A/N: As ever, thanks for reading and I really appreciate all the feedback! Hopefully I didn't leave people waiting too long for this update, I'm working 60 hour weeks at the moment so struggling to find time to write.

"This is a nice porch…you have a nice porch!" Emily commented as Paige helped her up the steps to her front door. She kept a firm grip on her with an arm around her waist to keep her up on her feet. She'd almost fallen flat on her face when Paige had opened the car door for her, so the older girl had ended up taking hold of her and steering her up the drive towards her house. She was already having second thoughts about her plan of action as her gaze nervously flitted around the silent street. It was already past midnight and most of her neighbours were either elderly couples or young families who would already be tucked up in bed at such a late hour, but it would only take one twitch of a curtain for Paige to lose her nerve.

She thankfully managed to open her front door without any of her neighbours looking out of their windows and catching her holding up a drunk teen on her porch. Emily seemed even more unsteady on her feet as she tried to walk through the door, so Paige ended up wrapping both arms around her waist to guarantee she wouldn't fall over as they made their way inside. She tried to ignore the way her arms seemed to wrap perfectly around the other girl's waist, or how good it felt to have Emily's body pressed up against her own as she stumbled back against her.

"Woops!" Emily let out a laugh as she tripped over her own feet. Paige's arms tightened their protective grip around her, like she was cradling a precious doll. The teenager suddenly seemed to realise how close they were and she abruptly turned around, draping her arms Paige's neck and catching her off guard as she leant in to kiss her. Paige had the advantage of being sober though and she easily managed to pull back away from her enough for Emily to miss her mouth and catch the side of her neck instead. Unperturbed by this Emily started kissing her there instead. Her soft full lips moved slowly against the column of Paige's throat, drawing out a whimper of frustration.

"Emily, don't." Paige managed to come to her senses as she pulled away completely, letting Emily's arms drop from around her neck. The drunken girl stumbled back, luckily dropping down on to the couch rather than falling on the floor. "Jesus…" Paige muttered to herself as she pulled out the tight bun that had been holding her hair up and kicked off her heels, letting them fall by the front door. What had she been thinking when she'd brought her back to her house? She should have just driven her straight home and dumped her on her own doorstep. Why should she care if Emily got in trouble for drinking?

Her gaze landed on the sight of Emily lying on her back on the couch. Her arms were splayed above her head, making her vest ride up and giving Paige a perfect view of the tanned skin of her toned stomach. She felt something stirring inside of her at the sight of the gorgeous girl lying there, but she pushed it down as she cleared her throat and looked anywhere but at the teenager. She cared about Emily. She couldn't deny that. She cared too much to let her get in trouble with her parents for being at a college party; just like she cared too much to let anything happen when the girl was out of her mind on alcohol and god-knows what.

"Come on Superstar, let's get you to bed." She would get her upstairs and in to the guest bedroom where she could leave her safely wrapped up in bed before crawling in to her own.
"I'm not that kind of girl!" Emily giggled up at the ceiling, totally out of it. "We can totally make out though?" She suggested like it was viable alternative. Paige pinched the bridge of her nose as she slowly counted to ten. She could feel the start of a migraine coming on.
"No! No we can't!" She put her foot down, hoping a stern tone would make Emily listen to her. She was too drunk to comprehend that Paige was trying to help her, not hit on her. It was a painful reminder of what could have happened had Paige not found her when she had.

"But I really want to kiss you…like a lot." Emily pouted up at her. She tried to emphasise her point by getting back up on to her feet, but she lost her balance again and almost went falling in to the coffee table. Paige moved with lightning speed as she moved in to catch her and wrapped her arms around her waist again. Their faces were only inches apart as Emily lost her grin and muttered, "Why don't you want to kiss me? What's wrong with me?" She looked so shaken and vulnerable that Paige couldn't help but hold her tighter.

She moved to cup the other girl's cheek and let out a sigh as Emily nuzzled in to her touch. "Nothing is wrong with you Em… I want to kiss you, I do…but you're drunk and this can't happen. You need to go upstairs, lie down and sleep it off. We can talk in the morning." She had no intentions of actually keeping that promise, but it seemed to pacify the other girl a bit as she nodded and allowed Paige to lead her upstairs to the guest room.

She sat the teen down safely on the bed for a minute as she went off to her own room in search of something for her to wear to bed. Her jeans shorts would hardly be comfortable to sleep in. She found some cotton shorts and an oversized T-shirt which would have to do as Emily's pyjamas for the night. She took them back in to her and groaned as she found her passed out on the bed. At least she'd managed to kick off her converse before she'd rolled on to her side and fallen asleep. She was lying on top of the covers, so Paige had to go back in to her room and grab the comforter off of her bed to put it over her so she wouldn't get cold through the night. Then before slipping out of the room, she rolled up one of the spare pillows and placed it behind her to stop her rolling on to her back. She needed her to stay on her side in case she was sick through the night.

Once she was happy that Emily was settled in the guest room she headed back in to her own. She stripped down out of her dress and pulled on the old ice hockey jersey that she wore to bed. After undoing her braid she slipped under the covers of her bed and lay on her back, staring up at the ceiling. Emily was lying right next door. One of her students was spending the night at her house. Her mind was racing as she thought about all the ways that could come back to bite her in the ass. Paige tossed and turned in her bed, sleep eluding her. She lay there for what felt like hours, until she heard a noise that had her sitting bolt upright. She recognised the sound of the creaky floorboard right outside of the guestroom.

Sighing, she pushed the covers back and padded over to the door. She'd left it open to listen out in case Emily woke up and went wandering. "Paige? I don't feel so good…" Emily frowned at the sight of her. She'd been asleep for less than an hour, but whatever had been in her drink had left her dazed and confused. Her head was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach as she wobbled on her feet.
"Come on; let's get you back to bed." Paige tried to be patient with her as she moved closer to guide her back to the spare room; she didn't budge. "Em, you need to get some sleep sweetie."
"I'm thirsty…"

"Ok, go back to bed and I'll get you a glass of water." Paige gave her a gentle push back towards the guest room before trudging back downstairs. Once she had the water she went back upstairs to give it to Emily, but she found the guestroom empty. "Give me strength…" She rolled her eyes as she padded back in to her room and found the teenager curled up in her bed. She was once again sound asleep. Paige placed the glass of water down on her bedside table for her.

She decided against trying to wake her up. The drunken teen was less trouble sleeping than when she was awake. She seemed restless as she turned over in her sleep, muttering something to herself before falling silent again. Paige pulled over her desk chair and sat down on it while propping her feet up on the edge of her bed. She'd stay there for a while until she was sure Emily was settled. She didn't want the younger girl waking up again and walking around. In her state she could easily trip down the stairs or do herself some other kind of mischief. So Paige elected to keep her vigil by the side of the bed, waiting for Emily to reach a deeper state of sleep before moving in to the guestroom. She hadn't figured that she would nod off while she was waiting.

The older girl's internal body clock had become pretty reliable over years of waking up at the crack of dawn to go swimming or running or whatever other sport had taken her fancy. When the morning light first started to slither through the crack in her curtains she stirred easily. Her slumber had been less than peaceful since she'd slept in the chair all night. She felt a deep ache in her collar that seemed to spread down in to her arm and across her back.

A groan escaped Paige's lips as she struggled to sit upright. It was matched by an equal sound of distress coming from somewhere under the covers of her bed. She blinked a few times, letting the fog of sleep lift before she finally remembered why she wasn't sleeping in her own bed as she caught sight of a shock of dark hair spread across her pillow.

Emily let out a low moan as the light started creeping across her face and the teenager moved one arm to cover her eyes. She was beginning to stir. Any second she would be awake and Paige would find herself in the most uncomfortable situation she had ever been in. Would Emily even remember meeting Paige outside of that college party? Would she remember the older girl's valiant rescue efforts? Or would she wake up with a pounding headache and no memory of how she had ended up in Paige's bed?

Emily rolled on to her side, kicking violently at the covers until one of her legs was free from under them. This seemed to pacify her a bit as she settled back down, intending to fall back to sleep. Paige needed to move. She had to act quickly and climb in to the bed in the guestroom and pretend she had slept there all night. It would be better for Emily to wake up in the room alone, whether she remembered how she had ended up there or not. Paige didn't want her thinking that she had been watching her sleep or something equally as creepy.

She tried to push herself up out of the chair using the arm rests at the sides, but the pain that shot through her shoulder was unbearable and, as much as she tried to stop it, she ended up letting out a whimper. It was far better than the scream she might have let off had she not clamped her lips shut, but it was still enough to disturb the sleeping girl.

"Paige?" Emily frowned as her eyes opened and she looked around the room that clearly wasn't her own. Paige felt a lump forming in her throat as she waited for the inevitable fall out. Emily surprised her though. She didn't start screaming or demanding to know what she was doing in Paige's bed. She pushed herself up so that she was leaning on one arm as she rubbed at her eyes. "Did you sleep there all night?"
"Uh, yeah…I wanted to make sure you didn't go wandering again and I fell asleep." There was no point in lying. That was what had happened after all. "You asked for some water and when I came back upstairs you'd climbed in to my bed and fallen asleep."
"Oh god…I'm so sorry!" Emily groaned, her cheeks were flushed as she covered her face with her hands. "I didn't even drink that much!" She frowned as she tried to piece together her memories of the night before.

"You were probably spiked." Paige pointed out as she stretched out on the chair. She was trying to get rid of the stiffness she felt in her body, but she noticed the way Emily's eyes took in her bare legs as her hockey jersey rode up. She really needed to put on some pants.
"Thanks for letting me stay here. My parents would have killed me if I'd gone home last night." She pushed her hair back from her face as she sat up. She still felt a little dizzy and light headed, though she wasn't sure if that was from the alcohol or whatever had been put in it.

"Don't mention it. Seriously." Paige insisted. "If anyone finds out about this I could lose my job. You can stay and sleep it off, but you have to go later, no arguments." Paige was willing to help the younger girl out and she could see she was still feeling the effects of whatever she'd inadvertently taken, but she couldn't risk Emily getting the wrong idea about her letting her stay over. It was still early, so she wasn't about to just kick her out of bed, but she couldn't stay all day.

"Thank you." Emily repeated as she lay back down and pulled the covers up to her chin. She felt like she'd been hit by a truck and Paige's bed was far too comfy for her to even think about getting out of it. Paige nodded at her before getting to her feet and walking over to her closet. She pulled on some shorts under her hockey jersey and then walked out without saying another word. She'd usually go for a long run on a Saturday morning before heading to the Brew for breakfast, but her entire body felt stiff and sore from sleeping in the chair; she couldn't exactly just leave Emily sleeping in her house while she went out for a run either.

She slumped down on to her couch and lay spread out as she turned the TV on to some cooking show. She'd just pass a few hours in front of the box while Emily slept. It wouldn't kill her to have a lazy Saturday morning for once and the couch felt like heaven compared to the desk chair she had slept in. Her eyes felt heavy as she stared up at the flat-screen mounted on the wall. She let out a yawn and her eyes closed over once, then twice.

Before she knew it a pounding on the door had her eyes snapping open again. She felt totally out of it as she stood up to answer the door. She wasn't sure just how long she had nodded off for, but she had to squint against the harsh light as she opened the door. "Finally! I thought I was going to be banging on your door all day!" Pru didn't wait for an invite as she waltzed straight inside carrying a bag full of groceries. Paige had completely forgotten about their plans for brunch. "Wait, are you sick or something? It's after ten and you're still in your PJs… and I clearly just woke you up!"

"Paige?" She wasn't the only one that Pru had woken up. Emily called down the stairs as Paige felt her stomach drop. That was all she needed.
"Or not!" Pru laughed, amusement lighting up her whole face. "McCullers, you dog! You got laid didn't you? Did you meet some hot chick at that college party?" Pru started to make her way over to the stairs, but Paige grabbed at her arm.
"It's not what you think!" She protested, praying that Emily would stay upstairs until she could explain everything to Pru. Paige wasn't that lucky though.

"Jailbait?" Pru stared at the teenager in astonishment as her jaw dropped open. Emily was still dressed in the T-shirt and shorts that Paige had given her the night before and the older girl realised that it was one of her track tees from university. Her hair was sticking up in that sexy 'just rolled out of bed' way and Paige couldn't deny how it looked.
"Ok, it's really not what you think!" She tried to explain but her best friend was having none of it.
"Oh my god! Jailbait is in your house! She's in your freaking shirt!"

"We didn't-"
"Nothing happened-"

Both girls tried to explain at the same time, but Pru was too busy freaking out to listen to them. "McCullers, when I said you needed to get laid I meant with a grown up!"
"I'm eighteen!" Emily objected, not really helping matters.
"Nothing happened!" Paige insisted again. "Just calm down, go in the kitchen and I'll be there in a second to explain, ok? Please?" She added as her friend didn't budge. She glared at Paige with her arms folded across her chest before shaking her head and walking off in to the kitchen.

"Paige I'm-" Emily went to apologise but she cut her off.
"Don't. Just go get ready and go home. No arguments remember?" She needed to do some serious damage control with Pru. She didn't have time to worry about the teenager's feelings. Emily kept her side of the deal and trudged back upstairs without arguing; though her expression said more than enough.

"What the hell are you doing McCullers?" Pru glared at her as she walked in to the kitchen. She hadn't bothered unpacking the groceries she'd brought over for their brunch, she was just waiting to have a go at Paige in private.
"Nothing happened!" Paige insisted again before hastily explaining everything that had happened the night before.
"So you had her in your bed and nothing happened?" Pru asked again with disbelief and Paige felt like she was talking to a brick wall.
"Yes! Nothing whatsoever happened! She tried to kiss me and I stopped her. I didn't do anything with her."

"That's even worse!" Pru groaned. "If you're going to do the time then at least do the damn crime! God, you're such a square!" Paige couldn't believe what she was hearing. Only Pru could admonish her for not sleeping with the teenager.
"Seriously?" She shook her head at her as she heard Emily coming back down the stairs.
"Seriously! Jailbait or not, that girl has legs that go on forever!" Paige couldn't really argue with that statement. Emily's long legs had held her attention on more than one occasion. It was a miracle she could ever think straight during swim practise.

Still shaking her head, she headed back in to the front room to see Emily to the door. Paige looked warily out of the window and noticed the dark clouds hanging in the sky. It looked like it would start raining any second and the younger girl was only wearing her shorts from the night before. She didn't have a jacket with her either. "I'll drive you home." She was reluctant about being seen with Emily in her car, but at the same time she didn't want the Sharks' star swimmer to catch pneumonia from walking home in the rain. She still didn't look too steady on her feet either and Paige had visions of her ending up under a bus.
"Thanks." Emily wrapped her arms around her waist as Paige opened the front door, letting all of the cold air in. She shivered as she stood there in little more than her shorts and a vest.

"Here." Paige picked a random hoodie off the coat hooks by the front door and handed it over to the teenager to wear. It was one of her favourites, a navy blue University of Texas pullover that Paige had bought in her freshman year. The colour was the same as their Sharks uniform and it looked good on the younger girl. Paige bit down on her lip as Emily offered her a sweet smile of gratitude. She let Emily out of the door ahead of her as she reached for her car keys from the little side table by the front door.

"Is that Mrs Potter?" Emily squinted across the street as she noticed an elderly woman pruning the roses in the garden across the street.
"What?" Paige yanked her back inside the house without warning and slammed the door shut before peering out through the glass panels to check if her neighbour had noticed them. She needn't have worried though; the old woman was as blind as a bat and as deaf as a post. Pru was not. She'd heard the commotion and emerged from the kitchen to see what was going on. "How do you know Mrs Potter?"

"She used to be my sitter." Emily shrugged, not understanding why it was such a big deal to the older girl.
"Used to be?" Pru got in a sly dig, earning the wrath of both girls as Emily and Paige both glared back at her.
"She can't see you leaving my house!" Paige ignored her friend altogether as she turned her frown on Emily. "She'll have been out there gardening since first light. If she sees you leave she'll know you spent the night! That can't happen!"
"What am I meant to do? Wait until she goes inside?" Emily snapped. She understood Paige's concern, but that didn't mean she had to be happy about the way she was acting.

"Yes! You'll just have to wait here until she goes inside the house. Then we can get you in my car without her seeing." Emily's sarcasm was lost on Paige altogether. She was too worried about Mrs Potter seeing one of her students leaving her house late on a Saturday morning to realised that Emily had been kidding.
"Yeah, she'll reverse up to the porch and you can dive in to the trunk!" Pru teased. "That sounded way more sexual than it was meant to." She laughed as Emily's cheeks coloured.

"Why are you laughing? This isn't funny Pru!" Paige snapped, losing her patience with her oldest friend; of course it only made Pru laugh all the more loudly.
"Relax, McCullers! You know you'd be far more chilled out if you'd actually gotten some last night; I'm just saying!"
"I hate you so much right now."
"You know you love me really." Pru dismissed her anger with a wave of her hand. "Anyway, I'll leave you two to it." She made to go for the door, but Paige refused to budge from in front of it.

"You can't leave!" She sounded desperate as her eyes pleaded with Pru not to leave her all alone with the teenager that had a habit of kissing her. "You need to stay. You owe me!" She was grasping at straws and they both knew it. Pru had no intentions of wasting her Saturday locked up inside with Paige and her student.
"Yeah, I'm not aiding your little abduction." She quipped.
"It's not like I'm holding her against her will!" Paige objected. Her cheeks were turning scarlet with her embarrassment. "I'm not!"
"Oh I'm sure you're not." Pru gave the younger girl a wink, which had her blushing as furiously as Paige. "Well you two have fun, and don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She laughed as she pushed past Paige to get to the door.

"That narrows it down." Paige remarked dryly, sulking as she closed the door behind her friend. She let out a sigh as she turned back around to face Emily. "You don't have to stay if you don't want to; I just don't want Mrs Potter seeing you coming out of my house. She knows I'm…"
"Gay?" Emily supplied as Paige faltered. It was ridiculous. She hadn't struggled quite so much to talk about her sexuality since she had come out to her father in her senior year. "It's fine. I get it. You took a huge risk letting me stay here last night and I don't want to do anything to get you in trouble. I'll stay until Mrs Potter goes inside." It was hardly a chore for Emily to stay. She'd been disappointed that Paige had been kicking her out in the first place.

"Is Mrs Potter still out there?" Emily quizzed as Paige peered out of the curtains and across the street. She hadn't actually been checking to see if the old woman was still gardening. It was just a habit she had of looking out of the window whenever she walked in to the front room. It had been dark for a while and her elderly neighbour had probably gone inside hours ago.
"No." She felt a pang of regret for looking out of the window. Had she just gone straight back over to the couch Emily could have stayed longer without it being a bug deal.

Despite what she'd said to Pru about not wanting to be alone with her, she'd enjoyed having the younger girl around all afternoon. Paige didn't want to have to send her home, but they both knew she had to; eventually anyway. "You can stay and watch the end of the movie if you want to?" She offered, hoping her tone didn't come off sounding as desperate as she felt.
"Thanks. I think I will." Emily replied in an attempt to sound just as casual. The movie they were watching had only been on for about ten minutes, though neither girl brought that up as Paige took her seat back down on the other end of the couch.

They started out on separate sides, but over the course of the movie they seemed to migrate closer together, like opposing magnets pulling each other in. When Emily sat back down after a trip to the bathroom she'd risked sitting a few inches further over; then when Paige had gone in to the kitchen to get them some drinks she'd ended up sitting back down further over on Emily's side; eventually they'd kept up their unspoken game until they were sat so close together that their knees were touching.

One movie turned in to two as the hours passed, but neither brought up the issue of Emily leaving. Paige wasn't stupid. She knew they younger girl was deliberately avoiding saying anything so that she could stay for longer. The truth was she was doing exactly the same thing, hoping to keep her around without having to actually ask her to stay. She would have to send the younger girl home some point though; she couldn't exactly let her spend another night.

Emily jumped at a particularly scary part of the zombie movie they had ended up watching and buried her face in pillow she was using to hide behind; the one she had resting against Paige's shoulder. "I thought you loved horror movies?" Paige teased, unable to hide her amusement as Emily scowled at her.
"I do! That doesn't mean I don't find them scary some-" She was abruptly cut off as one of the onscreen zombies made an appearance out of nowhere and taking a bite out of one of the scantily clad heroines. It startled her, sending her hiding being her cushion again. Paige couldn't help but laugh at her then. She looked so adorable, cuddled up against her with her face covered.

"Not funny!" Emily huffed from behind the safety of her cushion; her words came out muffled as she playfully shoved at Paige's shoulder. She's socked her in her injured shoulder and Paige had to bite back a groan as pain shot through bone. She disguised her discomfort by carrying on laughing at her as she moved her arm so that it was resting across the back of the chair.

This left Emily leaning up against her chest with the cushion, though again neither of them mentioned it. At some point Paige's arm moved from the back of the couch and ended up across Emily's shoulder like they were sitting in a movie theatre on a date. Emily shifted a little; making herself more comfortable as she boldly draped her own arm across the older girl's stomach. Her head was resting just below Paige's chin, which meant she heard the audible gulp that she took in response.

Emily wondered if she'd pushed her luck too far; but she let herself relax as Paige didn't say anything. She returned her attention to the screen as the two of them sat in a mutual silence. Paige's fingers started moving lightly, making soft patterns against the skin at the top of her arm. Emily wasn't sure whether it was a conscious action or not. Paige's eyes never budged from the television set. The other girl touching her so softly was starting to drive her crazy after a short while and she couldn't stop herself from tilting her head back to try and catch Paige's attention.

When Paige glanced down and saw her she asked, "Are you hungry? I can order-" Whatever she had been about to suggest they order in was lost as Emily sat further up to press their lips together. The kiss wasn't rushed or forceful. Her lips moved slowly, barely pushing against the other girl's mouth in order to give her the chance to pull back if she wanted to. She didn't.

It took a few moments, but eventually her lips started to work against Emily's as she kissed her back. Her free arm moved up to cup her cheek, pulling her in closer against her. The pace of the kiss didn't change. They both moved slowly and tentatively, as though afraid of spooking the other and ending the kiss. Emily couldn't quite believe they were actually sitting making out on Paige's couch; and she wasn't trying to run away for once.

It was actually Emily who pulled away first, though it was only because her cell phone was ringing and she recognised the ringtone that she had assigned for her mom's number. Paige sulked as she pulled away from the kiss to answer the phone. She looked so cute pouting up at her that Emily couldn't resist leaning in to kiss her once more.

"Hi mom." She tried to force her voice to sound steady as Paige's hands settled on her hips. The tips of her fingers were brushing against the skin at her sides, just beneath the hoodie she had borrowed her, and it took everything in her not to let out a groan. "Yeah, I'm still at Hanna's. We're just watching a movie. I'll be home soon." She did her best to get off the phone as quick as she could, knowing her mom had a tendency to try and keep the conversation going for as long as possible.

She registered the way Paige's head was dipped and her eyes were fixed on a spot on the carpet. Emily was afraid she was starting to freak out again. It seemed like whenever they kissed everything was fine until their lips parted and reality started to set in. Maybe Emily could just keep on her kissing her? That way she would never get the chance to panic. She let out the breath she'd been holding all day with a heavy sigh as she hung up and brushed her hair back from her face.

"So, is this the part where you tell me what happened was a mistake? Then you get all grumpy and avoid me for a week?" Emily tried to make a joke of it, but her tone came out bitter. She was sick of Paige running every time they grew closer.
"No." The older girl sighed as she finally brought her head up to look Emily in the eye. "This is the part where I tell you that I can't keep doing this Emily." The teenager felt her heart sink as she moved to stand up.

Paige surprised her by taking hold of her wrists and pulling her back down. Without warning she crushed their lips together as she let go of the girl's wrists and wrapped her arms around her waist instead. When their lips finally parted they sat with their foreheads touching, trying to catch their breath. Paige ran her tongue across her lips as she let out a soft moan. "We have a connection Em; and I'm done fighting it."