The lamp next to Emily's bed was the only light that illuminated the room. It cascaded light over the two naked bodies covered by the blanket that lay on the bed.
Emily lay on her back, her right leg bent and Paige laying half atop her, half on the bed, with her chin resting on Emily's collarbone. Her left hand was tracing invisible patterns on Emily's side while Emily played with Paige's other hand with her own.
It was a contented silence as Emily gazed at Paige, who had her eyes closed and a dreamy look on her face. Emily's own lips drifted upwards into a grin. She honestly never expected to have this again.
It had been a while since they'd been like this. Since getting back together, Emily and Paige just hadn't been able to be intimate with each other. Of course, they had some heated kissing moments, but something always got in the way when they both wanted to do more.
It had been very frustrating for Emily, who'd wanted to be with Paige badly once all the bad blood between them had been forgiven. But there was always something that kept them from being together. And she had been so afraid that all they would ever have was those fleeting moments of kissing.
But it wasn't. Paige was here and they'd just made love for the past hour and a half. Getting reacquainted and both losing themselves to their feeling. It was wonderful, this feeling. But Emily knew the next day was going to be trying.
Nick and Coleen McCullers would be here and Paige would be facing them. Paige tried to calm her fears, but Emily knew they could make Paige leave and possibly persuade her to stay in California. It was something Emily had been thinking about during the trip from the airport. She couldn't shake it.
Watching Paige as her eyes opened and the girl looked at her with such an open look of adoration and love, Emily couldn't imagine what her life would be like without Paige in it. She didn't want to think about it. With her free hand, Emily moved a stray strand of hair from Paige's forehead, then touched her cheek with a finger.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Emily cringed inwardly at the cliche phrase.
"Their not worth that much, Em." Paige responded. "I was just thinking how much I would've missed this." she indicated where they were now. "How much I would've missed you if I'd gone last night."
"I would've missed you too Paige." Emily whispered. "But your here and we just need to get through tomorrow."
Paige leaned up and kissed her softly. "He can't make me go, Emily. College doesn't start for months. Like I told you earlier, I'll be eighteen soon and I'll be an adult." she paused as she considered something. "Hey, have you heard from any of the schools you applied to yet?"
Emily's eyes looked away, then came back to her. "I got accepted into Stanford…"
Paige's face broke out into a beaming smile. "Oh my god, that's amazing!"
"…on a partial scholarship though. The money I'd have to pay, well I don't think my parents can afford that. Stanford is an ivy league school, Paige."
"I know, but," Paige argued, "Stanford is interested. I knew they would be. And if Stanford is interested, other schools will be too."
Emily wanted to have Paige's optimism, but she didn't. Too many things had happened for her to think positive. Her dream of Stanford had shattered with her shoulder injury. If her parents couldn't afford Stanford, Emily would have to go to whatever school would give her a scholarship. Paige was going to Stanford and it was looking more likely that Emily wasn't. It felt to Emily that Paige's decision to stay was simply prolonging the eventual breakup and that thought made her want to cry.
Paige kissed her again, feeling her inner turmoil. "It'll work out Emily. You'll see." she promised her girlfriend. As Emily brought her lips back to Paige's, Paige made another promise. A silent promise left unspoken. She laced her fingers into Emily's hair as the brunette flipped her onto her back and covered her body fully.
Daylight drifted into the bedroom, slowly changing the room from darkness into a more recognizable place. Emily lay on her right side, facing towards her window.
As the light drifted over her face, she blinked sleepily. She yawned as she reached for her cellphone, setting on her end table. She checked the time. It was just after seven thirty.
"Damn." she uttered. She rarely ever slept this late into the morning. She had been an early riser for much of her young life. It started, of course, during her early childhood days when shed wanted to be a swimmer and had dedicated herself to be the best swimmer she could.
It was routine and it was one that stuck with her. Which is surprising when mornings like now, when she woke past seven. But then, Emily didn't stay up late on most nights either.
Heat flooded Emily's face and she flushed, remembering the intimacy from the night before with Paige. They had finally went to sleep just after midnight, spent and tired, but content. In truth, it had been one of the best nights of Emily's life. She hoped Paige felt the same way. Speaking of which, she turned around and reached for her.
But her arm came up empty. She was alone in bed. Frowning, she sat up, yawning again. And that's when she smelled it in the air. It was faint, as she was upstairs, but she could still smell it.
The pleasing aroma of breakfast being cooked. Getting out of bed, Emily went to her dresser and through on a T-shirt and a pair of her flannel pajamas. Looking over, she saw that Paige's clothes were still there. She grinned. It meant Paige had thrown on some of her night clothes. She wanted to see what the girl was wearing. She just wanted to see Paige period.
She headed downstairs. Moments later, she stopped at the edge of the doorway to the kitchen and watched Paige. She was right, Paige had thrown on one of her t-shirts and a pair of her white shorts. Paige had pulled her hair back into a messy bun as she cooked some breakfast.
She had bacon frying, some eggs scrambling in another pan, and the brunette could see some toast on two plates on the counter. Emily smiled, charmed beyond words at what Paige was doing.
Paige had the radio on and Emily heard Katy Perry's "Roar" blaring through the speakers. As the song played, Paige was rocking her head and was moving to the tune of the music. Staying where she was, Emily watched Paige move. She openly admired the way Paige's curves were moving, her hips swaying back and forth, the curve of her neck as she moved her head.
It was quite sexy and Emily felt heat pool in her stomach just watching Paige's movements and the creamy skin of her legs as she continued to move to the music, oblivious to Emily's openly lustful stare.
Emily liked it when Paige would just relax and let herself go. No matter what it was, when Paige just let go of whatever stress she was dealing with and just let go of her inhibitions and had fun, it made her all the more beautiful to Emily. Grinning wistfully, she walked over behind Paige as she flipped a strip of bacon, and wrapped her arms around Paige's middle and rested her chin on Paige's left shoulder. "Morning." she said, her voice soft.
Paige turned her head, looking at her. She pressed a quick kiss to Emily's lips. "Morning." she replied. "Hope you don't mind that I cooked us some breakfast?"
"Of course not." Emily said, squeezing her. "Actually, you looked kinda sexy shaking your butt just now."
Paige felt a blush creep over face. Her head dipped. "How long were you watching me?"
Emily grinned at her. "Long enough." She kissed Paige's cheek and slid away. She went to the other side of the counter and slid into the stool there. She snagged a piece of toast and took a bite, watching Paige as the last piece of bacon and the last of the eggs were slid onto the plates.
Saying nothing, Paige slid a plate across the counter. Emily went to the fridge and got some orange juice, pouring some into two small cups. With their breakfast in front of them, both of the young women started eating. "You know you didn't have to do this?" Emily commented.
"I know, but I wanted to. I wanted to do something nice for you." Paige replied.
Charmed again, Emily reached over and held Paige's hand. Taking a deep breath, Emily spoke, the topic one she didn't really like talking about. "What time do you have to meet your parents again?"
Paige took a sip of orange juice. "They want me to meet them at the house at noon. I don't know how long this talk is going to last, so…"
"I could come with you…." Emily suggested hopefully.
Paige smiled softly. "Thanks, but I need to face them on my own. I've never really stood up against my dad on anything before. And I need to do this."
"I know…..I just don't like seeing you upset and I know this won't be pleasant for you."
Paige swallowed a piece of bacon she'd chewed. Looking at her girlfriend, she found herself wishing for the impending confrontation with her parents to be over with already so she could spend the day with Emily. But, she knew that was being naive. "Emily, I know how you feel. I've always hated seeing you hurt. Whether it was -A or Alison hurting you, I always hated seeing it. But this thing with my parents, this has been a long time coming."
"What do you mean?" Emily asked.
"My mom…..well, she's always gone with whatever my dad wanted. You know I was kind of raised in the church?"
Emily nodded.
"One Sunday, a visiting family started attending the church. They had a daughter named Lily. I remember because I thought the name was pretty." Paige said. "I got to know her pretty well."
Emily smiled, visualizing it. "How well…" she raised her eyebrows playfully.
"Not very well. We were both thirteen. Anyway, I spent time playing with her and having fun. I guess you could say she was my first crush, although I didn't know it back then. My dad didn't like seeing me spending so much time with her and he started restricting my free time. Lily and her family, they weren't a church going family. They'd only started going recently, but I didn't care, I liked playing with Lily." she paused. "My mom could have hel family. They'd only started going recently, but I didn't care, I liked playing with Lily." she paused. "My mom could have helped talk my dad out of it, but she didn't."
"Back up," Emily said, confused. "What exactly did your dad do?"
"He convinced the other deacons that the family had to go. Had them convinced Lily's family
didn't represent the right moral code of the church." she spat the words out. "So they left the church and I never saw lily again. I tried finding her, but they had left Rosewood. All my mom had to do was stand up to my dad, but she did what she's always done. Back up whatever he wants. This talk today, it may be happening because I want us," Paige emphasized the word, "but its a combination of so much more. The way he forced swimming on me, made so many decisions for me and refused me so many other things. Emily, its been building my entire life and I need to do this. I need to make him see my side of things. And I need you to trust me."
"I do trust you, Paige. You know I do." Emily told her, then said. "I always thought you loved swimming."
"Oh, I do. But growing up, I had other interests, other things I wanted for myself. But I liked swimming in the pool and my dad just, well, he just embraced it and kind of dreamed of the Olympics and championships, a way to enhance the McCullers name. I never got a chance to pursue those other interests. Eventually, I just gave up on them."
Paige had a look on her face now. A look Emily knew all too well. Shed had that same look when she'd given up on that Stanford dream. And later, when she'd given Paige up after finding out Alison was still alive. She'd been so conflicted about her feelings for the two different girls then. Giving up on Paige had seemed like the right choice at the time, but Emily knew she'd been so wrong. She was still trying to make it up to Paige.
Emily got up, her breakfast forgotten. She moved to the other side and wrapped her arms around Paige, hugging her. "C'mere." She whispered, hugging here. "I'm here, for whatever you need when today's over." She pressed a kiss to Paige's head.
Paige squeezed back, not trusting her voice enough at the moment to speak. Wordless comfort such as this was enough for right now.
The rest of their morning was peaceful. As peaceful as a Sunday morning could be, given the circumstances of what Paige was going to be facing soon. After breakfast, Emily helped Paige clean up the dishes and wash the pans she'd used, then they went to the living room and watched some television.
What they watched wasn't as important as the fact that they just wanted something, anything, to keep their minds off of Paige's parents.
But now, it was just after eleven and Paige was in the shower. The water was nice and warm, creating a nice atmosphere of steam around her as she placed her head under the water.
Her eyes closed, she let the streams of warm water soak through her head and to her scalp, let the water cover her body. It was relaxing, getting a nice shower. It helped her to forget what was coming, if for just a few minutes. And, that's all she was asking for. She reached for the body wash.
Outside the bathroom, Emily stood at the bathroom door with just a bathrobe on. Taking a deep breath, she walked into the bathroom quietly. She knew what time it was. She knew they didn't have time to have a proper intimate time in the shower like she wanted, but that didn't mean they couldn't make this small amount of time meaningful.
Shutting the bathroom door softly and locking it, Emily disrobed. She didn't hesitate. She walked over and pulled the curtain back, entering the shower with Paige.
Paige was covered in soap suds and water droplets glistening on her skin. Emily couldn't help the shudder that passed through her at seeing Paige's entire body like this.
Half an instant later, Paige jumped and turned around. "Emily!" Paige exclaimed, but she made no effort to conceal herself. She licked her lips, catching the sight of the brunette's toned body coming into view. "What are you doing?"
Emily reached up to Paige's hair, tilting her head back under the spray of water. Her eyes closed at Emily's touch. "I wanted to shower with you." she said, her voice hoarse.
Paige's sucked a breath as Emily's hand trailed down to her left breast, her touch feather light. "Em," Paige gasped out, "I would love nothing more than to continue this, but we don't have time."
Emily squeezed her breast lightly, her thumb grazing over the nipple lightly. "Don't worry," Emily said to her, looking at her eyes, "I'll be quick."
Emily said nothing else, she simply moved close and pressed herself into Paige as she kissed her. Kissing Paige was always intense, but with the hot water and the time restraint they were in, it was all the more so. Emily captured Paige's bottom lip in hers and bit it softly.
Paige moaned loudly and didn't hesitate. Time be damned, she deepened the kiss, her lips opening and Emily accepted the wordless requested. She pressed her tongue into Paige's mouth, meeting Paige's own tongue. Pressing closer, Emily backed Paige against the shower's wall and trailed her hand downward, her fingers finally touching where she knew Paige needed her.
As Emily's fingers began tracing patterns through her wet folds, she began lightly kissing and nibbling Paige's jawline and throat. Paige was breathing heavy, the fingers of her hand threaded into Emily's dark locks as she gasped out her pleasure.
She loved it when Emily surprised her like this. It was a secret thrill that Paige was excited to learn she loved about Emily. The sensations she always felt when Emily touched her were always intense, but moments like these, when Emily took charge and Paige willingly let her, it excited Paige to no end. Paige felt her knees suddenly feel like jelly as Emily entered her with two fingers, but Emily had wrapped her arm around her back, holding her up.
Emily knew they couldn't have a full passionate embrace with Paige needing to meet her parents, but she wanted Paige to have this intense feeling before the confrontation happened. It was childish of her, she knew. Possessive, but Emily didn't care. Making Paige feel loved and protected, needed, that's what mattered most to Emily. She pushed her fingers deeper, her mouth moving down to take a nipple into her mouth. Sucking on the nipple, she gave everything to make this as powerful as she could for Paige.
And moments later, a powerful shudder trembled through Paige's body as the orgasm hit and Emily was there, softly caressing her lips with her own, easing her through it.
A contented smile crossing her lips, Paige gently knocked her forehead against her girlfriend's. "Not fair, I don't get to touch you like this…."
Emily kissed her gently. "Don't worry love," she said, "we'll have time later." she grinned.
"Oh, we definitely will." Paige murmured, "I'll make sure of it. After all, paybacks are a bitch." Paige grinned back at her, a devilish little smirk on her face as she kissed her quick.
Turning her around to finish the shower, Emily smiled to herself, a full blown smile. She definitely couldn't wait for that.
At eleven fifty seven, Emily slowed her car to a stop in front of the McCullers house. It hadn't been sold yet, though there was a for sale sign on the lawn.
In the driveway, a small white sedan was parked there. It was a rent a car, Paige knew. Her blue hybrid and her dad's jeep had already been flown over to California. Looking closer, Paige saw the Enterprise tags on the back.
She was in the passenger seat and Paige exhaled, uneasy already. After their impromptu shower, they both had gotten dressed. Paige had a change of clothes in her bag. And now, here they were and her parents were inside. She felt jitters skate through her. Emily held her hand and felt Paige's hand tremble lightly.
"Hey," Emily said quietly, "are you sure you don't want me to come in there with you?"
Paige was tempted. She wanted to look over at her and say no, I'm not sure. But she didn't. She did feel resolve weaken, however. But if she was ever going to be able to look herself in the mirror and be proud of her reflection, be proud of the person Emily saw her as, she needed to stand on her own in this situation. Looking over, she grabbe her as, she needed to stand on her own in this situation. Looking over, she grabbed Emily's hand and pressed her lips to the knuckle. "I need to do this. No matter what happens in there, I'll see you soon."
Emily nodded. "Call me when its over, okay?" She leaned over and kissed Paige once, then another time.
Paige unbuckled herself and got out of the car. She nodded to Emily once, mustering a smile, then walked up the sidewalk to the front door.
Emily stayed glued to the seat, watching Paige as she walked to the front door. With a heavy heart, she watched as Paige entered the house before she finally put her car into drive and started driving away.
But what she didn't know, what neither Paige nor Emily knew was that across the street, hidden by the bushes, someone watched. Eyes filled with anger and jealousy had watched as Emily and Paige kissed each other goodbye in that car. Those same eyes just watched Paige enter her house. And it was those angry eyes that watched Emily drive away.
The person in the bushes with the angry eyes began walking away in the opposite direction of the house, more angry now that Paige McCullers was still in Rosewood. This was not the way it was supposed to be, the person was thinking. As this stranger walked away, one thought kept permeating through.
Something unfortunate was going to have to happen now.