A/N: Hey guys, I'm gonna keep this short cause I have the worst headache right now, but I wanted to get this up for the weekend. I hope you like it. Review it, let me know what you think. See you all next week.

It took Emily a few minutes to gather herself from her spot on the sidewalk. Her entire walk home was consumed by Alison's words. It doesn't change how I feel about you. What did that even mean? Did Alison mean that it didn't change their friendship at all and being gay was no big deal in her eyes? Or did it mean that Alison had feelings for her and that was her subtle way of letting Emily know? She was so caught up in her own head that she didn't even realized she had walked right past the apartment complex where her and her mom shared a 2 bedroom space.

Sighing, she backtracked and headed up to the second floor and into the apartment. Her mom was working all day, so she was alone in the empty space with just her thoughts. She decided that she needed to go for a run to clear her head and had enough time before she needed to meet Alison at the station. By the time she returned from her run about an hour later, however, her mind was more consumed by the blonde than before. She couldn't believe that she had finally come out to Alison. She's come out so many time before, but this was different for some reason. She had run past Rosewood High and those memories came flooding back. She remembered all the homophobic slurs and crude comments she received. She remembered one time in particular that had hurt her more than most.

It had been a little over 3 weeks since school started. Spencer, Aria and Hanna hadn't really been around much, making their own groups of friends and having their own things going on. Emily hated how it felt like her group of friends was falling apart. She had started to make a good friend on the swim team, though. Her name was Paige McCullers and she was a very good swimmer. She and Emily always competed for the top spot on the team, but the competition was always friendly. There was never any animosity towards each other, always congratulations and words of encouragement. One day, Emily and Paige were the last ones in the locker room after swim practice. Emily was drying her hair after showering when Paige came up from behind her.

"You did really great today, Em."

Emily smiled as she turned around. "Thanks, Paige. You did great out there, too."

Paige took a step closer, brushing a stray piece of hair behind Emily's ear. "You know, you look really beautiful when you're swimming. Gliding through the water like its second nature to you. You really are amazing, Em. Not just as a swimmer, but as a person, too."

A blush appeared on Emily's cheeks. "Thanks, Paige, I-" But before she could get any more out, Paige leaned forward and kissed her gently on the lips. Emily had never felt anything like it before. The fullness of her lips and the feeling of her soft hand gently placed on her cheek. She pulled back slightly to look at Paige. Everything about that moment felt right. Emily knew in that moment that no guy would make her feel this way. She smiled and leaned back in to kiss Paige again.

Once their kiss broke, Paige pulled back and asked with a smile, "Would you, maybe, like to go grab something to eat sometime with me?"

Emily smiled back. "I would love to! I can't tonight though, I have a ton of math homework I need to do."

"Ok, that's fine. Sometime soon though, right?" Paige was incredibly shy in the moment, looking like she was afraid Emily was blowing her off.

"Absolutely! 'Night Paige! I'll see you tomorrow." Emily's grin was ear to ear, she could barely contain her excitement in that moment.

"'Night, Em."

And with that, Emily was left alone in the locker room with a smile that wouldn't fade. She quickly finished getting dressed and headed home. She finished all her homework and decided to get to bed early, both exhausted from the tough practice that afternoon and excited to see Paige the next day.

However, as soon as she stepped into school the next day, she wanted nothing more than to run home and crawl back into bed. As she walked by kids in the hall, she noticed that a lot of people were whispering around her. She thought that maybe she was being paranoid, but by the time she made it to her locker after 2nd period, she knew that she wasn't. Someone had put a note on her locker with only the word "DYKE" written across it. She quickly ripped it down, but it was too late. Too many kids had already seen it and were laughing at it. She slammed her fist against the locker and went to leave when she turned around straight into Noel Kahn.

"Woah, Fields! Where you rushing off to?" He said with an evil smile on his face.

"Get out of my way, Noel!" Emily just wanted to get away but Noel was blocking her way. She try to side step him, but he moved again to block her way. She could see Alison DiLaurentis a couple lockers down, watching the whole encounter with Jenna at her side.

"You're upset about the note? It's true though, isn't it? I mean, everyone knows about your locker room secrets."

Emily's mouth felt suddenly dry. "What are you talking about?"

"What? You didn't know about the video? Oh yeah, that sweet little kiss you and McCullers shared last night? Someone got it on video and emailed it out to the whole school."

He laughed the most evil laugh Emily had heard. He grated on her very last nerve and her head felt like it was beginning to spin. She felt her knees almost buckle and she had to muster everything in side of her not to just collapse right then and there.

"Maybe next time, make sure you really are all alone before you start making out like a lez in the open!" He sauntered over to Alison and put his arm around her shoulders and guided her down the hall. Alison looked back at her and she locked eyes with Emily for a second before turning her head and walking away with Noel.

She couldn't believe what had just happened. Someone saw them last night? She thought that they were alone. How could a moment that felt so right, cause her so much pain? She looked around her and noticed that a crowd had begun to form around her interaction with Noel. She looked up and saw Paige standing off to the side of the crowd looking on. Instantly, her feelings flipped and she felt nothing but seething rage. Towards Noel, towards Alison, towards her friends for not being there, but especially, towards Paige. Did Paige know that someone was in there? How dare she kiss her and allow someone to tape it and send it to the whole school! She got up and headed straight for Paige. Paige saw her and immediately turned and tried to walk away. Emily was too quick though.

"You did this!" Emily screamed in Paige's face. "This is all your fault!"

"Emily, I didn't know!" Paige pleaded with Emily. But Emily wasn't having any of it.

"Shut up! I never want to see you again!" Emily shouted as she shoved Paige out of the way and made her way into the bathroom where she found the last stall and locked herself in it. She climbed up onto the toilet and she let her tears fall. She was shaking with anger and hurt. How could this all have happened? Everything felt so good last night when she went to bed. She had such hope that things would finally start to look up for her at this school. She felt alone in that moment. She spent the next hour in the stall, hiding away from everything swirling around her. Her tears had started to dry up when she heard the door open and two sets of heels click on the floor and head over towards the sink. She recognized Mona's voice instantly.

"Did you see her face?! It was priceless!" Jenna said as she laughed. Emily moved her head slightly to peek through the crack in the door and could see Jenna and Alison standing in front of the sink, primping in the mirror before lunch.

"Yeah" Alison said half-heartedly

She saw Jenna lean forward and put a new coat of lipstick on. "Oh come in, the lez got what she deserved! That first day, what happened between you two? You didn't want people thinking you were like her, did you? I mean, you have a reputation to uphold. You can't have people thinking that you're a carpet muncher now too!"

Emily retreated farther into the corner of the stall at Jenna's question to Alison. She craned her neck to peek back through the crack and saw Alison with a look of almost defeat on her face. "No, I guess not," she said sullenly. She glanced over to Jenna when something caught her eye in the mirror. For a second time that day, Alison locked on to those brown eyes that belonged to the brunette that she really just wanted to protect. Emily knew that Alison could see her cowering in the corner of the bathroom stall and she wondered if she could see the tears brimming at the bottoms of her eyes. She thought that she could see a look of guilt and sadness on Alison's face for just a split second and it made her feel a hundred times worse about this whole thing. She just didn't understand it at all. She held her breath until she heard Alison murmur that she was hungry and she grabbed Jenna by the arm and dragged her out of the bathroom. Once she heard the door shut and the bathroom was quiet again, Emily let new tears flow down her cheeks.

Emily remembered how she had gone home from school early that day with the excuse that she wasn't feeling well and ran to her room and shut herself in until she had cried herself to sleep. She was woken up by a knock on her bedroom door and her father's voice asking if he could come in because he needed to talk to her. She tried her best to hide her emotions, but she never could, especially not from him. He knew there was something wrong and she eventually blurted out how much she hated that school and never wanted to go back. It was then that he told her about being transferred to Texas and how they would be moving in a few weeks. He asked her if she could hold on just a little while longer and she promised him that she would.

Life was hard when she had first moved to Texas. With everything that had happened with Paige, she was so afraid of anyone finding out about what she might be. She was even afraid to admit it to herself. So she denied her feelings for any girls and even tried dating a few guys. One guy in particular, Ben, caught her attention for about 8 months. He was also a swimmer and they started dating a little ways into junior year. Everyone thought they were the "it" couple, but she had to break up with him when he started getting more aggressive about pushing her to take their relationship farther than making out. Emily wasn't comfortable with that and she knew why, she just didn't want anyone to find out and have her life here be ruined like back in Rosewood. So she stopped dating after that and focused on swimming and getting a scholarship to a D-1 college.

Sighing, Emily grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, a protein bar and an apple before heading into her room. She was debating whether or not to cancel on Alison tonight. She knew that the Alison that she had gotten to know over the last month or more definitely was not the same girl from high school, but Emily had to admit to herself that those memories still hurt like hell. She felt like she just needed to work through them. She grabbed her phone and went to the messages tab before finding Alison's conversation thread. She saw that she had a message from the blonde that she hadn't noticed until just then. A smile appeared as she read Alison's sweet words.

Thank you for opening yourself up to me. I know it couldn't have been easy and I know how much pain I inflicted on you in high school, but I PROMISE you that I will never hurt you like that again. X –Ali

You are an amazing person, Em. Never forget that :) X –Ali

Emily felt her eyes welling up with tears before she allowed them to flow freely. She had been so scared and nervous earlier in the day and now the floodgates holding in her emotions were opened. This was definitely not the same girl from high school. Then a thought hit her square in the chest like a ton of bricks: was Ali like that in high school because she liked me too? With the way Alison had been flirting with her, it would make sense. Plus, it would put what she said this morning into perspective. Emily decided that she and Alison definitely needed to clear the air. She quickly typed out a reply.

Thank you, Ali X –Em

I'll see you at 3:45 sharp! ;) X –Ali

Wouldn't miss it for the world ;) X –Em

Emily's sprits were definitely lifted and she stripped out of her running clothes before heading into her bathroom to shower and get ready for her whatever-it-was with Alison. After she showered, she decided to throw on a pair of dark grey dress pants with a turquoise button down with the sleeves rolled up to just below her elbows. She decided to leave her hair down but curled the ends slightly for just a little extra body. She then did a smoky eye and put some blush on her cheeks before grabbing her lip gloss, throwing it in her clutch and then heading out towards the train station.

She had gotten there around 3:40, not wanting to leave Alison waiting and she was relieved to see that the blonde hadn't arrived yet. She went to the kiosk and purchased tickets to Philadelphia on the 4:00 train and headed back towards the entrance to wait for Alison. Emily was beginning to get antsy when she looked at her phone and the time read 3:49. She knew Alison was extremely punctual, so she was nervous that she was being stood up. But the last time they had talked, all had seemed fine between the two. Emily debated sending Alison a message when she noticed the blonde walking into the station.

Emily's breath caught in her throat. Alison looked gorgeous. She was wearing a yellow, knee-length dress with a white cardigan over it and matching heels. Her hair was down and curled in wide curls that fell well below her shoulders. Her makeup made her look radiant. Alison was heading towards her and Emily's eyes flickered down to her bare legs. Alison noticed Emily's gawking and cleared her throat before finally stopping right in front of the brunette.

"Hey," Alison said with a smirk on her face.

"Hey, I was starting to think you were ditching me," Emily said in a teasing tone as she handed Alison her ticket.

"Sorry, I couldn't find the right outfit to wear tonight. It seems like none of my clothes fit me right these days," Alison said apologetically. "You should see my bed right now, I think my entire closet is laying out on it," she continued with a laugh.

Emily gave a chuckle of her own before adding "you look beautiful" with a blush and a shy smile.

"Thank you, so do you," Alison added with her own shy smile.

A silence fell between them as they waited for the train, which was due to arrive within the next couple of minutes.

Alison broke the silence first. "So I was thinking that maybe we could grab dinner before we head to the play? By the time we get to Philly we'll have about 2 hours until we need to head over to the theater."

"Sounds fantastic! Did you have anywhere in mind?" Emily inquired.

"Actually, I know of this really great French place a few blocks from the theater. Would French be ok with you?"

"A Parisian experience with you would be perfectly acceptable." As Emily spoke, the train pulled up to the platform.

"Good," Alison said as she slipped her arm through Emily's and they boarded the train arm in arm.