Paige is lying on Emily's bed, doing her homework, while Emily is leaning against the headboard, reading a book, her legs on Paige's back. They like doing this, just being close to one another. "Done." Paige says as she slams her book shut and lets it fall to the floor, dropping the pencil on it. Emily lowers her book and smiles. "Even trig?"
Nodding proudly, Paige grins. "You bet. I'm not gonna let this come between the next meet and me." Emily laughs and pulls her legs to herself as Paige sits up. "I hope so. I'm counting on you." Paige lifts one eyebrow and scoots closer to Emily, pressing her knees down to sit on top of her thighs.
She leans forward on her arms, her face hovering above Emily's. "Oh, you do? " she says, leaning in even further. So close that Emily can feel her breath on her lips. "Yes, I do." Nodding her head, she leans up to kiss Paige. "Mmm, well, then I better not disappoint you." Paige murmurs into Emily's lips before kissing back and pushing her down into the pillows.
When Paige's mouth moves from Emily's lips to her neck and starts sucking lightly, the book she had almost forgotten about nearly slips from her hand. "P-Paige?" The only answer is a hum against her skin. "Paige, I would really like you to keep going, but I really have to finish this chapter. And if you keep doing this I'm never going to." Paige pulls away and looks into Emily's eyes. "But you started this." Trailing her hand up and down Paige's arm, Emily bites her lip. "I know. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."
Paige huffs, but can't hide her smile. "Okay, make some room." Emily scoots forward and watches as Paige climbs behind her. When she has settled, Emily leans against her. Something digs into her back, so she shifts, trying to get comfortable, but no matter what she does, it's still poking her. Sitting up, she turns around and eyes the buttons on Paige's vest.
"What's wrong now?" Paige asks, with feigned annoyance and narrowed eyes.
"Um, could you maybe take your vest off?"
A choking sound comes from Paige's open mouth and her cheeks redden.
"The buttons are digging into my back." With that, Paige's blush disappears and her mouth closes again. "Oh, okay. Sure." She worms out of it and throws it to the foot of the bed.
Emily leans against her, turning her head to place a kiss against Paige's jaw. "Better. Thank you." she whispers and returns to her book. Paige mumbles something and buries her nose in Emily's shoulder. She smiles and keeps reading. "Read it to me. Please?" Emily frowns. "But you don't even know what this book is about." Paige shrugs against her. "I don't care, I just want to hear your voice." Emily's heart is about to burst with happiness as she starts reading. Paige's hands settle on her hips, thumbs stroking over her hipbones.
"Okay, that's the end of the chapter." Silence. "Paige?" Emily turns around to look at her, only to find her fast asleep. Smiling softly, she closes the book, tosses it aside and cuddles into Paige, closing her eyes as well. Paige shifts a bit and wraps her arms tightly around Emily with a content sigh. Emily's smile grows even bigger.
When she wakes up, it's already dark outside and Paige is still asleep. Sitting up, Emily strokes Paige's hair back and presses her lips to her cheek to wake her. The only reaction she gets is a twitch of the mouth. So Emily kisses that over and over again, until Paige's eyes peak open. "How long was I out?" she mumbles sleepily. Emily shrugs. "I don't know when you fell asleep, but I was out for about an hour and a half."
Paige rubs her eyes and yawns, then stretches her arms and wraps them around Emily, tipping her over and falling on top of her. "You should have woken me." Pushing herself up again, Emily shakes her head. "You looked so peaceful, I didn't want to wake you. And it seems like you needed it." Lying down next to Emily, Paige sighs. "You are right, I didn't sleep that much last night." Emily leans on her elbow and looks at Paige.
"Why? Nightmares again?" Paige nods."Yeah, some nights they won't leave me alone." Cupping Paige's cheek in her hand, Emily places a kiss on her lips. "I'm sorry.", she whispers, before kissing her again. Paige pulls Emily on top of her, arms holding her close, lips never leaving lips. They break apart only to start kissing again. When they stop, Emily slides off Paige. Her leg covers Paige's, head resting on her shoulder, one arm slung across her stomach.
Just as Emily is about to drift off to sleep again, Paige speaks into the silence. "What time is it? Because I think I have to go soon, if I don't want my parents to rip my head off and ground me... again." Emily sighs and gets up to get her phone. "It's almost ten." Paige shoots up. "What does 'almost' mean?" Throwing her phone onto her bed, Emily answers "Seven minutes and forty-seven seconds until it's ten."
Jumping off the bed Paige scrambles to get her stuff together. "Oh shit, Em, I have to go, like, now, sorry." She stuffs everything into her bag and walks around the bed to kiss Emily good night."Sweet dreams. See you tomorrow." With that, she turns around to go, but Emily grabs her hand and pulls her back, pressing their lips together again. "I love you." A kiss. "I love you too." Another kiss. "Be careful and text me when you get home, okay?" Paige nods, kisses her one last time and takes off.
Emily stares after her, smiling to herself about how ridiculously happy she is. Then she goes downstairs to say goodnight to her mom and gets ready for bed. Just when she is about to climb under her covers, she notices Paige's vest still lying on her bed. She smiles and hangs it over the back of her chair to give it back to Paige the next day.
Lying down on her bed, she wraps herself in her blanket. Her phone lights up with a message from Paige. 'Made it home in time. No grounding. Goodnight, love you x' As soon as she's answered with 'Good. Sleep well, love you too x', she falls asleep.
The next morning she sees the vest and puts it on. It smells like Paige and, in a weird way, feels like her too. She looks at herself in the mirror, deciding that the vest feels good, smells good and looks good, so she leaves for school.
In math, time doesn't seem to move at all. The teacher's words become a background noise to Emily's thoughts. Thoughts about how good Paige actually smells, how soft her hands and lips are. How she always needs to touch Emily, linking their fingers together, placing a hand on top of Emily's thigh or an arm around her waist. How she blushes and looks down whenever Emily tells her she loves her, only to look up again, into Emily's eyes and say the same words with so much truth in them that Emily feels herself falling for her all over again, each time a bit further.
Playing with the buttons on the vest, she's sure she looks like an idiot, sitting in math with a huge smile on her face. Not even Spencer does that. But Emily doesn't really care. She spend such a long time being unhappy, she sure as hell isn't gonna hide her happiness now. Her thoughts drift back to Paige and her hair and her eyes and her scent.
The bell rings, pushing her back into reality. She gets up, gathers her things and leaves, fully aware that she doesn't have a single clue what their teacher just taught them.
She walks through the hallway, towards where she knows Hanna will be. She is standing in front of her locker, closing the door, when Emily walks up. "Hey Han." She turns around to look at Emily. "Hey Em- Okay, wait, is it 'Come as your Girlfriend'-Day?" Emily feels the heat rising to her cheeks and a smile taking over her face.
"Well, if it is I would love to see what Caleb is wearing." Spencer, who is suddenly standing next to them, says. "Nice vest, Em." Emily murmurs a quiet thanks, which is ignored, because Hanna, glaring at Spencer, starts a discussion about what Toby would be wearing, before she actually contemplates Caleb's outfit. Rolling her eyes at her friend, Emily leads the way to the cafeteria.
They get their food and sit down at a table, Spencer worrying about her grades ("I said it once and I'll say it again: B is for bad." - "Spence, it wasn't even a B, it was an A-." - "That's almost a B.") and Hanna is designing the perfect girlfriend outfit for both Caleb and Toby, occasionally replying to Spencer. Aria rushes in, sits down and starts talking. "My dad freaked out this morning. He found out that my mo- Emily, are you wearing Paige's clothes? Did I miss something?"
Emily's eyes widen and she forgets chewing her apple. While she recovers, Spencer jumps in. "No, it's 'Come as your Girlfriend'-Day." she says with a big grin. Aria laughs, but Hanna stares at Emily. "Wait, did we miss something? Or did you just not tell us?" She finally remembers how to communicate and shakes her head. "You didn't miss anything. She just forgot it in my room yesterday." Hanna's eyes narrow. "Uh huh, sure."
Emily rolls her eyes again. "Seriously, I would've told you, okay?" Now all three of them are staring at her. "Guys, do you want a list of things we have and haven't done or is it enough for you if I tell you after it has happened?" Aria and Spencer snap out of it and look away, ashamed. "A list would be nice." Emily is left speechless. A shocked "Hanna!" is exclaimed by two voices at once and she shrinks back. "Okay, fine, just... promise you'll tell us." Nodding, Emily smiles and continues eating her apple.
She waits outside for Paige, leaning against the brick wall. When she sees Paige approaching, Emily can't stop the smile from taking over her face. She doesn't want to, either. Paige is staring at the vest as she comes closer, but standing in front of Emily, she doesn't say a word, she just leans in for a short kiss and tangles their hands together.
They talk about school and how fast Paige went to get home yesterday and that she nearly ran into their front door because she was so fast. Paige is looking at the vest with a smile almost the entire time. She still doesn't say anything, not until she has to go. Then she pulls Emily to her, whispers "You look amazing." into her ear, turns around and leaves. It's official, Emily will never give this vest back.
Four weeks later, Paige takes her out and Emily is wearing the vest over a plaid shirt. They share a pizza and then Paige takes her home, because her parents are out for the first time since the lighthouse. She takes Emily's hand and drags her into her room.
"Where does your mom think you're staying tonight?" Emily loops her arms around Paige's neck and kisses her. "Hanna's." Nodding, Paige pulls her closer, sliding her hands under the vest and up Emily's back. "Good. Did I mention how hot you look?" Emily laughs lightly and steals another kiss. "Not today, no." Paige's hands wander beneath Emily shirt, fingertips barely touching the bare skin. "You look hot. Really hot."
Laughing again, Emily walks them towards the bed, pushing Paige onto it. "You look hot." she answers, grinning. She settles above her, leaning down for a kiss. A kiss that grows urgent and hungry, Emily's hands pushing Paige's shirt up and over her head and Paige struggling to open the buttons on Emily's shirt.
And then, it slows down. Foreheads touching and eyes closed, they breathe heavily. "I love you." Hands tangle together. "I love you too." Everything is perfect.
When they walk towards her friends the next morning, hands firmly locked together, swinging between them, Emily doesn't need to tell them. Hanna smirks knowingly at Paige. "Hey, Paige, nice shirt." she says, looking at the plaid shirt she's wearing. Paige frowns at her. "Thanks?" Turning to Emily, she adds "I need to get to trig. See you at lunch?" Emily nods and kisses her goodbye.
"So, Em, is it 'Come as your Girlfriend'-Day this time?" Spencer asks, pointing at the shirt Emily is wearing under the vest. Emily's answer is a bashful smile and a shake of her head.