A/N: Sorry for the long wait everyone. I thought with Season 7 starting now it was time to actually get them out of Season 5 so I'm going to try to move the story along quicker, but it might be a little hard without leaving out stuff. If that's what I wind up doing, my apologies. Enjoy, and please leave a reply.

Alex's POV

I walked into the carnival with Paige and rolled my eyes at the cheesy atmosphere. I'd gone to the Degrassi fair every year, and every year I made fun of it ruthlessly. I looked at Paige surveying the scene and was amused to find her looking slightly dissatisfied.

"Tell me again why we can't just go off by ourselves somewhere and makeout like good couples do." I whispered in her ear making her jump a bit.

She turned to me and grabbed my hand gently. I couldn't see her eyes because of her sunglasses so it was impossible to tell what she was feeling at the moment.

"Alex, we don't have to stay long but you know that I have to put in an appearance to these kinds of things."

"Kind of like Queen Elizabeth? Gotta show up, get some photo ops, throw out some moralizing words and hope the public still reveres you before going home? Do you have your key to the city yet?" I was smirking a bit. I was just playing but my girlfriend was looking less than amused.

"If you'd like to go you're more than welcome to." She said releasing my hand and beginning to walk away.

I sighed knowing somewhere in what I said I had managed to wound her. I reached out and grabbed her by her belt loops pulling her back to me. Using one hand to keep ahold of her belt loop I wrapped my other arm around her waist and tickled her stomach. She jumped and backed up even closer to me.

"Alex! Stop it." She hissed swatting ineffectually at my dancing fingers.

I kept tickling her until she squirmed against me and let out a faint chuckle. I noticed in our brief struggle her hair in the back had moved away from her neck and I leaned into nuzzle the exposed skin I found.

Leaning into me further Paige grabbed my my hand, stilling it and wrapped it tightly around her waist. I let go of her belt loop and embraced her fully.

I saw people walking by us and it seemed like everyone was staring. Some out of curiosity, some out of contempt. Others looked at us and glared at me in obvious jealousy, even a few girls. I saw a few look at Paige the same way. I glared back at them all hoping to put some fear into them so they would leave us alone.

"Lexi stop glaring it's only going to make them stare more." Paige said as she traced a pattern on the back of my hand.

So Paige noticed it as well. Should've guessed really; she's not as oblivious as people tend to think she is.

"This is kind of why I don't want to be here Paigey." I whispered using her nickname in response to her using mine.

"Oh I see." She said turning to face me. "You're ashamed to be seen with me in public. Fine, go home. I'll call you later I guess and then we can sneak around in dark corners holding hands and letting go the minute we hear someone coming."

She seemed genuinely upset by this. I leaned in and placed my hand on the back of her neck and pulled her to my lips. It was a slow, open mouthed kiss that left us both breathless when I finally pulled away.

"I'm not ashamed Paige." I said and then smiled at the reversed sense of deja vu I was feeling.

Paige took off her sunglasses and I was afforded the full view of her face. As always my heart started beating even faster when I looked at her.

"Take off the glasses Alex." She requested lowly.

I couldn't help but comply and as I did I was struck once more by how gorgeous my girlfriend was. Seeming to read my thoughts she leaned in and gave me a brief kiss and whispered,

"You're beautiful."

I closed my eyes for a moment and sighed in contentment. As I opened my eyes again Paige lifted my chin with her fingers so I was looking directly into her jade green orbs.

"Look at me Alex, don't look at anyone else just look at me." Again I was helpless to disobey. "Now tell me, what do you see Alex? Do you see anyone else? Anyone else that matters at all?"

I shook my head, whenever I got lost in her like this there truly was no one else in the world besides us.

"Good, just keep that mindset and we'll be fine today." She turned and placed her shades back on and began to walk away. She stopped, however, when she realized I wasn't following.

"Aleeex." She whined dragged out my name and stomped back over to me.

"I really hate fairs Paige. I mean the corny music, the rigged games. Hordes of undersupervised children running amok. It's chaos and not the fun kind."

"Come on, it'll be fun. Please Lex-" She cut herself off from begging. An odd look crossed over her features before she shook her head.

"You really don't want to be here?" She asked and I shook my head "no". "Alright then, let's go."

For the second time that day I found myself grabbing her from behind and pulling her against me.

"What was that?" I asked turning her to face me again.

"I agreed to go because you don't want to be here." I shook my head knowing she wasn't being fully honest with me.

"Paige come on, talk to me. I have never seen you give up the chance to con me into doing something I didn't want to." I paused for a moment before continuing with a slightly devilish smirk. "Of course I'm always duly rewarded for my sacrifice." My smirk faded as I got serious again.

"So what happened? One second you're about to needle me and the next you do a complete 180."

She sighed and looked at her shoes. "You're going to think I'm stupid."

"Never."

Sensing my sincerity she looked back up at me.

"I caught myself about to do something I swore I never would."

I raised my eyebrow encouraging her to continue.

"I was about to call you Lexi."

"Paigey, you call me Lexi all the time." I stated confused by this turn of events.

"I know, but not when I'm trying to talk you into something."

I had noticed that actually. She never called me Lexi when trying to cajole me into something. It was always Alex.

"Why not?"

"I didn't want to be like Jay." She said as she looked back down at her shoes and used one hand to fiddle with the bottom of my tanktop.

I laughed softly and her head shot up so she could scowl at me.

"See, I knew you'd think I was stupid."

"I don't think you're stupid Paige. But," I pulled her into a hug and rested my head against hers. "how on earth could you think you could ever be anything like Jay?"

"Because I used to hear him all the time calling you "Lexi" whenever he wanted you to do something. Like he was using that familiarity against you like a weapon or something. And I swore to myself after we became friends that I wouldn't ever do that and then just now-"

I cut her off by putting my finger over her lips.

"Come on, the carnival awaits us." I said grabbing her hand in mine and walking in the direction of the crowds.

"But Alex, I thought you didn't want to be here. With the chaos and the people staring."

I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and put my sunglasses back on with a smile.

"You're the only people I see Paigey."

I squeezed her hand and she seemed to get that I wasn't going to elaborate further. The truth was, I would have gone into the fair if she'd needled me hard enough. I probably would have even had fun since I was with her and it was impossible to not have fun when she was around. But her admission made me want to do this for her.

As we neared the center of the fair I caught sight of Spinner soaking wet with a towel around his neck. He paused and held up some leaflets to show us.

"Girls could I interest you in this interesting pamphlet about Jesus?" He smiled in a way that made me think of a used car salesman.

"Um Spinner may I suggest methadone to uh kick the Christian habit?" Paige replied folding her arms across her chest.

"It's not a habit Paige. It's for life and beyond." He said as he turned and left us.

I felt bad for the guy. All of his friends dumping him after the shooting. And now the only people he had to turn to were the brainwashed "Friendship Club".

I looked at Paige as she watched Spinner's retreat. Her mouth was set in a firm line but I knew behind her sunglasses her eyes were sad. Like they always were when she thought about that day.

The day we never talked about. I tried to once but she cut me off. She pulled me into a fierce kiss that led to a rather lengthy makeout session. When we'd stopped for a moment I looked down at her and saw the look in her eyes. What I saw there told me I would never be able to verbalize the truth to her. She knew I had to have had some hand in what happened to Rick, after all Spinner and Jay were involved and as I had once been in their crew it wasn't hard for her to figure out I'd helped. And I knew that if I said it out loud she would turn away from me like she had from Spinner. Not because she didn't care, but because of the loyalty she felt towards Jimmy. The fact that she stopped me from talking about it told me something else.

She didn't want to let me go.

"Come on Paigey. I hear a corndog calling my name."

Two Hours Later

We left the carnival laughing. One of her hands in mine, the other clutching a three foot tall gorilla I had won for her in the other. The gorilla was hideous, as all carnival prizes are. It had hot pink fur with a day-glo orange chest and its eyes were put on so it looked cross eyed and angry. But Paige seemed happy with it. She had named him Gorgeous George. Sometimes I just didn't understand that girl.

A few days later Paige and I were helping Marco out at the safer sex seminar. We had gotten everything set up and were just getting started when voices pulled our attention to the door. There we saw Spinner leading the Asshole Brigade, sporting signs and shouting about abstinence.

"Abstinence equals safe sex." Spinner said lifting his sign above his head and reminding me suspiciously of that gorilla I won for Paige.

Marco ran over to him in a panic. "What are you doing? Are you out of your mind? What are you doing here with signs?"

"We have the right to protest." Spinner said getting so close to Marco's face I almost thought he was going to kiss him.

"Like you have the faintest idea what you're protesting." Paige piped up walking over to give them all her patented Michalchuk-Deathglare.

"We're just trying to educate people." Tim, Marco's former almost boyfriend said coming forward.

"You're promoting promiscuity." Linus said adopting an air of superiority.

"You're promoting stupidity" I said stepping towards him flicking a towel I had over my shoulder in his face..

Ellie rolled her eyes and shot at him, "You think it's better that people have unwanted babies?"

"I think it's better if people don't have sex unless they're married." The sanctimony continued.

Marco tried desperately to keep the peace and not disrupt the seminar or cause a bigger scene.

"Stop. Look just leave us alone. Go home, go to church, do whatever!"

"Why don't you try going to church?" Linus said giving Marco a look that made me want to hit him.

"I do. Every Sunday." Marco fired back pulling his cross out from under his shirt.

"They let you in?" Seriously, I wanted to deck the guy so badly.

Where the hell did he get off judging anybody? Especially when he preached against that very thing.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Marco's not stupid, he knew what he meant. But he was also pissed and wanted Linus to make an ass out of himself.

"I think you know exactly what it means. The bible's clear about sexual deviancy." Did he just call Marco a deviant? And actually for that matter he called me and Paige that if you thought about it. Not cool.

Paige and I walked a bit further behind everyone else. I wasn't hiding, but I could tell things were only going to get uglier from there so I wanted to move Paige away from it if possible.

"What?! Who is this bigoted freak?!" Marco was beside himself now.

"So I'm a freak? It's better than being a homo." Ok, the guy seriously needed someone to pull his tongue out.

I heard Paige gasp and I glanced sharply at her but saw her eyes were blazing with anger.

"Woah guys. Take it easy." Spinner said getting between them and trying to calm things down.

"No Spinner shut up. You and your friend just go to hell." Marco turned his back on them but stopped at Linus's next words.

"So we can visit you fag?" I tensed up and felt Paige recoiling next to me.

Marco turned and decked Linus in the jaw. Suddenly, sweet Marco was an angry Italian kid that wasn't going to take shit off of some "Holy Roller".

I made a move to go help him but Paige grabbed onto my arm stilling me. I turned to look at her and her eyes were panicked, begging me not to go. I backed up a step and put my arm in front of her to keep her safe if things got to close.

It took both spinner and Tim to pull Marco off of Linus and the snarky little bastard got up holding a hand to his jaw.

"Don't let them corrupt you Spinner. It's what they do."

They? They who? I wondered still standing protectively in front of Paige. Her hand gripped my hip and I felt her squeeze a bit as she tried to keep her own temper in check.

"Linus if I were you I would start walking now." Spinner said getting in Linus's face. He was obviously pissed. This was clearly not what he had intended to have happen.

Linus left the way he came and Marco stormed off to try and cool down. Before he left as well, Spinner shot the rest of us an apologetic look.

The rest of the seminar went off without a hitch. Marco came back after about twenty minutes, but it was pretty obvious he was still upset. Paige left my side long enough to walk over to him and run her hand down his arm. He turned to face her and welcomed the support and comfort she was offering him. Their arms wrapped tightly around one another and she just held him for awhile before pulling back and giving him a fleeting kiss on the cheek. She looked back at me and then spoke to him. I knew she was telling him that she and I needed to go. Marco nodded and took Paige's hand giving a quick squeeze to show his gratitude.

She came back to stand by me and without any words we just walked out of the seminar and then out of the building. I took her hand in mine and interlaced our fingers. We were quiet for some time. Both mulling over the day's events. And I was struck with the notion that it was time to finally discuss something that had been on my mind for some time now.

After about twenty minutes of walking down Degrassi Street I pulled Paige onto a gravel road and into a small wooded area. We were both more than familiar with this place. I walked with her to what I had come to consider our bridge and leaned on the railing over looking the water. I rested my arms on the warm wood and took my sunglasses off as we were now well shaded by trees. Paige, too, removed her shades but chose instead to lean her back against the railing. She looked down at me and I could tell she knew something was on my mind. She didn't ask, just kept her gaze steady on me, waiting until I was ready to speak.

"Today kind of sucked didn't it?" I asked as I looked back at her.

"Only for a little bit. I mean where does that jerk get off calling anyone a deviant? I mean to think about him talking about Marco and Tim and Dylan that way."

"And us." I said quietly.

She seemed surprised for a moment. But the surprise slowly faded and I saw her force herself to try to relax.

"He didn't seem to be openly attacking us." She replied quietly.

"Yeah, I know. I wonder why."

She smirked at me and placed her hand against my face tracing my jaw lightly.

"Because who wants to mess with the resident Bad Ass and her girlfriend Queen of Degrassi?"

I laughed, but only for a moment before stilling her hand and gazing at her seriously.

"Be serious. Why do you think people are so willing to be openly hateful to Marco but leave us alone. I mean yeah they stare and some whisper, but it's not the same."

Paige withdrew her hand and folded her arms over her chest. She seemed to contemplate the question before coming to an answer.

"Because for most people when two guys kiss, it's disgusting and against "God's Laws." She said doing the floaty finger quotations. She turned back and looked at me more solemnly than I had ever seen before continuing.

"But with us, with girls in general, when people see us kiss they either think it's hot or they can write it off as a phase. An experiment."

I nodded slowly knowing she was right. I also knew that now was the time to tell her.

"It's not an experiment for me."

She misunderstood me and cocked her head to the side. The look she gave me was adoring and sincere.

"It's not an experiment for me either." She said as though trying to reassure me.

I shook my head and stood up walking to stand in front of her.

"No, that's not what I mean Paige." I stopped and sighed, trying to gather my thoughts.

I felt her hands on my waist and she waited calmly for me to continue.

"If we," I swallowed not even wanting to complete this thought. "if we end, Paige, I won't be going back to dating guys." I swallowed nervously again and spit out what was on my mind before I could chicken out. Although why I was so nervous saying it I had no idea. "I'm a lesbian."

"Ok." She stated simply.

"Ok? I tell you I'm gay and all you can say is ok?" I asked incredulous.

Paige raised an eyebrow at me and smirked a bit.

"Is this the Dr, Suess version of coming out of the closet?"

"Paige I'm serious."

"Well it certainly negates part of our conversation in the laneway."

"Paige!"

She sighed and leaned her forehead against mine.

"Alex, it's alright. Coming out to me shouldn't be a big deal. I'm your girlfriend after all. I mean come on, we've felt each other up for God's sake. I'd say that qualifies us for not freaking out about one of us being gay."

"It's just...you're the first person I've told." I shrugged lamely.

Paige darted in and kissed me softly.

"And I appreciate that Alex, I really do. I have a gay brother and a gay best friend. It's not going to surprise or upset me to know that my girlfriend is gay too." I giggled in spite of myself but sobered quickly.

"Am I going to have to come out to other people?"

"Only if you want to and only when you feel comfortable." Paige said brushing a strand of hair behind my ear.

"What about you?" I ask, genuinely curious now that we were on the topic.

"I'm still not gay Alex."

"Ok, so you're not gay and this isn't an experiment. So what-" She cut me off with a hand on my mouth.

"Does it matter?"

I stared into suddenly sky blue eyes and found myself getting lost in the open look she was giving me. When she looked at me like that nothing in the world mattered but her.

"Not at all." I whispered before kissing her.

TBC

A/N: I'm aware of how serious this chapter was. I thought it was important to address a few things about the Palex relationship so that we could move on and further explore other aspects without continuously wondering about this or that. In other words, this is all stuff I've been wondering about so I crammed it all into one chapter so I didn't keep driving myself crazy.