emcatfields

[emcatfields]

Emily regained her balance on both feet before she brought her attention to the bed and therefore the blonde in the bed. She stopped in her tracks and just stared as her pants fell down around her ankles. Alison was only clad in her underwear and bra. “Uh um.. I’m good. You can just stay there.” She managed to wiggle her her right foot out of the pant leg, but her left foot was giving her an issue. “Stupid, dumb skinny jeans.” She mumbled to herself. She relents and sits down at the end of the bed and gets her other pant leg off that way. Seeing as she hasn’t had anything besides alcohol to drink for the last couple of hours, she was thirsty. She looked back at Ali. “I’m going to go get a water and some Tylenol. I’ll be back in a minute.”

As she exited the room she shook her head. Why does she feel the need to report to the other girl? She heads to the kitchen and grabs two bottles of water from Spencer’s refrigerator and on her way back to the guest bedroom she grabbed the bottle of Tylenol. She reentered the room and shut the door quietly. She set all three of the bottles on the nightstand before climbing into the bed beside the blonde, feeling now more than ever that she should have cut into Spencer’s room and grabbed a pair of shorts or stayed in there all together. She felt more exposed than ever right now. Low clothing count and an even lower inhibition. And she was basically stuck in this bed with her own personal Achilles’ heel. The living enigma that was Alison Dilaurentis. Emily sighed. She would never figure this girl out no matter how many different ways she tried to or how long she went on trying. It was the sad truth of her life though. One she didn’t think about often, except when she was drunk. Or lonely. Which she was currently both.

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields‌:

Emily looked at the shorter blonde and shrugged her shoulders not really giving a definite answer. She knew there was only one bed in the Hastings’ guest bedroom and technically Spencer had a day bed in her room, but if Alison wanted to share a bed with her who is she to say no? Plus, it was actually a question and not a typical Alison demand. So, Emily was a bit softer. Maybe it was the alcohol. 

Emily tossed the decor pillows off to the side and untucked the comforter on one side before leaving the room and heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She hated waking up with the after taste of alcohol in her mouth. She washes her face and when she was done with that she unclipped her bra and hung it in the bathroom. She unbuttoned her jeans on the way back to the bedroom,  stumbling a bit. 

Alison wasn’t exactly sure how to decipher Emily’s shrugging response, but since it wasn’t a flat out no, she decided to tag along. Plus, if there was anything that had been illuminated from Emily’s drunkenness, it was that she was much more straight forward.

After Emily removed the decorative pillows and made her way to the bathroom, Alison got undressed. She didn’t really have anything to change into, but decided to just go with her bra and panties. With that, she tossed her clothes to the side and climbed into the bed, slipping into the sheets. When Emily reentered the room, Alison notice her stumble, she sat up, revealing herself. “Are you okay? Do you need any help?” She asked curiously as she began to exit the bed.

[emcatfields]

Emily looked at the shorter blonde and shrugged her shoulders not really giving a definite answer. She knew there was only one bed in the Hastings’ guest bedroom and technically Spencer had a day bed in her room, but if Alison wanted to share a bed with her who is she to say no? Plus, it was actually a question and not a typical Alison demand. So, Emily was a bit softer. Maybe it was the alcohol. 

Emily tossed the decor pillows off to the side and untucked the comforter on one side before leaving the room and heading to the bathroom to brush her teeth. She hated waking up with the after taste of alcohol in her mouth. She washes her face and when she was done with that she unclipped her bra and hung it in the bathroom. She unbuttoned her jeans on the way back to the bedroom,  stumbling a bit. 

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields‌:

When the girls got back to Spencer’s house, Emily threw open the car door and headed toward the Hastings’ front door albeit a little staggeringly. She did not want to deal with Alison or any of the other girls’ for that matter. It took the rest of the group a few moments longer to get to her collectively.

 “Come on, Spencer. I want to go to sleep.” Emily groaned impatiently. Spencer rolled her eyes at the other girl, but wordlessly unlocked the door nonetheless. Emily waited for the rest of the girls to enter before shutting the door behind all of them and locking it. Drunk or not, Emily was a chivalrous woman. 

“My parents won’t be home until later tomorrow night from their business meeting, so you guys are safe from being woken up too early. I can’t guarantee Melissa won’t pop in. But there many more things more likely to happen than that.” Emily looked around at her friends. Aria had made her way silently to the couch. She was on her phone, most likely texting Ezra. Hanna was sprawled out on the the couch right beside Aria. Spencer made her way to the kitchen for what Emily wasn’t sure. Now, it was only her and Alison standing in the living room. 

“I’m going to go to the guest bedroom.” Emily said to nobody in particular. She walked in strides to the downstairs guest bedroom. 

Alison watched as Spencer fumbled with her keys. She rolled her eyes at the fact that it was taking so long. She was annoyed with the outcome of the evening, and was becoming annoyed with Emily’s cranky mood. She mumbled under her breath in a volume no one could hear, “Cranky much?” when Spencer finally opened the door and Emily was mumbling.

When the girls walked into Spencer’s house, everyone was going to their own places. Alison noticed Aria and Hanna already making themselves comfortable on the couch. Spencer was in the kitchen and on her way up to her room. She wasn’t sure where she should sleep. There was no more room in the living room. Alison wasn’t completely sure of what she was doing, but when she heard Emily say that she was going to the guest bedroom, she decided to follow her. “Mind if I tag along?” Alison asked somewhat sheepishly as she followed Emily.

[emcatfields]

When the girls got back to Spencer’s house, Emily threw open the car door and headed toward the Hastings’ front door albeit a little staggeringly. She did not want to deal with Alison or any of the other girls’ for that matter. It took the rest of the group a few moments longer to get to her collectively.

 “Come on, Spencer. I want to go to sleep.” Emily groaned impatiently. Spencer rolled her eyes at the other girl, but wordlessly unlocked the door nonetheless. Emily waited for the rest of the girls to enter before shutting the door behind all of them and locking it. Drunk or not, Emily was a chivalrous woman. 

“My parents won’t be home until later tomorrow night from their business meeting, so you guys are safe from being woken up too early. I can’t guarantee Melissa won’t pop in. But there many more things more likely to happen than that.” Emily looked around at her friends. Aria had made her way silently to the couch. She was on her phone, most likely texting Ezra. Hanna was sprawled out on the the couch right beside Aria. Spencer made her way to the kitchen for what Emily wasn’t sure. Now, it was only her and Alison standing in the living room. 

“I’m going to go to the guest bedroom.” Emily said to nobody in particular. She walked in strides to the downstairs guest bedroom. 

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields‌:

Once Hanna and Emily met up with the other girls, Emily stopped leaning on Hanna for support and got her footing on her own. Or tried. She stumbled a bit, but eventually got it. She got momentarily distracted with Alison’s piercing stare. It wasn’t until Spencer announced there were cops that Emily remembered that they were all in serious trouble if they didn’t get out of there and fast.

“Right! Then lets go!” Emily stage whispered as she followed Aria toward the door. As she passed Ali she heard the girl’s comment. She liked the attitude, smirking. It was just as she was almost out of earshot that she heard the last part of the blonde’s statement. Her face was brought back down to an annoyed frown. 

“Oh wow, that was a close one. Huh, guys?” Aria broke the silence after they all were safely in the car. Emily, of course, was stuck in the back with Hanna and Alison. She felt Hanna let out a breath of relief. 

“Let’s all agree to not talk about this night again?” Hanna suggested to the darkness in the car.

“Agreed.” Emily spoke almost instantly. There was nothing about this night that she would want to remember. She stretched a bit, moving her sore arms from one uncomfortable position to another. In doing this she accidentally brushed Alison’s upper thigh. 

“Sorry.” Emily grumbled an apology not bothering to look at the other girl, instead she turned her body to lean her face against the window.

 Alison couldn’t help but notice the way Emily looked at her when she’d given attitude. She knew that Emily liked it, but also knew that the other girl would deny liking it. Their terms still weren’t the best either, so Alison wouldn’t dare to bring it up.

“You think, Aria?” Alison spat back at the other girl when she said it was a close one. “At least we’re out of there.” She mumbled. “Also, that club was trash, we should really get outside of the area and go to New York some time. Now those clubs are legitimate.” Alison stated simply.

Her time on the run had her going all sorts of places, clubs throughout the east coast, particularly New York. Since Alison had stayed in the Fitzgerald theater, she frequented some clubs and bars in that area from time to time.

The girls were piled into the car, and of course Alison was stuck in the backseat with Hanna and Emily, in between the two of them. She took one quick glance at Emily who happened to graze her upper thigh. “Oh… It’s fine.” Alison murmured back. She truly didn’t mind the touch, and if she’d blown it out of proportion, she knew everyone would attack her, so she didn’t say anything. Besides, it wasn’t like Emily’s touches were exactly unwelcome.

[emcatfields]

Once Hanna and Emily met up with the other girls, Emily stopped leaning on Hanna for support and got her footing on her own. Or tried. She stumbled a bit, but eventually got it. She got momentarily distracted with Alison’s piercing stare. It wasn’t until Spencer announced there were cops that Emily remembered that they were all in serious trouble if they didn’t get out of there and fast.

“Right! Then lets go!” Emily stage whispered as she followed Aria toward the door. As she passed Ali she heard the girl’s comment. She liked the attitude, smirking. It was just as she was almost out of earshot that she heard the last part of the blonde’s statement. Her face was brought back down to an annoyed frown. 

“Oh wow, that was a close one. Huh, guys?” Aria broke the silence after they all were safely in the car. Emily, of course, was stuck in the back with Hanna and Alison. She felt Hanna let out a breath of relief. 

“Let’s all agree to not talk about this night again?” Hanna suggested to the darkness in the car.

“Agreed.” Emily spoke almost instantly. There was nothing about this night that she would want to remember. She stretched a bit, moving her sore arms from one uncomfortable position to another. In doing this she accidentally brushed Alison’s upper thigh. 

“Sorry.” Emily grumbled an apology not bothering to look at the other girl, instead she turned her body to lean her face against the window.

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily wasn’t sure how long it had been since she and Dianna had begun dancing, regardless now they weren’t so much dancing as they were grinding and making out with Emily flesh against a back wall of the club. God, it felt good and Dianna knew exactly how to play Emily’s body like a fiddle. 

“You like that, baby?” Dianna’s raspy voice and hot breath brought Emily back to reality. Swallowing past her dry throat, all the taller woman could do was nod while trying to remember how to regulate her breathing- first in and then out. “How about we go somewhere more private and I can show you something you’ll really enjoy.” 

Emily felt the woman gently tug her towards a set of stairs, and then just as she was going to step up the first stair she was pulled down- not so gently. It took her a few seconds to gain her balance back, leaning onto the person who pulled her down. Instantly being engulfed by blonde hair, Emily assumed it was Alison. “Oh, thank God, Ali. I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean for this to get so carried away. I just saw you with the guys and-” Dianna chuckled and the blonde she was leaning on scoffed. Or was it the other way around?

 Emily was pressed flesh against the blonde holding her up as Dianna walked past her without a second glance. Okay- yep it was the other way around. Emily ran her hands up the blonde’s back, burrowing her nose further into the other woman’s neck. Just as she was opening her mouth the woman again. “Woah. Woah. Okay, as much as I’m sure we’d both enjoy this right now. I’m drunk, taken, and not gay and you’re drunk and got the wrong blonde, Em.” Emily immediately backed away from her friend, blush on her face. “What the fuck, Hanna?! Why didn’t you stop me?” Hanna rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like you gave me time to! You thought I was Ali and your mouth went right to my neck. Like a tracker! You should thank me. I just saved you from making a big mistake. Trust me, a drunk stranger hook up is not as fun as you think. Plus- we have to go I just saw a pair of officers enter the door. We’ve gotta go now, before they start IDing people.” Emily nodded, agreeing. “Let’s find Ali and the others.” Emily started heading to where she remembered seeing the blonde last. “And fast!”  Emily added last minute as she caught a glimpse of the police doing just what Hanna suspected. She grabbed her friend’s hand and sped towards the other end of the club.

 Alison tried her best to stay focused on the “fun” she was trying to have with Aria and Spencer. However, her eyes kept finding Emily and the bartender in the sea of people. They were moving further and further away from Alison, her friends, and the sweaty men, and Alison began feeling concerned for Emily. Of course, she did whatever she could to make it about herself, or about being a bitch, rather than showing Emily or her friends that she actually cared about the other girl.

Just as Alison was about to turn back around to get a drink, she saw the other woman leading Emily away from the dance floor, and by the look on her face, she knew the older woman was going to try to get into Emily’s pants. That wasn’t going to happen, not on Alison’s watch.

“Alison where are you going?” Spencer called to her as she began moving as quickly as she could through the sea of people to get to Emily.

“I’m getting a drink, Spencer. Back off.” Alison spat.

“No, I think you’re trying to go after Emily, leave her alone.” Spencer spat back, getting ahold of Alison’s wrist. She grabbed onto her so she couldn’t go any further.

“You have no idea what I’m doing, now let go of me!” Alison shouted.

“No, you have no idea what the hell you’re doing, Alison.” Spencer argued.

While the two girls were arguing, Aria ended up getting a glimpse of some cops coming into the club from the other side. “Guys, stop! There are cops coming in here, we need to find Hanna and Emily and the out of here.” She explained to them.

“Well, we already know where Emily is.” Alison stated sarcastically with a shrug.

Spencer glared at her and was about to say something, but Aria cut her off. “Guys, that’s enough. Let’s get out of here.”

“Whatever.” Alison muttered. With that, she lead them towards the bar where she could see Hanna and then Emily. Maybe Hanna had stopped Emily from sleeping with the other woman. Alison smiled to herself at the thought. Typically she’d get into it with Hanna, but this was a decision that she actually supported. Alison, Aria, and Spencer ended up meeting up near the bar after a moment or two of walking through the sea of drunk dancers.

“There’s cops, we need to get out of here.” Spencer announced, leading the pack of girls toward the other side of the club for them to exit.

“Yeah, they can all see that, Spencer, they aren’t blind.” Alison muttered. “I can’t believe everyone just decided they were going to listen to her when I left.” She said the next part quietly, assuming none of the other girls heard.

[emcatfields]

Emily wasn’t sure how long it had been since she and Dianna had begun dancing, regardless now they weren’t so much dancing as they were grinding and making out with Emily flesh against a back wall of the club. God, it felt good and Dianna knew exactly how to play Emily’s body like a fiddle. 

“You like that, baby?” Dianna’s raspy voice and hot breath brought Emily back to reality. Swallowing past her dry throat, all the taller woman could do was nod while trying to remember how to regulate her breathing- first in and then out. “How about we go somewhere more private and I can show you something you’ll really enjoy.” 

Emily felt the woman gently tug her towards a set of stairs, and then just as she was going to step up the first stair she was pulled down- not so gently. It took her a few seconds to gain her balance back, leaning onto the person who pulled her down. Instantly being engulfed by blonde hair, Emily assumed it was Alison. “Oh, thank God, Ali. I’m so sorry. I really didn’t mean for this to get so carried away. I just saw you with the guys and-” Dianna chuckled and the blonde she was leaning on scoffed. Or was it the other way around?

 Emily was pressed flesh against the blonde holding her up as Dianna walked past her without a second glance. Okay- yep it was the other way around. Emily ran her hands up the blonde’s back, burrowing her nose further into the other woman’s neck. Just as she was opening her mouth the woman again. “Woah. Woah. Okay, as much as I’m sure we’d both enjoy this right now. I’m drunk, taken, and not gay and you’re drunk and got the wrong blonde, Em.” Emily immediately backed away from her friend, blush on her face. “What the fuck, Hanna?! Why didn’t you stop me?” Hanna rolled her eyes. “Oh please, like you gave me time to! You thought I was Ali and your mouth went right to my neck. Like a tracker! You should thank me. I just saved you from making a big mistake. Trust me, a drunk stranger hook up is not as fun as you think. Plus- we have to go I just saw a pair of officers enter the door. We’ve gotta go now, before they start IDing people.” Emily nodded, agreeing. “Let’s find Ali and the others.” Emily started heading to where she remembered seeing the blonde last. “And fast!”  Emily added last minute as she caught a glimpse of the police doing just what Hanna suspected. She grabbed her friend’s hand and sped towards the other end of the club.

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily couldn’t believe what Alison had just insinuated about Dianna. Who was she to even say that about someone she didn’t even know? Oh right, she was Alison. And Alison felt as if she didn’t have to follow the rules of decency apparently. Emily found herself scoffing as the blonde girl finished her insulting statement about the blonde waitress. The brunette shook off the blonde’s hand from her arm. “I’m not going to be sleeping with anyone tonight, Alison. But I do plan on flirting and maybe making out with a girl who I’m very attracted to and it seems like she’s attracted to me too if her blatantly checking me out was any indication.” Emily smirked back at Alison, turning around and giving her full attention to Hanna when Alison dragged Aria and a surprised Spencer onto the crowded dance floor.

Emily and Hanna stayed close to the bar for the next hour or so just talking and laughing about nothing and everything. It felt good to let loose with her friend, well let loose in general really. Emily was now on her third strawberry daiquiri… or was it her fourth? She definitely knew she wasn’t in the double digits. But she was feeling good and the drinks tasted amazing. She didn’t feel like stopping, so she wasn’t going to. “Hey, Emily, right?” A soft voice spoke over the loud music and made its way into Emily’s mushed up head space. She turned around slowly, leaning against the bar. It was the waitress from earlier, Dianna. Emily smiled down at the woman. She was shorter than she remembered her being, but Emily didn’t care. “Yes. You’re still Dianna, right?” Emily asked, trying to be smooth. The shorter blonde girl softly chuckled. “Yeah. I’m not like a hooker, so I don’t really need an alias. So, Dianna is my real name.” Emily just stared at the girl as she talked, nodding when she became silent. “Well good, ‘cause it’s a pretty name.” Emily pushed herself off from the bar. She staggered a bit, but regained her footing just a quick as she lost it.

 Looking from Hanna to Dianna, Emily brought herself close to the latter blonde’s ear, whispering. “I’m gonna go dance with this beautiful woman!” The inebriated swimmer stage whispered to her drunk friend. Hanna just gave her a thumbs up, saying she was texting Caleb, so she’d stick by the bar. Emily let Dianna lead her to the dance floor since she was the one with less alcohol in her system. As soon as Emily got to the middle of the dance floor, a flash of spinning blonde hair caught her attention. She’d recognize that hair anywhere, drunk or sober. Her focus was immediately brought to Alison dancing with Aria and a now looser Spencer. But what made Emily see green was the guys surrounding her friends, mainly Alison, trying to grind up on them. Her focus was brought back to her body when Dianna ran her hands all the way down her body and then slowly brought them back up, travelling the length of Emily’s legs slowly and swinging her hips to the beat. “You seemed a bit distracted, so I thought I’d bring you back to where I want your sole focus to be.” The blonde waitress commented, lips dangerously close to Emily’s earlobe that she feel the woman’s hot breath hit her already heated skin. She shivered. “O-okay.” Emily let out a breathy laugh before bringing her concentration back to Dianna, where it should be. Alison was probably enjoying the attention from the older men. She always had, Emily reasoned with herself. Shaking all thoughts of Alison from her head, Emily focussed on the blonde’s body that was currently under her fingertips. 

Alison didn’t like how Emily had stood up to her. Granted, in other situations it was something Alison loved seeing, because she knew many people took advantage of the other girl’s naturally sweet nature. But whenever it was something Emily was standing up to Alison about, it irked her. This caused Alison to immediately turn around, scoffing to herself.

It didn’t take Alison long to get over it. She was concentrated on dancing with Aria and Spencer, and maybe the men who were trying to get involved with them. However, she knew it would end up making Aria and Spencer a bit uncomfortable. Spencer and Aria already had men they were interested in and in committed relationships with. As she continued dancing, Alison felt eyes on her, she smirked to herself when she saw Emily’s gaze in her direction. She knew that the other girl wouldn’t stay mad at her forever. Besides, Emily probably knew that her assumptions about the other woman were correct. Still, Alison desired to play coy, and redirected her attention to one of the men behind her and pressed her hips into him. She didn’t like watching Emily dance with the waitress.

Aria then turned to Spencer and Alison letting them know she was heading to the bar to get a drink. The other two girls nodded to Aria and continued dancing. Alison turned around to face the man she was dancing with and said, “Well that was fun, but I’m going to dance with my friend now. See you later.” The man was taken back by Alison rejecting him, and he reached for her ass. “Back off.” She snapped, turning around as she slapped him in the face. Alison reached for Spencer’s hand and lead her to another part of the dance floor. “Freak.” She muttered under her breath.

“Yeah, but in his defense, you were literally just dancing with him.” Spencer pointed out.

“You’re not helping, Spence.” Alison scoffed, rolling her eyes to herself. “I told him that I didn’t want to dance anymore. He should have respected that.” She stated simply. “I don’t want to argue about this, let’s just continue having fun.” She mused. With that, Alison spun around and began shaking her hips, getting Spencer to join in once more.

[emcatfields]

Emily couldn’t believe what Alison had just insinuated about Dianna. Who was she to even say that about someone she didn’t even know? Oh right, she was Alison. And Alison felt as if she didn’t have to follow the rules of decency apparently. Emily found herself scoffing as the blonde girl finished her insulting statement about the blonde waitress. The brunette shook off the blonde’s hand from her arm. “I’m not going to be sleeping with anyone tonight, Alison. But I do plan on flirting and maybe making out with a girl who I’m very attracted to and it seems like she’s attracted to me too if her blatantly checking me out was any indication.” Emily smirked back at Alison, turning around and giving her full attention to Hanna when Alison dragged Aria and a surprised Spencer onto the crowded dance floor.

Emily and Hanna stayed close to the bar for the next hour or so just talking and laughing about nothing and everything. It felt good to let loose with her friend, well let loose in general really. Emily was now on her third strawberry daiquiri... or was it her fourth? She definitely knew she wasn’t in the double digits. But she was feeling good and the drinks tasted amazing. She didn’t feel like stopping, so she wasn’t going to. “Hey, Emily, right?” A soft voice spoke over the loud music and made its way into Emily’s mushed up head space. She turned around slowly, leaning against the bar. It was the waitress from earlier, Dianna. Emily smiled down at the woman. She was shorter than she remembered her being, but Emily didn’t care. “Yes. You’re still Dianna, right?” Emily asked, trying to be smooth. The shorter blonde girl softly chuckled. “Yeah. I’m not like a hooker, so I don’t really need an alias. So, Dianna is my real name.” Emily just stared at the girl as she talked, nodding when she became silent. “Well good, ‘cause it’s a pretty name.” Emily pushed herself off from the bar. She staggered a bit, but regained her footing just a quick as she lost it.

 Looking from Hanna to Dianna, Emily brought herself close to the latter blonde’s ear, whispering. “I’m gonna go dance with this beautiful woman!” The inebriated swimmer stage whispered to her drunk friend. Hanna just gave her a thumbs up, saying she was texting Caleb, so she’d stick by the bar. Emily let Dianna lead her to the dance floor since she was the one with less alcohol in her system. As soon as Emily got to the middle of the dance floor, a flash of spinning blonde hair caught her attention. She’d recognize that hair anywhere, drunk or sober. Her focus was immediately brought to Alison dancing with Aria and a now looser Spencer. But what made Emily see green was the guys surrounding her friends, mainly Alison, trying to grind up on them. Her focus was brought back to her body when Dianna ran her hands all the way down her body and then slowly brought them back up, travelling the length of Emily’s legs slowly and swinging her hips to the beat. “You seemed a bit distracted, so I thought I’d bring you back to where I want your sole focus to be.” The blonde waitress commented, lips dangerously close to Emily’s earlobe that she feel the woman’s hot breath hit her already heated skin. She shivered. “O-okay.” Emily let out a breathy laugh before bringing her concentration back to Dianna, where it should be. Alison was probably enjoying the attention from the older men. She always had, Emily reasoned with herself. Shaking all thoughts of Alison from her head, Emily focussed on the blonde’s body that was currently under her fingertips. 

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily looked from Alison who had her ID and credit card ready, to the bartender waiting for her to take her order. Emily wasn’t going to ask any of her friends to buy her drinks at the bar, since it was her idea to begin with and they had already paid for her dinner, but when Ali insisted, Emily wasn’t going to deny the blonde. A free drink was a free drink. She smiled at her friend and then brought her smile to the bartender. “I think I’ll start off with a strawberry daiquiri.” Emily ordered before turning toward her group of friends, listening to them as Hanna and Spencer argued. What about, Emily didn’t catch or care to know. What she did know though was that there was no arguing with a drunk Hanna, no matter the topic. Hanna didn’t back down even if she was wrong. But then again, Spencer never was one to back down either. They made an interesting match to say the least. Her attention was brought away from them when she heard the bartender set her and Ali’s drinks on the counter beside them. 

“Here you go, ladies.” The man said with a smile. Emily didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her for a few seconds more than what was normal. Emily internally rolled her eyes. She knew when she was being checked out, but she also knew how to ignore the stares of straight men. They didn’t interest her whatsoever. They were more of her friends’ thing and they could keep them for all Emily cared. Emily smirked at Alison as she brought their glasses together. “Cheers!” Emily repeated before taking a long sip off of her daiquiri. Speaking of straight friends, she wondered if Alison was going to pick anyone up tonight. Emily had noticed all of the guys checking out the blonde when they made their way into the club. She tried to ignore them, but couldn’t really because her eyes travelled the same path. Which made it hard to say to herself, even in her head, that she didn’t care if the blonde did choose to hook up with of them. But she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as soon as Hanna hollered “Shots!”.

A very attractive girl came out from behind one of the many black swinging doors with a tray of multicolored shots on it. The woman handled the tray with ease as she made her way around to the many groups of bar patrons. Emily was taken aback with the woman’s dress. It was hugged the blonde’s curves so close it left almost nothing to the imagination. Emily was still staring at the woman when she made her way to their group. She took her eyes off of the woman just before she was caught, or so she thought. When the woman winked and smirked at her before asking if she wanted a shot, Emily knew she was indeed caught. “I’ll take two!” Hanna insisted, grabbing two of the green colored shots off of the woman’s tray and handing her a ten dollar bill. The woman diverted her attention from Emily long enough to smile at Hanna as a thanks and stuff the ten dollars in her bra. When blonde woman’s gaze met Emily’s again, Emily couldn’t help but stare back. “Is there gonna be any shots for you, sweetheart?” Emily couldn’t help getting lost in the way this woman’s eyes sparkled as she addressed her. Not to mention that her boobs were practically eye level with Emily because of the heels the woman wore. 

“H-how much?” Emily croaked out, ashamed of how her voice betrayed her. The woman just chuckled and Emily wet her lips with her tongue, taking another drink of her daiquiri to wet her dry throat. “For you, the first one’s free.” The woman smirked at the brunette before showing her the full tray of drinks. Emily smiled shyly at the woman before confidently choosing a dark blue shot. She tossed the shot back and swallowed it with ease, surprising herself that she didn’t choke on it. Maybe she should start drinking water after she finished her strawberry daiquiri. The woman’s smirked deepened. “Nice!” She commented. “I didn’t get your name, hot stuff. I’m Dianna.” She held out the hand that wasn’t holding the tray of shots. 

“It’s Emily.” The brunette answered and the woman’s - Dianna’s - smirked turned into a genuine smile. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.” Dianna commented smoothly as she raked her eyes up and down Emily’s body, blatantly checking her out. Emily smirked when she noticed what was happening. Realizing this wasn’t just some sales tactic, she let herself relax a bit as the blonde woman checked her out. It’d been forever since she had it happen to her. It felt freeing. To be interested in somebody and for them to be just as interested. “Di, quit your flirting and get your ass moving. There’s a whole other part of the club you haven’t hit!” Emily saw Dianna roll her eyes before doing a single red shot herself. “I get off in about an hour. You should come find me if you wanna make purple.” Dianna winked at the brunette before sticking the tip of her ruby red tongue out of her lips. She turned around after that and quickly made her way to the opposite side of the club. Emily didn’t know how all of that happened, but boy did she feel exuberant. 

“Ooohhh! Emily Fields’ got game!” Hanna announced happily as she put her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Damn she was hot!” Emily rolled her eyes at her drunk friend, but a smile played on her lips.

After the girls clanked their glasses together, Alison smiled at Emily, happy her friend was letting loose that evening. She opened her mouth to ask Emily if she wanted to go out to the dance floor, Hanna came up to them with an interruption asking to do shots. Shots were not a part of Alison’s agenda that evening, as she didn’t want to be too intoxicated. She was going to stick with the one cocktail for the evening, and enjoy the dance floor with her friends.

Rolling her eyes to herself, Alison backed up and made eye contact with Spencer and shook her head. She could tell that Spencer was irritated with something Hanna was doing, and she couldn’t blame her. Hanna became utterly obnoxious when she was drunk, and Alison didn’t want to deal with it that evening. She made her way over to Spencer and Aria, wanting to stay away from the shots tray.

As the woman spoke with Hanna and Emily, Alison’s blood began to boil. She didn’t like the way the server was interacting with Emily, and she didn’t like the way she was looking at her friend like she was a piece of meat. Alison chewed on the inside of her lower lip as she watched all of this unfold, she was tempted to walk over, to put a stop to it, but she didn’t want to upset Emily. She tried her best to not appear visibly annoyed or angry, she didn’t want the other girls to catch on.

But as Alison thought her options over, she smirked to herself after drinking a few more sips of her cocktail and finished it off. She knew exactly how she would shut this down, or at least get under Emily’s skin. When the woman walked away, Alison snuck up behind Emily. Her hand resting on the other girl’s arm and she whispered into her ear. “Careful, Em. That taco has been all over these parts. You might catch something if you sleep with her.” She said with a shrug. “But that’s none of my business.” Alison said with a smirk as she walked away and took Aria’s hand in hers and lead the other girl to the dance floor.

“I figured one of us should start the dance party, it’s going to be like pulling teeth to get the rest of them out here.” Alison stated simply, rolling her eyes as she watched Hanna and Emily still standing by the bar. She shook her hips against Aria and pulled Spencer out with her too, who was a bit taken back by the action.

[emcatfields]

Emily looked from Alison who had her ID and credit card ready, to the bartender waiting for her to take her order. Emily wasn’t going to ask any of her friends to buy her drinks at the bar, since it was her idea to begin with and they had already paid for her dinner, but when Ali insisted, Emily wasn’t going to deny the blonde. A free drink was a free drink. She smiled at her friend and then brought her smile to the bartender. “I think I’ll start off with a strawberry daiquiri.” Emily ordered before turning toward her group of friends, listening to them as Hanna and Spencer argued. What about, Emily didn’t catch or care to know. What she did know though was that there was no arguing with a drunk Hanna, no matter the topic. Hanna didn’t back down even if she was wrong. But then again, Spencer never was one to back down either. They made an interesting match to say the least. Her attention was brought away from them when she heard the bartender set her and Ali’s drinks on the counter beside them. 

“Here you go, ladies.” The man said with a smile. Emily didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her for a few seconds more than what was normal. Emily internally rolled her eyes. She knew when she was being checked out, but she also knew how to ignore the stares of straight men. They didn’t interest her whatsoever. They were more of her friends’ thing and they could keep them for all Emily cared. Emily smirked at Alison as she brought their glasses together. “Cheers!” Emily repeated before taking a long sip off of her daiquiri. Speaking of straight friends, she wondered if Alison was going to pick anyone up tonight. Emily had noticed all of the guys checking out the blonde when they made their way into the club. She tried to ignore them, but couldn’t really because her eyes travelled the same path. Which made it hard to say to herself, even in her head, that she didn’t care if the blonde did choose to hook up with of them. But she pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as soon as Hanna hollered “Shots!”.

A very attractive girl came out from behind one of the many black swinging doors with a tray of multicolored shots on it. The woman handled the tray with ease as she made her way around to the many groups of bar patrons. Emily was taken aback with the woman’s dress. It was hugged the blonde’s curves so close it left almost nothing to the imagination. Emily was still staring at the woman when she made her way to their group. She took her eyes off of the woman just before she was caught, or so she thought. When the woman winked and smirked at her before asking if she wanted a shot, Emily knew she was indeed caught. “I’ll take two!” Hanna insisted, grabbing two of the green colored shots off of the woman’s tray and handing her a ten dollar bill. The woman diverted her attention from Emily long enough to smile at Hanna as a thanks and stuff the ten dollars in her bra. When blonde woman’s gaze met Emily’s again, Emily couldn’t help but stare back. “Is there gonna be any shots for you, sweetheart?” Emily couldn’t help getting lost in the way this woman’s eyes sparkled as she addressed her. Not to mention that her boobs were practically eye level with Emily because of the heels the woman wore. 

“H-how much?” Emily croaked out, ashamed of how her voice betrayed her. The woman just chuckled and Emily wet her lips with her tongue, taking another drink of her daiquiri to wet her dry throat. “For you, the first one’s free.” The woman smirked at the brunette before showing her the full tray of drinks. Emily smiled shyly at the woman before confidently choosing a dark blue shot. She tossed the shot back and swallowed it with ease, surprising herself that she didn’t choke on it. Maybe she should start drinking water after she finished her strawberry daiquiri. The woman’s smirked deepened. “Nice!” She commented. “I didn’t get your name, hot stuff. I’m Dianna.” She held out the hand that wasn’t holding the tray of shots. 

“It’s Emily.” The brunette answered and the woman’s - Dianna’s - smirked turned into a genuine smile. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.” Dianna commented smoothly as she raked her eyes up and down Emily’s body, blatantly checking her out. Emily smirked when she noticed what was happening. Realizing this wasn’t just some sales tactic, she let herself relax a bit as the blonde woman checked her out. It’d been forever since she had it happen to her. It felt freeing. To be interested in somebody and for them to be just as interested. “Di, quit your flirting and get your ass moving. There’s a whole other part of the club you haven’t hit!” Emily saw Dianna roll her eyes before doing a single red shot herself. “I get off in about an hour. You should come find me if you wanna make purple.” Dianna winked at the brunette before sticking the tip of her ruby red tongue out of her lips. She turned around after that and quickly made her way to the opposite side of the club. Emily didn’t know how all of that happened, but boy did she feel exuberant. 

“Ooohhh! Emily Fields’ got game!” Hanna announced happily as she put her arm around her friend’s shoulder. “Damn she was hot!” Emily rolled her eyes at her drunk friend, but a smile played on her lips.

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Of course Alison would be okay with going to the club, the blonde did always relish in places where she was sure to be the center attention. And with the outfit she was wearing tonight, that was not going to be a problem. Emily looked the girl’s outfit up and down in appreciation and disgust. Deep down Emily knew she didn’t have a real reason to be upset with Ali, but she didn’t focus on that right now. She was feeling how she was feeling and she would feel it as long as she pleased. Taking her eyes off her friend’s outfit, she took a final drink off of her mimosa before smiling at Alison. “Thanks for the show of support, Ali.” Emily smiled lazily and leaned into the blonde beside her. 

As soon as she was close enough, the brunette was bombarded with the scent of jasmine and vanilla. The scent would forever be saved in Emily’s brain as Alison. It would be so easy for the swimmer to get lost in that smell, even easier for her to lean in, giving in to everything she’s sworn off of, and place a plethora of kisses down the column of Alison’s throat. Just as she was going to do just that, she was reminded they weren’t alone. In fact they were three times over being alone. Emily’s mood went sour again as Aria opened her mouth, taking Emily further out of her own world. 

“I always carry mine with me. Ezra and I frequent some wine tastings here during the summer.” The smaller brunette commented, albeit a bit shy, probably because of Hanna’s earlier comment. Emily leaned back away from Alison’s personal bubble, bringing her sole focus to Aria. “That’s awesome, Ar! You definitely need to have something with me then.” Emily commented, hoping to have someone who’s not a complete slosh to hang out and drink with at the club. She loved Hanna and she was a blast to hang out with sober and not-so-sober, but sometimes Hanna was a pissy drunk and Emily didn’t like version of her friend. She wasn’t sure which one Hanna would be tonight, so hopefully Aria would agree to have one or two with her. She looked at Spencer, she was the only one to not speak up and she was the one with the car. So, she was the only one whose answer that counted. 

“Spence?” Emily gave the studious brunette the best puppy dog pout she could given her current state. When she saw her friend roll her eyes and smile, Emily’s pout turned into a smile of her own. “Fine!” Spencer gave in. “We can go to a club for a little while. I have my ID on me as well, but I’ll self designate myself DD. I’d much rather look after your guys’ drunk asses than risking drunk dialing Toby right now.” The taller brunette looked away forlornly. Emily put her hand on top of Spencer’s. “Toby loves you, Spencer. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind of that. So, stop the solemn look on your face and drive me to the nearest bar!” Spencer let out a chuckle, it was small, but it got a smile on her face, so Emily would call that a win. 

….

When they arrived at Voyeur, the club was already packed. The humidity and stuffiness hit Emily as soon as she entered the main dance floor. The place was amazing though. With its two floors for dancing and multiple bars set up around the downstairs area. Each individual bar had a unique style to it. There was even a runway set in the middle of the place. “Move away, bitches.” Emily heard Hanna comment as she made her way from the back of the group and headed toward the bar nearest to them. Emily stayed back for a few seconds, a bit intimidated by the who atmosphere. It wasn’t until Hanna made her way back to the group with a bright blue drink in her hand that Emily snapped out of it. 

“What’s that?” She asked Hanna when she came close enough to be able to hear her over the music. Emily watched as her friend wrapped her lips around the black straw in her drink, taking a long drawn out sip before releasing it. “It’s called A.M.F. Adios, Mother Fuckers. Here, try it!” She shoved the drink up to Emily’s face. Emily complied with her friend’s request and took a sip of the blue concoction. “Holy shit, that’s strong! What’s in it?” Emily sputtered forcing herself to actually swallow the drink. Emily scowled when Hanna laughed at her. “Of course it’s strong. It has vodka, rum, tequila, and gin in it.” Hanna took another sip of her drink. “You guys might want to go get your drinks if you plan on getting any in the next hour or so. The guy at the bar told me that drinks are half price after eleven, so all the bars will be backed up.” Emily looked to Alison and Aria, knowing Spencer wasn’t drinking. “I’m gonna go!” She hollered over the music. “You guys coming?”

“Of course, Em.” Alison said with a small smile. She’d always be up for going to places they weren’t legally allowed to be in. Alison always loved hanging out with an older crowd, and going to the club would give her the opportunity to do just that. She couldn’t help but think that Emily was already buzzed from the alcohol when she leaned in close, resting her head on her shoulder. Alison wasn’t sure how to react, so she just smiled at the other girl, and shifted her gaze past Aria and Spencer whom she knew were looking in their direction. Emily had some alcohol in her system, that was all this was about. That was what Alison convinced herself of anyway. She didn’t need the other girls thinking things that weren’t true about them. Perhaps she’d have to make them believe that later that evening at the club.

Alison didn’t have any plans to meet anyone new that night, nor did she want to meet any guys. As she thought about it for a few moments, she was probably just overreacting. Spencer and Aria  most likely didn’t think anything of Emily resting her head on Alison’s shoulder. She smoothed her hand over her tight black pants before fixing her top for a moment and sat back in her chair. She knew that Emily was looking at her, and she couldn’t help but feel more confident that someone was checking her out. Even though she had been nervous about what her friends might think about their “moment,” Alison decided to look past it and enjoy the attention she’d received.

“That’s sophisticated.” Alison commented when Aria mentioned going to wine tastings with Ezra, that was definitely something that would be her speed. She had been to a handful of them, but never with anyone. As Emily lifted her head off her shoulder, she wondered what it would be like to have Emily accompany her at one of these wine tastings. Alison figured she could stick by either Aria or Spencer at the club. She knew that Hanna was going to get smashed, and she didn’t know if she wanted to be around that. Aria held herself much more poised than the others, and so Alison knew that if worse came to worse, she would just stick with her and Spencer the entire evening. She was appreciative that Spencer wasn’t going to get drunk and be the designated driver. “It seems as if this is all settled then.” Alison said with a shrug. She smirked at Emily playfully, then back to Spencer. “You heard her, get this girl to a club as soon as possible.”

…

As the girls made their way into the nightclub, Alison found herself impressed. Clearly Hanna’s googling skills were prime now. “You know, Han I’m really impressed by your pick.” She commented as they walked further into the club. The music was loud, the décor was modern and classic at the same time, and there were multiple bars. Alison enjoyed the atmosphere. She’d been to clubs a handful of times, but never one like this. It wasn’t usually her scene. Alison preferred a quiet jazz club, or a wine tasting. Still, there was a time and place for a nightclub, and this was it. Alison figured that this was a great way for the five of them to bond.

A few guys checked out Alison as she walked past them with her friends. She just smirked back at them. Her main focus was on her friends for right now. When Hanna returned back to them with a drink in hand, Alison knew that Hanna was going to get hammered. She didn’t want to be on that level, but she figured a cocktail or two would be harmless. As Hanna explained the crowd of the bars, Alison thought about that for a moment. Happy hour was typically a good thing, because the drinks were cheaper, but she didn’t want to have to stand in a line full of people. Besides, Alison didn’t mind paying full price for the drink, money wasn’t a big issue for her. She looked over to Emily and nodded with a smile. “Yeah, I’ll go with you. Even though you’re not drinking, you should come with us, Spencer.” Alison stated simply.

Spencer rolled her eyes playfully as she obliged the rest of her friends and went with them. “That works for me, you guys better not make complete fools of yourselves.” She muttered as they walked to the bar. Alison lead them to the closest bar to the dance floor. On their way over, she kept seeing some heads turn as she walked the attention was always refreshing, but these guys were pigs. She knew she could have any one of them she wanted, but because of the way they were acting, Alison didn’t think she would go for any of them. Though, one of the guys, a tall, brunette man with green eyes caught Alison’s eye. She winked at him as she walked past him.

“Alright, Em. We’re celebrating you.” Alison declared as they reached the bar. “First drink is on me. What are you getting?” She asked curiously as she got her ID ready. When the bartender served the girls, Alison ordered herself a cosmopolitan, and gestured to Emily to tell him what she wanted. When their drinks came out, Alison turned to Emily and clanked her glass against the other girls. “Cheers.” She commented before taking a long sip of her cocktail.  

[emcatfields]

Of course Alison would be okay with going to the club, the blonde did always relish in places where she was sure to be the center attention. And with the outfit she was wearing tonight, that was not going to be a problem. Emily looked the girl’s outfit up and down in appreciation and disgust. Deep down Emily knew she didn’t have a real reason to be upset with Ali, but she didn’t focus on that right now. She was feeling how she was feeling and she would feel it as long as she pleased. Taking her eyes off her friend’s outfit, she took a final drink off of her mimosa before smiling at Alison. “Thanks for the show of support, Ali.” Emily smiled lazily and leaned into the blonde beside her. 

As soon as she was close enough, the brunette was bombarded with the scent of jasmine and vanilla. The scent would forever be saved in Emily’s brain as Alison. It would be so easy for the swimmer to get lost in that smell, even easier for her to lean in, giving in to everything she’s sworn off of, and place a plethora of kisses down the column of Alison’s throat. Just as she was going to do just that, she was reminded they weren’t alone. In fact they were three times over being alone. Emily’s mood went sour again as Aria opened her mouth, taking Emily further out of her own world. 

“I always carry mine with me. Ezra and I frequent some wine tastings here during the summer.” The smaller brunette commented, albeit a bit shy, probably because of Hanna’s earlier comment. Emily leaned back away from Alison’s personal bubble, bringing her sole focus to Aria. “That’s awesome, Ar! You definitely need to have something with me then.” Emily commented, hoping to have someone who’s not a complete slosh to hang out and drink with at the club. She loved Hanna and she was a blast to hang out with sober and not-so-sober, but sometimes Hanna was a pissy drunk and Emily didn’t like version of her friend. She wasn’t sure which one Hanna would be tonight, so hopefully Aria would agree to have one or two with her. She looked at Spencer, she was the only one to not speak up and she was the one with the car. So, she was the only one whose answer that counted. 

“Spence?” Emily gave the studious brunette the best puppy dog pout she could given her current state. When she saw her friend roll her eyes and smile, Emily’s pout turned into a smile of her own. “Fine!” Spencer gave in. “We can go to a club for a little while. I have my ID on me as well, but I’ll self designate myself DD. I’d much rather look after your guys’ drunk asses than risking drunk dialing Toby right now.” The taller brunette looked away forlornly. Emily put her hand on top of Spencer’s. “Toby loves you, Spencer. There’s absolutely no doubt in my mind of that. So, stop the solemn look on your face and drive me to the nearest bar!” Spencer let out a chuckle, it was small, but it got a smile on her face, so Emily would call that a win. 

....

When they arrived at Voyeur, the club was already packed. The humidity and stuffiness hit Emily as soon as she entered the main dance floor. The place was amazing though. With its two floors for dancing and multiple bars set up around the downstairs area. Each individual bar had a unique style to it. There was even a runway set in the middle of the place. “Move away, bitches.” Emily heard Hanna comment as she made her way from the back of the group and headed toward the bar nearest to them. Emily stayed back for a few seconds, a bit intimidated by the who atmosphere. It wasn’t until Hanna made her way back to the group with a bright blue drink in her hand that Emily snapped out of it. 

“What’s that?” She asked Hanna when she came close enough to be able to hear her over the music. Emily watched as her friend wrapped her lips around the black straw in her drink, taking a long drawn out sip before releasing it. “It’s called A.M.F. Adios, Mother Fuckers. Here, try it!” She shoved the drink up to Emily’s face. Emily complied with her friend’s request and took a sip of the blue concoction. “Holy shit, that’s strong! What’s in it?” Emily sputtered forcing herself to actually swallow the drink. Emily scowled when Hanna laughed at her. “Of course it’s strong. It has vodka, rum, tequila, and gin in it.” Hanna took another sip of her drink. “You guys might want to go get your drinks if you plan on getting any in the next hour or so. The guy at the bar told me that drinks are half price after eleven, so all the bars will be backed up.” Emily looked to Alison and Aria, knowing Spencer wasn’t drinking. “I’m gonna go!” She hollered over the music. “You guys coming?”

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily didn’t know what to think about Alison slipping seamlessly back into the leadership role of the group. And from the looks across the table, the other girls were a bit taken back too. But nobody said anything about it. All seemed to have quieted down about the initial problem with her and Hanna buying alcohol and nobody said a thing when Alison order some wine for herself. Emily sighed.

“So, who’s the one buying this dinner for me?” Emily asked her group of friends, breaking the silence. Aria and Spencer looked at each other before looking back at Emily. “Me, why?” Spencer questioned, her tone obvious that she didn’t like where this was going. “Good.” Emily smirked before finishing the rest of her mimosa. It wasn’t long after that that Geoffry and another waitress came out to their table with dishes. Emily looked at hers and Alison’s dishes, which were the same, relieved that it looked edible. It was basically a meat stew, which was one of Emily’s favorite meals. As the waiters started to walk away, Emily held her hand out.

“Geoffry! Can I get another mimosa, s'il vous plaît?” Emily gave the Frenchman one of her megawatt smiles. He nodded, smiling at the brunette, before following the younger woman back into the kitchen. Emily dipped a spoon into her Baeckeoffe, taking a nibble. It wasn’t bad. Maybe an acquired taste, but when Emily took another bite, she found she didn’t mind it. Geoffry brought out her second mimosa and Emily thanked him before taking a long drink off of the sweet concoction. She didn’t know why she got another, not really. She just felt like it when Alison had butted into the conversation, trying to control it like she would back before she disappeared two years back. Emily didn’t know why she felt so angry that it happened, but she didn’t. She wasn’t angry at Alison per se, nor her other friends. Just that it happened, that it could still happen. Alison could just end an argument because she was Alison and the other girls were still the other girls. Well, Emily wasn’t going to stand for it. She may have a soft spot for the blonde beside her, but she would be damned if she let her pick what she did or didn’t do anymore. She took another drink off of her mimosa. 

“Are there any other plans for this outing?” Emily asked looking around the table at her friends. The group was all pretty much done with their meals and had begun chatting aimlessly. Aria and Spencer once again glance at each other before eyeing the blonde to her right and then looking back at Emily. “We figured we’d just go back to one of our houses and hang out. Why? What’d you have in mind?” Aria asked the taller brunette. Emily smirked at her friend. She was beginning to feel heated, meaning the alcohol was making its way into her system. She was still able to process everything as if she was sober, but her inhibition was slowly dwindling. “Well, I was thinking, since Hanna was nice enough to return my ID to me, that I could make use of it and take this celebration to a club?” Hanna squealed with delight. “Yes!” Emily smiled at her friend’s excitement. One down. Three to go. “Guys?” She looked at Spencer, Aria and then to Alison. “I mean it is my night to celebrate, right?”

When Alison saw Emily tense up slightly, she questioned it internally. It was easy to slip back into her old role as the leader. After all, the other girls were never quite as headstrong or abrasive as Alison. Maybe Emily didn’t like it, but how could Alison stay away from a role she’d always been comfortable in. The entire discussion was shut down by the single statement Alison contributed to the conversation. She never actually meant to shut it down, but it happened.

Alison looked over at Emily when she asked who was buying her dinner. She wondered who would be. If none of the girls stepped up within the next couple of seconds, Alison definitely would have spotted Emily, it was only fair. She was happy to hear Spencer step up, smiled to herself. “Thanks, Spence.” Alison said with a small smile. She began to slowly sip her wine, humming in content. She didn’t plan on getting drunk, she only wanted to have the one glass with her dinner, as she genuinely enjoyed the taste of wine.

When the food came out, the girls began enjoying their food. Alison took a few bites of her stew and hummed in appreciation. Baeckeoffe had always been a favorite of hers, her mother and Aunt Carol made it from time to time. “Do you like yours, Em?” Alison asked curiously, turning to the other girl. As the girls continued eating, Alison also continued enjoying her food, and didn’t pay much attention to anything else going on at the table. She was a bit surprised that Emily had ordered a second drink, wondering to herself if she wanted to get drunk that evening.

Alison couldn’t help but smile to herself when Emily asked if there were any other plans for the evening. She liked this side of Emily, she wanted to have fun, and Alison began wondering what else they could have planned. She was a bit impressed and surprised that Emily and Hanna wanted to go to a club. Alison didn’t really mind, but clubs were never really her scene. She pursed her lips forward and nodded with a shrug. “Sure, I’m fine with going to a club. I hope you guys brought your ID’s.” Alison mentioned to Aria and Spencer. “Great idea, Em. You deserve a celebration.” She said with a small smile, before finishing off her wine.

[emcatfields]

Emily didn’t know what to think about Alison slipping seamlessly back into the leadership role of the group. And from the looks across the table, the other girls were a bit taken back too. But nobody said anything about it. All seemed to have quieted down about the initial problem with her and Hanna buying alcohol and nobody said a thing when Alison order some wine for herself. Emily sighed.

“So, who’s the one buying this dinner for me?” Emily asked her group of friends, breaking the silence. Aria and Spencer looked at each other before looking back at Emily. “Me, why?” Spencer questioned, her tone obvious that she didn’t like where this was going. “Good.” Emily smirked before finishing the rest of her mimosa. It wasn’t long after that that Geoffry and another waitress came out to their table with dishes. Emily looked at hers and Alison’s dishes, which were the same, relieved that it looked edible. It was basically a meat stew, which was one of Emily’s favorite meals. As the waiters started to walk away, Emily held her hand out.

“Geoffry! Can I get another mimosa, s'il vous plaît?” Emily gave the Frenchman one of her megawatt smiles. He nodded, smiling at the brunette, before following the younger woman back into the kitchen. Emily dipped a spoon into her Baeckeoffe, taking a nibble. It wasn’t bad. Maybe an acquired taste, but when Emily took another bite, she found she didn’t mind it. Geoffry brought out her second mimosa and Emily thanked him before taking a long drink off of the sweet concoction. She didn’t know why she got another, not really. She just felt like it when Alison had butted into the conversation, trying to control it like she would back before she disappeared two years back. Emily didn’t know why she felt so angry that it happened, but she didn’t. She wasn’t angry at Alison per se, nor her other friends. Just that it happened, that it could still happen. Alison could just end an argument because she was Alison and the other girls were still the other girls. Well, Emily wasn’t going to stand for it. She may have a soft spot for the blonde beside her, but she would be damned if she let her pick what she did or didn’t do anymore. She took another drink off of her mimosa. 

“Are there any other plans for this outing?” Emily asked looking around the table at her friends. The group was all pretty much done with their meals and had begun chatting aimlessly. Aria and Spencer once again glance at each other before eyeing the blonde to her right and then looking back at Emily. “We figured we’d just go back to one of our houses and hang out. Why? What’d you have in mind?” Aria asked the taller brunette. Emily smirked at her friend. She was beginning to feel heated, meaning the alcohol was making its way into her system. She was still able to process everything as if she was sober, but her inhibition was slowly dwindling. “Well, I was thinking, since Hanna was nice enough to return my ID to me, that I could make use of it and take this celebration to a club?” Hanna squealed with delight. “Yes!” Emily smiled at her friend’s excitement. One down. Three to go. “Guys?” She looked at Spencer, Aria and then to Alison. “I mean it is my night to celebrate, right?”

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Honestly, Emily didn’t know what the dish Alison had just mentioned was, but she wasn’t going to mention that to the other girl. “Yeah, I think I’ll get that too.” Emily mumbled, placing her menu down with finality. Geoffry came back a few minutes later and along with some wine glasses, he had Hanna in tow. The blonde looked confused and a bit frustrated.

“Est-ce votre amie?” Geoffry asked Spencer with a smirk as he placed the wine glasses down in front of each girl and began filling them with ice water.

“Ouoi. C'est elle.” Spencer answered, looking toward the blonde. When the waiter was finished pouring the glasses of water her turned toward the still standing blonde.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hanna. Your friends have told me all good things about you.” Hanna lightly scoffed with she heard the waiter whom she had been previously trying to communicate with outside speak English. Then she turned to her friends when they all started laughing. “Wow. Thanks, guys. I love being the butt of everyone’s joke.” The blonde didn’t wait for Geoffry to get her a chair, instead she slid in with Aria and Spencer, making sure to squish the taller brunette into the wall as she did so. She smirked innocently when Spencer shot her a glare. 

“Is there anything else I can get you ladies to drink?” Geoffry looked around the table. “Yeah actually, Geoff. Can I get a mojito, made with your best house rum?” Emily’s eyes widen as her friend dug into her purse before hand the waiter her fake ID. Geoffry looked around the table at all of the girls, Emily assumed trying to gage their reactions because he had to know that they were all underage, right? Emily watched as the waiter took the ID, looking at it up close.

“Oh, Em! You forgot your ID in my car this morning. Silly girl.” Hanna laughed fakely before handing Emily her “ID” back to her. “In case you wanted to order something to celebrate your big win. She’s a star swimmer at Danby college.” Hanna told Geoffry with a smile. The waiter handed Hanna back her ID with a curt nod before looking at Emily. She didn’t know what to say. Emily had drank before, of course. Multiple times, with multiple people, but she had never really been one for alcohol. But she didn’t want to make Hanna’s story seem even faker than it already did. So, making a split second decision, Emily nodded with a smile. She saw Hanna eyes shine. “Of course.” She handed the card to Geoffry. “I’ll just have a mimosa.” Emily went with something light because she most definitely wasn’t going to be getting drunk tonight. Celebrating was okay; making a fool of herself was not. Geoffry handed her back her ID, commenting he’d get their drinks out and be back to take their food orders. When the waiter was definitely out of earshot, Emily turned harsh eyes on her friend.

“What the hell, Hanna?! Are you trying to get up arrested?” The blonde rolled her eyes, picking at her nails in an uninterested manner. “No, what I’m trying to do is celebrate with my best friend - friends - her win. I didn’t know that was a crime.” 

“It’s not. But underage drinking is.” Aria spoke up. Hanna rolled her eyes at the shorter girl. “So is sleeping with a guy almost twice your age. Not to mention the fact he’s our English teacher. It’s like putting a sparkling maraschino cherry on the totally illegal fudge-covered sundae.” Emily couldn’t help but agree with both girls’ points. But Ezra and Aria’s relationship wasn’t the focus right now. It hadn’t been the focus for a long time really. After the initial gross factor had subsided, Emily had accepted that her friend was dating their teacher. Even though she couldn’t relate to dating someone nine years her senior, Ezra made Aria happy and that’s all Emily could want for her friend.

“Okay, guys. Let’s not make a scene.” Spencer spoke seriously. Emily looked around the restaurant and while it was mostly empty they had caught the eyes of an elderly couple seated a few tables down. “Hanna and Emily will just drink the one drink they ordered and that will be it.” Emily saw Spencer look at Hanna expectantly. The blonde across from her roll her eyes. “Yes, mom.” 

Geoffry brought Hanna and Emily their drinks and took the girls’ orders before making himself scarce again. Emily cautiously takes a sip off of her mimosa. While she can instantly taste the alcohol on her tongue, she also tastes the citrus and sugar mixed in there a well. All and all, not bad she decides as she takes another longer sip. 

“So, congrats, Emily, on being the best damn swimmer Danby has ever seen.” Hanna raises her drink towards the brunette. Emily watches as Aria and Spencer do the same with the waters. Rolling her eyes, but keeping up with Hanna’s ruse, she accepts her friends’ genuine praise. “Thanks guys.” 

Alison looked over at Emily and smiled at the other girl. “Do you know what it is?” She asked curiously, wanting to make sure Emily actually knew what the dish was. Maybe this was something that wouldn’t change. Maybe Alison would always be able to help Emily with her French, one way or another. She smiled shyly to herself, looking down at the menu, attempting to hide her blush.

When Hanna came over to the table, Alison couldn’t help but laugh along with Spencer, high fiving the other girl across the table. Granted, it was probably a bit of a cruel joke, but it was done in good fun. Alison’s eyes traveled over to Hanna’s when she handed Emily her fake ID. She smiled knowingly to herself and shook her head. She’d gotten them their fake ID’s in the first place, and it was interesting to see that they were still using them. It made Alison feel good about herself, it also made her feel like she could still be a part of the group. After all, she was the reason they were all friends in the first place.

When the waiter walked away, she watched the conversation unfold. Spencer was clearly upset about Emily and Hanna drinking. She listened to the entire situation unfold, she didn’t want anyone to get heated, and the comment about Aria and Ezra’s relationship was completely out of line. It caused Alison to cringe, but she knew in the past she would have said something similar to that back in the day. “Everyone’s got their panties in a bunch.” Alison finally spoke up. “That was a low blow, Hanna. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with them having a few celebratory drinks. Just don’t draw attention to it, okay Spencer?” Alison said with a sigh. She shook her head to herself, this was why she still needed to be there, because she knew the girls would get themselves into some sort of situation over this. Alison wanted to avoid that.

Alison eagerly clanked her glass with the rest of the girls, and when Geoffry came back to the table, she turned to the older French man with her fake ID as well. “You know, these ladies have inspired me. I’d love to get a glass of Chardonnay.” She said with a small smile. Alison had always loved her wine, and couldn’t wait to get her hands on a glass. Plus, it was going to be a fancy dinner, why not have a glass of wine? It was classy. “See, now there’s nothing for him to be suspicious about.” Alison told them.

[emcatfields]

Honestly, Emily didn’t know what the dish Alison had just mentioned was, but she wasn’t going to mention that to the other girl. “Yeah, I think I’ll get that too.” Emily mumbled, placing her menu down with finality. Geoffry came back a few minutes later and along with some wine glasses, he had Hanna in tow. The blonde looked confused and a bit frustrated.

“Est-ce votre amie?” Geoffry asked Spencer with a smirk as he placed the wine glasses down in front of each girl and began filling them with ice water.

“Ouoi. C'est elle.” Spencer answered, looking toward the blonde. When the waiter was finished pouring the glasses of water her turned toward the still standing blonde.

“It’s nice to meet you, Hanna. Your friends have told me all good things about you.” Hanna lightly scoffed with she heard the waiter whom she had been previously trying to communicate with outside speak English. Then she turned to her friends when they all started laughing. “Wow. Thanks, guys. I love being the butt of everyone’s joke.” The blonde didn’t wait for Geoffry to get her a chair, instead she slid in with Aria and Spencer, making sure to squish the taller brunette into the wall as she did so. She smirked innocently when Spencer shot her a glare. 

“Is there anything else I can get you ladies to drink?” Geoffry looked around the table. “Yeah actually, Geoff. Can I get a mojito, made with your best house rum?” Emily’s eyes widen as her friend dug into her purse before hand the waiter her fake ID. Geoffry looked around the table at all of the girls, Emily assumed trying to gage their reactions because he had to know that they were all underage, right? Emily watched as the waiter took the ID, looking at it up close.

“Oh, Em! You forgot your ID in my car this morning. Silly girl.” Hanna laughed fakely before handing Emily her “ID” back to her. “In case you wanted to order something to celebrate your big win. She’s a star swimmer at Danby college.” Hanna told Geoffry with a smile. The waiter handed Hanna back her ID with a curt nod before looking at Emily. She didn’t know what to say. Emily had drank before, of course. Multiple times, with multiple people, but she had never really been one for alcohol. But she didn’t want to make Hanna’s story seem even faker than it already did. So, making a split second decision, Emily nodded with a smile. She saw Hanna eyes shine. “Of course.” She handed the card to Geoffry. “I’ll just have a mimosa.” Emily went with something light because she most definitely wasn’t going to be getting drunk tonight. Celebrating was okay; making a fool of herself was not. Geoffry handed her back her ID, commenting he’d get their drinks out and be back to take their food orders. When the waiter was definitely out of earshot, Emily turned harsh eyes on her friend.

“What the hell, Hanna?! Are you trying to get up arrested?” The blonde rolled her eyes, picking at her nails in an uninterested manner. “No, what I’m trying to do is celebrate with my best friend - friends - her win. I didn’t know that was a crime.” 

“It’s not. But underage drinking is.” Aria spoke up. Hanna rolled her eyes at the shorter girl. “So is sleeping with a guy almost twice your age. Not to mention the fact he’s our English teacher. It’s like putting a sparkling maraschino cherry on the totally illegal fudge-covered sundae.” Emily couldn’t help but agree with both girls’ points. But Ezra and Aria’s relationship wasn’t the focus right now. It hadn’t been the focus for a long time really. After the initial gross factor had subsided, Emily had accepted that her friend was dating their teacher. Even though she couldn’t relate to dating someone nine years her senior, Ezra made Aria happy and that’s all Emily could want for her friend.

“Okay, guys. Let’s not make a scene.” Spencer spoke seriously. Emily looked around the restaurant and while it was mostly empty they had caught the eyes of an elderly couple seated a few tables down. “Hanna and Emily will just drink the one drink they ordered and that will be it.” Emily saw Spencer look at Hanna expectantly. The blonde across from her roll her eyes. “Yes, mom.” 

Geoffry brought Hanna and Emily their drinks and took the girls’ orders before making himself scarce again. Emily cautiously takes a sip off of her mimosa. While she can instantly taste the alcohol on her tongue, she also tastes the citrus and sugar mixed in there a well. All and all, not bad she decides as she takes another longer sip. 

“So, congrats, Emily, on being the best damn swimmer Danby has ever seen.” Hanna raises her drink towards the brunette. Emily watches as Aria and Spencer do the same with the waters. Rolling her eyes, but keeping up with Hanna’s ruse, she accepts her friends’ genuine praise. “Thanks guys.” 

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily initially felt weird with Alison letting her enter the Spencer’s car first, it was normally her thing. But she didn’t give it another thought, the blonde was just being polite. After the lot of them made it into their friend’s Highlander, Spencer keeled it out of the school parking lot, never one to be late for anything. Emily buckled her seatbelt and turned to face Alison when she heard the blonde ask her a question.

“Uh yeah. Of course I am. You more than anyone know how much I love French cuisine and culture.” Emily whispered the last part lowly, just between her and Ali. “Plus, a night out away from Rosewood is just what I needed.” Emily spoke normally again. She shared a small smile with Alison.

“Amen, sister!” Spencer spoke up. “No parents, no Rosewood, no men.” Emily laughed at how uncharacteristic Spencer sounded right now. But she took the bait, knowing Spencer was only this outgoing when something was bothering her.

“Is everything okay, Spence? With Toby or anything else?” Emily caught the taller brunette’s gaze in the rearview mirror. 

“Yeah. Yeah! Why wouldn’t they be? Everything’s fine.” Spencer sighed. “Okay, no. Everything’s not fine. Toby’s been working more lately and I barely get to see him. And I don’t want to be that girl. The girl who once she gets into a relationship, she can’t be alone because I can be alone. I just don’t like to be alone as much as I use to. And ever since we said I love you, it feels like he’s been working more. I don’t know, maybe I’m being clingy.” Spencer finished sighing again.

“Have you told Toby any of this, Spencer?” Emily knew that her friend most likely hadn’t told any of this to her boyfriend, which was part of the problem. Toby was a great guy and he really loved Spencer. Emily knew this for a fact, but he also wasn’t a mind reader. And Spencer could be aloof when she was hurting, stoic almost. 

“Toby loves you, Spencer. It’s normal to attached after you tell someone how you feel, right guys?” Emily couldn’t help that her eyes briefly flitted to the blonde sitting beside her.

“Right. Once you let them that much further in, you can’t help but want to be around them all the time, no matter what. Sleeping. Eating. Breathing.” Emily laughed at her own exaggeration. “You want to be with them for it all because it feels good to be so open with someone.” Emily looked into the rearview mirror, once again locking eyes with Spencer, sharing a smile. 

“So I’m not crazy?” The driver asks quietly. Emily lets out a quiet laugh, shaking her head. “Nope. You’re completely sane, Spence.” 

“Well, I don’t know completely sane.” Aria pipes up from the passenger seat. Spencer punches the smaller girl, playfully, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t think anyone can be completely sane when they’re in love.” Emily speaks up. She sees her friends in front of her nodding their heads in agreeance.

….

When the group enters Parc, they are greeted by a posh looking waiter who greets them all with a smile. 

“Table pour quatre?” The tall man asks the group of girls. The four of them had taken French together their first two years of high school, Spencer was still in the class, so they understood the man completely. Hanna on the other hand would not only regret being late, but regret choosing to divert from her friends and taking Spanish in the beginning of their high school years.

“Non. Nous avons une amie tardif qui devrait être ici dans quelques minutes.” Spencer spoke for the group, feeling the most confident in her abilities. “Ou elle dit.” Spencer said in a sarcastic tone. The man chuckled a bit at Spencer’s comment. “À l'extérieur ou à l'intérieur?” The man, Geoffry, Emily reads on his name tag, asks the group. Spencer looks to Emily first, seeing as it was her dinner. The swimmer shrugs, she didn’t really care.

“À l'intérieur, sil vous plait.” Geoffry nods before escorting them into a booth near the back of the restaurant. Emily takes a look around as they are brought to their table. The restaurant is exquisite with a maroon and dark wood color pattern to it. It was so rustic, reminding Emily of the places her and Alison looked at when they were talking about travelling to Paris. Staying there for eternity and more. Emily knew that it was more of a fantasy that something that would actually happen, even back then, but it was fun to think about. That time seemed so long ago, but at the same time not that long ago at all. Emily looked towards the blonde wondering if she was thinking back to their Paris conversations as well. When they make it to their booth, Aria and Spencer slid into one side of the table, leaving Emily and Alison to slide into the other side. Geoffry begins setting down their menus.

“I will have to pull a chair from a nearby table for your friend when she gets here.” Although the man has a thick French accent, his English is phenomenal. Spencer’s mouth hangs open. Geoffry sees this and chuckles.

“I’m sorry, cherie, to have led you on. But it was nice speaking my mother tongue with you. I don’t do it nearly enough anymore.” Spencer just smiles at the older man as he leaves.

“Hey, Geoffry?” The waiter turns around to face the group. “Do you think you could pretend not to speak English when our friend arrives? She has short blonde hair with black lowlights. You can’t miss her, really.” The waiter shakes his head at the request.

“Bien sûr.” He answers turning and passing through the swinging doors that leads to the kitchen. Emily can’t believe her friend.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?” Emily asks the taller brunette, but she can’t help the hint of amusement shining through her eyes. Spencer just shrugs.

“She’ll learn not to be late, won’t she.” Emily rolls her eyes, but lets it go. She picks up her menu. And of course, it’s completely in French. While she remembers a lot of what she learned in French, mainly because Alison helped her after class and was her partner on almost every project, Emily only took the required two years of the language. So, while she could pick out bits and pieces of the menu like canard duck and epinard spinach to name a few, she didn’t understand the complex explanation of the dishes. And this restaurant was too fancy to have any pictures in their menu. Emily sighed, setting her menu upright on the table, focussing hard. She wasn’t going to cave and ask Spencer for help. She couldn’t. Her eyes scanned around the menu for another minute before she looked over at Alison.

“It’s times like this where I wish I’d paid more attention in French class.” To be fair, Emily did pay attention when Alison was the one speaking and asking her questions. Sue her younger self for rather having her crush recite French conjugations and vocabulary words than their old and balding French teacher. 

“Is anything jumping out at you?”

“I do know that. I think this is going to be a great night.” Alison replied, smiling knowingly back at Emily. She remembered the time after school when she was helping Emily study for their French class. It had always been a dream of Alison’s to go to Paris. Especially with Emily. She wasn’t sure why she’d included the other girl in that fantasy of hers, it just seemed right. Emily would look good on top of the Eifel Tower, and staying in Paris with her forever would be a dream come true. Obviously, it would never happen, but hey a girl could dream, right?

As Spencer drove them to Parc, Alison listened intently to her friends’ conversation. She never knew what it was like to be in love, and she thought she never would. If anything, Alison was into small flings, she never had the desire to settle down with anyone. Though, the thought of being dependent on someone like that sounded a bit helpless, yet intriguing to her all at the same time. And as Alison listened to Emily explain it, she wondered if she’d experienced those same emotions and feelings with Paige. Alison hoped she hadn’t, she thought Emily deserved better.

“Oh Spence, Emily’s right.” Alison decided to chime in. “Toby’s head over heels into you.” She mused. “I can tell by the way he looks at you. He just wants to continue keeping you safe, it’s why he’s spending so much time as a cop. It’s a noble thing to do.” She said with a shrug.

Luckily, that portion of the conversation had died down, Alison glanced over at Emily a few times wondering what the other girl was thinking about as the drive continued, they weren’t much further from their destination.

…

When the girls arrived to Parc, Alison took a few moments to take in her surroundings. She was already in love with the restaurant. It was beautiful, and had amazing French décor going for it. Alison was appreciative of this and figured the restaurant wouldn’t disappoint. She was even more pleased to hear the host speaking to them in French. It had been a few years since Alison had taken a French class, and she didn’t have much time to practice while she was gone, so she was grateful that Spencer was there to do most of the speaking for them. Still, she was able to pick up on some parts of the conversation. Since Alison started back at Rosewood High, she was most excited to begin taking French class again. It had always been one of her favorites.

As they were shown to their table, Alison made a mental note to herself to practice her French. After all, she would need to relearn it if she wanted to survive when she inevitably made it to France one day. However, with Emily by her side, it was difficult to not think back to those conversations the two of them had in the classroom about going to Paris one day. Just the two of them. Perhaps they would still have a chance in going some day.

When Spencer asked Geoffrey to pretend that he didn’t know English when Hanna came in, Alison couldn’t help but laugh. She was completely on board for this, and it wasn’t just because she and Hanna weren’t on the best of terms… Or maybe it was. Still, she loved Spencer’s idea nonetheless. “It’s not that cruel, come on Em. It’s a joke. I’m with you on this one, Spencer.” Alison said smirking playfully at the brunette across the table from her.

Alison couldn’t help but grin at Emily when she said she wished she’d paid more attention in French class. “It may have been wise. But in your defense you didn’t know that you’d actually be at a French restaurant some day. Plus, you had me in there to help you.” She mused, chuckling lightly to herself. When Emily asked what stuck out to her, she smiled at the other girl. “Honestly, I was thinking about the Baeckeoffe.  What are you thinking about getting? She asked curiously.  

[emcatfields]

Emily initially felt weird with Alison letting her enter the Spencer’s car first, it was normally her thing. But she didn’t give it another thought, the blonde was just being polite. After the lot of them made it into their friend’s Highlander, Spencer keeled it out of the school parking lot, never one to be late for anything. Emily buckled her seatbelt and turned to face Alison when she heard the blonde ask her a question.

“Uh yeah. Of course I am. You more than anyone know how much I love French cuisine and culture.” Emily whispered the last part lowly, just between her and Ali. “Plus, a night out away from Rosewood is just what I needed.” Emily spoke normally again. She shared a small smile with Alison.

“Amen, sister!” Spencer spoke up. “No parents, no Rosewood, no men.” Emily laughed at how uncharacteristic Spencer sounded right now. But she took the bait, knowing Spencer was only this outgoing when something was bothering her.

“Is everything okay, Spence? With Toby or anything else?” Emily caught the taller brunette’s gaze in the rearview mirror. 

“Yeah. Yeah! Why wouldn’t they be? Everything’s fine.” Spencer sighed. “Okay, no. Everything’s not fine. Toby’s been working more lately and I barely get to see him. And I don’t want to be that girl. The girl who once she gets into a relationship, she can’t be alone because I can be alone. I just don’t like to be alone as much as I use to. And ever since we said I love you, it feels like he’s been working more. I don’t know, maybe I’m being clingy.” Spencer finished sighing again.

“Have you told Toby any of this, Spencer?” Emily knew that her friend most likely hadn’t told any of this to her boyfriend, which was part of the problem. Toby was a great guy and he really loved Spencer. Emily knew this for a fact, but he also wasn’t a mind reader. And Spencer could be aloof when she was hurting, stoic almost. 

“Toby loves you, Spencer. It’s normal to attached after you tell someone how you feel, right guys?” Emily couldn’t help that her eyes briefly flitted to the blonde sitting beside her.

“Right. Once you let them that much further in, you can’t help but want to be around them all the time, no matter what. Sleeping. Eating. Breathing.” Emily laughed at her own exaggeration. “You want to be with them for it all because it feels good to be so open with someone.” Emily looked into the rearview mirror, once again locking eyes with Spencer, sharing a smile. 

“So I’m not crazy?” The driver asks quietly. Emily lets out a quiet laugh, shaking her head. “Nope. You’re completely sane, Spence.” 

“Well, I don’t know completely sane.” Aria pipes up from the passenger seat. Spencer punches the smaller girl, playfully, rolling her eyes.

“I don’t think anyone can be completely sane when they’re in love.” Emily speaks up. She sees her friends in front of her nodding their heads in agreeance.

....

When the group enters Parc, they are greeted by a posh looking waiter who greets them all with a smile. 

“Table pour quatre?” The tall man asks the group of girls. The four of them had taken French together their first two years of high school, Spencer was still in the class, so they understood the man completely. Hanna on the other hand would not only regret being late, but regret choosing to divert from her friends and taking Spanish in the beginning of their high school years.

“Non. Nous avons une amie tardif qui devrait être ici dans quelques minutes.” Spencer spoke for the group, feeling the most confident in her abilities. “Ou elle dit.” Spencer said in a sarcastic tone. The man chuckled a bit at Spencer’s comment. “À l'extérieur ou à l'intérieur?” The man, Geoffry, Emily reads on his name tag, asks the group. Spencer looks to Emily first, seeing as it was her dinner. The swimmer shrugs, she didn’t really care.

“À l'intérieur, sil vous plait.” Geoffry nods before escorting them into a booth near the back of the restaurant. Emily takes a look around as they are brought to their table. The restaurant is exquisite with a maroon and dark wood color pattern to it. It was so rustic, reminding Emily of the places her and Alison looked at when they were talking about travelling to Paris. Staying there for eternity and more. Emily knew that it was more of a fantasy that something that would actually happen, even back then, but it was fun to think about. That time seemed so long ago, but at the same time not that long ago at all. Emily looked towards the blonde wondering if she was thinking back to their Paris conversations as well. When they make it to their booth, Aria and Spencer slid into one side of the table, leaving Emily and Alison to slide into the other side. Geoffry begins setting down their menus.

“I will have to pull a chair from a nearby table for your friend when she gets here.” Although the man has a thick French accent, his English is phenomenal. Spencer’s mouth hangs open. Geoffry sees this and chuckles.

“I’m sorry, cherie, to have led you on. But it was nice speaking my mother tongue with you. I don’t do it nearly enough anymore.” Spencer just smiles at the older man as he leaves.

“Hey, Geoffry?” The waiter turns around to face the group. “Do you think you could pretend not to speak English when our friend arrives? She has short blonde hair with black lowlights. You can’t miss her, really.” The waiter shakes his head at the request.

“Bien sûr.” He answers turning and passing through the swinging doors that leads to the kitchen. Emily can’t believe her friend.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit cruel?” Emily asks the taller brunette, but she can’t help the hint of amusement shining through her eyes. Spencer just shrugs.

“She’ll learn not to be late, won’t she.” Emily rolls her eyes, but lets it go. She picks up her menu. And of course, it’s completely in French. While she remembers a lot of what she learned in French, mainly because Alison helped her after class and was her partner on almost every project, Emily only took the required two years of the language. So, while she could pick out bits and pieces of the menu like canard duck and epinard spinach to name a few, she didn’t understand the complex explanation of the dishes. And this restaurant was too fancy to have any pictures in their menu. Emily sighed, setting her menu upright on the table, focussing hard. She wasn’t going to cave and ask Spencer for help. She couldn’t. Her eyes scanned around the menu for another minute before she looked over at Alison.

“It’s times like this where I wish I’d paid more attention in French class.” To be fair, Emily did pay attention when Alison was the one speaking and asking her questions. Sue her younger self for rather having her crush recite French conjugations and vocabulary words than their old and balding French teacher. 

“Is anything jumping out at you?”

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

emcatfields:

As soon as the last swimmers finished their runs, the times were added and scores calculated, the winners were the Rosewood Sharks by fifteen seconds and just 3 points. A close game, but as soon as Emily and her team heard the results, they screamed with joy and piled into a group hug. Emily was at the top of her game and on the top of the world. At that moment she felt happier than she had in a long while. She was in first place in terms of her team’s times, so she was anchoring for the next meet, her and Paige were talking again and all of her friends were on good and semi-good terms with each other. Which is all that she could hope for really with all that had happened. 

When she exited the locker room, Emily was met by the two girls who made it to her meet. She smiled shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear as Aria congratulated her on her win.

“It was a team effort, really.” Emily really did believe her statement. While she swam and worked to always get her times down, she stood by teamwork and helping her fellow swimmers with advice or assisting in formation, and expected the same back. So, really, it was because of the whole team that they won tonight. There was a lull of silence when both Aria and Emily received a text message at the same time. She met Aria’s gaze before they both slowly took out their phones. Emily let out a breath when she saw it was just a text message from Hanna.

So, I’m gonna be a few minutes late to the dinner. Caleb has to drop off something at his foster mom’s house. -_-

“Are we going out to dinner?” Aria and Alison both looked at Emily and then to each other, the shorter brunette speaking first.

“No, why would you think that?” Aria spoke slowly and carefully.

“Uh, because Hanna just texted me saying she was going to be late to the dinner we’re not going out to.” Emily answered, mirth lacing her words as a smile formed on her mouth. Emily’s phone chimed again.

Shit! Wrong person. My fault. Congrats on your win, Em! See you in a bit. :)

Emily laughed before showing the other two her phone with Hanna’s two messages. 

“Okay, well it was supposed be a surprise. But since that’s not happening. We’re taking you out to Parc, the French style restaurant in Philly. We know how much you love French cuisine.” Aria rolled her eyes at her blonde friend’s mess up, but smiled at Emily in the end when she explained the secret dinner. For her part, Emily didn’t care that the surprise was ruined, all she cared about was she was going to get to spend the rest of the night with her friends. Which hasn’t happened since the night at Spencer’s. But seeing as her friends were getting along better and meshing well individually and as a group, so she has no worries about tonight. 

“The reservation is at 8:30, so I say we go and if Hanna isn’t there by the time they seat us, she will have to order her food after ours.” Emily just laughed at her friend before following her and Alison out of the gymnasium. As the three of them made their way outside and towards the car, a voice behind them made the three turn around simultaneously. 

“I still find it creepy when you guys do that.” Paige spoke up when she made it to the three girls. “Anyway, I just wanted to say congrats, Em. I know you’ll anchor us well next week.” The taller brunette smiled. “But I still don’t like that you beat me.” Emily laughed. Of course there would always be competition between the two of them. Paige was a go getter much like Emily, but the swimmer was glad they had come to terms with their relationship and actually supported one another now instead of trying to tear each other down. Well, Paige trying to tear her down. 

“You’re gonna need to tighten your form if you ever want to beat me.” Emily commented with a smirk. Paige was always one to push and push herself, not changing anything about her swimming. Essentially draining herself out without getting much of anywhere. But when they were dating, Emily helped her start to align her positions better, therefore not requiring as much energy to glide through the water. 

“You gonna help me with that, Em? Tightening my form?” Paige smirked at her teammate before prematurely backing down when not only Emily, but both of her friends shot her a glare. Emily’s receded faster than the others. “Just kidding.” Paige mumbled. 

“Come on, girls! We still have a half hour drive to Philly!” Spencer hollers out of window when she pulls up to the group of girls. “Oh, hello, Paige.” She says awkwardly when she notices the other brunette. Paige just gives her an awkward wave.

“You guys going to Philly?” Paige asks, looking to Emily who shifts awkwardly. She didn’t know if she should invite her, probably not with how Alison feels about her. And she didn’t want it to be awkward between the group, but this was Paige’s win too. She deserved to be celebrated just as much as Emily. And Emily knew that Paige’s father wasn’t going to do it. He only commented on her performance when she wasn’t doing well. Emily shifted in place a bit.

“Yeah, they’re taking me to a French restaurant in Philly. Do you have any plans tonight?” It wasn’t exactly an open invitation, but Emily opened it up to be one.

“I do actually. I’m going on a date.” The taller brunette announced with pride. Emily’s eyes widened, surprised. She knew that Paige had someone she was interested in. She shared during their non-swimming hang out that she was starting to like Rachel from her A.P. Calculus class. Rachel was also on the Shark’s field hockey team, both of which fit Paige’s interests. Sporty and smart. Emily smiled at her friend.

“That’s amazing, Paige!” Emily gushed, placing a hand on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I know you’ve been talking about doing it for a little while now. So, I hope your night goes as planned.” Paige returns Emily’s smile. “Me too.” Paige leaves the group of three and they all get into Spencer’s car. Paige turns around, walking backwards.

“Oh and Em, if you want to practice again sometime soon, hit me up.” She turns back around and heads off to her car.

When it was announced that the Rosewood Sharks won their meet, the entire crowd stood up and cheered for them. Alison and Aria also joined along with the crowd cheering for the team, but mostly for Emily. Both girls admittedly did not understand much about the sport, but whenever they saw Emily in the water, they specifically watched for her, as well as any other girls they knew well enough.

Alison lead Aria toward the door to the girl’s locker room so they could meet Emily there. She had been let in on the surprise they were creating for Emily, a dinner at the French restaurant in Philly. Alison was excited for the opportunity. She’d been there once before with one of her older friends, but only got to enjoy a dessert. She was truly looking forward to the entire experience, especially with Emily. The two of them had always shared a special bond over Paris. Alison didn’t know if the rest of the girls knew about that, but she hoped they didn’t. She wanted it to remain something special between the two of them. Not necessarily a secret, but their special thing.

When Emily made her way out of the locker room, both girls congratulated her. Alison leaned in to give Emily a quick hug. “Congratulations, Em. You were amazing out there.” She mused as she pulled away from their embrace, smiling widely at the other girl in front of her. “You’re so modest…” Alison sighed shaking her head at herself. Which was true. Obviously, being a part of a swim team was a team effort as Emily always explained, but how could she deny being the best one on the entire team? Alison didn’t understand how Emily could do it.

The text Hanna sent to the other girls caused Alison to roll her eyes. How could the other blonde be that stupid? Then again, the surprise wasn’t going to be a surprise for very much longer, so why not let it out of the bag now? Either way, Alison figured it would be wise to keep her mouth shut on the matter. Aria was already throwing Hanna under the bus nicer than she would have, so it worked out all the same. She exchanged a quick smile with Emily when Aria mentioned that they were going to  a French restaurant. It had always been their place, and Alison knew that Emily would like it.

As the girls walked out of the gym, Alison rolled her eyes when she heard Paige’s voice behind them. She kept her back to her, not wanting to show the other girl that she was annoyed by the comment. “What’s creepy?” Aria questioned Paige curiously. She hadn’t really spoken with the girl even though she and Emily had dating history. Perhaps it was because she and Spencer hadn’t trusted her in the beginning, and she had started out on the wrong foot with Paige. No matter what it was, Aria didn’t look into it much. Instead, she stood next to Alison and waited for Emily to finish talking with the other girl.

The comment about Emily helping Paige out with her form was what nearly sent Alison over the edge. She was unable to hide the look of disgust on her face. The way Paige was behaving was classless. Utterly classless. Alison did everything she could to hold her tongue. Luckily, Alison wasn’t the only one who had disapproved of Paige’s statement, clearly Aria was also bothered by it too.

Alison was partially happy and disturbed to hear that Paige had a date. She couldn’t find one thing that was likeable about the other girl, but she was relieved that she would be dating someone other than Emily. Perhaps Paige would then leave Emily alone so she could pursue someone better. Alison internally thanked god that Spencer had shown up in her Highlander to take the girls into Philly. She didn’t want to have to stand there much longer and make nice with Paige. She’d already apologized, and that was enough. If the two of them could act peacefully around each other without wanting to tear the other one’s head off, Alison would be content with that arrangement. “Yep, good luck with the date.” Alison responded to Paige after they headed to their parting ways. She wondered what exactly went on whenever Paige and Emily practiced their swimming. Obviously they practiced swimming, but did they talk about anyone? Alison hoped she was never a subject brought out at these hangouts.

After they said their final goodbye to Paige, the girls climbed into Spencer’s Highlander. Aria took the front seat and left the backseat for Emily and Alison. Alison gestured for Emily to get in first before climbing back in beside her. “Are you excited to try this place?” Alison asked the other girl curiously.

[emcatfields]

As soon as the last swimmers finished their runs, the times were added and scores calculated, the winners were the Rosewood Sharks by fifteen seconds and just 3 points. A close game, but as soon as Emily and her team heard the results, they screamed with joy and piled into a group hug. Emily was at the top of her game and on the top of the world. At that moment she felt happier than she had in a long while. She was in first place in terms of her team’s times, so she was anchoring for the next meet, her and Paige were talking again and all of her friends were on good and semi-good terms with each other. Which is all that she could hope for really with all that had happened. 

When she exited the locker room, Emily was met by the two girls who made it to her meet. She smiled shyly, tucking some hair behind her ear as Aria congratulated her on her win.

“It was a team effort, really.” Emily really did believe her statement. While she swam and worked to always get her times down, she stood by teamwork and helping her fellow swimmers with advice or assisting in formation, and expected the same back. So, really, it was because of the whole team that they won tonight. There was a lull of silence when both Aria and Emily received a text message at the same time. She met Aria’s gaze before they both slowly took out their phones. Emily let out a breath when she saw it was just a text message from Hanna.

So, I’m gonna be a few minutes late to the dinner. Caleb has to drop off something at his foster mom’s house. -_-

“Are we going out to dinner?” Aria and Alison both looked at Emily and then to each other, the shorter brunette speaking first.

“No, why would you think that?” Aria spoke slowly and carefully.

“Uh, because Hanna just texted me saying she was going to be late to the dinner we’re not going out to.” Emily answered, mirth lacing her words as a smile formed on her mouth. Emily’s phone chimed again.

Shit! Wrong person. My fault. Congrats on your win, Em! See you in a bit. :)

Emily laughed before showing the other two her phone with Hanna’s two messages. 

“Okay, well it was supposed be a surprise. But since that’s not happening. We’re taking you out to Parc, the French style restaurant in Philly. We know how much you love French cuisine.” Aria rolled her eyes at her blonde friend’s mess up, but smiled at Emily in the end when she explained the secret dinner. For her part, Emily didn’t care that the surprise was ruined, all she cared about was she was going to get to spend the rest of the night with her friends. Which hasn’t happened since the night at Spencer’s. But seeing as her friends were getting along better and meshing well individually and as a group, so she has no worries about tonight. 

“The reservation is at 8:30, so I say we go and if Hanna isn’t there by the time they seat us, she will have to order her food after ours.” Emily just laughed at her friend before following her and Alison out of the gymnasium. As the three of them made their way outside and towards the car, a voice behind them made the three turn around simultaneously. 

“I still find it creepy when you guys do that.” Paige spoke up when she made it to the three girls. “Anyway, I just wanted to say congrats, Em. I know you’ll anchor us well next week.” The taller brunette smiled. “But I still don’t like that you beat me.” Emily laughed. Of course there would always be competition between the two of them. Paige was a go getter much like Emily, but the swimmer was glad they had come to terms with their relationship and actually supported one another now instead of trying to tear each other down. Well, Paige trying to tear her down. 

“You’re gonna need to tighten your form if you ever want to beat me.” Emily commented with a smirk. Paige was always one to push and push herself, not changing anything about her swimming. Essentially draining herself out without getting much of anywhere. But when they were dating, Emily helped her start to align her positions better, therefore not requiring as much energy to glide through the water. 

“You gonna help me with that, Em? Tightening my form?” Paige smirked at her teammate before prematurely backing down when not only Emily, but both of her friends shot her a glare. Emily’s receded faster than the others. “Just kidding.” Paige mumbled. 

“Come on, girls! We still have a half hour drive to Philly!” Spencer hollers out of window when she pulls up to the group of girls. “Oh, hello, Paige.” She says awkwardly when she notices the other brunette. Paige just gives her an awkward wave.

“You guys going to Philly?” Paige asks, looking to Emily who shifts awkwardly. She didn’t know if she should invite her, probably not with how Alison feels about her. And she didn’t want it to be awkward between the group, but this was Paige’s win too. She deserved to be celebrated just as much as Emily. And Emily knew that Paige’s father wasn’t going to do it. He only commented on her performance when she wasn’t doing well. Emily shifted in place a bit.

“Yeah, they’re taking me to a French restaurant in Philly. Do you have any plans tonight?” It wasn’t exactly an open invitation, but Emily opened it up to be one.

“I do actually. I’m going on a date.” The taller brunette announced with pride. Emily’s eyes widened, surprised. She knew that Paige had someone she was interested in. She shared during their non-swimming hang out that she was starting to like Rachel from her A.P. Calculus class. Rachel was also on the Shark’s field hockey team, both of which fit Paige’s interests. Sporty and smart. Emily smiled at her friend.

“That’s amazing, Paige!” Emily gushed, placing a hand on the taller girl’s shoulder. “I know you’ve been talking about doing it for a little while now. So, I hope your night goes as planned.” Paige returns Emily’s smile. “Me too.” Paige leaves the group of three and they all get into Spencer’s car. Paige turns around, walking backwards.

“Oh and Em, if you want to practice again sometime soon, hit me up.” She turns back around and heads off to her car.

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

“That was an amazing run, Fields!” Emily’s coach complimented as the brunette pulled herself out of the pool. The coach gave her a pat on the back as she grabbed a towel and made her way to the bench. She heard him rounding up the next swimmer in the run when she sat down and grabbed her water bottle, taking a long drink. It was the first meet of the year that would actually count towards the championships. 

So far the Sharks were in the lead, but the Rays were right behind in terms of times. It was close to say the least. Emily had a few minutes before her next run was scheduled and she found herself looking across the pool and into the crowd. Instantly, her eyes found Aria, she had met up with the shorter brunette right before the meet began, so she knew where she was going to be sitting. But what really made her heart thump against her rib cage was the blonde sitting next to her friend. Alison had made it. A smile crept its way onto Emily’s face, she couldn’t help it. She watched as the two of them talked animatedly about something. She’d have to ask what about later. Her smile got bigger when she saw Alison smile and throw her head back laughing. The swimmer was brought out of her thoughts when someone plopped down on the bench beside her with a groan.

“Paige,” Emily greets the other girl with a smile, but she drops it when she notices the scowl on Paige’s face. “What’s wrong?” Paige looks at her like she’s grown another head. 

“Didn’t you see it? Nicole almost beat me. Like, she was this close!” Paige squishes her fingers barely a centimeter apart to emphasize her statement. Emily looks away sheepishly, embarrassed a whole round went by unnoticed by her. She looked back into the crowd and saw both Alison’s and Aria’s eyes on her. She blushed, wondering how long they’d been staring at her. That’s what she got for getting lost in her own head. She sent her friends a smile a Paige hummed in understanding.

“Alison’s here.” Paige smirked, but not in an unpleasant way. “Have you asked her out yet?” Emily turned her neck so fast she heard it snap. “What?!” Emily asked in a harsh whisper, eyes wide. The other brunette was unfazed, taking a drink of her water, raising an eyebrow. 

Just a few weeks back, when Emily and Paige had met up at the community pool, Paige laid it all on the table with Emily. Stating that she knew that with Alison back in the picture they didn’t have a chance. And even if they were to try, it wouldn’t work out and both would end up getting hurt. After she got that off of her chest, though, Paige went into her second ramble session on why she had forgave Alison. She was still sceptical, but trusted Emily’s opinion of the blonde. They had done more talking than swimming that day actually, which was okay with Emily. She was honestly glad she had a friend outside of it all. Someone who was (for the most part) unbiased. Another plus was Paige was also gay, so that was a good change in the start of their tentative friendship they had going on.

“Alison and I both agreed to stay friends. Just friends.” Emily answered Paige, drifting off on the last part. 

“God, Emily. Why? You, me, and my dead grandmother can tell you don’t want that.” Paige spoke unabashedly. Another thing that was different between Paige and her other friends was Paige spoke her mind without hesitancy. Part of Emily liked it, another part of her was still not completely used to it. Emily scoffed at her teammate’s statement. But Paige carried on.

“And by the looks of it, Alison’s blue eyes are now green.” Paige pointed out after taking another long drink off of her water bottle. Emily couldn’t help but turn her head in Alison’s direction. She was looking in their direction alright, while Aria was distracted talking to someone on her cell phone. 

“You’re seeing things, Paige. Didn’t you say hallucinations ran in your family?” Emily dished it right back at Paige who hummed in amusement. 

“And the Nile is just a river in Africa.” Paige stated as their coach called Emily’s name.

“Fields, you’re up! Get ‘em, girl!” Emily got up from the bench, running a towel through her hair quickly, and grabbing her goggles. When she passed Paige, the taller brunette unceremoniously slapped her ass. She turned back to her with a glare. Paige just smirked and raised her hands in ways of surrendering.  

“Just think of it as an experiment.” Emily rolled her eyes she didn’t get why Paige liked pissing Alison off so much, but it was her own funeral. Although, part of Emily did wonder if her blonde friend hated Paige so much because she was jealous. Emily mounted the board, shaking her head and clearing her thoughts, she needed to focus on the task at hand before anything else.

[emcatfields]

We’ve Only Just Begun || Emison

“That was an amazing run, Fields!” Emily’s coach complimented as the brunette pulled herself out of the pool. The coach gave her a pat on the back as she grabbed a towel and made her way to the bench. She heard him rounding up the next swimmer in the run when she sat down and grabbed her water bottle, taking a long drink. It was the first meet of the year that would actually count towards the championships. 

So far the Sharks were in the lead, but the Rays were right behind in terms of times. It was close to say the least. Emily had a few minutes before her next run was scheduled and she found herself looking across the pool and into the crowd. Instantly, her eyes found Aria, she had met up with the shorter brunette right before the meet began, so she knew where she was going to be sitting. But what really made her heart thump against her rib cage was the blonde sitting next to her friend. Alison had made it. A smile crept its way onto Emily’s face, she couldn’t help it. She watched as the two of them talked animatedly about something. She’d have to ask what about later. Her smile got bigger when she saw Alison smile and throw her head back laughing. The swimmer was brought out of her thoughts when someone plopped down on the bench beside her with a groan.

“Paige,” Emily greets the other girl with a smile, but she drops it when she notices the scowl on Paige’s face. “What’s wrong?” Paige looks at her like she’s grown another head. 

“Didn’t you see it? Nicole almost beat me. Like, she was this close!” Paige squishes her fingers barely a centimeter apart to emphasize her statement. Emily looks away sheepishly, embarrassed a whole round went by unnoticed by her. She looked back into the crowd and saw both Alison’s and Aria’s eyes on her. She blushed, wondering how long they’d been staring at her. That’s what she got for getting lost in her own head. She sent her friends a smile a Paige hummed in understanding.

“Alison’s here.” Paige smirked, but not in an unpleasant way. “Have you asked her out yet?” Emily turned her neck so fast she heard it snap. “What?!” Emily asked in a harsh whisper, eyes wide. The other brunette was unfazed, taking a drink of her water, raising an eyebrow. 

Just a few weeks back, when Emily and Paige had met up at the community pool, Paige laid it all on the table with Emily. Stating that she knew that with Alison back in the picture they didn’t have a chance. And even if they were to try, it wouldn’t work out and both would end up getting hurt. After she got that off of her chest, though, Paige went into her second ramble session on why she had forgave Alison. She was still sceptical, but trusted Emily’s opinion of the blonde. They had done more talking than swimming that day actually, which was okay with Emily. She was honestly glad she had a friend outside of it all. Someone who was (for the most part) unbiased. Another plus was Paige was also gay, so that was a good change in the start of their tentative friendship they had going on.

“Alison and I both agreed to stay friends. Just friends.” Emily answered Paige, drifting off on the last part. 

“God, Emily. Why? You, me, and my dead grandmother can tell you don’t want that.” Paige spoke unabashedly. Another thing that was different between Paige and her other friends was Paige spoke her mind without hesitancy. Part of Emily liked it, another part of her was still not completely used to it. Emily scoffed at her teammate’s statement. But Paige carried on.

“And by the looks of it, Alison’s blue eyes are now green.” Paige pointed out after taking another long drink off of her water bottle. Emily couldn’t help but turn her head in Alison’s direction. She was looking in their direction alright, while Aria was distracted talking to someone on her cell phone. 

“You’re seeing things, Paige. Didn’t you say hallucinations ran in your family?” Emily dished it right back at Paige who hummed in amusement. 

“And the Nile is just a river in Africa.” Paige stated as their coach called Emily’s name.

“Fields, you’re up! Get ‘em, girl!” Emily got up from the bench, running a towel through her hair quickly, and grabbing her goggles. When she passed Paige, the taller brunette unceremoniously slapped her ass. She turned back to her with a glare. Paige just smirked and raised her hands in ways of surrendering.  

“Just think of it as an experiment.” Emily rolled her eyes she didn’t get why Paige liked pissing Alison off so much, but it was her own funeral. Although, part of Emily did wonder if her blonde friend hated Paige so much because she was jealous. Emily mounted the board, shaking her head and clearing her thoughts, she needed to focus on the task at hand before anything else.

[emcatfields]

Emily looked up from the broken slab of concrete that her eyes found so interesting just moments ago. She smiled at the blonde again, trying to assure Alison with her smile that they would be okay. Even if Emily wasn’t completely sure of it herself. But as of right now, she and Alison had said their peace on the subject, or at least she had. Which was something she never thought she’d ever get to do with the other girl. It was progress, right? That’s all that mattered. 

“It’s okay, really, Ali. We said what we did. I just want to move on and get back to the way things were in the beginning.” Emily stated, slugging her bag back to rest at the top of shoulder. Her eyes were back Alison when she heard the blonde ask if she wanted to hang out. Emily felt her face contort in discomfort, she had already told Paige that she’d swim with her today. Although, given the choice, Emily would rather hang out with Alison as much as it pained her sometimes. But maybe Ali sensed her discomfort because only a few seconds later she added a “later?”.Emily nodded at the last part of her statement.

“Yeah I have plans in a little bit,” Spencer’s voice broke out of Emily’s thoughts. Does Alison know? Emily shook the other brunette’s question out of her head. She didn’t understand why Spencer even asked in the first place. But then again why was she trying to keep the fact that she was hanging out with Paige a secret from Alison. It wasn’t like she was sneaking around on the girl. Emily cleared her throat and in turn she cleared her thoughts. “Paige and I are going to practice anchoring, but that shouldn’t take more than a couple of hours tops.” Emily reassured the blonde, again not sure why she felt the need to do so. 

“Speaking of which, I should probably get going so I can shower before hand. But I’ll see you in a few hours, alright?” Emily turned around and unlocked her driver’s side, tossing her bag in the back seat. When she turned around and looked back in Ali’s direction, she caught the tail end of blonde curls going inside and the door shutting behind her. Emily stared at the Dilaurentis’ front door for a few long moments more before backing out of their driveway and heading home to get ready for the pool.

Back to the Start || Emison

emcatfields:

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Emily said as she look at the blonde. There was something off about her. Not that she blamed her with what happened last night. But Ali was really quiet and that wasn’t like her at all. Emily was determined to ask her about it before she left. “Let me just go grab my stuff from the tent and tell Spencer I’m going.” Emily almost didn’t dare leave the blonde, fearing that she would leave without her, but she needed her bag. So, she walked backwards for a few seconds before turning around and heading to the tent. Her things were already packed, so she just grabbed the bag from the tent and almost ran right into Spencer. 

“Woah, sorry, Spence.” The taller brunette eyed her for a second before speaking.

“ You leaving already?” Emily looked from Spencer to Alison, making sure the blonde was still where she left her.

“Uh, yeah. I’m walking Alison home since I left my car in her driveway and I told Paige that I’d meet up with her at the community pool.” Spencer just nodded at this, she too looking in Alison’s direction.

“Does Alison know?” Emily raised her eyebrow at her friend, confused at why she she even asked.

“No, Ali doesn’t know. Why would she need to?” Spencer just gave Emily a knowing look.

“We’re just friends, Spencer.” She said, annoyance starting to lace her words.

“You and Paige or you and Alison?” Emily rolled her eyes, whose business was it really if she wanted to hang out with her ex? Nobody’s, especially not Spencer’s.

“Both.” Emily stated before turning away from her friend and practically marching in Alison’s direction. 

“Come on, Ali.” Emily tried to not sound angry when she spoke to the blonde. She slowed her steps when they were off of the Hastings’ property, coming into succession with Alison. When they made it to the Dilaurentis’ front porch, Emily stopped and leaned against her car. Alison hadn’t spoken much on their way there. Emily wanted to ask her about it, but didn’t know if she dare dig that deep after what transpired just last night. She didn’t want this new agreement to change their friendship, but was at a loss of how to get it out there. Shoving her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, hoping to quell her nerves.

“So, about last night. I know I didn’t say it then, but I do forgive you, Alison. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say I’ve forgotten any of it, but…” Emily trailed off for a moment. “And I meant what I said about us still being friends, like always.” She sent the blonde a small smile, hoping to catch her gaze. Emily wasn’t going to lie and say she still didn’t feel the hurt that she felt all those year with what Alison did, but she would rather have the girl in her life than not in her life, that was for sure. 

“Alright then.” Alison said with a shrug. She thought that maybe she should thank Spencer for having her over, but she figured the other girl wouldn’t want to talk to her. None of them would want to talk to her, so she thought.

Aria and Ezra made their way back to their own tent. Ezra flashed Alison an awkward smile, and Aria waved to her before following Ezra inside. Alison just gave them a small, half smile to make it look good. She couldn’t help but look across the backyard at Emily and Spencer wondering what they were talking about. Alison tried to refrain from thinking that it was about her, maybe they really weren’t upset? Though, Alison figured she should try and remain quiet and keep to herself. She didn’t want to cause anymore altercations.

When Emily told her to ‘come on,’ Alison was snapped out of her trance and began following her out of Spencer’s yard. The short walk to her house was a silent one, she figured that they would go their parting ways and sweep everything under the rug, but Alison knew they were going to have to talk about it at some point. Just as she was about to thank Emily for walking her home and turn the key into her door, Emily began speaking.

Alison sighed to herself as she looked down at the porch, figuring she wasn’t going to hear the end of it, but much to her surprise, Emily told her that she accepted her apology. Alison’s blue eyes met Emily’s brown. Pursing her lips forward she nodded along with her. “I understand that. Thank you for accepting it.” She stated simply. She hadn’t forgotten some of the things Emily had told her, but she wasn’t going to bring that up, they weren’t as harsh as what Alison told Emily. “I’d love to stay friends.” She said with a small smile.” She watched the other girl for a response to see if it was sincere, and it appeared to be.

“Em… I really am sorry, I know that you know that, but… I just wanted to reiterate it.” Alison mused. “Maybe if you’re not busy, you can come over…? Later?” She asked curiously.

[emcatfields]

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Emily said as she look at the blonde. There was something off about her. Not that she blamed her with what happened last night. But Ali was really quiet and that wasn’t like her at all. Emily was determined to ask her about it before she left. “Let me just go grab my stuff from the tent and tell Spencer I’m going.” Emily almost didn’t dare leave the blonde, fearing that she would leave without her, but she needed her bag. So, she walked backwards for a few seconds before turning around and heading to the tent. Her things were already packed, so she just grabbed the bag from the tent and almost ran right into Spencer. 

“Woah, sorry, Spence.” The taller brunette eyed her for a second before speaking.

“ You leaving already?” Emily looked from Spencer to Alison, making sure the blonde was still where she left her.

“Uh, yeah. I’m walking Alison home since I left my car in her driveway and I told Paige that I’d meet up with her at the community pool.” Spencer just nodded at this, she too looking in Alison’s direction.

“Does Alison know?” Emily raised her eyebrow at her friend, confused at why she she even asked.

“No, Ali doesn’t know. Why would she need to?” Spencer just gave Emily a knowing look.

“We’re just friends, Spencer.” She said, annoyance starting to lace her words.

“You and Paige or you and Alison?” Emily rolled her eyes, whose business was it really if she wanted to hang out with her ex? Nobody’s, especially not Spencer’s.

“Both.” Emily stated before turning away from her friend and practically marching in Alison’s direction. 

“Come on, Ali.” Emily tried to not sound angry when she spoke to the blonde. She slowed her steps when they were off of the Hastings’ property, coming into succession with Alison. When they made it to the Dilaurentis’ front porch, Emily stopped and leaned against her car. Alison hadn’t spoken much on their way there. Emily wanted to ask her about it, but didn’t know if she dare dig that deep after what transpired just last night. She didn’t want this new agreement to change their friendship, but was at a loss of how to get it out there. Shoving her hands in the back pockets of her jeans, hoping to quell her nerves.

“So, about last night. I know I didn’t say it then, but I do forgive you, Alison. I mean, I’m not going to lie and say I’ve forgotten any of it, but...” Emily trailed off for a moment. “And I meant what I said about us still being friends, like always.” She sent the blonde a small smile, hoping to catch her gaze. Emily wasn’t going to lie and say she still didn’t feel the hurt that she felt all those year with what Alison did, but she would rather have the girl in her life than not in her life, that was for sure. 

Back to the Start || Emison

emcatfields:

Emily stayed silent during most of the conversations taking place while the food was being cooked, choosing to join the table only after the food was done. Alison was on one end of the table with Aria on her left and Ezra beside Aria. Emily decides to take the seat across from the blonde with Caleb to her right and Hanna after him. Emily helps herself to some bacon, toast and eggs when Toby sets them down in front of her. When she starts to dig in, she notices Alison has barely any food on her plate and the food she does have she doesn’t seem to be eating much of.

Once breakfast is done, Spencer and Toby clear the plates and leftover food while Caleb and Ezra talk about something, Emily doesn’t pay much attention. When she offers to help pick up the backyard, but Spencer being the natural host that she is, declined Emily’s offer and goes about doing it herself. Emily can’t help but glace in Alison’s direction when she sits back down at the table. Her attention is brought elsewhere when her phone chimes from her pocket. She fishes it out to see it’s a text message from Paige. 

Hey, Em. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. Maybe swim a little, practice anchoring a bit. Just let me know. :) 

Emily sighed. She really didn’t want to practice today. She didn’t want to do much of anything to day except maybe take a long, hot shower and curl up in bed and watch some random comedy movie on Netflix. But when she told Paige she couldn’t be a couple anymore, she promised they would stay friends. And as of yet, she hasn’t been much of a good friend to the other girl. She put her face in her hands, rubbing them down it, trying to decide. Her eyes land on Alison once again before quickly diverting them back to her phone.

Hey, Paige. Yeah, sure I can hang out today. Just give me an hour or so and I’ll meet you at the community pool? 

Paige’s reply came in almost as soon as Emily sent her’s out.

Great! I’ll see you in a little bit!

Emily smiled at the other girl’s excitement. Paige wasn’t that bad despite what  other people would think. She may be a bit rough around the edges, but once you got over that she was just a normal person who maybe took competitions a bit overboard, but it was how she was raised. And if Emily was being honest, she liked having a friend who wasn’t part of her original friends group. Emily sent a reply back to Paige and stuffed her phone back in her pajama pants pocket. She stood up from her spot at the table and stood beside Alison.

“Hey, I’m going to go now, do you want me to walk you back to your house or are you staying here?” 

It took every ounce of effort Alison had to force herself to eat something at the breakfast table. She figured Toby’s cooking was good, but she didn’t feel up to eating, she wasn’t hungry. After her conversation, well fight with Emily, she didn’t have an appetite. Much to Alison’s surprise, everyone else was eating. She figured that all of her remarks the night before would have tampered with their appetites as well. Maybe she was just feeling guilty.

Truth be told, Alison knew that she was in the wrong, but she would never admit it. As she tried to fiddle around with her food, Alison could feel eyes on her. But each time she looked in Emily’s direction, the other girl was either looking at her phone or eating something. It probably wasn’t her then, and Alison couldn’t blame her. She wouldn’t want to look in her direction after their evening. Eventually, Alison ended up eating a piece of toast and a piece of bacon before excusing herself.

When Alison made herself back to the tent, she gathered up her things, deciding it was probably best to leave. She didn’t want to leave on such a bad note, but she figured no one else wanted to see her. It was better this way. Out of sight, out of mind. Perhaps she would call Spencer later that day to apologize. After all, Spencer was the host, and she never asked for World War III to be started at her party.

Just as Alison began walking into the backyard, and toward the gate leading to her house, she was stopped by Emily. “Oh… Hey.” She said quietly, her eyes not completely meeting the other girl’s. The blonde was completely shocked that Emily had offered to walk her back to her house. After the night they had, she figured she wouldn’t want to talk to her anymore, or at least for a while. “Yeah… Uh… Sure, if you want to. You can.” Alison stuttered. She wasn’t sure how she should act around Emily, she wondered what she should say or do. She’d apologized, and maybe Emily had forgiven her so quickly… Alison didn’t see how it was possible, but she obliged the walk, it would be nice to see her without anyone else around. “Do you want to head over now?” She asked curiously.

[emcatfields]

Emily stayed silent during most of the conversations taking place while the food was being cooked, choosing to join the table only after the food was done. Alison was on one end of the table with Aria on her left and Ezra beside Aria. Emily decides to take the seat across from the blonde with Caleb to her right and Hanna after him. Emily helps herself to some bacon, toast and eggs when Toby sets them down in front of her. When she starts to dig in, she notices Alison has barely any food on her plate and the food she does have she doesn’t seem to be eating much of.

Once breakfast is done, Spencer and Toby clear the plates and leftover food while Caleb and Ezra talk about something, Emily doesn’t pay much attention. When she offers to help pick up the backyard, but Spencer being the natural host that she is, declined Emily’s offer and goes about doing it herself. Emily can’t help but glace in Alison’s direction when she sits back down at the table. Her attention is brought elsewhere when her phone chimes from her pocket. She fishes it out to see it’s a text message from Paige. 

Hey, Em. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out today. Maybe swim a little, practice anchoring a bit. Just let me know. :) 

Emily sighed. She really didn’t want to practice today. She didn’t want to do much of anything to day except maybe take a long, hot shower and curl up in bed and watch some random comedy movie on Netflix. But when she told Paige she couldn’t be a couple anymore, she promised they would stay friends. And as of yet, she hasn’t been much of a good friend to the other girl. She put her face in her hands, rubbing them down it, trying to decide. Her eyes land on Alison once again before quickly diverting them back to her phone.

Hey, Paige. Yeah, sure I can hang out today. Just give me an hour or so and I’ll meet you at the community pool? 

Paige’s reply came in almost as soon as Emily sent her’s out.

Great! I’ll see you in a little bit!

Emily smiled at the other girl’s excitement. Paige wasn’t that bad despite what  other people would think. She may be a bit rough around the edges, but once you got over that she was just a normal person who maybe took competitions a bit overboard, but it was how she was raised. And if Emily was being honest, she liked having a friend who wasn’t part of her original friends group. Emily sent a reply back to Paige and stuffed her phone back in her pajama pants pocket. She stood up from her spot at the table and stood beside Alison.

“Hey, I’m going to go now, do you want me to walk you back to your house or are you staying here?” 

Back to the Start || Emison

emcatfields:

As soon as Alison turned the light off in the tent, Emily felt completely and truly alone. She couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around what had just transpired between her and her friend. Friend? Was that an appropriate word to describe Alison? Emily didn’t know. All she knew for sure was the Alison who looked up at her when she entered their tent was a complete one-eighty of the girl who just apologised to her. Emily closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and holding it for a complete minute before slowly letting it out. 

Emily did believe the blonde when she said she was sorry. Her friends could call her stupid or naive, but they weren’t the ones to hear the genuinity in Alison’s voice as she spoke. God help her, it was times like these that made Emily want more with the girl to her side. And if circumstances were any different, she would most likely turn around and ask Alison if she wanted to cuddle, not liking how at odds they ended up. But with everything going on, with -A, her friends, and the whole Mona and her gang of friends, Emily needed to stay focused. She was going to protect Alison this time around like she should have in the beginning. 

Emily looked toward Alison and for a brief second considered throwing her resolve out the window and taking the blonde into her arms. But she stopped, Alison was probably asleep by now anyway. Emily watched for a minute as she saw the girl’s shoulders rise and fall subtly with every breath she took. Emily bit her lip.

“Good night, Ali.” Emily whispered softly. She turned back around, facing her side of the tent and closed her eyes hoping sleep falls upon her quickly.

“Wake up, bitches!” Hanna called, tapping on their tent with a stick. Emily saw she was the first to stir, glaring up at the sun which was now shining through the tent. She grabbed her phone to check the time. It was only a little after nine in the morning, meaning Emily got maybe four hours of sleep, if that. Bringing her hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she heard Hanna tap, tap, tap on the tent again. She groaned out loud this time, noticing that she wasn’t the only one awake now. Alison was completely awake and sitting up in her sleeping bag, doing absolutely nothing to hide her annoyance at the other blonde. Emily couldn’t blame her, but she also couldn’t help the amused smirk that appeared on her lips. Why did Alison have to look so cute in the mornings? It really wasn’t fair to the brunette’s heart, especially since they both had mutually agreed to be friends and solely friends. Well, in not so many words. 

“Come on, Emison, get up. Toby’s cooking breakfast.” Hanna spoke up again before tapping on the tent a few more times. Emily, not wanting to be disturbed any longer, tosses the sleeping bag off of legs, get up and gets out of the tent. She briefly looks back at Alison, but she hasn’t moved. She shoots a glare in Hanna’s direction when she gets outside. The blonde just rolls her eyes, saying nothing.

“So, is your other half going to be joining us, or is she waiting for her breakfast back in the tent?” Hanna smirks, but Emily doesn’t bite. Instead she walks faster ahead of Hanna and towards the others who have gathered around the fire bit which had been lit up again.

“I told you guys that I wasn’t the person to go and wake them.” Hanna commented as she made her way back behind Emily. Not wanting to start another scene like the previous night, Emily didn’t make a comment. Instead, she sat down in one of the seats that were still around the pit and waited for breakfast to be done.

When Alison didn’t receive a response from Emily, she figured the other girl didn’t accept her apology, let alone forgive her. And Alison wouldn’t blame her if that were the case. Emily had been nothing but kind to her, put all of her feelings out on the table for her, and Alison still rejected her. She knew it was too late now. There would be no way to fix this, and it killed her inside. Tears began to form behind Alison’s eyes, and she internally refused to let them fall. Luckily, she was facing the other direction, and she knew that Emily wouldn’t be able to see her. Unfortunately, Alison’s greatest resolve failed, and the tears spilled over anyway. She didn’t exactly know why she was crying, but it had been a difficult night. Most of all, Alison knew that she was wrong, and there wasn’t anything she could do to fix her mistakes.

The night came and went, and Alison hardly got any sleep. She was restless, exhausted, and emotionally drained. When Hanna came banging on their tent, Alison couldn’t help but roll her eyes in agony. First of all, she hated mornings, and second being awoken by Hanna being obnoxious was not an ideal way to start her morning. Still, Alison somewhat liked the idea of having some breakfast, so maybe she’d stick around a little while longer to eat.  

Alison left the tent a few minutes after Emily did, she sat down at the table next to Aria and gave her a small smile. Everyone else was gathered around chatting casually, but when they saw Alison, they didn’t really know how to respond, and Alison didn’t either.

Spencer saw the table become awkward, so she did her best to try and cause things to not go so far south. “So… How did everyone sleep last night?” She asked curiously.

Toby chuckled lightly to himself, because he knew Spencer was just trying to create small talk to avoid the white elephant in the room. He set up some bacon and sausage on the table in front of everyone and a plate of scrambled eggs and another plate of toast. “Dig in, guys.” He said with a small smile.

“You don’t  have to ask me twice.” Ezra responded immediately as he began helping himself to some sausage and eggs.

Alison waited a moment or two before helping herself to some eggs and bacon after most of the table had taken some food. She felt just as awkward as everyone else, but she figured there was no use in addressing the situation again. She could apologize, but she wasn’t sure if she was ready for that just yet.

[emcatfields]

As soon as Alison turned the light off in the tent, Emily felt completely and truly alone. She couldn’t even begin to wrap her head around what had just transpired between her and her friend. Friend? Was that an appropriate word to describe Alison? Emily didn’t know. All she knew for sure was the Alison who looked up at her when she entered their tent was a complete one-eighty of the girl who just apologised to her. Emily closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath and holding it for a complete minute before slowly letting it out. 

Emily did believe the blonde when she said she was sorry. Her friends could call her stupid or naive, but they weren’t the ones to hear the genuinity in Alison’s voice as she spoke. God help her, it was times like these that made Emily want more with the girl to her side. And if circumstances were any different, she would most likely turn around and ask Alison if she wanted to cuddle, not liking how at odds they ended up. But with everything going on, with -A, her friends, and the whole Mona and her gang of friends, Emily needed to stay focused. She was going to protect Alison this time around like she should have in the beginning. 

Emily looked toward Alison and for a brief second considered throwing her resolve out the window and taking the blonde into her arms. But she stopped, Alison was probably asleep by now anyway. Emily watched for a minute as she saw the girl’s shoulders rise and fall subtly with every breath she took. Emily bit her lip.

“Good night, Ali.” Emily whispered softly. She turned back around, facing her side of the tent and closed her eyes hoping sleep falls upon her quickly.

“Wake up, bitches!” Hanna called, tapping on their tent with a stick. Emily saw she was the first to stir, glaring up at the sun which was now shining through the tent. She grabbed her phone to check the time. It was only a little after nine in the morning, meaning Emily got maybe four hours of sleep, if that. Bringing her hand to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she heard Hanna tap, tap, tap on the tent again. She groaned out loud this time, noticing that she wasn’t the only one awake now. Alison was completely awake and sitting up in her sleeping bag, doing absolutely nothing to hide her annoyance at the other blonde. Emily couldn’t blame her, but she also couldn’t help the amused smirk that appeared on her lips. Why did Alison have to look so cute in the mornings? It really wasn’t fair to the brunette’s heart, especially since they both had mutually agreed to be friends and solely friends. Well, in not so many words. 

"Come on, Emison, get up. Toby’s cooking breakfast.” Hanna spoke up again before tapping on the tent a few more times. Emily, not wanting to be disturbed any longer, tosses the sleeping bag off of legs, get up and gets out of the tent. She briefly looks back at Alison, but she hasn’t moved. She shoots a glare in Hanna’s direction when she gets outside. The blonde just rolls her eyes, saying nothing.

“So, is your other half going to be joining us, or is she waiting for her breakfast back in the tent?” Hanna smirks, but Emily doesn’t bite. Instead she walks faster ahead of Hanna and towards the others who have gathered around the fire bit which had been lit up again.

“I told you guys that I wasn’t the person to go and wake them.” Hanna commented as she made her way back behind Emily. Not wanting to start another scene like the previous night, Emily didn’t make a comment. Instead, she sat down in one of the seats that were still around the pit and waited for breakfast to be done.

Back to the Start || Emison

emcatfields:

“I’ve felt guilty for a while, Alison, but you haven’t stuck around long enough for us to talk about it, not that I thought we ever would even if you did eventually come back. I feel as though I should have protected you from the beginning or at least when I first found out you were alive. But for some reason you wouldn’t have that.” Emily sighed, looking the blonde in the eyes. “Why won’t you let anyone in for more than a second. Why won’t you let me in?” Emily shook her head, the blonde would never answer those questions, let alone honestly. “Nevermind, don’t answer those.” The dark-skinned girl turned away for a long moment. It wasn’t until Alison started talking again that she turned and faced the girl again, not quite meeting her gaze.

“Since when have you worried about being on the tip of other people’s tongues?” Emily questioned quietly, no judgement behind that question. It was true, before Alison disappeared, she loved stirring up the pot so to speak and did anything and everything to be noticed. Emily felt her eyes roll up to the ceiling when the blonde said there was nothing to out about her. Emily did agreed with the blonde about one thing, though, there was no need for a grand announcement of her coming out. The way Emily was outed by -A was not a fun experience at all. Not that Alison would ever come out, because there was nothing to ‘out’ about her. The brunette mocked the blonde in her head. She came back to reality as Alison was accusing her of announcing to Hanna that they kissed. Which was the exact opposite of what happened really.

“I didn’t announce us kissing in any grand way, Alison. Geez, are you that full of yourself? Just because you instigated a kiss between us, you expect me to go out and announce it to the world that I got to kiss the fucking silky soft lips of the one and only Alison Dilaurentis?” Emily scoffed at the end of her statement, but still couldn’t help the blush that rose to her cheeks once again, this time from remembering the kiss in question. She did want to tell each one of their friends, but she knew Alison would react exactly like this if she found out that Emily told. So, she didn’t. Hanna guessed, essentially. And after that, Emily couldn’t help but gush and do exactly what she told Alison she didn’t do. Now, it all was blowing up in her face. Emily couldn’t help but chuckle in disgust as Alison mentioned the men she’s dated. Emily was always jealous of the boys that caught Alison’s attention, and that fact still hadn’t changed.

“I’m not a man, Ali. In no way shape or form. I don’t think like a man and most importantly I don’t act like a man.” Emily fully sat up, bringing all of her attention to the blonde once again. Emily once again rolled her eyes as the blonde mention again that there wasn’t anything to out about herself.

“You already said that, Alison, who are you trying to convince, me or you? And if there isn’t anything for you to come out about, then what is it about me that is different, that you like? The fact that I lapped up every sort of affection you ever gave me without questioning it more or that you could always count on me to stroke your ego and tell you that you were pretty?” Emily could see a twinge of hurt that as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced with an angry glare. She was equal parts proud of the fact that she could get under Alison’s skin a least a little bit and also disgusted in herself for hurting the girl who still had her heart. She hated seeing the blonde hurt and knowing she was the cause of it felt awful. But she still pressed forward, determined to not let the blonde deter her.

“So, let me get this straight, like you so adamantly say you are. You want to keep doing what we’ve been doing for the last few years? Is that it? Kissing in secret places and behind closed doors and not discussing anything? Because while you found it comforting, I found it nothing but torturous, Ali.” Emily looks away from the girl when other emotions threaten to spill over her anger.

“When we kissed in the library, it was my first kiss. You were my first kiss. And then a week later, you tell me that it didn’t mean a thing and that it was just for practice,” Emily practically spit out the word, emotions raw. “And essentially that I wasn’t good enough for the real thing. And then years after that you have the audacity to tell me you lied to me when you broke my heart that day in the locker room. That they weren’t for just for practice. Like that would magically fix everything. And still after that confession, you’re still playing hot and cold with me.” Emily sniffled quietly, looking away for a moment as she wiped a few tears that fell. When she collected herself a bit and was sure she could speak without her voice cracking she turned back to the blonde. She cleared her throat before she spoke softer than she had their whole conversation.

“Look, I’m not trying to force you out of the closet, I know what that’s like, trust me. So, I’d never want to do that to anyone, let alone you. And I’m not forcing you to be or feel something you don’t either. But I can’t be someone you kiss whenever you feel vulnerable or want to be comforted. I can’t handle that. I still have real feelings for you, Alison. As much as I hate it, it’s true. And you doing stuff like that confuses the shit out of me. So, please, for my sake from now on if you want to be comforted come and talk to me because I still want to be there for you. I love being a safe place for you to land, Ali, but my heart can’t handle the kissing anymore. Not with nothing to show for it.” 

“Of course I didn’t stick around! Not with -A on the prowl anyway. Don’t forget this, Emily- I was the first one targeted by -A. I was getting those texts long before any of you. Now you know why I was hesitant about coming back in the first place. I’ve already explained this. So, no. It’s not safe, and I didn’t want you or anyone else having to deal with this.” Alison declared. However, she did feel awful about everything her friends had to endour while she was gone. They all became -A’s targets, and Alison didn’t know how to stop that from happening either.

When Emily asked why Alison wouldn’t let anyone, she couldn’t make eye contact with the other girl across from her. Truth be told, Alison didn’t know why. It was difficult for her to be fully transparent with most people, and especially after -A was after she and her friends, she didn’t know who she could trust, it was more convenient for her to not let her guard down. Luckily, Emily told her not to answer the questions, and she was relieved by that.

Alison rolled her eyes in response to Emily’s question. “And since when did you decide to start speaking out like that? I’ll admit, I’m impressed, Em.” She scoffed in response. Using her typical sarcastic tone, smirking up at the other girl. It wasn’t often that Alison used this with Emily, but she felt as if she wasn’t being given a choice. Emily appeared to be trying to get Alison to cave in, and that wasn’t happening. Not on her watch at least.

“Well if it wasn’t a grand announcement, then what was it? There had to be some sort of exchange of words with Hanna, I’m sure.” Alison replied. She couldn’t help but internally chuckle at Emily’s words. She didn’t think she was entirely conceited, she didn’t care if anyone thought she was hot or not, she just liked getting her way, that was what the attitude was about. Though, it was nice to know that she was attractive.

“Did I say you were a man? Did I say that you acted like one?” Alison challenged. She didn’t like that Emily wasn’t paying attention to everything she was saying. It felt as if she were talking to a brick wall. “No, I didn’t. Pay attention if you want to try playing this game with me, Em.” Granted, Alison didn’t really know what the point of all of this was anymore, but she didn’t like to ‘lose’ a good argument or debate.

Who are you trying to convince, me or you?

Now  that stung. At first, Alison wasn’t completely sure of how to respond to that question, because truth be told, she wasn’t sure who she was trying to convince. Then again, Alison never subscribed to labels. She liked who she liked. Most would consider that bisexual, but Alison didn’t like that label. She didn’t really even like being called straight. She was fluid in her sexuality, and she felt that she would be that way her entire life. As Emily continued to fire her statements at her, Alison didn’t really know how to respond. Perhaps Emily was better at the game than she could ever imagine. The other girl was stumping her, catching her in questions and statements she couldn’t honestly answer, let alone come up with something witty enough to counteract them. She felt trapped and she didn’t find it enjoyable.

The discussion began to irk Alison even more, so she shot back in anger. “I never said I was straight. I never said I was gay. I never said I was anything in between. It’s a crime if someone insults you for your sexuality, but someone tries to make a comment making fun of me for being straight or whatever I am is okay? News flash, it’s not. Way to have a double standard, Em. Good for you.” Alison scoffed.

But as the discussion, now argument continued, Alison began to feel awful for shooting back at Emily, and even worse for everything she was bringing up. Alison believed that she was a terrible person, and all of this was proof. All of the lies, jerking Emily around. She didn’t know what to say in response to all of it. She was overwhelmed with guilt, shame, and sadness, even some remorse.

Alison pursed her lips forward as Emily began closing her statement. Of course she would suggest not kissing anymore. That made the most sense out of everything else that could happen. Alison was sure of one thing, the kisses weren’t for practice, she knew that she had a special place in her heart for Emily, but with everything that was going on in her life, she knew that she couldn’t make her a priority. At least not in a beyond platonic way. Not now anyway. “Okay… We’ll stop kissing then.” Alison murmured. “We should uh… We should probably get some sleep, it’s getting late.” She said as she glanced over at her phone showing that it was almost two in the morning.

As Alison laid down in her sleeping bag, she reached over for the lantern that was lighting up their tent. Just before turning it out, she turned to Emily. “Hey Em… For what it’s worth, I am sorry…” She whispered genuinely as she turned off the lantern and faced the other way so she could try sleeping. Although, after the conversation they had, she knew that it would be a restless night.