Page 102 of The Hideout

“Oh, uh…one minute.” Juliet peered at the door; It was still locked. She did a quick double check around the place, satisfied that everything was where it should be. “Coming!” She rushed across the open space, unlocking the door and exhaling a breath. When she opened it, and Paige stared back at her looking bemused, Juliet could only smile. “Hi.”

“Hi. Is…everything okay?” Paige stretched onto her tiptoes and tried to look over Juliet’s shoulder. “Babe?”

“Everything is fine,” Juliet said, leaning in and kissing Paige. “I know you said you didn’t have much, but is this really all you’ve got?” She scanned the three small boxes on the floor and the suitcase beside them. Paige travelled very lightly.

Paige lifted a shoulder. “This is me.”

“Even after spending an entire year in that apartment?”

“Yep.” Paige peered over Juliet’s shoulder again. “Can I come in, or are we staying out here until further notice?”

“Oh, of course. Sorry, I’ve been busy getting things ready.”

Paige stopped as Juliet took a step back. Again, that confused look clouded her gorgeous eyes. “What exactly have you been doing? If you’ve done something really lovely, I’m probably going to cry.”

“You won’t. It’ll be fine. Come on.” Juliet took Paige’s hand. “Close your eyes as you come inside.” Juliet quickly shoved Paige’s boxes with her foot until they were inside the apartment, wheeling her suitcase in behind them. “Don’t open them until I tell you to, okay?”

“Okay.”

Juliet felt Paige’s uncertainty. God, she hoped this went to plan. “R-right, um.” Juliet wrung her hands together, blowing out a nervous breath. Maybe Paige would hate what she’d done. Maybe this was a terrible idea. “Y-you can open them now.”

Paige cracked one eye open, shock evident when she opened the other. “O-oh. I-I…”

“Do you like it?” Juliet hesitantly placed a hand to the small of Paige’s back. She was hard to get a read on this afternoon. “Baby?”

“You…got this for me? I don’t understand. Why would you do something like that for me?”

Juliet smiled, turning to Paige. When she brushed Paige’s hair from her face, those greyish blue eyes teary, Juliet cocked her head. “Because I love you, and I want you to continue doing what makes you happy.”

“Juliet,” Paige said, her voice breaking. “This is huge. This gift…it had to cost you a fortune.”

“It doesn’t matter what it cost me if it makes you happy. Does it? Make you happy?”

Paige nodded slowly, a smile present even if she sniffled as it curled on her lips. “You’re amazing. And supportive. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“That’s what we’re about, though, right? Supporting one another. I don’t ever want you to feel as though you can’t do what you love. And if you ever want to take it further, you know I’ll be right by your side, cheering you on.”

Paige’s eyes flitted from Juliet to the baby Grand piano taking up space in the window. She inched towards it, taking Juliet’s hand as she did so, and grinned. “I…can’t believe this.”

“Believe it, Paige. Believe in yourself.”

“Can…I try it out?” Paige asked hesitantly.

Juliet only squeezed her hand and let go, encouraging Paige to take a seat on the bench. “God, I wish you would.” Juliet swallowed down the emotion lodged in her throat. Paige was a sight sitting in her window, her hand slowly smoothing over the top of the piano. “You look perfect sitting there.”

Paige looked up at Juliet with tears in her eyes. “And you look perfect standing there.”

Juliet blushed, smiling as she cast her gaze on the floor. Paige was all that mattered to her in life. To know she’d done this for her, and Paige appreciated it, Juliet couldn’t explain how it made her feel. For the first time in all of her days, she could stand here right now and say that she was the happiest woman in the world. She had someone by her side who didn’t expect the world from her. She had someone she curled up with in the night who just wanted to be loved. She had…everything.

“Can I sing for you?” Paige asked, breaking Juliet from her wonderful thoughts.

Smiling and taking a seat at the kitchen island, Juliet nodded and exhaled a calming breath. There was something about Paige, her voice, and a piano that had Juliet’s heart racing time and time again. Every note, every breath, it was as though Juliet was hearing Paige for the very first time, over and over again.

Paige’s voice floated around the apartment, sending a shiver down Juliet’s spine when she recognised the lyrics. Paige was serenading her with Ruelle’s “I Get to Love You”. Oh, God. Juliet’s heart expanded, her palms clammy as Paige stared back at her, those fingers working so effortlessly as they feathered over the keys.

There would never be a moment when Juliet wasn’t madly in love with Paige Ashburn.

She sniffled, brushing a tear from her cheek when Paige smiled. But that voice continued, those eyes brightened, and Juliet’s breath caught as she bit back a sob. The intensity of the love she felt for Paige was all-consuming. It was a knock you off your feet kind of love. It was a forever promise. It was…them. Just them, together.

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