"Almost there," Paige promised, more to herself than Emily. The dark clouds above them were threatening a downpour, and she wanted to reach her parents' house before that happened. They had left the hotel on the early side and made good time, and they would be reaching the house around noon.

"Good. I have to pee," Emily replied. She smirked. "I don't want to be like you at your graduation."

"Hey!" Paige exclaimed, although she was smiling. "Don't you dare tell Hanna about that. You're the only person I've ever told."

"Really?"

"Yup. And I plan to keep it that way," she replied, peering upward. "Fuck. Was that lightning?"

"It's October," Emily replied, frowning.

"I know. It storms here until November."

"You don't like thunderstorms, I take it?"

"Not at all. But here's my street," she replied, and Emily could hear the relief in her voice.

Emily's mouth dropped open when she saw the house. It was an old colonial house, one of the big fancy ones, and it was beautiful. She couldn't wait to see what it looked like inside.

"Wow," she remarked, and Paige chuckled.

"Yeah, it's a nice house. I do miss it."

"I'm nervous," she announced suddenly, remembering that she was going to meet Paige's parents.

"Don't be," she replied as they got out of the car. "Just relax."

They got their bags and went up to the door. Paige knocked, and a woman who looked considerably like her answered the door, throwing her arms around her.

"Paige, sweetheart, it's so good to see you. I'm so glad you could come home at a time like this."

"Me, too," she agreed, pulling Emily closer to her. "Mom, this is Emily."

"Emily. I've heard a lot about you," she replied, giving her a warm smile. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"And you, Mrs. McCullers."

"Please, call me Liz. Why don't you go put your bags upstairs and come back down for lunch? It's almost ready."

"Thanks, Mom," Paige replied, leading Emily up the stairs. "Wait until you see my childhood room."

"It's beautiful," Emily remarked once they were inside. "You must love it."

"I do. It's nice still being able to sleep in here every once in a while," she replied, setting the bags down on the floor. "Come on, let's go see Dad."

Emily nervously followed her back downstairs to the kitchen, where a man was reading a newspaper at the table. He smiled when he saw them, standing up to give his daughter a hug and shake Emily's hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily."

"You too, sir," she replied, and Paige stifled a laugh at Emily's sudden nerves. Her father chuckled.

"She has manners," he remarked, and Emily blushed. "You can call me Nick. We want you to feel welcome here."

"Thank you," she replied, visibly relaxing.

The day went well. They talked about Paige's work and Emily's background, which both of her parents seemed genuinely interested to hear. The subject of what had happened back in Pennsylvania was avoided, something both women were grateful for, and it ended up being a relaxing day. Emily really liked Paige's parents, and they seemed to really like her. Paige's father told her more than once how he liked her far better than "that last one." Paige seemed happy too, beaming proudly when they told her Emily was a smart, sweet girl. Paige's father was especially impressed to hear that she swam in high school, which prompted Paige to catch Emily's attention and roll her eyes, but she was glad everyone was getting along so well.

After dinner Emily went to shower first, while Paige helped her parents downstairs. She thanked them for being so friendly to Emily, and her father, who initially had been stunned when she had come out in high school, spoke especially highly of her. At that moment, for the time being at least, she felt as if she didn't have anything to worry about.

When Paige went to shower after Emily, Emily stayed downstairs with Paige's parents. Paige's mother loved to talk, telling her more than Paige would probably want her to, but at the same time she liked hearing what she had to say.

"I'm really glad to see her so happy," she told Emily. "She's had a lot of tough breaks. She had a pretty rough time in high school. You know how cruel kids can be."

"Yeah. She told me."

"Then of course there was Shana. I don't know if you can tell, but we never liked her."

"I haven't met anyone yet who has," she replied, and Paige's mother chuckled.

"She wasn't close to being good enough for my daughter. She never took her into consideration, ever. But you know, Paige always thinks of other people. Always tries to see the good in them."

"I know," Emily replied, thinking of how upset she was about Alison.

"I have to ask. Is she okay? After everything that's happened?"

"I think she is," she replied honestly. "She's been talking to me and a psychiatrist, and she seems a lot better from when it first happened."

"Good," her mother replied, looking relieved. "Thank you for being here for her."

"Of course," Emily told her. "I love her very much, Mrs. Mc… I mean, Liz. I want to help her." Paige's mother smiled at her.

"I know you do."

Later that night, she and Paige were settled into Paige's childhood room, tired from the trip and just the overall events they had been dealing with. Paige was reading as Emily was lying next to her with her eyes closed, relaxing.

"Babe? Can you get that?" Paige asked as her phone buzzed on the table. Emily handed the phone to her, one eye open as she watched her read the message. The look on her face was unnerving and she immediately sat up, worried.

"Paige? What does it say?"

"It…. it says 'I'm a little hurt you didn't tell me you were going to Maine. Your parents have a beautiful house.'" They looked at each other, eyes wide with fear. The stalker knew they were here. "Un fucking believable," Paige snapped, throwing her phone on the bed as she got up. "I should have known. Of course we couldn't have a couple fucking days of peace."

"Paige, it's okay."

"Okay? How is this okay? We're being followed around by a psycho, Emily. Someone who probably mutilated a girl's body and threw her in a dumpster. This isn't just someone playing a cute game. This is someone who cares enough to follow us to Maine and probably wants to hurt us."

"What do we do?" Emily asked, exasperated. "Call the police?"

"What would be the point? We don't know who this is. The cops here probably don't even know our case. If this shit wants to hurt us, he's going to do everything he can to do it."

"Paige, honey, you need to calm down," she told her gently, standing up. "I know you're scared. I am, too. But the more afraid you let yourself get, the more panicked you are, the easier it's going to be for him."

She was right. Paige sat back down, closing her eyes as she covered her face with her hands.

"I don't get it. What have I ever done to anyone? Who would be doing this? What connection do I have to Alison?"

"We don't know for sure it's the same person."

"We do," Paige replied. "We do. I can't take this anymore, Em."

"I need you to promise me something, Paige," she told her, curling up next to her.

"What?" she asked grumpily.

"No matter how scary this is, you have to promise me-."

"I'm not going to hurt myself, Em," she replied, realizing what Emily was getting at. She sighed with relief.

"Okay. Good."

"I'm just frustrated. I feel so helpless."

"I know," she sighed. "I do, too."

"When we get back, I'm going to do everything I can to find out who this is."

"I'm helping," Emily replied, her tone leaving no room for argument. Paige sighed.

"Emily-."

"No arguments," she replied, kissing her. "I want this to stop as much as you do. And two heads are better than one."

Paige thought for a minute. She was right, and there was no way she would be able to stop her if she wanted to help.

"Okay," she agreed. "We'll talk to Toby first. See if he has any ideas. Then we'll go from there."

A/N: I know this is a shorter chapter, and again I should be able to post another one later tonight. Keep an eye out for it just in case it doesn't go to the top of the list like last time. Thanks for all the great feedback!