Picture Perfect

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Sorry for the wait, but I've been busy trying to get published!

AN1: I kind of hit a road block, I have no clue what to do with the whole True North/Paige/Samara thing so bear with me through the next few chapters and if anyone has a suggestion please let me know.

AN2: That being said, splitting up Maya and Emily is a no go, so not even on my radar.

Breakfast the next morning was filled with an unspoken tension, Emily didn't like it but she had a gut feeling that her mom had spent the better part of last night filling her dad's head with all sorts of distorted images of Maya and hers relationship.

"So do you have any plans for the day Emmy?" Mr. Fields grinned and passed her the eggs. "Here, eat something other than a slice of bacon." He winked.

Emily smiled tightly, "I'm not really hungry." She moved to put the plate onto the table.

"You need to eat something." Pam narrowed her eyes at the girl. Emily held her stare and set the plate down.

"I'm meeting the girls at The Grill for a late breakfast so I'll eat then." She shrugged sipping her orange juice.

"Is Maya going to be there?" Pam asked coldly.

Emily rolled her eyes, "Of course she is, and so will Aria, Hanna and Spencer."

Mr. Fields frowned noticing the tension between the two. "Well shouldn't be going then?" he grinned trying to defuse the situation.

Emily grinned and nodded, thankful for her dad, "Yea, I just wanted to spend a little time with you before I left, but I really should leave now I have to pick up Maya." She smirked as Pam's frown deepened. "I'll see you later." She kissed her father's cheek and sprinted away.

Mr. Fields grinned at his wife, "So what are we doing today?" Pam gave a tight smile, still peeved that her husband didn't seem to see the warning signs flashing all around his daughter. She had to make him see.

Wayne looked to his wife with a frown, "Confused? Confused about what?"

Pam huffed and stood away from her husband, "Little girls just don't talk to their mothers like they talk to their fathers." She sighed indigently when she couldn't come up with any real answers.

"Emmy's a good girl; if you want to know something, ask her. She'll be honest." Wayne smiled reassuringly at her. When she only gave a halfhearted smile, which looked more like a grimace, he quickly added, "Look, if you're really worried about it I'll talk to her when she gets home, alright?"

Pam smiled and pecked her husband's cheek. "Thank you." He nodded cheerfully, happy that he could do something to help out his wife, and maybe even help his daughter too in the same go. 'Still don't see why she's so concerned about Emily…she's a good girl.' He reassured himself.

Later…

"No, I know…it's just everything's kind of on hold with my dad being back." Emily sighed into the phone.

Maya matched her sigh, "Don't get me wrong, it was fun hanging out with the girls this morning, but I miss you." She emphasized.

Emily gave a little smile, playing with her hair, "I know…I miss you too." She sat up a little on her bed. "Maybe tomorrow, just you and me?"

Maya grinned, "I'll take what I can get…these withdrawals are killing me." She groaned, Emily giggled. "You laugh now, but I'm willing to bet you're craving me too!" she sung.

Emily laughed again her head falling back to the bed, freezing and sitting up when she caught sight of her dad in the doorway. 'Shit, how long has he been there? He doesn't look happy.' She thought. "I gotta go."

"Call me later." Maya responded swiftly, catching on to her girlfriend's sudden shift in mood.

"Right. Bye." Emily hung up just as quickly.

"Was that Ben?" He sounded tense, remaining in his spot, arms folded across his chest.

Emily shook her head, "Maya." Wayne nodded. "Does mom need help with dinner?" she asked.

This time he shook his head, "No, not yet." Wayne walked further into the room, "Do you remember a Denis Small?" he sat on the chair across from his daughter.

"Yes." Emily answered softly.

"His daughter says that you're hanging around with a bad crowd, is it Maya? Is this girl trouble Emmy?" he asked in all seriousness. "Is this girl threatening you, in any way?"

Emily's eyes widen, "What, no dad, Maya would never do anything to hurt me."

He moved closer to her. "Then what is it? Your mom seems to believe that you're hiding something and I'm starting to see why. You're acting different, you've been jumpy since I've came home. At first I thought it was just because you needed to get used to having me around." He stopped to let her answer.

Emily looked down, "It's like you said…I'm just a little jumpy."

Wayne didn't believe her, "You tell me who's giving you a hard time, and I'll make it better." He promised.

"It's not like that." Emily swears, close to tears.

Wayne leans down to look her in the eyes, "If you need help, then ask for it; there's no shame in that." He tried with earnest seeing the tears spring up in his daughters eyes. "Tell me who's scaring you and I'll put an end to it myself."

"No one's messing with me." She swears once more.

"Then what is it? You're scared of something…I can see it in your eyes." He protests softly.

Emily caves. "I'm scared you and mom."

Wayne's thrown. "You're scared of us? Emmy…what for?" he says with a disbelieving little smile.

Emily bites down on the inside of her cheek. "Because…because you don't know me anymore."

Wayne laughs, walking around to the other side of the bed. "What do you mean I don't know you? You're Emily Fields, my little girl; I'd know you anywhere I've got a picture of you in my wallet."

Emily shakes her head, staring at her bedspread. "I'm eight years old in the picture." She releases a harsh breath trying to keep her tears at bay. "That's a different girl." She whispers.

"It's the same girl." Wayne smiles kindly. "I just need a new picture."

"It's not that simple." She looks away.

"Emmy?" Her dad whispers.

Emily swallows around the lump in her throat, "I'm…gay." It's said almost too low for him to hear. Wayne cooks his head, surely he misheard her. "I'm gay." She says a little bit louder; stronger.

She still doesn't look at her dad as he sinks down onto the bed, shocked into silence. He turns to look at her and what he sees breaks his heart. 'She's afraid to even look at me.' He wants to reach out, but something stops him, instead he stands.

He sits there on the couch, head in his hands as his wife paces furiously back and forth in front of him. "She didn't come up with this on her own! It's the girl from California…Maya." She seethes.

He looks up at her, "Let's talk about our daughter before discussing anyone else's." he states calmly.

Pam doesn't cool though, "Why didn't she tells us?"

"She was afraid." Wayne keeps his eyes on his wife.

"Of me!" she cries incredulously.

"Of both of us." He corrects.

"She's not afraid of us; you want to know what she's afraid of?" Pam states mockingly, grabbing a set of pictures from her purse and thrusting them into her husband's hands. "This is what she's afraid of."

He looks at them, then at his wife; anger bubbling in his stomach. "Where did you get these?"

Pam crosses her arms; glad her husband is just as mad as she is. "Jenna Cavanaugh, she wanted me to have them because she was worried about Emily." Meanwhile Emily sits in tears on the stairs.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he's angry.

She scoffs, "When was I supposed to tell you?" she cools and sits in front of him. "How are we going to fix this?"

"Fix this?" he states disbelievingly. "This isn't like buying her braces, it's not something that can be fixed." He throws the pictures to the coffee table. "This is who she is."

"That's not who she is, it's what that girl is making her!" Pam yells. "This is wrong; it's so completely wrong and you know it!"

Wayne stands up, "What I know is that my little girl was so afraid to even look me in the eyes up there; scared of me, scared that I wouldn't love her anymore…and I did nothing but prove her right." He glares at Pam. "We've grown up in the same church Pam, I'm well aware of their views on this…but this is our daughter! I'm struggling here too, but let's keep this in perspective."

"What happened to your values? Did you leave those somewhere in the desert! This will destroy everything we've ever wanted for her!" Pam explodes.

Wayne just looks at her. "She is alive and healthy, that's all that matters. I told you that I'm struggling with this, but that is my daughter and I'm not going to punish her for something she can't change and neither will you." He walks away.

Later at Hanna's house

"You told them?" Arai states sympathetically.

"Yep." Emily twirls a stuffed bear in her hands.

"How was it?" the girl questions softly as Spencer and Hanna stay silent, fuming.

"Rough." She cracks a sarcastic smile.

Aria rubs her friend's back, "It'll be ok." She tries.

Emily sighs, "I don't know what it'll be…but it'll be different."