Another oneshot for you, this one exploring the dynamics of the Paige-Emily-Alison love triangle. It's more Paige focused, but Emison is endgame.
Paige had been doing well. She was dating Emily Fields, the girl she had been in love with for most of her high school years, she was one of the top swimmers at her school (and maybe even the country) and she was in good terms with her parents, who were now supportive of her sexuality. Needless to say, she was happy.
That is, until the day Emily called her and told her they should meet at The Brew because there was something she needed to tell her. Paige's anxiety kicked in. Emily was probably going to break up with her. It's not that she didn't feel that their relationship was stable enough, but what would anyone think if their girlfriend called and said they needed to talk?
But Emily greeted her with a kiss and that qualmed Paige's fears. They sat down and made small talk until Emily took a sip of her Americano and decided it was time to open up:
"Paige, Alison is alive."
That information rocked Paige's world.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Aside from the shock of finding out that someone she believed to be dead is actually alive, Paige knew that Alison coming back came with complications. Some people were still scared to say her name out loud, going by "you know who" instead. And she still got a grip on what used to be her bitch pack.
Paige couldn't exactly gauge what hold Alison still had of Emily's heart.
"Alison is alive and she's coming back to Rosewood. She had to run away because someone had been threatening, but we took care of it."
"And you'll just take her word for it? I mean, this is Alison, she's very good at lying and manipulating people."
Emily crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. Paige knew she was annoyed at the implication that Alison was everything but trustworthy.
"Paige, I've seen her! She's changed!"
"Until she wraps in her little web of lies again." Paige shot back and then took a deep breath to calm herself. Alison was always a sensitive subject when it came to Emily. "Listen, why don't you let the police handle this?"
"Because they did such a great job in the past, haven't they?" Emily took out a couple of dollar bills and threw them on the table. "Never mind, I'm leaving."
Despite their argument back in that day, Paige felt like supporting Emily on this was better than letting her roam back into whatever Alison was up to. That way, Paige could protect her. Toby and Caleb felt the same, she could see it in their eyes when they rented a van to pick up Alison in New York to bring her back to Rosewood.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Emily was the first to run to Alison, of course she was, Paige thought bitterly to herself. Emily flew to Alison in such a rush that she almost tackled her to the ground. Paige half expected Alison to smirk and complain about Emily having no manners, but the blonde only recovered and hugged her back in the same intensity. They finally let go of each other so Alison could hug Hanna, Spencer, and Aria as well. Alison also made a point to address Toby and Caleb. Paige prayed that she'd skip her, but her prayers went unanswered as Alison addressed her:
"Paige, thank you for coming here. I know it must've been difficult for you being here, but I want you to know that I appreciate it." Alison sounded like a completely different person, not the heartless bitch who had threatened to out her. The years had been rough on her. Her clothes were far from latest fashion, she wasn't wearing any make up and there was a tinge of pain in Alison's features that Paige couldn't exactly place.
Still, Paige felt bitter. Alison was a master manipulator, so that might have been her attempt to draw the girls (and Emily) back in. And Paige wasn't going to let that happen, not on her sight. So, she stepped closer to Emily and placed a possessive hand on her hip, showing Alison that they were together.
"It's okay, Alison, I'm in a much better place right now."
Paige pressed Emily against her side. She felt her girlfriend shifting uncomfortably in her embrace, but Paige couldn't care for the time being. She followed Alison's gaze to where she was holding Emily and waited for the blonde to go off and say something mean, effectively exposing her.
But Alison didn't do that.
"Thank you for taking care of Em and keeping her safe." Alison even smiled while saying that, though Paige could see it was laced with sadness. She felt embarrassed. Alison had seen her trap and not only didn't fall for it, but took the upper hand.
They didn't stay in New York for much longer after that. The girls hurried Alison to their van and they drove back to Rosewood. Paige had expected Alison to try to pull Emily back to her side in that trip, but Alison simply chose to stay with Aria, who was the only girl who was single at the time. Toby was driving the van, effectively avoiding Alison, while Spencer was riding shotgun. Caleb was brooding, staring out of the window as Hanna slept on his shoulder. Emily was sitting by her side, yet she felt far away.
"Are you okay, Em?" Paige checked on her, twirling a black tress around her finger.
"Did you really have to make a scene in front of Alison, Paige?" Emily huffed.
"Wait, I was only treating you like my girlfriend." Paige crossed her arms in front of her body, as if to avoid confrontation.
"No, you did that to show her that I was your girlfriend" Emily accused.
"And aren't you?!"
"Yes, I am. But I'm not your possession and I don't like to be treated like I'm a shiny toy you parade around the playground."
Emily turned her body completely away from Paige, choosing to face the window instead and end their conversation.
What do I do when I'm all messed up because I see her car in your driveway?
Emily's anger at Paige subsided over time. As opposed to what Paige had expected, Alison pretty much kept to herself when she came back to Rosewood High. She didn't attempt to reassemble her old clique and didn't try to claim back her spot as the Queen Bee. In fact, Alison made a point to apologize to everyone she had hurt in the past, including Paige. It didn't mean that she could undo all the damage she'd caused. Some people wouldn't be able to ever forgive her.
Still, Alison had done enough to win back her friends' trust, especially Emily and that annoyed Paige.
She and Emily had a romantic date set up for today, but Emily was running late and not answering her phone. Paige's first thought was that A must've got to Emily somehow, but she quickly crossed that because A was gone. Still, she decided to go to Emily's house and see if something had come up.
Paige froze when she saw Alison's car in Emily's driveway. All kinds of thoughts ran through her mind. Maybe Alison was there because she needed something. Maybe she and Emily had decided to give their relationship a shot this time. The thought of Alison kissing Emily made Paige want to throw up. So, she decided to burst through the door and catch them in the act, if any.
Emily and Alison were just sitting on the couch discussing Great Expectations for an English essay. They were both startled by Paige suddenly coming through the door. Emily jumped to her feet.
"Paige?! What are you doing here?!" She asked, a little annoyed.
"We had a movie date today, remember? I tried to call you, but you weren't answering your phone, so I thought that I'd check up on you," Paige swallowed hard and continued. "Clearly, you're doing fine."
Emily's hands flew to her own hair, her anger shifting into guilt.
"Oh shit, I completely forgot!"
"Sorry, Paige. I kept Emily distracted with all my literature chat about Pip and Estella. I'm a book nerd." Alison also raised from the couch and picked up her bag. "I'm going home now so you two can talk."
Emily's eyes followed Alison through the doorway and it looked like she had expected the blonde to say or do something other than just leave. Then, she went back to Paige and looked down.
"I'm sorry, Paige. We were all too excited discussing the book and I completely forgot to check the time." Emily apologized.
"Is that all that happened?" Paige wondered out loud. "You and Alison sitting on the couch talking about some book?"
Emily frowned, "What else did you think we'd do?"
"I don't know," Paige breathed hard and finally said the words that would break her own heart. "Maybe you're still in love with Alison."
Emily fell back down against the couch as if she couldn't handle that one piece of information. A few seconds passed and Emily still couldn't find it in herself to answer Paige. And when she did, her words weren't convincing.
"Paige, you're the one I'm dating and Alison is just a friend." Emily tried.
"You didn't deny it," Paige scoffed and walked to the door. "I'm leaving. I think we need a break to process things."
"Paige, wait-!"
Emily couldn't reach her as the other girl left and drove out of her driveway.
All for nothing because of a five dollar beer. It's what you said made you do it, but, baby, I already knew it. It's because you love her.
Two weeks into their break, Paige got a desperate call from Emily, who said they needed to talk. They met up in a park and sat down on a bench. Emily looked devastated and it worried Paige.
"Em, what happened?"
"I screwed up," she sobbed. "Paige, I screwed up."
"What did you do?"
Emily sobbed harder and took a big breath, "I kissed Alison."
It hit Paige like a trainwreck. And the worst part is that Paige didn't find it a surprise. It was as if she had expected Emily to go back to Alison when they were on a break. And she couldn't exactly hold it against Emily because they hadn't established what they could or couldn't do on their break.
"I got drunk and kissed Ali," Emily repeated as if she didn't believe in what she'd done.
Paige herself didn't know what else to say. She could ask Emily why she kissed Alison but they all knew the answer.
"Paige, say something!" Emily prodded, as if she expected Paige to yell at her or at least hold her accountable.
"How drunk were you? Did Alison force you or something?"
"I wasn't drunk enough to not know better. And Ali stopped me and called the girls so they could take care of me. She didn't even stay in the same room." Emily recalled and Paige could find no fault in Alison's actions. The former Queen Bee may have been a lot of things, but she would never force herself on someone and Paige knew that.
"Then, I don't know what you want me to say, Em. We both know why you kissed her."
"It's because I drank too much-"
"It's because you love her, Em. Stop trying to push this out of your mind. You're hurting me, you're hurting yourself, and you're hurting her." Paige said what they had been both afraid to say out loud ever since Alison came back.
"Ali doesn't love me like that."
"Em, seriously, she almost ripped my head off that time when we picked her up in New York," Paige pointed out. "And this isn't about her, it's about you and what you feel."
"Why are you letting me go like that?" Emily asked instead.
"Because I love you. But sometimes to love someone means to let them go so they can fly somewhere else." Paige replied. Now she understood what people meant by 'if you love someone, you should set them free'. That's what she was doing. She was setting Emily free and letting things play out the way they should be.
"Paige, I-"
"Goodbye, Emily. Thank you for everything." Paige pressed one last kiss to her cheek and left.
(Paige stays away from Emily as much as she can after they break up and she tries not to hear the whispers in the school halls, but they always come to her anyway. She knows that Emily avoids Alison for a good month until something changes during the Winter Ball that the DiLaurentis family promoted in Rosewood. Paige herself doesn't go there for obvious reasons. She doesn't hate Alison with the same burning passion as before, but she doesn't want to be in the same room as the girl who stole her girlfriend's heart and never gave it back.
Still, something happened between Emily and Alison at the Winter Ball and Paige knows it. She sees the way they always go to school together. For some reason, Alison began to wait until Emily's practice is finished and they leave school together. Paige also can't help but notice how Emily blushes and ducks her head shyly whenever she interacts with Alison in the halls.
Then Paige finds out from someone that knew someone who saw something that Mrs. Montgomery had caught Emily and Alison kissing in an empty classroom, which gave them a good week of detention.
Paige tries to not see or hear no more and hopefully she doesn't stumble across information about her ex until Senior Prom. Emily and Alison go together as a couple and Paige can't really avoid going this time. So, she looks the opposite way and doesn't think much of it.
Paige moved to California soon after and her life in Rosewood became just a chapter in her past.)
"Come on, Paige, we don't wanna be late!" Jenny tugged at her sleeve as they walked past the crowds at JFK. Her wife had been so excited about going to Portugal that Paige just had to give her a romantic trip to Lisboa and Porto for their first vacation as a married couple. Jenny was so happy that she didn't even realize that she didn't see the person standing literally in front of her before she bumped into them.
"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Her wife immediately apologized.
"That's okay, we all get the travel jitters, I guess," the person replied and Paige immediately recognized her voice.
"Emily?!"
"Oh my god, Paige?!"
Emily looked slightly more mature than what Paige remembered, but she guessed it was only natural. She still dressed in the same way: plaid shirt, jeans, and a pair of boots.
"Jen, this is Emily, a friend from Rosewood," Paige didn't lie when she introduced Emily to Jenny. Her wife already knew about her past with Emily and Paige didn't want to embarrass both of them by describing Emily as her ex. "And Emily, this is Jenny, my wife."
"It's so good to meet you!" Emily nodded and went along, offering her hand so Jenny could shake it. That's when Paige saw the ring on her finger.
"Em, that's a big ring on you. Did Alison finally propose?" Paige smirked.
"Yes, she did. I almost ruined though," Emily rubbed her ring and chuckled.
"How can you actually ruin a proposal?" Jenny asked.
"Well, I noticed that she was keeping something from me and I got mad at her for it, so I came onto her with a huge fight and she had no choice but to take out the ring and propose to me in a pug sweatshirt," Emily laughed as she recalled.
"Well, you didn't ruin per say," Alison showed up suddenly, placing one hand on Emily's hip and her fianceé leaned against her, the gesture coming so naturally that it made both of them smile. "Hi Paige!"
"Alison, I believe you haven't met my wife, Jenny."
"Hi, nice to meet you. We three went to school together."
Jenny just smiled and went along too. She knew about Paige's past with these too and it was nice to see that they had all moved along.
"Anyway, as I was saying, you didn't ruin my proposal. You just hastened it."
"Ali, I made you propose in that pug sweatshirt."
"And I'm never throwing that away! It will be like a family relic!"
Paige and Jenny laughed as they bantered.
"I can't believe you!" Emily rolled her eyes at her fianceé.
"How could I throw it away?! It was the day you said yes to me, of course I'm keeping it!"
Hearing Alison talk about her feelings in such an open way was a novelty, but Paige smiled nonetheless. She was happy that Emily brought out the best in Alison and that the blonde was very set on making her happy.
She watched as Emily blushed and stole a kiss from Alison in front of them. Paige hated to interrupt in a romantic moment, but she had a flight to catch with Jenny. So, she cleared her mouth and brought their attention back to them.
"It's been good to see you two, but I really need to catch our flight or this woman is gonna kill me," It was her turn to press Jenny against her side and press a kiss on her forehead.
"Says the woman who gave me a trip to Portugal and didn't let me pay for it," Jenny smirked back.
"Oh, there are plenty of ways you can pay that back."
It was Emily's turn to interrupt by clearing her throat.
"We also have a flight to catch and Alison got us late by shoving her whole closet in her bag."
They said their goodbyes and went on their separate ways. During her flight, while Jenny slept peacefully in her arms, Paige couldn't help but believe that things happened exactly the way they should've.