Guest: The relationship is definitely moving forward, they'll be interacting and getting to know each other and their lives at school will definitely play a part in that.

ponderhouse Thank you. :) We won't be seeing Paily at school for another couple of chapters, but they'll get there soon, and we'll get to see how they interact with each other around their peers.

Guest I'm glad to hear you had a good holiday. :) And, thanks.

saii79 I'm glad to hear that. :) I'm guessing a study session in Emily's bedroom wouldn't be quite as productive. But it might be successful in a whole other way.

CarmellaD'Winter lol. I know, right?

jace24 Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Things will continue moving forward for them, and hopefully you'll find it interesing to see exactly how that plays out for them.

adorablepancreas Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it. And yeah, I know what you mean, there are a lot of AU Paily stories out there that are really good. Personally, I like some aspects of how the relationship developed, but not others. So this is my take on it, or rather them.

Author's Note: So tonight's episode was a bit disheartening, a la Paily. I get what the writers are doing, and even why. But I can't help but be dissapointed in the outcome.

And so here is a little dose of lighthearted Paily for any of y'all who's feeling the way I'm feeling at the moment.

Chapter 7

Emily found her mom in the kitchen, humming along to the radio playing quietly in the background as she worked at the counter. She didn't even have to ask what was for

one of Emily's favorites and one of her mother's go-to meals on special occasions or celebrations.

"Hey, honey," she said, glancing over as Emily sidled up beside her. "How's studying going?"

"We're done, actually."

"Oh? That was quick."

"Mmmhmm." Emily hadn't really come in here to talk about studying. "Can Paige stay for dinner?" she asked as she hoisted herself up onto the counter.

Pam shook her head. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"Please, Mom?"

"It's kind of short notice, Em. I've already started cooking."

"And when is there never enough for someone extra? You always cook for like, ten people."

Pam huffed a soft sigh. "And you've both been gone all weekend. I haven't seen you since you left for school Friday morning. I'm sure Paige's parents-"

"Her parents aren't even home. Her dad's away on buisness and her mom's...out."

Pam's brow furrowed in a frown at Emily's words, but she still shook her head once again. "Not tonight, Emily."

Emily let out a frustrated sigh. She'd really thought the whole, Paige would be going home to an empty house angle would work. Her mom was such a soft-hearted person, she was normally taken in by stuff like that.

"Why not?"

Her mom shot her a stern look and suddenly, Emily got it. "It's not even like that," she said, annoyed with both the assumption her mother was making and the fact that she still couldn't bring herself to say it out loud. "We're just friends," she said firmly. "Paige isn't even gay."

Pam's gaze flicked away from Emily's and she shifted in place. A heavy silence setteld between them as Emily stared at her mother, who refused to meet her gaze.

"Fine," she said shortly, pushing herself off the counter. "Am I at least allowed to drive Paige home? She lives on the other side of town, and it wouldn't really be very nice of me to make her walk."

She was kind of banking on the fact that, if her mother didn't trust the two of them alone together upstairs in Emily's bedroom with the door open while she could walk in any moment, she certainly wouldn't trust them alone in a car, in the dark of night with nobody else around. It was a ridiculous notion but Emily wasn't above exploiting it.

Her mother finally met her gaze and Emily returned it with a stare of her own, crossing her arms over her chest and letting every ounce of hurt and dissapointment she felt in that moment show in her eyes.

She hated that things were like this with her mother now. They used to have a good relationship. They might not have been as close as Emily and her father, but they'd always gotten along. Emily had always felt like she could trust and depend on her. Since she had come out, however, things had been tense, forced. She could tell that her mother still wasn't completely comfortable with the idea of it, with her, and it hurt. She just wanted things to go back to the way they had been, back when her mother's gaze had been warm and loving and her arms had been safe and comfortable.

"Okay. Fine. Your friend can stay." Pam sagged backwards with the words and Emily felt a twinge of guilt that she'd emotionally bullied her mother to get her own way. But not enough to change her mind, now that she'd gotten what she wanted.

"Thank you." She bounced forward and pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek.

"Dinner's almost ready. You girls wash up. And, set another place."

"Sure thing. Thanks Mom." She grabbed a plate and cup from the cupboard, collected up a handful of utensils and quickly arranged them into a proper place setting before she turned and made her way back into the living room, probably more excited than she should be by a simple extension of a dinner invitation but she didn't care. Paige popped up from her place on the couch as soon as Emily stepped back into the room.

"Mom says dinner's almost ready," she said. "Bathoom's just there, if you want to wash up. I'm going to run upstairs. I'll be back in a minute." She directed Paige down the small hallway do the downstairs bathroom before bounding up the stairs, two at a time, to quickly freshen up for dinner and then returned downstairs. She'd rushed a little bit, trying to get back down before Paige finished up, so as not to leave Paige alone with her mother but as she rounded the corner of the stairs she realized that she was too late.

"Is there anything I can help you with, Mrs Fields?" Paige's voice, quiet but collected reached her ears and she paused in her steps.

"No, dear. It's all right."

"Are you sure? I mean, that platter looks pretty heavy. I can carry-"

"Really, I'm fine. But, thank you. Emily should be down in a minute, why don't you just have a seat at the table?"

There was some shuffling and no further conversation. Emily made her way into the room to find Paige hovering awkwardly near the table, shooting glances over at her mother as she loaded dishes onto her serving platter. Her gaze shot over to Emily as she strode into the room and she offered up a small smile.

Emily returned it with a broad grin. "Are you ready for this? My mom's cooking is...let me just say you're going to be blown away."

"In a good way, right?" Paige asked in an undertone. "You're mom's not like, secretly a horrible cook but nobody has the heart to tell her or something, right?"

Emily let out a loud, startled laugh. Paige's eyes widened at her reaction, which only made her laugh harder, and louder. She waved her hands, trying to signal that Paige was wrong but it only seemed to alarm Paige even farther. Her eyes grew wider and the color drained from her face.

"Do we need, like, a code word? You say the word red-herring and I'll pretend to get a horrible, debilitating headache and you'll offer to drive me home but really we'll stop for a pizza?"

Emily forced down her laugher and cleared her throat before shaking her head. "No, code words aren't neccessary. My mom's a great cook. I promise."

Paige narrowed her eyes at her for a moment and Emily did her best to look innocent and trustworthy.

After a moment, Paige nodded. "Okay then." She put a hand on one of the chair backs and pulled it out. Emily waited for her to drop into it before taking a seat herself, only to realize that the other girl was holding it out for her.

It was things like this that only nursed the crush that Emily had on her, she thought wryly before sliding into place with a soft smile. Once she had settled, Paige moved around the table and Emily thought it was to sit, but as her mother set the serving platter down in the middle of the table she realized it was to pull her seat out as well.

"Dinner smells wonderful, Mrs Fields," Paige said as she finally took a seat herself.

"Thank you, Paige," her mom said, offering a soft smile as well. Emily knew that she was impressed by the other girls' manners.

The silence was comfortable as they settled in and began serving themselves, but Emily knew that it wouldn't last, it would grow awkward and uncomfortable very quickly and she was wracking her brain trying to think up a topic of conversation.

"Mrs Fields, this dinner is .delicious," Paige said, between moutfuls of food. "The pulled pork sauce, is it homemade?"

"Why, thank you, Paige. And yes, it is. The recipe is a family secret."

Paige took another bite and offered up a small, somewhat smug but mostly playful smile. "I bet you I could guess what was in it."

Pam laughed lightly. "You think so?"

Paige nodded. "I spent a lot of summers in the kitchen with my grandmother. I've got a very well developed palate."

"Oh, do you cook?"

Paige shook her head, chuckling lightly. "Not a bit. I'm sort of a disaster in the kitchen. My mom banned me from setting food near the stove a couple years ago after a small grease fire incident."

Emily grinned, not just at the statement but at the complete and utter unabashed way she'd said it. Not only was it adorable to think of Paige bumbling her way around in the kitchen, but it was adorable that she seemed almost proud of that fact.

Pam made sympathetic noises even as she laughed. "Dare I ask what happened?"

Paige offered a wide, easy grin. "It was definitely not my finest moment. I was making bacon and eggs for breakfast and managed to tip over the frying pan of bacon grease onto the open flame of the gas stove."

"Oh, dear."

"Yeah. My dad had to rebuild half the cabinets in the kitchen and retile the backsplash behind the stove. I haven't been allowed to do more than microwave popcorn since. It's horrible, I know I shouldn't be laughing but..." She shrugged one shoulder in a sort of "what are you going to do" gesture and both mother and daughter nodded in agreement.

"What about you, Emily, do you cook?"

"I can, yeah."

"She just prefers not to," Pam added, to which Emily nodded.

"Well, my mom is such a great cook, why would I want to take that away from her?"

"Flattery will get you nowhere," Pam said, with a wink, an actual wink, towards Paige.

Emily shrugged. "Was worth a shot though, right?"

A silence settled as the conversation lapsed but it was easy, comfortable. Emily was amazed at how well this dinner was going. After her initial reluctance to let Paige stay, she had been expecting resistance from her mother on all fronts, a la that dinner with Maya. Conversation had been forced and stilted the entire time, despite both Emily and her father's attempts and bridging the distance between mother and girlfriend.

Of course, maybe the difference lay more with the guest than it did with her mother. Maya had been nervous, though Emily hadn't known that that until later, and it had come across as combative. She had tried to be smooth and charming but some of what had come out of her mouth had been snarky. It hadn't started the two of them off on the best foot.

It wasn't really a fair comparison however, because Paige had no reason to be nervous. She wasn't Emily's girlfriend, having dinner with the parents for the first time and trying to win over Emily's homophobic mother. She was free to just be one of Emily's friends from the swim team.

Still, Emily couldn't help but be impressed by how easily Paige had managed to charm her mother with seemingly effortless ability.

"So, you're on the swim team with Emily?" Pam broke the silence with a new thread of conversation. "Did you have a successful weekend of competition as well?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Paige nodded solemly.

"Paige won almost every race this weekend," Emily boasted, knowing that Paige wouldn't.

"Really? That's very impressive."

"Not as impressive as Emily's performance this weekend. The only race I lost, I lost to her." She dipped her head in Emily's direction, a small smile playing on her lips, which Emily couldn't help but return as she remembered the race, and the bet. It had been the most fun she'd had competing in a lot time.

"But she set a new tournament record in one of her other races."

"And Emily beat one of her personal bests."

"Which is still a second slower than Paige's."

Pam's gaze darted back and forth between the two of them, an amused smile playing on her lips as they continued to attempt to one-up each other with accomplishments.

"It sounds like you both had a very successful weekend," Pam interrupted them after a moment. "So congratulations. And a toast to both of you." Her hand went to her wine glass, which she raised in their direction.

Paige blushed and ducked her head. "Thank you."

Emily eyed her mom as she took a sip.

"Since this is a celebration and all, maybe Paige and I should have a glass to toast with as well."

"Nice try kiddo. You can toast just as well with water as you can with wine." Pam smirked across the table at her daughter.

"It's just one teeny, tiny, glass of wine."

"Uh-huh. And when has that ever worked on me before?"

Emily grumbled and rolled her eyes.

"I'm sure Paige's parents wouldn't appreciate it if they learned I let their daughter drink alcohol right in front of me."

Both women cast a glance over at Paige, who blinked owlishly back at both of them.

"Actually, my parents let me drink with dinner all the time," she mumbled into her plate as her cheeks darkend in a blush. "But, we're Irish," she added with a shrug, as if that explained everything.

Emily had only been joking. Mostly. And she knew her mother hadn't been expecting that response from Paige, so she knew not to push the issue even though technically she'd won the point.

"And really, it's not so much all the time as it is special occasions. Birthdays, holidays, celebrations...um...times when the whole family is around. Which, granted seems to be an awful lot but it's not as often as-"

"Paige, take a breath," Emily teased gently. Even her mother was looking on with a soft smile.

Paige cut off her ramblings and took a deep, gulping breath. The flush on her cheeks had spread to her ears and was just beginning to creep down her neck. She stared sullenly down at her plate for a moment before letting her gaze flick back up, meeting Emily's as she forced a small smile onto her lips.

Emily smiled back encouragingly just before Paige's gaze shifted to her mother, who was eating placidly, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"Do you come from a large family?" Pam asked.

Paige relaxed back into her chair with a soft sigh and nodded. "Yeah, we're a bit of a brood. I'm an only child but my mom has four siblings. My dad has six. And they've all had at least a couple kids. I've got a ton of cousins and growing up with them was like growing up with siblings."

Emily nodded, because she could relate to that. Her mom had three sisters and her dad had two brothers and a sister, all of whom were now married with children of various ages. She had older cousins who she'd looked up to growing up, the way one would to an older brother or sister and younger cousins who she adored and loved to spoil.

"Does your family all live in Rosewood?"

"In or around, mostly yeah. I have an aunt who moved out to Maine, an uncle who went out west, a couple of cousins who've gone away for school but most of us are still here."

Pam nodded. "And, what is your last name, if you don't mind me asking?"

"McCullers."

"McCullers...McCullers. I used to work with a Anthony McCullers."

"My uncle. My dad's youngest brother."

"And, I'm on a church committe with a Maureen McCullers."

"That's my mom."

Pam nodded. "A lovely woman, your mother is. And, she's had some highly complimentary things to say about you. It will be nice to be able to tell her that I've met you, the next time we talk."

Emily bit back a grin as she listened to them converse. It was astonishing, really, how easily her mother had taken to the other girl and watching them now, she could hardly believe that she'd been worried things were going to be awkward.

Dinner passed pleasantly, conversation flowing easily, the three of them lingering over their plates long after they had been scraped clean. It was only when the grandfather clock in the living room began to chime out the top of the hour that Pam seemed to realize that she had been sitting idle for far too long and she stood, beginning to collect the plates from the table.

"Thank you for dinner, Mrs Fields." Paige stood as well and began stacking plates.

"You're welcome, my dear. And please, don't worry about that, I've got it."

But, Paige was already making her way across the kitchen to the counter. She pulled open the dishwasher and began filling it while Pam sent her daughter a pointed look.

"You could take a lesson or two from your friend, honey."

Emily snorted a laugh as she stood. "I've got it, don't worry," she said and finished cleaning up the table under her mother's watchful eye. "You are the worst dinner guest ever," she hissed, hip-checking Paige out of the way and loading it with the items in her hand. "You're making me look bad. And I think my mom likes you better than me now."

Paige only laughed and shook her head, hip-checking Emily back as the door to the dishwasher slid shut with a dull thud.

"Hey, Mom, can Paige stay awhile, watch a movie or something?"

She knew she was pushing it, she'd already foisted a dinner guest onto her mother. No matter how much she seemed to like Paige, adding her company for the evening might prove to be to much, but she couldn't resist trying it. Though they had spent the better part of three days together, Emily felt like it was barely any time at all. She wasn't quite ready to call it a night yet.

Pam glanced at the clock on the stove and pursed her lips for a moment. "Okay. But not too late. It is still a school night."

"Awesome. Thanks Mom. You can stay a bit, can't you?" she asked Paige as an afterthought. Paige shot her an amused grin, but nodded.

"Yeah. I'm good."

"Did you want to watch a movie? You can go pick something out while I finish cleaning up in here?"

"Sure." Paige shrugged and turned to make her way into the living room.

"I'm going into the den to email your dad," her mom said."You guys stay downstairs."

"Mom-"

"I mean it, Em."

She opened her mouth to protest but snapped it shut again under the intensity of her mother's stare. It was a pointless battle. And one she didn't want to waste time fighting while Paige was waiting on her in the next room. She nodded her understanding and went back to wiping down the counter.

She finished quickly and made her way out into the living room, pausing in the doorway to watch Paige, bent down in front of the cabinet by the tv, perusing the dvd collection. It was rather expansive. She and her father had lovingly been collecting obscure and blockbuster titles for years.

"Find anything yet?"

Her voice startled Paige, making her yelp as she shot one hand out, resting it on the cabinet to steady herself. Slowly she rose to her feet and turned around, scowling at Emily, who was laughing at her.

"How 'bout this?"

She held up a dvd and Emily froze in place as her eyes fell on the cover. A lump formed in her stomach, and it felt like it was trying to claw it's way up into her throat.

Paige's brows furrowed in concern as her gaze flitted from Emily down to the movie in her hand and back again. "Okay," she said slowly, drawing the word out. "Or not."

Emily shook herself out of her stupor and made her way across the room to where Paige stood. "I'm sorry. It's just that movie-"

"You don't have to explain." Paige tucked the movie back into place and spun back around. "Why don't you pick out something else?"

Emily bit her lip, debating whether or not to get into it. On one hand, she felt like she owed Paige some kind of explanation. On the other hand, she wasn't sure how comfortable Paige would be hearing how the movie she'd picked out, I Walked With A Zombie, would forever remind Emily of the first real relationship she'd been in.

Just that fleeting glance at the cover brought all of those old feelings flooding back, the nerves and excitement of being out on her first date with a girl, the sweaty, tingling feeling of her palms as Maya held her hand, the butterflies in her stomach every time their eyes met or Maya smiled at her, the way her heart beat so loudly in her ears she could barely hear the movie. It was bittersweet, those memories. She would always cherish Maya for everything she had done for her. For being such positive influence in her life at the exact moment that she needed it. Just as she would always ache a little as she remembered the way it had devolved until they were forced to end it.

It wasn't exactly something she enjoyed re-hashing. And while Paige had proven to be a supportive and sympathetic listener, Emily wasn't sure she wanted to test the boundaries of that just now. It was best just to leave it alone, she decided.

Instead of answering she bend down and scanned the titles, looking for something she figured Paige might not have seen. After a moment she found one that looked promising. She held it up for inspection.

"You haven't seen this one, have you?" Paige shook her head and Emily grinned. "Awesome. You'e going to love it.

Paige made her way over to the couch while Emily popped the disk into the DVD player.

"That better not be an idle promise, Fields," she said as dropped down onto the couch.

Emily scoffed. "I would never."

She crossed the room and, ignoring her first instinct, which was to settle in right beside her, she took a seat at couch and immediately grabbed a throw pillow and placed it in her lap, curling her body around it so she wouldn't curl it around the girl sitting just a couple of feet away.