A/N: Post 5x12.

The weight of what happened tonight still hasn't hit her fully. Mona can't be dead. Mona isn't someone who dies. But when Paige takes her home after long hours at the police station, one arm securely wrapped around her waist, she can't keep denying anymore. It slowly creeps up her back and she tries to shake it off, shivering against the cold air of the night.

Paige pulls her a little bit closer and she feels the oncoming pain and grief and realization retreat a little. Closing her eyes, she lets Paige guide her for a while, taking deep breaths, her head sinking onto Paige's shoulder.

When they reach her house, her mom opens the door and she lets herself sink into her mother's arms, the feeling of safety not quite enough to keep what happened tonight away from her. She doesn't want to think about what will happen when she's left alone.

She can feel her mom's hand stroking over the back of her head and takes a deep breath when her mom's voice rumbles against her. "Paige, you can stay for the night. If... if you want to, I mean. And your parents are okay with it." She releases the breath she's been holding, closing her eyes and mumbling "Thank you" into her mother's shoulder, not knowing, not caring if she actually hears.

She hears Paige do the same and although she still has no idea how she actually feels, she knows she glad that Paige will be there.

Her ceiling is scattered with shadows of tree leaves, the light of the lamp just low enough to not erase them. She looks at them, the silence pressing down on her. Just when all of tonight threatens to crash onto her, the door opens and Paige quietly slips inside.

She smiles a small smile at her before turning her gaze back at the ceiling. The mattress dips down, sheets rustling as Paige slides beneath them, a cold wave of air grazing her feet. Shadows still dance across the ceiling, but instead of tonight, her thoughts gravitate towards Paige.

"We still have to talk," she whispers, turning her head to look at Paige, who's lying on her side, eyes fixed on her. "I know. Do you want to talk now?" She stares up at the ceiling again, watching the shadows flutter.

"I don't know." It's all she brings out, because she doesn't know where to start. Not after this day.

"Okay." The silence draws around them and her brain starts rattling. She sees Paige standing in front of her again, eyes begging her to understand why she's doing it, why Alison is still the same Alison, why the police needs to know.

She was blind. She knows that now.

"I'm sorry." It spills from her mouth, into the quiet, leaving her shivering. "What for?" Paige's hand lies between them, warmth radiating from it. "For not listening to you. For not trusting you." Her dry throat forces her to swallow. "For leaving you."

There's a beat. "I'm sorry for breaking my promise," Paige says, her voice low but steady. Shifting to lie on her side, she looks into eyes full of truth. "You were right though. We should've told the police."

Her own hand lies right next to Paige's, grazing the skin with every breath. "Yeah. But that didn't give me the right to go behind your back." It's silent again and her gaze fixes on their hands, barely touching, but somehow still sending waves of warmth through her. "I just hope you know that I didn't do it to get revenge on Alison," Paige says after a while and her gaze snaps up to look at Paige again, her hand curling around Paige's.

"I know. I feel terrible for even thinking that. I'm sorry. And I know it sounds like an excuse, but Alison got into my head and I just-" Paige interrupts her, tangling their fingers together and pulling their joined hands up between them. "I know. And I understand." Paige's voice is gentle, bringing out a relieved, happy smile on her lips.

Another beat, the room void of sound, only the faint rustling of leaves reaching her ears. She watches their tangled fingers, following veins, finding tiny freckles on her way. Paige's breath tickles the back of her hand and she marvels at the familiarity of it, her eyes spotting a scar on Paige's knuckle.

"Can I ask you something?" The tone in Paige's voice has shifted into something softer and timid, and her eyes move from hands to an expression she can't quite read. Her hand squeezes Paige's and she nods, not sure if she's actually able to answer.

"I just... I just need to know if you're over Alison now," a trembling voice tells her, her own heart stumbling. She swallows, trying to find words that fit her feelings, fit the situation. Paige looks at her with steady, trusting eyes, the hint of fear almost perfectly hidden beneath patience.

For a second, she looks down at their hands, and when she finds Paige's eyes again, a few words string together.

"Yes, I am. She's not the person I remembered." She doesn't mention the kiss and she doesn't say that the idea of her Alison is still lodged inside her chest, because this day, this night, the whole time since Alison came back has been enough for now. She'll tell Paige at some point, just not now, not when she can barely keep her eyes open and not when Paige gives her this smile. Not when they've got all the time in the world.

Paige strokes her thumb over the back of her hand, shifting just the tiniest bit closer. "Okay." It almost gets lost among the sound of the shaking trees outside, but it reaches her ears faintly and she closes her eyes.

Smiling, she uses her last energy to grab Paige's hands tighter, sleep slowly covering her. She hears the sheets rustle as the mattress moves and a warm kiss is pressed against her forehead. A "Sweet dreams," wavers through the room and she smiles again.

They've got time.