Authors Note: I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who's taken a chance on this story. I know that this is an unusal pairing and I'm not really sure where this idea came from but I'm invested in it now, and I hope that you guys enjoy whatever unfolds.

Chapter Three

The rest of Paige's day passed without incident. It wasn't long before she found herself bidding goodbye to her last batch of students for the day and packing up to head home herself. She lingered in her classroom, sitting at her desk marveling over the fact that she had a classroom. That she had a desk. She'd spent half the day feeling like she was barely older than her students,definitely not old enough to be commanding their attention, their respect and the other half feeling every inch of the generation gap. The fact that she was a teacher was surreal enough. But that she was a teacher here in Rosewood even more so.

Listening to their chatter and laughter as they gathered their things and prepared to leave for the day, the clang of lockers and the squeak of shoes on over-polished floors she was transported back to her years here, while simultaneously feeling a world away from those days.

When the sea of students had thinned to a trickle she gathered up her things and headed out. She recognized a few of the kids from her classes, though names still escaped her, and she nodded as she passed, feeling a little thrill of amusement as she watched them straighten their posture or lower their voices just a bit. Not that she let on. She kept her expression cooly professional even as she felt laughter bubbling in her throat. Paige wasn't sure how much longer she was going to be able to remain stoic, but luckily she was almost outside. Just as she rounded the corner into the main foyer she caught sight of Alison leaning against the wall by the doors. Her attention was on the cell phone in her hand, seemingly oblivious to the students and facutly alike passing her by.

As Paige approached she glanced up, and pushed herself off the wall, tucking her phone into her purse as she did so. It was almost like she had been waiting for Paige. Except, that was ridiculous. Because there was no way that Alison DiLaurentis would be waiting for her. Maybe not so ridculous, a niggling voice in the back of her head countered. Paige did her best to shut it down quickly, though she couldn't deny the small sliver of pleaure she felt at the possibility that it might be true. The reaction threw her. For all that their interactions had gone smoothly today, and her presence at lunch had been a welcome sight, this was still the same woman who had made life a living hell for her, for a lot of people, for years. Yet despite warning herself that it would be best to remember that, Paige knew instinctively that this was not the same Alison she had known so many years ago. She had changed. And thought it went against all reason, Paige couldn't help but feel like she could trust her.

"Hey," she greeted, her lips turning up in a smile. It was not the smile of old that Paige remembered, smug and sly and cruel. It was warm and open. Her whole face lit up with her, her eyes shining. "You made it through the day."

"Who would've thought, right?"

"Not me, that's for sure."

The exchange didn't have the same bite to it that many of their previous interactions fact, both of them were grining. Paige couldn't shake the impression that not only was Alison glad to see her, but that she was proud of her for having a successful first day. It was both unnerving and heartwarming.

"How did the rest of your day go?" Paige asked, as they fell into step and headed outside.

She listened as Alison railed against her last period class, offering up soft murmurs of sympathy as they ambled along the walkway towards the faculty lot. It was as they reached the edges of it that she realized they were both walking so slowly, and on her part at least it was because she wasn't quite ready to say goodbye. And as much as she tried to tell herself it was just because she didn't relish the thought of going home to her apartment and spending the evening alone watching tv and eating take out amongst the piles of still packed moving boxes, she knew that it was more about whose company she was keeping than the thought of having company in and of itself.

Paige wondered if Alison didn't feel the same way herself. She knew that the other woman had moved back home. It had to feel lonely in that big, rambling house. It should have upset her, the possibility that Alison had latched onto her not of any real interest in being friends but out of convience. They were both a good decade, at least, younger than the rest of the teachers at Rosewood. And by all accounts her relationship with the other girls was strained. Like Paige, Alison was something of an outcast. The thought of potentially being used by Alison was almost comforting. It was in line with what she was familiar with. It was easier to process. And wasnt it, in a sense, what Paige herself was doing? Seeking out Alison's company because she was a familiar face.

"Did you maybe want to grab a cup of coffee or something?"

The words were out before Paige had even decided if she truly wanted to ask them. And now Alison was turning towards her, eyebrows arched and eyes wide, lips parted into a small o, a classic expression of suprise, and it was too late for her to call them back. She shifted from one foot to the other under Alison's gaze, feeling her cheeks starting to heat up and as the seconds ticked on and still no answer was forthcoming. She ducked her head, wondering if this had all been some kind of game to Alison. If all today had been was some elaborate attempt to gain Paige's trust just to shoot her down, making today just like freshman year after all. But, even as anger and shame flared through her she reasoned that nothing about today had been elaborate. A pleasantly exchanged words was not part of some grand scheme.

"Sure. Just, not The Brew, okay?"

Paige's head shot up as Alison's answer came just before she was about to mutter a "nevermind" and scurry over to her car.

"Too many students," Alison added.

"Um. Right. Do you know a place?" Paige stuttered over her words like an adolescent asking for a first date. It was irritating. And embarrassing. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I'll follow you." She dangled her car keys to emphasize her point.

"Actually, can I get a ride? I walked in to work today."

"Um. Okay. Of course." Paige sprang into action, clicking her car unlocked and ushering Alison towards it. She pulled over the passenger side door and held it open, a guiding hand to the small of Alison's back helping her inside. It was only as Alison smirked up at her from the passenger side seat and made a comment about chivalry not being dead did she realize what she had just done. Cheeks flaming, Paige shut the door with a little more force then necessary and made her way around the front to the drivers side. She slid into her seat and jammed the key into the ignition. The car roared to life and, with only a brief glance in the review mirror at the mostly deserted parking lot, she pulled out of her space, her actions jerky and somewhat uncoordinated under the unwavering stare of her passenger. She didn't have to look over to know that Alison was still smirking, her eyes alight with amusement.

"Fuck off," she muttered, though there was no real heat to her words.

Alison let out a soft chuckle, but diverted her gaze. When Paige no longer felt the pinpricks along her skin that came from eyes being on her she glanced over and found Alison was distracted by the radio, repeatedly stabbing her finger at the button that was supposed to call up her favorite stations.

"Yeah, the radio doesn't work." Alison jumped at the sound of her voice, and it was Paige's turn to chuckle. "There are some cd's tucked into the visor though." She nodded in that direction, then turned her attention to merging into traffic as Alison turned down her sun visor to peruse her selection.

"Quite the eclectic collection," Alison commented, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"Hey, I made a cross country road trip in a car with a radio that doesn't work. I needed some variety to keep me going," Paige defended with a shrug.

"I understand that. I guess I just never pegged you as a boyband fan."

Paige just barely held back a snort. She had never been a boyband fan. That cd had been left in the visor by an ex-girlfriend some months ago and had never been removed because she enjoyed garnering just this reaction from unsuspecting passengers.

"I am a woman of varied tastes," she said, quirking an eyebrow when Alison met her gaze in the review mirror.

"Evidently." Alison pulled the cd from it's holder and slid it into the cd player, the machine clicked a few times and then whirred to life as it caught the cd. The faint stains of the soft, acoustic guitar intro of one of the quintiessenal slow jams of their adolescent years filling the interior of the car. It wasn't a song Paige had paid much attention to at the time, and it was one she had delighted in making fun of every time her ex had put this cd on. But today it felt oddly nostalgic.

She was suddenly struck with an image of herself at twelve years old standing on the sidelines of her first middle school dance, the only time in memory where she wasn't in the middle of things on a gymnasium floor, trying to blend in with the shadows as the dim interior grew even darker and the music slowed. Her classmates began to pair off, one by one. Her best friend at the time among one of the first couples to materialize on the dance floor. She shifted uncomfortably in her borrowed dress and too tight shoes, eager and afraid in equal measure that some boy would ask her to dance. She didn't have the words or the understanding to explain why she didn't get butterflies when any of the boys in her class looked her way, but she blushed and stuttered at the attention of a pretty girl. All she knew was she didn't really want to shuffle awkwardly on the dance floor with one of her classmates, bodies tense and heart beating with expectation. But she didn't want to be the only girl who wasn't asked. Her stomach clenched and dropped as slowly the crowd on the sidelines grew thinner and thinner. Her throat itched and her eyes burned but she refused to show her upset. And then, out of nowhere Andrew Campbell appeared by her side with a goofy, eager grin on his face, his request to dance a full octave higher than his normal speaking voice. Her first slow dance had been to this song. It hadn't been the monumental occasion that so many of her friends had made it out to be. She didn't figure out why until three years later when she shared her first slow dance with Emily. Also at a school dance in the gymnasium. But this time it contained all the fluttering butterflies, sweaty palms and racing hearts that everyone else had boasted about, but had been missing back then.

"My first slow dance was to this song," Alison mused softly. "Seventh grade."

Paige wondered if it had been at the same dance. "Me too. Andrew Campbell."

"Really?" Her voice litlted with amusement. "Wouldn't have suspected that."

Paige shrugged and offered up a wry grin. It was a long time ago now. She could look back on her struggle and confusion about coming out with a lighter gaze.

"What about you? Who was your first dance with?" she asked, not unaware of how surreal this conversation, this moment was.

"Spencer."

She glanced over, awaiting elaboration, but Alison merely raised her eyebrows.

"Hastings?" Paige nearly swerved off the road in suprise, a curse falling from her lips as she jerked the wheel back in the right direction. Rather than being alarmed at their near miss, Alison burst into laughter.

"If you could see your face right now." She wiped at her eyes and broke into another peal of laughter.

Paige huffed, but she could feel her lips turning up in a smile. "Wouldn't have suspected that." She parrotted Alison's words back to her. "You gotta tell me this story."

"Not much of a story to tell. It was our first dance. Neither one of us wanted to look like we didnt know what we were doing so we practiced in her room the night before."

Paige glanced over, trying to determine if Alison was pulling her leg but her poker face was as impenetrable as always. "Seriously?" It was her turn to raise her eyebrows.

"Yes. Seriously." Alison laughed softly. "What?"

"That's kinda gay," she blurted at Alison's prodding. "Sorry," she muttered as soon as the words were out.

A charged silence fell between them and for a long moment Paige avoided Alison's gaze, afraid that she'd crossed a line with her. Events that had unfolded in high school had led her to believe that Alison wasn't strictly straight but last Paige had heard, she had only actually dated men and she had no idea where she actually fell on the issue. Not that it was any of her business. Or her concern.

"You think?"

Paige's gaze slid over at Alison's lighthearted jab, only to find the other woman looking back at her. There was something meaningful in her gaze. It took a moment for Paige to get it. The realization that Alison was confessing something hitting her like a lightning bolt.

"Oh. Okay. Wow." She swallowed hard, wracking her brain for something to say. She was both honored and confused that Alison had decided to share this with her. The information was somehow both surprising and not.

She remembered Emily telling her about how Alison had kissed her, had allowed Emily to kiss her under the guise of practise. At the time she had thought it was just typical, Alison cruel and unusual bullshit. The same as her name calling and bullying and manipulations. But perhaps it had been more than that. It was almost unfathomable, but Paige was forced to take a moment to consider that Alison might have been just and lost and confused in high school as the rest of them.

Paige supposed that was the difference between herself and Alison. She'd been so afraid of her secret getting out that she'd buried it deep down where no one, not even herself, could find it while Alison had hid in plain sight. It had always been her way.

She honestly didn't know what to do with what Alison had just told her. Didn't know what to say.

"You're going to have to give me some direction here," she said finally, putting this newfound information aside for a moment in favor of getting Alison to tell her what their destination was. She had a feeling that they would come back to the issue later, once she had time to process the information but for now it was just too much for her to deal with.

Alison blinked at her, thrown by the sudden shift in their conversation but recovered quickly and directed her to make a right at the next light. The next few minutes were filled with Alison guiding Paige through a series of turns until they arrived at a coffee shop in the next town over. Much like The Brew in aesthetic but without the familar faces of their students filling the tables and booths.

Paige pulled into a spot by the door and the two of them climbed out of the car. Once again she was struck by how surreal this moment was, walking side by side towards a coffee shop with Alison. And not because they just happened to be heading in at the same time but because they were going there, together. She resisted the urge to pinch herself to see if this was some kind of weird fever dream, instead reaching for the door and pulling it open to usher Alison inside.

If Alison was feeling it too she didn't let on. She strode through the door with her usual breezy grace, approaching the counter with a broad smile that left the poor kid behind the counter startstruck and fumbling as he began making her coffee.

"Be nice," Paige murmured into Alison's ear as she shifted into place beside her.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Alison offered the kid another beaming grin as she handed him some cash. Paige watched on in both concern and amusement as he fumbled the bills and then her change as he handed it back to her. It wasn't until Alison was sliding a cup across the counter in her direction that Paige realized that she had bought one for both of them.

For a moment she thought about refusing or offering to pay for hers. She didn't like the idea of being indebted to Alison, even for something as small and insignificant as a cup of coffee.

"It's just coffee," Alison said, as if reading her mind. "If it bothers you so much, you can get it next time," Alison said as she breezed pas her.

Paige stared dumbfounded at her back before shaking it off. Chagrined, Paige picked up her cup and followed Alison over to a small round table by the window.

"Thank you," she said as she slid into the seat across from her. Alison inclined her head in her direction, offering up a small smile.

They sipped their coffees in comfortable silence. Paige did her best not to let her mind wander into overdrive and tried to just enjoy the moment, as unexpected and unorthodox as it might be.

"Paige, I need to apologize to you."

Alison's words immediately put her on guard. She sat up a little straighter in her chair and placed her cup on the table, squaring it directly in front of her. She couldn't help but glance around her, wondering if this whole meeting had been a sham and the apology was some kind of warning.

Alison reached across the table and touched her hand. The shock of Alison's fingers against the back of her hand pulled her gaze back to the woman across the table from her.

"For everything I did to you, back when we were in high school. I'm sorry."

Paige sagged back in her chair and studied Alison's face. The other woman held her eye steadily. Everyhing about her expression, the wide, open gaze and her posture, leaning forward, reaching out to her, spoke of sincerity and truth. But, Paige knew how good Alison was at feigning earnesty.

"You already apologized for that. Years ago."

"We both know I didn't mean it back then."

Paige nodded, accepting the confirmation of what she had always suspected. She'd never believed that Alison had changed. She'd known that the apology was contrived, a show to gain sympathy and forgiveness from Emily more than herself. And yet despite Alison's disingenousness, Paige had been honest in her words. She had hated Alison for a very long time. But she'd also let it go. Not as much for Alison's sake but for her own. She had harboured a grudge for so long but she was done with that. There were bigger and better things in life outside of Rosewood and she didn't want to miss out on any of it because she was wrapped up in some petty, high school mean girl bullshit. Even if that petty, high school mean girl made Regina George look like Mother Teresa.

"But you mean it now?"

Despite her question, Paige knew it to be true. From their limited interactions today Paige could tell that Alison had changed. She didn't know what prompted it, but she could feel the difference. Even though she didn't need Alison's apology, she appreciated that the other woman was willing to offer it. It showed a strength of character that she wasn't willing to just sweep their entire past under the rug. While they might need to address some things down the road if this friendship or whatever it was progressed, for now the sincere words were enough.

"I do," Alison said, giving her hand a soft squeeze for emphasis.

"Than I forgive you," Paige said, turning her hand over beneath Alison's and returning the pressure.

"Thank you." Alison nodded, offering a small smile of thanks before removing her hand from Paige's and reaching for her coffee cup. "To new beginnings?" She raised her cup in toast.

"To new beginnings." Paige tapped the rim of her cup against Alison's.