Author's Note: Hey, guys. Thank you for your comments. I'm glad that you enjoyed the opening of the story and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy it.
I'll try and update once a week, as long as people are still reading it. Sometimes it might be a bit longer between updates, because I've been having some computer issues (time for a new laptop) but hopefully I'll get that sorted out quickly.
Thanks again. Now, on to Chapter Two.
Paily31894 : I'm glad that you're excited about it. I'm so eager to be writing this and I can't wait to share it.
Guest: No, the drown-kiss-breakup didn't happen. This is sort of my version of what happened instead. I may implement certain things/scenes from the show but I'm not following canon.
ginagina11 Glad you like it so far. I hope you continue to enjoy it.
Guest, Thank you.
Guest, I try not to keep you guys waiting for updates for too long.
Guest: I thought I had. But I'll try and tag them again. Thanks for letting me know it didn't work. :)
Ness: I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Chapter Two
Twenty minutes later found the two of them in their pajamas and curled up under the covers of their respective beds as the opening credits of some 70's era B-movie scrolled across the screen. Of all the possible ways Emily had imagined this weekend going, this particular scenario was not one of them. She had expected stilted coversations and shuffling awkardly around each other at best and a confrontation of some kind at worst. Bonding over a shared love of zombie films and spending the evening curled up comfortably in the dark, two feet away from Paige McCullers, watching what was possibly the cheesiest movie she had ever seen, if the first few minutes were anything to go by, was an unexpected but definitely welcomed turn of events.
It could be declared a perfect evening, if only she could find a comfortable position to watch the movie from. The tv was angled away from her on the corner of the dresser closest to the foot of her bed, meaning she had to crane her neck or bend her body in an unnatural position to get a good view of the screen.
She bit her lip against a sigh and rolled onto her side, head angled towards the end of the bed and feet pointed towards the pillows, only to find that this way, her face was too close to the tv, blurring the images on the definitely not hi-def screen. She was quickly losing track of the action playing out on screen, all of this re-positioning making it hard to concentrate on what was going on.
"Why don't you just come sit over here?"
It took Emily a moment to realize that it was Paige speaking, and not line of dialogue on screen. "Huh?" She craned her neck and glanced over her shoulder to see Paige shifting over beneath the covers of her bed and patting the mattress beside her.
"Why don't you just come sit over here?" she suggested again. "You're clearly not very comfortable over there and you're going to miss the whole movie if you keep squirming around like that."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to disturb you," she mumbled, figuring that Paige had probably been distracted by the constant rustle of the covers as Emily shifted again and again.
"You didn't. So, are you coming or not?" Paige arched an eyebrow at her and Emily was greatful that the room was dark because the blush that heated her cheeks surely also made them a deep, flaming red, as Paige's words and the fact that she was propped up against the pillows of a bed and inviting Emily to join her, sent Emily's mind spinning off in directions that were really not very appropriate at the moment.
She shook her head to clear it and nodded, not trusting herself to speak or look Paige directly in the eye as she rolled off her bed and, on shaky legs, crossed the short distance over to Paige's. Wordlessly she slid up onto the mattress and settled cross legged at the head of the bed. The pillows, soft and plump behind her were tempting her to lean back and relax, to sink down into them and stretch out but Emily resisted. Turning her attention to the movie still playing out on screen and trying to catch up.
"Better?"
Emily cleared her throat. "Yeah," she rasped, wincing at how husky her voice sounded. "Thanks."
She felt Paige's eyes on her, but refused to glance over, afraid of what her face might reveal in the dim glow of the television if she did.
Though she could now see the screen perfectly, Emily was still no closer to being able to focus on what was happning on it. Instead her attention was tuned in to how close Paige's body was to hers. The other girl was stretched out beside her, clearly more comfortable with this new arrangement than Emily was. She was half-prone, her head and shoulders being supported by a couple of pillows and even though the covers concealed the lower half of her body, Emily could tell that her legs were slightly splayed, her left knee turned out towards Emily, her right foot tucked inwards. She knew that it was her imagination thinking she could feel the heat of Paige's body through the layers of blankets, but Emily felt like her leg was burning up where Paige's knee was almost touching her.
It was ridiculous. She was ridiculous. Emily knew that. But it didn't make it any easier to stop her mind going off in tangents or her body over-reacting to Paige being so close. She knew that it was innapropriate. She knew that she needed to knock it off. But she couldn't help it.
All she could do was try and ignore it. And make sure she didn't act on it. If she did that then this attraction or infautuation or whatever this was, would go away on it's own. The only reason she was even having these thoughts was because she'd seen Paige in a towel earlier and now they were in enforced closed quarters. If she could just get through this weekend, unscathed, then they would be back at school on Monday and everything would return to normal. Her interaction with Paige would go back to nodding to each other in the hallways or the locker room on the instances when avoiding eye-contact and pretending they hadn't seen each other was not an option.
Slowly, Emily felt her body start to relax. Her muscles loosened somewhat and her breathing eased, the band of pressure that felt like it was wrapping around her chest dissipating. Eventually, the movie on screen, halfway over by now, captured her attention. And when the muscles in her back started to twitch and cramp, protesting being held so stiffly in one position for so long, she allowed herself to ease back against the pillows and get comfortable.
Emily woke up disoriented, not quite sure where she was or what had pulled her from sleep. She knew she wasn't in her own room, it was too dark. There was no glow from the streetlights casting dim shadows across the walls. It took her a moment for the events of the previous day to come back to her. The bus ride. Being assigned to room with Paige. Dinner. Coming back to the room to watch movies. The last thing she remembered was joking with Paige about something that had happened in the second movie in their mini marathon, during a commercial break, laughing until her sides hurt and being surprised to discover that Paige McCullers was funny. The movie had come back on and they'd both fallen silent. She must have fallen asleep sometime after that.
As her memory came back to her, so did her sense of awareness of the room around her, the faint hum of the air conditioning unit, the irregular flashing of the red light on the smoke detector mounted to the ceiling, the steady, even breathing of the girl slumbering next to her and the rise and fall of the surface beneath her cheek.
As Paige twitched lightly in her sleep, her heel hitting Emily's shin, Emily realized what it was that had woken her up. She barely registered the dull pain in her leg as she bit back a gasp and took in the compromising position she now found herelf in.
Not only had she fallen asleep in bed next to Paige, she had, at some point over the course of the night, ended up sleeping on Paige. The other girl was lying on her back and Emily was pretty much sprawled on top of her. Her head was resting on Paige's chest, tucked in just under her chin. She could hear the other girls heart beat, strong and steady in her ear. One arm was draped along Paige's side, her hand curled around her shoulder and one leg was nestled between Paige's thighs.
For her part, Paige had one arm slung low across Emily's hips and one foot curled around Emily's calf. Causing her to kick Emily's shin every time she twitched in her sleep.
Oh, God, Oh God, Oh God, she mentally chanted as she tried to figure out how to extracate herself without waking the other girl.
Taking a deep breath and holding it, she slid her arm from around Paige's torso and planted it on the bed beside her, using it for leverage as she attempted to ease backwards. Only to have Paige shift in her sleep, her arm curling more tightly around Emily's hips.
Damn. She let the breath out slowly and contemplated her options. She could stay where she was, and hope one or both of them shifted away in her sleep. And also risk one or both of them shifting even closer. Or Paige waking up at some point and freaking out upon findng them in such a position. No, that was out.
But, she wasn't sure that she could move without waking Paige up. Maybe, if she pulled away fast enough and rolled away, Paige wouldn't realize what had woken her up and would go back to sleep none the wiser. She wondered if that would actually work. It was her best, her only option, really. She took another deep breath and silently pleaded for this to work then pressed her hand firmly against the mattress.
Before she could do anything, Paige shifted beneath her. "Emily?" she murmured sleepily.
Emily's head shot up and even in the darkness, from this close she could tell that the other girls eyes were open. She caught just the faintest glint of a shine from them and felt her own eyes opening wide in response.
"Paige..."
"What are you doing?" Paige's voice was low and thick with sleep and Emily had to force her body not to react to it. Thwarting the shiver she felt beginning it's race down her spine with a shake of her head, knowing that in this position, Paige would feel it.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, hoping that the other girl would hear the fervrent sincerity in her voice and not freak out to badly. "We must have fallen asleep. I didn't mean to...I'm sorry I...I cuddle in my sleep. It's just...a thing that I do. It doesn't mean..."
There were only a few people that Emily regularly shared a bed with, but Maya, her friends, they weren't exactly ones to complain about her tendency to curl up to them. When they were together, Maya had not just accepted but reciprocated, pulling Emily close to her or snuggling in against her before they drifted off. And, none of her friends were really in any place to complain about her sleep habits. Hanna kicked in her sleep, whenever they shared a bed Emily woke up the next morning with bruises all up and down her legs. And Aria was even worse than Emily was, seeking out the warmth of the body next to hers with unnerring accuracy, even while deeply asleep. Spencer jokingly called her a little limpet but never failed to curl up into her, her long limbs wrapped around her. Even Alison, on the rare occasion Emily had ever let down her guard, or perhaps summoned up her courage, enough to fall asleep next to, had never held it against her.
"'s okay." Pagie's slurred assurance cut through Emily's rambling and she snapped her jaw shut, silencing herself.
"Right. Thank you. Sorry." She was immensely greatful to Paige for not making a big deal out of this. She shifted backwards, attempting to ease herself away, not wanting to disturb the other girl's sleep any more than she already had.
"What are you doing?" Paige questioned again, her grip tightening around Emily's hips.
"I was just going to-" she glanced over her shoulder, to her own bed, even though in the dark she was pretty sure that Paige couldn't see the movement. Maybe she could sense it though, Emily didn't know.
"I said it's fine," she murmured. "Stay."
Emily stared down at the other girl in the darkness, watching as Pagie's eyes drifted closed and felt the other girl stir slightly, as if settling back down to sleep. Had that really just happened? Maybe Paige hadn't been awake as Emily thought. She couldn't really have said that if she was fully aware of the situation. Could she have?
"'s late, Em. We have a big meet tomorrow. Just go to sleep," Paige mumbled.
Well, that answered that, she supposed. Biting her lip and trying not to grin, Emily lowered herelf down, settled back into her previous position of her head resting against Paige's chest and her arm wrapped around her.