Alison was still torn between continuing to see Emily or cutting off all communication with the brunette. Emily, however, was in great spirits. She was happy that her dad was home and she successful came out to her friends. They fully supported her and Emily was on cloud nine. Alison was happy for her, but a part of her was jealous. Everything seemed so easy for Emily. She was able to come to terms with her sexuality. She was even confident enough to tell her friends, while Alison couldn't even say it out loud to herself.

Emily was laying on her bed with Alison's head on her chest. She was playing with the blonde's hair and enjoying her company. Emily's parents were having a date night, which left Emily and Alison plenty of time to spend together.

"So what did your friends end up saying when you told them?" Alison asked.

"They told me that they didn't care who I dated as long as I was happy and that the person was good to me."

"That's really great, Em. I'm happy for you." Alison said while absentmindedly tracing patterns with her fingertips against Emily's arms.

"Hanna had so much fun with it." Emily said with a chuckle.

"Of course she would." Alison said with a smile. "What did she say?"

"She just said that it was amazing to have a lesbian friend and now she's trying to find me a girlfriend."

Alison's head shot up and she looked at Emily with fear in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Ali. I'm not going to let her hook me up with anyone."

Alison visibly relaxed and closed her eyes when she felt Emily's hands gently stroking her cheeks. Emily leaned forward and pressed her lips against Alison's, which completely calmed the distressed woman.

"But won't your friends get suspicious if they try to set you up on a date and you always refuse." Alison asked, suddenly worrying that they would get caught.

"Ali, don't worry about it. They would never suspect that you are the one I'm involved with."

"What if they did? Emily, I'm not ready for that." Alison said, beginning to panic.

"Babe, please calm down."

"Em, I don't know if I'm ready for this. I can't risk anyone finding out. I'm scared."

"Ali, don't be afraid. Please, just calm down." Emily pleaded.

Alison sat up and began putting her shoes on.

"Alison, where are you going?" Emily asked with furrowed brows.

"I can't do this, Emily. It's too much. I can't be ... gay." Alison said, whispering the last part.

"Ali..." Emily started toward the blonde, but she backed away.

"Emily, we have to end this. I can't handle it."

Emily felt her eyes well up with tears. "Ali, please. Don't run from me."

Alison felt her eyes tearing up. She wouldn't be able to do this if Emily begged her to stay. She desperately wanted to, but she couldn't be gay. She couldn't come out of the closet. She couldn't live an out and proud life like Emily was ready to. Emily deserved someone that could proudly show her off, but she didn't think she could ever be that brave.

"I have to. You deserve better than this. Goodbye, Emily." Alison whispered before exiting Emily's bedroom. Emily turned to her bed, wanting to curl up and cry, but images of Alison and herself tangle up in the sheets began to flood her mind. She turned and made her way to the window seat and allowed her tears to freely fall. She and Alison hadn't defined their relationship, but it still felt like the blonde had just broken up with her. She had never been heartbroken until this moment. Emily silently sobbed with her knees pulled to her chest, feeling as though her heart may actually crack into a thousand pieces. She felt the weight of her charm bracelet as it dangled from her wrist. She quickly removed it and threw it across her room. If Emily was going to get over this pain then she was going to have to remove everything from her life that reminded her of Alison . She wouldn't be able to completely avoid the blonde, but she needed to make this separation as easy as possible.

~x~x~x~

Emily had managed to calm herself before her parents came back from their date. She spent the rest of the evening pretending to be fine, which exhausted her. She felt like she didn't sleep at all that night and it showed the next day at school. She dragged her body to her locker, completely skipping her early morning swim session. She hadn't even dried her hair after her morning shower, leaving it soggy. Her eyes had deep purple bags under them and she yawned while pulling out her textbook. Hanna approached the brunette and scrutinized her appearance.

"Em, why are you in sweats? I had the cutest outfit picked out for you, but you didn't come by my house."

"Sorry, I just didn't sleep too well last night." Emily said, while yawning again.

"You ok?" Hanna sympathetically asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess my sleep schedule got messed up over the holiday break." Emily lied.

"Well stop by tomorrow and we can start doing our morning makeovers again." Hanna cheerfully stated.

"Alright." Emily mumbled.

Emily began walking to her first class of the day and of course the first person she saw was Alison. After staring for a brief moment she averted her eyes, trying to ignore the blonde. She noticed that Alison looked perfectly fine. She was wearing a gorgeous dress with leggings and cute boots. Her makeup was flawless as always and her hair fell in perfect curls. She was laughing with her friend Mona. Emily felt as though Alison was completely unfazed by this turn of events, while Emily felt as though her world was falling apart. Emily thought that the feelings must have been one sided because if Alison felt the same way as Emily she wouldn't have been able to carry herself as well as she was. This thought only made Emily feel worse. How could she allow herself to care so deeply for someone that didn't care about her at all?

Alison noticed Emily out of the corner of her eye. She looked the brunette up and down and felt immensely guilty. Emily looked as though she was having a difficult time, but Alison thought she still looked beautiful. Even in sweats with no makeup and a wet head Emily still looked like a goddess. Alison had to force herself to look away because she felt her heart breaking. Mona noticed Alison staring at Emily and scoffed. "Fields looks like garbage today. I guess the new it girl has fallen off her throne."

Alison nervously chuckled, not wanting Mona to suspect anything, but she didn't agree with her friend. Emily would always look beautiful to her.

~x~x~x

True to her word Hanna had a gorgeous outfit waiting for Emily the next day. Thankfully Emily was able to get a bit more sleep than she did the previous night, so she didn't feel as awful. She felt good enough to go for her morning swim. She even found the strength to do her hair. Thankfully Hanna was a ball of energy because Emily didn't feel like doing her own makeup. Emily ended up dressed in a grey skin tight dress with black knee high boots and of course Hanna supplied matching accessories. After Hanna had finished Emily's morning makeover the two left the restroom and walked down the crowded halls of Rosewood High.

"So, last night I was thinking about you being gay." Hanna started.

"No, Hanna. I won't go on a date with you." Emily joked causing the blonde to look offended.

"Bitch, please. You know we would be hot together, but that is not what I was talking about. I was talking about setting you up with this girl that is in my math class. Her name Is Maya and I think she is pretty cool. I talk to her every now and then and I believe she is single. You two might hit it off. I heard she is bisexual." Hanna explained.

"I don't know." Emily skeptically said.

Emily knew that Alison had ended things between them, but it had only been a few days. She wasn't ready to move on so quickly. She looked down the hall in the direction of Alison's locker to see Noel Khan hovering over the blonde. He was leaning in a little too close for Emily's liking and Alison seemed to be encouraging it. She laughed at something he had said and placed her hand on his chest. She was definitely flirting with him. Emily felt a pain stabbing in her heart at the sight. Clearly she was ready to move on, so Emily should as well.

"Come on, Em. Just talk to her. You never know. She might be the one." Hanna pleaded.

"Fine. I am willing to talk to her." Emily said with a sigh.

Hanna cheered and hugged her friend. "Hell yes. This way you won't be the only one of us that is single. You can bring her over for movie nights and we can have a quadruple date and..."

"Slow down, Hanna." Emily interrupted. "I only agreed to talk to her. There is no need for you to pick out my wedding dress."

"Sorry, it is just exciting."

"Then why don't you date her?" Emily offered.

"Because I am kind of crazy about Caleb if you hadn't caught on."

"Yeah, I think we have all noticed." Emily said and fake gagged.

"Oh whatever. As soon as you and Maya go on a date or two you guys will be the same as Caleb and I."

Emily rolled her eyes at her friend and left her behind as she walked to her first class. She passed Alison on her way and glared in the blonde's direction for a moment before averting her attention in front of her.

The look had shocked Alison. She wasn't expecting Emily to be angry at her, though she guessed she deserved it. She had abruptly abandoned the other girl and moments ago was shamelessly flirting with Noel. Not that she was interested in him, but she had to keep up appearances if she didn't want anyone to catch on to her dirty secret. The hateful look was burned into Alison's mind. She couldn't help but think about how sexy Emily looked when she was angry. The dress she was wearing didn't help matters. It left very little to the imagination and Alison knew exactly what was underneath that dress. The images that were taking over her mind were very much X-rated. Alison had to stop herself from getting lost in thoughts of Emily's naked body. She wasn't sure how long she was going to crave the other woman, but she hoped it wouldn't last too long. Staying away from Emily was the most difficult thing she had ever done, and if the swimmer was going to walk around looking like a goddess then she knew she would never survive.

~X~X~X~X~X

Emily sat down at her usual table for lunch where Aria, Toby, and Spencer were already seated.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Emily asked.

"Not much, just debating on what movies we should watch this weekend." Came Toby's reply.

"It really isn't much of a debate considering that Spencer has the final say so since she is hosting." Aria said causing Toby to wine.

"I just don't want to watch a chick flick."

"I like chick flicks, but I'll make you a deal. I will pick the first movie and you can have the second one." Spencer said in an attempt at a compromise.

"If that is the best I can get then I will take the deal." Toby teased before leaning in to kiss Spencer on the cheek.

Emily felt saddened by the sweet gesture. She wished it could have been that simple for her and Alison. To openly show affection without fear of public backlash. Before she could mope and get lost in her thoughts she saw Hanna and Caleb approaching the table with a girl Emily had never seen before.

"Hey guys," Hanna greeted. "This is Maya. We have Math together."

Emily perked up at the name. So this was the girl that Hanna was going to try hooking her up with. Emily had to admit that she was very pretty. This strange woman had dark curly hair, plump lips,and her style was cute and unique. Everyone introduced themselves with the exception of Emily. She was too busy looking over the new girl. Suddenly Hanna cleared her throat, effectively gaining Emily's attention.

"Emily, this is Maya. Maya, this is Emily." Hanna announced.

"Hi." Emily said with a shy smile.

"Hey." Maya said with a smile of her own.

"Anyway, Maya has something she wanted to ask you." Hanna said as she nudged the other brunette, causing her to blush.

"Would you like to go have lunch with me?" May asked a little above a whisper, but Emily heard her perfectly.

Emily locked eyes with Hanna, who was looking at her expectantly.

Emily turned her attention back to Maya and stood. "Sure, sounds great."

Maya beamed and boldly cupped Emily's hand, leading her away from the cafeteria and out into the parking lot.

"I thought it would be nice to leave campus for lunch. If you don't mind." Maya spoke up, feeling a bit more confident now that so many eyes weren't on her.

"That is fine with me." Emily replied as she followed the other woman to her car.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Alison couldn't prevent herself from gazing in the direction of Emily's lunch table every so often. Her leering became more frequent once she noticed Hanna bringing someone else to their table. Someone Alison had never noticed before. All attention from their table seemed to be focused on Emily and Maya, which left Alison with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Emily had briefly mentioned that Hanna wanted to set Emily up on a date. Maybe this was it. The thought made Alison feel sick, but she wasn't going to allow it to bother her. It could be anything. Surely Emily wouldn't move on so quickly. Alison continued to watch as Emily stood and was guided away from the cafeteria by this strange new girl. Alison was burning holes into the back of the strange brunette's head as she disappeared through the double doors.

"Looks like Fields bats for the other team." Mona spoke, breaking Alison from her thoughts.

"What are you talking about?" Alison asked, attempting to mask her uneasiness.

"She just left with Maya St. Germain. She dates girls. Guys too, but I guess as of now she is on girls again."

Alison opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

"Oh, I guess it isn't a big deal. I have nothing against homosexuals. My favorite cousin is gay, but this does make for some juicy gossip, and you know how much I love to gossip." Mona said mischievously.

Alison looked back at the direction that Emily had disappeared to. So this was what her life could end up like. If she were to enter a public relationship with Emily she would be subject to gossip. It was a relief that Mona wasn't homophobic, but when it came to gossip nothing was off limits. Alison wasn't sure if she could handle that, but at the same time she wasn't sure if she could handle watching Emily date another woman. Never in her entire life had Alison ever felt so conflicted.

So, once again Alison has messed things up. I know a lot of you have been wanting some jealous Alison and it looks like she is making an appearance. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I wanted to say thank you for continuing to read this story. I love reading all of your messages and reviews.