New chapter! Still a lot of angst in here and a lot more to come. Also, to anyone who was wondering: yes, I do know who Paige is going to choose in the end.

Hanna sighed softly to herself as she walked into Spencer's room without knocking. The last thing she was in the mood for was a meeting to discuss A and the fact that Alison was alive. She just wanted to curl up in bed and feel sorry for herself. It had been over a week since Paige had contacted her and Hanna was taking that as a silent rejection. She supposed that Paige must have chosen Emily and they'd decided to keep their relationship under wraps to spare her any pain.

"Alright, I'm here. What do you want?" She asked, doing her utmost not to look at Emily and Spencer as she walked into the room. They were sitting on the bed but Hanna moved over to sit in a seat away from them.

Spencer and Aria shared a look.

"I was just about to make some coffee." Spencer answered, choosing not to roll her eyes at Hanna's typical impatience. "Do you want any?"

Hanna shook her head but it was Aria who spoke. "No way am I letting you make coffee unsupervised. I'll go with you."

Hanna and Emily simultaneously looked up in alarm at the prospect of being left in the room alone together. That would just be awkward. Spencer and Aria were already getting off the bed however and before either Hanna or Emily had time to protest they had left the room. Their eyes met for a split second before they both looked away.

"I think they did this on purpose." Emily finally said without looking up.

"Probably. You know them." Hanna replied, risking a glance up at Emily. She was relieved to find that Emily wasn't looking at her. "Emily."

Emily looked up at the sound of her name being spoken, her eyes once again locking with Hanna. This time neither of them looked away. "Hanna?"

"I just…I wanted to say that I'm sorry." Hanna fiddled distractedly with her sleeves. "For everything that's happened with us. To our friendship. I should never have listened when you told me to go for it with Paige. Dating exes breaks the best friend code big time and I did it anyway. I'm sorry." She noticed Emily open her mouth to speak and held up her hand. "Wait, let me finish. I know you're probably still pissed at me and I don't blame you but we haven't really talked in almost a month. I miss you."

Emily waited for a moment until she was sure Hanna would allow her to speak. "I'm sorry too. I've been selfish. I've been thinking about what I want and need instead of what you might be feeling. Didn't we promise we'd never let a guy come between us?"

Hanna smiled sadly and shrugged her shoulders. "Well we didn't let a guy come between us. Paige did."

Emily nodded slowly and patted the bed, motioning for Hanna to come closer. After a moment of hesitation, she did, sitting on the edge of the bed in front of Emily. She was slightly surprised when Emily reached out and took her hand.

"Do you love her?" Emily whispered, absolutely positive that she didn't want to hear the answer she was about to be given.

Hanna was silent for a few second. She finally nodded, tucking her lip between her teeth as her eyes flooded with tears. "I'm sorry."

Emily felt the corners of her own eyes sting and her throat ached painfully. She swallowed heavily and looked down at their joined hands. "So am I, Hanna."

"Emily." Hanna's grip on Emily's hand was suddenly so tight that Emily winced at the grip. "I think I've already lost Paige, I can't lose you too. You're my best friend."

Emily sniffled softly at the response and nodded her head. "You haven't lost me, Hanna. I'm right here."

"Don't lie to me." Hanna used her free hand to dash tears from her eyes. "You're here because you have to be. If there wasn't some stupid A meeting you wouldn't even be here. We wouldn't be talking."

Emily couldn't bring herself to argue with that. They both knew it was true. "I don't want to lose you either, Hanna. This is just a mess. You're still my best friend but we're not okay." Her voice cracked at the end of the sentence, her eyes flooding with unshed tears.

Hanna opened her mouth to reply when the door opened again and Emily quickly let go of her hand.

"Are we interrupting?" Spencer asked cautiously, noting the tension in the air as well as the emotion on her friends faces.

"No." Hanna answered shuffling back while Emily shook her head, wiping at her eyes. "You're not interrupting anything." Her gaze lingered on Emily for a moment before she walked back over to the chair she had been sitting in before Spencer and Aria had left to make coffee. "So let's get this over with. What are we talking about?"

Aria glanced uncertainly between Hanna and Emily, not believing for a second that they hadn't accidentally interrupted a serious conversation. "We need to talk about what we're going to do about the Alison situation."

Hanna huffed irritably and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Of course they did. Despite her reluctance, she leaned forward, forcing herself to give the others her full attention, though her eyes were on Emily. Part of her couldn't help but hope that if Alison did come back, Emily would be too distracted by her presence to really think about Paige. Not that it made a difference since Paige seemed to be avoiding her. The other part of her, the part that was more loyal to Emily, hated the thought that Alison would worm herself back into Emily's heart. She already seemed to be doing exactly that by convincing Emily to meet up with her in secret.

XXX

"Where have you been?"

Paige flinched in surprise at the question and looked away from her locker to find Hanna standing next to her, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She swallowed heavily and glanced away again, unable to look at the blonde for too long. "I went to see my Grandmother. She's sick."

"Oh." Hanna's expression softened immediately. "I'm sorry. Is everything okay?"

Paige's lips turned up and she gave a nod of her head. "Yeah, she's fine. Thanks, Hanna."

Hanna shrugged despondently. She hadn't done anything, it wasn't like she needed to be thanked for simply taking an interest in Paige's life. "So I actually wanted to talk to you about…about us. Before you left last week you told me you loved me. And I told you to make a choice because I can't hang onto false hope anymore."

"I know." Paige sighed softly and looked back up at Hanna. She nervously licked her lips and stepped forward, reaching out to gently touch Hanna's hand. She didn't fail to notice the way Hanna's breath shuddered in response to the touch. "I've missed you."

"I…Paige…" Hanna trailed off in favour of surging forward. She cupped Paige's face in her hands and kissed her deeply, the sudden move causing her to stumble back against the locker. Hanna went with her, pressing herself against Paige who quickly responded to the kiss, her arms sliding around Hanna's waist to hold her close. Their lips moved together in a way that was desperate, trying to take as much as they could get from one another while they still had some time. Hanna pulled away after a moment, breathless and trembling and rested her forehead against Paige's.

"Just tell me." She whispered pleading, her hands slipping down to Paige's shoulders. "Are you going to choose me?"

Paige was silent for a long moment before she finally shook her head. Her voice came out as a hoarse whisper. "No."

There was a sharp intake of breath and Hanna tightened her grip momentarily on Paige's shoulders, her fingers digging gently into her skin. Her heart clenched in her chest, a painful lump forming in her throat but she managed a shaky nod. "Okay."

"I'm sorry." Paige whispered regretfully, her eyes finally slipping away from Hanna's.

Hanna let go of Paige and swallowed heavily. She opened her mouth to reply but when no words came out she turned and moved quickly out of the changing rooms, her vision blurring with tears.

"Hanna…" Paige stepped away from the locked but Hanna had already left the changing room. Her shoulders slumped in defeat, her voice lowering to a whisper. "I'm not choosing her either."

XXX

"Paige." To say that Emily was surprised when she opened her door and found Paige standing there was an understatement. It had been over a week since she'd last seen her and she was beginning to think that Paige was completely avoiding. She smiled softly at her and stepped back to let her in. "Come in."

Paige tentatively returned the smile and stepped into the familiar house, wiping her clammy hands on her jeans. She was nervous about what she was about to do, not to mention hurting over what she was losing. "Hey. I need to talk to you. Is now a good time?"

"There's nobody home if that's what you mean." Emily eyed Paige cautiously, wondering what she needed to talk about. Whatever it was, it was obviously serious. That much was made clear by the sombre expression on Paige's face. Emily swallowed apprehensively and tried to stall for time. "Can I get you something to drink?"

Paige shook her head. "No, I'm not staying long, Em. I just wanted to get this out before Hanna told you and you got the wrong idea."

"You made your choice." Emily said softly, her eyes dipping momentarily to the floor. She took a second to gather herself before she looked back up at Paige. "You're choosing her."

Paige had learned her lesson when it came to answering with a simple yes or no. She didn't want to get Emily's hopes up by saying that she wasn't choosing Hanna. "I'm not choosing either of you."

Emily narrowed her eyes in contemplation for a moment before she realized what Paige was doing. She sighed softly and shook her head. "Paige…I know you think you're doing the noble thing but that's stupid. You said you were going to make a choice."

Paige shifted indignantly and shoved her hands into her pockets. "I'm trying to do the right thing, Emily. I can see what this is doing to your friendship with Hanna and I don't want to be the cause of destroying what you two have. That's more important than any relationship."

"Why do you get to decide that?" Emily's voice was tainted with annoyance but there was no denying the hurt beneath it. "Why do you get to make that choice for us?"

"Because neither of you will!" Paige exclaimed loudly, her frustration finally getting the best of her. "Do you think I want this, Emily? Do you think I want to be alone? I don't. I love you, I love both of you. That's why I'm doing this."

"You're not the only person who ends up alone." Emily reminded her, her voice cracking slightly. "And you're not the only person who ends up hurt here. This isn't the right thing to do, Paige." She stepped forward and took Paige's hands in her own, her voice softening. "I love you. My friendship with Hanna is important to me but I've missed my chance with you too many times. I know I've hurt you in the past but just take a chance. Just this once, please."

Paige released a shuddering breath and momentarily closed her eyes. She squeezed Emily's hands and slowly opened her eyes to look at her again. "I'm sorry, Emily. I really do love you but I think I need some time alone right now." She hesitated for a moment before she leaned in and kissed Emily's cheek. "I hope you find someone who makes you happy. You deserve to be happy. You both do."

Emily's eyes stung with approaching tears as Paige pulled her hands away but she didn't protest. Paige seemed to have made her mind up.

Paige hesitated for a moment, feeling like more needed to be said before she didn't have the chance to anymore. She couldn't think of what to say though so she merely gave a small nod and turned towards the door. She opened it and hesitated for a second before she stepped out of the house and started down the path, leaving Emily staring after her.

TBC.