The feeling of her phone vibrating in her back pocket caught Paige off guard. She saw Sienna's name flash on her screen.
"Hello..." Paige answered, feeling confused as to why Sienna would be reaching out after how things had ended last time they spoke.
"Can we talk? Paige, I hate the way things have been lately. I just want things to go back to how they were. Where are you?"
"I'm actually just getting to your house. My rideshare should be dropping me off in around five minutes." Paige responded. She felt heaviness in her chest and was hoping that Sienna wouldn't pick up on it. As she looked out the window of the car and took in the town, she realized how different it was from where she grew up. She was stupid to think she could be with someone from such a different world as her. Where in Florida there were sprawling shopping centers, traffic, and people everywhere she looked, this place was quiet and with a rather small population. If you didn't count the animals, then of course the population would skyrocket. She had never seen so many deer in her life.
A few minutes later Sienna was picking Paige up in her driveway. Paige oozed sadness, Sienna could tell she had been through hell and back in the last few hours. The girls drove to a nearby park and didn't speak a word the entire drive. It was almost as if both of them were afraid to talk first.
Paige and Sienna arrived at the park and made their way toward some picnic tables. The temperature was starting to slowly drop but Sienna was so nervous that she didn't even feel cold.
"So, what's the deal Sienna? I can't take this back and forth. We've already established you don't trust me." Paige almost sounded like she was over the whole thing. She avoided eye contact with Sienna because she knew the moment she made eye contact with her Sienna would be able to tell she was a second from breaking down.
"There's no deal Paige. I tell you I need to do things at my own pace, I tell you that I can't drop my life, that I'm confused. What about any of those things is so unreasonable?" Sienna asked, feeling defeated. She looked around the empty park, wishing they were at their little getaway bungalow instead. When they were happy and didn't have a care in the world.
"If you weren't ready to make a decision you shouldn't have slept with me. You shouldn't have led me to believe we were more than we were." Paige replied as she balled up her hands tight, to the point where she could feel her nails dig into her skin but she didn't care. She wouldn't cry.
"You're right. I made really poor choices. I went with what I felt and wanted at that moment and didn't think about how it would affect you but please understand that you mean so much more to me than you think you do." Sienna responded, reaching for Paige's hand.
Paige pulled her hand away. Sienna felt the pang of rejection but quickly realized that she had no right to be hurt, she had been doing all the hurting here and Paige's feelings were valid.
"I'm sorry" Sienna said, looking into Paige's eyes.
"It's fine. I booked a ticket back home, i'll be out of here in a few days. You'll have the rest of the holiday to figure it out." Paige replied getting ahead of Sienna, she was on the defense. She was slowly going back to a coping mechanism she was trying to change. She wanted to at least protect her heart before Sienna broke it again.
Sienna walked around the picnic table and sat next to Paige.
"You haven't even looked at me Paige. Please open up, talk to me." Sienna begged.
"Why? Did you forget what happened last time I opened up to you?" Paige responded, her eyes full of tears.
Sienna startled the picnic table bench and pulled Paige over and hugged her. She rubbed her arms, the warmth of her body felt right. It was like she was meant to be in her arms. Sienna pulled away just enough to wipe the tears off Paige's eyes. They finally looked at each other for the first time in what seemed like ages. Paige's irritated eyes looked even more beautiful but the sadness in them was not what Sienna wanted to see. Sienna couldn't help herself, she was drawn to Paige. She had no control over her actions, before she knew it her lips were on Paige's lips. Sienna was floored when Paige returned the kiss passionately. Their lips both wrestling each other for dominance, this was a terrible idea that felt phenomenal. Sienna pulled Paige toward her so she could feel her body against her. She was so close she could feel her heart beating.
"No, Sienna. I'm not doing this." Paige said, pulling away from Sienna. "You can't just go around kissing me. Geez, make up your mind but please leave me out of it in the meantime. I'm not down for the push and pull." Paige said, sounding annoyed. She moved away making sure there was a distance between her and Sienna.
"Fine," Sienna said, frustrated. "Look, I need to know the truth. Did you really hear Andrew talking to another girl or did you just make that up?" Sienna asked, as she adjusted her leg
"I don't need to make shit up. I want to be with you but not based on games and lies. If you don't want to believe me about Andrew, that's on you." Paige replied matter of factly.
Sienna couldn't help but feel torn between Paige and Andrew.
"Come on, I want to take you somewhere." Sienna said to Paige as she grabbed her hand and helped her stand up from the bench.
Paige hesitated, contemplating whether it was a good idea to go anywhere with Sienna. Was she setting herself for more pain? The moment her hand touched Sienna's hand she knew she was done for. The electricity between the two of them made the decision for her. She followed Sienna back to the car, trusting her yet again. Hoping for the best but expecting the worst.
When Paige and Sienna arrived and parked in an empty side street with a bunch of no trespassing signs, Paige became slightly concerned. She looked around and noticed it was an airport tarmac, the sky was pink and the chill in the air was becoming a lot. Paige reached for her Crystal River University sweatshirt and uncomfortably put it on in the car.
"Relax, this is what the teenagers call Makeout Point. Usually, if a cop drops by they ask you to move your car. They know what happens here but they choose to look the other way, why bother teenagers when they've got underground bathtub moonshine operations to take down?" Sienna said, smiling knowing that poking a little fun at her home state would get Paige to smile.
"Phoenix, I knew it! I knew this place had all the stereotypes and more!" Paige replied playfully.
Sienna looked at Paige, she was absolutely gorgeous. The smile on her face quickly changed the energy in the car.
They got out of the car and sat on the hood of the car. As they watched the airplanes take off into the pink sky, Sienna wished she could just do the same. Grab Paige and take off to somewhere unknown. Somewhere where she wouldn't have to explain anything to anybody.
"Where do you think they're going?" Paige asked, pointing at an airplane with a blue and yellow logo on the side.
"Hawaii. Definitely somewhere tropical. Where you could get drinks with little umbrellas in them." Sienna responded.
"I say Dayton, Ohio." Paige replied, a grin had clearly formed on her face.
Sienna loved these moments with Paige. As they watched a few more airplanes take off and the rest of the sunset, they held onto the moment they were experiencing. They didn't want it to end because it meant that they'd have to go back to reality. Paige slowly crept her fingers over to Sienna's and they held hands. Neither of them said a word.