This is my take on the dinner coming up in 5x07, "The Silence of E. Lamb". It's dripping with Emison wishful thinking, but that's what fanfiction is for! I've split it into two parts.
I hope y'all enjoy!
Warmth shot through Emily's body at the sight of Alison trotting toward her house. As the blonde stepped into the light streaming from the porch lights, Emily's coy smile stretched across her face and pulled her lips taunt. The armor she meticulously strapped on a few minutes ago to repel any of Alison's charms melted into a heap of wax at her feet. Just for tonight. Just for tonight. She repeated to herself. She could allow herself this bliss for a few hours.
Alison sported a smile to match her friend's and breathed slowly in and out to cope with the butterflies writhing in her stomach, snaking up through her lungs and tickling at her throat. She fiddled unconsciously with the edge of her dress as she approached. A twinge of regret floated through her brain as she second guessed her choice of clothing. She dipped her head down and shook off the thought. Since when did she second guess anything? When she looked back up, she smirked as she basked in the long, unhurried strokes Emily's eyes raked up and down her body. That's all the reassurance she needed.
Although previously foreign to her, Alison was becoming more accustomed to Emily's more sexual expressions of her fondness. Years ago, the attention the brunette showered upon her was dripping with a naivety that fell prey to Alison's manipulative tendencies. At that time unwilling to entertain even the thought of returning Emily's feelings, she still couldn't help but relax in her presence. She shared thoughts, wishes and secrets with the brunette that she'd never dare utter to the other girls. Occasionally, her crush-like attraction peeked through, but she quickly shut it down with malicious remarks or by strategically digging her claws further into Emily's soft heart. Alison was not a good person back then and she knew it. With each passing day, she struggled to convince herself that she wasn't that person anymore. Emily's face gave her hope and she could live on that hope for this moment.
Emily didn't even scold herself as she trained her eyes on the briefly exposed skin of Ali's thighs as she ascended the steps toward her. She bit a small part of her bottom lip as her friend's dress slid up by mere inches with every step. Her annoyance with Alison's lie about the Mona confrontation had cast aside her far from chaste thoughts, which had caught fire the night they shared a few intimate moments and soft kisses. Although her hands hadn't wandered beneath her clothes, the image of Alison's completely exposed body from that day in the locker room constantly rolled through her brain on a loop. Inadvertently, she had once again forgiven Alison and succumbed to the girl's seductive nature. It could be a trap, just like all the times before. Taking a deep breath, she again reminded herself- just for tonight.
"Hey, Em."
Shit. The voice trampled the brunette's resolve. She wanted to feel like this every day. No! Just for fucking tonight. After crossing her fingers mentally as if lying to herself, she reached out to embrace her friend. Instead of accepting the welcoming gesture, Alison snagged both of her hands, squeezed them softly and lowered their entwined fingers between them. She leaned in to plant a light kiss on Emily's cheek, but she conveniently missed and her lips grazed the side of the brunette's mouth. Emily thought to herself that the blonde must have picked up on her carnal cravings because Alison quickly pulled back and said, "Now I'll take a hug. Just a hug." The girl clarified with an adorable smile that Emily loved.
As Alison reluctantly released Emily's hands and pulled her close, Spencer called out from behind her, "Should we take bets on how long it takes for this dinner to get seriously awkward?"
The blonde turned out of Emily's arms and responded, "Spence, don't doom this before it even starts."
"My mom might surprise us," Emily offered. "I think she's exhausted from questioning me. I doubt she sees any point in broaching the subject with all of us here." She spotted Aria walking into earshot and greeted her, "Hey, Aria."
Returning the "hey" with a head nod and smile, the girl echoed Spencer's worry, "Guys, how weird is this going to get?"
Spencer nodded at her with a smirk and said, "Great minds."
"C'mon," Alison once again spoke up, "it's not going to be that bad."
One of Emily's eyebrows shot up as she playfully challenged, "That bad? Speaking of dooming it."
"Not what I meant," Ali threw softly over her shoulder.
"I'm surprised you're not the one freaking out," Aria addressed the seemingly confident blonde. "You could be the one on trial."
"Ugh," Hanna groaned as she approached. "I cannot sit through another 'quiz Ali' session. It's getting really old."
Ignoring the blonde's unwarranted annoyance, Spencer agreed in a more upbeat tone, "I think we've all been subjected to more questions than most people deal with in a lifetime."
"That's what happens when your friend gets kidnapped," Hanna air-quoted the last word.
"And what happens when you try to help that same friend run away?" Emily snipped before adding sarcastically. "I'm thinking more questions." None of the other girls knew about their spat the night Ali was attacked, but the animosity was reaching a boiling point.
Alison glanced between Hanna and Emily and noted with a hint of confusion, "No need to get so uppity. I'm still here."
When Alison's gaze settled on the brunette's hardened features, Emily quickly relaxed her face and replied, "We're all just a bit nervous."
Alison's raised eyebrow indicated that she was far from convinced, but she diverted the group's attention from the rising tension between Emily and Hanna. She said, "Well, I'm never one to turn down Mrs. Fields's cooking. I don't care how awkward it gets."
"I'm glad to hear that," Mrs. Fields commented from the doorway.
"Wow. That didn't take long," Spencer muttered calling attention to her and Aria's prediction.
Noticing the collective embarrassment amongst the girls, Mrs. Fields calmed their nerves and assured them, "I'm not going to fire off twenty questions." She flashed an understanding smile toward Alison and said, "But, Alison, you can talk to me if you ever need to."
Graciously, the blonde thanked the woman and the group shuffled quietly into the house. All of the girls tried to relax as they inwardly agreed with Alison: they did love Mrs. Fields's cooking. Unfortunately, even that admission couldn't quiet their fears. Flashing lights of "Possible Parental Trouble" blinded them as they sat down to "enjoy" their meal.
As she took a bite of her pasta, Emily sighed with relief. Each moment of benign dinner conversation that passed by meant one less minute of unpleasant questioning. The random dinner party had taken Emily and the rest of her friends off guard. None of them knew what to expect, but each of them expected the worst. Although they all loved Mrs. Fields, they were keenly aware of her inquisitive nature. None of girls felt like dodging questions about anything that had to do with Alison.
Out of nowhere, Mrs. Fields mentioned to Emily, "I almost forgot to tell you. Paige came over a couple of hours ago."
All five girls tensed up at the mention of Paige. While Emily fumbled around in her head for a response to shut the topic down, Aria and Spencer shoved rather large bites of spaghetti into their mouths. Hanna, however, put down her fork and shifted her gaze from Emily to Alison. She couldn't suppress a small smirk that formed at the corner of her lips when Alison cleared her throat and lifted her water glass to her lips. Part of the blonde hated how much she enjoyed seeing the other girl squirm, but her opinion of Alison was at an all time low. She shrugged to herself as she brushed aside any guilt. A little weirdness won't kill her.
"Oh?" Emily finally spoke up with a one word question that swung the door wide open to her mother's impending inquisition. So much for dismissing Paige's visit.
"I forgot how much I like her," Mrs. Fields happily and obliviously continued, "so polite and thoughtful and very pretty."
While Emily struggled to pull her lips into a smile, Spencer, Aria and Ali glanced at one another with wide eyes. Hanna leaned back to simply enjoy the awkward fog forming over the table.
"Yes, she is," Emily flippantly replied. "So, Mom, did you ever talk to Mr—"
"Guess what?" she leaned across the table with a wide grin across her face and squeezed Emily's closest hand resting on the table.
"What?"
"She brought you flowers!" The older woman chirped. Spencer almost choked on a small bite of bread as Mrs. Fields elaborated with glee, "They are so beautiful. I put them in some water and put them in the kitchen." Emily fought the urge to glance to her mother's right to see Ali's reaction. Honestly, she was half afraid that the girl was wearing a look of complete indifference. She couldn't handle that. Apparently, her mother read the perplexed look on her daughter's face and queried, "What's wrong? Why the look?" She quickly looked around the table to find strange looks on all of the girl's faces. "What is going on?"
"Nothing," Emily shook her head and offered her usual small smile. "I'm just a bit surprised." She figured she might as well tell her mom the truth- a snippet of the truth. She would find out eventually.
Before she could open her mouth, Hanna offered, "They aren't together anymore. So it's kinda weird."
Five heads whirled around and locked onto the blonde's face. "Han!" Aria snapped under her breath. Her word was accompanied by a small swat on Hanna's knee under the table.
Not looking at Emily two seats to her left who wagged her head fiercely hoping her friend wouldn't elaborate, Hanna swung her eyes to Aria and said, "What? It is weird."
"It's not weird," Emily stressed. Although she hoped Hanna's bad attitude concerning her and Ali had dwindled away over the past few days, the blonde's satisfied grin convinced her that no such thing had happened. She reassured her mom, while straining to keep her eyes off of Alison, "We're still friends."
"You two were so good together," Mrs. Fields twirled her noodles, but avoided eating as she continued, "You four—now five—girls always seem to be wrapped up in some form of drama. She didn't even seem to mind."
Emily gulped and her restraint faltered as her gaze fell on Alison. As the blonde uncomfortably tucked a wad of curls behind her right ear, she maintained some semblance of control over her facial muscles as she contorted them into a look of interest devoid of any negative feeling. However, when their eyes locked for but a moment, Emily glimpsed the discomfort behind her eyes. "You're right," the brunette admitted once again returning her attention to her mother, "she's always been understanding." No truer words could be spoken. Paige swallowed Emily's blatant lies and passive deceit for months. However, her betrayal still lingered in the air between them every time they crossed paths.
"Why?"
"What?" Emily jostled herself from her thoughts at the sound of her mother's voice.
"Why did you—"
"We had a falling out," she once again allowed herself a glance at Alison, whose curiosity now seemed genuinely piqued. The blonde and Emily's mom shared the same ignorance when it came to the breakup. Suddenly wondering what her friends were thinking, she visual swept the table to gauge their level of discomfort and hoped one of them might lend her a helping hand. Unfortunately, their body language reflected their resolve to stay out of the conversation altogether- except for Hanna. She was bursting at the seams to contribute in any way that might feed the fire.
"Oh, Emily," her insistent mother waved off her daughter's comment and said, "It's clear that she wants to work it out." Clearly thinking of the flowers, she added, "She's doing a good job if you ask me."
"I completely agree."
"Hanna!" Spencer scolded from across the table. Now the nerdy brunette was starting to wonder why her friend seemed hellbent to prod the bull wreaking conversational havoc at the dinner table. No one liked to discuss their romantic life in front of their parents, especially when their friends were around. Emily was a perfect example of such a person- far from an exception to the rule. Despite Alison shifting uncomfortably in her chair, Spencer remained ignorant of the true source of awkwardness for a few more moments.
Finally fed up with the topic and pointed jabs from Hanna, Emily groaned into her food, "Can we please not talk about this anymore?"
As her daughter hung her head, Mrs. Fields ignored the plea, cocked her head to one side and asked, "Is there someone else?" When the girl's head jerked up, she continued, "A boy or—"
"Mom. I'm gay," Emily stated flatly.
"I'm not finished," the woman reassured, "Or girl?"
The brief look of fear exchanged by Emily and Alison followed by Emily's quick and brash "no!" didn't escape the notice of Spencer, Aria or Hanna. Aria tucked a balled hand under her chin and feigned ignorance. Hanna rolled her eyes in disgust. Spencer groaned to herself, "Oh, dear god. Not this."
A sharp elbow jab from Alison on Spencer's right startled the groaning girl. Emily's mother craned her neck around Alison to look at the brunette and she queried, "Spencer? What was that?"
Shrinking down in her chair, Spencer whispered, "Did I say that out loud?" Her four friends nodded vigorously in response. She then raised her voice to answer her hostess's question, "Oh. It's nothing. I was just thinking about school... stuff. You know me." She plastered a jovial look on her face hoping her deflection wasn't as weak as she thought it was.
"Well," the older woman shrugged off any curiosity and concluded before raising the noodles to her mouth, "You two should work it out. I really like her."
"We all do," piped up the relentless voice of the only person enjoying the conversation. Four cold stares singed through Hanna, who didn't look up from her food.
Thinking her absence from the conversation might only draw more attention to the tension between Emily and herself, Alison finally contributed with a simple observation, "I'm sure Paige is great." Emily flashed a raised eyebrow in her direction. "She seems great."
"Oh, you didn't know her?" the older woman asked sounding a bit surprised.
"Not very well."
Hanna snorted at the response. Before she could pile yet another stupid remark on her growing pile of bullshit, Emily said, "We'll work it out. She is great." A cloud of guilt settled over her head as Alison intentionally avoided her gaze and refused to release control of her composure.
"Good," Mrs. Fields smiled and returned to her meal. Her daughter's words appeased her. She was also aware of the odd vibes bouncing around the table. Taking pity on the girls, she turned to Ali and asked her about school and being back home. Although she brushed it off, she still felt the discomfort looming.
After the conversation rolled into a lively discussion devoid of anything substantial, the group relaxed and relished the rest of their very tasty meal. While Alison and Emily tussled inwardly with their own version of a private conversation that would surely follow closely on the heels of this dinner, Spencer set aside her disgruntled feelings toward Hanna. She didn't intend to keep them pent up for very long.
Look out for part two!