Hey everyone, firstly I just want to thank you all for your kind comments! 3 And secondly, I was going to post this in a few days, but after the cheeto won, I thought some of ya'll could use something nice. This chapter is low key rubbish because I wrote it at ridiculous hours, but I hope that you like it.
"Why are you all doom and gloom?" Hanna asks, sitting down next to Emily on the couch. It's been two days since the note incident and Emily has still yet to send Alison a text - but she's scared. What if it's too soon? Or worse - what if it's too late? Hanna nudges her and gives her a look that says 'spill'. With reluctance, Emily chooses to tell her.
"Alison gave me her number." Hanna nods, and looks at her expectingly. When Emily looks down, embarrassed and shy; Hanna catches on.
"You haven't called her." Hanna states. Emily finally looks up and gives her a sheepish smile.
"Isn't there like, a three day rule or something?" Emily wonders, causing Hanna to groan loudly.
"That's not a thing. Guys do that to make them seem hard to get, when actually, they look like asses." Hanna explains. Emily responds with a scrunched up face filled with regret - she should have sent her a text that day.
"Just- send her a text, say hey." Hanna suggests. Emily cringes at the thought -it'll be too pushy.
"I don't know, Han." She says honestly. Hanna rolls her eyes and takes Emily's phone from the coffee table. Emily's hands make a clumsy effort in protest to get it back; she fails of course.
"Hanna, what the- Hanna don't you dare- Hanna stop" She attempts. Hanna has one hand in Emily's face, stopping her; while the other types out a text to Alison.
"Wow, no passcode Emily? Really?" Hanna scolds - though amused with this knowledge. Emily continues to grab helplessly for her phone.
"Hanna, come on- Please? I-" Ding. Hanna's expression turns smug, perfected with a fake 'apologetic' look.
"Oops." She says, shrugging. Emily's jaw clenches as she snatches her phone from her roommate, to see the damage she's done.
Hey :) - Emily. x
Emily gulps nervously at the kiss. She wonders - What if it's too much? - What if she doesn't reply? What if-
Ding.
Emily feels her heart stop and skin go cold. She takes one long deep breath, then reluctantly forces herself to check her message. Unfortunately (fortunately) it's Spencer, wondering when she's next free. Thank God.
"What did she say?" Hanna asks, peeping over Emily's shoulder nosily.
"It's Spencer. She want's to know when I'm free next." Emily reveals - Hanna 'ah's'. It's clear that she's recieved a similar text.
"Same. I told her that I can do Thursday, you free then?"
"I'll find out tomorrow."
Ding.
Oh no, Emily panics. It's a message from Alison. Again, as if on cue - Hanna peeps over Emily's shoulder and grins proudly and stands up to leave the room.
"You're welcome." She tells Emily, wagging her eyebrows at her knowingly before leaving. The text reads.
Hey.
The first thing that Emily notices is that Alison didn't respond with a kiss - The second thing? She doesn't seem interested, nor that bothered. It makes Emily's mind go wild and she struggles to focus on anything else that night.
She never replied to Alison's cool message; she was unsure of what to say back. So today, Emily did not only dread work - but the train too. It could be worse, she tries to persuade herself. She did give you her number. She probably isn't a phone person.. Maybe she- Ugh, who're you kidding. Emily pauses her internal scolding when the train stops at Ravenswood, but then a thought crosses her mind; Hanna didn't call today and Hanna always calls. Maybe she's busy, or maybe, she's actually sleeping at a decent hour. But that's not her. She decides to send her a text, to let her know that she's on her way home.
"Hey." A familiar or- Alison greets. She sits next to Emily, as if everything is okay; normal. It fucks with Emily's head, but she's not about to make things weird, so she goes with it.
"Hey." She says back, offering her friend(?) a small smile. Emily doesn't know how to act after their previous conversation - you know the one where Alison wrote a cute note on her arm. It's all very new to Emily also very intriguing - she can't explain for life of her why. Usually, this would seem like too much of a game to Emily - a game that she can't be bothered to keep up with, but this is different. Alison is different.
"How was work?" Alison asks, followed by a head tilt and the most precious smile that she's ever seen. God damn it.
"It was terrible. You?" It's always terrible. It's the same story every day, with a strange twist. Wonderwall, middle aged women screaming 'this is my jam' when Waterfalls plays, and then a completely outrageous twist; giving Emily another reason every shift to hate her job. Last week, a couple dressed in denim showed up to the bar and denim as in - the woman in a denim dress and denim boots; a man in a denim suit and a denim cowboy hat. Emily isn't too overly bothered when it comes to fashion, but that was, as Hanna would say 'a criminal offense to fashion'.
"Ugh, me too. What happened today? Did somebody turn up head to toe in denim again?" Alison wonders. Emily laughs pathetically, then shakes her head. She wishes.
"Remember Britney's video; Oops I did it again?" Alison groans in horror and sympathy, then nods for Emily to continue.
"She downed five shots of tequila and vomited on my shoes." Emily recalls, grimly looking at her poor leather boots. They deserve better than this. Alison cringes, then laughs.
"Wow, you're right- that sounds terrible."
"How about you?" Emily's learned in the past two weeks that Alison has a lot of creepy customers that try it on with her and pretentious hipsters who are very specific about their coffee orders.
"These two idiots came in earlier and- Ugh- This asshole's goatie was drenched in glitter, so I knew that they were going to order something dumb." Alison begins and Emily's hooked.
"Halfway through asking what they wanted, his girlfriend interrupted me and ordered a freakin' decaf soy latte with an extra shot and cream.. I mean.. What the hell, right?" Alison rants, waving her hands as she does so. Emily finds it cute, for some crazy reason.
"What happened next?" Emily wonders. Alison gives her a smile that says 'something horrible'.
"I gave her a soy latte with an extra shot and cream, but not decaf. I hope that bitch can't sleep tonight." Alison reveals, with not an ounce of regret in her tone. It makes Emily laugh.
"Alison Bitterentis." Emily jokes. After a questionable beat of silence, Alison cackles.
"That's amazing." She responds. When her laughter dies down, her eyes wonder Emily's face - Emily's unsure of the expression.
"It was nice seeing you- and Aria.. The other day." Alison says - as if to hint towards the bathroom incident. Emily doesn't dare to bring it up.
"You too." Emily says back, finding herself also wondering Alison's face - it's like a game of 'who will cave first and bring it up'. Alison almost looks caught off guard with Emily's response, she looks stuck for words. After what feels like five minutes (it's actually ten seconds) Alison looks away, blushing slightly.
"I had fun." She adds, watching for Alison's reaction - who just looks back with a big grin. Is this.. Flirting? Is this a thing that's happening right now?
"We should do it again sometime." Alison speaks, with her voice timid and her face suggestive - it's all kinds of confusing.
"Well, we're thinking of having our movie night on Thursday.. If you're free-"
"I am." Alison hastily responds. Emily has a feeling that she's lost this game, especially with the way that she's crumbling under Alison's stare - not to mention, there actually isn't a movie night on Thursday, at least not yet - she played herself. Spencer's going to kill her. Alison sits back and tilts her head and her stare grows more intense - as if she's analyzing her. It's not patronizing, but it is kind of unnerving - she looks at her like she's trying to figure her out.
"Next stop, Rosewood." The conductor interrupts. It startles Emily, but Alison remains unfazed.
"Okay, great. Just.. Fair warning.. Aria's obsessed with old horror movies." Emily warns, causing Alison to roll her eyes and smile.
"Alfred Hitchcock?" She wonders. Emily nods.
"She's still on that?
"Oh yeah, big time. Especially now she's with Ezra-" Emily doesn't even get a chance to finish his name before Alison begins to make a sickly noise and shiver - clearly she's still having trouble coming to terms with the news.
"What kind of movies do you like?" Alison questions. Emily bites the inside of her lip as she thinks; part of her doesn't want to say, because she doesn't want to come off as cheesy - but then again, nothing can get cheesier than Hanna's movie taste (her favorite movie is The Proposal).
"Honestly.. Anything with Julia Roberts." What she thought would make Alison cringe, makes her smile instead - Emily swears that there's a flash of adoration in her eyes.
"You're big on happy endings." Alison points out. There's something about the way she says it, but Emily can't put her finger on it. Before she has the chance to ask her the same question, the train stops. They both get up (reluctantly) and get off together.
"So, I'll send you a text?" Emily asks - mostly because she doesn't want a redo of their awkward non conversation the day previously. Alison nods.
"Yeah. Oh, by the way- Em." Emily doesn't miss the nickname used.
"Mhm?"
"Sorry if I seemed- Blunt.. When I replied yesterday. I probably came off as a dick, but that's actually just how I text. Sorry if I-" Alison apologizes, startling Emily.
"You don't have to apologize." Emily interrupts, giving her a sincere smile of reassurance. Alison lets out a breath - she looks relieved.
"See you tomorrow?" Emily adds - Alison's grin confirms that she will and Emily turns to walk away.
"Emily." Alison calls out from a few feet away. Emily turns around, unsure of what to expect - but if there's anything she's learned about Alison - she's full of unexpected surprises. When she looks at the blonde, she seems nervous.
"The note.. I meant it." She admits with a slight waver to her voice; it's discreet, but Emily spots it. It makes her gulp - it makes her eyes light up - it makes her heart pound - it makes her weak.
"I know." Emily almost whispers with a smile. As she turns to walk away again, she begins to realise how crazy all of this is. She's known the girl barely two weeks, yet she's pretty certain that this girl is going to make a mark; she already has. Alison Dilaurentis is unabashedly, undoubtfully, undeniably beautiful and it's becoming unbearable.
"Hanna, I'm home!" Emily calls out. If she's being honest, she's kind of concerned. In the nine months that they've been living together - Hanna's never not called her. Truthfully, it's all very shady. She wonders down the hallway and over to the living room cautiously - the first thing that she hears is muffled sobbing coming from the living room. When she enters, she finds Hanna laying on the couch, sobbing. Instantly, Emily runs over and cradles her friend who is inconsolable.
"Hey, what happened?" Emily asks, voice laced thick with concern. After a few beats, Hanna finally speaks up.
"I got fired." She reveals through her cries. Shit.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Emily asks carefully. Hanna shakes her head.
"No, I just want to get drunk- I can't deal with this right now." Emily understands and removes her embrace from her friend, then heads for her bedroom. Moments later, Emily returns with a bottle of rum and glasses. Hanna wipes her tears away and squints at the bottle.
"Was that hidden away? In your room?" Hanna scolds. Emily raises her brows and places a hand on her hip.
"You and Aria are like vultures, I had no choice." She responds simply. Hanna sniffles before speaking.
"You rest your case, now pour me a shot."
Four drinks later and Hanna's tears have subsided. She's currently yelling, calling her former boss the most obsene insults imaginable.
"She's a piece of dribble piss." That's insult number five. It makes Emily's eyes widen, though this one is much tamer than the ones said previously. Hanna pours herself another drink.
"I hate her- she made me seperate clothes hangers, babysit her shitty children who are spoiled brats." She continues, taking a massive swig of her drink.
"You deserved better Han, I'm sorry." Emily sympathises. Hanna pouts and shrugs.
"Gillian aka Satan." Hanna slurs. She takes another swig, finishing her drink. She exhales deeply before speaking again.
"I-I'm gonna show her. I'm gonna design better clothes than her and I'm gonna be nice to my interns- they will never have to seperate a single clothes hanger. You'll see." She promises. Emily has faith that this will happen, sooner than Hanna thinks. She's good at what she does - She's going to make it big. She knows it.
"Onwards and upwards." Hanna adds, lifting her drink, expecting Emily to do the same. Once she does, they clink their glasses against eachother and Emily downs her drink - Hanna goes to down hers, but is suddenly aware that hers is empty.
"So, how was it?" Hanna questions.
"How was what?" Emily asks, giving her roommate a puzzled look.
"The train, with Alison! Give me the details, I need to take my mind off of this." Hanna demands.
"There's not really much to say- Well.. She's coming here Thursday for movie night. Oh, heads up- We're having a movie night on Thursday." Emily reveals, chugging the rest of her drink. Hanna gives her a look that says 'tell me more, tell me more'.
"And, there was a thing.. Kind of. Well, I don't-"
"Oh my God Em, just tell me already." Hanna interrupts impatiently.
"She told me that she meant what she said on the note." Emily tells her, gaining raised brows and an offended look from her friend.
"Note? What note? You never mentioned a note!" Damn, she's right.. I didn't.
"When we were in the bathroom at the diner, she wrote on my arm and-"
"And?" Hanna interrupts again, wanting Emily to get to the point.
"It said 'I think you're cute, I always have.'" Hanna gapes at Emily, shocked by this reveal. She then proceeds to squeal and nudge Emily with her arm.
"Em! That's awesome!" She glees, smiling for the first time this evening.
"It is?"
"Yes! She's into you, fact." Emily pouts with a doubtful expression painted on her face - Hanna's eyes roll and she smirks.
"Told you it was destiny." It's Emily's turn to roll her eyes - Hanna tuts and shakes her head.
"Alison and Emily, sitting in the tree-" Hanna sings, hugging her body dramatically - she's really going all out with this performance. This time, Emily squeals, nudging her friend to stop.
"Hanna, we're not even-" Emily tries.
"K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes-" Hanna continues, moving closer and closer to Emily deliberately - to make her blush. Emily knows that there's only one way to end this horrendous song.
"Rum?"
"Oooh." And that's how you pivot.
It's five in the morning and the roommates are absolutely, ridiculously drunk. They've drank three quarters of their rum and somehow, every conversation they have, ends up on Alison. It's mainly Hanna's fault, really - though Emily doesn't help herself.
"She's just so pretty, Han. I- I can't believe that I can't remember her.." Emily admits. She's admitted this many times this evening - it actually feels great to say it out loud, to be honest.
"Wa-Wait here bitch- I have something important to show you." Hanna leaps up from the floor (they somehow ended up there around an hour ago) and sprints to her room. A moment later, she returns with a book; more specifically, a year book. She falls down to the floor and loses her balance momentarily, rolling around - she's very pissed. She flips through the book until she lands on the page she was searching for. Alison Dilaurentis; pointing at it with purpose.
"Do you remember her?" Hanna wonders. Emily looks at the photo and the weird part - she does. But this isn't the Alison she knows now. The Alison in the photo has long blonde wavy hair and is sporting a yellow blouse; she looks young but still beautiful - but she looks different. It's the expression on her face and it's the posture, Emily thinks. Here, she seems like the queen bee that Hanna goes on about. She's not her Alison.
"I- I recognise her, but no.. I don't remember her." Emily admits. Hanna looks back in shock and mild confusion.
"I mean- yeah, I remember seeing her in the halls.. But I don't remember ever speaking to her." Hanna finally understands and 'ah's'.
It's now five thirty and things have gotten a bit out of control. They have finished the bottle and are now drinking questionable looking beer that Lucas left at the apartment a year ago. It's all very blurry.
"Y- I- You should do it." Hanna encourages. Emily nods, trying her best to navigate her phone. She types in Alison's name in the search bar on facebook. This is so wrong - but Emily's way too drunk to notice at this point. After a few fumbling attempts, correctly spells her name and hits search. When she finds her, she goes onto her profile. Hanna leans on her shoulder, 'oohing' when she sees.
"I-I mean it won't be weird, right? S-she wont think I'm a-"
"No, Em. List-Listen to me Em, listen to this." Hanna says in a very serious voice. Her eyes well up as she grabs Emily's chin to face her.
"Y-you are like my favorite friend- Don't tell the others." Hanna reveals in a whisper. Emily pouts as her eyes fill up with tears.
"A-nd you need to get laid." She adds, ruining this rather lovely moment.
"Hanna, no." Emily slurs.
"I don't- I want to go on dates with her and-" On that note, Hanna makes a fart noise.
"Boring! Okay, okay Em- add her." Emily takes a deep breath and does just that. The rest of the morning is kind of a blur - but when her phone wakes her up at three in the afternoon (and she has a killer hangover) she notices some notifications which make her go numb.
Alison Dilaurentis accepted your friend request.
Alison Dilaurentis liked your status.
Alison Dilaurentis liked your photo.
What the hell happened last night?
Emily stumbles into the kitchen, in desperate need of water and aspirin. When she enters, it looks like Hanna had the same thought.
"Hey-"
"Jees- Em, don't shout." Hanna snaps, but barely - her voice is almost gone from all the shouting last night. She's wearing sunglasses and a hat, drinking a coffee.
"I need you to check my Facebook.." Emily tells her, getting straight to the point. Hanna's mouth falls open.
"Oh my God.. I forgot we did that." Hanna breathes out, gasping then giggling. Emily clenches her jaw and rubs her forehead again.
"What exactly did we do?" Emily asks, the impatience in her voice is heavy and Hanna obviously senses it when she pulls a silly face that says 'calm down'.
"Well.. You added Alison on Facebook." Hanna reveals - though this isn't the information Emily needs.
"Yeah, I remember that.. I mean, what happened next?" Emily pushes. Hanna shrugs, like it's not a big deal.
"You wrote a status. Hold on-" Hanna picks up her phone from the counter and looks for it - the next few seconds seem to drag.
"Ah, you said- I ham- you literally spelt ham by the way. I ham so trunk rit noo with mah brfl. And then you posted a picture of us. Oh my God, delete it, we look awful." Hanna begs, giving Emily a scolding look. Emily groans out loud and internally, knowing that Alison liked those posts.
Shortly after this, Emily spends the next hour vomitting and has to call in sick. Around three in the morning, Alison sends her a message.
Hey, didn't see you on the train tonight. I hope that you're not suffering too much, I ham looking forward to Thursday. :P
"I can't believe that you talked me into this." Spencer complains, entering the apartment. She stops abruptly at the hallway and covers her nose, disgusted.
"Wow, you really weren't lying when you said that it smells like a bar in here." Spencer adds.
"Where's Hanna?" She asks. Emily leads her to the living room, where Hanna lays down pathetically on a cushion on the floor, surrounded by mess. It makes Spencer gasp - she knew that it was going to be bad, but she didn't expect this. She shakes her head, disapprovingly.
"She's been like this since Monday." Emily reveals.
"Okay, time to get up Han." She orders lightly. When Hanna whines and sips her beer, instead of listen, she claps. The blonde glares at her.
"Seriously, Spence? It's not like I have anything else to do." Hanna points out. Spencer stares back blankly and blinks.
"You're not going to sit around everyday and get drunk. That's not happening." Spencer says sternly. Hanna looks back like a grumpy teenager who's parent just threatened to confiscate her phone.
"You're not my mother, Spencer. I'm twenty one years old, I can do whatever I want." She complains. Spencer scoffs and Emily awkwardly hovers as she watches their interaction.
"If you don't get up in the next ten seconds, I'll call your mother." Spencer threatens. That catches Hanna's attention - she considers it - and then shrugs.
"Okay, see if I care." She responds. Spencer waves her hands in the air, then rubs her temples. Luckily (thankfully) there's a knock on the door, giving Emily an excuse to leave the room; Hanna and Spencer arguments are ugly to be around. When she answers, she's relieved to see Aria on the other side of the door. She's smiling and holding a pie.
"I brought key-lime-" Aria begins.
"Hanna, give me the bottle!" Spencer yells from the other room, causing Aria to pause midsentence and eyes to widen slightly.
"Hanna still won't leave the apartment?" Aria guesses - Emily gives her a look that confirms this.
"Spencer, get off of me!-" Hanna yells. With a huff, Aria and Emily close the front door and join their friends. When they enter the room, the first thing they see is Spencer - on top of Hanna and pulling the bottle from her and Hanna throwing a tantrum. After a while, Hanna finally gives in, practically growling at Spencer - Emily's certain that Spencer jumps.
"Fine, you win. God." Hanna admits dramatically in defeat.
"Go take a shower, you smell like McDonalds and sweat." Spencer orders, causing Hanna to tut and breathe out again.
"Okay, God." Hanna leaves the room and Spencer looks around - visibly cringing at the mess.
"And you two, help me tidy up. I'm not having a movie night in this." Spencer demands, pointing at the mess. Aria and Emily exchange a look, deciding that it would be best to just get to it.
After an hour, the apartment is spotless and smells like lavender; Hanna is clean and smells like soap and Emily is having a meltdown - Alison is on her way and Emily finds herself cleaning the already squeaky clean surfaces. It gets too much that Aria of all people takes the cloth from her and orders her to sit down.
"Seriously Em, you need to take a breath." Aria tells her, taking a seat next to her.
"It's going to be just fine." She adds, with a reassuring smile that makes Emily feel less panicked.
"You're right- Sorry for being so- you know." Emily apologizes.
"Don't be, it's understandable." Aria tells her, nudging their shoulders against one another as comfort. Meanwhile, Hanna and Spencer are arguing over Netflix.
"No, Spence. We're not watching anything that requires reading." Hanna tells her, putting her foot down.
"Okay, then no Reese Witherspoon." Spencer compromises. Hanna considers it.
"Deal." They shake on it and continue scrolling through the movie section. Aria and Emily share another glance - Emily has a feeling that this is going to be a common occurrence tonight. When a ding echoes through the room, the girls all check their phones - Emily makes a mental note to change hers to avoid further confusion - It's Aria's phone.
"Alison's outside, I'm going to go get her." Aria tells the group. She gets up and leaves the room with her phone and Emily braces herself - it's difficult to do so when Hanna's doing that thing with her eyebrows and Spencer's smirking at her. After a couple of minutes, she hears the front door open, followed by muffled chatter and before she knows it - Alison and Aria are in the living room. The blonde has a plastic bag filled with what Emily guesses are supplies for tonight and she sheepishly greets everyone - then looks right at Emily. They smile at each other and Emily can feel herself giving her puppy eyes. Like last time, she knows this because of the way that her friends react; Hanna grinning, Aria tutting and Spencer rolling her eyes.
"Hi." Alison greets, walking over to her.
"Hey." Emily replies, clearing her throat as Alison sits down next to her on the couch. Alison starts emptying her bag; she pulls out a bag of popcorn, chocolate and D.E.B.S - the movie of the night.
"Let the movie night commence." Aria announces, grabbing the DVD from Alison and proceeding to set it up.
This is going to be a long night.
It takes them half an hour to set everything up, because Aria insisted on making everybody hot chocolate and Hanna ran to the store for booze, saying that 'it was a necessity'. Then, followed the great discourse of the evening - The seats; Hanna called dibs on the armchair (much to Spencer's dismay), Aria and Spencer are laying in a nest of cushions on the floor (that was the only compromise that Spencer agreed to) and Alison and Emily are sat together on the couch, overlooking the room. Finally, Spencer turns out the lights and Hanna clicks play.
"Oh my God, she's off Fast and Furious!" Hanna points out, pointing at the television in awe. Everyone internally groans, but Alison giggles, finding her reactions amusing - Emily giggles too, finding Alison's adorable.
"They really should listen to Max, she's the only one with any sense. It's obviously a trap!" Spencer yells.
"Doesn't Max kind of remind you of Spencer?" Alison whispers to Emily - she nods in response and they both let out breathy laughs.
"I heard that and I agree." Spencer speaks, gaining a laugh from Hanna. Aria doesn't though, her attention is solely on the film. A few minutes pass and Emily swears that as the film goes on, her and Alison seem to move closer to each other - currently, they're shoulder to shoulder and Emily suddenly forgets how to breathe - it takes her breath away, literally.
Ten minutes have passed and Amy and Lucy have run away together; meanwhile, Alison and Emily still sit shoulder to shoulder and Emily still struggles to breath due to it - it doesn't get any easier when she feels Alison's stare from the corner of her eye - it's hard to function. She doesn't know what to do with her hands, so she rests them on her thighs, fidgeting awkwardly. She dares to look at Alison - just once - and there's a smug smirk on her face. Emily's unsure why that is at first, but then she feels a hand slide over her thigh until they reach her own fumbling hand - stroking the palm with her thumb, them cupping it. Emily gasps, shocked by the contact, then eases into it. When she dares to look again, Alison looks right back with adoring eyes - the intensity has left them and this is purely Alison - to the core.
Another couple of minutes go by before Emily glances at her again - she can't comprehend why, she just has this urge to do so and when she does, Alison looks back again; she looks like she's considering something and in the two weeks Emily has known Alison, she has learned that the girl has never been very predictable - she always seems to do the unexpected, surprising Emily constantly. The blonde simply sighs, sits closer to her and leans her head on her shoulder - she doesn't doubt that Alison can hear her heart pound; but Alison continues to stroke the palm of her hand soothingly and Emily concludes that maybe, she could get used to this.
"I try to discover! A little something to make me sweeter!" Aria and Hanna sing, bopping their heads to the beat - Emily spots Spencer tapping her fingers to it too and she is now a hundred percent sure that she's loving the movie as much as everyone else in the room - it has Emily grinning widely. Meanwhile, Alison and Emily's fingers linked at some point, Emily's not to sure when (it was when Janet kicked Scud's ass). They've also started drinking the booze that Hanna bought earlier; vodka and lemonade, to be more specific. She's certain that this is a terrible idea, but right now? She doesn't care. She notices that this is another common occurrence around Alison.
"This movie's going in my top ten!" Hanna announces to the group and surprisingly? No one complains. Emily internally does so however, when Alison removes her embrace.
"What did you think?" Alison asks Emily.
"I loved it, the ending was nice. I can see why Lucy Diamond is your favorite." Emily comments. Alison's eyes wonder her face again - like the other day.
"Emily's a sucker for fairy tale endings." Spencer states. Everyone but Emily 'mhm's' and she shrugs - it's true.
"Yeah, she can't watch a movie with a shit ending.. Unless it's an action film." Hanna adds.
"Remember back in high school when-" Aria begins.
"Lalalala, don't even think about it, Montgomery." Emily warns. Aria responds with her hands raised in the air in surrender.
"What happened?" Alison asks curiously. Emily glares at her - for the first time. Alison laughs lightly.
"Nothing. Right guys?" Emily tells everyone. In unison, they all say 'yes maam' and have a sip of their drink.
"Man, can you believe that we finished high school three years ago?" Hanna points out. Aria shakes her head before speaking.
"Yeah, it's so weird- "
"It really is." Spencer sarcastically says, throwing a subtle dig at her dating Ezra; no one misses it.
"Hey, we're both consenting adults. It isn't weird." Aria defends.
"It's a bit weird." Emily adds quietly, having another sip. Everyone laughs, including Aria.
"Anyway, it just feels like a million years ago." Aria finishes. Everyone agrees.
"So does college." Alison adds, gaining a puzzled look from Aria.
"Ali, we graduated last year."
"I know, it just feels like- A lifetime ago." There's a sad truth to those words - Alison wanted to be teaching right about now, but instead, she's working in a diner. The world is cruel sometimes. After a beat, Hanna claps her hands.
"Okay, who wants some shots?"
Three reluctant shots from everybody but Hanna and Spencer (they were loving it), two beers each and a jager bomb later; it's safe to assume that everyone is a range from borderline tipsy (Hanna) to extremely pissed (Aria). Currently, they're nominating someone to go get more booze because now, this is apparently a party.
"I nominate Emily because she's the most sensible one." Aria says - Spencer gasps, offended.
"Excuse me, I have you know-" Spencer begins.
"Oh, okay- Do you want to go-"
"Not a hope in hell." Spencer finishes, causing everyone to giggle.
"I nominate Alison." Hanna suggests, doing that thing with her eyebrows - Emily wants to kick her. When everyone drunkenly attempts to decide and fail, Emily decides to take one for the team. She stands, like she's about to climb mount everest - it's very extra.
"My hero." Spencer gratefully says, grabbing her hand, then her purse. She pulls out thirty dollars and gives it to her.
"Get gin." Spencer orders - everyone groans, disgusted.
"No, get vodka." Hanna suggests instead.
"Just get whatever" Aria adds. She'll drink anything at this point.
"Okay, I'll be right back. Please don't break the apartment." Emily begs - surprisingly, their track record isn't so great and Aria's reputation proceeds her when she clumsily knocks over a lamp on cue. Luckily, it survived the fall.
"I will try not to." Aria says apologetically. Just as she's about to leave, Alison gets up.
"I'll go with you." She offers, with a small smile.
"You don't have to-"
"I want to." Alison finishes. She's becoming predictable. The blonde messes Aria's hair like she's a puppy, then leaves the room and of course - they have something to say.
"Alison and Emily sitting in a tree-" Hanna's singing gets cut short when Emily throws a pillow at her face. Not today.
They take a shortcut through the woods - because clearly, they're sensible adults. She can just imagine the lecture Spencer will give them when they return and of the 'dangers of Rosewood'. It's nothing compared to Ravenswood though, in Emily's opinion - that place is freaky. Alison and Emily have been walking for a few minutes, keeping the chatter to the minimum. This isn't out of sheer awkwardness, it's mainly due to the fact that as soon as she set foot outside, the effect of the alcohol hit her, hard. She's struggling to walk straight - she notices Alison struggle to do the same.
"Ugh, I need to sit down." Alison reveals, looking for the closest spot. When she sees a rock, she stumbles over to it and sits, with Emily following her lead.
"You okay?" Emily asks, concerned. She kneels in front of Alison, looking up at her for a beat.
"Yeah. Yeah, the alcohol just- hit me as soon as went outside. I need a moment." Alison explains, Emily nods, moving next to her - they sit shoulder to shoulder again.
"I'm glad that I'm not the only one." They sit there in a blissful silence, enjoying each others company - occasionally asking each other if they're okay and stealing glances at one another - then the atmosphere changes, it becomes more charged. It begins with Emily letting out a breathy laugh.
"What is it?" Emily wonders, looking at her; Alison looks around her, as if she's reminiscing and then - she's looking right at her with a glint in her eye.
"This- this is the kissing rock." Alison reveals, laughing again and it makes Emily's heart race.
"What's the kissing rock?" She responds quietly, physically unable to speak louder all of the sudden. Alison's face edges closer, so that they're barely an inch apart - there's a mischievous look in her eye as she speaks.
"Legend has it; people have been sneaking off there for hundreds of years." Alison begins, looking directly in her eyes - it makes Emily feel tingly and overwhelmed - she can feel her breath on her as she speaks.
"You go there with somebody and you can feel the ghosts of the other lovers spying on you pushing you to do it." She adds, licking her lips - then leaning back slightly.
"I remember coming here when I was seventeen, with Noel Kahn, ugh. I remember him saying to me 'you should never disappoint a ghost'. Well, I was very disappointed." Alison tells her, looking around her again.
"It was the worst, bleh." She finishes. Emily has no words - just a sudden surge of want, determination and eagerness. It's a split second decision - one that could end whatever the hell this is - but possibly one that will begin it, for real. She exhales a shaky breath - places a hand behind Alison's neck and smashes their lips together - Alison quickly reciprocates it, her hands ending up in Emily's hair, her tongue poking the entrance of Emily's mouth with her tongue which Emily accepts eagerly. A shiver slides up her entire body, working it's way up like a current. They kiss and they kiss and they kiss, until they both pull away breathlessly, still holding each other.
"How was that?" Emily breathes out, shocked at herself for being able to say anything, let alone that.
"The best." Alison whispers, looking at Emily with hooded eyes. Emily goes to kiss her again, but is sadly interrupted when Alison's phone rings. They don't move an inch when she answers, they lean their foreheads against each other as she speaks.
"Hey Aria- Yeah- Okay. Bye." When Alison hangs up, they both chuckle.
"Ah, she wants us to grab more beer and vodka." Alison explains. Emily nods, then gulps.
"So- That was interesting." Alison points out, running her fingers through Emily's hair.
"Yeah, it was." Emily agrees, still in awe that she kissed her. She always thought that it would be the other way around, she shocked herself.
"We should get going, before drunk Hanna comes looking for us." Emily warns her. With a nod, they pull apart and Alison walks ahead, stopping for a moment. It puzzles Emily briefly, but then Alison extends her hand out, an invitation for Emily to hold it as they walk - it makes her heart jump and she knows for certain now, that she's got it bad.
