Disclaimer: I do not own Pretty Little Liars.

Big Bad Needle

"I'm going to die."

"You're being dramatic Paige. You're not going to die."

"But what if I die?"

"You're not."

"I could actually die. You could be leading me to my death. Oh my god, stop the car. What kind of a girlfriend are you?"

"One that's slowly losing patience. And we're already here, so..." she turns the ignition off, "car stopped," she smiles.

Paige doesn't look the least bit amused. She actually does look a bit scared. Paige doesn't get scared. Apparently this was a little more serious than Emily initially thought.

"Paige, you're going to be fine. I promise." She grabs Paige's hand over the gear shift, intertwining their fingers, hoping it offers her some assurance. "People do this all the time."

Paige huffs, "At one point people thought the world was flat. And Mitt Romney was actually in the running for president. People are dumb. I don't trust people."

Emily smiles at her emphasis on the word 'people,' as if it was some kind of a disease she didn't want, rather than something she actually was. "You're people Paige. I'm people."

The crease in Paige's forehead deepens and becomes a full fledged scowl.

"Besides," Emily squeezes her hand, "I'll be there to hold your hand."

"I don't need you to hold my hand Em." Paige abruptly pulls her hand away.

Emily briefly wonders if she should be offended, but just as quickly as the thought comes, it vanishes, another coming to mind. "I know you don't," she starts, unbuckling her seat belt. "But I want to," she continues, opening the door. "You know," she kisses Paige hard on the mouth. "In case you die," she smirks, getting out of the car.

"...oh my god. I'm going to die."

"...ohgodohgodohgodohgod..." Paige has been repeating this mantra for the last ten minutes. The previous ten, Emily had spent doing all she could to calm her girlfriends nerves - kisses, a back rub, breathing exercises, and as a last resort, promises of a reward - all to no avail. Whether consciously or not, Paige was blocking her out. At least she was letting her hold her hand.

"Paige, will you please re-"

The door suddenly opens, interrupting her attempt to, yet again, calm Paige's nerves. An older man walks into the room, the light bouncing off his head doing weird things to his sad attempt of a comb over. If his white lab coat wasn't a dead give away that he was the doctor, Paige's death grip on her hand was pretty revealing. She obviously knew who he was.

"Aah, Miss McCullers, it's been a while," he smiles. "How are you?"

"Fine. Great. Honestly never been better Dr. Brown."

Emily looks down at her hand in Paige's lap. It's an angry red and she can't really feel anything. Her poor hand has definitely seen better days, but she doesn't say anything. Paige seems to need it more than she does right now and Emily finally feels like she's helping. She has to bite her lip though when the feeling in her hand comes back long enough for her to feel Paige's nails digging into it. She might need to make an appointment later.

Emily turns to look at the doctor, hoping his words will distract her enough to ignore the pain in her hand. He's already looking at her. Crap. Was he talking to her? "I'm sorry?" she asks.

He chuckles and confuses Emily even more. "Are you not Emily?"

"Oh no, I mean yes, I am. Do I, um...have we met before?" She glances at Paige, but her girlfriend is too lost in her own thoughts to offer any help.

"No, no. Nick and Carol are always raving about Paige's beautiful girlfriend." He looks down at their hands and smiles, "I just assumed. It's nice to meet you."

Emily is so pleasantly taken aback, that all she can do is nod.

"I have to apologize for the delay. A few nurses called out, so we're a little behind." He clasp his hands together, "but I'm here now. So, if you could just remove your jacket Miss McCullers, I can give you the shot and you can be on your way." He smiles again – which unnerves even Emily at this point. She's not sure she's ever seen anyone smile so much in the span of a few minutes.

Paige does as she's told, only letting Emily's hand go for a second, quickly grabbing it again once her jackets completely off. She's chewing on her bottom lip and Emily can tell she's still a bit nervous, so she rubs Paige's arm with her free hand, hoping it brings out some of the McCullers courage she's so used to seeing.

The corners of Paige's mouth curve upward slightly and if Emily squints it would look like a smile. She takes it as a win and smiles back.

"Are you ready?"

And the pseudo-smile is gone, replaced by a very obvious frown.

Emily turns and sees Dr. Brown with the needle. Turning back, Emily scoots closer to Paige, their shoulders touching and whispers in her ear, "people eventually figured out the world was round."

"Oh god."

"And Romney may have been in the running, but he didn't win."

Dr. Brown asks Paige again, if she's ready. Emily thinks he senses her unease because his voice is a little softer and he calls her by her first name instead.

Paige just nods at him, looking at Emily.

"I'll just do the right arm, since your left," he glances and there hands again, "seems to be occupied." He looks at Emily, seemingly asking a question she doesn't know the answer to, let alone the question itself. Whatever it was, he seems to have found it, his eyes back on Paige. "You know Paige, flu shots are fairly common. There's really nothing to worry about."

Paige's face shoots up, "I'm not scared, if that's what you're implying."

He laughs, "not implying anything, simply stating my opinions on the matter. You want to know another one?"

"Dr. Brown I don't really...ow! Oh."

"You're all done."

"But it didn't hurt."

"I could get one that does."

Emily laughs, breathing a sigh of relief that this was all over.

Paige stands up, bringing Emily with her. "Love to 'doc, but the old ball and chain here hates needles."

Emily scoffs. Her girlfriend was something else.

"So we'll just be going," Paige says, pulling Emily out the door and into the hall.

"Way to lie yourself out of a room McCullers."

"I would never Fields," Paige smirks, throwing her arm around Emily's neck

Emily intertwines her fingers with Paige's hand hanging over her shoulder. "So next time you won't need me here to tell you you're not going to die?" Her tone playful and joking.

Paige stops them suddenly, jerking Emily. "Oh god Em. What if the death effects take time? What if...oh god," Paige looks up. "My vision is blurring."

"Maybe you shouldn't stare directly at the ceiling lamp," Emily nudges Paige's head back down. "And I'm pretty sure the effects of death...is death. You're very much alive."

"For now," Paige shakes her head and looks at Emily. "Oh, Em-"

Emily kisses Paige, lingering for second, mostly for herself and pulls away. "Paige McCullers, I love you. So. Much. But babe, please shut up."

"I was going to say thank you," Paige kisses her. "Babe? New pet name?" She asks, raising an eyebrow.

Emily grins. "It seem to fit."

"Whatever you say hunny-bun," Paige mocks.

"Oh no."

"Actually, I think you're on to something my little chunky monkey." Paige grabs her hand, continuing their walk down the hall.

Emily stops, completely horrified at what she may have started. "Paige, no. We're not one of those couples."

"I know," Paige smiles and points a finger at her. "But we should be," she finishes, tugging at Emily's arm.

Emily frowns. "Oh god."

"Oh yes."

A/N: I wrote this a while ago, but for whatever didn't post it. I felt now would be as good a time as any since Paige thinking she's going to die from a flu shot is about as silly some of you thinking Paige is the 'other body.' I mean come on guys, I know it's Rosewood, but relax. Anyhow, as always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Your reviews are the best and always manage to make me smile. So thanks for that too. I appreciate it.

And this actually gave me an idea for another fic, so I'm going to leave this as 'in progress' and make this a two shot, even though both fics will more or less be completely unrelated.