Hey ya'll. I finally updated this, can you believe? I had fun writing this chapter, but fair warning, it's hella unbeta'd. Hope you enjoy it anyway lmao. Let me know your thoughts in the comments or feel free to message me at bitteremison on tumblr!


Alison never knew that a town so dark could be so bright - so captivating. She feels somewhat at ease walking around Rosewood without people knowing her history, without people fearing her. Here, people smile at you, and they say hello.

It's refreshing.

Currently, she sits in the barn with her new outfit beside her that Spencer got for her. She was reluctant about it, but Spencer insisted, telling her that she'd need it for the beach party tonight. She stares admiringly at the blue sundress, and the silver sandals, wondering how she got so lucky. Everyone's been so warm and welcoming to her, so much so, that it's almost overwhelming. Kindness isn't a consistent thing in her life, so she struggles to fully accept it - taking it with a grain of salt.

A knock at the door interrupts her train of thought, and she looks towards it. "Come in." She calls out. The door opens, and Veronica enters, offering Alison a small smile. "Dinner's ready, if you're hungry." She tells her. Alison gives her a grateful nod, then stands. "Thank you." Veronica studies the room, then her gaze lands on the outfit on her bed.

"Spencer told me she got you some clothes, they're lovely." Veronica compliments. Alison looks down timidly, with an edge of guilt, like she's being a hassle. "You should wear it tonight. To the party." The woman encourages. Alison glances at her, and gives her another smile. The woman reciprocates it, then nods her head toward the house.

"Come on."


Alison watches between Spencer and Veronica as they chat about school, surreptitiously eating her chicken. This is all new to her. Back home, her family would sit around the table in a disquietude silence. The only time anyone spoke, was when her mother would remind her father to fix something, or when her father would ask her mother to pass over the broccoli.

Not once did they acknowledge Alison.

"How about you Alison?" Veronica asks her suddenly. When she looks up from her plate, the pair watch her curiously and expectantly. Alison stares blankly, and shuffles with slight awkwardness. "I'm sorry, what was the question?" Alison asks, feeling slight embarrassment wash over her. "What do you want to do when you grow up?" Spencer repeats. Alison sits there, stumped - unable to accumulate an answer.

"I don't know." She tells them honestly, shrugging. Spencer studies her face, with a somewhat sympathetic expression, Alison guesses. "You're young, you have plenty of time to figure that out. I didn't know that I wanted to be a lawyer until I was nineteen." Veronica reveals.

"I didn't know that." Spencer tells her mother, with intrigued eyes. Veronica laughs. "I initially wanted to get into politics, like my father. He wasn't too impressed when he found out I changed my degree." She tells the girls. Spencer watches her with admiration and pride, and it makes Alison smile. "That's pretty badass." the blonde tells her. Veronica lights up at that, shrugging proudly.

"I suppose it is."


"We all set for booze? Or do I need to call Cece?" Hanna asks everyone. Everyone shakes their head, and Spencer pulls out a half full bottle of whiskey from her bag, giving her a smug grin. She puts it on the coffee table, and Aria follows her lead. The small brunette puts a bottle of vodka on the table, and a bottle of wine. The girls all stare at Aria narrowly, and she rolls her eyes.

"My mom gave me the wine. Jake got me the vodka." She tells them matter-of-factly. "Fair." Spencer mutters, looking between her lonely bottle and Aria's with respect and a hint of envy - to which Alison finds amusing.

"You're up." Hanna tells Emily, who gingerly reaches into her bag and discards a small bottle of cider. Hanna arches her brow, then throws Emily a sympathetic glance. "Your mom check your bag again?" Hanna wonders. Emily nods. "Mhm. My dad gave me the cider when she left the room." Emily tells them, sighing inwardly. "Want me to call Cece?" Hanna offers. "There's no need, I'll share with you Em." Aria interjects.

"Thanks. I'll get the next one." Emily promises. She sheepishly glances at Alison, and Alison returns a reassuring one. "I'm up." Hanna announces giddily. She grabs a bottle of rum from her bag, and a few beers, plonking them down on the table. And then to Alison's surprise, she pulls a small bottle of whiskey, and gives it to her. "Oh, no- that's not necessary." Alison inarticulately stutters, attempting to return the bottle to a very resistant Hanna. "It's okay, I don't mind. Consider it a- birthday present, or whatever." Hanna insists, giving her a half-assed wave. Alison ruminates it for a moment, before relenting with a sigh.

"Thank you." She tells Hanna, before delicately taking the whiskey from her. Hanna grins triumphantly and walks over to the kitchen area. She grabs a few glasses from the cupboard, then glides back over with a twinkle of wickedness in her eyes. "Hanna, no. We're not doing shots. Remember last time?" Spencer calls out, shutting Hanna down before she even asks. The blonde juts her bottom lip out in a pout and sways slightly - like a kid caught in a lie.

"I may have vomited." Hanna mumbles. Spencer scoffs, then raises her brows, as if there's more to the story. "In your car." Hanna adds. Spencer clears her throat, watching Hanna with accusation. Alison wonders what else she could have possibly done. "And your bed." Aria and Emily let out disgusted groans, followed by a shiver. Alison has to stomp on the urge to laugh. She finds this hilarious.

"My mom is going to drop us off, but we're walking back." Spencer tells them, pointedly, to which Aria and Hanna groan disputatiously. "But Spence, it's like four miles." Aria complains. The only one who doesn't seem so fussed is Emily. In fact, Alison swears that she sees her eyes flash with excitement - it delights Alison.

"Come on, I promise not to vomit this time." Hanna tries. Spencer shakes her head, giving her a stern look. "No. And that's final." Spencer bites, like an angry parent. Both Aria and Hanna stand down, and give her a reluctant nod. After a beat, Hanna picks up her bottle of vodka, and starts to pour shots for everyone - ignoring Spencer as she scowls at her doing so.

"You said we're walking back, so crisis averted. Let's get drunk." Hanna tells her simply. Spencer stares at her in a percolating silence, then shrugs in defeat. "You make a valid point." Once all the drinks are poured, everyone holds them up in unison. Alison looks at Emily, and Emily looks back. There's something in her eyes, Alison notes. Something daring, but clouded with timid uncertainty. They draw her in, with an inextricable pull, and she finds herself unable to look away.

She finds herself unable to look away as they all drink. Even when Emily cowers, and finally averts her gaze elsewhere. She almost doesn't notice the burn in her throat - too entranced by her. After a beat though, she does look away, when Spencer speaks.

"Let's make a move."


This beach party is everything Alison expected it to be; kegs of beer, pretentious rich kids, and some guys curiously and unknowingly trying to set up a fire. Aria and Hanna ran off as soon as they got out the car, supposedly 'to find their boyfriends', according to Spencer. However she's a fine one to talk, she wondered off with some guy called Toby not too long ago, leaving Emily and Alison. Emily huffs, and falls down onto a seat with her bag in hand. Alison follows her lead, plonking herself down next to her. They both share a look and chuckle.

Emily opens her cider, Alison opens her whiskey, and they sit in a comfortable silence, appreciating the sun. Occasionally, Alison swears that she catches Emily staring. She can't be certain, so she chooses not to dwell on it. However, she knows for certain that one of the idiots trying to set up the fire is staring at Emily. She laughs lightly to herself, turning to Emily to tell her. But Emily doesn't notice, because she's staring back at the idiot, much to Alison's dismay. Suddenly, he walks over, with a faux-timid expression.

"Hey Em." The idiot greets, grinning like one too. Emily gives him a tight lipped smile, and then there's that look in her eye again - that timid uncertainty. "Hey Ben." She says back. Alison cringes inwardly, and forces herself to hide it. "This is- Alison." Emily introduces, almost uneasy about it. It doesn't sit right with Alison.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Ben tells her, giving her a small wave. She returns a half-assed one, giving him a seemingly genuine grin, though she's seething inwardly. There's something about this guy that she doesn't like, and she can't quite put her finger on it. "Hi." Alison finally says back. The air around them is tense and strained, and Alison wishes that it would go away.

"You kicked ass at the gala last week." He tells Emily, who responds with a soft chuckle. "Same could be said for my boy Ben." Some guy interjects, tapping Ben on the shoulder. The stranger looks Alison up and down, and a coy smile forms on his mouth. "I'm Noel." He introduces. Alison gives him a curt nod. "Alison." She says back, neither politely nor rude - just simply unbothered.

"I haven't seen you around here before." Noel points out, edging closer to her. Alison remains stoic and uninterested. "I'm not from around here." She explains. "She's visiting from Ravenswood." Emily adds. At that, Noel visibly cringes, then shrugs it off. "That's cool." He says, followed by a choked out laugh. Alison feels almost scrutinized under his stare, and decides that she can no longer be under it.

"I'm gonna go find the others." Alison tells Emily, before standing. She's stops when she feels Emily grab her arm, then looks down at her. "I'll come with you." Emily offers with kind, pleading eyes. Alison can't help but feel like she's only offering out of pity. "You don't have to babysit me, I'll be fine." Alison tells her with unintentional steel in her voice. Alison kicks herself when she sees Emily's eyes startle, and at how Emily removes her grip immediately - like she's on fire.

"I'll see you later." Alison adds, in an attempt to smooth things over. Emily lets out a sigh, and her expression seems quizzical - as if she's unsure what to make of this. "Okay." She responds. At that, Alison turns and leaves. She doesn't miss the sound of Noel laughing as she walks off, or Ben telling him to shut up.

Or Emily's silence.


Forty five minutes and a quarter of a bottle later, Alison is finally feeling the buzz - lonely squandering the beach. She hasn't been able to find Hanna or Aria, only Spencer. Though when she found her, she was heavily making out with Toby by the water.

She's all alone, and half debating heading back to the barn. "Alison, there you are!" She hears Hanna yell from a distance. She spins around, delighted and relieved to see the blonde. "Oh, thank God." Alison says, walking over to Hanna.

"Spencer and Toby are grinding up against each other back there, Aria and Jake are dancing." Hanna updates her. "And Emily's ex is all up in her business, so come on, let's go save her." The girl adds with a sigh - as if this is a regular occurrence. It causes Alison's stomach to drop, along with her face, which Hanna notices. "What is it?"

"I left her there with him. I thought that they were.." Alison trails off, and guilt washes over her. She must seem like a complete bitch. Hanna's expression is soft. "It's okay, you didn't know. Come on." She reassures her, already walking back in the direction of the party. Alison struggles to keep up.

"What happened between them?" Alison wonders out loud.

"I don't know exactly, Emily doesn't talk about it much. Apparently she broke things off, and he's been trying to win her back ever since." Hanna tells her, with annoyance present in her voice.

"For weeks." Hanna adds. Alison bites the inside of her cheek, feeling somewhat agitated at that.

She was right to think that he was an idiot.


When they approach the camp, Alison spots Ben sidling closer to a very blatantly uncomfortable Emily, and Alison can feel it prickle over her skin - clenching her jaw at it.

Hanna quickens her pace, and looks between the pair. "Hey Em, do you wanna come dance with us?" Emily nods almost immediately, then turns to Ben, giving him an apologetic smile, to which he returns with a quizzical furrow of his brows.

"Can I join you?" He asks, desperation clear in his voice. Hanna shakes her head, before grabbing Emily's hand and pulling her up. "Sorry, ladies night." She tells him with faux-regret. He sighs irritably, then nods curtly. "See you around Fields."

"See you, Ben." Emily mutters back, following Hanna's lead. Alison makes sure to glare at him before trailing behind them, making it clear to him that she's not a fan. She revels at the way he cowers, looking away with unease.

"Come on Ali, lets go!"


"Come on Alison!" Hanna cheers, clapping and hollering. She begins to mutely regret playing beer pong, but she couldn't resist showing Rosewood how it's done. She finishes her drink with a heavy exhale of air and slight dizziness as it settles. She's delighted to see the jocks opposite her kicking themselves, but is even more so by Emily's impressed yet almost hungry stare - Alison crumbles under it.

"Good game, Ravenswood." Noel congratulates with slight reluctance. "Thanks Chad." She responds jokingly. His brow arches in confusion and irritation. "It's Noel." He corrects, though, she shrugs. "I'm gonna call you Chad. Chad suits you." She pokes, grinning when he lets out a disgruntled sigh.

"You're officially my new drinking buddy." Hanna decides, linking their arms. "Hey, I thought we were drinking buddies!" Spencer says, approaching them with Toby by her side. "I'm sorry Spence, but she slays at beer pong." She reasons. Spencer lightly shoves her, then turns to Alison.

"Ali, meet Toby. Toby, this Alison." Both Alison and Toby shake each others hand, and exchange polite hello's. They all step over to the now lit campfire and sit down. Spencer and Toby fall down next to each other, Hanna sits next to them, and Alison finds herself sitting next to Emily.

It's not long before Spencer and Toby start making out, to which Hanna groans loudly. "I'm gonna go get another drink- y-you guys want one?" Alison lifts her bottle, insinuating that she's fine, and Emily nods timidly. Hanna wonders off, and Alison chugs another swig of whiskey.

"Having fun?" Emily asks her.

"Yeah. Haven't had this much fun in a long time." She responds honestly. Emily's eyes flicker between hers, and she laughs. Alison decides in that moment that she's never heard something so beautiful, so captivating. They look at each other for a moment, and something changes in Emily's eyes. That timid uncertainty has vanished, and has been replaced with new found courage and wickedness.

It's all kinds of confusing.

"We're going." Aria tells them, seemingly appearing out of nowhere, or perhaps she's been there for a while, but it took a while for her brain to register it. She looks away from the puzzle that is Emily, and faces Aria. The girls face is ridden with mascara, and Alison finds herself stepping over to her. Emily joins her.

"What's wrong?" Alison asks her. "We got into a fight." Aria chokes out quickly, clearly trying to stop herself from crying. Alison can only assume that she's talking about her boyfriend. Emily wraps an arm around her friend and pulls her into a hug.

"Hey Spencer." Emily calls out, nudging her distracted friend. When Spencer removes herself from Toby's lips and spots Aria, she rushes over to her friend. "Can we go, please?" Aria whispers.

"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Spencer throws Toby an apologetic look and he returns one of understanding.

"We have to find Hanna. Anyone know where she is?" Alison watches as Emily clears her throat awkwardly, nodding her head towards the drinks stand. Spencer lets out a huff of air.

"Of course."


After half a mile of carrying Hanna, Spencer caved and called a cab. There were many cautious glances shared every time Hanna wretched - Alison thanks whoever's up there that she didn't vomit.

She was sat next to her the whole time, it would have been a disaster.

Aria remained silent about what happened between her and Jake, politely excusing herself for bed when they returned. Spencer disappeared shortly after, stealthily attempting to carry Hanna to the house. Alison and Emily offered their assistance, but Spencer insisted that she had it covered, promising to return shortly.

It's been half an hour, and Alison has a hunch that she wont be returning anytime soon. That hunch is confirmed when she looks up to see Spencer's light off. A part of her feels a tad gutted, but on the other hand, she's somewhat relieved. However she knows that she needs to put that relief into a box, because in a couple of days;

She'll be gone.

Whatever she's feeling, and whatever her urges are, must be ignored.

It's much more difficult than she anticipated.

Especially with the way her and Emily keep drinking, keep staring at each other with increasingly bolder and heavier looks. And the way they seem to be edging dangerously close to each other, so close that they're in each others bubble.

So close that if Alison tilted her head forward, in the slightest-

"I want to do something." Emily says suddenly, stumbling over her words. Alison gulps as the girl places a hand on Alison's shoulder. "I-I want to go on an adventure." She adds sweetly, with eagerness. Alison laughs, placing her hand over Emily's. "Where do you want to go?" She asks the brunette, feeling some sort of anticipation course through her.

Emily looks at the ground, with rumination and wonder. "Paris." She tells Alison, lifting her gaze to look into her eyes. They're filled with hope and certainty - like this is something she's been thinking about for a while. Alison can't help but marvel it, taking a mental picture of this moment, never wanting to forget it.

"Who would you take?" Alison asks, mutely encouraging what ever this thing is, to intensify - to grow.

Emily furrows her brows in percolation for a beat, and then her eyes twinkle with serenity. "You." She responds. Alison feels her heart clench, and bites back a grin. "How long would we go away for?" Alison dares to ask, deciding momentarily to open that box, just for a second.

"Forever." Emily whispers. She says it like she's sure, but there's something in her voice that makes Alison feel sorry for her. It's like she wants to escape, and it is then that Alison understands.

She squeezes Emily's hand, and Emily reciprocates unanimously - as if they've just shared a secret, one they're too scared to say out loud.

They want to escape.

Emily stares at her with a somewhat clarity in her eyes. They flicker between Alison's lips and her eyes, and Alison feels like time has frozen. She's almost certain that Emily leans in, but sadly, she'll never know.

Because before she could find out, the door swings open, and the pair startle, jumping apart from each other immediately. Spencer stands in the doorway, with a mix of fury and exasperation on her face.

"She did it again, didn't she?" Emily says rhetorically. Spencer huffs loudly, and joins them on the couch. "Nope. This time, she got my shoes." She tells them frustratedly.

"I need a drink." She adds, snatching Hanna's half empty bottle of vodka from the table. Alison dares to look at Emily, and startles slightly when she sees that Emily's staring at her. Alison's almost certain that it's with positive hunger, but she bites back that hope, that longing feeling resonating within her.

Alison averts her gaze with reluctance, and opens her whiskey. She clinks her bottle with Spencer's, and chugs the last remaining swig, in attempt to push down those feelings.

Doesn't work, though.


Just another note - this story will only be told from Alison's point of view from now on. Idk what I was thinking in chapter one, trying to tell it from both her's and Emily's perspective, it was all kinds of confusing reading over it, lmao.

Anyway, until next time! - M