "Take your time, we're in no hurry at all"

"I should get going" Emily nodded quickly "But it was great seeing you again"

"Yeah, you too" Paige agreed

"Yell out to me if you see me out" Emily replied "I would love to bump into you"

"Bye Emily" Paige said

"Good bye Paige" Emily replied

After a moments pause, Emily turned on her heal and rushed out of the complex behind Hanna, Caleb and Braxton.

"Someone is happy" Jason said as he picked up the kickboards

"I was going to do that" Paige said quickly

"I know, I'm just helping" Jason shrugged "How is Miss Fields?"

"Who?" Paige asked

"Emily Fields" Jason elaborated "You know, the girl you were drooling over"

"Oh…good…great even" Paige said a little too dreamily

"Okay" Jason said furrowing his eyebrows, taking the kickboards to the back room

Paige sighed, shaking her head as she followed Jason out with the kickboards.


Hope you liked it! Please review and let me know your thoughts :)