The Unauthorized Story Chapter 12
Title: The Unauthorized Story of a Lesbian Undercover
Author: TexasWatermelon
Chapter: 12
Pairing: Well... that's to be determined.
Rating: A big PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own this, blah blah, on to the story
Our song is the slam of screen doors, sneaking out late tapping on your window, when we’re on the phone and you talk real slow, cause it’s late and your mama don’t know… Sorry, I’ve just discovered country music, so I’m slightly obsessed. I would just like to warn you that there is major angst in this chapter. And crappy writing. I really don’t like it all that much. See for yourself.
dilemma- noun- a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives
Paige Michalchuk had a dilemma.
It wasn’t the kind of dilemma that involved picking out shoes that were cute, but not too flashy or slutty, and casual, but not sloppy, while still being comfortable and durable and matching your outfit at the same time. No, that kind of dilemma she could handle. This dilemma involved two beautiful women, three fragile hearts, and more potential for an explosion than Three Mile Island armed with 672 atomic bombs. Toronto was going to feel some aftershocks by the time it was all said and done.
Ellie was avoiding her. And when she couldn’t manage to do that, she was bitchy enough to make Paige wish she’d go away again. The blonde wasn’t sure what the hell had happened, but the sudden mood swing was worrying her. Paige didn’t do well with other people’s attitudes, and it was taking everything she had not to start a fight about it. She figured it might be the loss of University and the paper. Ellie never did seem like an equal opportunity summer enjoyer. Still, it wasn’t Paige’s fault that Canada didn’t feel the need to implement education all year round, and she wasn’t about to start lobbying for it either. If Ellie wanted that, she could start brushing up on her Chinese.
Alex, on the other hand, wouldn’t stay away. She was keeping her word about showing Paige how much she wanted her. The problem was, as easily as Alex could piss Paige off, she also knew just what to do to make her heart melt. One night, Paige had been bitching about the lack of coffee in the house and how no one had time to go get it before morning. The next morning, Paige woke up to Marco calling through the house asking who had dropped off a bag of fresh coffee grounds and blueberry muffins (Paige’s favorite). It just wasn’t fair.
And when it came down to what Paige wanted… well, she wasn’t really sure what she wanted anymore. She didn’t want to leave Ellie, really. It was safe and warm where Ellie lived, and Paige was happy there. But the familiarity of Alex was creeping back into her system, and each day that Alex showed up made her remember one more reason that she’d fallen for her in the first place. And truthfully, if Ellie had any idea that their relationship was in trouble, she certainly wasn’t fighting for it. She was only helping to break it down further.
Asking Marco for help was out of the question. As much as he loved Paige, Ellie was still his best friend, and that wasn’t likely to change. Paige just couldn’t bring herself to tell him that she was having thoughts about Alex again. She didn’t want to put him in the middle. As for Dylan, he was a wreck where relationships were concerned as well, and Paige didn’t really feel like talking to her older brother about her girl troubles (something he couldn’t really relate to). All in all, she was screwed, and not literally enough to make the emotional fallout worth while.
Monday morning found Paige working at The Dot, serving coffee and pastries to all of the miserable people on their way to the office and the hopeful students of Degrassi gearing up for their last few weeks of school, trying desperately not to think about her troubles and failing miserably. After the morning rush died down, her manager pointed her towards the stampede-battered tables for post-war cleanup. She obliged, grateful for something else to keep her occupied. Just as she did, the shop bell rang, and a glint of red caused her to look up. Despite herself, Paige couldn’t help but smile when she saw Ellie walk up to the counter.
“Hey,” she said, putting her hand on the redhead’s shoulder. Ellie turned her head and gave a small smile.
“Hey yourself,” she replied. “Fancy seeing you here.” Paige grinned wider, thinking that Ellie’s mood streak had finally ended, which was cause enough for her to give Ellie a kiss.
“What can I get for you?” Paige asked, moving around the other side of the counter.
“Hm, I think I’ll take a coffee,” Ellie told her. Paige raised an eyebrow speculatively.
“Don’t we have that at home?” she pointed out. She could almost see Ellie’s good mood deflate in an instant and mentally kicked herself for saying anything.
“I wanted this coffee instead,” the redhead said. Paige had to resist the urge to scoff. How could Ellie still be trying to be tactful at this point? The blonde was getting tired of her girlfriend’s irrationality. Arms crossed, she gave Ellie a hard look.
“Why? Because Alex didn’t buy it?” Ellie’s brow furrowed.
“I’m surprised there’s any left still with how fast you scooped it up. You just couldn’t wait to drink it,” she shot. This time Paige did scoff in disbelief.
“We were out of coffee! I wasn’t going to ignore it just because Alex bought it!” she exclaimed.
“Yeah, I’m sure there’s a lot of things you wouldn’t ignore coming from Alex,” Ellie said, rolling her eyes. Paige clenched her jaw before she could say anything else. Matters didn’t need to be made any worse than they already were.
“Ellie, just go,” she demanded quietly.
“What about my coffee?” Ellie asked, glaring at Paige.
“There’s coffee at home,” Paige reminded her coldly, watching icily as Ellie stared her down, then turned and stormed out of the shop. It was several seconds after the door had swung shut that Paige let out the breath she’d been holding and collapsed against the bar. What the hell…
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It was ridiculous, the tendency that Ellie had to screw up anything that was going good in her life. She let her jealousy get the best of her, despite the fact that she’d promised herself she wouldn’t. She’d been doing so well, too. But the conversation she’d overheard between Paige and Alex in the kitchen was the final straw. Now she was letting her bitchiness affect her relationship with Paige.
Ellie had gone to The Dot with the intention of making things right with Paige. She’d finally decided to forgive the blonde for the statement she’d made since, so far, she hadn’t done anything to make Ellie think that she was going astray. How she’d managed to turn a conversation about coffee into an argument about Alex, Ellie wasn’t entirely sure, but now as she walked away from the shop, she kicked herself for her own stupidity. Paige was being patient with her, and this was how she repaid her. Stupid.
Anger subsided and out of steam, Ellie stopped and sat down on a bench just across the street, sighing heavily. She considered getting up and walking back over to The Dot to apologize, but she figured that Paige was probably too angry right now to accept. Maybe she’d just give her a while to cool down.
Just as this though was making its way through her brain, Ellie looked up and saw none other than Alex Nunez entering The Dot. The redhead fought with herself for several seconds in an attempt to stop herself from going over to investigate, but her jealous side won out, and she got up, crossed the street, and positioned herself in front of the window. She watched as Alex talked to Paige, making the blonde smile and laugh, touching her arm lightly. The jealous lion inside her chest roared, and just like that, the anger was back. Jaw set, Ellie tore herself away from the window and stomped home.
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When the shop bell rang again, Paige ignored it, hoping that it wasn’t Ellie coming back to rip her a new one. She just couldn’t take another outburst. She hadn’t even done anything wrong this time to attract the redhead’s anger!
“Hey there, Paigey,” a voice rang out, and Paige groaned.
“Not now, Alex, please,” she pleaded, lifting her head just enough to look at the cheerful brunette with weary eyes. Alex furrowed her brow in concern and sat down across from her.
“What’s up?” she asked. Paige sighed and shook her head.
“Ellie,” was all she said.
“Still?” Alex asked sympathetically. Paige nodded. “See, what did I tell you about redheads? Crazy, all of ‘em.” Paige chuckled.
“Shut up,” she said playfully.
“Look, things will get better,” Alex promised, touching Paige’s arm. Paige nodded, looking at Alex gratefully.
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I hope so.”
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Shift ended later that afternoon, and Paige trudged home, half hoping that Ellie wasn’t there so that she didn’t have to deal with her, and half hoping that she was so she could just apologize and get through the rest of the day amicably. She opened the front door cautiously, half expecting to find the redhead waiting for her with a death glare aimed over the threshold. The entryway was vacant though, and upon further inspection, she found the living room and kitchen to be as well. Paige had a feeling her fate lie upstairs.
Following her instinct, she walked upstairs, wondering why she was dreading each step so badly. She felt like there was something strangely wrong with the fact that she was actually dreading the sight of her girlfriend. Something in her gut just told her that no matter what happened, things would end badly.
She found Ellie in her bedroom, reading a book with an angry scowl on her face. Was she still mad about this morning? God, that girl could hold a grudge. Before she could chicken out, Paige mustered her strength, and knocked on the door. Ellie looked up, giving Paige a cold look.
“Hey, listen… I’m sorry about this morning. I didn’t mean to start a fight,” Paige said, deciding to get things over with as soon as possible. She geared herself up for something big, but nothing came.
“Okay,” Ellie said finally. Paige just stared at her in disbelief. She felt something snap. This was ridiculous. She couldn’t take it anymore. She hadn’t done anything to deserve this treatment, and the least Ellie could do was apologize as well.
“What is your problem?” Paige asked angrily. Ellie raised an eyebrow asking for clarification. “For almost a week now you’ve been nothing but a bitch to me for no reason. What the hell did I do to you?”
“I don’t know, Paige,” Ellie responded, throwing her book down. “Why don’t you ask the hole in your heart that I didn’t manage to fill.” Paige stared at the redhead in confusion for a few seconds before it finally dawned on her. Ellie had heard her conversation with Alex.
“You heard that?” she asked. Ellie nodded. Paige laughed. She couldn’t help it. All of this, just because of something that she’d said. She decided she’d better explain herself though, because Ellie didn’t seem to find the situation very humorous. “Then you obviously didn’t stick around long enough to hear the rest of it. If you had, you would have heard the part where I said that you didn’t need to fill the space that Alex left, because you made your own. Ellie, I’m happy with you. Why don’t you get that?” Ellie was silent for several long minutes, and Paige expected her to finally let her guard down and apologize for everything. She was baffled when the girl shook her head instead.
“It doesn’t matter, Paige. Because no matter how happy you are with me, you’re always happier with Alex around. I’ve watched you two together. You’re still in love with her,” Ellie said.
“What do you want from me, El? She’s still my friend,” Paige pointed out, avoiding the question. Ellie hesitated.
“I want you to make a choice,” she said finally. “Stay with me, or go to her.” Paige couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Ellie was actually giving her an ultimatum. How had her day ended in this? And still… she couldn’t bring herself to make the obvious choice. If she stayed with Ellie, the girl would want her to cut off ties with Alex. She couldn’t do that. Ellie was right. She did still love Alex.
“Ellie…” Paige pleaded, begging her with her eyes not to make her do this. “I… I can’t.” Ellie sighed, looking defeated.
“I know. It’s okay,” she said. “So I’ll make the decision for you.” Paige looked up, eyes wide. “Go to Alex, Paige. She’s the one you really want.” The blonde shook her head, mouth agape.
“Ellie, no.” But Ellie was already up, crossing the room to the doorway where Paige was standing. She looked at Paige sadly, her deep brown eyes shining with the tears she couldn’t will herself to shed in the blonde’s presence, and shut the door.
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“I’ll get it,” Alex told her mom, referring to the knock on the apartment door. They’d just sat down to dinner and were discussing hockey standings when the dull, half-hearted thump of wood resonated through the room. The brunette stood up and pulled the door open, resisting the urge to gasp at what she found on the other side.
Paige was standing there (barely), her eyes bright red and tears running down her face. She stared up at Alex with a kind of broken look in her eyes, sniffing as she took in shaky breaths. Alex stood frozen for several seconds before responding.
“Paige, what the hell happened?” she asked finally.
“Ellie,” Paige choked out. “She… we… we’re done.” If Paige didn’t look so sad, Alex probably would have been jumping for joy. As it was, she took Paige by the arm and led her into the apartment, sitting on the couch with her. She took the blonde in her arms and Paige buried herself in Alex’s chest as she cried. Alex’s mom hurried over, looking worried.
“Is she okay?” she asked. Alex nodded.
“She will be.”
Like I said, crap. And no, this is not the end of the story. By the way, I just want to ask how many Saw fans I have out there? Who else went to see Saw IV and was so disappointed they wanted to erase the memory of it? Oh well… I’m thinking that next chapter will be… actually, I have no idea. Which means it could take a while. Bear with me on that.
Question concerning my Degrassi/SoN cross: Should it be 1st person point of view Darcy, or 3rd person point of view focused on Darcy? I can’t decide. I’m leaning towards 1st, but I know I’m going to regret doing my story in it. I despise 1st. But I happen to write it well. So I’m going to let you guys decide. I feel like 1st will give a better insight into the conflict that Darcy’s going to end up feeling. Let me know in your REVIEWS, eh?
How ‘bout that TexasWatermelon, cowgirls?
Chapter 13