"Guess what!" Emily was bubbling over. Hanna's boyfriend, Caleb, had found an airline ticket hack, making it possible for her to fly back to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving for next to nothing.

"Wow! That's great, Em! I'm sure that you'll have a great time."

"You should come with me!"

Paige despised air travel. She hated having to get up early to get to the airport 2 hours in advance, having to wait in endless lines, being run through the wringer of airport security, waiting forever to board the plane, sitting in a cramped cabin for hours, and then staring at the carousels waiting for luggage to come around.

"Well, as much as I love the whole torture experience that air travel has to offer sadly, I have other plans. You know that I'm spending Thanksgiving with my cousins in the Bay Area! They invited you, too."

"Oh, come on, Paige! You can get out of that! You'll have more fun with me! You'll get to meet my friends…"

"I already met one of your friends – no thanks!"

"Spencer? Well, Spencer had reservations about you, too, but she was wrong. I'm sure that, when you get to know her, you'll see that you're wrong about her, too."

"What did she tell you about me? Other than the barracuda thing?"

Emily laughed. "Oh, nothing!" Paige glared at her. "They named a penalty after you? Oh, and I'm supposed to sleep with one eye open around you, apparently."

"Yeah," Paige said sarcastically. "Can't wait to meet Spencer. Will I get to see Maya again, too?"

Emily gave her girlfriend a smack. Then she gave her puppy-dog eyes. "Fine, whatever," Paige conceded. "I'll call my cousins and tell them that we're blowing them off for Thanksgiving in Rosewood."

Paige was in a foul mood for the entire morning of the trip. Emily was trying to be contagiously happy, but it wasn't working. Paige just kept shifting from one leg to the other as they waited for their turn at the counter, muttering about how ill-advised it was to fly on the busiest travel day of the year.

Things only got worse at Security. Emily breezed right through, but Paige kept setting off the metal detector, getting more and more frustrated each time. The TSA officer asked whether she had anything in her pockets, any jewelry, any studs… "Oh, for fuck's sake!"

From the other side of the security area, Emily, unable to hear the conversation, watched in confusion as Paige leaned in and whispered something into the officer's ear. Without flinching, the officer took Paige aside to be wanded. Paige imagined that, with the volume of people who go through security each day, very few things surprise TSA officers after a while. After passing silently over Paige's lower body and back, the wand came squealing to life as the officer ran it over Paige's left breast. Emily's eyes got three times wider as she realized what was going on. Everyone else in the security area picked up on it too, from the looks of it. Paige raised her hands in sarcastic acknowledgment to the crowd and trudged over to Emily, who had retrieved their carry-ons from the x-ray machine's conveyor belt. "How come I never knew that you had a piercing?" Emily asked, excited.

"I guess 'cause you haven't made it to second base."

The wait in the terminal was interminable. "Of course the flight's delayed!" Paige was getting more and more grumpy. Emily was getting more and more frisky. Paige had noticed that about Emily when she was tired, especially in the mornings, but this time, her friskiness was off the charts. Paige finally picked up on what was going on. "Oh, this is about the thing in security, isn't it?" Paige asked, slightly annoyed.

"I just want to see what it feels like, Paige. I can't believe that you never told me about it."

"Hey, buy a girl a drink, first!" Paige said, swatting Emily's hands away.

"Paige! I'm your girlfriend! We sleep in the same bed!" Emily realized that she had said that a bit too loud, given where they were having this discussion. Paige cringed a little. "I, of all people, should be allowed to see it," she concluded in a slightly quieter voice.

"Don't worry, Em. I'm sure that you'll get to see it, fondle it, do whatever you want to do with it soon enough." Emily's eyes lit up. "Just not here." She deflated again. Then it occurred to her to ask.

"Has Sean seen it?"

"You'll have to ask him! I never kiss and tell!"

"What does it feel like?"

"I don't even notice it anymore. I forget that it's there. Hence today's incident at Security."

"What does it feel like when you're... you know, intimate?"

"I wouldn't know."

"So, Sean hasn't..."

"Nope. Not till marriage! That's how Sean rolls."

"Oh... so you're..." Emily declined to state the obvious, instead opting to go with her second question. "So, how does Sean feel about us?"

"He appears surprisingly okay with it."

"Really?"

"Really. I guess he's okay with lesbian relationships, as long as he's not involved in them."

Once they boarded the plane, Paige was the relaxed one, and Emily was the one on edge. She read the safety information pamphlet twice, located all of the exits, and listened intently to the pre-flight safety briefing. As the plane started taxiing and picking up speed, Emily grabbed Paige by the forearm, digging her nails deep into the flesh as the color drained from her face. She maintained that grip until the captain's reassuring voice came over the intercom telling them that they could lean their seats back. Paige reached over and stroked Emily's cheek. "Are you okay?" Emily smiled weakly and lay her head on Paige's shoulder. They had two more take-offs and three more landings to get through before she would be okay.

The route that Caleb had marked out for them took them through Phoenix and Atlanta. After the delays getting out of San Jose, they just barely made their connection at Phoenix. They had plenty of time to kill in Atlanta, though. Nothing was moving. All flights out were delayed by weather in Chicago. At least, that was the excuse that the not-so-helpful counter agents were giving.

Paige was about ready to blow her stack. Emily was resigned to the situation. "Well, we're here. There's nothing at all that we can do about it. We might as well try to enjoy ourselves." Paige didn't even look up. She hadn't said a word in over a half an hour, by Emily's estimation. Emily kept talking, trying to cheer Paige up. Paige just needed some quiet. "I'm going to take a walk," Paige announced. Emily smiled up at her. "Okay. I'll stay with the stuff."

Paige felt horrible. She knew that she was being awful to Emily. And Emily wasn't returning her anger. She was just cheerfully rolling with it. Paige knew that Emily deserved someone better. She wished that she could just flip a switch and be that person. She stepped out of the bustling crowd of people and pulled out her phone. "I love you," she texted. "I hate traveling, but I love you."

Paige was playing games on her phone, watching the battery drain. Emily was sleeping on her shoulder, both of her hands holding onto Paige's bicep. Paige was a little nervous about how this would go over down South, but people didn't seem to think anything of it. Paige figured that they just thought that she and Emily were good friends. Or, maybe people's attitudes actually were changing. This was all pretty new to her, having to worry about people's reactions to her relationship.

Emily barely woke up when boarding finally began and Paige shuffled her onto the plane. It was actually easier to travel with Emily asleep and not panicking over the take-off.

When the captain made the announcement about putting seat backs and tray tables into their upright and locked position for the approach to Philadelphia, Emily began briefing her grumpy girlfriend on the friends that she was about to meet. She warned her that Hanna was naturally bubbly, something which, she knew, Paige was in no mood to deal with after a day in airports and airplanes. "Also," she continued. Paige rolled her eyes, knowing that Emily had saved the worst for last. "Spencer is going to be there." Paige rolled her eyes and looked out of the window. "It's just easier for one person to wait with the car while the other person goes in to meet the passengers. Don't be mean, okay?" Emily pleaded. Paige forced a smile. She would try to be on her best behavior for her first impression.

Hanna was bubbly, as advertised. She grabbed Paige into a tight hug. Too tight. She was using her right arm on Paige's left shoulder blade to pull her closer into her body. The hug felt a little aggressive to Paige, but she put it down to her imagination. She never did feel comfortable with hugs. Emily picked up on the helpless look in her eyes and tapped Hanna on her shoulder to get her to give Paige some space. "So," Hanna began, "How was your flight?" Paige noticed the way that Hanna's gaze kept dropping to chest-level, and it was making her a little uncomfortable. Then, she realized that Hanna's gaze wasn't falling just to her chest; it was focusing specifically on her left breast. "Oh, my God, Em! You told her? Already?" Emily bit her lip and looked away, ducking her head. "Seriously?"

"What? I got excited! I couldn't just keep something like that to myself!"

"She texted me," Hanna confirmed excitedly, now staring all the more blatantly at Paige's breast, "while you guys were waiting in the airport in California!" She added, "I've been waiting all day to see it," whining like a child who had been denied the candy that she had been promised for behaving. As if Paige owed her a view because of how long she'd been waiting to see it. Paige couldn't believe that Hanna was actually reaching over to cop a feel. She swatted Hanna's hand away as Emily yelled out, "Hanna! Remember what we discussed! Boundaries!"

The last thing that Paige was in the mood for was meeting Spencer Hastings. Spencer pulled the car around, popped the trunk, and got out to help with the bags. She shook Paige's hand – something that Paige could respect from a stranger, especially after her ordeal with Hanna. Paige subconsciously hunched her shoulders over, as if that would make her breasts disappear, but Spencer's eyes never traveled there. Either she was more subtle or nonchalant than Hanna – or Emily hadn't mentioned anything to her.

Paige and Emily sat in the back seat. Hanna spent the drive from Philadelphia to Rosewood turned around in the front passenger seat, eager to get caught up on all the details of Paige and Emily's relationship. Emily could see Paige's energy draining. She had learned how much her girlfriend hated social chatter with people whom she didn't know, especially when she was the center of the conversation. She gave Hanna a pleading look, and Hanna deftly switched to catching Emily up on all the Rosewood gossip. Paige was relieved. Emily pulled her over so that she could rest her head on Emily's shoulder. She kissed the top of her head. "Go to sleep, Babe. We'll be in Rosewood soon."

Spencer tilted her head towards the back and asked, "Did you guys eat?" Emily told her that they had gulped something down in the massive airport during their long wait in Atlanta. "Do you want some coffee? I can pull over up ahead!"

"Thanks, Spence, but I think we should just get to my house. We've both had a long day." Spencer nodded and pressed down a little harder on the accelerator.

"Paige? We're here!"

Paige was cranky. And groggy. And Emily was a little too cheery for her to handle right now. This wasn't the way that she'd hoped to meet Emily's parents. Emily had assured her that they were over Maya, but that seemed unlikely, given the short amount of time that they'd had to get used to the idea. It just seemed too soon to be meeting the parents. She wasn't sure why she had allowed Emily to talk her into this.

And she couldn't help wondering whether or not the subject of her piercing had come up with Emily's parents, too.

Paige got out of the car to see what looked like a shorter version of Emily and a taller man, with military bearing. Other than the fact that Pam Fields was shorter than Paige had expected, they looked pretty much like the picture that Emily had shown her on her phone. Wayne Fields came over to help with the bags, ducking his head inside Spencer's car to greet her. Hanna was still in Rosewood, attending Hollis, but he hadn't seen Spencer since she left for UPenn.

Pam Fields was all smiles and restrained energy. She looked like a dog that had been trained not to devour the steak that was in front of her. Paige guessed that Emily had told her mom not to overwhelm her girlfriend with affection, so Paige made the first move, greeting Pam with a huge smile and a big hug. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Fields!"

"Pam!" she insisted, "Call me Pam!" Emily's eyes almost popped out of her head. This was the exact opposite of what Maya had experienced. Her mother was adamant that she was Mrs. Fields to Maya. Maya ended up not calling her anything at all, when she could avoid it. Pam grabbed Paige by the chin and said, "I'm so glad you came out to spend Thanksgiving with us!" Emily gently touched her mother's arm, and she let Paige go, dipping her head apologetically and rubbing her hands, as if to assure that they didn't invade Paige's space again.

"Thank you so much for having me. I'm really glad to be here, Mrs. – Pam."

Emily's dad had returned from taking the luggage up. He reached out his hand to Paige, who had extended her arms to hug him. "Oh, okay," he corrected and hugged her warmly. "Pam, let them get inside. It's too cold to keep them out here yakking."

They stepped inside, and Pam asked whether she could whip them up something quick to eat. Emily told her that they were both really tired, and asked whether they could all catch up over breakfast in the morning. "Of course, Emmy. You guys have had a long day. You get some rest. Sleep as late as you want tomorrow. We won't start on dinner till the afternoon."

Emily took Paige upstairs and showed her the guest room, where Wayne had put Paige's bags. Paige hadn't thought of that. She wasn't surprised that she wouldn't be sleeping in Emily's room, but she hadn't thought about the fact that she would have to sleep alone. Even though she'd spent most of her 18 years sleeping alone, she and Emily had quickly gotten used to snuggling together at bedtime. Neither one of them did well on their own anymore.

Before they got settled in for the night, Emily showed Paige her bedroom. Paige took one look at the window seat and got as excited as a kid in a candy store. "Wow!" she exclaimed, running over to it, "I've always wanted a room with a window seat!" Emily smiled at Paige's excitement. The window seat was always her place; her fortress of solitude. Her parents knew, when they saw her sitting there, that she needed to be alone. She hadn't opened up the space to either of her previous relationships. In all of their time together, Ben never made it as far as the bedroom. The focal point for her and Maya was the bed – doing homework, hanging out, or making out. To Emily's surprise, though, seeing Paige in the window seat didn't seem like a violation of her closely guarded space. It seemed right, somehow. Well, there was one thing missing. She went over and sat next to her. This is what this old window seat has been missing all these years, she suddenly realized. Before either of them knew what was happening, they were kissing, slowly and intimately. They were releasing all of the tension that had built up during the day, but, also, they were connecting in a deeper way than they had before. It was as though this was where life had been leading them all along. This was their place.

Emily opened her eyes in shock, her lips still locked with Paige's, as she realized where Paige was directing her right hand. Paige was taking it up to her left breast. She couldn't help but smile into the kiss in anticipation. She could feel something there, but it wasn't what she expected. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and began groping, awkwardly, trying to make sense of what she was feeling. "It's a heart," Paige said, backing away from the kiss, "with an arrow going through it." Emily still couldn't quite picture it, so Paige pulled away, reaching down to pull off her top.

"Girls! There are some clean towels in the bathroom! And, Emily, be sure to show Paige how the shower works!" Emily let out a loud groan in frustration. Pam's voice was their cue. They would have to conclude this show-and-tell session some other time. Emily kissed Paige sadly, and they hugged for as long as they dared. After Wayne Fields cleared his throat for the second time, they regrettably went their separate ways, to try their best to get to sleep alone.

A/N - I have to credit portoftheartistasayoungc and her excellent fic, "State Your Sting," for planting the idea of nipple-pierced Paige in my brain. "State Your Sting" is unquestionably one of the finest fics out there. I recommend it highly.