Emily introduces Paige to her friends at Bridget's party.

A/N: Sorry this is taking soooooooo long. As usual, first scene is a flashforward.

Pam looked from Emily to Wayne and back to Emily again.

"Oh," she repeated.

Now Emily felt bad.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dropped that on you," she said. "You were mad at me for a good reason. You can keep being mad for a bit if you like, then you can be happy for me."

It seemed like a reasonable suggestion, but her mother just looked more confused now.

"We don't want to be mad at you," Wayne said. "We just want to know where you are."

"OK," Emily agreed.

The room was quiet, but just for a moment.

"So, tell us about this girl," Pam suggested.

"Her name is Paige," Emily responded. "And, I don't know, she's really sweet, I guess."

"Is she one of your Uni friends?" Pam asked.

"No, not exactly," Emily replied.

"Well how did you meet her?" Pam asked.

"At a gig," Emily explained. "That one I didn't want to go to, but Aria dragged me along."

"So she's a friend of Aria's?" Pam asked.

"No, um, she's a musician," Emily replied.

"What does she play?" Wayne chipped in.

"Bass guitar," Emily replied.

"What band is she in?" Wayne asked.

Oh shit.

"Um, you wouldn't have heard of them," Emily replied.

"Well, you should invite her over," Pam said. "We would love to meet her."

"Um, sure, yeah," Emily replied. "That would be great. I'll see when she's free."

It was after midday when Emily emerged from her room. She would have loved to have slept longer, but she had to face the world eventually.

"What time did you get back?" her mother asked, as if she hadn't heard Emily come in, looked at the clock and shaken her heard in disbelief.

"Not sure, pretty late I guess," Emily replied, as if she hadn't seen the clock reading 5:13 when she got into her room.

Still, Emily was feeling pretty good, somehow both relaxed and invigorated. She did her usual morning workout in the afternoon, and it was a pretty good workout.

In between all of this, she fielded calls from Paige, checking in with questions about Bridget's party.

"What should I wear?" Paige asked.

"Just wear what you usually wear," Emily said.

"I don't really have anything else," Paige added.

"Well, there you go," Emily said.

"Will I look out of place?" Paige asked.

"You'll look hot," Emily assured her.

It was weird hearing Paige nervous. She had nothing to worry about.

Now Emily just had to decide what she was going to wear. Something not too flash, not too nerdy, that would compliment and contrast with Paige's tougher look, and something a bit sexy, because Emily was in the mood.

She had it. Her oversize art-print t-shirt, which hung off her shoulder, combined with her cut-off denim shorts, to show a bit of leg. Perfect. And then maybe she'd wear her glasses, which she technically didn't need, but which she remembered Paige had commented on approvingly.

As much as she was starting to get nervous about the night, and how much her friends would embarrass her, part of her was looking forward to turning up with her gorgeous girlfriend, and seeing the looks on all her friends' faces. Deep down inside, she had to admit she wanted to show off Paige. Because, honestly, Paige was pretty impressive.

It was going to be fun. Probably.

Bridget's place was in Wheelers Hill, but Paige was coming from Fitzroy. Paige had a bike though, so she was just getting the train out then biking it to the house. Emily liked this plan because Paige wouldn't have to meet Emily's parents. Maybe one day they would all be ready for this, but that day was not today.

Meanwhile, Emily was there already, hanging out in the back yard with the others.

"Come on, Em," Hanna was saying. "You are dressed to get laid tonight."

Well, Hanna wasn't wrong, but Emily wasn't about to admit that, so she just stared at Hanna.

"Hanna, have you ever considered that Emily might dress to please herself," Spencer suggested.

"To get herself pleased, you mean," Hanna countered.

"That's not even a proper sentence," Spencer declared, but Hanna didn't care.

Emily's phone buzzed. It was Paige.

"I'm out the front," the message read.

"Back in a minute," Emily said.

She ran around to the front, and there was Paige, chaining up her bike. Emily took a moment to admire how cute Paige looked as she did so.

"Hey!" Emily called out, walking over and giving Paige a quick kiss.

"Hey," Paige responded.

This was it.

Emily took Paige's hand and led her along the path beside the house. As they approached the back yard the buzz of music and conversation was getting louder, and Emily noticed Paige was holding her hand a little tighter than she probably needed to.

As they turned the corner, there was everyone.

There was a chorus of greetings from Emily's friends, and Paige responded, but quietly, a little hesitantly. Emily had never seen Paige like this before. On stage she was tough, confident, larger than life. Now, though, she was like... well, she was like the new girl, wondering whether she would fit in.

"It's so nice to meet you," Aria said.

"Emily has told us all about you," Spencer added. "Eventually."

Paige darted a glance at Emily, but Emily just smiled, doing her best to reassure her.

"It's great meeting you guys," Paige responded.

"I thought you'd have a mohawk," Hanna blurted out.

"Hanna..." Emily sighed.

"Oh well, love the tattoos," Hanna continued, grabbing Paige's arm to have a closer look. "You are so different to Emily's last girlfriend," Hanna explained.

"Hanna!" Emily snapped.

"Have you ever dated a nerd before?" Hanna asked Paige.

Emily knew she had to let go.

"So what got you into music?" Spencer asked.

"Girls, I bet," Hanna suggested.

"I guess I just enjoy playing, and putting on a show," Paige replied, doing her best to ignore Hanna. "I've made a lot of great friends from being in a band, too. The scene is really like a community."

"She's really good," Emily added.

"That's certainly what you told us," Hanna added, a cheeky grin on her face.

"Moving right along," Aria began, "I've been to a couple of Rags gigs myself."

"Great," Paige replied.

"No, but guys..." Hanna began.

"Hanna, do you see how we're ignoring you?" Spencer pointed out, cutting her off.

"I actually brought Emily along to see you," Aria continued.

"Yeah, Em's usually way to boring to go somewhere like that," Hanna explained. "The last thing she went to was The Lion King."

"I heard that was good," Paige said, seemingly unphased by Emily's taste in live music.

"Heard!" Hanna exclaimed, laughing.

"What's funny about that?" Aria asked.

"Heard," Hanna repeated. "You know, like a herd of lions."

"It's a pride of lions," Spencer corrected. "A herd is elephants."

"Whatever," Hanna responded, before turning to Paige. "Sorry, Emily's not the only nerd here."

"It's not..." Spencer began, but Hanna paid no attention.

"I should introduce you to everyone," Hanna told Paige.

"Um, OK..." Paige responded, but Hanna wasn't even waiting.

"Hey everyone, you've got to meet Emily's new girlfriend!" Hanna proudly announced as she dragged Paige into the crowd.

"Has she been drinking already?" Emily asked as Hanna left.

Spencer and Aria just nodded.

Emily couldn't focus. She was trying to hold a conversation with Spencer, Mona and Noel, but she kept looking over to where Hanna had Paige bailed up in a corner, blabbering about who knows what. Emily knew she had to let it happen. This was a test, and if she and Paige passed their nascent relationship would be stronger for it. But it was hard keeping away.

"So this new Club I'm DJing at, you wouldn't have heard of it..." Noel was saying, regaling them with stories about how hip he was. All Emily was hearing was blah blah blah.

Noel was OK, but he was one of those guys who went into conversation to win. When Spencer had mentioned Paige, Noel not only had seen the Snotrags, but had also partied with a former member of PIL afterwards.

What Emily didn't get was why Mona wasted her time with him, but she suspected that to Mona, Noel was mostly a way in to the social scene she had always dreamed of.

"They told me they'd never seen a crowd as hyped up as I had them," Noel kept going.

Emily couldn't help herself.

"I'm going to get a drink," she announced, and headed towards the bar, a route which just happened to take her past Hanna and Paige.

As she drew closer she tried to screen everything out, the music, the conversation, the general hubbub around her, and zero in on Hanna's voice.

"I didn't get it," Hanna was saying. "I said to her, 'You're dating the second hottest girl in school. Why would you want to keep that a secret?'"

Emily kept walking.

She got to the drinks table, poured herself a glass of fanta, took a deep breath then headed hack.

"Pam was not happy with Maya after that," Hanna was saying now.

Emily kept walking.

Emily talked some more, danced for a while, but eventually decided she had waited long enough. With a simple "If it's OK, I'd like to have my girlfriend back" she rescued Paige, and the two of them headed outside.

Bridget's had a fernery in the corner of the back yard, and Emily had always liked it there. Right now it was perfect - quiet, secluded, and the cool air coming off the plants was refreshing after the stuffy atmosphere of the party. She took Paige there, and the two of them sat down on the garden seat, snuggling up close to each other.

"I want one of these one day," Emily said. "If I ever get a garden that can fit one."

"It's nice," Paige said.

Emily lightly brushed he fingers up and down Paige's arm, amusing herself watching Paige get goosebumps. She could feel Paige's eyes on her, so she leaned in a little more, looking away as she casually brushed her hair off her shoulder, letting Paige have a good look at her neck.

It worked, because soon she felt Paige's lips on her neck, moving up, then gently nibbling on on her earlobe.

Emily shivered.

She felt Paige's tongue dart into her ear.

Oh God.

Emily grabbed Paige and kissed her. She liked kissing those lips, tasting Paige's tongue. She had been waiting for this, not even for a day, but far too long. She was hungry for Paige.

They kept kissing, their mouths pressed together, their hands all over each other. Emily could feel the muscles in Paige's arms flexing as they gripped each other tightly. Emily responded in kind, pulling Paige in until there was no distance between them.

They kissed and kissed, but Emily wanted more.

She broke the kiss and, with a playful smile on her face, stood up in front of Paige. She leaned down as if to kiss Paige, but at the last minute diverted, and instead whispered in Paige's ear.

"I want to tease you," she said. "No touching. Is that OK?"

Paige nodded and Emily gently stroked Paige's forehead. Now it was time to start the show.

Emily stood just inches from Paige, and slowly took her top off. Emily had no bra on underneath, and she was enjoying Paige's wide-eyed stare. She draped the top over Paige's face for a moment, then pulled it away. Finally, she lay it out on the seat next to Paige with a flourish.

Emily moved closer, now resting her elbows on Paige's shoulders, her breasts almost touching Paige's face. Paige kept her hands at her sides, her eyes drinking it all in.

The feeling of Paige's adoration was working for Emily too. She wanted to show Paige more, but she had to wait a little. She ruffled Paige's hair now, just fleetingly drawing Paige's face in against Emily's breast before pulling away again.

She wanted to, but not yet.

Emily turned to face away from Paige, then bent over, touching her hands to her ankles before slowly, slowly, bringing them up her legs until she was again upright.

She started to undo her shorts. Just the top button. She turned to face Paige again. The next button, and the next. Paige was almost shaking with anticipation, but Emily wanted to make her wait. As she undid the last button, she slipped her hand inside, and started pleasuring herself.

Paige was riveted, her eyes pleading.

OK, it was time.

Emily pushed her shorts down, just a little, not quite revealing everything, but enough for Paige to see that Emily wasn't wearing anything underneath.

"I've been looking forward to this," Emily whispered.

That was enough. Emily dropped her shorts to her ankles and stepped out of them, before carefully picking them up and putting them with her top.

She stood over Paige completely naked now, swaying her hips from side to side, then put one foot up on the seat. She started slowly masturbating right in front of Paige's face. Paige sat staring, her mouth hanging open.

"You're so beautiful," Paige whispered in awe.

This was getting Emily incredibly hot. Her pussy was almost touching Paige now. If Paige stuck her tongue out she could probably reach it, and damn did Emily want her to do that. But Emily had another plan.

"I want to make you come," Emily said. "Please."

Paige looked a little confused, but nodded.

Emily knelt down on the ground in front of Paige. As she did she realised she'd gotten herself more worked up than she had intended, but she wanted to please Paige.

Still, it was distracting. She so wanted to be touched.

Emily undid Paige's belt and pulled her jeans and panties down.

Paige opened her legs. Oh God, that was what Emily wanted to see.

Emily held Paige's pussy open with her fingers and started licking her girlfriend's beautiful, sweet cunt. Paige was gripping on to the seat, pushing her hips forward to meet Emily, but Emily didn't need any help. Her tongue stroked and caressed and probed Paige.

"Fuck... Em..." Paige whimpered.

Emily was overwhelmed by the smell and taste of Paige's aroused state. She hungrily lapped it up. She could feel herself getting more excited now, too, but she was going to focus on Paige.

Paige's back was arched and her head was leaning back.

"Oh, God, Em, yes, fuck yes..." she panted.

Emily pushed two fingers inside of Paige, and heard Paige gasp. She coaxed Paige on now, licking and sucking on her pussy, playing Paige with her fingers, almost like she could draw the orgasm out of her by force.

Emily wanted to come herself, but she couldn't, not yet.

Paige's breathing was hard and fast, and Emily kept pushing her on. She could feel the energy flowing through Paige's body. She was almost there, but so was Emily.

Paige shrieked for just a moment then her hips bucked, pressing herself into Emily's face, almost smothering her. Emily kept going, but she couldn't stand this any longer, and with her other hand reached down to her own pussy and grabbed at it, working herself urgently and roughly.

Suddenly it was all too much. While Paige was still climaxing, Emily felt her own body swamped by pleasure. She lost track of everything, until all she knew was the glorious taste of her girlfriend, and the ecstasy flowing through her body. It was pure bliss.

By the time they left Bridget's the last train had gone. Paige said it was fine, she could ride home, but Emily insisted on driving her. So now they were heading along the freeway, still quite a way to go.

"Did you have fun?" Emily asked as she drove.

"Yeah, I like your friends," Paige replied. "They're really nice."

"They like you too," Emily said.

"Its funny," Paige began. "Just a few years ago I was a suburban girl, too."

"Where did you grow up?" Emily asked.

"Out in the hills, past Belgrave," Paige replied. "Not quite in the bush, but almost."

"What was it like?" Emily asked.

"I mean, beautiful, but..." Paige paused for a moment, like she was choosing her words. "Sometimes it was great. There were always family and friends around, and lots of other kids. We had a big reserve near our house where we could all run around and play. But over time, I don't know, we started getting these long lectures about sin and purity. I didn't even know what they were talking about at first, I just knew I'd go to hell if I wasn't careful."

Emily reached across and took Paige's hand. It hurt to think of Paige being put through that.

"I wouldn't be allowed to come to a party like this," Paige continued. "Sometimes I wonder how I would have turned out if my parents hadn't found Jesus. Maybe I'd be just like you guys, I don't know. When I didn't have anyone, the punks took me in, and it was the first time in ages I felt like I belonged."

Paige seemed to live in a different world to Emily, but it hadn't always been that way. What mattered, though, was that Paige had found people who had taken her in, when the community she had grown up in had no place for her.

Emily didn't understand the strange concept of morality some people had. Surely right and wrong was how you treated people, not how well you conformed. She could never get her head around it.

They drove for a while more in silence, but there was a question which was bugging Emily, a question she had to ask.

"So what did Hanna tell you?" Emily asked.

"Um, just about you," Paige replied.

"Anything embarrassing?" Emily asked, knowing the answer would be yes.

"Ah..." Paige hesitated before replying. "There was a story about the school assembly."

Emily could feel herself blushing.

"Oh my God," she said. "That was Hanna's fault anyway."

There was a short pause as Emily tried to think of a way to change the subject.

"Em, can I ask something?" Paige said.

"Sure," Emily replied, relieved.

"You don't really like punk music, do you?" Paige asked.

Emily smiled.

"I'm getting used to it," she began. "But no, not really. I like you though. It was kind of an accident, but a happy accident. Aria brought me along and I saw you and... I was suddenly keen to learn."

Paige smiled and dipped her head.

"I'm just, I don't know, I guess I'm amazed someone like you could want to be with someone like me," Paige said. "I just feel so lucky."

"I'm the lucky one," Emily replied.

"No, I am," Paige insisted, chuckling a little now.

"I am," Emily insisted, and she meant it.

Back at Paige's place, they climbed into bed together, holding each other close. Emily knew she would be in trouble from her parents in the morning, but she didn't care. Right now all she wanted to be was close to Paige, lying in her arms, peaceful, content and relaxed.

All Emily knew was the warmth of Paige's body, the strength of her limbs, the softness of her skin. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.