Authors Note:

Heyyyy, i'm back again with a new chapter. I hope you guys enjoy! I've basically set this story around a collection of Otis Redding songs (which the title so gladly shows :D). It may help to listen to the songs when they're mentioned, just to help understand the story at a deeper level.

I hope you guys enjoyed the finale but i just wanted to note that i decided not to make Cece/Charlotte/Charles A in this fic. I have a story in mind for that, which i've already started briefly planning.

Many thanks for all your support. It means a lot. Okay i'll stop rambling now... Enjoy the new chapter.

All things in italic represent dreams, memories or self thoughts/speech (if that makes any sense? Ha).


Alison DiLaurentis sighed, whilst rubbing her temples. Her newest assistant Amy was talking at Alison but her words were going through one ear and out the other.

"Okay, enough!" Alison finally croaked out. "You're officially giving me a migraine!"

Amy was a petite brunette, with golden bronzed skin, piercing green eyes and the dress she was wearing certainly highlighted her assets, which Alison kept finding herself speaking to instead of the new girls face. Her looks screamed confidence, but around the Blonde she was definitely a mess.

"Please, just leave the schedules on my desk and I will sort it out tomorrow" Alison mumbled. Today was dragging on way too long.

Alison's new assistant Amy was a bright and happy young girl, although sometimes being that bright and happy is not a good thing. Today had been one of those days, where if Alison was the 'Queen Bee' she used to have been, she would have shouted all types of abuse at the petite brunette. Ali glared an infamous 'Alison DiLaurentis glare' at the girl standing so nervously. The truth is Alison had changed from her former ice queen days but the sassiness in her still remained and that sassiness and confidence was what made her so successful within her chosen sector. Alison was one of the top newest fashion designers at the moment and that title brought a ton of press, money and stress. Amy walked towards Alison and placed the pile of paperwork gently on her desk. She waited for a brief moment to see if Alison would respond. Alison looked up and down at the assistant and felt an urge to throw everything off her desk and throw the girl all around her office, but she contained herself. She didn't need more stress at work and after all the other assistants Alison had made her way through, she thought it would be in her best interest to actually be on a professional level with Amy.

The office they were placed in was clean, white and smooth and money oozed left right and centre. To say Alison was wealthy would be an understatement. After she left Rosewood, the DiLaurentis' made the massive move to Florida. Unfortunately two years after the move, Alison's father passed away of a heart attack, shocking both his children. Luckily, Kenneth DiLaurentis was smart enough to leave all his assets for Jason and Ali, which provided them an income and certainly covered the small, intimate funeral the two children had held for him. Alison, for a while, found herself unmotivated and too broken to persist through her grief to pursue her ambitions. Jason didn't allow Ali to fall down a bad route though. After everything the two siblings had been through in the past, they had found themselves closer now than ever before. One Friday morning, Jason pulled Alison out of bed and made her eat breakfast for the first time that week.

The sun was piercing through the windows. Alison noted that it was the first time she had seen sunlight in the past 72 hours, since her father's funeral. The blonde sat at the dining table and fiddled with the strings on her sweatpants, whilst Jason was shouting at Ali from the kitchen about something. She couldn't make out his words, just his voice. Over the last month Alison had found herself becoming extremely skilled when it came to blocking people out. She had picked up a sour attitude towards most things, mainly because she was convinced that's all people ever seemed to do to her and maybe she deserved that. Maybe she deserved to be left without parents or any stability in her life. Maybe she deserved loosing her friends and a place she could call home. Her mind kept pondering to all the bad things she had done in life and she felt her swollen, glazed eyes fill up with tears. It was only until she was uncontrollably sobbing she felt her brother's arms embrace the blonde's body.

"Ali, shh, it's okay." Jason whispered into the blonde's ear.

Alison found herself gripping Jason around his collar of his work shirt with every single bit of strength she had left in her body. They sat in that same position for a while until Alison's howling had reduced to small snuffles and a very tear stained collar. Jason cleared his throat and kissed his sister on the head and pulled away to look at the blonde in front of him. He always knew women and men threw themselves at his baby sister, the attention she attracted wasn't a secret but as he stared into his sisters broken eyes, he knew right there in that moment that he wasn't allowing a single thing to have even the slightest advantage to break his sisters heart ever again.

When the two siblings left Rosewood, they found themselves in this sort of situation quite regularly, especially when Alison decided to have a drink. Jason reminisced on the times he would drive around Florida, trying to find his drunken, broken, little sister. She would usually be on the beach, holding a bottle of wine, crying over the life she left behind in Rosewood and the drunken discussions they would hold would always end around one person. That person was Emily Fields. Jason has sat through Alison's heartbreak. So had her best friend Cece. They managed to pick her up off her feet, along with Mr. DiLaurentis, and helped her start making investments and working towards the career path she always dreamed of. Fashion. Jason knew, deep down, Alison would never fully heal when it came to Emily. As he continued to stare at Ali, she wiped her face and snuffled.

"Jas, why are you staring at me like this?" The blonde's voice was tiny and demure. A complete change from her usual confident tone.

Jason reached out and placed his hands on Alisons, frail shoulders.

"Listen to me Ali. You have come a long way from the position you were in two years ago. I didn't even like the person you was, but that didn't mean I didn't love you. I've had to endure loosing mom, dad and you. I'm so lucky I still have you here. Right now, every bad thing you have ever done in life will surround your thoughts. We both know you are still grieving over mom also, but mom and dad wouldn't want their precious girl in such a state and now as your big brother I know It's my duty to them and to you to make sure you don't give up. Running away from your problems may seem like it's an easy option, heck even I've thought about doing it numerous times but honestly Alison, what will it do for you in the long run? You have just started to get your foot in the door of the fashion industry. This pain you are feeling, this pain we're both feeling will eventually pass. Things might not feel easier but we have each other and it's time we embraced that."

Alison sat staring back at her older brother. He was slightly frowning and his blonde hair was messy, most likely because Alison at some point had grabbed it whilst in her emotional state. She was honestly stuck for words, but as she looked back in her brother's eyes, she felt the something within her change. She felt something, which only one other person had shown her in a pure, manor. She felt love. Love that was unconditional and so powerful, that in itself gave Alison the strength to do what she done next.

Alison smirked at her brother and pushed his hands off her shoulders.

"Shut up ya freak. Where's my breakfast? I'm withering away over here".

Jason lightly chuckled and stood up and exited towards the kitchen.

As Alison within the next year, grew stronger so did her bank account and credibility. All her investments, late nights, internships and bitchy bosses had paid off. Eventually at an event in Paris, Marc Jacobs himself was impressed with Alison's designs and passion for the industry and described her as "new, fresh and a complete change over for the fashion business." That was the start of a brand new pathway for Alison, but as her career expanded, she found herself getting more and more lonely, but she knew that if she didn't have Jason to give her that kick up the ass, she wouldn't be where she was today.

"Alison? Alison, are you listening? Phillip's team is constantly emailing me. You will need to send him a direct reply if you want sort this out yourself". The bronze, brunette was still standing in front of Alison, awaiting a reply.

The fashion designer was so caught up in her thoughts she had completely blocked Amy out.

"Sorry Amy, yes I will reply as soon as possible. Also whilst we're on the subject, have we had confirmation from the finance sector? We need to know prices in advance before we fly out over the weekend?" Ali flashed Amy a smile- a notorious, flirtatious smile that Alison had certainly developed even further in the past year. Screwing her newest addition to the team was always fun for Ali but eventually they would always end up catching some emotional attachment towards the blonde and that's not what she wanted. She was immune to that drama.

Amy glanced down at Alison and blushed.

"Yes, I have printed out the confirmations and left them in the pile for you to oversee. Is that all for Today Alison?" The assistant could feel her cheeks flushing the more she looked at the stunning blonde in front of her.

Alison knew this reaction all too well and pushed the sexual tension in the room aside and glanced at her diary. Playing hard to get was another tick of the trade she knew she had mastered.

"Yes Amy, that's all. You can go home now"

Amy smiled at Alison and said her goodbyes. As she was just about to exit the room, Alison called out her name.

"Amy, it's Ali by the way. Call me Ali" the blonde knew she was being too flirtatious because truth be told; she hated people calling her Ali. Ali was a nickname that was used only by the people that knew her on some emotional level, not just physical. But it had been a long day and Alison was slightly sexually frustrated and bored. She gave the assistant a wink.

Amy smiled and slightly licked her lips.

"Okay, goodnight Ali. Call me if you need anything"

And there it was, the line the blonde had heard every time she sent out signals.


Alison pushed herself away from her desk on her chair and looked out of her window. No matter how many hours a day Alison was stuck behind this desk, the view of New York City never failed to take her breath away. She had only been living here the past 3 months, since her new office had opened and she loved it. The blonde felt a dull ache in her temples, causing her to squint her eyes and rub them for the 20th time that day. Alison had been bombarded with work the past few weeks. A major fashion show was coming up, showcasing previews of all the new fall collections from a variety of designers. Alison just happened to be one of them.

The sight of the over powerful skyscrapers and office blocks were definitely a complete different view to what she was brought up around. Rosewood was a tiny dot on the map compared to this. As Rosewood entered Alison's mind she slightly flinched. Sensitivity surrounded that part of Alison's life, and as she tried to refrain herself from thinking back upon the pain and memories that surrounded her in her teens, she couldn't help but think of her first love. Emily. Alison stood up from her seat and glanced around her office. She made her way to the big mirror on the rear left wall and glanced at her reflection. God had certainly blessed Alison with good looks. Since she had left Rosewood, the blonde's hair was even longer, reaching just above her ass. The curls she had once been infamous for were now changed to straight locks. Puberty was a blessing for Ali. She had filled out in all the right places and her baby fat had been replaced with toned muscles and a tiny waist.

As Alison glared at herself, her eyes bright and blue, her lips plumped and painted red, her skin bronzed and soft she sighed and felt a pang deep down in her chest. Emily always entered Ali's mind every day that had passed since they last saw each other. The blonde remembered how adamant Emily was on their separation as friends, let alone something more than that. She knew Emily would always be her vice. Her guilty pleasure. But this was all too much of a habit for Ali now. She knew she would always love Emily but after that day, she knew she couldn't allow her back into the new life she had created for herself.

Alison reached down and took her Valentino heels off and walked back over to the window to watch the night-lights. She had loved Emily for so long now, that she actually didn't want to stop. Her heart ached and urged for the swimmer she once could throw her arms around and squeeze. Frustrating as it was, Ali knew how tired Emily was of the contant fight for something with the blonde and because of that Ali knew she deserved to be free of her.

Alison's fingers trailed over her lips and she closed her eyes thinking of her mermaid.

Alison woke up to the sound of her alarm. She tried to blink it away, but eventually she knew she had to switch it off and get up. As she glanced over to her side, she was greeted with the view of the woman of her dreams, with her back facing her, naked from the waist up with the sheet they both shared covering her bottom half. She smirked and leaned over the brunette and placed kisses to the bottom of her back, trailing them up slowly until she reached her neck and started to nibble causing a small moan escape from Emily's mouth. The events of last night started swirling her mind...

Ali shook her head and scolded herself for feeling this vulnerable. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was 11:34pm. The blonde walked back over to the mirror and finger combed her hair and reapplied some make-up. She was dressed head to toe in designer clothing. Her skirt reaching just above her knees, clung to her legs and showed just how toned Alison had gotten over the years. Her blouse was starting to feel restricting, so she unbuttoned a few top buttons and then brushed herself down, fixing the collar of her Chanel blazer. She put her heels back on and packed away her stuff. The blonde reached into her bag and sighed as she took out her iPhone. What she was about to do, she knew she would eventually regret. But right now in this moment, she honestly didn't give a hell.

As she dialled a number she started turning the lights and equipment off in her office. Ali held the phone to her ear and as she exited her office the person on the other end finally answered.

"Hey Amy. Are you free? You want to come over to mine in say an hour?"


Alison had always brought attention to herself, even without knowing. Over the past 3-4 years away from Rosewood she had explored her sexuality long enough to know she was pansexual, meaning she dated people not for their gender but for who they were. Alison knew hooking up with Amy was a bad idea but at this point she had already downed a bottle of wine and luckily liquid courage was taking control. Amy was slightly tipsy herself and as she glazed into Alison's eyes, she shivered.

The two girls were standing outside on Alison's balcony to her apartment. If there was one thing Alison was a pro at, this was it. She knew how to get what she wanted and tonight she wanted this girl's head in-between her legs. At least she would numb the pain for another night.

"Woah slow down cocky" The blonde slurred and she commented on how much wine her new assistant had poured into her glass.

"Oh Alison, don't be such a prude" Amy slightly pushed Alison with her shoulder.

Alison bit down on her lip whilst holding her wine glass in front of her mouth. Amy was certainly attractive, funny and ambitious. The former 'Queen Bee' couldn't deny that this girl sitting next to her was a complete catch, but Ali was done with feeling emotions. She needed something so raw and passionate that it would scold her for every thought that she felt the need to over analyse.

The Blondes 3 bedroom apartment, located in Midtown Manhattan, was breath taking. It was decorated with all things elegant and classy, yet simple and sleek. On the right side of her living room was a large collection of vinyl records. Alison loved hearing music in its original form. She knew she might look like most girls her age but when it came to music, it had grown to be her best friend. She loved how just simple lyrics could take her to any place or time and allowed her to escape from anything without actually running away, like she used to. Next to her vinyl collection was her very expensive, vintage vinyl player.

Amy stood up and walked inside the large penthouse apartment and Alison followed, closing the large balcony doors behind her. The assistant was still wearing her all-too-short-and-tight fitted work attire from earlier that day. She twirled around the living room, clearly affected by the alcohol pumping through her system. Ali couldn't help but stare at every feature on the brunette's body. Amy's eyes went straight to Alison's large music collection and chuckled.

"Who knew the queen of fashion was such a music buff?" The brunette was clearly flirting with the blonde at this rate and as she bent down to glance at the records she held her body in way she knew would make Alison weak.

Alison wasn't weak for Amy. Alison smirked to herself because she knew it was Amy who was weak for the successful designer.

"Otis Redding? Okay now we totally have something in common. Is it okay if I touch these? Better yet can I play some?" The brunette tilted her head to the side and took a side of her wine.

Alison lifted her head up a litter higher than normal and licked her lips.

"Be my guest, Amy"

Amy started fumbling around with the player and suddenly music filled the room. Alison closed her eyes as 'The Arms of Mine' by Otis Redding started playing. The song ignited her body and made her feel alive. As she stood their for a while with her eyes shut she pictured Emily's naked body hovering over her, placing kisses all over her face, whilst making Ali whisper Em's name in to her ear.

Ali was taken out of her vision by two arms reaching around her neck. As she opened her eyes Amy was standing in front of her, her wine glass nowhere in sight. Alison felt a slight feeling of disappointment flush over her body. The blonde smiled and placed her arms around the assistants waist stop thinking Alison. The brunette started swaying along with Alison and buried her face within Alison's neck. The fashion designer could smell cocoa with a mixture of wine coming from Amy.

Alison started to feel clammy. She closed her eyes and took and deep breath and allowed her chin to rest on the bed of Amy's dark hair. The music, the wine, the scent took Alison off to a place where she once felt truly magical. As the two girls moved to the music, the lyrics started to make Alison think of Emily's smile. The way she pleasured Alison for hours the night before she left Rosewood, leaving her mark all over the blonde's body. Amy started to talk at Alison, but as usual the blonde was blocking all sound out other than the music. The air around Alison felt like it was caving in and within the space of a second she grabbed the petite girl and slammed her up against the wall, pushing her complete body weight over her. Alison didn't care for this girl. Alison made this girl feel like her body was on fire, whilst Alison's heart continued to cold over. She spread the girls legs apart and leaned down towards the brunettes ear and whispered:

"Now will you finally shut the fuck up?"


The trip to L.A was so far was going to schedule. Alison sat on the plane next to the window and stared out of the it at the sky, which had turned a pinkish, yellow shade. She wasn't the best on planes but she found if she watched the mesmerising sights outside, it soothed her. Cece was sitting next to her reading the new Vogue, whilst Amy sat on the other side of Ce listening to her iPod, occasionally slipping glances to Alison, which Cece found to be uncomfortable.

"Oi Ali, stop slouching. We're finally getting some time away together, please don't depress me in the process" Cece hissed whilst slamming her edition of Vogue down on her lap. She leaned in towards her best friend and whispered into her ear.

"I'm guessing this assistant has delved into your flower too?"

Alison started laughing and rolled her eyes. Typical Cece. Doesn't give a shit what she says or where she says it.

The flight had been smooth so far and with just less that 20 minutes left, the trip had gone faster than expected. The fashion show to attend this weekend was still stressing Alison's team out (who had already travelled out last night), so to help them all out she had hired two young students, who needed the work experience, to take the work slightly off their backs. Her thoughts travelled to the errands she needed to run when off the plane and before she knew it, the plane had landed. The two students she hired would be meeting Ali at LAX airport, whilst Cece and Amy would go ahead to the hotel and get things prepared. She needed Amy out of her hair the next 24 hours as she felt the brunette constantly flirting with her was not going to help the next few days at all. Cece offered to spend tomorrow at the beach with Amy whilst the brunette sent emails and Alison went over the last few details with her team. Alison yawned and brushed down her pale blue sundress. She was not in the mood for correcting these students mistakes today.

As she came off her terminal and into arrivals a sign stating "Miss Rollins" greeted her. After everything that had happened in Rosewood, Alison felt it was necessary to go under a new name; she didn't want to make bad press in the most crucial years of building her career.

As she approached the two females, she greeted them with a big smile and started listing off errands that the team needed to get in line for show. Another sign had greeted Cece and Amy and they left with another driver, not before Amy could get a chance to squeeze Ali's ass, which pissed her off and made her icy demeanour sneak out. Amy winced as she got the coldest glance from Alison.

"Amy, I shall see you later." Alison glared at the assistant. Way to act professional huh?

The two students helped Alison with her luggage into the personal driver's car they had arranged for her. The driver opened the door for Ali and before she slipped in the car she turned to the two girls and held her hand out

"I'm so sorry, I totally forgot to get your names girl."

A tall Asian girl, with bleached hair spoke up announcing her name was Tia. Tia resembled Spencer Hastings all too much, which made Alison slightly cringe. Stop thinking about the past Ali. The second girl greeted Alison with a wide smile and held her hand out to be shaken. Alison was taken back with how much she resembled the former ice queen. She was a very beautiful blonde, tanned girl, dressed in shorts and a plain tee, which although simple, highlighted her beauty. Her hair fell in curls down her back, whilst blue eyes met another set of blue.

"Hey, I'm Kendra. We honestly thought we were going to be late. I had an exam this morning. I hope we can be of your assistance Miss Rollins and we are so honoured to be working for you".

Alison automatically felt slightly intimidated, but ignored her feelings to show. This is thee Alison Lauren DiLaurentis. No one can bring her down.

She ignored the girl's opportunity for a hand shake and got into the car, telling the girls to meet her tomorrow at 3pm.

As the car drove off, Alison took a deep breath. She was in L.A. The place she had tried to avoid the past few years. Although shaken, Ali felt slightly at home and she knew why. Emily was still here at college. At that moment Alison promised to herself she wouldn't cave into her emotions and would make sure if she was going to be in the same area as Emily, she would try and avoid her at all costs.

Alison knew her sassiness would come into good use someday. Nothing was going to bring her down anymore.


Authors Ending Note:

So how do you guys feel about Kendra working with Alison?!

I know, I know; Emison still hasn't happened yet, which i'm sure you're not too thrilled about. But personally i feel the fic needs some back story, instead of delving into a rushed representation of Emison. I hope you have enjoyed the newest chapter and i will try and upload again within the next week. Slow burn Emison? Maybe, but i can assure you it's faster that what the actual show is giving us!

Please feel free to review, all constructive criticism will be taken lightly and in to account.

I look forward to updating soon.

Lots of Love!

P.S: I hope you guys enjoyed the Finale!