I hope you all enjoy this chapter, I tried to really dig into Ali and Emily's feelings. If you enjoy this story and would like to read more please, please review. Thanks and enjoy!

Part 8 (The meeting)

Alison pushes the door to the inn open; she feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand straight on end. She feels the presence of some one right behind her. All the sudden a hand clamps down over face with a rag with some kind of strong odor on it, Alison held what little breath she had in her lungs and stomped as hard as she could on the inseam of the dark figures foot. As the person stumbled back Alison swung her arm hard and hit the hooded figure in the groin and bolted for the door.

As she was running as fast as her legs would take her when she heard a rage filled scream coming from inside the inn behind her. Alison knew it was only a matter of time before they recovered and came after her. She ran for what felt like hours when she came to a rundown gas station, she went around the side of the building and pulled her hood up and leaned against the wall desperately trying to catch her breath and think what her next move should be.

She decided to call Shana and ask her to come meet her. She needed to ask her for favor even though she knew it was probably a bad idea, but she HAD to see her. If "A" had gotten a hold of her tonight she probably would never get a chance to see anyone let alone her ever again so she needed to do it now.

Shana meet Alison at a little dive bar not too far from the gas station Alison called her from. The friendly older gentleman who ran the gas station told her about the place and their reasonable priced food.

Alison was sitting in a booth in the very back with her eyes glued to the door when Shana entered. Alison caught Shana's eyes and she made her way pass the bar to the small corner both in the back.

"How are you Alison? It's been awhile." Shana asks with concern.

"Not too great, the girls lead "A" to me and I barely made it out in one piece. That bitch must have stolen my diary from one of the girls." Alison said in a hushed tone.

"Ali?!" Shana says with concern. "What can I do to help?'

"I need you to talk to Emily for me, tomorrow, tell her that they need to stop looking for me." Alison says with determination she can't risk the Emily and the girls leading "A" to her again.

"Ok?!" Shana asks with confusion. "Is that all?"

"For now, yes," Alison says as she stands up and pulls her hood up. "Oh and Shana" she says putting on her oversized sunglasses, "thanks, I'll contact you later tomorrow." She heads out the back door and disappears into the night.

The next day Alison made her way to a pay phone she had found across from the abounded house she crashed in the night before. She dials Shana's number.

"Hello Ali?" Shana answers not recognize the number but she knew who it was anyway.

"Hey Shana, how'd it go with Emily?"Alison inquired.

"Well she doesn't buy that it's you I'm talking to." Shana sighed.

"Leave it to Em to think this was a set up." Alison smiled impressed that Emily would think of that.

"She wants me to ask you something that only you and she would know…" Shana starts.

"What is that?" Alison asks with slight apprehension.

"She wants to know what you said to her that day that you pulled her out of the barn."

Alison couldn't help but smile to herself thinking back to that day. "Ok, that's easy enough."

"I told her I missed her the most. She was my favorite. Nobody loved me as much as she did. I gave her a choice, to stay or to go with me. Before I left, I kissed her."

"Also," Alison add before letting Shana go, "tell her I want to meet her tonight."

"There is an abandoned factory not far from downtown Rosewood I want you to take her to please, Shana." Alison said hoping Shana would do this for her, she needed to see Emily.

"Ok Ali, I will get her there, promise."

Alison was nervous when she entered the factory. She was pacing nervously around trying to figure out what she was going to say when she saw Emily. Shana was supposed to bring Emily to her in less than an hour and her mind was racing a mile a minute. She decided to look around the factory, just in case she needed to have an alternate escape route and to calm herself down slightly.

Emily stood in front of her mirror looking herself over, a sudden wave of nerves crashes over her. She heads back to her closet and changes her jacket for the 3rd time. She wants everything to be perfect when she sees Alison. She pulls the jacket on and fixes her hair letting her natural curls cascade over her shoulder. Not bad. She thinks to herself, as she grabs her purse and digs out her lipstick, applying it to her bottom lips and bloating it together with her top lip. She gives herself one more once over before she leaves her room to meet Shana at the Brew.

Alison's pacing is interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing. She sees Emily making her way to the middle of the room and Alison sneaks out of the small area she'd been pacing in.

Emily gasps as she turns around as sees Alison standing there in front of her as beautiful as ever. Her golden hair falling in natural curls, Emily wanted to tangle her fingers in her gorgeous hair and kiss her beautiful full heart-shape lips. Focus Fields, not the time. Alison smiles as she looks Emily up and down, how can Emily be even more breath taking than the last time Alison say her.

"It's really you." Emily says with a nervous giggle, hardly believing Alison is standing in front of her.

"Yeah," Alison breathes out with a genuine smile that made her beautiful sapphire eyes sparkle. "I've missed you so much"

She says as Emily pulls her in for a hug." You have no idea how hard it's been to stay away." She says reveling in the feel of holding Emily in her arms, tears of joy in her eyes.

"Then don't anymore." Emily says squeezing Alison and breaking the hug. She holds onto Alison's upper arms not wanting to break contact with her. "Let me help you." She begs her chocolate eyes staring into Alison's deep blues. "We can go to the police."

"Or your parents…"

Alison interrupts Emily with "I wish I could. I just don't know who I can trust."

"You can trust me." Emily says willing Alison to give her a chance; she can't lose Alison, not after getting to hold her even for a few minutes. "Spencer, Aria..."

"I know I can trust you, Em. I'm just not sure about them." Alison says with regret, she just doesn't know who else she can trust at this point.

"Why?" Emily doesn't understand why she can't trust Hanna, Aria and Spencer; they have always been there for each other.

"You never stopped caring about me, did you?" Alison searches Emily's face tears threatening to fall. All she can see is love reflected in Emily's eyes, love she would never be worthy of.

"Even after everything I put you through." Alison swallows down the lump forming in her throat.

"You don't know how much I regret hurting you." Alison tells Emily her voice thick with regret and emotion. Emily looks at Alison waiting her to finish.

"If I could do it all over again, things would be so different." If she wasn't such a coward and stuck around maybe she could've given being with Emily a try.

"Who's doing this to you?" Emily questions rubbing her hands up and down Alison's arms trying to comfort her. "Tell me who you're hiding from." Emily asks willing Alison to confide in her.

"I thought I knew. But I was wrong." Alison admits sadly, she's not sure of anything anymore.

"That's why I need you, Em. Help me find "A" so I can come home."

"So that's who you think tried to kill you?" Emily asks dread lacing her words.

They both hear a clang and jump looking around.

"What was that?" Alison asks terror rising in her voice.

"Who's out there?" She asks as she and Emily scan the factory.

"Did you tell anyone about this?" Alison asks grabbing Emily's hand a look of betrayal crossing her features.

Emily's heart breaks seeing Alison's face fall.

Another sound like a chain link fence gets Emily attention and she turns away from Alison.

Alison drops Emily's hand and takes the chance to run away to the elevator she found early when she was waiting for Em. She explored the factory for a bit while she waited and found a small office on the 2nd floor with a fire escape.

"Ali, wait!" Emily begs as she runs toward the elevator. Alison looks at her with tears streaming down her face betrayal evident on her face.

"Ali! Please!" Emily ponds on the doors, pushing the elevator buttons frantically, anxious to explain to Alison why she told Spencer about their meeting.

"Open up, Ali! Ali, open up, please! I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please Ali," Alison hears the heartache in Emily's voice as she exits the elevator heading for the window to get to the fire escape.

"I just want to talk." Emily pleads growing more desperate. Alison stops on the fire escape fighting the desire to run back down to Emily and hold her in her arms and tell her they could figure this out. Alison shakes the thought away and lowers the ladder down and descends quickly down it, taking off into the woods.

The elevator door final opens and it is empty. Emily feels destroyed and then rage fills her as she turns to look at Spencer. Emily stalks toward Spencer fury evident in her demeanor.

Together they searched the factory trying to figure out where Alison disappeared to.

"I don't understand." Spencer shakes her head

"How could she just disappear like that?" Confusion emanated from Spencer's voice.

"She didn't disappear. You scared her away." Emily was about to lose it. Spencer can't believe that Emily is so angry.

"I can't believe you followed me here."

"I thought you were putting yourself in danger." Spencer wills Emily to understand, she just wanted to protect her.

"Yeah, well, you thought wrong." Emily retorted fighting the urge to curse Spencer out.

Spencer feels horrible; she doesn't know what to do to fix these. "I know. I'm sorry." She hopes apologizing might help calm Emily down long enough to hear her out. She tries taking a step towards Emily.

"You're gonna have to work harder than that." Holding back tears Emily continues "I betrayed Alison. She's never gonna reach out to me again."

"She's still playing games with us." Spencer states, thinking back to all the stunts Alison's pulled over the years.

"What are you talking about?" Emily can't believe Spencer would be so cruel and think Ali was playing them.

"Ali sucked you back in." Spencer looks Emily dead in the eye but Emily shakes hear head.

"She knew you were pulling away and that's why she picked you. She wanted to make you feel special so that you wouldn't give up on her." Spencer says with conviction.

"That's sick" Emily spits out venomously at Spencer, trying her hardest not to slap her across the face.

"No. It's brilliant" Spencer explains almost laughing, how did Emily not see it? Alison was a lot more conniving then she gave her credit for.

"It wasn't like that, okay? She was different tonight. She was sincere." Emily was really losing her temper now. Alison told her how much she missed her and how if she'd stayed how things would have been different. Ali was finally the person Emily always used to see when it was just her and Alison, when Ali let her walls down.

"She can trust you, but she's not sure about the rest of us?" Don't you get it? She's trying to divide us." Now Spencer was getting angry, how could Emily be so naive?

"She wouldn't do that." Emily pleads, Spencer had to understand, she needs Ali to come home, and she can't stand to lose her again.

"Wouldn't she?" Spencer asks cynically, after all Alison is a master manipulator.

As Spencer questioned her, something dawned on Emily "Wait. You were listening? This whole time?" It hurts Emily to think that Spencer had been hiding and listening to her and Ali's private conversation.

"We can't let her come between us." Spencer replies with anguish taking a tentative step toward Emily.

"I'd say you're doing a great job of that all on your own." Emily replies in anger and starts inching toward Spencer.

"I'm sorry." Spencer reaches for Emily to grab her arms.

Emily raises her arms up breaking Spencer's grip and screams, "Don't!" Emily pushes past Spencer tears of anger running hot down her face.