All Emily could think about during her classes the next day was Paige. She worried if she was feeling okay emotionally. She wondered if she was safe physically. When they had first gotten together she never would have thought they would face so much hardship. But even though all of this was happening, she wouldn't trade Paige for anything. She was an amazing woman, who had incredible strength despite what she thought of herself. Emily had never known it was possible to love another human being as much as she loved Paige. And it was this overwhelming love that made it hurt so badly when she had to see her scared or upset.

She barely noticed Sydney's hand in the air. She quickly collected herself, clearing her throat.

"Yes, Sydney?"

"When did you say we had to finish chapter six?"

"Monday, please. And I'll collect your summaries, too." She looked at the clock. There were only twenty minutes left in class and she figured they probably weren't any more focused than she was. "How about we call it a day?"

The class eagerly agreed. They left one by one until only Sydney was there, standing awkwardly by her desk.

"Professor Fields?"

"Yes?"

"Do you mind me asking if Dr. McCullers is okay? I understand if you don't want to answer, but a lot of us are worried about her. We don't agree with what Lucas said the other day."

"Thank you," Emily replied, truly touched that Sydney cared so much. "I really appreciate your concern. She's okay."

"Good. Can you tell her that? That we understand she's going through a lot?"

"I will," Emily told her, smiling. "Thank you. Really."

"Of course. See you, Professor."

She left, leaving Emily alone in the classroom. She smiled, glad that she would finally have something good to tell Paige later. She pulled out her phone to text her, frowning when she saw a text message from a restricted number. She nervously opened it, her blood running cold when she read what it said.

I can see you.

It was sent five minutes ago. She gulped, looking around the classroom. This had to be someone playing a joke. There wasn't anyone in sight. But she found herself growing anxious, and she decided that the papers she had planned on going over could wait until she was home. She stood up to start packing up, when suddenly her door open. She nearly screamed, almost falling backwards over her chair, as Ezra walked in.

"Ezra! What the hell?"

"Sorry," he told her, looking surprised. "Are you okay?"

"I was until you nearly scared the shit out of me!"

"Whoa, sorry. Calm down," he replied. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just came to talk to you."

"What about?" she asked, her heart still pounding in her chest.

He paused a moment, looking away. She looked at him curiously.

"Just…. just tell Paige I'd like to talk to her."

"Why don't you do it?" she asked, confused. He was acting weirder and weirder by the minute.

"It's complicated."

"Uh… okay. Sure."

"Cool. Sorry again for scaring you," he replied. Emily watched as he left, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. She couldn't place what had made her feel so uneasy about that encounter. Maybe just because she was suspicious of everyone.

She locked the classroom and made her way up to her office, glancing around the eerily quiet hallway before closing the door behind her. She sat down at her desk, taking a deep breath, as she wondered why she felt so jumpy today. She had managed to keep fairly calm throughout this whole ordeal, always being the voice of reason when Paige needed her. But she was afraid it was all starting to catch up to her, and now she was jumping at every creak her chair made.

"Get it together," she murmured to herself, peering out the window. It was later in the day and the campus was fairly empty. She looked around to see if it seemed anyone was watching her, thinking back to the text she had gotten. She didn't know what to make of it.

"Emily!"

She turned as her office door flew open, Paige bursting inside panting. Emily looked at her in alarm, quickly getting up.

"Paige? What is it?"

"It's gone!"

"What's gone? Paige, what-?"

"The picture of the license plate!" she exclaimed. "It's gone. Someone deleted it off my phone!"

"What?"

"I don't know when it could have happened. It's not like I left it in the office. It had to have been in lab when I stepped out for a couple minutes."

"Wouldn't the other kids have seen it?"

"I guess not. But it narrows it down. Whoever has been following us around has to be in that lab class. It's the only thing that makes sense."

"Is there anyone there you think might be behind all of this?"

"Lucas," she replied immediately. "I know it's him. He trashed my lab, too."

"I don't understand," Emily replied, frowning. "Let's say he did trash your lab. That was after he was angry about the way you were acting after Alison. This person started following you before Alison was killed. Why would he do that?"

"Oh," Paige replied, making a face. "Shit."

"The lab thing makes sense. But I don't think he's behind everything else."

"Who, then?"

"I don't know," Emily replied, exasperated.

"I know. I'll tell them next class I know one of them got into my phone. And-."

"Paige, sweetie, that's a really bad idea."

"Why?"

"Let's say you're right, and the killer is in your lab. You don't want them to know you know. That's how this stuff works. They fuck with you for a while, show you they have power over you. Then once you get close to figuring out who they are, the game's up."

Paige was silent for a moment. Emily wrapped her arms around her, pulling her in close.

"We'll call Toby. Tell him about it."

"What can he do?"

"I don't know. But it's not our job, Paige. Promise me you won't do anything dangerous."

"Okay," she sighed. "I promise."

"Good. Now, how does a double date with Hanna and Caleb tonight sound?"

Paige chuckled. Emily smiled, relieved to see her calming down.

"I guess I can't say no to that."

"We should have done this sooner," Hanna declared, gulping down half of her wine. Emily hid a laugh behind her own glass.

"I never thought Paige and I would be out on a date," Caleb replied, and Paige pinched his arm. "Ouch!"

"This was a good idea, if I may pat myself on the back," Emily added.

"So. Caleb and I take my apartment and you and Paige go back to hers?" Hanna asked. Caleb stared at her.

"Hanna!"

"What? Don't pretend you weren't thinking the same thing."

"Fine with me," Paige agreed, winking at Emily. She blushed.

"Well, I'm not going to argue," Caleb replied, reaching for his wallet.

They went their separate ways as agreed after dinner, Paige leading Emily into her apartment and closing and locking the door behind them. She pulled her in for a gentle kiss.

"I had fun. That was a good idea."

"Thank you," she replied, looking up at her girlfriend. "Paige?"

"Mm hmm?"

"Make love to me?" she asked, pressing her lips to Paige's neck. Paige gulped.

"Gladly."

She insisted on carrying Emily back to the bedroom where she laid her on the bed, climbing over her as she kissed her lips and neck. Emily sighed softly under her, closing her eyes as Paige paid attention to every inch of her body. She pushed her dress up and yanked her underwear down, wasting no time in burying herself between her legs. Emily cried out in approval, threading her fingers through Paige's hair.

"Oh, Paige….. fuck."

Paige hummed in reply, sucking Emily's clit steadily. Tonight wasn't going to be a night of slow teasing, it was going to be a night of fiery passion.

Multiple orgasms later she finally kissed her way up Emily's stomach and to her lips, grinning at the exhausted look on her face. Emily looked at her, her eyes glazed over as she smiled slightly.

"Holy shit," she whispered, and Paige grinned smugly.

"Yeah."

"I love you," she added, pulling her in for another kiss.

"I love you, too."

"Give me…. give me a couple minutes," Emily told her, already looking like she was half asleep. Paige laughed, lying down next to her.

"No way. Go to sleep. You can pay me back another time."

"But-."

"No buts," she interrupted, stroking her cheek. "This was my thank you for how amazing you've been through all of this. You've never judged, never left. You've always been there for me and I can't thank you enough. I love you more than words can say."

"Oh, Paige… you don't need to thank me," she replied, hugging her. "I'm here because I love you and I want to keep you safe."

"Well, I'm thanking you anyway," she replied, kissing her. "Please, get some sleep."

"If you insist," she sighed, snuggling into Paige's side. Paige held her close, and soon she drifted off with her.

"I know it's one of them," Paige told Toby excitedly. "It had to be. No one else would have had the opportunity-."

"Slow down," Toby interrupted. "You took a picture of the license plate with your phone."

"Yes."

"And then yesterday it was deleted?"

"Yes."

"And you're sure you didn't do it by accident?"

"I'm sure," she snapped, annoyed that he wasn't taking her seriously. She had skipped lunch to come talk to him, and he was not making it worth her while. "I wouldn't have deleted it. I was going to show it to you so you could run the license plate."

"Hmm." He was silent for a moment as Paige sat seething in the chair across from him. He shrugged. "I can't really help you, Paige. Unless you can tell m if any of your students had a motive for killing Alison."

"Not that I know of. But I don't know much about their personal lives. All I know is that yesterday in that class was the only time I was without my phone. No one other than the stalker would have known about the picture or wanted it deleted. You have to admit it makes sense."

"Of course it makes sense. But we're at a dead end, Paige. We don't know who killed Alison and we can't arrest every single one of your students. And if you confront them saying you know one of them was in your phone, the culprit will feel threatened. The last thing you want is to make a murderer feel threatened."

Paige sighed, getting up. This had been a waste of her time.

"Thanks for your help."

"I'm sorry. I really am."

"Whatever. I have to go."

She left his office, shivering as she stepped into the chilly October air. She looked around for any sign of the black Honda before jogging to her own car, looking inside before getting in. Being overly cautious was just a normal part of her routine now.

She didn't care if Toby warned her against handling things on her own. She wanted this to be over, no matter how she had to make it happen. Both for her sake and for Emily.

A/N: So, I think this story is about ready to come to a close. Let me know if you would be interested in a sequel, because I do have something in mind. Thanks for the reviews!