Author's note: I'm sorry about the length between chapters. I had some computer problems and then it gave out on me completely. I ended up writing most of this chapter on my phone-and there is nothing I hate more than trying to type on a touch screen.- because I didn't want to abandon the story or leave you hanging.

Thank you, everyone for your reviews. You're support and encouragement has been amazing and I appreciate all of you. I'm sorry for not responding to them individually but I'm still trying to figure out the ins and outs of cellphone technology because its all very new to me and I wanted to get this posted. I will try to have it sorted out by the next chapter. Xoxo

Chapter 10

"Thank you so much for helping me," Paige said as they unloaded the last of the bags from the car. "You didn't have to spend your day doing this and I really appreciate it."

"What, you don't think we're finished, do you?" Emily asked as she followed Paige up the porch steps and into the foyer. She dropped her load onto the floor, adding to the pile that had taken over the entryway of Paige's house. "We're just getting started."

Emily knew if she left Paige to her own devices half of this stuff would get shoved into a closet somewhere, never to see the light of day.

"That's what I was afraid of." Paige let out a soft, long suffering sigh, which Emily knew it was just for show. She wouldn't have asked Emily for her help if she didn't want her to follow the task all the way through.

Even so, Emily decided to take pity on her, knowing that her interest and energy had to be running low. She had been patient for the duration of their shopping trip, even helping out and offering opinions throughout but the whole reason that Emily was even there was because it wasn't Paige's cup of tea.

"It's getting late, and I'm getting hungry. Why don't you go get dinner started while I see if i can make a dent in this?" Emily waved her hands towards the admittedly, large pile of items. It was a little intimidating, even for her and she enjoyed this kind of thing.

"Oh, thank god." Paige's shoulders sagged and she let out a sigh of relief at Emily's words. "I think I'll make something on the grill. I have some steaks in the fridge. Or maybe some burgers..."

She was talking more to herself than she was to Emily as she picked her way through the mess and made her way towards the kitchen. Chuckling, Emily watched her go, only turning her attention back to the task at hand once she had disappeared around the corner and she lost sight of the way her ass looked in those jeans. Shaking her head at herself, Emily pushed those thoughts out of her mind as she began sorting through the bags, dividing the items into piles based on the rooms they were going to go into.

It didn't take long before she had everything organized, the smaller piles making the task of redecorating seem less daunting. Deciding to start with the guest bathroom, it seemed the easiest, she scooped up the color coordinated decorations and accessories and set to work.

She pulled a playlist up on her phone, placed it on the windowsill and set to work. It wasn't hard, or even all that labour intensive, but it was time consuming. Pulling down the old shower curtain and replacing it with the new one, fighting with all the stupid little plastic rungs, screwing the towel bar into the wall, trying to get the shower caddy to stand upright long enough to secure it into place, trying to get the pictures to hang straight.

Even so it didn't take long before she fell into a groove, singing along softly and swaying to the music and before she knew it she was finished with the bathroom and moving on to the office, and then the guest bedroom.

Emily yelped in surprise and stumbled mid-shimmy when spun around after she had just finished hanging curtains to find Paige leaning against the doorman. The lyrics of the song she had been singing died in her throat as she flailed her arms, struggling to keep her balance.

"Oh, my god. How long have you been standing there?" She pressed a hand to her chest, as if that would slow her rapidly beating heart, and glared at Paige, who was biting her lip and fighting a slowly losing battle not to laugh.

Emily ignored the blush she could feel rising in her cheeks, and Paige's smirk, as she reached for the beer being offered. Their fingers brushed as she wrapped her hand around the bottle, the jolt of electricity that shot up her arm sent another wave of heat through her. Paige's hand lingered a beat longer than necessary before she slowly pulled away. Once again the air felt heavy, expectant, between them. At the point, Emily was worried that she was going to get whiplash from this constant back and forth.
Every time she thought that they were settling into friendship something came along to remind her of the attraction that still existed between them

Paige cleared her throat and brought her beer to her lips, taking a long pull. Emily couldn't tear her eyes away from the way Paige's throat bobbed as she swallowed. Or the way her lips parted around the bottle's opening. Or the way she had licked them a moment before taking her drink, and now they shone lightly, the moisture making them look even more soft and utterly kissable than usual.

Paige caught her eye over the edge of her bottle, one eyebrow quirking up, her lips curling into a smirk around the her gaze, Emily mimicked her actions, more for something to do than actual want of a drink.

"It looks good in here," Paige said as she lowered the bottle from her lips. "The whole place looks great. Thank you. For everything."

"I'm happy to help."

Despite the tension and the complexity of their current relationship she meant it completely. There was nowhere she would rather have been today than with Paige.
Emily wanted to prove to the other woman she was serious about being someone she could count on. That even if things didn't play out the way she wanted them to that she wasn't going to bail on her like she had before. And if helping Paige decorate her house would aid her in that endeavor, Emily was only to happy to pitch in.

"Dinner's ready," Paige added. "That's what I came in here to tell you. Didn't realize that I was going to get dinner and a show tonight."

Emily blushed once again under Paige's teasing smile.
"Shut up," she muttered, brushing past Paige, knocking into het shoulder with a bit more force than necessary.

Paige merely laughed as she stumbled backwards a few steps. Her laughter following Emily as she trailed behind her through the house towards the kitchen.

She purposefully added an extra little swing to her step and bit back a smile when Paige's laugh strangled in her throat as her gaze. She tried to disguise it as a cough bit Emily knew that she had just caught Paige checking out her ass. She didn't even have to spin around to confirm it. Paige had given herself away. And she knew that Emily knew.

"I thought we could eat outside," Paige said as they reached the kitchen. Her voice was steady, if not a little husky. She paused to clear her throat. "Take advantage of the good weather while it lasts."

Emily shrugged agreeably and headed for the backdoor. Paige followed her out onto the porch and gestured her into one if the surprisingly comfortable deck chairs. Once she had settled, Paige handed her a plate laden down with food then took a seat beside her. Emily murmured a quiet thanks, and then dug in. They were mostly silent as they ate, with only the occasional comment. But it was an easy, comfortable silence, free of the tension and uncertainty that had plagued much of their interacts before.

The sun had sunk below the horizon while Emily had been inside. The sky was awash with the colors of sunset, the backyard bathed in a golden glow that cast long, creeping shadows along the treeline. Emily caught the occasional flash of light in the darkest recesses as lightning bugs began to stir. Paige has lit a line of candles along the porch railing to combat the impending nightfall, as well as the mosquito's and black flies. Citronella mixed with the scent of burnt charcoal and cooked meats that Emily had long since come to associate with barbeques and Paige.

It reminded her of all the weekends spent camping when they were in college. The two of them lying on a blanket, staring up through the branches at the stars, misnaming constellations and mapping out their futures. Of course, those evenings usually ended in the two of them making love in their tent and falling asleep a tangle of limbs and while she doubted that tonight would end like that she couldn't help but reminisce.

She glanced over at Paige and caught her glancing back with a soft smile on her face that told Emily that she was thinking the same thing. Instead of looking away, denying the moment, like Emily had expected, Paige tipped her beer bottle towards Emily, who tapped her own against it in toast.

The silent acknowledgement of their shared past, rather than making it awkward like Emily had feared, seemed to ease things even further. Paige relaxed more fully in her chair, stretching her legs out in front of her and slouching slightly as she brought her beer back to her lips.

"Remember that one time you laid down in a patch of poison ivy?"

"Poison oak," Emily corrected, groaning as Paige chuckled at the memory. She'd ended up with a rash over 60% of her body. She had been miserable for weeks. "And let's not forget who's fault that was in the first place." They had gone for a swim in the lake and Paige had gotten a little enthusiastic in getting Emily up onto the bank so she could have her way with her.

Emily regretted her words as soon as she said them, worried that they would cause Paige to withdraw. But Paige continued to chuckle, even as she apologized. Emily huffed and rolled her eyes, pretending to be offended while fighting back a smile.

"Remember the first time we went camping, and you insisted that you knew how to put the tent up by yourself. And it collapsed on us in the middle of the night?" Emily countered with.

Paige hummed softly. "Still got the scar," she said, referring to the mark left from a gash caused by one of the tent poles.

Neither of them had realized at the time, in the dark, in their sleep dazed state how deep the cut actually was. They'd slapped a bandage over it and went to work trying to reset their tent. It was only in the bright light of morning that they'd been able to assess the damage and realized that it should have gotten stitches.

"I always liked that scar." Emily reached up, running her fingers over the smooth, raised patch of skin as just above Paige's left eyebrow. When Paige inhaled sharply at her touch she realized what she had done and jerked her hand away. Before she could pull away completely Paige's fingers fingers wrapped around her own, giving a soft squeeze.

"It makes you look rakish."

"Rakish? You think I look rakish?" Paige turned to her. Even in the muted glow if twilight, Emily could see that she had one eyebrow raised, her eyes dancing with amusement.

"I'm pretty sure Spencer said it first."
She wasn't sure why she thought that made it better, but she was embarrassed by the admission and was looking to deflect.

"Spencer thinks I look rakish?" If possible, Paige sounded even more amused at the prospect.

Emily didn't know why she had told Paige that, something which she had successfully managed to keep to herself for years. She blamed the way Paige's hand lay lightly over her own on the armrest of her chair, the tips of her fingers drumming an unconscious rhythm again at Emily's knuckles.

"Shut up," she muttered, which only made Paige laugh. "Or we can talk about the incident on your 20th birthday."

That shut Paige up quickly. The laugh dying in her throat, a soft strangled sound coming out instead. Emily chuckled softly at Paige's discomfort at the reference to the night they had gone out to celebrate with some friends from school and Paige, drunk and feeling frisky had ended up dancing up on some random girl at the club she had mistaken for Emily from behind.

There were no shortage of embarrassing or amusing stories and they traded them as twilight faded into full dark. They had spent so much time pointedly not acknowledging their shared past, pretending it didn't exist even though it was the source of the tension between them. Talking about it now, delving into the memories was tough because it brought all the feelings Emily had been trying to shove down back up to the surface but there was also a comfort in remembering all the good that had preceded the bad. It was the reason they were fighting so hard to find their equilibrium now. The connection that they shared, even if it didn't take a turn towards the romantic, was worth holding onto. So even though it made her a little sad to remember everything they'd been through and know that it was over, it also made her feel good to know that it wasn't the end for them.

Before Emily knew it, the moon had risen high into the sky and the candles had flickered out. The lightning bugs had retreated and bats swooped and flitted across the wispy clouds in the sky. A coyote howled far off in the night, the sound both beautiful and chilling. Her head spun lightly from the beers she had drank and her body felt heavy and warm in her chair. It was only when Paige raised her hand in an effort to disguise a jaw popping yawn that Emily registered that her eyes were heavy and stinging with fatigue. It was too dark to read the numbers on the face of her watch but she didn't need to see the time to know that it was late.

She was reluctant to end their time together, feeling like it had been far too short despite the fact that it had been the better part of a day and night. But she had most definitely overstayed her welcome.

"I should call a cab." Her arm felt leaden as she reached into her pocket for her cell phone.

"You'll wait forever to get one out here this late. And it'll cost you a small fortune. You should stay here tonight." Paige's words were spoken slowly, as if she were making an effort not to slur them. "In the guest room," she added. "You decorated it. Only fair you get to be the first one to use it."

As appealing as that option was, Emily knew it wasn't a good idea. They'd both had a lot to drink tonight. Inhibitions were lowered. Sleeping just a few feet down the hall from each other. It all added up to a dangerous combination.

"If it's really okay with you."
Her mouth worked against her brain, agreeing when she meant to say no.

"Of course. Mi casa es su casa."

Emily knew it was a throwaway phrase but her heart ached at how much she wished it were true.

"Come on then. I'll find you something to sleep in."

Paige heaved herself out of her chair, and after a moment of swaying unsteadily on her feet, found her balance and offered a hand out to help Emily up. She took the offered hand, trying not to feel the shiver that ran up her arm when Paige's fingers closed around her own, and allowed herself to be tugged to her feet. Paige pulled a little too hard and Emily's forward momentum sent her stumbling into Paige and Paige stumbling backwards. Her back landed against the porch railing, sending a couple of candles skittering sideways and Emily crashed into her with enough force to knock the air out of her lungs. Or maybe it was the feel of being pressed up against Paige that left her feeling winded.

"Oops." Paige let out a soft giggle as she put her hands on Emily's waist to steady her. Her fingers burned through two layes of fabric where they gripped Emily's hips and it took every effort to brace her hands on Paige's shoulders and push herself away rather than pull her closer. Their gazes locked before Emily could fully extract herself. She was having trouble hearing anything over the pounding of her heart in her ears but she could tell that Paige's giggle stopped abruptly and her breath hitched. Emily's eyes flicked down to Paige's lips. And when they flit back up, she saw Paige's do the same thing. Her stomach dipped as Paige's lips swooped down towards her own.

It went against every fibre of her being to turn her head away so the kiss grazed her cheek.
She knew how easy it would be to accept the kiss. How wonderful it would feel to fall in bed together. To use drunk actions were sober thoughts as a justification for giving into her more base desires. But she knew that no matter how incredible it would be, it would only further complicate things tomorrow. They were just starting to get to a good place and she didn't want to set them back. She wanted to respect Paige's decision to take this slowly and rebuild trust. Even if Paige was making it really hard for her to follow through.

"All right, drunky. Let's get you to bed."

Emily brushed past the moment, hoping that if she didn't make a big deal of it now, it wouldn't have to be an issue to deal with tomorrow. That they were still attracted to each other was not, nor had it ever been the problem and she didn't want it to make things weird between them before they figured things eased backwards and slid one arm around Paige's waist to guide her.

"I can walk." Paige gently pushed her arm away and started for the backdoor. She swayed a little but seemed mostly steady so Emily kept her hands to herself as she trailed her inside.

"If you wouldn't mind locking up, I'll grab you some pj's." Paige's voice was thick and her words came slowly but they were clear and easy to follow. Emily agreed and made her way through the house checking windows and doors and turning off lights before heading towards Paige's room. She met her in the hallway, where Paige was standing, or rather learning against the wall, a bundle of clothes in her arms. She pushed herself off the wall and shuffled over to hand them off to Emily. She took them with a quiet thanks. Paige nodded and shifted in place. She opened her mouth, as if to say something but snapped it shut instead. A silent moment passed. It felt heavy with expectation, but of what exactly, Emily didn't know.

"Good night, I guess," Emily said before slowly spinning around.

"Night, Em. Sweet dreams." Paige's voice was soft and followed quickly by the soft click of her bedroom door shutting.