Paige attends her grandmother's funeral before returning to Stanford. With some help from Hanna, Emily gets in touch with Paige.

A/N: :')

Paige had spent so much time with her grandmother, yet she was still learning things about her life now, listen to the eulogy at her funeral. It was hard to imagine what life was like when her grandmother had been young, but hearing about her life helped Paige understand the woman she had known.

Her father, Paige's great grandfather, had died early in an industrial accident. This was just after the war, and for the family to get by the older children had to be taken out of school, the eldest son to work, ending up in the very same factory his father had been killed in, and the eldest daughter to look after the house and the younger children, while her mother made what she could house cleaning and working at a local store.

Paige's grandmother had married late and only had one child, Paige's mother Helen, after nearly dying due to complications in childbirth. Paige always knew her as a very serious woman, stoic about life but fiercely protective of all her family, especially the children. She was hard working and resourceful, and Paige had fond memories of learning everything from mending clothes to preserving fruit from her, at the time never really understanding how her grandmother had come to have all these skills. As a child she had never really understood the lives her parents and grandparents had lived before her, but then she guessed that no one really did.

Paige looked across the church to where the coffin lay. It was beautiful, and her grandmother probably would have seen it as excessive, but Paige's mother had wanted to give her one last extravagance, since she had denied herself luxuries all her life. It seemed strange to Paige that her grandmother was lying there inside that wooden box. It wasn't really her anymore, though.

Paige was glad she had been able to thank her grandmother before she had gone, even though she knew that her words had not been heard. She was grateful though, grateful for everything. Paige's dad hadn't always been the best father, and through the worst of it her mother and grandmother had looked after her, and made sure she was OK. When Paige was little her grandparents' house was a haven. Paige would be told at length about how she should dress better, be more careful, and not run around the house, but Paige knew she would always be loved there. And when Paige had come out her grandmother had simply said "Oh, that's what it is", then asked her if she wanted some soda, or maybe a piece of cake. Her grandmother loved feeding people.

It took a few days for Emily to regain her composure, during which time she hardly spoke with anyone. But classes were starting again, and she needed to face the world. She had one thing to do first, however.

She knocked on Lakshmi's door.

Lakhsmi looked surprised as she opened the door.

"Emily, I am so pleased to see you," Lakhsmi said. "I was worried, but I knew I needed to give you some space. I have to confess it was quite difficult though. Have you called Paige yet? I am sorry, please come inside."

Emily went in and they sat down together.

"I'm OK," Emily assured her. "I've been doing a lot of thinking, maybe more than I should, but I just had to process it all."

"Have you called her?" Lakhsmi asked.

"Not yet, but I will," Emily replied. "I'm going to call Hanna first, let the others know what's going on."

"Emily, I am getting nervous for you," Lakhsmi said. "If you put this off too long she might meet someone else. Right now, as we speak, they could be going on their first date."

"I need to be ready," Emily explained. "It's been quite a turnaround and I have to get used to it."

"Very well," Lakhsmi responded, though she was clearly not happy with Emily's delay.

"I just wanted to thank you again," Emily said. "I don't know what it must have been like for you to sit through all of that, and I'm just sorry I didn't work my feelings out sooner."

"If you had done so we would never have kissed," Lakhsmi pointed out, "and however uncomfortable things may have been, I am finding it hard to wish that had never happened."

Emily smiled. Lakhsmi was an extraordinary woman.

"It wasn't all frustrating for you?" Emily asked.

"No," Lakhsmi replied. "It most certainly wasn't, and the fact that you are still in love with this other woman is actually reassuring. There is a simple answer to why things didn't work out between us."

"I just wish I could make it up to you," Emily said.

"You can," Lakhsmi said. "Call her."

Paige had never expected she would think of Stanford as home, and especially not in her first year, but here she was, and it was a relief to be back.

She had arrived the previous day, and had arranged to see Aisha to tell her what had happened.

They met up in the park across from the dorm, and Aisha gave Paige a big hug as soon as she saw her.

"I'm sorry about your nan," Aisha said.

"Thank you," Paige said, as they sat down on the bench.

"How you doing?" Aisha asked.

"A bit sad of course," Paige replied. "I'll miss her, but… at least she went peacefully. It was her time."

"How was the service?" Aisha asked.

"Lovely," Paige replied. "It was nice. I don't know, that's probably not the right word, but everyone was there. Everyone loved her. I saw relatives I haven't seen in years."

"Did you say anything?" Aisha asked.

"Yeah," Paige replied. "I can't remember much of it though. I was crying too much."

Aisha took Paige's hand.

"She'll be looking out for you, you know that don't you?" she said.

"Yeah," Paige agreed. Paige was never really sure about these things but right now the thought was comforting.

"So how was the rest of you stay?" Aisha asked.

"Good, good," Paige replied. "I caught up with a lot of people, Caitlin's getting into her art, heard all about how Chels is doing, and Brian, had an afternoon gaming with Caleb…"

"And?" Aisha prompted her.

"It was great to see the others again," Paige said. "They apologized, which they really didn't need to do, but it was nice. I'm going to try to get in touch with Emily, but she's with someone else now. Still, it will be nice to reconnect, not leave things how they were."

"Well that's good to hear, I guess," Aisha said. "I'm sorry things didn't work out with the two of you. Now, remember how you made a promise?"

"I did," Paige acknowledged.

"OK, so what about Kelly?" Aisha suggested.

"No one on the team," Paige responded.

"Why not?" Aisha asked.

Paige just looked at her.

"OK, but you're narrowing your chances," Aisha pointed out. "Lien?"

"She's nice, I suppose," Paige replied.

"Maria?" Aisha suggested.

"Maybe," Paige responded.

"Alice?" Aisha said.

"I don't know," Paige protested. "I really haven't been thinking about it."

"That's OK, I have," Aisha replied.

"I'm just not… feeling anything," Paige explained. "I can't just decide to be interested in someone."

"It'll happen, but you've got to put yourself out there," Aisha insisted. "Sometimes I think you don't know how much you've got going for you. Trust me, you just need the right girl and you'll find out."

"Emily, how are you?"

Emily loved hearing Hanna's voice again.

"I'm OK, but I've had a pretty emotional couple of weeks," Emily said.

"What's happened?" Hanna asked.

"I broke up with Lakhsmi," Emily explained. "It wasn't…"

"You broke up?" Hanna interrupted. "Em, you have to call Paige."

"That was what Lakhsmi…" Emily began, then remembered she hadn't told Hanna about any of this. "Wait, why are you telling me I have to call Paige?"

"Because she thinks you're with someone," Hanna replied. "She'll go back to Stanford and get a new girlfriend."

"How does she know this?" Emily asked.

"Because we told her," Hanna answered. "We were talking to her, and Spencer had to admit she was wrong, and Paige thought you hated her and we told her you didn't but you were seeing someone and you could tell she was really bummed out."

"When were you talking to her?" Emily asked. "Why didn't you tell me about this? And why was only Spencer wrong?"

"Paige was in town during her break," Hanna elaborated. "We caught up with her to say we were sorry, but we thought we'd better leave you out because, I mean, awkward. But Em, she's not mad at all. She misses you. You need to talk to her."

Paige checked her phone as she always did when she got out of swim practice.

One missed call.

From Emily.

Her heart was racing as she checked her messages. It had been so long since she had heard Emily's voice.

"Hey Paige, I'm… ah… I heard you talked to the others when you were in town and, um, that's great. Ah, I wanted to catch up with you, if that's OK. I hope you don't mind. I really want to talk to you again. Oh, I, ah, I'm not sure, I'm going out this evening, just with friends, I…"

The message was cut off.

Emily's voice was so hesitant, so nervous. She must have been so anxious reaching out to Paige. Paige wanted to reassure her.

Paige dialed back immediately, but the call went straight through to voicemail.

"Hey Em, it's great to hear from you. I just got out of swim practice, and got your message. You've probably gone out, so I hope you're having a good time. I'll try again later, or you can call me if you like. Thanks for calling. It means a lot."

Paige was slightly stunned. It had happened so quickly. They still hadn't spoken yet, but now, at least, it was possible.

Emily was having dinner with a group of her college friends, but she had been distracted all night. She was barely able to follow conversations, always thinking of Paige. It had been nerve-wracking calling her, and having to leave a message made it worse.

The people she was with were nice, but they weren't close friends, and none of them knew what was happening in her life.

"Em, you're looking a thousand miles away," the girl next to her said.

"Yes," Emily replied, barely registering what had been said. "I need to go check something."

She stood and went outside to check her phone. There was a message. As she listened and heard Paige's voice, relief flowed through her. She was still standing on the pavement outside the restaurant when she called back. This time there was an answer.

"Hi Paige," Emily said nervously.

"Em! Wow, it is so good to hear from you," Paige's voice boomed over the phone. The feeling of relief Emily had felt listening to her message just a few minutes earlier grew stronger.

"I'm so glad you're there," Emily said. "I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get in touch. I'm just so glad…"

Emily began crying. She realized it was a mistake to make this call in public, but it was too late now. She search for somewhere more private, but all she could find was the doorway of a closed store.

"Hey, that's OK," Paige responded. "You needed to be ready. I understand."

"Hanna told me you spoke with the others when you were in Rosewood," Emily said.

"Yeah, they were really nice," Paige replied. "It was great to see them again."

"I'm sorry I wasn't there," Emily added. "I didn't know it was going to happen."

"That's fine," Paige said. "It was probably for the best."

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "How was the rest of your time?"

"A lot of it was good," Paige replied. "I caught up with everyone, but, um, you remember my Granma, who lived just outside of Rosewood?"

"Yes, what happened?" Emily asked.

"She passed away, just before I was about to leave," Paige explained.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Emily said.

"It was sad, but… it was her time," Paige said. "I'm just glad I got a chance to say goodbye."

There was silence for a moment. Emily didn't know what to say. She wanted to tell Paige she was sorry, that she should never have let her go, that she still loved her. She wanted to, but she knew this wasn't the time.

"It's…" Paige began, before pausing. "I miss her, but that's OK. And the rest of my time back in Rosewood was good, better than I had expected."

"That's good," Emily said, still struggling with what to say.

"Yeah, and it was really nice of Hanna, Spencer and Aria to invite me over," Paige added. "I appreciated that."

"Great," Emily said.

This was it, she had to say something.

"I…" Emily began. "It's hard to say this Paige, but I am so sorry for how I treated you. I know I can't take it back, but I wish I could. More than anything."

"You did what you thought was right," Paige replied. "I'm sorry I broke your trust."

"You did the right thing," Emily protested.

"But I did it in the wrong way," Paige countered.

"I should never have put you in that position," Emily insisted. "I'm ashamed of what I did, Paige. There's no other way of saying it."

"Emily, please, no," Paige responded. "You don't have to say that."

"I am though," Emily replied. "I've come to terms with it, but I'm still ashamed."

"Em, is there anything I can say to make you fell better?" Paige asked.

"Just that you forgive me," Emily replied.

"Of course I do," Paige said. "Absolutely, no question. I never held this against you, Em. I just thought… you didn't… I thought you were still angry at me."

"For a while I was," Emily confirmed. "But it's been a long time now. I miss you. I don't know what that means, but I do."

"I miss you to," Paige said. "Now, I understand you're seeing someone at the moment, so I don't want to make things difficult for you…"

"We broke up," Emily interrupted.

"You broke up?" Paige asked.

"Yeah," Emily confirmed.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Paige said.

Emily smiled a little, but it was too early to tell the full story. She became aware of her surroundings again, though. People were walking past, and this was too personal for a public conversation.

"Paige, I'm really sorry, but I have to go now," Emily said. "I'm actually outside a restaurant. I was just having dinner with some college friends."

"Of course, of course," Paige said. "Thank you so much for calling. It was wonderful hearing from you again. We should keep in touch."

"Definitely," agreed Emily. "And thank you for being so understanding. You don't know how much this means to me."

"I could guess," Paige said. "Because it means a lot to me too. We'll talk again soon."

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "Soon."

Just as she ended the call Robin, one of the group she had been with, came out to check on her.

"Emily, are you OK?" she asked, seeing the tears still on Emily's face.

"I am, I'm good," Emily replied. "I'll just need a moment."

"Of course," Robin said. "Take your time."

Two days later Paige got a call from her mother. They had received a sympathy card from Pam and Wayne Fields.

She had barely hung up when she got a call from Hanna.

"Hey Paige, I heard you got a call from Em," Hanna began, never one to wait.

"Yeah, it was really nice," Paige said.

"Are you going to get back together?" Hanna asked.

"Um, it's still early," Paige replied. "We'll have to see how things go. She may not want…"

"You want to, though," Hanna interrupted.

"I don't know," Paige protested. "How do you…"

"You didn't say 'no'," Hanna explained.

Paige couldn't argue with that, and she wasn't sure she wanted to. She could ask Hanna not to tell Emily, but what would be the point?

"Was there anything you wanted, apart from asking personal questions?" Paige asked.

"Are you doing anything the weekend after next?" Hanna asked.

"No," Paige replied.

"Well, we're coming over," Hanna said. "Caleb's got a job interview over your way on the Monday, so we thought we might fly in to San Jose on the Saturday and see you."

"Of course, that would be great," Paige responded. "But… he's got an interview over here?"

"Yeah," Hanna confirmed. "Something with computers."

"Wow, that's great, but what will you do if he gets it?" Paige asked.

'We'll have to see," Hanna replied. "Can you pick us up from the airport? I'll text you the flight details."

"Sure, of course," Paige said.

"Great, see you then," Hanna said.

"See you then," Paige agreed.

Paige liked airports. They always had a sense of occasion. She liked watching the people around her, whether they were setting off, looking forward to wherever it was they were going, or arriving home to hugs and kisses from loved ones.

She was at the airport gate now, waiting for Hanna and Caleb to arrive. The plane had landed, but the passengers had yet to emerge.

She was excited to see them again. It had been so long since she had lost contact with them, and now she was seeing them twice in a matter of weeks. She was also intrigued about the job interview Caleb had. Were they going to become neighbors? And what would Hanna do?

Paige and Emily had once faced the prospect of a long distance relationship. That had seemed so bleak at the time, but now Paige would be more than happy to try it. She had to stop getting ahead of herself, though. She and Emily were talking again, and they had had another conversation just the other day, catching up on everything that had happened in each other's lives. But they would still have a lot to get through even if they were in the same town, let alone on opposite sides of the country.

Stanford had once seemed alluring because of its distance from Rosewood, now that was another hurdle to overcome.

For now, though, Paige was happy to be seeing her old friends again. Hanna's call had been a pleasant surprise, and Paige had to admit that the prospect of seeing the two of them made life seem a little bit more normal.

The passengers started to appear. A few business people in suits, a couple of families, then a steady stream of people. This continued for a few minutes, until she spotted a hand waving at her.

There they were, Caleb and Hanna… and Emily.

Paige couldn't believe it. It was her. This had to be Hanna's idea.

They were walking over towards her, Emily a little tentatively. Paige became aware that she was holding herself up against the wall, her mouth hanging open in shock.

It was her. Emily had come all the way across the country to see her.

As they approached, Paige rushed forward and threw her arms around Emily.

"Oh my God, oh my God," she heard herself saying.