Thanks for the reviews, and as promised here's the next chapter. I couldn't figure out what the hell color Stacey's eyes were, but they looked brown to me. If anyone has a contradiction to that let me know, because it bothers me when people get eye color wrong (especially when I get eye color wrong). Any other mishaps I've made, please make me aware of them.

Oh and I forgot my disclaimer in the last chapter, so I'll officially state that I do not in fact own Degrassi nor do I own the characters. I just like to fiddle with their feelings.

Paige Michalchuk was a beautiful specimen to behold. Of course, Ellie had never doubted this beauty, never questioned it, but now she was viewing it in a slightly different light. And so, Paige was beautiful, even as she sat at the kitchen table wearing a pair of light blue Banting sweatpants and an old and well worn white tank top with her hair pulled up in a bun so messy and loose that Ellie wondered how exactly it was staying up. She was reading the morning newspaper, pale blue eyes scanning the headlines as she skipped from story to story, clearly not very interested on what the Toronto Times writers had to say on modern political subjects.

Ellie had woken up that morning, surprised to find that she was still resolute in her decision to attempt to court Paige, both for her sake as a journalist and for the blonde's as a person. After all, Paige had said that she needed experience in the matter of same sex relationships to write a good article, and Ellie had not missed the light that had found its way back to Paige's eyes after they'd kissed the day before. Perhaps all the former college student needed was a good swift (loving) kick in the ass to get her back on track.

"Did you want something?"

Ellie's eyes refocused, and she found herself staring into the very same blue eyes that she'd been previously observing, though she'd been carried away in her train of thought, leaving her unaware of her unbidden staring. Now Paige was looking at her with slight annoyance, and Ellie had the good grace to blush appropriately as she shook her head.

"No, I was just thinking. Sorry, I stare sometimes without realizing it…" she trailed off, realizing that Paige didn't give a damn what she did and didn't do. Ellie averted her eyes finally, staring down at the very boring tiles on the floor. She stayed like this for a while, hoping that Paige was no longer staring at her like she was an idiot, until another one of her brilliant ideas illuminated her mind. "Hey, um… I could kind of go for some coffee. Feel like heading to The Dot?"

Paige's eyes raised from the third page of the newspaper slowly, traveling up every inch of Ellie's body as it leaned against the counter, making the redhead almost wish she hadn't said anything at all. When they finally reached Ellie's own brown eyes, they stopped, staring at her once more as though she just said something completely ridiculous. Of course, she had said something completely ridiculous. She'd invited Paige to go with her to The Dot. Inviting Paige to go anywhere with her other than Hell seemed completely ridiculous now that she thought about it.

"Okay," Paige agreed finally, and Ellie blinked, not quite sure if she'd heard right. Had Paige seriously just agreed to go with her? "Let me change first." Before Ellie had time to recuperate from the shock of it all, Paige had folded up her newspaper and left the kitchen to go upstairs and change. Ellie was just barely coming to grips with the fact that she and Paige were actually going on an outing together when the blonde came back into the kitchen, clad in loose jeans and a light green zipper hoodie with her hair up in a more presentable pony tail. Even manically depressed Paige didn't dare leave the house looking a wreck. She did, however get impatient, and looked at Ellie expectantly. The redhead finally collected herself and pulled her car keys off the hook.

"Uh, I'll drive I guess," she said, and Paige followed her out the door.

The Dot was the same as always, filled with the young energetic bodies of Degrassi's finest as they got their caffeine jolt before embarking on their oh so spectacular Saturday plans. Spinner was also the same as he approached the very unlikely pair a bit cautiously as they sat down at the bar in silence.

"Paige, Ellie," he greeted them with an awkward smile. "What can I get you?"

"I'll have a coffee, black," Ellie replied. Spinner nodded and looked at Paige expectantly.

"I'll have the same," she said quietly, and both of them raised eyebrows at her. Ellie had always thought Paige to be one of the preppy latte drinkers who couldn't handle coffee straight from the bean, and Spinner had been taking the girl's order long enough to know that she was. He seemed to know better than to question her though, and so he moved off to get them their coffee.

"Here you go," he said, setting to large mugs in front of them. Ellie smiled her thanks, handing him the money to pay for them both. Paige merely nodded and sipped her coffee, unable the horrible face that came with it. Ellie suppressed a grin.

"You could have gotten something you liked more, you know," she pointed out. Paige shrugged.

"I wanted this." Ellie nodded appreciatively and the two drank in silence.

"Paige," Ellie started suddenly. The girl in question turned her head to glance at the redhead. "I just… wanted to say that I- I'm sorry about yesterday. I really just want to do good on this article, and when you said I needed experience, I thought… well I don't know what I thought. I get these stupid ideas in my head and I act on them before I can really think it through. I didn't mean to invade your space or offend you or anything."

Ellie wasn't sure what she was expecting from Paige after that little rant, but it certainly wasn't what she got, which ended up being a small smile, albeit a little weak. It had been so long since she'd seen Paige smile that she'd forgotten that it could be so heart stopping, even for the adventurous heterosexual girl who merely wanted to write a good article and help someone out at the same time. But it was indeed heart stopping, if not a little breathtaking, the way that the corners of Paige's mouth curled up just so, wrinkling her eyes a bit so that they sparkled slightly. The blonde was not invested enough in the smile to show any teeth, which was probably a good thing because Ellie knew that it would inevitably result in staring again.

"It's okay," Paige said finally. "I understand." Ellie gaped and Paige sighed, turning to look at her fully. "Look, I know that I've been less than human lately, but I don't want you- or anyone for that matter- to feel like you have to walk on eggshells around me. I just need to find my own way, and I think it'd be easier to do that if you would just… be you."

Loss for words did not quite describe Ellie's condition at the moment, for she'd been rendered speechless and thoughtless all in the same minute. Paige had actually spoken to her about what she was feeling. The fact that Paige was talking about her feelings at all was a rarity, but the fact that she was talking about it to Ellie was completely unbelievable. The only thing the redhead could do was nod slowly to show that she had been paying attention to what Paige told her and that she understood it as well.

"And for the record," Paige continued, a slightly larger smile creeping onto her face, "you're not such a bad kisser." Ellie gaped openly this time, her eyes round as saucers as she looked at Paige, before suddenly breaking out into laughter.

"Thanks," she said when she'd finally caught her breath. "You're not so bad yourself." Paige shook her head and let out a small chuckle, turning back to her coffee. "You know, last I heard, the boys were going out on a date tonight. I don't know about you, but that leaves me with nothing to do. What do you say we rent a bad horror flick and pig out on popcorn?" Paige contemplated this for a while before nodding.

"Okay, but no horror movies. I don't do horror, Goth Girl," she said with a grin. Ellie feigned offense.

"Excuse me, but I don't do chick flicks."

"Well then I guess you're watching movies on your own," Paige threatened, a superior glint in her eye that Ellie felt like she'd seen on an entirely different person years ago. But it was the same person, and it had only been a few months that Paige had been like this. Still, it was good to have a piece of her back.

"Fine," Ellie relented with a sigh, realizing that if she wanted to get anywhere near the second part of her mission she needed to learn to compromise with Princess Paige. "Chick flicks it is." Paige nodded her approval and became silent again, though Ellie couldn't help but notice that she seemed a little perkier the rest of the day.

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"Look, I'm all for 'Take the Lead', but honestly that triumphant outcast story is so outdone. Why not go for 'Mr. and Mrs. Smith'? At least it's got a little action in it."

Paige gave Ellie that recently trademark look of hers that told her she'd just said something incredibly stupid, and sighed, shutting her mouth and putting the aforementioned DVD back on the shelf. The blonde had three movies in hand, and all of them made Ellie think she was going to throw up from the excessive amount of feel good vibes radiating from the boxes. Regardless, she knew that she wasn't going to win on this matter, and decided to shut up altogether. She could make fun of the movies when they watched them. That would be her payback.

When the movies were rented and the popcorn purchased, the girls returned home. They'd waited until Dylan and Marco had gone off on their date to go out and get the movies, and now the house was nice and empty for them to take full advantage of their video watching plans. Ellie left Paige to decide what movie they would watch first while she went to make the popcorn. She returned to the living room to find Paige curled up on one end of the couch, navigating her way to the title menu of "Just Like Heaven". Ellie resisted the urge to roll her eyes and plopped down on the opposite end of the couch, placing the popcorn in between them.

The movie was sickening, just as Ellie had expected it to be, and she'd commented on a good many points of idiocy on the director's part. The fact that someone could project their spirit into the world from a comatose state was completely ridiculous to her, and she'd told Paige as much. The blonde had simply glared at her and turned back to the screen. By the time it was over, Ellie wanted to vomit up all the popcorn she'd just eaten, but refrained for the fact that she'd used all of her energy making fun of the movie and could no longer move from the couch.

The popcorn bowl had long since been removed from the couch and placed onto the coffee table, and now Ellie took up the space stretching out a little so that her upper body was closer to Paige. As a new movie was placed in and Paige pressed play, Ellie felt her eyes start to drift closed. Within ten minutes of the movie, she was fast asleep, and so hardly noticed that she'd stretched out so much that her head was resting on Paige's lap. Paige however, being wide awake still, did.

It was no secret that Paige was depressed. She knew it, everyone else knew it too. And it wasn't as though she liked being that way, she just didn't know how to stop being sad. Alex had been a blessing and a curse all in one fell swoop, bringing her amazing joy and happiness when she was around, and the deepest feeling of emptiness now that she'd gone. She'd tried to take her mind off of things, to get close to people, to make new friends and start dating again. Each time she'd failed miserably. Things just weren't the same without Alex. She wasn't the same without Alex.

And then the kiss with Ellie happened, and for the few seconds that it took, Paige had almost felt alive again. Obviously Ellie was the person she least expected to start talking to her, to be watching girly movies with her, and drinking coffee at The Dot, and especially to be kissing her. Still, Paige had to admit that the girl wasn't half bad. They'd had what constituted as real conversations today, and it felt good to interact with someone again on a more personal level. This, though, was perhaps a bit too personal.

Ellie's head on her lap was warm and heavy, and the contact was nice, just like the kiss had been. Well actually, the kiss had been pretty damn good, but all the same, Paige was wary. She had a feeling she knew what Ellie was up to, and she wasn't all that interested in being the journalist's newest social experiment.

Realizing that she was no longer interested in watching the movie, Paige turned the television off and looked down at Ellie, who was breathing heavily in her sleep. She placed a hand on the fiery tresses, running her fingers through them carefully. She was so tired of not feeling. She wanted something good in her life again. Maybe a friendship with Ellie could give her that.

Paige lifted Ellie's head gently and placed a pillow underneath it as she stood up from the couch, careful not to wake the sleeping girl. She pulled a quilt off of the nearby armchair and draped it over Ellie before taking a seat on said armchair, watching the girl sleep absentmindedly as she let her thoughts overtake her until she too fell asleep, not even awoken by Dylan and Marco's entry into the house sometime well past midnight.

Reviews of course, and next chapter will come soon.

Would you like some TexasWatermelon with that popcorn girls?