A/N: Hey guys! I just wanted to start off by saying thanks so much for all the reviews and follows and faves and stuff - I seriously do appreciate it, and I'm glad you guys enjoyed the last chapter. This again is kind of a filler leading up to a chapter that I think you'll like, so hold on for it. I wanted to write in the next part but tomorrow I get my results which determine whether or not I'm going to uni so my mind is elsewhere and this is my anxiety writing haha.
Thank you again and enjoy the update!:)
Emily switched her Bunsen burner's flame from blue to safety as she turned to face her chemistry partner. She watched on, amused as the petite brunette attempted to prise a boiling crystal using a pair of tongs, her expression smothered in concentration.
"Want some help with that?" she finally decided to offer after the other girl failed for the fifth time.
"I thought you'd never ask," came Aria Montgomery's grateful reply.
Both girls removed their goggles and wiped down their sides of the bench after clearing away their practical equipment. They then re-took their seats in preparation to work on a dual write up for the experiment. Emily had grown fond of the girl over the course of the semester where they'd been paired together. In brief summary, Aria was 5 feet and 1 inch of eccentricity. She was always dressed in some quirky little outfit that Emily couldn't understand – but had to admit worked perfectly for her.
"I can finish this write up tomorrow after school," Aria told Emily, earning a raise of the eyebrow from her partner.
"Aren't you going to the dance tomorrow?"
With it being their senior year, tomorrow would mark the last of the girl's school dances before homecoming. Dances at Rosewood High were always themed to perfection, and while Emily was usually left in an uncomfortable situation when it came to finding a date, she always had a reasonably good time. Although of course, she was biased – since Spencer Hastings was the root of the impeccable organisation of said dances. The school hallways had been buzzing with excitement in anticipation for this dance, as it was one final hoorah before the homecoming dance which was pretty much the same every year. Emily had been pretty sure every senior would be attending.
Aria's minute body visibly deflated as she sighed before she answered Emily.
"Nope. I don't have a date." Her reply was simple, but the tanned brunette could hear the disappointment in her friend's tone.
"There's still a whole school day before the dance, someone's bound to ask you!" Emily attempted to raise the other girl's spirits.
Aria scoffed and shrugged. "Highly unlikely," she said flatly. The smaller girl must have noticed the cold in her tone, because she reached out and gently squeezed Emily's hand before adding:
"But thanks for trying."
Emily truly had grown to care about this bizarre bundle of uniqueness and wasn't prepared to give up here and allow her friend to sulk.
"Isn't there anyone you have your eye on? Maybe you could ask someone instead," she suggested.
Aria's expression was suddenly hesitant as if she was considering whether or not to let Emily in on a secret.
"There is this one guy…" She began, keeping her focus fixed on the papers on the desk. Emily smiled at her friend's uncertainty.
"You can tell me, Aria. It's not like I'm your competition," she teased the smaller girl, earning a well-missed grin.
"It's just that... I was sort of really hoping that Noel Kahn would ask me," Aria bit her lip as she sneaked a glance at her lab partner before reluctantly made her admission. It was clear to Emily that she had failed to keep the surprise out of her expression as Aria quickly looked away and started to fidget with her fingers as excuses began tumbling out of her mouth.
"I know, it's stupid…you probably think I'm just like those stupid cheerlea-"
"It's not stupid at all, Aria. It's just.. I just never suspected a thing." Emily's tone was soft, accepting. Aria's eyes met her friend's and she saw the calm in them and immediately relaxed.
"So," Emily continued. "Why can't you just ask him?"
It was Aria's turn to raise her eyebrows. "I figured he'd be taking Alison Dilaurentis. Right?" Aria's large round eyes were still watching Emily expectantly as she considered her reply.
Truthfully, Emily didn't know the answer to that. Although she felt as if Alison had been more open with her than she had with anyone else, Noel Kahn seemed to be a touchy subject. Although the blonde had admitted that she wasn't particularly enamoured with him, she didn't do much to dispel rumours around an alleged romantic relationship that the two shared either.
"I'm not sure actually," the brunette finally replied, honestly. The look she got from Aria in return said she didn't believe her, but the small hint of a small that crossed the smaller brunette's lips told her it was okay.
"You know, I don't have a date either." Emily changed the subject from Noel Kahn, and more importantly – Alison.
"Really? I thought Paige from the swim team would've asked you," Aria inquired. Emily always found it amusing that Aria specified that Paige was from the swim team, even though they both knew full well who she was talking about. There were a lot of little habits that Aria had which kept Emily laughing.
"She did, but I didn't think it would be right." She started to explain. "It would feel like I was leading her on, you know?"
Aria nodded in understanding. She knew that Emily was far too moral to treat someone that way, even if meant she had to attend a dance dateless. She had grown to admire Emily a great deal for her selflessness.
"So you're going alone?" Aria asked.
"Looks that way." Emily nodded, before allowing a grin to break out onto her face.
"What?" Aria asked, confused by the sudden change in her friend's demeanor.
"Well, what do you say that you and I go to the dance alone…together?"
At this, Aria involuntary felt a grin spread over her features too.
"Damn it Em, when did you get so smooth?" She laughed at the corniness of her friend's invitation, but she saw the kindness in her gesture.
Emily laughed along with her for a moment before continuing, "Seriously, be my date. Why should you miss out on the fun because of Noel Kahn?"
Aria considered Emily's question for a moment and decided that she had a point. She was sure she wasn't the only girl who was crushing on Noel, and she probably wasn't the only one being suffocated by disappointment at not having him ask her to the dance. Why should she say no to the considerate friend that actually was?
The pixie like brunette's smile widened as she placed a hand on Emily's arm before she spoke, her voice back to its usual animated tone.
"I'll pick you up at seven."
An hour or so later, Alison Dilaurentis sat down to lunch with a hyperventilating Hanna Marin and caffeine deficient Spencer Hastings. Just as she could feel the last shred of patience that she possessed snapping due to her luncheon company, a familiar voice swept in to calm her.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late. Chem lab over ran by a little." Emily greeted her friends, dumping her bag on the table before taking a seat. She'd noticed that a lot with Emily. The brunette always managed to swoop in and stop her from snapping right before she reached breaking point.
"You're here now," Alison replied, almost too quickly – her tone laced with relief. The blonde returned the small smile that Emily offered her before the brunette turned to face Hanna.
"Yes, and it's about damn time! You'll never guess what just happened-" Hanna gushed, gripping Emily's arm out of excitement. The brunette suspected that her friend was about to launch into a passionate discussion about some new pair of shoes that she just had to have and laughed at the girl's animated expression.
"Just tell her already," Spencer cut in. "Before you slice open one of her veins." She added, gently removing Hanna's hand from Emily's arm – Alison silently thanked the Hastings child, although she didn't know why this pleased her.
"Ali got me a date to the dance..." Hanna began with a clap of her hands, a ridiculously large grin spreading across her face.
Emily looked between the three girls. Both Ali and Spencer had presumably already gotten over Hanna's excitement as neither of them seemed curious or amused by their friend's childish squealing.
"Are you going to tell me who, or are we playing twenty questions?" Emily probed, finally.
"Sean Ackard." As soon as the words left Hanna's mouth, Emily understood. Everybody in their year knew that Hanna Marin had only ever had eyes for one boy – at least from the seventh grade onwards. That boy was Sean Ackard, who was popular, but good natured from what Emily had heard. If anyone could be responsible for the dreamy look that had suddenly glazed over Hanna's blue orbs, it was him.
"That's great Han! He won't know what hit him," she poked the blonde lightly in the ribs with her elbow and returned her grin and then spoke again. "But what did Ali do?"
At this, Hanna began to gush again – earning an eye roll from Spencer.
"You should have seen her Em, Ali literally said that I was gonna be the hottest girl at the dance and he was practically on one knee!" She recounted, gleefully. Emily smiled at Hanna's need to exaggerate. She was however; glad at the bond the two blondes had formed. Hanna had been the butt of Alison's jokes for an extremely long time, and the brunette was thrilled that she had been able to look past it.
"That was nice of you Ali," Emily looked directly at the blonde opposite her.
"I know, I'm fabulous." Came Alison's cocky reply.
"Don't forget modest." Spencer added flatly.
Emily shook her head and continued to smile in silent contentment. This had become a weekly occurrence now, the four of them having lunch together, and it usually followed the same trend. Hanna would praise the changes in Alison, while Spencer looked for moments to drop sarcastic lines to keep Alison grounded. Though Emily had initially worried that her best friends comments were hostile, she'd begun to realise that in truth, there was a silent but mutual respect that hadn't been voiced by either Spencer or Alison, and she could live with that.
"What about you Spence, who are you going with?" Emily decided to ask.
Now it was Spencer's expression that became animated. A blush that Emily rarely ever saw threatened to shatter the signature Hastings composure she had perfected.
"Toby asked me," she said shyly, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"Toby Cavanaugh?" It was Alison who spoke now. Spencer blinked and cleared her throat, not expecting the blonde to cut in.
"Yes…why?" Spencer asked, her tone wary.
Alison shrugged. "Good choice. He's cute," she replied simply.
Spencer hated to admit it, but Alison's approval was relieving. The blonde knew compromising secrets about everyone that went to Rosewood High, and despite not being the Dilaurentis girl's biggest fan, she had faith in that she would have happily informed her if Toby wasn't a good candidate to accompany her to the dance.
Of course, Spencer didn't voice this. Instead, she made no verbal reply to Alison's comment and proceeded to ask her instead:
"Who are you taking?"
The way the question was phrased was quite apt when it was addressed to Alison Dilaurentis. It wasn't about who had asked her – because pretty much every guy in their year was bound to have. It was about who she decided was worthy of her company on the night.
The blonde shrugged again, nonchalantly replying:
"I haven't decided yet,"
Spencer rolled her eyes again as both Hanna and Emily nodded, expecting nothing less vague to the reply they had received. She decided that she wasn't done yet though.
"Not Noel Kahn then?" She dared to press the blonde.
At this point, Alison turned to look directly at Spencer – a glint in her eyes that seemed dangerous on the surface, but uneasy underneath.
"Honey, he didn't even make the shortlist."
Sensing the tension, Emily decided it was time for her to cut in. Spencer and Alison were making progress, but she knew that the blonde didn't like to talk about Noel, and she knew even better that Spencer liked to push every button of Alison's that she could get her metaphorical hands on.
"Welllll… I won't be dateless after all," she said, her voice cheery.
She felt three pairs of eyes simultaneously latch onto her face. But one blue pair's gaze felt so much more intense, as if they were looking right through her.
"Okay, spill! Who is it? Is she cute?" Hanna prodded her friend for details.
Emily laughed at the blonde's priorities and nodded. "Her name's Aria, and she's really sweet. She's been my chem lab partner since the start of the semester." She explained.
"Montgomery, right? She's my only competition in English class," Spencer mused.
"That's her, yes." Emily confirmed before grimacing at her best friend. "Please tell me you haven't terrorised her Shakespeare style?"
Spencer just shot her a grin and sipped on her water as Hanna piped up.
"Why, is it serious? After all, you two do have chemistry together." The blonde snorted at her own joke.
Emily laughed, fondly. "Very punny, Ha."
Spencer rolled her eyes once again and scalded the other brunette: "Don't encourage her, Em."
"Who asked who?" The other three girls had almost forgotten that Alison was still there, due to how quiet she had been during the conversation. Her voice was laced with curiosity when she finally spoke, her gaze fixed solely on Emily.
"I asked her," Emily replied simply, staring right back. She could have sworn that she saw a flash of something that resembled disappointment, but it left as quickly as the blonde's expression became vacant again.
"Good for you," Alison replied – her response short and hesitant, but laced with sincerity. Suddenly, it was Emily's turn to be disappointed.
Again, I can only apologies for inconsistencies regarding the American education system, dances etc. They aren't something I'm that knowledgeable on. Thanks for reading!