Disclaimer: I own only my vague sense of reality.

Author's Notes: This chapter contains spoilers up to Season 2, Episode 8, "Save The Date".

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Enjoy!

888

"Knock knock," Paige called out as she pushed open the door to the hospital room. Judging by the way the nurse rolled her eyes when Paige had asked for Emily's room number, her teammate had been pretty busy. She was surprised not to find anyone but Emily in the room, her friend half reclined against some pillows, scanning through a magazine. It seemed even Hastings had taken a break from her watch.

"Paige, hey." Emily tossed the magazine to the foot of the bed and tried to push herself into a proper sitting position. Paige held up a hand to stop her, not wanting Emily to aggravate her stomach with too much movement.

"It's okay, relax." Putting down her purse, Paige offered a cup from the coffee tray she had brought with her.

"Thanks for the thought but I can't have coffee."

"It's just some steamed milk with a shot of mocha syrup. It should be okay with your stomach. You can pretend it's coffee," Paige offered, Emily's grateful look threatening to break her heart.

"How'd you find out? Does the whole school know?"

"Well..." Paige put down the flowers she had brought to wiggle her hand in a 'so-so' manner. "I made Sean call Hannah to find out what was up. I would have tried to get a hold of Hastings but I'm never sure when your guard dragon is leashed. Hannah seemed the better bet."

"The safer bet, you mean." Emily said with a smirk before sipping at her cup, dark eyes closing as a tiny smile came to her face.

"That too. These are for you." Paige held out the small bouquet. "Just so you don't think I'm some crazy girl who randomly carries flowers around." The words were out of her mouth before she could call them back, Paige rolling her eyes at herself. Her awkward was showing.

"They're beautiful."

"Well, better late than never I guess, I didn't get the chance to properly buy you flowers so..." Oh god, she was rambling, someone stop her.

"Paige..."

"That's not what I'm here about." Paige assured, mentally tugging on the emergency stop before she completely derailed herself. "I had to make sure you were okay." Pulling the chair behind her closer, Paige settled into her seat beside Emily's bed. "You scared the hell out of me this afternoon." Paige admitted, resting her arms on the bed as her hands fiddled absently with her coffee cup. "I, uh, I don't know if I've ever been that scared." Even when 'A' had tried to run her down, it was more anger than fear that had overcome her. Seeing Emily on the ground in pain, unable to help... Paige had never felt more useless, more afraid.

"Hey," Emily placed her hand on Paige's, the cool skin a stark contrast to the steaming coffee cup. "I'm okay. I feel like someone is ramming a spike into my stomach but I'm okay."

Paige searched Emily's eyes for deception, nodding when she found none. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Keep me company until my guard dragon comes back?"

"I can do that." A squeeze and Emily released her hand, settling back into her pillows. "But I refuse to read that crap to you." Paige pointed to the teen magazine that Emily had tossed to the foot of her bed.

"Hannah." They said in unison, laughing together for the first time in weeks.

"Tell me how the meet went."

Paige sat back, rolling her eyes. "Oh my god, we had to put Chloe as starter. You'll never guess what she did..."

An hour later, Emily was quietly snoring, having dozed off as Paige read through a swimming article. Pushing herself out of the chair, Paige proceeded to tug the covers up to Emily's shoulders, hoping to ward off the chill of the hospital room. Emily's coffee cup was still held loosely in one hand and Paige pulled it free, setting it next to the flowers. She left the copy of 'Swimmer World' on the night stand, dog earring the article.

A quick check to make sure she had everything and Paige was ready to go, uninterested in crossing paths with Hastings. Acting on impulse, she leaned over the bed, brushing a featherlight kiss to Emily's temple in goodbye. She closed the door gently as she left, heading into the hall only to be bowled over by Mr. Fields. Thankfully, his instincts were faster than Paige's and he grabbed her arms to keep her from going completely ass over tea kettle, his sheepish smile a clone of Emily's.

"Sorry about that."

"It's okay, I wasn't watching where I was going." Paige waved it off, smiling at the broad shouldered man. Even if she hadn't known who he was, she would have picked him for Emily's father. He stood proudly, shoulders back, kind eyes mirroring his daughter's.

"Listen, I wanted to thank you, for helping Emily." He pulled her to a set of chairs and they sat down. "Not just today, I know you've been helping her train this last little while."

Paige nodded, slightly taken aback, she had no idea Emily had even spoken to her parents about her.

"I know you two got off to a rough start and your father and I certainly have a few issues we don't see eye to eye on. I just want you to know that I appreciate you looking after my little girl."

"Are you going to take Emily to Texas?"

His pursed lips showed the thought had crossed his mind -probably more than once- but he eventually shook his head. "No. I think all this, the ulcer, losing swimming is going to be tough enough on her. Compounding it with losing her support system and being thrown into a new environment would be too much too fast."

"Wait, losing swimming? Mr. Fields, that'll crush her."

"I know but she needs to be healthy to compete and all this stress, it's a big contributor to her getting sick in the first place. This scout and the scholarship..."

Paige closed her eyes, guilt immediately setting in. She had set this in motion with the fake letter. If she hadn't worked so hard to keep orbiting the star that was Emily, her friend would be in Texas by now. Healthy. Safe.

"Swimming is off the table. For now. When she's healthy again, I don't imagine there's much anyone will be able to do to keep her out of the water."

Paige nodded, knowing it for truth. "I'll help where I can." It was the least she could do.

"Thank you, I really appreciate it. I'd better get in there, make sure she's feeling all right."

"She zonked out about fifteen minutes ago." Paige said, standing with him.

"Good, she needed some rest. Thanks again, for everything." He squeezed her shoulder before heading for Emily's room, leaving Paige to contemplate her guilt in silence.

888

The weekend passed slowly. Keith was still out of commission so Paige spent her hours of scheduled practice time at Rosewood Public, swimming laps and timing herself on the large clock. Her father was out by the time she came home and she was settled in her room downstairs by the time he returned, a regularity she was now accustomed to. Sunday started much the same way until they gathered together for service, her mother pointedly reminding her that skipping church for a month wasn't liable to help her win her father over.

They settled into the car together, the silence immediately uncomfortable. It was the first time Paige had set eyes on him in over a week, even the last sighting had only been in passing on the way out the door. Her mother was quick to begin conversation, asking Paige about Friday's meet.

Her father acknowledged news of their win with a nod, attitude seeming to shift somewhat toward the positive when Paige mentioned the Danby scout had sought her out to commend her performance.

"That's... that's good news, Paige. Well done."

Paige stared at the back of his head, eyes shifting to her mother who wore a pleased smile as they continued their drive to church. When the service was over, her mother suggested lunch for the three of them and they found themselves at the Apple Rose Grill, the scene bordering so close to normal that Paige barely recognized it.

"How's practice?" Her father asked when her mother's conversation had run dry.

"Good. After next week we go down to one a days until finals are over," Paige said, intent on keeping the conversation away from anything that was remotely emotional. This conversation -stilted as it was- was the most interaction there had been with her father since he had threatened to send her to a deprogramming camp. Paige missed him and she was determined to keep them on as even a keel as possible.

"Did you want to cancel your sessions with Keith until finals are over? He's been having some troubles at home. I understand his wife's taken ill and the early mornings have become hard for him."

"I was actually hoping that we could just shift them to the afternoon, if he has a slot. That way I can go early to the Sharks practice and still get in afternoon training. It'd basically be the same amount of time in the pool." As much as Paige might like to let up on the gas, without Emily, it was up to her to pull her team through to state finals. "That or I thought I could get the girls to go to Rosewood Public with me a few afternoons. Once we get back from finals we have two meets a week right until we hit the state competition."

Her father seemed surprised that she had thought out her schedule so thoroughly, nodding agreeably at the suggestions. "That sounds reasonable, I'm certain we can work out a few afternoon lessons with Keith and you can organize the Sharks for the other days. Fair enough?"

Paige smiled brightly at the level headed compromise. That her father was willing to work with her promised hope for the future. While her coming out may have hurt their relationship, it hadn't torn it from its foundations the way she feared. They might get through it yet. Paige looked at her mother, the woman smiling smugly to herself as she ate her meal.

888

Monday morning, Paige headed up the steps to the school, tugging roughly on the outer door, her precariously balanced coffee threatening to tip over. She saved it just before disaster struck and walked to the locker room pulling on the door only to find it wouldn't budge. Locked.

"What the hell?"

It was just past six thirty, Coach Fulton should be on her second cup of coffee by now. Paige was the one who was running late. She tugged again, making sure the lock hadn't just gotten stuck. No luck. Wandering off in search of the caretaker, Paige found him busily scraping gum off the water fountain.

"Morning, Bert."

"Hey, Paige, what's up? Need something for the pool?"

"Kind of. Could you to unlock the change room? I think Coach is running late and the girls'll be here soon."

"Sure thing." He ambled over, searching through the litany of keys to crack open the door. Paige thanked him and made her way in, dropping her gear bag on the bench. Coffee cup in hand, she went in search of the light switch, eyebrow raised to see the light on in Coach Fulton's office. What the hell was going on?

Switch forgotten, Paige walked over to the small office, finding a woman shuffling through the papers on Coach Fulton's desk.

"Who the hell are you?"

The woman looked up, both startled by Paige's sudden appearance and obviously irritated at the brusque address. "I beg your pardon?"

"Who are you and what are you doing rifling through Coach Fulton's stuff?"

"My name is Coach Morgan. Now, would you like to try that introduction again?"

"Where's Coach Fulton?" Paige was uninterested in playing nice with an outsider who was manhandling Coach Fulton's entire office.

"She took some leave, I'll be filling in."

"Wait, what? Since when?" Paige looked around the small office, frowning to find none of the keepsakes Fulton usually kept on her shelves. No photos, no diplomas, not even the Shark Week calendar the team had given her. Nothing to say Fulton had ever inhabited the office.

"Since now. I'm guessing you're Paige McCullers."

"Yes." Morgan looked at her expectantly. "Yes, ma'am," Paige ground out, fingers unconsciously tightening around her coffee cup.

"Good, I wanted to speak with you about the changing of the guard."

"The locker room was locked this morning."

"I locked it. Practice starts at seven thirty, the locker room will be open at quarter after."

"I come here early to practice."

"And I respect your dedication but I'm not willing to cater my schedule to a single student. I'd like to arrange a time to sit down to discuss the team and the line-ups."

"Coach Fulton has the line ups. We're doing great." Paige didn't know why she had to explain something that was patently obvious. Their performance spoke for itself, why would the woman want to reinvent the wheel?

"Your line up centered around you and Miss Fields, correct?"

"We generally start and anchor if that's what you mean."

"It is. I understand Miss Fields is no longer swimming."

"It's an ulcer, she'll be back."

"We'll see. Until then, we need to readjust. Here, Coach Fulton left this for you." Paige was handed small box, a simple post it note with her name attached to the top. "I'll see you at quarter after."

Paige took the box and the dismissal, leaving the office without so much as a goodbye. She stalked into the change room, unreasonably tempted to launch her fist into the locker. She bit down on the urge, instead heading out into the hallway, needing to be outside. She pushed open the door, sucking in a deep breath of fresh, crisp air, purging her lungs of chlorine. She wanted to cry, wanted to flat out fall to her knees and bawl. She instead gave in the urge to throw something, launching her coffee at the garbage can, the paper cup hitting with an unsatisfying thud.

Paige leaned against the wall, sliding down the rough concrete to sit on her heels, head hanging in her hands. First Emily, now this. Her safe haven had been completely destroyed. Fulton had been her quiet support, her safe port during these last stormy months. She had stood by Paige when even Emily had given up on her. And now she was gone. Paige tipped her head back, eyes catching the still visible stars overhead, mocking her as they winked merrily. Bastards.

Her hands closed around the box that had been left for her, she had almost forgotten it was there. Flipping the lid open, Paige found a silver backed stopwatch resting on black velvet. She pulled it free of its case, the metal and glass shining in the bright security lights overhead. It was the engraving that undid her resolve, tears coming to her eyes as she read the words aloud.

"Be your best version."

Paige rested the watch in her palm, fingers closing around it, the heavy weight a comfort. She didn't bother to stop the tears that threatened, working only to quiet her sobs so she didn't lose complete control. She lost track of time, tucked into the cold concrete corner, the fading stars and moon her only company as she worked through her grief. Her watch eventually beeped its usual warning, ten minutes until the earliest of the girls would begin to show. Making her way to the locker room, Paige quickly ducked in to one of the bathroom stalls. She locked the door, leaning against the wall of the stall, pressing on her temples to ward off the urge to break down.

She didn't have the luxury to be able to break. Not now. Not when her entire team depended on her. Not when Fulton had asked her to be strong. Paige wiped the worst of the tears from her eyes and opened the door, nodding at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. A quick wash and some eye drops negated the worst of the damage, Paige seating herself on the bench to wait for the others.

They began to roll in by ones and twos, giving each other odd looks to find Paige sitting, dry, on the bench in the locker room.

"Paige?"

"We have some stuff to talk about, but we should wait until everyone gets here." Paige motioned for the girls to continue changing. No need to give Coach Morgan something to complain about first thing on a Monday morning. The others sorted themselves out and when all were accounted for, Paige stood, struggling to find the words to tell them about the upcoming changes. Morgan saved her the trouble, walking into the locker room, clipboard in hand.

"Thank you, Miss McCullers, for assembling the team. I wanted the opportunity to address you all at once." The stare from across the room told Paige she was meant to sit, her jaw tightening in immediate response to being ordered around. Still, there was no point in starting off worse than they already had. Bucking against the new order of things would only bring about more stress that she wasn't ready for. She sat, catching eyes with Vicky whose glance was questioning.

"My name is Coach Morgan, I'll be taking you through the rest of your swim season."

The immediate rise of chatter drowned out whatever the Coach Morgan was going to say next, her words unheard as the team talked amongst itself. The woman was immediately frustrated, the spiteful part of Paige enjoying the irritation. Unfortunately the lack of control didn't just reflect poorly on them, it reflected poorly on Coach Fulton's discipline. That wasn't something Paige was willing to allow.

Paige stood, barking out a sharp "hey!" to quiet them.

The chorus of voices died, all eyes turning to her. It felt like a betrayal, every part of Paige wanting to rebel as she walked through the sea of seated girls to stand by their new coach. To fracture now, to let the upset of someone new coming in to throw off their game, would destroy everything they had worked for. If Paige allowed them to start infighting, to begin acting only for themselves, it would doom the entire team to the mediocrity they had been heading for early in the season. She had to hold it together, like Coach Fulton had asked her too, keep the girls acting as one unit. The best way to do that was to provide a united front, the way her parents did. Paige would save her misgivings for a private time. For now, they had to act for each other and the only way to do that was to accept the things they couldn't change.

"Guys, I know this isn't easy, but it's happening and we all need to adapt. We still have a season to finish and Coach Morgan is the person who's going to be with us through that."

"What happened to Coach Fulton? She didn't even say goodbye."

Paige thought she had said goodbye, to her at least. The sad words on Friday had been a quiet warning of things to come. Acknowledging that none of the others had known anything was wrong -and hoping for answers herself- Paige turned that question to Morgan.

"I'm not certain what the circumstances are. I only know that Coach Fulton had to take a leave of absence and I was brought in to replace her."

"How long?"

"At this point, indefinitely."

Paige narrowed her eyes, knowing that meant it was unlikely Coach Fulton would ever be back.

"Any other questions?"

The faces of her teammates told Paige there were more questions but none of them felt safe addressing them to an unfamiliar interloper. Especially one who had taken the place of their beloved coach. Paige knew the moment practice was over, she would be inundated with questions. For now, they had work to do. "Let's get in the water."

888

When practice was over, Paige called Vicky to her side. She didn't have Emily so she needed to start leaning on others, people who were better situated than herself to take the pulse of the team. "I want a team meeting after tonight's practice. We can have it at The Brew. Spread the word and try to keep the girls quiet until then. Some of the muttering I heard in the pool, we need to stop it now."

"Okay, Cap'n. I'll get the girls organized for rides."

"Good, thanks." Paige left the change room, headed for her book locker to collect her things. She pulled her watch from her pocket, she had kept it with her on deck all morning, reticent let it leave her sight. It was her only connection now to a woman who had been one of her staunchest supporters. Paige looked at it, rubbing her thumb across the engraving before putting it away.

Her cellphone beeped and she flipped it open.

In the cafeteria with Sean, come get caffeine.-Pru

Paige sent off a quick reply, she had no real urge to be social but time with her friends might do her good. And she did need another coffee. Another beep had Paige rolling her eyes, they would be seeing each other in two minutes, nothing could be that important.

Poor Pigskin, all alone. No Emily. No Coach. I'll be your friend.-A

"Son of a bitch."

It wasn't inconceivable to think that 'A' had somehow engineered Coach Fulton's resignation. Paige had no idea what someone like Fulton could have that she would allow herself to be manipulated but Paige knew that even the most innocent of things -looked at in the wrong context- could spell trouble.

If 'A' was responsible, Paige had no doubt it was at least in part due to her coming out. 'A' was proving that no matter what Paige did to free herself, they had ways of controlling her life beyond what she could even guess at. This was going to get worse before it got better.

When she found 'A', figured out what the hell they had done to Coach, Paige was going to make them pay. First things first, she had to get to Caleb, find out what he had managed to get from her phone.

Her attention was pulled from 'A' when she caught sight of Emily walking down the hall, Rosewood Sharks binder tucked under her arm. Paige approached her friend who seemed lost in her own world as she fumbled with her locker.

"Hey, how you feeling?" Paige asked, coming up beside Emily.

"Tired of people asking me that, mostly."

Paige's raised her eyebrows, taken aback by the irritation in Emily's voice.

"Sorry, Paige. I didn't mean for that to come out like that."

"It's okay, it would bug the hell out of me too. Is there anything I can do?"

"If you've got a new stomach handy, I'll take that."

Paige let out a laugh. "I'll get on that."

"Sorry I missed practice this morning, I wanted to come watch but my body just wouldn't let it happen. I'm going to talk to Coach Fulton at lunch and let her know what's up. I left a message on her office voicemail but she never got back to me."

Crap.

"Paige, why do you look like you just smelled skunk?"

There was no way not to tell Emily. She would find out soon enough and Em would freak on her if she knew that Paige knew and hadn't told. "Em, Coach Fulton...she's gone."

"What do you mean gone?"

"Left. She's not at Rosewood anymore, we found out this morning."

"What?! Who the hell is coaching?"

"Someone named Coach Morgan. I'm going to get my dad to ask around, find out what we can."

"But... why didn't Coach tell us she was leaving? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't know, Em. I really don't. Look, this isn't something you have to worry about right now." Paige needed to calm her friend down, stress couldn't be good for her stomach.

"Don't have to worry about it? Paige, what happens when I come back? I don't know Morgan, why would she even let me back on the team so late in the semester?"

"Because you're one of the best swimmers and we're going to need you. But we need you healthy and you're not going to get that way if you're stressing yourself out." Even now, Emily looked uncomfortable, hand instinctively pressing on her stomach. "Hey." Paige touched her wrist, trying to bring Emily's attention back to her. "There isn't one person on the team who won't go to bat for you. When you're ready to come back, we're all behind you. Just take care of yourself. Okay?"

Emily nodded though she didn't seem particularly reassured.

"C'mon, I'll buy you a... well, not a coffee. How about some more steamed milk? You can tell me how bad hospital food really is." Paige hadn't seen Emily since her visit to the hospital, guilt over her part in the mess making her far too uncomfortable to go back. Emily walked with her and they hit the cafeteria, passing Sean and Pru who were sitting in a group of football players and their girlfriends. Ben was with the group but off to the side, dark eyes narrowing as Paige walked by.

"Ass," Paige muttered, pointedly ignoring his dark look.

"You know, that's the second time he's had the crap knocked out of him for going after a girl," Emily said as they walked up to the counter.

"What do you mean?" Paige ordered a coffee for herself. "Did you want milk or tea?"

"The milk was nice."

"One milk coming up." Paige placed the order and turned back. "Sorry, you were saying about Ben?"

"Oh, just that you weren't the first person to slug him for being too forward with a girl."

"I'm not surprised, who else did that neanderthal try to manhandle?"

Emily looked down, embarrassment colouring her features.

"You?!" Paige nearly yelled. "I should have hit that jerk twice." Her hands tightened around her coffee cup as she stared at Ben. A gentle hand landed on hers, pulling Paige away from the death glare that she usually reserved for Hastings.

"Toby banged him up pretty good and he hasn't bothered me since."

"He obviously didn't learn his lesson."

"The first time no but considering he had his ass handed to him by a girl this time, he might think twice."

"I guess my boxing lessons with Sean paid off." Paige saw the rest of Emily's group at the cafeteria entrance and motioned to them.

"Great, another riveting morning of Hannah finding different ways to say I have a hole in my stomach."

"...Gross."

"Yeah. Speaking of Sean, I see he and Pru are getting pretty close. You're okay with that?"

Paige laughed. "Sure, it's not like I want him that way." Paige winked at Emily, drawing a smile from the girl. "I'll see you in chem."

"Thanks for the non-coffee."

"Any time, Em."

Paige watched the girl head off to her own friends before she squeezed herself in between Pru and one of the football guys.

"Morning."

"Morning."

"Hey, Paige, guess what?"

"What's up?"

Sean handed her a flyer for a new boxing gym. The schedule was pretty diverse, offering classes through most of the day long as well as on weekends. They were no doubt catering to the odd schedules of the nearby Hollis and Sheridan campuses.

"You in? I thought maybe we could check it out this weekend since you don't have swim practice."

"Whoa, whoa," Pru broke in, "weekends are reserved for girlfriends, Mister."

Sean's eyes widened at the directive, Paige held up a hand to show she would handle it. "Pru, the Saturday classes start at eight, would you like to come with us?"

"In the morning?! Are you people nuts?!"

"That's what I thought. I promise he'll be home and showered by the time you roll out of bed at noon. Fair?"

"...Fair."

Paige nodded at Sean, smiling at his discreet thumbs up. Women.