Chapter 14
A/N: I know, another ridiculously long wait again for this one and I am genuinely so sorry about that. However I am officially off of school for the summer so the updates should go back to being regular. To make it up to you guys this chapter is a little longer than usual so similar to the last one it's kind of a two in one deal. Thanks for being patient and understanding (or at least pretending to be). Hope you all like the new chapter, as always feel free to leave a review (good or bad). Thanks again for everything, enjoy :)
The alarm from Emily's phone blared through the room in the early hours of the morning, the sky outside still dark. The offensive noise was followed by a displeased groan from the brunette next to her, Emily sleepily rolling over, reaching out and stopping the alarm. Emily rolled back over onto her back and stretched her legs out under the sheets, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Paige's head before going to slip out of bed.
"Mmm." Paige grumbled, reaching blindly for the woman next to her, "No." She murmured sleepily.
Emily easily could have slipped out of the loose grip that Paige had on her but stopped and turned back to face Paige, "I have to get ready to go." Paige's grip instantly tightened, nothing but a small whine coming from her lips causing Emily to giggle lightly, "Go back to sleep. We don't have to leave for a while." Emily offered, running her fingers gently down Paige's jaw, "I'll wake you up in a little bit."
Paige seemed pleased with that, letting her arms fall from Emily as she buried the side of her face back into the pillow with a yawn, pulling the sheets back up over her shoulders snuggly.
Emily climbed out of bed slowly, moving into the bathroom to shower before getting dressed. Taking her time to make her way downstairs, maneuvering through the kitchen in the dim light to make coffee and a little something to eat, hoping it would be enough to hold her over for most of the morning. Eventually she made her way back up to Paige's room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to Paige.
"Paige, we have to leave soon." Emily said gently, shaking the woman's shoulder. Paige's eyes drifted open to meet Emily's face, a small smile planted on her lips, "Morning." Emily said, smile growing at the small pout that emerged on Paige's face.
"I didn't want it to be morning yet." The brunette stated, wrapping her arms loosely around Emily's hips as she looked up at her.
Emily chuckled at her drooping eyelids, "I know." She said softly, "Me either. But if you don't get up soon I'm going to miss my flight."
"Would that be so bad?" Paige asked with a raised eyebrow.
"The sooner I go back to New York to get my stuff, the sooner I can come back here." Emily explained, "So yes, it would be so bad." She added playfully.
"Well when you put it like that, I guess it doesn't sound so bad." Paige conceded, sitting up slowly and rubbing the sleep from her eyes before leaning in to peck Emily's lips, "Morning."
Emily hummed in approval as Paige's lips met hers again for a short kiss, "This is never going to get old." She sighed happily, smiling at the brunette in front of her.
"I'm going to miss waking up with you." Paige offered honestly.
"That all you're going to miss?" Emily asked, biting her lip, a playful glint in her eyes that made Paige never want to let the woman out of her bedroom.
"No." Paige said with a sly smile, leaning further into Emily and forcing her to lean back on the bed a little as she ghosted her lips over Emily's neck, "I'm also going to miss those chocolate chip pancakes you've been making me every morning."
Emily rolled her eyes at the comment, shoving Paige away from her lightly. The brunette let her body fall back on the bed away from Emily despite the weak shove, letting out a small chuckle.
"I'm going to remember that when I get back." Emily said teasingly as she stood up off the bed, narrowing her eyes at Paige.
The brunette got out of bed and followed Emily to the other end of the room, "I don't want you to go." Paige whispered as she wrapped her arms around Emily's waist from behind, letting her lips kiss the skin on the back of the tan skin of Emily's neck.
Emily turned in Paige's arms, smiling sadly at her, "I'll be back soon." She promised, "It's only four days."
"I know." Paige said, her chin dropping down to her chest, "It's just that I just got you back." She confessed, "I don't want to let you go yet."
Emily could understand that fully. She felt the same way.
"It'll go by quick." She said, letting her hand slide up and down the side of Paige's torso comfortingly, "And I'll call you every day." She added, "I'm going to call and text you so much that you're going to get tired of me." She joked, trying her best to lighten the mood a little.
"Not possible." Paige said, lifting her head up to look at Emily again.
Emily couldn't help the wide smile that grew on her face at the sincerity she heard in Paige's voice, the comment making her heart swell in a way it hadn't in a long time.
Their lips connected in a passionate kiss for a few moments, hands sliding across bodies in a practiced way, both aware that it would be their last chance to be alone like this for the next few days.
"Come on." Emily said as she finally pulled away, "We're going to be late if you don't get dressed."
Paige sighed, pecking Emily's lips one last time before moving to grab some clothes and changing quickly, jogging down the stairs to meet Emily in the living room. They gathered some of Emily's things that had been strewn about the house in the last week since she had practically been living at the lake house with Paige before making their way out to Paige's truck where Emily's things had been loaded the previous night.
The drive to the airport went by way faster than either of them expected and before they knew it Paige had unloaded Emily's things from the truck, walked her through the airport, and they had reached the gate where they were going to be forced to part. Emily stopped and turned to face Paige who had a death grip on her hand and a sad look on her face.
Emily squeezed the brunette's hand as she stepped into her personal space, "I'm going to miss you." Emily repeated again, both of the two women having already shared the words far too many times throughout the course of the morning.
Paige nodded as she let go of Emily's hand and pulled the woman she loved in for a hug. Emily didn't hesitate to wrap her arms tightly around Paige's waist, burying her head in the crook of Paige's neck. Emily inhaled deeply, trying her best to keep her tears at bay, feeling ridiculous for feeling like this when they were only going to be apart for four days.
Paige pressed her lips against the top of Emily's head, letting them linger a little longer than usual before pulling away enough to look at Emily, "Promise you'll come back this time?"
The words surprised Emily, making her swallow, tears definitely falling this time as she nodded surely, "Promise." She said, leaning in to connect their lips, "I'll always come back to you." She swore against Paige's lips, "Always."
Paige kissed Emily one more time before she let her go, "Call me when you land?" She said, bringing her hand up to scratch anxiously at the back of her neck.
Emily couldn't help the giggle that slipped from her lips at the familiar action, "As soon as the wheels hit the ground." She promised.
Paige was pleased with that, "Alright well you better go." She said, gesturing to the security line that hadn't seemed to be going down at all.
Emily looked over her shoulder briefly, nodding as she returned her eyes to Paige, "I love you." She said, wrapping Paige in a quick hug again.
"I love you too." She said, smiling as she watched Emily grab her bags and hesitantly get in the line off to the side of them.
Paige stood off to the side, out of everyone's way, and watched Emily as she made her way towards the front of the line and through security. Waving at her one last time as she turned to look over her shoulder, their eyes meeting briefly before Emily disappeared into the crowd of people and around a corner. Paige sighed deeply as she turned around, making her way back to her truck alone.
…..
(Age 7)
Paige had been sitting in front of the window that overlooked the front of the house for the majority of the day, waiting quite impatiently for the little girl who happened to be her age that her dad told her about to arrive. The McCullers had just gotten to the lake house a couple of days ago and she couldn't help but be thrilled at the prospect of having a friend to play with this summer rather than spending it alone like she had feared when her parents told her they were coming here for the summer.
"Dad someone's here!" Paige yelled, eyes glued to the car turning into the long driveway, immediately jumping up from her spot on the window and shooting across the room towards her father.
Nick smiled at his daughter as she grabbed onto his leg to get his attention, peaking over his shoulder to look out the window, "Excited?" He humored her. Paige nodded absentmindedly, her eyes already back towards the window although she couldn't see much from this angle, "Why don't we go say hello?"
Paige grabbed her dads hand with a nod and walked to the front door with him, the man leading her out onto the porch and down towards the Field's car. Paige watched as her dad greeted the two adults, a little boy in the woman's arms, but her attention was quickly on the little girl with tan skin climbing out of the back seat. Paige waved shyly when the girl gazed at her curiously, not getting much of a reaction but still bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement anyways.
"This is my daughter Paige." Nick introduced when the Field's had gathered themselves and were standing in front of him and Paige.
"This is Emily." Pam said, hand on Emily's back pushing her gently forwards.
Paige smiled at the girl when she lifted her hand up in a hesitant wave, "Hi." Paige said with excitement clear in her voice.
"Why don't you all come in, I was just about to throw some food on the grill." Nick said, already making a movement to return to the house.
The Field's followed him into the house, everyone being introduced to the few people that had currently been over at the McCullers house before settling into easy conversation. Emily and Paige both had wandered outside with a group of the people after being encouraged to play outside with one another by their parents.
Paige stood next to Emily, a little ways away from where everyone else was gathered, who was sitting cross legged on the grass as she stared out into the lake, her eyes glancing back towards the small crowd of people hovering by the grill and porch to make sure her parents didn't go too far.
"We can ride bikes." Paige suggested out of nowhere trying to think of something to do, causing Emily's curious eyes to land on her, "I got a new one for my birthday." Paige stated proudly, gesturing over to a shiny red bike perched on its kickstand in the driveway.
Emily simply shook her head, "Mine's at home."
Paige nodded quickly in understanding, her eyebrows pulling together for a moment before they relaxed, "We can go swimming."
Emily looked out to the lake again, "I can't swim."
Paige's shoulders dropped at that, frowning as her shoes kicked at the ground, "Oh." She said, pausing again briefly before speaking back up, "We can just put our feet in." She tried again with a shrug.
Emily shook her head again, "My mom says I'm not supposed to go near the water."
"Oh." Paige said sighing as she gave up and laid down on the ground on her stomach next to Emily, "Well my dad says I'm not supposed to go near the lake at night." She said looking out at the water.
"Why not?"
"He says there are snakes in there." She answered quickly, happy to get a response from Emily, "He says they only come out at night though and if you're not careful than one could bite your foot right off." Paige stated enthusiastically, having currently been going through a phase of loving reptiles, the prospect of something lurking in the lake outside her house seeming cool to her.
"That's not true." Emily deadpanned, immediately making Paige's smile drop.
"Is too." Paige disagreed with a sure nod of her head, "You ever heard of lake monsters?" Paige asked before gesturing to the lake, "That's a lake." She informed seriously, "Right there." She emphasized by pointing to the lake.
"Monsters aren't real." Emily stated defiantly.
"How would you know?"
Emily shrugged, "My mom and dad say so."
Paige frowned, "Well my dad says something different." She argued, Emily not countering, leaving them in silence for a few moments. Paige picked at the grass in front of her, sighing heavily before she spoke again, "My dad said you were going to be fun." She huffed, clearly disappointed with what her supposed new friend turned out to be.
"I am fun." Emily argued loudly, frowning deeply at Paige's comment.
"He said we were going to be friends but you don't even want to do anything." Paige pushed herself up from the ground to stand with her arms crossed over her chest.
"I already have friends." Emily shot back at the little girl.
Paige looked down at her shoes, she didn't have a lot of friends. Even back at home there weren't a lot of kids her age on the street they lived on and she spent a lot of her time at school alone, not really liking the same thing as the other girls in her class and the boys who did do stuff she liked didn't want to let her play with them.
"You're mean." Paige stated, turning and stomping away from Emily and towards her bike on the other side of the yard.
"Am not." Emily said as she followed suddenly feeling like she had something to prove to the other little girl walking away from her.
"Are too." Paige yelled without looking back at Emily, finally reaching her bike and turning to look at Emily who had stopped next to her, "I don't want to be your friend anymore."
Without thinking Emily reached out and shoved the young girl harshly causing Paige to fall backwards barely missing her bike and falling against a large patch of dirt that sat next to the driveway. Looking up at Emily from the ground for a brief second with a quivering pout before her head was thrown back and a loud wail escaped Paige's mouth.
Emily's panicked eyes darted up towards where the adults were to see Paige's father already jogging towards them, Wayne not far behind him.
"What happened?" Nick asked softly as he reached Paige and leaned down to pick her up.
"She pushed me." Paige cried with narrowed eyes, pointing a firm accusatory finger in Emily's direction as she buried herself deeper into Nick's arms.
"Emily?" Wayne's firm voice made Emily look down, her hands locked together behind her back. Wayne sighed when his little girl didn't say anything, "Emily we don't do that." Wayne scolded mildly, bending down to kneel beside her, "Tell Paige you're sorry."
Emily now had a pout of her own on her face as she brought her arms to the front of her body crossing them over her chest, "Sorry." She grumbled, looking at Paige who had stopped crying despite the harsh quivering of her lip still going as she breathed heavily.
Wayne looked over apologetically at Nick who simply waved him off, "She's fine, don't worry about it." Nick said, shifting Paige in his arms, "We'll get her a popsicle and she'll feel good as new, right P?" Nick asked encouragingly, bringing his free hand up to squeeze at her tummy easily sending the girl into a fit of giggles as she squirmed in his arms.
…..
"Hey." Paige greeted with a smile on her face. She had waited quite impatiently for the call to come, having tried to occupy herself for most of the day but failing miserably to get her mind off of Emily, "Get there okay?"
"Yeah." Emily's voice came through the phone, "Sorry I didn't call sooner, the airport was in complete chaos so I just figured I'd wait to call you when I got back to my apartment."
"Well I'm glad you got there safely." Paige said, moving to lay back on the couch. Paige could hear shuffling on Emily's end of the phone and felt her lips tug upward when she heard a muffled crash and a frustrated huff from Emily, "Everything okay over there? You sound like you're battling a monster." Paige teased, "And it doesn't sound like you are winning."
"Ha ha, you're hilarious." Emily said and Paige could practically see Emily rolling her eyes through the phone, "Haven't you heard? Monsters aren't real." This time Paige rolled her eyes but didn't argue, "I just genuinely forgot how small this stupid apartment was and I have stuff absolutely everywhere."
"You should've just let me come with you Em." Paige debated, "I could've helped you pack up all your stuff. We both know I'm the muscle of this relationship."
"I can hold my own McCullers. Never forget it."
Paige chuckled, "Okay Em."
"Oh hold on one sec, okay?" Emily cut in quickly before Paige could get anything else out.
Paige nodded her head despite Emily not being able to see her. She could hear more shuffling around and what she was guessing was the jostling of a lock followed by an opening door. She listened closely as she heard Emily's muffled voice, clearly away from her phone, someone else's voice responding to her. Paige waited patiently, sighing when Emily took a while to return to the phone.
"Hey sorry about that." Emily's voice was suddenly back in her ear.
"No problem." Paige said, "Who was that?"
"What?" Emily asked a little distracted, "Who?"
"Whoever you were talking to?"
"Oh, no one." Emily responded quickly waving it off as nothing, "I just got one of the girls who lives down the way to help me out."
"Isn't it getting late over there?" Paige asked glancing over at the clock that was hanging on the wall.
"It's only a little past 8." She said, "Plus you can get anyone to do anything if you offer to order food. Literally the only thing I'm going to miss about New York is that Chinese food place a couple blocks down. I ordered some as soon as I got to the apartment. It's so good it's made me consider staying here."
The joke fell flat but Paige went with it anyway, "Don't get any ideas."
"You're far better than anything I can find here." Emily said and Paige could tell she meant it by the way all the shuffling in the background stopped and Emily's tone softened.
Paige smiled but it quickly dropped when she heard a weird noise followed by someone's voice in the background say something she couldn't understand before Emily's giggling filled her ears, "Are you sure you need to even be packing tonight, you just got there."
"I only have four days. And I have to go into the office a couple times to wrap some things up so really I don't have all that much time to get all of my stuff together and shipped out to my parents' house."
Paige nodded in understanding, "Yeah I guess. Must be a good friend to come over and help out."
"Paige."
"What I was just saying." Paige heard Emily sigh and the voice in the background came through a little clearer and Paige sat up, her brows furrowing as she focused in on the voice, "Emily who is that?" She asked, thinking she already knew the answer.
"The girl from down the way." Emily answered, "I already told you that."
"You mean Katie?" Paige asked and it came out a little harsher than she ever intended but when Emily didn't say anything she couldn't help but feel a little angry.
"She's just helping me pack some of my stuff." Emily sighed, "That's all. She had some of my stuff over at her place and she was going to drop it off anyways, I thought I could use an extra set of hands while she was here."
"And dinner was necessary too?"
"I don't want to fight with you right now." Emily said, "It's not that big of a deal. You hang out with Sam all the time, I didn't think you'd care."
"Well I'll leave you two to it then." Paige said, irritation fueling her more than anything.
"Paige come on. I-"
"I'll talk to you later." Paige pushed in, hearing Emily's voice speak up again as she pulled the phone away from her ear but she ended the call before Emily had a chance to say anything else to her.
…..
(Age 7)
Despite their rough start, the two girls had quickly become the best friend either of them had ever had after Nick had asked Wayne to come down and help him make some small repairs to the house and having brought Emily along with him. Emily had been sent up to Paige's room where she found the brunette sitting in the corner of her bed with a pad of paper in her lap, color pencils spewed messily across the bed in front of her. Paige had reluctantly let Emily join her on the bed, surprised when Emily scooted close to her to peak at what she was doing.
"What is that?"
"You wouldn't like it." Paige murmured, tilting the paper away from Emily warily.
Emily looked up at Paige, "I'm sorry I pushed you." She said drawing Paige's attention.
"Really?"
Emily nodded, "You're right, I was mean." Paige stared at Emily for a moment considering if the other girl was really sorry before smiling and tilting the paper in her lap to face Emily, "What is it?" Emily asked.
"It's the lake monster I was telling you about." Paige informed, tongue poking out of her mouth as she put the green colored pencil in her hand back to the paper to color in the remaining colorless spaces of the large green serpent coming out of the lake.
"I thought you said it was just a snake." Emily said, suddenly intrigued by the what looked to be more of some type of dinosaur than snake that Paige had created.
Paige tilted her head as she looked down at her picture, "Snakes can be big, can't they?" She asked, a crinkle forming between her eyes as she studied her picture, "And monsters are supposed to have big teeth. You know, so they can eat things." She reasoned.
The simple explanation was enough for Emily who agreed, smiling when she noticed the small figure standing on what she assumed was the dock that went out into the lake outside the McCullers house, "Is that you?"
Paige nodded proudly, smirk firmly planted on her face as she looked over at Emily, "I have a sword to slay the monster." She said pointing to the jagged sword she had drawn in her own hand, "You wanna be in it?" Paige asked, looking over hopefully at Emily.
"Really?" Emily asked excitedly.
Paige nodded, already looking through the colored pencils to find the right one before making her selection and putting it to paper, "Every hero needs someone to save." Paige stated as if it was obvious, solely focused on her creation.
Emily watched as a new figure was formed, smiling widely as Paige drew a rough version of Emily standing behind the figure that was supposed to be herself, "There." Paige approved as she pulled the paper away from her a little so they could both look at it, "Now you don't have to worry about the monster. You have me to save you from it."
Emily smiled, Paige handing her a fresh piece of paper, encouraging her to draw another scene from the story they were creating surrounding the two of them and the pesky lake monster that Paige's dad had created when they moved here to keep his daughter away from the large mass of water when adults weren't around to keep her safe.
They were lost in this project, laughing and talking happily until their dads came into the room with the sad message that it was time to go. After this encounter, the two spent most of their summer days together. They had fun together spending days riding bikes in front of the Field's home, eating ice cream at the parlor downtown, hot days in the lake where she watched as Emily learned to swim, the days flying by as summer got closer and closer to ending. Both girls were aware that when the summer came to the end they would be forced to be separated from one another and neither one liked the idea of it. However the last day of summer came nonetheless and the McCullers said their goodbyes to the Fields, until next summer.
…..
(Age 10)
Paige and Emily spent the summer attached at the hip, the two taking turns sleeping at each other's houses since the McCullers had returned to the lake house this summer. Tonight was the McCullers turn, Emily and Paige already out in the front yard, planning on finally spending the night in the new tent Paige's father had bought earlier in the summer after days of begging.
After Paige's father had pitched the tent and a fairly lengthy talk from both of Paige's parents about the rules the two girls were supposed to follow while outside "camping" the two girls were sent running towards their designated spot in the yard. Paige's dad had put a small fire pit a few feet away from the tent, keeping a watchful eye on the two girls from the house along with his wife. Both girls were currently laying on their backs on the grass in front of the tent staring up at the stars in the dark sky.
"Is that it right there?" Paige asked, shooting her arm up into the air to point something out.
Emily leaned closer to Paige's arm, trying to follow her finger to see what Paige was seeing. The little girl hummed in thought as she squinted up at the sky before leaning up to look at the page of the book that was currently open. Glancing at the book and then back up to the sky a few times before nodding her head, "I think that's it!" Emily offered enthusiastically even though she actually didn't see anything that resembled the picture in the book.
Paige popped up from the position on her back to lean over and look at the book about constellations with Emily with a wide toothy smile, "See I told you we'd be able to find something besides the big dipper!" Paige called out with pride, flipping to the next page, "You think we can find that one?"
Emily looked at the page of complex lines connecting stars, studying it shortly before glancing up at the night sky that appeared to have far less stars than the book. Emily shook her head as she looked at Paige, "I don't think so. But look." Emily flipped back a few pages to point at a page with a large planet on it, "See that? That's Venus!"
Paige looked up to where Emily was pointing with her mouth hanging open slightly, "Wow." She said in awe, "Whoa did you see that?" Paige asked excitedly with wide eyes, "It was a shooting star!"
"What?" Emily asked in surprise, looking back into the night sky, her eyes scanning everywhere as quick as she could, "I missed it." She pouted in disbelief.
Paige giggled beside her, "It's okay. You can have my wish." Emily smiled brightly at Paige, "Go on. Close your eyes and make one before it's too late." Paige encouraged.
Emily did as she was told, shutting her eyes tightly, opening them a few moments later, eyes immediately going to the sky again, "Do you think it will come true?" Emily whispered, Paige's eyes glued to the side of her face.
Paige's head tilted to the side a little as she thought about it, "Maybe." She answered with a shrug, "What'd you wish for?" She asked curiously.
Emily's eyes moved back to meet Paige's, a playful nudge being jabbed into Paige's side, "If I tell you then it definitely won't come true."
"Well it was my shooting star." Paige reasoned, "Since we shared it then it's ours so I'm allowed to know." She concluded with a smirk as she laid back down on her back to look up at the night sky.
Emily stared down at her with a smile on her lips, "For you to stay with me forever." Emily whispered as if saying it too loud would impact its chances of coming true.
Paige's head turned, half of her face resting on the grass to look over at Emily who was laying down onto her back again too, "I like that wish." Paige admitted softly, "I think that one will definitely come true."
Emily smiled at the sure nod that Paige gave her when she looked at her. Emily rolled over to throw half of herself on top of Paige, hugging the girl the best she could from the slightly awkward angle. Paige being sent into a small fit of giggles as she hugged her best friend back, not bothering to roll away from her after the moment had passed. Both of them laid on the grass like that for a bit longer, whispering words back and forth to each other, giggles between the two of them being traded frequently as they enjoyed their night.
"Hey girls." Nick interrupted with a smile as he approached them, "I think it might be bed time." He called out to only receive grumbles from both girls which caused him to chuckle, "Hey I let both of you stay up past your usual bedtimes so I don't want to hear it." He teased playfully.
Both girls ushered themselves into the large tent as Nick put out their fire and crawled into the tent alongside the two girls, "Night you two." He said as he checked on both girls, planting a kiss on each of their foreheads before he crawled into his own sleeping bag.
"Night dad."
"Night Mr. McCullers."
…..
(Age 12)
"Paige what are you doing!" Emily yelled in a hushed whisper, moving towards the window where she could see Paige leaning against the roof, hands pushed against the rough surface as she slowly made her way across.
"I'm coming in." Paige stated as if it was obvious, mumbling under her breath as she got distracted and her foot almost slipped.
Emily already had the window pushed open, reaching out to grab Paige by the wrist, "Are you crazy?" She asked rhetorically, as Paige finally made it to Emily's window and crawled in clumsily, "You could've gotten hurt."
Paige shrugged slightly as she looked over at Emily who was pushing the window closed a little further, leaving it cracked, "I will admit I could've worn shoes with a little better grip." She said as she frowned down at her worn down converse, kicking them off her feet easily.
Emily shook her head, "You're an idiot." She stated although she couldn't keep the small grin from her face as she was met with Paige's dopey smile.
"Well I had to get to your room without waking up your mom or dad. This was the only way I could come up with." Paige reasoned, "You okay?"
Emily nodded, "When I texted you that I couldn't sleep, I wasn't saying that you should scale the side of my house, get on my roof, and crawl through my window to come see me at..." Emily paused to look over her shoulder at the alarm clock next to her bed, "2 a.m."
Paige pulled her sweatshirt over her head and tossed it onto the floor by her shoes paying no mind to Emily, throwing herself onto Emily's bed to lay on her back, crossing her arms behind her head, "You're my best friend. I just wanted to make sure you were okay." Paige said with a slight smile and shrug, "Plus I couldn't sleep either." She lied, "So I figured we could not be able to sleep together. Maybe watch a movie or something."
Emily shook her head at the way Paige made herself at home in her room, laughing lightly, "You're the best."
Paige smirked as Emily grabbed her laptop and joined her on the bed, "I know." Paige said leaning into Emily's side as the other girl started a movie.
Paige was fast asleep within the first fifteen minutes of the movie, Emily running her fingers through the brunette's hair soothing her to sleep with no trouble. She shut her laptop and dropped it to the ground beside her bed and wiggled down carefully to lay beside Paige without waking her. She sat in silence for a while but eventually fell asleep herself, curled up next to Paige.
They stayed there together until Paige's parents showed up at the Field's front door early the next morning asking if either of them had seen Paige, the young girl not having been in her bedroom when they woke up this morning and checked on her. They all peaked into Emily's room to find the two girls still fast asleep on top of the comforter and the window cracked, Paige's shoes and sweatshirt laying just beneath it in a messy pile giving them a good idea of the late night expedition Paige went on.
It being the first of many nights throughout the next few years that Paige would clumsily climb into Emily's window in the dead of the night to get a few more hours with her.
…..
(Age 15)
"There's only a couple weeks left of summer." Emily said solemnly.
"I know." Paige said equally as disappointed, "I can't believe it went by so fast. I hate only being here during the summer." She admitted, "I wish we'd just move her so we could always be together."
Emily smiled over at Paige, feeling her cheeks heat up at the confession, letting silence fall over them for a moment as they both looked out into the water, moonlight shimmer against the dark water as the light breeze created small ripples across the lake.
"So how long is it going to take?" Emily asked out of nowhere, immediately grabbing Paige's attention with the raised eyebrow and smirk on Emily's lips as her eyes looked into hers with a mischievousness that Paige wasn't sure she had ever seen.
"What?" The brunette asked curiously, completely unaware of what Emily was talking about.
Emily dropped her head and let out a soft laugh that made Paige's lips tug upward naturally. Paige took the moment of Emily's eyes off of her to admire the short flowy summer dress that Emily had on, the edges of the dress blowing in the soft breeze as they stood on the dock outside her parents' house.
"For you to kiss me."
Emily's voice broke Paige's thoughts away from the dress covering Emily's body, her head snapping up to look at Emily with a ferocity that even surprised herself. Emily simply let out another laugh at the deer caught in the headlights look that had instantly came over Paige's face, the sound filling Paige's ears and nearly making her feel physically dizzy.
"Y-you want me to… t-to kiss you?" Paige managed to murmur out in a stumbling mess of a sentence, the all too familiar telltale sign of Paige's nervousness of a hand lifting to scratch at the back of her neck as she ducked her head involuntarily happening.
When Paige looked up, finally finding the courage to look back to meet Emily's gaze Emily smiled that smile that had filled just about every thought that Paige had since she had realized her feeling for her best friend. Emily took a couple steps towards her and it was like a scene out of movie for her. Hair blowing softly as she approached. Eyes bright and looking at her with something that she hadn't noticed before but knew she could get used to easily.
"Paige?"
"What?" Paige blurted out stupidly, eyes slightly widening like she forgot the girl was there in front of her.
Emily shook her head, her best friend's typical self making her forget her nervousness over the situation all together. She had imagined every possible scenario that could play out from her admitting she wanted to kiss Paige but in this moment she realized that it didn't matter whether Paige returned her feelings or not. At the end of the day they were still them. Emily and Paige. The same best friends that they had been since they were seven years old. And nothing would ever change that.
"Are you even listening to me?" Emily asked, eyes narrowed as she struggled to hold back another laugh.
"I'm sorry." Paige apologized softly, licking her lips and swallowing, her throat suddenly dryer than it had ever been, "You're just really close."
"That's required." Emily stated, eyes flickering down to grab Paige's hand softly, letting her fingers tangle with the brunette's loosely, "I'm going to kiss you now. Okay?"
Paige nodded slowly, her eyes already glued to Emily's lips as the naturally tanned beauty leaned in closer to her.
This was it Paige thought. The moment she had dreamed about for years.
Paige took in a shaky breath, closed her eyes, and waited for Emily's lips to meet her own. It came sooner than she expected but she caught up quickly, her lips pressing firmly against Emily's in an innocent kiss. It was hesitant and soft, the action clearly unpracticed on both ends but nonetheless the simple contact ignited something in both of them.
Paige let her hands come up to rest on Emily's hips, the firm grip giving her something to ground herself with as she suddenly found herself trying to remember everything she had known about kissing and what she was supposed to be doing.
Before she knew it Emily was pulling away from her and the brunette let her eyes flutter open slowly to briefly look at the girl in front of her before leaning back in, this time letting their lips move together a little more daringly.
It was slow and sloppy, neither having much to go on besides what they had heard from friends and what they saw on over dramatized tv shows but nonetheless neither felt the pressure to be anything but themselves. The kiss came and went quickly in reality but to the two girl's standing by the lake it felt like it lasted for much longer.
Emily pulled back with a shy smile, Paige's eyes similarly fluttering open as they separated, "Wow." Paige whispered slightly dazed.
She had day dreamed about this moment a lot. More than she would ever admit. And boy did the moment live up to expectations. Considering she never actually expected her best friend to share the feelings she herself had, this exceeded all her expectations. And she couldn't help but hope that it filled Emily's as well, the possibility that she wouldn't allowing a bit of self-doubt and nervousness to flood her system.
"I've been waiting for you to do that." Emily confessed, her eyes finding the ground as she felt her cheeks heat up again in embarrassment.
"Really?" Paige asked, having had no clue. The nervousness and doubt she felt seconds ago falling from her, quickly being replaced with exhilaration, "If I…I mean I didn't know." She stuttered clumsily, "If I had I would've done it sooner."
"Well now you know." Emily offered sweetly, throwing another shy smile towards Paige.
Paige nodded, "So does this mean…" She paused, her brain failing to cooperate with her mouth, "I mean since we kissed and everything." She hesitated, her hand finding the back of her neck again compulsorily, scratching at it nervously as her eyes moved from Emily to scan the lake behind her, "Would you want to go on a date?" She asked, immediately rambling on further, "Not that you have to. But if y-you want to, that'd be cool. Fun. It'd be fun. But we totally don't have to, you know. It's whatever and-"
"Paige." Emily cut her off with a giggle as she watched the girl in disbelief, grabbing her arm and pulling her hand away from her neck, tracing her forearm and letting her hand slide smoothly into Paige's.
"Yeah?" Paige responded, her heart physically feeling like it stopped in her chest, moving her eyes to look at their currently intertwined fingers. Was her vision fading out? She thought, blinking her eyes a few times, her equilibrium suddenly feeling off, making her wonder if any of this was even real.
"I would love to go on a date with you." Emily said with a bright smile.
"Yeah?" Paige asked, the hint of surprise and hope in her voice making Emily swoon over her best friend even further.
"Yeah." Emily admitted, smile only growing as Paige beamed at her.
"So not bad for a second kiss then?" Paige asked with a dopey smile on her face.
"Second?"
"Yeah, remember?" Paige asked, pointing over to the other corner of the dock, "You kissed me over there a couple years ago."
"That does not count as our first kiss." Emily argued, laughing at the memory of bravely kissing Paige out of curiosity back then, "I want this to be our first real kiss."
"Sorry Em, I don't make the rules." Paige said with a shrug, "It's not my fault you couldn't resist me back then." She teased.
Emily shook her head, "Be careful or there won't be a third kiss happening anytime soon."
"Well we wouldn't want that would we?" Paige quickly commented making Emily giggle and in that moment Paige had never wished so bad that she permanently lived in the same place as Emily year round.
…..
(Age 16)
Paige grabbed her two bags out of the back of her dad's large SUV, backpack already on her back and rushed up to the front door of the lake house, moving quickly through the door her mom had unlocked barely getting the chance to push the door open before Paige was shoving her way past her.
The older woman chuckled at her daughter, "What's the rush there P?" Her mom asked, smiling at her knowingly as Paige dropped her bags by the couch with a loud thud, whipping around to look at her mom without hesitation.
"Can I please go see Emily?" Paige practically begged, the last few months of only text messages, phone calls, and facetiming not fulfilling her needed fix of the girl that had captivated her over the years properly.
Paige's mom looked over her shoulder at Nick who had just come through the door, "What? She's already trying to ditch us?" Nick asked, mocking offense and disbelief.
Paige chuckled at her dad, knowing that he was going to let her go, "I've been stuck with you two for months, I need a break." She retorted playfully.
"Completely agreed." Nick approved over dramatically.
Paige's mom shook her head at the pair, looking over at Paige, "It's late honey." She reminded the girl.
"I won't wake Mr. and Mrs. Fields. Promise." She swore, "I'll be super quiet. No one but Em will even know I'm there." She pleaded.
Nick looked at his wife, who nodded her head, "Be careful." He told her, accepting the forceful hug Paige gave him before darting past him and out the door, grabbing her bike out of the garage in record time, "Make sure we see you sometime tomorrow." Nick called over his shoulder, hearing Paige closing the garage, calling something out back to him as she took off down the driveway but not being able to understand her muffled voice as she disappeared into the night.
"What are we going to do with her?" He said as he turned back to his wife, closing the door behind him.
"Just be happy it's not some boy she's running off to slip in bed with." His wife reminded him.
Nick's face instantly scrunched up in disapproval, "I'll take my daughter choosing Emily over some grimy young boy any day. How our daughter managed to land someone as smart and lovely as her is beyond me." The joke falling off his tongue easily considering it becoming his favorite way to tease his daughter since her and Emily begin dating.
Paige on the other hand was racing towards the Field's house on her bike, the tires feeling a little flat beneath her having sat all summer but not caring as she got closer and closer to the house she was pedaling towards. She reached the Field's house quickly, ditching her bike on the grass by the side of the house, darting for the fence that helped her reach the roof, pulling herself up and climbing with purpose to reach Emily's window.
Paige took a moment to catch her breath, knocking on the window gently and waiting for the blinds to be pulled back. When Emily didn't come to the window she banged on it a little harder, startling back a little when the blinds were harshly pulled back revealing a disheveled and confused Emily, sleep clearly in her eyes.
Paige smiled brightly at the girl as she watched realization wash over her favorite persons face, "Hey." Paige said cheerfully, "You gonna let me in?"
"Paige!" Emily exclaimed in surprise, rushing to get the window open, "You weren't supposed to get her until Wednesday!"
Paige widened her eyes for a moment when Emily practically yanked her into the room, chuckling when her feet hit the carpet of Emily's bedroom floor a little unsteadily, the hug she was aggressively tugged into somehow managing to keep her from falling over.
"I wanted to surprise you." Paige admitted, burying her face into Emily's neck and letting her arms naturally wrap around her waist tightly, allowing herself to breath in the familiar scent of Emily, Paige's eyes closing and body relaxing in her arms.
"I missed you." Emily whispered, not showing any signs of letting the brunette go.
"Are you sure? Because I couldn't tell." Paige stated playfully in hushed tones, earning a slight punch to the arm from Emily, "Ow. Okay, okay." She said with a wide smile that she couldn't wipe off her face as she pulled back so she could look at Emily, "I missed you too." She said, leaning in to press a quick kiss to Emily's lips.
Emily's arms wrapped around Paige's neck tighter as the brunette stared at her with that same dopey smile that she always seemed to have on her face, "How is it possible you got cuter since the last time I saw you?" Emily teased, scrunching up her nose as she studied Paige's face, bringing her hand up from the back of Paige's neck to grab the brunette's chin, turning her head slightly.
"Okay, stop." Paige manage to get out through a laugh, swatting Emily's hands away as she moved to sit on the edge of the bed.
Emily took the opportunity of the two of them being separated to shut the window and close the blinds, Paige kicking off her shoes behind her and tossing them messily towards the wall under the window. Leaning back to rest most of her weight on her hands, her feet still firmly planted on the ground, smiling as Emily walked towards her.
"I'm glad you're back for the summer." Emily said, coming to a stop in front of Paige and resting her hands on Paige's shoulder.
"Oh yeah?" Paige asked, smirk on her face, hands naturally finding Emily's waist, thanking the warm weather of summer for being the reason Emily was in nothing but an old baggy t-shirt that hung loosely around her frame.
"Mhm." Emily hummed with a smirk of her own, that mischievous look that Paige had quickly learned meant Emily was up to something that usually made Paige's mind completely shut down now on the tanned skinned girl's face.
Paige swallowed, train of thought lost when Emily climbed up on the bed to straddle her, Paige's head tilting back slightly so her eyes could stay on Emily's, "T-this is new." Paige mumbled, her grip on Emily's waist tightening.
"I guess I just really really missed you." Emily stated in a hushed tone that sent chills up Paige's spine. Her eyes falling shut when Emily dipped her head and let her lips land on Paige's neck, "Is this okay?" Emily asked, barely pulling away from the exposed skin as her hands pushed the edges of Paige's unzipped hoodie off her shoulders, her eyes flickering up to look at Paige.
Paige nodded, not trusting her voice to communicate properly. She trusted Emily with everything she had. Paige wasted no time, lightly grabbing Emily's chin and guiding her lips towards her own, kissing her slowly and deeply, allowing her body to fall back when Emily's hands pushed on her shoulders, guiding her onto her back.
…..
Paige immediately felt bad as soon as she hung up on Emily. She laid back down on the couch and threw her arm over her eyes letting out a loud grunt of frustration. She shouldn't feel as mad as she does and she was embarrassed by the mass amount of jealously that was running through her for no reason, all caused by such a stupidly simple thing. The brunette let her arm fall from her face, standing up off the couch and making her way outside to get some air. The day was fading away but the sun was still out, slowly starting to lower in the sky, the summer air still fairly warm on her skin as she made her way across the grass in the yard and down towards the dock. She let herself sink to the ground when she reached the end of the dock, letting her bare feet dip into the water, the cool liquid feeling good against her skin.
She hadn't been sitting there for more than five minutes before she felt her phone vibrate in her sweatshirt pocket. Paige sighed before slipping it out of her pocket to look at it, staring at the picture of Emily that had popped up on her screen, her name printed directly above her smiling face forcing a sad smile onto Paige's. She let out another heavy sigh and answered it but didn't say anything, instead pinching the bridge of her nose and letting her eyes close as she put it to her ear and waited for Emily to speak.
"Paige?" Emily asked immediately, the hint of worry eating at Paige, "Are you really going to do this right now?" She asked, this time her tone not dripping with worry but rather frustration.
"Sorry." Paige forced out, hearing Emily let out a huff on the other end, "I don't know why I got so defensive."
"You mean jealous." Emily called her out without hesitation.
"Yeah." Paige responded in defeat, "That."
"It's fine." Emily said, this time sounding like she understood which surprised Paige, "I get it. I mean who am I to say anything about your jealously? A couple weeks ago I acted the same way with you towards Sam." She admitted through the phone.
"Still. I feel bad about it." Paige said with a shrug of her shoulder, kicking at the lake water mindlessly, "I trust you."
"Well if it makes you feel any better, that girl from down the way isn't here anymore." Emily informed Paige who had a grin creeping on her face.
"What is she, Voldemort?" Paige asked with a chuckle, "You can say her name you know."
"God you're such a nerd." The laugh following the comment that came through the phone seeping into Paige's ear made the brunette simply smile wider, "Okay then. I sent Katie home." She said, "And I have all of my stuff from her now so you don't have to worry about her coming around anymore."
"You know you can have her help you if you need it."
"Are you kidding me?" Emily asked, the frustration returning, "Is this some sort of test or what? Because literally ten to fifteen minutes ago that was not the case."
"I felt bad as soon as I hung up on you. It was stupid." Paige confessed truthfully, "I don't want to be the kind of girlfriend who gets jealous and monitors who you do or don't choose to spend your time with."
"Did you just call me your girlfriend?" Emily asked and Paige could practically here the smile in the other woman's voice.
"I mean, aren't you my girlfriend?" Paige asked, the question feeling weird on her tongue but the word feeling natural when it came to addressing Emily as such.
"Yeah." Emily answered quickly, "Or at least I hope so, but you haven't called me that yet."
"I called you my girlfriend for a very very long time." Paige disagreed.
"You know what I mean, don't be a smartass." Emily stated through a series of giggles before pausing, the line between them silent for a few seconds, "You're my girlfriend."
Paige couldn't help the large grin that appeared on her face this time, smiling while she looked out at the lake in front of her, "Yeah. I'm your girlfriend."
"Good. I like that."
"Me too." Paige said with a soft smile, "So you done packing?" Paige asked, not having heard much movement on the other end of the phone.
"Not even close. But I already gave up for the night. Too tired" Emily admitted, "What are you up to?"
"Sitting on the dock." Paige responded, "Sun's about to set."
"Mmm." Emily hummed, "I'm jealous of you."
Paige chuckled, kicking her feet to make the water slush around, "We spent a lot of time on this dock didn't we."
"So much time on the dock. In the lake. Around the lake." Emily rambled on in agreeance, "And hopefully we'll get to spend a lot more time there. Together."
"I'd like that." Paige confessed, dopey smile on her face.
"We can't let our shooting star down right?" Emily whispered.
"You remember that?" Paige asked in surprise, looking over her shoulder at the open yard that led up to the house, easily being able to picture ten year old versions of the two of them laying on the grass staring up at the stars together.
"Of course I do." Emily said, "It's what I wanted most when I was ten." She confessed honestly, "And eleven. And twelve. And thirteen." She counted off through giggles.
"Okay, okay. I get it." Paige chuckled cutting Emily off as she looked back out at the lake, "I love you Em."
"I love you too." Emily said, "Well I better get to bed. I'm pretty tired and I'm planning on getting up early tomorrow so I can actually get everything done." She said with a sigh, clearly not looking forward to it.
"Okay." Paige nodded, "I'll talk to you tomorrow then?"
"Sure. Call me when you get up." Emily said, "Enjoy your sunset. Don't let any lake monsters get you." She teased, the words oddly tugging at Paige's heart.
"I'll hold down the fort while you're gone." Paige played along with a serious tone before letting her charade fall with a laugh, "Love you."
"Bye. Love you too."
With that they both hung up. Paige sighing as she slid her phone back into her sweatshirt pocket before leaning her weight back on her hands and watching the sun set over the lake, memories of her and Emily growing up here together flooding her mind.
Four days she reminded herself.
She just had to get through four days without Emily before she would come back to her forever. Their innocent and naïve wishes of being together forever would finally come true. Paige would make sure of it this time.