"So, basically, all that time, she was cheating on her girlfriend from back home with you?"

"No, Hanna," Emily said wearily. "We weren't doing anything. It was just acting." Emily was trying to convince herself as much as Hanna.

"Okay, but how would you feel if your girlfriend did that to you?"

Emily let out a heavy breath. "Apparently, Shana's okay with it." Hanna rolled her eyes. Emily shrugged. "I mean, she saw that picture after you tagged it on facebook and..." Emily trailed off.

"And what?"

"I don't know," Emily said. "I guess she's so far in the closet, she was just relieved that all her friends thought that Paige and I were dating. It took the heat off her, as a suspect. Turns out she was even one of the people who left a comment on the picture, you know - to cover her tracks." Emily shook her head, unable to believe it herself.

"Really?" Emily shrugged. "And you don't think that Paige is just bullshitting you about the fact that Shana's her girlfriend?"

"Positive."

"God. I wish I had your faith. 'Cause, personally, I would've contacted this Shana chick and checked Paige's story out."

"Yep!" Emily said impatiently. She wasn't as naïve as people seemed to think. "Did that."

"You did?" Emily nodded. "And?"

"Yes, they're dating, and yes, she's fine with it," Emily said through a sigh. "The only thing she was worried about was that I was going to out her."

"Whoa!"

"Yeah."

"Em, this whole thing is seriously fucked up!"

"Tell me about it..."

"Don't you think that's part of the reason that Paige agreed to pretend to be your girlfriend? I mean, maybe she was looking for an escape. Put yourself in her shoes: Would you want to be in a relationship like that?"

"So, you're telling me, I should forgive her, because she's not only a liar, but also a coward? Too afraid to break up even though she's in a bad relationship?"

"Says the girl who lied about the fake girlfriend she took to her cousin's wedding and who was too much of a coward to ask that fake girlfriend whether she was straight or what."

"Okay, but I never lied to Paige."

"Really? So, you told her that you had developed feelings for her?"

"Okay, I may not have told her everything, but..."

Hanna angrily cut off that thought. "And what are you upset with Paige about? The fact that she didn't tell you everything!"

"Okay." Emily raised her hands and let them fall against her thighs. "I get it. This is my punishment. 'Whatsoever thou shalt do unto thy neighbor shall be done unto thee sevenfold.'"

Hanna smiled.

"Yeah, well, I'm glad you think it's funny."

"Damned right, I think it's funny!" Emily rolled her eyes. "Don't you get it, Em? Based on what you just said, you've got a whole bunch of surprise kisses from Paige in your future!"

Emily groaned. "Look, the point is, I fucked up big time, okay? I admit it. But that doesn't magically cancel out the fact that Paige fucked up, too." Emily's hands were flailing wildly. "And it doesn't mean that I don't have the right to be pissed off at her, still."

Hanna put her hands up. "You're right! You do have the right to be mad at her. But just remember this, Em: You fell for Paige even when you thought that she was was the impossible, straight dream. So, your heart saw something in her. And, now that you've found out that she's far from perfect, are you going to let a chance at happiness slip away, just because you have the right to be angry with her?"

Emily let out a deep breath. "I don't know, Hanna," she whined. "It's just too much. And it's too soon to let go of my anger. She hurt me. I just... I can't deal with Paige McCullers right now."

Hanna tilted her head, leaning closer to Emily. "But someday?"

Emily shrugged.

After Paige made her attempt at an apology to Emily, she gave Emily space. It's what she herself would have wanted; it's what she thought Emily needed. Paige's natural response to conflict was avoidance.

That may have been why she hung in there Shana for so long.

And, gradually, with space and time, Emily began to ease away from her anger. She came to appreciate Hanna's point, that there was plenty of blame - and forgiveness - to go around. And, in time, she started to remember a Paige from the one who hurt her. She remembered the Paige who took in Abby and Brendan when their mother was in a bad place; the one whose heart was broken after she received Abby's letter. The Paige who was willing to travel to Texas to help out a friend; the one who spent time practicing her dancing and her kisses, to make sure that Emily wasn't caught in a lie and embarrassed.

Hanna was right. It wasn't worth holding onto her anger, even if it was justifiable. The cost - losing a great friend - was too high.

Little by little, she and Paige fell back into step as friends. Sort of. It was more like a good-neighbor relationship. When Emily saw Paige out working in the yard, she smiled and waved to her, the way that she had done before. There was rarely anything between them other than a quick hello and, perhaps, a few syllables of small talk.

To be honest, Emily missed her former friendship with Paige, and she felt guilty for having cut her off the way she did. But she had to protect her own heart. She wasn't willing to run to Paige's doorstep again, and risk making a fool of herself again.

Given the state of their relationship, Paige was a little surprised when Emily did turn up on her doorstep.

"Emily," she said with a welcoming smile. "It's good to see you."

Emily had nothing in her hands; no mis-delivered mail, no baked goods for a peace offering. No pretext for what she was there to do.

Emily looked unusually nervous. Paige understood; it had been a while since their last real conversation, and that conversation had definitely left them in an uncomfortable place.

"Would you like to come in?" Paige stood to the side and gestured with her arm, the smile on her face still radiant.

"Thanks," Emily said, shyly looking down and brushing the hair away from her face.

Emily settled in on the couch, looking around the room nervously, as if she were seeing it for the first time.

"How have you been?" Paige called from the kitchen.

"I've been good." Emily was fidgeting with her fingers, staring at them to avoid looking up. "I didn't see you in the yard last week." Emily stood and took a couple of steps towards the kitchen, so she didn't have to raise her voice quite so much for Paige to hear her. "I wanted to make sure that everything was okay."

"Yeah, thanks." Paige emerged from the kitchen, swishing her head to shake the hair out of her eyes, while her hands were occupied gripping a tray with two cappuccinos and some Entenmann's tea cookies. Emily followed her lead and headed back to the couch. "I was actually back home for a visit."

"Oh, right." Emily smiled as she took the cup that Paige was offering. "So, did you get to see Abby and Brendan?"

"I did!" Paige answered enthusiastically. "Yeah. They're good. They're growing up so quickly..." Paige looked away from Emily, shaking her head wistfully.

Emily smiled. "I'm sure they were excited to see you."

"They were. It was a surprise birthday party and - wait!" Paige pulled out her phone and scrolled through some pictures. It felt good to have someone there to share the memories with.

"Listen to me, going on and on!" Paige said after showing off more pictures than she had remembered taking. She touched Emily's thigh, shaking it a little. "How are you?"

Emily forced a smile. "Well, actually..." She picked up her coffee cup, placed it on her left palm, and began tracing her right index-finger around the rim, letting her eyes follow her finger's movements. "That's why I'm here."

Paige leaned in, concerned about whatever was weighing on Emily's heart.

"Okay," Emily said, letting out a deep breath, "I know you're going to think that I'm crazy, and you can tell me to go... stuff myself, but..." Emily blew out a quick breath. "And I know that I haven't even said two words to you since... everything... but," Emily sighed, putting down the coffee cup and running both hands through her hair. "Here's the thing, Paige. My parents decided that they want to come see me for Thanksgiving, and I know that I should've told them the truth about you and me a long time ago, but I didn't, and they want to see you - well, they're expecting to see you, so..."

Paige chuckled genially, volunteering before Emily even had to ask. "Sure, Emily. Of course. Whatever you need."

Emily bit her lip and stared at Paige. "I can just tell them that we broke up."

"If you think that's best," Paige offered. "But if you want me to be your girlfriend again, I'll be your girlfriend again."

Emily tilted her head. "You really don't mind?"

"Whatever you need, Emily. Em."

"And you can tell Shana not to worry. I won't cross any boundaries."

Paige smiled resignedly. "I don't think that'll be a problem."

Emily really wanted to know what was up with Shana and Paige: Why was Paige so sure that it wouldn't be a problem? Was Hanna right? Was it a relationship that Paige needed an escape from?

But she was firm in her decision not to go after Paige. And she wasn't going to go after false hope, either. For now, she was only going to think about herself; her needs. And, for now, what she needed was a make-believe girlfriend – as horribly as that worked out the last time.

Emily stood up and stretched out her arms in gratitude. Their hug was long and heartfelt. It went on a little long, but only because it had been so long since they had hugged each other, and, truth be told, they had both missed each other. They had missed hugging each other.

There was no kiss this time, although that felt like the natural way for the hug to end – because that was how their hugs often used to end. But, this time, Emily's mind - and her heart - didn't take her down that path.

Perhaps they could've used the practice. It had been a while since they had engaged in make-believe kissing, and things were much more strained than they were back when the kisses became almost second-nature. They didn't have a lot of time to get back into the swing of fake dating, but Emily couldn't worry about that.

It would probably be like riding a bicycle, she told herself; the body doesn't forget. She really hoped so, anyway.