"Where's Emily?" Spencer asked as she walked into Hanna's loft in which all the girls decided to meet.
"We think she might be running late." Aria said.
Spencer to a seat next to her small best friend on the couch and was worried when she saw a blonde in the kitchen.
"Please tell me that Hanna isn't cooking, last time she nearly burnt down my kitchen." Spencer said as she kept a close eye on the blonde. Aria giggled.
"No, she's just getting drinks." Ali replied. Spencer sighed with relief.
The girls hadn't seen each other in a while and so they decided that a meet up was longer overdue. Hanna suggested the loft and the girls had nothing against it. They all thought it'd be nice to catch up and have a break from their busy lives. Spencer lived in Washington with Toby and came into town every so often to visit her family. She was very busy running her mum's office, Toby got a precinct transfer and was still a cop but very close to becoming a detective. Aria had published another book with Ezra and they were busy touring together all over the country, Hanna started her fashion designer career with Lucas and was already extremely popular. Emily was still a swimming coach at Rosewood High and Ali was still an English teacher; their lives were so much more relaxed than the rest of the girls and they were glad because the blonde and brunette got to see each other a lot.
Emily and Ali were always really close and surprisingly they still were. They would still meet up for lunches and coffees after school, they would eat dinner at each other's house and every so often they would even stay the night. But not in that way. Yes, Emily did still have very strong feelings for Alison but she didn't think that Ali returned those feeling and so she kept them to herself. Boy, was she wrong though, Ali did return those feeling. She knew she loves the brunette and she thought about her feelings many times but each time she brushed them off, well actually tried to brush them off but every night they would bother her until she was too tired to think and drifted off.
Half an hour had passed, the girls talked and laughed but Emily was nowhere to be seen and a certain blonde was getting worried. Ali text Emily asking her where she was and patiently waited for a reply.
'I'm at home ill, sorry I couldn't make it. -Em'
The blonde began to feel upset, she hadn't seen Emily in a while since her mom decided to move away to be closer to the rest of her family. Emily left with Pam for two weeks because she wanted to help her mom move and see her family again. Emily hadn't told Ali when she was coming back because at first, she didn't know how long she'd be away for so when she returned three days ago, Ali had no clue. Ali had been busy with a teaching course she was taking so didn't even have time to check if Emily was back.
Ali told the girls that Emily was sick and they all were sad because they all wanted to see her but there was nothing they could do. For the next few hours they talked and laughed a bit more but eventually one by one they started leaving.
When Ali left, she had an idea to surprise Emily; she went and bought her some pizza and then headed over to Emily's house. She walked up to the door and rang the bell, a faint voice shouted "I'm coming" and eventually the doors opened. As soon as the brunette realised who was standing at her door the biggest smile appeared on her face.
"Ali!" Emily shouted as she pulled the blonde in for a hug which Ali returned.
"Hey, thought I'd come by with something to make you feel better." Ali said holding up the pizza box.
"Plus, I've missed you, it's been a few weeks." Emily's grin widened as she heard the words 'I missed you'.
"I missed you too." Emily said as she let the blonde in. Emily retuned to the couch and covered herself in her blanket as Ali set down the pizza and went to get two plates. The smell of pizza made Emily's stomach rumble, she hadn't eaten all day since she had no energy to even get up; Ali had turned out to be her knight in shining armour because if she hadn't showed up Emily would have probably starved.
Ali brought out two plates and sat the down on the coffee table in front of them. As the brunette's grin from seeing her slowly disappeared Ali could really see how ill Emily was. Her skin was not its usual golden tanned self, it was pale, her eyes were glossy and her nose was red. Alison hadn't seen Emily this ill in years, because Emily was so healthy and fit she barely ever caught the cold but when she did it was bad.
"How long have you been this ill?"
"Since yesterday." Emily said with a loud cough on the end. Ali put the back of her hand against Emily's forehead to find that she had a huge fever.
"Come on I'm taking you to the doctors." Ali said standing up and holding her hand out.
"What? Why?" Emily said in a very confused tone.
"Because you have a very, very high fever which is not good."
"I'll be fine Ali, sit down."
"Nope, you're going" Ali said pulling Emily off the couch.
"Allliiii." Emily moaned like a child but the blonde continued to pull her over to the door. Eventually she succeeded and got the stubborn brunette to put her shoes on.
The que at the doctors was not long so the doctor got them in quickly.
The doctor brushed Emily's hair out her face in a slightly flirtatious way and began to measure her temperature.
"Wow, I could see you were hot but not this hot." Emily blushed but did not like the comment made.
The doctor walked over to a cabinet and gave Emily a pill.
"This should bring down your temperature and I'll prescribe some of them in case it goes back up." Emily swallowed the pill and he continued with his examination, as he went on he began to get a bit handsy; rubbing Emily's cheek with his thumb, checking her breathing on her chest just a little too far to right and few inappropriate comments here and there that Emily simply brushed off even though she was feeling very uncomfortable. Ali began to get jealous and was not very good at hiding it.
"Right darling- "He said as he put his equipment away. "You've got a pretty bad cold, I'll prescribe you some medication and you'll be fine in no time and then maybe we could go out." He suggested as smoothly as he could. Ali had had enough, Emily was too tired and weak because of her cold to say anything or ague back this whole time but Ali was feeling fine and she would not let this go on.
"Sorry doc but she's taken." Ali said as she winked and walked up beside Emily to put her arm around her waist. The doctor began to turn red, Ali and Emily couldn't help but smirk and giggle slightly. Silently he wrote out the prescription and handed it to Emily. Emily gave him a thankful smile and walked out with Ali behind her.
"Thanks for doing that in there." Emily said once they were in the car.
"Anytime." Ali said with a smile.
Ali decided to leave Emily in the car so that she wouldn't have to go out in the cold when she went to get the prescription order.
Ali handed the piece of paper to a woman who seemed nice enough.
"There you go darling." She said as she handed Ali a bag with different medications inside.
"Are these all for you?" The woman quickly asked before Ali left.
"No, they're for a friend." Ali asked with a confused expression.
"You'd better be staying with her then, fevers can be dangerous so she'll need someone to keep an eye on her." Ali nodded with a grateful smile and left.
She got back into the car and rubbed her hands together, for some reason it was particularly cold in Rosewood this year.
"Looks like I'm going to be staying with you for a few days." Ali said with a smile on her face.
"Why? Not that I mind but why?" The brunette asked with a confused tone.
"I've just been informed that when you're taking all these meds you need someone to look after you and I guess that's gonna be me."
"Right." Emily said as Ali started driving back to Emily's.
Emily really did not mind Ali staying, in fact she loved it when Ali stayed over. It felt like they were teens again; they would stay up late and talk about everything, they would laugh and cry; it felt like nothing had changed. Plus, spending the night with the person Emily loved the most in the world was a bonus.
Ali dropped off Emily and quickly went over to her house to grab some pyjamas and clothes. She quickly through it all in a bag and rushed back to the brunette. For some reason, Ali was really excited to be staying a few nights at Em's. She just loved being in her presence, it made her feel so comfortable and safe. No one ever made her feel that way, not even her parents.
"Hey, I'm back." Ali said as she let herself in.
"I'm on the couch." A voice shouted back. Ali walked into the living room to find Emily wrapped up in covers like a burrito on the couch. She leaned again the door frame and couldn't help but laugh a bit; Emily looked ill but also really cute.
"Don't laugh at the dead." Emily said grunting.
"Did you take the meds?" Ali said as she checked Emily's temperature again with her hand, she seemed slightly cooler but still quite warm.
"Yes, yes I did mom." Emily said as she rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, I'm just trying to take care of you." Ali said as she sat down on the edge of the couch.
"I know, I'm sorry. I think it's the meds."
"Right." Ali said with a giggle.
After a few comfortable minutes of silence Ali remembered she hadn't even asked Emily about her trip to see her family.
"How was your trip to see your family?" Ali simply asked. Emily smiled; she liked seeing that Ali still cared.
"It was really good, everyone is doing great. Although my mom and grandma tried to set me up on a date."
"Oh, my god." Ali said laughing. "Did you go?"
"Of course, not."
"Why not? Maybe she was really nice."
"I have my eyes set on someone else." Emily said without even realising it. She immediately turned red and Ali couldn't help but feel upset; Emily liked someone and she definitely thought it wasn't her.
"Oh who?" Ali said trying to play it cool and not look upset.
"You'll find out in your own time." Emily said cryptically and with that the they went back to the movie.
During the movie, Emily feel asleep, it was only 4 in the afternoon but the meds made her drowsy. Ali smiled at the girl who was currently lightly snoring as she switched the TV off and moved to a nearby chair to give her some more space. She picked up the book she brought just in case and began reading.
After what seem like hours of stolen glances at Emily and only a few read pages the brunette began to wake. Ali quickly looked away so that she wasn't creepily staring at Emily whilst she was sleeping but she wasn't quick enough; Emily caught her and only laughed. The blonde could feel her cheeks turning pink.
"How long was I asleep?" Emily asked as she sat up.
"Around three hours or so." Ali said as she put her book mark in and closed the book.
"Well you haven't read much in that time." Emily teased and the pink colour returned to the blonde's cheeks.
"It's ugh pretty boring."
"You know, you used to be a better liar." Emily said giggling. Ali's cheeks continued to turn pink.
"Yeah, well things change." Ali said not only talking about her personality. During the few hours that Emily was asleep Ali couldn't help but think about what Emily said earlier. Who could she be talking about? She hadn't mentioned that she liked anyone recently and seeing as though the two are close Ali thought she would have told her. It hurt Ali, she always thought that she and Emily would end up together; even when she was in high school and made the brunette feel as though her feelings were one sided. They never were until now; well that's what Ali thought anyway.
"Yeah, I guess." Emily said sensing that Ali might have not just meant her personality.
"Can I ask you something, Em?" The brunette nodded.
"Earlier you said you had your eyes set on someone but you wouldn't tell me who, why won't you tell me? I thought we trusted each other?"
"I do trust you, I'd trust you with my life. I can't tell you who it is because you know the person, very, very well." Ali began to think once again, who does she know very well? The only people that came to mind were Hanna, Arai, Spencer and Emily. It would never be one of them. Emily began to laugh; she could see how hard Ali's brain was working.
"Honestly, I don't know who." Ali said. Emily sighed with a smile.
"You really want to know?" Ali shrugged.
"It's up to you, you don't need to tell me if you don't want too. It's just I- I needed to know you still trusted me." The brunette hesitated for a minute. She always wanted to tell the blonde how she feels but would things change between them? Ali doesn't love me. She thought to herself. Although I'll never know for sure if I don't tell her.
"It's you." Emily simply said.
"What?"
"You know I've always had feeling for you, my feelings haven't changed at all." A large smile grew on Ali's face. She got up from the chair and kissed the brunette. Surprised by the act, it took Emily a second to kiss the blonde back.
Emily put her hand on the blonde's soft cheek, she still couldn't believe what was happening; Ali did return her feelings. The kiss quickly became passionate, Ali had missed Emily's lips. It had been years since they last kissed and it was definitely long overdue. Ali thought back to their kiss, it happened before they went off to college. All the girls were saying goodbye and Emily was the last one to leave.
"I'm going to miss you so much." Emily said just after Spencer drove away.
"I'm going to miss you too but won't be gone for long." Emily nodded. She wanted to kiss Ali so badly in that moment. She knew she'd be away for three years and not kissing the blonde goodbye would be a big regret for her. She leaned in a softly kissed Ali, nearly straight away the blonde kissed back. Very quickly Ali placed her hands on the brunette's hips to pull her closer. The kiss however did not last much longer, Emily had to leave.
The two pulled away and silently Emily got into her car and drove away.
Alison couldn't believe that had happened nearly 5 years ago, the feeling that she felt back then was even stronger as her lips moved in sync with Emily's right now on the brunette's couch. Eventually the two had to pull away to catch their breaths and straight away large grins grew on their faces.
"Does that mean you have feelings for me as well?" Emily said with a smirk.
"Hmm I think you might need to kiss me again because the jury's still out." Ali said mirroring the brunettes smirk as she leaned in again. Emily quickly closed the distance. Once again, the butterflies returned to Emily's stomach.
"And?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, yeah it does." Ali said with a bright smile. Emily couldn't stop herself from forming a huge smile on her face. The brunette had thought for so long that Ali had no feeling for her for so long and this whole time she was wrong. But so was Ali because she thought the exact same thing.
"So, um where do we go from here?" Emily asked.
"Well, would you like to go out on a date with me once you're feeling better?" Ali said shyly. Emily nodded with a smile.
"Of course, I will."