Heart of Coal

Part 2, 2/11/11 (Post Ep. 16)

by The Last Moccasin

T / PG-13 || Teen Drama, Angst, A/U, Femslash

Swimming star Paige McCullers stops at nothing to take her place in the sun from 'Princess' Emily Fields. But is life better when she beats her rival or when she joins her?

Pretty Little Liars is copyright Alloy Entertainment. I am but a lowly, meddling fan.


Weeks later...

Her fingers folded against the wall in her final, burning kick. Paige surged up at the edge of the pool and caught her hand on the deck. Cool air flooded her lungs. She turned to the scoreboard, tense for a heartbeat until the top time appeared. Lane...'4'.

A grin split her face. "Yes!" She tore her goggles off and raised them in a victory fist. Two races. Two wins.

"Good swim," a tired voice puffed from the next lane. Paige looked back as Emily draped her long arms over the floating orange divider and caught her breath.

"Thanks. You'll get your six in the butterfly, Fields."

Emily nodded, and the redhead ducked into her lane and through. She bobbed past the dividers, swimming to the ladder. Smiling teammates pulled her up into a towel and a chorus of 'yeah' 'good job'.

Paige blinked stinging drops from her eyes, dried her face in the towel, and scanned the crowd for her mom. Her teammates faded to the periphery as a reflexive twist in her gut whispered Mom wouldn't be there.

But she was. Sitting halfway up the stands, Lynn McCullers pointed at her daughter and said something to a father sitting next to her, her chin tipped up. Paige sighed as her stomach uncoiled, and she fought a silly impulse to run.

She walked to the stands. Mom came down to meet her, purse in hand.

"I won!"

"I saw. All those early morning workouts are paying off!" Mom beamed. Without thinking, Paige stepped in for a hug. "Oh! You're dripping wet, Paige."

The girl dropped her arms and hopped back. "Sorry." She looked down. At Mom's jacket draped over her arm. "You're leaving?" How she hated the note of pained surprise in her own voice.

"These meets are so long, and your races are done. I have some paperwork—"

"But I'm the last relay anchor."

"Well. Maybe I'll come back for that one."

...sure. And I'll ace AP calculus.

"I'm sure you'll be amazing," Mom perked up. "Your teammates looked very impressed. Keep winning and leading the way, and they're bound to choose you as captain. Wouldn't that be something? You should be team captain."

"I'm trying. Everyone likes Emily, though."

"Well, everyone will like you more. You just need to win them over." Mom squeezed her shoulder through the towel. "See you at home. Here." Mom unclipped her purse and pulled out a high-protein PowerBar.

"Thanks." Paige held the food limply in one hand and pulled her towel tight with the other. Her muscles had cooled, and she shivered. Mom slid into her black, Donna Karan jacket and headed for the doors.

.

They were losing. To South Wallenberg. Impossible but true.

The aquatorium buzzed with voices echoing off the water. A two point difference turned the dual meet into an episode of Family Feud. After ten races, the final face off would be the only one that mattered. Shaking her arms to loosen them up, Paige looked her relay-mates in the eyes. Four blue eyes looked back, and the redhead scowled. They had one last race and one last shot, and Fields was AWOL.

Paige scanned the pool deck. Where is she when we need her?

In the luck of her first glance, she spotted Emily's familiar silhouette near the locker rooms, a tall figure slumped in blue warm-ups beside Mrs. Fields. The older woman talked with a gentle gaze for the girl who swayed like a tree after a storm. Mrs. Fields reached out to wrap her arms around her daughter, but Emily stiffened and twisted free with a sharp spike of energy. She said something to her mother, yelled it, and they blazed into an argument.

The redhead tore her eyes back to Molly and Seana. Bolts of adrenaline and something she couldn't quite pin down sparked in her chest. Damn princess Fields.

"Hands up who won a race tonight," Paige said. All three girls raised a hand. "Hands up who's gonna win this race tonight." The hands stayed up, though Molly's dipped for a second, and slowly their shoulders pulled back into a reflection of Paige's confidence.

She pulled her phone from her warm-up pants pocket and hit play. Dum dum. The Jaws theme. Dum dum. "There's Tiger blood in the water, girls...It's feeding time!"

"Go Sharks!" Seana cheered over the dramatic blaze of horns.

"Go Sharks!"

.

Paige dove with a powerful burst from the starting block. The crashing static of the pool swallowing her muted the roar of swimmers, coaches, and parents to almost peaceful underwater churns and moans.

She rose from her dolphin kicks, back to the screaming air, and settled into a fervent stroke. The redhead was a full length behind and couldn't leave too much of it for the final sprint. The first embers of a fire started in her lungs as each breath sucked in not quite enough air. Never quite enough air, but her body felt good. So fast she was skimming atop the water.

Emily had lead off the race and fought to stay in a close second before the girls between them slipped back. The brunette hadn't said a word before the race. Just walked straight to the blocks and coiled like a long-legged spring. Whatever was ruining her night was apparently no one's business but her own. Hers and her mom's.

Paige rolled and kicked violently off the halfway wall. The turn was seamless. So perfect it shocked herself. Brushing past the minor success, she carved through the still blue plane and closed on Wallenbergs' best freestyler. Her heart lurched with the sudden thought that if she lost, she was glad Mom had left early. The only thing worse than losing was losing in front of her mother. Lynn McCullers favored a steady diet of victory.

Wallenberg's girl wasn't flagging, but Paige still felt strong. It was early for her to sprint. Too early. But the searing energy in her veins was undeniable. Trusting instinct, she kicked. Hard. Striving for the wall. Reaching arm after arm. She might not have adoring friends cheering in the stands or a wardrobe overflowing from Neiman Marcus. She had no hot boyfriend to impress and silence her mother; no uncanny brilliance to make school a cakewalk. But she had this. She would have this. Paige pulled within inches in her last dozen strokes. She'd win this for everyone. Even the moody princess Fields might smile for a moment.

Her lungs felt like pits of lava. She shot into the touch wall and rose to hook a shaking arm over the bright lane divider. Too dizzy to check her time until the spots disappeared, the redhead only noticed a blast of whoops and cheers all around.

"You did it!"

"What?" she panted, looking up.

A pair of beautiful, coffee-brown eyes sparkled at her from the deck. "You won!"

.

Expecting a towel or pat on the back, Paige melted into Coach's arms as they pulled her in for a surprise 'shark' hug when she climbed to the deck. Her tracksuit must've gotten soaked, but the exultant woman didn't seem to care.

"You'll make it to State with times like that, McCullers! Way to reach into the tank and find that extra kick. Scared me when you did it though." Laughter bubbled through Coach Winfrey, and she let Paige go to be engulfed by euphoric teammates.

.

Her legs hummed with exhaustion as she left the school to catch a ride home from Coach Winfrey. Her whole body felt tapped out, and Paige doubted she'd stay awake even for the ten minute ride across town.

In the parking lot, her head turned to the flashing light and black of a lithe silhouette walking alone. "Hey, Fields," she called.

Emily stopped and looked back. "Yeah?"

Paige jogged to her through the long, cold shadows. "Next time take your anger out in the water, not beside it."

The brunette frowned. In her tired daze, Paige let her eyes wander the taller girl's moonlit features. "Who says I'm angry."

The redhead cocked an eyebrow and shot a glance at Mrs. Fields standing by her car with her arms folded. Emily's face darkened. "It's nothing."

Paige pinched her lips and nodded. It cut more sharply than expected for Emily to hit her with the same closed door that kept her waiting in the acquaintance lobbies of most every kid in Rosewood. "Right. I know all about that kind of nothing."

The brunette shook her head as a cloud of sadness swept over her eyes. For a heartbeat, she wanted to confide in her. The wish flickered in her eyes before vanishing behind a cloak of...fear? "No." Emily looked away into the night. "I don't think you do."