A/N: This is it! One more chapter after this one and the story will be completed. I just want to say how happy I am that you have all stuck with me thus far. And we're almost there! Hang on to your hats, next chapter will have a lot in it!

Saying goodbye to Melanie, Paige hopped onto her bike to head home, hopefully not for the last time. She paused once she arrived in the threshold of her childhood home, she had never dreaded entering it quite as much as she did at that moment. "Come on, Paige, you knew this needed to happen at some point," she sighed, she just thought she might have more time to prepare.

She gathered herself as much as was possible and unlocked the door, it was now or never. The entryway had never seemed so grand, or so empty, to her before. There was something about no love in a home that made it a house, and she shuddered when she realized that she felt like an outsider in her own home.

She set down her bag in the foyer and called out into the cold room, her voice echoing, "Dad?" Nothing. Just the sound of her stilted footsteps. "Father?" She tried again. She passingly wished there was a fire in the hearth or the smell of sugar cookies wafting from the kitchen, something to let her know that her mom, heck anyone, was with her now. "God, help me," she pleased. Her voice caught and she felt as if her whole word was dissolving, "Oh God, oh God, what have I done?" Tears streaked down her face, leaving hot paths in their wake. She collapsed on a chair in the living room. She covered her face with her hands, "What have I done to deserve this?"

The memory of her mother telling her that all trials were from God popped into her mind, but not before her father's deep voice startled her, "That's what I'd like to hear, Paige. My study now."

She looked up at him, unseeing, "Yes, sir."

She followed him into the large study, the fire crackingly in the room doing nothing to soothe her. "Sit down, Paige." She sat. "Explain yourself."

Paige bit her lip, "What do you want me to say?"

His voice was deathly calm, she had never been afraid of him as much as she was right then. "Tell me the truth. That girl I saw you with, how long has that been going on?"

Paige blinked up at him. What? "Melanie? No, no, there is nothing going on with Melanie and me, Father. I promise you that."

For a brief moment he looked relieved and then seemed to come back to himself. He watched her carefully, "I'm sensing that there is more you aren't saying. I would suggest you let me know now."

The 'or else' wasn't spoken, but Paige could hear it plain as day. Paige gulped, "I'm gay, Dad. And I'm pretty sure I always have been."

The vein in his neck throbbed, she worried momentarily that this might be the time where he finally had the heart attack that seemed to be always on the verge, he really needed to stop getting so worked up, she didn't want to lose both parents. The thought hit her hard. Blinking back tears she tuned into her father's ranting, "-My own daughter. COmpletely direspecting me and the church. What did I ever do to deserve this?"

Paige gaped at him, "You think this actually has anything to do with you? DO you have any idea how long I've struggled with this and tried to change it because of you and God? I can't be the perfect person you want me to be, Dad, no matter how long I've tried."

"It's a sin." Paige looked up at him and barely suppressed a flinch when she saw the familiar title of a book next to her father. "It is a sin and I will not accept it."

Paige shook her head, "It's true. No matter how much you try to pray it away. Believe me, I've tried."

His jaw visibly tightened. "Leave, go to your room. I need to think."

She nodded and got up, "I love you," she called out, hoping it would reach him somehow. It was all in God's hands now.

Paige held her breath as she waited for Dani to pick up, "Come on. Come on." She heard a pause when the phone connected and she couldn't hold back, "Dani? Hello? Oh my God."

"Paige? Paige, what's going on?"

Paige flopped back on her bed, "My dad found out." Paige looked at her nails and picked at them for a second before continuing, "We should talk as soon as he'll let me out of the house."

Dani sighed, "What do you mean let you out of the house?"

"He said he needed time to think about it all and to wait in my room."

"You don't-" Dani sounded almost frightened. "You don't think he'll do something, do you?"

"No, he'd never hurt me, don't worry. I think hitting his daughter would be worse in his mind than said daughter being gay. His father hit him and his sister, I think that's one reason why he's so religious. He just needs time to work it out in his mind."

"How are you so calm about this?"

Paige ran her fingers through her hair, "He knows now, there's nothing I can do. I just have to trust that he'll be the man that my mom fell in love with. He's not all bad."

Paige could hear the hesitation in Dani's voice, "If you're sure."

"I am, I'll see you at school on Monday."

"Alright, call me if you need anything."

"Don't worry, Dani, I'll be fine."

"See you Monday."

"Bye."

The weekend passed with little interaction between Paige and the outside world. Her father wanted to keep her from church but she held fast, "Just because I'm gay doesn't mean I don't believe in God, Father. Let me go to church, people will ask questions if I'm not there. Plus I can talk to Pastor John after the service."

He had begrudgingly agreed and only lifted his eyebrows slightly at her skirt on Sunday morning.

"Nothing has changed, Dad. Nothing."

The service let out and with a node to her father promising she would head home right after, she sat down to wait in Pastor John's office.

"Hello, Paige," he said, entering the room after about ten minutes, closing the door behind him. "How can I help?"

"My dad found out," she spoke quietly.

"I see," he leaned back in his chair before sitting forward and propping his chin up on his hands, "And how did that go?"

"I'm not quite sure yet. We talked a little about it initially and then he asked me to give him some time to think."

"Well that sounds more positive than you had originally thought."

"If by that you mean the scenario where he threw me out on the street right after he found out, yeah, I'd say he took it better."

Pastor John laughed lightly, "In all the years I've known your father, that is one thing I could never see him actually do." At Paige's look of disbelief, he continued, "Paige, you remind me so much of your mother, I'd be surprised if he doesn't see it too. I know he can be difficult sometimes, but I think in some way he believes that he is doing what is best for you. And I know it doesn't seem like it because it's not what you want, but let's look at this from your father's perspective, okay? His only daughter is gay and suddenly everything that he's come to believe is being challenged. He loves you, I'm certain of that. But he probably doesn't love this part of you."

Paige sighed, "I think I get where you're going with this, but it's so frustrating. Why can't he just accept it because I'm his daughter?"

Pastor John smiled, "Paige," he urged, "That's why he's trying. You said so yourself that if he were going to do anything drastic it already would have happened. Give him time to process and have faith that all will turn out. God didn't build mountains without giving us the knowledge on how to scale them. Believe in your father just as you believe in the Father above. He's only had a couple days to think about all of this, he'll come to you when he's ready."

"You're right, Pastor. You always seem to be right."

He looked to his left with reverence at the cross mounted on the wall, "Everything will turn out the way it's supposed to, Paige. Trust in God and His plan."

It was another week until Paige was able to get together with Dani to discuss what had happened. Her father had loosened the reins some but it had been so long since he had said anything about her being gay that Paige was worried that he was plotting something and one day she would come home to an empty room and a packed bag.

"Hi," she said, kissing Dani on the cheek and handing her the cup of coffee. She sat next to the other girl. "How are you?"

Dani looked at her with disbelief, "Your life is possibly crumbling around you and you sound positively happy. You feeling okay?"

Paige laughed, brushing some hair from her face, "Thanks for that, you jerk!" Paige bumped Dani's shoulder with her own. "Besides, it would do no good to worry, that's what I keep telling myself at least.

Dani rested her hand on Paige's thigh and squeezed lightly, "You're handling it well."

"Yeah, I think I've worried about what could happen so much that I'm to the point where I'm mostly glad I just don't have to hide it from him anymore."

Dani nodded and took a sip of her coffee, "So, what happened?"

"I went to the deli with Melanie to," Paige paused, she still wasn't quite sure what she wanted to do but she knew that she owed it to Dani to tell her what was going on, Melanie had made that much very clear. She hesitated and finally began to speak at Dani's prompting, "Talk about how I'm confused and I don't think I know what I want." She tried to avoid looking at Dani and finally broke down, meeting her gaze, "Or who I want." She bit her lip wishing there was anything she could say to make the situation change.

Dani frowned slowly and moved away from Paige as if trying to distance herself from what she was hearing. "Okay, so what is it that you are torn between?"

Paige shook her head, swearing at herself for causing all these issues, "I don't even know how I feel right now. I don't want to say something I end up regretting."

Dani sighed, gripping the cup tightly, "We all do things we regret, Paige. The point is to realize what happened, learn from it, and make a change."

"Yeah," Paige slumped on the bench. "This entire thing sucks because it's like I can't even be happy that I might be able to be myself without worrying about my father."

Dani bit her tongue, "There are more players in this than just you, Paige."

Paige looked surprised momentarily, "I know that."

"Do you?"

Paige nodded.

"Well then, what's the best thing for everyone in this situation? What's the best thing for you?"

"I don't know," Paige admitted.

Dani stood up and faced Paige, "Then you need to figure it out." She leaned down and left a lingering kiss on Paige's cheek. "Call me when you have your answer."

Paige watched Dani leave, confusion swirling around in her mind. What was she going to do? She didn't move to leave until the sun was starting to set.

It was dark by the time Paige made her way to the graveyard. She followed the familiar path, nodding at headstones as she passed. Mrs. Callahan, eighty. Mr. Severson, sixty-four. Mary Nielsen, five. She lingered at that grave stone, the stone still polished and new. She felt tears begin to form. She rubbed the stone gently and then moved to her mother's: Elizabeth McCullers, forty-three. Paige knelt down her fingers tracing the engraving. "Hi, Mom. A lot has happened since we last talked."

Paige smiled down at the stone, "Dad found out about Dani, about everything. But you know, Mom, I think I'm okay. I'm not as afraid as I was. I don't think Dad is going to shun me forever, or ship me off to one of those camps. I think he just needs time." Paige laughed, "You were right, as I'm sure you know. You always did know best, putting that old saying to shame."

Paige looked up to the dark sky, "I miss you, Mom. I wish you could be here right now. There's so much I would share with you." Paige blinked, tears falling slowly, "I think you knew exactly who I was supposed to be and you tried to tell me that. You're right. I need to follow my heart, it's the only way."

Paige chuckled, her voice catching, "If only it were that easy."