"Di-Dilaurentis?" Emily stuttered a little, wondering where she knew that name from.
"Thats the one."
Emily blushed, "I'm sorry. It just sounds familiar." She apologised suddenly feeling extremely nervous and self conscious around this new blonde. "So uhm- you wanted to see Aria?"
"The other day she wanted to update me about some wedding details. She wants me to make sure Jason has his vows ready or something," Alison joked, rolling her eyes jokingly.
"Jason?" Suddenly everything started to make sense, "You're his sister?"
"Yeah, well his half sister actually. Its a long story actually, its uhm-"
"Pretty complicated?" Emily finished.
"That would be an understatement," Alison agreed grinning, "Do you know when she'll be back? She's been M.I.A for the last couple of days and so have Hanna and Spencer."
"That would be my fault," Emily replied looking down guiltily, "I came here for a last minute trip and they've been helping me out a lot."
"So you stole my friends from me then, newbie?" Alison teased, smirking a little.
"Well they were my friends first," Emily joked back, Alison shook her head with laughter.
She smiled, "Touché. I can't really argue with that, they talk about you a lot I feel like I almost know you."
"I'm glad to hear that they never forgot about me."
"I get the feeling that they could never forget you." Alison stated before pausing a little. "How long are you here for?"
Emily shrugged as a delicate smile graced her lips, "I'm not sure at the moment, for the foreseeable future."
"So then we'll be seeing a lot more of each other."
Emily felt her heart speed up, feeling surprised that Alison couldn't hear her heart beating heavily against her chest, "Yeah, I guess we will."
"See you around, newbie." Alison teased one last time before turning away and heading back to her own apartment.
Emily shut the door behind her as she rested her head against it slightly, "See you around" She muttered. For some unexplainable reason she suddenly felt more excited and prospectus about Rosewood than she had before. Had that encounter just happened? And what was it about Alison that had suddenly changed her whole perspective on her stay in Rosewood? It had only been a friendly conversation.. well Alison had definitely flirted a little, hadn't she? Emily's inner conflict carried on for a few more moments until she finally shook her head and refocused her attention onto her unpacking and settling herself in, telling herself not to overthink the presence of this new blonde in her life.
The next morning Emily was awoken by a loud knocking at her door, she tentatively opened her eyes and let out a wide yawn before clambering out of bed and padding over to the door. Her mind immediately went to thoughts of Alison and their conversation last night and she found herself almost disappointed when the blonde waiting on the other side was Hanna.
"Morning," Hanna greeted chirpily as she stepped into the apartment.
Emily raised an eyebrows and yawned a little, "Han, what are you doing here?"
"Its coffee morning," Hanna stated matter-of-factly.
Emily glanced at the wall clock, "But its 9am and I was trying to sleep."
"Every Wednesday at 9:30 me, Aria and Spencer all have coffee together at The Brew. Now you were excluded from this coffee morning because you were in Texas, but now you're here you have no excuse. Now go get ready."
"Fine," Emily replied as she rolled her eyes, not wanting to argue with the blonde because she knew she'd lose anyway.
After throwing on a clean outfit and touching up her hair the two best friends set off for The Brew in Hanna's car.
"So how was your first night back in Rosewood yesterday?"
"It wasn't too bad," Emily answered as she stared out of the car window, passing through the town. "I've missed it here, its good to be back."
"So no regrets?"
"No regrets," Emily repeated with a small smile.
Hanna smiled, "Good, so you think you'll end up moving back here for good?"
"Maybe, I mean I'd have to find a job first and a place to live too but-"
"You have time before you need to start worrying about that, besides we're all here to help you with that too."
"I know."
"And anyway, you can't leave before this one is born," Hanna stated, taking one hand off of the steering wheel to rub her stomach. "And then theres Ar's wedding too, so you can't leave before that."
"I won't."
"Good."
Emily grinned and teased, "You missed me didn't you?"
"Did not," Hanna retorted as she poked her tongue out at Emily before confessing, "Maybe a little bit."
"Aww cute," Emily cooed in a teasing manner, "But I promise, I won't be going anywhere for a long while anyway."
"Good because this is how it always should have been. When we were younger this is how I always imagined us- you, me, Aria and Spencer. All living in Rosewood together and kicking ass. And then you went and ruined that vision by moving away to Texas! And yeah, I love Aria and Spencer to pieces but it just hasn't been the same without you."
Emily looked down, suddenly feeling a little guilty, "I'm sorry."
"I'm just saying, the next time you meet a hot girl who makes you fall in love with her and then asks you to move to Texas I will kick her snooty ass like I should have done to Paige, oh I would have enjoyed doing that to her."
Emily laughed a little, "Come on Han- Paige wasn't that bad."
"Oh please Em, you could do so much better. And you will. Even if I have to find you someone myself."
"I think I'm more than capable of finding someone myself Han," Emily replied, laughing slightly.
Not long after Hanna pulled up outside of the Brew and the two friends made their way inside to find Aria and Spencer were already sat waiting at the table for them. They were both greeted with friendly smiles.
"Hey Han. Hey Em, how was your first night back here?" Aria greeted, before sipping her latte.
Emily smiled as she slotted herself onto the sofa next to Spencer, "It was good thank you, your apartment is perfect as well thank you."
"Well its good to see you here with us this morning," Spencer stated.
Hanna stood up, "Em, I'm gonna go get a coffee- do you want anything?"
"I'll have an Americano please."
Spencer's head turned as she stood up next to the blonde, "Hanna." She warned, "No coffee! Remember, I told you to stick to green tea only."
"Jeez, you're worse than Caleb." Hanna moaned rolling her eyes, "You know if you weren't a girl people would totally think you're the baby daddy."
Both Aria and Emily exchanged a laugh at their friends' antics before watching the two friends walk off to the counter together, still bickering.
"So I met Alison last night," Emily started, unsure of where exactly she was going with this conversation. However, she found herself unable to stop herself from speaking about the blonde.
Aria smiled, "Oh really? What did you think of her? She's done so much to help me out for the wedding.."
"Yeah she seemed.. nice. I think she was looking for you last night, she wants to talk to you about something?"
"Oh that'll be about the wedding, she's been super helpful these past few months with organising everything. I was gonna invite her over for dinner tomorrow you should totally come too, so you can get to know her."
"Okay," Emily said before pausing for a moment to consider something, "Yeah I'd like that."
A few moments later Hanna and Spencer returned to the table with a defeated looking Hanna, "She made me order a green tea," She whined.
Spencer shot her friends a triumphant look, "Never argue with a lawyer."
The four friends carried on talking and gossiping when they were suddenly interrupted by the waitress bringing over their drinks.
"Emily?" A sweet voice asked, causing Emily to turn around.
"Sabrina?" She replied happily, smiling at the blonde, "What are you doing back here?"
Emily and Sabrina had attended Danby together before Emily had moved to Texas with Paige, they'd dated on and off for a while until ultimately deciding to remain friends shortly before Emily had met Paige.
"I could ask you the same thing!" Emily exclaimed, "What has it been, over 5 years?"
Sabrina nodded as she placed the girls' drinks on their table, "It must be. I came back last year and I've started a new course at Hollis. What are you doing here?"
"Things are over with Paige, so I decided to come back here for a while."
"Well its good to see you again, we should catch up soon."
"Definitely."
Sabrina pulled out her notepad and scribbled her number down before tearing the page and handing it to Emily, "Text me sometime."
"Okay," Emily promised as Sabrina walked back to the counter.
"You've been back for one day and you already have a date, how do you do it Emily Fields?" Hanna asked, still in awe.
Emily shook her head and laughed, "Its so not a date. Just two friends catching up."
"Oh come on, she is still so into you!" Aria pointed out, causing Emily to blush.
She shrugged, "It'll just be coffee and a chat, no big deal."
"Whatever you say Em," Hanna replied, still shaking her head.
"Back me up here Spence?" Emily pleaded, Spencer simply laughed.
"Sorry, I've gotta side with them on this one."
Hanna laughed and high fived Spencer, "She is hot and you did always have a thing for blondes."
Emily blushed as her mind wandered back to thoughts of Alison, "Can we change the subject please?"
"So I know that its getting closer and closer to the wedding- but I was thinking about asking Ali to be a bridesmaid too. She's been so helpful and supportive these last few months and she's really got on well with you guys too. What do you think?" Aria asked, looking at both Hanna and Spencer.
Emily felt her heart start to race as the blond was mentioned, eagerly awaiting the responses of her friends.
"Well I think thats a great idea," Hanna answered, "She's really helped me out with advertising for the store. Hey, we should invite her to coffee morning too!"
Emily stared intensely waiting for Aria's response. "I did invite her to come this week, but she has a class to teach at 9 so she couldn't make it. Spence, what do you think?"
"Well she is technically my family.." Spencer answered, a little tentatively, "I don't see why she shouldn't."
"Good," Aria replied with a smile, she turned to Emily, "I hope you don't mind, I know you don't really know her but this could be a good way for you to get to know her."
Emily tried not to look as enthusiastic as she felt, "Sure, no I don't mind at all."
"So its settled then."
Another night had passed in Rosewood for Emily and after spending a day with Hanna helping to set up baby number two's nursery she was back in her apartment to get ready for her dinner with Alison, Aria and Jason.
Glancing at the clock, she'd calculated that she still had another 20 minutes until she had to leave to make her way over to Jason's house. She poured herself a glass of wine to help calm her nerves before grabbing the remote and turning on the TV.
She was only halfway through her wine when she heard a knock at the door, frowning at the unexpected visitor she quickly got up from her spot on the sofa and made her way over to the door.
"Hi newbie," Alison greeted with a small smile.
Emily's frown suddenly disappeared and her breath caught in her throat, "Hey. Uhm what are you doing here?"
"Well I know you're joining us for dinner so I thought I'd come offer you a ride? I mean- it would just be more convenient that way," Alison explained, trying to keep herself calm and collected.
"Right," Emily agreed, feeling a little touched that Alison had bothered to think about her, "It would. That would be great, if you don't mind?"
"Not at all," Alison replied.
She quickly grabbed her purse and shut off the TV before joining Alison. The elevator ride had been comfortably silent and Emily couldn't help but notice that today Ali had curled her hair and she just couldn't help but notice the way those curls had perfectly framed her face. She'd worn a soft silver eye shadow that had made her steely blue eyes pop, making them seem even more inviting. And then there were her perfect pink lips which were poised into a small smile which-
"So have you met Jason before?" Alison asked, bringing Emily back into reality.
She nodded, "Only once at a Christmas dinner, I never really got the chance to talk to him though. But both Han and Spence approve which is good enough for me."
Ali smiled as the elevator dinged open and they exited, "I'm glad he passed the test then."
When they finally approached an old white 1970 Mini Cooper, Emily turned to Alison and shot her a quizzical look.
"What?" Alison asked, with a grin.
Emily shrugged, "Just not the sort of car I'd picture you having."
"What can I say.. I'm just full of surprises," Alison stated, winking at Emily, causing her heart to flutter slightly.
"I gotta say, it is pretty cool," Emily admitted, causing Alison to smile wider.
Once Ali had unlocked the car the two piled in before she switched on the ignition. Emily shuddered slightly at the unhealthy sound of the engine, Alison caught the look and poked her tongue out at the brunette.
"So maybe she doesn't sound too healthy.." Alison stated, "But she runs like a beauty.. and I'm not ready to give her up yet."
Emily smiled at Ali's endearing explanation as she began to drive. The ride over was comfortably silent as Emily reacquainted herself with the familiar sights of Rosewood again
"Did you missed this place?" Alison asked amusedly, noticing Emily's face pressed up against the glass of the passenger window. "Don't go leaving marks on my lovely clean windows."
Emily pulled back sheepishly, "Sorry. Yeah, I guess I missed it more than I ever realised. Its weird how everything has changed and yet at the same time everything still feels the same."
"I understand," Alison replied, "I still feel the same way about Savannah."
"That where you grew up?" Emily asked inquisitively.
Alison nodded, "Yep, I was born in Philadelphia but my family moved to Savannah when I was young, because my grandma lives there."
"When did you move to Rosewood? I definitely don't recognise you- and I don't think I could ever have forgotten you," Emily stated, wanting to kick herself at how lame she sounded.
Alison smirked, "Thanks newbie," She replied, "I've only been here about 3 years, Jason moved here before me and I decided to move and join him in the end."
"You two are close?"
She nodded, "We haven't always been, our relationship wasn't always the easiest.. its only in the last few years since we've grown close."
Emily decided not to push for an explanation, sensing that it was an uneasy topic. The rest of the car ride was silent as Emily found herself taking in her surroundings again and reminding herself of a life before Paige.
When they pulled up Alison shut off the engine and shot Emily a triumphant look, "Told you my car was just fine."
Emily rolled her eyes and smiled, "Oh come on, it sounds like it'll break down any day from now."
"Twenty bucks says it won't," Alison challenged.
Emily grinned, "Done. But you're gonna regret this, and you're so gonna regret losing that twenty bucks when your car needs fixing."
"Oh honey, I'm never wrong."
"We'll just have to see about that," Emily retorted, the two locked eyes and gave each other a winning smile.
In that moment Alison just knew that losing to Emily Fields wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
AN: Sorry this took me so long to update, I've been on holiday for the last 10 days with very little wifi so I haven't been able to upload anything. But I should be posting new chapters regularly a few times or at least once a week. Please leave me a review and let me know what you thought of this chapter and let me know if theres anything else you want to see happen :)
