Emily had stayed the night again. It took a while, coming back out of her shell. But Alison swayed her over with pizza and by the time they were headed to bed, Emily was back to her usual self, this mornings events pushed to the back of her mind.
For once, Emily was awake before Alison, slipping out of her iron grip and padding downstairs to make a coffee and some breakfast. She'd neglected her job yesterday, so she intended to go in and apologise, hopefully they'd understand what was going on, with her mother leaving to see her father and adjusting to living on her own. A few white lies.
The coffee was brewing as Emily found her phone, a text from the others planning dinner tonight, another from Paige, something about a swimming meet to encourage the newer students to take it up. It seemed her day was booked up, which should've left her happy or stressed maybe, wondering how she would get it all done.
Instead, biting her lip, Emily was nervous, Alison hadn't left her side in weeks. Her hand lifted to her neck in reminder, shivering. She had two options. The first, to leave before Alison got up again and hope she understood when she got back. The second, wake Alison and tell her, only to risk something coming up with the blonde and having her days plans altered.
Emily brought her phone and coffee back to Alison's room, sipping it as she sat at the end of the bed. She got through half of it before Alison stirred, a frown at first, her arms had been full last night. She sat up in alert before she spotted a grinning Emily, having watched her wake.
"Come back to bed." Alison muttered, head hitting the pillow again when she realised Emily was still here.
"I can't. I need to leave soon. I was waiting for you to wake up before I left." Emily said, but despite it all, she set her coffee to the side and took her spot next to Ali. Alison gave a hum, wrapping her arms around Emily.
Where did Emily think she was going today?
"What have you got planned?" Alison asked, hands cascading through Emily's hair as she woke up, coming more and more to her senses.
"Work, a swim meet, we have dinner tonight as well with the girls." Emily listed off, her eyes closing. Alison hummed again, wondering how to break the news to Em.
"I spoke to your boss yesterday, you had some time off available, and with your Mum gone, they agree you should take some time off." Alison started, noticing Emily tense. She continued to run her hands through her hair.
"It's good for you Em, for us. Settling in. I hate seeing you in that house by yourself too, anyone could turn up. Let's grab some of your stuff and move you in here for the time being."
Sitting up, Emily looked down at Alison. She wanted to argue. But she knew when to pick her battles, learning rather, when to fight for what she wanted, and when to drop it.
"I still want to go to my swim meet." She said nervously, her eyes averting to the side. Alison smiled as she leaned up, cupping her cheek. She brushed their lips together before nodding.
"We'll pack your stuff, drop it off here and have enough time for you meeting baby, and still make it for dinner at Spencer's." Alison met Emily's eyes, watching the smile come back. She could be nice, all Emily had to do was consult her on things.
"I don't really want to stay at home alone. And you really don't have to come if you don't want too, it's really not a big thing. Paige said it was just a.." Emily trailed off at Alison's raised eyebrow and she wondered if she'd said anything wrong.
"...Paige said it was just a meeting, encourage some of the younger swimmers who are coming in. Numbers have been dropping." She finished off, moving over as Alison sat up beside her.
"I'm coming. This is important to you." Alison got out of bed, tossing a smile at Emily as she walked to her wardrobe. Emily went back to her coffee as she watched Alison pull out clothes.
"Now, you've got to wear this denim skirt I got you. It shows of your legs wonderfully, and this cardigan, you can easily throw something causal underneath. You'll look stunning." Alison spoke, more to herself as she picked out what it was she and Emily would be wearing today. Emily shrugged. It didn't bother her, she was hardly paying attention anymore as she finished the rest of her coffee.
"I'll have a shower while you finish deciding." Emily said, getting up. Alison, still stuck in her closet, looking for something to wear herself paused, peering out at her.
"Have a bath Em, you were tense yesterday. It'll help today go better." At Emily's questioning look, Alison shooed her away, calling out something about trusting her, Emily wasn't listening anymore as she entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She brushed her teeth and made herself a bath with salts and bubbles before submerging herself, hidden to her shoulders, eyes closing.
It was ten minutes later when the door opened, Emily stirring slightly, eyes peering up at Alison who stood in front of her now. She saw her clothes placed on the countertop and watched Alison crouch down beside her.
"Ali?"
"Shh, let me wash your hair and I'll go." Alison said quietly, a finger tracing Emily's cheek to her jawline. Emily nodded, eyes closing once again, glad she was hidden underneath all these bubbles. Alison had yet to see her naked, and Emily wanted to put it off until the right time. Alison kissed Emily's forehead, shifting to grab her shampoo and conditioner. She loved when Emily smelt of her, her fragrant soaps and lotions sinking into Emily's skin, reminding her of home. Opening the cap, Alison slowly poured the shampoo onto Emily's hair, massaging her scalp, rinsing and repeating the process with the conditioner. Emily admitted to herself how right Alison had been. Given the choice, she'd never leave the bath again, her limbs like jelly.
"Come on Em, let me dry you off and help you get changed. Even caffeine doesn't keep you up it seems." Alison joked, slowly waking Emily back up, having taken to drawing circles on Emily's shoulder. Emily blinked up at her, refusal on her lips.
"I'm only helping you get dressed baby, you'd do the same in my place." Alison stood, reaching for Emily's towel. Self consciously, Emily stood, stepping into the bath mat, relieved when the towel was wrapped around her. Alison rubbed gently, slowly rubbing the water from Emily's body, staring at her shoulders, her arms, tracing down her torso. She was kneeling do dry Emily's legs, focused on the task at hand. Emily's face grew hot, unable to watch Alison any longer, but the other was standing before her and drying off her hair before long.
Alison dropped the towel when she was done, grabbing for Emily's clothes. She tapped her thigh, helping her step into her panties before pulling Emily's arms through the straps off her bra, turning her to face the mirror.
Emily gasped finally looking at herself in the mirror, an ugly bruise marring the side of her neck. That wasn't what shocked her though. Alison had her dressed in deep blue panties, navy contrasted against her tanned skin. The bra matched, Alison clasping it, moving Alison's hair to the side as she kissed the side of her neck, smirking at Emily in the mirror.
"Look how beautiful you are." She murmured, kissing her neck again, and again. The softest of butterfly kisses placed there, until Alison pulled away. She had promised this wasn't going any further than just getting Emily dressed. Her hands smoothed Emily's curves before pulling away, reaching for the skirt and top she had picked out, and slipping Emily's cardigan over her shoulders.
"You look like a sexy librarian." Alison said, breaking the silence, grinning at the giggle that escaped Emily.
"I made you breakfast, you can't go on all day with just coffee. It's waiting for you downstairs." Alison ran a brush through Alison's hair before letting her go, sending her off with a kiss to her cheek. Emily went, pulling her shoes on in the bedroom before she left.
Once Emily was gone, Alison clutched the bathroom sink tightly, knuckles going white. She wanted to scream, lock Emily away in her room. What was fucking Pigskin doing, texting her girlfriend? Had she not learned? Did she really think she could get away with it?
Emily, so naive hadn't even read into it. The coach rarely brought students back to help recruit, if Paige was going to lie, she could've at least made an attempt to make it realistic.
Schooling her features, Alison looked at herself in the mirror. She'd show her, she'd show Paige what happened when she messed with something that wasn't hers.
Emily could take this one as a warning, going off with ex-girlfriends who still harboured feelings, Alison desperately wanted to bend her over, make the skin of her ass red and sore, give her plenty of marks. Show Emily who she belonged too. And she would, soon. It was too soon to jump into it now, she'd only scare Emily off. Emily didn't even know she'd done anything wrong yet, Alison smirked, she'd teach her.
Stepping into the shower, Alison washed and changed quickly, brushing her hair out of her face, changing into some tight jeans, a revealing white singlet top and blazer, heels, in case she needed the advantage today. Finishing her make up, Alison took a deep breath, joining her girlfriend for breakfast.
They didn't end up packing at all that day. Emily had enough time to grab her mail and laptop, but one look around her room and Alison had decided they should just dedicate an entire day to it, there were too many things they needed to grab and not enough time in their day to do it.
Instead, seeing as they'd already eaten, they went shopping. Not that Emily needed anything, but Alison always had something in mind.
"I really don't need anything Ali." Emily protested again as she was dragged to another shop, and another. Alison only smiled and gave her a pat to the arm. It was worse than being dragged along with Hanna. Alison didn't even seem to want anything, just browsing, holding things up, turning it over before discarding of it.
"Nothing in Rosewood has changed it seems. Anything I wanted I've got, or I'm bored of." Alison eventually said as they left the last shop. Her hand reached for Emily's, drawing her closer, scanning the shops they hadn't visited. It was much use. She didn't care for anything, and Emily was too stubborn to pick something she liked.
"We'll go out of town then. Ravenswood isn't far. We could go tomorrow." Emily tried compromising. Alison seemed to perk at the idea, tugging Emily to a seat as she rummaged through her handbag.
"We could stay over night." Alison suggested, taking the seat beside her as she brought her phone into view.
"We can stay the night, leave tomorrow morning, explore, find a place to have dinner, stay in a hotel, finish exploring tomorrow and come back home." Alison scrolled through her phone, picking somewhere they could say, showing it to Emily before proceeding to book online.
A night out of Rosewood, uninterrupted, with Emily. Maybe she could convince Em to leave her phone at home too, just the two of them. She'd already spent the majority of their morning showing Emily off, no matter how many times Emily tugged her shirt up over her hickey, it eventually slid down, showing off the pretty bruise Alison had left. All Ali could do was smirk when another customer or attendant saw, slipping her hand into Emily's or leaning her head on Emily's shoulder when she felt like no one had caught the hint. It was satisfying, to the point that Alison was vibrating in her seat with how well this morning had gone. Gossip would spread like wild fire. Busy-body mothers with nothing more to do would spread rumour after rumour until everyone in town knew they were together. Those who didn't believe it were either ignorant, or still holding out hope.
"We've got plenty of time before college." Emily brought up slowly. It was still a painful topic, but it had to be brought up again at some point.
"We'll plan something again when we get back. A road trip somewhere. We'll go to the beach, somewhere you can swim around as much as you like until we have to come back here." Alison shrugged, keeping the idea stored away for after they came back. She wanted to figure this one out first, considering it was tomorrow, she wanted to put them somewhere safe in town, nowhere they would have to worry about their safety- Emily's safety. She could take perfectly good care of herself.
"You wouldn't join me in the water?"
"Not at all. I'll be too busy tanning, god knows I don't get enough of it here." Alison laughed, putting her phone away. She turned to look at Emily, her breath caught in her throat. The way Emily smiled lazily, wind in her hair. She was relaxed, one hand still resting next to Alison's, waiting to pick it up again, the other day in her lap. Her skin only glowed in the sunlight and Emily had to swallow the lump in her throat.
No one else should be seeing this. No one else deserved to see Emily, dressed up in such a sinful way, walking around as though she was goddess. The smile slowly dropped from her face as Alison began to delve into her thoughts, all she wanted was to chain Emily up in her room, maybe just enough access to a bathroom, a window if she was good, as long as no one else could see her.
"Ali, are you okay?"
Alison snapped out of it, meeting Emily's worried gaze. She leaned in, brushing her lips against Emily's, taking her hand again.
"Fine, sorry Em, we're gonna be late to your meet whatever if we don't leave now." Alison said, tugging Emily up. Emily's laughter filled the air, gathering up, being taken with the wind as she corrected Alison.
If only it would last.
