Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter...The drunken saga continues. I whipped this chapter up today, so I apologize if there are any errors in it. I will go through it later and fix everything, but I wanted to get it up for you guys to read. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think, comments, concerns, suggestions, criticisms, etc.

Chapter 14

Emily awoke with a pounding headache the next morning. The room was still dark, but the blinds had been drawn shut. Emily glanced around…she wasn't in the clothes she went to party in, there was a trash can next to her bed, and Paige was fast asleep in the recliner next to her bed.

Emily felt a wave of embarrassment wash over. Paige must have stayed up all night taking care of her. She glanced over at her clock: 10:30am.

"Paige," she whispered. Paige stirred slightly but remained asleep. She squinted to get a closer at the mark on Paige's neck. A hickey! Who gave her that? "Paige!"

Paige jerked awake. It took a moment to figure out where she was. "What? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Paige asked, noticing that Emily was staring at her.

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus that was hit by a bus."

"Here, drink some water," Paige said, grabbing the water bottle that was resting on the night stand.

"What the hell happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" Paige asked sadly.

"It's all a blur, the last thing I remember was Shana slapping me. That happened, right?"

"Yeah…that happened" Paige chuckled.

"I guess she doesn't let things go."

"I guess not," Paige said, cracking a smile.

"I'm sorry if I was a mess last night."

"It's okay, at least I got to hear your rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and watch you break out some hidden dance moves."

"Oh god, really!" Emily cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Well it looks like you got your midnight kiss."

"What?" Paige asked confused. Emily pointed the hickey on Paige's neck. Paige's hands quickly shot up to cover the hickey. She forgot about that. "Oh…this…it's nothing."

"Oh sure," Emily joked, taking a swing of water. "Well whoever she is, she's probably better than Shana." There was an awkward silence. "Oh please tell me it wasn't Shana."

"What! Oh god No!" It was you Emily.

"Thank god!" Paige's heart sunk more and more and she realized that Emily's recollection of last night was gone. Emily on the other hand, felt like her heart had taken a hit. She knew that she shouldn't expect Paige to be hers, but she couldn't help feeling jealous that Paige had gotten a midnight kiss from someone.

"Yeah…"

"Thanks for taking care of me last night. I apologize if I ruined your clothes or anything."

"Anytime…and you didn't ruin anything. I just hope that you had fun last night, until…you know."

"Oh I had a blast. That was one of the most exciting parties that I've been to, besides getting slapped, hurling, and not remembering anything it was great."

Emily spent the rest of day in bed. Her hangover was the worst hangover that she had ever experience. She swore that she would never drink that much ever again. Paige brought her a hearty breakfast to help her stomach.

They spent most the afternoon watching movies. Paige left to milk the cows and tend to the horses, but came back just in to catch the end of the movie.

It was around 4:30pm, when they heard Paige's parents return from Atlanta. Emily tried to mask her hangover as best she could as they headed downstairs.

"Hey girl!" Christine said as they enter the kitchen.

"Hey mom."

"So how was your New Year's?"

"Pretty chilled. We grabbed a few pizzas and watched movies," Paige lied. Emily was shocked to hear Paige lie.

"That sounds lie fun! What did you guys watch?"

"More Disney movies than I can count," Paige joked.

Christine interrogated them for a few more minutes before deciding that they were telling the truth.

"Paige McCullers…lying to your mother. How shameful!" Emily said, pretending to be disappointed.

"Caught me," Paige said putting her hands up. "Trust me she would flip if she caught me drinking."

"Why's that?"

"Drinking and driving is a no go in Christine books, but I'm responsible."

"That you are."

"She's overprotective sometimes, but I can understand where it comes from."

"She almost lost you."

"I know, but enough with the sad parts…I'm just happy to be here."

"Well, that makes two of us," Emily smiled.

Paige wished that Emily remembered last night, but it was clear that she didn't. Paige kept replaying the events, but she was more focused on whether it was Emily talking or the alcohol. Some people say that alcohol brings out your true self and do things that you otherwise wouldn't. Maybe that's what happened to Emily, but she was didn't want to bring of something that Emily didn't even remember.

"Okay, what's up?" Emily asked, after she noticed that Paige had been spacing out for the past hour.

"What?" Paige said, bringing herself back into the moment.

"You've been spacing out for the past hour…"

"What?"

"See…" Emily said making her point.

"Sorry."

"What's up? I can literally see the wheels turning back there," Emily said moving her finger in front of Paige.

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Just…thinking…" Paige said plainly.

"Uh-huh, sure," Emily said, returning her attention back to the TV.

"Actually, I should probably go. I told Sydney that I'd help her try and peg Chris from Chemistry."

"Oh…Chris…really?"

"I guess so," Paige snickered. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, sounds good," Emily said. She wished that Paige wouldn't leave. She was still trying to make sense of last night, but she had a feeling that Paige wasn't telling her something. At first she thought that maybe she hooked up with someone, but she confirmed that she didn't. But Paige…Paige got some action from someone last night, which made Emily's heart ache just a little bit more.

Paige let out a frustrated sigh as her laid back on Sydney's bed. Sydney had cleaned the place up since last night, which surprised Paige.

"So…last night was crazy…" Sydney said, taking a seat next to Paige.

"Tell me about it," Paige said grabbing a pillow.

"I should have mentioned that Shana was coming."

"It's okay…it's not your fault…I kinda lost it…"

"She slapped Emily, which is a low blow even for my standards. She had no right to call you out like that."

"I guess I saw it coming. I just didn't want Emily to get involved."

"Yeah…well…shit happens," Sydney said, rolling over to face Paige. "But I sense there something else."

"After my fight with Shana, I came in and found Emily dancing on the table. Everything…it happened so fast…one minute people were starting the countdown and the next Emily was kissing me."

"Wait…Emily kissed you?"

"That's not even the worse part…she ended up drinking too much and ended hurling for hours."

"Oh…well that's a cold shower."

"No…that's not even my point."

"Wait…there's more?"

"I got her cleaned up after she stopped throwing up, and then one thing led to another-"

"She's the one who gave you that!" Sydney shouted pointing to the hickey. Paige nodded. "So she does have feelings for you!"

"She said that she liked me."

"Well that's great!"

"Yeah, only problem is that she doesn't remember anything from last night! The last thing she remembers was being slapped by Shana. She thinks that some random girl gave this to me last night."

"Oh…." Paige let out a muffed scream through the pillow.

"What do I do? Was it the alcohol talking or Emily?"

"Well…you know alcohol makes you…"

"…do things you wouldn't otherwise do…" Paige said completing Sydney's sentence. "So you think that Emily has feelings for me?"

"Well how heated did it get for you two last night?"

"I don't know…heated?"

"And she doesn't remember anything?"

"She says it's all a blur."

"So she might remember it with time?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Jesus…I didn't think that things could get worse."

"Yeah…you're really gotten yourself in a twist."

"Oh jezz…no shit Sherlock. Seriously Syd…what do I do? My hearts telling me one thing, but my minds telling me another."

"Well Emily must obviously have feeling for you that she's not willing to admit or is afraid to admit...don't push her. She needs to figure this out by herself."

"So I just don't tell her, and hopes that she remembers?"

"Got any other ideas?"

"No…" Paige groaned. "What is she never figures it out?"

"Well you two did manage to get action twice in one night so I have no doubt that you'll be waiting long."

"But what if I am…I can't take that."

"Okay, how about this…if Emily doesn't remember or figure 'it out' by the end of midterms …tell her."

"Just tell her…like everything?"

"Yeah. Paige, you can't torture yourself forever. It's better to know the truth that to keep telling yourself that it's the truth…You deserve to be happy."

Emily heard Paige climbing the stairs a little after midnight. She thought about getting up and talking to her, but she was too tired from the hangover to do anything. She just listened to the sound of Paige brushing her teeth.

Paige thought about popping into Emily's room to see if she needed, but her lights were off and she probably needed to get some rest before school tomorrow. She took a deep breath in, and admired the hickey in the mirror. Emily can really work wonders.

Paige went to bed content that night. She had a plan for once in her life, and even if it didn't go the way that she wanted…she still had a plan. Emily meant everything to her, and she had a feeling that she meant something to Emily.

Emily, for the first time since she got to Georgia, was ready before Paige was. Paige's door was still closed when Emily went into the bathroom, and she didn't hear Paige at all while she was getting ready. It was only when she was about to head downstairs that she heard Paige in the bathroom.

Paige scrambled to get ready that morning. She threw on jeans and a flannel, and choose a reasonable scarf to cover up the hickey, before throwing her hair into a messy bun.

"Someone's late," Emily laughed, when she saw Paige hurrying down the stairs.

"Sorry, I slept through my alarm. Ready?" Paige shouldered her swim bag and backpack before grabbing her keys.

"Lead the way," Emily said, following Paige out to her truck.

The ride to school was a silent one. Emily thought about trying to make simple talk, but Paige seemed to more focused on the road, then on wanting to talk. When they pulled into the school parking lot, Emily finally decided to break the silence.

"Everything okay?" Paige gave Emily a look of confusion.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Paige asked a little harsh than she meant.

"I don't know…you just seem a little out of it, I guess."

"Sorry…" Paige dipped her head. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately…I guess I was just spacing out."

"Okay…" Emily said, not entirely convinced by Paige's answer, but she decided not to push. "Well, I'm here if you want to talk or anything."

"I know," Paige said, before getting out of the car. "This is something that I have to figure out on my own."

"Okay."

"Here," Paige said tossing her keys in Emily's direction. "I have practice after school, but I'll hitch a ride from Syd."

"Okay."

They made their way into the building before parting down opposite hallways. Emily couldn't wrap her mind around what might be bothering Paige. She tried to think back to that night but everything was a blur. She remembered bits and pieces, but she couldn't make sense of them. Had something happened at the party to make Paige be this way? She didn't know, but she was determined to find out.

When lunch came around, she took her usual place and waited for Sam to appear. She remembered playing Kings with Sam before everything happened, so maybe she might be able to help put the pieces together from that night.

"Wow, Em, surprised to see that you're still alive," Sam said, taking a seat next to Emily.

"I don't know about that. I still feel like I got hit by a bus."

"I bet," Sam laughed. "I don't think that I've ever seen anyone drink as much as you did."

"I don't think that I'll ever drink that much ever again…" Emily said, rubbing her temples. "I need your help though."

"Everything, okay?"

"I don't know. I don't remember anything from that night. It's all a blur. I asked Paige about it, but I think she's holding something back from me."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm trying to remember."

"Okay, well what's the last thing that you remember?"

"Shana coming in slapping me, and then me reaching for that handle. After that…it's a big ass blur."

"Well okay…" Sam said rapping her brains. "Paige took Shana outside, and they started arguing and then Sydney went out to break them up. By that time, you were on the table dancing your ass off."

"Oh god," Emily said, letting her head fall into her hands. "I feel like an idiot."

"Don't worry, I think people were more preoccupied with finding someone to kiss when the clock struck twelve."

"What happened next?"

"Paige came back into the house looking for you, and then she tried to get you off the table."

Slowly memories were starting to come back to her. She remember Paige pulling her off the table, and getting her back on the ground, but it was still blurred. "What happened next?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I was getting my own midnight kiss. The last time I saw you…you were running out of the house with your hand over your mouth like you were about the throw up."

"That's probably because I was…" Emily mumbled.

"Hey…don't worry. These things come back with time. I've known Paige for a long time…if she doesn't want to tell you something…it's probably for a good reason…but all you have to do it ask, and she just might tell."

Emily thought about Sam's words. Maybe she should just go straight up to Paige and asked her what happened that night. She wondered if she'd been kissed at the stroke of twelve; there was a minute that she couldn't account for. She thought about what Paige had said, that she did kiss someone, but it only made sense if…

"Holy shit…" Emily whispered, her eyes widening.

"What?"

"I-I think I kissed Paige…"