Hi guys! Hope you're all having a good week! What did everyone think of the PLL finale?! Hopefully the next few months can fly by so we can see some Paily very soon.
Thanks for all the reviews, much appreciated. Thank you to all of the guest reviewers as well, i really appreciate you guys making the effort to review. I tend to update a bit quicker if i have more reviews. Just wanted to make this note and i wont ever say it again but i kind of just wanted to say if you don't like my story or how it's written...don't read it. Simple as that. I'm not forcing anyone to read this. I know I'm not the best writer and i know that my punctuation isn't the best but all I'm doing is just trying to get a decent story out for people to enjoy. Give me feedback that is constructive and I don't mind but it isn't really necessary to be rude.
Anyway...Now that I have that off my chest! Hope you like this chapter. Things are about to pick up.
Paige was standing proudly by the pool as she watched the mighty Rosewood Sharks start their swim meet. They had been pretty dominant throughout the whole
season and she knew they were only a few wins away from booking their rightful place in the state final. First; they had to take out the county meet, which was what
their task ahead of them that night.
The previous night Paige and Emily had fallen asleep in each-other's arms after Paige had told Emily about her family situation. It meant the world to Emily that Paige
was willing to share her story with her when Paige hadn't told many people about what had really happened.
"Okay, so let's just concentrate on our times. Don't worry about what is happening the lanes next to you; keep up your time and your stroke because that'll handle
itself. Make sure of your finish; make the touch firm. Make sure you push off early on your turn and breathe deeply when you get the chance" Paige said crouching in
front of the relay team "These teams are good but I'm telling you that you're better. Don't let them try and intimidate you. They beat you last year at this point but
you've gotten stronger, show them"
The girls all nodded nervously before they walked over to the marshalling area to be sorted in their lanes.
"You know, you're good at giving a pep talk" Emily said as she tapped Paige on the shoulder
"Em" Paige said with a surprised smile "I didn't know you were coming"
"Of course I was going to come" Emily replied leaning over to peck Paige on the lips "How are we going?"
"Good" Paige nodded with a sigh as she looked out to the pool "The girls are nervous because this relay is important…as you know former miss anchor"
"Who's anchoring?" Emily asked looking towards the team
"Short brown hair" Paige gestured to the girl, who luckily hadn't put her swimming cap on "She'll need a strong performance but these girls can create enough distance
before her so she doesn't have to do so much work""
"Well I'll leave you to it" Emily said with a smile "Are you still staying over my house tonight?"
"I am" Paige nodded before she pointed to the bleachers "Spencer's over there if you want someone to sit with"
"Thanks" Emily replied before she backed away to find a spot next to Spencer
"Paige" One of the coaches called
The sharks not only won the meet; they ended up beating the previous relay record by 3 seconds, which was huge for the team. This also meant that in a few weeks
they would be competing for a place in the state final. Paige went to Emily's straight after the win; where they soon found themselves wrapped up in each other, lying
on the couch as they watched a movie.
"They swam so well tonight" Paige said with a smile as she watched the T.V. "That's why it's worth all the work and the research"
"You were really good with them" Emily agreed "You're a great coach and you're really good with your kids"
"I know what it's like on the other side so I guess I know what they need to hear and what they need to learn" Paige shrugged as she moved her gaze to Emily "At
least I know that the kids responded well"
"You did a great job" Emily grinned
"Thanks" Paige replied placing a quick kiss on Emily's temple "You know, this has become a bit of a routine for us"
"What has?" Emily asked as she half concentrated on the T.V.
"Us… just sitting here and watching a movie" Paige whispered as she kept her face close to Emily's ear with a playful smile
"Did you want to go out more or something?" Emily turned her head to face Paige with a quizzical look "Because I thought we had a good balance"
"Em, calm down" Paige laughed shaking her head "I love it and I love being able to spend this time with you and be normal. I guess I've kind of always wanted to be
normal and have a normal relationship"
"You wanted to be normal?" Emily asked with a small smile "You were out there winning Olympic gold medals…you're an Olympian. What are you doing in a normal
relationship?"
"I've always wanted this" Paige replied stealing a kiss from Emily
"So are you ready to meet my parents?" Emily asked curiously
"Yes" Paige lied with a grin as she looked away from Emily's close gaze
"You're going to need to be a better liar if you want to convince my parents that you're mentally stable" Emily joked
"Hey" Paige said nudging Emily playfully
"You know that my dad is automatically going to like you because he is in the Army and you're an all American national hero" Emily said trying to reassure her girlfriend
"And my mom will love you because you can cook"
"Okay" Paige tried to reassure herself "They're going to love me"
"Yes they are" Emily nodded as well "Just turn on that Paige McCullers charm"
The next morning Emily drove herself and Paige to her parents' house. Paige was nervous as she clung onto Emily's hand in the passenger seat but Emily simply
stroked the back of Paige's hand with her thumb to try and calm her down.
"You know I don't understand how you can be so nervous about this but you were calm enough to win Olympic medals" Emily said shaking her head
"That's different" Paige replied quickly
Emily soon pulled up in front of her parents' house, placing her car into park before undoing her seat belt to completely turn to Paige.
"Don't be nervous" Emily said calmly "They're going to love you"
"Okay" Paige nodded as she reaffirmed herself
Once at the front door; Emily knocked but didn't wait for a response before she walked in, tugging Paige in behind her with their joined hands.
"Mom? Dad?" Emily called as she closed the door behind Paige
"In the kitchen" They heard Emily's mom call out quickly
Emily heard Paige take a deep breath and Emily turned quickly to give Paige a reassuring smile along with a squeeze of her hand before they entered the kitchen
"Hey mom" Emily greeted with a smile as she released Paige's hand to hug her mother
"Hi sweetie" Pam replied happily as she hugged Emily
"Where's dad?" Emily asked before she pulled out of the tight hug
"He's on his way home from the grocery store" Pam said with a smile "I forgot I needed eggs"
"Mom, this is Page" Emily introduced her girlfriend as she stood next to her again "Paige, this is my Mom"
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Fields" Paige said with a polite smile
"Call me Pam" She replied warmly as she approached Paige to hug her quickly "And it's nice to finally meet you. Emily talks about you a lot"
"Mom" Emily warned with a smile
"It's okay, you're allowed to talk about her" Pam shrugged "Paige I hope you don't mind simple food like sandwiches and pastries. I'm not really sure what the rules of
brunch are but I tried to incorporate a bit of both"
"Anything is great thank you" Paige replied "I hope you didn't go to too much trouble"
"Paige, please call me Pam" Pam repeated with a smile
"I'm sorry, I was just always brought up to do that" Paige said with an embarrassed smile "Kind of habit"
"Well you're very well mannered" Pam replied "Why don't we go into the lounge room while we wait for Emily's dad"
"Will he be long?" Emily asked
"No, he shouldn't be long at all" Pam said "In fact, I have some scones baking. Why don't you go show Paige the house and I'll call you down when he gets here"
"Okay" Emily nodded as she reached out to take Paige's hand again "Come on, I'll show you upstairs?"
Paige nodded so they headed up the stairs until they reached Emily's room.
Emily pushed the door open, walking backwards to face Paige as she pulled her into the reasonably sized bedroom.
"This is nice" Paige replied looking around "Oh, you have a window seat! I've always wanted one of those"
"Why didn't you buy a house with one?" Emily asked
"This is going to sound weird but the house I bought was actually the house that my grandparents lived for a while before I moved away" Paige replied taking in
Emily's room "I changed it a little, renovating it to look a little nicer but I really wanted to come back to that house"
"You've never told me that before" Emily shook her head, keeping her gaze on Paige
"Well I didn't think it was that interesting" Paige let go of Emily's hand to have a look at a few photos that were still up on the wall
"Of course it is" Emily said shaking her head
"These are cute photo's, you were a cute baby" Paige chuckled
"That's so embarrassing" Emily laughed shaking her head
"No it's not" Paige shook her head with a smile "Your mom is really sweet"
"She is" Emily nodded "She took a little while to get to being okay with me being gay but as soon as she turned that corner she has been really supportive. Bringing
girls home like you make it a little easier as well"
"I'm glad things got easier" Paige nodded
"Can I ask you something?" Emily asked moving towards the window seat, sitting down and patting the spot next to her
"Yeah, of course" Paige replied quietly "What is it Em?"
"Did your grandparents know you were gay?" Emily asked cautiously
"No..I mean I don't know" Paige shook her head "Maybe they did but I didn't really mention it until leading up to the Olympics. My grandma always asked me why I
didn't have a boyfriend, thankfully being an Olympian I legitimately had the excuse that I had no time"
"Do you think they would have minded?" Emily asked
"I don't know" Paige replied with a small smile "They were pretty old fashioned so I don't know but I would like to think that they would be okay"
"I always forget how much you've been through" Emily said as Paige sat down next to her "I mean, you're my age, you kind of put me to shame"
"You're a lawyer, that is a huge thing to achieve" Paige shook her head, wrapping her arm around Emily's waist "I could have never done that"
"I'm glad you're here meeting my parents" Emily said happily
"Me too" Paige nodded leaning in to place a quick kiss on Emily's lips before breaking away hearing a knock on the door
"Hey Emmy" Wayne Fields said standing at the door with a small smile on his face
"Hey dad!" Emily greeted enthusiastically, getting up to great him straight away
"Showing Paige your room?" Wayne asked hugging his daughter
"Yes, actually" Emily replied raising her eyebrows at her dad "Dad, this is Paige. Paige this is my dad"
"It's nice to meet you sir" Paige nodded as she stood from the window seat, holding her hand out to shake his hand
"It's very nice to meet you as well" Wayne said with a smile, shaking her hand gently "You're a credit to this country and a fine young woman…from what I have heard"
"Well I hope I can prove whoever said that right" Paige nodded nervously
"Dad you're making her nervous" Emily complained as she shook her head
"It's okay Em" Paige placed a hand on Emily's shoulder
"Your mother wants us downstairs" Wayne replied as she moved aside so he was no longer blocking the doorway
"Wow" Paige said with her eyebrows raised once they had made their way into the kitchen again "This looks amazing"
"I wasn't sure what you liked so I thought I would cover all bases" Pam said proudly observing her massive spread of food "Sit and eat please, all of you"
"Did you think she was bringing the whole Olympic swimming team?" Emily joked as she sat down in her usual seat, motioning for Paige to sit next to her
"I just don't like people to come here and go hungry" Pam shrugged taking a seat
"I can't say anyone has ever done anything this nice for me" Paige said honestly
"Paige you would have had this all the time when you were in London and at events" Emily said deadpanned
"Yeah but that's because it was someone's job to do it" Paige shrugged "This is nicer"
"Well I'm glad you like it" Pam grinned
"So Paige, I'll admit that I didn't expect Emily to tell us the first girl she dated since Samara would be an Olympian" Pam said as she passed Paige a plate of food
"Mom! Shouldn't we have some small talk first? Like; how are you finding being back or what about that weather?" Emily asked with a horrified look on her face
"I didn't expect to find a girl like Em when I came home to Rosewood" Paige said looking from Emily to her mom "I'm lucky I had good timing"
"So you decided to come back on your own accord?" Wayne asked
"This place was all I knew besides San Fran. I kind of wanted to leave there after London and my rehab" Paige shrugged "Plus my grandparents raised me here and I
like to remember them by living back here. My grandfather was actually in the service before he retired as well Mr. Fields"
"Good man" Wayne said warmly "You know your last race was pretty inspirational with your shoulder being so hurt"
"Thank you" Paige nodded
"How long did it take you to recover from that?" Pam asked
"I was about 8 weeks in a sling and then I had some further physio after that" Paige replied "I had worn it down so much that it can still be a bit painful sometimes"
"I think you would have made the Olympics in Rio if you hadn't have been injured" Wayne said as he took a bite of a scone
"Thanks" Paige nodded "I don't know and I guess I will never know"
"Em how's your case going?" Wayne asked changing the subject
"It's slow" Emily said with a frustrated sigh "I don't know, I feel like we're on the verge of cracking him but we just can't get there"
"You'll get there" Wayne nodded "Veronica Hastings obviously saw something in you to hire you so you just hang in there"
"Thanks dad" Emily replied with a nod
"Paige, Emily tells me you do a lot of charity work and some sponsorship work?" Pam asked, genuinely interested
"Yeah I like to do the charity work more than the sponsorship work but that pays the bills so I've picked up a few here and there" Paige said modestly
"A few?" Wayne asked chuckling "You know you were on a Wheaties box a few months back right?"
"One of my proudest moments" Paige grinned shyly "Which is a bit childish but I guess every Olympian dreams about that one. I may have quite a few sponsorships
but I'm just trying to make as much of my time worth it while I can work like that pretty easily"
"I hope this isn't rude but do you get paid by Jason at the swim school?" Pam asked
"That is rude" Emily warned with a nod
"No, it's fine. I do get paid but not much" Paige replied shrugging "I'm just glad Jason asked me to come back"
"So he asked you and that's why you came back?" Wayne asked
"Well one of the reasons; I knew the sharks would give me a coaching job as well because I had been toying with the idea for a while and when I knew my old house
was up for sale, I took that chance" Paige replied "And I'm glad I did"
"Me too" Emily said happily
"You sound like a busy girl" Wayne noted looking to Paige
"I am sir" Paige nodded
"No one is on duty here, no need to call me sir" Wayne replied warmly
"Sorry…I guess I was just raised like that" Paige shrugged
"Your parents did a great job" Pam said before she paused
"Mom" Emily chastised "I told you"
"I forgot. I'm really sorry Paige" Pam shook her head with a sympathetic look on her face "I didn't mean to"
"Why are you sorry?" Paige furrowed her eyebrows
"Em just mentioned that you might not want to talk about your parents" Pam explained
"It's okay, I don't mind. It's my history and I want you guys to get to know me so I don't mind" Paige shrugged simply but she avoided everyone's eyes
"Well we appreciate that" Pam nodded "And we can see what Emily see's in you"
"I'm glad" Paige nodded with a smile forming on her lips "I don't have a relationship with my parents, they aren't a part of my life so as you might imagine, I don't
credit them for anything I have or I am"
"Well we're sorry to hear that they weren't around for you" Pam reasoned
"That's why Em is so lucky to have you, you guys are accepting and loving" Paige replied "Probably one of the reasons why she's so great"
"Well we did the best we could with her" Pam said "We made some mistakes in the past but we made sure that Emily knew she was always loved and appreciated"
"You're alright parents" Emily joked
"I think you're impressing Wayne more than Samara did and he liked Samara" Pam replied
"She's a national hero" Wayne shrugged "It's an honour to have you in our house"
"Hero probably isn't the right word" Paige shook her head with a chuckle
Brunch moved along quickly and Emily's parents seemed to really like Paige which she was pleased about. Emily pulled up in front of her house, parking the car with a
wide smile on her face. Without a word; she undid her seat belt and leaned over to kiss Paige gently. Paige smiled against Emily's lips, pulling away after a moment to
gain eye contact with Emily.
"What was that for? Paige asked grinning
"I can't just kiss my girlfriend after she was very impressive in front of my parents?" Emily asked as she pecked Paige on the lips quickly once again
"Well of course you can" Paige laughed, placing her hand the base of Emily's neck "I think I just love the fact that you're mine"
"Me too" Emily agreed "Thank you for being so good about meeting them"
"Em I want to do whatever I can so that they like me" Paige shrugged "I know how important they are to you"
"Thank you" Emily smiled
"You're pretty amazing, you know that?" Paige asked quietly
"They loved you" Emily said proudly "I told you that they would"
"I'm glad" Paige replied with a smile "I'm pretty jealous because you basically have the perfect family"
"We're not perfect, no one is" Emily shook her off
"You're pretty close" Paige shrugged
Emily smiled at Paige before her phone buzzed, telling her she had received a text message. It wasn't what she expecting and her brows wrinkled in concern while
reading the text.
"What's up?" Paige asked after taking in Emily's worried expression
"I've got to go to the police station" Emily said turning her key in the ignition once again before looking to Paige "I can drop you home first if you want?"
"No, I'll come with and just wait or something" Paige replied "Is everything okay?"
"I don't know…I don't think so" Emily shook her head as she backed out of her driveway
The car ride was short but it felt like it lasted for hours because it was filled with silence. Paige didn't want to speak because she wasn't sure what was going on and
Emily was stuck in her own head. Paige didn't want to be left in the dark in this situation but she didn't want to push her luck and try to get Emily to talk if she wasn't
willing to. She had to admit though she was a little worried; Emily seemed frazzled and Paige couldn't understand why.
Emily parked abruptly outside of the police station where Spencer, Aria and Hanna were all waiting outside with Veronica.
"Is it true?" Emily asked as soon as she got out of the car, looking to the other girls for their reactions to answer her question.
Hope you guys liked it! Let me know what you thought :) Hope you guys have a good rest of your week! Thankfully it's almost Friday.
Dani :)