Authors Note:

So

1) I'm not a good writer, or at least not a very good one.

2) This is probably going to suck but I enjoyed writing it nonetheless.

3) I decided to experiment trying out something new & since this seemed safer & much more reasonable than drugs, I decided to go along with it.

4) I love Paily so I thought I'd give it a shot.

5) I really hope this isn't as bad as I think.

6) Hope you guys enjoy.

9) Feedback, no matter how cruel, is always welcome and appreciated.

She was leaning against a tree near Emily's house, her hands shook as she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. She had come to try and talk to Emily but she had found she couldn't go any further without stopping and gathering her composure. It had been a couple weeks since the whole town had calmed down after the craziness that had followed when Alison revealed she was alive. There had been a lot of confusion, interrogations, and investigations. She wasn't even sure if it was all over. All she knew was that Alison was back and prancing around like she owned the world. She was back in the spotlight, brighter than before, as if nothing had happened. Paige wasn't sure if they had found out who A was, and she didn't care if Alison was still in danger or not. All she cared about was Emily.

She sighs as she thinks about her. A sigh full of frustration, sadness and misery. She closes her eyes and leanes her head back against the tree trunk.

She's tried to talk to Emily ever since that night she said goodbye to her. She would have called her, asked her to meet her somewhere, but her phone was in no working condition after she had thrown it into her pool in a fit of anger. But even if her phone was working she'd still want to talk to her in person, doing it by phone seemed...cowardly. Yet every time she tried to approach Emily she was surrounded by her friends, and by her. She wasn't quite ready to face that-

"Aren't you far from home pigskin?"

Paige jerks her head up, her train of thought coming to a complete stop as the voice she knows oh so well unconsciously makes her flinch. She chastises herself for letting the cause of her nightmares have that effect on her. She meets Alison's gaze and forces herself to not look down.

She pushes off the tree and stands straight, her jaw clenching as she fights off the urge to take a step back. "What do you want Alison?" She doesn't want to deal with her. She just wants to talk to Emily.

"I think the real question is, what do you want? You have no reason to be here" Her sneer was cruel. Her eyes cold.

Paige's muscles tenses as she tries to keep her voice steady. She isn't going to let Alison intimidate her. Not anymore."Emily's here. And that's enough reason for me to be here."

Alison's chuckle is humorless and filled with cruelty. "Emily doesn't want you. She never has. Never will"

Paige's hand shake as she takes a step forward, "Then I'll have to hear it from her. Not you." She knows all Alison likes to do is torture people with words. Threats and lies that spun out of control if you let them.

Alison's lip curls back in a snarl. Paige has seen it before, and it would have frightened her once. But not now. She knows she's stronger than she had been. She won't let Alison drag her back to self hatred.

"Listen pigskin, get out of here and leave Emily alone. Don't talk to her, don't txt her, don't call. Just leave and pretend nothing happened."

Paige stares hard at her. She swears she sees fear somewhere deep in Alison's eyes.
"I love Emily. And she loves me. No matter how much you want to deny it, you know she loves me too."

Alison's voice is barely audible as she spits out nine cruel words, "No one could ever love a cutting pig skin"

Paige's blood freezes in her veins, those nine words pierce themselves into her heart and she staggers back into the tree. The trunk's the only thing holding her up as she finally lets her gaze drop. Her breathing's uneven as she fights to control herself. How does she know? I made sure to hide it. The only person that knew was...

"Alison!"

That voice. The one that pulled her through her darkest times, the one she hadn't heard in weeks.

She looks up and sees Emily walking out from behind a thick tree. She's glaring at Alison, her gaze full of hurt, betrayal and anger.

"Emily...wha...what are you doing here?" Alison stutters as she looks at Emily, her smug smile is gone and in its place is a look Paige has never seen before. She almost looks...scared?

"I saw you walk out here from my window and decided to follow you," Emily turns to look at Paige, her gaze morphing from anger to sadness. Paige can just imagine what she looks like. No less than a puppy that had just been kicked probably. "Paige..I..."

Paige looks away and shuts her eyes, "Did you tell her?"

Emily takes a step towards her, "No, I would never do that."

She waits for Paige to say something, but all Paige can do is take in her words.

She believes her.

After what seems like hours she finally nods and stands.

She won't look at Emily. She's still shocked and angry that Alison knows her darkest secret. But she shouldn't have been so surprised. Alison knew everyone's secret.

"Alison…"

Paige hears Emily call out to the girl that had tormented her. But when they both turn in the direction she had been standing they see she's no longer there.

Paige shakes her head, "She's good at doing that isn't she. She disappears without us even noticing. And just like that shows up again."

"Paige, I'm sorry about what she said. You know it's not true," Emily's voice is full of sadness as she takes a couple steps closer to her.

Paige sighs and glances at Emily before looking away again. She wants to believe her. But her actions these last couple of weeks say otherwise. Still, it wasn't Emily's fault that Alison was….Alison. "Don't apologize for her. She doesn't deserve that. And I know it's not true. But it doesn't make it hurt any less"

Paige feels Emily's warmth as she steps closer to her, she was close enough that she could reach out and grab her hand if she wanted to.

Emily's voice shakes as she speaks quietly, "I tried to call you."

Paige looks up at her in surprise but dips her head before Emily looks too closely at her.
"Oh. My phone's not really in working condition right now. I don't think it gets service at the bottom of my pool" she mutters sheepishly.

Emily frowns in confusion."What's it doing in your pool?"

Paige blushes as she tucks her hand into her jeans pocket "I sorta... threw it in there"

"Oh" Emily's sounds surprise as she takes in what Paige said.

Paige can feel her gaze burning into her. She clears her throat and shuffles awkwardly, "I came here to talk to you but now I can't remember what I was going to say. Alison…distracted me" Paige notices how her voice changes when she says Alison's name and she hates the effect she has on her, even after two years. It's then that she remembers the talk she had with Emily a while back.
"I guess when you told me you were letting her go, it really meant you had forgiven her, didn't it?" her voice is full of hurt, and she knows Emily can hear it.

"Paige, I didn't know she'd say those things to you. I thought she had changed. I didn't...I didn't think she was-"

"Was still the same manipulative Alison she had always been?" Paige interrupts, her words edge with anger. She meets Emily's and the hurt in Paige's gaze is too much for Emily to take. She looks down as Paige continues talking.

"I'm sorry I broke your trust Emily. You don't know how much I regret that. But I'm not sorry for not caring about what happens to Alison when all she ever did was torture me and put me through hell."

Emily flinches at her words, and although Paige hates hurting her, she has to get this off her chest. All these feelings she's kept locked inside were finally bursting out. Her anger and hurt making her spill her deepest feelings.

"You weren't the only one whose feeling she played with. If you forgave her for everything she did to you, then lucky her." Paige takes in a ragged breath, "She broke your heart Emily, but she broke me."

Emily looks up at Paige, her eyes are shining with unshed tears, her bottom lip quivering. She can see just how much she meant every word she was saying. It hurts Emily to see Paige like this and her own eyes start watering.

"I'm not going to forgive her for making me hate myself," Paige's voice is breaking but she isn't going to stop, she can't. "For making me hate who I am. It's taken me so long to put myself back together; I'm not going to let her break me again."Paige's tears finally spill down her cheeks and she takes her fist out of her pocket and runs her hands angrily through her hair. Emily reaches out to grab Paige's other hand but Paige pulls it away. "Don't...just, let me calm down, please."

Emily's own tears spill down her cheeks as she watches Paige pace. She crosses her arms over her chest and hugs herself. Her hands ache to reach out and grab Paige. To hold and comfort her. But she knows she doesn't deserve to do that after the way she's behaved towards her. She had been cold and distant to her. All because she was too preoccupied with Alison. She should've known. Alison was never sorry about hurting the people around her.

Why hadn't I seen it sooner?

She knew in the back of her mind a small voice had warned her. But she had let Alison's kind words get to her. Just like she always did.