a/n: This Story is a Paige/Alex pairing and, seeing as I did my last one from Alex's POV, I thought I'd try it from Paige's this time.

As always, feedback is most welcomed/appreciated

Elephants and Shopping Malls

Aaah, my favorite day of the week! Well, mine and just about every other high school kid, give or take the ultra-bookish and socially repressed. But still, Saturday is here and awaiting my entrance.

Outside it looks warm, maybe deceptively so. It is only April after all. I open my closet to inspect potential layering options.

"Alex," I say, distractedly. She's lying on my bed leafing through some girlie gossip magazine I bought when I was bored. It's so not what she's into that I find it amusing. Occasionally she laughs in disbelief as she reads aloud some article headline about the joys of exfoliation or how to make sure your boyfriend never cheats on you or whatever. Most of the time she just looks like she's smirking.

"Alex!" I say more forcefully, turning to her.

"What?" she says, not looking up to indulge my potential fashion crisis.

"Is it warm outside? I need to know."

"Mm…kinda. Not that warm."

This girl seriously exasperates me at times. "Not helping much. If we're going out, do I need a jacket?"

"Eh, just wear a sweater, you'll be okay."

Seriously, the girl is not even looking at me. How she can assess from what I am currently wearing what I will need to add to it, I know not. And speaking of, why the hell isn't my girlfriend checking me out? She should want to be looking. Why no looking?

I turn back to my closet. My clothes all look so boring. Boring and old. Hmm… I feel a brilliant idea coming on. I turn dramatically and close my closet doors behind me with a flourish.

Alex senses that my inspection has finished and flips shut the magazine and scoots herself so she's sitting on the end of my bed. She watches me expectantly. I have to handle this just right.

"Aaaalex," I drawl slowly, giving her my special sexy smile accompanied by slinky walk, reserved for her and her only.

"Paaaige," she mimics back. She appears to be on to me. But I can do this.

I approach and put my arms around her neck as I perch on her knee. She wraps her arms loosely around my waist.

"Hello," I say leaning down slowly to meet her lips. We kiss briefly. I will not get distracted. I can do this.

"Isn't it a lovely day?" I begin.

"Not as lovely as you," she says in that semi-sarcastic tone of hers that lets her be all wise-ass with an underlying sentiment of mush. Yeah, I'm on to you Alex.

"Maybe we could…go somewhere." Another little kiss. Test the waters, nice and slow.

"And where did you have in mind?" She looks up at me with her brown eyes flashing brilliantly and a knowing grin on her face.

"We could…go for a drive," I pause while saying it, trying to sound seductive while I run one finger along her lower lip.

"We could," she agrees, still with that grin, her head cocked to the side, her eyebrows raised suggestively. Damn you, Alex, damn you and your hotness.

She pulls me down a bit for another little kiss, but I make sure it lasts much longer. She keeps pulling back a little, but I make sure our lips never truly loose contact. You think it's over, then wham, back in there. I like my plan. My plan is tight.

We both pause for a second, breathing time. We're sort of practically breathing into each other's mouths our faces are still that close, our foreheads pressed together.

"We could…" my voice is all low and husky now as I'm whispering into her ear, "go to…the mall?"

"Or…we could go to bed," she counters her hands already starting to wander dangerously south.

"Alex!" I exclaim in frustration. "The mall!"

"Ugh!" She groans and rolls her eyes as she flops back on the bed and I stand up. Seriously, what a baby.

"Come on! It's a beautiful day!" I gesture to the window, "do you really want to spend it cooped up inside?"

"Paige," she is now staring determinedly at the ceiling, "The mall is not outside. Those little trees you get in it are not real. And your obsession is not healthy. Besides, look at your wardrobe. Where exactly are you going to fit anything else?"

Okay, I went in for the kill too soon. Revert back to wooing. "But hun…" I begin lightly stroking her knee, but she's still flopped back on the bed resolutely not looking at me. "I just want to look nice for you, Alex. Don't you want your girlfriend to look nice? Huh?" I have to practically crawl on top of her to get any acknowledgement, but she does look at me.

"You always look nice. You're beautiful. You know you are."

Oh yes, she is good. And I love it when she tells me I'm beautiful because whatever the situation she always stops to look really super serious and sincere when she says it. Be strong Paige, you've got this.

"But, why do you think that is, huh? You don't think I have to work at it?" I'm more or less on all fours leaning down over Alex's splayed out form. Another little kiss. "You think I wake up and magically look this hot?"

"You mean you don't?" She says, back with the grin, back with the sarcastic tone.

But she's rising up to meet my body and her hands are grabbing at my ass and if I'm going to get my way we do not have time for this.

"Look, if you take me," I say, grabbing her wrists and gently removing her hands from my rear, "We might find something there for you too." I use my leverage to push her back down on my bed. Just so we both know who's got the upper hand here.

"But I like what's on me right now," she says with the most wicked of grins as she pulls me down with her.

"Look Alex," I'm getting slightly desperate. If I don't take this now then I might not make it out of my room today, let alone the house. "If you take me to the mall-" I'm interrupted by some kissing which makes me loose focus for a minute.

"Alex!" I say laughing at her persistence and both of our stubbornness. I can see it in her eyes though. They're smiling like a child's trying to see how far they can push their luck. We both know she'll end up taking me. It's just a question of how long we string this out for. "If you take me," I begin again, kissing along her jaw and then very slowly down her neck, "then I absolutely promise…" kissing back up her neck now, "that I will…" uh-oh our bodies are pressed together a little to closely, "…make it up to you tonight." I end with a big old smooch on the lips before reluctantly hauling myself up to my knees.

She raises herself up to her elbows and looks at me in mock-disgust, "You would whore yourself out for fashion like that?"

I give an overly dramatic sigh as if it is all beyond the possibility of her comprehension as I get up from the bed and return to my closet for a final inspection.

"Alex, Alex, Alex. You should know by now that fashion is my pimp, I am it's ho and you," I turn and give the cheekiest of smiles, "are my bitch."

"Oh is that right?" She says in her most hardass voice as she gets off the bed.

I shoot her a knowing look and her tough-girl façade breaks. "If you tell anyone…" she points a warning finger at me.

I let out a little squeal of delight and pull her into a thank you hug. For letting me win. For letting me get my own way. Again.

"Oh, thank you thank you!" I say squeezing her tightly as she returns it just as tight. "I love you!" I blurt out. Oops! Didn't mean to say that out loud!

She immediately stops with the squeezing and pulls back so she can look at my face.

I'm kind of stunned at myself. I try to avoid her gaze. I can feel myself blushing profusely as my mouth hangs slackly open. "Um, I mean…" My eyes are darting wildly around the room, but eventually come back to rest on Alex.

She is staring back with this mixture of amusement and, what? This sort of intensity. She just looks damn happy. Not to mention she has the hugest smile slapped right across her face. I can't help but smile back. I feel sort of elated, relieved. Like, there you go, I said it, the elephant in the room. Well, I finally acknowledged it. Ha! I won again! Or…did I?

"It's okay Paige" she says gripping my shoulders, "Do you really think there's any other reason strong enough for me to let myself get dragged around shopping with you every weekend."

That didn't make me feel as good as it should have done. "It's not every weekend," I say quietly, looking down at the floor.

"Huh? What?"

"Not every weekend," I try again.

She just smiles at me, knowingly, but totally acceptingly. She gives a little laugh and brushes a lock of hair out of my face. "I love you too Paige," she says it softly as she cups my face in her hand. Her eyes look down briefly before shyly returning to meet mine. "But I guess you know that already."

Yeah, I guess I did. But still, hearing her say it back makes me feel, wow. This is turning into a totally beyond spectacular Saturday. And when we kiss, like we've already done at least a couple hundred times, I get all the same sparkly feelings I always get when I kiss Alex. My belly does all the flip flops, my head goes into the light-headed whirring it likes to do, but now inside me there's this sort of, well, big warm fuzzy that wasn't there before. It's all still exciting. Exciting and totally hot. But also…secure. It's not a game anymore. We really are totally totally together.

"So, come on then," Alex says as we finally break apart. "Let's get this whole mall escapade over with."

"Oh…yeah," forgot about that little victory. Seems pretty hollow and stupid now. Although…

"We don't have to," I offer.

"Yeah we do," Alex says as she grabs my hand and starts leading me to my door. "You'll only torture yourself and me for the rest of the week about all the great shit you didn't get to buy."

"Well…" it's hard to argue with what is, sadly, true.

I grab a sweater as Alex opens the door and leans against its frame.

"So…" she says as we start to head out, "Does all this make you my bitch now?"

This girl is not only hot, but the cutest girl ever. "No hun," I give her a quick peck on the lips as I pull the door closed behind us. "Not 'til tonight."