A/N; hey guys, hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. In this chapter Ali's fiance is mentioned and it is Elliott; he, in this, isn't Charlotte's doctor, it isn't how they met.

The next morning Emily had booked a flight for Saturday morning (which was tomorrow). She figured a week off school wouldn't hurt since she was failing anyway. But she did dread going home; seeing Alison happy with someone else was most definitely a stab in the heart. She really didn't know how she would survive this summer; the only thing that would save her would be spending time with her mom. She really did miss her even though they texted each other every day.

As she packed she smiled at the thought of seeing Pam again. Her mother always made things better; her advice always worked even when Emily thought nothing would. She had to hope that in this case her advice and presence would also work.

Later, work was the only thing that took her mind away from the dreaded day she would have tomorrow. Listening to drunk costumers telling her their broken love stories made her cringe as she remembered that she done the exact same thing last night; her hangover was proof.

When her shift ended, she ended up finding herself thinking about the blonde again. You'd think that walking along the beach would clear your mind but it only made things worse. She hated this situation. Why would the blonde not even tell her she was seeing anyone when Emily was in Rosewood? They were best friends, weren't they? The brunette began to doubt everything between her and the blonde. It was a feeling she never thought she would have; the blonde always held such a special place in her heart and now she doubted everything. It hurt her beyond words.

NEXT DAY

"Emily!" Her mother cried as she ran across to her lawn to meet her daughter.

"Mom." Emily said tightly wrapping her arms around her mother. They were both beyond happy about seeing each other; it had been a long time. "I'm so glad to see you. I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too, darling." Pam's smile was the biggest Emily had seen it since her father died. "Come on you must be hungry."

Emily walked into her dining room to find a fully prepared, homemade dinner on the table; a grin grew on her face.

"Mom, you didn't have too."

"Aww sweetie I did, I miss cooking for someone and I figured you were tired of microwave dinners." Emily laughed; her mom wasn't wrong.

After a bit of silence whilst Emily stuffed her face with the amazing dinner, Pam decided to speak up.

"Em, how are you dealing with this situation?"

"Fine." Emily replied bluntly without any emotions was so ever. Pam sighed; she hated seeing her daughter like this.

"Well, know that I'm always here for you and I believe everything will work out." The hopeful tone actually gave the brunette some reassurance but only for a few seconds. It wouldn't be ok; the love of her life was in love with someone else.

"Thanks, I think I'm going to go get some rest." The brunette had to do anything she could to leave this conversation.

She walked into her room and found it the way she left it just over a year ago; a smile formed on her face. Her room reminded her of the way things used to be and how she wished things still were.

She lay down on her bed and thought of tomorrow; she would most definitely need to face Alison and her new fiancé. She wanted to be sick at the mere thought of the blonde's fiancé but there was nothing she could do except try to accept the situation.

The bright sunlight filled Emily's room the next morning. She quickly checked her phone to find a message she definitely did not want to see.

'Hey, Em heard you're already in town. The girls are coming over to mines at 12, feel free to join us.'

"Oh god." She just wanted to scream into her pillow; yes, she wanted to see her friends but Alison right now was a different story. She sighed; she couldn't say no.

'I'll be there.'

Looking at the time she had an hour and a half to mentally prepare herself for what was going to happen. However, forever would never be enough for her to prepare herself for this never mind an hour and a half. As she took a shower she only hoped that the fiancée would not be joining them today or preferably ever.

Before she knew it, it was time for her to leave. She walked as slowly as she could towards the blonde's house dreading how awkward their reunion will be. She knows that she can't keep a grudge against Alison but she just can't seem to stop herself from doing so; she is mad at the blonde and yes, she also made mistakes but she isn't the one getting married.

When she reached the front door, she hesitated; she could leave and say something came up but before she even got a chance to the door opened.

"Emily." A voice breathed. She looked deep into the bright blue eyes and saw genuine happiness.

"Hi." She managed to say before two arms wrapped around her. Alison's warm touch brought back a million memories and feelings. Before the brunette knew it, she was hugging the blonde back. A smile formed on Emily's face; for a second she forgot everything that was happening and she smiled. She was genuinely happy to see the blonde again.

The moment was quickly broken by the rest of the girls running outside to meet Emily. They were all beyond happy to see each other; it wasn't easy being away from their best friends for so long.

"So, Spence, how is Washington with Toby?" Hanna asked as she sat down on the couch beside Emily.

"It's a bit rocky, he's still adjusting but we'll get there." The girls smiled in a hopeful way.

"What about New York, Han? You're a big designer now."

"I'm not, not yet anyway but it's great."

The girls now looked over at the small brunette sitting in the corner.

"So, when did that happen?" Spencer said as she nodded towards the small but noticeable bump on Aria.

"Um honestly I don't even know."

"And the father is Liam, right?" Hanna asked quickly. Aria had recently been in Rosewood a lot due to work and had started hanging out a lot with Ezra.

"Yes, Hanna! Who do you think I am?" Aria said in shock; the blonde only shrugged and the girls laughed. Emily kept quiet; as happy as she was seeing the girls she didn't want to talk about her life but then the question was finally asked but someone she didn't really want to talk to.

"How's school, Em?" Alison asked with a smile to change the subject.

"It's um okay, I guess." Emily said without even looking at the blonde. Awkward silence filled the room; they girls wanted to talk about their lives like they used to but it had been a long time since they did that.

"So, Ali. Who's this fiancé of yours?" Hanna finally said breaking the silence. A huge grin appeared on Alison's face; Emily couldn't help but feel hurt.

"Well, he's a doctor and he's amazing; just so kind, loving and caring." Emily couldn't help but cringe at every word.

"That's great, we're all so happy for you." The blonde said as all the girls apart from Emily nodded in agreement with smiles on their faces. 'Speak for yourself' Emily thought to herself.

The girls ended up spending the full day watching movies and chatting every so often; before they even knew it, it was 11pm and one by one they started leaving. But before Emily could even get up of the couch to leave Alison stopped her.

"Do you want to stay here tonight? Elliott is away and I wouldn't mind some company; I've missed you." Emily hesitated but at the look in the blonde's bright blue eyes, she melted.

"Sure, I'll stay." A huge smile formed on Ali's face and Emily couldn't help but smile back. Once they said their goodbyes with the girls, awkward silence filled the room once again.

"So, how have you been, Em? We haven't spoken in a while." Ali said looking down in a guilty manner.

"Um okay, I guess… you?"

"Good, I've been good. Em, I need to apologize to you."

"For what?"

"Not keeping in contact and not telling you I was dating someone."

"I should apologize too then." Ali smiled; it was good that they were trying to get past whatever this is but Emily still wasn't happy. "But I just want to know why didn't you text or call me?"

"I- I uh I felt like you were better off without me." Alison quickly said.

"What? Why?" Emily was genuinely hurt by what Alison had just said; she never was better off without her, she loved her after all. Alison paused for a minute and carefully thought about her answer.

"When you left, I had no one to tell me that nobody blamed me anymore for everything that had happened, I began to feel guilty again and that well you were better off without me." Everything the blonde had said she said without even looking at the brunette. Emily grabbed Alison's hand, and straight away her head shot up at Emily.

"I was never better off without you and I'm sorry that I didn't text or call you to stop that from happening." The blonde smiled; she wrapped her arms tightly around the brunette.

"I really missed you."

"I missed you too." After a few minutes of simply hugging, the front door opened.

"Babe, I'm home early." An unfamiliar voice said. Emily's heart sank; she figured it was Elliott. Alison pulled away and gave Emily a weird look; it was like she was happy to see Elliot but she also dreaded it.

A tall man walked in with a smile; it slightly faded when he noticed Emily.

"Oh, hi." He said with a puzzled expression.

"Elliott, this is Emily." Alison said with a smile.

"Oh! It's great to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you; Alison talks about you none stop." His English accent emphasised how excited he was to meet the brunette.

"It's nice to meet you too." Emily forced herself to say with a half-smile. "It's late, I better get going. I'll see you around." Emily said as she got up off the couch.

"Nice meeting you again." Elliott said with a big smile.

"You too." Emily quickly walked out. The whole walk home she couldn't stop thinking about what Elliott had said; Alison talked about her all the time. Just at the thought she smiled. Alison still loved Emily. Of course, she would never tell her that because she is getting married in just over a month but she really did. She talked about her all the time because she missed her and she just wanted to be with her. She wanted to see her and tell her how she felt but she could never do that because she believed that there was no way Emily loved her back; not anymore and not it that way anyway. Plus, now she had Elliott now, he loved her, cared for her and made her happy; that's love, right?