BEEP, BEEP, BEEP
A low grunt escaped the yellow covers of a queen sized bed. Long, tan arms stretched out under the sheets and a hand searched for the alarm clock on a small bed-side table.
Emily Fields lifted her head out of the covers to see the time on the alarm clock. 6:30am. It was time for her morning run.
Emily forced herself to crawl out from under her nightly paradise and over to her dresser. She pulled out a sports bra, tank top, and a pair of shorts. After exchanging her over-sized sleeping t-shirt for her athletic clothes she grabbed a pair of socks, her running shoes, and headed downstairs.
"Good morning, sweetheart," Mr. Fields chirped while holding his coffee mug. "Starting workouts already? It's only the first day of summer."
Emily's dad had been overseas for three years, re-stationed in Texas the past year, and just came back home a month before Emily's high school graduation after finishing his fifth tour in the military.
"No days off, dad. As soon as I get to UCLA, training starts," Emily replied.
Two months before graduation, The University of Los Angeles at California and Stanford were competing for Emily to join their swim team. Both universities kept matching the other's offer until UCLA opted to give Emily a full athletic scholarship first. The determination to get Emily on the team was enough to persuade the high school senior. The exciting city of Los Angeles and having the beach a few miles away didn't hurt either.
"I'll see you when I get back, I'm only running around the neighborhood," Emily continued, heading for the door. Mr. Fields chuckled, "you make five miles seem like a breeze." Emily flashed a smile back as she opened her front door and closed it behind of her. She walked down the steps of her front porch and stopped to stretch in front of her mailbox.
The brunette stretched her long legs and rotated her arms back and forth to loosen her muscles from sleeping. After a few minutes, she put her phone in her arm-band, earbuds in her ears, started her music, and took off running.
Emily loved running almost has much as she loved swimming. It was an outlet for her to calm her mind and ease her stress away.
She ran her typical loop, passing the houses in one of the many upscale neighborhoods in Rosewood. Emily's parents weren't rich, though outside of Rosewood they probably would have been considered to be. Living in Rosewood is like living in a Forbes magazine. Everything is pretty, rich, and fashionable. Everyone and everything had to be perfect.
Emily was more than ready to get away from Rosewood for college. She felt like she was anything other than Rosewood's definition of perfect and as far as she cared, she didn't want to be. Emily wasn't materialistic or fame driven, so an escape from her hometown was something she was looking forward to.
She knew in her heart that Rosewood was not the town for her, and she was more than excited to found out if Los Angeles was.
Before she knew it, the brunette was back in her driveway. She took out her earbuds and wiped a line of sweat off of her forehead. She was dripping sweat all across of her tone body, but loved every moment of it. She ran for the after feeling.
"Good morning, my little Bruin," Mrs. Fields giggled from the kitchen, preparing herself breakfast. Emily knew Mama Fields could be so cheesy, but she didn't mind. She followed her mom's voice and walked into the kitchen, "good morning. What are you making?"
"Greek yogurt with berry mix and whole wheat toast. Would you like some?" Mrs. Fields asked, getting the bread out of the refrigerator.
"No thank you," Emily replied, going to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water. Mrs. Fields wanted her daughter to eat something after her run, but she let it slide. "What are your first day of summer plans?" Mrs. Fields asked.
"I'm going to Alison's beach house for the week, remember?" Emily reminded her mom. She knew her mom was a very busy woman. From owning her own restaurant, to working out, to keeping up with an energetic husband and soon-to-be college freshman daughter, Mrs. Fields had a lot on her plate.
"That's right. I'm sorry, sweetie. I wrote it down in my planner and somehow still managed to forget. What time are you leaving?" Mrs. Fields asked as she took her toasted bread out of the toaster and paused, "or did I write that down, too?"
Emily let out a small laugh, "mom, it's fine. I'm leaving at eleven to meet the girls at Alison's."
Mr. Fields walked into the kitchen and planted a small kiss on his wife's cheek before grabbing her piece of toast and taking a small bite.
The relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Fields was like a fairy-tale to Emily. The couple had been together for over 20 years and they still acted just as they did when they first met and fell in love. Emily knew what true love meant as she watched her parents her entire life and she hoped one day she would find a love as true and strong as theirs.
"Hey! You know I could have just made you a piece," Mrs. Fields remarked, pretending as if she was mad. Mr. Fields softly chuckled and turned the conversation back to his daughter, "who's driving you girls down to the beach?"
Emily closed the lid on her water bottle after she finished her gulps, "I'm driving and Spencer is driving. Alison's riding with me and Spencer is driving Aria and Hanna."
"Please be careful on the road. The traffic shouldn't be bad but just be safe," Mrs. Fields said in between bites of her yogurt. "I always am, mom," Emily replied.
Emily looked at the time on the microwave. It was almost 8am and she still needed to shower, pack, and get everything together and done before she left. "I'm going to go get ready," Emily said walking towards her mother, "I will see you two in a few days when I get back."
Emily reached in to kiss her mother on the cheek and wrapped one arm around her waist, giving her a tight tug. "I love you, please text me when you get there. Please be safe," Mrs. Fields replied, returning a kiss on the top of her daughter's head.
"I will," Emily promised, heading towards the stairs, "love you too."
#######
"Did you guys get the alcohol?" Hanna Marin grinned. "It's already at the house. My parents keep, like, a full loaded bar down there," Alison DiLaurentis replied, walking in to sit down in her living room.
"Where is everyone?" Hanna asked, checking the time on her phone, "it's almost eleven." Spencer Hastings, Aria Montgomery, Emily, and Hanna were supposed to meet at Alison's house at eleven to leave for the beach for the week.
The DiLaurentis family had a two story beach house that had seven bedrooms, five bathrooms, a pool, a hot-tub, a bar, and was water-front to a channel that connected to the ocean with a private dock. The DiLaurentis's wanted a beach house that wasn't right on top of everyone on the beach front, so they built a house in a more private, spaced out area that still had immediate ocean access.
"They're probably screwing their boyfriends one last time because they can't live a few days without them," Alison snarled.
"Yeah, you're right. Emily's definitely with her boyfriend", Hanna sarcastically joked. "She doesn't count," Alison chuckled, thinking of Emily, "but seriously, where the hell are—"
"We're here!" a voice yelled out as the two blondes heard the door open. "Guys?"
"Found them," Hanna said, standing up to greet her friends walking in the door.
"Sorry we're late," Spencer commented, taking note of Alison's glare. Then again, Spencer thought, that was also Alison's resting face as well. "We wouldn't have been if Aria wouldn't have taken so long locking lips with Ezra," Spencer ratted.
Alison rolled her eyes and looked at Hanna, "told you." Hanna laughed and Aria looked at the two blondes, "what does that mean?" "Nothing," Alison said quickly, "can we please just leave now? My body is aching to feel salt water."
"Yes, princess, anything for you," Spencer sarcastically replied. Alison smirked. She was the princess of the group. Alison and Spencer always had tension between them in the past. They were both extremely intelligent.
Spencer was almost dangerously book smart. She graduated at the top of her class with a 4.7 GPA, taking all AP classes while being the president of the debate team, student government association, and the captain of her women's field hockey team. Spencer was accepted into Harvard University and instantly enrolled. Her parents wanted her to go to Penn State, but she wanted to follow her own dreams, not the dreams of her parents.
Alison on the other hand was extremely people smart. Though she did make very good grades, ending her high school career with a 4.2 GPA, her real intelligence was with the way she knew how to work people and how they worked. Alison could read people like they were a walking book. She was amazing at getting what she wanted from them. People feared Alison. They wanted her to accept them because of how highly regarded she was in Rosewood. Alison was treated as royalty. You couldn't name a guy that didn't want to date her or a girl who didn't want to be her friend.
Together, Spencer and Alison had a very special friendship. A powerful one. They settled their differences months ago and realized that they didn't need to compete with each other anymore, they were two very different girls who just happened to share a competitive trait.
Alison turned and focused her attention on the only girl who hadn't spoken in the room. The brunette was leaning against the wall listening to Hanna talk about how she couldn't wait to lay out and tan.
Alison's blue eyes gazed over Emily. There had been a long history between the two that hadn't been cleared up yet. Alison settled her differences with everyone but Emily. She was going to be the hardest one.
Alison and Emily had a very colorful past. They weren't friends, then they became friends, then they kissed, then they had a small fall out, then Alison disappeared, then Emily found her after two years, then they became friends again, then they kissed again, then they had a huge fall out, then they became friends again.
It was exhausting and a seemingly never ending roller coaster, but the most exhausting part of it was that they never spoke about their feelings after anything.
There was a lot left unsaid and things between them always happened so fast and so secretly. Aria, Spencer, and Hanna all knew about Emily and Alison's first kiss and how Emily had feelings for her in the past, but when Alison disappeared and Emily started dating other girls, her friends didn't think she still had those feelings for Alison. They started questioning Emily when her and Alison started spending a lot of time together alone after she came back from hiding from A, but Emily denied it multiple times, so they all dropped it.
Emily told herself that Alison wasn't good for her after Alison hurt her for the second time by lying to her and keeping things from her with A. Emily distanced herself from Alison and started seeing her ex-girlfriend Paige again, but that ended when Paige moved to California with her family.
Emily had been single for about three months now and she was okay with it. Alison had been single for years. She went on a few dates throughout her senior year, but only to entertain herself. Alison DiLaurentis did not catch feelings.
Alison's mind stopped wondering when she saw brown pools looking back at her. Emily gave Alison a soft smile and Alison genuinely smiled back. Not much could make Alison give off a true smile, but for some reason Emily could. She always did.
Emily was different to Alison. She was her favorite friend. When she was with Emily she felt like she didn't need to put up her signature "Alison DiLaurentis front." She felt relaxed and things just felt easier and better being with Emily. Maybe it was because of how sweet and accepting Emily was to people. Emily had a light about her that made people feel comfortable and safe, and that's exactly how Alison felt around the brunette.
Emily always believed in Alison and saw the good in her when everyone else only saw evil, but Emily saw Alison's heart. When it was just the two girls alone Emily swore that Alison had the biggest heart and she was a true sweetheart, but no one else dared to agree with her.
Emily walked away from her talkative three friends and walked across the room to meet the blue eyes Emily couldn't remember ever being able to look away from. "Hi," Emily said so softly it almost was a whisper. "Hi," Alison replied, smiling at the brunette.
"Are you ready to go?" Emily asked. "I've been ready," Alison said. Emily nodded, "me too." Alison took in Emily one last time before she turned to her friends. She couldn't wait to spend time with Emily alone in the car. "Alright, let's go. We're already behind thanks to Aria," Alison stated.
Slowly, but surely, the girls walked out of Alison's house and out towards their cars in the driveway. "Do you need any help putting your stuff in my car?" Alison asked Emily as she was grabbing her bags to put in Alison's 2015 Range Rover. It was a graduation gift that her dad bought her. When you have millions just sitting in the bank, buying your teenage daughter a new and expensive top of the line automobile isn't a problem.
"No, I'm okay. Thanks," Emily replied as she toted two bags from her Jeep to Alison's new Range Rover. The blonde started her car and put on her black Ray Bans. "Alright Spence, call me if you need to stop anywhere on the way to the house. It's only an hour and a half drive, so I don't really think we'll need to stop for gas, food, or a bathroom break."
"We can't stop for snacks?" Hanna questioned, disappointment oozing through her voice. "Han, it's only an hour and a half," Aria reassured her. "Fine, whatever," Hanna replied as she crossed her arms. Spencer chuckled, "we won't need to stop. I filled my tank up last night."
Spencer and Alison looked in the back of Spencer's new BMW, that she too got for a graduation gift from her parents, and saw Aria and Hanna dancing to the music playing on the radio. "Are you sure you don't want to take one of them with you?" she asked, laughing at the two girls.
Alison winked, "nope, they're all yours. It's just me and Em, right Em?" Emily heard her name as she was shutting her car door finishing packing her bags in Alison's car, "what?"
"Nothing. Let's leave before Spencer throws one of those fools in the car with us," Alison stated, grabbing Emily's hand and pulling her away from Spencer.
#######
Alison and Emily led the way to Alison's beach house with Spencer, Aria, and Hanna riding behind of them. The two girls had talked almost the entire drive.
Alison turned down the radio, "there's something I want to ask you." Emily looked up from her phone, shifted in the passengers seat of Alison's car, and titled her head to look at the blonde.
Alison had been preparing herself for this conversation with Emily for weeks, and now as they were alone and trapped together inside of a moving car, Alison felt like this was a perfect opportunity to talk to Emily without her being able to escape.
"What are we?" Alison asked, her eyes steady on the road. Emily's eyes widened a bit, "what do you mean?"
"Em, you know what I mean," Alison replied, sounding as causal as she could get.
Emily wanted to avoid this conversation. She had been doing a good job of it so far, but she knew that at one point the two girls were going to have to discuss things.
"We're friends. We're best friends," Emily responded, choosing her words carefully. Emily knew Alison was not a patient person.
The blonde was very blunt and had been wanting to have this conversation with Emily for a long time. For some reason this had been bothering her for awhile, so she needed answers, and quick. "Do you have feelings for me?" Alison questioned.
Emily's mouth opened and then closed. She was speechless and thrown off guard. "Where is this coming from?" Emily responded. "I'm curious," Alison honestly replied.
"We aren't exactly playing for the same team, Alison," Emily said. Alison's lips pressed together. When Emily called Alison by her full name and not calling her Ali, she knew Emily was either serious or mad, or both.
"You aren't answering the question," Alison coolly responded.
Emily was confused. She didn't understand why Alison was asking her this question or why she wanted to know if Emily had feelings for her. Emily knew it was time to be honest and get it off of her conscious.
"Yeah, I do, but I know nothing is going to come from it," Emily said, staring ahead at the road to avoid looking over at the blonde. Alison didn't instantly respond. She took in Emily's words and processed her thoughts. Emily waited for a response, but Alison just kept focused on the road, not saying a word.
Alison reached over and turned the volume back up on the radio. Emily raised her eyebrow out of frustration, not knowing or understanding what just happened, but she knew arguing with Alison would get her nowhere. When Alison didn't want to talk about something, trying to get it out was her was like trying to get water in a drought.
Emily glimpsed at Alison through her sunglasses. It was true that Emily still did have feelings for Alison, in fact, they never went away. From the moment that Emily had met Alison years ago, she felt something different. Emily always knew that she had feelings for Alison, but with how guarded Alison was and how Alison had hurt her twice already, she told herself that no matter how much she wanted her or how strongly her feelings were for her, she wasn't going to go back down that path again.
The brunette sighed. This trip was going to be less relaxing than she thought.
#######
Alison pranced over to the outside kitchen on the patio in the backyard of the DiLaurentis's beach house. The blonde was already a bit tipsy, as well as her four friends who were sitting at the table on the patio that overlooked the channel and private dock that the DiLaurentis family owned.
Alison grabbed another wine bottle from the refrigerator, opened it, and grabbed a wine glass. Aria looked over at Alison as she walked back to the patio.
The five girls had spent the afternoon out on the beach and grilled out at Alison's house for the first night. They had dinner out on backyard deck and swam a bit again after dinner in the pool. Now as night was starting to fall, they lit tiki-torches and opened a few bottles of wine and sat around the table talking.
Alison sat back down and poured herself another glass of wine. Aria giggled, "what number is that, Ali?" Alison drunkenly smiled, her dimples popping out of her pink, blushed cheeks. "It's glass number three, I'm keeping track," Alison replied confidently.
Emily looked at Alison and smiled. Alison was an adorable drunk. Emily tried to keep her eyes away from Alison all night, but it was getting harder as the night, and the wine, progressed.
Alison looked away from Aria to find Emily looking back at her. Alison's lips parted and her innocent smile turned into a seductive one. Emily felt heat rush to her cheeks as she quickly broke eye contact from the blonde.
Emily took a big gulp of her wine. She wasn't too drunk, but she was definitely feeling the buzz of the alcohol in her system.
"Em, do you want to walk to the dock with me?" Alison asked, not bothering the conversation happening between the other three girls.
Emily grabbed her wine glass and nodded. She couldn't say no to Alison. She never could.
Alison and Emily stood up from the table and walked together towards the water. Alison had her bottle of wine in one hand and her wine glass in her other as she led the way to her private dock.
"Your beach house is incredible," Emily commented as they stepped onto the wooden pier. "Thank you. My mom actually designed it," Alison beamed. "She did an amazing job," Emily responded. Alison smiled, "yeah, she did."
Talking about her mother was much easier now. Alison could talk about her mom without being upset or getting shaken up about it. She had a very rocky relationship with her mother, but let go of the resentment after realizing that holding grudges against a deceased person was pointless.
Emily took another sip out of her wine glass and sat it down beside her as she sat. Alison never sat down, but reached to take off her shirt and shimmed out of her shorts. Emily's mouth opened, "what are you doing?"
Alison laughed, "get in the water with me." Emily chuckled, "what?" Alison leaned down and stuck her hands out for Emily to grab them, "come on." The brunette had to focus her eyes on Alison's eyes. Alison's chest was eye-level to Emily's eyes and it was distracting, to say the least. Emily rolled her eyes and grabbed Alison's hands. Alison pulled the brunette up and Emily took off her tank top and shorts.
Before Emily knew it, Alison jumped off of the small pier and Emily turned around to find the blonde in the water, looking up at her smiling.
"Come on, Miss Division One Swimmer. This is supposed to be your thing," Alison joked, taunting Emily to get in the water. "You are so impatient," Emily replied walking to the end of the pier. Alison swam over the edge of the pier and grabbed onto it, "are you coming in? Or am I coming out to get you?"
Emily lifted herself off of the pier and allowed her body to plunge into the warm salt water. When she came back up, Alison wrapped her arms and legs around her. Emily laughed as Alison was settled on her back, "what are you doing?"
Alison swam off of Emily, stood up, and grabbed her hand to pull Emily closer to her. Emily felt butterflies in the pit of her stomach. "Hi," Alison drunkenly whispered. "Ali—," Emily started to reply, but was cut off. "Em, I have something to say," Alison continued, letting go of Emily's hand only to wrap herself around Emily's body yet again, this time facing her face instead of being on her back.
Emily allowed her hands to grab Alison's thighs for support. Alison wrapped her arms a little tighter around Emily's neck as she felt Emily's hands on her legs. "There's something about you, Em. I don't know what you do to me, or how you do it, but you make me feel something that I've never felt before about anyone and I don't know what to do about it anymore," Alison paused, making sure that Emily was taking in every word.
When she realized that Emily was tuned into what she was saying, she continued, "I miss you." Emily tilted her head, "I'm right here, I've been around you almost everyday." Alison shook her head, "no.."
Alison leaned forward and found Emily's lips with hers. One of her arms tightened around Emily's neck while the other cupped her jaw. Alison felt Emily's hands grip her thighs tighter and between the rush of her hormones and the alcohol in her system, it was all Alison needed to keep kissing the brunette.
Emily was stunned. Her body felt as if it was on fire and her heart felt like it could have busted out of her chest. Emily wasn't sure if it was the alcohol or the taste of Alison on her lips but her head was spinning and all she could do was hold onto Alison's thighs and keep moving her lips in sync with the blonde's.
After a few moments, Alison leaned backwards and parted her lips from Emily's, looking first at her lips and then back to her eyes, "I missed that."
It took Emily a few seconds, but when she finally caught her breath, she realized that no matter how hard she tried to stay away from Alison, if the blonde wanted her, she would always be hers.