Author's Note: It's tough to reply to those of you who post as guest, without there being some confusion as to who is who, but I will try. Hopefully, you'll remember which comment applies to you. But, I thank you all for reading, and even more for commenting. Even if it is anonymously. Though I wish you had accounts to I could talk with you directly.

So,

Thank you.

It's a slow process, but soon that will be the case.

That would be a fitting title. And, it's only going to progress.

Not yet. But soon.

Chapter 39

"So, tonight's going well. Right?" Emily leaned a little closer into Paige's side and tipped her head up to whisper the question, her lips brushing against the shell of Paige's ear, making her shiver, and Emily smile. She nipped at Paige's earlobe lightly, causing the other girl to squirm slightly in her seat.

"Em." Paige's voice was low, barely audible, and warning. Or maybe it was pleading. The tone was hard to pinpoint beneath the hitch in her breath, and noise of the movie playing loudly through the surround sound speakers, explosions and gunfire and screeching metal vibrating through Emily's chest as she pretended to watch, but mostly sat playing idly with Paige's fingers and watching her watch the movie.

After hanging out and talking for a while, they had settled down to watch some action movie that Toby, Caleb, Paige, and surprisingly, Hannah, had pushed for. Although, with the number of rugged, shirtless guys running around on screen, maybe not so surprising. By now, they had all eaten themselves into a junk food stupor, and were sprawled, somewhat lethargically across the furniture. Though, Emily had no doubt that, before the evening was over, they would all rally.

It was the first time they'd all hung out, as a group, outside of school, at least since she and Paige had started dating. Though she knew that Paige and they guys had been spending time together, and they'd all been hanging out at school, Emily had still been a bit worried that things might not go smoothly. Most of her concern had been about the dinner, and meeting Paige's father. But, that had gone well enough. He had been pleasant, if not a little stilted. And, since they had regrouped into the rec room, everything had been great, they'd talked, they'd laughed. It had been easy, comfortable. And, Paige seemed relaxed in the other's presence, cuddling with Emily on the couch, not a single sign of tension in her posture or her movements. Her arm was firm, but loose, where it wound around Emily shoulders, and she playfully flexed and wrestled her fingers with Emily's. Until she had raised her head from where it rested, on Paige's chest, Emily had been able to feel Paige's heart beat and it had been slow and steady.

Now, however, she slid her hand up and rested her hand on the flat of Paige's chest, feeling it skip a beat as she blew lightly into Paige's ear, making Paige squirm once again as an odd, strangled sound issued from her throat.

"Emily," she groaned. Her words definitely a warning this time, though, Emily didn't miss the way her jaw tensed as she struggled to keep her lips from turning up in a grin.

"Sorry." She pressed a kiss to Paige's cheek, feeling it crease under her lips as Paige lost the fight against her grin.

"No, you're not." Paige chuckled lightly.

"No, I'm really not."

She was surprised when Paige turned her head slightly, and brushed a soft kiss against her lips, murmuring softly as she lingered. It was chaste, mouth closed, not even the faintest hint of tongue, but even under the cover of darkness, it was still more of a display of affection than Emily had expected considering they were in a room full of people.

They parted slowly, Paige pulling her head back just enough to look her in the eye and offer up a small, sweet smile. "Hey."

"Hey."

The soft, snicking sound to her right would have probably gone unnoticed, if not for the fact that the sound effects in the movie had gone completely silent, underling some dramatic moment that Emily was no longer following.

They both turned their heads to the side at the same moment, to find Aria smiling sheepishly at them, her cell phone still poised in one hand.

"Sorry. You guys were just too cute."

It wasn't surprising. Aria was always snapping photos. Even with just her cell phone, without all of the gadgets and things for her big fancy camera, she had a knack for capturing moments beautifully. Emily was used to it. She rarely noticed anymore. And, she certainly didn't mind. But, she cast a worried glance over at Paige, uncertain as to what her reaction would be.

But, Paige surprised her by leaning forward,

"Show me?" she asked, craning her neck to get a look at the shot. Aria turned her phone around, showing them both the screen, and a soft smile took over Paige's lips.

"That's a good one. Send it to me?"

"Emailing it to you right now."

"Can we get another?" she asked, sitting back in place and wrapping her arm around Emily once more. "We don't have any photos of us."

"Except for the ones my mom took, on our first date," Emily reminded her. "I'll have to get her to upload them. But, yeah, Aria. Can you take a couple?"

"Of course." Happy to oblige, Aria shifted to sit in front of them, aiming her lens at them. "Okay. Smile."

Emily didn't need to be told, she already had a broad smile on her face. She leaned a little further into Paige, waiting for the shutter sound effect.

"One more. Ready?"

At the last minute, Emily turned her head so she was pressing a kiss against Paige's cheek as the picture was snapped.

"Ohh. Good one," Spencer commented as she straightened from where she was leaning against Toby, and pulled him up from the arm of the couch. "Get one of all of us?" She gestured to him, herself, and the couple next to her. Without waiting for a response, she slung one arm around Toby's shoulder and the other around Emily's. Immediately the other two leaned in, and Aria snapped off a series of photos.

"Hey, do us next." Hannah slid from the floor onto Caleb's lap, his grimace and grunt comical, before he schooled his expression and wound his arms around Hannah's waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder. They both smiled for the camera for the first photo, then pulled ridiculous faces for the second.

All pretenses of watching the movie were abandoned, as they took turns posing for photos, passing the camera around so Aria could be in some as well. They took couples pictures and group shots, proper poses and pulling faces. And their final photo before Aria started to complain that her battery was wearing down was probably Emily's favorite one of the evening, a shot of all of them squished onto the couch, the camera propped up on a pile of books on the coffee table to get them all in. Emily sat on Paige's lap, her legs draped across Hannah, who was squished in between Paige and Caleb, with Mona on his other side, Spencer and Toby in a similar position on the opposite end of the couch, and Aria perched on the arm, draped over their shoulders. They were all smiling, nobody's eyes were closed or mouths opened awkwardly. It was a really nice photo of all of them.

The rest of the evening passed by in a pleasant blur. The movie long abandoned, they switched to Wii bowling, and then guitar hero, before the guys settled into an intense game of Mario cart, while the rest of them looked on, talking and, occasionally mocking. Emily couldn't remember the last time she'd laughed so hard she cried, and her sides ached from the effort.

The best part of the evening was undoubtedly Paige. She never strayed too far from Emily's side, and she didn't hesitate to hold her hand, put an arm around her, or press a kiss to the top of her head or her cheek. It was the most open, most affectionate, that Paige had been in the company of others. And, even though the situation was still relatively private, it was still a bit step for her. Emily was proud of how far she'd come. How comfortable, how confident, she seemed to be in her own skin. It was a far cry from the girl who had ducked into bathrooms to avoid being seen in public with her, and couldn't even look her directly in the eye in public.

As much fun as Emily was having with her friends, she was happy when they decided to call it a night, leaving her alone with Paige for a while until her parents came home. After a round of hugs, and promises to do this again soon, she shut the door behind them and turned to face Paige.

"So, tonight was fun." She leaned against the door, and pulled Paige to her by the belt loops of her jeans. Paige came willingly, draping her arms loosely around Emily's neck as she dipped her head and kissed her softly.

"Yeah. I think everyone had a good time. I had a good time," she added.

"And, I think dinner went well. Your mom's a good cook. Clearly, it's not an inherited skill."

Paige pulled a face. "Ha-ha. Funny girl."

Emily poked her in the side, laughing as her finger dug into a particularly ticklish spot beneath her ribcage and she tried to squirm away.

"She was more into it than I thought she'd be. She doesn't cook much. Not usually home enough to do it. But, she really went all out tonight. And, I think she really enjoyed having everyone over."

If Paige's mother was anything like her own, she probably loved having a house full of Paige's friends to feed, and entertain. And Paige had been so closed off these past few months, distancing herself from everyone, it had probably been a long while since she'd brought anyone, let alone a whole group, home to have dinner with her parents.

"It was actually a lot of fun, planning this whole thing out with her, coming up with the menu, helping her shop, all that." Paige sounded wistful as she gently pulled Emily way from the door, and linking their hands, guided her back through the house to the rec room. "We're both usually so busy, her with all her church and community stuff, me with school and sports and everything that we never really spend any time together. It was kind of nice, just getting to sit and talk with her."

"Hey, just because the night's over, doesn't mean that you can't still spend time with your mom."

"Please," Paige said as she dropped unceremoniously onto the couch, and pulled Emily down with her. "She's going to go back to her million and one committees. And then season is going to gear up soon, and the only time I'm going to see her is in passing, as one of us is rushing out the door."

"It doesn't have to be like that." Emily leaned into Paige's side, resting her head against Paige's shoulder and wrapping an arm around her waist. "Maybe the two of you working on this together will spark more time spent between you two."

"Maybe," Paige agreed, though she sounded doubtful. Emily hoped for her sake that things wouldn't revert to the way they had been, though she knew for it to work out, they'd both have to make an effort. She could see that now that Paige was growing more comfortable with herself, and accepting who she was, she was ready to stop pushing her mother away. But, her mom also had to be receptive. She had to be willing to put aside some of the activities in her busy schedule to spend time with her daughter.

"Your dad and I talked a bit. He was nice."

Paige snorted, the reaction surprising to Emily.

"What?"

"Sorry. I didn't mean to do that." Emily could feel Paige's torso shift as she shrugged and then wrapped an arm around Emily's shoulder.

"No, don't apologize. But, what did you mean?"

"It's nothing, don't worry about it." She dropped a kiss to the side of her head.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"It's nothing."

"If it was nothing, you wouldn't be avoiding telling me." She pushed herself up to look at Paige, who wouldn't meet her eye.

"My dad. He didn't want you here tonight."

Emily struggled not to react to the words, but hearing that, it stung. And, it also made her heart clench, painfully. She had thought that Paige's parents were making progress and coming to terms with her and Paige's friendship would be a step towards their acceptance, when Paige finally came out.

"When he found out you were coming, he told me to uninvited you. And when I told him I wouldn't, that you were my friend, and you were coming, he threatened to not come."

Emily's eyes widened at Paige's words, impressed and stunned, that her girlfriend had stood up for her, against her father. She knew how afraid Paige still was of his rejection.

"He and my mom got into a big fight about it last night. I don't know what she said, to eventually convince him. But, he was on his best behaviour. To be honest, I didn't really expect him to say anything at all to you tonight. I kind of figured he'd just ignore you. "

Suddenly the conversation Emily had with Nick, however brief, held a whole new meaning. For whatever reason, he had decided to make an actual effort, and not ignore her, or make snide comments.

"But, I think he was impressed with all the work you've done with Habitat for Humanity. And, I know he has a lot of respect for people like your dad."

Emily nodded, feeling a little dazed by the revelations, and their implications. She didn't want to say anything, and alarm Paige, but she wondered if his resistance was general homophobia and bigotry, not wanting Emily in his house or around his family because she was gay, or if it was more precise. Did he suspect that Paige was gay? Or that they were a couple? Was he trying to keep his daughter away from Emily in an attempt to stop Paige from becoming what she already was?

Paige had said before that she suspected her parents knew. Emily had written it off as paranoia. She'd gone through moments of terror like that, before she'd come out, certain that people around her could look at her and know. But it had all been in her head. She had assumed it was the same for Paige, the stress and burden of keeping secrets weighing on her, and playing on her perceptions. Now, she wondered if maybe Paige hadn't been so off base.

"It's weird, but I think he might actually like you."

Paige's words pulled her out of her own thoughts and she turned to her girlfriend, brows furrowed as she tried to focus on what she was saying.

"Hey!" she feigned offense when Paige's words registered, and smacked her arm.

Paige batted her hand away easily, catching it, and holding it. "You know what I meant. My dad's not one to pull punches. He doesn't pretend to be nice, or not say things to spare feelings. But since my mom kind of muzzled him tonight, I fully expected him to silently glower until he could excuse himself from the table. But, he didn't. He actually spoke to you. And he was nice. It's weird. And, the only think I can think of is, he liked you."

"Again, I'm not sure if I should feel flattered. Or offended," Emily teased, though, in truth she was feeling quite flattered. "Just another McCullers' to fall for the enchanting Fields' charm, I guess." She shot Paige a smug smirk and Paige shook her head.

"Wow. So modest. So humble." Paige rolled her eyes and returned the smirk with one of her own.

"You're just jealous, because you are none of those things."

"That's right, you got me."

Emily shot her another smug look, before redirecting the conversation. "Thank you, for standing up for me, against your dad. I know that couldn't have been easy for you to do."

Paige's grip around her tightened. "It wasn't even a question. When he started in, I just….I didn't even think about it. Not really. All of a sudden, I was just saying all these things."

"Well, you could have just as easily said nothing. So, thank you."

Paige hummed softly, but said nothing else. Emily was content to let the conversation lay. For now. She pushed herself up and tipped her head, capturing Paige's lips in a kiss. The other girl let out a sound of surprise, before enthusiastically returning the kiss.

She eased backwards on the couch, pulling Emily with her, until she was flat on her back, and Emily was hovering over her. She pulled back to take a breath, and peered down at Paige, only to find the other girl staring back up at her, face flushed and grinning, and she marveled at how she had gotten so lucky. Grinning as well, she dipped her head and kissed Paige once again, letting herself get lost in the feeling of Paige's lips moving against her own, and the way her body shifted subtly beneath her own, and the faint murmurs and hums as their lips parted, and reconnected again.

She was aware of time ticking by, however, and the imminent return of Paige's parents. As well as tonight had gone, she was leery of them finding her alone with Paige when they got home. Especially after everything Paige had said about her father. Now that the dinner party was over, there was nothing holding her father back from saying what he really felt. And, Emily was afraid of what might come about, if there were some kind of confrontation.

When the clock struck midnight Emily reluctantly extracted herself from Paige's embrace.

"I should be going," she said, averting her gaze from Paige's face to avoid the pout that she knew would be on her lips. The pout that she was absolutely defenseless against. She pushed herself to her feet and held out a hand to help Paige up, smiling softly when Paige immediately laced their fingers together before levering herself up.

"I had a really great time tonight," she said as they made their way down the hallway.

"Me too." Paige tugged her around, and kissed her softly. "We'll have to do this again sometime."

"Definitely. Though, maybe at my house next time? My mom will get jealous if everyone keeps coming over here."

Paige laughed lightly. Agreed. And, don't tell my mom this, but your mom is the much better cook. I much prefer one of her meals."

"You're mom's cooking is fine. And, don't tell my mom that. Or she'll get a big head."

"Deal," Paige said as she opened the front door and ushered her out, keeping hold of her hand as they made their way down the walkway to her car, despite the fact that several of her neighbours still had lights on. Any one of them could look out the window and see her holding hands with a girl. She opened the passenger side door for Emily, and ushered her into her seat before hurrying around to the driver's side.

"Do you have any plans for tomorrow?" Paige asked as she pulled into Emily's driveway a few minutes later. Though they had spent the whole evening together, it still wasn't long enough for Emily, who wasn't quite ready to say goodnight. Despite her curfew, while extended, was slowly creeping up on them.

"Not really, no. Maybe shopping with Hannah." If Hannah didn't ditch her for shopping with Mona. Not that Emily would really mind if she did. She did not share Hannah's passion for making shopping into an all-day event. She loved trying on shoes and dresses and looking at cute purses as much as the next girl, but she did not have the stamina Hannah and Mona had for it. A few hours and she was done, ready to leave the stuffy, recycled air of the mall and do something out of doors.

"Okay. Well, I was wondering if, tomorrow night, you would like to go out with me?" Paige stammered out her question, before turning large, hopeful eyes on Emily. She held her breath, and bit her lip as she awaited Emily's response. As if there were a chance that Emily might actually say no.

It was adorable. And sweet. And aching endearing. And Emily couldn't wait to see what kind of date Paige had planned for them.

"I'd love to."

Paige's face broke out into a grin, and she did a little fist pump, mouthing the word "yes," before schooling her expression and nodding. "Very good. Thank you. I'll pick you up? Say, seven thirty?"

"I can't wait."

Paige's somber expression dissolved into a sweet smile as she leaned forward to kiss Emily softly. "Sweet dreams, until then," she murmured against her lips.

Emily huffed a laugh at the over cheesy parting line, but pressed another kiss against her lips before whispering a quiet goodnight and climbing reluctantly from the car.

She felt Paige's eyes on her as she made her way up the walkway, and as she ascended the porch steps, knowing that the other girl was waiting for her to get inside before she pulled away. It was sweet. And thoughtful. She opened the door and turned, blowing a kiss to Paige, who had just begun to back up. She leaned in the doorframe and watched Paige drive away, going inside only when her taillights disappeared in the distance.