Pennsylvania in the winter time wasn't as enjoyable as Emily had remembered. Although everyone was used to the freezing weather, switching from a mild climate to one where you could walk outside and have icicles hanging from your nose in a matter of seconds, wasn't appealing to Emily. As Spencer walked in and out the front door, the crisp air would bite at her uncovered skin, leaving her shivering.
"Spence, close the door." Emily yelled, rubbing her arms in search of heat. Aria and Emily were relaxing on a sofa in the far corner of Spencer's barn, laughing at some video Aria was showing her.
"Who on Earth would do something like that though?!" Aria giggled, her stomach couldn't take much more as they continued watching hilarious videos. Minutes passed before Spencer got off the phone as she walked over to the two who were laughing uncontrollably.
"Ali said she'll be late getting here. Something about Rollins complaining about the way she's dressed." Spencer sighed, rolling her eyes.
"But she'll make it here in time, right?" Emily asked almost as soon as the words left Spencer's mouth. Spencer looked at her awkwardly before speaking, "Yeah she'll just be a few minutes late. Believe me, she wouldn't miss a chance to go all out. A stampede of reindeer wouldn't stop her."
Emily sighed in relief, not being able to see Alison would put a damper on her mood.
"How is her marriage going, anyway? I haven't seen them together lately." Aria peaked around Emily to look at Spencer.
"Well Mr. and Mrs. Rollins are doing mighty fine." Spencer exaggeratedly put a hand on her chest, speaking in a southern accent.
"I'm sorry, I have to use the bathroom." Emily hurriedly jumped off the sofa and headed for the bathroom. She just couldn't take listening about Alison's "perfect" marriage when Emily had her in her arms just the other night.
Emily barges into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind her. She hopes neither of her friends will come to check on her, however, based on their confused looks while she rushed out, they might. She simply plans to tell whoever finds her that she had to fix her makeup in the mirror.
Glancing up at her reflection, she looked like a mess; she had turned pale sometime during her rush to the bathroom causing slight beads of sweat to appear around her face, and her breathing was ragged. The hold that Alison Rollins had on her is absolutely crazy if it makes her do things like this – just by their friends bringing up her damn marriage.
"Fuck, why did I get myself into this?" She muttered to herself as she pulled her phone out. Flipping through her texts, she sees Hanna's contact, causing her mind to flash back to the day she was invited to this winter ball.
As Emily's phone begins to ring, she sees Hanna's name flash across the screen.
"Hello?" Emily answers while balancing the phone between her shoulder and cheek as she folded up clothes.
"Em! Question! What are you doing next weekend and please say nothing because I need you to come to my Christmas party and support me." Hanna blurted out in one whole sentence.
"Take a breath, Han. And what would I be doing at said party that I've been so formally invited to?" Emily sarcastically questioned, walking to her closet and hanging a few shirts up.
"Well, you'd be showing support for your best friend." Hanna acknowledged as it was obvious.
"Alright." Emily chose not to try to weasel out of it. "Consider me there. What's the occasion?" Emily continued to laugh at Hanna's attempt at being convincing.
"Something a little Christmasy. Oh and, Em, extreme emphasis on the little. Please don't show up dressed as Santa's little helper like last time." Hanna groaned loudly.
"You said you wanted to stand out... Therefore I went as Rudolph." Emily quickly defended her outfit choice.
"Okay, well don't do it again, Emily Fields, or so help me I will shove that antler so far up your–"
"-And I'm hanging up." Emily announced.
"No no no! Wait! I didn't tell you that you have to bring a date." Hanna interrupted.
"Why do I need a date?" Emily whined. "As you can see, I've avoided dating since I came back here." Emily sighed.
"Yeah, yeah. We all know you're 'holy roller Emily' now." Hanna joked.
"I didn't say I put off sex completely… I just put off dating." Emily smirked to herself, knowing exactly who that comment was about.
"Oh my god, Emily Fields! Why am I just finding this out now?" Hanna asked. It was sort of unusual for Emily not to tell her about it; she used to call Hanna about it all the time when she was in L.A. However, the past few times with that one person... they were the greatest Emily's had in a long while and she couldn't exactly tell anybody.
"Technically, you didn't find anything out. You're just implying that I have." Emily replied nonchalantly.
"You should be happy Caleb just texted me to meet him for dinner. Don't think you're off the hook, Em." Hanna scolded.
"I can't be off the hook for something I didn't do. But have a safe trip and I'll talk to you soon." Emily knew, with it being Hanna, this wasn't the end by any means.
"We'll see about that. And don't forget, Em... No Christmas sweaters – just a nice ball gown." Hanna went on.
"Yes, yes, I know. You've already told me a dozen times." Emily groaned.
"I'll always have to remind you a million times–" Hanna paused abruptly, "Hey, Em. About the whole bring a date thing... Why don't you see what Alison's up to? I'm sure she'd go with you." Hanna's voice held a slight teasing tone and it made Emily swallow hard.
"W-why would I ask her? She's married." Emily stuttered, mentally slapping herself.
"Jeez Emily, I'm not telling you to fuck her. Just ask her to be your date." Emily could practically see Hanna rolling her eyes.
"Wow. From just two words, you got all that? Don't you have a dinner to get ready for?" Emily questioned, allowing a little bit of sass to enter her voice.
Hanna laughed, "Funny. Bye, Em." And with that, she hung up.
Emily shook her head. There was no use in getting upset over hearing the girls mention Alison's marriage. She knew what she was getting into beforehand - but still; sometimes it was hard to have to sneak around their friends' backs and Alison's husband's... not to say she really cared about him. Sometimes she just found herself wishing they could be like a normal couple holding hands on the sidewalk, eating ice cream on the park's benches, or even going to dinners in town and just feeling free around each other. On the other hand, sneaking around made her feel sixteen again. The butterflies that formed in her stomach everytime she snuck out of her apartment in the dead of night, just to meet up with Alison, were always worth it. They'll probably always be worth it.
She washed her hands and dried them off before heading back downstairs to at least seem somewhat normal. When she made it back to the other girls, the door bell rang.
"I'll get it." Emily called as she quickly walked over to the front door. Casually adjusting her dress and hair, she opens the door to reveal the most beautiful person she had ever seen in her life. A blonde – her blonde – stood in the doorway with perfectly falling curls and a low-cut, jet black gown with contrasting silver sparkles. Emily's breath immediately escaped her lungs as she stood at the door admiring Alison's beauty.
"Wow, you look amazing." Emily choked out, completely being at a loss of words for the first time ever.
"You don't look so bad yourself." Alison winked.
They continued to eye each other up and down in awe until Spencer walked up to greet Alison.
"Wow. Either you were practically wearing nothing or you just didn't care." Spencer laughed as she hugged Alison.
"Well, let's just say it took a few glasses of scotch before he finally stopped complaining." Alison chuckled. Emily's face fell as she stood there awkwardly, listening to the two talk about Rollins. She slowly walked away from the conversation and returned back to her previous seat near to Aria.
"You okay, Em? You look like you've seen a ghost." Aria asked, placing a hand over Emily's.
"Yeah, the cold weather is just getting to me." Emily forced a smile and nodded.
"Hey, can you come help me with my dress one last time? You know how Hanna is and if it's not 'Hanna approved,' I'll be on the shit list." Spencer stopped to put in air quotes.
"Sure." Aria smiled, setting her phone down and jumping up to head to Spencer's room. Right away, Alison sashayed towards Emily and sat down on the sofa.
"Now that we're alone..." Alison whispered in her ear.
Emily quickly stood up and gave Alison a glare, "Did your husband cause that too?" Alison looked taken aback by her comment.
"Em, that didn't even make sense. Are you mad that I was a few minutes late?"
Emily didn't answer, causing a smirk to tug at the corner of the blonde's mouth.
"He's not the one I'm going to this party with. It's you and only you. I don't know why you can't see that." Alison stood up off the sofa and interlaced their fingers.
"But I'm not the one you're going home to after." Emily said bitterly.
Alison sighed, "We got into an argument tonight."
"About what?"
"Stuff."
"What kind of stuff?"
"Stuff like me wearing a revealing dress on a date with a girl I used to be somewhat involved with." She confessed. She called it a date, Emily mentally noted.
"He knows about us?" Emily asked astonished.
"No, silly, we came up briefly in our meetings when I was seeing him... professionally." Alison chuckled.
"That was none of his business." Emily tugged Alison closer so their bodies touched, showing her possessiveness towards the blonde.
"And it's still none of his business." Alison kissed her neck.
"Now sit." Alison commanded and Emily did as told. They waited silently for the girls to get finished with Spencer's dress. Emily laid back on the sofa and stared at the ceiling. She was thinking about Alison, truth be told. Soon, she felt something creep up her dress and nearly jumped.
"Oops, did I scare you?" Alison raised her eyebrows in question.
"No." Emily attempted to regain her composure. Alison watched her closely for a few more seconds before leaning in and whispering in her ear.
"Maybe when the party's over, my hand won't be lingering down here for long." Her tongue flicked against Emily's ear.
As soon as Emily went to turn towards Alison, they both heard Aria and Spencer coming back down the hall, forcing Alison to retract from Emily who missed the close contact immediately.
"Are we leaving?" Alison asked as she fixed her dress, knowing Spencer wanted to get going.
"If we don't then we'll all recieve a major ass-kicking when she gets back." Spencer replied, causing them all to laugh. The three girls stood up and began getting ready to head out while Emily still sat on the couch, lost in her thoughts.
"Em, are you coming? You don't want to face the wrath of Hanna so soon, right?" Spencer asked, motioning for her to get up.
"I'm, uh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something." Emily stammered nervously. She swore she could see Alison with the biggest smirk on her face.
The four girls made their way towards Spencer's car with Spencer sliding into the drivers seat and starting the ignition. Meanwhile, Emily slid into the seat behind her and Alison followed suit.
"Is it too late to call dibs on shotgun?" Aria giggled, climbing into the passenger seat and buckling up.
"Can someone please call Hanna and let her know we're on our way?" Spencer requested.
"I'm on it." Aria happily responded as she dialed Hanna's number.
"So, this party that you asked me to come with you to, what am I going to be doing?" Alison whispered with her voice trailing off as her fingers crept up Emily's inner thigh, causing Emily to squirm in her seat.
"Dance and look pretty." Emily threw out an answer and inhaled sharply.
"Do you want me to?" Alison questioned as she played with the hem of Emily's dress, which rested above her knees. Emily's mind flashed back to a few months ago.
The two girls made their way back to Emily's apartment after a long night of drinking at one of the bars near Hollis.
"Did you see that girl's face when I shut her down? It was to die for!" Alison beamed, trying to balance herself as Emily slightly fumbled with her keys. Emily could remember the blonde getting drunk before when they were younger but, tonight, she was beyond wasted.
Emily laughed until she couldn't stop, "The look she gave you when you walked up and said "Sorry Kim K, but she's taken", and then you threw your drink in her face when she told you off." Emily finally opened the door and motioned for Alison to go first, before slamming the door and not bothering to lock it. Alison spun around looking at the brunette's apartment, eyes widening when she spotted a certain gift.
"You kept it!" She hiccuped as she gently picked up the delicate snow globe she gave to Emily years ago.
"Yeah, well..." Emily felt a rush of embarrassment flood her body as she tried to focus on anything else.
"You were always so sweet to me back then. I don't know what you've ever seen in me." Alison sighed as she placed the globe back down.
"I've seen you the same as I do now." Emily walked up behind her.
"Awe, mermaid..." Alison suddenly turned around and locked their lips together messily. Emily swiftly put her hands under Alison's thighs, edging for her to jump. Then, she picked her up and backed her up against a wall and started kissing from her lips, down to her chest.
"I've been waiting for this all night." She muttered, hands getting lost in Emily's soft hair.
"You and me both." Emily murmured back, shrugging out of her jacket.
"Fuck, Em." Alison moaned, grabbing her hair and dragging her face up to her own, kissing back hard enough to leave a bruise.
"You can do whatever you want to me. Just make sure you don't leave a mark." Alison managed to get out in-between breaths.
"I want you to have something to remember me by." Emily confidently mumbled against her neck, tugging gently on the exposed skin.
"God, you're so perfect. Make it somewhere less noticeable." Alison quickly gave in. Having Emily in control of everything was the hottest thing she'd ever seen. Soon, there was a noise from the upstairs apartment that made both of them pause.
"Did you hear that?" Emily squinted her eyes, looking around the room as she put Alison down.
"I think it came from upstairs." Alison guessed, looking around as well. The noises began coming one after another and it made both of the girls blush even harder than they were before.
"I'm rooting for the guy to last longer than five seconds." Alison laughed as the noises became louder and faster.
"Mmm, I'll say... two seconds, give or take." Emily scratched her chin while placing her bet. The noises abruptly stopped altogether and Emily grinned at Alison.
"Told you." She laughed.
"Get rid of that smirk and take me to your room." Alison began kissing Emily again until she did as she was told.
Truthfully, yes, she wanted Alison all to herself tonight but she couldn't just ditch Hanna's party. Knowing her best friend, she would probably conduct a full-fledged manhunt for her.
Interrupting her thoughts, Alison dropped her phone down between Emily's feet. As she went to reach for it, Alison beat her to the punch. The blonde bent all the way over Emily's legs trying to reach it. When she finally got it after what seemed like forever, she came up slowly, pressing open-mouthed kisses up Emily's leg, all the way to her knee. The brunette shuddered underneath her touch as Alison continued her torture, and she was sure Alison was fully aware she was being merciless.
"I'm sorry. My phone slipped." She whispered an apology.
Emily rolled her eyes and mouthed "of course," causing Alison to sit up straight in her seat, feeling satisfied with herself.
"So how many times did you change before Rollins 'approved', Ali?" Spencer chuckled wryly.
"I didn't have to change. He left with some of his friends before we finished our argument." Alison said nonchalantly with a wave of her hand.
"What? Is he coming back?" Spencer asked astonished.
"Mm, I doubt it. He always makes a big deal out of the smallest things." Alison shrugged while Emily secretly loved every second of the conversation.
"Well, you're more than welcome to crash at my place if you'd like." Spencer offered.
"Thanks, but... I'll probably just rent a room for the night." Alison waved away the offer.
They rode in silence for a while, with Alison's hands roaming Emily's body every chance she had and, honestly, it was killing her. If Spencer and Aria weren't in the vehicle, she would take Alison right then and there.
"Don't worry. You'll get your chance." Alison taunted in Emily's ear, the heat of her breath was absolutely torturous.
Spencer and Aria spent the rest of the ride talking about random things with Alison chiming in a few times. Emily was being strangely quiet throughout the whole ride and it was becoming quite noticeable to the other girls.
"Em, really, are you okay? You've been quiet the whole ride." Aria queried with genuine concern. The question from the tiny brunette went over her head as she thought about Alison's statement from a few minutes ago. When Emily didn't answer, Aria and Spencer shared a confused look but ignored whatever was bothering Emily. They've learned that if she wanted to speak, she would.
Alison's hand slowly crept over to Emily's lap before she slid her hand between her legs, just to see the brunette's reaction. Retracting her hand almost immediately, she could tell Emily was dying. To Emily, the ride was torture. She felt herself aching for her blonde and just wanted to take her up to a random hotel room and –
"We're here guys!" Spencer yelled over the radio to get their attention in the backseat.
Emily snapped back into reality and gently shook her head. Spencer jumped out of the car while Aria was raving about how exciting the party was going to be. As Emily reached for the door's latch, Alison clasped onto Emily's wrist.
"Not yet." She flashed her infamous DiLaurentis smirk. Although she wished she could gain control of the situation and get the party over with, Emily obeyed and waited for the other two to go inside.
"What is it?" Emily inquired.
"Aria was definitely right... You were so quiet tonight." She innocently chuckled as she straddled Emily and pushed her against the seat. Alison began to kiss her neck before biting down gently. She continued this motion before working her way down slowly, leaving trails of burning passion against Emily's skin.
"Ali." Emily moaned a little bit too loud.
"And I thought you were never going to speak until I made you later on." Alison winked, followed by giving Emily a hungry kiss.
"Come back." Emily desperately whined as Alison lifted herself off of her and exited the car.
Alison grinned but didn't say a word. She was enjoying this way too much.
Quickly fixing her dress, Alison extended her hand for Emily to take. "Now come on. If we're late, Hanna will kill us both before the fun even starts."
When Emily finally exited the car, only one thought lingered in her mind: God, I'm so fucked... in more ways than one.