Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks again for reading and reviewing the last chapter and for gently encouraging me to update. I apologize for the long delay. I had initially hoped to get this chapter out before I went out vacation last month but unfortunately I couldn't make that happen, but now I'm back home and was able to find some time to write, so here it is. Sorry if this one is a little shorter than most. I wanted to get out what I had as soon as possible because I'm about to start a new job and I'm not sure how busy it'll keep me. Hopefully I'll be able to post the next chapter soon though. Let me know what you think!

Ali! Alison!

Alison lets out a low disgruntled groan as the sound of her name slices through her head with skull-splitting sharpness. She rolls over and buries her head in a pillow that definitely isn't hers but somehow smells familiar. Her head is throbbing and her eye lids feel heavy, but someone is screeching her name and stomping heavily up the stairs towards her and if she's going to be able to kill whoever it is that's responsible for disturbing her sleep, she's going to have to wake up. She pushes the blanket aside and tries to open her eyes but the sunlight is too harsh and she has to snap them closed as the room spins around her.

The footsteps stop just outside the door and now she can make out another voice.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Alison instantly recognizes that second voice as Emily's and she finally forces herself to sit up and open her eyes. She leans forward towards the door as if that might make listening through the thick oak easier.

"I'm getting Ali," comes the response and Alison suddenly realizes that Emily is talking to Spencer. Spencer was the one calling her name like a crazy person a minute ago.

"She's sleeping," Emily says.

"We'll see about that. God, if I had known I would have never insisted she sleep here with you last night!"

Here? Where is here? Where the hell is she? Spencer's angry voice has Alison taking a surreptitious glance at her surroundings and realizing she's in Emily's room.

Anxiously she kicks off the blankets and feels around the bed for her cell phone. Did she call Emily last night? Did Emily invite her over? Did they hook up? Was she really so pathetic that she couldn't go more than a couple of weeks without giving in to the temptation of the stunning brunette? She needs to go over her text messages and calls from last night to try to decipher what the hell happened.

"What do you think I did to her?" comes Emily's response from outside the door, her voice matching Spencer's in anger and intensity.

Alison has no idea what the two could possibly be fighting about at such an hour, but she is sure she doesn't want to deal with it right now.

"I don't know what to think anymore," she hears Spencer say before she knocks on the door. "Alison!"

Alison freezes as the door burst open and Spencer charges inside with Emily trailing behind her. She hears Emily speak again before she actually sees her.

"Spencer, calm down. Let her sleep. Come back later and we can talk about it," Emily says from behind Spencer.

"No. She's coming home with me," Spencer declares firmly.

"Spencer, let me explain..." Emily trails off, stopping abruptly when she spots Alison awake and staring at her from the bed.

"Ali, come on. Get your stuff," Spencer orders.

Alison glances at Emily for a moment before shifting her gaze in Spencer's direction. She can feel the tension between the two girls but she's not exactly sure why Spencer seems so upset.

"What's going on? What's with all the screaming? And why do I feel like I've been run over by a freight train?" Alison asks, her voice raspy with sleep.

"You got drunk last night at the party," Emily starts to explain carefully.

"The Hollis party? You were there too?"

Emily nods and lowers her eyes. "I went with some girls from the swim team."

"Ok. But why am I here? In your bed?" Alison asks, the pitch of her voice rising. She looks down and picks at the unfamiliar baggy t-shirt she's wearing. "And why am I wearing this hideous rodeo shirt?"

A feeling of dread twists in Alison's stomach as she considers the most obvious explanation. If she caved and slept with Emily last night after what Emily did to her, there'd be no denying how truly pathetic she is.

Spencer takes a couple of steps towards the bed, her expression unreadable. "Emily called me last night and said you were in bad shape. I picked you up from the party and drove you both back here so your dad wouldn't see you drunk," she explains quickly before coming to a pause and taking a breath. "Ali, I had no idea."

"No idea what?" Alison presses. Her head is foggy and her nerves are on edge and she just wants to know whatthe hell happened last night.

"About you and Emily," Spencer answers. "I would have never left you here if I had."

Alison can detect the anguish in her friend's voice and her mouth falls open in shock as her brain tries to process what Spencer is saying. "Excuse me?"

"Ali, I didn't..." Emily begins to explain but Alison cuts her off with a shriek of disbelief.

"You told her?!" Alison accuses angrily as she leaps from the bed and lunges towards a nervous looking Emily. She can only imagine the horrible things Emily must have said about her and the utter contempt and revulsion Spencer must now feel for her as a result. "Why the hell would you tell her?! What did you tell her?! And where the hell are my clothes? God...we didn't...did we?" Alison cries, growing increasingly agitated.

Alison's head is reeling and she's not sure if the sudden urge to vomit is simply her body's response to the copious amounts of alcohol she consumed last night, or if it's due to the fear that she had yet again given in to Emily last night. It pains her that the thought of spending a night in Emily's bed is now so distressing to her that she can feel herself grow sick as she pictures it, because Emily had once been her safe place, a constant source of comfort and stability, but now Emily is her greatest weakness and her biggest fear all wrapped into one and she can't afford to be weak or afraid anymore.

Emily's eyes widen in that helpless wounded animal way that makes Alison ache with guilt.

"No! No! Of course not. I would never...I slept on the couch in the living room. I promise!" Emily stammers out.

Spencer shakes her head, seemingly displeased, and moves to gather Alison's clothing from the floor. "Let's go, Ali, I'll take you home."

"Spencer, wait, just let me explain," Emily pleads. Her eyes are wet with tears and there's still a part of Alison that wants to reach out and wrap her in a hug.

Fortunately, she's saved from her destructive desire when Spencer shoves a pile of clothes at her and turns to exit the room. She forces herself to follow the taller girl, leaving Emily and her big sad brown eyes behind.

Alison shivers a bit once the cold air hits her legs. She looks down and cringes at the extremely short length of the shorts she's wearing.

"You could have at least let me put on pants before you dragged me outside into the cold like a dog," she complains as they make their way to Spencer's car. No one ever did explain why she was wearing Emily's clothes instead of her own, but she assumes it has something to do with the strong stench of alcohol coming from the pile of soggy clothes in her arms.

Spencer looks her over with a frown. "Sorry. I just thought it'd be best to get you out of there as soon as possible."

Spencer gets behind the wheel and Alison slips into the passenger seat. They drive in silence for a a few minutes before Alison clears her throat and prepares to speak. "So, I don't know what Emily told you," she starts awkwardly-wanting to feel out just how much Spencer knows about her and Emily.

She's still confused about what happened last night but Spencer's sour mood is even more unnerving than her lapses in memory. She hopes Spencer isn't too upset with her for getting involved with Emily, they had been in such a good place and Alison had come to genuinely appreciate their friendship. She hates the thought of having disappointed yet another person in her life.

"How long?" Spencer cuts in.

"What?"

"How long has this thing with you and Emily been going on for?" Spencer asks, the contempt clear in her voice.

Alison sighs and turns her head to look out the window. She can practically feel the anger coursing through Spencer and the last thing she needs right now is to be chewed out and accused of manipulating Emily's feelings again.

"I'm too hung over to have this conversation with you right now," Alison decides.

"Fine. We won't talk about Emily," Spencer says cooly. "How about we talk about your reckless behavior last night instead."

Alison slumps back in her seat and lets her head rest against the cool glass of the passenger window as she listens to Spencer's lecture about drinking safety and the importance of the buddy system in dangerous situations. She's grateful to Spencer for still caring about her safety despite being pissed at her, but she sort of wishes she had taken her chances facing the wrath of her father last night instead.

"Looks like my dad's not home. And judging by the zero texts I got from him asking why I never I came home last night, I can tell he must have been super worried about me," Alison snarks when they pull up to the DiLaurentis house.

Spencer gives her a sympathetic look. "I'll walk you in."

"That's really not necessary."

"We need to talk, Ali," Spencer insists.

Alison relents, knowing that Spencer won't, and leads Spencer into the house. Alison marches straight to the kitchen and retrieves two bottles of water from the fridge. She offers one to Spencer before twisting the cap off her own and taking a long drink. Alcohol induced dehydration is no fun. She leans back against the kitchen counter and peers at Spencer over the top of her water bottle.

"So have you met Jason's new girlfriend?" Spencer asks conversationally.

"No. Not yet. I've seen pictures and heard a lot about her though. He seems happy," Alison answers, her lips curling into a small smile at the thought of her brother finally finding a bit of happiness.

"Good. He deserves that," Spencer responds with a nod. She takes a couple of sips of water before continuing. "Does he spend a lot of time there? In Philadelphia with..." she trails off.

"Leah," Alison finishes. "Lately, yes. Can't really blame him for not wanting to stick around here too much."

"So it's just you and your dad mostly?"

"When he's home. He keeps himself pretty busy with work."

"Must get lonely here in this big house all by yourself," Spencer suggests and Alison starts to feel like this is becoming more of an interrogation than a conversation.

"Sometimes. It can," Alison shrugs.

Spencer nods and takes another sip of her water before continuing. "Being alone isn't so bad. I like it actually. Gives me a chance to clear my head, you know. And it may not seem like it, but being alone is a lot better than being with someone who's maybe not good for you right now."

"Spencer, where are you going with this?" Alison asks, narrowing her eyes at her friend's very obvious digging expedition.

"What happened with you and Emily?"

Alison sighs. "Spencer, I thought we agreed not to talk about this."

"I know. But.." Spencer starts, unwilling to drop the topic.

"Can we do this another day? Preferably one where I'm not retaining two litters of liquor in my blood stream?" Alison says, interrupting the high strung brunette before she could badger her further.

"Alison."

"Spence, please, I'm tired and hung over. I just want to take a shower and sleep for about twelve hours."

"I just don't understand," Spencer says, starting to pace the kitchen floor. Her brows are pinched in thought as she picks at her fingernails with her teeth. She no longer seems angry, just perplexed. Like she's trying to solve a mystery and for Alison, that Hastings curiosity is much worse than anger. "Why would Emily do that. It's not like her. Emily's never hurt anyone... was it just a sex thing?"

Alison nearly chokes on her water because that's not at all what she expected Spencer to say.

"Excuse me?"

"Those marks you had on your wrists that day you came by my house... like someone held you down," Spencer clarifies rather bluntly. "Was it just rough sex? Did you want Emily to do that?"

"W-what?" Alison stammers out in utter disbelief.

"It's Emily. She wouldn't..." Spencer trails off as she seemingly struggles with organizing her thoughts. "Some people are into that sort of thing and that's fine if you are. I'm not judging," she declares, holding up her hands to prove her open-mindedness. "But it's Emily, she wouldn't intentionally hurt you."

Realization strikes Alison and she instantly deflates. Of course Spencer would think that. Emily is a good person and she's Alison DiLaurentis, devil incarnate.

"Yeah. You're right. She wouldn't. I wanted it. I'm into that," Alison says, her voice twinged with sadness.

Spencer stops pacing and fixes her eyes on the blonde. "You know after all this time I finally figured out how to tell when you're lying," she begins. "The corners of your eyes crinkle just slightly and you scrunch your nose a bit and look off to the left. So I know you're lying to me right now."

"What do you want from me, Spencer?" Alison groans tiredly. She feels like she's in some sort of twisted emotional tennis match and she's ready to throw in the towel.

"I want you to tell me the truth about Emily," Spencer says. "Because if you didn't want that, then... "

"Look, Spencer, what Emily and I do in the bedroom is none of your business," Alison replies sharply.

"When one of my friends is being hurt, I make it my business."

"God, I knew that was what you were worried about!" Alison snaps, unconcerned with how irrational her thoughts may actually be. "I'm not going to hurt Emily again! We're not even together! It's over. So you can stop worrying about your precious little Emily," Alison finishes bitterly.

"I'm not worried about Emily, I'm worried about you," Spencer says calmly.

Alison shifts and uncrosses her arms, her defenses slipping slightly. This entire morning has been so confusing. "Oh. Well, there's nothing to worry about. I'm fine."

"Cut the shit, Ali. You and I both know what you and Emily are doing isn't healthy for either of you."

"We're not doing anything. I told you, it's over," Alison insists.

Spencer remains skeptical. "I sincerely hope so, Alison."

"You're making a much bigger deal out of this than you need to. Emily and I have history. It's complicated." Alison just needs Spencer to understand without her actually having to explain it.

"What's so complicated? You start sleeping with Emily and then you show up with bruises all over you!"

Alison shakes her head, annoyed at Spencer's simplification of the situation. "It wasn't like that. We got together and she got a little carried away. That's all. It happens. She stopped...when she realized what she was doing, she stopped," Alison says, trying hard not to think about their last night together. Deep down she's not so sure Emily would have stopped if she hadn't snapped the brunette out of whatever state of mind she was in that night.

"Jesus, Ali, do you hear yourself?" Spencer asks incredulously. "What Emily did to you wasn't right. You don't deserve that."

Alison fixes her eyes on Spencer with a cold glare. "I think we both know I deserve much worse."

She doesn't need Spencer's judgement or pity.

"God, no, Ali, no one deserves to be treated that way," Spencer says, her voice a breathy whisper. She rests a hand on Alison's arm and implores the blonde to meet her eyes. "Is that why you've been allowing her to do this? Because you think you deserve to be punished for your past?

Alison's eyes shine with tears and when she finally opens her mouth to speak, her voice is small and quiet. "I hurt a lot of people, Spencer. Emily probably worst of all. I owe her."

"Owe her what?" Spencer demands incredulously. "Sex? The opportunity to use you as a human punching bag?"

"It's not like that. She could be aggressive but she didn't hit me. Only that one time because I spaced out and she..."

"Alison, stop," Spencer cuts in sharply. "Don't defend that kind of behavior."

"No. You don't understand, Spencer. Emily is different now. She's so angry and unhappy and I did that to her. It's my fault!" Alison cries. "You said it yourself, Emily isn't the kind of person who would hurt someone. I turned her into that. That's what I do to people. I turn them into monsters. I'm poison. Look at what I did to Mona. And to Shana. I'm the reason Emily changed and I couldn't just walk away from her. Not after all the damage I've done. I had to try to fix it."

Spencer gives her a soft look of concern. "What was it you thought you could do for her?"

"I thought I could help her get past it. Get it out of her system so she could forgive me and move on and be happy again. But it didn't work. I failed," Alison says sadly. Alison has never been particularly fond of failure, but no failure was quite as painful for her as failing Emily was.

"So you thought by letting her use you, she'd get over her issues and go back to normal? It doesn't work like that, Ali," Spencer says.

"I know that now. Okay? Believe me, I know," Alison agrees. "I was stupid for thinking I could repair all the damage I've done. But I didn't know what else to do for her. She was in so much pain."

"You don't need to do anything for her, Ali. You need to take care of yourself right now."

Alison can't help but laugh at that. "Bet you never thought you'd be telling me to be even more selfish than I already am, did you?

"No," Spencer admits easily. "And I can't believe I'm about to say this either... but Ali, you need to stay away from Emily. At least for now. She's not good for you and she's only going to keep hurting you if you don't keep your distance."

"That's not going to be easy. I couldn't even stay away from her when I was dead."