When Paige wakes up again, it's still dark outside. Her body feels stiff and she is anything but comfortable. She doesn't care about that though, because Emily is lying in her lap, sleeping peacefully.

Paige looks down at her and it takes her everything not to burst. She is so happy to spend time with Emily, but at the same time so sad for her and so angry at whoever hurt her, that she doesn't know where to put her feelings.

She is trying her best to hold her up and she feels like it is finally working. It feels like Emily is slowly getting over Maya. There is almost no crying anymore and Maya is only the topic if she is reminded of her. Every time this happens, Emily's gaze drops to the floor and Paige doesn't know what to say to make her feel better. But tonight, it felt like Emily let go of Maya, at least a bit.

Paige looks at Emily's face and strokes the hair out of it. She can't stop the butterflies that whirr in her stomach, even if she knows she's here as a friend. That it will take Emily time to let someone be so close to her again. It makes her feel even worse when she thinks about her missed chances. It hurts to know that she could have been with Emily, that she might still be with her. Maybe it would have saved Emily all the pain she's going through now, if she had had the courage to tell her parents sooner.

She swallows and shakes the thought off. Regret isn't going to take her anywhere. They are here now and she maybe, just maybe, this will be the last time she has to regret anything. Paige is determined to do everything to keep Emily in her life. As a friend or more. She lets her head rest against the wall again and slowly sinks back to sleep.


The sun shines through the window when Emily opens her eyes. She tries to sit up, but Paige's arm is lying on her shoulder, holding her down and she doesn't want to wake her. At least not yet. She turns her head to look at Paige. She sits there, slightly slumped to the side, her head resting on the wall. Emily can't help but smile. Paige looks kind of cute this way. "Paige?" Emily carefully lifts Paige's arm.

"Paige, wake up. You don't look really comfortable there." Sitting up, she shakes Paige just the tiniest bit. "Morning, Em." Paige opens her eyes, smiling sleepily. "Morning."

Emily stands up, stretching her arms over her head. "I hope you slept well. It didn't look too comfy how you sat there." She gets a smile in return. "It was alright. Did you sleep okay?" Emily nods. "Actually I haven't slept this well in months."

Hearing Emily say this somehow makes Paige proud. So proud, she can barely contain her smile. They stare at each other for a while, until Paige speaks up."I think I should call my parents. I don't want them to worry." Emily nods again. "Yeah, sure. I'm going to make breakfast. I'll be downstairs." Looking for her phone, Paige stops for a moment to smile at Emily. "Okay. I'm gonna come down in a minute."


When Paige walks down the stairs and to the table. It's set with two bowls of cereal and two cups of coffee. Emily is already sitting there, holding her spoon not moving, blankly staring into space.

"Em, what's up?" She jerks her head in Paige's direction, snapping out of her daze.

"Uh, nothing. I just zoned out for a moment."

Paige looks skeptically at her, so Emily is quick to change the subject. "What did your parents say? You're not gonna get in trouble for this, are you?"

Snorting, Paige shakes her head. "No, no trouble. They don't believe me when I say you're just a friend, though. Which means endless teasing and questions, but I can live with that." She winks at Emily, sits down and starts eating.

"So, they are really fine with you being gay?" She gets a nod as answer, but she waits until Paige has swallowed, so she can answer properly. "Yeah, at first they were angry and worried. Then they realized there was no reason for that and saw how hard it was on me all this time, they got over it really fast." Paige smiles, shrugs her shoulders and goes back to eating. "I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks. I would never have done it, if I hadn't met you." Emily blushes and stirs her cereal.

"I have to go now, pick up some things for school." standing up, Paige takes the bowl her cereal was in and her cup. "Where should I put this?" Emily shakes her head. "Just leave it here. I'll put it away later. You need to hurry if you wanna make it to school on time." Paige sets everything back on the table, sighing. "Okay. I'll see you in school then?" When Emily nods, Paige grabs her hand lying on the table, giving it one firm squeeze. "I'll let myself out. Til later, Em." And with that, she's out the door.

Emily reaches for her phone the second she hears the door fall shut. Her fingers are trembling as she clicks on the message to read it again.

'Look who's got a new friend. I thought you were able to learn something from the past. - A'

The message said nothing, at least not directly, but even this barely there hint at Paige not being save made Emily lose her breath. She needs to do something about that. She knows, it's either having Paige as a friend or knowing Paige is well and alive without talking to her. She feels selfish for even having to think about it.

As she carries the dishes into the kitchen, she thinks about Paige. How she put up with her crying, her talking about Maya and how she always knew when Emily wasn't fine, even when she told her she was. Paige was a great friend. And that's the reason why she needs to keep her save. She can't keep this amazing person to herself, especially not when she knows she endangers this person's life.


When they pass each other in the hallway at school, Emily grabs Paige's sleeve and drags her outside, to the bench at the wall. "Em, what are you doing?" Paige laughs, but stops when she sees Emily's face. "Emily, what is happening? Is something wrong?" The blank stare she gets doesn't change the tiniest bit when Emily starts talking.

"We need to talk."