When the alarm that Paige had set on her phone went off the next morning, they both agreed to ignore it. Their hotel offered free breakfast, but they decided that they were too tired. A couple hours more sleep was well worth whatever they would have to pay, later, for some coffee and a couple of pastries.

It had been a late night.

They had gotten back to the hotel just after 11, and three hours of touring somber memorials and patriotic statues had done nothing to quell the desire that had been stirring within them. By the time they crashed through their door, they were as hot and humid as the Virginia night that they had just left behind them. Paige's mind kept going back to the scene in the bathroom at the Cuban restaurant; the way that Emily had walked out so casually not five minutes after she took Paige like a wild beast. She didn't know what had gotten into her girlfriend. She just wanted to get into her again - and again and again.

There was a fire in Emily's eyes as she backed into the room, her hands behind Paige's neck, her hips swaying to music that was playing only in her head. Paige was swooning under the intensity of Emily's glare. She was torn between the desire to let Emily take control again and the strong urge to rip Emily's clothes off of her, slam her down on the bed, and have her way with her. The answer came from Emily. Emily grabbed her face, squeezing her cheeks to force some space between her lips, and shoved her tongue inside. When she broke from the kiss, she breathed into Paige's ear, "What are you waiting for?"

Paige didn't need any further encouragement.

So it was that they lay, exhausted, in bed on a lazy summer morning.

"Paige, we've got to get out of this room sometime today," Emily yawned.

"Says who?"

"Well, they're going to want to clean it -"

Emily was interrupted as Paige began to suck on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. Emily's arms flailed wildly at the contact. "Agh! Stop it, Paige! Stop it!" she howled.

"What's wrong with you?" Paige said, laughing at Emily's reaction.

"That tickles!"

"Since when are you ticklish?"

"Since always! I just didn't want you to know. I was afraid..." that you wouldn't like me, Emily thought, "that you would use it to torture me!"

"So, you've just been stifling your laughter all this time?"

Emily nodded, embarrassed.

"Wow. I admire your self-control. So, what changed?"

Emily sighed. "I guess that I feel safe, now." She meant that in a different way than Paige understood it.

Still, Paige was genuinely touched. "Aw – Come here," she said, extending her arms and gathering Emily in - only to kiss her on the other shoulder. "Any more tickle spots that I should know about?" she asked, as Emily pushed her away, shrieking out in laughter.

"What about you? Are you ticklish?" Emily started poking at Paige, hoping to find a way to defend herself, the best defense being a strong offense.

Paige hadn't thought it through. She didn't want to start this war. She was beyond ticklish. "No," she replied, but the way that her voice cracked gave her away.

"Uh huh," Emily said, with a devious look. Her fingers set about to find the ticklish spots.

"No!" Paige squealed as she leapt to her feet, bouncing on the bed, using. A pillow to fend off Emily's probing fingers.

"What? I thought that you weren't ticklish!"

"Emily! Think about what you're doing here! We're in a very nice hotel, here!"

Emily's fingers were undeterred. While Paige kept trying to talk her out of it, Emily was doing a mental inventory, trying to figure out what part of Paige's body could be ticklish that Emily hadn't explored. Finally, it hit her. "I'm sorry, Babe," she said, pulling Paige in for a heated kiss. Emily dropped to her knees on the bed, maintaining lip-lock as Paige followed. As Emily's hands began to wander down to Paige's ass, Paige eased them down on the bed, face to face. Emily grabbed Paige's thigh and hiked it up over her stomach. This is new, Paige thought, just as Emily's fingers reached for the soles of her feet, and Paige broke down in convulsions of laughter. "Okay! Okay! Truce! Truce!" she pled frantically.

"Truce," Emily agreed.

"I guess we really should get out of here," Paige conceded. "It's too nice out to be cooped up inside."

"I suppose," Emily said, sitting up on her knees and clasping her hands high above her head in a stretch that made Paige rethink her decision. There was something in the way Emily's toned, tanned arms looked, extended above her head; something in the curve of her bustline underneath her soft t-shirt, something in the definition of her thighs as the shirt rode up with the stretch. Something about the angelic way that Emily smiled underneath her dark, cascading hair. Paige leapt from the bed before what little resolve she had left her. "Shower… I need a shower!" she declared.

"Wait, come here," Emily whined, beckoning with her hand. Paige padded over as if magnetically attracted, and Emily grabbed her behind the head for a slow, sensual kiss.

"What was that for?" Paige smiled as Emily released her.

"For making me feel safe and loved, when you look at me like that." She stood up and put her hands on Paige's shoulders to spin her around, tapping her on the bottom to urge her to the shower. "You'd better go before we end up spending the day in bed!"

"One more kiss?" Paige begged.

"Of course!"

Emily and Paige decided to explore the area around their hotel on foot before they headed into DC. Their first stop was at a pastry shop, for coffee and a light breakfast. They discussed Emily's upcoming semester at Penn State. Emily had a lot of questions for Paige about the Lit department, the classes that she should take, and any professors whom she should avoid.

"What should we do about our cars?" Emily asked.

"That's a good question. I hadn't thought of that."

"Well, I mean, we don't really need two cars in Rosewood, you know? But I don't know whether it will be different when we're there, and our schedules are less in sync."

"But we won't be living in the same house in State College."

Emily deflated a little. "Ugh. Don't remind me."

"Sorry," Paige said softly.

"Maybe just leave one car in Rosewood, and, if it turns out to be too much of a hassle with one car, we can drive back one weekend and pick it up."

"Or take both cars, and, if we find we don't need them, drive back to Rosewood and drop one off," Paige offered.

"Yeah, that might be the safer plan," Emily agreed.

"Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it."

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing," Paige smiled. "Just something my Dad always says."

Emily looked puzzled as she tried to parse the sentence. Paige changed the subject. "So, are you excited?" She asked, getting excited herself.

"Yeah," Emily sighed. Paige squeezed her hands, picking up from Emily's tone that there was more to the story. "I mean, it's exciting to be starting at a new school, and a new set of challenges. I just wish that we were doing it together." Paige nodded, about to say something, but Emily cut her off. "And, I know that you're going to be there with me, and you're going to come to practices and meets, but I don't want to live with some other girl, you know? I don't want to spend the next four years waking up in a room with my roommates."

Paige smiled sadly.

"I just wish that I were doing this five years ago, when you were starting Penn State."

Paige took a deep breath. "Yeah, that would've been great, Em." Paige paused for a moment. "But – and don't take this the wrong way, but… How do I put this? I have to think that Fate brought us together at the right time, you know? I mean, it's harder in some ways, but I'm not sure that I was ready for you when I was a freshman."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I told you how I was back then. I did some things that I regretted, some things that I wasn't ready for. You might not have wanted anything to do with that Paige. And I might have rushed us into something that we weren't ready for and ruined our chance for anything meaningful, you know?"

"I guess," Emily said with a sigh. "Anyway, we're together now."

Paige moved her chair to Emily's side of the table so that she could put her arm around her. "It won't be so bad, Em. It's not as though I'm going to be on the other side of the country. You can always stop by and sleep over, if Coach doesn't have you on curfew." Emily tried to smile. "And you'll probably like your roommate. Give her a chance."

Emily rolled her entire head in disbelief. "Of course, Paige!"

Paige gave Emily's shoulder a squeeze. "Are you ready to hit the Metro?" She always said "Metro" with a bad British accent, for some inexplicable reason.

"I guess," Emily sighed. "I'm kind of enjoying just hanging out with you and having a chance to talk." Paige agreed, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "That's what's going to suck about Penn State," Emily added. "I'm not going to come home to this."

Paige gave her another squeeze and kiss. "I'll be okay," Emily assured her. "Lots of couples do long distance. We can handle this."

"We'll make the best of it," Paige assured her.

Emily determined not to be a downer on their last day in DC, focusing instead on being in the moment and enjoying her time with her girlfriend. They both agreed, though, that they didn't want to be out late. It wasn't that they wanted to get a good night sleep before they drove back to Rosewood. They just wanted to spend some alone-time together. It was nothing that they couldn't do back in Rosewood, but, after that morning's talk, they were more interested in just being together than in doing stuff together.

The evening found them cuddled up on the couch in the room with the TV. The TV was on, but they weren't really paying attention. They weren't making out or even kissing. They were just holding and being held, enjoying the fact that they were together.

"So, at what time do you want to leave tomorrow?" Paige asked.

Emily just shrugged, nestling further into Paige.

"I wish that we could just stay here."

Emily nodded sleepily.

"Come on, Em. Let's get you to bed."

"You think it's so easy to get me to bed?" Emily was trying to sound flirty, but it came out as a yawn.

"I think someone's going to be sleeping in the car tomorrow!"

"Mmmmm," Emily said, peppering Paige's cheek with kisses. "You're good to me. You'll let me sleep in the car?"

"I'll let you sleep in the car," Paige confirmed, enjoying each kiss that landed on her cheek. "And," she added, standing up, "I'll even carry you to bed."

"That's why you're the best girlfriend in the whole wide world," Emily extended her arms, and, when Paige leaned down, she wrapped them around her neck. Paige grabbed Emily under her back and her knees and kissed her as she carried her into the bedroom and placed her gently in the bed.

Paige went in to brush her teeth and put her hair up. She got out of the bathroom to find Emily sitting with her left leg stretched out, hugging her right leg, which was bent at the knee. Her head was leaning on her shoulder, and Paige couldn't read the expression. "Are you okay?" Paige asked.

Emily nodded. "I just want you to make love to me tonight." Paige broke into a smile. Emily hopped off of the bed and gave Paige a quick kiss as she passed her on her way to the bathroom, promising to be right back.

Paige was getting nervous as she waited for Emily to return from the bathroom. It wasn't that Emily was taking a long time. It wasn't that this was their first time making love. It wasn't even their first time that day. Emily just seemed to be in an emotionally fragile place, based on their conversation earlier that morning and on the way that they both clung to each other on the couch earlier. Paige didn't want her lust to take over and trample on the tender time of connecting that she could tell that Emily was craving. She knew that Emily wanted her to take the lead; that she needed to be made love to, not with on that occasion. Emily had told her that Paige made her feel safe. Paige was going to keep her safe.

Emily walked into the bedroom and flicked her hair in place. She smiled weakly at Paige. Paige walked over to her and engulfed her in her arms, rubbing her hands chastely up and down Emily's back. Emily melted into the embrace, lightly squeezing Paige's triceps and planting gentle kisses on Paige's shoulders. It was just what she needed right then: To be held in her girlfriend's loving, powerful arms. Paige was in no hurry to let go. She held her in place until Emily moved her hands up to Paige's face, kissed her lips once, and told her by the look in her eyes that she was ready.

Paige took her cues from Emily's eyes the rest of the evening. When Emily's eyes asked Paige to hold her tighter, she held her tighter. When they asked Paige to slow down, she slowed down. When they asked her not to stop, she persisted.

The last thing that Emily's eyes told Paige before they closed in sleep was "Thank you."