Hey Guys, it's been a while. Forgive me for the late update. I lost a bit of focus with this story, I only received a few reviews for the last chapter and wasn't sure if people were still interested in the story so i kind of stalled. Dumb reason, i know and I have written a whole lot more. I just don't want to publish this online if there's no point.
Anyway, just fresh off the season premier (how awesome was it?!) I thought i would update. Let me know what you think, please review! Be patient, I am starting to get to the point of the story where some crazy things might start happening and fingers will be pointing to people. Might want to re-read the last chapter to remember where this picks up from!
Hope you're having a good week so far. Let me know what you think :)
Paige was confused about what was going on in Rosewood, she had no idea how Emily and her friends could have been caught up in so much drama, and the
source of all that drama had been their friend.
Ali had come along just before Emily, missing meeting Paige while she lived in town and Paige had to admit that she was pretty happy about that. What she had
heard about Ali hadn't done her any favours as far as Paige was concerned. From what she knew and heard, this girl was a bit of a psycho who sounded like her
redeeming qualities were few and far between.
It had been a week since Garrett had been released from prison and it had been a week since Emily had told her about Jenna. Paige thought about it for a while,
she wasn't too sure how to take what Emily had said. At first, she wasn't sure how to look at her friends the same way she had previous to knowing that story
about Jenna. Then she got thinking about her friends and who they really were. She knew it wasn't Emily's fault but she also realised that none of the other girls
did anything to stop Ali. Paige wasn't stupid; she knew how headstrong Spencer could be, how stubborn Aria could get and how honest Emily usually was. She
knew that if they were afraid of speaking out against Ali, she would have held something over them all and not something small either.
Jason had needed to take the week off and had gone to see family who had moved outside of Rosewood since his sisters murder case was reopened. Paige had
taken over the swim school for the week, just to ease his mind over what might be happening at home while he was gone.
She was finding it a little different to being a swim coach, there were a few things she had no idea how to handle and other things she could do with her eyes
closed.
"This your idea of a neat office?" Emily asked as she walked into Jason's office
Paige looked up from the desk with a small smile on her face and she sighed
"This is as neat as I do" Paige replied looking around as she shrugged "I will clean up before Jason gets back though, he's a bit of a neat freak"
"A bit?" Emily asked raising her eyebrow before closing the door behind her
"A lot" Paige said "Brax here for his lesson?"
"As well as everyone else" Emily nodded "Have you set up for your class?"
"Well I came in early to get a head start on this paper work but then I got caught up paying a bill for the centre because apparently it needs electricity" Paige
replied sarcastically
"Who would have thought" Emily joked lightly
"Jason mentioned that he had left some notes around the place, which I found but he told me about 3 things and I'm running blind with the rest of the stuff here"
Paige shook her head in frustration "I mean how am I supposed to know that some coaches can't work a certain day or have taken leave? I'm only here a few days
a week"
"Okay Paige, I think you're forgetting that you're just looking after the place while Jason is gone" Emily said with wide eyes as she looked at her stressed out
girlfriend "You're not supposed to know any of this because you're being a good friend and helping out while Jason is gone. It was a last minute decision to help him
out"
"I know, I just don't want him to be stressed when he gets out because I left everything a mess" Paige shook her head
"Okay so I'm going to sit in the office and clean it up while you teach your class, that's why all those kids are here" Emily said pointing to the pool
"Em you don't need to do anything for me, I can handle it" Paige protested
"I know you can but I want to help" Emily nodded "Off you go"
"Okay" Paige nodded as she stood from her chair "Don't do too much"
"Don't worry" Emily chuckled as she placed a kiss on Paige's check quickly before nudging her towards the door
Paige taught her class, she was a little distracted but she managed to get through the lesson without anything major happening. She dried herself off and joined
Emily, sitting on the bleachers whilst waiting for Braxton.
"Thank you for helping" Paige said as she sat down next to Emily with a sigh
"You haven't even seen the office yet" Emily chuckled
"I know but just knowing you helped is enough" Paige shrugged
"What are you doing for the rest of the afternoon?" Emily asked
"I'm here all day and then I was just planning on going for a run" Paige replied
"Well I'm free tonight so how about you come over and we have a bit of a sleep over?" Emily asked with a slight husky tone to her voice
"Okay" Paige nodded with a smirk "I'm sold"
"Great, we'll watch a movie and have dinner" Emily said happily "I'll cook"
"Sounds good" Paige replied "Just what I need I think"
"Yeah I think so too" Emily replied "So why don't you call me when you're done with your run?"
"Will do" Paige smiled
"Ready" Braxton announced as she strode up to Emily
"And that is my cue" Emily said standing "I'll see you tonight"
Emily bent down, placing a kiss on the top of Paige's head before she stepped off the bleachers, taking Braxton with her out the gate of the aquatic centre.
Paige returned back to the office where she found everything neatly piled and organised. She could now actually see the desk from under her paperwork, which she
appreciated seeing as Jason was coming back on Monday and she needed to leave the office in order for him.
Emily dropped Braxton off later that afternoon after taking him out for ice cream when they left his lesson. They walked inside Hanna's house; her bags were
sitting at the front door so she knew Hanna had just returned home, she was just too lazy to put them away herself yet.
"Hanna?" Emily called as Braxon rushed up the stairs behind her
"In the kitchen" Hanna called back
"You just get in?" Emily asked as she followed Hanna's voice to the kitchen where she found her sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal "Nice lunch"
"I skipped breakfast so I thought I would make up for it by eating it really late" Hanna shrugged "How was his lesson?"
"Good for Brax and the other kids" Emily said with a small smile "Not so great for Paige"
"Why not?" Hanna asked raising her eyebrows "What's wrong with your hot Olympian?"
"She's a little stressed out about Jason being away" Emily said "Apparently a lot goes into running that swim school that Jason didn't tell her"
"Well I kind of don't blame him" Hanna said with a sigh "I mean he would have had something else on his mind"
"I think we've all had something else on our minds" Emily replied walking over to the kitchen table and sitting down "I mean can we really believe that Garret is
innocent?"
"For all we know Jenna could have paid that little old lady off and had someone make that security footage" Hanna replied folding her arms "It's not difficult to
change a date on a tape"
"I guess we just have to wait and hope they find something with that fabric on her sweater" Emily said "I just feel bad because I don't want to drag Paige into this,
I don't want her involved"
"Well she's involved with you which means she's now involved with this, like it or not" Hanna replied honestly shaking her head "I've tried not to think about it too
much, it was bad enough when it was just ourselves we had to worry about but now I have a son"
"We had everything but a confession from Garret" Emily shook her head "I work in law and even I don't understand how he could have been released so quickly"
"They found evidence to clear his name and he was buddies with all the guys who charged him" Hanna shrugged "I'm not really surprised"
"If it wasn't him then maybe this is a positive" Emily said with a sigh
"How is that a positive, Em?" Hanna asked shaking her head "Ali's killer is still out there and we have no idea where they are, who they are and why they did it"
"Then we need to work on finding that" Emily replied "Just like we did it before"
"But we were wrong before" Hanna objected
"Everyone else seemed to think we were right as well" Emily shrugged "There has to be something, somewhere that we missed that would help us"
"Hopefully we can find that sooner rather than later" Hanna said as she shook her head
Paige was a little spaced out to say the least on her run; she had a million and one thoughts charging through her mind. She was concerned for Emily and the
other girls, concerned for what this reopened murder case was going to do to them, what old wounds it was going to tear open. Paige had already seen a toll taken
on Spencer who was not sleeping and hardly eating because she was too busy trying to find what they missed previously. Aria was taking it a bit better than
Spencer but they had all spent time together trying to digest that just over a week ago, the man who they were convinced killed their friend was released and
vindicated very suddenly. She was also busy trying to think about Jason and the swim school, she was very aware that Jason may not have been returning when
he said he was. She knew that he would take as much time as he needed, which she wanted him to do but she was a little concerned about the everyday running
of the swim school.
She was running her usual route, deciding to extend her run a little bit to clear her head so she could be fresh and her mind would be clear for Emily that night
because she knew Emily would need all of her attention. Paige decided to take a turn down the street where Hanna lived and smiled when she saw Emily's car in
the driveway from a distance. She noticed a black SUV sitting a few houses down from the house, the windows heavily tinted with the engine running. Paige would
normally think nothing of it, black SUV's with tinted windows weren't necessarily anything unusually suspicious but she had a bad feeling and she wasn't sure why.
As she continued to make her way down the street she saw Braxton in the front yard with a ball at his feet, kicking it around to himself. She heard the car turn on,
the engine wasn't difficult to miss; it was loud and almost angry.
Braxton kicked the ball a little too far one time, the ball landing in the street but stopping in its place once it hit the gutter. Paige was only 15 or so metres away
from Braxton at that point but everything that happened next happened really quickly.
"Braxton!" Paige exclaimed as she saw the black SUV begin to accelerate very quickly towards the direction Braxton was in and if Paige was not mistaken, they
were aiming straight for him.
Braxton looked up, his eyes widened as he was glued to the spot where he was standing as he saw the car come screaming towards him. Paige knew she didn't
have any other choice when she made the split second decision to push Braxton out the way onto the footpath and land pretty much on top of him to protect him
from the car. Paige barely missed the car but she was more concerned about the small boy below her who began to cry for a moment as the car began to speed up
the street. She hadn't really registered what had happened right away but she knew if she hadn't been there at the right time, a car would have hit Braxton and it
would have been purposely.
"Paige?" Emily asked from the front gate where she and Hanna were standing
"Brax!" Hanna gasped rushing to her son as she saw him stand up with scrapes on his knees and hands
"Mom" Braxton said as he looked at Hanna with wide eyes
"What happened? We heard a car speed off" Emily said as she made her way over to Paige who stayed on the ground looking up the street, she was
understandably shocked by what had just occurred
"The car" Braxton whimpered
"A car just tried to run Braxton over" Paige mumbled as she looked to Emily who was crouching next to her
"What?!" Emily asked with wide eyes
"He kicked his ball on the street and the car was just sitting there…it started and then the driver just floored it, trying to go straight into Braxton. I pushed him out
the way and it just missed me, it sped off down the street. They didn't even stop" Paige shook her head
"Are you okay?" Emily asked looking over Paige's body to see any visible injuries
"My shoulder is sore, I landed right on it" Paige said shaking her head
"We need to get you to the hospital" Emily said quickly
"What about Brax?" Paige asked as she looked to the crying little boy who was clinging to his mother
"He's fine, just a few scratches" Hanna said as she looked up the street "Did you see who was driving?"
"No, I just saw the tinted windows" Paige shook her head "It happened too quickly anyway"
"Are you sure someone purposely tried to hit Braxton?" Emily asked
"More than sure" Paige nodded as she sat up, flinching when she felt the pain in her shoulder really kick in
"I'm calling the police" Hanna said "And I'm getting Caleb to come home right now"
"I'm taking Paige to the hospital first, she needs to get checked out" Emily said looking to Hanna
"Call the police, I can wait" Paige replied
"You're hurt" Emily said shaking her head
"I can wait" Paige reassured Emily "I swam 100 meters with a torn shoulder. I can survive an hour or so with a sore one"
"Let's get you some ice then" Emily replied
Paige stood from the footpath and she looked down to her legs, she had a few scratches and scrapes as well but she knew it could have and really should have been
a lot worse; she wasn't sure how she managed to get to Braxton so quickly.
Hanna, Braxton and Emily began making their way inside but Paige stood on the road, looking down at the tire marks on the road beneath her feet. She could
smell the rubber burnt onto the tar road from when the car took off so quickly.
"Paige" Emily called, trying to break Paige's train of thought
"Sorry" Paige said looking to Emily shaking her head
"Come on" Emily said holding her hand out for her girlfriend
Paige nodded and she walked to Emily, looking back to the road once more to see if the car had come back but once she saw no one was around she placed her
hand in Emily's walking inside.
Hanna called the Police and called Caleb to come home from work. They weren't waiting long until the police showed up but they couldn't do much about what
happened. Paige had a description of the car but she couldn't remember the license plate number because it all happened so quickly.
Once Paige had made a statement to the police, she was taken to the hospital. She hadn't done anything major to her shoulder but she was told she needed to be
in a sling for at least a week.
The doctors gave her something to numb the pain and she was sent home but Emily decided it would be a good idea for them to stay at her house that night.
Emily called Spencer and Aria, telling them what happened and while they were concerned, they knew Paige would be in good care with Emily.
"Are you sure you don't need anything?" Emily asked sitting on the couch next to Paige
"I'm fine" Paige said quietly "I'm just happy to have you here with me"
"I'm sorry that happened today" Emily said shaking her head
"Why are you apologizing?" Paige shook her head as well
"I feel kind of responsible for it" Emily admitted
"Unless you're the one who was driving that car, then I think you're okay" Paige replied quickly 'I'm glad I was there Em"
"Why?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows
"Because whoever was driving was going to hit Braxton" Paige said closing her eyes for a moment "There's no doubt about it"
"You did save his life" Emily nodded with a small smile "I don't know how you could be so brave"
"You would have done the same" Paige replied
"I hope so" Emily said
"I had no other choice, I could see what was about to happen" Paige said with a sigh "The look on Braxton's face when the car began coming straight for him was
something I'm not going to forget for a long time"
"Hanna sent me a text saying that Braxton has renamed his batman figurine after you" Emily said light heartedly "He said that you're his new hero"
"I'm a little scared Em" Paige replied seriously as she looked over to her girlfriend
"Paige" Emily said with a concerned voice as she reached over to take the other woman's hand
"A person just tried to hit a kid…an innocent child who was playing in his yard" Paige replied vulnerably "Then they just took off after they failed which makes me
worried whether something like this will happen again"
"We'll keep Braxton safe" Emily said reassuringly "They're not going to let him out of their sight and I will be the same"
"But what if someone is after you as well?" Paige asked
"No one is after me" Emily shook her head
"I'm just scared for you and I don't know why I feel that way" Paige replied
"We're going to be okay, we'll figure this whole thing out" Emily said shaking her head
"You shouldn't need to figure this out, you have enough to worry about" Paige said with a sigh "I'm sorry, I'm just thinking aloud"
"And it's okay to do that" Emily nodded "I'm here for you because that's what you do for people you love and care about?"
"Love?" Paige said pausing in her tracks
"Oh" Emily said blushing as she realized what she had just said
"Do you mean that?" Paige asked quietly
"Of course I do, I've just never said it before" Emily replied before taking a deep breath "I love you"
"I love you too" Paige replied as a smile broke over her the concerned look on her face, happiness overshadowing her worry for a moment
"I've been meaning to say that for a little while, I guess" Emily shrugged
"Me too" Paige nodded as she leaned over to kiss Emily
They broke away after a moment, their foreheads resting on each-others as their eyes drifted closed again.
"I feel safer with you here" Paige mumbled "I just couldn't stand it if something happened to you"
"Nothing is going to happen to me Paige" Emily reassured her "I'm more concerned about you"
"My shoulder is just a little bruised, I'm okay" Paige replied "Just had a bit of a scare. I'm just waiting for a call from my manager asking me what's going on when
the information goes public"
"Would someone leak that story?" Emily asked
"It'll get out" Paige nodded as she pulled away from Emily to lean her head back on the couch with a sigh "But I expect that"
"Well you saved someone's life, I think that deserves to get out" Emily responded
"Anyone would have done that" Paige shook her head
"I don't think many people would have been brave enough" Emily said
"I just wonder what happens to that person now" Paige said with a sigh
"You and me both" Emily replied nodding
The next morning, Paige woke up to her shoulder aching and her legs stinging. She remembered after a moment what had happened the previous day and she
looked beside her for Emily but she wasn't next to her. Paige groaned as the light hit her eyes, she knew it was mid-morning and she was usually up early but the
painkillers she had taken had caused her to be drowsy. She was actually pretty glad that they were putting her to sleep because she couldn't seem to turn her
mind off and she didn't want to keep Emily awake with her tossing and turning. She slowly emerged from Emily's bed, stopping at the top of the stairs as she heard
voices down in the in the kitchen. Voices that she recognised very easily.
"She's pretty shaken" Emily said, the concern evident in her tone
"So she should be" Aria replied "She was almost hit by a car"
"A car that was coming straight for my son" Hanna interjected "She saved his life"
"We're not debating that" Spencer spoke "Paige is a hero but what I'm saying is I'm concerned for her…for Braxton, Caleb, Toby and Ezra"
"Guys I don't think this has anything to do with Garrett" Emily replied "He left town"
"We saw he and Jenna drive away" Hanna said loudly "We didn't see them hold hands and skip into the sunset. They could have gone anywhere"
"Are we prepared to accept that this was just a coincidence?" Spencer asked "That if something else happens, we're prepared to say that this had nothing to do
with them"
"We have no proof" Emily chimed in "We have nothing right now"
"Well we had proof to put him in jail and that turned out to be wrong" Hanna said "I don't care why they did it. We need to find out who it was and throw their
sorry behinds in jail"
"Behinds?" Aria asked
"I've been trying to stop saying words that Brax might pick up" Hanna explained
Paige moved to place her foot on a stair to get a little closer to the conversation. As fate would have it she stepped on the only creaky floorboard, which turned all of
the girls attention to the stairs.
"You awake Paige?" Emily called
"Hopefully I'm not sleep walking" Paige replied awkwardly as she made her way down to the other girls "What's with the meeting?"
"We came to see how you were feeling" Aria said with a sympathetic smile "How's your shoulder?"
"It's pretty sore" Paige admitted
"I'll get you some pain killers" Emily said before pausing "And breakfast, what do you want?"
"Why do you think that this has something to do with Jenna and Garret?" Paige asked as she sat down on a chair by Emily's kitchen table
"We don't know that it does" Spencer answered
"It's very possible that it was them though" Hanna said looking to Spencer
"But why would they do that?" Paige asked
"To get revenge?" Aria asked
"To make us suffer?" Hanna asked
"I get that" Paige nodded "But when I spoke to Jenna, and I will admit I don't know them as well as you do…or even close…but when I spoke to her, she made it
clear that they were leaving. I mean what reason would they have to step foot in this town again? Everyone thinks they are guilty"
"Not everyone clearly" Spencer replied
"But why would they come back and do this when he is free now? I understand that you think he's angry at you and he probably is. I just don't think that they
would come back just to get revenge on you guys when they could focus on moving on" Paige explained
"Paige, not everyone thinks like you though" Emily replied
The conversation was interrupted suddenly by the sound of a phone ringing. Spencer paused as she noticed it was her mom calling her phone, before picking it up
to answer.
Paige looked to Emily who had her eyes already on her, a look of concerned spread over her face as Paige flinched slightly while moving her shoulder.
"They tested the fabric on the sweater" Spencer said as she put the phone down with a quiet thud "Inconclusive. There was nothing of use but knowing the colour
of the sweater and the material"
"So no hair, no skin or anything?" Emily asked raising her eyebrows
"That's what mom was told" Spencer shrugged "Whoever did this is the smartest or luckiest person in the history of this town"
"And we're back to the start" Hanna said, frustration the underlying tone in her voice "Back to square one like we were when Ali was murdered"
"We're probably further behind square one" Aria replied "We suspected Garrett pretty much straight away, we don't know who this person is"
"We have no idea" Emily confirmed
"So what do we do now?" Hanna asked looking to the other girls who all looked equally confused
"Stay off sidewalks?" Paige offered with a shrug light heartedly
Okay, so hopefully you liked it. I will be updating very soon (depending on when i get the time to update as well) so let me know. Who do you think was behind the wheel of the car? This storyline will get deeper as the chapters go on.
Thanks,
Dani :)