Around 8 am Emily was awakened by the glaring early morning sun shining through their window in the southeast corner of Goddard Hall. She got out of bed, moving carefully so as to not wake the naked sleeping beauty beside her, and threw on a T-shirt and shorts. Emily took a few moments to admire her girlfriend, sleeping peacefully with her blond hair splayed across the side of her sun-kissed creamy complexion, before walking down the hall to use the bathroom and get water to make coffee. Hanna was certainly not a morning person, but having coffee right away always helped things.
Twenty minutes later Hanna woke up to smell a pot of Dunkin' Donuts vanilla coffee. Emily poured a cup of coffee for Hanna, added a tiny bit of milk the way she liked it, and brought it to her in bed.
"I could get used to this," Hanna said after thanking Emily for the coffee. "Having my own personal barista," Hanna added when Emily responded to her first statement with a quizzical glance. Shaking her head gently in amusement, Emily picked up her own cup of coffee and sat down on the bed next to a still-naked Hanna.
"Can you grab me a T-shirt and shorts from my dresser?" Hanna asked with her famous pout Emily found impossible to say no to. Hanna emerged from the covers to slip on the skimpy shorts and snug T-shirt Emily had picked out. With her back to Emily, Hanna bent over to pick up the shorts, then slowly and sensually pulled them up before running her fingers just under the outer edge of the leg holes to smooth the silky fabric across her perfectly-shaped ass. Next Hanna bent over to pick up the shirt, pulled it over her head and turned to face Emily as she pulled the shirt fabric down tight against her body and squeezed her breasts together the way she knew Emily liked. Leaning back against the wall Emily looked her girlfriend up and down, seductively licking her bottom lip, quirking her eyebrows, and nodding in approval. "Oh Christ, Em," Hanna giggled, "I just woke up and haven't even had a drop of coffee yet. Keep it in your pants." Hanna sat back down on the bed and snuggled into Emily, as if she hadn't just put on an insanely erotic show of getting dressed. Emily managed to calm down and the two drank their coffee in contented silence, enjoying each other's presence.
After the wake-up cup of coffee and reverse strip show, Hanna decided she was hungry and wanted to check out the dining commons, but Emily insisted she first put on less-revealing clothes to go out in public. Once properly dressed, the couple made their way out of the dorm on the east side of the building and crossed Washington Square Park on their way to Lipton Dining Hall. The previous night's extracurriculars left Hanna particularly hungry whereas the activities had left Emily's stomach and body completely satisfied. Hanna loaded a plate with scrambled eggs, turkey sausage and hash brown potatoes while Emily took just a bowl of oatmeal with raisins, a side of cottage cheese, and a banana. Emily kept up her strict swimmer's diet despite not competing in college because her diet was one of the few things in her life she felt able to control.
Emily found from a young age there were not many circumstances she could control, with constantly moving due to her dad's position in the military, but her diet was one thing she could control. Though she never told anyone, not even Hanna, she'd struggled with a sort of addiction since she was a young girl. Her mother was famous for making cookies, especially around holidays. During one particular winter when her father was gone a lot and her parents fought often, Emily used to sneak into her room with handfuls of cookies, sit on her bed reading, and eat. The cookies filled the emptiness inside, and she found she was only happy when eating, but as her appetite for cookies grew, she needed more and more to feel satisfied (the release of dopamine from sugar consumption mimics the effects of cocaine use, hence the basis for sugar addiction). That was around 6th grade, right after she'd moved to Texas. One night, after finishing her 7th over-sized chocolate chip cookie, Emily folded her arms across her stomach trying to ignore the pain due to the waist of her jeans digging into her ballooning stomach. Sitting back against the wall of her bedroom, she heard the front door slam as Wayne walked out after yet another fight, and just cried. Emily felt beyond hopeless, and decided it was time to break up with food. The next morning she spent such a long time getting ready there was not enough time to eat breakfast, so she promised her mother she'd grab something at school, but she didn't. All through first and second period she couldn't focus on what her teacher was saying because of the rumbling in her stomach, but by third period she appreciated the growing pain because she knew her body was starting to consume its gross self. Emily skipped lunch and when dinner rolled around she barely ate anything. She told her mom she'd had a big lunch and that their teacher had brought in cupcakes so she wasn't hungry. Emily learned a trick for reducing how much she ate during meals by taking the smallest bite possible then chewing it 20-30 times before swallowing. Her parents and friends only had so much patience to sit around after they ate waiting for Emily to finish, that Emily was able to get through meals eating only a fraction of a normal serving. After a few months of insanely restricted diet, Emily's body transformed itself. Her pants that had once cut into her stomach now fell off her hips and she could remove them without unbuttoning the top button. Her parents, teachers and friends noticed how much she had slimmed down and finally Pam & Wayne focused on something other than fighting with each other. Emily both loved and feared the attention; she loved being complemented on her new-found thinness (though she was never actually 'fat'), but was afraid of her parents intervening and undoing all the control she had gained over her body. She had survived the school year, but not eating over the summer would be hard since she couldn't hide from her parents as easily. In order to keep control Emily began counting calories and focusing her eating on getting enough fiber and calcium, which at the time had made sense but as time wore on Emily realized those were fairly arbitrary markers. The summer after 6th grade Emily joined the local fitness center, in order to befriend like-minded individuals, and keep her mind off her food obsessions. She began swimming and joined the intramural swim team, a sport which replaced the sugar addiction she continued to struggle with. Emily began waking up with her father and joining him on 3-mile jogs each morning. In the afternoons Emily swam laps and lifted weights with her new swimming buddy Jolynn. Together Emily and Jo trained hard to make the junior high swim team, where they had little to no actual competition so they competed against themselves and each other, always trying to best their previous time record. By the time Emily and Jo got to high school, they bested even the top seniors on the swim team. Luckily Emily and Jo had different specialty strokes, Emily was free-style while Jo was back stroke, because each of them won a State Championship, and if one had beaten the other their friendship would have been strained.
Noticing her girlfriend trapped in what appeared to be an unpleasant thought, Hanna broke the paper off one end of her straw, put the straw up to her lips and blew the rest of the straw wrapper into Emily's forehead. "You're doing it again, Em," Hanna said once she got her girlfriend's attention. As Hanna grew to know Emily, the dark-haired beauty showed more and more of a pensive, brooding side that no one else seemed to know about or even believe existed. As the star swimmer all through her years at Rosewood, Emily was the epitome of confidence. If Alison hadn't disappeared the same year Emily moved there, Em certainly would have given Ali a run for her money as Queen Bee of Rosewood High, that is if Emily cared enough about that kind of popularity. Outside of swimming, Emily preferred to blend into the background.
"Sorry Han, I was just thinking about what my workout schedule is going to be if I'm not training for swimming. Maybe I'll start jogging in Washington Park in the morning before class, my classes don't start until 9 this semester," Emily mused.
"Oh, 9 am classes, lucky you, I've got 8 am class Monday, Tuesday and Thursday," Hanna pouted. "But at least Wednesday and Friday I don't start until 11 am!" Hanna could tell her girlfriend was still upset about something, she'd been a little off ever since she moved in to their dorm yesterday, but she figured cause of distress was probably a lot more than just her workout schedule. Though, Hanna knew better than to press the issue right now.
After the couple finished their breakfast, they grabbed a cup of coffee to go, and headed out to stroll around Washington park and people watch. The weather was beautiful – clear blue sky and a slight breeze, which was cool for late August, but a welcome reprieve from sweltering humidity. A few yards away a tall couple was jogging, the girl jabbering away while her partner pretended to listen. Neither gave a hint of a smile or recognition when Hanna said "good morning," with a slight wave. Hanna held her coffee in her left hand and reached her other hand for Emily's. Turning to face her girlfriend, "everything Ok, Sweetheart?" Hanna asked. Emily responded with a labored deep breath, as if on the verge of a panic attack. Hanna led them to a nearby bench and they sat down.
"Tell me what's on your mind," Hanna spoke softly yet directly. "I know something is bothering you, and when you get upset, I get upset, so let's talk about it."
"Do you remember what it was like when I moved to Rosewood at the beginning of sophomore year?" Emily began slowly.
"I guess you were kind of a loner, except on the swim team, I think you were popular with almost everyone there," Hanna replied, unsure about where this conversation might be going.
"Well with my dad in the military, we moved around a lot when I was a kid." Hanna nodded, that was a given fact of Emily's past. "You would think that I would be used to moving to new places, used to making new friends, used to uncertainty," Emily continued. "But I'm not. I've never been comfortable moving to new places. It always takes me a while to adapt and growing up it seemed like every time I had gotten comfortable in a new place, it was time to leave. I was in a perpetual state of chaos, which is why I put so much focus on swimming and maintaining a healthy diet, even at the expense of having fun with friends. My body, my appearance, that was one thing I could control. I've never felt like I belonged anywhere, but during my freshman year of high school in Texas, the year I won the State Championship in swimming, the year I came out to my friends and family, I finally felt like I belonged. And then my dad got new orders to move to PA and everything surrounding what had been the best year of my life began to crumble. I lost all my friends, I lost my swim team, and I lost Bianca; I wasn't even gone a month before she started cheating on me, after convincing me we could make long distance work." Emily looked so vulnerable, on the verge of tears, which happened every time she brought up her first girlfriend.
"But then you moved to Rosewood, and met me and Spencer, and things got better, right?" Hanna was constantly reassuring Emily, though it was baffling as to how someone as beautiful and confident as Emily could be so damn insecure. Part of her wanted to go to Texas to choke the shit out of Emily's ex-girlfriend Bianca, whose betrayal Emily had yet to get over despite everything Hanna did to show her how much she cared. All the chaos of her life seemed to have given the girl an extremely tough façade, which she needed to protect her enormous heart. Hanna couldn't believe anyone could throw away the fiercely-dedicated love of Emily Fields.
"Yes, of course," Emily finally smiled. "You mean the world to me Hanna, but I'm terrified of losing you too. New York City is the biggest sea of chaos I've ever been in, and I'm scared to death. About everything. What if my dad doesn't come home? What if something happens to my mom when I'm gone? What if I can't make any friends? What if you get stolen away from me?" Emily's quick smile was replaced with her gnawing panic.
Hanna grabbed the brunette's shoulders and pulled her in for a tight hug. Again, she kissed her forehead and assured her everything would be ok. "It's a big city, yes, but once we get familiar with our immediate surroundings it won't seem as overwhelming," Hanna assured her. "I love you Emily Fields, and I'm not going anywhere. I promise to stay by your side through thick and thin. By Christmas you'll have that swim-team confidence back and I'll be the one who has to worry about their girlfriend being 'stolen'."
A genuine smile finally crept across Emily's face at Hanna's staunch reassurance. "Thanks Han, I love you too," Emily whispered as she pulled Hanna in for a soft, lingering kiss. "And I promise I'll never let anyone steal me," she added, widening her smile. Emily glanced at her watch and said "we probably ought to get going if we're going to video chat with Spencer. You know how she is about time – even worse than the Fields." Hanna chuckled lightly and agreed.
Hanna and Emily stepped off the elevator and made their way back to room 723, at 1:22 pm, which left 8 minutes before Spencer's call. Emily pulled out one of the desk chairs for Hanna, who motioned Emily should sit first. Emily complied with Hanna's request knowing the blond wanted to sit on her lap. Once the laptop was set up facing them, Hanna couldn't resist turning to straddle her girlfriend and wrap her arms around the brunette's shoulders, before capturing Emily's lips with her own. Emily moaned softly, encouraging Hanna to run her tongue along Emily's bottom lip. The swimmer parted her lips and danced her tongue around with Hanna's. Hanna began moaning as well when Emily slowly dragged her fingers up the inside of Hanna's thigh and underneath her shorts. As Emily teased her girlfriend, Hanna's moans became louder and her breathing more rapid and shallow. Just as Emily began to slip a finger inside Hanna's panties, the computer started ringing. Giggling almost hysterically, Emily removed her finger, answered the call and saw Spencer's face fill the screen, as Hanna pouted at Emily in despair.
"Uhm, hey guys, am I interrupting something?" Spencer smirked, not oblivious to the steamy scene unfolding on the other side of the video conversation.
"You're in big trouble later Miss Fields," Hanna growled in Emily's ear, winked, then turned to face the screen. "Haaaayyy Spence! How's Yale?" Spencer's eyes looked somewhat bloodshot, her hair was in a messy bun and she was wearing an oversized gray hoodie that was obviously not hers.
"Things are great, I think I might actually be becoming friends with Melissa," Spencer began. "Last night I went to a party at her sorority house, Gamma Zeta Chi, and she introduced me to a bunch of her friends. Surprisingly they're not nearly as stuck up as her crew in Rosewood."
"Well it looks like you had a hell of a time last night," Emily chimed in. "Did you just wake up or something?"
"No, I've been up for a few hours but just got back to my dorm room. I crashed on the Gamma Zeta guest couch after winning 8 games in a row of flip cup," Spencer offered with an undertone of pride. Flip cup was her jam. "Then I had breakfast in the GZX house this morning. I think this sorority thing has turned Melissa into the ideal big sister I never had. She was actually looking out for me last night after I got hammered, and was really friendly this morning. Later today we're going to hang out again so she can show me around campus some more."
"That's great Spence, but haven't you already been there for like an entire week?" Hanna asked, then itching to address the elephant in the room, "Whose sweatshirt are you wearing?"
"Yeah, I've been here a little over a week but mostly orientation stuff, a few pre-class lectures and talks so I can start the semester ahead. Melissa was away on some kind of retreat and just got back Friday, so she hasn't given me the "big sister tour," which is apparently a thing here I guess."
"And the sweatshirt?" Hanna asked, trying to keep Spencer on track when she tried to side step the question.
"Oh, so my flip cup partner is actually the grounds keeper for the house, he's a junior in landscape architecture and he's doing some really cool work putting in a koi pond in the back yard. His name's Toby, it's his sweatshirt."
"Wow, Spencer Hastings finally busting out of her shell and shacking up with some random dude after only a week at college," Hanna said mockingly.
"Hey, all we did was kiss last night, and he's not some random dude, he's Melissa-approved. He even came over to the house this morning and offered to walk me home," Spencer could not keep the shit-eating grin off her face. "He's got potential. So how's NYU, how's living together?"
"Living together is great," Emily said, finally joining the conversation with a contented smile as she nuzzled her face into Hanna's shoulder.
"The city is a bit overwhelming," Hanna added, for Emily's sake. "And you'll never believe whom we ran into last night!" Spencer raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "Mona Vanderwaal, roaming the streets with Caleb, I think his last name is Rivers or something," Hanna stated. "Apparently, she goes to NYU and lives three floors below us. Caleb does cyber security or something."
"Why of all the colleges in all the cities of the country, did Mona choose NYU?" Emily huffed. Hanna assumed Emily was harping on Mona to focus all her nervous energy on something other than herself, she knew for a fact Emily did not have anything against Mona other than her being friends with Paige, who was actually the source of friction for Emily.
"Oh, come on Em," Spencer said, attempting a comforting tone, "it won't be that bad. There are plenty of other people to meet and you probably won't even run into her that much. Paige is on the other side of the country besides, so you don't have to worry about her either. Besides, maybe it's time to bury the hatchet with Mona?"
A knock on the door interrupted Spencer's thoughts, and she excused herself from the conversation to let in her guest, a tall, well-built guy with short dirty-blond hair and blue eyes. "Come say hi to my friends," Spencer said, grabbing her guest's hand. "Emily, Hanna, this is Toby."
a/n: Emily's character in this fic is a little OOC from the show, and in this fic she has had a rough childhood with a lot of obstacles to overcome, but with the aid of Hanna, Emily will blossom into the strong woman she doesn't yet know she is. All the characters in this fic have highly-complex and interwoven back stories that may take a while to develop, and I'll add some fluff to keep things fun. If the plot gets too confusing, let me know, as I have been known to make stories a bit too complex. Also let me know any other thoughts/opinions/suggestions!