Paige's point of view: The Meeting

Paige sat on the stiff, metal chair that was the best the San Francisco Police Department had to offer the mourning teen. She had been sitting there for at least half an hour, and though many of her extremities had fallen asleep,she didn't care. She didn't care about anything really. She knew that she would have to wait at least a couple of hours more for her Aunt and Uncle to arrive. Once they did,then she could return to her house that was no longer home. Paige was still sitting there when,one hour later, the door opened to reveal a very tired looking officer leading by the handcuffs a teenage boy that did not look like someone you wanted to mess with. Paige also couldn't help but to note that the guy was hot. If, you know,she cared. Which she totally didn't.

She watched as the police officer looked around the room, until his eyes rested on the open chair next to Paige. She watched his eyes crease as his mouth turned into a frown, and he scanned the room for a second time. Finally he seemed to resign himself to the fact that the only open chair was next to Paige, and he sighed. She watched as he quickly talked to the boy he was leading. The boy rolled his eyes in response. The cop sighed once more while he lead the boy to the unoccupied chair next to Paige. "Behave Mitchell," the cop growled,before pushing the juvenile slightly to get him to sit down. She saw the boys glance shift to her as he did so. Paige averted her eyes and attempted to make herself invisible,something she would have never dreamed of doing before...before the accident. Then again, she wasn't the same person as she had been before the end of her world. The cop was about to shuffle away when he hesitated, " Do you need anything Miss Matthews?"

Paige shook her head in response. The cop awkwardly nodded back before shooting one more glance at the boy and walking away. After a pregnant pause, during which Paige sneaked a couple of glances at the boy, she began to feel the weight of the world on her shoulders again. The weight of it all was nearly crushing her. She pinched herself to make sure she was really there,and then took a deep breath. Yup,she was there all right. And then, like the crack of a whip,she heard a deep husky voice say, "Hey." She froze. Human contact was not something she was prepared for. Curiously,she quickly flicked her eyes in his direction. He sat there cool as could be,layed back, and he was staring at her,his brow furrowed slightly. Paige redirected her eyes down and bit her lip. Screw human contact. She watched the boy's brow furrow slightly and couldn't help but feel a tug at her heart at his scowl. "What? Are you a mute or something?"

Paige couldn't help it; the corners of her mouth twisted up a little bit. Finally, and she didn't know how, she whispered, "Or something." She shot a quick glance at him,and noticed a slight smirk forming.

"So,she speaks." He said slowly. "So, whatcha in here for? Did you cheat off someones homework?"

Paige could hear the teasing in his voice,and her old personality couldn't let him get away with it. "That, is none of your business." As soon as she said that however, she felt the momentary flame die. She remembered why she was there, and withdrew herself. He glanced over at her, and a brooding expression crossed his face. Paige watched him lean back, evidently choosing not to talk to someone who didn't want to talk to him. Fine. Paige was glad. She settled back in her chair, and crossed her arms over her chest. After another pregnant pause of about 10 minutes, Paige felt a slight thrill when the boy spoke again.

"Look,I swear,I'm not gonna bite ya or anything. That cop was overreacting." She shot a glance at him but looked away quickly. "I mean, it's not like you're made of glass,or I'm such a bad guy or anything. And for all we know,we could be sitting here with eachother for quite a while. So why not talk?"

Paige couldn't give that one up. "If you're not such a bad guy,why are you in handcuffs?"

Paige heard the boy scoff slightly. It took a couple of minutes before the boy responded, " Don't judge a book by its cover girl. I didn't feel like being at...for lack of a better term,home. So I went for a walk. I saw this...piece of scum beating on a little guy. So,I bashed his head in. My parole officer didn't agree with that. See,this isn't my first strike."

Paige felt her brain working at a million miles a minute (which,due to her old alcohol intake,she hadn't done in a long while). If this guy really did protect someone,why was he getting punished? Then again,if this wasn't his first strike,he could very easily be lying. She couldn't help but to withdraw slightly from him. She felt his eyes on her once more, skimming over her body. Paige couldn't help but feel slightly uneasy about it,but his eyes seemed to settle on a place she hadn't been expecting :her fingers. "So...you a smoker? Want a light?" Paige couldn't help to look at her fingers, looking for what he had seen. Then she remembered,the tell tale nicotine stains on her fingers surely gave away her old habits. She took a deep breath,willing herself to stay strong.

"No...thanks...recently quit actually." She replied,although she didn't speak above the volume of a whisper. She heard him let out a low whistle.

"Wow. That takes guts. How'd you do it?"

Paige hesitated for a moment,unsure how to answer. Finally, she answered. "My parents...died recently. And they never liked me to smoke...so I just thought..." Paige trailed off,unsure how much of herself she really wanted to expose to this boy. Though the boy seemed to mumble something,Paige didn't hear him. She couldn't help but start to cry, trying hopelessly to wipe away all of her tears. His next statement did take her by surprise.

"Look,don't cry. I'm sure your parents are very proud of you. I'm...so sorry. I can't even...I mean,I never knew my parents. I've been in foster care so I can't...I'm sorry."

Slightly comforted, Paige couldn't help the raw curiosity building inside of her. If it wasn't for her Aunt and Uncle, she would be in foster care. "What's foster care like?"

For a couple of minutes, Paige watched him wrestle for the right words. Finally,he answered. " Foster care is alright...for some. But the system is not the best place to grow up in. Some families...well I wouldn't wish them on anyone."

Paige watched him and couldn't help but feel a tiny bit sympathetic towards him. He wasn't such a bad guy. Before she knew it, she was voicing just that. "You're not such a bad guy you know." Then, she couldn't help but blush profusely. Her pale complexion always was one to lend itself to bright red blushes.

She saw his dark eyes shoot her a confused look, before she heard him speak again. "How do you know that? You don't even know me."

Paige didn't know where she found her voice, or the words that she spoke, but she went for it. "Because you're supposedly a 'bad guy' and yet you're sitting here, talking to a lame depressed girl. You're telling me stuff about you to try and make me feel better. You don't have to be doing that. You could be a total ass to me. But instead you're trying to be helpful."

She saw his face contort slightly, before he whispered, "Well, you're about the only person who thinks that." Then, he mumbled something she couldn't make out. Paige felt sympathy fill her. Yeah, her life was sucking right now. But she had parents. She had people who made sure she was loved, even after her birth parents dumped her. This guy...he had no one. Just then, his parole officer came back.

"Hey Mitchell, come on, time to go. I'm sorry Miss, I hope he wasn't too much trouble."

Paige's eyes met the guy's eyes for the first time. She looked down to it's darkest brown depths and shook her head. "No, it was no trouble." She told the officer. The cop looked genuinly surprised. The guy stood up and Paige saw him hesitate for a moment.

His husky voice was low when she heard him say, "It was nice to meet you. I'm so sorry."

Paige watched his back as he was lead away by his parole officer. She couldn't help but whisper, "Yeah, it was nice to meet you too." Just then, her Aunt and Uncle came rushing in, looking for her, and she allowed the boy to go to the back of her mind.

AN: So, I swear, this fic is going somewhere. The next chapter is going to be the meeting, only from Henry's POV. However, before that happens, I would love to get some reviews. So, if you want another chap., please review.