Emily's POV

With my head still spinning over my relationship, or possibly lack of, with Samara, I hadn't noticed Hanna in the corner of the room and made eye contact with her before looking away quickly. How long had she been there? Had she seen Samara with that girl? Can she tell I'm not ok…god I hope not…

Before I could get the next thought through my brain, I felt Hanna's warm arms surround me. She didn't say anything, probably not sure what she should say, she just held me. It was the most physical contact we have had in over a year. Sure we were friends again, but we were always so tentative around each other. We avoided sensitive topics and almost all forms of physical contact. We would hug quickly every now and then to not draw attention to the others, but it was never like this.

This hug was warm and comforting. It made me feel safe and loved in a way I haven't felt since that night, from anyone. Since that night with Hanna, I've dated three other girls, and while part of me fell for Maya, part of me knew it would never work because I wasn't over Hanna yet. As much as I tried to forget about her, I knew a part of me would always love her. That became painfully clear the night that I tried to call Maya at boot camp and ended up getting drunk. I ended up screaming at Hanna after she was leading Lucas on, the same way Ali, and she, did with me. Regardless of how mean I was to her that night, I still remember that it was her tucking me into Spencer's bed and making sure I was ok.

After the Paige thing and now with Samara, I finally feel like I'm starting to put my feelings about Hanna behind me and only see her as a friend. I'm finally able to be around her now without wanting to burst into tears, which has to be a good sign. Several months ago I would have never been able to stand here and enjoying the comfort of her arms without overanalyzing what it meant.

But Hanna is with Caleb again and they seem really happy. I knew she wasn't right for Sean. I could tell that there were times she was just going through the motions with him. For a long time I ever let myself believe it was because she still had feelings for me, as ridiculous as the notion was.

We must have stood there a while because suddenly Mona burst into our dressing area, with Spencer and Aria in tow, yelling for us all to get dressed because we only had ten minutes before the show. We broke away quickly when they stormed in but I could tell based on Spencer's face that she had noticed our long embrace and embarrassed look on my face when we separated.

Spencer's POV

Mona was really starting to piss me off with this whole co-chair thing. She keeps making us do all the work while she just stands around barking out orders. After about 20 minutes of making sure the guests were happy and everything was set for the show, she latched onto me and Aria to drag us back to get changed.

I was right behind Mona, but in front of Aria as we burst into the room. Just as we entered I saw that Hanna and Emily had been hugging but quickly jumped apart when they saw us. Hanna's face was bright red and she quickly turned away, pretending to be busy unzipping her dress. Emily stood still, as if cemented in place, but had an odd look on her face. She almost seemed embarrassed or even ashamed.

Not really sure what was going on, I asked them both why they were being so weird. Emily didn't respond so Hanna jumped in, "Samara brought a date tonight even though she was supposed to be here to see Emily."

Emily looked hurt by Hanna's statement and countered, "Quin is not her date, they are just old friends."

"Yeah, old friends who hold hands on a Friday night at a fashion show." Hanna retorted.

The way they were going back and forth with each other left quite a lot of subtext that I didn't quite understand. Hanna knew just as much as the rest of us that affection between friends, especially with all of us, is normal. After all, it was Hanna holding Emily just a few minutes before we walked in and that didn't mean anything. Or did it?

As I thought about it more, Hanna and Emily avoided physical contact with each other on most occasions now. They always used to be affectionate in the past, cuddly even, but now it was limited to an as-needed basis only. Was Emily so upset about Samara that she needed Hanna to comfort her. She didn't look that upset when they walked in and now she just looked frustrated.

Before I had time to say anything, Aria chirped in, "Well, isn't she your girlfriend? I mean I don't think Ezra would like it much if I was holding Caleb or Toby's hand even though they are my friends. I think the rules change when you're in a relationship and that becomes even more complicated because you date girls…Sorry Em."

"We never had the commitment talk, especially since I'm moving soon, it just didn't make sense to define our relationship, so I guess those rules don't apply. She's not technically my girlfriend…I just didn't know we were dating other people. I suppose now I know." Emily responded.

I needed to find out if my suspicions were correct and I knew the only way to find out was to stir the pot a little. "Well now that you know, you should totally date other people. I mean there have to plenty of girls who are interested in dating you. You're smart, talented, nice, beautiful…the full package. Any of us would be lucky to find someone as perfect as you." I said to Emily while glancing over at Hanna for a reaction.

Emily blushed at the compliment but also stiffened up. She refused to look over at Hanna even though Hanna's eyes could have bored holes into her. Hanna's reaction was probably more obvious than she realized. She definitely seemed to perk up at this suggestion but also she also flushed with embarrassment and maybe even jealousy.

What was going on with these two? Had something happened between them? I always thought they grew apart because Hanna was busy with Sean and Emily recommitted herself to swimming. Maybe there was more to it than that.

Just as I was convinced something was going on, Mona yelled at us, "Cut the chit-chat, we have five minutes to the show. None of you are even dressed yet! So help me God if I have to come back in here and find you before we start…" She trailed off, leaving just as quickly as we had originally entered.

Realizing that Mona had a point, none of us were dressed yet, we all hurried to our stations to get ready. Mine was next to Aria on one side of the mirrors while Hanna and Emily were stationed on the other side.

While we were getting our dresses on, I couldn't stop thinking about Hanna and Emily. Wondering if Aria noticed anything, I whispered quietly over to her, "Pst, Aria… have you noticed anything strange about Emily and Hanna lately?"

Not noticing that I was clearly whispering for a reason, Aria loudly responded, "Huh? I haven't noticed anything weird with them, what do you mean?"

After shushing her, I just told her to forget about it. She gave me a weird look but continued to zip up her dress. I noticed that it was a little too quiet on the other side of the mirrors but couldn't see what was going on.

Just as we were all dressed and getting ready to head to backstage I heard Hanna's phone beep. She had gotten a text but when we asked her about it, she just said it was her mom wishing her good luck. I could tell she was lying but didn't have time to call her out and it and based on the look on her face, I knew it was A and we would all find out soon enough.

Emily's POV

Why would Spencer say that? I mean I know she's trying to be nice and doesn't know what happened with Hanna and I, but I totally froze. She had to suspect something by the way I just stood there. I couldn't even look over at Hanna. My face was beet red but I tried to play it off like her compliment simply embarrassed me. I could feel Hanna's eyes on me though. I wasn't sure why she would react the way she did, but I could feel the waves of anxiety rolling off her body in my direction.

Hanna's POV

'Play it cool!' I screamed at myself in my head.

While it wasn't unusual for Spencer to compliment one of us, this took it a little farther than normal. The only two logical reasons were that either Spencer was also interested in Emily or she knew about them. To be honest I don't know which was worse.

The idea of Spencer and Emily together made my stomach churn, but also having the other girls find out about what happened between us and how I treated Emily would be just as bad. I was horrible to her and terribly embarrassed. Aria and Spencer wouldn't be as forgiving as Emily was, knowing that Alison did the same thing to her before me. Which for the record, I didn't know at the time.

Thankfully Mona came in to scold us for not being dressed just as I was sure Spencer noticed my reaction. Thank God Emily never looked in my direction or she could have read me like a book. As we hurried to our stations, I went to the far side of the room, next to Emily and across from the other girls. As we were getting dressed I couldn't help but sneak a couple quick glances over at Emily.

Her body had become even more toned this last year due to her more rigorous swim training and it took every ounce of strength not to stare. Once she was finally dressed I let go of a breath I didn't realize I was holding. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress that if I didn't know was previously Alison's, I would have sworn it was made custom for Emily. The color worked perfectly with her skin tone and hugged her body in all the right places. At this moment I was convinced that nothing in the world was more beautiful than this girl.

As she smiled at me, slightly awkwardly, and turned to join the other girls to head backstage, my phone beeped. As always, my heart hammers in my chest as I reach for my phone. I read the text and my worst fears are confirmed.

"Looks like Spencer is on to you. You have until midnight to tell them what happened last fall or Wilden will find out what your mom keeps in a lasagna box. xoxo – A"