A/N: Hey guys! I know I'm uploading a day later than I usually do, I hope you didn't mind waiting an extra day. I had midterms this week so I was REALLY busy. Anyway, as always please feel free to let me know what you think of the chapter, it's so fun to hear all of your differing thoughts and opinions. This chapter starts off right where the last one ended. Hope you all enjoy :)
She stopped breathing. Emily could feel it.
She could see it in the brunette's face as she paled, the color slowly draining.
Emily continued to run her thumb softly against the woman's cheek, the small touch reminding Emily that this was real. Paige was in front of her. She could feel the admittance that she had never stopped loving Paige on the verge of coming off her tongue but she quickly swallowed it down.
"Paige?" Emily tried to get the woman's attention. She needed her to say something. React in any way at all. The silence was making her anxious and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Y-yeah." Paige let out in a shaky whisper absentmindedly.
She couldn't focus. Emily was too close to her and hearing her confess that she didn't love Katie as much as she had loved her once was a lot for her. She didn't know what she was supposed to do with that information. What Emily was trying to accomplish by letting her in on this detail of her life.
"Can you please say something?" Emily asked nervously.
She wasn't expecting much from the brunette. Emily's intentions weren't malicious. She had ultimately ended up telling the woman that because she felt she owed it to Paige somehow. She was tired of lying. Of being the person who danced around her problems. She just wanted to tell the truth for once and the truth was that she never stopped loving Paige. No matter where she was, who she was with, it was always Paige.
Emily was torn out of her thoughts when Paige's hand made contact with her forearm. Paige softly wrapping her fingers around Emily's arm and softly tugging it down, forcing Emily to remove her hand from Paige's cheek. Emily let her head fall slightly, her eyes landing on Paige's fingers still wrapped around her arm. The touch grounding her once again.
"It's been a long day." Paige's voice snapped Emily's head up. Their eyes meeting, neither woman looking away from the other.
Emily nodded, "Yeah." She whispered truthfully but finding it hard to look away from Paige's eyes.
Paige stayed rooted in her spot, her eyes dropping from Emily's eyes to her lips for a fraction of a second. Had they been sitting this close the whole time Paige wondered. Moving her eyes back up to Emily's, wetting her lips only to notice Emily's eyes flicker down to the movement and she could feel herself leaning in closer to Emily but stopped herself. She couldn't go there right now.
"You should get some sleep." Paige said as she cleared her throat awkwardly, giving Emily's arm a reassuring squeeze before she pulled her hand away and put a little distance between them.
Emily immediately missed the contact, "I'm sorry." She said, sensing that Paige was a little uncomfortable, suddenly wondering now if this was all too much.
"For what?" Paige asked.
Emily knew there were a million ways she could've answered that question so she decided to put it out there and be honest.
"I know this is a lot." She acknowledged, "And I know I don't have a right to say these things anymore," Emily continued, trying to get it all out before she lost her courage, "but being here again. Seeing you again. It's brought a lot of things up inside of me. Made me think about a lot of things lately that I haven't thought about in a really long time."
"Emily-" Paige tried to jump in.
She didn't know what Emily was getting at but she wasn't sure if she could handle hearing any of it because she felt like she knew what was coming. And she was afraid that hearing it would bring up a lot of stuff for herself.
She knew it would.
Because what Emily was feeling, she was feeling it too. Just being in her presence made her feel it. How a simply touch or a simply glance at Emily could make her go back to what they used to be. Made her crave what they used to have. What she could still feel between them. Like no time had passed since they were in love with each other.
"It's true." Emily said, not letting Paige interrupt her, "Nobody compares to you. I don't want anyone to." She admitted honestly, "Ever." She added for emphasis, "We may not be together and when I left I may not have been happy but I've never loved anyone like you." Emily paused briefly to take a deep breathe before letting it out, "I don't think I ever will."
Paige swallowed hard, feeling a little overwhelmed, "I uh…I think I should go." She said as she stood up from the bed abruptly suddenly feeling dizzy.
"Paige, wait." Emily stopped her, standing up as Paige moved towards the door.
Paige closed her eyes tightly, she didn't want to look at Emily. She couldn't.
"It's fine Emily." Paige said, putting her hand up to stop Emily from coming any closer, "You and your girlfriend just broke up and like I said, it's just…it's been a really long day with everything that's happened." Paige explained rapidly, "You're emotional and heartbroken or whatever. I just, I think you should get some rest and sleep on it before you start saying shit like that to me out of the blue." She said much harsher than she intended, her own emotions getting the best of her.
Emily nodded, taking a moment to push the lump forming in her throat down. It may have been years since they had seen each other but Emily knew when to quit when it came to Paige so she simply agreed, "Okay."
Paige let out a stressful sigh, being able to hear the hesitance and hurt in Emily's voice despite the other girl clearly trying to hold it back, "I'm sorry." She said, chancing a glance at Emily but the raven haired girl was simply staring at her own feet.
Emily only nodded, exhaustion falling over her. She dint have it in her to fight right now.
Paige let her gaze linger on Emily for a moment longer before she turned and opened the bedroom door, making her way out into the hallway, closing the door behind her. She let her back rest against the closed door and tried to collect herself. She didn't know what to think about the exchange her and Emily just had. She didn't know what it meant for them. Where it was supposed to take them.
The only thing she could think about is how she needed to get out of this house. She needed to get some air and separate herself from Emily for a moment. So she pulled herself together the best she could and turned towards the stairs, taking them slowly knowing that everyone downstairs would question what happened. Paige rounded the corner and was immediately met with Pam's eyes.
"Is everything okay?" Pam asked, being the first person to notice Paige come back into the room.
"Yep. Everything is great. Perfect, really." Paige said as cheerfully as she could muster but failing miserably, her voice coming off as sarcastic and bitter, "I'm just going to head out for a bit. Forgot, there's this thing I have to do." She lied, grabbing her keys and heading towards the front door.
Pam, Wayne, Derek, and Sam all glanced nervously at each other momentarily before Sam sighed and dropped her fork down onto her plate, standing up out of her chair.
"I'll make sure she's okay." Sam offered with a small smile, "Thank you so much for having me over for dinner."
"Anytime Samantha." Pam said kindly. Wayne and Derek both offered smiles and a 'goodbye' as Sam followed the path Paige had just taken out of the house.
Sam quickly made her way down the driveway and towards Paige's truck that was sitting next to the curb, headlights shining bright in the dark. She knocked on the window of the passenger's side grabbing Paige's attention who sighed in annoyance before rolling down the window.
"What?" Paige asked, "I'm fine, you don't have to follow me."
"You really aren't going to let me in the truck?" Sam asked, trying to sound offended, "You know I'm not going to let you storm out of this place on your own so you either let me in or you're not leaving." She stated sternly, crossing her arms and resting them on the edge of the opened window.
Paige rolled her eyes, "I'm not a child."
"Your choice." Sam said, clearly not willing to budge.
Paige waited a few moment, hoping to smoke the girl out but when Sam showed no signed of backing down Paige groaned and unlocked the door, "Fine." She agreed, "But I don't want any of that crap you do, okay? No pitying. No lectures. And definitely no questions. Got it?"
"Got it." Sam granted halfheartedly as she clicked her seatbelt into place.
"Good." Paige said with a final nod before pulling away from the curb and driving away from the house.
It didn't take Sam long to figure out where they were going but she didn't say anything regardless of not really liking it. She tried her best to hold her tongue but they didn't get far before she broke the rules, "So what happened?" She asked casually.
Paige glance over at Sam briefly, shooting a small glare at her. She didn't respond but rather reached over and turned the radio up higher, focusing on the road in front of her instead of the person in her passenger seat.
Sam put her hands up in defense, slouching back in her seat and kicking her feet up on the dash much to Paige's annoyance, "I can't believe you're really not going to tell me what happened." Sam mumbled as she looked out her own window.
"It's none of your business." Paige grumbled back.
Sam turned her head to look at Paige in disbelief, "Considering I'm the one who picked you up off the ground and helped put your life back together the last time something happened between you and Emily, I'd say it's a little of my business." She argued, not liking that Paige was shutting her out.
"As much as I appreciate your help, I didn't ask for it." Paige said, instantly feeling bad but carrying on anyway, "I'm fine and I don't need everyone to try to take care of me like I'm going to break at any moment." She let out, gripping the steering wheel as tight as she could.
"Stop the car." Sam said as she pulled her feet off the dash and straightened up in her seat, unclicking her seat belt calmly.
"What are you doing?" Paige asked eyeing the girl curiously.
"Pull over." She replied.
"Sam are you kidding me?" Paige asked rhetorically as she pulled over to the side of the road and brought the truck to a stop, turning her body to look at Sam in time to see the blonde unlock the passenger door and open it, jumping out of the truck and onto the ground gracefully, "What are you doing?"
"You're right." Sam said, surprising Paige a little, "Maybe we get a little carried away trying to make sure you're okay. Maybe you don't need us to be paying that much attention to you anymore." The blonde admitted, "But we do it because we care about you Paige. Because you don't know how to deal with things when it comes to Emily and you have way to much pride to let someone help you when you need it."
"Look I'm sorry Sam okay?" Paige offered weakly, "Just get back in the truck."
"No!" Sam said, slamming the truck door closed for emphasis, "You don't get it do you. Every time something doesn't go your way you can't just go to the bar and forget about it, you need to deal with it."
"I'm not doing this with you right now." Paige said, shaking her head, starting the truck back up, "I told you I'm fine. Believe me or don't, I really don't care Sam. This is exactly why I didn't want to bring you in the first place. It's always a lecture with you."
"Excuse me for caring but last time we left you alone to deal with things like this on your own you almost died." Sam said, tears starting to stream down her face steadily, "Do whatever you want Paige but next time you do something stupid because you don't know how to deal with your feelings, don't call me."
Paige sighed, suddenly feeling extremely guilty. She knew that Sam's intentions were always good and she hadn't meant to hurt the blonde's feelings, "Sam I didn't mean to upset you." She offered as she rubbed at her face.
Sam shook her head, "You can go back to being Emily's problem." She said, not bothering to wait for Paige to respond, turning to walk away from the track and back towards the Field's house where her car was.
Paige groaned as she gripped the steering wheel tightly, "Stupid." She mumbled to herself, letting out a frustrated grunt before glancing into the rearview mirror, seeing Sam walking further and further away down the street. She thought about going after the blonde but she couldn't bring herself to do it.
She just wanted to be alone. So she pulled back onto the road and headed for the bar. She got there fairly quickly and was happy to find that the small place wasn't very busy at all. She walked straight up to the bar and sat down waiting for the bar tender to come over to her.
"Paige!" The guy greeted happily, "Hey, I haven't seen you around here in a while."
Paige smiled at him politely, "Hey Ryan. Yeah I've been trying to lay off the alcohol a little lately."
The bar tender nodded in understanding, "So what brings you here then?" He asked, "Rough night?"
Paige scoffed, "You can say that."
"Uh oh sounds like someone has been having a little lady trouble." Ryan guessed, simply chuckling when Paige rolled her eyes, "So what can I get you? A beer? Something stronger?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Give me a couple shots of your strongest stuff."
"You got it." He said, turning to grab a bottle and a couple shot glasses, pouring them and pushing them towards Paige, "Let me know when you're ready for the next round." He said with a wink before moving back to a couple people approaching the bar a few seats down from Paige.
Paige downed the two shots immediately, the burn in her throat giving her an odd sense of comfort. She knew Sam was right, she shouldn't be here and she shouldn't be drinking again but she couldn't find it in herself to care much as she let her eyes wander around the bar.
She sighed again, resting her elbows on the bar and her head in her hands as thoughts of Emily and Sam filled her head. She let the alcohol settle in her stomach for a few minutes before calling Ryan back over for more. She just didn't want to think about anything for a little bit. Drowning out her feelings with alcohol wasn't in her best interest but in the moment it seemed like the only thing that would get it all to stop. She just wanted to numb it all, even if it was just for a second.
Across town Sam was just getting back to the Field's house, walking straight into the house, "Hi, sorry to just barge back in," Sam said sheepishly as she saw Pam glance over the back of the couch at her, "I just need to talk to Derek."
Pam nodded, "How is she?" She asked.
Sam let out a heavy sigh, running her hand through her hair, "Not good." She said blatantly causing Pam to frown.
"Hey where's Paige?" Derek asked as he entered the room, grabbing both women's attention.
"Can I talk to you for a second?" Sam asked, not bothering to wait for an answer as she grabbed his arm and pulled him away from Pam and into the kitchen, "Paige went to the bar downtown. We got into a fight so when she calls me drunk tonight, I'll text you and you can deal with her."
Derek dropped his head back and groaned, "Sam you just left her there?"
"What do you want me to do Derek?" She said in a hushed voice, her frustration coming through clearly, "You know how she is. I don't know what your sister said to her but it was clearly too much for Paige."
"Fine." Derek agreed, "I'll go get her if she can't get herself back home."
Sam scoffed, "Please she's probably already at least four shots in already." The blonde said disapprovingly, "Don't forget I used to work there. I've served her and she isn't one who knows how to pace herself. I know how she gets and you're definitely going to have to go get her."
"Maybe I should just head over there now." Derek said worriedly, images of his mom's totaled car and Paige laying in the hospital flashing through his mind unwillingly.
"Don't worry." Sam said, quickly noticing where Derek's mind went, "I already called the bar. Ryan's working there tonight. I told him not to let her leave."
"Thank you." Derek said.
"Yeah well even though she makes my blood boil when she gets bullheaded like this, I love her just as much of the rest of you." She admitted.
Derek nodded, "Isn't it fun being a part of the Field's clan." He teased, earning a smile from Sam.
"Ugh, no." Sam answered blatantly, not skipping a beat. Turning on her heals, she walked back to the living room and said her goodbyes to Pam again before exciting the house and going home.
Derek on the other hand went upstairs and grabbed his phone from his room, trying to call Paige even though he knew he wasn't going to get an answer. He couldn't help but worry about her, but after he got her voicemail twice he tossed his phone to the side and laid down in bed, his eyes moving to the tv hanging on the wall as he waited for Sam to text him.
It took hours but eventually his cellphone buzzed and Sam's name lit up the screen with the simple words 'She called' followed by 'you can go get her.' Derek sighed when he looked at the time and saw that it was just past 2 a.m. He sent a quick text back to let Sam know he was headed to the bar now before grabbing his jacket and leaving his room.
He tried to be as quiet as he could as he moved through the house, hoping not to wake anyone up. Getting out of the house would be easy but getting Paige back in without anyone noticing would be a challenge.
"Hey where are you going?" Emily asked, noticing Derek out of the corner of her eye.
Derek snapped his head up in surprise, turning around to see his sister sitting at the kitchen table, laptop open in front of her, the dim light from the screen the only source of light in the entire room, "Em. What are you doing out here?"
Emily gave her brother a small shrug, "Couldn't sleep." Derek nodded in understanding, "So where are you going?" Emily asked, nodding her head towards the keys in Derek's hand.
Derek looked down at the keys in questions, debating if he should lie but quickly deciding that it was pointless, "Sam texted me." He admitted, "I have to go pick Paige up."
Emily put her hands on the table in front of her and pushed herself up out of her chair, narrowing her eyes at Derek in confusion, "Doesn't she have her truck?"
"She's been drinking." Derek responded honestly.
Emily dropped her head down and let out a small sigh, "I guess that one's my fault huh?"
"No Em, it's not." He reassured quickly, shaking his head softly as he gave his sister a sympathetic look. Maybe it was but he didn't want Emily to put all of the blame on herself. Paige made her own choices and this was one of them.
"And she can't stay at Sam's because?" Emily asked, "Maybe it's a good idea if she has a little space from me. When we talked earlier it didn't go so great." She said sadly as she fumbled with her fingers anxiously.
"Yeah so about that, she isn't at Sam's." Derek informed Emily, "She's at a bar downtown. Her and Sam got into some sort of fight on their way over there." He explained, "Hence why Sam called me to go get her when Paige called her drunk."
Emily ran her hand through her hair and sighed again, feeling guilty that things started to go bad again for Paige as soon as she showed back up here. She couldn't help but feel like she had a direct connection to all of it.
"What bar?" Emily asked.
Derek eyed her curiously, "Uhh, Carter's."
"Here." Emily said as she nodded knowing exactly where that was. She moved towards Derek and reached for the keys in his hand, "I'll go get her."
Derek pulled his hand back away from Emily, clutching the keys in his hand tightly, "No I really don't think that's the best idea."
"I have to help her Derek." Emily said, "You can try to convince me otherwise all you want but I know she's there right now because of me. I have to fix this and maybe tonight's not the night but I just want to make sure she's okay." Emily pleaded, "Please."
Derek looked at her, studying her face as he thought it over. He couldn't imagine how this could possibly have a positive outcome but despite his better judgment he slowly pulled the keys from behind his back and held them out towards Emily.
"Go easy on her." Derek said, looking at Emily warily, "If anything happens call me okay? I don't want her to be upset."
Emily lightly placed her hand on her little brother's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze, "I promise I'll make sure she's okay."
Derek nodded, trusting his sister. He watched Emily hurriedly make her way out of the house before he made his way back upstairs and back to bed.
Emily jumped into her dad's car starting it up quickly and pulling out of the driveway and heading in the direction of downtown. With the streets being mostly vacant of any other cars Emily was able to make it there in record time, a small fear in the back of her mind that Paige wouldn't be there when she got to the bar.
She found a spot to park the car before jumping out and jogging up to the front entrance of the bar and rushing inside. She stopped in the entryway and glanced around, eventually spotting Paige slumped over slightly in a booth in the far corner of the bar. She let out a small sigh of relief that the girl was still here. Emily slowly walked towards the brunette, suddenly filled with nerves at the way Paige would react to seeing her.
"Paige." Emily said softly as she got close to the other woman, not wanting to startle her.
Paige's head shot up at such a pace that it made Emily jump slightly, "Emily?" Paige slurred somewhat distantly, the alcohol clearly clouding her mind.
"Hey." Emily said softly, lightly setting a hand on Paige's shoulder, "You ready to go home?"
"Home?" Paige asked, a blank look on her face, her mouth hanging open slightly as she stared at Emily, "With you?"
Emily nodded, "It's really late and you look pretty tired." She tried to encourage, not really knowing if Paige was going to come willingly or not.
Emily let her hand slide down Paige's arm, trying to grab her hand and pull her out of the booth but Paige retracted her hand harshly as soon as she felt Emily's fingers graze her wrist causing Emily to pull her hands back and put them up in defense.
"Okay, I won't touch you." Emily promised.
"Where's Sam?" Paige grumbled, a little out of it as her gaze remained on the table in front of her, her head heavy on her shoulders.
Emily frowned, not being able to help but feel a small ache in her chest at the fact that Paige wanted Sam over her right now. The strange feeling quickly being shaken from her head as she rested her hands down on the edge of the table, trying to keep herself from reaching out to touch Paige.
"Sam couldn't come." Emily said, "But I'm going to take you home and then you can talk to Sam in the morning, how does that sound?"
"Will she still be mad at me?" Paige asked, bringing her head up to look at Emily.
Emily bit her lip, the small drunken pout on Paige's face making her give the woman a sympathetic smile as she shook her head, "No, she won't." Emily reassured.
She didn't know if it was true or not. She didn't even know for sure why Sam and Paige were fighting in the first place but one thing she did know for sure was that telling Paige that Sam wasn't going to want to talk to her in the morning, which was a possibility, wasn't going to make getting Paige home any easier.
"She makes it better." Paige slurred absentmindedly.
Emily wasn't even sure if the brunette meant to say that out loud considering how softly it was spoken but she nodded anyway, "Well the faster you get home and in bed the sooner you can talk to her." Emily suggested, not meaning for the words to be laced with the small bite that they were.
Paige seemed to like that, nodding her head sloppily before she scooted over and out of the booth. Emily immediately reached out to steady the brunette when she went to stand up and instantly wobbled on her feet. Paige protested at first when Emily tried to slide her arm around her and help her walk herself out of the bar but it didn't take her long to give in and lean her weight heavily on Emily.
Emily tightened her hold on the woman as they walked unsteadily out of the bar and down to the car, Emily opening the passenger door and guiding Paige into the seat successfully. She closed the door with a huff, happy to have gotten Paige in the car without any problems. She walked around the car and got in, starting it up but stopping to look over at Paige for a second. She was slumped in the seat next to her, head thrown back between the window and seat in a position that would usually be uncomfortable but with her eyes closed and mouth hanging open, clearly passed out Emily figured the girl had worse problems than a kinked neck.
Emily was able to get home fast, finding herself driving a little more carefully than she had on her way to the bar not wanting to jolt Paige around too much. Once she had the car parked in the driveway and was standing outside Paige's door, she slowly opened it, Paige's head falling with the door as it opened.
"Whoa." Emily said, reaching over quickly to support Paige's head as she pulled the door all the way open. She straightened Paige up in the seat before standing up straight and peering down at the woman, groaning as she wondered how she was going to get her upstairs.
"Paige." Emily leaned down to get closer to the girl, shaking her shoulder softly trying to bring her back to consciousness, "Paige."
Paige's eyes fluttered open barely, incoherent mumbles leaving her mouth that Emily ignored, "Come on," She said trying to encourage the girl as she attempted to tug her out of the car and back up on her feet, "You have to walk."
Paige let out a stream of displeased noises as Emily continued to pull her up out of the car, letting out a pleased sigh when Paige finally helped her a little and somehow managed to push herself up. Emily instantly wrapped her arm tightly around the brunette's waist and let Paige lean on her again and she knew it wasn't possible but somehow Paige felt heavier than she had fifteen minutes ago at the bar.
Emily struggled a little to close the car door but finally managed to kick it shut and hit the button on the keys to lock the doors. She let out another huff as she basically dragged Paige to the front door and into the house, stopping at the end of the stairs to groan. It was hard enough to drag Paige on flat ground and Paige's warm heavy breath hitting the edge of her jaw and trailing down to hit her neck wasn't making anything easier.
She hadn't been this close to Paige in years and although the clear stench of alcohol was unlike Paige, the familiarity of her body against hers was stirring up things within Emily.
"Can you help me a little?" Emily asked, a tinge of annoyance in her voice as she started pulling Paige up the stairs.
Emily of course didn't get much help from Paige, her small steps causing her toes to hit the steps making Paige stumble constantly and by the time they conquered all of the stair and were standing in the hallway upstairs Emily was exhausted, "How do Sam and Derek put up with you when you're like this?" She mumbled rhetorically.
"Sam?" Paige said to Emily's surprise.
"Is not here." Emily stated blatantly as she dragged the woman down the hallway and to Paige's bedroom, opening the door and happily dropping Paige down onto the bed with a heavy thud, "Thank god." She said to herself in relief as she looked down at Paige.
Emily quickly pulled off the pair of shoes that Paige had been wearing and tossed them into the corner of the room without much thought, she momentarily considered pulling the tight jeans off of Paige so she could sleep more comfortably but for the first time in her life she felt weird about doing it so she simply pulled the comforter down and guided Paige to lay underneath it.
Once Paige was settled Emily sat on the edge of the bed next to her and ran her hand across the girl's forehead, moving her loose hair out of her face. She was surprised when Paige's eyes fluttered opened and was even more surprised when a small smile made its way onto Paige's face.
"You're pretty." Paige mumbled as her eyes fell shut again, the small grin still on her face.
Emily couldn't help the small giggle that slipped past her lips, "Thank you." She said, "Goodnight." She added, before going to stand up but Paige groaned unhappily, reaching for her blindly.
"Stay."
Emily was surprised by the word, it stopping her in her tracks. She knew that Paige was out of it and that it wasn't really what Paige would want but before she could say anything more mumbling slipped past Paige's lips, "What?" Emily asked, not understanding what the girl was trying to say.
"Miss you." Paige grumbled, a distant look in her half opened eyes as she tried her best to focus on Emily's eyes staring back at her.
Emily swallowed hard, tears filling her eyes as she nodded hesitantly. Despite her better judgement she sat back down on the edge of the bed next to Paige, the brunette grabbing Emily's hand loosely and pulling it close to her chest, nuzzling into her pillow again and almost immediately falling back asleep.
Emily squeezed Paige's hand softly, "I miss you too." She whispered, a sadness suddenly falling over her as she let her eyes linger on her ex.
Emily finally managed to look away and took a moment to really glance around the room for the first time, easily being able to pick out the few changes in the room since she had last been in it but overall it was pretty much the same it had always been. However she felt her breath hitch as her eyes stopped on a picture of her and Paige sitting on the desk off to the side of the room.
She took in the photo, remembering the moment. Their wide smiles beaming at the camera, young and happy. What she wouldn't give to go back to that.
She took a shaky breath, forcing herself to look away from the photo. Her eyes landing on Paige again, the girl's features completely relaxed, the grip she had on Emily's hand substantially loosening. Emily slowly pulled her hand away from Paige's and stood up, glancing down at her once more to make sure she was still soundly asleep before making her way out of the room and closing the door softly behind her making sure not to disturb the girl.
Emily got back in her room and pulled open a drawer, grabbing the framed photo of her and Paige she had shoved into it earlier this week. She walked it back over towards her bed, studying the photo for a moment before setting it carefully on her bedside table where it had sat for years.
Emily slipped her shoes off and leaned down to pick them up, carrying them over to her bedroom door and placing them neatly against the wall where she always lined her shoes. She flicked the light in the room off and walked to the bed, pulling the covers back and sitting down but Paige's sweatshirt resting messily on the floor caught her eye. She climbed back out of bed and grabbed the sweatshirt pulling it over her head, not stopping to think about why she was doing it.
She crawled back into bed, pulling the covers over her and snuggling deeper into the bed, pulling at the neckline of the sweatshirt and bringing it up to cover the lower part of her face, the faint smell that had always been uniquely Paige's giving her a sense of comfort and lulling her to sleep.
