Guest: School will be the next chapter after this one. Hope that you like this scene in the meantime.

EP Yeah, it will be tough, there will be some adjusments when they get back to school, but they'll work through it.

ren-mccullers That does seem to be modus operandi for a lot of writers. And, they will face their challenges as their relationship moves forward, but I'm not going to throw in any drama for the sake of drama or unecessary angst.

saii79 I don't know. I didn't realize that was happening, but thank you. I'm glad you think so. I know she wasn't in it much, but I kind of like Mrs McCuller's too. I feel like Paige had to get her dry sense of humor from somewhere, (and it's definitely not going to be her dad.) so I wanted to interject some of that. Plus, I want to humanize her, so Paige's struggle with not wanting to lose her family is tangible and relatable.

jhas I'm glad that you liked the study date, part 2. All of your questions will be answered in the next few chapters (not this one, this one is more Emily than Paily centric.) And I'm pretty sure you'll like what I have in store for them. I have plans for their first, Emily planned date. But also some plans for Paige planned ones as well, so don't worry, they'll both have their chance to woo each other.

Guest Good guess, but no. That's not the direction I decided to take the chapter in. I hope you don't mind this version though.

Guest It is going well for them. And yes, there will be issues, but don't worry, nothing too ominious.

CarmellaD'Winter I'm glad you thought so. That's the mood I was aiming for. I'm glad you like the interactions with Paige and her mom. And yeah, I think it's not paranoia if you actually do need to be worried, although how much of it was real and how much of it was imagined remains to be seen.

Ponderhouse I'm glad you enjoyed the Paily fix. :) School and the date are both upcoming, so I hope you enjoy those chapters. And, this chapter in the meantime.

Chapter 16

The downstairs was in darkness when Emily stepped inside. Only the hall light shining down from upstairs prevented her from stubbing her toe or stumbling into anything as she shed her jacket and shoes and stowed her backpack in the hall closet. She made her way quietly up the stairs, though she knew that her mother would not be asleep yet. Not until she knew Emily was home safe and sound.

As she made it to the head of the stairs she noticed a faint, flickering blue light coming from beneath her mother's bedroom door and the low murmur of voices on the television. The sight, the sounds, brought a small smile to her lips. Some things, she was relieved to see, never changed. Even though there had been some tension between them, their relationship strained, there were small signs that her mother had not given up on her. Like her mom waiting up for her when she was out late, or preparing breakfast for her and leaving it warming in the oven for her on the mornings when she had to leave for work before Emily was little indicators were what had sustained Emily, giving her hope that things would eventually improve. And slowly they had been.

She had intended to knock on her mother's door as she passed it on the way to her own room, letting her know that she was home in case she had missed her entrance. But, as she reached it, she hesitated, hand raised. Before Emily had come out, she and her mother used to actually talk to each other. Emily would come home from school, or hanging out with her friends, or swim pratice and, instead of heading straight to her room she would sit on the end of her mother's bed and the two of them would talk about their days. She missed that. She wondered if they could have that back again. If maybe it was her turn to give her mother a sign that she had not given up either.

Decision made she knocked lightly and then opened the door slowly, easing into the room. Her mom looked up at her entrance and offered a small, albeit puzzled smile from where she sat, resting against pillows propped up on the headboard. The only light in the room was that of the television, which tinged everything in a blue glow.

"Hey, honey." She reached for the remote in her lap action playing out on the screen stilled. She glanced back over at Emily, expectantly, but now that Emily was standing in front of her, she didn't know what to say. She'd wanted conversation, connection, but she wasn't quite sure how to go about getting it. She shifted in place, debating just saying goodnight and heading to her own room but, she'd already come this far. Slowly she made her way across the room and slid onto the end of her mother's bed, settling crosslegged against the footboard.

"How was your day?" Her mom sat up slightly, leaning towards Emily, giving her daughter her full attention.

"It was good." Emily wished that she had something more to give than a generic answer, but her school day really had been uneventful. Aside from her near freak-out in the locker room and everything else Paige related that had happened. But, they were easing back into this conversation thing and she didn't want to jump right into that. She cast around for a few details, recounting a couple of in class ancedotes and an update on the progress she'd been making at swim pratice.

It wasn't much, it wasn't anything substantial, but it was enough to get her mother laughing, smiling, talking about her own day. And soon they were having a real conversation, which was such a rarity these days. It felt nice.

"How was your evening? Did you get a lot of studying done with Paige?"

The question caught Emily off guard. She hadn't expected her mother to bring the other girl up. She had assumed that Paige would be a topic that the two of them just didn't discuss, the same way they never really talked about Maya or her sexuality. It wasn't ideal, but Emily had resigned herself to it. And, while she may have hesitated a moment before saying the name, she had most definitely posed the question.

"Uh, yeah." She stumbled over her response. "I finished up my homework and I helped Paige prepare for a test." She could have left it at that. In a way, she wished that she were capable of leaving it at that. But, she remembered the promise she had made to her mother, the promises they had made to each other. "And also, we talked," she said haltingly. "You were right, about a lot of things you said yesterday, about Paige, about her liking me. And, why she acted the way she did." She didn't really want to get into it. That was Paige's story to tell, not hers. "We kissed."

She chanced a glance at her mother, saw the way her jaw clenched and her hands tensed, the skin around her knuckles turning pale from the pressure of being tightened into fists but, to her credit, she didn't blink or look away. She kept her gaze steady on Emily.

"So you two are...together?" Her mother's voice was low, strained.

Emily nodded. "Yeah." She held her breath, awaiting her mother's reaction. Much to her surprise, all she got was a faint sigh and a nod. "And that's okay with you?"

"How I feel about it doesn't really matter one way or the other, does it?"

Emily supposed that was true. She was going to be with Paige whether her mother liked it or not. But she was hoping that her mother would at least try and get on board with it.

"She seems like a nice girl," her mom conceded. "She's from a good family. I suppose you could do worse."

Emily refrained from rolling her eyes at the less than glowing endorsement. It was probably as good as she was going to get.

"I met her mom today," Emily said, remembering the brief encounter with Mrs McCullers. "She says hello."

Her mom nodded, humming softly under her breath. "So, Maureen was home while you guys were there."

Emily wondered if she could get away with not telling her mother that they had in fact been alone in the house for the majority of time Emily was over there. "She came home while we were studying."

"And she's aware that you two are..."

There was a note of relief in her mother's voice, as if having another adult ally in this situation would somehow give her some kind of control over it. Reluctantly, Emily shook her head.

"I don't know that I like the idea of being complicit to you two keeping something of this magnitude from the McCuller's."

Emily felt a flash of panic, struck by the thought that her mother might decide to inform Paige's parents of what was going on. "She can't tell her parents. Mom, you have to promise me that you won't say anything. Please."

Her brow furrowed as she regarded Emily.

"I mean it, Mom," she could feel the desperation creeping into her voice as she tried to persuade her mother not to step in and make some misguided parental attempt at protecting her daughter. "They'll kick her out."

"Surely they wouldn't-"

"She's terrified they'll disown her if they find out."

Her mom stared at her in stunned silence.

"Please."

"Oh, Em. Of course I won't say anything." She leaned forward, drawing Emily into a hug. She collapsed into her mother's arm, drawing strength and comfort from them as they tightened around her.

As difficult as things had been lately, she at least knew that she could rely on her mother to be there for her. She couldn't imagine not having a home to return to at the end of a hard day, Tears pooled in her eyes at the thought of the fear and pain Paige was struggling with right now, knowing that if she came out, if she was true to herself, she might lose her family.

Her mother held her as she cried, rubbing soothing circles along her back and humming softly in her ear. Eventually her tears subsided and she pulled back, swiping at the tear tracks on her cheeks and rubbing her watery eyes.

"I love you," she whispered, her voice thick with tears. She hadn't said that enough recently. Anger and resentment had taken away her ability to voice such a sentiment.

Her mom cupped her face with both hands, thumbs wiping away the last of her tears before she gently pulled her forward and pressed a kiss to forehead. "I love you too, sweetie." Even more than Emily had needed to say it, she'd needed to hear it. A wave of relief washed over her and Emily's eyes fluttered closed for a moment as she soaked it in. When she opened them again, she caught her mother looking at her, a wounded expression on her face.

"Emily..."

"It's okay, Mom."

"No. No it's not. I can't believe that you would think I'd stop-"

"You couldn't even look at me. I'd walk into a room and you'd turn away."

Her mom drew back, stunned by the outburst. She blinked and then her face fell as tears formed in her eyes. Emily's eyes starting watering again at the sight of her mother crying. She sniffed and tipped her head back, trying to stop the flow of tears. Her eyes were going to be swollen and stingy tomorrow if she cried any more tonight. And yet, it felt good to have addressed this. She leaned forward, hugging her mom once again, only this time, it was her mother doing the clinging and she was the one gently shushing her and rubbing a hand along her back.

When her mother's sniffles subsided, Emily pulled back. "You okay?"

"I should be the one asking you that." Her voice was nasal but she managed a small smile. Though it faded quickly, chased away by some dark thought that flashed across her expression. "Before you told us...were you afraid of me and your father?"

Emily winced at the question, not sure if the truth would be reparative or damaging. Her hesitation was an answer in itself and her mom started tearing up again. This was defintely not the conversation Emily had been envisioning when she'd knocked on her mother's door this evening.

"It doesn't matter now."

Sniffing loudly and wiping at her eyes, her mother nodded. Emily knew that she'd given her mother a lot to think about. And, while it might sting now, maybe a little bit of truth would be good for her. Things had been getting better, but her mother was still struggling to come to terms and understand her daughter. Maybe this could speed the process along a little.

Leaning forward she pressed a kiss to her mother's cheek and then slid from the bed. "Goodnight, Mom. I love you."

"Night, Em. Love you."

She padded silently from the room and made her way down the hall to her own, where she flopped down onto her bed, exhausted from both the late hour and the conversation she'd just had with her mother. It was a good exhausted though. She felt like they'd made progress, they were finally getting somewhere. Something was poking into her leg so she shifted away from it, in her tired state not realizing for a few minutes an several shifts that the object poking at her was her cell phone, dislodged from her pocket as she'd collapsed onto the bed. When she finally clued in she pulled it out from beneath her and turned it on, then fumbled it a few times as it practically vibrated out of her hand. When she got a grip on it she swiped her thumb across the screen to unlock it and found that she had a dozen or so missed texts, mostly from Hannah, that spanned the course of the evening and one that had come in just then. From Paige.

A smile playing across her lips she opened the message. Goodnight. Sweet Dreams. XO The smile only grew wider as she read it, a warmth rushing through her at the words. Carefully she tapped out a response. Goodnight. 3 She hesitated a brief moment before sending it, debating the inclusion of the heart icon before pressing down on the send button, her pulse racing as she did at the thought of Paige reading it.

She then turned her attention to the myriad of texts that Hannah had sent her, skimming through the messages, most of them pouty demands for her attention. When she got to the end she dialed Hannah's number, knowing that her friend would still be up, even at this hour.

"Where have you been, I've been texting you for hours," Hannah said, in lieu of a greeting when she picked up.

"I told you I was hanging out with Paige tonight."

"Yeah, I know. And I wanted to know how it went. That's why I was texting you."

Emily laughed lightly. "I'm sorry, okay. I just got home."

"What, like, just now? You were with Paige this whole time? Wait, did your mom freak? You're way past your curfew."

"Almost this whole time," Emily conceded. "I made it home just before curfew. And no, my mom didn't freak. But, we did have this talk-"

"Aww, honey, I'm sorry.".

It warmed Emily's heart the way her friend was always on her side and would immediately jump to her defense. Even when she didn't actually need defending.

"You know she loves you right? She's just-"

"I know, Hannah. It wasn't that kind of talk."

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then what kind of talk was it?"

"I told her about Paige. And she was surprisingly cool with it."

"Oh. Wow. Yeah, Em, that's great." The enthusiasm in her friend's voice was infectious. She could practically see the other girl sitting up in bed, bouncing a little in place at this pleasant piece of news. "So, what about Paige? How was studying?" she asked,putting special emphasis on the word.

Emily shook her head, laughing and then proceeded to tell Hannah, in great detail, all about her afternoon and evening, starting with walking arm in arm with Paige through the halls of the school to the car ride to The Grill and how easy it had been and much she'd wanted to reach out and take hold of Paige's hand while she was driving to how Paige seemed to react to Emily standing close to her while they ordered their food. She told Hannah about how they'd flirted over their dinners and had cuddled up as they'd watched the movie, finally ending her story with the kiss.

Hannah squealed so loudly that Emily had to hold the phone away from her ear, but she was pleased by her friend's reaction. She never thought that she'd get to have these kinds of conversations. Before, when her friends had talked about crushes and first kisses and gushed about first dates she'd had to play along, pretending she liked some safe, unattainable guy in their grade just to have something to add to the conversation and feigning that she had the same butterflies and sweaty palms reactions they did to holding hands and that she's seen the same fireworks when she received her first kiss.

Luckily, her friends had been amazing supportive since she'd come out and were as equally enthused about her crushes as they were about their own. It was a relief. And, at moments like this it was a pleasure.

"I knew it. I totally knew it. Oh, my God. Tell me everything," Hannah demanded. "Is she a good kisser? Did she slip you the tongue?"

"A lady never-"

"My ass. You're not a lady, you're my best friend. Give me the damn details."

Emily laughed lightly and settled back against her pillows. "Do you want me to finish telling you about my night, or not?" She wasn't averse to letting Hannah in on most of the details of what had happened but there were some parts of tonight that she wanted to keep between herself and Paige.

Hannah let out a long suffering sigh before agreeing.

"So, you guys are like, together now?" Hannah asked, once Emily had told her everything. Her words an echo of the question her mother had asked earlier but the connotation was so very different.

Though her words were laced with excitement there was something off about her friend's tone

"What?"

"What? Nothing."

"Hannah."

"Look, you know that I love you know matter who you date. And, if you're happy I'm happy for you, right?"

"Right," Emily agreed cautiously.

"OK. So, if you're into Paige then I'm totally on board. You have my full support. It's just, are you sure that this is what you want? I mean, I remember that night you came to me, a complete mess about how she was treating you-"

"I just told you, that was-"

"Because she was still struggling with her sexuality. But, sweetie, she still is. She can't even tell her parents."

"Because they'll-"

"Kick her out. Em, I heard you. Okay. Everything you said. And, I know how much you want this. But, is it really a good idea? Are you going to be able to handle it if Paige can't deal?"

Emily opened her mouth to snap out an answer, but paused before she could say anything. It was a fair question and it deserved it's due.

"Em, I'm not trying to upset you. I know you like her. And, I don't even know her, but I can tell that she likes you too. I just want you to make sure that this is what you want. Sneaking around. Lying. Pretending. We both saw how hard that was for Aria and Fitz. It's almost destroyed them a couple of times."

"I get it, Han. I do. And I'm not mad at you." As much as she hated to admit it, Hannah had a point. It was going to be hard. And there was a very real possibility that things would get messy. But, she felt it was a risk that she had to take. Her feelings for Paige were too strong to ignore. And, there was something inside telling her that, while this had the potential to go wrong, it also had the potential, a greater potential, to go very, very well. "And I hear what you're saying. I'm aware of all the ways in which this could go wrong. But, that doesn't change anything. I want her, Han."

'Well then, I guess Paige McCuller's is one lucky girl."

Emily hummed softly in agreement even though she couldn't help but feel like she was the lucky one.