Emily and Paige have a busy night at a Snotrags gig
A/N: It's back! The Australian Paily saga returns. Lots of chapters on the way, though it might take a while. As before, the opening section in italics is a flashforward, but a new one for this chapter.
Emily was getting a lecture from her mother.
"Emily, I'm getting worried about you," Pam said, in that concerned mother voice of hers that Emily was so used to. "This is two nights in a row you've been out until all hours and I haven't known where you were."
"I told you where I was," Emily countered.
"No you didn't," Pam insisted. "You said you were going out to a concert, but..."
Emily picked the exact wrong moment to want to laugh, but it was just funny how her mum insisted on calling a band playing in a pub a 'concert'.
"This is not funny," Pam snapped. Damn, she was getting mad now.
Emily's dad, who had been hanging back a little, now leaned forward and was looking serious.
"We need to know that you're safe, Emily," he said sternly. "We give you a lot of latitude, but if you're going to tell us you're going to one place and end up somewhere else then come home at seven in the morning, well maybe we have to think again about the kind of freedom we give you."
Shit, this was getting serious. Emily knew she had to give them something.
"Look, I really am sorry, guys, it was all spontaneous," Emily explained. "I did go to a gig Friday, and then a few of us went around to someone's house afterwards. It wasn't planned or anything."
"Do we know any of these people?" Pam asked.
"No," Emily replied, to her mother's obvious displeasure.
"Were there drugs there?" Pam asked.
"No," Emily replied, holding her mother's gaze. "I don't take drugs, and I don't hang around people who do."
Emily knew this wasn't completely true, but she had to say it.
"You went to a party with some musicians after a gig and you're telling us there were no drugs there," Wayne inquired.
He had a point. And he knew to call it a 'gig'. Emily's dad was always a bit cooler than her mum.
"OK, not that I saw," Emily clarified. "Not everyone in the music scene does drugs."
"Well what about last night?" Pam asked.
"There were no drugs there either," Emily responded.
"But where were you?" Pam asked.
"At the party at Bridget's," Emily replied. "Then..."
Fuck, Emily didn't know what to say now. Should she tell them? She certainly didn't want to, but what else could she say.
"Then..." Wayne prompted.
"Um, I'm sorry, I really didn't want to tell you like this, but I've met someone," Emily replied. "A girl," she added, as if that needed clarifying.
"Oh," Pam said.
So this was the Espy. Emily had seem it on TV, but the Snotrags weren't playing in the glamourous Gershwin Room, just on a small stage in the corner of the front bar. Still, it was pretty cool.
Emily had to admit the place was nice. Sure, the front bar was just a bar, and the downstairs bar was... well, Emily didn't go down there. And the carpet was sticky. Emily still didn't understand why places like this couldn't get their carpet cleaned, but whatever. Apparently it was a thing.
But the grand hallway, the glorious old staircase, and just the feeling of history the building had, all gave it an atmosphere that went well beyond the average pub. She pictured it as a resort hotel many years ago, a glamourous place to go back when people came to St Kilda for their holidays. She imagined it as a jazz venue, hip and avant garde. Maybe sailors came here during the war. It had faded with the fluctuating fortunes of the suburb around it, but it still had hints of the elegance of old.
They went to the kitchen out the back before the show, and Emily had her first tofu burger. Aria would have been so proud of her. It was pretty big, and in the end she couldn't finish it, but Jon, a friend of the band, pitched in to help. Apparently he was always ready to assist when food needed to be eaten.
There were a few of the usual crowd there, and Emily was starting to get used to them, or at least remember who they were.
Jon was the skinny guy with the big mouth who for some reason acquired an English accent when he had his mohawk up. Suzi was always laughing and joking, wore old dresses and Doc Matins, and had a haircut which looked like she'd done it herself. Ash sat quietly at one end of the table, rarely speaking but smiling and nodding at the conversation, her dark fringe half covering her eyes so she had to tilt her head up to see properly.
And Caleb was there, of course, cheerful yet sarcastic, and always egging Paige on.
"You're just in it for the fame, right?" Caleb teased her.
"Yeah, because we are so famous," Paige agreed. "Just yesterday I was mobbed by a group of school children wanting my autograph."
"What she's not telling you," Caleb said to no one in particular, "is that she has spent the whole week jumping up and down and screaming because we're playing here."
"Oh, and you're just Mr Cool, right?" Paige countered.
"I am," Caleb agreed. "I'm in this for the music."
"So why are you a drummer?" Suzi asked, chuckling at her own joke.
"The exercise," Caleb replied without missing a beat.
"Is this the first time you've played here, then?" Emily asked.
"Yeah," Paige said. "We're pretty stoked."
"I mean, this place is iconic, in' it?" Jon chipped in. Emily reminded herself he was from Frankston, not London.
"How long since they let you come back?" Suzi asked Paige.
"What?" asked Emily, taken by surprise.
"Yeah nah, Paige was banned from this place for a while," Suzi explained.
"Actually, there's a funny story to that," Caleb added.
"No there's not," Paige insisted.
"You know how we came in through the side door with all the gear," Caleb began.
"Because that's where bands come in," Paige said.
"So the plan is to keep her out the back until it's time to go on stage," Caleb concluded.
"Look, it wasn't even my fault," Paige insisted. "I tried to clean it up."
Her pleas were met by general mirth, however, and at this point Jon decided to break into song.
"I fought the law and the.. law won!" he sang, and soon the others were joining in and clapping time. "I fought the law and the.. law won."
"I give up," Paige muttered, but she couldn't help smiling as she did so.
Emily gave Paige a hug for support, which elicited some "Awwww" from everyone, but Emily didn't mind. Plus Paige was extra cute when she was embarrassed.
As Emily considered how adorable Paige was, and how her tough punk girlfriend was also a bit of a dag, Kat appeared in the doorway and interrupted the moment.
"For fuck's sake, we're on in ten," Kat announced. "Get your arses out here."
As everyone headed off, Emily put her hand on Paige's arm. Paige turned to her, and Emily grabbed her and kissed her. Paige looked briefly stunned, not so much shocked as pleasantly surprised.
"Enjoy the show," Emily said.
Paige nodded, smiling.
The Snotrags were better tonight. The had more focus, more energy. Maybe it was just the night, but they almost sounded like they'd been practicing. Emily marvelled that she even had an opinion on the quality of their shows now, given that not so long ago she could barely tell their songs apart.
But really, it was still about Paige. Seeing her girl up there, even if that was only on a stage barely 30 centimetres above the floor, still exhilarated Emily. In fact maybe even more so because this time she was so close to the stage she could have reached out and touched Paige if she had wanted to. Well, she did want to, but she knew it might be a bit distracting.
There was no moshpit tonight, just a crowd packed into the room, mostly headbanging to the music. And Emily, up the front, captivated by Paige's muscular yet sensuous physicality. God, her girl was sexy.
About an hour into the set Kat passed the mic stand over to Paige, and after a brief yet awkward rearrangement of leads and pedals, Paige was at the front.
"Hey everyone, we've got a treat for you tonight," she announced. "Me!"
With that, Caleb counted them in with his sticks.
"Ah..." Paige sang.
Then came a crash of slow, heavy chords.
"Now I don't hardly know her"
There were the chords again. Emily recognised the song now.
"But I think I can love her"
They were doing the Joan Jett version, but heavier.
"Crimson and clover"
Caleb followed this with a dramatic drum roll.
Paige had a pretty good voice. A bit breathy, which wouldn't have worked for most of their songs, but did for this one.
"Now... when she comes walkin' over
I've been waitin' to show her
Crimson and clover
Over and over"
They then broke into double time, and it was bedlam. The stage wasn't really big enough to accommodate their violent movements as they thrashed about, but they did it anyway, much to the crowds delight.
Emily watched on, partly in awe, partly in horror, convinced that at any stage they were going to knock over the drum kit or impale one of the amps with a guitar, but it didn't happen. She had never seen such controlled chaos, always teetering on the brink, but never plunging over.
They slowed down again. Now Paige was singing straight to Emily.
"Yeah... I'm not such a sweet thing
I wanna do everything
What a beautiful feelin'
Crimson and clover
Over and over"
Emily loved it. It had never really occurred to her just how gay this song was before, when a woman sang it, but now... it was perfect.
They started to ramp up again, getting faster and faster as they repeated the refrain.
"Crimson and clover, over and over"
Emily's eyes were locked on Paige, just as Paige's eyes were locked on her. Around them was a blur of movement, but the energy and the hint of danger just made it all the more intoxicating. No matter what else was going on, every word Paige sang, every note she played, was for Emily.
The song kept getting more intense, until it was just a cacophony of sound, and Emily felt her body being jolted this way and that. She didn't care though. She was having the time of her life.
Finally they hit the end, and there were no more beats, no more notes, just a relentless blur of noise until it finally cut out.
Emily grinned and stood for a moment, her arms and legs shaking. As she did, Paige put down her bass and, even as Kat was announcing the band was taking a short break, Paige jumped down off the stage and kissed Emily.
Paige held the kiss for a moment, and Emily grabbed her and pulled her in closer. Maybe it was the high of that last song, but Emily just didn't give a fuck about all the people around them or anything. She opened her mouth and kissed Paige hard, their tongues sliding against each other.
It felt so fucking good.
Kat started the second set with a quick announcement.
"Thanks heaps to the raggers for showing up tonight in full fucking force," she said, punching the air. "We fucking love you all!"
The crowd cheered, and Emily got hit by a spray of beer from somewhere. Oh well.
"And a special thank you to Emily," Kat added. What? "You're the only person who's ever managed to distract Paige from the bar for this long. This is the first time she's ever played sober, so if she's looking a bit confused, that's why."
Another cheer. At the back a couple of people were chanting "Em-il-y! Em-il-y!". Emily just wanted to shrink down and hide. She hated being the centre of attention. Paige gave her a grin.
Mercifully they began to play, and Emily could go back to being just another face in the audience, at least for everyone but Paige.
This set was just as good as the first. Emily decided it wasn't just her bias because of Paige, she was actually starting to like them. She could hear a melody under all that noise, and while she wasn't sure exactly what the singer was singing, she sounded like she meant it. Whatever it was.
No, she wasn't imagining it. Emily really was enjoying herself.
When the band finished playing they were, well, not quite mobbed, but sort of crowded by fans. Everyone wanted to talk to them, tell them how great they were, and give them the sort of heartfelt "I love youse guys" that you only get from drunk people.
Paige only had time to quickly say hi to Emily, and after a brief exchange of "Did you like it?" and "Yeah, it was really good", Paige was busily packing up her gear.
Soon they were all loading their instruments into Jon's van. This seemed to be his role for the band, but he was clearly stoked to be the official wheels of the Snotrags. Once it was all packed away, Jon and Caleb drove off to take it all back to the warehouse.
Paige paused to catch her breath.
"Did you really like it?" she asked.
"Yes I really did," Emily assured her, smiling.
"Hey look, a few of the guys are going around to Stew's, but I was wondering if you wanted to go somewhere quiet first," Paige suggested. "There are some nice cafes around here."
"Sounds lovely," Emily said.
They went for a walk up Fitzroy St, which was pretty hip these days, despite its seedy past, and ended up in a little cake shop. They ordered a piece of black forest mud cake to share, along with a hot chocolate for Emily and a strawberry milkshake for Paige, which surprised Emily a little, though it probably shouldn't have.
They then sat down at one of tables outside.
"I just thought it would be nice to take a break," Paige explained. "It was pretty noisy in there, and this way we can, you know, talk and stuff."
"This is nice," Emily said.
Their cake and drinks arrived, and Paige spent a moment admiring her very large milkshake in its very elegant glass.
"You never struck me as a milkshake girl," Emily said.
"Look at this, though," Paige said, before eagerly starting on her drink.
"What's it like playing in front of all those people?" Emily asked. "I'd be terrified."
"It's a rush," Paige said. "I get up there and I just get such a buzz. It's like, I'm not myself anymore. I love it."
"You look like you're having fun," Emily agreed.
Emily put the cake between them and they took a little fork each and tried some.
"Mmm, this is good," Paige said, then giggled at her own enthusiasm.
They enjoyed the cake together. There was a real joy in Paige's eyes, and it made Emily happy. Yes, it was fun seeing Paige the performer, all energy and charisma, but Emily was glad she could also Paige the girl, excited over a milkshake and a piece of chocolate cake.
Soon most of the cake was gone, only a small morsel left sitting on the plate.
"You have it," Paige said.
"No, you have it," Emily responded.
"No, please, you have it," Paige insisted.
Emily took her fork and carefully cut the remaining portion of cake in half, and took one piece into her mouth. Paige followed suit, bisecting the piece left on the plate. They were both giggling now.
Emily was determined to keep going. She cut it in half again, slowing enjoying the tiny mouthful. Paige took up the challenge, and managed to halve the what was left.
It was now Emily's turn again, but this time her fine motor skills failed her, and she ended up squashing the last bit. They both broke up laughing. Still, not wanting to let it go to waste, Emily casually licked it off the back of her fork. Paige tilted her head a little, a dreamy smile on her face.
"I'm sorry about my table manners," Emily teased.
"Any time," Paige replied. "Any time."
Stew's place was a flat in St Kilda, in one of those old blocks that Emily had always thought looked nice from the outside but had never been in. As it turned out the expectation was more impressive than the reality. It was a lovely old building, but it hadn't been looked after, and it was dark and smelled of damp. Emily could never live there.
Still, it had character. There were posters all over the walls from concerts going back to the 70′s, and an extensive collection of vinyl records. From this collection, Stew had put on an album of 80′s hardcore, a term which confused Emily a little at first, as she got used to the word 'hardcore' not meaning porn. In any case, the music wasn't exactly her cup of tea, however much she was getting used to the punk scene.
The front door opened into the living room, which had a small kitchen in the corner. About thirty people were huddled into this space, which was most of the flat in any case. Apart from that there was only a short corridor with the bathroom and a single bedroom.
Emily and Paige were sitting on the floor in the corner, wedged between a couch and a potplant, talking with Rosa and Eva, another friend of Paige's, or maybe just of the band, Emily wasn't sure. Eva was tall and skinny, had cropped black hair and a relaxed demeanour which contrasted with Rosa's intensity. They were arguing about music, of course.
"Plastic Bertrand is not punk," Rosa was insisting, shaking her head in disgust.
"Listen to Ca plane pour moi," Eva countered, laying back against the wall behind her and smiling. "Classic fast fuzzy guitars, could almost be something the Pistols came up with if they were really shitfaced. He's even pogo dancing in the film clip."
"The trappings of punk do not make a song punk," Rosa argued. "Punk is not just a sound..."
"That's what we tell ourselves when we don't want to admit that punk has crap just like any other genre," Eva insisted.
"You could possibly make a case for new wave," Rosa conceded.
"Come on, it came out in 77," Eva said. "New wave hadn't even split off by then. That's punk central."
Emily could feel her phone vibrating. Shit, it was her mum. She excused herself and went out into the building hallway.
"Hey mum," she answered.
"Where are you, Emily?" her mother said. "We're getting worried."
"Um, I'm just having a chat with some friends after the gig," Emily said, which was mostly true.
"Well, when are you coming home?" Pam asked.
"Look I might be a while," Emily replied. "Please don't wait up for me."
"Don't be too late," Pam said.
"I won't," Emily assured her. "See ya."
Emily hated lying to her parents, but she was getting used to it.
She went back inside and sat down again. Rosa was off talking to some other people, probably about the history of punk rock, and Eva was just excusing herself.
"Gotta go," she said, before leaning in a little. "I am so horny tonight," she added in a whisper.
Emily wasn't quite sure why Eva had shared that, but she got an answer soon enough when Eva stood up in the middle of the room and loudly announced "Who wants a show?"
There were cries of "Yeah!", prompting Eva to slowly start pulling up her t-shirt, over her stomach, past her bra, then over head before throwing it down onto the floor. Moving vaguely in time to the music, she then unhooked her bra and threw that away too.
Emily looked at Paige.
"Um, yeah, she does this sometimes," Paige explained.
Eva was now gradually edging down her jeans, revealing a pair of boxer briefs underneath. She stepped out of her jeans and hooking her thumbs in her underwear, looking around the room, waiting.
"Do it!" people were shouting.
She turned around, facing the wall, and pulled her boxers down then took them off. She twirled them around her head for a moment then threw them behind her. Suzi leapt up to catch them, to cheers from everyone else.
Eva turned, now completely naked, and gave Suzi a thumbs up.
Emily's head was spinning. Was this... like...
Yep. By the time Emily had worked out what was going on, Eva and Suzi had kissed then disappeared down the corridor to the bedroom.
"Yeah, it's a thing," Paige said to Emily.
"Oh well, they both seemed happy," Emily commented.
"Do any of your friends do this?" Paige asked.
"Not really, no," Emily replied, smiling a little. "Though I probably shouldn't mention this around Hanna, I might give her ideas."
"I'm really looking forward to meeting your friends tomorrow night," Paige said.
"They're looking forward to meeting you too," Emily responded.
Emily put her arms around Paige, and just spent a moment admiring Paige's face. Those sparking eyes, that cute little nose, that strong sexy jawline...
"What?' Paige asked.
Emily just leaned in and kissed her. That was all she needed to say.
Emily had no idea how long she and Paige had been kissing, but it had been a long time. She knew she should go home soon, but she didn't want to stop.
The room was darker now, and less crowded. Some of the revellers had gone home, others had gone out for food, and now there were just a handful of people left, talking around the kitchen table, or snogging like Emily and Paige, or sleeping on the couch or the floor.
As much as Emily was enjoying herself, she needed to go to the toilet.
"Back in a minute," she whispered to Paige, before picking herself up and stepping over a number of bodies to get across the room.
Once she was in the corridor, she could see the bathroom door was open and the light was on. As she got closer, she could here that distinctive tinkling sound. She peered tentatively around the around the doorway, to see Eva sitting on the toilet, still naked, happily relieving herself.
"Hey Emily," Eva cheerfully greeted her. "Having a good time?"
"Yeah," Emily agreed, as it seemed the polite thing to do.
"It's OK, I won't be long," Eva assured her, and indeed she soon grabbed a piece of toilet paper to wipe herself.
"No worries," Emily responded, though she wasn't quite sure why.
"You and Paige make such a cute couple," Eva observed as she stood up and flushed.
"Um, thanks," Emily said.
Eva washed her hands, then as she walked past she gave Emily a pat on the back.
"Back to work," she said.
Emily went in, closing the door behind her.
When Emily went back into the living room, Paige was just waiting for her, ready to take up where they had left off, so Emily curled up beside her again and they resumed kissing.
Emily enjoyed the taste of Paige's mouth, and the feel of her tongue. She enjoyed running her hand over the muscles in Paige's arm, and gently caressing Paige's breasts. Paige was holding Emily tighter now, and it felt good.
It was so nice just kissing again. It had been ages since Emily had spent a night just kissing at a party like this. Lately the kissing had always turned into fucking, but they couldn't do that now. The spark of their mouths together, their tongues greedily drawing each other in, that still turned Emily on, but that would have to be it.
If they had been at the warehouse they would be naked by now. Emily would be sucking on Paige's nipples, kissing every inch of Paige's beautiful, naked body, or hungrily eating out Paige's gorgeous, juicy pussy. She would be making Paige scream. Or Paige would be making her scream. That feeling of their mouths entwined would be amplified a hundred fold.
Oh God.
She had to stop thinking about it. Stop thinking about Paige with her legs open, and Emily pressing her face into the glorious cunt. Stop thinking about Paige being on top of her, inside her, holding her down and making her come.
Fuck.
Emily swung her leg over Paige until she was straddling her. They kept kissing.
Emily couldn't stop thinking about all the things she wanted to do to Paige. She didn't want to stop. Paige started kissing Emily neck, making Emily shiver. Emily clutched Paige closer, and started rubbing herself on Paige's leg. She looked around the room nervously as she did. No one could see them. No one would notice.
Paige pulled up Emily's t-shirt a little and started kissing Emily's stomach. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Emily, almost by reflex, leaned back against the wall behind her, and Paige slowly, slowly ran the tip of her tongue around Emily's belly button, flicking inside it, then up, up... holy shit.
Emily was grinding on Paige's leg now, and she didn't care. She wanted to fuck Paige, right here. She wanted to tear Paige's clothes off and pleasure every inch of her.
Fuck it.
She leaned forward against Paige again and kissed her hard. As she did, she slid her hand down, into Paige's jeans, inside Paige's panties, until she felt the wet folds of Paige's cunt. And damn, it was wet. She rubbed Paige's clit, harder and harder.
Paige broke the kiss and buried her face in Emily's shoulder, her arms locking Emily in a vice like grip until Emily could barely move, barely breathe. But Emily kept going, pushing her hand down further until her fingers could reach inside Paige.
Paige let out a muffled shriek. Emily look around again. No one noticed. Thank God for that music.
Emily pushed Paige on, by now practically clawing Paige's pussy with her hand, her fingers pushed deep into Paige, her thumb still working Paige's clit.
Then she felt a jolt go through Paige's body as she put Emily in a bear hug, her whole body shaking.
"That's it," Emily whispered softly. "Come for me."
Paige didn't need any encouragement, though. Emily could almost feel the climax passing from Paige's body to her own, so tightly was Paige holding her. And it as beautiful.
Eventually Paige settled down and relaxed, looking at Emily blissfully.
Emily drew her hand out of Paige's jeans, then carefully put her fingers in her own mouth and sucked them. She loved the way Paige tasted.
"My turn," Paige whispered, letting her hands linger on Emily butt for a moment before undoing Emily's jeans.
Emily wanted this badly, but she was still nervous. She looked around the room again. No one could see them. No one would notice. She was shaking, but she was going to do it.
As Paige went to put her hand down Emily's jeans, as Emily had done to her, Emily instead raised herself up on her knees and pushed her jeans down. She tried to get them further, but Paige's legs were in the way. She fell forward onto Paige and they both giggled, but soon she had them off.
Her heart was racing, but she took off her panties as well, and now she was straddling Paige again. As the kissed, she could feel Paige's hands on her arse, roughly gripping both cheeks, pulling her in as she ground on Paige's leg again. She was worried about Paige's jeans now. What if... Who cares. It felt so damn good.
Paige then almost picked Emily up and pushed her up against the couch. Paige was above her now, pulling Emily's t-shirt up, pulling her bra up over her breasts, and taking one nipple into her mouth, then going over to the other. As she did this, Paige started playing with Emily's clit.
"Oh God," Emily said, perhaps a little louder than she should. She grabbed Paige's face and kissed her. "Eat me, please."
Despite the cramped conditions, Paige happily complied. She pulled Emily hips up and buried her face between Emily's legs. Emily could feel Paige's tongue lapping at her pussy. There was no teasing or playing this time, Paige was going all out, and Emily's body felt electric. It was amazing. It was so good. It was... fuck!
Emily came almost instantly. In panic, she grabbed her jeans which were laying on the floor next to her and clamped them over her mouth to smother the scream. She couldn't move. The pleasure was so intense she wanted to thrash about and bellow at the top of her lungs, but she couldn't, so she lay there, hidden in the corner, her whole body trembling with delight.
It was beautiful. It was so, so beautiful.
As the pleasure faded, however, she became possessed with an urgency to get dressed again. Her jeans were somehow inside out now, but she quickly got them sorted out, and soon was once again fully clothed.
She hugged Paige, and laughed. Paige laughed too. Because somehow at that moment, nestled into her lover's side after a daring quick fuck, it was just really funny.