Hey, y'all. I know this update took me a while to get to. But here we go with chapter 14!

Chapter 14

Several weeks had passed since the first week of school slumber party at Spencer's house. Time was already flying by. Much of the shine of Paige being the new girl had worn off and with it went the murmurings of her relation to Riley. Now people accepted it as fact and let them be. And truth be told, it had not gotten bad at all. Paige was treated as somewhat of a novelty rather than the school pariah she feared she would be. Novelty, she could accept. After all, it is human nature to be curious.

In this time Paige has also grown closer to her new group of friends. She is really starting to feel a part of them. It wasn't that they were the first group of people she met in Rosewood. That wouldn't compel her to stick around in their company. It was that she likes them all genuinely.

She doesn't have much in common with Aria, but that doesn't negate the fact that Aria is a good friend. She's a little quirky and their interests are miles apart, but in Aria, Paige detects an old soul. Paige has learned some really interesting things from Aria about art, photography, and writing that she'd not have known without her influence.

And Hanna…Hanna keeps Paige on her toes. To know Hanna is to expect the unexpected. Just when you think the girl will zig, she changes course then zags. She can be surprisingly insightful and strikingly intelligent. For the most part, she knows when she can use sarcasm and when to dial it back. The girl has a great sense of humor but she's not funny per se; she's witty and usually two steps ahead of where you are. Paige had the feeling that Hanna could be a straight A student if she ever decided to apply herself in class. The girl is a coaster…no, not the kind you sit a drink on. She does what needs to do in school to get by. She "coasts" along. For her this is social time, not learning time. For all she is an outgoing person.

Then you have Spencer Hastings. In another life they could have been archenemies or on the flip-side, a dynamic duo…like Batman and Robin. Paige would be Batman, of course. Spencer would probably disagree. A Hastings would never consent to be anyone's sidekick. What these two girls most have in common is their motivation and competiveness. Hell, they'd probably have a competition to see who is the more competitive of the two!

Riley Hastings has been a tough one for Paige to figure out. And it shouldn't be that way. Not even a little bit. They are twins for goodness sakes. Isn't there some sort of innate connectedness in that? Well, that is true. They do seem to naturally click. But whereas Paige recognizes the similarities and positive traits in her other friends, she sees the opposite in Riley. It's not that she doesn't like her sister. She does, quite a lot. The thing is; Paige finds herself noticing the differences in the two of them rather than the likenesses. Maybe it's because that's what she's looking for. Some sort of way to discern who they are independently rather than what they could be together. Riley, it seems, does the exact opposite. She notices, points out even, things that they have in common like peanut butter on their pancakes and chewing their fingernails. Paige is oblivious to those things. To her they are a trivial…tons of people do that. Is it really that big of a deal? For Riley it means more, it's a thread that ties them to each other; a common strand in their genetic make-up. Paige hasn't figured that out yet. While Riley is living in the reality of them being twins and finding out they are sisters, Paige is still on the outside. She's looking inside a glass house. Paige can see what is in the interior, she knows what is there, but she doesn't care to step inside to explore further. She is satisfied to look on from the exterior so as not to commit to walking through the door and becoming a part of the whole. And she's doing it unintentionally.

The person Paige has spent by far the most time with is Emily. That's to be expected, right? Not only is Emily her best friend, she is also her girlfriend. It has gotten to the point that they now spend as much of their free time together as possible. Starting out as friends was great. Progressing to girlfriends is even better. It's like this: say you're a swimmer. A good swimmer; considered one of the best on your team. A new trainer then comes along and points out that your technique is slightly flawed. You make an improvement and the next thing you know you've shaved another three seconds off of your time. You are perfection! Whereas before you were good, now you're amazing…a prodigy…the BEST. Paige and Emily were content before but now they are euphoric.

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Riley and Paige met up in the hall outside of their respective fourth period classrooms. This had become somewhat of a routine. They took these few moments to catch up daily.

"What are you doing tonight after field hockey practice," Riley asked Paige.

Paige shrugged her shoulders. "I think Emily and I might get together for a while after she writes a paper for her History class."

Riley looked down to the ground. She expected this response from Paige. Nevertheless, she is disappointed by it. "Oh."

"Why do you ask?"

Riley played with the corner of the notebook she cradled in her arms. Lately she has felt increasingly timid around Paige which is uncharacteristic for her. Or maybe she felt more so apprehensive. Rejection from her sister has become fairly predictable. "I was hoping you and I could do something."

"Sorry."

Riley scoffed. "I doubt that." The sadness was turning to frustration rather quickly. Maybe that's what happens when you keep your feelings bottled-up.

Paige furrowed her brows in defense. "What does that mean?"

Riley tugged on the bend in Paige's elbow to stop her from continuing down the hallway. She turned to face her sister directly. It is time to put this out there. "It means if you were actually sorry you might consider making a little time for me."

Paige dismissed Riley's statement with a wave of her hand in the air. "We hung out two days ago."

Riley shook her head. "No, our group hung out two days ago. When was the last time just you and I hung out, Paige?"

Paige lifted her head to the ceiling in thought.

"Yeah, it's been at least three weeks," Riley answered for her. Paige couldn't even remember; it has been that long. "The last time we hung out was when you asked me to meet you at the Grille for breakfast."

Paige remembered and she knew it had been that long. For some reason she couldn't admit that to Riley. That was also when Riley mentioned that her birth mom has been asking about her. "I've been really busy lately, Riley. It's not you."

Riley turned on her heel heading in the opposite direction of Paige. She didn't care that it was also in the opposite direction of her next class. As she walked away, Riley looked back to say, "Tell Emily 'hi' for me. Maybe sometime soon you'll spare a little time for your sister."

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Paige was fairly sullen as she sat on the plush leather couch in Dr. Sullivan's office. The good doctor picked up on Paige's foul mood right away.

"What's the matter, Paige?" She wasted no time in getting down to it.

"Nothing."

Dr. Sullivan cocked her head to the side. Clearly something is bothering her client.

Paige knew that look. Dr. Sullivan would not let this drop. Paige sighed. "Riley and I got into a fight. Well, maybe not a fight. We had words."

"About what?"

Paige got the look on her face of a petulant child. "She seems to think we aren't spending time together."

"Are you?"

"Yes! Just the other day we all hung out at the Brew. And she's my practice partner at field hockey trials with the team. And we all eat lunch together."

"But Paige," Dr. Sullivan paused for emphasis. "Are you spending time with Riley?" She dramatically annunciated Riley's name to show that she meant her and only her.

Paige broke her eye contact with Dr. Sullivan. "Sort of…"

"Paige."

"Maybe…" Dr. Sullivan stared at her. "…Not." Paige was ashamed to admit it.

"Why not?"

"School is keeping me busy. And there's field hockey. Emily. I'm spending a lot of time with her, too." Paige let the excuses fly.

"Emily?" Dr. Sullivan knew the name. "The friend you swim with?"

"Yes," Paige said nodding her head in confirmation. "She's more than that now," she added. "Emily is my girlfriend." When Paige said that she smiled for the first time during the entirety of the session.

Dr. Sullivan considered this for a moment. "Would you say that most if not all of your free time is spent with Emily?"

Paige did not like the direction she felt this conversation was moving towards. "Yes…" she drawled out.

"And is it true then," Dr. Sullivan pointed out, "that you in fact are not making time for Riley?"

Paige didn't have to answer that question, which is good because she wasn't going to. Dr. Sullivan knew what Paige would say if she were to be honest.

"Paige, you are ignoring Riley. What is worse is that you are making an effort to do so." Paige opened her mouth to protest then shut it as Dr. Sullivan held her hand up to signal that her point had not been made yet. "I don't believe you are doing it intentionally."

"Your relationship with Emily is new, I get that. But so too is the relationship with Riley. She is your sister, Paige. Your sis-ter. It's time to put this into focus. You need to take a step back from Emily to allow yourself to take a step towards Riley."

"Wh-what are you saying?"

Dr. Sullivan knew that this would be hard for Paige to hear. She learned long ago that sometimes truth talk is best served to-the-point. "I think it's best, for right now anyway, that you and Emily go back to being friends."

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That weekend the group of girls spent Saturday afternoon shopping for the latest fall trends. This was of course Hanna's suggestion.

Aria noticed Paige paying particular interest to a jean jacket with a grey hood and grey sleeves. Paige walked back to it several times but left the store without purchasing it. Aria filed this away for when Paige and Riley's birthday roles around in November.

Thinking about that, Aria became curious of something. She looked back and forth between Paige and Riley as they all sat down for lunch at the Grille. "Who is older between you two?"

They both answered simultaneously. "I don't know," Paige said just as Riley said, "Paige."

Paige whipped her head so quickly in Riley's direction that she thought she heard her neck crackle.

Riley looked over to Paige as their eyes met. She was still hurt by Paige's recent actions, but she wouldn't withhold this information. "You are five minutes older than me."

"How do you know that," Spencer asked. Paige wondered as well. This knowledge had rendered her speechless so she was glad Spencer had asked.

"I asked my mom to show me our birth certificates. She still has Paige's. I was born at 3:26am on November 2nd. Paige was born at 3:21am."

Paige suddenly felt as though she had been punched in the gut. Riley saw her birth certificate? She asked to see it? She needed to see it? She wanted to know? Riley is making an effort? She cares you idiot! And Natalie kept Paige's birth certificate? Why, when it was she who tossed Paige away to begin with?

Here Riley knew something about Paige…about them…that Paige didn't know or maybe had not cared to know. But the thing is; she's glad she knows. This is a detail of her life that had been hidden away. In this news comes a new perspective. The girl sitting across from her was born five minutes after her, by the same mother. Suddenly this became something tangible to her and all because Aria asked which of them is older. Strands started to link them together in Paige's mind.

Riley is right to be upset. Paige recognized now that she's kept Riley at an arm's length. For the most part, she has treated Riley as nothing more than a new friend. And Dr. Sullivan was right; she's made an unintentional effort to do so. To be brutally honest, she hasn't once thought about how Riley is doing in all of this. Hell, even when she thought they should talk about how they would discuss their relationship when school started it wasn't because Paige worried for them. She worried for herself. Paige has not once given them a real chance as sisters because to do so, she'd have to face some harsh realities and get with the program. She wanted to hide under the table. Paige finally saw the pain and rejection in Riley's eyes and it shook her to the core.

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Emily walked Paige to her door after dinner Saturday evening. The other girls went to see a movie that night. Emily asked Paige instead if she wanted to go to dinner with her.

She noticed at lunch how quiet Paige had become. Something was bothering her. Something substantial. Paige was trying to hide it but Emily knew better.

Emily had hoped that Paige's mood would improve as the evening wore on. Maybe some alone time together would help. It didn't. In fact, Paige withdrew further into herself. Dinner was quiet and awkward. Emily started to become concerned that she was the cause.

When they reached the McCullers' front door Emily said gently, "Paige is something bothering you?"

Paige couldn't say it out loud. Instead, she nodded her head "yes."

Emily motioned to the porch swing to their left. Paige followed her to sit down. "Can you talk to me about it?"

Paige took a deep breath. "Dr. Sullivan thinks I'm spending too much time with you and not enough time with Riley."

Well that was rather direct. Emily didn't know what she expected Paige to say but that was nowhere close. She swallowed the lump lodged in her throat.

Paige continued, "She said my priority right now should be Riley."

"So I'm in the way?"

"Yes." Paige's eyes widened when Emily's bottom lip started to quiver. "I mean no! I mean…"

"Which one is it, Paige," Emily asked. Her voice cracked as she said her girlfriend's name. She had a bad feeling that Paige wouldn't be holding that significance much longer.

"I owe Riley and myself an earnest effort, Emily. And I haven't been doing that. I recognize that now. I can't be everything for everybody. Right now, I need to be a sister." It pained Paige to say this. It physically hurt. It took everything she had to not break down in tears.

Emily nodded her head in resignation. What could she do? She wouldn't come between sisters. She couldn't speak; she couldn't plea for reason. To do so would have caused words to come out of her mouth that she couldn't take back. Without another word Emily leaned over, kissed Paige's cheek and stood to leave. Tears streamed down her face as she walked away from Paige towards her car.

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Paige stood on the doorstep poised to ring the bell. She prayed that Natalie Hastings wouldn't be the one to attend to the door.

When it was Riley who appeared, Paige nearly broke down. For the first time since the revelation months ago in her living room on "that night," it was not Riley Hastings standing before her. It was her twin sister. Paige finally knew and acknowledged the difference.

Her eyes started to immediately water. "Riley, I'm sorry. I am really, really sorry," she choked out.

Riley launched herself from the doorway. She wrapped her arms around Paige's neck and hugged her tightly.

Paige mumbled between her sobs, "I want to be your sister. I do. I promise I'll be better."

Riley nodded her head. She closed her eyes as she took in this moment while tears dripped from her chin onto Paige's shoulder.

A/N: Ok...now I know y'all might have some issues with this new Paige/Emily development. Please keep in mind: this is as much a Riley/Paige story as it is a Paily story. And let me reiterate: this IS a Paily story. *that's a hint to hang in there for just a bit folks*

So, not only did I take a few weeks between chapters, but (for now) Emily and Paige are takin' a liiiiiiitle break. I promise I won't steer you wrong in the coming chapters. I guess we can call this a little shake-up.