Thanks as always for all the lovely feedback, this is the first thing I've ever written so it really does mean a lot. Quick-ish update today, a sort of fluffy filler chapter while I work on the next one. Hope you enjoy :)


"What are you doing all the way out here?" Caleb said exasperated as he walked towards her. "I've been looking for you everywhere."

"I'm…sitting." Paige was leaning against a tree, drink in hand, she could still faintly hear the music from the party, not realising that she'd wandered so far out.

"Haven't you ever seen a horror movie? Never wander off into the woods alone," Caleb joked plonking himself beside her. "Hanna said you we're drunk. Your breath confirms it."

"Hey!" she said, slapping his arm lightly before trying to discreetly check her breath. "I am not drunk, I'm…getting some air."

"You left an outdoor party, to get fresh air…outdoors?" Caleb said, playfully mocking the girl. "C'mon, why the drunken pity party?"

"I am not pity…drunk." She watched as Caleb simply smirked at her. "Fine, I'm a little tipsy. Look, I want to…leave now."

"The party? Emily isn't even here yet," She rolled her eyes at the mention at Emily. Sitting alone, alcohol going to her head, she'd managed to convince herself that her earlier conversation with Emily had been a mistake.

"Ugh, I don't want to be here when she walks in with her dumb girlfriend and decides she's changed her mind and she doesn't want to be with me anyway. Her Mom isn't home, I can leave without them noticing."

Caleb looked at her baffled, "I thought you didn't want to run anymore? You said you told Emily why you wanted to leave, and she convinced you to stay. So if you want her so much why don't you just tell…"

"I did! Thanks to you and your big dumb mouth telling Hanna about me wanting to leave. When I told her everything I made out with her, because I do that sometimes…kiss her at the wrong time. And she was all like 'yay let's make out but not until I dump Samara' and now I just know she's changed her mind and they're off sucking face somewhere so please, go and get your car and take me to Allentown."

"Nope." Caleb said sternly before standing up. "Stop being such a dumbass. Emily doesn't mess around with people, if she said she picked you, she picked you. Who knows why," He smirked, reaching out to pull Paige up. "You're a mess Mccullers. But it hasn't put her off. So we're going back to the party, to sober you up for when she gets here,"

"Fine." Paige said, a sober part of her brain knowing her friend was correct. Walking however wasn't agreeing with her, he head spinning and her stomach flipping. "Ugh…Caleb, I don't feel so good…"


"Dear god." Paige's first thought upon waking up that morning was it was far too bright. Squeezing her eyes shut, she pulled the covers over her head, groaning. Her head was pounding, het tongue painfully dry. Parts of the night before flashing in her brain. Remembering the way she'd been at the party, she groaned once again. "I am such an ass."

"Well, you said it," she heard a familiar voice say. Pulling the sheet down slightly, she could just about make out Emily walking into the room, a smirk on her face, a bottle of water in her hand. Sitting so she was facing Paige cross-legged on the bed she handed the water to her friend, Paige taking it gingerly, sitting up slightly still tugging the sheet up around her neck. "How are you feeling?"

"Like death," Paige responded, her voice hoarse. She tentatively took a sip of the water. She couldn't remember returning home last night, especially not with Emily in tow, remembering only a brief conversation with Caleb, and possible vomit. She made a mental note to apologise to him later. Emily sat silently, still in her pyjamas, hair pulled back, looking at her with the smirk still on her face. Sighing at how effortlessly Emily managed to look this beautiful in the morning, she suddenly remembered that she must be quite the opposite, patting her hair down lightly, realising she wasn't wearing many clothes. "Um…why am I in my underwear?"

"You don't remember last night?" Emily said in response, her smirk growing, the look on her face positively devious. Paige gulped, her eyes growing wide, remember what? Surely they hadn't"Relax dummy, you passed out after Caleb brought you home, I didn't want you to be uncomfortable sleeping in your clothes."

Paige relaxed hearing that, before bringing her eyes back to Emily, feeling slightly guilty about the night before. "Sorry I missed you at the party…I had a few drinks to settle my nerves…and well…yeah."

"Sorry it took me so long to get there," Emily responded, Paige opened her mouth to ask about how things had went with Samara, before deciding against it, remembering her fears the night before. "It took a little longer that I thought it would, but its done now,"

"Are you okay?" Paige asked, sitting up fully now seeing the somewhat sombre look on Emily's face.

"Yeah. I've never broken up with someone before, it was kind of hard, sad…but it's for the best," Emily said, taking Paige's hand in her own. "It wasn't going anywhere."

"So…" Paige began, eyes fixed on Emily's hand in her own as she began tracing little circles on the other girls palm. "That means you're available now…for like…dates and stuff,"

Emily chuckled lightly, a grin forming on her face as she watched Paige dip her head bashfully. "I suppose it does, yes."

"Right. Good." Paige looked up to see Emily grinning at her expectantly. "So, would you…like tonight we could…maybe thats too soon...but I mean if you'd let me I'd like to…"

"I'd love to go on a date with you Paige," Emily answered for her, baffled about how shy Paige had managed to become, finding it adorable none the less. She moved forward to kiss her, only to be blocked as Paige tugged the covers over her head once more.

"Don't," she said begrudgingly, remembering that her tongue was fuzzy and her breath must reek of alcohol. "I am in dire need of a shower and my toothbrush. And food, god, I could really do with some food."

Laughing again, Emily got up off the bed, throwing a towel at Paige, before turning to leave. "I'll go make us some breakfast."


Paige shuffled nervously as she stood in the ticket line. She and Emily had decided on heading into the city for dinner and a movie, standard date fare. She caught sight of Emily a way down, waiting in a separate queue for popcorn which she'd insisted on buying after Paige had insisted that she'd be paying for the tickets. She continued to fidget nervously as she watched Emily from afar, waving shyly when the other girl shot her a small smile.

She didn't know when the nerves had crept up on her, she'd been on dates before, she'd thought that she was pretty good at them. None of them had been with Emily of course. Thinking about their ill-fated romance before only made her want tonight to be a success more. Swallowing her nerves, she reminded herself that they'd both grown in their time apart, and that they were different people now. Truthfully, Emily did seem to have a canny ability to turn her into a bumbling idiot, but she wasn't 15 anymore, and, she resolved, she was more than capable of charming the hypothetical pants off the other girl. This was a fresh start, their first official date, and this time she wasn't going to mess it up. She was determined that Emily was going to leave this date wanting another.

Settled into their seats, they sat comfortably in each others company as the movie played out on the screen. Emily smiled to herself as she looked at Paige. She certainly hadn't expected to ever find herself on a date with Paige Mccullers. The Paige she'd used to, date didn't seem like the right word, that she'd used to know was all about staying under the radar. Dates, movies, meals between the two of them always out of the question. The Paige that had arrived on her doorstep days ago was noticeably different. She was looking forward to getting to know Paige as she was now, and looking forward to seeing how things would develop between them. She knew that Paige's situation was complicated, but pushed any thoughts of that aside for the evening, she wanted to remember how good it felt to simply be with Paige. The awkwardness of the previous days was long forgotten, she was happy that they were now in a place where they were able to do this.

Paige grinned to herself as she felt Emily grab her arm, jumping at a scare from the movie. Remembering how jumpy Emily had been the other night during their zombie-fest, she'd made sure to pick a movie that would offer up some scares in the hope that Emily would end up clinging to her, much like she was now. Smirking satisfactorily, she took the opportunity to take the other girls hand into her own, resting their hands in her lap.

"Smooth Mccullers," Emily whispered in her ear, seeing the satisfied smirk on Paige's face. Resting her head on Paige's shoulder, she felt a smile of her own creep onto her face, turning her attention back to the movie.


"Okay, what do you want to know?" Paige asked, taking a bite from her fork. They had walked around hand in hand for a while after the movie had ended, enjoying a nice spring evening, happy to just be with each other, before finding somewhere to eat. The restaurant was small, cosy Paige had decided, it was perfect.

"Everything, come on, I want to know you," Emily responded between mouthfuls. "What was Baltimore like?"

"It was ok…" the look Emily gave her when she answered told Paige she had to continue. "It was…awful for the first few months. I was homeschooled until my Mom died, then I guess I was too angry to do anything for a while…eventually I enrolled in school, and it got better for a while. Nobody knew me there y'know? It was a fresh start, I was swimming again, my Dad wasn't paying any attention to anything I did which was great…so I was free to just be myself for a change," Paige paused to take another bite, debating on whether or not to keep talking, Emily was listening intently, seeming genuinely interested in what Paige had to say. "I liked it there, I made friends and I was honest with them, and myself, about who I was and what I wanted...which was…refreshing."

Emily smiled and nodded, pleased that Paige had been able to feel comfortable in her own skin. She swallowed down another mouthful whilst debating whether to ask her next question. It had been playing on her mind since Paige had spoke to her about coming out to her Dad, blushing slightly as she found the courage to ask. "When he found out…what was it your Dad walked in on?" she saw Paige's eyes bulge slightly, before dipping her head shyly. "I'm sorry if thats too personal..."

"No, its fine," Paige had a slightly amused smile on her face when she looked back up, she'd noticed that Emily had blushed as she'd asked the question. "I'd met this girl…my friend used to sneak us into bars sometimes, and there was this girl…she swam too, anyway we'd got to talking, and she was…nice," Paige paused, she could feel herself rambling, are you meant to talk about other girls on a date? "So my Dad he was away on business, and she came over, I was trying to be impulsive, and we were going to…y'know…I didn't hear him come home, I'd literally just took her shirt off when he barged in, and that was that." She noticed Emily was smirking at her curiously, which made her nervous once again, "What?"

"Were there many? Nice girls?" Emily asked, Paige couldn't work out the look on Emily's face.

"A few, why do you want to know so much about who I've dated?"

"I'm just curious," Emily smiled sweetly, Paige looked terrified now, and Emily found it adorable. "You're full of surprises. It just…there was a time where you couldn't even talk to me in the hallway incase someone got the wrong idea, and now…you're picking up girls in bars," Emily laughed as Paige scoffed. "I'm trying to say, I'm happy you could finally be yourself."

Paige decided being full of surprises must be a good thing, continuing with her meal. "So what about you? I can imagine you've had many the admirer,"

"There was only Maya actually, she was pretty much…" Emily stopped and smiled sadly and Paige cursed herself internally for not thinking her words through, Emily noticed the change in Paige's demeanour and decided it best to change the subject. "It's really nice here,"

"You don't have to do that," Paige responded quickly, before cautiously reaching out to take Emily's hand under the table. "If you want to talk about her, you can. And if you don't, that's fine too. Just…don't think you have to hold back. I want to know you too, all of you, and that includes Maya."

"It's still hard to think about, and I don't want to ruin out date by bursting into tears or something," Emily said, pulling her hand away. She watched Paige's face fall at her action, and instantly berated herself in her mind. "I'm sorry." she added, Paige just nodding in understanding. "My friends…I know they mean well, but they spend so much time treating me like I'm about to break, and you, you're not like that. You get it. And when I'm around you…I don't think about all the bad stuff, I'm mostly preoccupied thinking about you, because I know, I've always known how good this could be. So, um, Thanks…" Emily trailed off, Paige's eyes now fixed on her meal. "I'm sorry if I've spoiled…"

"You haven't," Paige cut her off, reaching to take her hand again, remembering her earlier resolve to make this a night to remember for the right reasons. "I'm on a date with Emily freakin' Fields, nothing could ever ruin that for me."

Emily couldn't help but laugh as Paige grinned at her. "You are such a dork Mccullers," Paige simply smirked, giving her hand a quick squeeze. The sat in comfortable silence for a while before a thought popped into Emily's head. "Do you still swim?"

"They didn't have swimming at boarding school, so I haven't in a while, I do miss it though." Paige was puzzled when Emily broke out into a grin. "What?"

"I have an idea."


"You do realise the last time I followed a pretty girl onto somebody else's property I got myself arrested?" Paige said following Emily into Rosewood High's natatorium. It had been a long time since she'd been near a pool, the strong smell of chlorine reminding her how much she'd missed the water.

"Nobody will notice, I come here all the time." Emily simply turned to face her, a smirk on her face. "Paige…" she spoke again, taking a step forward so that the two of them were inches apart, leaning forward so that their lips were almost touching, "take of your shirt," she chuckled lightly to herself as she watched Paige's eyes widen, sure that she heard the girl audibly gulp. Emily's actions and words were making her head spin. That said, she could never deny Emily anything, reaching for the hem of her shirt and pulling it over her head in one swift motion. Emily's eyes raked over the newly exposed flesh, causing Paige to blush profusely. Stepping back Emily kicked off her shoes, shrugging off her jacket, before pulling her own shirt over her head. She laughed again watching Paige's eyes bounce around the room comically in avoidance. Finally pulling off her jeans, she dove into the water.

Paige's mind had went into overdrive as she'd watched Emily strip down to her underwear. "Holy crap Fields." She watched as Emily dove into the water, cutting through it with ease, making her way to the other end of the pool before turning to swim back again. Shaking her head, she took a moment to compose herself before tugging off her remaining clothes, watching as Emily popped up at the pools edge.

"Whats taking you so long?" she heard Emily say, turning to see the smirk was still firmly on the other girls face. Emily was enjoying seeing her squirm far too much, so in an act of revenge, she took a running jump before bombing into the water right beside her, making sure Emily got splashed.

"You deserved that Fields," she said as she resurfaced, Emily's face a picture. "Race you?" she added with a smirk before kicking off in the other direction.

"You're so dead Mccullers!" Emily said before pushing off in pursuit of the other girl.

They raced each other for a while before settling into lazy laps. Eventually growing tired, Paige slowed to rest at the shallower end of the pool, watching as Emily slowly swam toward her. Her heart rate sped up once more as Emily placed her hands either side of Paige on the pools edge, effectively trapping her. "I've had a great night Paige," she said, edging closer, Paige feeling their legs tangling beneath the water, her eyes fixed on Emily's face as she licked her lips in anticipation. "Thank you." Emily spoke again before going quiet, Paige seeing she was staring at her. It was making her self-conscious, but she found herself fighting the urge to look away, making sure to keep her eyes locked with Emily's. She let her gaze slip lower, taking in the sight of their legs locked beneath the water, revelling in the feel of their skin touching, before trailing them back up over Emily's torso, eventually bringing them back to meet Emily's gaze, letting out a shaky breath. She nervously brought her hands to rest on Emily's hips, feeling the other girl shiver as her hands met her bare skin.

When she met Emily's eyes once more, her expression was intense, her eyes were fixed on Paige's hands on her hips, making Paige gulp slightly. For a moment, she worried that Emily wasn't okay with their proximity, but before she could do anything about it, Emily was pulling her towards her and covering Paige's mouth with her own. It was unlike any kiss they had shared before, starting hungry before becoming almost desperate, Paige noting that neither she nor Emily were holding anything back. She felt once again like her brain was about to explode, she could feel Emily's body pressed against her as their tongues began playfully duelling. Her body was on fire, hands creeping up Emily's exposed sides, her skin hot to the touch beneath the water, before bringing them up to tangle in Emily's hair. They kissed like that for what seemed like an age, before the intensity died down, sharing light pecks here and there before pulling apart breathlessly, foreheads resting together. Paige kissed Emily lightly once more before turning to pull herself out of the pool, pulling on her shirt as Emily followed behind her. "Are you okay Paige?" she asked, a hint of worry in her voice, disappointed their make out session had ended, as Paige passed her shirt to her, pulling it over her head as she watched Paige pull on her pants.

"I'm more than okay," Paige responded, zipping her jeans before pulling Emily toward her once more, her arms wrapping around her waist, unable to resist placing a light kiss beneath her ear. Pulling back she felt Emily relax again. "It's just…"

"Was that not okay? I thought you…" Emily interrupted her, worrying again. Paige shook her head and laughed, it appeared her irrational worrying was rubbing off on the other girl.

"That was perfect," she began to explain, happy as she felt Emily bring her arms to rest around her neck. "I just realised that's the first time I've kissed you without it being…the wrong time. I'm not scared, or going to run away, or needing to keep it a secret and you haven't got a girlfriend…and that…there was no reason for us to not do that right now, so it finally feels like the right time," Emily broke out into a smile as she listened to Paige speaking so sweetly. "I don't think you understand how much that means to me,"

"No. I don't think you understand that it means just as much to me," Emily said in response, needing to assure Paige that tonight had been just as special for her. She tugged Paige forward again, bringing their lips together once more, determined to show Paige exactly how much it meant to her.