Ahhh, I'm so glad you guys are enjoying this. I would have updated earlier, but I was out of the country. I legit wrote scenes in a notebook MADE OF PAPER (I opened it and was like 'ugh, why are there no apps'). Anyway, I loved the reviews. Keep 'em coming? Each one is a delicious stack of waffles.
Paige slammed her hand down on the alarm to stop its beeping, 5 in the goddamn AM, "Ugh, fuck," she mumbled. Paige was wearing her shirt from yesterday and her underwear. She rolled onto her back flinging her arm to cover most of the bed. No Spencer. Paige imagined the girl freaking out. "She is actually stubborn enough to leave her own apartment," Paige grumbled, covering her head with her arm.
Paige had never intended on sleeping over at Spencer's place. Nor had she planned on making out with the girl until 2AM... or sleep-removing my own damn bra, she thought, now searching. She made her way to the bathroom to observe herself, all hair sticking up and smudged eyeliner, And the award for most convincing walk of shame goes to- she noticed and used a new toothbrush on the counter. She stopped when she heard music from the kitchen. Paige rinsed her face, put on her jeans and ventured out.
"Just in time," Spencer said as she placed a plate of chocolate chip pancakes and a mug of coffee in front of a baffled Paige. No way, Paige thought, already salivating at the breakfast before her. Then, realizing that Spencer had purposefully left the alarm on, she re-stacked the bricks for her wall of grumpiness. She'd still eat the damn pancakes. Just not as enthusiastically.
Spencer looked like she'd gotten back from a run. She flitted around the kitchen, "Clean as you go," Paige grumbled under her breath, taking a sip of coffee.
"Huh?"
"Thanks for breakfast. Did you sleep well?" Paige replied with a little smile.
"I did," Spencer lied as she worked, not making eye contact with the girl.
"Productive morning?" Paige pushed, still trying to sound casual.
"It has been," Spencer continued cleaning. "Woke up. Brief panic. Went for a run. Felt better."
Paige nodded, "Panic?"
"There was a girl in my bed," Spencer answered calmly, finishing her chores.
"You didn't sleep," Paige said what she'd long calculated.
"If I'd slept and then done all of that, we'd be late for work," Spencer reasoned lightly, as if trying to explain social norms to a child.
Paige laughed and took another sip, "Coffee: The sign that God loves us and wants us to be more productive," Paige said, edgy, holding up her cup. Spencer grabbed her mug and and clinked the toast with a tired smile. "I'm... sorry. I didn't mean to spend the night," Paige added, deciding to be mature and address the elephant.
"I think I meant for you to spend the night, so I should be the one apologizing," Spencer admitted.
Paige gave herself a moment to consider the implications. "Well if it's your fault, I don't have to be sorry, right?" Paige asked, teasing but still tense.
"Yep," Spencer said, briskly. "I'm going to go shower. You're welcome to borrow anything you need. I take it you found the toothbrush?" Spencer said, finally smiling. She must have recalled her morning at Paige's. She seemed a little easier for an instant and Paige let herself breathe normally again.
"Yeah. I'll be borrowing some shorts," Paige said. Spencer was almost out of the room. "Spencer?" The girl turned around. She really was fetching, Paige thought, joking with herself. Paige got up off the barstool and walked, tentatively, towards the girl. "You've got a little something..." The apartment wasn't large. It only took a couple steps. Paige reached out to the smudge of chocolate on the girl's face and soon they were kissing. It was brief. It felt natural to casually kiss Spencer like that. Paige felt the girl shiver slightly and that gave her a boost of confidence. She pulled her close with an arm around her back and deepened the kiss, holding for about three seconds before letting her go and pulling back. Paige didn't want to overstay her welcome.
Spencer blushed, not saying anything. She looked disoriented before smiling, nodding and retreating to her bedroom.
Now... now I feel like eating pancakes, Paige thought, pleased. Her stomach was still knotted up, but now in a much better way.
Spencer didn't breathe until she got to the bathroom. Her hand was still a little shaky as she turned on the water. Pull yourself together! She kept thinking.
The thing that was scary wasn't that Paige was a woman. Nor was it the fact that she'd never actually broken up with Toby.
It was this: When Spencer left for her run, she missed Paige.
That is insane, right? She thought, undressing for the shower. It's only been a few days!
She tried to think about what her friends would say. Aria would say that it was love at first sight, or some whirlwind romance nonsense. Hannah would giddily insist that Spencer was in lust. At least Emily would underst- Oh god, Emily, Spencer thought, washing her face roughly, wishing she could turn back time long enough to perpetually live in that place where she'd forgotten about Emily.
"What am I doing?" Spencer muttered. This was a disaster waiting to happen.
Then again, Emily was gone for the rest of summer. This was just a summer fling. Emily would never have to find out. Unless she talked to that Kim girl. Who was a swimmer. Dammit, Spencer thought, regretting the lie she'd told Kim. She didn't think anything would happen with Paige at that point, right? Right?
Spencer didn't want to linger in the shower for too long. Her mind was moving too frantically for her to enjoy it. She had to end things with Paige. She probably had to end things with Paige. She really ought to consider ending things with Paige...
It was amazing how quickly she was able to talk herself out of ending things with Paige.
Paige's phone seemed to buzz just as she was finishing her breakfast.
Hey Paige! It's Kim!
Kim: It was good seeing you last weekend. If you need a swim buddy... you know where to find me.
Paige contemplated the text. It had only been a few weeks of summer and her swim schedule was poised to be abandoned in favor of chocolate chip waffles and making out with Spencer Hastings. Then again... she thought about the inherent danger of drama posed by a girl like Kim.
Paige: I've got a pool, so I'm good on that front. Good to hear from you, though!
Paige hoped that didn't sound too pompous. Kim didn't miss a beat.
Kim: Well, in that case... it's me who needs a swim buddy. Some of us aren't blessed with a home pool ; )
"Ooph," Paige muttered aloud, feeling like an asshole. She was trying to pen a response, but Kim beat her to the punch.
Kim: Some of us swimmers are throwing a party on Saturday. We'd love it if you and Spencer stopped by. And yes, I will be offended if you don't.
Paige smiled. Okay, here was a way to redeem herself and actually make friends this summer.
Paige: I'd love to come. And I'll work on Spencer.
Paige chewed her lip. There was still something 'off' about this that she had to fix.
Paige: And Kim. This thing with Spencer is new and she hasn't really talked to anyone about it...
Kim: Discretion, I gotcha. I haven't and won't mention it to anyone.
Paige sighed, relieved.
Paige: Thanks. You're great. See you Saturday.
Spencer was growing tired of talking around things with Paige. She knew she'd been cold that morning and now Paige was getting all squirrely again. Normally she'd find it fun to watch Paige squirm. But the idea that Paige was uncomfortable was making Spencer feel ill. Things got less awkward by the time the arrived at Spencer's parents' place. The girls had plenty of barn-related ideas to discuss and once they were actually working, they fell easily into joking and teasing each other.
"This barn is actually charming," Paige mused, climbing down the ladder. Between the power sprayer yesterday and hours of old fashioned sanding this morning, they'd managed to strip the thing of all its paint and mildew.
"Yeah, we used to have sleepovers in there before..." Spencer trailed off, deciding to change the subject when Paige looked puzzled. "I fixed it up in high school and decorated the interior. My sister was supposed to live here when she was engaged. It kind of fell out of use after," Spencer explained, scraping a little patch that she'd missed. She looked at it, pleased, when it was done. She looked over to see Paige standing on the last rung of the ladder, smirking at her in a way that made Spencer's lips tingle a bit. The girl was starting to sweat a little. It was just enough to making her t-shirt cling tighter to her body. "You want a tour?" Spencer asked before she could stop herself.
"Yeah," Paige said once her feet were on the ground. She took her gloves off and watched Spencer grab a key from under the mat.
Sun was shining through the adjacent window and the house was immaculately decorated. Spencer got them both water from the kitchen and showed Paige the common room. "This is impressive, Hastings," Paige said with a smirk. She was leaning slightly against the arm of a couch, her hands at her back, keeping most of her body off it. She'd been careful to place the glass of water on a coaster. Her hands served the same purpose with the couch. She was way too sweaty and gross to sit on Hastings family furniture, even if it was the barn couch.
"So I looked up The Runaways when I got home the day after Noel's," Spencer said, moving closer to Paige. Paige had found and worn her own shirt from Spencer's place.
"Yeah? Did you like any of the characters?" Paige asked. Spencer was close enough now to start pointing things out.
"Well, the girl with the raptor is great," Spencer said, running her finger over Paige's abs, "And it looks like Niko and Karolina are meant to be." Now Spencer's palm was on Paige and the girl was leaning close. Paige was already exhausted and nervous and now she was starting to lose balance. The slightest nudge from Spencer ended up sending her over the arm and onto the couch. "That couch is one of the most comfortable," Spencer said, in her 'tour voice,' looking down at the girl with a smirk.
"You're right about that," Paige said, trying to regain composure and scooting back a foot on her butt. Spencer took that as her cue to climb over the arm as well, positioning herself with one knee against the cushions and the other between Paige's legs. She leaned down slightly and Paige met her there, capturing her lips in a kiss. The girl bit Spencer's bottom lip just hard enough for Spencer to fall forward into Paige's arms.
Paige caught her, pushing fingers into Spencer's tidy braid. She pulled just enough to break contact just to push against Spencer again, a hand moving boldly to Spencer's ass. I guess we're done being awkward, then, Paige thought.
Spencer felt a rush of warmth, loving the way Paige was toying with her. Before she knew it, Paige was leading her to sit up, leveraging her weight to flip them over. Spencer lost a little of her breath by the impact of the couch against her back and frantically grabbed for Paige. She missed her touch. She wanted to be kissing again. She wanted so much more. One hand was gripping tight to Paige's shirt and the other scratching down her back over the cloth. Paige growled a little, grabbing both of Spencer's hands to hold over her head. She started kissing down Spencer's neck in a series of nips and sucks, moving her other hand up the girl's shirt. Spencer squirmed against the fabric of her shorts for relief. Paige noticed, pushing her knee forward to assist her. It served to heat things up further. "Paige," Spencer whispered and Paige doubled the pressure. Her hand was now on Spencer's breast, pushing the girl against her hip.
Be-beep be-beep be-beep... Be-beep be-beep be-beep
"Ugh," Paige sighed, holding a little tighter before releasing her grip and letting her body go limp against Spencer's. "I hate all your alarm clocks," she groaned. "I hope you have damage insurance on that phone..." she continued against Spencer's collar bone. She wasn't going to let the girl go just yet.
Spencer let a heavy sigh, "I have to go to work." Paige waited one more second before rolling off her.
"I know. Go," Paige said, grumpy.
Spencer looked over her her body filling with concern. Spencer didn't want to hurt Paige. She didn't want things to be awkward again. She could call in sick to work. It's not like she did much anyway... Paige looked up at her as if she were trying to read those very thoughts. Finally Paige smirked.
"What?" Spencer asked, eyebrows raised. She started to stand, using the arm of the couch to to cover up the fact that her legs felt like jelly.
"You have sex hair," Paige said with a smirk. Spencer made a feeble attempt to pat her hair back into shape, but it was a wreck.
Paige laughed, "It suites you," she said swinging her legs to the floor, rubbing her face. "Wow," she mumbled, "and ow," she said stretching. She looked up to see Spencer smiling at her. "Well, go on! You're surely late now. I'll get the yard cleaned up," she said with a grin.
Spencer nodded and gathered her phone and started towards the door. But she couldn't leave. Something was tugging her back. She turned on her heel and walked briskly up to Paige. She laid her hands on the sides of Paige's neck. "Thank you," she whispered, kissing her. It was casual, just like the one in the kitchen.
"For what?" Paige asked, clearly pleased with this reaction, her hand landing on Spencer's waist. Spencer kissed her again, pushing hard... wanting her to know, wanting the sentiment to hold.
"The last few day," she said, looking into Paige's dark eyes. With one more kiss, Spencer felt like she could finally leave. "See you tonight?" Spencer asked, voice low. She hoped it held the weight of how badly she wanted Paige.
"Yeah, unless something better comes up," Paige mumbled, teasing as she blushed a bit at Spencer's gaze.
Spencer gave her a playful glare on her way out of the barn. Pull yourself together! Spencer repeated her mantra, this time with a grin.
Aria Montgomery had was cradling a tome, The Complete Works of James Joyce, that she had chosen to read on her round-about 14 hour flight. It was probably late in Rosewood by now, she calculated. She thought back to the message she'd gotten from Hannah while she was still on the tarmac. Hannah would need a ride from the Philly train station tomorrow afternoon.
Luckily, Emily Fields had made her connection and would be arriving in the morning, giving her plenty of time to caffeinate and rent a car to get the three of them to Rosewood. Aria smirked, pleased with their coordination skills.
They had all been miserable in their own way this summer. But it was Emily, who had the unfortunate luck of having to break up with the coordinator of her trip, that solidified their plans to go home. Aria shook off thoughts of the unfortunate circumstances and just let herself be eager to see her girls. Plus, she was so excited that hadn't told the fourth member of their group. The one who kept whining about being abandoned.
Surprising Spencer was going to be the best part.
