[Disclaimer]I own nothing... unfortunately.
[Rating]T for now, subject to change.
[Author's note]So I decided to tackle a multi-chapter Paily FF, make sure to let me know what you think by reviewing, following and favouriting. Wishing everyone a happy and safe Christmas, if you don't celebrate Christmas I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday. Enough with all this, go enjoy the first chapter.
[Author's note 2] Re-uploaded a newly edited chapter 1 in January 2016.
A crunching, crinkling, crumpling sound of metal enveloped her ears, at first it was one set of blinding lights then a second appeared, both were quickly washed away by a flash of darkness. As the sound of distorting metal subsided, all she could hear was the sound of rain hitting against cold metal. The raindrops were the only sound heard for a couple of seconds before being interrupted by a shrill sound of breathing, mixed with silent cries of pain.
There was nothing either of them could do.
"Paige, I can't breathe… it hurts, it all hurts." Ironically, hearing those words immediately knocked the wind out of her own lungs. Her own body ached all over, she felt a warm moisture puddling in her hair, a similar feeling dripping off her left thigh.
"Just stay awake… I need you to stay awake," Paige refusing to say the name of the person beside her, the scenario would become all too real. The person next to her shouldn't be in this kind of situation. Ever.
"It's hard… it's so… hard. Paige it hurts…" The other's voice growing ever weaker.
"Ok so we'll talk… you have to answer me though, okay?" Paige's fingers reaching across to meet the other's free hand. Her arm screaming out in pain in doing so, she suspected a broken collar bone. Paige could feel the other hand trembling within her own, she knew it was due to a mixture of both fear and adrenaline. Shock would no doubt be soon to follow.
"Can you remember our first night in California?" The other's hands squeezed her own as if responding, Paige let out a little chuckle to herself as the memory of what she was going to say came back to her. "I think that was one of our worst fights ever, huh? It was over something so stupid… can you remember what it was?"
The other girl nodded, quietly grimacing out the word "suitcase". Paige laughed a little again, this time a tear dripping off her face mixing with the blood pooling from one of the many wounds across her body.
"Yeah, that's right! I got the blame for not putting your second suitcase into the car after we left that crummy motel in Salt Lake City, it was our last overnight stop before California too. You were so angry at me, then of course I had to turn around and defend myself by stupidly saying 'it's your bag, it's your responsibility'. I was just so tired after our five day cross country drive..." Paige continued, sadness creeping in on her words as the other's hold of her hand became ever weaker. She could tell the other's energy and will to fight was continually draining, devastatingly so.
"Pay… Paige?" The strained voice spoke again, a soft gargling now making itself know on the words. The sound alone was something of nightmares.
"Stay awake, okay? Please just stay awake for me?" Paige pleaded, trying her best to ignore the sound of desperation and despair on the other's voice. The other voice almost sounded accepting of their fate, and that near ripped Paige's heart to pieces.
"I-I-I can't… it's t-too… hard, Pay," words now merely shattered fragments spoken between distressed breathes.
"No! You are not allowed to give up, do you fuckin' hear me! Keep fighting! Keep talking to me!" Paige spat out so violently her throat burn with fear. The moment only stilling when her vision became a blur of red, white, and blues as her ever growing stream of tears began to distort her vision.
"I-I-I...L-Love… You." The words burning like venom, momentarily silencing the worlds around them.
"No! Stop, you are not allowed to do that! No, I won't let you. Please, stay awake. Please" Paige pleaded, she was sure she could physically feel her heart breaking. In the moment she felt the hand she was holding growing ever weaker, she prayed and pleaded to a god, the powers above that be or perhaps just someone willing enough to listen and gave a damn that this somehow worked out for them. That she could just wake up and laugh it all off as a terrifying nightmare.
Suddenly another voice interrupted her thoughts, time began to speed up. Everything was a blur, until she felt a hand fall onto her shoulder, bringing everything around her to a shattering halt.
"Ma'am I'm sorry but…"
Paige immediately jumped up, her eyes wide with shock as she tried to take in the surroundings around her, but the startling bright sunlight was making that near impossible.
"I sorry" A little boy with dark hair and striking blue eyes spoke staring up at her. He was the reason she had woken up so quickly, having now noticed the small football by his foot. It had hit her on her left hand side, when she had somehow fallen asleep without realising. Stupid jetlag, Paige thought to herself.
"Ummm, hey? It's okay, no problem," Paige smiled down at the little boy, still feeling somewhat disorientated. She had only been back to New York for a matter of hours and she was already having the nightmares again. The hussle and bussle of New York was already a bit much to immediately immerse herself back into, so she found herself walking to Central Park, she had been reading under a tree for the past two hours that was until the jetlag finally caught up on her and she fell asleep.
"Ummm, You okay?" The little boy looked up at her again, he actually seemed a little worried for her. It was strange, this young boy couldn't be more than 4 years old and he was able to read her emotions so well.
"Yeah, I think so, thanks for asking. Can I ask you a question?" Paige questioned, to which he just nodded and beamed up at her with intrigue, something felt oddly familiar about his smile but Paige couldn't put a finger on it. So instead she put it off to being back in the states after five years, and hearing the American accent again. In truth, he was the first person she had a proper conversation with, if you could even call it that, since she got back.
"Do you like superheroes?" the little boy nodded again, his eyes lighting up this time. Paige returned a smile glad to hear he did.
"Okay, good. Well just before you hit me with the football, I was having a really scary dream," the boy's mouth forming an O shape as he gasped in horror.
"With monsters and scary things?" he interrupted briefly.
"Yep, loads of monsters and scary things, but you saved me from my bad dream. You woke me up just before the worst part. I'm pretty sure that makes you a superhero now, at least my superhero." The blue eye boy smiled proudly at Paige, before giggling shyly.
"Jake, Jacob… c'mon leave the lady alone and let her read her book, we have to go for dinner soon and we can call Daddy." A blonde woman called from a bench just the far side of the path, a number of magazines in one hand, her phone and iPad in the other. She had a scarf wrapped around her and sun glasses to protect her eyes from the low sun. To most New Yorker's it was quite cold for September but to Paige having lived in Scotland for five years it still felt quite mild.
Paige sat back down at the base of the tree, wriggling around a bit until she felt comfortable again against it's ragged bark. As soon as she settled once more she began reading 'The Life of Pi' again, it wasn't her first time reading it, it was her second, her parents had given it to her for her birthday last year, a note attached simply saying 'You'll enjoy it', which Paige had, very much so. It had been one of the very few books to actually catch her out, she hadn't predicted how it would end and she even found herself thinking about it's outlook on life, endlessly. After she had finished it the first time she had even struggled with wanting to call up Spencer to discuss the ending, she suspected her high school friend would have read it at some point too. Unfortunately she didn't, but with the insight of the ending in mind she decided to read it again, perhaps this time she take a new perspective on things. Another thing that surprised her about the book was how easily she could become lost in it, she was completely taken by the words, in a matter of minutes the book had it's hold on her and she didn't even notice the little boy or the blonde walking towards her soon after they were supposed to have left, until the blonde interrupted her reading and speaking up.
"Hey, this is kind of strange but I know I'll be kicking myself later if I never ask, but you look awfully familiar... Paige?! Paige McCullers?" Paige's eyes widened in confusion on hearing her name fall from a stranger's lips.
"Hanna?" Paige spoke in return, still a little unsure as she tried her best to recognise the woman behind the scarf and sunglasses, the shocking blue eyes eventually a giveaway when the blonde removed her shades. "Hanna Marin, it is you."
"Wow, Paigey you look good… how the hell are ya? It's been like a million years since you left!" Paige rolled her eyes on hearing Hanna using the old nickname she hated, but hearing it coming from her old friend warmed her heart.
"I think a million years is a little bit of an exaggeration, it's only been five," Paige laughed.
"Well it felt like a million years. Come here, I've missed you," Hanna opened her arms and pulled the taller girl into a tight hug before Paige could even react.
"I've missed you too Han. I missed everyone" Paige added with a sincere smile.
It was only in the second half of senior year when Hanna and Paige really started to click, Paige began to fall into place with the whole group of friends. She really bonded with Spencer over academics, reading and sport, she enjoyed discussing art with Aria, and the pair were friends but they never developed as strong a friendship as she had done with Spencer and Hanna. At the time though Aria was dealing with things with Ezra, his son, work and just trying to figure out their own relationship. But it was her friendship with Hanna that really took her by surprise. Logically their friendship shouldn't work, a lot of people would probably say the same about the friendship between Hanna and Spencer, if anything it was actually their clashing personalities that made for a close, unbreakable bond between those two girls. It also, of course resulted in a lot of very funny and petty arguments.
Being completely honest it was most likely Hanna's inexplicable connection with Emily that was the real reason she and Paige had become such good friends. Hanna could always wind Paige up, asking typical 'Hanna' type questions about her sex life with Emily, which Paige had learned to just answer straight out after time, as if she wasn't embarrassed or fazed by the intrusive question at all. Other times Hanna would joke about the sexual tension between Paige and Spencer anytime they got into a heated argument, they were both quiet similar in brain and brawn which usually lead to one trying their best to outdo or one up the other. Paige usually countered Hanna's attempt at stirring with "remember that time Shana flirted with everyone, but you?" to which Hanna would just frown and go off sulking and look for reassurances off Emily.
But what Paige admired most about Hanna, was her true loyalty to each of her friends. Yes, at face value Hanna could maybe be pushed aside as your typical all-American, high-school queen bee with not a very high intellect but when you truly got to know her, Hanna was the complete opposite of all that. Hanna Marin loved making people laugh, she genuinely cared for everyone she knew and she was also incredibly accepting. Paige remembers one night over the summer before they all headed to college, Hanna was a little drunk and she started shouting at a mixed group of guys and girls, just because she convinced herself that they were laughing and mocking Paige and Emily's relationship. Fortunately that wasn't the case, in fact the group hadn't even taken any notice of Paige and Emily at all. This resulted in both girl's, now red-faced, apologising for their intrusive and overprotective friend, having to drag the fired up blonde away as she continued shooting them daggers with her eyes. On the way home, the pair were then subjected to a symphony of Hanna's proclamation of love for them both, as a couple and individually, she swore to them she'd never let anyone say a bad thing about their relationship ever again.
"So come on, how's things with P. McCullers?" Hanna interrupted her thoughts.
"I'm doing good, slightly jet-lagged but that's pretty normal having just flown back from the UK. I'm only back a couple of hours and it's already killing me."
"You're only just back in the states and the first place you decide to come to is, New York? I thought of all places you'd maybe want to avoid here, especially after…" Hanna spoke trying to tread carefully.
Paige quickly picked up on the blonde's discomfort, interrupting her before she brought up everything that had happened in New York. "Yeah, well I was beginning to really miss America. I got a job offer here, a really good one, about two weeks ago, so with the persuasion of a few friends back in the UK I decided why the hell not".
"Okay, so where exactly will you be working? And living? How was the UK?" Hanna started bombarding her with a whole conquest of questions in a bout of excitement. The reality of having run into an old friend only hitting her now.
"Woah, Han. Take it easy. I'm only just back and you know just how much I love talking about myself," Paige sucked in a breath, blushing feeling a little overwhelmed by the blonde, "maybe one question at a time?" Hanna nodded, offering an apologetic grin. "First though, I have a question for you. Who in their right mind left you in charge of a young child?" Paige asked looking down at the young boy leaning into Hanna's side, he had remained remarkably quite as the two conversed.
"Well Paigey, my dear, here's the thing no one really put me in charge of him, per se. I kidnapped him, so if you see any cops around here, get ready to run." Hanna replied keeping up a straight face. 'Yep, still the same old Hanna Marin' Paige thought to herself, happy to see Hanna hadn't really changed in the past five years, nothing the blonde said could ever be taken seriously. Although at the same time, Paige did pick up on a new sense of maturity and even more confidence surrounding the woman.
"Mama… don't be so silly" the little boy giggled shyly, beaming up at his mother. Paige's eyes widened with shock she knew Hanna didn't actually kidnap the child, but she was still shocked by the fact the boy was Hanna's son. He looked to be about four years old that means Hanna most have gotten pregnant not long after she left for Scotland.
"Wow Marin, you mean to say this adorable young boy is your creation… and he's still in perfect health and able to function like a normal human being" Paige smirked, proud of her quip.
"Yep, Paige McCullers meet Jacob Rivers; my adorable, healthy and fully functioning son. Jacob sweetheart, this is Paige, she's a really good friend of mine and your Daddy's. We went to school together with auntie Spence, Aria and," she hesitated for moment "umm Emily." Paige wincing after the mention of Emily's name, Hanna as a result instantly regretting mentioning highschool at all.
"Jacob Rivers, it's nice to meet you… again," She laughed, the little boy looked at her with amusement not fully understand her joke. "Also, I think you're Mom forgot to mention one thing."
"What's that?" Hanna inquired, looking a little bemused.
Paige got down on her knees beside the young, sallow skinned boy, his skin tone obviously obtained from his father, "that you're a real-life super hero, right?" The little boy nodding up proudly at his mother who was smiling noticing just how at ease and comfortable Jacob was around Paige. The young boy was usually much quieter and even shy around strangers, even sometimes choosing to be quite around Spencer, Aria, Toby and Ezra when they met anywhere outside of his home. Interestingly he seemed completely at ease with Paige, which Hanna adored, she understood why too, to an extent, Paige always exuded this sense of openness and security. She was somewhat shy and awkward at times too but always seemed to excel at making people feel warm and safe in her company, perhaps it came as a result of not always having been made feel safe or welcome in the presence of others.
"Hey Paige, Jake and I were just on our way home to get some dinner, you're more than welcome to tag along, if you want? It'll be nice to properly catch up, plus you must be hungry after your flight, airplane food sucks most of time." Hanna offered her old friend.
"I think I will. I have no other plans and as well as that you can fill me in with how everyone has been since I left. But of course only if my new little buddy here, says I can come visit his house?" Paige looked down at the sparkling blue eyes again, the little boy just nodded and smiled shyly before taking his mother's hand.
[Author's note] Let me know what you thought and thanks for reading. - KTF