Here's the last(?) chapter. It was the ending I'd planned from the very beginning, I'm not a big fan of epilogues, so I'm not sure if I'll actually end it here or not. Maybe I'll decide after hearing your thoughts. I hope you guys like this, and Happy Labor Day to anyone who celebrates.

"Spencer? I need a favor?" Paige mumbled into her phone, watching the clocks on the white wall in front of her.

Emily had spent her Saturday night downing shots of tequila on Hanna's couch, the rest of the girls watching her with wide eyes.

"So, Paige was tagged in some pictures on facebook?" Spencer asked with a confused look as Emily nodded, "and you're drinking because….."

"BECAUSE" Emily shouted, "she was tagged in pictures with multiple hot girls at a college party! And we haven't spoken since yesterday morning."

"Was she doing something suggestive?" Aria asked curiously.

"Well, no." Emily reached to grab the bottle of tequila that Spencer was now pouring out. "But she's starting a whole new life, with all new girls, she's not going to care about me when she gets there."

"False, none of those girls were as hot as you," Hanna offered.

"It's not about looks. It's just…. Paige and I… we're nothing right now. I'm just some girl in Rosewood who's ultimately holding her back."

"Paige doesn't see you as that," Spencer ripped the newfound bottle of vodka out of Emily's hands, "She sees you as the one standing next to her when all her dreams come true."

Emily sat back, her mind buzzing as the alcohol swarmed through her body. "I really love her."

"Then tell her!" Hanna shouted, "Jesus Christ, you two are all about patience and waiting, just tell her you want to be with her!"

"But she isn't ready."

"Maybe she doesn't know how ready she is," Spencer commented as she looked to Hanna, "for once I agree with Hanna. Tell her how you feel and what you want."

Looking between Spencer and Hanna, Emily sat up and nodded. "Yeah….Yeah! I'm totally going to call her!" She shouted before grabbing her phone and running out of the room.

Spencer looked at Hanna and sighed, "I meant sober…."

Shrugging, Hanna laid back on the couch, "call it liquid courage...maybe they'll have phone sex if it works out." Spencer swung her arm and hit Hanna hard.

Paige had been at Stanford for three days. She'd loved the campus, the weather, the people, everything. Last night she'd met a few girls on the swim team who were practicing over break and they took her out. College life was…. different, but ultimately Paige decided it was a different she'd definitely welcome with open arms. Everything was great and she was more than looking forward to attending next fall, but something definitely felt like it was missing.

Her parents suggested that she was feeling homesick, although she knew without reservation, that missing Rosewood wasn't the problem. She did not miss Rosewood, she did not miss the A drama, and she definitely did not miss the horrible memories she had of every place in that town. Paige knew what she missed, and so did her parents, but it was still left unsaid.

Returning to the hotel after dinner with her parents, Paige threw herself on the bed. She loved California, she had loved San Francisco where they flew into, and she loved Stanford. The only thing she needed was the girl she loved. As if on queue, her phone began ringing in her pocket. Emily Fields3 was lit up on the screen. It was 10 p.m. in California, which meant it was 1 a.m. in Rosewood… why would Emily be calling her at 1 a.m.?

"Em?" Paige answered, pressing the phone to her ear as she sat up.

"Paigeeeeee!" Emily slurred a bit, "Hi baby!"

Paige couldn't stop the grin that formed on her face, drunk Emily was always needy. "Hi you, how are you?"

"I'm good! No, that's a lie. I just lied. I'm terrible. I miss you."

"I miss you too, Em." Paige got comfortable in her hotel bed, settling in for the conversation.

"No, no I really miss you. Like, I miss my girlfriend. Like, really really miss her."

"Em, we're not-"

"Yes, we are. Who are you kidding?" Emily cut through sternly, "We're totally together. I love you. I love you so much it hurts to be without you. I love you so much that I can't breathe when you're not around. I want to be with you."

Paige's eyes slammed shut as she heard those words leave Emily's mouth. It wasn't until now that she realized how much she missed knowing she was loved, by the girl she loved back. "Emily-"

"No, shut up. Let me get this out or I don't think I ever will. I'll wait, forever if you asked, but I don't want to. Honestly, I don't want to wait another minute to call you my girlfriend. I have these feelings for you, feelings so strong that they put any torture I've ever experienced to shame, because this? The torture of being without you? It's so much worse than anything A could ever do to me. You're scared and I get that, but you love me, I know you do. And I love you, God Paige, those three words can't even begin to describe how extensive my feelings for you are."

Paige's eyes were closed and her breathing was heavy, she felt the tears trailing down her cheeks. "I don't know what to do…" she let out brokenly, her voice hoarse.

"I'm going to say this, and then I'm going to hang up and let you decide what your next move is." Emily whispered softly, " Choose me. You've never given up on me and I will never, ever give up on you. I've been afraid of a lot of things in my life, but I've never been afraid to love you. I'm asking you to stop being afraid to love me."

"Please, for the love of God Paige, come home and choose me…..please." Emily pleaded, her voice cracking. Paige could hear her breathing heavily before the line went dead. What's your next move McCullers?

New Year's Eve, 7 a.m.

Paige had been awake most of the night, analyzing and reanalyzing her phone conversation with Emily. She needed to absorb everything, Emily had just put herself out there and Paige was too far to actually do anything about it. Stop being afraid to love me.

Looking at the bedside clock that was now illuminating 7:00 a.m., Paige jumped out of bed and out of the room, running across the hall and knocking loudly on her parent's door.

"Paige?" Her mother questioned, opening the door with a tired yawn.

"I know we're only supposed to head back home tomorrow morning, but I need you to drive me to the airport. I need to be in Philly tonight, please." Paige was begging, she was prepared to get on her knees if her parents didn't budge.

"Paige..."

"Please! I'm begging you. I know this is ridiculous, I know this is crazy, but she's everything to me."

"Is this about Emily?" Her mother questioned, looking at Paige knowingly. The swimmer nodded and Paige's mother turned to shout into the room, "you were right Nick, looks like we'll be getting that New Year's Eve alone after all."

Paige raised a questioning eyebrow as her mother turned back to her; "We were surprised you agreed to spend New Year's Eve with us to begin with. We're staying until tomorrow, but there's a flight to Philadelphia at noon. Go get packed."

New Year's Eve, 9 p.m.

Paige tapped aggressively at her phone as she stepped off the plane, tapping Spencer's name, she held the phone to her ear. Her nerves were at an all time high, she was so anxious to see Emily, to be with Emily.

"Paige?" Spencer shouted into the receiver. The music behind her was loud and it was clear Spencer was at Mona's party.

"Spencer, I need a favor." There was zero percent chance of Paige getting a cab at Philadelphia airport on New Year's Eve, and even less of a chance of her making it to the party on time.

"Are you alright? Aren't you supposed to be in California? You know it's 9 p.m. on New Year's Eve, right?" Leave it to Spencer Hastings to ask a bunch of questions when someone calls in a rush.

"Yes, I'm aware. I'm at the airport and I need you to come pick me up."

"Airport? PHL? Do you have any idea the kind of traffic I'm going to run into in Philly right now?" Spencer scoffed, rolling her eyes.

Pressing her fingers to the bridge of her nose, Paige sighed, "Spencer… please?" Paige was begging and she would kill Spencer if she ever brought this up, but right now she wasn't above it. She'd begged her parents earlier that morning, and now she was begging Spencer Hastings. "I'm ready, I'm not scared anymore. I need to tell Emily I'm ready, I can't let her ring in the New Year with someone else." She mumbled softly, "Please."

There was a few seconds of silence on both ends, only the sound of thumping music in the background. Paige heard Spencer talking to someone on the other end before speaking into the receiver, "I'm on my way."

What should have been a 15 minutes trip was an hour and a half thanks to NYE traffic in Philadelphia. By 10:45, Paige was sitting nervously in the backseat of Spencer' SUV as Toby drove.

"It's a good thing you decided to pull this stunt, some swimmer from Hollis has been flirting with Emily all night." Spencer turned to look at Paige from the passenger seat, "but why the sudden need to confess your love?"

"Being so far from her, around other people who didn't know she existed, I realized how much I needed her beside me. I realized how much I needed her to exist in my life. I just… I realized." Paige shook her head, her leg jumping nervously as she watched the clock.

"We're going to make it in time, right?" Paige directed her question at Toby as they inspected the traffic they were stuck in. Toby gave her a sympathetic smile, he really hoped they would make it, but with this traffic he couldn't give her a definite answer.

Sitting back in her seat, Paige slapped her hands against her thighs as she watched the traffic in her window. Spencer and Toby were trying to find the quickest route back to the hotel, they really saw how slim their chances were getting. It had been an hour and they were still a good 20 blocks away from the hotel, traffic was at a stop.

"Pull over," Paige ordered, "there's a spot right there, just park in it."

"We're a good 20 blocks from the hotel, Paige." Toby commented, looking at her in the rearview mirror, "not to mention there's thousands of people on the streets waiting for the countdown."

Looking at the clock- 11:45 and then back to Paige, Spencer turned to speak to her boyfriend, "park the car, we'll run."

Pulling the car over and parking it on a nearby street, the three jumped out of the vehicle. Paige immediately started sprinting in the direction of the city center, Toby and Spencer following closely behind. Spencer was thanking God she chose to wear flats, her hand linked with Toby's as they made their way through the crowds of people on the streets.

Paige pushed her way through, never letting up on the steady sprint she had going. No way in hell was she going to let the girl she loved ring in the New Year with some swimmer from Hollis. She knew she'd lost Toby and Spencer a few blocks down, but it didn't matter, she just needed to get to Emily.

She looked at her watch, panting heavily as she reached the hotel- 11:58. She pushed her way through the people in the hotel lobby, mumbling apologies as she made a beeline for the elevator. Tapping the button repeatedly, the doors finally opened and she pressed the button for the top floor. As it began, her phone chimed. A message from Spencer.

Spencer: Room 3231, slipped the key into your pocket. Get your girl, McCullers.

10.

The elevator doors opened and she could hear the people on the floor counting down.

9.

Paige followed the arrows for the room numbers, skimming past each one as she tried to find it.

8.

Stopping in front of room 3231, Paige slid her hand into her jacket pocket to feel for a key.

7.

Gripping the key, she slid it into the door as the lock flashed green.

6.

Turning the handle she stepped into the large suite, looking around at the group of people.

5.

She heard someone shout her name from her right, she looked to see Hanna and Caleb.

4.

Hanna pointed to the other end of the room, following her finger Paige spotted Emily talking to another brunette. She gratefully smiled at Hanna before pushing through the crowd.

3.

Finally reaching Emily, Paige gently pressed a hand to the chest of the girl who was unsuccessfully trying to lean in to kiss Emily as the countdown continued.

2.

"Excuse me." Paige whispered to the stranger before sliding between the two and wrapping a shocked looking Emily up in her arms.

1.

"I'm ready," Paige whispered as she pulled Emily into a deep kiss, her arms moving to the other girl's waist as she lifted her off the ground. Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck, unable to stop the smile glued to her face as she returned the kiss. Finally.

Happy New Year.