Authors Note: This is just a fill in the gap sort of story from the most recent Paige appearance on PLL. It takes place 3 ish years ago between Emily and Paige just to tell the story of what happened & how they got to this point in Season 7 Ep 8. Might include some flash backs to happier times or to after they actually break up or to how I think the season should end between them. Yes there will be sex so Mature rating and hotness.
Disclaimer: I do not own PLL or the Characters only the words I choose to write about them
Fill in the Gap: Paily's untold story
Part 1 -The Silence
Paige knew it was coming, nothing felt right between them. There wasn't fighting or anger or other people, there was just the silence. Since Emily's dad died it got quiet in their little Stanford apt. Paige trying to be understanding and supportive was quiet to give Emily space to grieve. Emily just stopped, all the drive she had for school, for their relationship or for anyone or thing else seemed to have died with her father. Paige tried everything, leaving her alone, being overly attentive, staying at home with her, dragging her out if the house to be social, she tried repeatedly to get her to a therapist or even to get Emily to talk to her about how she was doing, but nothing worked. Emily was just gone replaced with a hollow bone. For Paige unfortunately it was the busiest time of her career training hard for the Olympics qualifiers and she had an amazing shot to make it but her times were getting unpredictable. Paige's coach took her aside one day while in deep training to talk to her about her focus. Going so far to say that Emily was holding Paige back that their emotional drama was affecting Paige's times in the water. She had her first and only fight with her coach which she immediately regretted but after that comment from her Paige sat with it for a while realizing with a horrible sense of doom that there was truth in it. She felt miserable like she was betraying Emily or not supporting her by trying to think about her own future, by focusing on her dream to win gold for USA. She began to train more, get strict about her diet and when she wasn't in class, studying or training she would go out with her teammates leaving Emily at home where she said she wanted to be. Paige basically stop trying to save her and instead started to become that obsessed person she was all those years ago when she wanted to be swim team captain at Rosewood. She didn't become cruel or mean, she had learned that lesson well but she regained that manic like drive to win that made her sort of scary in highschool before she started dating Emily.
Paige was becoming everything she wanted to be and Emily was lost. At that point it was clear they were polar opposites and their relationship was in trouble in a way it never had been even during the worst of the Alison/Charlotte/A drama. They had nothing to say to each other hence the silence they lived in every day. What started to make things worse was Emily took a job working in a bar and started coming home trashed nearly every night for a month. Paige couldn't handle it, she just didn't know how this was not her Emily not at all. Finally one night Paige came home to Emily crying in their bedroom and she knew this was it. She quietly sat down next to Emily and said, "Em, honey we can't go on like this. We are not working anymore and I don't know how to save us. I think I should move out I can go stay with Clarke from my team she's got that extra room. I just don't know what I can do and you don't seem to want to do anything about it us, your pain or moving on." Paige was holding it all in trying to be strong, Emily was weeping silently but relentlessly she didn't answer, she didn't move. "Emily this doesn't have to be for forever, it can just be for now. I think we are just stuck and not moving forward & I wanna move forward, but I don't know what you want because you won't tell me." Emily let out a sob, and turned to look at Paige. "I know and I don't know what I want to do either, I don't know how to move forward without my dad. His insurance payout came today for me and mom and just made it all really real again, Paige I don't know what to do," Emily broke down into heavy sobs and crying in Paige's arms who held her hard and strong in her toned swimmer arms. They stayed like this for a while and as the late day sun faded into night they slowly laid back on the bed Paige lightly kissing Emily's head and Emily slowly falling asleep in her arms.