A/N:Thanks again to everyone who's reading and for the awesome reviews! I've been working on this for a while, in between working on other projects, so I started out with the first 6 chapters already done. I'm planning on posting daily until I reach chapter 6, after that updates will probably be weekly.


"You're late!" Emily snapped as Paige finally walked through the front door of the Brew. It was only a few minutes after five, but Emily's shift had already started and she had baby PJ sitting in her carrier on the counter. Luckily her boss was pretty easy going and he had just laughed when Emily had turned up with the doll.
"Sorry! Sorry! I lost track of time!" Paige hastily apologised. Her cheeks were flushed from running and she had to lean against the counter to catch her breath. "Can I grab a diet coke?"

"You're staying?" Emily couldn't keep the surprise out of her voice. She rarely ever saw Paige at the Brew, other than for her ritual Saturday morning breakfast.
"Yeah, I am. Awesome customer service there, Fields." Paige laughed as she picked up baby PJ's carrier and headed to find a table.

"McCullers!" Caleb called her over from one of the sofas. He was sitting with his laptop on the table in front of him and he closed it over as Paige took a seat beside him. She took PJ out of the carrier and propped her up on the sofa, knowing they would be marked down if the baby spent too much time in the car seat.

"Emily got you playing mommy today? I bet that's killing your game." Caleb teased.
"Not really." Paige smirked and nodded towards a girl that had just smiled at her on the way over to the register. Caleb shook his head in amusement. "What about you? Where's baby Beyonce?"
"Uh, Hanna's got the doll."

"I thought Hanna said you were having it today?" Emily walked up to the table with Paige's coke and called Caleb out on the lie.
"I was...but then Hanna changed her mind about going out."
"Hanna changed her mind about shopping?" Emily didn't sound convinced.
"Yeah...she decided to stay in and dress the baby up." Caleb recovered quickly with a plausible answer, but Emily was still dubious.

Before she could question him further though, a tall blonde girl walked over to the table, trying to catch Paige's attention. "Hey Paige. Are we still on for Friday night?" The blonde was wearing a ridiculously low cut top and leaning forward to emphasise her 'assets'. Emily rolled her eyes at the girl's desperation, which didn't go unnoticed by Paige.
"Sure, I'll pick you up at seven. See you then, Brandy."

"Brandy?" Caleb cracked up the second the blonde walked off. Paige frowned as she socked him on the arm.
"What? I didn't name her, did I?" She huffed defensively.
"So Friday is why you can't move Saturday huh?" Emily couldn't believe she had actually fallen for the other girl's lie about having family stuff Saturday night. She stalked off before Paige had a chance to open her mouth to explain.

"Man, Emily really doesn't like you." Caleb shook his head in sympathy for a floundering Paige as she stared after the other girl. "I've never seen her act like that with someone. Ever. Emily's supposed to be the nice one."
"Yeah, I think I have a better chance of being friends with Hastings right now." Paige sighed. She pulled herself up from the couch to go and explain herself to Emily. It wasn't like she owed the other girl an explanation, but she wanted her to know how wrong her assumptions were. "Here, babysit for me." She took off her ID band and tossed it at Caleb. Emily was mad at her enough already without adding child abandonment to her list of wrong doings.

Paige walked up to the counter and leant against it as Emily pointedly ignored her. "Hey Princess." Paige knew the nickname would do nothing but goad the already ticked off teen, but it did get Emily to look up at her; even if she was glaring. "I wasn't lying about Saturday night. I've got family stuff."
"Okay." Emily shrugged, and that was about all Paige got out of her. Taking the hint, she went back over to her table to join Caleb again.

"Did you like kill her puppy or something?" Caleb teased as Paige sat back down beside him. He hadn't ever seen Emily so riled by anyone and it wasn't exactly the first time. Most days Paige didn't even need to open her mouth to tick Emily off.
"Close enough...It's nothing I don't deserve. I've been a jerk to her for the last couple of years." Paige admitted with a heavy sigh.
"It's not too late to change that. Emily's a good person, if you put in the effort she'll come around-"

"I don't want her to be my friend." Paige answered honestly. "She can just carry on hating me."
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Caleb frowned, but he didn't have a chance to carry on as Mona and Hanna walked in to the Brew. The pair of them were weighed down with shopping bags, but Hanna and Caleb's robot baby was noticeably missing.

"Uh Han, did you leave something in the car?" Paige held up baby PJ to emphasise her point as Hanna just stared blankly at her. Her eyes widened as she realised her mistake.
"Oh...my mom has it."
"Really? My dad laughed when I asked him to take care of PJ."
"My mom did too." Emily chipped in as she joined her friends at their table. "Hey Han, Mona, what can I get you guys?"

"I'll have your precious little bundle!" Mona cooed as she took PJ from Paige and started talking to it like it was a real baby.
"Sorry Mona, Emily's quite attached to me; you can have the doll though." Paige joked.
"You're welcome to them both." Emily shot back in answer to Mona's question, deliberately ignoring the wounded look Paige was sending her way.
"Ouch Princess, two days and you're already calling it quits on our little family? Think of the damage a single parent family could do to our child." Paige tried to keep a straight face, but she couldn't help cracking a smirk as Emily's grip tightened on her notepad.

"Paige, can I talk to you for a second?" She growled out, not really giving the other girl an option as she took hold of her wrist and dragged her to her feet. She led her over to the counter and all but pushed her through the door marked 'employees only'.
"I don't think I'm supposed to be back here." Paige pointed out. "Or anywhere alone with you when you're looking at me like that." Emily was fuming, the other girl could see it in her eyes. Paige had just been trying to push her buttons, not get herself killed in the store room of the Brew.

"You can be as mean as you want to me, Paige. I honestly don't care! Just lay off the single parent jokes around Hanna, okay?" The reason behind Emily's anger took Paige by surprise, she hadn't expected her to come out with what she had, so it took her a second to regroup.

"Hanna doesn't give a crap about that stuff." She tried to laugh it off and walk past Emily to leave, but the other girl stopped her in her tracks as she caught hold of her arm painfully tight. Paige's fists clenched in response as her body tensed for an attack, but she forced herself to keep her cool as she counted to five in her head. Had it been anyone else, she probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from lashing out.

"You really want to get your damn hands off of me, Fields." All of her joking and good humour had vanished the second Emily had grabbed her. Noticing the shift, she quickly released Paige's arm, and crossed her own over her chest.
"Hanna's dad left her and her mom, she doesn't talk about it, but it still hurts. She doesn't need to hear any single parent wise cracks from you, okay?"

"I know all about Hanna's dad." It was Paige's turn to become defensive. "Just like she knows my about my mom; so don't lecture me on not knowing anything about Hanna, not when you don't know the first damn thing about me!" She shoved past Emily, almost stalking out of the Brew until she remembered about PJ.

"Everything okay?" Hanna quizzed as Paige headed back over to the table and snatched up her stuff.
"Everything's fine. I need to get home for dinner. I'll see you guys around." She reached the door just as Emily was walking out of the store cupboard. The other girl had the good grace to keep her head down until Paige was gone.

Emily had well and truly put her foot in things. She had forgotten all about what her mom had told her about Paige's mom leaving them, she had been so busy trying to protect Hanna that she had wound up hurting Paige.

"Hey gorgeous!" Paige looked up from where she was trying to jab her key in to the door of her dad's car to see an older woman approaching her. She was a little taller than Paige, with dark auburn hair that was tied back in a simple plait.
"Hey." Paige furiously wiped at her face, trying to hide the tears that had started welling up in her eyes. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone. She flinched as the other woman wrapped her arms around her from behind and planted her chin on her shoulder.
"What's up with you, grumpy pants?"
"Nothing." She pulled away as she finally got her key in the lock. "It's just been a long day."
"Okay...and what is that?"

"That is your new niece." Paige held PJ up to give the other woman a closer look. "Congratulations Aunt Sara, it's a girl!"
"Wow." Paige's aunt screwed her face up at the doll. "I figured we wouldn't have to worry about unplanned teenage pregnancies when you came out last year."
"That's what dad said." Paige laughed, her mood starting to lift. "Do you need a ride home? Where are the boys?"

"Josh is with his deadbeat dad. He actually showed up for his custody visit this time. Your dad's got Nathan."
"He's looking after Nathan, but he wouldn't look after my baby?" Paige grumbled as the two of them climbed in to her car. Josh and Nathan were her two cousins. Josh was the oldest at seven and Nathan was six months. Sara and the boys' dad had split up not long after their youngest child had been born; he'd only seen them a handful of times since.

"I think real baby trumps fake baby." Sara countered. "So who's your baby daddy? Has your dad kicked his ass yet?"
"It's Emily Fields. She's on my swim team. The coach thinks it'll be a good project to get us working together." Paige rolled her eyes. Fulton had to be crazy to think she could force the two girls to be friends.

"Oh yeah, because nothing pulls two people closer together than a screaming baby...Emily. Wait, is that the girl you used to talk about all the time in freshman year?" Sara teased. She didn't miss the way Paige shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"Different Emily."
"Really? Because I'm sure that one was on the swim team too... and was called Fields."
"Can we just drop this?" Paige snapped, her temper already short from her confrontation with Emily. "Freshman year was a long time ago. People change."

What had happened between her and Paige ended up playing on Emily's mind for the rest of her shift, long after the others had all gone home and the Brew had emptied out. Tuesday nights were always pretty quiet, but the light rain that had started earlier in the evening had put off most of the potential customers. The place was empty when the little bell above the door sounded just before nine. Emily was almost surprised to see Paige walking in with the baby.

She had showered and changed out of her running gear. Her hair was still wet and she had brushed it back in to a messy ponytail. "Hey. You look like you're about to catch your death. Would you like some tea?" Emily's guilt was eating away at her. She knew tea wasn't going to fix her and Paige's strained relationship, but it was a good start.
"I'm good. I should get back, I've got a big test tomorrow." Paige put the baby carrier down on the closest table to the door and tried to walk out, but Emily wasn't about to give up so easily.
"Stay. Please?"

Paige hovered by the door, torn between staying and walking out without a second look. She had been angry at Emily earlier, but once she had cooled down a bit she had been more angry with herself. Her reaction had been out of proportion. She shouldn't have said anything to Emily about her mom. It was no secret that Paige's mom had walked out on her and her dad when she'd still been a baby.

She could see the pity in the other girl's eyes and she hated it. She didn't want Emily feeling sorry for her. "I'm so sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your mom-"
"Apology accepted." Paige answered, her tone a little too sharp. "Got any chamomile?" She took a seat at one of the stools by the counter, trying her best to meet Emily halfway.

"Plenty." Emily smiled as she went back behind the counter and started making a fresh pot. While she was waiting for it to boil she changed the sign on the door so that is said closed. Emily filled two cups and handed one over to Paige as she took a seat on the stool next to her. "I think coach Fulton is right. We really do have some issues to work on."
"Just a few." Paige cracked a smile of her own as she agreed with the other girl. Taking a deep breath and a sip of tea, she considered her next words carefully.

Her aunt had been right. She had spoken non-stop about Emily in their first year of high school. She had doted on the other swimmer, admiring her talent and longing to be her friend; but a lot had changed between then and senior year. Paige's attempts to push Emily away, to make sure they weren't anywhere near being close, had been deliberate; but that didn't mean a big part of her didn't secretly want Emily to make the effort to try and be her friend. "Look, I know it's my fault that we're not friends and that you hate me-"

"I don't hate you." Emily corrected her. "I just don't know you. I'd like to change that...I'd like to see the person that everybody else sees. Hanna thinks the world of you and she's usually a pretty great judge of character; but it's going to take more than a day of you being nice to me and a fortnight of playing house, for me to see what she sees in you."

Paige was torn inside. Her heart literally felt like it was being pulled apart as she considered the other girl's offer of friendship. She had worked so hard to push Emily away over the years. She had been an ass, calling her out on everything and constantly riding her back at practise. She had pushed and taunted her to the point of almost bullying the other girl, yet Emily was willing to give her a second chance. Caleb was right, Emily was a good person. She had the biggest heart of anyone that Paige knew; and it was one of the reasons Paige had been desperately in love with her for so long.

"Maybe we should just start with these two weeks and see how it goes? Thanks for the tea." Paige got to her feet, knowing if she didn't leave right then she would stand there and spill her deepest secret to the one girl she couldn't afford to let get too close. Emily could never know how she felt about her. She just couldn't.
"Oh. Okay then."

Paige saw the disappointment in Emily's eyes. She had thought the two of them were finally getting somewhere, but Paige had shut her down and locked her out. Her heart was breaking as she headed to door, only pausing long enough to toss back over her shoulder, "See you around, Princess."