Alison blinks a few times in succession as she tries to adjust to the darkened room. The blonde pulls her suitcase into the house and locks the door behind her. AD's constant break-ins has everyone trained in making sure the doors and windows are properly secured. When she texted Emily a couple hours ago, the girl told her that she was home already. She had expected to come home to the sight of Emily bingeing on a show on the couch. But the sight that greets Alison is nothing what she had expected. The living room lights are off, the TV is turned off, and the kitchen is cleared. For a moment, the blonde wondered if Emily decided to stay at Hanna's instead. Maybe the swim coach wasn't used to staying in the house without the blonde there with her.
"Em?" Alison calls out. When she is answered with silence, her lips turned into slight frown. It would be a huge disappointment if Emily really isn't there after all. Then Alison would have come home early for nothing. Just as she turns into the hallway, she notices a soft glow coming from the bottom of the bedroom door. Intrigued, Alison carefully pushes the door open and the sight makes her heart skip a beat.
Laid out on their bed is one Emily Fields—dead asleep—laid out on her side with one arm extending out to Alison's side of the bed and the other resting on her stomach. Their bedroom is only lit up by the gentle glow of the bedside lamp. Alison muses at how adorable the girl looks with her hair in spread out on the pillow. The way the soft light reflects onto the brunette's face is the very image of calm and Alison finds herself mesmerized at the sight. Unable to stop herself, the blonde walks up and sits on the edge of the bed. She pushes some stray hair away from her girl's face as she admires the resting beauty.
It's incredible how easy things have been between the two of them since Alison admitted her feelings. The two are as affectionate as ever with each other. It's as if the floodgates have been broken free and all the words and actions they've always wanted to say and do in the past can finally been let out. Much to Emily's embarrassment and Alison's amusement, they've been relentless teased by the girls for their continuous PDA. But it's not as if they're intentionally flaunting their relationship and everyone knows that. It's the openness by which they can show their feelings for each other that they love. Whether it's the I love you's at the end of calls, gentle pecks throughout the day, or just simply looking at each other without pretenses, Alison is drunk on the high of it all.
It's borderline ridiculous really how much they've missed each other when she has only been gone less than 48 hours. Emily had driven her to the airport yesterday morning and from the minute the blonde landed in New York, the two have been texting non-stop. When the brunette called her last night, she could practically hear the smile in Emily's voice, even if it momentarily shifted to annoyance at Mona's flippant pregnancy advice, but quickly changing back to a soft tone as she wished the blonde good night. Alison had replied with an "I love you," and eventhough the brunette didn't want to say it back with Mona still in the room, the breathless manner of her reply was a telltale sign of how much those three words affected her.
When Emily called her later in the night as promised, the two talked for hours on end until the brunette regretfully ended the call, urging Alison, and by extension the baby, to get some sleep. It's heartwarming how connected they've become already. It wasn't just Emily's usual protectiveness either. They just can't get enough of each other—a fact Jason teasingly addressed over breakfast this morning.
The phone buzzes on the table for the umpteenth time that morning as Alison reaches over to answer it. Immediately, a smile graces the blonde's face and stays plastered there as she quickly types a response.
Jason notices his sister's actions and beams proudly at how content she looks. He doesn't remember the last time someone made Alison smile that hard. Actually, the only one who ever could is the one she's currently texting. It's fitting, he thinks, that Emily and Alison ended up back together after all these years. When they were kids, Jason noticed how Emily would come over to the house more often than the other girls. He saw how different Alison was when she was with the swimmer. It was fascinating to observe from afar how the kind-hearted girl could bring out a side of Alison he didn't know existed back then. Of course, Jason never assumed any romantic connection between them until Alison disappeared and Emily came out. It was then that he suspected the brunette probably harbored some feelings for his little sister. He thought it tragic that the blonde would never be able to return her feelings but little did he know, Alison had secretly reciprocated those feelings all along.
When Alison called to say she was coming for a visit, Jason thought it was to check in on the status of getting their mysteriously disappeared Carissimi money back. He was thrown for a whirlwind of emotions when the blonde revealed what had been happening to her since his last visit. His rage was slightly quelled, however, when he learned Alison and Emily are together and that they would be raising the little one as a family. The two siblings proceeded to spend the next couple of hours talking about the baby and the newly minted couple.
Alison's slight laughter snaps Jason back from his inner musings and this time he can't help but to tease, "At this rate, you might as well FaceTime her. At least you'd be able to have your hands free to finish breakfast."
Blushing hard at being caught so distracted, Alison quickly types back a reply and puts her phone facedown on the table. "Sorry, you have my undivided attention now. I promise."
Jason chuckles at his sisters slight embarrassment. "It's ok, Ali. Look, I know you said you wanted to help me track down Archer's money trail, but I can handle things," he pauses, smiling slightly before adding, "You should be home."
"Are you sure?" Alison asks, a bit guilty that she has been so distracted since coming to see Jason. But she can't help it. Being away from Emily is turning out to be a lot harder than she expected and it doesn't help that the brunette seems equally as attached.
Jason nods in approval, offering to drive the younger DiLaurentis to the airport after breakfast. Alison's face immediately lit up as she eagerly turns around in her chair to go pack her things.
"Ali." At the sound of her name, the blonde turns around to face her brother. "I'm glad you're happy. You deserve it."
A shy, dimpled smile makes its face onto her face as she repeats the sentiment, "Thanks, I didn't know it was even possible to be this happy."
As promised, Jason dropped her off the airport and she got the first flight out of New York. The timely flight meant she wasn't away form her phone for too long so Emily won't get too suspicious of her surprise homecoming. Seeing her girl passed out on the bed now though, it seems that Alison's the one getting surprised.
The blonde stands up to go change, quickly and quietly getting into her pajamas. When she returns to the bedroom, Emily is still in the same position. So Alison peels back the covers and burrows herself into Emily's arms, breathing in the comforting scent of her girl, finally content for the first time in 48 hours. When she nuzzles her head in Emily's neck, the brunette begins to stir.
"Ali?" Emily confusingly mutters. The brunette was just dreaming about her girl and she's unsure exactly how the blonde is nestled in her arms right now.
Too content to utter a word, Alison just gives an answering hum as her hand finds it way under Emily's shirt and strokes the warm skin beneath her fingers. The blonde places the softest of kisses on the hollow of Emily's throat, powerless to resist her urge to lavish affection on her girl. Emily's arms tighten around her in response, drawing Alison in closer as both girls shuffle to get as close to each other as possible.
Just when she thinks the brunette has fallen back asleep, the girl mumbles against Alison's hairline, "I'm glad you're home."
The blonde warms at the simple sentiment. Even half-asleep, her girl is the sweetest person to her. Alison finds Emily's hand and interlace their fingers together as she breathes a simple reply, "Me too." In response, she feels a light kiss atop her head.
Her whole life, the concept of home was something Alison could never really grasp. But as she slowly surrenders to her exhaustion, she is comforted knowing without a shadow of a doubt where—or rather, who, her home is. Home is the girl whose steady heartbeat is gently lulling her to sleep. Home is right here, laying secured in the warmth of Emily's arms.
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A really short one-shot, but I felt like 7x17 was severely lacking in Emison interaction and I had to remedy that! Hope you guys enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!