A/N: This is a sequel to my story "Speeding Up", so I'd strongly recommend reading that one first. But you know you can do whatever you like. The story starts some time around where the epilogue to "Speeding Up" took place, and it might cover a long period of time if I actually write the whole outline I've got in my head. By the way, that was a shitty epilogue, maybe you can just kind of forget about it :)

I'm starting off with an M-rating because I wanna be safe and because, let's face it, there's gonna be sex in this story. And lots of fluff, and angst too. I don't know if it's actually gonna work out, so if you all hate it, or if I do, I'll just quit it ;)

Comments and suggestions are not only welcome, they are also a great help while writing the story and will be very much appreciated. To all of you who don't comment but are starting to read the story, thanks a lot. I hope I don't waste your time ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters and storylines of PLL, yada yada. They all belong to Marlene King and ABC Family and I love them for that, because it's a great show!

She exhaled all the air in her lungs with an irregular grunt.

Emily's belt was pressing between her legs, and with every move Spencer felt the air running out of her respiratory system. Her grunt sounded weaker than a moan, almost silent, but more intense because it left her breathless.

The breathless semi-moan caught Emily's attention for a second. Emily lifted her head, and the next thing Spencer knew they were kissing hungrily again. The belt pressed harder against her, and Emily's wise, always-too-knowing hand came to support her butt, somehow allowing to increase the pressure instead of reducing it. Yes, Emily was all too wise. Wise and smart and ready. Spencer felt her butt being lifted and pushed as she leaned harder against whatever was pressing her inner thighs and her crotch.

The semi-moan sounded as a clearly audible, full-on moan this time, as Spencer struggled to balance her posture and breathe at the same time. A moan or a cry, she still had no air in her lungs, and her fingers clang to Emily's head, desperately trying to hold on to the feeling but also afraid of losing control forever, and completely.

They were on Spencer's bed, wearing only their jeans, shirts and bras spread over the sheets on a late spring afternoon.

It had all started as a fairly intense making out session right after Spencer had offered to give Emily a massage. Her back was hurting a little, and Spencer had meant well – and also bad. Everyone knew that massages led to at least partial nudity, and that nudity led to making out, and that making out possibly, surely led to sex, given the right circumstances in the right period of time. In her case, at least, she had made no secret out of it. At first Emily had resisted – Spencer's mom would arrive sometime before 6, and Emily generally disliked making out when parents were close enough – but then she had given in to Spencer's notorious manipulative abilities, and what had started as a massage had slowly transformed into other forms of touching and groping that were overtly sexual and needed no masks or excuses, and now Spencer was on top of Emily without her shirt on, her breathing dangerously becoming erratic and too hard and heavy to sustain her in normal, standard terms of life. An intense flinch clenched her lower stomach and sent shocks down her legs to her feet and up her spine to her head when Emily pressed against her even harder, making her shiver in response.

The damned belt was doing one hell of a job.

Another moan came out of her mouth, this time louder. Spencer knew what it meant. Or believed she knew, anyway.

In the spur of the moment she wondered how it was possible that she initiated these things to finally get trapped in Emily's web of nice, tied handiworks. Or belt-works, as it seemed to be the case.

She tried a counter-attack by lowering her head to bite Emily's earlobe with the remnants of her energy, then lowered it even more to reach her palpitating neck when she realized Emily was having trouble to breathe as well. Oh, but realizing that only made it harder for her. She bit and sucked Emily's sweaty neck, but the result of her counter-attack was her own immediate, instant panting.

Her body pressed harder, helped by Emily's hand pushing her butt, so close, so dangerously close to where the action was taking place at this very moment that the mere proximity to it rushed her blood to her pulse. Her whole body became a pounding tremor, a pulsating drum making sounds all over the room, or so she figured as she felt it in her ears and against Emily's own, pulsating bare skin.

She was going to lose it. And it was for real this time.

Emily moved a little, trying to find air for herself, and for a brief moment Spencer lost the contact of the belt. Instead she rubbed directly against Emily's jeans, which provided a sort of softer, sweeter, more enduring pleasure against the fabric of her own leggings, reducing a little the intensity of the pangs and the shivers that were hitting her before. She recovered enough from it to search for Emily's mouth again, and she bit her lips, played with her tongue, breathed the inside of her mouth, gaining enough control to actually miss the contact that the belt was inflicting on her body. She moved a little trying to find it again, but somehow the posture had changed and the belt was nowhere to be found.

Emily released some of the pressure on her butt, and things got softer and slower.

Saved by the belt. Or by the lack thereof. She wondered if Emily had realized the relaxation of her breathing and if that had made her slow things down, pushing the brake pedal the same way she had pushed the accelerator when she had firmly grabbed her butt to increase the tension. Driving the car, driving their bodies around the bed, the room was spinning.

She moved slightly to the left, sitting now directly on Emily's thigh and wrapping her torso with her legs. Now she could feel Emily's electrical skin underneath the denim fabric and not only against her, and she sensed it so warm, hot even through the jeans, that again her heart raced and her stomach got gripped and squeezed tightly with arousal. Sexual drive. Sexual impulse, instinct, sexual pull.

Sex.

She'd been so close to getting there.

And they weren't even naked. Completely naked.

Spencer let her body slide a little until she lied down on the bed, softly pulling Emily to lie down with her. They both breathed deeply, fully recovering their normal respiration, and then looked at each other in sweat and wonder.

"You do realize what almost happened here, right?" Spencer asked, her palm resting on Emily's stomach, feeling the beat of the aorta artery underneath her fingers.

Emily seemed a little confused by her question.

"That was pretty intense", she responded, as a synthesis of the situation, and turned a little to rest on her elbow so she could face Spencer.

"It was". Spencer looked into Emily's eyes. "I almost…" She thought about it. The sexual vocabulary at her disposal always seemed so inadequate. "I think I almost had an orgasm", she decided, immediately regretting her choice of words.

Emily smiled sly. "Oh, yeah? I did notice some intense breathing on your part".

"Yeah, that's what I mean".

Emily gave a grunted, pleasured sound and sat up to search for her bra and her shirt.

"Don't get dressed yet", Spencer protested, reaching out to Emily's back with her arm and suddenly getting a global view of Emily's back and, more precisely, of the lower part of it, right where the jeans fitted her hips and her butt. Goodness, that butt. She sneaked her fingers in the peak of Emily's jeans and tried to pull her body back until Emily turned around, her bra already on.

"I gotta go before your mom arrives", Emily explained matter-of-factly.

"There's still time. And we gotta talk about what almost happened". She waited to see if Emily said something. "Your belt or something in your jeans was…". Again, she faced the lack of words. "Something was hitting me".

Emily didn't totally understand, so Spencer sat up too and looked down at Emily's pants. Suddenly she realized it wasn't the belt; it was the button. It was a rather big, solid metal button.

She touched it with her fingers.

"This". She pointed at it, and Emily looked down at it too. "You were pushing me against it".

"I was just… pressing". Emily acknowledged. "And touching your butt". She offered a brilliant, winning smile.

"Yeah, I did notice that". Spencer leaned over to kiss her. "So what if I'd have… you know, come?" She chose this phrasing now.

"You think it could've happened really?" Emily asked, curious. She had noticed the erratic breathing but had not really considered that possibility.

Spencer nodded. "It was gonna happen until you moved. Or I moved. Someone moved."

Emily gave it some thought. "Good", she finally said, a satisfied smirk on her face. Then she put on her shirt.

"Hey", Spencer protested again. "It's not only good. It means something. It means we're like… gonna have sex already? Or would it be sex if I'd had an orgasm?"

She kept changing the words.

"I… don't know". Emily answered, shrugging. "I just know it's good".

"Yeah, it's good for you because you feel like you're good". Spencer accused. "But I wanna know if it means something".

"Of course it means something. It means I'm good at driving you wild". Emily offered, smug-faced but still somehow naive, and before Spencer could do something to stop her, she got up and left the bed.

"Hey!" Spencer protested again, getting a hold of Emily's wrist and pulling her back. "Talk to me. I wanna talk". She pouted a little to get what she wanted.

Emily sat again on the edge of the bed.

"Why is it that important? It's great news. I'm happy for you", Emily teased.

"Thanks". Spencer stuck her tongue out. "It is important because I…" She wondered about why it was important. "I always thought you… had an orgasm when you were already having sex. So… you know, I just wanna know what we're doing."

"We're not having sex, Spencer", Emily settled.

"Okay, I get that. But what if I'd… you know, had it?"

"If you'd had it, then… you'd had it".

Spencer laughed, suddenly grasping a touch of shyness in Emily's eyes and weird phrasing.

"Say it".

"Say what?"

"Say it. The word".

"What word?" Emily played innocent now. She didn't want to say it.

"The word you're trying not to say. Orgasm. Coming. Climax. Whatever you choose".

"No."

"Yes".

They stared at each other for a moment, another battle of the wills being played that Emily was sure she would lose this time. These were the kinds of battles she still lost to Spencer.

"Fine.", Emily gave in. "Orgasm. Are you happy now? Orgasm", she repeated, feeling the instant blush creep to her cheeks and nose at the awkwardness of the word. "If you'd had it, it still wouldn't be sex".

"Is it the first time you say it aloud?" Spencer asked, laughing. At least she wasn't the only one who felt weird using this vocabulary.

"I've never had to use it before, you know", Emily conceded. She had used it in other contexts. But never, obviously, in this one.

Spencer dragged Emily back into the bed and sat on top of her again.

"I haven't used it either. Well, in my mind I have, obviously. Have you?"

Emily rolled her eyes. "Yeah".

She lied down, contemplating Spencer's nudity in awe, lines formed with her bones and muscles and the soft curves that rounded them. Everything in her was delicate, kind of small and fine-tuned, proportioned, but at the same time firm and solid.

A while ago she still blushed when she stared at her body like that. It wasn't happening anymore. She could stare as much as she wanted.

"So why are you so shy about it?"

"I'm not shy about giving one to you", Emily smirked again. "I'm just shy about having to put words to it and explain it, which is exactly what you always wanna do".

Spencer's passion about definitions never ceased to amaze her.

"So… you think it still wouldn't be sex." Spencer picked up the enquiry she had started. She was a little confused about it.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because… we're not totally naked, we're not doing stuff, like really big, dirty stuff, because…" She tried to think of more reasons.

"So we need to get naked and do really dirty stuff to actually have sex?"

"Yep".

Spencer nodded, sensing an inner agreement in her head. So now she had found out she could actually have an orgasm, or could come, or whatever other expression she could use, without being naked and doing really dirty stuff.

Just like that.

An innocent button could do it. If Emily was wearing it.

"So what do you consider really dirty stuff, in terms of girl-to-girl sexual intercourse?"

"Are you serious?"

"Don't I look serious?"

She did look serious. She had what Emily always figured as the classic expression of a researcher, or what Emily had come to see as the classic expression of a researcher because of what she saw in Spencer's face: a slight frown, vivid brown eyes, half pout on her lips. She was only missing her old glasses. Maybe Emily should get her new ones, even if she didn't really need them anymore.

"Why don't you read a couple of books to find out?" Emily opted for a joke out. "While I work on driving you crazy like I always do".

Spencer used the palm of her hand to give a slight pat on Emily's cheek.

"You're getting so funny. You can joke about it, but I am gonna read a couple of books. Or magazine articles." Spencer responded, thinking it'd be easier to find the latter ones on the internet. "Now, you always say you know about this more than I do, so just go on and show me your knowledge. Enlighten me".

"I don't have a special knowledge. I just think we'll know when we get there", Emily calmly stated, her hands on Spencer's thighs.

"When we get where?"

"There. Sex." Emily clarified. "We just keep doing stuff, we just do whatever we wanna do, and when we reach that level, we will know. That's it. Don't stress over it".

"I'm not stressing over it".

"You are. A little".

Spencer sighed. She was stressing a little. She needed to know what she was doing now, what she was going to do next, and then after that, and what it all meant.

Everything was clearer with straight sex.

You had sex with a boy when there was… yeah, that.

But she was still a little confused regarding sex with girls. Yeah, you could do so many things, or so she'd heard, and would have to read about it in the articles she was going to search, but there didn't seem to be clear limits between one activity and the other.

And she knew they were getting close to doing dirtier stuff.

For god's sake, she had almost had an orgasm just by pressing her crotch against a button of Emily's pants.

She wondered why Emily was not so interested in the matter and why she wasn't as close as her to losing control. Emily sensed her inner worries somehow, because she made an effort to sit up again and she wrapped her arms around her, kissing her cheeks and her nose.

"Spencer, we're not having sex yet. But we're doing stuff, and it's good that we're both enjoying it, and that we're both good at it, and…"

"You mean you're good at it", Spencer deadpanned, frustration in her features.

"And you're good too."

"Then why am I the only one who wants to learn what to do and how to do it?"

Emily took a deep sigh. Spencer's quest for perfection could never be forgotten, and it was affecting their almost-sexual life now.

"I don't worry about what to do. We're doing good. You too", she reassured.

"You think?"

"I know. Trust me. I know".

She saw how Spencer's features relaxed a bit.

"Yeah." Spencer smiled and kissed her. "I'm still gonna read those articles, though. We're getting close to the turning point".

Whatever that was, she didn't know. That was why she was going to read the articles in the first place.

"Okay."

"And you're gonna keep working on being a natural wild-driver". She placed her index finger on Emily's lips and then proceeded to kiss her once more.

"I'll study too, I promise", Emily laughed.

They kissed for a while, the warmth of Spencer's bare upper body sending waves of electricity to Emily's own dressed self. As much as she liked to show off her recently acquired abilities when it came to driving Spencer wild, the truth of the matter was that she was probably just as close to losing control as Spencer was. One of the reasons for that was the feeling Spencer gave her when they were like this.

She wasn't a natural. But being with Spencer came naturally to her.

She felt she could read her like an open book, know her, study her without really making any effort. She didn't need to read any article. It was enough for her to touch her skin and sort of let herself be driven by Spencer's actions and responses.

Spencer seemed to think Emily was in control of this thing, but Emily saw it differently. Both of them were in control, and at the same time they were controlled by something that was beyond them. Call it lust, or love, she didn't really care about the name. She was totally sure she could never feel the same natural complicity with anyone else, because no one else would allow her to easily, effortlessly read every expression, every sound, every minimal shift of tone or body temperature. The way Spencer did allow her.

So, whatever the name, whatever the activity, in her own eyes Spencer was driving her wild, and bold, and crazy, and she trusted to that more than anything right now.

However, she broke the kiss. One of her perpetual nightmares consisted in being walked in by Veronica Hastings while they were involved in this kind of situation.

And Veronica Hastings was going to arrive in a while. And Spencer was semi-nude and the bed looked like they had actually done all kinds of dirtier things on it.

She searched for Spencer's bra and T-shirt and gave them to her.

"Put these on. I can't leave with you looking at me like that".

Spencer raised her brows at her quizzically.

"Then stay."

"I can't."

"We can have dinner with my mom."

The mere image of a family dinner with Veronica Hastings impelled Emily's butt to get out of the bed and of the house like she had been threatened by a pack of wolves. She moved Spencer's lighter body away from her legs and stood up in an instant.

"Not tonight", she answered.

Spencer grabbed her right leg from the bed and pulled her back a little, wrapping her arms around her waist. She hadn't put on her clothes yet.

"Why not? It's an innocent dinner. She's not gonna know."

"But I know. I feel like I'm raping her daughter, I'm not gonna have dinner with her the day I almost made you come."

This time she said it without thinking, so the word just popped out of her mouth like it had always been there, ready to jump outside at the air of this very same room.

Spencer lifted her head to look at her. "Rape? I didn't know rapists caused their victims to almost come, Em."

"Okay, I admit it's a bad choice of words. But it's still awkward".

"You realize you're sneaking in and out of my house like you're some kind of thief when you've spent all your life in here, right?"

Emily bent her body down to steal a kiss from Spencer's lips and then released her leg and her waist from her embrace.

"Like a thief in the night. It's kind of a turn-on".

"It'd be a turn-on if you actually stayed for the night and stole something from us."

"Like what?"

"Me." Spencer offered a sexy, twisted smile, and then started to get dressed again.

"I'll think about it."

"If you have to think about it, then it's no good. I don't want you then".

She hooked her bra and got up to get another shirt. That one was too sweaty due to her non-entirely sexual activities.

Emily cornered her against the closet.

"I don't know why, but I'm pretty sure you still want me".

"Don't be so sure." But she put her arms around Emily's waist again and pulled her closer. Then she lowered her hands to grab her butt. That glorious, absolutely perfect butt she had come to admire every second she laid eyes and hands on it.

They looked at each other until Emily slowly leaned in and kissed her.

Emily thought she'd definitely stay for dinner another day. One day when they hadn't almost had sex on Spencer's bedroom.

One day when she wouldn't be thinking about having sex on Spencer's bedroom.

Or when she could at least disguise it.

She'd better master the art of not blushing soon enough, because she had to completely win Veronica Hastings' favour and, to do that, she'd obviously have to see her more often now that she was dating Spencer. Spencer Hastings. The famous Spencer Hastings. The smartest girl in Rosewood. The sexiest, classiest girl in Pennsylvania. Maybe in the whole of the States. Or the world. Brains and looks and styles combined.

The girl who could do anything, who'd earn the world's applause.

It was her girl now.

She'd definitely have to get her a new pair of glasses to make this new assignment she was focused on even more appealing than it already was.