Back again! I hope you're all having a fantastic weekend! Sorry if this one isn't edited so well, i wanted to get it out and I'm exhausted...it's been a very excellent but tiring weekend! I hope you guys are having a great weekend too.
Thanks again for the reviews, i know i say it every time but i appreciate it every time. I probably wouldn't be updating so quickly you guys didn't review. Thanks to those who put so much effort in as well and leave super detailed reviews, it's really encouraging. So please review this chapter as well!
Anyway, so here is chapter 5. The meatier stuff is coming in the next 2-3 chapters! There will be some jealousy and a date coming up soon so Paily will be happening soon people! :P Just be patient with me :)
The next day Paige was sitting in the office of the aquatic center, waiting for her class to arrive while she filled in some routine paperwork.
"You almost ready to go out there?" Jason asked walking into the office "Your class is arriving"
"Yeah, I'll go out in a second" Paige nodded not looking out from the paper the was writing on with a concentrated look on her
face "Can I ask something?"
"Sure" Jason nodded
"What do you think I should do with Emily?" Paige asked finally looking up from her work
"What do you mean?" Jason asked
"You've known her for a long time, I figure she likes me but I don't know whether she is just waiting for me to ask her out or
whether she just wants to be friends for now or what" Paige said with a shrug
"Shouldn't you just ask her that yourself?" Jason asked
"I guess I should but last night we talked about our ex's and she said that she wanted to go slow with the next person she
was dating" Paige said with a nod "Last night I had a chance to kiss her and I didn't take it and now I don't know whether I'm
sending the right signals or not"
"Paige, calm down" Jason said with wide eyes "You're over thinking this"
"I just…I like this girl but I don't know how to tell her" Paige replied "I'm not good with this stuff"
"Tell her you like her, simple as that" Jason replied
"What if she just wants to be friends?" Paige asked
"Then you have a new friend and you can build on that" Jason said with a shrug "But I don't think she just wants to be
friends, I have seen her when she talks to you"
"I don't want to mess it up" Paige said with a sigh
"If you don't want to mess it up then don't do anything but I don't think you're going to mess anything up Paige" Jason
offered as he placed his hand on Paige's shoulder "Honestly"
"Thanks" Paige said nodding "I guess I'm just going to have to talk to her about it. In fact, I'll talk to her about it today when
she brings Braxton is after class"
"Good" Jason nodded "Now, can you go outside and set your lesson up? This paper work can wait"
"Sure" Paige nodded "Thanks again Jason"
"That's okay" Jason replied simply
Paige's class began to arrive and soon she saw Braxton rush through the doors with a huge smile on his face which couldn't help but make her smile herself. Instead of seeing Emily behind him though she saw Hanna, followed by Caleb. She waited a moment to see if Emily was trailing behind them but she was no where to be seen. Hanna looked to Paige, waving at her and she offered a quick wave back before she went to grab the kickboards
"She had to work this morning" Hanna said as she approached Paige
"I thought so" Paige nodded as she put the kickboards down on the floor
"She wanted to come this morning, she loves bringing Brax" Hanna replied apologetically "She said she would text you"
"It's okay Hanna" Paige said with a small smile "I'm here to teach a class not to see Em"
"But that makes it better right, seeing her?" Hanna asked raising her eyebrows
"I mean I guess" Paige replied furrowing her eyebrows as she placed her hands on her hips, cocking her head to the side
slightly looking at Hana
"Okay, well I'll leave you to it" Hanna said with a smile "Good luck with the teaching and all"
"Uh thanks" Paige laughed
Hanna turned around to walk away and she looked to Caleb who mouthed 'sorry' to Paige who just shook her head, laughing further.
The class ran smoothly, the kids were really starting to progress and Paige was a good coach. She was patient, she was kind but she also gave them clear instructions so they found it easy to follow.
The kids got out of the pool and changed, most of them leaving but a few stayed around while their parents were having conversations with each other or Jason about their classes. Paige continued her usual routine of packing up the kickboards and stacking them properly.
When she was finally finished, she turned from the kickboard stand to walk away when she found Braxton standing by the pool with Hanna, waiting for Paige to be done. She graciously took the hint with a sigh and approached them, Hanna had a grin on her face and Braxton was giggling by her side.
"Do you guys need something?" Paige asked
"What are you doing tomorrow night?" Hanna replied with a question of her own
"I don't have much planned" Paige said shaking her head "In fact I believe I have nothing going on"
"Well, we're planning on having a Barbeque and Brax was too shy to ask his favourite coach if you wanted to come but we
thought seeing as you are still kind of new here, we could extend the invitation to you" Hanna offered "Caleb is an excellent
cook and I stand next to the food and help it look even better so you'd be in for a good night"
"Tomorrow night?" Paige asked with a small smile
"Yes, you should definitely come" Hanna replied nodding
"Did you want me to bring anything?" Paige asked
"Just yourself is all we will need" Hanna said as she handed Paige a neatly folded piece of paper that she pulled out of her
pocket "Directions to my house"
"You drew this up before you came here?" Paige asked raising her eyebrow looking at her map
"I knew you'd say yes" Hanna said with a small smile "We'll see you at 7:30"
"Thanks" Paige nodded
"Bye Miss McCullers" Braxton said sweetly
"Bye buddy" Paige waved
She looked down to Hanna's address again as they walked away, leaving her there standing by the pool by herself.
She went to her bag, pulling out her phone to see that she did indeed receive a text message from Emily earlier in the day when she had been in the office doing her work.
Hey so I'm not bringing Brax in today, I have to go into work early. I'll text you later! – Emily
The next day went quickly for Paige, she had a phone meeting with her manager, she was going to be called by the journalist who she was meeting in town soon so they could set up a meeting. She spent the rest of the day trying to work on her yard again, hoping to see some results literally start popping up soon.
She hadn't spoken to Emily since Emily sent the text on Friday afternoon, Paige sent her a reply but she hadn't heard anything further from her, which Paige understood Emily was busy but it kind of just made her anxious. She wasn't sure where she stood with Emily but she really did want to find out.
Paige knocked on Hanna's door with flowers for Hanna seeing as she extended an invitation to have her over for dinner. She wasn't sure she knew what her motivation for that was but she was happy to be there none the less. She waited for a moment to hear Hanna call out for someone to get the door and Paige was almost surprised when it did open though she couldn't say she wasn't happy or excited.
"Paige?" Emily asked with a smile
"Em" Paige furrowed her eyebrows "Am I here on the wrong night? I hope I'm not interrupting or intruding"
"Even if you were, you'd be staying" Emily said as she moved aside for Paige "Come in"
"Hanna invited me to their Barbeque yesterday after Braxton's lesson" Paige said walking inside the house
"Really, that's funny because we had this planned for a week and she never mentioned she was going to invite you" Emily
said looking to Hanna as they reached the kitchen
"I can leave…" Paige said looking between Hanna and Emily for a moment, trying to read whether there was actual tension or not
"No, I don't want you to leave" Emily said quickly as she placed a hand on Paige's forearm "I was just saying how Hanna
failed to tell me how she invited you"
"Last minute decision" Hanna shrugged feigning innocence "I didn't think you'd mind Em, plus I saw Paige yesterday and she
said she was all alone tonight with no one to hang out with so I thought she could come over"
"Actually, she asked me what I was doing. I just hope I'm not intruding" Paige whispered quietly to Emily, leaning in to her
ear closely so Hanna couldn't hear
"I don't doubt it" Emily shook her head with a smirk "I'm glad you came though"
"Me too" Paige nodded before she leaned back from Emily to look to the blonde "Hanna, I brought some flowers for inviting
me"
"Thanks" Hanna said as she approached Paige, taking the flowers from her and placing them by the sink "I'll put them in a
vase after. Find the place okay?"
"Yeah, your directions were very…thorough" Paige said "I didn't know you knew where I lived though"
"Everyone does" Hanna said waving her off
"So where's Braxton?" Paige asked looking around the kitchen for the small boy
Hanna and Caleb had a very nice house, her job as a magazine editor meant that she did a bit of travelling but she tried to stay home with Braxton as much as possible
"He's at his grandmothers" Hanna answered "She wanted to have him over so we decided we could do a barbeque"
"Well thank you for thinking to invite me and you have a beautiful home" Paige complimented
"Thank you McCullers" Hanna smiled "Glad you could come. It's not everyday you get a professional athlete in our house"
"Hey Paige" Caleb said walking in the kitchen with a smirk
"Hey Caleb" Paige replied happily
"Why are you smirking?" Hanna asked
"Because she's not just an athlete, she's a 9 time gold medalist, a silver medalist, 5 world records, one Olympic record
national record and a bag full of national title medals" Caleb said listing off Paige's achievements
"Wow…" Paige said furrowing her eyebrows "Are you the one who updates my Wikipedia page?"
"Well no but I could if you wanted" Caleb said laughing at her reaction
"How do you know all of that?" Paige asked
"It's kind of common knowledge around here" Emily said shrugging as she looked at Paige with a grin, moving to lean against
the bench facing everyone
"So you were really good then?" Hanna asked, which made everyone look to her but she just shrugged "I mean I knew Paige
was good but I didn't know she was like fantastic and the queen of the pool"
"Well I certainly wouldn't go so far as calling me the queen of the pool. I only won 9 Gold" Paige said
"In one Olympics….which is almost every race you swam in but 1 and you would have won your other one if you hadn't hurt
your shoulder" Emily shrugged
"No one knows if I would have or not" Paige shrugged
"You would have" Caleb said
"Can I come here every night, you guys are very good for my ego" Paige joked
"So you get into the Olympics and you can't even admit you're great?" Hanna asked
"Okay how about we stop quizzing Paige here" Emily said quickly
"I don't think I'm great, I just think I worked hard and I wanted it more than anyone in those races" Paige reasoned humbly
"Sorry" Hanna said raising her hands defensively "I've never had an Olympian in my house, even more a champion Olympian
so I don't know what I can and can't ask you"
"You can ask me whatever you would like" Paige said shrugging "I just don't like having focus on me but if you want to talk
about it we can"
"We'll talk about other things" Hanna smiled "You don't deserve to come into my house and have to be interrogated"
"It's fine" Paige said "If I can handle the press, I can handle you"
"I wouldn't say that" Caleb muttered quietly
"Anyway, so it's great how you're friends with Spencer and Aria" Hanna said "Want to go to the table guys and we can eat?"
"Sounds great" Emily said nodding
Once they were at the table and eating the conversation resumed but to when Paige thought Braxton and Caleb were Emily's
family
"Well I didn't know that Hanna was around" Paige shrugged as she leaned back in her chair
"No offence Em but no one could have made such a beautiful child with Caleb than me" Hanna said
"You're just lucky he's cute" Emily said jokingly
"He is cute" Paige said pausing before she spoke again "Which is why I thought he was yours"
"Hey" Hanna said jokingly "I'll let that slide this time"
"But I'm glad you found out Brax is Hanna's" Emily said smiling across the table at Paige
"Me too" Paige replied "So what do you do Caleb?"
"I actually do computer programming" Caleb replied "Nothing too interesting"
"I think that's interesting. I know nothing about it so you're one up on me" Paige said nodding "I'm kind of hopeless with
computers"
"Me too" Hanna said shaking her head before she paused "Or I used to be anyway"
"Well it would be handy having him around then" Paige said
"It is" Hanna said with a smile before she pointed her fork to Paige "You have a coaching license right?"
"I do" Paige said glancing to Emily then returning her gaze to Hanna
"So what point between the Olympics and now did you have time to do that?" Hanna asked
"I got it years ago while I was training" Paige noted "I kind of knew I wanted to do something like I am now when I retired"
"I wish I could retire" Hanna groaned
"Well I'm still working" Paige shrugged
"I wish I could retire too and I haven't really started anything yet" Emily said
"You'll get your breakthrough case soon, you've been working so hard lately" Hanna said "Have you ever thought to speak to
Spencer's mom?"
"No, I want to earn my way" Emily replied shaking her head
"And I think that's great" Caleb said
"Me too" Paige agreed "You'll earn your stripes Em"
"Thank you" Emily said blushing as she looked down to her plate
"You two are so sweet" Hanna squealed
Paige looked down to her plate, uncomfortable with the attention Hanna was bringing to the two of them but she fought off a smile hearing words of encouragement for them.
"Han" Caleb raised his eyebrow seeing Paige's reaction
"I'm going inside to get some more salad" Hanna said standing quickly from her seat "Em will you help me please?"
"Sure" Emily nodded looking at Hanna with a raised eyebrow
"So at what point were you going to tell me Paige was coming?" Emily asked as they reached the kitchen
"I wasn't going to" Hanna shrugged "How do you think it's going?"
"How do I think what's going?" Emily asked
"You and Paige" Hanna said looking out to the table to see Paige and Caleb talking about something she couldn't hear
"Seriously, you two would be perfect"
"Hanna you can't force us together" Emily said shaking her head
"I'm not forcing you together, you two like each other, right?" Hanna asked
"I do like her" Emily nodded "But I don't want to rush anything…I don't know whether she wants to get into a relationship
just yet either"
"She likes you Em" Hanna said "She likes you a lot and you two would be so cute together"
Emily smiled and she looked out to Paige through the kitchen window
"I guess I need to talk to her about this" Emily sighed "Come on, let's go or they'll think something is going on"
Dinner went well, the food was nice and the company was great. The night went on and Paige and Emily decided to go home so they said goodbye to Hanna and Caleb and made their way to their cars.
"So that felt like a bit of a set up huh?" Paige asked
"I know what you mean" Emily nodded with a smile
"I hope I didn't intrude on your night or anything" Paige said again as she folded her arms tightly
"Of course you didn't I'm so glad you were here tonight" Emily said nodding as well and she looked back to the house "And
Hanna is probably spying on us right now"
"Does she do this a lot to you?" Paige asked
"Not really, I mean yes but she's never gone to these lengths" Emily said "I would call it pushy if I wasn't happy to go in the
direction she's pushing me"
"You are?" Paige asked
"Paige, I don't know what this is between us but whatever it is, I like it" Emily said
"Well so do it" Paige said looking at Emily with a small smile "I just…I want to get to know you…to really get to know you as a
friend and I don't' want to rush anything because I like where we are"
"Yeah, me too" Emily said nodding after a moments pause
It wasn't the answer Paige had intended on giving; it wasn't even how she wanted it to come out but after the words left her mouth, she couldn't take them back. She wanted Emily as much more than a friend but she was bad at this, she always was, she didn't know how to express to Emily that she did want something more.
She just didn't want to pressure Emily into anything because she was ready for a relationship when she didn't know if Emily was or not.
"Well I guess I'll see you Monday then?" Paige asked
"That sounds great" Emily said
"Okay, great" Paige said with a smile "I had a lot of fun tonight with you Emily"
"Good night Paige" Emily smiled as she leaned over to place a soft kiss on Paige's cheek
"Night" Paige replied in a dazed tone as she hopped into her car, she had it bad for Emily Fields and she needed to really tell her...and soon.
Hope you liked that one. I promise that the next few chapters will start to get interesting so stay with me! Please review, i really appreciate it.
Have a good rest of your weekend!
Dani :)