"Emaya BBC"

Hi again! I'm a little rusty so please forgive me…

It's been a busy summer but I know I owe you updates so I won't keep you waiting any longer.

Hanna's return home from the hospital should be a joyous event, but being stuck in a wheelchair and feeling haunted by -A makes her return feel more like a Hitchcock nightmare than a proper homecoming. Even though the girls try to put on their best effort to support Hanna, they all have troubles they have to face as well: Spencer is still reeling from Melissa's surprise, when an unexpected roadblock is thrown up in her relationship with Alex; Emily, on the other hand, is hoping that an introduction to Maya during a tense family meal will smooth all apprehensions her parents may have. Meanwhile, blackmail is in the air when Aria and Fitz suspect a student is on to them…

Rated T for Teen…

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Chapter 11: Dinner at the Fields

Spencer and Emily go upstairs to get ready for their day unaware that someone has been lingering in the shadows outside of Spencer's house. A car quietly pulls away after having just watched Maya leave Spencer's knowing that she spent the night. Mrs. Fields slams her hands on the steering wheel, eyes dark and narrow as her mind works overtime trying to come up with a plan to keep Maya away from her daughter for good. And then something sinister in her brain is activated, Maya is allergic to seafood…

At Hannah's…

Hannah is wheeled into the kitchen while the girls bring in all of the things people left for her at the hospital. Hannah becomes frustrated as she tries to fix the sticker on her leg that is covering up the –A message.

"Why are you taking that off?" Aria asks.

"I'm not, I'm trying to keep it on. Believe me I don't want to see the autograph that is under it."

"We can get you another sticker." Spencer offers.

"Yeah, this time why don't you try something gentler like 'Save the Planet'," Aria suggests.

"There weren't a lot of choices. It was either Humpty Dumpty or Jesus is Coming Look Busy," informs Spencer.

Hannah lifts up the sticker, "Oh god, it's still there."

"Hannah, don't. Just look around you cuz you're safe and you're alive," comforts Spencer.

"I thought I was safe in my hospital room too." Hannah wants answers, "What's going on with Noel Kahn. Is he –A? Have you talked to him?"

"No, I've been trying to avoid him. I keep telling him I'm busy. Busy freaking out every time I look at him," Aria tries to explain.

"Yeah, well try being run over by him."

Emily tries to change the subject by getting Hannah to tell them who gave her what for gifts while Aria tries to find something for them to eat. Hannah decides that she is in the mood for pop tarts. Aria suggests she eats while they get the rest of her stuff. While the girls are outside, Hannah uses her crutch to knock over the pop tart box and a bunch of other boxes fall out as well. Inside the lasagna noodle box she finds stacks of one hundred dollar bills. She shoves them back in the box and hides what she found from her friends. She tells the girls that she's fine but tired and asks them to go. When they leave, Hannah gets a text…

Like mommy like daughter.

Can you run from the law on those legs?

-A

But before Hannah can tell anyone, her mom comes home. She confronts her about the money she found. Mrs. Maren calls it an "unauthorized loan" telling Hannah not to worry about it.

At the Fields…

Emily and her parents sit down for an uncomfortable breakfast…

"So, Maya has an allergy to seafood?" Mrs. Fields asks her daughter.

"Yeah but she eats everything else."

"That's good to know," Mrs. Fields looks down as she gets up to clear her place feeling a rush of adrenaline sweep through her body.

"Dad, I know I asked for it but if mom can't handle this dinner tonight, I'll just tell Maya…"

Mr. Fields interrupts his daughter, "We're looking forward to it. Your mother was up all night preparing the menu."

"You don't think she would try to poison her. Do you?"

They both share a laugh as Mr. Fields lets Emily know how his wife would dispose of her, "Your mother, it isn't her style. She'll kill her with kindness."

Emily smiles as she is feeling much better about their dinner with Maya.

At Rosewood High…

Emily and Aria are walking up to the school discussing who is going to be bringing Hannah her books and homework when Maya approaches…

"Hi Maya," Aria greets.

"Hi there," she says back as she reaches for Emily's hand.

"Are you still coming to dinner tonight?" Emily asks with a shaky voice.

"Sure, if your folks still want me to. What should I wear?"

Emily replies nervously, "Anything, doesn't matter, a dress…"

"A dress? Seriously? Is this some sort of formal thingy? Or are you just worried my jeans are too butch." Maya questions with a laugh.

"Don't. Please don't say things like that. They won't. They won't laugh," Emily worriedly tries to explain.

"Well, I gotta go. Have fun tonight but FYI if you decide to wear jeans, iron them," Aria tries to relieve the tension as she walks to her class.

"Emily, are you still into this dinner?" Maya asks tenderly.

"Of course. It's just, my parents have been acting strange since I told them about me, about us."

"Define strange."

"Whispering, closing doors, changing the channel when 'Ellen' comes on," Emily explains as they walk to class.

"Got it. I will wear the girliest dress I own. I'll tell them I sewed it myself," she says with a laugh.

Emily stops abruptly, "Maya. This isn't a joke. My mom isn't your mom. Okay."

Emily starts to walk away but Maya stops her by holding onto her arm, "Em, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make light of what you and your family are going through right now. I just want you to be happy, for us to be happy. And I want to be able to hold your hand and kiss you on the cheek without your parents freaking out."

"I know. It's more my mom than my dad. He seems pretty cool about it. It's been difficult for my mom to accept but at least she's trying."

"You're right. I was actually surprised that she said okay when you asked. That to me is progress."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Emily smiles.

"Mmm, is that smile just for me," Maya winks.

Emily blushes, "You know it is."

The bell rings in the background.

"We better get to class. You've made me late to enough of them," Emily flirts.

"Me? You're the one who won't stop kissing me, like right now."

Maya places her hand on the side of Emily's face drawing her to her. She takes her lips with hers feeling the tension release from Emily's body. It's a tender kiss, a reassuring kiss, a kiss that needs to end before it becomes something more…

"There. That's better," Maya pulls away arching her eyebrow before heading off to class.

Emily smiles widely so enamored of her girl…

In class…

Aria tells Ezra that Noel Kahn was the one who wrote the note on the car. She convinces him that he isn't going to do anything about it but then Noel approaches Ezra suggesting he change the grade on his paper or else the truth will come out. Mr. Fitz considers what Noel says but in the end he decides to call Noel out on his bluff. Noel is shocked and informs Fitz that he shouldn't have made that choice…

Meanwhile in the hall, Spencer tries to relax Emily about her dinner. She tells her to make sure to step in if Maya starts to sink. But before Emily can respond Mona stops them to inform them that she is throwing a surprise welcome home from the hospital party for Hannah. Emily and Spencer try to talk her out of it but to no avail. Mona tells them flat out that they don't have to go but they know they have to…

At the Club…

Spencer finds out that Alex has the opportunity to play tennis abroad but he doesn't want to. Spencer tries desperately to convince him to not pass up this opportunity but Alex has no interest. He tosses the brochure in the trash and tells Spencer to drop it…

At the Fields…

"So, where in Texas will you be stationed," asks Maya.

"Fort Hood. But I'm not leaving just yet," Mr. Fields says with a protective gesture.

Mrs. Fields returns with a plate of food for everyone. She places a plate in front of Maya just before she sits down to enjoy her meal. She leans back in her chair waiting for Maya to start eating. But she and Mr. Fields are engaged in a conversation. There is laughter and the mood is relaxed. She looks at her daughter seeing how happy she is. She looks at her husband seeing how welcoming he is. She looks at Maya seeing how gracious she is. She looks at her reflection in her wine glass coming to realize that making Maya sick is not the way to deal with this. Her attention is averted as Maya is about to enjoy the meal in front of her.

Right before Maya places the food in her mouth, Mrs. Fields yells, "No!" scaring Maya and everyone at the table.

"Pam, what is it?"

"Oh Maya, I wasn't thinking. I had this great recipe that I wanted to share but I just realized that Emily said you are allergic to seafood."

Emily looks at her mother quizzically wondering if she really tried to harm her.

"Mom! I told you she was allergic!"

"I know. I know. I've just had a lot on my mind lately and I completely forgot."

"It's fine. I'm fine. I didn't eat it. I'm just glad you realized in time, Mrs. Fields."

"So am I. That would have been just awful. I'm so sorry Maya."

"Mom, she said she's fine. Can we just change the subject?" Emily asks suspicious of her mother's behavior.

Mr. Fields tries to help out by asking Maya about her family, "So are both of your parents from California Maya?"

"Yeah, they met at a no nukes rally. After my brother and I came along they got married and moved to San Jose."

Mrs. Fields looks confused as she doesn't know what to do with herself. She questions whether or not she did the right thing by not letting Maya eat the seafood. She is so torn about this that she doesn't even rationalize that she did do the right thing. The conversation distracts her as she learns that Maya and her brother were born out of wedlock.

"So you were here when your parents got married?" she asks with concern.

"I was the flower girl," Maya explains. "Oh, I guess they wanted to make sure it was real before they tied the knot," she says with a wink towards Emily making her blush.

"Two children wasn't real enough?" questions Mrs. Fields trying to accept her but struggling to do so.

Emily feels the need to interject, "Umm, tell the story about how your dad asked your mom."

Maya laughs as she begins the tale, "So my dad's this raging, crazy, romantic." Mrs. Fields gulps down her wine. "He proposed to my mom with a sharpie. Oh, umm, he didn't have a ring so he drew one on her finger with a felt pen."

Mr. Fields laughs but Mrs. Fields is not amused, "That's a very clever place holder."

"No, that's the only one she ever had. Once the ink wore off she retraced it with a tattoo."

Mr. Fields laughs, "Wow, now why didn't I think of that."

Mrs. Fields can no longer fake her acceptance so she excuses herself to check on the roast.

Mr. Fields calls to her, "Honey, be careful our anniversary is coming up. I think I'm going to invest in some felt tip markers."

Mrs. Fields turns to him with a scowl but just as she is about to enter the kitchen, she spies Emily and Maya playing footsie under the table. She retreats into the kitchen as she tries to busy herself with the roast but the emotions she is feeling are overwhelming her. She begins to cry realizing for the first time that she truly has lost her daughter…

At Hannah's…

Mona is hanging out with Hannah on the premise that she is getting her up to speed with her homework. But little does Hannah know that there is a crowd of people waiting outside her door to surprise her. The French doors fly open to Sean and her classmates and then Hannah comes face to face with Noel Kahn…

She has a flashback of Noel's girlfriend breaking up with him and Ali claiming responsibility saying 'they' just put Noel back on the market. She makes sure the girls realize that 'they' broke them up, that is was a group effort, that 'they' did it for Aria…

At Emily's…

After dinner, Emily and Maya make their way to the front porch to talk.

"Was I embarrassing? Sorry about the seafood thing," she says as she strokes Emily's arm. Emily walks past her to lean against the railing. "Had I eaten that, I would've blown up…"

"Stop," Emily interrupts as she takes her hand in hers to reassure her. "They really liked you. Dad was definitely hooked and mom loved the dress."

Maya smiles with a head tilt, "Wait 'til she sees the crease in my jeans."

They laugh as the mood begins to lighten and Emily asks, "Do you wanna change before we go to Hannah's?"

But Maya surprises Emily by asking, "Would it be all right if I bailed on that?" Emily looks disappointed. "I'm exhausted. I didn't sleep last night. I was way too nervous."

"About dinner? Cuz when I saw you at school you were totally…"

"One of us had to hold it together." She takes a strand of Emily's hair sliding her fingers down to its ends, "You were one buckle short of a strait jacket."

Emily giggles to Maya's comment just before bringing her lips closer to Maya's. Maya places her hand on Emily's shoulder sliding it down to her elbow as she returns the kiss. But before it can get too involved, Mrs. Fields interrupts.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," she says as the girls stop to face her. I wanted to give Maya something to take to her folks."

She steps forward to hand Maya some Tupperware items.

"That's so sweet thank you," Maya says drawing Mrs. Fields in for a hug.

"You're welcome," she says trying not to make the hug uncomfortable but she fails miserably.

Emily lets out a much needed breath as Maya and her mom part.

"Enjoy," offers Mrs. Fields.

"Thank you," Maya responds.

"Oh my god Maya! I can't believe she was so cool with you!" she rejoices as she hugs Maya.

"I know. It's so unlike her," she laughs.

"Maya, I want to celebrate this. Please come to the party with me," she begs.

"Hmmm, how about you make an appearance at the party and before you go home you stop by and give me a proper goodnight kiss," Maya says with her eyes looking her up and down.

"You think you'll be up for that since you're so tired?" questions Emily with a smirk.

"That's why I'm going home so I can take a nap. I want to be ready and awake for my girl," she kisses her before she can say anything back. "You better go so you can spend some time with me before mommy catches on."

Emily's eyes widen as she looks at her Maya wanting desperately for her mother to accept her as the girl she was always meant to be and to accept her with the girl she was always meant to be with…

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To Be Continued…

As I was watching this episode so I could recreate the dialogue, I was reminded that Spencer's ex-boyfriend Alex drove a red mustang and Noel changed the grade on his paper from a C to an A in red ink. Also, Aria had the pink streaks in her hair and Emily and Aria were the only ones holding red Solo cups in the flashback scene. The Solo cups at Hannah's party were blue…

Just sayin'…

Coming Up…

Emily and the girls attend the party.

Emily stops by Maya's to say goodnight.