*AN: suuuuper quick and suuuuper short upload, all the result of a random hour of downtime. I originally wanted to title this "Say It Again"….but tell me if you thought this one better? Or not?
Also in response to your reviews (btw I really loved the last chapter's reviews, keep them coming please!)

Drea82581: love and hate the emotions at the same time? I don't know whether I should thank you for sharing that, or if I should apologize to you, but "raw and heartbreaking" is how I felt when writing and I'm happy you feel it too. Goal: check.

ayokris013: aww thank you so much, I feel like I write my way into my own little world and you have no idea how happy that makes me that I was able to spread of that into your life

mcmeli: this may sound so bad, but it has been on my list of things to achieve when writing this, to be able to cause someone to feel so much that they cry…if I've done that for you…wow. Thank you.

I love all of you for supporting me, and please keep telling me what you think! Review to save a life (aka my life) lol.

Lina

One Day

"Ali," Em was whining, tugging on Ali's arm in hopes of getting her back in bed.

"No Em, c'mon, it's 11:30am on a Saturday, we should be out doing something. Going somewhere, out shopping or watching a cheesy chick flick."

Em grunted and threw herself back into the sheets, face down, mumbling.

"Em," Ali almost scolded, "stop being a baby will you? I had a whole day planned for us and now look, half the day is gone."

Em flipped her hair from her face, "is not."

"Is too."

"Ugh, why can't we stay in bed and see how many episodes we can watch on Netflix and order pizza, make-out, eat ice cream from the tub-"

"What did you just say?"

"What," Em asked incredulously, "we always eat from the tub on sleepovers."

"No, before that."

It took a few seconds before Ali could see the warm tint growing across Emily's cheeks.

"Em, you know you don't ever have to plan when we make-out?" Ali crawled back onto the bed, crawling over Em until her knees were on either side of her girlfriend's knees.

Emily squirmed and smiled devilishly, something she had mimicked from Ali these past few months.

Ali kept leaning forward, forcing Emily to scoot further into the bed, until her only option was to lie on her back and hold her breath and Ali kept inching closer, closer, until their noses were practically touching and Em could feel Ali's breath on her lips.

Ali smirked and waited, torturing Em and smiling as the brunette beneath her squirmed.

Finally, when Em was beginning to arch her back into Ali's body, Ali leaned down and connected their lips, brief but purposeful, taking what little air was in Em's lungs away, leaving her breathless, panting for more.

Ali pulled away; just enough so Em could feel her smile against her lips, which was soon returned.

Ali rolled over and began to laugh.

Em leaned up on one elbow to face her, "What? What's so funny?"

"Nothing's funny, I'm laughing because I'm happy, what? I can't be happy?"

"Yes you can, and you deserve nothing more, you deserve every ounce of happiness this life and any other life could possibly offer."

Ali shook her head. She had no idea how Emily always had the right words to say…so quick with them at that, she didn't even have to try. Ali's smiled widened and turned her body to face her mermaid, "I love you."

Em smiled knowingly and moved to kiss Ali again. When they both stopped for air, Ali said softly, "your turn."

Em smirked and leaned down to kiss Ali's cheek, moving to her ear. "First, say it again."

Ali felt her insides and flip, she would say those three little words to Emily Fields until hell froze over or the sun stop shining, whichever came last.

"I love you."

Em nestled her face in the crook of Alison's neck, making a path of kisses from the base of her neck to her jaw to her ear and back again, "Ali, I love you too. Always…now, say it to me again."

Ali looked into those warm brown eyes and was immediately under their spell again, she would cross the earth to see Em smile like that, to look at her the way she was right now.

"Emily, I love you."

"Again," Emily kissed the pulse point on Ali's neck, making the blonde tremble.

"Always," Ali reminded Emily, "I love you."

"Again," Em whispered, thinking to herself that she would never ever get tired of hearing Ali say that to her and being able to say it back.

"I love you," Ali said it softer, matching Em's voice.

"Say it again."

"Hello-Ms. DiLaurentis?"

"What? I-I'm sorry." Ali blinked and shook her head, trying to shake the memory had flooded her mind in a matter of seconds, triggered by three little words.

"Did you hear me at all? You spaced out for a few minutes?" The FBI agent, introduced as Detective Swan and his counterparts, TweedleDee and TweedleDum…something like that.

"No, I didn't hear you, sorry."

"I asked you to say it again. For the records?" Swan pointed his finger at a recorder sitting on a table between them. Ali looked at this detective, trying to sum him up, she had her fair share of detectives from Rosewood, she found herself hoping that Swan wouldn't turn out to be another Wilden or Holbrook or Tanner. She just wanted this detective to actually give a damn about his job and work with, not against, Ali so they could find this monster.

"Look," Ali stated, "what you want me to tell you now is no different from what the Rosewood PD have on their files. I'm not here to relive the past 5 years of my life, I said I would talk and I was under the impression that you had done your homework and read up on whatever Rosewood could send you ahead of time. I also assume, you were assigned this case for a reason, but I'm seeing what that reason is so far."

Swan swallowed and nodded his head, "okay boys, no trying to pull any fast ones on this one."

"Excuse me?" Ali sat up in the chair she was seated in and looked the man in his dark eyes, waiting.

"It's just, you're sharper than most Ms. DiLaurentis," Swan looked up and seen Ali, waiting still, "but usually when we pull people in for questioning, no matter what the situation is, they tend to want to beat around the bush, I'm not getting that from you though, and that's a good thing, it'll make my job easier."

Ali relaxed and leaned back in the chair.

"Okay then so what's next?"

"Well, since there's no need for us to relive the past 5 years of your life, let's start with the last day you were in Rosewood.

A lump caught in Ali's throat. That was the last time Ali saw Em before Em found her near the Cali-Oregon border. It was step 1 in Ali's plan that had gone terribly wrong since.

Keep it cool, Alison.

Alison closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

Detective James Swan noted this and shifted in his seat.

"Listen, I don't know how much you heard the other day, when I was yelling to speak with you, but I agreed to let your doctor keep you under close eye for another day, and if you need more time-"

"No, I wanted to talk you last night but I had to wait till now, I came to you remember? And I'm tired of waiting."

Swan raised his brow and nodded, "okay, fair enough."

Ali took one more deep breath and crossed her hands in her lap.

"So it was March, the year after senior year when the messages started coming back…that's when I came up with a plan…"

x-x-x-x-x

"Dr. Pearson?"

"Yes, Emily?"

"The girl, Ali- I mean Alison…"

"Yes, what about her?"

"She was here last night." Em paused and looked in her lap, playing with the bracelet around her wrist. It was strange but she knew, she had a feeling that it was important, that it meant…it should mean something to her.

Dr. Pearson turned his attention away from Emily's monitors and sat in a chair near the brunette's bed, undoubtedly hearing the worry and questions in her voice even before she could say them.

Emily watched him sit and face her, waiting. She sucked in a breath, gathering the courage to ask, but with an exhale, she lost that courage and sighed instead.

"What is it Emily? Did you two talk?"

Em nodded, "Yeah, but that's not what I wanted to ask."

Pearson crossed his fingers over his knee and waited, he didn't want to push anything.

Em instead kept playing with her bracelet, liking how the charms dangled and tickled her skin. There were just three charms: a heart, a snow globe and the Eiffel Tower. Emily's favorite instantly became the Eiffel Tower.

"This, this is in Paris right?"

Dr. Pearson nodded.

Em smiled softly, "do you know, do you know if, if I've ever been?"

"No, I don't believe you have."

"Oh. I want to go someday and see it in person." Em held her wrist up and showed her doctor what she was talking about.

"That sounds like a great idea."

And before Emily knew why, she found herself asking, "do you think Ali will come with me?"

The moment she asked, Em's cheeks turned red and she stammered with trying to cover her tracks.

Dr. Pearson chuckled, "it's okay Emily, you know, I'm sure she would, but you should ask her yourself one day."

Emily smiled embarrassedly, "yeah, sure."

One day, she thought, that holds so much promise.

"Well, your vitals are good Emily, brain activity is normal and your breaks seem to be healing just fine. I just came in to do a routine check and see how you were doing."

"Thank you, I may not remember any other doctor's I had in the past, but I'm sure you're the best one I'll ever have."

Dr. Pearson waved his hands, "oh stop it, you're being too kind."

"I'm just being honest."

"And never stop being just that."

Emily smiled and tried to think of something to say back.

"Well then, I'll leave you in peace, if there's anything you need, you know what to do."

Emily nodded, "yup, press the red 'nurse' button."

"You got it, I'll be back in a few hours."

"Okay."

Emily grabbed the remote from the side table and nestled her body deeper into the bed.

Dr. Pearson was just about to walk from the door when Emily called out, "wait, Dr. Pearson?"

"Yes?"

Emily swallowed hard and held one hand hard in the other, "Ali…you um, said that she was my best friend."

"Is that a question or a statement?"

Emily laughed nervously, "um, nevermind, it was an observation I guess."

Dr. Pearson raised a brow, almost knowing what Emily might be trying to get at and he smiled hopefully. The whole situation broke his heart and if he wished one thing from this, it was that somehow Em would find her way back to the broken blonde just down the hall to the right, right again, through the double doors on the left and sitting in room 27, waiting for her girlfriend, waiting and hoping too.

"Okay Emily, see you in a few hours." And with that, he left.

Em sat against the bed and shook her head, "smooth, real smooth."

She sat and continued to play with the charms on her bracelet.

But she wanted to ask Pearson if there was more, if her and Ali…no, they couldn't. Could they?

Emily shook the thoughts from her head, but she couldn't shake the way she had felt when the blonde was in her room, when their skin met, the sound of her voice, and Emily could definitely not shake the way Ali's eyes looked at her…no, deeper, looked into her: waiting, expecting, searching for something.

And somehow, in that moment, Emily knew she wanted to give Ali what she was searching for. Even if that meant drowning in those deep blue eyes, so turbulent, so captivating….so much like what she imagined she would want to feel in someone's eyes: home.

One day, Em hoped, one day.