Had an idea I couldn't shake so I've ended up starting another fic. Paily AU, will probably be more M in later chapters. Do let me know what you think/if it's something worth continuing :)

Chapter One: The Misunderstanding

Silently shutting the front door as to not alert anyone to her disappearance, Emily Fields stepped out onto her parents front porch, away from the hustle and bustle of the party still in full swing inside the house. She felt slightly guilty for sneaking away, her eyes settling on the banner across the doorway as she took a seat, the sign reminding her that the party was in her honour after all. After 4 hard years of studying, coupled with a side of competitive swimming, she had graduated a day earlier from Pittsburgh, earning her Bachelors Degree in Athletic Training and Sports Medicine. Her parents, proud as ever, had thrown her the surprise party under the ruse that she would be attending a congratulatory dinner. As nice as it was to see so many familiar faces, she'd found herself edging closer and closer to the door as the night drew on, being the centre of attention eventually starting to take its toll. She smiled as she sat, happy for the moment of quiet she was afforded.

"I can't believe you just left me to face Mrs Mallard alone," Emily turned to see her friend Hanna stumbling out of the front door, closing it with a thump and handing Emily a glass of champagne as she plonked herself down beside her. "Why did your parents even invite her? She's like 100 years old,"

"They were being neighbourly," Emily said, laughing slightly as Hanna's nose crinkled up in disgust. Shaking her head, Emily pulled the other girl into a hug, hearing Hanna chuckling in surprise.

"How much have you had Em?" Hanna laughed, returning the hug fully before the two broke apart.

"Shut up," Emily said in mock annoyance. "I've missed you. I'm really glad you came back for this." Hanna had been the first to leave Rosewood after High School, hastily heading for New York at the first opportunity. It had taken Emily by surprise to see her at the party; whilst they had made an effort to stay in contact when they were apart, visits from Hanna were often few and far between. Though both girls had a somewhat detrimental history with Rosewood, and Emily couldn't blame Hanna for staying away. Regardless, Emily had been overjoyed to hear Hanna was planning on sticking around for the summer, both girls promising to work hard to rekindle the closeness they once shared.

"Wouldn't miss it," Hanna smiled genuinely. "I can't believe you're going to be like…a Doctor. It's crazy."

"I need to train for another 4 years if I want to be an actual Doctor," Emily reminded the other girl.

"Well whatever," Hanna shrugged. "To us. To making it out of this deadbeat town," she said, lifting her glass, Emily copying the action and clinking them together, watching as a frown tugged at Hanna's lips. "Even if we had to leave so much behind."

Paige sighed; she'd been driving around the city for the past hour, searching for her younger sister. She had been getting ready to head out with her roommate, finally agreeing to do something with her Friday night after the other girl had pestered her about it for the better part of a day. Her preparation had been cut short however when her Mother called, worried out of her mind after her sister Caitlin hadn't returned home after school. Having been absent for most of the last 5 years, she could be forgiven for being taken aback by how unruly the girl seemed to have become, at least that would be the case had she not suspected she knew exactly why the younger girl was acting out so much these days. Finally spotting a familiar face, she pulled up along side the teenager, rolling down her window to call out to her.

"Caitlin!" she called out, watching as the girl simply rolled her eyes and gave her the finger. She sighed once again, the fifteen year old walking away from her nothing like the ten year old she remembered leaving behind when she had left for college. "Cait, just get it the car,"

"Go fuck yourself,"

"Nice," Paige said, patience already wearing thin, slamming on the brakes before climbing out of the car and grabbing ahold of the girl's arm, forcing her to face her. "Mom's worried sick okay, will you just get in the car?"

"Mom can go…"

"Finish that sentence and I will end you," Paige said sternly, before releasing her grip on her arm. "I get that you're angry, but she has done nothing to deserve any of this, there's enough on her plate as it is without you getting yourself into any more trouble, so please, just get in the goddamn car."

Paige relaxed slightly as she saw the younger girl relenting, shaking her head and getting into the car. The drive back to her parents place was fairly silent; Paige knew better than to try to talk to the girl when she was in one of these moods, remembering how she had been more or less exactly the same at her age.

"You can't just waltz back into our lives and act like some kind of saint, Evan might be too young to remember how much trouble you caused but I'm not," Caitlin muttered under her breath, causing Paige to sigh once again.

"I'm not acting like a saint. Mom needs my help, so I'm sticking around. For her and for you, and for Evan," Paige said, pulling onto her parents driveway. "She needs your help too y'know, Dad…"

"Dad doesn't even want you here," Caitlin cut her off as she unbuckled her seatbelt, barely letting the car come to a stop before jumping out. Paige gave her Mother a small wave, the older woman standing on the porch, her clothes disheveled and eyes tired.

"I'm sure he doesn't," Paige replied with a sigh, deciding to get out of the car when she saw her brother bounding toward her.

"Paige!" the younger boy said, pulling her into a tight hug. "Are you staying for dinner?"

"I can't kiddo," she said sadly, glancing up to see her Mother doing her best to calm her sister down on the porch, probably trying to make sure she and her Father didn't come to blows when the teenager got inside. She ruffled the 11 year olds hair, watching as a frown tugged onto his face. "How about we hang out next week, just you and me? Pizza, video games, horror movies, our secret?"

"Can I stay with you and Dawn? I promise I'll be no trouble," Evan asked looking up at Paige hopefully, the older girl wondering how he'd managed to turn out so sweet.

"We'll see, go help Mom out with dinner okay?" She said, kissing the top of his head and waving her mother goodbye. Turning the ignition, she turned the car around, intent on heading out and drinking herself into oblivion.

"Thanks Mom, I've had a great time," Emily said genuinely, finding her Mother in the process of clearing up, her Father busy saying his goodbyes as he ushered people out of the door.

"We're really proud of you honey, Besides, the party was all Ellie's idea,"

"I thought it would be a nice surprise," the blonde girl said walking into the room and wrapping an arm around Emily. She and Ellie had met during Emily's freshman year at Pittsburgh, and had been together ever since. They had worked hard to stay together after Ellie graduated a year later, the older girl moving back to Philadelphia to begin her surgical residency, meaning their busy schedules were often taking their toll on the relationship.

"Very nice surprise," Emily smiled, pecking the other girl on the cheek lightly. "Especially getting Hanna here, I didn't think she'd be back until next week." To see her friend here, as well as the improbable return of her Father from his base camp in Texas, had made the occasion all the more special.

With the party finally dying down, she waved goodbye to her friends, leaving them with the promise that she'd meet them back at the apartment she shared with Spencer later that evening.

"This place has never changed," Ellie said with a small shake of the head, closing the door to Emily's old bedroom.

"It's not like I ever stay here," Emily replied glancing around the room, everything still practically as it was when she had left for college. Wrapping her arms around her girlfriends waist she placed a small kiss on her shoulder. "I just want you to myself for five minutes, I have to set off soon if I'm going to get home on time,"

"I told you, you guys could've just crashed at my place, it'd be easier than trailing all the way back to your place from Philly,"

"There's more room at my place," Emily shrugged as she pulled away, turning around and beginning to gather up her belongings.

"Have you given any more thought to what we talked about the other night?" Ellie asked, Emily trying her best to hide the small frown that tugged onto her lips as the topic was brought up once again.

"It makes sense for me to stay where I am right now," Emily began, turning to see her girlfriend shaking her head with a frown. "I want to move in with you, I really do, but I'm starting up at the swim camp next week, it makes more sense to stay where I am, at least until I finish up there. It's closer."

"So I might have to wait until fall before you'll even consider saying yes?" Ellie said exasperatedly, causing Emily to sigh. "I thought you said you were thinking about blowing off the summer gig and finding a placement in Philly? You know, with me? Actually seeing each other everyday instead of twice a week, getting paid to work instead of working for free, actually working toward your career instead of…"

"Fulton was a good coach to me at Rosewood, I'm not going to drop out and leave her in the lurch," Emily said, her tone becoming slightly harsher. "Maybe you think volunteering at a summer training camp is pointless, but its something I actually want to do."

"Okay," Ellie said, throwing her hands up in surrender, perching on the end of Emily's bed.

"I'll more than likely be moving in with you in September anyway, it's not that far away," Emily said in an attempt to settle the argument. If all went to plan, she would be starting up her Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine Training in Philadelphia in the fall.

"What if your beloved Fulton offers you a full-time position when school starts up again? If it's the money Emily, you know I can look after you..."

"I'll…consider it if it comes to that," Emily said in annoyance watching as Ellie rolled her eyes. "And I don't need you to look after me. I was actually thinking…" Emily began, sitting down next to her girlfriend, steadying herself to ask what she'd truly been contemplating for the better part of her last year of college. "Well, you'll be finishing up your residency in September…and I thought that we could maybe go travelling for a few months? I can defer my place for the year, maybe try to get my old job back at the Brew to save up over the summer, and come September we can road trip across country, fly out to Hawaii, go to Europe…anything really. See the world a little before we get tied down with full-time jobs,"

"Emy, I'll be starting up at the hospital straight away if I'm lucky, it's not like I can just cancel everything to go gallivanting around the globe," Ellie said with a scoff.

"It was just a thought," Emily said sadly with a sigh."Can you at least consider it?" she said looking toward Ellie, slightly mocking her girlfriends tone from before.

"Emily," Ellie said, the tone of her voice telling Emily all she needed to know. Come September, they would be finding a house in Philadelphia, Emily would start-up at Penn Medicine, Ellie would start full-time at the hospital. That was the plan, and Emily knew better than to try to change it.

"Fine. I should get going, the girls will be waiting."

"Are we in a fight?"

"No, I just don't want to be late," Emily said, standing and shoving the last few items in her bag before reaching for the door handle.

"Baby," Ellie said softly, tugging lightly on Emily's hand as she turned to leave. "I'm sorry for pushing okay? I just love you, and want you all to myself sooner rather than later is all,"

"I know," Emily said giving her a small smile, kissing the other girls cheek lightly.

"Do you want to come back to my place tonight? You'll be in the city anyway,"

"You know how Hanna gets. It'll probably be pretty late…"

"I don't mind being woken up if it's by you crawling into my bed," Ellie said with a smirk.

"I'll think about it." Emily relented, kissing the other girl softly before turning to leave.

"I highly doubt I'm going to meet the 'man of my dreams' as you put it in some dive bar Han," Spencer scoffed; the blonde had been tossing outfits at her for the past 30 minutes, insisting that they would not be leaving the city tonight until she had managed to set Spencer up with someone, intent on finding a killer outfit to aid her in doing so.

"You've barely dated anyone since Toby," Hanna pointed out, Spencer frowning at the mention of her high school boyfriend. "I'm just doing my duty as a friend, and making sure you don't end up a sad old spinster,"

"How considerate of you," Spencer replied sarcastically, picking up a dress and making her way to her bedroom to get changed for the fourth time that evening.

"Are you planning on meeting someone tonight?" Aria asked from her spot on the floor, taking a sip of her drink after she spoke. She had been ready the longest, patiently waiting for her friends to catch up.

"No," Hanna shrugged, Emily giving her a knowing look. "I'm not planning on sticking around after the summer, it'd be pointless,"

"It's just you're giving Spence such a hard time about Toby when…" Aria began, stopping as she saw Emily glaring at her. Bringing up Toby was one thing, but mentioning Caleb was something else entirely. She didn't know how Hanna would react if the subject was brought up. "It'd be nice to see you guys find someone, is all."

"Well, we can't all run away and marry our English teacher," Hanna said, Aria huffing as she began to protest. The only one of the four to actually stay behind in Rosewood, the girls had been taken by surprise a year ago to hear that Aria and her teacher-turned-boyfriend Ezra had eloped just before her graduation from Hollis.

"Spence, get out here, we need to get going soon before these two start with each other," Emily shouted, shaking her head in amusement as her two friends glared at each other.

"Yeah yeah, don't get me started on you," Hanna grinned, turning her attention to Emily. "You and Ellie actually make me ill, you're so perfect,"

"We are far from perfect, trust me." Emily said bluntly in protest.

"Uh huh. She did nothing but gush about you at the party," Hanna smirked, Aria nodding in agreement beside her. "She was all 'I'm so proud of her' and 'I'm so lucky she's all mine.' Honestly, it's sweet but totally sickening. And I hear I'll be coming back for a housewarming in the fall?"

"Housewarming?" Spencer said appearing in the doorway, having finally settled on a black dress which happened to be one of the first ones Hanna had suggested, both her and Emily now looking at their friend with baffled expressions.

"Ellie was telling me about how you guys might be shacking up sooner than you thought,"

"And you were telling me this when?" Spencer said incredulously, Emily simply rolling her eyes and talking another swig of her drink.

"We've talked about it twice, it's nowhere near an official plan," Emily said with a sigh, placing her glass down a little harder than she intended to. "Don't worry, I'm not leaving you in the lurch anytime soon," She added looking toward Spencer. The two had moved into a small apartment together in their senior year a little way out from Rosewood. Though not the biggest place in the world it was cosy, and they had very much made it their own.

"But you guys are thinking about it?" Aria asked, noticing that Emily's demeanour had taken a turn for the worse since the subject was brought up.

"It's an option, it would certainly be nice to see each other more often," Emily said with a shrug.

"Are you guys okay? You're not exactly jumping for joy at the prospect," Spencer added, studying her friend closely.

"Of course. I'm thinking of going back to her place tonight actually, if you guys don't mind paying a little extra for the cab on the way back?"

"As long as you don't ditch us super early to go get it on with her," Hanna said with a wink. "So, you do want to move in with Ellie right? I mean you're still going to do the whole house, school, marriage thing right?"

"At some point, of course. I haven't really decided what I want to do once I've finished my summer programme. I was thinking about deferring my place at Penn Medicine for a year, but Ellie thinks I should start-up straight away and try for a placement at the hospital where she works, or where she hopes to be working anyway come September."

"And what do you think?" Aria asked, sensing Emily's hesitancy.

"I don't know yet. I'm just…apprehensive I guess. Another four years of studying? I've just finished college, I just want to…"

"…let loose!" Hanna piped up, raising her glass in the air, much to the amusement of her friends. "What? This is supposed to be a celebration right? Are you finally ready yet or shall I get another top up?"

Spencer sighed, grabbing her purse and giving herself one last once-over in the mirror. "I'm ready, let's go."

Paige cringed internally as she looked on in amusement; her roommate had managed to run into and subsequently be all over her ex, Darrell, who Paige loathed, and she was sure if Dawn was sober, her roommate would remember just how much she also hated him. Sighing to herself as she saw the brunette wave her off, signalling she was to be left alone, Paige turned, trying her best to decide between heading to the bar for another drink or calling it a night. The club wasn't exactly her taste; the music a strange mixture of old club classics and terrible remixes, and the clientele were becoming more and more inebriated and therefore more and more annoying as the night drew on. After bumping into a particularly rowdy group of college boys, Paige decided it was definitely time to either go home or find another bar. Pulling out her phone to text Dawn her plan, Paige was startled to feel herself crashing into someone else, looking up just in time to see the tray the other girl was carrying falling to the floor with a smash.

"Oh fuck…I am so so sorry," Paige said as looked up to see a girl staring back at her with mouth agape, her eyes flitting from the drinks on the floor and back up again. "Did any of it go on you?"

"No…no just the floor…" the other girl answered, her voice straining over the blaring music, looking down to see that thankfully the liquid had missed her dress, before seemingly noticing that the majority of it seemed to be covering Paige's pants. "You aren't so lucky," she said apologetically, pointing towards the Paige's now soaked thighs.

"It'll dry," she shouted back with a shrug. She took a moment to take in the other girl, her breath catching slightly when she realised how utterly stunning she was, wearing a tight-fitting purple dress with legs to die for. Maybe with a little luck tonight wouldn't be such a bust after all, Paige smirked. "Can I get you another round? It's the least I can do, I should have watched where I was going,"

"You really don't have to…" the girl began, shaking her head in protest, Paige waving away her protests quickly and tugging lightly on her arm to lead her back towards the bar.

"Really, it's the least I can do," she said with another shrug. "I'm Paige by the way," she said, holding out her hand with a smile.

"Emily," the girl replied, shaking Paige's hand with a smile of her own.

"So what can I get you Emily?" Paige asked with a friendly smile, Emily smiling back, protesting once again before giving in and giving off the drinks order when the Paige refused to take no for an answer. She took the time while she was waiting to take a good look at the girl; long auburn hair pulled into a ponytail, a fitted green shirt beneath a vest covering what Emily noted was a toned torso, the outfit completed with a pair of tight-fitting black jeans and heavy biker boots. She felt herself blush as Paige raised an eyebrow with a small smirk as she realised she'd been caught practically checking the other girl out.

"What is taking you so long?" She heard from behind her, turning to see Hanna making her way toward them. She opened her mouth to explain the situation before Paige turned to her with drinks in hand, smiling widely as she looked at Hanna.

"Hanna Marin?" Paige said over the music, Emily looking between the two in surprise as Hanna squealed giddily.

"Paige!" Hanna said, barely giving the other girl time to set the drinks back down before engulfing her in a hug. "What are you doing here? Last I heard you were in Vancouver teaching kiddies how to ski or something,"

"Figured it was time to come home," Paige responded vaguely with a shrug, "At least for the time being."

"Paige was a friend of Caleb's," Hanna explained, Emily nodding cautiously at the mention of Caleb's name and flashing Paige a small smile. "This is my friend Emily,"

"We've met," Paige smiled, Emily dipping her head slightly as Hanna glanced over to her. Paige reached behind her to hand both Emily and Hanna a drink, turning back to pick up two more. "Clumsy old me knocked your last round of cocktails out of her hands trying to rush out the door so..."

"You're leaving? But i haven't seen you in forever," Hanna began, Paige simply shrugging in apology. "I haven't seen you in over a year McCullers, I want to hear all about you dotting around the country. Besides…when it comes to dancing I think Paige could give you a run for your money Em,"

"How many of those have you had?" Paige scoffed, pointing towards the frilly looking pink drink in Hanna's hands.

"Many," Emily answered for the blonde, Paige laughing lightly as Hanna's face scrunched up in annoyance. "I should probably get these to Spence and Aria, they'll be wondering what's taking me so long," Emily said taking the drinks out of Paige's hands. "Thank you again, you really didn't have to. I'll see you over there Han?"

Hanna nodded, both girls waving Emily off before Hanna turned her attention back to Paige. She desperately wanted to ask Paige about Caleb's whereabouts, knowing that it might be a long shot and also that if she was to just ask her straight out Paige was likely to brush her off. "You should join us," Hanna grinned, watching as Paige dropped her gaze before lifting her head up again to protest. "Come on, we can catch up,"

"This place isn't really my scene," Paige said shaking her head, glancing down at her watch. Catching sight of Paige checking Emily out as she walked away, an idea popped into Hanna's head.

"Okay, I didn't want to say anything because for all I know you're taken now and its kind of embarrassing for her but…" Hanna began, smiling as she saw Paige's eyebrow raise in curiosity. "Well Emily? Don't tell her I told you this but you're totally her type."

"Emily's gay?" Paige said in surprise, looking over to see the girl from before flashing her a small smile as she stood by her friends.

"Yep," Hanna nodded, feeling slightly guilty that her plan to get Paige to join them by pretending Emily was available was beginning to work. "So gay. And I've been trying to set her up all night, so this is perfect! Because I know you aren't some creep, and like I said totally her type…and now we can catch up and you can get to know her!"

"I don't know Hanna," Paige said reluctantly. Emily was certainly beautiful, she couldn't deny that, but set-ups were definitely not her kind of thing. Looking up to find the blonde looking at her pleadingly, she relented and nodded her head. "Alright,"

"Yay!" Hanna squealed, pulling Paige into a hug once more. "But be subtle okay? She doesn't respond well to full on,"

"Sure, whatever," Paige smirked, reaching behind her to pick up her own drink and motioning for Hanna to lead the way.

"Uh…Pittsburgh, Allentown, Maine, New York, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Washington, Maryland, Vancouver…and back to good old Philly," Paige finished listing off everywhere she'd found herself living in the past four years since she'd seen Hanna, having found herself sat with the blonde and her 3 friends in a more secluded part of the club.

"Emily just graduated from Pittsburgh," Hanna said motioning to her friend. "That's actually what we're out celebrating tonight."

"Oh, congratulations," Paige said throwing Emily a small smile. She had ended up wedged between Hanna and Emily, and as the drinks continued to flow she was becoming more and more thankful for her proximity to the dark-haired girl. "What did you study?"

"Athletic Training and Sports Medicine," Emily replied, taking another sip of her drink as she turned to give Paige her full attention, Spencer and Aria talking amongst themselves next to her.

"Sounds impressive," Paige smiled, shuffling a little closer to the girl so that she could continue the conversation. "I used to study there actually, only for a year though,"

"What did you…" Emily began to ask, only for Hanna to cut her off.

"Then you moved in with Caleb in Allentown right?" Hanna said, Paige giving her a slightly puzzled look before nodding. "What made you head to Maine?"

"Our lease was up, you guys got rocky…" Paige began, slowing slightly as she could swear she felt both Hanna and Emily wince as she had mentioned the break up, "So he moved to Cali and I found myself a job up in Maine. Which you already knew…"

"Paige," Emily said with the brightest smile she could muster, standing and offering the other girl her hand, seeing that Spencer and Aria were giving Hanna the same baffled look she herself had sent her way. "Why don't we go get another round in?"

"Sure," Paige said returning the smile, allowing Emily to pull her up and making her way toward the bar.

"What is going on?" Spencer asked as soon as she saw Emily and the other girl were out of earshot.

"What?" Hanna said, sipping her drink and trying her best to appear clueless.

"Why are you grilling that poor girl about her whereabouts for the past 4 years?" Spencer asked, Hanna rolling her eyes and opening her mouth to speak, Spencer not giving her the chance. "Please, tell me this isn't about finding Caleb?"

"It's not," Hanna said shaking her head, Spencer shooting her a look letting her know she didn't believe that for a second. "Look, honestly, I know she used to be close with him…I just want to know if he's okay."

"Hanna," Spencer said shaking her head at her friend. "We both know you don't want to go down that road. As far as Caleb's concerned, I think it's best you let it go."

"Not to completely change the subject but do you guys think she's getting a little too cosy with Em?" Aria piped up, looking over toward the bar to see Paige standing close to her friend, leaning in and softly brushing her arm at every available opportunity.

"Well…" Hanna began, the guilt evident in her tone as Spencer and Aria turned to face her. "I might have dropped into casual conversation that she was Emily's type…"

"What? Why on earth would you do that?"

"To get her over here!" Hanna said sighing. "I know it sounds bad okay…"

"Emily has a girlfriend, remember?" Aria said in disbelief. "And that's awful! Emily will feel terrible if she thinks she's managed to lead Paige on…"

"I know she's taken okay, I've been present many a time for the Ellie and Emy show," Hanna said, rolling her eyes at the thought. "And you don't need to worry about Paige okay, once she realises Emily's not interested she'll get bored and leave. Trust me, she's a love 'em and leave 'em type of girl."

"Honestly Hanna, I really don't know what to do with you sometimes," Spencer sighed, fixing a smile onto her face as she saw Emily and Paige returning with a tray of shots.

"Everything okay?" Emily asked as she sat back down, noticing the awkwardness that hung in the air as they settled back into their seats.

"We're going to need another tray," Spencer sighed, picking one up and knocking it back.

After several more trays and far too many rounds, time eventually started to take its toll, the night of heavy drinking and dancing coming to an end. The girls said a fond farewell to Paige, who had managed to charm them all after returning from the bar the first time, despite both her and Emily being oblivious to Hanna's scheming. Hanna had decided to swap numbers with Paige, making her promise they would meet up before she was due to head back to New York.

"I'm actually heading that way," Emily said turning to Paige as she began to walk off, quickly hugging her friends goodbye.

"Emily are you sure you don't want to come back with us?" Spencer said cautiously, flashing Hanna a quick look.

"I'm sure Spence," Emily rolled her eyes. "I'll see you in the morning. You don't mind if I walk with you do you Paige?"

"Of course not," Paige said with a smile, smirking slightly in bemusement as she caught Spencer throwing her an apprehensive look. Both girls gave the rest of the group a quick wave and watched as they climbed into a cab, before turning and making their way down the street. Emily stumbled slightly, realising that perhaps the drinks she had consumed were effecting her more than she initially thought. She paused for a moment when she saw Paige offer her arm, blushing slightly as she looked into the other woman's eyes and partially regretting that she had agreed to go back to Ellie's place. It was certainly creeping into the early hours of the morning and it was clear she could hardly consider herself sober. She shook her head to clear her thoughts and linked their arms together, allowing them to continue their path down the street. They walked, albeit haphazardly, in a comfortable silence, Emily thankful for Paige's warmth, for all it was the start of summer there was still a chill in the air.

"You seem to have moved around a lot?" Emily asked breaking the silence, remembering how she had heard Paige mention staying in a number of different places when she was talking back at the club.

"I tend to get itchy feet when I stick in one place too long," Paige began, "My Mom needed me to come home for a while, so here I am. For now anyway."

"You're from here originally?"

"Kind of," Paige said vaguely, effectively ending the conversation as she focused her attention on the path ahead.

Emily simply gave a nod of acknowledgement, accepting the conversation had ended, the two settling back into a comfortable silence. Emily soon found herself tripping over once again, Paige stopping slightly and adjusting their positions so that her arm was resting on the small of Emily's back, the other hand reaching over to take Emily's hand in her own, Emily thankful for the extra support. She looked up to see Paige smirking, her attention fixed on something in the distance. "What is it?"

"Fancy doing a duet?" Paige grinned, pointing up ahead, Emily managing to make out a small sign in the distance; Karaoke night.

"I don't sing…" Emily said, shaking her head with earnest as Paige's grin grew wider.

"Night cap then? My roommate ditched me for some guy earlier, kinda worried about what I might walk in on should I get home too soon," Paige asked hopefully.

Emily opened her mouth to pass, to explain that she really shouldn't, she had somewhere to be, that she should really stop drinking as she could barely walk as it is. The grin on Paige's face was infectious however, Emily deciding that one more drink might not be the worst idea in the world. "One drink. And no singing."

The bar was basic to say the least, the two girls having settled into a booth near the rear, a steady stream of people climbing up onto the stage to sing. Emily was regretting her decision to order vodka; the measure far greater than the drinks she had been having all night, the alcohol burning slightly as she swallowed. To top it off, Paige was becoming more and more charming as the night drew on, having somehow managed to convince Emily to stay for another, making her way back from the bar and placing two drinks down in front of them.

"This is the last one, I swear," Emily said slurring slightly, looking up to find Paige grinning back at her. Damn that grin.

"Pinky promise," Paige laughed, holding out her finger, Emily linking them together to make the pact. "Cheers anyway," she said, breaking their hold and lifting her glass. "Hanna said you're going to be a Doctor,"

"I'm going to train to be a Doctor," Emily corrected, clinking their glasses together. "I want to get into Physical Therapy, maybe be a physiotherapist, I might take up a residency here in Philly after the summer…"

"Or?" Paige asked expectantly as she noticed the other girl trailing off, catching Emily off-guard slightly.

"Or what?" Emily asked in confusion.

"It just seemed like there was going to be an or," Paige shrugged, picking up her beer and taking a sip. "My bad."

"No, there might be a or," Emily said with a timid smile, watching as the other girl fiddled nervously with the label of her bottle. "I'm contemplating deferring for a year, travelling maybe, I don't know, it's just a thought,"

"It's a good thought," Paige smiled, noting that Emily had become slightly shy during her confession. "I can fully recommend it,"

"Like I said, It's just a thought. Everyone's expecting me to start-up at Penn Medicine in the fall…It's kind of 'the plan'...I don't really want to disappoint them."

"In my experience, doing what's expected of you rarely makes you happy," Paige said with a shrug, Emily swearing she could hear a slight hint of sadness in the other girls voice as she spoke. "Sometimes, I think you just have to accept you can't please everyone, and go your own way."

"I guess you're right," Emily said, offering Paige a small smile. "Hopefully I can take a leaf out of your book…ease those itchy feet someday," Emily said, cringing slightly when she heard how lame that must have sounded.

"I highly recommend it. To…wanderlust," Paige said smirking, lifting her bottle once again, Emily laughing lightly as they clinked their drinks together once more.

The bar, for all it was dim, was better lit than the club they had been in before, allowing Emily to fully appreciate how attractive Paige actually was. The shirt she was wearing was perfectly fitted, revealing in the right places whilst managing to leave a lot to the imagination, the deep green perfectly complementing Paige's deep brown eyes, the girl's hair coming loose slightly, framing her face. She was rather beautiful, Emily admitted to herself, looking up to see that Paige was staring at her, the look in the other girls eyes causing Emily's breath to catch, unable to tear her gaze away. Eventually deciding she shouldn't have been thinking they way she was as she had admired Paige, she reached for her glass, tearing her gaze away in an attempt to break the strange tension that appeared to have settled over them and taking a big gulp. She coughed as she felt the alcohol burn her throat once again, shaking her head and scrunching her eyes shut.

"I promise to get you home after this one," Paige said softly, reaching across the table to gently rest her hand atop of Emily's, taking the other girl by surprise. Emily looked around nervously, taking in her surroundings, noticing just now how secluded they were in their booth, before glancing back to Paige, watching as the other girl dipped her head with a blush when their eyes met again. Could Paige think this was some kind of impromptu date? Had Hanna mentioned her to Paige before, did Paige know she was gay somehow? By walking so closely, holding each other as they had stumbled along the way…could she have given the other girl the wrong impression?

"Paige I…"

"We're up next," Paige said with a smirk, standing abruptly, Emily shaking her head as she heard her name being called over the speakers.

"No way," Emily said firmly, trying her best to appear angry as she saw Paige grinning down at her goofily. She was unable to stop herself breaking out into a small grin of her own, that damn grin she thought to herself, looking up as Paige attempted to make puppy dog eyes, Emily still shaking her head vehemently.

"Come on," Paige said, still smiling down at her. "Be brave," she said softly, holding out her hand for Emily to take. The dark-haired girl looked up for a moment, before giving in and nodding, taking Paige's hand and letting herself be lead toward the stage.

As Emily woke up the next morning, she was aware of two things. Firstly, that her head was pounding, and she was fairly certain any sudden movement would cause her to vomit. Secondly, she was not in Ellie's bed, and most definitely not in her own. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, cursing herself internally for drinking so much. She turned cautiously, thankful to see she was alone in the bed. Sitting up slightly, she had to close her eyes once again, ignoring the wave of nausea that crept over her as she tried to piece together the events of the night before. After plucking up the courage to sing along with Paige, there had been…a lot of laughing. And a lot, a lot more drinking, if she remembered rightly. Leaving the bar however she couldn't remember at all. Sinking her head into her hands, she groaned, what had she done? She swung her legs out of the bed, trying her best to ignore the pounding in her head, leaning forward slightly to try to ease her discomfort. "Dear god."

Standing slowly, she fumbled around, picking her dress from the night before up off the floor, looking down to see she was wearing someone else's shirt. She was unable to dwell on her confusion, another wave of sickness washing over her, deciding that the best plan of action right now would be to find a bathroom, and fast. She peeked out of the door quickly, seeing the coast was clear, before hastily making her way down the hallway thankful to see the bathroom door ajar. After retching a few times she managed to stand up, wincing as she caught sight of her dishevelled appearance in the mirror.

"Emily?" she heard, followed by a faint tap on the door, recognising the slightly groggy voice as Paige's.

"Shit, shit, shit…" Emily said cursing herself, realising that she had indeed ended up in Paige's bed.

Sighing and realising that no matter how much she prayed she wasn't going to simply disappear, she quickly splashed some water on her face, drying it before slowly opening the door.

"Feeling rough huh?" Paige said with a small smile, Emily noting that the other girl was looking a damn sight fresher than she felt herself.

"Very," Emily said, unable to meet Paige's eyes.

"Here," Paige said, handing Emily a bottle of water and some aspirin.

"Thanks," Emily said, finally meeting Paige's eyes as she took the bottle from her. "Paige about last night…"

"Pretty crazy huh?" Paige interrupted with a shake of her head and a small laugh. "You're pretty wild once you get going Em,"

"Uh…" was all Emily managed to say, unsure what Paige meant. Surely she couldn't mean? Emily shook her head, she would remember, surely she would remember hooking up with some random girl behind her girlfriends back? "Really, about last night…"

"You can take a shower if you want," Paige continued, cutting Emily off once again, motioning towards the towels hanging behind Emily.

"I…honestly I really need to get going."

"Oh, okay," Paige said, face falling slightly. "Do you need a ride? I'm happy to drive you…"

"No, really I should just go."

"Well, at least let me find you something to wear, you can't head home in that," Paige said, pointing at the crumpled up dress in Emily's hands.

"Honestly Paige, it's fine," Emily said, desperately wanting to either leave or for the ground to swallow her whole.

"I insist, besides, it gives us an excuse to hang out again," Paige said with a goofy smile, Emily's stomach sinking as she spoke.

"I can't see you again Paige," she said without thinking, the guilt pouring over her as she saw the other girls face fall. "I mean…"

"Okay. Thats…blunt, but ok," Paige said, trying her best to put on a brave face. "I'm meeting up with Hanna sometime next week, just, pass them on to her if you can? Help yourself to something out of my room, I'll go call you a cab."

"Sure," Emily said dumbly, watching as Paige turned and made her way back down the hallway. Explaining to Hanna why she had Paige's clothes probably wouldn't go well, especially saying as she couldn't actually remember how she had ended up here. Sighing, she turned and made her way back to the bedroom, trying her best to piece together the events of the night before.