"Are we even allowed to be in here?" Alison whispers despite the fact that they're very obviously alone, as Emily bends to fiddle with the padlock on the door in-front of them – she's picked it so many times over the years that she barely even has to think about it anymore, and she grins at Alison's nervousness as she hovers behind Emily's shoulder.
"It's fine, Ali, I used to do this all the time." The lock clicks and Emily tugs it away with a triumphant smile, straightening up and pulling the door open wide enough for both herself and Alison to slip inside. Within, the room is dark, and Emily closes her hand around Alison's wrist as she closes the door behind them, plunging them into complete darkness as she fumbles her hand along the wall for the light switch – when she finds it she flicks only one set on, and smiles again when the pool before them is illuminated in a hazy light, the water glinting invitingly.
"You used to break into the school all the time?"
"How else do you think I got so good?" She'd used to sneak in here whenever she got the chance or whenever she couldn't sleep, could spend hours swimming laps, getting herself out of her head for a little while, but it's been months since came here outside of practice. "Come on."
She makes her way over to the bleachers that line one wall of the room and tugs her shirt over her head, shivering as the cool air presses against the skin left bare by the bathing suit beneath it. She turns to see Alison eyeing her appreciatively, and she smirks as she hooks her fingers through the belt loops of her jeans and shoves them down her legs, kicking off her shoes and putting them both on one of the steps.
Alison takes a deliberate step towards her, one hand splaying across the bare skin of Emily's thigh and the other curling around her hip and Emily shivers, Alison's touch feeling like it burns. Emily's hands find Alison's face, cradling her cheek in the palm of her hand as she tilts the blonde's head up to press their lips together, and they both sigh at the feeling, Emily's hands weaving through blonde hair and holding Alison close, and she swears that no matter how many times she kisses Alison like this, it'll never be enough.
"I feel a little underdressed," Emily murmurs against the side of Alison's neck when their lips part, her mouth blazing a slow trail of kisses over the side of the blonde's jaw and down her throat, and when her teeth graze across the pale skin Alison's nails dig into Emily's hip in a way that has her breathing out a quiet groan against Alison's neck.
"Well, why don't you do something about that?" Alison teases, her voice a little breathier than normal, and Emily grins, only happy to comply, the hand that isn't buried in the blonde's hair finding the zip of her dress and tugging it down, allowing it to pool at their feet. Her fingertips explore the newly exposed skin eagerly, dragging across Alison's thigh and up, across the silky material of her bathing suit over her ribs, palming one of Alison's breasts as she bites gently at the pulse point that throbs in her neck. "I thought we were supposed to be swimming?"
"Are you complaining?" Emily murmurs, lips still pressed to Alison's skin as her thumb toys with the blonde's nipple through her bathing suit, smirking when Alison's breath hitches.
"Not at all." Alison winds one hand through Emily's hair and tugs her head away from her neck to kiss her again, open-mouthed and needy and Emily moans as Alison's tongue licks across the back of her teeth, the nails of her other hand digging into the brunette's ass and Emily kind of wants to forget all about swimming and instead shove the blonde down onto the bleachers, yank the thin material covering her skin down and press her mouth against every inch of her skin. "Is the water heated?" Alison murmurs against her mouth a moment later, and Emily realises that the blonde is shivering against her.
"Is this not keeping you warm enough?" She teases, pulling back slightly and grinning when Alison makes a face at her. "Come on." She takes Alison's hand and tugs her towards the water's edge, watching the blonde dip her toes in and wince when she feels the temperature. "You'll warm up," Emily says with a smile, before releasing Alison's hand and diving easily into the pool, letting a little sigh of happiness as the water surrounds her, letting her hands brush against the tile bottom of the pool before rising to the surface, finding Alison sitting on the edge, dangling her legs in the water and watching her with an affectionate smile on her face. "What are you thinking about?"
"Just imaging how hot you must've looked, kicking everyone's asses at swim meets." Emily manages a half-smile, but the blonde's words send an ache through her chest – even though she's still firmly involved in the sport with coaching, it's not the same, and she wonders if she'll ever stop missing it. "I'm sorry I never got to see it."
"Me too." There's a longing in both of their voices, and when Alison pushes herself off of the wall and into the water, Emily moves over to her, taking Alison's hands when the blonde reaches for and pulling her close. "Can I tell you something?"
"Mhm." Emily's hands curl around the edge of the pool, her body pressing close to Alison, pushing her back against the tiles as Alison's hands drape over her neck.
"I started swimming competitively after you went missing because it kept my mind off of you." Alison's eyes are dark as they look up at Emily, through her lashes, filled with the same remorse that never fails to sink into them whenever they speak of the time they'd spent apart. "But sometimes it didn't; sometimes I wish you'd been here with me. I used to dream, sometimes, about bringing you here."
"Yeah?" Alison's voice hitches slightly with emotion, and Emily nods, casting her mind back to when she was fifteen and felt so alone, swimming until her lungs burned and her arms ached, and still, when she raised her head from the water, she still saw Alison whenever she blinked, sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs crossed and an easy smile on her face, but whenever Emily had reached for her she'd slipped away, into thin air. "And what were we doing in these dreams of yours?"
Emily can't help the slight blush that colours her cheeks as some of the memories come back to haunt her – she'd awoken on more than one occasion with a racing heart and heavy breathing, haunted by the image of Alison in a bikini, skin slick with water as she'd tangled her hands in Emily's wet hair and drawn her close.
"Emily Fields." Alison notices Emily's flush and feigns outrage, but there's a smile pulling at the edges of her lips. "Did you used to have inappropriate dreams about me often?" Alison's grinning, now, and Emily bites her lip as she decides whether or not she wants to answer that question.
"I… maybe," is what she settles on, and Alison's grin widens. "Not as many back then as I do now, though." She mutters that last part quietly, but from Alison's airy laugh Emily knows she's heard it. It's true, though – she'd expected that, after sleeping with Alison for the first time, her hormones would die down and leave her in peace but god, it's about a thousand times worse now than it had been before, and Emily's just glad that no-one can read her mind because her thoughts whenever she thinks about her girlfriend lately are definitely not PG-13.
"And does the reality live up to the expectation?"
"God, yes." Alison laughs at her enthusiastic reply and Emily smothers it with a kiss, pressing a thigh between the blonde's legs and groaning when Alison grinds against her, and Emily's never been happier to have snuck out of her house for the night to come to the pool than she is right then, surrounded by the woman that has always been her world.
She'd been worried that her Mom would have been keeping an ear out for Emily sneaking out, now that she knew she was seeing Alison, but she'd been able to slip down the stairs and out of the front door with ease, and she was glad that Alison had been able to join her (she hadn't had many doubts, though – the blonde had told her once that she'd been thirteen the first time she'd slipped away for the night, and had done it a thousand times since), and she thinks of all the possibilities it brings for them to spend the night together as Alison's hands slide down to Emily's hips, pressing the brunette's thigh harder against her centre, the water rippling around them.
It's been days since she and Alison had been able to snatch a few moments alone, and Emily's hands are eager as they run down Alison's sides, one squeezing her ass and dragging her even closer and the fingers of the other teasing at a nipple, and the low groan that echoes into her mouth ignites a fire low in her stomach, desire flashing through her veins.
She makes a noise of surprise, muffled against Alison's lips, when the blonde twists suddenly, pressing Emily back against the wall of the pool and pinning her in place with her hands, strong at Emily's hips as her mouth trails over her neck, pressing biting kisses to Emily's overheated skin, and Emily tilts her head back and bites at her bottom lip to stifle the moans that threaten to tumble from her mouth as she surrenders to the feeling of Alison's tongue on her skin.
As her mouth trails lower, Alison's hands shift on Emily's hips, urging her upwards instead of holding her in place, and when understanding dawns she shifts, her own hands curling around the edge of the pool, pulling herself upwards so that she's sat on the edge when Alison leans back slightly to give her room to move.
Alison arches up towards her to connect their lips in another searing kiss before she's pulling away, eager hands pulling the material of Emily's swim suit aside before her mouth is hot on the brunette's bare skin. Alison bites at a mark she'd left the last time they were together (if Emily's learned anything since the two of them got together, it's that Alison likes to leave a lasting reminder of her lips being on Emily's skin, littering the brunette's body with red and purple marks that Emily likes to run her fingers over the next morning, remembering the echo of the heat of the blonde's mouth) before her tongue and teeth tease at one of her nipples.
Emily doesn't try and keep the breathy moan at bay this time, her back arching into Alison as she tangles a hand in the blonde's damp hair, tugging her closer as she lets her eyes flutter closed, and having sex in the high school swimming pool hadn't exactly been what she had in mind for the evening but she's definitely not complaining as Alison's hands move to her hips, yanking Emily forward so that her ass is right on the edge of the pool and she opens her eyes at the sudden movement, glances down to see Alison settling herself between Emily's thighs and she promptly shuts them again (it's a sight she doesn't think she'll ever get used to, she's sure – it's the hottest thing she's ever seen, by far).
Emily's hands release Alison's hair to instead wrap around the edge of the pool because she's pretty sure she's going to need it to keep herself grounded as Alison pulls her bathing suit aside and ducks her head, draping one of Emily's thighs over her shoulder as her tongue runs the length of Emily's sex, flicking against her clit in that way that never fails to make Emily's knees weak and her hips buck against the blonde's mouth, lifting from the edge of the pool and grinding against her, her knuckles flashing white where they grip the edge of the wet tile as shaky breaths escape her mouth.
It hadn't taken Alison much time to learn exactly what Emily needed to come like this, and it isn't long before Emily's thighs begin to shake on either side of the blonde's head. Alison responds by circling her tongue faster, shifting to press two curling fingers into Emily's body and the brunette clenches around them, Alison's name falling from her mouth like a prayer as she feels her orgasm wash through her, white hot pleasure sparking through her entire body as her thighs tighten around Alison's head, holding her close while her hips press against her mouth, her head tilting back as she rides out the waves.
She releases her hold on Alison when her head stops spinning, legs splashing limply back into the pool and she lets herself collapse backwards so that she's lying on her back staring up at the ceiling, Alison's quiet laughter ringing in her ears.
"You okay there, babe?"
"Just… give me a minute." Emily's amazed that she can even speak at all through her laboured breathing, and Alison chuckles softly before the sound dies away, nothing but the quiet rippling of the water left in its wake, and when Emily raises her head she sees Alison cutting gracefully through the water, swimming laps.
She shifts slightly so that she can watch her girlfriend, admiring the muscles that ripple across her back and shoulders as she moves, eyes straying to the curve of her ass and she bites her lip – Alison comes to a stop at the side of the pool directly opposite her an arches an eyebrow like she knows exactly what Emily had just been thinking, and the brunette smirks.
"Don't want me to return the favour?" She asks, teasing, as she pushes herself fully upright, feeling like she's probably regained control of her limbs by now.
"You'll have to catch me first," is Alison's airy reply before she's moving again, away from Emily with quick, sure strokes, and the brunette grins, delighted, as she slides into the water and chases after her.
x-x-x
"Sorry I'm late," Hanna murmurs as she slides into the seat opposite Emily at the Grille, throwing the brunette a grateful look as she takes a gulp of the diet soda that Emily had ordered while she was waiting. Emily takes in Hanna's mussed blonde hair and the flush on her cheeks as she shrugs out of her jacket and arches an eyebrow.
"Do I want to ask why you're late?"
"Probably not." Hanna smiles happily, no doubt thinking about Caleb and whatever they'd gotten up to earlier that afternoon (Emily also hadn't missed the dopey smile on his face as he'd walked Hanna to the door). "Unless you wanna talk about that massive hickey on your neck."
"It's not that bad," Emily defends, though she tugs nervously on the collar of the shirt she'd thrown on in an attempt to hide it from view – Hanna's quick to yank the shirt away from Emily's skin, though, eyeing the side of her neck with a critical eye until Emily shoves her hand away.
"Uh, yeah, it is. It's practically glowing." Emily flushes as she hides the mark again, thankful for the fact that her Mom had been out for most of the day and hadn't been able to guess what her daughter had gotten up to the previous night when she'd crept out of the house. She and Alison had been at the pool until the early hours of the morning, until weariness had made their movements sluggish and they'd slipped back home to sleep, and Emily felt a little bad that the blonde had to be up early the next day for work, while she could sleep as late as she wanted – Alison had breathed into her ear that it was worth it before she'd left the brunette's car, though, so that was something. "And I'm guessing I really don't wanna know what it is you're thinking about right now."
"Probably not," Emily echoes, ducking her head to look at the menu laid out in-front of her in order the hide the blush staining her cheeks, and Hanna snickers, delighted. Their waiter appears a moment later to save her, and she orders her usual burger before settling back in her seat, eyes taking in Hanna's face and the way she's almost glowing with happiness and can't help the soft smile that pulls at the corner of her lips.
"What?" Hanna asks warily, misinterpreting Emily's scrutiny. "Do I have something on my face already?"
"No," Emily replies with a quiet laugh. "I just… You look happy."
"Because I am." Hanna's eyes drop to her wrist, to the bracelet that Emily had noticed had appeared there a couple of weeks ago but had never asked about. "And so do you." She glances up, meeting Emily's gaze, and even though there's a smile on her mouth there's a harder edge to her gaze. "Who'd have thought that just over a month ago we were trying to drown ourselves in booze?"
Emily looks away, remembering all too well the thoughts that had plagued her mind back then, thrown into whirlwind of emotion by Alison's return, thinking that if she just drank a little more than maybe it would all go away.
She can barely believe that such a short amount of time has passed since then, since her world had been edged in darkness – now it feels like it's almost bursting with light, feels like she'd only truly started living on the day that Alison had appeared at her door and asked Emily to be her girlfriend.
"At least there's no lasting damage," Emily murmurs quietly, desperate to change the subject because she doesn't like dwelling on the parts of her past where she'd felt so bleak, when there was a part of her that hadn't cared if she lived or died – it's only happened three times, when Alison had disappeared and when she'd come back, and when Maya had died, and Emily doesn't ever want it to feel that way again.
She remembers the look in Alison's eyes, on that day when she'd turned up at Emily's house, so frantic and so terrified, determined to end things if that would keep Emily safe and she shudders, wondering if she'd come close to number four.
"You okay?" Hanna's eyeing her curiously and Emily wonders what expression's on her face. She hadn't told the other girls about that day, hadn't wanted to worry them by telling them that A had made a threatening re-appearance after so long – and maybe that was a mistake, maybe she's being selfish, but things had been so good and so quiet lately that she wants to give them a little peace.
"Fine." She forces a smile, shaking off the feelings churning in her gut, because it's been a while, since she and Hanna had a proper catch-up – the blonde had been so busy with Caleb and Emily with Alison that they'd barely seen one another or the other girls outside of school. They'd used to have a weekly coffee at the Brew, but after what had happened with Zack they'd gotten out of the habit.
"Things with Ali still good?" Hanna waggles her eyebrows suggestively, and Emily rolls her eyes, not rising to the bait.
"They're amazing." Her smile is more genuine, this time, and she wonders if it lights up her face the same way Hanna's does whenever she talks about Caleb. "And shouldn't you know how they are, anyway? You guys went shopping together on Friday."
"That doesn't mean you came up, Em, god, don't be so vain." Emily just rolls her eyes again, and Hanna grins. "Okay, fine, we talked about you a lot. I've never seen her so… I don't know, carefree, I guess. You're good for her."
"So you had fun?" Emily knows that Alison had – she could hear the happiness in the blonde's voice when she'd called Emily when she'd gotten home, and it had made Emily's heart sing, that she and Hanna were finally starting to get on like they always should have.
"Yeah," Hanna shrugs, her eyes lighting up when she catches sight of the waiter over Emily's shoulder, carrying their food. "It was a little weird at first, not gonna lie but… no, it was fun. She's a much better shopping companion than you, anyway. Didn't complain once."
"Good," Emily shoots back with a grin, "then you can be the one who goes with her to find a dress for this winter charity ball her Dad's hosting."
"Oh, no, no, no, no," Hanna argues, pausing before taking a bite of her own burger to look at Emily with pleading eyes. "She's a nightmare for stuff like that – you remember when she dragged us around the mall for what, five hours that one summer for one of Noel's parties? No way am I reliving that."
"You just said - "
"You can go with her," Hanna interrupts around a mouthful of food. "And just like, feel her up in the changing rooms to persuade her to buy the first thing she sees."
"That's not - "
"It'll work," she interrupts again, with a wicked grin. "Caleb's used that on me a couple times."
"Did not need to know that, Han. Did not need to know that." Hanna just rolls her eyes and deftly changes the subject, and the rest of the evening flies by, and by the time they're leaving Emily feels more content than she has for a while, not realising how much she'd missed her friend the past couple of weeks.
"You want a ride?" Hanna asks when she notices Emily heading for the bike rack outside the Grille instead of her car, and the brunette shakes her head because it's a nice night, the sky clear even if the air is a little cold, and she'd decided to ride her instead of drive on a whim and enjoyed it more than she remembered. "Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow."
Hanna gives her a quick hug before crossing the street, and Emily clicks open the lock on her bike before shoving the helmet on her head, swinging herself into the saddle and setting off down the road.
She huddles down in her jacket as the wind whips at her face, peddling faster in an attempt to ward off the chill. She wonders absently if Alison will be back from work yet, if she could swing by the DiLaurentis' before heading home, but she remembers the blonde saying she might be going somewhere with Matt afterwards and turns left at the end of the street instead of towards Alison's house with a slightly wistful sigh.
It's kind of ridiculous, that she finds it hard to go without seeing the blonde for more than a day. She's aware of that, but it doesn't change the ache that settles in her chest whenever she knows Alison's far away instead of at her side. She thinks about their conversation on Thanksgiving, about Emily leaving for college and leaving Alison behind and she finds it a little harder to breathe, doesn't know how well she'll be able to cope with that kind of distance, if her heart will be able to take it, especially if she ends up at the opposite end of the country.
She shakes off those thoughts, though, because she tells herself there's no point worrying about them, not yet. She and Alison still have ten months to spend together before they go their separate ways, and Emily is determined to spend as much of that time with the blonde as she possibly can.
Her mind strays, not for the first time that day, back to the previous evening, to pressing Alison back against the wall of the pool and kissing her until she could scarcely breathe, let alone think, and she wonders if she can persuade the blonde back to the pool within the next week because the entire night had been a dream come true that she wouldn't mind reliving again and again.
She's so wrapped up in thoughts of her girlfriend that she barely even notices the traffic around her. There isn't much of it, at this time of night, and she's wearing bright enough clothing, the lights on her bike flashing and the reflective band on her helmet catching the reflection of the car headlights, to be too worried about not being seen.
She does notice when a car pulls up alongside her, though, much too close for her to be entirely comfortable and she turns the handles of her bike sharply towards the pavement in-case the driver hadn't noticed her, muttering a curse as it speeds away and turns down a side-street.
She's nearly home when she hears the rev of an engine, loud in her ears, and she turns her head towards the sound. She swears that it's the same car, sleek and black – and speeding straight towards her.
She swerves out of the way, on to the pavement but the bumper of the car still hits her, slamming into the back wheel of her bike and sending her spinning, and she barely even has time to blink before she's falling towards the pavement, her head cracking into the concrete with a loud smack, and then everything fades to black.