-A Note: Thanks so much for all the comments, views and favorites. I love reading all the comments. You guys are great. Hope you all enjoy this next chapter.
I have absolutely no idea why or how Spencer Hastings is in my kitchen right now. I got back from my week in Philadelphia a couple hours ago, somewhere around three A.M. (I had stopped several times just to enjoy scenery) and immediately went to attempting to look up a phone number, email or smoke signal even; something for me to be able to reach Alex again. I dumped my bag by the door and sat down at the kitchen island with my laptop. It was proving difficult to find her. Since she was new to the paper, she didn't have an employee profile on the website yet. I had also tried just googling her name to no avail. Around six, I got up from the stool, made coffee and got some cereal. I'm surfing the internet, waiting until eight o'clock so that I can call the paper and eating cereal, when I notice movement entering from the kitchen door in front of me to the right. I go still, not to draw attention to myself; my spoon half way between the bowl and my mouth. I scrunch my eyebrows and slightly tip my head in confusion. Am I in the wrong house? No, all my stuff is here. It's definitely mine. What's Spencer doing here? How did she get in? How long has she been here? She walks over to the coffee pot, not seeing me, and pours herself a cup not realizing it has 'magically' made itself. Her hair is slightly ruffled from sleep as she leans with one hand on the counter with her back to me while taking a sip of coffee.
"Spencer, as flattered as I am to see you in my kitchen in that oversized shirt you call pajamas, what are you doing here?" I say alerting her to my presence causing her to jump and spill some of her coffee.
"Paige! Where the hell have you been?" She yells spinning around quickly to look at me, slamming her fist on the table. I don't even flinch as a smirk draws itself across my face.
"Better question... How'd you get in my house?" I retort looking her in eyes while taking a bite of my cereal. Her answer is a raised eyebrow that might as well have said 'are you fucking joking?' Then I remember:
"Spencer, no look, do it like this," I say carefully inserting the bobby pin into the lock. A second later, Spencer and I hear a click and the door handle easily turns.
"You make it look so easy!" She huffs clearly frustrated.
"Ok here," I say squatting behind her and guiding her hands. The door again easily opens.
"Ok, I think I got it," she says confidently. She squares her shoulders and shakes her head as if she's in athlete preparing for a race. She inserts the bobby pin into the lock and a couple seconds later, we hear a click. She looks at me with a grin, stands up and without taking her eyes off me, raises an eyebrow, turns the handle and pushes the door open in triumph.
"Excellent job," I say patting her on the shoulder and walking past her into the room.
"I should have never taught you how to pick a lock," I say, slowly shaking my head side to side. "No one is safe." I grin at her with a small chuckle. The girl's face lightens when she sees me smile. Spencer grabs her coffee, refills the mug and sits down next to me.
"You look happy," she comments, looking up at me from her coffee cup. "It's nice to see again." The girl pauses to take a sip of coffee. Putting her coffee cup down, she cups it with both hands. The look on her face is contemplative as if she's wondering if she should tell me something. "Em, told me what happened. You seem ok though."
"Well it was hard for several days but I had a good experience in Philadelphia and am doing better now." The thought of my day with Alex causes me to dip my head and smile. I really hope I can get in contact with her again. Being with her allowed me to be happy for more than just a few moments, I was able to forget about everything that happened to me and everything with Emily and just live. There was just something about her. I hadn't had a fully happy day from beginning to end like I did with Alex since before I left on my deployment. I was amazing to feel like that once again.
"I'm glad," Spencer says, smiling out of the corner of her mouth. "But, no more disappearing on us like that again. Emily's not the only one that just got you back. We missed you too." She grabs my hand before correcting herself, "I missed you."
"I missed you guys too. I just really needed to clear my head." I give her hand a squeeze. Spencer has always been one of my best friends. I'm glad to have that with her again. "No more disappearing again, I promise." She seems satisfied with the declaration so she pats my hand and returns to her coffee. "So how long have you been in my house?" I question.
"Um about three days. We were worried when we couldn't get a hold of you," she says looking at me and shrugging her shoulders.
"We?"
"Aria and Hanna are sleeping in your bed at the moment," Spencer replies matter-of-factly, raising her mug to her lips. "And I'm to report to Emily that you are ok when we heard from you. She wanted to come too but I figured that probably wouldn't be the best idea." She was probably right about that. I wasn't sure if I could handle seeing her again yet. The thought of it alone angers and saddens me some. Instead of dwelling on it, I push the thought out of my head and replace it with the image of the blonde haired girl with the mesmerizing green eyes that makes me laugh. Instead of saying anything, I just nod in response to Spencer's statement.
"Well," I say, breaking the silence. "Should we go wake the fashion twins?" Spencer tries her best to stifle a scoff, almost spraying coffee out of her nose, as I get up from the table and start to head up stairs. We find Aria and Hanna spooning on my bed. Thankfully, I've been trained to hold my composure, because this is priceless.
"You know…normally, I'd love having two women spooning in my bed, but since it's you two... I don't know how to feel..." I state loudly while standing at the foot of the bed, causing the pair to jolt awake. Hanna sits up rather suddenly, making a rather interesting grunting noise, while Aria just rolls over with a muttered 'the hell?' The whole scene makes me giggle.
"Ok everybody out of my bed," I say. "Time to get a moving." The two girls in the bed groan while Spencer and I grin in amusement.
"Fine, on one condition..." Hanna announces. Oh here we go. You never really know you're in for when Hanna Marin has conditions for doing something. "You come to the opening of the new gay bar with us. I need to get me some pink drinks." The comment earns an eyebrow raise from me and a face palm from Spencer. I look between Spencer and Aria, not sure what I'm missing.
"Um... Pink drink?"
"Remember back when Hanna was spying on you and Shana?" Spencer inquires, not removing her face from her palm.
"Um yeah..."
"She was hit on by some random girl that sent her a drink of the pink variety," Aria finishes with a flourish of her hand and an eye roll as she lays back down on the bed.
"Ah I see," I reply, rather amused at the whole concept. Yes, Hanna is pretty, but gay? Um no, so of course I have to see this for myself. "Ok, I'll come. Sound like fun." All three girls look at me as if they are surprised until Hanna breaks the silence, "Hell yeah!"
We go downstairs to talk and eat breakfast. It's nice having the girls around. They are planning on staying all day since we have plans tonight and it's Saturday anyway. I had planned to call the paper and ask for Alex's contact but when Aria mentioned it was Saturday, I realized I'd have to wait till Monday to find her. I get a little bummed about it which the other three notice so of course I have to tell them the story.
"...so the next day, I got up the nerve to ask her to hang out with me and she said yes," I say, filling them in. The three girls have smiles on their faces as I continue to talk about my afternoon in the park with Alex. Hanna looks as though her excitement is about to overflow right out her ears. She is literally bouncing in her seat. I look at her in pure amusement. My head is cocked to the side, my eyebrows are scrunched up and I have a smirk on my face. I never thought they'd be so happy to see me with someone besides their best friend. I guess when your best friend is engaged though, it's easier to see me getting along with someone else.
"That's so exciting! Tell her to come tonight," Hanna practically screams. The other girls and I cringe from the shrillness.
"I can't Hanna. I lost her number and its Saturday so I can't get a contact from the paper," I sigh.
"Oh no! Well we'll call first think Monday!" She replies.
"We? You wanting to date her Hanna?" I retort causing the other girls to laugh.
"Well... No, but..." Hanna tries to recover, turning a bright shade of pink. All I can do is laugh.
Before we leave the three of them decide that my jeans and t-shirt is not good enough for a grand-opening of a gay bar, even if it is a small town bar.
"Um no," Aria comments when I walk down the stairs.
"What?" I look down at myself wondering what's wrong.
"Come on, we'll help you," Hanna adds. I throw a look to Spencer pleading for her to help, but all she can do is shake her head. I send her another look that vocalizes my dislike of her non-involvement. Paige does not approve. If the two girls weren't holding my hands as they drag me up the stairs I would have filled Spencer off. Seven outfit choices later, Hanna and Aria finally agree on a suitable outfit as I continue to glare at a giggling Spencer. The outfit choice is actually pretty nice and not too out of the ordinary. The fashionistas picked out a pair of skinny grey jeans, a white v-neck and a black sport coat. I actually look pretty good, if I do say so myself.
About an hour later, we end up at the new and only gay bar, right on the edge of Rosewood. The place is actually pretty cool. There are neon lights all over and three full bars with a massive dance floor. Usually, I'm not much of a dancer but Hanna gets me out there somehow; she can be very persuasive. I end up attracting several women. I'm not sure if I'm just blatantly gay or I just look hot tonight, either way I'm loving it. I'm dancing with probably the fifth girl of the night, when I get a tap on my shoulder for the sixth time that night.
"May I cut in?" The voice says over my shoulder to the scantily clad blonde currently grinding on me. (Hey don't judge me...) I give the blonde a shrug and a look that says 'sorry not sorry' before turning around and connecting with the mostly beautiful green eyes I've ever seen. I have no idea how she found me, but standing in front of me is my new favorite photographer.
"Alex..." I say with a smile, ducking my head. "I thought you had an out of town assignment."
"And I thought you were going to call me..." She says with a wink and a smirk.
"Ok well about that... I forgot your card at the hotel and then spent three hours looking for contact information. I was going to call the paper then realized..." I'm not able to finish my rambling because I suddenly find Alex's lips on mine. The kiss is a lot longer than our first. She grabbed the lapel of my sport coat with both hands, pulling me into a deep kiss. When she pulls away, it takes several minutes for me to open my eyes and readjust to the dim colored light. The kiss was beautiful and amazing but it is still hard to compare it to Emily's kisses. Right now though, in this moment I don't care. I look up into her bright green eyes and place a hand behind her neck to pull her into another deep kiss. This kiss lasts several seconds, until neither of us can breathe.
"Hi." I say, pulling back to look into her eyes. She returns the hello without letting go of my waist. "So what are you doing here? I can't tell you how happy I am to see you but what about your assignment?" I place my hands on her shoulders and just look at her.
"Well, I was about to leave but then 'Mr. Editor' found out about this and apparently, a gay bar opening in a small town is way more important than the state's largest cookie or something," she replies with a cute shake of her head. "But I couldn't be happier now, since you're here. Speaking of, it's your turn... What are you doing here?"
"I live in Rosewood," I reply, causing her to lift her chin and say ahhhh. "So well do you care to dance? Since you cut in and all..." I add, extending my hand. She takes it with a smile before I pull her in close. The timing couldn't have been better. The music turns slower so we relax into a slower rhythm as we rock back and forth.
I see her from across the room. My heart still hurts to see her as I wonder if this is the end. I want to go over there and pull her in close and dance with her. I've wanted to do that all night but I give her the space she needs, not sure what she is thinking. She looks amazing tonight; the cowgirl look fits her. Those white short shorts, that plaid button up shirt with the sleeves cut off, buttoned up only halfway, exposing her cleavage only slightly: It's driving me crazy. As the group of people I'm talking to leave, I see Emily walking towards me. The smile I had on drops, making my face look serious.
"Hey," she says, looking confident but nervous at the same time.
"Hey," I reply back nodding my head up.
"Look, I don't want to be the person that ends up with mushy squash." I'm really confused at her statement. I have no idea what she is talking about. My eyes get wide for a second and I tilt my head forward.
"Are you drunk?" I ask very concerned.
"No"
"What are you trying to say?" I ask, raising my shoulders and dropping them. I just want her to be up front with me and tell me what she wants. She knows what I want.
"I'm saying that I want to dance with you. Now, before they turn the lights off," she states, making things clear for me for the first time tonight. I look into those deep brown eyes and my breath catches for a second in my throat. I take a deep breath before looking down to grab her hand without a word. I feel myself start to smile as she pulls me onto the dance floor with a smile of her own. Even though she's the one that had asked me to dance, I take charge, spinning her around so her back is to me with my chin on her shoulder. The moment is perfect and I silently hope to myself that things between us will stay like this for as long as possible, if not forever.
Despite, the fact that I have a beautiful blonde girl in my arms, swaying to the music with her cheek pressed to mine, I can help but think of the dark-haired girl. I try my best to push her out of my head and focus on the green-eyed photographer in my arms. It feels so good to have my cheek pressed against hers, with her hands on my back. I focus on the physical because if I retreat back into my mind, I know Emily will be there waiting because she is always right there in my mind. I pull Alex back to look into her eyes and I see her smile at me. I remove my hand from hers to place it on her cheek, pulling her into a short but sweet kiss. We look at each other for a second once the kiss ends before we relax back into our previous rhythm. As I'm enjoying the present moment, lost in Alex's embrace, I feel a hand on my shoulder causing shivers to rush down my spine. I turn around, regretfully breaking my hold on Alex, making eye contact with deep, beautiful brown eyes.
"Paige, can I dance with you?" The dark-haired girl asks before turning to Alex and adding, "Is that ok?"
"Sure, I guess," Alex replies, giving me a look to ask me if I'm ok. I nod slightly, not really sure of what to say. "I'll just be over at the bar," she adds pointing her thumb over her shoulder before turning to walk away. Before I can think, I reach over to grab her arm, pulling her around slightly to give her a short but lingering kiss.
"I'll be over there soon," I say, looking into green eyes that are full of understanding despite the fact that she has no idea what is going on. She nods her head before giving me one more peck on the lips and turning away to go wait at the bar. I turn back to Emily, who was watching the whole scene and offer my hand. She takes it and pulls me close but with enough space between us to not make anyone suspicious. Even with the space between us, I feel the electricity between us and the want for me to pull her flush against me rises inside of me with ever increasing force.
"You look great," Emily says looking into my eyes. I can see that there's something else to the expression on her face but I can't place it. "Who was that you were, um, dancing with?" She clears her throat as she says it, making it clear she meant kissing. Was Emily Fields jealous?
"Her name is Alex," I reply trying to read her face more. "We've been hanging out. I like her." I say as a smile creeps onto my lips at the mention of Alex.
"She's definitely pretty," Emily comments. "Are you two official?"
"No, but I guess you can say we are talking. I'm definitely interested." Emily seems to be turning a light shade of red at my statement but it's hard to know for sure in the dim light. All of my doubt, however, disappears with her next words.
"I don't know how I feel about that," she states matter-of-factly. I pull back to look at her, breaking our hold on each other. I feel my emotions turn to anger in less time than it takes to snap your fingers.
"Excuse me?" I question somewhat bitterly. As cute as it is that Emily is jealous, it makes me angry that she's trying to have a say in who I spend my time with. "You don't get a say here, Emily. I'm trying to move on from you, just like you moved on from me." Her eyes grow wide and her mouth drops as if she is going to say something but I don't give her a chance. I turn around a head to the bar. When I get there, I find Alex and place a hand on her back before leaning over her shoulder to say in her ear, "Hey do you want to get out of here?" She turns to look at me and without a word, gets up from the tall chair, grabs my hand and leads me out the door, leaving Emily behind us, standing on the dance floor.