A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I've had a couple of health issues lately and I've just gone back to working full time, so I've not had as much time to write. Thanks for reading, and for the amazing response to this fic.

"So, what's the deal with you and that guy from the club?" Paige questioned her twin as soon as Veronica left them alone long enough. She'd been hovering around Paige all afternoon, ever since they'd got back to the house, like she was scared the teen would try and run off again. Spencer glanced over her shoulder before answering, checking to see Veronica was still safely in the kitchen. The oldest Hastings was busy making dinner for the three of them.
"Alex and I used to date; mom wasn't too keen on me frolicking with the help." Spencer rolled her eyes. Veronica Hastings had always been quite vocal about her daughter's choice in boyfriends. Luckily, Spencer had ignored both of her parents when they had tried to warn her off Toby.

"Okay...should I bring up my rampant homosexuality before, or after dinner?" Paige joked, while managing to keep her expression completely straight. Spencer snorted with laughter, just as Veronica walked back in to the room. She smiled at the sight of the two girls getting along so well.
"What are you two laughing about?"
"Nothing." The twins answered in unison, which just caused another round of conspiratorial giggling between them. It was easy to laugh about it, but Paige had no idea how her birth parents would react to finding out about her girlfriend; that was if she even still had one. Shana was yet to call her back.

Paige had always been proactive. She couldn't just sit around waiting for Shana to decide to call. Excusing herself from the room, she headed out in to the backyard for some privacy. The phone rang and rang as Paige anxiously paced up and down the patio, waiting for Shana to answer. She couldn't blame her girlfriend for being mad at her, Paige had been out of line when she'd slapped her; and she'd been beating herself up about it all weekend. Sure, she had a short temper, but she had never struck someone before; well, not off the hockey field anyway.

"Hello?" Shana's tone was dry as she finally answered, but Paige still let out a sigh of relief at the sound of the other girl's voice. Shana wouldn't have answered if she was still too mad to forgive her; the girl new how to hold a grudge.
"God, I've missed your voice." Paige's grip on the phone tightened. She leant back against the side of the converted barn, and waited with baited breath for her girlfriend to speak.
"I got your message. You're right, you're an ass; but you don't completely suck at apologies." Paige felt the tightness in her chest starting to ease as Shana finally spoke up.
"I'm sorry." She repeated her earlier apology. "Just tell me how to make it up to you. Name it, and I'll do it."

"I can think of a few things." There was a teasing lilt to the other girl's voice, and Paige could just picture her girlfriend smiling in to the phone. "We can start with the meet tomorrow. You're still going to show up, right?" The swim meet against Jefferson High. Her weekend had been so hectic that Paige had forgotten all about the upcoming meet. Jefferson were stiff competition, and as captain and anchor, Paige's team would be counting on her to get them through it.
"I dunno if I can still compete." She admitted in a defeated tone. Now that the dust had settled, she was only just starting to think about all the ways her life was going to change. She'd have to transfer to Rosewood High. She'd be swimming for a new team; a team that had previously been the enemy.
"Have they enrolled you in school there yet? I mean, everything happened Friday afternoon, chances are you're still registered here. Technically, you'd still be a student, you could compete as a Red Devil one last time."

"It'd be nice to say goodbye to the team." Paige conceded, suddenly wanting to go to the meet more than anything else. She had been team captain since Junior year, she owed the girls and her coach one last meet. "I'll talk to Veronica, see if she's registered me at Rosewood High yet. I'll call you right back." Paige hung up and set about heading inside to find her birth mother. Spencer had gone up to her room, so Veronica was sitting on her own in the living room. She had her laptop out on the coffee table in front of her, and a pair of reading glasses were perched on the top of her head as she skimmed through the document she was holding in her hand. Paige felt nervous about approaching her, even when Veronica looked up and smiled at her. The woman was still virtually a stranger.

"Hey, Veronica. I was wondering what was happening with school. I mean, are you enrolling me in Rosewood High, or-"
"I've got the paperwork right here." Veronica answered, holding up the papers for Paige to see. "Don't worry, I was thinking you could take a few days off to adjust first; maybe start next Monday?" The teenager felt an immediate sense of relief. If Veronica hadn't finished the paperwork yet, then she was still technically attending her old high school. She could still swim for them.

"That would be great, thanks...I was thinking, I've got a swim meet tomorrow afternoon. It'd be nice to go, just to say goodbye to the team and stuff."
"I think that's a good idea. I could take you if you'd like? I need to pick up your school records anyway."
"Oh." Paige hadn't been expecting the offer. Seeing her friends hadn't been the only reason for her wanting to go to the meet. "My Dad's never missed a meet. He'll probably be there too; and a lot of people are going to be talking about what happened. I don't really want to cause a scene at my last swim meet." Paige felt a flood of guilt for not wanting her mother there, but she still couldn't really think of Veronica Hastings as her mom. To her credit, Veronica handled it well. There was only the slightest twitch of reaction on her face, which she fought to conceal.

"Well, we could drive up there early. You can talk to your friends and see Nick while I get your records from the school office. I'll just slip in quietly to watch the meet. Nobody needs to know who I am, or why I'm there." Veronica's smile was patient, though strained. She was trying her best to meet Paige halfway.
"And you won't mind if I see my dad?" Paige asked. In her whole life, she'd never spent more than a few nights away from her father. She'd only seen him the day before, but she was already missing him like crazy; maybe it was because she knew she was never really going to go home again. Rosewood was her home now, and the Hastings were her parents; Paige had no say on either issue.

"Agent Tanner is quite positive that Nick McCullers had no idea you weren't his. In a way, he's as much a victim of all of this as you and I. I'm not going to stop you from seeing him. We've got a lot to figure out, but I think this will all go a lot more smoothly if we're all on the same side. I've already missed out on fifteen years of your life, I don't want to waste any more time by fighting you on every last thing. There are a lot of decisions to be made, and whether Peter and I like it or not, Nick needs to be part of the process."

Paige was stunned by her answer, and her honesty. She stepped forward, taking Veronica by surprise as she hugged her. It was quick, with Paige's arms wrapping around Veronica's shoulders for only a second before she pulled back, but it meant the world to Veronica. Her face lit up as Paige took a step back, hastily shoving her hands in to the pockets of her jeans as she hunched her shoulders up, closing back in on herself. "Thanks." She offered her birth mother a meek smile. "I'm just going to call Shana and tell her I can swim."

"Is Shana one of your friends?" Veronica quizzed, oblivious to her youngest daughter's sexuality.
"Uh...yeah, sort of." Paige replied vaguely. She'd bonded with her birth mother enough for one day, Veronica didn't need to know everything about her in one go. "She's on the team too. I guess she'll get captain when I'm gone."
"Rosewood has an impressive swim team, Spencer's friend Emily is the captain of the girl's varsity."
"Yeah, we met." Paige pulled out her phone, reminding herself that she had to go call her girlfriend; she was the only swimmer Paige was meant to be thinking about. "I'll be back down for dinner."

"You have a twin, and you didn't tell any of us?" Hanna Marin shouted at the top of her voice, attracting the attention of just about everyone else in the cafeteria; and earning a scowl from Spencer.
"I only found out Friday night! We got the DNA results on Saturday. Mom wanted to keep it quiet, out of the papers." It hadn't worked though. The press had caught wind of the story from someone at the bureau. Tanner was trying to weed out the leak, but the damage had already been done. The news was out, and all eyes were on the Hastings family. Spencer had only taken two steps down the hall before someone had asked her about her twin. Hanna had been furious to find out about it on the morning news.
"What's she like?" Aria quizzed, more curious than angry.

"She's nice." Emily spoke up, realising too late what she'd said. The eyes of the other girls narrowed on her as they picked up on what she'd said.
"You've met her?" Hanna sounded indignant that Spencer had already introduced Emily to her new found sister.
"We ran in to each other." Emily shrugged, a light blush touching her cheeks. Spencer's twin had been pretty impressive. Even Emily's mother had raved about the girl when she'd met her at church on Sunday. Pam had gone on and on about how nice it was to see someone so young, choosing to be active in the church. "She's a lot like Spence." Emily smiled, making sure her friend knew that she meant it as a compliment.

"That's not fair. I want to meet her too!" Hanna protested. "Why isn't she at school?"
"Han, she just found out she was abducted as a baby. Even my Momisn't harsh enough to send her to school yet. She's enrolling next week." Spencer explained, making Hanna's face twist.
"I'm not waiting a week! Let's skip out after lunch!"
"I don't know..." Spencer wasn't sure Paige would appreciate being ambushed by her friends; but the others were keen to meet her, and Spencer knew from experience that Hanna wouldn't quit whining until it happened.
"Fine. We can go at the end of lunch." The older twin finally conceded. At least she'd have time to call Paige on the way over, to warn her that they were coming.

That had been the idea anyway, but Paige didn't pick up. Spencer had tried calling twice, but she got put through to Paige's voicemail both times. She half expected to go home and find Paige and all of her stuff missing. The door was unlocked when the girls arrived at the house, so Hanna walked right in. Aria and Emily followed her. They were all still standing just inside the front room when Spencer walked in. She was about to ask what was going on, when she spotted Paige doing push-ups at the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing boxing shorts and a muscle vest, with her hair tied back in a messy ponytail. She had her earphones in and her iPod cranked up, so she was oblivious to the audience that was watching her. Emily was trying to discreetly avert her gaze from Paige's muscular back and shoulders, but Hanna had no problem openly staring at the other girl. "Wow..."

Spencer rolled her eyes at the blonde, then moved to tap Paige on the shoulder. The younger twin jumped, surprised by the intrusion. She pulled her earphones out as she scrambled to her feet, noticing Spencer's friends standing by the door. "Uh, hey. I didn't hear you come in." Paige flushed. She'd been passing the time by working out, trying to catch up on the training she'd missed over the weekend. Her body had felt slow and sluggish when she'd first started, as though it was protesting the two days of rest she'd had. The young athlete had worked up a sweat, with strands of her hair sticking to her head. "Hi, Emily." She tossed the other swimmer a wave.

"Paige, these are my friends, Hanna and Aria. Guys, this is Paige, my sister." Spencer made the introductions. Aria gave the youngest twin a warm smile as she greeted her. Hanna, who had never been one for social boundaries, stepped forward for a hug. Paige awkwardly returned it; she wasn't big on hugging. With everyone staring at her, she felt like some kind of circus act. None the less, she tried to be polite with Spencer's friends.
"It's nice to meet you all. If you don't mind, I'm just going to grab a shower." Paige excused herself upstairs. She wasn't trying to be rude, she just had to be ready for Veronica to pick her up for the meet. After a quick shower, she changed in to her costume and pulled her warm-ups on over it. She tugged the zip of her jacket right up to her chin. She'd spilt coke all down the front of it after the last meet, but her dad had managed to get the stain out.

The jacket was once again sparkling white. Its sleeves were blood red, the same colour as her pants; as well as the red devil emblazoned across her chest. It would be the last time Paige would get to wear it. She touched her fingers to the captain's 'C' on her sleeve. She felt like she was letting her team down by giving in so easily; but there was no way she could commute to Mt. Lebanon for school everyday, and still keep up her grade average. "Good luck with your meet." Paige jumped as she turned around to find Emily standing outside of her door. She'd been passing Paige's door to go to the bathroom, when she'd spotted her standing in front of the mirror, staring at the white C on her sleeve.
"Thanks." Paige let her hand drop back down to her side. She'd felt uneasy around Spencer's other friends, but Emily was different. The girl had struck a chord with her on her first night in Rosewood, and Paige felt inexplicably comfortable around her.

"I spoke to my coach today, Coach Fulton, she said you can drop by our next practise. It's tomorrow. If you're not too tired after today." Emily tucked her hair back behind her ear, and Paige found herself watching her closely. She was an attractive girl, and she probably had some big jock boyfriend who liked having her on the end of his arm.
"I won't be. Tired, that is...I'll be there." Paige reassured her. She felt bad about leaving her team behind, but she wasn't too proud to join the Rosewood Sharks; her whole future depended on getting a swimming scholarship.
"Great. We're just downstairs if you want to come back down? That is, if Hanna didn't scare you too much?" Emily teased, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth; Paige wasn't sure how it was possible, but the other girl was even more stunning when she was smiling. The thought left a rock hard lump of guilt in the pit of her stomach, causing her to look down and away.
"I'll be down in a minute, I just need to finish packing my bag."

Emily went back downstairs on her own. She caught the girls talking about Paige's abduction, and Hanna wasn't exactly using her indoor voice. "So a crazy woman just took her when you were babies?"
"Hanna!" Emily barked at the blonde. She dropped her voice to a low hiss, "That crazy woman raised her for fifteen years. I don't think Paige would appreciate hearing you call her that."
"Sorry, Mom." Hanna huffily rolled her eyes at her friend, but Spencer shot Emily a grateful look. The situation was sensitive enough, without Hanna putting her foot in it. She was on her best behaviour by the time Paige came down to join them; or at least what passed for Hanna's best behaviour.

"You're got crazy muscles, you must work out all the time, huh?" Hanna wasn't exactly shy about it as she felt up one of Paige's biceps. She'd ended up sandwiched between Emily and the blonde on the couch. "Uh, yeah. Swimming keeps me in pretty good shape." Paige shrugged, deliberately tensing the muscles in her arm.
"You swim too?" Aria quizzed, trying to make conversation. Like the rest of the girls, she wasn't quite sure what to say to Spencer's new sister. "Emily's a great swimmer."
"Yeah, but she's not this ripped." Hanna pointed out, still holding on to Paige's arm.
"Han, could you do me a favour, and stop feeling up my sister?" Spencer glared at her. "God, that's never a sentence I ever expected to say."
"Yeah, because I wouldn't dare to touch the Ice Queen." Scoffed Hanna.
"Ice Queen?" Paige frowned, not sure what they were talking about.

"Melissa." Spencer answered with a frown of her own, though it was aimed at her friends. "We don't really get along all that well. You know what it's like with older siblings...or not." She faltered. Paige just shrugged again. She tried to be discreet as she checked the time on her watch. Veronica would be home to pick her up for the meet in just over an hour. Paige had already called her dad to let him know she was going to the swim meet, and that Veronica was okay with him being there. It felt weird, telling her own father that he had permission to see her. So much had changed in the space of a few days; Paige couldn't wait to get back in the pool. The water seemed to be the one constant in her life right now.

Peter Hastings, her biological father, was due back that evening, and she was nervous about meeting him. Her older sister was supposed to be flying home the following day, and Veronica had spoken about her and Peter's parents coming over at the weekend. The prospect of meeting so many new family members was more than a little daunting for the seventeen year old. Paige had never had a big family before. Her mother's parents had died before Paige was born, and her dad's parents lived down in Texas, so she didn't get to see them all that often. She'd been happy back at home, even if it had just been her and her dad.

Suddenly, being around Spencer and her friends all seemed too much. Paige's throat was starting to close up and her breathing was growing shallow. She was getting overwhelmed again. She could feel another panic attack creeping up on her. Excusing herself from the living room, Paige headed in to the kitchen, under the pretence of getting a glass of water. Once she was out of sight of the other girls, she slumped against one of the kitchen counters. She was struggling to get a handle on her anxiety.

"Paige?" Her eyes closed over as she heard a voice behind her. She'd fled in to the kitchen to escape from the room full of strangers. Emily had followed her though. "Are you okay?" Her voice was full of concern. If there was one thing Paige hated, it was being pitied. Her frustration helped to ground her, and she just about managed to pull herself together as she turned to face the other girl.
"I'm fine...just trying to find a glass." She put little effort in to the lie, but Paige at least managed to force a smile. Emily didn't look convinced, but she played along. Walking right up to the other swimmer, she reached in to the cabinet behind her head, and pulled out a glass. She presented it to her, wearing that smile that Paige found so endearing. "Thanks."
"No problem. Good luck with tonight, and don't forget about training tomorrow. I've talked you up to the Coach."
"Really?" Paige felt a genuine smile tugging at her lips. "Well then, I'll try not to disappoint either of you."