Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Here's a little excerpt from my ongoing fic, Gay or European? You can read the entire thing on AO3 here.

If anyone has noticed Paige’s odd behaviour, nobody says as much. She’s acutely aware of how fake her smile must look and how the bags under her eyes betray her lack of sleep, but she has long passed the point of caring. She feels dangerously close to unhinged; usually, the only way to get her brain to move this fast is to drink at least four cups of coffee, but today her train of thought is going faster than the speed limit without a drop of caffeine.

It’s Cas who invites her to come with them to the nearby beach, but no one else protests. In fact, she’s almost certain she hears Dean mutter, “She looks like she needs a break,” while she’s considering.

The truth is that there isn’t any work that she needs to be doing today, but she has been planning to do some anyway, just to keep her preoccupied. Paige can’t quite decide whether or not sitting and doing nothing will be relaxing, or a special form of torture.

“Uh… yeah, okay, let me grab my bag,” she decides, hoping her smile doesn’t look like a baring of teeth.

Georgia has never exactly been on Paige’s dream holiday list - who thinks of an obscure European country over, say, the Bahamas? - but she has to admit, it’s really nice. The beach they go to is near abandoned (although that may be due to the fact it’s a weekday) and the view is beautiful.

This was a good idea, Paige thinks, leaning back onto the towel she brought. The sand is warm between her toes and the smell of sea salt in the air is more refreshing than any cold drink.

Dean and Cas take Jack out into the water to play with him, while Eileen lathers sun cream onto Sam’s back, giggling at the ponytail he has tucked his hair into. It’s a strange kind of domestic bliss and Paige almost feels like she’s intruding.

Moving her towel back a little so that they have some space, she lies back, sliding her sunglasses down her nose. Listening to the calming white noise of the waves lapping against the beach is just relaxing enough to ease the tension out of her muscles, and for the first time since this trip started, she finally feels ready to confront what she has been running from.

HAPPY THURSDAY!

The fifth chapter is now up, and it's time for the second semi final!! I hope you guys enjoy it :D

Gay or European?

Welcome to Eurovision 2021, Team Free Will!

Summary: When the British contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is suddenly out of the competition, it's left to four Americans and their Irish friend to take the microphone.

Paige, their manager, has not packed nearly enough painkillers for the chaos this trip will cause.

Posting a chapter every day of this week!

Read on AO3.

Eurovisionatural Ch 3 Sneak Peek

You can read the rest here!

Half the fun of flying to various countries for Eurovision, Paige knows, is the food. Seriously, those two weeks she spent in Germany a few years back… well, she’s genuinely surprised she managed to do anything productive, considering how much time she spent eating.

Until now, she had never even spared a second thought for Georgian food - in fact, she’d actually been hoping that Italy would win for the last few years just so she could spend a week eating pasta that wasn’t from one of those instant pouches - but she’d been pleasantly surprised in the last few days.

By ‘pleasantly surprised’, she actually meant that she was going to learn all of these recipes and cook them for the rest of her life, because the only thing that could prevent her from eating acharuli khachapuri every day is lactose intolerance and death.

It’s hard to tell whether Dean recognises that the noises he is making around his food is not really appropriate for a restaurant at lunchtime, but no one can find the heart to tell him that. Paige looks down at her plate. They are literally eating a dough bowl filled with melted cheese and egg; if she wasn’t supposed to be acting professional, she’s pretty sure she would be making the exact same faces. Maybe one day she could come back with Addy, since she was a way better cook than-

Paige stopped that train of thought as suddenly as it started. Addy wouldn’t be travelling anywhere with her. She had made her position very clear.

“You alright?” Eileen asks, snapping Paige out of her thoughts.

She forces herself to smile. “Just thinking about how none of the food in the UK is this good.”

Dean laughs around a mouthful of food, Sam wrinkling his nose in disgust. “I apologise for my brother’s table manners. Or, apparently, complete lack thereof.”

“There is no graceful way to eat this much cheese, Sammy,” Dean replies, mouth still full.

Gay or European?

Welcome to Eurovision 2021, Team Free Will!

Summary: When the British contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is suddenly out of the competition, it's left to four Americans and their Irish friend to take the microphone.

Paige, their manager, has not packed nearly enough painkillers for the chaos this trip will cause.

Posting a chapter every day of this week!

Read on AO3.

IT'S TOES IN THE SAND FRIDAY, BABY

Sorry for the cliffhanger yesterday... but it's finally time for Paige to face her past!

Gay or European?

Welcome to Eurovision 2021, Team Free Will!

Summary: When the British contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is suddenly out of the competition, it's left to four Americans and their Irish friend to take the microphone.

Paige, their manager, has not packed nearly enough painkillers for the chaos this trip will cause.

Posting a chapter every day of this week!

Read on AO3.

WE'RE HALFWAY THERE!

Tonight is the postcard filming and the big Eurovision party... really you should just show up for the costume choices-

Gay or European?

Welcome to Eurovision 2021, Team Free Will!

Summary: When the British contestant for this year's Eurovision Song Contest is suddenly out of the competition, it's left to four Americans and their Irish friend to take the microphone.

Paige, their manager, has not packed nearly enough painkillers for the chaos this trip will cause.

Posting a chapter every day of this week!

Read on AO3.