Spencer exited the laundry room, duvet in hand. She walked down the hallway to her bedroom and threw the large blanket over her king sized bed. The room had recently been cleaned in preparation for Emily's stay. She was going to be living with the Hastings for a week while her mother went to Texas for some quality time wih Mr. Fields.
Spencer made sure the duvet was neatly and perfectly lined up on each side of her bed. She knew the guest room was an option for her friend to sleep in, but Spencer wanted Emily to be in the same room as her. If anything, so she could keep a watchful eye on her. A had just blown up Toby's house and Spencer was not prepared to lose anyone or anything else to their psychotic stalker.
A knock on the door alerted Spencer as she hopped down the stairs and scurried to her front door. Outside was a half-smiling Emily carrying a large duffle bag, presumabley filled with everything she will need for her week long adventure in Spencer's house. Spencer opened the door and said a cheery "Hey" to Emily.
Emily smiled and returned the greeting as she walked in the house.
"Should I just leave my stuff in the guest room?" Emily asked, beginning to walk up the stairs.
Spencer followed behind her and said, "I was hoping you'd stay in my room. With me."
Emily stopped when she reached the top of the stairs and turned to Spencer. "That's unusual. You usually hate sharing your bed with other people."
Spencer walked past Emily and into her room. She sat down on the bed and turned to her friend, who lightly set her bag on Spencer's red chair by the window.
"I just..." Spencer began, searching for the proper words to explain her sudden need of Emily. "A blowing up Toby's house has me on edge. I know I'm supposed to be the tough one, but I don't want to sleep alone. Not with that pyromaniacal freak out there."
Emily smiled and sat down on the bed next to Spencer. "If it makes you feel any better, I don't sleep without a knife under my mattress."
Spencer laughed at Emily's response and smiled at her. "You brought it with you, right?" she asked with a wink.
"Nah," Emily said, returning Spencer's lighthearted smile. "I have a hockey player to protect me now. I've seen you play. If you whacked A with that stick you'd send him...her, flying."
Spencer laughed and bumped her shoulder against Emily's. "Well now I have a swimmer to protect me."
Emily looked at Spencer with a comically confused expression on her face. "What am I going to do? Backstroke A to death?" she asked with a smile.
"You've got to have muscle for swimming," Spencer responded. "I was thinking you could just hit A until he or she is dead. I've seen you flexing, Emily, I know you could leave me with a black eye."
Emily an Spencer laughed at the stupid conversation they were having. It was the first time in months they had felt safe enough to enjoy each other's presence. The first time they didn't have Ali in the room to darken the mood, or A texts to send them into an anxiety attack.
Once the laughter died down, Spencer shuffled and turned so she could look Emily in the eyes. "I know Aria asked you this already, and I don't know if you avoided answering because you didn't want us to know the truth or if it was because you were actually confused...but now that we're alone, I need to hear this from you. Do you still have feelings for Ali? I don't want to go down that road we were on before she disappeared. The road where we were all oblivious to your feelings and didn't protect you from Ali's tormenting."
Emily looked down at her hands. She kept staring at them, hoping that Spencer would forget what she just asked. But this is Spencer. Not Hanna, not Aria, Spencer. She won't let Emily get away without a straight answer. Emily hated her for it, but she also loved her for it.
"Em." Spencer took Emily's hands in her own and rubbed her thumb over Emily's palm. "You can't keep this bottled up forever."
Emily looked into Spencer's eyes. Those big brown eyes were intoxicating. They almost drew the answer right out of Emily. "I don't know how to describe it," she finally said, keeping eye contact with Spencer. "Sometimes I think I love her, and other times I just want to...slap her in the face."
Spencer didn't break eye contact with Emily, but she urged her to continue by gripping her hand tighter.
"I think that when she came back, all of those years without her didn't exist. It's like I'm right back where I started. Confused and manipulated. It's as if I never even changed as a person, and I know I have. I've changed. Now she's back and...I don't even know."
Spencer looked down at their entangled hands and then back up at Emily. "I'm going to say something, and stop me if I'm wrong, but...it sounds like Ali's return is bringing you down. It's as if she's stopping you from growing as a person. I know you're strong, but over the past two years I've seen you grow even stronger. I've seen you become more independent and you stick up for yourself like you never would have in the past. Now that Ali's back I can see you're doubting yourself again. You're becoming self-conscious around her. But I think she should be self-conscious around you. You're stronger than her. She knows it. That's why she's trying to manipulate you into falling back under her spell. That's why she keeps asking for you instead of me or Aria or Hanna. She knows that she can control you, and Emily, I don't want to sagainst again. I don't want to see you in that same spiral she sent you in all those years ago, because she's not worth it. I want to help her, I really do, but not if she's going to try and control anyone like she used to."
Emily sat stunned. It's as if Spencer read her like a book. She couldn't even make eye contact with the brunette. Was she that easy to read? Are her feelings that obvious?
"I can't stay away," Emily managed to mutter. "She knows how to get my attention."
Spencer sighed and put her hand on Emily's knee. "You can't let her do that."
Emily was ready to break. She was ready to tell Spencer everything. Everything about her and Ali.
"She just won't leave me alone," Emily said, looking Spencer in the eyes. "When she stayed over, she kissed me. I kissed her. It went on for like a minute before she just...turned over and fell asleep. Like nothing happened. Then she tried to kiss me again, so I turned away from her...to show her what it feels like to be rejected. Then she asked me to stay with her one night and I had no choice, I couldn't just leave her. Then she asked me to walk her home from school. It's like she feeds off of my attention..."
Spencer looked at Emily the same way she always has. With respect. Not disgust or anger, just admiration. "You made out with her?" For some reason that was the only thing that stuck in Spencer's mind. Nothing else about the conversation bothered her.
"I didn't know what to do..." Emily said, tears forming in her eyes. "She just kept staring at me and moving closer to me and I couldn't stop her..." Tears began to leave Emily's eyes.
Spencer pulled Emily into a embrace. She rested her head on top of Emily's and whispered, "It's not your fault." She rubbed Emily's arm up and down in comfort. "It's her who needs to stop, not you. I'm tired of seeing her treat you like a play thing..."
Emily buried her head into Spencer's neck, like she always does. It's the only place she feels safe in the entire world. Not sleeping in bed with Ali or at home with her parents, but in Spencer's embrace.
A/N: let me know if you want more :-)