DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I am not fortunate enough to own Degrassi or any of its components.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was written back in 2005, which explains both when in the series this would have taken place and also my less advanced writing techniques ::giggles:: My only Ellie/Paige fic to date. Definitely a fun pairing to dabble with. Please review however you feel compelled (minus the gay bashing). Enjoy!
Ashley was nearly dosing off when the doorbell to her house startled her out of her tiredness. She stood from the floor where she had been sitting outside of the bathroom door, waiting for Paige to come out, and walked downstairs to answer the door. It was Ellie, who had slept over the night before. She was welcome to stay two nights in a row, but declined the invitation when she discovered Paige would be staying, too.
"Hey," Ellie said, "Mind if I come in for a minute?"
Ashley, who was a tad bit overwhelmed with all that was going on at the moment, stepped aside for Ellie to come in. "Sure, I just wish you had called first. Things are kind of crazy right now."
"I tried calling like, 800 times, but no one picked up. Besides, I'm only here to grab my makeup bag. Marco and I are on our way to The Dot and I figured I'd stop by now. I left it in the bathroom when I slept over," Ellie said.
"Ooh," Ashley winced, "Not good."
"Why not?" Ellie asked.
Ashley sighed. "Paige has been in the bathroom for 4 hours crying on the phone with Spinner. I think she's off now, but even so, she won't come out."
"Oh, really?" Ellie said, self-convinced that she could get in without Paige stopping her.
Ashley raised her eyebrows, fighting a smile. "Ellie, no," she began, "She's had a really rough time. I think they broke up."
"And your point is…?" Ellie asked, walking up the stairs to the bathroom. Ashley breathed deeply and reluctantly followed, sure that commotion would ensue.
Before barging in, Ellie decided she'd give the politeness card a try and knock on the door.
"Just leave me alone!" Paige yelled from inside the bathroom.
That was all Ellie needed to hear before she threw the door open and marched straight into the bathroom. Paige, who was thrown merely by the fact that someone had opened the door, was even more angered to see Ellie standing there.
"What are you doing here?" Paige inquired angrily, her face streaked with tears and her breathing heavy.
Ellie moved straight over to the sink to begin to gather her things, giving Paige merely a sideways glance. "Boyfriend troubles?"
"Ellie, shut up, you have no clue what's going on! And if you must know, Spinner's not my boyfriend anymore, okay? So, just go away!"
As Ellie caught her first decent look at Paige, she almost felt bad at the pain she could sense in Paige's voice and on her face. Refusing to make eye contact, Ellie handed Paige a tissue. Paige, more embarrassed than flattered, snatched the tissue from Ellie's hand. Ellie could almost feel the soreness under Paige's eyes on her own skin, and didn't know why she was feeling any sympathy for her. I mean, this was Paige. She wasn't even sure Paige had feelings of her own. But even so, she decided to interject some of her own feelings Paige's way.
"I know how you feel," Ellie said, somewhat under her breath.
Paige's emotions got the best of her as she snapped, "Uh! How would you? You can't even understand the pain I'm going through! Will you please just leave me alone?"
Ellie, who at this point was so done with being nice, especially to Paige, rolled up her sleeve, revealing several large scars and cuts.
"Don't tell me I don't know about pain!" Ellie callously grabbed her make up bag and stormed out, rolling her sleeves back down.
Paige sat motionless, reeling in the shock of what just happened. Her tears again began to fall, but this time for a reason that completely surpassed the previous.