Hello to all my beautiful readers out there! I'll start of course, by telling you how grateful I am for the support you show to this story. Thank you all for your comments and your reviews. I really love to read every single one of them.
This story is not as long as it seems, chapters are shorter than my previous fic so if maybe there's something you want to read, just leave your comment and I'll be glad to find a way to added.
Ok. Here it is... a new chapter. Hope you like it.
-Paily Love-
It isn't a surprise than the Allen's residence is well located and is one of the biggest in the area and it was only obvious that being their only grandson, Daniel was getting a big birthday party, even bigger than the original now that Paige told her in laws more guests were coming.
Everything was well organized. True to her word; Heater arrived at Rosewood the night before and she and Paige let everything settled for their son's party.
So, everyone was there, even Pam who accepted Paige's invitation and joined Emily, Alison and the twins. Paige introduced everyone to her wife and her in laws and everybody started to mingle around, forming small groups and picking on their own conversations. Paige wasn't an exception; she was holding a very entertaining conversation with the girls when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"There you are" Heather's father was proudly looking at her "I'm so happy you could make it girls" he directed his attention to the group "you have no idea how important is for me to be close to my daughter's friends" Paige blushed a little at the title her father in law chose. He was always treating her like a daughter but to hear him say it in front of other people was making her very proud and a bit shy.
"You know…" Mr. Allen continued "when Heather told me she was gay…" he looked at the floor as if he was remembering that moment "the only thing I prayed at the time was for someone who could make her happy, someone who could love her even more than I do, which I thought it was impossible" he joked making Paige let out a soft laugh "and I'm so glad she could find this amazing girl over here" he squeezed Paige's shoulder giving more emphasis to his words. The girls in front of them were smiling widely, all of them, except for one; whose heart was full with a different kind of feeling...
(Flashback)
Wayne walked into the small apartment, his eyes following Paige's excited voice.
"And over here we'll have our own kitchen. I know is small but is a temporary thing. Once we leave the dorms we're going to live here until I find a better job and then we're gonna leave this place and live in a better one. I promise you Wayne we're gonna..." Paige was talking nonstop until Wayne made her stop
"Slow down, Paige" he smiled sweetly at her "I know you're capable of that and more, I've seen you in action before and I know you can get whatever you want" his smile grew wider making Paige blush a bit.
"I just want you to know that I'll do everything that's in my hands to make your daughter happy" she said in a serious tone.
"And I believe you" he assured her "you know..." he continued walking closer to her, resting his hand on her shoulder "I'm so happy my Emy decided to come here to be with you. You're an amazing girl Paige and I know you'll make my girl very happy. I love you, kiddo... You're a second daughter to me"
Paige had her eyes full of tears, as much as the girl they didn't know was hearing everything. Emily was about to walk into the apartment when she heard her father talking with her girlfriend, curiosity taking the best of her. She didn't want to interrupt what seemed a pretty emotional talk, so she decided to wait behind the half-opened door, her heart filling with love for the interaction between two of the people she loves the most.
"I'm so proud of you" was the last thing she heard her father say
"I'm so proud of you my child" Emily came back to reality once she heard Mr. Allen's voice again "and let me tell you girls… you should be proud too because the person who has Paige in their life is very lucky"
"Cheers to that" Spencer held her glass in the air making a toast.
"Cheers" people in the group made the toast as well
"Now, having said that… I'll take your friend away from you just for a little while" he said to the group "there's someone I want you to meet" he took his attention back to Paige "he's been my partner for 15 years and I want him to meet the next person in charge. Come on" Paige just smiled at the group and walked next to his father in law
"Wow... the guy REALLY loves Paige" Hanna talked as soon as Paige and her father in law were out of ear shot
"I know... He's going to leave everything in her hands, that's pretty big" Spencer added.
There was a short pause after that until Aria noticed there was something out of place with one of them
"Hey, Em... are you ok?" Aria directed her attention to Emily who spent the whole time in silence, looking at the ground. The shorter girl waited for a few seconds but didn't get a response
"Emily!" Alison took Emily's hand trying to get her attention
"What?" She made a double take trying to address everyone around her
"Are you ok? You're kind of pale" Hanna pointed at her face
"I... uhm... actually I don't feel so good. I think I'm gonna head home" Emily put her hand on her forehead rubbing it softly
"Let me go get the girls so we can leave" Alison offered.
"No, no, it's ok... stay. It's just a headache" Alison look at her with narrow eyes. Something was definitely wrong with her wife but it had nothing to do with her head.
"Can we talk for a sec?" Alison did her best to let the question out as softly as she could but at that point it was clear something was bothering her. She didn't wait for a response and just took Emily's hand guiding her wife into the house.
The group look at them and followed their path with the eyes until the couple disappeared inside the house
"Here we go again..." Hanna sighed heavily, knowing exactly what was happening inside between Alison and Emily
"I don't know if I can blame Alison this time. Have you seen Emily lately…? She seems a little… off, like she is physically there but her mind is in a whole different place" Aria pointed out.
"Well I kind of imagine why" Spencer said before taking a sip from her glass.
"Spence... You're not implying...?" Aria trailed of
"Come on, Aria. It's pointless to pretend our host has nothing to do with Emily's behavior. We already do enough by pretending Emily and Alison have a happy marriage"
"Hanna!" Aria scolded her
"What? You can yell at me all you want but you know I'm right"
"You were the one who said that it was about time for them to be together the first time we found out about them being a couple, remember?" Aria was trying to bring some sense into Hanna
"Yeah, when I was two hundred percent over my level of stress because Spencer's twin was chasing us. All that Alison – Emily drama was very tiring so, for me it was a relief to know they were together. It was one less thing to annoy me"
"Wow… it's so good to know you are the romantic one" Aria said ironically
"I don't said this often" Spencer intervened "but Hanna is right, Aria. The three of us know what happened between Paige and Emily all those years ago and how Alison's pregnancy affected their relationship for good. Emily and Alison lived in their magical bubble until the thing blew up in their faces. And let's be honest for a second; it takes one McCullers to move Emily's world so we should start facing facts and stop playing dumb" she drank from her glass again trying to calm herself a bit.
Spencer was really upset to see how her cousin and one of her best friends were living a miserable life just because they decided it would be better for their family. Family that was forced in the first place. She's tried to approach the subject several times but it's been hard when both parts insist that everything is fine. So, at this point there was nothing to do but wait.
"Ok. I want the truth Emily. What's going on?" Alison was annoyed by Emily's behavior by now, things were already bad enough to on top of everything she had to deal with her changing mood. She wasn't stupid, she had noticed Emily's attitude but most important she had noticed when everything started.
"I already told you. I have a headache, that's all" Emily insisted. She was in a defensive mode now
"You really want me to believe that...? I've been paying attention Emily, things have changed since..." but Emily didn't let her finish
"Don't!" Emily cut her off "I know where you're going with this"
Alison looked at her for a few seconds before talking again "tell me I'm wrong, tell me Paige has nothing to..."
"That's enough Alison, if you want to talk about us then this is certainly not the right place, or time" Emily was trying to control her voice
"Then when is it, Emily? Because it seems all we do lately is fight, we don't even talk anymore. This situation is driving me crazy" Alison fought back
"And you think Paige is the reason? We've been like this way before she came back" Emily whispered, not wanting to make a scene in her ex's house. Her annoyance was growing pretty fast and it looked like Alison's too
"She's not back Emily, she just came here to visit and in a few days she'll be back home, to her family and to her life and you... you should start doing the same" Alison turned around going back to the back yard, leaving Emily with a lot of things in her mind and a heavy weight in her chest.
She was looking at the floor, lost herself in her thoughts, when she felt a hand on her arm "Em?" that voice; that husky and beautiful voice "is everything ok?" she raised her head to find Paige standing next to her
"Yeah... yeah, everything fine" Emily answered with a weak smiled on her face
"Are you sure? You look a little bit... off" Emily smiled at her, after all those years Paige was still the caring person she met.
"Everything fine, I promise... I... I have a little headache, that's all" she smiled sadly. The woman was truly worried about her, like she always is... or more like she used to be
"Nothing we can't solve..." she smiled "come with me" Paige took Emily's hand oblivious of the effect over the other woman. She guided Emily through a long hallway until they reached a door that Emily assumed was the bathroom, confirming her guess once they walked in "I have some aspirins over here" Paige left Emily's hand, the tanned girl missing the contact immediately "Heather carries a bottle wherever we go. She says is better to be prepare" she said dreamily, almost as if she could hear her wife's voice "here..." she handed Emily the pill and fill a glass with water for her
"Thank you" Emily said, taking the pill and the glass of water. She took the aspirin in silence, glancing at Paige discretely. Once she finished, she gave the glass back to Paige
"Wait for a couple of minutes and the pill will make effect" she looked at Emily who was distractedly looking at the floor "Em?" Emily looked up at her but said nothing "is not only a headache, isn't it?" Paige asked, waiting for some kind of response but she only got a sad look "I know I'm not one of the girls but I'm here if you need me. If you need to talk to someone and get a new perspective, I can help" she offered
Emily thought about it for a couple of seconds, the idea of freeing her soul out to Paige very tempting to let it pass but just like her discussion with Alison; that wasn't the right place or time "Look, Paige… I'd love to tell you everything but I don't want to do this in the middle of your son's birthday party"
"Ok. Tell you what… let's go back to the party, enjoy ourselves a little bit and we can meet tomorrow. Coffee date…?" Paige asked hopefully "I'll buy… What do you say?" she insisted when she saw doubt in Emily's eyes. She truly wanted to help the other woman with whatever she was facing
"Deal…" Emily smiled softly, relief that at least she was going to avoid Paige for a bit longer
"Awesome. Let's go then…" Paige offered her hand to Emily and the other woman took it immediately.
They went back to the backyard and Emily rejoined her friends' group
"Everything alright?" Hanna asked even when she already knew the answer
Emily looked around looking for her wife, she spotted Alison talking with Heather and William and then took her attention back to Hanna
"Fine…" was Emily's cold answer
"Em…" Spencer wanted to address the elephant in the room but Emily didn't let her
"I'm fine, Spencer. Everything is ok…"
Spencer knew better than to argue with her; it was pointless to fight a battle that wasn't hers, even when that battle was destroying one of the people she cares the most painfully slow.
"Time for the birthday cake" Heather's mother yelled to call the kids attention and to invite the rest of their guests to join them.
Everyone got around the table waiting for Daniel to blow the candles and that's when Emily saw it; the perfect family portrait. She looked at Paige and Heather, each of them smiling widely next to their son, effortlessly enjoying the moment. She then looked at Alison who was next to Pam carrying one of the twins each and her wife's words automatically played in her head again.
-She's not back Emily, in a few days she'll be back home, to her family and to her life and you... you should start doing the same-
And that was a fact, a fact that is better for her to start accepting. She was not going to destroy two families because her feelings suddenly came back stronger than before. She buried those feelings once and that's exactly what she was going to do again. For everybody's sake.
Let me know what you think... till next update :)