Thank you all so much for the reads and reviews. It was pointed out to me that I might have made a few mistakes in the 1st chapter so I hope I cleared some things up with the 2nd part. I'm really happy with how it turned out and I hope you are too.

Thank you Afifrechick for reminding me that Aria is, in fact, quite a literate person. I hope you approve of how I correct myself in the story.

And a super huge thanks goes out to Hellsvictim13 for patiently helping me modify my Maya character. I could not have done it without you. This story is for you.

"Maya! Hi!" Emily's voice was filled with unadulterated excitement, and it manifested a sickening feeling deep in Paige's stomach.

Aria nudged the girl standing with one foot on the chair next to her, "Paige, it's now or never!"

"I'm sorry Aria, I just—I can't." With one last look at the reconnected pair, the redhead dashed out of the cafeteria. Emily failed to even glance at the clearly upset girl; her eyes were focused on only one person. Maya sashayed up to Emily and pulled her into her arms, placing a chaste kiss on her lips. It was a kiss that Emily was glad Paige had missed.

"Maya, what are you doing back so early?"

The shorter girl grinned flirtatiously and responded, "They let me out early on good behavior." She turned to the other three girls awkwardly watching them and offered a friendly hello. As Emily invited Maya to sit down at the table with them, Aria inconspicuously slipped out into the hallway in search of Paige. Seeing the light on in the bathroom she figured that was a good place start.

Paige was pacing from wall to wall in the bathroom, punching the bricks every time she made a lap.

Without even looking up at Aria she started shouting, "How could I be so stupid? I knew she would come back eventually, and of course Emily is going to pick her. Maya's ballsy—and I'm not. Maya's pretty—and I'm not. Maya's out—and I'm—not."

Aria assumed the question was rhetorical and simply watched as the other girl voiced her frustrations.

"Well, aren't you going you going to say something?" Paige stopped pacing long enough to direct her question at the shorter girl, but after getting no response, she resumed.

"Paige, stop pacing. You're making me dizzy."

"That's not really what I meant, Montgomery," she tossed over her shoulder on her way by the girl.

"Fine. You want to know what I think?" The harsh tone in her voice was enough to make Paige slow her pace to an eventual stop. "I think the same thing that I thought this morning: if you want to be with her, then you're going to have to fight for her."

"Yeah, but how do I compete with someone like Maya?" Her voice had dropped to level of disappointment that Aria hadn't heard in a very long time.

"What makes you think that Maya is even still in the running for Emily's heart?" Aria remembered the trouble that Emily went through to talk to her girlfriend, only to find herself, for the most part, ignored.

"Maya's gay—and out. Emily wants someone like that. She likes ballsy women. I'm not ballsy!" Much to Aria's dismay, Paige had begun to pace again.

"Hey, give Em some credit. I think she may have changed her mind about this whole 'secret relationship' thing."

"Yeah, sure." Paige's pigheaded nature was starting to get to Aria.

"Seriously, please just talk to her about this. Don't write her off just yet. We really care about her, and you make her happy. Plus, secret relationships aren't all that bad…"

"How the hell would you know what it's like to keep a relationship a secret?" Paige spat at the other girl, "Plus, there's no way Emily would chose me over Maya anyway. Let it go, Montgomery. Please, just leave me alone. "

She was beyond angry now. Paige was throwing away the best thing that had ever been given to her and Aria couldn't stand it anymore. "Well excuse me for trying to be a friend." Placing her tiny hand on the door she turned and glared at the girl. "Oh and by the way, I know what 'enigmatic' means, McCullers. I was just trying to make you feel better." With that, she shoved open the bathroom door and flew out, leaving a wake of 'pissed-off' behind her.

Bitch.

Aria stormed back into the cafeteria and sank into her chair next to Emily. Hanna and Spencer exchanged confused looks, but only Emily Fields was foolish enough to speak up.

"Whoa, Aria. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong?" She sat up and stared the swimmer in the eyes. "I'll tell you what's wrong. I'm done trying to be nice to people, and I'm really done trying to solve everyone else's problems. You're on your own."

"What's she talking about, Sweetie?" Maya poked her head from around Emily's other side.

"Ugh!" Aria grunted and buried her head in her arms.

"Maya, can we go somewhere and talk—uh, privately?" The brunette finally picked up on Aria's meaning and she instantly felt plagued with guilt. Did she even notice when Paige had fled the room? Standing up, the two girls made their way out into the hallway.

Spencer's words came out in a slow drawl. "So, are you going to tell us what just happened here?" Aria looked up from her arms and shook her head from side to side. Dropping her face back to the table she mumbled, "Girls are stupid."

Out in the hallway, Emily quietly searched for an empty classroom. This was going to be an interesting conversation and she wanted to prevent any possible interruptions. During the search, Maya attempted to bring their hands, but each time, Emily had managed to pull away. Eventually, they found a vacant room, and the two girls slipped inside.

"So, you couldn't wait to get me alone so you sneaked us in here for a quick make-out session? Emily Fields, you rule breaker!" She slowly began to inch towards the taller girl. Typically Maya's teasing made Emily's heart do all sorts of funny things, but today, it just made her queasy.

"I kissed her." The words stopped Maya dead in her tracks.

"Em, sweetie. What are you talking about?"

"Paige McCullers—I kissed her. Well, she kissed me first, but I didn't pull away. And then we went on a date, and we kissed again."

"Wow, Em. I never really pegged you for the cheating type." She grabbed a desk to steady herself.

"I thought we were broken up, Maya. Well, at least in my heart I did." She paused in an attempt to regain some composure. "I went through a lot to be able call you while you were away. When I finally got a hold of you, you sounded less than thrilled to be talking to me. It broke my heart."

"I was dealing with a lot of stuff out there, you know. I guess I just assumed that you would wait for me. But I guess I was wrong…"

"Maya, you were my first. And that's something that I will always cherish. You taught me how to love myself. We were so good together, but I think—?

"—We're just different people now." Maya finished the thought for her.

"Yeah."

"I understand, Em." She offered a sad smile. "So this Paige girl, you're into her then?"

She was surprised by sudden change in topic. "Maya, you don't have to do that…"

She let out an unmistakable sigh of relief. "Good, because saying that just made me extremely uncomfortable." The two girls exchanged a quick laugh.

"I'm sorry." The swimmer felt her heart break for the other girl

"Yeah, me too." She stepped up to Emily and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. Walking backwards she offered one last thing to her now ex-girlfriend. "I want you to be happy Emily. I hope she makes you happy. Never stop fighting for what you deserve." With one last curl of her lips, Maya turned around and left Emily alone in the darkness to reflect on the events that had just transpired.

Her back hit the cold bricks as she slid into a seated position on the floor. Tears flowed freely from her face, but they reflected relief rather than sadness. She grabbed her phone out of the front pocket of her jacket and typed out a quick text.

Room 107.

Her face was dry by the time Paige peaked her head into the classroom.

"Emily? Are you ok?" She called into the darkness.

"Yeah, back here." The redhead slowly moved towards the back of the class bumping her knee on every desk along the way. When she reached her destination, Emily was looking up at her with her sad, beautiful eyes.

"I miss you, Paige McCullers." Paige leaned her shoulder against the back wall. It's cool temperature sent shivers through her body

"What about Maya?" Her words were dry and emotionless.

Emily offered a casual smile. "She left."

"Why?" Again, she spoke without emotion.

"My heart belongs to another." Paige took a moment to chew over the phrase and slid down the wall, mirroring Emily's position. Without any effort their hands instantly linked together, and an intimidating silence flooded the room.

Paige let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding and turned her head toward Emily. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could see a content smile pasted on the other girl's face.

"I miss you too, Emily Fields." She felt the brunette lean into her, placing her tired head on Paige's shoulder. A silence washed over them again. Paige watched the other girl wet her lips and open her mouth to speak.

"Do you think that maybe we can try to meet somewhere in the middle on this thing?" Emily's voice was exhausted but hopeful.

Paige grinned. "Yeah, I think that could probably work." She leaned over and placed a tender peck on the cheek opposite to where Maya had left one earlier. As she pulled away, Emily turned her face and connected their lips in a soft, but full-mouthed, kiss.

"I've been wanting to do that all day," She sighed. Paige left her eyes closed, relishing the perfection of the moment.

"Well, Emily Fields, feel free to do it again—and again—and again—But don't feel pressured to wait so long in between kisses this time."

"I'll do my best." The return of their playful bantering was refreshing to both girls.

"So, do you think maybe we should go finish our lunch?" asked Paige. "We could even sit together."

"Nah, let's just stay here for a while. I kind of like it."

"Hidden?" Paige pointed the obvious problem in the other girl's plan.

Emily turned and kissed Paige once again. Squeezing her hand she replied, "But together."

But together.