Paily



Paily is the relationship between Paige McCullers and Emily Fields: the on-again-off-again saga. Another name for the couple is McFields.

Season 1
In "If At First You Don't Succeed, Lie, Lie Again," the relationship between Emily and Paige seems hostile and devoid of romantic potential. Paige is trying to become the team captain and regards Emily as her stiff competition. She distributes bribe gifts to her teammates, mocks Emily's sexual orientation, and later, dunks her repeatedly in the pool in an attempt to intimidate her.

In the episode "Je Suis une Amie," Emily and Paige go head-to-head in another round to get the place of anchor leg. In the end, Paige rides to Emily's house on her bike in order to apologize, but on her way home, Paige gets into an accident during some heavy rain. Meanwhile, Paige's father is totally oblivious to his own daughter's questioning sexuality and goes to school to argue that Emily has been given preferential treatment on the swim team over his own daughter due to her sexual orientation.



Afterwards, Paige surprises Emily by slipping into her car to apologize about what happened and simultaneously accuses Emily that everything is easier for her. Emily defends herself by explaining what she feels, but is stopped when Paige kisses her and asks her not to tell. While trying to avoid Emily, they run into each other in the locker room, and Emily tries to talk to her. But Paige wants Emily to forget, like it never happened.

Later that night, in "A Person of Interest," Paige ask Emily to meet her in a secluded pub where no one knows them and talk about what happened. Emily meets her there, and Paige gets Emily to get up and sing karaoke. She convinces Emily to join her on stage, and Emily ends up enjoying herself, despite her original inhibitions. When they leave, Emily kisses Paige in the parking lot. The next day Emily gets a text from Paige to have a picnic. While lying together on a blanket, Emily hears a song and mentions that the particular group is scheduled to come to the city, but Paige declines for reasons that she can't be seen with her. After that, Emily says she is not ashamed of who she is and that she can't go back in the closet, so she can only be her friend. Thus, a fun picnic ends in disappointment.

In "Someone to Watch Over Me," Paige gets out asked out by Sean, and she says yes, much to Emily's dismay. Paige acts nonchalant about it and acts as if she never had any second thoughts about her sexuality or shared any of her vulnerable feelings to Emily. As a result, Emily is hurt and tells Sean that she doesn't know Paige that well, something she is now feeling, when Sean questions Emily (of all people) to inquire whether she is single. However, after her date, Paige texts Emily and goes over to talks it and says that the whole date felt like it was phony. This sparks a profound heart-to-heart between the two girls, and Emily explains that before she was out that she would pick out people like Paige who would pull her up on stage and sing, because that's something she would not have done on her own. Paige is flattered and somewhat comforted. Then they start kissing.

In "Monsters in the End," Paige gets tickets for her and Emily, but also for a boy as insurance against people thinking they are on a date. Paige thinks its a great idea, but Emily doesn't like it and won't go back in the closet. Emily persuades Paige to meet with someone from the pride group from Sheridan Prep, but she never shows up. Emily talks with the member about Paige's situation. The next day Paige sees Emily with the member of the pride group and gets jealous and asks Emily what they talked about. She answers that they just talked about her situation at home with her parents and about Paige, but Paige is furious to hear that Emily revealed her secret (although that was the plan). At that, Emily tells her that she can't be her secret anymore and leaves, thus ending their romance for now.

Season 2
Paige returns after a long period of being missing from the show in "Breaking the Code". She returns, clearly set on winning Emily back, as she flirtatiously asks to find sponsors for the swim team with her. Emily accepts, and when they come back from getting sponsors, Paige receives a phone call from her mother. After telling her mom that Emily is "just a friend", Paige reveals to Emily that she has come out to her parents. Later in the episode, as Emily is distraught about not hearing from Maya since their fight, Paige consoles her. She tells Emily that "this is who [Maya] is." Paige tells Emily she needs someone she can count on. Emily takes this as a friendly gesture and the two hug; Paige misinterprets Emily's intentions and tries to kiss her. Emily pushes Paige away, telling her she was sorry if she sent of the wrong signals and implying she still loves Maya.

Paige then appears in "UnmAsked", surprising Emily at the school's masquerade ball. Paige apologizes for the attempted kiss, and the two agree they have a connection. Paige explains that she cares about Emily, so she'll be there for Emily no matter what. Emily admits that what she really needs is a friend, and the two reconcile their friendship.