A/N: First, I would like to apologize so very much for taking such a long time to update this story. I promise I didn't forget about it! It was my partner and I's anniversary, then we had friends from out of town surprise us and stay with us, and then I had a funeral to attend this past weekend. But I'm back now! And second, I'd like to thank everyone who continues to read after my hiatus. I totally understand if some have lost interest. Hope everyone enjoys the update

Paige's POV

I placed a framed picture of Emily and I after a championship swim meet on my new desk at Rosewood High. She had her arm around me as we both donned gold metals and toothy grins. It was one of the last swim meets her and I had competed in together before her shoulder injury. I smiled fondly as my fingertips graced the surface of the glass.

I sat down and began to look around the office. I had been in here so many times before, but always as a swimmer, never as a coach. I glanced at my watch, making note that in just a few minutes, the halls were going to be flooded with students ready for a new semester. And that meant new students to try out for the swim team.

I pulled up a flyer on my computer that I had created. It had all of the necessary information for when tryouts were. I began printing off 50 copies, surely that should be enough at the student involvement fair today.

In the faint distance, I heard the subtle click, click of a pair of heels on the hard linoleum floor. The sound grew closer with each step. I smiled, spinning around in my chair, expecting to see Emily standing in the doorway. She mentioned bringing me coffee for my first day. But the goofy grin plastered on my face was ripped off by the sight of Alison DiLaurentis.

"My, my, my, when I heard Paige McCullers was hired as the new swim coach, I just had to see for myself." She smirked, crossing her arms as she leisurely leaned against the door frame.

"Gee, Alison, coming all this way just for little old me? How sweet of you."

Alison chuckled, "Oh it wasn't that far." I caught a glimpse of a shiny diamond on her ring finger. Never in a million years did I take Alison for the 'settling down' type.

"I see 'congratulations' are in order." I dryly said.

Alison glanced down at her hand, almost as if she had completely forgot she was wearing a ring.

"Oh, thank you. I see your finger is still bare. Can't quite seal the deal? Funny, I guess neither can Emily."

"Aw Alison, it's okay, not everyone's self-esteem can survive alone." I smirked, 'Pigskin' sure has come a long way. Alison looked as if she had just swallowed vinegar, before quickly composing herself.

"Yeah, well let's just hope that so called self-esteem can recruit some girls. Have you seen last year's stats? You've got your work cut out for you."

"You follow high school swimming? Now I've seen it all." I laughed as I stood up and grabbed my stack of flyers from the printer.

"Well what kind of faculty member would I be if I didn't support my school's sports teams?" I just about dropped my flyers. Did she just say what I think she did?

"Faculty member?"

"Yeah, Em didn't tell you? What a shame." She flashed me a devilish grin. "Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around, Coach McCullers." And just like that, Alison sauntered away, the click, click of her heels following her out.

I sunk back into my chair, releasing a shaky breath I didn't realize I had been holding in. I thought taking this job might have been the best decision I had made in years, especially since it had allowed me to reconnect with Emily. But now I was starting to think that maybe it was the worst decision.

Emily's POV

"Em…Em, wake up." I felt a hand on my shoulder, softly shaking me awake. I opened my eyes and squinted as the sunlight made its grand entrance. Through the brightness, I could see golden locks cascading down a head, no doubt Hanna's.

"Looks like somebody had a late night. And one that involved a pool, you smell like chlorine."

I smiled softly, recounting last night's events with Paige. Being in the pool again, swimming again, especially with Paige, it's like I had fallen asleep and then woken up in this amazing and perfect dream.

I brushed the hair out of my face as I sat up to fully look at Hanna.

"So are you going to make me beg for details? I saw you leave The Radley with Paige. Tell me what happened!"

I playfully rolled my eyes at Hanna's eagerness to know about Paige and I. But to be honest, I was still trying to figure it out myself.

"Oh and here, I brought you this. I figured you'd need it." Hanna handed me a cup of coffee with The Brew logo on it. I silently thanked her as I brought the cup to my lips, slowing sipping the hot contents. I noticed a hint of an extra shot of espresso. Gosh, Hanna's good.

Savoring the taste of my Americano, I almost choked when I made a realization.

"Oh crap!" I threw my comforter off my body, instantly jumping to my feet.

"What? What is it?" Hanna asked a little caught off guard as I darted past her.

"I was supposed to meet Paige this morning and bring her coffee!" I hollered from my closet.

"Well I haven't drank any of mine yet, does she like cinnamon soy lattes?"

"It'll have to do, thanks Han, you're the best!" I came barreling out of my closet in a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt, throwing up my hair in a messy bun. I grabbed both coffees and headed for the door.

"Can you lock up when you leave? I'll call you later!" And without waiting for a response, I was out the door.

"Wow, looks like your shoulder sure has healed up nicely." Paige panted as she held herself up on the edge of the pool. We had just finished up another friendly race. We were now at 3-2, by yours truly.

I pulled myself up to the edge next to her. "Yeah, thanks to countless hours of physical therapy."

"Is that what made you interested in becoming a PT yourself?"

"Absolutely. I just fell in love with it. I think I can really help people, you know? Athletes like myself who think they'll never get another shot."

Paige nodded and we settled into a comfortable silence, still catching our breaths from the most recent race. I glanced over and noticed Paige rubbing at her left shoulder.

"Swimmer's shoulder?"

Paige winced a bit and nodded. "Um yeah, you know how it is."

"Come on." I motioned to the ladder and Paige soon followed me out of the pool. I grabbed two nearby towels and handed one to Paige. My eyes raked up and down her toned body, before it was swiftly covered with the towel. I followed suit and wrapped myself up before sitting down on the nearby bleachers. I motioned for Paige to sit down in front of me.

Once she did, I hesitantly placed my hands on her left shoulder and began to gently massage her. Her skin was so silky and smooth, just as I had remembered. My breath hitched as my hands glided over the base of her neck, the very same spot I had kissed a thousand times before.

It was then that I noticed a very thin scar line running from the top of her shoulder to the bottom. Studying kinesiology and physiology, particularly in swimmers, I had become quite acquainted with such scars. And this particular scar told me that sometime between us breaking up in college and now, she had torn her rotator cuff. It suddenly made sense now as to why I had easily beat her in the majority of our races tonight.

I inwardly sighed, upset that I had lost the right to know these things about Paige a long time ago. But it hurt knowing how much I wished I had that right again. Whatever reasons she had, Paige obviously wasn't comfortable in telling me about this injury. And since I had no right to ask, I just bit my lip and continued to massage her sore shoulder.

A slight moan escaped Paige's lips and seeing how she immediately tensed up, I could tell she was a bit embarrassed.

"I'm sorry." I finally said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that grew.

"For what?"

"For…everything." This caught Paige's attention and she turned around to face me. "For how badly I treated you after my dad passed away, for blaming all of it on you. You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you did everything right. You were perfect, Paige. I guess…I guess I just really lost myself after losing my dad. And to be honest…I just kept telling myself that you deserved better than the mess I had become."

I began to reach up to wipe away a stray tear, but Paige beat me to it. She softly brushed it away with the pad of her thumb.

"You were never a mess, Em. You were…everything I had ever dreamed of and more. You still are."

I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat and locked eyes with Paige. Even after all these years, I still found myself getting lost in her chocolate orbs. Maybe, just maybe we had been given a second chance. And if that were true, I'd be damned if I screwed it up again.

"It's getting late, I don't want you to be late on your first day on the job. So how about I walk you home and then bring you some coffee in the morning?"

Paige smiled like a little school girl who had just been asked out by her crush. "I would love that."

Paige's POV

Seriously? Out of the entire quad, my booth for swimming ends up directly across from Alison? And Shakespeare Club? I had to keep myself from snorting with laughter. I didn't even know she read, let alone some of the greatest pieces of literature mankind has ever been graced with.

I placed my stack of flyers on my table, along with a few pairs of goggles, swim caps, and the new jackets I had designed myself. I reached into my box of supplies and pulled out a couple picture frames. One was of the team my senior year and the other was the one of Emily and I. I could practically feel Alison's eye-roll from across as she saw the second picture.

I scanned over my table, thinking that I was missing something. The lightbulb went off and I reached into my box, pulling out a big bag of candy. I remembered when I attended these fairs in high school and the booths that caught my eye were usually the ones with candy.

I ripped open the bag, grabbing a giant handful and sprinkling Starburst, Skittles and Sweet Tarts all across the table. I smiled, very pleased with how everything looked. Surely I'll get some recruits today.

I looked up, my eyes meeting Alison as she looked at my table and slightly laughed. I narrowed my eyes at her. Taking in her table, I noted that all she had was a simple sign-up sheet and a few books of Shakespeare's works. It was my turn to laugh. Did she really think that students would just float to her without her even trying? She was in for a rude awakening.

"Attention everyone!" Our booth "competition" was cut off by Principal Hackett's voice. "The students are arriving now, I want to see smiling faces on each and every one of you! Remember, an involved student is a successful student!"

Both Alison and I snorted. Could he be any cheesier? Almost instantly, the quad became flooded with students. And almost instantly a group of girls came rushing to my table. I looked up and smirked at Alison and her empty table.

"Oh cool, look at these jackets!" One girl exclaimed while another was trying on a pair of goggles.

"Hi there girls, I'm Coach McCullers. Are you interested in trying out for the swim team this year?"

"Wait, you're the Paige McCullers?" Another girl said with a mouthful of Starburst.

I smiled and slightly blushed, nobody had ever reacted to my name like that before. "My older sister is Nadine, you two were teammates! I'm Natalie." She reached out to shake my hand and I was then able to fully look at her. She had jet black hair and emerald green eyes, a spitting image of her sister. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe I'm shaking your hand right now! You're a legend here at Rosewood!"

I laughed and blushed some more. "I don't know about that, your sister was a pretty great swimmer too. So does this mean I can count on you to be my first recruit?"

"Of course! Although, I've only swam competitively for a couple of years…"

"That's okay, I'll teach you everything I know." My heart just about melted when I saw the look on Natalie's face. Maybe this wasn't such a bad decision after all.

After the first rush of students and 15 recruits later, I looked over and saw Alison sitting down, reading one of her books. Her booth hadn't drawn nearly the amount of attention as mine or the others. Don't do it, Paige. Don't even think about it. But before I could catch myself, I grabbed my half empty bag of candy and began to make my way over. I looked down at her sign-up sheet and saw that not a single student had signed up.

"Come to gloat?" She asked, not even removing her eyes from her book.

"No, actually, I didn't. Here." She finally looked up at me as I held out the bag of candy. She remained still, not reaching out to take it. "Trust me, it'll help." I could see her debating with herself on whether or not to accept my offering.

"Fine." She stood up and took the bag. I turned to walk back to my table and upon doing so, I heard her mumble a soft 'Thank you'. Knowing that those words probably tasted like poison coming from her to me, I didn't respond. I just reveled in the fact that she actually said them. Almost instantly, Alison's table was surrounded by a few students.

Emily's POV

I pulled up to the Rosewood High parking lot in record time. Gosh, I can't believe I'm this late! I looked at myself in my mirror, debating on whether or not I should try putting on a bit of makeup before seeing Paige. Glancing down at the time on my stereo, I decided against it, I was late enough as it is.

I made my way into the school and noticed how quiet it was, you could hear a pen drop. I saw signs for the involvement fair and figured that's where Paige probably was.

The quad was full of students and faculty members, but even in the crowd, my eyes fixated on Paige. Ugh maybe I should have put on some makeup. Paige was dressed in a Rosewood sharks navy jumpsuit, her hair pulled back into a tight pony tail. I chuckled when I saw her matching navy blue Converse. Even in her casual dress, the polar opposite of what she was in last night, she looked absolutely stunning. I nervously bit my lip before making my way over to her.

"Hey, I am so sorry I'm late! I sorta overslept…"I sheepishly said, handing over Hanna's, I mean her, coffee. Paige's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Hey I was wondering if you were going to make it. Thank you." She said as she took the coffee. "I'm sorry I kept you out so late."

"Oh no, it's okay, I had an amazing time." I saw the red colored hue sneak up from Paige's neck to her cheeks. I always thought it was the cutest thing whenever she would blush. She quickly brought the coffee to her lips, probably not wanting me to notice her blush any further.

Paige furrowed her brows in confusion, "Um did you send Hanna on the coffee run or what? Because this tastes exactly like something she would drink." Dammit, I had hoped her taste buds had maybe changed over these past few years but apparently not.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, I woke up late and she brought over coffee…"

"So you high-jacked her coffee date for ours?" Paige teased, a smile tugging at her lips. My heart skipped a beat when she said 'date'. Damn, now I really wish I would have spent those extra few minutes putting on makeup.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. How about a do-over tonight? I promise I'll be on time." Before Paige could answer, a voice appeared behind me.

"Hello, Emily."