"Hanna can you come over?" Emily asked into the phone.
"Sure. You sound upset, what happened?" Hanna asked.
"Can you just meet me at my house?" Emily asked.
"On my way." Hanna said before hanging up.
Emily entered her house and slammed the door shut. She couldn't remember why she blew up at Paige. She had after all sent her away, as Paige pointed out. She should be with her now. Happy that she was back. Emily threw herself on the couch with her face buried in the cushion. Her parents were on a mini vacation and wouldn't be back until Thursday. She didn't move when she heard a knock on the door, knowing Hanna would let herself in.
"So does the reason I'm here have anything to do with Paige and then being back? I thought you two would be in bed all weekend long." Hanna said.
"I yelled at her. We got into a huge fight." Emily said.
"Why?" Hanna asked.
"I don't know. I was so excited when I first saw her, but then I started feeling guilty and then I just got mad." Emily said as she say up.
"Guilty about what?" Hanna asked.
"Sydney kissed me." Emily said.
"Told you!" Hanna squealed.
"It's not funny Hanna!" Emily said. "She did, and for a brief moment, I kissed her back."
"Oh." Hanna said. "Do you like her?"
"No. I love Paige. She is who I want to be with." Emily said.
"But?" Hanna said, egging the girl on, knowing there was more.
"This imprint is affecting me too, and I didn't need to go away for two months with no contact." Emily whispered. "But I'm who told her to go."
"So is that why, for a brief moment, you kissed her back?" Hanna asked.
"I don't know. She was just gone. And I didn't hear from her. I didn't think she was coming back. And I didn't think it was fair that I didn't get to pick this imprint." Emily said.
"There we go." Hanna said.
"What?" Emily asked.
"Your angry that Paige imprinted with you." Hanna stated.
"No I'm not." Emily said.
"Em." Hanna said, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Fine. Maybe I am a little mad that this happened." Emily yelled as she stood and started pacing the floor. "I never got a choice. I moved here to get over someone that I loved, who passed away. Who was killed by a werewolf!"
"And?" Hanna asked.
"It's kind of not fair." Emily said, deflating into the chair opposite the couch.
"No, it isn't. But Emily?" Hanna said.
"What?" Emily asked, looking up at her best friend.
"Do you have any idea how imprints work? Why they happen?" Hanna asked.
"No." Emily said.
"They happen, because you were destined to be with that person. You were with them in another lifetime. In every lifetime, basically. There had to be a connection there, to start the imprint. You could have fought it all you wanted, but it would have happened. And the type of imprint, it's based on what type of relationship each of you need. You two could have just been really close friends with a strong connection. But you both needed each other." Hanna explained. A noise behind Emily makes both girls stop talking and they look up to see Paige walk into the living room.
"Hi." She says after no one says anything.
"Hi Paige!" Hanna says as she stands to leave. "I'm going to go find Caleb."
"Hi." Paige says again as she takes the seat opposite Emily.
"Hi." Emily says.
"Where are your parents?" Paige asks, making small talk.
"A little vacation until Thursday. They went to California." Emily answers.
"That's nice." Paige says as she looks down at her hands for a few minutes before starting. When she looks up Emily is starring at her. "I'm sorry I didn't get in touch with you. I don't even have a good excuse as to why I did it."
"I made you go. You said it." Emily says.
"I guess, it just felt too good." Paige admitted.
"What felt too good?" Emily asked.
"Being able to just be me." Paige said.
"Without me?" Emily asked.
"Without worry." Paige answered.
"So now I'm a bother?" Emily asked, not raising her voice.
"No. Not at all. But do you realize, for the hundred thoughts I think in an hour, your safety is ninety eight of them? And I just had too much thrown at me at once. I never got to experience being a wolf on my own before three people tried to kill me and you." Paige paused before continuing. "That makes me sound awful."
"No it doesn't. I to Hanna, before you got here, that the imprint was unfair to me." Emily admitted.
"It was unfair to us both." Paige said.
"Yea." Emily agreed. "I was just getting over the death of Maya and was thrown into this intense relationship."
"I'm sorry." Paige said.
"It wasn't your fault." Emily said. Both sat and waited for the other to talk. Minutes passing before one of them opened their mouth.
"So now what?" Paige asked.
"I don't know. I missed you Paige. I missed you the entire time you were gone. But we need to look at this as a whole. We might have to deal with people trying to tear us apart for the rest of our lives. I think we need to step back.." Paige cut Emily off.
"Break up?" Paige asked panicked, tears in her eyes. Emily moved to the chair and sat in Paige's lap, Paige wrapping her arms around the girls waist.
"No, not break up. Just, take time. Alone time. Make sure, that this, that us, is something we both want. For the rest of our lives." Emily said as she kissed Paige's forehead. "We need to seriously consider it."
"Ok." Paige said after she calmed down. She looked up and saw that Emily had tears in her eyes too.
"Ok." Emily agreed.
"I love you Emily." Paige said.
"I love you too Paige." Emily responded. "There is something else I have to tell you."
"What is it?" Paige asked as Emily moved off of her lap and squeezed into the small space between Paige and the chair arm, taking her hands in hers.
"Someone kissed me. And I kissed them back." Emily said. Paige let go of her hands, her eyes reflecting hurt at the words.
"You kissed them back?" Paige asked, standing up, voice laced with hurt. "Why did you kiss them back?"
"In the back of my mind, I thought you weren't coming home. And then there was this girl, and she wanted me." Emily said.
"I wanted you…" Paige yelled before composing herself. "Sorry. Sorry. We're not arguing."
"I'm sorry." Emily said as she cried.
"It's already done Em." Paige said as crouched down to be at eye level with Emily. "Do you still want it?"
"I don't know. I know that I love you, but right now, I'm confused." Emily admitted.
"I know. I am too." Paige admitted. "What if, during our break, you see this person?"
"What? No!" Emily shot out.
"Hey, I'm not saying to marry them. But just see where it would go with them. I don't want you to leave me Em, I don't want you to ever break our bond. But I don't want you to regret choosing me just because you are afraid of hurting me. That would hurt me more than breaking our bond." Paige said as tears resurfaced down her face.
"I don't want…" Emily started.
"Please. Em. For us?" Paige asked as she stood up.
"For us." Emily said after a few silent moments. Paige turned and walked out the door of the Fields house, texting Hanna that she needed to get back to Emily quickly.