A/N: New chapter :) Thanks for all the lovely reviews, they make my heart sing!
Embarrassed. That was mostly how Paige felt. But other emotions came rushing in slowly. Jealously. Relief. Relief that Emily was gay? The one thing that Paige usually understood, her own emotions, were playing with her right now. Why in the world did she feel relieved, and not disgusted like she was taught to react to anything her father disproved of. Then she felt scared. If she continued being Emily's friend, would the girl think she was also gay? Was that how things worked? Would Emily think Paige had a crush on her? Because she certainly didn't have one. Sure, she liked the girl as a friend but she didn't see herself doing anything under the sheets with her. Her cheeks flushed red at the thought, but mostly because she knew she was lying to herself.
"It's okay Emily, she didn't see much" Samara said with a shrug, and gently tried to pull the girl back on top of her.
Emily sighed and looked away; she definitely wasn't in the mood anymore. Paige had seem horrified, and she had probably just ruined their partnership and friendship. She got up from Samara's bed and flopped down onto her own.
"She saw enough to be horrified" She told the blonde, who was looking right at her.
"She didn't know you were into girls? She must've. I mean, you ooze gay" Samara teased with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.
Emily looked at her and quirked an eyebrow before she cracked a smile. "Okay, bedtime, Miss I-know-Everything" She said halfheartedly before throwing one of her pillows at the blonde and getting into bed. But as soon as she closed her eyes she was thinking about Paige again, her wide eyed, distraught face at finding out her friend was gay in the most awkward of fashions.
Emily woke up early for their morning practice in the pool, arriving in the locker rooms before any of the other girls. With every passing minute, her heart began beating faster, as she knew that sooner or later Paige would be arriving.
Sooner than Emily had hoped, Paige entered the locker room with a few other girls. She saw the girl look up at her and then change her gaze, and Emily's fear increased. Her partner was disgusted by her, great. She had spent so much time accepting who she was, and she had learned not to care about what others thought of her. But Paige ignoring her made all of her insecurities come back in a matter of seconds.
She quickly made her way out of the locker rooms to avoid more awkward glances and was greeted by coach. When everyone was changed and ready to go they were told the program for the morning and afternoon. Their morning was to be used to work on personalized goals, coach had assigned short and long distances for each girl to work on. They had a four hour break after their morning practice before meeting up again.
The practice was rough, Emily couldn't deny it. It didn't help that her and Paige hadn't exchanged more than a glance that morning, and that the two were having a silent competition as to who would reach their wall first. If Emily didn't meet Paige exactly in the middle of the pool, she'd make sure to accelerate in her next lap. Both girls seemed to have an unspoken need to beat the other.
The practice ended no different than how it had started, with no word or acknowledgment from Paige. Emily had changed quickly and had decided to take a shower in her own room instead of the locker rooms. Samara was out for the day, the Gymnastics program often required them to leave campus to train with other schools. Being alone in her room had its consequences. Calling Hanna wasn't an option; they had agreed to call each other later that night since Hanna would be out with Caleb during the day. All Emily could think about for the next hour or so was Paige, and she was getting angrier and angrier. How dare she judge her without knowing anything about her situation?
With that thought, Emily made her way to Paige's dorm room. She didn't care if her slutty roommate was at it again, she'd bring them elsewhere. She knocked onto the door, a little louder than she had intended to and was greeted by Paige after a delay. The girl seemed surprised to see Emily.
When Emily realized that Paige was alone in her room she closed the door behind her and crossed her arms over her chest. "You didn't talk to me this morning" Emily stated.
"I was distracted" Paige responded, and it was true. She had been distracted by her thoughts of how she had single handedly ruined any of her chances to be friends with Emily after her reaction last night.
"I'm not any different than two days ago. Just because I kiss girls doesn't make me a monster you should ignore" Emily said, she was a little pissed off that that was all Paige could say.
"I don't.." Paige started and sighed, sitting on her bed. "I don't have a problem with you being gay, Emily! It wasn't seeing you half naked on top of your roommate that distracted me, I just felt bad about my reaction. I thought you'd hate me. The thought of you hating me is what distracted me" Paige blurted out. It was a lie. Emily being half naked was the primary reason why she was distracted, but if she admitted that then it would change things. She had been slightly worried about Emily hating her for just walking out without another word, but she was more concerned with the fact that she had felt relief and jealousy when she had seen the two of them together. What in the world was that supposed to mean?
"Hate was not a word that crossed my mind last night at all. Awkward, perhaps, but not hate" Emily said with a tense smile as she sat beside Paige.
"Yeah, that was pretty awkward" The girl chuckled, letting her body fall down onto the bed so she was laying on her bed.
Emily's body followed Paige's; the two of them laying side by side. There was a silent agreement that Emily accepted Paige's apology, and that Paige wasn't disgusted by the thought of Emily being gay. The two stared at the ceiling for a few minutes before Emily spoke up. "Why'd you start swimming?"
"My dad" Paige answered - it was automatic.
"And why'd you continue?"
"My dad" Paige said again, slightly hesitant to answer this time. It had been a while since she had actually enjoyed swimming as a leisurely pleasure, and not a competition in some sort of way. "I mean, I was swimming because I liked it, and that's why I was good. I would always be in the pool. But as soon as me being good meant bragging rights for my dad, it became his sport instead of mine" She said. She turned her head slowly to look at Emily, biting her lip. "I wouldn't be here if he hadn't threatened to retract his contribution to my college tuition payment" She whispered, as if the softer she said it the bigger chance Emily won't have heard and she could erase her words. Paige had never really said that to anyone before, and here she was confessing it to someone she barely knew. But their recent exchange about Emily's sexuality made Paige feel like she could share anything with the girl.
Emily listened to the girl and she instantly felt bad for her. She had the luck to have supportive parents that were there for her, no matter win or lose. She had never experienced the kind of pressure to perform as Paige probably did on a daily basis.
"I'm sorry" Emily said simply. She didn't pry or pretend to understand. The apology wasn't because she pitied Paige, but because she really was sorry that she had to live with a father like that.
"It has its perks. He thinks I'm as competitive as he is, so when my parents left they never had issues trusting me with the house. He just thinks I swam all day. But, I could do whatever I wanted" Paige laughed. Emily gently rested her head against Paige's shoulder, a chuckle escaping the brunette's lips. Paige tried not to think too much of the action, she had noticed how Emily was touchy-feely with everyone she knew, and probably was much more with her best friends.
"That does sound fun. My friend, Hanna would have killed for that. She's all about the boys" Emily said, chuckling quietly.
"Mm, it did have its purpose in my relationships" Paige agreed. The sentence made it seemed like it was advantageous for her relationships, but in reality it was the opposite. She had broken up with her first boyfriend when he got mad when she refused to have sex with him even if her parents were out of town.
Emily turned to her wide eyed and laughed, "Paige McCullers the minx. Who would have known?" She said in a teasing tone, earning a playful slap from Paige.
"Shut up, Em" She said quietly.
Paige smiled at the silence that followed. If Emily was going to tease her, so was she. Plus, it would give her an opportunity to know more about her relationship with Samara. She convinced herself it was to be a good friend and not out of jealousy.
"So, is Samara a sub or dom?" Paige asked with a laugh.
"Paige" Emily warned and rolled her eyes.
"Recalling the position I caught you in last night, I'd say you were a definite dom" It was easy for Paige to recall the position, since she had been thinking about it since that night. But she still managed to keep her cool while talking about it, not giving anything away. Hiding her feels was one thing that she had gotten good at because of her father.
"Paige!" Emily laughed and her cheeks flushed pink at her words. She covered her face with Paige's pillow to exaggerate her embarrassment.
"Oh come on Em, don't act all embarrassed, I was only teasing" Paige said, her smile turning into a smirk as she tried to pull the pillow away from the girl.
"I'll get you back, you know. Some day I'll find you in a compromising position and I'll never let you forget it" Emily put the pillow back at its place and laughed.
"Bring it on, Fields"
Their afternoon together had come to and end sooner than Paige had hoped, but at least they got to swim together afterwards. Emily had plans that night so Paige was left to herself, enjoying a meal and an evening with Kale playing billiards and darts before going to bed.
It was official. Paige had never appreciated her bed as much as she did that night, and she tried to convince herself it was due to her strenuous workout and not because her pillow still smelled like Emily.
A/N: Yes, Paige is okay with Emily's sexuality. I've decided to make my story slightly different, and I don't think Paige ever really had a problem with Emily being gay. She had a problem with herself being gay, and in this story, she hasn't exactly realized this yet, so no reason for her avoid Emily. I hope they weren't too out of character.
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