A/N: PT2 ;) Favorite. Follow. Review.

Summary: Summary: Near AU. An Emily and Alison version of the things that happened between Spencer and Jonny in season 5 (if you don't remember, I suggest a recapping ;). Emily is 20. Alison is 18.

[ A Week Later ]

"Um, do you usually paint in the dark?"

"Easier this way, I don't bother the student's faculty and in return, they don't bother me. Mind giving me a hand with this?" Emily gestures towards the ladder and Alison helps her lift it close to the top of the building.

They were outside of Hollis College, apparently the artist had needed an assist with this weeks assignment and Alison (of course) had agreed.

Emily, with light strapped to her head and supplies in hand, began climbing up the long ladder.

Alison smiles up at her as the brunette returns it.

"What would you have done if I had said no to coming here tonight? Seeing as this is obviously a two person job." The blonde teases, and Emily snorts.

The brunette shrugs, eyeing the roof. "Well I'd...probably call my ex-girlfriend, Paige. She's into this type of thing, though we did just break up."

The blonde immediately feels guilty for having made the older girl bring it up, smile slipping from her features. "I'm sorry."

But Emily simply waves her off. "No worries, it's a good thing really. She wasn't exactly...emotionally available or otherwise. I uh...found out she was cheating behind my back." She uncaps her blue spray can, shaking it. "Though I guess I do tend to fall for the unavailable type."

So, she's into women...interesting... And Alison was very much available.

"So you were just going to call her anyway?" She inquires, deciding not to mention her new found information.

Emily freezes on the spot, seeming to think for a moment. "Yes. Probably." She glances down at the blonde again, eyes twinkling in the moonlight. "Did I mention how bad I am at relationships?"

Alison giggles.

Satisfied at her accomplishment, Emily finally gets to work.

Alison holds onto the ladder and stares off into the night. "You know I've never been to this side of campus before. Spencer's parents used to take her and I here all the time when we were kids to see a summer concert series. Spencer loved it...me? Not so much. I was more of an...adventure enthusiast. I wanted to go any place that wasn't here for the summer, you know?"

"Well you're really not missing anything, there's nothing over here except a bunch of old research labs...I'm here to revitalize the place, add a little color." Emily explains, then peeks her head through the ladder's rungs. "So adventure enthusiast, huh? You're telling me you've never just done something you loved because of other people's opinions?"

Alison sticks freezing hands in her coats pockets before shrugging. "It's nearly impossible." Her voice is filled with defeat as she says it.

But Emily stares down into her eyes anyway, a mysteriously secretive look to her features. Then a smile slowly etches along her face. "I usually manage." She confesses before switching on the headlight attached to her head and moving back up the ladder.

- [ Twenty Minutes Later ] -

"This is really great." Alison comments smiling ear to ear, now standing atop the louder with her own headlight switched on. "But whose going to see it?"

From below her on the ground, Emily answers immediately. "Those people, up there, the higher ups. Catch."

The blonde turns just in time to quickly catch the can of spray paint the brunette had thrown up at her. She sighs, shaking her head. "Throwing things at people on ladders? Not okay."

Emily simply shrugs, arms crossing over her chest before gesturing upward.

Alison frowns. "What, paint?"

The brunette nods silently, though smiling up at her encouragingly.

"Um, may I remind you that I am not an artist."

"That's all fine Alison, but we're not leaving here until you paint something, anything."

"I could ruin your work."

"That's a risk I'm willing to take."

It was almost a metaphor.

And Emily was so cute standing there with a light strapped to her head, arms crossed, with an amused smile on her features— Alison couldn't protest.

The blonde uncaps the spray can lid with a thoughtful smile and begins spraying the roof with slight hesitation.

And after a second, she hears the brunette below her comment a: "Looks good."

Alison rolls her eyes playfully and continues spraying. "You cannot even see it from down there, Emily." She finally finishes, looking her work over proudly as she recaps the spray can. "Alright. Come take a look-!"

The blonde trips and in mere seconds was falling a short, yet painful, distance off the ladder.

Except well...she doesn't exactly get that far— as Emily had caught her and was now cradling her gently in her arms.

She smiles, half nervously and half grateful/giddy.

Emily also smiles down at her.

Then of course the moment is over, both of them snapping out of it and the brunette placing her back onto her two feet.

Alison backs away from her slightly, taking off her headlight and handing it over to the older girl in one swift movement, she looks down at the ground.

Emily continues to stare at her. "Right..." She drags out before making her way back to the ladder and climbing up it.

Alison takes soft steps back towards the end of the sidewalk and sits down, looking up at the brunette, she watches her take another spray can from her back pocket and switch her gaze back down to her.

The blonde looks down.

It's a beat later that she hears the unmistakable sound of spraying.

...

- [ Very Next Morning ] -

"Ahh..." Emily sighs gratefully as she walks out of the barn and is greeting by a bright warm sun and a slight breeze in the air. "Maybe I'll go for a walk today." She mutters to no one in particular, having decided to give her art projects a rest for the day.

Especially after last night's illegal mural.

It was only when she had nearly circled the block twice that she heard someone shouting her name.

Head jerking to the right, the brunette realized she was directly in front of the DiLaurentis'— and the person calling her name was none other than Alison of course.

"Emily!"

"Hey Ali!" She waves, making her way over and up the blonde's driveway. What surprised her was that the younger girl met her halfway with a newspaper in hand and she didn't look too happy to see her...at all.

"Alison, wh-"

"Read."

The article is shoved in her hands and the brunette has no choice but to oblige as she glances down, skims it, then reads the headline.

'Vandalism at Hollis College'

Emily could feel the grin stretch along her face.

"Why the h*ll are you smiling?" She hears the blonde in front of her huff, before the paper is snatched away from her. "You don't get to smile about this. Emily, you told me that you were hired to paint a mural at Hollis."

The artist vehemently shakes her head in disagreement. "No, no, no. I didn't say I was hired, I was careful about that."

By now Alison's whole face is red and her eyes were on fire, shooting daggers at her. "Yeah well, you also didn't mention vandalism."

"Had I told you the truth, would you have come?"

"No, of course not." The blonde steps closer to her, this time not looking as if she wanted to take her head off but with a different look in her eye— a vulnerable, betrayed one...and somehow it made Emily feel worse. "I'm all for protest art...but not for being lied to and taken advantage of, Emily. And a small part of me had begin to think that you understood that, that you were different than the rest...I guess you proved me wrong." Her voice cracks on the last sentence, something she had been trying to hold in.

Emily could swear she felt a literal physical pain in her chest as the girl turned and began to walk away from her. D*mmit! It's been less than two weeks and I'm already messing up my chances!

"Alison, wait."

The teenager stops but doesn't turn to look at her.

Emily takes two steps forward, though still quite a distance away from the girl, was in better hearing range. "Please." She pleads.

This time Alison turns back around, her eyes glistening, though they held a sort of...emptiness. "What?" She inquires bluntly, a way that warned Emily that she really had to make this count or she probably wouldn't be seeing the blonde for a very long time.

"Look...Alison, I'm sorry." She sighs, running fingers through her dark tresses. Alison made no visible reaction, so she continued. "Truth is, I wanted you to come because I...I like you." Her hands find themselves stuffed into her front pockets as she awkwardly shrugs. "After the whole getting away from Rosewood and traveling thing, I thought it'd be nice for you to...enjoy coloring outside the lines for once."

"..."

Truth be told after the artist said the words 'I like you', the blonde's heart had skyrocketed so high her heart beat sounding loudly in her ear drums— the only thing that she had heard after that was 'coloring outside the lines'.

Alison couldn't believe it. She likes me...wow, th-that's...amazing...

And though the blonde was exceptionally happy about the news, she knew she had to get back to the problem at hand— because this could not happen again, especially not from Emily.

So, the blonde takes a deep breath to calm her frustrations before she began. "Emily, my friends and I have been through a lot of sh*t these past years trying to stay alive and not get arrested for things we didn't have anything to do with." Her voice cracks again and god was she about to cry... "W-We've been set up more times than I can count, now the police are up are a**'s, and I can't afford to mess up again, do you understand?"

Feeling a mix of betrayal, sadness, and frustration— all in one— Alison couldn't hold it back any longer...and she cried. Legitimately began sobbing, right there in her drive way.

It wasn't long before she feels herself being pulled into someone's arms and soothing whispers in her ear.

Emily was surprised the blonde hadn't tensed, instead she leaned in close, her head burrowing itself into her shoulder. Now the artist wasn't much of a hugger, but...she honestly couldn't stand seeing the young girl like she was.

Emily's heart had broken into a million shattered little pieces. "I'm so sorry Ali, I'm sorry, I didn't know..." She just continues to whisper over and over into the girl's ears, hoping it would make things, at the very least, a little bit better.

And not that she would have known it, but...

It had.