"What about him?" Spencer pointed, her finger leading to a skinny baseball player. "Eric?" Alison scoffed, "no, definitely not. He's a stoner. Your'e not into that, right, Em?" Alison questioned.

Emily was sandwiched between Spencer and Alison as the two girls were scanning the party in front of them. The trio had spent the last fifteen minutes offering guy options to Emily, but the brunette had turned down each one. No one had even slightly caught her interest.

"There's got to be somebody," Spencer sighed in defeat. Alison placed her hand on Emily's lower back and softly rubbed the spot, "she doesn't have to find someone here." Emily looked at Alison with a smile, feeling her fingers rub against her back through her shirt.

"But hopefully she will soon," Alison said, pulling her hand away from Emily's back. The brunette yet again frowned at the loss of Alison's touch. The blonde turned back to the party and spotted a tall tan guy with a big smile. Alison pointed, "what about him."

Emily followed Alison's gaze as it landed upon a guy she knew. He swam with her. He was on the swimming team. In fact he was the best in his men's division. "Ben?" Emily asked, eyeing Ben as he laughed with two of his teammates.

"Yeah, Ben Coogan? Isn't that his name?" Alison questioned. Emily nodded, "yeah, that's him. He's on the swim team with me." Alison's lips turned into a upward smirk, "varsity or JV?" Emily watched as been took another sip of his drink, "varsity."

"He's one of the best in the school," Spencer commented, "apparently he's ranked in the state."

"Perfect," Alison replied, "that's what you need. Someone like him. He's a good guy and he's good at swimming. Do we know anything else about him?" Spencer raked her brain for memory, but she couldn't think of anything else. "He hangs out with the guy's swim team, I think, that's all I know."

Alison brought her eyes back to Emily, "so.. what do you think?" Emily kept her gaze on Ben. He was cute she guesses. I mean he definitely wasn't ugly. He was tall, toned, and tan. He had a great smile and he was pretty good at swimming. He was always polite as far as Emily could tell from practices and meets. But Emily didn't know if she wanted to date Ben. She didn't really feel anything when she looked at him. Was she supposed to?

Alison's hand fell on Emily's arm, causing her to drop from her thoughts, "Em?" Emily flashed her eyes to Alison, "I-I don't know. He's okay but—," Spencer butted in, "Emily, he's a total sweetheart and he's cute! You two would be the cutest sophomore couple at Rosewood."

Emily tried to think positive thoughts. Alison and Spencer were the two Emily trusted the most. Alison seemed to know just about everything and Spencer did know just about everything, and they both wanted her to talk to Ben so it couldn't be that bad, right? Maybe she just wasn't seeing what they were seeing yet.

With the alcohol still flooding her blood, Emily quickly talked herself into it, "okay, I'll talk to him." Alison smiled and Spencer clapped. "Want me to go with you?" Alison offered, "I can be your wing woman." Emily shook her head. She would feel way more nervous if Alison was there rather than doing it alone. Alison always made her nervous. The thought of flirting in front of Alison scared Emily half to death.

"I can do it alone," Emily replied, not so confident. "Are you sure?" Spencer asked, "I could go if you're nervous." Emily shook her head yet again, "no, it's okay. I've got it."

Emily took a daring step alone without her friends towards Ben. She had better do it now while she had the confidence before it all slipped away faster than it arrived. The brunette didn't look back once as she approached Ben. She was nervous, but the buzz she had made her think she would be okay. She hoped at least.

"Hey, Ben," Emily said, standing in front of Ben and her other two teammates. Ben looked at Emily with a surprised smile, "Emily, hey. What's up? I'm surprised to see you out."

Alison watched in the distance how Emily went and talked to Ben. The blonde was truly surprised at her courage. Emily was always so timid and nervous but gone was that girl and there was a bold one.

The conversation between Ben and Emily had seemed to flow so naturally. Alison couldn't bring her eyes away. Emily looked like she was having a decent time talking to Ben. Alison should have been happy for Emily, but instead she felt a weird, negative pull.

Alison figured she was just being too protective over the brunette. She didn't want to see Emily get hurt, especially by the first person that she could show real interest in. The blonde watched as Emily laughed and Ben smiled. Wow. They really did seem to be connecting.

Alison frowned. Usually Alison was the only one who could make Emily smile the way she was now. When Emily's dimple showed, it was usually just reserved for Alison, but as Alison watched Emily's dimple appear in her cheek, the blonde couldn't help but to feel a bit jealous. Alison was so used to Emily being practically all hers. What if she loses Emily to Ben? What if she just lost her best friend's attention to some guy on the swim team?

Alison started walking forward to head towards Emily and Ben when a hand grabbed her arm. "What are you doing?" Spencer asked, pulling Alison back, "don't interrupt them. That's our code remember? Only if she starts coughing do we interrupt them. She looks like she's having a great time."

Alison wanted to roll her eyes. The code that the five girls had made up was when one of them was talking to a guy alone, if they started coughing, it was a sign of "send help, this guy is awful." It had been used a few times by each girl but Hanna and Emily, mainly because those were the two to never talk to guys alone.

Spencer let go of Alison's arm as she saw Aria walk by with Noel. Aria gave Alison and Spencer a huge grin as Noel was holding her hand and walking her through the house. "Where do you think they're going?" Spencer laughed. Alison hadn't even seen Aria and Noel walk by because she was too busy with her gaze fixed on Emily and Ben. How long was she going to talk to him?!

"I need a drink," Alison stated, walking towards the kitchen with Spencer following behind of her.

#####

"Thanks for the ride, Noel," Aria smiled, leaning into Noel's driver's side window. Alison, Spencer, Emily and Hanna were walking to Spencer's door to get inside. "No problem," Noel replied. Aria leaned more into the window to kiss Noel goodnight before leaving to enter Spencer's house.

When the girls got inside, Spencer locked the door behind them. It was just after midnight, so Spencer was coming home just after her curfew. "Who's sleeping in the guest room tonight?" the brunette asked as the girls quietly made their way up Spencer's steps.

"Definitely me," Alison replied first, "you know I need to sleep in a bed." Aria grabbed Spencer's arm and Spencer nodded. Usually Spencer and Aria always slept together, Emily and Alison slept together, and Hanna would either crash on a couch, or wiggle herself in with one of the duos.

"Hanna you are not sleeping with me tonight," Alison commented, "I am not having you keep me up all night talking about Sean. You can sleep with Emily and listen to her talk about Ben." Emily darted her dark eyes to Alison. Why did she say Ben's name like that? Like it was poison? And was Alison drunk?

"I wanted to sleep in a bed tonight," Emily pouted. "Yeah, Ali, why don't you give me and Em the bed and you can sleep on the couch," Hanna remarked. The girls filed into Spencer's room. Spencer could tell that Alison was a bit tipsy. She had been with the blonde as she downed two cups of a strong mixed drink.

"I can make you a pallet on my floor Han and listen to you and Aria talk to me about the two new boys in your life," Spencer offered, "it's not like I have an exciting hot romance. I can live vicariously through you two." Hanna and Aria laughed as Spencer pulled out blankets and extra pillows from her closet.

Alison picked up her small travel bag to leave, "are you coming, Em? Or are you staying to talk about your exciting hot romance, too?" Emily didn't understand why Alison was acting so weird, but she grabbed her bag and followed the blonde anyway.

"Goodnight," Emily said to the three girls left in Spencer's room. "Hey, Em?" Hanna asked quickly, grabbing Emily's attention for a second before she left. Emily looked at Hanna and waited for a continuation. "Don't let her bring you down. You deserve to be really happy and excited about your first crush," Hanna smiled. Emily returned a smile to Hanna.

The blonde always knew what to say to Emily if no one else did. Hanna seemed air headed sometimes, but if you around her enough, you'd see that she was much more intelligent than she seemed on the surface.

Emily walked out of Spencer's room to go next door to the guest room. When she walked in her mouth dropped in surprise as her eyes fell on a bare backed Alison. The blonde was turned away from Emily, shirtless. Emily's eyes ran over Alison's sun kissed skin as the blonde reached up to slid a shirt down her arms, falling down her body.

Emily's mouth shut once Alison's t-shirt was on and she was covered up. The blonde turned around to see Emily standing in the door frame, "are you coming in?" Emily walked in the door and shut it behind of her, locking it.

Silently Emily changed into cotton shorts and a tank top for bed. Emily's mind was fixed on how the blonde wasn't wearing a bra and how short her shorts were. Alison was so confident with her body, and rightfully so. She had such a great body. She was so unflawed in each and every place. Emily could only dream to be that sure of herself one day.

The mood in the room was so strange. Usually Alison would be running her mouth a mile a minute about her night and how one girl's dress was hideous or how a guy hit on her and all she wanted to do was run but tonight the blonde stayed silent.

Emily slipped into bed with Alison and faced the opposite way from the blonde. Things were so weird.

"Do you like him?" Alison finally said, breaking the silence in the room. Emily turned her body towards Alison to look at her, "it was nice. He wants to go to a movie in a few days. We exchanged numbers."

Alison turned towards Emily in the bed now, "are you going to go out with him?" Emily brought her eyes to Alison's. There was something uneasy resting in the blonde's eyes. Emily hadn't seen it before. She tried to ignore it and keep the conversation going. Maybe she was just acting like this because she was tipsy. "Should I? I mean, it's okay, right? Like just going to a movie?" Emily asked. Alison narrowed her blue eyes at the brunette, "if you like him, go for it." Alison's voice was flat with no support at all.

Emily didn't reply, she just broke her eye contact with Alison. She didn't know how to handle her at the moment. She was acting so different. Something was definitely off with her. Emily brought her eyes back to Alison and opened her mouth to say something when her mouth went dry. Alison was looking back at Emily with a look that made Emily's stomach pull in that way again. That happy feeling that felt good.

The way Alison was looking at Emily made the brunette's hair on the back of her neck stand up. Alison was so focused on Emily, her eyes big and round with her pupils so small that Emily was looking back into nothing but blue. Alison's gaze wasn't hard like it had been earlier. It was calm and Emily could have sworn it was needing. Like Alison needed Emily to say or do something. Like she was waiting for something.

Alison's eyes dropped down to Emily's lips. Emily had great lips. They looked so soft. Alison wondered if Ben noticed Emily's lips. What if Ben kissed those lips?

The blonde brought her eyes back up to Emily's, "did you kiss him?" Emily was so caught off guard by the question she almost didn't respond. "No, we just talked," the brunette quietly replied. Emily hadn't even had her first kiss yet. She was the only one out of all of her friends who hadn't.

Her brown eyes took in Alison again. Emily wondered about Alison's first kiss. She was twelve and she kissed the hottest guy in seventh grade. His name was Ryan and he was so beautiful. Every girl drooled over him the way guys drool over Alison. Ryan and Alison even dated for a while before Ryan moved away in eighth grade.

Emily wondered how Ryan kissed Alison. Was it slow and sweet or hot and steamy? Did Alison like it or was it sloppy? Emily couldn't help but to wonder how Alison kissed him back. The blonde was probably a great kisser. Alison was so good with guys. She was so good at everything. Kissing Alison was probably the best kiss of his life, even now.

"You still haven't kissed anyone have you?" Alison asked, her voice more delicate now. Emily was shocked yet again by Alison's question. "No," Emily answered in a small voice. The brunette was truthfully embarrassed about being the only one of her friends who hadn't kissed anyone yet. It made her feel like she wasn't good enough, like no one could like her.

The room filled with empty silence again. Alison kept tipsy eyes on Emily as the brunette looked back at the blonde. Emily's buzz had started to wear off, but Alison's was still lingering. The feeling in Alison's body was almost electric and whatever this tension was between the two girls only made it feel stronger.

"Do you want Ben to be your first kiss?" Alison asked curiously. "I-I don't know. I haven't really thought about it. Should he be?" Emily replied, her brown eyes now nervous. Thinking about kissing Ben didn't give her butterflies, it gave her a quick dose of panic. She hadn't even thought about kissing Ben. She just liked hanging out with him.

"Your first kiss should be with someone who's important to you, Em. Someone who makes you happy," Alison started, "I want your first kiss to be special." Emily tucked a strand of dark hair behind her own ear. Was Ben special enough to be her first kiss? She really didn't even like Ben like that. And Ben didn't really make her happy, he was just cool to talk to.

"I don't know anyone that makes me happy," Emily shyly said. The brunette felt like such a loser. Alison had already had her first kiss and kissed multiple boys. She was a pro and Emily was such a rookie. "I don't even know if I know how to kiss," Emily admitted with a frown.

A small laugh escaped Alison's mouth, "you're so cute sometimes." Emily returned a laugh in response, reaching out and playfully nudging Alison's shoulder, "it's not funny!" Alison giggled harder, "it is pretty funny." Emily laughed and scooted closer to Alison, pushing herself up as she pushed the blonde's shoulder again, "shut up!"

A smirk wiped across Alison's lips, "make me." Suddenly the mood in the room changed drastically. Emily felt that feeling pull again in a funny place between her legs. Emily was so close to Alison that she could see her freckles on her nose. The blonde's smirk slowly fell as her eyes looked down at Emily's lips.

"Em?," Alison nearly whispered. The brunette stayed in place, she was too struck to move. "Can I be your first kiss?," Alison asked, the words dripping from her drunken mouth. Emily's body felt like it caught fire.

Alison was so gentle with Emily. She usually didn't care about other people's feelings, but God Emily made her so soft and full of emotion. It took the blonde a few seconds to realize what exactly she just said. All at once Alison became nervous, which is something she never was. The blonde started to try to defend herself, "I just don't want y-you to kiss someone and not be ready or not know how to," Alison stuttered. Her blue eyes were dancing frantically between Emily's brown one's, looking for the brunette to respond.

Alison was just being a good friend, right? Just was just looking out for Emily so that when Emily does kiss Ben it can be good.. I mean that would be her first true real kiss, wouldn't it, with Ben? Alison tried to convince herself over and over again that she was just doing this for Emily, but for some reason she couldn't even buy her own pitch.

Emily's head was spinning. Alison DiLaurentis just offered to kiss her as her first kiss. Emily didn't understand why she was so happy or what that feeling between her legs was, but all she could do was nod her head. "Y-yeah," Emily finally replied.

Alison reached up with one hand and cupped Emily's face. "It's simple," the blonde softly stated. "I'm going to bring your face to mine, close my eyes, and kiss you. The rest should come naturally, okay?" Alison said, her eyes filled with such love as she looked at Emily.

Emily could only nod, she didn't trust herself to speak. Alison slowly pulled Emily's face down to hers. The blonde closed her eyes and less than a second later her lips met soft skin.

Oh my God. The brunette had never felt this feeling before. This was powerful. This was something. This was everything.

Emily's hand went on autopilot as it found Alison's hip. The brunette was leaning over the blonde, her lips pressed against Alison's. Emily was so lost in the moment that she didn't notice how Alison's other hand had found her own hip until the blonde's fingers made contact with Emily's bare skin.

Alison was right, this was so natural. Emily moved her lips against Alison's with such grace that Emily could have sworn she was made to kiss Alison. The brunette could taste a bit of alcohol on Alison's lips, but she didn't care. This was by far Emily's favorite moment of her entire life. She was sure that this was the moment she became alive and truly started living.

Alison knew that she should have broken the kiss, that she completed her goal, but she couldn't. Not when Emily was so good and felt even better. This was different than kissing a boy. The boys Alison kissed either kissed too hard or were too sloppy. But Emily was perfect, even on her first try.

Emily pulled her head back for one second to reposition her arm when Alison leaned forward and followed the brunette's lips. The momentum changed. Alison was now leaning forward as Emily was leaning back and the brunette laid back on the bed now as Alison leaned over her.

The blonde picked herself up as Emily's hands pulled Alison closer to her. Without realizing it, Emily was pulling Alison on top of her. The blonde absentmindedly followed Emily's lead. Alison shifted one leg over Emily's center and placed her hands on both sides of the brunette's face. Emily's hands rested on Alison's hips as the brunette melted her lips with Alison's over and over again.

If kissing felt this good, Emily never wanted to go a day in her life without kissing someone ever again. Alison quickly pulled her lips from Emily's when she heard a knock on the door. The blonde scrambled off of Emily and onto the other side of the bed when the door cracked open, reveling Hanna with a bag of crunchy Cheetos in her hand.

"Are you two asleep?" Hanna whispered into the room. Alison was still trying to catch her breath so Emily shakily took over, "uh, no, Han, we're up." Hanna opened the door fully and smiled, "great because none of us can sleep and we're about to pop in a movie downstairs in Spencer's room. Wanna join? It's Mean Girls and Spencer is making salsa for her chips!"

The brunette let out a breath of air as she was trying to catch her own breath. She had just made out with Alison for at least a solid minute and talking right after being interrupted was way harder than it should have been. Emily forced a smile, "y-yeah, we'll be down in a minute."

Hanna shut the door and Alison stayed quite as she heard Hanna's footsteps make her way down the stairs. The blonde was almost too scared to even look at Emily. What in the hell had just gotten into her?

"Ali, I—,"

"That was great practice, Em. You're going to be just fine with Ben," Alison quickly cut in. A disappointed look splattered across of Emily's face. And for some reason it stung Alison to even see it.

Emily didn't say another word. Alison watched Emily as the brunette collected herself from the bed and threw on a t-shirt to cover up more to head downstairs. Somehow Emily managed to look perfect. Her dark hair didn't have a strand out of place even after she and Alison had just literally rolled around in bed. Alison was in awe at Emily's natural beauty. Even the way the moonlight reflected off of the tan girl made her look so angelic.

Alison tore her eyes away from Emily. She had to stop. Whatever was going on had to end. Alison DiLaurentis was not soft, nor did she think anyone was as beautiful as she was. I mean, she was Alison. The Alison.

The blonde pulled herself out of bed and quickly looked in the mirror on the wall to catch her reflection. Alison truly was just about perfect. She looked just as flawless as Emily did rolling out of bed. The blonde tossed her curls back and looked at Emily, but the brunette was already gone.