Paige was nervously waiting for Pru to pick up her phone. She was equally excited about and dreading talking to her best friend. She knew that she was going to get an earful of "I told you so" and " She turned you!" remarks. Also, she knew that Pru would chastise her for not having kept her up to date on all the changes that were going on in her relationship with her roommate. Well, "roommate" wouldn't work anymore. Emily had acknowledged that they were dating. What's the word for that? Girlfriend? Too soon? For all she knew, given their track record, Emily might well be her girlfriend but she just hadn't found that out yet.

"What the hell, Paige? You were kissing this girl every day and sleeping in the same bed, and you never said a word to me about it?" Paige had to move the phone away from her face to preserve her eardrums. "And you didn't know that you guys were anything more than roommates?"

"Okay, I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, but I knew that you would make a big deal out of it, and I honestly didn't think that there was anything to make a big deal about."

"Paige, I can't do this over the phone. Skype me!"

Paige obligingly went to her laptop and Skyped Pru, realizing immediately what a big mistake that was. No sooner had Pru's face appeared on the screen than she clicked on something and a rainbow flag floated down from the top of the screen, followed by the words "Sapphic Love" in some 1970s porno font.

"Yeah. Good," Paige deadpanned as it all unfolded. "So glad that we've decided to stay mature about this!"

Pru wasn't finished yet. She clicked again, and "Turn Down For What?" started blaring in the background as she danced in her seat. Paige just smiled and rode it out. "Have you been planning this for a long time?" When Pru had finally gotten it all out of her system, they started talking again.

"You know I'm really happy for you, right, Paige?"

"I'm really happy, too, Pru. I don't know that I've ever actually been in love before. It's such an incredible feeling."

Just then, Emily came back into the room. When she saw that Paige and Pru were Skyping, she tiptoed over to her desk and dropped off her backpack, gesturing towards the door to let Paige know that she was going to give them some privacy. Pru picked up on the gesture. "No, stay! Paige, tell her to stay!"

Paige looked over at Emily with an uncertain smile. "Stay, apparently?"

Emily went over and sat down at her desk, pretending that she was going to be able to work while, she was sure, Paige and Pru chatted about their relationship.

"Where'd she go, Paige? I want to talk to her!" Paige turned toward Emily to motion her over, but Emily had heard Pru and was already getting up. She leaned over Paige's desk with a hand on Paige's shoulder and waved meekly at Paige's laptop. Pru clicked something, and exploding hearts cascaded down the screen. Emily's hair was hanging down over her face from the way that she was leaning, so Paige got up and pulled a chair over for Emily to sit in. Emily sat down and smiled nervously. "Aw! You guys are just so cute together!" Pru clicked her mouse again, and the sound and image of a camera's shutter closing filled the screen. Pru shared the screenshot with them. "That can be your Christmas card!"

Paige gave Emily's arm a squeeze to let her know that her friend wasn't crazy, just obsessed. Pru pressed on. "So, Emily," she practically sang, "You just rocked Paigey's world, didn't you?" Emily smiled over at Paige and mouthed the word, "Paigey?" Pru kept going. "I can see how happy you make her. I hope that she makes you happy, too!"

"Yes," Emily confirmed. "Very happy. Incredibly happy," she added, turning to look at Paige and give her a kiss.

"Wait! Do that again! I didn't get a screenshot!"

Unlike Paige, who had kept the progression of her relationship a secret from her best friend, Emily had been in constant contact with Hanna. At first, Hanna was skeptical about "Operation Turn the Paige," as she had insisted on calling it. As much as she teased that Emily was the straight-girl whisperer, Hanna worried that Emily would end up getting hurt, falling for someone who was tolerant at worst and confused at best. But the more that Hanna heard about Paige and Emily, the more convinced she became that Emily had to go for it. She could tell that Emily was falling for Paige, and Paige gave every appearance of already having fallen for Emily. "I'd rather have to come out there and console you because it didn't work out than have to console you ten years from now when it's just you and your 17 cats and you're looking back on these days wishing that you had taken your shot," she reasoned. Hanna couldn't believe how oblivious Paige was being, once Emily started dropping those not-so-subtle hints. Hanna kept suggesting far more blatant things that Emily could do to get her message across. When Emily was finally able to report that the two of them were together, Hanna, like Pru, was almost as excited as Paige and Emily themselves were.

Paige felt overwhelmed by her new relationship. Everything had happened so fast. What does it mean to date someone with whom you've already been sharing kisses - not to mention a bed? She needed to know the limits and boundaries. Emily agreed that the pace at which this first stage of their relationship was going was too fast. They would need to cool things down if there was any long-term hope for them. Sadly, that meant that Emily moved back to her own bed. Those sleeping arrangements lasted for almost half of one night before a defeated Emily sadly trudged over to Paige's bed and tried to sneak in without waking her. Paige, who had also discovered that it had somehow become impossible to sleep alone, welcomed her with open arms. They agreed that they were comfortable at the place that their relationship had achieved, and that they would just cool their jets where they were for a while.

They also agreed that they were pathetic.

The only change in their relationship was that it became more public. They didn't make a formal announcement. They didn't announce it at all, at least not in words. They let their actions do the announcing. The kisses that they shared when they greeted and left each other were no longer confined to their room. They were as likely as not to be holding hands when they walked together. It took a while for people to catch on to the fact that they were dating; they had been joined at the hip long before they started to see each other romantically, and they had always been very touchy. It was almost like watching a child grow: If you see him every day, you don't notice that he's getting bigger till, suddenly, you notice that he's almost looking you in the eye.

One of the surprising benefits of Emily's new relationship was that her swim times got much better. She hadn't really considered the impact that the stress and sadness of her relationship with Maya was having on her sport. She was glad to be able to feel herself again, and that feeling spilled over into her performance in the water. In turn, the fact that her swimming was back on track resulted in less of the stress that she had been feeling over whether or not she really deserved to be swimming for the Cardinal, and that made it easier for her to concentrate on her studies.

The new relationship had benefits for Paige, as well. She had worried that having a boyfriend (girlfriend, as it turned out) on campus would take away from her study and practice time, especially since she had so little time in the first place. But she had already been spending all of her time with Emily, anyway. Now that they were official, she found that she wasn't spending that extra time worrying about what their relationship was, and whether or not there was any meaning behind every touch or kiss.

One lazy morning, as they lay in bed, Paige turned towards Emily who was reading from her tablet. "So. You're going to have to help me understand how this lesbian stuff works."

Emily rolled her eyes and smiled. She put her tablet down and turned over onto her side to face Paige. "Okay… What do you need to know?"

"Well, like, what do I give you?" Emily shot her a confused look. "I mean, if we were just friends, I could give you a BFF chain or something. I don't know." Paige was being adorably nervous and vague, but Emily honestly didn't know what she was getting at.

"You don't have to get me anything? You can still get me a BFF chain? Wait," Emily's eyes widened, "are you asking because you want us to be exclusive?"

The way that Emily asked made Paige feel incredibly stupid. She dipped her head. "Well, no, I don't… I mean… I just… Never mind. I mean, I don't want to date anybody else, but that doesn't mean that we have to be…" Paige trailed off, sitting up nervously and dropping her gaze to her fingernails.

Emily sat up, matching Paige's position. She pulled Paige's head up and gave her a kiss. "Oh, Honey! That's not what I meant! I don't want to date anyone else, either!" She wrapped her arms around Paige and held her tight.

"I'm sorry," Paige whispered.

Emily kissed her again. "You use that word too often."

Paige dipped her head again and smiled. She didn't look up when she continued her inquiry. "But, so, how do people know that you're with me?"

"'People?'"

"Like, if we're at a party or something, and someone wants to hit on you."

"Do you want to get tattoos?" Paige glared at her. "Sorry, Paige." Emily backtracked, seeing that Paige was genuinely concerned about this. "Well, what did you and Sean do to let people know that you were together?"

Paige thought it over for a second before a smile of realization stretched across her face. "Okay. I get it!"

Emily kissed her lightly. "Feel better now?"

"Actually," Paige said with a cocky grin on her face, "my only takeaway from this conversation is that you don't want to date anybody but me!" With that, Paige pumped her fist in the air and swung Emily back and forth in an exaggerated victory hug.