Their relationship continued to blossom over the next two weeks, and they spent as much time as they could together. That particular morning they were meeting up for coffee before heading to the campus for the day, with plans for dinner later on. It was chilly for a September morning but felt pleasantly like fall as they walked towards Rutherford Hall with their coffee.

"I can't wait for the colder weather," Emily remarked, sipping her coffee.

"Oh?" Paige asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cuddling weather," she explained, grinning. Paige smiled too; that certainly did sound appealing.

"Who's that?" Emily asked suddenly, gesturing to Paige's side. She looked where Emily was pointing and saw Alison whispering to one of her friends not too far away, laughing.

"Oh. A student of mine who doesn't care for me very much," she replied, shrugging.

"Why not?" Emily asked. "What's not to like?"

"We got off on the wrong foot," she explained. "I caught her calling me a dyke over text when I told her to put her phone away."

"Nice," Emily replied sarcastically. "You've had a lot of bad run ins with that word, haven't you?"

"What can I say?" she sighed. "I guess I bring out the worst in people."

"Not me," Emily replied, leaning in to kiss her. Paige smiled.

"Thanks, Em."

"Does she give you a hard time regularly?"

"Somewhat. She's just one of those. But, don't worry. There's this kid Darren who always sticks up for me."

"Aw. Sounds like someone has a little crush on his professor," Emily replied, and Paige laughed.

"No way. I gotta run, but I'll see you later. I'll pick you up at five for dinner?"

"Sounds like a plan," Emily told her. She watched her disappear down the hall before heading into her office, a smile on her face.

She let her morning lecture out a little early, waiting before they were gone to erase the notes on "Don Quixote" off of the board. As she was doing so she felt as if she were being watched, even though she was alone in the room. Unnerved, she turned to the door and jumped when she saw a young male, probably a student, peering in at her. She just stared, not sure what to do, until he finally turned and walked away. She went to the door and opened it, watching him to see if he would turn around and look at her. He didn't.

"Weird," she muttered, going back into the classroom.

Paige was on her way to her lab after her morning lecture to check on some of her Petri dishes from the previous day when she heard shouting coming from around the corner. Making the quick decision to investigate, she walked past her lab and to where the commotion was coming from to see Alison up against the wall, her arms pinned by a guy that was maybe her boyfriend. Regardless of who he was, he was hurting her.

"Get the fuck off of me, Ian!"

"Hey!" Paige interrupted loudly. They both looked at her, Ian immediately releasing Alison when he saw her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Alison snapped. "Mind your own business."

"As your professor, it most certainly is my business," she replied. She turned her attention to Ian. "Leave. Right now."

"This isn't over," he shot at Alison, before glaring at Paige and disappearing into the stairwell.

"What the hell?" Alison exclaimed angrily. "I said stay out of it!"

"He was hurting you. I'm not going to just walk away from that," she answered calmly. Maybe Alison hated her, but as her professor she couldn't just pretend like she hadn't seen it. "Please. You can come with me to my office and we can-."

"Leave me alone," she replied. "It's none of your business."

She watched helplessly as Alison stormed away from her, suddenly feeling like bursting into tears. Sure, she wasn't Paige's favorite student, but what she had just seen scared her. She was a victim of abuse, and she didn't know what she could do to help. Especially if Alison wanted nothing to do with her.

She made her way to her lab, too distracted to think of much else. She didn't even hear the door open as she stared mindlessly at the dishes, thinking about Alison and the fear in her eyes when that boy had her pinned against the wall.

"Dr. McCullers?"

Paige gasped and whirled around to see Darren standing behind her. She sighed, pulling her gloves off and stepping towards him.

"I'm sorry, Darren. You scared me."

"Sorry," he replied. "I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Of course," she replied. "Is everything okay?"

"How do you feel about student teacher relationships?" he asked, and Paige suddenly felt very uncomfortable. She realized this wasn't a student just innocently coming for help.

"I don't understand."

"You know exactly what I mean," he replied, stepping closer. She took a step back.

"If you're implying what I think….. I think it is highly inappropriate," she told him, hoping he would back off.

"Why would people need to know?"

"Darren, you do realize I'm a lesbian?" she asked, hoping he would get the message. She didn't normally talk about her personal life with students, but he needed to hear it. "Don't you hear everything Alison calls me?"

"I thought she was just trying to hurt your feelings," he replied, finally stopping where he was. "She's so mean to you. I'm always nice."

"Yes," she agreed, wondering if she was going to have to scream for help. Or maybe squirt Crystal Violet into his eye. "This is inappropriate, Darren. If you don't have questions about the material, you need to leave."

He stared at her a moment, and for a brief second she was afraid he was going lunge at her. But instead he turned and left, slamming the door behind him as she sank into her chair in relief.

"That's really creepy," Emily remarked later that night. They were out at dinner as planned, and Paige was telling Emily about Darren in her lab. She had yet to bring up Alison, as she wasn't sure if she should tell. It wasn't her business, but she couldn't bring herself to just walk away if the girl needed help.

"I know. I thought he was going to…. rush me or something."

"Oh, Paige…. is there someone nearby who can help you? In case he tries something?" she asked, concerned.

"Em, don't worry. I'd be in my lab and there's plenty I could use as a weapon."

Emily smiled. She guessed that was true.

"Well, while we're on the subject of creepy, something weird happened to me after my morning class."

"What?" Paige asked curiously.

"I was erasing notes from the board and I looked up and there was this guy staring at me through the window on the door. We looked at each other and then he just walked away."

"Was he a student?" she asked.

"I think so. He had a university sweatshirt on."

"Did he have sandy hair?" Paige asked, something suddenly occurring to her.

"Yeah. Why?"

"I think that was Darren. The guy trying to come on to me."

"Why would he be staring at me?"

"Because he's seen us together," she replied simply.

"So… is he, like, in love with you?" Emily asked, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"I don't know. But tomorrow is going to be very uncomfortable."

Emily smiled at her, reassuringly squeezing Paige's hand. Paige felt that familiar surge of desire at Emily's touch. She knew she would have to give in soon. It was getting harder and harder for them to just go home after their make out sessions, and Paige knew Emily wanted it just as much as she did. She just wanted the time to be right.

"Come here," Emily replied, leaning in to kiss her. She did, not caring that they were drawing stares from the other people.

"You always know how to make me feel better," Paige told her. Emily grinned.

"After dinner, are you up for a drive?"

"With you? Always."

They drove around for a while later on, talking and laughing with the occasional kiss at a red light. Paige drove Emily back to her apartment, making the sudden decision to tell her about Alison before she got out of the car.

"Hey, Em?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to ask your advice on something."

"Okay," she replied, looking at Paige curiously.

"I saw one of my students today with a guy in the hallway. He…. he was getting physical with her. I confronted them and she told me to stay out of her business. Maybe I should. But, what if he really hurts her? Knowing what's going on I don't think I can just walk away."

"Who was it? Her boyfriend?"

"I don't know," she replied helplessly. "What should I do?"

"Honestly?" Emily answered, gently stroking Paige's cheek. "I would tell someone. She could be in danger."

Paige nodded. Emily was right.

"Okay," she agreed as they got out of the car. She walked Emily up to her apartment, pausing to kiss her again before she went inside. "Good night, Em."

"Good night," she replied, her hand lingering on Paige's wrist. She unlocked her door and went inside. Paige smiled to herself as she walked back outside, her spirits high after spending the evening with Emily.

As she was getting into her car she noticed a black Honda parked across the street. She couldn't explain why, but it unsettled her. Maybe because of everything else that had happened that day. Shrugging it off, she got into her car.

She was about halfway home when she realized the car was following her. She frowned as she looked into the mirror, trying to see who it was behind her. She couldn't see, but she was driving on a back road that she was almost always on alone. Something wasn't right.

She made a sharp, sudden turn, relieved when they drove past. She sighed in relief, her hands shaking as she continued on her way home.

As soon as she got home she practically ran inside, locking the door behind her and turning every light in the living room on. She took a deep breath, sinking onto the couch and closing her eyes.

"How was your date?" Caleb asked, appearing in the doorway, and Paige screamed.

"Caleb!"

"What?" he asked, confused. "What the hell, Paige?"

"You scared me. I didn't know you were here," she told him, although she was glad he was. "My date was great. I really, really like her."

"Then why are you so jumpy?" he asked, flopping down next to her.

"Lot of things," she replied. "I'm glad you're here."

Caleb raised his eyebrows. She snuggled into his side and he put his arm around her.

"Paige? Really, what happened?"

"I think someone followed me home. That's all. I didn't want to be alone."

"What? Who?"

"I don't know. I just had a weird day. Dinner with Emily was the only normal part of my day."

"Get that pussy," he replied, poking her shoulder. She shoved him.

"You're disgusting."

"What happened to being happy to see me?" he complained as she got up.

"I'm getting a beer. You want one?"

"Sure," he replied, glancing at her cell phone on the table. "Hey, Paige?"

"What?"

"A restricted number's calling you."

"Answer it!" she exclaimed, running back into the living room. Caleb did, Paige diving onto the couch next to him.

"Nothing," he told her. She grabbed the phone from him.

"Hello? Who is this?" she demanded, starting to feel scared. "Don't call here again."

She ended the call, looking at Caleb. He shrugged.

"Probably just a prank call."

"Caleb, something weird is going on. I don't know what it is but I'm kind of scared."

"Don't be," he told her.

"I'm going to shower," she told him, getting up. Maybe she would feel better after. "Then I'm going to call Emily. Make sure I locked the door."

With that, she went down the hall to the bathroom, unable to shake the feeling that something terrible was going to happen.

A/N: Thank you for the great reviews! I'm glad you guys are liking the story so far. Next chapter is the first smutty one, just to give a heads up if that's not your thing.