A/N - Hey guys! Thanks for coming back and continuing to read. For those asking in the reviews if I stopped writing. I didn't. As long as the interest is still there from you guys I'll continue updating until this one is complete. Hope everyone is doing well! Enjoy the chapter, it's got a nice (LONG) flashback. Hope you like it!

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Emily woke up the Sunday after Thanksgiving feeling totally and utterly relaxed. She had taken Alison up on not just the offer to take the guest room for a little while, but also to take a long weekend to herself around Thanksgiving. It made enough sense from a childcare perspective. The holiday meant more of a Hastings presence and Alison actually had fewer responsibilities alone than she normally would have. For Emily, it was nice to step away and spend some time with her own family. She went with her Mom to celebrate Thanksgiving with some relatives the next state over and even allowed herself to get dragged along on Black Friday shopping the next day. She understood why Alison had suggested that she take a few days away. It was really freeing to not have to plan out every minute of her day around the kids. She didn't resent it in the moment, but she appreciated the absence for the short time.

On Saturday, she went back to her apartment and took inventory of the place. It could definitely use some cleaning. Despite not having anyone living there, the place still needed to be maintained. She turned up her music and played it loudly as she cleaned and organized like she always used to do. The housework didn't bother her, and it was nice to see the place sparkle when she was finished. Later that evening Sabrina came over. They went out to dinner and slept at her apartment together after. By Sunday morning, she felt fully refreshed from her break and was ready to get back to the house to see the kids.

Things between her and Alison had been good. She'd spoken to the other woman via text everyday that she was gone to check in and see what she and the kids were up to. It seemed like the blonde had everything under control, which had helped to ease any worries that Emily had about being away. There was a part of her that missed being at the house. Now that she and Alison were back on track, things had gone smoothly the past few weeks. Plus, not surprisingly she found that her mindset was much better each morning now that she was sleeping on an actual bed instead of the couch.

One thing that they hadn't discussed was the plan for after Emily came back. She knew that Alison had moved her things back up to the guest room when she left for the long weekend and she wondered if that meant that she'd be back to the couch come tonight. She made sure to savor her time in her bed with Sabrina on Sunday morning just in case it was the last time that she sleep in a bed for awhile.

After Sabrina left, Emily gathered her things up and headed back to the house. Toby's family had plans to come over that evening, and she wanted to get back early so that they could all catch up and relax for a bit. When she got to the house, she was immediately mobbed by Ellie the second that she walked in. She smiled and picked up the little girl who threw her arms around Emily's neck. Greetings like this from the sweet toddler were something that she had missed most while she was away.

Alison walked up with Liam a few seconds later. She sat down on the second step and held up Liam so that he was standing on the floor. He wasn't quite at the point where he could stand in his own yet, but he was getting close. Emily shifted Ellie to her hip. "So how was Thanksgiving?" She asked.

Alison narrowed her eyes at Emily, but forced a smile onto her face. "Just wonderful."

Emily could tell that the smile was completely fake. She pressed her lips in to hide her own smile and turned to Ellie. "Did you eat a lot of turkey?" She gave her belly a little tickle.

"Yes," Ellie giggled.

"It went alright, though?" She turned back to the blonde and asked a little more seriously.

Alison dropped the fake smile and just shrugged.

Emily could tell that she didn't really want to talk about it, and whatever had gone down was likely Hastings-related. She set Ellie back down on the ground and picked up Liam to greet him.

"Well did anything positive come out of the weekend?" Emily asked. She hoped that Alison hadn't been totally miserable for the last few days.

The blonde paused for a second to think and Emily watched as a more genuine smile appeared. "Jason made it back," she told her.

Emily smiled when she saw the dimples on Alison's face at the mention of her big brother. She knew that the two were close, but that Jason wasn't normally around for holidays or otherwise. Jason hadn't even been able to make it back for the funeral service. According to Aria, he had been off the cell grid at the time of the accident and hadn't been able to coordinate a travel plan back by the time of the service. Alison hadn't mentioned anything to Emily, but she assumed that it must have made things harder for her.

"I bet that was nice," Emily nodded. "Did you guys do anything fun?"

"The surprise!" Ellie brightened up.

Emily furrowed her brows and tilted her head to the side. "Surprise?"

Alison laughed and stood up. "Do you want to show Aunt Em her surprise?" She asked Ellie. The little girl nodded excitedly and Alison reached out to take Liam back from Emily.

Ellie grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her in the direction of the living room. She thought something looked different in there, but couldn't exactly put her finger on it. Ellie kept moving and they turned the corner of the kitchen while Alison and Liam followed behind. Ellie let go of her hand and ran to show her what the surprise was.

Emily looked around the room furrowed her brows again... something definitely was different in here. The table was moved slightly towards one side of the room so that half of it was flush against the wall. The other part of the room, which usually led into the the dining room looked like it had been walled off. Instead of being opened, there was a large bar above the doorway, with a thick piece of finished wood hanging down from it. Ellie ran towards the wood and put her hands on the handle that was attached. She gave it a tug, but because she was so small, nothing happened.

"Do you need Aunt Em to help you?" Alison asked from behind them.

Ellie tried one final time, but finally relented and stepped away with a big dramatic huff. Emily laughed at the antics. She turned towards Alison and the blonde flicked her hand towards the wooden door. She wondered what was hidden in the dining room that was going to be such a big surprise. Cautiously, she walked over to the door and pulled the handle to slide it along the metal rod and reveal the surprise.

She gasped at the sight when she got the view of the room. The dining table and chairs were completely gone. The only thing that remained was the buffet cabinet along the wall and the china cabinet in the corner. In the empty corner, there was something new.

She turned back towards Alison. "Is that a bed?!" She asked, words tumbling out rapidly.

The blonde laughed lightly at the reaction. "Yeah, what do you think?"

Emily took an inventory of the room. It looked a lot smaller than normal because the opening that normally led into the living room was walled off in a similar way as the kitchen had been. She realized now why the living room had looked slightly different when they walked through. The makeshift sliding doors offered enough privacy to where the room felt like it existed on its own. The bed was full sized and there was plenty of space to walk around in.

"Is this room for me?" She asked.

"Or me..." Alison shifted the baby and shrugged. "I just know that I'm not sleeping on that freaking couch again."

Emily laughed at the response. "Didn't you already move your stuff back into the guest room?" She asked.

Alison bit her lip. "Maybe..." she answered sheepishly.

"Then I'll take this room," Emily nodded. "This is great. Thank you." She couldn't stop the genuine smile from coming to her face. She really was thankful for this. It provided a solution to that couch that worked around their unwillingness to change Toby and Spencer's room just yet. Plus, she's take any positive initiative from Alison as a good sign. That being said, she still had some questions. "So... this was your idea? You did this?"

Alison snorted at the question. "Yeah. Built it all myself." Emily chucked at the the response and playfully narrowed her eyes in suspicion causing Alison to come clean. "No, actually my brother built it. I had the idea though..."

Emily walked back towards the door and slid it back and forth a few times along the track. It was definitely sturdy. "He did a great job."

Alison smiled. "Yeah, he's pretty good at this kind of thing. I think he does a lot of the construction for their bases at his mission sites. I didn't have time to shop for anything besides the bed but I was thinking that there's plenty of room for a dresser... maybe a hanging rack?"

"Yeah," Emily smiled again. "That would be cool." Either way, it was the bed that was the most important thing.

Alison smiled, satisfied with the answer and walked out with the kids to give Emily some privacy.

She took a moment to lie down on the new bed. Yep, much better than the couch. With the bed, she could comfortably spread out at night, making her body feel less tensed up in the morning. It wasn't that the couch was terribly uncomfortable, but after a few days, it had gotten old falling asleep on it. She figured that Alison probably had recognized the same thing within a few days of their switch. Just like Emily, it hadn't been the first time that Alison had slept on that couch either. Emily knew that for sure because she'd been there…

December 2019~

"No way that's real..." Hanna's voice sounded from the kitchen.

"It sure looks real to me..." Aria's voice followed.

Emily walked into Spencer and Toby's kitchen and saw Hanna, Aria, their boyfriends Caleb and Ezra, and Toby eying a bottle of yellowish liquid. They were turning it upside down to see what was inside.

"What are you guys doing?" Emily asked.

"I was getting ready to pour a shot of tequila for everybody but there's a big glob at the bottom," Hanna explained.

"Worm," Caleb turned towards Emily and supplied.

"Gross! Gross! That's definitely a worm. Take it!" Aria shoved the bottle towards her boyfriend.

Ezra rolled the bottle in his hands a few times. "Isn't that a thing? To put a worm in tequila bottles and then eat it?"

"Eat it?!" Hanna questioned with wide eyes.

"It's mezcal, by the way." Emily told Ezra with a smile. He was usually a little bit of a know it all, so she was happy to be able to correct him for once.

They all stopped the antics and looked at Emily.

"Bartender skills..." Toby bragged for her.

Emily laughed. The way he had said it made it sounds like he was using a "z" at the end of skills. It was true, she had bartended in California during college, so she had at least a basic understanding of most liquors.

"I thought I bought tequila?" Hanna raised a brow.

"Kind of... they're similar. This one is just made from a different type of agave plant than tequila," Emily explained.

Hanna squinted her eyes. "A-who"

Emily laughed. "It's like how Scotch is a Whiskey but they're not the same thing. Every Tequila is a Mezcal but not every Mezcal is a Tequila."

At that Hanna looked more confused than ever. "Can it still get me drunk?" She asked, causing her boyfriend next to her to shake his head with an amused expression.

"Absolutely," Emily laughed again. She always found herself laughing when she was around Hanna. There was something about her that was just so genuine. If she had a question, she asked it- no matter how off the wall.

"Great, we're all having some." Hanna moved to get the shot glasses. She poured the six shots, and the worm finally came out, plopping to the sixth glass with a tiny splash.

"I think I heard that the worm makes you hallucinate," Ezra said looking at the shots skeptically.

Emily shook her head. She picked out the glass with the worm. "They say that because usually when the worm pops out you're at the end of the bottle. Which means you're just drunk." She threw back the shot and gulped the worm down with it. "This is my first drink, so I think I'm fine."

Everyone's brows shot up, impressed.

"That," Caleb said referring to Emily. "Was Awesome."

"Badass," Hanna raised her brows.

Aria and Ezra looked on. They seemed stuck between in awe and cringing at the worm. Aria looked towards Toby. "Better keep an eye on her tonight."

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Em's a tough one!" He pulled a glass of his own and took the drink. He wrinkled his nose afterwards. "Yeah, definitely a tough one. How did you just take that without making a face."

"Bartender skills," Emily repeated with a shrug.

The other four took their shots, making equally disgusted faces after swallowing the liquid. Once they recovered, Aria pointed towards the door. "Ali finally made it."

Hanna looked over in her direction and scoffed. "Yeah, and she's got Doctor McCreepy in tow."

"Hanna!" Aria scolded.

"What?" Hanna asked. "It's true."

"He's not creepy," Aria defended. "He's just not really... her type."

Emily looked back and forth between the two, trying to get a read on their thoughts. Before she could ask questions, Hanna spoke up again. "No shit. Plus he's like a hundred years older than us."

Ezra coughed uncomfortably. "He's only a year older than me... and I'm not ninety-nine years old, Hanna."

Emily cleared her throat lightly. It actually burned a little from the shot of Mezcal but she didn't want to break the tough persona. She turned to Aria in an attempt to divert from Ezra. "Why do you think he's not her type?" She asked.

Aria thought about it. "I'm not sure exactly... Before Elliott she just had a ton of flings. Like she'd be in it for the chase and once she got the guy she'd just move on. I think she only had one actual boyfriend-"

"-and he was a jerk." Hanna interrupted.

Aria gave Hanna a scolding look. "I liked him," she shrugged.

"Oh we know you liked Noel, Aria." Hanna laughed.

Aria's look hardened towards her friend. "I'm going to say hi to Ali," she stomped away, clearly tired of getting picked on.

"I'm gonna..." Ezra pointed in the direction of his girlfriend and followed her.

Emily looked across the room. Elliott was helping Alison out of her jacket. He took it and walked away to go put it elsewhere. He seemed nice enough, Emily thought, though she agreed with Hanna that there was something creepy about him.

"Are you teasing Aria again?" Spencer walked up and scolded Hanna.

"Oh she's fine," Hanna waved off. "Want some... whatever this is called?" She held up the bottle that they had all had shots of.

"Mezcal," Emily supplied.

"Sure," Spencer shrugged.

Hanna poured the shot for Spencer, who drank it swiftly. "Sorry to tell you, but Em already ate the worm."

"You what?" Spencer's eyes widened.

Emily chucked and explained the whole backstory to Spencer. The group made themselves mixed drinks after that. It was New Years Eve, and Spencer and Toby were hosting a party to celebrate. They were the only ones who had a house, so when people gathered, they usually did so there. The turnout was especially good tonight. About twenty neighbors and friends had showed up. Emily glanced over towards Alison again. She looked pretty, but that was nothing new. Emily hadn't actually seen her in person since the Engagement Party a couple of months back. She'd cooled down a lot since then and she and Alison's interactions had been cordial. She wondered if they would hang out tonight or if the blonde would ignore her. It could really go either way.

As the night continued on, it seemed to be the latter. Alison hadn't come over to her at any point. Emily tried not to be offended seeing as she didn't make any move to speak to the other woman either. Instead, she hung around Toby and the other people that she knew. The party was fun and she didn't really keep much track of Alison. She actually wasn't sure where she was most of the time because she didn't see her in the main hubs of where the fun was happening. She found her later though, around 10:30, when she went upstairs to use the bathroom because the downstairs one was in use.

As she approached the room, she heard voices in the empty room across from the bathroom.

"I don't know why I decided to come here." Emily heard Elliott say in an annoyed tone.

"I don't know why you did either," Alison responded with equal attitude.

"Maybe because I wanted to spend New Years Eve with my fiancé," Elliott answered. His voice was a bit louder than it had been initially. "And the only way that I could do that was to come to a party where people are acting like they're still in college."

"Clearly you've never been to a college party," Alison scoffed.

Elliott sighed loudly. He took his voice down a notch, but kept his tone the same. "Do you ALWAYS have to be a selfish bitch?"

Emily sucked in a surprised breath through her nose. Elliott's demeanor had always been very polite and classy. Maybe his public and private personas weren't exactly the same...

"I don't know, do you ALWAYS have to be an arrogant ass?" Alison responded.

"I think I can be when my fiancé thinks that we should be going to house parties and playing beer pong," Elliot told her.

"Do you see me playing beer pong?" Alison asked.

"No, but I'm a doctor. I'm thirty-two years old. I don't want to be here."

"So go," Alison's raised her voice.

"I'm not leaving you here."

"Well I'm not leaving, so..."

"Yes, you are," Elliott's voice rose again, louder than Alison's.

"You can't tell me what to do. I thought you would have figured that out by now," Alison told him.

"I have," Elliot's voice got serious. "I've figured out plenty of things about you."

"Yeah, okay," Alison snorted.

"What I haven't figure out is why my fiancé doesn't want to spend any time with me."

"We literally live together. I wanted to see my friends."

"We're supposed to be starting a life together, Alison. We hardly talk. You barely want to be in the same room as me. You NEVER want to sleep with me…" Elliott ranted on.

"I wonder why!" Alison's voice rose to the loudest it had been during the whole argument.

"You know what, you can stay here. I'd rather spend New Years by myself." Elliott turned towards the door and started walking.

Emily froze in the hallway, and avoided him as he stomped by her. She walked past the door to continue on to the bathroom, but couldn't help glancing into the room he had exited from. Alison was still in there, standing with her arms crossed over her chest, looking peeved. They made eye contact. It was brief, but it was there, and Emily turned her head quickly and headed into the bathroom. She didn't want the blonde to think she was snooping, but she definitely saw her.

When she exited the bathroom, the room across the hall was empty. All of the other doors were closed, save for the guest room at the end of the hall. Emily reentered the party downstairs, but noticed that neither Alison nor Elliott were present. The conversation that she'd heard was disturbing to her. Elliott was a great catch on paper, but Emily didn't like the way he was knocking the party and seemingly talking down to Alison. The blonde could clearly hold her own ground, but it still made Emily mad. After about twenty minutes, Emily started to think that maybe Alison had left too.

"Did Alison leave?" She asked Spencer.

"I don't know..." The brunette looked around. "Wouldn't surprise me." The two walked into the dining room. Spencer rooted through a few coats. "Elliott's coat is gone, but Ali's is still here," she noted.

Emily nodded. Maybe Alison had gone after him and left her coat? She didn't think that was the case, though. The blonde hadn't sounded like she was budging during the argument and she didn't seem like the kind of person to immediately chase after someone and offer an apology.

On a hunch, Emily went to the refrigerator and grabbed two drinks. She climbed the stairs again and walked all the way to the last room on the second the floor. The light was on, and she took a deep breath before she took a step into the doorway. This was either a good idea or it was going to go very poorly.

She hoped it wasn't the latter.

She took another step to the doorway and looked inside. Alison was there, just as she'd suspected. She was sitting alone in a chair with her feet propped up on the bed and her arms folded. She looked younger than Emily had ever seen her. It was odd. "Are you okay?" Emily asked, breaking the silence in the room.

Alison turned to her, startled at the sound. Clearly she'd been in her own world, stewing, sulking, or maybe just thinking. She unfolded her arms, dropped her legs to the ground, and sat up straight as of to compose herself. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Can I come in?" Emily asked. She didn't want to just assume it was okay, especially if Alison wanted her privacy.

"Sure," the blonde shrugged.

Emily walked in and sat down on the bed. She held out a beer bottle to the other woman. "I brought you a drink."

Alison immediately scrunched her nose up. "Beer?"

The reaction didn't surprise Emily, so despite Alison's look of near disgust, she wasn't offended. Instead she smirked, "What? Thought you've been to college parties?"

Alison closed her eyes briefly and gave a light laugh. When she opened her eyes again, she shook her head and sighed. "Listen, whatever you think you heard earlier-"

"I didn't," Emily stopped her. "I didn't hear anything earlier."

Alison eyed her, thankful that the brunette seemed to be cooperative. "Well if you did it was just a hallucination. I know about that worm you ate."

"I told everyone that wasn't a thing," Emily chuckled.

"Like you should expect Hanna to pay attention when you're telling her something factual," Alison rolled her eyes in amusement.

"She..." Emily wanted to defend the other blonde, but she didn't have much to supplement with. "She could probably use a refresher course."

"She could use a lot more than that," Alison shook her head. "Thank God she has that brainiac Caleb."

Emily smiled. She knew that Hanna was smarter than she let on and she suspected that Alison probably knew that too having known the other blonde much longer than Emily had. Caleb was definitely next level smart, though. "They're a good couple," she nodded.

"Yeah," Alison agreed. "They really love each other."

Emily didn't miss the near wistful tone in the blonde's voice. She debated for a moment, but decided to speak up. "You know he- Elliott..." She paused for a moment before continuing. "He shouldn't talk to you like that. He shouldn't call you names."

"Well I mean, I AM a bitch," Alison responded nonchalantly. "And you know that I am."

She was clearly referring to when Emily had called her out at the engagement party. She hadn't called her a bitch, but she had called her manipulative and a liar, which was pretty rough too. Emily did still think that she was all of those things, at least to some degree, but after her conversation with Spencer, she realized that there had to be more to the other woman. She'd been content keeping her distance and just sitting on that information, but she wanted to be there for Alison tonight. She wanted to find the care and loyalty that Spencer had described, but she wasn't quite sure yet if Alison would let her.

"I think you can maybe act that way sometimes, but that doesn't mean that's who you are," Emily finally settled for. She'd seen Alison act like a bitch and had also been on the receiving end. When Alison was brought up, most people had advised Emily to stay away, but she wasn't one to listen to other people. She liked to make her own decisions and there was something telling her that there was was more to Alison than the version that most people saw.

Alison sat across from her silently, not offering anything up to confirm or deny.

"So are you?" Emily asked.

More silence.

"Where were you the day of the engagement party?" Emily tried.

Alison continued to look at her. It was like she was studying Emily, deciding if she was to be trusted or not. She finally broke eye contact and released a long breath. She lifted the beer that Emily brought her, finally taking a sip, which prompted her to scrunch her nose up tight. "Ugh, this is awful."

Emily released her own frustrated breath. Maybe she was just wasting her time. Maybe she should just listen to what she was told about this woman, go downstairs to enjoy the party, and move on with her life. Just before she stood back up, though Alison finally acknowledged her question.

"Look it's..." The blonde started. She paused, looking a little bit uncomfortable. "It's not as scandalous as you probably think." She took another sip of the beer despite acting grossed out by it just a minute ago.

Emily watched her, hoping for more, but it didn't come. Maybe she shouldn't be bringing it up, but she still wanted to know. "Why won't you tell me then?" She asked.

"Because it's none of your business," Alison huffed.

Emily pressed her lips together. "I know... it's not," she agreed. Across from her, she saw Alison's expression relax a bit. Emily wasn't done though. "I just... I wish that you would trust me with whatever it was. I wouldn't tell anyone, I'm not that kind of person. It's just hard to trust you when you don't let anyone else in."

"I let people in..." Alison told her. She put the drink down and folded her arms again.

"Who? Spencer?" She asked.

"Sometimes," Alison shrugged.

"You can let me in too," Emily told her softly. She felt like she was getting somewhere, she saw a crack in the hard exterior, and maybe, just maybe she could crack it.

"You haven't earned it," Alison told her. "I just met you."

And there it was. It wasn't a no. It wasn't a bitchy comment. Emily felt like she was getting the truth. She smiled slightly and nodded. "What if I did earn it?"

"Well- I don't know." She shrugged again, though it wasn't with the nonchalance that she normally shrugged with. This time she seemed a little taken aback, like maybe she really didn't know what to do if someone earned her trust.

"Well... I'm not going anywhere," Emily told her. "Toby and I have been best friends since we were kids. Your cousin and I are friends. We still have months until the wedding. I think I might have time." She kept her voice light and tried to inject a little bit of hope into it. She wanted Alison to know that she meant it.. she wasn't just saying these things. She wasn't sure why it was so important to her, but it was. She wasn't sure what Alison'a deal was, but she couldn't help that she cared so much.

"Guess you have time then," Alison flicked her brows, another mannerism of hers that Emily was getting used to. A second later, her lips started to curve upwards into a small smile. She grabbed the beer bottle again and moved it to her face, but didn't take a sip. Emily would have missed the smile, but she knew it was there. She could see her dimples imprinting into her cheeks.

"I think that's the first time I've seen you smile tonight," she noted.

Alison took a sip of the drink. When she put it down again the smile was mostly gone. She rolled her eyes playfully. "And I think that worm is making you hallucinate again."

Emily laughed out loud at the comment. She wasn't hallucinating. She knew what she saw.

"What did it taste like anyway?" Alison asked.

Emily shrugged. "Alcohol?"

"Is that what they do in California? Eat alcoholic worms?" Alison teased.

"No, definitely not." Emily shook her head with another laugh.

"What was it like then?" Alison asked. "I've always wanted to live somewhere else."

Emily told her that she loved living there. She'd been itching to get out of Pennsylvania for most of her time in high school. She enjoyed the pace of life by the beach a lot more than outside of Philly. People were less judgmental and always willing to go with the flow. Plus, she could swim in the ocean whenever she wanted.

"I thought about going out West for college," Alison told her.

"Oh yeah?" Emily's brows lifted, surprised by the comment. Alison had gotten in to UPenn, she probably could have gone to school wherever she wanted. Clearly money wasn't the issue. "Why didn't you?"

Alison twisted her lips. She took another sip of her drink while she thought. Eventually she just shrugged. "I guess I didn't want to let my Dad down," she told Emily.

The brunette pinched her brows. "What would be the big deal?"

"Well Spence was going and Melissa had graduated from there so of course he wanted to show that his kids could be successful too."

"You can be successful at any school," Emily argued. "And didn't your older brother not even finish?"

"Well he dropped out after my Mom died," Alison told her.

Emily's widened. Wait... why hadn't anyone told her that Alison's mother had passed away. "I- I'm sorry... I didn't know that," she offered softly.

Alison tried to brush it off. "He didn't drop out because of, like, depression or anything. He dropped out because he only went there to make her proud. He never got along with my Dad so he didn't see the point in staying at a place he didn't want to be in the first place."

"What did your Dad do?"

"Cut him out of the will," Alison snorted.

"Are you serious?" Emily asked incredulously.

"I'm sure he was already looking for a reason, but yeah," Alison shrugged a shoulder. "Jason had gotten his trust fund by that point anyway, so I don't really think he cared."

"So that's why you went? So you wouldn't get cut off too?"

"Um…" Alison thought for a second. "No. Not exactly."

"Why did you go then?" Emily prodded.

Alison released a breath. "My Dad and I weren't like my Dad and Jason. They fought all of the time. I was definitely his favorite. My Mom and I fought sometimes too, but like doesn't everybody fight with their Mom in high school?"

Emily waited for a moment, but then realized that it wasn't a rhetorical question. "Yeah, absolutely," She nodded to confirm. She remembered some devastating blow out fights with her own Mother. The kind of fights that would leave both of them hurt, and often alone afterwards. "We all did. Is that when you lost her? In high school?"

Alison nodded. "Yeah… and it was like… I don't know, everything changed for me after that."

"I get that. I lost my Dad when I was in college so I… I definitely know what that's like." It was a similarity that she hadn't known that they shared, losing a parent. She shared that bond with Toby too. They both understood loss and what it meant to truly miss someone who could never come back. She felt sorry for Alison that she had gone through that same terrible experience.

"I acted out a lot in high school. It drove my Mom crazy," Alison breathed out a humorless laugh. "But then she was gone and… I don't know. I kept thinking how awful it would be to lose my Dad too. He didn't just cut ties with Jason financially. They stopped talking altogether. I think maybe I was scared that he would do that to me."

Emily was shocked to hear her opening up. She tried to keep her face even. This wasn't the woman that she had come to know the last few months. Alison had a hard demeanor. She seemed like she could take anyone and wasn't afraid of anything. Maybe everyone had their weak points. "Well if he did do that," Emily told her, "It would be really, really shitty. You're his daughter."

"I know, but…" She shrugged again. "Our family is weird."

Weren't all families? Emily thought. Though she had to admit, the Hastings/DiLaurentis' seemed to be their own breed for sure. "My Mom and I were basically on two separate planets when I was in high school," Emily told her.

Alison narrowed her eyes playfully. "Did you have a rebellious streak too?" She asked.

Emily forced out a laugh, but there was no smile behind it. "Well her definition of rebellious definitely included her daughter's sexuality not adhering to her religion, so… yeah."

"Oh." Alison broke her cheeky expression and looked around awkwardly.

"We're good now, so.. it's fine." It hadn't been. For awhile. And sometimes when she thought back to the way that her mother treated her back then, she still got angry.

"So she just… got over it?" Alison asked.

"I don't know," Emily shrugged a shoulder. That was one thing that she and her mother never really talked about. Her mother had dug her feet so deep in her beliefs and now today it was like that had been a different person. "I think when we lost my Dad, she was afraid of losing me too. I guess it's kind of the way that you felt." When Emily thought of it that way, maybe Alison's fear wasn't that far off-base.

Alison nodded, but didn't add anything.

The room was silent. Emily wanted Alison to open up more, but she didn't want to push so hard that she pushed her away. She took a long sip of the beer that she had brought for herself for the first time. It was getting warm. They had been in the room for awhile now, but she didn't want to leave. She liked that they were spending time together away from other people. She was getting to know Alison, which was what she had wanted all along. She knew that the blonde was engaged, so there couldn't be anything romantic there, but she still was drawn to her nonetheless.

"So where were you going to go if you didn't go to Penn?" Emily asked to change the topic.

Alison almost immediately brightened up. "I thought about going to Emerson College in Boston. Aria went to Boston U and it would have been cool to explore a new city together. I also liked Sarah Lawrence in New York. But I really wanted to go to this school all the way in Oregon. It had really strong writing programs and was right outside of Portland." She looked almost wistful as she rattled off the places that she wished that he had gotten to experience.

"The Pacific Northwest is really beautiful…."

"You've been?" Alison asked with her brows raised.

Emily nodded. "Yeah, for swimming. We mostly swam against other schools in California, but we had a few meets up the coast in Oregon and Washington. Some down in Arizona. Colorado… Utah."

Alison sighed. "I really want to travel. We went on a lot of vacations when I was growing up, but it was always to some resort in the Caribbean. It was like my parents were totally against us getting any culture."

Before Emily could respond, there was a loud bang outside and the sound of several fireworks followed by yelling from party-goers downstairs. She heard various voices counting down. Ten… Nine.. Eight.. Seven… Six… Five… Four.. She looked at Alison in amusement at the drunken chanting below them. Three… Two…

"Happy New Year," Alison filled in with her head tilted to the side, beating the crowd by about a second.

Emily smiled. How long had they been up her anyway? They must have been talking for over an hour. "Happy New Year," she repeated. They stayed quiet for a few moments. "And you will," She said.

"Will what?" Alison asked, confused.

"You'll get to travel someday," Emily nodded.

"How do you know that?"

"I made a New Years wish for you," Emily joked.

Alison smiled. She closed her eyes and tucked her lips in. She looked like she was thinking about something. After a moment, she reopened them. "Okay, I made one for you too."

"Do I get to know what it is?" Emily asked.

"Nope," Alison said simply. "It's a surprise."

Emily laughed and shook her head. It wasn't like a birthday wish that you made before blowing out your candles. "Do you, um- Do you want to go back to the party?" She asked.

Alison twisted her lips. "Not really… do you?"

Emily shrugged, but smiled slightly. "Not really," she repeated.

So they didn't. They stayed upstairs together and had their own New Years Eve while the party raged downstairs. They talked for hours about places that they had been and places that they wanted to go. Emily didn't keep track of the time, but eventually they heard a door close down the hall. She checked her watch.

"Ali," she said with wide eyes. "It's literally 3am."

"No way," Alison reached for her wrist and checked the time herself. "How is it so late?"

"Because you were talking my ear off," Emily joked.

Alison swatted her arm. "I was not," she laughed. "You literally told me three different stories about your grandmother in Texas. That probably took two hours in itself."

Emily laughed. She had maybe gotten a little bit carried away talking about her grandmother.

"So you told me you used to bartend?" Alison asked. Emily nodded. "Think you can make something with whatever is left down there?"

Emily thought about it. "I could probably whip something up, yeah."

Alison stood up from her chair. "Let's go."

When they went downstairs, Alison waited in the living room while Emily inspected the leftovers. The fridge had plenty of beer, but she knew that she had to do better than that. She knew tons of recipes that had vodka in it, but when she eyed the bottle, she noticed that it was basically empty. There really wasn't a ton to work with at all. She looked in the corner of the kitchen and noticed the Mezcal bottle from earlier still had plenty left. Clearly everyone had stayed clear after the worm episode. She found a can of ginger ale and a few limes and got to work. After she mixed everything together she took a sip of the final product. It was missing something. She rooted around the fridge and by some stroke of luck found a few mint leaves in there. She added them to the drinks and gave them a final stir.

She walked in to where Alison was seated on the couch and handed her one of the drinks. "One Mezcal Mule," she spoke as if she was the waitress.

"Mezcal what now?" Alison asked. She raised a brow skeptically.

"Never mind," Emily laughed. It technically wasn't a mule anyway, who was she kidding. "Just try it."

Alison tentatively lifted the glass to her lips and took a sip. She immediately lifted her brows and looked back at Emily.

"Good?" The brunette asked. She had thought so, but then again she really had no idea what Alison liked and didn't like.

Alison nodded. "Who knew you were full of hidden talents." She held her glass up to Emily. "Cheers."

Emily tapped her glass to hers. "Happy New Year," she smiled.

Emily shook her head and exited the new bedroom as she remembered that night. They had talked for even longer in the living room after that. She remembered one particular thing that Alison had asked her.

"Do you want kids someday?" The blonde had asked.

Emily turned the corner from the kitchen to the living room and saw the blonde sitting on the same couch- this time with Spencer and Toby's baby on her lap, and holding a doll out to their three-year-old on the floor.

Emily tried to refocus her thoughts. Remembering that night brought a lot back. She sat down on the floor with Ellie. "So anything else happen this weekend?" She asked trying to find a new topic.

Alison thought for a second. "Oh! There's potential developments on Planet Hastings."

"Oh yeah?" Emily asked. Something about the way that Alison had phrased the statement amused her. The Hastings really were on their own planet sometimes. "What's going on."

"Well, Wren is worried about the baby and wants Melissa back in London," she told Emily excitedly.

"Ali!" Emily scolded when she noted the smile on the blonde's face. "There could be something wrong with the baby."

"No," Alison waved off. "The baby is fine. I think she's just ready to get out of the hotel room and go home to her husband."

"Okay..." Emily prodded her to continue.

"So now my Aunt and Uncle are trying to figure out what to do about Christmas and Liam's birthday knowing that they have to be back in Washington right after New Years." She told Emily. Liam's birthday was between Christmas and New Years and Congress went back in session on January 3rd.

"Okay..." Emily repeated. She wasn't really getting where this was going. She already knew about those events.

"Sooo I suggested that they go to London for a few weeks, spend Christmas there with Melissa, and just come back to the States for Liam's birthday before they go to Washington" She looked at Emily, pleased with herself and the information that she was reporting.

"A Hastings-free Christmas?" Emily perked up. Christmas had always been her favorite season of the year and she had been stressing about how this year was going to be with Spencer's family around throughout.

"Technically they're still thinking about it, but I think it's going to happen."

"That would make things so much easier around here," Emily nodded. Just that simple fact alone made Emily's Sunday a little bit lighter. She always immediately turned to Christmas the second that Thanksgiving was over. She was looking forward to some holiday cheer and doing fun things with the kids.

Later that night, after Toby's family had left and the kids had gone to bed, Emily and Alison were relaxing in the living room. She had wondered how their evenings would be affected now that they both technically had their own spaces to retreat to at night. She hoped that they could still spend time together.

At one point, after the episode of the show that they were watching ended, she looked over at Alison and noticed her dozing off on the couch.

"Ali," she called. The blonde's eyes popped open. "Go to bed," she told her with a little laugh.

Alison sat up and yawned. "Thanks..." she stood up. "Wouldn't it be ironic if the first night that we have two bedrooms one of us still winds up sleeping on a couch?"

"I'd believe it," Emily shook her head at the thought.

"And your good with the new room? It'll work for you?" The blonde asked one more time.

"Yes, it's perfect," Emily told her.

"Good." Alison smiled. She patted the top of the couch before heading upstairs.

Emily stood up as well to make her way to the new room. She took one last look at the couch and thought back to that first time she had slept on it.

Because when she'd woken up that next morning, she hadn't been alone.

January 2020~

Emily started to wake up at the sound of footsteps above her upstairs and slowly opened her eyes to orient herself. She was lying on her back on the couch in Spencer and Toby's living room. She moved to look around and get her bearings, but it was impossible to miss the warm body nuzzled into her side. Her blonde hair was covering most of her face, but Emily knew that it was Alison. The night came back to her. They'd stayed up until almost sunrise when both of them fell asleep from exhaustion. It hadn't seemed weird at the time, but now as the footsteps from above started down the stairs Emily realized that this wasn't the best position to be in. The problem was that Alison was still asleep and Emily was pinned to the inside of the couch. She couldn't make any movements.

The pair of of footsteps made it down the stairs and crossed through the living room on their way towards the kitchen. Emily's eyes were opened, and for a split second she thought that maybe the pair would just walk on by.

"Oh my god," Spencer gasped. "I thought you guys left." She had her hand on her chest, and was clearly startled to see the party guests still there.

Emily glanced towards Toby, whose brows were perched higher than she had ever seen them before. He looked completely shocked. She looked back towards Spencer. "Nope, just up really late."

Spencer nodded and looked at Toby. "I need water and you promised pancakes," she said, moving on and clearly much less phased than Toby.

"I... Uh, yeah..." He answered. He took one last look at Emily and continued to the kitchen.

She lightly jostled Alison's arm. "Hey..."

Alison blinked her blue eyes opened slowly. "God, what time is it?"

"Too early..." Emily answered. She really had no idea but was sure that they hadn't been asleep more than a couple of hours.

"Hmm," Alison responded. She closed her eyes again and let her body rest back where it was.

Emily looked down at Alison. Last night had gone about as well as it could have with her. She'd salvaged the other woman's night and they had a good time together. They laughed a lot and learned about each other. It felt like they had paved the way for a friendship. But what now?

—

A/N - Cheers for Emily finally getting a bed. Girl deserved it. Next chapter has another flashback and we'll also get some Christmas cheer.

Hope the chapter was worth the wait (I know… I'm sorry for making you guys wait so long). Let me know what you think in the reviews. Take care!