Chapter Text
Blindly reaching out to her side to find her half of the blanket she’d tossed off earlier that night, AJ felt the cool of the sheets where Paige’s body should have been. With one eye peeked open, she tries to make sense of the glowing green numbers on the clock next to Paige’s side of the bed only to sit up abruptly when she sees how late it is.
1:26 A.M. Where is she?
“Paige?” AJ calls out into the empty hotel room.
She gets up from their shared bed, now fully awake, and checks the bathroom for Paige. She wasn’t there either and AJ was already starting to worry. A million thoughts start to run through her head as she tries not to panic with each intrusive thought.
Is she alright? Where could she have possibly gone this late at night, in a random town no less? Was she… was she mad at AJ? Did she regret the kiss?
Admittedly, AJ still couldn’t believe that she and Paige kissed each other in that hotel bathroom. If she closed her eyes, she could still hear the faint music coming from outside the bathroom. She could still see the shades of blue and purple lighting up Paige’s face. She could still remember Paige’s panda fact as she tried to break the awkward silence with her random animal facts.
She would never admit it if anyone asked but she found it absolutely endearing whenever Paige would get flustered and spurt her animal facts. The one about the bees and penises literally made her smile to herself at night out of nowhere during the first few days of Paige joining track. Somehow, she found everything Paige did endearing. It has been such a struggle trying to hide her ever-growing attraction to the girl she’s had a crush on since she came out to her parents.
Paige was just the pretty girl in class whose art AJ always admired. It wasn't like there were times when AJ would find herself daydreaming in the middle of class thinking of the possibility of her with Paige. The right time just never seemed to come and AJ wasn't that dense to not notice the way Paige would stare at her sister, Gabby. Which was obviously fine since AJ was practically used to it by now— always coming in second to her sister. It wasn't that much of a big deal.
It was just a fun, silly, little happy crush, anyway.
Until Paige suddenly joined track and she finally got to spend time with her.
Until Paige stared at her in that hotel bathroom saying, “Don’t you know me by now?” in such a soft voice that AJ could hear her heart pounding in her ears.
She does.
AJ knows Paige by now just as Paige knows her.
She could still feel the softness of Paige’s lips on hers.
As far as first kisses go, it was fucking incredible. They’re going to have to talk about it soon because that didn’t seem like it was just a kiss. It felt like it was something more. As long as she finds Paige first and makes sure she’s well-rested for their track meet tomorrow.
Turning the knob of their hotel room open, AJ tries her luck in finding Paige out here. Maybe she went to Dillon’s room?
Peeking her head out, the faint light of the hallway was overpowered by the glow of the vending machine at the other end of the hallway. AJ looks around until her eyes finally land on a figure standing in front of the vending machine.
She laughs to herself because of course, Paige was out here trying to get snacks in the middle of the night. AJ would recognize that messy bun Paige throws her hair up into anywhere. She was worried for nothing.
Slowly stepping out of the room, AJ begins to call out to Paige, “Hey wha-”, but her voice dies down in her throat once she realizes that there was someone else out here standing next to Paige. It’s a little surprising, considering that most of their teammates were passed out drunk when she and Paige left the party at Stacey’s room.
It wasn’t until AJ recognizes the woman next to Paige that she slowly backs away. What was Gabby doing out here with Paige? Paige smiles at Gabby and AJ’s heart clenches just a little bit.
There wasn’t anything to panic about. Gabby and Paige are friends. Just friends. Right?
She makes a split-second decision to rush back into the hotel room when she sees them turn to walk back to the rooms.
God, why was she peeking through a crack on the door to watch her sister with Paige?
They were walking close together and all AJ can think about is when have they ever been this close? Paige’s hand was on Gabby’s waist and she had this look on her face that AJ couldn’t quite place.
Her overthinking was getting out of hand and she felt so silly spying on them so AJ decides to go up to them. Gabby’s her sister anyway, she’s just going to make sure that she’s okay. And if that means getting Paige back by her side then that was just an added bonus.
With her mind set, AJ stops trying to let her anxiety get the best of her and starts to walk out the door. Gabby makes a shushing motion with her finger and says something to Paige that AJ can’t quite hear.
And then Gabby is leaning in to kiss Paige.
Gabby and Paige are about to kiss and AJ was just standing there realizing how much of an idiot she’s been.
Blinking tears back she turns away from them, deciding that she didn’t need to see her sister kiss the girl she was falling for. It felt like her lungs were trying to suffocate her and the pain in her chest was blossoming into something she couldn’t make go away. Closing the door as gently as she could, AJ crawls under the covers and tries to control her breathing.
How could she have been so stupid?
Tears wouldn’t stop coming out of her eyes and she needed to get herself together before Paige found her like this. It was embarrassing enough to think that their kiss meant something when it was obvious Paige liked Gabby this whole time. She didn’t need Paige to see her cry like this.
The door started to creak open a few minutes later and AJ did her best to try to pretend that she was fast asleep. The bed dipped slowly and she could feel Paige staring at her even with her eyes closed.
“AJ, are you awake?”
It took everything in AJ to try to stay as still as she could until she heard Paige’s breath even out indicating that she was finally asleep.
Turning away from Paige, AJ finally allowed her tears to fall.
It really was just a kiss after all.