A/N: Here's the next update lovelies! I'm sorta busy with studying and things so I'm not going to linger much in these A/Ns! I know the last chapter was CRAZY! Don't worry! :)

Disclaimer: I do NOT own PLL!

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"Emily, your dad should be here in a couple of hours! Make sure your room is clean. I don't want him to feel like there's anything he has to do while he's here," Pam called up to her daughter.

Emily smiled to herself. "Okay, mom!" She hadn't seen her dad in months, and it was safe to say that she was incredibly excited. She had all sorts of things to tell him, like how she was doing on the swim team—excellent, that is. She had to tell him about the first half of her first year of high school. Mostly, though, she just needed to know that he was there for her, like always, despite being away most all of the time.

Emily finished cleaning her room, and then spent an hour texting Alison. The blonde seemed to be amused by how excited Emily was, but the brunette felt almost bad for talking to her about her dad. Normally, she wouldn't, but considering that the papers for Alison's parents' divorce had just been signed and completed. Alison didn't really seem to mind, though, and that was something that Emily loved about her best friend.

About forty minutes before the time that her dad was due to arrive, there was a quiet knock on Emily's door. "Come in!" Emily called. Her door opened to reveal her mother, who looked a little bit upset about something. "What's up, mom?"

"Your dad called," Pam answered, her voice strangely quiet. "He uh, got called into work, so he won't be here."

Emily's face fell, and she set her phone down on the bed next to her as she sat up to process this new information. "But… he missed Christmas, and New Years… he's not even overseas, why can't he come?"

"They need him down in Texas, Emily," her mother answered, although she sounded just as upset as the younger girl. "Maybe we can go visit him in Texas sometime. Maybe for the summer, we can go see him and Uncle Charles."

"Maybe," Emily agreed, though her voice portrayed the only emotion she was feeling—anger. She picked her phone up again.

"I thought maybe we could stay in for dinner, by the way," Pam added in a soft voice.

Emily shook her head. "I'm going to Alison's."

"Emily, this is not your father's fault, and it's not mine," Pam told Emily firmly, but the younger girl didn't care. Her phone in hand, she walked past her mom and started out of the house.

A bike ride later found Emily walking into Alison's bedroom. The blonde, sprawled on her bed writing in something, looking up suddenly. "Emily. What are you doing here?"

Emily bit down on her lower lip, because now she didn't feel angry—just sad.

"Isn't your dad going to be here soon?" Despite the question, Alison's tone gave away that she could already guess what had happened. "Come here," she cooed softly, setting the book she'd been writing in on her end table as Emily approached the bed.

They curled up together, Alison wrapping her arms around her best friend and stroking her hair.

"It's not forever, you know? Your dad… he's committed to training people who are going to defend the country," Alison said softly.

"Well, it sucks that he can't do it here," Emily muttered, a tear slipping from her eyes.

"Do you want to sleep over?" Alison asked, more as a formality, since neither girl really asked the other to sleep over—they just did. Emily nodded as another tear rolled down her cheeks. Alison hugged her tighter and wiped the tear away. "I wish your dad could be here for you, Em. You always get so happy when he's here."

Emily took a deep breath. "I wish both of our dads could be here," Emily said quietly.

Alison didn't respond. Emily had taken her by surprise—the blonde hadn't expected any mention of her dad leaving. In fact, she hadn't thought that Emily thought much about the fact that Alison's family was in shreds. It was, when Alison thought about it in hindsight, a stupid thing to think. "Me too," she finally agreed.

The next morning was Sunday, and Emily's mom was dragging her out to church, so she had to leave relatively early. Alison, however, stayed at her house. She grabbed her journal and started to finish what she'd been writing the day before. Her writing was interrupted, however, when she noticed a white hoodie resting on her desk chair. She got off of her bed to approach the sweatshirt, and noticed that it was Emily's National Guard sweatshirt. Alison hadn't even noticed that she'd been wearing it the previous day.

Making a mental note to return it to Emily the following day, Alison slipped the sweatshirt over her head and returned to her diary.


"We need to talk about this, Em," Alison pleaded, after a good three minutes of the both of them pacing in the little corner behind the school that they had claimed as theirs. The little spot gave Emily mixed feelings—anger, sadness, but also happiness and excitement. Right now, though, she could think of nothing other than how guilty she felt for having sex with Alison. She felt horrible about it, because she felt as though it was her fault entirely. Which, she knew deep down, wasn't the case. "Emily."

"I know," Emily snapped. "I'm just so… I've never felt this conflicted about anything, Alison. We used to be so easy. We didn't have any problems in between us, and this time around… it's like all we have between us is problems."

"Which," Alison interjected, stopping and standing squarely in front of the brunette, "you know isn't true. We have other things in between us."

"Yeah, like our fingers," Emily muttered under her breath. Alison let out a huff.

"Okay, we'll start with that," the blonde declared, her stern, assertive voice causing Emily to stop her pacing as well. "I'm not mad at you for yesterday, so you can stop being mad or upset or whatever you're feeling about it. Maybe it was a mistake, but it's not a mistake that needs to linger in between us and keep us from figuring us out."

Emily squeezed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply, before forcing herself to nod. "Fine. Okay." She suddenly appeared to be much more relaxed, and seeing that allowed Alison to calm a bit as well. "Onto what's next. That promise thing that you claim you can commit to?"

Alison clenched her teeth slightly as Emily's tone, but she let go of her anger in a single breath before she spoke. "Yes. You can trust me, Emily. I… I hate who I am, and I told you that. You're the only thing that ever makes me feel truly good about myself, and if I know that we have something real, even after everything, then I can… I can open up to everybody. I will. I know I can."

Emily swallowed visibly, and Alison took a meaningful step forward, hoping that Emily couldn't sense her fear. Her thumb began to tap against her middle finger at a rapid speed, but she ignored it.

"I promise you, Emily," Alison whispered. "I promise."

Emily, feeling warmth in her chest from hearing those words, reached for Alison's tapping fingers and grabbed the hand in her own. "Okay," Emily agreed. "Fine. If we can do this without ending it again for a month…"

"I'll come out," Alison promised. "And we can be together, for real… finally."

Emily lowered her gaze, and when she met Alison's again, she asked quietly, "I'm not trying to doubt your sincerity… but are you sure that you will be able to bring yourself to that point?"

Alison stood up a little straighter, staring into Emily's eyes and wishing that she was slightly taller. Emily had always been about an inch taller than her, except for when Alison was towering in her heels. But she was wearing boots—without heels—right now, and she felt too small. "I'll do it, Emily. For you. For me… I will."

Emily found herself smiling, the promise that Alison had just made lifting away almost every one of her doubts.

Alison felt a weight lifted as well, but another weight seemed to take its place on her shoulders. She forced a smile at Emily, though, and then she carefully leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to the brunette's lips. When she pulled away, she found her smile wavering. "I'm sorry, Em, but I actually have to go. I wish I could spend more time here with you…"

Emily smiled, and Alison could tell that was it was completely genuine. "It's fine."

"I'll call you, though, okay?"

Emily nodded, and they shared another single kiss before Alison had to turn and leave the area.

About an hour later found Alison at home with her mother, who was finally at the point of demanding to know what was going on with Alison. "Alison, we need to talk."

They had been sitting at the kitchen table, having lunch in the utter silence, for about ten minutes. Alison couldn't help but notice how this silence seemed to be reoccurring throughout the day. "Okay," Alison answered, her voice sounding too tight, too scared.

"I know what I saw last weekend, Alison. And I know that I told you to tell me whatever you wanted when you were ready, but—"

"But I've been a billion times moodier in the last week, despite having followed all of your new rules and made it to school on time every morning?" Alison asked, before immediately biting her tongue. "Never mind. I'm ready to tell you, I guess. It's either now or a month from now, I guess."

Jessica DiLaurentis just looked to her daughter expectantly, and the younger blonde averted her eyes from her mother's.

"Emily and I are… we're…" Alison suddenly found herself at a loss for words, because a sudden realization occurred to her. Her mother had known that Alison had been with Emily in freshman year—hell, she'd been the one to tell her in that last horrible hour. But even before that, Jessica had always seemed to know. She seemed to know things about Alison before Alison knew them herself. However, Alison had never once said the words she was about to say out loud to anybody, not even Emily. In fact, the word hadn't ever seemed to feel appropriate until just now, when she felt as though she knew who she was, for the first time ever. "Mom… I know you know what happened with me and Emily before she left… but I don't know if you know… I'm a lesbian."

Jessica hardly blinked. "Okay."

"Emily and I are… trying us out again," Alison admitted. "But… I mean… I promised her that I'll… come out… if we can be together for a straight month without breaking up."

"And are you sure that you are ready for that?" Jessica asked, true to her job as a supportive mother.

Alison shrugged. "When is anyone ever ready for anything?"


Who thinks that Alison will be able to follow up on her promise? She's already told her mom... hmm... :P

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One more week before Xmas break, though! Love you guys! Have a great day and please review :)