Alison knocked on the door to Emily's bedroom, former guest room. It'd been a little over a week since the brunette had moved in there. Their relationship since had taken a turn like Alison hadn't been able to anticipate. Before it'd felt as though they were constantly tip toeing around each other. Having a space of their own changed that. Alison appreciated being able to talk to Emily without feeling like she was forcing her to do so. She also enjoyed how much more comfortable Emily seemed. She no longer looked burdened or constantly stressed out. Alison knows now that their indecision was part of the reason Emily had felt that way.

"Come in," Emily said after a beat.

Alison opened the door and walked into the bedroom. She saw Emily standing in front of her mirror putting some makeup on.

"Hanna called. She was wondering how long it'll be before we head out. She said something about dragging you out of here," Alison relayed. She watched Emily roll her eyes and laugh lowly while combing her fingers through her hair. Emily then moved towards Alison and stopped when she was directly in front of her.

"I'm ready," Emily said with a smile. Alison's eyes roamed Emily from top to bottom, slowly taking her in. She would've felt guilty about doing so a week ago. But at this point she shamelessly checked Emily out. When she looked back up she saw Emily biting her lip.

"You look great," Alison breathed. Her fingers reached up to twirl one of the curls in Emily's hair. She remembers a time long ago when Emily might've pulled away from her touch, but this time Emily closed her eyes and reveled in it. When her eyes opened Alison saw a crinkle at the corners of them as she smiled.

"You do too," Emily responded inching closer to Alison whose gaze fell to her lips.

"Thanks." Alison bit her lip and also took a step closer. This new dynamic of theirs not only thrilled her, it also made her incredibly nervous. In the best way.

"We should probably go," Emily said softly, eyes also dipping to Alison's lips.

"Yeah probably," Alison agreed, although neither of them actually made a move to leave just yet. Instead they continued gravitating closer. "Unless there's something we're forgetting."

"There might be," Emily answered with a wry smile.

"Like what?" Alison placed a hand on Emily's chest, slowly tracing shapes with her fingers. She smiled when she saw Emily's eyes close yet again. She doubted she'd ever get over this feeling. The rush of being able to touch Emily this way.

Emily's answer came in the form of her lips pressing against Alison's. Alison leaned into Emily's body and cupped her cheeks. Emily's arms wrapped around her waist and Alison parted her lips slightly to deepen the kiss. Their lips glided together lazily but no less passionate than what Alison felt coursing through her.

"I knew it! I told Spencer you guys couldn't keep it in your pants."

Alison sighed softly with eyes closed as their lips parted. Emily chuckled and bumped her nose against Alison's before moving to acknowledge Hanna.

"Hi, Hanna," Emily snarked playfully. Hanna scoffed with hands on her hips.

"I wasn't kidding, Ali. Spencer's mom is driving us crazy going on and on about all this baby talk. I can't take it anymore," Hanna groaned.

"Sorry," Alison shrugged, "we got distracted." She glanced at Emily with a grin.

"Clearly," Hanna agreed.

"We were already on or way. Probably would be there now if you hadn't interrupted," Emily pointed out cheekily.

"Well then what are we waiting for? Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about being an aunt, but if I have to hear one more story about how messy Spencer's delivery was I'm gonna hurl."


The short walk over to Spencer's place mostly consisted of Hanna catching them up to speed to Mrs. Hasting's stories. Maybe Hanna thought that they would bother Alison as much as they did her, but she actually found them to be really informative. She was happy to know as much as possible since she had so many questions.

When they walked into the house they found Aria and Spencer rummaging through a box of something. Hanna walked to the couch and plopped down next to Aria. Alison sat on the chair beside them while Emily sat on the arm of it beside her.

"So?" Spencer asked Hanna with a raised brow.

"Oh you totally owe me lunch. They were practically eating each other's faces when I got there," Hanna said triumphantly. Alison watched her Spencer groan while Aria and Hanna celebrated some kind of win.

"I thought we agreed you guys wouldn't bet on us anymore," Emily said with amusement.

"I only got in on it for the free lunch," Aria defended. Alison laughed when Spencer whacked her with a small dress she'd pulled out of the box.

"Shouldn't we be getting free food too? I mean you did win thanks to us," Alison chimed in. They all laughed when Spencer groaned again.

"Fine," Spencer mumbled with a small quirk of her lips, "lunch is on me."

They bickered about it for a while until Emily saw Aria pull a blanket out of the box. She curiously walked over to Aria and wedged herself between her and Spencer.

"This is so cute," Emily said. "Is your mom really okay with giving this stuff away?"

"Oh please, I swear she thinks this baby's her grandkid. She probably thinks me and Melissa are a 'lost cause'," Spencer replied.

"Where is Veronica? Hanna said she was here," Alison asked.

"She left right after Hanna went to get you. She got a call from work," Spencer answered.

"Now I know she was just trying to gross me out," Hanna murmured.

Alison smiled widely. She loved everything about this moment. Being able to sit with her friends and talk about her pregnancy with excitement. They'd come a long way since they'd returned to Rosewood, which they'd done to help Alison keep the only family she had at the time. That hadn't exactly worked out and she'd lost Charlotte, but she was truly grateful that she had her friends again. That she was given a chance to show them that she loved them all and had really turned a page.

Mostly, she loved that Emily was there with her. Glancing at her with so much affection. Excitedly rummaging through that box of baby items as if it were a Christmas gift. Laughing with her whenever Hanna said something outrageous, or when Spencer blushed when Aria brought up one of the stories that Veronica had told. All her life she'd wondered what it would feel like to have a family. A group of people that loved her and supported her through all of her ups and downs. She knew in that moment that Emily and their friends were that family for her.

But Alison's life had never been rainbows and butterflies. Whenever something good happened to her, more often than not that good was taken away. That reality would come crashing down on her in the form of a text. Alison heard her phone ping and reached for it.

You're only as strong as your weakest link. How long before Emily breaks? –AD

Alison's blood ran cold. She gulped and re-read the text several times. The sound of someone speaking to her vaguely resounded in her ears but she was too distracted. Too concerned with the fact that she'd put Emily in danger again by association.

"Ali?" Emily's concerned eyes darted between her and her phone. She sat on the edge of her seat with baited breath, waiting for Alison to respond.

Alison cleared her throat before responding with a soft, "yeah."

"Are you okay?" Emily asked. Alison licked her lips nervously and nodded her head. She couldn't let Emily know about the message. 'A', or 'AD', or whoever was stalking them had a way of punishing them whenever they shared certain messages with one another.

"Y-yeah, I'm just a little dizzy," Alison did her best to smile, hoping Emily would accept it and move on. But she knew Emily better than that. Emily went out of her way to protect her and keep her safe, and Alison wanted to, needed to do the same for her. So she bottled up her worry as best as she could for the moment and walked around behind the couch. She placed a hand on Emily's shoulder softly and squeezed with as genuine of a smile she could muster.

"Are you sure? Do you want to go home?" Emily asked again.

"I'm sure, nothing to worry about. I'll be right back," Alison tried to assure her while pointing to the bathroom. Emily nodded but Alison saw the doubt clouded over her brown eyes. She just needed a minute to collect herself and she couldn't do so with so many concerned eyes on her.


"Okay, I'm not the only one not buying that am I?" Hanna whispered lowly. Spencer and Aria shared a look at her before looking at Emily. Emily shook her head.

"No, you're not. Something's wrong," Emily agreed. One minute Alison had been beaming happily and the next her phone rang and she'd fallen deathly silent.

"We've seen Alison do this before. It must be AD," Spencer reasoned. They all huddled slightly closer when Spencer ushered them in. "It's been way too long since any of us have gotten a text. It was only a matter of time before it happened again."

"What if it was her dad or something? Mary maybe? We don't know for sure that it was AD," Aria said. Emily bit her lip as she thought about it. Alison and her father had been getting along recently despite his absence in her life, and Alison was probably Mary's biggest fan of the bunch.

"No, it can't be. She'd tell me if something were going on with them," Emily said with furrowed brows.

"Would she? Because it doesn't really look like it," Hanna whispered conspiratorially.

Emily rubbed her temples as she listened to the girls continue talking about what could have worked Alison so much. It wasn't unlike Alison to become quiet sometimes and keep to herself, but Emily had become good at reading all the subtleties of Alison's expressions. She'd lied when she told Emily everything was okay.

"Jason wouldn't do that." Emily heard Aria exclaim heatedly at something Hanna said.

"Well neither would Caleb," Hanna responded. Emily's brows furrowed further wondering how they'd gone from Alison to Caleb.

"This isn't a pissing contest," Spencer interjected.

Emily rolled her eyes and stood from her seat. She didn't care to sit around and listen to her friends bicker. Something they'd never grown out of with each other. It'd been a while since Alison went to the bathroom, so Emily walked there and knocked on the door.

"Ali," Emily said with her hand placed on the door.

"I'll be right out." Emily frowned when she heard a quiver in Alison's voice.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked. She waited for a response that never came. "I'm going to come in, okay?" Emily said through the door while reaching for the knob. When she heard Alison consent she twisted it and walked in closing the door behind her.

She found Alison leaning against the sink, head hanging and arms crossed across her chest. Emily felt her heart clench at the sight and stepped up to her.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked desperately. She couldn't stand seeing Alison so upset and not know what was causing.

"Nothing, really. I think it's my hormones acting up," Alison said with a wave of her hand. She turned around and wiped her eyes.

Emily sighed and did the only thing she could think of to comfort Alison. She walked toward her and softly wrapped her arms around Alison's waist. She rested her chin on Alison's shoulder and held her tight. Alison's eyes closed. Pale hands landed over Emily's on Alison's stomach.

"You can tell me anything. I promise I won't run away," Emily whispered. She stroked Alison's hands with her thumbs and smiled when Alison leaned back into her.

"I know you won't," Alison breathed with a smile. She opened her eyes and Emily squeezed her again.

"So what's going on?"

Alison turned around in Emily's arms so she was facing her with Emily's arms still around her. Emily splayed her hands flat against Alison's lower back and pulled her in until Alison's head was against her chest. There was something Alison wasn't telling her, but she didn't want to push her. She hoped Alison would tell her when she was ready.

"I'm so scared I'm going to lose you," Alison exhaled.

"Why would you think that? Is that what the text you got was about? Is AD messing with you?" Emily rambled. She leaned back so she could see Alison's face.

"No," Alison said quickly. A little too quickly. "Everything has been so… amazing… like a dream. I just keep waiting to wake up."

Emily's face softened at the admission. She completely understood what Alison meant. They weren't even officially dating, yet what they already had was more than Emily had ever imagined it could be. The nagging thought that something could take it away from them was scary. It was scary because there was so much more Emily was ready to experience with Alison.

Emily wiped away a stray tear from Alison's cheek before she gingerly kissed the spot there. As she went to pull back she felt Alison's placed a hand behind her head and pull her into a kiss. Unlike their earlier kiss this one was desperate. Emily melted into the kiss, pressing her body tightly against Alison's, hands holding her close.

When Alison's tongue teased at her lower lip Emily was eager to grant her access. They separated only for a moment to breathe in before falling back into one another again. Emily moaned as she felt Alison's fingers run through her hair sending a spike of arousal through her. The emotion Emily felt Alison pouring into the kiss was overwhelming in the best way. She felt dizzy, breathless. And when Alison pulled back to look at her Emily thought she'd surge forward again with the same urgency, but Alison surprised her a soft press of her lips that elicited feelings that rivaled Emily's growing arousal.

"If you don't wake up neither will I," Emily sighed against Alison's lips as they hovered over hers. Alison's eyes smiled with a watery laugh. Emily bit her lip at the sight and kissed her one more time for emphasis.

"You always were big on fairytales," Alison teased. Emily laughed at the reference and rolled her eyes playfully.

"Says the girl who's so into me she thinks being with me feels like a dream," Emily countered causing Alison to shake her head.

They stayed there for a while, holding each other. Emily was content to give Alison a moment to collect herself. There was still a cloudy look in Alison's eyes but she did seem less upset than when Emily had found her.

"You ready to get outta here?" Emily asked. She kissed Alison's hair and rested her cheek there.

"I think so." Alison stepped back to check herself in the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair making it less unruly than it was. When Alison seemed done making herself look presentable and not like she'd just been making out after crying her eyes out, she turned to Emily with a smile.

Emily held out a hand for Alison to take, which she did easily and laced their fingers together. Emily knew something was still wrong. That Alison hadn't been completely honest with her, but she'd press her about it later on when they were alone. For now she was happy to see Alison smiling even if only slightly as Hanna heckled them about 'going at it' again. She watched Alison sit where she'd been earlier between Aria and Spencer. When Alison showed Emily a bib that she found particularly adorable Emily decided, yes, questions could wait. Right then all that mattered was the way Alison's eyes shined and her smile lit up her heart.