It had been a rough week, to put it mildly. Although the team had been practicing all month after they got back from Christmas break, everything was kicked up a notch this week, with their first meets of the year coming up on the weekend. It wasn't just the training; the team had to be more circumspect about their diet and rest as well. And because they were flying out to Arizona, they had to make arrangements to keep up with their classwork and assignments for the long weekend away.
As freshmen, Paige and Emily were holding their own. They were more than living up to the expectations placed on them, and, while they were by no means the stars of the team, they were solid contributors in their events and had earned their share of first-place finishes in what had been, so far, a highly successful season for Stanford.
They were good for each other. In high school, they were each other's motivation as cross-state rivals. Now that they were on the same team, training together, pushing each other, dreaming together, there was a synergistic effect. Of course, the better training facilities and Stanford's excellent coaching staff had a great deal to do with their success as well.
It was quite a logistical undertaking for the team managers: Getting everybody booked, arranging coaches from the airport in Arizona and between Arizona State and University of Arizona, ensuring that all of the equipment made it. It required the team to hold strictly to their schedules.
Everyone was abuzz as they boarded the team bus to take them to San Francisco International for their flight out. The gaggle of teammates, in their red and white warm-ups, surrounded by coaches and managers, turned a few heads at at the airport.
Flying with the team was different. There was so much going on with her teammates that Paige didn't get impatient and grouchy the way that she usually did when she had to endure the airport experience. For Emily's part, now that Paige was with her, she no longer had to conceal her fear of flying on team flights. She knew that she could discreetly lean on Paige for comfort. Actually, she was becoming more and more comfortable with flying, but she knew how good it made Paige feel to be her protector, and, if she were honest with herself, she knew that it made her feel good to have Paige there to lean on.
Emily and Paige fell asleep with Emily's head on Paige's shoulder and Paige's head on Emily's head, sharing the same pair of earbuds. Thanks to the plane's free wifi, the picture that Vicki took already had a couple dozen likes by the time the plane landed in Tucson. She hashtagged it "Paily," the name that she and her teammates had chosen over "Pemily" and "McFields."
Emily and Paige had both been recruited by Arizona State, so they somewhat familiar with the campus and the facilities. This trip would be different, though. They wouldn't have time to see much beyond the bus, the training table, the locker rooms, and the pool.
Although the Arizona women's team was ranked a bit lower than Stanford's, Coach Meehan and the captains drilled into the team the fact that they couldn't take this meet lightly. Arizona was on fire, having won all of their previous head-to-head meets, although not against the caliber of competition that Stanford had gone up against. The team couldn't wait to get into the back into the water against live competition after not having competed since Thanksgiving. The fact that they were going against a lesser-ranked team worked in their favor. With the time off from competition, the demands of travel plus the minor time change, and, perhaps, a bit of overconfidence working against them, they were rather sloppy in the water. No records were broken or personal bests set, but they escaped with a comfortable victory – and a bit of humility.
The two-hour bus ride to Tempe for Saturday's meet against Arizona State was a quiet one. The team was exhausted, and, although they were victorious, they had nothing to brag about. Emily had a grip on Paige's bicep. She knew that Paige wouldn't want to talk, but she also knew that it would only make things worse for Paige to wallow over her performance. She had nothing to be ashamed of, and she and Emily were both instrumental in the team's win, but Emily knew that Paige was beating herself up internally for not having done her best. She also knew that Paige wasn't ready to hear that she had no reason to beat herself up. So, she just held onto her, hoping that a touch could do what words could not. Feeling Paige relax ever so slightly, Emily risked taking her hand, as well.
In her head, Paige was going over every mental error, every missed stroke, every sluggish turn. She wasn't critiquing them so that she could improve her performance; she was chastising herself for being such a screw up. She felt Emily's hand encircling her bicep, and she prepared herself to refute whatever words of comfort Emily was about to offer. But Emily didn't say anything. She just sat there with Paige, holding onto her arm. Eventually, she grabbed Paige's hand as well. Had she done so even thirty seconds earlier, Paige would have jerked her hand away, but Emily's hand on her bicep had softened Paige in a way that she hadn't expected. She only knew that she felt grateful and loved and extremely fortunate. It wasn't just that Emily loved her, but that Emily got her. When Paige wasn't herself, Emily knew what she needed and was willing to be who Paige needed her to be - even if that wasn't what Emily wanted right then.
Paige still wasn't ready to talk, but she squeezed Emily's hand lightly in gratitude, and Emily dared to rest her head against Paige's shoulder. Paige reached around with her left hand and cupped Emily's cheek, kissing her gently on the top of her head.
They sat in silence for most of the trip until Paige spoke up. "So, what? You're not going to talk to me at all tonight, Fields?" she said, and Emily smacked her playfully in the shoulder. "Thank you," Paige whispered. "I love you."
Emily kissed Paige's neck. "I love you, too."
By the time the bus got to the hotel and they had slogged down some dinner, the whole team was thoroughly exhausted. Paige and Emily had to wait until bed check before they could switch rooms to be together. They were so tired that they actually could've fallen asleep on their own, in the rooms that they had been assigned. Emily had other ideas, though. After Paige showed up and settled in behind her, Emily whispered her name. Paige grunted groggily in response, and Emily proceeded. "Have you ever had sex in Arizona?"
Paige liked where this was headed. She was exhausted and emotionally drained, but she decided to play along. "Emily, you know precisely where I have and haven't had sex. You were there every time, remember?"
Paige was talking at a normal volume, although her voice was husky with sleepiness. Emily was still whispering.
"I know, but I was thinking. Don't you think that we should have sex, so that we can cross Arizona off of our list?"
"We have a list?"
"Let's start one!" Emily shrugged.
"Fine. Sure. Let's cross Arizona off the list."
"We have to be quiet," Emily whispered.
"Are you drunk right now?" Paige wondered out loud. "Did Jana give you a flask before I got here?"
"No, I'm totally serious! These walls are paper thin! We have to be quiet," Emily whispered sternly.
"Don't worry, Emily," Paige reasoned, "everyone else is already asleep."
Emily lightly poked Paige in the chest with each of her next whispered words: "You can't make me scream."
She had just pushed the "LAUNCH" button. All of a sudden, this stopped being just a game for Paige. "Well, I can't promise that, Em!" she growled into Emily's ear, and then bit down on it. Emily squealed and immediately clapped her hand over her mouth, gasping, wide-eyed, at her indiscretion.
Emily rolled over to face Paige and pulled Paige's T-Shirt over her head. She started tweaking Paige's left nipple. "Why aren't you wearing your heart? I've never fucked you without your heart!" She rubbed Paige's breast as if consoling it over the loss of a best friend.
"I don't usually fly with it," Paige answered, "You remember Thanksgiving."
Emily kissed the nipple and sucked on it. Paige pulled down Emily's boxers and pulled Emily astride her thigh, gently rubbing her bare bottom. Emily allowed just enough space between her mouth and Paige's breast for a moan to get through. In one motion, Paige pulled Emily on top of her, then rolled over so that Emily was on the bottom. She retained her knee between Emily's thighs as she planted wet kisses across her neck and fondled her breasts through her shirt. Emily was reaching up and tweaking Paige's breasts at the same time. She moved her hands down to Paige's ass, handling it roughly as she pressed Paige's thigh deeper into her center. Paige paused for a moment to pull down her shorts. Emily seized the opportunity to test Paige's readiness and, feeling her wetness, she placed one hand on Paige's abs and the other inside her, as Paige resumed the pressure of her thigh on Emily. Then, Paige had an idea. She rolled over onto her back and slid Emily up to her face. Emily took the cue and moved to a sitting position, her bent knees on either side of Paige's head. Paige was in ecstasy, lapping hungrily at Emily's essence. Emily was biting on her hand in an attempt to stifle the screams that Paige was inducing. She forced her mouth closed, somewhat muffling the garbled noises that her throat was producing, and fisted her hands into Paige's hair, hanging on for dear life. Paige's neck was getting sore, so she curled her powerful shoulders up off the bed, to give it some more support. She had always been a strong finisher in the pool, able to ignore the pain and tiredness and summon enough energy to power through to the end. Emily had seen that often in Paige's races, and, had she been able to think about anything other than the jolts of electricity that were firing from her core straight to her brain, she would have felt appreciation for the way that she was benefiting from this inner strength of Paige's. All that she could feel, though, was an intense heat in her core and a tightening of her stomach. And the need to keep her mouth shut.
"Okay. Your turn!" Emily whispered, once she came back to herself. "You have to cum in Arizona, too."
Paige giggled. She couldn't believe this campaign that Emily was on. "You have to be quick," she told Emily. "I have to get some sleep tonight!"Emily slid down Paige's body, and Paige got very serious again. Emily knew what she was doing. It hadn't taken her long to learn her lover. If Paige wanted it quick, she would get it quick.
Emily tickled up and down Paige's sides as she worked her tongue in and out of her folds, pausing only to remind Paige that she had to be quiet. After the third interruption, Paige pulled the pillow from below her head and used it as a silencer. Emily was able to continue uninterrupted. She wouldn't have been able to hear much, anyway, as Paige's thighs clamped tight around her head. It didn't take long for Paige to lose herself. She banged her head against the headboard as she came, earning a sharp look from Emily. Paige missed the rebuke, though, her eyes still hidden underneath the pillow.
"Emily," she said, breathless, "what do you say we drive back to PA this summer - see how many states we can hit?"
It was Arizona State's great misfortune to be the team that Stanford faced after their match with Arizona. Stanford was fired up, to say the least. They had something to prove – to themselves, to their coaches, and to the ranking committee. And Paige couldn't help thinking that there was something to those rumors about the benefits of getting laid before competition. Although intense, it was the quietest orgasm that Paige had ever heard.
It ended up being a very lopsided competition against a very over-matched Arizona State team. Stanford's women left town on a high note, and the freshmen learned something about consistency.
A/N (A really long one…) So, I was really dreading having to write a "Paily on the bus" chapter, because theaugustrain nailed that theme in chapter 15 of her excellent but, sadly, unfinished fic, "Your Hand in Mine." It's an amazing story, and I would recommend it unequivocally, except that it's incomplete and, since the last update was in July, 2011, it doesn't appear that it will ever be completed. :(
I thought that I could get away without having to write a bus trip in this chapter, because the actual Stanford team is traveling to Tucson this weekend (and I'm assuming that they're flying), but then I saw that they were going to be in Tempe for the second meet. Trust me, the bus scenes in "Your Hand in Mine" (heading up to and back from Pitt) are much, much better, and well worth the read, even if you only read that one chapter.
By the way, that same chapter and the 15th chapter of another excellent but, sadly, unfinished Paily fic, "Anchor Your Heart to Mine" by Overkill_Max, are the reason that I started this story. Both chapters include passages where Emily is in Paige's bed platonically. I wanted to give my take on that theme, although my version is not worthy comparison with theirs. If you don't have a need for closure, you should look up those fics. It's kind of heartbreaking for me to read them, though, because they both cut off before Paige and Emily get together. ("Your Hand in Mine" cuts off before Paige comes to terms with her sexuality.) Actually, maybe just read the 15th chapters themselves. I don't think that you'll be disappointed.
Finally, I wrote this a few days before Stanford's weekend in Arizona, and I'm not psychic, so I apologize to any teams involved if my account isn't accurate. AU, remember...
Anyway, sorry for the long note, but I did want to share info on these well-written, well-developed fics in case anyone hasn't read them yet. They are both far above anything that I could ever hope to write, so, if you like this fic, you'll be head over heels for those.
(I promise to finish this one, though.)