Work Text:
20 Questions
”I am not playing 20 questions with you.” She says sternly. The statement brings Paige out of her fire cackling induced stupor, blinking a few times to chase away the orange flickering behind her eyelids, she looks up, resting her chin on her forearms. Emily is sitting a couple of feet away from her on a log, one elbow on her knee, while she stabs at the burning wood a little more forcefully than necessary. Trying not to smirk at the petulant expression on her girlfriends face, Paige straightens up a bit and leans back on her hands, relishing in the solid earth beneath her fingers.
“Why not? It is literally the only thing on my list. And we’ve already done half of the 32 on yours.” Paige points out, lifting her eyebrows to further prove her point. Huffing indignantly, Emily finally gives up on her poking to look at the other girl crossly. “There are not 32 things on my list. And don’t act for a second like you didn’t love it.” Paige does smirk at that. “And it really isn’t my fault that my imagination is far superior to yours.” The smirk quickly fades from Paige’s face when she realises that Emily’s usual playful tone is replaced my something else entirely. She’s not done either, by the looks of it. Paige sets her jaw. “And you know what I’ll tell you why not.” The brunette is up and going now, pacing around the campfire. Finding a tree to lean against, Paige settles in for a long one.
“Because…” Emily holds out her index finger. “You forgot the flashlight.” She borrowed one of Caleb’s 17 fancy high-tech ones. It was fine. Middle finger. “You drove us to the wrong place.” Not entirely true, she just got a little off course that’s all. But Hanna’s surprisingly good phone service saved them. It was fine. Ring finger. “Our supposed-to-be-four-man-tent is a two man tent.” More cuddles. Totally fine. Well maybe not if you asked Spencer and Aria. Pinkie. Paige wonders absentmindedly if Emily has enough fingers to count all the fuck ups she’s apparently made. “I didn’t catch any arbores.” Wait, Paige is fairly certain that wasn’t her fault. Thumb. “You burnt my S’more.” Okay that defiantly wasn’t her.
And now Emily is pouting slightly instead of scowling. Paige gets up slowly, trying to smooth out the confused frown she’s sure is on her face. She walks the two whole steps it takes to get to Emily, who has at least stopped pacing and is just staring at the flickering flames, thoughtful look in her eyes. “Okay, Em. What is this really about?” When she takes her hands gently Emily startles slightly but looks her in the eye, Paige settles them down on the log. “Do I need to remind you that it was you’re idea to go `live in the woods for a few days`?” She says teasingly, nudging Emily lightly with her shoulder to make her glance up from their joined hands. But the other girl just looks at her, so she continues. “And you know all those things worked out, with help of the guys of c-“
Emily rolls her eyes, and the edge is back in her tone when she grits out; “Exactly.” Trying to keep her own temper in check, Paige takes a deep breath. Exactly what? “What do you mean?” she asks instead, tilting her head slightly looking at Emily intently. The brunette has faltered a little, worried expression on her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.” She begins apologetically. “I just…” Paige squeezes her hand when a frustrated sight escapes her, instead of the rest of her sentence. When after a beat it’s apparent that Emily can’t find the words, Paige decides to switch tactics. “Please just tell me if I did something, so I can say sorry and we can kiss and make up.” She wiggles her eyebrows too for good measure, but very quickly wishes she hadn’t. Emily does not look amused. “Well yeah, you did something! You went and invited all of our friends to my camping trip!” Wrong move McCullers. Wait, what?
“You know two weeks in Philadelphia is a long time. I just wanted to get far away from Rosewood and have you all to myself for a few days. To be able to swim in a lake without having to worry about who’s watching. And you teaching me to fish without being distracted every five minutes to help everybody else out. A-and finding the right camp site with a real map.” Emily’s neck is starting to feel warm but damn it she is getting this out. “And to watch you failing miserably at getting our tent up until I help you out. And not having a flashlight so I’d have to curl up right next to you because it’s just really fucking dark and there are weird noises okay. And, god, being able to make out against a tree without Caleb’s wolf whistle in the background.”
Her cheeks are defiantly a deep red now, but she really doesn’t care. “Or Hanna’s for that matter.” She mumbles distractedly as she kicks at the log with a huff. Remembering herself, Emily glances up shyly. Her breath catches in her throat at the way Paige is looking at her. The brunette doesn’t have any time to worry about having a heart attack I the middle of nowhere, though. Because then there is a hand on her waist and lips pressing hard against her own. “That is so cute.” Is breathed against her lips and Emily feels a little dizzy. She pulls back just a fraction to look the other girl in the eye, Paige gives her a lopsided grin. “We can still do all of that, you know.”