"I wish you were coming back to Rosewood with me," Spencer lamented. She liked this new reality between her and Paige. They still loved the struggle; contesting against each other over trivial things, like what route they should take when they walked back from the cafeteria, to things where the stakes were higher, like top and bottom in bed. But, in the new routine that they had gradually settled into, they could be vulnerable with each other as well. If Spencer felt like lamenting the fact that she and Paige were going to be apart over the summer, she could just say so.

Still, she caught Paige off guard when she said it. Paige chuckled at the words, choking a bit on her water. When Spencer rolled her eyes, Paige collected herself. "Oh, you're serious." It was a statement, not a question.

Spencer knew why Paige was dismissive. "She's fine, Paige."

Paige put her palms up and shook her head, smiling in disbelief. "Whatever you say."

"And let's assume, for the sake of argument, that she's not. Would you really make me face her all alone?"

The pout on Spencer's face was pitiable. Or it would have been pitiable, if if hadn't been Spencer and Paige. That wasn't the way that they related to each other. Spencer would never seriously resort to a pout to try to guilt Paige into capitulating. Yes, she could be honest about her feelings, but she would never use vulnerability as a way to win. That would mean conceding the upper-hand to Paige.

"Okay, so you'd rather we face her as a couple?" Paige scoffed.

Spencer reached across the table to take Paige's hand. "I'm telling you, she's fine, Paige." Paige nodded in a condescending, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus" kind of way. Spencer pulled her hand away, as upset about the fact that Paige didn't believe her as she was about the condescending look. "Well, anyway, she asked about you, today," Spencer said, unabashedly irritated.

Paige's head snapped back at this news. "Really?"

Spencer and Emily had gotten back to talking over the past couple of months. Their talks were infrequent at first, but, soon, they had eased back into their weekly routine. That part wasn't news to Paige. What shocked her was hearing that Emily had started to talk about her again.

Spencer nodded. "It's been three months. She's had time to deal." Spencer's tone was still heavy with irritation.

Paige should've known Emily well enough to realize that it wouldn't take her long to get over her resentment at Spencer and Paige's relationship.

"Well, that's... good," Paige said, nodding her head a little. "That shows real growth." She raised her water glass, and Spencer clinked hers with it, rolling her eyes at how over the top the gesture was. "So, what did you tell her?"

"That you ask about her all the time." It was the truth.

"Hmm," Paige said, surprised that Spencer had told Emily.

"Yeah. She seemed pleased to hear that."

"Well, good," Paige said, nodding her head. She knew Emily; she knew that it would make her feel good to hear that Paige was thinking about her, as if Paige were pining. "Let her have a victory," she said with a shrug.

Spencer shook her head with a smile. That was just so Paige. "She's seeing someone," Spencer informed her.

"Of course."

"A brunette," Spencer added, knowing that Paige would be wondering. Paige gave a mini-fist-pump at the confirmation of her theory about Emily's dating patterns. "But don't get any ideas!" Spencer joked. According to Paige's theory, there was a second brunette coming, and Paige had always been one of those two brunettes.

Paige just smiled, mouthing the word, "No." Spencer cocked her head and sighed. "She's always going to be there, isn't she?" Before Paige could object, Spencer took hold of her forearm. "No, I get it," she said, nodding. "It's like when Field Hockey played at Penn last fall. Being on that campus, I couldn't help thinking, 'This could've been my life,' you know? I mean, that was my dream - my only dream when it came to college - for so many years. But it's not as if I'm secretly wishing that I could transfer to Penn. That's not my dream anymore. Those dreams of Penn will always be a part of my history, but Penn is no longer an active dream."

"Yeah, I get that," Paige said, nodding her head. "Because if you had gone to Penn, you would never have gotten any of this." Paige stood up and struck a quick pose, smiling cockily.

"Yeah, right," Spencer deadpanned. "I'd be rocking some lucky Quaker's world." Paige laughed along with Spencer. "Who knows?" Spencer continued. "I wouldn't be too far from State College. I may have ended up with Emily." When Paige got silent, Spencer put both her hands on Paige's wrist. "Sorry," she pleaded, lowering her head. "Too far?"

"Oh, no," Paige said genuinely. "I was just trying to imagine the two of you together." Spencer fell back against her seat and gave Paige a look of rebuke, tilting her head. "Not like that," she said, surprised that Spencer's mind had gone there. "Perv. I mean, I was trying to imagine how you and Em would relate to each other."

"Got it!" Spencer nodded with a click of her tongue.

"Actually, I always kind of saw you with Aria," Paige admitted.

Spencer couldn't help laughing. "Is this something you spent a lot of time thinking about?"

The way that Paige ducked her head gave her away. "Anyway," she said, needing an exit from the road she'd led them down. "I get your point about Penn: You never forget your first."

"You can say it," Spencer said, softly. She looked away, despite herself.

"Say what?"

"Your first love."

Paige smiled, taking Spencer's hand in both of hers. She hadn't actually been thinking "love," but she couldn't really deny that that's what Emily had been for her. So, once again, she backtracked to an earlier point in the conversation, to change the tone. "Well, I just wish that you could train at one of the hockey camps here in California."

Spencer just nodded her head. She didn't feel like getting into this again. Yes, there were field hockey camps in California, but all of the really elite camps were back east, where the sport had more history and tradition. "You could come swim in PA," she breathed out snidely, and it made her point. Paige backed off, realizing that she didn't want to revive that fight, either.

"Well, let's just enjoy the time we have together before you have to go," Paige said instead.

That was it, she realized. That statement summed up their relationship together. They were making the most of their days together, until one of them left.

In the early days of their relationship, they lived under a cloud of impending doom, as if they had to rush everything in before the cloud burst, unleashing its fury and washing their relationship away. Those were torrid, urgent, lust-filled days; days that burned white-hot with passion. After they confronted Emily, they began easing into a more comfortable period, no longer weighed down by the fear that a hasty word, a misunderstanding, or an overture from one of their exes would break them up. They learned to be themselves, and they gave themselves permission to dream about a future together. Their passion shifted: No less heated, it developed into a constant simmer, capable of being stoked into a full-blown blaze with the slightest meaningful touch or suggestive word. And, oh, how they enjoyed stoking the flames.

And, now, they were at a place where they could acknowledge that nothing lasts forever. Death of one or the other - or of the love between them - was inevitable, but such a distant inevitability that it didn't warrant fretting over. Inevitably, the polar ice caps will melt, and half the world will drown; the big one will hit, and California will crumble into oblivion; the Earth will collide with a stray asteroid, setting off another ice age. Everything has an end, but there was no need to be morbid. Just love life in the present.

"Yes," Spencer agreed. "Enjoy these next few days, and look forward to the Last Shout of Summer Ball."

Paige let out a huff of frustration. "You're really going to make me go to that?" Spencer narrowed her eyes, scowling with her entire face. They had already discussed this. Spencer had won that argument, fair and square: Paige would be flying out to Rosewood for the ball.

"I swear, Hastings, as if Rosewood's not creepy enough all by itself… What's this obsession with all the weird, dress-up parties?"

Spencer playfully shoved Paige's shoulder. "I keep forgetting that you're a transplant, not a native. You didn't grow up with the whole Rosewood ethos."

"Thank God," Paige muttered to herself.

Spencer pressed her palms to Paige's and intertwined their fingers, letting their hands fall onto the tablecloth. "You're going to miss me, aren't you?" she half-whined.

Paige released her left hand, cupping Spencer's cheek inside the wisps of hair that were dangling at the side of her face. She leaned in, pulling Spencer in for a quick kiss. As soon as they released, she wanted another taste of Spencer's lips, so she pulled her in again for a longer, harder kiss. The kiss was a satisfactory answer to Spencer's question, but Paige wanted to say it out loud. "Every moment," she intoned in a barely audible rasp.

Spencer was a little breathless from the kissing. Before she could voice her agreement, she leaned across the table for another long, slow kiss. "Mmm. I miss you already." She smoothed her free hand over Paige's hair a couple of times. As they gazed deep into each other's eyes, she threaded a strand of Paige's hair between two fingers, releasing it and repeating the move. Paige smiled in contentment and leaned her head into Spencer's hand. Spencer ran her thumb back and forth over Paige's bottom lip.

Paige pointed her chin in the direction of a booth across the aisle from them. "They're staring," she said, with a totally unembarrassed grin.

Spencer gave her a gentle kiss. "Can you blame them?"

When their lips parted, Paige said softly, "Insanely jealous."

Spencer was shocked for a second before she shook her head resignedly. Of course, Emily had told Paige about Spencer's narcotic-, stress-, and insomnia-induced dream.

That was the thing about dating your best friend's ex.

A/N – So, a short but sweet ending to an even shorter story. I wanted to bring it to a close, because I don't really know where I could go from here (The kind of Paily fluff that I usually write doesn't really seem to fit the mood of this story.), and I didn't want to abandon it.

(And speaking of Paily fluff…) – To the guest who asked whether or not I plan to write Paily again… Frankly, I'd love to, but I don't have any good story ideas. Prompts are always welcome. I can't promise anything other than to consider any and all prompts that I receive, though.

Thanks so much for reading along. I truly love you all.

Poem: Dream-Land, EA Poe, of course.