I love you (REBOOTED) - COMPLETE

22 - Finale!

Paige is considerably happier than when she came a couple of weeks ago.

You find it strange how her mood has become better. Maybe she has been taking the meds.

Harry hasn't really spoken to you since that day. When it's bedtime, he comes to bed as late as possible and gets up as early as possible. He sleeps with his back to you.

You're glad Paige is feeling better but every time you try to explain yourself to Harry he looks off in the opposite direction. And you're starting to wonder if your own overthinking blew an argument out of proportion.

"Hey, Paige?" You say one day.

"What's up?"

"You have to talk to Tony." You say. "Look at how happy you are. You need to set the record straight at the very least."

"Do I?"

"Even if you don't get back with him. You have a little toddler. She needs her mother, right?"

"Well..."

"Come on, Paige. At the end of the day, you're good for him too." After that last sentence, she raises an eyebrow at you, but doesn't question it.

"I, um, I don't want to. It would be awkward and..." she tears up and looks down. "Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"You know when a word sounds pretty but has an ugly meaning?"

"Yes, I think so."

She bites her lip. "Schizophrenia. It sounds so soft and nice." She says it quietly. "It doesn't sound like it means seeing things and hearing voices."

"...schizophrenia?"

"Mm. Tony said... Tony said he didn't want a freak for a wife." She swallows. "But I've always been like this. Now there's just a label for it, and..."

"And now you're getting help. You're battling, Paige, why can't he see that?"

A tear falls down her face. "I don't know, Y/N. I don't know anymore." She whispers. "I love him. You know that? I love him more than I've ever loved anything."

"But he treats you like that?"

She shakes her head, wiping her face. "I know. Isn't it twisted?" She laughs grimly.

You take her hand and squeeze it until she's calmed herself down.

"Hey. With or without him, it'll be okay." You whisper. "I'm always here."

"You always have been." She smiles. "Far more than anyone else."

Paige shuffles towards you and leans her head on your shoulder. You rub her arm.

"Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll be okay. Won't I?"

"Yes." You smile. She lifts her head so her face is just inches from yours. She blushes slightly.

"I've always thought you were so much more beautiful than me... inside and out..." Her hand goes to touch your face. "Y/N..." she says nothing else, just leans in, and touches her lips with yours.

That shocks you. But the thing that shocks you more is that you don't pull away.

You let that tingle of electricity take over your body as your lips part and meet. You let yourself enjoy it. You don't think of the fact that Harry could walk in at any moment.

You don't care. You can't find it within you to care.

You just don't care.