5:47 AM

The minutes of each passing hour drag by slowly, the volume of each tick of the clock seemly getting louder and louder the more Emily tries to sleep. Her mind races, not with thoughts of the cold emptiness on the other side of the bed due to Maya's unexplained absence, but rather with an alluring woman named Paige. Those intriguing eyes and flashing smile haunt her. They are there as she shuts her eyes, in desperate need of sleep, as if the image of her piercing brown eyes is tattooed to the back of Emily's eyelids, making it increasing impossible to sleep. Opening her eyes offers no relief either. Those eyes seem to peer at her out of the darkness. Everywhere she looks she sees the stunning brunette.

She pulls her thoughts forcefully to Maya. Maya is the one she should be focusing on. She loves the eccentric and free-spirited girl she calls her girlfriend. Emily suddenly becomes extremely aware of the emptiness beside her, as if the emptiness was growing to the point that it very well may push her off the bed. It's true, this is not the first time that Maya has stayed out to all hours of the evening without notifying Emily of her whereabouts. It used to bother her immensely.

"Where have you been?" a voice demands from the darkness. Maya had barely made it through the door as quietly as she could muster. She was sure that she hadn't made a peep. She knew Emily was going to be angry with her. This was the third time in a week that she had stayed out till four in the morning. Her girlfriend must have stayed up in wait for her to come home.

"Emmy, I'm so sorry. We were out drinking and I drank too much so I couldn't drive right away so I stayed for a bit at st…" Maya started rambling out only to be cut off by the light suddenly being switched on.

"Maya. I don't care what happened. How many times do I have to tell you that if you are going to be late or not come home, just to let me know. A simple text just so I know you're safe. I was worried all night!" Emily spews, clearly heated.

"I'm really sorry. I should have texted. I wasn't thinking. It won't happen again" Maya was genuinely sorry but also not the best at remembering her promises. Emily looks skeptically at her girlfriend fully knowing the reality of the situation. It probably would happen again but at least she was honest about what happened. A few seconds go by before her face lightens. It was hard for her to stay mad at the beautiful woman standing before her.

"Come here", Emily says quietly as she beckons for Maya. The very tired girl crosses the room, happy that her girlfriend seems to understand the situation. She is accepted on to the girl's lap and snuggles her head into the girl's chest. "I just want to know you're safe," Emily continues, running her hand through Maya's hair. "I love you."

"I love you too."

It took a long time and several more incidents for Emily to not be mad anymore when Maya got home extremely late or not at all. It still frustrated her, especially on a day like today when she knew that Maya would most likely spend the entire next day sleeping instead of spending time with her like she had promised. She would have to find something else to do instead. If she could fall asleep that is. The task was still proving difficult now with worrying about Maya added to the thoughts of Paige in her head. She turns in bed again and watches the time on her clock change.

5:48 AM

Emily groans. It's beginning to look like sleep isn't happening in her near future.

"It's a good thing I don't work today," she mutters into the darkness. 'Maybe I can spend the day getting Paige McCullers out of my head' she adds in her thoughts. 'Or maybe my girlfriend will come home and I'll get to spend some time with her.'

*DING*

Emily's phone chimes dragging her from her internal battle to signal she has a text. She grabs her phone and squints her eyes at the piercing light emitting from her phone.

Sowrry baby o cant come home Dfunk At starcys lobe u

"Oh boy," Emily says rolling her eyes. It took her a minute to interpret the text from Maya but at least she knew the girl was safe and at Stacy's. The fact that she was just now texting meant Maya was probably not coming home until this evening. She would most likely sleep it off at her friend's house. Now if only she could sleep as well. She sends a quick text back saying telling her girlfriend to be safe and that she loves her back before setting her phone back on the night stand and rolling onto her back. Emily stares at the ceiling, attempting to be sleepy but the eyes come back. She can hear the rasp in the girl's voice. The rasp that made her feel all warm inside. She can see Paige dipping her head out of playful nervousness. Emily sits up.

"Get out of my head," she gasps out in frustration.

6:00 AM

Emily fully accepts at this point that there is no going to sleep so instead of fighting it she gets up and heads to the closet. Might as well get the day started earlier and find something else to do besides lying in bed, pining over someone she interacted with for less than thirty minutes. She decides to start out by going to The Brew. Yes she works there but that doesn't change the fact that they are basically the only good coffee shop in town and Emily likes coffee so she's there a lot in and out of apron. She's in the middle of putting on her jeans when she remembers that Spencer, being the nerd and straight-A student she is, likes to wake up early and spend her morning studying at The Brew. Maybe she'll see her there and be able to talk to her about this conflict in her head. Spencer always gave the best advice. Maybe she would know how to deal with this.

It doesn't take Emily long to get to the coffee shop after getting dressed. She doesn't live far away. The familiar scent of brewing coffee and steamed milk greets her as she opens the door. It's a scent she'll never grow tired of. It's warm, inviting and cozy. But, today, something is different. There's an electricity in the shop she's only ever felt once, last night, when Paige walked in. She tries to dismiss it, shaking it off as she spots Spencer in her usual corner. Maybe she feels that way just because this is where she met Paige. A residual reminder of the butterflies she had felt.

"Hey Spence," Emily greets as she sits down across from her friend. Spencer as always on a Saturday morning is bent over an open textbook and notebook. It seemed to Emily as though her friend never stopped studying sometimes. Emily imagined that she would be constantly studying as well if she too was prelaw.

"Oh hey there Em," Spencer greets back leaning back in her chair as a grin grows on her face. She almost looked mischievous to Emily but she couldn't think of anything Spencer could possibly be up to this early on a Saturday. "What are you doing here so early? Even better why are you here at all? The strapping new guy at the counter said you were off today," Spencer elaborates taking a sip from her almost finished coffee. Emily usually wasn't the earliest riser. She usually didn't come join Spencer till later if at all on Saturday's they were usually her days to sleep in, catch up on rest or hang out with Maya. Spencer's curiosity wasn't unfounded.

"I couldn't sleep. Something happened last night that I really want to talk to you about. Plus Maya got drunk at a friend's house so she's probably not coming home till late," Emily remarks as she picks up a pencil lying next to her and twirls it between her fingers. She suddenly wonders why it's here instead of by Spencer. The same with the book and notebook facing her direction. Was Spencer here with someone? Her thoughts are pulled from the objects when Spencer speaks again.

"Something happened, huh? Something between you and Maya?" The grin on Spencer's face grows, she of course has a feeling as to what Emily is referring but she plays it off, not giving away the fact that Paige is her roommate. Emily actually knows this, Spencer recalls telling her when Paige had moved in back in August.

"I have a new roommate," Spencer says nonchalantly over her coffee cup. The remarks causes Emily to curiously raise her head from the book she's reading.

"Oh? And how's that going for you," she replies with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. Spencer hasn't had the best luck with roommates. They tend to not understand Spencer or her rather blunt way of viewing the world. She has a tendency to cycle through roommates fast because of it.

"Not bad actually," Spencer retorts. "She leaves me alone mostly. You should meet her. She told me she was gay."

"So I would like her because I too am gay?" Emily scoffs back. "That's not really how this works Spence. Plus, I already have a girlfriend." She leans back in her chair wondering where her friend was going with this.

"Not like that Em. She's from California. I thought maybe you two could get together so you could show her around. Maybe take her to some of the more gay-friendly spots in town. She could use a friend besides me." It was true that Spencer liked her new roommate especially more than the others. She was the strong, silent type. Plus, she put up with Spencer's little rants and interjections to the point where it seemed they almost interested the girl.

"Ok yeah, I could do that."

But she never did look any further into getting together with Spencer's roommate. Granted things got busy for Emily, but it was also apparent to Spencer in this moment that Emily had forgotten completely that she even had a roommate at all.

"Well, this girl, walked in while I was working last night. It was weird. Not weird in a get out of my shop cause you're freaking me out way, but in a weird electricity that, I'm kind of feeling now way." Emily was rambling. It was clear to Spencer that Paige wasn't the only one that was slightly enamored from there encounter yesterday. Spencer was also the only one who knew that they were both in the same place at the same time yet again. That was until Paige came back from getting more coffee. Emily had walked right by the line as usual so she didn't notice Paige standing there playing on her phone as she waited for her turn to order. It wouldn't be long before the brunette made her way back to the chair currently taken up Emily Fields.

Spencer wasn't sure how this would play out. In fact, the whole morning, including her suggesting Paige come with her to study was quite like an experiment. It's not that she didn't like Maya, she was a good person after all, she just didn't like the way she always treated Emily sometimes. Maya always seemed to think more about herself than her significant other.

"Hmmm, I see," Spencer replies trying not to look away from Emily to check on where Paige might be. "Would you want to see her again? I mean I know you have a girlfriend, but can't lesbians be just friends with each other?"

"Ha, ha, Spencer. Yes, it's possible to be friends," Emily teases back fully aware of her friend's sarcastic tone. She continues to twirl the pencil as she contemplates the possibility of seeing Paige again. It only takes a second for Emily to determine that, yes she probably would really like to see Paige again. "Yeah, I think I would, like to see her again," she adds softly with a timid smile, her eyes downcast. Spencer takes the moment to glance out into the café to see Paige walking back with two cups. She seems distracted causing her to be looking at placement of her steps on the ground rather than the new addition to the table see was heading to.

"Well, here's your chance," Spencer directs toward Emily causing the Raven-haired girl to look up questioningly. Spencer looks to her right, non-verbally directing Emily to do the same. The raven-haired girl slows casts her eyes in the direction of Spencer's, her breath catching in her throat as she sees the brown eyed beauty from last night. Its then that Emily suddenly remembers the conversation she and Spencer had back in August about Spencer's new roommate named Paige.