-A note: Hello everyone! Thank you all for being amazing! I can't believe the number of views. Over 20,000! It's literally insane and I never thought people would like this story so much! So thank you all so much for liking it!
Special shout out to Marmoreck: The last chapter and this one are additions to the original story so now that that is through the original chapter 19 will now be Chapter 21. So she still be working in the maintenance shop but its not for a living, it's more for her just to have something to do. If you haven't seen Lindsey Shaw in coveralls, working on a car from "10 Things I Hate About You" yet, then go look it up and you will understand why I put that in there because it's adorable and sexy.
SO like I said, this is another new chapter. That's why it took so long. It's not very long but I'm kinda proud of it. Especially the chapter right after the italics... This is the last new chapter for now. I will go back to simply editing what I already have so updates will hopefully come fast again.
Hope you all enjoy!
Three weeks into November in Rosewood, Pennsylvania can have one big problem: ice. Despite the overly warm fall, the moment Paige McCullers finishes working on her bikes and is able to ride one, the temperature decides to drop low enough to make the freshly-fallen rain ice over, making biking a rather dangerous venture. Especially for someone who hasn't been on a bike in years. Yes riding a bike is just like, well riding a bike, but throw ice into the mix and for someone who had issues not crashing her bike in just plain rain alone, biking with ice on the ground is probably not a smart decision. Normally, whether or not she can ride a bike would not be a big deal because she would just go swimming but the pool is closed today for classes and she is in desperate need to blow of some steam. So the only other idea is to once again try running. This also turned out to be a bad idea.
Her damaged knee is proving to be a major hurdle as she runs down the familiar path through the dense woods. Her mind is racing with thoughts keeping her brain off of the shooting pain now running through the entirety of her leg. Dagger-like pain rips through her knees and down into her ankle. Paige has always been a stubborn person when it comes to testing the limits of her body. She isn't about to succumb to the pain when she needs her physical release, even if her leg feels as if it is being ripped to shreds. If she had been a good patient and gone to physical therapy like the doctors wanted, she probably would be severely scolded for not listening to her body but that's the furthest thought from her mind currently.
"So we are going with the DJ instead of the live band, more variety that way."
"White or pink flowers? Maybe both?"
"Well, I like chocolate but Steph likes red velvet, so we aren't sure which one to go with."
"Well since I can't pick between the girls, we decided not to have people stand up with us."
Is it possible for thoughts to hurt worse than the pain shooting repetitive fire through her leg with each agonizing stride? Whether it is or not, Paige is almost grateful for the physical pain ripping her mind away from the thoughts twisting daggers through her heart. Despite, being happy with Alex, nothing seems to be able to ease the hurt of losing Emily in plain sight. She's still there. Paige can see her. She can gaze upon the goddess-like figure and get lost in deep, dark beautiful orbs of light that can stare into the deepest parts of her soul. But, the smooth, coffee-colored glory of Emily's bare chest is lost from her sight. Paige can hear her. She can drink in the wonderfully, sweet melody of Emily's velvet voice but the sweet husk in the beauty's voice as she utters whisperings of love and lust in a passionate haste, is forbidden from entering her ears. Paige can feel her. She can ease her soul into the warmth of Emily's friendly embrace but the magnetizing, engulfing heat of Emily's unclothed body fitting into hers is gone as a puzzle piece in carpet. Yes, Paige is grateful for the ache in her leg.
Lost in her agony, Paige doesn't see the short-haired brunette quickly approaching to her left until it is almost too late. She lurches to the right in an effort to avoid a collision, landing with all her weight and forward motion onto her right leg: her damaged leg. She lets out a sharp cry as all the emotional pain is concentrated into fueling the burn in her leg and falls to the ground in complete agony. Paige lets silent profanities fly violently in her mind, mentally cursing herself for being stupid enough to go running in her vulnerable and damaged state. Running really was a horrible idea after all. The brunette still standing, immediately rushes to Paige's side, completely distraught.
"Fuck! Paige. I'm so sorry," the short-haired girl offers as she kneels down to attend to Paige.
"It's… FUCK… fine…. Stephanie… SHIT," the girl manages to say through gritted teeth but Stephanie's expression stays concerned and worried. "It's not from… ahhhh… you. It's my…fuckkkk… bad leg." Her face is twisted in pain, her brain still cursing her stubborn will. A deep exasperated groan, that no one ever wants to hear or utter, escapes her lips.
"Have you been doing physical therapy? What did they order you, eight months? It doesn't look like you're getting much better. Not as fast as you should anyway." The short-haired girl fires of each question like bullets out of a semi-automatic, her eyes locked on the leg Paige holds clutched tight to her chest. It makes Paige slightly uncomfortable until she remembers the important fact that Stephanie does this for a living. She is a physical therapist. The kneeling girl's questions are answered with one defeated look. "Paige…" she answers with a look of slight disappointment as her head tilts to the side. "… You really should go. You had to have probably dislocated it a few times and probably damaged some tendons, maybe even had a fracture or two to get that limp and the scaring." She points to the bare knee still gingerly clutched to the brunette's chest. Paige glances towards her knee and knows in that instant that Stephanie is really good at her job. Paige hasn't been descript with all of her injuries to anyone. By sight alone and with limited exposure, Stephanie had been able to fairly accurately assess her injuries.
"You're good," the solider admits, releasing her grip. She earns a shoulder shrug and a 'yeah I know' smirk that flashes to concern when Paige winces at the effort of moving her leg.
"Speaking of dislocation…"
Paige again, assesses her knee to discover she had in fact dislocated her knee trying to dodge Stephanie. The soldier's face twists at the thought of realigning her knee once again. She sighs in defeat.
"I can help," the short-haired girl offers gingerly. She still isn't sure how Paige feels about her or even how she feels about Paige but she does like the girl enough to help her out since she can. The muscular woman can only nod, as if just speaking the words would cause the pain to multiply.
"This might hurt a little," Stephanie says as she positions herself and places her hands lightly on Paige's knee.
"I know. I had to do it a couple times myself," Paige says as she begins to brace herself for the pain about to ensue.
"Yourself? As in, you put your knee back into place on your own?" Stephanie is dumbfounded. She can't imagine the pain tolerance and self-control someone has to possess in order to do that. The one time someone had to do it to her, she nearly passed out from the shear amount of pain. She found herself developing an admiration for the soldier's strength.
"Well it definitely wasn't the terrorists," Paige replies matter-of-factly, looking down at the girl still kneeling before her with an eyebrow raise.
"Fair enough" With those two simple words, Paige registers the movement of Stephanie's hands before she can once again brace herself. White spots spread across her eyes as the pain rips through her knee as if it had been scorched with a branding iron. Paige's scream is followed by what can only be described as a low, angry growl. She can hear her teeth grinding together into her ears as she attempts to deal with the pain when the soft weight of a supportive hand is placed on her shoulder. "Solider… I think I owe you a beer," the physical therapist says. Paige can only nod her acceptance with her eyes closed tightly shut.
Back at Stephanie and Emily's house, Paige is nursing her second well deserved beer as the short-haired girl listens to her war stories. It's refreshing to Paige to be able to open up to someone. With Stephanie, she didn't feel the need to protect her from the gory details. The woman pops limbs back into sockets for a living among other things probably more disgusting; she could handle Paige's horrors to at least an extent. Stephanie also wasn't going to pity her. Yes, she may feel sorry for the girl with the tattered body but she also sees and admires the strength of the girl's will to survive. Stephanie for one, is surprised. She knew Paige was special. You must be special for Emily Fields to have loved you so deeply but now she can see why. The woman sitting in front of her now has more resolve and determination then a statue fighting to stay standing in a hurricane. Something told Stephanie, that if that were the case, the hurricane would surrender first. She didn't know if Paige had always been like this or if she had grown from each obstacle, bully and force of nature throw into her face but whatever the cause, Paige McCullers, she's certain, is the very definition of strength.
"You, my friend, are one tough bitch," the short-haired girl says with a laugh. "And by bitch, I mean that in the best way possible."
"Bitches get stuff done," Paige replies with a smile, shrugging her shoulders. She picks up her bottle and leans it towards Stephanie who returns the gesture, clinking the bottles together. They smile at each other knowing they are thinking the same thing without a need to express it verbally. They have discovered a new-found respect for each other; a respect that could very well be the beginning of a beautiful friendship…. Maybe.